Concubinage in Seventeenth-Century Chinese Literature: A Historical Study of Xing-shi yin-yuan zhuan

Authors

  • Yifeng Zhao

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21971/P7PK58

Abstract

This study explores the subtle patterns, variety, and changes in Chinese concubinage during the seventeenth century by focusing on cases described in Xing-shiyin-yuan zhuan, a seventeenth-century Chinese novel, and other literary and historical sources. It argues that the various social practices of concubinage in late Ming China diverged from government regulations. Chinese concubinage underwent remarkable changes by the seventeenth century in comparison with earlier periods. Even as concubinage was widely accepted, certain Confucian intellectuals of this period criticized the institution.

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Author Biography

Yifeng Zhao

Yifeng Zhao earned his BA and MA (history) at the Northeast Normal University of China. Now at the University of Alberta's Department of History and Classics, he is completing his PhD dissertation entitled "Non-Confucian Social Activities in North and Southeast China in the Seventeenth Century." He has presented a paper on the grass-roots level intellectuals of China at the Fourth Annual Conference of Graduate students at Columbia University. His Chinese-language publications include two co-authored books on Chinese political history and historiography and about twenty articles on late imperial Chinese history and historiography. As an avocation, he also publishes literary essays and translations on various topics.

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Published

2008-02-20

How to Cite

Zhao, Y. (2008). Concubinage in Seventeenth-Century Chinese Literature: A Historical Study of Xing-shi yin-yuan zhuan. Past Imperfect, 4. https://doi.org/10.21971/P7PK58

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Section

Articles