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Abstract
The tumultuous political environment of early medieval China gave rise to a social phenomenon known as liangdi 兩嫡, a situation in which a man kept two principal wives. This anomaly caused a great deal of confusion not only in terms of inheritance of title, rank, and property for the sons born of the two wives, but more importantly, in mourning observances by the sons for their mothers. To provide guidance for those involved in such situations, many discussions and debates around liangdi cases took place, both publicly among officials in courts and privately between colleagues and friends. This article, through analyzing four recorded discussions and debates on liangdi cases from the Jin dynasty (265–420), examines how a private issue of having two wives, resulting from the geopolitical conditions of civil war and segregation following the disintegration of the Han empire, became a public matter that had a profound ritual and political significance. At the heart of the politicization of ritual matters was the question of the political legitimacy of a newly unified empire.
Acknowledgments
This article was written with the generous support from the CUHK-CCK Foundation, Asia Pacific Centre for Chinese Studies, and the Institute of Chinese Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I thank the two anonymous readers for their constructive feedback and Professor Xiaofei Tian for her invaluable comments and suggestions. Any errors that remain are my sole responsibility.
Notes
1 Fang Xuanling 房玄齡 (578–648) et al., comps., Jin shu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974), 20.636; hereafter JS. See also Du You, Tong dian (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1988), 68.1894–95; hereafter TD.
2 The chapters in the Li ji include “Tangong” 檀弓, “Zengzi wen” 曾子問, “Sangfu xiaoji” 喪服小記, “Da zhuan” 大傳, “Zaji” 雑記, “Fu wen” 服問, “Jian zhuan” 間傳, “San nian wen” 三年問, and “Sangfu sizhi” 喪服四制.
3 The five types of mourning attire are translated into English by Guolong Lai as such: untrimmed sackcloth (zhancui), trimmed sackcloth (zicui), roughly processed cloth (dagong), finely processed cloth (xiaogong), fine hemp (sima). See Lai, “The Diagram of the Mourning System from Mawangdui,” Early China 28 (2003): 53. Lai’s translations are based on Patricia Buckley Ebrey’s rendering of the terms with modifications. See Ebrey, Chu Hsi’s Family Rituals (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991), 213–19.
4 For an introduction to the traditional Chinese mourning system in English-language sources, see Lai, “The Diagram of the Mourning System,” 43–99, and Yiqun Zhou, “The Status of Mothers in the Early Chinese Mourning System,” T’oung Pao 99 (2013): 1–52. For Chinese-language sources, see Zhang Huanjun 張煥君, Qing li jiaorong: sangfu zhidu yu Wei Jin nanbeichao shehui 情禮交融: 喪服制度與魏晉南北朝社會 (Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2020), and Cheng Ya-ju 鄭雅如, Qinggan yu zhidu: Wei Jin shidai de muzi guanzi 情感與制度: 魏晉時代的母子關係 (Nanjing: Fenghuang chubanshe, 2021). Both Zhou’s and Cheng’s writings focus on the mother-son relationship in the mourning system. The last two chapters of Zhang’s book are devoted to a discussion of women in the mourning system.
5 Yi li zhushu 儀禮注疏, 11.352b–53a, in Ruan Yuan 阮元 (1764–1849), ed., Shisanjing zhushu fu jiaokan ji十三經注疏附校勘記 (Taibei: Yiwen yinshuguan, 1965 rpt.).
6 Yi li zhushu 11.353. Zhou, “The Status of Mothers,” 13.
7 Yi li zhushu 2.64b. Zhou, “The Status of Mothers,” 14.
8 Yi li zhushu 11.355a.
9 Yiqun Zhou states that the classic “says nothing about how the son should mourn his mother who has remarried after the death of his father. It does, however, prescribe one-year mourning for a remarried stepmother.” Zhou, “The Status of Mothers,” 17. For the mourning prescription for a remarried stepmother, see Yi li zhushu 11.355.
