Table Of ContentThe Destruction oft he
Medieval Chinese Aristocracy
Nicolas Tackett
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74q,35
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Published by the Harvard University Asia Center
Distributed by Harvard University Press
Cambridge (Massachusetts) and London 2m4
© 2014 by ,he President and Fellows of Harvard College
Printed in 1he Unit<:d States of America
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advancement of higher education in the humanities and social sciences in Asia. Headquartered
on 1he campus of Harvard Universi1y, the Institute provides fellowships for advanced research,
for Liu Kan
rraining, and graduate studies ar Harvard by compcritively selected faculty and graduarc studcn1s
from Asia. 11,e lnsrirure also supports a range of academic activiries at its fifty parmer universi
ties and research institutes across Asia. At Harvard, the Institute promotes East Asian studies
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Library of Congress Caraloging-in-Publication Data
Tacken, Nicolas, 1975-
lhe destruction of the medieval Chinese aristocracy/ by Nicolas Tackett.
pages cm. - (Harvard-Ycnching Institute monograph series; 93)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-674-49205-9 (hardcover: acid-free paper) I. China-History-Tang dynasry.
618-907. 2. China- Hisrory-Tang dynasty, GI 8-907-Sourccs. 3. Aristocracy (Social class)
China-Hisrory-To 1500. 4. Elite (Social scienccs)-China- Historr-To 1500. 5. Power
(Social sciences)-China-Hiscory-To 1500. 6. Social change-China-History-To 1500. 7.
Adjustment (Psychology)-Social aspects-China-History-To I 500. 8. China-Social life and
customs-221 B.C.-960 A.D. 9. China-Social conditions-221 B.C.-960 A.D. I. Tide.
DS749.35.T33 2014
951 '.O I 70862 l- dc23
2013038080
Index by rhc author
€) Printed on acid-free paper
Lasr figure below indicates year of this printing
20 19 18 '7 16 15 14
Contents
List of Figures 1x
Acknowledgments x,
Conventions x111
Map of Tang China xv
Introduction r
The Transformation of Medieval Elites 3
Tomb Epitaphs as a Historical Source r3
r 71,e Bureaucratic Aristocracy ofM edieval China 27
Clan Lists and the Classification of the Great Clans 29
The Demographic Expansion of the Medieval Aristocracy 36
The Geographic Dispersal of Great Clan Descendants 44
Bureaucratized Aristocrats 61
Conclusion 67
2 7he Geography ofP ower 70
Localizing Elites 72
Capital Elites 82
National Elites in the Provinces 88
Ocher Elite Migratory Pathways 98
Conclusion 105
3 7he Capital Elite Marriage Network 107
Reconstructing Pacrilines 108
Localizing Patrilines 113
Geographic Distribution and Size of the Late Tang
Political Elite 119
The Social Landscape of the Capitals 122
Marriage Networks and Social Capital 129
Conclusion 141
4 7he Late Tang Provinces 146
The Lace Tang Provincial System and the Hebei
Autonomous Provinces 149
Recentralization after the Xianzong Restoration 155
Figures
The Tang Policical Oligarchy and the Provinces 160
Social Mobility in Provincial Governments 170
Provincial Cultures 178
Conclusion 185
5 Huang Chao and the Destruction oft he Medieval Aristocracy 187
Chang'an under Huang Chao 191 0.1. Epitaph of Li Gao 14
Devastation in Luoyang and the Provinces 206
1.1. Forty-four eminent clans nor included in extant clan lists 34
The Demise of the Tang Elite 218
1.2. Frequency of attribution of great clan status in ninth-century
The Survivors and rbe New Structure of Power 231
epitaphs (by region) 37
Conclusion 235 1.3. Relative prestige of clan attributions in ninth-century epitaphs
(by region) 39
Appendix A: Guide co rhe Accompanying Database 243
1.4. Incidence of elites residing in the same prefecture or province as
Appendix B: Estimating the Total Size of the Lare
choronym place of clan origin (by region) 47
Tang Capital Elite 248
1.5. Choronym places of origin of elites from four select
Appendix C: Sources of Ninth-Century Excavated Epitaphs 250
prefecrures 48
Bibliography 253 r.6. Incidence of elites residing in the same prefecrure or province as
Personal Name Index 265 choronym place of clan origin (by select prefectures) 53
