âConcubinesâ in Song and Yuan Funerary Inscriptions
âConcubinesâ in Song and Yuan Funerary Inscriptions
âConcubinesâ in Song and Yuan Funerary Inscriptions
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“Concub<strong>in</strong>es” <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> <strong>Funerary</strong><br />
<strong>Inscriptions</strong><br />
Beverly Bossler<br />
柏 文 莉<br />
時 間 : 西 元 二 ○○ 三 年 十 月 十 八 、 十 九 日<br />
地 點 : 東 吳 大 學 外 雙 溪 校 區 國 際 會 議 廳<br />
主 辦 單 位 : 宋 代 史 料 研 讀 會 、 宋 史 座 談 會 、 東 吳 大 學 歷 史 學 系<br />
指 導 單 位 : 教 育 部 、 國 科 會
“Concub<strong>in</strong>es” <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> <strong>Funerary</strong> <strong>Inscriptions</strong><br />
University of California, Davis<br />
Beverly Bossler<br />
柏 文 莉<br />
<strong>Funerary</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g muzhim<strong>in</strong>g, shendaobei, etc) are among the most<br />
important sources available to scholars who are <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> the history of women <strong>and</strong><br />
gender <strong>in</strong> imperial Ch<strong>in</strong>a. Because the genre of funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions was highly stylized,<br />
<strong>and</strong> because the <strong>in</strong>scriptions were meant above all to extol the virtues of the deceased,<br />
they must be used with caution. But precisely because the genre was so stylized,<br />
funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions turn out to be an excellent source for trac<strong>in</strong>g gradual but important<br />
shifts <strong>in</strong> social concerns <strong>and</strong> values over time. 1 In this paper, I aim specifically to explore<br />
what funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions can tell us about chang<strong>in</strong>g attitudes toward “concub<strong>in</strong>es”<br />
(especially qie 妾 , but also ce shih 側 室 , ji shi 姬 侍 , etc.) <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese families <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Song</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> periods. As other authors have noted, the term qie itself has a long history <strong>in</strong><br />
Ch<strong>in</strong>a. In its most general sense, <strong>and</strong> throughout history, it referred to a woman who<br />
served a man <strong>in</strong> his household but was not his legal wife. Yet we should not assume that<br />
the social phenomenon referred to by the term qie rema<strong>in</strong>ed static from one period to the<br />
next. 2 In particular, several scholars of Ch<strong>in</strong>ese family history have suggested that the<br />
<strong>in</strong>sitution of concub<strong>in</strong>age <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> period differed from that of later imperial<br />
Ch<strong>in</strong>a. Patricia Ebrey has argued that concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> times were more like slaves<br />
than like the “secondary wives” we see <strong>in</strong> late imperial Ch<strong>in</strong>a, <strong>and</strong> elsewhere she has<br />
1 In earlier work, I have shown how funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions reveal chang<strong>in</strong>g social values between Tang <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>Song</strong>, <strong>in</strong> that Tang eulogies are more concerned with ancestral achievements <strong>and</strong> ancestral family<br />
position, while <strong>Song</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions are more concerned with the accomplishments of descendants<br />
<strong>and</strong> aff<strong>in</strong>al connections. See Bossler, Powerful Relations: K<strong>in</strong>ship, Status, <strong>and</strong> the State <strong>in</strong> Sung Ch<strong>in</strong>a<br />
(960-1279) (Cambridge: Council on East Asian Studies Publications, Harvard University Press, 1998), 12-<br />
24. More recently, I have begun to explore the emergence of exemplar discourse (especially that<br />
concerned with “faithful widows” (jiefu)) <strong>in</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions of the Southern <strong>Song</strong>. See Bossler,<br />
“Faithful wives <strong>and</strong> heroic martyrs: State, Society <strong>and</strong> Discourse <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>,” <strong>in</strong> Chūgoku<br />
shigakkai 中 国 史 学 会 , ed., Chūgoku no rekishi sekai, tōgō no shisutemu to tagenteki hatten 中 国 の 歴 史<br />
世 界 、 統 合 のシステムと 多 元 的 発 展 , (Tokyo: Tokyo Metropolitan University Press, 2002), 507-556,<br />
<strong>and</strong> “Faithful wives <strong>and</strong> heroic maidens: Politics, Virtue, <strong>and</strong> Gender <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a” <strong>in</strong> Tang <strong>Song</strong><br />
Nüx<strong>in</strong>g yu shehui 唐 宋 女 性 與 社 會 [Tang-<strong>Song</strong> Women <strong>and</strong> Society], ed. Deng Xiaonan 鄧 小 南<br />
(Shanghai: Shanhai ci shu chubanshe, 2003), 751-784.<br />
2 For a discussion of the early evolution of concub<strong>in</strong>age <strong>and</strong> its related term<strong>in</strong>ology, see Wang Shaoxi 王<br />
紹 璽 Xiao qie shi 小 妾 史 , Zhongguo shehui m<strong>in</strong>su shi congshu (Shanghai: Shanghai wen yi<br />
chubanshe, 1995) 1-18.<br />
1
shown that <strong>in</strong> fact the roles <strong>and</strong> status of concub<strong>in</strong>es could vary widely even with<strong>in</strong> the<br />
<strong>Song</strong>. 3 Neil Katkov, <strong>in</strong> a 1997 Ph.D. dissertation, has exam<strong>in</strong>ed legal codes, mourn<strong>in</strong>g<br />
rituals, <strong>and</strong> rules for enfeoffments <strong>and</strong> other honors, to show that the status of concub<strong>in</strong>es<br />
<strong>and</strong> their children gradually improved between the Tang <strong>and</strong> the M<strong>in</strong>g. 4 Katkov suggests<br />
that <strong>in</strong> this period the <strong>in</strong>stitution of concub<strong>in</strong>age was “domesticated,” as the status of<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es became closer to that of legal wives. The current paper exam<strong>in</strong>es how the<br />
evidence to be found <strong>in</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions can contribute to this discussion, keep<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong><br />
m<strong>in</strong>d that the image of concub<strong>in</strong>es to be found <strong>in</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions is necessarily<br />
partial <strong>and</strong> reflects the attitudes <strong>and</strong> prejudices of the elite men who wrote them.<br />
In <strong>in</strong>vestigat<strong>in</strong>g what <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions say about concub<strong>in</strong>es,<br />
we f<strong>in</strong>d first of all that the genral rubric of “concub<strong>in</strong>e” could encompass a variety of<br />
different types of women. The term qie, for example, more often than not appears as an<br />
element <strong>in</strong> compound terms, such as (<strong>in</strong> descend<strong>in</strong>g order of frequency) qie y<strong>in</strong>g 妾 媵<br />
(often reversed as y<strong>in</strong>g qie 媵 妾 ); bi qie 婢 妾 ; pu qie 僕 妾 ; qie yu 妾 御 ; ji qie 姬 妾 ; shi<br />
qie 侍 妾 (or qie shi 妾 侍 ); ji qie 妓 妾 ; bi qie 嬖 妾 ; qie ni 妾 妮 ; qie fu 妾 婦 ; <strong>and</strong> tong qie<br />
童 妾 . Because funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions were a formal <strong>and</strong> ref<strong>in</strong>ed genre of writ<strong>in</strong>g, we can<br />
be assured that these terms, <strong>and</strong> the functions they imply, were widely accepted among<br />
the elite families who commissioned funerary writ<strong>in</strong>gs. Some of the most common terms,<br />
such as qie y<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> qie yu, veil the nature of the concub<strong>in</strong>e-master relationship <strong>in</strong> the<br />
language of classical ritual. But other terms reveal that <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> the role of<br />
the concub<strong>in</strong>e encompassed a cont<strong>in</strong>uum of statuses, rang<strong>in</strong>g from someth<strong>in</strong>g close to<br />
servant (bi qie 婢 妾 , pu qie, qie ni, tong qie) to <strong>in</strong>timate companion <strong>and</strong> enterta<strong>in</strong>er (shi<br />
qie/qie shi, bi qie 嬖 妾 , ji qie 姬 妾 <strong>and</strong> ji qie 妓 妾 ). 5 <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions also<br />
frequently employ terms that do not conta<strong>in</strong> the character “qie” but are used<br />
<strong>in</strong>terchangably with terms that do. Thus they often refer to men be<strong>in</strong>g attended by ji shi<br />
姬 侍 , ji y<strong>in</strong>g 姬 媵 , <strong>and</strong> shi’er 侍 兒 , <strong>and</strong> note that they had children born to them by ci shi<br />
次 室 or ce shi 側 室 . From the perspective of sons, a concub<strong>in</strong>e mother was a shu mu 庶<br />
母 or, more commonly, a sheng mu 生 母 .<br />
If we look at the distribution of these terms <strong>in</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions, we f<strong>in</strong>d that<br />
<strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> authors were measurably more will<strong>in</strong>g to refer to qie than were the<br />
authors of earlier periods. A search of the “<strong>in</strong>dividual collected works” (bie ji 別 集 )<br />
3 Ebrey, Patrica Buckley. “Concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a,” Journal of Family History 11(1986): 1-24; The<br />
Inner Quarters: Marriage <strong>and</strong> the Lives of Ch<strong>in</strong>ese Women <strong>in</strong> the Sung Period, (Berkeley, Los Angeles,<br />
Oxford: University of California Press, 1993), pp. 217-234.<br />
4 Katkov, Neil Ennis, The Domestication of Concub<strong>in</strong>age <strong>in</strong> Imperial Ch<strong>in</strong>a (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard<br />
University, 1997).<br />
5 Cf. Ebrey, Inner Quarters, pp. 217-234.<br />
2
section of the Siku turns up some 1272 juan which conta<strong>in</strong> references to the term “mu zhi<br />
m<strong>in</strong>g;” of these, 312 juan (24.5%) also conta<strong>in</strong> the term “qie.” However, the references<br />
to qie <strong>in</strong>crease steadily over time. Only about 13% of the juan conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g mu zhi m<strong>in</strong>g<br />
from Han through Five Dynasties also conta<strong>in</strong> references to qie; as compared with about<br />
19% from the <strong>Song</strong>, about 24% from the <strong>Yuan</strong>, <strong>and</strong> about 35% from the M<strong>in</strong>g. 6 The shift<br />
is even more dramatic when we look at terms for concub<strong>in</strong>e-type women that don’t<br />
<strong>in</strong>clude the word qie. For example, the earliest appearance of the term ce shi <strong>in</strong> a<br />
funerary <strong>in</strong>scription is <strong>in</strong> a mu zhi m<strong>in</strong>g composed <strong>in</strong> mid-Northern <strong>Song</strong> for a gr<strong>and</strong>nephew<br />
of the emperor. The author, Wang Gui, tells us that the subject’s wife Qian had<br />
no sons, but that his ce shi (whom he does not name) gave birth to a son <strong>and</strong> daughter. 7<br />
Other terms that relate to the presence of concub<strong>in</strong>es as mothers, such as di mu 嫡 母 , shu<br />
mu 庶 母 , nie zi 孽 子 , <strong>and</strong> shu di 庶 弟 likewise appear <strong>in</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions only <strong>in</strong> the<br />
<strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> after. By the same token, terms that refer to concub<strong>in</strong>es as <strong>in</strong>timate<br />
companions, though rema<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g fairly rare <strong>in</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions, make their earliest<br />
appearance <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>. 8<br />
To be sure, all this may say more about stylistic changes <strong>in</strong> the genre of funerary<br />
<strong>in</strong>scriptions between Tang <strong>and</strong> later imperial Ch<strong>in</strong>a than about the <strong>in</strong>creased presence of<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> families as compared with earlier periods. 9 In trac<strong>in</strong>g<br />
references to concub<strong>in</strong>es across the <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>, however, we f<strong>in</strong>d not only a dramatic<br />
<strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> such references, but also a signficant shift <strong>in</strong> the way that concub<strong>in</strong>es are<br />
characterized.<br />
6 The numbers provided here are based on an analysis of sources collected <strong>in</strong> the electronic edition of the<br />
Wen yuan ge Siku quan shu. I am well aware that this survey <strong>in</strong> problematic <strong>in</strong> several respects: the<br />
Siku does not <strong>in</strong>clude all sources <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>cludes multiple versions of others; moreover, the numbers below<br />
do not represent the total numbers of mu zhi m<strong>in</strong>g but only the numbers of juan conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g mu zhi m<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Still, I th<strong>in</strong>k the general trend revealed by the numbers is significant. Some 12 juan out of 94 from the<br />
pre-<strong>Song</strong> period conta<strong>in</strong> references to qie; 51 ot of 269 for Northern <strong>Song</strong>, 61 out of 316 for Southern<br />
<strong>Song</strong>; 42 out of 177 for J<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>, <strong>and</strong> 146 out of 416 for M<strong>in</strong>g. In view of the changes discussed<br />
below, the much smaller number of sources from the <strong>Yuan</strong> as compared with <strong>Song</strong> is particularly<br />
significant.<br />
7 Wang Gui 王 珪 (1019-1085), Hua yang ji 華 陽 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1093) 53.5b. Of 249 juan<br />
conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g references to ce shi <strong>in</strong> mu zhi m<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the ji section of the Siku, only four date from the <strong>Song</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> ten from the <strong>Yuan</strong>, so clearly this term came <strong>in</strong>to <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly wide use <strong>in</strong> M<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> Q<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
8 The term ji shi 姬 侍 appears <strong>in</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions <strong>in</strong> the Siku a total of 16 times: two of the references<br />
date from Northern <strong>Song</strong>, one from Southern <strong>Song</strong>, <strong>and</strong> three from <strong>Yuan</strong>. The term shi’er appears only<br />
eight times, with six of the references dat<strong>in</strong>g from <strong>Song</strong>-<strong>Yuan</strong>. The term shi ji 侍 姬 appears <strong>in</strong> four<br />
references, the earliest two of which date from the <strong>Yuan</strong>.<br />
9 Tthe focus of <strong>and</strong> rhetoric muzhim<strong>in</strong>g changed significantly between Tang <strong>and</strong> <strong>Song</strong>, <strong>and</strong> the focus of<br />
surviv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>scriptions changed between Northern <strong>and</strong> Southern <strong>Song</strong>, such that Northern <strong>Song</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>scriptions focus more on high-rank<strong>in</strong>g officials <strong>and</strong> those of Southern <strong>Song</strong> more on lower-level elites.<br />
See Bossler, Powerful Relations, 12-34.<br />
3
One sign that concub<strong>in</strong>age was, if not actually more common, at least more<br />
commonly acknowledged as the <strong>Song</strong> progressed, can be seen <strong>in</strong> the fact that terms that<br />
