Contemplating the Ancients "nsd0e3631"

6— Like-Minded Companions

1. LDMHJ lists only one painting of Bamboo Grove images ( xiang ) for the Song-Qi period, by Lu Tanwei, who also painted a picture ( tu ) of Rong Qiqi with Confucius and Yan Hui (vol. 2.1, p. 105; vol. 2.2, p. 77). It fails to mention the painting of Xi Kang commissioned of Lu by (Song) Emperor Ming for Fu Manrong ( Liang shu, juan 42, p. 663; Nan shi, juan 71, p. 1731. Alexander Soper has translated this and other examples of portraiture in his continue

Textual Evidence for the Secular Arts of China in the Period from Liu Sung through Sui ( A.D. 420-618), p. 17).

A painting of the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove is mentioned, however, in the Nan shi, although not in the earlier Nan Qi shu. It is associated, in fact, with one of the candidates for the Jinjia tomb, the infamous Baojuan, whose bloodthirsty and lascivious life-style apparently met all conditions of cyclical theories of history. It may therefore be evidence both for imperial interest in the Seven Worthies and for another tradition. The two historical works agree on the actions of the penultimate Qi emperor (who, not incidentally, is said to have disliked learning), but only the later work documents his evil deeds with such a wealth of detail. After a fire had destroyed much of the palace, the emperor embarked on a great building of halls. "For his favorite, Lady Fan, he erected three . . . halls, . . . all of which were embellished with gold and jade. In the Yü-shou Hall the bed-alcove [showed] flying immortals on the embroidered and figured silks that hung about it. All the spaces between the windows were painted with flying immortals; also were shown the Seven Sages [of the Bamboo Grove], each with a comely handmaiden at his side" (Soper, Textual Evidence, p. 19 [translation of Nan shi, juan 5, pp. 153-54]; translator's interpolation. Cf. Nan Qi shu, juan 7, p. 104, where almost none of the details appear in the account of the rebuilding of the palace). As the historian tells it, no spiritual uplift could have been intended by the patron.

2. Nanjing, "Huqiao Nanchao damu"; Zhu Xizu, Liuchao lingmu diaocha baogao, pp. 16-17; for discussions of the locations of other Nan Qi tombs, see pp. 23-29, 64-67, 78-96.

3. For the reasoning, see Nanjing, "Huqiao, Jianshan," pp. 8-10; Till and Swart, "Tombs," pp. 100-6. The tomb associated with Xiao Baojuan is at Jianshan, Jinjiacun, hereafter referred to as the Jinjia tomb; that of Xiao Baorong is at Huqiao, Wujiacun, hereafter referred to as the Wujia tomb.

4. Reported by Till and Swart, who argue for the identification with Wenhui ("Tombs," pp. 75-76).

5. Indeed, the sources do not present the probable tomb occupants as similar in interests or tastes (about poor He Di, for example, we are told nothing), so that specific links between the individual rulers and the Seven Worthies ideal cannot be argued.

6. Nanjing, "Huqiao, Jianshan," p. 10; Till and Swart, "Tombs," p. 106.

7. It is possible that the no-longer extant Xiu'anling mural of the Seven Worthies was made from the same molds as that of the Jinjia tomb. One surviving relief from the former tomb, "Immortal Sporting with Tiger," is identical to the same scene from the latter. The Jinjia tomb is about 2 km southeast of the Xiu'anling (the Wujia tomb, on the other hand, is some 4 km to the northwest), and the reliefs may well have come from the same workshop.

8. Much fruitful information about the economy of the south during this period is found in Fan Wenlan, Zhongguo tongshi, vol. 2, pp. 494-518. See also Frodsham, Murmuring Stream, inter alia; Jacques Gernet, Les Aspects économiques du Bouddhisme (Publications de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient, continue

vol. 29 [1956]). For the debasement of the coinage, see Yoshio Kawakatsu, "La Décadence de l'aristocratie chinoise sous les Dynasties du Sud," esp. pp. 32-33, 35.

9. For another example, see Song shu, juan 57, p. 1583, where Shen Yue states that, in addition to the great clans, favorites of the emperor enclosed lakes and mountains, "blocking the way of the people and harming good government." The official in charge, Cai Xingzong, set all to rights "by means of the law." That he was successful can only mean that he had the support of the throne in his endeavors.

10. Biography of Xie Chaozong (d. 483) in Nan Qi shu, juan 36, pp. 635-39 ; Nan shi, juan 19, pp. 542-44. I do not mean to imply that individuals from the families that held sway in the Eastern Jin period did not sometimes rise to high office in the succeeding centuries. (Langya) Wang Jian, for example, in the Southern Qi period was very powerful and managed often to enforce his policies on the emperor he served. Nevertheless, in the later period, as Dennis Grafflin has argued, the majority of important ministers were not from families that had held power in the earlier period and that continued to enjoy high rank ("The Great Family"). Within the category of families entitled to hold office, families were, indeed, always ranked. Within that category, however, there was considerable mobility. Moreover, it was not difficult to enter that category, as we shall see. The problem arises from the failure to distinguish between formal status and informal power. Serving at court may be an honor. It also enables a shrewd ruler to control his nobles, as Louis XIV demonstrated.

