Writing against the State: Political Rhetorics in Third and Fourth Century China 9004103767, 9789004103764

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fNTRODUCTION One day 1 came across a lilerary piece entilled‘Of a Guest's In­ ， solen凹 (Ke ao客傲)， by lhe early medie凹1 official， sa"am， pOCl and di"iner Guo Pu郭璜(276-324)， and could nol make head nor tail of iL Dictionaries were of no avail: nOl SO much lhe vocabu­ la巾的lhe impon of the composition w叫frustralingly opaque Here is a passage from il: Moreo\'er， Dormant in it.s ca吋rn spring. clouds; Bedccked with shimmering

[3

dragon] does nOl miss skirling in lhe

ice， [Ule

moon] hardly longs for lhe lighl

。f da、盯I

50 why， m)' ra)'s of splendour dulled by dark and dUSl， Should I )'earn for lhe Canglang River's deeps

Or for lhe brilliance of lhe aurumn sun?

My puzzlement 'va5 of lhe kind that Huang Zongxi describes in the 'Directions to the Reader' of his Case Studies of Ming Con­ fucians: 'if lhe studem fails to grasp出e aUUlOJo'S overalJ purpose，

thell in reading his work he will be like the anciem explorer Zhang Qian on his arri珊J in Daxia， in Cenu這lAs悶. with 110 clue as to whal 10 make of the Yuezhi who lived lhere' I How can we find oul whal Guo Pu， by all accounts a highly sophisticated author， was driving at? *訓.*

Further searching showed me that Guo Pu's composition does nOl stand alone. lt fi臼into a tradition of similar pieces ulat， at leasl since Liu Xie劉館(d. ca. 520) and his I恰ηxin diaoúmg文心'.龍(The Lilerary Mind and the Carving of Dragons)， have been labelled 晶a minor literary genre in lheir own right， caJled‘responses to queslions' (d叫甜甜對悶) or， alternalively， 'hypothetical discours­ 凹， (slu!!un設讀). Under the latter appellalion， lhe genre is rep­ resemed in Xiao Tong's蕭音寬(501-531) grea【anlhology， the WCll­ Xlla71 文選or LiteraηSeleclions， with its three earliest examples from lhe Han漠dynasty (206 BC-AD 220):‘Response to a Guest's Objeclions' (Da ke ，Jan 答答錄) altribllted to Dongfang Shuo東方朔 I Huang Zongxi買車矗(1肘。1695)， M;ngru XUl"QIl踴圖，軍.‘Oirections Reader' f. la

10

the

2

INTRODUCTION

(154-93 BC)， Yang Xiong's m維(53 BC-AD 18) 'Dissolving Ridi­ cule' (fie clUlO解嘲)， and Ban Cu's班固(32-92) D" bin xj答賀. ('Re­ sponse to a ClIest'sJesl'). Xiao Tong l11ay have taken these frol11 lhe standard History of 山e (Fonner) Han， the H"n shu漢書FOUf more tex臼in lhe same、'ein are inclllded in the Book of Laler Han (Holl後Han sllu) and in the Record of the Three Slates (Sall­ guO zhi三且意). They are Cui Yin's崔個(ca. 30-92) 'Stating My PUrpose' (Da zlli 途旨)， Zhang Heng's張銜。8-139) 'Reply LO Cril­ icism' (Ying jÍlIll l!間)， Cai Yong's蔡也(133-192)‘Rejecting Cen­ sure' (Shi hui釋誨)， and Xi Zheng's卻正(c1. 278)‘Rejecting Slan­ der' (Shi ji釋Il). For this same pe吋ocl， the Hou Han shu ancl oÙle， SOllrces yielc1 fragmenLS of three more ‘hypothetical discourses ancl passing references LO another three titles From Cuo Pu's ag缸， theJin曹dynasty (266-420)，日、，'e slult111 arc prese刊'ed in ùle il11perially sponsored Tang rg dynasly compila­ tion that ser\'的品our main source for the hislOf}' of the pe討od the Book of Jin (fin sl"，曹串串)， completed in 648. For the Weslern Jin (266-316)， we have HlIangfu Mi's皇甫這(2 15-282) 'Rejecting AcI\'ice: An Essay' (Shiqua71 /U7I揮動遍)， Xiahou Zhan's夏侯湛(243← 291 )‘Counlering SlIspicions' (Di Ji畫畫展)， and Shll X山東曾(ca 264-ca. 303)‘Apology for Living in Seclllsion' (Xumoju slli主居譯);2 for the EaslernJin (31 7-420)， GlIO PlI'S‘Of a GlIesl's Insolence' and Cao Pi法曹歐(fl. ca. 342-383)‘Riposle LO a Scholar' (Du; 1'IL 封信). Elsewhere l11en廿on is macle of one further Jin-'polhelica1 Oiscour.甜，" (1994).

INTRODUCTION

3

offshoo阻from the same root. lndeed， so strongly do they fonnally resemble each other that one might almOSl consider them， in Gilben Highet's derogalOry phrase， 'plaster-CaSl imitations' of Dongfang Shuo's and Yang Xiollg's model compositions'-a lerm thal fails lO do justice to their individual modulations， but a fea­ lure， nonetheless， Ùlal bears on the 'ol'erall pu巾的e' ofGuo Pu's

Ke ao and 。由er

sltellln u'eated

il1 lhis slUdy. Genre conventiol1s

commllni臼le meann嗨and where convenlions exercise sllch a firm hold出剖lhey produce 'pl描ler-c品l imÎlalÎons' for four cen­ turies running. il SeelllS useful lo晶k what irreplaceable commu nicalive vallle made autho店、villil1g lO accepl the chaìl1s of con­ ventiol1 for so 1011g. Certainly a m吋or reason for my inilial perplexity UpOI1 readil1g Guo Pu's piece was 110t knowing the Iil­ era可matrix in which il的il1scribed. There was a time whel1 the fixed form of the

sh.llm

had al leasl the vinue of orientil1g read­

ers lowards a cenain inlerpre個tion of these Iilerary pieces; 10 remedy my sense of disorientatiol1， it proved indispensable to become more familiar widl the limits and po揖ibilities of

slt.Lun

晶 a gel1re. I hope these pages， the result of lhal learnil1g effon， may fill a small lacul1a il1 Weslern sludies 011 Chinese litera.γhis10ry.'

司#刻，司，

Whal is a‘hypolhetical ruscourse'? To anticipale some m題jor themes lhal ，vill be lrealed il1 whal follows， a sure sigl1 of a

SlttlUII

is thal il is casl in the form of a dialogue. between the allthor (who identifies himself by l1ame) al1d an imaginary critic whose identi ty remains vague: he is an lInnamed‘guesl' 01' 'relainer'， some­ one in lhe aUlhor's entoura阱. an anonymous colleagllt:. This imaginaηcrilic confron扭曲e author叫th his lack of success in public Iife; he holds up a miπor to him. and shows him ùle prom時e of a brilliant career sadl)' unflllfilled，出e obscllrity in which he languishes-and lhen asks him point-blank: why? \\11y nol embrace Ihe opponunities thal are Ùlere for the laking， and g剖11 wealth '. �ilben High�l. T"� Cltuskal Tradilion: GrnJt and Ro".an InJluro(n on Ual­ m μ岫仙'" (1964) p. 85 � for an ÎmroduclÎon in Jdpanese，甜e �akajima Chiak.i. Fu '10間，有'.11.110棚缸， (1963). wilh a brief discu椅ion of Lhe sh�lun gcnrc (up 10 the Laler Han period) on押恥"以l.er I complcled my research for出is book. lWO artic1自 叩pear吋 叮Taniguchi Hirosh i. '''^a ku1la n� 0 megullc" (l99l) and 'YÕ Yû no "' Kajd.õ 0 meguu("-..St:tsuron" no bung祖ku jaol"U (0 shile no甜ijuku to henshiLSU' (1992) 甜� biblio胃rap恥，

4

lNTRODUCT ION

and fame? An e1abor瓷缸reply by tbe aUlhor t.hen follows-in eι fect， a position Slatement: the au山or declares t.hat he is perfectly content wilh his present Iife， or he defends his choice of the life of a hem圳， far from出e lrappings of offi凹， rejecting t.he ambi­ tions his 'guest' urges upon him. ln any case， the aUlhor阻ulti­ matel)' vindicated as a lrue and uprighl gentleman輪hile his op­ ponent， t.he voice of worldly opponunism， is lriumphantly reduced to si1ence. This dialogue is aJways casl in rhyrned parallel prose、付出 one rhyme-word for each block of Iines， changing into anolher when a new argumenl is broached; other divisional marke悶are acld­ ed， such 晶 supernuo閃閃門 .particles falling ou凶de Ihe metre of rh)'mecl lines， or an occasional pl剖n prose sentence to introduce or emphasize t.he end of a de，'elopmem. The sll�ltln shares lhese formal characterislics with lhal far broader calego門in ancient Chinese lileraturc， t.hc 戶獸. where， apart rrom the e\'er-present rh戶ne， t.hc parallclism， and lhc scctioning devicesjusl mentioned， the dialogue framework is also a common feature， as is prolixity and a tendency lowards hyperhoti且I language.' Neitller自a markecl predilection for hislorical allusions excl山附 10 t11e slltl的.. \\11、y ‘hypothetical discourses' are nonet.heless never c1assifled asfu ancl nc問r have the word fu in lheir tille will he discusscd in a laler chapter. Suffice il here to say that‘h)'Pot.heticaJ discourses' are arúully conslrucled c1ialogues revolving around one ever-recurring i盟ue: whelher t11e author sholllcl devote his energies 10 securing a po­ sition for himself in government (or， if he alreacly has one， whetller hc sloould aim higher)， or insteacl stay out of politics and retire to his stlldy or tO t11e cOllntry別de. *司.*

This lheme on which all shtlurI hinge is no casual conversationaJ topic. Rat.her t11an being fanciful literarγexercises on 'set suhjecLS'. asJ剖nes R. Hightower once transla阻d t.he tenn sh�lltrl，6 these lexts bear witness 10 a major preoccupation of eclllcated Chincse in出e early medieval period and well beyoncl. Da甘CI R. Knechtgcs'陀仟 On自由.e characleristics of lhe Ju. see e.g. I-Ians H. Frankel. TM f10u肝l"g oJαm甜Po"') (1976) pp. 207-10 • E ' s組惘。n Sel SubjcClS': scc J.R. Hightower. 'The Wt7I Hs帥I and Genre Thc。可， (1957) p. 527 n. 76 !o

Plum a1id 1M Pa缸" /"0句仰的"þ1?I.altons

INTRODUCTION

另

dering‘hypoÙletical d閏course' for lhe word shelttn，' alÙ10ugh faiùl­ flll lo whal Xiao Tong and others appear LO have had in mind in using il， seems similarly out of tune with the scriousness of our lexlS. One did nOl ‘hypolhesize' aboul Laking offi凹， nor did one compose schoolroom essays on a su�凹的附ighLy in significance. ln spile of i臼 generic label， it seems hard lo believe Ù1al a‘ hyp c← Ù1elical d時course' could have been a mere lrif1e for Ù10se who wrote lhcm. This assertion requires a SkClCh， however haz.ardou5 LO draw， of Ù1e mindsel of an elile qualilìed LO seek， 品Il \\'a5 qualilìed lo eschew， appointmenl lO public office ***

The robes of office exercised a slrong atLraction lhat cannOl ful­ ly be explained by lhe accompanying salary， power and prestige. Holding office had Ù1e SLrength of a vocation which出e whole body of LradiLional edu回Lion would have pe時uaded ilS forrunale re­ cipienl lhal he had in him. [n an overwhelmingly illiterale socie­ Ly， he was one of Ù1e happy few who had direcl acce盟to Ù1C leach ings of lhe Sages晶Ù1ey stood in lhe Confllcian Classi臼. His superior unders山、ding of Confllcian teachings made him Ù1ink of himself as a 'gemleman' (shi士)，明白all the conno阻tions of lhe word in English and in Chinese. The educaled were pd、'Y lO Ù1e TruÙ1， and felL lIniquely called upon LO posiLion Ù1emselves where lhey couJd speak out for lhal TruÙ1 and be heard: lhal is lO S旬， ideally， in public 0節目 ow whal the Cl站sics teach is， in ùle lasl analys時， how to up­ hold a lIniversal standard of righl and wrong in a kaleidoscopic varieLy of siluations ('Through my Way runs a single Ù1read'， said Confllcills). Surely we might lhink of someone delermined LO purslle lhe road to public office as particlllarly liable LO sacrilìce stricl noLions of right and wrong somewhere along lhe way. The Chinese gentleman's ideal ùlerefore seems 10 us al lìrsl sighl

impracticable if nOl downrighl hypoc吋tic訓. and Ulere were lhose in China lOO who且w pe呵。nal integriLy 品incompatible明白public

life. BUl allhough a philosopher like Zhuangzi在f， in伽fou巾 cenluηBC， might inveigh ag剖nst ùle sanctimony of offi口als dou­ bling as moralis阻， lhis did nOl lead to a p剖ting of ways between mundane politicians and d時P訕訕。nale moral exper臼. Such a 7 O.R. KJlech悔自剛回ns.， l\Í'11 xuan. 1"甘"OdUClo Î n p. 24.

or SÑcIians

01晶。ffntd 1."，.帥"'. Vol.

1 (1982).

