"That Which Does Not Change": Ontological Ambiguity, The Mandate of Heaven, and the Historical Cycles of the Chunqiu Fanlu's "Three Dynasties" Chapter

The role of transcendence in early Chinese thought has long been the subject of debate among comparative philosophers and sinologists. This article attempts to contribute to the debate by bringing the concept of transcendence into dialogue with the "Sandai gaizhi zhiwen" 三代改制質文 (Three dynasties' alternating regulations of simplicity and refinement) chapter of the Chunqiu fanlu. By reading the chapter's historical cycles in the context of wider pre-Qin and Han understandings of the "Mandate of Heaven," it argues that they can best be characterized as "ontologically ambiguous," thus, as optimally understandable via "non-contrastive" models of transcendence. From here, clues toward a more subtle and malleable comparative discourse can be found.