Dynastic Transition Research Articles

Late Ming Dynasty weak monsoon induced a harmonized megadrought across north-to-south China

Historians and paleoclimatologists have long studied the connection between ecoclimatic changes and empire growth, transformation, and decline, but striking cases remain rare. Here, we introduce a tree-ring chronology from southern China to reconstruct changes in April-to-November water balance of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River over the last 464 years. The reconstruction supports a quantitative assessment of the spatiotemporal structure of the late Ming megadrought and potential effects on subsequent dynastic transitions. Our results indicate that the late Ming megadrought from 1625 – 1644 CE occurred in both the northern and southern parts of the East Asian monsoon region in China. However, variations in the onset, duration, and magnitude of this event differ between regions. The combination of factors such as Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies, weakened solar activity, and large-scale volcanic eruptions may have contributed to the occurrence of the late Ming megadrought. These factors are also identified as key drivers of interannual to decadal fluctuations in drought in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Our reconstruction provides an historical context for the development of adaptive measures to mitigate future drought impacts in the region.

Xenophobia and Resignation in the Wake of the Mongol Conquest: Topical Allusions in Gong Kai’s Zhong Kui Scroll

Drawing on Zhong Kui’s legendary identity as a demon queller, this study suggests that Gong Kai (1222–1307) created a veiled autobiographical work, Zhongshan Going on Excursion in the Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC, that combines painting and inscription to project his unfulfilled aspiration to clear the nation of destructive evils. The demons to be expelled in his life as a Song patriot living into the Mongol Yuan were the powerful and abusive ethnic others, not limited to the ruling Mongols. Conflating himself with Zhong Kui by constructing a new, self-referential biography and image of the demon queller, Gong Kai conveyed his xenophobia during the dynastic transition through two topical allusions, the Muslim merchant-official Pu Shougeng’s fatal blow to the Song revivalist cause in Quanzhou in late 1276 and the Tibetan Buddhist leader Yang Lianzhenjia’s desecration of Song imperial tombs in Shaoxing in 1285. In the painting, Gong Kai confesses his resignation to the brutal new realities under alien rule by portraying Zhong Kui in an uncharacteristically subdued demeanor.

Agricultural adaptation and resilience through climatic shifts in semi-arid India: 2000 years of archaeobotanical evidence from Vadnagar, Gujarat

The relationship between historical climate change and past agricultural production contributes to a better understanding of the impacts of projected climate change by providing empirical data for resilient human responses. This study explores the periods of dynastic transitions and crop production at the urban site of Vadnagar, in semi-arid northwest India through several climate events, generally characterised by weakening summer monsoon precipitation during the Late Holocene. Artefacts from the site present an unbroken sequence of seven successive cultures from the first century BCE to the nineteenth century CE. Archaeobotanical data indicate the sufficient water availability during the Historic and Medieval periods, allowing crop production dominated large-grained cereals (C3 plants). However, during the Post-Medieval period (ca.1300−1850 CE) a resilient crop economy based on small-grained cereals (C4 plants) dominated, representing a human adaptation to prolonged weakening of monsoonal precipitation. Isotopic and phytolith data at the site present a clear signal of changing local environmental conditions over two millennia, consistent with regional palaeoclimate records, providing and interpretive context for agricultural evidence at Vadnagar. Despite long-term reduction in summer humidity, we argue that an adaptable agricultural package coupled with suitable water management systems allowed for the resilience of the urban settlement at Vadnagar.

The Influence of Politics in Different Chinese Dynasties on the Central Axis of Beijing

The Beijing central axis is an iconic feature of the citys urban layout, stretching from the Drum Tower in the north to the Forbidden City in the south. It has played an essential role in shaping Beijings urban landscape and reflects the citys political, cultural, and social history. This academic essay centers on the impact of political factors on the development and design of the central axis in Beijing and its advantages and drawbacks for the city, utilizing a cohesive narrative of dynastic transitions. Since the Yuan dynasty established Beijing as the capital, urban layout focused on symmetry and set the groundwork for the central axis construction in later dynasties. As imperial power grew stronger during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the central axis development continued, particularly with the construction and expansion of the Forbidden City, demonstrating the significant impact of political factors on urban planning. This influence persisted into the modern era with Beijing remaining the political and cultural centre of China. The contemporary planning of the central axis has prioritised the integration of historical and cultural preservation with modern development, exemplifying the harmony between the past and present.

