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Gentlemen's
Prescriptions for
Women's Lives
AThousand Years of
Biographies of
Chinese Women

Sherry J. MOll

AN EAST GATE BOOK

 An East Gate Book

First published 2004 by M.E. Sharpe

Published 2015 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OXl4 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright © 2004 by Sherry J. Mou. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or

utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notices
No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or
damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability,
negligence or otherwise, or from any use of operation of any
methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material
herein.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own

experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information,
methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such
information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety
and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a
professional responsibility.

Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered

trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mou, Sherry J.
Gentlemen's prescriptions for women's lives: a thousand years of biographies of
Chinese women / Sherry J. Mou.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7656-0867-7 (hc : alk. paper)
1. Women-China-Social conditions. 2. Women-China-Bibliography. I. Title

HQ1767 .M68 2002

305.42'0951-dc21 2002022159

ISBN 13: 9780765608673 (hbk)

 To
the memories of
Homg Jih-chiou (1927-1966), my mother,
and Donna Schaefer (1931-200 1), a great teacher and friend
This page intentionally lefi blank
 Contents

List of Tables IX
Preface and Acknowledgments Xl
Explanatory Notes X111
Chronology of Early Chinese Dynasties xv
Illustrations for Biographies follow page 112

1. From The Biographies of Women to the

Biographies of Chaste Women 3
Introduction 3
Women in the Confucian Tradition 5
Summary of the Book 20

2. Appropriating Women: Liu Xiang's Liena zhuan 26

Introduction 26
Rectification of the Name 28
The Formulaic Structure 30
The Biographies 34
Conclusion 65

3. Subjecting Women to Histories: Hou Han shu

andJin shu 76
Introduction 76
Hou Han shu (History of the Later Han Dynasty
[25-220]) 77
v
vi

lin shu (History of the Jin Dynasty [265-420]) 94

Conclusion 103

4. Reinventing Women: Wei shu, sui shu, and Bei shi 113
Introduction 113
Wei shu (History of the Wei Dynasty [386--556]) 113
Sui shu (History of the Sui Dynasty [581-618]) 120
Bei shi (History of the Northern Dynasties [386-581]) 130
Conclusion 131

5. Writing Virtues with Their Bodies: Xin Tang shu

and Jin Tang shu 136
Introduction 136
The Paradigms: Chinese Womanhood of the
Tang Dynasty (618-907) 137
Interpreting the Inconsistencies: The Undercurrents
in the Biographies 158

6. Conclusion: A Biography Tradition That Is Not 170

Setting Examples: The Paradigm of Motherhood and
the Separation of the Imperial and the Common 171
The Reintroduction of Women: Gendering Virtues 175
Official Honoring and Willful Oblivion: The Names
of Women 179
From Signs to Symbols: Writing Chastity with
Their Bodies 184
Toward a Coherent Reading of the Lienit zhuan Tradition 191

Appendixes 201
A.l: The Biographies of Women : Chapter Introductions 201
A.2: The Biographies of Women: Chapter and
Biography Titles 204
A.3 : The Biographies of Women : Biographies by Chapter 209
B: Dates and Compilers of "Biographies of Women"
Chapters in the First Nineteen Official Histories 220
C.l: Introductions (Xu) and Eulogies (Zan) from
"Biographies of Women": Chapters in the
First Nineteen Official Histories 222
 vii

C.2: Introductions (Xu) and Eulogies (Zan) from

"Biographies of Women": Chapters in the
First Nineteen Official Histories (in Chinese) 233
D: "Biographies of Women" Chapters in
Hou Han shu and lin shu 240
E: Comparison Among "Biographies of Women"
Chapters in Wei shu, Sui shu, and Bei shi 249
F: "Biographies of Women" Chapters in
Wei shu, Sui shu, and Bei shi 251
G: Comparison Between the Two Tang Histories'
"Biographies of Women" Chapters 256
H: Paradigms, Virtues, and Expressions in the
"Biographies of Women" Chapters in the
Two Tang Histories 258

Glossary 261
Bibliography 271
Index 287
This page intentionally lefi blank
 List of Tables

