WANTON GODDESSES TO UNSPOKEN WORTHIES: GENDERED HERMENEUTICS IN THECHU CI ZHANGJU

Abstract

AbstractThe influentialChu ci zhangju楚辭章句, the earliest received edition of the foundational poetry anthologyChuci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 theChuci, and it lays the groundwork of the allegorical tradition of interpreting theChuci. This paper analyzes thezhangjupresentation of archetypalChucitexts 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 theChuci zhangjutreats 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 theChuciand the tradition that emerged from it.