Sympathy and Severity

Abstract

In 626, immediately after Prince Li Shimin (Emperor Taizong of the Tang, r. 627-649) ambushed and killed his two brothers [one of whom was the crown prince] at the Xuanwu Gate, claiming that they were leading a revolt, his father the emperor summoned him. "He [Emperor Gaozu, r. 617-626] soothed him saying, 'In recent days we nearly experienced a misunderstanding akin to the throwing away of the shuttle.' 1 Shimin kneeled and puckered his lips to suck on his father's teat; he cried and grieved for a long time." 2 Through this act, Shimin expressed his grief that he and his father had lost the closeness they shared early in his life. A Chinese historian, Yan Aimin, has attempted to explain this passage by positing the existence within pre-Tang China of a phenomenon known as ruweng "nursing father" that emphasizes a father's nurturing aspect. He supports this conjecture by noting the existence of a custom later seen among southern aborigines known as chanweng "birthing father," in which a man takes the place of his postpartum wife in feeding the baby and lying with it. And the fact that in early China sagely kings were often said to have large breasts, or more than two. These physiological abnormalities were taken as signs of benevolence. 1. This is an allusion to the story of Zengzi's mother being told her son was a murderer. A man from another county who had the same name as Zengzi committed murder. While working at her loom, Zengzi's mother was informed twice that her son was a murderer. Knowing that her son could never do such a thing, she merely continued working unperturbed at her loom. However, when she was told a third time, her faith in her son began to waver; as a result, she threw her shuttle down and ran away. 2.

Filial Piety in Fluidity: The Tension between the Textual and Visual Traditions of Śyāma Jātaka in Early Medieval China

“…For an overview of filial paragons in medieval China, see (Wang 1999(Wang , 2003Knapp 2005Knapp , 2012Zheng 2002Zheng , 2012Zheng , 2013Xu 2015Xu , 2017.…”