1.1 Years Covered and Number of Biographies in The Biographies

o/Women and the Seven Early Dynastic Histories 18

2.1 Four Classes of Women in Lienu zhuan 33

3.1 Comparison of Women's Names Between

Hou Han shu and lin shu 106

4.1 Official Honors of Women from Hou Han shu to Bei shi 132

6.1 Reasons for and Agents of Official Honors of Women 181

6.2 Names of Women in the "Biographies of Women"

Chapters 183

ix
This page intentionally lefi blank
 Preface and
Acknowledgments

The first time I paid attention to Liu Xiang's Lienii zhuan (The biogra-
phies of women) was in the first year of my graduate study. Professor
David Chen asked me which lie, the one with or without four dots, should
be the title character. The answer was easy, but answering it meant tak-
ing a long road of meandering through the tradition of biographies of
women in Chinese history. I was writing my master's thesis on Eileen
Chang (1920-1995) at the time. Perhaps thinking about Lienii zhuan too
much, I saw shadows of Lienii even in Chang's modem characters. Even-
tually, the idea fermented into my dissertation topic.
This book originated in that dissertation completed in 1994 at Ohio
State University. I was very lucky to have Professor Yan-shuan Lao as
my advisor and whose encouragement, support, and guidance were in-
valuable. My gratitude also goes to the others on my dissertation com-
mittee, who provided the first round of criticism: Professors Marlene
Longemecker, Judith Mayn, Hao Chang, and Charles Williams. Inter-
rupted in the middle by a book I edited and by other projects, this book
takes a direction quite different from the design of the dissertation.
I also want to thank Wellesley College, whose Faculty Awards en-
abled me to get better software and other editorial assistance. An NEH
summer grant in 1999 allowed me to carry out research at the Academia
Sinica and to complete Chapter 2. A special thanks goes to Drs. Hsiao
Fan and Lu Fang-shang at the Academia Sinica, who helped me locate

Xl
xii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

and obtain resources and materials invaluable to my understanding

of the official histories of the Tang dynasty as well as Liu Xiang's
Lienii zhuan. A version of Chapter 5 appeared previously in Pres-
ence and Presentation.
Professors Ruby Yuan-chu Lam, Don J. Wyatt, Suzanne Cahill, Idema
Wilt, Paul Rouzer, and Maureen Robertson have all read portions of the
manuscript at various stages, and this curt acknowledgment can hardly
express my gratitude. Many of their comments are incorporated here.
Going beyond the call of friendship, Janice Gohm and Cameron Webster
read through the draft with their "proverbial tooth of combs." Professor
Bernadette Yu-ning Li's encouragement and help throughout the final
stages are deeply appreciated.
Two major forms of assistance from DePauw University at the
final stage of production were invaluable. The Faculty Professional
Development Fund enabled me to complete the index and glossary;
I wish to thank Martha Rainbolt and the Faculty Development Com-
mittee for their support. Scott Long, Angela Smock, and the many
capable hands in .the Digital Media Lab provided inestimable com-
puting and digitizing assistance; without their state-of-art skills and
unbelievable patience, I would not have been able to include all the
illustrations. Angela Piliouras, Managing Editor at M.E. Sharpe, an
anonymous copyeditor, and an artist at the press patiently went
through the draft and the illustrations, and offered precious sugges-
tions and comments. I am grateful to them all. Any mistakes that
remain are my own.
Finally, to Juris and Augustus Lidaka I express my most heartfelt
gratitude for their moral and practical support, through both good and
bad weather and always with good humor.

SM
at Wellesley, Massachusetts
 Explanatory Notes

1. In general, pinyin is used for romanizing quotations from Chinese

texts. Chinese proper nouns and titles also follow pinyin, with
the exception of when the author's own spellings are known;
they will be respected.
2. The Glossary is arranged alphabetically according to the pinyin
of individual Chinese characters, regardless of word divisions.
Thus, Shanxi (the province) will proceed Shang (the dynasty)
in a list. Chinese entries in the Bibliography are also alphabet-
ized this way.
3. Titles and names that appear in the Bibliography are not repeated
in the Glossary, nor are dynastic names of early dynasties, which
are included in the Chronology on p. xv.

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