Sword and Lotus: The Life of a Confucian Buddhist Woman Warrior in Seventeenth Century China

This paper focuses on the life of Liu Shu (1520–1657), a woman warrior who lived through the social and political turmoil of the violent dynastic transition from the Ming (1368–1644) dynasty to the Qing (1636–1911) dynasty. Drawing on the writings of Liu Shu and on different versions of accounts of her life written by male literati in different time periods, this paper intends to reveal the multiplicity and complexity of how a woman could exert her agency and interact with the dominant structure. Commonly, women’s agency has been understood as resistance against the male-dominant patriarchal system. However, recently, scholars such as Saba Mahmood have problematized universalizing overtly resistant acts against the patriarchal society to bring radical changes as demonstrations of women’s agency. These scholars argue that this approach fails to recognize that through their autonomy and while living a life of self-fulfillment, women have the capacity to reproduce, sustain, or subtly change the social norms and views of values that justify and support the patriarchal structure. In light of these scholars’ studies, this paper explores Liu Shu’s engagement in political and military activities and her Buddhist practices to analyze how she transgressed established gender norms in order to uphold rather than reject the virtues promoted by patriarchal ideology. The paper also discusses how conflicting demands on women by a male-centered society in the drastic dynastic transition enabled her to negotiate with or challenge the dominant structure. It also considers how her disobedient acts were accepted and applauded by some male literati to address their own agenda in different cultural, historical, and political contexts.

The transnational historiography of a dynastic transition: Writing the Ming-Qing transition in seventeenth-century China, Korea, and Japan

AbstractThe Ming-Qing transition (1618–1683), a dynastic upheaval that not only consumed much of China, but also saw the Qing invasion of Joseon Korea and an influx of refugees into Tokugawa Japan, was a source of inspiration for writers across East Asia. Unofficial, contemporary histories written by Ming and early Qing subjects made their way by land and sea to Korea and Japan, where they were either adapted for domestic audiences or used as the basis for new unofficial histories of the dynastic transition.This article makes the argument that unofficial, contemporary history-writing about the Ming-Qing transition in China, Korea, and Japan was part of a regional trend towards an intellectual culture of contemporaneity. While scholars have focused on the transition and its impact upon notions of cultural centrality, it should be emphasized that these notions emerged alongside developments encouraging the production and circulation of contemporary, cross-cultural knowledge and information. In other words, the flourishing of print, diversification of reading audiences, and evolution of new modes of knowledge-production and transmission formed a background against which demand increased for updated information about a shared world. Participation as producers (writers and editors) and consumers (readers) in this seventeenth-century culture of contemporaneity was restricted by language, schooling, and economic standing. Nonetheless, a transnational history perspective will show that the unofficial, multi-vocal, and multilingual historiography of the Ming-Qing transition encourages a re-evaluation of not only the intellectual history of East Asia, but also the history of the transition.

Faunal exploitation during the Proto-Zhou period in the Jing River Valley: Evidence from Sunjia and Xitou

This study examines faunal assemblages from the Proto-Zhou sites of Sunjia and Xitou, in the Jing River Valley (Central Shaanxi Province), to address questions concerning the exploitation of different animal resources in the context of the Shang-Zhou dynastic transition in the 11th century BCE. Although the assemblages from Sunjia and Xitou were small and sub-optimally preserved, this study demonstrates that the inclusion of such assemblages is essential to building upon our understanding of the human exploitation of animal resources. Our zooarchaeological analysis shows an increase in husbandry, with pig farming being complemented by extensive caprine and cattle herding. A diversified use of animal resources, and especially the larger number of bovids, could have been prompted by the need for a wider and more efficient exploitation of the immediate environment, in response to growing climatic deterioration, in addition to an increase in interactions with northern pastoral communities. Identified patterns of livestock biometry and relative taxonomic abundance show various degrees of agricultural engagement and a relatively complex livestock economy, suggesting the development of socio-economic complexity in the Jing River Valley in the late second millennium BCE.

