like the Screeching of Owls" - Exclusion and Acculturation
in the Early Ming Period
Hans Kühner, Berlin
From Diversity to Homogeneity
Traditional concepts of ethnic or cultural purity and national identity have
increasingly gone out of fashion. Culture, it seems, cannot be seen any more
as a static essence, substance or structure, but has to be defined as a process
or a changing field of discourses, with many different subcultures, latent
cultures or countercultures playing a role in or contributing to its changing
manifestations and evolutions. Furthermore, as a look at history amply dem¬
onstrates, each endeavour by a hegemonic culture to induce homogeneity
and to suppress differing voices or discourses has led to stagnation, not only
in cultural, but also in economic or political respects. However, both in
China and in the West, most people seem to have nurtured a marked prefer¬
ence for ethnically and culturally "pure" societies (which in reality exist and
always existed only in nationalist fantasies), and the ideal of cultural, ethnic
and religious diversity has seldom been realized, due to the fear of loosing
so-called national or other identities.
In China, the dialectics of homogeneity and diversity has undergone
many transformations and has manifested itself historically in many differ¬
ent forms. Thus, in Song and Yuan times in southern Fujian, polyethnic
and in cultural and religious respects "pluralistic" communities had flour¬
ished. Arabs, Persians, Mongols and other central and Western Asians
lived, worked and traded - although not always peacefully - alongside
their Han Chinese neighbours. There were also cases of intermarriage be¬
tween Han Chinese and foreigners.' Of course, one should not idealize the
' We do not know much about the respective proportions of Han Chinese and others
in Quanzhou at the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming. The population
of Fujian in 1393 was 3.916 million (881.000 households) (Ge Jianxiong: Zhongguo
renkou fazhan shi. Fuzhou 1991, p. 231). In the Song period the population figures dif¬
ferentiate between regular households and so-called guest households (ke hu), with the
"multi-cultural" situation in Quanzhou in Song and Yuan times, since the
Yuan empire was no voluntary confederation of different ethnic and reli¬
gious groups. Their more or less peaceful coexistence was based on military
conquest and the harsh and despotic rule of the Yuan regime. It seems un¬
deniable, however, as H. Franke has commented, that "under Mongol rule,
China had reached a maximum of openness for foreigners and external in¬
fluences ..."^
In the course of roughly fifty years after the fall of the Yuan, most traces
of this cosmopolitan atmosphere had vanished and Quanzhou had become
a more or less homogeneous Han Chinese town with only occasional for¬
eign trade contacts or tribute missions.^ Instead of the former cultural diver¬
sity, China experienced a period of growing homogeneity, and, as F. Mote
once stated, in this situation, the only alternative for the semu people, as
Central and Western Asians were called at the time, was to "become Chi¬
nese".'' Mote further remarked that "we do not know much about what
latter comprising such categories as itinerant laborers and merchants, possibly including foreigners as well. Thus, the respective figures shortly before the year 1100 are: 141.199 regular households, and 60.207 guest households. For the end of the Yuan period, the population of Quanzhou lu is reported as 89.060 households, or 455.545 mouths (Liang Fangzhong: Zhongguo lidai hukou, tiandi, tianfu tongji. Shanghai 1980, p. 182, based on Yuanshi, juan 62, Zhonghua shuju-ed. p. 1505). The discrepancy between the figures for the Song and Yuan periods probably has to be explained by the fact that the Yuan figures do not include the ke hu. For the Ming period, we only have the figures for the year Jiajing 1, reported as 42.337 households or 212.903 mouths {Fujian Tongzhi. 174 juan. Comp, by
Shen Yuqing and Chen Heng. Fuzhou 1938, hukou zhi, juan 1, vol. 27, p. 8a-8b). They
are, however, not broken down into ethnic categories. The percentage of foreigners in Quanzhou must definitely have been far higher than, for example, the one in Zhenjiang in 1333: There, of 114.206 families only 1.5 per thousand were Mongol, Uighur, Muslim, Tanggud or others. See S. H. Serruys: The Mongols in China during the Hung-wu period.
Bruxelles 1959 (Melanges Chinois et Bouddhiques 11), p. 54. I am indebted to Professor
Herbert Franke who provided me with information on the population figures and, with
his generous advice, helped me to clarify the distinction between the different population categories and a number of other issues.
^ H. Franke: "Die unterschiedhchen Formen der Eingliederung von Barbaren im
Lauf der chinesischen Geschichte." In: S. N. Eisenstadt (ed.): Kulturen der Achsenzeit H.
Ihre institutionelle und kulturelle Dynamik. Teil 1 China, Japan. Frankfurt am Main 1992, p. 42. The qualifications immediately following this remark ("while showing a disappoint¬
ingly low measure of acceptance of these foreign influences", and: "Apparently, Chinese were never converted to [the foreign religions]." will in turn have to be qualified to a cer¬
tain extent, as will be shown on the following pages.
' See Zhu Weigan: Fujian shigao. 2 vols. Fuzhou 1984, vol. 1, p. 483.
* F.W. Mote: "Chinese Society under Mongol rule, 1215-1368." In: H. Franke, D.
Twitchett (eds.): The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 6: Alien Regimes and Border
States, 907-1368. Cambridge, New York 1994, p. 647
happened to the Western Asians in China at that time", and that it does not
emerge from the records "to what degree these Western Asians may have
retained elements of their original cultures."^ The question of the openness
or self-isolation of Chinese society has been one of the perennial issues in
the scholarship on China,^ and it is in this context that I will address myself
to the themes raised by H. Franke and F. Mote, hoping to be able to offer
some information from sources that were hitherto not looked at under this
aspect.
The texts I used for this purpose are genealogies of families and lineages
from Quanzhou where some form of foreign descent can be identified
or where intermarriage with foreigners had taken place. I am, however,
not interested in genealogical research in itself, but only in texts such as
biographies, records of rituals, family rules and instructions, land deeds,
records of law-suits and intra-lineage conflicts, which offer a wealth of in¬
formation on the activities and mentalities of both elite and non-elite. Like
the popular morality books (shanshu) or the vitae of the saints of medieval
Europe,'' these texts belong to both elite and popular culture. This is because
they are, on the one hand, intended as guide-books for the behaviour of the
descendants of a lineage and as such are intended to transmit values. They
therefore are as a rule guided by the hegemonic value system. On the other
hand, they are addressed to all members of the lineage and therefore have
to discuss actual problems and conflicts on the grassroots level of society,
and, moreover, have to discuss them in a language understandable as well
to members of the non-elite classes. Due to their dual nature, a reading of
these texts can reveal, although in a way seen through and refracted by many
prisms, something about the lives and the fates of ordinary people rarely
recorded in other historical sources. By using these sources, I hope to be
able to show how individuals within these groups as well as the lineage as
an institution tried to deal with the fact of their otherness, what kind of
pressures for ethnic, cultural and religious homogeneity by the environment
they were exposed to, how they overcame the obstacles, established a new
sense of identity and asserted themselves in a hostile environment.
Contrary to what one would expect, contemporary reports and the
records of the new imperial government after the fall of the Yuan show that
the new regime did not follow a consistent policy of harsh and systematic
5 Ibid.,648f.
' See, e.g., the recent book by J. Waley-Cohen: The Sextants of Beijing: Global Cur¬
rents in Chinese History. New York 1999.
' Analysed admirably in A.J. Gurjewitsch: Mittelalterliche Volkskultur. Miinehen 1992.
suppression or annihilation of non-Han people and foreign religions, and
that most foreigners (at least those who had survived the chaos of the fall
of the Yuan) did remain in China.^ The Hongwu emperor apparently was
primarily interested in stabilizing the situation and in bringing the country
under the control of his troops, in order to check the influence of his Han-
Chinese competitors for the throne. He had not yet formulated a consistent
policy for the sinicization of the foreigners, and was prepared to accept them
as subjects if they were willing to accomodate themselves to the new situa¬
tion and to be loyal to the new regime. As the imperial decrees of the time
demonstrate, there are no signs of racial or nationalist hatred at least on the
level of official discourse, and Zhu Yuanzhang and his successors explicitly
refuted all demands to expulse the foreigners. Thus, in a decree of the year
1367, the future emperor, while stating his goal to end foreign rule, admon¬
ishes the foreigners to remain in China:
"As to the Mongols and classified (semu) peoples, although not Chinese by race,
they were yet born between Heaven and Earth. Those who have come under
the influence of our civilization and want to be our subjects will be treated the same as the Chinese."'
