#401 Bridge to the Tang/Song and Approaching Gender in Chinese History

Debrief on Parent’s Weekend

Bridge backgrounder

We left off in 280 and will not pick up story again until 618. What happened in the middle?

• The Jin (金, the successor to the Wei 魏) ruled a unified Chinese state, but only to 365.
• Pattern of division resumed—sometimes along north/south lines, and sometimes with more than a dozen states competing for power.

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​What should we note about this period?

• Daoism flourished in early part of this period.
  • ​​​Characteristic of the period is the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (zhulin qixian 竹林七賢) who toasted cup after cup of rice wine as they explored esoteric mysticism (xuan 玄) intentionally disconnected from real world application.

Yan Hongzi (嚴宏滋), “Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove,” 18th century, Princeton University Art Museum.

• Buddhism, which had arrived in the Han, gained wider acceptance in the latter part of this period.
  • Arrived earlier but started to displace Daoism as mechanism for making sense of uncertainties of politically unstable times.
  • Buddhism became a new connection point for China to South, Central, Southeast, and Northeast Asia.
  • Folk practice seized on radical equality on basis of gender and sometimes social status.

Map: “The World of Asian Buddhism” in Robert Strayer, Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011), 400.

• Foreigners among northern rulers.

Sui reunited country through conquest in 581.

• Most remarkable for construction of the Grand Canal, portions of which are still in use today.
• Military adventures in Korea led indirectly to dynasty’s collapse after less than forty years.

​Succeeding Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties viewed in different ways as “Golden Age” due to:

• Great cities (Tang capital at Chang’an) and great commercial centers (the Song capitals at Kaifeng and Hangzhou),
• Cultural sophistication (Tang poetry and Song pottery),
• Invention (tea, gunpowder, movable-type printing)

Maps: “Tang China” (above) and “Shifting South” (below) in Patricia Ebrey, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 2nd ed. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 110 and 137.

As you can see, much we could cover. We will focus mainly on gender while continuing our crossover between history and literature with examination of a Tang-era short story and some examples of celebrated poetry

Approaching Gender in Chinese History: Group work and discussion

Today, we are going to break out into four groups examining short selections drawn from Patricia Ebrey, “Women, Marriage, and the Family in Chinese History,” in Paul S. Ropp, ed., Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspectives on Chinese Civilization (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 197-223.

First, read the selection relevant to each group:

• Comparing China and the West (Justin Ghaeli, Chloe Powell)
• Patriarchy (James Albanese, Huy Do, Duncan Sopko)
• Marriage practices (Jerry Cao, Mason von Jess)
• Footbinding (Shine Peng, Addison Oberting)
  
  

Second, use this shared chart (Google Docs) to take notes and prepare for discussion.

When we return as a group, we will share our findings and work toward a common understanding on the following topics:

• What do we mean when we talk about gender? Are there any related terms we might add?
• What were some of the ways gender dynamics in China changed over time from the Han (beginning 221 BCE) to the Song (ending 1279 CE)?
• What we might look for as we turn our attention to figures like Wu Zhao or Su Dongpo?

​​Homework: Assignment #402