6

INTRODUCTION

speciaJization of roles， one might add， would scarcely have made the latter an)' more acceptable in Zhuangzi's eyes; but it did not happen， and afler Confucianism had become Ihe stale ideology in the Former Han， no other occupationaJ branch for profe盟ionaJ ConfucianisLS could very well develop as Ihis wOllld have inloler­ abl)' chaJlenged the govemment's ideological monopoly_ Thus an educaled man who hoped to put his hard-won knowledge of the Confucian Cl訕訕臼LO practicaJ llse had few alternati、!es oùler than pUf'SUlOg a career晶a government official In spile of this， there is every indication thal educaled men generally did believe they could act且spokesmen for moral rec­ titude even in the course of a career in governmenl. This belicf need not necessarily have been thrown off balance b)' an untidy reaJily， since the reach of governmenl was by no means compara­ ble to what il has become in modern times. With a corps of offi­ cials so morally driven， though， it should come as no sllrprise Ihat every adminisLration claimed to 'tr這nsform' the very hearLS and minds of iLS subjecLS. The real旬，且Max Weber arglles， was lhal local commllnities largely governed themselves;8 and apan from le、γing taxes and conscripting labollr， locaJ officials (the bulk of the ci吋1 service) may well h恥.'C spenl much of lhcir úmc 011 cere­ monial or ritllal dllties that， though no dOllbl sincerely held 10 be magically beneficial LO the common good， were as litùe Sllb­ ject to the test of practi回) lItility且ùle self-assllrance of those who officialcd at them. Also， and more impor旭nùy， one shollld con­ sider that ùlere、叩S no concept of progress. Genùeman-officials felt no need to search for 帆..，.ys to change sociclY， no nced to qllestion 出e、咱y things had always been done. Why wOllld 出旬， in a pre-modern rural world 叫間re 10 tinker with the fragile rec­ ipes fo r sUl"vival w品frallghl with danger? They had no good rea­ son LO hope that the wor1d出ey saw abollt them in adllll life， with ùle same deep ineqllalities (or ra出er， inelllctable givens) they had known when yOllng， would be any differenl in their children 's life­ tirne. This made the aim of govemment， in theoηF品well 品in practi凹， consist of maintaining the 'constanl relationships of socielY， WiÙl a golden p品 1 rather than a dreamt-of future for a guideline: a siluation that inviLed le自soul-searching than a chang­ ing world wOllld do， and did noùling to undermine the convic8 In hi.s rh， lùligion 01ωina

(凹的s. H.n' H. Gerth)(19681 p.91

7

INTRODUCTION

Lion that all day-to-day problems could be adjlldicated by refer­ ence to the moral code laid down in the Classics for all Lime.

叮: certainly in the阻r1y medi"，'通1 period， no social changes wiÙlin China were radical enollgh to Ùlrow the educated c1ass fundamen tally inlo disarray， neither were there (lIntil modern Limes) any serious intellectllal shocks coming in from outside the cOllntry. This means lhal the cosmological fTamework of gO\'ernment re­ mained intacl. For many centuries， after all， what China knew of I阻neighbours cOllld only perpelllate lhe idea lhat China wilh 山 civilizaúon、帽S 出e privileged centre of Lhe universe， joined wilh He恥'en in a grand solidarity of purpose. On eanh， lhe Emperor and his chosen officials medialed this special relalionship WiÙl ceremonial splendollr， and what、帽s lhere lO shake lheir faiLh in lhe righlness of lheir self-rdained mjssion? For edllcaled men， to take pan in governing lhe realm meaJll 10 panicipale in keep­ ing ùle world on a slable course; and a disLinguished 臼reer record cOllld confer Lhe one kjnd of immortality a man of judgement could sensibl)' hope for， a fame lhal wOllld Iive on in lhe annals of hislory The bedrock of Lhese convicLions wa.s secllre. The eliLisl nature of a narrowly circumscribed， onhodox edllcaLion; lhe limited eι fectiveness of a government wrapped up in itself， al arm's lengLh from those il c1aimed to govern; an e時enLially staLic sociel)' (in which poliLical and militalγeven臼periodicall)' shllmed lhe cal 郎， WI出Ollt changing Lhe rules of lhe game); Lhe lack of olltside chal­ lenges 10 sow ùle seeds of introspecLion: such faclors helped 10 ensllre lhat lhe inteUectual stratllm of Chinese sociely wOllld b)' and large have an image of itself， even when in office， 由stand­ ing dispassionately ab酬le ùle fra)'， uncompromising in its adher­ ence to the Limeless moral slandards of lhe Classics. Needless 10 阻y， 出al sllblime detachment 、甜s oflen sorely lried in pracLice­ tried， but nOl necessarily thrown off baJance. Peasanl uprisings， trOllble wilh barbarians beyond lhe borders， civil war， even lhe overthrow of one d)咽抽ly by anoLher cOllld slill be made sense of in Lhe traditional conception of righl and wrong， good and e\'il; slIch dislurbances merely lumed rouLine management of Lhe con ， S阻nt relaLionsh駒 of society into tempora門{CrtSIS management­ by Lhe same c1ass of rulers， operaling under Lhe same抽sumpuons. •

Far more threatcning to the certainLÍes of educaled men \\'宙 to see one of lheir 閉門own 110Ul the eLhical code lhey slood for.一

8

INTRODUCTION

especially someone el1lrusted with office. Indeed. the educated cIass 、咽s at pains 10 protecl the traditional conception of govern­ menl from山e seamier side of politi臼. the jockeying for position and the power intrigues: these were emba rrassing deviations from 山e ideal. and (notwithstanding 山e drama such undignified be­ h恥�our lem the work of hislOriographers) uprighl genùemen had greal difficulty coming 10 lerms with them.9 They looked askance even on ambition itself; and wben unscrupulous officiaJs betrayed the honour of their office. wben promotions did nOl go 10 the deserving bUl lO山e well- allribUl，吋 10 S4?ng Yu *主 (third cemu門，' BC)， in \峰mcuan 45.lb 呻 n時 :same phrase OCClIrs in Mt'ndw 28.13， S月J p. 2699c. 'ran5. D.C. I..au. Menαus ( 1970) p. 94

POISONED PANECYJ是IC

35

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45

50

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65

70

27

In Su Qin and Zhang Yi's ume， lhe House of Zhol1 、咱s com­ ple阻Iy in rl1in; lhe feudal lords did nOl appear in al1dience al court. but waged all-oul war in lheir slrugglc for power， 臼ptur­ ing each olher by force of amlS. Through annexaùon lhey had formed lwel吋 states� and 祖 long as no viclor emerged， He who gOl hold of gentlemen became more powerful， He who lost his gentlemen 、咱s doomed; and so [Su Qin and Zhang Yi] were able to put ùleir propos剋S and pe時uasi\'e arguments into practice. They 臼me to occupy exalted positions Gems and treasures fi.lled 由e inside [of 白白r mansions]， Ou臼ide they had their barns and granaries; The fa、.'ours they receÎ\'ed passed down tO ùlcir dcscendanLS For their sons and grandsons to enjoy in perpetuity But lhal 凹 nOl the case loday. As our Sage Emperor ca山es his vinue to spread， A11叫1Cler-Heaven tremble and fear; The Ceudal lor也 submil and obey. He girds lhe four 扭曲 and beyond about him like a belt， more stable lhan a cup pUl upside down. Since e\'e可 undertaking [suc­ ceeds as e甜ily] 描 if he roUed it in lhe palm of his hand. what is lhere to dislinguish worthies from the worthless? Abiding by the Way of He恥.'en， mo吋ng along with the pauerns of lhe ear曲， o lhing bUl finds iLS proper place. And so He has but 10 soolhe people. and they are 剖 臼鈕， He has bUI 10 P山h lhem， and Ihey loil 訓呵呵， If he wanLS to exalt them. he makes lhem generals. If he wanlS 10 degrade 出em， he makes them sla\'es Hc can raise them up above the blue clouds， Push lhem down below into the deepesl abyss; lf he makes use of them 出ey gel 10 be tige間， And if he doesn'l they remain mice A1lhough 1 should like 10 ExhaU5l my illlegrity and de，'olc my feelings (lO his scrvicc] ， How would 1 k.now how lO go about il? s。 咽5l are Hea\"cn and Eanh. so many the genùcmen and commone間， Thal more than one could cver CQUnl Ex:hau5t l.heir energy. marsha1ling advicc. Ad\'3ncing logether in lhronging concou時e. A11 slrength is spenl on render可ng homage: Pressed for c\olhes and food， Some c\'cn lose thcir home. Supp。甜 lhal Su Qin and Zhang yi had been born LOgelher wi出 me in lhe presenl age， they \\'ould not e\'en have become clcrks， lCl alone thal lhc)' could 晶pire lO be Genllemcn-in-Atlendance!

28

CHAPTER ONE

And 50 1 阻y th副 in differenl tim凹. things are also differenc'20

I n 出is first part of his reply， Dongfang Shuo deals with 山e ‘guest's' invidious cornparison between Su Qin 輩革賽 (d. 284 BC) and Zhang yi �儀 (d. 309 BC)一risen to prominence On the strength of their gift for tuming an argument-and himself， ob­ scure in spite of his talent for speech. Dongfang Shuo c1aims that the comparison does not so much hurt him as il insults the Em peror， for ùmes have changed. The rivabγ of kings and kinglets that proved advantageous for the likes of Su Qin and Zhang Yi， in the chaos of the Warring States， has given way to 山e s阻bility of empire， and the greatness of the Han does not depend on c1ever rhetoricians. It depends on the Emperor alone; and against his charisma and the awe he inspires. it is futile to measure lesser mortals' share of talent. Selfuh ambiùon h晶 become irrelevant; aJl tum 'in homage' to the sovereign of men. And as it is the Emperor who picks his se鬥胡臼 and appoints 出em to offi凹， to quesùon these appointments is to cast doubt upon his wisdom This， in itseJf， should suffice to reduce any criùc at the impe­ riaJ court to silence. But the argument conùnues. Thal there is no necessa門I Hnk between one's personal abiliùes and the offi臼 to which one is appoin阻d should nOI detract a gentleman from his moral duty to beller himseJf tbrough study. Never have ù】e ups and downs of his career distracted Dongfang Shuo from this sacred task of self-cuJùvaùon， and he gives a string of quo阻t10ns from the CI品sics showing he can meet the Academicians on their own terms. Study 扭扭 an example for others， as some verses from the Odes imply (lines 76-79) . It may bring recogniùon， although someùmes belatedly， 自 happened to Taigong Wang 太公!l; in the distant p晶t (lines 80-86); but even if it does not， no amount of public scom should make a gentlernan swerve from his pa出 (lin自 87-88). So teaches Xunzi 苟于 (Iines 92-1 02); and t11e Record of Rites of the Elder Dai 大，配種記 adds iniunctions to the effect that a gentleman should c10se his ears to such slanderous remarks (lines ， 104-1 2 1 ) . Slander including， certainly， the Academicia肘 charge 出at Dongfang Shuo's studies have not translated into a better job Be instructed， Dongfang Shuo replies to them from the high van 阻ge-ground of orthodox Confucianism; but， lest an)'one think he IS 甘ying to rise above his staùon， he concludes wilh a bow to the 四 There is a nearly identical sayi ng in

Ershi'u zi p. 1 1 83c

Han FmJ 轉非 子

(M描ter J-Ian Fei)

49，

29

POISONED PANEGYRIC

Emperor， whose 'civiljzing transformation' he credits 品 the driv­ ing force behind every gentleman's desire lO cultivate himself 74

‘BU1 e\'en so， ho\\' would 出at be an excuse for nOl 3pplying one-

self 10 5elιeror Wu (揖e HS28ß.1618) 甘B自e 晶sociauons v.;出 Emperor Wu arc m四ningful since he was the expansioni.sl emperor 戶ar 0:叫lnlce .f9 Meng Kang 孟庫 (日. 180-2ω)， in HS 878.3569 nn. 2品. wril自 由叫 出的 'com­ mandanl' .樹 輪回 lhe Commandanl of lhe Eastcm Seclion. in Kuaiji ." (mod­ em Nanjing)， while 出e 'noble﹒ M宙 曲e Noble (or Ma閃叫$) ofYumen P:晶S 王門，慎， in Dunhuan耳_ For 出e laucr litle， beslowed by the Chinese on local (i.e. oon­ Chinese) leaders of 出c W的tern Regions， see Hulse恥�é &- Loe咐， ω;na j" �n Iral Asia p" 83 n" 78 國 The 'l11ouming sh吋﹒ 圖. \\'35 a rudimenta可 shcd 叫lcre a 50n obsen'cd thc lhree-year mouming period for a deceased parenL Sce I...iji 疆E (Rccord of Rh叫} 但 14， 35 揖e SS} pp. 15813， 1 656c: trans. J. Legge. Thd.i 的 ( 1 認5) Vol 2 仰， 間 ， 377. (For furt.her referenccs， seeJJ.M， de Cr∞巴， TIv &1，原則 Sy.sltm 0/ ω;110 ( 1892-1910] Vo1. 2 pp. 479-88. ) Pors pro tolo for social CU5loms in gco. eral， thi.s mouming 5hcd is inciden阻11) 剋曲 曲e third instan回 in 由is piece of Yang Xiong resorting to thc macabre ('tum my clan bl∞d-red"， ﹒出e bchcadcr's axc'， and lhi5 'Illourning shcd')

POISONED PANECYRIC

75

80

85

45

Gentlernen all-under-Hea\len， [Like) thunder roIling， c10uds con、"crglng. [ Like) fish-scales c10sely inlerlocking Are all a-buslle in lhε eight rcgions Someone in e\'ery house ùlinks himself a Ji or a X妞， Evcrγ man lhinks himself a Gao惘。 \\'hen ùlose who SpOrl a hair net， rÎbbons dangling. hold lheir parle)'s Each one takes after 山e Lord Adjusler; A.nd bovs not fh'c feet tall Blush 10 bc Iikened 10 Yan Ying and [Guan) Yiwu." Those on lhe 缸，'enue [to power] rise up to Ù1C blue clouds， Those who lose 出e 、咽)' are casl aside in ditches and gullics Holding aUlhority at d品冊， one can be 1\-[帥的ter and Chancellor Only 10 losc 01間's influence by dusk， and be back with the rank and file. Cornpare it tO a bank in a rÎ\'er or a lake. An island i n a gulf or a bay: rulotller nock of geese alighting does 110l make Ù1eir numbers swell， Anolher pair of ducks nying 0叮 does nOl make lhem any smaUer ﹒

A]though Lhe implicaúon is lhal lhe g。問mmeJll need nol be d 出al anxious LO enlisl Yang Xiong's selVÌces-so many oLhers are al Lhe government's disposal!-Yang Xiong's message is fllll of mixed signals. He is dllty-bollnd lO praise Lhe Han and LO con­ demn ùle Warring States. As for Lhe Warring Stales， indeed， it 、咱S a time of centrifllgal chaos; bllt ùlen， genùemen were al liberty to seek employmeJll where\'er Lheir fancy look Lhem (lines 40-5 1 ) . This ' freedom'， howe\'er， is al once qllalified; for Yang Xiong goes on LO cile Lhe examples of Fan JlI 箔推 (d. 255 BC) and Yan He 頒凶 (包fÙl 臼ntuη" BC)， Lhe one ‘ [slowing] himself a閥y in a sack' to hide himself from a powe的JI minisler， lhe oLher ignominiously making 0叮 Lhrough Lhe back wall of his house upon being pre­ seJlled with a Sllmmons lO office (lines 52-54) . Next appear ZOll Yan 8衍 (305戶240 BC?) and MencilLS (371 -289 ßC?) ， for "，hom Lhe 吋valry be側..een ùle Wan'ing States did work lo some advantage; if Lhe叮 advice wenl unheeded in some s回t凹， Lhey evenmally gained 51 For Ji (or Hou Ji 后_， 'King M;nel')， X間 ，哩. Gao戶o .駒， 山e '1..0吋 Ad­ juslcr' Yi Yin 伊尹. Yan Ying 疊疊. and Guan 叭"、曲 ，實吾 (= Guan Zhong). see Ap­ pend且

46

CHAlyrER ON-E

recognition in others (lines 5弘57). This leaves lhe reader gue時 ing whelher Yang Xiong means lo blame lhe poliúcal situation of lhe Warring Slales period for Zou Yan's and Mencius' conlre­ tem戶'5， or intends. ramer， to credit 出e competiti\'e spiril of lhal p甜1 age for lheir ultimale success As the focus swings， lhen， from centrifugal chaos lO 臼mrip­ elaJ order， one looks in vain for somelhing 出al will senJe the com­ parison in famur of the Han. Yes， tbe Han is praised; bUl the prai盟 is qualified， 品 、咽S 出e condemnaúon of lhe Warring Stales. The Empire's magnilude is e\'oked， 品 it eXlends into ùle four direc­ úons (lines 5S-62) ， and then the insLrUmenlS by which imperial aUlhority is enforced lhroughoUl the realm (lines 65-70) . One rhelorica1 louch engenders another: everyone 且pires 10 office (lines 7 1 -74); 自由r 剖nbilion knows no bounds (lines 75-80); Iighl­ ning careers are jusl 描 easi1y (and arbitrari1y) unmade (lines 8 1 84) ; nOl lhat i l mallers， though， for o n thal crowded 'is1and'， lhe bureaucra句， new candidales aJways s阻nd ready 10 take over (lines 85-88) . Once more， lhe message is ambiguous， shifty. ‘Now our greal Han . . . '， we read， and expecI a forcefu1 conlrasl Wilh whal went before; and yel we end up with a melee of fortune hunters， vain and expendable， descencling on the capita1 like so many birds 1n a second comparison between the p晶t and the present， Yang Xiong appears 10 mitigale somewbat the effecl of lhis negative piclure of Han officia1dom. For now we gel the contrast between Lroub1ed and peacefu1 LÏmes; and if we 1eft Yang Xiong's a\'erage officia1s swooping down Iike geese or ducks 10 pick up (and lose again) lhe government jobs on offer， we now hear that in a u'ou­ b1e-free and well-rdered wor1d， such as lhe Han today， 'simp1e fellows can take their ease on their high pillows and lhey'lI be ， amp1e for the ta此 of governing the Empire (lines J O各 1 04 ) . 1 n o出er words: 1et aspiring 0伍cials b e e\'er s o vaing10rio恤. aJJ .自ink­ ing [ lhemse1ves] aJi， a Xie . . . a Gaoyao' (lines 75←76) . 出ey can do no harm 10 the greal Han empi間， because it vinually runs by i臼elf. And， by implicati。代 in such a peacefu1 age Yang Xiong need nOl fee1 particu1盯1y called upon to comribute his talenlS lO lhe cause of government. As for 出e p且t， and lhat now includes lhe ear1y decades of the Han 品 well， genùemen of abiJity were vi­ tally imponant (lines 89- 1 00 ) ; bUl tben， there was a pletho悶 of prob1ems 10 anend 恤， whereas today there are none:

POISONED PANEC\'RIC

90

95

47

' l n Lhe pasl \Vhcn Lhe Three Bene\'olent Ones lefl， Yïn fell 10 ruins;自 丸，Vhen Lhe T\\'o EJders remrned， Zhou rose lO spleodour.53 As soon 晶 [Wu] Zixu died， Wu was doomed; As long 品 il kepl [Wen] Zhong and [Fan] Li， YlIe was ù，e hegemon SLale. 1怖en "Fh'e Sheepskins" entered， Qin 帆宙 delighled; When Yue yï departed. Yan look fright.54 Tbough bruised and broken， Fan Ju threatened Lhe Marquis of Ra峙， Though hisjaws wouldn'l even close， cai Ze mocked Tang Ju. Therefore， when Lrouble is afool， wiLhout Xiao [He]， Cao [Shen] ， [Zhang] Zifang， [Chen] Ping， [Zhou] 80， Fan [KlI剖] and Huo [Guang] ， [the Empirel cannOL be secure; bUL when iL is lrouble­ free， lel C\'en pelufogging pedan臼 ha\'e il in lhcir care as lhey Sil among themsel\'es and lhere is still no cause for wor月1 站 There­ h悶， when Lhe world 臼 in disorder， ùle 且ge and lhe 吋se may run about in nying gaHop and )'eL pro\'e inadequate; bUL when it is well 。rdered， simple fellows can take their ease on Lheir high piIJo附 and lhey'll be ample for Lhe 個法 ，

A t.hird time， now， t.he past is set against t.he presenl. l n the Warring States period. lhere were 00 clear criteria to measure a man's tale則， while now t.here are. Thus， in the p晶t， some peo扭 扭 Lu吋u 1 8 1 ， S司I p. 252缸. lrans. Lau p. 149: ' [His elder brolher] 出e Viscoum of Wei .于 left him (= 出e 可ranl Zhòu 衍. lasl ruler of the Shang or Yin 毆 dynast)'. trJ.d. r. 1 1 54-- 1 1 23 BC]， [his uncIe) the Yiscoum ofJi 置 于 became 提 sla悍 的 accou nt of him and [曲。由er uncle， Prince] Bi Gan 止于 10S1 his life for remonSlrating with him. Confucius commcnled. "There were three bene\'OrtrdÎl of Sima Jizhu (including his spe缸h) Îs fìclÎonal and 論祖 perha戶 W吋ttcn by Chu Shaosun， nOI by Sima Qian. See A."u Vcnoom. Mm 01 th� CUgs 0 ml ClI晒 pp. 1 08-09

75

CON、 ENTIONALlTY ANO EFFECTIVENESS

ti\'e1y by casting it in dialoglle fonn 區 a 肥chnique C0J1Ull0n to much pre-Qin literatllre; and it cOllld 叫th some jllstice be said 出at the

s"tlU1' genre in Z"uangzi，

presllpposes a familia討ty Wl出 ùle callstic exchanges

BlIt， given lhe lIncertain verdict on Dongfang Shllo---dever bllffoon or frustrated man of honollr-it is dOllbtflll whether

Da

kt nan cOllld ha、e acqllired 出e status of a model lexl， no mauer how grand 出e Iiterary genealogy LhaL can be d用wn lIP for 比 The crucial moment in ùle formation of the slu!lUll genre， surely， came when Yang Xiong lighted upon Dongfang Shuo's ‘ Response' and adapLed it in hisJìe chlUJ; and Lhat this engendered a genre， 閃出er ùlan remaining an isolated OCCU'Tence (as it might have， jllst as well 品 Dongfang Shuo's Da ke

nan)， w品

mo悶 than anything else

dlle to Yang Xiong's immense replltation， There is a degree of circlllarity in Lhis argument， as Jìt chao mllst have contribllted LO Lhis replltaLion; the poinl is， however-at Lhe risk of making tOO subùe and unprovable a distinction-Lhat later generations of educated men did not admire Yang Xiong because he had writ­ ten Jìt chao， bllL admired Jìt chao becallse it 叫 wriuen by no less a Iigure than Yang Xiong， And if a giant like Yang Xiong had seen fit to bllild his text out of elemenLS lhat

Da ke ηall

prO\�ded，

Dongfang Shuo's lext， too， gained in respec坦bility in spile of i臼 author-and became seminal in retrospect OfYang Xiong's reputation in ùle Laler Han， we have eloqllent testimony by authors Iike Huan Tan 桓譚 (43 BCAD 28) and like Wang Chong E寬 (AD 27-97)， who wrote in his DocLrines Weighed

(Lunheng il衡): Though a man'5 body may decay \'Irith 出e grass and lrees， if his fame malches the briUiancε of出e sun and moon; lhough he may encoun­ te. 晶 much 3d間間，可 由 Confu口帥. if his writings may Sl3Ud b凹ide 27 Lhose of Yang Xiong-then I CQunl hirn glorious.

Ban 心. to whom we o\\'e the preservation of切th Dongfang Sh帥's

Da kt na71

and Yang Xiong's Jìe

chao，

was similarly impressed by

Yang Xiong， d缸loting a lengtby biography LO him in his

Ha71 shu

and qlloting him repeatedJy in oLher places in the Book of Han where he fel l Yang Xiong's opinion wOllld add an authoritative t1 LU1lh�ng 85. ed. ßeijing Uni呵呵;1)'， Lunlmrg :lau，hi ( 1 979) p， 1 703; 1m"， 8urton Wa尬。n， 'Utcrary The。可 in the Easlem Han' ( 1968) p. 1 1 . On Huan Tan's admiration ror Yang Xiong. see \\'atson ibid. pp. 2-3

76

CHAPTER T、\'0

endorsement to his own. l n the introductory lines 10 h時 own ‘hy. 伸出etical discourse' ， San Gu cires Dongfang Shllo's 晶 weU as Yang Xiong's lexts as models 出al he fell ‘moved' by. For all we know， B剖1 GlI may have been their first epigone. San Gu's composilion (10 COl1linlle ùle analogy) c1inched ùle arrival of the shelu1I genre on 出e Iilerary scene. His admiration for Yang X的ng and ùle lal­ ler's }I甜 chao mllst have played a role in San Gu's more positive， ‘updated' assessmenl of Dongfang Sh帥's motives for writing Da ke na1/ 描 described in Chapler One; 吶出 his ‘ Respol1se to a GueSl'S Jest'， San GlI moved frol11 admiraLion lO ac仙，'e emulalion， and 晶 such has some c1aim lO being lhe veritable founder of lhe shelu7I ge enre. n re.28 lndeed， the desire to emulale an acknowledged model texl ùlal one feels moved or inspired by "啞， one might s呵， the oxygen thal the genre brealhed and thal kept il alive. AJI subseqllel1l ' hyp軒 ， th刮目J discours凹 盯'e imitations; and lhey 且n be seen in the lighl of a more general literary vogue for emlllaLion of 出e Classics and of p品l masters， a vogue of which Yang Xiong himse旺 is an early exponel1l and which reached its apogee in ùle Wei-Jin period. 四 Yang Xiong's 7;日間的71)11哼" for instance， look lhe canonicaJ Sook of Changes for i臼 sLrUclural as well as its lileraIγ model， and his Model Sayings (Fa )'an 法言) were apparel1lly inspired by Confu­ cius' Analects. He adopled a deliberately archaic slyle in bOÙl， and lhe pracLice of gi吋ng one's compositions an antique cachel W3S sllbseqllenùy much in evidence in ùle prose wriLings of Later Han allÙlOrs (including， prominently， San GlI ) 戶 。 As for the conlinlla tion of Ih臼 archaizing style in the Jin dyn晶旬 in a sllbseqllel1l chapler we shaJl look al a composition by Xiahou Zhan palterned entirely afler some of lhe royal addresses in the Sook of Docll­ ments， while Shu Xi 東當 'supplied' a number of losl Zhou dynasry Odes， known-from Iheir preserved titles-to have once figured in the Slliji7'g， by the melhod of trγmg ‘dislanùy to visualize Ihe

甜 A simil盯 point is made by Joseph Roe AJlen 111 aboUL the form叩酬 。f 曲e JUφ 樂府 genre: 油e imit.all\'C poem enters lhe genre rirsl...a m咽eI onlv cntc悶 lhe genre lalcr， when 出e...relationship of model lo copy is 自阻blìshed' (see his 1" Ih� Vo':ct' ol Olhns: Ch冊t'M M肘ic Bllrtall Podry [1992] p. 58). 四 See Wang Yunxi & Yang Ming. WnJin Nan加ichao 証明lX'" Piping shi ( 1 989) pp， 7;，.78 30 Sec B. WalSOn， ‘Litera可 Theo叮 in the Easlern Han' pp. 4-6

CON" VE.NTIONALITY A N D EFFECTIVENESS

77

P品t， and to concemrate his thoughLS on antiquity'. 訓 This sho附 110t merely a concern lO root one's writings in ùte impeccable onhodoxy of the Classics; it is evidence of a belief that if a writer is to creale a work of vaJue， he has to emer into the spirit of past monllmenLS of his crafl and will dilllte the power of his own crea­ tion if he goes so far 自 to depan from their original ph阻seol ogy. I n a remarkable illustration of 山is Iiterary prescription， FlI Xuan 磚主 ( 2 1 9-278) e，'en ga\'e i t as his opinion that Mencills had ‘imitated the model of the AnalecLS' as a 、;ehicle for his own lhollghLS戶2 One wonders whether the explosive growlh of lhe Chinese wriuen co中lIS follo吶ng the in\'ention and spread of paper is not at least panly responsible for this developmem， a reaction­ ary urge b)' leading liter古巴 to imrodllce a d時tinclion between 咐igher' literalure and newly emerging forms of writing by insist­ ing that the former ha，'e a pure and ancient pedigree. The preoccupation 吶出 emu]ating older literary achievemenLS was also applied， however， to less exalted and more recent texLS， ofwhich Dongfang Shllo's Da ke nan， with 出e crucial addition of Yang Xiong's Ji1I clzao， is 0盯 main sllbject here. 的other example is the very similar development of 出e genre of the qi 七 or 'sev­ ens'， named after Mei Cheng's 核乘 (or Sheng， d. 1 40 BC) ‘Seven Stimuli' 悶iJa 七發). " This 目 a composition in rhymed prose con­ sisting of s白白1 pa巾， in each of which a sensory ple品ure is graphi­ cally e\'oked to effecl a cathartic cllre for the sick， apathetic Prince of Chll addressed in il. The just-memioned early Jin aUlhor and slatesman Fu XlIan cOllld liSl fúteen imilalions of Qi戶 from Han lo Wei ， to which he added a sixteenth of his own. "" These epigones (in 50 f扭 扭 曲eir comp05itions are still extant) adopt Mei Cheng'5 model in e晶entially eveη' de且il ， and la、，ish equal 臼re on t11e verbal magic of the catalogues of sigh凹， delicaciest horses， beautiful 釗 Shu Xïs Bu wang Shi 植亡詩 ('LoSl Odes Supplied﹒) are in U'mxtlon 19.7a9.. They h訂e pride of place in ùle Umxu帥. opening the long 5eCtion 0" shi 鶴 põeuy. 1 quole from Shu 池's original Prefa間. in l..i Shan"s commcnml)'， U'mx咽n 19.7. '" F.間 fWf(M阻lcr fu)， quoled in \\mxuo" 54.6a (or in 、電J. Quon jin U'�lI 量，宜 49.7b [p. 1740.] ); 甜e t.rans. Jord叩 O. Paper， TM Fu 包u: A POJt-Han Con furia " -rn' ( 1987) p. 70 _ >> \\nrxuan 34. l a-63; for a t.ranslation. 且e H. Frank.el， TM fÙ1Wtrú壇 Plum. o1ld 1M Polact LadJ pp. 1 86-202. or ViclOr H. M剖r， Mti αD71g's '$n.馴 Slimuü' QlId Wa-'!g &內 'Povili側 ofKi"g Ttrng' ( 1988) '" See 、，Vang Yunxi and Yang Ming. oþ. cil. p. 76

78

CHAI"可ER

TWO

women 剖ld olher enùcements， bm mosùy address lheir ‘Se\'en Incitements' . ‘Seven Persuasions'， ‘Sevcn Counsels'， elc.， LO a rec. luse raÙ1er lhan a sick prince， whom 出ey finally convince LO re­ 仙rn lO society and pursue an official 臼reer. In 出is atmosphere， whate、er creati、，'e mler岫ls of ùle twin models of Dongfang Shuo and Yang Xiong were achie，吋 by subseqllent allÙ1ors， starùng wiÙ1 Ban GlI， are bOllnd lo be limited in 0討gi­ nality﹒ This is nOI 10 say Ihal succeeding shelun are mere p品ùches of Ù1e model lexLS. The imitaù閃 voglle did spawn lexLS Ùlat strike lIS m剖nly for ùleir eccentricit)，心 sllch as a series of poems by FlI Xian 縛威 (239-294) consisùng enùrely of quotaùons from Ihe CI酷 sics sùlched logether mechanically ('A Zuo .II'IIo. n Poem'， 'A Zhou Yi Poem'， 'A LUlI)'u Poem' . . . ) ;自 Ù1ese mighl demonslrale Ihe au出or'5 ingenui句， or ha\'e a didacùc pllrpose， blll ùley are al­ mosl lotally lacking in individu祉ity. The same cannOl be said of ‘hypoÙ1eùcal discollrses'; indeed， imi回ùon ( 叫 做) wOllld nOl be a sustainable Iilerary recipe if il did nOI， like imìtalÍa 站 a Iilerary procédé in lhe Weslern lradiùon， entail a creaù\'e empalhy wiÙ1 lhe imitated lexI's spiril， resulùng each ùme in an e揖enùally new work lhal could prolldly be compared wilh 臼 model. Such a delìniùon， incidentally， is in perfect accord wiÙ1 出al given by Lu Ji 陸11 ( 262-303) ， aUlhor of a ‘sevens'; as he expressed the ideal aim of imîtation in his ‘ Rhapsody on Literatllre' ( Well Ju 文斌): .

自e accomplished picce or imitaLion must be 50 perfecLed 甜

Th剖 il Îs in lhe 剖lClcnl tI百dition， yet remains a nonpareil 司'*刻，

e\'erÙ1e\ess， imilaÙon is nm Ù1e whole slory. To accollnl for Ù1e

shelun genre， il is nOl enough lO say 出al eveη，r 3U出or deliberalely modelled his work on 出al of a predecessor wiÙ1 lhe aim of be­ ing jlldged againsl il; while Ihis might be Ihe conclllsion of an intenextual approach， il cannOI do our lexLS fllll jllsùce. Whal information Ù1ere is on Ù1eir moùvation and funcùon， afler all， shows 出at far more Ù1an anisùc 討val可 Wilh earlier model texLS W祖s al stake. Threalened by poliù叫 enemies or mrgeled by anon)、 mOllS go品ip and backbiùng， our auÙ10rs felt Ù1ey had 10 vindi必 See Lu Qinli. ed.， Xian-Qin HQn Wti Nanbrichao shi ( 1 983) Vol. I pp. 603-05

萬 n.�.x-uan 1 7.33; trans. Shih-hsiang Chen， in C. Birch， Anlhology 01 CJrin� Lileraluu Vol. I p. 2 1 0

CONVENTIONALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS

79

cate lheir reputaLion in writing; to defend themselves， nOl face to face with lheir delracto時， but before lhe world al large and with ùle verdicl of poste吋ty in mind. ln order to con吭一nce l..heir present and fUlure readership of lheir wonh and integri句. t.heir self-defence had to make a memorable impression， and ùlis 間， quired om剖nen回tion and polish 品 much 甜 persuaslVe 訂-gumen阻 lt is at lhis point， rather， that imitaLion came in; perhaps nOl pri­ marily 叫lh the aim of carving oul a place for lhemselves in lile­ rary hislO門， but enhancing the beauty and presLige of whal lhey wished lO communicale. l n this perspecti、吭 it is more approp付­ ate LO lhink of Yang Xiong's model texl as having answered lhe need of a Zhang Heng， say， for a literary vehicle LO put his 1蚓、 ticLÙar message in a memorable form. H e would have idenLified in Yang Xiong'sjit cilao a literary reacLion lO a ùlreat in all essen­ tials similar LO his o\vn situation， and been inspired and guided by lhis model the more so because Yang Xjong had been an ex­ emplary figure. Readers would compare Zhang Heng's own 阻吼 叫出 its model， no doubl， but more basically would be invited LO read and unders山ld i l 扭 扭 echo of JiL chao ‘lmitative' Zhang He.嗨's texl. 、咱s， but ralher in the 、叫y a physicist applies an exjsl­ ing malhemaLical formula to a novel problem-Zhang Heng and o由er shelun authors imitated Yang Xiong's model because 品 long as lhe slu!Lun genre lasled ， the model did not lose its appli臼bility to new problem situations successive authors were moved l.0 re­ spond LO. As a consequence， LO ask how imitation operated as a literary procédé in successive ‘hypo出曲目1 discourses' is a quesLion lhal can only be answered wilh a number of c恥.eats attached. lmita­ Lion did not denOle slavishness， nor was originality a sign of gen­ ius. For such value judgemen臼 to be al all meanin拉此 wnters would firsl have had 10 assume Ùlat there is evoluLion and progress in lil.erature， 出al certain literary fonns inevitably become hack­ neyed over time and lhat changed sensibilities rightfully produce new forms; and Ù祖t 品sumption is nOl at all evident in early me­ die\'這1 Chinese literature. Even the hallowed Cl品sics did not ir­ remcably belong to the p誼t; Fu Xuan composed his Fw.i (‘Fucius')， Wang Tong 正通 (584-6 1 7) his Wt1UllOlIg zi 艾中于， in the splendid conVlcuon 山at these sentenuous 叮eatises would acq叫re canoni­ cal status. This means 由at to pronounce a slulllll to be ‘stere­ otyped'-however jusLifiable this may be against 由e b缸kdrop of

80

Cl-IAIYJ'ER T、vo

a lilera'1' hislO'1' mapped Ollt 叫th h indsighl-misses Lhe poim 出e allLhor lried lo make. Let lIS U這ck a single Lheme lhrougb ilS imi回叭re aVdtars in a nllmber of ‘hypolheùcal discollrses'. An exhausti，'，ε anal)'sis of由e several shtlun prior to 出eJin dyn品ty will nOl be allempled here， blll l shall poim Olll where original invenùon eXlended lhe bounda­ ries of the shelun genre or steered i t inlo new direclions Dongfang Shllo's ‘ Response lO a Guesl's Objecùons'， 品 may be recalled， conLains a paragraph describing how， under Lhe glo­ 討。us reign of Emperor Wu of Han ， eveη'one is eager 10 win 0ι fice in the Emperor's enlOlIl可age-a paragraph designed lO stress that. under such CirCUnlSLaIlCeS， il would be presumptllous for Dongfang Shllo to sel his own ambirions too high: so vasl a阿 He恥.'cn and EaJ 曲， so many 出e genùemen 3nd CQmmoners， That mQrc ùlan onc could c\'cr counl ExhauSl lheir energy. mar.;halling ad\ice. Ad、可ancing logeÙlcr in thronging concoursc. A11 strength is SpCIll 011 rendering homage: Pressed for dothes and f'i曲d， Some e\'cn lose Lhcir home

Earlier I commenled on ùle po品出le dOllble edge of lhis passage Yang Xiong greally expanded lhe same theme: Genùemen all-under-Hea\'cn， [ Like] thunder rolling. c10uds convergin耳， [ Like] fish.，;cales c10sely interlocking Are all a-busùe in lhe eiglll regions Someone in e呃，γ hou扭 曲inks himself a Ji or 3 Xie， Every m由1 ulÍnks himself a Gao戶o. \\'hen those who spon a hair nel， ribbons dangling， hold lheir parleys Each one lakcs af1cr 出e Lord Adjus間R And bo戶 1101 fh'c fCCl 阻11 81ush '0 be likened '0 Yan Ying and [GlIan] yi間， Thosc 00 lhe 3\'cnue [to po\\'er) 吋se up 10 出e blue clouds， Those who I明e Ule way 盯e 回到 自ide in dilCh自 and guJlies. Holding aUlhority a1 dawn， onc can be Minis1cr and Chancellor Only lO I。時 onc's inßucnce by dusk. and be back 岫出 ùle rank and file. Compare i1 10 a bank in a ri\'er or a lake. An island in a gulf or a bay: Anolher ßock of geese a1ighting does nOl make 出eir numbers swell， Anolher pair of ducks ßying orT does not make them any smaller.

CONVEN可 IQNALlTY A N D EFFECTIVENESS

81

Veiled irony has given "祖y to 扭扭扭m; cenainly i n the middle of ù，e passage， lhere is more Ù1an a hint of lhe 'world-upside-down topos'. The host of would-be officials are a vainglorious 101; and they seem lO gel ùle governmenl lhe)' deserve， in which prOJTI軒 tions and dismissals have become arbilrary. The Ù1eme helps to unpre品 on his readers Ù1al Yang Xiong wanLS no part in lhe go\'­ ernment of his day. We may also nOle someù1ing else nOl slressed so far: lhe neat parallelism of Yang Xiong's lines. Comp剖.ed to Yang Xiong， Dongfang Sh帥's 山e of parallelism-and he does use it一is much less polished; his rhyme seems a bit haphazard; lhere is litlle in­ genuity in his use of allusions ， 由，d his direct quo個tions from lhe Classics are 110l \'ery smoothly intenvoven Wilh lhe tex←-which a1l goes to say ù，at measured against lhe formal conventions of 出e fu， in particular， Da ke 1lan sulfers from blemish自 由at Ji' chao is free from. It is we1l known Ù1al these conventions only became established by Ù1e end of Ù1e Former Han， and Yang Xiong him­ self， as a m句orf" w吋ter， had an impor恤nt part in shaping lhem. The issue of Ù1e relationship belween fu and shelulI we shall de­ fer for anoùter while， but it is rele\'ant to note here lhal while subsequent shtlu... aUlhors do cite Da ke /1011 晶 Ù1e model text lhal inspired Ù1eir own composition， stylistically lhey all follow in lhe lracks of Yang Xiong San Cu's ‘ Response ω a Cuest's Jest" cannot be described as a veiled Clitique of his times. He w缸， on 出e contra門. anXIOUS lO praise lhe Han imperial house， restored after \、'ang Mang's short­ Iived Xin empire had collapsed. Like Yang X的ng before him， however， Ban Gu， in his Da bin xi， responds lO an accusation lhal he is unproductively immersed in study instead of building a ca­ reer in government; and like Dongfang Shuo， he justifies himself by declaring lhal self二cultivation， nOl careerism， makes a 叮ue gen­ ùeman. He retains a shadow of Ù1e Ù1eme we are lracking Ù1rough SlIcce.sslve ‘hypoÙ1etical discourses'， in his reference to Warring Stales diplomaLS lravelling frolU one state to anoù，er in 出at cha­ otic age， in vain attemp值 to ‘rescue' the Zhou royal insLÍlutions from oblivion: Aspiring pedl盯"s of ad\"ice Tossed up by Slonn， fired by lightning，

Arose as one tO rescue them;

Whoe、.'er else in whirling flig恤. clinging like shadows.

82

CHAPTER T、vo

Glittered and sparkled in Lheir midst 'Vas far LOO much to put on record.3ï

When he describes the attractions of a government career in his own age， Ban Gu echoes Dongfang Shuo and Yang Xiong in say­ ing that everybody， 明白out exception， is eager to selVe the Em peror; but there is no sarcasm i n the way he handles lhe subject the emphasis is entirely on the Emperor's virtue and munificence， making i臼 wholesome influence fel t all over the realm in truly cosm.c proportlons: And

50， within all six direcLÎons，

one bUL in the seH二same source and w咽_ercourse

Is cleansed and steeped in this mysle吋ous power;

Blessed 旬. and craning for great harmony， Clinging 10 iL 祖 3 branch， a.nached 10 il li.ke leaves. They are like plan臼 and trees nunured by mounr:ajn fores間， Birds and fishes sustainεd by streams 剖1d weù血1ds. Tho心e who strike this vilal forcε thrive 由1d flourish; Those who miss the opponunity 明白er and are scattered Spreading i阻 civilizing influence， on a par wi出 Heaven and Eanh ，

] 1 is beyond compare LO mo巾ls' gif阻. however generous!盟

The next ‘hypolhetical discourse' ， Gui Yin 's Da z衍. shares wi出 Da bin xi an attitude of unqual的ed support for the ruling dyn由ty In the introductory lines to 出is text， ít is stated 出at Cui Yin com­ posed it ‘in imitaúon o f Yang Xiong's ‘Dissolving Ridicule". Gui Yin makes use of our theme to describe his own times: Al this \'e可 moment，

Men yel lO be posled pile up moun阻in-high，

Scholars stream hiLher in a 00\10'， Men gowned and robed [for office] co\甘 the face of ùle earth. Their caps and canopies drifting in clouds Compare

il 10

the forest5 011 Heng MOUI1個in's sunny slope，

The Lree司c\ad fOOl of MOUßl T剖'5 shadowed l1ank﹒

To fen [a trunkl spanning 臼ghl feel do四 nOl render [ the

\\"0吋sl

sparse， To plant [a treel lWO handpalms 叫de do臼 110l make them any denser. Their sheer profusion has 110 end， And )'et each man shaJl have his due.扭

" HS I OOA.4227.

