盗墓笔记

川康边风云

Abstract
What you see here is the accepted version of the piece that appeared in FRENCH CULTURAL STUDIES, vol. 31, no. 3 (2020), pp. 210-229. I recommend citing the original publication rather than this document. This essay challenges the French poet, naval doctor, archaeologist and sinologist Victor Segalen’s established image as a literary modernist who broke with colonial exoticism. I use a set of previously understudied primary sources, including Segalen’s own travel journals, archaeological accounts, letters and photo albums, as well as Chinese gazetteers and a stele inscription documenting his excavation of a tomb associated with Bao San Niang 鮑三娘 – the supposed daughter-in-law of the famous Chinese general Guan Yu 關羽. Through a study combining both textual and field investigations, this article not only points out the disjuncture between Segalen’s progressive theory and his actual practice, but also questions the tendency among critics – both Western and Chinese – to overstate Segalen’s contribution to East–West cross-cultural representation, while intentionally omitting his exploitative deeds.

Key takeaways
sparkles
AI

Segalen's 1914 mission in Sichuan reveals a contradiction between his theoretical views and exploitative practices.
He excavated Bao San Niang's tomb, disregarding its significance to local communities and ancestor worship.
Segalen's reliance on Chinese gazetteers aided his archaeological work, highlighting the value of local historical texts.
He claimed to be a 'consolidator' of the tomb while also causing significant damage during his excavation.
The incident illustrates the power dynamics and cultural misunderstandings inherent in Sino-French encounters of the time.

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Figures (3)
Fig. 3. Village elders. (Source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF)  In short, these not-so-sophisticated digs causing so much damage to a site of worship quite paradoxically offered Segalen a prime opportunity to splash out his silver ingots triumphantly on “the consolidation” of Bao San Niang’s tomb. At the end, Segalen did not forget to take a picture of the village elders (fig. 3), even though one of them had been grumbling the loudest to thwart his bid:
Fig. 3. Village elders. (Source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF) In short, these not-so-sophisticated digs causing so much damage to a site of worship quite paradoxically offered Segalen a prime opportunity to splash out his silver ingots triumphantly on “the consolidation” of Bao San Niang’s tomb. At the end, Segalen did not forget to take a picture of the village elders (fig. 3), even though one of them had been grumbling the loudest to thwart his bid:
excitement, I came up with some real findings. First, the stele is indeed still there, almost intac Second, the Chinese kept their promise by inscribing on it both Segalen’s and Voisins’s names calling them “Special Envoys from the French Hanlin Academy for the examination of ancient sites.” Third, and not bereft of a hint of irony, the stele inscription emphatically warns against those who dare to “damage” the tomb, stipulating that their “crime shall not be pardoned.” Presently, the tomb of Bao San Niang (105.696348, 32.366563)”? lies only a few hundred meters from the newly built Chengdu-Xi’an high-speed railway. The deafening noise from frequently passing bullet trains surrealistically diminishes the seclusion of this dormant burial mound. Moreover, the tumulus, now covered by dense thickets, lies obscurely on the roadside of a highway connecting the region’s transportation hub Guangyuan city with Zhaohu Ancient Town, currently a bustling destination for Chinese tourists, especially those fond of Three Kingdoms history. The tomb itself, enclosed by a brick wall, is well maintained. Visitor are scarce, and the entrance is free of charge. An unprepossessing sign reminds us that Bao Sai Niang’s tomb was classified in 1994 as a “historical site protected at the provincial level.” While I was there, an old lady from the nearby grocery store kindly showed me around. She told me at one point that some “disrespectful people” once attempted to herd free-range chickens in the “unused space of the graveyard” but “eventually gave up their bid, due to government objection.” “Mysteries haunt this mound,” she added, claiming to have seen  apparitions of Bao San Niang showing up at midnight feasting on the dishes offered by devoateec Fionre 4 ic a enanchaoat of the tambh’. front cate:   Fig. 4. Front gate to Bao San Niang’s tomb. (Photo by the author)
