Shrines to Living Men in the Ming Political Cosmos

382 Pages·2018·3.905 MB·English

by  Sarah Schneewind

Shrines to Living Men
in the Ming Political Cosmos
Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series 115

Shrines to Living Men
in the Ming Political Cosmos
Sarah Schneewind
Published by the Harvard University Asia Center
Distributed by Harvard University Press
Cambridge (Massachusetts) and London 2018
© 2018 by The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Printed in the United States of America
The Harvard-Yenching Institute, founded in 1928, is an independent foundation dedicated to
the advancement of higher education in the humanities and social sciences in Asia. Headquar-
tered on the campus of Harvard University, the Institute provides fellowships for advanced
research, training, and graduate studies at Harvard by competitively selected faculty and
graduate students from Asia. The Institute also supports a range of academic activities at its
fifty partner universities and research institutes across Asia. At Harvard, the Institute promotes
East Asian studies through annual contributions to the Harvard-Yenching Library and publi-
cation of the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies and the Harvard-Yenching Institute Mono-
graph Series.
I gratefully acknowledge permission to reproduce material from my article, “Beyond Flattery:
Legitimating Political Participation in a Ming Living Shrine,” Journal of Asian Studies 72.2
(May 2013): 345–66. © 2013, published by Cambridge University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schneewind, Sarah, author.
Title: Shrines to living men in the Ming political cosmos / Sarah Schneewind.
Other titles: Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series ; 115.
Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : Published by the Harvard University
Asia Center, 2018. | Series: Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series 115 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017060586 | ISBN 9780674987142 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: China—Politics and government—1368–1644. |
China—History—Ming dynasty, 1368–1644. | China—Social Conditions—960–1644. |
Shrines—China—History. | Dong lin shu yuan (China) | Dissenters—China—History. |
Public opinion—China. | Wei, Zhongxian, 1568–1627. | Gu, Yanwu, 1613–1682.
Classification: LCC DS753 .S36 2018 | DDC 951/.026—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn
.loc.gov/20170605
Index by Bruce Tindall
Printed on acid-free paper
Last figure below indicates year of this printing
23 22 21 20 19 18
For Bruce and Leo

Contents
List of Illustrations and Tables ix
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xv
Chronology xvii
Introduction 1
Part I: Foundation and Floor
1 An Ordinary Institution 29
2 Parentalism 64
3 Worship 88
Part II: Pillars and Beams
4 Political Work 119
5 From Flattery to Participation 148
6 Commoners 176
viii Contents
Part III: Walls and Roof
7 A Political Investment 207
8 Complications 235
9 The Minor Mandate 271
Conclusion 287
Glossary of Chinese Terms 297
Bibliography 303
Steles and Other Primary Texts Cited by English Title 303
Gazetteers Cited 313
Other Works Cited 319
Index 343
Illustrations and Tables
Figures
I.1 Tortoises bearing steles at a posthumous shrine 19
1.1 Mr. Bi’s Living Shrine 31
1.2 The Shrine to Local Worthies and the Shrine
to Eminent Officials 60
2.1 Li Jing’s Premortem Shrine 79
4.1 Seeing off the departing magistrate 124
5.1 Smashing the prefect’s image 150
8.1 The Revering Merit and Admiring Virtue
Premortem Shrine 239
8.2 The Responding to Grace Shrine at West Lake 250
8.3 Happy commoners at the Premortem Shrine
of Palace Eunuch Liu Jing 251
9.1 Elevation of an honorary title for magistrate
in a gazetteer 285
Tables
1.1 Contributions to Li Wenkui’s Premortem
Shrine, 1607–10 40
6.1 Sponsors of the Living Shrine to Taiping
Magistrate Zhang Tingbang 181
7.1 Magistrates of Shahe County and their honors 210–15