Birth in Ancient China: A Study of Metaphor and Cultural Identity in Pre-Imperial China (SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture)

174 Pages·2017·3.719 MB·English

by  Constance A. Cook, Xinhui Luo

Birth in
ANCIENT CHINA
SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
—————
Roger T. Ames, editor
Birth in
ANCIENT CHINA
A Study of Metaphor and Cultural Identity
in Pre-Imperial China
Constance A. Cook and Xinhui Luo
Cover image of face from Hongshun ritual site. Photo by Tian Shuai. Courtesy of
the National Museum of China.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2017 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Ryan Morris
Marketing, Kate R. Seburyamo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cook, Constance A., author. | Luo, Xinhui, co-author.
Title: Birth in ancient China : a study of metaphor and cultural identity in
pre-imperial China / Constance A. Cook and Luo Xinhui.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2017] | Series:
SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016054534 (print) | LCCN 2016057612 (ebook) | ISBN
9781438467115 (hardcover : alkaline paper) | ISBN 9781438467122 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Childbirth—Social aspects—China—History—To 1500. | Birth
customs—China—History—To 1500. | Human reproduction—Social aspects—
China—History—To 1500. | Metaphor—Social aspects—China—History—To
1500. | Group identity—China—History—To 1500. | China—Social life and
customs—To 221 B.C. | China—History—Zhou dynasty, 1122–221 B.C.
Classification: LCC GN482.1 .C66 2017 (print) | LCC GN482.1 (ebook) | DDC
392.1/2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016054534
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: A Chu Text xi
Chapter 1. Words and Images 1
Chu Ancestral Names and the Word for Birth 5
A Lost Word for Birth 9
Suggestive Images 11
Chapter 2. Controlling Reproduction: Fertility Prayers 21
Zhou Fertility Prayers in Bronze Inscriptions 23
A Warring States Prayer Preserved on Bamboo Strips 29
Chapter 3. Mothers and Embryos 43
Embryonic Transformation 47
Chapter 4. Controlling the Pregnant Body 53
Time and Divination 53
Curses, Stars, and the Gendered Cosmos 63
Sequestering 68
A Question of Thorns 73
Chapter 5. Divine Origins and Chu Genealogical History 75
Gender-Bending 89
Chapter 6. The Traumatic Births of Non-Zhou
Ancestral Founders 93
vi / Contents
Conclusion 109
Notes 111
Bibliography 131
Index 149
Illustrations
Chart 1. Shang and later graphs for embodiment 3
Chart 2. Shang words related to birthing 4
Chart 3. Chu progenitor names and related graphs 6
Figure 1. Hongshan sculpture of a pregnant body 11
Figure 2. Banpo pottery bowl paintings with baby faces 12
Figure 3. Possible fertility symbolism on a Neolithic pot 13
Figure 4. Fu Hao jade amulets with possible fertility symbolism 14
Figure 5. Jade figurine of a woman in the birthing position 14
Figure 6. Jade figurine of a woman with tattoos and a
bird tail from Fu Hao’s tomb 15
Figure 7. Humans in the mouths of tigers, images from
bronzes 16
Figure 8. Jade amulet with a fetal-like birdman from the
Fu Hao tomb site 17
Figure 9. Figures with split bodies found on the inner coffin
of Zeng Hou Yi 18
Figure 10. Fuxi and Nüwa with snake tails and holding the
sun and moon 19
Figure 11. Oracle bones with birth divination from Heji
14001 and 14002 54
Chart 4. Sequestering images 71
Chart 5. Chu ancestral names 91
Chart 6. Images of technical intervention in pregnancy 95

Acknowledgments
Constance Cook is grateful for the support of the International Consor-
tium for Research in the Humanities, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität
Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. Both authors wish to thank Tian Shuai
and Hu Wenjia for their research help.
ix