ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I show how the word ‘civility’ (wén 文) eventually came to have extended meanings that refer to an indigenous concept of ‘civilization’ containing the same semantic building blocks as the universal concept of ‘civilization’ that emerged in sixteenth- to eighteenth-century Europe. The chapter also analyzes the chronology of the emergence of new meanings of a handful of other terms (e.g., ‘the realm under Heaven’ [tiānxià 天下], ‘noble man’ (jūnzǐ), ‘rites’ [lǐ 禮]) that played a role in the articulation of the indigenous pre-Qín concept of ‘civilization.’ I show that the semantic changes in these other terms that enabled the conceptualization of the idea of ‘civilization’ either preceded or occurred in tandem with the coining of the word wén to mean ‘civility/civilization.’ This argument strengthens the proposed dating of the emergence of civilizational consciousness to the Warring States period. While the concept of ‘civility/civilization’ (wén) was popular among its coiners and promoters, it also had its critics. By showing that wén was a fiercely debated concept in the Warring States period, this chapter provides new insight into the complex fragmentation of the Zhōu elite’s understanding and evaluation of its own traditions and mores as a ‘civilization.’