General Index 275 1.7. Core versus periphery localization of native and nonnative clans
in the Lower Yangzi region 54
2.1. Percentage of individuals who died in prefecture/province of
burial (by region) (800-880 CE) 77
2.2. Sire of death of individuals buried in the capital region
(800-880 CE) 78
2.3. Length of epitaph rexrs in differem regions of China 83
2.4. Family traditions of officeholding a,mong elites (by region)
(800-880 CE) 85
2.5. National versus local prominence of officeholding elite (by region)
(800-880 CE) 86
2.6. Private residences in the provinces belonging to Luoyang or
Chang'an elites 89
2.7. Places of provincial burial of individuals with national
ancestries 92
3.1. Places of burial of members of select parrilines 115
3.2. Suburbs of burial of branches of two Luoyang-based
patrilines 117
3 .3. Places of bu rial of the cop seventy-five officeholding parrilines 120
Acknowledgments
3.4. Major types of capital elites (Chang'an versus Luoyang) 121
3.5. Percentage of burials for kinsmen or kinswomen of chief minis-
ters (by region) 121
3.6. Marriage network oflate Tang elite families 123
3.7. Composition of capital-based marriage cliques 126
3.8. Elite residency patterns in Chang'an 128
First and foremost, I would like to express my thanks to my gradu
3.9. Top ninth-century officials by patriline home base and marriage
ate advisor, Robert Hymes, for his extensive help and encouragement
network 134
during the decade I spent writing my dissertation and its prequel, this
4.1. Office rotations of two ninth-century Youzhou officials 153
present study. During my student years, I also had the good fortune of
4.2. Methods by which governors of select provinces acceded to office
attending seminars taught by many others who have also made a mark
(by year and province) 163
on my development as a historian, and co whom I am graceful: Robert
4.3. Backgrounds (civilian or military) of governors of select provinces
Harrist, Li Feng, Martin Kern, Ellen Neskar, Richard Bullier, Zhang
(by year and province) 164
Xiqing, Sarah Schneewind, Hal Kahn, Valerie Hansen, Christian de
4.4. Governors with family history of bureaucratic service (by year
Pee, and Christian Lamouroux. Thanks also to Paul Smith for partici
and province) 165
pating in my dissertation defense. For his insightful comments to my
4.5. Governors based in the capital or with ties to the capital marriage
presema_ti~ns at conferences over the past few years and for inspiring all
network (by year and province) 166
of us doing GIS and prosopography, I extend my gratitude to Peter BoL
4.6. Types of service in provincial bureaucracies (by home region and
My research rime in China was made possible by a Columbia
class of officials) 177
University Traveling Fellowship and a grant from rhe Fulbright-Hays
4.7. Places of county and prefectural service of capital-based
Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program. I also benefited from
officials 180
a year at rhe Geery Research Institute and in the Stanford Introduction
4.8. Places of county and prefectural service of provincial officials
to tl:e Humanities program. Thanks to all who made those fellowships
serving in their home provinces 181
possible. Charles Salas and Ellen Woods were particularly supportive.
p . Consolidation of post-Tang regimes in North China (875-920
I would also like to thank all who helped me obtain access to research
CE) (by province and year) 216
material: Wang Xiaomeng and Li Jugang of the Shaanxi Provincial
p . Consolidation of post-Tang regimes in the Middle/Lower Yangzi
Archaeological Institute; Li Chaoyuan of the Shanghai Museum; Meng
(875- 920 CE) (by prefecture and year) 217
Fanfeng of the Hebei Institute ofA rchaeology; as well as the staffs of the
5.3. Number of excavated epitaphs in the capital region and in Hebei/
Changshu Museum, the Changzhou Museum, the Yangzhou Museum,
Hedong (by decade) 225
the Shanghai Library, the Shandong Museum of Stone Carvings, and
5.4. Number of excavated epitaphs from the capital region (by
the various libraries at Peking University.
