UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Food Redistribution During
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Food Redistribution during China’s Qin and Han Periods: Accordance and discordance among ideologies, policies, and their implementation A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Moonsil Lee Kim Committee in charge: Professor Anthony J. Barbieri-Low, Chair Professor Luke Roberts Professor John W.I. Lee Professor Ronald Egan September 2014 The dissertation of Moonsil Lee Kim is approved. ____________________________________________ Luke Roberts ____________________________________________ John W.I. Lee ____________________________________________ Ronald Egan ____________________________________________ Anthony Barbieri-Low, Committee Chair June 2014 Food Redistribution during China’s Qin and Han Periods: Accordance and discordance among ideologies, policies, and their implementation Copyright © 2014 by Moonsil Lee Kim iii VITA OF MOONSIL LEE KIM September 2014 EDUCATION Bachelor of Arts in Asian History, Korea University Seoul, Korea, August 2001 Master of Arts in East Asian Studies, University of Pittsburgh, December 2004 Doctor of Philosophy in History, University of California, Santa Barbara, September 2014 PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT May - Nov. 2005: Internship at Freer and Sackler Galleries of Smithsonian Institution 2009-2010: Teaching Assistant, Department of History, University of California, Santa Barbara PUBLICATIONS “Dietary Conditions and Differential Access to Food Resources among the Various Classes during the Han Period”, M.A. Thesis, University of Pittsburgh, PA, 2004. “Food from the Tomb”, Dig, November/December 2009, vol.11, no.9. “Food Preparation and Feasting from Images, Grave Goods, and Texts: Absence of Classical Learning and Philosophy?” In the Proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on Art and Humanities, Honolulu, Hawaii, January 9-12, 2011. AWARDS First Class Honors (Korea University, 2000) Arts & Sciences Fellowship (University of Pittsburgh, 2006-2007) Harold and Hester Schoen Endowed Fellowship (UC Santa Barbara, 2007-2008) Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship (2008-2009) East Asian Center Graduate Student Travel Grant (UC Santa Barbara, 2009 &2011) Doctoral Student Travel Grant (Academic Senate, UC Santa Barbara, 2011) Department Dissertation Fellowship (History Department, UCSB, Fall and Spring 2012) FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Ancient Chinese History Studies in East Asian History with Professors Luke Roberts Studies in Ancient Mediterranean History with Professor John Lee Studies in Chinese Literature with Professor Ronald Egan iv ABSTRACT Food Redistribution during China’s Qin and Han Periods: Accordance and discordance among ideologies, policies, and their implementation by Moonsil Lee Kim This dissertation analyzes the food redistribution systems of the Qin and Han periods, finding accordance and discordance among ideologies, policies, and their implementation. During the Qin and Han periods, food was given by the emperor to his subjects through various redistribution systems: salaries, rations, relief, gifts, and feasts. In chapters one to four, I introduce each form of food redistribution that directly or indirectly influenced food consumption and the dietary conditions of people of various statuses: officials, soldiers, elders, widows, victims of natural disaster, and convicts. Using recently excavated documents, received texts, and archaeological remains, I analyze what ancient Chinese people of various statuses experienced under the governmental food system, which pursued moral justification and political, social, and economic benefits both for the rulers and the ruled. The first chapter investigates the regulations on grain storage in the central and local governments, using the Shuihudi 睡虎地 Qin legal texts. The “Statutes on Granaries” (Cang lü 倉律) and the “Statutes on Food rations at Conveyance Stations” (Zhuan shi lü 傳食律) v are compared to administrative documents from Liye 里耶 and Xuanquan 懸泉 to prove that there were significant discrepancies between these statutes and the actual distribution of food. Chapter two examines the reconstructed salary list and the “Statutes on Bestowals” (Ci lü 賜律) from Zhangjiashan 張家山 to see how the idea of discriminatory distribution was reflected in the salary system of the Han and how the system was maintained in spite of the problem of too little salary for the lower officials. The military salary system, which was combined with the ration system, and imperial gift food are examined in the context of a solution to secure the food supply to military families on the frontier and to the lower salary- grade officials. Chapter three concerns the food distributed to commoners, especially those in distress or danger. This chapter analyzes the welfare food distributions for the aged, female heads-of-household, and victims of natural disaster. I suggest that comfort-food and relief- food policies were actually geared toward pursuing social stability by saving able-bodied peasants and preventing social mobility, rather than having been designed simply to demonstrate filial piety in an emergency situation. Chapter four deals with ancient Chinese feasting as a method of food redistribution. This chapter examines the two different styles of feasting, the yan 宴 feast and the pu 酺 feast, by applying current anthropological theories of feasts to the roles of ancient Chinese feasts. After theoretical examination, the economy of leftover food after ritualistic feasting is analyzed based on recently discovered documents from Liye. I argue that by using the leftovers and byproducts, the rulers fed people of inferior status who suffered from poor dietary conditions. vi The food redistribution system in early imperial China was ideally designed to benefit all people under heaven “equally” within the framework of the social hierarchy, meanwhile providing extra resources to those of lower status and to people in distress. However, the ideology of the regulations and their actual implementation were frequently out of sync, as laws were applied flexibly and human greed worked every possible step of food redistribution. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction.................................................................................................................... 1 1) The System of Empire of Food .......................................................... 1 2) The Concept of Fair Distribution ....................................................... 4 3) Research Method ............................................................................. 12 4) Dissertation Object / Chapter Overview .......................................... 17 I. Granaries, Statutes, and Rations ........................................................................... 21 1) Granaries in Received Texts and Excavated Documents ................ 22 2) The Nature of Statutes on Granaries ................................................ 29 3) Food Rations to Officials at Conveyance Stations .......................... 37 4) Food Rations for Convicts and Bondservants ................................. 50 II. Salaries, Rations and Gifts: Ideology of Food Redistribution ............................. 60 1) Salary-grade and Food for Officials ................................................ 63 2) Imperial Bestowals and Gifts of Food ............................................. 83 III. Welfare Food Policies .......................................................................................... 98 1) Comfort food for the aged ............................................................. 102 2) Food for female heads-of-household ............................................. 115 3) Food for famine relief .................................................................... 123 IV. Feasting for Redistribution ................................................................................. 147 1) Han Court Feasts: Exclusive and Inclusive ................................... 152 a. Ritualistic Banquet among Exclusive Guests: The Yan Feast.... 152 viii b. Inclusive Feast: The Pu Feast and Food Distribution ................ 159 2) The Purpose and Role of Feasting: Three Modes of Commensal Politics 162 a. Empowering Feasts: “Displaying Power and Authority” .......... 164 b. The Diacritical Feast: “Confirm Social Relationships and Hierarchies” 166 c. Patron-role Feast: “Confirming Hierarchical Relationships” .... 169 3) The Impact of Leftovers on Convicted Criminals ......................... 172 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 185 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 190 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Government Food Policies ............................................................................. 3 Figure 2. Official Salary Chart of 50 CE ..................................................................... 67 Figure 3. Food preparation scene from the Wuliang Shrine ........................................ 91 Figure 4. Kitchen scene from a late Eastern Han tomb at Pangtaizitun ...................... 91 Figure 5. Story of Laizi from Wu Liang Ci wall carving .......................................... 103 Figure 6. Narrow Table from Zhu Ran Tomb at Yushan Ma’anshan ....................... 154 Figure 7. Kitchen Scene from a late Eastern Han Tomb at Pangtaizitun in Liaoyang, Liaoning ............................................................................................................