명·청대 4종 고시선집에 나타난 ‘陶淵明’ 選詩 비교와 베트남 한문학에서의 ‘陶淵明’ 詩歌 수용 연구

Do, Yeon-myeong is a poet who had experienced the period of the dynastic transition of Dongjin and Yusong. He threw away the government post. And, by returning to the countryside, while living the life as a hermit, he left the works of art that sung about the retirement. The influences of the works of art that Do, Yeon-myeong left can be found not only in China, but, also, in the Vietnamese literature, too, that had shared the Chinese poems.BR In order to find out about the influence of the poems and songs of Do, Yeon-myeong, four kinds of collections from Myeongdae and Cheongdae were selected. And, among them, by organizing a list of the poetical works by Do, Yeon-myeong that were recorded in advance commonly, the contents had been taken a look at. From ‘Goshigi’, which is a collection from Myeongdae, and ‘Chaesukdanggoshiseon’, ‘Goshiwon’, and ‘Goshisangseok’, which are the collections of Cheongdae, from the poems and songs of jindae, regarding the ratios that had been captured by the Do, Yeon-myeong market price, it appeared as around 11% (173) forBR‘Goshigi’, around 16% (159) for ‘Chaesukdanggoshi’, around 41% (81) for ‘Goshiwon’, and around 43% (75) for ‘Goshisangseok’. And, through these, it was able to know that the evaluation regarding the Do, Yeon-myeong poems and songs had been heightened the more that it went to the posterity. Also, among the collections of the 4 kinds that were selected, by organizing the poems and songs of Do, Yeon-myeong that were commonly recorded in advance, a total of 60 titles had been obtained. And, as a result of taking a look at the contents, it was possible to know that the reflection of the situation of the times and the contents that sung about the life of retirement had materialized the mainstream.BR As a result of taking a look at the influence of the Do, Yeon-myeong poems and songs on the Vietnamese literature, in the Chinese poems, too, by the poets in Vietnam, it was possible to confirm the appearance of the intellectuals who had worried about the situation of the present politics while retiring, also, after choosing the life of the retirement aggressively without chasing after the government, fame, and fortune like Do, Yeon-myeong.BR I, the writer, have organized that the life of the retirement that Do, Yeon-myeong chose had been an aggressive resistance of the intellectuals that deal with the confusing politics, which is called “the royal family replacement period’ and not having been a passive reaction to the life of the politics and the reality that he had faced. In the Chinese poems, too, in Vietnam, in order to win over the political situation at the time in the same way, at the time of having lived the aggressive life of retirement, the traces of the intellectuals could be seen. And it shall be said this is the meaning that the influence of the poems and songs of Do, Yeon-myeong has.

A New Book and Further Recent Scholarship on Seleukid Royal Women

The article sets out by briefly surveying recent scholarship on the Seleukid kingdom and Hellenistic queenship. Two important works that fall into both fields: Women and Monarchy in the Ancient World edited by Beth Carney and Sabine Müller (2021) and Basilissa authored by Christiane Kunst (2022). The discussion, however, concentrates on the first monograph that systematically explores Seleukid queenship: Robin Hämmerling’s Zwischen dynastischem Selbstbild und literarischem Stereotyp. Königinnen der Seleukiden und der Mittelmächte Kleinasiens (2019). By investigating the roles of the sister and the mother of the king as well as inter-dynastic marriages, Hämmerling explores the extent of the basilissa’s autonomous agency. Revisiting the evidence leads the author of the present article to many alternative views, especially concerning the early Seleukid women from Apama over Stratonike to Laodike I-IV . While Hämmerling rightly identifies the sibling marriage among the Seleukids as ritual role play until the generation of Antiochos III, the same arguments should have induced him to challenge the standard claim that there was a radical change beginning with Antiochos the son of Antiochos III. Another shortcoming is the assumption of monogamy as the norm in the House of Seleukos, although the evidence clearly favours polygamy as the prevailing model. But Hämmerling’s main conclusion is confirmed: the political power of the Seleukid queen was limited and confined to some instances of troubled successions; her typical role was to represent the royal family rather than to rule. Yet he omits an investigation into the basilissa title. He follows the traditional view that it could be borne by every woman of the king’s family, whereas the present paper argues that it is mostly attested for only one woman, namely the mother of the designated successor, co-ruling king, or king after his succession. The position of the basilissa was thus to support the smooth dynastic transition at the polygamous court, it did not come with any institutional power.

