The “Absence” of Conjugal Relationships in the Myths of Miraculous Births in Ancient China: A Preliminary Survey

Abstract

This chapter introduces the idea of miraculous birth (gansheng 感生) in ancient Chinese culture and discusses the dominance of Heaven in relation to the mortal mothers who give birth to the ancient sage-kings miraculously. The article begins with a summary of twentieth-century scholars’ discussions about the matrilineal origin of the idea of gansheng before 3000 B.C.E. and analyzes the anachronism of their evidence. It then focuses on Wang Fu’s Qianfu lun 潛夫論, a text dated back to the second century as a treatise of “Wude zhi” 五德志. This text presented a sophisticated scheme of ancient monarchical genealogy within which the mothers had no conjugal relations or husbands. The miraculous births of fatherless sages also point to the passivity of the mortal mothers, who were pregnant without being informed. Thus, Heaven remained dominant in the narrative of the legendary miraculous births. This chapter, therefore, aims to reexamine the relationship between Heaven and human beings in ancient context.