ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I argue that a new ethnographic vocabulary of civilizational otherness emerged in tandem with the Zhōu–barbarian dichotomy. The concept of ‘barbarians’ as ‘civilizationally inferior others’ emerged as a foil for the understanding of the autonym ‘Great ones’ (Xià 夏) that the Zhōu elites used to refer to themselves. Likewise, the coining of the new words ‘customs’ (sú 俗), ‘vulgar’ (sú 俗), and ‘elegant/proper, Xià-like’ (yǎ 雅) made it possible to describe the ‘vulgar’ (sú), ‘customs’ (sú) of the ‘barbarians’ (yí) and contrast them with the (allegedly) universally valid and ‘elegant or Xià-like’ ‘rites’ (lǐ) of the civilized ‘Great ones’ (Xià). The terms ‘Great ones’ (Xià 夏), ‘elegant/proper, Xià-like’ (yǎ 雅), ‘customs’ (sú) have been studied before. However, I offer new analyses and chronologies and show how the semantic changes in these terms are related to the emergence of civilizational consciousness.
