Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Ping Yao, Cong Ellen Zhang
Publisher:
University of Washington Press
Publication date:
January 2020
Abstract:
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.
Table of Contents:
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 Ebrey
A Chinese general serving the Northern Wei state : entombed epitaph for the late Wei dynasty overseer of military affairs, Sima Yue 司馬悅 (462-508) / translated by Timothy Davis
A twice-widowed Xianbei princess: epitaph with preface for the Great Enlightenment Temple nun surnamed Yuan (475-529) 元純陀 / translated by Jender Lee 李貞德
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
Wives commemorating their husbands : epitaph for Cao Yin (fl. 7th century) / by Madame Zhou (fl. 7th century) ; Epitaph for He Jian (686-742) / by Madame Xin (fl. 742) ; translated by Ping Yao
A married daughter and a grandson : entombed funerary inscription for my daughter the late Madame Dugu (785-815) and entombed record for my grandson (803-815) who died young (Quan Shunsun, 803-815) / by Quan Deyu (759-818) ; translated by Anna Shields
A nun who lived through the Huichang persecution of Buddhism : epitaph for Daoist nun (Zhi Zhijian, 812-861) / by Zhi Mo (fl. 860) ; translated by Ping Yao
An envoy serving the Kitan Liao Son of Heaven : epitaph for Han Chun (d. 1035), court ceremonial commissioner / by Li Wan (fl. 1012-1036) ; translated by Lance Pursey
Epitaphs made widely available : funerary biographies for three men of Luzhou: Liang Jian (d. 1042), Wang Cheng (d. 1042), and Chen Hou (1065-1123) / translated by Man Xu
A friend and political ally : funerary inscription for Mr. Culai (Shi Jie, 1005-1045) / by Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) ; translated by Cong Ellen Zhang
Preserving a father's memory : funerary inscription for Chao Juncheng (1029-1075) / by Huang
Tingjian (1045-1105) / translated by Cong Ellen Zhang
A gentleman without office : epitaph for the scholar residing at home Wei Xiongfei (1130-1207) / by Wei Liaoweng (1178-1237) ; translated by Mark Halperin
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] Madame Plum Mansion (zou Miaozhuang, 1230-1257) / by Yao Mian (1216-1262) ; translated by Beverly Bossler
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
A Mongol rising to the defense of the realm : epitaph for grand guardian Sayin Idaqu (1317-1365) / by Zhang Zhu (1287-1368) / translated by Tomoyasu Iiyama 飯山知保
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
A Ming general turned warlord : the General Mao Wenlong (1579-1629) / by Mao Qiling (1623-1716) ; translated by Xing Hang
A brother remembers his sister : the epitaph of my sister Madam Fang (1600-1668) / by Qian Chengzhi (1612- 1698) ; translated by Martin Huang
A Chinese bannerman expert in waterworks : epitaph for Jin Fu (1633-1692), director-general of river conservancy / by Wang Shizhen (1634-1711) ; translated by R. Kent Guy
A woman determined to die : epitaph for the joint burial of Scholar Wu (1666-1687) and his martyred wife Madame Dai (1666-1687) / by Mao Qiling (1623-1716) ; translated by Jolan Yi
A wife's sacrifices : a living epitaph of my wife Madame Sun (1769-1833) / by Fang Dongshu (1772-1851) ; translated by Weijing Lu
A wife's moving tribute : epitaph for Zeng Yong (1813-1862) / by Zuo Xijia (1831-1896) ; translated by Grace S. Fong
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