The Politics of Mourning in Early China , livre ebook

THE POLITICS OF
MOURNING
IN EARLY CHINA
M I R A N D A B R O W NTHE POLITICS OF MOURNING
IN EARLY CHINASUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
Roger T. Ames, editorTHE POLITICS OF MOURNING
IN EARLY CHINA
miranda brown
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESSChapter 3 of this book was originally published as “Mothers and Sons in
Warring States and Han China, 453 BC–AD 220,” NAN NÜ: Men, Women
and Gender in Early and Imperial China 5.2 (2003): 137–169. Reproduced with
permission from Koninklijke Brill N. V.
Published by
State University of New York Press
Albany
© 2007 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brown, Miranda, 1975–
The politics of mourning in early China / Miranda Brown.
p. cm. — (SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-7157-9 (alk. paper)
1. Mourning customs—China. 2. China—Politics and government—221 B.C–220 A.D.
I. Title.

GT3390.B76 2007
393'.90951—dc22 2006032686
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1For my husbandContents
Author’s Note on Translations and Chinese Text ix
Acknowledgments xi
Chronology xiii
Introduction 1
CHAPTER 1
Where Did All the Filial Sons Go? 21
CHAPTER 2
Centuries of Tears and Woe 41
CHAPTER 3
Sons and Mothers 65
CHAPTER 4
Friends or Subordinates? 85
CHAPTER 5
Loyal Ministers, Recluses, and Popular Heroes 105
EPILOGUE
The Song Rediscovery of the Han 127
viiviii CONTENTS
APPENDIX
Overview of Han Sources Used for This Study 139
Notes 143
Works Cited 177
Index 197Author’s Note on Translations and Chinese Text
All translations are my own unless otherwise noted.
When possible, Chinese text is transcribed as it appears in the original
edition. When I have substituted a character for the nonstandard character that
appears in the original text, the substitution is placed in brackets. When the
character cannot be transcribed, or cannot be transcribed as a standard
character, the notation [?] appears. Finally, the notation [ . . . ] is used to indicate a
lacuna in the text.
ixAcknowledgments
The process of writing a book may be long, but it is not solitary. Over the years,
I have consulted numerous teachers and colleagues, beginning with my teacher
David Keightley (to whom I owe this life of the mind). I am also indebted
to David Johnson for teaching me everything I know about Chinese social
history, and to Kwong-loi Shun for continuing to look after my professional
welfare long after I completed my PhD. In addition, I am deeply grateful to
Michael Nylan. Besides serving as a careful reader, role model, and teacher,
Michael has been an exemplary friend.
In the early China field, I am indebted to three colleagues who
commented upon what ultimately became the last draft of my dissertation: Lothar
von Falkenhausen, Ed Shaughnessy, and Martin Kern. Their detailed and
candid comments convinced me to scrap most of the dissertation and move in
other directions for this study. Lothar impressed upon me the need for greater
precision, Ed encouraged me to focus much more on the inscriptions, and
Martin persuaded me to think about tone and rhetoric. Martin also paid me
the compliment of traveling from Princeton, New Jersey, to New York City
on a cold Saturday morning to offer further suggestions on an early version of
chapter 4, along with his encouragement.
I have also been fortunate to receive the feedback of numerous colleagues
who commented on portions of the manuscript. They include: Kevin Adams,
Erica Brindley, Paul Goldin, Li Feng, Larissa Heinrich, Bob Harrist, Eric
Hutton, Hou Xudong, Janam Murkherjee, Lai Guolong, Kevin Landdeck,
Li Bozhong, Luo Shaodan, Jeff Richey, Conrad Schirokauer, Shao Dan, Nick
Tackett, Jun Uchida, and R. Bin Wong. My erstwhile correspondent Rafe de
Crespigny not only provided critical feedback on parts of the manuscript, but
also patiently answered all of my many questions about Han administration.
