SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS Number 103 June, 2000 Early Chinese Tattoo by Carrie E. Reed Victor H. Mair, Editor Sino-Platonic Papers Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305 USA [email protected] www.sino-platonic.org SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS is an occasional series edited by Victor H. Mair. The purpose of the series is to make available to specialists and the interested public the results of research that, because of its unconventional or controversial nature, might otherwise go unpublished. The editor actively encourages younger, not yet well established, scholars and independent authors to submit manuscripts for consideration. Contributions in any of the major scholarly languages of the world, including Romanized Modern Standard Mandarin (MSM) and Japanese, are acceptable. In special circumstances, papers written in one of the Sinitic topolects (fangyan) may be considered for publication. Although the chief focus of Sino-Platonic Papers is on the intercultural relations of China with other peoples, challenging and creative studies on a wide variety of philological subjects will be entertained. This series is not the place for safe, sober, and stodgy presentations. Sino-Platonic Papers prefers lively work that, while taking reasonable risks to advance the field, capitalizes on brilliant new insights into the development of civilization. The only style-sheet we honor is that of consistency. Where possible, we prefer the usages of the Journal of Asian Studies. Sinographs (hanzi, also called tetragraphs [fangkuaizi]) and other unusual symbols should be kept to an absolute minimum. Sino-Platonic Papers emphasizes substance over form. Submissions are regularly sent out to be refereed and extensive editorial suggestions for revision may be offered. Manuscripts should be double-spaced with wide margins and submitted in duplicate. A set of "Instructions for Authors" may be obtained by contacting the editor. Ideally, the final draft should be a neat, clear camera-ready copy with high black- and-white contrast. Sino-Platonic Papers is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Please note: When the editor goes on an expedition or research trip, all operations (including filling orders) may temporarily cease for up to two or three months at a time. In such circumstances, those who wish to purchase various issues of SPP are requested to wait patiently until he returns. If issues are urgently needed while the editor is away, they may be requested through Interlibrary Loan. N.B.: Beginning with issue no. 171, Sino-Platonic Papers has been published electronically on the Web. Issues from no. 1 to no. 170, however, will continue to be sold as paper copies until our stock runs out, after which they too will be made available on the Web at www.sino-platonic.org. _______________________________________________ Sino-Platonic Papers, 103 (June, 2000) Early Chinese Tattoo' Carrie E. Reed If a lord is aggressive and wants to rise in power, he will be forced to employ his own people. Then the people will love me, instead, with the love of parents. They will find my scent like that of the iris and epidendrum. They will turn from their lord and look upon him as if he were tattooed, as if he were their sworn enemy. (Xun Qing %m [ca. 313-ca 238 B.C.E.])' The aim of this paper is twofold. First, I hope to provide a brief introduction to the various modes of tattoo as represented in several types of early Chinese texts. A shorter version of this paper has appeared in JAOS 120.3 (September, 2000). Readers are also directed to two interesting articles on tattoo in China that have come to my attention since the writing of this article. They are: Chen Yuanming &j12M, "Shenti yu huawen-chuantong shehui de wenshen xishang ji qi liubian" B%%%&-@%$i?k@l?J 2% 8 i%E$$&f@ (Chen Yuanming's own translation: "Tattooing the Body in Traditional China"). Taibei: Institute of History and Philogy, Academia Sinica, 1999; and Marco Ceresa, "Written on Skin and Flesh: The Pattern of Tattoo in China--Part One: Generalities." in Studi in Onore Di Lionello Lanciotti, (Naples: Institute Universitario Orientale, 1996), pp. 329-340. I thank John Kieshnick and Thomas Moran for bringing these to my attention. 2 Wang Xianqian E%% (1842-1 9 17), Xunzi jijie %jF %# (Collected Explanations to Xunzi) (Taibei: Lantai shuju, 1972), 5.32. Or see Xun Qing 3% l&P (ca. 3 13-ca. 238 B.C.E.), Xunzi (Sibu beiyao [Sbby]), 5.1 1b. 2 Carrie E. Reed, "Early Chinese Tattoo." These include early prose works such as the Shang shu i%7!? (Hallowed Documents),) historical works such as the Shiji !$!