did not necessarily imply concub<strong>in</strong>age <strong>in</strong> early <strong>Song</strong> came to do so later. For example, <strong>in</strong><br />
a sacrificial ode (ji wen 祭 文 ) composed for a man who died <strong>in</strong> 1030, Mu Xiu notes that<br />
his subject altogether took four wives ( 君 凡 四 娶 室 ), whom he dist<strong>in</strong>guishes as chu shi<br />
初 室 <strong>and</strong> ci shi 次 室 . He notes that the first wife <strong>and</strong> two of the ci shi were buried <strong>in</strong> the<br />
same tomb but <strong>in</strong> separate coff<strong>in</strong>s from the subject; only the ci shi Li, who had borne a<br />
son, shared the subject’s coff<strong>in</strong>. 10 Wang Zao, <strong>in</strong> two separate <strong>in</strong>scriptions for men who<br />
died <strong>in</strong> the early twelfth century, uses the term <strong>in</strong> a similar fashion. In one he notes that<br />
both the subject’s first wife (yuan shi 元 室 ) <strong>and</strong> his ci shi received honorary titles; <strong>in</strong><br />
another he says that the subject’s first wife (xian shi 先 室 ) Jiang <strong>and</strong> his ci shi Guo both<br />
came from famous families. 11 In neither case does he seem to be talk<strong>in</strong>g about<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es. Thus <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions the term ci shi seems to be used primarily <strong>in</strong> the<br />
sense of “successor wife.” By the <strong>Yuan</strong>, however, the same term was conventionally<br />
used to mean “concub<strong>in</strong>e.” 12 In the late thirteenth century, for example, Wang Yun noted<br />
that the woman L<strong>in</strong>g treated her husb<strong>and</strong>’s ci shi well; <strong>in</strong> the early fourteenth century<br />
Chen Lü described how his subject’s “mother” née Lu had a son that died. The subject<br />
was born of a ci shi, <strong>and</strong> s<strong>in</strong>ce Lu had no sons she reared the subject as her own. 13 In<br />
these cases, where a legal wife was also present, the term ci shi could only mean<br />
“concub<strong>in</strong>e.”<br />
Another sign of the <strong>in</strong>creased acknowledgement of concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> social life is the<br />
proliferation of references to concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> their roles as men’s ancestors, spouses, <strong>and</strong><br />
especially as the mothers of their descendants. <strong>Funerary</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions <strong>in</strong> the <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>Yuan</strong> conventionally recorded all critical members of the deceased’s family, typically<br />
<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g three generations of patril<strong>in</strong>eal ancestors (<strong>and</strong> often their wives), spouses, male<br />
descendants, <strong>and</strong> often the husb<strong>and</strong>s of female descendants. Although concub<strong>in</strong>e<br />
mothers were never rout<strong>in</strong>ely listed among ancestors <strong>in</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions, the practice<br />
became notably more prevalent <strong>in</strong> the Southern <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> than it had been <strong>in</strong><br />
10 Mu Xiu 穆 修 (979-1032), Mu can jun ji 穆 參 軍 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1087), xia 15.<br />
11 Wang Zao 汪 藻 (1079-1154), Fu xi ji 浮 溪 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1128), 26.37b; 27.24b.<br />
12 The Han yu da ci dian glosses the term explicitly as concub<strong>in</strong>e (“qie”), cit<strong>in</strong>g a regulation from the J<strong>in</strong><br />
shi 金 史 that permits all official to take two ci shi, <strong>and</strong> commoners to set up concub<strong>in</strong>es (qie). It seems<br />
possible that J<strong>in</strong> term<strong>in</strong>ology <strong>in</strong>fluenced the way the term came to be used <strong>in</strong> the late <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>.<br />
13 Chen Lü 陳 旅 (1287-1342), An ya tang ji 安 雅 堂 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1213), 11.12b; Wang<br />
Yun 王 惲 (1227-1304), Qiu jian ji 秋 澗 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1200), 52.13-15b. An ambiguous<br />
use of the term occurs <strong>in</strong> Hu Zhiyu 胡 祗 遹 (1227-1295) Zi shan da quan ji 紫 山 大 全 集 (Wen yuan ge<br />
edition, vol. 1196), 18.27.<br />
4
Northern <strong>Song</strong>. Only three Northern <strong>Song</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions for people not <strong>in</strong> the imperial<br />
family list concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers among the subjects’ ancestors. 14 It is perhaps significant<br />
that two of the three <strong>in</strong>volve families at the very top of the early <strong>Song</strong> political hierarchy:<br />
one is for the son of a high-rank<strong>in</strong>g military official, <strong>and</strong> one is for the son of a gr<strong>and</strong><br />
councilor. The third (which is also the latest) is someth<strong>in</strong>g of a special case, for while it<br />
<strong>in</strong>volves a subject of no particular political dist<strong>in</strong>ction, the <strong>in</strong>scription is devoted to<br />
celebrat<strong>in</strong>g the subject’s filial efforts to f<strong>in</strong>d the birth mother he never knew as a child. 15<br />
In Southern <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>, references to concub<strong>in</strong>es among a subject’s ancestors<br />
became slightly more common: six <strong>in</strong>scriptions with such references survive from the<br />
Southern <strong>Song</strong>, <strong>and</strong> (from a much smaller source base) seven from the <strong>Yuan</strong>. The<br />
majority of these citations cont<strong>in</strong>ue to <strong>in</strong>volve high-rank<strong>in</strong>g political families: between<br />
the mid-twelfth <strong>and</strong> mid-thirteenth centuries, Sun Di, Lou Yue, <strong>and</strong> Liu Kezhuang all<br />
recorded concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions for men of prom<strong>in</strong>ent families. In the same<br />
era, <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>scription for an imperial clan member, Zhou Bida not only dist<strong>in</strong>guished the<br />
subject’s “mother” <strong>and</strong> birth mother, but noted that the subject’s gr<strong>and</strong>father was the son<br />
of the great-gr<strong>and</strong>father’s concub<strong>in</strong>e. Still, Sun Di also listed a concub<strong>in</strong>e mother among<br />
14 The Northern <strong>Song</strong> imperial family was exceptional <strong>in</strong> this regard, for where close imperial relatives<br />
were concerned it seems to have been accepted practice even <strong>in</strong> Northern <strong>Song</strong> to list first the subject’s<br />
official mother (<strong>and</strong> usually her title) <strong>and</strong> then his or her birth mother (suo sheng mu). We see this<br />
formula <strong>in</strong> more than half a dozen <strong>in</strong>scriptions composed by Fan Zuyu for members of the imperial<br />
family, as well as <strong>in</strong> two <strong>in</strong>scriptions by Murong Yanfeng (Fan Zuyu 范 祖 禹 (1041-1098), Fan Tai shi<br />
ji 范 太 史 集 , 45.3; 45.4b; 46.3b; 46.5; 48.9b; 49.10; 51.1; <strong>and</strong> 50.3 (mentions a di mu <strong>and</strong> an yu mu 育<br />
母 ); Murong Yanfeng 募 容 彥 逢 (1067-1117), Chi wen tang ji 摛 文 堂 集 , (Wen yuan ge edition, vol.<br />
1123), 14.4b; 14.13b. Presumably, the particular attention to birth mothers <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions for imperial<br />
k<strong>in</strong>smen was related to the palace’s <strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> track<strong>in</strong>g the precise descent of imperial relatives, <strong>and</strong><br />
perhaps also reflects concerns about ritual mourn<strong>in</strong>g that were at the center of several Northern <strong>Song</strong><br />
court debates. But that so many imperial k<strong>in</strong>smen had sheng mu was undoubtedly also a reflection of the<br />
fact that their fathers had so many concub<strong>in</strong>es. Fan Zuyu describes one pr<strong>in</strong>ce as expell<strong>in</strong>g several tens<br />
of shi qie after his mother died (Fan Zuyu 范 祖 禹 (1041-1098), Fan Tai shi ji 范 太 史 集 (Wen yuan ge<br />
edition, vol. 1100), 51.2. In an <strong>in</strong>scription for a woman maried <strong>in</strong>to imperial family, Fan describes her<br />
household as full of concub<strong>in</strong>es (y<strong>in</strong>g qie man qian 媵 妾 滿 前 ) (Ibid., 48.4a). John Chaffee, <strong>in</strong> his study<br />
of the <strong>Song</strong> Imperial Clan, remarks the huge numbers of servants <strong>and</strong> concub<strong>in</strong>es employed by clan<br />
members <strong>in</strong> the Northern <strong>Song</strong>. See Chaffee, Branches of Heaven, A History of the Imperial Clan of<br />
Sung Ch<strong>in</strong>a (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, Harvard University Press, 1999), 33, 58. It<br />
should be noted here that Fan Zuyu, who wrote numerous <strong>in</strong>scriptions for members of the imperial<br />
family, refers to birth mothers far more often than any other northern <strong>Song</strong> writer. Fan refers to birth<br />
mothers <strong>in</strong> ten such <strong>in</strong>scriptions; only two other Northern <strong>Song</strong> do so more than once: Xie Yi, writ<strong>in</strong>g<br />
slightly later, mentions two; Murong Yanfeng (also writ<strong>in</strong>g of imperial k<strong>in</strong>smen), three.<br />
15 Fan Zuyu 范 祖 禹 (1041-1098), Fan Tai shi ji 范 太 史 集 , 43.5b; Wang Anli 王 安 禮 (1034-1095), Wang<br />
Wei gong ji 王 魏 公 集 , (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1100) 7.3b; Ge Shengzhong 葛 勝 仲 (1072-1144),<br />
Dan yang ji 丹 陽 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1127), 13.17b-19b. This last may <strong>in</strong> fact date from early<br />
Southern <strong>Song</strong>: while the subject died <strong>in</strong> 1124, the date of the <strong>in</strong>scription itself is unknown.<br />
5
the ancestors of a man of more modest background. 16 In the mid-thirteenth century Yao<br />
Mian listed a concub<strong>in</strong>e mother <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>scription for his own (politically obscure) father,<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> the very late thirteenth century Huang Zhongyuan listed a concub<strong>in</strong>e mother of a<br />
similarly undist<strong>in</strong>guished subject. 17 F<strong>in</strong>ally, while Zhao Mengfu, Huang J<strong>in</strong>, <strong>and</strong> Chen<br />
Lü listed concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions for politically prom<strong>in</strong>ent men of the<br />
fourteenth century, Huang also provided the same <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>scription for a man<br />
of more modest background, as did Hu Han <strong>and</strong> Y<strong>in</strong> Kui. 18<br />
A few <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> authors also began to mention concub<strong>in</strong>es when list<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
spouses of their subjects. I have found only one case of this practice among <strong>Song</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>scriptions: writ<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the mid-eleventh century, Wang Gui noted that an imperial<br />
nephew had taken a wife surnamed Qian. After observ<strong>in</strong>g that Qian had no sons, Wang<br />
adds that the subject’s concub<strong>in</strong>e (qi ce shi 其 側 室 ), whom he does not bother to name,<br />
bore a son <strong>and</strong> a daughter. 19 This sort of diction does not appear aga<strong>in</strong> until the <strong>Yuan</strong>,<br />
<strong>and</strong> even then we f<strong>in</strong>d it <strong>in</strong> only four <strong>in</strong>scriptions. The first dates from the late thirteenth<br />
century, when we see an <strong>in</strong>scription <strong>in</strong> which the subject’s spouses are listed as “Lady<br />
Feng, <strong>and</strong> concub<strong>in</strong>e née Liu” (xian jun Feng shi, ci shi Liu shi 縣 君 馮 氏 次 室 劉 氏 ). 20<br />
While it is possible that <strong>in</strong> the above case ci shi means “successor wife” rather than<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e, an <strong>in</strong>scription for a non-Han military official who died <strong>in</strong> 1299 is<br />
unambiguous: we are told that the subject had two ma<strong>in</strong> wives (zheng shi 正 室 ), a<br />
successor wife (ji shi 繼 室 ), <strong>and</strong> three concub<strong>in</strong>es (ce shi 側 室 ). The eulogist provides<br />
surnames of all the women, as well as the names of their respective sons. 21 Another<br />
<strong>in</strong>scription written <strong>in</strong> the same period describes a northern man of Han descent who<br />
16 Sun Di 孫 覿 (1081-1169), Hong q<strong>in</strong>g ju shi ji 鴻 慶 居 士 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1135), 34.11b,<br />
37.2; Lou Yue 樓 鑰 (1137-1213), Gong kui ji 攻 媿 集 (Cong shu ji cheng edition, Shanghai: 1935)<br />
103.1457; Liu Kezhuang 劉 克 莊 (1187-1269), Hou cun ji 後 村 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1180),<br />
37.4, 40.5b (this last is for the author’s nephew, who died <strong>in</strong> 1244); Zhou Bida 周 必 大 (1126-1204),<br />
Wen zhong ji 文 忠 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vols. 1147-1149), 71.13.<br />
17 Yao Mian 姚 勉 (1216-1262), Xue po ji 雪 坡 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1184), 49.1b; Huang<br />
Zhongyuan 黃 仲 元 (1231-1312) Si ru ji 四 如 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1188), 4.20.<br />
18 Zhao Mengfu 趙 孟 頫 (1254-1322), <strong>Song</strong> xue zhai ji 松 雪 齋 集 (WYG vol. 1196), wai ji 22; Huang J<strong>in</strong><br />
黃 溍 (1277-1357), Huang wen xian gong ji (Cong shu ji cheng edition) 8a.327-328; 9a.399-400; Chen L<br />
ü 陳 旅 (1287-1342), An ya tang ji 安 雅 堂 集 , 11.12b; Hu Han 胡 翰 (1307-1381), Hu Zhongzi ji 胡 仲 子<br />
集 (WYG vol. 1229), 9.14; Y<strong>in</strong> Kui 殷 奎 (1331-1376), Qiang zhai ji 強 齋 集 , (WYG vol. 1232) 4.2.<br />
19 Wang Gui 王 珪 , Hua yang ji 華 陽 集 , 53.5b. This is the earliest use of the term ce shi <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong><br />
funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions.<br />
20 Hu Zhiyu 胡 祗 遹 (1227-1295), Zi shan da quan ji 紫 山 大 全 集 , 18.27.<br />
21 Cheng Jufu 程 鉅 夫 (1249-1318), Xue lou ji 雪 樓 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1202), 17.15. This<br />
example suggests that the marriage system of the steppe peoples, <strong>in</strong> which a man could have multiple<br />
wives of essentially equal status, may have <strong>in</strong>fluenced Han ideas about the status of concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> the<br />
household <strong>in</strong> this period.<br />
6
served the Mongols dur<strong>in</strong>g the conquest. In list<strong>in</strong>g the subject’s “ladies” (fu ren 夫 人 ),<br />
this <strong>in</strong>scription mentions one woman, describes her dist<strong>in</strong>guished ancestry, <strong>and</strong> then notes<br />
that she died n<strong>in</strong>eteen years before the subject. It then lists a second woman <strong>and</strong> aga<strong>in</strong><br />
notes her dist<strong>in</strong>guished ancestry. F<strong>in</strong>ally, it lists two other women, merely not<strong>in</strong>g that the<br />
first came from the same hamlet as the subject <strong>and</strong> the other came from the city of Yidu<br />
( 益 都 ). The relative statuses of all these women are left ambiguous, as is their<br />
relationship to the subject’s six sons, but it appears that the latter two were concub<strong>in</strong>es. 22<br />
In a f<strong>in</strong>al case, concern<strong>in</strong>g a subject who died <strong>in</strong> 1315, we are told simply <strong>and</strong> directly<br />