Michael Puett has also been an unusually supportive colleague, offering
strategic advice and help with the publication process, along with unwavering
support. Last but not least, I must single out Bob Hymes for his help with this
manuscript. Although Bob was busy with his duties as Chair of his department
xixii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
at Columbia, he took time out on not one, but two weekends to attend
presentations and provide detailed comments on this study. Bob brought the broader
perspective of a Song historian—a perspective that forced me to rethink the
ultimate significance of my findings.
Roger Ames came to my rescue at a critical juncture of this project. Last
summer, I was beginning to wonder if the manuscript—languishing on the
desks of editors and lost in delivery trucks for some nine months—would ever
go into review. I am deeply grateful to Roger for his willingness to shepherd
this book through the process of publication. He introduced me to Nancy
Ellegate and Allison Lee at SUNY, whose professionalism has made the
publication process infinitely easier. I am also obliged to the two anonymous
readers commissioned by SUNY Press for their detailed, candid, and unusually
balanced comments on the manuscript.
The University of Michigan has been an especially supportive
environment for research. In addition to providing funding that facilitated the
publication of this book, the university has also afforded many attentive colleagues.
Beyond my home department, James Lee, Louis Loeb, Vic Lieberman, Marty
Powers, Tomi Tonomura, Norman Yoffee, and Yu Xie each read different parts
of the manuscript and offered their reactions. (Yu Xie gets special mention
for his audible cheerleading.) Within the department, I also benefited from
the guidance of Ken Ito, Christi Merrill, Lydia Liu, Donald Lopez, David
Rolston, and Jonathan Zwicker. Don’s encouraging reading of the
introduction gave me the confidence to stay my course last summer. Lydia’s reflections
on chapter 5 helped me to move beyond the old framework of Gesellschaft
and Gemeinschaft. David’s questions on problems relating to the survival of
sources, coupled with Jon’s insistence that I pay more attention to the
materiality of writing, bore fruit in chapter 2. Ken sat down with me and helped
me brainstorm a new conclusion. Three senior colleagues also deserve special
thanks: Bill Baxter, Shuen-fu Lin, and Nancy Florida. In addition to
reading the entire manuscript twice, Shuen-fu assisted me in deciphering Song
texts. An historian of Indonesia, Nancy read the entire manuscript with an
eye to making it accessible to the nonspecialist reader. And in her capacity as
Chairwoman of Asian Languages and Cultures, she came up with the idea of
organizing a manuscript workshop, which made it possible for me to enlist
the help of my colleagues throughout the university. I am especially indebted
to Bill, who read all of the early drafts of the manuscript, offering frank
criticisms with admirable tact. But perhaps more important, he has served as my
chief interlocutor; indeed, the very design of this book owes much to our many
conversations about early China.
Finally, I would like to thank my editor, Melanie B. D. Klein, who edited
the manuscript with unusual efficiency and grace.Chronology
SELECTED CHRONOLOGY OF CHINESE DYNASTIES
AND PERIODS RELEVANT TO THIS STUDY
Zhou Dynasty 1045–221 BCE
Spring and Autumn period 771–453 BCE
Warring States period 453–221 BCE
Qin Dynasty 221–206 BCE
Han Dynasty 206 BCE–220 CE
Western Han 206 BCE–9 CE
Xin dynasty
(or Wang Mang interregnum ) 9–23
Eastern Han 25–220
Six Dynasties Period 220–581
Three Kingdoms period 220–265
Jin dynasty 265–420
Western Jin 265–316
Eastern Jin 317–420
Northern and Southern Dynasties 420–589
Northern Dynasties 420–589
Southern Dy386–534
xiiixiv CHRONOLOGY
Sui Dynasty 581–618
Tang Dynasty 618–907
Five Dynasties Period 907–960
Song Dynasty 960–1279
Northern Song 960–1127
Southern Song 1127–1279"z¥{
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Introduction
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family
is unhappy in its own way
—Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
As Zhao Yongjiang (d. 187 CE) lay dying, her son received an official
commission to fight insurgents at the frontier. According to Cai Yong
(132–192), the great