Although it was the objective of the new regime to eventually make Chinese
of the foreigners still residing in China, this aim was not to be achieved
by means of coercion. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang accepted them for serv¬
ice in the administration and in the army.'° His generally lenient attitude is
also demonstrated in the policies concerning names and marriages. While
Han Chinese were forbidden to adopt foreign surnames, the Mongols and
Westerners were forbidden to take on Chinese surnames, which custom was
widespread during the Yuan dynasty. This policy unquestionably contrib¬
uted to the preservation of the foreigners' identities."
' See Serruys: The Mongols in China during the Hung-wu Period, p. 135, and
S.H. Serruys: "The Mongols in China 1400-1450." In: Monumenta Serica 27 (1968), p. 233-305.
' Huang Ming zhaoling. Comp, by Fu Fengxiang, 4 vols. (1539-1546). Reprint:
Taibei 1967, vol. 1, p. 21. Also translated in Kuwabara JiTsuzo: "On P'u Shou-keng." In:
Memoirs of the Toyo Bunko 7 (1935), p. 79f., and in Serruys: The Mongols in China dur¬
ing the Hung-wu period, p. 44f.
'° In a decree of the year 1368 he explicitly welcomes these foreigners as his subjects:
"Those mongol and semu people (ren min) wo live already on our teritory are my little children (chizi). Those with talent are all electable for employment as officials." Huang Ming zhaoling, vol. 1, p. 37. It is noteworthy in this context that Zhu pleads against banish¬
ment and resettlement in the south, since this runs counter to the "barbarians' natural inclination". (Serruys: The Mongols in China during the Hung-wu period, p. 61).
While there are no signs of a coherent policy of either suppression, ex¬
pulsion or forced sinicization in the documents on the level of the central
government, there are some indications of opposition to this lenient policy
coming from within the populace and from the lower levels of bureaucracy.
Thus, in the Shilu of November 7, 1376, we find a memorial of an official
arguing against the presence of foreigners within the state bureaucracy.'^
This memorial, however, did not result in harsher policies towards foreign¬
ers either. On the contrary, even under the Yongle emperor, the practice of
employing foreigners in government service was explicitly maintained.'^
" See Decree of 1372, in Huang Ming zhaoling, vol. 1, p. 93. Cf. also Kuwabara: "On P'u Shou-keng", p. 98, and Serruys: The Mongols in China during the Hung-wu period, p. 55, who quotes an edict of May 1, 1370: "I have already issued a decree (whereby) 1 declared to the Universe that Mongols and Classified Peoples all are my subjects, and those who are really qualified will be employed according to justice. But when I learn that after entering office many change their surnames and personal names, I worry lest after a number of years their sons and grandsons succeeding them be unable to carry on the (fam¬
ily) tradition and will be ignorant of their own origin." The edicts and laws on marriages, on the other hand, convey a more confusing message. Thus, an article of the Da Ming lii of 1397 states that "Every Mongol and [member of the] Classified Peoples is allowed to marry a Chinese [...]. They are not allowed to marry their own kind (pen lei)." (Quote in ibid., p. 172). If however, as a later commentary of the Da Ming lii says, "no Chinese should be willing to marry [them] [since, as the commentary says, these "races are ex¬
tremely ugly"] they shall be allowed to marry their own kind." (Ibid., and ibid., p. 173, note 237). Zhu's decree, seemingly directed against the foreigners, can, however, also be interpreted in another way, as Serruys argues. According to his view, pen [- ben] lei does not mean "own ethnic group" but "own clan", and therefore does not amount to an anti- foreign piece of legislation (ibid.). On early Ming policy towards foreigners cf. also E.L.
Farmer: Zhu Yuanzhang and Early Ming Legislation: The Reordering of Chinese Society
Following the Era of Mongol Rule. Leiden 1995, p. 31 and 82ff.
This memorial reads as follows: "I have observed that recently many Mongols and members of the Classified Peoples have been changing their names and assuming Chinese surnames, in no way difierent from the Chinese. Some look for an official career and enter the bureaucracy. Some rise to conspicuous places and important positions. Some become
wealthy businessmen and big merchants. ... We should order them to resume their sur¬
names and stop using their barbarian tongue, so that we are able to distinguish and recog¬
nize them, and devise ways of dealing with them." (Quote in Serruys: The Mongols in China during the Hung-wu period, p. 63).
See the emperor's reply to a similar memorial where he argues that "the fierce wolves
can be tamed, and there were always foreigners in Chinese service. An Lushan did not
revolt, because he was a foreigner, but because he was not the right man to be employed."
(Quote in ibid., p. 160). My impression of a relatively tolerant government policy towards non-Chinese is confirmed by Paul Pelliot who in his study "Le Hoj et le Sayyid Husain de I'Histoire des Ming" (T'oung Pao 38, 1948, p. 81-292) remarks: "La Chine des Ming, sous Hong-Wou et Yong-lo, demeurait en realite tres ouverte aux choses du dehors ..."
(p. 207).
When searching for the decisive factors contributing to the tendency to¬
wards increasing uniformity under the Ming and to the disappearance of di¬
versity, we should therefore not only look at the policies and decrees of the
central government,''' but also at other levels of society, at the periphery, i.e.
at the local and regional levels, and at spheres of discourse that offer clues
on popular mentalities. For this purpose, I selected the genealogies of two
families or lineages from Quanzhou where some form of foreign descent can
be identified or where intermarriage with foreigners had taken place. These
two cases seem to me to be representative of two contrary movements: The
first case presents a lineage which tried to adapt to majority culture and took
steps on its own towards increasing assimilation, attracted as it was by Chi¬
nese culture and the chances of social advancement it offered as reward. This
case can be regarded as paradigmatic for the tendency of intentional integra¬
tion or inclusion. In the second case, the dominant movement is exclusion.
The texts describe the attempt of one branch of a Han Chinese family to
exclude another branch because of its differing religious beliefs and because
of the marriage of one of its members with a foreigner.
The Ding Lineage of Chendai in Quanzhou fu
The first case to be discussed is the Ding lineage of Chendai, Quanzhou,
which, as Chinese historians claim, is descended from Arab ancestors.'^ As
we learn from the genealogies, and this is corroborated by the information
on successful examination candidates contained in Jinjiang xianzhi, by the
middle and the end of the Ming period, the Ding lineage had established
itself against all odds as one of the leading lineages in the county. In 1501, it
" Of course, the restrictions imposed on sea travel and external trade in the Ming period were another important factor which, however, lies beyond the scope of this en¬
quiry.
For this lineage I have consulted manuscript copies of two different versions of the lineage genealogy, both with a preface by Ding Yi, dated Zhengde yiloai (1515): Quanztjou Ding shi zupu. 2 vols.; Ding shi zupu. 1 vol. In addition, texts from several Ding genealo¬
gies are collected in Quanzhou huizu pudie, p. la-75b. A general overview of the genealo¬
gies of lineages of non-Han descent is provided in Chen Zhiping: Fujian zupu. Fuzhou
1996, p. 283ff. Additonal information comes from Fujian sheng Quanzhou haiwai
jiaotong shi bowuguan diaozhazu: "Chendai Ding xing yanjiu." In: Fujian sheng
Quanzhou haiwai jiaotong shi bowuguan, Quanzhou shi Quanzhou lishi yan-
jiuhui (Eds.): Quanzhou Yisilan jiao yanjiu lunwen ji. Fuzhou 1983, p. 207-212. These genealogies as well as the Lin-Li genealogies to be discussed below are not included in the lists of genealogies in Taga Akigoro: Söfu no kenkyu. Tokyo 1960.
