Entombed Epigraphy and Commemorative Culture in Early Medieval China : A Brief History of Early Muzhiming.

Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations -- List of Tables and Figures -- Introduction -- What are Muzhiming? -- Simple Records of Interment -- Entombed Stele Inscriptions -- Early Standard Muzhiming: The Case of Liu Dai -- Essential Characteristics and Distinctive Features of Muzhiming -- 1 Muzhiming Include Robust Records of Marriage Alliances and Affinal Kin -- 2 Muzhiming Emphasize Choronyms Rather than Surname Origins -- 3 Muzhiming Address Multiple Audiences -- 4 Muzhiming De-emphasize Patron-Client Relationships -- 5 Muzhiming Gradually Developed into an Esteemed Literary Genre -- 6 Muzhiming Provided Source Material for Other Biographical Genres -- 7 Muzhiming May Have Functioned as Quasi-Legal Documents -- 8 Muzhiming Manuscripts May Have Been Consulted Prior to Performing Graveside Sacrifices -- 9 Muzhiming Were Believed to Have Talismanic Properties -- The Structure of this Book -- Chapter 1 -- The Social Functions of Early Medieval Muzhiming -- Prominent Families and Elite Prestige during the Late Han -- Status and Power in Early Medieval China: Accumulated Merit and Marriage Alliances -- The Epitaph for Ming Tanxi: From Place-Centered Power to Relationship-based Prestige -- The Epitaph for Liu Huaimin: Family Memory and Social Identity -- The Pingyuan Liu Family in a Wider Historical Context -- Collective Memory and Family History -- Genealogy and Marriage Alliances in the Epitaphs of Liu Huaimin and Ming Tanxi -- Anecdote and Allusion in Biographical Narrative -- 1 "Wild beasts swam drifted at dawn" 獸朝浮 -- 2 "The birchleaf pear tree of Huai should not be hewn down" 淮棠不翦 -- The Circulation of Epitaphs in Manuscript Form -- Muzhiming and Other Contemporary Biographical Writing -- Conclusion -- Chapter 2 -- The Religious Functions of Entombed Epigraphy -- The Canonically Sanctioned Inscription Tradition.

Zhou-Era Bronze Inscriptions -- The Commemorative Stelae of the First Emperor -- Mountain Inscriptions and Early Stelae -- Religion and Memory in the Eastern Han Stele Tradition -- "Consecrated Banners" and Coffining Inscriptions -- Inscribed Coffins -- Freestanding Coffining Stones &amp -- Entombed Stelae -- The Common Tradition of Entombed Mortuary Epigraphy -- Burial-plot Purchase Contracts -- Tomb-stabilizing Writs -- Evidence for the Apotropaic Function of Entombed Epitaphs -- Tomb Inventory Lists -- Entombed Epitaphs and the Melding ff Canonical and Common Mortuary Practice -- Conclusion -- Chapter 3 -- Mortuary Epigraphy Moves Underground -- Imperial Edicts Forbidding Lavish Burial -- The Use of Recycled Stones in Tomb Construction -- The Practice of Inscribing Tomb Structure -- Tomb Pillar Inscriptions -- Bronze Mirror Inscriptions -- Tomb Lintel Inscriptions -- The Eastern Han Inscription for Ma Jiang -- Pictorial Image Stones and Accompanying Inscriptions -- Entombed Inscriptions from the Cliff-Tombs of Sichuan -- Inscriptions on Small Bricks Used to Construct Tomb Walls -- Independent Entombed Brick Inscriptions and Early Muzhiming -- Freestanding Qin and Han Era Burial Inscriptions for Convict Laborers -- Independent Epitaphs from the Jin Dynasty (265-420) -- Conclusion -- Chapter 4 -- Entombed Epigraphy in an Era of Political Instability -- Excavated Epitaphs from the Western and Eastern Jin -- Burial Away from Lineage Homelands (waizang 外 ) -- Transfer Burial (gaizang 改 ) -- Joint Burial (hezang 合 ) and Associate Burial (fuzhang ) -- The Langye Wang Family Cemetery in the South -- The Burial of Wang Danhu -- The Burials of Wang Kangzhi and He Fadeng -- The Burials of Wang Jianzhi and Liu Meizi -- Prestige Burial at the Capital: The Case of the Yanci Shi Family -- Yanci Shi Family History.

The Yanci Shi Family Epitaphs in a Wider Historical Context -- Conclusion -- Chapter 5 -- Historiographical Biography and Commemorative Biography -- Biography as Argument -- Official Historiography and Ideology: The Case of the Jin shu -- Early Medieval Critiques of Commemorative Biography -- Contending Life-Narratives of Guo Huai -- Guo Huai's Jin shu Biography -- Guo Huai's Entombed Stele -- Historiographical and Commemorative Portrayals of Wang Jun -- The Entombed Epitaph Inscription for Hua Fang -- Nobility Awarded on Questionable Merit -- Like Father Like Son -- Kinship, Succession, and Inheritance: Omissions and Emphasis -- The Question of Wang Jun's Posterity -- Early Entombed Epigraphy during the Northern Wei -- Northern Wei Epitaphs Prior to 494 -- Yuan Zhen's Epitaph in a Larger Historical Context -- Conclusion -- Chapter 6 -- The Rise of Muzhiming as a Literary Genre -- Textual Mastery and Elite Identity -- Muzhiming among Other Commemorative Genres -- The Canonization of Muzhiming as a Commemorative Form -- Ren Fang and the Rise of the Entombed Epitaph Inscription -- Ren Fang's Muzhiming for the Wife of Liu Huan -- Epitaphs Preserved in Yiwen Leiju -- The Excavated Epitaph for the Prince of Guiyang -- Ren Fang's Epitaph for the Prince of Guiyang in a Larger Historical Context -- Imperial Patronage of Muzhiming During the Liang Dynasty -- Imperial Authorship of Epitaphs According to the Official Histories -- Conclusion -- Conclusion -- Appendix A -- Entombed Epitaphs from the Western and Eastern Jin Dynasties -- Appendix B -- Northern Wei Entombed Epitaphs Produced Prior to 494 CE -- Works Cited -- Index.

In Entombed Epigraphy and Commemorative Culture Timothy M. Davis explains the social, cultural, and religious significance of early medieval muzhiming --one of the most versatile and persistent commemorative forms employed in the elite burials of pre-modern China.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.