WANTON GODDESSES TO UNSPOKEN WORTHIES: GENDERED HERMENEUTICS IN THE CHU CI ZHANGJU

Abstract

Abstract The influential Chu ci zhangju 楚辭章句, the earliest received edition of the foundational poetry anthology Chuci 楚辭, performs a distinct gender bias in its exegesis of deities, and this bias accords with the Eastern Han ideology of the editor Wang Yi 王逸 (2nd c. CE) more than with immanent features of the original Warring States texts. The gender bias is an essential feature of Wang Yi’s canonization of the Chuci, and it lays the groundwork of the allegorical tradition of interpreting the Chuci. This paper analyzes the zhangju presentation of archetypal Chuci texts to elucidate the hermeneutic transformation of gender and religion in early China, comparing the Eastern Han exegeses with earlier and later interpretations, immanent textual features, and fresh perspectives on Warring States and Han culture that have emerged from archeological evidence. The analysis demonstrates that the Chuci zhangju treats the male deities more literally than the female deities, reflecting the reduction in status of goddesses in late Han discourse. The history of gender ideology is an essential critical lens for understanding the Chuci and the tradition that emerged from it. 提要 著名的《楚辭章句》是現存最早的《楚辭》傳世注本，其對於神靈精怪的解釋有明顯的性別偏見。編者王逸的偏見符合東漢的意識形態，卻與戰國的《楚辭》正文內在意義有所落差。《楚辭章句》的性別偏見也奠定了《楚辭》寓言闡釋傳統的基礎。本文在比較東漢註解與早期詮釋、後世註疏、文本內在特徵、現代考古研究等的基礎上，闡明古代中國性別與宗教觀在詮釋上產生的變化。研究指出《楚辭章句》中男性神靈的解釋與女性神靈的詮釋相比要來得直接，反映出漢代晚期女神地位下降的事實。研究性別意識的演變是理解《楚辭》及其傳統的重要視角 。