produced its first jinshi, and a few years later, one of its branches even had three jinshi in three consecutive generations.'^
The documents show that the members of the lineage had to overcome
many obstacles and prejudice in order to accomplish the task of acculturation
and to attain social recognition. As in many other cases, the first step in this
process of intentional acculturation consisted in the compilation of a geneal¬
ogy. The compilation of the Ding genealogy was begun by a member of the
sixth generation between 1403 and 1424, shortly after the establishment of the
new dynasty. With the explicit purpose of bringing certain "calumnies" of the
Ding family to an end,''' the work was continued by a member of the seventh
generation between 1436 and 1449. However, even at that time the lineage ap¬
parently had not yet produced members well read in the classics and the ritu¬
als, and for this reason, they had to consult a scholar from the (Han Chinese)
Zeng family who instructed them how to write and compile a genealogy. The
compilation was then completed by Ding Yi, the lineage's first jinshi.'^
In the earliest texts preserved in this genealogy as well as in the tables
of descent, no traces of foreign origin whatsoever can be found. The names
recorded in the tables are purely Chinese, and the contents and structure fol¬
low the example of the genealogies of Han Chinese, which is not peculiar at
all taking into account the conditions of compilation. Several texts explicitly
claim that
"we cannot know in detail where our family (jia) has come from before the
time of Jiezhai [first ancestor, who had moved as a merchant from Suzhou to
Quanzhou in early Yuan times]." '^
This may be due to the fact, as one text states, that the ancient genealogy was
lost when the lineage dwellings were destroyed and robbed by pirates.It
may, however, as well be the result of a conscious attempt to hide the foreign
origin.
It is only in later texts that we find references to a certain Saidianchi
(Sayyid Ajall).^' One author claims to have read old records, mentioning
" Jinjiang xianzhi. \bjuan (1765). Comp, by Fang Ding. Reprint: Taibei 1967 (Zhong¬
guo fangzhi congshu S2), juan 8, p. 169.
''' Quanzhou Ding shi zupu, vol. 1, "Fu kao", p. 13b. For these calumnies s. below.
" See ibid., and Quanzhou huizu pudie, "Pu shu", p. 4a-5b.
" See Quanzhou Ding shi zupu, vol. 1, p. 5b-6b. Cf. also Quanzhou huizu pudie, "Gan ji jiu wen," p. 32a, and "Zuanshu shimo," p. 25b: "Only Jiezhai is documented, and we can¬
not find out where he had come from, and even less can we find out about his ancestors."
^° See Quanzhou Ding shi zupu, "Ban pu shuo," vol. 1, p. 13b.
^' See ibid., and Quanzhou huizu pudie, "Gan ji jiu wen," p. 31b. According to Chen Yuan: Westerners and Central Asians in China under the Mongols: Their Transformation
this prince from Bokhara who had served the Yuan as governor in Yunnan,
but still recommends not to include him in the genealogy: "We take Jiezhai
as first ancestor and do not try to enquire about where he has come from."^^
It is obvious from these remarks that the foreign descent still embarrassed
the compilers and authors at that time, and they tried to gloss over the facts.
In other documents included in the genealogy at a later time, however, the
foreign origin was hinted at in a more explicit way. Thus, the "Explanation
of the religion of [our] ancestors" (to be quoted in extenso below) states un¬
equivocally that the lineage had followed Islamic religious practices. The
foreign descent is further confirmed by the discovery in 1952 of a grave stele
in Arabic dating from the year 1302 which shows that at the beginning of
the rule of the Yuan descendants of Sayyid Ajall had in fact been living in
Quanzhou. In addition, their dates of birth and death agree with those given
in the genealogy for the first ancestors.^-'
The persons whose fate are of interest to us here are those who lived at the
end of the Yuan and in the first century of the Ming. While for the first two
ancestors, only the dates of their lives are given, it is for the third generation
ancestor, posthumous name Shuode, where we finally have more detailed
biographical information. He lived from 1298 to 1379 and
"was a merchant travelling between Suzhou and Quanzhou. Due to the the dis¬
turbances at the end of the Yuan, he had no constant dwelling."^''
He also had changed his surname, in order to hide his foreign descent, and af¬
ter the final collapse of the Yuan, he moved his family from the county town
to Chendai village (in present-day Jinjiang), obviously trying to escape from
into Chinese. Transi. and annotated by Luther Carrington Goodrich. Monumenta Serica
Monograph. Los Angeles 1966, p. 103, Saidianchi Shansiding (Sayyid Ajall Shams ud-
Din) was a prince from Bokhara who lived from 1210 to 1279. Whether the Ding ancestors were Arabs, Persians or other Central Asians is not clear, since Sayyid Ajall was not neces¬
sarily Arab but may have been a Persian as well. For his biography, see Yuan shi, juan 125, p. 3063-3070, and also Morris Rossabi: "The Muslims in the Early Yuan Dynasty." In:
John D. Langlois Jr. (ed.): China under Mongol Rule. Princeton 1981, p. 257-295.
2^ Quanzhou huizu pudie, "Gan ji jiu wen," p. 32a.
See Lu Junling, He Gaoji: "Quanzhou Tu'ansha bei." In: Quanzhou Yislan jiao yanjiu lunwen ji, p. 136-147. As in some other cases (the poet Ding Henian, for example, is
said to be descended from Sayyid Ajall Shams ud-Din as well, see Chen Yuan: Western¬
ers and Central Asians in China under the Mongols, p. 98ff.) the Chinese surname Ding is derived from the last syllable of the Arabic honorific ud-Din, meaning "of the faith", such as "sword of the Faith" in Saif ud-Din (Chinese: Saifuding). For such names see also J.J.
Kramers: "Les noms musulmans composes avec Din." In: Acta Orientalia 5 (1926-27), p. 53-67. 1 am grateful to Professor Herbert Franke for bibliographical information on this point.
" Quanzhou Ding shi zupu, vol. 1, "Ban pu shuo", p. 12a.
the revenge on all semu people in Quanzhou. Only after the "empire had set¬
tled again", he is said to have "returned to the [former] family name".^^
During the Hongwu period, the Ding were a family of refugees regis¬
tered as salt household in Chendai^^ who had tried to obscure their foreign
origin as well as their original family name. Obviously, such a family would
have to overcome considerable suspicions and misgivings among the other
(Han Chinese) members of the community, and this expectation is borne
out by the events recorded in later years.
For a considerable period of time, the lineage seems to have suffered from
the hostile feelings directed against it as outsiders within the village. Thus,
one descendant from the fourth generation (Ding Ren'an, born in 1343) was
denounced to the authorities as a member of the White Lotos sect in the
course of a conflict with the "four surnames Zhang, Lin, Chen, and Li in the
village". Together with his son, he was thrown into prison and sent to Nan¬
jing to be put to trial and be executed. It was only due to the intervention
of supernatural forces that they were both released.^'' Only one generation
Ibid., p. 13a. See also ibid., p. 24a and 26b. D.C. Gladney: Ethnic Nationalism in the People's Republic. Cambridge (Mass.), London 1996, p. 274, gives a divergent version, based on interviews with members of the Ding lineage. Gladney was told that "the Ding have lived in Chendai since the Wanli period of the Ming dynasty (1573-1620), where they supposedly fled from Quanzhou to avoid persecution". This obviously does not concur with my findings. Thus, in Quanzhou dingshi zupu, "Zong ju shuo" (dated 1562), vol. 1, p. 7a, it is written very clearly that "we have been living in Chenjiang [i.e. Chendai] since the time of Shuode [1298-1379] who moved there from the southern city suburbs." An¬
other example for the unreliability of "oral history" is the version of the motives for the move to Chendai given to Gladney in 1984: "Our ancestors were sincere Muslims. At the time of our 11''' ancestor. Ding Qirui, who served as a government secretary in the ministry of justice, he was accused with a trumped-up charge of attempting to usurp the throne of the emperor. Because of this, the emperor attempted to exterminate the Ding family. The main mark of the Ding family was their being Muslims. In order to save their lives, the Ding family could not practice Islam for 100 generations." (Ibid., p. 271) Ding Qirui - or rather Ding Qijun, as the name is written in the Fujian tongzhi - had passed his jinshi examination in Wanli 20 (1592). The story is rather dubious. Thus in the biography in Fujian tongzhi, vol. 66, juan 9 {liezhuan, Ming), p. 13a-b, there is no mention of any such events. On the contrary, the biography states that on his death, the honorary title of Minister of Justice (xingbu shangshu) was conferred on him. As this example shows, and a similar case will be found in the legends told in the Lin-Li lineage (see below), under the communist regime famihes and hneages tend to stress those elements of their lineage histories where their ancestors suffered under the former "feudal system" in order to give them a more "progressive" aura.