that the subject first married Sun, who died; he then married a second woman named Sun,<br />
<strong>and</strong> had as well a ce shi surnamed Ji, who also died. The subject was buried together<br />
with both Sun <strong>and</strong> Ji. 23<br />
Admittedly, the very small number of these cases reveals that mention<strong>in</strong>g<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es as spouses never became a widely-accepted practice <strong>in</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scription<br />
writ<strong>in</strong>g of the <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>. Moreover, as some of the above examples suggest,<br />
<strong>in</strong>terest <strong>in</strong> concub<strong>in</strong>es as spouses was often closely related to their success <strong>in</strong> produc<strong>in</strong>g<br />
descendants. And <strong>in</strong>deed, it is precisely with regard to concub<strong>in</strong>es produc<strong>in</strong>g<br />
descendants that we see the most dramatic shift <strong>in</strong> the rhetoric of <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> funerary<br />
<strong>in</strong>scriptions.<br />
By <strong>Song</strong> times it had become conventional for funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions to list the<br />
sons, gr<strong>and</strong>sons, great-gr<strong>and</strong>sons, <strong>and</strong> often the sons-<strong>in</strong>-law <strong>and</strong> gr<strong>and</strong>sons-<strong>in</strong>-law of the<br />
subject. 24 Before the very late <strong>Song</strong>, however (with the s<strong>in</strong>gle exception of the<br />
<strong>in</strong>scription by Wang Gui cited above), these lists virtually never dist<strong>in</strong>guished<br />
descendants by maternity. Rather, <strong>in</strong>scriptions typically listed a man’s wife <strong>and</strong>, where<br />
applicable, successor wives, <strong>and</strong> then listed the descendants who, by implication, all<br />
“belonged” to the legal wife, as per law <strong>and</strong> custom. 25<br />
It should be emphasized here that many <strong>Song</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions acknowledged the<br />
existence of concub<strong>in</strong>es as mothers <strong>in</strong> other ways, as we shall see further below. Even <strong>in</strong><br />
Northern <strong>Song</strong>, funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions were occasionally commissioned for concub<strong>in</strong>e<br />
mothers, <strong>and</strong> a few Northern <strong>Song</strong> authors told stories of filial sons who went to great<br />
22 Xiao Jiu 蕭 XX (1241-1318), Q<strong>in</strong> zhai ji 勤 齊 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1206), 3.22b.<br />
23 Tong Shu 同 恕 (1254-1331), Ju an ji 榘 菴 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1206) 8.9b.<br />
24 See Bossler, Powerful Relations, 17.<br />
25 In a very few cases, <strong>Song</strong> <strong>in</strong>scription authors dist<strong>in</strong>guish between the children of the first <strong>and</strong> later legal<br />
wives.<br />
7
lengths to f<strong>in</strong>d birth mothers who had left them beh<strong>in</strong>d. 26 Still, it is only <strong>in</strong> late Southern<br />
<strong>Song</strong> that <strong>in</strong>scription writers beg<strong>in</strong> to dwell on the presence of more than one mother <strong>in</strong><br />
the family, <strong>and</strong> to describe the impact thereof <strong>in</strong> the lives of <strong>Song</strong> families. Writ<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the<br />
late twelfth century, Lou Yue praises a son for assiduously seek<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>scription for his<br />
di mu 嫡 母 , <strong>and</strong> suggests that his filial action demonstrates his legal mother’s impartiality<br />
(lit., “cukoo-like virtue” (shi jiu zhi de 鳲 鳩 之 德 )). 27 While never quite mention<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e, Lou alerts to the fact that the son was not born of his legal mother. Wei<br />
Liaoweng tells us more directly that Guo Shuyi 郭 叔 誼 (d. 1233), born of a concub<strong>in</strong>e<br />
née Shi, became heir to his childless uncle. Wei also relates that when the son of Yang<br />
L<strong>in</strong>ggui 楊 令 圭 (d. 1233) <strong>and</strong> his wife Du died young, the new heir was appo<strong>in</strong>ted by<br />
order of a birth mother, née Deng. Liu Kezhuang mentions that his nephew (d. 1244) had<br />
a wife who bore a daughter, a successor wife who bore a son, <strong>and</strong> also daughter born of a<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e (shu sheng 庶 生 ). Likewise, <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>scription he wrote for his own wife, Liu<br />
lists several children <strong>and</strong> then adds that there were also a young boy <strong>and</strong> girl who were<br />
shu sheng 庶 生 . 28 Yang Wanli expresses similar concern about the maternity of<br />
descendants when he observes that his aff<strong>in</strong>e Li Gai 李 槩 (d. 1200) was married three<br />
times, but that the children were all born of the first two wives. Liu Tsai mentions that Li<br />
Renhou 李 仁 垕 , dead <strong>in</strong> 1230 at the untimely age of 28 sui, was survived by a four-yearold<br />
son whom Liu specifies was the child of an unnamed concub<strong>in</strong>e (pang ce shi 旁 側<br />
室 ). 29<br />
As the <strong>Song</strong> dynasty gave way to the <strong>Yuan</strong>, this attention to the maternity of<br />
descendants <strong>in</strong>creased. In an <strong>in</strong>scription for Zhao Liang 趙 諒 (d. 1287), Ren Shil<strong>in</strong> lists<br />
Zhao’s wife’s surname <strong>and</strong> the names <strong>and</strong> titles of her three sons. He observes that the<br />
eight daughters all married <strong>in</strong>to famous families, then remarks that the second was born<br />
of a concub<strong>in</strong>e (ce shi) née Niu. In like manner, writ<strong>in</strong>g of the em<strong>in</strong>ent <strong>Yuan</strong> official Gao<br />
Kegong 高 克 恭 (d. 1310), Deng Wenyuan lists Gao’s first wife with her children, a<br />
26 For men who sought out their concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers after they became adults, see Fan Zuyu 范 祖 禹 (1041-<br />
1098), Fan Tai shi ji 范 太 史 集 , 52.15b; Ge Shengzhong 葛 勝 仲 (1072-1144), Dan yang ji 丹 陽 集<br />
13.17b; <strong>and</strong> Wei Liao-weng, 魏 了 翁 (1178-1237), He shan ji 鶴 山 集 79.20b.<br />
27 Lou Yue 樓 鑰 (1137-1213), Gong kui ji 攻 媿 集 , 108.1532. The allusion is to a song <strong>in</strong> the Book of Odes<br />
<strong>and</strong> suggests to the equal treatment of all sons, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g those not her own, by the legal wife. Lou<br />
implies that the stepson’s anxiety to have his mother properly commemorated is testament to her<br />
impartial treatment of him.<br />
28 Wei Liao-weng, 魏 了 翁 (1178-1237), He shan ji 鶴 山 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vols. 1172-1173) 83.9b;<br />
84.16; Liu Kezhuang 劉 克 莊 (1187-1269), Hou cun ji 後 村 集 , 40.5b; Hou cun da quan ji (Si bu cong<br />
kan edition) 148.16b-17b.<br />
29 Yang Wanli 楊 萬 里 (1127-1206), Cheng zhai ji 誠 齊 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1160-1161), 132.2b;<br />
Liu Zai 劉 宰 (1166-1234), Man tang ji 慢 塘 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1170), 31.16.<br />
8
second wife with hers, <strong>and</strong> f<strong>in</strong>ally concludes, “the son of the concub<strong>in</strong>e...is still young.” 30<br />
In an <strong>in</strong>scription composed <strong>in</strong> 1326, Wu Cheng matter-of-factly reveals that when a son<br />
<strong>and</strong> son-<strong>in</strong>-law of Huang Zhangyuan 黃 長 元 died, two concub<strong>in</strong>e’s sons (nie zi 孽 子 )<br />
<strong>and</strong> Huang’s second gr<strong>and</strong>son were appo<strong>in</strong>ted to serve as their heirs. 31<br />
The pattern cont<strong>in</strong>ues: I have mentioned above the <strong>in</strong>scription by Cheng Jufu for<br />
a Mongol official, which categorizes the official’s descendants by maternity. In another<br />
<strong>in</strong>scription, this time for a Han man who refused to serve the Mongols, Cheng likewise<br />
notes that although the subject’s wife died childless, there were three sons born of a<br />
woman surnamed Hu. 32 Tong Shu tells us that Jiao Rong 焦 榮 (d. 1317)’s four sons were<br />
born of his virtuous wife Du, but that his daughter was the child of his ce shi Wu.<br />
Elsewhere Tong Shu reports that the wife née Wang of Guo Haode 郭 好 德 (d. 1321) was<br />
the daughter of Guo’s maternal uncle, <strong>and</strong> his ce shi was a woman surnamed Liang; he<br />
then tells us that of Guo’s four children, the two elder daughters were already married;<br />
the only boy (just one year old) <strong>and</strong> youngest girl were born of Liang. 33 In describ<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
descendants of Zhang Tian (d. 1307), Yu Ji dist<strong>in</strong>guishes between the children born to<br />
Zhang’s first wife, those born by his successor wife (ji shi), <strong>and</strong> those born to his ce shi. 34<br />
As the fourteenth century progressed, it seems to have become more or less rout<strong>in</strong>e to<br />
note the maternal orig<strong>in</strong>s of descendants. Such references appear <strong>in</strong> multiple <strong>in</strong>sciptions<br />
by numerous <strong>Yuan</strong> authors, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Li Cun, Su Tianjue, Gong Shitai, Xie Y<strong>in</strong>gfang,<br />
Zhao Fang, <strong>and</strong> Yang Weizhen. 35 The practice cont<strong>in</strong>ued as the <strong>Yuan</strong> gave way to the<br />
M<strong>in</strong>g, as seen <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions by <strong>Song</strong> Lian, L<strong>in</strong> Bi, Bei Qiong, Su Boheng, Wang X<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
Y<strong>in</strong> Kui, Wu Sidao, <strong>and</strong> so on. 36 In short, by about the mid-<strong>Yuan</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese authors had<br />
30 Ren Shil<strong>in</strong> 任 士 林 (1253-1309), <strong>Song</strong> xiang ji 松 鄉 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1196) 3.15b; Deng<br />
Wenyuan 鄧 文 原 (1259-1328), Ba xi ji 巴 西 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1195) xia.22. The ellipsis<br />
represents a lacunae <strong>in</strong> the orig<strong>in</strong>al text.<br />
31 Wu Cheng 吳 澄 (1249-1333), Wu wen zheng ji 吳 文 正 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1197), 84.10.<br />
32 Cheng Jufu 程 鉅 夫 (1249-1318), Xue lou ji 雪 樓 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1202), 17.15; 19.7-7b.<br />
Cheng says noth<strong>in</strong>g about Hu’s status, nor does he tell us who gave birth to the subject’s five daughters.<br />
33 Tong Shu 同 恕 (1254-1331), Ju an ji 榘 菴 集 , 7.15b; 8.9b.<br />
34 Yu Ji 虞 集 (1272-1348), Dao yuan xue gu lu 道 園 學 古 錄 (Guo xue ji ben cong shu edition,Taipei:<br />
Shangwu y<strong>in</strong> shu guan, 1968) 18.307-308.<br />
35 Li Cun 李 存 (1281-1354), Si an ji 俟 菴 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1213), 25.6b-8a; 25.19b-20; Su<br />
Tianjue 蘇 天 爵 (1294-1352), Zi xi wen gao 滋 溪 文 稿 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1214), 11.7-7b, 13.14b;<br />
Gong Shitai 貢 師 泰 (1298-1362), Wan zhai ji 玩 齋 集 , (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1215), 10.54; 10.55-<br />
55b; Xie Y<strong>in</strong>gfang 謝 應 芳 (1296-1392) Gui chao gao 龜 巢 稿 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1218), 13.5;<br />
Zhao Fang 趙 汸 (1319-1369), Dong shan cun gao 東 山 存 稿 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1221), 7.57;<br />
Yang Weizhen 楊 維 楨 (1296-1370), Dong wei zi ji 東 維 子 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1221), 24.6.<br />
36 <strong>Song</strong> Lian 宋 濂 (1310-1381), Wen xian ji 文 憲 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1223), 22.50; <strong>Song</strong> Lian<br />
quan ji 宋 濂 全 集 (Hangzhou: Zhejiang gu ji chu ban she, 1999), 10.303; L<strong>in</strong> Bi 林 弼 (ca. 1324-1381),<br />
L<strong>in</strong> Dengzhou ji 林 登 州 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1227) 19.12 ;19.5; Bei Qiong 貝 瓊 , Q<strong>in</strong>g jiang<br />
9
come to f<strong>in</strong>d it appropriate, even “natural,” that funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions—understood to be<br />
the official record of an <strong>in</strong>dividual’s life for all posterity—would acknowledge the role of<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers <strong>in</strong> produc<strong>in</strong>g descendants. Their frank acknowledgement of<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers st<strong>and</strong>s <strong>in</strong> strik<strong>in</strong>g contrast to Lou Yue’s tentative reference a century<br />
or so earlier, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> even more strik<strong>in</strong>g contrast to the virtual silence regard<strong>in</strong>g<br />
descendants’ maternity <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions from the Northern <strong>Song</strong>.<br />
The late <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> concern with maternity of descendants was associated<br />
with greater concern about concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers more generally. Not only did funerary<br />
<strong>in</strong>scriptions of the late <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly acknowledge concub<strong>in</strong>es’ presence,<br />
they also began to pay greater attention to how concub<strong>in</strong>es were treated. Increas<strong>in</strong>gly,<br />
treat<strong>in</strong>g a concub<strong>in</strong>e mother well became a st<strong>and</strong>ard element <strong>in</strong> accounts of virtuous<br />
behavior.<br />
I have found only one Northern <strong>Song</strong> reference prais<strong>in</strong>g a man for serv<strong>in</strong>g his<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e mother: Fan Zuyu noted that an imperial clan member served both his di mu<br />
<strong>and</strong> his suo sheng without contraven<strong>in</strong>g ritual. A somewhat more elaborate reference<br />
survives from the early Southern <strong>Song</strong>: Sun Di praised Zhu Zong 朱 宗 (d. 1140) for<br />
never leav<strong>in</strong>g the side of his suo sheng mu throughout his career <strong>and</strong> retirement, not<strong>in</strong>g<br />
that she was utterly bereft when he predeceased her. 37 As the Southern <strong>Song</strong> progressed,<br />
however, references to men serv<strong>in</strong>g their concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers with “utmost respect” or<br />
“filiality” or “great care” become nearly conventional. 38 Zhang Shi describes how, on<br />
reach<strong>in</strong>g middle age, Zhang Zhuo 張 棁 (1092-1165) led his wife <strong>and</strong> children to serve his<br />
suo sheng mu, bend<strong>in</strong>g over backward to please her (qu j<strong>in</strong> qi yi 曲 盡 其 意 ). Chen Su 陳<br />
宿 (1173-1242) similarly first served his di mu with utmost filiality, <strong>and</strong> after her death<br />
served his suo sheng mu <strong>in</strong> her place. 39 There are numerous examples of the same sort of<br />
wen ji 清 江 詩 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1228) 21.10-12; Su Boheng 蘇 伯 衡 (1314-1376), Su p<strong>in</strong>g<br />
zhong wen ji 蘇 平 仲 文 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1228), 12.7, 13.10b, 13.13, 13.37b, 14.10; Wang<br />
X<strong>in</strong>g 王 行 (1331-1395) Ban xuan ji 半 軒 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1231), 9.7b; Y<strong>in</strong> Kui 殷 奎 (1331-<br />
1376), Qiang zhai ji 強 齋 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1232), 4.6, 4.20, 4.20b, 4.24; Wu Sidao 烏 斯 道<br />
(14 th century), Chun cao zhai ji 春 草 齋 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1232), 5.8—<strong>and</strong> others could be<br />
cited. There is every evidence that this practice cont<strong>in</strong>ued to be common throughout the later imperial<br />
era.<br />