11. Zhou Yiliang, " Nan Qi shu Qiu Lingju zhuan shishi jianlun Nanchao wenwuguan wei ji qingzhuo." For the assignment of members of the imperial family to important governing posts, see Zhou, "Nanchao jingnei zhi gezhongrenji zhengfu duidai zhi zhengce." Both Zhao Yi and Ochi Shigeaki attribute the increasing employment of hanmen in office to the incompetence of members of the Great Families (all tainted, of course, by their fengliu ), which, as Zhao Yi remarks, left the emperors with no choice but to turn to the hanmen. I am more inclined to see the shift as a consequence of deliberate imperial strategy. See Zhao Yi, Nianer shi zhaji (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1963), juan 8, pp. 154-55; Ochi, "Thoughts on the Understanding of the Han and Six Dynasties," pp. 42ff. and passim.

12. Biography in Nan Qi shu, juan 1, pp. 1-2. The discrepancies between the genealogies of Qi Gao Di ( Nan Qi shu, juan 1, p. 1 ) and his distant cousin, Liang Wu Di ( Liang shu, juan 1, p. 1) may be the result of scribal error. However, the inconsistency suggests the usual fabrication. See also the first Qi emperor's statement to Wang Jian and Chu Yuan that he is from a commoner clan ( "buyi suzu." Nan Qi shu, juan 2, p. 38).

13. In the short space of approximately twenty years, seven emperors occupied the throne, some for only a few months. Barry Till and Paula Swart have thoughtfully provided a genealogical table of the Southern Qi dynasty in their translation of one of the archaeological reports ("Tombs," p. 120).

14. See, for example, Wang Sengqian's exhortation to his sons to study in order to maintain the family's position, in Nan Qi shu, juan 33, pp. 598-99. For the discussion, see Johnson, Medieval Oligarchy, p. 104; for a more reserved interpretation, see Ochi Shigeaki, "O * Sochin * no kaishisho o megutte." break

15. For fifth-century examples of forging the registers, see, e.g., Nan Qi shu, biography of Yu Wanzhi, juan 34, p. 609; Balazs, Le Moyen Âge, pp. 103ff. For discussion of the controversial issues, see Johnson, Medieval Oligarchy, esp. chap. 7; Grafflin, "The Great Family."

16. Dubious ancestry in this case refers to Man Zhangzhi's mixed official and commoner ancestry. The accusation is included in Wen xuan, juan 4, pp. 91-94 ( Zoutan Wang Yuan ) and is discussed and partially translated by Johnson, Chinese Oligarchy, pp. 9-10.

17. Wen xuan, juan 4, pp. 95-96; translated by Johnson, Medieval Oligarchy, p. 10.

18. Wen xuan, juan 4, p. 91; Johnson, Medieval Oligarchy, p. 9. For an interesting discussion of the regulations and attitudes toward marriage, see T'ung-tsu Ch'ü, Law and Society in Traditional China, pp. 128-35, 154-57. 1 do not suggest that this was a democratic society, for the road to mobility was limited to those with education. Thus, and as always, the majority of the population was excluded.

19. See especially the remarks of Fei Hsiao-tung on the later importance of marriage as a means for social mobility ("Peasants and Gentry: An Interpretation of Chinese Social Structure and its Changes" [ American Journal of Sociology 52.1 (1946)]: esp. 11). T'ung-tsu Ch'ü also cites and comments on this passage ( Law and Society, p. 33, n. 8).

20. For a brilliant reconstruction of the contacts between north and south, see Alexander Soper, "South Chinese Influence on the Buddhist Art of the Six Dynasties Period." For the splendors of Southern Qi culture and its impact on northern emissaries, see esp. pp. 72-81.

21. H. S. Galt, A History of Chinese Educational Institutions, pp. 282-89.

22. Biography in Liang shu, juan 13, pp. 232-44. His great work, the History of the Song Dynasty ( Song shu ), was presented to the throne in 488. His survival was a remarkable achievement, considering the number of rebellions and counter-rebellions in which so many of his cohort lost their lives. Poverty, of course, is always a relative matter in Chinese biographies. The family may have been poor following his father's execution; nevertheless, Shen Yue managed to obtain an education. For recent discussion of Shen Yue, see Richard B. Mather., "Shen Yüeh's Poems of Reclusion: From Total Withdrawal to Living in the Suburbs," and "Individualist Expressions of the Outsiders during the Six Dynasties," pp. 208-10.

23. Galt, Educational Institutions, esp. p. 289. The philosophical debates of the third century were no longer questions of ideology. Laozi, Zhuangzi, and the commentaries of He Yan, Wang Bi, and Guo Xiang were now classics that every educated man was expected to know. Wang Sengqian, exhorting his sons to study, refers specifically to the ideas of the third century, including Xi Kang's Music Has Neither Grief Nor Joy ( Nan Qi shu, juan 33, pp. 598-99). Ying-shih Yü has translated the passage in which Wang points out the pitfalls for one who would discourse on these matters without proper education ("Individualism," p. 142).

