The Ambivalence of Creation: Debates Concerning Innovation and Artifice in Early China

The Ambivalence of Creation Debates Concerning Innovation and Artifice in Early China

Michael Puett

STANFO RD UNIVE RSITY I'RESS • STANFOR D, CALIFO RNIA

2001

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Stanford University Press Stanford, California by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University

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Acknowledgments

An earlier draft of this book was submitted as a doclOral dissertation to the Depanmcm of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. I would like to extend my heanfelt thanks to the members of my dissertation comminee: Professors Edward Shaughnessy, Anthony C. Yu, Marshall Sahlins, and Paul Friedrich. Each of these mentors helped me in speci6cand unique ways. Professor Edward Shaughnessy provided invaluable training in the rigors of reading early C hinese texts and helped to solidify my basic conviction that there need be no conflict between close readings of texts and broader concerns. Professor Anthony C. Yu was a decisive influence not only in helping me

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conceptualize specific

issues in the comparison of China and early Greece, but also in revealing to me me importance of a cosmopolitan approach to scholarship in general. Professor Marshall Sahlins

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a rremendous infJuence in helping me to approach

the study of cultures. My indebtedness to his work is apparent th roughout. And Professor Paul Friedrich emphasized the importance of conceptualizing the project in tcrms of the actions and thoughts of specific individuals. Overall , [ Wa5

blessed with four mcnrors whose works are a constant source of inspira-

tion for mc. All four scholars have taught me more than I could possibly express here. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Li Ling of Beijing University for advice, stimulating conversations, and generous hospitality during my stay in China during the year 1993-94.

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Acknowledgments More recendy. J profited immeasurably fro m conversations with my colleagues at Harvard University. I would likC' to thank in particular Peter Bol. Leo lC'e. StephC'n Owen, Benjamin Schwam, and Tu Wei-mingo All help to creatC' a stimulating C'n vironment for studying and teaching Chinese thought. The manuscri pt itself has been improved dramaticaHy by the advice of sevC'ral key pC'oplC'. David Keighdq offered extensive criticism and comments, as d id an anonymous readcr for Stanford Univcrsity Press. To both I am deeply gratcfu!. I would also likC' to express my gratitudc and admiration for the editorial team at Stanford Univcrsity Press. Helcn Tartar was an exemplary cditor throughout the process. and Pamela MacFarland Holway and Janct Mowery wC'rC' truly invaluable in improving the manuscript. Financial support was providcd bya gcnC'rous grant from the Mellon Fellowships in the Humanities, as well as a Dissertation Writing Grant from the Centcr for East Asian Studies of the Univcrsity of Chicago and a National RC'sourcc Summer Fellowship. My yC'u in BC'ij ing was funded by thc CommittcC' on Scholarly Communication with the Pcoplc's Republic of China. I am indebtcd to all of thC'sC' grantors. without whosC' support this book could nevC'r havc bC'en written. EarliC'r vC'rsions of ChaptC'rs 2 and 3 appC'arC'd as "NaturC' and Artifice: Debates in Late Warring Scates China Concerning the Creation of Culture" and as "Sages, Ministers. and Rebels: Narratives from Early China Concerning the Ini(ial Creation of thC' Sratc," both in the Harvard jounulJ ofAsiatic Studies (57. no. 2 (December 19971: 47 1-5 18, and 58, no. 2 (December 1998): 425-79, rC'spectively). I am grateful to the Ha rvardjournal ofkiatic Studies for permission to republish these articles in their present form. I also wish to express my deep gratitude to the numerous friends who gave me so much help along the way. There are too many to thank by name, but I am especially gratcful to Brad Basslcr, Bruce and Taeko Brooks. Eileen Chow. Scott Cook, Mark CsikszcntmihaJyi. Paul Goldin, C hristoph H arbsmeier, P. J. Ivanhoe, Tina Lu. Andrew MC'yer, Barbara Mirth. W illard Peterson, Sarah Queen, Lisa Raphals, Harold Roth. Indira Satyendra. Haun Saussy. Michael ScOtt, Laura Skosey, David Spindler, Tim Wesron. and John Zeimer. Finally, I wish ro express my profound gratitude for the support and encouragement given ro me by all of the members of my family. M.P.

Contents

Introduction I.

Domesticating the Landscape: Notions of Ancestors and Innov:uion in the Bronze Age

2.

The C raft of Humanity: Debates over Nature and Culture in Warring States C hina

J.

Sages, Ministers. and Rebels: Narratives of the Emergence of the State

4·

The Creation of Empire: The Emergcnce and Consolidation of Imperial Rule in C hina

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'4'

Ine l ragedy of Creation : Sima Qian's Reconstruction of [he Rise of Empire in Early C hina

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Conclusion

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Appendix: The Semantics of Creation

Notn Bibliography [nde<

Introduction

In 221 B. C., the ruler ofQin created the first unified empire in Chinese history. According to the Han hiswrian Sima Qian, the .self-proclaimed "first empero r ~ later erected a stele near Mr. Langya with the following inscription: It is the twenty-eighth year. The first emperor has created a new beginning [zuo shi]. He has pur in order the laws, standards, and principles for the myriad things.... All under Heaven is unified in heart and yielding in will. lmplemems have a single measure, and graphs are wrinen in the same way....

He has rectified and given order to the different customs ... His accomplishments surpass those ofthe five thearchs [dij.l

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The inscription celebrates the first emperor as a great unifier, fashioning order for the entire world through laws, standards. and principles. But such a fash~ ioning was not a simple reimplementation of the order of the ancient sages : the text celebrates the first emperor as a great creator, one who had initiated a new beginning and whose accomplishments had surpassed those of the five thearchs, the great sages of antiquity. Although these claims would be portrayed in the succeeding Han dynasty as examples of hubris and arrogance, the fact that empire was indeed a recent

2

Introduction

Introduction

invention, unprecedented in earlier history, was nonetheless accepted. And if the creator of empire was not in faCt a great sage, then how could such a new creation be legitimate? Is there another way of claiming legi.tima9' for new instit~ons apart fr£rrl cI¥ni"i!l~ s~irr'of the creator? Or should his creation be rejected, and should kings return to the institutions authored by the sages of antiquity ? Such questions were of primary importance during the early Han, a period when the legitimacy of imperial institutions was widely disputed. However, these disputes came out of a much older set of debates in early China. As early as the Warring States period, when unprecedented institutions were established in several of the states, a debate developed around such issues as how and under what circums~.f~_ new institu.gon~cou.kLbe....kg!~l &;hi~ned. ~aebate qUIckly encompassed more than just the question of whether But the such reforms were legitimate. Immediately, larger issues concerning creation and innovation came to the fore. Can a sage innovate? Under what circumstances? AnJ whence did _hu!!!;3-n cul tu ~e originally come? Was it created by human sages? Is it therefore an artifis.w. fab rication, or is it based in part on natu ~al werns? And is it possible for new sages to emerge who could create something better? This work studies these debates from the Warring States to the early Han dynasty, providing a detailed analysis of the development of the debates and the historical consequences of the positions taken. The discussion involves a nuanced study of the debates concerning innovation, the conflicting narratives written during this time concerning the initial emergence of the state, and the way these ideas and narratives were man ipulated for ideological purposes during the formation of the first empires. My hope is that this study will raise new questions concerning a formative period in Chinese history. At the very least, it should deepen our understanding of early C hinese philo~~ cosmolog!:.=:t ~iews , render more complex our reading ofCarly Chinese narratives, and clarify various aspects of early Chinese imperial culture. But it should also serve as a means of bringing to the forefront other questions concerning early Chinese cuhure, such as notions concerning artifice, creation, and innovation. Th.is is of some import, for early C hina is at times described in contemporary scholarship as a civilization that assumed conti nuity

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between nature and culture and hence had no notion of culture as an arti ficial fabrication, no notion that the sages did anything but imitate the natural world. One conclusion of di is stu dy is that suc~iews ;-~umptjons at all:the idea that human culture is simply a part of the natural world, and that true sages never created anything but simply replicated patterns in the natural world, arose at a certain time ill early China and onl ca c..m-1?romi~ence at the end 0 a engt y e ate. Instead of reading such ideas as widespread assumptions in earlfChina, the goal should be to understand the debate within which such ideas arose and to explain why an emphasis on continuity came to prominence in the early Han. I begin with an overview of the relevant secondary literature on these issues. A significant portion of this literature is based, either implicitly or explicitly, on the claim of a contrast between a Chinese emphasis on the continuity of nature and culture and a Western emphasis on discontinuity. In tracing the history of this scholarship I try to account for the persistence of such a framework of analysis.

Analyses of Chinese Culture The history of scholarship on this issue stretches back in Europe to the seventeenth century. The reasons for such an early interest are not difficult to discern. It was during this time that [he first translations, or at least paraphrases, of early Chinese texts made their way into European intellectual circles, and many thinkers seemed quite surprised by what they saw. Scholars attempting to work out a vision of the evolution (or de-evolution) of culture through a rereading of ancient G reek and Chrisrian notions of a human separation from nature were surprised to read accounts of orthodox Chinese texts [hat explicitly claimed their culture was simply a parr of the natural process. This discovery led a number of scholars [0 study China as part of a contrastive fram ework with Greek and Christian views. Ahhough it is beyond the scope of this study to provide a detailed intellectual history of these early-modern European studies, a brief outline of some of those ideas will be helpful, for, as we shall see, a number of contemporary scholars, including K. C. Chang, see themselves as working our of these rraditions.

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Introduction

Introduction

Early-Motkrn

Europ~an

VinuJ of Chinn~ Culture

deed, the laws handed down by this figure were (hose of God.. All of the ancient civilizations. then, had rect"ived reveiation from the Creator,'

Starting in the late seventeenth century, some scholars became fascinated with

Nonetheless, it was Ricci's ideas that would uhimardy be the more influ-

C hinese civilization, and particularly with what they thought were Chinese

ential. Important in this regard are the writings of Goufried W ilhelm leibniz

views of nature. creation. and millce. This speculation began with the early

(1646- 1716). Because of their lengthy correspondence concern ing the Yijing

Jesuit missionaries. much of whose wo rk was orienled lOward reading the C hi-

hexagrams, leibniz is frequently associated with the ideas of Bouvet, bm his

nese classics and determining where that tradition stood in relation to C hristian

ideas were closer to those of the much earlier Ricci. Unlike Bouvet but very

dogma. The official position of the time was that o f degeneration: all societies had.

much lik(' Ricci. Leibniz saw early Chinese culture as having ariS(' n not from

since the d ispersion, lost thei r understanding of God and his laws, and thus re-

ther than Ricci : Leibniz saw the C hinese as having overcome [h(' Fall, as well

quired conversion to the revelations given in the Bible. lne central problem for

as the subsequent separation from nature, by an empting to return to nature.

the missionaries was thus to determine whether Chinese culture had retained

Ind('('d, for Leibniz it was this profound relationship with nat ure that was both

some understanding of the earlier-known truth. Although in the eighteenth

tn(' virtue and th(' limitation of thei r thought :

cenrury a series of papal bulls, culminating in the Ex quo singulllri of 1742, condemned C hinese rit('s compl('tely, the dominant view o f many Jesuits in th(' late sixte('nth through ('arly eighteenth century had been that an understanding of God's laws could in fact be found in th(' Chinese tradition. The task, then, was how to explain th(' ex.ist('nc(' of such an und(,rstanding. Various throties w('r(' propounded, ranging from th(' claim of survival from the past to lat('( r('veiation. On(' of the most important positions was also on(' of th(' earliest: that of Matt('o Ricci (J552-161O), who held tha t the source o f th~ conceE9:ons was natural reason: just as the Gr('eks had. through ~ of r('ason. relearned som;.;?what had been lost since [he dispersion, so, by the same m('ans, h ad the C hin('se achieved a profo und understanding of natural law: "To begin at

~

revelation but through natu ral reason. H ere, how('v('r, Leibniz W('fl[ much fur-

In profundity of knowledg(, and in the theoretical disciplines we are their superiors. For besides l ogis.~t~ics, and the knowl~ _ edge of things incorporeal, which we justly claim as peculiarly our· province. we ('xcel by far in the understanding of conc('pts which ar(' abstract('d by the m ind from the material , i.e., in things mathematical. as in truth demonstrated when Chinese astronomy comes into competition with our own .. , . And so if we are their equals in the industrial arts, and ahead of them in contemplative sci('nces, certainly they

surp~ us (though it is almost shameful to confess this) in practical philosophy.·

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the beginning, in ancient times, rh('y [the Chinest"J follow('d a natural law as

The reason for this higher possibility of abstraction in Western though t is that th(' [wo cuh ures had differ('nt starting points: whereas the Chinese deriv('d th('ir

faithfully as in our own countries.... When w(' examine the texts ciQS('ly. we

knowledge from nature and thus mad(' brilliant achievements in the realm of

d iscover in them very few things which ar(' contrary to th(' light of r('ason and

practical -philosophy. Europe began from revelation. and was thus furnished

many which are in conformity with it, and (heir natural philosophies ar(' s('C-

with the abstracted, conceptual base necessary to grasp the incorporeal world. "Although they may be convinced that we are one-eyed, we have still :m-

ond to no n('." 1 Whil(' lacking in revealed religious teachings, th(' Chinest" had In contrast, the Jesuit Joachim Bouvet (1656-[730) bdiev('d in theex.ist('nc('

OI lier eye, nOt yet well enough und('rstood by th('m, namely. First Philosophy. l1uough it we are admined to an understanding even of thi ngs incorporeal, n!

of an orig~U!.wgiver in all of the a[lcient societi('s. Although called by differ-

'111c conclusion that L('ibniz drew from this is that while the Chinese m ust b('

ent names (Fuxi in C hina, H ermes Trismegistus in Egypt and Gree<:e. Enoch

converted to the C hristian religion. so the Europeans must I('am about nature from I'he Chines(': -

nonetheless developed advanced natural philosophies.

among the H ebrews, Zoroaster in Persia), he was in fact a single figur(', and in-

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6

Inuoduction Certainly the condition of our affia.irs, slipping as we are imo evcr greater corruption, seems to me such that we need missionaries from the C hinese who might teach us (he use and practice of nalUral religion, just as we have sent them teachers of revealed theology. And so I believe that if someone expert, no t in the beauty of goddesses but in the excellence of peoples. were selected as judge, the golden apple would be awarded to the Chinese. unless we should win by virtue of one great superhuman thing. namely. the divine gift of the C hristian religion.' Such ideas were to have profound influence in the eighu=enth cenlUry. In order to situate them, however. it will be helpful to give a brief overview of some of the larger intellectual u ends of the time. An excellent tool for this is Antoine-Nicolas de Condorcet's Skrtch for a Hisrnricill Picturt: of thr Human Mind, a work that almost seems to have been wrinen as a summary of earlier Enlightenment thought. Like many of his contemporaries, Condorcet saw the development of artificial culture as allowing for the progress of science: "[Men) have acquired that taste for the superfluities of luxury which is the spur of industry, and have become infected with that spirit of curiosity which eagerly penetrates the veil nalUfe has drawn across her secrets." 7 This artifice, however, while allowing for the progression of the sciences, has also led to a degeneration in morals: We must also take inro account the greed. crudty. corruption and prejudice of civilized nations. For these may well seem to primitive races to be richer, more powerful, more educated and more active than they, but also more depraved, and, above all, unhappier; and so savages. instead of being impressed by the superiority of civilized nations, must often have been terrified by the extent and multiplicity of their needs, by the torments they suffer through avarice, and by the eternal agitation of their always active and never satisfied desires.' Nonetheless, "the rough and stormy passage from a crude st:ne of society to that degree of civilization enjoyed by enlightened and free narions is in no way a degeneration of the human race but is rather a necessary crisis in its gradual progress towards absolute perfection.'" At the end of this progress stands the ultimate return to a correspondence with natu re, to be found most noticeably

Introduction in me creation of a ~ universallanguage ... which expresses by signs either real objects themselves, or well-defined collections composed of simple and general ideas." 10

As many students of intellectual history have noted. this vision of history is in many ways a rereadi ng of mythical and historical narratives from the ancient Greek and Christian traditions. Eighteenth-century thinkers emphasized that Europe was a civilization that had fallen from the world of nature: the creation of Western culture was the introduction of arbitrariness. the beginn ing of what Diderot called the "artificial man." II It was this arbitrariness. this distancing from nature, that was believed ro have made possible [he progress seen to characterize European culture: only by breaking from narure could one gain the possibility of, as Condorcet put it, "penetrating her veils." Yet this break, while granting o ne the potential for progress. also led to a possible degenerationmanifested in, for example, the introduction of arbitrary despotism. The solution to such a degeneration, of course, was ro rerum to the laws of nature. yet to do so without losing the knowledge that had been gained by the original break. It is with this as a backdrop that we can begin to understand the initial impulses for drawing comparisons (or, more often, conuasts) with China: China seemed to represent an entirely differe nt orientation toward nature. In many ways, Leibniz occupies a transitional position in the history of ideas on this subject. Like those of some later eighteenth-century thinkers, Leibniz's formulations were made on the basis of the respective positions of each society roward nature, but unlike these later thinkers, Leibniz argued that the Fall had in fact occurred (and thus was as true for C hina as it was for the West). The question then was how various civilizations had brought themselves back up from barbarism: through a reasoned study of nature or through revelations fro m God. For :1 number of eighteenth-century thinkers, however, it was the fall from nature, :lnd thus the introduction of arbitrariness and the creation of unsatisfied desires, that defined the West. In COntrast, C hina was seen as never having gained such an abstraction. Moreover, many of the views of the early Jesuits. such as degeneration from an original knowledge, were by this time discarded, and in t h.eir place arose the notion that onc of the main characteristics of the history of C hina was its stasis: since China had never broken from nature, the tensions of progress and degeneration d ue ro the introduction of artifice were believed

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Introduction to be unknown in the Middle Kingdo m. Withom progress and without arbitrariness, China was an unchanging and static society, trapped in the namre with which it accorded. Yet the manner of C hina's accordance with nature was seen as unique in the world. If China was unlike the West for itS lack of abstraction , it was equally unlike the primitives who also lived with the laws of nature. For China had progressed [Q a nue understanding of the natural laws and yet had somehow done so without falling from namre. Following along the lines of Leibniz, then, China came [Q be seen by some scholars as lacking in the technical mastery over nature that had been achieved in the West, but at the same time, and for exactly the same reason, as morally superior. The most extreme expression of these views can be found in the work of Voltaire. His imerest in the issue dates from relatively early in his career. His early "Pot:me sur la loi naturelle," for example, is based upon the distinction between namral and revealed religion, and unlike Leibniz, he tips the balance decidedly in favo r of the former. In a nOte he attached to the poem, Voltaire praises Confucius's teachings as a paradigm of namral religion. Ll He ampl ified on the point in 1776 in fA Bible tnjin txpliquk, in which he states, "the Chinese appear to be alone in having received the world as ir is .... Having no revelation like us, they mrned away from creation."!) The Middle Kingdom, according to Voltaire, was ruled according to the laws of nature. with a government based upon paternal authority rather than arbitrary commands. As he states in the &sa; sur les monm ~t I~spril tUS natiom (1756): What t hey know best, have cultivated the most, and have broughl to the greatest perfection, is morality and laws. The respect of the children for their fathers is the foundation of the Chinese government. Paternal amhoriry is never weakened . . .. The learned mandarins are considered as the fathers of the cities and provinces, and the Icing as the father of the empire. This idea, rooted in their hearts, has formed a fami ly of this immense state. L4 Like Ldbniz, however, Voltaire sees China's relationship [Q nature as ambivalent, for such a relationship has also inhibited its progressive growth. Instead of seeing this failure as d ue to a lack of revelation, however, Voltaire atrributes the problem to Chi na's being too close to nat ure. 'nle result of this

Introduction closeness is that China had a very early advancement, followed by pure stasis; in contrasr, Europe, because of its distance from nature, suffered from slow beginning but then progressed rapidly. In the &sai sur us m«uT'! ~t l'april tUS nations he states:

a

One wonders why the C hinese, having achieved so much in times so distant, always stopped at this limit .... Ir seems that nature bestowed on this species of man, so different from our own, organs sufficient to discover all at once what was necessary for them, but incapable of proceeding further. We, on the contrary, were tardy in our gaining of knowledge, bur have perfected ourselves rapidly.u Unlike the Europeans, driven by their insatiable needs, the Chinese had all of their needs satisfied from nature. But as a consequence, the C hinese, "the favorite of nature." 16 had none of the need-based drive of the West: "Possessors of a land that furni shes all, they had no need to go, like us, to the ends of the earth." 17 Overall, then, if the culture of the Enlightenment can be characterized by an interest in understanding the mechanisms that led to both the progress of science in Europe and the degeneration of morality into arbitrary despotism, to bmh a penetration of the veils of nature and an estrangement from the laws of narure, then it is clear why C hina came to occupy such a crucial position in [his framework. It became the perfect tool both for criticizing European arbitrary rule and for praising rhe powers of Western progress. As a cuhure that had, it was claimed, always abided by nature but had for (he same reason never been able ro penetrate its veils, China became the perfect O ther for eighreenth-century European thinkers. Many of thcse same argumenrs can be found in nineteenth-ccnrury texts as well, although in them Western progress tends ro be more commonly posed as fully superior to Chinese stasis. For o ur purposes, one of the most intriguing formulations is that given by Hegel. In Philosophy of Right, he presents China, :lnd indeed the entire "Orienral" realm, as being [he first stage in the growth of the self-consciousness of the spirit (the other stages being, respectively, the Greek, Roman, and Germanic realms). The emphasis here, as in the earlier views, is on the lack of abstraction from nature, a lack that Hegel sees as connected to a conflation of the religious and cultural spheres:

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V

Introduction

Introduction The world-view of this first realm is substantial, without inward division, and it arises in natural communities patriarchally governed. According to this view, the mundane form of government is theocratic, the rul~ is also ahlgh p'riest of_God himself; constitution and legislation are at the same time religion, while religious and moral commands, -------., or ~sages rather, are at the , ~a~..: time na_t.~ral and positive law. ls In C hi na there is no-division between natural!.!!~and positive law, no diStinction between the divine and the human. Hegel himself comments on this passage by emphasizing the rootedness of the Oriental mentality in nature, a rootedness that Hegel sees as standing at the beginning of the history of the state: ''A still substantial, natural mentality is a moment in the development of the state, and the point at which any state takes this form is the absolute beginning of itS history." l!/ The same point is echoed in his lecrures on the philosophy of history: Si nce Spirit has not yet attained subjectivity, it wears the appearance of spirituality still involved in the conditions of Nature. Since the external and the internal, Law and Moral Sense, are not yet distinguishedstill form an undivided unity- so also do Religion and (he State. The Constitution generally is a T heocracy, and the Kingdom of God is to the same extent also a secular Kingdom as the secular Kingdom is also divine. 20 China is characterized by a lack of a distinction between externality and internality, law and morality, religion and the state. Hegel thus continues to define China being rooted in nature and lacking a distinction between humanity and the divine. However, he has placed these characteristics in a distinct context. H ere, China, or, more broadly, the Orient, is being used not as an Other for a framework of evolution/degeneration but rather as a stage in the evolution of the state; instead of seeing China as a comparable civili7..ation superior in some respects but inferior in others, it is here placed firmly at the beginning of the hiStory of the state, before the evolutionary rise of Europe. These ideas are furthet developed in Hegel's "Introduction" to his lectures on the philosophy of history, where he discusses the O rient as the "first form which the spirit assumes." 21 His emphasis is on the stasis of {he Oriental state,

and he thus describes it as being based on a family religion "devoid of opposition and ideality. But it is also an enduring state, for it cannOt change itself by its own effons. Such is the character of the Far East, and of the Chinese empi re in particular. 22 H e continues: Q

Struggle and conflict require self-collectedness and self-comprehension. But this dawning awareness is still relatively weak, unconscious, and rooted in nature .... Whatever innovation replaces what has been destroyed must sink and be destroyed in turn ; no progress is made: and all this restless movement results in an unhisrorical history.2.1 The cause of this stasis is the lack of a break from immediate existence: "Its spiritual mode is not yee that of representation; on the conrrary, it still exists in a condition of immediacy, and its mode is that of immediate existence."H In different terms, the problem is the lack of a contestive principle, the antithesis, within its unity: "It has not assimilated and overcome its antithesis. The antithesis has not yet developed within it and consequently falls outside it."lS Overall, then, Hegel has characterized the Orient as lacking a break from na~, lacking a distinction between divine and the human realms:lacking internal confliC't'arutopposirion, and as bein"g~in a State of hiscorical stasis. For H~gel, the cr~i£turning point from such a Stage was the il~~u~tion of discontinuity by the Greeks, an introduction that also made possible the beginnings of history and a true unclerstanding of nature. As in the eighteenthcentury versions, the philosophical problem for Hegel was then to return to the natural world without losing what was gained through the introduction of arbitrariness. Many of thcse themes were to be repeated again and again throughout the century. Nonetheless, many of the later thinkers of the nineteenth century focused as well on other sets of issues, such as Oriental despotism and the Asiatic mode of production. Since these views have a less direct bearing on the concerns of this study, and since they are already common knowledge, I will spare the reader a recapitulation of them here. The crucial point is that these early thinkers compare China with other civilizations according to the supposed lack in C hina of a sense of a break from the natural world. Although the ways and even reasons for making such comparative claims were based in large part on the culture of early-modern Europe.

