Book Chapters by Guo Jue 郭珏
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History: Asia and Africa (EAHAA), 2020
Funerary stelae and entombed epitaphs were mortuary objects used in early and early middle period... more Funerary stelae and entombed epitaphs were mortuary objects used in early and early middle periods (ca. 2nd-10th centuries CE) in China to commemorate and communicate the life and death of an individual situated in a web of social relations. They were integral to the mortuary space—physically constructed, ritually consecrated, and mentally demarcated—and relayed the identity of the deceased most effectively because they were inscribed. They shared a distinct textual format combining prose and elegy, but they had markedly different material and social lives. While establishing large-scale funerary stelae at the graveside gained sudden prominence among the Han elite in the second half of the 2nd century CE, their popularity was short-lived and they vanished from aboveground in the following century. In its place, freestanding miniaturized stelae began to appear inside the tomb. Around the same time in the 3rd century CE, flat-lying square-block epitaphs began to be interred in the tombs. Entombed epitaphs eventually became the standard funerary object for the social and political elite as well as the wealthy gentry and its use lasted into the Republican Era in the early 20th century. Both funerary stelae and entombed epitaphs were versatile objects designed to transcend time, but as historical artifacts, they were subject to social and political contingencies. The way their media and format changed reflects the shifting dynamics of the early and early middle periods in Chinese history.
This chapter takes a source-centered approach to introduce the spirit world in Early China from t... more This chapter takes a source-centered approach to introduce the spirit world in Early China from the Neolithic period to the Han times. Recognizing the nearly universal attributes of spirits as being immaterial, intangible, and invisible, as well as the practical demand of materializing the unseen, three analytical lenses—presencing, practicing, and discoursing—are devised and employed in the analysis of the modes of action that human actors take to interact and communicate with the agentive spirits. As a result, different types and layers of references to spirits—due to different levels of social complexity, the appearance and spread of writing as a transforming technology, and different ways of source preservation (received and excavated)—amalgamated in the sources are unfolded. However, sources of different genesis and nature are not mutually exclusive but necessarily inform one another in the realm of ideas and constitute one another in practice. Therefore, while the spirit world may have been a timeless and stable aspect of Early China, the concerns and techniques of those who acted upon and wrote about shifted along with changes in the culture and institutions in Early China.
The Blackwell Companion to Chinese Religions, 2012
Mortality in Traditional Chinese Thought, 2011
Articles by Guo Jue 郭珏
Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Archaeology, 2022
This chapter introduces the material evidence of the making of riverine communities in the Greate... more This chapter introduces the material evidence of the making of riverine communities in the Greater Jiang Han Region in prehistoric central-southern China and their uniquely emplaced social dynamics of collaborating with both the landscape and with one another. By focusing on two types of material remains—hydraulic “landmarks” and special classes of pottery—at the Shijiahe site complex in the Jiang Han Basin that brought together people and place, this chapter demonstrates how these communities integrated the natural and the social through collective activities of place-making and ritualized practices of community building. The chapter argues that these activities all foreground a common set of social values of shared labor, community participation, and an intimate connection to the landscape that persisted through millennia in this region. Ultimately, the chapter advocates shifting attention to the deep-time pattern of living in the Jiang Han region at the local level and seriously considering the alternative path of social development—characterized by heterarchy rather than hierarchy—that was emplaced in the co-evolving socio-natural landscape and integral to the long-term social resilience of the Jiang Han riverine communities.
