The Last Entrustment: Funeral Concepts and Arrangements of for the Afterlife in the Tang Dynasty
Abstract
:1. Because It Is Widely Believed That There Is an Afterlife, the Vast Majority of the Tang People Often Arrange Their Affairs Ahead of Time
濒死者留给尚存者的话,即所谓遗言,先秦已有之……它们都是即将辞世者向生者的嘱咐,不外乎葬礼的方式、死后的处置一类的话……说到底,它还是自己一息尚存时对身后事的展望。
The words left by the dying for the living, or the so-called “last words”, already existed prior to the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BCE). These are words of advice addressed to the living by the deceased-to-be, inclusively represented as words pertaining to the forms of funeral ceremony, manners of final disposition, etc. In the final analysis, it is a vision about the arrangement of the afterlife left at the final breath by the dying.
2. Deathbed Instructions for a Frugal Funeral
尚书卢公曰:官既高、禄既多者,虽落籍疏宗,仁亦及之,况吾缌之叔乎?遂命使赍金直数万,越关山三千里,至则纫衣衾,作楄柎,辟泉扃,槚墓树。
Minister Lu said, “an official of high rank and rich salary will show benevolence to even a most distant relative, let alone my close uncle”. So he sent subordinates with gold worth thousands to travel over mountains and passes to his uncle’s place. Once Lu Wenju’s corpse has arrived, the subordinates sewed clothes and quilts, made wood planks, opened the grave door, and planted the grave trees.4
3. Refusal of a Joint Burial
4. Buried in the Ancestral Grave
自明州提孤护柩。号叫而归。至苏常间,念亡夫迁奉之一言。大江之中,横波拄天。孑然一身,更无近亲。截流忘生,下道累日。启中丞之先世三棺并归。
Escorted his coffin from Mingzhou and cried along the way. On the way from Suzhou to Changzhou, she remembered the words of her late husband on relocating his parents’ coffin. When she traveled on the Yangtze River, with billowy waves, she was all alone and there were no close relatives accompanying her. She traveled along the river, disregarding her own safety, and drifted on the water for many days. In the end, she opened the grave of Wei’s parents and buried him together with them.
5. Entrusted Writers of Epitaph
6. Admonishing Descendants
7. Conclusions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
1 | Throughout the Han Dynasty, especially in the Eastern Han, many scholars required frugal funerals in their last words. For example, Houhan Shu 后汉书 records that Cui Yuan崔瑗 (77–142) asked his son Cui Shi崔寔(103?–170?) to bury him where he had died, and it was unnecessary to bury him in his hometown, or even to prepare any sacrificial offerings. Yao Chong姚崇 (650–721), a highly renowned minister of the Tang Dynasty, not only described famous people who advocated simple funerals in the history but also repeatedly told his descendants to bury him in such a way. See Fan (1965, p. 1724). See also Liu (1975, p. 3027). |
2 | 坟墓茔域,务遵简俭;凡诸送终之具,并不得以金银为饰。如有违者,先决杖一百. See Liu (1975, p. 182). |
3 | “厚葬之风愈来愈成为一种民众共同追求的时尚”. See L. Wu (2013, p. 479). |
