Tens of thousands of epitaphs, or funerary biographies, survive from imperial China. Engraved on stone and placed in a grave, they typically focus on the deceased's biography and exemplary words and deeds, expressing the survivors' longing for the dead. These epitaphs provide glimpses of the lives of women, men who did not leave a mark politically, and children-people who are not well documented in more conventional sources such as dynastic histories and local gazetteers.

This anthology of translations makes available funerary biographies covering nearly two thousand years, from the Han dynasty through the nineteenth century, selected for their value as teaching material for courses in Chinese history, literature, and women's studies as well as world history. Because they include revealing details about personal conduct, families, local conditions, and social, cultural, and religious practices, these epitaphs illustrate ways of thinking and the realities of daily life. Most can be read and analyzed on multiple levels, and they stimulate investigation of topics such as the emotional tenor of family relations, rituals associated with death, Confucian values, women's lives as written about by men, and the use of sources assumed to be biased. These biographies will be especially effective when combined with more readily available primary sources such as official documents, religious and intellectual discourses, and anecdotal stories, promising to generate provocative discussion of literary genre, the ways historians use sources, and how writers shape their accounts.

The lives of men and women over two millennia, recorded in stone

About the Author

Patricia Ebrey is Williams Family Endowed Professor of History at the University of Washington. Ping Yao is professor of history at California State University, Los Angeles. Cong Ellen Zhang is associate professor of history at the University of Virginia. The other translators are Beverly Bossler, Timothy Davis, Alexei Kamran Ditter, Yongtao Du, Grace Fong, R. Kent Guy, Mark Halperin, Xing Hang, Martin W. Huang, Tomoyasu Iiyama, Jen-der Lee, Weijing Lu, Lance Pursey, Anna Shields, Man Xu, and Jolan Yi.

Reviews

"[T]his anthology of remembered lives presents fascinating stories that will reveal to any reader how vivid and interesting tomb biographies can be."

* Monumenta Serica *

"[A]n innovative and important publication."

* China Review International *

"[A]n indispensable sourcebook for scholars, students, and general readers of Chinese history and culture."

* Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews *

"[A] fantastic contribution to the resources for teaching premodern Chinese women's history and social history, and it will undoubtedly stimulate additional research and use of funeral biographies."

* Journal of the American Oriental Society *



Book Information
ISBN 9780295746418
Author Patricia Buckley Ebrey
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint University of Washington Press
Publisher University of Washington Press
Weight(grams) 447g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 20mm