The Patterns Of Temple Construction And Cultural Connotations About Temples For Females Built In Suzhou Prefecture During Ming And Qing Dynasty (1522-1795)

The argument mainly contains four parts:the textual researches about quantity of temples for females and sacrificial scales from Jiajing reign of Ming dynasty to Qianlong reign of Qing dynasty;articulating 3 patterns of temple systems and the analyzing political and cultural implications;rethinking ancient female ethical values through analyzing the texts that recorded circumstances of temples and practices of sacrificed females;pondering the diachronic implications of female sacrifices and female ethical values.In 274 years from Jiajing reign of Ming dynasty to Qianlong reign of Qing dynasty,52 temples had been built in Suzhou prefecture,approximately a new temple was built per 5.3 years.The systems of temples built for females who had ethical practices manifested 3 patterns.Firstly,the pattern of constructing temples and sacrifice from Jiajing reign of Ming dynasty to Shunzhi and Kangxi reign of Qing dynasty was official and private concurrently with central administrations,local officials,the Confucian intellectuals involving together.there were individualized female ethical icons.Secondly,the pattern in Yongzheng reign of Qing dynasty was mainly official,temples built in this period allowed a large number of women get sacrificed,with central administrations,local officials,descendants of the females sacrificed intervening together,appearing homogeneous and symbolized female ethical paragons.Thirdly,the pattern in Qianlong reign of Qing dynasty was civilian,clan temples which females were memorialized individually with local retired Confucian intellectuals and descendants of the females sacrificed managing jointly.A important point of this pattern was deficiency of recording about female ethical paragons and reduction of their social influences.The object of study is the temples built for females who had ethical practices.After analyzing ancient female ethical values’ connotations and transform paths,there are some new views emerging:in the first place,female ethical values had a clear prerequisite that the females sacrificed must be youthful and chaste;in the next place,if we want to give a value judgement for ancient females’ ethical values in the role of spectator,the texts of female intellectuals must be analyzed.Female intellectuals expressed their ethical consciousnesses and responsibilities based on their life experiences,whereas,male intellectuals recorded females’ ethical practices aiming at inspiring males’ ethical practices;finally,females’ overheated ethical practices revealed their survival anxieties and survival threats.The texts about sacrificing females had longitudinal and diachronic changes,females’ biographies written by Confucian intellectuals were the main form from Jiajing reign of Ming dynasty to Shunzhi and Kangxi reign of Qing dynasty,official texts recording the conditions of temples were the main form in Yongzheng reign of Qing dynasty,biographies and texts of temples were destitute in Qianlong reign of dynasty due to reduction of influences of Confucian intellectuals and governments.Females’ ethical values were simplified on content and got inflexible on form gradually.In a greater vision,sacrifices for females presented clear institutional transitions.Whereas females sacrificed kept their effectiveness with a certain extent social influence.Government intervened sacrifices for females more actively in Yongzheng reign of Qing dynasty,one side,females’ ethical values were gradually unified and recognized with a price of losing their individuality,for another,government’s intervention in sacrifices with local strengths necessarily showed the boundary of government’s controlling force to sacrifice for females.A series of macro subjects,for example,effectiveness of sacrifices for females,rationality of female ethical values,needed to be pondered again.