excitement, I came up with some real findings. First, the stele is indeed still there, almost intac Second, the Chinese kept their promise by inscribing on it both Segalen’s and Voisins’s names calling them “Special Envoys from the French Hanlin Academy for the examination of ancient sites.” Third, and not bereft of a hint of irony, the stele inscription emphatically warns against those who dare to “damage” the tomb, stipulating that their “crime shall not be pardoned.” Presently, the tomb of Bao San Niang (105.696348, 32.366563)”? lies only a few hundred meters from the newly built Chengdu-Xi’an high-speed railway. The deafening noise from frequently passing bullet trains surrealistically diminishes the seclusion of this dormant burial mound. Moreover, the tumulus, now covered by dense thickets, lies obscurely on the roadside of a highway connecting the region’s transportation hub Guangyuan city with Zhaohu Ancient Town, currently a bustling destination for Chinese tourists, especially those fond of Three Kingdoms history. The tomb itself, enclosed by a brick wall, is well maintained. Visitor are scarce, and the entrance is free of charge. An unprepossessing sign reminds us that Bao Sai Niang’s tomb was classified in 1994 as a “historical site protected at the provincial level.” While I was there, an old lady from the nearby grocery store kindly showed me around. She told me at one point that some “disrespectful people” once attempted to herd free-range chickens in the “unused space of the graveyard” but “eventually gave up their bid, due to government objection.” “Mysteries haunt this mound,” she added, claiming to have seen apparitions of Bao San Niang showing up at midnight feasting on the dishes offered by devoateec Fionre 4 ic a enanchaoat of the tambh’. front cate: Fig. 4. Front gate to Bao San Niang’s tomb. (Photo by the author)
The inscription on the main stele (fig. 5), which unambiguously bears Segalen’s Chinese name Xie Gelan i] fi, remains intact. In fact, one may even wonder how it miraculously survived the vandalism that wiped out so many historical relics in this part of Sichuan during the Cultural Revolution. Specifically, the epitaph was drafted in inflated classical Chinese prose and carved on a brittle, and therefore slightly weathered, sandstone. It imparts, which is more t the point, much previously unknown information on how Zhaohua residents made sense of Segalen’s visit in April 1914. Most intriguingly, the inscription not only corroborates Segalen’: own recounting of the incident’s “happy ending,” or in his words, “dénouement inattendu et curieux” (unexpected and curious outcome) (Segalen, 2004: 2:372), but also reveals the fundamental ambivalence of Chinese provincial elites in the 1910s toward Western explorers.  Fig. 5. Stele at Bao San Niang’s tomb. (Photo by the author)
The inscription on the main stele (fig. 5), which unambiguously bears Segalen’s Chinese name Xie Gelan i] fi, remains intact. In fact, one may even wonder how it miraculously survived the vandalism that wiped out so many historical relics in this part of Sichuan during the Cultural Revolution. Specifically, the epitaph was drafted in inflated classical Chinese prose and carved on a brittle, and therefore slightly weathered, sandstone. It imparts, which is more t the point, much previously unknown information on how Zhaohua residents made sense of Segalen’s visit in April 1914. Most intriguingly, the inscription not only corroborates Segalen’: own recounting of the incident’s “happy ending,” or in his words, “dénouement inattendu et curieux” (unexpected and curious outcome) (Segalen, 2004: 2:372), but also reveals the fundamental ambivalence of Chinese provincial elites in the 1910s toward Western explorers. Fig. 5. Stele at Bao San Niang’s tomb. (Photo by the author)

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réel (Segalen, 1995: 2:261–320), but also provided the bedrock for his aesthetic musings on
Chinese statuary in Chine, la grande statuaire (Segalen, 1995: 2:745–891).
6
On top of Segalen’s textual legacy, I will also probe a few particularly evocative photo
negatives bearing the memory of the excavation activities in Zhaohua. The first is a card with
Segalen’s own handwriting ( fig. 1), the second a group photo featuring him and Voisins
surrounded by Chinese peasants (fig. 2).