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Introduction

Introduction

the basic vision of China as a land withom a notion of artifice was at least in parr taken from the Chinese texts themselves. Moreover, the comparison that was then drawn with Europe had much ro do with the European thinkers' reliance on Greek and Christian texts in analyzing their own culture. Twentieth-century scholars, trying to compare ancient China with early Greece and Christianity, grappled with some of these same problems. Of course, most modern scholars (though by no means all) tend to think that the differences between the West and China have more to do with different assumptions about their relationship with nature than with different relationships to nature itself, but the issues being dealt with are nonetheless quite comparable.

there being "no tension berween the counterclaims of god and man, between a Zeus and a Prometheus." 28 He goes on to claim that the ambivalent heroes who so dominated ancient Greek Iiterarure seem to be lacking in ancient China:

Twentieth-Century Scholarship

Thus, claims Keighdey, in contrast to the tra~emLon s so powerful in the Greek world, the Chinese cosmology was instead "uncomplicated.""'\! Other scholars have argued, on similar grounds, that epic and tragedy are absent from early Chinese narratives, whereas both of these genres predominate in cultures, such as early Greece, that see culture and human creation as standing in potential opposition to the divine world. 3] In another essay comparing Greek and Chinese culture, Jacques Gernet raises a similar issue concerning Chinese political thought:

Two distinct groups represent modern attempts to place China in a comparative perspective. The first one includes Sinologists knowledgeable to greater or lesser degrees about the early civilizations of Greece and the Near East who have attempted to compare the views of nature and the creation of culture found there with those found in early China. The second consists of those who have attempted to deal with similar concerns in a more direcdyanthropological mode. Scholars in the first group have attempted to compare Judaic notions of a creative god with early Chinese views, which are seen as emphasizing a spontaneous cosmos with no notion of creation. For example, Fredrick Mote has claimed, "the Chinese ... have regarded the world and humans as uncreated, as constituting the essential features of a spontaneously self-generating cosmos having no creator, god, ultimate cause, or will external to itself."26 Emphasis has also been given to the idea that in China the human world was seen as an inherent part of the natural process, never having experienced, in orher words, a Fall. kTu Wei-Minghas stated: "Humanity is the respecnul son or daughter of the cosmic .... Human beings are thus organically connected with rocks, trees, and animals."27 Other figures, explicidy comparing early Chinese culture with that of ancient Greece, have argued that such a lack of a distinction berween the human and natural realms means that the early Chinese cosmology displays none of the tragic tensions that so pervaded Greek thought. David Keightley, for example, refers to the emphasis on "harmonious collaboration," which resulted in

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In early China ... heroes were heroes precisely because they were models worthy of emulation; the universe of moral action, at least as it was represented in the accounts of myth and history. was untrammeled by ambiguities. It was the basic, optimistic assumption of the Zuozhuan . .. thar the vinuous man would be rewarded here and now~by promotions, honors, and status. Cause-and-effect in the universe were rigorously fair; rhe moral prospered, the wicked did no[.29

Order can never result from the
" llC

13

'4

I

Introduction

Introduction

argues thar, unlike the West, which saw the world as based in creati~, and unlike India, which saw the ~Q.di.~ based in illusion, the indigenous Chinese worldview-;as-bas~ ~he "real and:;~;."-33 Because there was no indigenous notion of conscious cre;tion, the early Chinese were entirelyempiricistic and naturalistic in oriemation: for the Chinese, "it is a matter of discerning and disclosing a pre-existent shape in the natural world." 3 4 "In the elite Chinese view, everything is feal and substantial. Things are not products of mind - [hey are empirically and hismrically verifiable configurations of material forces." 3~ It is nOt until the impact of Buddhism, Mair claims, that one finds in China a strong norion of creation, and, therefore, the first fictional writings. All of these arguments develop from a general view that, unlike Near Eastern and Greek cultures, early Chinese thought posited no break from the world of nature, did not define humanity and the divine in conAictual terms, and indeed had no strong notion of arbitrariness. China, in other words, simply did not pose t~ergence of ~;t}~l!!e. ~verm19~~tion an~isc~ntinuiry. The second strand of thought that I will mentionnere oevelopea1rom Europe in the 19205 and 1930S, and involved the attempt to compare early China to "primitive" societies, with a particular emphasis on "anthropological" issues such as shamanism and totemism. This movement's primary figures included Henri Maspeto, Marcel Granet, and Carl Henne, and their tradition has been continued, through sometimes direct but more often indirect inAuence, by scholars in Japan, Taiwan, and mainland China. Most notable is the work of Akatsuka Kiyoshi and Sun Zuoyun. These twO strands of scholarship have been fused by K. C. Chang in what is perhaps the most extensive attempt in recent years to place early Chinese society into a comparative framework with mher ancient civilizations. He attempts to isolatc certain pauerns basic to each civilization, and then goes on to define "the C hinese patterp as one of continu;ryand_th~_w..q~eln.l£he Near Eastern, and;r~~;'- European] pan~rl).. as ~e o(rupturt ." 36 By "rupture," Chang refers to the idea that WeStcrn civilization arose from a break betw"een culture and nature: "Man passes from a world of nature he shared with his animal friends to a world of his own making, in which he surrounds himself with ariifans that insulate him from , and elevate him above, his animal friends."H By "continuity" he means the lack of such a break: "continuity between man and animal, between earth and heaven, and between culture and nature."38 This

laucr pattern is based primarily on an organismic (from Mote) cosmology, as well as shamanistic links between man and the natural world.3 9 This radical difference between the two civilizations is, from Chang's perspective, not simply one of two contrastive bodies of assumptions. Instead, it is one of differing relations to an earlier Paleolithic background: Chang rakes the coorinuum panern as being inherent to all "primitive" societies and argues that the West, unlike China, broke from such a pattern. "What is uniquely sign ificant about irs presence in ancieor China is the fact that a veriuble civilization was built on top of and within its confines. Ancient C hinese civilization was a civilization of continuity." "o Thus, the rise of civilization in the West involved "a new stage in human history in which an artificial civilization emerged to elevate the humans to a higher plane than that of our nature-bound barbarous ancestors, ... [whereas] the first civilized society of China carried on many essential features of irs savage and barbarous antecedenrs."41 This continuity with earlier stages of humanity is a characteristic that China shares with Mayan civilization, whercas the West broke completely rom suc acontinuum: "From the confines of this vast culruraJ continuum (which I will call the Maya-China continuum, realizing that the continuum goes back to long before Maya or C hina), European civi lization and its Oriental precedents achieved a significant hrcakout." n Overall, then, Chang's basic st?r{gy is to take the "Sinological" claims made hy Mote, Tu, and others concerning the supposed lack of distinction between nature and culture in Chinese thought and connect these with the "anthropological" claims made by others concerning the comparability of early China to primitive societies." His claim is that such an "organismic" cosm..Q.logy.derives from primitive forms of shamariism. This then provi~ with the ammunition he needs to mil{e rIie claim, directly related to the much earlier ideas lliscusscd above, that China has had a different "pattern" of development, never Iwving made the break from narure that characterizes the West. Chang reads th is tradition in the following terms: "To the social scientist seasoned in me thcories of Marx, Engels, Weber, Childe, and others with regard to social evolution and the rise of urbanism and State society, however, the C hinese road \0 civilization appears to be an aberration - often called the 'Asiatic' aberration. [t is an aberration precisely because it continued forward so much from 11_ Ilnteccdents."H

_.- \ , ,,/ l " 'v \

J.

'5

16

Innoduction Method of Approach It is understandable why so many scholars have emphasized the lack of a distinction between narure and culture and the lack of a notion of creation in Chinese thought. Many of the texts from the Warring States and early Han dynasty make statements along these lines. For example, they contain explicit opposition to notions of human innovation. The most often-quoted of such statements include those of Confucius, "I transmit, but do not create,"H and Sima Qian, who claimed that his work involved "t~~iUliigancient affairs and arranging and ordering the traditions passed down through the generations. It is not what can be called creating."46 One also finds, quite early, the idea that human action ought, normatively, to be in accord with Heaven. These ideas were taken to even greater degrees by writers who, beginning from roughly the mid-third century B.C., tried to articulate a view of the cos~s as a g~nera[iv:p-E..0cgs in which culture fu lfilled the processes of nature. Related theories, advanced in roughly the same time penoa~related the rise and fal l of dynasties with the natural movement of the five phases; the unfolding of human history was thus posed as an inherent part of the cyclical movement of nature. A final strand in this argument is the moral reading of history, evident in part as early as the ShangJhu, in which Heaven was seen as rewarding the virtuous and punishing the evil. By the mid-third century B,C., this was developed in several texts alongside Ihe above-mentioned cosmological speculations to show the interrelation of human history, natural cyclicity, and morality. Taken together, these texts do indeed present a vision of a spontaneous and moralized cosmos in which nature and culture are continuous, a vision that would appear to be free from the tragic ambivalence played upon in so many texts from ancient Greece. It was these ideas that generated much of the scholarship discussed above. Nonetheless, a more contextualized analysis of these texts may reveal thar there was in fact a great deal of debate in early China concerning such issues as the relationship between nature and culture. In saying this, 1 am not simply arguing that one can point out exceptions to the generali7.arions quoted above. It is obvious that such exceptions exist, and I am sure that all of the scholars mentioned above would freely admi t such; they simply claimed th:lt the

lmroduction

17

dom~ant assum£tions in early China differe'i!rom ~~rly Greece. My

argument, however, is [hat these ideas should not be construed as dominant assumptions at all; they were, on the contrary, conscio~ly formulated claims mad€WitlUn a larger debate. By focusing on the d~bates them~es f;o~ this period, it should be possible to shih the focus away from using explicitly formulated claims 10 find the assumptions of the cuhure in question and toward attempting to understand the historical tensions with which the thinkers were grappling that led them to develop such claims. At issue here is the methodological problem of how we should read statements such as those that 1have JUSt mentioned: when the analyst is confronted with a specific argument to the effect that human culture is a part of nature, there ~[ waysto contextualize this. One of the poorest means, in my opinion, is to read suCh an idea as an assumption about the period. The very fact [hat an argument is polemic strongly suggests that it is not an assumption at all, but a claim. Our goal should therefore be to ask why such a claim was made and what its implications wc=rc at the time. ---Such ~ject is oft;n less ~asy than it seems, for an argument concerning an issue does not necessarily mean that that explicitly stated issue is the main problem motivating the argument. For example, when one is confronted with twelfth-century European scholastic proofs for the existence of God, it would be wrong, in my opinion, to conclude that the question of wherher God existed was the central problem: among the small group of scholars writing such proofs, I doubt that the existence of God was seriously questioned. Instead, the main problem seems to have been the issue of faith and reason, or m~re specifically, the issue of whethe!, God is rationally necessary or a topic of faIth .:done. Thus, when an analyst is confronted with a statement made within a larger debate, the concern must be (0 ask why, within the context of the time, such a claim was made and what its relevance was. The ultimate consequence of this is that models comparing Western and Chinese modes of thought based on only a few statements made within those cultures may prove less helpful than frameworks that first attempt to elucidate the complexiry of the surrounding intellectual and political debates. Myargument is nor simply that we ought to be analyzing the material at hand in more detail and nOt performing comparisons. for in fact 1agree [hat comparing early China with other early civilizations can be helpful. However, by moving the

I

18

Introduction focus away from the assumptions of the cultures in question and turning instead to the tensions motivating the debates within those culrures, I think that we will reach a more complex understanding that will enrich our abiliry to offer comparative discussions. In making such an argument, it may be helpful to refer to a figure mentioned only in passing above: Marcel Granet. At first glance, Graner would seem to stand firm ly in Ihc scholarly tradition of using anthropological models to relatc early C hina to ~primitivc" cultures. Like the other scholars mentioned. Granet attempts to find £races of phenomena such as tOlemism and the potlatch in early China.47 However, far from trying to claim that these phenomena existed in, for example, Bronze Age C hina, his argument is based upon an evolutionary claim concern ing rhe stages of China's historical development. Thus such phenomena as totemism are relegated to an early period before the rise of kingship, and his view of Bronze Age China is one of a heroic era quite at odds with any of the views discussed above. Early C hinese cosmological specularions about nature and culture are in rum treared as belonging to the late Warring States and early Han . The methodology through which Granel developed these ideas has often been criticized- and quite legitimately so. Since the archaeology of prehistoric periods had only JUSt begun when he was writing. and since he was not working with any o f Ihe inscriptions that provide contemporary evidence of Bronze Age China, Granet arrempted to read these earlier phenomena our of Warring States and Han texts. A brief example of this will serve to introduce this aspect of his methodology. But it will also raise a point that I discuss in more d etail below, namely how radically different Granet's vision of earlier Chinese history is from that of the orher scholars mentioned here. A number of classical Chinese texts present narratives about ki ngs shooting arrows at Heaven. For example. the Zhllnguou relates a SIOry of King Kang of Song. a prototypically wicked king, shooting ;:1.[ Heaven. Soon after, he d ied and his stale was destroyed.4S Similarly, the Shiji slales that rhe Shang king Wu Vi, an earlier paradigmatic bad king, shot arrows at a learher bag that he called " Heaven" and also died soon after.HIn both of thes~ narratives, th~ act of shooting at Heaven is treated as exemplifying the utter moral depravity of the king under discussi
Introduction reads the stories as an attempt to moralize an ancient ritual practice in which all kings would have to shoot at a symbol of Heaven, for only by showing that they could conquer the sky-god could they be considercd true kings.~l The melhodological problem with this reading, of course, is that there is no independent evidence that such a practice ever existed: the story is only presented in the COntext of d escribing the acts of evil men. What is intriguing in Granet's argument, however, is how radically it departs from the discussions of early China mentioned earlier in the introduction. Some:: scholars regarded statements in certain lexts concerning the uniry of culture and nature as exemplifying the thought in gene::ra1 of the classical period, and argued that this was the dominant cultural orientation of earlier times in China as well: China had simply neve::r made a break from nature. Granet's argument is diametrically d ifferent. In h is skelch of the:: rise of Chinese:: sociery in fA civilisation chinois~, for example, he begins with a recreation of an early pastoral society worshipping sacred areas of the land. n Whe::n he:: discusses the rise of kings, he presents them ~ng~~ from n a~': j it is in this context' tlrat1ie presents his discussion orthe ritual of shooting H eaven. Thus, unlike the argument that Chinese sociery dM1ope(rwithout~ng from nature, Graner prese:nts the rise of kingship as being JUSt that: the introduction of ~ransgression ag
19

20

Introduction

Introduction sions between culture and nature. the ki ng and the minister. and orhers, are pervasive in the early texts, and many of Granet's specific p roposals for reading early Chinese narratives are (when taken oU( of his evolutionary framework) tremendously helpful in analyzing the nature of these tensions. The value of Granet's work, then, is that it points [Qward an approach focused less on contrasting the assumptions of different culrures and more on d iscovering t1ieConAiC'iilffiderlymg those cultures. The method of anal~ be t~solate tbe tenSions iliat gt:nerated thedebates, analyu the history of those debates, and, when comparing, to do so only when one has isolated in o ther cultures similar tensions concerning similar problems. Working within such a framework will, I believe, reveal that early China, far from being a unique civilization. faced the same sorts of problems faced by o ther early-avrllzations, and that the consequent intellectual and political disputes that arose in China have analogues elsewhere. Our goal should be to analyze Ihese debates, seewhy they arose, and study the implications of the ways the d ebates d eveloped.

O rganizatio n

of the Study

In Chapter I, I brieRy discuss how the issue of innovation is p resented in some of the wri tings from the late Shang and ~ My goal is nOtto present a comprehensive discussion of these materials (which would be a full -length study in itself) but to introduce how these works deal with the topics that were of such interest in the Warring States and Han periods. The reason for doing SO is that some Warring States and Han authors defined their arguments concerning innovation using surviving Bronze Age documents (particularly the Shi), so a discussion o f these materials should provide some of the crucial background for understanding the later debates. The next fou r chapters constitute the heart of the work. C hapter 2 focuses on the d~e)n the Warring States over such questions as who crealed culture, what such a creation ~tailed~hether the culture th us crealed was still linked to the natural world, and whether a superior culture can be created. I trace the development of the arguments in detail, showing why these topics became so impo rtant during this period and why the debate developed as it did. In the C hapter ), I relate how these issues concerni ng innOVation play out

in the different narrative versions o f the eme.!S.:nce o f the state. I analyze these versions and try 10 account for their role in the larger debates of the period. TItis in turn entails a rethinking of some of the ways in which the study of early Chinese mythology has been approached. In this regard. I discuss some of Granet's arguments in more depth. Chapter 4 traces how these ideas and narratives concerning innovation were appropriated d uring the formation of the C hinese empire. I analyze the first emperor's attempts to proclaim himself;: great-creator, personally instituting a new era in C hinese history, as well as the debates at the beginning of the succeeding Han dynasty over how 10 preseO( the innovations of the first emperor.

It is only during [his period, I argue. that the claims read by $0 many scholars as assumptions in early C hina gradually came [0 prominence. C hapter s is an analysis of how the H an historian Sima Q ian presented the

rise of empire in e:uly C hina. Since Sima Qian witnessed the successful consolidation of imperial rule, his reconstruction sheds considerable light on how the debates that developed over the previous few ceO(uries were rcframed during this formative period. And since he takes a critical yet highly complex stance toward the issue of innovatio n, his p resentation reveals many of the tensions that arc discussed in the previous chapters.

21

C H A PTER

I

Domesticating the Landscape: Notions of Ancestors and Innovation in the Bronze Age

Let us begin at the beginning, or at least at the beginning as described by an Eastern Han scholar: In ancient times Saari [i.e., Fuxil was the king of all under Heaven. Looking up he observed the images in Heaven, and looking down he observed the models on Earth. He looked at the patterns of the birds and beasts and the proper order of the Earth. Near at hand he took from his body, and at a distance he took from things. He thereupon first raised up (zuol the eight trigrams in order to display Ihe exemplary images. ' This passage is taken from the posrface to Xu Shen's ShU/) wm jie zi, a dictionary composed in the first century A.D. XU Shen is discussing here: the invention of trigrams, divinatory signs consisting of a series of broken and unbroken lines. According to this passage, the ancient sa~ Fuxi invented Ihesc trigrams after being inspired by the patterns of the natural world. His aCI of invention in· volved "raising" or "lifling up" (zuo) the patterns fo und in the natural world and bringing them to the world of humanity. Xu Shen then goes on to describe how Cang l ie, the scribe of the ancient sage Huangdi, invented characters through a similar process: JUSt as Fuxi introduced trigrams by "raising up" (zuo) the patterns of nature, so did Cang lie introduce characters by imitating the distinctions found in the tracks of birds

Domesticating rhe Landscape and beasts.2 By so doing, Xu Shen claims, Cang Jie was the "first to raise up [zuol writing.") In this narrative, neither the trigrams nor the writing is presented as an arrificiaJ construct, and neither one is in any way discontinuous from nature. Indeed, they were not created in any strong sense of the term at all: instead, sages invented them by raising patterns from the natural world and bringing those patterns iOlo the realm of humanity. The Chinese term used to describe this act of invention is zuo fF -a term commonly used in the Warring States and Han periods to deScribe the sages' invention of culture. A translation of this term as "raising up -or "Iifti~" is th~y Xu Shen himself: Xu Shen defines zuo in his dictionary as qi Ig, "co rise," or in a causative form, "make cisc." Thus, references to the anciem sa~uo-- i ng various aspects of culture should be understood not as "creating" but as "causing 10 arise." This definition-J" zuo would become highly influential. In later literary theory, for example, authors were frequently said to zuo in this sense: not to create fictions or artifice but to lake things from the natural world (panerns in narure or the namral feelings of the poet) and distill them imo a poem.~ The act, in other words, involved no fabrication, no conscious creation, no introduction of discontinuity or artifice. This is the strain of C hinese thought that so strongly influenced rhe amhors quoted in the Introduction. And the fact that such a vision is found so d early in the Shuo wen jie zi poinrs to an issue that I alluded to above, namely rhat continuity between nature and culture is not simply a false OrientaJist idea imposed y European scholars on early C hinese culture: it i~ most cerrainlya view that has its rq,9Y in early C hina itself. Indeed, I argue in Chapter 2. that Xu Sheii'~ition of ;;;;;Uy wclihave been inRuenced by the Xici, the thirdcentury B.C. work from which Xu Shen a.Iso took the above-quoted discussion of the invention of trigrams by Fuxi. But this definition was developed in opposition to severaJ other views that explicitly defined cuhure as an artificial fab rication of sages. In those other writings, zuo wa~ploye withlhe sense of "create" 5 and was used with a strong connotation of artifice and the introduction of discontinuity. The definitions found in works like the Xici and the Shuo wm ji~ zj were presented

-

2.3

24

Domesticating the Landscape in response to these other usages, and it was only over the course of the Han dynasty that the definition "to create" came to prominence. But if Xu Shen's definition of zuo cannot ~ accepted as necessarily indicative of the " basic" meaning, then what exactly was the early semantic range of the term? In tbe appendix to this study, I discuss the etymology and early usages of zuo and argue that the term had a wide range of meanings in the early inscriptionaiiiterature, including not only "arise" but also "be active," "do," "build," "make," and "create." And all of these ere mons were U[i ired in tee ares

of~~tates and Han periods as well: thinkers in the early period exploited the full semantic range of the term in their efforts to define their respective positions on the emergence of Culture. Here, as with other terms that were widely debated in early C hina, studying the depth of usage that the word was given in each text and explOring how the word was defin ed and redefined for particular purposes will well repay the effort expended. The poin t about the meaning of zU() can be made for the larger issue of how early Chinese figures conceptualized the relationship between nature and cullUre. The claim that Xu Shen made in the narratives quoted above was that cultural ani faCts like the trigrams and writing were b~ upon an imitation of th~pa~e~ o~ural world. In C hapter 2, I refer to a similar argument in the Xici that e.v~ h ting and agriC}11rural implemems to boats and houses. was similarly invented by sages in imit~nepatterns of the na ~~ra1 world. But this specific claim of continuity ~tween natu e and culture actually developed quite late, like the defini tion of zuo, and emerged out of a widespread debate in the Warring States period. In order to provide a background for understanding this debate, I devote the remainder of this chapter to texts and inscriptions from the Bronze Age. Because some of these materials, particularly the poems, became a common reference point for the later debates, a brief discussion of how such tens presemed culture. nature, and sagehood will be helpful. I analyze the works contextually, studying how and why they were written. Many of the presentations were quite different from those that appeared in later works such as the Shuo 10m j it zi, and yet many of these same texts were employed in support of some of the very claims of continuity that later became so influential. Looking at the earlier materials there~ore will facilitate the analysis in Chapter 2 of how

Domesticating the Landscape and why these texu were reinterpreted and employed over the course of the Warring States debates.

Texts and Inscriptions from the Bronze Age

Late Shang The extant corpus of Shang oracle inscriptions- the earliest of which probably dare to the reign of King Wuding-are aimed at various nature spirits and ancestral deities, as well as Di, presumably the high god.' The Shang pantheon was fully theistic-and we shall see that this generalization holds true for the Zhou as well - with natural phenomena seen as ~ i ng governed by distinct, active deities. The oracular materials then consisted of attempts to explicate, coerce. and control these beings. Thus, to give a standard example from the Bin diviner group: Crackmaking on guiwei [day 20] , Bin divining: "This rain is the sending-down of misfortune." C rackmaking on guiwei (day w }, Bin divining: "This rain is not the sending-down of misfortune. "7 The purpose of the divinations is to discover whether [he rain was to ~ read as a misfortune sent down from above. Evidendy, if the divinations were to reveal that the rain was so sent , then rituals would have to be given ro placate or coerce the powers in question. Ahhough the specifi c deity is not named in these inscriptions, Di himself was frequendy named elsewhere as a deity prone to make such attacks: "shtn ... si, Di will send down misforrune."8 Parallels to this way of dealing with deities can be fo und in inscriptions related to sickness: "Divining: '[As forl the sic}mess in the foo t, it is the having of a curse: n9 Ancestors, particularly those recencly dead, were said to frequently curse the living. Here, a person is sick, and the question is whether this sickness is an ancestral curse. If it is. the next task is to determine which ancestor is making the curse. Accordingly one finds numerous divinations like the following:

25

26

Domesticating the Landscape Yihai [day

12)

Domesticating the Landscape

divining: " It is Oa Geng who makes (zuo] the curse." 10

"Oa Geng is not making [zuoJ the curse." II "Oi will make [ZUQ] misfortune fo r the king.» 12 Once the malevolent ancestor is discovered, an exorcism can be held to rid the body of the curse. Such exorcistic rites of driving away the curses and misfortu~es sem by an c~ors figure prominently in oracle inscriptions: • Crackmaking on wuyin [day 15J, Bin divining: "Exorcise Fu Jing to Mother Geng." I) "Exorcise the misfortune to Father Yi."I" Crackmak.ing on yihai (day 12J, Bin divining: "Perform the great exorcism [starting] from Shang Jia."