10 Yi li zhushu 11.355a.
11 Yi li zhushu 11.355a.
12 TD 89.2442.
13 The liangdi anomaly as a noticeable issue in early medieval China has attracted scholars’ attention for almost a century. For a brief discussion of two principal wives (shuangqi 雙妻), see Chen Dongyuan 陳東原 (1902–1978), Zhongguo funü shenghuo shi 中國婦女生活史 (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1937), 81. Chen Guyuan 陳顧遠 (1896–1981) surveyed the development of the liangdi phenomenon through history in his Zhongguo hunyin shi 中國婚姻史 (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshiguan, 1936), 55–62. Lü Simian 呂思勉 (1884–1957) offered a lengthy discussion on liangdi cases in his Liang Jin nanbeichao shi 兩晉南北朝史 (Shanghai: Kaiming shudian, 1948). Jen-der Lee includes a discussion of the liangdi anomaly in her doctoral dissertation on women and marriage in early medieval China. Lee, “Women and Marriage in China during the Period of Disunion” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington, 1992), 175–86. Zhang Huanjun also discusses the phenomenon of liangdi in his book on the early Chinese mourning practices; see the chapter “Qianmu, erdi yu shidai” 前母、二嫡與時代, in Zhang, Qing li jiaorong, 241–94. There is, however, little effort in existing scholarship on this topic to analyze liangdi cases in detail to demonstrate their political implications.
14 On February 9, 266, one of the participants Zheng Chong 鄭沖 (d. 274) was promoted from Grand Guardian (taibao 太保) to Grand Mentor (taifu 太傅), which is the official title that he held at the time of the discussion. See JS 3.52. Zheng Chong died on March 5, 274. See JS 3.63. If JS does not use an anachronistic title for Zheng in its account of the discussion, it follows that the discussion must have been carried out sometime between early 266 and early 274.
15 JS 20.639.
16 JS 20.640.
17 JS 20.640.
18 JS 20.640.
19 TD 68.1894–95.
20 TD 68.1895.
21 Among the works that Yuan Zhun authored are one juan 卷 of Commentary to the “Mourning Attire” in the Book of Etiquette and Ceremonial (Yi li Sangfu jing zhu 儀禮喪服經注) and nineteen juan of Master Yuan’s Correct Discourses (Yuanzi zhenglun 袁子正論). Yan Kejun 嚴可均 (1762–1843), comp., Quan Jin wen 全晉文, 54.1769a, in Yan Kejun, comp., Quan shanggu sandai Qin Han sanguo liuchao wen 全上古三代秦漢三國六朝文 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1991).
22 Yan Kejun, comp., Quan Jin wen 54.1769b.
23 TD 68.1895.
24 TD 68.1895.
25 JS 20.635; TD 89.2441. Jen-der Lee discusses Wang Bi’s case in the section “The Two Wives Anomaly” in her dissertation. She summarizes the opinions in the court discussion and states that, “except for a weak voice that accepted the two legal wives at the same time, most of the scholars tried to decide these women’s status by temporal order: the first as the original wife, and the second as the successor wife.” Lee, “Women and Marriage in China during the Period of Disunion,” 176–78. My analysis of the court debate demonstrates that the real focus of “most of the scholars” was on considering the first wife as divorced.
26 Zhang Huanjun also notes the high profile of this court debate in his discussion of Wang Bi’s case, but he focuses entirely on the ritual aspect of the liangdi phenomenon and pays no attention to the political dimension of the debate. Zhang, Qing li jiaorong, 242.
27 JS 20.635–38.
28 TD 89.2441–44.
29 This list includes arguments from Liu Zhi 劉智 (or Liu Zhi’an 劉智安, d. 289), Bian Cui 卞粹 (d. 303), Wei Heng 衛恆 (d. 291), Liu Bian 劉卞 (d. 299), Sima You 司馬攸 (246–283), Li Yin 李胤 (d. 282), the Eight Executives of the Imperial Secretariat (shangshu bazuo 尚書八座), Xu Meng 許猛 (fl. 280–307), Yu Pu 虞溥 (fl. 275–289), and Jin Emperor Wu himself. The Jin shu also takes note of those who expressed their agreement with others but did not elaborate on their opinions, including Duan Chang 段暢 (fl. 277), Qin Xiu 秦秀 (fl. 275–295), and Zou Chong 騶沖 (fl. 280), who agreed with Xu Meng; Cui Liang 崔諒 (fl. 280), Xun Kui 荀悝 (fl. 292), Xun Xu 荀勖 (d. 289), He Qiao 和嶠 (d. 292), and Xiahou Zhan 夏侯湛 (243–291), who agreed with Yu Pu; Jia Chong and Sima Liang 司馬亮 (d. 291), who agreed with Emperor Wu. Finally, the Jin shu takes care to mention that Chen Qian 陳騫 (201–281), Commander-in-Chief (da sima 大司馬), did not participate in the debate.
