Perspectives on the Zhouli

The Zhouli, sometimes called the Zhouguan, is an important work of bureaucratic administration in early China. Based on the overview of previous studies, this research explores some important perspectives on this work such as the problems of dating, authenticity, editions and research methods, the issue of “Inner” and “Outer” Officials as well as the Role of the Royal Family, the issue of inner court and outer court and the evolution of the concepts, namely "inner-outer"(nei-wai), "public-private" (gong-si) and "yin-yang" from the Western Zhou period to the Qin and Han dynasties. In the final part, this research concludes that the author(s) probably used some records of the Zhou period and borrowed some specific concepts, which had been prevailing in earlier times, into the context. Moreover, it might be the case that the author(s) lived in an age when a unified empire co-existed together with remnants of privately held fiefdoms. Therefore, the Zhouli is more likely to be composed in the early Western Han dynasty.