Crossing the Gate: Everyday Lives of Women in Song Fujian (960–1279)

374 Pages·2016·7.14 MB·English

by  Man Xu

Crossing the Gate
SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
Roger T. Ames, editor
Crossing the Gate
stuvs
Everyday Lives of Women
in Song Fujian (960–1279)
MAN XU
SUNY
P R E S S
Cover art: Golden silk wide sleeves robe (1235 AD). The garment is a dress for
a female, excavated from a tomb sealed in 1235 and found by archaeologists in
1986 in the suburb of Fuzhou. The garment is at the Fujian Museum. Courtesy
of The Fujian Museum.
Published by
S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W YO R K P R E S S
Albany
© 2016 State University of New York
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Production, Laurie D. Searl
Marketing, Anne M. Valentine
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Xu, Man, 1979–
Title: Crossing the Gate : Everyday Lives of Women in Song Fujian (960–1279)
/ Man Xu.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2016] | Series:
SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifers: LCCN 2016007755 (print) | LCCN 2016023269 (ebook) | ISBN
9781438463216 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438463223 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Women—China—History—To 1500. | Women—China—
Fujian Sheng—History—To 1500. | Sex role—China—Fujian Sheng—
History—To 1500. | Social classes—China—Fujian Sheng—History—To 1500.
| Social change—China—Fujian Sheng—History—To 1500. | Fujian Sheng
(China)—Social life and customs. | Fujian Sheng (China)—Social conditions.
| China—History—Song dynasty, 960–1279.
Classifcation: LCC HQ1147.C6 X8 2016 (print) | LCC HQ1147.C6 (ebook)
| DDC 305.4095109/01—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016007755
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my parents
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1 Gates in and out of the Jia 15
The House Gate (Men 門) and Lane Gate (Lü 閭) 16
The Midle Gate (Zhong Men 中門) 30
Gate Titles for Mothers 46
2 Women on Journeys 53
Vehicles 54
Traces 75
Conclusion 87
3 Women in Local Communities 89
Inner Affairs (Nei Shi 内事) and Outer Affairs
(Wai Shi 外事) 90
Women and Household Economy 94
Women and Local Welfare 102
Women and Public Projects 115
v i i i Con te n ts
4 Women and Local Governments 127
Women’s Participation in Local Administration 128
Women and Governmental Structures 139
Women and Lawsuits 142
Women Under the Administration of Local Governments 151
Gender Consideration in Local Governments’
Public Projects 158
Conclusion 160
5 Women and Religion 163
Laywomen in Confucian Eyes 165
Personal Practices 178
Religious Communication with Relatives and Outsiders 188
Religious Excursions 194
Buddhist Funeral 206
6 Women and Burial 213
Tomb Structure: From Single Chamber to Multichamber 214
Joint Burial: Partition Wall and Passageway 224
From Inner/Outer to Left/Right 230
The Problem of One Man, Many Wives 233
Funerary Accessories from Seven Multichamber Tombs 236
Three Late Southern Song Tombs 243
Mural Tombs 250
Conclusion 259
Epilogue 261
Appendix: Bibliography of Excavation Reports of Song Tombs
from Fujian 265
Notes 269
Bibliography 325
Index 349
List of Illustrations
Map
Map 1 Fujian Circuit in the Southern Song dynasty. 3
Tables
Table 6.1 List of Song Fujian Tomb Structures 217
Table 6.2 Types of Song Fujian Tombs 223
Table 6.3 Comparison of Accessories 237
Table 6.4 Comparison of Individuals 243
Figures
Figure 1.1 Illustration of a wutou gate in the Yingzao fashi. 18
Figure 1.2 Women at the middle gate. From the twelfth-
century scroll painting Lady Wenji’s Return to
China: Wenji Arriving Home. Ink, color, and gold
on silk. Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, Denman Wlado Ross Collection, 28.65. 31
ix