I'

Crackmaking on yimao [day p], Que divining: "Exorcise Fu Hao to Father Yi. C leave sheep, offer pigs, and make a promissory offering of ten penned sheep." 16 Similar concerns underlay milit2I)' campaigns: the con~rn in the divination was always to determine the support (or lack thereof) of the divine powers. Divining: "This sp,ri ng the king..willrnot.ally with Wang Cheng to at.tack Xia Wei [for if he does] the upper and lower [divine powers] Will not approve. It will nor be we who will be receiving the divine assistance." 17 And agriculture as well: Jiawu [day 311. divining: "Today we will sacrifi~ (sui]. [for if we:: do we] will receive mille::t (i.e.• harvest]."18

O n w.uchm (day 51 divining: "Pray fo r millet, (slarcing] from Shang Jia. We WIll offer the burning sacrified [Iiao]." [9 O n guihai [day 60J divining: "We will pray for millet (starting] from Shang Jia."20 . 10

AI; should ~ready b.e clear, then, the divine pow~rU9.voked here hav~ co~n~th later Jde~ of a s~f-generating, Spontaneous, natural process.

On the contrary, here individuated s irits actively control as eets of the natural world. Considering this, it is pc:rhaps nor surprising that the term zuo freqUently appears in rhe oracular material with a sense of construction: making, forming , and the like. We have already seen the term used this way in re::ference to Da Geng making curses, and the term is also commonly so used to refer to the actions of Oi: "Oi will make [%uo] misforrune for the king."l. Since one of the main concerns of the oracular inscriptions is also to determine what human actions will be supported by rhe divine powers. zuo also appears in these marC'rials to describe the constructive:: actions of humans: Divining: "The king will make \zuo] a senlemen t, [for if he does] Oi will approve."ll Crackmaking on rmzj {day 49], Zheng divining: " We will make a settlement. [for if we do] Oi will not oppose." Approved. Third monthP Crackmaking on xinmao [day 28], Que divining: "Jifang Fou will build a wall, [for if he does] it will not be cursed . There will be no harm." Fourth month .l-4 Both humans and spirits are frequently posed as accive figures, and the main concern of the inscriptions is [he pot~ctions of humans and the actions QLth~ .di!'ine. &'verafPoinrs can be made concerning this potential conRict. First, the relations between humans and divine powers appear to involve no ethical calculus. The higher powers do not create trouble or sickness because of an ethical failing on the part of the humans, and the attempt roe::nd the divine male::vole::nce does not involve any claim on the part of the humans that they will act in a more ethically correct way. On the contrary, the male::volence of the higher powers seems unpredictable and arbitrary, and the means of ending the malevolence is simply to suc~ssfu lly comple::te various rirual actions. Also, and directly relarro to the last point. is that the relationship between humans and the divine powers appears at rimes to be antagonistic. Much of the divination material seems oriented toward controlling, or at least warding off, the actions of these potentially malicious spirits. Nor only are the ancestors not moralized here, but their relations with the living would appear to be capricious

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27

18

Domesticating the Landscape and, at least at times, extremely oppositional. As a consequence, rhe actions of humans toward such divine powers seem oriented toward controlling their potential arbitrariness. Such tendencies became more pronounced as the dynasrycontinued. By the last rwo reigns of the dynasry, divination as a practice seems to have become increasingly formulaic, dominated by phrases such as, "There will be no disaster in the next ten-day week," and offered with no negative alternative. As many scholars have pointed out, this seems to imply less an attempt to ask the divine powers about the future and more of a ritual attempt to exhort the spirits not to create harm.2S Overall, then, it seems safe to say that [he divine powers here are active, individuated, purposive beings, nor spontaneous processes. Oi and the ancestors are believed to make disasters for no apparent reason, and it is believed thar they can be at least pardy controlled through divinatory announcements and ritual activiry. All of this is quite removed from the later notions of a continuum berween nature and culture rhat Chang wants to read back into Bronze Age China. Indeed, if there is any parallel between this material and the views that came to predominate in the cultures of the late Warring States and early Han, it is something of the opposite, namely that there is a potential disjunction between humaniry and divinity, and that ritual activity should be oriented toward gaining some kind of accord between the rwo. Before continuing with this point, however, it will be helpful to turn to a discussion of some of the Western Zhou materials.

Early Western Zhou There is a much grearer volume of material from the Western Zhou than from the Shang, as well as a much greater variery of genres: a corpus, although small, of oracle inscriptions, a large number of bronze inscriptions, and the Shi, Shangshu, and Yizhoushu texts. Most of these postdate the conquest of the Shang, although some of the oracle bones, and perhaps some of the bronze inscriptions, are earlier. Such a wide range of genres (relative to those in the Shang) enables a deeper discussion. I begin by brieRy mentioning the oracle inscriptions. Extant Zhouyuan oracle inscriptions are few in number, and m~y are fragmentary. Although the inscriptions have features that render them distinct from those of the Shang, tliere is a great deal of similarity as well. The following

Domesticating the Landscape divination is an example: "Dingmao [day 4]. The king at the river announces to Heaven: ' Let rhere be no disasters: "26 Unlike the Shang inscriptions discussed above. the Zhou inscription utilizes the term st' ,Itt:', ("would that,n or "let it be that"),27 and the inscription is aimed at the Zhou deiry Heaven, not to Oi. 28 Nonetheless, the genre seems comparable to what we saw above: the divination is oriented toward exhoning a divine power not to cause disasters for the king. Similar exhortations are found in orher genres dating from the early Western Zhou, namely bronze inscriptions and the early poems of the Shi. In both of these, the textS are oriented toward denying the potential antagonism between living humans and the divine ancestors by claiming that the actions of humaniry. and of the Zhou rulers in panicular, are linked in continuity with those of the divine. A perfect example here is the poem "Si wen" (Mao 275). The poem is direcred at Hou Ji, who was seen as the earliest ancestor of the Zhou peoples. A few beliefs concerning Hou Ji are peninent to the understanding of this poem. Accocling to rhe poem "Sheng min" (Mao 245), Hou Ji was conceived after a woman named Jiang Yuan walked on Oi's footprint. Hou Ji was thus believed to have possessed some of the potency of Oi, or Heaven. This was a potency that the later Zhou rulers hoped to recapture-as seen in their utilization of the royal title tianzi, "son of Heaven. n29 Hou Ji was also, as is mentioned in the poem "Si wen," seen as a cultural hero who taught the Zhou people the pracrice of agriculture: Would that cultured Hou Ji Were able to be a counterpart to Heaven, Establishing us 30 and upholding the people. There are none who do nor take you as a model. You have provided us with wheat and barley. The poem is aimed at Hou Ji himself, who is recognized as the introducer of wheat and barley. The term translated as the modal "would that" is si, a term that appeared with the same sense in the Zhouyuan oracle inscriptions. As in the inscriptions, the poem is written in part as an exhortation to the ancestOf. The chanter(s) of the poem are calling our to their ancestor Hou Ji to be a counterpart of Heaven and thus bring the power of Heaven to aid them . The poem also emphasizes the relationship of the Zhou people to Hou Ji: all are described as taking Hou Ji as their model. The overall goal of the poem, there-

29

Domesticating the Landscape

)0

fore, is to place the ini~ Hou Ji ~i thin a line of relat~ by exhorting him, on the upper end, to b(:come a counterpart to Heaven, and by announcing to him, on the other end, thai"the Zhou peopl;take him as their model. As in the oracle inscriptions, then, the poem is addresse to an ancestor and is oriented toward placating that ancestor. The implied concern is that Hou Ji will not necessarily serve correctly in his mediating role of connecting Heaven and the people, and the poem is wrinen both to call on him to do so and to assure him that the people see him as a model. The ritual exhortation of the text is rhus made by calling on the ancestor to function correctly in the chain of continuity srrerching ftom Heaven to the people. This poem, like the oracular materials, is an attempt to posit and assert an accord bcrwC(:n the present generation and thcjr ancestors. This is the context in which we must read these poems, which became so influential in the Warring States debates. As the followi ng examples show, this attempt to present the living as linked in chains of continuity with the ancestors is a generic feature of many of the poems and bronze inscriptions of the Western Zhou. Moreover, when read in their proper COntext, these claims of continuity can be seen to be just that-claims that the potential disjunction between the human and the divine has to be overcome. Such concerns can be s«n clearly in "lIan zuo" (Mao 270). The poem describes the settling of the Zhou at Q ishan , the area from which the Zhou believed t hemselves to have grown to predominance. As the poem narrates, the settlement was begun by King Tai and continued by King Wen:

I

I

H eaven made [zuoJ the high mountain. King Tai enlarged it, H e cleared [zuoJ it. King Wen made it tranquil, H e marched [aboutJ. [And] Qi had level roads. [May their] sons and grandsons preserve it!

The main figures in the poem are the ancestors King Tai and King Wen. both of whom are presented as having initiated much of the domesticated life of the Zhou. Unlike "Si wen," this poem is not addressed to the ancestors but is written in the form of a narrative of their actions. Nonetheless. the poet uses this

Domcnicating the Landscape narrative for m rodowhat the poet of the "Si wen" attempted to do in the form of exhortation-namely to place the creative action, in this case the building of the Zhou settlement. into a continuous line reaching from Heaven down to the Zhou people of the [ime. The poet accomplishes this by describi ng the settlement of Qishan as the result of the successive actions of the major figures in the Zhou lineage, begi nning with Heaven and continuing through Tai and Wen. Each figure is posed as simply continu ing the work of his predecessor. The poem then closes with a call for the descendants to preserve what their ancestors created. Of particular interest is the language used to describe the process. To begin , the poet presents Heaven as consciously acting upon the Earth. Qishan, for exampF.1~escribed as eTergi~ ~~~ e~~ess from {~e Earth; on the contrary, H~n makes [zuoJ it. Thc actions of the kings are then posed as a set of anempts to domesticate the landscape originally made by Heaven. First. KingfaTTs"said to -;;e~e" the worrotHeaven¥the nextline t same verb is used for Tai that was used for Heaven: zuo. In this context. zuo is used to mean "clearing" or "opening up." But instead of using a word with the more specific sense of "clearing" (such as 'Ii ~). the poet has chosen the word ZUOj instead, then, of saying that King Tai qi-ed (cleared) the land, it is stated that he zuo-ed it; literally, he "made" or "did" the land. Such a word choice may be sign ificant fo r a proper understanding of the poem. Although it is best to translate the twO zuos in the poem differently (since colloquial English does not utilize the expression "to do the land"), this should not blind us to the fact that the poet uses the same verb in the twO lines. and in both cases with the same general sense of "making." In using zuo in this context, the poet exploits the semantic range of the term for a specific purpose, namely to set up a juxtaposition ~tween the actions of Heaven and those of King Tai: both Heaven and Tai are presented as zuo-ing the landscape. Although Heaven's power is greater than Tai's (kings can clear fields but not make mountains), the actions of Heaven are nonetheless posed as paradigmatic for those of the king. Tai's domestication of the land is thus presented as a continuation, on a lesser scale.

e

of Heaven's work upon the landscape. The same action verbs for both the king and the divine powers were used in the Shang oracle inscriptions as well. In this context , though, the commonality is presented not as a potentially_antag~nJ.!tic rel~tionship betwe5!Lt.h~..E~~£_!)Ut

)1

32

Domesticating the Landscape as a paradigmatic relationship, wherein the king is me counterpart of Heaven o~arth. The poeti~ narrative thus reads as an anempUo show (hat ~-; setdemem (he people are ca.lled upon to preserve can be traced in conti nuous lines ro Heaven itself. Similar themes are to be found in a more elaborated fo rm in "H uang yi" (Mao 2.41), a poem classified in the "Oa ya" section and thus presumably later than "Tian wo" and ~Si wen." The poem opens with a discussion of Oi's dissatisfaction with the rule of the Xia and Shang, and then says that he turned his interest to the Zhou : 1

~ereupon looked about and turned [his] gaze to the west. Here it is that he gave a senlemenl. They cleared [zuo] them, they removed them, the fallen trees, the dead trunks. They prepared them, they leveled them, the bushy clumps, the arrayed trees. They opened [qi] them up, they cleared [pi] them, rhe tamarisks, the staves.... Heaven established its counterpart, and the given mandate became secure. Oi inspected his mountain IQishan] ... Oi created [zuoJ the state and created [zuo] a match [of himself], Slarring from Tai Bo and WangJi.

Again, the actions of the Zhou people are simply attempts to carry out OJ's divine plans. The poem opens with Oi granring the Zhou a settlement, and the consequent acts of domestication, based in working (zuo) and clearing (qi, pi) the land, are thus efforts aimed at fo llowing Oi's intent. Moreover, kingship is based upon Oi as well : Oi is said to have established kings on Earth as counterparts of himself, and, indeed, to have created (zuo) the Zhou sure and created (zuo) the Zhou kings as a match of himself. The poet thus presents the kings as the counterparts of Oi. ruling a state that Oi created and presiding over a land domesticated under Oi 's guidance. Here again, the poetic narrative presents the Zhou domestication of the landscape as a process linked to Oi, and the poet uses the same terms to describe the actions of Oi ana humanity. The Zhou people's acts of domesticating

Domesticating the Landscape, 33 and clearing (zuo) are thus presented as having been undertaken in response [0 the creations (zuo) of kingship and the state by Oi . H istory is posed as a chain of successive actions, stretching from the creadons of Heaven to acts of domestication by the Zhou people. A similar form ula is to be found in the bronze inscriptional evidence from the Western Zhou. An example can be seen in the Da Yu ding,3] a vessel that dates from the reign of King Kang. The inscription includes a brief narration of the Zhou conquest of the Shang: The king said in effect: "Yu, the greatly illustrious King Wen received from Heaven the possession of me great mandate. Then King Wu succeeded Wen and created [zuo] the state. opened !Pi] its borders, extended the possession of the four quarters, and governed their people." In defeating the Shang, King Wu simply con tinued the work of his predecessor. The claim here is that King Wen received the mandate to starr a new dynasty, even though King Wu had made the conquest and created the new state. The author rhus presents King Wu's conquest and crl<.ation as simply a carrying out and fulfillm ent of his predecessor's and, ultimately, Heaven's, plans. In creating the Zhou stare, King Wu simply fulfilled his ancestor's work. Also of interest are the terms used by the author: King Wu is described as creating (zuo) the state. as well as opening (Pi) it up. This is the same terminology utilized in the petms discussed above concerning the domestication of Q ishan. In the Da Yu ding. then, Wu's conquest of the northern China plain is presented as an act of creation. domestication, and regulation. all of which are simply the next steps in the process of the Zhou king's gradual playing out of Heaven's command. The He zun,31 a vessel from me fifth year of King Cheng, attempts a comparable narrative placemem of the Zhou conquest and consolidation: It was the time when the king [Cheng] first moved and settled at Cheng7.hou. H e once again received H King Wu's abundant blessings 34 from H eaven.3' It was the fourth month, bingxu [day 2.)]. The king made a statement to the young men of the lineage in the great hall, saying: "Earlier your father. the duke of the clan, was able to accompany King Wen. And then King Wen received this [great mandate).J6 It was when King Wu had conquered the great city Shang that he then , in

J4

Domestic:uing Ihe Landscape court, announced ro Heaven, saying: 'I will settle this central [crrilOry and from it rule the people.''' ' The poinr of these Jines is to situate the making of the city of Chengzhou, near presem-da~ ~uoyang, by King Cheng within the lineage of Zhou kings. If we re~d the mISsing .graphs as being the "great mandate," then the text presents King Wen as ha.vlng first received the mandate from Heaven. The next figure memioned is King Wu, who actually conquered the Shang and then a.nnounced that he would settle the "cemral territory," from which he could rule the P'o I K' Ch . p~ .lng eng IS prese~ted. as. raking the next logical step in this process by setdmg Chengzhou, which IS, m fact, the central territory from which to rule the peo~le. For taking such an action, King Cheng once again received the blessings of hiS ancestor Wu, who was residing in Heaven. In this inscription, as in me other inscriptions and poems mentioned thus

far, t~e Zhou kings are explicitly placed in a lineage in which each plays his part In the .gradu~l conquest and setrling of the territories. The process is one

of progressive agflcul~ral domestication, urban ization, and military conquest. Throughout, H eaven IS posed as the initiator of the process, a supporter of the effort, and the paradigm for the action that the Icings should undertake. .In texts from later in the dynasty, one finds lengrhy lists of the progressive ac.tlOns of ~he Zhou Icings. For example, the Shi Qiangpnn,)7 dateable to the reign of King Gong, narrates the actions of the entire lineage of Zhou kings from Wen to Gong himself. A short excerpt can serve as an illustration: In accord with antiquity was King W:en. He was the first !O bring harmony to governmem. Di on high sent down admirable virtue and ~r~at SecUfl.ty [. rmgl" . Exrending the possession of the high and low, he Jomed and received the ten thousand states. Controlling and encompassing was King Wu. [He] proceeded and campaigned through the four quarters, piercing Yin and ruling the people.... Model-like and sagely was King Cheng. To the left and eight [he] cast and gathered his net and line," thereby opening and clearing [ck].o the Zhou state.

~~ ~t presents King Wen as initiating harmony, yet the newness of this ini-

tiation IS q.ua1ifie~ by the claim that in fact Wen accorded with the past. The next .few Icings dIscussed a~e presemed as parr of a lineage of the Zhou's progressive development, including King Wu's conquest of the Shang and King

Domesticating the Landscape

35

C heng's domestication of me: land through the acts of opening up and clearing the realm. Overall, the view that runs through these inscriptions and poems is one of a progressive growth of the Zhou state, beginning with the initial creations of Hea~v~'nO-;;'~ nd~-c~ti;~ing through;h;do~~S[i~ti~'~han by King Tai, t~ die manda; by King Wen, the conquest and creation of the state by Wu, and the creation of a central city and the opening of new land for domestication by Cheng. Each successive king followed the model of his predecessors, and each act undenaken was thus si mply a continuation of the ancestors' work. Anything new, from Tai's domestication of Qishan to Wu's creation of the Zhou state, is treated as simply an act of fo llowing predecessors, ultimately tr2ceable back to H eaven itself. The goal of these works, then, is to deny any disconrinuity in the history of the Zhou people by claiming lineal and paradigmatic descent: the Zhou kings are the lineal descendants of Heaven, and they model themselves on the actions of Heaven in their project of realizing Heaven's goal of Zhou domination. Any action initiated by an ancestor is placed within these chains of descent, either through a narrative structured in such terms or through calls for the ancestor to be a counrerpan of Heaven. @ the oracle in~i..2!!s, the goal of these works is to claim a connecrion berween the ac~oE§ of rhe living and the will of the divine powers. ~ [he oracular material discussed above, however. this goal is achieved by building chains of lineal and aradigmatic relations with (he ancestors, such that ./ any action taken is posed as a continuation of so~ething initiated in rhe past. But it is important (0 emphasiu t ha[lh-; differenc~ between these genres do not represent a theological shift from the Shang to the Western Zhou. such that the antagonistic relationship berween humanity and ancesrors implied in the Shang inscrip~ions .was---;epJaced by a M ieT"m theaosolure linkage of the (W~estem Zhou. To begin with. we have already seen that the Zhou oracle inscriptions, like rho~ seen in the Shang, seem to assume a E?blematic relationship between me kings and Heaven. Unfortunately, it is difficul t in the extreme to date the orack i"ilsCriptions.~L but they probably date to JUSt before the conquest and perhaps soon after. If this is true, it would mean that the Zhou oracle inscriptions were contemporary with the earliest Zhou bronze inscriptions.

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36

Domesticating the Landscape

Domesticating (he Landscape The moce important issue. however. is that the generic formulas used in Western Zhou bronu inscriptions and poems do not represent an assumption of continuity berween humanity and divinity. On the contrary. the concern motivating these texts is not dissimilar to what is seen in the oracular materials: a pmentially antagonistic relationship seems to hold berween the king and the divine powers. and the kings are in the position of having to claim mat their actions and most of their ancestors are in accordance with divine plans. The point is of interest because it implies that the attempts by figures like C hang to read later notions of harmony berween nature and culture into me BronzeAge are unconvincing as well. Although strongly oriented toward a continuity berween humanity and divinity, the Bronze Age narratives reveal no attempt to claim such a continuity with the world of nature. Indeed, the continuity thai is claimed in these poems is fundam entally different from the form of continuity claimed in a text like the ShUQ wt7I ji~ zi. Unlike the lauer work, the Zhou narratives that we have discussed utilize zuo as an acrion verb with strong connotations of making. creating, and domesticating. The claim is that the kings established the Zhou state by imposing their will on nature, not by "lifting up ~ its patterns. Far from a claim of continuity herween nature and culture, the rise of the Zhou is explicidy tied 10 a progressive domestication of the narurallandscape. The concern with continuity, therefore, comes in ar a different level, namely through the claim that the kings, in working on the natura/landscape. are simply imitating the actions of the divine powers: bmh Oi and the kings zuo (act. make, construct). The ritual exhortations calling for a continuity berween humanity and divinity. then. in no way involved a claim of continuity with nature. Th~ D~clin~

ofthe Zhou

Such was the ideology of the early part of the Western Zhou, when the Zhou kings, at the height of their power, were conquering and consolidating their control over the northern China plain. By the mid-point of the dynasty, however. a marked decline in the power of the central court seems to have set in, togemer with an increasing independence on the pan of the enfeoffed lords. Although the causes for lhis were no doubt varied. I will here mention just one factor-based in the internal dynamics of the power distribution of the dynasty itself-that later became iinponant in debates over administrative policy dur-

ing the early imperial period. Upon def~ati ng the Shang, King Wu faced the problem of governing an area far greater than his own personal power would allow. Consequently, h~ began enfeoffin g areas of land to relatives, generals. and close advisers. figures he believed would be fai rly loyal to the central court. C laims against the king then tended to emerge only in periods of relative weakness on the part of the king. as at the beginning of the reign of the young King Cheng. But as Li Si, the minister of the first emperor of Qin, later argued, this structure of power had a fu ndamental weakness. Th~ kingdom could only continue as long as the rulers of me areas given by me king maintained their support, a suppOrt that tended ro erod~ wi th the passing of generations. This seenu ro be precisely what happened to the Zhou: as the generational distance from the original line grew great~r, the enf~offed lords felt less and less need to support the central court and began asserting increasing independence for themselves. Finally, in 771 B.C., the Western Zhou capital was ov~rrun by peoples from the wesr. The Zhou kings then moved their capital to C hengzhou. the city founded by King Cheng more than [WO centuries earlier, and thus be~ what is called the EaS(ern Zhou. During this period th~ enfeoffed lo~ virtuafi y inde~ of the central court. Almough me Zhou line of kings continued to rule nominally until their overthrow by theQin in the mid-third century B.C., all de faCIO power moved to the hands of the lords. China gradually broke into a series of warri~g, independent states. and the period of the early Western Zhou, when the various lords gave allegiance to a single king, gradually became pari of the distant past.

Conclusion The radical political and social transformations that occurred over the course of the Eastern Zhou, resulting ultimately in the imperial _unificatio,Q.of 221.!:.C .• form the background to the next (WO chapters. Many of the issues noted here became the topic of increasingly intense debate, as the entire nature of the state, kingship, and divinity was radically reevaluated. Throughout this debate, the Western Zhou was frequently looked hack upon as the Jast.successful dynasty, and as it became ~Iear that the states were moving farther and farther

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Domesticating the Landscape away from the institutions of the Western Zhou, perceptions of the kingdom became increasingly important. Accordingly, if became the form of statehood against which many of the political theorists and rulers defined themselves, whether in calls to emulate the Zhou monarchy or in attempts to surpass [he level of centra1ization achieved by the Zhou kings. Since the surviving documents from the Western Zhou included the genre of poems discussed above, as well as the chapfers of the Shang!hu, it was the ideal picture presented in such works that defined for many later thinkers the nature of the early Zhou polity. Having analyzed these documents in the con~ text of the rime, it is now possible to trace how the works were taken up in the later debates. The issues discussed in this chapter, panicularly those concerning the claimed links of continuity between, on the one hand, Heaven, and, on the other, the tise of the Zhou culture and state, became tremendously influential in the Warring States debates ovcr creation. Time and again the Western Zhou model of posing culture and the state as constructed objects, forged through a line of (fansmission beginning with Heaven and continuing through the succession of Zhou kings, is the position from which, or againSt which, thinkers approached the issue. It is now possible to rum to the debates themselves. The terms and concepts employed in the Western Zhou materials became the object of increasingly intense scrutiny and discussion, as figures auempted to position themselves in relation to the earliest surviving documents of their pasr.

