Negotiating Ancestorhood: Epitaphs for the Unburied in Ming-Qing China

Abstract:This article analyzes the epitaphs produced for the unburied dead in the Ming and the Qing. These epitaphs were the product of a popular custom called delayed burial (tingzang), the practice of leaving a dead body without permanent interment until a suitable burial site was arranged. The period of unburial varied depending on family circumstances, often spanning years and decades, during which the unburied body symbolized an uncertain place of the deceased within the family. The epitaphs show how families coped with the precarity caused by the delay of burial through creating a literary space where they could explore, construct, and contest the value of the unburied. The epitaphs, in other words, were a strategic tool for building a bond with the deceased when the ritual and material logistics for ancestor-making remained incomplete. Engaging several practical, tangible, and contentious matters pertaining to death and burial within elite households, such as inheritance, financial troubles, official career, and property management, the epitaphs helped family members negotiate ancestorhood in response to the shift of family circumstances.