period) 226
While writing this book, I have benefited from long conversations
5.5. Military battles and campaigns with more than ten thousand
with Miranda Brown, Al Dien, Huang Yijun, Ye Wa, Tim Davis, Alex
reported casualties in the period 750 co 919 229
Cook, Linda Feng, Tom Mullaney, Brian Vivier, Tony DeBlasi, Lu Yang,
Jessey_C hoo, Zhang Cong, Sukhee Lee, Lewis Mayo, Zhang Tianhong,
and l1yama Tomoyasu. Since arriving at Berkeley, I have also enjoyed
countless wonderful and inspiring discussions with numerous of my
xii Acknowledgments
Conventions
department colleagues, including several (somewhat grueling) ones on
Lomas Cancadas (aka El Toyonal!). Special thanks co David Johnson
and Geoffrey Koziol for their particularly detailed comments co my
manuscript, and co Kristen Wanner, editor at the Harvard University
Asia Center. I have also received invaluable feedback over the years from
Rong Xinjiang, Li Hongbin, Patricia Ebrey, Lau Nap-yin, Ch'en Jo-shui,
r. The bulk of the primary source material used for this study consists
and many ochers. In addition, Liu Kan has consistently provided me
of comb epitaphs and ocher funerary biographies. A personal name
with the invaluable practical perspective of a peasant turned cultural
index at the back of the book provides database epitaph numbers
geographer.
for all individuals with inscriptions mentioned by name in the text.
Finally, I would like to extend special thanks to my father, Timothy
In the main text (bur not in footnotes), an asterisk (*) followino
Tackett, who first exposed me to the historical profession (in the archives t,
a personal name indicates that an inscription exists for the indi-
of the French provinces some three decades ago), and who has been a
vidual in question. For full citation information, readers are invited
constant source of encouragement, as well as of constructive comments
to obtain the epitaph number from the personal name index and
and criticism of my written work.
consult the full Microsoft Access database (or the abridged Microsoft
-N.T.
Excel spreadsheet). See Appendix A for download instructions.
2. The raw data for most calculations in this study are available in the
accompanying Access database. This database is described in appen
dix A. It includes information about far more epitaphs (over 3,000)
and individuals (over 30,000) than those mentioned in the personal
name index. The calculations for most (but not al1 ) of the figures are
available in the database. They can be found among the "queries"
listed in the navigation pane. TI1ey are clearly labeled; the calcula
tions for figure 1.1, for example, appear in che query "Fig u Forty
four excluded eminent clans." In addition, a few footnotes refer co
additional database queries. For example, note 14 in chapter r invites
readers co consult "Fig Lnote14 9th c choronyms" in the database, a
query chat can also be found listed in the navigation pane.
3. Years are identified using the Western calendar. In order co mini
mize confusion, any single Chinese year is converted inco a single
Western year, even though the Chinese new year begins several
weeks after the Western new year. Thus, most events dared in chis
monograph co the twelfth month of a given year would, in fact,
have occurred in January or February of the following year in the
Western calendar.
4. In maps of China, the coascline (with che exception of portions of
the coast between Shanghai and the Bohai Sea), rivers (with che
xiv Conventions
exception of the lower reaches of the Yellow River), and latitude
and longitude coordinates of most counties in the southeast and
some counties elsewhere were obtained from "CHGIS, Version 3:: r--------------------------~
4" (Cambridge, MA: Harvard-Yenching Institute, January 2007). "C
Some additional coordinates of counties were obtained from Ruth I I
•
i *
Moscern and Elijah Meeks, "Digital Gazetteer of Song Dynasty
Cinhgi Tnaa nvg.I .eIr"a ( c2o0a1s0t)l.i nMesu cahn do rfi cvheer creomurasiensi,n agc cgoerodgsr wapihthic T daant aQ, iinxcialundg , (eaJ~t),-r: <.::(O:;";,I) 0~5g ' :(a§2"I,_).
Zhongguo lishi ditu ji, volume 5. The boundaries of Tang China :0C::, 5a,· "io' ' gQ.
0 3 "'
appearing on the map of Tang China on the facing page represent 3 a:
0
the approximate limits of direct Tang political control in the ninth "C:' (50'
-0
century. The Tang regime did not actually demarcate its borders in 0 !2.