CHAPTER. 2

The Craft of Humanity: Debates over Nature and Culture in Warring States China

The Warring States period is marked by a number of political, administrative, and technological changes. l Politically, the period can be characterized by the interplay of competing states, many of which had originated during the Western Zhou through enfeoffment from the Zhou kings. These states had become increasingly independent, to the point that by the fourth eentury B.C. many of the leaders of the various states had usurped the Zhou title and begun calling themselves "king." Although the state of Zhou was not actuaJly overrun until the third century B.C., such a usurpation of the royal tide was clearly meant to symbolize the complete autonomy of the states from the Zhou rulers, an autonomy that had been de facto the case for centuries. Administratively, the states adopted a general policy of centra1ization, creating bureaucracies based on merit rather than birth, promulgating written legal statutes, and mobilizing peasants for mass infantry armies. All of these actions led to the gradual breakdown in the power and privi leges associated with the old aristocracy, and in their place there rose to prominence the shi, consisting of men born below the aristocracy who filled many of the ranks of the developing bureaucracies.2 Another aspect of centraJization was territorial expansion: in order to increase their resources, the larger states annexed surrounding smaller states, such that by the end of the Warring States period only a handful of states still existed. Territorial expansion was also aided by a tcchnological development: starting in roughly the sixth century s .C., Hon

39

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The C raft of Humanity teclmology emerged and thereafter became widely used for tOols-an innovation that greatly increased both the amoum and kind of land that could bt: cultivated.

Itwas from this context that the debates to be discussed in this chapter t:merged. The majority of the figures involved belongt:d to the shi, and many of the debatt:s in which the~.:ged ~ned the nature of these new statesstates tfiat were clearly recognized at the time as moving away from the insticurions of the Western Zhou. The debates accordingly came to focus on 'luestions such as the nature and origin of culture, the degree to which it could and should be changed, and th~d~gree to which kings should follow the Western Zhou or base their rule on other criteria. In the early stages of these arguments, many rniliKers used ideas from the Western Zhou documents, in particular some of the poems discussed in C hapter r, to define themselves. Confucius, for example, positions much of his thought in this way.

The Craft of Humanity This presentation of himself as a lover of the past is also clear in the following passage, in which maintaining the old form of a building is given preference over creating a new one :

--

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The people of Lu were building the long treasury. Min Zi'lian said: "How about continuing it as before? Why@ usrwe::i,:l1:illgeitand create [zuoJ a new one~" The master said: ""l'ha.t man does no~ speak often, but when he does speak, he certainly hits the mark."6 The passage also seems closely related in content to other Jines that appear throughout the Lunyu to the effect rhat Confucius follows (albeit selectively) the previolls dynasties, and especially the Zhou: The master said : wThe Zhou looked upon its patterns! I follow the ZhOU."7

twO

dynasties. Glorious are

And again:

The Opening D ebate

The Patterm of Heaven: The Lunyu of Confocius One of the early statements most commonly referred to in the late Warring States debate on creation is that attributed in the Lunyu to Confucius:3 The master said: "Transmitting but nOt creating [zuoJ , being faithful toward and lovingtlie ancients, I dare to compare myself with old Peng."1 The passage is a statement of modesty : Confucius presents himself as rransmining the past instead of creating anew, and as loving and trusting in the ancients. As such, the passage is clearly related to a number of other statements in the Lunyu oriented toward professing the importance of following the way oftheari~ -Indeed: the text abounds with statements of Confucius's love for the past, as in the following: The master said: "I am not one who had knowledge at birth; I am one who loves the past and is diligent in seeking it."~

Yan Yuan asked about making a state. The master said: "Put into effect the calendar of the Xia, ride the carriages of the Yin, and wear the headgear of the Zhou.'" Another aspect of the first passage cited would appear to be one of modesty not only toward the past in general but also, and more specifically, toward the sages: for Con~cius to p.!ociaim that he did n~t need to follow ID!=_past would be, in esse~e, for him_to proclaim h ims~lf a.sage. This again is a theme famili ar to the reader of the Lunyu. One passage rcads as follows: The master said: "How could I dare state that I am sagely or even human e~ All that can be said is that I act unflaggingly and instruct others untiri ngly."~ Confucius thus presents himself as simply a teacher; to proclaim himself to be either a sage or even a humane man would be an act of hubris. Overall, then, the firs t passage 'luoted above seems best read along the same lines as a number of the bronze inscriptions discussed in Chapter I , in which a figure claims that the actions he has undertaken are simply a continuation of the actions initiated by his forebears. Such statements s.hOUki be read less as claims that innovation is in itself bad and mo~: as ~mp'!y modett £!- ;Claimers

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The Craft of Humanity that the amhor is himself not worthy to initiate things on his own. In this case,

Confuciu~-:to be claiming that a culture much greater than anything that he. himself could create already existed, and that he is simply trying to follow IhlS culture to the best of his abilities. It is, then, wi th some degree of surprise that one reads the Mohist invectives against the Confucian views: [The Confucians] also say: "A superior man complies, but does not create [zuol." I respond: "In ancient times, y:~ created the bow, ¥u created armor, Xi Zhong created chariots, and Qiao Chui created boats. As such, then does it follow that the tanners,lO armorers, wheelwrights, and carpenters of today are all superior men, while Vi, ¥u, Xi Zhong, and Qiao Chui were all petty men? Moreover, some of the people with whom the [Confucians] comply must certai nly have created things. As such, then it fo llows that [hat with which they comply is the way of the pelty man." II The author qUotes the Confucians as saying that in general superior men should not create; it inrerprets Confucius n ~ to have made a statement of modesty but to have clalme instead that creation is in itself bad. The Mohisi then shows t e absurdity of such a position: if superior men cannot be creators, it would follow that cul ture was created by petty men, and that superior men are simply those who comply with rhe crearions ofsuch petty men. This would mean that the highest calling for a Confucian would be to comply with a culture created by inferiors. The claim that the Mahin chapter attributes to Confucius is, of course, quire different from what actually appears in the LunJu. After all , in modescly stating that he is nOt a creator, Confucius claims neither that the sages of the pasr were not creators nor thar creation is in itself bad. In faCt, many of the bron~ inscriptions, which seem generically dose to the content of the Confucius quore, say expIicirly that those in the past were creators and that the author is simply following the path that they laid Out. But if the Mohisr attack is unfai r, it is nonetheless importan t to explore why the Mohisrs ~fu~ius's position problematic, for the Mohisr formula'cion oflhcOOnCeptof creation am::! the Mohist critique of the Confucian view came to be highly significant in later debates.

The Craft of Humanity

43

To begin with. the Mohisrs are concerned about the degree to which the Confucians see innovation as-dangerous. In a tradition that sees the master as havingctaimed to be only a transmitter, innovation is clearly devalued: if even Confucius could not claim to be a creator, w1lo among his followers ever could ? The Mohisrs make this point Strongly in another invective against the Confucians: Gong Mengti 12 said: "The superior man does not create [zuol but only transmits." " The master Mozi said: "Not so. The least superior among men neither transmit 14 the good things of [he past nor create good things for the present. The less superior do nor transmit I ) the good things of the past but do create when they have something good, desiring that good things emerge from themselves}' Now, transmitting but not creating is no different from not liking to transmit and instead creating. Desiring for goodness to increase all the more, I believe in ( transmitting the good things of the past and creati ng good things for the present." 17 This passage again represents the Confucian position unfairly, but the point of the criticism is nonetheless clear. The Mohist argument is that neither creation nor transmission is in itself good or bad ; as long as one has standards for goodneSs.OOe can create whenever it is b;neficiaJ [ 0 do so and transmit from the past anything that is beneficial 10 maintain. The problem with the C onfucians, according 10 the Mohists, is that their p?sition ~o an over-reverence for the past: they present creation in such a way that no one could ever dare claim to create. There is, however, another element 10 the Mohist critique, one aimed not at attacking the Confu cians for being tOO submissive toward the past but at attacking the Confucian view of what creation itself involves and what it means for a culture to be created. To explore [his critique, it will be helpful to look in somewhat more depth at how Confucius thinks of culture, for it is possible that there is more 10 the Mohist critique than is at rst apparent. I begin with a discussion of Confucius's view of morality and ritual action.IB Since there is n? attem~~ i_n the text ( 0 R[esent lengthy ar~ents for definillg these terms, it is important to pay close atten ti~ the vocabulary and analogies~~ployed in the relevant pas~ages.

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'111(: Craft of Humanity

The Craft of Humanity

Throughout th~ t~xt, Confucius calls for man to be human~, and human~ness fo r Confucius is intimatel related ro ritual: Th~ mast~ r said: "By subduing oneself and submitting to ritual on~ becomes human~ . " I'

In a similar vein, h~ defines (h~ gentleman as one who correctly acts and works upon his raw substanc~: .1 ') ".r

Th~ mas{~r said: "Th~ gentl~man uses appro riateness to act upon th~ raw substance, uses the rites to practice it, uses humility to bring it out, ~S'lfaitVulness [0 complete i?1=Je1s a gendema~ indced!"20 .;~~~ '----And in the following passage, h~ describes cwtivation as straightening one's raw substance: The master said: "... One who has attained is one whose raw substance is made straight and who is fond of appropriateness."21 LA •• '

-..... II "_I''''' ~jt)' is thus discussed within a relat~d nexus of terms: subduing the self,

subm~~ng to r~tuals, straighteni~l~n~'s raw sub:tance-a vocallularyofcontrolling, organizing, and working upOritfiat with which one is born. H~ ~mploys a similar, although somewhat less on~-sid~d, vocabulary in another S~t of passages. () ' \ 'JJi,J The mast~r said : "l~an~_overcomes the pan.erns, then on~ is barbaric. If the panerns overcome substance, then on~ is like a scribe. Only wh~n th~ pan~rns and s u bstanc~ arc blend~d does on~ have a / gentl~man . n n A r~ l at~d passage reads:

Ji Zicheng said: "A genrleman is substance, and that is all. How can on~ US~ pam:rns to become (a g~n tleman)?" Zigong replied: "How pitiab l~. . .. Panerns are comparable to substance; substance is comparabl~ ro the patt~rns" The hairless hid~ of a tiger or leopard is comparable to that of a dog or sheep."13

Th~ word that I have translated in these passages ~ a word that can mean, in its "most con cre t~ sens~ , a tanoo, and in its most abstract sense, "culrure." Here, a more concret~ meaning seems most appropriate: Confucius ~

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employs the term to signify th~ patt~ rns and forms into which one's substance must be work~d. The argument is that one must have a good raw substance to be~n with, but that on~ can become a true gencleman only if that substance is correcdy patterned, correctly organized. . This vocabulary of organizing and pauerning is paralleled by a set of Images and analogies employed throughout the text: Zai Yu was sleeping during the day. The master said : "Rou en wood

cannot be carved; walls of dung cannot be worked with a trowel. 24 Why scold him?H2' He equates the process of making a man moral with carving wood and working raw materials. This imagery is repeated throughout the work: Zigong asked: "What status would you confer on md" The master said: "You are a vessel." Zigong said : "What kind of vessel?" The master said: 'M ornamented, sacrificial vessel."26

.,

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The well-liked disciple Zigong is comparable to a well-crafted vesseJ.21 And in another passage, Confucius equates cultivation with the work of a craftsman: Zigong ask~d about becoming humane. Th~ master said: "If a craftsman desires [0 do his work well , he must first sharpen his tools. While residing in this state, serve the worthy officials and befriend the humane officers."lt Confucius thus cons iSf~ ntly discuS$CS the proc~ of achievi:.!~ate of humaneness, or becoming a gentleman, with the voc~l a.ry of craft, of working ~~izi ng,-and p~~ern i ng [he raw substan~th which one was born. He who undergoes such fashion ing is compared to a craftsman, and the fi nished product is likened to a worked vessel. Intriguingly, however, Confucius employs a different vocabulary when he discusses those who hav~d chieved the state of humaneness. In one pas~ sage, he contrasts this state of h ~ma~ss ~th that of kno)'dedge: The master said: The knowledgeable enjoy water; the humane enjoy mountains. Th~ knowledgeable move; the humane are still. The knowledgeable are happy; th~ humane are long-lived. 2'

,

,I .('

\

'

( .,1

46

The Craft of Humanity Those with knowledge are described by their activity, while the humane are defined by stillness. Confucius's sympathies are clearly with the laner: once the craft of cultivation is complete, the humane achieve a state of stillness. Confucius employs a similar vocabulary when discussing kings:

:>. . 1

The master said: "One who practices government with virtue can be compared with the Polestar. It resides in its place and all of the stars pay homageJ(J to ir." 31

Order is maintained through a government of virtue, which Confucius compares to the North Star: if the king simply maintains his position, everything else will be positioned correctly as well . A related passage describes Shun in similar ways: , The master said: "N~t d~r~~n~ [~wt'il and yet putting things / J \ /\A in order, this was Shun. 'What 1 e o? e made himself reverent, ~_ /

/ \.

was rectified, and faced .south; that is all," 31 The key to Shun's rule is that he corrected himself and faced south, the traditional position of the ruler. The action of Shun is here described as nonconscious, a refere ~ ce to its ri ~~u re : the sage practiced rirual activity to such an extent that he could perform it effortlessly, without conscious thought. Although the passage is in all likelihood a later interpolation?' it is nonetheless clear why it was inserted inro the Lunyu : the statement fits well with other descriptions found in the work that emphasize the ritualized, patterned activity of exemplary figures.

As should be clear from these descriptions, Confu$=ius thinks of kings accordin~~!!..uali~d po~tioning. The statemenZ-quoted above describes their stillness more than their movemenr, their humaneness more than their knowledge. The analogy of the North Star is also of interest. This image recurs throughout the work: Confucius frequently defines the behavior of sages in terms that descri be the pan erns and positions of celestial bodies, usually of Heaven itself. Like them, the sage is effortless, still, and positioned. This rooting of behavior in Hea~en i~·do~ i~the;-waY;;;-weli. In another passage, he defines virtue as having been generated from Heaven: "The master said : 'Heaven generated the virtue in me. What can Huan Tui H do to me?' »35 In both his analogy with the Polestar and his claim rhat virtue is generated from Heaven, Confucius roots. m~rali ty in the larger world. -, ,

The Craft of Humanity The Lunyu contai ns a somewhat odd blend of imagery. On the one hand, Confucius frequently uses the language of craft to describe the process of cultivation: submitting one's narural substance t~pa[[erns of ~he rites is like carving wood or -working maw ial. the humane man is like a carefully crafted sacrificial vessel . Such imagery would appear to betoken an interest in culture as based in craft, as submitting nature to the craftsmanship of mankind. On the other hand, we have also seen a recurrent arrem!?:1.?!.?.ot the rituals and moral~f m~llLtheJa[ger...:w:Qrld..Q[i~!ure: the king is positioned likeilie Polestar~ man's virtue is generated from Heaven. Here, the highest levels of ritual and morality would aPPe'a~ r o be based in nature, indeed, to be a product of nature. At first glance, these two analogies appear to be at odds. H ow could rhe craft of man be generated from , or even comparable to, Heaven?

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The questions rhus arise : H ~c:.. rites fo~~~re...th~y rooted in the natural world? Were the rites forged by humans or granted by Heaven? Since Confucius's primary concern was with individual cultivation , not with analyses of the original creation of culture, hedoesnotprOvlde"ailelaborated discussion of these issues. Nonetheless, becaus4 ater thinkers werecentrallyl concerned with these questions and were rea~ing th~~ questions back intO the Lunyu, it wi!! be helpful to see what ConfUCIUS says about the problems. In one passage, for example, Confucius stares the following abou ~he earliest sage king recognized by Confucius: The master said: "Great indeed was the rulership of Yao. So majestic-only H eaven is great, and only Yao patterned himself upon it. So boundless, the people were not able to find a name for it. Majestic were his achievements. Illustrious are his patterned forms [wrn zhangJ)." 36 Yao's rule was great because he and he alone patterned himself on Heaven. As a consequence, his "patterned forms " (wrn zhang) are illustrious and, the text implies, worthy of emulation. The first sage king was thus the one who brought the patterns of H eaven to the realm of humanity. The Lunyu presents Co~).prE.iect of transmission along similar lines: When the master was in danger in Kuang, he said: "King Wen has died. bur are his panerns not here? If H eaven had wanted to destroy rhese patterns, then those who died later would not have been able

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The Crafr of Humanity [Q participate in the panerns. Since Heaven has not destroyed these patterns, what can the people of Kuang do [0 md" 37

A1though King Wen has died, his patterns (wen) survive and have been ob~ tained by Confucius. What has made such a transmission possible is Heaven, which serves.as the guarantor of their continuity. The patterns were originally { taken from Heaven by sages, and their transmiSsiOn to later generations is made \ possible by Heaven itself. Another passage from the Lunyu similarly stresses the significance of trans~ mining patterns: The master said: "I prefer not to speak." Zigong said: "If the master does not speak, then what shall we lesser ones transmit?" The master said: "Does Heaven speak? The four seasons proceed from it; the hundred things are born from it. Does Heaven speak?"38 Again, the issue is transmission: Confucius proclaims his desire nOt to speak, but he also argues that his preference does nOt prevent transmission to lacer generations. The argument is couched in an analogy: Heaven does not speak, yet it is from Heaven that the four seasons proceed and the hundred things are generated. Wha~ can be transmitted, in other ~rds, is patterned behav~ ior: ,tcue tra~ission, Confucius claims, is not through words but tIlrough the replication of patterns that were initially found in Heaven. The claim recalls Confucius's statements about a king being like che North Star, putting all in order simply through patterned behavior. h is in the replication of earlier patterns that Confucius defines his own work. Here J repeat a statement quoted above: "The master said: ' The Zhou looked upon two dynasties. Glorio~~~::__~~.e~merns J wen]! I follow the Zhou.''' 39 "'Overall, then, the work of the sages involved imitating the patterns of Heaven; and the process of transmission, overseen by Heaven, was achieved through the replication of these panerns. Such a perspective may shed some light on the apparent contradiction concerning Confucius's choice of analo~ gies, The statements JUSt quoted clearly cohere wich the views of Confucius

t~ac the kin? positions him~elf Ii.ke the ~~rth Star and i~ativellJ:..ase,d in fl~ r~he~c:,n~~~~s ag lVlty; and they :ilso clearly cohere with the statement that Heaven generates virtue. Somewhat less obviously, they also

The Craft of Humanity cohere with the analogy of craft. For what interests Confucius is not crafts~ manship in the sense of a human creation of artifice outside of nature, but craftsmanship in the sense of refining, patterning, and organiz.ing raw material; the act of carvmg wooCl1'Q;-Confucius is not a movement fr~m nature to arti~ fice bur a process of reftn~g and bringing ~ t patternsjnherent in the material. In this sense, there is no COntrast between talking about culture as being both based in the patterns of Heaven and comparable to the work of an artisan. The sage, in such a formulation, is he who takes the patterns of Heaven and brings them to the rawness that is humanity at birth, and the humane man is he who, like an artisan, organiz.es his raw substance into these patterns. It may now be helpful [Q return to the p~g~q!Jo~t.the..beginning of this section. The opening line sta~d a Preference for transmitting over cre~ acing. At the time it appeared that the passage should be read in the same terms as the bronze inscriptional material: simply as statements of modesty in rela~ tion to one's forebears . But the passages discussed since open up a different set of issues, issues that reveal a very different perspective from that seen in the materials from the Western Zhou. The past kings in the Shi and bronze inscriptions posed human domcstication of the landscape as part of Heaven's plans. Similarly. Confucius calls for the raw substance with which one is born t~.thmughri!.lEL~tyand sees such domestica~being supported by Heaven. But the Shi and bronze inscriptions presented active, fashioni~ as the initiators of domestication. Kings were associated with powers of constructing and creating. and the point of the narrative was to claim that such creations were part of the plans of Heaven; thus the domestication of the land was presented as the work of previous sa~s acting un~r: the active auspices ofH--;a;en. We see in the Lunyu a similar attempt ro show that the sages we~lowing Heaven. but the im~f both Heaven and the kings . they are defined by ~onta~ have been altered: instead_of being heroic crearors, neous, rit~d activjty~ Instead of fashioning the landscape as Heaven itself did, ; he kings are presented as modeling themselves on the patterns that define Heav:en. The-s-~~in oth~ words, are not described as~ato~.a.t..a1L The statement by Confucius that he does not ZUQ thus seems to have more implications than at first noted. Earlier, it seemed that ro claim to zuo would be an act of ~ubris: to state that one is a creatOr would be, in effect, to pro~ claim oneself a sage, as one who did not have to follow the way of the earlier

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The Craft of Humanity sages. But another element is apparent as well. While it stiU seems accurate to say that the statement was presented as a proclamation of modesty toward the past, it can no longer be stated that claiming to cn~ate would be to proclaim oneself a sage; on the contrary, an~ of crc:ation would be emirel}'..Q.l!~side the nature of sa~ehood as defined by Confucius. Sages do zuo, bue such an act for Confucius is ng! one of creation.

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Thus the underlying poim behind the Mohist critique of Confucius becomes clearer. Cultu ~~ed by Confucius, consists primarily of patterns of ~tualized behavior, based originiIly in the atterns of H~e describes the sages as simply imitating Heaven, or patrerning~hemselves after Heaven, and ttius bnngi!!.g order to ~ people. The sages, in ~the~ords, di£illl patterns ~ bring them to humani!y~2..do not create. This is a significant part of the thrust of (he Mohist critique. It i? not simply that the Confucian position would deny men of the present day the ability to zuo; the problem is that it is nOt clear that any Confucian sage could ever be allowed to zuo in the sense that the Mohists want to use the term. The examples that the first Mozi passage draws on ar~ those of the craft of creating implements and utensils: bows, armot, chariots, and boats; the craft, in other words, not of patterning raw material but of con.structing an§hloning~~implements . In contrast, the sages as discussed in the Lunyu dideijgP create new invenrions, technologies, or implements: they simply imitated the patterns of Heaven and brought those patterns to the world of man. Cuirure, in other words, is defined in the Llfn u not as invenred arts and technologies but as ri tualized behavior, and rhis culture is establis ed not through conscio~ acts of C;;atio~ut through an~n of the eatterns of nature. What is at stake for the Mohists is not just that Co"iifoous ~reato follow the ancienr sages; it is that for Confu~ius eV.9U-~e anci.:..n t sages ~e~~ators of technologies in the Mohist sense,: creation, in the specific Mohist understanding of making inventions to raise humanity from the world of nature, has no clear place in Confucius's thought. And this is perhaps part of the drive behind the Mohist critique. The Mohists vie~_,,-o~p..L9Lfr£a[io~s central to their understanding o~ cul[uR nd sagely activity and c1ai~at the ConTucians simplyfail to account for it: insoF.lr as .the Confucians over~n"'''h~~ ;~ e the greamess of tradition , they =-:..-r -_____ .~

wrong~~ th..e~on ~ i':..novation, and insofar as they wrongfully see culture as simply ritualized behavior imitated from Heaven, they neglect

The Craft of Humanity The importance of the artifice of invention. For the Mohists, the Confucians are slaves to the past and unable to account for die--materi~re [hat they e'i[oy. The debate that thus emerges from the positions of Confucius and the Mohists defines many of the terms that were employed, with ever-increasing degrees of complexity and nuance , over the next twO centuries. The Creation of Culture: The Mozi

In moving from Confucius to the text of the Mozi, one moves from a figure overtly interested in ritual and pattern to a school deeply concerned with craftsmanship. Indeed, metaphors of craft-building, constructing, and fash ioning - are so prevalent in the Mohist writings that some scholars have argued that the Mohists were in fact a school of artisans.4o Regardless of their social standing, however, the Mohists do discuss culture as something that is created, and they are ovcrrly interested in developing a framework that leans heavily on the language of craft, not in the sense utilized in the Lunyu but in the sense of constructing, fashioning, and creating. As in the Lunyu, one of the dominant concerns of the Mohists is to define the proper relationship between Heaven and man. This concern is apparent in the earliest portions of the Mozi - for example, in the chapter "Tianzhi, zhong." (I The cemral argument of the chapter is that man should follow the desires of Heaven: "Not to do what Heaven desires and to do what Heaven does nor desire is to lead the myriad people under Heaven to conduct their affairs to the poim of calamity." (2 The text then explains why human action should conform to the desires of Heaven: Therefore, in ancient times the sage kings made manifest and understood what Heaven and the ghosts bless and avoided what Heaven and the ghosts detest so as [Q increase the benefits of all under Heaven and eradicate the harms of all under Heaven. This is why Heaven made (wt>i] coldness and heat, placed the four seasons in rhythm, and modulated the yin and yang, the rain and dew. At the proper time the five grains ripened and the six animals ") prospered. Diseases, disasters, sorrows, plagues, inauspiciousness, and hunger did not arrive."" Heaven made the natural order, an order described as having timely, organized patlerns: coldness and heat, the rhythm of the four seasons, and the modulation of yin and yang, rain and dew.