37 Fan Zuyu 范 祖 禹 (1041-1098), Fan Tai shi ji 范 太 史 集 , 47.8; Sun Di 孫 覿 (1081-1169), Hong q<strong>in</strong>g ju<br />
shi ji 鴻 慶 居 士 集 , 33.5.<br />
38 Zhou Bida 周 必 大 (1126-1204), Wen zhong ji 文 忠 集 , 32.15; Lu You 陸 游 (1125-1210), Wei nan wen<br />
ji 渭 南 文 集 , <strong>in</strong> Lu Fangweng quan ji 陸 放 翁 全 集 (Xianggang guang zhi shu ju, Hong Kong, n.d),<br />
36.225; Wei Liao-weng, 魏 了 翁 (1178-1237), He shan ji 鶴 山 集 , 84.11b.<br />
39 Zhang Shi 張 栻 (1133-1180), Nan xuan ji 南 軒 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1167), 39.5b; Liu<br />
Kezhuang 劉 克 莊 (1187-1269), Hou cun ji 後 村 集 , 39.6b.<br />
10
hetoric from the <strong>Yuan</strong>. 40 By the fourteenth century we also beg<strong>in</strong> to see for the first time<br />
men praised for serv<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers who are not their own mothers. When Sun<br />
Huishu’s 孫 會 叔 (d. 1303) successor mother died, he served the mother of his shu di as if<br />
she had been his own birth mother. 41 Both Zhang Keyong 張 克 用 (d. 1374) <strong>and</strong> Huang<br />
Jue 黃 玨 (1300-1370) 卓 were praised for respond<strong>in</strong>g to shu mu who were cruel to them<br />
by redoubl<strong>in</strong>g their efforts to be filial. 42<br />
We see a similar development <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>scription rhetoric regard<strong>in</strong>g filial daughters-<strong>in</strong>law.<br />
A late <strong>Song</strong> <strong>in</strong>scription by Huang T<strong>in</strong>gjian for his aunt (d. 1098) is quite explicit<br />
about the new st<strong>and</strong>ard:<br />
When Madame (d. 1093) married my uncle, she was too late to serve his<br />
parents (i.e., they had already died). She served my uncle’s birth mother<br />
Li with the ritual for serv<strong>in</strong>g a mother-<strong>in</strong>-law, completely lov<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong><br />
completely respectful…The custom <strong>in</strong> Fenn<strong>in</strong>g was that birth mothers<br />
always waited on their sons <strong>and</strong> their sons’ wives. When people heard of<br />
Madame’s deportment, they were delighted <strong>and</strong> admir<strong>in</strong>g. 43<br />
In other words, Huang’s account suggests that <strong>in</strong> Northern <strong>Song</strong>, at least <strong>in</strong> some parts of<br />
the country, concub<strong>in</strong>es were expected to wait on others <strong>in</strong> the household, even their own<br />
children. He remarks on the charm<strong>in</strong>g novelty of the notion that a concub<strong>in</strong>e who had<br />
borne a child was entitled to have her sons <strong>and</strong> daughters-<strong>in</strong>-law wait upon her.<br />
I have seen only one other Northern <strong>Song</strong> <strong>in</strong>scription describ<strong>in</strong>g a woman serv<strong>in</strong>g<br />
her husb<strong>and</strong>’s concub<strong>in</strong>e mother, 44 but such references become quite common <strong>in</strong> the very<br />
late Southern <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>. Liu Kezhuang tells us that s<strong>in</strong>ce her husb<strong>and</strong>’s legal<br />
parents had died, Madame Zhao served her husb<strong>and</strong>’s birth mother with great care; Wen<br />
Tianxiang describes how at age 76 Madame Luo was still serv<strong>in</strong>g her husb<strong>and</strong>’s birth<br />
40 Liu Yueshen 劉 岳 申 (1260-after 1346), Shen zhai ji 申 齋 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1204), 9.4b; Jie<br />
Xisi 揭 傒 斯 (1274-1344) Wen an ji 文 安 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1208) 13.2b; Su Boheng 蘇 伯 衡<br />
(1314-1376), Su p<strong>in</strong>g zhong wen ji 蘇 平 仲 文 集 , 13.10b. See also Huang J<strong>in</strong> 黃 溍 (1277-1357), Huang<br />
wen xian gong ji 9a.377 where a man whose concub<strong>in</strong>e mother died shortly after his birth is obsessed<br />
with the idea of see<strong>in</strong>g to her reburial.<br />
41 Cheng Duanxue 程 端 學 (1278-1334), Ji zhai ji 積 齋 集 , (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1212) 5.12b.<br />
42 L<strong>in</strong>g Yunhan 淩 雲 翰 (14 th cent), Zhe Xuanji 柘 軒 集 (5 j.), Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1227 4.37b; Xie Su<br />
謝 肅 (fl. 1367-1375), Mi an ji 密 菴 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1228) 8.16-19b.<br />
43 Huang T<strong>in</strong>gjian 黃 庭 堅 (1045-1105), Huang T<strong>in</strong>gjian quan ji 黃 庭 堅 全 集 , ed. by Liu L<strong>in</strong> 劉 琳 et. al.<br />
(Chengdu: Sichuan daxue chubanshe, 2001), wai ji 22.1394.<br />
44 Zhao D<strong>in</strong>gchen 趙 鼎 臣 (b. 1070), Zhu y<strong>in</strong> ji shi ji 竹 隱 畸 士 集 19.5b. This <strong>in</strong>scription is not dated, but<br />
had to have been compiled after the turn of the twelfth century, as the sister was younger than Zhao<br />
D<strong>in</strong>gchen (b. 1070) <strong>and</strong> died at the age of thirty-three. I discuss this <strong>in</strong>scription further below.<br />
11
mother, who <strong>in</strong> 1273 was 100 sui. 45 Wu Cheng praised several of his subjects for treat<strong>in</strong>g<br />
their husb<strong>and</strong>’s birth mothers as they treated their mothers-<strong>in</strong>-law, <strong>and</strong> numerous other<br />
<strong>Yuan</strong> authors employed similar rhetoric. 46 This <strong>in</strong>crease <strong>in</strong> references to both men <strong>and</strong><br />
women serv<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers suggests that concub<strong>in</strong>age was becom<strong>in</strong>g more<br />
common, or at least that moralists felt it was important to acknowledge concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong><br />
their capacity as mothers. In addition, references to men serv<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers who<br />
were not their birth mothers suggest that by <strong>Yuan</strong> times concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers (particularly<br />
<strong>in</strong> the absence of a ma<strong>in</strong> wife) were regarded as worthy of the full respect accorded a<br />
female head of household—or that the men who wrote funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions thought they<br />
should be.<br />
The <strong>in</strong>creased concern about concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers <strong>in</strong> late <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>scriptions was associated as well with <strong>in</strong>creased concern about the children of<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers. Just as <strong>in</strong>scription writers began to laud men <strong>and</strong> women who treated<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers well, so too did they beg<strong>in</strong> to tell stories of men who were generous to<br />
their half-brothers <strong>and</strong> women who were lov<strong>in</strong>g to their stepsons. An early reference to<br />
treatment of half-brothers appears <strong>in</strong> an <strong>in</strong>scription composed <strong>in</strong> 1170 by Zhou Bida.<br />
Here we are told simply that even though the subject’s father died, his shu di <strong>and</strong> his<br />
various younger sisters were all married at the proper time. 47 Without dwell<strong>in</strong>g on the<br />
subject, Zhou wishes us to underst<strong>and</strong> that the subject endowed his half-brothers <strong>and</strong><br />
sisters with sufficient resources that they could make proper marriages. A reference by<br />
Ye Shi is similarly laconic, mention<strong>in</strong>g simply that his subject reared his half-brothers<br />
with friendl<strong>in</strong>ess <strong>and</strong> love. 48 <strong>Yuan</strong> writers, however, are more descriptive. Liu Yueshen<br />
not only tells us that Xiao Rui 蕭 瑞 (d. 1331) married off his half-brothers <strong>and</strong> halfsisters<br />
(shu di mei) uniformly; he adds that Xiao divided his property equally with his two<br />
half-brothers, <strong>and</strong> credits him with the fact that the two were able to live out their lives <strong>in</strong><br />
comfort. Tang Ju 唐 聚 (d. 1292), hav<strong>in</strong>g married uxorilocally <strong>in</strong>to the Zhang family,<br />
45 Liu Kezhuang 劉 克 莊 (1187-1269), Hou cun ji 後 村 集 , Wen Tianxiang 文 天 祥 (1236-1282), Wen shan<br />
ji 文 山 集 (WYG v. 1184) 16.21b-23.<br />
46 Wu Cheng 吳 澄 (1249-1333), Wu wen zheng ji 吳 文 正 集 , 78.8b; 82.4b. See also Gong Shitai 貢 師 泰<br />
(1298-1362), Wan zhai ji 玩 齋 集 ,10.54; Su Boheng 蘇 伯 衡 (1314-1376), Su p<strong>in</strong>g zhong wen ji 蘇 平 仲<br />
文 集 14.27; <strong>and</strong> Gao Qi 高 啓 (1336-1374), Fu zao ji 鳧 藻 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1230), 5.29. It<br />
is noteworthy here that more references to men serv<strong>in</strong>g their birth mothers survive from the Southern<br />
<strong>Song</strong> than from the <strong>Yuan</strong>, while the reverse is true of references to women serv<strong>in</strong>g their husb<strong>and</strong>s’ birth<br />
mothers. S<strong>in</strong>ce the numbers are small, this may simply reflect the idiosycracies of source survival, but it<br />
may also suggest that the responsibilities for uphold<strong>in</strong>g family morality were shift<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly onto<br />
women.<br />
47 Zhou Bida 周 必 大 (1126-1204), Wen zhong ji 文 忠 集 , 32.3. The only earlier <strong>Song</strong> <strong>in</strong>scription reference<br />
to shu di concerns a legal case adjudicated by the subject of the <strong>in</strong>scription, as described below.<br />
48 Yeh Shi 葉 適 (1150-1223), Ye Shi ji 葉 適 集 (Pek<strong>in</strong>g: Zhonghua shu ju, 1961), 23.449.<br />
12
purchased a concub<strong>in</strong>e for his sonless 60-year-old father-<strong>in</strong>-law. The boy produced by<br />
the concub<strong>in</strong>e was only eight-months old when Tang’s father-<strong>in</strong>-law died; Tang reared<br />
the child (his wife’s half-brother), saw to his marriage, <strong>and</strong> returned all of the Zhang<br />
property to him. Gong Shitai expla<strong>in</strong>s that Deng Dem<strong>in</strong>g 鄧 德 明 (d. 1358) was orig<strong>in</strong>ally<br />
the middle son of a family surnamed Xiong; his mother’s sister “served” a childless man<br />
surnamed Deng, <strong>and</strong> he was adopted as their son. Evidently other children were born<br />
later, because Deng is credited with <strong>in</strong>struct<strong>in</strong>g his two shu di <strong>and</strong>, when they married,<br />
return<strong>in</strong>g all the Deng family l<strong>and</strong> to them. <strong>Song</strong> Lian, writ<strong>in</strong>g of Huang Yi 黃 已 (d.<br />
1358), observes that even though Huang’s shu di was adopted out to be heir of a distant<br />
uncle, Huang feared that the brother would be poor, <strong>and</strong> divided his own l<strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong> half to<br />
share with him. Su Boheng notes that Xu Biyou 徐 必 友 (d. 1354) treated his shu di<br />
benevolently, go<strong>in</strong>g so far as to arrange for a new wife when the brother’s first wife died,<br />
<strong>and</strong> build<strong>in</strong>g him a new house because his was old <strong>and</strong> broken-down. 49<br />
In similar fashion, references to wives rear<strong>in</strong>g the children of concub<strong>in</strong>es as their<br />
own, without prejudice, also proliferate over the course of the <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>. The idea<br />
that women should treat their stepchildren well was an old one, but <strong>in</strong> most <strong>Song</strong> funerary<br />
<strong>in</strong>scriptions, the stepchild is described as the child of a prior wife. Only one Northern<br />
<strong>Song</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scription refers explicitly to a woman rear<strong>in</strong>g the children of concub<strong>in</strong>es:<br />
Huang T<strong>in</strong>gjian tells us that the woman J<strong>in</strong> (d. 1095) treated her husb<strong>and</strong>’s ji qie like<br />
sisters-<strong>in</strong>-law, <strong>and</strong> reared the various sons (zhu zi 諸 子 ) as if they were her own. 50 Such<br />
references become more common <strong>in</strong> Southern <strong>Song</strong>: Liu Yizhi reports that the woman<br />
Fu (d. 1118) treated qie yu with graciousness <strong>and</strong> their shu sons like di sons. Sun Di<br />
relates that an empress on a visit home was impressed by her sister-<strong>in</strong>-law (d. 1139), who<br />
embraced the children of concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> the same manner as she embraced her own. Lü<br />
Zuqian praises the woman Guo (d. 1170) for regard<strong>in</strong>g her own children like the children<br />
of concub<strong>in</strong>es (qie y<strong>in</strong>g suo chu), <strong>and</strong> rear<strong>in</strong>g all of them <strong>in</strong> the same manner, <strong>and</strong> so<br />
forth. 51 By <strong>Yuan</strong> times, to praise a woman for rear<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>es’ children as her own<br />
49 Liu Yueshen 劉 岳 申 (1260-after 1346), Shen zhai ji 申 齋 集 , 11.19; Hu Zhiyu 胡 祗 遹 (1227-1295), Zi<br />
shan da quan ji 紫 山 大 全 集 , 18.16b; Gong Shitai 貢 師 泰 (1298-1362), Wan zhai ji 玩 齋 集 , 10.37b;<br />
<strong>Song</strong> Lian 宋 濂 (1310-1381), Wen xian ji 文 憲 集 , 19.72; Su Boheng 蘇 伯 衡 (1314-1376), Su p<strong>in</strong>g<br />
zhong wen ji 蘇 平 仲 文 集 13.10b.<br />
50 Huang T<strong>in</strong>gjian 黃 庭 堅 (1045-1105), Huang T<strong>in</strong>gjian quan ji 黃 庭 堅 全 集 , ed. by Liu L<strong>in</strong> 劉 琳 et. al.<br />
(Chengdu: Sichuan daxue chubanshe, 2001), wai ji 22.1395.<br />
51 Liu Yizhi 劉 一 止 (1079-1160), Tiao xi ji 苕 溪 集 , 51.13; Sun Di 孫 覿 (1081-1169), Hong q<strong>in</strong>g ju shi ji<br />
鴻 慶 居 士 集 , 40.2b; Lü Zuqian 呂 祖 謙 (1137-1181), Lü Donglai ji 呂 東 來 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol.<br />
1150), 10.12b. For similar Southern <strong>Song</strong> references, see Huang Gan 黃 榦 (1152-1221), Mian zhai ji 勉<br />
齋 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1168), 38.48b; Yao Mian 姚 勉 (1216-1262) 雪 坡 集 , 50.8, 50.14. See<br />
13
had become utterly conventional <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>scription writ<strong>in</strong>g: <strong>in</strong>deed, one even beg<strong>in</strong>s to see<br />
references to concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers lov<strong>in</strong>g the sons of the wife as much as they love their<br />
own sons! 52<br />
In sum, beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the late <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> cont<strong>in</strong>u<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to the <strong>Yuan</strong>—<strong>in</strong> references to<br />
men serv<strong>in</strong>g their concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers <strong>and</strong> tak<strong>in</strong>g care of their half-brothers, to women<br />
serv<strong>in</strong>g their concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers-<strong>in</strong>-law <strong>and</strong> rear<strong>in</strong>g the children of their husb<strong>and</strong>s’<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es—<strong>in</strong>scription writers <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly focused on the presence of concub<strong>in</strong>e<br />
mothers <strong>in</strong> the family. It is tempt<strong>in</strong>g to treat this as evidence that concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>and</strong> their<br />
children were becom<strong>in</strong>g more fully <strong>in</strong>tegrated <strong>in</strong>to Ch<strong>in</strong>ese family life, as Katkov has<br />
suggested. At the very least, I th<strong>in</strong>k it is fair to say that <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g numbers of elite<br />
writers felt that, ideally, concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>and</strong> their children should be well-<strong>in</strong>tegrated <strong>in</strong>to<br />
family life. Yet if we read <strong>in</strong>scription sources carefully, we see considerable evidence<br />
