© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010 DOI: 10.1163/156852610X518183 Nan Nü 12 (2010) 1-29 www.brill.nl/nanu NAN NÜ Gender, Sexuality, and Power in Early China: e Changing Biographies of Lord Ling of Wei and Lady Nanzi Olivia Milburn (Seoul National University) milburn@snu.ac.kr Abstract Towards the end of his life, Lord Ling of Wei (r. 534-493 BCE) effectively abdi- cated in favor of his wife, Lady Nanzi. Such a transfer of power seems to have been unique in Zhou dynasty China, and these events were discussed at some length in ancient historical and philosophical texts. roughout the imperial era scholars and commentators continued to study Lord Ling and Lady Nanzi, producing a considerable body of research which reflects changing attitudes to the nature of ruler’s rights and authority, and which also documents responses to the couple’s apparent rejection of accepted social and gender roles. Although their actions were often portrayed positively in early Chinese texts, the overwhelming majority of scholars who studied their biographies in the imperial era were hostile to the con- cept of a woman taking control of the government of a state. e tension between the accounts found in ancient texts and subsequent scholarship is the subject of this paper. Keywords Confucius, gender, power, sexuality, early China Introduction At some point towards the end of his long reign, Lord Ling of Wei (r. 534-493 BCE) seems to have lost interest in governance, and handed over control of the state to his wife, Lady Nanzi . Such a transfer of power from a husband to a wife was apparently unique in Spring and Autumn period (771-475 BCE) China, and raises many