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Th~

Craft of Humanity

The Craft of Humanity

Lik~ Confucius, the author is i nt~r~st~d in th~ pan~rns, rhythms, and mod·

ulatioruof natur~, but m~ re ar~ two important di ff~r~n ces. In this formulation, H ~aven itself is not patterned, and the power of Heaven does not pattern the rest of the cos;;;S;instead Heaven is posed as makingJWt"i) nature inro its existing form. In a vocabulary comparable to what we saw in the Western Zhou materials, the author describes Heaven as actively making the natural world: Heaven is an active consU'Uctor and fashioner. Moreover, what interests the author is not the patterned activity itself but the consequence of the patterns that Heaven made: because of the modulation of namre, grains ripened and animals matured, and thus there appeared no disease, sorrow, or hunger. This is not a claim fo r the importance of patterned activity but a statement about how the sages received the rewards of Heaven: the sages learned what Heaven desired, and thus all under Heaven was rewarded. Mozi then adduces several reasons fo r his belief that Heaven "loves the

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peopJ e~:

[Heaven] shaped and made [wl"i] th~ sun, moon, stars, and const~ Ua· tions so as to illumin a t~ and guid~ th~m [i.e., th~ p~o pl e]. Ie formed [wi] and made [Wt"i] the four s~asons, spring, autumn, winter, and summ~r, so as to weave them into order. It sent down thunder,H snow, fron, rain, and dew so as to make the five grains. h ~mp, and silk grow and prosper, and sent eh~ people to obtai n materials and benefi t from thml." It arranged and made [!Wi] mountains. Streams, gorges, and valleys, and distributed and bestowed the hundr~d affairs so as to oversee and supervise the goodness and badness of the people. It made [wti] kings, dukes, and lords and charged them wim, first, rewarding the worthy and punishing the wicked, and. second. plundering the metals, wood, birds. and beasts and working the five grains, hemp. and silk so as to make [Wt"i] the materials for people's clothing and food."7 Heaven made the sun, moon, Stars, revolution of the seasons, and the p hy~j ­ cal environment, and also made rulers themselves and directed them to guide, feed, clothe, and lead the people. Although this description is more elaborate man what we saw in me Western Zhou materials, the basic viewpoint and vocabulary are quite similar: Heaven actively domesticates (he landscape, makes

rulers, guides them in their activities, and rewards or punishes them according to theit behavior. The standard of behavior, then, is me will of Heaven, and Heaven itself fun ctions as the guarantor of this standard: "Therefore, it can be stated and known that those who hate and oppress the people and turn against me will of Heaven will receive me punishment of Heaven."'" The sages, therefore, fo llow Heaven not because its patterns define the proper culture of man bur because the active intervention of Heaven in the affairs of man is such mat prosperity can only come through doing what Heaven wills and avoiding what Heaven dislikes. The implications of such an argument are Reshed out in two later chap~ ters, both of which probably date to the latter part of the fou rth century B.C. 49 The "Fayi" chapter, which exemplifies manyof the Mohist arguments concerning craft, opens with a discussion of the need for models in any undertaking. After saying that artisans cannot work without models, the chapter goes on to ask what model should be used for governing. The answer, not surprisingly, is Heaven: What can be taken as the model for ruling? I say: Nothing is bener than modeling it on Heaven. The movements of Heaven are broad but impartial ; its bestowals are abundant but not based in charity, irs brightness is long-lasting but unfailing. Therefore the sage kings mod· ded themselves on it. Once they had taken Heaven as their model, their movements, constructions [zuo]. and conscious action (you wriJ were necessarily measured accordi ng to the standards set by Heaven. Whatever Heaven desired they did [Wt"i]; whatever Heaven did not desire they stopped.' o As did Confucius. the author describes the sage kings of the past as baving rnodel~e~lves o.o~ Heav~ j~ as He-;:v~eScribed as actively making [wt'i] rat her than imitating patterns, so are the sages said ro be acting consciously. When the sages model themselves on Heaven, they do nor engage in patterned, nonconscious activity; on the contrary, they construct and act cOllsciously. When Confucius used the analogy of craft, his point was that cultivation involvc~ organizing and patterning one's given substance as a~an worked

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The Craft of Hum:miry and refined raw material. The concern was with achieving a parterned, refined self. With the Mozi, the analogy is to the activity and creative powers of the artisan: JUSt as the activity of conslructing and fashioning by the artisan muSt be based on models to prevent the work from going awry, so must (he activity and conscious action of the sage kings be based on models that prevent the kings from acting incorrectly. What interests the author is not the panerned product of me artisan but the models that guide the accivity and conscious effort of the sage. The consequences that such a position has for the problem of defining cui· ture and accounting for its origin become clear in one of the other essays, the "Ciguo." 51 The chapter defines the creations of me sages. Like the earlier chapters, it says the sage kings acted in order to help {he people better their lives: The master Mozi said: " Before they kn~ how to make (wt'ij palaces and houses, the prople of ancient times wouJd go to mounds, live in caves, and reside beneath the ground. It was damp, moist, and harmful to the people. Therefore the sage kings created [zuowrij H palaces and houses."H The text goes on to define why this creation was undertaken. The author is at pains to argue that it was done according to specific standards, an argument that differentiates the sages' work from what the author saw as the extravagances of his own time: Thus, the sage kings created [zuowti J palaces and houses to be advantageous to life; they did not use them to be pleasant [Q look at. They created [zuowtiJ clothes, belts, and shoes to be advantageous for the body; they did not use them to make perversions '~ and monstrosities." The sages created houses because they were advantageous to life. It is according to this standard that the author goes on to criticize contemporary rulers for building extravagantly simply for the purpose of adornmenr. 56 The text then says that the sages created clothing,57 agriculture," boats, and chariots S9 to improve the life of humanity. Culture is thus defined entirely by the specific implements, crafts, and arrangements created by the sages. As with Confucius. then, culture can be traced to th~ o~~past, and: as with Confucius again, the amhor dis-

The Craft of Humanity cusses culture using the imagery of craft. But the resemblance ends there. What interests the author IS not the craft of refinement and organization but the creative craft of constru(.[ing implements and utensils to bener humanity. In other words, the sages are creators. The standards of nature determine what the sages create. Culture is defined by me implements and arts they create. In contrast, according to Confucius, the sages were organizers, imita.llngJlK.p~[[erns of Heaven -;;;d bringing them to the people. Heaven provided the panerns that the sages imitated; ana cu iUrewas defined as patterns. It is from the perspective describe h~that we should understand the Mohist invectives against Confucianism quoted earlier in this chapter. Creation itsdf, the author claims, is absolutdy necessary. The key is simply that it must be guided by proper standards. The Mohists claim that the Confucians present such acts of creation as inherently negative and outside the proper rirual o rder. It may be possible now to review the claims made in me Mozi. Despite the differences in the various chapters, there does appear to be consensus on {he issue of zuo. The overall Mohist argument is that sages do zuo, and that such acts refer to the creation of the implements. utensils. and technologies of humanity-inventions that enabled humanity to rise above the animals and achieve the stams of life proper to man. The fact, however, that acts of creation are necessary does not mean that creation iudf is inherently good: the recurring claim is that creation, while necessary. must Ix guided by correct standards at all times. The implications of this point are intriguing. As we have seen, the vocabulary of the Mohisrs is much closer man Confucius's to rhe earlier Zhou inscriptions and poems. Un~fucius, the Mohisrs maintain the earlier view that the early sages (and in some of the early chapters, Heaven itself) should be described by their activity of constfU(.[ing and fashioning, not by their patterned, nonconscious action. On this claim of moral neutrality, however, the Mohists mark an impo rtant departure. As noted above, one of the generic features of the Western Zhou inscriptions and poems was the claim that no one of impor· lance was actuallycrcatinganyrhing n~: everything rhey did was simply a conli lmarion of the course begun by earHer ancestors, and, ultimately, by Heaven. Despite the differences in vocabulary, this is a viewpoint that Confucius shares: Confucius freque~1y talks a~ut reelica~..!!td transmitting the ~atterns of the past. In conr.:-ast, the Mohists put forth a framework based not in replicat-

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The Craft of Humanity

'Inc Craft of Humanity ing the past but in following certain models of morality. As long as one works within these models, acts of creation arc perfectly acceptable. What bothers the Mohists so much about Confucius's framework is that it implies that an act of ZU() as the Mohists define it would necessarily involve both a transgression of the patterns of the past and an initiation of artifice outside the patterns of nature. The Mohists, in response. claim that there is nothing inherently wrong with creation as long as it is ruled by standards; humans simply are constructors and fashioners, and without the sages' creation of culture, humanity could not achieve the circumstances appropriate to ir. For the Mohists. creation is a necessary pan of realizing humanity's needs. These claims by Confucius and the Mohisrs opened many of the issues and used much of the vocabulary that was to be debared over the remainder of the Warring States period. Indeed, much of what is interesting in the later stages of the debate lies in tracing the growing complexity of the arguments as many of the questions, concepts. and terms become increasingly subject to intense scrutiny and concern. Issues that were tOuched upon in only a handful of ith statements in the Lu;ij~ wilL6ecome, by the ~ent~ry B.C., objecrs of lengthy treatises. The movemenl in this direction toward a greater concern for terminological precision and careful argumentation is evident in the Mendus.

Refining the Definitions of Nature

The Nature of Morality: The Mencius If Confucius presented himself as simply a transmitter of pauerns from the pasr, Mencius was committed to claiming that, on the COntrary, Confucius was a sage. As such. he did in fact zuo:

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~ rhe generations declined and the way became obscure. heterodox

teachings and violent practices arose. There were instances of ministers killing their rulers and sons killing their fa thers. Confucius was worried and created lzuoJ the Spring and Autumn An~LI, The Spring and Autumn AnnllJS is an undertaking for a Son of Heaven. This is why Confucius said : "Those who understand me will do so through the

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Spring and Autumn AnnllU; those who condemn me wiU do so through the Spring and Autumn Annllls."60 But for Mencius, the act of zuo-ing involves not a Mohist notion of inventing artifice but the opposite: for Mencius, this act meant that C onfuci,us correctly recognized th~.Ja~terns of hl~ory and br~ght these to humanity througlltnecomposition oClhe.-Spo''1g and Autumn ')1nnllu, In other words. Mencius wants to present Confucius as a sage in exactly the same sense that sages were presented in the Lunyu: as correctly dist~Uing parte~ns and ~ringi:g them to humanity. He thus approvingly quotes hiS master: ConfuCIUS said : 'Great indeed was the rulership ofYao. Heaven alone is grear, and o nly Yao patterned himself upon ir, So boundless. the people were not able to find a name for it .' " 61 As in the Lunyu, sages are those who bring patterns from Heaven to humanity. Nonetheless, Mencius desires to find a stronger method of rooting morality in nature than was provided in the few pit y statements 0 the unyu. He thus dahns that the morality and ritual thar Confucius based in the patterns of J H eaven are in fact a~f man's nature (xing):62 "The nature of the superior man is hu~en;ss. propriety, ritual , and knowledge, They are rooted in his mind,n o It is through the notion of human nature that Mencius approaches the rel~­ rio nship between man and Heaven: "Mencius said: ' He who has fully used .hls mind knows his nature, If he knows his narure, he knows H eaven, PreservlOg his mind and nourishing his nacure .IS [he way t hat he serves H eaven, '''6( For Mencius. culture- defined by ritual and morality, not created technologies - is entirely natural. But rhis is so not just because the patterns of cult~re were imitated by the sage kings but also, and more important, because morality is a part of man's nature, a part of what Heaven gave to each person at birth. Morality is not creared, either by sage kings or by Heaven; it is something ~ith which man is born, and the only ~sue is that man must correctly culuvate his nature such that it does norgoaStray. Mencius uses metaphors of natural gr; wth to describe the process: morality arises through a"proc~ of ?ro~ing and ripening, a process analogous to the growth of plants: MenclUs said: The five grains are the most beautiful of cereals, but if they are not ripe, they are not as good as grasses or weeds. Now, humaneness also resides only in ripen-

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The Craft of Humanity

The Craft of Humani£}' ing.' "6S The only thing required of man is thus ro cultivate the nature with which he was born, in the same way that one cultivates plants ro bring them ro full fruition. Thus, he elsewhere discusses the process as one of "nourishing the mind" (rangxin)66- in other words, fostering the natural growth of that with which one was born. Because morality is thus posed as being natural, Mencius avoids a vocabulary of active fas hioning and constructing: Gaozi said: "Human nature is like a willow trCC; propriety is like cups and bowls. To use human nature to make [UN'ij humaneness and propriety is like using (he willow ro make [wei] cups and bowls." Mcncius said : "Can you follow the nature of the willow and thereby make cups and bowls? You must injure and damage the willow, and only then can you make it inro cups and bowls. If you mUSt injure and damage the willow to make it into cups and bowls, then must you also injure and damage man [ 0 make him humane and proper? It is surely your words that, leading all men under Heaven, will bring disaster to humaneness and propriety."67 Given this emphasis, Mencius would not approve of the vocabulary of creative construction so often employed by the Mohists. Indeed, even Confucius's view of cultivation as a process of organizing and patterning one's raw substance would be too strong: for Menciu~ the analQgY can only wock jf jt js used to disc~tiiliing.and--brjnging::out:iQ.met~iE.K.!b~.t. is_already there. For this reason, the process of cultivation is more analogous to a farmer hdping grains to grow than to a craftsman working raw material. Such a viewpoint is particularly interesting when it is remembered that in the "Ciguo" chapter the Mohist author claimed that creations.were made in order to improve life. With Mencius, the claim is the opposite: the only way to fuJfili one's na.ture is throl!gb nourishing.and-allowing it ro grow. Conscious creation is not only unnecessary but also harmful to the process. But if culture is defined by morality and if morality is to be found in the nature of all people, then why does Mencius still revere the ancient sages? The answer is that Mencius wants to maintain the view that sages teach morality to the people. and his method for doing so is to claim that sages recogniu their nature first and [hen help others to do the same: "What is common to all

59

minds? Principle and propriety. The_sages are simply the ones who first obtain what is common to our minds."" A-iengthi«Statemem of the same point is provided in another passage, wherein Mencius approvingly qUOtes Yi Yin:'" "Heaven, in engendering thc people, makes the first to know awaken those who know later; makes those who awaken first awaken those who awakcn later. Since I am one of the first of Heaven's people to awaken, I shall awaken them in this way."70 This is presumably how Mencius would explain Confucius's authorship of the Spring and Autumn Annals as well: he used his mind correctly and thus was able to £uo the work of a sage-a work that was therefore deserving of being transmitted to posterity. Like Confucius, then, Mencius has worked out a noncreationist framewo rk to account f~lture-:- Culture or encius is fully rooted in Heaven, and its emergence does not involve the introduction ~f inventions or artifice. More- ( over, all that is relevant in culture, namely morality. is accounted for in a framework of sages realizing, and then teaching to the people, the nature with which they were endowed by Heaven: anything that lies outside of such considerations is not seen as worthy of account. Thus, not only does he not attempt to deal with the creation of implements, but he also explicicly rules out the vocabulary of craft in discussing [he relationship of culture and nature. This argument would ultimately become highly important in the developing debate, for its implication is that any system based in the craft of creation is inherently in conRict with the generative growth process that defines human nature. C reation, in other words, is the creation of artifice, and thus inherencly \ marks a disjunction from nature. For Mencius, culture, defined as morality. is natural, uncreated and uncreatable.

Tht Probltmatization ofeu!turt: Tht Lao'Li Many of these arguments concerning nature as a self-generating, spontaneous process towhich man must conform are taken over and twisted into a new fo rm in the text of the Laozi?1 One strategy of the text is to employ older vocabulary hut redefine the terms, overturn the dualisms in which they are placed, and utilize them within new contexts such that they gain connotations distinctly different from those seen before. To begi n with. the text employs some of the terms used in the Lunyu and

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The Craft of Humanity

Craft of Humanity

Mendus and grants them a valuation that at th~ surfac~ level se~ms comparabl~ to thos~ works. ·' be foUowing passage, for exampl~, is rem i n isc~nt of the passage that emphasizes stillness in the Lunyu and is similar to M~ncius's calls for sages to put the world in o rd~r through a lack of interference (wu !hi):

Therefore the sage says: I do not consciously act, yet the people are of themselves transformed, I enjoy stillness, yet the people are of themselves corrected. I do not interfere, yet the people of themselves prosper.72 Such an opposition to manipulating and interfering is also found in other passages that emphasiu a lack of conscious action: The way constantly does nothing, yet nothing is not done. If lords and kings are able to hold to it, the myriad things will transform themselves?' Although the author opposes terms of morality, his choice of vocabulary would nonetheless seem to place him, on the question of creation. solidly on the Mencian side of the debate. repeatedly calling for man to pattern himself on nature. Such a view, however, is mi sl~ading , for in fact the author's larger goal is to undermine both sides of th~ debate. To begin with, he defines the way not as the natural growth process but as its point of origin: There is a thing chaotically completed. born before H~aven and Eanh. Silent and vacant, standing alone yet unchanging. going around yet never becoming weary, and capable thereby of being the mother of all under Heaven . I do not know its name, but call it "the way."7~

As the term "mother" implies, "the way" is nor only chat which preceded the differentiated world but in fact chac which generated th~ rest of the universe. As the author states in a later passage: Tbe way gives birth to th~ one, (he on~ gives birth to the two, the twO give birth to the three. the thre~ give binh to the myriad things. The myriad things carry the yin and embrace the yang, and blend the vapors so as to become harmoniud?' This cosmology, in which the differentiated un iverse is posed as a natural generation from the way. provides the background to one of the basic argu-

ments of the work, namely that the sage must return to the undifferentiated origin, for only in this way can he truly understand the differentiated world over which he presides: All under Heaven had a beginning. It can be taken as the mother of aU under Heaven. Once you have obtained the mocher, you can thereby know the sons. Once you have known the sons, you can ~turn and hold fast to the mother. Until the end there will be no harm?' Since (he way is discussed as the original point in the generative process, it is the "root" of the differentiated world of Heaven and Earth and is explicitly associated with femin inity: "The gateway of the mysterious female is called [he root of Heaven and Earth."77 Thus. unlike Mencius in his discussion of human nature, the author grants priority not to the fulfillment of the growth process but ro its point of origin: the growth of differentiation for the author is a loss of the original unity, and it is this original unity that the author defines as "the way." The emphasis throughout th~ work is thus not on the sage aiding in (he fu lfillment of the generative process but on the necessity of the sage returning to the beginning of that process. As these examples imply, the author's valorization of the undifferentiated over the diff~rentiated world is part of a larger strategy of overturning the cosmology dominant at the time by systematically reversing many of the most wid~ly accepted oppositions. In identifyi ng the way of the ruler with stillness rather than activity, the author makes a claim not for the ritualized nature of kingship but fo r th~ necessity of turning around the traditional conception based in the activity of Heaven and the kings. Thus the emphasis on stillness rather than activity is made alongside his emphasis on fem in inity rather than masculinity, weakness rather than strength. Moreover, (he author frequently poses these dualisms as agonistic forces. such that the usually degraded term is shown to overcome its opposite: Weakness overcomes strength. Softness overcomes hardness?' It is in the context of these overturned dualisms that the author deals with {he problem of zuo. H e uses the term in the broad, intransitive sense of "acn tivity," rather than in the more restricted. transitive sense of "crea[ing. The

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The Craft of Humanity term is then paired with the term stillness (jing) and is given, not surprisingly, the inferior status. The author thus argues that whatever emerges and becomes active (zuo) must uhimatdy return to its root, a stare associated with stillness

(jing); Reach the extremity of emptiness, And hold fast to the firmity of stillness [jing]. The myriad things become active [zuo] together, And I thereby watch them return. Things are teeming and multifarious, But each returns (a its root. Returning to the root is called stillness [)ing].'9 The text thus poses a natural universe composed of the processes of stillness and activity, unity and differentiation. Although the Laozi is not opposed to differentiation (it is, after all, defined as part of the natural process) , the consistent emphasis in the text is nonetheless on returning to the root of stillness (or to the mother, the one), not on focusing on what has emerged from the root. Since even the patterns of emergence and differentiation that occur in the natural world are granted only a secondary place in the Laozian framework, it is nOt surprising that the author srrongly opposes any human action that creates artificial differentiation. The main culprit that the author sees is conscious, nonspontaneous activity on the part of humans. One thus finds numerous statemenrs scattered throughout the text attacking knowledge, cleverness, conscious action, artifice, and the like; also included in the list, however, are terms of morality, which the Laozi poses as a loss of the way. The following is but one example: "When the great way is discarded, There is humaneness and propriety. When knowledge [zhi ] and cleverness [qiaol emerge, There is great artifice [weil.so might be expected considering the author's suspicion of conscious activityand artifice, he voices strong opposition to the use of cultural implements: AI;

Make the state small and the people few. Make them have utensils in the tens and hundreds bur not use them. Make them regard death

The Craft of Humanily as important and nOt go (Q distant places. Although they have boats and carriages, no one will ride them. Although they have armor and weapons, no one will display them. Make the people return to knotted ropes and use them. 81 The viewpoint here is the same as that elsewhere in the text, namely looking back-in this case looking back after the implements have already been created. The author advises the ruler to prevenr (he people from using their many implements, and, specifically, to prevem them from using chariots, boats, weapons, and writing-some of the very implements that had become associated since the Mohists with the rise of human culture. By thus calling on man to reject artifice and return to the spontaneity of the way, the Lauzi marks a high point in a movement that we saw earlier with Mencius; indeed, the text does for the cosmos in general what Mencius did for human nature: the complete disjunction of terms of craft (including not JUSt creation but also conscious action, knowledge, cleverness, and the like) from the world of nature, defined here as a self-generating. spontaneous pro- . cess. Nature is uncreated and unfashioned, and any act of craft or artifice is thus a transgression against nature. Such a perspective led to a direct critique of Mohist concerns, but the redefinition of some of the terms used to discuss nature, and the sages who imitated nature, were to have at least as large an im~ pact on later thought. The implications of the work are that any human activity, even of the sort advocated by Mencius. results in a loss of the way. Indeed, the author even poses the differentiated world of nature, upon which both Con ~ fucius and Mencius, in distinct ways, called on sages to follow. as a loss of the way. The Laozi thus maintains the traditional linking of man and nature by inverting it: whereas the classical view held that the sage imitated H eaven by working on and domesticating the landscape, the Laozi argues that the sage imitates undifferentiated nature through stillness and lack of conscious action. Although not many thinkers would accept the Laozian calls for a return to the original, undifferentiated unity. the author's general argument that human acfivity marked an inherent break from the natural world was to have a profound impact. For those later thinkers wishing to avoid the Laozi's rejection of culture, the solution came to be to rework the framework, redefine the terms, or 5imply drop the problem of conforming to nature altogether. It is here that

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The Craft of Humanity

The Craft of Humanity the debate turns to the problem of artifice, to the problem of the relationship berween nature and culture.

The Nature of Culture: The Development of the Debate in the Latter Part of the Warring States The latter part of the Warring States, dating from roughly '1.70 B.C. to the unification in '1.'1.1 B.C., is one of the most interesting ~ riods of this debate. It was at this time that a large number of authors, who believed that culture was not necessarily disjunct from the natural world, began to construct works oriented tOward resolving the problems posed by texts such as the lAozi. The various terms, concepts. and issues that we have been discussing thus became the objects of wide debate. and the vocabulary employed came to have the kind of tightness of usage that one expects of terms that have been subject to intense intellectual scrutiny.

