Jealousy and Domestic Violence by Women in Early and Medieval China

T oung Pao ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 107 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 555-581
Author(s):  
Olivia Milburn
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Marital Relationships ◽  
Domestic Life ◽  
Sexual Jealousy ◽  
Historical Texts ◽  
Medieval China ◽  
History Of ◽  
Chinese Texts ◽  
Narrative Poem

Abstract Beginning in the early imperial era, Chinese texts recorded instances of domestic violence perpetrated by women living in polygynous households. These acts of abuse were commonly understood to be the result of sexual jealousy. Marital disharmony was a cause of great concern to the elite, as a result of which legal and historical texts, as well as the literature of the period, provide a rich vein of evidence concerning domestic violence perpetrated by women. Furthermore, there are some surprisingly sympathetic accounts of the psychological pressures that led to such abuse by wives. As the importance of this material in the history of marital relationships and domestic life in China has been neglected, this study provides an overview of some of the key sources, particularly the recently discovered Han dynasty narrative poem, Wang Ji 妄稽.

Authentication Studies (辨偽學) Methodology and the Polymorphous Text Paradigm

Early China ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 1-43 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual History ◽  
Textual Criticism ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Chinese Intellectual ◽  
History Of ◽  
Chinese Scholars ◽  
Chinese Texts ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Last Two Millennia ◽  
Made In

The foundation of Chinese intellectual history is a group of texts known as “masters texts” (子書). Many masters texts were authored in the Han dynasty or earlier and many of these have as their title the name of a master who was generally regarded as the author. The inclination to treat a given book as the product of a single writer is apparently a strong one. Nevertheless, from the very beginning there were Chinese scholars who doubted the veracity of the putative authorship of some of these works and suggested that they may in fact have been the product of several authors. Over time, such scholars developed criteria by which to judge the authenticity of ancient masters texts. But as such textual criticism grew more penetrating, the object of its scrutiny began to come apart at the seams. In the last two decades there has been a growing consensus that most early Chinese masters texts were originally quite permeable and that only later were their received forms settled upon.The branch of textual criticism that deals with authenticating early Chinese texts is called “Authentication studies.” This paper is a survey of the methodological advances made in the field of Authentication studies over the last two millennia. It is not a history of the field, as such a history would be a much longer project. The survey concludes with the idea of the “polymorphous text paradigm,” a paradigm that paradoxically obviates much of the preceding scholarship in its own field. Simply put, if authentication relies largely on anachronism, and anachronism relies largely on the dates of the putative author, then a multi-author work with no known “last author” will be impossible to authenticate. Furthermore, the polymorphous text paradigm does not posit these texts as necessarily having earlier and later “layers,” but rather as having had no set structure over the course of their early redactional evolution.This survey examines the contributions of seventeen scholars to Authentication studies methodology, and concludes with how the changes in this field have influenced the work of three modern, Western scholars.

Headhunting in ancient China: the history of violence and denial of knowledge

2018 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Milburn
Keyword(s):  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Ancient China ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Violence ◽  
Oracle Bones ◽  
Chinese Texts ◽  
Enemy Combatant ◽  
The Way ◽  
Ancient Texts

AbstractHeadhunting has a long and well-documented history in China, but most people are today unaware of this practice, first recorded in Shang oracle bones and regularly mentioned in ancient Chinese texts until the Han dynasty. This ignorance is because headhunting subsequently came to be seen as a barbaric practice and knowledge concerning its long history was destroyed: this was achieved by inventing a new character, guo 聝, which means “to cut the ear of a dead enemy combatant” and using this to replace (and thus confuse meanings with) an older character guo 馘, which refers specifically to headhunting. Ancient texts in which headhunting practices are documented have been misunderstood and misrepresented by imperial era scholars to prevent anyone from seeing that ancient China was a headhunting culture. This study shows how dominant cultural norms can impact on the way in which texts are read.

Parallel Planetary Astrologies in Medieval China and Inner Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-203
Author(s):  
David W. Pankenier
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Influence ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Early China ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Cultural Contact ◽  
Inner Asia ◽  
Sasanian Empire ◽  
Medieval China ◽  
History Of

Abstract Portentous clusters of the five visible planets are repeatedly implicated in historical sources in connection with dynastic transitions in early China. In the medieval period, which is the focus of this investigation, the History of the Three Kingdoms records how timely planetary portents during the decline of the Later Han dynasty (184–220 CE) were exploited as the celestial signs justifying usurpation and the founding of the (Cao-)Wei 曹魏 dynasty by Cao Pi 曹丕 (ca. 187–226). Half a millennium later, in mid-Tang 唐 dynasty, the impetus for the devastating rebellion of An Lushan 安祿山 (703–757) that nearly brought down the Tang can likewise be shown to have been strongly influenced by the historical precedents, and more immediately by a conjunction of all five visible planets that occurred in 750. That ominous astral omen, coupled with portentological speculations based on Han dynasty apocryphal texts, together with the parallels between An Lushan’s and Cao Cao’s 曹操 (155–220) careers, played a role in prompting An Lushan to attempt to overthrow the Tang. In Inner Asia, the founding of the Sasanian Empire in 224 CE in parallel with the Cao-Wei, and the emergence of a political astrology based on the periodicity of Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions suggested the possibility of mutual influences in planetary astrology. However, incompatibility between the two astrological traditions may have militated against mutual influence on a theoretical level. In the absence of detailed information concerning the foundations of Sasanian planetary astrology, to all appearances, and notwithstanding extensive cultural contact, the imperial political astrologies of China and Inner Asia in the medieval period remained resistant to infiltration in either direction.