30 It, however, should be noted that the arguments by Cheng Xian 程咸 (fl. 254–283) and Li Bao 李苞 (fl. 260–280) are included in the Tong dian only. For arguments that appear in both sources, the Tong dian account is fuller and easier to follow. It seems that the Jin shu often takes those arguments out of their original context, thus making them difficult to understand. Sometimes there are also contradictory statements in the Jin shu account.
31 JS 20.635.
32 TD 89.2441–42.
33 TD 89.2442–43.
34 Xie Heng’s argument in the Jin shu is worded differently and gives a more explicit description of the mourning obligations of the sons born of Wang Bi’s two wives. It states: “Even though [Wang Bi] came to have two wives, it was the result of unusual circumstances and does not bring harm to the way. I propose that [Wang Bi’s sons born of his two wives] each mourn the other’s mother” 雖有二妻, 蓋有故而然, 不為害於道, 議宜更相為服. JS 20.635.
35 TD 89.2442–43. Qin Xiu’s argument as recorded in the Jin shu is incomplete. The Jin shu also contains a contradiction by stating that Qin Xiu agreed with Xu Meng’s argument that no mourning period was to be observed. JS 20.635.
36 Qin Xiu’s grandfather, Qin Yilu 秦宜祿 (d. 199), was a subordinate of the warlord Lü Bu 呂布 (d. 199). He was sent by Lü Bu as an emissary to another warlord, Yuan Shu 袁術 (155–199). Impressed by Qin Yilu, Yuan Shu married a clanswoman of the Han royal family to him, disregarding the fact that he was already married to Lady Du 杜. As a result, Lady Du was left behind with her son Qin Lang 秦朗 (fl. 3rd c.), Qin Xiu’s father. Qin Yilu’s story is recorded in the Weishi chunqiu 魏氏春秋 and cited in Pei Songzhi’s 裴松之 (372–451) commentary to Chen Shou’s 陳壽 (233–297) Sanguo zhi 三國志. Chen Shou, Sanguo zhi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959), 3.100.
37 Liu Bian served as Recorder on the staff of Sima You, Prince of Qi.
38 JS 20.636.
39 Chunqiu Zuo zhuan zhengyi 春秋左傳正義, 15.254b–55a, in Ruan Yuan, ed., Shisanjing zhushu.
40 The story was recorded in Ying Shao’s 應劭 (ca. 140–ca. 204) Fengsu tongyi 風俗通義 and cited in TD 89.2445. For Huang Chang’s biography, see Fan Ye 范曄 (398–445), comp., Hou Han shu 后漢書 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1965), 77.2496–97.
41 Cf. Jen-der Lee’s claim that no one in the debate “suggested that the second woman should be considered a concubine.” Lee, “Women and Marriage in China during the Period of Disunion,” 178.
42 Kongzi jiayu 孔子家語, with commentary by Wang Su 王肅 (195–256) (Taibei: Shijie shuju, 1991), 26.64. See also Gao Ming 高明, ed., Da Dai Li ji 大戴禮記 (Taibei: Taiwan Shangwu yinshuguan, 1984), 80.510.
43 Xu Meng was regarded as “a learned scholar in ritual classics” 禮學儒博. See Liu Yiqing 劉義慶 (403–444), comp., Shishuo xinyu jiaojian 世說新語校箋, with a commentary by Liu Xiaobiao 劉孝標 (462–521), annot. Xu Zhen’e 徐震堮 (1901–1986) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984), 19.365–67.
44 TD 89.2442.
45 TD 89.2442.
46 Yu Pu was a scholar of Confucian classics and a man of letters. See his biography in JS 82.2139–41.
47 JS 20.637.
48 TD 89.2444.
49 Citing the Zhao Ji story, Li Bao claimed: “Chong’er journeyed to Qi, but was determined to return. As long as the husband and wife’s separation falls within five years, it is not long enough to constitute a severance [of marital ties]” 重耳適齊, 志在必還, 五年之間, 未為離絕. TD 89.2444.
50 Bian Cui was the son-in-law of the very Zhang Hua who called for a discussion on the hypothetical liangdi case introduced earlier in this article.
51 JS 20.636.
52 “The rites value orthodoxy, by means of which family relationships are rectified. Just as no two rulers are allowed in one state, [no two principal wives should be allowed in a household]” 禮重一統, 所以正家, 猶國不可二君. TD 89.2444.