Keywords: riverine community, social–natural landscape, Greater Jiang Han Region, Shijiahe site complex, hydraulic “landmarks,” special potteries, place-making, community-building, ritualized practice, collaboration, heterarchy, social resilience
Bamboo and Silk, 2019
In this first comprehensive study of what I call funerary “relocating-to-the-Underworld documents... more In this first comprehensive study of what I call funerary “relocating-to-the-Underworld documents” (abbr. relocation documents), I analyze the ten known cases that have been excavated between 1973 and 2016 in southern China. Through the analytical lens of the making of the dead, I argue that this particular type of textual object found exclusively in Western Han tombs in the second and first centuries b.c.e. can be viewed as a material manifestation of the strategic negotiation between an omnipresent imperial state and its agentive imperial subjects at the intersection of bureaucratic authority and the creation of a desirable afterlife for the dead of the empire. There are three main objectives of the present study. First, I propose to designate these entombed objects as “relocation documents” (yi dixia shu 移地下書), highlighting their primary ritual function as to present and/or produce a desirable afterlife status for the deceased when they relocate to the Underworld. I argue that a typical funerary relocation document has two essential components: a “notification letter” (yiwen 移文) and “itemized details” (ximu 細目). In the current scholarship, the former has been called gaodice 告地策 (informing-the-Underworld document), and the latter qiance 遣策 (tomb inventory). They are conventionally considered to be two distinct and separate genres of text. Although qiance have been found alone in tombs, in the case of funerary relocation documents, I argue that they are integral to the complete package to fulfill its ritual function and that these two components should be considered together as a single document. Second, instead of characterizing these relocation documents collectively as a homogenous genre of text and identifying them as imperfect imitations of Han official documents, I emphasize their material nature as funerary objects and contextualize them as part of the funerary assemblage for burial. I analyze their structural composition—both physical and textual—and situate them in the context of their production and entombment in relation to the deceased as well as the broader social-historical conditions shared by the local community of which the dead was a part. The detailed case studies of the relocation documents, on the one hand, expectedly confirm a wide and deep penetration of the state power into the fabric of the Han society, in life and in death, through the institutions of household registration and the 20-rank system; on the other hand, they also reveal the much less understood side of imperial control, that the lesser elite and the ordinary subjects of the empire were not passive receivers. Rather, they were informed about and understood the authority embedded in state institutions and bureaucratic procedures to the extent that they knew how to “work the system” to their own advantage with regard to the afterlife. Third, although each relocation document exhibits notable individual, even idiosyncratic, characteristics, the fact that nine of the ten known specimens were found in close geographical and temporal proximity to one another in the greater Han Jiangling 江陵 region in present-day Hubei strongly indicates that Jiangling was the center for the practice of interring funerary relocation document in burials. Evidence also suggests that there was likely a regional funerary tradition and economy enabling and supporting their production and circulation among other funerary objects such as tomb figurines. A fully annotated translation of the eight published cases of funerary relocation documents is included in the Appendix.
Journal of Chinese History, 2019
This article provides a contextual analysis of an enigmatic object—dubbed the “Confucius Dressing... more This article provides a contextual analysis of an enigmatic object—dubbed the “Confucius Dressing Mirror” (Kongzi yijing 孔子衣鏡)—recently unearthed from the tomb of Liu He 劉賀 (Marquis of Haihun 海昏侯, d. 59 B.C.E.) in 2015. I raise questions about the prevailing identification of this object as a “dressing mirror” and a “lived object” used by Liu He for moral self-cultivation or political self-preservation in his volatile life of being the deposed ninth emperor of Han. Instead, I treat the object as an assemblage and analyze its complete material composition and physical placement in Liu He’s tomb in the broader context of funerary material culture and burial practice in early imperial China. I propose to consider the entombed object as a composite talisman to protect the deceased against baleful and harmful influences in the tomb and in his afterlife. Methodologically, this article stresses the importance of contextual analysis in shedding light on the traditional conceptual categories such as “lived object” (shengqi 生器) and “funerary objects” (mingqi 明器) in actual funerary ritual processes.
Online Entry by Guo Jue 郭珏
Database of Religious History, Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia., 2022
In ancient China burial grounds and cemeteries were not only place of veneration and commemoratio... more In ancient China burial grounds and cemeteries were not only place of veneration and commemoration, but also sites of ritualized communication and social interaction between the world of the living and the unseen realm. The Baoshan cemetery 包山 is located in present Jingmen 荊門, Hubei Province 湖北, formerly the heartland of the Chu Kingdom 楚 (ca. 1050-223 BCE). It is one of the best-preserved nuclear family burial grounds for Chu nobility. Its location, spatial layout, burial structure design, and entombed contents provide a rare glimpse into the material, religious, and social worlds of the aristocratic elite in the late Warring States period (ca. 4th-3rd centuries BCE) in southern China.
Stern-faced, a mustached man stands solemnly with forearms raised in front of his chest. The post... more Stern-faced, a mustached man stands solemnly with forearms raised in front of his chest. The posture reveals an apron-like wide belt with long tassels at about the abdomen level, on which two characters curiously read "Pine Man" (songren ). The writing draws the viewer's attention towards the figure's otherwise plain long robe. What is even more intriguing, however, is where the Pine Man appears: on a rectangular wooden tablet fully inscribed with texts in black ink. Who is he? Why is he on a wooden tablet?
Book Reviews by Guo Jue 郭珏
Journal of Chinese History 中國歷史學刊 , 2022
Ghosts and Religious Life in Early China by Mu-Chou Poo is a sweeping account of ghosts and the l... more Ghosts and Religious Life in Early China by Mu-Chou Poo is a sweeping account of ghosts and the lifeworlds to which they were integral, in seven short and easy-to-read chapters. Although the book title has "Early China" in it, the time span of the book goes beyond its conventional end of the Han dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE) and covers from the earliest dynastic times of the Shang and Zhou in the late second millennium BCE to the Six Dynasties in the sixth century CE. Additionally, the book includes a brief comparison between Chinese ghosts and their counterparts in four other notable cultural traditions in the ancient world. Despite the ambitious timeline and broad comparative perspective, this book focuses on delivering one central argument: that ghosts are "the other side of humanity" (5). This argument is intended as a throughline to weave together disparate textual sources, which range from early classics such as The Zuo Tradition (Zuozhuan), to excavated Qin and Han hemerological texts (daybooks or rishu), to early medieval anomaly tales (zhiguai), to early Daoist and Buddhist scriptures. Characterizing ghosts as "the other side of humanity" also crystalizes the book's social-cultural approach to the subject of ghosts, which Poo argues "can be examined as a social imaginary or cultural construct that complements the world of the living" (5).
Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews (CLEAR) , 2022
Philosophy East and West 64:1 , 2014
Philosophy East and West 62.3, 2012
Pacific Affairs (Summer 2003), 2003
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Drafts by Guo Jue 郭珏
A new transcription and translation of the newly published FHD M24 funerary relocation document (... more A new transcription and translation of the newly published FHD M24 funerary relocation document (dated to 168 BCE), supplementing my 2019 article and translation (Guo Jue. “Western Han Funerary Relocation Documents and the Making of the Dead in Early Imperial China.” Bamboo and Silk 2.1(2019): 141-273).
Talks by Guo Jue 郭珏
Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness , 2021
This week, Professor Jue Guo returns to Getting Curious, which means we are returning to Early Ch... more This week, Professor Jue Guo returns to Getting Curious, which means we are returning to Early China! She and Jonathan discuss what a week in the life might look like for a royal hairdresser, a performance artist, a regional king, and other figures from this period and place.
Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness , 2021
This week on Getting Curious, we’re traveling back to Early China with Professor Jue Guo. She and... more This week on Getting Curious, we’re traveling back to Early China with Professor Jue Guo. She and Jonathan discuss dynasties, empires, early instances of written language, and so much more. And because curiosity can’t always be contained to 40 minutes—okay, more like an hour and fifteen minutes—we’re planning a follow-up episode with Professor Guo. Make sure to jot down your questions about Early China as you listen, and keep an eye out on our social media accounts for a chance to have them featured in part two!
Books by Guo Jue 郭珏
湖北出土楚國卜筮祭禱簡校注及英譯, 2024
This body of full English translation of Chu divination and sacrifice records from the following ... more This body of full English translation of Chu divination and sacrifice records from the following tombs excavated in Hubei from 1965 to 2023 include: (1) Baoshan M2 包山 (2)Wangshan M1 望山 (3) Tianxingguan M1 天星觀(4)Qinjiazui M1, M13, and M99 秦家嘴 (5) Dingjiazui M2 丁家嘴 (6) Yancang M1 嚴倉 (7) Wangshanqiao M1 望山橋 (8) Tangweisi M126 唐維寺(9) Xiongjiawan M43 熊家灣 (10) Pengjiawan M183 and M264 彭家灣
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Book Chapters by Guo Jue 郭珏
Articles by Guo Jue 郭珏
Keywords: riverine community, social–natural landscape, Greater Jiang Han Region, Shijiahe site complex, hydraulic “landmarks,” special potteries, place-making, community-building, ritualized practice, collaboration, heterarchy, social resilience
Online Entry by Guo Jue 郭珏
Book Reviews by Guo Jue 郭珏
Drafts by Guo Jue 郭珏
Talks by Guo Jue 郭珏
Books by Guo Jue 郭珏
Keywords: riverine community, social–natural landscape, Greater Jiang Han Region, Shijiahe site complex, hydraulic “landmarks,” special potteries, place-making, community-building, ritualized practice, collaboration, heterarchy, social resilience
于世的戰國中晚期楚文化區特有的卜筮祭禱記錄。從 1965年在湖北荊州望山 M1號墓出土的第一批卜筮祭禱簡開始，截止至 2023 年上半年，明確有卜筮祭禱簡出土的楚地墓葬已達 16座，其中15 座位於今湖北省境內（亦暨戰國中晚期楚國政治和文化核心區）。目前，湖北境內出土楚卜筮祭禱簡的墓葬，按發掘時間先後，主要有望山M1號墓(1965)、天星觀 M1號墓(1978)、包山 M2號墓(1986-1987)、秦家嘴 M1、M13、M99號墓(1986-1987)、丁家嘴M2號墓(2009)、嚴倉M1號墓(2009-2010)、望山橋M1號墓(2013-2015)、唐維寺 M126 號墓(2019)、熊家湾 M43 號墓(2019)、和彭家湾M183、M264 號墓（2020-2021）。這類考古發現的筮祭禱記錄對我們理解和重建戰國時期楚地的宗教信仰世界和社會生活有重要的史料價值，有必要對它們進行校注和翻譯（白話文和英文）。為方便國內外的讀者對照使用，本書分為兩部分，第一部分為湖北出土楚卜筮祭禱簡的中文校註包括白話文翻譯，第二部分為卜筮祭禱簡原文的全文英文翻譯。