《尚书》 / Shangshu

Overview

《尚书》 / Shangshu is synthesized here as a Chinese classic whose political meaning in the wiki now has two opposed layers: a text targeted by Qin knowledge control, and a text later used as court-remonstrance authority in a Western Han succession debate. Qinji 124 names it with 《诗经》 as a private classic restricted by the 秦代焚书令. Hanji 552 adds the later court-use layer: 孔光 cites Shangshu and the Pan Geng succession precedent to argue against 汉成帝’s Dingtao-line heir choice.

Current Profile

Qinji 124 does not summarize Shangshu as a text. It records its political role in Qin’s ban on private classical study and private criticism of current institutions through ancient models. In that source, Shangshu matters because discussion, private possession, and use as an “以古非今” resource become part of Qin’s knowledge-control problem.

Hanji 552 gives the classic a different institutional life. Kong Guang’s argument in the Chengdi succession meeting depends on his identity as a Confucian lineage figure and on the prestige of Shangshu as an authoritative source for ancient royal precedent. The episode also summarizes later transmission lore: Confucius’ editorial role, the damage from Qin book burning, the discovery of old-script Shangshu in the Kong residence wall, Kong Anguo’s arrangement, and the later received-text problem around the version associated with Mei Ze.

Key Characteristics

• Classical text targeted by Qin restriction when private scholarship becomes politically threatening.
• Paired with 《诗经》 in the Qin source as a private classic vulnerable to legal prohibition.
• Used in Hanji 552 as an authoritative source for succession argument rather than merely a banned object.
• Its political use depends on speaker status: Kong Guang’s descent from Confucius and senior office make the citation harder to dismiss.
• Its transmission history is source-scoped and contested, with the episode mentioning Qin destruction, old-script discovery, Kong Anguo, and the later Mei Ze-associated received version.

Evidence

• Qin restriction: Qinji 124 says Li Si’s policy targets private Shijing, Shangshu, and other scholarly writings.
• Official-learning monopoly: Qinji 124 treats the policy as an attempt to move legitimate learning and political interpretation back into official channels.
• Succession citation: Hanji 552 says Kong Guang invokes Shangshu and the Pan Geng precedent to argue for a brother-based succession claim.
• Speaker authority: Hanji 552 says Kong Guang’s Confucian descent and senior office make his Shangshu-based dissent politically weighty.
• Transmission lore: Hanji 552 summarizes the old-script Shangshu discovery in the Kong residence wall, Kong Anguo’s role, and the later received version associated with Mei Ze.

Qualifications

These source notes do not reconstruct Shangshu’s textual history, chapter authenticity debates, or full role in classical scholarship. Qinji 124 uses it as an example inside the book-burning policy, while Hanji 552 uses it through Kong Guang’s succession argument and a brief transmission summary. The wiki should therefore treat the Pan Geng citation and old-script narrative as source-scoped to the episode rather than as a settled philological account.

What Changed

• Migrated the page to synthesis-v1 and added Hanji 552’s court-use layer: Shangshu as succession-argument authority in Kong Guang’s dissent.

Relationships

• 《诗经》 - paired classic named in the Qin policy.
• 秦代焚书令 - policy that restricts private possession and discussion.
• 学在王官式知识垄断 and Knowledge Monopoly - knowledge-control frames around the Qin source.
• 孔光 - Western Han official who uses Shangshu in a succession debate.
• 汉成帝 - ruler whose heir decision Kong Guang challenges through Shangshu precedent.
• 汉哀帝 - Dingtao-line heir whose designation is at stake in Hanji 552.
• 李斯, 嬴政 / 秦始皇, and 秦国 - proposer, approving ruler, and regime behind the Qin policy.