Tens of thousands of epitaphs, or funerary biographies, survive from imperial China. Engraved on stone and placed in a grave, they typically focus on the deceased's biography and exemplary words and deeds, expressing the survivors' longing for the dead. These epitaphs provide glimpses of the lives of women, men who did not leave a mark politically, and children--people who are not well documented in more conventional sources such as dynastic histories and local gazetteers.
This anthology of translations makes available funerary biographies covering nearly two thousand years, from the Han dynasty through the nineteenth century, selected for their value as teaching material for courses in Chinese history, literature, and women's studies as well as world history. Because they include revealing details about personal conduct, families, local conditions, and social, cultural, and religious practices, these epitaphs illustrate ways of thinking and the realities of daily life. Most can be read and analyzed on multiple levels, and they stimulate investigation of topics such as the emotional tenor of family relations, rituals associated with death, Confucian values, women's lives as written about by men, and the use of sources assumed to be biased. These biographies will be especially effective when combined with more readily available primary sources such as official documents, religious and intellectual discourses, and anecdotal stories, promising to generate provocative discussion of literary genre, the ways historians use sources, and how writers shape their accounts.
Author(s): Patricia Buckley Ebrey; Ping Yao; Cong Ellen Zhang
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: xv, 287
City: Seattle
Tags: Inscriptions--China; Epitaphs--China; Funeral rites and ceremonies--China; Burial--China; China--Biography; China--Social life and customs--Sources
Acknowledgments ix
Translation Conventions xi
Chronology of Imperial China with Subjects of Epitaphs xiii
Introduction 3
1. Three Short Eastern Han Funerary Biographies
Epitaphs for Ma Jiang (34–106), Wu Zhongshan (ca. 92–172), and Kong Dan (fl. 182)
Translated by Ping Yao and Patricia Buckley Ebrey 23
2. A Chinese General Serving the Northern Wei State
Entombed Epitaph for the Late Wei Dynasty Overseer of Military Affairs, Sima Yue (462–508)
Translated by Timothy Davis 30
3. A Twice-Widowed Xianbei Princess
Epitaph with Preface for the Great Enlightenment Temple Nun Surnamed Yuan (Yuan Chuntuo, 475–529)
Translated by Jen-der Lee 39
4. Authoring One’s Own Epitaph
Self-Authored Epitaph, by Wang Ji (590?–644)
Inscription Dictated While Near Death, by Wang Xuanzong (633–686)
Translated by Alexei Kamran Ditter 47
5. Wives Commemorating Their Husbands
Epitaph for Cao Yin (fl. 7th century), by Madam Zhou (fl. 7th century)
Epitaph for He Jian (686–742), by Madam Xin (fl. 742)
Translated by Ping Yao 59
6. A Married Daughter and a Grandson
Entombed Funerary Inscription for My Daughter the Late Madam
Dugu (785–815) and Entombed Record for My Grandson
Who Died Young (Quan Shunsun, 803–815),
by Quan Deyu (759–818)
Translated by Anna M. Shields 66
7. A Nun Who Lived through the Huichang Persecution of Buddhism
Epitaph for Daoist Nun Zhi (Zhi Zhijian, 812–861), by Zhi Mo (fl. 860)
Translated by Ping Yao 75
8. An Envoy Serving the Kitan Liao Son of Heaven
Epitaph for Han Chun (d. 1036), Court Ceremonial Commissioner, by Li Wan (fl. 1012–1037)
Translated by Lance Pursey 83
9. Epitaphs Made Widely Available
Funerary Biographies for Three Men from Luzhou: Liang Jian (d. 1042), Wang Cheng (d. 1042), and Chen Hou (1074–1123)
Translated by Man xu 101
10. A Friend and Political Ally
Funerary Inscription for Mr. Culai (Shi Jie, 1005–1045), by Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072)
Translated by Cong Ellen Zhang 111
11. Preserving a Father’s Memory
Funerary Inscription for Chao Juncheng (1029–1075), by Huang Tingjian (1045–1105)
Translated by Cong Ellen Zhang 122
12. A Gentleman without Office
Epitaph for Scholar Residing at Home Wei Xiongfei (1130–1207), by Wei Liaoweng (1178–1237)
Translated by Mark Halperin 130
13. Wives and In-Laws
Funerary Inscription for [My Father- in-Law] Mr. Zou of Fengcheng (Zou Yilong, 1204–1255) and Funerary Inscription for [My Wife] Madam Plum Mansion (Zou Miaozhuang, 1230–1257), by Yao Mian (1216–1262)
Translated by Beverly Bossler 138
14. A Clerk Promoted to Official under the Mongols
Funerary Inscription for Mr. Su (Su Zhidao, 1261–1320), Director of the Left and Right Offices of the Branch Secretariat for the Lingbei Region, by Yu Ji (1271–1348)
Translated by Patricia Buckley Ebrey 158
15. A Mongol Rising to the Defense of the Realm
Epitaph for Grand Guardian Sayin Čidaqu (1317–1365), by Zhang Zhu (1287–1368)
Translated by Tomoyasu Iiyama 172
16. A Merchant Aspiring to Gentlemanly Virtue
Funerary Biography of the Gentleman Residing at Home Cheng Weiqing (1531–1588), by Wang Shizhen (1526–1590)
Translated by Yongtao Du 182
17. A Ming General Turned Warlord
Funerary Inscription for Military Officer Mao(Mao Wenlong, 1579–1629), by Mao Qiling (1623–1716)
Translated by Xing Hang 190
18. A Brother Remembers His Sister
Epitaph for My Sister Madam Fang (Qian Huan, 1600–1668), by Qian Chengzhi (1612–1698)
Translated by Martin W. Huang 212
19. A Chinese Bannerman Expert in Waterworks
Epitaph for Director General of River Conservancy Jin Wenxiang ( Jin Fu, 1633–1692), by Wang Shizhen (1634–1711)
Translated by R. Kent Guy 222
20. A Woman Determined to Die
Epitaph for the Joint Burial of Scholar Wu (Wu Xi, 1666–1687) and His Martyred Wife, Madam Dai (1666–1687), by Mao Qiling (1623–1716)
Translated by Jolan Yi 241
21. A Wife’s Sacrifices
Living Funerary Inscription for My Wife, Madam Sun (1769–1833), by Fang Dongshu (1772–1851)
Translated by Weijing Lu 250
22. A Wife’s Moving Tribute
Epitaph for Mr. Zeng (Zeng Yong, 1813–1862), by Zuo Xijia (1831–1896)
Translated by Grace S. Fong 259
Teaching Guide 269
Contributors 276
Index 281
