The politics of mourning in early China / Miranda Brown.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brown, Miranda, 1975-

Series:

SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture.

SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mourning customs--China.

Mourning customs.

China--Politics and government--221 B.C.-220 A.D.

China.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 205 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book reevaluates the longstanding assumptions about early imperial political culture. According to most explanations, filial piety served as the linchpin of the social and political order, as all political relations were a seamless extension of the relationship between father and son-a relationship that was hierarchical, paternalistic, and personal. Offering a new perspective on the mourning practices and funerary monuments of the Han dynasty, the author asks whether the early imperial elite did in fact imagine political participation solely along the lines of the father-son relationship or whether there were alternative visions of political association. The early imperial elite held remarkably varied and contradictory beliefs about political life, and they had multiple templates and changing scripts for political action. This book documents and explains such diversity and variation and shows that the Han dynasty practice of mourning expressed many visions of political life, visions that left lasting legacies.

Contents:

Intro

THE POLITICS OF MOURNING IN EARLY CHINA

Contents

Author's Note on Translations and Chinese Text

Acknowledgments

Chronology

Introduction

1. Where Did All the Filial Sons Go?

2. Centuries of Tears and Woe

3. Sons and Mothers

4. Friends or Subordinates?

5. Loyal Ministers, Recluses, and Popular Heroes

EPILOGUE: The Song Rediscovery of the Han

APPENDIX: Overview of Han Sources Used for This Study

Notes

Works Cited

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

W

X

Y

Z.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-195) and index.

ISBN:

9780791479803

0791479803

9781435616714

1435616715

OCLC:

190678451