24. Liu, Theories of Literature, p. 8. The earliest account is Xiao Zixian's in his Nan Qi shu, juan 52, p. 898 ; juan 48, p. 841. For a study of the literature of the Yongming period, see Ami Yuji * , Chugoku * chusei * bungaku kenkyu * : Nan Sei Eimei jidai o chushin * to shite. David Knechtges provides important back- soft

ground material in the introduction to his translation of the Wen xuan, as does John Marney in Chiang Yen and Liang Chien-wen Ti.

25. Xiao Zixian states directly, for example, that Prince Xiao Ziliang was not a polished ( wen cai ) writer ( juan 40, p. 701). The prince's writings were mostly Buddhist in nature, although he and Changmao both wrote "Double-Ninth Festival poems," a practice made fashionable by Tao Yuanming.

26. For an account of the bibliomania of the period, see Knechtges's introduction, Wen xuan, vol. 1, p. 6; p. 493, n. 46.

27. See, for example, Xiao Zixian's remarks in re: Shen Yue, Wang Rong, et al. in Nan Qi shu, juan 52, p. 898. For a recent translation of this passage, see Knechtges's introduction, Wen xuan, vol. 1, p. 11.

28. Xiao Changmao's biography is in Nan Qi shu, juan 21, pp. 397-402; Xiao Ziliang's, in ibid., juan 40, pp. 692-701. See also Ami Yuji * , "Nan Sei Kyoryo * O * Sho * Shiryo * no bungaku katsudo * ni tsuite" ( Tohogaku * ronsho, vol. 2 [1954]: 116-36) and "Nan Sei Kyoryo * O no chi yu * ni tsuite" ( Zinbun kagaku kiyeo, vol. 4 [Tokyo, 1953]: 1-43). Both papers are included in chapter 3 of Ami's Chugoku * chusei * bungaku kenkyu * .

29. For Ziliang's interest in ancient calligraphy, paper, and ink, see his letter to Wang Sengqian in Zhang Pu, Han Wei Liuchao baisan jia ji, juan 63.1 (Taibei, 1963): 2249.

30. Nan Qi shu, juan 40, p. 698.

31. Biographies are as follows: Fan Yun (451-503), Liang shu, juan 13, pp. 229-32; Ren Fang (460-508), Liang shu, juan 14, pp. 251-58; Wang Rong (467-493), Nan Qi shu, juan 47, pp. 817-25; Xie Tiao, Nan Qi shu, juan 47, pp. 825-28; Xiao Chen (478-519) Liang shu, juan 26, pp. 396-98.

32. Xiao Yan's (464-549) biography appears in Liang shu, juan 1, p. 2; Lu Chui's (470-526), in Liang shu, juan 27, p. 401-3.

33. Shen Yue and Lu Chui were from old southern families. Wang Rong was from the famous northern Langya family; his mother was a Xie; Shen Yue and Fan Yun were said to have been poor; Xiao Yan and Xiao Chen were distantly related to the imperial family, and so forth.

34. So well known were the Seven Worthies that Yang Xuanzhi twice identifies a site outside Luoyang as the place where Xi Kang was executed (W. J. F. Jenner, Memories of Loyang, p. 181). Shuijing zhu identifies the site similarly ( juan 16, p. 538).

35. For the proposed dates of completion, see Wright, "Biography and Hagiography," pp. 399-400; for Huijiao's purpose, pp. 385-87 (note the emphasis on literary ability, p. 386).

36. As Arthur Wright remarks, "Those eulogies were particularly suited to Hui-chiao's inclination to seek for his subjects status in the intellectual life of their times" (ibid., p. 428).

37. See Liang shu, juan 13, p. 242, for the comparison with Shan Tao. The essay is included in YKJ: Quan Liang wen, juan 29.1-2, and has been partially translated by Holzman ("Les Sept Sages," p. 344). For Shen Yue's circumspection and ambivalence, see Mather, "Shen Yüeh's Poems"; for his links with RuanJi and Xi Kang, see Mather, "Individualist Expressions." Professor Mather's discussion of Shen Yue's essay (personal communication) has been of inestimable help. The interpretation is mine alone.

38. In his interpretation Shen Yue clearly links himself with Ruan Ji continue

and Xi Kang and with their ability to discern the truth. See, for example, Xi Kang's poem on Dongfang Shuo ( XKJJ, p. 43; Holzman, "La Poésie," pp. 328-29).

39. For Jiang Yan's imitations, see Marney, Chiang Yen, chap. 2 and pp. 87-91. For Bao Zhao, Wang Su, and Yu Xin, see ibid., p. 158, n. 1. See also Holzman, Poetry and Politics, pp. 237-39.

It is revealing to read the Tang commentary of Li Shan, in which he cites the sources of Ren Fang's allusions in his "Conduct Description of King Wenxuan of Jingling," a prose necrology for Prince Xiao Ziliang. The essay dwells primarily on the prince's many offices held, his concern for the people, his princely virtue. The language is recondite, requiring a commentary some three times the length of the essay. Ren Fang, as one would expect of such a highly educated man, alludes to the Classics, but he also alludes to Ruan Ji, Xi Kang, and Shan Tao—not by name, but by his language. They too had become classics ( Wen xuan, juan 5, pp. 255-64). For the xingzhuang, see Knechtges, Wen xuan, vol. 1, p. 86.

40. The Tang commentary includes also the commentaries by Yan Yanzhi and Shen Yue to Ruan Ji's poems ( juan 2, pp. 243ff.). For the history of the anthology, see Knechtges, Wen xuan, vol. 1, pp. 4ff.

41. Wixted, "Shih-p'in," with full bibliography. The date for the composition of the Shipin is not known. Wixted notes that the latest possible date for its completion is 517.

42. Ruan Ji is placed in the first rank, Xi Kang in the second. For discussion of the latter, see Holzman, "La Poésie," pp. 110-12. For Zhong Rong's evaluations of Ruan Ji, see Chia-ying Yeh and Jan W. Walls, "Theory, Standards, and Practice of Criticizing Poetry in Chung Hung's 'Shih-p'in,'" p. 57; for Xi Kang, ibid., p. 58; Wixted, "Shih-p'in," p. 237.

43. Chinese text and English translation in Vincent Shih's The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons. Two recent articles pertinent to this discussion are Wixted, "Skih-p'in," and Kang-i Sun Chang, "Chinese 'Lyric Criticism' in the Six Dynasties." Yang Mingzhao states that the work was completed at the end of Qi, 501-502, as the internal evidence makes clear ( Wenxin diaolong jiaozhu shiyi, Introduction, p. 3).

44. Shih, Literary Mind, pp. 497, 68-69.

45. Ibid., pp. 309, 83.

44. Shih, Literary Mind, pp. 497, 68-69.

45. Ibid., pp. 309, 83.

46. Note how closely Liu Xie's evaluation of the works of He Yan follows the third-century judgment of Yan's character—"superficial and shallow" ( fu qian; ibid., p. 68).

47. Ibid., pp. 421, 515.

48. Ibid., pp. 513, 515.

46. Note how closely Liu Xie's evaluation of the works of He Yan follows the third-century judgment of Yan's character—"superficial and shallow" ( fu qian; ibid., p. 68).

47. Ibid., pp. 421, 515.

48. Ibid., pp. 513, 515.

46. Note how closely Liu Xie's evaluation of the works of He Yan follows the third-century judgment of Yan's character—"superficial and shallow" ( fu qian; ibid., p. 68).

47. Ibid., pp. 421, 515.

48. Ibid., pp. 513, 515.

49. E.g., "Liu Ling's alcoholic nature was deep . . . ; [the five others] were fengliu ." Xi Kang and Ruan Ji associated with them because "man's basic nature, which includes his feelings, requires other like-minded persons to whom one is committed in friendship, in order to find comfort and delight for one's present years, and to ease and relieve one's pent-up feelings. If there had not been the association with those five, with whom would [they] have associated?" I owe the translation of this passage to Richard B. Mather (personal communication).

50. Shen Yue's identification with Xi Kang and Ruan Ji is obvious, as he continue

recognizes in them his own inner anguish and solutions to survival in a dangerous time (for which see Mather, "Shen Yüeh"). Following Shen Yue's death, when it was proposed to honor him with the name of Wen (surely appropriate for a man of eminent literary achievement) the emperor (Liang Wu Di) demurred. "His feelings and emotions he never fully expressed," he remarked; he therefore changed the name to Yin ( Liang shu, juan 6, p. 243). Yin means secret, or hidden. It is also one of the words for "recluse." Thus the name for Shen Yue implies that he was a recluse at court—as the emperor understood.

51. Shih, Literary Mind, p. xlviii.

52. Ibid., pp. 3, 307 (see also p. 395), 309.

53. Ibid., p. 309 with modification. The characterization of him as gallant is an allusion, I believe, to his friendship with Lü An, said by some to have cost him his life. See the Commentary in Sanguo zhi (Wei shu), juan 21, p. 606.

51. Shih, Literary Mind, p. xlviii.

52. Ibid., pp. 3, 307 (see also p. 395), 309.

51. Shih, Literary Mind, p. xlviii.

52. Ibid., pp. 3, 307 (see also p. 395), 309.

54. Shu zhi wei ben (Shih, Literary Mind, p. 341).

55. Ibid. Note the resonance with Shen Yue's dilemma, as discussed by Mather ("Shen Yüeh").

56. Ibid., p. 463.

57. Ibid., p. 465. "During the reign of Emperor Ming (227-239) the emperor himself wrote poetry and composed musical scores. He collected writers and housed them in the Ts'ung-wen monastery. Here Ho (Yen), Liu (Shao), and other literary men vied to outshine one another. Among the young rulers who succeeded Ming, Kao-kuei (Hsiang-kung, or Mao, 254-260) alone was a man of refinement and grace; his very glance conveyed an impression of literary elegance, and the words he uttered extemporaneously formed perfect essays. . . . In this period we find Hsi (K'ang), Juan (Chi), Ying (Chü), and Miu (Hsi) galloping abreast on the thoroughfare of literature" (ibid).

54. Shu zhi wei ben (Shih, Literary Mind, p. 341).

55. Ibid. Note the resonance with Shen Yue's dilemma, as discussed by Mather ("Shen Yüeh").

56. Ibid., p. 463.

54. Shu zhi wei ben (Shih, Literary Mind, p. 341).

55. Ibid. Note the resonance with Shen Yue's dilemma, as discussed by Mather ("Shen Yüeh").

56. Ibid., p. 463.

54. Shu zhi wei ben (Shih, Literary Mind, p. 341).

55. Ibid. Note the resonance with Shen Yue's dilemma, as discussed by Mather ("Shen Yüeh").

56. Ibid., p. 463.

58. It appears again in a letter of condolence from the Liang prince, Xiao Gang (the future Emperor Jianwen), to the brother of his deceased friend Liu Zun (d. 535), where drinking companions, flushed ears, discussions of literature, and men's characters are all linked in sad evocation ( Liang shu, juan 41, p. 593).

59. Shih, Literary Mind, p. 471.

60. "So I leave it to those who are better endowed with insight and wisdom to sing praise to the time" (ibid., p. 473). These two passages are the surest evidence for the date of the completion of the book. From the text it is not clear which Qi emperor this might be. Shih assumes it to refer to the first years of the reign of Xiao Baojuan (Donghun Hou), 499-501 (ibid.).

61. Ibid., pp. 511, 513-17. See also pp. 518-19, where Liu Xie's ambiguous remarks regarding the gentleman seem to apply to both ruler and subject.

62. In short, almost everybody. For a case in point, see Ochi Shigeaki, "Shin Yaku to Sosho * ."

63. See, for example, Shih, Literary Mind, pp. 251, 301, 321, 343. Later, Xiao Tong also applies it to literature (see his letter to Xiao Yi in YKJ: Quan Liang wen, juan 20.2. See also E. Bruce Brooks, "A Geometry of the Shr * pin * ," pp. 124, 142. That this conception is not very different from the earlier view is clear from Liu Xie's statement that "in the art of literary writing, temperament and readiness for expression are of prime importance: that is, it is essen- soft

tial to keep the mind pure and tranquil so that its vitality may find spontaneous expression" (Shih, Literary Mind, p. 433, as modified by Kang-i Sun Chang, "Lyric Criticism," p. 221; emphasis added).

64. "Letter to Wu Zhi," quoted in the Wei lue ( Sanguo zhi, juan 21, p. 608).

65. Shih, Literary Mind, p. 509; emphasis added. See also the discussion of Kang-i Sun Chang, "Lyric Criticism," pp. 220-21.

66. Fan Yun and Fan Zhen, for example, both of whom participated in the group presided over by Xiao Ziliang. See Soper, "South Chinese Influence," p. 74.

67. Soper reports the Wei emperor's pride in paralleling Qi Wu Di's assignment to Xiao Ziliang's staff of the scholar and poet Wang Rong (ibid., pp. 74-75).

68. By this time the whole world knew, from Liu Yiqing and Liu Jun, that the stories about the Bamboo Grove were probably fictitious (e.g., SSXY 9.71; 17.2). It was a concept too close to each courtier's personal dilemma, too loaded with cultural emblemata for each emperor, to be discarded.

69. Alexander Soper recounts the burial of Wang Su (464-501), who had served both Emperor Wu and his son, Wenhui. Having fled to the north following the execution of his family, he entered the service of the Northern Wei emperor Gaozu. At his death he was given a state funeral, then "assigned an unique tomb site: he was buried midway between the mounds of the recently deceased minister-scholar Li Ch'ung [Li Chong], and of the famous third-century minister Tu Yü [Du Yu], so that their spirits might enjoy each other's company" ("South Chinese Influence," pp. 76-77). The Seven Worthies and Rong Qiqi were brought even closer.

70. By this date the relationship between drinking and love of literature had become a virtual cliché. See, for example, Nan Qi shu, juan, 48, p. 840 (biography of Kong Zhigui) and p. 843 (Liu Tian).

71. Nan Qi shu, juan 51, pp. 881-82. This anecdote is used by Zhou Yiliang to demonstrate that military men, no matter how high their rank, were not of the "pure," or official, class ( "Nan Qi shu Qiu Lingju zhuan," p. 111). Note that there are always clusters of talent and behavior: For the child Xintai's skill at qingtan and at impressing important people, see his biography ( Nan Qi shu, juan 51, p. 881).

72. Of course we can't know whose image the emperor had in mind. It might have been the following: "In the eastern garden grows a green pine / . . . I lift my jug to hang on a cold branch / From time to time I stare into the distance: / Born into the midst of dream-illusion / Why should I submit to dusty bonds?" But then, whose image did Tao Yuanming have in mind? ("Drinking Wine VIII," translated by Hightower, "T'ao Ch'ien's 'Drinking Wine' Poems," p. 18).

73. Nanjing, "Huqiao Nanchao damu" pp. 48-49. See also Nanjing, "Huqiao, Jianshan," pp. 1-17; Till and Swart, "Tombs," pp. 74-124. Good reproductions of the finds may be found in Yao and Gu, Liuchao yishu.

74. For the floral designs, see Susan Bush, "Floral Motifs and Vine Scrolls in Chinese Art of the Late Fifth to Early Sixth Centuries A.D. "

75. All the tombs face south. Viewer's orientation is thus south to the north rear wall.

76. For the shoulu, see Needham, Science and Civilization, vol. 5.2, p. 129. break

77. The authors of the original report refer to these images as female, which, from some of the shapes of faces and from the inscriptions, I doubt (Nanjing, "Huqiao, Jianshan," p. 4).

78. For tianren, see, for example, Lin Shuzhong, "Nan Qi lingmu"; Juliano, Teng-hsien, p. 14; Yoshimura Rei, "Nanbokucho * butsuzo * yoshiki * shiron."

79. The Jinjia and Wujia reliefs are reported as 2.50 m × 0.85 m.

80. Nanjing, "Huqiao Nanchao damu," figs. 16-18; Nanjing, "Huqiao, Jianshan," p. 6 and figs. 20, 21. For discussion, see also, Lin Shuzhong, "Nan Qi lingmu," p. 67 and fig. 5. For military bands in Chinese art, see Yi Shui, "Han Wei Liuchao de junyue—'guchui' he 'hengchui."'

81. For the stone animals, see Nanjing, "Huqiao Nanchao damu," p. 44; Nanjing, "Huqiao, Jianshan," p. 1.

82. These images can be traced back to at least early Han, where they appear, for example, on the painted wood coffin of the Lady Dai at Mawangdui and on innumerable bronze mirrors. For the ancestry of the xian, see Max Kaltenmark's introduction to his translation of the Lie-sien tchouan (Beijing, 1953).

83. Nanjing, "Huqiao, Jianshan," pp. 4-5; Till and Swart, "Tombs," pp. 90-91.

84. Song shu, juan 29, p. 841. Shen Yue is of course transmitting ancient beliefs. His choices for inclusion are what concern us here. Like the Han Confucian scholars, he had messages to convey. Nan Qi shu reports the sighting of a three-footed crow in 486 ( juan 18, p. 358).

85. Song shu, juan 29, p. 867.

86. And not only energy—in sheer economic terms, the costs for alchemic supplies were very great and barred most of the population from undertaking such practices.

87. For discussion of the problematic distinctions between Daoist philosophy and religion, see Nathan Sivin, "On the Word 'Taoist' as a Source of Perplexity"; Michel Strickmann, "On the Alchemy of T'ao Hung-ching," pp. 166-67; Zürcher, Buddhist Conquest, p. 87. The recent, often brilliant, work of many scholars has transformed our understanding of Daoist beliefs of this period, and I list here but a few of these sources as guidelines: For the formation of the Daoist Canon (and much else), Chen Guofu, Daozang yuanliu kao. For the early history of the Mao Shan sect, Miyakawa Hisayuki, Rikucho * shi kenkyu * : shukyo * hen, pp. 127-52; Michel Strickmann, "The Maoshan Revelations; Taoism and Aristocracy," "Alchemy," and Le Taoïsme du Mao chan. Mugitani Kunio has assembled, with interpretation, a chronology of the life of Tao Hongjing in "To * Kokei * nempu koryaku * ." For the history of alchemic practices, see Needham et al., Science and Civilization 5.2-3-4. For analysis of Mao Shan texts, see Isabelle Robinet, La Révélation du Shangqing dans l'histoire du Taoïsme. Michel Strickmann, Le Taoïsme, chap. 5, presents an especially lucid outline of the texts revealed to Yang Xi, and of others edited or annotated by Tao Hongjing.

88. Effectively barred from high office by the northern émigré families, the old southern families were to triumph outside political institutions, in their adherence to, and further development of, a religious system that synthesized many earlier Daoist convictions and added new elements that were to continue

convert Daoism into a belief system for the elite (Strickmann, "Mao Shan" and Le Taoïsme ) For the import of the new revelations, see Strickmann, Le Taoïsme, esp. pp. 204ff. For the southerners, see, for example, Chen Yinke, "Tianshidao yu binhai diyuzhi guanxi"; Tang Changru, "Du Baopuzi tui lun Nanbeixue feng de yixiang"; Zhou Yiliang, "Nanchao jingnei zhi gezhongren."

89. Although the latter always crept in by the back door. For Cao Cao and fangshi, see Kenneth J. DeWoskin, Doctors, Diviners, and Magicians of Ancient China, pp. 83-86, 87-88, 144-46, 151.

