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2025/26 School of Chinese Research Student Seminar

血、業報、政治野心：明清小說對唐玄宗武惠妃死因之改寫

Blood, Retribution, and Political Ambition: Ming-Qing Literary Reinterpretations of Gentle Consort Wu’s Death

Speaker: Ms. LEUNG Yan Ki 梁欣琪 (MPhil)
 
Date & Time: February 27, 2026 (Fri) 17:30-18:45 (HKT)
 Language: English
 Venue: CRT-7.30, 7/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
 

Mode of Delivery: Face-to-face

Abstract:

史書記載唐玄宗之妻王皇后是因使用符厭而被廢，寵妃武惠妃則是因見鬼而病逝。在稍後的明清文學中，二人的故事被改寫：王皇后被塑造為清白無辜，武惠妃則是因產後血崩而暴亡。本講座將先概括《混唐後傳》中有關王皇后、武惠妃的記載跟史書有何差異。隨後，通過分析小說之序言、唐太宗冥遊之段落，本講座繼而探討《混唐後傳》如何契合明清時期主流的因果報應、冥判敘事。這些敘事反映了帝制晚期文人將生育與懲罰聯繫起來的傾向。此觀點與文化人類學中血、性罪孽的理論一致；明清小說將婦科病描繪成對性罪孽（如婚前性行為、性放縱、非常規性行為）的懲罰加以證明了這點。這些理論和文學例子表明，《混唐後傳》中武惠妃產後血崩暴亡的敘事安排應該被視為對其政治野心的因果報應。

In the dynastic histories, Empress Wang 王皇后, the wife of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty 唐玄宗, was deposed for practicing witchcraft with her brother, while Gentle Consort Wu (Wu Huifei 武惠妃) was said to have died due to haunting. In later Ming and Qing literature, however, the story is reimagined: Empress Wang is portrayed as innocent, and Gentle Consort Wu’s death is attributed to postpartum hemorrhage. This seminar presentation first outlines the differences between the accounts of Empress Wang and Gentle Consort Wu in the Sequel to the Stories of Tang Turmoil (Hun Tang houzhuan 混唐後傳) and those found in official dynastic histories. By examining the preface of the fiction and the narrative of Emperor Taizong 太宗’s journey to the underworld, the presentation analyzes how the Sequel aligns with mainstream conventions of karmic retribution and posthumous judgment (mingpan 冥判) stories in the Ming and Qing periods. These conventions reflect a tendency among late imperial literati to associate childbirth with punishment for women. This perspective is consistent with cultural-anthropological theories regarding blood and sexual transgression, as seen in how gynecological conditions are depicted as punishments for sexual sins—including premarital sex, sexual indulgence, and unconventional intercourse. Such theories and literary practices suggest that the portrayal of Gentle Consort Wu’s death from postpartum hemorrhage in the Sequel should be interpreted as a form of karmic retribution for her political ambitions.

ALL are welcome*
*NO Pre-registration is requested.