Legal Mutilation and Moral Exclusion: Disputations on Integrity and Deformity in Early China
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Abstract
This article examines attitudes evidenced in pre-imperial and Han sources (ritual compendia, historical chronicles, legal codes, administrative texts, and philosophical literature) towards visually repulsive individuals, in particular those who have undergone a penal mutilation. We start from the perception of bodily harm in the light of legal and ritual norms and the moral imperative of physical integrity, and then set out to analyze the concrete outcomes of mutilation visited upon certain kinds of offenders. Finally, we focus on three stories in the Zhuangzi, whose imaginary dialogues illustrate the way their authors try to change the social perception of outcasts in a context that was clearly adverse to their possible rehabilitation.
Résumé
Le présent article étudie les attitudes dont témoignent les sources d’époque pré-impériale et Han (traités rituels, chroniques historiques, codes de loi, textes administratifs, littérature philosophique) à l’égard de personnes physiquement répugnantes, en particulier celles qui ont été condamnées par la loi à une peine mutilante. Nous prenons pour point de départ la perception du dommage corporel à l’aune des normes légales et rituelles ainsi que de l’impératif moral de l’intégrité corporelle. L’analyse se déplace ensuite vers les conséquences concrètes de la mutilation pénale que devaient subir certaines personnes reconnues coupables d’un crime. En dernier lieu sont examinées de près trois histoires dialoguées du Zhuangzi qui s’emploient à changer la perception de ces êtres mis au ban de la société dans un contexte ouvertement hostile à leur réintégration.
提要
本文檢視前帝國時期及漢代各類文獻（包括禮書、史紀、律令、公文以及子書）所反映出的對於形貌醜異、尤其是刑餘之人的態度。本文首先闡述律令和禮儀規範視野下人們對於身體傷害的認知以及體膚完整的道德必要性，其次對某類犯禁者受刑之後的具體後果展開分析。文章最後聚焦於《莊子》中的三個故事，故事的作者企圖通過虛構的對話來改變身處明顯不利於法外之徒復歸的社會環境中的人們對這類群體的看法。
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Legal Mutilation and Moral Exclusion: Disputations on Integrity and Deformity in Early China
In: T'oung PaoSearch for other papers by Albert Galvany in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Romain Graziani in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This article examines attitudes evidenced in pre-imperial and Han sources (ritual compendia, historical chronicles, legal codes, administrative texts, and philosophical literature) towards visually repulsive individuals, in particular those who have undergone a penal mutilation. We start from the perception of bodily harm in the light of legal and ritual norms and the moral imperative of physical integrity, and then set out to analyze the concrete outcomes of mutilation visited upon certain kinds of offenders. Finally, we focus on three stories in the Zhuangzi, whose imaginary dialogues illustrate the way their authors try to change the social perception of outcasts in a context that was clearly adverse to their possible rehabilitation.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 787 | 158 | 10 |
| Full Text Views | 159 | 19 | 4 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 254 | 38 | 5 |