Hikayat Susunan Kuning dalam Negeri Gagelang: Sebuah Tinjauan Historiografi

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dwi Puji Rahayu ◽  
Asep Yudha Wirajaya
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
Historical Texts ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dutch Colonial

This study aims to present a historiographic review of the text of the Yellow Tale in the State of Gagelang (hereinafter abbreviated as HSK). This research uses the historical method. The steps used in this study are (1) heuristics; (2) criticism; and (3) historiography. The results of research on this study are known that (1) In the text HSK tells about Sunan Kuning to his descendants and various conflicts in it; (2) The history of the tumult not only describes the conflict between Java and China, but also indicates the interference of the Dutch colonial involvement in it; (3) The relevance between the HSK text and the history of Pacer commotion. The relevance is illustrated by the existence of relevant and interrelated events between the HSK text and the history of Pacer commotion. During this time, the discourse that continues to be "echoed" by the colonial side is the commotion of Chinatown is a dark history for humanity in the archipelago. In fact, the discourse continues to be reproduced when various riots erupted in the country. The discourse that is raised is always based on ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup. Thus, the presence of the HSK text is an important witness for the history of humanity on earth in the archipelago. In addition, HSK also uses the background of the banner story. It shows that history is not always written by "winners". Because the banner story is a folklore that is so closely related to the life of the Indonesian people. Therefore, a comprehensive and integral study of HSK and other historical texts is absolutely necessary to be carried out in order to reveal the true historical facts. So, Indonesian people can re-recognize the history of their ancestors, both through colonial sources and from the perspective of the nation's own historiography.

The Invention of Papal History

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Reformation ◽  
History Writing ◽  
Historical Texts ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cultural Standards ◽  
Commissioned Works ◽  
The One ◽  
Late Renaissance ◽  
The Church

How was the history of post-classical Rome and of the Church written in the Catholic Reformation? Historical texts composed in Rome at this time have been considered secondary to the city’s significance for the history of art. The Invention of Papal History corrects this distorting emphasis and shows how history-writing became part of a comprehensive formation of the image and self-perception of the papacy. By presenting and fully contextualizing the path-breaking works of the Augustinian historian Onofrio Panvinio (1530–68), this book shows what type of historical research was possible in the late Renaissance and the Catholic Reformation. Historiography in this period by no means consisted entirely of commissioned works written for patrons; rather, a creative interplay existed between, on the one hand, the endeavours of authors to explore the past and, on the other hand, the constraints of patronage and ideology placed on them. This book sheds new light on the changing priorities, mentalities, and cultural standards that flourished in the transition from the Renaissance to the Catholic Reformation.

Offender-Centric Policing in Cases of Rape

2021 ◽  
pp. 002201832110274
Author(s):  
Philip NS Rumney ◽  
Duncan McPhee
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Sexual Offending ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Missed Opportunities ◽  
Predatory Behaviour ◽  
Investigative Tool ◽  
Care And Support ◽  
History Of

The article explores the idea of ‘offender-centric’ policing in cases of rape, with its focus on suspect and offender admissions and behaviours. It features discussion of 11 cases, illustrating offender-centric pathways to charge or conviction, the challenges facing complainants, suspects and police officers, along with missed opportunities to focus on a suspect’s behaviour. The importance of victim care and support is discussed, and it is argued that victim care should accompany an offender-centric approach to rape investigation. It is also argued that there are potential dangers with offender-centric tactics, specifically, that without due care it may become a self-confirming investigative tool influenced by confirmation bias which may lead to flawed decision-making. The article concludes by arguing that offender-centric policing has benefits in those cases with suspects who engage in predatory behaviour, have a history of previously undisclosed sexual offending and domestic violence and other problematic behaviours. It also has value in focusing the attention of investigators on what steps were taken by a suspect to ascertain the complainant’s consent. While the offender-centric approach cannot address all investigative challenges in rape cases, it is a useful addition to existing strategies.

Hooke recommemorated

1996 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-140
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Domestic Life ◽  
Robert Hooke ◽  
Arts And Sciences ◽  
Personal Interaction ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Christ Church ◽  
History Of

Richard Nichols, The Diaries of Robert Hooke, The Leonardo of London, 1635-1703 . Lewes, Sussex: The Book Guild, 1994, Pp. 185, £15.00. ISBN 0- 86332-930-6. Richard Nichols is a science master turned historian of science who celebrates in this book Robert Hooke’s contributions to the arts and sciences. The appreciation brings together comments from Hooke’s Diaries , and other works, on each of his main enterprises, and on his personal interaction with each of his principal friends and foes. Further references to Hooke and his activities are drawn from Birch’s History of the Royal Society, Aubrey’s Brief Lives , and the Diaries of Evelyn and of Pepys. The first section of the book, ‘Hooke the Man’, covers his early years of education at home in Freshwater, at Westminster school and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he soon joined the group of experimental philosophers who set him up as Curator of the Royal Society and Professor of Geometry at Gresham College, Bishopsgate. Hooke’s domestic life at Gresham College is described - his intimate relationships with a series of housekeepers, including his niece, Grace Hooke, and his social life at the College and in the London coffee houses.

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