Abstract
The task of reconstructing the Chu slips “Chengong zhibing” from the Shanghai Museum Collection is especially difficult due to both inherent and acquired impediments. The latter impediment is mainly caused by the carelessness of the initial organizer, Chen Peifen. In her article “Reading ‘Chengong zhibing’,” she attempts to depict the formats and specifications of these bamboo slips. Nonetheless, much of her depiction is vague or, worse even, contradictory, which severely obstructs the identification of the text. On the other hand, the innate impediment to reconstructing these slips lies in their fragmentary existence. Among the twenty existent slips, only nine of them are intact. It is impossible to seamlessly conjugate the remaining eleven pieces, as they are all broken in half. All these disadvantages cause damaging influence to the arrangement of the slips and decipherment of the text, apart from provoking disagreement among scholars. In light of these aforementioned problems, this essay aims to explore the reconstruction work of “Chengong zhibing,” focusing on three issues—format and specification, arranging order, and organization. Readers may also make reference to my other article─“Comprehensive Reading of ‘Chengong zhibing’”─for the dispute, controversy and debate concerning the interpretation of the text.
Keywords
Chu slips from the Shanghai Museum Collection, “Chengong zhibing,” arrangement of bamboo slips, handwriting style
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