The Sage as Artisan: The Writings ofXunzi One of the most important and intellectually intriguing thinkers during the third century B.C. to discuss the problem of culture was Xunzi.1l Xun'1.i fervently defended the notions that culture should be: defined b ritual and morality, that its-trner'genmhouKl he :mrib,.red ro sages, and that. because: [~ges' activities were ultimately rooted in Heaven, me culture they created was not arbi!rary. To respond to both the Mohist vision of sagely creation as well as the widespread trend toward naturalistic thinking among his contemporaries, Xunzi develo~d a fu ll explanation of how the sages initiated culture and how cuhure was nonetheless related to the natural world. His fundam ental notion was to accept the definitions of the cQSIDQUhat...w..er~Qming-,ommon but \ to r~efine the process of the emergence of culture. On the definition of the cosmos, he criticizes me lAozi" for emphasi'1.ing a return to the origin from which things were generated rather than focusing on the completion of the process: ~ Long for that from which things were generated? Why not possess that with which to bring things to comp l etion?"8~ He thus shifts the emphasis back to the end point of the generative process, but nonetheless maintains a vocabulary rooted in notions of spontaneity: "Not acting [wuwei] and yet completing, not seeking and yet obtaining, this is called

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the work of Heaven."" The characteristics of neither acting consciously nor seeking are thus employed, although Xunzi anributes these qualities to Heaven, not to the undifferentiated one propounded by Laozi. In direct opposition to Mencius, however, Xunzi states a suong rhetorica1 oppositionto die attempt to root morali in (he natural world: "The nature of man is evil. and goodoess..resullS..fuun. onscious activity."" The term that I (following Watson) translate here as "conscious activity" is wei (ll, a tcrm that has a very strong sense of "artifice." Xunzi's polemic here is thus clear: morality is a human artifice, not an attribute of nature. While Xunzi embraces the view of nature as based l~ nonconscious activity (wuwei), he overdy opposes the notion that the sage ought therefore to imitate nature and hence act nonconsciously. This theme of the disjunction berween the realms of morality and human nature is taken up as well in Xunzi's description of culture and nature in general. As was common at the time, Xunzi frequently describes the combination of Heaven and Earth as generative in nature. However, instead of trying to roor culture in this generative process, he open ly asserts the difference berween the two: "H eaven and Eanh are the beginning of life; ~al and propriety are the begin~ing otorder; the gentleman is the beginning of ritual and ropriety."87 ) Xunzi thus draws a rheconcarly strong ,listlnction berween nature, which is spomaneous, generative. and without conscious activity, and humans, who do consciously. The positing of such a strong distinction rejects the classical conception of the sages as a1wa imitatin nature. As we have seen, this view -.vas upheld differently in a number of texts, from the Lunyu to the Mozi co the Laozi. If human sages were posited as conscious creators, then so too was Heaven; if nature was defined by stillness and nonconscious activiry, then so too were the sages. Xun:z.i, in contrast, strongly asserts the discontinuity herween the rwo. But if rimal and moraliry are not rooreq) n f!.atu~b.ut. instead arc products of the artifi.se of rhe..sages, rhen..a.re...th.c:x not arbitrary? This question is taken up explicitly in Xunzi's discussion of how culture was formed by the sages:

aCt

Someone asks: "If man's nature is evil, from where arc rituals and propriety generated?" I respond: ''All rimals and propriety were generated [shtngJ fr~the conscious aZtivity of the sages. They were nOt originallygenerated from th~~~_ofman. Thus a potter kneads 88

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The Craft of Humanity clay and makes [Wt"i] vessels; as such, the vessels arc generated from the conscious activity of the craftsman, and were nOt originally gen ~ crated from the nature of man. Thus a craftsman carves wood and completes implements; as such, the implementS arc generated from the conscious activity of the craftsman. and were not originally generated from the nature of man. The sages accumulated their considerations and thoughts and made a practice 89 of conscious activity [wei] and pre<:edentS; they thereby generated rituals and propriety. and made laws and standards arise. As such. rituals, propriety, laws. and standards were generated from the conscious activity of the sages. and were not originally generated from the nature of man."90 The sages' initiation of culture is, according to Xunzi, like a potter's creation of his pots, or an anisan's use of his implementS. In employing this analogy of craftsmanship, Xunzi might at first glance appear to be accepting a gen er~ ally Mohist conception of creation. even while defining culture as ritual and morality. In other words, even if he nays close to Confucius's definition of cul~ ture, he would appear to be moving away from Confucius's brief description of the emergence of this culture through the sages' parrerning themselves upon H eaven. This erroneous impression is strengthened by the rhetorical poSture Xunzi takes toward Mencius's argument that ritual and morality arc rooted in the nalure given to humans by Heaven, and is fimher strengthened by the posi~ tion Xunzi takes against the Lauzi's critique of artifice. If Xunzi claims that ritual and morality are not based on nature but are rather an artificial construct of the sages, and if Xunzi pormys such a sagely construction as comparable to the construction of artisans, then he would certainly appear to be moving toward the notion of sagely creation advocated by the Mohists. However, Xunzi's analogy is actually quite different from that employed by the Mohist$, and herein we get OU f first hint of his full argument. Unlike the Mohists, Xunzi had little interest in the initial creation of specific implements and crafts. The institution of culture for Xunzi is nor comparable to the original creation of, for example, pot-making in general; instead, it is comparable to the everyday, seemingly mundane activity of making individual pots. In other words, he defi.n~ re ~~ion but as th.:~ityof ev~ryday craft. What interests Xunzi is the ty~ of conscious activity that produces cult ure,

The Craft of Humanity the same type of carefully trained activity used by an artisan in producing implements. Thus Xunzi does not claim that me sages created (zuo) culture like the innovators who created crafts. Instead, he argues that culture is generated (shmg ~ ) from me conscious activity {wri ~) of the ~es, just as implementS arc generated (shmg) from the conscious activiry (wri) of me artisan. The terminological shift is significant : the term shmg m eans "to give birth" or "generate." and is used to refer to the natural processes of, for example, a mother giving birth to a child. The central issue for the sages, according to Xunzi, was to develop their conscious activity correctly. for once this was done cultur~ would be generated naturally, as implements are generated from the correct activity of the artisan. The question, then, turns (0 what exactly this conscious activity is for Xunzi. In the "Zhengming" chapter, Xunzi gives one of his most complete descriptions of how conscious activity emerges. He defines human nature as spontaneous, and conscious action as what arises once the mind starts working on itS sponiiiiciry: That which is used as it was from birth is called human narure. The part of human nature that harmonizes with what was born, is concentrated, accommodatin&..!"~ r~nates and responds spontaneously [ziran]~d without interference [bu lhil . is also called human nature. The likes. dislikes, happiness, anger, sorrows, anijoys of human nature arc called emotions. When [he emorion~thus,~~d ~ ind acts [wril upon them and makes choices. this is called thinking, When the mind thinks and is able to act [Wt"i] upon them [i.e., its moughtS] and move, this is called conscious activity.'l

-

Conscious activity, then, is the mind acting upon one's natural givens and putting one's thoughtS into practice. In the "Tianlun" chapter, Xunzi goes so faras to define the sage's work as correctly using the facu lties granted to him by Heaven.92 The passage in question begins with a discussion of the nature of man as produced by Heaven: When the work of H eaven has been established and the accomplishments of Heaven have been completed, the form is prepared and the

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The Craft of Humanity spirit is born. Likes, dislikes, happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy are sto red within him: these arc called the Heavenly emotions. The ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and body have that wim which they connect, but they cannOt substitute for each other: these are called the Heavenly faculties. The mind resid es within the central emptiness so as to rule the five faculties: this is called the Heavenly ruler. lr makes into prod uce what is not of its species in order to nurture its species: this is called the Heavenly nurturance. Those who accord with their species are called fortunate, and those who oppose their species are called unfortunate; this is called the Heavenly governance. 93 Xunzi thus descri bes the birth of man as a Heavenly event. He defines the various faculties as Heavenly facul ties, and the mind as the Heavenly ruler. He then goes on TO d iscuss the proper way ro use these Heavenly given faculties and mind: To darken one's Heavenly ruler, bring disorder to one's Heavenly faculties, discard one's Heavenly nurturance, disobey one's Heavenly governance, turn o ne's back on one's Heavenly emotions, and thereby destroy the Heavenly accomplishments: these are called great inauspiciousness. The sage clears his H eavenly ruler, rectifies his Heavenly faculties. prepares his Heavenly nurturance, accords with his Heavenly governance. nourishes his Heavenly emotions, and thereby brings completion to the Heavenly governance. If he does so, then he knows what he is to do and not to do. Heaven and Earth then perform their fu nctio ns and the myriad th ings serve him. H is movements are fully ordered , his nurturance fu lly appropriate, and his life is without injury. This is called knowing Heaven.!H The sage's actions are described as dearing, according, and nouri s.h.~&!he fac~ ulties given to him by Heaven. Once the sage correctly cultivates these facu lties, he wilrkriow what to do and what nOt to do. Heaven thus gives man the facul~ ties which, if used properly, will guide his actions. In order ro further highlight the implicit teleology here, Xunzi refers to the final stage of this process of cultivation as "knowing Heaven." Such an implicit teleology is also apparent in the " Lilun" chapter, where Xunzi declares that the joining o f human nature and conscious activity gener-

The C raft of Humanity

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ates order in the same way that the joining of Heaven and Earth generates life andtliejoining ofyin and yang generates changes and transformations: Therefore I say that human nature is the basis, beginning, material, and substance; conscious activity is the pattern, the principle, and (the source of] abundance and profusion. If [here were no human nature, there would be nothing for conscious activity to add to. If there were no conscious activity, human nature would be unable to beautify itself. Only when human nature and conscious activity combine are the names of the sages unified and the accomplishments of all under Heaven completed. Therefore, I say (hat when Heaven and the Earth combine, the myriad things are born; when yin and yang join, changes and transformations arise; when human nature and conscious activity combine, all under Heaven is put in order. Heaven can give birth to things but canno t distinguish things; the Earth can bear man but can~ nOt put men in order. Within the universe, the myriad things generate those who belong to the human race; mey await the sage and only then are they differentiated." The initiation of order by thew ,:hus part o~e generation of the world. The sages using their Heaven-generated faculties correctly to work on human nature and generate order is as necessary as Heaven mating with Earth, o r yang

i

JOlmng ym. We are now in a position to begin to understand what Xunzi means when he dl,.'Scribes the initial establishment of culture by the sages. Rather than speak- . ing of sages creating, Xunzi talks about their training themselveS to use their Heaven-gen~d facl!!ties. The process 0 tlii sages training them~lves to use Ihese facul ties correctly is comparable 10 the p rocess of an artisan training himsel f 10 produce implements: in both instances a highly regulated activity must be carried our in a particular way. Once this training of natural abilities was completed, the sages were then able to generate culture. Although Xunzi thus opposes the claim that sa es initiated culJure by simply imitating the external patterns of nature, he nonetheless roots culture in nature 10 a grearer degree than his own rhetoric suggests. Far from claiming that cullUre and nature are fully distinct. he presents the twO as related, albeit indirectly: Heaven generates the faculties in man, and man , if he can use those fac ulties correctly, will develop the conscious activity that generates culture. For

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"f

The Craft of Humanity Xunzi, the "artifice ," or wt;, of culture is by no means an arbiuary construction on the part of sages." In Xunzi's highly sophisticated explanation of the origin of culture. the ori~ gin is. at least implicirly, rooted in Heaven: the sages established culture, but they were not inventors of artifice in the Mohist sense. Xunzi instead defines culture as consisting of f.lt!!,aI an morali and argues that its emergence was in no sc e an ar Itrary crearion: In fact, the production of culture did not involve acts of zuo at all. Although culture was consciously made by the sages, and although such a consciow making was outside the realm of nature. culture is nonetheless, when properly instituted, the teleological (if nOt immediate) product of Heaven. It is for this reason that Xwui consistently contends that the rites, duties. laws, and standards instituted by the sages were generated (shmg), not created {zuo}. - In light ofXu~zi 's explication of the sages' formation of ritual and morality, how does he account fo r the issues raised in the MohiSt invective about the in ~ venrion of am and technologies ? Intriguingly, Xunzi responds to the critique by defending the very point thar the MohistS portrayed as absurd: according to Xunzi, those who utilized the inventt::d implements of the past were indeed superior to the inventors themselves: "Chui created [zuol the bow and Fou You created arrows, but Vi concentrated on archery; Xi Zhong created the chariot and Cheng Du created the yoking of horses, but Zao Fu concentrated on driving."" The invention of specific implements is secondary to the way they were later employed. Contrary to the Mohists, Xunzi contends that the most significant figures in the history of the creation of implements were not those who invented the implements but those who concentrated their minds and properly mastered the am at hand. Xunu's point here is that the Mohist emphasis on the creation of implements and technologies is misplaced. For Xunzi, the crucial things produced in the past were ritual and morality, and these were not created but generated from the Heaven-given mind. In turn, this is the kind of mind that should be wed to master the usc of created implements. But if this is Xunzi's argument on the problem of the artifice of creation, what about the other side of the Mohist critique, on the problem of innovation - the claim, in other words, that Confucians are so committed to transmitting the practices of the sages of the past that they fai l to accept the need fo r innovation? O n this point, Xunzi in part concurs: although he calls fo r com-

The Craft of Humanity pliance with the rituals of the earlier sages, he also believes it necessary for a new sage to arise and create at least partially new institutions. Unlike the passages where he discusses the initial emergence of culture, in this context Xunzi employs me term tuO, "creadng anew," as his discussion of names illustrates: "Now the .sage kings arc gone. Names arc maintai ned laxly, strange phrases arise. names and reality arc confused. and the forms of right and wrong arc not clear.... If a king were to arise he would surely comply with old names and also create [zuol new names."" Xunzi here acquiesces to one of the MOhist) critiques, arguing that, although complying with the past is important, innovating. zuo, is at times necessary as well. An act of zuo, however, is highly problematic for Xunzi, and he devotes much of the remainder of the chapter to~ explaining exactly how a sage goes about doing this. The chapter thus presents us with one of the first attempts b a figure J!!_E!te tradition of Confucius to explain what it would for a sage to zuo. Throughout the chapter, Xunzi attempts to restrict the act of creation according to the $arne processes discussed above: the sage can create new names only after he has correctly used his Heaven-given faculties. Xunzi rhetorically asks, "What does one rely upon in order to distinguish similarities and differ~ ences?" To this he responds, "One relies upon [he H eavenly facul ties." Then, after describing how each faculty apprehends similarities and differences among objects, he states: "The mind has an inquiring knowledge. The inquiring knowledge then relies upon [he cars and is able to know sounds; relies upon the eyes and is able to know forms . But the inquiring knowledge must await the Heavenly faculties' [data) and match it with that already registered for mat category; only then is it acceptable."" It is on this basis that the sage assigns names:

mean

This is what should be relied upon in order to differentiate similarities and differences. Only then can one follow and order them .... H e knows that different things require different names, and he therefore makes it such that all different things have different names. This cannOt fal l into disorder. In the same way, he makes it such that all similar 100 things have similar names. IOL Names arc: created by a sage only after he has correctly differentiated reality by properly using [he facu lties with wh ich he was born. T11u5, Xunzi has limited

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The Craft of Humanity the act of creation on the pan of the sages by rooting the aCt in the conscious activity of the mind, and, in what now appears a consistent pattern of argument, has limited the arbitrariness of such conscious activity by defining it normatively as the process of correctly using one's Heaven-given faculties. Xunzi next explains how the sage, after defining particular names, builds up language: Names are the means by which one designates and binds reality. Phrases connect the names of different realities so as to express a single idea. DispUlation and explanations do nm differentiate realities and names and are used to make underslood the way of movement and stillness. Designated names 101 are the instruments of disputation and explanations. Disputation and explanations are the mind's representing of the way; the mind is the artisan and supervisor of the way; the way is the standard and principle of rule. The mind accords with the way, explanations accord with the mind, and phrases accord with explanations.103 Xunzi thus roots the actions of the mind in the way. He defines the way as the standard and principle of rule and, sticking to one of his favorite analogies, defines the mind as the artisan and supervisor of the way. By according with the correct way of rule, the mind, as artisan, puts names together to express ideas and represent the way. The sage thus categorizes nature properly and grants names to it when he uses his Heaven-given faculties correctly; he then builds up larger elements of language by using his mind in accord with the way. In response to the Mohists, Xunzi agrees thar sages must now arise and innovate (zuo), but he strongly limits (he ways in which sages can do so: innovation must be based in the COfrect use of the faculties given by H eaven, thus allowing the sage to discern accurately similarities and distinctions in the natural world. In both of these discussions, Xunzi develops a SRphigi9ted x~r;s i2!! of the vision that ap~are d in the brief R~g:!. of t~e}u!,yu: the sages' acts of creatiorrmvo!Venor arbitrary inventions but the bringing to humanity of a normative order fOOled , ultimately, in Heaven. The sages are thus said to have initially "given birth" (shmg) to ritual and morality, not to have invented it (zuo). Xunzi does use the term zuo to refer to the act of innovation, but he then carefully

The Craft of Humanity restricts how the sage innovates- that is, by correctly using the Heaven-given faculties. For Xunzi , culturc may be an artifice, but it is not arbitrary.

The Sage as Emulator: The

~ Yueji"

The "Yucji" chapter of the Liji attempts to defin e the relationship between culture and nature in yet a different way. Although the chapter as a whole resembles the "Yudun" chapter of thcXunzi, thecharacterof the "Yucji" response diffcrs significantly from that in Xunzi's writings. The section germane to the issues at hand begins with a reworking of the statement fo und in the Lun)u that the Mohists mocked: Therefore, those who understood rhe fundam entals [qing1f] of rituals and music were able to create [zuo]; those who know the pan erns [wt'n] of rituals and music are able to transmit. Those who created are called sages; those who transmit are called intelligent [ming]. Intelligence and sagdiness are names for transmitting and creating, respectivdy.lo~ The author maintains that sages did in fact zuo, and that the intelligent o nes are thosc who transmit the pancrns (wt'n) created by the sages. Like Xunzi, he wishes to define culture in terms of ritual and music. Nonetheless, he departS fro m Xunzi in describing how that culture emerged: unlike Xunzi, the author here claims not that the sages generated (shmg) culture but that they created (zuo) it. He responds to the Mohists no t by redefining what the sages did but by redefining the term zuo itself: the sages did zuo, but this did nor involve the invention of artificial constructions. The passage cited defin es the sages as having created only after they understood the fundamentals of ritual and music. The author then immediately explains what These fu ndamentals are: Music is the harmony of Heaven and Earth; rituals are the order of H eaven and Earth. Because of harmony, [he hundred th ings undergo transformation; because of order, the groups of things are differentiared.10' The author defines music as consisting of harmony, and ritual as consisting of order. 1"he sages based their creation of ritual and music on Heaven and Earth respectively:

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The Craft of Humanity Music was created {z uol from Heaven; rituals were formed (zhil by means of the Earth. If they had excessively given forms, there would have been disorder; if they had excessively created, there would have been oppression. Only after they were dear about Heaven and Earth were they able to raise up [xing] rituals and music. lo, The sages based their creation of music on H eaven and their formation of rituals on Earth. The choice of the two verbs zuo and zhi in this passage is of interest, for both are associated with active construction: zuo has a strong sense of construction, and zhi$lJ, "to form," has connotations of regulating and cutting. The term zhi seems appropriate for the explanation of the emergence of ritual: since the author argues that ritual is based on order and differentiation. his use of zhi tends simply to underline the regulating activity of the sages. The use of zuo, however, is surprising: since the author defines music as harmony and envisions it as coming from H eaven. acts of conscious creation would not appear to be an appropriate means for accounting for its emergence. Even Xunzi, who has no trouble emphasizing the artificial aspects of sagely actions in initiating culture, avoids using a term such as Z U() when talking about the emergence of cuhure. Why, then. would an amhor interested in the degree to which the sages simply imitated Heaven in composing music u~ a term that, at least since the time of the Mohists, has such a strong sense of conscious creation? The reason becomes dear when the author describes the process as a whole as one of "raising up" (xing!M!) rituals and music..Yes, the author is arguing, the sages did indeed zu() music, but in doing so all they did was take a harmony in Heaven and bring it to the world of humanity. The author thus uses zu() in its alternative sense of "making arise," rather than in the Mohin sense of consciously fashioning anew. The sages did zuo, but they did so by imitating nature rather than by constructing something in a Mohist sense. That the author is using the term z uo in the sense of "making arise" becomes dearer as the argument progresses, for the author alternates the terms zuo and xing in his discussion of the emergence of music. In several places, he maintains his usual diction: "A5 for the kings, when their work was completed they created [zuo] music; when their rule was settled they form ed the rituals."lo7 There are, however, some intriguing shifts in the use of these terms: With Heaven high and the Earth below, the myriad things dispersed and differentiated, rituals were formed [zhi] and put into practice.

The Craft of Humanity Flowing without stopping, combining together and transforming, music was made to arise (xing] therein. LOS Rituals are still described as being formed, bur here the verb xing, "to make arise," is used instead of the verb zuo to discuss the initiation of music. The verbal play reiterates the basic point made in the explanation of what the sages' action entailed: the sages did nor actively construct music but lifted harmony from the natural world and brought it in the form of music to the world of humanity. In the next sentence, the author states: "In spring things become active (zuo] and in summer they grow; this is humaneness. In autumn things are gathered in and in winter they are stored; this is propriety. Humaneness is close to music, and propriety is dose to ritual." 109 The authorequares morality with the natural seasons. In doing so, he uses zuo in its intransi tive sense of " become active" or "arise" to refer to the emergence of springtime. Throughout this section, therefore, he consistently uses the term in its intransitive sense to mean "arising" and in its transitive sense, "making arise." The author then sums up many of his themes concerning the emergence of music and ritual: Music esteems harmony, obeys the spirits, and follows Heaven; rituaJ differentiates appropriateness, resides with ghosts, and follows Earth. Therefore the sages created music ro respond to Heaven and formed rituals ro correspond to Earth. Rituals and music illuminate and complere the work of H eaven and Earth.llo The sages created and formed music and ritual in order ro respond and correspond to Heaven and Earth respectively, and music and ritual thus complete the work of H eaven and Earth. The author is here explicit on the point that has been implied throughout: music and rituals are not the conscious creations of the sages but are rather based upon, and indeed complete, Heaven and Earth. By defining the creation of music as an act of zuo-ing from Heaven, the author may well be playing on a common theme in the cosmologies of the late Warring States, which commonly associate Heaven with the attribute of zuo (activity) and Earth with the attribute of jing Jni (stillness). For example, one finds in the Shiliujing, the second of the four texts attached to the Mawang-

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The Craft of Humanity dui Laozi B: 111 wEarth nourishes III virtue with stillness [jing]; H eaven corrects names with activity [zuoJ. Stillness and action nourish each other.... When yin and yang are complete and things transform and change, there is then generatiOn. nlll Stillness is associated with Earth, and activity with Heaven; each forms one part of the differentiated world, and their mutual interaction forms the generative p rocess.lI~ Since zuo in the intransitive sense of wacrivity" was commonly associated with Heaven, the author of thC' "YuC'ji" argues that sages, in imitating HC'aven during the creation of music, also undC'rtook acts of zuo, in the SC'nsC' of "activating," or "making ariSC'." ThC' verbal play hC're would again undC'riinC' the dC'greC' to which the sage simply C'mulatC's HC'aven: the sages' aclS of zuo are not only not a transgression against thC' spontaneity of Heaven; thC'y are in fact directly comparable to one of the attributC's of HC'avC'n. As_ with Xun_zi, thereforC', the author argues that culture, initiated by the sage, serves to complete Heaven and Earth. But the author here rC'sponds to the Mohist ~ritique in a fundam entally different way than had Xunzi, and it was a response that ul timately becamC' the more influential. Xunzi admitted that human culture was artificC' but then restrictC'd the implied discontinuity of such a claim by arguing that the actions of the sages involvC'd simply a careful uSC' of thei] Heaven-~en..facul~ies. ~ contrast, the author of the "Yueji" redefines the term zuo: instead of using it to mean "conscious cfC'ation," he uses it to mean "~~SC'''; instead of defining the process as creating o r constructing anew, he dC'fines it as imitating, and completing the work of, Heaven and Earth. CultuT~ IlS

CTaft

But if Xunzi and the amhor of thC' "Yueji " represent two attempts to work around or rC'dC'finC' the notion of zuo, other authors in the late Warri ng States ~riod were ro utili~ the term exactly as the MohislS did. Several late Warring States writers explicitly defined culturC' as the arts and crafts created by the sages and madC' no attempt to claim that the culmre so created was correlatC'd with the namra! world. The opening section of the "Kaogongj i" chapter of the Zhouli,ll) for example, takes a position on the issue of creation highly reminiscC'nt of the Mohin position. ThC' passage germanC' to this discussion involves yet another play on the statement attributed to Confucius in the Lunyu:

The Craft of Humanity The knowledgeable [zhj~] fashioned [chuang .tIll things. The skillful [qiao Pi] transmit and maintain things through the generations; they are called artisans. The affairs of the hundred artisans are all creations (zuo] of the sages. Some smelt 11' metal to make knives; some harden the earth to make implements; some build chariolS to travel over hills; some build boats to travel over water. All of these are things that were created [zuo] by the sages. LL 1 Thus, unlike Xunzi, who equates thC' activity of the sages with the work of artisans, the author hC'rC', in a Mohin fashion, describes thC' sages as the crC'ators, not the practitionC'fs, of craft. Like the author of the "YuC'ji" chapter, hC' asserts that sages did in fact zuo, but unlike thC' "Yueji" chapter, he makes no anempt either to root culture in the natural world or to redefine the notion of creation to mC'an simply introducing the pattC'rns of nature into the world of man. Absent here is any concern with corrdating sagely activity with the natural world in general. In short, the author, like the Mohists, uses zuo to refer to aclS of conscious creation and discusses culture as the crafts created by the sages. The differences betweC'n this passage and the "YuC'ji" chapter read almost likC' a late Warring States version of the debate between the MohislS and the early Confucians. Several othC'r authors utilized such Mohist definitions of zuo to assert that in thC' past sages d id consciously create and therefore ought to do 50 now as well. For C'Xa.J11ple, thC' "Wudu n chapter of the Han F~izi provides a narrative of the risco of culture comparable to that seen in the "Ciguo" chapter of [he MOD: In the earliest times, when the pC'opIe wefC' few and thC' birds and beasts numerous, the pC'oplC' could no t overcome thC' birds, beasts, insects, and snakes. Then therC' appeared a sage who crC'ated (Z/lO] the building up of wood ro make nests so as to hide the masses from harm. The ~ople were pleased with him and made him king of all under Heaven, calling him the ~O ne Having NeslS." ThC' people ate fruits, berries, mussels, and clams; they werC' so rank. rancid. bad, and foul-smelling that they hurt their stomachs, and many of thC' people became sick. Then there appeared a sage who created [Z/lO] the boring of wood to get fire so as to transform the rank and rancid food. The people were pleased with him and made him king of all under H eavC'n, calling him

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The CrafT of Humanity the "Fire Man." In the time of middle anri'luity. all under Heaven was greatly flooded, and G un and Yu o~ ned channels [for the water]' In the most recent ~riod of anti'luity. Jie and Zhou were oppressive and chaotic, and Tang and Wu cam paigned against them. Now, lO have the building up of wood and the boring of wood in the time of the Xia would « rtainly have made Gun and Yu laugh, and to have the o~ ning of channels in [he time of the Yin and Zhou would certainly have made Tang and Wu laugh. As such, to exalt the way of Yao, Shun, Tang, Wu, and Yu in the present age would certainly make the new sages laugh. This is why sages do not try to cultivate the ancient ways and do not model themselves on constancy.1I8 The passage opens with a narrative about the sages' creation of the arts of civilization. Han Feizi has no concern that such a movement entails a disjunction from the natural world. He in fact defines culmre in terms of disjunction: the rise of culmre is based on the sages' inventions, the explicit goal of which is to allow humanity to move away from animals, to cook and thus transform foods, to control flooding. In other words, he equates culture with the series of inventions that allow movement from, and control and domestication of, the natural world. Moreover, H an Feit i uses the argument to assert the importance of innovation: just as he expresses no interest in linking the creations of the sages to the world of nature, he strongly opposes any attempt lO follow the actions of p~ ­ vious sages. The only criterion that he employs for evaluating when innovation should occur is whether the action is appropriate lO the times: the moral concerns found in the Mohist chapters are gone here. as are the careful attemprs to designate the proper method of sagely innovation found in Xunzi. And since H an Feit i defines culture simply as the inventions created by the sages in reaction lO the changing rimes, he is concerned neither with transmitting what the earlier sages created nor with claiming some form of continuity with nature. C reation, Han Feizi claims, is necessary and unproblematic. II '}

Divorcing the Act of Creation from the Sage The late Warring States texts thus far discussed convey repeatedly the view that human activity marks a potential break from the natural world. This view solidified a point implicit in the Mohisl criti'lue of the early Confucians.

