The Armpit Sage V. the Golden Barbarian: Zhen Luan's Response to the Taoist Conversion Narrative

This work examines a single line of argument from a medieval Chinese dispute between the supporters of Taoism and Buddhism. Western rhetorical scholars have generally ignored Chinese argumentation. It seems that the Western understanding of China as a rigidly hierarchical society has lead to the conclusion that argumentation has not played a noteworthy role in Chinese culture. This thesis challenges that conclusion by examining a medieval Chinese dispute over the origin of Buddhism. A single text is selected and evaluated using Fisher's narrative method. Results seem to indicate that the Chinese have engaged in argument as a means of critical decision-making and that with sufficient knowledge of Chinese history and culture those arguments are comprehensible to Westerners.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts in Communication

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication

Year

1998

Author dc:creator

• Hood, Paul

Contributors dc:contributor

• John Fritch

• Communication

Statement dc:rights

• © Paul Hood

Repository record dc:identifier

https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/322

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-1323