90. Strickmann, "Mao Shan," p. 29, and Le Taoïsme, p. 204.

91. SSXY 14.29, 14.30. This characterization of Wang Xizhi was later to be applied to his callgraphy (see Jin shu, juan 80, p. 2093).

92. For the importance of the texts, see esp. Robinet, Shangqing, vol. 1, pp. 113-22; Strickmann, "Mao Shan," p. 27. For the striking parallel with the institutionalization of the Confucian Classics in the Han Dynasty, see Tjan, Po Hu T'ung, vol. 1, p. 95.

93. For an assessment of Tao Hongjing as the true founder of Mao Shan Daoism as a social entity, see Strickmann, Le Taoïsme, p. 29, and "Mao Shan," p. 39. For a summary of Tao's connections with the Qi court, see Strickmann, "Alchemy," pp. 156-57.

94. Liang shu, juan 51, p. 742.

95. Strickmann. Le Taoïsme, p. 86. For writing as a power over demons, see Anna Seidel, "Imperial Treasures and Taoist Sacraments—Taoist Roots in the Apocrypha—," p. 322.

96. Robinet, Shangqing, chap. 10, for the detailed literary analysis.

97. Ibid. For Xi Kang and Ruan Ji specifically, see pp. 149, 151-52, 157-59.

96. Robinet, Shangqing, chap. 10, for the detailed literary analysis.

97. Ibid. For Xi Kang and Ruan Ji specifically, see pp. 149, 151-52, 157-59.

98. Nor should we ignore the folk beliefs that apparently were already in circulation at this tirne—Xi Kang frozen by munching a stalactite, for example. The story, which appears in Xi Kang's biography, may have been known to Shen Yue and Yan Zhitui (see Ssu-yü Teng, Family Instructions for the Yen Clan: Yen-shih chia-hsün [Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1969], pp. 96-97). Several ghost stories featuring Xi Kang are related by Groot, Religious System, vol. 4, pp. 117-18; Gulik, Lore of the Lute, pp. 152-53. Li Daoyuan, in his discussion of the gatherings in the Bamboo Grove, states that people later erected a temple on the property ( Shuijing zhu, juan 9, p. 301). I interpret this as a spirit shrine, erected to propitiate the soul of one who died a violent death (see Rolf A. Stein, "Religious Taoism and Popular Religion from the Second to Seventh Centuries," pp. 65-67).

Folk beliefs and superstitions were deplored and abjured by Mao Shan adherents, who sought to dissociate their sect from them. The fact of repeated abjurement, in my opinion, is sufficient evidence that they were unsuccessful in their attempts.

99. For nourishing life, see Needham et al., Science and Civilization, vol. 5.2, p. 114; Strickmann, "Alchemy," p. 189; Robinet, Shangqing, vol. 1, p. 39. For Mr. Great Man (Daren xiansheng zhuan), YKJ: Quan Sanguo wen, juan 46.5-11; Holzman, Poetry and Politics, pp. 185-226. For Supreme Purity, XKJJ, pp. 4-5; Holzman, "La Poésie," pp. 119-20. For the Purple Court (the first mention of, according to Holzman), XKJJ, pp. 51-52; Holzman, "La Poésie," p. 340. break

Liu Jun, in his Commentary to the SSXY, adds a short abridgment of Nourishing Life, and it is significant that he includes the following: "If a person could truly be impregnated with the vapor of magic mushrooms [ lingzhi ] and bathed in sweet springs . . . he would become self-possessed [ zi de ] and actionless [ wuwei ], his body subtle, his mind abstruse. . . . Peradventure he could match his age [with ancient adepts]" ( SSXY 4.21).

100. SSXY 18.1, 24.3.

101. Nan Qi shu, juan 54, p. 941; Nan shi, juan 75, p. 1862; translated by Soper, Textual Evidence, p. 19. Zong Ce excelled in his knowledge of the Yijing and the Laozi and wrote a supplement to Huang fu Mi's Gaoshi zhuan. For Ruan Ji's encounter, see chapter 5, note 28. Liu Jun, in his Commentary to this anecdote, includes Dai Kui's remark that Ruan Ji composed his Mr. Great Man following this meeting and that the important point is that Ruan Ji and Mr. Great Man are the same. As for the mutual harmony of their whistling, Dai Kui implies that it is a method of communicating the Way ( SSXY 18.1).

102. Zhengao, juan 13.9b. The story is recounted in SSXY 18.2 (as well as in the Commentary to Sanguo zhi (Wei shu), juan 21, p. 606), and is expanded extensively in Liu Jun's commentary.

103. Zhengao, juan 17.16a-b. For discussion of the lost text Xi Kang is said to have copied ( Dongfang xianjin jing ), see Robinet, Shangqing, vol. 2, p. 277.

104. Isabelle Robinet, "Metamorphosis and Deliverance from the Corpse in Taoism." For deliverance by means of the corpse ( shijie ) see pp. 57-66; for transformation by purification, pp. 66-68; Shangqing, vol. 1, pp. 119, 138, 172-73.