On this registration see: Quanzhou Ding shi zupu, vol. 1, "Zong ju shuo", p. 7a.
Ibid., vol. 1, "Si shizu Ren'an fu jun zhuan", p. 15b-17b, and "Chengzhai fu jun zhuan", p. 14b-15b. Cf. also the biography of Ding Zishen in Fujian tongzhi, juan 9 {liezhuan, Ming), p. llb-12a, where a short version of these events is given.
later, in Yongle 13 (1415), the family was involved in a conflict on grave land,
this time with the Pan family, which dragged on for many years.
In 1475, another land conflict erupted in the village. Asked to support
the claims of the Ding lineage, the village gendarm demanded to get a bribe.
The lineage refused, and its opponents then claimed that its surname was
in reality not Ding, that they had cheated at the time of the Hongwu land
and population registration (when they had registered as salt household in
Chendai), and had hidden the fact that their ancestor had fled from banish¬
ment to a frontier garrison, a crime that could be punished with the death
penalty.^^ As we know already, there was some truth in these charges. This
conflict dragged on for 15 years, and as a consequence the whole lineage
was impoverished: "The sacrificial fields of our lineage were completely ex¬
hausted and dispersed, the private property was spent, and the family was
in distress.The dispute could only be settled when two young members
of the lineage decided to travel to the capital in order to check the original
registration documents in the government archives and to meet government
officials there. As reported in the genealogy, they were successful: They ob¬
tained a letter of protection from a high official (da sima) with the following
judgment:
"The [members of the] Ding [lineage] are subjects of our dynasty. It is not ad¬
missible that, as subjects of our dynasty, they are still harrassed and tyran¬
nized. They are to be given an official reward."^'
Then, in the Jiajing era (1522-1566), there was a new conflict with an alleged
"sorcerer" named Lii Xichun, who allied himself again with the Pan fam-
ily.^^ More disputes and law suits followed, and thus, apparently all the way
through the Ming period, each generation was involved in bitter strife with
the other families and lineages in the area.-'' The more surprising it is that, as
Quanzhou huizu pudie, "Ren'an fu jun xiang can", p. 15b-16a.
^' See the documents on law suits involving grave land dated 1481 in: Quanzhou Ding shi zupu, vol. 2, p. 21b-23b, and "Xue shu shuo", vol. 1, p. 17b-18b.
^° Ibid., p. 18a.
" Ibid.
" See Quanzhou huizu pudie, "Bian Lii Xichun jian wangshuo tie", p. 16a-17b.
The subject of all these conflicts was grave land on Luyuan hill near Quanzhou.
Documents on other law suits and reports on violent confrontations can also be found for the years 1629 (in Quanzhou Ding shi zupu, vol. 2, p. 42b ff.), 1632 (ibid., p. 29aff.), and 1636 (ibid., p. 32ff.). Gladney: Ethnic Nationalism in the People's Republic, p. 268, reports that the grave land on Luyuan hill was bought by one "uncle Chengzhai" in 1910.
In reality, as we learn from Quanzhou Ding shi zupu, "Chong xiu Lu yuan zumu ji" (dat.
1761), vol. 2, p. 35a-36b, the grave land was bought in the Hongwu and Yongle periods, and Chengzhai was in fact a descendant of the fifth generation.
mentioned before, already in 1501, the lineage had its first successful
In order to achieve these successes, the lineage had to increasingly obliterate
its past and to adapt its ritual to established Han Chinese custom.
The process of adaptation and acculturation and the changing attitudes
to the ancestors' foreign descent is best reflected in a text written by one
of the compilers of a later genealogy. Ding Yanxia, in the Wanli period
(1573-1620), entitled "Explanation of the religion of [our] ancestors"^'':
We cannot know in detail where our family (jia) has come from before the time
of Jiezhai. As far as religion (jiao) is concerned, in former times they seem to
have followed customs that were not yet civilised. For example, they did not
change the clothes [of the dead person] before it was put into the cofSn, and
they did not use wood for the coffin. The burial took place already on the third
day after death, and [the corpse] was only covered with a very thin layer. The
mourning attire was made of cotton, and when praying, there were no soul tab¬
lets for the ancestors, and no sacrificial offerings. On meetings, people bowed
to the west at the time of sunset. Every first month [of the year] there was a
period of fasting and one was allowed to eat only after sunset, while during the
day, people were hungry.'^ God (shen) was revered only with aromatic herbs,
there were no sacrifices of wine and fruit and no paper money [as sacrifice] was
burned. When reciting the holy book (qing jing) one imitated the traditional
sound of the barbarian (yi) language, without understanding its meaning and
not even trying to understand it. This was done on both happy and unhappy
occasions. It was only allowed to eat meat that was slaughtered at home, and
pork was forbidden. One regularly had to take a bath, and witout bathing one
was not allowed to attend worship. As for clothing, cotton was preferred to
silk, and on all occasions, cleanliness was desirable. When I was young, I still
could see these customs personally. ... Today, we burn paper money in the
sacrifices for the ancestors, cattle has not to be slaughtered at home, all wear
hemp as mourning attire, no more cotton. Sometimes, people wait as long as
ten years before the burial. On both happy and unhappy occasions, Daoist and
Buddhist monks are invited. Pork is eaten, and there is increasing conformity
with [Chinese] ritual. However, there still are some who are proud of not fol¬
lowing the [Chinese] ritual. With regard to the desirability of cleanliness, I have
seen no reduction. Alas, as far as the teachings of the Noble Man on ritual are
concerned, some maintain that it should be based on the traditions of one's coun¬
try and should be adhered to without the slightest change. Others maintain that
some [aspects of] ritual can be different while others should be adhered to, with their practicality as criterion. What does "practicality" mean? It should conform to the principle of heaven and to human emotions. If they do not harm these two, why should we change them just in order to conform to the views of society?
Quanzhou Ding shi zupu, vol. 1, p. 5b-6b.
This of course refers to the Islamic custom of fasting during the Ramadan period.
At about the time when this text was written, the new rules on ritual were
detailed by one of the lineage jinshi. Ding Zishen, in his "Compact on Sac¬
rifices" (siyue). There the sacrificial rites were modelled on the traditional
Chinese example. Wine was offered, but still, no pork was to be used.'^
The text quoted above shows an ambiguous attitude towards the family
tradition: On the one hand, growing conformity with the customs of the
majority culture was desirable and was actively promoted by leading line¬
age members who very early had called for the compilation of a genealogy,
drawn up new rules for the sacrifices for the ancestors, and built a lineage
temple.-'^ On the other hand, in order to maintain and strengthen family and
lineage identity and solidarity in the face of a hostile environment, some
members still demanded that distinguishing traits in ritual should be con¬
served. The text first describes in detail Islamic customs without, however,
mentioning the name of Islam explicitly. Family descent and family tradi¬
tion are reinterpreted here in a way which tries to accomodate these two con¬
flicting demands: The foreign or barbarian descent of the lineage is glossed
over, its originally foreign religion (Islam) is reduced in meaning to a mere
family tradition and to mere ideosyncratic customs. Through this reinter¬
pretation, the lineage tried to evade attacks and accusations of the represent¬
atives of the majority culture on both ethnic and cultural grounds, while at
the same time still maintaining a strong lineage identity.
