Play and Prestige: A Cultural History of Early Medieval China

This dissertation is a practice of New Cultural History that draws on the analytical framework of play and prestige to explore the concept of the sociocultural model of distinguished gentlemen called mingshi 名士 in the Wei-Jin period (220–420 CE). I argue that mingshi was a status of prestige achieved through engaging in playful activities (xi 戲) and a social construction that came to be through the circulation of media of reputation in elite social networks. I begin with discussing the gradual intellectual shift in the Eastern Han and the rise of social eremitism in the latter half of the second century, where decentralisation, social turmoil, and political struggles damaged the sanctity of imperial sovereignty, driving educated elites to seek prestige (ming 名) outside the normative political order. Henceforth, the non-institutional public space, such as idle gatherings and quasi-literary salons, became the primary loci where elites fostered personal connections with peers and claimed prestige. There, elite members accumulated symbolic capital by engaging in playful activities, such as speech play, playing board games, and drinking. While playing in the social arena, individuals could strive to embody the defining character traits and the spirit of playfulness of the ideal sociocultural model. Upon distinguishing themselves according to what I call the mingshi paradigm, individuals could receive prestige conferred by the audience at the scene. As the event of prestige transaction became the object of gossip, the social capital of those in the story increased, materialising in the lifetime reputation of distinguished elites. When the gossip was recorded as anecdotes and preserved in dynastic histories and anthologies, the private knowledge of enclosed elite communities became public knowledge. Distinguished elites in the Wei-Jin time eventually gained immortal posthumous fame as long as their stories continued to be read and propagated in the social network of the living. By gravitating around the dual theme of play and prestige and employing a wide range of texts across different genres, this dissertation ends with a concluding remark that that there was a ludification and carnivalisation of elite culture in early medieval China.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Cambridge

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Manjun

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Galambos, Imre

• carnivalesque play
• early medieval China
• leisure
• social distinction
• symbolic capital

Licence

• https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/cf5de896-1163-466a-bc8b-d2a3df61f3ea/download
• https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/

Language dc:language

eng

DOI dc:identifier.doi

https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.113281

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/375759