On the study of ancient Chinese rhetoric/Bian

Abstract

N his In Defence of Rhetoric, Brian Vickers (1988) calls rhetoricalscholars to recapture the rhetorical past, rhetorical theories, andpractices developed by schools and individuals of different cultures. Thestudy of in the West has featured primarily Occidental tradi-tions, although Western scholars have made attempts to introduce,explain, and explore the of other cultures. Chinese rhetoric, inparticular, has received some attention from some Western scholars(Crump & Dreher, 1951; Dreher & Crump, 1952; Garrett, 1983, 1991,1993; Jensen, 1987,1992; Kincaid, 1987; Oliver, 1971; Reynolds, 1969).Unfortunately, some historians of deny the existence of anancient or draw narrow descriptions of Chinese rhetoric. JamesMurphy (1983) concludes: There is no evidence of an interest inrhetoric in the ancient civilization of Bahylon or Egypt, for instanceneither Africa nor Asia to this day produced a rhetoric (p. 3). Jensen,Kennedy, and Oliver contend that Chinese is characterized hyharmony, deprecation of speech, and lack of interest in logic (Jensen,1987; Kennedy, 1980; Oliver, 1971). We wish to broaden and embellishthe portrayal of Chinese as it has heen painted hy Murphy,Jensen, Oliver, Eind Kennedy. We believe that the ancient Chinese hadsenses of (Scott 1973) and that these senses of reveala tradition of speech and argumentation that should be recaptured byhistorians of rhetoric.Chinese should be of interest to the Western audience andthe Western rhetorical scholar. As Jensen (1987) notes: