Communication, Civilization and China: Discovering the Tang Dynasty (618–907) [1st ed.] 9789811578076, 9789811578083

Table of contents :
Front Matter ....Pages i-vii
Introduction (Bin Li)....Pages 1-17
Capital Liaison Office and Ancient Postal System (Bin Li)....Pages 19-61
Government Gazette and Chin-tsou-yüen Report (Bin Li)....Pages 63-95
Hsi-Shu and Lu-Pu (Bin Li)....Pages 97-128
Beacon Fire, Placard, and Imperial Diaries (Bin Li)....Pages 129-161
Thoughts on News Communication (Bin Li)....Pages 163-190
Scholars and Their Communication (Bin Li)....Pages 191-226
Ancient Letters and Brush-Note Novels (Bin Li)....Pages 227-266
Wall Inscription Style Poems (Bin Li)....Pages 267-304
The Communication of Ordinary People (Bin Li)....Pages 305-348
Conclusion (Bin Li)....Pages 349-367
Back Matter ....Pages 369-413

Citation preview

SOCIOLOGY, MEDIA AND JOURNALISM IN CHINA

Bin Li

Communication, Civilization and China Discovering the Tang Dynasty (618–907)

Sociology, Media and Journalism in China

This series provides an interdisciplinary and cutting edge approach to the key areas of media, journalism and communication in China. Offering titles cutting across these areas, Sociology, Journalism and Communication in China addresses the rapid changes affecting how news is disseminated in China, how people communicate in daily life, and how mobile technologies are affecting contemporary human interaction in sociological and commercial settings. This series also examines major sociological trends in China and how these are developing, as well as rapid changes in how communication is affecting and being affected by China’s growing population and internal migration. Providing a vital comparative approach, notably with western nations, this series considers the development of Chinese media, journalistic cultures and histories and sociological development on a global scale.

More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/16016

Bin Li

Communication, Civilization and China Discovering the Tang Dynasty (618–907)

Bin Li Tsinghua University Beijing, China Translated by Shixi Wu Beijing Foreign Studies University Beijing, China

Yuting Zheng National Art Museum of China Beijing, China

Benjamin Orion Landauer Nanjing University Nanjing, China

This book’s publication is subsidized by Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN 2662-7981 ISSN 2662-799X (electronic) Sociology, Media and Journalism in China ISBN 978-981-15-7807-6 ISBN 978-981-15-7808-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3 Jointly published with China Renmin University Press The print edition is not for sale in China Mainland. Customers from China Mainland please order the print book from: China Renmin University Press. ISBN of the Co-Publisher’s edition: 9787300188607 Translation from the Chinese language edition: 唐代文明与新闻传播 by Bin Li, © China Renmin University Press, 2014. All Rights Reserved. © China Renmin University Press 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: eStudioCalamar This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Contents

1

1

Introduction

2

Capital Liaison Office and Ancient Postal System

19

3

Government Gazette and Chin-tsou-yüen Report

63

4

Hsi-Shu and Lu-Pu

97

5

Beacon Fire, Placard, and Imperial Diaries

129

6

Thoughts on News Communication

163

7

Scholars and Their Communication

191

8

Ancient Letters and Brush-Note Novels

227

9

Wall Inscription Style Poems

267

10

The Communication of Ordinary People

305

11

Conclusion

349

Appendix Reflections of the Research on the Chinese History of News

369

中国文化特色词和短语: Chinese Culture-bound Phrases and other Terms

389

v

vi

CONTENTS

Afterword

399

Supplements to Revised Edition

403

References

407

List of Tables

Table 2.1 Table 9.1 Table 10.1

List of capital liaison offices (Chin-tsou-yüen进奏院) in Chang’an Amount of literary writers from the Pre-Qin to the Tang Dynasty Data of the number of monks, nuns, and monasteries in the Sui and Tang

24 293 337

vii

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1 Regardless of whether one examines politics, culture, economy, or nearly any other facet of the Tang dynasty, it is clear the Tang was one of the most flourishing golden ages in all of Chinese history. This period (618–907) is equally as dazzling when placed into the frame of world history, and has been safely smelted into recognition as China’s pride and joy. The Encyclopedia of China summarizes: Ever since entering a state of feudalism in the Spring and Autumn period and during the Warring states, China’s social economy, politics, and culture followed a complicated path of advancement, during which three distinct periods of noticeable flourishing appeared. The first high tide was during the Western Han, the third in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the second, naturally, was born of the Tang. Especially during its preliminary stages, the Tang was characterized by booming agriculture, increasingly intricate handcrafts, and an unprecedented business economy with bustling cities thriving like never before. After the Tang, the Jiangnan Southern region continued to develop, overtaking the economic strength of the North and eventually establishing a strong foundation therein. In the political theater, the lauded reigns of Emperor Xuanzong and Emperor Taizong brought a national unification and social stability that culminated in a peaceful era surpassing perhaps even the Great Peace of Emperor Wen in the Eastern Han Dynasty …… from a global perspective, the Tang Empire was one of the most important and strongest countries of its time …… the Tang is able not only to stand out among the nations of the world, but belongs to the most advanced thereof …… in its contemporary world, India, Arabia, and China were the most important centers of cultural exchange. Among these three, China is the undisputed standout. …… the Tang dynasty was certainly an extraordinary age.1 © The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_1

1

2

B. LI

Naturally, in the face of this kind of “extraordinary age,” later generations always hold a special kind of robust interest in researching its multitudinous facets, which has thereby caused Tang studies to be one of the most fertile patches of soil in the modern academia, proving to be endlessly flourishing and holding countless achievements. “The Tang’s unprecedented political power and influence, as well as its achievements in the cultural and artistic arenas, led it to be a topic of meticulous study. Japanese scholars vehemently research this period as well, if not only for reasons of personal interest, then primarily due to that the Tang exerted a deep influence on contemporary Japan. ……Western scholars were also entranced by this period; as early as 1753, the Jesuit missionary Antoine Gaubil completed an entire history of Western Tang political studies; in recent years,2 Westerners have contributed a great volume of invaluable Tang dynasty studies (Denis Twitchett 1990: 1).” In my professional opinion, Tang culture not only epitomizes the success of the classical world, but also opened a new voice for modern history. The expansive clarity of “Glittering gates of Nine Heavens shine upon the palace, one thousand emissaries bow in reverence to the gilded emperor”,3 the majestic power of “The general brings order with merely three arrows, the warriors’ songs peal into Han pass,”4 the vibrant tenor of “I cannot help but drink and sing in this brilliant sunshine, for a bright road filled with Spring will carry me back home,”5 and the lofty sentiment of “A slew of sails pass by the overturned boat, a hillside of greenery flourishes near the withered tree”6 —the glittering heights of Classical Chinese culture be seen everywhere, and furthermore find faint yet intimate connections with later conventions. With imperial examinations and the Penal Law Code of the Tang (816–907) (Tanglv shuyi) as the source of legal structure, the political framework set up in the Tang had a heavy influence on later generations such that said framework was often directly adapted. One could say the Tang was a commanding period of Chinese history that borrowed heavily from its predecessors while simultaneously offering deep inspiration to later dynasties. If we look both forward and backward from this point toward the five thousand years surrounding the Tang, it is easier to have a systematic understanding of what came before, as well as what followed. Especially in the face of a twenty-first century filled with opportunity and difficulty, hope and danger, to a postmodern situation writhing with both psychological fragmentation and the homelessness of the soul, the legacy of Tang culture becomes even more valuable. Joseph Needham, in the opening section of The History of Science and Technology in China, compared the predominant characteristics of the Tang and Song dynasties, saying that “The Tang was humanistic.” Of course, saying that the Tang’s humanistic essence can fully solute the hardened rationality of the modern age is potentially as suspicious as claiming that scattered militaristic control over outlying regions in the Tang was the direct forerunner to the Republican period’s fragmented military centers.7 That being said, Tang culture and its “lyrically poetic essence” can undoubtedly be seen as a plentiful and realistic resource of assistance for the healthy and complete development of modern

1

INTRODUCTION

3

society. This, perhaps, is one of the many reasons more and more scholars unrelentingly conduct meticulous research in the field of Tang studies.

2 In comparison with other fields of research, the topic of journalism and communication is no doubt a less popular subject. In comparison with the way modern and contemporary journalism studies are meticulously combed through, the Tang Dynasty’s journalism and communication studies is rather uncultivated virgin soil. While a few researchers over the past thirty years have entered this academic field from different vantage points with definite success, the late start and relatively wide range of the field has led to a seeming barrenness of research results, with just a few names in the field standing alone like cowboys on the early American frontier. Ge Gongzhen, in the first complete explication of the development of China’s journalism and media history Journalistic History of China (1927), spend a short time on Tang scholar Sun Kezhi’s Anthology on Morals and Norms (Jingweiji), bringing up “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports (known as Kaiyuan Zabao).” For roughly half a century afterwards, understanding of Tang media communication stopped at this level without much development. The only exception was Zhu Chuanyu, a media history professional from Taiwan, whose Tang Newspaper Studies written in 1966 “started from the Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” (K’ai-yüen-tsa-pao) and went all the way through the Tang dynasty’s official palace reports.8 By the 1980s, just as the ice finally started to melt, the situation became lively. Studies on the Tang Dynasty journalism and communication finally started to show some life force. There were roughly two reasons for this: one was the dawning of popularity of journalism and communication studies as an independent field, wherein news history became an area of widespread interest following the academization of news studies; and two was the introduction of media studies, which led to a vast broadening of academic horizons causing what appeared to be previously very cramped topics to transform into rich and meaningful areas of inquiry. At the beginning of this wave, Fang Hanqi of Renmin University’s “Observing the Newspaper of Ancient China from the Chin-tsou-yüen Report of the Tang Guiyi Army Housed in the British Library,” collected in Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication (1983, Vol. 5), was an incredibly influential academic achievement that proved with immaculate textual research that pointed out chin-tsou-yüen reports of the Tang as being the oldest newspapers in both terms of China’s history, and in the history of the world (Here chin-tsou-yüen refers to the liaison office set up by the local government in the capital). The force of Fang’s thesis goes without saying, and has led to widespread interest in academia. Not long after, Zhang Guogang of the Tianjin Social Sciences Research Institute (currently a history professor at Tsinghua University), published a paper in Academic Monthly’s July 1986 issue entitled “Study

4

B. LI

on Two Official Documents of chin-tsou-yüen in Dunhuang,” a paper that the author and Fang deliberated seriously over. Of the titular “two,” one was Fang’s original research object, currently housed in the British Library under S.1156 Tang Guiyi Army’s Chin-tsou-yüen Reports (887), whereas the other was discovered by Zhang dated to even earlier than that discussed by Fang, currently housed in the Parisian Library under P.3574 Tang Guiyi Army (c. 876). Zhang’s thesis is of course clear in his title: the papers are not in fact “newspapers,” but rather “documentations.” Before this, Zhang had already expressed this point that “chin-tsou-yüen reports are not ancient newspapers,” which had run in the Tianjin Daily (March 23, 1986). For our concerns, the significance of Fang’s research into these Tang documents was of course not in his thesis itself—although it was certainly of eye-catching tenor—but rather in that it grasped something solid amidst a chaotic miasma, something that sparked widespread academic interest and incited a wave of related research. Borrowing the idea of “agenda-setting” from media studies, Fang essentially set an agenda for the entirety of Tang Dynasty journalism and communication research. In relation to the topic itself there were of course a plethora of differing opinions, but as everyone was vehemently arguing about the same subject, a rather wide range of new information was uncovered. That is to say, as soon as the problem of these “chin-tsou-yüen reports” was overturned, the entire pan of Tang Dynasty news media was shaken to life. Therefore, we should not consider Fang as having solved a problem that confounded prior generations, but rather recognize his major contribution as having made a critical fissure in the dam holding back a reservoir of related questions. Though his central thesis will have been corrected, Fang’s contributions to the Tang communication studies are unquestionably valuable, much in the same way that the theory of heliocentrism, though flawed, was undoubtedly valuable to the development of the physical sciences.

3 Other than Fang Hanqi, Yao Fushen of Shanghai Fudan University has also delved deeply into the field of Tang media research, quietly producing surprisingly relevant results. In the 1980s, he has published the following list of notable articles: “Discussions of Several Questions of ‘Ti-pao’,” from Hsin-wen Research Documents, 1984(4). “Investigation into the Activities of Journalism and Communication of the Tang Dynasty,” from Journalism Bimonthly, 1982(5). “Investigation into Miscellaneous Reports from the Period of Kaiyuan,” from Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication, 1985(9). “Investigations based on Whether Sun Chuxuan Used the Term ‘Hsin-wen (news)’,” from, Journalism Bimonthly, 1989(1).

1

INTRODUCTION

5

These articles explore Tang Dynasty journalistic and communicative activities from various different angles, with particularly precise usage of historical documentation, causing Yao Fushen to be a giant among ants in the field. As Fang Hanqi so aptly put it: He is diligent in learning. His essays are meticulously argued and flawlessly justified, often with great results, never letting down former worthies, and seriously worth our respect.9

The article “Investigation into the Activities of Journalism and Communication of the Tang Dynasty” is especially prominent, for it uses official remonstrations, reports, liaison office gazettes and reports, and various papers to offer a complete unpacking and organizing of Tang Dynasty media activity. Although it cannot avoid certain oversights common to pioneering research, it is still an incredibly valuable article. Ever since the introduction of communication theory, and even including the head of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ News Research Institute Sun Xupei’s support of a “nativist” movement in the 1990s (Yu Yelz 1994; Sun Xupei 1997), a considerably new atmosphere was imparted upon Tang Dynasty journalism and communication research. For example, in 1996, Li Yiping and Tao Diqian of Jinan University’s Journalism and Communication Studies Department published “On the Outward Communication of the Tang Dynasty,”10 which was the first instance wherein Tang communications were discussed in the context of intercultural communication, and further undertook topical categorization (political communication, communication of Confucian thought, communication of science and economics, communication of culture, communication of religion, etc.) and methodological categorization (political marriages, educational communication, business transactions, communication among citizens, etc.) of relevant documents. Another example would be Liu Guangyu and Guo Shubin’s “On Changing Communication Methods and their Influence on Lyric Poetry in the Tang and Song” from the 1997(1) issue of Qilu Academics; although heavy-handed on literature, it is still an influential paper for our purposes. Of course, in a final contemporary analysis, research into Tang Dynasty journalism and communication is still in its budding stage, for there are still many things that have not yet been addressed by clear, systematic research. Of particular note, it is a whole slew of unanswered questions relating to news communication studies, especially those whose related discussions remain unclear or contradictory, or those whose seemingly watertight aspects are still in need of further verification. To this day, the most exhaustive work detailing the situation with Tang media transmission would have to be Fang Hanqi et al., eds, A General History of Journalism in China, wherein Fang himself wrote around 200,000 Chinese characters of related material. Therein lies an explication of the two hottest topic areas in the related academics, that is, Sun Kezhi and the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports (Kaiyuan Zabao),”11 and

6

B. LI

chin-tsou-yüen reports of the Tang Dynasty. As it turns out, many other explications of the history of journalism in China do not go beyond these two artifacts. Xu Peiting and Qiu Zhengyi of Fudan University, for example, in their The History of Thoughts of Journalism and Communication in China, when bringing up “the system of news communication and official reports in the Sui and Tang dynasties,” merely adhered to these two pieces and preestablished opinions therein. This indicates the slightly stagnant state of the field, and simultaneously indicates a clear path forward. “The shortcomings of former worthies is the specific starting point of later thought,” as Ji Xiaolan so aptly put it; in the field of Tang media transmission studies, pioneers have hacked through a jungle of difficulties, leaving us with more than a few places to start. Their creative and original scholarship has lit a path for us to walk through this relatively mysterious and widely unexplored field. We shall begin where they left off, just as Ji Xiaolan’s famous saying reminds us: “When left with accumulations, it is easy to put forth effort.” Something else that sets one heart to rest amidst the chaos that is Tang Dynasty and Sui Dynasty research is that while many great researchers were following their own interests in the field, they often accidentally encountered media research, and left behind greater and lesser contributions to today’s research. However, due to the convoluted nature of their individual subjects and the vastness of their respective fields, they cannot be summarized and listed in whole. Take for example the case wherein Han Hong found out his official post in the report from the office known as ti-pao (dibao, 邸报); Fu Xuanzong’s “Investigating the Events Concerning Han Hong’s Traces, ‘The Biography of Ms. Liu (Liushizhuan)’, and ‘Stories in Verses (Benshishi)’” and Zhou Shaoliang’s “Commentary and Evidence Analysis of ‘Accounts of Mister Liu’” are two essays that can here be referred to (Fu Xuancong).12 There are also works that investigate laws governing Tang Dynasty post stations, such as Chen Yuaanyuan’s Concerning Tang Postal Laws.13 Further, the traces and inspirations offered by the historiographical works of Chen Yinke, Xiang Da, Cen Zhongmian, Wang Zhongluo, and others, is innumerably vast. As far as media research is concerned, these works are essentially as important as the Old History of the Tang Dynasty (Jiutangshu), All Preserved Essays from the Tang and Five Dynasties Period (Quantangwen), and All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty (Quantangshi) in terms of providing valuable evidence.

4 From a diachronic perspective, the Tang Dynasty journalism and communication system is not limited to the Tang itself, that is, from the time of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang founded the dynasty in 618 to Emperor Ai of the Tang with abdication of the throne in 907. This is because the Tang’s historical liveliness is inseparable from the Sui Dynasty, which preceded it, as well as it is inseparable from the periods of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907– 979), which followed it, on the whole creating an interlinked entity. Although

1

INTRODUCTION

7

the Sui Dynasty was less than forty years, merely from 581 to 618, it laid down a foundation of national unity and cultural flourishing that led directly to the Tang. In this light, the Sui Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty are actually exceedingly similar, in that though they were both very short-lived, they directly preceded much longer and more flourishing dynasties that would be remembered especially for peaceful reigns. Without the Qin Dynasty, the Han Dynasty is certainly unthinkable, and in the same way, the rise of the Tang is an unrealistic expectation in the absence of the Sui. As Fan Wenlan once said, “The First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty enacted the Laws of Qin, which were later followed by the Han; Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty announced the Sui system, which were later adopted and followed by the Tang. The Qin and Sui dynasties left invaluable contributions to following generations, and cannot be forgotten about purely due to a lack of longevity (Fan Wenlan 1965, 1:3).” Although the post-Tang transition from the Liang Dynasty Zhu Quanzhong’s ascension to the throne in 907 to Zhao Kuangyin’s coronation as emperor during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in 960 appears to be an instance of standard dynastic change, it is in fact more of a continuation of the scattered militaristic bickering that constitutes a large portion of history. Examined from an angle of unification and separation, the period from the rise of the Sui to the explosive outbreak of the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming in the mid-Tang actually displays a steady strengthening of national unification; and from the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming into the Five Dynasties period, national separation was constantly exacerbated. This clear strain of rising and falling suggests that the Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties period should be treated as a relatively cohesive block of history; therefore, when exploring the media transmissions of this period, one naturally follows the accepted paradigm of historians to draw the lines from the latter portion of the Sixth Century to the middle of the Tenth Century. However, from a synchronic perspective, defining the parameters of discussion is more difficult. This is due to the fact that the Tang’s national borders are not only different from modern China, but that they were also changing in their own time. According to the “Record of Geographies” in New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xintangshu), “In the High Tang, between the Kaiyuan and Tianbao reign periods, the empire’s Easternmost extent was Andong Region (that is, under the Andong Military Defense Office, in modern-day Pyongyang, North Korea), the Westernmost extent was Anxi Region (that is, under Anxi Military Defense Office, in modern-day Western Xinjiang), the Southernmost extent was Rinan Region (that is, under An’nan Military Defense Office, in modern-day Hanoi, Vietnam), and the Northernmost extent was Shanyufu (that is, under Yufu Military Defense Office, in modernday Inner Mongolia); thus, the North-South expanse is comparable to the heights of the Han Dynasty, and while the Eastern extents were not as far, the Western holdings greatly surpassed Han.”14 The areas with the most changes were primarily in the Northern and Western territories These areas, due to all sorts of friction and intrigue with the nomadic native T’u-chüeh peoples

8

B. LI

(then living in the north and west of ancient China), causes the relative scope of Tang’s media research to fluctuate in kind. Here, we will restrict our main subject to cover the area effectively governed by the Tang, while simultaneously taking into account outlying regions as necessity calls for, including but not limited to regions such as Bohai, Huihe, Tufan, and Nanzhao. Having outlined above the exterior scope of the present research, the inner scope of media transmission research as a main subject should neither be so broad as to include any and all media, nor should it be limited to the media transmissions of a single particular outlet source. This is an important middleground kind of discrimination, for otherwise one runs the risk of losing new conclusions in an excessively broad research scope, or losing said conclusions to outdated and limited methodology. After determining the area of journalism and communication in the current research as the ultimate standard, we are left to consider how to “separate relevant elements” in a full-screen view of this period’s media research such that separate layers are both clearly delineated, yet do not lose an understanding as a cohesive whole. An entire mountain range will of course appear to be a single peak when viewed from a certain angle, but whichever vantage point we choose, there must be a definite pursuit of historical and logical consistency. In other words, the “Tang Dynasty news communication” that we seek to describe, summarize, reconstruct, and analyze, should be fitting with the original visage of history, and at the same time, be a cohesive academic argument. Of course, the so-called “original visage of history” is nothing more than an image of what we can feel and imagine, and cannot be said to “be history” in and of itself, for that history only happens once, and cannot recur. Therefore, consistency with history is essentially limited to consistency with historical documentation.

5 Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibin of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Literature Research Institute, in their exceptionally well-received The Spirit and Civilization of the Tang Empire, wrote: “The Tang empire was the height of ancient civilization, in terms of both Chinese history and World history,” “This unparalleled historical civilization should be considered to include at least four different categories, that is, material civilization, productive civilization, technological civilization, and ideological civilization (Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibin 1996: 1).” In this “deeply profound and brilliantly glittering” civilization (to use Fan Wenlan’s phrasing), media communication reached a never-before-seen level of liveliness and activity. On one hand, these communications were deeply influenced by material production, structural organization, technological advancement, and psychological essence, thereby imprinting the mark of an era; yet on the other hand, these communications were an irrevocable and organic part of the dynasty, ultimately becoming a critical element in the casting of Tang Dynasty culture. Specifically speaking, then, what were

1

INTRODUCTION

9

the factors restricting and limiting Tang media communication? In a discussion of pre-Qin media activity, Zhu Chuanyu once pointed out three limiting factors in news communication: “transportation accessibility,” “the invention of communication tools and the improvement thereof,” and “freedom of thought and speech (Zhu Chuanyu 1988: 75).” In reference to these three aspects, the Tang had made marked progress. For example, transportation in this period had developed to a level that could be historically compared to the old adage, “all roads lead to Rome.” Du You’s Comprehensive Statutes (Tongdian), in its discussion of the Kaiyuan period, provides an often-cited and particularly vivid description of the contemporary roadways centered around Jingluo (Du You 1995): Spanning from Song Bian in the East (Shangqiu, Kaifeng) to Qizhou in the West (Baoji), the roads are littered with various shops and stalls of every kind for the hungry and thirsty pedestrian. All the stalls have donkeys for hire and passengers alighting at the so-called donkey stops, skipping off at ten li in the blink of an eye. To the South there is Jing and Xiang (Jiangling, Xiangpan), and to the North, Taiyuan and Fanyang (Beijing), with the Western portion extending to Shuchuan and Liangfu (Wuwei). Shops of commerce and travel are everywhere here. For a thousand li, it does not stop.15 *(Li is a Chinese distance unit, and one li equals five hundred meters)

Other than the above, several land and sea routes of the Silk Road allowed the Central Plains, Central Asia, the Western regions, and even far-off Europe to hold close connections. All types of interchange flourished thoroughly, thereby causing media dissemination to reach a never-before-seen level of activity. To speak again from a perspective of free speech and free thinking, the Tang reached heights neither seen before nor surpassed later. This was especially evident in the Early Tang, wherein national and international influence was quite strong, and people’s minds were at ease. It would not be too much to say that the image of brilliant and respectful ministers and benevolent rulers provided by A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign (627–649) (Zhenguan zhengyao) was a realistic manifestation. From another perspective, the separation and chaos of the Late Tang objectively clears up notions of political control over speech, the fact that those entering provincial capitals could freely transmit messages from the central government is merely one example of the level of this freedom (by contrast, this kind of action was punishable by death in the Han Dynasty) (Yao Fushe 1984: 151–152). Even if not wholly differentiable from prior dynasties in terms of unsavory manipulation of power,misinterpretation of facts, suppression of public sentiment, and secretive behavior, which were certainly as rampant as any other dynasty, the social climate of the Tang was undoubtedly still the most accepting and free, for Tang people “seemingly sought out every opportunity for pleasure, passion, and freedom, further seeking freedom from the

10

B. LI

flesh body and unboundedness of the spirit (Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibin 1996: 67).” Even the henpecked attitude held by most Tang officials was quite famous, such as the notion of “vinegar jealousy.” This kind of temporal climate and psychological disposition naturally had deep and profound effects on the media communication of the era. Of course, the developed nature of Tang media transmission was entirely due to a rise in production ability, as well as economic development, the invigoration of business, the general state of national power, and the flourishing of material culture across all levels of society. This “contact” was all fundamentally facilitated by social need and the possibility of realization.16 Regardless whether or not Chinese newspapers actually started in the Tang, the robust information exchange and media transmissions of the Tang and its deep impact on all levels of society fills the historical records, a fact that is obvious to all; the media environment, like the verses read—“Jibei’s recaptured I suddenly hear at Jianmen Pass, My tears can’t help sprinkling on my garment, alas!” seeped into people’s everyday lives much like the poetry of the age, creating a brilliantly colored swath in history. In keeping with the prevailing customs of the Tang as a whole, the media communication was a deep culture, “noble writings,”17 overflowing with a particularly strong humanistic essence and displaying a noble demeanor. For example, in the first year of Xingyuan, the reigning title of Emperor Dezong (784), the famous general Li Cheng of the Department of Efficiency and Productivity recovered Chang’an from a more than half-year occupation by a rebelling army, after which he drafted a piece of lu-pu (lu bu露布 refers to a military document of victory after the war or open dispatch)—a standardized document for the imperial court which at the time was residing in Liangzhou to avoid disaster; therein, it said: “Your minister has already eradicated invaders from the imperial palace, and your majesty’s peaceful return to quarters is cordially anticipated. The royal bells have not been moved, and the temple is as it has always been.”18 From a simple report displaying such elegant and clean mannerisms, the attitude and essence of the Tang dynasty become readily apparent. When compared with the primarily realistic and more popular tenor of the information communication activities in post-Song dynasties, the Tang placed emphasis in strikingly different areas, rightly described as such: “The Tang … was a newborn era of springtime, an epoch of expressive poetry and religious belief.”19 According to the viewpoint of historian Leften Stavros Stavrianos, Chinese history has constantly taken the form of culturalism and not nationalism, emphasizing native culture to a great extent.20 This kind of unique cultural feel is especially apparent in the media transmissions in the Tang Dynasty.

6 From the perspective of cultural typography, different periods always have three particular aspects that are mutually dependent and influencing, yet remain individually unique. They are often referred to as dominant culture,

1

INTRODUCTION

11

popular culture, and classical culture. Dominant culture refers to the social level, and mostly concerns consolidate governmental affairs; popular culture refers to the pedestrian level, mostly concerning the upkeep of tradition; and classical culture refers to the psychological level, concerning itself with the upkeep of the tao (dao, 道), or the Way of classical Chinese thought. Shao Jian’s contemporary analysis of these three cultural types understood them broadly as referring to ideology (dominant culture), image culture (popular culture), and the culture of meaning (classical culture).21 From this, we can take the Tang’s news and communication and analyze them as falling into three layers: official, popular, and literati. Among these, official communications of course constitute the major position, and were extensively systematized around a network system of post stations. Popular communications existed without overarching cohesion, and had popular mythical songs as its major form. The form of literati communications existed somewhere between these two extremes, both specific yet murky, simultaneously proactive and lackadaisical, whose representative form of collative rehashings of both popular and official transmissions, often in the form of poetry or prose. If it can be said that official broadcastings were akin to epic poetry that retained odious descriptions of heroism—full of passion, idealism, and sanguine—truly a representation of “the Commandant’s war proclamation flies to an ocean of emissaries, the Danyu’s hunter flame illuminates Wolf Mountain”; then popular communications were more prosodic, more pedestrian and less chaotically dramatic—much closer to “An encounter on horseback without pen or paper, relying on the perfecting person to report their safety.” As far as “as a group [of literati], their psychological disposition and behavior modes most often trended towards collectively and classically encompassing the true essence of the age (Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibin 1996: 405).” The state of their communications was a long scroll of history, one of the lasting charms and endless flavor. Speaking from a not so strict theoretical basis, there is no reason the three modes of the Tang communications cannot be seen through the trifold lens of Marxist communication theory, that is, from the triparate aspects of human reliance, material reliance, and the entire state of human development (Chen Lidan 1993: 528). These can be directly correlated as such: Human reliance – popular transmissions Material reliance – official transmissions Entire state of development – literati transmissions

Based on the explanation by Chen Lidan (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Institute of Journalism and Communication; today a professor at Renmin University, School of Journalism and communication), in the first stage of communications (“human reliance”), “people’s communications were

12

B. LI

continuously restricted to a small region, an individual in their communications had no independent individuality. People relied entirely upon the collective body, and merely with the identity of a cog within this collective body took part in psychological communications.”22 In the material dependency formulation, Marx’s materiality “primarily indicates capital, or its physical manifestation as money or goods” (ibid., 538), but for our purposes, “material” can be understood as official reports and remonstrations, and related materials. Marx once spoke of the communications between the Chinese emperor and ministers, saying “this is the only psychological connection between the massive parts of the giant machine that is this country,”23 and it is precisely this bonding connection that constituted the far-reaching official communication network. The third communication type, that is, the full-scope state of human development, is what Marxist-Engelsian terminology understands for the future as “the development of individual freedom for the development of freedom of all.” We here take this as being able to map onto literati communication activity, not necessarily as a historically accurate correlation, but rather as an essential comparison. This is because, for the Tang new and communication studies, the activities of literati belongs to that of upperlevel society, a subject whose gifts in the material and psychological realms emitted a particularly free nature, always striving for the complete development of life, just as displayed by this poem by Li Bai: The cuckoo cries among fallen willow blossoms, And I hear (wen) you’ve been demoted thoroughly to five streams’ south. I send my forlorn heart to the bright moon, Hoping that it can accompany to the West of Yelang.

The “hear” here (wen) is already not a simple reference to communication, but rather the overflowing expression of a poetic existence, the melding of hearts, and connecting of lives.

7 Regardless of whether one is speaking of official, popular, or literati communications, at the end of the proverbial day this all concerns the activities, behaviors, and creations of people. An interesting phrase from Li Dazhao’s General Historiography describes this process of unveiling history: It is the itinerary of human life, it is the connected nature of human life, it is the migrations of human life, it is the performance of human life, it itself is a living thing, a vibrant one, a developing and changing one, one that changes and moves rapidly and constantly; it is not a mere collation, it is not merely old papers or stone tablets, it is not dry bones, it is not a dead thing, it is not something stiff merely imprinted on a woodblock.24

1

INTRODUCTION

13

In a nutshell, it’s people’s living history. This further pulls our attention to the question of historical primacy, and a whole related list of deceptively simple questions regarding the philosophy of history. History should first and foremost concern itself with people, people who are three-dimensional and not flat, people who were vividly alive and not dead concepts, people as subjects and not objects. This relates to Marx’s ultimate summary of “social relationships.” All historical research is ultimately concerned with people, not objects. For behind all historical events, documents, and artifacts, stands a distinct human form, as if all objective things of the past were undoubtedly an extension of the human; all of these things are external manifestations of life and reflections of psychology. Precisely because of this, the most excellent historians all adhere to Marc Bloch, the founder of the Annales School, in his declaration that “one must be adept at capturing footprints, for people are what he chases after,” otherwise “merely filling it up with stuff in the derogatory sense is merely a game for the pompous academy.”25 Sadly, in contemporary times, historiography has poured the majority of its energy into examining artifacts, with exploration into human activity falling by the wayside. In specific regards to the field of communications, space allotted to more human affairs has felt pressure due to the expansion of materiality, the project of academic thought has grown cold due to a one-note academic style, and the humanities have encountered marginalization due to excessive worship of the social sciences. In a word, it’s a situation that emphasizes rationality over natural dispositions. This style of history stripped of humanity will inevitably lose its “lively and harmonious flavor” (Bloch), discard natural beauty and poetics, and beyond ignoring a stockpile of specialized knowledge, will ultimately lose all contact with real and historical persons. Closely related to this is a question that historians have been arguing about for years: is historiography a type of “art” or a type of “science?” We believe that the methodological move of seeing historiography, including the history of media transmission, to be what the English historiographer G. Barraclough says to be “particularly literary historical narrative,” that is, taking everything to merely be an artistic act of linguistics and rhetoric, is naturally not acceptable. However, on the other hand, mechanized execution, stiffness in research, and rigidity of processes can easily cause one to become obsessed with relatively insignificant and even quite boring topics, make one forget the noble pursuit of “pursuing the distinctions between man and Heaven,”26 ignore the depth of “linking the changes between the ancient and modern,” and the academic attitude of “completing the sayings of a tradition,” ultimately resulting in something insipid and lifeless. Actually, much in the same way that beauty, truth, and goodness are organically unified, science and art are not as harshly separated as modern arguments would have them cut out to be. Beauty, poetics, imagination, and all that which seems contradictory with “science,” is actually something that big-picture thinking cannot do without, and are in reality two sides of the

14

B. LI

same coin. The Records of the Historian (Shiji), a text once lauded by Lu Xun to be “the lasting chant of historians, a rhyme-less Lisao (‘On Encountering Sorrow,’ a long poem written by the legendary ancient writer Qu Yuan [c. 339–c. 278 BC])” for momentarily overlooking careful pursuit of factual evidence, are the Records not an example of great beauty and great poetics? Are the Histories, by the Western world’s so-called “father of historiography,” other than Herodotus’ claim to have “recorded as it actually was,” not also a beautiful symphony? History should not be dead and lifeless reimagination of artifactual evidence, nor should it be a flashy display of vast knowledge of antiques. In the editorial preface to General Chinese History, Bai Shouyi approached this topic quite well: Historical development, at its core, is the result of human activities. In historical documentation can be seen the grouped images of humans once alive, and this makes one realize just how full history itself is; if it were to leave people, it could not be called history.27

All in all, people are the standard of history. Attention to people, realizations about life, the pursuit of beauty, goodness, and truth, and the sympathetic feeling not unlike “Gazing longingly across one thousand autumns through a wash of tears, heart pierced through by a sharp feeling in the soul” that thereby streams forth, is truly the source and motivation for exploring and uncovering the endless charm that is history. In regards to a youthfully effusive Tang dynasty that allowed people’s creative power to reach glittering heights, that embodied a deep and penetrating aura of humanities, that was literally full to overflowing with the winds of expressive sentiment, we should obviously be even more careful to expose the human figures of the period, and be even more attentive to the literary winds forming in the swath of history, thought, and poetry. In just the media transmissions of the age, if research becomes a mere rehashing of piles and piles of historical documentation and critical pursuit of harsh factoids, this will be no different than taking fully living humans and transforming them into freezing dead bodies. This is also our primary reason for willingly writing under the summative title of “Journalism and Communication in the Civilization of the Tang,” and not under “The History of Tang Communications.” We do not dare to thirst after the standard of “Great historiographers are all great thinkers, and simultaneously are all great literary authors,”28 for we merely wish that we can represent the media transmissions of Tang as a lively staged performance—that we can afford the period’s many scenes of effervescent and outpouring poeticized transmissions, heretofore lost unto history, with a rightfully truthful, beautiful, and good account. In a word, our guiding star is “to reanimate” and not “to represent” a historical picture of news and media transmission.

1

INTRODUCTION

15

Above, we went from the large to the small, from the empty to the substantive, from this to that, from the exterior to the interior, step by step explaining the broad scope of the academic topic, “Journalism and Communication in the Civilization of the Tang.” As aforementioned, this is still a young field in need of further development, with a plethora of unknowns, and a great number of knowns that are not necessarily clear. We hope to take an overview of the entire scene, slicing away the branches to examine the trunk, saying all that should be said, but due to all sorts of objective limitations, the making or breaking of this goal will be difficult in and of itself. The Early Qing classicist Gu Yanwu, in the self-preface to his Records of Daily Gains in Knowledge (Rizhilu), cited a reply letter he once wrote: I often say that the texts of today are compiled in the same way the people of today cast coins. The ancients took bronze from the mountains, yet the people of today purchase old currency, call it scrap metal, and use it to supplement today’s recasting. What is cast, then, is not only a heinous coinage, but is also a garish bastardization of ancient treasures; these treasures are not saved for later generations, and is it not the case that both the new and old are simultaneously lost? In regards to the few volumes of articles that constitute this Records of Daily Gains in Knowledge, it can be anticipated to perhaps be a kind of collection of recast scrap metal, one that the humbly undersigned comes to give another record to, a record of mornings and nights of recitation and reading, of a pursuit of actualities, contained in a mere ten or so volumes, and can only hope to perhaps provide a few “mountain bronzes.”

It is our wish that we can provide less by the way of “recast scrap metal,” and more by way of “mountain bronzes.”

Notes 1. The Encyclopedia of China, “Chinese History” (Abridged). Beijing: The Chinese Encyclopedia Publishing Company, 1994, p. 705. 2. Author’s note: after World War II. 3. Translator’s note: from Wang Wei, Written While Approaching the Palace One Morning with Jia (He jiasheren zaochao daminggong zhizuo). 4. Translator’s note: from New Book of the Tang: Biography of Rengui Xue. 5. Translator’s note: from Du Fu, Upon Hearing the Army Had Overtaken Henan and Hebei (Wen guanjun shou henan hebei). 6. Translator’s note: from Liu Yuxi, To Bai Juyi, Upon Our First Meeting in Yangzhou (Chou letian Yangzhou chufeng xishang jianzeng). 7. Translator’s note: The author here compares two phrases, fan-chen-ko-chü 藩镇 割据 in ancient China and the Northern Warlords 北洋军阀 (1912–1927). The former refers to a phenomenon appearing in the early Tang wherein military leaders of lower levels did not particularly follow orders from up above, thereby causing decentralized military power to essentially overtake central government command in terms of executive efficiency for a period of time. Beiyang junfa

16

B. LI

8.

9.

10. 11.

12.

13. 14.

15. 16.

17.

18. 19. 20.

21.

refers to the scattering of military and political power across different regions during China’s Republican period (1912–1949) following the death of Shikai Yuan 袁世凯 (1859–1916). While both of these events are similar in nature, they cannot be said to have a causal relationship, which is what the author is pointing out as an unrealistic statement. See Zhu Chuanyu, Collected Papers on the Communication of the Pre-Qin, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing Periods. Taipei: Taiwan Commercial Press, 1998. Furthermore, Huang Zhuoming’s, Investigation into the Origin of Ancient Chinese Newspaper also has related information on both the Kaiyuan miscellaneous reports and the Tang dynasty palace reports. Beijing: People’s Daily Press, 1983. Fang Hanqi, “Upon Reading ‘Investigation into Kaiyuan Tsa-pao’,” Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication. Beijing: China People’s Publishing, 1985. See Towards the Journalism and Communication in the 21st Century. Guangzhou: Jinan University Publishing, 1996. Zhu Chuanyu once said: “The so-called ‘Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports’ are merely unsorted news letters from the Tang Dynasty Kaiyuan period, and the appearance of the word ‘reports’ pao 报 should actually be understood as a verb, not a proper noun.” See Collected Papers on Pre-Qin, Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing Dynasty Media Transmission. Taipei: Taiwan Commercial Printing, 1998. Forward, 1, and 111. See Fu Xuancong, Investigations Based on Poets of the Tang. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1980; Papers in Memoriam for Mr. Xiang Da. Urumqi: People’s Publishing of Xinjiang, 1996. See Yenching Academy History Bulletin, 1(5). Tongdian (Volume No. 172): “(At the outset of the Tianbao Reign period), the empire’s region reached Anle Protectorate to the East, Anxi Protectorate to the West, Rinan to the South, and Danyu Protectorate to the North. The North–South spread was like that of the heights of Han, and while the Eastern extents were not quite as far, the Western holdings were much greater.” Tongdian (Volume No. 7), “The Rises and Falls of Great Dynastic Cities.” “Contact” here is used in the Marxist sense, summarized by Chen Lidan: “It indicates personal, social groupings, ethnic, and national contact in the psychological and material sense. This is essentially a macroscopic social concept.” see Chen Lidan, Psychological Contact. Beijing: Kaiming Publishing, 1993, p. 2. Zhang Ruyu of the Southern Song, in the geographical section (61st volume) of Inspections at Mountain Hall, listed various “Crazes of Eras”: “The Western Han was a craze of classicism, the Eastern Han that of reputation; the Jin saw a craze of superficiality,” and the Tang was a craze of “noble writings.” For further information on this incident, see Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 231): First Year of the Dezong Xingyuan. Cartes, The Invention of Printing in China and Its Western Transmission. Wu Zeyan, trans. 70. See Leften Stavros Stavrianos, A Global History: From Prehistory to the 21st Century. trans. Wu Xiangying, Liang Chizu. Shanghai: Shanghai Social Sciences University Press, 1992. See Shao Jian, Crisis in “The Culture of Meaning” in the West [J]. Orient, 1996(6).

1

INTRODUCTION

17

22. Chen Lidan, Psychological Contact, 528. 23. Complete Works of Marx-Engels (First Chinese version), volume 9. Beijing: People’s Publishing, 110. 24. Collected Historiography Papers of Li Dazhao. Shijiazhuang: Hebei People’s Publishing, 1984, pp. 197–198. 25. Marc Bloch [French], 1992, trans. Zhang Hesheng, Cheng Yu, The Historian’s Craft. Shanghai: Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Publisher, p. 23. 26. Translator’s note: this is a famous phrase by China’s so-called earliest historian Sima Qian in his manifesto-like note about historiography (see Sima Qian’s Letter to Ren’an). The word heaven here refers to t‘ien (天), a character that around turn-of-the-millennium China referred primarily to an all-powerful and fundamentally abstracted great creator, but is ontologically distinct from Western notions of “Heaven” or “God.” The following three quotes have the same source of Letter to Ren’an. 27. Bai Shouyi, ed. General Chinese History. Shanghai: People’s Publishing, 1989. 28. See Bai Shouyi’s, Organizing Ancient Documents and the Compilation of History.

CHAPTER 2

Capital Liaison Office and Ancient Postal System

Part I In the official network of Tang Dynasty’s communications, entry into chintsouyüen (jinzouyuan进奏院), refering to the liaison office established by the local government in capital, is a particularly well-researched spot of media history. This is mostly because professionals tend to agree that the oldest newspapers in China can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. Furthermore, “the birth and development of Tang newspapers was closely related both to official matters and frontier commands” (Fang Hanqi et al. 1992: 34). According to textual research and confirmation by Fang Hanqi, the oldest surviving newspaper is in fact from the Tang Guiyi Army’s Capital Liaison Office.1 Such is the case that the Tang capital liaison office holds a noticeably important place in the history of Chinese news communication, and one could even say that speaking from a certain angle, its features played a decisive role in determining the features of the most primitive newspaper in both China and the world. What, then, were the particular features of this Tang provincial court? Regrettably, the origin and development of the capital liaison office, as well as its specific mechanisms, have not yet been wholly clarified by media historians; things have been mentioned in passing, but not with particular clarity, and not without confusing contradictions. We must therefore conduct close analysis of this question, with hopes of clearly sketching out the capital liaison office’s “real face of Lu Mountain.”

© The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_2

19

20

B. LI

Origins of Chin-Tsou-Yüen (Capital Liaison Office) It should be noted, documentation from before and after the Tang has not left much by way of descriptions of the capital Liaison office, seemingly as if the historians of the day were being stingy with their ink and unwilling to verbosely profuse about it. This comes as no surprise, for as the editor mentioned in The Cambridge History of China: Sui and Tang China in a discussion of the “problem of historical records,” many of the activities considered by modern historians to be of utmost importance “were simply let go by historians of the day, either because these activities were seen to be too pedestrian, or that they did not hold direct enough relation to the standard of history at the time” (Denis Twitchett 1979, 1990: 48). The resource currently available providing a relatively complete recounting of the Tang’s liaison office in capital is Liu Zongyuan’s oft-cited “Records of Bin’ning Liaison Office.” “Binning” refers to the Binning Area Special Commander, an official post set up in the fourth year following the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming or Anshi Rebellion (the second year of Tang Xiaozong’s reign, or 759). That year, in the first month after the Spring festival, Shi Siming declared himself the Great Sagacious Emperor Yan at Weizhou in Hebei province; by the third lunar month, Guo Ziyi and other Ninth Rank officials attacked Shi Siming with forces 60,000 strong at Xiangzhou (modern-day Anyang, Henan Provence); unable to predict certain failure an army does not make, and imminent victory suddenly turned to imminent loss. Precisely at during this pivotal battle, “In the sixth month, the post of Special Area Commander for Binning and the rest of the Nine States (Tang China) were established.”2 Binning’s control area was roughly analogous to the area between modern-day Northern Xi’an to Yan’an, and its capital liaison office was located on Xuanyang Alley within the city walls of Chang’an. Liu Zongyuan’s “Record of Binning Liaison Office” provides the following description of the capital liaison office’s origins and functions: All sovereign states would as a matter of course have a building in the Capital, presented to the court as a way of maintaining appearances, and realistically functioning as a hub for foreign affairs. In the Rites of Zhou, it was called an i (yi驿 in Chinese, post office), which would provide basic accommodations; by the Han, it was the ti (di, 邸liaison office), or Liaison Hostel, a place to stay when being called upon by the imperial palace. The Tang’s rose due to this, and thereby prepared the capital liaison office. It was a place for governmental affairs, rituals, and memorials to the emperor…… visitors would be invited in as diplomats, rushing in bearing seals to see the emperor, or ready to present suspicious complaints to ministers, or seeking head officials to air political woes; various lower-level ministers would then run about as if they constituted a winding stream, all to make these political affairs run more smoothly. Everything of this was embodied by the central sector, which had a startling rate of efficiency. Those leading the Office were bound to have control over some number of housing units, the freedom to enter the palace, and thereby had direct access lines to both inner and outer affairs.3

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

21

What we can gleam from this paragraph is that people from all over preparing to appear before the emperor would need a place to live, such that preparing oneself for such an appearance would be convenient, and further have an equally convenient gathering place. In times of Zhou, this place was referred to as i (fiefdom, the pronunciation but different character and meaning); in the Han, it was ti, or the Liaison Hostel; and by the Tang, it was the capital liaison office. Capital liaison office workers received diplomats from all over, carrying various memorials to see the emperor, or bearing various concerns to address to related departments, and ultimately communicating with all sides in order to have things run more smoothly in the court. The majority of those wishing to display their talent in the capital would have to go through this channel. Those serving as officials in the capital liaison office would definitely have an opportunity to enter the palace and pay respects to the emperor, thereby having a chance to become familiarized with both inner and outer affairs. Liu Zongyuan’s simple yet masterful depiction of the capital liaison office causes us at once to allay doubt. However, with regards to the Office’s origins, he merely described it as arising from the fiefdoms of Zhou and the liaison hostels of Han. This kind of comparison is clearly convenient to understand the general function of the Office, but is not much more than comparing it to a modern-day foreign affairs bureau, leaving us with nothing more than a highly generalized understanding of the responsibilities of Office officials. The origins of the capital liaison office, which arose in the mid- to late Tang, could perhaps be approached by looking at the position of Territorial Representative known as ch’ao-chi-shih (chaojishi朝集使), which arose early in the dynasty.4 Territorial Representative was not a commonly used official position, but was instead a temporary appellation for short-term adjusted postings when necessary. In this respect, the Tang Dynasty inherited the practice of the Sui Dynasty, wherein at a given point each year, officials at the Prefectural level and above, such as Area Commander known as tu-tu (dudu都督) and Government Censor known as tz’u-shih (cishi刺史), would be obligated to make a trip into the capital city; during their time in the capital city and away from border areas, they were referred to as Territorial Representatives. Supposing a certain area encountered natural disaster or militaristic outbreak, the residing official would not need to make the trip to the capital personally, but rather had the option to send an aide in his place to serve as the Territorial Representative. The Volume No. 24, “Receiving Imperial Invitation,” of the History of Laws and Institutions of the Tang (Tanghuiyao) states, “Imperial decree, eighteenth year (of Kaiyuan), eleventh month: Ling, Sheng, Liang, etc.……these fiftynine states are to be treated as border states; Yang, Yi, You, etc.…… these twelve areas are to be considered major states. Regional Commanders and Censors are not to be considered strictly as Territorial Representatives.” The responsibility of Territorial Representatives was “to give their superiors oversight reports, collect taxes, and receive imperial orders.”5 Their specific daily itinerary is clearly stated in the General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian):

22

B. LI

All of those who are Territorial Representatives will report to the city during the twenty-fifth day of the tenth month. On the first day of the eleventh month, they will meet the court functionaries in Shang-shu Division (one of three leading organs of the central government of the Tang), and gather in Kaotang to deal with examination and grades.

It was particularly on the first day of the new year that the Emperor would gather all those that served him, in a quite serious ceremony called the “New Year’s Day Gathering.” This ceremony was the climax of ministerial events that Territorial Representatives were expected to attend. After this, those gathered could pack their belongings and return to their respective residences. It appears that Territorial Representatives would stay in the capital city for a period as long as two months.6 Where they would reside during this period naturally became a question in need of an answer. At the beginning of the Tang empire, due to numerous reconstruction projects, there were many forms of transportation that were not anywhere near complete, a variety of laws and regulations were still in their early periods of development, those visiting the capital had no official residence to speak of, and could therefore only rent places temporarily among all sorts of commoners. General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian) states: At the beginning of the year, numerous officials would gather in the capital; these were the so-called ‘territorial representatives,’ otherwise known as ‘oversight commissioners.’ There is no official residence in the capital, one must live among the merchants and commoners.7

As far as high-level imperial officials are concerned, this was an awkward situation. For Territorial Representatives on official business, it was certainly an inconvenience. Speaking directly of this problem, Emperor Taizong of the Tang once said to his officials, “In ancient times, those visiting the imperial palace had room and board, and furthermore one hundred carts of grain as gift. The House of Han constructed an official residence for those visiting the capital from outer territories. I have heard that these days, visiting officials live amongst shopkeepers and commoners when they come to the capital. This is lacking in due respect, and must cause many grievances.”8 Emperor Taizong here takes the i (post station or office) of pre-Qin and the ti (liaison office) of the Han Dynasty as precedent, and naturally finds the phenomenon of cohabitation among high-ranking officials and merchants to be unbearable. Then, in the tenth month of the seventeenth year of the Zhenguan period (643), Li Shimin, the then emperor, made a declaration: “Three hundred official residences shall be made from existing addresses, to be given to Territorial Representatives visiting the capital.”9 After construction was complete, Li Shimin even took personal oversight. At the time, there were 358 residences of similar nature across the entire country, such that these new 300 addresses

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

23

were of similar number, that is, roughly one residence to one territory. Territory officials would thereby have a specific place to stay while they resided in the capital. We can properly call these places the Capital Affairs Office of each territory. However, the good weather did not last long, for before even half a century had passed, in the first year of Gaozong’s Yongchun reign period (682), due to “widespread hunger in the capital, the offices of the various territories slowly deteriorated.”10 By the first year Zhongzong’s Shenlong reign period (705), capital officials were already sending in remonstrations that begged the emperor to sell and convert the Capital Affairs Offices,11 as if the Territorial Representatives were completely disposable. Chang’an and Many Capital Liaison Offices In the thirteenth year of Emperor Xuanzong’s Tianbao reign (754), the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming broke out. This was particularly noticeable among the groundbreaking events of the mid-Tang, and split the history of the very dynasty itself into two halves. From this, the struggle that occurred between the central government and its territories, the palace and its frontier commands, became the main line of history characterizing the latter half of the Tang. Precisely due to this violent fall of central power, the often respectful and meticulous territorial representatives quietly lost relevance,12 and its replacement, the capital liaison office, or “the office stationed in the Chang’an Capital for handling the affairs of Zhudao Encampment and Zhili Provence during the Tang and Five Dynasties,” as otherwise defined.13 The capital liaison office appeared roughly during the chaos surrounding the reigns of Emperor Suzong and Emperor Daizong. Its earliest form is already unknowable, but was most likely a point of stability during the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming (AnShi Rebellion), formulated by some key military organizations, such as Guo Ziyi’s Shuofang Army and Li Guangbi’s Hedong Army, primarily in order to strengthen the relationship between the central government and outlying areas, as well as being an outpost for coping with sudden outbreaks of unrest; it was thereby referred to as the “Superior Contact Center.”14 By the fifth month of the twelfth year of the Dali period of Emperor Daizong’s reign (777), it was proclaimed that “All the official service centers currently called ‘capital outposts’ shall change their names to ‘Capital Liaison Office’.”15 This is the official establishment of the capital liaison office. Responsible for all the capital liaison offices were usually leaders under the command of various military commissioners, and were termed Liaison Officials.16 The earliest documentation I have seen regarding this position comes from Guo Ziyi’s “Text of Ritual for Empress Zhenyi.” Zhenyi was a beloved consort of Daizong, and passed away in the tenth year of the Dali reign period. “Calmly recalling Empress Zhenyi, coffin resting in the Inner Palace, year after year never leaving the palace, buried in the tenth month of the tenth year (of Dali).”17 The year directly following her burial, the name of the Superior Contact Office was

24

B. LI

changed to the Superior Capital Liaison Office. Guo Ziyi in this text refers to “Superior Liaison Official Fu Tao,” which is most likely the first-ever position recorded in the Liaison Office.18 As the “communicative device between frontier commands and the imperial palace” (Huang Zhuoming 1983: 30), the Tang Capital Liaison Office not only appeared alongside the rising power of militarized protectorates, it further changed with the development of said protectorates. By the opening of the ninth century, the number of military commissioners across the nation had already risen to forty-eight,19 and the number of capital liaison offices had risen as well to a comparable number. Based on records from Cities and Workshops of the Two Capitals of Tang, Expanded Edition by the Qing Dynasty scholar Xu Song (expanded by the more recent Li Jianchao), there were fiftythree capital liaison offices in Tang Dynasty Chang’an, their specifics described by Table 2.1. Based on Table 2.1, it is not hard to see that roughly two-thirds of the capital liaison offices were centered in Chongren Residential Block and Pingkang Residential Block, with Chongren Residential Block’s twenty-three Table 2.1 List of capital liaison offices (Chin-tsou-yüen进奏院) in Chang’an Fang 坊 or residential block

Capital liaison office

Wuben Fang

Capital Liaison Office of Xichuan; Qizhou Capital Liaison Office of Xingyuan; Fufang; Yiding Capital Liaison Office of Zhenzhou Capital Liaison Office of Zhenzhou; Chenxu; Hunan Capital Liaison Office of Hedu; Henan; Shang; Ru; Dian; Ziqing; Huainan; Yanzhou; Taiyuan; Youzhou; Yanzhou; Fengzhou; Cangzhou; Tiande; Jingnan; Xuanshe; Jiangxi; Fujian; Guang; Gui; Annan; Yongzhou; Qiannan Capital Liaison Office of Tonghua; Hezhong; Heyang; Xiang; Xu; Wei; Jingyuan; Lingwu; Xiazhou; Zhaoyi; Zhexidong; Rongzhou Capital Liaison Office of Binning; Dongchuan; Zhenwu; Ezhou Capital Liaison Office of Shanfu; Zheng; Hua Capital Liaison Office of Dongping Capital Liaison Office of Jinzhou

Chongyi Fang Changxing Fang Yongxing Fang Chongren Fang

Pingkang Fang

Xuanyang Fang Shengye Fang Daozheng Fang Daozheng Fang

Number

Page

2

62

3

64

1 3

66 83

23

87

12

91

4

95

3

122

1 1

143 150

Source of data Compiled based on Revised and Enlarged Edition of Research on Fang of the Two Capitals of the Tang (Zengding Tang liangjing chengfang kao), Xi’an: Sanqin Publishing House, 1996

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

25

offices being especially noticeable. The arrangement of this situation is not an accidental occurrence. In order to address this question, it will be helpful to first discuss Chang’an as it existed in the Tang Dynasty. Chang’an is the first of the “Five Capitals” of Tang,20 and was the empire’s political, economic, and cultural center, overflowing with treasures and talents. The overall arrangement of Chang’an was thoroughly systematic, oriented generally facing South, in keeping with imperial flavor. The imperial palace was situated at the northernmost point. This creates an interesting comparison with the centrally located imperial palaces of the Ming and Qing dynasties: one is relatively open and vibrant, the other, rather closed off and constrained, the cultural attitudes present offering considerable food for thought. The imperial palace of Tang times was composed of two sectors, the slightly southern imperial city and the more northern imperial palace. The imperial city was primarily composed of various departments, such as the department of state affairs, described by The Six Statutes of the Tang as “the hundred government offices spill about within.” The imperial palace was the primary area of activity for the emperor and his consorts, its principal subject being the Taiji Palace, or what people of the Tang commonly referred to as “Inner West” or “The Big Interior,” whose northern Xuanwu Gate was precisely where Li Shimin put into action his Xuanwu Army military activities. Other than the Taiji Palace, the so-called “Inner East” Daming Palace was situated on the Northeast Longshou plane. This was where the emperor would associate with his various ministers and handle governmental affairs. The organization of highest power, the Chung-shu Division (中书省one of three leading organs of the Tang government) and its related departments, was situated here—which is to say, the high ministers of the Tang dynasty undertook their business affairs at the Inner East. The Daming Palace was often referred to as the political center of the Tang empire. There was also the Xingqing Palace, or “Inner South” situated South of the Daming Palace and East of the Imperial city. It was originally the place of residence for Emperor Xuanzong and his brothers when he was just a prince, sometimes called “Home of the Five Princes.” Xuanzong continued to live here even after he became the crown prince, and in the early years of the Kaiyuan period, ordered that it be expanded into the later Xingqing palace. The three “Big Interiors” were arranged as such in triadic fashion. Just as Liu Zongyuan’s “Records of Bin’ning Liaison Office” reads: “Passing through the palace gate, one seems to ascend to heavenly clarity; gazing upwards, one will admire the majesty of the monarch and understand what happens inside and outside.” The three major residential areas in Chang’an, involving inner and outer skirts, are collectively referred to as Outer City District, which, under unified design, is neatly divided into 108 (possibly 109) small residential blocks, with eastern and western markets arranged inside. With the Zhuque Gate located in the middle part of the imperial city as the starting point, the Zhuque Gate Avenue, like a medial axis, bisects the Chang’an City into two parts in eastern and western directions. But the eastern part is affiliated to the Wannian County

26

B. LI

while the western part is part of the Chang’an County. And the two are under the unified jurisdiction of the Government Office of Capital known as ching-chao-fu (jinzhaofu京兆府) the name of government office of mayor in the capital. Within the city, the fourteen streets to the south and the north constitute a vertical crossing with another eleven streets, cutting the whole city into an array of independent but interconnected residential blocks, of which two are occupied by eastern and western markets. The so-called “residential blocks” are called fang in ancient China, referring to the basic residential areas inside the Chang’an City. Hundreds of thousands of Chang’an residents, including officials, craftsmen, ordinary people and businessmen and others are sporadically living in these some hundred residential blocks, except for royal families and their servants who specially live in the imperial palace. Each residential block is surrounded by tall walls on four sides and the four has its own gate on every side. The gates are open in the early morning and close at night and the policy of curfew is carried out through the city. Inside the residential blocks lay a quite wide crisscross alley leading to four major gates, and within the alley run many paths separating every residential block into dozens of areas lined with prince mansions, government offices, temples and monasteries as well as shops. Generally speaking, dignitaries, scholars, and celebrities love to reside in the vicinity of imperial city and markets (eastern and western). Of more appealing to these residents than others is Wannian County in the Eastern District. After sorting out the basic layout of Chang’an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, we can understand the feature of chin-tsou-yüen (capital liaison office) more easily. According to the map of Chang’an City in the Tang Dynasty, it is thus found that residential blocks of the capital liaison office are distributed in the Eastern District and are situated near the three major residential areas of Chang’an (leading to a layout of three besieged areas). More importantly, most of residential blocks of the capital liaison office are located in Chongren Residential Block, just between the two besieged areas of the three. And more specifically, it is located between the imperial city and the major southern residential area. From the north, it is separated by three residential divisions, just in counterpoint to the front part of the major eastern residential area. And from the south, it is followed by Pingkang Residential Block, a place with many whorehouses,21 and Xuanyang Residential Block. Given the number of the capital liaison office, the two major residential blocks rank the second and the third, respectively. On the east side of the two residential blocks is the Eastern Market, the most prosperous business street in Chang’an, equivalent to today’s Wangfujing in Beijing. It is no wonder that “those alternate court officials want to stop by for a longer time even though they have no permanent mansions in the capital because here a street thronged with people outweigh two markets, with clamors ringing day and night and candles lit through the whole street. So no other residential block can stand a comparison with it.”22 In the same situation, it is not surprising that two-thirds of the

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

27

capital liaison offices are concentrated in the Chongren Residential Block. As we know, the capital offices, representing the needs of local prefectures, keep in touch with the central government of the country in the capital. Also, as the permanent agencies set up by local prefectures in the capital, the capital offices are engaged in official business, but they have necessary demand for life and living. So is there any other residential division more convenient and suitable, and more importantly, closer to the imperial court and the bustling market than Chongren Residential Block? The answer is self-evident. For officials from the liaison offices, such a place can help them deal with others with ease and in a smooth way. By the way, Zhang Yichao, Governor of Guiyi Military Region (Prefecture), later came to the capital to assume his new post and was honored with a mansion decreed by the court, which was spotted in the Pingkang Residential Block (Also see Volume No. 3 of Investigations Based on Two Capitals of the Tang Dynasty). However, the street residential sites where Guiyi Army later went unnoticed. Based upon this situation, it can be inferred that these fifty-three liaison offices found recorded in the “List of details of liaison offices in the capital of the Tang” do not reach the total number, but it merely speaks most about the total number of residential blocks that can be investigated now. Of course, the actual number should be close to the List. A Sketch About Officials from the Capital Liaison Offices As for the function of the liaison offices in the Tang Dynasty, Zhai Tuiyuan, an expert of the Tang history, once generalized it from the followings (1980: 156): Known as fan-chen (fanzhen藩镇), local military governors, under the Tang system, should set up their liaison offices in the capital, allowing an official from the liaison office to perform the duty of sending official documents to the court and report the news to it. This position is similar to the official called t’i-t’ang (titang提塘) sent by local military commander to the capital during the Ming and the Qing periods. But the initial name of chin-tsou-yüen is liuhou-yüen (liuhouyuan留候院), alternate military officer office, with the major general in charge of it so that he can report the fact directly to the emperor. In this sense, a t’i-t’ang official is a low-rank government post, which is by no means parallel to an official from the liaison office.

Mr. Fang Hanqi, an authoritative expert of the history of news, has further made explanations (1992: 37): A chin-tsou-yüen, as the liaison office representing the local prefecture, is not only responsible for submitting the memorial to the higher government office and conveying specific documents to its local prefecture while tackling various matters of consulting with, reporting to, communicating with and engaging many departments of the central government, but responsible for getting, gathering and reporting political news of all kinds for its local prefecture.

28

B. LI

Next, we come to investigate the daily affairs of chin-tsou-yüen by focusing on officials from the liaison office. As we have said before, it is the official from the capital liaison office who assumes the overriding duty of dealing with daily things of this liaison office. The post of the official is decided by the local military governor who mostly selects his relatives or familiar friends to grab the position, so “such an official is just responsible for his boss commander or a senior official in local military prefecture, without being governed by the court” (ibid.: 37). Knowing the situation of local military governors in the Tang Dynasty going from strength to strength and administrating all affairs of the region on their own, we also find it clearer that the separatist power of dominating a region is like an independent kingdom, with each going their own way. Therefore, for this kind of historical fact, similar situations in the following strike us as unsurprising to some degrees. In 889, the first year of Longji, the reigning title of Emperor Zhaozong, Zhu Quanzhong, also Zhu Quanwen, Governor of Xuanwu Military Region (Prefecture), attempted to wield its strong power to control all and feared no one in the world. In less than half a year after he was promoted to the title of Prince of Dongping, he, with great rapacity, asked for the good position of Minister of Salt and Iron from the court, resulting in the absolute rejection from Liu Wei, a senior official who often braved all evil practices and wished to strengthen the court discipline. Liu said to the liaison office official of Xuanwu very sternly: “If your governor assumes this post, he will certainly seek military operations.”23 Very obviously, he said that completely in a very serious tone, which seems to show two countries will immediately fight in the battlefield. From the standpoint of communication, these liaison offices with names such as liu-hou- yüen or chin-tsou-yüen have the function of reporting news to others—in other words, reporting relevant important matters to the court and conveying the message to the local prefectures. The former case is seen above when Zhu Quanzhong requested the post of Minister of Salt and Iron, whereas the latter case is often found in the recordings of historical books. For example, in 903, the third year of Tianfu, another reign title of Emperor Zhaozong, Zhu Quanzhong, whose soldiers stationed in Kaifeng, was ready to launch an attack against Wang Shifan, Head of Ziqing County of Shandong, yet afraid that his old enemy Li Keyong, a Shanxi-based warlord, attacked his rear wing. Then he designed a trick. He deliberately released the news in Chang’an that he had no big animosity with Li Keyong, hoping that the court could treat him well. In this way, he uttered such words with a consoling way and a seemingly conciliatory attitude. Through this political trick, Zhu sent this news to Shanxi with the help of his capital liaison official, but Li quickly saw through this trick with his cunning wisdom, smiling sneeringly, “Such sly enemy wants to send troops to attack Ziqing County, so his good words just justify the fact that I should not attack him in the rear.”24 As the Tang court declines and local military governors rise increasingly, the image of officials from capital liaison offices started to change from one of

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

29

according with the law and order to one of acting with an aggressive air. For instance, in 785, the first year of Zhengyuan, the reigning title of Emperor Dezong of the Tang, when the court began to allow local military prefectures to set up liaison offices in the capital, Li Qin, a senior official who has served the court for three generations, once called on “those officials and escorts of the capital liaison office from Shaanzhou (present Shaanxi) who stayed in Chang’an, to engage in a conversation”25 before he rode a horse to put down rebels in Shaanzhou. This atmosphere is like a press conference held by the State Council of China today. After less than a century went by, in 833, the seventh year of Taihe, the reigning title of Emperor Wengzong of the Tang, when Lu Long, the Commander and Yang Zhicheng, chien-chiao (jianjiao检 校, the name of a honorable post title) Minister of Ministry of Works, was appointed as chien-chiao Minister of Ministry of Officials (at that time, the Minister of Officials enjoyed the highest status among the six ministers of ministries), Xu Di, then an official of the capital liaison office, met the Prime Minister with an overbearing air, saying arrogantly that “the army did not know the rule of the court but know that the name of shang-shu (尚书one of leading officials for managing six departments of the court from the Shangshu Division) was changed into the name of p’u-yeh (仆射, the name of leader of Shang-shu Division); they did not know the way the Minister of Ministry of Works was changed to the Minister of Ministry of Officials, and when the escort came, possibly someone would be detained.” These words mean that when the escort of declaring the decree comes, Lu Long will be detained. After hearing these flagrant words, the prime minister seems helpless and just turns a deaf ear to them. Hu Sansheng, the Historian of the Song period, wrote: “Xu Di takes such liberties to speak such words to the prime minister and places himself above others without any scruples.”26 But we can still see a worse situation. In November 900, the third year of Guanghua, the reigning title of Emperor Zhazong, senior eunuchs including Liu Jishu started a political coup in the palace, put the emperor in prison and issued a false imperial decree to ask the emperor’s very young successor to ascend to the throne. And among the core originators of this plot, Cheng Yan was an official of the capital liaison office sent by the Xuanwu Military Region (Prefecture) of Zhu Quanzhong. At this time, he (Cheng) “led a group of officials to bring Emperor Zhaozong to finish the ceremony of declaring the very young successor the new emperor.”27 At last, this coup soon failed and eunuchs involved were killed. But before this happened, Zhu Quanzhong called back his liaison official Cheng Yan, and after hearing Emperor Zhaozong restored his throne, he then “broke Cheng Yan’s leg and sent him to the capital.” After that, Cheng Yan, along with his accessories, was beheaded in Chang’an. Although this plot fails, the role of the capital liaison official in such a crisis is impressive. In many actions of removing and reestablishing the throne, the political coup led by Cheng Yan and other eunuchs is perhaps never seen before. From this point, clearly, a capital liaison official plays a significant role as a liaison representative.

30

B. LI

It is true that for officials from capital liaison offices, their power just means flaunting their powerful connections and force princes to threaten the emperor. So the more powerful local military governors get, the stronger the strength they gain—a reflection that is characterized by Governor Li Keyong’s liaison official from Hedong Military Region (Prefecture) and Governor Zhu Quanzhong’s liaison official from Xuanwu Military Region (Prefecture). Conversely, the weaker local military governors, the less important their right of speech—a situation that is marked by Zhang Huaishen, a liaison official from the Guiyi Military Region (Prefecture), who has failed to request the certificate of promotion from the court for more than a decade years. And when one military prefecture is declared as a rebellious region by the court, and it mobilized forces to suppress it, these liaison officials in the capital the military prefecture represents will be reduced to resentful enemies. For example, in 843, the third year of Huichang, the reigning title of Emperor Wuzong, the liaison official in the capital from Zhaoyi Military Region of Hebei was subjected to a similar bad consequence. In that period, a Japanese monk called Yuanren who lived as a permanent resident has provided a detailed description of such situation (1986: 174): Liu Congjian (in fact his son Liu Zhen), Governor of Lufu Military Region from Hebei, rose in rebellion, reorganized his armies from affiliated areas and gathered fifty thousand soldiers and horses, stood poised to attack Lufu. The liuhou-yüen, the early name of chin-tsou-yüen) of Lufu was located in the left street of Pingkang Residential Block in Chang’an. After the rebellion, the court sent armed soldiers to catch Jiang Sun, an official known as ya-ya (the name of official title) from Lufu in the capital, only to find that he ran away and disappeared. As a result, they had to capture his wife and sons and daughters and finally killed them. In the end, someone reported, “Jiang Sun already cut his hairs and hided himself in one of the capital temples”. Those who recently entered the temple and became a monk were caught without asking any reason. The ching-chao-fu (capital government office) brought these monks to his mansion and killed over three hundred people.

Of many events connected with capital liaison office in the Tang Dynasty, the most famous is a failed riot from Li Shidao’s liaison office of Eastern Capital of the Tang. Li Shidao is a military commander from Ziqing who sets up a liaison office in Luoyang, one of few liaison offices of Eastern Capital, situated in Xingjiao Residential Block,28 at the southern end of the city, near Yishui River and a high mountain. It can be inferred that this liaison office in the capital, like other government offices, has no important function in Eastern Capital. If there had had no famous historical event, such liaison offices that Li Shidao set up in Luoyang would, very possibly, have disappeared without any trace in history. As for this event, there are many records from historical books. The following paragraph was from the Fifteenth Chapter of Chronicle of Emperor of Old History of the Tang Dynasty (Jiutangshu), which records the event of the tenth year of Yuanhe (815):

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

31

Li Shidao, Governor of Ziqing Military Prefecture, intrigued with a monk called Yuanjing in Mount Chongshan to launch a rebellion. They sent hundreds of warriors to hide somewhere in a liaison of Eastern Capital, prepared to set fire on the palaces in Luoyang so that they could loot as much as possible there when the city was defended by no armed soldiers. Yang Jin and Li Zaixing, both soldiers of low rank, reported to the local government about the rebellious event. Then the official Lv Yuanying brought troops to encircle these rebels, who yet broke away from the encirclement and ran to Chongyue Mountain, but people who lived there caught them. When they cross-examined these rebels to get the culprit, they were told that the leading rebel was that monk Yuanren. When he came close to being killed, Ruanren sighed: “You hold up my great plan, causing me not to massacre the city of Luoyang!”

Here, when we want to go further to talk about the role of chin-tsou-yüen, which interests us, it is a pity that the contents about this are lost by accident. And now what we know from this is that hundreds of soldiers are hidden in the liaison office, which shows that such office is remarkably big in size, and a common office has no match for it. Above, we have provided a rough overview of the origin, evolution, and function of capital liaison office in the Tang Dynasty. In general, this liaison office mechanism is originated from the system of local Territorial Representative (known as ch’ao-chi-shih, the name of official title) inspection in the early period of the Tang. From the beginning, “envoys had no offices in the capital,” and they lived with businessmen by renting a house. In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, the reigning title of Emperor Taizong of the Tang, “Emperor Taizong asked his officials to establish offices for these envoys.” After the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming, which broke out in 755, local military prefectures successively established liaison offices (then called liu-houyüen) in the capital. And in the twentieth year of Dali, the reigning title of Emperor Daizong, all these liaison offices were renamed as chin-tsou-yüen. According to existing investigations of this liaison office in the capital, the Tang Dynasty has fifty-three in the capital, and this is close to the final number. In addition, there are several liaison offices in Luoyang, including the liaison office of Ziqing. While these liaison offices report and disseminate news and information, they often interfere in political affairs and kick up trouble.29 As regards the special importance of this liaison office system for the history of news and communication, I will then mention about it.

Part II If we try to delineate the network of communication of the Tang Dynasty, it certainly relates to what we call “traffic.” For the circulation of information alone, what attracts us most about traffic is a complete system of i-ch’uan (yichuan驿传 in Chinese, a vast network of communication relating to postroad, post-horse, post-carriage, post-road, and so on).

32

B. LI

In his book On the History of Traffic in China (Zhonghua jiaotong shihua), Mr. Chen Hongyi (1992: 44) once wrote in a concise but profound way, “Traffic, in the final analysis, is the flow and exchange of people, materials and information.” For modern people, the function of information dissemination about traffic has no longer been obvious. This is because from the perspective of communication, traffic is about the extension of interpersonal communication or the direct way of communicating information between people. In a modern society where industries of information and media are highly developed, people can have easy access to a torrent of information through newspaper, magazine, radio and television as well as telephone and fax and emerging internet, saving the trouble of waiting aimlessly for the oral message from distant family members or relatives or friends. Many personal exchanges that reflect the chances to have face-to-face conversation have given way to modern medium of all kinds. But for ancient people, traffic is the mere form of allowing the information to circulate and spread. “Before mankind invents telegraph, the question of communication is basically equivalent to the question of traffic.” The obstruction of road and traffic do not necessarily mean the separation of persons and goods but also mean the cutoff of information. This is what we read from a poem: “Tomorrow mountains will again separate you and me, which makes me so lamentable about the world.” Here is a typical story in ancient China. “When the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming occurred, Tibetan groups living near Qinghai-Tibetan Mountains, after the army of the Tang Dynasty stationed in Longyou moved to the eastern region, took advantage of this opportunity to occupy Hexi Corridor, which lay in the west of the Yellow River, thus cutting off the contact between the court and the garrison. After five years, the court did not know about what happened about the western region, with the result that the garrison still used the old name, but the court already changed it. When the court was told through report that they repaid the country with their great sacrifice and had protected the western region for many years, people in the capital, high and low, broke out sobbing” (Yu Taishan 1992). The traffic network of the Tang Dynasty is a vast complex of various small systems, including roads, bridges, carriages and boats, hostels, and post station. And the one that is most connected with communication is about post-horsecouch-road system, which involves i-lu (yilu驿路, post-road), i-chan (yizhan驿 站, post station), i-tzu (yizu驿卒, post-soldier), i-ma (yima驿马, post-horse), yü-hsi (yuxi羽檄, military document) and fu-chieh (fujie符节, military certificate of seal), and other relevant aspects. The whole communication network of governments is supported by what we call i-ch’uan system. Carl Marx once defined the exchanges between Chinese emperors and their officials as “the mere spiritual connection between all segments of such big national machine (from Marx).” But the realistic basis that supports this connection is all about what a poem reads: “A station after another, post-soldiers come and go like the gathering of stars.” Thus, the post-horse-couch-road system is like a sophisticated neural transmission network, connecting the center (the court) with

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

33

its subordinated parts (all government organs) to form a “unified and big” pattern. I-Ch’uan System in History The so-called “i-ch’an system” is basically made up of road and hostel systems, two parts that are linked but different. The former part is marked by the traffic net line featuring the official road system. As the poem called Travel to Longxi from Wang Wei reads, “In ten miles a horse is changed, and five away a whip is up. A military letter is sent by escort, who reports that Jiuquan is encircled by Huns.” Like the “net knot” of i-ch’uan system, the latter (hostel) serves as a junction line, providing accommodations for related personnel who come and go for government affairs.30 In the book Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign (976–983) (Taiping guangji), an anecdote that occurred in the literary circle was recorded like this: When the Tang poet Liu Yuxi went to Gusu, he passed through Yangzhou. There Du Hongjian drunk heavily with Liu and returned to a nearby hostel. After he sobered up slowly, he saw two girls stay with him and then made him greatly surprised. They (girls)said: “Your lord, you discussed a poem with Mr. Liu by the table and he asked us to tend you.”31

Here “he returned to a hostel,” and the hostel refers to the hostel of the courier station. And that poem is written by Liu Yuxi, who creates the Chinese phrase “Si Kong Jian Guan,” which means “common occurrences.” The fourcharacter phrase comes from his poem: “Clad in the dress in vogue with hair in high buns, the girl, called Du Weiniang, plays a song in the spring breeze. Though it is a common occurrence, the song can break the heart of Suchow Censor hard.” In the post-horse-coach-road system, road and hostel are linked very closely, and this kind of connection was depicted in a poem written by the Tang poet Cen Shen, called See Mr. Li off at Houting to go for JinJiang: The post- road leading to Xiyuan extends to the city, And in Jiangting guests depart as rain still falls. You see the white clouds as the past in the Han Dynasty, When you try to stand on the Fenshui River banks,

Next, we talk about post-road before discussing the station hostel. In light of the i-ch’uan system of the Tang period, we might as well read two five-character poems. Seeing the courier I pluck the plum blossoms. I entrust him with them for my friend in Longshan. In south of Yangtze River I have no better gifts, So I send a plum flower to signal the coming of spring. —Lu Kai’s To Fan Ye

34

B. LI

Jade musical instrument is played day by day, So clear songs are new everyday. I pluck the blossoms along the road, Entrusting the courier with them for my friend in Longshan.32

The two poems are created by the Southern Dynasties period poet and the Tang period poet, respectively. It is clear that the meaning they convey is similar. But in addition to the artistic technique, we are more interested in the similarity and connection of historical contexts. As a matter of fact, the traffic system of post-road in the Tang Dynasty is evolved on the basis of the past dynasties. In an essay called Records of New Courier Station in Shangyuan in Chenliu County, Gao Shi, the poet and writer of the Tang Dynasty, summarized the abovementioned fact: In the Zhou Dynasty, the official (known as xingfu行夫) was in charge of things related to the post-horse and post-coach of sending letters and articles.

After careful consideration, the governance of post-horse and post-coach system in the Tang Dynasty can be traced back to the post system of the Western Zhou Dynasty. According to the book Hanfeizi, in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Duke Jiang Ziya in the State of Qi was ready to kill two “worthy men.” After hearing this news, the emperor of the Zhou immediately “rode a post-coach known as ch’eng-ch’uan (chengchuan乘传)” to stop this event happened in the State of Qi. Here “ch’uan” (chuan传) is actually what we call “i” (y i驿) in the following centuries. We can understand it based on the explanations of Yan Shigu: “‘Ch’uan’ is like today’s ‘i’ and past’s ‘coach’. And later the coach was equipped with a horse–finally called ‘i-ch’i’ (post-rider)” (from the Chapter of “Chronicle of Emperor Gaozu” of the Han History of the Former Han Dynasty annotated by Yan Shigu). In the Zhou Dynasty, the official who was responsible for vehicle and horse were called hsing-fu (xingfu行夫). He shuttled between the emperor and his dukes and princess and subordinated states in order to convey the information from governments. “Though difficult the delivery turns out to be, the thing still needs to be delivered as soon as possible” (from the Chapter of Qiguan of Rites of the Zhou). Hsing-fu conveyed the order to ask an escort to deliver the thing to another postman with horse; the difference between the two is that the former sends the thing by walk and the latter by horse. In the Chapter of Xiaoya of Book of Songs, here is a sentence, “The road of the Zhou Dynasty is flat as a grindstone and straight as an arrow.” And in the Chapter of Gongsun Chou of Mencius, the author said: “The popularity of virtuous policy is faster than the courier station conveying the political order.” It shows that at that time, the road was smooth and the courier fast. In the Zhou Dynasty, a story of the “Army marching for thirty li a day” was popular among the people. The story means that the troops will take thirty li (a Chinese distance unit, and one li equals five hundred meters) as a benchmark when they march toward the battlefield. And in turn, “thirty li” are also equal to one “she” according to

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

35

calculation; “she” means setting up the tents to sleep for a night. So there is a Chinese allusion involving a four-character phrase “tui bi san she” (thirty li to retreat). After people in the Zhou Dynasty adopted this system, later people followed suit. Because of this, past dynasties would identify the distance between two courier stations as thirty miles; and names such as ch’uan-she (chuanshe传舍, courier hostel), k’o-she (keshe客舍, guest hostel), and kuan-she (guanshe馆舍, station hostel) will emerge with the passage of time. Undoubtedly, it is the system of the Wei and Jin dynasties in the Southern Dynasties and the Northern Dynasties period regarding the post system that mostly produces a direct impact on the emergence of the system of post in the Tang Dynasty. The close connection between the two systems is vividly demonstrated in the two poems quoted above. The post-horse-coach-road system in the Southern Dynasties period is further developed and improved after the Qin and Han dynasties, with a prominent example shown in the system of river courier station emerging in the south, which appeared in the period of the Sate of Wu during the Three Kingdoms age, popularized in the Eastern and Western Jin dynasties and prospered in the following dynasties. In that period, when couriers delivered government documents or officials would go for a designated place to assume their post, they would mostly pass through water route. Besides, the network of post-road in the north is also very interconnected and smooth. Here I give an anecdote as follows: Chen Yuanda had a great aspiration when he was young. Liu Yuan tried to attract him to join him, but he rejected it. When Liu Yuan became the Prince of Han, he said to Chen, “Are you afraid of me?” Chen laughed, “I have heard the man for a long time, and he also holds a candid attitude towards me; I’m afraid after two or three days, the document of recruitment will certainly reach me”. In the evening, Liu Yuan came to recruit Chen.33

In 1972, a painted brick was unearthed from a grave that could be dated back to the Southern Dynasties and the Northern Dynasties periods in Jiayu Pass. On the brick a post-escort rode a red horse, with one hand holding the rope and another carrying official documents—a vivid manifest of this event in that time. When he related to the post-horse-coach-road system of the Later Zhao State, Cai Mo, the politician of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, said: The troops did not reach, but the noise remained for long. But when the enemy used post station to travel one thousand li a day and horses in Hebei, they could certainly come here.34

After he established the capital in Chang’an, Fu Jian, Emperor of the State of the Former Qin, created a post-horse-couch-road system that is stricter and more standardized with the help of his minister Wang Meng. From Chang’an to other prefectures, every one of ‘ting (pavilion-based stop)’ was twenty li in distance and every one of ‘yi (post station)’ was forty li in

36

B. LI

distance. Travelers travel on the journey and businessmen sell their products along the road.35

When he heard something about a monk called Jiumo luoshi (Kunarajiva) in the western region, the emperor gave the order to one of his generals: “If you catch the monk, use a ch’ih-i (chiyi弛驿, faster coach) to send him quickly back along the road.” Here “ch’ih-i (faster coach)” is different from “ch’engi (乘驿fast coach).” In terms of speed, the former is faster than the latter. On common occasions, people choose to use ch’eng-i, but on urgent occasions, they use ch’ih-i. In the period of the Northern Qi Dynasty, it decreed that through land travel, it was two hundred miles a day. One day, when Emperor Xuan found the Northern Zhou Dynasty, he “personally rode the horse, traveling three hundred miles.”36 This complete system developed in the periods of the Southern Dynasties and the Northern Dynasties is naturally inherited by the Sui Dynasty in a fitting way. This is not surprising at all because the process of the Sui Dynasty replacing the Northern Zhou Dynasty is ripe and natural. Then in 580, when Yang Jian, the first emperor of the Sui Dynasty, sent his bosom minister Wei Xiaokuan to take the place of Yuchi Jiong, an important minister and Governor of Xiangzhou, he easily took advantage of the post-horse-coach-road system of the Northern Zhou Dynasty to produce a comedy. But at that time, when he had known that Yang Jian would “go against the royal family of the Northern Zhou,” Yuchi Jiong was prepared to “send armed troops to suppress him.”37 On the journey, Wei Xiaokuan, after realizing the bad situation, beat a hasty retreat. In order to prevent the enemy from catching him, he came up with a plot (also see the above volume): Every time he reached a pavilion-based stop, he drove away all post-horses. And he said to the head of the station: “Duke of Shu (Yuchi Jiong) would pass by, you are quick to prepare the dish”. At this moment, Yuchi Jiong, together with his general and a troop of one hundred men riding on the horse, chased after Wei Xiaokuan. When they reached a courier station, they met a big banquet. After that, they saw no other horses and stopped to chase Wei. As a result, Wei Xiaokuan and Yi You were free.

Between the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, many are engaged in military affairs. In a period of more than thirty years from the establishment of the Sui by Yang Jian to the assassination of Yang Guang who succeeds to the throne of Yangjian, military operations occur unceasingly and the world is embroiled in strife and conflicts. In this context, personnel working in the post-horse-coach-road system are busy dealing with all kinds of military tasks. Opening the historical materials in this period, we can find that phrases like “ch’eng-i (fast coach)” and “ch’ih-i (faster coach)” are frequently shown before your eyes. For example:

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

37

In 584, a large tribe called Tuguhun from the northwestern region again attacked the borders, killing many innocent people in the western region. The court asked the general Helou Zigan to send armed soldiers to suppress them. Helou, by using a faster coach, reached the Hexi, with the written notification sent to nearby counties and prefectures in order to allow them to send soldiers for Helou. After soldiers from five regions were called up together, Helou led his men to enter the country of this tribe, leaving tens of thousands of people, men and women, dead. They came back after twenty days.38 In 590, Yang Jun, Prince of Qin, was the governor of Bingzhou and Wang Yun was his secretary. One day, Wang Yun went to the capital with the help of a faster coach, dead due to tiredness along the road, at the age of 68. With sadness, Emperor Gaozu (of the Sui) said to one of escorts: “Tell your prince, I told Zixiang (a polite name of Wang Yun) to come in a slow way, but why would he use a faster coach? You’ve killed my friend; don’t you need to explain to me? His words seemed full of grief.39 In 590, Emperor Wen of the Sui asked Yang Su, then an important minister, to come back to the court with a faster coach due to the fact that he stayed for years for military operations. Claiming that remaining enemies were still not killed and they would become future troubles, Yang again volunteered to complete this mission and finally used a fast coach to reach Huaiji.40 In 602, the court feared that Yang Chong, Prince of Shu, again made troubles. Then an imperial decree was sent to appoint Dugu Kai, Governor of Yuanzhou, as Governor of Yizhou to replace Yang Chong.41 ……

Chariots rumble and roll; horses whinny and neigh. On the post-road, wisps of smoke make travelers restless; sounds of hooves, like waves, ring near and afar. All these create many clamors and disturbances for transition period of the Sui and the Tang dynasties, a period that is in the midst of upheavals. Against this background, someone in ancient time even complains to the local government. For example, Zhi Yi, the founder of Tiantai Sect, once “appealed to the governor of Jiangdu, hoping two temples where senior monks were buried after death would not be disturbed by the noise caused by the personnel in courier station” (Denis Twitchett 1979: 116). However, he did not know that this kind of disturbance would come to a close. The fall of the Sui Dynasty started from a rebellious crisis led by Yang Xuangan. More importantly, the post-horse-coach-road system, as a systematic network, played a significant role in helping put down this sudden rebellion. In later years, this system was changed a lot as a result of the change of dynasties. In 613, the ninth year of Daye, the reigning title of Emperor Yang of the Sui, when the emperor personally fought hard in the battlefield in Gaoli, but unluckily, the official called Yang Xuangan who was responsible for army provisions sent his men to rebel against the court. Then in response to the call of Yang Xuangan, rebels came in flocks, causing chaos in the world. In a hurry, Emperor Yang ordered his generals including Yuwen Shu and Qu Tutong and others to send armed troops to eliminate the forces of Yang Xuangan.42 When this situation

38

B. LI

was going on, a general called Lai Huer who was prepared to attack Gaoli by water route from Pingrang came to rescue after he heard that Yang Xuangan attempted to attack the capital. Subsequently when he was ready to come back to the battlefield, the emperor asked Lai to be back with a faster coach.43 At the time when the world was chaotic because of frequent wars in the context of the development of ch’eng-ch‘uan (fast coach乘传) and ch’ih—ch’uan (faster coach弛传), the Tang Dynasty was born. I-ch’uan System of the Sui and the Tang Dynasties When he was ordered to visit borders, Wei Zheng, a meritorious minister who helped to found the Tang Dynasty, wrote a famous poem called Tell My Inner Feelings, which reflects his heroic and generous mind: In an age of many vying for the world, men should achieve a great cause by military engagement. Li Mi once rejected a good advice I offered, but my ambition thus never dies. Now I bring my resourcefulness to the emperor, accepting the order to visit the pass from the west. I take the chariot to summon Li Mi’s supporters to surrender, as General Zhong Jun voluntarily went to Nanyue for the King……

People are not unfamiliar with this poem and related stories, they do not certainly know that Wei Zheng goes to the pass by a fast coach. It is an event that happened in 618, the first year of Wude, the reigning title of Emperor Gaozu: Wei Zheng went with Li Mi to Chang’an, and the court did not know about it. When Wei requested the mission to inspect Shandong, the emperor appointed him as Secretary. Then he went to Liyang by a fast coach and conveyed the decree to one of Li Mi’s supporter called Xu Shijie and persuaded him to surrender at an early time.44

At last, Xu Shijie surrendered himself to the Tang. Later he was bestowed a royal family name “Li” (so his original family name Xu was changed into Li) and became a meritorious hero of founding the dynasty. But during the reign of Wu Zetian (Empress of Emperor Gaozong), owing to the fact that his descendents gathered forces in Gangzhou to overthrow the administration of Wu, their honor of using the family name Li was removed. In this crisis, Xu Jingye was the leader of rebellion; after failure, Xu was killed, and his head was taken by the post-horse to Luoyang.45 In the Tang Dynasty, the territory is vast, the spirit heroic, the culture prosperous and the influence profound. Its traffic network, including water and land, is extended across the country and beyond, which provides a solid foundation for the exchanges between people, the flows of goods and the communication of information. As Chen Hongyi said:

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

39

Besides national-level road lines, the Tang government also builds road networks at the local level, across the regions and counties. The pattern of roads connected with each other at all levels takes shape, forming a tremendous but dense road network. With water and land roads interconnected with one another, the Tang enjoys an unprecedented age where economy, culture and people-to-people exchanges are vibrant. “In the Prosperous Time during the Kaiyuan Reign, people don’t need to choose a lucky day to travel afar”—showing that the Tang has an advanced road network (Chen Hongyi: 150).

By contrast, the post-horse-coach-road system in the Tang Dynasty is also so great that people marvel at its convenience. In an essay called Records of Road Networks, Liu Zongyuan wrote: “The Tang has seven important road networks, with Chang’an as the center, like a radiating form, connecting all parts of the country.” “In the road, liaison escorts come and go all the time; personnel receive and entertain them all the day” (Denis Twitchett 1979). The road is not only flat and wide but is flanked by green trees; post-escorts come and go without things standing in their way. In every thirty li (a traditional Chinese unit of distance which is equal to around 500 meters), a post station is built along the post-road (Wang Hongzhi 1986). During the heydays of the Tang, there were 1639 stations in total, of which 260 water stations, 1297 land stations, and 86 stations of both land and water were included.46 When he was banished to a remote region, the great poet Li Bai traveled by water route. Known as the Immortal of Poem, he has easily produced famous poems which account for half of the total. At that time, when he was sent to a remote region, he was utterly disappointed at what happened to him. On the road, he wrote: “The sail of boat is rising with the wind, but I hope it floats more slowly” (To Bei Yin in the Western Border Station from Li Bai). Eventually, when he was released after amnesty, he enjoyed a happy mood, so he also wrote: “On banks apes’ cry never stops, when small boats pass by hills along the river.” Generally, water route station provides boats while land route station offers horses. As for the latter, the number of horses can be seen as follows: In terms of the number of post-horses in post station by land route, in the capital there are 75 horses in all stations; and according to the workload, the number of horses in others areas across the country is classified into six levels: 60, 45, 30, 18, 12, 8. For the number of post-horses in post station by water route, the number of boat involves 4, 3 and 2 according to the workload.47

In addition, every station is allocated to four hectares of farmland used to grow plants for feeding horses. The highest management organ of the post-horse-coach-road system in the Tang Dynasty is affiliated to the Ministry of Military Affairs, which is in charge of four organs, including the Department of War Ping-pu ((bingbu兵部), Department of Territory and Map Chih-fang (zhifang职方), Department of

40

B. LI

Coaches, Chariots, and Horses Chia-pu (jiabu驾部), and Department of Military Weapons K’u-pu (kubu库部). In the Department of Vehicles and Horses, an official known as lang-chung (langzhong郎中) acts as a leader with the fifth rank title; another official known as yüen-wai-lang (yuanwailang员外郎) is the deputy head with the sixth rank title; and other three low-rank officials known as chu-shih (zhushi主事) are assistants with the ninth rank title. Besides there are ten personnel (whose position known as ling-shih (lingshi令 史), twenty (whose position known as shu-ling-shih (shulingshi书令史)) and four (whose position known as chang-ku (zhanggu掌故)). Of all these officials, “lang-chung (shulingshi书令史) and yuanwailang are responsible for the country’s vehicles, carriages, chariots, courier stations, horse feeding and pasture, register of both public and private animals such as horse, cattle and other poultries as well as the condition and amount of these animals.”48 And the court arranges four road inspectors (i-hsün-kuan) (yixunguan驿巡 官) in courier hostels in local areas, who are responsible for a military official in charge of military defense and local head in every prefecture.49 In order to promote the work of these permanent offices, in the period of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong issued a decree to ask a high official of censorship to serve as road inspector. In 779, the fourteenth year of Dali, the reigning title of Emperor Daizong, the emperor officially asked the Censor known as yüshih (yushi御史) alone to manage road stations and hostels, and his post title was changed to Inspector of Road Stations and Hostels.50 But in the middle and late periods of the Tang, because eunuchs obtained more power, they did what they thought right by wielding their power. In the late eighth century, they started to extend their influence to the post-horse-coach-road system and “asked their men to dominate the position of Inspector of Road Stations and Hostels very frequently” (Also see the Volume No. 240 of Zizhi tongjian). However, for ch’eng-ch’uan (fast coach) or ch’ih-i (faster coach) on the road, they have to follow relevant rules rather than traveling at will. First, any “passenger,” an escort or an official who is banished or promoted, should hold a permit of travel billed as “ch’uan-fu传符.”51 In the capital, this permit of travel of all citizens is approved and issued by the Men-hsia Division (门 下省one of three leading organs of the Tang government) and “is issued by all military prefectures.”52 Second, officials take the carriage according to the rank and in line with designated standards: For the number of post-horse, the first rank has eight, with the number declining from the top to the bottom; and the ninth rank has the least. For post-coach with horse, the first rank has ten (refers to the amount of horse), and in turn, the ninth rank has the least. When there is amnesty, one can have more horses.53

Finally, to make things worse, the court also legally set the length limit for people of all kinds traveling on the road. If they fail to reach the designated place in line with the designated time, they will be punished correspondingly, heavy or light. When a courier escort sending the official documents is delayed

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

41

for one day, he shall be punished with eighty strokes; if these documents are related to military affairs, he shall be sentenced to one-year-term of imprisonment.54 In accordance with the system of the Tang, by ch’eng-ch-uan (fast coach), one can travel 120 li (through four stations); by ch’eng-i (fast horse), one can run 180 li (through six stations).55 As for this stipulation, the system of courier station makes the governance of the ruler more superior. With this system, the flow of all government officials is subjected to strict surveillance, so if anyone breaks the rule, he will expose his mistakes. Furthermore, for those in power in the capital, these stations and roads that are linked across the country are so closely tight as to tie everyone involved. This means that if the ruler wants to punish anyone who makes mistakes, he can catch him immediately (Xia Jianyong 1996). Due to the fact that there is a standard for the time, speed, length, and stop on the road, this pattern is much like today’s train which runs and stops at the right time. In a poem written for his friend Yuan Zhen, the great poet Bai Juyi wrote in his poem called Recalling Yuanjiu (nickname of Yuan Zhen) When I Hobnob with Li Shiyi: “As I recall suddenly you travelled afar other days, you should reach Liang Zhou today I guess.” Indeed, Yuan Zhen did arrive in Liangzou that day. The function of the system of courier station is not just limited to delivering official documents. Now I give some specific examples in what follows: Li Shiming, Prince of Qin, brought his men to attack Yuanlang. When he met his enemy, Li was summoned by his father Emperor Gaozu back to the court with ch’ih-ch’uan (fast coach). The emperor asked Li to give the power of troops to Li Yuanji, Prince of Qi.56 After Li Jiancheng, the successor of throne, passed away, an secret decree was sent to Cui Dunli, an official of conveying the emperor’s decree (known as tong-shih-she-jen, the name of official title), to summon Li Jiancheng’s close friend Li Ai, then Governor of Youzhou. Li Ai plotted behind the scenes to rise in rebellion and recruited soldiers along the station.57 After the period of Yongchun, the reigning title of Emperor Gaozong, a rumor was popular in the world. Later, because of mistake, Xu Jingye appointed himself as Governor of Liuzhou. Then he falsified the imperial decree to appoint himself as Governor of Yangzhou. After he was killed due to the failure of rebellion, Xu Jingye’s head was cut and sent to Luoyang by post-horse.58 In 698, Di Renjie led his men to attack a Mongolian tribe who often invaded the borders of the Tang. After triumph, the court handed out the food to help the poor and built post stations to welcome triumphant troops.59 Li Chongfu, the son of Emperor Zhongzong, was involved in rebellion. From Junzhou (present Shiyan of Hubei), he got the post-horse through deception and travelled with Zhang Lingjun, a native of Luoyang. After the end of rebellion, the imperial decree was issued: “You go out of Yihzou without permit and ride the post-horse illegally to Luoyang in order to carry out your plot…”60 During the period of Emperor Zhongzong’s reign, when Princess Anle played the game of Finding Exotic Flowers and Plants (Doubaicao), she wanted

42

B. LI

to discover rare flowers and plants, so she asked someone to explore them. But afraid that others would get them, she cut off remaining flowers and plants. Eventually these plants disappeared without much traces.61

In the second part of the Story of An Lushan, the author wrote: Shi Siming did not know how to read and write characters, but he suddenly loved to read poems. Every time he finished one part, he would certainly make a great show in a station so that he could attract admirers. When he wanted to send cherries to his son Shi Chaoyi and Zhou Zhi, Shi wrote a letter to tell them: “I have a basket of cherries, half red and half yellow, and half to Prince of Huai (his son Shi Chaoyi) and another half to Zhou Zhi”. A low rank official called Long Tan said, “Why not change the position of the latter part of poem (two lines) to form a rhyme and regularity?” “What is that? How can you let the position of my son place behind Zhou Zhi?” …After finishing writing the letter, he ordered the personnel to send it to the post station. After the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming, Feng Changqing rode a posthorse to Dongjing for recruitment. Within ten days, he recruited sixty thousand soldiers, who were hired to protect cities and counties.62 ……

From these stories and historical facts of books above, we can easily see the multifunctional aspect of the i-ch’uan system. It is an all-encompassing system in which all relevant matters and exchanges involving the central government and local areas are associated with this network. Of all kinds of exchanges, it includes two forms: the flow of people and the transmission of information. On most occasions, the flow of people mainly refers the flow of officials who are summoned to go to the capital, take up the post, fulfill the mission of escort, or are banished. And it is also concerned with some special groups who shall go to the capital on request, such as worthy men, monks and offenders or criminals. As for the flow of information, I will detail it in the next chapter. Willow Twigs by the Guest Hostel Are Refreshing and Green As mentioned above, the postal service system in ancient China consisted of two sections—i-lu (post-road) and kuan-she (station hostel).63 Rivers will flow though mountains may not be moved. If we compare postroad to the flowing river, then hostels are like the eternal hills. Just like rivers and hills are inseparable in the ecosystem, only when the two are combined will a postal service network complete. Just look at the position kuan-i-shih (Inspector of Road Stations and Hostels) set up by Emperor Xuanzong, we will know how the “hill” of station hostel and the “river” of post-road are tangled in this splendid ecosystem of postal delivery. So, what is a kuan-she, or station hostel? In Farewell to Yuan Er for a Mission to Anxi, a poem written by the Tang poet Wang Wei that every kid can recite in China, we could find a clue:

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

43

In the city Weicheng, no dust raised on the road wet with the morning rain; Willow twigs by the keshe (guest hostel) are refreshing and green. My dear friend, I invite you to have another shot of drink; West of the sunny pass no more old fellows will you see.

The word k’o-she here refers to the station hostel set along the post-road. Kuan-she, literally meaning station hostel while functioning like a posthouse, was called differently in different historical documents, with a variety of alternative titles, such as: k’o-she (keshe客舍, guest hostel), ti-she (dishe邸舍, residence hostel), ti-tien (didian 邸店, residence inn), ti-ssu (disi邸肆, residence tavern), ti-ti (didi邸地, residence mansion), ch’uan-she (chuanshe传 舍, courier hostel), t’ing (ting, pavilion), i-t’ing (yiting驿亭, post pavilion), yu–ting (youting邮亭, mail pavilion), and i (yi驿, post station). For those involving the character ti (residence), they are not necessarily state-run, but could be private inns. While among all the names that Chinese people used to address a posthouse in ancient China, yi and ch’uan-she were the most common. I, (驿 post) also called i-chan (post station) today, was often used as the postfix character by the ancient Chinese to name posthouses, such as Ting Yi (Pavilion Post Station), Lanqiao Yi (Blue Bridge Post Station), Shangyuan Yi (Up Origin Post Station), Fushui Yi (Fu-River Post Station), and Tongtai Yi (Bronze Terrace Post Station, named after the station where the ancient warlord–King Cao Cao installed the Bronze Swallow Terrace to prison beauties he looted). But the most widely recognized posthouse among all these should be Mawei Yi (Mawei Post Station), where the beloved concubine of Emperor Xuanzong, Yang Guifei (713–756, Secondary-consort Yang, known briefly by her Taoist nun name Taizhen) was executed in front of army. According to Story of Honorable Consort Yang Yuhuan (Yang Taizhen waizhuan), after the death of Yang Guozhong: The emperor walked out of the post to pacify the rage of imperial soldiers outside the station hostel, but none of them seemed convinced. The emperor looked at his men and asked why. Gao Lishi proposed, “The generals and soldiers asked to bring Guozhong into justice because of his wrongdoings. However, his cousin, the secondary consort (Yang Guifei) is still serving your highness day and night. How could they feel reassured? We humbly plead your highness to make a sagacious judgement.” The emperor returned to the post. By the side of the post entrance was an alley connecting the temporary palace. Hesitated to go back, he stood in the alley for a long time, leaned and downhearted with a gloomy look. Seeing this, the inspector Wei E proposed: “Plead your highness to give up this affinity to settle the whole country.” The emperor wandered for a while but eventually returned to his palace. He accompanied his consort out of the gate and took her to the northern wall aside the bridle path. He asked Lishi to give her a decent execution after the farewell.

Inside, a station hostel can be a well-decorated residence offering mouthwatering cuisine; while from the outside, it looks like a military fortress, solemn and well-guarded. China Youth Daily once reported the oldest yet the most complete ancient station hostel can be found so far in China, Jiming

44

B. LI

Yi (the Rooster-Crowing Post Station), which was established in the suburb of Beijing during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). The description over Jiming Yi may somewhat reveal us what did the station hostel look like in the Tang Dynasty, in terms of the scale and layout, though may not be identical: The ten-odd-meter-high ancient station hostel was built by rammed earth. At each corner of the four surrounding walls there is a corner tower. Outside the walls, as every three or five meters an embrasure is installed, the space looks quite intimidating. Under each embrasure, there are loopholes for observation, shooting and drainage. Also, the post station has a defensive wall inside with loopholes and crenels for lookout. At the southern part of the station, above the “horse face”, is a Kuixing pavilion. Within the station, it used to be busy and bustling place. You could find almost everything there—grocery store, hotel, pawnshop, bakery, temples of all kinds of deities, theaters, you name it. The station also houses the Courtyard of the He Family, famous for accommodating the Empress Dowager Cixi on her way of fleeing from the Forbidden City to Xi’an. Tightly attached to the courtyard wall, it is the five-meter-wide post-road circulating the city, which facilitated the common postal delivery, as well as the rally during wall time. … The ancient wall around Jiming Yi measures one li and thirty steps long (which is about 400 meters), while is eroded at a speed of fifteen meters every year. … The Temple of the Dragon King to the north of the office suffers from an even worse state of dilapidation…64

We could infer a general layout of the station hostel in the Tang Dynasty by looking at Jiming Yi. The station hostels in the Tang Dynasty can be divided into six levels according to the state of strategic importance and occupancy. Generally speaking, a station hostel should be protected by exterior gate and fences, while having foyer, kitchen, stable, and warehouses inside. A first-class station hostel could be as luxurious as a grand hotel: spacious and well-equipped, let alone beautifully gardened, tranquil and secluded. The station hostels in the Tang Dynasty can be as large as a citadel, which may remind you the poetic description: “In the sunset, smokes rise high, while the gate of lonely castle closed tight.” For the post stations of such grandiose scale with “lofty rammed-earth external walls and huge wooden gate” (Gao Shi, On the New Posthouse in Shangyuan, Chenliu County), they were frequently mentioned by the Tang poets in their writings. For example, the wellacclaimed verse written by Liu Yuxi in The New Posthouse of Guancheng City (Guancheng xinyi): The gates, streets, and bridleways are shaded by walls and bamboo forests. What a spectacular scenery outside! Precious materials procured from far away and the best craftsmen were hired to decorate the house. Every section is varnished, while the tiles have been polished. The interior decoration is as exquisite as you could imagine.

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

45

The verse just tells us how luxurious and delicate this newly built station hostel was, where the paths were wide, materials were expensive, vegetation was luxuriant, and the interior was ornamented to the nines. The most spectacular and luxurious station hostel in the Tang Dynasty should be credited to the Baocheng Yi (the Baocheng Post Station) located in Hanzhong city, which the scholar Sun Qiao in the mid-Tang Dynasty once acknowledged as “the greatest post station in the world” in Writing on the Walls of Baocheng Post Station. Featuring high defensive walls and huge gates, the bustling post station used to receive “more than one hundred guests” every year. Still, just like many of its counterparts, this abundant, safe, and cozy space contained almost everything, including a glorious entrance hall leading to a maze of alleyways and houses, and a courtyard decorated with several ponds where visitors could enjoy boating or fishing. It is not hard for us to imagine the magnificent presence of such station hostels after reading this funny treat: There was a postmaster in the prefecture Jiangnan who often boasted about his perfection in work. When the new governor of the prefecture took office, the postmaster reported: “Everything in the post station is ready. Please inspect.” The governor thus followed him to have a look. Firstly, they entered a wine cellar, where the fermentation was mature, and a portrait was enshrined there. The governor asked the postmaster: “Who is this?” Answered: “Du Kang (the semi-legendary inventor of liquor).” And then they went to the tea house, where all types of tea leaves were stored, and had another portrait. The governor asked: “Who is this?” Answered: “Lu Jianhong (Lu Yu, author of Classic of Tea).” The governor was pleased. While when they went across another room, where stored a variety of preserved vegetables and housed another portrait just like others, the governor asked once again: “Who is this?” Answered: “Cai Bojie (in Chinese, ‘cai’ means vegetable).” The governor was amused, said: “You really do not need to go this far.”65

If to name only one eye-catching yet poetic element of the Tang post station, it has to be i-lou, or station hostel tower. The tower in post station has a function similar to that of the gate tower in the royal palace. It is an indispensable imagery in the post station-themed poems composed by the Tang poets. For instance: Looking to the south by the mountain fence, The rivers are flowing to the north. The distant forests reach the green sky, While I recall my old days. …

Zhang Jiuling, Peom Written While Climbing the Stone Post Station Tower In the morning I climbed the tower, The sceneries were not like those in sunny days.

46

B. LI

In a strange town where custom is different from where I came from, I always think of my old friends. …

Meng Haoran, Climbing the Gate Tower of Nanyang Post Station While Thinking of My Friends in Hanchuan The ancient fortress is built against high hills, At the top of the high tower, Wuliang region is in the views. The post-roads intertwined with the hills, While the city walls are damped by the rivers. …

Cen Shen, On a Riverside Post Station Tower in Jincheng City When I went there, on top of the tower, The night was clear. The moon’s shadow ruffled the rocks, In front of the tower. …

Yuan Zhen, Xixian Post Station Tomorrow I will embark on a journey to the deserted south; I must climb up the tower to have a glimpse of the pass of hometown. Li Deyu, The Post Station Tower of Pantuo Ridge

In the ancient Chinese poems, the character “cheng,” often translated as “city” in the modern discourse, actually refers to post station. No wording could be no more vivid than this by comparing a post station to a city-like citadel, as some of them were indeed as enormous as the Jiming Yi introduced previously. To accept such imagery will help us to interpret the classical texts from the Sui and Tang dynasties which may read confusing to the contemporaries today, but were actually straightforward while standard writings in the ancient time. For instance, the Chinese character cheng in these two historical texts could both carry such connotation: (order his men to send message to the county post station)66 and (the post pavilion of the county and forest all consolidated post station).67 We could say that the poem Climbing the Post Station Tower of the Huo Mountain below by the Tang poet Li Shangyin offers a panoramic sketching of the life and scenes in a Tang post station: The temples on the summits are so distant; on the tower, the view is unobscured. Amid the valley fog, the ridges afar look like mouse ears; the tired gooses just stand there, bathed in the sunset.

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

47

Thousands of willow twigs damped by dews; The dry lotus leaves rustled as swept by the autumn wind. But the Huguan Hill is still ruffled by the hateful rebels; all I yearn for is that the Huo Mountain God will bring them into justice one day.

Whatever it is, the style of a construction is to the end decided by its function, and the post station of the Tang Dynasty is no exception. Functionally speaking, the post stations that dotted along the post-roads of the Tang empire, big or small, all belonged to military or semi-military facilities. Even though from a contemporary perspective, a post station is merely a reply station where officials or couriers can take a rest and change horses, it played a critical role in military operations in ancient times as a military depot, only except that what it transferred were not soldiers or supplies. Every post station in the Tang Dynasty was headed by a postmaster (yizhang驿长, i-chang ), also known as “post-commander (yijiang驿将, ichiang )” or “post official (yili驿隶, i-li),”68 and every postmaster would be stuffed with several subordinates, often called “post-corvée-laborer (yiding驿 丁, i-ting )” or “post soldier (yizu驿卒, i-tzu).” The post station system was under the supervision of the Ministry of War, affiliated to Shang-shu Division. Since postmaster is a working-level while low-ranking official in bureaucracy, thus too insignificant to be noticed by or recorded in the governmental histographies. You could only read about them in the popular anecdotes or folk tales. Say this legend about Lou Shide, a minister serving the court of Empress Wu Zetian (624–705). Lou Shide, the imperial counselor, was from Zhengzhou. When he was Minister of Ministry of War, he was dispatched to Bingzhou Prefecture. The welcoming county governors followed him. In the daytime, they arrived at the post station. Don’t want to bother the households living there, Lou Shide required to have lunch together with his men. The rice served to Lou Shide was clean and refined, but the rest were served with brown and husky rice. Shide called for the postmaster (i-chang ) and blamed him: “Why did you treat your guests differently?” The post-commander (i-chiang ) was terrified and answered: “I couldn’t get enough fine rice in such a short time. My deadly fault!” Shide said, “We are all your guests, not host. Why don’t treat us equally?” Then he exchanged for the brown rice and finished meal. ….. Years later, Shide became the imperial counselor and was sent to govern Lingzhou prefecture. He and his men arrived at a post station and had something to eat. After meal, while Shide was about to get on his horse, a traveling official also passed by to ask for a bowl of soup, but the postmaster refused to offer anything. The imperial counselor said: “I will get it for you.” Then he condemned the postmaster: “What is the different between me and that gentleman? How dare you to ignore him? Hand me a stick!” The postmaster was scared out of his mind and bended on his both knees. The imperial counselor said: “I really hope to flog you. But if people know that I flogged a postmaster has been simply for this matter, my reputation will be damaged. If

48

B. LI

you report this to the county governor, you will face severe punishment. Just go now.” The post-commander kowtowed, sweating all over, and left in great embarrassment.69

Li Shangyin had a poem specially written for a postmaster, titled A Poem for Wang Quan, Postmaster of Jishan 70 and as he noted under the poem: “Quan has been a postmaster for fifty-six years. People say that he has gained Taoist strength. He loves to exchange his poems and verses with his friends.” And the poem Li Shangyin wrote this poem for his friend Wang Quan with quite a sense of humor: The postmaster on red stage has gone through so many things; He has become an immortal for his love of drinks and has lived through countless springs. Passengers are all curious if he is already in his sixties; All he can do is writing down the answer: I am seventy-three!

As a military or semi-military spot, ancient post stations could be a dangerous place during wartime, and sometimes a stage for terrible combats and killings. The post houses in the Sui, Tang, and Five dynasties also witnessed countless tragedies costing tears and blood, which were so many that even made “post station” a setting reminds people of forced suicide by imperial order, murder, attack and conspiracy. The tomb of Yang Guifei on the Mawei Slope is a living evidence of what had happened in that station hostel. The last story of General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian) recorded a scary scene of assassination took place in a post station: The king of Khitan sent a delegation, headed by his uncle, to visit the (Southern) Tang (937-975). Jing Hanru, the military prefect known as t’uanlien-shih (tuanlianshi团练使) of Taizhou Prefecture (reigned by Later Zhou Dynasty [951-960]) hired assassinators to assassin the Khitan envoys. The Tang officials set up a banquet for the Khitan delegation in Qingfeng Yi (Fresh Breeze Post Station). While everyone was drunk, one of the delegates left to change his clothes, but did not return after a long time. When he was found, his head was gone. Ever since, the Khitan Kingdom no longer supported the Tang.

It is quintessential for us to highlight the military nature of station hostel, as it is where the news circulation in the Tang Dynasty was conducted and developed, and unsurprisingly, is part of the factors that define its connotation and characterization.

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

49

A Station After Another, Post Riders Come and Go Like the Gathering of Stars The postal system consisting of post-roads and station hostel introduced in the previous section in nature functions as a state-run communication system of the Tang Dynasty. In fact, the delivery and communication of almost every government-engaged activity would have to pass through via the postal system, regardless it was of top national and military emergency or just a report of some irrelevant yet strange movements, with the only exception being the shipment of grain, which was always under state control and normally shipped through waterway system across the nation. The diverse communication activities that the postal system served, as explained previously, can be divided into two categories, firstly, the mobility of personnel, and secondly, the dissemination of information, which was mainly carried out by i-ch’i (yichi驿弛), also known as “post rider.” Post rider is the most active while the fundamental factor in a postal system. A postal system without post riders will be like blood vines without blood, and the consequence will be unimaginable. It was that thousands of anonymous riders who secured the functioning of the official communication activities of the Tang empire; thus we will have to know what the post riders were like in those times, delineating them a group portrait, if to explore the topic of state communication of the Tang Dynasty. In ancient Chinese, i-chi (post rider)71 is also known as i-shih (postmessenger, or estafette) or i-tzu (postman), whose major duty is to deliver government documents (political and military ones), objects, as well as escort officials on their way of transfer. In Lady of Songguo’s Outing (Songguo furen chuxing tu), one of the murals found in Dunhuang from the late Tang Dynasty, you will find the figure of a hasty postman depicted, who was wearing a package on his shoulder and head somewhere. Neither burning sunshine nor bitter wind will stop post riders from fulfilling their duties; either in a heavy rain or ferocious sandstorm, there would always be postman riding his horse at full gallop, as swift as a shooting star. The ballad composed by the Tang poem Cen Shen “A station after another, post riders come and go like the gathering of stars ” presents a snapshot for the post riders in ancient China. But the even more widely acknowledged image of post rider should be the one depicted by the Tang poet Du Mu in his poem Passing by the Huangqing Palace (Guo huangqinggong): Viewed from Chang’an, Mount Li a piece of embroiderylooked; On the top of the hill countless gates opened one after another. When a horse raised dust the imperial concubine smiled; No one knew it was the litchi fruit especially for the dear.

These lines are familiar to almost everyone that they do not need further elaboration hereby. Yang Yuhuan, the consort of Emperor Xuanzong, enjoyed eating fresh lychees so much, the emperor asked post riders to relay the fruits

50

B. LI

in express to the palace from Fuzhou (in Sichuan Province today) before they got deteriorated or the rind’s color changed. For the outsiders, it was ironic to see a post-horse galloping along the post-road, raising think dust, speculating if some catastrophe had happened, but not knowing that it was just a lychee-super-express arranged by the emperor to please his concubine. This was not a single case. Not long after, a general of the Tang empire, Shi Siming also took advantage of the official postal network to deliver fresh cherries to his foster child Shi Chaoyi, which was some sort of imitation of the emperor’s conduct. It should be noticed that the route where “a horse raising red dust” begins in Fuling of Sichuan Province, then weaves through Wangxian of Chongqing Municipality, Shangluo, and Lantian of Shanxi Province, and ends in Chang’an (Chen Hongyi 1992: 148), extending 2300 li 72 in total, which would take at least five or six days of horse-riding even if relaying at the fastest speed without a stop.73 According to the records of Li Zhao, an academician of Hanlin Academy under the reign of Emperor Xianzong (reign: 805–820), some of the lychees for Consort Yang Yuhuan could also be delivered from Nanhai (modern-day Guangzhou): Consort Yang Yuhuan was born in Shu Region and liked eating lychees. The lychee in Naihai is even better than the one grown in Shu. Thus every year, the lychees in Nanhai would be brought to the palace by flying horses. However, the lychee fruits got matured quickly in heat, and deteriorated over one night. People of later generation didn’t know about it.74

Well, no matter how fast the post rider rushed, it was not enough to rescue those lychees. There were two types of post rider in the Tang Dynasty: rider of ordinary post and rider of special express. The former delivered routine documents, and the latter relayed urgent messages. The ordinary rider should ride pass six post stations every day, which was one hundred and eighty li. The rider of special express would advance ahead by ten stations or even more per day. For the former, it was like “As the sun falling, I met a postmaster at the western slope of the mountain; the diligent man was on his way of transporting uniforms to the camps from the south to the north” (Wei Yingwu, Turkish Tune Santai [Tujue santai]). And for the latter, it was like “Captain’s feathered dispatch (called yü-shu) flying over oceans. Hunting torches of Chanyu lightened the Wolf Maintain” (Gao Shi, For the Song of Yan [Yangexing]). When we talk about post riders, people may think of the latter ones, namely the rider of express delivery, also known as chi-ti (jidi急递, express delivery), chi-chiao (jijiao急脚, express feet), and chi-chiao-ti (jijiaodi急脚递, express feet delivery). Here I would like to quote from a contemporary writer: The post station lurking in the deep seems still loomed by the chaos of urgency. The clatters of horse’s hoofs approach like beating rain drops, and soon drift away like as swift as a hurricane—even the few minutes of stay in the station

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

51

require the postman to be fully concentrated. While the postmaster is checking his identification and signing on the checklist to verify his arrival at and departure from the station, he need to change the new horse, and get ready to hit the road again. Here, “things done while pulling up a horse” is no longer an unrealistic or exaggerated analogy, but a de facto description of a common handover procedure. … The postman always carries an austere while anxious look in his face, and that dynamic moment when he whips up the horse to leap ahead has put a freeze frame on him and people of his kind eternally.75

And here is a post station ode of a contemporary Chinese poet: The hoofs of the post-horse clatter, like the beating drums that announce an opening court trial, like the sound of mandolin. From afar they are coming close, tramping the last few stars on the mountain ridges against backdrop of the dawn into ashes. The city gate opens like a blitz, and the dust arose as wind swept by…76

These two beautiful pieces depict the postmen of “special express,”77 or couriers of express delivery, who are often placed under spotlight due to the dramatic nature of the emergent delivery. However, the majority in the ancient postal system, who play a more fundamental while supportive role, was still the messengers serving “ordinary delivery.” It is hard to find solid historical recordings on this group of people, as their position was so significant and duties so trifling. But luckily, we could still get some clues to distinguish some of their features by looking at their successors—the postmen in the modern days. The world-famous explorer and the discoverer of the ancient city Loulan, Sven Hedin, once wrote about a postman astride a horse to deliver mails in his travel diary about the expedition in western China during the mid-twentieth century, featuring a rich in content, knowledge and elaboration-based, beautifully written, and intriguing narrative: We (on the way from Chuguchaq to Urumuchi) drove past the mounted postman, a solitary Kirghiz. He had a couple of post-sacks behind the saddle. Post is carried right through the day and night, riders and horses being changed at certain stations. Mail takes seven days to cover the 620 kilometers from Chuguchaq to Urumchi.78

If a rewind took us back to a thousand years ago to the moment, we may find that the postman Sven Hedin came across looked exactly the same with his counterparts living in the Tang Dynasty, let alone that the speed of delivery was similar, both at a rate of around 180 li per day. The delivery through post riders should follow a package of strict rules, regardless it was nonurgent or urgent. Penal Law Code of the Tang (Tanglv shuyi) made a specified stipulation thereof, excerpted in the following:

52

B. LI

If a postman delays the delivery progress, he should receive 80 floggings if it is delayed for one day; the punishment should be doubled if delay extended to two days; and the highest penalty will be one year’s imprisonment. If a postman asks another person to deliver package on behalf of him, the highest punishment will be one year’s imprisonment. If the delivery is postponed thereby, the man delivers the package is deemed as principal person be responsible and the postman as accessory. But if the package of military urgency is delayed, the postman is deemed as the principal offender and the entrusted deliverer the accessory offender. If it is not the letter sent by the special ambassador, but a convenient delivery, it is not discussed. If the documents and letters require a post rider delivery are not assigned with post riders, or the contrary, the person in charge should receive 100 floggings. If a postman delivers the package to a wrong address different from the one on the package cover, the punishment should be measured in accordance with that of the delivery delay, but reduced by two levels. If it is due to the wrong address, the clerk inscribing the address should be punished. The person who uses a post-horse for private ends will be imposed with one year’s imprisonment to the most, and one-level severer for every more horse he uses. The postmaster will be imposed with the same punishment if it is done under his acquiescence; but the punishment will be waivered if he didn’t know about it. The post rider who detours should receive 100 floggings very li detoured, and the penalty will increase for every more five li detoured. The imprisonment will be two years to the most. If post rider takes package to another place, the punishment of flogging and imprisonment will be severer. The post rider who doesn’t exchange his horse while passing by a post station will be imposed with 80 floggings. For the person who loads post-horses with private packages, he should receive 60 floggings for every jin of weight, and one level up for every 10 jin. The imprisonment should be two years to the most. The punishment should be reduced by two level if is donkey being used.79 *(Jin is a Chinese weight unit, and one jin equals half a kilogram)

The strict rules and statutes were made to secure the timely responsiveness, high efficiency, and complete authenticity of the postal delivery system, and it made conveying orders via post a business so crucial to the national security. Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, once chatted with his courtiers about the previous report posted by Guo Xiaoke, Protector-general of Anxi (Anxi duhu), that “‘the army departed toward Yanqi on day 11 (of the month), and should arrive there by day 20 (the city Jiaohe under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate of Anxi, which is in the west of Turfan today), and the city will be conquered no later than day 22’. I counted the distance and calculated; the next messenger should have arrived today.” At that very moment, as the emperor was about to say more, “the post rider arrived.”80 According to some people’s calculation, the distance between Yanqi and Chang’an is 7000

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

53

li, and it took post riders 28 days to deliver the message, which means a post rider had to ride for 250 li on horseback per day on average to ensure a timely consignment.81 As it is noted by the article Xinyouzhou (Wuhai city of Inner mongolia) in the section “Guannei Dao (Circuit of Guan Nei)” in the fourth volume of Treatise (with maps) On Commanderies and Counties from the Yuanhe Reign (Yuanhe junxian tuzhi): In past several years, whenever there was a message posted from Uighur, it had to be delivered to Taiyuan first to be transferred to the royal palace. When the report was eventually reported to the emperor, it was too late to be of any value. Now as eleven new post stations have been established along route from the northern Xinyouzhou to Tiande, the delivery of letters fetched in Tiande sent from Xizhou to the capital will be reduced into four days.

While according to the article Tiandejun in the same volume of the same atlas, the distance between Tiande and the capital Chang’an is 1800 li, which means riders need to travel 400–500 li each day in order to reach the capital within four days. How could you not be impressed by this amazing speed! No wonder people of later generations were always complimentary about the postal system of the Tang Dynasty, as Hong Mai of the Song Dynasty wrote in Spontaneous Essays of Rong Studio (Rongzhai suibi): At the night of jimou day in the eighth month of the tenth year of Taiyuan period (738), a coup led by Quan Chubi broke out. When it happened, Emperor Xuanzong was visiting Luoyang, which was over 800 li away from the capital. At the noon time, he sent Qang Yi, the governor of Henan to cheer up the troops in the capital, which took only three days for round trip. The emperor’s order was transmitted by post at such a rapid speed for the court to discuss about the matter jointly, with no message delayed, which is out of the reach by the later generations.82

Gu Yanwu, a thinker and philosopher of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), carefully analyzed with abundant references the advantages of the Han and Tang dynasties’ postal system in a work that condenses his life wisdom Records of Daily Gains in Knowledge (Rizhilu): “Treatise on Imperial Vehicles and Clothing (Yufuzhi)”, Sequel for the History of the Han Dynasty (Xuhan): “Every 30 li will be arranged a post-horse.” Historical Records (Shiji): “Tian Heng departed to Luoyang at the request of the emperor. He cut his own throat when there was only 30 li to the capital. His body was disposed in the stable.” Surely it is. It is the same in the Tang. Bai Juyi’s poem: “The ridges are getting lower and roads getting flatter; Along the way from Shan to Dongjing. The beautiful landscape extends for four hundred li; And the coaches and horses had thirteen stops.” (Note: One stop means one post station) It is true since he could travel pass ten stations one day. And Cen Shen’s poem: “A station after another,

54

B. LI

post riders come and go like the gathering of stars.” Departed from Yanxian at the dawn, I was already in Longshantou in the evening. Han Yu’s poem: “At the order to pacify the rebellions in Shansong; I hate myself for being so slow by only traveling three hundred li a day.” Indeed. On bingying day of the eleventh month of the fourteenth year of the Tianbao period (755), An Lushan rose up in armed revolt in Fanyang. The renshen day, the message was hard by the emperor’s residence. The emperor (Xuanzong) was in the Huangqing Palace then, which means, it took six days for the message to be posted to him. In the ninth month of the second year of the Zhide period (757), on kuimou day, the Lord of Guangping recaptured Xijing. The letter of victory arrived at the emperors’ residence on jiachen day. The emperor (Suzong) was in Feng Mansion. It took one day for the message to arrive there. (Comprehensive Statutes (Tongdian): Volume No. 173, Fengxiang Mansion is two hundred and seventy li away from the capital.) The Tang Statutes stipulated that mail should be posted at rate of five hundred li per day, which means ten stations have be installed along the route. The ancient people established a large number of stations, so that the message can travel fast without exhausting horses. The later dynasties cut the expenses on postal system for several times, to the extent that only one postman was assigned every seventy or eight li. The horses fell and officials left due to this. Why don’t we look back into the history?83

In the final analysis, the rapidness and high efficiency of postal system in the Tang Dynasty was to meet the demands of its strong military governance. The fact is that, from the very beginning, the postal system and the way it functioned was subject to the Tang empire’s military pursuits, designed as a tool to support and facilitate all kinds of operations and wars either against invaders or rebels for self-defense, or for territory expansion, so as to safeguard unification of the empire. It reminds me the story of how ts’ao-shu (caoshu草书, cursive script) was invented, as one of the four major variants of Chinese scripts in calligraphy together with lishu (lishu隶书, official script), hsing-shu (xingshu 行书, running hand), and chuan-shu (zhuanshu篆书, seal script), as time went by. For us, ts’ao-shu is a form of calligraphic art. But it was firstly created to meet the urgent demands of transmitting military dispatch in no time. As Emperor Wu (464–549) of the Liang Dynasty quoted the Han calligrapher Cai Yong in the verse “On Grass Script”: Back to the age of Qin Dynasty, when the rulers of warring states were in fierce wars against each other, the military dispatches were delivered non-stop among post stations by post riders, navigated by the position of smoke signals. Writing letters in clerical script or seal script was too time-consuming to keep up with the delivery. Thus, the drafters had to write characters swiftly in cursive writing, which is what we call “cursive script” today.84

By now, it is not hard to understand why we define post station as military depot, and title the people working in a post station as post-commander (ichiang ), post-soldier (i-tzu), and post rider (i-chi). Consequently, it is quite sensible that an event happened in a post station in 960 became the symbol

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

55

of termination of the long epoch of the Sui, Tang and Five dynasties (581– 960), when Zhao Kuangyin, a military general, as well as the founder of the Song Dynasty (960–1279), was forced to wear a yellow robe at Chenqiao Yi (Chenqiao Post Station) in Chenqiao County, to declare war to overthrow the imperial court.85

Notes 1. See Fang Hanqi, “Observing the Newspaper of Ancient China from the Jinzouyuan Gazette of Tang’s Soldiers Housed in The Britain Library,” Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication (5), Beijing: Renmin University Publishing, 1983. At the same time, Tang historian Zhang Guogang found an even earlier Guiyi Army remonstration among the Dunhuang artifacts housed in the Paris National Library, yet he believes these Capital Liaison Office documents cannot be said to be newspapers. See “Study on Two Official Documents of Jinzouyuan in Dunhuang,” Academic Monthly, 1986 (7). 2. General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi Tongjian), juan 221. 3. The Collected Works of Liu Hedong, juan 26. 4. Zhang Guogang is of the opinion that Territorial Representatives and the Capital Liaison Office did not have a direct correlation; see “Textual Research on Jinzouyuan of the Tang Dynasty,” Wen Shi, no. 18, Beijing: Zhonghua Book Publishing, 1983. However, if one examines it through the relationship between the central government and its outlying areas, it is not a stretch to say that the functions of the two had an indirect relationship. 5. The Big Dictionary of Chinese History: History of the Tang, Sui, and Five Dynasties, “Territorial Representatives” entry. Shanghai: Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, 1995. 6. General Mirror for the Aid of Government, juan 197: “Cangzhou ……” From this it looks like the amount of time they would spend in the capital itself was slightly longer. 7. General Mirror for the Aid of Government, juan 197. 8. Tongdian (Volume No. 74), Comprehensive Statutes. 9. Ibid. 10. Ibid. 11. Ibid. Furthermore, Sui Tang Jiahua records this event, but the time of occurrence and names of those involved differs with Tongdian; it roughly states: “The many territorial offices of the Capital were set up in the Zhenguan reign period. But by the beginning of the Kaiyuan reign period, ……”. 12. Ibid.: “In the twelfth month of the first year of Jianzhong period (780), there was an imperial decree sent out to the affairs offices in all the territories that all were to set up their own offices. In the fifth month of the second year, the Housing Affairs remonstrated: ‘To demand all territories as such is both costly and cumbersome……’ The imperial reply came: ‘XX’.” One can see that the situation is already quite larger than it was in the Zhenguan period, and after this, Territorial Representatives nearly disappeared from the descriptions of historians. Also see General Mirror for the Aid of Government, juan 226, on the first year of the Jianzhong period: “In the eleventh month, ……” See also Outline of the Tang, juan 24, “Receiving Imperial Invitation”: “In the tenth month of the first year of the Jianyuan period, ……”.

56

B. LI

13. The Big Dictionary of Chinese History: History of the Tang, Sui, and Five Dynasties,“Capital Liaison Office” entry. Shanghai: Shanghai Dictionary Publishing House, 1995. 14. There is homophonic dispute over the specific name of this locale. Gaocheng, in Record on the Origins of Things, juan 6, records an alternate name. 15. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 1), Old History of the Tang Dynasty. 16. Translator’s note: the author offers four different names that are here unified into one term, “Liaison Official.” See appendix for further terminology. 17. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 52), Old History of the Tang Dynasty. Otherwise see General Study of Documentation (Wenxian tongkao), Volume No. 60: “Tang frontier commands each had an affairs office stationed in the capital, run by a big general, referred to as the Superior Contact Center. It was changed to the Superior Capital Liaison Office in the twelfth year of the Dali reign period.” 18. Yinhualu (Volume No. 1) records that Liu Fang drafted “Text of Ritual for Empress Zhenyi” on behalf of Guo Zhenyi, and states at the beginning: “……” 19. See Li Jifu, Records of the Yuanhe Nation (Yuanhe guoji bu), in General Mirror for the Aid of Government, Volume No. 237: second year of the Yuanhe period. 20. The five capitals are Chang’an, Luoyang, Taiyuan, Fengxiang, and Jiangling. See Collection of Tang Imperial Edicts (Datang zhaoji ling), Volume No. 69, “Southern Area Edicts from the First Year of Jian, Second Month.” 21. Kaiyuan tianbao yishi, Anecdotes and Legends in the Periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao, is a brush-note style book of recording the anecdotes of Kaiyuan and Tianbao period of the Tang, written by Wang Renyu. 22. Tang liangjingcheng fangkao (Volume No. 3), Investigations based on Two Capitals of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of providing detailed records of streets, markets, offices, residential areas, temples and palaces of two capitals Chang’an and Luoyang, written by the Qing scholar Xu Song. 23. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 258), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 24. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 264), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 25. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 231), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 26. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 244), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 27. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 262), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 28. Tang liangjingcheng fangkao (Volume No. 5), Investigations based on Two Capitals of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of providing detailed records of streets, markets, offices, residential areas, temples, and palaces of two capitals Chang’an and Luoyang, written by the Qing scholar Xu Song. 29. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 260), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang.

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

57

30. Tongdian (Volume No. 33), Comprehensive Statutes, is a book which is a universal administrative history written by the Tang period scholar Du You. 31. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 273), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign, the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 32. Quantangshi, All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qiing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 33. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 85), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 34. Jinshu (The version of 1987 [the seventh volume] published by Zhonghua Book Company), History of the Jin Dynasty, is a book of recording the dynastic history of the Jin Dynasty, written by Tang scholars led by the politician Fang Xuanling. 35. Jinshu (The version of 1987 [the ninth volume] published by Zhonghua Book Company), History of the Jin Dynasty, is a book of recording the dynastic history of the Jin Dynasty, written by Tang scholars led by the politician Fang Xuanling. 36. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 174), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 37. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 174), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 38. Suishu (Volume No. 13), Book of the Sui Dynasty, is a book recording the official dynastic history of the Sui Dynasty written by Wei Zheng. 39. Suishu (Volume No. 62), Book of the Sui Dynasty, is a book recording the official dynastic history of the Sui Dynasty written by Wei Zheng. 40. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 177), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 41. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 179), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 42. Suishu (Volume No. 4), Book of the Sui Dynasty, is a book recording the official dynastic history of the Sui Dynasty written by Wei Zheng. 43. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 182), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 44. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 186), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 45. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 163), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign, the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 46. Tangliudian (Volume No. 5), The Six Statutes of the Tang, is a book of compendium on state offices of the Tang Dynasty compiled by Emperor Xuanzong and minister Li Linfu (but said to be compiled by Zhangshuo and Zhang Jiuling).

58

B. LI

47. This is from the Volume of Chinese History of Encyclopedia of China. 48. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 43), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 49. Xintangshu (Volume No. 46), New History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty 618–907. 50. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 240), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 51. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 43), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 52. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 13), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 53. This is from the Volume of Chinese History in the Chapter of Chronicle of Hundred officials of Encyclopedia of China 54. Tanglv shuyi (The version of 1983 published by Zhonghua Book Company), Penal Law Code of the Tang, is a classic law book in the Tang period compiled by the Tang politician Zhangsun Wuji. 55. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 203), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 56. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 190), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 57. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 191), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 58. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 163), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign, the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 59. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 260), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 60. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 26), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 61. Suitang jiahua (Volume No. 2 [second part]), Fine Stories from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, is a book characterized by a “brush-notes” style collection of stories, written by the Tang period scholar Liu Su. 62. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 140), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 63. The Japanese scholar Oba Osamu (1927–2002) gave a detailed description to the station hostel (posthouse) in the Tang Dynasty in his article “Beiguan Wenshu Unearthed in Turfan: A Historical Document on Chinese Postal System,” in Anthology of Translated Papers of Dunhuang Studies: Study on the Social and Economic Documents and Manuscripts Unearthed in Dunhuang and

2

64. 65.

66.

67.

68.

69. 70.

71.

72. 73.

74.

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

59

Turfan compiled by Chinese Association of Dunhuang and Turfan Studies, written by Sud¯ o Yoshiyuki et al., translated by Jiang Zhenqing and Na Xiangqin, Lanzhou, Gaunsu People’s Publishing House, 1984. Xiao Hong, The Down-trodden Journey of an Ancient Post Station, in China Youth Daily, April 20, 1997. Tangguo shibu (the Second Volume), Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording a collection of stories of the early Tang period, written by Li Zhao. Suishu (Volume No. 4), History of the Sui Dynasty, is a book of recording the official dynastic history of the Sui Dynasty, compiled by the Tang politician Wei Zheng. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 182), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. The governance of posthouses in the Tang Dynasty was categorized into two phases by taking the Zhide period (756–758, a reign title of Emperor Suzong of the Tang) as a divide. In the first phase, the position of postmaster was held by the local wealthy households, who would run the delivery and daily affairs, including offering accommodation and meals. As a result, “people were too deprived to further accept the designation” (Tongdian, Volume No. 33). When the chancellor Liu Yan (716–780) was assigned to regulate the national finance, he abolished the old system while designating “government functionaries to be in charge of posthouses” (Xintangshu, Volume No. 149). For more details, see Wang Zhihong, “Several Questions on the Station and Hostel System in the Early Tang,” in Anthology of Studies of Dunhuang and Turfan, Volume No. 3. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 176), “Lou Shide.” Quantangshi (Volume No. 540), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign, the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. The corvée laborer serving at a posthouse, known as yiding in Chinese is different from the postman working along the post-road known as yizi in Chinese. These are two independent positions. Wang Zhihong once distinguished the two as such: “Firstly, yiding ’s duty was herding and feeding horses, while yizi’s duty was delivery. Secondly, the headcount of yiding in each post station was fixed. Every three horses were allocated with one yiding. While the number of yizi was unlimited and can be adjusted according to the situation and the ranking of the traveling functionary and number of the entourage. Thirdly, yiding worked on shift while yizi can be requisitioned anytime… For more details, please see “Several Questions on the Station and Hostel System in the Early Tang,” in Anthology of Studies of Dunhuang and Turfan, Volume No. 3. Tongdian (Volume No. 175): “Fuling County is two thousand three hundred and seventeen li away from Xijing (the western capital).” Rizhilu (Volume No. 10), Records of Daily Gains in Knowledge, article of “I’ch’uan System”: “The stipulation of the Tang Dynasty required that imperial edicts should be posted at a rate of five hundred li per day.” Tangguo shibu (the First Volume), Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording a collection of stories of the early Tang period, written by Li Zhao.

60

B. LI

75. Xia Jianyong, “Post Station,” The Buried Glory, p. 65. 76. Xiao Hong, The Down-trodden Journey of an Ancient Post Station, in China Youth Daily, April 20, 1997. 77. General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian) Volume No. 237, the third year of Yuanhe period, Emperor Xianzong: “(Pei Ji, Li Jiang) reported: ‘It would be better to send an urgent dispatch considering the complexity of dispatching an envoy’.” And in Casual Record from Bi Ji (Biji manzhi): “It is mentioned in Trivial Matters [Cuoshuo] that ‘the secondaryconsort Taizhen loved to eat lychees. Every year, Zhongzhou [Sichuan] would dispatch urgent express to offer the freshest lychees, which took five days for the package to arrive the capital. The lychees picked in the summer of the fourth year of the Tianbao period were particularly juicy. When the package was opened, the room was filled with the aroma of lychees.” General Mirror for the Aid of Government, Volume No. 278, annotated by Hu Sanxing: “In wartime, the dispatch posted by courier at a critical moment that doesn’t allow a second of delay is called express delivery. Delivery means postal transmission. The mailing of dispatch should be relayed to the destination by postmen stationed along the postal road.” 78. Sven Hedin (Sweden), 1992, trans. Xu Shizhou, et al., History of the Expedition in Asia, 1927 –1935, Urumqi: Xinjiang People’s Publishing House, 1992, p. 263. 79. Tanglv shuyi (Volume No. 10), The Penal Law Code of the Tang, pp. 208–213. 80. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 197), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 81. See Anthology of Studies of Dunhuang and Turfan, Volume No. 3, p. 328. 82. “Mailing of the Han and Tang Dynasties” in Sequels of Rongzhai suibi, Volume No. 2. 83. Rizhilu (Volume No. 10), Records of Daily Gains in Knowledge, “Yichuan (Post-horse-coach-road System).” 84. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 206), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 85. “All history is contemporary history,” the Italian historian Benedetto Croce once said. No matter how zigzagged it heads, there is no doubt that contemporary history is the “sediment” of the past. Therefore, a reversed discovery of ancient history in a contemporary context has its theoretical base. For instance, the following excerption from the modern history will help us to reconstruct the sense relating to yichuan (post-horse-couch-road system), guanshe (station hostel) and yiqi (post rider) in the Tang Dynasty. It was not really lonely, if I may say. It was just traveling from one post station to another on the back of the horses that you rented. Because a groom would stay with you, so that he could bring the two horses back to the original post station when you arrived the next station. You will need to pay several krones as rental, a sum equal to the cost of one-night accommodation. The horses and grooms will be shifted at each station. So as long as you could sustain, you could travel day and night without a stop. The distance between each station vary from twenty to thirty kilo meters (translator’s note: it is a Chinese—English back translation based on the Chinese text originally translated from the German edition of the book, as the original

2

CAPITAL LIAISON OFFICE AND ANCIENT POSTAL SYSTEM

61

paragraph is un-identified). (Sven Hedin [Sweden], 1984, trans. Li Shuli, My Life as an Explorer, Shanghai: Shanghai Book Store Publishing House, p. 19).

CHAPTER 3

Government Gazette and Chin-tsou-yüen Report

For those who are acquainted with the history of the Tang Dynasty, when talking about the official mechanisms of communications of that time, they would naturally think of the i-ch’uan system (an ancient court postal service system, which refers to a vast network of communication relating to post station, post-horse, post-coach, post-road, and so on) and ti-yüen (refers to the capital liaison office, which is set up by the local government in the capital aimed at dealing with official business near the capital). The important role that the two mechanisms played for the official journalism and communication of Tang Dynasty should be truly highlighted. After all, without the latter, the earliest official news would have never existed; while without the former, no official news could have ever been circulated and broadcasted. Therefore, at the beginning of this book, we briefed readers the two mechanisms in order to set up these two indispensable historical scenarios in the discourse of journalism and communications of Tang Dynasty, before we start the relevant discussion. It is just like installing a screen first before projecting a film. Even though the “film” we are about to project is not as breathtaking and thrilling as those Hollywood blockbusters, and it is of simple plots, primitive techniques and unconnected-blur footages, its rarity and preciousness make the film attractive in a special way.

Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports (Kaiyuan Zabao) Since the release of “On the Differences between Chinese Newspapers and Foreign Newspapers” on Shen Pao (Shanghai News ) in 1873, the study of journalistic history of China has lasted more than a century. Even if we take the publication of The Modern History of Chinese Newspapers (1927) by Ge © The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_3

63

64

B. LI

Gongzhen as the inauguration, the discipline of journalistic study is already over 80 years old. Whatever the timeline, the study of Chinese history of journalism has to tackle with an ultimate question since its presence: to which dynasty the history of Chinese newspapers could be traced back to? Or more specifically, when did the first newspaper come out in China? Today, it is widely accepted in the academic circle that ti-pao (dibao邸报, literal meaning: report from the [official] residence or office), is the ancient version of newspaper of China, whose development basically simulates the history of ancient Chinese newspapers (Huang Zhuoming 1983: 8). However, there has been a lasting and divergent discussion among the experts about the exact time that ti-pao appeared. In general, there are mainly three influential theories about its birth time. The first is Han Dynasty-originated theory, proposed by the pioneer of journalism of China, Ge Gongzhen; the second is Tang Dynasty-originated theory, proposed by Fang Hanqi; and the third is Song Dynasty-originated theory, proposed by Zhu Chuanyu.1 The first theory is considered unverified due to the lack of historical evidences. There is no doubt that the Song Dynasty-originated theory is the most widely accepted as supported by abundant historical evidences. But the question is that is it possible that the birth of ti-pao could be even more advanced than Song Dynasty, probably as early as in the Tang Dynasty? And can we proof it? The question has become a focus of the academic circle because that it tackles the origin of Chinese newspapers and the forms of ancient Chinese newspapers. The debates and discussions over the question continued and buzzled since the release of “Observing the Newspaper of Ancient China from the Chin-tsou-yüen Report of the Tang Guiyi Army Housed in the British Library” by Fang Hanqi in 1983. The papers “Study on Two Official Documents of Chin-tsou-yüen in Dunhuang: Comments on the Fact that ‘Dibao’ Is Not the Ancient Newspaper” by Zhang Guogang and “Observing the Newspaper of Ancient China from the Chin-tsou-yüen Report of the Tang Guiyi Army Housed in the British Library” by Jiang Xiangdong are considered most representative.2 Currently, there are three historical evidences that can demonstrate the ancient Chinese newspaper was originated in Tang Dynasty: 1. “Reading Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” by Sun Qiao, Tang Dynasty; 2. An anecdote about Han Hong and Ti-pao (dibao); 3. The two copies of Chin-tsou-yüen (Jinzouyuan) Report.3 Almost all the expositions about the state journalism and communications of the Tang Dynasty are developed based on these three evidences, while the remnant of two “chin-tsou-yüen reports” is the most undebatable while solid. In order to clarify the question, we need to look at and verify the three evidences one by one.

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

65

Sun Qiao (a Tang literatus, living in a period around the year 867), whose courtesy name is Kezhi, or also known as Yinzhi, won top three in the imperial court examination in the ninth year of the Dazhong period (855), and became a renowned writer of ancient China. He boasted that “Regarding the truth of literature, my knowledge comes from Wu Ze (a.k.a Lai Ze, a Tang literatus, living in a period around the year 835), while that of Wu Ze was obtained from Huangfu Chizheng (a.k.a Huangfu Shi, a literatus, 777–835), while that of Huang Fu was from the stateman and great literature master, Han Yu (768– 824), courtesy name Tuizhi” (“A Letter to Scholar-Official Wang Lin”). To put in a nutshell, it suggests that Sun Qiao learn directly from the students of Han Yu, and the orthodox inheritor of his distinctive genre of ancient prose writing. An ancient critic commented: A sense of loneliness and anger is among the lines, and every passage reads powerful and emotional. Born in the era of Emperor Yi and Emperor Xi, he could never forget the prosperity during the Zhenguan and Kaiyuan periods, which makes the author could not help but being cynical and depressed. The working and phrasing all have their sources. He must be a student acquired the true knowledge of Sir Changli. (Han Yu)4

“Records of Literature Classics” in New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xintangshu, Yiwenzhi) includes the three volumes of his Anthology on Morals and Norms (Jingweijii), which are kept till today. And the most recognized work of Sun Qiao is Collected Works of Sun Kezhi (a.k.a Collected Works of Sun Qiao, or Sunqiaoji) is the version that printed from the carved-blocks in Sichuan area during Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1179), which consists of 35 articles of in 10 volumes. His “Reading Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” has long been considered as “the most important historical record for the study of journalism in Tang Dynasty” (Fang Hanqi 1992, 1: 47). The full text is as follows: I once found dozens of scrolls in the region flowed by Xiang River and Han River, which record pieces of daily events but without specific beginning and ending. Roughly like this: one day, the emperor attended the ploughing ceremony, and performed Nine-Pushing Ritual by plowing the soils in person; one day, more than one hundred court advisors attended the archery ceremony in the south to Anfu Building; one day, the governors of frontier commands were summoned by Anbei (“Pacify the North”) Protectorate to provide guards for the heaven worshiping ceremony; And one day, the emperor returned from the eastern altar for the warship of heaven and earth, and largess distributed are uneven; One day, the chancellor of Xuanzheng Gate debated with imperial officials for over half an hour. The records like such count over a hundred. I did not know what they were, and just thought these events were the imperial activities happened recently. Then a friend from Chang’an visited, so I showed him the scrolls. He said, “You know that I live in Chang’an. After the new emperor was crowned, the past loyalists clasped, and the court worshiped the the Heaven

66

B. LI

and the Earth in the Southern suburb. How could there be a ploughing ceremony? Not mentioning that the nine-pushing ritual is not for the emperor. And last time when I visited the Imperial Academy (T’ai-hsüeh), I saw a place constructed with blocks and soils like a tomb. After a closer look I realized that it is the place for archery ceremony in the past. The archery ceremony has been long abandoned, so how could any state intuition still do it? It is either flood or drought that devasted the harvests. The peasants are so poor that some people sold their children to the rich as slaves. I used to meet a thousand of soldiers in Luoyang, who just returned from the western frontier. The granary in the county was too insufficient to feed the troop. Under such condition, how could the court afford marching east and worshiping the Heaven and Earth? They could not even afford the supply to emperor’s lifeguards. The thunder attack by the northern invaders attacked is out of control. The grand chancellor Chi left to supervise the battle but have not declared any progress. Also, the barbarians from the west are harassing, where can they find extra guards for the court? Since the censor of Emperor Wu criticized chancellor, four people in relevance were punished and exiled to the Lingnan region in the south, so until nowadays no bureaucrats dare to speak out in court. You know that the chancellor Chen advised the punishment of beating with wooden staves? How could there be a court debate?” My friend hasn’t finished while someone from other places knew about the scrolls said to us, “These are all the political events took place in the Kaiyuan period. They were pieces of information reported to the outside.” Later I checked the scrolls with the Records of History of Kaiyuan period, and every entry is proved. But I still thought that it was impossible for the court today to obliviate all the traditional ceremonies. Until I visited Chang’an and saw the piece reports what happened in the court everyday – they are just about officials grating and dismissing, liking something or hunting somewhere. There is already nothing alike those scrolls. What a pity I was not born in that era. When I read the scrolls of the Kaiyuan period, I felt inspired. Therefore, I wrote down notes on the pages, filling in missing paragraphs and correcting the miswritten ones. It was the fifth year of the reign of Dazhong. (851)5

What the article mentions here is the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports,” which is the “culprit” that triggered a debate among scholars all the way from the ancient time till today. First of all, there are divergences of the interpretation of the four-character title: Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports (Kai-yuan Za-bao). For the supporters of Tang Dynasty-originated theory, the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” was titled as such because it was the earliest newspaper in China and appeared in the period of Kaiyuan (713–741). In other words, the last Chinese character bao (or pao in Wade-Giles romanization) is used as a noun, indicating the same meaning when we use the character to refer to newspaper today. However, the opponents pointed out that “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” is probably a name created by Sun Qiao, which does not mean there was a “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” in the Tang Dynasty. And pao is used here as a verb, meaning announcing widely, not exactly the same thing as newspaper. For instance, Mr. Zhu Chuanyu said: “In terms of the phrase ‘Miscellaneous Reports’, it is not

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

67

commonly used to address newspapers” (1988: 111). Mr. Yao Fushen even advocated that, “‘Miscellaneous Reports’ is just a title Sun Kezhi made up. Or the Chinese character bao could actually be a written error as a result of generations of hand copying of the article, and the actual characters Sun used could possibly be ‘Miscellaneous Records (tsa-chi)’.” He also wrote, “Regardless from the perspective of the study of editions or the contents, the title ‘Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Records’ makes more sense to the original copy and the original meaning than ‘Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports’” (1985, 9: 225). In addition, people have different understanding toward the phrase ti’aopao (literal translation: piece-report) from ‘saw the piece reports sent to the court everyday’. The supporters of Tang Dynasty theory believe that, “piecereports” is another name for “Miscellaneous Reports,” both belonging to the official system of ti-pao in the Tang Dynasty. As Mr. Wu Tingjun wrote in the inspiring The Essentials of Chinese Journalism History: Although the two types of “reports” were found in Kaiyuan period and Dazhong period respectively, and one is elaborative in narratives, and one is more simplified, they do have something in common. That is, they are both issued by the court, and were ‘pieces of information reported to the outside.’ They both show clear features of the government communiqué with regard to their contents and channels of release. It is clear that there had always been court newspaper that resembled government gazette today released from Kaiyuan to Dazhong era. The name of which, however, is probably not “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports”. Instead, it might be called “Report-Letter (baozhuang报状, Pao-chuang )” or “Report (Bao or Pao报)”.6

Although Wu’s discussion is not constrained to the title characters, his argument is still based on miscellaneous reports and piece-reports. And what Mr. Wu neglected here is that he regarded the visit to Changan that Sun Qiao mentioned in the article took place after the ninth year of Dazhong period, when Sun Qiao obtained a prominent title of chin-shih program in the imperial examination that year. However, the article was written in the fifth year of the reign. Those who believe that “ti’ao-pao ((tiaobao条报)” is not an evidence of the imperial bulletin in Tang Dynasty also elaborate their point from the semantic perspective. They asserted that “piece-report” is not a proper name, but a verb phrase, meaning reporting or announcing information piece by piece. As Yao Fusheng said: Ti’ao-pao should be a verb phrase given the context, meaning reporting piece by piece. It not a noun phrase, and it certainly cannot be the name of a state newspaper of feudal China. (Yao Fushen 1985, 9: 225)

If we merely analyze the grammatical structure, the Chinese character “bao (report)” in the sentence “the piece reports what happened in the court everyday” should be interpreted as a verb meaning “report” or “inform,”

68

B. LI

no matter it is in ancient or contemporary Chinese. The Chinese character “(tiao条, piece)” here therefore serves as an adverb that modifies the verb, and combined, the two characters should indicate “report (bao/pao, inform) piece by piece” by syntax and semantics. In a nutshell, it is not the same thing with the ti’ao-pao (Piece-Report)” that presumably serves as the title of ancient newspaper. The key of the above arguments about name is how to define “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports.” A widely accepted theory is that “it belongs to the category of ancient newspaper, and it is an early form of imperial bulletins, like letter-report of the capital liaison office” (Fang Hanqi et al. 1992, 1: 50). In contrast, some scholars believe that “‘Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports’ is a book rather than a newspaper’ (Yao Fushen 1985, 9: 224–225), and is probably kind of memorabilia, or sort of chronicle like Records of [Buddhist Teachings during the] Kaiyuan period (Kaiyuanlu) at most” (Zhu Chuanyu 1988: 2). Some people believe that “the so-called ‘Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports’ is no more than some sort of unorganized newsletter in the Tang Dynasty.” And the most radical opinion proposes that we should exclude “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” from the discourse of journalism and communications, since it is the notice released by the imperial court. This point is, for instance, supported by Mr. Jiang Xiangdong, as he once wrote: In fact, in Tang Dynasty, after chancellors deliberated national policies in the Hall of Political Affairs, the process and conclusion of discussion will be “released to the public by the Hall on wooden tablets” (Song Minqiu, “Memoirs of Chunming in Politics”). As the knowing person in Sun Qiao’s article also said, ‘these are all the political events took place in the Kaiyuan period. They were pieces of information reported to the outside.” Sun Qiao saw how the system functioned in Chang’an City with his own eyes, namely, namely ‘saw the piece reports what happened in the court everyday’ (some people think that the ‘piece-reports’ is the ‘miscellaneous reports’, but I think ‘piece reports’ functions as a verb rather than a noun, meaning publish or release in pieces). Therefore, the scrolls ‘which record pieces of daily events’ are the notices and announcements on imperial activities that the Hall of Political Affairs released to the outside, with a purpose is to showcase the political transparency of the central government, a state behavior only appeared in the most thriving era of Tang Dynasty. It is not a newspaper. (Jiang Xiangdong 1992)

Finally, there is also a bold but inspiring opinion, doubting that whether “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Report” has ever existed. The biggest supporter of his argument is Zhu Chuanyu. As he reasoned: Although “Reading Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” is one of the most important historical sources for us to study the ti-pao of Tang Dynasty, it is hard to tell from the contents whether it is about a true story or merely made up by the author. In those days, the literati did not dare to comment directly on politics, so they often used metaphors or fictitious names and plots to allude to the reality. As a celebrity who concerned about the imperial reign, Sun Qiao was

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

69

unlikely that ignorant about the political situation as how he described. Plus, the article was written in the mid of the fifth year of the Dazhong period, merely 100 years away from the Kaiyuan period. It does not make sense that Sun Qiao knew nothing about the political activities in the Kiayuan period. Therefore, a sharp contrast is made, when he indicated the flourishment of the Kaiyuan period while unveiling the political situation of his day through the mouth of a guy from Chang’an, for the readers to judge which reign is superior. This is a successful political criticism. However, it is hard to say whether Sun Qiao had really found the scrolls. Either the visitor from Chang’an City or the person who knows the scrolls could be the fictitious figures he made up. (Zhu Chuanyu 1988: 113)

Even though Mr. Zhu’s elaborations are more like speculations, they have certain grounds. In fact, the most clear-cut while pervasive point to support this is that “Reading Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” is the one and only historical text about the “Reports” you could find, even though you read through all the existing archives about the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, in the absence of a specific copy or more evidences, we had better be cautious when associating the “Reports” with the earlies newspaper of China, despite we admit “it is a particularly important historical material in the study of the history of ancient Chinese journalism” (Yao Fushen 1985, 9: 222). Then, what is “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” on earth? We can answer this question by analyzing what it is and what it is related to. For the first question, I tend to agree with most of the historians studying the Tang Dynasty, namely, “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” is the “government gazette of the Kaiyuan period.”7 In addition, it can be inferred that it also resembles the court diaries that record activities and reposes of the emperor, since it includes “all daily events” and rituals performed by the court. The difference is that “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” will be released piece by piece, while the court diaries are kept secretly and are only accessible to the officials who are responsible for writing and revising the annals of each reign. This is in terms of the situation of the Kaiyuan miscellaneous newspaper. According to the point of view of materialist dialectics, anything can grasp its essence only from the perspective of connection. The isolation analysis is tantamount to separating the living people from the network of social history. The study on “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” is no exception. If we just look at this historical object as an isolated matter, I’m afraid we will never get to know what it really is. That will be like a bunch of blind people trying to delineate an elephant while each of them could only touch a single part. Therefore, when we associate the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” with the evolvement of ancient Chinese newspapers, and even with the long history of news activities of the entire human society, the picture could be much clearer. And simply categorizing the “Reports” as some imperial gazette would be too arbitrary an answer. This is because that, although the government gazette or the court statement has been a court tradition long ago, the “Reports” seem to be the first to be released on a regular basis. This detail is often overlooked

70

B. LI

but quite crucial. In other words, it is the regular release of the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” that distinguishes it from its predecessors and endows it a groundbreaking and unique role in the history of Chinese journalism. We all know that periodical publication is one of the intrinsic and external features that distinguish newspapers from books and news from messages. Whenever and wherever it is, it is a landmark that suggests news activities have become more systematic from a status of lack of regulation, and always a symbol of emergence of news industry.8 From this point of view, the significance of “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” relies not on whether it is the first newspaper in ancient China (people can’t identify the isolated thing in the newspaper anyway), but that it is the earliest official communique, or gazette, that has been endorsed by the historical records. It is precisely its regularity, instead of any other reason, makes “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Newspaper” to be deemed as an epoch-making symbol, something like the genesis, in the history of Chinese journalism, and the first sunshine that led the ancient news activities from the boundless dark night into the dawn, embarking on a new journey. Taking this as an opportunity, the news dissemination after the Tang and Song Dynasties will be different from those conducted in the past, as it would be carried out more systematically and more extensively with its branches sprawling into social life. The scenario mentioned above can be concluded by a remark by the ancient Chinese poet Lu You (1125–1210), who said, “putting a witticism at a prominent place in a passage will make it an aphorism.” Something like “philosophic breakthrough,” or “transcendent breakthrough” in the western philosophy. The term refers to the transcendent, systematic and critical sublimation achieved by Chinese, Indian, ancient Greek, Hebrew and other ethnic groups in the spiritual world during the first millennium B.C.E. After the philosophic breakthrough, the indigenous believes and thoughts of the human society developed into more exquisite and systemic forms. The words of Confucius, Laozi, Shakyamuni, Socrates, Plato, and the Jewish prophets respectively became the symbols that govern the cultural traditions of their nations. A quote from a Confucianist of Song Dynasty can well underline the importance of the philosophical breakthrough: “If the Heaven didn’t send Confucius to the world, we will still be living in the era of darkness.” The contemporary philosopher A.N Whitehead also said: “The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.” In comparison, we can take “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” as a transcendent breakthrough in the history of Chinese journalism and communication. It reminds me a poem: “wide flow the nine streams through the land, dark threads the line from south to north….” The news industry of ancient China headed into a brighter and clearer stage. As the “inception” of ancient Chinese news, the historical significance of “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” is then gradually revealed and elaborated by the official news networks of the Song, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties.

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

71

The historical status and symbolic meaning of the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” may remind us of “Acta Diurna” (Daily Public Records) that symbolizes “news breakthrough” of the Western journalism born in the ancient Rome. Coincidentally, the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” and the “Acta Durna” are both public notices, which are presented in the public places on a daily basis in one copy rather than disseminated in multiples. It seems that they are not directly related to the contemporary newspaper industry. However, their cultural DNA is passed down, “traveling thousands of miles to find a perfect dan.” This is not a coincidence, but the historical commonality that ancient civilizations always share during development of news dissemination. Although as insightful as Oswald Spengler, he even does not bother to admit the interrelation between the “Acta Diurna” and contemporary newspapers, criticizing such comparison too superficial.9 But it should be admitted that the two are internally resonated in social function and are related, as their dots of development can be connected into one inherited route. No wonder why Western scholars never ignore the “Acta Diurna” when talking about the history of journalism, as it is an automatic action to trace the origin. Now that the Western scholars can just take the “Acta Diurna” as the origin of news of the West, why can’t we regard the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” that possess the similar historical status and symbolic significance as the origin of the Chinese newspaper industry? In fact, some Western scholars have already made similar conclusions on the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports,” by referring to the Acta Diurna. The Russian sinologist L.V. Simonovskaya once commented the Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports as “the first newspaper under the administration of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty” (Fang Hanqi et al. 1992, 1: 51) and the “first newspaper” in China. It sounds as if she is saying: the “Acta Diurna” is the first newspaper in the West born under the reign of Emperor Julius Caesar. In conclusion, no matter whether the Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports is a newspaper or not, and whether it is the earliest imperial bulletin,10 its significance of inception and symbolic status in the history of Chinese journalism is unquestionable.

Han Hong and “Ti-Pao” The second evidence that could demonstrate the origin of ancient newspapers or imperial bulletins from the Tang Dynasty is a record about Han Hong getting a government position. Han Hong is a poet of the mid-Tang period and is included among the famous “Ten Talents of the Dali Reign.”11 As Fu Xuancong once said: The story of Han Hong, no matter it is in the New History of the Tang Dynasty or the Biographies of Talented Men in the Tang, has textual evidences. One is from “The Biography of Ms. Liu (Liushizhuan)” by the writer of the Tang Dynasty Xu Yaozuo, and the other is from Stories in Verses (Benshishi)”

72

B. LI

complied by Meng Qi. Or we can say that all the accounts about Han Hong by the later generations, including some books of literature history today anthologies of Tang poems, can be traced back to the two materials. (Fu Xuancong 1987: 450)

Xu Yaozuo and Meng Qi were contemporaries (ibid.: 453). Xu’s “The Biography of Ms. Liu” is a famous Tang legend, about a love story of Han Hong and Madam Liu, and their happiness and sorrows, with enticing plots and affluent while insightful contents. Among them, the poem The Willows of Zhangtai written by Han Hong to memorize Madam Liu because of their mutual separation, and the poem The Willow Branches written by Madam Liu as a response, are both considered the masterpieces of the Tang literature, and highly appreciated for the smoothness in writing and the heartfelt emotions expressed: The willows of Zhangtai, the willows of Zhangtai, are they still there, waving arms like the old days? Though the branches are as long, they could have been bended by other people, not me. The willow branches, the flower sprigs, they are gifts at departures. Leaves falling and autumn is coming, the willows can not bear bending even it is you.

The first volume of Meng Qi’s Stories in Verses consists of seven categories: romances, feelings, solitaries, grievances, tragedies, and disasters and satires. The forty-one entries are all narrative poems, such as the peach blossom poems by Cui Hu. Therefore, the collection is quite helpful for people to learn more background knowledge about the poems of the Tang Dynasty. Quote: “it has never been neglected by the researchers of arts and literature.”12 The story of Han Hong and Madam Liu noted in the first section of “Stories in Verses: Romances” is exactly the same with “The Biography of Ms. Liu,” except for it is ended with an experience of Han Hong served in the government of Kaifeng city. However, it is this extra passage that attracted the attention of news historians as it mentioned about ti-pao. The full text is as follows: After that, he lived leisurely for 10 years. The chancellor Li encouraged him to guard the Gate Yi, and then appoint Han to work for him. By then he was already in his late years. The colleagues were all younger generations and did not hear about him. The poems were cheesy. Feeling underappreciated at work, Han frequently stayed at home for sick leaves. A low officer Wei who knew he was a celebrity was his only friend. One day, at the midnight, he heard the officer punching the door and went out. The officer congratulated him: “You have been promoted! You are now the vice-director, in charge of writing the imperial mandate for the court.” Han was astonished and said “It is impossible. There much be some mistakes.” Wei entered his house and sat down, said: “Liu-ti (liudi留邸, residence of acting military commissioner) chuang-pao (zhuangbao 状报, letter-report) chi-kao (chigao敕告, draft-mandate) ch’üeh-jen (queren阙人,

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

73

vacancy) (There was a vacancy for the position of chi-kao, an official title can be understood as drafter of imperial bulletins and mandates]). It is the order from the emperor. The two candidates recommended by the imperial secretariat were rejected by his honor. The imperial secretariat begged for an instruction, and his honor wrote, ‘Han Hong’. There is a Han Hong working as the inspector of Jianghuai Province. And the Secretariat proposed so. However, his honor instructed: ‘It is the Han Hong who wrote the poem ‘Not a place was without blossom and fluttering petals in a city in spring; The willows of the imperial garden swayed in easterlies on the memorial-day of Cold Fare. At sunset the Palace set alight candles everywhere; Light smoke rose and into the nearby estates of five noblemen drifted and spread.’” Wei congratulated again: “Isn’t it your poem?” Han answered: “Yes.” And Wei said, “Now you know it’s not a mistake.” In the early next morning, the inspector of Dianzhou prefecture came with his subordinates for congratulation. It was the mid of Jianzhong period.

Meng Qi claimed that he heard the story from Zhao Wei, a general from Daliang region. And Zhao Wei saw and heard it when he was serving in Bianzhou. Therefore, Zhou Shaoliang commented that “the version was based on what one person told the other.”13 And Fu Xuancong concluded that, after consulting other historical materials, “the plot recorded by ‘Stories in Verses’ is verifiable” (1987: 466). And it is “the only existing historical record about Han Hong’s late life,” and “the first-hand material of Han Hong after he served as the advisor of Li Mian, inspector of Bianzhou” (ibid.: 454, 465). These specific phrases “Liu-ti (residence of acting military commissioner) chuang-pao (letter-report) chi-kao (draft-mandate) queren (阙人, vacancy)” became a pivot for the news historians to discuss the relation between the Tang Dynasty and the imperial bulletins. Theoretically, we could just develop our discussion based on the passage without introducing other second-hand materials, but since a paragraph from Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty is frequently quoted for the study of this matter, I would like to share with you the full text in the following for better elaboration: Han Hong did not go to work for a long time. One day, at around midnight, he heard someone knocking at the door. The guest came in and congratulated: “You are now the vice-director, in charge of writing the imperial mandate (chikao: draft- [emperor’s] mandate) for the court.” Han Hong said “it must be a mistake!” And the guest responded: “There was a vacancy of the position tipao and chi-kao (report from the office and draft-mandate). The two candidates recommended by the imperial secretariat were rejected by the emperor. So the secretariat asked for the instruction.”14

Above are the second historical material we use to demonstrate that the imperial bulletins have already existed since the Tang Dynasty. The sentence “there was a vacancy of ti-pao and chi-kao” in Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty is particularly quoted as a solid evidence for the existence of imperial bulletins in the Tang Dynasty. Just as some scholars put it: “It is clearly recorded here that there were imperial bulletins in the Tang

74

B. LI

Dynasty. And what’s more, they functioned to propagate news!” (Yao Fushen 1981, 4: 121). However, the fact could be not as clear-cut as it seemed to be. Are the abovementioned historical materials trustworthy enough to prove the existence of imperial bulletins in the Tang Dynasty? Let us firstly review the texts of the two paragraphs that mention imperial bulletins in Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty and Stories in Verses. Regardless of the “liu-ti” and “chuang-pao” in the Stories in Verses or the “ti-pao and “chi-kao” (draft-mandate) in the Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty Dynasty, a point has been made very clearly, which is, there was a vacancy for the official in charge of drafting imperial mandate for the royal court. Chi-kao is an abbreviated title of chi-chi-kao, the name of official title), which is a government position of the Tang Dynasty who drafted “documents from the central government,” such as memorials or imperial mandates. The Chinese character (zhi) and (gao) both refer to the mandate from the emperor, and the character (zhi), means “govern” or “in charge of.” This logic of wording in position naming also applies to the official titles of later dynasties, such as chi-hsien ([someone who] governs county) and chichou ([someone who] governs the state). If we look into it more carefully, the formal title for chi-chi-kao should have been chung-shu-she-jen (attendant/drafters of the Chung-shu Division), which is one of the central positions of the Chung-shu Division. Although the Chung-shu Division, the Shang-shu Division, and Men-Hsia Division (three major organs of the central government under the emperor) were together known as the “Three Departments” at that time, which ran all the important military and political businesses of the empire, and the Shang-shu Division was at the leading position with the greatest power among the three. I say so because that it was positioned under the emperor but above all other national machines: an order of the emperor would be firstly sent to the Chuang-shu Division to get it drafted into a decree, and then passed it to the Men-hsia Division for a review and proofreading, and lastly to the Shang-shu Division for announcing and proceeding the decree. Meanwhile, the memorials and letters of central departments and local governments would be presented to the emperor by the Chung-shu Division. It is no wonder why since the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, the function of central bureau, or specifically, the Administration Chamber of Chancellors (zaixiang-zhengshitang ), was taken over by the Chung-shu Division from the Men-hsia Division. The sequence of posts there was arranged in the following order: chief directors known as chung-shu-ling (zhongshuling中书 令) of Chung-shu Division中书省; and vice-directors of the Chuangshu Division known as chung-shu-shih-lang (zhongshu shilang中书侍郎), and drafters of the Chung-shu Division known as chung-shu-she-jen (zhongshu sheren中书 舍人) (including six officials). Drafters of the Chung-shu Division, together with “the Cava-lier Regular Attendant known as san-chi-ch’ang-shih (sanji changshi散骑常侍) and Grand Master of Remonstrance known as chien-i-ta-fu (jianyi dafu谏议大夫) of the Men-hsia Division门下省 and the Vice Minister known as yüen-wai-lang, (yuanwailang) of the Shang-shu Division, were called

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

75

‘Reputable Officials’ (ch’ing-wang-kuan), meaning they were chosen as officials because that they outperformed others in the imperial examinations. Also, the even higher bureaucrats, such as chancellor and military surveillance commissioner (known as chieh-tu-kuan-ch’a, the name of official title), would be picked from these people as well” (Qu Tuiyuan [1894–1973]).15 We could say that it is a quintessential career ladder for those who later became the empire decision-makers. For those who intended to fight for the greater good, the official title of chung-shu-she-jen is not only a prominent position, but enjoys a respectful reputation. This is because that since the Tang Dynasty, or more specifically, “since the beginning of Yongchun period (682), the social consensus was to respect the literati and scholars, and the literary competence became a dominating quality of those high officials. Being chung-shu-shejen was the greatest honor a literatus could be granted and the wonderful choice of the imperial court (Comprehensive Statutes, vol. 21).” However, since Emperor Xuanzong introduced the so-called Hanlin academicians or Hanlin academicians (also called Han-lin-hsüeh-shih), the responsibility of chung-shushe-jen to draft imperial notices and edicts was gradually taken over by the Hanlin academicians. Hanlin-Yuan, the literal translation should be a “brush forest court” is some sort of an ancient Chinese version of Royal Academy, where the academicians were nominated by the emperor. When it came to the mid-Tang Dynasty, chung-shu-she-jen was only responsible for drafting documents issued by the Chung-shu Division and Shang-shu Division, which were in general called “outer regulations,” while the more important commends that directly came from the emperor, also known as “inner regulations,” were all drafted by the Hanlin academicians. The inner regulations are comparatively more important than the outer regulations, concerning more relevant issues, such as deciding the heir to the throne, appointment and removal of the chancellor, or declaration of wars, etc. And as the time went by, even the outer regulations became the responsibility of the Men-hsia Division. Those who drafted these documents were called chien-chi-chi-kao (also the drafter), and chung-shu-she-jen therefore became an almost pointless job. We can conclude that chi-chi-kao is not an exclusive title for chung-shu-she-jen, as chi-chi-kao contains more responsibilities. Certainly, chung-shu-she-jen, theoretically whose responsibilities include “drafting imperial notices, attendance, making signature, announcing edicts from the emperor, expressing comfort and condolence, accepting judicial cases, reflecting advises, and restraining power of judgement,” could be called “chi-chi-kao” (ibid.). While for the Hanlin academicians and court attendants of various bureaus who were commissioned with the same responsibilities, also shared this title. Han Hong was an advisor of the military commissioner Li Mian before he was promoted as the chivalry attendant of the Bureau of Equipment (chia-pu-lang-chung ) and drafters of imperial documents (chi-chi-kao), as the two historical texts mentioned above indicated. As an aged poet with a futureless career, it is natural that Han Hong could not believe what he heard when his friend told him the news. And then the readers were revealed what was behind: it was the

76

B. LI

Emperor who personally named Han Hong. This slightly dramatic tale then became a well-acclaimed story by all poets of China, even till today. What matters here, after all, is its reference to the word ti-pao(, normally translated as official capital reports or imperial bulletins today). However, we could not say that the imperial bulletins existed in the Tang Dynasty simply because of one sentence “There was a vacancy of ti-pao-chi-kao (the position drafters of imperial bulletins)” mentioned by Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty. The reasons are as follows. Firstly, according to the argument of Fu Xuancong in the previous passage, the only first-hand material about this story is in Stories in Verses. Other relevant records are mostly second-hand anecdotes which are not credible enough to be the proof.16 Secondly, Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty was written in the Southern Song Dynasty, which “was 500 years later than the era Han Hong lived in” (Fang Hanqi et al. 1992, 1: 40), while “the appellation ‘ti-pao’ was firstly used in the Song Dynasty” (ibid.: 73). It can be inferred that the author of Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty used the idiom of his time Liu-ti-chuang-pao, (Mansion of Acting Military CommissionerReport) into (ti-pao (dibao). The third reason is that the ti-pao mentioned here, though same in writing, means different from the ti-pao used in the Song Dynasty. For people of the Song Dynasty, “ti-pao” was already a proper noun. Doe instance, the poet Su Dongpo (1037–1101) once wrote: “Reading the ti-pao and talking about Bai Juyi, we also paid tribute to Ouyang Xiu when mentioned Mount Chu.”17 Mount Chu is the place where the famous statesman and writer Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) wrote his best-known poem. Bai Juyi and Ouyang Xiu are two leading poets of the Tang Dynasty. However, the ti-pao (dibao) in the sentence “there was a vacancy of ti-pao (dibao) and chi-kao (zhigao)” from the Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty should be interpreted as two separate Chinese characters: ti (di) and pao (bao) meaning the official residence (ti/di, in most cases referring to some sort of the capital liaison office) reported (pao/bao). Otherwise, this sentence does not make sense either grammatically or semantically. If we connect Di and Bao as one word (ti-pao, a proper noun), it should have been followed by a verb such as “say” or “indicate” as a predicate, so as to connect the subject “ti-pao” with the object “制诰阙人.” Or, if we simply analyze the grammar, “ti” is the subject, “pao” is the predicate, and “chi-kao-qüeh-jen (there is a vacancy of chi-kao)” is the object. Of course, in ancient Chinese, predicate is not an indispensable element, and could even be omitted. But the omission, or gapping, is allowed only in certain conditions, such as omitting in the second sentence (The Huainanzi: A Forest of Persuasions (Shuolinxun): for the guest to govern rice, but from [governing], or omitting in the first sentence (The Analects of Confucius: Lord Ling of State Wei (Wei Linggong): “It is a long way to complain that one is benevolent to oneself [to blame] and to blame others.”), or the omissions in dialogues. But this sentence does not fit any of

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

77

these standards. If we consider this is a predicate-missioned sentence, it will be grammatically incorrect. In a nutshell, the argument of taking the quotation of the Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty Dynasty as an evidence of the existence of the imperial bulletins is untenable. So, how about the “Liu-ti-chuang-pao (liudi zhuangbao留邸状报) residence of acting military commissioner-report” in Stories in Verses ? Does it mean imperial bulletins here? Not really, I am afraid, for three reasons. First of all, the characters are actually different. It is far-fetched to take this phrase “Liu-ti-chuang-pao (residence of acting military commissioner - report)” as a synonym for the imperial bulletin of that time, ti-pao (residence/office report),” if not a homoionym. This is probably why those who support the imperial bulletins are derived from the Tang Dynasty hardly quoted evidence from the Stories in Verses, while more quoting from the Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty. Secondly, Gu Yanwu (1613–1682) compiled the word ti-pao in his book Records of Daily Gains in Knowledge (Rizhilu) to trace the origin of the imperial bulletins. The full text is as following: “Biography of Liu Fengshi”, History of Song (Songshi, Liufengshi zhuan): The capital liaison office drafted a document every five days, handed it to the council for approval, and then got it circulated to the rest stations. The officials at the residence (ti) always reported the information or posted the document before that by sending it among family letters so that the central authority will not notice. Liu Fengshi proofread and revised, deprived the rewards of lands, but he delivered notice immediately through post. In “Biography of Luzhen”: “The rebellion led by Nong Zhigao broke out in the southwest. The edict was issued to the residence (di), but the court did not get posted. Zhen said, ‘For any turbulence occurred in one place, other districts should be informed and prepared. However, this time the information was delivered to none. What’s the purpose?’” In “Biography of Cao Fu” (Caofu zhuan): “Since the Zhenghe period, the emperor often travelled around incognito. The common people were not aware of that in the first place until Cai Jing wrote in his memorial of gratitude that ‘[the emperor] graced my place for 7 times by taking light carriage and sedan.’ The message was spread then through the residence-report (ti-pao).”

This is the first time that ti-pao was mentioned in a book of historical records. However, “Reading Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” in Collected Works of Sun Qiao revealed us that its existence could be found even in the Tang Dynasty. Apparently, Gu Yanwu believes that the proper noun “ti-pao” is originated from the Song Dynasty, while the very object that ti-pao signifies could be traced back to as early as the Tang Dynasty. The conclusion is based on the “On Reading Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” by Sun Qiao. But the weird thing is that as a poet, Han Hong was much more popular than the literatus Sun Qiao. One line of his poem, “not a place was without blossom and

78

B. LI

fluttering petals in a city in spring” can be recited by almost every household all the time. Also, in the vast archive of historical records, the tale about Han Hong “becoming official because of his poems” is much more widely recorded than “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports.” While as one of the greatest erudite of his time, Gu Yanwu won’t only underline the latter evidence while overlooking the former. He did not even mention about it, in his work that is famous for the exquisite textual research, as how he boasted, “I would dedicate my entire life.” Rather, he skipped the other. He did it, of course, not because of how he humbly commented himself as “neither erudite in learning nor distinctive in insights. Oversights are not rare.” On the contrary, it only shows that in the mind of this versatile scholar, to demonstrate ti-pao in the Tang Dynasty, the only slightly reliable clue could be the one found in Reading Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports. Even though liu-ti-chuang-pao (Mansion of Acting Military Commissioner—Report) (in Stories in Verses ) and dibao read alike, it could hardly be a solid evidence to convince people that they signify the same. In fact, no matter the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” is imperial bulletins or not, it is a prototype of feudal government bulletin which has the most direct and closest blood bond with the real imperial bulletins of the later generations. The one in the story of Han Hong should belong to newsletter (please read Chapter 4 for more details). Last but not least, the most important reason why “liu-ti-chuang-pao” cannot be used as the proof of the existence of imperial bulletins in the Tang Dynasty is at the basic lexical and grammar analysis. Liu-ti in “liu-ti-chuangpao” is an alternative or simplified name of the capital liaison office in the Tang Dynasty that serves as a nexus between the central government and the local frontier commands. (Notes: Liu-ti was a proper noun used to name the ti [official residence] of Liu-hou in the capital city. At that time, liu-hou [acting commissioner] was an acting position set to handle the affairs of frontier commands when the military commissioner was in absence.) As discussed in detail in the last chapter, when the Tang Dynasty government firstly set up this agency, it was called Shangdu-liu-hou-yüen (acting commissioner office to capital) and also Diwu-liu-hou-yüen (acting commissioner office for residence affairs). Until the twelfth year of the Dali Reign (777), the agency was renamed into Shangdu-chin-tsou-yüan, meaning “office reporting [to the emperor] to the capital,” and later abbreviated into chin-tsou-yüan, namely, “office reporting [to the emperor],” now commonly translated as “Capital Liaison Office” in the academic papers about Tang history. As how one historical record put: “Documents should assemble at the Office of Residence Affairs of the Commissioner firstly, then compiled by the Acting Commissioner. (May of 12th Reign of Dali) The imperial edict renamed it into the Commissioner to Capital Liaison Office.”18 And the next two characters chuang and pao are even more confusing, so we need to analyze them more carefully. (chuang ), in general, is a type of official document handed in bottom-up,19 a letterlike text that was used to indicate the tributary memorial that the subordinate presented to his superior. Roughly, it can be comprehended as a “letter.” For

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

79

example, there is an anecdote about the famous politician Pei Du (765–839) in Tales of Repayment and Retribution (Yinhualu): After the Lord Pei (Pei Du) pacified Huaixi, Emperor Xianzong awarded him a jade belt. When he was on his deathbed, he decided to return all the imperial endowments he received to the court. He asked his followers to write a memorial, yet not satisfied with their writings. Therefore, he made an oral letter (zhuang ) and let his son transcript it: “All the treasures in my mansion was endowed by the late emperor. I dare not to bring them with me to underground after my death, but they shouldn’t be kept in this house anymore either. Therefore, I humbly seal up and present them to the court.” People praise the simplicity and tidiness in his article.20

The character chuang in (liu-ti-chuang-pao) refers to the document that the Capital Liaison Office presented to its supervisory body, commonly known as chin-tsou-yüen, meaning letter from the capital liaison office. While the character pao, as how Mr. Ge Gongzhen discussed explicitly at the beginning in A History of Chinese Journalism: Today we use pao/bao to suggest the act of report, which is borrowed from the character fu (赴). In the Book of Rites, Funeral and Other Records, it writes: “For those who were buried in a hurry within three months of the death, a rest-in-peace ceremony should be held.” It should be noted: “Pronouncing the character pao as fu, which is the same pronunciation of (fu), which means hurry and urgency in this sentence.” This is the origin of the word chi-pao (quick report). While for other expressions, the character pao/bao (报) is used also for this reason, such as pao-chi (baozhi, report paper, or newspaper), pao-kuan, (baoguan, report house, or news agency) and pao-chieh, (baojie) field of report, newspaperdom share the same origin. (Sanlian Press/Joint Publishing Edition)

The character pao was also used this way in the Tang Dynasty. For example, the Volume 215 of General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian), section “the sixth year of Tianbao period (747)” writes that An Lushan “usually ordered Liu Luogu to stay in the Capital to collect information from the imperial court, and get him posted in time (pao) whatever happened (or not); and when notes were needed, Luogu would take turns to write them down and report to him.” The best indication that pao means quick report can be found in the following texts from the Tang Dynasty: In the 15th year of the Yuanhe period, a general of Huainan area Tan Keze was captured the by the Tubo army. The authority of Tu-po did not know Emperor Xianzong of the Tang was dead, so they feared day and night that the attack of the great army of the Tang Empire. They prisoned Keze in the dungeon, starving him, and interrogating him with all kinds of tortures. Keze confessed that the emperor already died. The Tubo rulers did not believe his words. Keze narrated the valedictory edict of the emperor and a literate wrote it down, which finally convinced them. When there was an urgency, Tu-po drafters would carve a wooden seal and send a messenger to deliver the message to the magistrate

80

B. LI

on galloping horses, who could travel miles a day. This was how Keze received the urgent report on the death of the emperor.21

Associating characters chuang (zhuang) and pao (bao) together to form one word—chuang-pao, or pao-chuang —was commonly seen in the literature of the Tang Dynasty, and the word was often used as a noun. For instance, in Volume 1 of Li Yishan’s Collected Works (Li Yishan wenji), “On the Crown Prince for Sir Puyang (Wei puyanggong lun huangtaizi biao),” it writes: “I have received chuang-pao (letter-report) from our capital liaison office”; Volume 16 of Liu Mengde’s Collected Works (Liu Demng wenji), “Consolation of the Death of Prince Zi”: “I received zhuangbao (letter-report) from Yang Ti, the representative of our capital liaison office”; Volume 541 of Complete Tang Prose: “The soldiers were granted with material objects, like silks, as gift of gratitude,” “I received chuang-pao from Li An, officer of the field headquarter” (by Linghu Chu); Volume 664 of Complete Tang Prose, “Catching Liu Bing and Others,” “I received zhuangbao (letter-report) from the capital liaison office” (by Zhang Zhongsu); Volume 1, “Memorial on He Terminating Huangchao,” in Collection of Writings while Ploughing the Cassia Grove with a Writing Brush (Guiyuan bigeng ji) that “I received zhuangbao (letter report) from Shi Fu, the military commissioner of Wuning region”; Volume 17 of Collection of the Best of Huichang (Huichang yipin ji), “On the Updates of Youzhou” writes that “I received pao-chuang (report-letter),” Volume 78 of History of Laws and Institutions of the Tang (Tanghuiyao), “Miscellaneous Records of Various Envoys, Volume 1,” “The Palace Secretariat and the Chancellery both received chuang-pao (letter-report) that…”; Volume 1 of Imperial Records of Dongguan (Dong Guan zouji), “Ducong has become prominent for long…chuang-pao (letter-report) was delivered to Shu (Sichuan province today) area.” However, if we apply the usage of chuang-pao that suggested by the above quotations to interpret the sentence “Liu-ti- chuang-pao –chikao-chüe-jen” in the Story in Verse, it will only lead to the same answer as how we just analyzed the sentence “ti-pao-chi-kao-chüeh-jen” in Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty: which is, it doesn’t make any sense at all. The sentence would read like “residence of acting military commissioner letter report drafter of imperial mandate is needed”—it lacks predicate. Jiang Xiangdong believes that chuang-pao here is a verb phrase, meaning “report to the superior” (Jiang Xiangdong 1992). His inference has its grounds. Grammar or syntax-wise, it is more logical to understand chuang-pao (letterreport) in “liu-ti- chuang-pao” as a verb phrase. Therefore, in my opinion, the accurate elaboration of this sentence should be “the Capital Liaison Office sent a letter to report that there was a vacancy of chi-chi-kao (drafter in charge of imperial mandates).” Given that, it is an unsolid and confusing evidence to prove the existence of ti-pao in the Tang Dynasty. The above analysis, particularly on the second argument of the “Tang Dynasty-originated” theory, reminds me what the founder of the Annales

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

81

School, Mark Bloch, once remarked, “for even those texts or archaeological documents which seem the clearest and the most accommodating will speak only when they are properly questioned,”22 and the worship to “the idol of origins” that historian research always tumbled into, as how Bloch pointed out.23 In fact, the meaning of texts, like liu-ti-chuang-pao and ti-pao we have analyzed, should be easy to clarify when placed in a specific historical context. However, interestingly, influenced by the thought that “in all human affairs, it is the origins which deserve study more than anything else” (Ernest Renan), the researchers in the past were subconsciously misled and conducted researches in a distorted method that was hard to comprehend for anyone who was not involved in the study.24 For instance, in order to justify the origin of ti-pao, Ge Gongzhen concluded that it was born in the Western Han Dynasty simply because that it was the first traceable dynasty that set up office named after “ti,” the residence, or hostel. Although this theory has long been falsified, similar logic could still be found in the discussion of later generations. The researchers were sometimes too fascinated with the textual evidences mentioning Di or Bao, confusing the “origin” with the “cause” of things, as if “…an origin is a beginning. Worse still, a beginning is a complete explanation. There lies the ambiguity and there the danger!”25 Certainly, there is nothing wrong for us to trace the origin, since it is part of our human nature. The question is how or in what way. As Bloch once said “Everyone has a purpose when studying the history. There must be a guiding ideology.”26 While for the study of the origin of ti-pao, we should adopt a more comprehensive approach rather than a simplified one, shifting from an isolated analysis to interconnected and integral exploration. Otherwise, the research will still be haunted by the metaphysics. Nothing could better speak for it than what Hippolyte Adolphe Taine said in The Philosophy of Art: Artists are not isolated men. It is their voice alone that we hear at this moment, through the space of centuries, but, beneath the living voice that comes vibrating to us, we distinguish a murmur, and, as it were, a vast, low sound, the great and infinite voice of the people, chanting in unison with them.27

Apparently, ti-pao at its early stage should be traceable, since it is not an isolated and exclusive object in the long history. Therefore, instead of trying to identify the earliest ti-pao, we should rather distinguish the “low sound” humming from the complicated and intertwined origin of ti-pao, in the first place. It means that we need to first comb through elements that cultivated this format of media by analyzing the historical context, cultural background, environment for communications, and the factors that directly related. Once we figure out thoroughly the entire chorus, it will be so easy to learn who the lead singer is.

82

B. LI

Letter-Report of the Capital Liaison Office Among the three evidences supporting ti-pao’s Tang-Dynasty-origin, the most convincing and crucial is the one about Report of the Capital Liaison Office (chin-tsou-yüen report, or chin-tsou-yüen letter-report ), but it is also the most controversial. Compared to “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” and “Residence of Acting Military Commissioner Report” whose already suspicious existence could hardly be evidenced by historical documents kept till today, the existence of Report of Capital Liaison Office is undoubtful, thanks to the sufficient documentation throughout the history. What’s more, archaeologists have even discovered two copies of the gazettes in the Dunhuang manuscripts. But if so, why there are still unsettling debates and questioning over it?28 In fact, what the researchers have controversy about is not whether the object existed or not, but how it should be defined. In other words, though people are talking about one thing, they understand the matter so divergently. It is like plaintiff and defendant debate fiercely for their own stance in the court over one specific case. In this decisive debate about whether the Tang-originated theory could be justified, capital liaison office report and the capital liaison office are two quintessential factors, and they are correlated. In general, there is little divergence over the functions of capital liaison office, except for the different focus of study. Historian specialized in the Tang Dynasty Zhang Guogang has made a comprehensive and precise summary of its functions. As he wrote: (a) It provides accommodation. When the military commissioners or officials of the Office of Provincial Memorials went to the Capital, they would live in this place. An ancient poem once said, “the traveling officials, hitting the roads and floating on waters, to deliver edicts nationwide.” (b) It is a logistic transfer point. The decrees from the central government, and issues that the local administrations presented to the central government for instruction were transferred here. As a poem recorded, “information, reports, consultations and instructions, all gathered at the Mansion.” (c) It is an intelligence station. The actions of the imperial court and other military regions or prefectures (known as fan-chen) were reported to the district through the station in details. (d) It is an administrative office of the local administration to the Capital. It handled all kinds of businesses, like offering tributes, managing finances, and even conducting bribery. In a nutshell, chin-tsou-yüen formed close bond between the imperial court and local administrations, in various aspects. Like a poem said, “When a military commissioner is appointed, the first thing he should do is to send a representative to the liaison office (residence) to the capital city.” (Zhang Guogang 1983, vol. 18)

As for its function as an intelligence station, it is mainly manifested by what is recorded in the report sent from these liaison offices, namely, the chin-tsouyüen report, as Zhang Guogang further explains:

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

83

The main responsibilities of the capital liaison offices include reporting to its military district the moves of the court and other districts in time and passing the edicts and decrees of the central government. The contents cover a wide variety. Firstly, they were mainly the military, state and political updates, such as appointment of officials, sending and recalling envoys, dispatch of troops, even the secretive military and political deeds of Crown Prince, announcement of letters of virtuous fame, battlefield situation, etc. Secondly, auspicious and mysterious signs, such as the appearance of Canopus, the clarity of Yellow River, or rain invoked by rainmaking ceremony; and thirdly, the court protocols, such as the change of the reign name (era name), posthumous name given to the royalties, ritual obeisance to congratulate the emperor attended by all the officials; or, even whether the emperor was in good condition, the demise of royal family members, and the glory and grants awarded to the families of generals of military districts in the capital were all posted to the commissioner. The report of capital liaison office is in time, specific, and solid in evidences. It took merely four to five days to pass the information from Chang’an to Xiangzhou prefecture. At that time, some people commented the Office “can deliver information from thousand miles away and never fail a mission assigned by the lord.” Of course, the capital liaison representative was also responsible for spying sometimes. (Zhang Guogang 1983, vol. 18)

At that time, the briefings sent from the liaison office needed to be written down. So these reports that “collect and disseminate the political updates of the court, the military districts and local administrations from the Capital Liaison Office” (Fang Hanqi et al. 1992, 1: 38) were the so-called the Letter of the Capital Liaison Office. Since it was presented by the subordinate (the office representative) to the superior (the military commissioner), it was titled with chuang, a letter-like document indicating a bottom-up presentation. And the complete title was chin-tsou-yüen letter-report. According to Huang Zhuoming, Cui Zhiyuan, a literatus from Silla in the late Tang Dynasty once mentioned the gazette-report in his anthology Collection of Writings While Ploughing the Cassia Grove with a Writing Brush for more than ten times (Huang Zhuoming 1983: 31). So we can see that it is an official address. In addition, sometimes it was also abbreviately called “chuang-pao (letter-report)” or “pao-chuang (report-letter).” For example, in Li Shangyin’s Memorial to Cerebrate the Victory over the Invaders from the North (Wei xingyanggong he youzhou po xikou biao), it said, “I received a chuang-pao from a liaison office representative” (Collected Works of Li Shangyin, vol. 1). In addition, occasionally, people would also use the informal title. Like Han Hong wrote in Memorial to Find a Place to Bury His Brother Tian Shengong in Jingzhao Prefecture on Behalf of Tian Shenyu (Wei tianshenyu xiexiong shengong yu jingzhaofu jieze zangdi biao) that “In the third day of this month Tian Shenyu received the report from the Acting Representative of the Liaison Office” (Complete Tang Prose [Quantangwen], vol. 444); and Yuan Zhen wrote in Memorial to Congratulate the Lord’s Recovery and the Obeisance Ritual at Zichen Hall (He shengti pingfu yu zichendian shou chaohe

84

B. LI

biao) that “I would like to say: today, I received the report from the Representative of the Capital Liaison Office” (Collected Works of Yuan Zhen [Yuan Changshi ji], vol. 34).” And the most frequently quoted evidence is a paragraph about “chuang-pao (letter report) from the Di (residence) office,” from “Biography of Li Shigu,” Old History of the Tang Dynasty (Jiutangshu): The posthumous edict of Emperor De was issued. Before the herald arrived, Li Yuansu, the commissioner of Yicheng (Righteousness and Success) Army had copied the edict and sent the message to Shi Gu, whose army was in adjacent to Yuansu’s, to indicate the willingness of alliance. Shi Gu gathered his troops in front of the messenger sent by Yuansu, and said, “I have received reports from officials at residence office, all saying that his highness is in great condition. But why Li Yuansu fabricated such fake news of posthumous edict if not he is conspiring something? The three generations of my family became generals and commissioners thanks to the grace of the imperial family, and I will smash whoever the rebellions in front of me.” After saying these words, he expelled the messenger and declared war against Yuansu. Later his troops conquered part of the counties and states in name of the dead emperor, and did not withdraw until he was informed that Emperor Shun had inherited the reign.

The focus of discussion over the report of the capital liaison office in the Tang Dynasty is its definition: is it a newspaper or merely a form of government document? Whatever their stance is, the scholars took the two existing copies of the report as an important source. For this reason, it is necessary to transcript them here. The two historic documents discovered among the Dunhuang manuscripts were taken away (without permission) by the French Paul Pelliot and the British Aurel Stein to Paris and London in the early twentieth century and are now housed in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris and the British Library, London, respectively. One is numbered P.3547 and the other is numbered S.1156 (S is the abbreviation for Stein and P is the abbreviation for Pelliot). The two documents were the letter-report that the Capital Liaison Office of Guiyi Army (the Army of Returning to Righteousness) sent back to the governing district in 878 and 887. Shaozhouzhi is called Dunhuang today. The texts in the first copy are complete while some in the latter one is missing.29

Letter-Report of the Capital Liaison Office, Upper Part Report begins here. Special Envoys and Lackeys for Celebrating the First Month headed by Yin Xinyun have escorted one piece of letter, a piece of jade, a horn of antelope, a tail of ox to the Office, at the night of the 27 of December, and offered these tributes to the imperial court on the 29th day of the month. In total 29 special envoys have resided in the liaison office as well as in the prefecture Linzou. To specify, thirteen people resided in the liaison office,

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

which include low-rank officials similar to lackeys (known as ya-ya, the name of official title) Yin Xinjun, Zhang Huaipu and Zhang Huaide, and the commissioners for managing soldiers and horses (known as ping-ma-shih, the name of official title) of Yaqian, Cao Xianjin, Luo Shenzheng, Liu Zaisheng, Deng Jiaxing, Yin Gongsui, Yin Ningjun, Zhai Shanzhu, instructors (known as shihchiang, the name of official title) Kang Wensheng, Wang Yangyang, and guards (known as ch’ang-hsing, the name of official title) Wang Yangyang and An Zaisheng. Sixteen people stayed in the prefecture Linzhou, including infantry and cavalry commissioner of Yaqian Yang Zaisheng, instructors Duan Yingxian, Deng Haijun, Suo Zanzhong, Kang Shuda, and another eleven guards. One, a report and two letters are prepared for the four ministers. Minister Wang and Minister Lu did not take them but ask Yin Xinjun to confirm reception on behalf. Minister Zheng confirmed reception at his residence. One delivery failed and the letters remain in the hands of Yin Xinyun. One, regarding the request for emblem, the application has been submitted. On the 25th of January, holding the letter of imperial order (billed as ch’ih-tieh). A better order specifies before and after. The emperor ordered to deal with the matter. The order is enclosed for your reference. One, special envoy for celebrating the first month and lackey Yin Xinjun, deputy envoy Zhang Huaipu were summoned to meet at the third pavilion. Together with the soldiers who were not going and kept to Linzhou, they were awarded beautiful silks, silver vessels and clothes. Each of the three lackeys was awarded fifteen rolls of silk, a silver bowl and a cottonquilted coat made by ripe damask. For the thirteen solders, each of them was given 11 rolls of silk, a silver article and a cotton-quilted coat made by normal damask. The thirteen guards were given five rolls of silk, and a cotton-quilted coat for each person. One, grace of reply-gifts and sent-gifts. The minister of Shang-shu Division endowed 70 rolls of silk in reply, while sent 50 rolls of silk, a piece of clothes, and a set of silver lids, a set of bowls with lid, and a command paper. Administrative assistant (known as p’an-kuan, the name of official title) one person, and chief lackey (known as tu-ya-ya, the name of official title) one person. Each offered twenty rolls of silk, a piece of clothes, and a silver bowl. For the eighteen soldiers and officers, fifteen rolls of silk and a piece of clothes for each the five; eleven rolls of silk and a piece of clothes for each the five; and the eight, seven rolls of silk for each. Have offered the endowed awards, in the sixteenth day of the second month of the year, in the guest province to receive an order to the court, carried in a leather bag, with a slate noted inside, together with the complete remark stamped by Situ Zhong. One, awarding in total 29 people, including the Yin Xinyun, price: pongee, three chang (chang) (3.3 meters) and three ch’ih (chi) (33.3 cm) and six ts’un (cun) (3.3 cm) for each, received in the twenty-first day of the third month of the year (chang, ch’ih and ts’un are three Chinese measure units). Gentleman of South sent a letter enclosed. The right is as before. The command paper of him and letters sent in sections, escorted by lackey Yin Xinyun. At the eleventh day of April, they were sent and left the office. Till the date, get down on my knee to ask you for consent to submit it and humbly record in the report. Hereby my humble application is presented on your desk for approval.

Hereby the report is presented.30

85

86

B. LI

Letter Presented of the Capital Liaison Office Report begins here. The emblem that the three groups of special envoy talked about will be recorded and listed in the following report: the special envoy lackeys Song Runying, Gao Zaisheng and Zhang Wenche arrived Xingyuan with their teams at the same time respectively, preparing to present to officials, on seventeenth day of the second month of the third year of Guangqi period. The eighteen day of the month, the tributes were presented, nineteenth day, checked, and twentieth day, they met four ministers and two military inspectors and commanders, and presented them letters and gifts. In the day they met commanders and ministers, Zhang Wenche, Gao Zaisheng, Shi Wenxin, Song Runying and Li Boying went together. Song Runying was asked to step out and reply the questions. He carefully introduced that the military governor known as chieh-tu-shih (jiedushi节度使) of their region expanded boarders and obeyed the instructions; trained soldiers to form an army of righteousness; fought enemies everyday; incubated faithful fighters for the empire; and requested to establish Emblem Ching-chieh (an emblem symbolizing official appointment of office) according to the normal laws. For over twenty years, the imperial court did not confer the governor of the region an emblem, therefore he sent Runying and the rest of three batches of people, in total sixty messengers. If the request was not negotiable, the envoys would have no return, and it would be hard to keep borders steady. The commanders and ministers replied: “The emperor will be back in a few days. The special envoys should be sent to Fengxiang first, and wait for the guard of honor. Then you can proceed further.” Until the twenty-second day, Yi Ze sent special envoy to accompany. The first day of the third month, arrived in Feng Xiang. In the fourth day, the chariot entered. The fifth day, the day of cold food. Until the day eight, the delegation was dispatched to visit ministers, commanders and investigators. Day nine, Li Boying was asked to revise application and made four pages, went to Chung-shu Division to meet the ministers to apply for Emblem. That day, Song Runying begged and reasoned thoroughly. Then backed to the posthouse, Zhang Wenche, Wang Zhongzhong, Duan Qizhong and Duan Yiyi said that it was dangerous and not necessary to debate, just took back the order of return and left with the troops of Minister Han, arrived Shazhou safe and sound, which wasn’t a good thing. Song Runying, Gao Zaisheng, Shi Wenxin and Li Boying refused. They said: “If we do not argue for our governor devotedly, when we leave, then we failed the task that the minister appointed to us. We would rather revise applications for thousand times, sent people to go through deserts, and it was after all not finished.” Till the day 11, Li Boying presented the revised application to ministers for review one more time. Till day thirteen, the application was revised into seven pages and reviewed by the four ministers, two military investigators and two officers. Song Runying also reasoned in the same time. Replied: “Leave the application for discussion.” No documents will be handed in in the following the three days as interim. Till day seventeen, Li Boying drafted and handed in the five

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

87

pages of application for the four ministers to review. The officers were also given the application. No reply. Two days suspended. Day twenty, Li Boying drafted and handed in the seven pages of application, for the four minsters and two military investigators and officers to review. Song Runying persuaded still and left the document. After days without receiving further instructions, Zhang Wenche, Wang Zhongzhong, Fan Qizhong and Duan Yiyi just raised their voice. They said that they should leave with Minister Han’s troops and hurried: “What are you waiting for if not leaving now?” Song Runying, Gao Zaisheng, Shi Wenxin and Li Boying claimed, “We would suffer the long wait. We would rather die instead of running away, as long as we did not receive the emblem ching-chieh!” Yi Ze saw their conflicts and arguments, so he found an excuse to leave the posthouse. Li Boying was asked to draft five pages of application, to meet four ministers and officers. He argued bitterly, and reasoned benefits and disadvantages severely. He confessed that if the envoys received no emblem this time, they made vow of no return. The ministers and officers seemed to consider an agreement. Song Runying, Gao Zaisheng, Shi Wenxin and Li Boying dispatched Yi Ze to thoroughly beg and exhort the person in charge in the temple, call everything settled, according to rules that established to issue emblem and letter of appointment. Thus, the report of number of personnel was presented, and tried to speak and schedule the day to discuss personnel issues, and the three batches of envoys, including all supervisors and soldiers, will go for a grand pleading for emblem. But only Zhang Wenche, Wang Zhongzhong, Fan Qizhong and Duan Yiyi refused, and said: “We are not going!” Zhang Wenche and Song Runying argued in the posthouse. The four said: “Did the p’u-yeh (the name of official title of minister of Shangshu Division) make any contribution that could win him an Emblem? For the past twenty years, countless capable lackeys came to the capital to argue for an emblem, and failed. How could you believe that these two or three knuckleheads to go through thousands of challenges without going back hometown, and follow Song Runying, Gao Zaisheng, Shi Wenxin and Li Boying? They lied to the ancestor, heaven and emperor. I have practiced divination, which told me the emblem will not be gained. Let’s wait and see. If you take back the Emblem, we four brothers will walk with our heads!” Yi Ze thought that Zhang Wenche and the rest three talked in filthy languages, suggested earnestly that they should give up debating over emblem, and persuaded Song Runying and Li Boying that the envoys should accept prosperity or punishment as one team. He said since Zhang Wenche and his brothers did not fear the minister why couldn’t they go back to Shazhou together to reply duty? But Song Runying and the rest three supporters would rather die to agree, and said: “The lives of ourselves and my families are tied. We came here to gain the dignity of military governor for our general. We will not return if we did not gain Emblem. “Yi Ze felt their sincerity, so he met with the person in charge of the temple and had a deep discussion. Said: “No worry. Just hand in application frequently. I will support.” Till twenty-third day, Li Boying drafted application in four pages and handed to the chancellor (second part).31

88

B. LI

These are the existing two reports issued by the capital liaison office of the Tang Dynasty. The texts on the original copies are written in the sequence of right to left and top to bottom. The first copy has 47 lines and the second one has 60 lines. According to Fang Hanqi, the original piece is on a piece of horizontal paper featuring a length of 97 cm and a width of 28.5 cm. The look and quality of the paper are both close to that of white rice paper, quite resilient. The texts were written from right to left and from top to bottom with a brush pen, and on the back of the paper is the 64-line speech by a military general Ji Bu to provoke the enemy before a battle in the Western Han Dynasty (Fang Hanqi et al. 1992, vol. 1). Interestingly, the two reports were not only both written by the officers appointed by the Army of Returning to Righteousness to its Capital Liaison Office in Chang’an, but also talked about one same thing. Zhang Huaishen, the then acting commissioner of the Army asked the imperial court to grant him as the chieh-tu-shih (military governor) of the Army of Returning to Righteousness, a title officially set up in 851, the fifth year of the reign of Tang Xuanzong. In 851, “The first month of the year, Zhang Yichao of Shazhou prefecture expelled the Tu-po (tubo, ancient Tibetans) invadors and chaired the local affairs. He was appointed the Commissioner of Defense (known as fang-yü-shih防御使) of Shazhou prefecture. … (the tenth month of the year) Zhang Yichao cracked down the rebels in the ten prefectures: Gua (Guazhou of Gansu province), Yi (Hami of Xinjiang), Xi (Tuerfan), Gan (Zhangye), Su (Jiuquan), Lan, Shan (Ledu of Qinghai), He (Hezheng of Gansu), Min (Minxian of Gansu), Guo. These regions sent envoys to the capital of the empire to offer their geographical maps and name list of population. The lands conquered by Tubo minorities during the An Lushan Rebellion were all taken back. The eleventh month of the year, Army of Returning to Righteousness was posted in Shazhou (Dunhuang), and Yichao was appointed as the military commissioner of the region and the inspector of these eleven prefectures.”32 Sixteen years later, in 867, Zhang Yichao was given a higher position in the capital and was granted a mansion, so his nephew Zhang Huaishen, according to the certain regulation at that time, became the temporary governor of the Army of Returning to Righteousness, with the title chieh-tu-liu-hou (the acting military commissioner), which is more or less like the acting governor and the acting mayor today. Without an official commission by the court, Zhang Huaishen had to send the envoys to Chang’an again and again to plead for the ching-chieh emblem, an emblem which could justify his power as a military commissioner. (According to “Treatise on Imperial Vehicles and Clothing” in the History of the Song Dynasty [Song Shi: Yufu Zhi,]: “Jingjie was firstly created during the mid of Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty as a symbol of the official appointment of military commissioners. After receiving ching-chieh, military commissioners were allowed to regulate the troops. and the autocratic military was allowed.”) That is why the article above mentioned his request to receive ching-chieh.

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

89

Given the contents of the two reports, are they newspaper or documents? Most of the journalism historians in China believe that the report of liaison capital office is newspaper, while the historians who study the Tang Dynasty endorse the other way around. Wang Chaofeng, deputy director of Department of Journalism of Academy of Social Science of China, clearly pointed out: These two pieces are the earliest newspaper can be found not only in China, but also in the world. They let us know that the newspaper, compiled and published by the representatives of the Capital Liaison Office delegated by the military districts in the Tang Dynasty, were called “Letter-Report of the Capital Liaison Office”. It is an essential local gazette for the Offices to pass intelligence of the imperial court to the military governors.33

For the Tang historians, the idea prosed in the chapter “Dunhuang Manuscripts” that Jiang Boqin (1938–) wrote for the Volume of Chinese History of The Encyclopedia of China could speak for most of them. As he writes: I believe the manuscripts that are of highest historic significance should be the government and private documents. The government documents are characterized by a wide range of categories, including Fu (fu, military seal), tieh (die, permit of pass), chuang (zhuang, letter report), pang-wen (bangwen, government placard), p’an-tz’u (panci, court verdict), kuo-so (guosuo, certificate of travel), etc. … Report on the Capital Liaison Office of Shaozhou to the Governor, as well as the documents about the Army of Returning to Righteousness delineated us a clearer picture of Shazhou in the late Tang and the Five Dynasties.34

But both of the two opinions are debatable. For the former, it is not quite persuasive and a little assertive to declare that letter-report (chuang-pao (zhuangbao)) or report (pao/bao) of the capital liaison office (chin-tsou-yüen) belong to the category of newspaper. People nowadays could hardly associate the reports above with the newspaper that we talk about today, or even a prototype of newspaper. This will not change no matter how hard we stress the differences between ancient and modern newspaper, or what a definition we give to ancient newspaper. The point has been clearly stated by Zhuang Guogang: Official documents like the Capital Liaison Office Report, which was drafted by the officials of the liaison office, reflected independent events at that time, mostly about the activities of envoys of the Army of Returning to Righteousness in the capital. And no matter its “circulation” or “target reader” were both in single number. The only target reader of the report was the governor (while his advisors would also have chance to read it). (Zhang Guogang 1986)

90

B. LI

However, it would also be too one-size-fits-all to merely conclude the capital liaison office report as some sort of official document. For one thing, the officers, or representatives of the liaison office who drafted the report were different from the normal drafters, clerks, and administrators of the army on campaign who were also responsible for drafting documents. The latter positions were mostly served by officials who obtained high ranking in the imperial examination. For instance, the Tang Dynasty poet Cen Shen used to work as the drafter for Gao Xianzhi (?–756), military commissioner of Xijie Military District, and also for Feng Changqing (690–756) of Anxi, once wrote some marvelous poems about the event happened during his service. Another Tang poet Du Mu (803–852), once the drafter of the military commissioner of Huainan administrative region, also wrote several flowery poems about his romantic encounters in Yangzhou district (such as “On a night of full moon, on which of the twenty four bridges are you, A handsome fellow, teaching ladies to play the flute?”), and some of them became household ballad till today. But the representatives of capital liaison office were mainly military officers. Their main task was to gather and pass on information in time and write report to the governor based on what they obtained. The report is different from those official documents in content, consisting of political updates and breaking “news.” “The information that capital liaison office obtained openly or secretively was important for the military district to work out measures against the central government and other district” (Zhang Guogang 1983, vol. 18). As a western journalist once said, journalist is half-diplomat, half detective. The representatives of the liaison office were much the same. Secondly, chin-tsou-yüen report is quite different form the ordinary report, which was used to elaborate a specific matter by quoting anecdotes and facts known to all, and normally written in an eloquent manner. For instance, the petition “Proposal of Shutting Down Qionglin and Daying Treasur-Houses” written by Lu Zhi. The petition was opened with a paragraph so eloquent and overwhelming: “I have heard that if (the ruler) made harsh taxation policies, the aftermath (of execution) would be too greedy. If the policies are made to steal money from the public, how could we stop the collapse? What? If we inform the public in a pressing and righteous manner, we still to worry about the selfishness; but if we inform people by the method only good for ourselves, the weakness of selfishness would more difficult to be eliminated.” However, the capital liaison office report covered the latest events and updates. The drafters made no comments. And for the sake of efficiency, they preferred to state the situation clearly and hardly had time to polish language and paragraph. Take the two existing copies as an example. It is not hard to find that the language is simple and prosaic. Some part of the texts read even like Chinese written by foreigners. While some sentences are oral expressions used by common people and quite disconnected. Like, “In total twenty-nine special envoys were dispatched to the agency to stay,” “sixteen people stayed in Lingzhou,” “The envoy trained soldiers of justice to fight enemies day after day and asked them to stay loyal to their country,” “Song Runying begged

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

91

for several times and tried to reason.” These sentences will read improper if they appear in official document, like putting a round peg in a square hole. Certainly, Dunhuang is a remote border town far away from the locus of the Tang empire and may not be quite representative. Just like Denis Twitchett said: Even though the findings in [Dunhuang] are previous and unique, we need to be cautious when using them. It is because that the border region to the northwest cannot be a prototype of China. It is risky for the researchers to study the whole Empire merely based on what was found in that place. (Dennis Twitchett 1979, 3: 47)

However, we should also admit that the report was designed to communicate the latest big events and the regulations of official document writing do not count much. In other words, as long as the capital liaison office report clarifies what has happened, how it is written is just a matter of formality. And it could be inferred that the more imperative the issue is, the more recognition and appraisals those reports written in straightforward and less bureaucratic languages could receive. Therefore, chuang-pao, or letter-report, is neither simply a newspaper nor official document, but it has the features of the two. On the one hand, it was derived from official document. On the other hand, it was created to disseminate information and coverage of “news,” thus it also fitted part of the definitions of “newspaper,” and seemingly heralded an industry. To this regard, an amended statement that Fang Hanqi seems to give a fairer judgement: [Letter-report of the capital liaison office of the Tang Dynasty remained some features of official document but they are not the same. It also has traits of newspapers. For instance, it covers wide range of news and deliver news faster than official notices. But we cannot call it a newspaper as it was not issued periodically and publicly like the modern newspaper. (Fang Hanqi et al. 1992, 1: 60)

Although he categorizes letter-report as newspaper, he also explained immediately: “It is more like the ‘news-letter’ that emerged in the sixteenth century Europe, which is considered the ancestor of modern newspaper in the West” (ibid.). In a talk with the author,35 he also highlighted the equivalence between the Tang Dynasty and the newsletter. Therefore, newsletter should be a more accurate definition for the capital liaison office report of the Tang Dynasty. It is closer to the facts and thus the researchers are more likely to accept the claim. It is the letter written by the officer to the commissioners and it reads like news coverage in terms of the formats. For instance, the first sentence of the Report numbered P.3547: “Yin Xinyun, the Special Envoy for Celebrating the First Month, escorted one piece of letter, a piece of jade, a horn of antelope, a tail of ox to the Office, at the

92

B. LI

night of the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the year, and offered these tributes to the imperial court,” which wonderfully includes the crucial elements of a news report—when, where, who, and what. And it is also the same in S.1156. Some of its paragraphs are accurate, vivid, and lively, almost identical to the news features today. After days without receiving further instructions, Zhang Wenche, Wang Zhongzhong, Fan Qizhong and Duan Yiyi just raised their voice. They said that Han’s troops just left and hurried: “What are you waiting for if not running now?” Song Runying, Gao Zaisheng, Shi Wenxin and Li Boying claimed, “We would suffer the long wait. We would rather die instead of running away, as long as we did not receive the emblem ching-chieh!”

Generally speaking, the evolvement of newspaper in all cultures followed the trilogy of “newsletter” → “newsbook” → “newspaper.” The initial development of newspaper industry, regardless it was in the east or the west, always started with the letter of news. So, if we look at the general picture and overlook the trivial twists and turns, from mid-eighth century, when local governments established representatives (who were later known as the officers of liaison office36 ) in the capital Chang’an to 981, when a central organization was set up to regulate the local representative offices, the 200-year history witnessed the birth of the news-letter of China: ti-pao. “Its target readers, excepting for military commissioners, were mostly their close advisors. Undoubtably, it is something like intelligence report” (Yao Fushen 1985, 9: 222). And then, the one thousand years thereafter, until the year 1840 when the First Opium War broke out, witnessed the development of the “newsbook,” whose climax was marked by the introduction of Peking Report (Jing Bao), a government-funded gazette published by the imperial government of the Qing Dynasty. While in terms of why it took Chinese newspapers such a long time to turn into an industry even though it demonstrated an earliest presence in the world (Ge Zhengong 1955: 63), Ge Zhengong once explained: The government bulletins of the west were open to the public, while ours were made for officials. The secret of governing upheld by Confucianism is to “lead the people to the destination but do not let them know the reason”. The walls between social classes were gradually and smoothly established. Therefore, politically speaking, the government bulletins in China served as a useful tool which consolidated the governance; while culturally speaking, they contributed almost nothing, expect for their existence, as how Huang Xizhi and Gu Yanwu did. To further explain, the only pursuit of government bulletins was to prevent people from participating in politics, so as to ensure people would “not calculate, not speculate, and be obedient to the ruling of our king”. As a consequence, the culture of China was forced to the dark age since then. (Ge Gongzhen 1955: 63)

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

93

Last but not least, the evolution from newsbook to newspaper is clearly related to “metabolism of modern Chinese society” (Chen Xulu).37 The path is basically in line with development of modern press in the West. We can conclude from this chapter that even though it is still questionable whether ti-pao in the real sense was originated in the Tang Dynasty, “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Report” is indeed a precursor of the news industry of ancient China. It represents a historical progress from disorder to order and a twist from chaos to clarity, both scientifically and philosophically. The Report of Capital Liaison Office that came later, also played an important role in journalism of ancient China and is a true legacy.38 I would also like to mention, by the end of this chapter, the epilogue of this memorable while decisive event in the history of journalism of China: After Zhang Yichao, commissioner of Army of Returning to Righteousness, settled in the capital to serve the central government, his nephew Zhang Huaishen succeeded his position as the “acting military commissioner” and “led the local military government.” Since then, Zhang Huaishen presented petition to the court through the liaison office time from time to get the official appointment. It was until five years later, in 872, when Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen had already died, that the imperial court appointed Cao Yijin, the governor of Shazhou Prefecture (an administrative region, covering Dunhuang), as the official military commissioner of the Army of Returning to Righteousness.39

Notes 1. Please see the following sources accordingly: Ge Gongzhen, 1927, Journalistic History of China; Fang Hanqi et al., A General History of Journalism in China, Volume No. 1, 1992; Zhu Chuanyu, The History of Journalism in the Song Dynasty, 1967. 2. The two articles were respectively released on the Sixth Issue of Academic Monthly, 1986 and the Second Issue of 1992, Journal of Fujian Normal University (Philosophical and Social Science Edition). 3. Translator’s note: chin-tsou-yüen report literally meaning “letter from the office reporting [to the emperor],” and, chin-tsou-yüen l etter report literally meaning “letter-report of the capital liaison office” are all translated as “chin-tsou-yüen report” in other chapters of this book. To help the reader better understand the meaning of the original text, a transliteration is applied to both terms in this chapter. 4. Gao Buying, Chapter 5 in The Selected Works of Literary Prose of Tang and Song Dynasties, Volume No. 1, quoted from Chu Tongren. 5. Sun Qiao, Anthology on Morals and Norms (Jingweiji), Photocopy Edition. Shanghai Guji Publishing House, Volume No. 10, 1979. 6. Wu Tingjun, The Essentials of Chinese Journalism History. Wu Han: Huangzhong University of Science and Technology Press, 1990, p. 4. 7. See the entry “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports,” in Dictionary of Chinese History, Sui and Tang Dynasties History (compiled by Wu Feng).

94

B. LI

8. See my article, 1996 (2), Genesis: The 17th Century and Journalism [J], in The International Press. Although the specific explanation of the periodicity at that time is different from now, the basic understanding should be the same. 9. See Oswald Spengler (German), The Decline of the West, trans. Qi Shirong et al. Beijing: The Commercial Press, Volume No. 1, 1963, p. 16. 10. In the twenty-eighth volume of Records of Daily Gains in Knowledge (Rizhilu) by Gu Yanwu (1613–1682), under the entry “Dibao,” it wrote: “From then on (note: here it means the Song Dynasty), the word dibao started to appear the official historiographies. However, the essay ‘On Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports’ included in Collected Works of Sun Qiao tells us that it has long existed since the Tang Dynasty.” 11. Tang caizi zhuan (Volume No. 4), Eminent Poets from the Tang period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 12. “Poetry and Literature Criticism,” in A Catalogue to Complete Library of the Four Treasures (Siku quanshu zongmu), Volume No. 195. The Catalogue is a descriptive book of introducing the book Complete Library of the Four Treasures. 13. Zhou Shaoliang, “Commentary on ‘Narration of Liu’,” in Commemorative Proceedings of Mr. Xiang Da. 14. Quantangshihua (Volume No. 3), Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty. 15. Huang Benji, ed., Qing Dynasty, Table of Government Officials Through History (Lidai guanzhi biao); Appendix “Overview on Titles of Officials” by Qu Tuiyuan, p. 14. 16. For the details on the route that Critics on All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty was retold, please check Fang Hanqi, A General History of Journalism in China, Volume No. 1, p. 39. 17. Poems by Su Shi, 1982. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, p. 1368. 18. “Miscellaneous Records I,” in History of Laws and Institutions of the Tang, Volume No. 78. 19. “Commissioner of Imperial Secretariat” in The Six Statutes of the Tang, Volume No. 1: “For the bottom-up documents, there are six types: biao (petition), zhuang (letter), qian (note), qi (memoria)l, ci (metrical composition), die (adverse report).” 20. Yinhualu (Volume No. 3, p. 48), Tales of Repayment and Retribution, is a book of recording events and stories of the Tang written by the scholar Zhao Lin. 21. Ibid. 22. Marc Bloch (French), The Historian’s Craft, trans. Zhang Hesheng et al. Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Publisher, 1992, p. 51. 23. See Jeffrey Barclays (the UK), The Main Trends in Contemporary History, trans. Yang Yu. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publisher, 1987, p. 20. 24. Marc Bloch (French), The Historian’s Craft, trans. Zhang Hesheng et al. Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Publisher, 1992. 25. Marc Bloch (French), The Historian’s Craft, trans. Zhang Hesheng et al. Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Publisher, 1992, p. 26. 26. Ibid., p. 51. 27. Hippolyte Taine (French), The Philosophy of Art, trans. Fu Lei. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House, 1963, p. 6.

3

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE AND CHIN-TSOU-YÜEN REPORT

95

28. According to the author, since Fang Hanqi published “Observing the Newspaper of Ancient China from the Jinzouyuan Gazette of the Tang Guiyi Army Housed in the British Library” in the fifth volume of the Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication (The Eighth Edition, 1983), stating that Jinzouyuan-zhuang was the prototype of dibao, following articles were issued by different scholars from different perspectives to respond: Zhang Guogang, “Study on Two Official Documents of Jinzouyuan in Dunhuang: Comments on the Fact That ‘Dibao’ Is Not the Ancient Newspaper,” Monthly, 1986 (7); Wu Tingjun, “Look at the Nature of Jinzouyuan in the Tang Dynasty from the Original Copies of Jinzouyuan Gazette of Guiyi Army,” in Exploration and Free Views, 1988 (1); Yao Fushen, “Investigation into Kaiyuan Zabao,” Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication, Volume No. 9; Jiang Xiangdong, “Question on the Rumor that Newspaper Was Born in the Tang Dynasty,” Journal of Fujian Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 1992 (2). Among them, Zhang Guogang’s opinion is the most representative. 29. For more information about the transcripts and annotations of the two copies, please refer to Fang Hanqi, “Observing the Newspaper of Ancient China from the Jinzouyuan Gazette of the Tang Guiyi Army Housed in the British Library,” in Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication (5), Zhang Guogang, Research into Two Dunhuang “Capital Liaison Office Reports”: Why ‘Dibao’ Is Not Ancient Newspaper, issued on Academic Monthly, 1986 (7); and Fang Hanqi et al., A General History of Journalism in China, Volume No. 1, p. 53. 30. The version is based on the transcript of Zhang Guogang while referring to the textual punctuations proposed by Fang Hanqi. Some punctuations were modified based on my personal interpretations. 31. The version is based on the transcript of Zhang Guogang while referring to the textual punctuations proposed by Fang Hanqi. Some punctuations were modified based on my personal interpretations. 32. Jian Bozan (Chief-in-editor), 1961, Chronicle of Chinese and Foreign History (Zhongwai Lishi Nianbiao). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, p. 333. 33. Wang Chaofeng, 1991, Essays on the History of Chinese Newspapers, Beijing, Commercial Press, p. 34. 34. The Volume of Chinese History, in The Encyclopedia of China, Condensed Edition, p. 128. 35. Based on the talk between Fang Hanqi and me on May 5, 1997. 36. For the timeline of the inauguration of Jinzouyuan, please refer to Zhang Guogang, Academic Research on Jinzouyuan of the Tang Dynasty [J], Literature and History, Volume No. 18, Beijing, pp. 84–85. 37. The correlation between news industry and modern history has been discussed by my paper On Reasonability of “Ancient News,” and on the Origin and Connotation of News [J], Journal of Renmin University of China 1997 (1). 38. In addition, there are some facts worth to be noted. For instance, the word 新闻 xinwen, newly-heard, was originated from the Tang Dynasty. See Fang Hanqi et al., A General History of Journalism in China, Volume No. 1, p. 61, note 1. 39. Zizhi tongjian (Volume. No 252), General Mirror for the Aid of Government is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang.

CHAPTER 4

Hsi-Shu and Lu-Pu

Hsin-wen (News), Ch’uan-po (Dissemination), and Hsin-wen-ch’uan-po (News Dissemination) First of all, we should look into a crucial terminology—hsin-wen-ch’uanpo literally: news dissemination or communication—that the academic circle should have discerned clearly along ago, but often failed. It is evident that this term is all about hsin-wen (xinwen新闻) ([hsin/xin, new] [wen/wen, to hear]), a Chinese word which is translated as “news” in the contemporary context, and ch’uan-po ([ch’uan, disseminate] [po, broadcast]), as how its literal meaning indicates. Such explanation, though seemingly as limpid as the water of Pond of Little Stones (that the great prose master of the Tang Dynasty scholar Liu Zongyuan [773–819] once wrote a prose to eulogize), fail to explain what news is and what is dissemination. The news in Chinese reads as hsin-wen, literally meaning new(ly)-heard, with an etymological origin from the Tang Dynasty. According to the research of Mr. Yang Fushen, the exact two Chinese characters forming the word hsinwen has been found in the below Tang documents: Sun Chuxuan, during the mid of the Chang’an period (701-704), served as Zuoshiyi (Left Remembrance) in the court, who wrote articles extremely well. He would rather hope reading all books in the world to broaden his capacity on new knowledge).1 Duan Chenshi, Hsin-wen (news heard recently) in Jinli ([What I] Heard Recently in Jinli [District]), three volumes.2 Li Xianyong, Happy Meeting with Friend at a Winter Night:

© The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_4

97

98

B. LI

Traveling to the corner of the world, tonight I met my friend. We departed each other in hometown long time ago, our endeavors are yet to accomplished. The candlelight flickers, but the snow is silent. We have so many hsin-wen (news) and seen, Which will keep us talking whole night till the dawn.3 Also, in Happy Meeting with Hometown Fellowman Liu Song in Spring: I haven’t met my hometown fellow for five springs. Here I met him in the shadows of Yue Mountain. It has been a long time since we cultivated land or went farming last time, while hsin-wen what we heard recently) are more about wars. People find no one to blame for their angst. The flowers and trees cannot feel our sadness, blossomed and lush as usual. We should cherish the happy boyhood. Now we are old men looking at the setting sun.”4 Yuchi Shu, Hsin-wen (新闻, heard recently) in Nanchu ([What I] Heard Recently in Nanchu [Southern Chu Region]), three volumes5

As for the abovementioned scholars, Sun Chuxuan (died during 705–707), Duan Chengshi (803–863), Li Xianyong, and Yuchi Shu. Sun Chuxuan lived in a much earlier time than the others, as the rest were all born in the late Tang Dynasty (roughly 755–907). While the indication of hsin-wen in the line “We have so many things newly heard and seen” written by Li Xianyong shall be understood differently. Though the three characters putting together hsin-wenjian (newly heard and seen) meant the same with hsin-wen (news), the punctuation of phrase shall be put in between of hsin (new) and wen-jian (heardseen). And hsin-wen in “He would rather hope reading all books in the world to broaden his capacity on getting new knowledges hsin-wen” can also be written interchangeably as another term xinwen, new texts) (Old History of the Tang Dynasty [Jiutangshu], with punctuations by Xin Hua Shu Ju Printing House) or something heard-about) (Imperial Overview of the Taiping Reign Period [Taiping yulan], vol. 560). So it is questionable whether this is the earliest source of hsin-wen (Wang Zhixin 1984). Seemingly, it is more convincible if we attribute the origin of hsin-wen (news) to Hsin-wen (News) in Jinli and Hsin-wen (News) in Nanchu and “the newly heard are mostly about military victories.” Among these authors, Duan Chengshi was the oldest, who was born in the year 803,6 while Weichi Shu was the youngest, died later than the year 878 (Yao Fushen 1982), not far away from the year when the Tang Dynasty ended. As a book title, hsin-wen in either Hsin-wen in Jinli or Hsin-wen in Nanchu, indicates the sensational anecdotes,

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

99

not exactly the same with the concept “news” we talk about today. Therefore, Duan Chengshi and Yuchi Shu were traditionally considered novelists rather than journalists. But as how Yao Fushen concluded, in ancient Chinese, hsin-wen means both “curious experiences” and “what is recently heard and saw” (Ibid.). It is interesting that the news at an early stage was mostly half-truth and half-fictional. Like in the first half of eighteenth century, as how Voltaire wrote, newspapers proliferated the fictional and hilarious madeup story as unquestionable truth.7 And one more thing is that Zhao Yi, a scholar of Qing Dynasty once mentioned about Hsin-wen (News) in Daoshan (Daoshan xinwen) when he discussed the history of foot-binding in his work Miscellaneous Notes from my Mourning Period (Gaiyu congkao): We could not be sure when the custom of women foot-binding began. According to Hsin-wen in Daoshan, it was Li Yu (937-987, the third ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty) asked his concubine Lady Yao to bind her foot with silks into a shape of crescent. Since then, it gradually became sort of a fashion of the time.

If the word hsin-wen in Hsin-wen in Jinli and Hsin-wen in Nanchu means sensational hearsay or curious anecdotes, the one in “the newly heard are mostly about military victories” by Li Xianyong emphasizes more on “what was heard and seen recently,” which is more in line with the understanding and common knowledge of this word today. For instance: “In the context of history, these events are nothing but noisy hsin-wen (headlines), like flashes in the pan,” and “Some of the history books we read are actually hsin-wen (news) of their times.”8 However, no matter in the poem of Li Xianyong, or in the era he lived in, the word hsin-wen was a combined word featuring flexible usage and ambiguous semantic meaning. We had better not to equalize it with hsin-wen in the context of the modern Chinese today. It is the same with that the Chinese word “hsin-hsi” (information) in sentence: information unheard for 20 years) quoted from Records of Funny Stories in Huichang 9 and hsin-hsi (information) in “hsin-his-li-lun (Information Theory)” from the “Three Theories (the other two are Control and System theories)” have totally different meaning. Even though written the same, what lied between them is a gap of thousand years. In conclusion, even though the word hsin-wen has been found in several historical materials of the Tang Dynasty, it could not prove anything more than exemplifying its originality from the aspect of etymology. And because of the limited records in contract to the huge amount of literature archives of that time, its insignificant presence was just like shooting stars—did not make a difference to the gigantic and splendid universe of the Tang Dynasty civilization.

100

B. LI

However, if we analyze it from another perspective, say the “historical morphology” proposed by Oswald Spengler, or the “Total History” theory by Fernand Braudel, these insignificant trivialities can be something defining. As mentioned in previous chapters, if we say the curtain of journalism of ancient China was unveiled by the “Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports” born in the golden era of the Tang Dynasty, then such activity of information-collecting witnessed phase prosperity with the extensive application of chin-tsou-yüen report in the late Tang Dynasty. The development of civilization had left its traces, profound or shallow, on the beach of history. While as for the invention of the new word hsin-wen, it belongs to the traces that are relatively “profound” and worth people’s attention, and is transformed from the word chuang-pao) (letter-report, newsletter-like gazette, introduced in the previous chapter) to pao-chuang ( report-letter). Hsin-wen and chuang-pao, are two words generated in their time. The synchronization of the two demonstrated how journalism of China evolved from its most primitive form of information dissemination into an organized and strong beat of the era. About pao-chuang, Sun Guangxian mentioned it several times in his time-honored work Trivial Tales from North of Meng (Beimeng suoyan) by Sun Guangxian (901–968) who lived through Five Dynasties (907–960). Such as: (Chen Hui) succeeded in the imperial examination in 827, the first year of the period of Dahe. The minister Li (Guyan) read the report-letter (pao-chuang ) about it, so he asked the local government to take down the wine flag of the tarven that Chen’s family run to close its gate. But the families of Chen still hesitated to do so. The general commander of royal army Tian Lingzi manipulated over the throne. As an ultra-powerful man, he once wrote a letter to the authority in Xu Chang for his cousin Chen Jingxuan to get a position in the local army. However, the local commissioner Cui Anqian denied. Several years later, the commissioner Cui was deployed to Xi Chuan, where he was confronted with the army led by Yang Shili, Niu Xu, Luo Yuangao, and Chen Jingxuan. Jingxuan performed the best in the battle and was conferred the commander whip to replace Cui. The whole empire was astonished. There was a military briefing (pao-chuang) wrote that the fate of Chen was meant to be like this.10 Minister Li Jingxun read the report-letter (pao-chuang ) and exclaimed: “I cannot bow my knee and serve this one.” So he left the town with the excuse of sickness and a poem said: “100 thousand people in Chengdu were abandoned, as light as like a hair.”

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

101

Even though the document pao-chuang (report-letter) mentioned in the above passages are engaged in the daily operation of the capital liaison office (chin-tsou-yüen), they are not the same thing with the so-called chin-tsouyüen report It is not hard to find out that chuang-pao emphasizes chuang (none, a letter-featured and bottom-up presented document), while paochuang emphasizes bao (verb, to report). While the usage of the latter character is just like the verb-none in English language, which makes it more enticing and thought-provoking to look into the subtle evolvement of media of news in China somewhat. Until now, we haven’t touched upon the essential topic of this chapter, but we are coming to the point: what is news (hsin-wen) exactly. Just like the fundamental role of the definition of “beauty” in the study of aesthetics—over which a unified consensus hasn’t been achieved yet—the discussion over what is news, a concept so crucial to journalism, has lasted for centuries as countless scholars offering their opinion without reaching a consensus. While as for how the subject of this section should be defined, I will take a more simplified approach without too much textual analysis or citation—respect the common sense and refer to the opinions that have been recognized by the majority. According to scholars Cheng Mei and Tong Bing, all news should feature the following three essential elements: facts, originality and timeliness.11 Ning Shufan once discussed the nature of news from the viewpoint of information theory, concluding that news is the most recently happened information that has been reported (Ning Shufan 1987). Theoretically, the definition we give to news today may not align with the ancients who lived thousand years ago. Strictly speaking, they are based on a contemporary context and a spectrum of contemporary academic discourse. But they could provide a new perspective for scholars to observe the dissemination of news in the Tang Dynasty. In fact, news has an additional meaning, except for the modern concept of news, which emphasizes stories instead of facts, highlights novelty rather than timeliness, and underlines a sense of timehonored legend, rather than timely coverage. Therefore, we can deem the news mentioned in this chapter as the strange and curious events that have been disseminated. Big or small, important or trivial, made-up or true, any story can be news as long as it is recent, sensational, and disseminated by people—anything that is orally passed down could be news.12 This is the news. So what is dissemination (ch’uan-po)? We will not directly copy the definition we have today here. Rather, we need to review, analyze, and hammer out a definition based on a historical context. According to Fang Hanqi, the Chinese word ch’uan-po was firstly found in History of the Northern Dynasties: Records of Turkic (Beishi, Tujue zhuan): “(it shall be transmitted and broadcasted to the world so that everyone will hear about it).” However, in ancient Chinese language, the character ch’uan

102

B. LI

(transmission) and po (broadcasting) were not always grammatically bound together. They each have independent meanings and are often used separately. Linguist Huang Jingui has systematically examined the development of the Chinese character ch’uan and the words associated. He firstly points out that “With one same sememe in usage, it creases a synonym, which is a system of horizontal combination of vocabularies; and every word in a synonym group has its own Logopoeia. The character used most frequently in a group of synonyms with the most derivative meanings is the core character, which is the ‘representative’ of the synonym group.” As a conclusion, he writes: In ancient Chinese, except for the character ch’uan, there are lots of single characters having the sememe of ch’uan-po (spread), such po,pu,liu,hsüan and yang (all words have the meaning of “spread”). As a group of synonyms, they have different Logopoeia while used in communication. Po means widespread dissemination, pu emphasizes the width of dissemination; liu stresses the continuity of dissemination; hsüan means a solemn announcement; yang means massive publicity; and ch’uan refers to dissemination conducted vertically and horizontally (in time and space).The characterch’uan is often used together with the above mentioned characters to form a compound word, such as ch’uan-po (spread), ch’uan-pu (distribute), liu-ch’uan, (circulate), and ch’uan-yang (promote). These words all indicate a meaning of dissemination and are widely used even till today.13 As we all know, the Chinese character ch’uan (传) is a simplified version of traditional one (傳) According to the oldest character dictionary of ancient China, Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen jiezi), the Chinese character ch’uan consist of two parts, the side component 亻 at left, which indicates man, and the radical and pronunciation-decisive component 專 at right, together meaning “rapidness.” 亻 derives from 人, namely, man. 專 means “six-inch scroll” and the upper half of the character “專,” looking like the nose of a horse, indicates the same meaning with the character 牵, which means “to hold” in the Zhou Dynasty (1046– 256 B.C.E.).14 Therefore, the character ch’uan is related to man, six-inch scroll, and horse holding. Together, these elements lead to the fundamental posting system which delivered state announcement in the Zhou Dynasty, and later developed into the ancient post station system of China. The person who performed such duty was called hsing-fu (the name of ancient official title), who would rein the horses in a cart and hold a six-inch bamboo slip in hand to pass the message around the country.15 This is the original meaning of the character ch’uan. And most of its derivative words are related to the dissemination of messages, such as ch’uan-tao (chuandao传道, preaching), ch’uan-ching, (chuanjing传经 passing experiences), ch’uan-hsi (chuanxi传 檄 announcing war proclamation), ch’uan-wen (chuanwen传闻, rumoring),

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

103

ch’uan-ch’ao (chuanchao传抄, passing transcripts), ch’uan-dan (chuandan传 单, leaflets), ch’uan-huan (chuanhuan传唤, summon), ch’uan-chiao, (chuanjiao传教, missionary), ch’uan-ling, (chuanling传令, passing orders), ch’uanch’I (chuanqi传奇, legends), ch’uan-ch’ing (chuanqing传情, teasing), ch’uanshou (chuanshou传授, teaching), ch’uan-shuo (chuanshuo传说, tale), ch’uansong (chuansong传送, remembered and acclaimed), ch’uanyan (chuanyan传 言, rumors), ch’uan-chen (chuanzhen传真, faxing), ch’uan-hu (chuanhu传呼, calling). Here is an example from the Tang Dynasty: (Shi) Siming was illiterate. But every time he came up with some good sentences, he will let messengers to distribute them along all post stations. The country and country disseminated (,ch’uan) and copied his poem, and placed copies at the post stations.16 Lu Changyuan was appointed the Adjutant of Xuanwu Army, while Han Yu was the constable. Lu laughed at Han Yu by mocking his age. Yu answered: “Tiger and mouse are both animal zodiac signs. What strange thing cannot happen in this world?” Next day, the story was spread (传, chuan) in the Changan city.17

The Chinese character ch’uan has two pronunciations: one is chuán; the other is zhuàn. The different pronunciations are to distinguish the multiple meanings, but the character used in those words is all the way same. For example, zhuàn in such books like Zuo-zhuan (The Commentary of Zuo), Gongyang-zhuan (The Commentary of Gongyang ), and Guliangzhuan (Guliang Annals ) is pronounced as zhuàn, as these three commentaries are all interpretations on the historian classics Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu). Writing those commentaries is a behavior of publicity of the Spring and Autumn Annals. Liu Zhiji, a historian of the Tang Dynasty once wrote in his monograph All About Historiography (Shitong) that Confucius once wrote zhuan for Book of Songs (Shijing) and Book of Documents (Shangshu). At that time, it was meant to annotate the two classics. Later, there were also several zhuan written for Spring and Autumn Annuals. And until mid-ancient China, the literary category zhuan started to be renamed as zhu (annotation). Zhuan indicates circulation of knowledge and zhu means stream. The two categories belong to one (vol. 5, supplementary annotation no. 17). Huang Jingui once made a chart to elaborate the derivative meanings of ch’uan (传) as following18 :

104

B. LI

The Chinese character po/bo in ch’uan-po means sowing in ancient Chinese bronze inscriptions. According to Zhao Xinshu, “As sowing seeds is carried out on a vast field, sowing information should also, accordingly, take place immensely. So the character po is often related to circulation of information, and normally indicates ‘massive’ transmission. For instance, po-yang (boyang播扬, promotion) and po-fu (bofubo fu, announcing). This could partially explain why the Chinese phrase ch’uan-po also contains the meaning of ‘large-scale information circulation’ in modern Chinese.”19

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

105

In a nutshell, in the ancient Chinese ch’uan means the conveying of information, and po refers to the massive spread of information. So put the two characters together, it means widespread dissemination of information. In the first sentence below, ch’uan-po was used in the same way and express the same meaning the rest two: It was spread (ch’uan-po/chuanbo传播) within and out of the country, a great number of people were informed. (“Records of Turkic”, History of the Northern Dynasties [Beishi, Tujuezhuan])20 Announced (pu-kao/bugao布告) to the world, a great number of people were informed that the court was in trouble. (Chen Lin, War Proclamation over Yuzhou on Behalf of Yuan Shao [Wei yuanshao xi yuzhouwen])21 With the issue announced (pu-kao), everyone knew. (Old History of the Tang Dynasty, vol. 7)22

According to Gao Mingkai and Liu Zhengyi, in the context of modern Chinese, (ch’uan-po) is borrowed from a Japanese word, chuan-po (same characters, pronouncing denpa). While denpa is derived from the English word, propaganda.23 With the rise of communication studies in China, the English word “communication” is commonly translated as ch’uan-po in Chinese. Communicate, etymology-wise, is a word originated from Latin word— communicate, meaning “to share,” while the latter comes from the Latin adjective communis, meaning public and common.24 Therefore, ch’uan-po, in the context of modern Chinese, means the process that information is shared and disseminated by people during their communication when it is mentioned in communication studies, signifying the widespread of information and the equal access to information sharing. But the same word传播 (ch’uan-po) in ancient Chinese does not bear such indication. Considering both the ancient and contemporary Chinese, and taking into account the understanding of common people and academic circles, we should define ch’uan-po as an act of transmission and circulation of information. It can be either in massive scale, or limited to a small group of people; can be twoway or one-way; and can be horizontal and spatial (e.g., announce and tell the world), or vertical and temporal (e.g., pass down to later generations). In one word, ch’uan-po covers the dissemination and circulation of information in all forms. Of course, this conclusion is made with premises. We are only talking about the phrase ch’uan-po in the scenario of dissemination of news (journalism) under the umbrella of communication studies. Here we just study how the recently occurred events and novel things in the Tang Dynasty were transmitted and distributed, as well as their historical significance.

106

B. LI

“Lu-Pu” and Its Magical Functions As we have specified the concept of news communication and we have talked about mainstream news dissemination channels such as report of the capital liaison office, let’s look at other methods adopted by the Tang Dynasty government one by one. First of all, lu-pu (lubu露布 in Chinese). Simply speaking, lu-pu is a written note that reports the victory of a battle, which can be traced to as early as Wei (386–534/535) and Jin (256–420) Dynasties. The word lu-pu is recorded in Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government (Zizhi tongjian) that in the first year of the Yongning period (301), under the reign of Emperor Jinhui: Zhang Hong and his troops occupied the town Yang Di, where he was confronted by the troop led by Lord Qi (Sima)…. [Zhang] Hong defeated Lord Qi, and the lu-pu arrived. [Sima] Lun then dispatched him again

This piece of text tells us that the communication media lu-pu was in existence at least in the third century AD. Lu-pu can also be called lu-ban (露板). In the 28th year of the reign by Wen Emperor (451) of the Song Dynasty, a general called Zang Zhi helped the governor Shen Pu successively defended the city Xu Yi from the siege by Wei State troops. Later, as how Volume 126, Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government wrote, Zang Zhi considered Shen Pu his lord and his name was put on banlu after the battle: [Yuan] Ying asked Lu Xi, his military officer to write a (lu-ban, exposed-plate). When it was done, he despised it not delicately written. So he asked Fu Yong, the army supervisor to revise it. Yong did not add any ornamental language, but only lay out the military facts and situations. Ying appreciated it so much and said: “with this observation, we can conquer all the fortress no matter how solid it is.”25

Also, according to “Treatise of Rituals” in History of the Sui Dynasty [Suishu, Liyizhi]: Every time the Northern Wei court won a battle, the Emperor wanted to tell the world. Therefore, the victory would be written on a piece of cloth and install it on a bamboo pole to make a flag. It was then called lu-pu (cloth openly exposed). And people followed.

This passage tells us that the literal meaning of lu-pu could be “a piece of cloth openly exposed.” Lu/lu means exposure, while pu/bu in this term actually suggests its extended meaning: announcement, preaching, and spreading. For instance, as it is recorded in Journal of Mr. Feng (Fengshi wenjian ji), Volume 4: Lu-pu (lubu露布) is the alias of chieh-shu (jieshujie shu捷书, letter of victory). When the enemies were defeated by the imperial troops, the military ministry

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

107

will write texts on silk and fix the letter on a pole, calling it lu-pu. Such title existed since the Han Dynasty. It was called lu-pu because it would not be sealed, but exposed as an announcement, so that the whole empire would know. So it was also called lu-ban (open-plate). It is written in Memorializing Matters of the Emperor Wu of Wei State (Weiwu zoushi): “If there is an emergency, using luban tied with a feather.”

Therefore, lu-pu signifies the document which opens to the public while doesn’t need to be sealed. As “Biography of Liyun” in Book of the Later Han (Houhanshu: Liyun zhuan) wrote: “(Li) Yunsu worried that the empire was in great risk, and could not stand it, thus hand in a file of lu-pu.” Thus Li Xian, a crown prince of the Tang Dynasty, adding his annotation to this sentence: “Lu-pu, here emphasizing unnecessity to be being sealed.” In the previous passages, it is mentioned that pu shares similar meaning with ch’uan (chuan传), po (bo播), and hsüan (xuan宣). It was written in the Discourses of the States: Discourse of Jin (Guo yu: Jin yu) that what is beautiful inside will be broadcasted outside. Wei Zhao annotated: “po (broadcast), equals to pu (spread) here.” In “Condemnation” of The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons (Wenxin diaolong, Xiyi), “Zhang Yi issued war proclamation against the Chu State, which is written on a piece of paper in plain languages. It is also called lu-pu, aiming at broadcasting widely, so as to be heard and viewed.” Here po is once again used to interpret pu (announcement). Also in Songs of Chu: Nine Arguments (Chuci: Jiubian), it writes “I would rather live in seclusion. But I want to spread/announce (pu) my reputation.” Also indicating transmission. This is even clearer in “Biography of Gao Shi” of New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xintangshu: Gaoshi zhuan): “He didn’t write any poem until he turned fifty… Every time he finished a poem, there would be someone spread/announce (pu) it.” So we can infer that lu-pu means disseminating publicly. In 913 A.D., Li Cunxu, the King of Jin broke the prefecture You and captured the local warlord Liu Rengong and his son. After the victory Li Cunxi asked his chief secretary (zhangshuji) Wang Jian to write a lu-pu. Wang Jian did not know what it is. However, without much deliberation, he “wrote it on a cloth and dispatched people to drag it.” This piece of history is recorded in Volume No. 269 of General Mirror for the Aid of Government, Hu Sanxing annotated that: Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the victory of every battle will be written down and put on a polished bamboo pole to inform the world. The media that carry such information are called lu-pu. Lubu is used to inform the world, rather than something written on a piece of cloth and dragged.

According to the ancient Chinese literary critique, The Mind of Literature and Carving Dragons (Wenxin diaolong): “Lu-pu, means the plate of lu, which does not get sealed. Bu means for people to watch and listen.”

108

B. LI

It is quite clear that lu-pu is made to “expose the information and tell the world.” But it does not mean something (like today’s banner) writing on a piece of cloth to get pulled and dragged by people. As a document reporting victory, it is believed that at the very beginning this format of communication must have a very simple form. Maybe like a leaflet or text message, just to broadcast the news of victory somewhere to the civilians and armies along the route, which is worth of another paper to explain. After the Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty was enthroned, the new emperor vowed to rectify the society. While establishing the social system that consolidated the rise of the Tang Dynasty, he included and centralized lu-pu in the communication system of the empire and the later dynasties, by developing a more standardized, ritualized, and sophisticated mechanism. Confucius said that “when rituals are lost, we should re-discover them in fields and among people.” While the empire was reunited from the chaos of the Southern and Northern Dynasties created by the absence of tradition and rituals, the Sun Dynasty central government upgraded lu-pu, a random, unsophisticated, and unofficial way of communication among armies, into a standardized communication mechanism that served the kingdom. And the turn firstly appeared in the Kaihuang period, the beginning of the Sui Dynasty.26 Tang inherited the regime from the Sui Dynasty: The Tang empire would announce a lu-pu every time there is a crackdown over invaders. It said, shougong evaluates and designs the ranking of all officials. Lupu arrives, the minister of the ministry of war will present and report it to the emperor. Still, gathering officials and officers all in the eastern imperial court. Zhongshuling (called Neishiling in the Sui court) will announce the (lu)pu, obeying the rituals established in the Kaiyuan period.27

When the head of the secretariat announced lu-pu, there was also a series of complicated and carefully designed rituals to follow: Still, gathering officials and officers all in the eastern imperial court. Leader Minister of Chung-shu Division 中书省(called Chung-shu-ling 中书令), one of three leading organs under the emperor as mentioned before) will announce the (lu)bu, obeying the rituals established in the Kaiyuan era. Officials and envoys arrive in costumes. Feng-li (court gentleman for the ceremony) put tablets of officials in front of the eastern court, near by the south. The literary officials line up at the east and the military officers at the west, face-to-face, with the higherranking officials standing from the north. Envoys’ positions are set according to the normal protocols. The position of Chung-shu-ling (zhongshuling中书令, the minister of Chung-shu Division中书省) is at the north of the officials, facing south. Measuring the time. The Ministry of Ritual and the Ministry of War introduce officials and envoys, yeh-che (yezhe谒者, imperial messenger [usher]) and tzan-yin (zanyin赞引, imperial guide) get ready. After everyone stands by, a person holding a table steps in. The minister (Chung-shu-ling) takes lu-pu and

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

109

places it on the table. Two historiographers dressed in official costumes. Yeh-che leads Chung-shu-ling, and the table-holder follows. They stand at the southern side. The table-holder stands to the west-south of Chung-shu-ling, facing the east. Standing still, the table-holder enters. Chung-shu-ling takes lu-pu, and the table-holder leaves. Chung-shu-ling announces: “An order from the emperor.” The officials and envoys knee down and pay tribute. Chung-shu-ling read the lu-pu out aloud. The officials and envoys knee down and pay tribute. And dances. Kneeing down and paying tribute again. Yeh-che guides the minister of the Ministry of War to be present in front of. Chung-shu-ling The minister takes the lu-pu, and steps back to the line, and hands it to the attendant gentleman of the Ministry of War. Yeh-che of the ceremony guides Chung-shu-ling to enter, and the rest of yeh-che guide the officials and envoys to return in order.28

The ceremony seems solemn and magnificent, with officials gather in the grandiose hall of court, wearing colorful costumes and performing solemn rituals. In such an atmosphere, lu-pu will be announced by ministers, which further demonstrates the authority and majesty of the imperial court. The protocols of communication remind us the academic school that focuses on “protocol” rather than “content” of communication in the contemporary communication studies. Lu-pu, featuring the simple and clear style of writing in its early stage, gradually turns into elegant and literary official document, and is listed as one of the six major types of document reported to the central government: There are six types of document for the lower administrations to report to the central government tsou-chao, tsou-tan, lu-pu, i, piao and chuang.29 These documents will be reviewed and reported (by the attendant of Men-hsia Division, one of three leading organs under the emperor).30

Till this moment, lu-pu was no longer merely a message sent back to the central government by the armies at the frontier. Before its release, the article needed to be reviewed, proofread, and even polished or rewritten by the supreme authority. In other words, lu-pu needed to be censored by the central authority before it got published. So next, I would like to present a piece of lu-pu of the Tang Dynasty here so that we can have a more concrete impression on its form and writing style as a carrier of news communication. This piece of lu-pu recorded a war in which the Tang troops defeated the Khitan in the north of the Yellow River during the reign of Wu Zetian (Wansuitongtian Period, 696–697). It was drafted by his chief secretary Zhang Yue. As a remarkable figure of literature circles of the Tang Dynasty at its golden stage, Zhang Yue served as the chief drafter of the royal court documents and wrote many important mandates and edicts. He and Su Ting were together honored as “grand hands of Yan and Xu” for their literary achievements, as Zhang Yue was conferred the Duke of Yan State, and Su Ting as the Duke of Xu State. The style of Zhang Yue’s writing is intense and fierce and emphasizes the skeleton. The following lubu he wrote is overwhelming, and brimming with strong emotions:

110

B. LI

Open Dispatch (Lu-pu) on Pacifying Khitan and Other Bandits in Jizhou Written on Behalf of the Commandery Prince of Henei Wu Yizong31 By Zhang Yue As reported by: me, ta-chung-kuan (dazongguan大总管, commander-inchief), You-jin-wu-wei (youjin wuwei右金吾卫) General (general-in-chief of the right command office of imperial guards), and the acting chang-shih (长 史, administrator) of Luozhou Prefecture, governor of Henei County; Yang Xuanji, who serves as Chien-chün–chung-kuan-hsing (front-armies-marshalmarch前军总管行), tsuo-wei (zuowei左卫, left guards) yi-fu (yifu翊府, standby garrisons) chung-lang-chiang (zhonglangjiang中郎将, general of the household), Shang-chu-kuo (shangzhuguo上柱国, the upper pillar of the state), Dingyang County, endowed the title K’ai-k’uo-kung (kaiguogong开国公, dynasty founding duke); Tang Fengyi, Hsing-chün-chang-shih (administrator of armies on campaign), Chao-feng ta-fu (chaofeng dafu朝奉大夫, grand master of court service), Chi-shi-chung (jishijun, palace steward), Hujun (hujun, army protector); Zheng Gao, Hsing-chün-ssi-ma (xingjun sima行军 司马, commander-in-chief of armies on campaign), Tung-i-ta-fu (tongyidafu 通议大夫, grand master of through counsel) and t’ien-kuan lang-chung (tianguan langzhong, 天官郎中head of ministry of personnel): We have heard that if foggy and sleeting days revealing inauspicious omens and barbarians coveting our lands, the mighty troops and armory will take action to crack down the enemies, while the marshals of Literary Splendor will rush to the border towns, armored and equipped with weapons. Thus to prohibit the rivals of evil and atrocity to greatly protect our people, to shock the barbarians, and severely punish those show off their forces. We fall down and look up from the ground, to admire your majesty, our Heaven Decreed Golden Wheel Holy Divine Emperor, your righteousness evenly prevails the entire empire, and your benevolence enlightens both the inside and the outside. The groups of rebellious statesmen who do not obey the previous imperial authority, are all converted by your teachings, indulged in harmony and prosperity of the time, looking at cloud and facing wind, approaching the remote places. The Khitans are ferocious and ugly races and the descendants of slaves. They did not derive from the clan of hero Modu Chanyu, nothing alike his noble offspring. The Khitans lived in remote counties separately, getting educated and converted gradually. They farmed and grazed, just like normal refugees from all the places; traded and merchandised in the three towns. Soldiers took off their armors, and war horses were unbridled. But the beasts turn ungrateful after they are fed, while the bees and scorpions sting their breeders with venom. These ungrateful Khitans betrayed the cultivation of the empire with a heart of wolf, sneaked and prepared to attack like bird extending its wings. They tortured the officers protecting the borders and defeated our troops guarding the towns. The town Daji was occupied by the barbarians, and Guzhu state became a wasteland.

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

111

Your majesty was shocked and outrage and issued the order that armies must gain victory over critical battles. The heaven and the earth jointly advised, and the divines and the ghosts helped to succeed. The six tribes of ethnic minorities all sent soldiers, and the northern Hsiung-nu people (barbarian tribes living in the north of ancient China) also collected the forces. The comics were transported to eliminate, and the lightnings were sent to burn it off. We drunk ice-cold water, suffered from the blades of axes, and waved banners for our soldiers all day long. Even though I study literature with the school of Hejian, I do envy our generals for their military braveness. I vowed to take the lead to face the sharp blades and marched first before soldiers moved. I drew power from the divine army to convict the crime of Guifang. The vicious enemies were not wise or determined. They took advantages to inciting evil power. Last year, one of our troops was captured. This early spring, three generals did not return as they underestimated the enemies. When ants gathered, the strength enhanced. The teeth of jackals were sharpened. They confederated with Shanrong minorities and the bandits from the west, outreached island residents to attack from the east. I widely broadened the coverage of military occupation, largely encouraged the morale. We transferred to notice the governments of counties to guard their land as tightly as they can. The war proclamation was sent to all armies, to let them prepare to provide reinforcement. (Wu) Youyi, Commander-inChief of Qingbian Dao (Qingbian Circuit, an administrative region), and Lord of Jianan County commanded the troops at Jimen Pass and defended State of You. Stationed in a stronghold, he defeated the crowds of gods and sheep. The trenches were deep and fortresses were high, our soldiers stayed still in the camps. Snakes in mountains and birds on clouds would not shake their resolve. Administrator-in-chief, Shazha Zhongyi, Wang Boli and An Daomai dispatched their troops to guard the Yishui River and the Sang River. The streams in Xi Trench lash the generals and soldiers. Diaoqi brings down the arrow of generals. Besieged by enemies around four sides, they resisted for several times and climbed on top of the fortress. Censor-in-chief (known as yü-shih-ta-fu, the name of official title) Lou Shide, administrator-in-chief Gao Zaimou and Xue Sixing safeguarded the state Zhongshan, defended the external offenses. Our troops were trained to do their best to astonish the enemies. Other units and companies were dispersed, having a grief of parting. Chariots laid out like stars, surrounding the Taihang Mountain, as many as rocks. Horses wear crinet, and a trap rises high in the cloud, which can cover the Hengzhang River and the Hiapu Bay. The continuous rains cleared the flying dusts caused by the running Khitan horses. Grass, trees and heavy winds brim with fragrance of the emperor’s armies. From south to north, the divine troops and mighty armies gathered. But they did not rush to attack, but stayed composed and waited for the best moment. It was mainly Mochuo Kehan, who led an army of as many as ten thousands of raiders consisting of nomads, marching for thousand miles across the

112

B. LI

dessert tot sneak raid Liucheng City. When the den was empty, the eggs in it were all destroyed. The soldiers and horses of the enemies gathered and besieged Youzhou Prefecture. Heard that their troops beyond the frontier were defeated, they were terrified, like been trapped on a boat. The external forces had been diminished, and internally, they suffered from a struggle of fear. Lord of Jianan County, (Wu) Youyi conserved the strength of his crack soldiers so as to built up their energy. He seized the chance and issued a blitz attack. The drum beats largely boosted the morale, which even shook the mountains and hills. Every time there was letter sent by shooting arrows, there was a tribe leader cracked down. The culprit surrendered soon after the fight began. The bodies of enemies were so many that they covered the entire field from Zhongzhou. The deserted armors piled up like a hill, which were collected and storage in external office. Even though we have eliminated the root of invaders, there were survivors waiting for revenge. He Axiao, the general of the insurgents, is extremely ferocious and cruel, a low-born creature. He asked his men to loot the cities and did evil. In Youling, the Khitan troops did not know that their leader had been captured. In between the two rivers, they still thought the rest of their forces were undefeatable. He threatened men and women fell into enemy hands, slaughtered the innocents and war prisoners. The household’s resentment over the killing and pillaging accumulated day by day. People were suffered. The magistrate of Lucheng County Li Huaibi lived a luxurious life, featuring the title Lingchang Chongban. However, he betrayed the imperial court and paid allegiance to the barbarian enemy. Not only providing military supplies and weapons to the Khitan troops, he even accepted to be a military commander. The foolishness made him crazy and light the torches. He should be terminated as swift as the melting snow. My troops gathered from prefectures Xing and Zhao and clustered passes and strongholds. I appointed brave and battle-wise fighters to be generals, leading the army to charge and assault. Chang-shih (administrator) Tang Fengyi galloped to the Luo River and the state Wei to guard the water transport. The imperial army he led cracked down the invaders, teaching them a lesson. I also sent ch’ien-chün-chong-kuan-hsing (front-armies-marshalmarch), tsuo-wei (left guards) i-fu (standby garrisons) chong-lang-chiang (general of the household), Shang-chu-kuo (the upper pillar of the state), and also the K’ai-k’uo- kung (dynasty founding duke) of Dingyang County, and others to wrap from its west-south. Dashing zigzagging from the front, or advancing secretly from behind. The warriors were brave and fierce when they attacked. There were countless spears lifted, with our flags flapping in the sky. The gang of insurgents were cornered by our army, running out of supply with a doomed destiny, while finding them nowhere to go. Thus they sought a death fight. In the first day of this month, the Khitan commanders, including He xie, summoned a troop of over ten thousand soldiers by threatening whoever they captured to resist the imperial army. Till the mid-day, they

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

113

gathered nine divisions. The spears of Xunji and his men pioneered firstly in engagement. It was the blood of the Khitans that was the cost. Our warriors beheaded the enemies just with their arm. Their attack was so massive like the ice cracked, the earth cleaved and the hill burnt. Those who escaped were also hunted down. In total three hundred commanders were killed, including He Axiao, the commander-in-chief of Jizou Prefecture. I have announced your majesty’s order to pacify the people in the Khitan-occupied area and help them to re-construct their cities. All of them were grateful for the grace of your majesty as their common life was restored. Since the gang has been settled, the northern part is now recovered. The culprits were captured and sentenced and the Khitan Kingdom fell. The resentments and hatreds in the prefectures are dissolved. In the northern part, people dance happily and along the frontier, you can hear beautiful songs. The waves have been stopped to calm down the sea. The dusts fell to the ground so that people can see the bright sun. As strong as Xi Hu, he refused to admit his credits for victory. Shu Xiang also said that it was the virtue of a wise king. We humbly head the troops simply because that we rely on your almighty wisdom. What we did were so trivial, just like grass stepped down by boots. The enemies were defeated so quickly, like bamboos cleaved apart by axes, simply because of the accurate and timely instruction we received form your highness. We prostrate for the strategy stipulated by the imperial court and happily resonate with the jubilance in the court from afar. We feel thousand times cheerful, and such excitement will last forever. Nothing can be compared to the happiness brought by this moment! I modestly send my attendant Li You and military officer Zhang Dejun to humbly present the dispatch for circulation. The list of military supplies and weapons is enclosed. Hereby to say.32 Even though the article was drafted by Zhang Yue, it adopted the tone of the great marshal Wu Yizong, a cruel and cold-blooded stateman serving the Empress Wu Zetian. He was notorious for framing his political enemies, no worse than his contemporaries Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen, as commented by Old History of the Tang Dynasty (Jiutangshu). In fact, though in this article Wu Yizong is depicted as a fearless hero, his behavior in this war was totally the opposite. As a general of 300 thousand soldiers, he was a coward in front of his enemies and his troops were brutally butchered and looted in Zhaozhou (where the Anji Bridge located). Most horribly, after withdrawal of the Khitan invaders, he convicted a lot of civilians who lived in areas once occupied by the Khitan of treason and punished them brutally. As how it was recorded in history, “the prisoner’s belly was cut open, his gut taken out, before he got beheaded. Blood is everywhere, while Wu Yi-zong enjoyed the scene like nothing had happened.” As the lu-pu mentioned, the leader of the Khitan army He Axiao was also notorious for slaughtering the soldiers. Therefore, people of that time compared them to each other as “the top two slaughterers.”

114

B. LI

Throughout the lengthy period of the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties (581–960), lu-pu (lubu露布), just like pang-wen (bangwen榜文, government placard), became a fundamental tool of the official news dissemination system of China. It especially played an incomparable role in the conveyance of victories, with its traces spotted in the history. During the middle of the Daye period, a general of the Sui Dynasty, Zhang Xutuo, defeated the commander of insurgents Wang Bu in a place called Zhangqiu, “seizing countless booty including properties and military supplies, all listed on a lu-pu to circulate.”33 Li Jing defeated Jieli Khaghan of Turks (in the fourth year of the Zhenguan period)…and (Li) Shi captured over fifty thousand civilians back to the Tang’s territory, which ever since expanded to the north of Yin Mountain and the Grand Dessert. It was released on a lubu to circulate.34 In 762 A.D., three days after the government army defeated the troops led by Shi Zhaoyi in the city Luoyang, “a lu-pu was delivered to the capital city.”35 Linghutong, an official serving under the reign of Emperor Xianzong, often exaggerated the number of captured prisoners every time he fought a battle with insurgents and reported to the court in lu-pu. The chancellor Wu Yuanheng only laughed at it but never turned the report to the emperor.36 Yang Fuguang stated in a lu-pu: “The eight day of this month, Yang Shouzong and others followed (Li) Keyong to enter the capital first from the Guangtai Gate.” Also said: “The rebel (here he referred to Huang Chao) hasn’t deployed his troops to resist the government army. The crowds collapsed from time Mou (05:00-07:00) to time Shen (15:00-17:00) and hurried to escape, running to the Shang Mountain for hiding.”37

Among all these extensive references of lu-pu, the one about the mid-Tang marshal Li Sheng who resumed the capital Chang’an remains one of the most well-acclaimed tales in relevance. Li Sheng is the father of Li Su, the famous general of the mid-Tang period, who attacked the prefecture Caizhou. In 782, due to the rebellion by Zhu Ci, Emperor Dezong fled Chang’an. At his call, Li Sheng led the troops to the capital to aid immediately. With several bloodshredded battles, Chang’an was finally resumed in June, 784. Therefore: Li Sheng asked his chief secretary Yu Gongyi wrote lu-pu and presented it to the Emperor. Li Sheng said: “My highness, the prohibitions and sieges have been eliminated. Your servant humbly kneeled in front of you. The regime is restored, and ancestral temples remain the same.” The Emperor wept and said: “Li Sheng is a gift from the god. The kingdom is rescued by him, not me.”38 In 4 June, Sheng chased and vanquished the rebellions in prefecture Liangzhou. The Emperor read it, felt deeply moved to tears, so did the officials in the court. The court announced that “Li Sheng was a loyal patriot to the throne. The city was resumed safe and sound from the hands of the enemy, without damaging ancestral temples or harming civilians. It is rarely seen in past three generations.”39

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

115

The Emperor Dezong read the lu-pu saying that the general Li had resumed the lost lands. When he came across the sentence “My highness, the prohibitions and sieges have been eliminated. Your servant humbly kneeled in front of you. The regime is restored, and ancestral temples remain the same”, the emperor was touched and welled up. The emperor’s squad also sobbed. lu-pu, was drafted by Yu Gongyi. People believed that no other lu-pu could compare to this one in reporting military victories. However, Gongyi’s talents were envied by Lu Zhi, who criticized that Gongyi failed to perform filial piety. Thus, the Emperor conferred him Book of Filial Piety (Xiaojing) and asked him to return his hometown. Many officials and civilians felt pity for Gongyi.40

This lubu reported by Li Sheng and drafted by Yu Gongyi is obviously a success in communication, making Emperor Dezong, his think tank, and even his squad sob and cry. We would say the article has this magic power more because of its the classical and highbrow rhetoric that renders it with a sacred and reserved strength, rather than how melancholy or sentimental the story is. Given the above context, lu-pu is not something that can be written randomly or understood by everybody. As in this style of article, writing is more important than the facts, and rhetoric is more highlighted than the contents, lu-pu almost served as a showroom for literati to display their thoughts and talents. For instance, the 4th year of Jiande period of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (575), the marshal Li Mu and his army attacked and conquered towns Zhiguan and Boya (in Jiyuan, Henan Province today). The marshal asked Lu Kai to draft lu-pu, and when Yuwen Yong (543–578), the Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou read about it, he commented with only one sentence: “Lu Kai has made what a progress in his writing!41 ” Seemingly, lu-pu is more concerned with decent writing than war coverage. Lu Sidao, a poet and pioneer of seven-character poetry of the Sui Dynasty once saved his life thanks to his talents in lu-pu writing. [Lu Sidao] returned his hometown because of his mother’s illness. During the trip, there was a rebellion broke out in his hometown, with some of his clan members involved. The central government sent general Yuwen Shen to put it down. Sidao was captured and as the clan of the rebels, should have been sentenced to death. However, Yuwen asked him to write lubu because that he had long heard about his literary talents. Sidao took the pen and improvised a beautifully written passage on spot. Yuwen highly appreciated his writing thus pardoned Sidao’s crime.42

Except for the lu-pu released by the government, some rebels would also release lu-pu. In the second year of Zhide period under the reign of Emperor Suzong (757), capitals Chang’an and Luoyang were both recaptured. An Qingxu (the son of An Lushan—the notorious Tang rebel) fled to Anyang. Surprisingly, the rebel army broke the siege of the government army on their retreat by using wicked tactics. Li Guangbi (708–764), the governor of Hedong was forced to withdraw, so did the governor of Zelu, Wang Sili,

116

B. LI

when he heard the news of defeat. As a consequence, An Qingxu also released his lu-pu, in which he boasted the military success in vanquishing the troops led by Guangbi and Sili, announced that countless provisions were acquired from the enemies and declared his army would soon recapture Luoyang city by the 8th day of next month.43 The lu-pu of An Qingxu not only broadcasted the news of victory, but also boosted the morale of the almost desperate rebel army. After the lupu was released, “the rebels were informed that Li Guangbi was defeated. They were encouraged and agitated again, thus gathered in Xiangzhou in October (ibid.).” Here is another example. In the late Tang Dynasty, Pang Xun, a mutineer and the leader of the rebels in the prefecture Xuzhou, once imitated An Qingxu and released his version of a piece of similar lu-pu, which “achieved great success in spreading the news in rebel-occupied regions, including villages and fortresses (Denis Twitchett 1979: 739).” The aggressiveness and ambitiousness infiltrating among the lu-pu texts was too strong to neglect, even though it had been polished by historiographers in the official historical recordings available today: In his lu-pu, Pang Xun claimed that he was invincible, and he distributed the article in towns and villages. Upon reading it, the officials and civilians living in the region to the south of Huai River were shocked and frightened, and thus fled to the east to Yangtze River.44

There are also lu-pu written by common people. It could be teasing and humorous. For instance, under the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (reign: 649–683), there was a powerful minister named Li Yifu. As a person known for having a decent demeanor but a serpent-like heart and often compared to the notorious Tang chancellor Li Linfu, he was nicknamed “Cat Li.” That is why when Li Yifu was sent into exile in 663 as prisoner, the whole empire cheered and celebrated. To make fun of him, someone wrote an article following the style of lubu, titled Lubu on Marshal of Hejiandao, Liu Xiangdao Defeated the Villain Li Yifu of Tongshan 45 and posted it on main streets and hubs. Liu Xiangdao mentioned here was the minister of Ministry of Justice who was in charge of the case of Li Yifu. Liu Xiangdao was born in Hebeidao so he was called Marshal of Hejiandao; and Li Yifu’s residence was nearby the town Tongshan, thus was called “Villain of Tongshan.” And here is one sentence that is so intriguing and recorded in official historical documents: Yifu once acquired servants from other aristocrats and high families. With his fall, his servants were sent back to their original masters. In the lubu, it wrote: “The servants were mixed and set free in chaos, found the mansions of their old masters and hurried in.”46

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

117

You may clap for this lovely and lively expression if you know the source and origin of this sentence. When Liu Bang (256–195 B.C.E.) founded and became the Emperor of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.), he picked his father from his hometown to the capital to enjoy the extravagant royal life. However, his father turned homesick. Therefore, Liu Bang built a town replicating his hometown Xinfeng County for his father, in a place not far away from Chang’an. Everything was a precise and exquisite replication of the old village where his father lived in, including the poultry and dog houses. As this story was recorded in later documents, it was stated like this: “The hens and dogs were mixed and set free in chaos, found their houses and rushed in.47 ” So this is the origin of the abovementioned sentences. When transporting the hens and dogs of Xinfeng to capital, they have to be mixed up. When reached destination, the domestic animals were set free and rushed back to their kennels and poultry houses, but couldn’t tell these were “fake” homes. This literary quotation was used in the lubu about “Villain of Tongshan,” so as to mock the scene that even though Li Yifu had looted lots of servants from other families, these people ran back their old masters immediately when he fell into disgrace.

“Hsi-wen” Can Withstand Thousands of Enemies Lu-pu (lubu露布) and hsi-wen (檄文xiwen) are two types of article that we often mention together. This is because that lubu and xishu are regarded belonging to one genre and sharing many similarities. They are both documents for military use. The only difference is that hsi-wen is released prewar and lu-pu is released postwar. In terms of its functions in journalism and communication, one can be considered as news coverage and the other as news commentary. Lu-pu focuses on war report and xiwen focuses on analysis over the situation. But in a nutshell, the two types of prose both serve to raise the morale of one’s own while mock and threaten the enemy. Therefore, they are often considered related and interconnected. Below is an example: Xue Shou of the Tang Dynasty served the Mansion of Qin (Mansion of Prince Li Shimin, the Lord of Qin). Most of the hsi-shu and lu-pu were drafted by him. He was quick. Whatever he was asked, he can complete a prose accordingly almost immediately, even without rectification.48

Died young, Xue Shou is the son of the master of poetry of the Sui Dynasty, Xue Daoheng. Here is another example: [Li] Xiji is the descendant of [Li] Linfu, but constantly failed the imperial examination. After the Huang Chao rebellion, he fled to the eastern side of the Yellow River and served the military commissioner Li Keyong as his secretary, in charge of drafting official document and correspondence. Among his contemporaries,

118

B. LI

no one could write chien-hsi (literal meaning: note-proclamation) as fast and as good as he did. Zhu Wen, a warlord and the later first emperor of Liang Dynasty always commended his talents in writing every time he read the shuhsi (literal meaning: writings-proclamation) sent from the eastern riverbank. He looked at his advisor Jing Xiang and said, “Sir Li has been cornered to a remote place. How could he deserve to have such a talent to serve him? My tactics and resourcefulness, and plus Xiji’s literary talents, it will be like giving a tiger a pair of wings.”49

Chien-hsi (笺 jian: informal letter, also a thank-you note addressed to a social superior) and shu-hsi (shu: writings, mainly referring to official letter) mentioned in the quotation are both terms used to address the military documents like hsi-shu and lu-pu. To clarify the fundamental difference between hsi-shu and lu-pu, we can look at the distinctive role they play in communication. As we know, different relation of communication will lead to different the contents of communication: lu-pu is a bottom-up document presented to the superior, while hsi-shu is a top-down document released by the monarch or the supreme commander. Hsi-shu (literal meaning: proclamation-writings), also known as hsi-wen, literal meaning: proclamation-article) or hsi (literal meaning: diffused wooden strips, often translated as: proclamation), a type of ancient announcement invented for war proclamation or condemnation over others. In 588 (the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty), before Yang Jian (the Emperor Wen) sent troops to conquer the Chen Dynasty, he distributed 300 thousand pieces of edicts in the Jiangnan region, condemning “20 evil deeds by the tyrant (Chen).” We can say that this edict xishu of the Sui and Tang Dynasty. It wrote: Chen Shubao loots and plunders his people under his reign just to fulfill his desire. The state was exhausted by him because of his extravagance. He beheaded the advisors who criticized him frankly and sentenced the families of the innocents to death. He lied to the god but worshiped the demons. He wears makeup and holds weapons, wears outlandish clothes and bullies his guards, such craziness could hardly be compared by any other rulers in the history. The people suffered and the world was turned upside down by this incompetent ruler. Every time I heard about these sad stories, I felt for those how suffered. This is why I believe this is the mandate of the heaven for me to declare the war against him and kill the tyrant. This is my chance to cleanse the evils in this land.50

To readers of this article, the ruler of the Chen Dynasty must be a demon who doesn’t deserve anyone’s forgiveness and should be annihilated. Ironically, 30 years later by the end of the Sui Dynasty, the history repeated itself when the leader of rebellion army Li Mi released a hsi-wen imitating Yang Jian (541–604, the first emperor of the Sui Dynasty) to reiterate the ten worst crimes committed by Emperor Yang, the second emperor of the Sui Dynasty.

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

119

One sentence from this hsi-wen was so highly acclaimed by later generations that later an idiom (in Chinese: qingzhu nanshu, literally meaning [something is] too numerous to inscribe even exhausting all the bamboo slips) was made up accordingly to describe the status that someone’s misdemeanors are too numerous to count. Li Mi wrote: “I will need to exhaust all the bamboo slips in the Southern Mountain to write down all the crimes he committed; and even all waster in the Eastern Sea cannot wash down his evils.” This prose was written in 617 A.D. when Li Mi’s troops were approaching the capital Luoyang, right after Li Mi announced that he was the first ruler of a new regime, the Wei. The article was written with great reasoning, enthusiasm, and overwhelming while righteous tones. The author pitches his argument in the first part of the article: no emperor ever can overturn the governance of heaven and rule the people with brutality. And then he listed the ten worst crimes committed by the Emperor Yang of Sui, which were known to all, and condemned him as an insane tyrant. With all these vivid descriptions of the Emperor Yang’s outrageous sins, a consensus would naturally be reached among both the author and the readers that “I will need to exhaust the bamboo slips in the Southern Mountain to write down all the crimes he committed; and even all waster in the Eastern Sea cannot wash down his evils.” And people would reach the conclusion that “this is what caused an empire to fall, regardless age and gender.” But if Li Mi concluded the article here, this hsi-wen is an incomplete one. It is because that hsi-wen is not only written to humiliate the enemy, but also to show the muscle. Therefore, after listing the misdemeanors and the doomed fate of Emperor Yang, in the following sentences, Li Mi starts with writing about why righteousness and victory belong to him. He writes: “The real dragon comes with thunder and lightning. Tiger roars and wind sweeps in the valley. Clouds rise upon the call of dragon. Me, the Lord of Wei, a man of great intelligence and military talents, the four best virtues and nine great merits, stood out. … When I breathe, the torrents of rivers and wasters will halt; when I am in fury, the Song and Hua mountains will be turned. How could any city not be conquered and how could any battle array not be broken with such mighty power… this battle is like destroying a candle fire with water in an ocean, and crushing an egg with Kunlun Mountain…. No warriors in this country dare to respond my provocation to support my enemy… Wherever we go, the good wines are served to our armies, and everywhere along the marching path.” What a condescending and persuasive tone it takes! At last, the author concludes with expressing both his mightiness and mercy, delivering a crystal clear information to his enemy: The officials of the Sui may still believe that they should serve their old lord. Shen Pei died for the Yuans, but Zhang He made a more sensible choice by serving the Cao family. Fan Zeng decided to get trapped with the King Xiang Yu, but Chen Ping chose a better path by yielding to the Han authority. As the ruler of Wei, you have my word that I treat all the officials of Sui with my true heart. I promise you good positions. A phenix should pick the wood,

120

B. LI

rather than the other way around, without self-doubting…. I promise you good position and abundant rewards. For those who stubbornly decide to sink with the Sui, you will regret! The river, the earth and the heaven know my frankness and sincerity. I release this prose so the world will hear my voice.51

People could be surprised when they find out that the drafter of this majestic and powerful article, is actually a “short, inarticulate and shy” intellectual, named Zu Junyan (?–618). His life story is recorded in “Biography of Zhu Junyan” in History of the Sui Dynasty: “By the end of the period of Daye of the Sui Dynasty, he became the governor of Dongping County. The county was taken over by Zhai Rang the rebel, because the force of Li Mi occupied this place. [Li] Mi treated him with respect and asked him to be in charge of all the important military correspondences and announcements. And after [Li] was defeated, Junyan was killed by Wang Shichong.” Zu Junyan’s talents were highly recognized by Xue Daoheng, a great poet of the Sui Dynasty. This passage of time-honored his-wen proves that Xue Daoheng is correct as it shows the great literary talents of Zu Junyan. However, the article War Proclamation over Prefecture Luozhou on Behalf of Li Mi (617, Wei limi xi luozhou wen) by Zu Junyan is obviously much less popular than its predecessor, War Proclamation Spread to all over the World on Behalf Li Jingye (684, Dai lijingye chuanxi tianxia wen) by Luo Binwang (619–687). The latter is an imitation to the former one in terms of writing style and structure. Of course, it is a smart and upgraded imitation and is regarded as a paradigm of xiwen by the later generations. As the previous examples, it also consists of three sections: first, criticizing the wrongdoings of the enemy as “cannot be tolerated by the deities, the mortal, the heave and the earth”; secondly, trumpeting the mighty power of his master as “shake the hills, making the day turn dark”; and lastly, a “carrot-and-stick policy,” calling for the enemies’ surrender and promising forgiveness over the rebellions. When you read the sentence “How could any enemy not be conquered and how could any city not be broken with such mighty power…,” you will find its origin in Zu Junyan’s writing, “How could any city not be conquered and how could any battle array not be broken with such mighty power….” Luo Binwang is also a literary talent, known as one of “The Four Greats of the Early Tang” together with other three literati Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, and Lu Zhaolin. With his vivid and impressive language, persuasive reasonings, and countless quotations from the classics, the article has a lasting impact, even though it is restricted to a certain literary structure. It is powerful, persuasive, eloquent, and interesting to read as a war proclamation. Therefore, not only in its time, but also in later generations, this article has demonstrated its a powerful function of communication. Someone of that era once wrote that when the Empress Wu Zetian even smiled approvingly when she came across “Every concubine newly selected by the emperor will be envied by her; and acting like a naïve girl, she flattered the emperor all the time, and her charm always got him.” When she read the last part of the article “The dirt on top

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

121

of the tomb of the Emperor Gaozong has not even dried, the throne of little prince is already deprived,” she complimented Luo’s talents, and blamed her chancellor: “How could you haven’t recruited him52 ?” It is a war proclamation that makes its target of condemnation impressed, from which you can tell how successful it is. In addition, the length of Luo Binwang’s article is shorter but more impressive, considering its length is only one-eighth of that of Zu Junyan. This could probably explain why Luo’s creation was circulated more broadly and now is honored as a prototype of this format of writing. Scholars today should reflect on this. Following is the full text of this so-called “best-ever” war proclamation in Chinese history: The woman, whose family name is Wu, is now in power. But this low-born creature is neither gentle nor kind-hearted. She used to be the concubine of the late Emperor Taizong, being chosen when she helped his majesty to dress up. By the end of his reign, she captivated the then crown prince, the later Emperor Gaozong. She lied about her relationship with the late emperor, coveting for a place in the harem of the crown prince. After she became his wife, every concubine newly selected by the emperor will be envied by her; and acting like a naïve girl, she flattered the emperor all the time, and her charm always got him. To the end, she was crowned as the empress in luxurious gowns, which embarrassed our emperor due to the fact that he married his father’s concubine. She is as malicious as a snake. She is close to crafty and fawning statemen while persecuting the loyal and upright. She skilled her brother and sister, poisoned her mother and plotted murder against the emperor. A femme fatale, what she did cannot be tolerated by the deities, the mortal, the heave and the earth. She also conspired to seize the throne, by prisoning the sons of the emperor in the deserted palace, while giving her followers important positions. Alas! There will be no loyal stateman like Huo Guang in our time, neither a resolute member of royal clan like Liu Zhang. When the ballad “Swallow Pecking Emperor’s Children”53 appeared, people knew the reign of Han Dynasty may come to an end. When saliva of dragon dropped in the king’s palace, the Xia Dynasty was also about to fall. Me, Jingye, is an old servant of the empire. I am the first legal grandson of the Ying Guogong (Valiant Duke of the State). What I follow is the teachings of the late emperors, and the grace I receive is from the imperial court. It is sensible for Song Weizi feeling desperate for his lost motherland, and Huan Tan cried for losing the title of duke, which is not at all reckless! Therefore, out of indignance, I embarked on my undertaking, for the stability of the ruling of the Tang Empire. My action abides the sentiments of the people and reflects the wishes of the entire nation. Holding flag of justice, I vow to destroy the demon. The belligerent cavalrymen gather in crowd, and a network of chariots has formed from remote Baiyue in the south to Sanhe to the north of the central plain. We have countless grains kept in granary. The millet in Hailing has turned red due to fermenting. The flags are billowing along the grand river. Isn’t it so present for the glory of the Tang Empire to be regained! Horses neigh against the north wind. The flow of air points to the stars in the sky while the swards are waved. The roars of soldiers shake the hills, making the day turn dark. How

122

B. LI

could any enemy not be conquered and how could any city not be broken with such mighty power! My friends, you all have prestigious identities: either with noble hereditary titles, living in a royal family, or heavily entrusted generals or statesmen by our late monarch. How could your loyalty stand to forget the words of the late emperor? The dirt on top of the tomb of the Emperor Gaozong has not even dried, the throne of little prince is already deprived. If we could turn the table, cracking down the evil, serving the true emperor to comfort the late emperor in the heaven, safeguarding the fame of Li family and carrying on the will of the late emperors, the rewards, promotions and royal titles we may receive will be as permanent as the Tai Mountain or the Yellow River. If we care only about the temporary profits, hesitate at this critical moment, and fail to understand the omens, the severe punishment will fall on us. Look closely, to whom this country belongs to! The proclamation will be sent to all the prefectures and countries so everyone will be noticed.54

Obviously, you can feel certain exaggeration and consumption by the authors in the abovementioned pieces hsi-shu, quite contrary to the principle of modern journalism which emphasizes facts and logical reasoning. By definition or by inference, hsi-shu is more of a product of propaganda rather than journalism. Among all the hsi-shu documents circulated in the Tang Dynasty, War Proclamation over Goryeo (Xi gaoli wen) by Yuan Wanqing especially attracts my attention. It is not because how grandiosely it is written, but its ties with information confidentiality, news inspection, and intelligence disclosure. In the second year of the period of Qianfeng, under the ruling of the Emperor Gaozong (667), the Tang Dynasty declared the second war against Goryeo Kingdom. The general marshal who led the army was Li Ji. The drafter Yuan Wanqing joined the army as a secretarial receptionist (known as tong-shih-shejen, the name of official title) and served as the chief secretary. Li Ji was a famous general living during the turn of the Sui and Tang Dynasty. Tactical and resourceful, he was endowed with millions of military honors, and it took him less than one year to gain a complete victory during this expedition. His troops occupied Pyongyang and the king of Goryeo was captured. The victory was so glorious that even made Emperor Taizong of Tang Empire jealous. The original name of Li Ji was Xu Shiji. As he submitted to the Li family ruling the Tang authority, he was conferred the family name of the royal family, Li, so his name turned into Li Shiji. But as one character of his original surname shi coincided with the same character in the surname of the Emperor, Li Shimin, he adapted his surname from Shiji to Ji. In the historical records ever since, he was mentioned either as Xu Shi, Li Shi, or Li Ji in different passages, but the three names all refer to him. He played a crucial role in the event when Emperor Gaozong removed the then Empress Wang form her title and conferred Wu Zetian the Empress in the year 655. He pacified the opponents of this decision by persuading them “this is the Emperor’s own business and we outsiders have no stance in interfering.” However, years later, his grandson

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

123

Li Jingye assembled an army to fight against Wu Zetian, and released a his-shu nationwide which strongly expressed his condemnation on Empress Wu. As a punishment, the body of Li Ji, dead and buried long ago, was dug out and damaged by the haters as a revenge. The jaw-dropping thing is that in this war the hsi-shu was released even before the army departed. When Li Ji’s army was approaching Goryeo and getting ready for a big battle ahead, the War Proclamation on Goryeo (Xi gaoli wen) written by Yuan Wanqing caused lots of troubles. No one knows why Goryeo Kingdom did not fortify the frontier, Yalu River, which provided a rare opportunity for the Tang army to attack. However, Yuan Wanqing just frankly revealed this top military secrecy in his proclamation by “reminding” the enemy, in an accusing tone, that Goryeoian “does not know defending the barrier Yalu River.” After the Goryeo court received the proclamation, they replied a note with great politeness and wrote: “We will be happy to improve on that as per your kind suggestion.” And then they “sent troops to guard Yalu River, and no other officer or soldier was allowed to enter.55 ” Basically, it is like intentionally advising your enemy. And no wonder “the Emperor was angry and put Yuan on an exile to Lingnan.”56 The chief drafter Yuan Wanqing, whose position was equal to press officer and censor today, should be taken accountable for this incident. It is impossible to imagine how many more sacrifices of the Tang soldiers were caused by his negligence of leaking top intelligence. Today, we often hear about the journalists complaining about blockade of information by the military and uncooperating with war correspondence. However, it is not difficult to see from the War Proclamation on Goryeo that the free coverage of military operations could lead to a disaster. So, it is no wonder that the military often chooses to be tight-lipped. However, even though it was Yuan Wanqing who brought the trouble, the commanderin-chief Li Ji should also take the responsibility. In this case, the fate of Yuan Wanqing is somehow doomed. He was exiled because of the followed Li in this expedition, even though they won the battle at last. And when the grandson of Li Ji, Li Jingye rose to fight against the central government, Yuan was once again put on an exile because of the close ties he had with the Li family, and eventually died in where he was banished. I suppose that our discussion about lu-pu and his-shu could stop here. To conclude, lu-pu and his-shu were both the main channels of official news dissemination in ancient China, play a significant role in briefing the whole empire the important military and state affairs. So before the printing technique was broadly introduced and applied, lu-pu and his-shu were the most far-reaching and influential methods of news dissemination, no less available and timely than the modern media. For instance, Emperor Yang of Sui once produced 300,000 copies of the edict on conquering the Chen State (Dynasty, reign: 557–589) and distributed it in the conquered area. In a small state of “30 prefectures with 100 counties and 400 towns”57 each town received about 750 copies per county. It is an impressive number of coverages. The Sui Dynasty was able to sweep the south of the Yangtze River with the ruthlessness

124

B. LI

of the bamboo. It took only two months for the division to attack Jiankang, and to produce the master of the sect. Apart from the political, economic, and military advantages of the Sui, the victory could also be largely credited to the psychological impact that this his-shu exerted on the people of Chen. The writer and intellectual of modern China Lin Yutang once commented the significant impact of the abovementioned hsi-wen that Luo Binwang wrote to condemn Wu Zetian: When the his-wen was delivered to the capital, it created a great sensation, which even made military rebellion of Xu Jingye overshadowed. Some of the sentences in the xiwen were widely circulated among people and frequently quoted by the later generations. It is not only because of its radical tones and eloquent expressions, but also because of the contents. It exposed the normally off-the records private talks among literati and officials to the public and spoke the real thoughts of the Chinese civilians. The subject of this article is clearly and directly stated, and the extraordinary writing is tough, neatand penetrating. By elaborating the misbehavior and sins committed by Empress Wu Zetian, the his-wen damaged her reputation even more than an army of a hundred of thousands of soldiers. (Lin Yutang 1995, 6:439)

Lin Yutang concludes that a piece of his-wen can defeat a hundred of thousands of soldiers. It is apparently an imitation of the famous quote of Napoleon: a pen of a journalist can defeat thousands of Mausers. In this sense, the troops the Emperor Yang of Sui led to conquer the Chen State should have been counted as 60 thousand, rather than 50 thousand. Although lu-pu and hsi-shu did serve as a tool of news dissemination and propaganda at that time, they were still primitive if we look at the whole history of development of news communication. This is because they hadn’t been unleased from the format of prose or literature writing, less relevant compared to Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports and Capital Liaison Office Reports marking the “awakening” of Chinese journalism. For one thing, the complicated and over-rhetorical language, frequent literary quotations and dramatic exaggerations in lu-pu and hsi-wen ensure that they could boost the morale among troops, but these features have nothing to do with spreading practical information. Sometimes we read articles like Open Dispatch (Lu-pu) on Pacifying Khitan and Other Bandits in Jizhou Written on Behalf of the Commandery Prince of Henei Wu Yi-zong by Zhang Yue and War Proclamation (Xiwen) over Prefecture Luozhou on Behalf of Li Mi by Zu Junyan, we may wonder how many common people could truly understand or believe in what this lu-pu and xiwen have said. Here I am not saying that people do not believe, but seldom convinced. Even if the article indeed reveals some factual matters, the beautiful rhetoric by the drafters will blur the focus and distract the readers from understanding the gist. Probably because of it, the royal court of the Sui Dynasty once tried to rectify this writing habit of lu-pu and his-wen by resorting to administrative method, so that “the public and private documents and papers can have more concrete and solid contents.” (“Biography

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

125

of Li E,” History of the Sui Dynasty [Suishu, Li E zhuan]). We will specifically elaborate on this matter in a following chapter about communication thoughts. Let me conclude this chapter with a piece of lu-pu written by Li Mi, because this article already carries a sense of intentional news coverage58 : The army of [Wang] Shichong was rallied in the eleventh day of this month in the early morning, planning to secretively sneak into the fortress. And till the 15th day of the month, Shichong and Wang Biancai crossed the river from the northern side of the city and approached the city limits.59 This piece of lu-pu meets almost all the fundamental standards of contemporary journalism. Fluent and simple, it reads like a piece of newsflash.

Notes 1. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 142) is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. Edition of Hall of Military Prowess (Wuyingdian). 2. “Category of Fictions,” Records of Literature Classics (Yiwenzhi), in History of the Song Dynasty (Songshi). 3. Quantangshi (Volume No. 654), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 4. Quantangshi (Volume No. 646), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 5. “Category of Novelists,” Records of Literature Classics (Yiwenzhi), in New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xintangshu), quoted from Yao Fushen, 1989, Investigations Based on Whether Sun Chuxuan Used the Term “Xinwen(news),” Journalism Bimonthly 1989 (2). 6. Youyang zazu (Preface), A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You, written by the Tang Dynasty scholar Duan Chengshi and annotated by Fang Nansheng, published in 1981 by Beijing, Zhonghua Book Company. 7. Voltaire (France), 1982, The Century of Louis XIV , trans. Wu Moxin et al. Beijing: The Commercial Press, p. 269. 8. Zhao Tingyang, 1997 (January 15), “Facts and Trends,” China Reading Weekly. 9. “Wei Dan,” in Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign (Taiping guangji), Volume No. 35. 10. Zuzhi tongjian (Volume No. 253) General Mirror for the Aid of Government: “The Xichuan Festival made Chen Jing-soo a sneak peek, and reported to 蜀, everyone was shocked, who knows who.” 11. Cheng Mei, Tong Bing, 1993, Textbook of Journalism Theory. Beijing: China Renmin University Press, pp. 31–37. 12. Now I would like to mention that the article On the Differences of Propaganda, Dissemination and News from the Perspective of Etymology and Semantic Theory by Zhao Xinshu, published on the first issue of the journal Journalism and Communication Research in 1995, surprisingly, states the same argument. By examining the ancient Chinese word xinwen, Zhao Xinshu concludes that, “There will be no news without real events as raw materials; and without dissemination, or the failure in dissemination will either prohibit the birth of news even though the events are there.”

126

B. LI

13. Huang Jingui, “Exploring the Types and Characteristics of Ancient Chinese Communication from the Literature Category Zhuan传,” published in From the Scratch—The Proceedings of the First Cross-Strait Symposium on Chinese Traditional Culture.” Xiamen: Xiamen University Press, 1994. 14. Huang Jingui, “Exploring the Types and Characteristics of Ancient Chinese Communication from the Literature Category Zhuan传,” published in From the Scratch—The Proceedings of the First Cross-Strait Symposium on Chinese Traditional Culture.” Xiamen: Xiamen University Press, 1994. 15. Ibid. 16. Yao Runeng (Tang Dynasty scholar), Story of an Lushan (An Lushan shiji), Volume No. 2. 17. Tangguo shibu (Volume No. 1), Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording a collection of stories of the early Tang period, written by Li Zhao. 18. Huang Jingui, 1994, Exploring the Types and Characteristics of Ancient Chinese Communication from the Literature Category--Zhuan, published on from the Scratch—The Proceedings of the First Cross-Strait Symposium on Chinese Traditional Culture. Xiamen: Xiamen University Press. 19. Zhao Xinshu, 1995, On the Differences of Propaganda, Dissemination and News from the Perspective of Etymology and Semantic Theory[J]. Journalism and Communication Research, No. 1. 20. Translator’s note: the source text, with the Chinese word ch’uanpo bolded— 传播中外,咸使知闻. 21. Translator’s note: the source text, with the Chinese word pu-kao bolded—布 告天下,咸使知圣朝有拘逼之难. 22. Translator’s note: the source text, with the Chinese word bugao bolded—布告 遐迩,咸使闻知. 23. Gao Mingkai, Liu Zhengtan, 1958, Research on Loanwords in Modern Chinese. Beijing: Wen Zi Gai Ge Chu Ban She (Character Reformation Publishing House). 24. Lu Gusun, ed., 1993, The English-Chinese Dictionary (Reduced Format). Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House. 25. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 145), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic histocial book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 26. In Volume No. 8 of History of the Sui Dynasty and Volume No. 76 of Comprehensive Statues. 27. Tongdian (Volume No. 76), Comprehensive Statutes, is a book which is a universal administrative history written by the Tang period scholar Du You. 28. Tongdian (Volume No. 132), Comprehensive Statutes, is a book which is a universal administrative history written by the Tang period scholar Du You. 29. Translator’s note: tsou-chao: 奏抄, memorial; tou-tan: 奏弹 impeach, lu-pu: 露 布 report, dispatch, yi议: critical exposition, piao 表: memorial, manifesto, and chuang 状: statement, official dispatch. 30. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 43), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 31. Translator’s note: the source text of the article title as a reference—为河内郡 王武懿宗平冀州贼契丹等露布, Wei henei junwang wu yi-zong ping jizhou zei qidan deng lubu.

4

HSI-SHU AND LU-PU

127

32. Wenyuan yinghua, Blossoms and Flowers of the Literature Garden, in Documents of Past Dynasties of China, compiled by Chang Linrui, and Zhang Jintao, 1996, Beijing, China City Press. 33. Suishu (Volume No. 71), History of the Sui Dynasty, is a book recording the official dynastic hisotry of the Sui Dynasty written by Wei Zheng. 34. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 293), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 35. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 222), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 36. Jiutangshu(Volume No. 124), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 37. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 255), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 38. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 231), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 39. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 133), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 40. Tangguo shibu (Volume No. 1), Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording a collection of stories of the early Tang period, written by Li Zhao. 41. Suishu (Volume No. 56), History of the Sui Dynasty, is a book recording the official dynastic hisotry of the Sui Dynasty written by Wei Zheng. 42. Suishu (Volume No.57), History of the Sui Dynasty, is a book recording the official dynastic history of the Sui Dynasty written by Wei Zheng. 43. Tangguo shibu (Volume No. 1, p. 39), Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording a collection of stories of the early Tang period, written by Li Zhao. 44. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 251), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 45. Translator’s note: the source text of the article title as a reference—河间道行军 元帅刘祥道破铜山大贼李义府露布, Hejiandao xingjun yuanshuai liuxiangdao po tongshan dazei liyifu lubu. 46. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 201), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 47. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 255), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 48. “Xue Shou,” in Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign, Volume No. 174. 49. Sun Guangxian (Song Dynasty scholar), annotated by Lin Aiyuan: Trivial tales from North of Meng (Beimeng suoyan), Shanghai Classics Publishing House.

128

B. LI

50. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 176), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 51. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 53), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 52. Youyang zazu (Volume No. 1), A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You, is a book containing a collection of fantastic stories compiled by the Tang period writer and statesman Duan Chengshi. 53. Translator’s note: 燕啄皇孙 (Yan zhuo huangsun)—“swallow pecking at the emperor’s children” is a metaphor used to describe the situation when a concubine of the emperor is plotting to kill his princes. 54. Luo Linhai Ji, Collected Works of Luo Linhai (Luo Linhai is the courtesy name of the Tang poet Luo Binwang). 55. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 190), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 56. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 201), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 57. The number of counties that Chen State possessed is recorded in the Volume No. 2 of History of the Sui Dynasty and in the Volume 177 of General Mirror for the Aid of Government. 58. You can find the word baodao (报导, report-guide) used in documents of the Tang Dynasty. But baodao was used totally differently from the word today, just like the word meijie (媒介, media) in the “Biography of Zhang Xingcheng” of Old History of the Tang Dynasty: “ 古今用人,必因媒 媒介 (Gujin yongren, bi yin meijie): Past or present, a recommender is always needed if you want to hire someone,” is different from how contemporary readers understand the word. In ancient China, baodao referred to those people whose job was to guide the top performers of the latest imperial examinations to parade along the streets. They were called baodao probably because that they need to hail (bao报) the crowd and guide (dao导) the parade. A story is recorded in Collection of Stories in Tang (Tangchiyan) by Wang Dingbao (870–954): Xue Feng, jinshi (high-ranking performer of imperial exanimation) of the first year of Huichang Period, went through many setbacks in his political career in his late stage. One day, when he was heading to the palace for work riding an old horse, he encountered a group of scholars just leaving. It was the day the list of the newly selected jinshi was released. There were about 10 people, and their qiandao (前导,front-guide) saw that Xue Feng was shabbily dressed, and said: “Make way for these new imperial scholars!” Xue Feng sneered at him and asked an officer to tell the man: “Baodao (report-guide), you should not look down on others. When your nanny was young, she was also a lovely girl likes putting up makeups!” 59. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 185), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. Annotated by Hu Sanxing, first year of Wude Period (618), under the Reign of Emperor Taizong.

CHAPTER 5

Beacon Fire, Placard, and Imperial Diaries

This chapter will continue with the topic of the previous chapter to explore the conventional and unconventional mechanism of news communication in the ancient bureaucratic system. The word “mechanism” in the chapter title refers to the approaches and methods of communication. Regardless of how the methods may transform and diversify themselves, they could, essentially, be divided into two types: the direct face-to-face communication and the mediarelied indirect communication. In fact, the concepts of mass communication and personal communication that we talk about today can also be understood as the modern versions of indirect or direct communication with their connotations updated and enlarged throughout the history, but sharing the same origin with their predecessors. As for the new media, such as Internet and mobile network, they seem to integrate the two approaches. From the viewpoint of communication, the target of information dissemination is to connect parties that used to be separate and isolate, regardless it is disseminated through an intermediary network or a network of people. However, interpersonal communication has its natural limitation: it is subject to the restriction of time and space. While in the pursuit of faster and broader dissemination of information and in order to overcome the boundaries of time and space, people never stopped seeking new media and inventing new methods to facilitate communication, from the usage of knotted string to account records in the primitive society, to the earliest postal service system established in the Western Zhou Dynasty, from the invention of written languages to printed books, from ti-pao of ancient China to modern journalism, from radio to television, and today, we have the Internet, the so-called “the fourth media” after

© The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_5

129

130

B. LI

the journal, radio, and television. All of these inventions mark the achievements of the endeavor of human beings worldwide, and are the footprints left by this adventure. In this chapter, we will explore another series of methods of communication—feng-sui (fengsui风燧, literal meaning: fire-smoke, beacon fire, and smoke signals), pang-wen (bangwen榜文, literal meaning: placardtext, placard) and ectara—whose occurrence featured their era, like the tides and waves that surged in the river, making them distinguishable in the history of human civilization that evolved around communications.

During the Day, We Climb Atop the Mountains to Watch Beacon Fires Feng-sui, beacon fire or smoke signal, is a common method for armies to communicate military intelligence. When mentioned, it often conjures up our imagination with the imagery of frontiers, battles and conquering, vast desserts, battlefield, and smoky battlefield. Just like how it is frequently celebrated by the Tang poems: The beacon towers (feng-hou) on the Tu Mountain are grand. For a while, the chariot will leave the border city. –Wei Zheng, In the Army (Cong jun xing)

The beacon fire (feng-huo) spreads to the capita, My agitated mind can’t be calmed down. By royal order we leave palace wall, Our armored steeds besiege the Dragon Town. –Yang Jong, In the Army (Cong jun xing)

All night long the beacon flames (feng-huo) flicker; Year in year out, the war goes on. –Li Bai, Fight in the South of the City (Zhan cheng nan)

The tragic beats of drums are heard across the dessert, Fortresses with beacon towers (feng-shu) guard the long river. –Lang Shiyuan, See-off the General Li to Dengzhou (Song li jiangjun fu dengzhou)

During the day, we climb atop the mountains to watch beacon fires (feng-huo). At dusk we lead the horses to the Border River for water. –Li Xin, In the Army: Old Melody (Gu cong jun xing)

West to the beacon fire (feng-huo) station, standing a hundred feet high tower.

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

131

At dusk, I sit alone there in the autumn breezes from the sea. –Wang Changling, In the Army (Cong jun xing)

Battlefield beacon fires (feng-huo) invade the moonlight over frontiers. The Yun Mountain along the coastline guards the Jimen city. –Yong Zu, A Look Toward Jimen City (Wang jimen)

It is still uncertain when the smoke signal alert was invented. But we do know that it had been adopted by the ancient Chinese since the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 B.C.E.–771 B.C.E.), as the King You of Zhou fooled his warlords with false warning beacons to amuse his beloved concubine Bao Si, as recorded in Records of the Historian (Shiji): Bao Si was unhappy all day lonog. The King You wanted to please her. But no matter how many efforts, the beauty remained untouched. The King You then went to the beacon tower, beat the drum and lighted the feng-sui (beacon fire), which was the signal indicating that there was an invasion. And when the signal was sent, his warlords hurried to the beacon tower with their troops. They were astonished by the fact that there was no enemy. With a sight of this scene, Baosi laughed. The King felt for it and he sent such false alarms now and then just to make Bao Si laugh. Later, his warlords did not trust him anymore and did not come even though they saw the smoke signal.

The Chinese word feng-sui consists of two characters: feng and sui. At first, the two characters referred to two different things. While gradually they were put together and became one specific term normally suggesting the beacon fire. Scholars in the past have studied the signifier and the signified of two characters,1 and the widely recognized conclusion is that: “the fire lit at night is called feng, and the fire lit in daylight is called sui.”2 The detailed analysis can be found as early as in the second part of “Chronicle of Emperor Guangwu” in History of the Later Han Dynasty (Houhanshu: Guangwudi ji xia), as an annotation by Li Xian says: To prepare for the emergency at the frontier, people built high tower made of dirt and installed a tool that can be pulled up and down) with a cage at its top. Then people put dried grass and woods. When enemy invaded, they would light the fire and pull it up to send out signals. The fire signal is called feng. And the refilled the tool with firewood and lighted it when enemy came. The smoke is called sui. Therefore, in the daytime, the signal was sent throug the smoke (sui). In the night, the signal was sent through the fire (feng ).

Generally speaking, feng means fire signal and sui refers to smoke singal. Therefore, in Chinese, feng-sui (beacon fire-smoke signal) is also named fengyan (fengyan 烽烟, beacon fire-smoke) and feng-huo (beacon fire-flame). The term feng-yen (beacon fire and smoke) was once mentioned by Yao He (779–c.855) in one of his poems: “Walking on the roads of Xizhou, no longer

132

B. LI

one can see the beacon fire and smoke (feng-yen).” In addition, firewood was such a luxury in the bleak frontiers, as it was recorded by some of the poems of that time: “As autumn ends in the grey sand, with the grasses all withered, the few surviving watchers by the lonely wall at sunset” by the early Tang poet Gao Shi and “The whistling north wind bends all the grasses, snowflakes dancing in the sky of the border even though it was only the eighth month of the year.” By Cen Shen, a Tang poet of the armed services, which vividly describe the desolate scene at the boundaries. Therefore, during the day, when it was necessary, ancient Chinese would use the dung of wolves to replace firewood in the beacon tower, just like herdsmen who use cow dung as fuels. The reasons are probably, on one hand, that wolf dung was easy to collect in the borders; and on the other hand, the smoke from burning wolf dung was high, unlikely to disperse, and easy to be seen. Duan Chengshi, a scholar of the mid and late Tang Dynasty, wrote in his anthology of proses and essays A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You (Youyang zazu, an encyclopedia acclaimed by modern writer Lu Xun for its diversity and exclusiveness) that “the smoke from burning wolf dung is up straight, thus often used for sending signals in beacon towers.”3 Therefore, another term lang-yen (wolf-smoke) was created to indicate feng-sui. And the Chinese idioms “wolf smoke rising on all sides,” as well as “beacon-fire up to the sky” is made up to depict the ferocious battle scenes during wartime. Feng-sui overshadowed almost all other means of news communication in terms of its effectiveness in ancient China. Cai Mo wrote in “A Letter to My Brother (Yudishu)” that “the spies in the army should light the beacon fire and beat the drum. Because beacon fire is visible and drum can be heard even from afar. The signal can thus be conveyed to a place hundred miles away.” Before the introduction of telecommunication, feng-sui was the most time-efficient tool to disseminate news. Naturally, in ancient China, feng-sui became a classic reference of urgent communication of military intelligence, and a popular element in poems and writings describing wars. For instance: “Smoke and fire signals rising from the desolate mountain, Warriors gather in the camps and wait the beats of war drum.4 ” (Zhao Gu, Water Melody: The First Song ). As one of the swiftest means of communication, feng-sui had incubated a complete report system of military situation (sitrep) in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, a feng-hou (literally: fire-mound, beacon tower) would be built every 30 li (a traditional Chinese unit of distance which is equal to around 500 meters), and a i-chan (post station) would be set every 30 li. Hou in the word feng-hou beacon tower, is used to refer to the fortress and sentry post to watch for invaders. Feng-hou means beacon tower that sends smoke signals. There were many ancient Chinese poets once wrote about beacon towers. For instance, the Tang poet Chen Zi’ang once lauded in his Touched by the Encounter (Ganyushi) that “How skyscraping are these pavilions and watch towers!5 ” and the poet Xu Fei of the Southern and Northern Dynasties once wrote in Poem made in Nostalgia while Visiting Langya City (Guyichou daochangshi shigai deng langyacheng shi): “The beacon tower in

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

133

Ganquan County is on alert, Shanggu County is ready to defense the Loulan Kingdom.” Sometimes, the beacon towers along the boundaries would also be accompanied by a small city featuring the functions of postal relay, mainly run by a feng-shuai (fengshuai烽帅, fire-chief, or chief of beacon tower) and a feng-fu (literally: fire-deputy, or deputy chief of beacon tower). The two posts were both recorded in “Official Positions” of Old History of the Tang Dynasty (Jiutangshu: Zhiguan): Every 30 li, there is a beacon tower. Along the boundary area, a fortress will be built. A shuai (chief) and a fu (deputy chief) will be assigned to the beacon tower.6

In The Six Statutes of the Tang (Tangliudian), it is further explained: There would be a beacon tower installed for every around 30 li. And if there are mountains and hills along the route, the location shall be altered accordingly to insure the two towers are visible to each other, and the interval is not necessarily be 30 li. And for the beacon tower along the borders, a fortress should be built to house it. A shuai (chief, or commander) and a fu (deputy) shall be in charge. The intensity of beacon fire is classified by 1 torch, 2 torches, 3 torches and 4 torches, lightened according to the scale of invaders.7

The soldiers who are under the supervision of the beacon tower chief responsible for safeguarding and inspecting the beacon tower while setting the fire and smoke when necessary are known as feng-tzu (fire-watchman), namely, the watchman of beacon tower. The poet Rong Yu (c.740–c.800) once wrote in the poem Song at the Frontier (Siashang qu) that “Hearing the roars of fire-watchmen spread from the mountain top, you know the general is back from a night hunt.” According to the author of Comprehensive Statutes (Tongdian), Du You, who is also the grandfather of the Tang poet Du Mu, that “for every six people assigned to a beacon tower, five of them will work as fire-watchmen.”8 Duan Chengshi, nearly of the same age with Du Mu, wrote about a whimsical story of a fengzi, or watchman of beacon tower, in A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You. In the early Yongtai period (765–766), a fire watchman stationed in the beacon tower of Fengzhou City (Wuyuan, Inner Mongolia today) sneaked out of town during the time of sunset. He was captured by the Tangut troops and sent to the Tu-Po tribe (Tibet today). The Tu-po general drilled a hole on his shoulder bone, pierced it through with a leather chain, and assigned him to feed horses. Half a year later, the number of horses doubled. Therefore, the general rewarded him several hundred pieces of sheep hides and let him live closer to serve around the general’s tent. The son of the Tu-po king appreciated his resourcefulness, thus recruiting him as his personal servant and awarding him left-over meat and cheese. And another six months passed. One day, the watchman cried over the meat and cheese that he was awarded, with no appetite. The king was curious

134

B. LI

and asked him why he cried. He answered that he had dreamed of his aged mother so frequently those days. The king sympathized him and summoned him in the tent one night, and said: “We have strict rules and we have never set anyone free before. I will give you two strong horses, and they will take you to the path of return. But you will not let me know.” When the watchman got his horses, he escaped on horseback as fast as he could. After the two horses were exhausted to death, he kept marching and lurking in the moonlight. One day, he hurt his foot and fallen down in the dessert. Getting trapped, he felt that something was suddenly swept to him. Grabbed and wrapped it around his injured foot, he managed to stand up after a while. Surprisingly, the pain disappeared, and he could walk as usual. Two nights later, he finally arrived the border of Fengzhou City. When he came back to home, he found out that his mother was still alive. His mother cried in jubilance: “Since the day that you were missing, I recited Sutra and prayed day and night, begging to see you again. Now my prayer came true.”9

The fire-watchman was enslaved, while fought his way from a slave to the king’s attendant and eventually escaped from the Tu-po tribe and returned to home. His adventure is quite legendary. So no wonder it is included in A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You, “the best collection of tales,” as remarked by A Catalogue to Complete Library of the Four Treasures (Siku quanshu zongmu). And it can also be found in the Volume No. 105 of Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign (Taiping guangji). We can infer from this story that both the fengzi (fire-watchman) and yizu (post-soldier, courier at post station) are both of low social status, and mostly chosen from the locals born and raised in the places where the beacon towers are established. The fire and smoke signal system of the Tang Dynasty was under the supervision of the Ministry of War (bingbu兵部, Ping-pu) of the Shangshu Division. In the Tang Dynasty, it consisted of four ministries, namely, Ministry of War (bingbu兵部, Ping-pu), Ministry of Operation (zhifang职 方, Chi-fang ), Ministry of Equipment (jiabu驾部, Chia-pu), and Ministry of Provisions (kubu库部 K’u-pu). In terms of the administrative rankings, the national postal system was supervised by the Director of the Ministry of Equipment (known as chia-pu-lang-chung 驾部郎中, the name of official title), while the fire and smoke signal system was under the supervisor of the Director of Ministry of Geography (known as chi-fang-lang-chung 职方郎中). According to “Official Positions, Part Five” of Comprehensive Statutes, chifang-lang-chung, the director of department of geography, was responsible for “managing the topographic maps, city moats, border towns and beacon towers.” And according to “Treatise of a Hundred Officials, Part I” of New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xintangshu, Baiguanzhi), “There is a director and a vice-director assigned for the department of operation. The bureau is in charge of maps, city moats, beacon towers, the distribution of border defenses and unification of ethnic minorities in remote areas.” Even though the beacon towers in the border towns had already formed, all by themselves, an interconnected national defense system, the Tang empire also built complicated smoke and fire signal systems in the rear part and inland. The major cities that played

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

135

a significant role in national defense of the Tang Dynasty, such as Shannxi, Shanxi, and Hebei, were all built with radar-like network of beacon towers, as intensive as the war frontiers. According to The Six Statutes of the Tang: There were beacon towers built inside the border pass (northern Shannxi), Jingji (Xian), Hedong and Hebei. In the twenty-fifth year of Kaiyuan (737), [Xuanzong] announced that the frontiers are in safety and the country is stable. Inland beacons towers were no longer necessary. Around the capital city, there were 260 beacon towers, run by about 1388 staffs, including the beacon tower chiefs.10

Based on the number of beacon towers and staffs dispatched, it can be easily calculated that each beacon tower was assigned with five people, which is in line with Du You’s description mentioned above. But the Emperor’s proclamation to shut down beacon towers seemingly failed to be truly implemented, if not a mere scrap of paper. Chao Gongwu, a historian of Song Dynasty, admitted that The Six Statutes of the Tang “was not implemented nationwide at all levels.”11 The French scholar Robert des Rotours (1891–1980) elaborated on this issue more specifically in his paper Does Tang Liu Dian Correctly Reflect the Institution of the Tang Dynasty? (Le Tang Lieou Tien decrit-il exactement les institutions en usage sous la dynasties des T’ang?)12 by stating that the regulations stipulated by the canon Six Statues were never strictly and thoroughly implemented, even under the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (the compiler of the Six Statues ), and got even less and less attention by his successors in terms of execution. We have another historical fact that could further strengthen the argument that the decree on closing inland beacon towers was not really implemented. When the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming broke out in 755, we know that these beacon towers were still in function as usual, as the evidences provided by The Story of An Lushan (An Lushan shiji), a series of historiographic essays written by Yao Runeng (a functionary of the Tang Dynasty but whose dates of birth and death unknown) which provides researchers a number of first-hand materials about the rebellion. One of which mentioned that, on the eve when Tongguan was conquered by the rebellions, “Emperor Xuanzong was in terror to find out that the fire signal that suggested Tongguan was OK had not been sent.”13 At that moment, we are not sure if he could think of the decree to call off fire signal that he announced 18 years ago when his reign was unswervingly solid. But we are quite sure that how slow-burn it was for him to expect the fire signals telling him that that the city was supposed to be kept in safety against the rebellion. After the end of the revolt led by An Lushan and Shi Siming, which lasted from 755 to 763, conflicts between the central government and local warlords upscaled, since military prefecture governors (known as fan-chen) began to rise in power and their military capability was strong enough to resist the central government. Under such circumstances, the major frontier commands built their own smoke and fire signal system. For instance, when Li Su (famous

136

B. LI

general of the mid-Tang Dynasty, son of Li Sheng) made a long-range raid on Caizhou Prefecture on a snowy night, his army “killed the soldiers and watchmen of beacon tower when they arrived Zhangchai Village.”14 This was like cutting off the landline of the telephone of Wu Yuanji (the leader of the insurgent frontier command), and “when [Li] Su (and his troops) arrived the gate of Prefecture [Caizhou], nobody was informed in advance.”15 Another example. In 819, the fifteenth year of the Yuanhe period under the reign of Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, Liu Wu, one of the subordinates of Li Shidao, the military commissioner of the frontier command Ziqing, was turned to pay allegiance to the central government and asked to kill his commander Li Shidao and send the head of his commander to the capital. At that time, Liu Wu was stationed in the Yanggu (Yanggu of modern Shandong Province) County. Before he carried out a raid on the military stronghold of Li Shidao, …he sent a secretive envoy to reach out to the general Tian Hongzheng (764– 821), one of the commanders of the army sent by the royal court to crack down the insurgents Li Shidao, that “if I make it, I will sent out the fire signal. If his stronghold has prepared for the attack and I could not break in, I hope that you can send troops there to reinforce.” And at his request, the men of Tian Hongzheng were sent to his encampment. While on the night of the raid, Hongzheng saw the fire signal lit and knew that Liu had succeeded. Soon after, he sent envoys to the town for congratulation. When Hongzheng saw the heads of Li Shidao and his two sons were delivered to his camp, he was ecstatic and released an open dispatch (lu-pu) to inform the whole country. Soon after, the rebels in the 12 prefectures, including the Ziqing frontier command, were all vanquished.16

What is interesting about this story is that Li Shidao was a true “hit news maker” of his time who was responsible for many atrocities that could shock the entire empire. In 815, he sent assassinators to hide in his capital liaison office in Chang’an to kill the chancellor Wu Yuanheng (the supporter who championed to reduce the power of feudatory); and plotted an ambush nearby his capital liaison office in the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang to intimidate the central government army. Except for the beacon towers which were fixed at certain location, there was also a mobile fire/smoke signal system which can be used along the route of the military marches during wartime. While the system is like the field telephones today that can be installed and dismantled according to the arrival and withdrawal of the command. Du You, renowned for his outstanding military and literary talents, once introduced in great details about the functions and operation of the mobile fire and smoke signal system: The soldiers and horses halted for 3 or 5 days. If the troops will be camped for three or five days, beacon stations shall be installed along the route at least for one or two hundred li (one li is equal to around 500 meters). If anything special

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

137

happened the torches will be lighted to warn the next station. The beacons will be set by the left wing of the enemy for every 20 li, so as to ensure the command will reach every solider. If there is an attack with less than 50 and more than 10 riders, then one torch shall be lighted to warn the camp. When the next station confirms the reception of the message, it shall be put out. While if the attackers are less than 200 and more than 100, then two torches shall be lighted. And if the number is between 500 and 5000, the three torches should be ignited. The soldier who receives the message of attack at the last station should manage to inform the camp even though sometimes he has to hide in vale from the enemies. The armies must respond to the fire signals along the enemy route. And a main beacon station is also set to supervise the four subordinate stations located on the mountains around respectively. When the guard finds smoke rising from the main station, he must keep the general posted that “smoke is rising from certain passage”. The general should be in alert and sent inspectors to verify what is going on. Each beacon station has a chief.17

The network seems one hundred percent reliable with such detailed and careful arrangement. In fact, the tradition of using different number of torches to imply the scale of attackers is originated from the Sui Dynasty. In 599, the nineteenth year of Kaihuang period, Tuli Qaghan of the Tujue (Türkish) Khanate was defeated in an internal strife and his followers were in disperse. He and Zhangsun Sheng, the general sent by the Sui court to Turkish as envoy, headed to the south with five horses. The next morning, they had marched for over a hundred li, and regained several hundreds of followers with horses. Tuli had been hesitating about going to the Sui territory for asylum, as he thought that as an ethnic leader “defeated and seeking shelter, the emperor of the Sui Empire will not treat me with respect.” He would rather go back to the enemies to make a peace. Noticing about this, Zhangsun Mian “sent a messenger secretively to Fuyuan Town and asked the beacon tower chief to ignite torches as soon as possible.” Seeing the four torches ignited in the town, Tuli asked Zhangsun Mian what happened. Zhangsun Mian said, “The town is located in highland. They must see enemies coming towards us from the other side. In my country, two torches mean there are few enemies; three torches mean lots of enemies; and four torches mean a big army. Now there must be a large army approaching us.” Frightened to get captured, Tuli hurried to Fuyuan Town to hide from the attack. While when he entered, his fate was not his. “Mian left his adjutant to watch over the followers of Tuli and escorted Tuli to the court in a fast-moving carriage.”18 Also, a similar story is included in Veritable Records of Emperor Taizong (Taizong shi lu): Luo Shixin had taken over the Qianjin Fortress located in the northern Luoyang. Emperor Taizong (Li Shimin) sent Qutu Tong to protect the fortress. Wang Shichong led his troop to attack the fortress. [Qutu] Tong quickly lighted the beacon fires to ask for reinforcement. Emperor Taizong thought that Tong’s force could hold on for a while, and to attack Shichong off-guard, so he held the reinforcement. Tong had to ignite three beacon torches in a row to convince the emperor the emergency of the situation to persuade Emperor Taizong to send troops for rescue.19

138

B. LI

Captain’s Feathered Dispatch Flying Over Oceans Just like lu-pu (open dispatch) and hsi-shu (xishu 檄书, war proclamation) are actually one thing but decorated by two pieces of “clothe,” feng-sui and yühsi (feathered dispatch, document of proclamation with feathers attached, to indicate urgency) are two types of media often bounded together. And same to lu-pu and hsi-shu, fengsui and yuxi are two inseparable topics. Yü-hsi (yuxi, 羽檄), also called yü-shu (yushu, 羽书feathered letter), strictly speaking, is an emergent correspondence that is used to dispatch army and brief military intelligence. In a general sense, it functions as the “letter with feather (urgent dispatch)” of the ancient time. In the second part of “Chronicle of the Emperor Gaodi,” History of the Han Dynasty (Hanshu, Gaodiji), it is recorded that the emperor once said “I have conscripted all the warriors in the kingdom to join my army while releasing yü-shu.” Yan Shigu (581–645) annotated at here that: “Xi, means a document written on a bamboo slate of 2-ts’un (around 2.3 cm) long, used for conscription. If emergency, the document will be attached with a feather, to suggest it should be dispatched as fast as it could, like a flying bird.” Such emergency and urgent situation could be found in poems of the Tang Dynasty. For instance: Pagoda trees standing along the road. White horses running like shooting star. Hearing that the delivery of feathered letter is so rapid, The ruler of the nomads is in Jingxing.20 –Wang Changling, For the Youth (Shao nian xing)

Yü-shu (feathered letter) is like shooting star, Flying into the Ganquan Palace.21 –Liu Wan, Tune of Going to the Wild (Chu sai qu)

Troops around the Helan Mountain are like weaved clouds, With countless yü-hsi (feathered dispatch) arriving morning and night.22 –Wang Wei, For the Old Solider (Lao jiang xing)

Captain’s yü-shu (feathered dispatch) flying over oceans. Hunting torches of Chanyu lightened the Wolf Maintain.23 –Gao Shi, For the Song of Yan (Yan ge xing)

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

139

The first thing that the guards at the boundary should do, when they detected enemies approaching the fortress, is to light the torches to send out signals of invasion, while the second thing is to send feathered dispatch. If we compare fire signal as a preface for battlefield message, then feathered dispatch should the main body. That’s why they are mentioned together by the ancient people, such as the sentence “Torches lighted up the plain, and feathered dispatch was passed swiftly on the road” (Unofficial Records of Gao Lishi [Gaolishi waizhuan]). Before we mentioned about the night when Tongguan was conquered by the rebels led by An Lushan and Shi Shiming, while the Emperor Xuanzong was expecting the “fire of safety” anxiously. The rule in the Tang Empire is that “every day, lighting a torch when the night comes to suggest that there is no invader, which is called fire of safety.”24 Didn’t see the fire of safety that night, Xuanzong knew that the situation had gone badly. But he did not know what exactly had happened, until he read the feathered letter (yushu) the next day, which was carried to him by a post rider through a non-stop delivery.25 On the eve before he escaped to the Sichuan region, the Emperor Xuanzong headed to the Tower of the Resonation of Blossoms and Sepals (Hua’e Xianghui Lou) where he used to party with his court and vassals. The heartbreaking scene of this banquet was recorded by historiographers: After Lushan and his troops revolted, the message was delivered to the Emperor Xuanzong through the feathered dispatch. The emperor prepared to withdraw from the capital and set a banquet on the tower. [Noticing that people sitting around were all miserable,] he asked singers to perform a piece of lyric. One man proposed to sing under the tune of Yong Diao Ge (Everlasting Tune Melody): “Tears on my clothes when I see mountains and hills on this land. How could fortune and prosperity last forever? Can’t you see, over the Fen river, the only thing that hasn’t changed is the flying geese?” Xuanzong [welled up with tears] asked who wrote this poem. The singer replied: “Li Qiao.” The emperor said: “What a genius.” Soon he left the banquet without taking a drop of wine.26

The song is not only a eulogy dedicated to a falling empire, but also a testament to a piece of history that fire and smoke signal network was engaged and penetrated. And when later generations stand on top of a beacon tower, they were overwhelmed by the same reflection or a sense of melancholy. As the chancellor of the Tang Dynasty Zhang Yue wrote in the poem: “The city is in ruins and people changed. The moon rise above Western Garden remains the same. … The stage where used to fret with songs and dances is now swept by chill wind of autumn (Melody on Yedu [Yeduyin])”.

“Pang-wen” and Government Placard In the following pages, our topic of discussion has transited from feng-sui to Pang-wen. It feels like we are stepping into an idyllic countryside from a smoky battlefield, and the scene also changes from a turbulent waterfall to a peacefulness of a brook streaming down from high mountain.

140

B. LI

In ancient China, pang-wen (bangwen榜文, placard-text) was called pang/bang, and the character pang/bang was more frequently used to indicate such literary type, a sort of placard which is still widely used even today. We believe that among all those methods of news communication in the Tang Empire, pang-wen is the one that resembles the mass media most. Firstly, it was released to the public for the purpose of publicity, unlike chuangpao (letter-report) or yü-shu (feathered dispatch), which had specified target readers. Secondly, it was released on a regular basis, unlike lu-pu and fengsui, which were only used in certain situations. Lastly, it covered a wide range of topics, ranging from major political and military affairs to daily notices, which was quite journalistic. I believe that there was nothing more suitable for public news dissemination than pang-wen as a means of message transmission. Interestingly, there are not much historical evidences of pang-wen kept till today. Mainly because it was such a universal, extensive, and regular tool of news communication in the Tang Dynasty, thus too common to get special attention. While discussing how the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty released “chinshih pang (进士榜jinshibang),” the list of presented chin-shih scholars under the imperial examination (chih-shih program is the highest level of examination organized by the government; those who succeed in passing it can grant title and honor), in imperial examination, Fu Xuancong explains: “There are mainly two forms. The first form, named zhangbang 张榜, or posted placard, is to write down the names in large-sized characters on a piece of paper, and paste it at a fixed location designated by Li-pu (libu, 礼部Ministry of Rites); and the second is pang-t’ieh (bangtie, 榜帖), or placard on leaflet, also called ‘golden flower leaflet’, which is to write down the list on a leaflet, and get it distributed nationwide” (Fu Xuancong 1984: 23). In fact, all pangwen can be categorized into chang-pang (posted placard in fixed location) or ch’uan-pang (chuanbang传榜, placard circulated nationwide传榜), also called pang-t’ieh (placard letter). While in the ancient Chinese poems you could find both categories. For the former: Sunlight spreads on huang -chin-pang (yellow-golden placard黄金榜) from the heaven gate; And sunset warms the flags of red-feather in the evening dawn.27 –Du Fu, Walking out of the Gate of Xuanzheng Hall at the Dawn (Xuanzhengdian tuichao wan chu zuoye)

For the latter: Yesterday the officer just came to his home, Taking a t’ieh (official document) and proclaiming it in the village on notice board.28 –Bai Juyi, An Old Man in Duling (Duling sou)

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

141

The word “huang-chin-pang (huangjinbang黄金榜, yellow-golden placard)” in Du Fu’s poem is how the Tang people’s wording for the so-called chin-ang, or golden placard. “Chin-pang” is most commonly used in a Chinese proverb chin-pang t’i-ming (jinbang timing金榜题名), “get one’s name listed in golden placard.” More examples: The golden placard is raised high in the heaven palace; I revisited my hometown in glamorous costume.29 –Li Xu, To My Friends in the Court After Passing the Imperial Examination

Open the literary field once again, without detour; Release the golden placard for two times without unfairness.30 –Guang Xuan, Congratulations to Vice Minister Wang to Announce Placard as Examiner

According to Fu Xuancong (1984), the reason that the “list of presented chin-shih scholars” is called “golden placard” is probably because that “the announcement was written down on a piece of yellow paper. And in ancient China, yellow was a color associated with gold, thus it was called golden list. It also indicates happiness and auspiciousness.” From the perspective of communication, pang-wen is a media between communicator (the placard-releasing department) and audience (the public who read the pang-placard) through which the information will be communicated and published. In other words, it is almost a channel that connects the authority and the general public and makes the two interact. In the Tang Empire, the official institutions at all levels were entitled to release pangplacard, as they all have the demand of informing the people. Here are some examples. In the fifth year of the Tianbao period (746), Emperor Xuanzong asked the governors from all counties to “select and write down the focal points of Guangjifang on boards, and post the placards at the road junctions of villages as bang-placard.” Comprehensive Records of Prescriptions (Guangjifang) is a medical book that includes all the prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine compiled by Emperor Xuanzong.31

In the sixth year of Qianfu period (879), when Cui Anqian (date of birth and death unverifiable), the commissioner of Xichuan (western Sichuan) frontier command inaugurated, he tried to rectify the social chaos caused by the local burglars and hooligans. He took 1500 stings of bronze coins from the local treasury and hanged them in the three most bustling markets in the city Chengdu. And then he released the placard (pang ) to inform the public that whoever reported and caught one case of theft would get a reward of 500 strings of bronze of coins. And for those who worked in partnership,

142

B. LI

whoever turned in his fellows would get exempted from the crime. And rewards remained 500 strings of bronze coins. After the placard was posted, the social order was quickly restored: Very soon, a thief-hunter arrived. The thief defended for himself and said: “You and I have partnered to steal for 17 years. And we shared the money evenly. How can you arrest me? We are both criminals to die!” [Cui] Anqian said, “since you already knew that I released the placard, why did not you turn your partner in? If so, you will get reward and he will be the person put to death. You were lagged. So no excuse.” Later, he killed the thief and his families. Since then, all the burglars who worked in team suspected each other and fled out of town almost in one night. The thieves and burglars were cleared out of the town quickly.32

It seems that this governor is good at playing with people’s minds, breaking the enemies inside out. But in comparison, there was another local governor who was far less resourceful and made a fool of himself: In the eighth year of Xiantong period (867), “the farmers of Huaizhou (Jiaozuo, Henan Province) kept reporting the severity of draught. The governor Liu Rengui released a placard to ban the people from talking about the topic. The farmers were irritated thus staged an insurrection. They tried to banish Liu Rengui and forced him to run away from his residence and had to hide in villages. The rebellions broke into his mansion, ransacked every room, stepped up to the tower and beat the drum for a long time until they gave it a stop.”33

In the second year of Zhonghe period (882), Chen Jingxuan, the military commissioner of frontier command Xichuan, suppressed the uprising army led by Qian Neng. Later, he posted placard in Qiongzhou prefecture, the place where Qian Neng started the uprising, saying that the “relatives and rest followers will be waived from punishment.” However: …soon after the placard was announced, the regional inspector of Qiongzhou arrested the 35 people in the family of Qian Xingquan, who was the uncle of Qian Neng, and turned them into Jingxuan for execution in the name of rebels. Jingxuan asked his advisor for advice. The advisor answered: “Sir, you have released the placard that Qian’s relatives will be exempted from punishment. There must be some reasons that the inspector did not tell us for him to arrest these people even though you have released the policy. It will damage your reputation if you now put them to death. What is worse, the rest followers of Qian Neng may rise up again upon it!” Jingxuan agreed, dispatching the 35 arrested Qian families back to Qiongzhou under military escort by his men and set them free. Upon inquiry, the Qian families told the Jingxuan’s men that they were arrested simply out of retaliation. The inspector wanted to acquire the rich fields from Xingquan but Xinquan refused. And the inspector thus bore the grudge against him.34

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

143

The placard released by Chen Jingxuan was quite something as it gained peace for the region and saved lives of 35 people. In the third year of Guangqi period (887), Zhang Quanyi was appointed as the governor of Henan Prefecture. The prefecture in his governance was already in ruins. The war lasting for years left the place with deserted city neighborhoods, abandoned farmland, and less than a hundred residents. The prefecture became a desolate inferno: human skeletons found in the wild and crows of roosters were no more heard in a thousand miles. Zhang Quanyi, after the succession, selected 18 competitive warriors from his army, and “gave each of them a flag and a placard, and assigned them as ‘guardians of the villages’. He sent these warriors to the 18 towns survived from the war in the prefecture and posted the placards to comfort the refugees and give them support so that they could stay and farm.” Years later, “the towns and neighborhoods were reconstructed, and regulations were re-established. The population of the counties and towns rose back to the initial number. Mulberries and flax were planted everywhere. There was no uncultivated earth in the wild.”35 The contents mentioned above all belong to the category of chang-pang (open-placard), namely, the placard posted in fixed places. As for ch’uan-pang (circulated placard), it means distributing placards all over the country and get is posted or announced by officials. For instance, hsi-shu (war proclamation) is another form of ch’uan-pang (circulated placard). Or in summary, when the content is stressed, it should be called hsi-wen (writing of war proclamation), and when the feature of communication is emphasized, it can be called pangwen (text on placard). In the following example, it is hard for us to distinguish the differentiate ch’uan-hsi (circulated war proclamation) from ch’uan-pang (circulated placard): [Zheng] Tian sent war proclamation across the empire to assemble the frontier commands to fight against the rebellion (Huang Chao). At that time, the emperor was in Sichuan. The edict could not be smoothly passed down. When the leaders of prefectures all over the empire thought that the Tang regime would be on the wane, the war proclamation by Tian encouraged them to respond and send troops to fight.36

In addition, in the third year of the Tianyou period (906), Wang Jian set up the temporary secretariat in Sichuan. The news was announced by “posting placards in frontier commands, states and counties.” Apparently, he posted proclamation in where he governed, and circulated the placards throughout the territory. Among all the official proclamations of the Tang Dynasty, the list of chinshih scholars, namely, the presented scholars in the annual royal examinations (the highest level of imperial examination), is the one receiving the greatest attention. As an ancient poem says, “Every year, the presented scholars will be known by the whole country within one chia-chen after the list released.”37

144

B. LI

chia-chen is a unit of time used by the ancient Chinese, meaning 12 days. In ancient China, people used a special calendar system kan-chi (stems-andbranches) date-tracking which took 12 days as a time unit called “chia-chen.” “Since the mid of Tang Dynasty, the key seats within and out of the cabinet of the emperors, including chancellor, were mainly served by the presented scholars selected by the royal examinations. Thus, these people gradually became the main talent pool for the key officials of the empire. It is not hard to understand why the release of list of presented scholars will become a national event. It is not about who will get the chance to thrive in civil service ladder, but also about who will be navigators of this nation. During the Changqing period of Muzong Emperor, Wang Qi was nominated as the chief examiner of the royal examinations. Zhang Ji wrote a poem to describe the jubilancy after the list of presented scholars was released: ‘Guests and chariots rushed to the capital’, ‘The names were spread to thousands of miles away’” (Fu Xuancong 1987, vol. 23). It is a bit like when the results are revealed on Election Day. And the announcement about the results naturally became a social focus. It is not hard to imagine, how anxious, excited, and even teasing people could be when they were waiting for the name list of selected examinees was announced. Such phenomenon was noted down in a lot of official historical documents as well as unofficial recordings, such as folktales. In the following, I would like to share with you several quite dramatic stories. In the early Zhenguan period, Emperor Taizong once strolled to the Duan Gate. He saw the placard of presented scholars and happily told his servants: “the heroes of this country have all served my reign!” There were four pieces of yellow paper stuck ahead of the placard, written with four characters with light shades: “examination hall of Ministry of Rituals (li-pu-kung-yüen).” Some people said the list was drafted by the Emperor Wen (Li Shimin, also known as Emperor Taizong) with brushstrokes featuring “flying white” style, seemingly like the ordinance form the heaven. The established procedures of the imperial examination regulated that taking examination in the place of Palace Secretariat. And the results would be announced by Ministry of Rituals in the southern yard. The wall for the placard to be posted was the eastern wall of the southern yard. In the place, there was a wall several meters high for the placard with an extra fence outside. At the dawn, when lights were dim, the officials would go to the southern yard from northern yard to hang the placard. In the six year of the Yuanhe period (811), an eager examinee named Guo Dongli was too anxious about whether he was selected. On the day of placard of the list of enrolled examiners, he climbed over the fences, though they were covered by thistles and thrones, grabbed the placard and teared it apart. After this incident, an “empty placard” would be firstly published to calm the examinees down, and later the officials from the Palace Secretariat would come to post the real placard.38 The father in law of Zhao Cong was the general of Zhongling County. Zhao Cong had attended the imperial examination for several times, but his performance was never good enough to be enrolled. Poor and desperate, his wife’s

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

145

family also looked down upon him, even his father and mother in law did the same. One day, the high officials from the army gathered to celebrate the coming spring. The clan of the general showed up at the celebration and seated together under shelters. Zhao Cong’s wife also had to attend, even though she was impoverished. However, her relatives refused to sit aside with her, so they set a curtain between the clan and Cong’s wife. As the spring celebration went on, a surveillance commissioner suddenly appeared and called the general. The general was startled and awed. The commissioner landed before his seat and laughed: “Sir, isn’t Zhao Cong your son in law?” The general answered: “Right.” The commissioner told him: “The placard arrived just now, which said Zhao Cong had passed the imperial examination.” And handed him a scroll, which was the placard. The general rose up and held the document high in hands, said: “Zhao passed the examination!” The clan soon removed the curtain so that Zhao and his wife could seat together with them. The relatives rushed to them to congratulate Zhao and send him beautiful clothes.39 Wei Zhuan took the imperial examination in the Dazhong period (810–854) and got chin-shih title. But his talents in writing and poetry failed to bring him prosperous life. He could even hardly feed himself and lived in the house of his relative Wei Guang. The eve before the placard of enrolled examiners was snowy and cold. The relative did not hear about the news that Wei Zhuan was selected. So he prepared some nice dishes for Wei Zhuan to comfort him… When Zhuan came back late night, they sat by the fire in great misery. … Suddenly, they heard the drum beat and the placard was eventually made. Zhuan passed the examination and was selected as chin-shih. Therefore, Wei Guang left Zhuan with the costumes and carriage.40

Just like lu-pu and feng-sui introduced in the previous chapters, pang-wen was also used both by the ruler as well as the rebels. When An Lushan revolted he also issued the placard to bash the empire, soon after the left Fanyang. In the placard, An said that the court often neglected his advice.41 In addition, he also lied about a secret decree asking him to suppress Yang Guozhou with armed forces, and send the placard to counties and towns (“Biography of An Lushan,” New History of the Tang Dynasty). In the fourth year of Jianzhong period (783), the governor of Jingyuan was assigned 5000 soldiers and horses to fight in the east. But on his way across Chang’an, he decided to mutiny as the army could not get sufficient food and proper rewards. His attack forced Emperor Dezong to flee the capital. Zhu Ci, a warlord confined in the capital was soon released by the rebels and was persuaded to the throne. He and his supporters rushed to the royal palace at midnight and early next morning, he released an official notice: “The troops of Jingyuan have been stationed along borders for so long. Therefore, they are not familiar with the etiquette. Their presence in capital frightened Emperor Dezong. He has left in his carriage to the west. The Grand Commandant (Zhu Ci’s title at that time) has taken over the command of the six armies. For officials and officers who served Dezong, you can go to where he stayed and pursued him. For those who do not want to go, you will need to follow my lead. You will have three days to make

146

B. LI

choice. Later, all those who haven’t chosen their lord will be sentenced to death.”42 Though it sounded sincere and righteous, the announcement was nothing, but a public release released by the insurgents. In the previous chapter, we introduced a piece of dispatch called Lu-pu on Marshal of Hejiandao, Liu Xiangdao Defeated the Villain Li Yifu of Tongshan written for satirical purposes. The passage became a well-known classic because of the line “The servants were mixed and set free in chaos, found the mansions of their old masters and hurried in.” Similarly, there are also pangwen (placard) written by common people becoming historically renowned for its witty and satirical language: The wife [of Cui Shi] is quite a beauty. The wife and two daughters were sent to the palace of the crown prince. He was appointed as deputy chief secretary of the court, and chancellor de facto a well [as a reward]. And an placard said: “The loser committing himself to the princess’ residence, while sending beautiful women to the crown prince’s residence.”43

Cui Shi was known by people of his time as a young prodigy. He passed the imperial examination at an age of 20, and fought his way to the deputy minister of Ministry of War within 10 years. He used to improvise a poem when he walked out of the royal palace and saw the stunning sunset, which turned out to be a household-known sentence: “Spring is gracing the emperor’s garden, while flowers are embracing the Luoyang city.” The deputy minister of the Ministry of Works (Kung-pu) Zhang Shuo heard him while dropping by, and signed: “You can conjure up similar lines, and you can get his position. But you will never make both of them at such a young age like he did.”44 However, this young talent, handsome and elegant, was in fact a wicked and unfaithful chameleon. He firstly served Wu Sansi (the nephew of Empress Wu Zetian), and then Princess Anle (the daughter of Emperor Zhongzong), and Princess Taiping (the daughter of Empress Wu Zetian) in the end. As an important figure of Taiping’s think tank, he even agreed to be one of her lovers. He cheated on his master Princess Taiping even when he was conspiring with her to poison Li Longji (the crown prince, the future Emperor Xuanzong and the nephew of Taiping) and plotting a coup against the emperor, by sending his wife and daughters to the residence of crown princess, Li Longji—his political enemy who became Emperor Xuanzong in the coming future. So the anonymous placard “the loser committing himself to the princess (Taiping)’ residence, while sending beautiful women to the crown prince’s residence”—was posted to humiliate him. But Cui Shi’s manipulation and cleverness did not save his life. When Li Longji cracked down Taiping and her supporters, Cui Shi’s fate was doomed. At the same time, this placard released by John Doe recorded the news of the royal family with a satirical tone. And one of the placards found in the Tang Dynasty is underlined throughout the history for its relevance with a legend of revenge. The same

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

147

story was recorded by Li Gongzuo (a novelist living in the mid and late Tang Dynasty) in his book The Tale of Xie Xiao’e (Xie Xiaoe zhuan). Li Gongzuo is the author of The Governor of Nanke, where the famous Chinese proverb “dream of Nanke (meaning empty dream)” came from. The Tale of Xie Xiao’e is another masterpiece of him, which is about a young lady taking revenge against the villain murdered her father and husband. The story, in its own right, is a social news report.45 And as it includes a private placard, we would like to make an excerpt here: Xiao’e, whose maiden name was Xie, was a native of Yuzhang and the daughter of a travelling merchant. Eight years after she was born, she lost her mother. She was married to the knight-errant Duan Juzhen of Liyang County. Juzhen was impulsive, valued loyalty, and went around with gallants. Xiao’e’s father amassed great wealth but kept his reputation hidden among traders. He often shipped goods with his son-in-law Duan on the same boat, travelling back and forth on the lakes and rivers. When Xiao’e turned fourteen years old, just starting to wear the hairpin, her father and husband were both killed by bandits, who robbed them of all their gold and silks. Duan and Xie’s brothers and nephews, together with several dozen servants, were all thrown into the river. Xiao’e also suffered a head injury and broke her leg. She drifted along in the water and another boat found her. After a night, she revived. Thus she wandered about begging from place to place, and came to Shangyuan County. She attached herself to a nun called Jingwu, from the Miaoguo (Marvelous Results) Temple. Xiao’e dreamed that her father said to her: “The one who killed me was the Monkey in a carriage and the grass in the east to the gate.” Days later, she dreamed of his husband, who said: “The one who killed me walked through the grain. The man walked for the day.” Xiao’e could not decipher these words, so she wrote these phrases down and consulted wise men whoever she could meet. Yet years after years she found no one who could understand. When it came to the eight year of the Yuanhe era (813), having been relieved of my post as a Retainer in Jiangxi, I sailed eastward in a skiff and moored at Jianye. Here, I ascended the pagoda of Waguan Temple. There was a monk named Qiwu, who was a man respecting worth and loving leaning, treated me really well. He told me, “There was a widow named Xiao’e, who often visited my temple and showed me a twelve-character riddle. But I did not able to solve.” I asked him to write it down. Then, I concentrated and contemplated over these words quietly, leaning over the railing and tracing the characters in the air with my fingers. Before my companions got bored, I comprehended the meaning of her text. I sent a servant boy of the temple to bring Xiao’e to me immediately and asked her where the riddle came from. Xiao’e sobbed for a while, and said, “My father and husband were both killed by bandits. Thereafter, I dreamed my father told me…, and my husband told me… For years no one had been able to unpuzzle this.” I said, “In that case I have figured it all. The one who killed your father is Shen (Lan). The one who killed your husband is Shen Chun. Take “the monkey in the carriage”, the Chinese character is for carriage is che(車). Removing its top and bottom strokes, the character is shen( 申). Moreover, shen is associated with Monkey. The character for gate (门) is placed under the grass radical (艸), inside of which there is the character east (

148

B. LI

东). Then it becomes the character lan(兰). Furthermore, to walk through the grain is to penetrate through the field (tian, 田), and this also becomes the character shen (申). As for “a man for one day,” when one adds a stroke on top of man (fu, 夫), and below there is a sun (ri,日), this becomes the character chun (春). The one who killed your father is Shen Lan and the one who killed your husband is Shen Chun. This is sufficient to clarify.” Xiao’e cried and bowed to me, again and again. She wrote down the characters Chun Shen and Chun Lan inside her coat and vowed that she would find the two bandits and kill them as revenge. … Ever since then, Xiao’e dressed as a man, traveled and worked as a labor. More than a year later, she traveled to Xunyang county, saw a placard in paper fixed on a bamboo gate, which read “Labor Wanted”. Xiao’e thus knocked the gate and inquired about the person in charge: it was Shen Lan! Lan led her in. Although Xiao’e’s heart was filled with hatred, she pretended to be submissive around Lan. She stayed there for two years while no one knew he was a woman. The gold, treasures and embroidered silks and vessels seized from the Xie family were all stored at Lan’s house. Xiao’e could not help weeping secretly when she saw her old belongs. Lan and Chun were cousins. At that time, Chun lived in Dushupu on the north shore of the Great River and they worked closely together. … For one day, Chun visited Lan with carps and wines. Xiao’e thought: “Mr. Li deciphered my dream. All the evidences were in line with my dream and pointed to them. This should be the heaven revealed him and I have made my mind.” That night, Lan and Chun treated their bandits and drank a lot. Xiao’e waited until all other villains had left. Chun passed out and was sleeping in the bedroom. Lan was also sleeping in the garden. Xiao’e locked Chun up in his room secretly, cut the head of Lan off with a knife and cried to draw the neighbors into capture Lan inside his room. Thousands of looted treasures were found in their house. The other 10-some bandits working with Chu and Lan were all later captured and sentenced to death. The governor of Xunyang County, Zhang Gong appreciated Xiao’e’s braveness and included her story to testimonials of merits. Xiao’e was therefore exempted from sentence. This story happed in the summer of the 12th year of Yuanhe period (817). … I composed this account to honor and praise her.46

The success of Xie Xiao’e’s revenge shall be credited to, not only her braveness and perseverance, but also the author who deciphered her dream, and the labor-hiring placard. The author told her the names of the enemies and the placard brought her to the two bandits. The two steps had to happen in a chronological order so that the death of Xiao’e’s father and husband, and her final revenge could make sense. In this story, a seemingly irrelevant placard turned out to be the key to the case. Shen Lan and Shen Chun would never expect that the placard they posted almost announced the fate of their own death.

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

149

“Tsuo-shi” Records Remarks and “Yu-shi” Records Deeds Lastly, let’s talk about another mechanism of news communication, a type that seems has nothing to do with our topic, but actually quite relevant: ch’i-chüchu (often translated as imperial diaries of court protocol). It is the document that records what the emperor has said and done, and is categorized as a sort of chronicle in terms of literature type. Wang Zhongluo (1913–1986) wrote in History of Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties that “The history of the Tang Dynasty was recorded in documents of many kinds, including ch’i-chüchu (imperial diary), shih-cheng-chi (records of the current government), and jih-li (daily calendars). Diaries of action and repose and daily calendars are the longer version of shi-lu (veritable records). And veritable records are the more comprehensive version of the orthodox histories compiled by the government” (Wang Zhongluo 1988, vol. 2). It is also believed that these imperial dairies also served as a media of news communications. First of all, journalism and history, particularly the contemporary history, are the two sides of one coin. As Gan Xifen once put it: “history is the news that have happened, and news are the history in development.”47 And as Cai Yuanpei once said: “Journalism is a branch of historiography. For the emperor of ancient China, the left-side historiographer records remarks and the right-side historiographer records deeds. Doesn’t it look like the news report today which always notes down one’s remarks and deeds involved?”48 Secondly, the diaries of action and repose are mainly about the emperor. These documents covered a wide range of topics, especially the big events took place in the country and battleground, including political initiatives, military actions, economic policies and even natural disasters, administrative divisions, appointment and removals of officers, and social updates. All these writings, with undeniable significance as historical archive, also have distinctive features of journalism. Lastly, the imperial diary follows the calendar system, namely, “each entry shall be recorded together with the specific day, month and year it happens.”49 Namely, the information year, month and date will all be included. Featuring a wide range of topics and themes, it is almost like today’s government communique. As we can infer, the contents of the Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports could be excerpted from the imperial dairies. The imperial dairy was an unignorable approach of news communication in the Tang Dynasty. As Old History of the Tang Dynasty recorded: The imperial dairies and records of current government should record these faithfully: the auspiciousness of heaven, earth, sun and moon; geographical layout of mountains and rivers; rituals and rankings in ancestral temple; ceremonies, music, rituals, and marches; punishments, awards, promotion and dismissal of officials. The contents should be written in chronological order and feature comments. Then they can be archived.50

150

B. LI

Certainly, I should point out that communications of news like such often incline to “the records centering on the royal court” (D. Twitchett 1979: 40), turning into the genealogy of royal families and high officials, as Liang Qichao (1873–1929) put it. Secondly, the imperial dairies are “archived” instead of available to the public. Thirdly, they focus on passing the information from generation to generation (eternity), rather than the broadness of dissemination (fragility). This characteristic differentiates imperial dairies from general tools of news communication. chu-chi (zhuji注记, note records), the system of recording the daily activities of emperors, can be traced back to thousands of years ago. In Spring-andAutumn Annals (Chunqiu), it writes: “Every behavior of the emperor should be written down.” As we can infer from Officers of Zhou (Zhouguan) and Record of Rites (Liji), a complete system of scribes (shih) was developed at that time, including titles of ta-shih (dashi大史, big-scribe), hsiao-shih (xiaoshi 小史, smallscribe), nei-shih (neishi内史, internal-scribe), wai-shih (waishi外史, external-scribe), tsuo-shih (zuoshi左史, left-scribe), and yu-shih (youshi右史, right-scribe). The Tang literatus Liu Zhiji wrote: “Ta-shih is in charge of the six statutes of the empire, hsiao-shih is in charge of the chronicles of the states; nei-shih is in charge of writing the decrees from the emperor; wai-shih is in charge of the circulation of announcements; tsuo-shi is in charge of recording remarks of the emperor; and yu-shih is in charge of recording his deeds.”51 Since the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.), there were the documents specialized for recording the remarks and behaviors of emperors, known as ch’i-chü-chu (imperial diaries). In the Wei and Jin Dynasties (220–420), the compilation of imperial dairies was handled by scribes known as historiographers.52 While until the Northern Wei (386–535), the administration set up a position ch’i- chü-ling-shi (scribe of daily life), something like imperial diarist who shall serve the emperor and “stand by the side of the highness during banquets, while writing down the dialogues between the emperor and guests.”53 Till the Sui and Tang Dynasties, a more complete system of official historiography was developed. The imperial dairies became more systematic, featuring notes on emperors’ activities, the current government, calendar, and veritable records, with specialized personnel in charge and considerable volumes. For instance, there are as many as 3682 volumes of Kaiyuan Imperial Dairies.54 According to Liu Zhiji, a great historian of the Tang Dynasty: In the Sui Dynasty, the compilation of imperial dairies was handled by the officials at the Ministry of Civil Appointments, such as chiao-shu (editor) and cheng-tzu (proofreader), when they were convenient and co-supervised by nayen (chancellor). The Emperor Sui believed that there should be an independent scribe to record daily activities of emperors, since the position zhuzuo (editor) was already established, not mentioning that private and public historiography was compiled separately since long ago. Therefore, he introduced two ch’i-chüshe-jen (retainer of action and repose), namely, imperial diarist supervised by the Chung-shu Division, to track down daily imperial activities. And the ruler of the Tang Empire introduced another title for imperial diarist—ch’i-chü-lang

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

151

(attendant for the emperor’s activity and life), subordinate to the Men-hsia Division). Every day, when the emperor took his seat at court, there would be two diarists standing by downstairs, the retainer at the right and the director at the left. If the emperor summoned, they would walk upstairs, bowing their heads to listen. After that, the imperial diarists would return downstairs to write it down and compile it into diaries of action and repose. Nowadays, our emperor (Emperor Zhongzong) has been enthroned (705). He inherited the era title of the previous reign… The important events are all carefully recorded by imperial diarists and chroniclers, not only limited to official appointments, release of decrees, birth and death of royal family members. For those who record the achievements of emperors, it is appreciated.55

The only imperial diary book hat has been passed down from the Tang Dynasty is Imperial Diary (Qijuzhu) of the Foundation of the Great Tang (Da tang chuangye qijuzhu) written by Wen Daya (c.572–629), which is also the earliest imperial diaries can be found in China today. Wen Daya joined the army of Li Yuan (the first emperor of the Tang) and his sons in Jinyang (the ancient city) to overthrow the Sui and served as the secretary and military advisor. He even helped with drafting the founding statutes of the Tang empire, and was designated as Huang-men-shih-lang (Gentleman Attendant at the Yellow Gate), namely the deputy director of the Chancellery. His two brothers, Wen Yanbo and Wen Dayou both once served as Chungshu-shih-lang (Gentleman Attendant under the Chung-shu Division), namely, the deputy director of the Place Secretariat. He became a hero of many people at that time. Li Yuan once joked that “My rebellion in Jinyang was meant to benefit your family, after all” (Zhou Xunchu 1995, 1: 228). Imperial Diary of the Foundation of the Great Tang consists of three volumes: “the first volume recorded the 48 days after Li Yuan rose in arms in Taiyuan city and conquered Taiyuan; the second volume recorded the 126 days that he fought from Taiyuan to Changan; and the third volume recorded the 183 days that Li Yuan took over the governance of the Sui until the throne was relinquished to him” (Wang Zhongluo 1988, 2: 944). It is not hard to imagine how many thrilling stories happed, or how many breathtaking news were recorded, during this year- struggle, and during this phase of empire alteration. These stories were carefully written down by Wen Daya in Imperial Diary of the Foundation of the Great Tang which is considered a book of historiography by the later generations. However, in his time, they were all the vivid and fresh reportage about the army and the empire. For instance: The ruler of the Sui (Emperor Yang) announced the order to capture Li Yuan and behead Wang Rengong. The Emperor (Li Yuan) regretted a little about his move. He thought that the reason that Emperor Yang suspected him was that Taiyuan was known as the “hometown of emperors”. During that time, his crown prince (Li Jiancheng) was in Hedong, so the only prince stayed by his side was Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin. The Emperor secretively told Wang Rengong: “The Sui is on the wane, and my family will be the one to be endowed with the

152

B. LI

orders of the Heaven. I haven’t risen in arms because my sons are separate. But now I could be in prison and your brothers will eventually gather as troops of justice, whose families should not be involved because of this, getting killed and losing families, which will be looked down upon by heroes.” Wang wept and suggested: “The first emperor of the Han Dynasty once hided in the Mangdang Mountain. You should act like him, hide and wait for chance.” The Emperor said: “If the fate of jail has come, I can do nothing even if I wait for chance! However, my destiny is endowed by the Heaven, and my life is at the hand of the Heaven. If the Heaven protects me, nothing can hurt me. If my fate is doomed, why should I escape?” Days later, a messenger came on horse with the edict to release Li Yuan and remit Wang Rengong, and let them return to their original troops.56

Another example. When Li Yuan and his army marched south to Chang’an, they were once stranded by rains and lack of army provisions. What was worse, the message that Liu Wuzhou and Turkish army would raid Taiyuan made soldiers waver and anxious. Li Yuan also wasn’t sure about whether they should carry on or withdraw. Wen Daya recorded: The Emperor summoned the commanders, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin to gather, and announced: “The Heaven praised me. There should be no trend like such. I will do anything to get a chance. Even though the Turkish army and Liu Wuzhou may attack, there is no reason for me not going. How do you think about it?” Commanders said, “Song Laosheng, Qu Tongtu [the generals of the Sui] are around. Li Mi is crafty and difficult to anticipate. The Turkish only fight for their own benefits. Liu Wuzhou works with the foreigners. Taiyuan is a hub where families of our soldiers live in. The dumb people are worried and hope to listen to your teaching.” The Emperor asked his first son and second son: “What do you think?” They answered: “[Liu] Wuzhou has high status but is bumptious. The Turkish are untrustworthy and greedy. It seems that they are working together, but actually there is not trust. The Turkish people must want to gain Taiyuan so they will never give up Mayi to Wuzhou. Wuzhou will not necessarily follow and support the Turkish. Now we are threatened by both Laosheng and the Turkish. Laosheng gets anxious in battle easily. If we continue to march south, we still have chance to defeat Laosheng and get Huoyi, given that we have sufficient soldiers and horses. This is the only way for us to safe our lives and that of our families. This is also a decisive challenge for the empire. Your sons would rather die if we cannot conquer the town!” The Emperor laughed and said: “Good analysis. I have decided. I should listen to the majority. The cowardness almost ruined my plan.”57

We can find that Wen Daya did not record everything faithfully as how it happened. Rather, sometimes he would make up plots and the praises are somewhat overstated, making some of his reportage fake news. As Liu Zhiji commented, “the people living in his time were deceived, and the later generations are misled.” For instance, in a battle to conquer Hedong County, he

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

153

let the chance of victory slip.58 But in Wen’s narration, it became a totally different story: While the Sir Tang (Li Yuan) led his troop to besiege Hedong County, the general guarding the County, Qu Tu just kept the gate of the town closed, too frightened to fight. The troop of justice tried to attack from the southern wing. At that moment, the heavy rain dropped. The Sir saw it and ordered the troop to withdraw, explaining: “the general Tu used to be the emperor’s guards, an expert of defensive square. He is good at guarding inside the fortress, rather than fighting in the fields. My soldiers have won so many battles. I am afraid they would underestimate the enemy. Today we have showed our muscles. Not the right time for conquering. It would be a failure if we get the town simply by killing people!” So the troops returned with his command.59

These remarks, sounding so merciful and wise, are probably mainly written out of his guessing, for the most part. Even though diaries of action and repose are the records of crucial events for the empire, they are kept to the scribes secretively, rather than released to the public and even the world. Even the subjects of these records—emperors— are not allowed to read the records about them. For instance, the fourth year of the Kaicheng period (839): The emperor asked his imperial diarist Wei Mo to show him the notes of diaries. Mo refused, and said: “The diaries record both the good and the bad, to remind our emperor to act cautiously. If your highness reviews the contents of historiography, then historiographers would choose not to write things may make you annoyed. But how could records like such convince our later generations?” The emperor thus dropped it.60

As the diaries of action and repose are circulated to very limited groups, excluding the then-emperor, the system serves more or less as a restriction or alert to the emperors in an era when monarch is entrusted with the supreme power. A monarch, regardless of how self-willed or how less he cares about what his contemporaries say of him, would hardly not think about leaving a good reputation in history. From this perspective, the diaries of action and repose, mainly left for later generations to read, are somewhat like the mechanism of supervision by public opinions today. Sun Fujia, a politician of the early period of Tang Dynasty, once advised Emperor Gaozu (Li Yuan) in a written petition: “Your highness is the son of the heaven and owns the world. Your actions will be recorded by the left-scribe, and your remarks will be recorded by the right-scribe. When behaviors are restrained by these silks and bamboo tablets, one should not act too capricious.”61 The conversation below between an emperor and a chancellor regarding diaries of action and repose would help us better understand this subject:

154

B. LI

(In the fifteenth year of the Zhenguan period) Qian (Chu Suiliang, 596–658), chien-i-ta-fu (grand master of remonstrance), was also in charge of recording the activities and repose of emperor. Emperor Taizong once asked him “You are in charge of the diaries of action and repose. May emperor see what you have written?” Suiliang answered: “Today my position is called [diarist of] ‘action and repose’. In the past, the position was called ‘historiographer at right and left’. We record the deeds and remarks of the ruler of men, good or bad, to keep him alert, in hopes that the ruler will not dare to do the evil. It is unheard of that the ruler himself ever saw what is written.” Emperor Taizong asked: “Will you record it also, if I do something not so good?” Suiliang replied, “To guard mortality, one has to fulfill his role first. My responsibility is to wield the brush. How could I dare not to record it?” Liu Ji, the Gentleman of the Yellow Gate, added, “Even if Suiliang failed to record it, anyone else in the empire would”. Emperor Taizong agreed.62

Shih-cheng-chi, meaning record of current government, is a type of document closely related to diaries of the emperor’s activity and life and the “invention” of the Tang Dynasty. “A sort of day-based chronicle drafted by chancellor keeping the seal, but need assistance from other chancellors (Denis Twitchett 1979: 669).” It was firstly proposed by Yao Shu, a chancellor of the Empress Wu Zetian, in 693. According to “Biography of Yao Shu (Yoshuzhuan),” Old History of the Tang Dynasty, Volume No. 89: Ever since the Yonghui period, the Left and Right Scribes became responsible for recording dialogues among emperor and chancellors in the court, but never the moments of discussion and planning by emperor after the court meeting. Yao Shu believed that the instructions and wisdom by emperors should be noted. The scribes would never know if chancellors did tell them. So he proposed to appoint a chancellor specialized for writing important remarks by emperor on key political and military subjects, complied into what was called shih-cheng-chi (record of current government), which should be sealed and sent to shih-kuan (Office of History) once a month. It was since Yao Shu that chancellors started to draft record of current government.

“Treatises of Literature Classics” of New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xintangsh, Yiwenzhi) has included 40 volumes of Rectifying Record of Current Government (Xiu shizhengji). According to “Biography of Li Jifu (Li Jifu zhuan)” of Old History of the Tang Dynasty, the record of current government is complementary to diaries of action and repose, as “a faithful record of emperor’s affairs by chancellor that will be copied to the office of history.” However, from the perspective of news communication, it also suggests how the authority is trying to censor circulation of messages or channel public opinions. Since those how drafted diaries of action and repose were just normal, non-high-level officials, thus they were not allowed to participate in the highlevel meetings. As a result, for most of the time, their diaries were simply chronicle of what had happened, but lack of broader view or political awareness. Li Deyu, a chancellor of the late Tang Dynasty, even advised that diaries

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

155

of action and repose should be reviewed by chancellors, so as to “rectify any misunderstanding may arise during the circulation of messages on important political and military events” (Denis Twitchett 1979: 669). Probably, given that diaries of action and repose are written from a partial perspective, the authority decided to introduce a more conclusive document as complementation, so as to instruct or channel the “propaganda and coverage” by official agencies. Similar to the reviews or editorials on newspaper and journals today, they often elaborate a general topic by analyzing several separate events. Hu Sanxing (1230–1302) once wrote about and summarized the origin, development, abolishment, and functions of diaries of action and repose and record of current government: In the early Zhenguan period, it was chi-shih-chung (palace steward) and chieni-ta-fu (grand master of remonstrance) who drafted or coordinated drafting diaries of action and repose. A chi-chü-lang (attendant of the emperor’s activity and life) would stand in front during a imperial court meeting, followed by a scribe, to note down the minutes of discussion. Later, the position chi-chü-shejen (retainer of the emperor’s activity and life) was re-introduced. The retainers were normally teamed up by two people, one for each side of the throne, and would follow the lead of chancellors to enter the royal palace. If the meeting was held in the cabinet of Zichen Palace, they would take the incent burner table and stand separately downstairs of the palace to the second head of chi dragon décor along the stairs, damp the brushes in ink and get prepare to write. Emperor Gaozong did not make decisions under his reign. He refused to meet officials who had matters to report and discuss with him. The chancellors at that time were Xu Jingzong and Li Yifu. Most of their proposals to the emperor were submitted secretively, as they did not want any other person to know. Therefore, they asked imperial diarists (attendants and retainers for action and repose) to be submissive to the emperor’s order. After the meeting concluded, the diarists also left the palace with other officials, not allowed to har the confidential matters. By the mid of the Changshou period, the chancellor Yao Shu suggested: after the court meeting is closed, there should be a chancellor to record the important political and military affairs, compile it as the type of record of current government) and send it to the office of history once a month. However, the position was passed from one to the other, making the records not successive, thus the protocol did not continue. Soon after, the directors for noting acting and repose were assigned to rectify and supplement the empire’s historiography under the order of the emperor. As for the retainers, their responsibilities shifted to draft imperial edicts. At the beginning of the Kaiyuan era, the imperial edict announced that historiographers should also enter the court with the imperial guards, standing next to attendants and retainers of action and repose. And when Li Linfu took over the country, the system was abolished again. Until the ninth year of the Taihe period, in 835, the tradition since the Zhenguan period was restored. The imperial diarists stood back to the sides of the throne, in front of the second head of chi dragon décor along stairs.63

156

B. LI

In the end, what I want to emphasize is that even though diaries of activity and life, records of current government and veritable records were all invented for recording history, they also contributed to the news dissemination in their time. Communication theorist Gan Xifen once pointed it out frankly: “They are historical moments, but also news—actual events that either had happened or are still happening in the contemporary world. Those scribes were journalists of their time—even though this word hadn’t been created at that time. But, admit it or not, they were journalists. The news they wrote down became the unchangeable historical records.”64 In addition, imperial diarists, whose job is like the secretary of state or confidential secretary today, are supposed to be the active or inactive message communicators, since they would often, consciously or unconsciously, divulge the information regarding the court, and those updates will spread. In the previous three chapters, we have discussed some regular mechanisms of news communication driven by the government in the Tang Dynasty, which are chung-pao (letter-report, a sort of newsletter-like gazette), lu-pu (open dispatch), hsi-shu (war proclamation), feng-sui (fire and smoke signal), pang-wen (placard-texts), and chü-chi (note records). Except for these regular mechanisms, we could also find several “irregular,” improvised, and evolved derivatives when looked at the diversified activities of news communication in the Tang Dynasty. They are like the shooting stars in the summer night, which you may encounter but cannot foresee. However, their glamorous presence makes them unignorable in the historical narrative. Next, I will introduce three types of derivatives of news communication, from which we could get a general idea on the innovation of news communication in a dynamic dynasty. [In 590, the 10th year of the Kaihuang period under the reign by the Emperor Wen of Sui.] The general Shi Qansui led a troop of 2000 soldiers to march from Wuzhou (Jinhua of Zhejiang Province today). During the expedition, they crossed countless rivers, mountains, streams and caves. In total they fought over seven hundred battles with footprints occupied over thousands of miles. With no more news heard about the troop for 10 days, people thought that Shi Wansui had died. Wansui put a letter in a bamboo tube and placed it on river. The bamboo tube then floated along the river, and got picked up by someone who was just fetching water. The message was then reported to Yang Su, the superior of Shi Wansui. Yang Su reported it to the emperor, who was deeply impressed and ordered to award Shi Wansui’s family a great fortune.65

What an adventurous story about sending letter by bamboo tube. It makes us think of the science fictions written by Jules Verne. By the end of the Daye period of the Sui Dynasty, the whole country suffered from a surge of robbers and thieves. People fled away from their hometown. Junsu (a general of the Sui Dynasty) and his troops were complete. He joined the army of Qu Tutong, the great general, and refused to join the army of justice (which was led by Li Yuan) at Hedong. Qutu later marched to the south

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

157

with his troops and left Junsu to guard Hedong, as he believed that Junsu was brave and resourceful. The attacks by the army of justice, planned and executed by generals Lv Shaozong and Wei Yijie all failed. But after days of siege, Junsu and his troop were running out of supplies in the town. Junsu thus made a wooden goose, wrote down the situation on the neck of the goose, placed it on the Yellow River, and let it float down the stream. The keeper of Heyang found the wooden goose and sent it to the eastern capital. The King of Yue (Yang Tong) read and sighed. He appointed Junsu as chin-tzu-k’uang-lu-tafu (deputy-minister-level official), and dispatched attendants to send supplies as comfort him.66

This story about “sending message through a wooden goose” does carry a sense of humor. When Zhang Jiuling (a chancellor under the reign of Emperor Xuanzong) was an adolescent, he corresponded with his mother by attaching letters to the legs of pigeons, who would fly to the taught destination to deliver letters. Jiuling’s house was almost filled with the “flying slaves (carrier pigeon)” that he reared, and people of his time were all amazed.67

And this story about sending message through carrier pigeons is worthy of our special attention. This is not only because that pigeon post is an efficient and steady way of communicating messages in ancient times, but also that this method was found used in different civilizations, some early and some much later, throughout the globe. Therefore, using pigeon to carry message has been considered a symbol of advancement of civilization. In the world-renowned tome The Golden Peaches of Samarkand, the American scholar Edward H. Schafer wrote (Schafer 1995: 72): Nakamura has evidence to show that the minister Chang Chiu-ling, who had pigeons to carry letters for him, named “flying slaves”, may have learned of them from Persian or Singhalese merchants in Canton. […] This would put the introduction of this idea to China late in the seventh century.

In his book, Schafer infers that Zhang Jiuling should have learnt about carrier pigeons from Persian merchants, based on no other than the following reasons: firstly of all, Zhang Jiuling was born in Qujiang (Shaoguan of Guangdong province today), is not far away from Guangzhou (Canton); secondly, Duan Chengshi once wrote in the article “Pigeon” in “Chapter on Feathers” (Yupian), A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You that “Zheng Fuli, director of the Court of Judicial Review (known as Ta-li-ssu) said that the Persians often raised pigeons in their ships, which could fly thousand miles and carry their letters back to home, so that their families would know they were in safety.”68 Since there is no direct evidence could suggest that the idea was introduced to Zhang Jiuling by other people, we can only say that the

158

B. LI

first introduction of pigeon post in China was documented during the period when Zhang Jiuling was a youngster, namely, the late seventh century. Of course, the purpose of our discussion on the mechanisms of official news communication is to reveal how news is disseminated and the channels of dissemination. However, while we are tracing the common route news communication, we coincidentally find something uncommon: in the network of official news communication, the information may get spread bottom-up rather than top-down, and get spread from crowd to individual, rather than from individual to crowd. This common feature would appear, sometimes coincidentally and sometimes inevitably, in almost all the official mechanism of news communication, regardless it is gazette, newsletter, dispatch, war proclamation, tower signal, placard, or note records. It might have something to do with the isomorphism among the pyramid-shaped power structure, political ideology of grand unification, and the concept that “people should be guided, but not necessarily taught the reason.” However, further research on their interrelation is still required.

Notes 1. Li Jingyi made a systematic review on this in his publication The Chinese History of Communication: The Volume of Pre-Qin Period and Two Han Dynasties. For more information, please refer to p. 53 of this publication by Wuhan University Publishing House. 2. Dictionary of Commonly Used Words in Ancient Chinese. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 1979, p. 71. 3. Y Dun Chengshi (Tang Dynasty scholar), annotated and edited by Fang Nansheng, Youyang zazu (A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You), p. 160. 4. Translator’s note: Souse text of the poem—孤山几处看烽火, 壮士连营候鼓鼙. 5. Translator’s note: Souse text of the poem—亭堠何摧兀. 6. Jiutangshu (p. 1836), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dyansty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 7. Annotated by Hiroike Chikuro [Japanese], The Six Statutes of the Tang. Xi’an: Sanqin Press, 1991, p. 126. 8. Zizhi tongjian (General Mirror for the Aid of Government ). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1986, p. 7740. 9. Dun Chengshi (Tang Dynasty scholar), annotated and edited by Fang Nansheng, A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You (Youyang zazu), p. 272. 10. Tangliudian (The Six Statutes of the Tang ), annotated by Hiroike Chikuro (Japan). Xi’an: Sanqin Press, 1991, p. 126. 11. Originally recorded in Book List of Junzhai Collection (Junzhai dushu zhi), quoted from Wu Feng, Interpretation of Historical Documents of the Sui and Tang. 12. Updates of Chinese History Studies, 1982, p. 10. 13. Yao Runeng (Tang Dynasty scholar), edited by Zeng Yifen, The Story of An Lushan, Volume No. 2.

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

159

14. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 241), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 15. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 240), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 16. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 241), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 17. Tongdian (Volume No. 157), Comprehensive Statutes, is a book which is a universal administrative history written by the Tang period scholar Du You. 18. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 178), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 19. General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian), Volume No. 188, annotated by Hu Sanxing, the Fourth Year of the Wude period (621). 20. Translator’s note: the source text in Chinese, with the Chinese word yü-shu bolded—青槐夹两道, 白马如流星。 闻道羽 羽书急,单于寇井陉。 . 21. Translator’s note: the source text in Chinese, with the Chinese word yü-shu bolded—羽 羽书如流星, 飞入甘泉宫。 》 . 22. Translator’s note: the source text in Chinese, with the Chinese word yü-hsi . bolded—贺兰山下阵如云, 羽檄交驰日夕闻。 23. Translator’s note: the source text in Chinese, with the Chinese word yü-shu bolded—校尉羽 羽书飞瀚海, 单于猎火照狼山。 . 24. General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian), Volume No. 218, annotated by Hu Sanxing in the Fourth Year of the Wude period (621). 25. Yao Runeng, Story of An Lushan (An Lushan shiji), Volume No. 2: Until the evening of the day, fire of safety hadn’t been not lit. It was what Emperor Xuanzong feared most. In the morning of the fifteenth day of the month, the dispatch of military intelligence arrived at the imperial court. 26. Zheng Haihui, Supplement to Miscellaneous Records of Emperor Ming (Minghuang zalu buyi), in Ten Forgotten Matters of the Anecdotes and Legends of Kaiyuan Tianbao Periods (Kaiyuan tianbao yishi shizhong), annotated by Ding Ruming. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Press, 1985, p. 41; also in Li Deyu, Old Tales According to Master Liu (Ci liushi jiuwen), p. 7. 27. Translator’s note: the source text in Chinese, with the Chinese character pang bolded—天门日射黄金榜 榜, 春殿晴曛赤羽旗。 . 28. Translator’s note: the source text in Chinese, with the Chinese character pang bolded—昨日里胥方到门, 手持尺牒榜 榜乡村。 . 29. Translator’s note: the source text in Chinese, with the Chinese character pang . bolded—金 金榜高悬当玉阙, 锦衣即著到家林。 30. Translator’s note: the source text in Chinese, with the Chinese character pang bolded—再辟文场无枉路, 两开金榜 榜绝冤人。 . 31. According to History of Laws and Institutions of the Tang (Tanghuiyao), quoted from Edward H. Schafer, trans. Wu Yugui, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T’ang Exotics, p. 12. 32. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 253), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang.

160

B. LI

33. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 250), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 34. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 255), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 35. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 257), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 36. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 254), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 37. Comprehensive Statutes (Tongdian), Volume No. 15, quoted from Shen Jiji f or three times. 38. “Miscellaneous Records (Zaji),” in Anecdotes Poets and Scholars from the Tang (Tangzhiyan), Volume No. 15. Anecdotes of Poets and Scholars from the Tang is a book with a collection of stories of poets and scholars from the Tang period written by the Five Dynasties period scholar Wang Dingbao. 39. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 182), Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983), which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 40. Ibid., Volume No. 462. 41. Story of An Lushan (An Lushan shiji), Volume No. 2. 42. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 228). 43. Chaoye qianzai (Volume No. 5), Draft Notes from the Court and the Country is a book of recording the anecdotes about the court of the Sui and the Tang, written by the Tang scholar Zhang Zhuo. 44. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 494), Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983), which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 45. The story of Xie Xiao’e was therefore included in Biography of Exemplary Women (Lienvzhuan) of New History of the Tang Dynasty. It also helps Gan Xifen in coming to the conclusion that “history is the news that have happened and news are the history in development.” The quote can be found in his work Another Discussion on Journalism and History compiled in Study on News Communications in Chinese Mainland: Proceedings of the ‘1993 Seminar of Research and Teaching of Communications in Chinese Language’. Taibei: Sanmin Book, 1995, p. 35. 46. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 491). 47. Gan Xifen, “Discussion Again on Journalism and History,” compiled in Study on News Communications in Chinese Mainland: Proceedings of the “1993 Seminar of Research and Teaching of Communications in Chinese Language”, p. 35. 48. Cai Shangsi, Biography of Academic Thoughts of Cai Yuanpei. Beijing: Dangdi Publishing House, 1950. Cited from the annotation by the author in note 1. 49. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 43), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 50. Ibid.

5

BEACON FIRE, PLACARD, AND IMPERIAL DIARIES

161

51. Shitong (Volume No. 11), All About Historiography, is one of China’s oldest books containing a systematic critique to historiography. It was written by the Tang scholar Liu Zhiji. 52. All About Historiography (Shitong), Volume No. 11: “The position zhuzuolang (editorial director) was firstly created during the middle of the Taihe period of the Wei Dynasty, under the supervision of zhongshu (central secretariat). The editorial director was tsuo-shi (left-scribe) in the Zhou Dynasty. […] In the later Jin Dynasty, the editorial director became in charge of compiling imperial dairies and writing down emperors’ remarks, deeds and achievements that used to be noted by historiography.” 53. Shitong (Volume No. 11), All About Historiography, is one of China’s oldest books containing a systematic critique to historiography. It was written by the Tang scholar Liu Zhiji. 54. Xintangshu (Volume No. 58), New History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty 618–907. 55. Shitong (Volume No. 11), All About Historiography, is one of China’s oldest books containing a systematic critique to historiography. It was written by the Tang scholar Liu Zhiji. 56. General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian), Volume No. 183, quoted and annotated by Hu Sanxing. 57. General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian), Volume No. 184, quoted and annotated by Hu Sanxing. 58. Ibid. 59. Ibid. 60. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 246), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 61. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 246), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 62. Ibid., Volume No. 80. 63. General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian), Volume No. 246, the tenth month of the fourth Year of the Kaicheng period (840), under the reign of Emperor Wenzong. 64. Gan Xifen, Selected Papers of Gan Xifen. Beijing: China People’s University Press, 2007, p. 451. 65. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 177), Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 66. Suishu (Volume No. 71), History of the Sui Dynasty, is a book recording the official dynastic history of the Sui Dynasty written by Wei Zheng. 67. Wang Renyu (Five Dynasties scholar), Anecdotes and Legends in the Periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao (Kaiyuan tianbao yishi), Volume No. 1. 68. Dun Chengshi (Tang Dynasty scholar), annotated and edited by Fang Nansheng, A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You (Youyang zazu), p. 154.

CHAPTER 6

Thoughts on News Communication

The Chinese scholar Zhao Tingyang once distinguished “culture” and “thought” by defining them as “the entitative existence” and “the writable existence,” respectively.1 Here, I have no intention to discuss his perspective but to borrow these two richly inclusive definitions. If we say that all the attempts, innovations, and practices that the people in the Tang Dynasty carried out in news communication could be categorized as entitative existence, then, in contrast, the concepts, ideas, and thoughts that they generalized are writable existence. It is like the contrast between practice and recognition. In the previous chapters, we have outlined a general picture on how the Tang people engaged in news communication activities (mainly the official mechanisms). Next, we will discuss the topic from another perspective. The reason is that, as Fang Hanqi said, “the emergence and development of news theories in a period are often intertwined with the news practice in that period. Recognition originates from practice, which in turn affects and instructs practice to a certain extent. Therefore, the study of the thought of news and its development in a certain period of time will help us to better explore and study the history of the development of journalism during that time and deepen our understanding of it.”2 The news practices of the Tang people are not limited to those made through the official channels. However, to explore the news thoughts and the communication ideas of the Tang Dynasty, an official perspective is always indispensable. As Karl Marx once said, “the ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas, i.e. the class which is the ruling material force of

© The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_6

163

164

B. LI

society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force.”3 In this sense, the clarification of the official concepts on news communication will not only help us to understand the structure of news communication of the Tang Dynasty, but also facilitate our discussion on communication of literati and communication of the ordinary people in the following chapters.

Splendor and Openness of the Tang Dynasty Just as we cannot talk about the communication practices of the Tang people without referring to the more general social context, the exploration of the thoughts of communication of the Tang Dynasty can neither be done without tapping into a broader spiritual backdrop. After all, communication activities are an inseparable part of the social life, whenever they take place. Meanwhile, any thought or theory on news communication is closely related to the ideology of its time. How does the spiritual world of the Tang people look like? What the role does the ideology of the Tang Dynasty play in the history of Chinese philosophy? In this chapter, I would like to adopt a perspective of “macro-history” proposed by Ray Huang, which will provide us sufficient theoretical context and clue for the elaboration in the following passages, as well as create a vivid historic atmosphere of the certain dynasty entailed. Whether or not “the splendor and prosperity of the early Tang Dynasty have been overstated” (Ray Huang 1997: 123), the great importance of the glorious age of the Tang Dynasty in the history of the Chinese or even the global civilization is generally recognized. The inclusiveness, as if taking all mountains in with one glance and the farsightedness, as if bracing a gale traveling thousands of miles, of the Tang empire has reached an unprecedented height, and are revered and adorned by people of later generations. The long period of stagnation since the late Han Dynasty (202 B.C.E.–220 C.E.) came to an end, just like the rigid ice that suddenly got cracked, while all factors and contributors required by the time just occurred all together, properly and naturally, gathering and forming into what Chinese writer Lu Xun called “such a grand and open atmosphere.” Just like how Ge Zhaoguang (1987: 169) once summarized poetically: The early and glorious ages of the Tang Dynasty are romantic and confident ones that are never seen in ancient China. Since the third month of the fourth year (630) of the Zhenguan period, when “the lords of the non-Han states presented at the imperial court to sincerely request Emperor Taizong to be “the Heavenly Khan”, the doubts, disappointment and decadence brought by China’s centuries-long division, warfare, domestic crisis and social chaos truly went away. The reality of a glorious age featuring the allegiance of the nonHan states from the four directions, the prosperity and peace of the people, the liberal political climate caused the changes of the cultural and psychological atmosphere. People seemed to have come out of small suffocating black houses and caught a sudden sight of the sunshine and the lush vegetation of the vast world. Some were wild with joy, others dazzled by the sights, resuming their

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

165

confidence, calmness and excitement for their own lives, probably still with a little bit of ecstasy about their life…. Indeed, the whole empire of the Tang Dynasty is alive with a happy, passionate and romantic atmosphere… …it makes the whole societal psychology sanguine, grand and open …turning the whole societal culture prosperous and alive.

The splendor and openness of the Tang Dynasty is not only reflected in the remarkable social advancement that has been acclaimed for thousands of years, but also in the florescence of thoughts and cultures. If you look inside the spiritual world of the Tang people, liberation and transcendence are in their blood. “They did everything possible and took almost all opportunities to seek pleasure, happiness and freedom, driven by the eagerness for the physical liberation and spiritual transcendence” (Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibing 1996: 67). If we regard the Han and Tang dynasties as two ultimate highs in the Chinese history, then the Han Dynasty is like Beethoven, whose music is full of vitality, solemn, and heroic, while the Tang Dynasty is Mozart, more open, flexible and freewill. We could say that the spiritual world of the Tang people is characterized by a natural and unrestrained spirit, just like how an ancient Chinese poem wrote: “chanting in the daylight, I shall indulge myself in drinking; accompanied by the vernal views, it is a good time to return my hometown” and a clear and bright image, as another poem wrote: “as if the vernal breeze had come back overnight, adorning thousands of pear trees with blossoms white.” Against the backdrop of such a powerful, prosperous, and confident society and such a bright and visionary atmosphere, the thoughts and cultures of the Tang Dynasty naturally displayed an open and inclusive characteristic. For people from foreign cultures, this feature of the Tang Dynasty is especially more evident. To exemplify, here are the heartfelt exclamations of three top-notch scholars from the UK, the USA, and France: Throughout the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries China was the most secure and civilized country in the world…While the mind of the west was black with theological obsessions, the mind of China was open and tolerant and enquiring. [USA] John King Fairbank and others: China: Tradition and Transformation

During the Six Dynasties period and the early Tang, China was pervaded by a spirit of cultural tolerance. [UK] Herbert George Wells: The Outline of History

The Chinese civilization in this era is universal. [France] Jacques Gernet: Le Monde Chinois

166

B. LI

In fact, there have been so many discussions over the openness and inclusiveness of the thought and culture of the Tang Dynasty. Widely familiar to the people is are the simultaneous reverence for Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, the unimpeded spreads of Zoroastrianism, Nestorianism, and Manichaeism, the exchange and fusion of Chinese and foreign civilizations, among others. However, here we still want to quote a related narration. It is not because it is more innovative, but directly related to the topic discussed here. This narration is from The History of Chinese Literature with Zhang Peiheng and Luo Yuming as the editors-in-chief. Despite being a powerful unified dynasty, the Tang Dynasty had never established a strong, single thought rule, which is special even in Chinese history. Generally speaking, Confucianism was recognized as the orthodox thought in the Tang Dynasty, with Confucian classics required to be read by shiren (iterati, educated people in the past; it also collectively refers to the audience men of letter or intelligent collections), and to be tested in examinations for selecting chin-shih (jinshi进士) and ming-ching (mingjing明经) candidates. Moreover, since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, some scholars had never stopped voiced for the revival of Confucianism. All of these proved that Confucianism was more honored in the Tang Dynasty than in the Wei and Jin (220-420) and the Southern dynasties (420-589). However, Confucianism did not gain a dominant position. In the ruling group or the whole society, Taoism and Buddhism were valued no less than Confucianism. In some ages, some supreme rulers preferred Taoism or Buddhism over Confucianism.…

This reflects the social characteristics of the Tang Dynasty. On the one hand, in the hundreds of years of the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern dynasties, the influence of Confucianism dwindled amid various schools of thoughts during that period of time, which could not be changed at once; on the other hand, the nation and culture in the Tang Dynasty were not singular in general. In terms of politics, there were some vested interest groups in the landlord class. It lacked a certain foundation to establish a unified ruling thought. Therefore, the thinkers in the Tang Dynasty were more liberated and active (Zhang Peiheng and Luo Yuming 1996: 8). The free and dynamic collective mentality and the constantly changing spiritual world of the Tang people would certainly influence the concepts regarding news communication. In other words, the written documents regarding the news communication in the Tang Dynasty must be spread out in the whole spectrum of discourses of this age. Obviously, it’s mainly about the Golden Age of the Tang Dynasty. As for the later outlook, it’s a bit like what John C. H. Wu said when he discussed the poetry of the Late Age (828–907) of the Tang Dynasty: We are no longer living in the world of flesh and blood. We are in a dream in which the soul glimmers like the candle flame. The natural landscape has become an “innate character.” The world is drowned in the infinite ocean of ambiguity, and what remains is only a trace of memory. (Schafer 1985/1995: 59)

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

167

The Stylistic Reform of Writing in the Early Sui Dynasty During the interim period between the Sui and Tang dynasties, new phenomenon was eventually observed in the field of communication. The first sign of “liberation of thought” was “an event that attempts to change the writing style through administrative means” (Zhang Peiheng and Luo Yuming 1996: 21). Although it failed to achieve the expected results, we must admit its unignorable status in the history of communication, especially in the history of the communication theories. It is known that before the Sui and Tang dynasties, the writing style that featured the Six Dynasties was famous for its polished language, delicacy, and ostentatiousness. Although it was of positive significance to deepen the expression ability of Chinese characters and make them more delicate and smooth in expressing feelings, it is inevitable that they would go so far that they hampered the expression of meanings and became a formalized game, leaving nothing but a “phantom” of the feeble and futile communication form to haunt around, rendering the “life” of the communication content rarely seen in high and vigorous spirits. In fact, the people in the Qi (479–502) and Liang (502–557) dynasties (two of the six dynasties) lived a befuddled life as if drunk or in dreams. With a tunnel-vision that they possessed, they restrained their minds to a spiritually barren corner. Except for being verbose about pattern forms of communication, there were not many substantial contents expressed in their writings. In the Western Wei Dynasty (535–556), a reformer in ancient China, Yuwen Tai wanted to get rid of this malpractice. He advocated the simple writing style of the renowned scholar Su Chuo: Since the Jin Dynasty (265 - 420), the articles had been ostentatious, (Yuwen) Tai, the chancellor of Wei Dynasty, wanted to correct this malpractice. In the day of Dingsi, (the tenth day) of the sixth month of the year, the emperor of Wei offered sacrifice in the ancestral temple. Tai asked Su Chuo, the Minister of the Revenue Section of Branch Department of State Affairs and the Director of the Editorial Service, to draft “Dagao (the Grand Imperial Admonition)”, announced it to the officials and urged them to be attentive to political affairs. Tai also ordered that “all articles from now on should follow the style of this one.”4

Despite the status quo did not really change, this move was a sign, like an echo in a deserted valley. After the Sui Dynasty (581–618) defeated the Southern Dynasty, and unified the whole country, the Sui Dynasty applied a set of institutional reform to create a new phenomenon, seeking the return of the simplicity and authenticity. The ornate writing style of the Southern Dynasty was once again incorporated into the agenda of reform. In fact, in the fourth year of the Kaihuang period (584), the Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty had issued an edict to the whole country, requiring that “public and private articles should all be based on factual records” (“Biography of Li E,” History of

168

B. LI

the Sui Dynasty), with an intention to remove over-fancy dictions and emphasize practical expressions in official documents. From the perspective of the communication studies, this move was intended to improve communication efficiency and increase information content. The “factual records” mentioned here actually suggest a fact-oriented perspective. Rightly after the Emperor Wen issued this imperial edict, in September, Sima Youzhi, the governor of Sizhou, was prosecuted for the fact that he consistently wrote ostentatious articles against the issuance of such a “policy.” Not long after, the minister Li E further stressed the importance and urgency of the stylistic reform in his article Memorial to Emperor Gaozu of Sui for the Writing Style Reform (Shang suigaozu ge wenhua shu), signaling the first blow against the writing style inherited from the Qi and Liang dynasties, and exerted certain historical influences. He firstly reprimanded the pursuit of craftiness and rarity and the trifling literary skills since the Wei Kingdom ruled by the Cao Family (reigning: 213–265). Some of his remarks were even widely quoted by the later generations: The three founders of the Wei Kingdom (referring to Cao Cao and his two sons) honored literary writing so much that they neglected the virtue of being good rulers, but chasing after trifling literary skills. The general public followed the rulers, and influenced each other. The competition on the ostentatious writing became a custom. The malpractices in the Qi and Liang states in Jiangzuo region were especially severe, where, people regardless of their noble or humble origins, were engaged in nothing but chanting literary articles. Therefore, they disagreed with preserved principles, pursued something void and trivial, competing against each other on the rarity of a rhyme and the craftiness of a single Chinese word. Their long and tedious articles were only within the descriptions on the shapes of a newly appearing moon; their exquisite works described nothing but the looks of wind and clouds.5

The original intention of Li E’s was beneficial, which is “to oust ostentation and halt hypocritical literary splendor.” However, his criticism was a little bit too harsh. He advocated that those whose articles were too showy yet useless should get be punished, for which he said: “Please issue an order to the ministers in charge to let them search and investigate the issue widely. Anyone acting that way should be prosecuted.” Emperor Wen endorsed his proposal and circulated Li E’s proclamation across the territory. No wonder some scholars believe that this is “almost a literary inquisition, an attempt to fully converse the literary world to work in a way conducive to the imperial governance” (Zhang Peiheng and Luo Yuming 1996: 21). However, the literary legacy of the Qi and Liang dynasties had a wide influence, which made it hard for people to give up such a long-established way of writing. Even the threat of literary inquisitions was difficult to reverse the trend “which grew more rampant as passed down from mentors to disciples.” Despise the historical records acknowledge that the issuance of Li E’s memorial had immediately “caused a whirlwind across the country which completely

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

169

swept away the malpractice” (“Biography of Li E,” History of the Sui Dynasty), or, that “the emperor adopted Li’s strategy… thus changing the customs and turbocharging the political enlightenment” (“Biography of Xuedeng,” History of the Sui Dynasty), the fact was not so. Instead of offering any other example, we would know how little effective the policy was, simply by looking at the aristocracies around the emperor, for instance, the Emperor Wen’s children, princes Yang Yong and Yang Guang. They were keenly passionate about “the ostentatious expressions” and “seldom repented what they were doing” (Qian Zhongshu 1979: 1551).6 According to “Biography of Wei Dan” in History of the Sui Dynasty “(the emperor) dethroned Crown Prince (Yang) Yong…and ordered Wei Dan to annotate the collection of writings by Yu Xin (a poet known for his ostentatious poems in the Southern Dynasty).” “Biography of Yang Bian” said that “at the beginning, (Jin Land) Prince Guang (Yang) wrote articles in Yu Xin’s style.” For this reason, Qian Zhongshu (a renowned scholar and writer in modern China) commented in his representative collection of essays Limited Views: Essays on Ideas and Letters on this move of Emperor Wen with a derisive manner. “Intending to pacify the world, he failed to regulate his own family; Having issued a decree across all prefectures and counties, he failed to demand his own courtyard…He had eyelashes so close to his eyes, but could not see them” (ibid.). He ridiculed that Emperor Wen turned a blind eye to his own eyelashes, even though right before himself. In addition to this, “as the ‘writing style’ had not been rectified, even after the prosperous Tang Dynasty replaced the Sui Dynasty, the literary legacy of the Qi and Liang dynasties continued to prevail. Nothing changed” (ibid., 1552). Liu Mian, a historiographer living in the most powerful era of the Tang Dynasty who heralded the literary debate led by Han Yu (768–824, a renowned writer in ancient China) with his article titled “A Letter to Attendant Gentleman Quan (Deyu),” mentioned in another article titled “A Letter on the Exposition of ‘The Letter in Thanks of Prime Minister Du’ on Fang and Du Prime Ministers” that after the country was trapped in the literary malpractices, Fang (Xuanling) and Du (Ruhui) were chancellors (both of them were reputable high-ranking officials during the reign of Emperor Taizong), but they could not counteract (Dong Gao et al. 1983, vol. 527). That is to say, even such virtuous men like Fang and Du could not return the writing style to simplicity and truth. “Despite their brightness, Fang and Du could not rectify the malpractices of Qi and Liang dynasties” (ibid.). In later generations, a Chinese poet, Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) was also puzzled, his perplexity expressing people’s common thoughts. “The governance of Emperor Taizong is almost equal to the prosperity during the reigns of the three sage monarchs, but in terms of articles, he could not change the remaining literary customs from the Five Dynasties.”7 Instead of abolishing the remaining literary customs, Emperor Taizong even went straightforward to yearn for and even emulate them. For example, according to A Long Continuance to General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Xu tongjian changbian), on the Kuiyou day of the fifth month of the ninth year (1076) of the period of Xi’ning,

170

B. LI

Emperor Shenzhong (reign: 1067–1085) said, “Emperor Taizong of the Tang is a brilliant ruler, learning writing from Xu (Ling) and Yu (Xin).” In the fourteenth volume of Records of the Academia (Kunxue jiwen), the author Wang Yinglin, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty quoted the words from his contemporaries Zheng Xie that “the Emperor Taizong of the Tang had great achievements, but his writings are flighty and flowery like the grins of beautiful women and children, which are not matching his accomplishments. So severely the flowery writing has drowned the people.” Certainly, different people have different views regarding the ongoing popularity of literary style of the Qi and Liang dynasties. For example, the author of The History of Chinese Literature that the above passages quoted from believes that “the rulers of the early period of the Tang Dynasty adopted a more open-minded policy towards literature and art.” Emperor Taizong advocated that literature should serve politics and religion and was greatly dissatisfied with the emperors in the past dynasties, such as Emperor Wu (reign: 502–549) of the Liang Dynasty and his son, Emperor Houzu (reign: 582–589) of the Chen Dynasty, Emperor Yang (reign: 604–618) of the Sui Dynasty who had literary talents but did not know how to rule a country. Despite these, as an extraordinary talented and visionary emperor, Emperor Taizong understood that prosperity in literature and art did not necessarily lead to political success, or vice versa, and did not believe in the cliché of fancy literary articles often being “the sounds heralding the fall of a country” (Zhang Peiheng and Luo Yuming 1996: 22). In any case, the fact should be what was pointed out by Qian Zhongshu that “from the Zhou (557-581) and Sui dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, the reform on the literary customs passed down from the Five Dynasties could not accomplished by a single person in a single day” (Qian Zhongshu 1979: 1553).8 Although the writing style reform pushed forward by Emperor Wen of Sui and Li E failed to achieve actual results due to the unfitting social context, it cleared the path and heralded the advent of the Classical Prose Movement in the middle period (821–875) of the Tang Dynasty. The Classical Prose Movement in the Tang Dynasty is a resplendent cultural phenomenon throughout Chinese history. Its echoes and momentum were like that of great waves and tides overlapping and surging in the fields of thought and culture ever since its emergence. Among these measures is the liberation of styles, which was to abandon the shackles of the format of p’ien-wen (pianwen骈文, parallel prose, rhythmical prose characterized by parallelism and ornateness) and restore the free expression in the classical prose. This measure had a self-evident effect on the news communication from the day it was popularized. Although we can’t directly assert that the Chinese journalism sprouted in the middle of the Tang Dynasty was incubated by this Movement, it is an indisputable fact that a great deal of articles in prose, which featured short and clear sentence patterns and flexible structures emerged, provided proper and useful expressions, at the right time, for the earliest prose style designed for news communication—the newsletters.

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

171

This is because that, before this, p’ien-wen was almost the dominant form of writing, overshadowed all other written forms of expression. Not to mention the articles which intended to express emotions or depict sceneries, which were strictly required to follow certain parallelism and ornateness, even the practical writings such as memorials, argumentative pieces, official documents, letters, and others were mainly written in the format of p’ian-wen, featuring four or six Chinese characters in each line. Let’s imagine what it will look like, if a “press release” unnaturally stresses allusion, rhythm, and antithesis, and is full of elaborate, flashy, stultifying, and perfunctory clichés. It can be seen that the reform of the writing style involved not only the issue of article types, but also the issue of carrying the truths through writings. From the perspective of the communication concept, it also concerns the smooth and rapid information flow. In this sense, Li E’s Memorial to Emperor Gaozu of Sui for Reforming the Writing Style can be regarded as a cornerstone contributing to the formation of communication theory in the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Li Shimin and a Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign As Ray Huang said in his book China: A Macro History, “Among China’s prominent monarchs, Li Shimin may have the most personal appeal” (Ray Huang 1997: 110). As one of the most competent emperors in the thousandyear-long history of China, his vivid and distinctive personalities had made him the personification of the Tang Dynasty, with his gifted martial and intellectual talents and demeanor, adding a dazzling glory to the already resplendent era of history, bestowing the dynasty a humanitarian touch and lush vitality, so that later generations tend to equate his personal image with the whole Tang Dynasty as if Li Shimin was the Tang Dynasty and vice versa. This reminds us of the kingly heroes who Thomas Carlyle, a British philosopher, wrote about in his notable work On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History, that they were building an era by living a kaleidoscopic life. A Tang Dynasty without Li Shimin is like an Ancient Greece without Alexander the Great, or a Roman Empire without Julius Caesar. How plain and dull it would have been! Li Shimin’s distinctive influence has not only clearly demonstrated by his political-and-military-achievements-demonstrating titles such as “Emperor of Civil” and “the Heavenly Khan,” but also suffused the thought and idea of the Tang people. His work A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign (Zhenguan zhengyao), a compendium on statecraft from the reign of Emperor Taizong (626–649) of the Tang, had become an encyclopedia for the Tang people to learn by themselves, handle family affairs, manage the country, and govern the whole. Some of the communication-related comments therein not only adjusted and set the tones on how the Tang people viewed news communication, but also brought ancient Chinese people’s understanding of communication to a new height.

172

B. LI

The main gist of A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign is to be prepared for dangers even when everything is alright, so as to maintain long-term peace and stability. Therefore, the whole compendium is filled with the daily sentiments of being cautious and vigilant, which could even be found in the communication-related passages. To sum up, these contents consist of two aspects in Chinese language: chien-ting (jianting兼听, listening to various opinions) and na-chien (najian纳谏, accepting admonitions), both of which can be regarded as the process of “acceptance” during communication. Let’s look at “accepting admonitions” first. For the feudal monarchs and ministers, accepting admonitions was no more than a political platitude. However, banal as it was, Li Shimin had come up with lots of innovative and witty remarks, which were quoted by and inspired so many generations. It can be viewed as a demonstration of his exceptional abilities. In its essence, accepting admonitions is an issue of whether and how to listen to various opinions. In this regard, he first encouraged everyone to express their views freely, and then he would listen to the conducive advises. He realized that “people’s opinions are sometimes different, some of which are right, and some could be wrong, but they are for the public affairs.”9 The existence of different opinions is not something bad. Instead, it is a good thing. Only in this way can we “draw on collective wisdom and absorb all useful ideas” (Zhuge Liang, 181–234). He was deeply aware that “without loyal officials to offer admonitions, how could we do something good?”10 As a result, he did everything possible to encourage officials around to offer admonitions. In the fifth year of the Zhenguan period (631), he once ordered relevant departments to “solicit the admonitions from the off-springs of those who were sentenced to death because of their straightforward admonitions during the Daye period (605-618, the reign title of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty).”11 In the seventeenth year (643) of the Zhenguan period, a minister submitted a memorial to the emperor regarding certain political affairs, and was subsequently bestowed packages of medicine by Emperor Taizong, who said, “you offered me words as effective as a cure, and thus I would like to pay you back with the same.”12 In his view, “an obsequious group is inferior to an individual who speaks bluntly.”13 “Every time I think about that some of my ministers offer outright admonitions applicable to the political affairs,” Emperor Taizong said earnestly to his attendant ministers. “I shall keep my eyes polished and treat such ministers as my teachers and friends.”14 Such a sincere heart is equal to the sincerity of Emperor Wu of the Wei Dynasty (namely, Cao Cao), who once actively searched talents throughout the country, while expressed such eagerness in the lines that “blue robes of you talented scholars make my heart longing; with yearnings for you, I keep chanting till now.” Harold Lasswell, an American political scientist and a pioneer of communication studies, once summarized three functions of communication activities in his book The Structure and Function of Communication in Society (1948), namely, the surveillance of the environment, the correlation of the society, and the transmission of the social heritage. The first one is particularly essential, as

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

173

it “refers to accurately and objectively reflecting the real situation and changes of the real society, and reproducing the real appearances and feedback of the surrounding world.”15 Wilbur Schramm, a scholar of communication studies, once suitably compared this kind of function to “a social radar.” The “social radar” mentioned above may sound no more than a synonym of the notion of “ears, eyes, throat and tongue” used in China today. In the feudal society, however, it was vital for the rulers to encourage officials to give advice, if they wanted to hear true feedback and sincere admonitions. Li Shimin was definitely aware of its importance. In the fifth year of the Zhenguan period (631), he once said to his attendant ministers, “the safety of the world counts on me. Therefore, I should act prudently every day, not resting even thought I felt like to. However, all of you would be my ears, eyes and limbs. As we belong to one body fighting for righteousness, we should make concerted efforts for a common purpose. If you find anything unsettling, just tell me frankly as much as you can.”16 In the second year, he said again, “when I look at the emperors of the ancient times, I saw their ups and downs. It is as if when the sun rises, the night will eventually follow. With their eyes blocked and ears clogged, they don’t know the gains and losses of current governance. The loyal and the righteous refrained from speaking while the evil and the obsequious approached these emperors every day. Turning a blind eye to their flaws, they had their reigns terminated. Since I am atop my imperial throne as high as in the ninth layer of heaven, I can’t have a full view of every matter across the territory. That’s why I ask you all to be my ears and eyes. Never lose your vigilance, taking it for granted that the four oceans are resting in peace.”17 Here, Li Shimin considered the ministers offering admonitions as another pair of his own ears and eyes. Since he was atop the imperial throne, his view could be blocked regarding what happened across the country, so that he had to rely on his competent subordinates and other upright councilors to broaden his hearing and seeing. In addition to this, he had no other choice. No matter how people criticize the shortcomings and defects of this practice, we cannot but admit that it is the best choice given the specific historical context. That makes Li Shimin prominent among all Chinese monarchs as he understood and actively implemented this principle. No matter how unusual Li Shimin looked as an emperor in terms of his sincerity in accepting admonitions, he was after all consolidating the tradition of his predecessors. The communication ideas Li Shimin and his attendant ministers are highlighted by another contribution to political governance: jianting (“listening to various opinions”). The idea of “listening to various opinions” was put forward by the statesman Wei Zheng (580–643): In the second year of the Zhenguan period (628), Emperor Taizong asked Wei Zheng, “what makes a bright emperor and a dull one?” (Wei) Zheng said, “the reason for an emperor to be bright is to listen to various opinions; for an emperor to be dull is to listen to selected opinions.” The Book of Poetry (Shijing)

174

B. LI

said, “the ancients believed that they should even seek advice from a woodcutter.” In the past, the principles of Sage Monarch Yao and Sage Monarch Shun lie in opening four doors, brightening four eyes and smoothing four ears. As a result, the sacred light shone everywhere. Persons like Gongong and Gun could not clog him; those who speak flattery words and perform deceptive actions could not deceive him. The Second and the Last Emperor of Qin Dynasty (210-707 B.C.E.) hid himself, keeping himself away from dissidents and common people, listening to one-sided opinions from the eunuch Zhao Gao (?-207 B.C.E.). He had no idea even when the world was in chaos and rebellions. Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty (502-549) listened to the one-sided opinions from the treacherous general Zhu Yi and had no idea when Hou Jing had already led his troops to attack the imperial palace. Emperor Yang of the Sui listened to the selected opinions of Yu Shijiand had no idea when bandits stormed to take over cities. As a result, if an emperor listens to various opinions from those below him, his noble ministers cannot cover his ears. In this case, “the sentiments and opinions from the subordinates will find their ways to be delivered to the top.” Emperor Taizong had high remarks for his words.18

The emperor and his advisor first discussed the benefits of listening to various opinions, namely, “the monarch’s light shines everywhere.” Then, they discussed disadvantages of listening to selected opinions, which would lead to “having no idea” even “when the word is in chaos and rebellions.” Finally, it draws the conclusion that only by listening to various opinions from those below an emperor could the sentiments and opinions from the bottom make their ways to the top. The key to listening to various opinions is to break the noble ministers’ monopoly over communication, so that they “could not block” the channels for the sentiments and opinions from the bottom to reach the top. As Wang Diwu said, “the reason why an emperor is bright is that he listens not only to the opinions of noble ministers but also those from alienated and lowly officials. That is what characterizes chien-ting, or listening to various opinions” (Wang Diwu 1991). Emperor Taizong deeply felt for it, because it was in line with his consistent proposition of soliciting and accepting admonitions. It can be said that Wei Zheng gave utterance to what was in Emperor Taizong’s mind. It is no wonder that after Wei Zheng’s demise, Li Shimin uttered the following famous words in a fit of sorrow: “With bronze as a mirror, one dresses properly; With antiquity as a mirror, one knows historical rises and falls; With human beings as a mirror, one knows losses and gains. I always keep with me these three mirrors to prevent myself from making mistakes. Now the demise of Wei Zheng took one of my three mirrors.”19 In addition to being beneficial to governance, the significance of listening to various opinions is also demonstrated by the fact that it puts forward a communication concept that is applicable almost everywhere—it will make you savvy if listening to various opinions, but uninformed if you only take one-faceted opinions. Only by listening to comprehensive opinions can a person distinguish right from wrong; the acceptance of selected opinions will surely bring ignorance. This is applicable to the rulers atop thrones as explained by what the

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

175

Song Dynasty scholar Fan Zuyu, said as “to the saints, the whole world could be their ears and eyes, thus they are smart; but mediocre rulers take what are around them as their ears and eyes, so that they are dull and uninformed.”20 This advice works for everyone. It’s not difficult to persuade people to understand the point. After all, who doesn’t know it is important to draw on collective wisdom and absorb all useful ideas? The real issue is the implementation. Even as wise as him, Emperor Taizong once found that he could not bear the “clamorous noise” made by Wei Zheng, when he kept arguing for himself at the imperial court. It is recorded that he once complained to his empress in rage, after an imperial court meeting that “sooner or later, I will kill that country bumpkin!”21 Although Emperor Taizong and his ministers had put forward the principle of listening to various opinions and were to confirm on the ways to implement “listening to various opinion,” the spirit of listening to various opinions, like a principal clue, ran through the communication activities throughout the Tang Dynasty, diffusing in the thought and ideas of the Tang people. The following discourse came from Emperor Gaozong, son of Emperor Taizong. But if not specially explained, it sounds like as if Li Shimin is talking: “I hear that a ruler sees through the eyes and hears through the ears of the people across the world, with the intention to broaden his seeing and hearing. Heaven brings disasters to warn against a ruler. If the change is a fact, what crime has such a speaker committed? If it turns out to be false, those who hear should be warned. The sage monarch Shun set up a wooden pillar to let people write admonitions on it for good reasons. If someone intends to zip the mouths of the world, can he truly succeed?”22 In conclusion, Li Shimin’s advocation epitomizes the official thought on communication of the Tang Dynasty, which can be described as a state of open-mindedness featuring na-chien (accepting admonitions), a tolerant spirit characterized by chien-ting (listening to various opinions), and a mission exemplified by “being open.” “Business trips and wild shelters no longer witness robbers. Prisons remain empty. Horses, cattle and other domestic animals abound in the wilderness. Gates and windows are unlocked”.23 How can such an enlightened and glorious age not to be matched by an openminded communication system? From this aspect, such a phenomenon could be, or could only be, a product of the time.

The Theory of Talent, Learning, and Vision by Liu Zhiji By classifying the ideas of journalism and communication by the Tang people, I find a famous book called All About Historiography (Shitong),24 which is compiled by Liu Zhiji, the renowned historian in the Tang Dynasty. As a book featuring historical theory with a cornucopia of significant ideas, it needs to be further interpreted.

176

B. LI

In his book On the Chinese History of Ancient Thoughts, Mr. Li Zehou, a philosopher in China, generally incorporates the characteristics of personal character reflected in the traditional Chinese thinking into the theory of pragmatic reason. He (1994: 301) said: In order to seek for a bright prospect in the midst of big social turbulences, reputed scholars in the Pre-Qin period begin recruiting disciples and establishing their principles and doctrines. As a result, the thought of reason is born unfettered in the magic culture that is dominant in the periods of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, neither moving towards the tendency of abstract thinking and critical thinking (e.g. in Greece) nor towards the path of extrication from troubles. Instead, people are indulged in embarking on pragmatic explorations in the world.

Of this book, he (1994: 303) mentions, “The developed state of historic consciousness represents the important contents and features of China’s pragmatic reason.” This perspective carries the same significance with that of a famous historian Mr. Liang Qichao, who says in his book Research Methods of Chinese History: “There is no other learning besides China’s ancient history, and the records of human knowledge and wisdom will be integrated into the history.” So in this sense, they both grasp the essence of spirit and life of ancient people. Now that China’s pragmatic reason is “inextricably connected with history” (ibid.: 303), so any discussion on the history of Chinese thinking naturally relates to historiography, especially the theory of history. In addition, for journalism and communication, historiography and the theory of historiography are more directly linked with each other. As Mr. Cai Yuanpei has pointed out, “The journalist is the expert of history” (from Cai Shangsi’s book Biography of Academic Thoughts of Cai Yuanpei). But Mr. Gan Xifen (1988) said more clearly, “Since ancient times, news and history are inherently linked, and the two belong to one school.” And he even affirms, “Historical officials in the past are actually journalists of the time. Although they are not directly called journalists, historical officials are actually journalists. Accordingly, the news that they have recounted has undoubtedly become unchangeable historical records.” These views are firstly introduced by Mr. Gan in 1985 when he gave a speech “journalism and historiography” in the Department of Journalism and Communication of Lanzou University. Later on, his interest was still there, and he published an essay called Renewed Discussions on the Journalism and Historiography, which further discusses the isomorphic relationship between news and history. He wrote: Generally speaking, history can be divided into ancient history and modern history. Ancient history refers to what happens in that time and it can be identified as news; modern history means what is anything new that is seeing development and change, so it really means news, From this point of view, news and history cannot be differently defined (from Research on Journalism and Communication in Chinese Mainland).

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

177

Therefore, “Those requirements that suit historian can also be applied to news workers, who should be regarded as historians of our present time” (p. 39). In a word, when it comes to the significance of historiography or the close relationship between news and history, we find it necessary to give priority to the study of Shitong which is rich in content, insightful in ideas and influential in benefits. If the theory of historiography is likened to that of news in ancient times, All About Historiography (Shitong) is the textbook in the news circle of the Tang Dynasty. The book All About Historiography (Shitong) is China’s first systematic masterpiece containing the criticism and theory of historiography (Jian Bozan, 1965) and “is seen as the first similar work in the history of documents in the world. It marks the beginning of textual research on the issue of historiography and historical compilation and is evolved into a kind of historical philosophy similar to those of Giambattista Vico and G.W.F. Hegel following the age of Zhang Xuecheng before it is later promoted in the 11th century” (Jacques Gernet 1972). Liu Zhiji, the author of All About Historiography (Shitong) and styled Zixuan, was born in 661, the first year of reigning title Longsu of Emperor Gaozong and dead in 721, the ninth year of reigning title Kaiyuan of Emperor Xuanzong. He is not only an outstanding historian of the Tang Dynasty but also a prominent historical theorist in ancient China. According to the Chapter of Self-introduction of All About Historiography (Shitong), Liu Zhiji already knew The at twelve, finished reading all kinds of historical books since the Han Dynasty at seventeen, successfully passed the imperial examination of Jinshi program at twenty, and finally reviewed and checked both public and private books stored in Zhang’an and Luoyang. Later, because of his reputation for being good at historiography, he was recommended to work in history library. Since the reining time of Empress Wu Zetian, Liu had revised national history, and during this period, he became a historic official three times and kept this post for nearly thirty years. With his whole life spent studying history, All About Historiography (Shitong) can be regarded as the crystallization of thoughts. Written in 710, the fourth year of the reigning title Jinglong of Emperor Zhongzong, the book All About Historiography (Shitong) consists of twenty volumes, with 10 volumes involving inner and outer chapters respectively. “The inner chapters discuss the type of history school and tell right apart from wrong while the external volume expounds the sources of historical books and evaluates the rights and wrongs of ancient people.… With clear logic, the book differentiates the right and the wrong. Once he points out mistakes, there is no exception to the renowned historians like Ban Gu and Sima Qian, but he believes they are still great masters and historians” (Siku quanshu zongmu). As an independent thinker, Liu Zhiji, in his book, speaks of the way that the emperor rules and ethics of common people. At the same time, he often satirizes things about the past philosophy and loves to recount the past history. So he always has misgivings about surprising the foolish and the vulgar and being accused of committing

178

B. LI

unavoidable crime at that time. Even he fears that his book will be viewed as insignificant and vanished without much trace, and eventually, those men of vision will not see it. Then, he “holds his volumes of the book with tears, and even sheds bloody tears.” This scene is reminiscent of the historian Sima Qian who broke into sobbing in his essay Baorenanshu (A Letter to Renan). However, the justice of heaven still prevails. As Sima Qian has become the great recorder of the time after he creates the masterpiece Historical Records (Shiji), Liu Zhiji has become the outstanding historical thinker with his great book Shitong. The recorder records; the knowledgeable know. The theory of historiography created by Liu Zhiji is known to many people, so it deserves to be called the theory of historical talent (charm), historical learning (scholarship) and historical knowledge (thought). Based on the records of The Story of Liu Zixuan (Liu Zhiji) from the Old History of the Tang Dynasty (Jiutangshu),25 Zheng Weizhong, then Minister of Ministry of Rites, once asked him why there are many scholars but few historical talents. He then answered: The historical talent has three advantages, and very few men in the world possess them, so it is very rare. They include talent, scholarship and vision. For the knowledgeable man without talent, there is a situation: a man with a hundred hectares of field and carts of gold can make the foolish make a living, but he cannot do a good job in caring for businessmen. For the talented man without learning, there is a situation: a man with ingenuity and craftsmanship cannot make his own buildings without basic tools in the family.

He thinks that talent, learning, and knowledge must be put together and they are essential. In particular, emphasis should be placed upon historical knowledge. He says, “If someone has made the most of his learning and has had a good command of knowledge, he cannot find the goodness of honest and kind men when he sees them and fails to recognize his mistakes when he meets contradictions and conflicts” (from the chapter Miscellaneous Talks of All About Historiography). As Confucius said, “You should become a gentlemanly Confucius scholar rather than being a Confucius scholar like a base person.” By borrowing this saying, he therefore views “history” as the history of gentleman and the history of mean person; the former refers to the history compiled by Sima Qian who seeks the fact from the truth while the latter refers to the history compiled by Wei Shou who curries favor with the powerful class. And people call the latter mean history. In fact, there is an implicit explanation of ethical standards of history. During the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Xuecheng introduced the aspect of ethical standard of history and said, “Of talent, vision, leaning and ethical standard, the last one is most important.”26 The four aspects are not just targeted at those in the school of history and it also applies to journalists or reporters. As for this, Mr. Gan Xifen has made such explanations:

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

179

The scholarship of history means mastering rich knowledge (of history). With a good command of abundant materials, one can have a good foundation, deal with all kinds of things with his pen, and create good articles. Today, the number of news journalist with solid foundation of knowledge is limited, and many people are ordered to engage in interview and report. In this case, they cannot attract the attention of readers, and in turn their articles are also lifeless. As a result, their talent is stifled, and it is a pity for them.

The talent of history means expressing insights. Even though there is much to say, the essay is pedestrian, lacks the trend of developments and is devoid of climax and anticlimax. So these historical books are not good and these news reports and critical essays are not good, too. The vision of history means the vision of pursuing scholarship. This means that the man has the vision of telling the right apart from the wrong and the courage to judge merits and faults. With ingenuity, one can explicate one’s own independent views. With a big picture in mind, he can use words to describe the world. By taking truth as the standard, he can measure and review things in the world. This is seen as real vision, which should be possessed by historians and journalists. The ethical standard of history refers to the ethics and quality of historian. Historians must be honest and selfless and they should not be threatened by the power, nor tempted by the money. He can write a justly historical book, which stands the test of time and stands the criticism of later generations. If one looks here and there, fears this and that and fawns on others without principle, he will not create good books and these books will be eliminated by the history and slandered by later generations. Such historical ethics possessed by historians also applies to news workers. When journalists are writing the contemporary history of the time, they must follow the truth and take a people-centered approach to report the latest truth to the people…If Chinese journalists cannot become historians of integrity, curries favor with the powerful class, are eager to get money while creating rumors, divulging secrets and avoiding disasters, the life of news comes to an end (Research on Journalism and Communication in Chinese Mainland mainly edited by Chen Shimin). In a word, talent, scholarship, vision, and ethical standard can actually be boiled down to one saying by Mr. Li Dazhao: “With justice on the shoulder, one can write good articles with good pen.” At that time, a close friend of Liu Zhiji called Xu Jian once said, “It is only proper to see this book as the benchmark.” But today, our reporters might as well take this as their motto.

All About Historiography (Shitong) and “Zhibi” Liu Zhiji’s theory of talent, learning, and vision can be regarded as the basis of his theory of historiography. The book All About Historiography is full of insightful ideas. In the Chapter of Self-introduction which is extensive, what

180

B. LI

interests us most is still about the discussions on compiling the history because they are mostly related to the record of events. In other words, they are linked with all items in the process of communication, which are both principled and methodological. The so-called Zhibi “Give truthful accounts” refers to an approach of compiling history, meaning that the compiler needs to straightly write down facts without any act of concealment. In accordance with Mr. Fan Wenlan, he (1965: 737) said: When All about Historiography (Shitong) discusses the compilation of history, zhibi(give truthful accounts) becomes the central thought. There are chapters Zhishu pian (chapter of direct writing) and Qubi pian (chapter of distorted writing), which have detailed discussions from right and wrong aspects. In other chapters, the contention is: what is zhibi (give truthful accounts)? In the second part of chapter of Zashuo (Miscellaneous Talks), there is a kind of precise explanation: “The direct writing means not concealing truth and not erasing the beauty of history, so when writing the book, it should be good for commendation and derogation and when not writing the book, it should not be bad for admonishment”. But how can we do better in giving truthful accounts? By summarizing what is told in the book All about Historiography (Shitong), we can have four elements: ethical standard of history, vision of history, scholarship of history and talent of history. (Fan Wenlan 1965: 737)

Then we talk about the thoughts of All About Historiography (Shitong) based on zhibi (give truthful accounts), which is the dominant trend of school of history, a tradition that has inherited for a long time when Confucius compiled and revised The Spring and Autumn Annals. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once advocated this tradition, believing that “the school of history should promote the good and criticize the bad so that this practice can serve as admonishments for later people.”27 In the fourteenth year of reigning title Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong, the emperor told his minister Fang Xuanling: “If there is good practice, we don’t need to talk about it; if there is bad practice, we can also view it as admonishment to help us to correct mistakes by ourselves.” Such perception is really inspiring. In general, the ruler likes to hear words that are agreeable to the ear and tends to hear words of praising his good practice. And who is willing to hear words that jar on the ear? But Emperor Taizong believes that bad thing can serve as an admonishment to help people correct themselves. From this point of view, if one is not ambitious and confident enough, he cannot do that. So when the emperor reads those implicit words about the Crisis of the Gate of Xuanwu, he cannot help criticizing: “You historian officials, why do you use implicit language? It is more suitable to cut ornate phrases and directly tell the truth” (also from the Chapter of Valuing Confucianism). However, Liu Zhiji attaches greater importance to the matter of direct writing, and this is directly linked with his understanding of the function and meaning of communication. For him, everything in the world, either in heaven or on earth, goes on very quickly, so all will “find it shameful that they haven’t

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

181

achieved meritorious services at that time and have gone unnoticed by hating the world.” Up from emperor and down to the ordinary people, they are eager to seek merit and fame. Why? “They all want to make them immortal by doing things.” So how can they become immortal? This can only depend upon the function of communication through generation to generation. To be specific, it depends on the records of historians. He said: What can be called “immortal”? It is because good fame lasts long. If there is no bamboo slip in the world, there is no historical official. If our time sees a constant stream of historical officials and the bamboo slip always exists and even if people no longer exists, the events recorded by historians will perpetuate.

If there is no historical official, so when King Yao and King Shun with noble character and King Jie and King Zhou with cruelty are dead, there are no differentiation between good and bad. Finally, they will disappear in the end. Yet if bamboo slip perpetuates, so even though the one is dead, his commendatory words and conducts are brilliant and exist forever in the world. “From this aspect, learning from history and using it are of great help; actually, the current primary task is the important principle and work of the state” (from the outer chapters of All About Historiography [Shitong]). The task is important, so it is a big thing! Therefore, we need to directly record this matter, neither concealing the bad thing nor doing injustice to the beauty. Only in this way can the good practice be known far and wide and can the notorious thing be brought to light. And this can play a role in admonishing the good practice and warning the bad practice, so those rebellious ministers are fearful after Confucius compiled the book Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu). But if there is no standard to measure the right and the wrong and there occurs a phenomenon of mixing trueness and falseness, it will lead to a situation where people will be slandered at the time during their lifetime and spell troubles for later generations during their death. The discussion on “giving truthful accounts” becomes clear when we determine the precondition of the “great power of writing books” (from the second part of Zashuo [Miscellaneous Talks] of All About Historiography [Shitong]) and identify the role of history in integrating the society and holding together a country. According to the records of the book Explaining Simple and Analyzing Compound Characters (Shuowen jiezi),28 the word ‘shi’(history) means ‘zhong’ in one’s hand, yet “zhong means neutral.” In other words, compiling history must be objective and impartial, so writing must be straight and impartial. Therefore, because of this, Liu Zhiji always spares no efforts to comment on it. In the chapter of “direct writing” of All About Historiography (Shitong), Liu said, “If one is partial and distorts the truth, he will be sneered by people who in turn considers that he takes the mean approach; if one is impartial and honest, he will be praised by people who in turn considers that he takes the judicious approach.” For those rebellious ministers and subjects, historical officials should directly reveal their wrongdoings to make their bad

182

B. LI

fame public and their notoriety will be recorded for a thousand years. And this practice made by historical officials will invite troubles and even bring the risk of death to them. As a popular saying goes, “Man of honesty and integrity comes to a miserable end while man with meanness instead lives a wealthy life.” However, since ancient times, men of high endeavor have valued reputation; men of hero values integrity. For them, it is better to die than to suffer shame. Therefore, every good history tends to “speak straight about the truth and never refrains from revealing it”; “write down what they see and hear without concealing the fact.” In the Chapter of Distorting Facts to Hide Truth, on the one hand, he is resentful of those who are partial and wrong in recording the history; on the other hand, he shows sympathy for these men, because in the past, we are told that those who speak directly about the truth are sentenced to death, whereas those who conceal the truth are not accused of crime. In this situation, we are required to not fear national politics and laws and do justice to our own personal affairs, but the common people are very difficult to make this possible. So he sighs: “To record the truth is also difficult.” In fact, in his eyes, there are three levels for the school of history. The first level is to bring to light good and bad practices and not to shy away from the powerful. In general, “those who are learned and enjoy fame at a certain period of time are classified into the lowest level” (from the Chapter of Discrimination of State Offices of All About Historiography [Shitong]). “Although the phenomenon of distorting the history exists in every dynasty in China” (from the Chapter of Distorting facts to Hide Truth of All About Historiography [Shitong]) we should not give up the ideal of speaking about the truth of history. In Liu’s view, there is no need to record every piece of news when we speak about truth of writing. We must bear in mind one thing: tell the right apart from the wrong and differentiate both good and bad so that merits and demerits can be recorded while the good practice can be promoted and the bad can be punished. For the good and bad of direct writing, the two belong to two aspects of one thing, and one is inside and another outside. Provided that we do not separate the right from the wrong and are indulged in directly revealing the thing, we may put both gentleman and base person in the same class. In this way, we cannot see the communication effects of “punishing the evil and promoting the good, creating a clean environment for the future and making that immortal” (from the Chapter of Passing Judgments of All About Historiography [Shitong]). In the book, Liu repeats discussing the matter of good and evil from the moral standpoint. And he holds that “we humans know neither about what is good nor about what is bad” (from the Chapter of Discrimination of State Offices of All About Historiography [Shitong]). By clearly identifying the good and the bad, we can really speak about the truth through direct writing. However, the purpose of direct writing is to let later people see how they are equal to men of worth and examine themselves when they are unworthy. To further put it, history compilers should take the dominant approach of “positive report” when it comes to compiling the past history and the present history. He says, “Historical officials should

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

183

focus mostly on good aspect, with bad aspect as the secondary level” (from the second part of the Chapter of Miscellaneous Talks of All About Historiography [Shitong]). He even adds, “There are fewer kind and good people than unkind and bad people in the world, so those who write the history on the bamboo slip just record good things” (from the Chapter of Personalities of All About Historiography [Shitong]). And he objects to recording bad and indecent things. In his view, “Among those without talent and base persons, some conceal their bad conducts and some are neglectful of their duty, but they can normally receive handsome salary. Thus their bad conduct should be exposed as much as possible and their crime should be punished too. Is it a bad practice to collect their mean conducts and record them in detail?” (from the Chapter of Personalities of All About Historiography [Shitong]). Nevertheless, he especially shows resentment for the news like the tabloid because it leads to no line of demarcation between trueness and falseness and the right and the wrong. It is “not good for customs and standards and for the Confucian ethical code” (from the Chapter of Miscellaneous Descriptions of All About Historiography [Shitong]) and it cannot finally be printed and spread for years to come. For this reason, he admonishes, “For a writer, he cannot be too circumspect enough!” (from the Chapter of Personalities of All About Historiography [Shitong]). All in all, for an incisive writer, he “exemplifies what defines the theme or purpose and retains the cardinal part, instead of recording details of everything and not neglecting any insignificant content” (from the second part of the Chapter of Miscellaneous Talks of All About Historiography [Shitong]). If we say that “adopting the right approach” is the spirit of direct writing and “differentiating the class” is the standpoint of direct writing, “getting rid of something flashy and gleaning true information” are the basic principles of direct writing. Needless to say, for the historian, the matter of truth is of vital importance, for he must adhere to the principle of truth and views “true record” as the overriding principle of recoding words and stories if he wants to bring his ideas to the whole book. But the difficulty of trueness lies in practice rather than awareness. Though we all cherish the life of the school of history—trueness, there is nothing more fragile than this kind of life. The damage of trueness is not only caused by falsified factors but by many objective factors. For example, in the process of communication, the information will somehow suffer deviation or infidelity in a natural or unnatural way. There is a so-called saying, “From the past to the present time, there is always something standing in the way of historical compilation in terms of seeing and listening to facts. In one way or another, the line of demarcation is blurred, and people are unable to discriminate it” (from the Chapter of Narratives of All About Historiography [Shitong]). This is a situation that people often call: Sometimes, more strangely, “When people talk about the same thing, it is divided into two different aspects.” This is caused by the different sources of information. “Due to the fact that there is difference among speakers, the writer

184

B. LI

or compiler cannot define the right and the wrong. In consequence, difference between speakers always exists. So the writer or the compiler needs to differentiate this point, is good at thinking and keeps himself from doubts, thus leaving truth rather than falseness” (from the Chapter of Narratives of All About Historiography [Shitong]). Liu Zhiji warns, “It is hard to believe in false words and rumors because they have no truth. Hearsays are not consistent with the reason whereas those gossips in alleys run counter to the truth. Words that are greatly different invite doubts, so it is fit for the scholar to think it over” (from the Chapter of Narratives of All About Historiography [Shitong]). Perhaps, these comments on the trueness of history are not enough to surprise us, but Liu Zhiji possesses an extraordinary idea: letting this idea of trueness be incorporated into the dialects and idioms said by real historical figures. On many occasions, Liu mentions about the author of Chronicle of the State of Qi Wang Shao, believing that he “aspires to have a real record of things” (the Chapter of Narratives of All About Historiography [Shitong]). And Wang records stories of the time with spoken language in the real sense of the word, making one vividly familiar with the scene. In this sense, local dialects are reflected here (from the Chapter of Words and Speeches of All About Historiography [Shitong]). In the Chronicle of the State of Qi, there are many records of indecent things and the author casts aspersions on vulgarity. In spite of this, all these are not fabricated by the author at will, but they are a manifest of the real social situation at that time. If we castigate the historian for the abovementioned situation, it seems as if the ugly were reproaching the mirror. Therefore, “In this case, reproaching the historical official is like a scene: someone who looks an ugly lady (Momu) in the mirror thinks this is the fault of the mirror” (from the Chapter of Words and Speeches of All About Historiography [Shitong]). Liu is not in favor of using elegant words that are contrary to the objective reality to compile the history, holding that “Such words are false and is bad for reflecting the truth of the matter. Ornate words will rob the matter of trueness, so this is a big mistake” (from the Chapter of Words and Speeches of All About Historiography [Shitong]). In the second section of Miscellaneous Talks of Shitong, he cites examples from positive and negative aspects. In the History of the Zhou State, when speaking of Emperor Yuan of Liang State, Emperor Yuwen Tai of Western Wei said, “It can be said that Xiao Yi (the emperor of Liang) is abandoned by the heaven, who can help him to rise? Is this from the Six Classics or from what Yuwen Tai has said?” In the book Historical Records of Liang Taiqiing (Liang Taiqing shilu), when Emperor Yuan sent Wang Chen to the State of Wei, Zhangsun Jian said to Yuern Tai: “All eyes of Wang Chen do not move.” And Yuwen Tai (Duke of Anding) said, “Blind escort comes here, how can he blame me?” This is similar to what is recorded in Guandong fengsu zhuan, which is compiled by Wang Shao and Song Xiaowang. This is indeed a true record.

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

185

In fact, according to the Historical Records (Shiji),29 when Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, angrily reprimands Li Sheng, the former said, “You the scholar are lost in public affairs.” And in the New Accounts of Social Talk (Shishuo xinyu),30 when Le Guang mentioned about Wei Jie, the former said, “Which family can produce this child?” In the eyes of later people, these dialects are quaint and elegant, but they are simple words that are widely spread among the people. So Liu sighs, “In the world, customs are changing; later people observe the past as they observe the present. But the writer dare not write the present and dare emulate the past. Do we have doubts?” (from the Chapter of Words and Speeches of All About Historiography [Shitong]). With so many comments on the principle of direct writing, we have to turn to the style of writing too. “For the writing of history, we must focus on the style of writing” (from the Chapter of Recording Documents of All About Historiography [Shitong]). As for the requirements of style of writing, Liu Zhiji highlights two facets: one is focus on narrative and the other is to emphasize the importance of conciseness. As he writes, “The beauty of national history lies in the craft of narrative; the main focus of narration is conciseness” (from the Chapter of Narratives of All About Historiography [Shitong]). The so-called craft of narration lies in directly giving truthful facts like the history and “speaking with the truth.” Liu Zhiji divides the approach of narration into four aspects: first, directly record one’s talent and conduct; second, only write one’s stories; third, know something through one’s words; fourth, use the genre of Zanlun (Miscellaneous Comments) to make one’s writing style clear. For example, in the book Factual Evidence from Ancient Books (Guwen shangshu),31 when it relates to the virtue of King Yao, there are no other remarks except for talks about his “respect and modesty.” This is the first aspect of narration. The second aspect of narration means objectively recording what people do. And before Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty embarked on the eastern expedition, he held a swearing ceremony in front of the army, enumerating evil practices of Emperor Zhou of Shang Dynasty: “Burning good and loyal officials and killing pregnant women with knife.” This is the third aspect of narration. In the comments of Chronicle of Emperor Xiaowen of the History of the Former Han Dynasty (Hanshu),32 the writer said, “King Wu refuses to go to court by shaming ill.” And this is the fourth aspect of narration, but this event is not mentioned earlier in the book. Not only can these four approaches be used alone, but they can also be adopted together. In this way, combined approaches can run through the narration, thus making the writing impressive. Liu Zhiji sets a great store by the conciseness of narrative, as he says, “When conciseness is possible, the meaning is great” (from the Chapter of Narratives of All About Historiography [Shitong]). In his opinion, the standard of conciseness can almost be matched with one standard raised by Song Yu, a famous writer, in his masterpiece Dengtuzi zhuan (an essay commenting on the beauty of girls) in respect of the beauty of lady: “It is too long when even a little is increased, and it is short when even a little is cut (here it

186

B. LI

refers to the height of a lady).” Of course, he does not seek conciseness for conciseness’s sake. Instead, he actually wishes the article could be concise with adequate facts. So “this creation will be very beautiful.” He emphasizes, “Though words are concise, the truth is the key”, not favoring “disorderly and lengthy words.” He hopes that “Close words can be used to reflect the theme; simple words can be used to express deep meaning. When words are done, the meaning still exists.” In truth, there are four levels to define writing: first, using simple words to express deep meaning; second, using profound words to express profound meaning; third, using simple words to express simple meaning; fourth, using profound words t express simple meaning. Undoubtedly, Liu gives the utmost importance to the highest level of using profound words to express simple meaning. He introduces two ways to explain how to become concise: “The first is to omit the sentence; the second is to omit words and phrases” (from the Chapter of Narratives of All About Historiography [Shitong]). This strategy is similar to what Mr. Lu Xun advocates: delete unimportant words, phrases, and sentences as much as possible. For example, in the Story of Zhang Cang in the History of the Former Han Dynasty (Qianhanshu, a.k.a History of the Han Dynasty [Hanshu]), there is a sentence: He is old and has no teeth. Liu thinks the sentence should be cut in a concise way, changing it into “Old, he has no teeth.” It can be seen that the number of sentence is reduced, but the meaning remains unchanged. Liu once pointed out that “saving the sentence is easy, but saving words is difficult. If we can sense this point, then we can talk about history” (from the Chapter of Narratives of All About Historiography [Shitong]). If one does not know how to omit words, this means that he does not know how to compile and revise history. It is obvious that Liu pays particular attention to the omission of words, so it is worthy of our reflection. Either for the craft of narration or the beauty of conciseness, Liu Zhiji advocates the use of writing style featuring simplicity and naturalness to compile the history and get rid of ornate and false words. He is keenly aware of the fact that being simple and natural can stay close to the truth and all ornate and false words inevitably damage the trueness of matter. In other words, “When flashiness is gone, truth exists; when dreg is gone, essence exists” (from the Chapter of Narratives of All About Historiography [Shitong]). The ornate style adopted by Xu Ling and Yu Xin is not applied to the writing of historical biography. “If the writing style of Xu is applied to historical biography, we will see a playful scene, and it is not true” (from the Chapter of Evaluation of Talent of All About Historiography [Shitong]). From this point of view, Mr. Gan Xifen advocates that the major of journalism should be moved from the school of Chinese to the school of history and the degree of education should be changed from the Bachelor of Art (BA) to the Bachelor of History (BH). In this way, it is better to train more qualified journalists. In fact, those students who have long soaked in the deep atmosphere of literature will naturally apply the approach of literature to the report. But this style of using ornate words

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

187

caused by literature will end up disrupting, hiding and distorting the objective truth if they cannot do well through such words. So Liu Zhiji said, “The power of writing history is great, and if we compare the advantages and disadvantages of writing history with those of writing poems and songs” (from the Chapter of Miscellaneous Talks of All About Historiography [Shitong]), it is still of realistic significance today. Finally, I want to add that Liu Zhiji’s Shitong as a masterpiece stands alone and tall in history, but it is not the most classic book and finally become the lost creation. The background is based on the collective understanding of communicative thoughts of the Tang People. To put it in a figurative way, we can watch mountains rising one after another, but in the graceful song of “a bright moon gently rippling on the river and slowly rising and appearing between clouds,” we can hear the spiritual echoes from the concerto made of these views. As for the consciousness of direct writing, Wu Jing, close friend of Liu Zhiji and compiler of A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign (Zhenguan zhengyao),33 asked then prime minister Zhang Yue impolitely when the latter compelled the former to correct one sentence in his record: “Why not call it ‘Zhibi (give truthful accounts)’ if you favor human feelings!34 ” Let me take another example. In June, 812, the seventh year of reigning title Yuanhe of Emperor Xianzong, after Emperor Xianzong of the Tang found lots of ornate words in the book called Records of Emperor Suzong of the Tang, he therefore said to the historical official, “To record a thing, we must point out truth, instead of spurious and ornate narration” (also see Zhenguan zhengyao). And we now shift our attention to Li Jifu, the author of Illustrated Chorography of Counties in the Period of Yuanhe, a famous geographic book which has spanned from the Tang Dynasty to the present day. One day, when he answered questions regarding the book Shizhengji in front of His Majesty, Li almost quoted what is mentioned in the book All About Historiography (Shitong), “The good history lies in not falsifying beauty and not concealing bad or evil truth” (also see Zhenguan zhengyao). Moreover, Li Ao, a historical official in the middle period of the Tang, has clearly inherited the theory and proposition of Liu Zhiji through a paragraph: You should promote the good and warn the bad while recording the great services of the court though direct writing. You should recount loyal and honest merits and record bad practices of treacherous ministers and sycophants and pass it down from one generation to another. This is the responsibility of the historical official. Emphasis given to showiness will make one neglectful of the truth of matter, whereas focus on ornaments will make one forgetful of the reason and principle of matter. Thus the article will lose the ancient style of Six Classics and the record of matter is not as true as Siam Qian has done. Today, I here mention a lot, but I just want to point out the truth of matter and directly record original words, so we see good or bad practices can be based on fact and truth. (Also see Volume No. 64 of Tanghuiyao)

188

B. LI

The Tang Dynasty is the most glorious period in the history of China and this period also witnesses the most dynamic time of communication activity in history. As a result of this, the Tang has presented a splendid period in which its people have contributed to many ideas of communication. Through the abovementioned observation, we have sorted out the ideas of communication in the Tang Dynasty from several important perspectives. There is little doubt that categories here are far from adequate and the analysis needs to be further conducted. A case in point is that there is a deep connotation of inheriting the past and charting new course when it comes to the consciousness of communication that comes from the Ancient Literature Movement. Here I want to borrow what Qian Zhongshu, a famous scholar in modern history, has said in the Selected Annotations of the Song Poems. Though we aim to get the taste of the sea through one drop of water, we finally see such a result: we just use one brick by imagination to create the grandeur of the Great Wall. But we find all is well because we have seen the greatness of communication ideas of the Tang people. Perhaps we haven’t enjoyed the beauty of these ideas, but we find our discussion rewarding.

Notes 1. Zhao Tingyang, Cultural Strength [J], China Reading Weekly, 1997 (April 2nd). 2. Hu Taichun, The History of Modern Chinese Journalism, Preface II. Taiyuan: Shanxi Education Press, 1987. 3. Selected Works of Carl Marx and Frederic Engels, 2nd Edition. Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1995, Volume No. 1, p. 98. 4. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 159), Comprehensive Mirror in the Aid of Governance, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 5. “Biography of Li E,” History of the Sui Dynasty (Suishu), Volume No. 66. History of the Sui Dynasty is a book recording the official dynastic history of the Sui Dynasty written by Wei Zheng. 6. Qian Zhongshu, Limited Views: Essays on Ideas and Letters. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1979, Volume No. 4, p. 1551. 7. Jushiji (Volume No. 41), Collected Works by a Householder, is a 50-volume collection of essays, poems and proses of the renowned Song literatus and stateman Ouyang Xiu. 8. Qian Zhongshu, Limited Views: Essays on Ideas and Letters. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1979. 9. “Government Forms,” Chap. 2 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign, Volume No. 1. 10. “Commandments on the Crown Prince and Other Princes,” Chap. 1 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign, Volume No. 4. 11. “Loyalty and Righteousness,” Chap. 4 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign (Zhenguan zhengyao), Volume No. 5. 12. “Accepting Admonitions,” Chap. 8 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign (Zhenguan zhengyao), Volume No. 2.

6

THOUGHTS ON NEWS COMMUNICATION

189

13. “Accepting Admonitions,” Chap. 2 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign (Zhenguan zhengyao), Volume No. 2. 14. “Government Forms,” Chap. 14 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign (Zhenguan zhengyao), Volume No. 1. 15. Li Bin, Introduction to Communication (the Third Edition). Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2013, p. 160. 16. “Government Forms,” Chap. 6 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign, Volume No. 1. 17. “Government Forms,” Chap. 7 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign, Volume No. 1. 18. “Government Forms”, Chap. 2 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign (Zhenguan zhengyao), Volume No. 1. 19. “Appointing Men of Talents,” Chap. 3 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign (Zhenguan zhengyao), Volume No. 2. 20. “Rulers’ Ways. Set of Theory,” Chap. 2 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign (Zhenguan zhengyao) (Gezhi Jilun Edition), Volume No. 1. 21. Fine Stories from the Sui and Tang Dynasties (Sui Tang Jia Hua), Volume No. I. 22. “Biography of Hao Chujun,” in The Old History of the Tang Dynasty, Volume No. 84. 23. “Government Forms,” Chap. 14 in A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign, Volume No. 1. 24. Shitong, All About Historiography, is one of China’s oldest books containing a systematic critique to historiography, compiled by the Tang scholar Liu Zhiji. 25. Jiutangshu, Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 26. Wenshi tongyi, Comprehensive Meaning of Literature and Historiography, is a book of recording the historical theories written by the Qing period philosopher, writer and historian Zhang Xuecheng. 27. Zhenguan zhengyao (The Chapter Value Confuciansim), A Compendium on Statecraft during the Zhenguan Reign, is a book of elaborating on the political vision and talent of Emperor Taizong (Li Shiming) written by the Tang scholar Wu Jing. 28. Shuowen jiezi, Explaining Simple and Analyzing Compound Characters, is the oddest and one of the most important character dictionary of ancient China, compiled by the scholar Xu Shen. 29. Shiji, Records of the Historian, is a huge book featuring biographic history, with historical events spanning over three thousand years, compiled by the great historian Sima Qian. 30. Shishuo xinyu, New Accounts of Social Talk, is a book which collects stories about the deeds and words of scholars written by Liu Yiqing, the scholar in the Southern and Northern dynasties. 31. Shangshu gushi, Factual Evidence from Ancient Books, is a book written by the Tang period scholar Li Chui. 32. Hanshu, History of the Former Han Dynasty, is a book about the official dynastic history of the Former Han Dynasty written by the Later Han period scholar Ban Gu.

190

B. LI

33. Zhenguan zhengyao, A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign, is a book of recording the important policies and measure of Emperor Taizong during 627–649, written by the scholar Wu Jing. 34. Tanghuiyao (Volume No. 64), History of Laws and Institutions of the Tang written by Wang Fu and Zhengguan zhengyao (Volume No. 7), A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhengguan Reign written by the Tang period scholar Wu Jing.

CHAPTER 7

Scholars and Their Communication

Just like a huge carriage driven by three strong horses, the journalism and communication of the Tang are powered by three major forces, namely the government level, the scholar class, and the ordinary crowd. The communication of governments or the official communication plays a dominant role in driving this “carriage.” It has great significance and steers the overall direction. Undeniably, the other two forms of communication, like two horses on both sides, also play their important parts in this process. If there are similar words used in postmodernism to describe the “three horses driving the carriage of communication of the Tang,” the official communication is linked with the category of “grand narrative” and the remaining others are related to the aspect of “personal narrative.” During the reign of Emperor Taizong, Li Shiming, the second ruler of the Tang Dynasty, talked one day with Chu Suiliang, a politician who was engaged in compiling the book Imperial Diaries of Court Protocol (Qijuzhu),1 and said to the latter, “If I do something wrong, will you record it in a meticulously detailed manner?” Standing beside them was Liu Ji, an assistant minister, who, after hearing Chu’s positive answers, added, “Even though Chu refrains from writing down Your Majesty’s sayings and deeds, others in the world will do so.”2 In fact, this very popular anecdote has something to do with the three forms of communication I just mentioned above. What “you (as the historian) record in detail” refers to this grand narrative associated with something official; what “others in the world will do so” refers to this personal narrative related to something common. However, the communication of governments is not so powerful because within or beyond its reach, people can play their roles in a vast space in terms of recording official information. The space like this is mostly filled by two types of communication, spoken language and written character; it is divided equally by the © The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_7

191

192

B. LI

The communication of governments

The communication of scholars

The communication of ordinary people

Fig. 7.1 Correlation of Three Forms of Communication

oral communication of common people through memory and by the literary communication of scholars through notes and essays. In the previous chapters, I have discussed the communication of governments, and in the following chapters, I will focus on other two forms of communication at that time: the communication of scholars and the communication of ordinary people. Before I begin getting to the point, I think I should make it clear that the three areas of communication, comprising the government level, the scholar class, and the ordinary crowd, have their own roles and different criterions, but they are not independent and irrelevant somehow. This being often the case, they are so deeply interwoven with one another, with such greater tolerance that you will sometimes be confused about their relations. This complex situation, also intricate, is visibly shown in the Fig. 7.1. In the chart, the three round circles represent the three areas of communication. They have their own functions, which are clearly marked in the blank sheets of the picture. As the slash parts show, they also have their crossconnections. By the way, as the black part reveals, the three overlap otherwise. Therefore, we need to take a dialectic view on the connection of the three parts. On the one hand, they form a distinct system because of their traits and run in parallel with inbuilt “rules.” On the other hand, they are open and compatible with each other, thus there is an integral pattern in which the three are inseparable. Like a scroll of picture with landscapes, sometimes simple but complex, and sometimes separate but unified, the journalism and communication of the Tang Dynasty are unfolded in all dimensions.

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

193

The Evolution of Shih (Scholar) Admittedly, “many a scholar holds that in the feudal society, a kind of communicative activity in the scholar-official class is important as well, in addition to the official communication dominated by imperial edicts and statements and the communication led by the ordinary people through mouths and ears” (Xu Peiting and Qiu Zhengyi 1994: 50). Nonetheless, when we look beyond the communication of governments and of common people and single out the communication of scholars, we have to raise a logical question: Are scholars not the common people? Yes, this is really true of the ancient division of social class, which has long juxtaposed four kinds of people, including scholar (educated person), farmer, worker, and businessman. And the scholar is placed before all others, generally defined as “the first of Four Kinds of People.” Now that the past has proposed such juxtaposition, why do we tell the scholar class apart from the common people and make it far removed from conventional court officials and common people, thus leading to a situation of tripod? What is the basis for dividing the three kinds of communication, the so-called carriage driven by three magnificent horses? Had this question not been answered, we would have gone no further than to justify the reason to comment on the communication of scholars. Shih-jen (shiren士人) generally referring to scholar, also known as shih (shi 士) in ancient classics, is thought to be a pivotal class in the Chinese culture and tradition. Yu Yingshi, a representative of overseas new Confucianism, has carried out a systematic and profound study on the scholar in the Chinese history. In the Scholar and Chinese Culture, he (1987) straightly wrote: The tradition of “shih” culture has gone through a history of at least 2500 years—the earliest one represented by Confucius in the periods of Spring and Autumn and Warring States. As a unique legacy, this is a phenomenon with no match in the world in the cultural history. In the Chinese history, there appears a “scholar” class which has started far back and run a long, long course, the one that seems to embody the characteristics of Chinese culture and speaks volumes about the cultural differences between China and the Western world.

Speaking of the ancient shih, people are always reminded of an educated and cultured person or a “scholar-official.” Historically, the image of shih has changed a lot. Back in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the shih class was of the lowest rank in the aristocratic class, above it being the “official” class and below the “common crowd.” “Then in the period of the Warring States, the status of shih shifted from the lowest of the noble class to the highest of the ordinary people” (ibid.: 86); a trend then came: the more members the scholar class attracts, the broader the connotation of shih is. Roughly speaking, shih combines men of letter with high culture and warriors with gallantry and errantry. As people often say, “Two peaches kill three warriors” (which is an allusion from the book Yanzi chunqiu “Historical Stories of Yan Ying,” the famous politician of the State Qi, who, played a trick to kill three

194

B. LI

warriors with two peaches) and as the verse goes, “The desolate wind freezes Yishui River, the doomed brave is gone forever” (a popular poem from the article The Emperor and The Assassin by Xiu Xiang, the famous writer of the Western Han Dynasty)—all well depicting different images of shih. Although the scholar class and the common people were then in the same class, the former were transformed into “scholar-civilians (in the first year of the reign of King Cheng)” mentioned in the book Guliang Annals (Guliangzhuan). But on the whole, the scholar is the one doing mental work, which contrasts greatly with the common people for physical work, as described in the book Discourses of the States (Guoyu)3 : The scholar class has different tasks in different periods of the whole day: teaching in the morning, engaging in scholarship during the day and reviewing their knowledge in the evening; they check whether there are no mistakes or errors at night before sleeping. All, down from the ordinary people, go to work as the sun rises and go to the bed after the sun sets, leading to a situation where no one loafs on their job every day. The ruler worries much about state affairs and the common people lend support to them—the teachings of the deceased kings.

The chün-tzu (junzi君子), a superior gentleman, is a perfect example of shih-jen (generally refers to scholar) who deports himself. In his book Konfuzianismus and Taoismus, a masterpiece of a “great layman” in the research of sinology, Max Weber (1987) once wrote a chapter about the scholar class, of which one section talked about the “paradigm of superior gentleman.” He said, “A superior gentleman is the one with noble birth, outstanding merits, long-standing self-improvement and canonical words and deeds. He is the paragon in the world and the creator of immortal maxim.” When we put aside these commendable words of the master and just concentrate on talking about how the scholar becomes a superior gentleman and how he admiringly pursues a high state of such a person, we are actually seeing “Hsiao-jen (xiaoren 小 人) mean person” as the object of reference. In the Analects, Confucius remarked, “A wise and good man is composed and happy; a mean man is always worried and full of distress.” “A wise man sees what is right in a question; a mean man, what is advantageous to himself,” he added. All these ring true, though. So you can know what is deemed to be xiaoren (not necessarily a bad person and originally referred to as a mean person). In the same way, you can also understand what people perceive as chüntzu or shih. According to Yu Yingshi, shih was called yu-shih (youshi游士, a political strategist) in the pre-Qin period and shih-ta-fu (shidafu士大夫, officialscholar) after the Qing and Han dynasties. “Following the Qin and Han, shih was gradually considered to be an educated person or one who put their efforts into cultural undertakings of all kinds and was evolved into an important profession in the society in a stark contrast with other professions such

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

195

as farmer and worker” (Feng Erkang 1994: 743). As a result, shih was generally synonymous to the literati. In the initial part of New Accounts of Social Talk (Shishuo xinyu), a scholar leader, by the name of Chen Fan (polite name was Zhongju) in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, was frequently featured and described as an example of noblemen. It wrote, “His words match his true identity as a scholar and his actions exemplify his conduct as a do-gooder. He drives the carriage to take up an official post with the aim of clarifying the shortcomings and righting the wrongs in the world.” In the Tang and Sui dynasties, favored by k’ochü (keju科举) system (the imperial examination system through which the government previously selected officials), the scholar class was placed in a new social order, where their status was greatly elevated. For literary scholars in the Tang Dynasty, the chin-shih (jinshi进 士) program, one of the programs of k’o-chü system and a system starting from Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, (those who pass the highest level of examination organized by the central government deserve the title of chinshih (the title gained after passing the highest level of imperial examination) in the past), designed to select officials through the examination of literary essays, was highly valued to the point that “scholars would feel shameful if their success resulted not from literature”.4 Wang Dingbao, a writer from the period of the Five Dynasties, created the book Anecdotes of Poets and Scholars from the Tang (Tangzhiyan),5 which provided many anecdotal stories about the imperial examination of the Tang. The followings are a good proof of the chin-shih program as a prominent status in the eyes of the Tang people: The chin-shih program, originated from the Sui Dynasty, reached its height in the periods of Zhenguan (Emperor Taizong’s reign) and Yonghui (Emperor Gaozong’s reign). For senior officials, in the absence of chin-shih title, there was a still a fly in the ointment even if they owned a high rank. Sui-kung (suigong岁贡) refering to candidates sent to the capital’s imperial academy from all regions in the country, usually numbered no less than eight to nine hundred. The scholar who passed the examination of chin-shih program was praised as the “official in white robe” and also nicknamed “first-rank white gown”. It was said that only officials could wear robes of blue, purple and crimson colors according to their rank; the ordinary people could wear white and black clothes. “It is late to pass the examination of ming-ching (mingjing明经) program (refers to programs used to select officials started from the reign of Emperor Wu in the western Han Dynasty) at thirty; it is early to pass the examination of chin-shih program at fifty”—a truth that says much about the difficulty of passing the chin-shih program. Among the talented people who cut an impressive dash and know how to become flexible were Su Qin and Zhang Yi (strategists) with great eloquence, Jing Ke and Nie Zheng (heroes) with bold spirit, Zhong You (worthy man) with much courage, Zhang Liang (counselor) with surprising sagacity, Sang Hongyang with calligraphy and math and Dong Fangshuo with good humor—all of them displaying their flairs in obscurity. People improve their moral character and acted prudently even though they end up retiring from the official world. And there is no shortage of people who would rather persist in the examination site till their death. Hence was an old line “The policy

196

B. LI

from Emperor Taizong is so farsighted, men of ideals in the world for him are so dedicated”.6

Feng Yan was said to be a scholar with chin-shih title in the Tianbao period of Emperor Xuanzong’s reign. In the Story of Feng Yan, the recounts of his anecdotes reflected a “popular trend of the time” (termed by Li Zhao) about passing the exam of chin-shih program from a different angle: During Emperor Xuanzong’s reign, the culture of scholar was the order of the day. Every year, the number of those with chin-shih title allocated to the Shangshu Division (one of three leading power organs of the Tang government) was not less than one thousand. In the Imperial Academy, candidates mastered more tricks than their talents and formed a clique in their own circle to get profits. Known as “p’eng (朋)”, this clique would select a prestigious person to act as its leader. They colluded with powerful forces through all kinds of channels and pulled the wool over the superintendent’s eyes. If they failed in the exam, they would lead the clique to create a clamor, but the examiner could not deal with this situation.

In the Tang Dynasty, “among all programs in the imperial examination, chin-shih (the title gained after passing the highest level of imperial examination) was given the utmost importance, and those who passed it also soared to dizzy heights.”7 Of 524 prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty, there were 232 with chin-shih title, almost accounting for a half of the total (Feng Erkang, ibid.: 771). Despite this, it does not necessarily reveal the striking features and historical significance of imperial examination system. After all, the number of well-known chin-shih was reported to be less than 850 within three hundred years, according to the New Book of the Tang (Xintangshu),8 one of Twenty Four Histories of China (Mao Hanguang 1969). And this significance lies in giving birth to a social class where people climb the official ladder through study—the scholarly class. Among them, the minority can have the luck to pass the examination of chin-shih program, win distinctions and merits and pursue a high post. The rest of the majority will as always retire from the official world and stay around among the people—as an active force with all the ease of pushing forward and pushing back in a special situation and with all the power of influencing the social mood. Then, the class of scholar officially comes to the world, thus creating a blurred grey belt between the official and the ordinary people, with mixed white and black colors shown before in the chart. The people in between in the chart are neither officials nor common people, but they are closely connected with the two and exert an extensive influence on them. I just use one sentence in the Evolution of Social Structure in China, written by Mr. Feng Erkang (ibid.: 777), to describe this situation: “Under the imperial examination system, scholars are not merely a cultural group but a crowd of candidates prepared for government posts. Throughout the society, scholars are also members of an open community because it absorbs members

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

197

from the common people and trains an increasing number of official candidates for the court. Therefore, as a whole, it also plays a role in modulating the formation of other classes and blocs. From this point of view, scholars, under the influence of the imperial examination system, constitute the most dynamic part of the society.” Through investigation based on the history of society, we might as well delineate the changing process of shih in the Chinese history with the simple contours: ts’e-shih ceshi, (ceshi策士, strategist in pre-Qin periods); ju-shih rushi, (rushi儒士, Confucian scholar in the Qin and Han dynasties); mingshih mingshi, (mingshi名士, famous scholar in the Wei and Jin states); chin-shih (jinshi scholar in the Sui and Tang dynasties); and shenshih shenshi, (shenshi绅 士, gentlemanly scholar in the Ming and Qing dynasties). In spite of different changes in the appellation and tradition of scholar, his inherent charm and nature have passed down in a continuous line and remained unchanged through the ages. This is also to say, those who do mental work in the past are the present intellectuals. In other words, we can equate ancient scholars with present intellectuals. Scholars from both China and abroad tend to look on scholar or official-scholar as the “trinity of scholar, landlord and bureaucrat.” It can be seen that such definition of scholar is based on the study. If he had not been put on the top position of this trinity, scholars would, in the final analysis, have been a mere unrefined person (local tyrant or warrior), no matter how high he ranks and how much land he owns. In this sense, he is no better than a scholar. We call him a scholar not least because he is an intellectual.

The Conscience of Society With a better knowledge of Western thinking and culture, we may fathom the fact that what we call “intellectuals” has special connotations, instead of roughly classifying them as any persons who possess knowledge and culture. We all agree that as intellectuals, they should have a good command of professional knowledge and know-how so that they are capable of engaging in some mental works, such as teacher, lawyer, doctor, reporter, artist, engineer, and scientist. But if they limit all their interests to a certain sphere of profession, they deserve to be called experts rather than intellectuals. In the Western academic world, these people should be the ones who are dedicated to their work and giving their common and deep care to all public affairs related to the country, society, and world, but this kind of consideration they render must go beyond the private interests of individuals and organizations. To put it in another way, the term “intellectual” has a different connotation. This means that it is not mostly characterized by “knowledge” but by a compassionate feeling for all human beings, a strong and self-conscious spirit of transcendence, an awareness of enlightenment, an attitude of doubt, and a power of criticism. As Max Weber (1993) once said jokingly, “The word ‘meng ’ (enlightenment) in China symbolizes a state of a pig in the weeds (that is an unenlightened state).” Hence are intellectuals in the West often billed as “the conscience of society” and the exponents of basic human values, such as

198

B. LI

reason, freedom, fairness and justice, and other values. For this, Mr. Yu Shiying (1987: 2) pointed out: The basic character of “intellectual” described by Western scholars bears much resemblance to that of shih in China. In history, Confucius firstly brought to light the Way a scholar aspired to pursue, which already prescribed shih as the defender of basic values. He once put his efforts into teaching activities and one of his disciple Tsengtzu (Zengzi) made this concept of shih clearer by saying, “An educated gentleman cannot but be resolute and broad-minded, for he has taken up a heavy responsibility and a long course. Is it not a heavy responsibility, which is to practice benevolence? Is it a long course, which will end only with his death?” This original tenet has had a far-reaching impact upon “shih” and unleashed its power more frequently in a time of “no Way in the world”. Thus, historical records depicted the leaders such as Li Ying as having a high expectation for their own integrity and taking promoting rites of Confucianism and telling the right apart from the wrong in the society as their own responsibility. Another case in point is about Chen Fan and Fan Pang, who “aspire to clarify the shortcomings and right the wrongs in the world.” In the Northern Song Dynasty, an age of inheriting the past tradition of no integrity and no simplicity in the society, Fan Zhongyan, a renowned politician and writer, advocated the idea of “being the first to worry about state affairs and the last to enjoy personal happiness”. It represents a strong call which drives us to place national interests above anything else, concern ourselves about the future and destiny of the country and work hard in hope of pursuing happiness for all people in the world. With so inspiring a proposal, a great ideal and lofty sentiment welled up inside educated people. In the late Ming Dynasty, the concept of “showing care for all things” put forward by representatives of the School of Donglin struck a chord among Chinese intellectuals up to the present time. In line with Western standards, shih, as a special class with cultural communication, has since ancient times functioned as “intellectuals” in the Chinese history.

In conclusion, there is much to define the social identity of shih or scholar. In addition to an intellectual class with good literacy and refined culture alone, more strikingly, the class becomes the undertaker of “conscience of society” or the inheritor of “orthodoxy” of Chinese culture. To a scholar, he does not care about whether he is in poor and rich conditions or in the limelight and in the retirement. More importantly, he will not overstep the mark. Thus, in the chapter of “Exhausting all his heart” of the book Mencius, Mencius remarked: So shih should not be deprived of his moral standards when poor, nor abandoning his right principle when rich. When in poverty, he can cling to his moral standards and improve his ethics; when in success, he can act within the bounds of what is right, thus living up to the expectations of the public. For our ancient forefathers, in times of success, they would help to deliver benefits to people; in times of failure, they would refine their character and behave themselves well. So when things are not in your favor, improve your character and deport yourself

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

199

properly in the society; when things are in your favor, do your best to deliver benefits to the world.

In short, the feature of shih-jen (scholars) is not predominantly reflected in his objective social identity but in his spirit of taking on the responsibility to pursue the Way. In absolute terms, shih should show more concern for the world, irrespective of poverty. In the chapter of “King Hui of the State of Liang” of the book Mencius, as Mencius said, “It is shih who can have a steady mind even though he has no fixed property, but for the ordinary people, they have no fixed property and they have no steady mind.” In the Guangliang Annals (Guliangzhuan), it described “ancients as Four Kinds of People: scholar, businessman, farmer and worker” (Chen Dengyuan 1958), among whom scholar has always been believed to top the four. To get to the bottom of the relationship between scholar class and ordinary people, we can, as a matter of fact, know that it is not a compatible connection but an opposite one (but opposite does not mean confrontation). From what is discussed above, we can see this opposite situation: scholars and ordinary people differ in many aspects. Now, let me go further to analyze this part from the cultural perspective, a point of view which is mostly thorny but pertinent. In daily life, we sometimes see and hear such antithetical phrases—material and spiritual culture, elite and mass culture, folk and classic culture, or great tradition and little tradition in academic discourse, to name just a very few. I believe these phrases have an implicit meaning to distinguish shih (here scholars or scholar class) from min (ordinary people). Mr. Shao Jian made an analysis of the three forms of culture involving the official level, the masses and intellectual class based on the background of modern mass medium, particularly television with disorderly development. Meanwhile, he classified the three forms as the ideological culture from the official channel, the valuebased culture from the intellectual class and the imagery-based culture from the masses. Then he concluded, “Dispel the traditional ideology and thwart the ideology of elite culture among intellectuals — two manifestations of the power of ideology and the defining trend of the universality of today’s culture” (Shao Jian 1996: 6). While providing an example for the three-horses-carriage concept I have mentioned before, he has also offered insightful analysis that helps to bring to the fore the “respective roles” that shih (士) and min (民) play. Talcott Pasons, a renowned sociologist after Max Weber, made a profound and thorough explanation of this opposite relationship between shih and min. In 1966, he published his famous work On Intellectuals in which he firstly separated the social system and the cultural system. He (1987) observed: The social system is established for the urgent need of interaction in an action unit—a unit of individuals and collective groups. On the other hand, the cultural system is formed for the module of values in the semiotic system.

200

B. LI

To put it in a simple way, action is pursued in the social system while value is featured in the cultural system. The value is embodied with a standard for action: In contrast with action in a more general sense, the value system, in some aspects and to some degrees, always has its standard in terms of importance. (ibid.: 355)

From this point, Parsons explained intellectually as a kind of person who “places cultural focus above social focus, but those who as responsible roles tend to seek social interests at the expense of cultural interests” (ibid.: 356). According to this explanation, the Four Kinds of People in ancient China are divided into two categories, namely, min (ordinary people) in the social system and shih (scholar) in the cultural system. The former “firstly connects with those functions in the social system” (ibid.: 356) and the latter can be “seen as a group who plays a decisive part in reflecting the cultural unity” (Weber 1993: 127). After elaborating on the two systems, Parsons further pointed out two “basic progresses” widely seen in the cultural process: one is the development of (written) characters and the other the breakthrough of philosophy. He (1987) said, “Only with the writing can what is cultural separate itself from the social background, on which cultural content originating from writing is based or to which cultural content is applied. In any way, written language can get rid of the tradition depending on oral communication and keeps ‘stable’ after separating itself from what we call forgetful memory. In truth, without writing, we would not reach the point of what we call ‘history’ in that sense in all aspects” (ibid.: 357). The development of characters is perceived as a prerequisite for which cultural system and social system can go hand in hand in an equal way. This is the view we all share to a larger extent. From our standpoint, all differences and opposite relations in the two systems and the related two forms of communication—the ones between the scholar class and the ordinary people—can be fundamentally put down to the confrontation between written language and oral language or two separate streams. The different ways of communication give birth to different types of communication and then different forms of culture. Nevertheless, this idea really sounds common but strange. For example, in China, those “smart games of characters, implicit or circumlocutory expressions, canonical quotations and sophisticated written language accomplishments” (Weber 1993: 155)—all are greatly favored in the official-scholar class, but are they not based on Chinese characters and features? It is no wonder that Weber said, “The respect for scholars comes not from a divine spirit generated by a magic power but from the knowledge based on these written characters and documents” (ibid.: 129), and their social status is also built on such knowledge (ibid.: 128).

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

201

The view of “philosophic breakthrough” proposed by Parsons, however, has attracted universal interests. The breakthrough that he revealed referred to the followings: In the first one-thousand-year period before the century, Greek, Israel, India and China reached a new height at least through partly independent and largely different forms regarding the clear conceptualization of cosmological nature of human environment. Accompanying this process, we have seen the emergence of explanations of greater importance to mankind in itself. (Parsons 1987: 357)

In keeping with this theory of breakthrough, academic traditions, and ideological systems in the world’s several major cultural structures took hold in this millennial period. As a consequence, ideas of nature, society, and history took shape and they were incorporated into a set of unique discourse systems, on which culture was thus based. In this process, the emergence and the role of sages or philosophers were of particular importance. The Chinese philosophers like Confucius, Laotzu and Zhuangzi; the ancient Greek philosophers including Socrates and Plato; Israel prophets and the Indian Sakyamuni and others—they are the representatives of philosophic breakthrough. In a word, the so-called “breakthrough” indicates the fact that a certain nation made a systematic, transcendent, and critical reflection on itself in a way of viewing itself in the universe and in a historical situation when its culture entered a specific period of development. Through reflection, the pattern of thought was established and the old tradition was changed, contributing to a new and higher state of development for the nation’s culture (Yu Yingshi 1987: 91). The above two basic progresses, especially the philosophical breakthrough, have brought about two prominent results, which in turn exercise an influence upon intellectuals who fall into the “social role category.” One of the results is that the status of some special groups becomes increasingly salient. These groups form special social organizations and role categories especially designed for cultural undertakings in differing ways (Parsons 1987: 358). That is to say, there appears an elite group totally contingent upon cultural function. In the Chinese history, the earliest scholars came rightly in the Shang and Zhou dynasties when philosophical breakthrough took place. As Yu Yingshi (1987: 87) asserted, “Not until in Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) and the Warring States period (475–221 BC) were Chinese intellectuals officially transformed into a spontaneous social group.” Another result is that education “is organized on a more sophisticated basis and outgrows the simplest system of disciple or apprenticeship. Typically in China, once Confucianism earned its dogmatic status and became the precondition of bureaucratic qualification, the standard schools based upon Confucian education were set up” (ibid.: 360). When one cultural tradition undergoes philosophic breakthrough or “transcendent breakthrough” because of (written) characters, it seems as if education were the machine tool that shapes

202

B. LI

intellectuals in a mechanical and substantial way. “It comes close to being crystallized in a specialized process resulting from a relatively pure cultural focus” (Parsons 1987: 360). For instance, again in China, those classic texts linked with Sanfen and Wudian (refers to documents involving ancient Chinese mythological figures) and a large number of books with annotations, textual research, and explanations come mostly from educational function and are geared to the needs of training scholars with the idea of “inspiring people with these principles.” (See the chapter of Wanzhang of the book Mencius.) With regard to the foregoing, when we check our communication heritages, we should not bracket the scholar class into a single one system and need to build a three-dimensional structure by looking beyond the two dimensions of government and ordinary people, nor ignoring the investigation into the social history and the discrimination of the cultural history as well as the basis on the accomplishments of scholars and the relevance to the roles of intellectuals in different traditions. If we say that shih has always been placed in the centerpiece of promotion and innovation of culture and ideas (Yu Yingshi 1987: 1) or if we say—as Zhang Zai, a famous philosopher in the Northern Song Dynasty, said “To rebuild values for the society; to instill in people the significance of life; to inherit the classics of the past sages; and to lay the foundation for the cause of peace for generations”—that his saying demonstrates the lofty aspirations of past generations of scholars, they (scholars) actually represent the “Confucian orthodoxy” firstly brought forward by Han Yu, an outstanding philosopher, politician, thinker, and writer in the Tang Dynasty, creating a tripartite situation including the scholar class, the official level (political orthodoxy), and the ordinary crowd (folk tradition). This fact, therefore, is sufficient to provide a basis for the communication of scholars, in terms of serving as an independent form and rendering the reason for defining the three types of communication—the official level, the scholar class, and the ordinary people.

Shih of the Tang Dynasty “The Tang Dynasty (618–907) has shone through centuries till today when it comes to a prosperous period of China and the genuine creation of culture. In the 7th century, the Tang firstly issued a decree to grant a status to shih (generally mean scholar) and set up some universities to cultivate them. Then in turn, the Imperial Academy or Hanlin Academy, the so-called ‘academy’ (Akademie or Institute), was born. The imperial academy served two purposes in the past: first, to compile historical books in order to help scholars learn about the past experiences of worthy people; and second, to check whether the emperor’s conduct conformed to the customary rules or moral standards” (Weber 1996: 139). It is true that what Webster has said as a layman certainly sounds implausible. But the shih class of the Tang does take on a brand-new look, in addition to greater difference in status, since he gives expression to his independence and initiative very clearly. The sacred torch of the Tang civilization is just held

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

203

high and supported by a large number of outstanding scholars who use their talent and openness to romanticize the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, an empire with splendid and dazzling episodes. They are indeed living spirits of the Tang Dynasty, be they a clean stream or a turbid force. They gather together like billowy waves in the mighty river, creating a spectacle of water splashing like beads and jades. If it is not the case, another example may justify that. That is, if the Tang Dynasty were likened to a star-studded sky, these scholars would be exceptional, shining, and brilliant stars. Without them, the Tang Empire could well be on a par with the Yuan Dynasty, an empire built on military power rather than literature and culture, making it lackluster and less attractive, regardless of its powerful military force, strong national strength, vast territory, and the subjugation of other vassal states. In the Spirit and Civilization of the Tang Empire, Mr. Cheng Qiang and Mr. Dong Naibing (1998) offered an inspiring insight into the culture of scholar, believing it to be the social norm and the embodiment of social mores. They said, “Intellectuals, as a group, often clearly stand for the core and essence of cultural zeitgeist, with their basic features of what they look like and how they behave.” Roughly speaking, starting from the Rebellion of An and Shi (a notorious rebellion that broke out during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong and that was led by two rebels known as An Lushan and Shi Siming in history), the popular norm of the Tang Dynasty prevailed in two periods, the former part of which inherited the past and the latter part of which opened up a new prospect. In the Tang Dynasty, the classical civilization reached its zenith, and the modern trend continued this from the middle Tang Dynasty. Hence, what was classical was a revelation of heroism while what was modern was a manifestation of populism. As John King Fairbank and Reischauer (1987: 118) observed: The last important phase of ancient Chinese history could be dated back to the Six Dynasties Period (222-589) and the early Tang Dynasty in many aspects. The later years of the Tang Dynasty and the next Song Dynasty (960-1276) were perceived as the earliest stages of Chinese history. In fact, this period was regarded as one of “the early phase of modern time”, since the culture of this era and the one of even tracing back to the initial stage of the 20th century were a reflection of culture representative of China. Among it were a variety of things that turned out to be the ones with most Chinese characteristics in later one thousand years. They at least began to emerge in the Tang Dynasty and flourish in the Song Dynasty.

As we know, John King Fairbank, a renowned American sinologist, has made comments more insightful than those of Max Weber. As the saying goes, “Great minds think alike.” In his famous Cultural History of China, Liu Yicheng (1988) wrote: The period between the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty saw many changes. Among them were the crisis produced by border military governors and the

204

B. LI

rise of powerful families, which led to various changes in politics, culture and education; the customs of foot binding among women and the rising power of noble families, which also shown differences in system and customs. But the prosperity of engraving and printing, to a larger extent, was linked with culture. Accordingly, the later period since the middle and late Tang Dynasty was the most changing time of China’s medieval age. The former was mostly characterized by ancient practices while the latter thus created another society. A general review will tell us that the signs of change can be found throughout this period.

It can be inferred that “The mid-Tang Dynasty also bore witness to one of great changes in the Chinese history,” a quotation from Li Hongzhang, an important politician in the late Qing Dynasty. As history and society in this period witnessed changes, scholars of the Tang emerged as different images and interests in previous and later stages. In the early period of the Tang, “especially during the reigns of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Gaozong, the empire was proud of possessing a peerless national power(わばらじつぞう骘)” (ibid.: 434). In light of thinking and culture, the Tang was inclusive, like the ocean admitting a hundred rivers, forming a spiritual pattern encompassing many national characters like “the magnificence and profundity typical of the Qin and Han dynasties, the elegance and handsomeness typical of the Wei and Jin states, the other-worldliness and critical thinking typical of the Tintu and the freedom and valiance typical of the Northern barbarian tribes” (Zhao Wenrun 1992: 365). These vigorous and enthusiastic spirits contributed to a general mood of the times. In his regular heptasyllabic verse, Wang Wei, a famous poet of the Tang, wields his pen to write the following regular heptasyllabic verse: Outside the Juyan Hu tribes were hunting, White grasses flared up soaring to the sky. Under evening clouds they whipped horses running, And they shoot vultures in autumn flying high. The officer, for his post and duty, climbed the fortress. Crossing Liaohe River the General attacked so boldly. Jade swords, arch-shaped arrows, and superior horses, Were given to him, the man that won the war so heroically.

With rich words and vivid characterization, his poem On the frontier encapsulated what a prosperous Tang was. Living in a vigorous, generous, and open age and immersed in a free, confident, and tolerant atmosphere, intellectuals would certainly increase their subjective consciousness and eagerly made their own contributions to the country in an enterprising spirit. Then came a scene: they sang while drinking, in the best of spirits, creating a considerable number of heroic poems that have won the admiration of later generations. Here are the heroic poems from the heroic poets: From the desert one lonely smoke whirls up,

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

205

Past the Yellow River the round sun sinks down —Wang Wei For the country I would rather lead a centurion, Than live as a pure scholar who writes articles. —Yang Jiong Better than Kings Yao and Shun, our emperor, And I also wish social custom could be simpler. —Du Fu

In all my life I aim to carry the sword, With generosity I throw away my pen. —Liu Xiyi

If only General Flying in Lingcheng were alive, Through Mount Yinshan Hu tribes dare not break. —Wang Changling

*(General Flying is very valiant general called Li Guang in the Western Han Dynasty.)

Before me are men of heroic manner, They cut a dash so others cannot compare. —Li Bai

I climb up the beacon tower for check when it dawns, Near Jiaohe River is a horse I bring drinking at dusk. —Li Qi

The border beacon tower lights fire as sand wind rises, Generals, leaving home, are sent to put down enemies. —Gao Shi

In the luminous cup is filled with grape wine, Performers play Piba (a musical instrument) happily to excite the scene. To our heart’s content we drink but do not care, For the country many fight with their lives fair. —Wang Han

Sometimes, for them, even a touch of depression and melancholy in their heart will always turn to sad feelings of sudden enlightenment happening in a youthful age after repeatedly absorbing, digesting, and accumulating those

206

B. LI

philosophical principles of life and cosmos (Ge Zhaoguang 1987: 170). Zhang Ruoxu, a famed poet, wrote “Life after life, there is no end to this process; year after year, the same is a bright moon on the river.” The poet Liu Xiyi had the similar sentence: “Each year’s flowers are the same flowers, and their admirers are different admirers.” These lines seem to convey to us a downcast feeling, though we think we don’t need to take them seriously. Nevertheless, poems can be seen as a motivation to give vent to poets’ inner emotion. As other lines goes: “On the road friends of congenial minds meet and drink free, near the pub horses tied to a willow tree.” The classical civilization was gone never to return after the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming, then followed by national division and social turmoil that spanned more than 200 years. A new trend, like the “wild grass running riot when it makes its way for farther places,” was gradually emerging, spreading, and blossoming, leading to a thorough change in the historical picture of late Tang Dynasty. Mr. Ge Zhaoguang from the Tsinghua University said, “The evolution of the Tang and Song cultures is one of the most valuable topics for research. The two cultures stand for two different cultural spirits. The former may be said to be the peak of classical Chinese culture, whereas the latter is believed to be the origin of modern Chinese culture. However, there is a long transition in between, and it includes several hundred years transitioning from the middle Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty. In this period of transition, a complex dynamic process in which both new and old ideas, academic activities and customs alternate” (ibid.: 216). With this, the culture of scholar in the Tang Dynasty also witnessed a fundamental transition, which was shown among scholars by a shift of attitude from openness to implicitness, from enthusiasm to fatigue, from excitement to dumbness, and from aggressiveness to obscurity. It seemed as if there were still deep lingering feelings among scholars, as Ge Zhaoguang described: The breath of spirit in Tang people, which is the epitome of generosity, forthrightness and confidence, cannot be seen any more. Instead, these people become more and more circumspect and restrained. The ideal life people pursue is no longer a state of defying everything, baring their body drinking and becoming exclusive in meditation. Nor it is a state of seeking an official path by fighting in the battle or behaving like a chivalrous youth and indulging oneself in wantonness with wine and beautiful girls at hand. What they seek, rather, is a combination of simplicity, conformity, randomness, deference, fortitude and easiness, in order to create a state of tranquility for themselves. Their aesthetic feeling also changes from wonderful objects such as ‘Sun’, ‘Yellow River’, ‘Mount Tianlao’, ‘Mount Tai’, ‘Mighty River’ and ‘Gobi’ to trivial things such as a secluded courtyard. A sense of curiosity among people, which can be defined as a keen interest in new things and an enthusiasm for exploration, is replaced by a sense of attachment to old things, namely “a sense of familiarity”. If it is the case, people will feel as if they were insulated from the outside world, entering a closed inner world where they use ‘the way of heaven’ to adjust all their thoughts and acts and keep their psychological balance. (ibid.: 225)

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

207

Especially when those scholars in the late Tang Dynasty recalled the past glories, witnessed a helpless scene and foresaw the uncertain prospect of their ambitious career, they would, in spite of themselves, sighed a slight sigh like this: “So infinitely good is the sunset, yet the dusk is drawing near.”—a popular line of the poem A Visit to Leyou Highland from Li Shangying, a famous poet of the late Tang Dynasty. With rich symbolic meanings and through interesting consideration, the Leyou highland was originally a historic site where girls of noble families were said to enjoy beautiful flowers in a spring outing in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. “Looking around, you will find yourself in a vast place. On the third day of March (which coincides with Shangsi Festival in ancient China) and on Double Ninth Day (according the traditional Chinese lunar calendar), girls play beside the pond and climb up the highland. In a place dotted with tents and filled with carriages and horses, the sun sheds its colorful light and the fragrance wafts up from the road” (Xu Songzhuan and Li Jianchao 2006). But now, this exciting scene has already vanished and visitors are not the visitors anymore. This Leyou paradise no longer sees happy moments and has become a tract of wasteland. There, the sight of a poet’s back, so lonely, is merging into the remaining rays of sunset. We do not need to examine the past history of what is about the changes of the Tang scholars in early and late periods, since many others have commented on them. Here, I would like to trace something about two poets recorded in the book Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period (Tang caizi zhuan),9 whose author was Xin Wenfang, a scholar of the Yuan Dynasty. From this work, we can observe the evolution of scholar and the shift of classic spirit to modern appeal. The two poets are: Wang Zhihuan and Wang Huan, who lived in the early and late phases of the Tang, respectively. In the third volume of Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, it is said: Wang Zhihuan, a native of Jimen, was said to have a chivalrous spirit at a young age. His friends were sons of rich families. Together, they sung sad songs to the accompaniment of the ring of walking swords and drank to their heart’s content while hunting. At the middle age, he changed his goal and began to write literary works. After ten years, he came to rise to fame. As he failed in the imperial examination, he thereupon paid a visit to famous scholars here and there. He created emotional, elegant and smooth poems somewhat close to the style of the Qi and Liang states. When he had new poems, musicians then matched them with pieces of music. He had a close connection with Wang Changling and Gao Shi, two famous poets of the Tang, and they chatted without inhibitions. One day, they went to a wine shop where they met some female performers from the operatic circle. Changling and others said, “We are good at writing poems, but we cannot rival each other. Today, we can invite these performers to sing these poems. The rule is: he can be lauded as the poet when his poems are mostly sung by these girls”. One performer sung two regular poems of Wang Changlin and the other performer sung one of Gao Shi. Wang Zhihuan cried, “I don’t like these poems that these performers sing.” For a while, a beautiful performer sung “Water in the Yellow River looks as if running through the white

208

B. LI

clouds, alone the Yumen Pass stands in the high mountain. Why should the Qiang flute complain to willow trees, and it is a pity no spring breeze favors this terrain!” She again sung one more poems, all of which were from Wang Zhihuan. The three burst into laughter. Wang Zhihuan continued, “You are really countrywomen, I’m just joking”. Not knowing what became of them, they approached and said, “We common folks cannot see a true immortal sit before us.” The three poets caroused with these girls all day long. How unrestrained he was! He was Wang Zhihuan.

Later, people have taken great delight in talking about this interesting story, known as Qiting Painted Wall, which is vividly recorded in the book Recording Strange Stories of the Tang (Jiyiji).10 This anecdote, as we can imagine, brings into presence the lively images of the Tang scholars, who are uninhibited, bold, and open. But when we shift our focus on Wang Huan, the situation changes: passionate tragic songs (from the Yan and Zhao states) are turned into gentle sweet songs (in the south of Yangtze River). In the tenth volume of Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, it is thus said: Wang Huan has a gift for writing sentimental and beautiful poems. He once attempted to create thirteen melancholic poems and knew very well about ancient talented men and women. Out of deep sympathy, he cited sad stories about Cui Yingying (heroine of the playwright Wang Shipu’s masterpiece The Romance of West Chamber), Lady Li (later promoted to Empress of Emperor Wu in the Western Han Dynasty), Princess Yuechang (daughter of Emperor Xuan of Chen State in the periods of Southern Dynasties), Lvzhu (concubine of an official in the Western Jin Dynasty), Zhang Lihua (honorable consort of the last ruler of the Chen State), Wang Mingjun (also Wang Zhaojun), Su Wu (minister of the Western Han Dynasty) as well as stories about Liu lin and Ruanji (two of Seven Worthies under Bamboo Groves). As a result, he wrote sorrowful and charming lines, “The moon shadows lotus flowers in the pond. Through the temple the breeze rustles the bamboo grove. At night I sober up against the threshold. And on my mind there are mostly moments of leave” — the finest sentences popular in the scholarly circle. In the late Tang Dynasty, this accomplishment varied from poet to poet.

The phrase “kuizhi shilin in Chinese (popular in the scholar world)” deserves our attention. It suggests that Wang Huan’s sorrow was not for revealing his own feeling alone, and this kind of feeling was also implicitly shared by scholar-officials, who, therefore, echoed much with one another. In a letter Comment on Poems with Wang Jia, which was written by Si Kongtu, the author of Twenty Four Classifications of Poetry (Ershisi shipin),11 in the late Tang Dynasty, there were some sentences that aptly described the evolution of the Tang’s poetic trend and denoted the change of its scholarly ethos12 : In the early Tang Dynasty, the country was filled with an elegant atmosphere. After Shen Quanqi and Song Zhiwen (important poets in this period) enjoyed

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

209

high popularity, Wang Changling in Jiangning turned out to be outstanding. With so ingenious a mind, Li Bai and Du Fu reached the acme of perfection. For Wang Wei (also Wang Youcheng) and Wei Yingwu (also nicknamed Suzhou), their poems were mild and refined, and more importantly, clear as a stream.

In a period known as Dali (reign title of Emperor Daizong of the Tang), there appeared dozens of well-known men of letter, but they were thrown into shade. With a strong character, Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi somehow had grace and qualities. They, however, were born from rich families in the city. Liu Yuxi and Yang Juyuan also had uncommon graces. Jia Dao, Wu Ke and Liu Deren took advantage of good time to give better scope to their interest to get rid of troubles. Then in the late Tang Dynasty, I knew there were all men of less vision. It was little doubt that the School of Hefen featuring a pent-up style also had its followers. This exemplifies the Tang scholars and their ethos, and they constitute the behavior subjects for the communication of the Tang’s scholar class.

The Communication of Scholars in the Tang Dynasty What we call the Tang scholars, in true terms, contains both broad and specific meanings. In a broad perspective, they involve all educated men, who take study as their profession, among whom there are common people and officials’ descendents as well as talented recluses and rich persons. Besides, included in this list are also those scholars who, “in times of success, deliver benefits to the world, and refine their character and behave themselves well in times of failure.” From a specific point of view, it refers to those who sit for the imperial examination, also called shih-tzu (shizi士子) or chü-jen (juren举人) by the Tang people. But this can be also divided into three kinds: First, they are those who succeed in the chin-shih (the name of the highest level of examination for selecting officials) program and ming-ching subject (one of major subjects of examination aimed at selecting officials; ming-ching means “knowing the classics”) under the imperial examination; second, they are those who obtain the qualification of participating in the examination as chü-jen candidates, including candidates from the Imperial Academy who are recommended to take part in ming-ching subject and chin-shih program under the academy and county-level candidates usually known as hsiung kung (Xianggong乡贡) who are selected from every county nationwide every year (Wu Zongguo 1992: 291); Third, they are those who fail to get the qualification of the imperial examination, mostly common educated people. Through this, they present us with a growing trend of substantial increase in number. But we can use the word “rare” to define the number of successful candidates, since only twenty to thirty candidates are admitted to chin-shih program every year (ibid.: 63). The number of hsiung-kung candidates is quite considerable, as Du You said, “During Kaiyuan and Tianbao periods (reign titles of Emperor Taizong

210

B. LI

and Emperor Xuanzong), the number of hsiung-kung candidates totaled more than one thousand”.13 Also Zhao Kuang said, “According to estimates, mere one out of twenty will succeed, so the rest majority may not pass the examination.”14 As for those who strive to win the qualification of higher examination through various selection tests, the number of them is too many to count. In conclusion, the three specific aspects generalize the Tang’s scholar class. We take the imperial examination as the benchmark to measure the Tang’s scholar because “excellent scholars in common world and Confucian scholars in the countryside,”15 whether they aim high for profits or pay scant attention to the earthly world, they, I suppose, are involved in a vortex of the imperial examination, in direct or indirect way. These scholars cannot escape from the magnetic field where they are tempted to be glued to the examination site, and once they succeed, they can gain rank and wealth. Even though they do keep aloof from rank and wealth, they can also be affected by this conventional mechanism. In the early period of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong paid a private visit to the common world. When he saw new candidates of chin-shih program go out one by one, the Emperor beamed brightly and said happily, “Look, heroes in the world are lured into my trap!”16 This century-old saying seems high-sounding, but the fact is not false. It is true that the imperial examination, starting from the Sui Dynasty and flourishing in the Tang Dynasty, lets no scholars in the world escape from the trap of it. Since the conception of the Tang scholars is now clear, it is therefore easy to illustrate the meaning of the communication of scholars. It is obvious that it includes the interpersonal exchanges and information spread among scholars. Regarding this communication which carries extensive aspects, the journalism and the communication are just concerned with one area that we should pay attention to. Nevertheless, all exchanges they are engaged in are important in generating activities of the journalism and communication of the Tang, partly because scholars are positioned as a social status of connecting both governments and ordinary people, but significantly because they serve as a communicative role of impeding the flow of information and affecting the public opinion. What does the communication of the Tang’s scholars look like? What are the specific factors of it? And its features and influences? What is its position in the developed history of Chinese journalism and communication? They are what we discuss in the following chapters, but we should, in the priority order, have a general discussion on them before turning to other separate parts, first in a comprehensive way and then in a detailed manner. In the Tang Dynasty, the communication of scholars depends largely on language and script. The former, as a means of direct information exchange, involves making friends, distant outings and private visits, and other activities while the latter, as a way of communication among people, showcases its functions with the exchange of correspondence and the writing of poems and books and other acts. The direct exchanges between scholars are different from those of ordinary people, which, however, pale in comparison with so elegant activities as shown in the verses:

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

211

Opening the window I face the grain field and vegetable garden, While raising a wine cup I talk to others about the situation of crops. When the Double Ninth Day comes on a fine day, I can invite my friends to feast their eyes on chrysanthemums.

In essence, they have everything in common in terms of communication through language. Yet the indirect communication among scholars is totally correlated with the ordinary people. Thus, this is where the communication of scholars truly lies, and its many functions and characteristics may, in the last analysis, originate from character, something that seems very common. The communication of scholars is generally composed of scriptures, poems, political topics, and current affairs. As Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty said, “Know the past and the present, learn how to maintain stability and deal with instability, study the essentials of politics and religion and understand the origins of rites and music.”17 At the same time, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty remarked, “Give yourself up to learning about the past, develop a keen interest in reading ancient classics and be excellent and smart in learning and conduct and be able to understand current affairs.” It should be noted that political agendas and current affairs are mostly referred to as news, and they are intimately connected with reality. Mr. Yu Shiying (2003: 10) mentioned, “Except that Buddhists (those of Zen Buddhism in particular) show their merciful wishes for relieving common herds in distress, the principles advocated by such poets and writers as Du Fu, Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan and Bai Juyi suffice to manifest the conscience of society”. The conscience of society I term involves their transcendent pursuit, and more significantly, signifies their responsibility for contributing to national policy and helping to remove people’s concern about the world. This strong sense of responsibility is well demonstrated in the form of poetry and conveyed by word of mouth, often turning into the focus of the public opinion. In a letter to Yuan Zhen by Bai Juyi, the latter talked about how his poems were spread and slandered in different ways: When people read my poem Ode to Rain, they would gossip about it for a while, believing that it was not suitable. When people read my poem Cry for Kong Kan, they would keep silent without saying anything. When rich and powerful people read my poem Ten Poems in Qinzhong, they would look one another in the eye before giving way to unhappiness. When rulers read my poem A Visit to Leyuan Highland, they would hold their own hands with indignation. When important military commanders read my poem Suzige Village, they would gash their teeth with anger. In this connection, such examples are legion to enumerate. Among those who are not congenial to me, some are called “fame seekers”, some “decriers” and some “slanderers” and the like. …. Alas! Heaven does not want to let the troubles of ordinary people be reported to the court. ……18

212

B. LI

When I came to Chang’an again, I was told that a military officer, whose name was Gao Xiayu, intended to hire an artistic performer. The performer said very admiringly, “I read Sir Bai (Bai Juyi)’s poem Changhenge (A Song of Everlasting Sorrow). Who can compare with him?” Therefore, his fame increased. As you wrote in a letter, “When you reached Tongzhou (present Dazhou in Sichuan), you saw a person inscribe my poem on a column of Jiangguan. Who was that?” And when I passed through Hannan yesterday, it happened that my host was bringing together other guests. Seeing I was coming, all performers pointed to one another and cried, “This is the true creator of Ten Poems in Qinzhong and A Song of Everlasting Sorrow.” From Chang’an to Jiangxi, a journey that covered three to four thousand li (a Chinese length unit), I often saw people inscribe my poems in village schools, temples, monasteries, small inns and boats. My poems were sung by numerous people, including scholars, common people, monks, widows and young girls. As a way of interpersonal communication, the communication of scholars is given free rein so that scholars can have a greater space and freedom of speech. But this is a case compared with other two forms of communication: the government and the ordinary people. This is because these two forms of communication are restricted by the rule of stringency reflected in words and deeds and by other norms without right and power. Accordingly, scholars become very dynamic members of society in terms of news communication and information dissemination. Anything that is spread by scholars will always stir a sensation like a domino effect, hence a proverb, “It just takes one day to kick up a sensation in capital, and three days in the world.”19 So, it strikes us not surprised when we look at this phenomenon in the communication of scholar. The story of “Shuoxiang (put in a good word for someone or praise others here and there)” can say much about this indeed. It is shown in the records of Factual Evidence from Ancient Books (Shangshu Gushi): The writer Yang Jingzhi had an admiration for talented people. He knew a scholar named Xiang Si in the south of Yangtze River and honored him with a poem: Your poems are better so often I read, As their grace I see is superior to others. Your strength I hate in my life to hide, And I will name you everywhere always.

For this reason, Xiang Si catapulted to fame and succeeded in passing the exam of chin-shih program. The book Anecdotes of Poets and Scholars from the Tang (Tangzhiyan) also recorded a story about Niu Sengru. Although he succeeded with a chin-shih title, Niu was not well known at that time. He wrote a poem as a formal visit to two renowned scholars in the literary circle, Han Yu and Huang Pushi,

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

213

who thought highly of him and desired to recommend him to the court. One day, when Niu was absent, they deliberately paid a visit to him and wrote on the door the words: “Han Yu and Huang Pushi were met with cold reception during visits to some officials.” On the following day, scholars came in an endless stream to watch this sentence. This story gained widespread circulation and Niu made a big name for himself. Besides, Chen Zi’ang’s play can perhaps say most about this point.20 Having lived in the capital for ten years, he (Chen Zi’ang) was unknown to others. In the eastern market was a peddler who sold an instrument called Huqin (Chinese violin) at a price of one million copper coins. One day, some wealthy people examined it, but no one commented on it. Observing this situation, Chen stood out and told two persons on two sides, “You can bring a string of copper coins worth one thousand to buy it.” “What use does it serve?” asked they in surprise. “I’m good at playing this instrument,” was the reply. From time to time, some curious people asked, “Can we have the chance to see?” “I live in Xuanyang Alley (his residence). I have mellow wine and wait for your coming tomorrow. You can visit my humble house, and by the way, invite other prestigious friends to come. It will be a happy gathering,” was the answer. In the next morning, some hundred people gathered around his house, and they were scholars of integrity, who were served with a menu of his precious dishes Zi’ang prepared for them in a large banquet. After the banquet, he raised his Huqin and said, “I, Chen Zi’ang, a native of Shu, ran about in capital with a hundred scrolls of articles and went unnoticed. This instrument was played by a poor artist, so how come I keep it!” Then he threw it away. He, together with others, took out two cases of writing scrolls and gave them to all attendees. The gathering broke up, and he became popular within just one day. From this, we can clearly notice the very power of the communication of scholars. But the way of communication through mouth and ears is not enough to epitomize the communication of scholar and its features, since the spread of information is characterized by regarding written language as its carrier. For the Tang scholars, it is of course incredible for them to see reports centering on news, communication, and comments. There are several reasons accounting for this: first, people are not allowed to write; second, even though people write these reports, they have no place to publish them; and third, apart from scholars, there are not many people who can read them, even if they are published. It does not mean that scholars cannot spread news by means of written language and put across information among people. The truth is that through the wonderful description of writers, we can read a large amount of similar news reports. The similar characters I talk about traditionally fall into the category of literary or historical creation. This is however beyond reproach. From the perspective of contemporary communication study, they are surely

214

B. LI

the formation of journalism and communication in a special historical condition. When he analyzed the style of journalism, Mr. Ning Shufan wrote in the The Study of Journalism and Communication in the Chinese Mainland: There are varied forms of journalism: news (also including telecommunication, wrap-up and comprehensive news), communication (also including persons, events and travels), feature story, reportage, press conference and press communiqué, to name just a very few. How do they take shape? Is what puts them together? In a word, they are born at a time when news and information are needed to be spread; it is the function of passing on the news and information that pieces together the above journalism styles. Passing on news and information is the very basis for their survival, and different conditions and requirements are the external factors of explaining journalism style as being diversified. This assertion holds true in both present time and ancient time.

The Creation of Poetry Based on Reality To put in a generalized way, the style of writing for the Tang scholars, that is, the unique way of conveying all kinds of information, can be roughly boiled down to three forms: first, articles, such as letters; second, poetry; and third, notes, for example. In terms of communication object, essays and books are centered on scholars themselves, so the scope of communication is restricted. But poetry, an open area some call, is suitable for the whole society, as the old people said, “From scholars to ordinary people, they spread and recite them.”21 Mr. Zhu Chuanyu, a renowned expert for journalism and publication in Taiwan, said, “The oral communication is one of the earliest ways of communication while poesy is the earliest communicative technique that has a stake in the oral communication” (Zhu Chuanyu 1988: 3). Indeed, poesy has always played a vital role in the Chinese history of communication, which we think traceable back to those lines of The Book of Songs: The waterfowl would coo, Upon an islet in the brook. A lad would like to woo, A lass with nice and pretty look. (A verse from The Cooing of the Collection of Zhounan of the Book of Songs )

“Large rat, large rat, Eat no more millet we grow!” (A verse from Large Rat of the Collection of Weifeng of the Book of Songs )

Shen Deqian, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty and also the author of Selected Poems from the Tang Period (Tangshi biecai),22 tried to compile a collection

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

215

of famous verses that spanned from the period before the Qin Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty and named them as Source of Ancient Poems (Gushiyuan)23 in order to study the origins of the Tang poetry. Here, the “original style” poetry is different, however, as opposed to the “modern style” poetry which gives priority to rhythm and regularity. In this classic book of traditional Chinese culture, we can not only eye a number of poems that have been appealing to most people in the past dynasties, but dig up some broken pieces and chapters about news and reports. There is a poem A Song from Hsiung-nu—which reads: Our Our Our Our

Mount Yanzhi if grabbed, women no rouges. Mount Qilian if robbed, poultry no waterweeds.

This is aimed at reporting the bitter situation of hsiung-nu (xiongnu匈奴), a nomadic tribe in the North China in the past, after it was being defeated by other forces. As a line described in The Song of Wu, “A tune’s wrong, he turns around.” Have a further look at it, and you will find this is an interesting “feature.” This story says exactly about Zhou Yu, a well-known strategist of the State of Wu in the period of the Three Kingdoms, who is excellent in musical instrument and melody. Once he played wrong in the performance, he would turn around, even though he was talking with others. As for Mulberries on the Path (Moshang Sang), The Ballard of Mulan (Mulan Shi), and The Bride of Jiao Zhongqing (Kongque Dongnanfei), these poems, more importantly, belong to a form of communication or report things with verses. In his prose, Liang Shiqiu, an outstanding writer in modern China, recalled a touching scene where his teacher Liang Qichao elaborated on the chapter of Play the K’ung-hou (an ancient plucked stringed instrument) from The Source of Ancient Poems (Gushiyuan). In the chapter Play the K’ung-hou, one sentence aptly recounted a social news report that was piecing and distressful: “Do not cross the river, and if you still cross the river, you will drown yourself in the river, and it is a great pity for you!” Huoli Zigao, an inferior officer responsible for harbor management in the Yuelang Prefecture (which was then under the jurisdiction of the Han Dynasty government) within the present North Korea, punted his boat in the morning. Suddenly there came a mad man with disheveled hairs and a wine pot in hand, riding randomly through the fierce waves. The officer’s wife then wanted to stop him, but failed to catch up with him, with the result that he was fallen deep into the river, without any trace. She played the k’ung-hou and sang a song of “Do not cross the river,” her melody so sad so mad. The song done, she also jumped into the river, dead. Zigao said constantly about his wife Liyu, for whom he was very grievous. At last, he then played the k’unghou (konghou, an ancient plucked stringed instrument) and wrote the lyrics, thus creating Playing the K’ung-hou.24

216

B. LI

With a wonderful description of Liang Qichao, the most famed master of journalism and communication in modern China, this sorrowful scene and the news made a deep impression on Liang Shiqiu, the then student of Tsinghua University. “The 16-character sentences portray a true-to-life tragedy after his recital and explanation. There are connections between the lines. Included in it are the plots, settings, characters and feelings. It was more than twenty years since I listened to his speech. Even it was a coincidence that I came to Maojin port and took a boat to cross the river. The sand smell filled the air and the yellow torrents rolled on—the boundless view triggered sad feelings inside me. At this moment, I thought of this ancient poem Mr. Liang Qichao quoted in the lecture.” Up to the Tang Dynasty, the works of poetry were featured more prominently in the activity of communication. As we all know, the Tang reached its full height in the history of China and was a golden time to bear witness to the flourishing situation of poetry, with so unprecedented a scale in the amount of poetry, the number of poet, the degree of popularity and the influence of power. According to the calculations of the ancient book All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty (Quantangshi)25 and the Supplements to Quantangshi by Chen Shangjun, a modern scholar, there were over 3600 poets who produced 55,000 poems, but these might be inaccurate figures. This is because “in the Tang Dynasty, the creation of poetry has become a prevalent phenomenon in social culture”; “It has a large pool of poetry creators, up from rulers and senior officials and down to a battalion of officials of middle and low rank as well as ordinary people, and those who have some refined culture such as monks, Taoists and prostitutes also included—all of them were enthusiastic about the creation of poems” (Zhang Peiheng and Luo Yuming, 1996: 11). In this stage, many works of other poets were lost in the process of circulation or before they were passed down to later generations. With many high-quality Tang poems, the content was kaleidoscopic, so the Tang society presents an encyclopedic landscape. As Mr. Ge Zhaoguang said: The Tang poets are in fact from all works of life and many of whom are from the middle and low levels in the society. Compared with their predecessors, they have a deeper understanding of many aspects of the society and have abundant personal experiences. Moreover, the change of time invests them with confidence and courage to engage in society and political affairs, therefore the Tang poetry is not confined to the areas of society and life and is largely expanded to other spheres. Whether it be the observation and reflection of various social phenomena and problems or the philosophy on life and the ideal of life, the Tang poetry displays them to the fullest. In this way, the Tang poetry takes on colorful forms. (ibid.: 12)

It behooves us not to interpret the Tang poets as artists engaged in writing poems in a modern sense. Instead, we should know that for the Tang people,

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

217

the Tang scholars, in particular, reciting poems and writing songs are the indispensable elements of life, which is as unsurprising as a shepherd riding horse every day. Poetry circumstances the Tang people’s life, that is to say, covering a wide spectrum across the society. Given this aspect, we can almost summarize the communication of scholars (shih-jen) as “the communication of poetry.” In an all-inclusive point of view, the communication of poetry in the Tang Dynasty somehow has some semblances with the modern medium, and they, like the air, infiltrate people’s words and deeds, impacting the starting point, the process, the turning point, and the ending. In light of the effect of communication of the Tang poetry, we don’t need to make lengthy comments on it. With few examples, it is enough to say about this point. In the records of the book A Table Full of Miscelleneous Writings from the South of Mt. You (Youyang zazu),26 Duan Chengshi, a scholar in the late Tang Dynasty, wrote: In the Jingzhou Street, there was a person called Geqing, a street guard, who was very brave when he pierced his skin. Beneath his chin were poems of Bai Juyi pierced in the rest part of his body. Duan Chengshi and a guest of Jingzhou called Chen Zhi invited him to Duan’s residence where they watched his skin. They asked him to interpret them and he could also remember what was written on his back. Turning his hands upside-down, he pointed at the parts that were pierced, and then at a sentence “it is not because I favor chrysanthemums” but someone stays beside the chrysanthemum cluster, with a wine cup in his hand. …With over thirty poems engraved on his body, he was covered with no perfect skin. Chen Zhi nicknamed him the Painting of the Poems of Bai Juyi.27

Out of a deep passion for Bai’s poems, the person with a very low position can pierce his skin all over his body with verses—a good proof of the extreme popularity of the Tang poetry. If it happens in the present day, the so-called fan of Bai Juyi, a street guard of Jingzhou, will stand a comparison with today’s groupie. Please see another example (Zhou Xunchu et al. 2015): In the late Tang Dynasty, Wang Gu, a native of Yichun, was reputed to excel in poems and songs. He created A Song for Yushu: “Drunk in dream were the emperor and his ministers, causing the half of empire to lose to others (as a satire for the Emperor Chen in the periods of Southern and Northern dynasties)”. The poem enjoyed a great vogue among people. When Wang Hong didn’t pass the imperial examination, he was beaten by a rascal in the market one day, and excusing himself by crying, “Do not be so rude, and do you know me? I’ m the one that explained the sentence, “Drunk in the dream were the emperor and his ministers, causing the half of the empire to lose to others”. Hearing this, the rascal left with apology, the embarrassment written all over his face.

When it comes to the poet and the poem, even ruffians hold them in high esteem, which reveals that just like the modern popular song, the Tang poetry has gone deep into the hearts of people. The following is a teasing poem of

218

B. LI

Zheng Yu entitled Quan Longbao Style Poem Given to Prefect Li and Sent to Important Ministers, which even caused a county prefect to lose his post. “Mr. Li, prefect of Huxian County, put his musical instrument on the knees; He was said to have no political prestige, but other excellent advantages”.28 Does this mean to convey to us the supervision of public opinion? Quan Longbao in the title I mentioned above was a governor of Yingzhou during the reign of the Tang’s Emperor Zhongzong. His poems are mostly focused on doggerel. But his poem Visiting to the Governor When I First Came to Qiangzhou is actually a piece of “short news on the spot,” which contains criticism for the real world. It reads, “Looking over the city of Canghai, I watch green willows thickening. In the center sit a couple of drinkers, as they gather around drinking.”29 The sphere that poetic communication covers is vast like an ocean, so it is almost impossible to just examine one area of communication. However, our purpose is not to fully showcase the works of news regarding the communication of the Tang poetry. Rather, by speaking of this phenomenon, we want to make it clear that the communication of scholars also involves implicit connotations and characteristics, and the Tang scholars, through poetry, a public approach of communication, spread news and information across the society. Needless to say, this type of poetry typically encompasses a kind of poetic genre focusing on current affairs and reality with new topics, which was inspired by a poetic reform movement initiated by Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen, et al. It is called new yüen-fu (乐府) poetry, covering poems such as Ten Poems in Qinzhong and New Yüen-fu (including fifty poems), which have been oft-quoted and loved by later generations. In respect of the intention of communication, these works are generated in keeping with the principle of “poetry based on reality (from A Letter to Yuan Zhen by Bai Juyi),” but from the beginning, they are “created for those rulers, ministers, common people and objects, yet not for literary purposes (from the preface of On New Yuefu Poetry by Bai Juyi).” That is to say, they are intended to reflect real problems, reveal social drawbacks, and recount the troubles of people. In view of the process of communication, “In the poem characteristic of new yüen-fu poetry, the phrase it uses should be simple and natural so that people can understand them easily; the comment it makes should be straightforward and revealing so that people can get the true meaning; the thing it describes should be reliable and authentic so that people can put faith in them; the form it adopts should be fluent an smooth so that people can sing them by translating them into lyrics and melody (also see On New Yüen-fu Poetry).” In this paragraph, Bai Juyi mentioned about “reliable and authentic,” which means that new yüen-fu poems are based on reality and stand the test of verification. “People in the later dynasties considered Bai’s poems to be about the truth: A senior man urges his fellows to do the faming, and his words sound good and true.”30 Finally, as regards the effect of communication, the facts speak for themselves. By quoting Yuan Zhen, people often said, “His poems are written on the walls of imperial palace, temple and post house; and these lines are often on the lips of concubines, cowboys and

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

219

grooms.” “Bai’s works are so popular to the extent that a businessman from the State of Jinlin on the Korean Peninsula was very eager to buy them and the prime minister of the State, rumored to buy a poem with a hundred silvers, could discern the authenticity of them. There has been no such a person as Bai whose works enjoyed the greatest popularity since characters and books came into being.”31 If we define Bai’s poems typical of new yüen-fu genre as news works, there will be a variety of news genres, including news about person, event, comprehensive report, feature, tidbit, and comment. Taking “person” as an example, we can enumerate those well-known poems such as An Old Coal Seller (Maitanweng), An Elderly Man in Duling (Dulingsou), An Old Lady in Shangyang Palace (Shangyang baifaren), and An Old Man with Broken Right Arm in Xinfeng. In the last poem, the old man stealthily broke his arm with a big stone lest he was enrolled in the army. Though several thousand years have passed by, the story still tugs at the heartstrings of people. In the poem, the old man said: With a broken arm I’ve lived for sixty years. Although I am a man crippled, I’ve saved my life. When at night wind and rain come, my broken arm will ache so acutely that I cannot sleep. Despite this I regret for naught, and happily I am still alive. Had I joined the army, I would have lost my life beside Lushui River. Had it been this case, no one would have collected my bones, and I would have become a ghost at last. On the graveyard I lay I wail in vain.

The octogenarian, with so miserable a life, feels content that “broken as my right arm is, I am still alive.” This is indeed a heartrending story. In Bai’s poetic works, the poems related to “event” news include Catching the Grasshopper (Buhuang), Flood (Dashui), Buying Flowers (Maihua), People in Daozhou (Daozhoumin)—important works with profound insights. In the poem Buying Flowers, the old farmer lamented: “A cluster of peony blossoms so bright, mean annual tax for ten middle income families ”, a verse that has touched the hearts of many people for over a thousand years. In the poem People in Daozhou, it depicted a cruel accident about tributary dwarfs, which official history seldom disclosed. People in Daozhou (present Daoxian County in Henan Province) were mostly dwarfs, who were as high as just three feet or more. They were bought by others and were sent to the court as tributary articles. People often called them tugong (土贡tributary articles) from Daozhou. As tributary articles, could such dwarfs be taken as tributary objects? You could hear that they and their relatives were broken apart. Old men wept for their grandsons and mothers for their children. The Bai’s works associated with comprehensive news involve Sigh for the Rich Families (Shangzhai), Heavy Tax (Zhongfu), Erect a Stone Tablet (Libei), and Skillful Silk Work (Liaoling). In the poem Sigh for the Rich Families, Bai wrote, “The kitchen offers rotten meat too much; the treasury stores coins too

220

B. LI

many”—having the same effect as Du Fu’s famous lines, “As they can, from rich family, scent out delicious food, poor people are subjected to starvation, and dead.” All these verses are deeply connected with realism. The poem Heavy Tax, which fully reflects the exploitation and blackmail that ordinary people see, brings home to the details and analysis of facts and deserves to be an excellent work. In this poem, Bai wrote: *“Two-tax law” is a tax system put forward by the prime minister Yang Yan during the Emperor Zhongzong’s reign of the Tang and was levied in two seasons (summer and autumn) The two tax law that the government adopts, Is at the beginning a benevolent policy for us. Firstly it states no extra programs shall be added, And if local officials do so they shall be punished. Then corrupt officials begin to slip back to old habits, In order to blackmail ordinary people’s belongings. To get the chance for promotion and profits, They plunder money from people in all seasons. The brocade is not yet completed, And the silk work not yet finished. The official sends his men to levy the tax, Claiming that no one may delay this process. The village saw a cold weather coming, With gales of fierce wind at dusk howling. As the night gets deep and the fire dead, It snows in showers as you hear outside. The children are covered in bed barely, And old men feel their body cold wholly. Grief and indignation as well as chillness, Turn to a sad, sad feeling in their hearts. Yesterday I paid unpaid taxes in hurry, And I had the chance to see the inventory. Those silk articles pile up there like hills, As if they were gossamer-like floating clouds. From common people all these are looted, And they are the “envy of all” people called. Those officials rob us of food and clothes, To command the favor of the palace, alas. Once to the treasury they are sent,

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

221

After years they will come to naught.

With respect to news feature, Bai has written some poems characterized by new yüen-fu genre, including Eunuchs for Banquet (Qingfei) and Lodging in a Village near Mount Zige (Su zigeshan beicun). The two poems present a vivid characterization of eunuch officials as an overbearing and arrogant image, a true delineation of domineering eunuch group following the midTang Dynasty. In the poem Qingfei, Bai first portraits a picture of how eunuchs smugly ride horses for the banquet, as he wrote, “They ride on the road with cocky air, and glistening are saddles their horses wear.” Then are the lines: “Filled in the cup to the brim are nectars, yet on the table lay numerous ambrosias. Delicious oranges on the plates are from Tongting, but there is Heavenly Pond fish in slices.” The last sentence reads: “In the south of China Quzhou sees draught this year, to the point that people eat people, however.” Here is the end of the poem, and this ending makes the significance of the poem all the more striking, thus producing the effect of communication that can shock the hearts of people. The poem Lodging in a Village near Mount Zige is more like a short and pithy news sketch, as Bai Wrote: I pay a visit to Zige Peak in the morning, And at the foot of it I lodge in the evening. An old famer meets me happy, And treats me to a wine ready. Raising our goblets we drink, But tough soldiers breaking in make us funk. Roughly dozens of men in total appear, But in a purple robe the one is the leader. They grab our wine as we seat, Robbing our food from the plate. The host instead draws back with deference, Reaching out his hands to welcome guests. In the yard an exotic tree grows, And it has planted for thirty years. So dear it is actually to the host, Heartlessly the robbers cut its root. They are imperial loggers they claim, Who are also Shence warriors they affirm. You the host, be patient and quiet, Since they are highly favored by the court.

In contrast with the above serious news, it will give us a relaxing moment to read a piece of social news. The poem Makeup of the Time (Shishizhuang), also Bai’s work, is like a news tidbit: The makeup of the time, the makeup of the time, From the capital it quickly wins name. So popular that it defies distance,

222

B. LI

With no crimson rogue in cheeks and face. The lady’s lips have thick black rogues, And her forehead clear slanted eyebrows. Good, bad, black and white, As if she were shedding tears.

Between the lines the author tells us a teasing story. Connecting the sentence “The lady’s lips have thick black lipstick” with a vogue or fashion of today, we will find it more and more interesting. These yüen-fu poems written by Bai Juyi are more like news reports, focus mostly on contents reflecting current affairs and reality and cover a complete set of factors of news, such as time, location, character, event, and reason. A good case in point is Spring Snow (Chunxue), which tells us about the time: “In February (the season of spring according to Chinese lunar calendar) (in the sixth year of Yuanhe, the reign title of Emperor Xianzong). On the last day of the month, it was cold during the day and it snowed at night.” The poem Rural Life in Cold Season (Cunju Kuhan) seems to begin by an introduction: “In December (in the eighth year of Yuanhe), it snowed for five days in a row.” It is worth noticing that in these poems, some of them resemble exclusive reports, and therefore we will more or less be attracted to trace their origins. Such is the case with the poem The Prisoner (Furongren) written by Bai Juyi: “Tartars led in chains, Tartars led in chains! Their ears pierced, their faces bruised—they are driven into the land of Ch’in. The Son of Heaven took pity on them and would not have them slain. He sent them away to the south-east, to the lands of Wu and Yüeh. … Their bodies were covered with the wounds of arrows, their bones stood out from their cheeks. They had grown so weak they could only march a single stage a day. In the morning they must satisfy hunger and thirst with neither plate nor cup: At night they must lie in their dirt and rags on beds that stank with filth. Suddenly they came to the Yangtze River and remembered the waters of Chiao. With lowered hands and leveled voices they sobbed a muffled song. Then one Tartar lifted up his voice and spoke to the other Tartars, “Your sorrows are none at all compared with my sorrows.” Those that were with him in the same band asked to hear his tale: As he tried to speak the words were choked by anger. He told them “I was born and bred in the town of Liang-yüan. In the frontier wars of Ta-li I fell into the Tartars’ hands. Since the days the Tartars took me alive forty years have passed: They put me into a coat of skins tied with a belt of rope. Only on the first of the first month might I wear my Chinese dress. As I put on my coat and arranged my cap, how fast the tears flowed! I made in my heart a secret vow I would find a way home: I hid my plan from my Tartar wife and the children she had borne me in the land.

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

223

… The Tartar chieftains shoot so well that the birds are afraid to fly: From the risk of their arrows I escaped alive and fled swiftly home. Hiding all day and walking all night, I crossed the Great Desert: Where clouds are dark and the moon black and the sands eddy in the wind. Frightened, I sheltered at the Green Grave, where the frozen grasses are few: Stealthily I crossed the Yellow River, at night, on the thin ice, Suddenly I heard Han drums and the sound of soldiers coming: I went to meet them at the road-side, bowing to them as they came. But the moving horsemen did not understand that I spoke the Han tongue: Their Captain took me for a Tartar born and had me bound in chains. They are sending me away to the south-east, to a low and swampy land: No one now will take pity on me: resistance is all in vain. Thinking of this, my voice chokes and I ask of Heaven above, Was I spared from death only to spend the rest of my years in sorrow? My native village of Liang-yüan I shall not see again: My wife and children in the Tartars’ land I have fruitlessly deserted. When I fell among Tartars and was taken prisoner, I pined for the land of Han: Now that I am back in the land of Han, they have turned me into a Tartar. Had I but known what my fate would be, I would not have started home! For the two lands, so wide apart, are alike in the sorrow they bring.…”32

The man with Han lineage, in his early years, was driven to Turk. In order to return home in the land of Han, he even deserted his wife and children and overcame countless difficulties. It was however unexpected that when he happily met those horsemen, soldiers of his motherland, he was taken for a Tartar born and bound in chains. He was nothing but an extra insignificant man, even if he went back to his original land. It was no wonder that he lamented: “Never in the world has so great a wrong befallen the lot of man,— A Han heart and a Han tongue set in the body of a Turk.”

He shares a similar experience with Fengzi, a person I mentioned in the fourth chapter, but the latter, much to our relief, returns home and sees his family. To the contrary, the hero here is taken prisoner and sent away to the southeast. The value of this news is undoubtedly great, but where did Bai Juyi get wind of it? How did this exclusive report happen? It must have a dramatic story. Come what it may, this type of exclusive report at least shows the value of the communication of scholars and the unique role of such communication. At the very beginning, this chapter relates to the relationship regarding the three forms of communication: the official level, the scholar class, and the ordinary people. By expounding the communication of the Tang’s scholars, especially the communication of the Tang poetry, we can understand the interwoven relationship in a more specific way. For instance, Bai Juyi actually writes new yüen-fu poems as an official, yet his works are widely extended

224

B. LI

to the common people’s world. Probably, this means that the scope of such popularity covers three areas of communication of governments, scholars, and common people. In truth, in the real process of communication, it is not rare for us to see this complicated situation, to which we should give adequate emphasis. When a modern artist answered a question as to whether the art has its own rules, he said, “Generally, it does, but specifically, it does not.” The three kinds of communication, namely the levels of governments, scholars, and ordinary people, can also be defined as general rather than being specific.

Notes 1. Qijuzhu, Imperial Diaries of Court Protocol, is a book compiled by Chu Suiliang, which officially documents activities of the court protocol of an emperor. 2. Tanghuiyao (Volume No. 63), History of Laws and Institutions of the Tang written by Wang Fu and Zhengguan zhengyao (Volume No. 7), A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhengguan Reign written by the Tang period scholar Wu Jing (627–649). 3. Guoyu, Discourses of the States, is a book which collects anecdotes and discourses mostly between rulers and ministers from the Spring and Autumn Periods. 4. Quantangwen (Volume No. 520), All Preserved Essays from the Tang and Five Dynasties, compiled by Dong Gao and others in the Qing Dynasty. 5. Tangzhiyan, Anecdotes of Poets and Scholars from the Tang, is a book with a collection of stories of poets and scholars from the Tang period written by the Five Dynasties period scholar Wang Dingbao. 6. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 178), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 7. Wenxian tongkao (Volume No. 29), Comprehensive Investigations Based on Literary and Documentary Sources, is a book written by the scholar Ma Duanlin from the Yuan Dynasty. 8. Xintangshu, New History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). 9. Tang caizi zhuan, Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 10. Jiyiji, Recording Strange Stories of the Tang, is a book with a collection of strange stories of the Tang, written by the Tang scholar Xu Yong. 11. Ershisi shipin, Twenty Four Classifications of Poetry, is a book featuring a literary critique of poetry written by the late Tang scholar Si Kongtu. 12. Quantangwen ( Volume No. 809), All Preserved Essays from the Tang and Five Dynasties, compiled by Dong Gao and others in the Qing Dynasty. 13. Tongdian (Volume No. 18), Comprehensive Statutes, is a book which is a universal administrative history written by the Tang period scholar Du You. 14. Tongdian (Volume No. 17), Comprehensive Statutes, is a book which is a universal administrative history written by the Tang period scholar Du You.

7

SCHOLARS AND THEIR COMMUNICATION

225

15. Suishu (Volume No. 1), Book of the Sui Dynasty, is a book recording the official dynastic history of the Sui Dynasty written by Wei Zheng. 16. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 178), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 17. Suishu (Volume Nos. 1 and 3), History of the Sui Dynasty, is a book recording the official dynastic hisotry of the Sui Dynasty written by Wei Zheng. 18. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 166), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 19. Tang caizi zhuan (Volume No. 7), Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 20. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 179), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 21. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 166), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 22. Tangshi biecai, Selected Poems from the Tang Period, is a collection of selected poems compiled by the Qing period scholar Shen Deqian. 23. Gushiyuan, Source of Ancient Poems, is an anthology of ancient poems compiled by the Qing scholar Shen Deqian. 24. Gushiyuan (Volume No. 3), Source of Ancient Poems, is an anthology of ancient poems compiled by the Qing scholar Shen Deqian. 25. Quantangshi, All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qiing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 26. Youyang zazu, A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You, is a book containing a collection of fantastic stories compiled by the Tang period writer and politician Duan Chengshi. 27. Youyang zazu (Volume No. 8), A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You, is a book containing a collection of fantastic stories compiled by the Tang period writer and politician Duan Chengshi. 28. Quantangshi (Volume No. 870), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qiing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 29. Quantangshi (Volume No. 869), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qiing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 30. Tang caizi zhuan (Volume No. 6), Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 31. Baishi changqing ji, Stories of Bai Juyi’s Poems During the Changqing Period, is a book about Bai Juyi’s poems; Changqing was the reign title of Emperor Muzong of the Tang.

226

B. LI

32. Quantangshi (Volume Nos. 424–427), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qiing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. (This section of poem was quoted from the translated version of Arthur Waley.)

CHAPTER 8

Ancient Letters and Brush-Note Novels

The communication of scholars covers a broad range of contents and is presented in an assorted way. For example, Zhang Jiuling, a politician and writer during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (685–762) of the Tang, often sent letters to his relatives and friends through a pigeon.1 This type of communication, in his time, was supposed to be most advanced. In line with historical records, he was believed to be the first Chinese man sending letters by using a pigeon (E.H. Schafer 1963). Here I would like to cite an example of Tang Qiu, a noble recluse in the late Tang Dynasty2 : Tang Qiu, with a generous mind and exclusive air, lived in a leisurely place. He was not known far and wide. Out of the secular world, the place was an ideal site for leisure. He had a deep love for poems and songs, and these works radiated with a fresh charm. Every time he wrote and sung, he found those lines interesting. Good at creation, he never used unfamiliar words, nor did he refuse to adopt precise phrases. He just left his footprints within two hundred miles, with no regard at all for insignificant things outside his world. When he discovered something, he would then roll his work into a paper ball, throwing it into the guard. Sometimes in lines or in sentences, long or short, the things he wrote became true works after several days. Throwing that guard into the Jinjiang River, he watched it and made a wish, “If the guard did not sink, those who got it would know my hard feelings.” The guard drifted towards Xinqu, where a man who found it cried: “It is the poetic guard of a mountain recluse.” Taking a boat in the river, he took it and discovered tens of poems. In fact, Tang Qiu might have hidden these poems from the world, but they are later spread to other places.

© The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_8

227

228

B. LI

This form of communication, just like playing ducks and drakes, is both creative and unique. Luckily, the gourd that Tang Qiu tossed was not turned over by the waves. Otherwise he would have little chance to divulge his vexations to the world. When it comes to scholar’s elegant way of communication, I have the very need to mention about a story of Hongye tishi (writing poems on the red leaf, a symbol of romance because the story had it that many ladiesin-waiting in the Shangyang Palace wrote poems on the red leaves to express their romantic feelings by throwing them into the river). Spanning over three hundred years, the Tang Dynasty witnessed maids’ love affairs several times in the imperial palace. In total, three ladies-in-waiting have such romantic affairs with three scholars, of whom Gu Kuang was most noted: In Luoyang, Gu Kuang, together with three friends with good poetic talent, toured a private garden. Sitting above a stream, they saw a big Chinese parasol leaf and picked it up. Inspired by this, they wrote: In the depth of the palace she enters, But she waits in her boudoir in vain. Whispering she writes on it a billet-doux, To the dearest one she loves in pain. On the next day, Gu also wrote on a leaf a poem and put it on the water surface: When flowers fall and orioles coo aloud, Ladies in Shangyang palace pine away. In Capital the water flows eastbound, But on the leaf my poem for whom? Over ten days later, some visited the garden for spring sight and got the poem, creating another poem as a gesture to Gu: A poem on a leaf drifts beyond, Who echoes whom he loves indeed? Worse than the leaf he sighs, That drifts away as spring breeze rises. (From Stories in Verses (Benshishi)3 compiled by the Tang scholar Meng Qi)

Instead of being taken as general rules, these stories of communication just serve as topics of conversation. So what are the general rules of the communication of scholars in the Tang Dynasty? Or what are the standard ways of news communication that the Tang scholars use. Of the most important, they include correspondence, writing of book, and creation of poem.

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

229

Genuine Letters and Books Defying Distance Shih-jen (scholar) is always associated with essay and calligraphy. Writing articles, however, is perceived as one of the basic skills. Being a scholar also means that though you cannot write poems and songs, you can produce allusions as good as Zhang Huaiqing, a less talented scholar in the early period of Tang who is not good at writing poems and yet likes to copy others’ articles. It also means that you do not necessarily have famous works that are either hidden in a mountain or are handed down to others. But with a brush in hand, you will often have some words that can be broadly transformed into an article or articles. Communication based on letter is the most common, accessible, and convenient carrier of these characters, which is alike in the early media—newsletter. As a matter of fact, newsletter is one of forms of letter and is evolved from ancient letter called shu-hsin (shuxin书信). The communication of letters can, in a general sense, be connected with the information that is encompassing, whereas news correspondence gives prominence to the communication of news information, namely, timely information. At a time when people’s interactions were limited by inconvenient transportation, correspondence naturally became a routine means of discussing matters and reporting current affairs among ordinary people, especially among scholars. In the Tang Dynasty, people enjoyed greatly convenient transportation, but this case turned out to be very insignificant in comparison with the present transportation tools, such as bus, train, and plane. And the imperial court always had the decision to keep in check all forms of interactions. For example, people are seemingly given the impression that the Tang people, when going to a distant place, are causal, free, and unrestricted. With a backpack in their back, they can go off at any time, not caring whether they will get into trouble and what stands in their way. For them, where there is a free mind, there is a destination. In the book A Compendium on the Statecraft during the Zhenguan Reign (627–749) (Zhenguan zhengyao), the author said during the prosperous period of Zhenguan, word went about that “those who travel from the capital to Lingbiao and from Shandong to Canghai will not get food, but those who go a long way round obtain it.” In the book Comprehensive Statutes (Tongdian),4 Du You, the Tang period author, mentioned that during the golden period of Kaiyuan (713–741), “In places on all sides, travelers were served with good food and wine by taverns on the road. They traveled several thousand miles with no armed knife tools for protection.”5 But the fact is far from being that simple. On the journey, travelers can find it very convenient and comfortable all the way. Yet the problem occurs when they put up for a lodge and start the journey. This seems true of those who are eager to go abroad and settle themselves today, and they will go directly to other places once they get the passport. But it being often the case, it takes great trouble in getting the passport. Now for those who travel in and out of China, they entail the procedures for passport and visa, whereas in the Tang Dynasty, these procedures are designed for those who want to travel to distant

230

B. LI

places, not including those who run errands to send official documents to the courier station. Well, at that time, there were no passport and visa, but the authority issued a permit known as kuo-so (guosuo过所). So what is kuo-so? It is a certificate of travel. When traveling, the ordinary people have to apply for a travel permit and obtain a certificate of pass issued by the government before they embark on a journey. Moreover, the person who holds this certificate shall have a route as designated in the travel permit and submit the paper to the authority in every pass for check. Should the traveler go abroad according to his or her will and ignore the procedure, he or she will be punished in accordance with “illegal immigration.” In the book The Six Statutes of the Tang (Tang liudian),6 the author said, “The head of pass is responsible for checking businessmen and investigating whether they have ulterior moves. Every traveler on horse or carriage shall, when going through the pass, show the certificate before the personnel” (Wang Zhongluo 2003). The chapter of Weijinlv (a part of military laws of Penal Law Code of the Tang regarding the defense of the imperial palace, major passes of states, counties, border areas) in the book Penal Law Code of the Tang (Tanglv shuyi)7 recorded, “Whoever passes through the pass stealthily shall be sentenced to a term of one-year imprisonment; whoever cuts cross the pass without being checked shall be sentenced to a term of one more years” (ibid.: 485). In the chapter of the book Criminal Laws of the Tang (Tanglv),8 an important law code of that period, it was said that “In passes of both land and port, there are gates, through which travelers need to submit the official document of pass. They report to the pass chief, who in turn verifies the document, and sends it to the military personnel for record. In this way, they can apply for a travel permit and pass through the gate. If anyone who passes through it secretly, he or she shall be sentenced to a term of one-year imprisonment. If anyone who crosses the pass not through the gate and ferry-place, he or she shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment approaching one and half years” (ibid.: 485). As for details of kuo-so, in his book History of the Sui and Tang and Five Dynasties (Suitang wudai shi),9 Wang Zhongluo clearly wrote: According to the book The Six Statutes of the Tang, in the Tang Dynasty, kuo-so was issued by the Shang-shu Division (one of leading organs under the emperor for managing the six ministries of the Tang government) and by tutu-fu (dudufu都督府), the bureau or the jurisdiction of commanders-in-chief tu-tu (dudu都督) who was in charge of the military forces of a wide area or of the whole empire). At the Shang-shu Division, the secretary of justice known as ssu-men-lang chung (simen langzhong司门郎中) and the deputy secretary of justice known as yüen-wai-lang (yuanwailang员外郎) in the Ministry of Justice were responsible for dealing with matters of travel permit (kuo-so). Of particular note, the minister of justice known as men-ssu (mensi门司) had the power of judgment and the head of supervision known as tu-kuan lang chung (duguan langzhong都官郎中) or yüen-wai-lang (deputy secretary) was responsible for checking facts and supervising the case. At the local level, the director of household registration known as hu-ts’ao- ts’an-chün (hucao canjun户曹参军)

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

231

presided over the case while the advisor known as tzu-i-ts’an-chün (ziyi canjun 咨议) and others had the duty for checking facts and supervising the case. When the Tang people applied for a kuo-so at the central level and local level, they needed to transcribe two documents. The first was the original one attached with an official seal, which shall be sent to the one that dealt with application procedures; the other was the copy which had the same form with the former, but it had to be signed by the assistant official responsible for local head known as p’an-kuan (panguan判官) and the assistant to the prefect of a region known as t’ung-p’an-kuan (tongpanguan通判官) and was put on the record by men-ssu (minister of justice) or by hu-ts’ao (an official in charge of household affairs) in all states and counties. ……

All persons who send a request for kuo-so must, in accordance with the provisions of law, prepare official documents, and presented a detailed account of all items, including reason, number, identity, and age, yet even checking the things to the extent that the origin of maid–servants and the color of his or her poultry were counted in. When necessary, the certificates of buying servants shall be presented correspondingly. The officials in charge of investigation shall check all information above and relevant approval personnel shall put their signature on those certificates. The system of examination and approval— so strict a mechanism—is fundamentally explained as an approach of control exercised by the powerful class over the oppressed. What is worth more attention is that the system of kuo-so serves another primary purpose: to prevent people from avoiding paying state tax, evading tax and corvee, and engaging in human trafficking—playing a role in upholding the social order of the feudal society to some degrees (Wang Zhongluo 2003). In the ninth century, Yuanren (Perfect Benevolence), a Japanese senior monk, disciple of one of Buddhist sects called Tiantai, spent ten years going on a pilgrimage for Buddhist scriptures and doctrines. During this period, he gave birth to a famous book Travels of My Pilgrimage to the Tang Dynasty for Buddhist Scriptures, written in the form of notes, with a wonderful chronicle of a large quantity of documents about the Tang’s society. Not only did he document in his book a wandering journey toward many places in all directions, but he also wrote some details of his presenting the official document and correspondence and applying for the “visa” of pass. Equally, he recorded some official documents of such travel certificates or permits, which is apt to make one believe that this process had much red tape. Sometimes, he wrote, in order to await the approval of the official authority in some regions, he had to stay and wait there for at least a couple of days though you were very impatient. Over and over again, he had to inquire about the approval of his “visa” when officials concerned started their work—almost not different at all from the time when applicants have to take great trouble in urging or asking relevant personnel to speed up the procedure of passport and visa. Because he was a foreigner, Yuanren would undoubtedly be subject to stricter scrutiny and restriction than any other Tang citizen. Obviously, in his book, the difficulty of common travelers in the Tang Dynasty was conceivable. Li Bai, the Tang poet who was extolled as an “immortal of poem” and who even occupied a

232

B. LI

vital position in the Chinese history of literature, demonstrated a dashing air on his journey, as he wrote, “Climbing up Wuyue for immortal practice fearless, I lose my heart in life to mountains.” To explore the story, we will see a series of unhappy moments. There is an episode about him, which reveals a true feeling of the traveler with a comedy10 : When Li Bai began a leisurely journey toward other places, he had the aim of climbing up Mount Tai. Intoxicated, he rode on a donkey through Xianzhi, where seeing this situation, the head of the county became angry and led Li to his office. “Who are you? How can you take such liberties?” In his statement, Li Bai said, “I’m the one that ‘used His Majesty’s scarf to wipe my mouth, saw him blend soup to sober me up, invited Her Highness, honorable consort Yang Yuhuan, to grind the ink and support the inkstone while asking Gao Lishi, the most favored eunuch, to help me to shake off my shoes’. In the imperial palace, I could ride a horse. Couldn’t I ride a donkey in Huayin County?” When Li’s words stopped the head felt thunderstruck. Bowing, he said deferentially, “Please forgive me for not knowing your honorable presence.” Laughing it off, Li left soon.

It is clear that it is not easy for people to travel between places, since there are various complicated procedures. Notwithstanding so many troubles and restrictions for direct and personal exchanges (traffic and procedure needed), communication, as a means of exchange, has an explicit significance for substitute. Letter, in daily and common activities of communication, always serves as a main carrier of exchanging information among people who are far apart from other groups, especially among scholars. This way, together with oral communication, constitutes the two major channels of information diffusion. If we observe the activities of communication of the Tang people—actually all ancients through a miniature lens, we will easily see that the flow of information at that time, through these two channels, often penetrates through and spreads to all directions. From this point of view, a wealth of written documents exchanged between the Tang ya-men (yamen 衙门) local government office, can actually be seen as a variable version of letter. In the last analysis, letter is a way of distant communication in the form of point and point or point to point. Cen Shen, a representative of border poetry in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote, “Without brush and paper on horses when we meet, and I can let my family know my safe situation through your words ”—summing up two common ways of communication: written communication and oral communication. Letter is looked on as an important tool of interpersonal communication and is traditionally referred to as “ch’ih-tu (chidu尺牍).” Mr. Deng Shaoji of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences noted that the term ch’ih-tu could be traced back to the chapter of Bian Que (a famous doctor in the periods of Spring and Autumn) of the book Records of the Historian (Shiji), a compendium of over 3000 years of history by Sima Qian, up from the time of the earliest Chinese ancestor Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) down to the period of Emperor Wu’s reign of the Han Dynasty. The word tu in ch’ih-tu

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

233

means a wooden slip, and people use one foot wooden slip as a tool of letter, hence called ch’ih-tu. There is also a phrase which has the same meaning, that is, “ch’ih-shu,” which is mentioned in a poetic line of the Tang poet Luo Binwang: “Through Yanmen Pass long-distance letters are rarely sent,” which comes from the poem Tune to Xinglunan: Join the Army. Moreover, the phrase “ch’ih-su” was quoted in a poem of the Tang worthy politician Zhang Jiulin: “A changing situation I have to compromise, makes it difficult to pass on letters,” which comes from the poem “A Letter from Dangtu to Xuanzhou.” In particular, the reference of ch’ih-su to letter is originated from an old yuefu poem called Tune to Yingma, which reads: Coming from the distance is a guest, Who gives me a harp-shaped case. His boy servant opens it on request, And inside lays a ruler-like letter in size.

As for the emergence of the term “letter” and the change of its meaning, Mr. Deng Shaiji (1997: 1) also said: Referring to the letter, the term “shu-hsin (shuxin书信)” appeared later than that of “ch’ih-tu”, which went back to the period of the Southern and Northern dynasties. An interesting story of Lu Ji in Classified Collection Based on The Classics and Other Literature (Yiwen leiju)11 , which might quote from Tales of Strange Matters (Shuyiji)12 , was described like this: Lu Ji had had a long sojourn in capital and seldom keep in contact with his family. One day, he said to his dog in a playful tone: “I have never heard from my family, so could you carry the letter to deliver my messages to them?” Elated, the dog shook his tails as a sign of response. If it was the letter, he said, I had better use a bamboo slip so that I could tie it to your neck. The dog then ran along the road toward the Wu, his hometown. Since the Tang Dynasty, the story has been quoted as an allusion called “Letter Sent by the Dog”. Lu lived in the period of the Western Jin Dynasty. In the book Records of Evolving Luxuriance (Yanfanlu)13 , Cheng Dachang, the author who lived in the Song Dynasty, made a proven study: “For the Song people, when it comes to a person who sends a letter or a messenger, he is generally called an escort. If this is rightly shown in the New Anecdotes of Social Talks, Chen will prove his words right and true. In the chapter of “literature” of the work, Zhen Chong asked Ruan Ji to write an article of admonishment for improvement entitled Quanjinwen. It was said that Ruan Ji wrote this article in a drunken state, and this done, he “gives it to the courier”. From that point, “hsin (letter信)” is “shi (courier使)”. The book Tales of Strange Matters (Shuyiji) recorded what Lu Ji called “shu-hsin”. This should mean that the messenger sends the letter. This is different, in some sense, from the meaning of the term “shu-hsin” today. (Deng Shaoji and Limei 1997)

This shows that the word “letter” has an original meaning, which is defined as the person who sends it. Regarding the term “hsin-shi (messenger or courier),” it at first became a phenomenon of tautology. Later on, the meaning

234

B. LI

of letter shifted from the courier of letter to the information of letter itself. The Chinese phrase “tong-feng-bao-xin (reporting news to others)” is an example of this change. Back “in the Tang Dynasty, the term ‘shuxin’ was an approximation of what defines it” (ibid.). In his poem Tune to Chouletian: Endless Sorrow, Yuan Zhen wrote, “Old age makes my interest wane, and distant letter comes in years.” To summarize, when it comes to the communication approach of letter, ch’ih-tu can be a more standard word for the letter. In the past, naming letter as “shu-hsin” was rare because the name of shu was more frequent. And shu has other relatively popular names called “chi (chi 尺),” “tu (du牍),” “chian (jian简),” and “cha (zha札).” Shu-hsin is not the way of communication exclusive for scholars, and ordinary people can also have a heart-to-heart conversation through distant letters. Yet it is also considered to be a spiritual bond of dependence and love by May–December lovers. It is often said, “Seeing the letter, seeing the person.” In the chapter Zayi of Family Instructions of Master Yan (Yanshi jiaxun),14 the author quoted an old saying in the south of the Yangtze River: “Genuine letters and books defy no distance.” The examples above show that letter is of special significance for those people who are separated by distance. Letter has become a medium of carrying close feelings among common people. As a poem described, “We meet and part so sad, travelling miles to send them off .”15 There are some verses that unbosom one’s true feelings, as embodied by a revelation of people echoing each other: “I admonish you frequently on your leave: when wild geese fly you should send letter home.”16 There are also lines that describe a sort of unhappy feeling: “Northbound for Hengyang I have two thousand miles left, thus unable to tie my letter to wild geese.” But the result is: “In Bailang Hebei the news was rarely heard, and in south Changan ladies saw a long autumn night.”18 The wife of Wang Jia, a poet living in the late Tang Dynasty, whose name was Chen Yulan and who was deeply impressed by the story above and wrote a septasyllabic regular poem19 : You are in border but in Wu I stay. As west wind chills me I miss you I say. It is the letter that stir my tears in floods. Afraid you’ve no warm clothing as winter comes.

From another point, we can know that those letters of ordinary people are mostly related to their families, which means that they just talk about their dearest ones, with less focus on others. Therefore, it doesn’t amount to much in terms of news communication. Objectively speaking, the importance of news communication lies in the history of society and the history of folk customs, as opposed to the history of communication and the history of news. But it has a different situation with respect to the communication of scholars through letters. As a means of exchange among persons, letter possesses its personalized features. In the twenty-fifth volume of the book The Mind of Literature and Carving Dragons (Wenexin diaolong),20 Liu Xie,

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

235

the author and an important literary theorist in Chinese history, pointed out, “Exchange of letters between people can adjust feelings, show personal aptitude for writing and convey people’s emotion. So in a letter, the expression should be fluent and reflect uncommon grace; the style should be gentle and leisurely; and the content can amuse a person himself or herself and others.” Based on the responsibility of intellectuals in a broad sense, the letters of scholars are either associated with the narration of events or a heart-to-heart conversation. At the same time, they have a common connotation as it has always been so, and people can use it to know others and comment on the world. In the Tang Dynasty, a governor of Qianzhou called Li Dan wrote in a letter to his sister: “Sakyamuni was born in China and educated people as Prince Zhou and Confucius did before. Prince Zhou and Confucius born in the west and educated people as Sakyamuni did. If heaven and hell exist, good men should go up to the heaven and bad men should fall into the hell.”21 When people hear these sentences, they will agree that this sentence is full of insights. If the letter had contained just clichés, these words would not have been widely popular and recorded by Li Zhao, the author of Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty (Tangguo shibu).22 Looking at those letters of the Tang’s scholars, we can find that they involve the following: comment on the principles of a sage; engage in academic conversation; tell travels; and debate on poems. There are some famous works featuring letter, like Answer to Li Ao by Han Yu, To Yuanjiu (Yuan Zhen) by Bai Juyi, On Writing Essays by Liu Zongyuan, To Scholar Pei in Lantian Mountain by Wangwei, and so on. Take To Yuanjiu (Yuanjiu is a nickname of Yuan Zhen, a close friend of Bai Juyi) as an example, the essay mentioned about the ideal of official-scholars23 : Weizhi (the courtesy name of Yuan Zhen) said ancient people remarked, “In times of failure, cultivate your character and behave yourself well in the society; in times of success, deliver benefits to people.” Unworthy though I am, I often take the two lines as the tenet of my life. What a worthy man unremittingly pursues is a great Way that those sages champion and what he awaits is a good occasion that they wish to see. When this good occasion comes, he will, like a dragon that creates clouds and a roc that generates great wind—full of vigor and strength, fly ahead regardless of all conditions. When a bad occasion instead comes, he will, like a leopard that runs in the depth of mountain and a swan goose that flies in a vast sky— in silence and obscurity, retire from the social world. Is there no pleasure in finding no suitable place for development either in a time of promotion or in a time of recluse? Therefore, I have an ambition to deliver benefits to the world; and as for my behavior, I pay more attention to improving myself. I will, as always, stick to a big path that sages adopt. To me, in this spirit, poetry is what is expressed by words.

A famous scholar, whose name was Zhuwan who lived in the period of Dali (Emperor Daizong’s reign title), once experienced a cold reception when he paid a visit to Cui Kan, then governor of Chaozhou. Seeing this scene, he soon

236

B. LI

left with a letter, which fully gave expression to his clean and noble characters that defined a man of letter: “Why should I serve the high and mighty with lowered eyes and on bent knees? Such things can never make my heart rejoice!” (a poem from the famous poet Li Bai) I heard that Mount Penglai was tucked away in a mysterious place, but people could still reach there. Without other’s recommendation, we would not go to the residence of an honorable person. The dragon was hidden in the depth of water, and sometimes we could see it. Without special conditions, we could not see an honorable person. But I really know that I was worlds apart from the court. But I depended on others for a living. My food was given by others and my living place was a fishing boat. Your door (the official ladder) was hard to cross and your food (the official salary) hard to get. Like eating good food as good as getting fine jade, I crossed the dragon’s gate (a symbol of good luck in China) with no speculative motives. If diehards overheard it, I would become a laughing stock indeed.24

Besides, in their letters, they will inevitably talk about some social news, such as the evolution of political situations, the rise and fall of the country, and the change of the society. In addition to providing some truer and more concrete contents, their letters carry something of greater historical significance or something of more news value of that time. Assuming that scholar’s letters have individualistic contents that they call “their own concise notes” (Lu Xun 1981), the social contents of the letter can be dismissed as the notes of current affairs. The following is a popular letter To Deputy Censor Liu in Ezhou, a work written by Han Yu that well encapsulates the crisis of Huaixi leading to a wide impact on the middle Tang Dynasty: In recent days, I have often thought about the problems: in Huaixi there were three regions that witnessed bad economic situation where villains of all kinds were concentrated. Driven by small profits given by some violent mobs, they caught hold of Wu Yuanji, a very young boy, and brought him to the center of the hall, calling him the commander of Huaixi. While ignoring the imperial decree issued by the government, they fought flagrantly with the court’s army. In a crazy way, they pursued their private profits and ran amok in towns and counties by looting and butchering local people, thus bringing chaos to many states including Luo, Ru, Guo, Jing, Xu, Ying, Huai and Jiang. Prime minister, Gongqing and other officials were busy making useless remarks and those who possessed the right to mobilize soldiers were too timid to take up the gauntlet to lay down their lives for the country.

What impresses us particularly concerning the communication of the Tang people through letters is that the inclusion of poetry in the letter is a very prevalent phenomenon. In his poem (Wobing zoubi chou hanyu, A Letter to Hanyu When I am Ill ), the Tang period poet Jia Dao wrote:

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

237

“For months I’ve been confined to the bed, Writing to you several times I remember. Instead of being a recluse going unnoticed, I prefer to climb the official ladder. I have less to wear gradually, And in my cup I see no more. Whether am I still in good health? Alas I’m going from bad to worse.”

Undoubtedly this is a joint effect occurring after the Tang poetry enjoys universal popularity. If we recall the past history, we perhaps sense that the earliest type of letter through poetry can be attributed to the poem called To an Unfaithful Husband written by Zhuo Wenjun as a wife to her husband Sima Xiangru, a famous cultural figure in the Western Han Dynasty, along with a statement of divorce I Bid You a Good-bye Forever. In this statement of divorce, Zhuo mentioned about those famous lines: The red strings are worn, And constantly hearts torn. The bright mirror is imperfect, And the good couple apart. The morning dews dry, And the destined pairs die. The flourishing flowers wither, And the two sing in sigh there. I take my leave, so sad, so sad! Enjoy yourself and banish me from your mind. To the mighty river I swear, I’ve finished with you forever.

We are not hard to see that these plaintive verses set a theme for longing and a tone for grief among lovers, laying a good foundation for the communication of letters through poetry. Xue Yuan, the legal wife of Nan Chucai, a scholar of the Tang Dynasty, found that her husband tended to learn the way that Sima Xiangru used: go back on his lover and go with another. Then she drew a picture of herself by looking at the mirror and added a poem to it: Ready to take a painting brush, I feel the mirror colder than cold. Surprised my look fails to stand the time rush, I see my fringes in anguish. With tears the work is easily painted, But sorrow on my face hard to be showed. Afraid you forget my appearance, I paint this for your attention sometimes.

Seeing this, Nan Chucai, with great embarrassment, returned home and lived with his wife happily at last.25 Here I want to cite another example:

238

B. LI

When touring Taiyuan, Ouyang Zhan had a crush on a prostitute and dated with her in Duxinagying Hotel. After parting, the prostitute had a growing longing for Zhan and suffered heartsickness. In a dire situation, she wrote a poem while cutting her hairs on the temple to give Ouyang Zhan and died as soon as she finished it. Her poem said26 : After parting I look, look peaky, Partly for longing partly for anxiety. See me in high bun how good-looking, And open for me the gold case there shinning.

The following is a more legendary story of Purple Swallows Passing on the Letter 27 : In Chang’an, a rich and powerful man called Guo Xingguang had a daughter named Guo Shaolan who married Ren Zong, a very wealthy businessman. For several years, Ren had done business in Xiangzhong and Shaolan’s letter to him often received no response. One day, in her room, Shaolan saw a pair of swallows flying to and fro on the beam. After a long sigh, she said to them: “I was told that you came from the east and you would pass through Xiangzhong en route. My husband had left home for few years, and he paid no attention to many letters I sent. Whether he was alive or dead, I was eager to know what happened. So I wanted to entrust you to send my letter.” As soon as she finished, she burst into sobbing. Up and down the swallows flew cooing, as if they were ready to honor her promise. Shaolan continued “If you promised me, please come to my bosom.” As they perched on her knees, Shao sung: “For Chonghu my husband has left, crying by the window as I wrote. I can just rely on swallows as my courier, with the letter to the unfaithful man however.” Lan then tied the letter to one of feet of one swallow, and they were together flying away with a fit of chirping. Ren Zong, who was then in Jingzhou, was seeing a swallow flying overhead. Astonished by this, Ren observed it stopping on his shoulder. When he noticed that its leg had a letter, he untied and opened it, knowing that it was a poem of his wife. It was the letter that brought tears to his eyes, and the swallow made away with the same cooing. In the next year, Renzong first wrote a poem in response to Lan when he went home. Later on, a man of letter Mr. Zhang spread this moving story and some others took it down in turn.

Subsequently, Yao Cai, the wife of Wen Mao, who lived in the period of Dali (Emperor Daizong’s reign) entrusted a domesticated white crane to send a letter to her husband in the form of a poem entitled Recalling You in the Rain. Interestingly, the crane was nicknamed “susu”. One day, while it was raining, you came to my mind. I said to Susu, “Legend has it that in the past, the heavenly Queen’s blue phoenix and Shaolan’s purple swallow (said above) could

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

239

send the letter to a remote place. You couldn’t do that, could you? Facing her as it turned around, the crane seemed as if he received the order. Cai quickly wrote down two letters and tied them to the crane, which sent it to her husband.”28

Shih-jen (scholars) can however take the credit for the vast majority of works of the Tang poetry. Those poetic works are too numerous to count—in the form of sending letters to distant areas; writing poetic letters to express one’s feelings; and responding to each other with poems. It stands to reason that they present more poems than letters, but it should be pointed out that there are a number of pure letters. For example, Bai Juyi’s One Hundred Lines to Huizhi is a proof of the fact that he substitutes the letter with poems. Furthermore, Bai’s another poem Ascending the Loft at Dusk bears much resemblance to Wang Wei’s To Scholar Mr. Pei in Mount Lantian when it comes to the conception and art of composition. The two poems begin in the same way by describing beautiful views and end by making clear the true feelings of the host and his friend: Can we dispel summer heat in the loft? And it is cooler than in your cottage.29 But Du Fu’s Inviting Xu to Hobnob with Me in the Rain is truly an invitational letter, as it reads30 : Facing the table with well-preserved wine, I hear you arriving near my house. On a rainy day that is a trouble of mine, But you can enter riding your horse.

Guo Min, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem To Cao Xueqin, which can prove that it is a continuation of the above tradition (Deng Shaoji and Li Mei 1997): East wind comes amid apricot rain, Flowers fall in the morning again. It is a pity my old friend has no chance, To visit my garden for spring views. I recall Caozhi for his poetic talent, And in wine Chenzun makes me ashamed. Three days before the Shangsi’s Day, I helped myself until I was drunk free.

Letter (shu-hsin) is a tool commonly used by scholar-officials in their activities, so it is as essential as the basic necessity of life. As an article, it pays equal attention to content and form and it is a combination of message and media. When people use it as a form of communication and a medium of communication, it just plays its role as a channel of information, but what contains information circulation in this channel is another matter, however. The content of “shu-hsin” can, for example, be a shu-tu (shudu书牍, letter), a shi-chien (shijian诗笺, poetic letter), or pure poem. From the Tang Dynasty, we can see a flood of poems which feature sending letters and responding to

240

B. LI

each other with poems, but they can be sent and replied largely by letters. In the Tang Dynasty, “people who looked for interesting things were keen on spreading each of work done by those scholars,”31 and the spread of creation I mention also involves the way of communication through the letter channel.

History System Falls and Novels Flourish There is no such a period in history as the Tang Dynasty, during which the scholars were given great importance. It is estimated that in the Tang Dynasty, the number of candidates for chin-shih program and ming-ching program in the imperial examination, together with other programs (usually temporary exams privately decreed by the emperor), totaled 55,000 or more, of which there were about 50,000 chin-shih candidates and 3000 ming-ching candidates (Wu Feng 1987: 4). As Mr. Wu Feng (1987) said, “This is a cultural and intellectual class with handsome performance, since its members can write books and other works and spread culture.” According to the current data, the Tang has left behind 50,000 poems and 22,000 articles, and “it has also created more than 630 collected works as recorded in the History of the Tang Dynasty. But over 240 of these kinds are handed down till today” (ibid.: 6). Among these rich and ambitious works, we can see a considerable number of books which particularly bear features of news communication that were always ignored by others in the past. They (these works) are part of “tsa-shih (zashi杂史, unofficial history),” which is contrary to “cheng-shih (zhengshi正 史, official dynastic history),” and they are also deemed to be random essays of “recording facts, exploring physical phenomena, dispelling doubts, showing admonishments, collecting folk customs and helping to add things of talk.”32 As for the consanguinity between history and news, we have especially commented on it when we talked about the concept of communication of Liu Zhiji, a famous historian in the Tang Dynasty. In recent days, I have come across an important essay without complete contents, providing a theoretical basis for the said idea. Its title was On Newspaper and History, which was written by Mr. Li Dazhao, a pioneer of China’s communism in modern history. He pointed out that there were three essentials that define what we call history: observing the change, searching the fact, and making things easy to understand—all these are also essential to newspaper. He (1923) continued: The nature of newspaper is proximate to the record of history. In a sense, we can also say that “newspaper is the present history and the history the past newspaper.” In spite of what is recorded in newspaper, it is presented in parts or segments, and this has much similarity with the recorded history in terms of its nature. And the responsibility of a news reporter is equally shared by past historical researchers. The documents or materials sorted out by today’s news reporter are the ones collected by previous historical researchers as significant recordings.

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

241

For a news reporter, the responsibility that I just now mentioned differs very little in the role of a Tang’s scholar who writes nonofficial history. At the same time, you can know how similar those partial or fragmented contents written by a news reporter to nonofficial books in the form of notes. What is different is that the news reporter is a specialized profession while the scholar is an identity of the society; and the report of a news reporter concentrates on present communication, so it is distinct from the scholar’s aim of writing a book or an article that can be passed down to later generations. The Chinese culture has always been regarded as the one characterized by historiographer history. As the modern scholar Liang Qicho said, “China’s ancient history bears fruits.” Zhang Xuecheng said, “Six classics are part of history”—almost making a final judgment about the culture of historiographer history. Commencing in the Tang Dynasty, the form of historiography includes official and private activities. The history compiled by imperial historiographers is called cheng-shih (official dynastic history). In the chapter of Classics and Books (jingjizhi) of the History of the Sui Dynasty (Suishu),33 the author remarked, “The historical books compiled by historians Ban Gu and Si Maqian are ‘official’.” On the other hand, in the chapter of Literature and Art (wenyi) of New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xintangshu), about the second official dynasty history of the Tang Empire, it said, “all other types of books are classified into parts of tsa-shih (non-official history),” including biography, novel, foreign dialect, geography, official post and official clan. They are “private.” These “private” books are generally called pi-chi (biji笔 记) novels or essays (also known as “brush-note” novels or essays, defined as a literary genre of prose writings that are not subject to a strict compository pattern and the themes of brush-notes style literature are endless and reach from historiographic notes to scholarly themes and novellas). “Pi-chi as Mr. Ji Xianlin (1997) said, was a genre typical of China. Pi-chi is just a collection of short essays. Pi-chi means recording what one feels, sees and reads.” This is what I say about “pi-chi” (brush-note essays or novels). In addition to being a product of “unseparated” Chinese literature and history (wenshibufen), brush-note essays are also the crystallization of “separated” rhythmical and non-rhythmical essays (wenbibufen) in the period of the Southern dynasties. Mr. Wu Feng (1987) summarized these traits with the followings: Because writing prose, which was referred to as p’ien-wen (pianwen骈文), also p’ien-li-wen, was a popular trend in the stage of the Northern and Southern dynasties, men of letter generally dismissed rhythmical prose characterized by parallelism and ornateness as “wen” and non-rhythmical essay written in the form of notes as “bi” In the chapter of zongshu (on wen and bi) of The Mind of Literature and Carving Dragons (Wenxin diaolong), the literary critic and theorist Liu Xie pointed out: “Today, it is often said that there exist both wen and bi. The former, with rhythmical style, is called ‘wen’ while the latter, with no rhythmical style, is said to be ‘bi’.” So people of later dynasties thought of

242

B. LI

collected stories of “fragmented words and comments” as “brush-note essays”. At the same time, any other partial or incomplete informal essays and assorted records in the form of prose were called ‘pi-chi’.

The activity of writing private nonofficial articles or brush-note essays or novels began flourishing in the middle Tang Dynasty. According to Hu Sansheng, since the phase of Zhide (Emperor Suzong’s reign title), thieves, and rebels had made waves again, and Yuan Chao and Qiu Fu (the two were both leaders of rebellious groups in middle and late Tang Dynasty) spoke volumes about the events. However, the crisis of Qiu Fu paled in comparison with that of Yuan Chao. The crisis of Yuan Chao was quelled by Zhang Boyi, a general of middle Tang Dynasty, but there were few records in the book General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian)34 (hereinafter referred to as General Mirror). The crisis of Qiu Fu suppressed by Wang Shi, also a general of the Tang, was recorded more specifically in the General Mirror. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, people wrote nonofficial essays at home. Wang Shi, as shown in history, was a Confucian scholar, and he was lauded to the skies by historians after his success in bringing to end the crisis of Qiu Fu. The General Mirror prefaced Wang’s successful stories without any trouble in doing that. In the book Spontaneous Essays of the Studio of Forbearance (Rongzhai suibi),35 the author said, “The discussion on sending armed forces to suppress Yuan Chao in Pingshan Lu of the General Mirror was also indicative of such details. The chapter of Studying Strange Stories (kaoyi) of the General Mirror compiled most of the Tang’s history, of which non-official history dominated.”36 In the Supplements to Gujin xiaoshuo (also known as Clear Words to Illustrate the World), Feng Menglong, a noted scholar of the Qing Dynasty, clarified that “The history falls and the novels flourish— starting in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, reaching its apex in the Tang and suffering impairment in the Song. Starting from the period of Kaiyuan, the trend declined, and men of letter began to go astray. The reason behind this is that the Tang established its national historical library and banned individuals from privately writing official dynastic history,”37 thus compelling men of letter to find another way out in the quest for current affairs and history. But in the final analysis, this situation may probably be associated with the social transition in the middle and late stages of the Tang. Provided that we admit that the Chinese history during the Tang and Song dynasties was the one shifting from the classical to the modern, it is not fortuitous that brush-note essays or novels in both Tang and Song would prosper. In our perspective, this phenomenon was also part of the wild wave of history, which had the same connection with the burgeoning journalism in the middle and late phases of the Tang. It manifested the concern and curiosity of people for the trend of things outside while revealing the rising and overflowing flow of social information. In the early stage of the Tang, Sun Chuxuan, one of Tang scholars, lamented about the situation of “no books and essays in the world aimed at

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

243

promoting journalism,” which was however reversed by the prosperity of short stories. The historian Ban Gu wrote in the chapter of the Chronicle of Art and Essay (yiwenzhi) of the History of the Former Han Dynasty (Hanshu): The School of Fiction was made up of pai-kuan (low-rank officials稗官) and was the result of most conversations and stories from the streets and alleys where the common people lived. Confucius remarked: “Even in any small and unimportant branch of an art or accomplishment, there is always something worthy of consideration; but if the attention to it is pushed too far, it is liable to generate a hobby; for that reason, a superior gentleman never occupies himself with it.” Yet it will not disappear. Even though the fiction is written by those with little intelligence in town or village, these officials will edit and keep it. If there is one sentence that lives up to its use, this will be similar to such discussions as past woodcutter and madman are engaged in.

The Tang’s historian Yan Shigu quoted Ru Chun’s notes with respect to the word “pai (bai稗)” of pai-kuan (baiguan): “We usually call tiny rice ‘pai’. The conversations and stories from streets and alleys are piecemeal words.” In the chapter of Chronicle of Classics and Books (jingjizhi) of History of the Sui Dynasty Dynasty (Suishu), the author said, “What fictionists write is about the conversations and stories.” But in the chapter of Official Dynastic History (zhengshilei) of A Catalogue to Complete Library of the Four Treasures (Siku quanshu zongmu),38 it wrote: “The official history is of great importance, with the same status with classics. Should no decree of the emperor be issued, all people are prohibited from compiling official books and Confucian classics. Therefore, it is very different from non-official history.” In fact, these seemingly slight words suggest that the biggest feature of brush-note essays is “mixed.” The term “mixed” not only reflects the complexity and variety of content but the confusion of falseness and trueness. As for the mixed nature of content based upon the book Collected Essays from Mr. Shao, a collection of essays on history books and historiography, “Hu Yinglin, a literary critic and poetic theorist of the Ming Dynasty, broke up brush-note novels into six categories: chih-kuai (zhiguai志怪) stories or strange stories (A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You (Youyang zazu), for example), ch’uan-ch’i (chuanqi传奇) stories or Tang legends (including The Story of Cui Yingying ), tsa-lu (zalu杂录) essays or miscellanea of essays such as Forest of Discussions about the Tang Period (Tangyulin)39 and ts’ung-t’an (congtan丛 谈) books or collected parts of same kinds of books (including Spontaneous Essays of Studio of Forbearance (Rongzhai suibi), pien-ting (bianting, differentiation and revision of essays) and cheng-kuei (zhengui箴规, the introduction of admonishments).” Later, the book Notes to A Category to Complete Library of the Four Treasures (Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao) classified brush-note novels into narration of varied matters, records of strange stories, and edition of trifling stories. Mr. Liu Yeqiu (2011) stated the following categories: novels and stories, trifling historical events and differentiation and revision of essays.

244

B. LI

He also pointed out that in light of content, pi-chi predominantly demonstrates its “mixed” feature, because it records what defines a story, irrespective of the type. For the purpose of form, pi-chi can be generalized by one word “random,” since it is composed of random narrations, long or short. Now let me turn to the mix of trueness and falseness of pi-chi, which is like a chronic illness of it. In summary, there are three reasons accounting for this problem. First, what a person observes and hears is limited, after all. As a result, the things people overhear and spread will be different from what is expected. Second, even if people see something with their own eyes or hear something with their own ears, they cannot ensure that it is certainly true. A body of modern empirical research proves that the proverb “seeing is believing” is not necessarily reliable. Third, the subjective preference will reduce the trueness and reliability of the communication of information in a voluntary or involuntary way. Both Fu Sinian (2011) and Tschen Yin Koh once talked about the fact that the official history would inevitably remove implicit things, whereas the nonofficial history would be apt to put something or someone in the wrong. Mr. Zhou Xunchu thought that on the basis of the above opinion, the nature of brush-note essays or novels should be within the range of literature and history. He (2006) said, You can say it is about “wen,” but it records historical facts; you can also say it is about “history,” but it relates to literary characteristics, such as hyperbole, dramatization, and even imagination and fabrication. When we define it with terms of journalism, we can put it between pure news report and literary work. Despite this, we cannot ignore the significance of brush-note essays or novels in the communication of news. Whether it comes to the “the trueness of commonality” put forward by Tchen Yin Koh, opposite in meaning to the trueness of specific image or it is about “seemingly ‘recoding comments’ made clear by Qian Zhongshu (1979) (also a well-known scholar and writer in modern China) in the official history, they are actually what historians try to fathom and design. All these mentioned here are similar to fiction and dialogue of script.” The importance of the communication of news in brush-note essays or novels cannot be overestimated, since they are a vivid and true record of many circumstances of people and the world, social fashion, insignificant historical anecdotes, and personal stories, and they are mostly current affairs and first-hand materials written by people of that time. When we open the book Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign (976–983) (Taiping guangji), a type of “brush-note” essay of the Tang, which was jointly compiled by Song scholars, is it truer for us to enter that period through time travel when we read both New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xintangshu) and Old History of the Tang Dynasty (Jiutangshu)? Can we clearly feel that the official history is merely about compiling historical books while pi-chi (brush-note essay) is more frequently shown by an untold number of lively news works? We can imagine that when the great historian Sima Guang compiled the book General Mirror in Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian), he needed to “search and check past history while turning to novels.”40 And he also mentioned that

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

245

“factual records and official dynasty history can not necessarily be quoted; and non-official history and novels do not primarily provide little evidence or proof (from Yu Fan Zuyu lun xiushutie “To Fan Zuyu on how to compile the Tang history”).” No wonder Hong Mai, the author of, Spontaneous essays of the Studio of Forbearance (Rongzhai suibi), after praising Sima Guang, the author of the book General Mirror in Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian), for revising the Tang records of extensively gleaning nonofficial history, observed: “how can we completely give up recording non-official history, trivial anecdotes and family stories?” After making a comparison between the book New History of Five Dynasties (Xin yudai shi)41 by Ou Yangxiu and the book Old History of Five Dynasties (Jiu wudai shi)42 by Xue Juzheng, Wang Mingsheng also said: “The selected novels are not necessarily untrue and the real records are not necessarily true”.43 In a word, those brush-note essays of non-official, biography, novel, story, and legend are on the whole a vivid epitome of specific history and a real embodiment of society as well as a genuine revelation of state of mind of people during that period, even if they are exposed to all objective and authentic facts. In the preface of New Book about the South (Nanbu xinshu),44 the author called Qian Yi, a writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, mentioned: People who live nearby or afar are familiar with what writers write and compile during their time. Things can well serve as admonishments and lessons, be they big or small, good or bad. Loyalty, integrity and filial piety can provide axioms for ministers; retribution for sin can warn people against foolish acts; regulations, laws and ceremonies can inform people of the institutions of the country; moral principle and modesty can encourage people to cling to good morality and spirit; eloquence and smartness as well as strangeness and peculiarity therefore inspire people to pursue what is difficult in order to enlarge their knowledge.

The Tang’s brush-note essays or novels inherited the tradition of those of Wei and Jin and broadly promoted this practice, thus leading to a splendid scene after the middle and late phases of the Tang. In the book A Short History of Chinese Fiction, Mr. Lu Xun, a renowned writer in modern history, said, “The fiction, also like poetry, underwent a change when the Tang Dynasty began. Though it was connected with collections of strange stories and records of anecdotes, this genre could be found seeing marked changes when a comparison was made between the Tang’s indirect narration with ornate words and the generalized description of stories in the period of Six Dynasties. And it started to involve the meaning of ‘fiction’ after significant changes took place. The number of the Tang’s brush-note essays or novels, according to the chronicles of ancient books and records of Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976–983) (Taiping guangji) and other sources, reached about 270, among which very few were from the Sui Dynasty and the period of Five Dynasties. But around 165 kinds of novels were preserved till the present day. Among them were over 40 retained till today in the form of collection, and the rest

246

B. LI

of them included incomplete and lost versions as well as surviving volumes in Duanhuang Grottos. These essays were scattered in such books as shufu (a collection of tales and short stories by Tao Zongyi), Tangren shuokuai (stories of the Tang people), Tangdai congshu (collected books of the Tang), Wuchao xiaoshuo (novels from five dynasties), Baihai, Leishuo (a collection of tales and short stories by Zen Zao), Gujin shuohai (a collection of tales and short stories by Luji), Pi-chi novels daguan (a collectanea specialized on brush-notes style novellas), Gushi wenfang xiaoshuo (novels about ancient poems and others), Linlang mishi (numerous secret histories), and so on” (Wu Feng 2006). These works offer readers an extensive and colorful insight into the contents, which almost encompass “assorted and exceedingly different things from the heaven, the earth, the past and the present that make them sometimes happy, angry, and dizzy and surprised.”45 When all these are unfolded before us, we can see a brilliant picture of the Tang’s prosperous landscapes and a world with a vast amount of news. In terms of the intention of communication, they can help people to see much of the world; as for the content of communication, they can assist people in seeking for new things; in respect of the means of communication, they can help people to copy literary and historical writings—typical symptoms of marking the beginning of journalism. In the previous chapter, we have discussed the official communication of news, and we roughly regard the stage of China’s journalism as emerging in the middle and late periods of the Tang based on an increasing number of newsletters—chin-tsou-yüen report, an official report issued by chin-tsouyüen (capital liaison office), an institution of partly publishing and dispatching official report established by liaison office of local government in capital. If this assertion was just based on a direct feeling of historical philosophy at that time, the dissection of the Tang’s pi-chi (brush-note essays or novels) of men of letter now provides solid evidence for our knowledge of this. In the past, people focused more on the content of pi-chi and studied the origin and context of it from the perspective of the evolution of text. Therefore, the long-standing consensus has its own reasonable basis. But the question is that as a form of communication, why did brush-note essays or novels emerge and flourish rightly during the middle Tang Dynasty or at a time when Kaiyuan Zabao (an official newspaper during Kaiyuan period) appeared? Was it unexpected or coincidental that brush-note essays or novels began in the Tang and Song? Of course not. When people talk about the brush-note essays or novels of the Tang and Song as well as the Qing, they seem to take it for granted that they are natural to see the Tang poetry, the Song songs, the Yuan drama, and the Ming and Qing fictions, but they believe that brushnote essays or novels of the Wei and Jin are not the case. Given the book The Monasteries of Luo Yang (Luoyang qielanji)46 in the Northern Wei capital of Luoyang by Yang Xuanzhi in the period of Northern dynasties and the book New Anecdotes of Social Talks (Shishuo xinyu) by Liu Yiqing in the period of Southern dynasties, if we already find the brush-note essays or novels of the Western and Eastern dynasties strange, Ying Shao’s Comprehensive Meaning

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

247

of Customs and Habits (Fengsu tongyi),47 tinctured with “brush-note” style, was all the more unknown to people before the Qing Dynasty. When we travel along the track of evolution of news communication activities, a watershed of the Chinese communication history in the middle Tang emerge, seemingly divided by “two different areas” of several kinds: previously a dry and rainless desert and later a green plain with plenty rain; previously a disorderly and spontaneous state of development regarding news communication and later an orderly and smoothly state of development; previously called news activity and later called journalism. In this context, the Tang’s “brush-note” writings came into being. To look into the course of history, two approaches are adopted: first, summarize the laws of rise and fall from the vast amount of historical facts; and second, analyze the historical facts that are scattered from the transcendental theory. The former means a thinking of induction while the latter means a thinking of deduction. For a historian, induction is always orthodox, but deduction is often heterodox. As a matter of fact, there exists a proper range for them to be applied, and neither of them can be abandoned. Is it because the kaleidoscope of historic activities generates historic laws of all kinds amid ever-growing evolution or because unpredictable historic laws, like the great Way, have verified the specific process of history in its overall operation? I’m afraid this is a chicken-and-egg question and I cannot jump to a conclusion. With regard to exploring the origin of China’s journalism, we not only set a great store by historic facts that cannot be believed without evidence but also rely on insightful historical philosophers like Oswald Spengler. We hold that the birth of journalism has a direct connection with specific political, economic, cultural, and social factors, but it is also confined by some preselected and inevitable historic laws or the so-called Way of heaven. Taking modern journalism as an example, it appears to be the combined product of political democracy, economic freedom, cultural vibrancy, and social opening, yet from the standpoint of history and philosophy, it is not without the natural result of dynamic wave of modern civilization. This conclusion is also shared by the development of the Tang journalism, and in the final analysis, it springs out of the process of civilization shifting from the classical to the modern. This monumental historical change has sprouted the journalism from all sections of society and life, and the most decisive factor which I think lies in the alteration of the trend of world and people’s feelings: from heroism to secularity and from noble complex to plebian awareness. There is no denying that this is an ordinary but extraordinary change: the Chinese history starts to leap out of the classical atmosphere prior to the Tang Dynasty into the modern tendency beginning in the Ming and Qing dynasties, similar to the revolution of the “breakthrough of civilization” in pre-Qin periods, which helps the Chinese nation to jump out of the atmosphere of magic popular in primitive time into the higher state of civilization. “Two or three peach flowers outgrow the bamboos, and a warm river is first known to ducks.” In the midst of the transition of civilization between the

248

B. LI

Tang and the Song, scholars, as always exponents of the world tide, naturally took the lead to embrace the popular practice, so they were very active and prominent in some campaigns. From this point of view, the great popularity of brush-note essays or novels in both Tang and Song dynasties is not a question of the text’s style, since it occurred at a time when journalism gradually developed against the tide of modern history. Thus it played a decisive role in the emerging new type of communication. A myriad of scholars, with great energy and enthusiasm, has produced a cornucopia of informative brush-note essays or novels. Yet this would have struck us as incredible had there been the lack of need and possibility for the communication and exchange from the whole society or no general curiosity and concern from the collective consciousness. When we connect brush-note essays or novels represented by the scholar class, chin-tsou-yüen reports issued by the imperial court and oral and singing texts loved by the ordinary people—coexisting almost at the same time, the deep significance of communication context of the Tang becomes all the clearer. Whether early explorers of journalism in other countries are well aware of the importance of their personal behavior or not, the pioneering components of their communication activities certainly mean deviating from those orthodox aspects. In the Western world, this possibly represents various kinds of speeches or expressions in the quest for the freedom of the press, but in China, this means no confrontation with the court but a clean break with court prohibitions, as shown by chin-tsou-yüen and brush-note essays or novels I mentioned before. In the traditional system of discourse, brush-note essays or novels are part of anecdotal history or part of derogatory nonofficial history, which was written by individuals. They are therefore very distinct from the official history compiled by imperial historians with respect to the dynasty they serve. Both official history and nonofficial history run a long, long course, but in the Tang Dynasty, the former was officially put on record in the imperial library and the latter was evolved into brush-note essays or novels. Since then, the two grew in parallel with each other without one interfering in the other. The deviation and the separation were at first caused by unconscious activities, but they created golden opportunities for the emergence of journalism from an objective perspective. I think this is unexpected however. In the articles called Shunzong shilu and Xuxuan guailu, Mr. Tchen Yin Koh revealed the drawbacks of historical documents from the government and ordinary people: An overview of our country’s historical documents told me that most of nonofficial works written by individuals more likely contained untrue facts while the official works were mostly accused of encompassing implicit records. When we studied important and unimportant historical stories, we could trace the truth of them and prevent facts from being fabricated wrongly if we paid equal attention to official and non-official books, and at the same time discriminated and analyzed them while carefully selecting them for use.

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

249

Obviously, all these represent the perspective of a historian. If we change our perspective into the view on the communication of news, Mr. Chen Yange’s accurate remarks are equated with generalizing the advantages and disadvantages of imperial news and private stories while throwing light on the different ways of official and nonofficial history, of orthodox and heterodox principles, and of centrality and periphery. With reference to the specific circumstances of private report, we will discuss them in the next chapter. Here as an example of comparison, we might as well look at a real case in the book Old History of the Tang Dynasty (Jiutangshu): Since Xu Jingzong became the head of national academy of history, he had falsified the history with partiality. At that time, Yu Shiji and Xu Shanxin, the father of Jingzong were murdered by Yuwen Huaji. At that time, Feng Deli observed this event on the spot and said to others: “Yu Shiji was killed and his younger brother Yu Shinan asked to die for the former. But after Xu Shanxin dead, Xu Jingzong tried every means to beg for his own life.” People talked about it more often. Consequently, Jingzong nursed much hate against Feng Deli, who was in turn greatly smeared by the former when he wrote a biography for the latter, even though the latter was not as black as he was painted. Xu Jingzong married his daughter to an imperial guard called Qian Jiulong, who was originally the slave of the royal family. Therefore, he came out of no good stock, but Xu favored his wealth and approved this marriage. Subsequently, he falsified his statement for Jiulong and added false merits to the biography and even juxtaposed Jiulong with Liu Wenjing and Zhangsun Shunde (both important pioneers of the establishment of the Tang) in the historical book. Perhaps this is a relatively special but typical example.

