Zoe Shan Lin | Ithaca College presents the CCCC's final text reading in the spring 2019 series. 

Carved in Stone: The Use of Engraved Stele in Song Local Governance, 960-1279

The document to be read in the session is part of a study that investigates the practical use of stone steles erected in local society during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Stone steles (or more precisely, their inscriptions) examined in this research are those in commemoration of local administrative issues, such as tax reduction, levy exemption, and welfare projects. This research places the creation and use of the commemorative steles in the center of analysis. In addition to the recorded subjects, specific attention will be paid to the seemingly peripheral information—why and how the commemorative steles were made, who the authors and audiences were, and how the steles were used (and expected to function). By doing so, the research aims to explore political culture and the operation of the Song state.

The document for our session—紹熙甲寅免和糴記— is the inscription of a stele that commemorated Yuanzhou’s 袁州exemptions of the Harmonious Purchase in the Southern Song (1127-1297) period. We will read and translate it to see how stone steles were used for negotiations.

More about the Cornell Classical Chinese Colloquium (CCCC):

CCCC is a reading group for students and scholars with an interest in premodern Sinographic text. 

All are welcome, at any level of experience with classical Chinese.

At each session, one participant presents a text in classical Chinese.   Attendees discuss historical, literary, linguistic, and other aspects of the text, and work together to resolve difficulties in comprehension and translation.

Presentations include works of all sorts, from the earliest times to the twentieth century.

No preparation required:  all texts will be distributed at the meeting.

contact: eap-guwen@cornell.edu