The Lin-Li Lineage of Quanzhou/Jinjiang
This lineage is noteworthy for two reasons. The first one is that it produced
the famous Ming scholar Li Zhi. It is due to that fact that Chinese histori¬
ans already have devoted much effort to research into the family and line¬
age history and have produced new and interesting results on Li Zhi's fam¬
ily background. Since genealogical research in the proper sense is not what I
am interested in here - although as a byproduct my discussion will provide
some new information on Li Zhi's ancestry and a number of assertions may
have to be revised - I will concentrate on the second peculiarity of the line¬
age, namely the double surname Lin-Li which seems to be related to a dark
spot in family history. The peculiar situation of the lineage was described by
Li Guangjin (1549-1622), a cousin of Li Zhi:
" In: Quanzhou huizu pudie, p. 42b-43b.
See Quanzhou huizu pudie, "Chong jian Ding shi zongci bei ji", p. 18b-20a.
"Even today those with the surname Lin deny the surname Li, and those with
the surname Li deny the surname Lin. With full conviction they refute each
other's view, but the past age is far away and the facts have vanished, and it is
impossible to examine the documents. Still, however, the order of the genera¬
tions (zhaomu) is not in confusion, and the prayers and sacrifices are common [for both branches], and thus, although the surname is separated, the lineage is not separated (xing fen er zu bu fen)."^^
My liypothesis is, in short, that the spht into two surnames is related to
the marriage of one of the ancestors with a Persian girl from Hormuz and
his conversion to Islam. The case of the Lin-Li lineage thus illustrates how
people within a family and lineage reacted to interethnic marriage and to
conversion to a foreign religion immediately after the fall of the Yuan when
xenophobic attitudes were virulent within the populace.^'
In order to reconstruct the historical events, we first have to look at the
difiFerent and even contradictory versions of family and lineage history as
presented in the texts that were preserved. Then, we will have to confront
these different versions with each other and reflect on the reasons and mo¬
tives for the differences. Since the situation is a rather complex and confus¬
ing one, let me try, first, to give you a clear picture of those basic facts con¬
cerning lineage history that were not under dispute.
The person which all members of the Lin-Li lineage are descended from
was called Li or Lin Junhe (hao: Muzhai, 1328-1385). He was a respected
merchant who had travelled to foreign countries under the Yuan."*" He had
two sons: Jingwen (hao: Donghu, ming: Nu, 1347-1392), and Jingshun (hao:
Zhizhai, ming: Duan, 1350-1424). As his biography states, the elder son was
"one of the big merchants of Quanzhou" who traded in Jiangsu and Zhejiang
at the beginning of the Ming:
Quoted in: Lin Haiquan: Li Zhi nianpu kao liie. Fuzhou 1992, p. 475.
For this case, I had at my disposal two manuscript copies of genealogies containing texts mostly of the Ming dynasty and also genealogical tables: Qingyuan Lin Li zongpu caochuang juan zhi san, 1 juan, and Li shi zupu, 1 juan (preface dated 1435). In addition, there are the excerpts from another version of the genealogy as reprinted in Quanzhou Huizu pudie {Rongshan Li shi zupu, p. 76a-81a), as well as the reports by Chinese histo¬
rians: Ye Guoqing: "Li shi xian shi kao." In: Lishi yanjiu 2, 1958, p. 79-84, and: Chen Sidong: "Li Zhi de jia shi, guju ji qi qi mubei." In: Wenwu 1, 1975, p. 34-43. This article
appeared in English translation in Chan Hok-Lam: Li Chih, 1527-1602, in Contempo¬
rary Chinese Historiography. New Light on his Life and Works. White Plains, NY 1980,
p. 41-77.
*° Li shi zupu, "Muzhai gong zhuan", p. 14b-15a.
"In 1384, he went on a trade mission to Hormuz and other places, ... where
he converted to their religion and received the consecration at the mosque. He
also married a semu girl and then returned home.'""
His younger brother Jingshun was a merchant as weh. But in contrast to his
elder brother, he seems to have been a more conventional person and is said
to have adhered to Chinese tradition:
"Although he was engaged in trade on the markets, he nourished his heart and devoted himself to the study of the classics and poetry."'*^
The elder brother Jingwen had five sons who continued the family tradition
of trading.''^ Li Zhi is descended from this (Muslim) branch. Jingshun had
two sons: Xinyu (zz: Guangmao), and Tianyu {zi: Guangqi, hao: Fuzhai,
1381-1443), the compiler of the first genealogy.
After having established these lines of descent, we can look closer at the
crucial question: When and why did the lineage split into the two surnames?
There are altogether three versions, with the Li branch maintaining that the
original name was Li, while the Lin branch takes its name as the original
one. The first version, basically established by Li Guangqi in his genealogy,
claims that the surname originally was Li. The first ancestor (a certain Li
Fuguan) supposedly had moved to Fujian at the time of the Tang dynasty.
He was followed by an unbroken line of eighteen generations till Junhe who
was the first to change from Li to Lin at the end of the Yuan when he is
reported to have sought refuge with his mother's family {nee Lin) because of
the great famine at the time.'''' Then, in 1422, his son Jingshun moved away
from the family home in Quanzhou to Nan'an and returned to the former
surname Li because, as Li Guangqi says, he could neither change his broth¬
ers religious convictions nor bear the shame that he "practised divergent cus-
toms".^5
All this basically is the wording of Li Guangqi of the third generation, the author of the first genealogy, in: Li shi zupu, "Donghu Lin gong zhuan", p. lb-2a.
*2 Ibid.,p.2b-3b.
They were Xin, Xianbao, Xinsheng, Yusheng, Fusheng. Among them, Xianbao was
a wealthy merchant. In 1421 he founded a salt shop. He died in 1424 in Guangdong on a
trading trip. His son served as interpreter on a government mission to Japan. (Ibid., "Tong- qiu Lin gong zhuan", p. 23b-24a).
See Li shi zupu, "Zupu Yuan liu", p. 7afT. Cf. also Quanzhou huizu pudie, "Muzhai gong kuang zhi", p. 77b.
See Lishi zupu, "Zhizhai Lin gong zhuan", p. 3a, and also the version on a newly discovered grave stele for one of Li Zhi's uncles, Li Tinggui, with an inscription by Lin Qizai, nephew of Li Zhi, quoted in Lin Haiquan: Li Zhi nianpu kaoliie, p. 465.
The second version maintains that the surname originally was Lin/^ and
the split occurred only in the third generation. It was Li Guangqi who
moved away from town in Yongle 20 (1422) and changed his surname into
Li.''^ The supporters of this version question two basic assumptions of Li
Guangqi's earlier version. Firstly, the long line of ancestors all named Li,
going back to the Tang dynasty, appears spurious to later lineage members,
and it is stated that Junhe's ancestors are unknown.''^ Secondly, the assump¬
tion that it was Jingshun - the compiler's father - who had returned to the
ancient surname, is refuted and Li Guangqi is even explicitly accused of hav¬
ing falsified the facts: In reality, one commentary says,
"[Jingshun's] surname was still Lin, he had not moved away yet [from
Quanzhou] and his surname was not changed yet. But when Li Guangqi com¬
piled his genealogy he had to say: "Since my father could not change the diver¬
gent customs (yi xi) of his elder brother, he retreated and moved to the south¬
ern suburbs of the town." However, among the big families in Quanzhou there
are the five families Jin, Ding, Ma, Yang, and Xia, who are all followers of Is¬
lam, and they have not changed that for even more than ten generations, so why
should our uncle detest his elder brother so much? ... In my opinion it was
Fuzhai [Li Guangqi] who was the first to move to Wurong and to change the
surname into Li. ... If one wants to gloss over something in one's own life, one has to blame the ones for it who lived earlier.'""
This criticism seems plausible since Jingwen, the cause for the resentment,
had already died thirty years before the year 1522 mentioned above. But fi¬
nally, and more importantly, Li Guangqi's genealogy is also criticized on ac¬
count of its author's xenophobic prejudice, and he is blamed for not having
recorded the lives of all members of the lineage:
"When after three generations Li Guangqi compiled a genealogy, he put empha¬
sis on the eighteen earlier generations before the first ancestor and allowed the actions of Donghu to be deleted. ... Since [Donghu 's] descendants up till today have not given up this religion, he did not include them - alas!"^°
With regard to the reason why Li Guangqi may have changed his surname
and moved away, a third version offers the explanation that he had incurred
the wrath of a high official, was persecuted and had to flee and change his
Lishi zupu, "Di er shi Lin pai", p. 15b. See also the text quoted in Lin Haiquan: Li Zhi nianpu kaoliie, p. 465.