The Craft of Humanity namely that human creation and accordance with nature were difficult positions to reconcile. We have thus seen how twO authors anempted to work around these issues. one by rooting artifice in the faculties given by Heaven, and the other by redefining the term zuo 50 as to reduC(: the disjunctive elements. We have also seen how two authors attempted to assert a Mohisr definition of zuo as Ihe conscious creation of artifice and in the process ~jec(ed the concern of according with nature altogether. A large body of other texts from this period, however, ~ached the opposite conclusion: if zuo is im bued with the Mohist sense of the creation of al(ifi«, then any such act would by definition be a transgression against the natural world, and thus no sage could ever zuo. Such authors therefore employed the word zuo with a strong sense of conscious creation for purely negative reasons: zuo was utilized with such a sense precisely because it enabled the authors to define what a sage ought nOt dO. 120 For example, one find s in the "Zhibeiyou" of the Zhuangzi: Heaven and Earth have great beauty but do not speak; the four seasons have bright laws bm do not discuss; the myriad things have completed patterns but do not explain. The sage finds his source in the beauty of Heaven and Earth and ~netrates the principles of the myriad things. It is fo r this reason that the mmost man does not act consciously (wuwei ] and the great sage does not create (zuol. This is the meaning of observing Heaven and Earth.ill Here, the author openly declares that sages do not create. Moreovet, the reason that they do not create is because they are im itators of the processual movement of the natural world: nature is defined as patterned activity, and the sage is called upon simply to observe. and thus emul:ne, the patterns. In short, this passage asserts the very point for which the Mohists unfairly attacked the early Confucians: the author claims thar the sage simply imitates the patterns of [he natural world and thus would never perform acts of conscious creation (z /lo) . Indeed, the passage is in some ways reminiscent of some of the statements in the L/lnyu that may well have raised the Mohists' ire. The line that H eaven :lI1d Earth do not speak is probably a refe rence to Lunyu 17/17: 'me master said: "I prefer not to speak." Zigong said: "If the master does not speak , then what shall we lesser ones rransmit1" The mas-

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The Craft of Humanity ter said : "Does Heaven speak? The four seasons proceed from it. the hundred things are born from it. Does Heaven speak?" And the critique of conscious activity (zwi) may well be a reference to Lunyu

'5/5' The master said: "Not doing anything [WUUJl!>;) and yet putting things in order, this was Shun. What did he do? He made himself reverent, was rtttified, and faced south; that is all." But unlike the Lunyu, the passage from the ZhlUlngzi takes the step that the Mohists accused the Confucians of moving toward: if the sage simplyemulates the patterns of the natural world, then he could nOt also zuo. Similar claims that the sage ought not create are found in numerous late Warring States texts. For example, the author of the "Tianze," chapter 4 of the Heguanzi, states: "Neither fashioning (chuang] nor creating (zuo], he [the sage] combines his vinuewith Heaven and Earth." I n Both of the atrributes that we saw ascribed to the sage in the "Kaogongji," chuang and zuo, are thus rejected: sages link themselves with the natural world, and hence do not create anything. These two passages from the Zhuangzi and Heguanzi utilize the mong Mohist definition of zuo prttisely in order to describe what a sage does not do. Bur such a position only makes the Mohist critique all the more imperative: if one argues the position that the Mohists unfairly ascribed to the Confucians. namely that sages should nOt ZUD, then one must ask, as [he Mohists pointedly did, who crectted culture? This question was taken up by a number of rdared texts from this period, all of which were responses to the Mohist definition of culture. One attempt to answer this question concerned the argument that conscious creation is inherently opposed to the spontaneity of "the way": if sages do not create, then the creation of implements and utensils was a transgression against nature. To some exten t, the begi nnings of such a radical opposition to created culture can be traced back to the iAozi itself, as was noted in the earlier discussion of the passage that advises the ruler to prevent the people from using the many implements that have already been created, specifically chariots, boats, weapons, and writingP' Several texts take this primitivist tendency to a radical extreme, calling for a rejection of created culture altogether. This approach is evident in pordons

The Craft: of Humanity of the Zhuangzil24 as well as in several chapters from th(; Hq;uanzi.ll~ Th(; position seems to have grown more radical as state centralization grew mor(; extreme. Indeed, one of the most powerfuJ statements of such tendencies appears in a text compost:d during the reign of Han Wudi, the Huainanzi. Th(; "Benjing" chapter of the HlUli1U1nzi, after arguing that human action ought to correspond to the generative relations berween Heaven and Earth, claims: "In ancient times, when Cang Jie created (zuo) writing, Heaven rained grain and the ghosts cried all night. When So Yi created (zuo] wells, the dragon ascended to [he dark clouds and the spirits perched on Kun Lun." 126 The creation of writing and wells destroyed rhe proper balance of nature, with the result that grain rain(;d down from Heaven instead of sprouting from the Earth and the dragon ascended at the wrong time. The author thus presents the act of creation as inherendy transgressive against and destructive of the generative relations of nature. Unlike Xunzi, who viewed the creation of implements as a lesst:r, although still helpful, kind of zuo, the author here poses such a creation as necessarily transgressive: conscious creation is defined as being outside the realm of nature and, since humanity is called upon to model itself after nature, it is also outside the normative realm of humanity.

The Minister flJ Crearor: Three Chapters from the Lushi chunqiu The radical opposition to created culture, however, was only one of several positions taken in this general framework of divorcing acts of creation from the sage. Another attempt to work within a generally Laoz.ian terminology while still supporting a Mohist definition of culture can be seen in three chapters from the LUshi chunqiu. 1l7 The first of these. the "Junshou" chapter. op(;ns by defining the sage as having the attributes of stillness and lack of knowledge: "Tbe one who obtains the way is n(;cessarily still [jing]. The one who is still is without knowledge. One who knows that he is without knowledge can be spoken to about th(; way of the ruler."llB In reaching this state of sti llness. the ruler obtains the same characteristic that defines H(;aven: "The gr(;at stillness of Heaven, since it is still and also peaceful, can serve as the corrector of all und(;r H eaven." 129 The author thus claims accordance betw(;en the sage and Heaven, and. like the iAozi, devalues knowledge (wi), the very word used in the Kaogongj; to define the sage.

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The Craft of Humanity

The Craft of Humanity Continui ng to d raw a parallel between the characteristics of Heaven and the sage, the author makes a similar point in the following passage: "Therefore, 1 say: H eaven is without form , yet the myriad things are thereby completed. The utmost essence is without image, yet the myriad things are thereby transformed. The great sage does not interfere [wu Ihi], yet the thousand officials fully use [their} abilities." I.}O Just as Heaven's lack of form is that by which the myriad things are completed, so does the lack of imerference on the part of the sage lead the officials to fully use their abilities. The probable source of this characterization of the sage as still and not interfering is the uozi. This probability is increased in light of the faCt that the same chapter takes several lines almost verbatim from the Laozi. A few quO[arions from the Laozi concern ing stillness will show how and why the author worked from this earlier text: If you are clear and still, then you can serve as the corrector of all under Heaven.I'1

I do not consciously act, yet the people are of themselves transformed, I enjoy stillness, yet the people are of themselves corrected. I do not interfere. yet the people of themselves prosper. LJ2

The term zuo is used here in its strong Mohist sense of the conscious creation of CMS and implements. Unlike the primitivist texts, the author here affirms that what these figures created was important : it was appropriate, presumably in the Mohist sense that me creations were helpful to humanity. However, and this is the crucial point for this author, these creawrs were not rulers. In contrast to the creator, who is agitated, the way of the ruler is to accord (yin) and be in balance (ping). As in the texts discussed in this section, creation is divorced from the highest position. The chapter "Renshu" contains a closely parallel passage, focusing on the problem of conscious action (twi ) rather than conscious creativity (zuo): "As for [he kings of antiquity, those things that they consciously did were few, but those things to which they accorded [yin ] were many. According is the technique of the ruler, consciously acting is the way of the m inister. If one consciouslyacrs, then one is agitated.L34 if one adapts then one is still [jing]." I3S The kings of antiquity adapted and were still, while the m inisters acted consciously and were agitated. The " Wugong" chapter follows a similar line of argument, again associating the ruler with stillness: "In general, the ruler resides in evenness [ping] and stillness [)ing] and employs virtue and transformation so as to follow his needs. In this way, he gives fo rm to nature [xing)." L36 The author then turns to the issue of conscious creation:

The LiiJhi chunqiu statements quoted above were probably modeled on these lines from the uozi. However, while the LAozi attributes these characteristics to the sage, the LiiJhi (hun'l;u chapter discusses the characteristics in relation not only to the sage but also to Heaven-a point to which I will return. With this as his frame, the "Junshou" chapter then turns to the issue of creation: Xi Zhong created [zuo) the chariot, Cang Jie created characters, Hou Ji created agriculture, Gao Tao created punishments. Kun Wu created pottery, Xia Xuan created walls. That which these six men created was appropriate. However, this is nO[ the way of the leader. Therefore I say: Those who create are agitated [you ~]j those who accord (yin ~ ] are in balance [ping ::ijZ ]. It is this way of the ruler that obtai ns the fundamentals of fa te. 133

Oa Nao created the jil12i [system], Qian Ru created [the practice of) capturing heads, Ro ng Cheng created the calendar, Xi He created the prognostication of days, Shang Yi created the prognostication of months. Hou Yi created the prognostication of years, Hu Cao created clothes. Vi Yi created the bow, Zhu Rong created markets. Vi Oi created wine. Gao Yuan created houses, Yu Xu created boats, Bo Yi created wells, C hi Ji created bowls, Sheng Ya created charioteering, Han Ai created the d riving of chariots, Wang Bing created the domestication of oxen, Shi H uang created maps, Wu Peng created [the art of] healing. and Wu Xian created milfoil divination. These twenty officials were the means by which the sages governed all under H eaven. The sage ki ngs were not able to perform the activities of these twenty officia ls. However, they caused the twenty officials to use fully their

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The Craft of Humanity skillfulness and bring to completion their abilities. This is why the sage kings were above.\}7 Once again, creation is nO[ the way of the sage. And once again, the sage is above precisely because he is able ro use those who do create. C learly, the author or authors of these three chapters have concerns direcdy comparable to those seen in the other texts discussed in this section: concerns with defining the sage: as being in accord with the natural world. and hencewim claiming that, insofar as conscious aC[5 of creation are apart from the namral wo rld, sages do not create. Nonetheless, the authors want to account fo r, and even support, such acts of creation, and they do so by ascribing the acts ro min· isters. And in order to argue that such acts did not disrupt the natural order, the authors rework the cosmology of the time [0 make such acts acceptable. This latter point deserves elaboration. fu; I noted in discussing the "Yueji," the dominant cosmology in {he late Warring States period associated H eaven with the auribute of zuo, used in the intransitive sense of "activity," and Earth with jing, "stillness." The author of the "Yueji" utilized this cosmology in the attempt to reinterpret the mean· ing of sagely acts of zuo: sages zuo, used in the sense of "make arise," just as Heaven zuos. In contrast, these Lwhi chunqiu chapters reverse the dominant cosmology: they associate Heaven with stillness (jing) and then ascribe this attribute ro the sage as well. The lower position in the hierarchy is then gr.uned [he anribute of zuo, here used in the strong Mohist sense of conscious creation. And here we can return to the issue of how the three chapters from the Lwhi chunqiu use the Laozi. As I have noted, the three chapters consistently used Laozian language to describe the sage. However, we should not forget the conu~xt in which these: statements were made in the Laozi. When the Laozi emphasized the importance ofstillness (jing) it did so as one of a series of reversals of widely accepted oppositions: "The female constantly uses stillness [jing] ro overcome the male. Using stillness, she is below."ua The lAozi associates stillness with femininity and with the position of being below; by celebrating these the author intended to reverse accepted d ualisms. The Laozi, in other words, was written as a celebration of the feminine, characteristics of which were stillness, lack of interference. and lack of knowledge, at the expense of the masculine.

The Craft of Humanity When those late Warring States authors influenced by me Laozi attempted to use Laoz.ian terminology within a cosmological framework, they also tended to favo r the lower position, but nonetheless continued to see it as lower. A dear example can be seen in Chmg, another of the four texts appended to the Mawangdui Laoz.i B: "Heaven is yang and Earth yin . ... Interfering (you shi] is yang. not interfering [wu ,hi) is yin . ... The ruler is yang, the m inister yin. ... Male is yang. [female yin]." 139 Heaven and the ruler are associated with yang, interference, and masculinity. while Earth and the minister are associated with yin. lack of interference, and femininity. Both sides of the dualism are, by definition, necessary for the continuation of the generative process: All of the yang are modeled on H eaven. Heaven values correcmess; transgressing correctness is called treacherousness. [Four graphs missing] offered and then reversed. All of the yin are modeled on Earth. The virtue of Earth is peaceful, slow, correct, and still [jing]. The soft measure is determined first, being good at giving and not struggling. This is the standard of Earth and [he measure of the female. 14o The author of Chmggranrs priority to the female side of the dualism, but none ~ theless maintains the more common cosmology. In conuast, the authors of the three Lwhi chunqiu chapters reverse the entire cosmology and associate the favored attributes with Heaven and the ruler: they associate Heaven and the ruler. not Earth and the minister. with stillness and a lack of interference (wu shi). They interpret the distinction between jing and zuo as a division between stillness and conscious creativiry (rather than simply stiUness and activiry), and unlike the numerous texts derived from Confucian and Mohist concerns, they contend that it is the ministers, not tbe rulers. who zuo in this sense. They thus define the sage as having me various attributes granted (he Laozian sage, and the minister as consciously creating cultural im~ plemenrs. Thus. the three Lwhi chunqiu chapters make the same argument found in (ll her texts influenced by the Laozi, namely rhat conscious acts of creation cannot be ascribed to sages. But instead of then taking an oppositional stance toward acts of creation, these Lush; chunqill chapters employ the same vocabulary as the Laozi and related texts to make the opposite claim: by ascribing the creation of culture [0 ministers, they are able to divorce such acts of conscious

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The Craft of Humanity creation from the sage himself while still asserting that they were made under the sage's supervision and hencc are still acceptable. This Laozian framework, in which the sage, though srill, milizes figures who are active, is used to assert the primacy of the generarive nature of the cosmos while retaining the notion of conscious creation. l il Th~ Act

of Cmztion as Root~d in the NaturaL Process:

The Xici Thus far, I have discussed a number ofattempts in the third century 'S.c. to deal with the problem of creation while preserving the view that culture is related to nature (in generative, processual terms). Xunzi accomplished this by rooting the emergence of culture in the faculties generated from Heaven; the "Yueji" by redefining the term zuo to emphasize the degree to which sages were simply emulatOrs of nature, not creators of artifice; and the three Lushi chunqiu chapters by divorcing acts of creation from the sages. Another work of this period, the Xici, or "Da Zhuan" ("Great Appendix") to the Ytjing,H2 also attempted to articulate a view of culture as related to the movement of the cosmos. The author of this text, however, not only wants to maintain the view that culture was a conscious creation of the sages, bur also wishes to embrace t he Mohisr claim that what the sages created were the arts and crafts of humanity. Instead, then, of divorcing notions of creation from his view of culture or from his definition of the sage, he, like the author of the "Yueji," attemprs ro redefine the notion of creation itself. To [face how he does this, it will be helpful first to discuss the author's view of the relationship between nature and culture. The general cosmology presented by the author of the Xid is a variant of [he one common at the time. He describes the basic components of the universe as pairs of opposites (H eaven and Earth, hardness and softness, yang and yin), and the changes as a consequence of the mating of the two. H e then presents the changes in the hexagram lines of the divination text known as the Yi as mirroring the changes that occur in rhe natural world. He thus portrays the text as a microcosm of the processual changes of the universe itself.i H For ou r purposes, the most important aspect of the Kid involves the explanation of how the sages created the Yi : the sages were able to map the changes of the natural world by patterning themselves on the generative processes of nature.

The Craft of Humanity Therefore Heaven and Earth generated the spiritual things; the sages patterned themselves on them. Heaven and Earth changed and transformed ; the sages imitated them. Heaven hung down the images and revealed auspiciousness and inauspiciousness; the sages represented them. The H e produced the map, the Lo produced the writing; the sages patterned themselves on them. H4 The author describes the sages in purely passive terms: they did nothing bm imitate and pattern themselves on what the natural processes had generated. The author was dearly influenced by the numerous texts discussed above, wherein the sages are called upon to replicate the patterns of the differentiated world. The fullest explanation of this act of replication is given in the discussion of the invention of the trigrams by the sage Baoxi. The author pOrtrays the sage as creating the trigrams after looking at the images in Heaven, the models on Earth, and the patterns of the birds and beasts: In ancient rimes Baoxi [i.e., Fuxi] was the king of all under Heaven. Looking up he observed the images in Heaven, and looking down he observed the models on Earth. He observed the patterns [wen] of the birds and beasts and the proper order of [he Earth .... He thereupon first created [zuol the eight trigrams in order to penetrate the potency of the spiritual clarity [shenmingl and in order to categorize the fundam entals (qing] of the myriad things.145 Baoxi creates (zuo) the eight trigrams based upon his observation of the patterns (wm) of nature. This is a view reminiscent of the one found in vague fo rm in the Lunyu, wherein Yao was portrayed as having imitated the patterns of Heaven. It is also dearly a rejection of the many late Warring States texts that argue that acts of zuo are inherently transgressive of the spontaneity of nature. By claiming that the sage, in creating the trigrams, has simply repli. cared the parterns he has observed in the natural world, the author denies the connotations of artifice that the term zuo had acquired by this time. Here, (he act of zuo does nor involve conscious creation at all: once the sage has ob· served the patterns and models of nature, he simply lifts out those patterns (Q rorm the trigrams. Conscious manu facturing, therefore, is not involved in the

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The Crafr of Humanity act; indeed, there is nothing here that would contradict the statemenrs made earlier in the text to the effect that the sages ought only pattern themselves on nature. The usc of the term zuo in the Xici thus seems related to the aHempt by the author of the "Yueji" to employ zuo with a sense of "make arise" : in both texts. the an of ZUQ is simply a process of imitating the patterns of the natural world. However, the author of the Xici wishes to take one additional Step in this debate, namely to accounr for the Mohist claim that sages created the crafts and arts of humanity. In other words, he wants to maintain the view of cul~ ture as something that is created while still claiming that this model does not entail a separation beMeen humanity and a natural world of SpOntaneous processes. He does this bydaiming that sages created (zuo) or made (wei) cultural implements and artS only after they were inspired to do so by the lines in a hexagram. Baoxi, for example, was inspired by the image of the hexagram Li to envision that meshes and woven rope could be used to make nets: ~ He [BaoxiJ created [zuo] the knotting of rope and made (wei] nets and snares for hunting and fishing. Now, he took this from the hexagram Li." 146 The sage thus, in a sense, lifted the pattern out of the hexagram to create a net. The author next rums ro the sage Shennong, who likewise took from hexagrams: Baoxi died, and Shennong arose. He carved wood to make [wd J a ploughshare, and bent wood to make [wei] the plough handle. The benefits of ploughing and weeding were thereby taught to all under Heaven. He took this from the hexagram Yi. W ith the sun at midday he made [wei ] markets and caused all of the people under H eaven to assemble all of the goods under Heaven. They bartered and exchanged, and everything found a place. He took this from the hexagram Shi H e.l4 7 When Shennong died, according to the author, Huangdi, Yao, and Shun arose: They hollowed out trees to make boats and sharpened wood ro make oars. The benefit of boats and oars was that they [Huangdi, Yao, and Shun] could thereby cross to what was before out of communication. They could reach distant areas and thereby benefit all under Heaven.

The Craft of Humanity They took this from the hexagram Huan. They tamed oxen and yoked horses. Carrying heavy loads, they reached distant places and thereby benefited all under Heaven. They took this from the hexagram SUi.148 The author then discusses the creation of heavy gates and ringing bells (for defense), pestles and mortars, bows and arrows, palaces and houses. inner and outer coffins, and writing. Thus, the sages' acts of creating (zuo) and making (wei) implements simply involved lifting out the pattern implicit in the hexagrams. The transgressive implications of such acts have been strongly limited. The hexagrams were inspired by the panerns of nature, and the cuhural implements were inspired by the hexagrams; the sages' institution of cuhure through this process therefore at no point entailed the introduction of artifice or arbitrariness. Each stage of the process simply involved lifting the pattern from the previous stage, a process that can be traced back ultimately to the patterns of the natural world itself. By systematically rooting the invention of implements in the natural world, the author is able to claim that the sages created human culture without breaking from nature. Whereas various passages in texts ranging from the Zhuangzi ro the Liishi chunqiu held that the act of zuo enrailed a potential transgression against the spontaneous processes of nature, the author of the Xici has defined the act such that no discontinuity from the natural world is implied. Like the three Liishi chunqiu chapters discussed above, the Xici was written in order to posit a generative notion of the natural world while still maintaining an approval of the creation of culrural implements. Unlike the Lfishi chunqiu chapters discussed here, though, the Xici has maintained the claim that the au~ thors of such implements were sages, not ministers, and has denied any aspect of arbitrariness in the creation of these implements. The author of the Xici pulls together into one system the various strands of the debate that had covered the previous three centuries: yes, he argues, cuirure is defined by craft, and such crafts are creations of the sages, but the process of creating crafts is fully based on the patterns of the natwai world. The act of creation is simply a process of raising up what was implicit in the patterns and bringing it into the realm of humanity. The solution propounded by the 'lUthor is thus a syncretistic merging of arguments from a number of diverse sou rces, including both early Confucian clai ms of how the sages' formation of

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The Craft of Humaniry culture was based on replicating the patterns of the natural world and Mohist claims mat sages created the crafts and artS of humaniry.