<
5·
such clear terms. Situating Tang China within the modern borders (l
(t)
"'
of the People's Republic of China is done for reference only in order
ro help orient the reader.
Introduction
Born into one of rhe most famous aristocratic families of ninrh
cemury China, Ms. Lu possessed a pedigree of unquestionable
eminence. Although her family was originally from Fanyang in the
northeast, ir had relocated ro rhe great capital city of Luoyang ar least
two centuries earlier. 1l1ere, Ms. Lu's forebears joined a social circle
that came ro dominate society and, through its influence over the state
bureaucracy, political power. Nor atypical of a woman of her station,
Ms. Lu could trace her ancestry through an unbroken line of officehold
ers going back ro the Han dynasty, some seven centuries earlier; several
hundred of her clansmen had served in rhe governments of the succes
sive post-Han dynasties, including rhe Tang (618- 907). When she was
fourteen, mindful of the importance of pedigree, Ms. Lu's family found
a suitable march for her in a young man from another great Luoyang
based clan. Unfortunately, her husband died when she was still quire
young. Nevertheless, she maintained her high status in society, looking
after her children's education and arranging their marriages. She must
have felt enormous pride when her son earned rhe prestigious jinshi civil
service examination degree and when, in 878, her son-in-law-scion of
yer another eminenr Luoyang family-became chief minister and one of
the most powerful men in China. 111ree years later, however, Ms. Lu's
life and the whole world she had known came roan abrupt end.1
l. Accounts of the life of Ms. Lu /Ii.I\ (818-81) and her husband. Li Shu $-ff
(802-50), can be rcconsrructcd from the three epitaphs discovered in her tomb; for
transcriptions of the epitaphs and a description of the romb in question (a tomb referred
to as "M91t2" in the report), see Yawhi Xi11gy11n11 Tang 11111, pp. 168-252, 361-69. For
a reconstruction of the genealogy of Ms. Lu's branch of the Fanyang Lus, see XTS 73
J:.:2885-2912; her grcat•grandfother appears on p. 2907 of the table. Chapter 3 of 1hc
present monograph provides more information on her clan (which I identify as parri-
2 Introduction introduction 3
Ar first, the threat must have seemed remote to the residents of rhe of the first decade of the tenth century, most of the smaller regimes had
capital cities of Chang'an and Luoyang. Although a series of uprisings been subsumed into larger states. At chis point, in the fourth month of
had broken our in central China in the mid-87os, imperial armies had the year 907, the warlord controlling the Yellow River Basin and much
succeeded by the end of the decade in routing the rebels, pushing them of North China ordered the execution of rhe last Tang emperor, by then
far back coward the deep south. Suddenly, however, in the seventh month merely his puppet, thus bringing the dynasty to its final demise. What
of rhe year 880, the rebel Huang Chao (d. 884) took advantage of a weak emerged from rhe Tang's collapse-first rhe so-called Five Dynasties and
ness in the empire's defenses co cross rhe Yangzi River. Ir took him only then the great Song empire (960-1279)-was nor merely a sequence of
four more months to capture Luoyang, and, before the end of the year, different political regimes. The tenth century witnessed the coalescing of
his army marched into Chang'an. Then began one of the most infamous an entirely new social order. The great medieval families chat had main
massacres in the annals of Chinese hiscory. Ms. Lu's daughter and son-in tained their prestige for most of rhe first millennium CE, across multiple
law, rhe chief minister, were victims of the bloodshed. She, herself, was a dynastic transitions, vanished entirely from rhe scene. Under the Song
bit more fortunate, escaping with her two sons co a family-owned villa in dynasty, a culture of merit came to eclipse rhe aristocratic ethos of earlier
the countryside some one hundred kilometers ease of Luoyang. Bur her times, largely precluding any resurgence of rhe old order.