105. Robinet, Shangqing, vol. 1, p. 174. For the precedent, the dispensation granted by The Perfected to Xu Mi, see Strickmann, Taoïsme, pp. 194-95. Note their insistence that he guard his inner spirit.

106. Strickmann, "Mao Shan," p. 9. The dragons and tigers associated with the xian images may well be the symbolic representations of the directions east and west. It should be noted, however, that from at least the second century A.D. , the terms for dragon and tiger were important in alchemic texts (Needham et al., Science and Civilization, vol. 5.3, p. 66). For their importance in Mao Shan liturgy, and the amalgamation of the incense burner with the alchemist's furnace, see Strickmann, "Alchemy," p. 169.

107. Zhenjiangshi bowuguan, "Zhenjiang Dongjin huaxiang zhuan mu" ( WW 1973.4, pp. 51-58); Yao and Gu, Liuchao yishu, figs. 146-60.

108. See, for example, K. Schipper's pertinent comments on Daoist belief and ziran: "True spontaneity . . . must be acquired by the training and cultivation of oneself" ( Le Corps Daoïste [Paris: Fayard, 1982], p. 61).

109. In the absence of evidence, I have refrained from speculating about the number eight and its possible metaphoric value, especially since the number eight may not be the significant number for the Seven Worthies mural. Rather, it might be the number nine—eight historical figures plus one, the deceased. One can find metaphysical correspondences for any given number of pictorial images in Chinese cosmology. A tempting speculation, however, is some association with the Mao Shan concept of bajing, Eight Effulgences. For which, see Maspero, Taoism and Chinese Religion, pp. 458, 553-54; Strickmann, "Alchemy," pp. 173-75; and, especially, Max Kaltenmark, "Jing yu bajing" (in Chinese). As a further suggestion, and related to the former, one continue

should not overlook the important Han dynasty precedent of the Prince of Huainan and the eight men who gathered at his court. Shuijing zhu records a shrine at Bagong shan (Eight-Duke Mountain) commemorating the ascent into the sky of Liu An (Huainanzi) and the eight men whose secret techniques made this possible. Li Daoyuan found nine images ( xiang ), apparently paintings ( tu ), of the men in the shrine and describes their apparel and accoutrement, but not, unfortunately, their postures and gestures. He mentions a stele erected in 492, under the Southern Qi, in front of the shrine ( juan 32, pp. 1020-21. Most of the passage has been translated by Soper, Textual Evidence, p. 20).

110. Chang, "'Lyric Criticism,"' p. 219. "This tendency to dwell on the most essential qualities of objects is in keeping with an important device employed by Chinese lyric poets from as early as the Shi jing —namely, the use of simple image. The structure of the simple image is similar to the syntactic pattern known as 'topic and comment,' in which a noun-topic is juxtaposed with a simple comment describing its most typical quality. . . . The assumption is that readers, already acquainted with the object, will be inspired by the simple 'comments' to imagine an entire range of meanings. These 'comments' are sometimes like key words" (ibid.).

As in poetry, so in the pictorial arts: "In looking at a work of art we will always project some additional significance that is not actually given. Indeed we must do so if the work is to come to life for us. The penumbra of vagueness, the 'openness' of the symbol is an important constituent of any real work of art" (E. H. Gombrich, "Aims and Limits of Iconology," p. 18).

111. Although Rong Qiqi was ignored by literary critics, his example was by no means forgotten. See, for example, Yu Wanzhi's reference to Rong Qiqi's "three joys" in his request for retirement ( Nan Qi shu, juan 34, p. 610), or Wang Rong's verse where "Master Jung's [Rong's] three joys are not remarkable" (translated by Richard B. Mather, "Wang Jung's 'Hymns on the Devotee's Entrance into the Pure Life,'" p. 90, poem 21). Shuijing zhu repeats the Liezi version of the ancient encounter with Confucius ( juan 24, p. 792).

112. The absence of bamboo trees in these depictions of the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove remains an intriguing question. It is likely that at the time of the earliest extant relief the specificity of a bamboo grove was not yet firmly associated with these men. Early accounts specifying the bamboo grove as their gathering place do not survive except in later, fifth-century commentaries (see chapter 4 of this volume). Perhaps still other early accounts were more general, so that at the time the original was produced the tradition of a bamboo grove may not have been so firmly established, as it surely was by the end of the fifth century. The Jinjia and Wujia reliefs, whatever the number of intervening copies, so obviously derive from the Nanjing mural (which may itself derive from a still earlier depiction) that any suggestion of independent origin seems untenable. Perhaps by this date conventional forms were more important to patrons and viewers than "correcting errors," a point I shall discuss further in the final chapter.

The curious shrub next to the whistling figure in the Jinjia mural may represent the tree of ringed orbs, or tree with ringlike fruit. For the Daoist associations, see Strickmann, "Alchemy," pp. 135, 176. break