7
Now fallen into the public domain,
8
these images
allow us to relive a riveting episode of Sino –French cultural encounters:
Fig. 1. Card showing Segalen’s handwriting. (Source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF)
4
Fig. 2. Segalen and Voisins pose in a group photo at the entrance to Bao San Niang’s tomb;
Segalen is on the left, Voisins on the right. (Source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF)
9
On the card, Segalen writes, “Entrée à demi déblayée du caveau de Pao San Niang 鮑三娘, des
Trois Royaumes (220–265) ap J.C. à 10 li N de Tchao Houa hien 昭化縣” (Partly unblocked
entrance to the vault of Bao San Niang of the Three Kingdoms [220–265] AD, 10 li north of
Zhaohua county).
10
This brief note casts much light on the following group photo, in which
Segalen, dressed in a dark uniform, emaciated and grave faced, stands alongside Voisins next to
the newly unblocked entrance of Bao San Niang’s tomb. Handpicks, hoes, and shovels are
randomly posed. Except for Voisins, who appears to chuckle slyly at the cameraman, nobody
looks particularly enthusiastic. That said, most Chinese bystanders in the backdrop, especially
the children, are barely hiding their curiosity upon seeing, perhaps for the first time in their life,
a foreign camera.
Like any first impression, my interpretation here barely scratches the surface of a
gripping moment of Sino–French cultural encounters. There is indeed much to say about
Segalen’s digs in Zhaohua, especially the frictions between the two Frenchmen, the Chinese
officials to their side, and the doubtful, if not totally xenophobic, locals. Luckily in this respect,
Segalen’s notebooks and letters provide many vital clues.
Specifically, on the heels of Sinologists such as Paul Pelliot and Édouard Chavannes,
11
Segalen relied heavily throughout his 1914 mission on the inventories of burial sites he found
in various Chinese chronicles and gazetteers, in particular the Sichuan Tongzhi 四川通誌
(General History of Sichuan Province),
12
which he used as a handy means to identify potential
places of interest. These Chinese primary sources, if not yet guidebooks per se, considerably
facilitated his probes, occasionally leading him to lesser-known locations. This was exactly the
case with Bao San Niang’s tomb in Zhao hua.
As has often been noted, Segalen, a vocal detractor of Buddhist iconography, was
obsessed with what he called “la plus pure origine sinique” (the purest Sinitic origin) (Segalen,
1995: 2:962) of Chinese art prior to the propagation of Buddhism in China during the third
century CE.
13
In Segalen’s eyes, this pristine and consummate form of ancient Chinese art,
uncontaminated by all foreign influence, is encountered primarily in funerary artefacts, such as
statues, steles, and stone pillars, of the Han dynasty.
14
Admittedly, Segalen’s penchant for Han
relics helps explain his interest in Bao San Niang’s tomb. Yet this legendary woman warrior did
not exactly live in either of the two Han dynasties (206 BCE–220 CE), but rather in the Shu
Han 蜀漢 state (221–263 CE), founded by Liu Bei 劉備 during the Three Kingdoms period,
which claimed itself to be a legitimate continuation of the Eastern Han court (25 –220 CE).
Mentioned only passingly in the Sichuan Tongzhi, Bao San Niang’s tomb nonetheless
turned out to be a real treasure trove for Segalen, as he writes in his Premier exposé: “Il restait à
pénétrer dans un tombeau. C’est ce que nous avons pu faire, pour la première fois en Chine,
dans la sous-préfecture Tchao-houa 昭化, au tombeau de la dame Pao 鮑” (It remained to enter
a tomb. This is what we managed to do for the first time in China, in Madam’s Bao’s tomb in
Zhaohua county) (Segalen, 1995: 2:923).
Unfortunately, Segalen overlooked the importance of this tomb for the locals, which has
stood as a major popular cult site in Zhaohua to the present day. We cannot, however, put all
the blame on him for ignoring the backstory ascribed to Bao San Niang, since her affiliation
with her presumed father-in-law, Guan Yu—widely worshipped as the god of war in China—
was not fully spelled out in Segalen’s Chinese sources. In this respect, he notes, “les textes
5
disent peu de chose sur cette femme d’une célébrité peut -être toute locale. Les chroniques
provinciales la font mourir sous les Chou-Han 蜀漢, 221–265” (the texts say very little about
this woman having perhaps merely a local reputation. Provincial chronicles place her death
under the Shu Han reigns, 221–265) (Segalen, 1995: 2:923). Indeed, the relevant entry in the
Sichuan Tongzhi simply states, “舊誌鮑氏者關索之妻也” (Madam Bao was Guan Suo’s wife
according to old chronicles) (Yang et al., 1984: 2:1740), without, however, specifying the
kinship between Guan Suo and his illustrious father Guan Yu. In his notebook dated April 2,
1914, Segalen meticulously quotes, very literally, the relevant passage in the Sichuan Tongzhi,
reading as follows: “白水西岸巨墓嶷然昔時土坼見墓門石砌堅致如城闉之狀�⑹矣暮谇�曲
人無敢�＝褚逊忾]矣” (On the western bank of the Bai Shui River [stands] an enormous
towering tomb. In earlier times, the earth cracked, exposing the tomb’s solid stone door, which
resembled a city rampart. The inner chamber was dark and sinuous. People dared not to enter.
Currently, it is sealed) (Yang et al., 1984: 2:1740). As Segalen (1995: 1:1050) writes:
Un noble vieillard nous conduit, à 1 li du cheval au [Han Pao San-niang mou] (tombeau
de Pao San-niang des Han) « sur la berge ouest du [Pai chouei] », dit le T’ong-tche qui
ajoute : « Grand tertre. Autrefois, la terre du tertre étant démolie, on vit la porte du
tumulus, faite en pierre, très solide comme la porte d’un [tch’eng] ( muraille). Dedans,
une sorte de chambre très noire. Les gens n’o saient pas entrer. Maintenant, cette porte
est close. » Suivent quelques mots anecdotiques sur cette femme dont la biographie se
trouve sans doute dans le Lie niu tch’ouan, qui nous en fixera l’époque. Provisoirement,
je l’appelle « femme belliqueuse et fidèle ». (A noble old man guides us for 1 li [by
horse?] to the [Han Bao San Niang mu] (tomb of Bao San Niang of the Han dynasty)
“on the western bank of the Bai Shui River [Bailong Jiang],” says the Tongzhi, which
adds, “Huge mound. In earlier times, the earth of the mound had been demolished and
people saw the door of the tumulus, made of stone, very solid, like the door of a [Cheng]
(rampart). Inside, a sort of very dark room. People dared not to enter. Currently, this
door is sealed.” The following passage consists of a few anecdotal words about this
woman, whose biography can probably be found in the Lie Nü Zhuan [Biographies of
Virtuous Women], which will provide the dates. For the time being, I call her “a
belligerent and faithful woman.”
Having flippantly downgraded Bao San Niang to a woman “having merely a local reputation”
in the passage occurring earlier, here Segalen further dubs her a lie nü 烈女 (virtuous/dutiful
woman), or in his own words, “a belligerent and faithful woman.”
15
Given that such lie nü
inundate Chinese gazetteers as paragons of Confucian chastity, this “provisional” epithet
conferred by Segalen on the tomb owner ends up reducing her to near-anonymity. To be sure,
in some radical yet typical cases, a lie nü, often a widowed martyr, would go so far as to
“bravely” commit suicide to show her fidelity toward her deceased husband. This emphasis on
the unconditional subordination of women to their husbands is thus a poor fit for Bao San
Niang, who is memorialized above all for her allegiance to the state. To reiterate, Segalen did
not fully understand Bao San Niang’s stature in the minds of Zhaohua locals, as he writes in
such vague and belittling terms as “cette femme” (this woman), “sans doute” (probably),
“provisoirement, je l’appelle” (for the time being, I call her). In fact, locals revered Bao San
Niang not merely as the daughter-in-law of the famous Chinese general Guan Yu serving the
Shu Han court, but even as a protective deity of their native land, namely modern Sichuan