In the Eye(s) of the Storm(s): Álvaro Semedo, an Observer of Two Dynastic Transitions in the Global Crisis of the 17th Century

Abstract It is certainly uncommon for a seventeenth-century observer to have borne witness to two dynastic transitions in places as far apart as the opposite corners of Eurasia – the Iberian Peninsula and China. Álvaro Semedo, a Portuguese Jesuit, is one such case. He was in Madrid, when news arrived that the Portuguese had proclaimed a national king in 1640, bringing sixty years of Iberian Union to an end. Semedo returned to China in 1645, one year after the Qing had taken Peking. In 1650, he witnessed first-hand the siege and reconquest of Canton by the Qing. This article aims to explore the political transition in China through the eyes of a European missionary who had already been caught by the breakup of the Habsburg empire. How did he position himself in both dynastic transitions? What comparisons did he make? Was he aware of the “global crisis”? These are some of the questions that will be addressed.

“Miseries, Tribulations, and Calamities”: António de Gouveia as an Eye-witness to the Seventeenth-century Eurasian Crisis

Abstract The “General Crisis of the Seventeenth-Century” as a concept was first applied to Europe, where the Portuguese Restoration of 1640 was one of its most striking episodes, when a national dynasty dethroned a foreign one. Geoffrey Parker extended its use worldwide, having in mind similar events taking place all over the globe, namely in China, where dynastic transition took centre stage. Some parallels can be drawn between the two sides of Eurasia, though sometimes in opposite terms (e.g., while the Braganzas were Portuguese, the Qing were Manchu). Among the coincidences occurring in both countries during dynastic changes, there is mention to omens and wondrous signs, interpreted as manifestations of something about to change, breaking away from the old established order which had lost some sort of divine assent. By using the writings of the Portuguese Jesuit António de Gouveia (1592/94–1677), namely his letters, some of which unpublished, we will seek to see how he interpreted these signs and dynastic change in China, while his own country (Portugal) was going through a similar process. We will make use of materials dating from 1636 to the 1650s, to see what kind of parallelisms Gouveia draws between the Chinese seventeenth-century crisis and the Portuguese case, and how he depicts and characterises the events occurring in China.

Antler arrowhead crafting at Zaoshugounao in the Guanzhong region: Implications for worked bone production in Bronze Age northern China

The analysis of worked animal remains from archaeological contexts can provide a window into animal resource exploitation, craft production, and social organization in ancient societies. The Guanzhong region, where the Shang-Zhou dynastic transition occurred, is key to understanding developing social complexity and early state formation in Bronze Age China. Previous research on worked animal remains from Bronze Age sites in the region has exclusively focused on urban centers of capital-level and village-size settlements. There is a lack of work on sites of a level in between. Here, we present a study of antler arrowhead production at Zaoshugounao, a large Bronze Age settlement in the Guanzhong region primarily occupied during approximately the 13th-10th centuries BCE. Our results show that the production of antler arrowheads at Zaoshugounao involved a relatively complete workflow. The spatial distribution of associated worked antlers further implies that the BIII excavation unit of the site, particularly Locale 3, was possibly a location specifically used for antler crafting. Bone working practices at Zaoshugounao, exemplified by antler arrowhead production, stood in contrast with those at contemporary capital cities and village sites, suggesting the existence of at least three patterns of worked bone production in the Guanzhong region and neighboring Central Plains during the late second and first millennium BCE. Our findings from Zaoshugounao contribute to a better understanding of animal resource exploitation and craft production in Bronze Age northern China around the time of the Shang-Zhou dynastic transition.