4 | See Wu (2006, p. 372). The family members of the deceased often prepare a shroud for the deceased in advance, choose a cemetery, and plant trees such as pine and cypress next to the tomb to identify the cemetery. |
5 | 以宝玉崇窆,浮侈蒿目,我不忍为也。不讳之日,尔其志之. See Zhou (1992, p. 1219). |
6 | 夫人遘疾之初而诫子曰:吾殁已后,可殓以时服,棺以凡材。然珠玉而瘗之,是暴骸于中原也. See Wu (2005, p. 96). |
7 | 人谁无往,此往岂复恨耶?言竟奄然. See Zhou (1992, p. 2443). |
8 | 死生天地之理,物之自然,奚可甚哀……言未及终,溘然薪尽. See Zhou and Zhao (2001, p. 663). |
9 | 敛以时服,素棺黄壤,归其速朽. See Zhou (1992, p. 830). |
10 | 合葬非古,行自周年,遵礼而循,流之唐日. See Zhou (1992, p. 506). |
11 | 合葬非古,周公有之. See Zhou (1992, p. 962). |
12 | 合葬非古,起自三王之前;死即同穴,还归六艺之始. See Zhou (1992, p. 245). |
13 | See Wu (2006, p. 260). There were also many records of women in the Tang Dynasty not being buried with their husbands because of their beliefs in Buddhism. See Yan (2003, pp. 467–92). |
14 | 合葬非古也,况年代深远,鬼神好静,不须开发. See Zhou and Zhao (2001, p. 963). |
15 | 神理好静,合葬非古道也. See Wu (2006, p. 361). |
16 | 若逝者有知,虽异穴而奚妨;如逝者无知,纵合防而岂益!我殁之后,勿祔先茔. See Zhou (1992, p. 1347). |
17 | 魂而有识,何往不通?知或无知,合之何益. See Zhou and Zhao (2001, p. 350). |
18 | 合葬非古,厚葬不仁,先往者无扰其安,后亡者勿崇其侈,无违吾志,乃为孝也. See Zhou and Zhao (2001, pp. 574–75). |
19 | 吾平生好俭,后莫求丰。但送吾归乡,称家为礼 See Wu (2005, p. 170). |
20 | 葬我于先人之茔,一棺之外,尽以与汝. See Wu (2005, p. 76). |
21 | 西蜀东周相去万里,中有连山迭嶂,重江峻湍,舟车才通,来往罕达. See Wu (2005, p. 82). |
22 | 有弟之丧,寄在燕赵;有妹之墓,旅于江湖……是其遗恨. See Zhou (1992, p. 1902). |
23 | 祖妣未祔于旧茔,先人旅殡于江左。我志未就,今则殁也,当衔痛于九泉. See Wu (2006, pp. 324–25). |
24 | According to Li Quanli’s epitaph, which was written by Zheng Cirou, he was born in the official house of Yanshi County偃师 and died in the private house of Beijing Li北荆里 in Luhun County陆浑. On November 24, 749, he was buried in Xili Village西里, Shouyang District首阳乡, Yanshi County. His elder son also died at the age of twenty. |
25 | 鬻其第,将我归于洛师,启迁我祖父伯仲女兄女弟凡七穴 See Zhou (1992, p. 2363). |
26 | 尔将葬我,必乞崔耿文识我墓,我愿也. See Zhou (1992, p. 2274). |
27 | 必能扬我祖宗之德行也,欲志吾之墓,无出于崔君。See Zhou (1992, p. 2475). |
28 | 叔父且死,几于不能言矣,张目而言曰:“吾不可无告韩君别。藏而不得韩君记,犹不葬也。涂为书致吾意。”已而自署其末与封,敢告以请. See Liu and Yue (2010, p. 2082). |
29 | 当属纩之辰,命其左右曰:必以书召沼主归计. See Wu (2005, p. 191). |
30 | 吾女性和孝,必惊奔请视吾疾。吾疾不瘳,兼病吾女。由是寝疾累月,路遥莫闻. See Zhou (1992, p. 2376). |
31 | 余命将尽于此。子必不得以往者滞念。孤坟宿草之后,则可以访婚淑德,勿使儿女辈久无所恃。See Zhou and Zhao (2001, p. 1018). |
32 | 必以余赀厚于孀嫂孤女,尔辈无伦之. See Zhou (1992, p. 2391). |
33 | 汝等恭敬于礼,夙夜匪懈,无坠素风. See Wu (2005, p. 237). |
34 | 毋弃义以求利,毋违道以纵欲,毋谄佞以取誉,毋骄傲以速祸. See Wu (2005, p. 386). |
35 | 成立之难如升天,覆坠之易如燎毛 See (Chen 2012, p. 164). |
36 | 遗令者,世所谓遗嘱也,必择紧要言语付嘱子孙,至若纤细不要紧之事,则不暇矣. See (Ma 1939, p. 21). |
37 | This is the biggest difference between epitaphs and other materials; although there are occasional deathbed instructions of women in historical materials passed down, they were from women of prominent status such as Empress Zhangsun长孙皇后 (601–636) of Emperor Taizong太宗 (r.626–649) in the Tang Dynasty. |
References