that the presence of concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> families was highly problematic. In<br />
fact, I would suggest that the concern of <strong>in</strong>scription writers to praise <strong>and</strong> promote what<br />
they considered “proper” relations with concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> the family reflected an awareness<br />
that all too often concub<strong>in</strong>es represented a considerable disruption to both family <strong>and</strong><br />
society.<br />
Certa<strong>in</strong>ly, <strong>in</strong> some ways this had always been (<strong>and</strong> always would be) the case.<br />
The <strong>in</strong>troduction of a concub<strong>in</strong>e was an obvious threat to the harmony of the <strong>in</strong>ner<br />
quarters, as the fictional literature of later imperial Ch<strong>in</strong>a was so vividly to demonstrate.<br />
In <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions the problems depicted <strong>in</strong> later fiction are h<strong>in</strong>ted at<br />
only obliquely, as when we are assured <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>scription after <strong>in</strong>scription that the virtuous<br />
subject was never jealous of her husb<strong>and</strong>’s concub<strong>in</strong>es, or even that she made a po<strong>in</strong>t of<br />
select<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> present<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>es to him. 53 Still, the evidence of tension is there: a<br />
also L<strong>in</strong> Guangchao 林 光 朝 (1114-1178), Ai xuan ji 艾 軒 集 (Wen yuan ge ed., vol. 1142), 9.21b-22 for<br />
description of a woman nurturn<strong>in</strong>g a bl<strong>in</strong>d daughter born to a concub<strong>in</strong>e.<br />
52 Wang Yishan 王 義 山 (1214-1287) Jia cun lei gao 稼 村 類 稿 29.12; Shu Yuexiang 舒 岳 ( 嶽 ) 祥 (1236-<br />
after 1297), Lang feng ji 閬 風 集 (Wen yuan ge, vol. 1187)12.12; Wu Cheng 吳 澄 (1249-1333), Wu wen<br />
zheng ji 吳 文 正 集 82.4b; Wang Yun 王 惲 (1227-1304), Qiu jian ji 秋 澗 集 52.13; Huang J<strong>in</strong> 黃 溍 (1277-<br />
1357), Huang wen xian gong ji, 8a.327-328; Chen Lü 陳 旅 (1287-1342), An ya tang ji 安 雅 堂 集 11.12b;<br />
Dai Liang 戴 良 (1317-1383), Jiu l<strong>in</strong>g shan fang ji 九 靈 山 房 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1219), 14.19b;<br />
Su Boheng 蘇 伯 衡 (1314-1376), Su p<strong>in</strong>g zhong wen ji 蘇 平 仲 文 集 14.13b. For concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers<br />
lov<strong>in</strong>g wives’ sons, see Cheng Duanli 程 端 禮 (1271-1345), Wei zhai ji 畏 齊 集 , 6.21b; Cheng Duanxue<br />
程 端 學 (1278-1334), Ji zhai ji 積 齋 集 , 5.12b.<br />
53 Such references are too numerous to cite exhaustively, but for some examples see Fan Zuyu 范 祖 禹<br />
(1041-1098), Fan Tai shi ji 范 太 史 集 , 48.4a; Sun Di 孫 覿 (1081-1169), Hong q<strong>in</strong>g ju shi ji 鴻 慶 居 士 集<br />
37.14, 40.2b; Wang Anshi 王 安 石 (1021-1086), Wang Wen gong wen ji 王 文 公 文 集 (Shanghai:<br />
Shanghai renm<strong>in</strong> chubanshe, 1974), 99.1012; <strong>Yuan</strong> Xie 袁 燮 (1144-1224), Xie zhai ji 絜 齋 集 (Cong shu<br />
14
woman who never beat concub<strong>in</strong>es or servants deserved to be s<strong>in</strong>gled out for praise, as<br />
did a young girl who rescued concub<strong>in</strong>es from her mother’s beat<strong>in</strong>gs. 54 One husb<strong>and</strong><br />
observes casually that as his wife aged she became less severe, such that for over ten<br />
years she refra<strong>in</strong>ed from beat<strong>in</strong>g the concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>and</strong> servants. 55 The tensions created by<br />
the presence of concub<strong>in</strong>es were even more explicitly acknowledged by an author who<br />
admitted that, when confronted with concub<strong>in</strong>es (qie yu ( 妾 御 ), many women were<br />
simply beside themselves ( 迫 於 不 得 已 ). Another author <strong>in</strong>dicates a mother’s love for<br />
her only daughter by not<strong>in</strong>g that she wanted the daughter to marry someone who did not<br />
have concub<strong>in</strong>es (ji qie 姬 妾 ). 56 We might even see the common practice of tak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es on official tours of duty—while wives rema<strong>in</strong>ed at home—as at least partly<br />
<strong>in</strong>spired by the desire to mitigate, however temporarily, the friction <strong>in</strong>herent <strong>in</strong> the dayto-day<br />
<strong>in</strong>teractions of wives <strong>and</strong> concub<strong>in</strong>es. To be sure, the practice undoubtedly solved<br />
certa<strong>in</strong> practical problems <strong>in</strong>herent <strong>in</strong> the peripatetic lives of <strong>Song</strong> literati: the concub<strong>in</strong>e<br />
could attend to her husb<strong>and</strong>’s personal <strong>and</strong> household needs away from home, while his<br />
wife could take care of the elders <strong>and</strong> young ones left beh<strong>in</strong>d. 57 But when Lady Liu<br />
helped pack <strong>and</strong> prepare for her husb<strong>and</strong>’s trip with his beloved concub<strong>in</strong>e “without a<br />
sour look,” she may well have been look<strong>in</strong>g forward to be<strong>in</strong>g free of her young rival’s<br />
presence. 58<br />
The tensions between wives <strong>and</strong> concub<strong>in</strong>es presented problems for others <strong>in</strong> the<br />
<strong>in</strong>ner quarters as well. Particularly where concub<strong>in</strong>es had borne sons, the presence of two<br />
mothers meant divided attention <strong>and</strong> divided loyalties. We see oblique reference to this<br />
when men are praised for serv<strong>in</strong>g both their legal mothers <strong>and</strong> their birth mothers<br />
without contraven<strong>in</strong>g ritual. 59 Daughters-<strong>in</strong>-law who found themselves serv<strong>in</strong>g two<br />
mothers-<strong>in</strong>-law had a particularly delicate path to tread. In the late Northern <strong>Song</strong> Zhao<br />
D<strong>in</strong>gchen described <strong>in</strong> detail how his youngest sister carefully negotiated her complicated<br />
ji cheng edition Shanghai: Shangwuy<strong>in</strong>shuguan) 17.279-281; 21.347; Lou Yue 樓 鑰 (1137-1213), Gong<br />
kui ji 攻 媿 集 , 105.1485.<br />
54 Lou Yue 樓 鑰 (1137-1213), Gong kui ji 攻 媿 集 , 100.1403 (100.12b); Hong Gua 洪 适 (1117-1184),<br />
Banzhou wen ji 盤 州 文 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1158), 77.9-10.<br />
55 <strong>Yuan</strong> Xie 袁 燮 (1144-1224), Xie zhai ji 絜 齋 集 21.357.<br />
56 Zhao D<strong>in</strong>gchen 趙 鼎 臣 (b. 1070), Zhu y<strong>in</strong> ji shi ji 竹 隱 畸 士 集 , 19.3b-4; Li Zhaoqi 李 昭 玘 (11th-12<br />
century), Le j<strong>in</strong>g ji 樂 靜 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1122), 30.1-1b.<br />
57 For an example of this practice, see Zheng Xia 鄭 俠 (1041-1119) Xi tang ji 西 堂 集 (Wen yuan ge Siku<br />
quan shu edition, vol. 1117), 4.16b-17. The practice of tak<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>es on tours of duty is amply<br />
attested <strong>in</strong> biji <strong>and</strong> other sources.<br />
58 Deng Wenyuan 鄧 文 原 (1259-1328), Ba xi ji 巴 西 集 , xia.14a.<br />
59 Fan Zuyu 范 祖 禹 (1041-1098), Fan Tai shi ji 范 太 史 集 47.8. Cf. also Zhou Bida 周 必 大 (1126-1204),<br />
Wen zhong ji 文 忠 集 , 32.15; Jie Xisi (1274-1344) 揭 傒 斯 , Wen an ji 文 安 集 (Wen yuan ge edition,<br />
vol. 1208) 13.2b; Su Boheng 蘇 伯 衡 (1314-1376), Su p<strong>in</strong>g zhong wen ji 蘇 平 仲 文 集 , 13.10b.<br />
15
ole as daughter-<strong>in</strong>-law to both her husb<strong>and</strong>’s terrify<strong>in</strong>gly severe legal mother <strong>and</strong> his<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e birth mother, attend<strong>in</strong>g the legal mother morn<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> even<strong>in</strong>g with great<br />
respect while treat<strong>in</strong>g the birth mother solicitously <strong>in</strong> private. Nearly two centuries later,<br />
Su Boheng admired a Madame Wang (d. 1371) for exhibit<strong>in</strong>g the same sensitivity. 60<br />
Implicit <strong>in</strong> these accounts are the personal power struggles that could ensue as a<br />
wife strove to ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> her authority <strong>in</strong> the household aga<strong>in</strong>st the threat that any woman<br />
“favored” by her husb<strong>and</strong> could represent. Theoretically, of course, authority with<strong>in</strong> the<br />
<strong>in</strong>ner quarters rested <strong>in</strong> the h<strong>and</strong>s of the legal wife. But because a wife’s authority was<br />
always derived from that of her husb<strong>and</strong>, she could ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> her position <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>ner<br />
quarters only if she had his unequivocal support. A husb<strong>and</strong>’s emotional attachment to<br />
his concub<strong>in</strong>e was a potential threat to that support, <strong>and</strong> thus to a wife’s power <strong>in</strong> the<br />
household. Irrespective of a woman’s own attachment to or affections for her husb<strong>and</strong>—<br />
even if she had no particular feel<strong>in</strong>gs for him—she had reason to be concerned how his<br />
relationship with a concub<strong>in</strong>e might affect her position <strong>in</strong> the household.<br />
<strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> <strong>in</strong>scription writers were also aware that an over-<strong>in</strong>dulged<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e could be a threat not only to harmony <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>ner quarters, but to the fortunes<br />
of the family as a whole. In the mid-eleventh century, <strong>in</strong> a case that (as several<br />
<strong>in</strong>scriptions attest) became the sc<strong>and</strong>al of the capital, the gr<strong>and</strong> councilor Chen Zhizhong<br />
lost his position when his concub<strong>in</strong>e Zhang beat a slave girl to death. Chen’s fellow<br />
officials later explicitly castigated him for not regulat<strong>in</strong>g his household affairs, <strong>and</strong> for<br />
lett<strong>in</strong>g his wife be degraded while fierce concub<strong>in</strong>es went uncontrolled. 61 In a similar if<br />
less dramatic case, the elder brother of Jiang Zhizhong (d. ca. 1051) had so lost sight of<br />
propriety that he set up his concub<strong>in</strong>e as his ma<strong>in</strong> wife; when he died, his household<br />
descended <strong>in</strong>to chaos. Jiang’s mother ordered the concub<strong>in</strong>e expelled, but she responded<br />
by br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g suit aga<strong>in</strong>st the family. The suit went badly for the Jiangs, <strong>and</strong> ultimately<br />
Zhizhong was forced to accept blame <strong>and</strong> endure a demotion rather than expose his<br />
mother to the humiliation of hav<strong>in</strong>g to face charges <strong>in</strong> court. 62 A century later Pan Haogu<br />
(d. 1170) avoided this sort of disaster by expell<strong>in</strong>g a concub<strong>in</strong>e who had served him for<br />
nearly thirty years when she presumed on her favored position <strong>and</strong> become arrogant <strong>and</strong><br />
60 Zhao D<strong>in</strong>gchen 趙 鼎 臣 (b. 1070), Zhu y<strong>in</strong> ji shi ji 竹 隱 畸 士 集 , 19.5b-7b; Su Boheng 蘇 伯 衡 (1314-<br />
1376), Su p<strong>in</strong>g zhong wen ji 蘇 平 仲 文 集 , 14.27.<br />
61 Liu Zhi 劉 摯 (1030-1097), Zhong su ji 忠 肅 集 , (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1099),11.19b; Su Shi 蘇 軾<br />
(1037-1101), Dong po quan ji 東 坡 全 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1107), 88.4b. For the official<br />
account <strong>and</strong> remarks by other officials, see <strong>Song</strong> shi 285.9604.<br />
62 Shen Gou 沈 遘 (1028-1067), Xi xi ji 西 溪 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1097), 10.20a. “Zhizhong” is<br />
Jiang’s cognomen; his name is not mentioned <strong>in</strong> this <strong>in</strong>scription.<br />
16
jealous. 63 An imperial k<strong>in</strong>smen of the very late <strong>Song</strong> lacked Pan’s prudence, with the<br />
result that his concub<strong>in</strong>e was convicted of murder<strong>in</strong>g his legal wife. 64<br />
Clearly, concub<strong>in</strong>es could cause serious problems for family <strong>and</strong> society. But if,<br />
as the data I have just presented suggests, these sorts of problems were perennially<br />
associated with concub<strong>in</strong>age, why would funerary <strong>in</strong>scription writers suddenly be more<br />
concerned about them <strong>in</strong> the Southern <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>? Unquestionably, the chang<strong>in</strong>g<br />
rhetoric of funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions was <strong>in</strong>timately tied to the development of Neo-<br />
Confucian ideology over the course of this period, not least because funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions<br />
were one medium by which Neo-Confucian th<strong>in</strong>kers publicized their values. But it is<br />
also important to recognize that the ideological content of Neo-Confucianism was itself<br />
<strong>in</strong> part a response to the new social configurations created by economic growth <strong>and</strong><br />
political <strong>in</strong>novations of the early Northern <strong>Song</strong>.<br />
One important element <strong>in</strong> these new social configurations was the transformation<br />
of concub<strong>in</strong>age by the presence of a flourish<strong>in</strong>g market econcomy <strong>and</strong> the concommitant<br />
commoditization of serv<strong>in</strong>g women as items of luxury consumption. 65 Though numbers<br />
are difficult to come by, the exist<strong>in</strong>g evidence suggests that as the <strong>Song</strong> econcomy grew<br />
<strong>and</strong> the <strong>Song</strong> elite exp<strong>and</strong>ed, more families were able to afford to employ concub<strong>in</strong>es.<br />
The development of urban enterta<strong>in</strong>ments helped promote the popularity of enterta<strong>in</strong>eror<br />
courtesan-concub<strong>in</strong>es—already a mark of elite status <strong>in</strong> the Tang—as luxury<br />
commodities <strong>and</strong> symbols of success.<br />
As concub<strong>in</strong>age became common among families of relatively marg<strong>in</strong>al economic<br />
status, social problems that seem to have been irrelevant <strong>in</strong> the context of high-rank<strong>in</strong>g<br />
families began to emerge. While the wealthiest <strong>and</strong> most powerful Northern <strong>Song</strong><br />
families may have employed cozens of concub<strong>in</strong>es as enterta<strong>in</strong>ers <strong>and</strong> h<strong>and</strong>maids, 66 for<br />
families of more tenuous elite status the prospect that daughters might be reduced to<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>age was a constant threat. By early Southern <strong>Song</strong>, even imperial l<strong>in</strong>eage could<br />
not guarantee that a woman would not f<strong>in</strong>d herself a concub<strong>in</strong>e: <strong>in</strong> 1130 the official Ye<br />
Fen 葉 份 (1076-1147) was accused of purchas<strong>in</strong>g a woman of the imperial family (gong<br />
63 Lü Zuqian 呂 祖 謙 (1137-1181), Lü Donglai ji 呂 東 來 集 , 10.8.<br />
64 Liu Yueshen 劉 岳 申 (1260-after 1346), Shen zhai ji 申 齋 集 , 10.1b. Unfortunately, the <strong>in</strong>scription<br />
provides no further details of this case. Chaffee, Branches of Heaven, gives several examples of imperial<br />
k<strong>in</strong>smen gett<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to trouble over their concub<strong>in</strong>es.<br />
65 I have discussed these developments more fully <strong>in</strong> "Shift<strong>in</strong>g Identities: Courtesans <strong>and</strong> Literati <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong><br />