'''' "Zhizhai Lin gong zhuan." In: Li shi zupu, p. 3a.
■•^ Ibid., "Zu de zhuan", p. 23a: "We can not know anything about his ancestors." See also Quanzhou Huizu pudie, "Xiang shixi pu", p. 79b-81a (dated wanli 28).
Li shi zupu, "Zhizhai Lin gong zhuan", p. 2b-3a.
'° Li shi zupu, "Donghu Lin gong zhuan", p. 2a.
name.^' In fact, Li Guangqi's biography in the Jinjiang xianzhi alludes to
this event as well and reports that he was indeed executed in Fuzhou in
1443. It seems very dubious to me, however, whether Li's change of surname
and his move to Nan'an were directly connected with his persecution, since
more than twenty years had passed between the two events. Furthermore,
this version fails to explain the fact that at that time only his cousin Xin¬
sheng from the Muslim branch followed him to Nan'an and changed his
surname into Li as well while the other three cousins continued to live in
Quanzhou and kept the old name Lin.^^ It seems not too plausible to me that
at a time when Li Guangqi supposedly was wanted by the authorities on ac¬
count of a charge of murder and when, therefore, the whole lineage was in
danger, a group of lineage members would have remained behind while oth¬
ers followed Li Guangqi and thus might have drawn additional attention to
him. It is for these reasons that I propose another explanation for the split of
the lineage."
Li Guangqi seems to have intended to draw a line between his branch
of the family and the "divergent customs" of his relatives. In order to keep
the descent of the lineage clear from foreign blood and foreign beliefs, he
distanced himself from his relatives by assuming a new surname, moving to
another place, and excluding those of his uncle's descendants who refused
to return to Chinese customs from the genealogy and thus from the lineage.
The motive for this decision is hinted at in his remark on his uncle Jingwen
in the genealogical tables:
"He married a semu girl and followed their customs till the end without chang¬
ing. Today, his sons and grandsons are many, but still they do not give up their foreign religion, therefore they are not included here."^''
This assumption is confirmed by a later commentary on Li Guangqi's gene¬
alogy, obviously by a member of the Li-branch, at about the time of Li Zhi,
which reads as follows:
See Chen Sidong: "Li Zhi de jia shi", p. 36.
Li shi zupu, "Di er shi Lin pai", p. 15b-16a. A few years later, two of three moved to Nan'an as well, and only the branch of Xianbao stayed in Quanzhou. See Quanzhou huizu pudie, "Muzhai gong kuang zhi", p. 77b.
The version presented by Chen Sidong: "Li Zhi de jia shi" is based on one source only. The article appeared at the height of the legalism debate, and the source it refers to was never referred to again in subsequent studies such as the one by Lin Haiquan: Li Zhi nianpu kaoliie, nor is it reprinted in Quanzhou huizu pudie. The two genealogies I had access to do not mention these events either.
Li shi zupu, p. 9b-10a.
"Our clan before the seventh generation all practiced Islam, would their ances¬
tors agree to that? But the split between Lin and Li opened with this."^*
When changing his surname, Li Guangqi may have been convinced that by
doing this he was in fact returning to the former surname Li. This, in turn,
is indicated by the fact that he had married a woman named Lin as well.^^ In
view of Li Guangqi's strong Confucian convictions^'' he would hardly have
dared to violate the traditional ban on marriages among families bearing the
same surname.^* It is, however, conceivable as well that the eighteen genera¬
tions named Li enumerated in the genealogical tables were invented, and this
invention just served the purpose to legitimize his own change of surname
and his unconventional marriage.
Later on, there were even more changes of surname in the lineage, and
this practice continued until Li Zhi's generation.The reasons for the later
changes of surnames are still unclear. They may have been related to the divi¬
sion into Muslim and non-Muslim branches of the lineage (with the Lins liv¬
ing in Quanzhou and the Lis in Nan'an), or they may have been caused by
the need to continue the sacrifices for the respective ancestors.
That Li Guangqi was indeed strongly prejudiced against foreign customs
and religions is shown in a text entitled "Words of Warning" ( Chuijie lun),^°
written in 1426, which he addressed to his descendants and included in the
genealogy. In this text, which is pervaded by a strong xenophobic bias, he
develops his arguments against foreign religions coherently and thus justi¬
fies the exclusion of his uncle's branch from the descent line. His arguments
show that exotic countries (and women) as well as exotic religions were still
attractive for some individuals and represented, in Li's view, a real danger to
Chinese civilisation even more than fifty years after the fall of the Yuan. His
views and arguments help to explain why he deemed it necessary to draw a
line between himself and the rest of the lineage and thus further strengthen
my assumption that the split in the lineage was connected with the Islamic
" Ibid., "Donghu Lin gong zhuan", p. 2a.
" Ibid., "Di san shi kai ji Xueqian Li zhipai", p. 17a.
See the "Words of Warning", translated below.
For the legal aspects of this issue, see P. Hoang: Le Manage Chinois au Point de Vue Legal. Shanghai 1898 (Varietes Sinologiques 14), p. 43f.
^' Thus, Li Zhi's ancestor also had changed his name into Li (Lin Haiquan: "Li Zhi de jia shi", p. 467). Similarly, we learn from the grave stele mentioned in note 45 that Li Tinggui had changed his name into Li as well. This means that, since his grandfather had changed his name into Li before, his father must have returned to the surname Lin. An¬
other case where the original surname was adopted again is the case of a son of Xinsheng, Qianxue, whose grandson Duanwu then changed his name into Li. (Ibid., p. 462f.).
In Li shi zupu, p. lOb-UA.
religion of several lineage members and with the marriage of one of the an¬
cestors with a non-Chinese girl.
Since this text is of interest not only in the narrow context of the history
of the Lin-Li lineage, but also represents one of the earliest explicit refuta¬
tions of foreign beliefs in Ming times (similar arguments can be found more
than two centuries later in the anti-Christian tracts of Yang Guangxian and
others^'), I will quote from it in extenso:
"When the Yuan lost power, there were many semu people, and in our
Quanzhou, they were the most numerous. Their families expanded, they ran
amok and oppressed our people. Till today, although they were entered in the
household registers, there are among them real semu, false semu, and also those
who followed their wives to become semu, or who followed their mothers in
practicing divergent customs. They thus brought disorder into our race (zulei),
they despise our rules and do not respect our morality. Why is that so? As far
as the sacrifices to Heaven are concerned, the Chinese (zhong xia) after the
Yuan erected a mound in the south of the capital. They used sacrificial utensils
made of porcelain and also animals for sacrifice, and nobody under the rank
of Prince (gonghou) dared to overstep his place. Now, even the commoners
among the semu are allowed to keep images of [their] god (tian) at their homes
and pray to them." When we [Chinese] are in mourning, we beat our breasts
and cry and wail, put gems in the mouth [of the corpse], cover it with a shroud,
and enclose it in a wooden coffin. Our mourning attire is made of hemp, and
from morning to evening libations are offered. We prepare feathers to adorn
the cofUn, build a wall and select a burial site to bury it there. We erect soul
tablets in the shrine in order to make regular sacrifices. The semu, however,
sing and beat drums, embalm [the corpse] with mercury and adorn it with flow¬
ers. They wear no mourning attire, they have coffins of tong wood without
lids, they bury [their dead] in the wilderness, and prepare neither tablets nor
sacrifices. We adorn ourselves with orderly clothing, correct boots and belts,
and jade pendants. But the semu wear turbans and coarse woollen cloth and go
barefoot. We observe the seven proscriptions and three abstentions. What we
call abstinence consists in not drinking alcohol and not eating [impure] food.
The abstinence of the semu consists in not eating during the day, but only at
night, not eating what is bought on the market, but eating only what one killed
oneself, not eating pork, but only cattle feeding on hay. Our body, skin and
hair were bequeathed on us by our parents, and we do not dare to violate them.
