Title

Traces of Sororal Polygyny in the Han Dynasty: Evidence from Fufeng Powerful Families and Funerary Tombs of the Jiangdu King

Author

You Yi-fei

Genre

Article

Pages

629-674

DOI

10.6503/THJCS.202212_52(4).0001

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

sororal polygyny, sororate marriage, lord kings, Jiangdu Kingdom 江都 國, Han tombs at Dayun Hill 大雲山, powerful families

Abstract

This article points to the existence of sororate marriage and marriage-based alliances among the upper class of the Han dynasty and argues that such a phenomenon showcased the legacy of sororal polygyny in Zhou dynasty aristocratic society. Based on received texts, the article first indicates that in the Han period, both the imperial lineage and other royal families practiced sororate marriage with powerful or esteemed families; the imperial house of the Eastern Han even built up an alliance with important families in Fufeng 扶風 via sororate marriage. The article then uses the archaeological evidence from Tomb 10 at Dayun Hill 大雲山 to suggest that the tomb was likely to have been for a member of an esteemed family in the Qi 齊國. The uncommon local family names of those interred in Tombs 2 and 12 allow us to further postulate that these people were also from esteemed families in the Qi, meaning that sororate marriage alliances may have also existed among the Western Han.