單 ils IOOA.4228 到 I-fHS 52.1 714.

83

CONVENTIONALlTY AND EFFECTIVENESS

In Zhang Heng's ‘Reply to Criúcism'， he makes our theme sOlmd mQre ]jke Yang Xiong's lines again， consÎstent wi自 由e worsened political siruation thal would have recalled 出e circumstances undel whichj.甜 chao was wri Ue n: No\\' here Sash、、earing officials 盯'e massed like clou曲， Genùemen of leaming stand crowded as a forest; TIlose who make it to Lhe ford soar IIp. 品 on a gusl of wind， While those who lose 由e 杭育y are scuuled off into obscur1t)'.

As

none is ensllred of meeting wi出 success，

They are lllCky LO chase the odd opportunity \Vith times lhat change. customs have altered: TIle rrend of thi ngs

is

unfamiliar and strange.

He who cannot see a line in their 四pnClous聞自 And would 品sess lhem by one unvarying nlle Mighl 晶 well ReLrieve a [sunken] sword by marking 山e [side of hisl

OO'l，

Lie in ambush for a hare by mounting guard b)' a tree smmp 刊

The fragmenl of ClIi Shi's ‘ Response to Ridiclùe' in the Yîwen leijlt is lInfortunalely too shoft to admil of mllch analysis. Thollgh ClIi 5hi is， ag剖n， concerned with justifying a lacklustre career， our theme of p"blic-spi討ledne晶 and the convergence of would-l咒 civiJ servants upon 出e capital is absent from the Yîwen ieiju excerpl. In Cai Yong's ' Rejecting Censure' ， on the Oùler hand， the de­ scription of tbe 11Ires and pitfalls of officialdom 回 at the centre of the argumenl. Shi hui is also an important 阻xt in the evolu tion of the genre . 50 f:缸， ùle basic framework of each ‘ h)'poùleti­ c叫 discollrse' al、甜)'S consists of a dialogue between an anonymous ‘gllest' and the allùlOr himself， who does not disguise lúrnself lInder a fictitious persona but responds in person to 出e criticism lev­ elled at him . Cai Yong is ùle fi間l sh.lm. author lo i ntroduce all← gon臼1 figllfes instead: a ‘)'oung Lord 5eek-Success' admonishes an aged recluse， ‘the venerable 5ir Hoaryhead'， to earn merit for himself in an official capacity before it is LOO late . 5ir Hoaryhead then poin阻 out the dangers of making oneself conspicuous. These dangers were demonstrated in the Warring 5tales， when tbe po­ liùcal arena was dominated by unprincipled fonune hllnters: Al

ùle time.

People of W1L vaunted lheir cunning.

的 HHS 59.1906

84

CHAPTER .. 、 、 '。

5ophisL5 paraded their pe悶U晶Îve sk.ills， s、唱shbuckle目 brandished bauJe plans， ""arriors were al weapon-driU. Quickened by lightning， drin:n by StOI珊， Dispersing 晶 mist， blown

08" like

c1ouds:

Their agile cunning. shrewd deceil A fi山ng malch tO what the age d凹naDdεd 4t

Certainly in that chaotic age， men of insight preferred a life in obscurity. Today chaos has given way to order， and to participate in govemment would seem LO be the proper course of action The august Way is all-suffusin 耳， The Emperor's designs illuSlrious and grand: Each in his kind， equably pro吋ded，

Drinks the ambros悶. sucks up nll[riems. [Men

01]

assoned rank He seleclS from six directions，

To weld lhem in a team in aJJ tranquìllity and peace:

The functionaries reverentiaUy go aboul their official duti凹，

Our sage ruler si個 ' " s扭扭 berween 出e columns [of the throne room] .

Sovereign and minis世間. sole.mn and m司Jesuc. Maintain [the Way] in equilib討um 'Splendid are the many knigb自1 ln straight robes and curved 四阱. \\Iith scarlet strings. Like wild geese gliding down lO land， 出ey take their place upon ùle Sleps; Like egreLS ruHling their feathers， Lhey stand thronged LOgether in the couπyard

Compare it to the jade [dep帥ited] atop Mount Zhong， To the slabstones [Iining] 出e riverbank of ùle Si Heap anoLher gem-disk on il， and [its abundance] is nOL increased; Pick oul one sLlch chiming stone. and [their quantity] is nQl depleted 咽_

But appearances deceive. This s回tely corps Sir Hoaryhead is urged lo join is in facl maint剖ned by hereditarγ privilege As

for ùlese hereditary ministe凹，

50ns of good families， The auendant tribe thal W剖阻 剖 出e [Emperor's] side: He恥'en h晶 swelled them wi出 fa\'OU時，

Qur ruler has enriched them wi出 emoluments They fold lheir anns over their chest. 四Jmly and leisurely: For noble rank "，11 p晶s to them of

“ HHS 608. 1 982 " HHS 608. 1 984

ÎlS own accord;

CONVENTIONALlTY AND EFFECTIVENESS

85

Stroking their beard， combing their whiskers: For lhe mOSL lucraLÎ\'e pos臼 go 10 由e nobilil:y. As for Lheir career advancemenL， A ball LhaL rolls down a smooth slope 15 Loo weak an image for ilS unhindered COl1時間 A slipper casl 00" wilh a careless jerk Too feeble a comparison for their Swilching [between 0伍cesl Each of these persons h臼 talent r.訂 閱pe討or lo lhe common， E\'ery one of these men has wisdorn well abo\'e fair measure; YOlU1gsLe悶 do not sl1bmit 出eir doub回 t。 由e aged and experienced， �or do the nai閥 割ld dulI check their pl剖旭 、吋th senior m扭扭凹 .，

It thus Wrns OuL Lhat the siwaLion is nOL reall)' any better than it W品 in the Warring StaLes p盯iod; one mighL， b)' currying favour m曲 曲is power eSLablishment， win the wealth and status 出at young Lord Seek-Success admonishes Sir Hoaryhead Lo seek， but it would be an ill-won glory that cannot la5t The allegorical vamish， the concealment of the author behind the pe悶ona of 'venerable Sir Hoaryhead'， de(]ecLS attenLion from the Lopicality of Cai Yo嗯'5 text-from the parLicular problem situation in which 出e composition originated， and the immedi­ ate function it had一to give it the more timeless qu剖ity of a moral fable. We 5hall 5ee the device taken up again by Wang Chen， i n the third centu門， who has an ‘Old Man o f the Eastern Fields' 問ply to que5tions by ‘a 50n of the lce clan ' in hi5 ‘Expanation of the Time5\ l t i5 not a device limited to the 'hypothetical di5cour5e'; apart from occurring frequentl)' in Han dyna5tyJu， in Zhang Xie'5 張協 (d. 307) ‘Seven Commands' (Qi ming 七命)， for in5tance (a 'sevens' ) ， ‘hi5 Worship Covet-BriUiance' per5uades ‘young Lord Empty-Stillne5s' to embrace an active career in the service of the 5tate-alm05t a mirror-image of C剖 Yong's Shi hui." ln cai Yong'5 ca5e， it 50 happens t1，at the biogr這phical context in which Shi hui i5 embedded in the Hou Han shu inform5 U5 of the challenge to which Cai Yong felt he had to respond b)' mean5 ofhi5 'hypothetical c!i5course'， and the hi5torian--or 出e autobio­ graphical fragment from which he derives his intr吋uc叩門 remarks to Cai Yong's text-explicitly 5ays that cai Yong fashioned ‘ Re­ jecting Censure' after earljer models b)' Dongfang Sh帥， Yang Xiong， Ban Gu， as weU 晶 Cui Yin. Without lhi5 information one

咽 HHS "4

608.1985

n�xllan 35.1a.7b

86

CHAPTER TWQ

would still be able lO lrace lhe literarγ pedigree， blll WilhoUl lhe circumstantial details On whal prompted the composition of 山e texl， the allegorical packaging would make 51'; Imi harder 10 con strUe. E、len enlirely in isolation we would see that il was a politi­ cal critique， and we wOllld be able lO appre口ale lhe nicely chis­ elled pru這JJel coupleLS. BUl by putting lIP an a1legorical screen between himself and his text， by hiding iLS originating imp"lse， Cai Yong is， as il were， lifting lhe anchor of his composition so 出al il can stand 011 恆 。、冊， and speak e\'en to a readership thal knows nOlhing aboul lhe person剖 predicamel1l lhal led Cai Yong to write it. 1t was meant tO serve 品 a 'warning' againsl arb吐rarγ governmel1l， afler all， presllmably for all eternity. This aim stretches the limiLS ofwhat lhe shelun genre cOllld bear. Il 、咱丸 1 belie\'e， essenúal for the survival of ‘hypoù，etical discou悶晶， 且 a genre that 出ey should recogni血bly be written in self司defence; from the reader's point of view， in olher words， they could nOl be pulled out of lhe specific cOl1lext 出at inspired them， since a reader needed this context 10 add the necessarγ imaginati吋 sym­ pa山Y 10 his aestheúc appreciation of the texLS' polished elegance. When the aUlobiographical e1ement in a ‘hypolhetical discourse' is hidden or removed， and when， 品 a consequence， Lhe nalure of lhe text 品 m 盯ûlIlly staged reply to an ad hominem challenge is not apparenl， ilS idenùty as a ‘hypothetical discourse' soon becomes doubûlIl. TI刊s is ù，e 臼se Wl山 Wang Chen's ‘ Explana­ ， tion of the Ti m凹 in Chapter FOllr， which has a nllmber of shelun characteristics but nonetheless cannot be termed a shelu71 becallse 出is central feature is lacking. ， 1 0 lhe fragmenLS of the lasl few ‘hypolhelical discollrs凹 prior lO theJ泊， ollr theme does nOl appear. OfYing Yang's 5hi bi"， only a few lines sllrvive; Chen Lin's Daji has an entirely differenl char­ acter from lhe other lexLS in the genre; and HOll Jin， Zhao Yi ， Cao Zhi and Kong Rong 盯已 甜 far 訕 。叮 徊。wledge of出e shel"，. genre is concemed， mere names. The theme occurs prominenùy ag剖吭 ， however， in subsequent ‘hypothetical discoll時間 starting Wilh Xi Zheng's ‘To Oissipale Oerision' in Chapter Three.

Crilical judgemm ts 0/ the 'hypothetical discou帥 ， It is one lhing 10 see lhal， all cJosely inspired by ù，e same models and emulating one anolher in turn， our texts form a ca阻go門 of

CONVENTIQNALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS

87

lheir own in Chinese lileratu悶; il is anolher LO find an approp討­ ale SIOI for lhis slring of lexlS somewhere wilhin 出e lilerary sys­ lem. This concern '，"dS forced upon librarians confronled wilh a rapidly growing body of texlS 10 be catalogued， following llpon lhe invenlion and spread of paper in lhe first and second centu­ ries AD. The onset of critical refleclion on whal it is lhal se臼 lile← 用lllre (wen 文1 apart from Pllrely utilitarian 、vritings (bi 筆l， and on how lhe profusion of texlS could besl be SOrled and divided， 桔 1 n order 10 de先nd lhe叮 was rOOled in lhis practic剖 predican司enL various solutions to lhese problems， bibliographers and early lil erarγ crilics nalllrally brollght lhe alllhority of the Cl晶sics (0 bear upon lhe maller where lhey could: bUl as a conseqllence， lhe task of mapping out lhe lite間可 landscape was coloured from lhe OlllSct by concerns over lhe orlhodox tenor and Classical derivation of the texlS at issue. i\1ulalis mulanl仙， much the same can be said abolll classi臼1 lilera可 C吋tic回回 in lhe Wesl llnder the shadow of Arislotle. Since lhc Romantic pe付od foslered lhe idea of a ' Re­ pllblic of Leuers' Wilh rules and a dynamics of ilS 0'Vh a t lhe he..ald gathers from the ci1y markc1.品 \Vha1 playing children sing on dykes and embankmenlS 國 \ViÙl 山e aim of lncreasing and broadening our good fortune and our blessings. 1 am expending my ability in uprigh1 remonS1rances lhcse are agreed 凹， 1 ha\'c lhen in my ignorancc assis1ed 1he cnlightencd， And whal 1 ad\'ance h晶 malched 1he numinous taJly;前 if lhey are opposed. Il is nalUrally [be且山e o月 my permanent al1ouncnt，68 And 1 lhen relrcat lO nurse rny slUpidity. \o\'hclhcr 1 shaJl be promoled 01' dcmoted， 1 lea\'c 10 falc: 1 do not dissemble 01' deccivc. 1 abide by my own nalUre and delight in He缸.'cn: Against whorn would 1 bea1' any g1'udgc? And lha1 is lhc 1'eason why A1Lhough 1 entered [the court]， nOlhing issues frol11 mc. And why， alLhough 1 剖n there. yet il 閏 晶 if 1 were not. 1f

ùlink of Masle1' Qu as narro特minded for ah、.'3.)'5 being sober， hold lhe Fishemlan LO be im pure for insisting onc get drunk 1 would feel shamed '0 be humilialed like Liu [-xia) Ji; 1

260

1

曲 See Shangshu Xi刊， 且可p. 15矢'� lJ'ans. Legge: 'E咱可 )'ear in the first monlh of sprin耳， lhe herald wi出 his wooden-tongued bell goes along the roads， pro­ cl剖ming， 'Ye officers able to direcl. be prepared wiLh )'our admonitions， Ve work men engaged in mechanical a泊，間， remo闖闖峙 。n 由e subject of戶ur bl毯lIle甜" 曲 Songs made lIP by chilc岫εdr間ε凹n wer間"e lhollg訓ht of 臨 m 凹ningf，仇11叫B叫l 自川nd副1曰t恤。間 。f for lhe g'伊o呵附' p伊。叩p仰11叫，1加arsp伊。n 蚓11中p

m

ω，叫nt (ρ1968釗) 6; A taUy 符 W站 訓 。句eCl→ften in lhe fonn of a minialure lig盯 casl of •

bronze-Illade inlo lwO perfeεlIy fiuing hal\"es; in antiqu叮 出e ruler would gi\"e his genera1 onc half of such an objecl， and send 出e O曲er to him by messcnger logelher 間曲 曲e generafs marching orders: if由e IWO hal\'cs fit� that auLhenti­ caled the ord盯. l n order lO describe 出e filness of出e ruling d)'Il祖ty to gO\-ern. later wri盟問 in\'oked 出e image of血e mjli阻呵 ，因lIy': 晶 long 晶 nalural phenomena 。CCUπ"ed in 由e proper 扭扭曲 and h四間n's mo\-ements wcre constanl， Hea、en by 曲is regularilY '311thenticaled' 出e go凹rnment on 四nh. What Xi Zheng means here pre口間1)' is nOl entirely clear: eilher Îl means lhal if his poli叮 3d吋ce mel 圳lh a f-a、ourabJe response al COllrt. Hea\'en itself nodded in agreemenl; or， hyperbolically， lh叫 出e Emperor's policies ù時mseJ\"es \\'ere 'numinous' 重 and 出訓 Xi Zheng's ad\"ice 'malched' 出e thinking Ihal went on in Lhe inner 且nc­ [um of poJicy-makers closesl lO Lhe Emperor， I am indined to 出ink lhe latler 闢 His 'allounent\ or nalural 'share' S子， being 由al someone of his limited abilil)' could not po盟ibly hope 10 contribule a叫l1.hing of 呵Jue

CHAPTER THREE

1 16

yi and Shu [Qi1 屆 rigid in Lheir lorty ranCOUf.個 If [ my advice] Îs agreed to. 1 do 11m succeed 00 that accou叫， lf i， 的 。pposed. I do not fail 00 that accounl: Success \\'ou.ld nOl make me proud and conceited. And failure 、、..ould not make me anxious and perlurbed 1 do not relish a place near the pro\\'， lO wo叮γ lha， [，he sh中 。f s阻，e1 should spring '00 high， Nor do 1 take up a place 剖 the stem， to worry whelhcr il should sa_ 2 70 I am nOl peddling a repulaoon il1 search of [impe吋31] fa\'our， And do no' keep 趴咱y fro m errorsïl out of fear of being dismissed Whal “dUly" is lhere (0 discharge? Whal .."咱ges" lO make amends for? \Vhal "square" 的 there LO aHgn myself wi曲， What " lranks of the] sLraight" to enlcr? Since aflcr nine e、司luations [ have Islill] 1l0l been promoled， Perforce lhal is the reason I hold 00 (0 what 1 ha\'c.

1 consider [B01

265

270

275

As

for lod呵， Coun scholars h臥，'c accumuJa阻d moumain-highJ And emincnL and oUlSlanding men are there in throngs; alike lO

國 See Appendix undcr Qu Yuan and 伽 Fisherman， Liuxia Hui ( Liu.xia Ji)， and Bo yi and Shu Qi 70 The ship of slate (my inte巾。laooo) should be balanced. by ha\;ng ùle right people appoimed to the right positions. Sho叫d Xi Zheng 阻CUP) a highcr function ('near the prow') Ùlatl he cuπ"enùy h品， 由e ship would 'spring 100 high' 軒 because hc does nOI ha、'c the required 肘ighL Should he acccpt 3 10附r posi lion ('3t the stern') than he currenùy h笛， 由e ship ，，"'ould 'sag' 恆 Ihc ship's bow would be weighed down because the Jikes of Huang Hao (in thc fronl ranks of gO\.ernment) wOllld no longer be counterbaJanced by someonc likc Xi Zheng in the middle. Thc image is fmm Mn.o Shi 削 77. S句 p. 425b， and applies 10 a car甘age， not a ship ﹒The war carlS ha\'e been sleadied/ As if 削Iin耳， )'刮 目 if rising' ( trans. D. Knechtges， n� .ruan Volume 2 (198ïj p. 162 n. line 125). Ma Yuan wri恤 ， in a memoriaJ 10 lhe rnmne (1 again substinlle 3 ship for 3 目rriage): 'Now an) position 1 ma)' occupy in the fmm [rnnks of go吋mmentJ won'l make [出e ship of s扭扭1 阻g I by my d目tabilizing influence on il); any position 1 m3y E臼py in the rear won 't make it sp巾g l∞ hi阱， (HHS 24.83 1 ) . Thi. i. ，he prob­ able 阻lI rce for Xi Zheng's lin且 71 Xi Zheng d。屑。f cou時e lrγ 10 leep away from 'errors' 趣. but n01 OUl of fear 曲al he \\"ould other\\'可se be dismissed; 間由er out of conccm lhat if he com. miued 曲e ﹒盯悶悶﹒ referred 峙， his real illlenrions would nOl comc acro.且 個 出e Emperor. Such 'errors' 3re described in LunJu 16.6 ， S司I p. 2522"3. lrnns. Lau p. 1 40: 'C旬lfucillS said. "When in 剖tendance upon a genüeman 。間 的 Jiable 10 three errors. To speak bcfore being spoken lO b)' the gentlem帥 的 rash; 11m 10 speak when 叩。ken 10 b)' hi"， is 10 be evasi珊; to speak 柵lhom ob時間ng 山e expre間ion on his face is 10 be blind.... =

1 17

FRUSTRATIQN ANO PRIOE

[Shoals 0叮 scaled and finned [fish] submerged in lhe huge

280

ocean，

l]

[ F1缸b q gro\'eγ-

plumed and feathered [birds] pthered

m

Dmg

l f a trekking bi叫 lea\'凹， that mak臼 [the multitudeJ no smalJer， If a roaming bream reach自 由em， 出at does nOl make [the shoal] more paεked. �Ioreo\.er 285

Yallgs numinous pr自ence 、咽.s obscured in the age of Yao，

The quintessence of yitl responded in Shang times;

ßUl through lhe suppli臼tion al Yangxu. the inundations abated，

Through lhe p用yers at Sanglin. sweet moislUre richly fe lL73

ln acting and desisting [from action] t.here is a Way [to follo\\'] ;

290

[I'or proposals) to find enlJγ 01" LO be ohsLrucLed， Lhere Îs a [ proper) time

1 leach myself by the lessons lefL [by lhe anCÎents]， 1 bear no grudge and make no reproach;

Yielding to my fate 1 respecL myself， \Vhal else is Lhere for me lO 阻戶

，

Finally， Xi Zheng rounds the piece off 叫出 a funher profes­ sion of contenlmenl 吶lh his posiúon. There is again a series of ex虹nples， a standard element in the shtlun， of figures from his­ 叩門 or legend Wilh whom Xi Zheng compares himself; bUl jusl 晶 in Yang Xiong'sJiechao， the final lisl of h時lorical figures is tw岱 edged and consúLUles the ‘súng' of lhe piece. [n Xi Zheng's lexl， W1'沁en oul of frustration wi曲 his career， we have， surprisingly， so far encountered virtually no veiled accusaüons， very few lines thal could convincingly be read as having a darkly critical under­ tone; il has been remarkably bland so far. Now， in lhe fìna[e， Xi ， Zheng says lhal he 'lrdnquilly hold5 on 10 [his] 恥咐 (line 325) because he is nol 50 presumptuous 品 10 lhink lhal he could com­ pare with the5e hislOriCal figures he enumerale5: the horse expens Jiufang Cao 九方學 and Qin Ya 賽牙. the sword connoisseur Xue 7!

Deng gro\'e .韓 伯 lhe for由l thal sprang up on 出e pJace where Kuafu 寄宜，

10 rn自 由e sun， 山rew down his staff when he d間d of thirSl. See Shanhai jing 山轟軍 (Book of Moun恤ins and se晶) 8.238; Huainanz.i 4. Ershi 'tr z.i ed. p. 1223c; Li4i Jt子 (M晶ter Lie) 5， Ershi'rr û p. 2 1 0b， the ffi}lhological hero who Lried

?這IU. A.G.

Craham. The 晶叫 0/Li.h.Tzú (1凹的 p. 仙 ， where il is 扭id 出at Deng

lor，自t c。間間d

sc\.eral

thou且nd miles

in thc lcxt， from 曲E enreo叮cd. YU the Greal supplicaled at rounder or Ihe Shang dynasly. pra}cd 剖 Sanglin

" Lines 287-290: ‘lhe age of Yao' is 'lhe age ofTang' pJace whcrc lhe sage--ruler Yao

was

Yangxu JIIf: Tang lhe Succ臨fl泊，

矗轉:

for bolh， see

Appendi x

firsl

CHAPTER THREE

118

Zhu 薛燭， 由e zither pla)'ers Hu Liang 質量I! and Yongmen Zhou 雍們周， a lowly retainer of the Lord of Mengchang 孟嘗 君， a 出ief in the employ of a Chu generaJ， the charioteer Han Ai 轉玄， and an adept of Taoist levi阻廿on techniqu白， Lu Ao R畫畫. Assuredl)' these people did achieve a certain fame and repll阻uon， bllt whal true gentleman wOllld even think of imitating such a moùey crowd? Here， then， is the irony， the double-吋edged modesty characteris­ tic of the ‘hypotheucal discollrse': Xi Zheng is so humble that he dare not even consider ‘ [ malching] his skills with these gentle­ men' (line 323)， bUI any genùeman of Xi Zhel嗨's calibre despises sllch role models anY"愉y; his imaginary critic and olhers of his ilk in the bureaucracy， the eunuch Huang Hao foremost among them， occu py positions that Xi Zheng dare nOI 品pire 旬， bUl in ùle same breath he a\so dec\ines 10 be numbered with artisans， ser.oants and tricksters and so places them on the same level 叭，自由 my words 剖 an end， the road runs 恥，仁

I shall reLUm 10 my p巾tine in阻grity，

To gather the spreading fragrance of [ancient] tomes and canons， To lfaCe lhe arlS thal Confucius left behind. \\feaving lhcir subùe \\'ords logelher 50 祖 LO preser\'c Ù1C \\'ay.

300

And， 的lh these fonner models 品 my paucrn， enlnasung my self (0 [the ancient] institutions

H 1 appr。、'C of Shu Xi's leisured ease， And admire MaSler Shu [Gu缸19] for relinquishing [office] forever: 75 1 [tooJ shall conLaÎn [ my ambition] by "slopping when Îl is enough"，

and

1 shall， afloal

305

011

lhen speak of retiring; a glistening exp剖lse， be free or care，

And， delighting in my poor abode， have peace and joy; Spared of having to rcpent [any furLher] mistakcs in Lhis \\'orld. [BUl] conside吋ng 山at my hean 的 not yet [su!lìcienùy] composed，

And frighlcned at thc road's end of gCllÎng sLUck in the mud，

I conúnue 10 search for stimulaúon to add lO my zeal，

310

And by putting for山 my inner feel ings， 1 profess [my 1。但It)' ] .

For Shu X i lJ.It ( Shu Xiang 向)， S配 Appendix Shu Guang •• ，"，'田 an expen in the Sp巾g and AUlumn Annals who in 67 BC， al an ad\'anced age. was sUOlffioned 扭 曲e Han 臼pital 10 become Crand Tutor 恤 出e 扭吋n-)"四r-old Liu Shi 劉鹽， 出e [umre Han empcror Yuan X;膏 。 49-33 BC). Whcl1 L.iu Shi "茁 lwel\'e and had mastered thc AnalcclS and the Boo k. of Filial PiClY， Shu Guang announced that he would leave， citing Laoz.i ﹒To re­ lreal when thc lask i.s accomplished is lhe \'咽y of Hea\'en' flS 7 1 .3039-40 7-4

75

""

FRUSTRATION ANO PRIDE

1 19

I n the p晶L Jiufang Gao assessed 1he quin tessence of 出e noblesl [of animals ] ; Qin Ya submersed himself in thoug恥， regarding their varying shapes Xue Zhu by examining lreasured [swords] saw his repu1ation soar; H u Liang trusted lO [his zÎ1her'sl strings lO spread his faI!!.e. A sl恥'e from Qi by slapping his lhighs 間開d [T圳、1 Wen; 而 A relainer from Chu by co\'en raids safeguarded Jing.17

315

Yongmen [ZhouJ， helped by his zither， espollsed COO\'扣。ng \Tle、，\15; Han

Ai

held the reins and gaIloped 10 famc，

When Lu Ao. wheeling in 1he air. rose up 10 lhe Dark Ga1e，

320

Someone . somelhing Uke a man 、咽5 borne aloft 10 the blue

As

cIouds

for me. truly

1 am unable 10 match my skills wit.h lhese genùemen，

and hence 325

Trdnq‘Imy I hold 011 10 m)' 0\\'1 1 and 白山 maintain my peace.' 司，司，司，

As has been mentioned， xi Zheng's situation unexpec阻dly changed for Ihe belter when ShuH凹， inslead of restoring the greatness of the Han empi閃 出al it considered ilSelf 10 be the legitimale heir 恤， 、咽s ilSelf S\咽1I0wed up by i阻 neighbollr 10 the e晶L 出e Wei empire. ln the 間nler of 263， the Wei COllrt senl ilS General­ issimo Deng Ai 鄧艾 ( 197-264) 10 invade ShuHan， and his advance 、咽s so swift Ihat the Last Ruler of ShllHan， in an emergency meel­ ing wi出 his COllrt adviso悶， embraced Ihe advice offered by Qiao Zhou 品周 ( 1 99-270) 出al he shollld abdicale forthwith and send an envoy 10 Deng Ai with a leuer requesling him to accepl ShuHan 's surrender. 78 Xi Zheng was called upon 10 、，vrite lhis docllmenl， whkh may have been his dUly 晶 DireclOr of lhe Im話 ="'amel). 帆，feizi: see Appendix � See Appendjx under "Ch的 時山n肘， I l'I Xi Zhcng's biography 阿ads: '10 the sixth )'回r of thcJin即，，，o ， .. [ e悶， 263/ 2斟]. the LaS l Ruler ad叩阻d 由e plan of Qiao Zhou 缸吋 SCIll 叩 em'o)' 10 Deng Ai Wilh the requcsl to surrendεr lO him' (SCZ 42. 1 04 1 ) ， The e，'eOlS are summa. rized în BJ. Mans\'eh Beck.， oþ. cil， pp. 28-29， The dccision 10 surrender w晶 間h lricÙ)' spcaking. 阻，ken in ﹒出e sixth rcar ofJingyao'， bul in lhe firsl )'car of the Yanxing 盧 興 cra: a changc in lhe name of ùte era and a general 且nneSly were pr'恆laill1ed 10 boost morale in ShuHan when Wei auacled (配e SCZ 3g帥的. but 出e 'Yanxing erd.' did not last more than a few months