$Z (Records of the Hi~torian)~and later dynastic histories, dynastic penal codes, zhiguai (records of the anomalous) and biji g$Z (noteform narrative) works and so on. This paper does not aim to provide a comprehensive or a chronological history of tattoo in China; rather, through focusing on certain representative passages fiom selected Chinese textual sources, it will serve as a brief survey and as a starting point for more in-depth study of this largely neglected topic. Secondly, this paper provides a complete translation into English of the twenty-five entries on tattoo found in the ninth-century miscellany, Youyang zazu B %j$l (Miscellaneous Morsels fiom Youyang).' The author of Youyang zazu, Duan Chengshi (c. 800-863), has a special place in this study because of his extraordinary interest in all types of tattoo, but particularly because of his meticulous description of Tang dynasty figurative and textual tattoo. For the sake of organizational convenience the paper treats separately several types, or modes, of tattoo, with some inevitable overlapping of types. After this general introductory survey the Youyang zazu entries are presented. They appear in their original order; for easy reference, nevertheless, I have given an entry number with each piece.6 The dating of the various parts of this text is controversial. Some parts probably date fiom as late as the fourth century C.E. and some from as early as around 1000 B.C.E. Dating from 100 B.C.E. 5 Duan Chengshi $E%8 (800?-863). Fang Nansheng AH&, ed., Youyang zazu B@#$R (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju 198 I), 8.76-80. As all of the entries appear on these four pages and are clearly numbered, I will not footnote them separately in the pages below. The entry numbers are given according to the numbering system of the 1981 Zhonghua shuju edition of Youyang zazu. Sino-Platonic Papers, 103 (June, 2000) 3 The types of tattoo that are mentioned in early Chinese sources are as follows: tattoo as one defining characteristic of a people of cultural difference from the majority population; tattoo as punishment; tattoo of slaves; tattoo as facial adornment; tattoo in the military; and figurative and textual tattoo. Each of these will be taken up separately below. As this study takes a widely cross-temporal view and since the original texts describe tattoo of many peoples and places, naturally the terms found that are used for tattoo vary widely as well. There is not great consistency in terminology; it is not the case, for example, that tattoo as punishment is always called by one name and tattoo as decoration always by another name. Nor is it the case that one term is exclusively used in one era and a different term in a later period. Some of the terms encountered in these early texts are (with a literal translation given in parentheses) qing ,% (to brand, tattoo), mo 8!! (to ink), ci qing $qT? (to pierce [and make] blue-green), wen shen 2% (to pattern the body), diao qing F&% (to carve and [make] blue-green, ju yan -%El.@ (to injure the countenence), wen mian xi@(to pattern the face), li mian TBi (to cut the face) , hua mian Z& (to mark the face), Zou shen @% (to engrave the body), lou ti @@ (same), xiu mian 1~~ (to embroider [or ornament] the face), ke nie %!%! (to cut [and] blacken), nie zi 29% (to blacken characters) ci zi $iJ[II$ (to pierce characters), and so on. These terms are sometimes used together, and there are numerous further variations. In general, if the tattooing of characters (9)appears in the term, it refers to punishment, but this is certainly not true in every case. Likewise, if a term literally meaning "to ornament" or "decorate" is used, it does not necessarily mean that the tattoo was done voluntarily or for decorative purposes. All of the types of tattoo, except perhaps for the figurative and textual, are usually described as inherently opprobrious; people bearing them are stigmatized as impure, defiled, sharnefbl or uncivilized. There does not ever seem to have been a widespread acceptance of tattoo of any type by the "mainstream" society; this was inevitable, partly due to the early and long-lasting association of body marking with peoples perceived as barbaric, or with punishment and the inevitable subsequent ostracism from the society of law-abiding people. Another reason, of course, is the 4 Carrie E. Reed, "Early Chinese Tattoo." Confucian belief that the body of a filial person is meant to be maintained as it was given to one by one's parents. It will become clear that the major exception to this negative assessment of the practice of tattooing lies in the records of Duan Chengshi. This collector of curious information usually simply observes and records; occasionally, he allows himself to praise and openly to reveal his sense of wonder.