Abstract
Abstract: This article traces the Southern Song discourse on the size and the basic organizational principles of the realm under the ancient sage kings. It shows how scholars reconciled different spatial concepts outlined in the Confucian Classics, and how they interpreted the various specifications of size, of spatial hierarchies, and of borders. We can distinguish three visions of the realm in their writings: a confined realm of comparatively small expanse with a clear distinction between inside and outside; a mutable realm that was spatially and organizationally flexible; and an unlimited realm that incorporated distant territories into a harmonious order.
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