Ch<strong>in</strong>a." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 62:1 (June 2002).<br />
66 This is evident especially <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions for members of the imperial family. See Fan Zuyu 范 祖 禹<br />
(1041-1098), Fan Tai shi ji 范 太 史 集 , 46.11, 48.4, 51.2. See also Chaffee, 33, 58.<br />
17
virtue. 69 In similar fashion, as concub<strong>in</strong>age spread, the presence of concub<strong>in</strong>es’ sons seems<br />
nü 公 女 ) as a concub<strong>in</strong>e. 67 In the late twelfth century, when officials serv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> outly<strong>in</strong>g<br />
areas such as L<strong>in</strong>gnan died <strong>in</strong> office, wives <strong>and</strong> daughters left with no means of support<br />
were sometimes forced to sell themselves as servants or concub<strong>in</strong>es (bi qie), lead<strong>in</strong>g a<br />
local official to establish a system to provide funds to marry such women properly. 68 In<br />
this context, keep<strong>in</strong>g female relatives out of concub<strong>in</strong>age became a source of pride, <strong>and</strong><br />
com<strong>in</strong>g to the aid of <strong>in</strong>digent young women of official background an act of signal<br />
to have created problems that had not existed among high-rank<strong>in</strong>g families at the capital.<br />
Assur<strong>in</strong>g the succession was of central concern to all descent l<strong>in</strong>es, <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>deed was<br />
theoretically the very raison d’etre of concub<strong>in</strong>age. In this context, theoretically all sons<br />
were highly desired. And <strong>in</strong>deed among wealthy <strong>and</strong> high-rank<strong>in</strong>g families, dist<strong>in</strong>ctions<br />
between di <strong>and</strong> shu sons seem not to have been an issue. Shu brothers are mentioned <strong>in</strong><br />
only one Northern <strong>Song</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scription, <strong>and</strong> then <strong>in</strong> the context of a legal case<br />
h<strong>and</strong>led by the subject <strong>in</strong> the course of his official career. 70 We know that many highrank<strong>in</strong>g<br />
officials were themselves the children of concub<strong>in</strong>es, <strong>and</strong> this fact had no<br />
noticable bear<strong>in</strong>g on their careers or prospects, presumably because <strong>in</strong> such wealthy <strong>and</strong><br />
powerful families there were ample resources to go around. 71 Among less well-off<br />
67 Ye Fen was ultimately exonerated, but only because the culprit turned out to be a different man of the<br />
same surname. See Li Mixun 李 彌 遜 (1089-1153), Yun xi ji 筠 溪 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1130),<br />
24.1-2. A more detailed account of this affair, which expla<strong>in</strong>s that Ye Fen was mistaken for someone<br />
else, appears <strong>in</strong> Xiong Ke 熊 克 , Zhong x<strong>in</strong>g xiao ji 中 興 小 記 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol 313), 8.25b.<br />
Both sources <strong>in</strong>dicate that Ye suffered a demotion <strong>in</strong> any case.<br />
68 Han <strong>Yuan</strong>ji 韓 元 吉 (b. 1118), Nan jian jia yi gao 南 澗 甲 乙 稿 (Cong shu ji cheng edition), 22.446.<br />
69 I th<strong>in</strong>k that the ubiquitous references <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> eulogies to <strong>in</strong>dividuals marry<strong>in</strong>g off <strong>in</strong>digent<br />
girls <strong>in</strong> their l<strong>in</strong>eage must be understood <strong>in</strong> this context. It is possible that <strong>in</strong> this regard the <strong>Song</strong><br />
situation differed somewhat from earlier periods: Liu Kai remarks without embarrassment that a cous<strong>in</strong><br />
of his was a concub<strong>in</strong>e (Liu Kai 柳 開 (948-1001), He dong ji 河 東 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1085)<br />
14.5b), but further research is necessary to verify whether concub<strong>in</strong>age among upper class women was<br />
more acceptable <strong>in</strong> earlier eras. Note that no <strong>Song</strong> or <strong>Yuan</strong> <strong>in</strong>scription ever acknowedges that a<br />
descendant of the subject was married as a concub<strong>in</strong>e, though we know that this could happen to young<br />
women of elite families (as, for examples, the concub<strong>in</strong>es of Liu Kezhuang <strong>and</strong> Dai Liang: Liu<br />
Kezhuang 劉 克 莊 (1187-1269), Hou cun da quan ji (Si bu cong kan edition) 161.10 (cf. also Ebrey,<br />
Inner Quarters, 226); Dai Liang 戴 良 (1317-1383), Jiu l<strong>in</strong>g shan fang ji 九 靈 山 房 集 14.14b. Zhou Bida<br />
describes how Peng Hanlao 彭 漢 老 (d. 1200) rescued a young woman of official background from her<br />
position as concub<strong>in</strong>e to a local military official (Zhou Bida 周 必 大 (1126-1204), Wen zhong ji 73.9).<br />
70 Li Gou 李 覯 (1009-1059), Li Gou ji 李 覯 集 (Beij<strong>in</strong>g: Zhonghua shuju, 1981) 30.351. Northern <strong>Song</strong><br />
sources focus overwhelm<strong>in</strong>gly on high-rank<strong>in</strong>g or powerful families at the capital.<br />
71 <strong>Funerary</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions for high-rank<strong>in</strong>g officials do not generally <strong>in</strong>dicate directly that they or their sons<br />
were born to concub<strong>in</strong>es, but from references to serv<strong>in</strong>g birth mothers <strong>and</strong> similar oblique mentions we<br />
know that many successful officials were the children of concub<strong>in</strong>es.<br />
18
families where the patrimony was more limited, however, the status of concub<strong>in</strong>es’ sons<br />
became problematic, as many Southern <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions attest.<br />
Even <strong>in</strong> families of modest means, when a concub<strong>in</strong>e’s son was the sole heir his<br />
legitimacy was probably assured, though the evidence suggests that his legitimacy had to<br />
be formally established. Yao Mian’s wife died with<strong>in</strong> a month of giv<strong>in</strong>g birth to their<br />
first daughter, <strong>and</strong> the child died with<strong>in</strong> the follow<strong>in</strong>g year. When some time thereafter<br />
his concub<strong>in</strong>e gave birth to a son, Yao reported the birth <strong>in</strong> the family temple <strong>and</strong><br />
formally legitimized the child (li er di zhi 立 而 嫡 之 ). But when other heirs existed (or<br />
arrived on the scene), the situation changed. Yao Mian himself found it extraord<strong>in</strong>ary<br />
that his second wife (a younger sister of the first), volunteered to give up her first born<br />
son to be heir to Yao Mian’s older brother <strong>and</strong> rear the concub<strong>in</strong>e’s son as her own<br />
<strong>in</strong>stead. 72 More typical, it seems, was the attitude of four Wang family brothers, who,<br />
when their father took a concub<strong>in</strong>e late <strong>in</strong> life, worried that she would become pregnant<br />
<strong>and</strong> their already small patrimony have to be split still further. 73<br />
The rhetoric of funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions suggests that the moral ideal <strong>in</strong> <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>Yuan</strong> was that sons, regardless of maternity, should be treated equally; yet the same<br />
funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions reveal that <strong>in</strong> many families the sons of concub<strong>in</strong>es did not receive<br />
equal treatment with their half-brothers. Some time <strong>in</strong> the mid-twelfth century the<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e of Zhou Bizheng (d. 1205)’s elder brother was expelled, <strong>and</strong> the child she had<br />
borne drifted <strong>in</strong>to the neighbor<strong>in</strong>g prefecture. Though Bizheng is credited with retriev<strong>in</strong>g<br />
the lad <strong>and</strong> provid<strong>in</strong>g him with property,<br />
the house he built for his nephew was not <strong>in</strong> the Zhous’ home county of Lul<strong>in</strong>g but <strong>in</strong> a<br />
neighbor<strong>in</strong>g county, suggest<strong>in</strong>g that the nephew was still not considered to be a fullfledged<br />
member of the family. A lawsuit described by Zhen Dexiu reveals a similar<br />
<strong>in</strong>equality. The suit <strong>in</strong>volved a l<strong>and</strong>lord who sued his tenant for nonpayment of rent.<br />
Both sides were ordered to appear <strong>in</strong> court, at which po<strong>in</strong>t the judge noticed a<br />
resemblence between them. After a secret <strong>in</strong>vestigation, the judge discovered that the<br />
tenant was actually the l<strong>and</strong>lord’s half-brother (shu di 庶 弟 ). The judge’s resolution of<br />
the case reiterated the pr<strong>in</strong>ciple of equal treatment for all sons: the tenant was ordered to<br />
return to his orig<strong>in</strong>al occupation <strong>and</strong> the property was split evenly between the two halfbrothers.<br />
But it is also apparent that, absent the <strong>in</strong>tervention of the court, the rights of<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es’ sons could be easily abrogated. 74<br />
72 Yao Mian 姚 勉 (1216-1262) Xue po ji 雪 坡 集 , 50.9b.<br />
73 Wang Yishan 王 義 山 (1214-1287) Jia cun lei gao 稼 村 類 稿 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. v. 1193), 29.13b.<br />
74 Zhen Dexiu 真 德 秀 (1178-1235), Xi shan ji 西 山 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1174), 42.26. See also<br />
the earlier case described by Li Gou, <strong>in</strong> which a man, by brib<strong>in</strong>g the clerks, managed to treat his shu di<br />
19
The evidence from funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions also suggests that the sons of concub<strong>in</strong>es<br />
were far more likely than their legitimate brothers to be adopted out of the family. Chen<br />
Liang recounts his own efforts to retrieve a “lost” half-brother (d. 1187) who had been<br />
borne to his father’s maid <strong>and</strong> adopted out to a family surnamed Zhang when barely four<br />
months old. 75 More commonly, concub<strong>in</strong>es’ sons were given up to other descent l<strong>in</strong>es<br />
with<strong>in</strong> the family. Guo Shuyi 郭 叔 誼 (d. 1233) was his father’s second son, born to a<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e; he was “selected” to be the heir of his father’s younger brother, who had no<br />
sons of his own. 76 The younger half-brother (shu di) of Huang Yi 黃 已 (d. 1358) was<br />
likewise sent out to be heir to a distant uncle. 77 One of the most strik<strong>in</strong>g aspects of the<br />
treatment of of concub<strong>in</strong>es’ sons, however, is that they are often described as becom<strong>in</strong>g<br />
heirs (usually posthumous) to their own half-brothers. When the eldest son of Yang<br />
L<strong>in</strong>ggui (d. 1233) died, a concub<strong>in</strong>e Deng ordered that her own son become his heir. Liu<br />
Keshi 劉 可 仕 (d. 1287) was the son of a concub<strong>in</strong>e <strong>and</strong> later became the heir of his<br />
“legitimate” older brother ( 嫡 兄 ), though this arrangement was later contested by another<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e’s son (shu di). I have already noted that two nie zi of Huang Zhangyuan 黃 長<br />
元 (along with one of Huang’s gr<strong>and</strong>sons) were appo<strong>in</strong>ted to be heirs to Huang’s<br />
deceased son <strong>and</strong> son-<strong>in</strong>-law. 78<br />
These references <strong>in</strong>timate, first of all, that concub<strong>in</strong>es’ sons were often not treated<br />
as automatic coparceners <strong>in</strong> their fathers’ estates: had they been entited to an equal share<br />
of their fathers’ estates, there would have been no need formally to designate them as<br />
heirs to their brothers. Do<strong>in</strong>g so, however, provided a practical, simultaneous solution to<br />
a number of problems: It ensured that the deceased son would have descendants <strong>and</strong> not<br />
become a hungry ghost, while prevent<strong>in</strong>g the government from confiscat<strong>in</strong>g the property<br />
of the defunct descent l<strong>in</strong>e; it provided an <strong>in</strong>heritance for the concub<strong>in</strong>es’ sons, without<br />
hav<strong>in</strong>g them directly compete with sons of wives; it kept the descent l<strong>in</strong>e property <strong>in</strong> the<br />
h<strong>and</strong>s of natural sons of the father, obviat<strong>in</strong>g the need to adopt from another l<strong>in</strong>e. In<br />
addition, the tendency to have concub<strong>in</strong>es’ sons serve as the “sons” of their half-brothers<br />
“as a person of another surname,” until a lecture by an upright official caused him to change his ways (Li<br />
Gou 李 覯 (1009-1059), Li Gou ji 李 覯 集 (Beij<strong>in</strong>g: Zhonghua shuju, 1981) 30.351. Patricia Ebrey has<br />
also noted the vulnerability of concub<strong>in</strong>es’ children. See Inner Quarters, 230.<br />
75 Lu You 陸 游 (1125-1210), Wei nan wen ji 渭 南 文 集 (<strong>in</strong> Lu Fangweng quan ji 陸 放 翁 全 集 (Hong Kong:<br />
Xianggang guang zhi shu ju, n.d.), 38.238; Chen Liang 陳 亮 (1143-1194), Chen Liang ji 陳 亮 集<br />
(Beij<strong>in</strong>g: Zhonghua shuju, 1974), 28.414-415.<br />
76 Wei Liao-weng 魏 了 翁 (1178-1237), He shan ji 鶴 山 集 , 83.9b.<br />
77 <strong>Song</strong> Lian 宋 濂 (1310-1381), Wen xian ji 文 憲 集 , 19.72.<br />
78 Wei Liao-weng, 魏 了 翁 (1178-1237), He shan ji 鶴 山 集 , 84.16; Liu Zhenweng 劉 辰 翁 (1232-1297), Xu<br />
xi ji 須 溪 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1186) 7.19-20; Wu Cheng 吳 澄 , Wu wen zheng ji 吳 文 正 集 ,<br />
84.10.<br />
20
was undoubtedly encouraged by the simple fact that concub<strong>in</strong>es’s sons were often the<br />
same age as the children of those half-brothers. Men of middle age commonly took as<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es girls <strong>in</strong> their late teens, <strong>and</strong> when such men died their adult sons (<strong>and</strong><br />
daughters-<strong>in</strong>-law) frequently found themselves <strong>in</strong> the position of rear<strong>in</strong>g their halfsibl<strong>in</strong>gs.<br />
Thus when a posthumous child was born shortly after her father-<strong>in</strong>-law’s death,<br />
the woman Zhou <strong>in</strong>sisted that she would rear the child (her husb<strong>and</strong>’s half-brother) as her<br />
own, say<strong>in</strong>g: “He is the same qi 氣 as my husb<strong>and</strong>; I will love him like my own son, <strong>and</strong><br />
then the whole family will regard him as no different from my sons” (emphasis added). 79<br />
Unfortunately for <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> families, the practical logic of mak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es’ sons the heirs of their brothers was underm<strong>in</strong>ed by the fact that do<strong>in</strong>g so<br />
directly contravened ritual rules about generational hierarchy, as some were clearly aware.<br />
Huang Dongzhi (d. 1336) expla<strong>in</strong>ed to Yu Ji that as a young man, concerned about his<br />
lack of sons, he had appo<strong>in</strong>ted his half-brother (yi mu di) to serve as his son. Later he had<br />
become uncomfortable with this arrangement <strong>and</strong> dared not cont<strong>in</strong>ue it. When <strong>in</strong> old age<br />
he still had no sons of his own, he adopted the half-brother’s youngest son to be his heir.<br />
In response to Huang’s request for his op<strong>in</strong>ion of this arrangement, Yu Ji observed,<br />
“Know<strong>in</strong>g that [your actions] contravened ritual is what made you uncomfortable. But<br />
be<strong>in</strong>g able <strong>in</strong> that situation fearlessly to reverse yourself, was that not also the Dao of the<br />
gentleman? ( 知 禮 之 所 不 可 , 心 之 所 未 安 。 而 能 不 憚 於 自 返 焉 , 不 亦 君 子 之 道<br />
