The Emperor of Dunhuang: Rethinking Political Regionalism in Tenth Century China

The political history of medieval China is written primarily on the basis of official records produced at centers of political power by victors in the preceding trans-dynastic war. With the help of alternative sources, one can hope to challenge the triumphalist and teleological narrative imbedded in these records. In this article, I use documents preserved in the Dunhuang “library cave” to uncover a failed attempt to establish a regional state with imperial pretensions in Dunhuang immediately after the fall of the Tang. This kind of political regionalism seen in Dunhuang is also found in several other post-Tang states in Sichuan and Guangdong. My investigation of their similarities exposes the teleological nature of the conventional framework of “Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms,” and demands that we rethink the political history of China after the fall of the Tang.

Funeral Epitaph of Zhao Rugua (1170-1231), the Author of Zhufan zhi (“Records of Foreign Peoples”; 1225). Structural-Descriptive and Archaelogical Analysis of the Source

The present work is a continuation of two previously published articles in which the biography of Zhao Rugua 趙汝适 (1170-1231), the author of Zhufan zhi 諸蕃志 (Records of Foreign Peoples; 1225) an important historical geographical source about the foreign lands during the Song dynasty (960-1279), was studied through the usage of the text of his funeral epitaph as well as other historical sources. They also included the translation of the text of inscription into Russian and English [1; 2]. The goal of this article is to deepen the study of Zhao Ruguas funeral epitaph by researching the material features of the source, analyzing the structure of the text and comparing it with other similar sources of Medieval China. In contrast with the previous works the inscription in this article is analyzed both as a textual source and as an object of material culture which enables to understand the context of the creation of the source as well as the extent of detalization of the deceaseds biography.

Jealousy and Domestic Violence by Women in Early and Medieval China

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.

Deciphering the Shi Jun Sarcophagus Using Sogdian Religious Beliefs, Tales, and Hymns

The discovery of the Northern Zhou (557–581AD) tomb of Shi Jun (494–579 CE) presents us with spectacular visual information about the Sogdians in medieval China, which was previously available to us only through written sources. The iconography-heavy sarcophagus in the tomb is an important vehicle for understanding the practices of religious (and everyday) life in the Sino-Sogdian community. The imagery on the Shi Jun sarcophagus reveals a mix of religious beliefs that existed among migrants in the premodern Eurasian world. Due to the absence of a dominant religion associated with Sino-Sogdian funerals, the iconography of the sarcophagus cannot be interpreted within an orthodox theological framework. Instead, it is possible that more syncretistic, indigenous, and regionally based folklore, tales, and hymns, in combination with a diversity of religious beliefs, might explain the sarcophagus’s enigmatic imagery, since the social order and religious order are often mutually reinforcing.

Rediscovering the largest kiln site in the middle Yangtze River Valley: insights into Qingbai and grey-greenish ware production at Husi kiln site based on bulk chemical analysis

This paper presents new data from the Husi kiln site, Hubei Province, China, where the unusual size calls into question the primacy of Jingdezhen in porcelain production in medieval China. With its over 180 kilns, the site rivals Jingdezhen in size, yet it has found no mention in textual accounts. The wares produced at Husi include Qingbai and grey-greenish ware of the Tang and the Song periods (seventh to thirteenth century AD). This paper presents compositional data obtained using LA-ICP-MS on samples from five kilns at Husi, comparing them with published data from other kilns. The data set Husi apart, thus allowing for fingerprinting its wares. Based on bulk chemical analysis, the paper furthermore explores the idea that Husi combined elements of southern and northern technologies, thus connecting these two ceramic traditions that previously had been seen as being entirely separate. Some key elements of the early Qingbai ware glaze from Husi resemble wares from Jingdezhen, suggesting a connection between the two sites; however, the glaze recipes for later wares found at Husi differ, indicating that its customer base and marketing strategy changed over time. Furthermore, the iron content of the grey-greenish ware from Husi is extraordinarily high, indicating a unique glaze recipe and production technology independent from Jingdezhen.