Brush-Note Essays from the Tang Period From the perspective of the communication of news, I want to give you an introduction of several brush-note essays or novels of the Tang people that are widely popular. For the purpose of observing the way of communication of scholars in a specific manner, I take the following examples. The author of the book Fine Stories from the Sui and Tang Dynasties (Suitang jiahua)48 was Liu Su, the second son of Liu zhiji, a famous historian of the Tang. They were both historians of the time. Liu Su’s Fine Stories from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, similar in genre to Liu Yiqing’s New Anecdotes of Social Talk (Shishuo xinyu), gave a detailed account of words and stories of some powerful men that spanned from the Sui Dynasty to the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty in the order of the time. The book however allocated one half of the content to Emperor Taizong of the Tang. As an official historian who was often guided by his father, he thus created the real facts of history in his writing, be it the record of person or the narration of story, hence considered as the “important references of studying the history of the early period of the Tang” (Wu Feng 2006). There are two records of great

250

B. LI

value for people’s understanding of i’ch’uan (yichuan驿传), a vast network of postal service system of the Tang49 : When Duke Wei (Wei Zhen, then prime minister) passed away, Emperor Taizong created and wrote a tablet inscription for him. Later, someone drove the wedge between him and the deceased minister, and the emperor then ordered the tablet to be destroyed. In a war against Gaoli (then North Korea), the Emperor met some difficulties and regretted what he had done to him. He sighed, “If Wei were still alive, I would not resort to this approach.” He crossed the Liaohe River immediately he rushed fast. The Emperor offered sacrifices to the spirit with a plenty of sacrificial animals and renewed the ceremony to set up the tablet for the minister. In the war against the State of Liao, Duke Liang (Fang Xuanling, then prime minister) stayed in Xijing. He could act without the consent of the Emperor when necessary, since he was given the decree. Then an escort official responsible for sending the government’s letter (known as liu-hou) came and claimed that there was a whistleblower. Duck Liang asked where the person was. “It is you”, was the reply. Next, the whistle-blowing letter was sent through the post station and arrived in Xiangzhou where the Emperor was there. Emperor Taizong heard that it was a defense official (known as liu-shou) who wanted to report to him. After this, the Emperor flied into rage and ordered a soldier to show a long sword before him. Later, the Emperor asked liu-shou who was the betrayer, who answered, “Fang Xuanling”. “I guess so”, responded the Emperor. He chided him and ordered a soldier to cut the wrong whistleblower in two at the waist.

The author of New Talks of the Tang Dynasty (Datang xinyu),50 was Liu Su, with unknown background, and he perhaps lived in the Yuanhe period of Emperor Xianzong’s reign. The book was written in the second year of Yuanhe and source materials were mostly seen as legendary. With “Quancaifengyao” as its preface, the book traced the history from the early period of Wude (the reign title of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang) to the late phase of Dali (the reign title of Emperor Daizong of the Tang). According to a detailed category, the book New Talks of the Tang Dynasty was composed of thirty chapters, with its contents involving k’uang-tsan (assisting the ruler), kueichien (offering admonishments), chi-chien (providing counsel), kang-cheng (uprightness and outspokenness), kung-chih (justice and integrity), ch’inglien (cleanness and honesty), chih-fa (law enforcement), cheng-neng (political competence), chung –lieh (absolute loyalty), chieh-i (morality and righteousness), hsiao-hsing (filial piety), yu-t’i (fraternity), chü-hsien (recommendation of talents), shih-liang (knowledge and magnanimity), jung-shu (tolerance), chih-wei (farsightedness), ts’ung-min (smartness), wen-chang (article), chushu (book), ts’ung-shan (following a right way), yü-nin (curry the favor), li-ko (reform), yin-i (retirement), pao-tz’u (praise and reward), ch’engchieh (punishment), chäüan-li (encouragement), k’u-jen (cruelty), hsieh-nüeh

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

251

(pleasantry), chi-i (record of strange story). Each chapter contained a chronicle of personal stories and a narration of stories of zhanggu (musical and ritual officials), sometimes with five or seven items and sometimes with twenty or thirty ones—all add up to 353 items. “The book involves a wide range of contents, including political affairs, and they can be supplemented and revised as historical references and possess greater value of literature materials” (Wu Feng 1987: 198). A good case in the book General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian) is listed as follows: After Yang Zaisi (then chief supervisory official) saw Zhang Yi’s brother Zhang Changzong get into good books of Empress Wu because of his handsome appearance, he said flatteringly: “People say you as good as a lotus flower. I don’t think so, but I think a lotus flower is very like you.” … All well-known scholars in the world make little of me.

The author of the book Draft Notes from the Court and the Country (Chaoye qianzai),51 was Zhang Zhuo, a scholar who lived during the reign of Empress Wu (Wuzetian) and who was reputed for his poems and essays. People in his time extolled his essays as “bronze coins,” and no one heard that they would fade away despite selections of many times. Hence he was known as “bronze scholar.” When “escorts from Xianluo (present Thailand) and Japan went to the Tang court, Zhang would be asked to write essays before they left.”52 In this book, Zhang Zhuo wrote a masterpiece of the Tang’s ch’uanch’i, a genre about “tales of strange events.” With a dominant narration of events during the reign of Empress Wu, Draft Notes from the Court and the Country offers a panoramic portrait of popular trend and different characters of the times. These are mostly substantiated by the author’s first-hand materials of his own personal experiences, evidence that is always valued by historians. What is more striking is that this book gives expression to the author’s intention to focus on something more interesting and something that entails a story. Here I want to give the following two examples: During the reign of Empress Wu Zetian, when she let the cat eat with a parrot in the cage, Empress Wu asked a censor called Peng Xianjue to supervise this scene. He then showed this cage before many officials and others. Before all had a look at it, the cat, out of very hunger, finally killed the parrot by biting it and ate it independently. Empress Wu felt it was a great shame however. When Empress Wu’s mien-shou (mianshou面首, a toy-boy of her) Zhang Yizhi built a resplendent palace, he planned to spend millions of dollars on this magnificent project, with red and pink cement on the walls, pine and cedar posted on the columns and glasses and eaglewood set as decorations. At night, a ghost-like line was written on the wall: “How much delight can you enjoy?” In consequence, this piece of wood was ordered to be cut away, but another verse appeared again. This happened almost six or seven times. Seeing this, Yizhi wrote a line beneath it: “One month (or one time) is enough”. Later, it did not occur anymore.

252

B. LI

The two examples were added to the book General Mirror of the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian) by the great historian Sima Guang. The sentence “Empress Wu felt it was a great shame” was changed into “She later felt greatly embarrassed”—making the taste purer and purer. At the same time, the sentence “Ghost-like line written on the wall” was translated into “Someone wrote a line on the wall”—this sounds more reasonable. The book Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty (Tangguo shibu) was written by Li Zhao who served the imperial academy as a scholar during the middle Tang period. In the preface of the book, he said, “Liu Su’s book Fine Stories from the Sui and the Tang Dynasties (Suitang jiahua) encompasses biographies of figures from the period of Southern and Northern dynasties to the time of Kaiyuan. From the start of Kaiyuan period to the time when I came to Chanan to compile the supplement to the history of the Tang dynasty, I was considering whether to increase or abridge the story of Shi Siming (one of culprits of the Crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming in the Tang Dynasty), since it is not a good idea to write it in the form of biography.” The book was composed of 308 items, thus providing very valuable historical documents for the Tang’s social customs, political legends, individual stories, and literary anecdotes. Stories like “Her Highness, Consort Yang, loves lichee,” “Peony and azalea are in vogue in the capital,” and “Poet Li Bai asks Gao Lishi, the eunuch, to help him shake off his shoes” are always on the lips of people of many dynasties. When Emperor Dezong heard that his General Li Sheng recaptured the capital, he gave way to weeping in spite of himself. This story was selected from the book Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty (Tangguo shibu) and was later added to the book General Mirror in Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian). The following two stories have something to do with a courier station and a letter pigeon53 : A man surnamed Wang said: “Last year, when I acted as an official of Tongzhou, a yü-shih (similar to today’s national censor) inspected here and stopped in a local courier station for one night. He suddenly asked for the presentation of tried cases and official permits, which greatly worried the station guard. This caused a sensation in this region. Then one senior official whispered, “We can invite a chef to sweeten the taste of him and give him several hundred yards of brocades as the gift.” Before it dawned, the courier station opened its door. The courier returned the documents in full, leaving on a horse fast. Big ships in South China Sea were foreign ships, which would go to Annan (present Vietnam) and Guangzhou every year. The Lion’s State (present Sri Lanka) had the biggest ship. After departure, the crew raised white pigeons as their couriers. In case that the ship sunk down, the pigeons could go back to the original place by covering a distance of several thousand miles.”

Another interesting story can, with few words, contribute to a piece of news feature54 :

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

253

The Tang scholar Han Yu loved to look for curious things. One day, he went out with his friends for fun. They succeeded in reaching the summit of Mount Huashan, where they could not went downhill. Beside him with desperation, Han then wrote an essay immediately before the so-called death while shedding tears in grief. The luck would have it that the head of Huayin County heard it and asked his men to come to rescue. Through all kinds of plans, they successfully bring him down.

The Story of Feng Yan, written by the Tang period writer FengYan, was a clear collection of personal stories. Completed in the period of Zhenyuan of Emperor Dezong (758–804), the book gathered several hundred stories that “are of vital importance for the research of the Tang’s history” (Wu Feng 1987: 196). Here are two relevant stories (from the third volume of Story of Feng Yan): The candidate official Wang Han particularly liked writing poems, but his writings were not true. He quietly made a list of top several hundred writers within the literary circle and divided them into nine categories according to the socalled standard. In his description, he was put in the first place in parallel with other two writers Zhang Shuo and Li Yong, yet the rest of people were excluded. Early in the morning, the list was put up in the east street near the official mansion, very like the list of alternate officials. There were ten thousand viewers and everyone there would flow into passion indeed. The chin-shih title scholar Xue Sheng wrote a prose for Tug-of-war, an essay with beautiful words that enjoyed wide circulation. (This is from the sixth volume of Story of Feng Yan)

The book Anecdotes and Legends in the Periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao (Kaiyuan tianbao yishi) came when the Tang reached its apex during the periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao (Emperor Xuanzong’s reign), and just from these periods, the Tang started to go from prosperity to decline very quickly. Here is a strong contrast as embodied in the famous poet Bai Juyi’s peom “In Yuyang the war drum is so deafening, that collard seduction songs in palace are deafened.” This has been an ineffaceable trauma for the Tang people, who express their feelings—anger turning to doubt, unwillingness, and deep regret—through many channels, including the writing of “brush-note” style essays. It is happened that this part of history that needs to be examined is linked with an emperor with a dashing appearance who possesses both political talent and personal charisma. It is him who has a long and deep romance with a lady who is described by Li Bai in his poem “Her gown is like plumage and her look a rose.” This profound love story culminated in a sensational tragedy, adding a romantic and legendary flavor to this tragic history of the Tang. Moreover, in his poem Emperor’s Palace Outside (Xinggong), Yuan Zhen wrote, “Years have dyed the ladies’ hair white, but they still gossip about Emperor Xuanzong’s romance”—an everlasting image of this change the Tang

254

B. LI

has experienced for later people. After the middle Tang period, a considerable number of brush-note essays about the events of Kaiyuan and Tianbao periods came into being one after another. Among important works were the scholar Li Deyu’s Old Tales According to Master Liu (Ci Liushi jiuwen),55 the scholar Yao Runeng’s Story of An Lushan (An Lushan shiji), the scholar Zheng Chuhui’s Miscellaneous Records of Emperor Ming (Minghuang zalu),56 the scholar Kuo Shi’s Biography of Gao Lishi, the Eunuch (Gao Lishi waizhuan), the scholar Wang Renyu’s Anecdotes and Legends in the Periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao (Kaiyuan tianbao yishi), Yue Shi’s Story of Honorable Consort Yang Yuhuan of the Tang (Yang Taizhen waizhuan),57 and the like. In writing these works, the author either garners old stories from the previous dynasties or collects gossips or anecdotes from street and alley, ranging from the court’s oft-contentious matters, mysterious stories in the palace and popular social fads to plays and displays as well as anecdotes of celebrity. Of course, these works are a mixture of true and false facts, and some parts may talk about immortal and ghost, but they still have some valuable historical materials and make up for the lost true content of the official dynastic history because most of them are personally recounted by witnesses (ibid.: 207). The book Anecdotes and Legends in the Periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao (Kaiyuan tianbao yishi) was a particular example. It was compiled based on legends and hearsays, so its content is possibly untrue. The Song period scholar Hong Mai once pointed out four mistakes of Anecdotes and Legends in the Periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao (Kaiyuan tianbao yishi) in his book Spontaneous Essays in the Studio of Forbearance (Rongzhai suibi), claiming that “When the stories are spread in alleys, they may be devoid of their pure truth.” “(Wang)Renyu, the author of the book, gleans stories from other people, thus it cannot be identified as the national history,”58 he said. Undoubtedly, some records are really reliable, so they are often used as the official dynastic history. There are two stories that can account for my point59 : Every time new chin-shih program candidates succeeded, they would send a nijin-letter (a letter painted with coating material made of glue and powdered gold) to their family and relatives. They would celebrate this as usual with musical instruments and think this was really a piece of good news. When Yang Guozhong, the brother of honorable consort Yang (yuhuan) and a powerful minister, possessed great political power, his gate was thronged with warriors and strategists from all other areas in the world. Zhang Tuan, a native of Shanzhou, had a reputation for dedication on learning. Aiming high, he never yielded to others. Some suggested that he should take patronage from Yang Guozhong so that he could win distinction. “You say relying on Yang’s power means relying on Mount Taishan. But in my view, I will rely on an ice mountain. Perhaps even in the era of tolerant and transparent politics, relying on such “a mountain” will lead one astray.” was the reply. Later people thought what Zhang said was true and took him as a good example.

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

255

The book A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from South of Mt. You (Youyang zazu) was written by the Tang period scholar Duan Chengshi, the son of Duan Wencheng, then prime minister during Emperor Xianzong’s reign. As for his ancestor, he was a military commander favored by Emperor Taizong, so his family could well be “a family of officials.” Duan Chengshi was equal in name to famous poets Wen Tingyun and Li Shangyin in the late Tang period, and at the same time, the three ranked sixteenth in their families, thus winning the name of “Thirty Six of the Time” (from the Story of Li Shangyin of the book Old History of the Tang Dynasty). The book A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from South of Mt. You (Youyang zazu) has a large collection of stories and materials, a representative work of the Tang’s “brush-note” (pichi) essays. “Since the inception of the Tang Dynasty, the book A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from South of Mt. You was held up as the most excellent work and was not abandoned (from A Catalogue to the Complete Library of the Four Treasures ) (Siku quanshu zongmu). Taking the book Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign (976–983) (Taiping guangji) as an example, there are 707 quotations in the book” (ibid.: 200), which tops among other Tang period brush-note essays or novels. Over the time, I have borrowed materials from this book, which proves the fact that “it contains lots of aspects, mostly highlighting strange stories (A Short Fiction of Chinese Fiction (Zhongguo xiaoshuo shilue).” I have to say that it is too many to enumerate, but I can cite an anecdote known as “Yuefuweitaishan (Father-in-law also called Mount Mount Taishan)”: When Emperor Xuanzong offered sacrifices to the heaven in Mount Taishan, Zhang Shuo was responsible for the matter of offering sacrifices. The son-inlaw of Zheng Yi was an insignificant officer according to rank. In accordance with customs, those officials below Sangong (the general name of three high official posts, including Taiwei (in charge of military affairs), Situ (in charge of civil affairs) and Sikong (in charge of engineering)) should be promoted to one higher level, but Zheng Yi just said about the promotion of officials below the fifth rank and offered them scarlet robes. After Zheng Yi obtained this promotion, Emperor Xuanzong suddenly observed this and asked what became of him. The former, however, became speechless, standing there in awe. Just at this moment, Huang Panchuo, an eunuch who won the favor of the Emperor, cut in: “This is the power of Taishan”.60

The book Factual Evidence from Ancient Books (Shangshu gushi) was written by Li Chuo who had an unknown background and acted as an official in the late Tang period. In an introduction to the preface of the book, the author said that Minister Zhang (Yan) and he took shelter in a village. “One time, I took a lodge in a Buddhist temple. The host exchanged routine words with guests and expressed welcome to them. Each guest was waiting for a conversation. It was no doubt that what I heard from them was very common, and if these were spread to later generations, I thought it was a good thing. Then I compiled exceptional stories and ten more interesting chapters, writing

256

B. LI

the book Factual Evidence from Ancient Books (Shangshu gushi).” That is to say, he wrote this book according to what Minister Zhang said in his conversation, with a great focus on more amusing and strange stories. Look at the following story: It was rumored that in recent days a monk in Luozhong got several Buddhist relics (called sheli舍利) and hid them in a glass container. The aromatic incense was offered all night. The monk also donated things to others every day. Driven by hunger, a young man wanted to ask the monk for the Buddhist relics. Observing them in his hand, he was given the bottle by the monk. The young man immediately swallowed them, which surprised them monk very much. He then considered the possibility of seeking for sheli. The young man said, “Can you give me several coins? So I can buy medicine to take these (relics) out” Hearing this, the monk happily gave him two hundred coins. But he also fetched a pill (Wanbingwan) to help him to release. The monk used a basin to contain them and stored them after cleansing them.

Slightly later than Factual Evidence from Ancient Books (Shangshu gushi), the book Fine Words from Guest Liu (Liubinke jiahualu)61 was an anthology of some daily affairs of the court edited by Wei Xun amid discussions when he sought learning from the master Liu Yuxi. As shown by the investigation and revision of officials who was responsible for compiling the classic Complete Library of the Four Treasures (Siku quanshu), nearly half of the content of the book, namely thirty-nine items, was almost similar to Li Chuo’s t Factual Evidence from Ancient Books (Shangshu gushi) though some notes were changed. If no consideration is given to the right and wrong, then this example suggests that Factual Evidence from Ancient Books (Shangshu gushi) will go about far and wide after completion, so its timeliness is worth our attention. Had been not for this condition, others would have had no chance to copy Wei Xuan’s work. Here is a piece of exclusive news of Wei Xuan: P’u-yeh Li Yan went to the court at 5 am. On his journey, he saw a peddler selling steamed food, hot vapor whirling up in fits. Then he asked one of his servants to buy some and used his sleeves to wrap them. Eating them in satisfaction, he said to his men: “Incredible! Incredible!” *(P’u-yeh 仆射 is the official name of minister or director of Shang-shu Division中书省, one of three leading organs under the emperor; the three organs include Chung-shu Division门下省, Men-hsia Division尚书省 and Shang-shu Division尚书省, which have been mentioned in the previous chapters).

The book Memorials from the Eastern Watchtower (Donguan zouji)62 was written by the scholar Pei Tingyu, who was born in a family of prime minister. In the late Tang period, he acted as a high-level official several times. He was called a man of ingenuity in writing and nicknamed “Xiashuichuan (a boat going downward).” In the preface of the book, the author said that in the late ninth century, Du Rangneng acted as prime minister, compiling the Dynasty’s history. At the beginning, Yu Tingyu and other officials should assume the

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

257

responsibility of compiling the history of Emperor Yizong (847–858), but the matter had hanged in balance for a long time. Because of this, he “collected the stories and anecdotes from Emperor Yizong’s reign and finished writing three volumes (of Dongguan zouji). It was not an official dynastic history, so he dared not show it to the Emperor. Later on, he reported it to Duke Jin (Du Rangneng) and hid it in the imperial library for later discussion” Dongguan (Eastern Pavilion/Watchtower) was the place where archives were housed in the Han Dynasty and was a nickname of the historical library. In the book All about Historiography (Shitong), Liu Zhiji said, “I have served as a historical official three times, and again I enter the Eastern Pavilion.” There are also brush-note essays in the late Tang period, including Pei Tingyu’s Memorials from the Eastern Watchtower (Dongguan zouji), Li Jun’s Miscellaneous Records from the Pine Window (Songchuan zalu), Su E’s Miscellaneous Compilation of Duyang (Duyang zabian), Zhang Gu’s Drums and Pipes amidst the Dark (Youxian guchui), Fan Shu’s Amicable Discussions in the Clouded Valley (Yunxi youyi), Gao Yanxiu’s Missing History of the Tang Dynasty (Tangqueshi), Dense Talks from the Cassia Garden (Guiyuan congtan). In the book Guiyuan Dense Talks from the Cassia Garden with a piece of unreliable news (ibid.: 215), Feng Yi wrote an anecdote “Cuizhang styled themselves as warriors” and recounted a joke indicative of the fact that the poet Zhang Hu was swindled out of money by a so-called swordsman: After failure, Cui Ya and Zhang Hu, chin-shih program candidates, often visited the region of Jianghuai (north of the Yangtze River). They drank very frequently with others and made fun of some celebrities of that time. Sometimes emboldened by alcoholic drink, he called themselves hao-hsia (haoxia豪侠) or heroic swordsman. When in a drunken state, Cui Ya created a poem To Hsia-shih (xiashi侠士, chivalrous man): Above Taihang Mountains lay snow three feet, And I have a sword in the sleeve. If I meet someone with a good heart, He will show a gesture to leave. Thereafter people could not help praising the two men by saying: “Cui and Zhang are true swordsmen”. One night, an uncommon man appeared with an image similar to a warrior. Near his waist was a sword and in his hand a packet dipping with blood. The moment he entered his home, he cried: “Swordsman Zhang, aren’t you?” “Yes” was the reply. Zhang bowed as a way of courtesy and asked the man to sit down. The guest said, “I have a foe, and it has been ten years since I found him for revenge. It is not until tonight that I have successfully killed him. I can now reassure myself”. “Look! This is his head,” continued he. “Do you have wine?” Zhang fetched it and asked him to drink. “Three miles from here, there lives a righteous man, for whom I want to pay his kindness. In this way, I can bring

258

B. LI

to a satisfactory end to all kindness and hatred in my life. I’m told that you have a strong sense of justice, so can you lend me ten thousand? I will then return you immediately. If my wish is fulfilled, you can have my word: I will go through fire and water to repay you.” Hearing this, Zhang became happy and begrudged nothing. He brought all valuable belongings and put them under the candle. At the same time, he selected the high-grade works including books and paintings worth one hundred thousand and gave them to the guest, who in turn said in elation: “What a generous man! Now I have no more regret”. Then he left the packet with a head and promised he would come back. But after the guest left, he never went back at the time agreed by the two. Zhang waited there until the night watchman announced the coming of five’o clock, but the guest never appeared. Aware of the fact that if the packet was found, he would be involved, he didn’t know what to do however because the guest did not appear as he promised. With this, he asked his servant to open the packet, with the result that the packet wrapped a pig head. Henceforth Zhang Hu lost his image as a heroic man.

The story is the original version of “The swordsman hosts the ‘head’ meeting,” which comes from the 22nd act of the famous fiction Rulin waishi, also called The Scholars. In this interesting story, we can see the prevalence of bold and uninhibited spirits from those chivalrous swordsmen during the heydays of the Tang Empire and traces of the change of social trend that was reduced to absurd practice in the late Tang Dynasty. On top of that, it is worthwhile to mention about the scholar Huang Pumei’s work, in which many are seen, heard, and experienced by the storyteller himself. From this point of view, it has referential significance for studying the social issue of the late Tang Dynasty (ibid.: 223). Now look at one specific example: In July (in autumn according to Chinese lunar calendar) 877, the fourth year of Emperor Xizong’s reign title, it was decreed that Liu Renbing, then left-rank General, was promoted to Governor of Jiangzhou. Governor Liu brought a camel from the capital to the local state. Because of the heavy wind, his camel was lost at the foot of Mount Lushan. In south of China, there was no such a creature, so people who saw it felt greatly surprised. At last, they gathered others and shot the camel dead. Then they reported the matter to the local chief (Governor Liu): “A monster caught under the Mount Lushan”. With great astonishment, Governor Liu went with them to there. At the sight of the creature, he seriously said, “This is my camel”, and asked his men to bury it right away in a place beside a river.

The book Trivial Tales from the North of Meng (Beimeng Suoyan)63 was written by Sun Guangxian, the scholar of the period of Five Dynasties. Its writing derives mostly from social rumors and hearsays, but the author assumes a very serious attitude toward this process. For example, in the preface, Sun wrote, “Whenever I hear a thing, I will not believe it fully and proofread it three times before writing it down.”64 The book mostly involves numerous events about imperial families during the periods of the Tang and Five

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

259

Dynasties, prime ministers, cruel officials, border defense areas, the imperial examination, social customs, writers, and monks as well as Taoists—a realistic reflection of the society of the time about the periods of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five dynasties. Even the great historian Sima guang also draws relevant references from the book in his endeavor to compile the work General Mirror for the Aid of Governmen (Zizhi tongjian). I want to give you an example concerning the communication of the scholarly world65 : Bai Juyi, as a junior mentor of prince (a official post called shao-fu), rivaled others in the world with his essays but failed to be promoted to an eminent position. At the early time, during the reign of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang, the scholar Liu Yuxi acted as the protege of the prince and aid Taiwei Li Deyu in managing the Eastern Capital. One day, as Liu paid a visit to Li, he said, “Have you got Bai’s anthology in recent days?” “Someone showed me his essays several times and I asked my servant to hide them. I have not read them yet. Now you mention that, so I can fetch for them,” answered Li. When he brought them before Liu, the latter noticed that the case was filled with Bai’s essays covered with some dirt. After he opened it, Liu then closed it and chuckled: “I have become unsatisfied with the writer for a long time. Now that his essays are sophisticated, why do I need to read them? I’m afraid I am distracted by them. This is the reason why I am unwilling to read his essays.” Obviously, Bai was in others’ bad books.

In the period of the Five Dynasties, brush-note essays witnessed a booming period. It cannot be denied that the communication of scholars as an evergrowing trend has given a boost to this process, but this development owes a lot to the real social circumstances as marked by broken ritual and musical systems and miserable state of ple. This resembles those words of Liu Chongyuan (whose polite name is Jinhuazi), the Nantang (Southern Tang) period scholar, in his “brush-notes” style book Miscellaneous Compilation of Jinhuazi (Jinhuazi zabian), which was written in his declining years. Then I became distressful as the country was embroiled in turbulence. I left my inscriptions in my old building, alternating between lamentations and weeping. As I came of age, I ran about in different areas for my career. During the period, details of what is heard and seen, changes in public and private sectors and promotion and record of knowledge could be recorded in carving copy. Gradually, I feared that they had a long history, so they had fewer readers. But I worried more about gleaning ancient books, because abandoning them is a great loss. And it is suitable to compile them according to order and interpret them right away.

For the late Tang period “brush-note” style essays, we should pay a special attention to the development that is about the writings which are expressly entitled with “hsin-wen (news).” Although the word “hsin-wen” was different from what we term today, it shows us something new never seen before in history. And it also explicitly indicates the inherent connection between

260

B. LI

brush-note writings and news communication. From those historical materials available, there are only two essays of such kind: Jinli hsin-wen (News) ([What I] Heard Recently in Jinli [District]) and Nanchu xinwen (News) ([What I] Heard Recently in Nanchu [District]). The author of Jinli hsinwen was likely to be the scholar Duan chengshi (from the inference of Mr. Yao Fuzhong based on the chapter of Art and Literature of the History of the Song Period), and some presumed that this book may link its contents to Shuzhong (the central region of present Sichuan Province) where Jingjiang is located. The Song period scholar Ju Yanqing talked about the events of Qianshu (the former Shu State) and Houshu (the Later Shu State) in his book Biographies of the Elders of Jinli (Jingliqi jiuzhuan). The author of Nanchu hsin-wen was Yuchi Qu, the scholar who lived during the periods of Five Dynasties. In the phase of Baida, about the period of Nantang (Southern Tang), the worthy ruler wrote inscriptions “Zhongxing foku sibei.” Then he inscribed them on the stone and erected it in Jinlin. In the chapter of Art and Literature (yiwenzhi) of the book New History of the Tang Dynasty, there are three volumes of contents of Nanchu hsin-wen, which are arranged in the category of “novelists.” Unfortunately, the original version is already lost, and over thirty anecdotal stories included in the book are scattered in Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign (Taiping guangji) and other books. They mainly consist of anecdotes and strange stories from the court and society, among which the things about the late Tang occupy the majority (Zhou Zuzhuan 1992). Here are two stories about Mr. Guo and Mr. Li, and these are the materials of drama and novels in later dynasties66 : In Jiangling (present Jingzhou of Hubei Province) lived a man called Guo Qilang, who possessed much wealth, which could top among people in the city of Chu. In the period of Qianfu, the late time of the Tang Dynasty, dishonest phenomena often occurred in the court. He visited the office of selling the official post with a million taels, getting the position of Prefect of Hengzhou (past Hengxian County of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region). At last, he decided to go home. At that time, Chugong was looted by rebels led by Wang Xianzhi. They came from ordinary people, but they are enormously different from the past. Guo reached his hometown, only to be told that his brother and sister were lost because of military incidents. His mother, together with several maids, lived under few cottages. They had no money in their pocket and lived by sewing and needle work day and night. Guo brought with him two or three thousand taels, so he could help them out. Subsequently, Guo went with his mother to assume his post in a boat, which crossed the Yangtze River, Xiangjiang River, Yongzhou North. One night, as big wind and storm set in, the waves in the river were rolling, the roar was heard from the banks and trees fell down near the boat. Guo and a boatman pulled the mother back to the bank and she was rescued safe and sound. But due to the shock, she became sick and breathed her last breath after few days. Limited by Dingyou (the death of his mother), he finally settled in Yongzhou, where he was lonely, poor and

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

261

friendless, vulnerable to cold weather and hunger. When he was young, he travelled from one place to another, so he learnt much about boat. Eventually, he got food and clothes by working as a boatman. Hence people in Yongzhou nicknamed him “Waterman” Prefect Guo. In the capital, there was an official called Li Guang. He liked to flatter a powerful eunuch known as Tian Lingzi, who in turn liked to be flattered. Li was then promoted to a military officer known as tzo-chün-shi (zuojunshi左军使) and was further promoted to the position of shuo-fang-chieh-tu-shi (shuofang jiedushi朔方节度使) governor of border region by the imperial decree. One the following day after the decree was issued, he was dead without any disease. Li Guang had a son called Li Dequan, aged over 20. Tian therefore asked dequan to take the post. When Emperor Xizong visited the region Shu, Tian escorted the emperor’s carriage and the troop stopped in Chengdu. Just in few years, Li Deshu took bribe and gathered wealth worth ten million, his post jumping from chin-tzu-kuang-lu-ta-fu (jinzi guanglu dafu金紫光禄大夫), the post title of a third-rank officer, and chien-chiao-yu-p’u-yeh (jianjiao puye检校右仆射, the post title of a prime minister). Later, Chen Jingxun, the brother of Tian Lingzi experienced a fiasco in military usurpation. Li Dequan was captured, but he fled to Fuzhou (past Mianyang of Hubei Province). He wore broken clothes and begged for food on the road. He then got the job to take care of horse. When men who knew him passed by, they recognized him at once, nicknaming him “Groom” P’u-she Li.

Looking at these aforesaid brush-note essays of the Tang, we feel it not hard to see through the compatibility of these essays and news report. It can thereby be reckoned that the Tang scholar and today’s reporter have some in common in terms of mindset of writing, whether the former writes and narrates brushnote essays or the latter is engaged in an interview and writes a report. They make every effort to collect novel things from a sea of information and stories and try to spread them far and wide so that more and more people can be informed. When having a chat about the daily life of people who lived in the Southern Song Dynasty, French sinologist Jacques Gernet (1995: 176) wrote: The collection of strange stories was all the rage in the Tang Dynasty and the trend was on the upswing in the Song Dynasty. With the invention of printing, these kinds of books attracted much readership. These stories were composed of a set of short stories which turned out to be absurd, yet they had their witnesses because the names of a person and a place as well as specific date were given with accuracy.

From this perspective, Tang’s brush-note essays can perhaps be said to be one way of communication with the most represented news communication awareness. A brush-note essay, like a small brochure, can be largely likened to a newspaper with several issues. And those contents included are also varied and surprising. The only difference lies in the scale of information and the effectiveness of communication (but superficial difference can be ignored here). From the medieval time to the modern period, the history of all countries has shown that the scale and effectiveness of communication are a dynamically increasing process. We modern people cannot force ancient people to report events by

262

B. LI

making every minute and second count, nor should we expect to churn out scores of or even hundreds of newspapers because it is unrealistic. Instead we might as well draw upon the techniques of spreading news regarding the Tang’s brush-note essays to figure out what renders the news that the modern reporter term the “breakable work” a sustained charm when the Tang scholar writes it. We can roughly summarize three factors behind this result. The first one is “character-focused” factor. The Tang’s brush-note essays cover much, but each of them begins with a character. The person is the focus of narration, and even in full record of events, character is the first element that helps the narration go further. In the book Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty (Tangguo shibu), the author wrote such a story (from the second volume of the book): During the period of Changan Empress Wu’s reign title (701-704), scholars contended to wrote inscriptions on the tablet, and they were like businessmen in the market. Once a high official passed away, they visited the family like going to the market and bargained over the writing with the family and the latter had no choice for that. The son of the scholar Bei Jun wanted to become immortal. He prepared ten thousand brocades to ask Prime Minister Wei Xiangzhi to write inscriptions. Raising his arms, the latter answered, “I would rather starve to death than pray for these handouts”.

Human being represents the most active element of social history and all human civilizations can, in the final analysis, be made up of human activity, human projection, and human creation. From this point of view, if we take into account the core element human, we can grasp a subject that always exists. The second one is “authentic” factor. In the brush-note essays, characters of all kinds, good or bad, show their true colors. We modern men can almost easily understand their words and acts in a very different context after several thousand years. For example, there is a story in the book New Book of the South (Nanbu xinshu) written by the Northern Song period scholar Qian Yi (from the first volume): In the Zhongshu Division (one of three divisions under the emperor for managing six ministries of the Tang government), Xue Daoheng was the deputy secretary and he often wrote the imperial decree by sitting on the stone. Later, whenever his grandson Xue Yuanchao saw this stone, he would be wet with his eyes.

The third one is the technique-oriented and objective narration that features just facts. This certainly does not mean that the author has no subjective preference but mean that he incorporates value-based judgment into straightforward words in composure. The above-said three factors are perhaps good references that Tang’s “brush-note” style essays provide for today’s reporters.

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

263

Notes 1. Kaiyuan tianbao yishi (Volume No. 1), Anecdotes and Legends in the Periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao, is a brush-note style book of recording the anecdotes of Kaiyuan and Tianbao period of the Tang, written by Wang Renyu. 2. Tang caizi zhuan (Volume No. 10), Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 3. Benshishi, Stories in Verses, is a book containing a collection of novellas written by the scholar Meng Qi. 4. Tongdian, Comprehensive Statutes, is a book which is a universal administrative history written by the Tang period scholar Du You. 5. Tongdian (Volume No. 6), Comprehensive Statutes, is a book which is a universal administrative history written by the Tang period scholar Du You. 6. Tangliudian, The Six Statutes of the Tang, is a book of compendium on state offices of the Tang Dynasty compiled by Emperor Xuanzong and minister Li Linfu (but said to be compiled by Zhangshuo and Zhang Jiuling). 7. Tanglv shuyi, Penal Law Code of the Tang, is a classic law book in the Tang period compiled by the Tang politician Zhangsun Wuji. 8. Tanglv, Criminal Laws of the Tang, is a very important book of criminal laws of the Tang, which was considered to be the oldest and the most complete criminal code. 9. Suitang wudai shi, History of the Sui and Tang and Five Dynasties, is a book of recording the rise and fall of three periods of the Sui and the Tang and the Five Dynasties, written by the scholar Lv Simian. 10. Tang caizi zhuan (Volume No. 2), Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 11. Yiwen leiju, Classified Collection Based on the Classics and Other Literature, is an encyclopedic book from the Tang period written by a ten of compiles, headed by the scholar Ouyang Xun. 12. Shuyiji, Tales of Strange Matters, is a book with a collection of ancient novellas and stories of strange events. 13. Yanfanlu, Records of Evolving Luriuriance, is a “brush-note(biji)” style essay written by the Southern Song period scholar Cheng Dachang. 14. Yanshi jiaxun, Family Instructions of Master Yan, shortly called Jiaxun, is a privately written book on a lot of philosophical topics by Yan Zhitui. 15. Quantangshi (Volume No. 802), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 16. Quantangshi (Volume No. 27), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 17. Quantangshi (Volume No. 53), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 18. Quantangshi (Volume No. 26), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al.

264

B. LI

19. Quantangshi (Volume No. 799), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 20. Wenxin diaolong, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, is an important book of literary critique created by the Southern Dynasties period scholar Liu Xie. 21. Tangguo shibu (Volume No. 1), Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording a collection of stories of the early Tang period, written by Li Zhao. 22. Tangguo shibu, Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording a collection of stories of the early Tang period, written by Li Zhao. 23. Jiutangshu (Volume No. 166), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 24. Tang caizi zhuan (Volume No. 3), Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 25. Quantangshi (Volume No. 799), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 26. Quantangshi (Volume No. 802), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 27. Kaiyuan tianbao yishi (Volume No. 2), Anecdotes and Legends in the Periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao, is a brush-note style book of recording the anecdotes of Kaiyuan and Tianbao period of the Tang, written by Wang Renyu. 28. Quantangshi (Volume No. 808), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 29. Quantangshi (Volume No. 433), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 30. Quantangshi (Volume No. 244), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 31. Tang caizi zhuan (Volume No. 2), Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 32. Tangguo shibu (Preface), Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording a collection of stories of the early Tang period, written by Li Zhao. 33. Suishu, History of the Sui Dynasty, is a book of recording the official dynastic history of the Sui Dynasty, compiled by the Tang politician Wei Zheng. 34. Zizhi tongjian, General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods spanning from the 23rd year of King Weilie of the Zhou House (403 BCE) to the 6th year of Xiande of Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou Dynasti in the period of Five Dynasties.

8

ANCIENT LETTERS AND BRUSH-NOTE NOVELS

265

35. Rongzhai suibi, Spontaneous essays of the Studio of Forbearance, is a book consisting of a collection of essays, compiled by the Southern Song period (1127–1279) scholar Hong Mai. 36. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 250), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 37. Tang caizi zhuan (Volume No. 2), Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 38. Siku quanshu zongmu, A Catalogue to Complete Library of the Four Treasures, is a descriptive book of introducing the book Complete Library of the Four Treasures. 39. Tangyulin, Forest of Discussions About the Tang Period, is a brush-note essay written by the scholar Wang Dang. 40. Zizhi tongjian biao, Report to His Majesty for the Work of General Mirror in Aid of Government, is an essay written by Sima Guang for reporting to the emperor the work of compiling General Mirror for the Aid of Government. 41. Xin Wudai shi, New History of Five Dynasties, is a historical book of recording the dynastic history of fifty-three years ranging from 907 to 960, compiled by Ouyang Xiu. 42. Jiu wudai shi, Old History of Five Dynasties, previously called History of Five Dynasties, is a historical book of recording the history of periods from 907 to 960, compiled by Xue Juzheng et al. 43. Shiqishi shangque (Volume No. 93), Investigations on Seventeen Historical Books, is an important book of textual research on history written by the Qing period scholar Wang Mingsheng. 44. Nanbu xinshu, New Book About the South, is a book which collects brush-note essays, written by the Northern Song period scholar Qian Yi. 45. Youyang zazu (Preface), A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You, is a book containing a collection of fantastic stories compiled by the Tang period writer and politician Duan Chengshi. 46. Luoyang Qielanji, Monasteries of Luoyang, is a book with a report of all Buddhist monasteries (the word qielan is derived from the Sanskrit word samgha-arama). 47. Fengfu tongyi, Comprehensive Meaning of Customs and Habits, is an encyclopedic collection of various matters, compiled by the Later Han period scholar Ying Shao. 48. Suitang jiahua, Fine Stories from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, is a book characterized by a “brush-notes” style collection of stories, written by the Tang period scholar Liu Su. 49. Suitang jiahua (Volume No. 1), Fine Stories from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, is a book characterized by a “brush-notes” style collection of stories, written by the Tang period scholar Liu Su. 50. Datang xinyu, New Talks of the Tang Dynasty, is a brush-note style (biji) book of recording the deeds and words of historical figures, written by the scholar Liu Su. 51. Chaoye qianzai, Draft Notes from the Court and the Country, is a book of recording the anecdotes about the court of the Sui and the Tang, written by the Tang scholar Zhang Zhuo.

266

B. LI

52. Datang xinyu (Volume No. 2), New Talks of the Tang Dynasty, is a brush-note style (biji) book of recording the deeds and words of historical figures, written by the scholar Liu Su. 53. Tangguo shibu (Last Volume), Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording a collection of stories of the early Tang period, written by Li Zhao. 54. Tangguo shibu (Volume No. 2), Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording a collection of stories of the early Tang period, written by Li Zhao. 55. Ci Liushi jiuwen, Old Tales According to Master Liu, is a work written by the Tang Period (618–907) scholar Li Deyu. 56. Minghuang zalu, Miscellaneous Records of Emperor Ming, is a book which collects stories around Emperor Xuanzong compiled by the late Tang Period scholar Zheng Chuhui. 57. Yangtaizhen waizhuan, Story of Honorable Consort Yang Yuhuan, is a Tang legend style book featuring stories of Yang Yuhuan. 58. Rongzhai suibi (Volume No. 1), Spontaneous Essays of the Studio of Forbearance, is a book consisting of a collection of essays, compiled by the Southern Song period (1127–1279) scholar Hong Mai. 59. Kaiyuan tianbao yishi (Last Volume), Anecdotes and Legends in the Periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao, is a brush-note style book of recording the anecdotes of Kaiyuan and Tianbao period of the Tang, written by Wang Renyu. 60. Youyang zazu (Volume No. 12), A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You, is a book containing a collection of fantastic stories compiled by the Tang period writer and politician Duan Chengshi. 61. Liubinke jiahualu, Fine Words from Gust Liu, is a collection of Anecdotes and Comments from the Guest Liu, also a brush-note essay. 62. Dongguan zouji, Memorials from the Eastern Watchtower, is a book with a collection of semi-historiographical stories, written by Late Tang period scholar Pei Tingyu. 63. Beimeng suoyan, Trivial Stories from the North of Meng, is a book of recording the historical events from the period of Emperor Wuzong to the period of Five Dynasties, written by the Song scholar Sun Guangxian. 64. Beimeng suoyan (Preface), Trivial Stories from the North of Meng, is a book of recording the historical events from the period of Emperor Wuzong to the period of Five Dynasties, written by the Song scholar Sun Guangxian. 65. Beimeng suoyan (Volume No. 1), Trivial Stories from the North of Meng, is a book of recording the historical events from the period of Emperor Wuzong to the period of Five Dynasties, written by the Song scholar Sun Guangxian. 66. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 799), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history.

CHAPTER 9

Wall Inscription Style Poems

In the early 1980s, Professor Deng Yunxiang (1982), who knows very well about anecdotes of historical figures, laws, and regulations, once wrote the following interesting story: Seventy years ago, at the southern end of Banjie Hutong (lane) of Caishikou, Beijing, two anonymous poems were inscribed on the wall of a deluxe room of a hotel called Guangheju (Extensive Harmony Hotel), which won wide acclaim in and out of China. The two poems quickly became all the rage in the city, which became a piece of heated news among officials. Some sang praises of it, and others let loose insults; some became angry, and others made fun of it. For many years, people took a keen interest in talking about the story, a topic that was oft-mentioned in the early stage of last century in the south of Xuanwumen (in the southern part of Beijing). Yang Cangbai, a politician in modern China, wrote: “Spring rolls with half lettuce become popular, and wall inscriptions are mostly from history”. Over the past century, Guangheju in the south of Xuanwumen, always like Qiting (flag kiosk) of Chang’an of the Tang Dynasty, has been a place with a great number of “wall inscription” style poems. And these poems were dominantly famous in recent time. Thus this is what we call “the origin from the history”.

For details of this anecdote, you can see his essay Wall Poems in Guangheju. Here, we will place our focus on the way of communication of t’i-pi (tibi题 壁, “wall inscription” style poems) because we will discuss this common but different way in the communication of scholars (shih-jen)—“wall inscription” style.

© The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_9

267

268

B. LI

The Origin of “Wall Inscription” Style Poems As Mr. Cao Zhi (1994: 34) of Wuhan University observed, “As a means of communication, the way of ‘wall inscription’ style poems can be easily done because you just write your poems on the wall. Visitors from other regions of China can read and copy the works whenever they see them. By so doing, these works can be circulated nationwide.” Deep down, that passers-by read and copy the wall inscriptions does not mean a kind of blind behavior, since educated and cultured people are predominant. So this shows that scholars are main part of the communication of wall poems. The history tells us that the “wall inscription” style works “started from the two Han dynasties (Western and Eastern dynasties) and peaked in the Tang Dynasty,” Cao (ibid.: 38) said. It was said that Yi Guan, the Eastern Han period calligrapher, was keen on drinking. From time to time, he went to the pub with some money for drinking. Interestingly, he wrote poems in the form of calligraphy on the wall, attracting watchers there to propose a toast to him, and he asked for no money.1 If it proves the fact, it may be perceived as one of earliest records about wall inscription. Following the Han Dynasty, “wall inscriptions” style works grew with the passage of time. In the chapter of Story of Song Xian of History of the Jin Dynasty (Jinshu), the compiler wrote: Ma Ji, the prefect of Jiuquan, was a noble man with an impressive air. He beat a musical drum to visit Song Xian, who stayed in the loft and refused to see him. Ma Ji then signed: “His name is much heard and his sight hardly visible; his worthiness is much admired and his look scarcely seeable. After today, I know you are a surely great man.” He inscribed a poem on the wall of a cliff nearby: In a red cliff with a hundred feet, A green wall is hard to find. The woods are exotic and luxuriant, Presenting a forest so splendid. The person is like a jade so pure, Really a treasure for one to discover. I’m near but the host far, Which makes me no longer his admirer.

Song Xian was a famed recluse who lived Nanshan of Jiuquan. Much to his disappointment, he met a cold reception and wrote a poem on the wall of a cliff with a fit of sad feeling. In the Southern and Northern dynasties, “wall inscriptions” enjoyed such popularity that they were much recorded in many a historical book. In the chapter of Story of Liu Xiaochuo of the book History of Southern Dynasties (Nanshi),2 parallel to the official dynastic histories of Southern Song dynasties (including periods of Liu-Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen), the author said like this:

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

269

The style of using ornate words was adopted by Xiaochuo, and gradually others followed suit. At that time, people accorded importance to his essays. When an essay was completed, an uncommon phenomenon came: done in the morning and popular in the evening. Those who wanted to do more wrote and read it hither and thither in the region of Heshuo (north of the Yellow River), so the work could often be found on the posts of pavilion and the walls of garden.

Therefore, this trend is not different from a dynamic phenomenon seen in Bai Juyi’s essay: “Inscriptions are written on the walls of the imperial palace, Buddhist temples and post stations.” Let’s have a look at the chapter of Story of Wang Sengqian of History of Southern Dynasties (Nanshi): In 478, the second year of Shengming (reign title of Emperor Shun of the Southern Song Dynasty), Wang was shang-shu-ling (尚书令 the leader of the Shang-shu Division one of leading organs of the Tang government) responsible for managing official documents and conveying the imperial order in the court). He once used fei-pai-shu (feibaishu飞白书, a cursive hand) to inscribe few sentences on the wall of the Shangshu Division: “A round object runs and a rectangular one stops; this is the inherent nature of object. Polish it all the time it will brim to the full; heighten it all the time it will become soft; quicken it all the time it will be tripped up; and pull it all the time it will alternate in other directions. So it is proper to erase it at once”. This saying was followed by a flood of praises from people of the time, who even deemed it their personal motto.

Wang Sengqian was a calligrapher of the Southern Qi period, who created an example of attractiveness, which featured not the content of these inscriptions but the location of them—the Shangshu Division. It indicated that the activity of inscription was already rife and could even be found on the walls of the forbidden palace. Short though the history of Sui Dynasty was, it left behind the longest “wall inscription” style poem known as To My Friend in Jingyi (present Zhengzhou), a heptasyllabic poem consisting of 420 characters written by the poet Sun Wanshou. The chapter of Story of Sun Wanshou of the book History of the Sui Dynasty, which collects the official dynastic history of the Sui Dynasty (581–619) described him like this: Sun Wanshou was originally an educated person with an elegant and steady air. He was forced to join the army (it was said that because of his poor condition, he went to the south of Yangtze River for the purpose of military defense). His ambition thus failed, and he wrote a poem for a friend of his in Jingyi: Exiled to the State of Changsha is Jia Yi, and to the bank of Xiangjiang River Qu Yuan. In south of Yangtze River subtropical diseases so spread, and wronged officials are often banished. In Yue regions I flatter never, nor planning for myself when young.

270

B. LI

I want to fly but without wings, and speak up but at an improper time. How come a man holding a brush, becomes a warrior in rush. Floating like a puppet, I’m abandoned like dirt. Losing my way I wander westward; starting the journey I go also eastward. Out of Hangu Pass it is when I’m old; Through Jingkou in spring I just passed. In Lincheng I find animal traces, and in Tianjin I watch Niu and Dou stars. Both two stars ooze evil atmosphere, there appearing monsters in flocks. Xi Chao just entered the official world, as Wang Can began to be enlisted. Traveling in Mount Chunshan with bags of provisions, I wear a suit of armor beside the Wujiang River. The latter is a mighty river, how can it clash with Mount Chushan. The billowy waves stir on the day, and clouds flow under the tall tree. People of Yue are well eloquent; People of Shu can write poems. Lu Lian saves the state in distress, while Wu Yan never vies for meritorious service. Having traveled for long outside, I’m so homesick that I scratch my head. It is not because I plant not day lily, but I have no wine to drink. I have left my hometown for years, and my friends for nine months. But my ambition comes amid turmoil, my hair on the temples turns white earlier than catkin willow. My mind in anxiety, recalls in vain the past. I traveled in capital last time, and met my friend at young age. Taking a lodge in Nanguan hostel, I drive to the west garden. People love reading in Hejian, while in Dongping talents are favored. Good debate comes from people in the world, but honest words contain right ideas. In Phoenix Pond I’m on duty, and in Kylin Pavilion I stroll around. Guests gather in places of interest, with beautiful views contending to show. Take a boat in Kunming River, and ride a horse towards Weijing Bridge. Near the Ba River I take off my filth, going out of Dongjiao after the banquet. In Yicheng wine mellows, yet in Yangchai song has new tunes. Crows cry on night around the trees, young birds fly out their nests. Thin dust falls down the eaves, as my long sleeves look tender in the palms. Happy cause’ I have “three pleasures”, and all troubles disappear by holding my arms. My dream as if it were the yesterday, lost in thought with long loneliness.

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

271

Once with the world I am connected, I have to compete against the waves of mortals. As the wheel rotates itself, The flag cannot stand wayward flight. Ascending aloft I overlook the pass, and my hometown beyond the clouds. Turn around I see the empty city again, making me all the more sentimental. In Huating Pavilion night cranes sob, but in Secluded Valley early orioles chirp. A clean break my heart hard to soften, so my soul is interrupted so often. Both Qun and Ji families have good relations, and Zou and Li foster hometown ties. If I wait for swans flying southwards, I can at the time see life and death. *(Qu Yuan is a famous poet and politician [340 BCE–278 BCE] of the State of Chu during the Warring States period) *(Lu Lianneng, also Lu Lian [about 305 BCE–245 BCE], who was a legendary debater and strategist during the Warring States period) When this poem came to the capital, it was oft intoned by people of the time and those who were greatly interested in this poem inscribed it on the wall for fun.

The very long poem, with pent-up feelings, carries many lamentations and poetic emotions. Through a smooth technique, the poem fully gives expression to the sorrowful feelings of men of letter in both ancient and modern times. It particularly stands out in history as the flashy culture that looms largely in the periods of Qi and Liang is yet to decline. In this context, many people, in one way or another, write it on the wall and allows it to become popular for a specific time. Finally, it is included in the book History of the Sui Dynasty, which is compiled by the Tang scholars.

The Tang Scholars Write “Wall Inscriptions” Style Poems When the Tang Dynasty began, the culture of wall inscriptions became a vigorous phenomenon. According to the writer Jia Yi’s masterpiece About the Faults of the Qin Dynasty (Guoqinlun), “wall inscription” style poems saw a scene of “universal popularity.” In the book All Preserved Poems from the Tang and Five Dynasties (Quantangshi) whose compilers are (Cao Yan, Peng Dingqiu, and others), we can find a vast amount of masterpieces that clearly have the marks of random inscriptions, deepening people’s belief that the rise of the Tang poetry can, to some degrees, is ascribed to the tremendous interest people take in writing wall inscription style poems. The Tang people’s love for, ability of, and inclination of writing poems are in the climax in that period. Therefore, almost every poet has left behind “wall inscription” style works.

272

B. LI

For them, poems are not only written on the paper but also inscribed on the wall. The typical example is the monk poet Han Shan, who has created several hundred poems in his entire life, and these poems are inscribed on the rock walls. Another person I want to mention about is Yao He, the grandson of Yao Chong, the famous prime minister. Being equal in name with the Tang poet Jia Dao, Yao also takes great pleasure in inscribing poems, so others say that he inscribes poems where he is. His friend Xiang Si, also a poet, claims he has “inscribed too many poems on the walls of government buildings” and his poems are actually covered all over the wall. This is apparently exaggeratory, but it reflects the universally pervading phenomenon of “wall inscriptions” style poems from the Tang poets. Nevertheless, the Later Tang period poet Zheng Gu goes too far, since he writes in his poem The Second of My Three Poems: “At seven I went abroad with my father, writing a poem at the Yueyang Tower.” This shows that at the age of seven, he inscribed the poem at Yueyang Tower. At that time, his father went to Yongzhou to take up the post of governor. Representing an approach of communication, t’ i-pi (called tibi题壁 in Chinese) means writing poems on the wall in public places so that it can enjoy a widespread popularity. The word “pi (bi)” is a mosaic of categories, because it involves walls of house, pavilion, hall, palace, monastery, temple, pub, post station, and rock. Among them, writing poems on the walls of house is a relatively common way. Educated people and scholars will, when traveling to a remote place or visiting a person or place nearby, scribble down their poems on the wall either in an impromptu way or through others’ invitation. But these improvised works mostly come because of a proper setting. This almost begins by praising the secluded and agreeable environment and the host’s elegance and sophistication and develops further by taking the opportunity to express how he longs to live in a secluded haven. It may be said that their value is not so great. This case can be shared by lots of works including Du Fu’s Writing on the Wall of a Cottage of the 32nd Mansion Outside the Qixian County, Qian Qi’s Writing on the Wall of Chen Ji’s Home, Bai Juyi’s Writing on the Wall of Shen Ziming’s Home in A Drunk State, and Wen Tingyun’s Writing on the Wall of A Friend’s Home. Maybe people’s living environment is too simple or the host and the guest have a very common relationship, so these wall inscriptions are usually devoid of good things. Now the most oft-mentioned and familiar work is Writing on the Wall of Mr. Huyin (the original name was Yang Defeng, a recluse) written by the Song period scholar and politician Wang Anshi, who wrote: Under his cottage it is clean without moss, And plants are himself grown in a rectangular field. A stream for the filed meanders around greens, As two hills standing sends bright rays of light.

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

273

The wall of house is very much like the wall of hall, as shown in these poems: Cen Shen’s Writing on the Wall of Hall of Zhaoshao Mansion of Kuangcheng; Writing on the Wall of Hall of Wangfu in Xinxiang; Writing on the Wall of Hall of Yongle Weishaofu; and Xiao Yinshi’s When crossing Qiling in Early Spring I Write on the Wall of Peicheng in Xiashi. After the famous poet Li Shangyin was accidentally embroiled in the power struggle of Niu Zengru and Li Deyu, he had constantly suffered troubles and setbacks in his life. One day, when he paid a visit to Ling Hutao, the son of his benefactor Ling Huchu, the latter turned a blind eye to him because Li married the daughter of his opposite party. After a long sign, Li Shangyin wrote one poem on the wall: For ten years you have passed away, And I’m lost on the double ninth day. …… Some already enjoys the honor of prime minister, But I’ve no chance to visit his mansion fair.

Here, the poem tells that Ling Huchu has passed away for ten years and he (the poet) stands before the wine cup and is lost in thought on the double ninth day. Moreover, the prime minister whom he mentions is Ling Hutao while the “mansion” refers to the office of prime minister. When Ling Hutao saw this poem, he was torn by grief and embarrassment. Eventually, he “ordered the gate of the hall where Li inscribed a poem to be closed and he no longer lived there.”3 Generally, the popularity of works inscribed on the wall of house and the wall of hall is still private or partly public. The public place is a site where wall inscription is seen as important. Another example is the wall of building. One day, the poet Cui Shu was climbing up to a water tower beside the Yellow River when he was overwhelmed with sadness after seeing a poem left on the wall of the building. Because of this, he also wrote down a grievous poem called “My feelings stirred after I saw the poem of my late friend inscribed on the wall of a water tower beside the Yellow River”.4 In southeast my friend is best, And I’ve heard him climbing the tower. Gone is he along the river to the west, But his poem is left on the wall forever.

I want to add that there is still a similar example which proves the following well-known anecdote. The Tang poet Cui Hao once wrote a poem in praise of the Yellow Crane Tower: The Sage on yellow crane was gone amid clouds white. To what avail is Yellow Crane Tower left here? Once gone, the yellow crane will never on earth alight, Only white clouds still float in vain from year to year.

274

B. LI

By sun-lit river trees can be counted one by one; On Parrot Islet sweet grass grows fast and thick. Where is my native land beyond the setting sun? The mist-veiled waves of river make me homesick.

Even the celebrated poet Li Bai, often extolled as the immortal of poem, said, “The view before me beggars description, but Cui’s beautiful words in his poem offer me a flavor that lingers on my mind.” Still there is another story about the “wall of pavilion.” In the late Tang Dynasty, a lady anonymously created a poem called “Writing on the Pavilion of Bright Pearl in Xingyuan”5 : Only the parting makes one so sad, In my loneliness red blossoms fall in showers. Speechless when recalling the scene of the pond, So in the spring breeze I wipe off my teardrops.

If this poem had not been written on the wall, it would probably have gone unnoticed with its creator. Here I tell you a story of writing the poem on the pavilion with ample particulars6 : The ancestor of Liu Zhan, a prime minister, was Liu Jing, who was a poor scholar. When he was ten years old, he helped Zheng Yan with brush and ink stone. At the age of eighteen or nineteen, Zheng Yan who was promoted to yüshih (the name of official title of censor with the duty of censorship) inspected Shangshan of Jingbu. During the tour, he stopped by a pavilion for rest and overlooked beautiful rivers and mountains. As the rain stopped, the rocks were found enchanting and river stones amazing. Sitting there for a long while, he started to travel five or six miles. And he cried: “It is not late for me to write something for this engaging scene”. Then he returned to the pavilion. He was on the point of writing when he came across an excellent poem and sang the praise of it. From north to south there were no passers-by, and his men said, “It has become a custom that Liu Jing is left behind two to three miles”. Zhang teasingly said: “Is that true?” Bowing, Liu Jing then responded: “After I saw you read and appreciate the poem, you seemed to be inspired by this and came up with a good topic.” Liu again bowed in apology for what he said, and Zhang left with great encomium.

Furthermore, there are inscriptions on the rock of a hill, clearly reflected in the famous poet Bai Juyi’s poem Writing on the rock of an overhanging spring when I was the prefect of Henan: “I have known the very beautiful rivers and mountains for a long time.” In his work Spontaneous Essays of the Studio of Forbearance (Rongzhai suibi), the Song period scholar Hong Mai said, “Huang Puti and Li Xiang are the students of Han Yu, but they cannot versify.” On a stone of Wuxi River in Yongzhou appeared a poem written by Huang Puti, who wrote it for Yuan Jie. It is said7 :

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

275

……At opposite side the stone stands, As river’s currents whirl up at the mouth. Who knows really what’s on my mind, So I just wait for others to find.

It is clear that when Huang inscribed this poem, he had an expectation for the popularity of his work. This case is similar to that of the monk poet Han Shan, who inscribed most of his famous poems on the walls of hills. It is said: The man people called was Hanshan, and no one knew his full name. During the period of Dali, he lived quietly in Cuipingshan of Mount Tiantai. The mountain was deep and it snowed in summer, so it was also known as Hanyan (cold rock). He used it as his courtesy name Hanshanzi. He got used to writing poems, and inscribed them on the stones between the trees once he produced one sentence or more. Those who found these poems interesting recorded them and the number totaled over 300 hundred.8

A poem can say well about this story9 : In Hanshan I have no troubles to see, Nor other vexations and concerns. Let my life continue to be free, And on the stone walls I write poems.

Places for Inscribing Poems Pavilion, terrace, tower, and building as well as mountain cliff, and rock wall are all located in public places, but they are not frequently visited. In contrast, the best places should belong to those densely populated sites such as monastery, pub, tavern, and whorehouse. In an age dominated by interpersonal communication, hotel and restaurant are always the places of concentration of information where news or rumors from many areas are oft-mentioned and then spread to other regions. Accordingly, those scholars who intend to promote communication regarding the walls of a hotel or restaurant as the ideal one for inscribing poems. This can be seen in the book Spirit and Civilization of the Tang Empire (Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibin 1997: 171): Drinking in the pub and writing poems on the wall are a popular practice of the society or can be seen as a custom as similar as a situation where today’s hotels and restaurants often invite famous artists to write poems and draw pictures so that they hang the finished works on the walls to increase their cultural atmosphere and improve their cultural standard. In the Tang period, what was written on the walls of pubs mostly had something to do with immediate events, so they featured folk customs in many cases.

276

B. LI

Let us look at the example of the poet Wang Ji’s Writing on the Wall of a Pub, which suggests10 : In recent days I’ve drunk so often, And it is not my inherent “spirit” As I see others around me drunken, How can I just keep my eyes open?

In the book Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign (976–983) (Taiping guangji), a very mysterious story highlights the effect of communication of wall inscriptions in pub. During the late Tang Dynasty, before the rebel Dong Chang was defeated, someone inscribed a four-sentence poem on the wall of Qiting inn: Day by day the grass again grows, Beside Sucheng city it has much. For a white rabbit a duke chases, And in June Jinghu is no longer such.

At the very beginning, people did not understand the poem until the rebel was defeated. In fact, there are some metaphors hidden in this poem. The sentence “grass again grows” indicates the Chinese word “dong,” that is, the surname of the rebel; “Day by day” means the Chinese word “chang,” that is, the name of him; “Sucheng” refers to Yuecheng, a city built by Yang Su, Duke of Yue State of the Sui Dynasty; The “Duke” refers to the Duke Qian Liu whose zodiac sign is monkey according to the Chinese Twelve Animal Signs, and the white rabbit refers to Dong Chang whose zodiac sign is rabbit; and Jinghu refers to the central region of then Yuezhou.11 The Tang Dynasty boasts bustling cities and burgeoning commerce, which indirectly boosts the faster growth of whorehouse industry, a prominent feature of street culture in the Tang period. Especially in Chang’an in the north and Yangzhou in the south, people can see whores come and go in large numbers and streets lined with red buildings. For the Tang scholars, seeking pleasure in sporting house is as good as drinking binges in pub. This can be found in some famous ch’uan-ch’i from the Tang Dynasty (a genre of novel, which is dominated by strange and legendary stories in the Tang Dynasty) style stories such as the scholar Bai Xingjian’s Biography of Li Wa (Liwa zhuan), the scholar Yuan Zhen’s Biography of Cui Yingying (Yingying zhuan), the scholar Xu Yaozuo’s Biography of Miss Liu (Liushi zhuan), and Jiang Fang’s Biography of Huo Xiaoyu (Huoxiaoyu zhuan). In particular, the well-known poet Du Mu had a poem celebrating this culture, which was widely sung in history: “On the Ershisi Bridge I see a moon-lit night, where do you teach others to play flute?; Knowing the tragedy of a fallen country never, the girls are still singing songs by the river.” Sun Qi, a scholar from the imperial academy in the late Tang Dynasty, had written an essay called Chronicle of Beili (Beilizhi), which offered

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

277

a special record of prostitutes in Chang’an. In the preface of this essay, he said, “All prostitutes lived in Pingkangli (in the north of Chang’an). If superior men, candidates who just passed the chin-shih program of the imperial examination and official candidates were not registered in the List of Officials of Court and did not serve in Guangdian, they could visit that place. And they cared not much about expenses; they could go there through water route after getting off the carriage.” In this context, it is reasonable for scholars to inscribe their works on the wall of whorehouse. The scholar Sun Qi wrote to Wang Funiang a poem called To Wang Funiang in Beili on the scarlet wall by the window, but this was not complete, this girl then supplemented a poem on it12 : For admonishment he writes the poem, Which I find new when reading. Though not better than Sima Xiangru’s form, It is also worth one or two gold silvers amazing.

*(Sima Xiangru is a prominent cultural figure in the Chinese history in the West Han Dynasty.) What interests me a lot also involves the chin-shih scholar’s visit to a famous prostitute girl whose name was Wang Susu. Excited by the wine, he inscribed a poem on the window (also see the volume No. 802): Late spring flowers creep around buildings, When noble dandies visit place of interest. A fair lady in the cave shows more sentiments, And she asks Mr. Liu to stay late.

But Susu didn’t live up to his goodwill, sighing: “Ask Mr. Who to stay? Do not utter such nonsense!” This said, she added with a brush (also see the same volume): Dogs run and chickens fly no wonder, As a child in old robe appears with a thin horse. Mr. Who yet you bring here, Lets Qingfu return on a hot day.

Typical of a poet of writing poems on the wall of whorehouse, Cui Ya had a power equal to today’s tabloid that affects the fate of stars13 : The poet Cui Ya was an unrestrained and bold scholar, who was parallel in fame with Zhang Hu. Whenever he wrote a poem in a whorehouse, it would be sung by its admirers at the crossroad. Praising it would attract many carriages and horses while destroying it would cause people to drop their cups in shock. He made fun of Li Duanduan by saying: “The dusk neither speaks nor knows to run, but her nose is like chimney and his ears rings. An ivory is embedded in her

278

B. LI

temples, and a moon on Mount Kunlun just rises.” After getting this poem, she felt sick because of disappointment. Shiyuan drunk and then saw Cui Ya and Zhang Hu shuffling in clogs: “Duanduan just waited for Mr. Three and Mr. Six, lying there in grief.” Cui again gave her unfair comments, with the result that rich businessmen vied to visit her. He sometimes joked: “The wife of Li family just danced out of the ink pond, up the snow hill. Why not expect both black and white cannot reach the balance?” People in whorehouse thought he just made it for fun and feared he would sneer them.

However, this bears much resemblance to the journalism under the pen of European critical realistic writers including Balzac, whose work Lost Illusions is a typical example. If we say “wall inscription” style works in whorehouse are not all tabloids for teasing or seeking pleasure, those works inscribed in palace and official offices will not necessarily military secrets. For example, Zheng Xu living in the late Tang period liked to create a two-part allegorical saying. When Zheng Xu first became prime minister, his peers often sneered at him because of his absurd behavior and considered him to be incompetent. Livid with anger, he wrote the following on the wall of Chung-shu Division (one of leading organs of the central government)14 : On the side slop lays a maggot sizeable, Attracting ants to pull it in flocks. They are neither lucky nor capable, When a storm on this day attacks.

Still, another book chronicles an old story, which shows that even in inner palaces with very strict regulations, writing something on the wall at random strikes one not surprising. In the second year of Shenlong in the Tang Dynasty (the reigning time between Empress Wu Zetian and Emperor Zhongzong), Xue Lingzhi, a native of Changxi of the Min State, succeeded in passing the imperial examination. In the middle period of Kaiyuan (the reigning time of Emperor Taizong, historically called T’ang-t’ai-tzung), he served in Eastern Palace as shih-tu (shidu侍 读, an officer responsible for teaching the prince). One day, when the palace’s protégés were engaged in a heated conversation, they wrote a poem in grief on the wall: The morning sun rises round, Lighting your plate bright. What is in your plate I find, Comes from medicago growing on the post. So hard with a spoon to blend the food, I see thin soup and chopsticks wide. I can only plan for the moment,

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

279

How can I live for one more year safe and sound.

Emperor Xuanzong, luckily passing by the Palace, wrote another one after seeing the poem: “The mouth of woodpecker is long, and the feather of phoenix short. If you think pine and cherry bay are cold, so enjoy the warmth of mulberry and elm.” Because of this, Xue Lingzhi resigned with an excuse of illness.15

The Peak Reflects on the River Under the Bright Moon With respect to wall inscriptions in Buddhist temples and monasteries, people are always reminiscent of the great scholar Su Shi’s Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple: From the side, a whole view; from the end, a single peak. Far, near, high, low, no two parts alike. The true shape of lushan I can’t tell, Because I find myself in the hill.

The way to blend the sight unfolding before us into the emotion in our mind has almost become a stereotype for this kind of “wall inscription” style work, which matches well with Zhang Hu’s many wall inscriptions in temples and monasteries. In particular, one of a couplet in his poem Writing on the Wall of Jinshan Temple in Runzhou has become oft-quoted lines: “Tree shadows in middle stream I see; Bell tone on both banks I hear.” Take another example from the chapter of Inquires into Strange Things of the book Stories in Verses (Benshishi): When the poet Song Zhiwen returned from the exiled place to the south of Yangtze River, he paid a visit to lingyin Temple. On a bright night, he was intoning a poem as he walked along the long verandah. In creating the second couplet, he thought it over and over again, but he never found it satisfactory. Suddenly, an elderly monk sitting there meditating in the mat asked: “For many years I haven’t slept well, yet you now complain of your misery, why?” “I produce the poem because I have caught sight of a poem written in the temple, so I am lost in thought”, was the answer. The monk continued, “Why not say ‘My door faces the tidal bore, as I watch the vast river aloft’?” Upon hearing this, Zhiwen was very surprised about this verse. Then the monk added another couplet to piece the two parts together. What the monk said to him in the poem was really a piece of good advice. On the next day, Song Zhiwen paid another visit to the monk, but he already vanished without much trace. Someone who knew him in the temple said, “He is just Luo Bingwang!” (one of famous poet of “Four Outstanding Poets in the Early Tang Period”).

280

B. LI

This event happened in the early Tang Dynasty, but its trueness has not yet been tested. In the late Tang period, the scholar Tang Fan had a similar experience as well. When Ren Fan toured the middle peak of Mount Tiantai, he wrote a poem on the rock wall: At the summit autumn draws near, And crane flying at night carries dews. A peak reflects on the surface of a clear river, When an old monk opens his door for green vistas.

Hundreds of li away, he thought of going back to change “a river of water” into “half a river of water”. But when he returned to the original site, the sentence was finally changed by someone else.16 *(Li is a Chinese distance unit, and one li equals five hundred meters) Because the temple and monastery see the coming and going of people, up from royal families and down to the ordinary people, scholars can therefore use the short cut approach of increasing their importance and raising their prestige by inscribing poems there. The late Tang period popular poet Zhang Pin, whose poem Ascending the Shanyutai reads: “The sun seemingly pops from the ground and the long Yellow River as if flowing from the heaven.” He once wrote poem on the wall of Dacisi (Great Kindness Temple) where the King of Pre-shu State appreciated it when visiting the temple to the extent that he almost conferred on him an official title for this reason of his poetic talent.17 We can apparently bear witness to the popularity of writing poems and see talents contending at a heated atmosphere in Buddhist temples: The Mawei Temple is where Her Highness Honorable Consort Yang Yuhuan hanged herself. Later, when scholars stopped by the site, they would write a great number of poems and sing them to guide her bitter soul, putting feather-like hairpin and hair ornaments into the earth, bleakness and bitterness pervading all over the site, making one so sad. With bitter tones and clear words, the poem was brimming with miserable feelings. When Zheng Tian, Duke of Youyang, administered Fengxiang, he wrote a poem: The Emperor leaves for the horse as Consort Yang left. Cloud and rain are gone but a new day comes. Inside the well of the Jingyang Palace who is again lost. Always wise is the emperor whatever he does. Later people who saw this believed this poem came from the Prime Minister.18

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

281

However, when Emperor Xizong of the Tang sought shelter in Shu region (present Sichuan province) due to a national crisis, he came to Mawei post station, in which a poem that we think insightful today was written inside: In Mawei green willows flutter in the breeze; The Emperor’s carriage comes to Shu luckily. A man you on earth should echo my words, And refrain from hating Consort Yang certainly.

Sometimes, these walls of temples and other public places are like message boards, on which ancient people and their friends exchange sincere words with each other. For example, in the poem Shiyu Zheng Writes A Poem to Shaofu Du when He Meets His Old Friends in Donglin jingshe, the poet Wei Yingwu mentioned the lines: “Inside is a poem of my friend, and desolate view written on the wall high”—an epitome of the aforesaid scene. The famous poet Yuan Zhen’s poem Writing Four Verses in Tears when I see Zhangong Write the Poem on the Wall in a waterside pavilion in Yuanan Temple in Yuanan County says most about his feelings about depression in spite of different times. And here is another poem of his called Writing a Poem to Letian (Bai Juyi) on the Wall of Kaiyuan Temple in Langzhou: Failing to recall you I then write, With many done but to whom I say. On the wall of temple of Langzhou I recount, Not knowing when “meet” you I may.

It is thus clear that wall inscription is spiritually matched with the way of communication. We can know that people outside the temple often come to write wall poems; yet those inside also refuse to keep silent, using their brush to write a lot to divulge their inner feelings on the walls. Such is the case: At a temple deep in the mountain in the late Tang period, one monk, when confined to the bed because of illness, wrote a poem on the wall: On my pillow are tears of homesickness; No one comes for me a man sick. Under the bed dirt piles on my shoes; My head cloth moves with wind on the rack. A run of luck came when an official (imperial censor called Bushi) passed by the temple, and he took pity on a sick monk after seeing him and sent him to Fenyan for treatment. Later, the post of Bushi became nobler and the person

282

B. LI

concerned could have his say in the court before he ordered all temples to set up Yanshou as a rehabilitation center for treating sick monks.19

We can also come across a story that makes one do not know whether to laugh or to cry. Following is the work of wall inscription left behind by a monk after he stole the treasure of the temple20 : During Emperor Gaozu’s reign (of the Tang), as a monk called Xinyi practiced prolonged meditation, he pursued it as a goal of three stages and created a place of stockpiling handouts in Huadu Temple. After the Zhenguan period (Emperor Taizong’s reign), the place became the site with a cornucopia of handouts such as coin, brocade, gold and jade. And the monk became the superintendent of this place. During Emperor Taizong’s reign, a monk, named Pei Xuanzhi, disciplined and diligent, has cleaned the temple for dozens of years since he entered it. Seeing his impeccable behavior, other disciples in the temple asked him to keep as a guard for the place of treasure. Subsequently, the monk secretly stole the gold at one time or another. He did not know about the specific amount he stole, nor did others figure out what he did. The monk went away, and he never returned. As a result, when others smelled the rat and searched his room, they found a poem which reads: “Before the wolf’s chin you send the goat, and put the bone before the dog. If you are not an arahant, how can you rest assured no one stole?” They did not understand it, however.

From this, we can see through the straightforwardness of this so-called thief, somewhat like Wu Song in the Outlaws of the Marsh (Shuihuzhuan). Let us go to a quite dramatic story about wall inscriptions in monasteries, which is frequently mentioned by others. The story’s main character is Wang Bo, who deeply sensed the fickleness of human relationships in a monastery before and after he came up in the world. Wang Bo was a poor orphan who has take lodge in Mulan court of Zhaohui Monastery in Yangzhou since he was young. There, he ate what the monks ate. Dissatisfied with the boy, they ill-treated him. Unluckily, they finished their food before ringing the bell to give him a reminder, and after he reached there, there was nothing left for him. With very anger, he wrote lines and left. Twenty years later, Bo became chieh-tu-shih, Governor (commander in chief) of Huainan Military Region. When he visited there again, Bo saw a green curtain cover the place where he left a poetic couplet and then wrote another half21 : Senior monks have gone different ways. Seeing the ring bell I feel embarrassed. I have suffered for over twenty years, And now my verse is by green curtain covered.

Indeed, those who come in flocks to flatter him are held in contempt, but why do they wipe off Wang Bo’s poem by whitewashing the wall? And use

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

283

that curtain to cover that verse on the wall in hurry. It is natural that they can whitewash the wall to provide a space for others to inscribe poems. Here comes an example: Fan Zhiyi from Zigui County asked people beforehand to whitewash the walls of Shennv Temple (Goddess Temple) when he heard that Bai Juyi would pass through Mount Wushan. Fan wrote the following on the wall22 : Prefect of Zhongzhou, you are a talented poet, So you will certainly write poem I think. To Wushan Goddess I must quickly report, Praying cloud and rain needed for your work.

It can be seen that it is a reasonable inference for the monk of Huizhao Temple who wants to hide the truth of wrong thing but it becomes clearer and clearer. That is to say, people can correct their poem on the wall at will—a new practice for “wall inscription” style poems, evidenced by the change of “a river of water” into “half a river of water.” Nevertheless, people should not write it off at random, which, for example, is proven by Wang Bo whose poem is still alive on the wall after 20 years. Back in that time, an anonymous poet even wrote a couplet near the place where Ren Fan’s “wall inscription” style poem is written: “After Ren Fan comes no successor for writing, reducing the place empty for two hundred years.” It seems that people living after two hundred years cannot bring themselves to erase the impression of “peak reflecting on the calm rive under the lit moon.”

Dismounting at Each Pavilion of Courier Station, I Search Your Poem Around Wall and Post The abovementioned wall inscriptions are either a description of natural views or an expression of seeing-view-generating-emotion feelings. Therefore, they give us a sense of more elegant taste than a way of communication. To be honest, I am afraid those poems written on the walls of Yichuan encompass more factual information, indicating more intention of communication. It cannot be denied that the fact is connected with features inherent in i-ch’uan (yichuan驿传) system (referring to an extensive communication postal system relating to a traffic network of horse, road, station, courier or escort, and carriage) and decided by a complete set of official systems of communication including i-lu (yilu驿路, post-road), i-chan (yizhan驿站, courier/post station), i-chi (yichi驿弛, post-horse), and i-shih (yishi驿使, postescort/postman/estafette). When this set of system is likened to a magnetic field, any particle that enters the field will carry the nature of magnet or the nature of communication, to be exact. Whoever writes a poem on the wall of post station, for obvious or unknown purposes, will realize that their acrostics and big-character posters will find their way to the whole world. In other words, they may concentrate on what the one who puts the news across say and feel when they write their lines in other places. But while writing “wall

284

B. LI

inscriptions” style poems in post station, they will have to have many a target audience in mind. Provided that the former makes him speak to himself, the latter will bring him to an atmosphere of conversation and exchange. As for the wall inscription in post station, the Southern Song period poet Lin Sheng has a poem entitled Writing on the Wall of Linan Post Station, which is perhaps most popular of this kind: Green hills are endless and buildings many. I don’t know when the dance at the West Lake ends. Fragrant breeze assails the visitors’ nose ready; They mistake Hangzhou for Bianzhou I guess.

“The poet Lin Sheng, almost like a lonely swan in the history of Chinese literature, is almost neglected by the writers of Shixuan and Shihua of past dynasties who give no record of his life. Even looking through the book Records of Passing the Examinations (Dengkelu),23 written in the Southern Song Dynasty, we cannot find his name, his materials for research, with only one poem of his left on the wall of courier station. In the last analysis, it is the wall of courier station that offers him a chance to be known to others” (Xia Jianyong 1997: 25). What makes an unknown poet known with a wall poem occurs in the Tang Dynasty from time to time. A random flick of the collection of poems of any poet will sometimes present to you wall inscriptions in the courier station. Among them, some have become popular versions, such as Xu Hun’s Writing on the Post Building of Tongguan on an Autumn Day 24 : Red leaves rustle desolate at dusk, As I in Changting for one kettle drink. Scattered clouds go down Mount Taihua, When light rain sweeps Mount Zhongtiao fast. The color of trees varies from hill to hill, And the sounds of rivers running into sea recede. Tomorrow I will reach the capital, But I still dream of retiring from the world.

The next one is the poet Du Mu’s Writing on the Wall of Wujiang River Pavilion 25 : For war loss and win are unexpected; For men disgrace and insult are swallowed. In Jiangdong we have a galaxy of talents, So staging a comeback offers a chance.

More often than not, these wall inscriptions in courier station are seen as an approach of “answer” or “dialogue” contained in interpersonal behavior. It can be thought of as a way of communication to spread and receive information and give feedbacks. In Writing on the Wall of Hongze Hall When Seeing My Friend Minister of the Ministry of Rites, the poet Huang Puran said26 :

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

285

On the wall of Hongze for what, And you leave fine words. In Huaihe River year in year out, Travelers see them with more tears.

The original title and content of the poem seem to create a space for a kind of dialogue. In Liu Yuxi’s poem, he wrote: “The bustling day is gone, and the verse left on the wall,” which also reflects a sort of relationship of response. In the late Tang period, Wei Chan, a then official, was sent as an envoy to visit other places. When he reached Changle Station, he noticed a message “I have come here” on the wall, which he thought left behind by an untalented man. With this, he took his brush and wrote27 : The Qinshan and Weihe rivers look bright, But why you have poetic endowment scant. As I see you just learn from Yuji’s husband; Only writing more can get your name remembered.

So this may be a feedback given by our predecessor. When Tao Gu as an escort went to the State of Nan Tang, he wrote a four-sentence riddle for later people: Dog in Xichuan, eyes of the ordinary people, a horse’s back and an imperial cook’s dish.

The riddle was brought to light by the scholar Qi Qiu until the Song Dynasty: Du (独) mian (眠) gu (孤) guan (馆) (Through explanations of compound Chinese characters, “dog in Xichuan” refers to “du”; “eyes of the ordinary people” refers to “mian”; “a horse’s back” refers to “gu”; “an imperial cook’s dish” refers to “guan”).28 The poets Yan Jingai and Li Hefeng inscribed their work on the wall of Gaotang courier hostel in different times in Haozhou—a very interesting story that fully defines the feature of dialogue. The former, with an illusion of Gaotang Goddess in ch’u-tz’u (a new genre of poem full of local color dating back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods), contributed to a poem called Writing on the Wall of Gaotang Courier Station: May I ask if King Xiang of Chu is alive, And no place is better than this site? When I stay in Gaotang Hostel tonight, Will that Goddess appear in my dream?

At first sight, his associative approach is artful, but “as scholars come and go there, they all write poems, believing it to be an epigram.” In later years, Li Hefeng spelled out a mistake of this poem and found the poet’s association totally unrelated, adding another poem beside it, which is called Writing for Yan Jingai’s Poem:

286

B. LI

Gaotang is not the true Gaotang; Huaipan and Jingnan are different places. If you are asked to be a pillow mat, You’ll almost kill the Chu King with smiles.

After seeing this poem, people laugh more heartily.29 Three Hundred Poems of the Song Dynasty, a collection of poetry, includes a poem billed as Writing in Yongqiu Courier Station, written by the poem Kong Pingzhong. The dust falls quietly on my robe in capital. The westward sunset fails when war preparation begins. I talk to nobody in this empty station after all, So I find my friend’s poem on another section of wall.

Whether this poem learns or copies from others is not the question, but I want to mention here that the poet Bai Juyi has a poem called A Poem Written for Yuan Zhen in Lanqiao Courier Station, which carries the same poetic conception30 : Your return with spring snow coincides, And my parting is when Qinling sees autumn breeze. Whenever I reach a pavilion and I get off horse, Searching high and low your poems.

As we know, “Yunajiu” in the poem refers to his close friend Yuan Zhen, also an influential poet in the Tang. However, their friendship has served as an excellent example in the circle of Chinese literature. With congenial minds and feelings, they have created more than one thousand poems when those poems are just written with one responding to another. They have similar life experiences because they have undergone ups and downs in the official circle, so they cannot avoid being banished from the capital to remote areas. Then, the two often travel from one place to another on the road, shuttling between courier stations. Whenever they go to a courier station, they will tend to look for poems written by each other’s friend on the wall of the station to express their admiration and emotion. As with the sentence “Searching high and low your poem,” Yuan Zhen also said in his Two Poems in Luokou Courier Station 31 : On the wall of courier station are few lines, Are from The Poem of Wang and Bai entitled. I can speak with no one these days, Thus I notice the wall until I left.

The poem tells us about the fact that the poet’s friend quietly stays longer under the wall inscription, a scene that demonstrates their tacit understanding. But what moves us more is the poem called Writing Again in Luokou Courier Station, written by the celebrated poet Bai Juyi:

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

287

My poem on the wall no one admires, Because it is damaged by birds and mosses. Only my friend you are so considerate, That you see it by wiping dirt off your clothes.

From this poem, we can know that Yuan Zhen takes the dirt off his friend’s “wall inscription” style poem with his robe so as to see it clearer. As a matter of fact, such intimate relationship between Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi is perhaps shared by travelers who have common experience of heart-to-heart conversation when they pass through many courier stations. Myriads of wall inscriptions are almost equated with creating an interconnected environment for the communication of scholars, in which the scholar group is spiritually and temperamentally integrated, giving birth to a trend of unified public opinion. Here I can cite another example. The poet Yuan Zhen once wrote in his poem called Baocheng Courier Station: “I have planted ten thousand bamboos, and ten hundred pear trees.” Subsequently, the poet Xue Neng said in his work called Writing in Chengbao Courier Station: “In Chengbao courier station, there is a poem written by Yuan Zhen, so I produce another in admiration.” “A good poem you commander of Wuchang write, praises ten thousand bamboos and ten hundred pear trees,” he wrote in response to the former one. In some sense, these responses to wall inscriptions written by scholars have reached a state of recognition and communication.

But Where Is the Girl in Demure Air? Only to Find the Flower Beaming in the Spring Breeze There The above-said examples are just a rough description of the Tang people’s “wall inscription” style poems. However, the real landscape of wall inscription undoubtedly offers a view of riotous profusion, bringing one into a situation where he is dazzled by what he sees. When you browse the following titles of wall inscription style poems, you will have many in mind: Chen Ziang’s Writing on the Wall of Xuling, Xiao Yingshi’s Writing on the Hall Wall of Peicheng in Mount Xiashan When I Cross Qiling in Early Spring, Meng Haoran’s Writing on the Wall of the Host in Changan, Cen Censhen’s Writing on the Hall Wall of Zhoushaofu in Kuangcheng in a Drunken State, Du Fu’s Writing on the Wall of Cottage of Guosanshier mingfu, Qian Qi’s Writing on the Wall of Chen Ji’s Mansion, Yang Shie’s Writing on the Wall of a Temple in the Mountain, Mou Rong’s Writing on the Wall of a Taoist Courtyard, Liu Yanshi’s Writing on the Wall of a Temple’s Monk When I Watch Cherry Blossoms, Lv Qun’s Writing Two Poems on the Wall of a Temple, Yuan Zhen’s Writing in Lanqiao Courier Station, Bai Juyi’s Writing on the Rock Wall of Prince Qi’s Old Pond, Xu Hun’s Writing on the Wall of General Wei’s Hall, Li Shangying’s Writing on the Wall of My Friend in a Teasing Way, Wen Tingyun’s Writing with My Friend on the Wall, Duan Chengshi’s Writing on the Wall of a Monk, Fang Gan’s Writing on the Wall of Yuan Shangbao’s Home, Zheng

288

B. LI

Gu’s Writing on the Wall of An Old Man in Village, Du Xunhe’s Writing on the Pavilion Wall of Mr. Wang, Cao Song’s Writing on the Wall of Cuiyan Temple, Li Jianxun’s Writing on the Wall of Xinguo Taoist Abbey, Liu Shanfu’s Writing on the Wall of Qingcaohu Lake Immortal Hall and Zhang Hu’s Writing in Jingling Port, and to name just a few. In no way are these poems just confined to some places, and they are found in many sites. Hence, we cannot help imagining that are there a set of “wall inscriptions” style poems within the eyeshot of the Tang people, visible or invisible? The flourishing development of the Tang poetry, to some extent, is attributed to a favorable climate in which poems are easily heard and seen. Finally, it must be noted that poems are not largely written on the walls due to the fact that the Tang people can find any available place to leave their literary traces. The following is a good example: Yong Taodian governed Yangan (present Jianyang, Sichuan). One day, when Taodian sent a guest to Qingjin Bridge (Bridge of Lost Relationship), he asked the reason why the bridge got this name, and the latter said it was a place of parting. Tao then wrote on the column of bridge, changing the original name into “Bridge of Breaking Willow Branch”, attached with a poem: As always relationship is hard to break; Naming it as Qingjin Bridge for what you think. I change it into Breaking Willow Branch now, Regardless of parting and sorrow.

This is a poem written on the column of a bridge. There is another famous story about “human face and peach flower” in the part of Qinggan in Stories in Verses (Benshishi): The poet Cui Hu, a native of Boling, possessed a handsome face and good character. With an exclusive grace, he refused to stay in company. To his great disappointment, he failed in the jinshi program examination. On a Tomb Sweeping Day, when he played around in the south of the Capital, he came across a courtyard with an area of about one mu (a Chinese unit 0.0667 hectares), filled with lush trees and beautiful flowers, so quiet that he felt there was no one inside. When he knocked at the door several times, a girl took a peep through the crevice of door, asking: “Who are you?” Reporting his surname, he said, “On a spring outing, I feel thirsty and look for water.” Walking indoors, the girl brought a cup of water while opening the door. The girl asked him to sit, but she alone stood beside a small peach tree. She had a good bearing and oozed implicit feelings, looking very beautiful. On the next Tomb Sweeping Day, he suddenly missed her a lot and went to her residence, only to find that the door remained unchanged, but it was locked inside. So he wrote on the left part of the door:

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

289

Her face and peach blossoms fair, Were peeped through the door last year. But now where is the girl in demure air? Only the flowers beam in the breeze there.

This poem is however written on the door. More interestingly, some poems are also written on the tree, as embodied in Bai Juyi’s poem’s Writing on the Tree That is Late to Bloom and Early to Wither in County Hall. The poet Li Shangyin’s Writing on the Little Pine has become a masterpiece for a long time, since the first two lines with profound meaning are often quoted by others. It reads: “Though peach and plum blossoms bloom lonely, they keep green after much snow and frost.” In the late Sui Dynasty, Yang Xuanguang mobilized forces to resist the Sui Army, but failed. And there is different story about him.32 Because the scholar Chu Lian was an old friend of Yang Xuangan, the former was demoted to an official in charge of household affairs (known as ssu-hu, the official title) in Xihai County (on the west bank of Qinghai Lake). At that time, Pan Hui, then an official in charge of managing archives and classics (known as po-shih, the official title) of Jingzhao County also sent a letter to Yang Xuangan, which caused him to relegate to an official post for dealing with official documents (known as chu-pu, the official title) of Weiding County (affiliated to Xihai County). Chu Liang and Pan Hui traveled together to the place where they would take the post. To make things worse, when they reached Mount Longshan (present Liupan Mountain), Pan Hui suddenly became ill and passed away. Chu made a coffin for Pan and buried him at the roadside. Overcome by his grief, Chu wrote a poem on a tree of Mount Longshan. After people wrote, sang and spread it, the poem became very popular in capital in two days.

The man of letter, who transfers to another place on a running journey, should have been overtaken by complex feelings when he climbs up Mount Longshan where burbling streams are dotted here and there. As his fellow partner breathes his last, he feels all the more overwhelmed by sadness, turning similar sufferings into compelling poetic sentences. Eventually, this poem written on the tree goes quickly to the capital in two days, though several hundred li apart. The following is an example of writing on the tree, which is still worthy of our contemplation. *(Li is a Chinese distance unit and one li equals five hundred meters.) Miss Zhen (Hu Ruizhen), a beauty of the State of Wu, was buried at the side of the Palace of Wu, flanked by a row of trees, one of which recorded a poem from a traveler after he saw this magnificent cemetery. Tan Zhu, a chü-tzu (the candidate who has passed the imperial examination at the countryside level), was an excellent scholar of Wumen (present Suzhou) who wrote a famous poem that enjoyed great popularity. Later travelers, when seeing the inscription site, stopped to write their own poems. There came four lines33 :

290

B. LI

At the foot of Wuqiu lay graveyards, So sad with a bleak sight. Why do men in the world value girls? Someone writes a poem for her (Zhenniang) on the tablet.

The story suggests that the interest for keeping track of beauties is not exclusively possessed by tabloid journalists and paparazzi. And writing something on beauty is a happy pursuit that is shared in both ancient and present times as well as in China and abroad. Look at what people have done to make a fuss about those late female celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Zhou Xuan, and Diana Spencer, and you will know the truth. The effect of the communication of wall inscription is evident, especially on the walls of hostels and Buddhist halls in big cities, places that are easy to get these poems across people, producing a sensational or sustaining effect. For example, here is a story: Zhou Kuangwu, whose polite name was Jiben, was a native of Zhangzhou. In the 12th year of Yuanhe period (Emperor Xianzong’s reign title), Wang Bo was noted for writing poems and songs, though he did not succeed in passing the imperial examination. In those early days, Zhou Kuangwu from a poor family walked to take part in the examination, with poor conditions and bad lucks en route. When he passed by the Qiantang River, he got no support because of no money to rent a boat. Then he wrote on the wall of a hostel: The river is vast and the sky distant. Why has the ruler built no bridge here? At the mouth I’ve no money to cross through boat, And no way to Xiling due to two tidal bores there. Seeing this poem, the local prefect blamed the port officer. The poem was then spread to other ports in the world. Since then, boatmen no longer asked those candidates to pay money.34

The effect of “wall inscription” style poems is clearly seen when it can lead to the popularity of a norm. Of course, not all wall inscriptions will attract people’s attention and stir the “waves in the ocean of information” across the society. Instead, similar to other information, the message of wall inscription will be confined by the elimination rate resulting from natural selection. In the ocean of information, what is really absorbed from communication just makes up the minority. In the book All Preserved Poems from the Tang and Five Dyansties (Quantangshi), we see handsome “wall inscription” style poems, but they are just a small portion of the Tang people’s work inscribed on the wall, and the rest majorities vanish out of thin air. “Here, the fate of poem is totally subject to the norm of circulation, so the overwhelming majority of mediocre works are sunk into oblivion. This

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

291

is a rule of elimination, a norm of fittest of all, fair and cruel” (Xiang Jianyong 1997: 24). To put it further, this is also a golden rule for different disseminators. In a general sense, disseminators always have an illusion that they take the initiative to promote communication, claiming that as long as the process of communication is implemented, the news or information will sooner or later be accepted by others. They even believe that even if the news or information is hidden in a famous mountain, it will be discovered by someone and be passed down from one generation to another one day. But they deny the fact that the communication of news or information is both a process of communication and a stage of reception, selection, and elimination, with human and natural factors reinforcing each other. What is more, this process is bounded by a law of antimonies which makes one fall into a dilemma: The more one wants to avoid being eliminated, the more he will do for a larger amount of communication; the larger the amount of communication, the more likely he will be phased out. And in this stage, the information that specific time, population, and culture can absorb is seemingly constant; although the information is changing from the old to the new, it will remain constant; and if they transcend the constant, some information will suffer inevitable elimination. In his essay called Writing to My Brother in Rain in Biefeng Nunnery in Jiaoshan Mountain, the poet Zhan Banqiao talked about an amusing story about burning books. Since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, people have been eager to look for and write books, but they could not do that. From the period of Wei and Jin to the Tang and Song dynasties, there appeared a large number of book writers, with works pasting counting, some flashy and others improper. No wonder the First Emperor of Qin would burn them. So these books would be burned by people themselves, even though the Emperor did not do that.

The phenomenon of people burning books themselves is actually a form of elimination. Today, our people tend to lay it on thick about “information age” and “information explosion,” and the like. The information seems to come thick and fast, like a great torrent with an irresistible force. I’m afraid this leaves a false impression on us. From a reasonable angle, information always keeps a specific aggregate in our real life while people’s absorption of information promises a proportion decreed by the times. A kind of balance which defines neither much nor little is at its best because superfluous information will inevitably be reduced to “information garbage,” which is in turn eliminated by the process of natural selection. As the socialist Goody said, “The extent of everyone’s investment and preoccupation in a certain sphere is limited. Most people are only satisfied with knowing the names of a handful of baseball players, scientists, bartenders, sculptors and political figures. The mankind has no enough time or energy, which means that their ‘storage space’ is restricted, so they can just concentrate on top competitors” (from the Journal Reading: 1997 [8]). If the thing does not turn out to be this way,

292

B. LI

individuals and society will certainly face problems, as if infected with some diseases such as “anorexia,” “obesity,” “insanity,” and “delirium.”

“Wall Inscription” Style Poems and Their Communication As I have said earlier, the communication of scholars consists of letter, book, and wall inscription style poem when it comes to the approach of communication. With information carrier in mind, we can find that this type of communication just relies on paper and wall. In light of communication, “wall” can be an important feature of the Tang Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty, with the wide application of printing, wall inscriptions gradually became less significant. The problem does not lie in the dynamic trend of wall inscriptions in the Tang Dynasty but it hinges on the cause of its prosperity. Mr. Cao Zhi gives his explanation for the reason why the Tang has no shortage of writers but it gets the difficulty in writing books. According to his calculation, the Tang takes the crown among dynasties (from the pre-Qin period to the Tang Dynasty) in terms of the number of creations, with poets alone accounting for 73% of the total. The following are detailed figures listed in the Table 9.1 (Cao Zhi, 45). Based on these statistics, he held that the flourishing scene of the Tang’s wall inscription style poems is a kind of expression of catharsis and publication from a considerable number of intellectuals and scholars given the poor condition of book printing. Such an explanation sounds reasonable, since the popularity of printing puts to shame wall inscriptions. But we are more inclined to view the emerging trend of wall inscription in the Tang Dynasty as a budding development of mass communication awareness when the modern civilization begins. From a more historic point, it is a harbinger of an ongoing transition from an ancient code of what Confucius call “Rather than write empty principles, I prefer to list what reigning rulers have done to see their rights and wrongs as well as virtues and vices” with no interest of approbation, exposure, or even show. In our perspective, it is this rising awareness that encouragingly brings the earliest technique of mass communication—printing—to maturity and produces a historical line that runs through the periods of large-scale wall inscriptions in the Tang Dynasty and mass publication in the Song dynasties. If those poets merely want to meet their wishes of writing poems on the wall, so the way of writing them on the paper looks more official. On the other hand, the paper has become an article of daily use for people, so it is a far cry from the phenomenon of “Luoyang’s writing paper being costly” due to an essay in the stages of Wei and Jin. In respect of the Tang’s papermaking industry, Mr. Zhang Zewei (1995), in his book called The Industry and Commerce of the Tang Dynasty, said in detail, but we just cite two examples to prove the amount and purpose of paper at that time.

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

293

Table 9.1 Amount of literary writers from the Pre-Qin to the Tang Dynasty The name of book

Poems of the Pre-Qin, Han, Wei, and Southern and Northern Dynasties and All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty (Quantangshi) All Preserved Essays from the Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, Six Dynasties, and All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty (Quantangshi) Zhongguo congshu zonglu (a comprehensive collection of Chinese ancient books) Zhongguo funv zhuzuokao (investigation collection of Chinese female literati) Cihai (sea of vocabulary) Literature

Pre-Qin Qin Han

The S & Sui N dynasties

Three Kingdoms

Jin

58

39

196

427

Tang

Total

87 2 200 3007

174

11

774

282

801

1075

165

3042 6324

72

6

142

65

158

150

19

493 1105

7

1

15

9

1

21

54

43

10

35

56

3

141

293

5

In 888, the reigning year of Emperor Xizong, in the north of street in Henan County in the south of Julu Prefecture was a papermaking factory. A man called Chang Huan knew well about sunning the paper. One day, there came suddenly a gale of whirlwind from the west that blew away all the paper on the roll, sending them to the sky, like falling snow for watchers in the street.35 In the Tang Dynasty, the orange that Yizhou sent to the court every year was specially wrapped by the paper. At other times, a higher officer felt it disrespectful to the rite with white paper, so he substituted it with the thin cloth. Frowning on this practice, Chang Huan was afraid the orange might be damaged by the cloth. Soon, a censor called Zi Bu with the orange cloth came. The higher officer thought he came to bring him to book for his wrapping the orange with the cloth, cried in fear, “It must be looking into the fruit!” When Zibu reached the courier station, the officer told him that it was a token of respect for wrapping the orange with the cloth. Zi Bu did not know it at the beginning and sense the truth after a long contemplation. When people heard the story, they all laughed at it heartily.36

294

B. LI

However, this is not the whole picture. Because Buddhism and its derivative classic books have enjoyed a widespread since the period of the Southern and Northern dynasties began, the business of copying texts in either palace and among the people became very rife and convenient. In 2008, Professor T.H. Barret (2008), the scholar of the School of Asian and African Studies London University, in his new book entitled The Woman Who Discovered Printing, even believed it is exactly this way of copy that hampers the invention and application of printing in ancient China. His analysis is listed as follows: In then China, the revolutionary significance of printing in the way of information communication is actually not as important as we have thought before. When printing technique came into being, paper, as the cheap carrier of writing, has been used for several centuries. At the same time, the technique of copy and duplication was quite accessible while those who provide services of literature copy are a legion of professionals including calligraphers good at regular character, servants employed by book businessmen and those who copy books specialized in such businesses. In fact, the culture of paper and handwritten copy may reduce the possibility of inventing paper. When we compare the circumstances preceding and following the inventions of China’s block printing and Europe’s metal movabletype printing, the cost of manuscript written in parchment in mediaeval times in Europe is surprisingly high. It is said that a good handwritten copy of Bible possibly comes at the expense of using the skin of 500 calves. In contrast with the Europe’s expensive parchment book, China’s manuscript has a very low price, though. If we make a comparison of eves of printing invention in China and Europe, the output of handwritten copy in China far outstrips that Europe. In the late 6 century, Empress Dugu of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty stored 46 books of Tripitaka (also known as Dazangjing), with the number of roll totaling more than 100 thousand. In the middle 15 century, in a handwritten copy factory that copied books for university students and teachers in Europe, the amount of 400 copies for a book could “amount to much”. In other words, China’s handwritten copy is very cheap and universal, but do we invent the printing for the convenience of copying books?

Let us ignore the factor of the scarcity of paper for a while, so do we think the purpose of wall inscription lies in retaining a sustaining vigor of communication? If so, it will not necessarily mean that wall inscription has a greater degree of security than paper. Bai Juyi has written three collections of poetry, the first in Donglin Temple in Mount Lushan, the second in Nanchan Temple, and the third in Xiangshan Temple in Longmen; all poem manuscripts of the poet Lu Luwang are hidden in the stomach of a Buddhist statue in Bailian Temple (from the second volume of the book Fengan yuhua, a brush-note style collection of essays about hearsays and comments on scholarship)—with examples that reveal the Tang people’s fear of the complete loss of their work. But do those wall inscriptions that are subjected to natural damage and wars

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

295

have a possibility of sustained spread (without considering the factor of elimination from human)? Now that the rise of wall inscription occurs in a period replete with ample paper, rather than in a time of scarce paper, and now that instead of being immortal, wall inscription is prone to decay with the passage of time, the high level of enthusiasm displayed by the Tang people about writing poems is more than a keen love of poetry, and likely it stems from a desire of communication for letting later people know his work. And this is what we call the emergence of mass communication awareness. For poets who write their poems on the wall, they are not largely particular about “publishing works” and “printing books,” nor do they care about hiding them on the wall and letting them spread from one generation to another. I guess they are merely happy about the activity of communication in itself, wanting more people to get the information more quickly so that they can put it across. To put it in a different way, they just focus on the widespread prevalence of the moment and make the public well known. Take Hanshan for example, if he doesn’t want others to know his work, he has no need to write on bamboo, wood, stone, and wall. From this point of view, this poet’s wish for making a name for himself and his awareness of “public relations” is not in the least different from the idea of Tang Qiu who puts his poems into the gourd into the Minjiang River. In the hearts of people, monks, or recluses, there actually appears an audience in an indistinct way; they, like stars of all kinds including celebrated academic scholar, expect the public to fix their eyes on themselves. In short, they are in need of attention. It cannot be denied that they are eager to create excellent works so that they can have a niche in the temple of fame. But as far as wall inscription is concerned, they care more about the attention of the moment. To make the thing clearer, let’s make a contrast between the Jin period poet Tao Yuanming and the Tang period poet Meng Haoran. In the past, people mostly tended to put them in the same category according to their identity as noble recluse and idyllic poet, yet a careful consideration will offer you more details that define their spiritual styles, that is to say, “classical” and “modern,” respectively. The reason why Tao Yuanming retires from the earthly world to the countryside is that he piously yearns for the natural state of life. The declaration that he refuses to bend for five dou (a Chinese weight unit) of rice is a symbol of defying the rich and powerful, but more importantly, it represents a posture of rejection from classical taste against the jurisprudent system. Therefore, his important essay Guiqu laixi ci is totally a work with a manifest of pure delight, and his idyllic poems are also pregnant with tranquil and carefree feelings. “Behind the house elm and willow trees cast shadows; in front of the court are peach and plum trees vying for spring. Visible afar are buildings of neighborly villages, where smoke whirling up is in the air floating.” What a simple and natural view! Only with this spirit is one capable of creating the famous essay like The Peach Blossoms Garden (Taohuazuan ji), the masterpiece of Tao Yuanming. Now let me turn to Meng Haoran, whose retirement from

296

B. LI

the earthly world is mostly attributable to helplessness. Here is a widespread anecdote about him. Meng Haoran, a poet from Xiangyang, was greatly admired by the influential poet Wang Wei, also known as Wang Youcheng. Wei lived in the palace. One day, Wei fetched for Meng Haoran to discuss the matter of emulating feng and ya (two genres of poetry; the former refers to folk poems and songs whereas the latter poems and songs from the imperial palace). Out of the blue, Emperor Xuanzong paid a visit to Wei’s residence, and Haoran, shocked, stood down the bed. Wei then spoke the fact directly with His Majesty, who happily answered “I have heard something about him.” Accordingly, Haoran was ordered to meet the emperor, who said, “Can you show me a poem?” Accepting this request, Haoran kowtowed and read: “I stop submitting the written statement to the court, please let me return to Nanshan’s shabby cottage. No wonder I am not in favor without talent, nor still familiar with my friends old and sick.” Seeing him very disappointed, the emperor cried, “I never abandon anyone, and I think you don’t seek improvement, otherwise you would not make this poem!” As a result, the emperor ordered him to go back to Nanshan and banned him from pursuing his official career.37

Even though he leaves the official world out of helplessness, he does not forget rank and fame because he is still infatuated with human relations and world affairs. Engaging as the rustic landscape is, it is not as important as the outside world full of impressive moments. As he sung in his poem called To Prime Minister Zhang as I Watch the Tongting Lake: No boat to cross the lake I find; Shame, I live leisurely without care for the ruler. Sitting there I see those anglers satisfied. Pitifully for them I can just be an admirer.

However, this comparison of the two poets is not made out of commendation or derogation. I just use this to justify two kinds of mindsets from both classical and modern civilization while showing that a strong desire of “making talent and romance universal”—a modern consciousness of communication—has quietly grown inside the Tang people. From the perspective of palatial communication, this consciousness contributes to a raft of creations and measures, with Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Reports (Kaiyuan zabao) as the beginning. For the communication of scholars, it gives rise to a series of performances and activities including official promotion, self-recommendation, distant outing, writing book, and wall inscription. When we take into account the wall inscription in a larger context of history and without being limited to the thing itself, it is easy for us to see through the historical connotation contained therein.

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

297

The Block Printing of Books Does Not Reach the Height in the Tang In the last section, we have mentioned about the connectivity between wall inscription and printing, and this view is not empirical but speculative. If we make a distinction based on the ideas of empirical research being “operating the fact” and speculative research being “operating the concept” (from the Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, 1996), the concept we operate here is just the awareness of mass communication. We argue that it is precisely this sort of clearer and stronger awareness that leads wall inscription in the Tang Dynasty to prosperity and eventually procures the birth, development, and maturity of printing. So where does this awareness come from? It certainly springs from the circumstance that is realistic, historic, and material. In the final analysis, it is exactly the developed economy and the social prosperity in both Tang and Song dynasties that bring people closer and closer with increasingly frequent exchanges. Although Max and Engels (1995) said in the world-famous book The Communist Manifesto that the capitalist time the book states is now far from the periods of Tang and Song, the two have something in common in the overall historical trend: The past local and national state of self-independence and self-seclusion was replaced by national mutual exchange and interdependency in all aspects. This is true of material production, so is the mental production.

The closer nature of connection, the frequency of exchange as well as the shift of social life from the uniform to the flexible will naturally allow mass communication awareness to develop little by little, forming a socialized complex. It is possibly fortuitous that the printing technique in both orient and occident is born at a time when the vane of history changes from the classical to the modern. Is this quite interesting? In his book La Vie Quotidienne en Chine a La Veiile de Linvasion Mongole (The Daily Life of China on the Eve of the Invasion of Mongolians ), the French famous sinologist Jacques Gernet (1990) said, “In fact, it is due to the rise of businessman class and the dramatic growth of urban population at the lower level that push for the broad application of printing in response to their needs. It is also because of social change that promises a justifiable purpose for this invention. Otherwise it would be easily ignored. Therefore our evidence is that the scope of application of printing at the earliest time is very limited.” As for the circumstances of printing invention and application in both Tang and Song dynasties, the ancient scholar Sun Yuxiu and the modern scholar Zhang Xiumin have made authoritative explanations in their books An Investigation into the Origin of China’s Engraving(Zhongguo diaobanyuan liukao) and The History of Printing in China (Zhongguo yinshuashi), respectively. T. F. Carter (1925), a sinologist of premature death, brought an almost satisfactory end to this explanation in his book The Invention of Printing in China

298

B. LI

and its Spread Westward. Here I want to delineate major historical clues about the birth of printing, providing referential blueprints for observing wall inscriptions and other activities of communication of the Tang people. Just as Gutenburg’s printing is first connected with Reformation, so is China’s printing also at first linked with Buddhism because in China the printing is used to spread scriptures. The notion that printing was already born in the Sui Dynasty or the early phase of the Tang Dynasty is still at issue, but the fact that printing came to the world in the middle Tang period is beyond dispute. One of the oldest printing relics The Diamond Sutra, which was stolen by Marc Aurel Stein from Dunhuang, was printed in 868. Back in the period of the Five Dynasties, the printing technique was brought to greater maturity, with its application scopes extended to other areas of life. More importantly, Feng Dao organized the work of printing Nine Classics, which made him a milestone figure in history. Carter (1925: 66) described him like the following: The achievement made by Feng Dao and his colleagues for the Chinese printing can well be parallel with that of Gutenburg in Europe. Prior to the time of Gutenburg, Europe already saw the invention of printing (block printing appeared as well and there was a possibility of moveable-type printing, Guntenburg made an epoch-making start for European civilization with the printing of Bible. In the same way, Feng Dao used printing too at an early time, but it was a technology that was not exposed to the world and played no big role in promoting national culture. Feng Dao’s effort to print scriptures transformed printing into a force that led to the renewal of culture and education in the Song period. But calling Feng Dao inventor is somehow overstated. He is merely a prime minister who foresees the value of this new invention and asks others to print in a massive way. His name is famed in history, becoming one of great inventors. There is no ignoring the fact that in creating this new culture, many people have made greater contribution than him, so they should take some of the credit.

Feng Dao, born in a chaotic period of Five Dynasties, once served in the Later Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou dynasties. Always with a high rank, he was also notorious for tactfully dealing with the world. He ran him down in front of the ruler of Qidan, also known as Khitan to the extent that he called him “unworthy and foolish man,” elatedly styled himself “long happy man.” In the book New History of the Five Dynasties (Xin wudai shi), the writer and politician Ouyang Xiu wrote: “When I read Feng Dao’s Changlelao xu (preface of a long happy man), he preened himself on narrating himself. He did not know the shame at all”.38 Deep down, the man should have various personalities, and he can be a figure of multiple faces and roles shaped by specific historical condition. Come what it may, he has done some good deeds in the turbulent time of constant wars. In particular, he was greatly praised for his proposal in 932 (in the third year of Changxian of the Later Tang Dynasty) to revise Jiujing (old classics) in Kuo-tzu-chien (imperial academy) and make it with

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

299

block printing, bringing it to a completion in the Later Zhou Dynasty. It is well known as “printing book of five dynasties.” Carter (1925: 71) commented on the significance of this achievement with the following words: The printing of nine Confucian classics makes it one of essential force of enabling Confucian scriptures and principles to restore their previous status preceding the emergence of Buddhism when people across the country hear and see them. And only the emergence of Renaissance after Europeans discovered classical literature can stand the comparison with the later rebirth of ancient doctrines. At the same time, the European Renaissance is also more or less aided by the invention of printing. This is the reason why Chinese historians largely laud Feng Dao’s accomplishment. Another result of the printing of Nine Classics is that it has given a boost to the arrival of the era of engraving books in both public and private ways. But the private way of printing has become an indelible feature of the whole Song period.

In a word, printing, commencing in the Tang Dynasty, becomes ripe during the period of Five Dynasties and prospers in the Song period. In the “brushnote” style essay Dream Pool Essay (Mengxi bitan),39 the writer and the scientist Shen Kuo made a summary of printing which conforms to the fact: “The printing of book is not popular among the Tang people. Since Feng Dao printed Five Classics, later books have become printed copies.”40 As a phenomenal technology, printing gives importance to the process of copy in batches. The process of large-scale copy is a reflection of wide circulation while the motivation of this process comes from the thirst of audience for knowledge and the desire of disseminator for popularity. We can feel a massive wave of mass communication rising gradually in the period of both Tang and Song dynasties when all kinds of historical signs become clear, even if there are no evidence-based materials to support this view. And the wave will change and have changed the traditionally established pattern and mindset of communication and this example can be exemplified by the popularity of wall inscription and the development of printing. The Song period scholar Ye Mengde gave the following comments when he talked about the printing and proofreading of books (from the chapter of Bibliography of the book Comprehensive Investigations Based on Literature and Documentary Sources ) (Wenxian tongkao)41 : Before the Tang Dynasty, the writing of all books could not rely on the techniques of copy and printing, so people took on the responsibility of storing books. Although they did not have much, collectors were good at proofreading, and they all collected ancient books. In light of the difficulty of copy, scholars there would read their books in detail. In the period of Five Dynasties, Feng Dao began work on official printing and engraving. During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, the court designated a department to copy Records of the Historian and The Former and Latter Han Dynasties. As the number of those who were engaged in book printing surged

300

B. LI

increasingly, scholar-officials attached no great importance to collecting books anymore.

Here, preceding the Tang, scholars regarded collecting books as their responsibility while scholar-officials did not view it as important after the Song—manifesting a changing line of pattern of communication and mindset of communication from a certain aspect. Finally, let me borrow what Mr. Luo Zongtao (1992), a scholar from Taiwan, China, said at the end of his book On the Wall Inscription Style Poems of the Tang People with the following summaries: The sites of ‘wall inscription’ style poems include: Eastern Palace, Zhongshusheng, the Secretariat, Yushitai (office of censor), Jixiange, hall of the mansion, office of prefect, local government office, inventory, city wall, courier station pavilion, rock wall, bridge column, hostel, hotel, monastery, temple, private house, thatch pavilion, village beside the river, whorehouse, tower grave, snow field, to name just a very few. Among these, monastery, temple and office claim the most of poems. …… The topic of ‘wall inscription’ style poems encompasses preach, view, traveling, leaving notes, bidding farewell, nostalgia, condolence, sympathy, acknowledgment, showing generosity, displaying talent, revealing ambition, encouragement, commendation, complaint, sneer and conveying feelings, and the like. Yet there is no poetry about suburban temple and war. …… Basically, the purpose of communication for writing poems on the wall is well demonstrated by poets such as Han Shan, Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi in a clearest and strongest manner. What impresses us is that Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi, with their numerous poems and wall inscriptions, try to make them known through extensive promotion and even enhance the effect of communication through collaboration. The great poet Bai Juyi said wall inscription serves the purpose of “passing it down to poem collectors, history compilers and later observers”almost a collective reflection of inner feelings of all poets of wall inscription style poem. From the standpoint of communication, wall inscription style poems actually achieve appreciable effects. Not only is writing poems on the wall an important step of the communication of poetry in the Tang period, it is also one of primary reasons fueling the flourishing development of such poetry.42

As I have discussed above with numerous facts and examples, these are roughly about the communication of scholars in the Tang Dynasty. In the last parts, I have mainly talked about the media of communication, including letter (newsletter included), book (primarily involving random essay), and wall inscription, yet without covering more about the “interpersonal” communication. The reason for this is that we can keep track of the form of media communication, but we are hard to find more traces of interpersonal exchange

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

301

and relation. And it does not necessarily denote that we can turn a blind eye to the significance of interpersonal network, and if we consider it from the perspective of journalism and communication, we cannot overestimate the growing role of interpersonal network. It is a shame that the traces we have found are not complete, nor are the pictures easy to restore. Today, we can at most imagine the interpersonal exchanges of the Tang scholars from the following poetic verses: “You come from the hometown, and you should know about it; with rich dishes my friend prepare for me, inviting me to the host in the farm.” Equally, we can grasp their conversation from the scenes of their lines: “My friend let’s bottom up another wine, cause’ out of the Yangguan Pass no friends we can meet.”