good luck did not last. Perhaps because of an epidemic chat accompanied The present book seeks to explain chis dramatic societal and cultural
the warfare and chaos, both she and one of her sons died of illness less rhan transformation. ft focuses on the final century of Tang rule. Although
a month apart in rhe late spring of 881. With rhe surrounding region in generations of scholars have explored the profoundly different character
turmoil, it was not until a year and a half lacer that it became safe enough istics of the Tang and Song elites, a vast corpus of new epigraphic mate
for her youngest son to return her remains to Luoyang for burial alongside rial now allows us to elucidate the precise sociocultural processes char
her husband. By then, four of Ms. Lu's five children had died without led from one social order to the nexr. On rhe basis of a collective biogra
heirs, and the mood among surviving family members was grim. Scrawled phy involving tens of thousands of women and men, this volume exam
unevenly onto rhe side of one of the epitaph scones buried in her comb was ines both how the bureaucratic ariscocracy of medieval China managed
a note written by her nephew: "Another year has passed since the Son of to maintain its influence despite important political and institutional
Heaven went to Sichuan. The great bandit Huang Chao has nor yet been developments in the mid-Tang and why rhe great clans disappeared so
captured and killed. With the ravages of war overtaking Luoyang and completely with rhe fall of rhe dynasty. In the process, ir explores in great
Gong County, the people have no means by which to survive" ~-f-"tlJ, derail the inner workings of an elite society living well over a thousand
~-P¼-~ 4'-, e. ft£ if~, fol ft jt-A~. .l> i~ A Jit., A..fiR-1.1£. 2 years ago. A subsequent study will address rhe cultural transformation
Although rhe emperor did, in fact, return from Sichuan to recapture the during the posr-Tang period whereby a new elite self-identity emerged
throne, rhe once mighty Tang dynasty lived on in name alone. Imperial char discarded many of the ideals and values held by Ms. Lu and the old
legitimacy collapsed as warlords seized control of the provinces, ushering aristocracy ro which she belonged.
in nearly three decades of upheaval, during which dozens of independent
regimes all across the country barded for preeminence.3 By the middle The Transformation of Medieval Elites
In fact, between rhe late Tang and rhe early Song dynasties, China
line 5485). The earliesr known clansman buried in Luoyang was Lu Chisong Ai¼--l':t: underwent a series ofd ramatic changes that utterly transformed sociery.4
(569-625); see Mang Luo beizhi sanbai zho11g, p. 67, for an image ot his epitaph. 1hc
chief minisrer in question was Cui Hang -/t.i.it (d. 880).
2. Sec epitaphs from Ms. Lu's tomb. For more on che Huang Chao Rebellion, sec norrh atter Huang Chao's rebellion, sec chaprcr 4 as well as Wang Gungwu, Stmcrure
chapter 5. ofP o11Jer, pp. 6-84.
3. For a descripcion ot rhc warlords who barded each orhcr for preeminence in the 4. The Japanese journalisr and hisrorian Nairo Torajiro IJ.111,!i,;,t;.til~ (1866-1934)
4 introduction Introduction
A commercial revolution brought about a significant monetization of the Bur perhaps the most dram.atic of the changes associated with this
economy, the expansion in certain regions of marketing networks deep so-called Tang-Song transition was the transformation in the nature
into the countryside, and the development and spread of urban centers.5 and composition of rhe Chinese sociopolirical elite. The twelfth-century
Following a concomitant demographic transformation, the center of scholar Zheng Qiao i11:ffl., (1104-62) succinctly described its essence: "Up
gravity of China's population shifted to the south, thrusting the Yangzi until the Sui and Tang dynasties, officials had dossiers [identifying the
River valley and the sourheast coast to a prominence they had never offices of their ancestors], and families had genealogies. The appoint
before held.6 Simultaneously, remarkable technological innovations ment of officials relied upon the dossiers; marriages between families
increased agricultural productivity, while the greatly expanded use of the relied upon genealogies. ... Ever since the Five Dynasties, one no
printing press substantially enlarged the literate population.7 During this longer asks about family background when selecting officials, and one
same period, China would also witness a number of major developments no longer asks about family prestige when arranging marriages" mff i ;g
in thought and religion, with the emergence of Nee-Confucianism-a rToJ:., 't~f4~k, ~~t¾f, 'ti::..ilV.i.l, ,;lm#f~~k, ~i::..!~:111!1, ,5lmi{'
fundamentally new approach to understanding Classical texts-and the ttf .. . . mJi.,ti,x*, J[ll±Z-P05~i!t-, i\Hl!IZ-P05fl~IJ/j_10 In ocher words,
popularization of new religious cults and practices.8 So fundamental whereas one's pedigree was critical in the Tang, by rhe Song, people
were these changes chat many Chinese of lacer times imagined that the no longer felt that it mattered. Over the past several decades, historical
Song regime itself had ushered in an entirely new era. Writing several scholarship has made enormous strides in elaborating upon the nature of
hundred years later, the historian Chen Bangzhan ~f .,:~l}t (d. 1623) both the Tang and the Song el ires. David Johnson, Patricia Ebrey, Mao
asked rhetorically, "The state system of today, the customs of the popu Hanguang, Sun Guodong, and others have characterized che relatively
lace, the administration of the bureaucracy, the dogma of scholars, did circumscribed medieval aristocracy char defined its status on rhe basis of
any of these not first emerge during rhe Song?" 4'-l)~i::..-$1], t\fb1i::..1~, blood.11 Robert Hartwell, Robert Hymes, Peter Bol, and Beverly Bossler
~-z-w*.W:-f-?
