Dear Beverly, The Japanese scholar Yamazaki Junichi 山崎純一 has argued that the received text of the 女論語 is actually a different, misattributed twelve-chapter work by Madame Wei 韋氏, the wife of the ninth-century poet Xue Meng 薛蒙, titled 《續曹大家女誡》 (i.e., "sequel to *Ban Zhao's Admonitions for Women*"). Yamazaki's relevant work is cited in Bret Hinsch, *Women in Tang China *(Rowman and Littlefield, 2020), 190 n. 31. So: still Tang, according to this theory, but late Tang. Chen Jo-shui's interpretation of the text as a later forgery may be based on Yamazaki's theory; I suppose he would be the best person to clarify if that is so. Most mainland Chinese and Taiwanese scholars have been inclined to believe that all or most of the received text was written by at least one of the Song sisters. They do recognize, however, that all extant editions are from the late Ming and Qing and that we simply don't know what versions of the text existed in the Song and Yuan, let alone the Tang. So the possibility that the text was significantly altered between Tang and Ming can't be ruled out. Song Ruozhao's epitaph was apparently unearthed in Xi'an around 2014 and has only complicated the issue, because it claims that the original 女論語 was twenty chapters long (not ten or twelve). I'm attaching an article that includes a transcript of the epitaph. Best, Shao-yun Shao-yun Yang (he/him/his) Associate Professor Department of History Denison University yangs@denison.edu Frontiers of the Tang and Song Empires: A digital map project <https://arcg.is/1i4P9W> Journeys to the West: Kitan and Jurchen Travelers in Thirteenth-Century Central Asia <https://denisongis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=e0fe47ae592c4cab8930bbb37ce41269> A Chinese Gazetteer of Foreign Lands: A New Translation of Part 1 of the Zhufan zhi (1225) <https://arcg.is/e15vm> On Tue, Jun 8, 2021 at 4:59 PM Beverly Bossler via tangstudies < tangstudies@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
Dear Colleagues: In a 1994 article on Wu Zhao that appears in *Imperial Rulershp and Cultural Change in Traditional China*, Chen Joshui mentions the late Tang Song sisters and the composition of the 女論語. Then in a footnote he says, "This text is apparently a later forgery," explaining that the Xin Tangshu and Jiu Tangshu both say the work was "written in the form of dialogues between ancient learned and virtuous women," (which is not true of the existing version) and adding that the "present version contains twelve chapters, whereas the original work had ten." Does anyone know more about this? I have looked online (in English and Chinese) and in sourcebooks that include translations of the 女論語, and have seen no other mention that it may be a forgery. But I have to say that, looking at it that with that perspective, there are some good reasons (especially its emphasis on chastity) to think it might well be. Any insights would be appreciated! Best, Beverly
-- Beverly Bossler Chair, Department of East Asian Studies Professor of East Asian Studies and History Brown University Box 1850 (401) 863-9764 Providence, RI 02912 _______________________________________________ T'ang Studies Society admin@tangstudies.org