1 20

CHAPTER THREE

perial Library.79 The Wei invading force i mprisoned Huang Hao (he was later able to bribe Generalissimo Deng Ai， and escaped with his life) 曲 The w現r was not immediately over， however: Qne of the victorious Wei generals， Zhong Hui 鍾 會 (225-264) . assum­ ing he would be able to hold out militaril)' against the Luoyang governmen←-as lhe now defunct state of ShuHan had been able to do for forry years-revolted against Wei and i臼 de facto rulel Sima Zhao 司馬昭 ( 2 1 1 -265). The rebellion was struck down; Zhong Hui was killed b)' his own troops;81 but there must have been a momenl when the ministers of ShuHan， unsure what would be fall lhem next， were at a loss which side to choose. l n lhe general disarray， few were ready to accompany ex-Emperor Liu Shan to Luoyang and to commit ùlemselves， for better or for worse， lO Sima Zhao-himseU widely rumoured to be about to Lopple ùle Wei， and establish his own empi問. ßut xi Zheng did. In ùle spring of 264， Liu Shan arrived in Luoyang with a small retinue of at­ tendan臼-Xi Zheng among them-to 由e accolades of the Wei court. Liu Shan was ennobled 自 Duke of Anle 安樂公，但 and hi咱s 10)'咀叫2討J servant Xi Zheng beca剖mτne 恥Ma缸rqu山i昀s vVit出hin-t吐吋LI山he軒-Passes

i昀s how hi時s biograp抖he盯r describes t也he凹Ir JO urn間叫e吋吋)' fl台rom Shu and X 沁i

Zhen】g's belated rise to fame

[Aflcr

Liu Shan's surrender 10 Dεng

Ai，l in lhe first month of 出e

following year [264)， Zhong Hui rebelJed in Chengdu and the Last

Ruler moved easl LO Luoyang; at this lime of disturbance 剖ld ten.

sion， l10nc of 山e high ministers of Shu followed him in ordcr- to prolect him. Only

[Xi]

Zheng 副ld the Supen'Ísor of the Palace Ad­

minislration Zhang Tong 蛋通 from Runan lfz南 lefl Lheir wÏ\'cs and children behind and all alone followed [lhe Last Ruler] to attend On him. The Lasl Ruler relied 011

[Xi]

Zhel1g to give him guidance in

whal 、咽s appropriate and suitable so that in his actions ùlere would be nothing u n lO叫ard;但 and i t was only then that [lhe LasL RuJer) ，

79 The Icuer of surrender is pr自en'ed in SGZ 33.900 and included with Xi Zhe嗯's extant prose wrilings in YKJ. QuanJin 聞n 70.6a-b ( p . 1863b) 80 See SGZ 39.987 81 See SGZ 33.900 且 SGZ 33.901. 自 ‘Marquis WithilHhe-Pa耳目 開內�. was a noble litle 出al did nOl car叮 缸1)" landhoJdings or 且la叮'， graded 6 個 出e bureau口"3ÛC ladder (但e So" g山， 40.1263) Thesc nOQlinaLions were madc beforc the Jin 、喵 凹的Iished， and so formall)' il h宙 甜IJ Emperor Yuan of Wei .x曹 (Cao Huan .壘， r. 26().265) 、、ho gr40 " JS 1 2 1 .30峙， 30峙; Lú Simian. 唔， 口1. 帥. 71H!5 .. jS 5. 1 叭 ， 86.2221是1 !7 )S 86.2221-53; Lú Simian. oþ. cÎ/� pp. 8!H37 四 JS 56.1533: E. Zurcher， 1悶， Bud晶ÎSI Conqlll'.St 0/ ω;'l4 (1959) P 訓 . and pp. 81--85 for what follows

131

POLITJCS AND 8UREAUCRACY

‘barbarian' encla、'es were a SOllrce of worry at lhe best of times， As lhe empire started to disinlegra間， their leader Liu Yuan 劉淵 ( d. 3 1 0) ， whom theJin had officially recognized as sllch (and who 、咱丸 inciden叫旬， lhorollghl)' sinicized himself)， sel out to chan­ ne\ lheir frllstraùon tO lhe furtherance of his 0\\11 ends， In 304， Liu Yuan adopted lhe tiLle of King of Han 護主， and in 308， that of Emperor; and wi自 由e sùll powerflll ideological battlecry of r自toring L11e Han dyn品哼， Liu Yuan lallnched an offensi\'e ag剖nst what 帆宙 left of the Westem Jin empire. This seemingly Chioese 描piration was not entirely alien to the Xiongnll， however: the very first Han emperor had given a p討ncess in marriage to a Xiongnu king， and Lill YlIan， 叫出 not 100 much exaggeraùon， claimed a blood relationship wiLl1 the defllnct imperial house of Lill 油 The magic name of Han also served 10 foment some unity of purpose among me other e\emenLS 00 Lill YlIan's side， Apart from his lribal following， Liu Yuan's army incIlIded 10臼1 Chinese notables who went over to the Xiongnu slrongman in the absence of any 0出訂， indigenous pro吋der of law and order， 由 weIl 的 bands of fam­ ished pe品an臼 with nOlhing to lose; it absorbed insurrectionaries from Shandong led by a renegade offici剖， Wang Mi 主祠. who joined Liu Yu凹's forces in 307; and another Shandong rebel army was amalgamated imo it the same year， under L11e ‘b盯ba討an' ch阻ι 凶n Shi Le 石勒 ( 274-333) and his Chinese associale Ji Sang 過是 “ 307). Under Liu Yuan's successor Liu Cong e 怕. 3 1 8) ， lhis formidable band descended on Luoyang. Sima Chi， the Emperor， ordered reinforcemenLS to 由e capital in vain， while most of the court officials made their escape， mainly to lhe south; in 3 1 1 ， Luoyang feIl， 由e Emperor was taken prisoner， and the remain­ ing ciùzenl)' massacred. Emperor Huai died in captivity. The same fate befel1 the lasl emperor， Sima Ye JI (3()(}'317， r. 3 1 3-316). When news came of Sima Chi's dealh， Sima Ye was enthroned in Chang'an， the makeshift 臼pi個1 now that Luoyang had been lost; he he\d out for four more y閉目， then， in 3 1 6， Liu Cong's sllcces­ sor Lill Vao 種 (d. 329) 1剖d the city to wasle and Sima Ve， posLlm­ mously named the 'Pitiful Emperor' (Emperor Min 憨帝) ， 、咽s car� ried off and kiUed the next year. The evenLS in tbis last decade of 由e Westem Jin are known 扭 曲e ‘upheavals of 出e Yongjia e悶 ， 永嘉之.; in these yea間， stricLly speaking from 307 個 3 1 3 but es-

i

四 � Cam蚵dge H“''''1 o/ China Vol. I pp. 37()'71

132

CHAPTER FQUR

peciall)' afler Lhe sack of Luoyang in 3 1 1 ， tllere was a mass exφ dus of Lhe elile， from coun digni阻ries 10 COUnLry gentlemen who could afford it， from Lhe ra''lIged central pro吋nces lO 出e ler吋. 叩門 of Lhe former kingdom of Wu in Lhe soulh. There tlle Jin dyn品ty 、帽s revived in 3 1 8， 吶山 Jiankang 建廳， pre時l1l-- 1 7.

137

POLJTICS A N D BU REAUCRACY

‘ou臼poken' (%hiylm 直言). O r were olherw耐e commendable under similar calego付的 eSlablished more or less ad hoc. A lhird bUl generally fro\vned-upon avenue， nonelheless nol uncommon in lhe Laler Han， four山 、咱y， probably oflen a mixed blessing， w品 10 be personaJly ‘summoned' (:lumg 徵) LO office by lhe Emperor if a man's repu­ tation was such lhal the go\'ernment had LO eilher buy his serv­ ices or nelllralize him by other means. This was a \'e可 rare oc­ currence (bUl we shaJl meel one ins阻nce in the Jin dynasty)， and numerically il is negligible. For whal the figure 時 wonh， il may be useful LO point oUl lhal in AD 3 1 8， when lhe Easlern Jin had lO reconslilute its enlire bureaucraLic apparalus al mosl from scralch， no less lhan 200，000 officials were appointed in a single )'ear 間 (Again b)' way of iUustralion， we ma)' nOle lhal lhe gov­ ernmenl 呵， from coun ty Magis恤les up、咄咄 [ 伽 liull�; guall Ii內官 or ‘officials 叫thin the stream for promotion '1， coUJ1led aOOlll 1 4，000 officiaJs in the mid-se\'enth century， and needed 500 個 600 new appoinlmenLS annuall)' LO keep lhese echelons al full strength.") By the early third cemury， several faclors had undermined lbe \'iabili句， of the Han recruitment syslem. Most ob吋ousl)'， lhe Han dynasty itself w訕 。n the brink of collapse. Al lhe time， Cao Cao's adrninistration in Ye JIS， 甘、e capital of his kingdom of Wei (since 2 1 6 ) ， was fast supplanting wbal remained of the Han go\'ernmenl in Luoyang， a prelude to the takeover of 出e imperial lhrone by Cao Pi in lale 220. Han officials could nOl simply be absorbed InlO 山e Wei bureaucrac)' wi由out 臼rsl being screened by lhe new regime， however; nOl only 、喵 山eir aJlegiance suspecl bUl so were their qualifications， since many officials in lhe Laler Han had e mered lhe bureaucracy by purchasing office.甜 Second， ùle Han empire 、咽s split by imernal warfare imo differem spheres of in­ nuence of which Cao Cao's was the mOSl importanl， co\'ering nine of ùle Han 's thineen pro吋nces or zltou 州.四 The upheaV"als of lhe civil \Var meant lhal man)' who would otherwise have depended 揖 For purchas峙 。f 。而凹， Carl Leban. 'Sale of Ofli臼 or "Fin間A Maner of IlHerp�ε且tion' ( 1990).

l.a阻 � r H缸1: �

Zürcher， oþ. cd. p. 85.

see

自 �� P��e r �� 801. 'This CulluTr! oJOun'; __ 2) pp 4 1 -42 SunK 臼i"o (199 . M胸諷 呼 叫 pp. 9創∞ Mjyazaki. 吵， 叫. p. 93.

:

tn"II.tcll帥J Trans;lÎ，肘1.J

IR

in the

T'o"g Qnd

138

CHAPTER FQUR

on their local community members for a recommendaLion thal could gain lhem enuy lo a government job were now scallered over the counUγ， uprooled from their home base which iLSelf， i f il sLill eXiSled， mighl li e oULSide Wei-controlled leπilory. The xiaolianj xiucai avenue to office 、咽S 出us disrupled 40 Third， 出e legitimacy of Han rule and consequently of iLS recnlÎlment S)'S­ lem was in doubl. As self-slyled guardians of lhe moral ordεr， gen­ tlemen had become increasingly critical of whal lhey saw 品 cor­ rupl government in tlle laller half of the second centu門; lhe Greal Proscription of AD 1 69-1 84， in which palace eunuchs deall a heavy blow to lheir aspirations to 'clear and puri句 all-under-Heaven' ， unwiltingly confirmed gentlemen into a role in oppo剖Lion lO the establ時hed powers . ' Under such circumslances， to have candi­ dales ‘recommended by l山h、lel凹E叮r cωomm】um且ties and selcclcd f，什rom t山he ， 吶圳llag許es正 could n。叫l \YOr沁k tor rec∞。mm冒n咐e肘nde吋d一o叫Sl扭ens間叫s討ibl句Y by popu叫lar acclaim一to a govern­ rnent of bad r問epUl阻e could only prov吋e， by his very success， 的剖 privale gain ，vas all he 'vas afler; and hence， 自al the communily mUSl have been wrong aboul the candidale's moral worth and， by imp1icati。吭 rigged ‘Famous gentlemen' ( miPlgshi 名士) inslead came 10 altraCl a foll。的ng of hundreds， sometimes lhousands， of p廿vale studenLS and 間因ners for mε叮 independent s阻nd againsl the dyn自句) compeling wi出 each other over who had tlle 'pur­ ， e缸 credentials-measured by who had the largesl foLlowing-in an intellecll1al atmosphere of opposition 10 lhe ollicial ideology of tlle Han stale.43 Refusing to accept office became lhe vogue; grealer honour resulled from being accep阻d into a millgshi's cirde， eaming his prai妞， and eventually selting 叩 品 a social arbiler oneself. FamollS gentlemen 's much publicized and highly effica­ Cl0凶， sha巾 and succincl characterizations of individual people's pe悶onalities ， which could either make a man's name or brand him for life， became known 站 'pure judgemenLS' 情謹. Founh， 40

Ta ng Zhangn且， 啥 叫 pp. 86-87. 41 See 臼mbridgt f1Î.J/.呵 01ω帥 、，'01. 1 pp. 328-29. The phrase 'lO clear and p叩fy all-u nde r-He a\'e n' occu悶 i n HHS 66.2159， 67 .2203; also i n SSXI' I.I， 1悶悶， M alher p. 3; q uole d in Y u Yi ngshi， 'H anJïo zhiji shi 7hi 訓n zij ue 悍， 別 nsi chao (1959) p.213 ..， H olz man ， oþ . 01. p. 389 咱 b 臼mbrid� History 0/ China VoL 1 pp. 795-97; also Tani ga岫 Mi ch巾 ， Mtdieval Soculy O1ld 伽 Lo叫 。mmun旬 . (回 ns. by] oshua A. Fog叫; 1 985 ) csp. pp.91 .99