乎 ). 80 Yu Ji manifestly did not approve of tak<strong>in</strong>g brothers as one’s heirs, <strong>and</strong> praises<br />
Huang for revers<strong>in</strong>g his decision to do so. Other families seem to have been at pa<strong>in</strong>s to<br />
disguise their ritual lapse through manipulation of nam<strong>in</strong>g patterns: thus the nie zi of<br />
Huang Zhangyuan were given names that matched the generational nam<strong>in</strong>g pattern not of<br />
Huang’s other sons, but of his gr<strong>and</strong>sons. Similarly, Li Dun’s 李 敦 (d. 1333) shu di—<br />
whom Li is given credit for rear<strong>in</strong>g with great care—shares the nam<strong>in</strong>g pattern of Li’s<br />
son. 81<br />
79 Wu Cheng 吳 澄 (1249-1333), Wu wen zheng ji 吳 文 正 集 , 80.10. Liu Kezhuang 劉 克 莊 (1187-1269),<br />
Hou cun ji 後 村 集 , 38.24 describes another woman who reared her husb<strong>and</strong>’s shu di. On men rear<strong>in</strong>g<br />
their half-brothers, see Zhou Bida 周 必 大 (1126-1204), Wen zhong ji 文 忠 集 33.3; Yeh Shi 葉 適 (1150-<br />
1223), Shui x<strong>in</strong> ji 水 心 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1164), 23.11; <strong>and</strong> Hu Zhiyu 胡 祗 遹 (1227-1295),<br />
Zi shan da quan ji 紫 山 大 全 集 , 18.16b. In some cases, we are told that virtuous wives regarded the<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es themselves as their own children. See Liu Yizhi 劉 一 止 (1079-1160), Tiao xi ji 苕 溪 集<br />
(Wen yuan ge edition., vol. 1132), 50.8; Zhao D<strong>in</strong>gchen 趙 鼎 臣 (b. 1070), Zhu y<strong>in</strong> ji shi ji 竹 隱 畸 士 集 ,<br />
19.13b.<br />
80 Yu Ji 虞 集 (1272-1348), Dao yuan xue gu lu 道 園 學 古 錄 , 43.736-737.<br />
81 Wu Cheng 吳 澄 (1249-1333), Wu wen zheng ji 吳 文 正 集 , 84.10; Zheng <strong>Yuan</strong>you 鄭 元 祐 (1292-1364),<br />
Qiao Wu ji 喬 吳 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1216), 12.15.<br />
21
If the expansion of concub<strong>in</strong>age <strong>in</strong> lower levels of society created new sorts of<br />
conflicts <strong>and</strong> tensions with<strong>in</strong> families, the commoditization of women as luxury items<br />
also created conflict <strong>in</strong> society at large. Zhou Bida, for example, describes the<br />
unfortunate consequences that ensued when a local <strong>in</strong>tendent was charged with steal<strong>in</strong>g<br />
the beloved concub<strong>in</strong>e (ai qie 愛 妾 ) of another bureaucrat. The official Gao Kui 高 夔<br />
(1138-1198) was sent to <strong>in</strong>vestigate, but a senior official <strong>in</strong>tervened to protect the<br />
perpetrator, <strong>and</strong> Gao ended up demoted for his efforts. 82 Concub<strong>in</strong>es had the potential to<br />
underm<strong>in</strong>e good government <strong>in</strong> other ways as well. Zhen Dexiu relates that an official<br />
embezzled two thous<strong>and</strong> str<strong>in</strong>gs of cash from the official coffers, us<strong>in</strong>g it for bribes but<br />
also go<strong>in</strong>g so far as to purchase a concub<strong>in</strong>e. Elsewhere, decry<strong>in</strong>g the evils of the<br />
“harmonious purchase” system of government requisition, Zhen notes that it became<br />
st<strong>and</strong>ard practice for flatterers to present the powerful with wives <strong>and</strong> concub<strong>in</strong>es. 83<br />
Neo-Confucian concern with family relationships can, I th<strong>in</strong>k, be seen as <strong>in</strong> part a<br />
response to these problems. Stress<strong>in</strong>g the concub<strong>in</strong>e’s role as mother helped to regularize<br />
her status <strong>in</strong> the family: <strong>and</strong> we see such efforts, as Katkov has noted, <strong>in</strong> Zhu Xi’s<br />
reconfiguration of mourn<strong>in</strong>g rituals so that a concub<strong>in</strong>e mother received the same<br />
mourn<strong>in</strong>g as a legal mother. 84 I th<strong>in</strong>k the rhetoric of funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions stress<strong>in</strong>g<br />
service to concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers <strong>and</strong> fairness to half-brothers should be understood <strong>in</strong> the<br />
same light. Such rhetoric <strong>in</strong>tegrated concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong>to the develop<strong>in</strong>g model of Neo-<br />
Confucian family relations. At the same time, to the extent that Neo-Confucians were<br />
also concerned with moral self-cultivation amd control of desire, funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions<br />
which stressed the maternal aspects of concub<strong>in</strong>es also helped to erode their image as<br />
objects of desire. 85 In fact, by the late <strong>Song</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>, some authors were tout<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
virtue of not hav<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>es at all.<br />
Very few Northern <strong>Song</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions praise men for not keep<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>es, <strong>and</strong><br />
when they do, they suggest that such behavior is a sign of frugality. Thus Fan Zuyu notes<br />
that although an imperial pr<strong>in</strong>ce was wealthy <strong>and</strong> noble, he didn’t keep musicians <strong>and</strong><br />
courtesan-concub<strong>in</strong>es (sheng yue ji qie 聲 樂 妓 妾 ). Another author mentions that even<br />
after becom<strong>in</strong>g an official, Zhang Yuxi 掌 禹 錫 (d. 1066) ran his household <strong>in</strong> the same<br />
manner as when he’d been a commoner: he had no concub<strong>in</strong>es (y<strong>in</strong>g qie) <strong>and</strong> waited<br />
upon himself at table, refus<strong>in</strong>g to change even when others made fun of him for his<br />
82 Zhou Bida 周 必 大 (1126-1204), Wen zhong ji 文 忠 集 , 65.9; 76.5.<br />
83 Zhen Dexiu 真 德 秀 (1178-1235), Xi shan ji 西 山 集 , 42.16; 43.35.<br />
84 Katkov, Domestication, pp. 101-103.<br />
85 Katkov, p. 102, similarly suggests that the <strong>in</strong>tegration of concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong>to the family helped divest them<br />
of “unsavory associations with licentiousness <strong>and</strong> disorder.”<br />
22
abstemiousness. 86 In late Southern <strong>Song</strong>, such references become more common;<br />
moreover, the absence of concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong> a man’s household is <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly portrayed as a<br />
sign of his attention to Confucian ritual <strong>and</strong> self-cultivation. In the early thirteenth<br />
century, <strong>Yuan</strong> Xie was startled that his friend Jiang Ruhui 蔣 如 晦 —though reared <strong>in</strong> an<br />
em<strong>in</strong>ent family <strong>and</strong> certa<strong>in</strong>ly not used to liv<strong>in</strong>g like a poor scholar—was serv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> office<br />
with only his son to attend him, <strong>and</strong> no one to manage the cook<strong>in</strong>g or cloth<strong>in</strong>g. Pan<br />
expla<strong>in</strong>ed,<br />
“My wife did not come because she was afraid of the distance.<br />
Accord<strong>in</strong>gly, she once selected a serv<strong>in</strong>g maid (bi) to attend me <strong>in</strong> her<br />
stead. But my underst<strong>and</strong><strong>in</strong>g is that anciently, when the wife wasn’t<br />
present, the qie yu did not dare to spend the night. This is written <strong>in</strong> the<br />
ritual classics. For this reason I didn’t br<strong>in</strong>g her with me.”<br />
<strong>Yuan</strong> tells us that on hear<strong>in</strong>g this speech he sighed <strong>in</strong> admiration:<br />
For a woman to be without jealousy, for a man to be without desire: s<strong>in</strong>ce<br />
ancient times this has been difficult. Now milord’s wife has chosen a<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>e (qie y<strong>in</strong>g) to serve him—clearly she is without jealous behavior.<br />
Milord himself is calm <strong>and</strong> self-composed, untroubled by desire, austere<br />
like an ascetic of the wilderness. They can be called a true husb<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
wife: how far beyond vulgar custom they are! 87<br />
<strong>Yuan</strong> Xie’s admiration for men who regulated their relationships with<br />
ritual is echoed by Liu Zai, who praises Lu Jun 陸 埈 (1155-1216) for observ<strong>in</strong>g<br />
that “‘ritual beg<strong>in</strong>s with care <strong>in</strong> the relationship between husb<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> wife.’” Liu<br />
adds that throughout Lu’s entire life he didn’t approach even his own<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es. 88 This theme becomes even more prom<strong>in</strong>ent <strong>in</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions.<br />
Zheng <strong>Song</strong> 鄭 松 (d. 1307) was <strong>in</strong>different to the desires of food <strong>and</strong> sex (y<strong>in</strong> shi<br />
nan nü 飲 食 男 女 ), <strong>and</strong> from the time he was young did not keep bi qie. After his<br />
wife died young, J<strong>in</strong> Hongdao 金 宏 道 (d. 1365) screened off a small room <strong>and</strong>,<br />
keep<strong>in</strong>g no ji shi by his side, spent his days with his books <strong>and</strong> his even<strong>in</strong>gs<br />
86 Fan Zuyu 范 祖 禹 (1041-1098), Fan Tai shi ji 范 太 史 集 46.11; see also ibid., 50.8. Su Sung 蘇 頌<br />
(1020-1101), Su Weigong wen ji 蘇 魏 公 文 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1092), 56.13.<br />
87 <strong>Yuan</strong> Xie 袁 燮 (1144-1224), Xie zhai ji 絜 齋 集 , 21.347. Other Southern <strong>Song</strong> references prais<strong>in</strong>g men<br />
for not keep<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>es <strong>in</strong>clude Liu Yizhi 劉 一 止 (1079-1160) Tiao xi ji 苕 溪 集 (Wen yuan ge<br />
edition., vol. 1132), 49.22b; Lou Yue 樓 鑰 (1137-1213), Gong kui ji 攻 媿 集 , 105.1485; <strong>Yuan</strong> Xie 袁 燮<br />
(1144-1224), Xie zhai ji 絜 齋 集 (Cong shu ji cheng edition) 17.279-281; Wei Liao-weng, 魏 了 翁 (1178-<br />
1237), He shan ji 鶴 山 集 , 73.25b; Wu Yong 吳 泳 , He l<strong>in</strong> ji 鶴 林 集 , (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1176).<br />
35.20; <strong>and</strong> Liu Kezhuang 劉 克 莊 (1187-1269), Hou cun ji 後 村 集 , 37.15b.<br />
88 Liu Zai 劉 宰 (1166-1234), Man tang ji 慢 塘 集 , 28.25b.<br />
23
<strong>in</strong>struct<strong>in</strong>g his sons. Chen L<strong>in</strong> 陳 麟 (d. 1368) had few desires; his apartments had<br />
no ji shi, his storehouses no surplus wealth. 89<br />
I do not th<strong>in</strong>k we should assume that keep<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>es for pleasure had ceased<br />
<strong>in</strong> the <strong>Yuan</strong>: on the contrary, late <strong>Yuan</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions <strong>in</strong>dicate that enterta<strong>in</strong>er-concub<strong>in</strong>es<br />
were still regarded as among the s<strong>in</strong>e qua non of a luxurious life. Thus Li Qi, list<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
k<strong>in</strong>ds of pleasures that all men would like to enjoy, <strong>in</strong>cludes fancy cloth<strong>in</strong>g, horses,<br />
hunt<strong>in</strong>g, keep<strong>in</strong>g courtesans <strong>and</strong> concub<strong>in</strong>es (zhu ji qie 貯 妓 妾 ), <strong>and</strong> music <strong>and</strong> danc<strong>in</strong>g;<br />
Wang Yi’s list of the good th<strong>in</strong>gs people want <strong>in</strong>cludes lots of carriages <strong>and</strong> horses, lots<br />
of jewels, beef <strong>and</strong> lamb to eat, <strong>and</strong> ji shi 姬 侍 l<strong>in</strong>ed up <strong>in</strong> one's rooms. 90 At the same<br />
time, both Li Qi <strong>and</strong> Wang Yi were at pa<strong>in</strong>s to demonstrate that their subjects were not<br />
<strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> these sorts of crude pleasures. In other words, among men who considered<br />
themselves truly cultivated, tak<strong>in</strong>g concub<strong>in</strong>es for pleasure was no longer a sign of status<br />
but of <strong>in</strong>ferior behavior. This did not stop men from tak<strong>in</strong>g young concub<strong>in</strong>es for<br />
pleasure: like Su Shi <strong>and</strong> Zhou Bida before him, Dai Liang described with some<br />
affection the teenaged girl (d. 1365) who brightened his middle age. 91 But he<br />
characterized their relationship <strong>in</strong> rather different terms than his <strong>Song</strong> predecessors had<br />
used. Dai Liang refers to his concub<strong>in</strong>e by her surname, not by the sort of elegant poetic<br />
given names Su Shi <strong>and</strong> Zhou Bida use to describe their concub<strong>in</strong>es, <strong>and</strong> he emphasizes<br />
their “marriage” where Su Shi <strong>and</strong> Zhou Bida speak of be<strong>in</strong>g “served.”<br />
Ultimately, it is difficult to know how much the shift<strong>in</strong>g rhetoric of funerary<br />
<strong>in</strong>scriptions reflected actual behavior, 92 but it does seem to have reflected (<strong>and</strong> perhaps<br />
89 Wu Cheng 吳 澄 (1249-1333), Wu wen zheng ji 吳 文 正 集 74.4b; Dai Liang 戴 良 (1317-1383), Jiu<br />
l<strong>in</strong>g shan fang ji 九 靈 山 房 集 14.7; 23.8b. See also Cheng Duanli 程 端 禮 (1271-1345), Wei zhai ji 畏 齊<br />
集 , (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1199), 6.15; Li Qi 李 祁 (1299-137?), Yun yang ji 雲 陽 集 , 8.28b-29. For<br />
a <strong>Yuan</strong> reference <strong>in</strong> which absence of concub<strong>in</strong>es is characterized as a sign of frugality, see Yu Ji 虞 集<br />
(1272-1348), Dao yuan xue gu lu 道 園 學 古 錄 43.735.<br />
90 Li Qi 李 祁 (1299-137?), Yun yang ji 雲 陽 集 (10 j.) (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1219) 8.28b-29; Wang<br />
Yi 王 褘 (1322-1373) Wang Zhong wen ji 王 忠 文 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1226) 23.6b. See also<br />
an <strong>in</strong>scription for a woman née Hong (d. 1370), which describes all the other little girls <strong>in</strong> the family<br />
liked to out to watch the female enterta<strong>in</strong>ers 女 妓 perform, <strong>and</strong> a reference to more than a hundred qie<br />
y<strong>in</strong>g that an early M<strong>in</strong>g pr<strong>in</strong>ce kept <strong>in</strong> his youth (Fang Xiaoru 方 孝 孺 (1357-1402) Xun zhi zhai ji 遜 志<br />
齋 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1235), 22.85; 22.16b).<br />
91 Su Shi was also about twenty-five years older than his concub<strong>in</strong>e Zhaoyun (d. 1096), who was only about<br />
ten (eleven sui) when she entered his service. Zhou Bida was forty-four when he purchased his<br />
seventeen-year-old concub<strong>in</strong>e Yunxiang (d. 1173); Dai Liang at forty-eight took <strong>in</strong> a n<strong>in</strong>eteen year old<br />
(Zhou Bida 周 必 大 (1126-1204), Wen zhong ji 文 忠 集 , 36.20; Dai Liang 戴 良 (1317-1383), Jiu l<strong>in</strong>g<br />
shan fang ji 九 靈 山 房 集 , 14.14b.<br />
92 Here the total absence <strong>in</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong> funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions of men seek<strong>in</strong>g out birth mothers is <strong>in</strong>trigu<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Although other sources (such as a dramatic biography of a “filial son” who undergoes great trials while<br />
search<strong>in</strong>g for his concub<strong>in</strong>e mother (see Hu Changru’s (1249-1323) biography of “filial son Chen” <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>Yuan</strong> wen lei (Wen yuan ge edition, vol. 1367) 69.11-15) reveal that it was still common <strong>in</strong> early <strong>Yuan</strong><br />
24
also to have helped spread) new social attitudes. It does appear that, between the <strong>Song</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>Yuan</strong>, the possession of enterta<strong>in</strong>er concub<strong>in</strong>es was becom<strong>in</strong>g gradually less<br />