This is filial piety. Among the semu, however, only those who were incised
are regarded as adults. Their writing is like worms, and their speech is like
" Cf. Jacques Gernet: China and the Christian Impact: A Conflict of Cuhures. Janet Lloyd, transi. Cambridge 1985.
" Here, obviously, Li Guangqi for the sake of his argument mixes up the different for¬
eign religions, since Muslims, of course, were not allowed to keep such images.
the [howling] of owls. We Chinese can neither decipher [their texts] nor under¬
stand [their speech]. Alas! The ways of the semu are identical with the customs of the Yi and Di. The Shujing says: "The Man and Yi are bringing disorder into our vast land."'^ The Shijing says: "He resisted the Rong and Di."^^ This
is even more so in our Quanzhou. Although it is part of the Minhai region,
everybody knew the way of the former kings, adhered to the Mean and sincer¬
ity and practised them without failing. Recently, however, your great-uncle,
although descended from scholars, was seduced by the customs of the semu
and did not attain to enlightenment. He did not revere his ancestors, but those
of others, he practiced the customs of the Yi and Di, and caused his descend¬
ants to become barbarians. Why is this so? It is because he was deluded by his
sympathy for the strange and exotic. Alas, Han Yu has said: "[Confucius] ac¬
cepted those Yi and Di who followed the customs of the Middle States as Chi¬
nese, while he regarded those Chinese who followed the customs of the Yi and
Di as barbarians."'^ Today, I, Guangqi, when compiling this genealogy, record his name and his deeds, but have to refute his mistakes, in fear that the descend¬
ants might follow his bad example. [I am writing this] in order to warn you
seriously."
Culturalism, Ethnocentrism, and Xenophobia
While there was no systematic suppression or expulsion of foreigners or pro¬
scription of foreign cults at the beginning of the Ming, the text quoted above
and the events I described show that there was a strong xenophobic tendency
within the populace. In spite of this attitude, Islam and foreign countries ap¬
parently still represented an attractive alternative for some unconventional
individuals, especially for those engaged in foreign trade. Thus we find one
prominent merchant from Quanzhou who more than a decade after the fall
of the Yuan was converted to a foreign cult and married a foreign girl, and
even some of his sons and grandsons kept their belief, with the result of be¬
ing excluded from the lineage and a long-lasting split. Also, as we learn from
the report on family traditions and the commentary on Islamic families in
Quanzhou quoted above,^^ more than one hundred years after the fall of
Quote from Shujing, in: J. Legge: The Chinese Classics. Vol. IIL The Shoo King.
Hongkong 1960, "The Canon of Shun", p. 44.
Quote from Shijing. Lu song, Bi gong. Index to Maoshi, in: Zhou Yi deng shi zhong yinde. Shanghai 1986, p. 80. (Reprint) For a slightly different translation see J. Legge: The Chinese Classics. Vol. IV. The She King. Hongkong 1960, p. 626.
Quote from Han Yu's Yuan dao, in: Qian Bocheng (comp.): Gu wen guan zhi xin
bian. Shanghai 1988, p. 559.
Li shi zupu, "Zhizhai Lin gong zhuan", p. 3a, translated above.
the Yuan some famihes still adhered to Islamic ritual, although possibly not
understood any more, and even in the Han Chinese Lin-Li lineage, possibly
as a concession to its Muslim members, no pork was used in sacrifices for
the ancestors. Foreign descent and Islam were, however, perceived by some
anxious conservatives as a threat to Chinese identity, and this attitude ap¬
parently prevailed. Xenophobia was not primarily based on considerations
of ethnic identity, but rather on cultural aspects. Thus, for Li Guangqi, mar¬
riage with a foreign girl was not seen as the major scandalon. It was rather
the fact that descendants of this mixed couple continued to adhere to a for¬
eign religion that justified their exclusion from the lineage registers. It was
the conversion to a foreign religion which implied the loss of one's Chinese-
ness.
Widespread xenophobia seems to have led to immense pressure on foreign
and Muslim families. In order to survive and to affirm their social positions,
they responded with a number of strategies documented in the texts quoted
above and in the genealogies of other lineages who were different from the
majority Han Chinese in terms of descent, ethnicity and religion. As the
example of Ding Ren'an, but also the case of the Pu lineage, the descend¬
ants of Pu Shougeng, show, families and lineages dispersed or fled to other
places.*^ Some assumed new identities and new surnames;^* they abolished
or reduced "barbarian customs", especially in religious matters, or kept
them only as secret family traditions, while increasingly adopting Han Chi¬
nese customs. Genealogies were compiled and Chinese descent or descent
from mythical ancestors was invented. ^' Heterodox branches were excluded
For the Pu hneage see Pu shi zupu, and also Zhang Yuguang, Jin Debao:
"Baogao fajian Pu Shougeng jiapu jingguo." In: Quanzhou Yisilan jiao yanjiu lunwen ji, p. 216-226.
Here, again, the Pu lineage can be quoted as another example. The Minshu (as
quoted in Kuwabara: "On P'u Shou.keng", p. 99) states: "Our emperor Taizu suppressed all families with the surname of Pu, and forbade them to pass the court examination and become officials." As a consequence, a tenth generation descendant of Pu Shougeng (Pu Benzhu) had to pass his juren and jinshi examinations in 1384 and 1397 under his mother's family name. See also Zhang Yuguang, Jin Debao: "Baogao fajian Pu Shougeng jiapu jingguo", p. 225. For the examination dates see Ba Min tongzhi. 2 vols. Comp, by Huang Zhongzhao. Fuzhou 1989, vol. 2, p. 169.
'' Examples for this strategy are the Jin lineage who invented a mythical ancestor liv¬
ing in early Han times who had then left China and whose descendants had returned
only in the thirteenth century (see Qingyuan Jin shi zupu, xu [manuscript copy, preface dated Jiaqing 34], and also the version of the same genealogy in Quanzhou huizu pudie, p. 76a-86a). Another case is the Guo lineage of Baiqi in Hui'an who in their genealogy
claim to be descended from Guo Ziyi, (see Fujian sheng Quanzhou haiwai jiaotong
shi bowuguan diaozhazu: "Baiqi Guo xing bu shi Guo Ziyi de housheng er shi huizu ren." In: Quanzhou Yisilan jiao yanjiu lunwen ji, p. 213-215.
from the lineage, ancestor worship and the corresponding rituals were intro¬
duced, and ancestral shrines and sacrificial fields were founded.
The attitude of the Ming emperors referred to above and their lenient poli¬
cies towards foreigners can be seen as paradigmatic expressions of the cultur-
alist persuasion dominant in the field of official discourse. The arguments
of Li Guangqi as well reflect this attitude, although in his "Words of Warn¬
ing" traits of xenophobia based on ethnic difference and concepts of superi¬
ority and inferiority of the blood can be discerned. The virulence of both
Li Guangqi's aversion against foreigners and of the rejection of the Ding
lineage in the villages and the hostility it encountered there, however, seem
to stem from stronger emotions than a mere culturalist persuasion could ex¬
plain.
For people who believe in biological determinism it would of course be
superfluous to ask where these virulent anti-foreign attitudes came from,
since for them xenophobia is a constant and genetically determined trait in
mankind. Since I do not subscribe to that view, I propose to have a short
look at the political and social situation under the Yuan and during the ensu¬
ing interregnum. As is well known, under Mongol rule southern Chinese
were excluded from official service and were classified as nanren (southern¬
ers) on the lowest social rank. They were thus discriminated against for eth¬
nic reasons. Furthermore, towards the end of the Yuan period, southern Fu¬
jian was occupied by foreign (presumably Persian) militia under the warlord
Saifuding and others. These troops went on rampage there for about ten
years, and, as is reported in the Lin-Li genealogy,
"the Western barbarians in great multitudes occupied Quanzhou. They com¬
mitted atrocities and created disturbances, and everywhere disputes and con¬
frontations took place. There was a famine at the time."'°
From 1357 to 1366 wars were fought between different cliques of Persian
strongmen in the area, and the Mongol government was unable to establish
its control until 1366, only to be defeated again two years later. In view of
these experiences, the resentment of Han people becomes understandable.