Notes 1. Jinshu (Volume No. 27), History of the Jin Dynasty, is a book of recording the dynastic history of the Jin Dynasty, written by Tang scholars led by the politician Fang Xuanling. 2. Nanshi, History of the Southern Dynasties, is a book of recording the dynastic history of Southern Dynasties, compiled by the scholar Li Yanshou. 3. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 199), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 4. Quantangshi (Volume No. 155), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 5. Quantangshi (Volume No. 801), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 6. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 170), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 7. Rongzhai suibi (Volume No. 8), Spontaneous Essays of the Studio of Forbearance, is a book consisting of a collection of essays, compiled by the Southern Song period (1127–1279) scholar Hong Mai. 8. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 55), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 9. Quantangshi (Volume No. 806), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 10. Quantangshi (Volume No. 37), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al.

302

B. LI

11. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 133), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 12. Quantangshi (Volume No. 802), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 13. Yunxi youyi, Amicable Discussions in the Clouded Valley, is a book about the anecdotes and strange stories, with most focus on poetic topics, written by the Fan Shu. 14. Quantangshi (Volume No. 870), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 15. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 494), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 16. Tang caizi zhuan (Volume No. 7), Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 17. Tang caizi zhuan (Volume No. 10), Biographies of Eminent Poets from the Tang Period, is a book about the stories of eminent poets of the Tang period, written by the Yuan period scholar Xin Wenfang. 18. Tangqueshi (Volume No. 1), Missing History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book with a collection of short stories about the Tang period, written by the scholar Gao Yanxiu. 19. Shiren yuxie (Volume No. 20), Jade Shreds of Poets, is a book which collects comments and theories about poetry, compiled by the Southern Song scholar Wei Qingzhi. 20. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 439), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 21. Tangzhiyan (Volume No. 7), Anecdotes of Poets and Scholars from the Tang, is a book with a collection of stories of poets and scholars from the Tang period written by the Five Dynasties period scholar Wang Dingbao. 22. Yunxi youyi (Volume No. 1), Amicable Discussions in the Clouded Valley, is a book about the anecdotes and strange stories, with most focus on poetic topics, written by the Fan Shu. 23. Dengkelu, Records of Passing Examinations, is a book which is a compilation of documents of Dianshi in the imperial examination. 24. Quantangshi (Volume No. 529), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 25. Quantangshi (Volume No. 532), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al.

9

WALL INSCRIPTION STYLE POEMS

303

26. Quantangshi (Volume No. 520), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 27. Quantangshi (Volume No. 870), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 28. Quantangshi (Volume No. 877), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 29. Quantangshi (Volume No. 871), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 30. Quantangshi (Volume No. 438), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 31. Quantangshi (Volume No. 412), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 32. Jiutangshu(Volume No. 72), Old History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, written by the Later Jin period scholar Liu Xu. 33. Yunxi youyi (Volume No. 2), Amicable Discussions in the Clouded Valley, is a book about the anecdotes and strange stories, with most focus on poetic topics, written by the Fan Shu. 34. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 199), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 35. Taiping guangji (Volume No. 145), Extensive Records of Taiping Reign (976– 983), the Taiping reign (976–983), is a book recording the Taiping Reign (976–983) which is a large collection of supernatural events throughout ancient history. 36. Datang xinyu (Volume No. 11), New Talks of the Tang Dynasty, is a brush-note style (biji) book of recording the deeds and words of historical figures, written by the scholar Liu Su. 37. Tangzhiyan (Volume No. 7), Anecdotes of Poets and Scholars from the Tang, is a book with a collection of stories of poets and scholars from the Tang period written by the Five Dynasties period scholar Wang Dingbao. 38. Xin Wudai shi (Volume No. 54), New History of Five Dynasties, is a historical book of recording the dynastic history of fifty-three years ranging from 907 to 960, compiled by Ouyang Xiu. 39. Mengxi bitan, Dream Pool Essay, is a brush-note style book of recording a large collection of essays about natural science, craftsmanship, techniques, and social and historical phenomena, written by the Northern Song scientist Shen Quo. 40. Mengxi bitan (Volume No. 8), Dream Pool Essay, is a brush-note style book of recording a large collection of essays about natural science, craftsmanship, techniques, and social and historical phenomena, written by the Northern Song scientist Shen Quo.

304

B. LI

41. Wenxian tongkao, Comprehensive Investigations Based on Literature and Documentary Sources, is a book aimed at recording an administrative history written by the Yuan period scholar Ma Duanlin. 42. Jinshu (Volume No. 26), History of the Jin Dynasty, is a book of recording the dynastic history of the Jin Dynasty, written by Tang scholars led by the politician Fang Xuanling.

CHAPTER 10

The Communication of Ordinary People

There is an oft-said saying from the historian Mr. Tschen Yin Koh: “The culture of the Chinese nation, through several thousand years of evolution, reaches the pinnacle in the Song period.” This view has been supported by Jacques Gernet, the great scholar from Paris, a birthplace of Annals School, in his book La Vie Quotidienne en Chine a La Veiile de Linvasion Mongole (The Daily Life of China on the Eve of the Invasion of Mongolians ), which offers a body of vivid detailed explanations. In this masterpiece lauded as a “threedimensional Riverside Scene in Qingming Festival,” Gernet (1990), having inherited the general philosophy of historiography from Marc Bloc, the master of Annals School, showed to us the bustling scene of life about people in the Southern Song Dynasty with many fine touches and in a comprehensive and true-to-life fashion, and brought to life the widespread customs and sentiments at a time when the culture of the Chinese nation reached the peak of development. And in this book Gernet (1990: 36) gave a plain yet wonderful paragraph of comments that can overshadow what is described in the great book The History of Chinese Society in terms of presenting the landscape of ancient society in China: In China preceding the eleventh century, its political conditions can briefly be shown like this: In the ruling class, an elite group with fewer numbers has taken shape, with the lifestyle, concept and even language and character largely in common. In this circle, they are immersed in their common cultural atmosphere. But under the ruling class is a group of people that is huge in scale and is not yet to be officially formed, with different customs and fashions, distinct accents and specific techniques. There is no denying that they belong to the same Chinese civilization. Although the ruling bloc makes continuing efforts © The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_10

305

306

B. LI

to unify those customs and habits in all regions, the ordinary people, especially rural people, still maintain local features that are clearly distinct. The disparities in different areas and provinces are further widened by minorities in some remote provinces. As the thing turns out to be unexpected, due to this enviable political structure in rural areas and the centralized government, such differences are rarely exposed to the people. Therefore, all these constitute one of the most important historical facts. After necessary improvements, these facts enjoy a wide promotion in the Song period until the thirteenth century; hence the Chinese world can have a good match with the medieval Europe. According to Mouss, in Europe at that time, “Only churches retain arts, sciences and Latin language, and convey ideas; the ordinary people are apparently unenlightened and hold fast to their own customs and beliefs”.

These words from Gernert can be seen as preparing a grand background for this chapter. The so-called communication of folks in the Tang period is born, stated, and further developed just in this backdrop and in the scene: the masses of people—rural people in particular—are “clearly unenlightened,” retaining folk customs and beliefs.

Earthbound China The scope of the ordinary people is preponderantly covered by rural people, performers (musicians or actors), businessman, monk, Taoists, doctors, fishers, woodmen, craftsmen, and singing prostitutes. If one must use one phrase to generalize the hallmarks of Chinese society, typically the ancient society, the Chinese term “hsiang-t’u (xiangtu乡土) (local color)” provides a good description. The Chinese history, the outlook of the Chinese people, and the ethos of the Chinese nation have an indissoluble relationship with “local color,” and they go hand in hand with one another. Accordingly, the Chinese society is rooted in the native land. Even today, at a time when the tide of modernization cleanses every corner of tradition, the local color in China still pervades through many places where we can discern their richness while the local complex in the cultural consciousness is inherent and omnipresent. We can often hear some sneering Chinese phrases such as “t’u-chi (tuqi土气, rustic style),” “t’u-pao-tzu (tubaozi土包子, country bumpkin),” and “t’u-tou-t’u-nao (tutou tunao土头土脑, countrified manner),” all of which reveal how local tradition has taken hold in the Chinese culture. This clear-cut local feature stands out well in a given comparison between the Chinese culture and other cultures of the world. Fei Xiaotong, a modern Chinese socialist, previously wrote a well-versed book called Earthbound China, which dissects the lowest layer of “local color” about the picture of people’s life. Let me first talk about something difficult before focusing on something easy. He (1985) pointed out: Looking at the community level, we find that the Chinese society bears local features. … We tend to dismiss rural people as “tuqi (rustic style)”, which may

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

307

reveal some sneers, but the word “tu” justifies the usage. The word “tu” basically means “earth” or “dirt”. Rural people are always connected with dirt because when living in the countryside, farming is the most ordinary means of living. On the vast soil, the vast majority of people earn their bread by going to the field where dirt and water are filled everywhere. We might as well view the landscape by narrowing the scope of the land, and we can discover that agricultural areas are distributed in the watersheds of three mighty rivers. And it is said that those who transfer from these places to other regions on all sides of the rivers also carry on the tradition of making a living by going to the filed full of dirt. … Even if they reach a region as far as Serbia, the Chinese settle themselves; they plant some seedlings to see whether they can do the farming, irrespective of the climate. This is sufficient to say that our nation is really inextricably connected with the dirt.

The concept “local color of China” proposed by Fei Xiaotong is brought to the world in a context that witnesses the continuous development of commodity economy and strikingly the change of China’s social structure from agricultural society to commercial one and from tradition to modernity. If we turned the time axis back to the periods of the Sui and Tang—about one thousand years ago, the picture of local color of China would be all the more bright, and a sentence in the Spirit and Culture of the Tang Empire can say well about this: “What ancient people are actually familiar with is primarily their own hometown” (Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibin, 1996: 38). The feature of native land plays a decisive role in the state of existence of ancient people: The local society which reaches an extreme state is one that Chinese Lao-tzu aspires to pursue — “the sound of cocks and dogs can be heard nearby, but people never communicate and connect with each other until they live enough to die”. Individuals are more than unwilling to leave their hometown, and more often than not, the place everyone lives is the one where their parents live in their lifetime. “Live here, and die here”—a sad ending that is repeated through generations. (Fei Xiaotong 1985)

At the same time, the feature of native land determines the state of its communication, namely: In a society where the life of each generation is like playing the same film, the history is also superfluous, and “legend” is here to stay. If we talk about the background, we have to start from “the creation of the world”; but if we do not start from this point, the next chapter is just “common” current world. In urban society, we can see much of news, but in rural society, “news” refers to strange and absurd affairs. (ibid.: 18–20)

The Tang period poet He Zhizhang wrote a popular poem called Two Poems for Returning Home, which characterizes a local society featuring “works when the sun rises and rests when the sun sinks” and a symbolic description of people’s existence and the state of communication. “I leave my hometown

308

B. LI

young and come back old”—the local feeling that melts in one’s life and runs in one’s blood; “My accent remains unchanged yet my hair turns white”—the prominent reflection of the only “medium” in the process of local communication: accent of hometown—dialect or vernacular language that matches perfectly with the land and the water of one region. It goes without saying that the local color of China here mainly features the ordinary people and the perspective of grassroots level. That is to say, the world of ordinary people is characterized by local color, and this is the standpoint which can help us discuss the communication of ordinary people in the Tang period. Of course, besides the natural color of native land, we should see vibrant trade activities and emerging cities of different sizes that therefore exert a greater influence upon the situation of the whole Tang society and the life of ordinary people. In that period, through the maritime silk road that spanned from Guangzhou to the states in the South China Sea and the several land silk roads that went from Yangguan Pass to the western regions, China sent its products such as silk, tea and porcelain in large quantities to the central Asia and Europe, hence two lines from the poet Zhang Ji’s peom A Song for Laingzhou said: “A flock of camels laden with articles move with bells. Trade caravans with silk products pass through this route to go to Anxi.” At the same time, these roads enabled those foreign businessmen to bring their colorful articles as enticing as grape, good wine, and luminous cup to China, adding brilliance to the local color of China. By the way, the term “silk road” originates from China, and it was first put forward by the German geographer Richthofen (1887) in his multivolume book China. But we can really owe the contribution of making the “silk road” very popular among the people to Richthofen’s student Sven Hedin, a famous explorer who discovered the ancient city of Lou Lan when he traveled from China to western regions, and his masterpiece The Silk Road, which was published in the middle 1930s. In addition to the burgeoning development of transportation at home and abroad, the rise of many cities and the unprecedented growth of trade activities in both urban and rural areas present a vibrant view in a larger context of local society. “The cities connected by a series of traffic routes including water and land, like strings of pearls running through the grid of silk threads, become the hubs of articles, wealth and fine cultures and windows of showcasing the Tang Empire’s spiritual and material cultures” (Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibin 1996). When we look at Yangzhou, a place governed by chiehtu-shih (the official name of governor or commander of a military region) in the south of Huaihe River in ancient China, the city is truly a place of businessmen coming and going in large numbers, offering a very flourishing spectacle like fabulous brocades. The scholar Gao Yanxiu described in a chapter about the poet Du Mu of his book Missing History of the Tang (Tangqueshi) written by the Tang scholar Gao Yanxiu:

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

309

The city of Yangzhou was a famous resort. Every town there would see a myriad of lamps made of crimson silk hanging on the lofts of whorehouse, lights beaming brilliantly in the sky. In a street nine-li long, decorations of pearls and emeralds were found everywhere, as if one were entering a fairyland. (This is from the book Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign (976-983) (Taiping guangji). *(Li is a Chinese distance unit, and one li equals five hundred meters)

This night scene is much like today’s brilliant Hong Kong at night. It is not surprising that the Tang poets would write so many popular poems in praise of the city Yangzhou: So hard for Lady Xiao to bring tears to her face, But her brows like peach leaves are easy to carry sadness. If the beauty of a well-lit night is based on a three-point standard, So two should be given to Yangzhou indeed. From Recollecting Yangzhou by Xu Ning In a long avenue streets are tightly connected. On the bridge of Bright Moon I stare at immortals. I just want to die in Yangzhou I said, So in beautiful Mount Chanzhi I find good grave fields. From Traveling in the South of Huaihe River by Zhang Hu Green hills are unclear and blue rivers long. Grasses do not wither in south when autumn ends. On the Ershisi Bridge the moon shines alone. But where does my friend teach others to play flutes? From To Han Chuo in Yangzhou by Du Mu

The Tang Dynasty once witnessed a very popular phrase known as “Yangzhou first and Yizhou second,” which means that Yangzhou ranks first and Yizhou (present Chengdu) second among commercial cities. Later, the son-in-law of renowned scholar Li Ao was unsatisfied with this ranking. However, in 855, the 9th year of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang, after he compiled the book Story of Chengdu (Chengdu ji), a book recounting the history of present Chengdu in the Tang Dynasty at the request of chiehtu-shih Bai Min of Chuanxi, he instead tried to win the first place for Yizhou in the preface of the book: Today, whoever regards a famous town as the first, he will put Yangzhou and Yizhou first. In particular, the city of Yangzhou enjoys a good reputation. But Yizhou is a land of abundance, with rich resources and talents; a land of elegance, with alluring rivers and hills; a land of fabulousness, with colorful brocades; a land of musical art, with many strings and songs and dances, and a land of craftsmanship, with skillful craftsmen. And people here are brave and

310

B. LI

modest; land is fertile. Hence, if one compares the beauty of a city, Yangzhou is just the half of Yizhou.1

These show us a force that leads to the rise of local culture and this trend reaches the height in the Song period. Seeing these bustling cities, we are not difficult to observe that in the periods of the Sui and Tang in China, especially before the mid-Tang Dynasty, we tend to consider them to be typically societies full of local color on the whole. Although it has become quite modern, China undoubtedly remains a large country of agriculture. This is the most fundamental judgment and the starting point through which we understand the life and communication of the ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty. With this point in mind, we can sort out the main thread of history through the intricate surface of society, rather than being dazzled and bewildered at it. In the Tang’s society, we can see urban businessmen in the limelight and rural farmers in the periphery. This is not because the former is more important than the latter but because cities are places of curiosity, change, thrill, and revelry, all of which make them very attractive. Besides, it is because in the vast rural areas, people’s life is like an even-flowing long river without rippling waves; these regions are endowed with picturesque rustic scenery, but those uncouth countrymen are seemingly turned into floating souls, sometimes distinct, and sometimes indistinct. As a matter of fact, it is the rural households that feature mostly the life of the Tang’s ordinary people, but the concept of the ordinary people’s world refers mainly to the native land of China, a simple and uninhibited land.

Interpersonal Network and Oral Narration In the society with local color, the activity of communication of ordinary people can only be limited to dialects or vernaculars, so language almost becomes the mere way of communication. Some pointed out: “the word ‘gu (one ‘ten’ side character plus one ‘mouth’ side character)” in Chinese character has the meaning of “mutual communication through ten mouths”; in other words, “ancient stories are passed down to later people by means of oral narration” (Zhong Shaohua 1997). Whether this kind of explanation is reasonable or not, the oral nature of the communication of ordinary people is indisputable. As Wang Wei, a poet of note, said in his poem: “Farmers carry the tools to the field, so keen to chat with each other when they meet.” So this is the normal phenomenon that is associated the folk communication. When compared with that of past dynasties, the communication of ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty does not largely feature different things in content, but they are basically confined to the scope of folk legend, song, and proverb. These contents involved, together with the official communication and the communication of scholars I have mentioned aforesaid, are infiltrated with each other, with one influencing the other. Take ch’uan-ch’i style from the Tang Dynasty for an example, some of these contents are recorded in

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

311

“brush-note” style essays by scholars following widespread circulation among the people, and some are extended from “brush-note” style essays to talks and discussions in the street. In this way, all these finally are translated into hearsays, discussions, and trivial talks. Strictly speaking, as far as content is concerned, the communication of ordinary people contains more hearsays than news. And in light of folk communication, news is always viewed as the strange and surprising thing. From today’s point of view, perhaps reading administrative decrees including imperial edict, memorial to the throne and laws and regulations in the “gathering” of the court is the only one way of the communication of the ordinary crowd with the feature of news. The Japanese monk Yuanren once recorded such a gathering in his book A Pilgrimage to the Tang for Buddhist Scriptures (Rutang qiufa xunliji): On March 5, 841, the fifth year of Kaicheng (Emperor Wenzong’s reign title), according to the report of prefect of tu-tu-fu (the name of the bureau commander-in-chief) in Dengzhou, “Our department has checked relevant procedures of travelers”. Then there came an imperial edict of the new emperor in capital. In the courtyard of inner mansion of the city lay two blankets; in the north of the official gate was a terrace, on which there was a table. And on the table covered with purple cloth lay imperial edict and official memorials in yellow paper. The assistant to local government prefect known as p’an-kuan (panguan判官) and the local government secretary known as lu-shih (lushi录 事) of a province; the county leader known as hsienling (xianling县令) and the deputy county leader known as chu-pu (zhubu主簿), the official managing affairs of soldiers and horses known as ping-t’ai-shih (bingtaishi兵台使), generals and others with military posts; the ordinary people; monks and Taoists – stood in the east of the courtyard and faced the west. From the inner hall came the local government prefect known as shih-chün (shijun使君), led by twenty warriors, respectively flanked by ten. Seeing the prefect walking out of the hall, the local government secretary and others prostrated themselves on the ground in unison. Then prefect cried: “You, our people!” “Yes”, was the answer. Both the prefect and his assistant stood on the carpet, facing the west. At this moment, one general called the roll, first the local government secretary and another official, who immediately responded: “Yes”; second the local military commander known as chu-chü-ya-ya (zhujun yaya诸军押衙), general and an official of managing the military force in the mansion of a regional military commander known as ping-ma-shih (bingmashi兵马使 ), who also responded: “Yes”. The governor again cried: “You, our guests and poor educated scholars (known as ts’o-ta, the nickname of poor educated scholar)”, and they answered in sync: “Yes”. This was followed by two generals who fetched the table on which the imperial edict lay and placed it before the prefect, one of them holding the edict and bowing to him. One general sat with his knees down to receive the edict and carried it to the court, standing towards the north: “Here comes the imperial edict”. The prefect, along with assistant, secretary, military generals and soldiers and others kowtowed. The same was followed by the ordinary people as one general declared: “You, our people, please kowtow”.

312

B. LI

But monks, nuns and Taoists had no need to kowtow. After that, the governor ordered two officers in green to announce the edict, and they read it in an alternate way, so loud that it was as if the imperial court were announcing administrative orders. The imperial edict consisted of four to five pages, so it took longer time. All people on the spot just stood rather than sitting down. After reading, the head asked all others to kowtow again. Next, one local government secretary and one general stepped out of the court and expressed thanks to the prefect, going to their own place standing. The governor fetched heads of all departments and said: “You must work hard to deal with your work”. “Yes”, was the answer of officials above the assistant to the prefect. And Dushi called out: “You, monks and Taoists”, and they replied in chorus: “Yes”. And next were the ordinary people who answered: “Yes” as the general said to them: “You, our ordinary people”. Then the edict was again brought to the governor, and another round of kowtow was done. the prefect walked out of the carpet and covered the edict with one of sleeves. But before he left, all people, officials and guests, about few dozens, walked towards him and bended their body standing there. “Take care”, cried the generals. Finally, they all left.

Thanks to the careful records of Monk Yuanren, people can have a specific knowledge of such a gathering. The group of such a gathering with communicative purpose is just “small” in comparison with the “large” crowd of one million or ten million spawned by modern media. Even if we have the reason to believe through interference that the ordinary people from this gathering are the representatives from the community level, the effect of communication can be largely different from that of modern communication. Here we can use the following words of Mr. Li Changsheng to say about it: If we want to rely on ways of communication like conversation and speech, we must gather in the same site, so the crowd of such a gathering should be “the masses of people”. Through hand-made printing, book and newspaper can amount to more than ten thousand copies, so people don’t need to gather together in one place, they are called “the public”. With the improvement of literacy, greater readership of book and newspaper and flourishing development of media such as radio and television, the receptors of the media of modern communication “the broad audience” appear. (Li Changsheng 1997)

The biggest problem of information communication through oral narration is the unreliability. In the process of oral narration, it is not rare to see one thing get wide of the mark as it spreads from one place to another. As Professor Wu Yumin (1988) said, “Every step of extension for the network of oral communication will inevitably be turned into the accumulation of new information and the decline of original information.” Consequently, the world of the ordinary people often sees hearsays and rumors that are not evidenced though they occur because of something. To make things worse, sometimes they (these rumors) plunge people into a very chaotic state. A case in point is about the Chinese history of the Sui Dynasty destroying the Chen State. After the Sui Dynasty annihilated the Chen State, word had it that the party

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

313

who triumphed in the war would drive all folk people of the Chen out of their hometown into the central Shaanxi plain (also known as Guanzhong). As a result, the news shocked people far and wide, to the extent that people rose up in many places. “Most of people who settled themselves and saw the Chen as their hometown raised a rebellion,”2 causing a large-scale repulsive force, which was at last put down by large troops of soldiers of the Sui. And I have to say that this is a rebellion due to falseness of oral narration. So we now clearly know why past dynasties are so sensitive to “false news” and are strictly on alert for it. The spread of rumors is so magically fast and this is due to the fact that the interpersonal network has such an effect upon information that it can be mongered through one to another ten and even hundred. It is often said that “The thing that is known by two is just known to the heaven; the thing that is known by three is known to the whole world.” The secret hidden between two, once out, can quickly prove that the one who divulges it just means going back on his word, so he ought to be restrained by moral discipline which decrees that the two parties should not break their promise (but those who play tricks are the exception). As for the secret hidden among three or more, it is hard for us to figure out the true divulger; with relatively less pressure from the outside world, the one who tells others the secret cannot easily keep their mouth tight even though someone has told him not to divulge it over and over again. Yet once the secret goes out to others, it will spread widely with an unimaginable speed through the interpersonal network, with the result that all in the world know it. When it comes to the magic feature of interpersonal network, some researchers have specially spent time doing evidence-based investigation. Martin Gardner (1984), an American popular mathematics and popular science writer, wrote in his book Why does gossip spread fast enough without helping it easily? When you meet a stranger from a distant area, you find through communication that you have one common friend. The psychologist Stanley Milgram once did a research on “the problem of small world”. In this research, he first determined one “target person” — the wife of a young man who was learning how to become a priest in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Then he found a group of people in Vicido, Kansas and regarded them as “initiators”. He gave them a document and asked them to send to the “target” acquaintance whom they knew most (the position between target one and initiators is equivalent to the distance from Shengyang to Chengdu in China). The acquaintance who received the document sent it to his or her most familiar friend so that this chain continued hopefully until it was linked with the “target” persons. Much to his surprise, it only took four days to allow this document to be sent from one man to the “target”. The process is like this: one farmer (the initiator) in Kansas first gave the document to a priest, who in turn sent it to one of his friend in Cambridge, and it was him who sent it to Alice. From “initiator” to “target”, the chain just involves two “intermediaries”. In this experiment, the number of intermediary in each of the “chain” is at least two and ten at most, averaging five. However, if we find one to make

314

B. LI

an estimate, most of his guesses are one hundred in number. It is not hard to imagine that this “acquaintance network” can explain most about why some rumors and interesting jokes will spread to the whole country so fast.

There is little doubt that this can also explain the phenomenon of fast spread of “hearsays” in a local society. In a world of self-seclusion and independence, any authentic information from the outside world will unavoidably become the “folk legend” in the course of communication. And in the same way, any factual news will often be reduced to false rumor.

A Land of Water and Soil Nourishes an Area of People As for the highbrow and lowbrow aspects of culture, the question has always brought much attention to the academic world. Mr. Yu Yingshi (2003) ever summarized his knowledge of this question and its change: Over the past few decades, many anthropologists and historians have no longer seen culture as a rough research object. Conversely, they basically favored a dichotomy, believing that culture could be divided into two parts. They then used a variety of nouns to reflect this difference: After the 1950s, the concepts “great tradition” and “little tradition” proposed by Robert Redfield enjoyed great popularity at that time, and they now almost disappear, but not completely. In recent world of western historiography, the ideas “elite culture” and “popular culture” are already likely to replace the former. With the use of different nouns, they show no great difference in essence. In a general sense, great tradition or elite culture is associated with the upper intellectual class while little tradition or popular culture is directly connected with the ordinary people who have not received formal education.

In accordance with the widely universal and self-evident concepts, great tradition always outweighs little tradition, and elite culture always outdoes popular culture. Among the two phrases, the first set denotes delicacy, exquisiteness, and fineness, whereas the second set means vulgarity, roughness, and clumsiness. In other words, the former is explained as civilization while the latter is rooted in primitive nature. Yet this is apparently a prejudice based on the standpoint of a cultured man. In fact, the source of any civilization springs out of the folk world. These millions of common herds, a great force that is seemingly insignificant, will often bring forth the greatest imagination and creativity. Furthermore, with sustained living vigor, they invest our civilization with a form that is brilliant and vibrant and a charm that can retain youthful vigor forever. As Confucius remarked, “When our traditional etiquette, morality, culture and others are lost, we have to go to the ordinary people world to look for those that the society has broadly lost.” Chairman Mao Zedong once said: “People, only people can serve as the dynamic force of creating the history of the world,”—saying a universally accepted truth

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

315

through a political topic. And let me borrow a proverb of iceberg: the socalled elite culture at higher level is nothing but a visible tip of an iceberg at the sea surface, but there is an invisible main body that supports, drives, and influences such a tip of iceberg. The following is a good example: If a foreigner living in China, in a vast circle of Chinese culture, just absorbs the classic part of Chinese culture, this behavior is far from being assimilated. When he delves into the aspect of folk customs in the Chinese culture and gives a decisive recognition to this culture while accepting the norms of Chinese culture in areas like living habit, mental state and value orientation, he can be viewed as “China hand” or being “sinicized”. (Fei Xiaotong 1985)

The vigor of the ordinary people’s world can be likened to an “endless stream running towards everywhere with an irresistible force.” Such force, like a luxuriant tree, flourishes in every field of society and is full of vitality. In the area of communication, it, like an unceasingly flowing stream, presents a splendid view as well. The Chinese scholar Wang Meng once lauded the great work Dictionary of Maqiao written by the novelist Han Shaogong as an “exceptional masterpiece in the creation of novels in 1996, which makes one both delightful and compelling.” From what I have mentioned just now, his novel offers a piece of collateral evidence that is interesting, reliable, and profound (Wang Meng 1997). In this book with different angles, the author creates a long novel with a compilation of a series of irrelevant texts such as textual research, political comment, linguistic comparison, random essay of thought, brush-note essay, lyrical prose, dialectic investigation, records of folk customs, mythology, and fable. With all these contents, he shows to us multidimensional significance in society, history, culture, folk customs, politics, fiction, poetry, allegory, and mythology. Furthermore, as for all I have said, we can see a trend: “From all these, linguistic scholars discover linguistics; novelists can sense the novels; scholars of folk customs and sociologists can find out true and false folk customs; and critics can echo or question Han Shaogong’s social comments and comments on literature and art” (Wang Meng 1997). Nevertheless, from our point of view, the most valuable content in this book is a detailed portrait of folk language and phenomenon of communication, with a focus on revealing the significance of dialect or vernacular from the perspective of the meaning of life’s existence and giving the communication of the ordinary people an irreplaceable honor. As a proverb says, “A land of water and soil nourishes a land of people.” In his book A Compilation of Chicken Ribs (Jileibian),3 the song scholar Zhuang Chuo said: “Most of human nature is similar to local feature. In northwest, there are lots of mountains, so people there are mostly simple and tough. In Jingzhou and Yangzhou, there are countless rivers and lakes, so people there are smart, but they have a shortcoming: frivolous.” “The harmonious state of dominant position between heaven and mankind really exists, regardless of whether the theory ‘the interaction between heaven and mankind’ is in line with the scientific fact or not” (Gernet 1990). As regards the aspect of folk language, Han Shaogong (1997) pointed out:

316

B. LI

Are the dialects of hometown replaceable? They are as if hidden in the darkness of night, which cannot be lit up through the broad sense of Putonghua. People in their hometown adapt to this dark night, using Putonghua or other foreign languages to talk about their hometown. But because of the difference and estrangement, this result is that taking apple as an example; it is hard for us to say that an apple is still the same one when it is taken from the soil.

In this sense, He Shaogong is equated with showing to us the close connection between vernacular and local society, providing a strong vitality for the communication of the ordinary people. This is when he presents us 111 phrases construed from the themes such as history, geography, society, culture, figure, customs, emotion, destiny, story, odor, temperature, illusion and reality, and so forth and it is when he uses his true and illusory dictionary to offers an all-directional characterization of “maqiao” society of ordinary people typical of single case as well as its form of communication. To our regret, we are difficult to investigate this communication of ordinary people, with so vivid and rich features, since we have a lack of relevant texts. The novel Dictionary of Maqiao gives full expression to the truth of life, but it draws its materials from untrue stories. In the final analysis, the communication of the ordinary people is intimately linked with daily life and evolves in a natural state of unconsciousness—either live or perish, as the saying goes “A thing, like a spring dream, has no trace left.” Fei Xiaotong (2013) said: In this local society, language becomes an experience that can be passed down from one generation to another. …However, Chinese characters do not take shape at the local level. The earliest- born written language is based on temple, and it was not until the recent century (in the first half of 20th century) that this written language was turned into something typical of countrymen. … In this local society, where people keep in touch very closely and live in the stereotyped life repeatedly, they are not so foolish as to know nothing about written characters. Instead, they do not have the need to use these characters to help them live in the society.

For “countrymen or countrywomen” who live and grow on the local soil, the absence of written language does not constitute a barrier to communication, but it can cause a huge black hole that makes later generations or strangers hard to understand this area of communication. When we set about observing the communication of the ordinary people in both Sui and Tang dynasties over one thousand years ago, this shortcoming will seem to be all the more obvious. The result is that besides those texts of folk songs and proverbs, there are merely piecemeal things left, like horns of sheep, almost without traces being found. It is good that folk songs in the Tang period are too many to count, so they contribute to first-hand materials for the communication of ordinary people in the Tang period. It is true that these materials are insignificant in comparison with a sea of texts left behind in the great tradition. Based on these and with regard to the communication of the ordinary

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

317

crowd, we need to make clear that all different communicative activities are interpreted as one thing, whereas the phenomenon of communication based upon those limited texts is another matter; and the two are far from being the same.

Folk Songs and Proverbs Folk songs and proverbs are the common forms of communication in the communication of ordinary people. They convey the trend of current affairs and reveal public opinion. They give us the different aspects of how the ordinary people live, and their joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness can be felt by others directly, so are their grief and delight visible when they part and meet. In his essay A Letter to Renan, the great historian Sima Qian said: “Three hundred poems in the Book of Songs are perhaps written by sages who work very hard in times of difficulty.” In truth, among 305 poems in the Book of Songs, there is no shortage of works created because of sage’s indignation and the palace’s magnificence, but most of them can be viewed as the epitome of ancient folk songs and proverbs. For example, the part of Guofeng (known as fifteen “feng风”) in the Book of Songs comprises folk songs and ballads from 15 countries. The Book of Songs is a manifest of the rich connotations of society and the widely accepted ethics of human, and they are readable, easy for one to sing. Here are some millennia-old famous lines from the Book of Songs: The waterfowl would coo, Upon an islet in the brook. Blue, blue, my collar, Sad, sad my heart. Green, green the reed, Dew and frost gleam. Where is she I need? Beyond the stream. Large rat, large rat, Eat no more millet we grow! Three years you have grown fat; No care for us you show When I went out for a battle to fight, Willows flutter in the breeze. And now as I come back on the route, Snowflakes flying in the sky freeze. All the land under heaven belongs to the king, and for him, all the princes on the land are his subjects. ……

318

B. LI

From these poetic verses listed above, we can know that the past dynasties have made the collection of folk songs a priority of understanding public opinion. According to the records of the story about the fourteenth year of Duke Xiang in the book The Commentary of Zuo Qinming (Zuoshi chunqiu zhuan),4 shortly called Zuozhuan, it described like this: Below the king, people of all kinds will come to observe and check their behavior in politics: historical officers record his behavior in their books and musicians add music to the poems collected from ministers and ask one to sing for the king as a token of remonstration. Officials provide admonishments; scholars pass on useful messages; ordinary people comment on or criticize improper acts; businessmen gather in the market and one hundred craftsmen show their skills and crafts. Hence there is a sentence said in the Book of Xia: “The king sends his escort with a bronze musical bell called muduo to inquire ordinary people of the court’s political affairs.”

There is also a paragraph in the chapter of the first part of Zhou Dynasties in the book Discourses of the States (Guoyu): Therefore, when the emperor administers affairs of the state, he asks ministers to present their poems, musicians to perform songs, historians to send books, teachers to give feedbacks, the blind to send essays, children to read them, officials to offer counsels, ordinary people to pass on messages, relatives to observe losses and gains, musicians and historians to provide admonishments and senior people to record them so that later emperors can think it over.

The two passages convey a kind of meaning of collecting folk songs. In the first paragraph, it mentioned: “The king sends his Qiuren (an escort) with muduo (a bronze musical bell) to inquire ordinary people of the court’s political affairs.” Qiuren in the sentence refers to an officer who announces decrees or other affairs of the ruler in ancient China. Muduo here refers to a bell with wooden clappers, with which the Qiuren (an official or an escort) can take it as a tool to announce the ruler’s edicts and educate people. Muduo is different from a metal bell called jinduo, which is a musical instrument used in the military journey. The famous philosopher Gu Yanwu said, “Jinduo is performed to call on military troops while muduo is performed to pass order nationwide.5 ” As for collecting local songs and customs, the Chronicle of Food and Goods in the History of the Former Han Dynasty made this aspect very clear: In the first month of spring, people will be distributed to farm in the field. The officer who collects poems rings the wooden bell to make an inspection on the road, gleaning folk songs from the people. After that, he gives all the songs to the court musicians and in turn, they match them with melody and sing for the king. It is thus said: “The worthy emperor can know what is going on among the people without visiting every household himself.”

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

319

In the Chapter of Art and Literature of the History of the Former Han Dynasty (Hanshu), it is said: In ancient China, we had an officer who was responsible for collecting poems, so the ruler could perceive the customs of the folk world and understand what is lost and gained. And he could also investigate these things himself. … Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Yüeh-fu (a local poetic genre of the State of Chu) system to collect folk songs, we have seen the folk songs of Dai and Zhao as well as the trend of Qin and Chu, from which sadness and happiness could be felt. Even though it is for business tour, people could observe folk customs and know more or less about people.

When Emperor Taizong ruled the world, he also saw the practice of collecting folk songs as his extended knowledge of ordinary people in the hope of understanding the troubles and wishes of them. In the first month of the eighth year of Zhenguan (Emperor Taizong’s reign title), the emperor issued a decree with the following declarations6 : In the past, when the emperor ruled the world, ministers and other officials in the court dealt well with all kinds of undertakings; outside the court, dukes and marquises governed for the people. The ruler was anxious that there was no enough edification among the people and that the standard of etiquette was changed, so the system of inspection was established to promote worthy officials and demote unworthy officials. The officials who beat the wooden bell to collect folk songs inquired people of local customs and their ways of how to live in harmony. Then all others followed suit to live that way. The emperor understood that he needed to send escorts to all areas to reveal what was on his mind, inquire people of their troubles, observe the losses and gains of their customs and check the demerits of governance and criminal procedures. Therefore, these escorts were ordered to convey his decree to the people, as if he were seeing this scene with his own eyes.

Then he sent thirteen high officials of civil and military ranks, including Xiao Yu and Li Jing to inspect the world while collecting folk customs and songs. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, Chang’an had two famous buildings, one called “Qinzheng wuben” (diligent in administration and practical in work) and another “Huae xianghui” (calyces shine brilliantly to each other), both located in the southwestern corner of Palace of Flourishing Joy. And the names of the two buildings were later associated with many celebrations in the periods of Kaiyuan (713–741) and Tianbao (742–756) (both are reigning titles of Emperor Xuanzong in the Tang Dynasty). In the records of history, the building of Qinzheng wuben is built in order to “check folk customs and collect folk songs to prevent blind administration7 .” From this point of view, the prosperous periods of Zhenguan (627–649) and Kaiyuan (713–741) are largely linked with the enlightened emperors’ measures to set great store by what becomes of ordinary people. After several ruling stages,

320

B. LI

Lu Zhi, prime minister who served Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, inherited the tradition of focusing on the conditions of people when he implemented the idea of “removing shortcomings and seeking improvement.” He once told his officials who were ordered to inspect the world to use “five approaches to observe local customs,” of which the first one is to examine the happiness and sorrow of people by listening to folk songs.8 In his book The History of Newspaper Industry and Public Opinion in China, Lin Yutang, a famous scholar in modern China, said: “Before written newspaper was born, folk song and ballad could be oral news on that day. In other words, folk song and ballad are the predecessors of written newspaper” (Wu Yumin 1988). If we have a detailed idea in mind, the folk feature among the people should consist of song, ballad, and proverb. In particular, song forges a close relationship with ballad because the two could be sung at first, much like today’s lyrics. But the difference is that the song needs to be sung with the accompaniment of musical instruments while the ballad is just sung at random. In the section of Peaches in the Garden of Weifeng in the Book of Songs, there is a sentence: “I sing and hymn with ballad.” As for this, there is an explanation in the book Notes for the Book of Songs (Maozhuan, written by Mao Heng): “Melody is combined with music to make up a song; a song is formed barehanded to make up a ballad.” Now I turn to proverb—a combination of folk sayings that have been spread through centuries—which is not used in the form of song. In the chapter of the Fifth year of Duke Xi of the book Zuozhuan, it said: “A proverb says ‘Fuche xiangyi, chunwang chihan’ (cheek and gum depends on each other and a mouth will turn cold when there are no teeth, denoting a close relationship between two things or two persons).” That says very well about the relationship between two states (Yu and Guo)—they are intimately dependent upon each other. Certainly, the line of demarcation between song, ballad and proverb is gradually blurred. In the Tang period, according to modern scholars Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibing (1996), the situation is described like the following: Both folk song and melodic lyric can be sung, but ballad and proverb are different, since some of ballads can be sung, yet it is not all; most of proverbs cannot be sung but just said.

In terms of the characteristics of these elements, folk song puts emphasis on artistic feature; folk ballad highlights the nature of current affairs; and folk proverb values folk customs. However, of the three, folk ballad mostly has the feature of news. “Folk ballad is more realistic than others, and it always means a response to the person or matter related to the present life” (ibid.: 537). A good example is the Chinese phrase “zaoyao (mongering false news or rumors),” which comes from the person or the matter in the real life. Folk song, ballad, and folk proverb are different, but they have something in common. That is to say, they are short, pithy, rhythmic, and readable, hence

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

321

easy to spread. Mr. Xu Chengyu analyzed in the essay Shi Jingxue Mongers Rumors like the following: In the ancient world, few people lived on the vast land. There was no written language to show sound and breath, and the expression of emotion and the exchange of knowledge mostly depended on language. When people spoke to each other, they could engage in free talk. When they were slightly apart from each other, they must rely on others to pass on their message. Because complicated words and meaning, what was conveyed undoubtedly lost its trueness. So people must make their language so simplified, their pronunciation so unified and sound so harmonious that it is easy for people to pass it on to later generations. (Zhu Chuanyu 1988)

As for folk song and ballad, the idea that “makes language simplified, pronunciation unified and sound harmonious” is created just for the purpose of convenient communication. It sounds very reasonable. When those folk songs in the section of Kuo-feng (Guofeng国风, the name of local ballad) in the Book of Songs adopt the simple form of ballad, they are aimed at generating high popularity in later periods, irrespective of their content. However, we have a strong feeling inside when we look through the children’s folk rhymes and folk proverbs gathered before the Tang Dynasty in the book Source of Ancient Poems (Gushiyuan) written by the scholar Shen Deqian. For example, the first poem in the Source of Ancient Poems is Hitting the Soil to Sing (Jirangge), which can be traced back to the distant time of Emperor Yao in ancient China: People work as the sun rises and rest as the sun sinks. They drill the well to get water and till the land to get food. How easy the life is! How can people envy the power of ruler?

What a natural, fluent, and unforgettable ballad! How can it not enjoy widespread? By observing the customs, it is not hard for us to see the scene described by the renowned poet Du Fu “Aid the emperor in becoming a worthy ruler like Yao and Shun (outstanding rulers in ancient China), and make governance good and folk practice simple.” “In the ruling period of Emperor Yao, the world enjoyed extreme harmony and the ordinary people had no conflicts. And the old people hit the soil to sing songs.” The following are the popular lines from Source of Ancient Poems (Gushiyuan): The State of Chu can destroy the Qin, though it has three clans The crowd is united as solid castle, and their opinion can melt the metal. When many condemn you, you’ll come to a bad end. The roof leaks water on the top, and man knows it at the bottom. The cold feet can injury the heart, whereas the unsatisfied people can affect the country. I would rather be a head of a small crowd, than a follower of a strong one.

322

B. LI

Pursuing good is as hard as climbing the mountain, but going to the bad like a collapsing hill. To be irresolute when a decision needs to be made, will spell trouble however. Long sleeves are good for dancing, and much money for business. No fish is seen in the clearest river, and no partner can be forged with extreme rigor. A better fur coat is best to prevent cold, and improving oneself is best to avoid others’ slander. Weeds growing in the sand can stand without support. White sand merging with black dirt, will turn black as well. You cannot be a ruler without intelligence, nor a high-rank official without shaming foolish. People in the world, so thronged, gather for profits, and they go different ways also for profits. It is better to submerge in the deep pond, than to mix with the mean people. In the pond, one can swim out of it, and keeping mean people company is incorrigible. …… These folk songs and ballads, I believe, can be easily recorded and passed down by one generation after another. At the same time, with concise words, they sum up the approach of life, thus becoming popular sayings that are universally accepted among the people. The phrase “drown in the crowd” is almost equivalent to the folk proverb: “The splashes of saliva can even drown people”.

Just as There Is a Paradise in Heaven, There Is a Yuanzhuang Garden on Earth The history of Chinese folk song and ballad has a long origin, reaching the apex in the Tang Dynasty. Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibin, two modern scholars who devote themselves to studying folk customs and literature, once praised the Tang Dynasty as the “golden era of folk songs and ballads” and pointed out that folk ballads in the Tang are extensive in scope, vast in number and high in quality, therefore they have no match in all past dynasties (Cheng Qiang and Dong Naibin 1996). Let us first turn to “songs” from ordinary people. And for us, the Tang Empire often comes across as a dynasty well known for creating popular songs and dances. As we know, the Tang people are capable of singing and dancing. In terms of song, it is widely accepted as an art and profession, but back in the Tang period, it was an indispensable part of common people. The following poems can say well about this: Li Bai on boat, ready to push off, Suddenly heard the tramping and singing on the bank. Peach Flower Pool a thousand feet deep, Is shallower than the love of Wang Lun who sees me off. Green willows flank the calm river,

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

323

As I hear you tread and sing on the bank. In the east sun rises and in the west rain is rare, Which shows it is sunny in the rainy spark. In the sunlit spring river lay a causeway, Where a couple holding hands stroll around. After a new song the man is going away, When red rays light the trees and birds sing aloud.

After enjoying the beautiful lines, we begin to see a story in the book A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You (Youyang zazu) written by the scholar Duan Chengshi: In the early days of Yunahe (Emperor Xianzong’s reign title of the Tang), an educated man lay drunk on the ground in the hall because he lost his family name. When he sobered up, he saw several girls singing and dancing on the picture screen. He then sang: “Girls in Chang’an sing and dance with the sunlight in the spring; nowhere is the light ray broken in its movement. Dancing with fluttering sleeves they bend in attention; and their brows seem as if carrying autumn frost.” A man with white temple hairs asked: “How can they bend their waist when dancing?” “Can you not see me bend my waist?” Hearing this, the man turned back, sending his temple hairs to the ground, presenting a posture like a round rule. In shock, he suddenly came to the screen, only to know that there was no one there.9

Indeed, it is just his illusion, but the illusion is based on a truth: The Tang witnessed the great popularity of performing songs. In addition to the melodies and songs from Dunhuang (in Shaanxi province), the songs and lyrics are mostly included in the volume No. 874 of the book All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty (Quantangshi). Generally speaking, these songs are particularly realistic and targeted, with their topic focusing on extolling worthy officials or devaluating corrupt officials. They are created on the basis of specific things, with a clear attitude toward love and dislike. In the poem A Song from People of Lianzhou, it is said: In the early phase of Wude (Emperor Gaozu’s reign title), Yan Youqin was then governor of Lainzhou. At that time, the Tang court just brought to peace the rebel Liu Heita who raised arms in the late stage of the Sui Dynasty. Therefore, the customs in the world were severely affected by constant wars. Youqin provided great care to the people and helped them to overcome difficulties. Hence people in Lianzhou sang for him (see Volume No. 874): In Lianzhou Yan knows the approach of governance, And has a congenial mind with local men. He loves his people with such great depth, That he is even very kind to everyone often.

324

B. LI

Then let me take A Song from Local People in Cangzhou for an example: During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang, Xue Dading was then governor of Cangzhou. Near the border of the Cangzhou was a river called Wuli River, which was filled and laid waste. Xue Dading then submitted a statement to the court to reopen the project on this river, with the result that he successfully channeled the salt and fish to the river. Accordingly, the local people sang for him (see Volume No. 874): A new river makes boats easy to pass, And runs into the vast sea. In the past our journey included a carriage with four horses. Now Governor Xue can bring his credit to all we see.

Also the governor of Cangzhou and an initiator who began the river project, Jiang Shidu received counterproductive outcome, since he did not win the praise of people but get the unsatisfactory song called A Folk Song of Lucheng: Jiang Shidu triggered an unsurprising story. As governor of Cangzhou, he opened the project on the river, but finally he led to general dissatisfaction within the county. In the Lucheng, he asked people to open up wasteland and grew rice. Unfortunately, crabs ate up all rice, and he asked his men to catch crabs. At last, local people complained with the following song (see Volume No. 874): When people in Lucheng grow rice, Rice field is soaked deep in the water. Every year we see men flock to catch crabs. All these make our people’s life not any easier.

Meanwhile, Wang Xiong, a narrow-minded local official, also received a song that made “ordinary people hard to live.” Wang Xiong was then prefect of Zezhou Region. In the local office, when the judicial authority tried the thief who stole the grain, the official decided that he be beaten one hundred spankings. The deputy head of the region (known as t’ung-p’an, the name of official title) and Xiong asked: “How many people did he depredate”. “Seven”, was the reply. Xiong responded: “He should be punished with seven hundred spankings.” “The judge made a false judgment and the local government head decided the case.” People then sneered. The former head had a sense of justice and valued fairness. But after he was substituted by Wang Xiong, local people sang:

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

325

The first was a benevolent head, but the next was a thick-faced tyrant. The judge ruled the case blindly, and ordered others to do what is low. Seeing money he was full of joy, but without seeing it he reproached others all the time. There were starving men everywhere. Local people could not live their life.10

It can be seen that given Wang Xiong’s bad practice, local people let out a flood of straight criticisms and obvious sneers. When Wu Zetian (Empress of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang) reigned the Tang Dynasty, a song called Jing Longzhong Derides the Prime Minister was oft sung in the city of Luoyang: Jing Longzhong said it had rained for over one hundred days in Luoyang, but the prime minister was unable to do anything. And he asked his men to close the north gate in the street, but to little effect, leading to even worse consequence. Thus local people sang (see Volume No. 874): He opens the east hall to greet guests with modesty, but in dealing with the storm he closes the north gate.

However, the most interesting I think is the following called A Song of Jiulongzhang: The king of Min State decreed one of his concubines (here is a man, that means a gay) called Jinfeng as the empress, and an official called Gui Shouming had an affair with him. But the king ordered craftsmen to make Jiulong Curtain. People in the state sang (see Volume No. 874): The Jiulong Curtain is only made for Mr Gui.

The above folk songs convey sorrow and joy among the people in a wide circle of communication and represent a collective aspiration of them in some degrees, emerging as a stark aspect of communicative activities. Now let us turn to “proverb” among the people in the Tang Dynasty. “Proverb” is a kind of version included in the communication of ordinary people, replete with strong local features. The so-called “as the saying says” always consists of folk proverbs. It is no exaggeration that the folk proverb is a catchall of folk custom, food, living, good occasion, geography, the law of the world, and etiquette. At the same time, it has the nature of stability, for it can be handed down from one generation to another and will not be easily changed even with a hundred years, thus it plays a monumental role in tempering the character of the nation and maintaining the tradition of culture. Needless, proverb is a typical example of communication brimming with national spirit mutually built, recognized and inherited by great tradition and little tradition. In other words, the significance of proverb does not lie in passing on scattered information but in spreading lasting truth. For example, Li Xun quotes a proverb to bid a farewell to Zhang Wenguan11 :

326

B. LI

I see you off a thousand miles, but we must part company.

And Wang Yanzhang also quotes a proverb: When man dies, his or her name lasts long. When a leopard dies, its skin keeps long.

(see the same volume of Quantangshi) It is clear that some proverbs show the traces of inherit and change, as the Song of Yuanzhuang Garden says: Yuanzhuang Garden is located in Jiaodai Garden, nestling against Bailu Place, where there are lotus pond, bamboo paths, tumi (a flower like angelica) rack, Cherry-apple Cave, Hall of Concentrating Views, Flower Cove, milling, a field of rice and a low bank of earth between fields. Thus a proverb says: “Just like there is a paradise in heaven, there is also a Yuanzhuang Garden on earth” (see the same volume of Quantangshi)

Needless to say, this proverb has changed from “there is a Yuanzhuang on earth” to “there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth.” From Yuanzhuang Garden situated in Bailu Place to Suzhou and Hangzhou along the Yangtze River, has the center of culture invisibly shifted to the south? The following is a sentence from the classic book Shenzi, a work written by Shen Dao, an exponent of School of Law in the Schools of Hundred Thoughts in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period: You cannot be a ruler without intelligence, nor a high-rank official without shaming foolish.12

Later, in a story of the Chinese drama Dajinzhi, the sentence above has new connotations13 : The son of Guo Ziyi, an outstanding politician and general during the reign of Emperor Daizong, was Guo Ai, son-in-law of the emperor, who often quarreled with Princess Shengping, the daughter of His Majesty. Guo Ai insulted the princess: “You rely on your father’s power and prestige, don’t you?” “My father said your father made no big success.” Hearing this, the princess flew into passion and drove in carriage to tell this to the emperor, who then said: “You don’t know, his father is really unsatisfied with me. Even though this is not the case, the whole world is not yours only.” His tears coursed down from the cheek and asked the princess to go back home. Guo Ai was then detained by his father who went to the court to wait for the punishment of the emperor, but the latter consoled him: “As the proverb says, ‘Neither foolish nor deaf, he is not a qualified father or mother’; and these are the teasing words from young son and daughter, how can you take it serious?”

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

327

Finally a folk proverb suppresses such a sensation. Speaking of the proverb of the Tang Dynasty, we have a good book to recommend—Miscellaneous Compilation of Li Yishan (Yishan zazuan) related to the standards and ethics about establishing oneself, becoming successful and dealing with family relationship, also shortly known as Miscellaneous Compilation. Yishan is the polite name of the Tang period poet Li Shangyin. In the History of Chinese Fiction, Mr. Lu Xun said: “This book is a collection of slangs and proverbs, often attached with common stories and presented with corresponding categories. Though replete with simple words, they can clarify the implicit meaning of world affairs, so they are never mostly things of joke.” But regarding the author of this book, Mr. Lu Xun (1981) once challenged the fact for the first time: During the reign of Emperor Xizong, there was a man called Li Jiujin, whose courtesy name was Gunqiu, who was the prefect of Linjin Region. Also billed as Yishan, he could write poems. When he succeeded in passing the imperial examination, he paid a frequent visit to musical house, the event of which could be found in the book called Chronicle of Beili (Beili zhi) written by the scholar Sun Qi. Then Li Jiujin produced the book Miscellaneous Compilation of Li Yishan. Accordingly, the author of this book may unnecessarily be from Li Shangyin, perhaps it is created by Li Jiujin. But there is no clear evidence, so we cannot jump to a conclusion.

For this, Mr. Zhou Yiliang (1948–) observed: “Zacuan was not the work of Li Shangyin (whose courtesy name is Yuxishang), nor is it an old copy of the Tang.” Books like Miscellaneous Compilation, starting from the Tang period and ending in the Qing Dynasty, have been always popular among the people, thus emerging as a striking phenomenon of communication. At least, they demonstrate the prosperity and popularity of folk proverbs. In his letter to Zhang Tingqian on July 14, 1926, Mr. Lu Xun pointed out: “The book Miscellaneous Compilation of Li Yishan (Yishan zacuan) collects proverbs of the Tang people.” Mr. Qu Yanbin, a scholar who has done a well-researched work on Miscellaneous Compilation, said: “It is an ancient brush-note work with humorous proverbial and humorous words and a unique quotation style and can be viewed as a selected collection of ancient similar proverbs” (Lu Xun 1981). Let me take Miscellaneous Compilation of Li Yishan for example, the scholar Chen Zhensun from the Southern Song Dynasty said in his book Commented Library Catalogue of the Zhizhai Studio (Zhizhai shulu jieti) written by the Southern Song scholar Chen Zhenxun): “Idioms and proverbs are often linked with vulgar and trivial stories, which can be quoted for fun with similar categories. Nevertheless, what people call killjoy comes from these proverbs.” The following is a set of idioms and proverbs from the Tang people:

328

B. LI

Shout to turn people away under the pine tree; the sight of flowers brings tears to one’s eyes. Spread the mat on the mosses; chop bending willows. Sun pants under the flowers; appreciate the spring again. A horse is tied to the stone near the bamboo tree; holding the fire under the moon. Walking generals; high buildings rise facing the hills. Plant vegetable in the fruit garden; grow chicks and ducks under the flower rack. Girls in whorehouse talked about vulgar stories. Nowadays men of letter consider those daily trivial things to be killjoys; hence these are the origins of proverbs.

Luo Binwang Cooks Up Rumors Now let us turn to “yao谣 in Chinese word (two kinds of meaning, either referring to folk song known as Geyao歌谣 in Chinese or rumor known as Yaoyan 谣言)”—a type of text of the communication of ordinary people centering on current affairs. In terms of folk ballad, the poet Zhou Tao once made some comments on this in the eighteenth chapter of Reading Source of Ancient Poems (Du Gushiyuan), a famous work that fully exhibits his talent. Although his comments are not completely reasonable, they are also full of some insights: The so-called “folk song” is nothing but what makes people unsatisfied. Those folk songs are also the rumors. And rumors are what we today call “complaints” from people. In the Later Han period, more and more folk songs and children’ ballads were included in the book Source of Ancient Poems (Gushiyuan), so we can more or less see the downcast trend of the society. These “yao (folk songs)” are not defined as true songs, but they are readable and simple words with unique wisdom from the ordinary people. At the same time, these “black humor” style folk songs and “augury” style allegories greatly enrich this selected collection of ancient poetry, which makes the mood of the society more enriching and people more vigorous.

By explaining profound theories in simple terms, this paragraph sums up the nature of “yao,” clearly stating that they are complaining words and readable songs tinctured with black humor and social mood. From this perspective, we should say that they touch on the fundamental aspect of yao. Let’s go further: “Yao” is both a indirectly special way that people discuss and engage in political affairs and a way in which people in the society gave vent to anger and gave expression to expectations when a feudal dynasty went down. This is also socalled “the support of people”. In the ancient society, the ordinary people did not have the political right of demonstration, nor did they have a tradition of gathering in the street to give the speech. But as the proverb says: “When the room leaks water on a rainy day, people below can know it.” The ordinary people can try every means to find a channel to express their feelings, so “song” or rumor is the “distorted” way.

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

329

This paragraph puts “yao” down to engagement in political affairs. Thus, it is very new. Generally speaking, “yao” is different from proverb, though they both reflect the witticism of ordinary people. “Yao” is a kind of satire or harbinger about the state’s political affairs at a critical time, whereas proverb is the crystallization of social life in times of peace. As for “children’s ballad”, it is expressed by children in the form of song. After all, children are too young to be judged as guilty, as evidenced by the saying: “Take no offence at a child’s babble”.

There are some beautiful words to discuss the communication of “yao” in a wonderful way: “Yao” starts from the mouth of some insignificant men in wine pub and tea house as well as in the street while “walking” through the public. Like wind, it is invisible (terms like “folk songs” and “collection of folk songs”); like rain, it moisturizes the things. With no feet, it can walk freely in the world, and even the passes cannot stop it. With wings, it rests on people’s mind, so even officials cannot arrest them. It bears conscience but lacks creators; it displays exceptional talent but gives no hint of one’s name. When it comes, it becomes the talk of town, causing the paper to be even more expensive; when it is gone, it is like an antelope hanging horns on the tree with no feet touching on the ground, so we find no trace of it.

The Tang Dynasty has been blessed with a great variety of folk songs. Take All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty (Quantangshi) for example only, the book compiles one respective volume of song and proverb, but “yao” contains three volumes, namely “chenji” of Volume No. 875, “yu” of Volume No. 876, and “yao” of Volume No. 878 (in fact chenji [enigmatic words] and yu [language] can be regarded as “yao” [rumors]). In the following paragraph, we give you some inklings of famous “songs or rumors” and their original stories. In ancient China, when the change of ruler and dynasty took place, there were always some “rumors” that are sometimes mysterious and uncommon and sometimes true and false in the world of ordinary people. They allegedly forebode the rise and fall of a county and the prosperity and decline of a dynasty. And they are enigmatic words, also called ch’en-yü (chenyu谶语), a kind of enigmatic language and wizard’s prophecy that bode ill and well for things (ch’en or chen refers to superstitious or enigmatic prophecy or word) but it cannot be denied that they possess certain transcendental correctness. In the late period of the Sui, such political and prophetic folk songs came thick and fast in the world. In a short period of time, rumors and ch’en-yü circulated very quickly, making people frightening and the world chaotic. However, these rumors certainly involved such topics as “the world is in ruins and the country shall thus be established.” For example, the following sentences in the work called Tang shouming “chen” reflect this phenomenon:

330

B. LI

Taolizi (Tao implies a person called Tao Tang and Li refers to the royal family name of the Tang); hongshui raoyangshan “the flood (Li) circles the mountain of Tang” (Honshui implies the founder of the Tang Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan while Yang refers to the royal family name of the Sui). Jiangnan yangliushui “willows in the south of Yangtze River” (refers to the fact that Emperor Yang of the Sui has stayed for a long time in Yangzhou). And jiangbei lihuarong “the flower of ‘Li’ is in bloom in the north of Yangze River”. Yangliu feimian hechuqu “where do the flying catkins of ‘Yang’ willows go”. Lihua jieguo zirancheng “it is natural that flower of ‘Li’ can bear fruit”. Taolizi molangyu “Tao Tang, stop talking nonsense”. Huanghao raoshanfei “yellow swan circles around the hill”; wanzhuan huyuanli “hovering in the garden”.14 *(See the Chinese version of this mysterious ch’en-yü 15 )

We should not make light of such “magic” style ch’en-yü, since it can launch a psychological attack that is sometimes stronger than official document. Meanwhile, publicity is manmade and maybe I overstate it no matter how reasonable it is. Those folk rumors containing ch’en-yü are as if conveying the secret message and decreeing the fate of heaven, both unpredictable and irresistible. At a time when the worship of spirit is very popular, the consciousness of ghost penetrates every corner of the society, much like a powerful ideological weapon or “public relation” strategy. It may be said that in the Sui Dynasty, the society was shrouded in the air of superstitious “rumors.” As a consequence, the world was torn apart. According to the records of Wuxingzhi in the book Old History of the Tang Dynasty, the first official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty, a relevant story is listed as follows: In the late Sui Dynasty, a rumor went: “Taolizi hongshui rao Yangshan (Taotang says the flood (of Li) circles around the Mountain of Yang).” When the Emperor Yang of the Sui suspected that the Li family would be the ruler of the world, which was preordained by the heaven, he ordered his men to do away with Li Jincai (Li Hun). Subsequently, Li Mi occupied Luokou grain center, which could be a fact that testified the trueness of this enigmatic prophecy.

There is little doubt that these Chen prophecies can be regarded as a kind of behavior like creating rumors and spreading it around. This means that anonymous people have “ulterior moves” to trump up stories before or after the event. Although we have been unable to clearly describe the specific process of creation shown in the book called Tang shouming “chen,” we can also find evidence from the similar incidents of “mongering rumors.” When Xu Jingye revolted, he asked Luo Binwang to devise a children’s folk rhyme in order to force a defection of the prime minister Pei Yan: When Pei Yan became Secretary of Zhongshu, Xu Jingye desired to rise in rebellion. He asked Luo Binwang to invent a strategy and incited Pei Yan to

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

331

rise up. With his feet treading on the wall, Luo was lost in thought. Finally, he created a rumor: “A spark of fire, two sparks of fire (forming a Chinese character ‘Yan’), so the one who wears ‘crimson dress’ (forming a Chinese character ‘Pei’) should ascend the throne.” Then Luo taught children in Pei Yan’s residence to recite it, and all children began to sing it in the whole capital. Hearing this, Pei paid a visit to a scholar and asked him to dispel the rumor. Then, Pei invited Luo to his home to help him understand the rumor, and the latter faced the north, bowing: “This is what we find”. At last, Pei intrigued with Xu Jingye to launch a rebellion.16

From this story, we understand that Luo Binwang’s rumormongering is in keeping with the fact, even though we don’t know whether Pei Yan colluded with Xu Jingye. Furthermore, in the book Pi Rixiu Falsifies the Rumor of Huang Chao (a rebel), it is said17 : Huang Chao ordered Pi Rixiu to make chen prophecies, as the latter said: “Yu zhi sheng ren xing, tian ba er shi yi” -If you want to know the surname of the saint, it relates to “tian” (field) plus “ba” (eight) plus “ershiyi” (twenty one) meaning “huang” in Chinese character. “Yu zhi sheng ren ming, guo tou san qu lv” - if you want to know the name of the saint, “guo” (fruit) plus “tou”(head) -refer to the Chinese character “chao”. Hearing this, Chao flew into rage. With an ugly head and lost bead, Huang Chao doubted that this rumor was designed to sneer him. Eventually, Pi Rixiu was hard to escape the jaws of death.

In the book Shanyin Old Man Falsifies Rumors, it was said: During the reign of Dongchang, Shanyin old man falsified a rumor: “I wish you could become the emperor in Yue. Thirty years ago, I have heard this rumor, so I come to offer counsel”. Knowing this, Dong went into raptures and falsified a reign title. If you want to know the surname of the saint, green grasses grow several thousand miles (refers to the Chinese character “dong”); if you want to know the name of the saint, the two suns appear (refers to the Chinese character “chang”).18

The processes of creation and communication of these political rumors justify one of the inferences introduced by Malinowski (2016), instructor of the Britain anthropologist: “Magic is done for the implementation of purpose… The magic is purely a kind of practical behavior and a way to realize a certain purpose.” It goes without saying that in the monarchic dynasty, it requires one to risk his life to monger political rumors. And sometimes, if one makes indiscreet remarks, he will probably be accused of “mongering rumors”. The following is a terrifying story: The mayor of the capital (known as chin-chao-yin, the name of official title) had a son called Li Shi, who said to Emperor Dezong when he sent things as tribute to the latter: “This year (803) meets a dry season, but these seedlings

332

B. LI

are beautiful.” It was when people were not exempted from tax. With an abject poverty and a dilapidated house, people had to sell tilts, timbers and seedlings to officials. An artist called Cheng Fuduan produced a rumor to taut him. Consequently, Li Shi submitted a statement to the emperor, saying that Cheng Fuduan slandered the court. Then the latter was beaten to death.19 However, at a time when there is no sure way to ensure the freedom of speech, folk song (rumor) will not be easily linked with political topics. Instead, they pay more attention to social topics. There is no exception for folk songs in the Tang Dynasty. A case in point is the poem Words Popular in Jingluo (Jingluoyu): Clans of Xu Qinming and Hao Chujun, mostly born with an ugly look, toured with a huge carriage in the alley of the capital where people said to them: Their clothes are gorgeous and appearance unsightly, either Xu or Hao.20

This rumor satirizes the powerful and teases rich men’s sons, but it is not a big matter. In the poem Words from Weibo (Weiboyu), it was said: Weiya Army started from Tian Chengsi, a rebellious warlord, and he recruited soldiers to serve him. As he inherited his father’s title, Tian Chengsi was arrogant and defied law and order. And he changed the commander at will. If he was unsatisfied with the appointment, Tian would kill him. It was then said: The son of heaven of Chang’an, Ya Army of Wei Mansion. (Also see the Volume No. 876 of Quantangshi)

This folk proverb reflects the fact that the soldiers under border commander (known as chieh-tu-shih, the name of official title) Wei Bo in Hebei throws their weight about with great arrogance. This proverb is reported with a neutral attitude, and it seemed as if it were indicating the fact objectively. There is also a similar story in the The Folk Song in the First Year of Changshou during the Reign of Empress Wu: When Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang rose to power, election system was carried out in large scale and then came many rumors. Shen Quanjiao (then chü-jen, candidate at the countryside level) renewed his effort to take part in the imperial examination after passing it. Ji Xianzhi (then government censor known as yü-shih, the name of official title) accused the former of slandering him. The Empress laughed: “Yet the more talents, the better; why do you worry about what people say.” Embarrassed, Xianzhi said21 : There are so many additional junior advisors known as pu-ch’üeh (buque补 阙) that we can use carts to carry them; there are so many additional junior officials known as shih-i (hiyi拾遗) that we cannot count them clearly, just like counting rice in a rice container. Catch one in the court, and you will find he is the deputy secretary of supervision known as shih-yü-shih (shiyushi侍御 史). In Shen Quanjiao’s Renewed Rumors, it was said: an official similar to

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

333

today’s judge known as p’ing-shih (pingshi评事) in ancient China, the name of official title does not read laws, an official in charge of books and archives known in ancient China as po-shih (boshi博士) does not search for articles. The government inspector known as hsüan-fu-shih (xuanfushi宣抚使) went through the motions, and the ruler turned a blind eye to the matter.

As for the rumor that caused the government censor to be charged with slander, the Empress Wu Zetian then laughed it off. The reason for this is that this rumor dominantly characterizes the social phenomenon to which people can bear witness, attached with no political intension to defy superiors and start a rebellion. Even though the rumor is to ridicule someone, an enlightened ruler can tolerate it to some degrees. Two rumors that were widely circulated during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang can speak volumes about this point, with comments aimed at the one that wins great favor from the emperor. The first is a rumor called Rumors of Consort Yang Yuhuan: In the tenth year of the reigning period of Tianbao, on Lantern Festival (which falls on the fifteenth day following the Spring Festival according to the Chinese lunar calendar), Yang began a night tour. Princess Guangning and she started off at the Gate of Zhengxishi, but the slave of Yang wielded a whip, causing the Princess to fall down. At this very moment, the Princess’s husband Cheng Changyi came to rescue, ending up being given dozens of strikes. The Emperor sent a decree to kill the slave only and at the same time made Cheng Changyi guilty and lose his official post. So the family of Yang started to throw their weight about, thus making officials in the capitals very indignant. It was thus rumored (Also see the Volume No. 878 of Quantangshi): If the son had no chance to get a marquis title, let your daughter be the concubine of His Majesty, because he regarded the girl as the token of the noble family. Another rumor is A Children’s Song for a Prodigious Child: At the age of seven, Jia Chang could interpret the sound of a bird and was selected by the Emperor as the List of Top Five Hundred Children. When his father passed away, the prefect of the county prepared funeral facilities and utensils for him and let the boy take the carriage along the Luoyang Avenue. At that time, the boy was known as “prodigious cockfight child”, hence the following sentences (see the Volume No. 878 of Quantangshi): The boy is born not necessarily to know written language, for cockfight and sightseeing are better than reading books. The thirteen-year-old boy in Jia family throws into shade others with wealth and rank. He can win by helping the cock wear the gold amour and take the sedan by wearing a white embroidered gown. His father dies thousand miles away from Chang’an, and he asks the prefect to manage the avenue when the funeral carriage passes by.

I think we can see these folk rumors as social news.

334

B. LI

On the whole, folk rumor mostly covers such topics as disclosure, criticism, and warning. From the perspective of warning, a great number of rumors veiled in the mystery serve the purpose of warning people. When we unveil these misted fogs from superstitious stories, they can be interpreted as a deflected reflection on the indignant public opinion. For example, in the children’s folk rhymes about Gao Chang, it is said (see the Volume No. 878 of Quantangshi): In the fourteenth year of Emperor Zhenguan’s reign, Hou Junji, Commander of Jiaohedao sent armed forces to suppress the rebel Gao Chang and killed him. At first, the state saw such a children’s folk rhyme and its ruler ordered his men to arrest the monger, but in vain. The Gao Chang’s forces are like frost and snow while the army of the Tang are like sun and moon. When the sun and snow light the frost and snow, frost and snow disappear in a moment of time. This so-called folk rumor is merely a warning given by people to the ruler. Ignoring this point, one will have the following thoughts: Now that the final end of a dynasty is well justified by what a child said several years ago, it is clear that this children’s folk song forebodes an end dictated by the heaven. The children possess innocent nature, so children’s rhyme is a pure and true song and it comes from the babble of a child. Like drawing aside the veil of the heaven under the moonlight, the children’s song reveals very mysterious words; and this is the secret of the heaven (Xia Jianyong 2014). Despite the fact that folk song has a basic tone focusing on criticism, we can also see commendatory remarks. That is to say, with a focus on a flood of “critical reports”, folk song pays attention to “positive reports”, as described in the Comments of People on Qu Tu: Qu Tutong, General of Cheji with marquis tile called Youwu when he served the Sui Dynasty, was a senior official with great justice and integrity. Even though his relative infringed on the law, he showed no leniency towards him. His younger brother was the governor of Chang’an, who was also renowned for strict governance. People then said: You cannot see Qu Tugai even though you eat three dou (a weight unit) of Ay Tsao, You cannot meet Qu Tutong even though you eat three dou of onion (see the Volume No. 878 of Quantangshi). In Words about Prefect Yang (Yangcishi yu), it was said: Yang Degan have acted as Governor of Ze, Qi, Bian and Xiang counties and won some prestige from people, who said: You cannot meet Yang Degan even though you eat three dou of garlic.22 In Words about People in Wannian County, it was said: At that time, Quan Huaien was the prefect of Wannian County, who could put the saddle on the right horse with rigor and brought to justice those evils. It was thus said:

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

335

You cannot meet Quan Huaien even though you inhale three dous of dust (Also see the Volume No. 876 of Quantangshi)

Besides the above unhappy folk songs related to the country and people’s livelihood, there are also relaxing and amusing folk songs. For example, we can enjoy the following one23 : When pagoda flower turns yellow, juzi is busy preparing for examination. At thirty they obtain the qualification of taking part in the exam of mingching subject, one of major subjects under the imperial examination, and at fifty they get the qualification of participating in chin-shih program (the highest level of exam under the imperial examination aimed at selecting officials) and obtain the title. Good news appears within their home; bad news spreads a thousand miles.

The saying “Bad news travels a thousand miles” can be defined as a general interpretation of the oral communication of the ordinary people and its magic function, which is in line with an African saying: “Words have no legs, yet they walk” (from the UNESCO Courier, Paris, June 1997, p. 18). In addition to this, there is another similar saying as well: “The truth still wears the shoes, yet lies have gone to the whole world.” Su-chiang and Pien-wen What is su-chiang ? And what is pien-wen? Su-chiang (sujiang俗讲 in Chinese) is defined as a religious activity featuring dialogue and song in which monks interpret Buddhist scriptures for the secular people. But pien-wen (bianwen变 文 in Chinese) refers to a literary genre including prose and verse, which is performed in the form of dialogue and song, with its focus on paraphrasing Buddhist sutra and folk stories and so on. In light of the communication of ordinary people in the Tang Dynasty, we need to especially talk about a form of communication that is unique and influential. It is called “pien-wen,” a kind of orally literary genre that attracts people’s attention in the literature of Dunhuang history. As for the Dunhuang literature, in his book entitled Selected Speeches of Famous Chinese Literary Works, the scholar Mr. Xu Diaofu (1984) made the following concise comments: There was a county known as Dunhuang, northwest of Gansu Province in west China. Since ancient times, Dunhuang has been an important town located just on the road to the western regions. At the foot of Mingsha Mountain, southeast of the county, stood a temple called Sanjie, alongside which many stone caves stood in line, referred collectively to as “qianfotong (caves of a thousand Buddhist statues)”. Wall paintings were dotted in these caves, with the upper half presenting a Buddhist image and the lower half a human picture. In the twenty sixth year of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, the court sent

336

B. LI

some men to repair the statues and clean up some grains of sand. Eventually, they found a library inside a dilapidated wall where a vast number of writings, paintings and embroideries of the Tang people were brought to the world. These artistic works are priceless in terms of history and literature, so are the literary writings. But when are they sealed inside the cave? It is reckoned that in the Song period or so, in order to escape the war launched by Western Xia State, people let these invaluable articles preserve there, and the dilapidated wall was the original double wall; with the aim of avoiding the loss of war, they came up with such a good idea. We have to admit that this idea works very well, since they have been well preserved for nearly one thousand years. The library was opened in 1900, the 26th year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign, but the Chinese government and other people did not know whether to make an exploration to discover this secret place. At last a Hungary clerk called Stein who worked in an Indian government body made an early start. He reached there in 1907 and swindled a Taoist monk, the keeper of this cave, to sell these valuable articles. What a pity! He took away over thirty cases of articles, which are now on display in the London Museum. Later, the French knew this and sent the explore Paul Pelliot to search and buy these treasures, with another batch of valuable articles amounting to more than one thousand sent to the National Library of France. Until 1930, the Chinese government did not send people to obtain these valuables, but the remaining were not important articles, which are now housed in the Beijing Library. What are the writings of the Tang people? There are countless categories, including Buddhist scriptures, folk songs, tsa-ch’ü (miscellaneous songs), yet the most valuable is “pien-wen”.

With respect to this special genre (pien-wen) in the communication of the ordinary people, the academic world is still not very clear about it, for there are some ambiguities. But today the widely accepted view should be the followings (from the volume of the Sui and Tang dynasties of Dictionary of Chinese History written by Zheng Tianting and Tan Qixiang): As mentioned before, pien-wen is a genre of popular entertainment consisting of talking and singing, a written type in the world of ordinary people in the Tang period. In order to teach scriptures and preach doctrines, Buddhists adopt a new artistic form of literary comic dialogue, shortly called “pien (also ‘bian’ in Chinese pinyin, which means change)”, “chuan-pien (transform).” In performing this art, the presenter will have a dialogue about a story while showing the picture. The picture he shows refers to “pien-hua (changing the picture) in Chinese, whereas the dialogue he starts refers to “pien-wen (changing the text)”. There is also a difference between “ching-pien” and “su-pien”. These topics mostly feature stories of Buddhist scriptures, besides historical legends, folk stories and social events of the time. “Pien-wen” consists of two kinds of texts, namely wholly prose and a combination of prose and poetic text. With popular language, it incorporates both talk and song, exerting a striking influence upon the later “hua-pen (huaben 话本 in Chinese, the script for story-telling in Song and Yuan folk literature)”, “ku-tz’u (guci 鼓词 in Chinese, a folk art featuring words and songs most with the accompaniment

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

337

of drum)”, “chu-kung-tiao (zhugongdiao 诸宫调 in Chinese, a style of song prevalent in the eleventh century in China)”, “baojuan宝卷” and “t’an-tz’u (tanci弹词 in Chinese, a form of folk art of storytelling to the accompaniment of stringed instruments)” and others.

It should be noted that this kind of explanation is roughly correct, but it is not correct to directly equate pien-wen with Buddhist scriptures in the temple. This is because though pien-wen is somehow connected with teaching scriptures, the two have the difference. So, how should pien-wen be? Now let us begin by talking about “su-chiang ” popular in the Tang Dynasty. As is known to us all, the Buddhism has been spread to the Central Plains since the Eastern Han Dynasty, reaching the pinnacle in the Sui and Tang dynasties after several hundred years of development in Wei and Jin periods. According to the data collected by Mr. Wang Zhongluo, the specific numbers were presented in the Table 10.1. This table actually shows a prosperous view of worshiping Buddhism. In 749, the eighth year of Tianbao in Emperor Xuanzong’s reign, the Tang boasted the most number of monasteries, with one monastery per ten thousand persons. In 845, the fifth year of Emperor Wuzong’s reign, the Tang saw the largest number of monks and nuns, equivalent to a scene “one in hundred.” In other words, there are one monk and one nun per hundred persons. As Jacques Gernet (1972) summed up: During the Sui and the Tang periods, about the period from the late 6 century to the mid 9 century, China was one of the most brilliant centers of Buddhism, the global region in the world. And during the stages of the Sui and the Tang, Buddhism was an indispensable part of social civilization and political system within the circle of Chinese culture. Monasteries and temples there (in China) are both center of secular and religious worlds and center of Chinese culture and Buddhist culture.

As Buddhist worship and religious conversion become popular, the activities of interpreting Buddhist scriptures and promoting doctrines prove to be more dynamic than before. We can easily conjure up a scene of thousands of people flocking together to listen to someone preaching scriptures: Table 10.1 Data of the number of monks, nuns, and monasteries in the Sui and Tang

Period

The Sui Dynasty (581–619) 621 738 749 845

Total amount of monastery

Total number of monk and nun

3985

236,200

5358 5185 4600

200,000 126,100 260,500

338

B. LI

Buddhists interpret scriptures in eastern and western streets; Some knock the bell and play the shell to disturb the palace. They widely distribute beliefs of sin and blessing, temptation and threat, To their audience who are dotted on the spot like float. -The Girl in Mount Huashan from Han Yu

With profound meaning it’s hard to fathom; only master can speak the truth. Buddhist followers near and far come to listen to him, making wine pub and fishing market empty places. -Listen to the Monk Yunduan Explaining Buddhist Scriptures from Yaohe

In this period, there were two kinds of activities of interpreting scriptures, one characterized by “interpreting them by the monk” and the other by “interpreting them by the secular man.” Based on the Japanese monk Yuanzhen’s Sutra of Buddha Samantabhadra, the scholar Mr. Tang Yongtong (1961) pointed out: “Su-chiang ” means interpreting Buddhist scriptures for secular people while “seng-chiang (sengjiang僧讲 in Chinese)” means interpreting scriptures for monks. In the chapter of Jingzong of Tang Dynasty of Tongjian, to which Hu Sanxing supplements notes, it was said: “Buddhists talk about ‘empty’ and ‘being’, but secular preachers cannot talk about that, so the latter just satisfy the secular people.” This also means telling apart what is said by the monk from what is spoken by the secular preacher. “seng-chiang ” and “su-chiang ” differ in content because the listener varies from person to person and “su-chiang ” conveys more common principles.

This paragraph aims to clarify the difference between “seng-chiang ” and “su-chiang.” Instead of focusing on the content of interpretation, it is divided in line with the object of audience. To put it in a different way, the su “secular” of “su-chiang ” does not originally refer to “common” but “secular” audience who fails to become the monk. For this perspective, Mr. Wang Wencai (1985) said: “Su-chiang” means interpreting scriptures for secular men and women, whereas “seng-chiang ” forbids “secular people” from engaging in such activity, so the two are opposite and have different audiences. Some think “su-chiang ” is mostly included in “popular literature” when it comes to the content, such as “pienwen”, which is not the original meaning. By observing the scriptures of “suchiang ” mostly highlighting abstruse meaning and popular stories of “pienwen”, we can find great difference. In this case, the two have different audiences and different levels of interpreting the meaning. But in the Buddhist event, they are not the case. Therefore, “su-chiang ” means preaching principles and showing the meaning of scriptures while “seng-chiang ” means taking stories as

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

339

examples. If one regards “su-chiang ” as common in content, with more focus on stories, it is not in line with the fact.

We cannot conflate “su-chiang ” and “pien-wen” and we can look at this clear fact: The style “su-chiang ” of commenting on Buddhist sutra in the temple has a decisive impact on the emergence of “pien-wen,” the earliest text of dialogue featuring talk and song. It is generally held that from content to form, “pienwen” evolves and derives from “su-chiang.” It is like a kind of relationship of today between crosstalk and short sketch. On the one hand, inspired by “suchiang,” the artists interpret historical stories, folk legends, biographies, and scriptures by employing people’s interest in listening to “su-chiang ” and in a way that combines poetry–prose text and comic dialogue. On the other hand, influenced by the fads, the monks who interpret scriptures for secular people add some Chinese historical biographies to the “su-chiang ” that propagates Buddhist doctrines to win audience. In the fourth volume of the book Tales of Repayment and Retribution (Yinhualu), the author said: There was a monk called Wenshu, who gathered people to talk wildly in public under the disguise of preaching Buddhist doctrines. However, his remark merely consisted of indecent and evil things. There, mobs incited the audience. Those couples who were fooled were happy to listen to the preacher. Even people were thronged in the temple and did the mass ceremony to worship the monk.

So in this interactive process, the activities consisting of talking and singing and their texts become increasingly prevalent, constituting an important profile of the communication of the common crowd in the Tang period. With reference to the difference between “chiang-su” (jiangsu讲俗 in Chinese, means giving speech about things for people in the secular world) and “pien-wen” can be boiled down to the following: Disseminator (one is monk and the other artist); the content of communication (one is the teaching doctrine of Buddhist sutra and the other refers to religious topics and secular things); and the place of communication (one is temple and the other the world of ordinary people). In one word, “pien-wen” has something to do with “chiang-su” in the temple, but it is also a different folk art of talking and singing.

Zhang Yichao’s “Pien-wen” The scholar Mr. Gao Guofan, who has done a successful research on the folk customs of Dunhuang, has a profound and careful analysis of “pien-wen” from the ordinary people preserved in the Dunhuang literature. Many of his insights have become authoritative remarks in this field, which are been widely cited by others. He (1985) once pointed out: “Pien-wen” is originally a genre of literature and art known as “change” in the world of ordinary people, characterized by text and picture. The pictures shown

340

B. LI

to the audience is called “bianxiang” and the contents of talking and singing based on the pictures are billed as “bianwen”.

At that time, the activity of “pien-wen” through talking and singing was called “zhuanbian (change).” According to the records of Biography of Gao Lishi written by Guo Ti, in the first year of Shangyuan, the Emperor was forced to move to western part of the imperial palace. The Emperor’s feelings are well demonstrated in the two lines: “Fireflies fly quietly in the hall at dusk, but I do not sleep a wink when the lonely lamp ends.” In time of sorrow and loneliness, he, together with Gao Lishi, the emperor’s favored eunuch, “see with their own eyes servants clean up the courtyard and remove the weeds. Sometimes he hears people interpret scriptures, engage in discussion, talk about ‘transformation’ and involve themselves in the conversation.” Although they are different from the articles with rhythm, the Emperor can also find pleasure from them. In addition, in the book Extensive Records of the Taipiing Reign (976–983) (Taiping guangji), it is said (from the volume No. 269): When Yang Guozhong was the border commander (known as chieh-tu-shih, the name of official title) of Jiannan, he recruited soldiers to visit Lunan. With limited food and dangerous road condition, these people often went unreturned. Because all knew they were fated to die, those in counties dared not run the risk of going there. They then plotted to delude monks to offer food on the road or changed the route on the important road. Those poor people among the crowd were bound together. The site of change is generally referred to as “changing site or place”, which was mentioned in the book A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You (Youyang zazu) written by the scholar Duan Chengshi. As similar as today’s Chinese folk art forms, folk artists of the Tang will perform one part of dialogue and another part of song, with dialogue dominated by simple words and song by verses of heptasyllaic poems. To give a vivid and compelling presentation, dialogue and song are performed with corresponding illustrations. With the development of storyline, the performer flips the painting rolls to change the pictures, hence the emergence of the word “transformation”. The poem Watch the Girl of Shu Change the Picture written by Ji Shilao, the poet of the late Tang Dynasty gives a detailed portrait of “pien-wen” comprising dialogue and song24 :

The gorgeous girl in no vermilion dress, Says her home is near a river endless. For a story happened a thousand years ago she interprets, And she sings with clear words as much as essays. In her green brows appears a moon round, Yet in unfolding the painting are clouds in the north beyond. After saying all about silk gown she repents on the day; It is Zhaojun who conveys feelings to Wenjun.

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

341

(Here zhaojun refers to Wang Zhaojun, originally a lady-in-waiting in the Palace in the Western Han Dyansty, has made an important contribution to ensuring the peace between the Han Empire and the Huns by offering to marry the leader of the Huns as the princess of the Han; wenjun refers to Zhuo Wenjun, the wife of Sima Xiangru and one of the talented women in history, is a good example of enviable romantic relationship). In this poem, this female artist in the central region of Shu moves the painting rolls while singing Wang Zhaojun Pien-wen in deep emotion. Some argue that when the artist tells and sings a story he or she will put up pictures, and the audience on the spot is called “kanguan (watcher).” In some sense, it sounds reasonable. In short, we can observe what is said by Mr. Gao Guofan: “Transformation always possesses three factors: one is ‘bianxiang (matched with something like picture-story book)’; the second is dialogue in ‘pien-wen’; and the third is song in ‘pien-wen.’” All this illustrates that “transformation” is comprehensive folk art genre combining fine art, literature, and music. Or in other words, it is a new way of folk communication to incorporate teaching into delight and amuse the public through promotion. The main content of Dunhuang “Pien-wen” is composed of three categories: stories related to Buddhist sutra, historical legend, and current affair. Among the “pien-wen” texts central to performing and singing stories of Buddhist sutra, the most famous is Qian Lian Saves his Mother in the Nether Region, shortly known as “Mulianbian” in Chinese. With a touching recount of a monk disciple called Mu Lian going to the nether region to save his mother, the masterpiece presents a well-written description of horrible things in the nether world, with intricate plots and great attraction. Thus it enjoyed a wide popularity. Let us have a look at the following (from the chapter of Chaoxi of Stories in Verses (Benshishi) by Meng Qi): The poet Zhang Hu did not know Bai Juyi. When Bai acted as prefect of Suzhou, Zhang Hu came to meet the former. Hardly when the latter met Bai did the former said: “I have heard much about you, and I still remember your “test” style poem”. In surprise, Zhang Hu responded: “Why do you say so?” “Where should I throw the band with mandarin duck away? And whom should I give the dress with a peacock? Is this not “test” style?” asked Bai. Nodding, Zhang smiled and answered: “I also remember your “mulian bian” style sentence.” “which one?”, was the reply. Zhang Hu said: “Go up to the heaven and go down to the nether region, and I can in no way find your trace.” Is this not the ‘muliabian’ style poem?” Finally, they enjoyed the feast all day long.

Later there come a plethora of works that originate from the Mulianbian, including the Peking opera Baoliandeng (a classic Peking opera, which tells a story in which a family had two sons, one the legal son and another an adopted son, of whom the latter beat another child called Qin Baoguan but the former became the whipping boy.)

342

B. LI

We can turn to the “pien-wen” featuring stories of historical romance and folk legends, represented by Wang Zhaojun “Pien-wen,” Meng Jiangnv (a legendary female figure among the people) Pien-wen and Wu Zixu (a famous politician of the State of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Periods) Pien-wen. In particular, “Wu Zixu ‘Pien-wen’ claims the best among all similar works” (Zhang Peiheng and Luo Yuming 1996). and it is created with a large amount of folk legends based on relevant facts from the book Spring and Autumn of the States of Wu and Yue (Wuyue chunqiu), which mainly chronicles the history of the Wu and Yue states of the periods of Spring and Autumn. In Wu Zixu “Pien-wen,” it is just the case: In escape, Wu Zixu met his sister, and the two were overwhelmed with grief and choked with sobs, without the courage to break into high cry. These words indirectly reflect a dangerous scene with a tight atmosphere. Take another example, when Wu Zixu met his wife on the road, they failed to show their identity and just communicated with each other through implicit words. So it is not hard to see that these parts are artificially added by the folk artists. This “pien-wen” style text, interwoven with popular classical style of writing, daily dialogue, and elegant rhythmic essay, displays the charm and ornate expressions, offering tremendous vitality of the ordinary people. The following is a story of Wu Zixu who was blocked by the mighty river on his journey to Wu: How boundless the river is! How can I cross it! Looking far at the reeds, I turn around in silence. With no boatman in sight, I cannot take a boat as a guest. Within my sight, there are only river birds flying out of the shore and little egrets vying to fly on the river. Fish and turtle swim against the currents and herons and swans stop beside the banks. And I command a distant view of this long and endless river and billowy waves at the estuary. Fog goes up in the murky sky and thick clouds gather around. Trees fall down the banks, moon lights the lonely mountain and turbid water makes bid waves. If you are a guest who is stopped here, please climb the Xouling to express homesick feelings; if you are a boatman who is taking the boat, please point to the direction of Cen and Chen stars. (ibid.: 232)

What interests me most in the “pien-wen” articles existed in Dunhuang is the collection of works that state figures and their stories in modern time. It is a pity that I can just see two articles left, namely Zhang Yichao “Pien-wen” and Zhang Huaishen Pien-wen. When it comes to the stories of Zhang Chaoyi and his nephew Zhang Huaishen, I have talked some in the chapter of chintsou-yüen, the liaison official set up in the capital by local government. Now the two reports from chin-tsou-yüen of the Tang we see come from Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen in Guiyi Army stationed in Shazhou (present Dunghuang city). The two “pien-wen” style articles give a wonderful account of the moving stories of the two recapturing lost places defending the country and killing enemies in a heroic spirit, sung with heroic achievements. It offers a real reflection of a major event, a blooded scene, and immortal footage in the history and real society, revealing a strong patriotic feeling. And it is like a vivid

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

343

textbook to consolidate the spirit and belief of people in border areas. If we say the first category of “pien-wen” is about allegory and myth and the second is “reporting” literature, so the third is about news and communication. Here is the whole text of remaining volumes of Zhang Yichao Pien-wen: (The remaining part…) Soldiers of all states in Tibetan State came again to loot Shazhou. After obtaining the information of enemy, spies came back to report to Commanderin-chief Zhang Yichao: The king of Tuyuhun gathered military forces with the aim of invading and looting Shazhou, but they did not complete the task of gathering. Knowing that the King of Tuyuhun wanted to start a rebellion, Zhang led his men out of the north gate and moved forward towards the southwest, after two nights, reaching a place next to Xitong. He planned to meet his enemy, who however dared not fight with the forces that just arrived, keeping running all the way. Zhang then gave orders to his three major forces and asked them to chase after their enemies. After traveling one thousand li, the enemy forces withdrew all the way to their own territory and ran at a faster pace. Next, Zhang sent orders to bring in order the army and arrange their weapons in parallel: Showing the banner, beating the drum, setting the matrix and sending heroes. Divided into two forces on two paths, the forces were made up of four lines. With each holding a shining sword, the storm troops on horses contended to run ahead. After a while, the matrix integrated as the sky was shrouded in the fog. With valiance and strength, the Han forces took advantage of good occasion to charge with spears toward the hill. Torn by timidity, the enemy ran to north and south. With so bold and heroic a spirit, the Han soldiers could fight with a hundred equal to a thousand. Suddenly, the dogs became fierce and rushed to the dangerous forest in Xitong. The leader arranged the forces on night, running on the fast track. At this moment, the soldiers were willing to catch the enemy by laying down their life. Senior generals were skilled at giving strategy, how could Tibetan enemy come up with a sophisticated plan? They spent ten years taking their spears to drive away enemies, so barbarian tribes of three sides were unable to make inroads. How could one expect them to run amok and then revolt? Today they must take the head of the rebellious army at a time when it was veiled in the fog. The general said to his men: to encourage themselves to fight without hesitation. The name of a real man was found from the tip of the spear; there was no need to avoid the sword of enemy. The spear the Han forces held, with a blade as shining as frost and snow, made enemies on horses hard to escape. Their heads fell to the ground as sharp spear was attacked, with blood splashing through their war coats. After a ferocious battle, Tuyuhun almost lost all, leaving senior the spirits of generals turn to evil souls. Following a final war, the Tibetan forces were greatly defeated. Much to his anxiety, the King of Tuyuhun broke out of encirclement, forced to scale the perilous high mountain. Three of his high officials were caught on the spot and beheaded before the horses in accordance with the order. And other three hundred, including slaves, were also arrested and two thousand camels, horses, bulls and goats were recaptured. Then the music was performed immediately the army went back to the tents. There was a county called Nazhi in the west

344

B. LI

of Yizhou town, a thousand miles away from the north of Dunhuang. At that time, Huihu and Tuyuhun nestled against each other, and they frequently looted Yizhou, took prisoner local people and captured household animals, leaving the town in disquiet. On June 6 in the tenth year of the period of Dazhong, Zhang led the military forces to put down the rebellious forces. After ten days or so, they reached Nazhi Town. The rebellious forces did not expect the Han soldiers to arrive all of sudden, thus unprepared to rise to occasion. Our forces showed the matrix of dark clouds, charging to attack with four divided forces. Rampant, the Tibetan forces were scattered in the north and south. Taking the advantage, the Han forces chased after them. Just between fifty li, the place was strewn with dead bodies. Those Dunhuang seniors were dukes of the Han, who put to flight western tribes and forced them to run to the Phoenix Building. His Majesty ordered his generals to deal a destructive blow to their western enemy, but the Huns always bore the Han a grudge. Yesterday they heard the barbarian tribes invaded Yizhen, looted and captured the border areas, plunging people into deep misery. The commander chided their bad practice and burst into anger, ready to send his men to begin a distant expedition. When the two troops met, they fought like two tigers, bright red blood saturating the west of Nazhi city. With an energetic feeling, the generals were crammed with civil and military talents. This was a threat to enemies and made their spirits sink. Seeing the Tang army won victory, the rebellious forces were scattered, fleeing all the way. Going a long distance, they could not stop fighting and seizing their enemies. A thousand men were shot dead in the battlefield, and sharp weapons cut the heads of enemies. They held the red flag, shinning against the sun; and they lived up to the fame of Tian Dan. The head of the Han people, with greatly worthy spirit, always wanted to eliminate all atrocious forces. After Zhang fought decisively with the enemies, Huihu was subjected to a fiasco, forcing its soldiers to throw aside their horses and ran to the Nazhi city. The troops within the city kept the gate tight. Then the Tang troops, with musical horn ringing, launched continuous strikes against enemies on all sides. And they recaptured ten thousand camels and horses. Our army secured a great victory with strong war horses. Subsequently, they withdrew and came back. As they returned back to the capital, they still trained horses and soldiers in preparation for the war with the Huns without letup. In the tenth year of Dazhong (Emperor Xuanzong’s reign title) period, the Tang sent the governor of Huihu Wang Duanzhang paid a visit to Shanyu, head of the Huns. When Chen Yuanhong, a military bodyguard walked within the region of Shazhou, he encountered Zuo Chengzhen, a local inspector. The latter suddenly met a person in the wilderness, and that man ran at a faster pace. Zuo Chengzhen therefore asked his men to lead the man before his horse and inquired him. Chen Yuanhong stepped forward, saying that he was the escort and went to Huihu from the north in order to take the edict to appoint the governor. Unfortunately, when he reached the south part of the snow mountain, the Huihu stole away the state letter, so he came after them and walked by foot all the way to where he was; he was not an evil man. By observing, Zuo Chengzhen knew that he was a Chinese escort and gave him a horse. As they arrived in Shazhou, Zuo led him to meet puye. Chen Yuanhong got down his

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

345

feet before rising, explained to the latter all details and stood in front of the tent. Puye then asked the escort: “where do you meet those thieves? Who is your head?” Taking few steps forward, Chen Yuanhong said: “My head is Wang Duanzhang, who was given the edict to visit Shanyu before acting as governor of Huihu.” Just when they reached the south part of a snow mountain, they were encircled by over one thousand armed soldiers, who took away the state edict and letter. ChenYuanhong came from the capital, not knowing what it was the countermeasure for a war in the wilderness. At the same time, the enemy had more soldiers, and finally, our head fell into the hands of them. Hearing this, Puye broke into anger. How aggressive the enemy was! How dare they launch such attack! He said to Chen: “You can first go back to the courier station and I then check the fact.” On August 5 in the eleventh year of Dazhong, the governor of Yizhou Wang Heqing fetched an escort to report: “There are rebels of Huihu as many as five hundred tents, and Commander Zhai and others brought innocent people of Huihu to a place near Yizhou.” (Zheng Zhenduo 1996)

From the existing article, we can find that this long piece of news fully describes the heroic image of Zhang Yichao through several interconnected but independent stories. The first story of the broken article describes a section of the ferocious fight between the Tang and the Tibetan forces. How sensational and heroic! The spirits of showing the flag, beating the drum, arranging the matrix in eight lines, and seeing the soldiers gallop as well as the magnificent scenes of soldiers holding white sharp spears and swords, contending to charge all the way, and forming the lines in a moment of time as the sky was murky and fog rose up—apt to make one associate them with the essay Guoshang (The Spirits of the Fallen), the sorrowful song written by the great poet Qu Yuan. In addition, I cannot help letting me think of a heroic feeling from the poet in his well-written essay: “How valiant and strong you are! Always so strong that no one dare to invade our land. Those heroes keep their spirit perpetual even though they laid down their life in the battlefield. And your souls will be the leading heroic ones among the dead.” With reference to the nature of “bianwen,” people in the past tended to do research on it from the perspective of the origin of literature, making clear that it serves as the forerunner of all kinds of literature works featuring dialogue and song. This system characterized by the mix of poetry and prose and the combination of dialogue and song, supported by the literature of dialogue and song such as cihua, zhugongdiao, baojuan, tanci, and guci, has still survived as common forms of many Chinese folk arts (Zhang Peiheng and Luo Yuming 1996). In some sense, this pure perspective of literature seems narrow. We should observe that “transformation” is not only a kind of activity of literature and art that incorporates teaching into delightful activity but a practice of communication to amuse people through dissemination. According to a milestone report “Multiple Voices in One World” released by the UNESCO in 1980, Mr. Guan Shijie (1995) from the Peking University

346

B. LI

classified the function of communication into four: report, amusement, education, and persuasion, while pointing out that “In real life, these functions are often mixed or overlap; these four hold true for interpersonal communication, organizational communication and mass communication.” As for the specific “bianwen” style articles like Zhang Yichao bianwen, the functions of communication comprising report, education, persuasion, and amusement are intricately interwoven. From an expert’s point of view, it should be the following: With a relatively complete structure, ‘bianwen’ is unfolded with an intricate plot, with ups and downs. Carefully descriptive and deeply emotional, it is told in the form of prose, sung with poetic sentences and expressed with illustrations combining dialogue, music and fine art. What it performs is about stories of Buddhist sutra, historical facts, folk legends and stories related to the society and figure. It focuses on employing rich and fine beautiful elements to edify the mind of people and echo the hearts of the vast masses, responding to the aesthetic taste of the emperor, dukes, ministers, women and children for example, hence enjoying great popularity among the people. (Wang Qingshu 1988)

As for the foregoing, “bianwen” is a version of dialogue and song in the course of folk communication emerging from the form of art “sujiang (interpreting scriptures for secular people).” Commencing in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, it develops a lot in the mid-Tang and reaches the full height in the late Tang. Interspersed with verse and prose, and with an equal emphasis on picture and text, it aims to produce effects in all aspects through means of language, music, and fine art. In this way, audience can place themselves in a situation that is wonderfully vivid, voluntary to receive knowledge, enjoy amusing moments, and perceive information. As a result, “bianwen” becomes a new thing of unique feature in the field of folk communication in the Tang Dynasty.

Notes 1. Quantangwen (Volume No. 744), All Preserved Essays from the Tang and Five Dynasties, compiled by Dong Gao and others in the Qing Dynasty. 2. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 177), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 3. Jieleibian, A Compilation of Chicken Ribs, is a book of recoding old stories anecdotes, which are quite valuable, written by the scholar Zhuang Chuo. 4. Chuanqiu zuoshi zhuan, shortly known as Zuozhuan, The Commentary of Zuo Qiuming, is a book of recording important historical events and figures from 722BC to 468BC, involving politics, economy, military affairs, diplomacy and culture, and so on, written by Zuo Qiuming.

10

THE COMMUNICATION OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

347

5. Rizhilu (Volume No. 5), Records of Daily Gains in Knowledge, is an influential book of academic and political as well as social thoughts compiled by the early Qing period writer and philosopher Gu Yanwu. 6. Tanghuiyao (Volume No. 77), History of Laws and Institutions of the Tang is a book of recording the institutions and codes and others of the Tang period, written by Wang Fu. 7. Tanghuiyao (Volume No. 30), History of Laws and Institutions of the Tang is a book of recording the institutions and codes and others of the Tang period, written by Wang Fu. 8. Xintangshu (Volume No. 157), New History of the Tang Dynasty, is a book of recording the second official dynastic history of the Tang Dynasty 618–907. 9. Youyang zazu (Volume No. 14), A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You, is a book containing a collection of fantastic stories compiled by the Tang period writer and politician Duan Chengshi. 10. Chaoye qianzai (Volume No. 2), Draft Notes from the Court and the Country, is a book of recording the anecdotes about the court of the Sui and the Tang, written by the Tang scholar Zhang Zhuo. 11. Quantangshi (Volume No. 877), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qiing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 12. Gushiyuan (Volume No. 1), Source of Ancient Poems, is an anthology of ancient poems compiled by the Qing scholar Shen Deqian. 13. Yinhualu (Volume No. 1), Tales of Repayment and Retribution, is a book of recording events and stories of the Tang written by the scholar Zhao Lin. 14. Quantangshi (Volume No. 875), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 15. 桃李子(桃寓陶唐,李指唐朝国姓),洪水(隐李渊之名)绕杨山(杨寓指隋之国姓)。 杨柳飞绵何处去,李花 江南杨柳树(隋炀帝死前一直滞留扬州),江北李花荣。 结果自然成。 桃李子,莫浪语。 黄鹄绕山飞,宛转花园里。 16. Chaoye qianzai (Volume No. 5), Draft Notes from the Court and the Country, is a book of recording the anecdotes about the court of the Sui and the Tang, written by the Tang scholar Zhang Zhuo. 17. Nanbu xinshu (Volume No. 4), New Book about the South, is a book which collects brush-note essays, written by the Northern Song period scholar Qian Yi. 18. Quantangshi (Volume No. 878), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qiing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 19. Zizhi tongjian (Volume No. 236), General Mirror for the Aid of Government, is an annalistic historical book mainly recording the politics, military affairs, and ethnic relations of periods, compiled by the historian Sima Guang. 20. Quantangshi (Volume No. 876), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 21. Quantangshi (Volume No. 878), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al.

348

B. LI

22. Quantangshi (Volume No. 876), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 23. Quantangshi (Volume No. 878), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al. 24. Quantangshi (Volume No. 774), All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty, is a book of comprising 900 volumes of poems selected from the Tang Dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholars Cao Yan and Peng Dingqiu et al.

CHAPTER 11

Conclusion

The great philosopher Georg Hegel said, “Only in the misted dusk, the owl of Minerva begins to spread wings and soar high”—indeed a classic description of the evolution of historiography. In fact, either in China or in the western world, we have seen historiography advance by degrees from historical science to historical philosophy. The former (historical science) can be likened to a curious child who is exceedingly eager to figure out the ins and outs of every historical event while the latter (historical philosophy) is like a weather-beaten old man who “acts pleasantly and knows the mystery of nature” and lets the inspiration of his wisdom gush like a stream though the history appears to be very assorted. No matter how different the school of history may be, it is predicated on the “phenomenon of experience.” In the History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian, remarked: If someone wants to see the true picture of past thing… and he will declare my writings are useful, I will also be satisfied with that. (Zhang Wenjie et al. 1984)

However, the historical philosophy has no longer been confined to the idea of “speaking from the truth” proposed by the celebrated historian Leopold von Ranke because the purpose of it is to pursue the meaning of priori or transcendental facts. In the Decline of the West, Oswald Spengler (1918), a noted German historian and philosopher in the twentieth century, said: Is history logic? Beyond all incidental and innumerous factors of several events, is there a metaphysical and structural thing which we call “historic humanity”? Is there a thing featuring form and appearance that is social, spiritual and political, © The Author(s) 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3_11

349

350

B. LI

which we see very clearly? Are these realities just secondary? How about the things extended from the above?

Now let me give response to these questions by providing examples. From Giambattista Vico’s point of view, the history of mankind begins in the “age of god,” followed by era of hero and finally the “period of common people.” By contrast, there are similar cases; in Comte’s view, the cognition of mankind has undergone a period from theology, metaphysics, and scientific evidence. Such metaphysical topics cannot restate the specific facts one by one, since historical philosophy is not aimed at portraying the form of history but at delineating the spiritual state of history, which well justifies the comment of Britain philosopher W.H. Walsh: “It is more reasonable to say that what they offer is a framework of explaining the questions than to say that it is a merely a hypothesis” (Zhang Wenjie et al. 1984). The part of conclusion is a clear observation of a kind of historical philosophy concerning journalism and communication of the Tang. In other words, based upon the existing form of the journalism and communication of the Tang, we are trying to seek for the spiritual state of history or the meaning of history that is not yet to be clear.

Part One From the general perspective of communication, news also means the circulation of information. At a time when people depend on each other to form a society, information is already indispensable, as good as the aphorism “Food as well as man and woman, this is the nature of human.” There is a famous philosophical saying from Max: “Human is the aggregate of all social relations, yet the creation and maintenance of such social relations is closely linked with the exchange of information.” In the meantime, journalism and communication are of vital importance, since news actually means socialized information. If the whole network of social information was compared to the network of water, news communication combined could be a mighty river running through this water network. The river gathers many small streams while nourishing the entire network of water. From the distant past to the present day, news communication has gone uninterrupted and has gone on like endless running water. In this long period of time, with increasingly close social relationship and growingly frequent information exchange, journalism, and communication have witnessed changes from the simple to the complex, from the crude to the fine, and from the obscure to the clear, and more importantly, from the disorderly to the orderly. In our perspective, this period of development can be divided into three different stages of “advancing by steps,” in other words information communication, news communication and mass communication. In the phase of information communication, news is mixed with other disorderly information, hence it does not emerge with a unique and clear-cut outlook

11

CONCLUSION

351

and it cannot form a force that integrates the society to drive the development of history. It is like the source of the mighty river, merely a stream of water, small not big. From this point of view, this period of news communication is in fact put down to the general information communication. In the second period of news communication, news-related information comes to pour out of the mouth of the public. In addition to a growing trend in terms of scale and effect, this period also gradually gives birth to a communication mechanism that is complete, systematic, and stable, thus producing the news communication in a real sense of word. As for mass communication, it is tantamount to the extension of news communication, with its feature reflected in the popularity and universalization of information access. By using the theory of information to analyze this aspect, we can say that the abovementioned three stages are unfolded in a three-dimensional space of “xinyuan 信源 (source of information), xindao信道 (channel of passing on information) and xinsu信宿 (terminal of information transmission).” To put it in a different way, as far as news communication is concerned, the first phase has the source of information, that is “mixed information”; the second phase has the channel of passing on information, that is “communication medium”; the third phase has the terminal of information that is turned into millions of recipients. In the whole process of new information, the process of transitioning from the first period to the second period will see a decisive change, indicating a leapfrog of news communication from the disorderly to the orderly. Furthermore, the process of shifting from the second phase to the third one will see an outward expansion rather than an internal change. In other words, at the converging site of the first and second phases, an important watershed exists. But prior to the periods, there is no clear line of clue to define the history of journalism if we have a strict point of view; there is only the history of communication that is omnibus and confusing. After that, the history of journalism starts to be in the limelight in the broad background of information circulation and turns clearer before it becomes the mainstream trend in the social system of information circulation. Here, the medium pays a key role in this regard. If we say that science and technology are the primary forces of production, so we can conclude that the productive force of this activity of medium can finally upgrade the shift from the history of communication to the history of journalism. For example, had it not for the birth of printing medium and the pertaining change of approach of news communication, news communication would not have made a breakthrough from the disorderly to the orderly. And eventually, it remains unchanged in the “irrational” period or in the “ambiguous” history of communication. Generally speaking, assuming we classify the process of news communication into history of communication, history of news, and history of mass communication, the first transition seems to appear in the nineteenth century, a period that witnesses a change of tradition and modernity. However, this is a quite common consensus, and even we can see it as a kind of self-evident knowledge. In a real sense, the nineteenth century is a milestone period in the

352

B. LI

Chinese history of news, but we think this period marks a quantitative change from the history of news to the history of mass communication, instead of a qualitative change from the history of communication to the history of news. Determining the realization of this qualitative change requires us to examine the history of news and see through the change of society. By observing the era of seeing the emergence of news, we can find a general clue and a clue that is applied in both China and west: the history of communication is in sync with the classical world while the history of news is in line with the modern society. If so, the issue of history of communication can naturally form a link with the transition of the periods from classical civilization to modern civilization. But when does this transition happen? Apparently, this is the crux of all questions. Our eyes are then on the Tang Dynasty, whether it is viewed from the aspect of poetic intuition and imagination or from the perspective of reasonable logic and evidence. In our eyes, it is exactly in the Tang period that we observe an era of great classical world and a groundbreaking time of modern world. In history, we always term the Tang Dynasty a prosperous period. After the Tang period, people have an abiding admiration for the history of the prosperous Tang. It does not mean that they have a deep love for this period’s civil and military talents but mean that they are reminiscent of a perpetually lost period of the classical civilization. It is like a scene where in the period of Renaissance, Italy longed for the glory that Rome enjoyed in the ancient Greek time. If we examine it from the perspective of historical morphology, the crisis of rebels An Lushan and Shi Siming nearly deals a destructive blow to the Tang Dynasty, and this event is undoubtedly a historical landmark which carries deep meaning. In the early period, as the Tang reaches the height, the classical spirit in this empire has produced the quintessence of Chinese civilization, but it finally is pushed on the verge of inevitable extinction, so all its ability to save history has been disrupted—aptly corresponding with the verse: “The flower, helpless, sees her beauty fade away.” In the subsequent period, the dynasty declines day by day, people suffer deep misery, warlords are involved in chaotic wars and the land is ravaged by aggressive occupiers. Therefore, just against this background, a different geistzeit begins to take shape. A verse says well: “The swallow, so familiar, comes back.” To make things clearer, we might as well make a contrast between the Tang and the Song. The Tang ruled by Li family and the Song dominated by Zhao family are two dynasties with distinctive characteristics. To be simple, the Tang is a totally classical dynasty while the Song is a period close to the modern history. In the first volume of Science and Civilization in China, a masterpiece of Joseph Needham, one of the celebrated scholars in Britain, he wrote: “The atmosphere of the two dynasties is disparate. The Tang Dynasty favors humanism and the Song focuses on science and technology.” Needless to say, humanistic spirit reflects a tone of classical civilization, whereas science and technology reflect signs of modern history. Following the Song period, as the history runs its course in the modern time, China has all along taken the lead in the world, no matter how difficult the situation turns out to be. When

11

CONCLUSION

353

giving a description of the Southern Song Dynasty, Jacques Gernet (1995) said: In the 13th century, China made notable progress in the realization of modernization, with the emergence of unique monetary economy, paper money and tradable notes. It boasted flourishing tea and salt industries, attached importance to foreign trade (silk and porcelain products) and reached a specialized stage in terms of production in all regions.

Even though traditional China cannot enter the modern time of its own accord, the Chinese society has something to provide a dynamic force for the birth of modern civilization as the waves of Europe and America come from the west to the east. There is a universal view resulting from sinology research in modern Western world “central to China” that there is a vital “modern drive” in the Chinese ancient civilization, accompanied by several “internal changes,” yet the invasion of western imperialists only speeds up such change. If this had not happened, even with strong warships, the invaders would have come to naught when they could have attempted to leave China in ruins. But possibly they will suffer a great loss with their own miserable ending. Let me cite a proper simile, the above case is like a situation where one organism is transplanted to another organism, and this requires the two to possess compatibility. So this compatibility of modern civilization begins to survive in the social changes during the periods of the Tang and the Song. The classical civilization and modern civilization in the periods of the Tang and Song, with different forms, go hand in hand through the time witnesses dynastic changes. Roughly speaking, between the two civilizations stretches a time span with rises and falls as well as changes of the old and the new—the period from the mid-Tang to the Northern Song. Mr. Ge Zhaoguang (1987) once talked about this topic: The Tang culture and the Song culture represent two different cultural spirits, with the former indicative of the peak of classical culture and the latter the origin of modern culture. And between the two runs a long transitional belt of time, spanning several hundred years from the middle Tang to the Northern Song. At the same time, in this transitional belt, a process in which old thinking, academic concept and custom are replaced by the new ones constitutes a complicated and dynamic course…

As for the division between classical and modern worlds and their alternating changes, John King Fairbank (1992) said in a specific way in his work China: Tradition and Transformation: The early periods of the Six Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty are the final parts of ancient Chinese history. The later periods of the Tang and the following Song (960-1276) are the earliest parts of modern Chinese history. Indeed, people can term this period “early period of modern history” because the culture born at

354

B. LI

this time, along with that of early phase of the twentieth century, is an embodiment of China’s typical culture. In this period, many things turn out to be most typical of China in the following one thousand years, and they start to emerge in the later period of the Tang and flourish in the Song period. Those forms of literature, art, society and government established in the two periods have been dominating the Chinese civilization until the early time of the 20th century.

In his opinion, “the transitional period between the final phase of classical civilization and the early stage of modern civilization is mainly in the early and later time of the 8th century” (ibid.: 119). Even though there appear differences in the division of time, one thing is clear: In the two or three hundred years from the middle period of the Tang to the middle period of the Song, the form of civilization witnesses a vital change—from the classical to the modern. In the meantime, communication of news also shifts from the disorderly to the orderly and also marks the change from the history of communication to the history of news; and the circulation of information in the society reaches a new level.