A Couple Of Soles: A Comic Play From Seventeenth-Century Chinaby Li Yu

Reviewed by: A Couple Of Soles: A Comic Play From Seventeenth-Century Chinaby Li Yu Whitney Emerson A COUPLE OF SOLES: A COMIC PLAY FROM SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY CHINA. By Li Yu. Translated by Jing Shen and Robert E. Hegel. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019. 360 pp. Paperback, $25.00. A Couple of Soles: A Comic Play from Seventeenth-Century China comes as a welcome addition to Columbia University Press’ Translations from the Asian Classics series; it offers an accessible new translation of an important comic work by playwright Li Yu. Jing Shen and Robert E. Hegel’s translation allows English-speaking scholars and theatre artists access to another seminal work of dramatic literature from China; this also serves to aid the teaching of theatre history within a global context. Shen opens the book with a thorough introduction to the playwright and plot, giving context to the drama for readers unfamiliar with early Qing dynasty theatre (1644–1661). In the plot summary, Shen makes a point of highlighting the playwright’s depiction of the lead actors both on and off stage as chaste and virtuous as a way into the play’s broader discussion of morality and ethics. However, as Shen notes, the depiction may also be Li Yu’s attempt to elevate the poor reputation of actors during the Ming/Qing dynastic transition. Sections on vocal music conventions help the reader imagine the play in performance, giving an aural dimension to what could have been a dry translation. The introduction also draws attention to Li Yu’s controversial professional and personal life through discussion of the choice to invite the “woman scholar Wang Duanshu” to write the original 1661 preface to the play, also included in this translation. The historical significance of the work, especially when put in conversation with both previous Yuan dynasty zaju and contemporary Qing dynasty chuanqi, facilitates a deeper appreciation of the work within the context of traditional drama in China. Eye-catching artwork on the cover and the inclusion of several contemporaneous woodblock prints of the play in performance serve as illustrations of dramatic moments in the play and add a pleasing visual element to the book. The plot, performed through aria, poetry, and spoken dialogue, concerns a young scholar named Tan Chunyu, who falls in love with the beautiful young actress Fairy Liu. In order to get closer to her, he joins her family’s acting troupe and works his way up to playing romantic lead roles opposite her. Performing as lovers, they express their love for each other through onstage dialogue. However, the evil Moneybags Qian purchases Fairy Liu as a concubine from her greedy mother. The distraught lovers then commit suicide mid-performance by jumping [End Page 221] from the stage into a nearby river. However, the local river god learns of their plight and transforms them into the titular pair of soles to save their love. Murong Jie, a retired official who became a fisherman, catches the fishandthepairarerestoredtotheiroriginal humanforms. Followingthe sage advice of Murong, Tan quickly attains a government position and, aftersomestruggles, defeatsalocal bandofmonstrous brigands. Tanthen resigns his post to spend a quiet life with Liu in the mountains. In keeping in line with the stage conventions of chuanqi drama, the scenes of this lengthy play alternate in tone-romantic “wen” scenes of the lovers Tan and Liu are contrasted with military-focused “wu” scenes about brigands attacking a town. Many hallmarks of comedy are present: lovers separated by a disapproving father, mistaken identity, weddings, and metatheatre, particularly the consequential scene of the actress Fairy Liu playing an inconsolable lover in a play-within-a-play. The use of metatheatre within a kind of tongue-in-cheek criticism of the culture of performing arts is perhaps testament to Li Yu’s own command of the theatre. The work of the translators to enhance the comic tone of the play is perfectly encapsulated in the choice for the title, which plays on the pun of the homonyms “souls” and “soles.” The title also incorporates the offhanded “couple of” which has the meaning of a romantic couple as well as the casual way of referring to a small number of things...

A Couple of Soles: A Comic Play from Seventeenth-Century China

A Couple of Soles: A Comic Play from Seventeenth-Century China

Before the Philippines: textual and cartographical representations of Mindanao in sixteenth-century Portuguese sources

ABSTRACT Portuguese texts resisted the use of Spanish holonyms for naming the Philippines during the sixteenth century and up to the dynastic transition of 1580, when Philip II became king of Portugal. As a result of their maritime ventures, the Portuguese spatial perception of the present-day Philippines differed from that of Spanish officials, by not recognizing a specific identity for the archipelago within the context of South East Asian islands. This article analyses the place of Mindanao in the Portuguese spatial understanding of Island South East Asia by focusing on ethno-historical accounts and chronicles as well as manuscript cartography from the sixteenth century. The combined study of these sources demonstrates that from the 1520s through the 1570s Mindanao occupied a very different place in the Portuguese geographical mindset of the region. This only changed with the formal end of Iberian confrontation in South East Asia and not without Portuguese narratives on Mindanao also being incorporated into Spanish texts. The article focuses on an earlier stage in the construction of the Philippines’ geographical identity, one in which Mindanao occupied a more central role, and its echoes and influence on later Spanish texts destined to convey a unitarian, integrated view of the archipelago.

