It was the custom of Ch'i to look down upon male slaves. 1 Tiao Chien 2 alone liked and valued them. Truculent and cunning slaves were considered a bane by the people, but Tiao Chien alone took them in and employed them in seeking profits from fishing, salt, and trade. Some of them 3 had carriages and horsemen and associated with admin- istrators [of commanderies] and chancellors [of kingdoms]. However, he entrusted more and more to them. Eventually by their help he be- came rich to the amount of several thousand myriad [of cash]. There- fore, it was said, "Rather to be with Tiao than to have noble rank." 4
The two characters in the term nu lo mean "male slaves" and "captives" respectively. Wilbur translates them thus and remarks on their close association ( Martin Wilbur, Slavery in China During the Former Han Dynasty [ Chicago, 1943], p. 281). However, lo
Duyvendak, who considers that Tiao Chien should be regarded as the subject throughout the paragraph, suggests that it was Tiao Chien himself, not the slaves, who traveled and associated with administrators. For this reason he understands the character huo as "sometimes" ( J. J. L. Duyvendak, "A Scribal Error?," Orientalia Neerlandica ( Leiden, 1948), pp. 454-55). However, we understand huo as the subject of the sentence with the meaning of "some" and as referring to the slaves (similar examples are found in the Chinese classics, e.g.,
"Someone addressed Confucius" [ LYCS 2:4a] and
"Someone asked the meaning of the great sacrifice" [ LYCS 3:4a]). The preceding sentence states that slaves were employed in seeking profits from fishing, salt, and trade, and the following sentence, "However, he entrusted . . ." also refers to slaves. It seems illogical and meaningless for the interven- ing sentence suddenly to refer to Tiao Chien himself. What connection could there be between his riding and visiting and the employment of slaves? And why is the word
, "however," used in this following sentence:
? We agree with Meng K'ang's interpretation that it was some of the slaves who traveled and associ- ated with administrators and chancellors. There is nothing wrong grammatically with this reading and logically it is not unreasonable to suppose that slaves, traveling with carriages and retinue, should associate with high officials.
The original sentence in both the Shih-chi and the Han-shu reads: (or
)
(or
), literally, "Rather to have rank than to be with Tiao." Meng K'ang tries to explain the seeming contradiction as follows: "Tiao Chien was able to keep strong
-322-
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication Information: Book Title: Han Social Structure. Contributors: T'Ung-Tsu Ch'ü - author, Jack L. Dull - editor. Publisher: University of Washington Press. Place of Publication: Seattle. Publication Year: 1972. Page Number: 322.
Add a Shared Note
Shared Notes are comments made by Questia users on books,
book pages, or articles that inform other users and enhance
the Questia research community.
This feature allows you to create and manage separate folders for your different research projects. To view markups for a different project, make that project your current project.
This feature allows you to save a link to the publication you are reading or view all the publications you have put on your bookshelf.
This feature allows you to save a link to the page you are reading, which you can later return to from Projects.
This feature allows you to highlight words or phrases on the publication page you are reading.
This feature allows you to save a note you write on the publication page you are reading.
This feature allows you to create a citation to the page you are reading that you can paste into your paper. Highlight a passage to include that passage as a quotation.
This feature allows you to save a reference to a publication you are reading for your bibliography or generate a bibliography you can paste into your paper.
This feature allows you to print the page you are reading,
including your notes or highlights (IE users must have "print background colors and image" setting selected.)
This feature allows you to look up words in encyclopedia.
Questia's powerful research tools allow you to highlight, take notes, bookmark and even create instant citations and bibliographies. To use these features and save hours of work, you must create a Questia account.
Need a Questia account? Sign up for a FREE trial now. Save time, stress and hassle, and get better grades with trusted, online research.
