ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the early stages in the evolution of the Classical Chinese word wén 文 from the original meaning of ‘decorative pattern’ to the later acquired meaning of ‘civility.’ Beyond mapping the different chronological stages in the development of this concept, the chapter also links these lexical changes to larger sociopolitical and epistemic changes. Already in the late second millennium BCE, the word wén had acquired the meaning of ‘awe-inspiringly beautiful’ and was used to describe the charismatic power of the king and members of the high aristocracy. Beginning with Confucius (551–479 BCE), wén begins to refer also to the ‘moral refinement’ or ‘civility’ of a morally superior or noble man, regardless of birth. The dating of these chronological changes in the meaning of the word wén is important for understanding the shift from the aesthetically interpreted charismatic power of the pre-Warring States period to the ethically interpreted charismatic virtue of the king and the ruling elites that Confucius and his followers introduced around the beginning of the Warring States period. According to this new chronology of the semantic changes of the word wén, existing translations of wén in pre-Warring States texts as ‘civil,’ ‘civilized,’ or ‘culture’ are anachronistic.