't~zr,Hr, 1fl;~zrfi'~, 9 have all described rhe new, more diffuse collective of elite families who
first emerged in the early Song, families who justified rheir dominance
of society and politics on the basis of ralenr and edu.carion.12 l11ey repre
is credited with first describing this great transformation. 1l1e Naito thesis became sented rhe core element of what has sometimes been called che "Chinese
inAucnrial among Japanese scholars of China in the mid-twentieth cenrnry, and among meritocracy" and would constitute one of rhe most strikino-distinctions
t>
American scholacs during the 1960s and 1970s (although Naitii's claim that the Song between Chinese and Western societies over rhe course of rhe subse-
marked the beginning of the "early modern period" is no longer taken seriously). for
quent millennium.
an ovcr\'icw of the rhcsis and a more rcccnr critique, sec Miyakawa, "Outline" and
Lau Nap-yin, "He wci 'Tang Song biange.'" More recently, there has been a Aurry of But beyond this general account of the sharp distinction between the
publications on the thesis in Mainland China. See, for example, Li Huarui, "Ershi shiji rwo elites, disagreement remains as ro how this transformation actually
zhong ri 'Tang Song biangc' guan"; volume 11 (2005) of the journal Ta11gya11 jiu, espe
cially the introduction by Zhang Guangda; and Li Huarui, ed., "Tang Song biange"/1111.
5. Shiba, "Urbanization"; Shiba, Commerce and Society; Twitchett, "T'ang Marker I 0. Zheng Qiao, To11gzhi, 25:439. Shen Gua i;l,:H, (1031-95) made a similar obser
System"; Twiccherr, "Merchanr, Trade, and Government"; Skinner, "lntroduccion: vation. He concluded an essay describing rhc medieval cusrom of ranking clans by
Urban Development in Imperial China"; Shiba, "Sodai no mshika o kangaeru." observing rhar "chis cusrom gradually fizzled out at the end of the Tang" Jt.1/;;-.f.Jg* -}j
6. Hartwell, "Demographic, Polirical, and Social Transformarions," pp. 365-94. ;t;f ;!'t,1,1.• . Sec Shen, Mengxi bita11, pp. 772-73- .
7. Elvin, Pattern; Cherniack, "Book Culrnre and Texrnal Transmission." 11. Ebrey, Aristocratic Families; Johnson, Medieval Chinese Oligarchy; Johnson,
8. Bol, "This C11lr11re"; Hansen, Cha11gi11g Cods. "Lase Years"; Mao Hanguang, "Tangdai rongzhi jieccng shchui biandong"; Sun
9. Chen Bangzhan, Songshi jishi benmo, pp. 1191-92. Chen argues that rhe Tang Guodong, "Tang Song zhi ji shehui mendi."
Song cransirion constituted the third of rluee grear hisrorical transformations, the first 12. Harrwcll, "Demographic, Political, and Social Transformations," pp. 405-25;
two being the initial establishment of civilizarion in antiquity followed by the cstablish Hymes, Statesmen 1111d Gentlemen; Bol, "This C11!ture," pp. 32-75; Bossler, Powerfiil
menr of a unified empire at the end of rhe third century BCE. Relations.
