Medieval Buddhist of the Day

[Twitter, 1/30/23] MBOTD: Gao Guiyan 高歸彥, who sponsored a Sakyamuni figure in 543 under the E. Wei. I’m not sure it survives but several rubbings of its inscription do. It’s long and erudite, in keeping with his official titles which include Censor of Dingzhou 定州刺史 and several others. What interests me in particular about his dedication is what he has to say about his family.

Like many donors, his wishes cover a number of bases. First there are several phrases poetically expressing the wish that Buddhism should flourish and imperial power bring peace. Following that is a noteworthy bit of political self-positioning, in which he name-checks (well, title-checks) his relative Gao Huan, then in the midst of the rise to power that would end with his son enthroned as the first reigning emperor of Northern Qi. Gao Huan had Gao Guiyan adopted by his wealthy cousin after his father’s death. 7 years after this 543 dedication, Gao Huan’s son Gao Yang will raise our donor to princely rank at the founding of N. Qi. So this guy’s got some influential relatives to acknowledge.

But meanwhile he goes on to wish: 家門大小，皆蒙福護，百祿盈朝，七寶曜室，男喆女賢，光顯內外 “May the members of my family, old and young, all benefit from good fortune and protection; may they fill the court as officials, may the Seven Treasures illumine our halls; may the men be learned and wise and the women be virtuous and worthy, esteemed by all within and without [the family].”

This mainly interests me because, while it’s common to express various wishes on behalf of one’s living family members in dedications like this one, it’s much less common for those wishes to be expressed separately by gender. I’m sure this is mostly just a rhetorical flourish, of which there are a number elsewhere in the inscription, but it does seem telling that the men are supposed to be 喆 [哲], learned and wise, while the women are 賢, virtuous and worthy. Someone who is 賢 may also be learned, of course, but there is a distinct slant here toward virtue for women and ability for men, which is interesting in a genre of inscription that rarely addresses gender quite so directly.