世變的記憶：廣東文人屈大均的戰争敘事

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.
 遺民記憶的成形與敘述題材的擇選都隱含著各自的歷史詮釋。本文以明清鼎革之際廣東地區抗清的代表文人屈大均（1630—1696）爲研究對象，由倖存者、見證人與行動者的敘事身分出發，首先回顧“哀辭”的書寫傳統，以爲明清遺民的哀辭寫作已非傳統的“盡哀”，而是融合了世變與個人經歷，成爲歷史記事的一部。接著探討戰争中異族形象的描繪與人獸間的倫理反轉，個體經驗與戰争血腥場景的聯繫，與事後重遊地景與回憶召唤。最後梳理屈大均筆下戰争女性亡後的諸種異象作爲倫理的保證與轉化，與遺民心志間關聯。通過屈大均早期戰争相關詩文的研究，釐清個體創傷、回憶追述與抒情意圖三者的關聯之餘，亦能看到“倫理”在世變之際的維繫作用。
 The making of loyalists’ memories and their choices of narrative themes reflect their distinct interpretation of history. From the perspectives of the narrative identities of a survivor, witness, and action taker, this article is a study of Qu Dajun (1630-1696), a representative literatus during the dynastic transition between the Ming and Qing dynasties. The first part is a discussion of what changes to the genre of “lament” were made by Ming loyalists, who not only deviated from the convention but also devoted sorrows to the genre. Secondly, the article examines the different description of the barbarian image between Qu Dajun’s works and earlier ones by others. The final focus is on Qu Dajun’s writing strategy for depicting women in wartime, exposing the cruelty of the Qing army in order to show his loyalty towards the Ming dynasty and strengthen his determination to combat the Qing dynasty. Through the examination of Qu Dajun’s early poetic and prose works, the article aims to clarify the relationship between an individual’s traumatic experience, reminiscence, and lyrical intention; and it also enables us to realize the dilemma of the literati’s self-identity during the transition of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Beyond Personalism: Elite Politics and Political Families in Cambodia

The regime in Cambodia has been increasingly described as personalist, with power centralized in the hands of its long-serving leader, Prime Minister Hun Sen. Recent scholarship has described the ways he has, over time, concentrated power in key institutions for his political survival. The prime minister's advancing age, however, has raised questions over the future of the regime without him at the helm. This article analyses the process of regime management and the ongoing succession planning in Cambodia, thereby providing a nuanced account of a leader who is not unassailable or unresponsive to the needs of other elites but must continue to manage factional and other interests within his ruling coalition to an extent not captured in the current personalist literature on Cambodia. The evidence for this may be observed in Hun Sen's attempts to manage a dynastic transition on two fronts: to ensure the pre-eminence of his family among Cambodia's elites, while maintaining a regime organized against the broader interests outside his coalition. This exemplifies the twin pressures facing all autocrats, and in Cambodia it exposes the state-society schism embedded in the process of state and regime-making since 1979 that continues to shape its politics.