acceptable <strong>and</strong> the status of concub<strong>in</strong>es who became mothers was gradually improv<strong>in</strong>g. 93<br />
But even if the “domesticated” view of concub<strong>in</strong>age promoted by funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions<br />
reflected wider social practices, 94 funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions also show us how limited that<br />
domestication was. Partly this was due to the contradictions created <strong>in</strong> the attempt to<br />
treat concub<strong>in</strong>es as wives. First, by valoriz<strong>in</strong>g women who produced sons over those<br />
who did not, the improvement <strong>in</strong> the status of concub<strong>in</strong>es subtly underm<strong>in</strong>ed the status of<br />
wives, who no longer got “credit” for sons they did not bear themselves. 95 This<br />
development was likely only to <strong>in</strong>crease jealousy toward concub<strong>in</strong>es—a woman whose<br />
status was closer to that of the wife was far more threaten<strong>in</strong>g than one who was clearly<br />
relegated to the position of servant <strong>and</strong> whose sons were not her own. Second,<br />
paradoxically, the new emphasis on maternity served to underscore the dist<strong>in</strong>ctions<br />
between wives’ <strong>and</strong> concub<strong>in</strong>es’ sons, underm<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the rhetoric of equality.<br />
The most fundamental contradiction, however, was that from the st<strong>and</strong>po<strong>in</strong>t of the<br />
Ch<strong>in</strong>ese family, the real advantage of concub<strong>in</strong>age was precisely that concub<strong>in</strong>es were<br />
not wives: concub<strong>in</strong>age was a useful <strong>in</strong>stitution because concub<strong>in</strong>es afforded the family<br />
a level of flexibility that wives did not. As funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions show, unlike wives,<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es (<strong>and</strong> their progeny) could be <strong>in</strong>corporated <strong>in</strong>to the family or expelled from it,<br />
as circumstances dictated. 96 For this reason, the domestication of concub<strong>in</strong>age could<br />
never be more than partial. The more profound effect of the domesticat<strong>in</strong>g rhetoric of<br />
funerary <strong>in</strong>scriptions was to provide moral justification for an <strong>in</strong>stitution that helped<br />
make the perpetuation of l<strong>in</strong>eages possible.<br />
for concub<strong>in</strong>es to bear children then leave the family, it is posible this practice became less common, or<br />
at least less socially acceptable, over the course of the dynasty. Other <strong>Yuan</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions that describe<br />
expelled concub<strong>in</strong>es (usually <strong>in</strong> the context of legal cases) describe women who were expelled while still<br />
pregnant, not after the birth of their sons. See Su Tianjue 蘇 天 爵 (1294-1352), Zi xi wen gao 滋 溪 文<br />
稿 12.4; Ma Zuchang 馬 祖 常 (1279-1338), Shi tian wen ji 石 田 文 集 (Wen yuan ge edition, vol.<br />
1206), 12.3; Liu Yueshen 劉 岳 申 (1260-after 1346), Shen zhai ji 申 齋 集 , 8.16.<br />
93 Several <strong>in</strong>scriptions show concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers act<strong>in</strong>g as defacto heads of the family once their husb<strong>and</strong>s<br />
were deceased.<br />
94 Evidence from the late M<strong>in</strong>g suggests that such effects were not permanent <strong>in</strong> any case.<br />
95 Put another way, the status of women who were mothers <strong>and</strong> bore heirs for the descent group seems to<br />
have been improv<strong>in</strong>g at the expense of women who did not bear sons.<br />
96 Here it is tell<strong>in</strong>g that, while <strong>in</strong>scription writers praised men who took care of their own concub<strong>in</strong>e<br />
mothers <strong>and</strong> men who reared their half-sibl<strong>in</strong>gs, they are mostly silent about what happens to a father’s<br />
concub<strong>in</strong>es after his death. A late Southern <strong>Song</strong> <strong>in</strong>scription describes a man who took <strong>in</strong> his cous<strong>in</strong>’s<br />
seventy-year old birth mother <strong>and</strong> allowed her to eat with his family, but this is described as an<br />
extraord<strong>in</strong>ary act of charity, one most people would f<strong>in</strong>d difficult (ren yi wei nan 人 以 爲 難 ), not a<br />
st<strong>and</strong>ard moral obligation (Liu Zai 劉 宰 (1166-1234), Man tang ji 慢 塘 集 31.32b).<br />
25
宋 元 墓 誌 中 的 「 妾 」<br />
University of California, Davis<br />
柏 文 莉<br />
(Beverly Bossler)<br />
對 於 研 究 中 華 帝 國 時 期 【 傳 統 中 國 】 婦 女 史 及 性 別 史 的 學 者 來 說 , 墓 誌 ( 包<br />
括 墓 誌 銘 、 神 道 碑 等 ) 可 謂 彌 足 重 要 的 材 料 。 然 而 , 由 於 墓 誌 書 寫 的 高 度 制 式 , 以<br />
及 充 斥 著 對 逝 者 的 溢 美 之 詞 , 學 者 們 在 使 用 這 類 資 料 時 必 須 倍 加 小 心 。 但 是 , 制 式<br />
書 寫 所 隱 含 的 文 本 構 成 要 素 的 穩 定 性 , 在 追 索 漸 進 而 重 要 的 社 會 關 懷 , 以 及 價 值 變<br />
遷 時 , 卻 反 而 使 得 墓 誌 成 為 極 佳 的 材 料 。 本 文 主 要 探 討 墓 誌 所 反 映 宋 元 時 期 中 國 家<br />
庭 對 「 妾 」( 特 別 是 妾 , 也 包 括 側 室 、 姬 侍 等 ) 的 看 法 之 改 變 。 一 些 研 究 中 國 家 庭<br />
史 的 學 者 已 指 出 , 宋 元 時 期 的 納 妾 制 度 有 別 於 帝 國 晚 期 。 在 Ebrey 的 討 論 中 , 帝 國<br />
晚 期 妾 的 身 分 更 接 近 於 法 定 的 妻 子 。Neil Katkov 的 博 士 論 文 則 考 察 了 律 文 、 喪 儀 和<br />
封 贈 儀 典 , 顯 現 妾 和 其 所 生 子 女 的 地 位 從 唐 代 到 明 代 逐 漸 獲 得 提 升 。Katkov 同 時<br />
認 為 , 這 段 時 期 , 妾 的 制 度 越 來 越 融 入 家 庭 生 活 (domesticated), 使 得 她 們 的 地 位<br />
得 以 更 接 近 法 定 妻 子 。 本 文 致 力 於 如 何 將 墓 誌 中 得 來 的 證 據 匯 入 此 問 題 的 討 論 , 但<br />
不 能 忽 略 的 是 , 墓 誌 中 妾 的 形 象 反 映 了 身 為 男 性 菁 英 的 墓 誌 作 者 的 看 法 及 偏 見 , 因<br />
此 必 然 不 等 於 「 妾 」 的 全 貌 。<br />
考 察 宋 元 墓 誌 所 談 及 的 「 妾 」, 可 以 發 現 這 個 字 眼 有 多 種 組 合 , 指 涉 多 種 角<br />
色 的 女 性 , 如 : 妾 媵 ( 媵 妾 )、 婢 妾 、 僕 妾 、 妾 御 、 姬 妾 、 侍 妾 ( 妾 侍 )、 妓 妾 、<br />
嬖 妾 、 妾 妮 、 妾 婦 和 童 妾 。 這 些 辭 彙 被 使 用 於 墓 誌 這 種 正 式 的 (formal)、 推 敲 琢<br />
磨 過 的 書 寫 文 類 , 似 乎 暗 示 這 些 女 性 及 她 們 具 有 的 這 些 功 能 (the functions) 在 那 些<br />
請 託 作 誌 的 菁 英 家 庭 中 是 被 廣 泛 接 受 的 。 如 此 多 樣 的 用 詞 , 顯 現 她 們 在 生 活 中 可 能<br />
扮 演 的 不 同 角 色 。 如 : 婢 妾 、 僕 妾 、 妾 妮 、 童 妾 接 近 奴 僕 (servant); 侍 妾 ( 妾<br />
侍 )、 嬖 妾 、 姬 妾 和 妓 妾 則 提 醒 了 她 們 可 能 是 男 性 的 伴 侶 (companion) 或 表 演 者<br />
的 身 分 。 宋 元 墓 誌 也 常 見 一 些 措 詞 並 未 直 接 使 用 「 妾 」 這 個 字 , 但 實 際 上 卻 可 與 這<br />
個 字 互 換 使 用 , 如 : 在 服 侍 男 性 的 情 境 中 出 現 的 姬 侍 、 姬 媵 、 侍 兒 ; 生 育 過 小 孩 的<br />
26
次 室 或 側 室 ; 而 對 於 兒 子 來 說 , 一 個 妾 身 分 的 母 親 是 「 庶 母 」, 或 者 更 一 般 的 說 法<br />
是 「 生 母 」。<br />
我 們 發 現 宋 元 墓 誌 的 作 者 要 較 前 代 更 樂 於 提 及 「 妾 」。 從 電 子 版 四 庫 全 書 中<br />
的 文 人 別 集 可 以 檢 索 出 1272 卷 與 墓 誌 銘 相 關 的 材 料 , 其 中 有 312 卷 (24.5%) 包 含<br />
「 妾 」 這 個 字 。 漢 代 到 五 代 只 有 13% 的 墓 誌 銘 有 「 妾 」 字 ; 宋 佔 19%; 元 佔 24%;<br />
至 明 代 則 是 35%。 若 我 們 將 考 慮 的 範 圍 擴 及 不 以 「 妾 」 稱 之 的 「 妾 」(concub<strong>in</strong>etype<br />
women), 這 樣 的 轉 變 趨 勢 顯 得 更 加 戲 劇 性 。 例 如 : 最 早 使 用 「 側 室 」 的 墓 誌<br />
銘 出 現 於 北 宋 中 葉 。 其 他 墓 誌 銘 中 圍 繞 母 子 關 係 的 用 詞 , 如 嫡 母 、 庶 母 、 孽 子 、 庶<br />
弟 , 只 出 現 在 宋 代 以 後 。 暗 示 妾 做 為 男 性 伴 侶 的 用 詞 ( 如 : 姬 侍 、 侍 姬 ), 雖 然 罕<br />
見 於 墓 誌 , 但 最 早 可 見 於 宋 元 。 這 一 趨 勢 也 許 顯 現 唐 代 和 明 代 之 間 墓 誌 書 寫 風 格 的<br />
變 化 , 但 或 許 也 在 妾 的 特 質 上 有 具 意 義 的 轉 變 。<br />
這 種 轉 變 的 一 項 指 標 是 , 某 一 些 辭 彙 在 宋 代 早 期 不 必 然 用 來 指 「 妾 」 做 為 小<br />
老 婆 這 樣 的 角 色 , 到 了 宋 代 較 晚 的 時 候 才 用 以 指 稱 小 老 婆 這 樣 的 角 色 、 關 係 。 例<br />
如 : 穆 修 (973-1032) 為 1030 年 過 世 的 一 個 人 所 作 的 祭 文 提 到 「 君 凡 四 娶 室 」。 穆<br />
修 以 「 初 室 」 和 「 次 室 」 兩 個 詞 區 別 這 四 位 夫 人 。 墓 主 和 他 的 一 位 初 室 和 兩 位 次 室<br />
合 葬 在 同 一 座 墓 , 但 不 同 的 棺 柩 中 。 只 有 生 了 一 個 兒 子 的 次 室 李 氏 得 以 與 墓 主 共 眠<br />
於 一 口 棺 柩 中 。 汪 藻 (1079-1154) 的 兩 篇 墓 誌 則 分 別 提 到 墓 主 的 「 元 室 」 和 「 次<br />
室 」 皆 得 到 贈 封 , 以 及 「 先 室 」 和 「 次 室 」 皆 出 身 著 名 的 家 族 。 看 起 來 , 這 些 「 次<br />
室 」 指 的 似 乎 是 「 繼 室 」 而 非 「 妾 」。 但 到 了 元 代 , 同 樣 的 詞 在 使 用 的 習 慣 上 就 意<br />
指 為 「 妾 」。 十 三 世 紀 晚 期 , 王 惲 (1227-1304) 提 到 婦 人 凌 氏 (L<strong>in</strong>g) 能 夠 善 待 其<br />
夫 的 「 次 室 」。 十 四 世 紀 早 期 , 陳 旅 描 述 了 他 的 嫡 母 如 何 待 「 次 室 」 所 生 子 如 己<br />
出 。 在 這 樣 的 例 子 中 , 法 定 妻 子 尚 在 人 世 , 因 此 「 次 室 」 這 個 詞 只 能 指 「 妾 」。<br />
另 一 項 妾 在 生 活 中 更 加 受 到 承 認 的 指 標 是 , 她 們 開 始 以 男 性 的 祖 先 、 配 偶 ,<br />
特 別 是 母 親 的 身 分 出 現 。 宋 元 的 墓 誌 習 慣 上 會 記 載 墓 主 家 中 主 要 的 成 員 , 基 本 上 包<br />
括 三 代 祖 先 ( 時 常 也 包 括 他 們 的 妻 子 )、 配 偶 、 男 性 子 孫 、 女 性 子 孫 的 丈 夫 。 雖 然<br />
庶 母 在 墓 誌 中 未 曾 以 常 態 被 列 於 祖 先 當 中 , 但 在 南 宋 及 元 代 , 妾 作 為 母 親 被 列 入 三<br />
代 祖 先 的 現 象 已 較 北 宋 時 流 行 。 北 宋 只 見 三 個 非 皇 室 的 例 子 , 其 中 又 有 兩 例 來 自 宋<br />
初 的 高 官 家 庭 , 最 後 一 例 則 是 特 例 。 南 宋 和 元 的 例 子 較 多 , 南 宋 有 六 例 , 元 有 七<br />
例 。 周 必 大 (1126-1204) 在 一 篇 宗 室 的 墓 誌 當 中 不 只 區 分 出 嫡 母 和 生 母 , 還 注 意<br />
27
到 墓 主 的 祖 父 是 妾 所 生 。 其 他 如 孫 覿 、 樓 鑰 、 姚 勉 、 黃 溍 、 趙 孟 頫 … 等 也 都 曾 在 墓<br />
誌 中 記 述 過 這 樣 的 事 。<br />
妾 做 為 配 偶 的 身 分 也 偶 然 出 現 在 墓 誌 中 。 宋 代 墓 誌 裡 我 只 在 王 珪 《 華 陽 集 》<br />
中 發 現 一 個 十 一 世 紀 中 葉 的 例 子 , 他 提 到 墓 主 「 其 側 室 」 生 一 子 一 女 。 97 接 下 來 便<br />
是 元 代 四 例 。 其 中 一 例 出 自 程 鉅 夫 為 一 個 逝 世 於 1229 年 的 非 漢 族 將 領 所 作 的 墓<br />
誌 , 我 們 在 這 篇 墓 誌 中 可 見 到 墓 主 有 兩 位 正 室 、 一 位 繼 室 和 三 位 側 室 。 98 顯 然 , 妾<br />
做 為 配 偶 的 身 分 在 宋 元 墓 誌 的 書 寫 中 未 曾 被 廣 泛 接 受 。 進 一 步 說 來 , 這 些 為 數 不 多<br />
的 例 子 會 顯 現 妾 做 為 配 偶 的 角 色 , 往 往 是 因 為 她 們 成 功 地 為 丈 夫 留 下 後 嗣 。<br />
在 宋 代 墓 誌 中 已 有 習 慣 列 出 墓 主 的 子 孫 , 時 常 也 列 出 女 婿 或 孫 女 婿 。 然 而 在<br />
晚 宋 之 前 , 並 沒 有 區 分 這 些 子 孫 的 生 母 是 誰 。 基 本 上 , 墓 誌 僅 記 載 正 室 和 繼 室 , 然<br />
後 列 出 子 孫 , 如 此 , 似 乎 暗 示 這 些 子 孫 無 論 在 法 律 上 或 習 俗 上 都 「 屬 於 」 法 定 的 妻<br />
子 。<br />
緊 接 著 , 我 們 看 看 宋 代 墓 誌 如 何 承 認 妾 做 為 母 親 的 存 在 。 為 一 位 做 為 母 親 的<br />
妾 (concub<strong>in</strong>e mothers) 作 墓 誌 銘 , 在 北 宋 仍 不 常 見 。 有 些 作 者 會 提 到 孝 子 如 何 千<br />
辛 萬 苦 地 尋 找 遺 棄 孩 子 的 生 母 , 但 看 不 出 這 些 母 親 是 否 是 妾 。 到 了 晚 宋 , 撰 誌 者 開<br />
始 詳 細 陳 述 在 一 個 家 庭 中 有 好 幾 位 育 有 子 女 的 母 親 , 並 且 也 描 述 宋 代 家 庭 生 活 中 由<br />
此 而 生 的 衝 擊 (impact)。 十 二 世 紀 晚 期 , 樓 鑰 (1137-1213) 在 一 位 嫡 母 的 墓 誌 中<br />
盛 讚 一 個 兒 子 勤 勉 不 懈 地 尋 母 , 而 這 位 孝 子 的 行 動 其 實 間 接 表 露 出 這 位 嫡 母 的 「 鳲<br />
鳩 之 德 」。 樓 鑰 的 行 文 之 間 並 未 直 接 提 及 「 妾 」, 但 這 樣 的 書 寫 似 乎 提 醒 我 們 這 個<br />
孝 子 可 能 不 是 嫡 母 所 生 。 南 宋 的 這 個 例 子 隱 約 、 間 接 地 說 到 妾 的 母 親 角 色 。 這 樣 的<br />
例 子 至 晚 宋 才 增 多 。 元 代 則 有 十 七 個 例 子 。 進 入 十 四 世 紀 , 似 乎 慣 例 上 或 多 或 少 會<br />
注 意 到 子 嗣 的 母 系 血 統 。 這 樣 的 注 意 出 現 於 不 少 元 代 墓 誌 作 者 的 書 寫 當 中 , 包 括 李<br />
存 、 蘇 天 爵 、 貢 師 泰 、 謝 應 芳 、 趙 汸 和 楊 維 楨 。 這 種 趨 勢 向 明 代 延 續 。 簡 而 言 之 ,<br />
宋 元 之 際 , 對 妾 的 母 性 的 關 注 有 所 「 升 溫 」, 墓 誌 作 者 越 來 越 突 出 妾 傳 宗 接 代 的 母<br />
親 角 色 。<br />
宋 代 晚 期 和 元 代 , 墓 誌 也 開 始 對 於 妾 如 何 被 對 待 投 注 更 大 的 關 切 。 越 來 越 可<br />
見 到 , 善 待 庶 母 成 為 評 量 個 人 品 德 的 一 項 標 準 要 素 。 在 子 嗣 侍 奉 庶 母 這 方 面 , 北 宋<br />
97<br />
這 篇 墓 誌 是 宋 元 墓 誌 最 早 使 用 「 側 室 」 一 詞 之 例 。<br />
98<br />
這 個 例 子 的 情 況 可 能 與 北 方 遊 牧 民 族 的 婚 俗 有 關 。 草 原 上 的 男 子 可 同 數 擁 有 數 個 地 位 相 當 的 妻<br />
子 , 這 或 許 影 響 了 漢 族 家 庭 中 妾 的 地 位 的 觀 念 。<br />
28
我 只 找 到 唯 一 一 例 , 南 宋 一 例 , 元 代 六 例 。 其 中 , 張 克 用 (d. 1374) 和 黃 玨<br />
(1330-1370) 兩 人 甚 至 是 因 為 , 能 夠 加 倍 地 孝 敬 殘 酷 無 情 對 待 他 們 的 庶 母 , 而 受<br />
到 讚 譽 。 我 們 也 能 在 墓 誌 對 於 孝 順 的 媳 婦 的 描 述 上 見 到 相 似 的 發 展 。 黃 庭 堅<br />
(1045-1105) 為 其 逝 於 元 符 元 年 (1098) 的 嬸 嬸 所 作 的 〈 叔 母 章 夫 人 墓 誌 銘 〉, 對<br />
這 種 新 的 德 行 標 準 有 相 當 清 晰 的 陳 述 :<br />
夫 人 歸 不 及 舅 姑 , 事 叔 父 之 所 生 母 李 氏 如 姑 禮 , 盡 愛 盡 敬 。…… 分 寧 之<br />
俗 , 所 生 母 皆 服 役 於 其 子 婦 , 聞 夫 人 之 風 , 乃 欣 慕 焉 。<br />
換 句 話 說 , 黃 庭 堅 的 敘 述 讓 人 聯 想 到 , 北 宋 的 時 候 , 至 少 在 帝 國 的 某 些 地 區 , 妾 被<br />
期 待 去 侍 奉 家 中 的 其 他 人 , 甚 至 是 她 們 的 親 生 子 。<br />
我 只 看 過 另 一 篇 北 宋 墓 誌 描 述 一 位 婦 女 侍 奉 丈 夫 的 庶 母 , 但 到 了 晚 宋 和 元<br />
代 , 這 樣 的 陳 述 就 變 得 較 為 普 遍 。 關 於 男 性 和 女 性 侍 奉 庶 母 的 記 述 同 時 增 加 , 暗 示<br />
納 妾 愈 加 普 遍 , 或 者 至 少 是 有 道 之 士 (moralist) 感 到 , 承 認 妾 身 為 母 親 的 地 位 是<br />
重 要 的 。 另 外 , 提 及 男 子 侍 奉 不 是 其 生 母 的 庶 母 , 顯 示 到 了 元 代 , 庶 母 也 被 認 為 是<br />
值 得 尊 敬 的 女 主 人 ―― 至 少 是 那 些 男 性 撰 誌 者 這 麼 認 為 。<br />
宋 元 墓 誌 對 於 庶 母 持 續 增 加 的 關 注 也 與 對 庶 子 的 關 注 成 正 相 關 。 墓 誌 作 者 開<br />
始 去 述 說 男 性 慷 慨 寬 厚 對 待 他 們 的 異 母 兄 弟 以 及 婦 女 疼 愛 非 其 親 生 之 子<br />
(stepsons) 的 故 事 。 最 早 提 及 與 異 母 兄 弟 相 處 情 形 的 墓 誌 是 乾 道 六 年 (1170) 周<br />
必 大 所 作 。 在 這 篇 墓 誌 中 , 我 們 被 告 知 , 即 使 墓 主 的 父 親 逝 世 了 , 他 的 庶 弟 和 妹 妹<br />
們 還 是 都 在 適 婚 年 齡 得 以 順 利 成 家 。 無 疑 地 , 周 必 大 是 想 讓 大 家 了 解 墓 主 給 予 了 庶<br />
弟 和 妹 妹 們 充 分 的 資 助 。 元 代 的 文 本 有 更 加 細 緻 的 敘 述 , 劉 岳 申 (1260-after<br />
1346) 不 只 告 訴 我 們 蕭 瑞 (d. 1331) 為 其 庶 弟 妹 成 家 , 還 進 一 步 說 到 蕭 瑞 將 其 財 產<br />
均 分 給 他 兩 個 庶 弟 , 使 他 們 能 在 分 家 後 有 不 錯 的 家 境 。<br />
正 室 撫 育 妾 所 生 的 孩 子 無 私 如 己 出 , 這 類 例 子 同 樣 也 在 宋 元 之 間 出 現 並 且 增<br />
多 。 應 該 善 待 “stepchild” 的 想 法 自 古 就 有 , 但 在 大 多 數 的 宋 代 墓 誌 中 “stepchild”<br />
仍 指 前 妻 之 子 。 北 宋 只 有 一 篇 墓 誌 說 到 一 位 婦 人 照 顧 妾 生 的 孩 子 。 南 宋 時 增 至 三<br />
例 。 至 元 代 , 稱 讚 女 性 視 庶 子 如 己 出 已 成 為 墓 誌 寫 作 上 的 習 慣 , 可 以 找 到 八 例 , 其<br />
中 之 一 甚 至 開 始 提 到 庶 母 對 嫡 子 的 疼 愛 與 對 自 己 的 孩 子 是 不 分 軒 輊 的 。 簡 言 之 , 自<br />
南 宋 並 延 續 至 元 代 , 墓 誌 的 作 者 提 及 家 中 的 妾 時 , 著 重 於 描 寫 男 性 如 何 侍 奉 庶 母 ,<br />
照 顧 異 母 兄 弟 ; 女 性 如 何 奉 養 庶 婆 母 , 撫 養 庶 出 的 孩 子 。 這 似 乎 證 明 妾 及 其 子 女 正<br />
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在 融 入 中 國 家 庭 生 活 中 。 我 認 為 , 至 少 可 以 說 , 為 數 漸 增 的 墓 誌 作 者 在 理 想 上 認 為<br />
妾 和 庶 子 們 「 應 該 」 更 融 入 家 庭 生 活 , 而 墓 誌 作 者 用 心 良 苦 地 去 贊 揚 與 促 進 他 們 理<br />
想 中 家 人 與 妾 「 適 當 」 的 關 係 , 這 正 反 映 了 妾 對 家 庭 及 社 會 的 衝 擊 。<br />
正 如 明 清 文 學 作 品 中 所 揭 示 的 , 妾 是 對 家 庭 內 部 和 諧 構 成 威 脅 的 人 物 。 但 在<br />
宋 元 墓 誌 中 , 明 清 小 說 所 描 繪 的 那 些 問 題 往 往 只 是 隱 晦 的 暗 示 性 的 。 但 仍 可 見 到 這<br />
種 緊 張 性 存 在 的 證 據 。 例 如 : 從 不 曾 凌 虐 妾 或 奴 僕 的 女 性 被 認 為 應 受 到 表 彰 , 就 有<br />
一 位 阻 止 其 母 欺 虐 妾 的 年 輕 姑 娘 得 到 士 大 夫 的 讚 譽 。 我 們 也 可 以 看 到 , 有 一 位 母 親<br />
讓 唯 一 的 女 兒 嫁 給 沒 有 姬 妾 的 人 , 藉 以 表 現 她 對 女 兒 的 愛 。 這 樣 的 緊 張 性 來 自 於 ,<br />
妾 的 存 在 得 到 更 加 明 確 地 承 認 。<br />
此 外 , 當 妾 也 生 下 兒 子 時 , 就 出 現 了 兩 個 母 親 的 問 題 。 同 時 有 兩 個 母 親 意 指<br />
注 意 力 將 被 分 散 , 忠 誠 也 被 割 裂 。 有 些 人 因 為 能 夠 不 違 禮 地 同 時 侍 奉 嫡 母 和 生 母 而<br />
受 到 讚 美 。 媳 婦 也 發 現 她 們 必 須 同 時 侍 奉 兩 位 婆 婆 , 而 在 彼 此 之 間 產 生 頗 為 微 妙 的<br />
對 待 關 係 。 北 宋 的 趙 鼎 臣 就 描 述 他 的 小 妹 曾 面 對 這 樣 的 處 境 。<br />
這 些 陳 述 暗 示 , 做 為 妻 子 的 努 力 對 抗 任 何 一 個 新 受 丈 夫 寵 愛 的 女 子 , 以 維 持<br />
她 在 家 中 的 權 威 。 理 論 上 , 閨 門 內 (the <strong>in</strong>ner quarter) 的 權 威 仍 然 掌 握 於 正 室 手<br />
中 , 但 因 為 妻 子 在 家 中 的 權 威 總 是 來 自 於 丈 夫 , 所 以 如 果 丈 夫 將 感 情 投 注 於 妾 身<br />
上 , 對 正 室 在 家 中 的 權 力 自 然 是 潛 在 的 威 脅 。 即 使 不 考 慮 正 室 與 丈 夫 之 間 的 感 情 ,<br />
她 也 必 須 擔 心 她 與 妾 的 關 係 可 能 會 影 響 她 在 家 中 的 地 位 。 宋 元 墓 誌 的 作 者 的 確 也 注<br />
意 到 寵 妾 不 只 對 家 內 的 和 諧 構 成 威 脅 , 也 影 響 整 個 家 庭 的 興 衰 榮 辱 。<br />
顯 然 地 , 妾 會 引 起 家 庭 和 社 會 一 連 串 的 問 題 。 既 然 如 此 , 那 麼 為 什 麼 在 南 宋<br />
及 元 代 墓 誌 的 作 者 突 然 對 妾 表 現 更 大 的 關 注 ? 毫 無 疑 問 , 墓 誌 體 例 的 變 化 與 此 一 時<br />
期 理 學 的 發 展 密 不 可 分 。 需 要 指 出 的 是 , 理 學 內 容 本 身 也 是 對 北 宋 早 期 經 濟 發 展 及<br />
政 治 變 革 而 引 發 的 新 社 會 結 構 的 反 應 。<br />
這 一 新 的 社 會 結 構 引 起 了 納 妾 的 變 化 。 隨 著 宋 代 經 濟 的 增 長 及 文 人 的 擴 張 ,<br />
越 來 越 多 的 家 庭 有 能 力 納 妾 。 隨 之 而 來 的 是 , 以 往 在 高 層 家 庭 中 不 甚 顯 著 的 社 會 問<br />
題 開 始 引 起 關 注 。 富 裕 及 有 權 勢 的 家 庭 擁 有 足 夠 的 資 源 分 配 給 子 女 。 如 許 多 南 宋 及<br />
元 代 墓 誌 所 證 明 , 那 些 並 不 富 足 的 家 庭 , 遺 產 有 限 , 因 而 庶 出 子 的 身 分 往 往 引 發 事<br />
端 。 在 宋 末 及 元 代 的 墓 誌 中 , 庶 子 離 開 家 , 過 繼 給 外 人 或 他 房 的 例 子 很 多 。 更 有 一<br />
些 家 庭 將 庶 弟 立 為 嫡 兄 之 後 。 雖 然 這 樣 做 顯 然 否 定 了 禮 儀 上 的 行 輩 原 則 , 但 的 確 有<br />
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不 少 家 庭 借 用 這 個 方 法 來 解 決 無 後 的 問 題 , 甚 至 依 照 孫 子 的 行 輩 名 , 為 庶 子 命 名 。<br />
最 後 , 宋 元 把 妾 當 作 奢 侈 品 享 用 的 趨 勢 引 發 了 社 會 上 和 政 治 上 的 問 題 , 例 如 用 妾<br />
行 賄 和 受 賄 。<br />
理 學 對 於 家 庭 關 係 的 關 懷 可 視 為 對 上 述 問 題 的 回 應 。 強 調 妾 作 為 母 親 角 色 有<br />
助 於 讓 妾 在 家 庭 中 的 地 位 合 理 化 。 如 學 者 指 出 , 在 朱 熹 重 建 的 喪 禮 中 , 庶 母 享 有 和<br />
嫡 母 一 樣 的 祭 祀 。 我 認 為 , 應 該 從 這 一 角 度 去 理 解 墓 誌 在 體 例 上 如 何 強 調 侍 奉 庶 母<br />
及 善 待 庶 兄 弟 。 這 樣 的 文 章 體 例 將 妾 融 入 變 化 中 的 理 學 家 庭 關 係 模 式 。 與 此 同 時 ,<br />
理 學 也 關 注 道 德 修 養 及 「 滅 欲 」, 墓 誌 強 調 妾 具 有 母 性 的 一 面 , 有 助 於 調 整 她 們 作<br />
為 欲 望 對 象 的 形 象 。 有 的 墓 誌 甚 至 開 始 讚 美 不 納 妾 為 道 德 高 尚 的 行 為 。<br />
很 難 說 清 楚 墓 誌 體 例 的 變 化 究 竟 反 映 了 多 少 實 際 情 形 , 但 是 它 的 確 反 映 了 新<br />
的 社 會 態 度 。 顯 然 , 宋 元 之 際 , 對 於 因 娛 樂 目 的 而 納 妾 的 行 為 , 人 們 逐 漸 不 接 受 ,<br />
但 妾 的 母 性 地 位 則 日 漸 提 升 。 可 是 , 即 使 墓 誌 所 推 崇 的 納 妾 「 家 庭 化 」 的 觀 點 反 映<br />
了 廣 泛 的 社 會 實 踐 , 墓 誌 仍 然 讓 我 們 看 到 這 一 家 庭 化 的 侷 限 性 。 首 先 , 這 是 以 傳 宗<br />
接 代 作 為 衡 量 女 性 的 一 個 標 準 , 無 疑 地 這 動 搖 了 沒 有 產 子 的 妻 子 的 家 庭 地 位 。 其<br />
次 , 對 母 性 的 強 調 凸 顯 了 嫡 出 與 庶 出 兒 子 的 區 別 , 有 礙 於 平 等 。<br />
本 文 最 後 指 出 , 從 中 國 家 庭 的 角 度 出 發 , 納 妾 的 好 處 在 於 妾 賦 予 家 庭 更 大 的<br />
靈 活 度 。 如 墓 誌 所 反 映 , 妾 可 以 被 融 入 家 庭 , 也 可 以 被 逐 出 門 外 。 正 因 此 , 納 妾 的<br />
家 庭 化 顯 得 較 偏 面 。 也 許 , 墓 誌 的 家 庭 化 文 體 的 深 遠 影 響 , 是 為 支 援 著 家 族 繁 衍 的<br />
制 度 提 供 了 道 德 評 判 。<br />
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