- Chen, Shangjun 陈尚君. 2012. Tang Liu Pin Liushi xuxun yanjiu 唐柳玭《柳氏叙训》研究. Guowen xuebao 国文学报 51: 147–78. [Google Scholar]
- Fan, Ye 范晔. 1965. Hou Han Shu 后汉书. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju. [Google Scholar]
- Kawai, Kozo. 1999. Zhongguo de zizhuan wenxue 中国的自传文学. Beijing: Zhongyang Bianyi Chubanshe, p. 118. [Google Scholar]
- Liu, Xu 刘昫. 1975. Jiu Tang Shu 旧唐书. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju. [Google Scholar]
- Liu, Zhenlun 刘真伦, and Zhen Yue 岳珍. 2010. Hanyu Wenji huijiao Jianzhu 韩愈文集汇校笺注. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju. [Google Scholar]
- Ma, Yongqing 马永卿. 1939. Yuancheng Yulujie 元城语录解. Shanghai: Shangwu Yinshuguan. [Google Scholar]
- Qian, Nanxiu. 2022. On Calligraphy by ‘Talented Females’ in the Chinese Cultural Circle of East Asia. Journal of Jiangsu Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition) 48: 1–15. [Google Scholar]
- Su, E 苏鹗. 1985. Duyang Zabian 杜阳杂编. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, p. 27. [Google Scholar]
- Wu, Gang 吴钢, ed. 2005. Quan Tangwen buyi Vol. 8 全唐文补遗第八辑. Xi’an: Sanqin Chubanshe, p. 82. [Google Scholar]
- Wu, Gang 吴钢, ed. 2006. Quan Tangwen buyi·Qiantang zhizhai xincang zhuanji 全唐文补遗·千唐志斋新藏专辑. Xi’an: Sanqin Chubanshe. [Google Scholar]
- Wu, Liyu 吴丽娱. 2013. Zhongji Zhidian: Zhonggu Sangzang Zhidu Yanjiu 终极之典:中古丧葬制度研究. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju. [Google Scholar]
- Yan, Yaozhong 严耀中. 2003. Muzhi jiwen Zhong de Tangdai funüfojiao Xinyang 墓志祭文中的唐代妇女佛教信仰. In Tangsong Nüxing Yu Shehui 唐宋女性与社会. Edited by Xiaonan Deng 邓小南. Shanghai: Shanghai Cishu chubanshe, pp. 467–92. [Google Scholar]
- Yu, Dafu. 1991. Yu Dafu Wenji 郁达夫文集. Guangzhou: Huacheng Chubanshe. [Google Scholar]
- Zhou, Shaoliang 周绍良, ed. 1992. Tangdai Muzhi Huibian 唐代墓志汇编. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe. [Google Scholar]
- Zhou, Shaoliang 周绍良, and Chao Zhao 赵超. 2001. Tangdai Muzhi HuibianXuji 唐代墓志汇编续集. Shanghai: Shanghai Guji Chubanshe. [Google Scholar]
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2023 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Meng, G. The Last Entrustment: Funeral Concepts and Arrangements of for the Afterlife in the Tang Dynasty. Literature 2023, 3, 376-384. https://doi.org/10.3390/literature3030025
Meng G. The Last Entrustment: Funeral Concepts and Arrangements of for the Afterlife in the Tang Dynasty. Literature. 2023; 3(3):376-384. https://doi.org/10.3390/literature3030025
Chicago/Turabian StyleMeng, Guodong. 2023. "The Last Entrustment: Funeral Concepts and Arrangements of for the Afterlife in the Tang Dynasty" Literature 3, no. 3: 376-384. https://doi.org/10.3390/literature3030025
APA StyleMeng, G. (2023). The Last Entrustment: Funeral Concepts and Arrangements of for the Afterlife in the Tang Dynasty. Literature, 3(3), 376-384. https://doi.org/10.3390/literature3030025