Wanton Goddesses to Unspoken Worthies

Gendered Hermeneutics in the Chu Ci Zhangju

Dados Bibliográficos

ID20380754
AutoresMonica E M Zikpi (University of Oregon, autor correspondente)
Ano2018
Volume41
Páginas333-374
Data de publicação2018-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoEarly China (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0362-5028 • E-ISSN: 2325-2324
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/eac.2018.1
OpenAlexW2808646199
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas40

The influential Chu ci zhangju 楚辭章句, the earliest received edition of the foundational poetry anthology Chuci 楚辭, performs a distinct gender bias in its exegesis of deities, and this bias accords with the Eastern Han ideology of the editor Wang Yi 王逸 (2nd c. CE) more than with immanent features of the original Warring States texts. The gender bias is an essential feature of Wang Yi’s canonization of the Chuci , and it lays the groundwork of the allegorical tradition of interpreting the Chuci . This paper analyzes the zhangju presentation of archetypal Chuci texts to elucidate the hermeneutic transformation of gender and religion in early China, comparing the Eastern Han exegeses with earlier and later interpretations, immanent textual features, and fresh perspectives on Warring States and Han culture that have emerged from archeological evidence. The analysis demonstrates that the Chuci zhangju treats the male deities more literally than the female deities, reflecting the reduction in status of goddesses in late Han discourse. The history of gender ideology is an essential critical lens for understanding the Chuci and the tradition that emerged from it

Archaeology · Art · China · Exegesis · Hermeneutics · Ideology · Literature · Poetry · Politics · Theology · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies