Inked: Tattooed Soldiers and the Song Empire’s Penal-Military Complex

The social history of common soldiers of the Song Dynasty, known as "Inked," explores the rise of the penal-military complex and the lives of the people who fought for the state. Tattoos were an indelible aspect of the Song world, and their ubiquity was tied to the system of social control, warfare, and labor. Elad Alyagon examines the army as a meeting place between marginalized social groups and elites, showing how the military molded a new criminalized lower class in a constant struggle with the Song state.

Format: Hardback
Length: 276 pages
Publication date: 21 March 2023
Publisher: Harvard University Press

Inked: A Social History of Common Soldiers of the Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a time of great change and upheaval in China, marked by the rise of the penal-military complex, a vast system of social control, warfare, and labor. Tattoos, an indelible aspect of this world, were overlooked in the historical record, but their ubiquity was tied to the rise of the penal-military complex.

This book is a first-of-its-kind investigation into the lives of the people who fought for the state during the Song Dynasty. Elad Alyagon examines the army as a meeting place between marginalized social groups and elites, showing how the military was a space where a new criminalized lower class was molded in a constant struggle between common soldiers and the agents of the Song state.

For the millions of people caught in the orbit of this system—the tattooed soldiers, their families, and their neighbors—the Song period was no age of benevolence, but one of servitude, violence, and resistance. Inked is their story.

The Song Dynasty was a time of great change and upheaval in China, marked by the rise of the penal-military complex, a vast system of social control, warfare, and labor. Tattoos, an indelible aspect of this world, were overlooked in the historical record, but their ubiquity was tied to the rise of the penal-military complex.

This book is a first-of-its-kind investigation into the lives of the people who fought for the state during the Song Dynasty. Elad Alyagon examines the army as a meeting place between marginalized social groups and elites, showing how the military was a space where a new criminalized lower class was molded in a constant struggle between common soldiers and the agents of the Song state.

For the millions of people caught in the orbit of this system—the tattooed soldiers, their families, and their neighbors—the Song period was no age of benevolence, but one of servitude, violence, and resistance. Inked is their story.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780674291287