POUTICS AND BUREAUCRACY

1 39

lhe diminished appeal of a career in lhe Han go、，re mment \\'e nt hand in hand with a growing disaffecLÍon 朋lh governmem in general. Al leasl iniLÍaUy， 明ingshi were mOli凹ted by poliLÍcal ide­ alism and a grand 剖m of bringing abollt ù1e moral regeneration of lhe Han imperial go\'ernmem; bllt self三interest can never have been far a、旭y， lhe lhirst for publicity bred compeLÍtion， and Ù1e facLÍons lhal developed were worldly enough to gamer what Sllp­ POrt lhey could get from vested local imeresLS in order LO keep lheir moral crusade afIoaL Thlls geDùemen divided along geo­ graphical Iines， sllch 扭 曲e RlInan and Ù1e Yingchllan 頓Jll cam阱， bonded loge出er 叫出 great landowning c1ans-lo which lhey 山em­ selves oflen， lhough nol ah帽)'5， belonged-and were quick tO mark out their ri\'als 甜 甜cial eqllals or inferiors in the speclrum be­ tween ‘heredilary (or ‘aristocraLÍc' ) c1ans' (shulI 勢脹) and ‘cold ， (or ‘ pauper') famili間 (hamllen 寒門) .� While lhe most articulate members of the edllcated c1ass， at least in Pllblic， still propagated a concepLÍon of Ù1e Han empire as a lInive悶e to lIphold Confu­ cian vallles， their facLÍona!ism laid Ù1em open LO 山e charge lhat 出句， in lum， used Ù1eir moralizing merely for lhe pllrsllil of p吋­ vale gain， courLÍng public opinion "�lh whal amollmed 10 'f1eet­ ing fl討volilies' 浮華 and forging ‘panisan cliques' 脈. Ù1at refused to coopera阻 nOl only "�出 Ù1e Han power es個bli時shment， bUl 、 吶 、 吋 祉 咱t趴 h 剖1y h圳、lIg訓h間er aUÙ10rity una盯menable t岫。 t曲he臼If 0\、、冊吶 II1t峙er閃est峙s dωis站s岫。叫lu叫ltion of Ù1e Han emp抖ire吭， a訓IÙ1昀ough d副If間ec口tly a剖lt叮riblltable LO ù1e Yellow Turban uprising and iLS aflermaÙ1， was haslened by Ù1e deliberale disengagemem of Ù1e intelligenLSia;46 lheir hold over lhe minds of lhe edllcated c1ass， and Ù1e coalescence of their acl1吋LÍes 叫lh cemrifugal local forces， did not bode well for Cao Cao's empire-bllilding ambitions. To yoke lhem 10 Ù1e nascent Wei administraLÍoD was a seriolls challenge. 司，司，拿

The ‘nine-rank 句.'5tem for designating men to office\ implememed by 出e Wei Secretarγ of Ù1e Board of Personnel 吏部向II Chen Qun 叫 YU Yings制， 呼 叫 pp. 2 1 7-30. On Runan and Yingchuan. 時e Kong Rong. R恥的"g JO叫'jr lun 齒，僅費>> ('00 lhe Relati，'e �，leJ'"its of (lhe gemlemen 0η Ru[nan) and Ying(chuan)'). in Y旬， QUaI! HO'u Han 帥" 的 1 O I>- I I a (pp. 9231>-

24吋

��

Tang Zha咿U﹒ 嚀 。，. p. 9 1 ; Ta呻w3 呼 叫 10 As suggc.sted b)' Yu Yingshi. 0/1. ål. pp . 295-96

p. 98

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陳軍 (d. 236) from AD 220， jusl afler Cao Cao's dealh and only monùls prior lO the abdication of the lasl Han emperor，打 pre­ senled some solutions lO ùlese several problems. Firsl of all il inLroduced a screening meùlOd allowing individual offi口als who had risen through ùle ranks of a 110\\1 discredited administration lo SLarL a new life underWei rule; and so as nOl lO sligmatize Han ofIicials 晶 a group， lhe evaluation proc凹e站 、咱5 ext阻e臼nded lω。 all o筋cia訓Is in Ù山leWei govemment il臼sel怔f echelons of government. These were， possibly al出e same time 扭 曲e)l吵的 zhongzheng s)'Slem \\田 田間blished， graded for the firsl time on a scale from 1 lo 9; in the Han dynasly， rungs on lhe bll­ reaucralic ladder had inslead been referred lo by saJary level， from 10，000 bushels lO 200 bushels of grain (and down lO 100 bushels for officials below the new nine-grade pyramid).呻 Han and Wei office-holde間， once ùleir credentials had been reviewed， could find lhemselves reinSLaled in their former positions， bUl the grad自 of lhese positions reOecled a change in出e disLribuLion of power in some vilal 制eas of lhe bureaucratic apparallls. For inslance， ùle senior administralors in the offices of lhe Three Dllkes 三公 were now graded lower (al grade 6) lhan lhe variolls Secrelaries 侖. (grade 3) c\osesl lo lhe Emperor who， in 山e Han syslem， had ranked (in lerms of salary) below the Three Dukes' senior s阻Jf.油 One aim of Chen Qun's institutional innovation， 由en， w站 to fil dependable Han olIicials and incllmbenl omce-holders in ùle Wei adminisualion inlo a unified bureaucraLic slruclure lhal was al once more cenlralized and orienled arollnd lhe figure of 出e Emperor than lhe Han governmenl appa.-alus had been The screening procedllre called for 'impartiaJ jlldges' and a sel of objective crileria. Those chosen 品lmparLialJlldges (zhongzheng 中正) were officials aJready serving in the Wei central administra­ Lion， recommended for th時 additional function by lhe Governors of ùleir home commanderies and formall)' appoinled by出e Min­ isler of Finance (situ ，司徒). As a rule， officials of lhe Personnel Division of lhe Secretarial could not concurrenùy Lake on ùle dll廿四 of zhongzheng， and to 恥'oid similar conf1icts of inleresL， neither

4' SGZ .22.635; Tang Zhangn且， 崢 ru. p. 1帥; Miyazaki， oþ. 01. pp. 93-9-1. .. SGZ 扭 曲川 Pei Songz.hi's Commen且可); 盟e Miyaz繭， oþ. 01. pp. 1 帥� l 49 Miyal.ak.i. oþ. cit. pp. 94-96

時 Miya7aki， 呼 cil.

pp. 1 0 1�5_

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could senior stalf in the Minis的' of Fin剖lce.ól The ImpartiaJJ"dges were LO take charge of \'elting lhe quaJificalions of candidates h也Jing from lheir naù\'e commanderi品. either 明出 a view to re­ examining their currenl po訓ùons in lhe case of exisùng Han and Wei officials， or preparatory 10 a firSl government appointmel1l in the case of new recruiLS to the civil service. In the immediate furure， the laller ll1ighl include local leaders on terriLOry nOl yel firml)' lInder Wei conrrol， who ‘mWl be g仇'en an OppOrtllOlly 10 advance in the service of Wei， lesl 出ey become foci of rebeJJion';1>' and in the longer le口n， aJI candidales for office were hencefor­ ward LO be screened by the lmpartialJudges. This wel1l sOll1e way LOwards addressing the second problem menùoned above: the dis­ persion of local comrnuniùes during lhe upheavals of lhe lasl decades of lhe Han and heoce the ill1possibility of relying on a comll1unity conseosw 10 pick sllitable candidales for office. An I mpartial JlIdge， seconded by a G恥.'emor's recommendation and wi出 a proven record in office as weJJ， cOllld oow， because of his presumed familiarity wi出 the backgrollnd of his feUow 10、vnsm凹， act as lheir anchor within the central governmenl where、ler the vicissiludes of war had scauered ùlem. Ln order to revie\、" or es­ tablish the credentials both of preseol Han and Wei ofIicials and of would-be ofIice-holders， 吐間 I mpartial judges pUl logelher the foJJowing informalion， 10 be pro吋ded LO the Personnel Division of出e Secre阻riat (where appointmen阻 10 office were decided upon Wilh the zJumgr.Jung's recommeodation in hand):到 1)

The lasl offi凹， 江 any， pre叫ously held by a candidale's fa­

ther and grandfather， caJJed ‘status on tìJe' (bufa t萬俊). It is doubtful whelher this shollld be inlerpreled 品 already showing an incli­ nation， on the part of 出e Wei regime， LO accepl a son's heredi­ tary right LO office. Rather， to boast a family record of go\'em­ ment service w晶 LO a candidale's credil because of the idea that he carried in hill1 the accumulaled 'merit' e剖"Iled in go\'ernment service by his ancesLOrs， and 出al he should prove hill1self worthy of his ancesLOrs. It meal1l that ùle govemment gave due aJJow­ ance 10 a uni\'ersaJJy shared reJigious notion， which is nOl quite lhe same lhing as condoning an 'arisLOcratizing' lendency. ln 剝 Tang Zhangm， 0，戶 âl� pp. 103--05. 于 Gr.úI1帥• oþ. 叫 p. 147 且 Tang Zhang間， oþ. cit. pp. IOfHl8.

1 42

CHAPTER FOUR

addition， in an age withoul identity pape時， such information may ha\'e been one of lhe few means available to lhe authoriLies to check whether a candidale was indeed who he c1aimed LO be. The 'SLalllS on file'， perhaps originally compiled for Lax pllrposes， may have been stored in 出e Minis叮 of Finance's records， as we know laler geneaJogicaJ regislers (which incJuded similar da阻) were un­ der the Southem DynasLies，" and 山is could explain why， even though the z)umgzhmg's infoπnation 、咽s submilled 10 the Personnel Division of lhe Cemral Secre阻riat， wÎthin 出e h閃閃閃hy ùle 1m­ partiaJ JlIdges nonetheless reported 10 lhe Minisler of Finance. 2) A wrillen ‘prolìle' (zhuaηg 朕) of the canclidale， fonnlllaled by 出e zhongzh"'g sllccincùy describing his character and career pOlemial. Here， lhe Impartial Judge's presumed famili盯ity 吶lh the background of presenl and prospective omce-holders was essemial. He d泊t however， aJso have a staff of ‘Visitors' 訪問 10 gather infonnatioD 011 candidales.5.5 息'en so， il would have been difficull to evalllale e\'eηrone of note individually ancl therefo悶， ùle firsl 出ing ImparLialJlIdges took imo aCCOUnL were ùle ‘pure jlldgements' emanating from the local mingshi.國 On the one hand， 由is constiluted a conce描ion tO these inf1uential opinion-makers and， Ùlrollgh lhem， 10 lhe local forces upon which their Judge­ men凹. were contingent; on the other hand， the inlroduction of ImpartiaJ JlIdges pUl a cemraJ govemmem represen阻uve al 出e heart of lhe recommendation process， and so lhe cenlral govem­ menl， when it received the list of recommended cancliclates for office from its Governo悶 each year， no longer had LO rely excJlI­ sively on lhe word of these adnúnistrators-ah咽ys ou臼icle悶 in their area of jurisdiction-and their locally preparecl shortlisl of can­ didales 3) A rank proposed by the zhongzht1lg for e\'ery candidate on the basis of the abo\'e， from lhe very rareIy awarded rank I down 10 rank 9. Here one mllSl distinguisb belween l:Wo sets of ranks or þìll 品， allhough our sources hardly ever expliciùy differenLi­ ate between the two. For the existing officials mentioned above， 出e rank lhey receivecl w田 probably， straighLaway， a bureaucratic grade from 1 LO 9 in the Wei go\'ernmenL BlIt 品 we have seen， 出e jiltþin z/lOngzheng system 、由 notjust meant to amalgamale 出e .. D. J品hn盟n， Th� M�drnJaI Chinøe OligarchJ p. 35. 揖 Tang Zhaugm. 0;戶 口t. p. 105 56 Oraffi in. oþ. âl. p. 146.

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remnants of the Han bUreallcracy in a llnified Wei administra­ tion， bUl to remain in effect into the flllUre. The ranking of new recrui臼 to the civil service could not alllomatically be translated into a govern menl grade; it had， rather， lO ref1ecl a candidate's potential， since he had no governmenl experience as yet. Hence， with the excepLion of officials already in office when ù，e jiu戶m zhollgzheng system was inlroduced， the I mpartial Judge awarded prospective office-holders a pro吋sional or ‘local' rank (xiallgþill 鄉品) 00 a scale from 1 to 9， which 1 disLinguish in translation from the nine ‘grades' (gltallþill 官品) 盯 lt seems reasonable to sllppose thal 出e nine local ranks were derived from tbe nine-scale ladder of o伍cial grades， althollgh there is no explicit evidence to Sllp­ pOrL this view. This local rank look both the candidate's rnmily credenLials and his personal ‘profile' into account， bUl the relative impor回nce given to each is unclear. Jin dynasty criLics of山e S)'Slem commonly compl剖n 出al lhe rankiog process gave undue prominence to family background and arglle that il should instead be weighted in rnvour of the ‘profile'， i.e. primarily re(Ject a candidale's indi­ vidual talent for a career in government;油 aod perhaps this w站 the original intention. Jn any 個間， once a candida妞's local rank was determined， the po且ible initial appointmen臼 he cOllld po­ lentially receive from the Pe呵。nnel Division were na叮owed down in relation lo it. Miyaz品ti lchi阻da h晶 shown whal lhe mechanism probably 、、通s: theoreLically at le晶" a loc剖 rank 2 enLiLled a can­ didate to a grade 6 posiLion in the central bllreaucra句， 10臼1 rank 3 to a grade 7 posiLion， and so on. By this correlaLion， candidates ranked 6 to 9 were nOl admiued to the nine-scale bureallcratic hierarchy 剖 all: 出ey be臼me lower officials outside ù，e reglllar s甘eam of promoLion (1.甜甜at 捷外) .到 The .hollgzheng cOllld decide to raise or lower a person 's local rank in the course of his career， which cOllld then affect lhe range of government posiLions open 自 Miyazaki， 0/1.