53 JS 20.636.
54 During the Spring and Autumn Period 春秋 (770–476 BCE), Shi Hou 石厚 (d. 719 BCE) and the Wei 衛 prince Zhouxu 州吁 (d. 719 BCE) designed a plan to eliminate another prince, later known as Duke Huan of Wei 衛桓公 (d. 719 BCE), in order to establish Zhouxu as the lord. Shi Hou’s father Shi Que 石碏, a Wei minister, supported Duke Huan and killed his own son Shi Hou and Zhouxu. The Zuo Commentary praised Shi Que’s readiness to sacrifice his own family in order to hold fast to the great principle (dayi mieqin 大義滅親). See Chunqiu Zuo zhuan zhengyi 3.57a.
55 JS 20.637.
56 JS 20.638. The first meaning of ti 替 in the Hanyu da cidian 漢語大詞典 is “to dismiss” (feiqi 廢棄). So alternatively, this sentence could be taken to mean, “As a son, how could Chang dismiss his own mother?”
57 JS 20.642. In the Tong dian, it appears to be jizhu erqi 籍注二妻. TD 89.2445.
58 TD 89.2444.
59 See JS 20.642–43; TD 89.2444–45.
60 JS 20.643; TD 89.2445.
61 JS 40.1171–72.
62 JS 40.1171. Jia Chong’s liangdi predicament must have caused a lot of tension at home. His mother very much wanted Jia’s first wife Lady Li back. After Emperor Wu’s special edict, “Chong’s mother also commanded that Chong bring back Lady Li” 充母亦敕充迎李氏, but Jia Chong did not oblige due to his fear of his supposedly exceedingly jealous second wife Guo Huai. On her deathbed, when asked by Jia Chong what remaining wishes she had, Jia Chong’s mother snapped, “You couldn’t even bring back my daughter-in-law Li for me as I told you to, let alone anything else” 我教汝迎李新婦尚不肯, 安問他事! JS 40.1172.
63 Emperor Wu claimed that he was “from a family of Ru scholars that had been transmitting rituals for a long time” 吾本諸生家, 傳禮來久. JS 20.614. Emperor Wu’s maternal grandfather was none other than the renowned classical scholar Wang Su. Among Wang Su’s works is a Commentary to the Classic of Filial Piety (Xiao jing zhu 孝經注). Emperor Wu’s mother Wang Yuanji 王元姬 (217–268) was especially well versed in the “Mourning Attire” chapter of the Yi li 尤善喪服. JS 31.950.
64 JS 40.1166.
65 JS 40.1172.
66 Sima Zhao 司馬昭 (211–265) had considered designating his worthy and able son Sima You as heir and bypassing his eldest son Sima Yan 司馬炎 (i.e., Emperor Wu) many times. After Emperor Wu was enthroned, because “the crown prince [Sima Zhong] was not mentally agile, court officials all had their eye on [Sima] You [as Emperor Wu’s successor]” 太子不令, 朝臣內外, 皆屬意於攸. JS 38.1133.
67 The Western Jin replaced its predecessor Wei through a series of military maneuvers. Those who failed in the struggle for power were eliminated, and their family members were severely impacted. Jia Chong’s first wife Lady Li is a case in point. The granddaughters of Guanqiu Jian 毌丘儉 (d. 255) furnish another example. Like Lady Li’s father, Guanqiu Jian was another military general who rebelled against Sima Shi. He ended up being slain, and most of his family members were killed. Guanqiu Jian’s granddaughters were divorced by their respective husbands as a result. Jia Chong’s biography in the Jin shu makes it clear that many more such women were victims in the process. “Cases like [Lady Li’s] were many, and officials in charge of rites were unable to provide recommendations on how to determine [the marital statuses of the two wives]” 此例既多, 質之禮官, 俱不能決. JS 40.1172.
68 Xiaofei Tian, “Remaking History: The Shu and Wu Perspectives in the Three Kingdoms Period,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 136 (2016): 705–31.
69 Stephen R. Bokenkamp, Ancestors and Anxiety: Daoism and the Birth of Rebirth in China (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2009), 61.
70 Bokenkamp, Ancestors and Anxiety, 85.
71 Bokenkamp, Ancestors and Anxiety, 89.
72 Bokenkamp, Ancestors and Anxiety, 92.
73 If one considers the outbreak of the Yellow Turban rebellion and the establishment of regional warlords around 180 as the beginning of the disintegration of the Han empire, it makes the Western Jin conquest of Wu the conclusion of a century of war and division.
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Qiaomei Tang
Qiaomei Tang is Assistant Professor of Chinese at Grinnell College. Her primary field of research is early medieval Chinese literature and culture. She is particularly interested in the intersection of gender, genre, and politics.