After the defeat of the Persians by the troops of the Yuan satrap Chen You-
ding, this resentment erupted and took the form of massacres: The survi¬
vors of the Persian forces were slaughtered by Chinese peasants, and all
^° Li shi zupu, "Zu de zhuan", p. 23b f. For this so-called "rebellion of Saifuding", see Chang Hsing-lang: "The Rebelhon of the Persian Garrison in Ch'üan-chou (A.D.
1357-1366)." In: Monumenta Serica 3 (1938), p. 611-627, and Maejima Shinji: "The Mus¬
lims in Ch'üan-chou at the end of the Yüan Dynasty." Part I in: Memoirs of the Toyo Bunko 31 (1973), p. 27-51; Part II in: Ibid., 32 (1974), p. 47-71.
foreigners had to fear for their hves. Thus, the semu people became victims
of the state of lawlessness, and their temples, mosques, houses and cemeter¬
ies were destroyed.''' It was only in the Zhengde era more than one hundred
years later that mosques were rebuilt and grave steles could be erected.''^
It may, finally, be of some interest to compare these events with the Recon¬
quista in late medieval Spain. In some respects, the situation in southern
China after the defeat of the Yuan was strikingly similar to the situation in
Spain after the conquest of Granada in 1492. There are, however, some obvi¬
ous differences as well. Thus, immediately after his victory, the Spanish king
issued an edict of expulsion of all Jews in Spain, which put an end to their
settlement there. A few years earlier already, Jews residing in those parts of
Spain that were under Catholic rule were confronted with the choice of ei¬
ther baptization or death.''' Likewise, in 1502, a royal decree which was rig¬
orously enforced ordered all Muslims to either abjure their religion or leave
Spanish soil.'''' Compared to the harsh and inhuman treatment of these so-
called heathen in medieval Europe, official policies in China under the Ming
appear lenient and tolerant. Xenophobia within the populace, stemming
from the experience of the suppression and occupation by foreign troops,
expressed itself, for a short period of time, in actions reminiscent of the Eu¬
ropean middle ages. Nevertheless, in the texts discussed above, we find indi¬
cations that some individuals, branches of lineages or whole lineages contin¬
ued to adhere to foreign customs and religion and even made their difference
into an element of their personal, family and lineage identity.
^' See Zhu Weigan: Fujian shigao, vol. 1, p. 483.
Thus, the Quanzhou mosque (Qingzhen si) could only be rebuilt in 1507. See
Zhuang Weiji, Chen Dasheng: "Quanzhou Qingzhen si shi ji xin kao." In: Quanzhou Yisilan jiao yanjiu lunwen ji, p. 102-114.
" J.B. Bury, H.M. Gwatkin (eds.): The Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. VII. Cam¬
bridge 1964, p. 662ff.
'''' J.B. Bury, H.M. Gwatkin (eds.): The Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. Vlll.
Cambridge 1964, p. 490ff.
List of Chinese Characters
ben lei Man t
Chen Youding pit^ Muzhai EÜÄ
Chendai Pi^* Nan'an
Chenjiang Pi jx Nu
? .
Chuijie lun :ir^i^ Pu Shougeng iif
da sima qing jing •;-frfö
Di 3ft Quanzhou M
Ding Qijun T^)# Rong
Ding Ren'an Tf-^ Saidianchi
Ding Yanxia Shansiding #*#ltST
Ding Yi TfH Saifuding #t T
Ding Zishen T ij t semu t a
Donghu tm shanshu -i-t
Duan ^lU
^ shen #
Fusheng Shijing #M
Fuzhai ^tt shilu t^t
gonghou 'A^ Shujing i"EJ .•■Jt.^f*
Guangmao j^m Shuode
HanYu siyue >f^#^
hao ^ Tian ^
ija t. Tianyu
jiao ü tong
Jiezhai ip # Wurong ^
Jingshun Xianbao
Jingwen xing fen er zu bu fen-ü ^ ^^^^
Jinjiang Xinsheng fti
Jinjiang xianzhi # ;x m ,t- Xinyu ftiSi
jinshi i4i Yang Guangxian 4^ 7^4
Junhe M-^^ Yi Jl
ke hu %f yi xi
Li Fuguan ^mt Yusheng ii
Li Guangjin zhaomu Bg#-
Li Guangqi Zhizhai ii#
Li Zhi ^f- Zhongxia
Lin Qicai ;f^^ t Zhu Yuanzhang ^itJt
Lü ffl zujiao shuo
Lü Xichun S ^ zulei
Gerald Moers (Hrsg.): Definitely: Egyptian Literature. Göttingen: Seminar für Ägypto¬
logie und Koptologie 1999. X, 140 S. (Lingua Aegyptia. Studia monographica. 2.) ISSN
0946-8641. DM 72- (für Subskribenten von Lingua Aegyptia DM 48,-).
Der erst Ende 1999 erschienene Band versammelt Beiträge, die schriftliche Fassungen von
Vorträgen darstellen, welche schon 1995 auf dem Kolloquium Ancient Egyptian Litera¬
ture. History and Forms vorgetragen wurden (24. bis 26. März 1995 an der Universität Los
Angeles). Das Kolloquium diente zur Vorbereitung der Herausgabe eines neuen Bandes
aus der Reihe Probleme der Ägyptologie (PdÄ), der in Form von Einzelbeiträgen einen
Überbhck über den Forschungsstand auf dem Feld der altägyptischen Literatur bieten
will, sowohl was Merkmale und Besonderheiten einzelner Gattungen, als auch was allge¬
meine Fragen und die Theorie altägyptischer Literatur anlangt. Dieser Band, der das ver¬
altete Werk aus der Reihe Handbuch der Orientalistik^ ablösen soll, ist 1996 von Anto¬
nio Loprieno herausgegeben worden.^
Das von Moers, einem Kenner der Materie, der schon zahlreiche Aufsätze zu Fragen
der altägyptischen Literatur und der Agyptenrezeption moderner Autoren nebst Uber¬
setzungen ägyptischer literarischer Texte vorgelegt hat (wenn auch seine Dissertation noch immer ungedruckt ist'), herausgegebene Werk enthält Beiträge von Jan und Aleida
Assmann (Universität Heidelberg bzw. Konstanz), John Baines (Universität Cam¬
bridge), Gerald Moers (Universität Göttingen) und Richard B. Parkinson (Britisches
Museum London). Der Kolloquiumsbeitrag von Antonio Loprieno (Universität Los
Angeles, jetzt Basel) ist in den o.g. PdA-Band eingegangen.'' Angefügt ist dem Werk ein
Supplement in deutscher Sprache von Claudia Suhr (Universität Göttingen), eine über¬
arbeitete Zusammenfassung ihrer Magisterarbeit.* - Die Qualifikation der Kontributo¬
ren ist unstreitig. Die meisten von ihnen haben namhafte Beiträge zu der seit den Sieb¬
ziger Jahren geführten Diskussion über Wesen und Entstehung altägyptischer Literatur
' B. Spuler (Hrsg.): Handbuch der Orientalistik. L Abteilung: Der Nahe und Mitt¬
lere Osten. L Band: Ägyptologie. 2. Abschnitt: Literatur. 2. Aufl. Leiden 1970.
^ A. Loprieno (Hrsg.): Ancient Egyptian Literature: History and Forms. Leiden/
New York/Köln 1996 (Probleme der Ägyptologie. 10.)
^ G. Moers: Der Aufbruch ins Fiktionale. Reisemotiv und Grenzüberschreitung in
ägyptischen Erzählungen des Mittleren und Neuen Reiches. Diss. Masch. Göttingen 1996
(erscheint voraussichtlich 2001 in überarbeiteter Fassung in der Reihe Probleme der Ägyp¬
tologie).
* A. Loprieno: „Defining Egyptian Literature. Modern Theories and Ancient Texts."
In: Ders. [Hrsg.]: Ancient Egyptian Literature. History and Forms. Leiden/New York/
Köln 1996, S. 39-58.
* Gl. Suhr: Zum fiktiven Erzähler in der ägyptischen Literatur. Unveröff. MA-Arbeit Göttingen 1997.