Part Two The excellent historian Sima Guang in the Northern Song Dynasty has created the masterpiece General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian), making him justifiably on a par with the great historian Sima Qian, who has given birth to the well-known work Records of the Historian (Shiji). The book General Mirror records a long history spanning from a period of genesis of history to a time of the establishment of the Song Dynasty, almost covering the whole classical period. From this point of view, Sima Guang would be to write an epic consistent with topic and style brimming with charm and magnificence. Since then, we have never seen such a pure classical book, a work that manifests the historical factors with classical charm. This is because the classical world already comes to an end and the classical time already loses its shining brilliance; what is filled in the historical space is no longer what we call the fragrance but the clear stream. This is similar to a situation following the ancient Greek, as the famous classical history Iliad becomes an oft-quoted work. From our perspective, the so-called classical civilization involves the history and the reality that are passed down from one to another. And more importantly it requires one to understand its implicit beauty and cyclical change. In this process, it shows robust life, expresses rich poetic conception, and is a full embodiment of romantic feelings. With natural features, it fosters a close affinity with this deep and vast land, and it possesses a spiritual charm that enables one to feel its beauty. In the big picture of this civilization, the society contains more aristocratic factors than the populous and more spiritual ingredients than the secular.

11

CONCLUSION

355

According to the theory of historical morphology, every civilization has a life cycle, so it has to go from the cradle to the grave. For the Chinese classical civilization that experiences full development and reaches the apex, the war drum beat in Yuyang in November in the fourteenth year of the ruling period of the Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang can be a sensational bell that forebodes the end of the dynasty and the old civilization. In this period, the Tang poetry seems to become an ever-lasting moment in the tremendous transformation. And people are plunged into infinite melancholic feelings of “gone with the wind” in the historical context. Back in the later time of Emperor Xuanzong’s reign, before the emperor fled to the land of Shu (present Sichuan province) because of crisis, he had the last time to climb the Huae xianghui Building, looking over the capital Chang’an as he petted the rail, beside himself with sadness. The sunset was in its best in the west wind and those pavilions as he commanded a view of all those lackluster hills and pavilions. To be honest, the sight of this scene made him unable to bear to look back. Playing stringed instruments, performers of Liyuan Garden were singing a song for this occasion: His tears trickling down wet the clothes as hills are in his sight, And how long his glorious and lavish time can last? Just in this year beside the Fenhe River we didn’t meet, But we see autumn swans flying in the sky year in year out.

At this moment, Emperor Xuanzong could not help asking, “Who is the poet of this song?” “The former Prime Minister Li Qiao,” answered the musician. Then the emperor sighed, “How talented he is!” (from the tenth volume of the book A Detailed Chronicle of the Tang Period Poetry(Tangshi jishi). Torn between reluctance and helplessness, he went downstairs along the rail. At that time, he never expected that his departure from this loft marked a farewell to the prosperous period of the Tang Empire and said goodbye to the splendid classical time. Perhaps, the Later Tang poet period Li Shangyin can use his famous poem The Sad Zither to convey the most profound emotion, the finest perception and the most heart-rending experience: Why should the sad zither have fifty strings? Each string, each strain evokes but vanished springs. Dim morning dream to be a butterfly; Amorous heart poured out in cuckoo’s cry. In moonlit pearls see tears in mermaid’s eyes; From sunburnt jade in Blue Field let smoke rise. Such feeling cannot be recalled again: It seemed lost even when it was felt then. —translated by Xu Yuanchong

356

B. LI

When the classical time comes to an end, we can sense the poetic conception and rich sorrowful feelings—all make up the sad song of “recollecting the past youthful days.” When the classical civilization goes down, a new form of civilization also comes to emerge. In the Encyclopedia of China, there is an authoritative explanation: From the middle period of the Tang to the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, the two hundred years spawn a slow change in the feudal society, and a series of new things come to the world in the late Tang stage. At the turn of this historic period, distress is felt in the decline of old time, but the light of hope is seen when a new era comes.

The light in this new era is the early form of modern civilization, a civilization that is also called the civilization of modern world. In comparison with the spiritual and aristocratic aspects of classical civilization, the modern civilization has basic utilitarian and secular factors. This trend begins to appear in many areas of social life in the late Tang period and becomes a historical mainstream in the Northern Song Dynasty. From a political point of view, the system of family status, which was established in the prosperous classical time, has collapsed, followed by an improved system of selecting civil officials through imperial examination. Particularly following the Song Dynasty, political power is widely open to the common people. In this case, a person can “obtain the qualification of becoming an official as long as he excels in scholarship,” irrespective of his family status, birthplace, and wealth; so such an atmosphere makes the official world more equal to candidates. From an ideological point of view, the philosophy enshrined in the classical world has been replaced by the ethics in the modern world. As Mr. Yu Shiying (1992) said, “If we want to look for a “Protestant movement” that is aimed at improving ethics similar in China’s history as Webster mentioned, the development of new Zen Buddhism in the middle Tang Dynasty and new Confucianism in the Song and Ming periods is close to this trend.” For the trend of mass popularity of culture, the literature featuring dialogue and song starting from the Tang and Song stages, along with the drama art in the Yuan Dynasty, is then followed by legendary fictions in the Ming and Qing periods—all reaching the peak after different times. Of course, amid many changes, the most key one stems from economic basis and social structure. Research on this field is usually numerous, and in particular, the comments on the emergence of capitalism in the Ming and Qing periods are too legion to enumerate indeed. It is generally held that the social landscape after the Song and Yuan dynasties undergoes a big transformation, as marked by the number of commercial cities and the burgeoning development of business. Following are the several paragraphs from the Qing period scholar Shen Yao (1789–1840), which are often quoted by many people:

11

CONCLUSION

357

The First Emperor of the Song Dynasty collected all powers and rights in the world to incorporate them into the official system. As a result, scholar-officials dealt with their work at both court and farmland so that they could support their family — a trend that is very different from the ancient time. Those who came to the official circle struggled with ordinary people for profits while those who failed to have this chance must first do the farming to earn a living for their daily life. Finally they progressed by engaging in special work, as more and more people did business, causing a robust business trend in the society. If no fathers and brothers ran their business, people had no reason to receive education to win a distinction. Therefore, in the past, we had four categories of people (they are what we call Four Kinds of People in ancient China as mentioned before: scholars, ordinary people, workers and businessmen), but in later period, we saw them then disappear. In ancient time, the son of a scholar has always inherited his father’s fame, and this was also shared for the son of a businessman. We have seen a bigger change since the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties began. Scholars mostly came from business family, so the phenomenon of people behaving niggardly became increasingly serious in the society. However, we are hard to observe scholar-officials live in harmony and with sympathy, but this virtue is gradually moving towards businessmen. Why did this happen? And at a time when pro-business was popular in the world, all bold men and sagacious minds were mostly born in business family. Those who engaged in business could also be men with bold spirits. Those spiritually bold men could see through the conditions of the world, so they could do what people could not do and bear what people could not bear. Consequently, the scholars became all the more stingy, whereas the businessmen paid more attention to the principles of worthy men. And these were striking comparisons between the ways that the world dictated. (This is from the volume No. 24 of Loufanlou wenji, Collected Works of Loufan Building )

It goes without saying that the flourishing development of city and business makes social labor division sharper and the flow of materials, personnel, and information more frequent. Just like the bustling scene shown in the Riverside Scene on the Qingming Festival, a vibrant view in Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty as well as clamorous markets, lively scenes of workshops seen everywhere and dynamic businesses in Lin’an in the Northern Song Dynasty mentioned in the books A Dream of Sorghum (Liangmenglu), which describes the capital of Lin’an (present Hangzhou) during the Southern Song period (1127–1279) and Ancient Matters from Wulin Garden (Wulin jiushi), a book reporting the capital of Lin’an, are a vivid reflection of a full picture in the modern world. When Meng Yuanlao went to the city Lin’an (present Hangzhou) in the Southern Song period, he wrote a famous work (Record of Good Dreams in Dongjing (Dongjing menghualu), which traces the scenes in Bianliang in the Northern Song Dynasty. Besides a detailed portrait of clothes, food, accommodation, and traveling as well as amusement, he also provides records of the commercial society and its dominant tendency that are characterized by jewels on sale in the market and silk clothes amply available in each house.

358

B. LI

I was brought by my father who acted as an official to some northern and southern regions, finally reaching the capital (present Kaifeng) in 1103, the second year of Chongning (Emperor Huizong’s reign title). Then we settled ourselves in the south of a narrow lane of Jinliang Bridge in the west of the city. As I gradually grew up, I enjoyed a long peaceful time because I lived near the capital where the emperor lived. Densely populated, the place turned out to be bustling and booming. Young Children were only taught to learn song and dance while the old did not know what a war meant to them. As different seasons and festivals in the year came, people could find many sites for amusement: Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month after the Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Day on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month; times of enchanting snow and blooming blossoms; on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, ladies prayed for more wisdom and on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, relatives and friends climbed the hill and drank wine; and royal families watched the training of imperial naval beside the Jinmingchi and appreciated a riot of flowers in the imperial garden. Raising your heads, you would command a distant view of curved and decorated buildings, exquisite pavilions and pagodas and beautiful bead-stringed curtains hung on the fabulous doors of households. Richly decorated carriages, coming in a row, stopped in the street as magnificent horses galloped on the spacious and flat road. In the street, gold pearls and emeralds were dazzling; light brocades and thin silk clothes oozed fragrance. New and strange music, accompanied by joys and laughter, was echoing in the lanes. And the sounds of playing instruments and singing songs were resonating in tea houses and pubs. Vassal states contended to pay tribute to the empire and an interconnected network took shape. Rare articles from the four seas (the world) were traded on the market. Table delicacies from land and sea in the world were available in the kitchens of the capital. The exotic flowers and views that could be appreciated on a spring tour were also easily seen on both sides of the road. With flute and drum combined to produce clamors, many households reveled during the whole night. Sophisticated crafts and skills struck one surprised, and prosperous and luxurious scenes made one exciting. When the emperor went up the building to watch lanterns on the Lantern Festival and when he inspected the training of naval at Jinmingchi, one could see the true look of the son of heaven (emperor). The good time for one to see the emperor was also seen at a time when His Majesty offered sacrifice to the earth and the heaven and when he were present to hold the ancestral sacrifice ceremony. People could often see exciting moments when princes selected concubines and princesses married to others. From the magnificence of palatial buildings, one could foresee the appearance of hall of the court. The effectiveness of casting of metallurgy made the tool like tripod easy for production. At the same time, one could see those prostitute girls who were registered as music players, singers and performers after he went through procedures in the government office or when he came back after attending the palatial banquet. One could observe the changes of the court when the emperor met successful chin-shih candidates or when he saw the change and appointment of military generals. I have lived in the capital for several decades and often had outings for fun, never tired of doing such things.

11

CONCLUSION

359

It is clear that this landscape in the gradually modern time, including good horse, ornamental carriage, and fragrant path, has been very different from that of classical time featuring bright moon and border pass in the Qin and Han dynasties. “The world outlook of businessmen is in reverse with that of famers who are just satisfied with staying in their own place until they die and is also different from Confucian scholars who just stay in their room to keep their good character. Businessmen don’t rest content with subjective meditations but are eager to know about the vast world beyond” (Yu Shiying 1986). Therefore these are social conditions and historical background on which the development of history of news is based. The French sinologist Jacques Gernet (1995), who is equal in fame with John King Fairbank, wrote in the part of “From the Medieval Time to the Modern Time” of his book Le Monde Chinois with explicit remarks: The portentous sign of future change looms large after a rebellion started by An Lushan and Wupei during the period from 755 to 763. So if we do not consider the traditional “dynastic” division of history based on the mysterious view of genealogy, we can divide the Tang Dynasty into two parts and connect the second period with the following stage. As a matter of fact, after the rebellious crisis of An Lushan, the Tang, besides the change of basic atmosphere, witnesses the changes of politics, economy and laws and rules… The period from 907 to 960, a time known as Five Dynasties Period, is just a logic continuance and an inevitable result prior to the eighth century. This is a time “transitioning towards the modern period”.

This paragraph is well compatible with the following paragraph cited by the scholar Mr. Li Zehou (1981) as the two famous scholars from both eastern and western worlds use their words to sum up for this section: The major changes initiating in the middle Tang Dynasty include: the taxation system of equal distribution of field is out of practice and the system of Zuyongdiao (a taxation system prevailing in the Tang Dynasty) abolished is replaced by the practice of paying tax with real money; the activities of economy in both north and south are frequent and trade is flourishing; the imperial examination system is officially in place; and the landlords, whose strength in wealth and power is rising, are involved in political power at all levels. In the society, those who are in middle and upper classes are increasingly pursuing sumptuousness, happiness, luxury, and revelry. The China’s feudal society begins to go to its late period, and this transformation comes to an end in the Northern Song period.

Part Three The main purpose of this part is to trace the entire meaning of communication of news in the Tang Dynasty and to identify its historical status by combining empiricism and transcendentalism as well as history and logic. To that end, we put forward a proposition: from the history of communication to the history

360

B. LI

of news, but this topic hides two theoretic hypotheses: first, the periods of the Tang and Song are a time of alternation between two civilizations, namely classical civilization and modern civilization; second, the history of communication is integrated with classical civilization while the history of news is compatible with modern civilization. The former has been made clear, but the latter awaits further interpretations. When based on the common sense of common people, they will always associate the news and communication of news with the nearly modern history, but somehow feel at loss when it comes to the association between news and ancient society. They cannot help asking: “Does the ancient time have news?” This feeling supposedly is caused by their affinity with the modern life and their estrangement with the ancient society. However, those common senses and practices that are widely accepted contain some profound “ways,” so we should not think little of them. A sentence in the book 1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline written by Huang Renyu rings right: “All reasonable words in the world can be measured by common senses.” In a general sense, if common sense goes well, scientific reason also holds true, and vice versa. From a perspective of common sense, it indeed covers a reasonable principle: only by placing one in the axis of modern civilization can be measure the communication of news, but in the landscape of classical civilization, one is hard to test the communication of news. They are two sides of one coin. On the one hand, the broad background of classical time is unfolded by the close link of the ancient time and the present time. According to ancient mythology, in both heaven and earth, immortals and mortals live together, and this is “irrational.” In this process, witchcraft and religion, myth and legend, epic and story as well as history with factual and rhetoric records, and history with true and false stories are born. Meanwhile, the news supported by the concept of time and the consciousness of reason makes one incredible. Therefore, the so-called communication of news is usually mixed with general information communication, and in this part, it either becomes military news or folk rumor. As I have mentioned before, the classical world boasts a vast existential and psychological space which is connected with the land, where one can see many common farmers, but the most typical one is an honest and pleasurable old man who lives in the earliest time of the classical civilization, as the Song of Hitting the Soil of Source of Ancient Poems (Gushiyuan): He works as the sun rises and rests as the sun sinks. He digs a well to meet the need of his drinking water and tills the field to provide food for himself. What a happy life he lives!

This society and its communication activity are described by the scholar Fei Xiaotong (1948) in his book Earthbound China:

11

CONCLUSION

361

Like the drama, the same drama is performed on the same stage, and what all actors remember is just a set of scripts. Sometimes their individual experience is equal to the experience of one generation or more. In a society where life in each time is like playing the same film, history is a surplus and “legend” remains there. With respect to the background, the legend of genesis becomes a cliché. If one does not start from this, the context become the “plain” present time. In the urban society, we have news; in rural society, ‘news’ means strangeness and absurdity.

However, we do not mean that ancient people don’t inquire things beyond him and spread news. “I suddenly hear the news that Jibei is recaptured” and “I am told that you are relegated to the prefect of Longbiao while crossing the place of Wuxi”—these verses show that news and its communication have been a common phenomenon since ancient times. But we would rather call it rumor than term it news, since our inquiry of new story is one thing and our interconnectivity with the outside world is another thing; the circulation of news is one thing and orderly communication of news is another thing. This is like a scene where talking about right thing is similar to talking about reasonable thing, but the two have great differences. On the other hand, at a time when the Tang and the Song become more secular, a solid and well-structured society that “favors military talents and actions gives way to one that is dynamic, business-oriented and corrupt” (Jacques Gernet 1998). The lifestyle that is self-sufficient, slow, and monotonous is experiencing a historical transformation. Thus, the way confined to the land becomes relaxing and the rhythm of realistic life gets faster. And people need to deal with many things and deepen their relationship with all parties. As a result, the being of individual and the existence of society inevitably shift from the whole to the divided, reducing things to fragments. For example, in the Southern Song period, there were a large number of industries in the city of Lin’an: jewelry, cutting, silver and gold, mounting, old curio, crab, green fruit, sugar, ginger, shoes, and bath (from the thirteenth volume of A Dream of Sorghum [Liangmenglu]). The shift from a mode of self-seclusion driven by “man for farming and woman for weaving” to a diverse landscape of mutual dependence offers the condition for the birth of a set of systems of news, communication of news as well as news industry. The Denmark thinker Kierkegaard, with his keen observation, predicts that news industry will lead to a psychological state that growingly makes people deal with life (William Barrent 2012). From a fundamental angle, it is the change of way of life from the indirect to the direct that gives birth to the news industry and makes the past news evolve into the later news and that boosts the change of practice of communication from the blind to the orderly. More strikingly, this change from the direct to the indirect just coincides with a technological approach that transforms the disorderly into the orderly—medium. This is by no means fortuitous, let alone saying that it is

362

B. LI

the sign of marking the beginning of history of news. The primary factor that constitutes the medium is the mechanical drive, which is well matched with Zhuanzi’s saying: “If one pursues the dexterity of machine, he will do dexterous things; if one does dexterous things, he will get an ingenious heart.” It is this technological factor that leads news to a more professional, standard, and social direction. If we use one phrase to summarize it, that is “orderly.” The earliest medium naturally features the mechanism of communication, of which printing is the core. The emergence of printing medium makes information more spread more quickly, conveniently, and broadly, but more fundamentally, the first “agent” is placed in the information network of society, leading to a change from a kind of direct business highlighting two persons’ exchange to a kind of indirect trade through a medium. This is a landscape never seen before. We believe that this communication structure of medium is more worthy of attention in comparison with its communication function. This is because as an agent in the area of circulation, it is a muted gene that causes natural economy to go to market economy. In the same way, it is also a central link of resulting in a transition from disorderly individual rumors to orderly social news. From this point of view, it has deep historical significance. If we think of the background where the alternation of civilization overlaps with the rise of medium, this will be of greater significance. As is known to us all, block printing appears in the Tang Dynasty, comes to maturity in the period of Five Dynasties and Ten States and finds wide application in the Northern Song stage. This process gets underway when classical world is disappearing and modern world is coming, so Jacques Gernet (1995) said: It can be said that printing technique comes at an opportune occasion, since the social class that is expanding is trying to improve themselves through learning. In fact, thanks to the rise of business class and the mounting increase of urban population at lower class, printing technology can be universally applied in many fields by responding to people’s new demand. It is just because of the right purpose of this invention deriving from social change, it earns right application; otherwise it will be ignored without consideration. In this case, our evidence is that in fact, the early application of printing technique is very limited.

It is not a coincidence that the Renaissance that produces the modern secular history in the West goes hand in hand with the invention and popularity of Gutenberg’s printing, and it is exactly at this time when the history of news in the Western world begins. In short, the intuitive feeling of common people and the logic analysis based upon science all manifest that news is the derivative of modern civilization, and the generation of news is similar to the politics, economy, and culture in the mundane society. Between the two there are originally the isostructuralism and counterpart, as Spengler revealed in the following:

11

CONCLUSION

363

Between a space perspective in the oil painting and in a space of railway, telephone and long-distance weapon and between right music and credit economy, there is a kind of uniform relationship.

In a word, only the news landscape that is shown in the modern society can be interpreted as the history of news, whereas news activity in the classical world can just be classified into the history of communication.

Part Four By borrowing the aphorism from the article of statement called A Memorial Sent to Your Majesty about the Affairs of Sea Defense (Chouyi haifangzhe) 1 written by Li Hongzhang, the Qing period politician and diplomat, we can observe that during the period from the Tang to the Song, the Chinese nation once found itself in a “tremendous change that never happened in a millennia-old period”: a classical time that focuses more on spiritual world and dominated by aristocratic force has gone never to return and another form of civilization that is more utilitarian and secular is on the rise. If we see the changing landscape following Opium War as being from unexpected external forces, the changing trend in the Tang and Song periods then stems from internal evolution. For one thing, these changes mark a shift from the glory of classical time to the dream of modern time (This can be seen in the essay Record of Good Dreams of Dongjing [Dongjing menghua lu]) which talks about Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty and A Dream of Sorghum [Liangmeng lu] which chronicles Lin’an in the Southern Song Dynasty). For another, these changes mark a shift from “separated” tradition to “united” modernity. By using a corresponding way, the former turns the history of communication into the history of news while the latter extends the history of news to the history of mass communication. Indeed, this is a world that regards the history of news as the “purpose” and the history of communication as the “appearance.” We think that the above topic is reasonable in logic and compatible with history. Finally, we shift our focus on the news communication of the later Tang period before through a historical perspective of the change from the history of communication to the history of news. In today’s world, mass communication is increasingly seeing a tripartite situation: in the wonderful summary of Mr. Shao Jian (1996), they are “morphological culture of ideology” at the government level; “morphological culture of meaning” in the scholar class; and “morphological culture of image” of the masses. The three aspects correspond with the ancient systems including “political system” (court), “ethical system” (educated people), and “traditional system” (ordinary people). The three systems in the midst of big changes successively give birth to the communication of news, revealing new trends of its development from the disorderly to the orderly and from hearsays to news.

364

B. LI

Without giving more explanations, ti-pao (report from the office) is the most impressive news medium. What we say about ti-pao is a general concept, and its real name is numerous. The History of News in the Song Period is written by the scholar Zhu Chuanyu (1988), who once enumerated all kinds of names such as ti-pao (dibao邸报), ti-chuang (dizhuang邸状), ch’ao-pao (chaobao朝报), chin-tsou-yüen-pao (jinzouyuan bao进奏院报), chin-tsou-pao (jinzou bao进奏报), and even pao (bao报, all these are the extension of the name ti-pao). All these different names are the epithets from ti-pao because it originates from the “local government office to the capital”(also known as ti, which also means a residence or a mansion) of province and county. Based on the records of the book History of Essentials of Xi’an (Xi’an huiyao): “Every shire has its office (di), so they submit gazette day and night,” Mr. Ge Gongzhen (1927) inferred that “submitting gazette is to pass on news between ruler and minister and between the upper level and lower level, and this is the origin of ti-pao.” This comment is just popular in a certain period of time, but today, it is not sufficiently credible. First of all, to make it reasonable, we can know that “When there is an office (di), there is not necessarily a gazette” (Fang Hanqi 1992). Second, from historical facts, the ti of Han is merely responsible for submitting the memorial to the higher level and the court never allows “offices stationed in the capital have the privilege to issue gazette in open way” (Yao Fushen). The institution which enjoys similar privilege is chin-tsou-yüen (capital liaison office) established in the capital after the rebellious crisis of An Lushan and Shi Siming. The officer who is in charge of gazette affairs of the capital liaison office is called ti-shih, so the report sent to all towns is known as report from the escort. Although this kind of gazette is the origin of many official gazettes after the Song period, but it is greatly different from formal gazette, so it is at most a piece of original newspaper transitioning from an official text to a piece of official newspaper or a piece of official newspaper at the embryonic stage. Its content is close to internal news and its form is similar to newsletter. In essence, by observing the process of evolution of newspaper, the history of news in both China and Western world shares the same trajectory of development, with the earliest form represented by newsletter, followed by newsbook, and newspaper. Therefore, from chin-tsou-yüen report in the Tang to official newspaper in the Song, they are newsletter; in the following one thousand years, newsbook dominates in the world; and until nineteenth century, when the wave of modernization is rising, China’s news industry enters the stage of newspaper. Consequently, whether chin-tsou-yüen report is newspaper or not is not important. And its significance lies in the source of official newspaper and it is the forerunner of millennia-old news undertaking. Almost starting from the Tang period, scholar-officials who always regard the cardinal ethics of Confucianism as their pursuit take a growing interest in a kind of text similar to essay while aligning it with the life of men of the letter. This version of text is called “brush-note style essay,” which originates in the period of Wei and Jin (as the book New Anecdotes of Social Talk(Shishuo

11

CONCLUSION

365

xinyu) written by Liu Yiqing records), develops in the Tang Dynasty and prospers in the Song period. “In the Song Dynasty, we can observe that the texts related daily life begin to increase, such as story of trivial life, compilation of anecdotes, brush-note essay and chronicle of local things, all of which provide correct and vivid details for us.” It is worth noticing that the emergence of “brush notes” style essay goes in sync with the trend of secularization of social life, and this also reflects the proliferation of information and people’s realistic concern and inner penchant for trivial stories. “This type of information increases significantly because there is no depreciation of trivial things among businessmen, a phenomenon which differs largely among men of letter and officials as printing has been invented and has enjoyed a wide application, along with the progress of education and the corresponding rise of businessmen’s class since the early time of the tenth century.” The “brush-note” style essay is perhaps viewed as “random essay.” Mr Ji Xianlin, an encyclopedic scholar, said: Pi-chi(brush note) means a random record of thing. There are too many kinds of books based on brush-note style, available from the ancient time to the present time. Although some do not term it pi-chi, similar essays have much in common in terms of content. When an educated man has perceptions, observations and reflections, he will scribble down them with random notes.

From another aspect, with respect to the content of this genre, it is included in the “miscellanea.” Taking the Tang for an example: This dynasty has historically trivial anecdotes, such as Fine Stories from the Sui and Tang Dynasties (Suitang jiahua), Sppplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty (Tangguo shibu) and Tales of Repayment and Retribution (Yinhualu); it has stories on investigation and evidence, such as Story of Feng Yan, Story of Su and Zixiaji; it has miscellaneous legends, such as Xuanguai lu, Ganze yao and A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You(Youyang zazu); it has events related to culture and life, such as Jiaofangji (Musicians and their Skills and Performance), Jigulu and Lidai mingren zihua (Paintings and Calligraphies of Famous Artists from Past Dynasties); it has stories concerning marriage between man and woman, such as Story of Huo Xiaoyu, Story of Liu Yi and Story of Li Wa.

These different versions should be classified into miscellaneous stories at that time, but in today’s view, they are social news. And there is no shortage of ridiculous “nonsense” and real “facts” and they are either true or false, either strange or peculiar. Sometimes, “they are quite ubiquitous and different, to the point that readers understand them for a while and become angry at them for another moment; sometimes have horrifying moments and sometimes show a dumb look.” As a result, scholars make use of this form of text to involve themselves in the communication of news, so they blaze a new path

366

B. LI

of reporting “soft news” outside the official path of government. From this point of view, Jacques Gernet said: As early as in the Tang Dynasty, the collection of strange stories and interesting anecdotes has become a popular practice, and this phenomenon gets all the more obvious. The printing technique makes these types of books greatly popular and they consist of a series of short stories, all of which are very absurd and have their own witnesses. The names of person and place and the date – elements of news- are accurately available.

In contrast with ti-pao (dibao邸报), brush-note essay is more suggestive of its identity as a social medium, though we cannot directly call it news medium. This is the second reason. Viewed from the flow of information, the most striking change in the field of the life of the Tang people is evidenced by the rise of an art featuring dialogue and song. From su-chiang (sujiang俗讲) and pien-wen (bianwen变 文) in the Tang to the art of ku-tz’u (guci鼓词) and chu-kung-tiao (zhugongdiao诸宫调) and to the later narrative history and fiction, this form of communication that is geared to the ordinary people enjoys mounting popularity and obtain more extensive implications. According to the records written in brush-note essays of the Song period scholars, in the cities that include Bianjing, the capital in the Northern Song Dynasty and Linan, the capital in the Southern Song Dynasty, there are amusement sites that are widely called “washe” and “goulan” where all kinds of performances, skills, and crafts are on display. But the most popular way is “talk or speech.” Wibur Schramm, a celebrated American scholar, once viewed the tour performance of an artist as “face-to-face” media. In a scrupulous sense, the campaign characterized by dialogue and song, which emerges in the Tang and flourishes in the Song, can also be said to be the first medium in the information network of folk world. Because of the emergence of this medium, this personal communication through mouth and ear is transformed into a natural process of indirect communication. In this circumstance, the past behavior of disorderly communication is bounded by a set of orderly system (medium), through which in addition to information about daily life, the ordinary people can obtain a knowledge of current affairs and history and an understanding of the way of the world as well as concepts of life, value, and ethics. It is true that the art of dialogue and song mostly conveys old stories, such as stories recorded in Zhang Chaoyi “Pien-wen,” Zhang Huaishen “Pien-wen,” and other stories in the Three Kingdoms period. However, one thing is clear: “The life of each generation is close to the same movie played in the society.” For the masses that are not well informed, this suffices to constitute the news beyond a world of report. At least through this medium of speech and song, the inner world of the common people has transformed from a state of self-seclusion of “How can I care about the emperor’s life” to an open trend of “all talking about the

11

CONCLUSION

367

world affairs.” By using the law of entropy in the second law of thermodynamics that is ubiquitous, this is in fact a process from the increase of entropy to the increase of minus entropy and one from a state of systematic balance to one of no systematic balance or a changing process of information amount from progressive increase to progressive decrease. In other words, this is what we say about the process of alternation in which the communication of news changes from a disorderly way to an orderly one. This is however the third reason. The above three features show that the official gazette, brush-note essay written by scholar, and folk campaign featuring dialogue and song merge with one another, indicative of a lifeline of early history of news. In line with the definition of news given by Mr. Ning Shufan, news is defined as new and recent information through report. So these three forms undoubtedly are the earliest news generated in their own circle, and this is viewed from a specific time background. But the development of this aspect provides a factual basis for the purpose of this chapter, making it close to the unity of empiricism and transcendentalism as well as history and logic. Generally speaking, the Tang Dynasty marks an end with the classical world and a beginning with the modern world. In the corresponding case, the past history of communication evolved into the later history of news. (The history of news fosters a historical atmosphere for the history of mass communication in the middle nineteenth century.) The alternation and transition of the two just occur in the late period of the Tang, during which the three early media of rising chin-tsou-yüen report, brush-note essay or novel, and campaign of dialogue and song help the communication of news change from the disorderly to the orderly, achieving an epoch-making leapfrog to some degrees. This is a big-picture pattern designed for the communication of news in the Tang Dynasty. As the opening section mentioned, this big-picture pattern is more an interpretive framework for historical philosophy than a general description of historical science. However, we do not necessarily aim to reach a state of philosophical science as expected by W.H. Walsh: A great metaphysics philosopher convinces us that his view is correct and reliable; after we read his book, we feel as if were using another pair of eyes to see the world. The thing we have learnt and the way we have adopted from this metaphysical philosopher are same with those we learn from portrait painter or philosophic poet. Instead, we just hope not to turn to the historical philosophy criticized by Robin George Collingwood, a famous American philosopher and historian—either reduce facts to messy articles or leave facts in tatters.

Note 1. A statement sent by the politician Li Hongzhang to the emperor, designed to have a detailed discussion about affairs of sea defense.

Appendix Reflections of the Research on the Chinese History of News1

Part One The Chinese history since the Opium War, similar to a situation like raging storms and roaring waves, is often perceived as the “huge change never seen in a millennia-old period.” The History of Southern Ming Dynasty (Nanmingshi) written by Gu Cheng (2011) offers the following well-written remarks: “In a time that witnesses capricious major events, class struggles and national wars reach the height, showing to us many heroic and awe-inspiring moments on the Chinese land.” Responding to such earthshaking changing situation, theories, thoughts, and academic discourses come thick and fast, with one trend giving way to another, with a focus on the modernization and the modernity (Xie Lizhong 2001). Then a scene where one comes after another appears, causing one to have no time to take in the scene as a whole, with climax reaching in 1919 and 1989. In short, all kinds of modern discourses are always linked with “the past, the present, the Chinese and the Western,” but the past and the present as well the Chinese and the Western are two different aspects. Therefore, understanding the four characters deeply is close to grasping the changing landscape of modern China. As for the modernity of the four characters, there have been two basic ways of thought. One can be summarized as “tradition and modernity,” namely, one thinking way of theory of evolution. In keeping with this way of thought, China has long been in a state of seclusion, conservation and stagnation ahead of western impact imposed on the country; in the Qing Dynasty, China bears more imprints of feudalism, monarchy, and backwardness. In reverse, the modern history represented by the Western world is a manifest of civilization, progress, and openness. Hence China must realize a transition from the traditional to the modern, be it a movement of saving China from perish or a campaign of going global. This way of thinking can also include into two different or opposite paths. We might as well call the first one the path of “liberalization,” which is in

© China Renmin University Press 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3

369

370

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

line with the “impact and response” mode introduced by the American sinologist John Fairbank, also professor of Harvard University. This path aims to see the modern impact from the West as the hub of every change in modern China, with a focus on “going global” and aligning with the world,” as the scholar Hu Shi mentioned about the concept of “total westernization”: some promote new four trends of marketization, privatization, liberalization, and globalization. Here, more interestingly, the “world” clearly excludes countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America; and the “international” has nothing to do with “internationale” of the song L’Internationale” because the “world” and “international” included in this path always carry a political connotation of a world dominated by the West. So if we adopt a modern approach of narration based on this path of liberalization, we need to recognize a “west-central concept” and pay more attention to a whole set of establishments such as political system, economic model, social life as well as ideological and cultural traditions. And we need to analyze them and judge and design the cardinal code of Chinese society. For example, the “new policies” of the later period of the Qing Dynasty are widely viewed as “trilogy” style movements typical of “western” modernization that are further promoted later, marked by the Movement of Westernization, Reform of 1898 and May Fourth Movement. It is a pity that what we are today in China and what we are future in China can only inherit this path and we have no other alternatives. The today’s heated “universal value” follows a right way, as the scholar Qian Zhongshu said: “The psyche has its universality and commonality, regardless of the east, west, south and north and even the entire world; the school of thought has no clean break with others in terms of principle and method when it comes to the literature in both China and western world.” But we here emphasize that this “universal value” contains cultural and political connotations. The TV series episode Move to the Republic (2003), the TV documentary series The Rise of China (2006) and The Power of Company (2010) once aired by the China Central Television Network (CCTV) all adopt this set of narrative logic and follow this cultural and political value. The team members of the TV episode Move to the Republic consist of journalists who were active in the 1980s. Mr. Ge Fei (2011), Professor of Tsinghua University and writer, unfolds the abovementioned path with realistic meaning through a vivid dialogue between a couple in his novel The Spring Is Lost in the South of China: Pang Jiayu made a phone call from Beijing. Duanwu asked her, why was there so noisy? He could not hear anything. “My friends and I are dining in a restaurant in Zhongguancun. I’m now out. Can you hear me?” answered Jiayu, who seemed a bit excited. She mentioned a report conference held in the morning. The lecturer was a professor surnamed Xu. He did an excellent job. Those learners from many regions across China were still engaged in debate when they dined. The name of this report was called Four Pillars of China in the Future.

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

371

In daily life, the couple did not talk much, but the woman showed clear excitement, the man had to pretend to say that he was intensely interested in the so-called “four pillars”. “What are the four pillars? Can you explain them in a simple way?” “The first is ‘to make property more well-defined’; the second is ‘to make constitution more in line with judicial system; and the third is… is…What are the following two pillars? What is wrong with me? Ah, how brain-scattered I am! Please allow me to think for a while.” Duanwu helped her to remember them, saying, “Are they democracy of representative system and freedom of media?” “Right! All right! Ah, how can you know them? It is as if by magic! You didn’t listen to that report in the morning.” “They are unreasonable ‘four pillars”. They are nothing but clichés of overseas returnees. “You do not need to become so excited and you need to know that the pillar of Professor Xu is the US Fort Foundation”. Now let’s turn to the second path of “revolutionization,” which is highlighted by an approach of mainstream narration, a way that uses “two major contradictions” to deduce the historical course of modern China. To be more specific, in the time of war, as the contradiction between imperialism and the Chinese nation and the contradiction between feudalism and the masses become more and more intense, China is gradually reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, followed by a series of revolutionary movements, thus enabling the country to bid a farewell to the traditional civilization and advance to the modern civilization. Marx once said, “Revolution is the locomotive of historical progress.” In line with the logic and narrative method of revolutionization, in China’s modern history, from the Taiping Rebellion to the Boxer Movement, from the Reform of 1898 to the Revolution of 1911, from the Northern Expedition (1926–1927) to the War of Land Revolution and from the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression to the War of Liberation—this modern history is a history of Chinese revolution and a history of Chinese people’s quest for national independence, national liberation and happiness and freedom. This kind of historic narration and significance can be well expressed by inscriptions written by Chairman Mao Zedong on the Monument of the People’s Heroes: May the lost heroes in the War of Liberation and people’s revolution in the past three years be immortal! May the lost heroes in the War of Liberation and people’s revolution over the past three decades be immortal! May the lost heroes in the struggles against enemies and for national independence and people’s freedom and happiness back in ancient times be immortal! In the 1980s, the scholar Li Zehou introduced a far-reaching thinking category: “enlightenment” and “saving the nation from perish,” two antithetic aspects of the two abovementioned paths. According to this double statement, the theme of modern China is “enlightenment.” This is a process where

372

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

the western mode of modernization is used to reform the thinking, culture, spirit and system of traditional China. Thus China is free of traditional restrictions and its people become modern people by obtaining physical and mental freedom. However, owing to the grave reality of saving China from distinction including imperial invasion and bullying that pushes the country on the verge of perish many times: from the Opium War to the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 and from the Aggressive War of the Eight-Power Allied Forces, the process of “enlightenment” is impeded by these setbacks and is replaced by the “revolutionary” movements of saving China. After the 1990s, Mr. Li Zehou (2008) published his talks about “saying goodbye to revolution” and reaffirmed the value of enlightenment while criticizing the path of revolution. In 2006, “Ice Point Weekly” affiliated to China Youth Daily published an article of his book Modernization and Historical Textbook written by Yuan Weishi, which triggered ferocious debate. As a result of this, “ice point” came to a halt for overhaul. This is more indicative of a realistic conflict stemming from the two ways of thought. Through deep consideration, the paths of liberalization and revolutionalization appear to go their own way, but they share the goal of realizing modernization and modernity, with the aim of driving China from tradition to modernity. Even the revolutionary movement that is denounced by worthy men also shares this goal. So Wang Hun called this anti-modern modernity: “China’s revolution has this anti-modern modernity, which is restricted by modernity but goes beyond the logic of modernity.”2 A case in point is that after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it set forth the goal of industrialization and after the Cultural Revolution, the country made clear the blueprint of “four modernization” plans. Even taking for an example “freedom”, a topic that is much discussed, the path of liberalization is always remembered by people. And the path of revolutionalization is also followed by the ideal of pursuing freedom. All this is like the situation in a song Singing My Country back in 1950: “We are hard-working and brave, and independence and freedom are our ideals…” Here is also a letter given by a general to his daughter: “Let our fathers level off the field of new democracy and let your later generations build a world of freedom, happiness, civilization, progress, solemnity and splendor on our soil.” But the path of revolutionalization pays more attention to the destiny of a community while the path of liberalization focuses more on individual choice. Japanese thinker Youzou Mizouguchi (2011) once made an analysis of the following with the concepts “general freedom” and “individual freedom”: China’s ‘utopian’ style modern time is more characterized by general freedom than individual freedom. But this kind of general freedom excludes individual freedom, which means private profits and objection to autocracy. Due to the uniqueness and republic principle of excluding individual private profits, this general freedom is not just to focus on the political aspect, but it connects itself with a kind of general freedom based on the economic field, that is, the principle

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

373

of People’s Livelihood, which aims to ensure four hundred million people have adequate access to clothes and food. This is an important feature of modern China. The ‘utopian’ style modern time links itself with the principles of the People’s Livelihood and the Nationalism not through “individual” but through “general” concepts so as to constitute a concentric circle of this period. In this sense, this modern time is a time with distinctive Chinese features and socialist characteristics.

From a particular point of view, the paths and ways of narration of liberalization and revolutionalization may be totally different in politics, they echo with each other in terms of way of thought. In fact, the two share one implicitly ideological prerequisite: the ancient time represents barbarianism while the modern time means civilization; China lags behind while the western world advances fast. Let me explain them with examples. For the path of liberalization and the path of revolutionalization, these ways of thought and narration “describe the Chinese history after the 19th century in unison as a declining course. To be exact, that refers to the decline of the political system in the Qing Dynasty, but some descriptions seemingly mistake the decline of the whole China” (Youzou Mizouguchi 2011). Correspondingly, in line with this “traditional and modern” ways of thought, China’s modern time naturally includes a process dominated by “external factors.” Therefore, the issue of tradition and modernity has been transformed from the issue related to the ancient and present in time to the issue connected with China and the West in space. For this reason, the fact casts a cloud over the key “internal factors.” This year marks the centennial of the outbreak of the Revolution of 1911. In this process, those who use the way of “revolutionalization” narration promotes the patriotism from Sun Yat-sen while those who favor the way of “liberation” narration criticizes his radicalism. Such interpretations are not wrong, but if one is confined to the way of thought viewed from the traditional to the modern, he is short of a deep and broad vision. Take another example: Sun Yat-sen’s idea of benevolent government is originated from the awareness of “great harmony” that has survived several thousand years. The idea of “great harmony” has not only impacted Sun but also constituted the core of China’s republic thinking (ibid.: 12). However, the essence of the ideal of great harmony is central to the concept of the Chinese civilization “tens of thousands of people are well provided for.” Just as Sun Yat-sen established the goal of revolution as “ensuring four hundred million people have ample access to clothes and food” (from the Three People’s Principles), one of feature of China’s republic revolution is marked by its major goal of satisfying the needs of the survival of all people in the world. As far as human rights are concerned, the European republic thinking puts emphasis on the freedom and equality of political rights based upon right of private ownership, whereas the Chinese republic thinking serves the purpose of meeting the demand of survival for four hundred million people based on the modulation of great harmony, with more importance attached to a kind of economic equality

374

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

highlighting objection to “individual selfish”. Hence, “democracy” means that the vast majority of people pursue the right of survival for all people by opposing the minority who are overbearing and selfish. It also means the right of citizen and the right of people. So at the very beginning, it is a far cry from the infinite freedom linked with individual economic activity championed by Europeans, which claims the right of citizen based on the right of individual private property. (ibid.: 14–15)

As the “new enlightenment” movement fell apart at the end of the twentieth century, a situation like the group of the May Fourth Movement parting company in the early years of this century, the sense of cultural awareness became stronger and stronger, so Mr. Tschen Yin Koh’s saying “our nation’s independent spirit and free thinking” is increasingly extolled by later people. In 2011, Former President Hu Jingtao gave the speech at the convention of celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of Communist Party of China (CPC). In 2010, Liu Yunshan published a long article called “cultural self-awareness, cultural self-confidence and cultural self-improvement” on the bimonthly issue ‘Hongqi wengao” launched by “Qiushi” Journal. All these have brought cultural self-awareness to a high level that involves strategic thinking. In 2004, the annual China Culture Forum was established and in the general preface of its annual report, it was said (Huang Ping 2009): We can use the concept of “cultural self-awareness” introduced by Fei Xiaotong to define the “theoretic reflection and practical concern of the subjectivity of Chinese culture”… The ‘culture’ in the concept of “cultural self-awareness” relates to economy, politics, law, education, academic studies and other fields. And the term ‘self-awareness’ in this concept expresses a concern and reflection of the subjectivity of Chinese culture in the context of globalization, but this concern and reflection will necessarily involve the realistic issue of how China pursues a unique revolutionary path on economic, political, legal, educational and academic fronts. We emphasize that China’s revolution has its own “unique path”, which is built on the following two basic aspects. First, as an old civilization, China has gone through modern revolution and 30 years of reform. So the revolution of China is a revolutionary and innovative process that hinges on its own tradition and reality. The simple way of blindly copying the existing model had not only resulted in disaster in history but also put China’s revolution on the wrong track. Second, given the fact that the wave of globalization contains a dominant logic and a homogeneous trend, China, on the one hand, must learn and draw lesions from other cultures and societies in the process of revolution, but on the other hand, it must be self-independent in the process of openness. The so-called “harmonious yet different” concept reflects dialectic relations between openness and independence and between connectivity and diversity. …Only by relying on a deep self-awareness of culture can people avoid blind self-abasement and arrogance so that they can really understand that we live in a diversified world and that we are confronted with challenges.

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

375

To summarize, the so-called cultural self-awareness can be well defined by a sixteen-character aphorism put forward by the scholar Fei Xiaotong: “Every kind of beauty has its uniqueness. Fine is to appreciate other forms of beauty with openness. If beauty reflects itself with diversity and integrity, the world will enjoy great harmony and unity.” Driven by the tides of cultural selfawareness and the “national rejuvenation” led by this idea, the ways of thought for tradition and modernity are seeing new opportunities. In particular, the path of liberalization will increasingly expose itself to inherent narrow features.

Part Two In counterpoint to the concept “tradition and modernity,” another idea can be classified into “civilization and modernity.” From this standpoint, China’s ancient time belongs to a civilized system, as opposed to the system of nationalism that places western model on a high pedestal (Wang Hui 2008): The word ‘China’ that ancient people term is often associated with an idea of civilization, so it is not about a geopolitical concept which defines clear national boundary. (Ge Zhaoguang 2011) China is different from the modern “nation-state”, since it represents an independent political and cultural state, which differs in culture but merges with all races. In other words, it can be called “civilizationalstate”, for it has its own special civilization order. (Jin Yaoji 2002) Proceeding from traditional political ideas, ‘state’ is not a legally built entity but a cultural or civilized entity. (Qiang Shigong)

When compared with classical civilization system, modern system, or modern civilization has many explanations and comments such as rationalization, secularization, and bureaucratization, but they are less sensible than those of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in his famous book The Communist Manifesto: Unless bourgeoisie continuously revolutionalize the tools of production and then relation of production and finally total relations of production, they cannot otherwise survive. Conversely, if we keep our old means of production unchanged, that will be the prerequisite for the survival of all industrial classes. The continuous changes of production, constant turbulences of all social conditions as well as unceasing states of unrest and upheaval—these are what distinguishes bourgeoisie era from all other periods. When all unchanged and rigid relations and their corresponding favored concepts and insights are eliminated, all newly born relations will turns old before they keep stable. When all hierarchical and unchanged things are vanished, all divine things will be desecrated correspondingly. In the book Rizhilu (Records of Daily Gains in Knowledge), the author said: Blazing new trails to pursue changes and letting all unchanged things vanish without any trace are clear features of modern time. Although the modern

376

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

civilization is mostly guided by the western world and even becomes a pattern of example, the concept of “modern” is not interpreted in a single way, but it is more a process in multiple ways. In other words, modernization does not have only one established pattern confined to the western world, and it offers a diverse picture consisting of different paths. The system of classical civilization is diverse, but the changing system of modern civilization is equally diverse. Yet the transformation from civilized system to modern system signifies different forms of civilization, so there is no single path of constant rise or continuous evolution.

As is known to us all, the system of civilization in modern China is marked by a community of interests featuring established territory and sovereignty and national recognition, whereas the system of civilization in ancient China is characterized by a cultural community involving concern for all in the world, systems of rites and music and tributary relations. The difference between the two systems is so great that it can be likened to Chang’e flying to the moon in poet’s eyes in ancient time and plane flying in the air in scientist’s eyes in modern China. Here let me take an example. From the perspective of modern economics, the so-called “economy” actually means calculation of profits, but the economic system of Chinese civilization lies in “governing the country to benefit the people.” Daniel A. Bell (1989), Professor of Harvard University, and other thinkers once pointed out that classical civilization is spanned by revolving around “need” while modern civilization is aimed at satisfying the “want” of people. However, “need” is within the physiological level, so it is limited, but “want” is within the psychological level. In the second case, people always want more. It is no wonder that technological invention, consumerism, advertisement, media as well as democracy and freedom that are born in modern world finally drive people to a perennially insatiable state. Qiang Shigong (2010), Professor of politics of Peking University, thereby wrote: The drawback of modern time lies in the fact that the passion and the desire that are denounced and rejected in the classical political thinking are viewed as the starting point of modern politics. At the same time, ‘interest’ is seen as the tool to tame the desire, and the whole purpose of politics is to lead people’s passion and desire to the maximization of interests. Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” or Bernard Mandeville’s fable of the bees and building the government through the rational calculation of social compact or “taming the ruler” by using great ambition to check great ambition –all these are set to understand the economy, politics, society and morality according to a modern logic.

Leo Strauss (2003), a German political philosopher who made a fetish of classical civilization, made an analysis of the concept of “natural right” in the classical system and how it is changed into “natural right” in the modern society. The former aims to establish a moral principle that is noble and divine while the latter favors a worldly principle featuring the utilitarian calculation.

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

377

It is no coincidence that in the early time of the twentieth century, when classic physics was replaced by modern physics, Oswald Spengler, German thinker and historical philosopher, invented the “idea of history of civilization.” In the book The Decline of the West, which was published in 1918, Spengler pointed out that each civilization, like a life organism, has its own span and circle and the history of the world is made up of different civilization systems. His idea questions the west-centered theory and dismantles the theory of historical evolution while embarking on a new path of “the civilized and the modern.” If the difference of classic physics and modern physics is viewed on the concept of time and space, the distinction of civilized system and modern system is strikingly reflected on the aspect of political philosophy. The scholar Zhao Tingyang (2009) said, “The way of analyzing the unit by taking nation as the political standard is only typical of a political model in the western world, so it cannot cover all political patterns because the unit of analysis of political standard in China is the ‘world’. For the Chinese people, the concept of ‘world’ has long loomed large in the Axial Period” (introduced by Karl Theodor Jaspers). As the Book of Songs sing, “All lands in the world are owned by the king, so are all fiefs in the world. On the boundless land, all are the subjects of the king.” And since ancient times, the Chinese people have had a broad mind and vision, as shown by the following lines: “improve oneself, run the family, rule the country and bring the world to peace; Be the first to show concern for the world and be the last to enjoy pleasure in the world.” The ‘world’ in the Chinese thinking carries more important connotations than the one in the western world. It is a ‘world’ of combining natural geography, social psyche and political system, which proves a rich concept. … There is a lack of a political outlook on the whole world in the political thinking of western world, and thus the world is always seen as a “public land’ that allows free competition and depredation. More importantly, there is no interest of the world but the interest of the nation. For a long period of time, this flawed political consciousness has stimulated the westerns countries to seek hegemony and loot colonies in the world; and they have come to realize that the world has gone wrong in recent modern time. (ibid.: 83–84)

Such awareness of world and its practice can reflect a feeling of “All are brothers in the world,” so “For the whole world, all places are confined to an internal world and the connections of these regions are only similar to the relations between relatives” (ibid.: 92). Instead of a confrontational relationship, it largely signifies ideas of “all for the public good” and “great harmony in the world.” In such a world, people in the world share all the material wealth and spiritual values. The “no boundary” principle in the system of ‘world’ contains two important facts. First, now that both ‘world’ and ‘heaven’ are a land of public interests and resources, the concept of ‘world’ will in no way teaches people to see others

378

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

as resentful enemies. In this case, the fundamental principle of politics of the world is ‘harmony’. That is to say, we seek the maximization of cooperation and minimization of conflict by recognizing the diversity of the world. Second, now that the diversity of world is natural, the system of ‘world’ therefore gives no space for the survival of unilateral concept and knowledge systems. This is the cultural principle of “not imposing one’s own cultural characteristics on others”. In the Book of Rites, it is said: I have only heard someone learn the rite from others but haven’t heard someone force other to learn it; I have just heard someone come to seek knowledge of others but haven’t heard someone ask others to teach him.” Therefore, voluntary learning clearly runs counter to forced learning. (ibid.: 105)

From this paragraph, we know that in ancient China, we have heard the story of “seeking for scriptures” rather than “preaching one’s own religion.” We can also see that on the journey to the west, the ancient time has witnessed “religious wars” and “missionary clashes” that have lasted for a long time. Peace and harmony naturally become the overriding or paramount principle of the Chinese civilization if we take into consideration the ideas of “all are one family in the world” and “all are brothers on earth.” The fundamental core of world politics is the world peace. For example, “peace is precious” and “One prefers to be a peaceful dog rather than a displaced man”—good words favored by ancient people are a reflection of a collective awareness, which values the importance of stability and peace. In the book The Chinese Halcyon and Prosperous Time (1683–1799): The Peace under the Rule of the Qing Empire, Yang Ang (2010) especially emphasized “territory integrity, combined political systems, diverse ethnic groups and free development of religion.” It is obvious that the principles of peace and harmony in the Chinese civilization system are poles apart from the principle of violence or the principle of conflict. The scholar Immanuel Wallerstein (1998), who put forward the theory of modern world system, once sighed, “The life of the world system stems from all forces of conflict, which, driven by the acting force of pressure, combine the world system. But when each bloc constantly tries to reform it in favor of them, this system then splits.” If the world politics takes stability, turmoil, prosperity, and decline as the codes that measure all of a country, it will use ideology as the benchmark of judging everything, so in modern time, “many theories that have exerted a widespread influence upon the society” involve very strong political consciousness. For these related theories, they include Carl Schmitt’s viewpoint of friend–enemy, criticism of positive freedom and despotism, Michel Foucault’s analysis of knowledge and power, Samuel Huntington’s idea of conflicts between civilizations, Francis Fukuyama’s summary of history, Edward Said’s idea of orientalism, Leo Strauss’s understanding of the conflict between the past and the present, John Rawls’s theory of fairness, Jurgen Habermas’s theory of communicative relationship, Immanuel Wallwestein’s theory of world system, theory of new imperialism, Joseph Nye’s theory of soft power (Zhao Tingyang 2010). These theories are perhaps differing from the theory of modern world relations, but one fact is

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

379

clear: As these ideological theories are emerging one after another, Amy Chua, Professor of Yale University, describes the world as “the world on the fire” when the world is seeing continuous conflicts, struggles, wars, and chaos. Given the fact that stability, chaos, prosperity, and decline are the core factors of the world politics, we cannot incorporate the life and death of people in the world into the consideration of political factors in order to ensure the world is in peace, but we must take the right way of heaven and the concern of people as the cornerstone standards of world peace. The so-called sayings “Only when we treat worthy men with courtesy like the Duke of Zhou can we win the hearts of people” and “He who wins the support of people can get the world” have been well etched in people’s mind. Apparently, the world politics cannot just rely on violence or force, since no matter how strong the violence is, the country or reigning person cannot rule the world for a long time. After all, at the root of the world peace is the popular support of people and the culture based upon this aspect. This is a case like “cherishing men from afar in ancient China. Several thousand year ago, Sun Zi, a great Chinese military strategist and philosopher, came to realize that “Even with hundreds of wins and losses, this is not the best way; the best way lies in driving people away without fighting any battle.” The sagacious military strategist Zhuge Liang has also left a good story of “catching Meng Huo seven times.” In the eyes of Carl Schmitt and other western political philosopher, the core meaning of politics is just confined to the concept of “telling apart friend and enemy,” but in the concept of Chinese civilization, the highest state of politics lies in “turning enemy into friend.” Chairman Mao Zedong once told Hu Yaobang the followings to explain this concept: Politics means increasing the number of people who support us and reducing the number of people who oppose us. To that end, we need to pursue fairness and justice. We do not worry about the issue of shortage, and instead, we care more about inequality. We value the principle of “equal poverty and prosperity and equal nobility and vulgarity.” Meanwhile, we need use culture and its influence, education, inspiration, and edification to help people shape and lead a more meaningful life, and this is also the reason why the system of rites and music develops so well in the pre-Qin period. But in the same way, the support of people rather than real politics is regarded as the political fundamental component of all major civilization systems of the world; culture rather than profit is at the core of long stability. Thus, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism are wholly devoted to following the right way of the world and serving the right interests of people. In history, I can observe that the Roman Empire which once gave full reign to their military strength across the Europe and Asia and Africa was finally subjected to its decline after having dealt blows to the Christianity for several hundred years, thus causing its emperor to succumb to the Christianity. In the system of civilization, the highest state of politics has always been well demonstrated by the culture of “driving enemies away without fight a battle” and a cultural leadership.

380

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

The higher level of civilization means higher economic standard and material life and represents a more attractive spiritual life, so it can easily win the support of more people. The poor support of people is always the fundamental ingredient of any political power. At the beginning, spiritual life contains some political connotations, though people have reflected on this point in recent modern time. Spiritual life can not only attract people but also rule people’s mind. As a matter of fact, the spiritual life is the ultimate form of rule, and rule is actually achieved when the mind of people is ruled. The recognition of mind is a kind of selfrecognition of political rule, so the recognition of mind is the final basis of political power. Only when a spiritual life is created to win the recognition of all people or at least the vast majority can the political order be maintained in an all-round and effective way. (Zhao Tingyang 2009)

All in all, the past, the present, the Chinese and the western have different civilization systems and their discourses, neither marked by a lineal process nor by differences between advancement and backwardness and between civilization and barbarianism. The difference between the civilized and the modern shall not be defined by the value system of high or low status but by the order of “you first and I second.” This is like such situation: We value good virtue and right in both ancient and modern times, but in ancient times, people would put “virtue” first and modern people will put “right” first. As Lord Palmerston said in 1848, “We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual.” In the same way, if we say that the freedom of civilization system lies in holding people’s dignity in high esteem, the freedom of modern system lies in pursuing people’s interests. So I try to give the following table to provide the classification of the two systems and their values: Civilization system

Modern system

Virtue-centered Morality first Internal freedom Inner self-discipline No exception in the world Need-driven Tributary relationship Culturalism Local society ……

Right-centered Interest first External freedom Beyond law State supremacy Want-driven Diplomatic relationship Nationalism Urban society ……

In comparison with the concept of “tradition time and modern time,” the idea of “civilized time and modern time have the following features: First, it is more inclusive ad open; second, it is more in line with a complicated historical process; third, it greatly reflects the ideal of great harmony.” The composer Qu Xiaosong (2011) wrote the following poetic paragraph:

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

381

Based on my knowledge of geography at primary school, I know: Africa boasts a river known as Nile; South America is endowed with a river called Amazon; and Europe has rivers like Volga, Danube, Rhine and Elbe. In ancient Assyria and present Iraq, there are Euphrates River and Tigris River; in India, there is Ganges River and in China, we have Lancang River, Yangtze River and Yellow River. Worldwide, there are still countless rivers that we do not know as primary school students. Many rivers in the world, which nurture flourishing creatures and pass through high mountains, hills, Gobi deserts, plains, forests and grasslands, provide sources for us to live and multiply on earth. The planet is home to abundant resources, with both interesting and lovely people and things. This civilization that is bred by rivers is great if we want to say so, vice versa. This is because when we command a distant view of the earth, all streams from rivulets, ravines, lakes and rivers are invisible to our naked eyes.

Part Three Going beyond the concept of “traditional time and modern time” and exploring the idea of “civilized time and modern time” will give us a broader vision, a lager mind, and a more stable state of mind to examine things related the past, the present, the Chinese, and the western as well as the history of modern China, including the history of news. In 1906, about more than one hundred years ago, in his book On Cultural Paranoid, the 25-year-old Lu Xun showed the abovementioned vision, mind, and state of mind: “The sagacious man must observe the defining trend of the world, weigh and examine it, get ride of bias to understand what it really means.” Today, after more than one hundred years of twists and turns, people become more self-conscious and confident. Qiang Shigong (2010), Professor of Peking University, said: If we can have reflections on our cultural bias or political bias while throwing away personal prejudices and if we can, by proceeding from the perspective of civilization, nationality and history, observe the modern and contemporary history as well as unsmooth modern explorations, including historical events of China’s revolutionary struggles, the founding of the People’s Republic of China, socialist construction, “cultural revolution”, reform and opening-up, political wave in 1989 and China’s later rise, I believe that all of you will have perceptions on the concept of “China”.

As for the ideas of civilization and modernity, regardless of changes, modern China has not only undergone a historical process of external impact but has experienced a transitional process of civilization systems. Although the changing situation with several thousand years of turbulences is caused by many realistic factors, Engel’s theory of joint force and today’s zero-sum game can help us to understand this complex background. Even seemingly radical thing can also respond to the external tides, but it is more rooted or born in inherent civilization soil. For example, Mizoguchi Kozo (2011) explained the concept of “world” in detail:

382

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

The ruling concept of “world” inherited by past dynasties has constantly taken on different structural forms and has been basically preserved. This can, for example, be evidenced by the idea of ‘great harmony’, the principle of people’s livelihood and the concept of socialism. This fact reveals this idea: the term ‘world’, a ruling concept for the ruler of a country, actually represents the voice of people. In China, the ruling concept concerning ‘world’ inherently carries socialist features. Given many names of socialism, for the survival of the masses of people, the concept of “world” (mutual assistance) cannot be easily left behind.

Take another example, the scholar Qiang Shigong (2010) made such comments on the political system of new China: The core ingredient of communist party is not class, nor nation, but the concept of “country” and “world”. The Chinese people accept the idea of ‘class’ in Marxism, but behind the concept of this “class” is the lofty idea of ‘great harmony’ in the communist world. And this “country” is not the nation in theory of modern western politics but the stretchable landscape of “family-country-world” championed in the school of Confucianism. Chairman Mao Zedong and other communist people believe in Marxism so firmly because the salvoes of the October Revolution brought MarxismLeninism to China and enabled them to see the way of saving China. More importantly, it is because they have observed that Marxism has blazed trails of saving all mankind. For these reasons, China’s selection of Marxism is more contingent upon the classic ideal of internationalism and “great harmony in the world” than upon nationalism or realistic motive of nationalism. This fundamentally distinguishes communist party from Kuo Ming Tang and “old China” from “new China”.

However, China’s “modern” connotation-modernization, modernity, and modern civilization—must bear clear-cut features of Chinese civilization. The so-called “features” are not added by people at random and changed by the will of any person. Following this way of thought can help us avoid observing the problem with an ideological perspective. From a particular point of view, we need to avoid following a beaten path to overly ask more from China, a county that has gone uninterrupted for several thousand years, giving more sympathy and understanding of its many explorations and setbacks and showing more respect for a series of successes and failures of our predecessors. In our opinion, be in the late Qing Dynasty or in the period of the Republic of China and be it in the thirty years before the founding of the People’s Republic of China or in the thirty years after the establishment of the PRC, the phenomenon of backwardness in real aspect is a generational process or state-building process of “modern country.” Specifically speaking, it is a process from an “unrestrained nation” to “self-consciousness,” a process from “culturism” to “nationalism” and a process from “imperialist state” to “nation-state” (Li Ya 2011). By quoting words of Mizoguchi Kozo (2011),

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

383

we can say that from the Opium War to the founding of New China, “the 100-hundred-year period has seen China consistently pursue two long-term topics: learn from the western civilization and topple dynastic system while building new national systems and institutions.” It is obvious that this task is an all-embracing social systematic project, so it cannot be implemented overnight, nor can it experience a smooth sailing and try to locate the goal by following up a clue. Nevertheless, no matter how huge and complicated the project is, the five-thousand-year civilization is blessed with deep cultural connotations and intelligent and bold men, the deal of “rejuvenating China” pursued by people with lofty spirits has increasingly been given way to the vision of “national rejuvenation.” Here I want to cite former President Hu Jintao’s important related speech given at the convention of commemorating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China to summarize three monumental tasks carried out by the Party: having fundamentally changed the future and destiny of the Chinese people and Chinese nation; having brought to an end the miserable situation of domestic chaos and external aggression as well as long-term poverty and debility since modern time; having embarked on a new historical journey of ensuring the Chinese nation has constantly gone from strength to strength and moving toward the great renewal, adding a new appearance to China with five-thousand-year civilization and promising a bright prospect for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The corresponding ways of thought consisting of “traditional time and modern time” and “civilized time and modern time” have contributed to different versions of narration for the history of new in China. Roughly speaking, the history of news featuring “traditional time and modern time” still emerges as the dominant trend, which can be proven by the book The History of Newspaper in Modern China written by Fang Hanqi, an expert of the history of news and another book A General History of News Industry in China which consists of three volumes. In fact, this trend is shared in a majority of textbooks concerning the history of news. The way of narration characterized by revolutionalization also involves mainstream value and carries the responsibility of offering ideas and talents while more importantly dominating the disciplines of the history of news. It can be recognized that as the thinking tides of “saying goodbye to revolution,” “alignment with the world” and “universal value” were rising in the 1980s, the way of narration typical of liberalization began to gain momentum, and sometimes gather stronger momentum. This context, together with the professionalism of news in the West, brings an impact upon China’s news practice and news discourse. This case is reflected in such books as Zhang Yuren’s The Adventure of Liberation: The Chinese History of News Thought of Liberalism and Li Jinquan’s Political Comment: Intellectuals and Newspaper, and so forth. Generally, the way of thought involving “traditional time and modern time” provides a detailed portrait of the evolutionary trails of the history of news and makes clear the internal and external factors of news history. Ant it plays a tremendous role

384

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

in establishing and developing the disciplines of news history and helping to constitute the academic basis for the journalism and communication in China. Equally, because of the restriction from the fundamental way of thought, be it the revolutionary history of news or the liberal history of news, we may fall into a dilemma of “caring some and losing some.” Let me give you a rhetoric of speech, “revolutionalization” draws a sketch of the Yangtze River and “liberalization” draws a sketch of the Yellow River, but the question is that we in China have many big rivers, let alone countless high mountains, lakes, grasslands, pastures, plains, and basins, to name a very few. Along with China’s peaceful development in the twenty-first century and the rise of “cultural self-awareness”, the thought of “civilized time and modern time” enters a right process of development, and there is no exception to the area of communication of news. In September, 2011, the Office of News of the State Council published a white paper entitled “The Peaceful Development of China,” which made clear the core national interests of the Sixth CPC National Congress while explaining the concept of communication of Chinese civilization. From this, we find it not difficult to understand the logic of thought on “civilized time and modern time.” Committed to the ideas of “remaining harmonious yet different, ensuring the unity of man and nature and putting harmony first”, the Chinese people have always held together the family, lived in peace with neighbors and treated other well in a harmonious spirit. This “harmonious” culture has attributed the Chinese nation with a peace-loving spirit. The universally known “Silk Road” is a route of trade, culture and peace, seeing ancient Chinese people seek for friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation. Zheng He, the famous navigator in the Ming Dynasty, has led the Chinese fleet to places beyond China for seven times, reaching as far as more than 30 countries and regions where he exhibited the splendid Chinese civilization and advanced technology, leaving behind a legacy of peace and friendship. With a large mind, the Chinese people have given a boost to the cultural integration between China and the world by embracing all good ingredients of foreign culture, contributing to a number of good stories of cultural exchanges. With strong sense of collectiveness and a keen sense of social responsibility, the Chinese people have all along adhered to the idea of “Do not do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you”, a famous saying that has been sung for several thousand years. They have always held in high esteem different cultures and concepts and tended to put themselves in others’ shoes. Meanwhile, they do not impose their will on other and treat foreigners with courtesy. The country favors the policy of living in harmony with close neighbors and distant regions.

As I have mentioned before, the changing situation since the Opium War marks a history of enlightenment for modern civilization and a history of revolution during which Chinese people struggle for national independence,

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

385

national liberation, and people’s freedom. At the same time, the changing situation constitutes a generational process or state-building process of modern country. In this sense, the news industry brings enlightenment to the crowd from a superior aspect, which is in line with Mr. Sun Yat-sen’s view “foresight vis-à-vis afterward feeling” and mobilizes and organizes the masses, like Chairman Mao Zedong’s proposal of supporting “politicians in running newspaper organization.” Simultaneously, it provides indispensable information platform and communication network for the complicated system of modern country while shaping the right way of the world day by day, contributing to the recognition of modern country based on the cultural recognition of the Chinese civilization that has lasted for five thousand years and turning people of world or scattered people in the civilization system into real national citizens of modern country. In addition, the gene of the Chinese civilization, like blood, penetrates through the modern journalism and spawns many theories and practices that are different from the western journalism. A good case in point is that according to the past history of news, “comments of scholars on politics” made by Wang Tao and Qiang Qichao as well as published in the newspaper Dagongbao were put down to being influenced by the news thinking of the western world and were perceived as the historical traces of freedom of the press. But from the perspective of “civilized time” and “modern time,” comments of scholars on politics actually inherit the spirits of the contention of one hundred schools of thought during the Spring and Autumn period, involvement of candidates of imperial academy in administration and discussion of political affairs in the Han Dynasty and the idea of “things in the family, in the country and in the world” in the Ming Dynasty. And now let me take another example. Some researches often criticize typical reports about China, which are believed to be not in line with the standard of the professionalism of the West. Indeed, these seemingly typical reports more or less reflect the moral tradition of the Chinese civilization. Today, these types of researches have become new and attractive. As for this, there is no lack of studies, which, for example, include The Media Code in the “Long River,” a doctoral dissertation of Wu Xiaodong from the Peking University, The Long Journey of Empires: Travels and Nation-State Building in Modern China, a doctoral dissertation of Li Ya from the Sichuan University. Besides, these studies also include Study on the Recognition of Profession for News Practitioners in China, a doctoral dissertation of Fan Yaping from the Renming University of China, Investigation into the Communication of the Yuan Dynasty, a doctoral dissertation of Li Man from the Tsinghua University, Videos of Nation and Coronation of Modern Time: The History and Construction of Documentaries of Ethnic Minorities, a doctoral dissertation of Wang Hua from the Fudan University and Study on the Information Communication of Land in the Northeastern Asia in the Ming Dynasty, a doctoral dissertation of Mou Shaoyi from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. These studies are different in content, but they have something in common: they seem as if getting rid of the thought of evolution and explore the rich connotations

386

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

of news communication from a broader civilization background. Let me cite an example to explain this. In accordance with the way of narration of “revolutionalization,” the newspapers written by missionaries in the nineteenth century mostly carry imperialist vices, but they are regarded as the products of advanced civilization. In the book The History of Chinese Newspaper of Missionaries, which is published in 2011, it is said: The Chinese edition of missionary newspaper gives an encyclopedic account of western knowledge, which covers a wide spectrum of areas such as math, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geography, biology, medicine, agriculture, literature, history, philosophy, economy, education and strategies. They run a gamut of natural science, humanistic science, social science and engineering technology. In particular, a quite large amount of western knowledge is little known to the Chinese people. Or otherwise, they are more superior to what China has possessed. (Zhao Xiaolan and Wu Chao 2011)

These researches and their knowledge certainly have full evidence and reason and, to a larger degree, relate to the fundamental and essence of problem. Yet at the turn of new century, the scholar Liu He conducted an insightful research on discourse politics of powers in the nineteenth century, which triggered widespread discussions in the academic world. What impresses us is that her research on the issue of missionary is a manifest of consciousness of “civilized time and modern time” and can offer inspirations for people who want to understand the communication of news of that time (Liu He 2009). Equally, Cheng Wei, researcher of Foreign Literature Studies Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provides a broad vision with his insights for the research concerning observations and thoughts of telegraph network and the history of news in the late Qing Dynasty and the early period of the Republic of China: In the late Qing period, in spite of tight fiscal condition, the government brought in a raft of technologies and systems (railway, ship, aviation, telegraph, printing machine, post system, house number system, the unification of mandarin, educational system for people and so on), which laid a good foundation for the technology, system, and society of a unified modern country. So we cannot write off this aspect completely in order to define the year of 1917 (May 4th Movement) as “the beginning of Chinese modern history”. As the saying goes, “We cannot accomplish one thing overnight”. The ever-flowing electric wave connects all parts of China and the world. Li Hongzhang, politician and diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty, made some proposals that reflect his strategic view and idea of modern business management, and these are more applicable than Hu Shi’s wild idea of “one-hundredthousand li railway”. The telegraph has political potential in mobilization of people across the country and the promotion of “simultaneous action”, but it is beyond Li Hongzhang’s foresight and becomes the catalyst of causing the Qing court to fall from power. When the telegraph is installed in China, even though

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

387

we have to spend one hundred days traveling from Gansu Province to Beijing, and two months from Shanghai to Chengdu in early time, these places can then be connected at the same moment. This is half of the story. What happens ten thousand miles away can be known to the newspaper offices of all places and is published in the newspaper. The telegraph largely helps the community in each place to foster the recognition of the “same country”. It is an accelerator of time and consciousness. Provided that Li Hongzhang’s introduction of telegraph instead accelerate the process of end of the Qing Dynasty, this technology from the West also poses a barrier to the imperialist partition and invasion of China because these western countries find that this poorly organized country has jump-started the work of mobilization. Previously, those local communities which are in a different space-time continuum because of geological conditions are now brought into the same space time due to the emergence of telegraph. The telegraph is closely connected with the following historical events: the Revolution of 1911 was transformed into a nationwide movement in China; the news of victory of European War (1914-1918) was immediately changed into a celebratory scene; the May 4th Movement that broke out in 1919 quickly swept across the country; and the Northern Expedition War experienced fast development. These events are linked with the functions of passing on message and promoting social mobilization of telegraphy. Furthermore, telegraph also becomes the medium of “international movement”: During the Paris Peace Conference, seven thousand letters through telegraph were sent from all parts of China to Paris. All these are beyond our imagination. The establishment of telegraph network has made this ancient country share synchronic news from other regions of China and the world.

There is no denying that there is a long way to go for the research on the history of news featuring “civilized time and modern time.” This is not only because many materials need to be explored, problems need to be examined and ideas need to be clarified. More importantly, we need to emancipate our mind, which is very similar to the lyrics of L’Internationale: Let mind break the cage.” Therefore, we need to break a set of discourses that have enfettered human thinking for several hundred years. In this sense, the scholar Liu Xiaofeng (2009) offers interpretation of politician philosopher Leo Strauss that perhaps helps us understand this perspective. The political philosophy championed by Strauss highlights the category of the term “classical”. First of all, it means fundamentally questioning those modern concepts of “ism” that are blind and enthusiastic, including conservatism, ‘left deviation’ and liberalism -answering why we need to introduce Strauss to China. The reason for this is that we can therefore give up pursuing all kinds of ‘ism’ in the western world in a blind and enthusiastic way in a hundred-year period. The second reason why we introduce Strauss is that we should adopt a prudent attitude towards the scientific law of western system of cultural education. The classical education that is promoted by Strauss provide incredible

388

APPENDIX REFLECTIONS OF THE RESEARCH …

chances for us, since it requires us to observe the noble souls, which can only be seen in canonic codes that are passed down from the ancient time to the present time, such as identifying right and wrong, good and bad, true and false and kind and evil-all these must base them on a set of moral principles. Either in China or in the western world, people have long summed up such principles, but these principles are eliminated in modern social science while other new principles are established. Hence, we need to find principles in the classical time in order to avoid losing moral and political characters that belong to us as scholars. The third reason for this is that Strauss’s classical political philosophy helps us understand that over the past century, the classical ‘way’ of China has all along met the modern ‘way’ of the western world, instead of the classical ‘way ‘of the western world, thus helping us get rid of a situation where we habitually use the modern way of the western world to measure the classical way of China and any “blind yet enthusiastic” political imagination in the system of cultural education in the modern western world.

From these perspectives, it is worth our time and effort to make reflections.

Notes 1. The paper article was published in the Journal of Shanxi University in 2012. 2. From the record of interview known as Historical Reflections of the Modernity of China by Zhou Zhiqing and Xiao Han.

中国文化特色词和短语: Chinese Culture-bound Phrases and other Terms

第一章 导论 Chapter 1 Introduction 中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

开元杂报

k’ai-yüen-tsa-pao

kaiyuanzabao

进奏院 进奏院报 邸报

chin-tsou-yüen chin-tsou-yüen-pao Ti-pao

jinzouyuan jinzoiyuanbao dibao

新闻

Hsin-wen

xinwen

突厥

t’u-chüeh

tujue

露布

lu-pu

lubu

道 藩镇割据

tao fan-chen-ko-chü

dao fanzhengeju

天

t‘ien

tian

kaiyuan miscellaneous reports capital liaison office chin-tsou-yüen report report from the office or mansion news; something that has been recently heard or seen T’u-chüeh people are those who then lived in the barbarian tribes of north and west of ancient China a military document of victory after the war or open dispatch the Way of heaven Local military governors establish a separatist regime and dominate a region heaven

© China Renmin University Press 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3

389

390

中国文化特色词和短语: CHINESE CULTURE-BOUND PHRASES …

第二章 邸院与驿传 Chapter 2 Capital Liaison Office and Ancient Postal System 中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

进奏院 驿 邸

chin-tsou-yüen i ti

jinyouzuan yi di

邑 朝集使 都督 刺史

i ch’ao-chi-shih tu-tu tz’u-shih

yi chaojishi dudu cishi

尚书省

chang-shu division

shangshusheng

尚书

shang-shu

shangshu

中书省

chuang-shu division

zhongshusheng

京兆府

ching-chao-fu

jingzhaofu

坊 藩镇 提塘

fang fan-chen t’i-t’ang

fang fanzhen titang

留后院

liu-hou-yüen

liuhouyuan

仆射

p’u-yeh

puye

押衙 驿传

Ya-ya i-ch’uan

yaya yichuan

驿路

i-lu

yilu

驿站

i-chan

yizhan

capital liaison office post station or office office, residence, liaison office fiefdom territorial representative area commander government censor; provincial or prefectural supervisor one of three leading organs of the central government of the Tang leader or minister of Shang-shu Division one of three leading organs of the central government of the Tang government office of capital residential block Local military governor the official of liaison office in the capital in the Ming and Qing dynasties the initial name of chin-tsou-yüen; alternate military officer office The later name of shang-shu, the leader of Shang-shu Division the chief of honor guard a vast network of communication relating to post road, post horse, post carriage and post road and so on/post-horse-coach-road system post road; road for post or delivery service post station; courier station (continued)

中国文化特色词和短语: CHINESE CULTURE-BOUND PHRASES …

391

(continued)

中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

驿马 羽檄

i-ma yü-hsi

yima yuxi

符节 行夫

fu-chieh hsing-fu

fujie xingfu

驿骑 传舍 客舍 馆舍 驰驿

i-ch’i’ ch’uan-she k’o-she kuan-she ch’ih-i

yiqi chuanshe keshe guanshe chiyi

乘驿

ch’eng-i

chengyi

乘传

ch’eng-ch‘uan

chengchuan

驰传

ch’ih—ch’uan

chichuan

兵部

ping-pu

bingbu

驾部

chia-pu

jiabu

库部

k’u-pu

kubu

郎中

lang-chung

langzhong

职方

chih-fang

zhifang

员外郎

yüen-wai-lang

yuanwailang

主事

chu-shih

zhushi

书令使

shu-ling-shih

Shulingshi

post-horse a military document (especially refers to feathered dispatch for military use) a military certificate of seal Literally walking man, but the offical in charge of things related to the post-horse and post-coach of sending letters and articles post rider post hostel; courier hostel guest hostel station hostel faster coach or coach at a faster speed fast coach or coach at a fast speed also faster coach or coach at a faster speed also fast coach or coach at a fast speed Here department of war; ministry of war department of coaches, chariots and horses department of military weapons leader of department of vehicles and horses (fifth rank) department of territory and map; department of territory and geography deputy head of department of vehicles ad horses (sixth rank) Assistant to the department of vehicles and horses (ninth rank) official personnel of department of vehicles and horses (continued)

392

中国文化特色词和短语: CHINESE CULTURE-BOUND PHRASES …

(continued)

中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

令使

ling-shih

lingshi

驿巡官 传符 通事舍人

i-hsün-kuan ch’uan-fu tong-shih-she-jen

yixunguan Chuanfu tongshisheren

掌故

chang-ku)

Zhanggu

邸舍 邸店 邸肆 邸第 传舍 亭 驿亭 邮亭 驿楼 驿长 驿将 驿隶 驿丁 驿卒 团练使 驿使 驿子 羽书 急递 急脚 急脚递 草书 隶书 行书 篆书

ti-she ti-tien ti-ssu ti-tien ch’uan-she t’ing i-ting yu–ting i-lou i-chang i-chiang i-li i-ting i-tzu t’uan-lien-shih i-shih i-tzu yü-shu chi-ti chi-chiao chi-chiao-ti ts’ao-shu li-shu hsing-shu chuan-shu

dishe didian disi didi chuanshe ting yiting youting yilou yizhang yijiang yili yiding yizu tuanlianshi yishi yizi yushu jidi jijiao jijiaodi caoshu lishu xingshu zhuanshu

official personnel of department of vehicles and horses road inspector permit of travel an official in charge of passing on the memorial and order official personnel of department of vehicles and horses residence hostel residence inn residence tavern residence mansion courier hostel pavilion post pavilion Mail pavilion station hostel tower postermaster post-commander post official post-corvée-laborer post soldier Military prefect Post messenger postman Feathered dispatch Express delivery Express feet Express feet delivery Cursive script Official script Running hand Seal script

中国文化特色词和短语: CHINESE CULTURE-BOUND PHRASES …

393

第三章 政府公报与进奏院状 Chapter 3 Government Gazette and Chin-tsou-yüen Report 中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

邸院 邸报

ti-yüen ti-pao

diyuan dibao

太学 报 杂记 报状 进士

T’ai-hsüeh Pao tsa-chi Pao-chuang chin-shih

taixue bao Zaji baozhuang jinshi

敕诰

chi-kao

chigao

门下省

Men-hsi Division

menxiasheng

中书舍人

chung-shu-she-jen

Zhongshusheren

翰林学士

han-lin-hsüeh-shih

hanlinxueshi

吐蕃

Tu-po

tubo

Liaison office Report /gazette from the office Imperial academy Report/gazette/newspaper miscellaneous records Letter-report Program of the highest level of imperial examination; those who pass it can grant chin-shih title and get the official post draft- [emperor’s] mandate) for the court One of three leading organs of central government of the Tang attendant/drafters of the Chung-shu Division academicians from Hanlin Academy Ancient Tibetan tribes

394

中国文化特色词和短语: CHINESE CULTURE-BOUND PHRASES …

第四章 檄书与露布 Chapter 4 His-shu and Lu-pu 中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

露布

lu-pu

lubu

榜文 烽燧 传播 檄书/檄文

Pang-wen Feng-sui Ch’uan-po Hsi-shu/his-wen

bangwen fengsui chuanbo xishu/xiwen

Open dispatch; a military document of victory after the war Government placard Smoke signal dissemination;spread proclamation-writings/article; a military document of mobilization used before the war

第五章 烽火、榜文与起居注 Chapter 5 Beacon Fire, Placard and Imperial Diaries 中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

烽火 榜文 烽燧

Feng-huo Pang-wen Feng-sui

fenghuo bangwen fengsui

Beacon fire Government placard Smoke signal

第七章 Chapter 7 Scholars and Their Communication 士人传播 中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

士 士人 君子 小人 游士 士大夫 科举 进士

shih shih-jen ch¨un-tzu Hsiao-jen yu-shih shih-ta-fu k’o-ch¨u chin-shih

shi shiren junzi xiaoren youshi shidafu keju jinshi

scholar scholar superior gentleman mean/base person political strategist official-scholar imperial examination successful scholar who passes the highest level of the imperial examination (continued)

中国文化特色词和短语: CHINESE CULTURE-BOUND PHRASES …

395

(continued)

中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

明经.

Ming-ching

mingjing

岁贡

sui-kung

suigong

乡贡

hsiung-kung

xianggong

策士 儒士 名士 绅士 士子

ts’e-shih ju-shih ming-shih shen-shih shih-tzu

ceshi rushi mingshi shenshi shizi

乐府

y¨uen-fu

yuefu

programs used to select officials started from the reign of Emperor Wu in the western Han Dynasty student candidates sent to the capital’s imperial academy from all regions in the country student candidates from county and village strategist-scholar Confucian scholar famous scholar gentlemanly scholar the scholar who sits for imperial exam a literary genre reflecting current affairs and reality

第八章 Chapter 8 Ancient Letters and Brush-note Novels 古代的信和笔记小说 中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

过所 尺牍 书信 正史 杂史 笔记 志怪 传奇

ko-suo ch’ih-tu shu-hsin cheng-shih tsa-shih pi-chi chih-kuai ch’uan-ch’I

guosuo chidu shuxin zhengshi zashi biji zhiguai chuanqi

丛谈

s’ung-t’an pai-kuan

congtan baiguan

permit of travel wooden slip letter official dynastic history unofficial history brush=note essays strange stories legends from the Tang Dynasty books or collected books low rank officials

396

中国文化特色词和短语: CHINESE CULTURE-BOUND PHRASES …

第九章 Chapter 9 Wall Inscription Style Poems 题壁诗 中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

题壁诗

t’i-pi -sh h

tibishi

题壁

t’i-pi

tibi

wall inscription style poems writing/inscribing poems on the wall

第十章 Chapter 10 The Communication of Ordinary People 民间传播 中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

题壁诗 谣 谶语

t’i-pi -sh h yao ch’en-yü

tibishi yao chenyu

补阙 拾遗 侍御史

pu-ch’üeh shih-I shih-yü-shih

buque shiyi shiyushi

评事 博士

p’ing-shih po-shih

pingshi boshi

宣抚使 俗讲

hsüan-fu-shih Su-chiang

xuanfushi sujiang

变文

pien-wen

bianwen

僧讲

seng-chiang

sengjiang

wall inscription style poems rumor/ballard a kind of enigmatic language and wizard’s prophecy that bodes ill and well for things junior advisor junior advisor deputy secretary of supervision/vice censor the who judges the case an official in charges of archives and books government inspector a religious activity featuring dialogue and song in which monks interpret Buddhist scriptures for the secular people a literary genre including prose and verse, which is performed in the form of dialogue and song, with its focus on paraphrasing Buddhist sutra and folk stories interpreting scriptures for monks (continued)

中国文化特色词和短语: CHINESE CULTURE-BOUND PHRASES …

397

(continued)

中文 Chinese Phrases

威妥玛拼音音译 Wade-Giles Romanization

汉语拼音 Chinese Pinyin

释义/翻译 Translation /Explanation

话本

hua-pen

huabne

鼓词

ku-tz’u

guci

诸宫调

chu-kung-tiao

zhugongdiao

弹词

t’an-tz’u

tanci

the script for story-telling in Song and Yuan folk literature a folk art featuring words and songs most with the accompaniment of drum a style of song prevalent in the eleventh century in China a form of folk art of storytelling to the accompaniment of stringed instruments

Afterword

—Let us seek a poetic state Through hard work, I have finally finished writing my doctoral paper. At this moment, I am in a state of infinite feelings and words fail to describe them. I feel very lucky to become a disciple of Mr. Fang Hanqi as a student of the Renmin University. My alma mater has always held a fine tradition of valuing good virtue and I am deeply indebted for my teacher. How fortunate I am to express my feeling with sincere words! Now I am thinking of that night in hot summer two years ago, when I twisted and turned on the bed due to the fact that I could not come up with my dissertation topic, but then an eureka moment flashed across my mind. This was followed by my effort to write about “Journalism and Communication in the Civilization of the Tang.” At that time, I felt just as if I were a pilgrim who traveled very far in order to catch a glimpse of the holy city, both in fear and in elation. On the one hand, as for the dissertation topic, I think I am not the suitable man to select it because I do not have much knowledge about the history of the Tang Dynasty, nor do I have a very good command of this history, still less doing an important research on this aspect. On the other hand, I have the impulse to accept this challenge, so I am torn by exceptional courage that youth bestows me and that indelible feeling in my life. It is said that Arnold Toynbee, the famous historian of Britain, often said, “If he were allowed to experience a free reincarnation, he would be most willing to live in the north of Xinjiang in the 9th century.” His words make my heart suddenly miss a beat. I want to say that the ninth century is the prosperous period of the Tang Empire which most people have longed for, and the north of Xinjiang is where I was born. For this reason, it constitutes a space–time continuum, and it is my “glory and dream” in life. This situation is similar to what Alexander Pushkin described in his poem: “My whole life is the assurance of my fated meeting with you…”. © China Renmin University Press 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3

399

400

AFTERWORD

But before I embark on an unsmooth journey, I am not clear about what I aspire to pursue. I move forward for a while and advance backward for a while, as if I were an uncertain boat, not knowing where to go, surrounded by the dead wind in all directions. At first I plan to do some strict textual research. As Leopold von Ranke said, “I just plan to explain the truth of fact in a complete and detailed way.” This is what we call “speak the truth in line with the history.” We have to admit that this way of thinking contains an emphasis on the way that a recluse thinks and a lack of focus on the self-reflection and correction of evidence-based research. I can clearly remember what Zhang Longxi, a disciple of Qian Zhongshu, said that my teacher is not interested in building a grand system and establishing a set of theories, but his thinking is very similar to the thought of doing scholarly research from Nancy Fraser: “Any theory is temporary, and the total collection of facts can have everlasting value”. However, in a short time, I feel that searching for and screening facts purely go against one’s temperament, and their significance remains to be examined. As Fu Sinian said, “The historical science is the science of historical materials, so what is the value of historical science? Are the correction and the collection of historical materials of good use? Furthermore, for those famous things that gone unnoticed in history, if we do not observe them with a keen insight and bestow them with brightness and living spirits, will they have nothing to do with us?” Then, a scene close to the original reemerged in my mind. One day, the favorite son of Marc Bloch, a well-known philosopher and historian, asked, “Please tell me, Dad, How is history useful?” For that reason, Bloch wrote that historical masterpiece entitled Apologie pour l’histoire ou Metier D’ Historien, which mainly features the following words in terms of its thought: The historical science cannot be limited to the objective description of phenomenon but lay stress on the significance and perception of life, thus making life full of poetic conceptions. In truth, the pursuit of poetic conception is the essential element of historical science. Bloch once said well: “The thought of historiography, with a legacy that has lasted for several thousand years, and with myriad forms, makes one overwhelmed with sorrow or joy. From this point, it can have greater drive to stimulate people’s imagination. …Don’t let historians fail to give better scope to their poetic conception…Some may be struck by anxiety or intimidation when he is told that history must have poetic conception. If someone views a situation where history is filled with emotion as the damage to sensibility, it will be very ridiculous”. According to the three standards that a historian adopts, the first is the poetic conception (talent), followed by academic content (scholarship) and thought (understanding). For the Tang Dynasty, it goes without saying that it is a dynasty that well demonstrates poetic conception, which lies at the heart

AFTERWORD

401

of the civilization of the Tang because it imparts full life, romantic spirit, and natural feeling. Let me cite a good saying from T. Cart: The Tang Dynasty is a new and young period and a century of lyrical poems. Here I recall a song from the man of letter Wei Yingwu: “A horse from Hun tribe is banished, coming at the foot of Mount Yanzhi, where he digs in the sand and in the snow, neighing alone. Stopping there, he looks around, finding himself lost. But at this moment the night falls in the vast expanse of grassland.” This is what reflects my feelings. When I finish my paper, I am not sure about how many academic questions I have answered. But my sole joy in my research derives from the fact that the isomorphic situation of the Tang and the China’s western region plunges me into a very poetic state. Therefore, in my opinion, writing this paper is more like a soul-stirring experience than an academic outcome that can fill the void of research. Finally, I owe a great deal to my teachers and friends. I am especially thankful to the members of the Evaluation Committee and the members of Oral Defense Committee for reviewing my paper. Their scrupulous attitude, ken of knowledge, and standard of morality benefit me a lot. So I cannot have too many words to describe my gratefulness. Now I want to enumerate their names here in honor of their hard work. Ning Shufan, Professor of Journalism School Fudan University and instructor of doctor, is a member of the Evaluation Committee. Lin Ganlin, Professor of Journalism School Fudan University and instructor of doctor, is a member of the Evaluation Committee. Yao Fushen, Professor of Journalism School Fudan University and chief-ineditor of Journalism Bimonthly, is a member of the Evaluation Committee. Wu Tingjun, Dean of Journalism and Information Communication school Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Professor, is a member of the Evaluation Committee. Gu Changling, Associate Professor of School of Journalism and Communication Renmin University of China, is a member of the Evaluation Committee. Chen Yeshao, Professor of School of Journalism and Communication Renmin University of China, is a member of the Evaluation Committee and chairman of the Committee of Oral Defense. Zhao Yuming, Vice Dean of Communication University of China and instructor of doctor, is a member of the Committee of Oral Defense. Liu Jianming, Vice Director of Chinese Department of Tsinghua University, is a member of the Committee of Oral Defense. Ming Anxiang, Research Fellow of Research Center of Journalism and Communication Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is a member of the Committee of Oral Defense. Yin Yungong, Director of Research Center of Journalism and Communication Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Research Fellow, is a member of the Committee of Oral Defense.

402

AFTERWORD

Guo Zhenzhi, Director of Research Center of TV Communication of Communication University of China and Research Fellow, is a member of the Committee of Oral Defense. Li Bin, In the Building No. 745 of Renmin University of China June 21, 1998

Supplements to Revised Edition

It has been 15 years since I sent the first edition to the press. In order to make another revision, I have read the book General Mirror for the Aid of Government (Zizhi tongjian) once more over the past year. Between words are notes and commentaries at the top of the page which I left years ago. Lost in trance, I feel as if I had gone through a fairyland of dream through time travel, entering a situation where when you look at it, it appears before you, but all of sudden, in a moment, it appears after you. As a result, I really feel that life is limited, but knowledge is unlimited. Following are the sentences written by the great Historian Si Maguang when he finished the General Mirror: I am not very intelligent, and not excellent in scholarship and research; what I do is not superior to others. But I have read a large number of ancient historical books and collected many novels, with a large amount piled up on my table, as many as a vast ocean. But now I am anguished and peaky, my eyes dimming. After I have done something, I will forget it immediately.

Through the above paragraph, I want to say that I will do my best to finish the revised edition without high hope for a better outcome. Besides correcting mistakes of proofreading, I will make up for the previous mistakes, add what is missed and correct what is wrong while weighing some words to make some proper changes. At last, I enclose herewith a recent article which is a collection of my years of gains and academic approaches to this doctoral paper. Generally speaking, when you write a paper with a topic, you will take a liking to a special subject, and there is no exception to me. When the manuscript sent by the press was finally proofread, I just read an essay called As if I had Searched the Soul of Poem for a Thousand Years, which is written by the poetic critic Li Yuanluo (2014) to recollect late Tang period poet Zheng Gu. And I was carried away by that poetic conception at the end of the prose.

© China Renmin University Press 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3

403

404

SUPPLEMENTS TO REVISED EDITION

Looking around, I find myself surrounded by quietness and loneliness. The green hill remains green, and has been so since the Tang Dynasty; the clear stream is still clear, and has been so since the Tang period. Nowhere can I find one part of Zheng Gu’s clothes and shoes. Nowhere can I find a section of broken tilts and bricks in that classroom. The poet has gone down in history. A scene come across me: when I look back all of sudden, I see a white horse in the forest deep in the mountain, enjoying green grasses with a bending head. Is it the descendant of that horse of Zheng Gu? And let me take a leap to sit on its back, feasting my eyes on the beautiful autumn scene as he gallops at a faster pace, before I enter the Tang period through an ancient path. In addition to my wish for the future, my learning as a doctor has greater significance for me. This is because on the journey to my learning and thought, Journalism and Communication in the Civilization of the Tang is a turning point. If my previous interest just focuses on the theory and principle of communication while relating to the journalism and communication industry in Europe and USA, after I became the student of Mr. Fang Hanqi, my ideological and academic perspective turned to the issue of China, cultural and political topics and the organic unity of history and logic and my investigation into the journalism and communication is a rudimentary leaning and endeavor. As time goes by, I think that this work is not only an academic journey full of difficulties but represents a process of ideological baptism. As the book shows, the Tang Dynasty is a heroic time of prosperity and a youthful time of vibrancy. Those tens of thousands of poems from the Quantangshi compiled by Qing Ji are like lingering sounds of historical waves. In the history of human civilization, this is a so splendid time that perhaps only ancient Greek can stand comparison with it. But one thing is peerless: The civilization of the Tang covers a vast expanse of land and its spiritual halo spans across the universe of history, imparting brilliant charm day by day. What impresses me most is that the Tang Dynasty has an open aura which is rare and all-inclusive, as a poem rings true: “One palace after another, like the heavenly gate, is grandly open; and escorts from different states come together to pay respects to the emperor.” As for openness, presently, every county tends to claim that they are open and each person also likes to do that. The key lies in the fact that what is the aspect of our openness? Zhao Tingyang said well that people are always inclined to be open to new things rather than different things. When we are open to new things, we will not actually feel the true distress. So people in the western world finally accept the unsatisfactory thoughts of heliocentric theory and evolution theory as well as Freudian psychoanalysis. But when it comes to heterogeneous things, the open door to our spiritual world seems to be blocked by the thing as heavy as Mount Tai. “I don’t agree what you say, but I will do my best to defend your rights to say”—actually the idea of a mild pagan or fundamentalism.

SUPPLEMENTS TO REVISED EDITION

405

When first wrote this postscript of this paper, I mentioned about a longcherished wish of Arnold Toynbee: The crisscrossed time space of the western region and the Tang is the important home that he has longed for. In terms of academic thought, Toynbee is known for making a comparison between different civilizations, but I think this aspect is certainly connected with the perceptions of investigating all major civilizations. The western region of China in the past was the resort where several civilizations met. Come what it may, this land of civilization, steeped in the brilliance, is bathed in the vigorous atmosphere. When we live in this civilization, how can our life not be open and bright! Therefore, the poems of Li Bai and Du Fu have shone brilliantly through ages, and this is true of the symphonies of Beethoven. My book once won the favor of Mr. Huang Chunfeng and was collected in the “doctoral thesis of journalism and communication library” of Xinhua Publishing House. And today, thanks to the help of Zhai Jianghong, the book is lucky to enter the “journalism and communication library” of China Renmin University Press. Besides, I thank doctoral candidate Li Haibo and postgraduate candidate Li Lian, both from the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, for assisting me in the work of revision. Li Bin In the Tsinghuayuan Building in 2014

References

Cao Yin, Peng Dingqiu. (1960). All Preserved Poems from the Tang Dynasty [全唐诗]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Cao Zhi. (1994). The Origin of Chinese Printing Technique [中国印刷术的起源]. Wuhan: Wuhan University Press. Chen Hongyi. (1992). On the History of Traffic in China [中国交通史话]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1992. Chen Lidan. (1993). The Theory of Spiritual Exchange: The Ideals of Karl Max and Friedrich En gels on Communication [精神交往论——马克思恩格斯的传播观]. Beijing: Kaiming Press. Cheng Qiang, Dong Naibin. (1996). The Spirit and Civilization of the Tang Empire [唐帝国的精神文明]. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. Cheng Yizhong. (1988). Supplements to the Stylistic System of Su-chiang of the Tang (Dunhuang Research on Language and Literature) [唐代俗讲文体制补说]. Beijing: Peking University Press. Chen Yuanyuan. On the System of Post in the Tang Dynasty [唐代驿制考]. Yenching University Annual Journal of History (The First Volume the Fifth Edition). Cui Lingqin. (2000). Musicians and Their Skills and Performance [教坊记]. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House. Cui Zhiyuan. (2007). Annotations of Writings about the Tang [桂苑笔耕集校注]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Deng Shaoji, Li Mei. (1997). Essays on Ancient Letters (Chidu Wenlue Lun)[尺牍文 略论]. Journal of Shanxi Normal University (1). Denis Twitchett. (1979/1990). The Cambridge History of China, vol 3: Sui and Tang China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press/Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. Department of Journalism and Communication Fudan University. (1987). Anthology of the Chinese History of News (Zhongguo Xinwenshi Wenji) [中国新闻史文集]. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. Dong Gao, et al. (1983). All Preserved Essays from the Tang and Five Dynasties Period [全唐文]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Du You. 1995. Comprehensive Statutes [通典]. Changsha: Yuelu Press. © China Renmin University Press 2020 B. Li, Communication, Civilization and China, Sociology, Media and Journalism in China, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7808-3

407

408

REFERENCES

Duan Chengshi. (1981). A Table Full of Miscellaneous Writings from the South of Mt. You [酉阳杂俎]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Edward Hetzel Schafer. (1985/1995). The Golden Peaches of Smarkand: A Study of Tang Exotics. California: University of California Press/Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. Fan Wenlan. (1965). The Concise Edition of General History of China [中国通史简编 (修订本)] (The Third Edition, First Volume). Beijing: People’s Publishing House. Fang Hanqi. (1983). Observing the Newspaper of Ancient China from the Chin-tsouyüen Report of the Tang Guiyi Army that is Housed in the British Library [从 不列颠图书馆藏唐归义军“进奏院状”看中国古代的报纸]. Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication. Beijing: Renmin University of China. Fang Hanqi, Ning Shufan, Chen Yeshao. (1992). A General History of Journalism in China (First Volume) [中国新闻事业通史]. Beijing: China Renmin University Press. Feng Erkang. (1994). The Evolution of Social Structure in China [中国社会结构的演 变]. Zhengzhou: Henan People’s Publishing House. Feng Yan. (2005). Notes for The Story of Fengyan [封氏闻见记校注]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Fei Xiaotong. (1985). Earthbound China [乡土中国]. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company. Fu Xuancong. (1980). Investigations Based on Poets of the Tang [唐代诗人丛考]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Fu Xuancong. (1984). On the Release of Results through Placard about Chin-shih Program under Imperial Examination and Banquet Gathering in the Tang Dynast y [唐代的进士放榜与宴集] (Journal of Literature and History the 23rd Edition). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Fu Xuancong. (1987). Notes for Biographies of Eminent Poets from the TangDynasty [ 唐才子传校笺]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Gan Xifen. (1993). Dictionary of Journalism [新闻学大辞典]. Zhengzhou: Henan People’s Publishing House. Gao Guofan. (1985). On the Folk Pien-wen of Dunhuang [论敦煌民间变文] (Essays on Dunhuang Studies). Lanzhou: Gansu People’s Publishing House. Gao Guofan. (1989). Folklore of Dunhuang [敦煌民俗学]. Shanghai: Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. Ge Gongzhen. (1955). Journalistic History of China [中国报学史]. Beijing SDX Joint Publishing Company. Ge Zhaoguang. (1987). Taoism and Chinese Culture [道教与中国文化]. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. Gu Yanwu. (1990). Explanations of Records of Daily Gains in Knowledge [日知录集 释]. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House. Hong Mai. (1994). Spontaneous Essays of the Studio of Forbearance [容斋随笔]. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House. Huang Renyu. (1997). Macro-history in China [中国大历史]. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company. Huang Zhuoming. (1983). Investigation into the Origin of Ancient Chinese Newspaper [中国古代报纸探源]. Beijing: People’s Daily Press. Jacques Gernet. (1972/1995). Le Monde Chinois. Paris: Arman Colin/Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Publishing House. Jian Bozan. (1965). The Compendium of the History of China [中国史纲要] (The Second Volume). Beijing: People’s Publishing House.

REFERENCES

409

Jiang Liangfu, Luo Zhenyu. (1986). Supplements to the Biography of Zhang Yichao 《补唐书张议潮传》 [ 订补] (Collected Papers on the Reminiscence of Mr. Xiang Da). Urumqi: Xinjiang People’s Publishing House. Jiang Xiangdong. (1992). Question on the Rumor That Newspaper was Born in the Tang Dynasty [对中国古代报纸产生于唐代之说的质疑]. Journal of Fujian Normal University (Philosophical and Social Science Edition): (2). John King Fairbak, Edwin Old father Reischauer. (1967/1992). China: Tradition and Transformation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company/Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Publishing House. Li Dang. (1987). Annotations of Forest of Discussions about the Tang Period [唐语林 校证]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Li Fang, Hu Meng, Li Mu, et al. (1961). Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign [太 平广记]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Li Jingyi. (1996). The Chinese History of Communication: The Volume of PreQin Period and Two Han Dynasties [中国传播史:先秦两汉卷]. Wuhan: Wuhan University Press. Li Longji. (1991). The Six Statutes of the Tang (Tangliudian) [唐六典]. Xiaan: Sanqin Press. Li Yiping, Tao Diqian. (1996).On the Outward Communication of the Tang Dynasty: Towards the Journalism and Communication in the 21st Century [论唐代的对外 传播.面向2l世纪的新闻与传播] (Collected Papers). Guangzhou: Jinan University Press. Li Yiping, Tao Diqian. (1996). On the Outward Communication of the Tang Dynasty [论唐代的对外传播]. Guangzhou: Jinan University Press. Li Zehou. (1981). The Process of Beauty [美的历程]. Beijing: Cultural Relics Press. Li Zehou. (1994). On the Ancient Thoughts of China [中国古代思想史论]. Hefei: Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House. Li Zhao. (1983). Supplement to the History of the Tang Dynasty (Tangguo shibu) [唐 国史补]. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House. Lin Yutang. (1995). Anthology of Lin Yutang [林语堂文集] (the Sixth Volume Biography of Wu Zetian). The Writers Publishing House. Liu Guangsheng. (1986). The History of Post Office and Courier Station in Ancient China [中国古代邮驿史]. Beijing: Post & Telecom Press. Liu Guangyu, Guoshubing. (1997) On the Impact of the Way of Communication on the Poetry of the Song and Tang [论传播方式的改变对唐宋词的影响]. Qilu Journal, 1997 (1). Liu Jianming. (1988). Basic Theory of Public Opinion, Media and Press [基础舆论 学]. Beijing: Renming University of China Press. Liu Su. (1984). New Talks of the Tang Dynasty (Datang xinyu) [大唐新语]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Liu Su. (2005). Fine Stories from the Sui and Tang Dynasties [隋唐佳话]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Liu Xu. (1973). Old History of the Tang Dynasty [旧唐书]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Liu Zhiji. (1997). All about Historiography [史通]. Shenyang: Liaoning Education Press. Lou Zuyi. (1940). The History of Postal Development of China [中国邮驿发展史]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.

410

REFERENCES

Luo Zongtao. (1992). Early Investigation into the “Wall Inscription”Style Poetry of the Tang Scholars (The Third Edition) [唐人题壁诗初探]. Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press. Max Weber. (1920/1993). Konfuzianismus und Taoismus. Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Publishing House. Meng Qi. (1983). Stories in Verses [本事诗]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Michal E. Roloff. (1997). Interpersonal Communication: The Social Exchange Approach. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House. Ning Shufan. (1987). New Explorations of the Definition of News [新闻定义新探]. Fudan University Journal (Social Science Edition), 1987 (5). Oba Osamu.1985. “Beiguan Wenshu” Unearthed in Turfan: A Historical Document on Chinese Postal System [吐鲁番出土的北馆文书——中国驿传制度史上的一份资 料] (Anthology of Translated Papers of Dunhuang Studies: Study on the Social and Economic Documents and Manuscripts Unearthed in Dunhuang and Turfan). Lanzhou: Gansu People’s Publishing House. Ouyang Xiu. (1974). New History of the Five Dynasties (Xin wudaishi) [新五代史]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Pan Jixing. 1997. Observing the Origin of Printing Technique from the Perspective of Archeology [从考古发现看印刷术的起源]. Guangming Daily, 19970311. Qiu Jiangbo. (1991). On Public Opinion and Admonishment in Ancient China [.论 舆论与中国古代谏诤]. Social Science Front, 1991 (4). Sha Lianxiang. (1990). The Communication: The Myth of Image World of Human as the Subject [传播学——以人为主体的图像世界之谜]. Beijing: Renmin University of China Press. Shen Deqian. (1963). Source of Ancient Poems [古诗源]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Shen Kuo. (1963). Dream Pool Essay [梦溪笔谈]. Shenyang: Liaoning Education Press. Sima Guang. (1956). General Mirror for the Aid of Government [资治通鉴]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Song Qi, Ouyang Xiu. (1975). New History of the Tang Dynasty [新唐书]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Sun Guangxian. (1985). Trivial Tales from the North of Meng (Beimeng suoyan) [北 梦琐言]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Sun Qi. (1957). Chronicle of Bieli [北里志]. Beijing: Classical Literature Press, 1957. Sun Xupei. (1997). The Chinese Theory of Communication: the Communication of Traditional Chinese Culture [华夏传播论——中国传统文化中的传播]. Beijing: People’s Publishing House. Tang Yongtong. (1961). Sketch Three: What Is Su-chiang ? [ 康复札记之三“何谓俗 讲”] (Xin Jianshe), 1961(6). Thomas Francis Carter. (1955/1957). The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward. New York: Ronald Press/Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Tschen Yin Koh. (1992). Selected Collection of Historical Papers of Tschen Yin Koh [ 陈寅恪史学论文选集]. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House. Tschen Yin Koh. (1997). Essays on the Political History of the Tang Dynasty [唐代政 治史述论稿]. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House. Wang Dingbao. (1978). Anecdotes Poets and Scholars from the Tang [唐摭言]. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House.

REFERENCES

411

Wang Diwu. (1991). The Time of Empress Wu Zetian [武则天时代]. Xiamen: Xiamen University Press. Wang Hongxiang. (1996). The Outstanding Communicator of News in Ancient Xinjiang: Xuan Zang [古代新疆新闻的杰出传播者——玄奘]. The World of Journalism of Xinjiang, 1996 (3). Wang Hongzhi. (1985). Several Questions on the System of Courier Station in the Early Tang Period [关于唐初馆驿制度的几个问题] (Essays on the Studies of Documents of Dunhuang and Tulufan). Wang Pu. (1991). History of Laws and Institutions of the Tang [唐会要]. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House. Wang Qingshu. (1988). Dunhuang Research on Pien-wen [敦煌变文研究] (Collected Papers on Language and Literature of Dunhuang). Beijing: Peking University Press. Wang Renyu. (2006). The Story of an Lushan in Anecdotes and Legends in the Periods of Kaiyuan and Tianbao [开元天宝遗事 安禄山事迹]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Wang Wencai. (1985). Investigations Based on the Ceremony of Su-chiang [俗讲仪式 考] (Essays on Dunhuang Studies). Lanzhou: Gansu People’s Publishing House. Wang Zhixing. (1984). Did the Tang Scholar Sun Chuxuan Uses the Phrase “Hsin-wen (news)” [唐人孙处玄用过“新闻”一词吗?] (Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication the Eighth Edition). Beijing: Renmin University of China Press. Wang Zhongluo. (1988). History of the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties [隋唐五代史]. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. Wei Zheng. (1973). History of the Sui Dynasty [隋书]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Wu Feng. (1987). Interpretation of Historical Documents of the Sui and Tang [隋唐 历史文献集释]. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Anceint Books Publishing House. Wu Jing. (1996). A Compendium on Statecraft from the Zhenguan Reign [贞观政 要]. Changsha: Yuelu Press. Wu Tingjun. (1988). Observing the Nature of Chin-tsou-yüen Report of the Tang from the Original Copy of Chin-tsou-yüen Report of Arm of Guiyi Military Region [从归义军进奏院状的原件看唐代进奏院状的性质]. Discussion and Contention of Thoughts on Journalism, 1988 (1). Wu Yumin. (1988). Invisible Network: Observing the Chinese Culture from the Perspective of Communication [无形的网络——从传播学的角度看中国的传统文化]. Beijing: International Culture Publishing Company. Wu Zongguo. (1992). Study on the System of Imperial Examination in the Tang Dynasty [唐代科举制度研究]. Shenyang: Liaoning University Press. Xiang Da. (1957). Chang’an in the Tang Dynasty and Civilization in the Western Regions [唐代长安与西域文明]. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company. Xu Peiting, Qiu Zhengyi. (1994). The History of Thoughts of Journalism and Communication in China [中国新闻传播学说史]. Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing House, 1994. Xu Song, Li Jianchao. (1996). Added Investigations into Two Capital Cities in the Tang Dynasty [增订唐两京城坊考]. Xiaan: Sanqin Press. Xuan Zang. (1985). Buddhist Notes of the Western Regions [大唐西域记]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Xue Juzheng et al. (1976). Old History of the Five Dynasties [旧五代史]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Conpany.

412

REFERENCES

Yao Fushen. 1981. Discussions of Several Questions of “Ti-pao” [有关邸报几个问题的 探讨] (Xinwen Research Documents the Ninth Edition). Beijing: Xinhua Publishing House. Yao Fushen. (1982). Investigation into the Activities of Journalism and Communication of the Tang Dynasty [唐代新闻传播活动考]. Journalism Bimonthly, 1982 (5). Yao Fushen. (1984). Observing the Official Communication of News in the Han Dynasty from the Jiandu (Bamboo Writing Slips) Unearthed in the Heritage of Fengsui of Maquanwan in Dunhuang [从敦煌马圈湾烽燧遗址出土的简牍看汉代官 方新闻传播](Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication the Eighth Edition). Beijing: Renmin University of China. Yao Fushen. (1985). Investigation into Miscellaneous Reports from the Period of Kaiyuan 《开元杂报》 [ 考] (Collection of Papers on Journalism and Communication the Ninth Edition). Beijing: Renmin University of China. Yao Fushen. 1989. Investigations Based on Whether Sun Chuxuan Used the Term “Hsin-wen (news)” [唐代孙处玄使用“新闻”一语的考辨]. Journalism Bimonthly, 1989 (1). Yin Yungong. (1990). The History of Journalism and Communication in the Ming Dynasty [中国明代新闻传播史]. Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing Group. Yu Taishan. (1996). General History of Western Regions of China [西域通史]. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House, 1996. Yu Yelu, Zheng Xuemeng. (1994). Starts from Zero: Collected Essays of the First Symposium of Exploring the Communication of Traditional Chinese Culture across Straits [从零开始——首届海峡两岸中国传统文化中传的探索座谈会论文集]. Xiamen: Xiamen University Press. Yu Yingshi. (1987). The Scholar and Chinese Culture [士与中国文化]. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. Yuan Ren. 1986. A Pilgrimage to the Tang for Buddhist Scriptures [入唐求法巡礼行 记]. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House. Zan Ning, Fan Xiangyong. (1987). Stories of Senior Monks from the Song Dynasty [唐 高僧传]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Zhang Guogang. (1983). Textual Research on Chin-tsou-yüen (Capital Liaison Office) of the Tang Dynasty [唐代进奏院考略]. Wen Shi (The Eighteenth Edition). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Zhang Guogang. (1986). Study on Two Official Documents of Chin-tsou-yüen in Dunhuang: Comments on the Fact that “Ti-pao” Is Not the Ancient Newspaper [两 份敦煌进奏院状文书的研究——论“邸报”非古代报纸]. Academic Monthly (7). Zhang Guogang. (1986). Ti-pao Is Not the Ancient Newspaper [邸报并非古代报纸]. Tianjin Daily. Zhang Hongwei. (1996). A Tentative Discussion on the Origin of Block Printing Technique [试论雕版印刷术起源问题]. Journal of China Printing (2). Zhang Peiheng, Luo Yuming. (1996). The History of Chinese Literature [中国文学 史]. Fudan University Press. Zang Rong. (1991). Post Station and Post Communication in Ancient China [中国 古代驿站与邮传]. Tianjin: Tianjin Education Press. Zhang Zexian. (1995). The Industry and Commerce in the Tang Dynasty [唐代的工 商业]. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. Zhang Zexian. (1996). Study on the Class Structure of the Tang [唐代阶级结构研究]. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Anceint Books Publishing House.

REFERENCES

413

Zhang Ziqian. (1997). Observing the Real Origin of Printing Technique from the Perspective of Social and Cultural Development [从社会文化发展看印刷术的真正起 源]. China Press and Publication News (2). Zhangcun Wuji, Li Ji, et al. (1983). The Penal Law Code of the Tang [唐律疏议]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. Zhai Tuiyuan. (1980). Appendix Table of Official Positions of Past Dynasties [中国古 代官职附录表]. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House: 153. Zhao Lin. (1985). Tales of Repayment and Retribution [因话录]. Shanghai Ancient Books Press. Zhao Wenrun. (1992). The Cultural History of the Sui and the Tang [隋唐文化史]. Xian: Shaanxi Normal University Press. Zheng Qin. (1988). The System of Ancient Official Documents and The Efficiency of Administration [古代公文制度与行政效率] (Research on the Administrative Management System of Ancient China). Beijing: Guangming Daily Press. Zheng Zhenduo. (1996). The History of Chinese Folk Literature [中国俗文学史]. Beijing: The Eastern Publishing Co., Ltd. Zhou Mi, Zhu Juru. (1987). Annotations for Extensive Records of the Song and Yuan Dynasties [齐东野语校注]. Shanghai: East China Normal University Press. Zhou Xunchu. (1973). Compilation of Anecdotes of the Tang People (Tangren zhishi huibian) [唐人轶事汇编]. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House. Zhu Chuanyu. (1967). The History of Journalism in the Song Dynasty [宋代新闻史]. Taipei: China Committee of Academic Works Award. Zhu Chuanyu. (1988). Collected Papers on the Communication of the Pre-Qin, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing Periods [先秦唐宋明清传播事业论集]. Taipei: Taiwan Commercial Press. Zhou Shaoniang. (1986). Notes to Comments from Mr. Liu 《柳氏述》 [ 笺证] (Collected Papers on the Reminiscence of Mr. Xiang Da). Urumqi: Xinjiang People’s Publishing House.