Etymological approaches can be applied to textual research on the dates of ancient texts. An article titled “Textual Research on ‘Qing’” found the connotations of “Qing” in literature expanded from its original limited use of denoting “nature” to include the connotation of affection and presented a preliminary judgment on the age of some documents. Following and critiquing that article, this paper examines connotations of “Qing” in the Guodian Chu Jian and Kongzi Jiayu and discusses the prerequisites for using an etymological approach in order to ensure their validity. The etymological approach is helpful in determining the relative times of different ancient documents and may provide objective evidence, subject to certain conditions, for determining the likely date when the composition of ancient texts began. It reveals that the date for the Guodian Chu Jian is later than 296 BCE.

1. Raising questions
2. Etymology in the dating of dating of the Guodian Chu Jian
3. The prerequisites for using an etymological approach

• Xiaohu CAO(Nanjing Normal University)