Religious and Philosophical Traditions of Korea by Kevin N. Cawley

Reviewed by: Religious and Philosophical Traditions of Korea by Kevin N. Cawley Yeonwoo Joh Religious and Philosophical Traditions of Korea by Kevin N. Cawley. New York: Routledge, 2019. xxiii, 197 pp. Kevin N. Cawley’s Religious and Philosophical Traditions of Korea is the latest introductory text in a growing list of English studies on Korean religion and philosophy. It traces the historical development of Korean intellectual traditions, focusing on key figures, concepts, and texts. By referencing up-to-date studies and making occasional comparisons with the theories of Western philosophers such as Derrida and Heidegger, Cawley provides Western readers with a concise and readable overview of the history of religion and philosophy in Korea. Religious and Philosophical Traditions of Korea consists of six chapters, as well as a prologue and an epilogue. In the first chapter, Cawley acknowledges the Western connotations of the categories “religion” and “philosophy” while introducing an alternative term, “pathway,” to better refer to the individual traditions of Korean religion based on the concept of Dao [K. Do] 道. His description of each pathway as a “route to becoming a better person” (2) effectively demonstrates how religion in Korea represented a modus vivendi of sorts, rather than an adherence to a certain dogma or faith. He then provides an overview of the main religious traditions of Korea: Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism and Shamanism. In Chapter 2, Cawley begins his journey through Korea’s extensive intellectual history. Opening with the cultural significance of the Tan’gun [Dangun] myth and describing the arrival and development of Buddhism during the Three Kingdoms period, this section culminates with a detailed look into the texts and ideas of Wŏnhyo [Wonhyo] and Ŭisang [Uisang], two extremely influential Buddhist monks of early Korea. Chapter 3 covers the progress of Korea’s intellectual history, spanning from [End Page 411] the emergence of Sŏn [Seon] Buddhism during the Unified Silla period to the founding of the Chosŏn [Joseon] dynasty. Cawley illustrates the dynamic religious landscape of Koryŏ [Goryeo], focusing especially on the conflict between the numerous Buddhist schools by introducing the ideas of Ŭich’ŏn [Uicheon] and Chinul [Jinul], two monks who attempted to reconcile the textual Kyo [Gyo] lineages and the meditative Sŏn lineages in different ways. Cawley then moves on to the rise of Neo-Confucianism and the subsequent dynastic transition from Koryŏ to Chosŏn. Here, Cawley examines the conflicting views of the Confucian scholar Chŏng Tojŏn [Jeong Dojeon] and the Sŏn monk Kihwa [Gihwa], and presents Confucian critiques of Shamanism to highlight the establishment of Confucianism as a unified, exclusive state ideology. Chapter 4 further elaborates on this “Chosŏn Confucian ideology” through the philosophies of T’oegye [Toegye] and Yulgok. Following their contributions to the metaphysical Four-Seven debate, Cawley discusses the arrival of Western teachings and Catholicism. He emphasizes the role of women and the Chŏng [Jeong] brothers in the development of the early Catholic church in Korea, and provides a close examination of Tasan Chŏng Yag’yong’s [Dasan Jeong Yagyong] texts in particular, stressing the “Christo-Confucian transcultural transformation” (111) that took place. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with the emergence of new religions in a more modern, changing cultural context, the first being Ch’oe Che-u’s [Choe Jeu] Tonghak [Donghak] (Eastern Learning), which arose in response to the influence of Sŏhak [Seohak] (Western Learning). Other new religions such as Chŭngsando [Jeungsando], Daesoon Jinrihoe [Daesun jillihoe], and Taejonggyo [Daejonggyo] are also introduced. Cawley goes on to explain the development of early Protestantism in Korea and the active role women played in propagating it. Chapter 6 explores the survival and change of Korean religious traditions throughout the period of Japanese colonial rule and its aftermath. After briefly looking into some of the more recent religious movements, Cawley concludes his journey through Korean history with a special emphasis on the persistent influence of Shamanism, as it finds ways to adapt to the increasingly technology-driven modern era. Religious and Philosophical Traditions of Korea is commendable first and foremost for its readability. Surprisingly dense for a book of its length, it is well-organized and presented in a clear, coherent...

Esoteric Writing through Historical Allusions

Abstract This paper investigates the poetry of Qu Xuanying, a literatus who remained in the city of Beiping (now Beijing) following its occupation by the Japanese in 1937. Through historical allusions in his poetry, Qu communicated with friends about the ethical dilemmas that he faced under occupation, and reflected upon the choices that literati in earlier eras had made when facing dynastic transitions and foreign conquest. Qu’s ‘esoteric writing’ during the occupation contained a complex set of historical allusions which referenced various points in the Chinese past. Since Qu served in the collaborationist north China regime, he has often been perceived as a ‘traitor’ or a ‘collaborator’. Through this in-depth analysis of his literary works, however, this paper seeks to reveal the special exegetical strategies adopted by literati such as Qu under occupation.

Parallel Planetary Astrologies in Medieval China and Inner Asia

Abstract Portentous clusters of the five visible planets are repeatedly implicated in historical sources in connection with dynastic transitions in early China. In the medieval period, which is the focus of this investigation, the History of the Three Kingdoms records how timely planetary portents during the decline of the Later Han dynasty (184–220 CE) were exploited as the celestial signs justifying usurpation and the founding of the (Cao-)Wei 曹魏 dynasty by Cao Pi 曹丕 (ca. 187–226). Half a millennium later, in mid-Tang 唐 dynasty, the impetus for the devastating rebellion of An Lushan 安祿山 (703–757) that nearly brought down the Tang can likewise be shown to have been strongly influenced by the historical precedents, and more immediately by a conjunction of all five visible planets that occurred in 750. That ominous astral omen, coupled with portentological speculations based on Han dynasty apocryphal texts, together with the parallels between An Lushan’s and Cao Cao’s 曹操 (155–220) careers, played a role in prompting An Lushan to attempt to overthrow the Tang. In Inner Asia, the founding of the Sasanian Empire in 224 CE in parallel with the Cao-Wei, and the emergence of a political astrology based on the periodicity of Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions suggested the possibility of mutual influences in planetary astrology. However, incompatibility between the two astrological traditions may have militated against mutual influence on a theoretical level. In the absence of detailed information concerning the foundations of Sasanian planetary astrology, to all appearances, and notwithstanding extensive cultural contact, the imperial political astrologies of China and Inner Asia in the medieval period remained resistant to infiltration in either direction.