Conclusion The debate concerning the defin itions of nature and culrure was surely complex, particularly concerning the problem of whether culture is a creation of man. Much of the debate can be characterized as an extended attempt to deal with the problem of continuiry and discontinuiry. The Western Zhou model discussed in Chapter I, which Confucius and the MohistS used in differ~nr ways. was based on building chains of descenr (both Iinc.aLaml p~ra4!gm atic) Stretching back, for the kin at least, to H eaven itself. Heaven was presemed as an acti"~ power constructing the landscape and the state, and kings were posed as simply continuing, on a lesser scale, the work begun by Heaven. The model thus denied any moment of disco'}rinuiry in the emergence of the Zhou state: both the kings themselves and their actions could ~ traced in chains reaching back to Heaven itself. As soon as any aspect of this model was changed, however, be it by redefining kingship or Heaven, the lines of conrinuiry could no longer ~ easily maintained. The first hin ts of this became clear as early as Confucius. although Confucius himself had little interest in pursuing the philosophical implications of the point. The Mohists, perhaps realizing the implications of Confucius's arguments here even better than did Confucius himsdf, pushed strongly for maintaining the earlier vision of continuity between Heaven and the kings in creative action, and argued repeatedly that the act of creation should be seen as value-neutral, not as inherently negative. Nonetheless, history was not on the side of the Mohists. A series of thinkers as different as Mencius and Laozi attempted to rebuild the lines of continuiry on purelyJiIKaI.....gene@fu terms, and as a consequence, the ~t of creati~came to be seen as inherencl disruptive of such relations. Much of the debate from roughly 270 B.C. on can be seen as an attempt to deal with the consequent problem of creation while maintaining this view of narure as a spontaneous, generative process. In other words, once nature came to be defined as spontaneous, then, in order to maintain the chains of conti-

nwry, culture also had to be seen as uncreated, or, if it was posed as created, then acts cifcreation had to be accounted for in some elaborate way. The alternatives to such elaborate justifications of culture were simply to reject culture altogether or simply drop nature from the framework. The pattern here reveals the basic problem: one could nOt support both a strong norion of creation and a strong notion of nature as a self-generating, spontaneous process. Either nature had to be dropped out of the discussion or creation had ro be accoumed for through some method - by claiming that culture was not in fact created, by divorcing the act of creation from the sages, or by redefining the act of creation itself. Even Xunzi, who kept his distance from much of the cosmological concerns expressed in the other texts just discussed. took great pains to show that. although culture was distinct fro m the spontaneous world of nature, there was nonetheless a hidden teleology wherein the culture generated by the sages fu lfilled the normative order of H eaven. Bur all of the solutions were responses to the claim that creation was potentially an act of discontinuity from, jf not a fuB transgression against, the natural world. Some o'f the statements by authors discussed in the Introduction concerning the comparison (or contrast) of early Chinese civilization with that of early G reece may thus need revising. The:: early C hinese authors analyzed in this chapler were deeply concerned with the relationship between nature and culture, and they were deeply concerned that there was potentially a strong discontinuiry between the two. The intcrest among early Chinese authors in emphasizing continuity should thus be understood not as assumptions but as

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responses to such concerns.

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C HAPTER

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels: Narratives of the Emergence of the State

Having traced the Warring States debates over the creation of culture, I now turn to the narratives written during this period concerni~g the creation of the state. The history of the constru'roon ofthe.s~ives is d-;6ned by the dev"eloping states of the time, states devoted to centralization, strong legal structures, and a large-scale mobilization of peasants for the sake of war. One of the central means by which figures of the time debated the legiti macy of these states was through narratives of the initial rise of the state in the distant past. The vocabulary concerning creation was also employed in these narratives, and thus many of the issues discussed in the preceding chapter provide important background to these works. The following brief discussion of some of the secondary literature on early Chinese mythology will seave as an introduction to the approach used in this chapter.

The Problem of Early C hinese Mythology The subject of mythology in early China has generated much controversy, largely because the narratives (hat survive from the Warring States and early Han periods are frequently shorr and contradictory. As Derk Bodde has stated, in ancienr C hina there is "not a systematic mythology, meaning by this an integrated body of mythological materials. On the contrary, these materials are

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels usually so fragmentary and episodic that even the reconstruction from them of individual myths-let 'alone an integrated system of myths- is exce<:dingly difficult." I One of the earliest and more extensive attempts (0 solve this perceived problem was undertaken by Henri Maspero in his article, "Ugendes mythologiques dans Ie Chou king." According to Maspero, many of the chapters of the Shujing represent an attempt by Warring States authors to present traditional myths in a humanized, rationalized form. Gods were thus transformed into virtuous sages, and myths into history. Maspero's aim was to recover the mythology fro m which me authors of the Shujing chapters were working, a recovery be anempred by using some of the more fantastic narratives that appear in much later texts, such as the Shanhaijing. Maspero assumed, in other words, that there must have existed a body of early myth that can be reconstructed by taking specific statements in Warring States and H an works out of context, ignoring elements he deemed too rationalistic, and highlighting elements he deemed more fantastic. A somewhat comparable attempt to use narratives from the Warring States and later to discuss an earlier period of C hinese history was made by Marcel Granet. However, his concern was nOt so much to recover a loS{ mythology as it was to gain an understanding of the earlier social and ritual systems from which the myths, Granet believed, developed. His major works in [his regard, Da1U~ ~t ligmtks tk fa Chjn~ ancjenn~ and La rivili.sl1tion chinoiu, involved an attempt to understand the development of prehistoric Chinese society through a study of later mythical narratives.1 Despite their d.iffer~ces, then, Graner shared with MaspefO a desire to usc later narratives to explore farearl ier, indeed largely prehistoric, phenomena. Similar concerns about mythology can be seen in the roughly contemporaneous work undertaken by Gu Jiegang and his followers.' One ofGu Jiegang's projects was to demonstrate that the earliest figures of Chinese: history, such as Huangdi, were in fact mythological. His argument involved twO separate claims. The first and most often celebrated of these claims was that me earliest figures of C hinese history appear only in relatively late texts. In the earliest .m ara of texts analyzed by Gu, namely the Shi, Yu is the most ancient figure mentioned. Later texts, such as the Anaucts and the early portions of the Mozi, refer to Yao and Shun as the earliest sages.~ Huangdi, who was claimed to pre-

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Reb~ls

dat~ Yao and Shun , first appears

in t~xts from th~ late Warring States.5 ln short. th~ lat~r th~ text, th~ older w~r~ th~ sages ponrayed th~rein. To d~monstrat~ this, Gu and his followers undertook a careful study of t h~ dates of ~arly t~xts and tried to trace the historical development of th~ figures mentioned in the narratives. Their wdl·known conclusion was that th~ revered sages ofearly C hi· nese antiquity were in alllikclihood the inventions of authors from the Warring States and H an periods. The second claim that Gu and his follow~rs made. although not as well known as the first, nonetheless had more influence on the study of early C hi· nesc narrative. This second claim involved the a[[~mpt to demonstrate that the source of these early "sages" was oral mythology - in other words. thai figures like H uangdi, before being posited in the late Warring States as early human sages, were gods in oral myth. This argument was pursued in particular by Yang Kuan, who a nempt~d to reconStruct the earlier myths from which the Warring States and Han authors worked.6 I emphasize this second claim for a specific reason. The Gmhibian essays are often referred to in scholarly ci rcles as the first historical a[[empt to provide a careful chronology of early texts, and are often contrasted [0 the anthropological work of Maspero and Graner. In fact. however, Gu Jiegang and his followers used a research approach comparable to that of Maspero and Graner: both used anthropological and mythological models of the day to reconstruct an earlier. Bronze Age mythology out of the narratives given in Warring States and Han texts. This emphasis on mythological reconstruction continues throughout twentieth-century scholarship on early C hinese narratives. A perfect example is Bernhard Karlgren's essay. "ugends and C ults in Ancient C hina." The essay is ostensibly a careful historical analysis written in opposition to the anthropological speculations found in the work of Maspero and others? Karlgren arranges his essay topically around certain figures and then attempts to trace the development of each figure by dating every version of the germane narratives. H is essay remains one of the more careful and comprehensive studies of the chronology of early Chinese narratives in Western scholarship. When it comes [0 providing explanations for the faCt that so many of the versions of a given n a rra tiv~ are mutually contradictory, however, Karlgren falls back on the same notion of myth that he is attacking. He bases his discussion

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels on a distinction between "ancient traditions" B and the narratives individual authors wrote for their own purposes. He argues that fragments of the ancient Chinese mythological tradition can be found in what he calls "free texts" - that is, Warring States texts like the Mozi, in which the author would. ro pasione. record the ancient myths. Karlgren Contrasts such works with what he calls "systematizing texts" - like the Liishi chunqiu, Lij'i, Zhou/i, Shibro, and Shiji. In these, he claims, the authors rewrOte the myths in order to plac~ them into their own systems of organization.' Consequendy, a1though Karlgren strongly supports a historical approach to these texts, his argument about the differing nature of the works nonetheless leads to a bifurcation in his analysis. Making a distinction between authentic mythology and individual fancy, he treats the narratives in the "free" texts as records of an ancient mythological tradition, bur dismisses the narratives in the "systematizing" texts as simply idiosyncratic inventions of individual authors. To be sure, Karlgren's conclusions differ greatly from those of Maspero: the very Han texts that Maspero would see as promising the best d ues for reconstructing early Chinese myth are the ones that Karlgren rejecrs as the most removed from the authentic oral myths of early China. But the two scholars make the same assumption: the differing and contradictory narratives of Warring States and Han texts can best be explained by defining only certain porlions of the extant corpus as representing an authentic tradition of mythology, and dismissing the other portions as a corruption (due either to rationalization or to individual fancy) of thai authentic tradition. The concern for reconstruction has also guided the work of Yuan Ke. perhaps the leading living scholar of Chinese mythology. He has explicated the concerns and methodologie..;] assumptions [hat have defined much of his life project: For a long time people have admired the mythologies of ancient Greece and Rome and Northern Europe for their rich variety and beauty of form and contell[. At the sanu: time, they have thought that C hina had a dearth of myth. or they even considered that C hina was a nation that had no myths at all. This is a profound mistake. There is. in fact, a treasure trove of ancient C hinese myths, and they arc so extraordinary, so magnific~nt , and so full of imaginative power that they stir the human soul to irs very depths. ln

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels ~~arness of.fhiQese mythEas not been rcc~d, Yuan claims, because of the way that it has been handed down to us. The myths were "preselVed and kept alive through oral traditions," LL traditions, of course, to which we no longer have access. Accordingly, what we possess consists entirely of the bits and pieces that Warring States authors quoted in their texts. Only much later, Yuan believes, were the myths written down as such: "In the Chinese case, myths at first appeared in a piecemeal fashion, in a variety of versions, fragmented and truncated, and were collated as mythological material only fairly late, if at a11."ll Nonetheless, Yuan argues, it is in a sense an advantage that authors in the Warring States period only mentioned the myths in passing:

In their very diversity, in their sprawling, disorganized confusion, the myths have been used by a great many different authors. Significantly, they have been used piecemeal, and sO they have nOt suffered a complete reworking at the hands of literary authors and others .... It is possiblc to argue that by an accident of history, Chinese myths remain in a morc or less pristine condition compared with mythological texts of the Greco-Roman and Judaic traditions. One may further conclude that for this reason Chinese myths, despite their protean and contradictory forms, are mote reliable documentary evidence of a primitive and archaic oral tradition in the world of myrh. 13 Yuan has devoted his career to recovering this lost mythological tradition thtough a thorough synthesis of all existing stories. Much of his work has involved isolating different themes, such as the battle between Huangdi and Chi You, and, by collating all of the materials that rcfer to that theme, trying to reconstruct the myth from which the author of each text was working. 14 Clearly, then, reconstruction has dominated much of the scholarship on early Chinese narratives. Despite their numerous differences, all of the approaches discussed thus far involve the assumption that the narratives given in Warring States texts can best be explicated through reference to some more distant mythological tradition, a tradition that is lost but can be reconstructed, or at least inferred, from the narratives themselves. Considering the dominance of such an assumption, it is perhaps worthwhile to pause occasionally and question its adequacy. On the one hand . there is nothing wrong with hypothesiZing about the earlier history of a figure that

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels appears in Warring States narratives : many of these characters may indeed have been gods, and archaeological finds may someday show. for example, that Yang Kuan's reconstructions were correcr. But to use such reconsrructions as an explanatory principle for analyzing the Warring States narratives is dangerous. The author of each text provided a particular version of a narrative for a specific reason, and any reader of these narratives, even one whose sole interest lies in reconstruction, has to ask why the author, in this particular context, chose this particular narrative. Even if an author were working from an oral mythological tradition, his version of the myth would reRect the concerns and interests of his period, with the result that his writings would bear litde resemblance to that oral rradition. To illustrate the dangers inherent in the approaches discussed thus far, let me brieRy return to Yang Kuan, who utilizes the notion that characters in Warring States narratives can be traced back to earlier gods not only as the beginning of his histOrical reconstruction but also as an explanatory principle for understanding the later Warring States versions. For example. he claims that the reason so many stories concerning creation were wrinen about Huangdi and his ministers is that Huangdi is simply a humanized version of Shangdi, the god on high. Since, Yang argues, the god on high was seen in the Bronze Age as a creator god, so in the Warring States narratives are Huangdi and his ministers associated with creation. l~ There are several problems with Yang Kuan's view. First, even if it were true that Huangdi was a humanized Shangdi,16 this would nOt explain why Warring States authors would focus on notions of creation in their narratives about him. Second, his theory cannot explain why there exist so many differing versions of creation: why is it, for example, that in some narratives aC[$ of creation arc ascribed to Huangdi, while in others they are ascribed to ministers or rebels? This problem is of some importance, for many of the narratives that appear in the Warring States period are retellings of a limited number of stories, and much of their significance lies in discovering why particular characters are employed :lI1d why panicular actions are attributed to {hem. I would also voice concerns about Karlgren's use of the distinction between "free" and "systematizing" texts to distinguish authentic mythology from individual fancy. It is nor at all clear that a distinction between "free" and "systematizing" texts can be made or that a different hermeneutic ought ro be applied

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels to the texts. In both cases, the amhors provide specific narratives for particular purposes, and the au empt to define the narratives according to whether they refle<::t a putative relationship or lack thereof with some SOrt of ancient mythological tradition s«:ms doomed to failure. Therefore, instead of searching for some authentic, or earlier, mythology, the goal should bt= to understand why, in each case, a particular narrative, or a particular version of a more common narrative, is given. Also problematic is Yuan Ke's commitment to reconstruction, which leads him to provide decontexrualiz.ed readings of narratives. For example, in his work o n Huangdi he isolates all of the relevant stories given in numerous late Warring States and Han texts ; then, having taken them our of their contexts. he uies to reconstruct the myth underlying the different versions. There is nothing inherently wrong with hypothesiz.ing about earlier versions of a given narrative, but to do so after taking the narratives from their contexts risks a severe misreading of those narratives and thus renders dubious any reconstruction that could be made from them. Ir is, I suspect, with concerns such as these in mind that Charles Le Blanc and Jan Ylin-hua have written about early Chinese mythology by simply analyzing the versions themselves, without referring to a purported oral tradition. 17 Their studies are particularly relevant to the current analysis insofar as both focus on Huangdi. They analyze the way that Huangdi is presented in Warring States texts and resrrict the analysis to such prcscntations. Le Blanc. for example, opposes providing a "historical reconsuuction of the myth of Huang 1i [Huangdi]" and aims instead to "organize the various sayings about Huang 11 and of Huang 1i according to affinitive categories or themes. and to see whether a structure o r pan ern might nO[ emerge from this o rdering." He thus categorizes many of the seemingly endless statements made abom Huangdi into such ",hemes'" as "teacher of civilized institutions'" and "master of esoteric arts and doctrines," and he concludes that the myth of Huangdi can best be understood by analyz.ing the symbolic suucrure that emerges from these statements themselves. rather than by trying to posit some oral myth from which Warring States authors derived their statements. Accordingly, he searches for the "unified meaning of the Huang Ti myth"18 in the symbolism of Huangdi himself:

l'be ultimate symbolism of Huang Ti wo uld thus appear to be the assertion that the world of man and sociery abides by the same rules as [he world of nature and is structured by the same principles ... . In [his sense. the structural dements of the myth of Huang 1i reveaJ perhaps more importantly a deep level of human consciousness than an archaic Stratum of unrecorded lo re.1' Although I fu lly agree with Le Blanc's endeavo r to shift attention away from some purported mythological tradition and to the narratives themselves, I nonetheless question his method of analysis. Le Blanc tends to lose sight of the aspect that Yang Kuan and Karlgren illuminated so well, namely the historical development of the narratives. Le Blanc's search for some symbolism bt=hind the figure "Huangdi" is also questionable: considering that different authors utilized Huangdi in radically different ways, it is unclear that the figure has an "ultimate symbolism." Although Le Blanc's formu lation accounts for the way that somc authors utilized the figure , it does no t account for all, or even most, of thc texts that discuss him . Above all, Le Blanc's noncontextual reading of these narratives is problematic. Each narrative was constructed within a larger text for a specific reason; in each case the analyst needs to discover and consider the tensions and concerns that motivated its construction. Fortunately. Mark Edward Lewis has attempted to do JUSt that- to root the production of these narratives historically. In the fifth chapter of his fascinating Sanction~d Vioknc~ in Early China. a chapter devoted to the narratives concerning Huangdi and C hi You, Lewis interprets the stories as "charter myths" for the rising centralized states of the Warring States and Han periods and thus reads them within their historical context?O I found Lewis's analysis invaluable for developing my own argument, and I frequ ently refer to his insights. Here. however. I must mention one point of disagreement with his methodology. namely. that he too attempts to reconstruct a single myth concerning Huangdi :lIld C hi You. Unlike some of the other scholars I have mentioned, Lewis does locate such a reconstructed myth in the Warring States period, and as a result he provides a far more convincing reading of the narratives than appears in other interpretations. Nonetheless, because he an empts such a reconstruct ion he misinterprets some of the texts and fail s to recognize the complexiry some of the tensions he himself has noticed.

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels Lewis's primary interest lies in those narratives that present Chi You as the creator of weapons and Huangdi as the civilizing sage. Unfortunately, however, Lewis, like Yang Kuan, not only argues that the Huangdi-Chi You myth was based on earlier traditions but also uses such rcconsrrucrions to explicate many of the features of the srory. For example, in some of the narratives Chi You is described as Huangdi's minister, and in others the two are presented as opponents. Lewis explains the difference by reading the former relationship as based on earlier rituals dating back ro the Shang dynasty: "The origin of Chi You as shaman and votary of the rain god would also account for the mythic doubling of the two figures and for the tradition in various later texts that Chi You was the Yellow Emperor's [Huangdi's] minister."ll In contrast, Lewis argues, it was only during the Warring States period that the figures appeared as rivals, with the sage H uangdi defeating the rebel Chi YouP Thus, the fact that the relationship between Chi You and Huangdi is at times posed in Warring States texts as one between a sage and a minister and at times as a rivalry between a sage and a rebel is accounted for by Lewis nOt as a debate within the Warring States period itself bur as part of the shift from earlier ritual to Warring States myth. Instead, [hen, of simply hypothesizing about possible antecedents to the srory, he uses the reconstruction of earlier rituals as an explanatory principle with which to account for the narrative variations that do nor fit his definition of the basic Warring States myth. While building on the insights of Yang Kuan, Bernhard Karlgren, Charles Le Blanc, and Mark Lewis, I try to avoid using a reconstructed myth about a fi gure, or even a unirying symbolism behind anyone figure, to explain the narratives. like Yang Kuan and Karlgren, I have approached the texts chronologically, but I have selected them by topic, not by the figures utilized: rather than focus ing on all t he texts that, for example, mention Huangdi. I focused instead on the Warring States debates over the origins of the Hate. 1 have then traced the differing narratives in detail in order to idenriry the issues at the heart of the debate. In other words, instead of organizing my analysis around Huangdi and inferring a putative mythological tradition or unified symbolism behind the presentation of the figure, I have turned the question around ro ask why, at a certain time, the authors chose to write about Huangdi and ro characterize him as they did. The resulting analysis. it is hoped, makes it possible to explicate the diversity of the narratives, to explain why certain narratives are

Sages, Ministers. and Rebels reversed, why specific acts are attributed to different fi gures in different texts, and why figures such as Huangdi arc brought into the narratives at all. In short, I argue that the contradictory narratives can be explicated only by analyzing the debates from which theyemerged.13

Narratives of the Origin of the State Th~

Fjrst Stratum of Wtzrring Stat~s Texts

I begin with some of the narratives dating from the earlier part of the Warring States period, from the fourth cenrury B.C. or possibly somewhat earlier. Unlike the later, third-century B.C. texts, which revolve primarily around Huangdi and his ministers and/or adversaries, these early narratives focus on figures such as the Miao, Yu. and Bo Yi-figures who playa minor role (if any at all) in the later narratives. Nonetheless. the narrative Structures of these texts are repeated again and again throughout the works of the third century B.C., a fact that lends support to the conclusion reached in the previous section, namely that efforts at interpretation should be focused less on reconstructing myths of particular figures and more on understanding, first, the differing ways that [he various narratives were structured, and second, the underlying tensions and concerns that led the individual authors to structure them in those ways. THE BARBARIAN-CREATORS: THE "LO XI NG " CHAPTER OF THE SHANGSHU

One of the earliest and mOst influential attempts to deal with the problem of rhe creadon of cC:f(ain aspectS of statecraft is the "Lti xing" chapter of the ShangJhu, which dates from no later than the fourth century B.C. 24 and was written to explain the emergence and correct use of punishments. The author bases the text on the reign of King Mu, who ruled roughly mid-way through the Western Zhou.IS In turning to the subject of the introduction of punishments, the :lUthor raises a set of questions concerning the use of organized violence by the state. 26 The text opens with the king planning to create punishments: "The kings had enjoyed the state for one hundred years?7 Since it was old and declining, Ithe king] planned to create punishments in order to restrain the people of the

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels four quaners."Z8 Punishments are thus immediately presented as necessary (in the sense that rulers must at times turn to them in order to maintain a state in decline), and yet not an ideal form of statecrafc.29 With this as the frame of the story, the author goes on to describe the king as providing a narrative of the origins of disorder and punishments in general: The king said: ''According to the teachings of antiquiry, Chi You was the first to create [zuo] disorder. [Disorder] spread to the peaceful people, and everyone became robbers and thieves -rapacious, villaino us, and traitorous; grabbing, plundering, lying, and killing."3G In other words, disorder is not a namra! condition-the people were originally peaceful; rather, disorder was a creation (zuoJ of Chi You. This is one of the earliest references we possess to this figure, who appears prominendy in thirdccnmry B.C. aCCountS of the origins of the state. Many commentators have attempted to read some of the later motifs about Ch i You as being implied here,31 but I think this is a mistake. The text presents disorder as an outside imposition on an otherwise peaceful populace, and C hi You thus functions as the cause o f disorder: instead of being an inevitable or natura! condition, disorder is described as the creation of an evil figure. The consequence of this creation is that it became necessary for rulers to learn how to control disorder. This was first attempted by a barbarian people called the Miao. The king's narration continues: "The Miao people did not use virtue but instead restrained with punishments. It was they who created the five oppressive punishments and called them the law. ·!1tey killed and slaughtered the innocent and then became the first to enact the excessive cutting off of noses, the cutting off of ears, beatings, and brandings." 32 The creation of punishments is thus ascribed to morally depraved barbarians who acted arbitrarily and excessively, The Miao's actions elicited an intercession of divine power: Those who were oppressed and te rrified and facing execution announced their innocence to the powers above. The god on high surveyed the people, b ut there was no fragrant virtue, and the punishments sent Out a smell that was rank. The august god 33 pitied and felt compassion for those among the multitudes who, though innocent,

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels were facing execution. He requited the oppressors with terror and p ut an end to the Miao people so that they had no descendants.34 The god on high then p roceeded to civilize all under Heaven. The most important part of this process involved domesticating the people, which the god on high commanded three lords to undertake: The august god inquired e1early of the people below. and the widowers and widows made complaints against the Miao. His virtue was majestic. and they were awed; his virtue was illuminating, and they were illuminated. And he thereupon charged th ree lords to p ity and labor on behalf of the people. Bo Yi handed down statutes; for subduing the people there were punishments. Yu put the waters and land in order and managed the naming of mountains and streams. Ji handed dow n and disseminated seeds. and farmed and p lanted the fine grains. When the th ree lords completed their work, there was abundance for the people.3~

As described by the author, the civilizing process was d ivinely inspired, undertaken by sages at the behest of the god himself. The sages. moreover, were reachers and organizers, not creators: two of [he lords are described as "handing Clown" their teachings, and the work of Yu is described as one of "putting in order" and "managing." One of the things handed down is punishment, the very thing so Strongly cri ticized before. The king's narrative continues: "The officers regulated the hundred families o n the correct usage of punishments so as to [each reverence for virtue. Majestic above, illuminated below, shining forth to the four quartcrs, there were none who were nOt virtuously diligent. Therefore they were illuminated about the correct usage of punishments." 36 Having rhus emphasized that the officers used punishments correctly. the king ends h is narrative by calling upon the managers of criminal cases in his own day to emulate rhe path of Bo Yi and avoid the model of the Miao: The king said: ''Ab, you supervisors of government and managers of criminal cases throughout the four quarters, are you nor Heaven's shepherds? Now, what should you follow? Is it not Bo Vi's path of dissemil)ating the punishments? And now what should you take as a

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels warning [of what to avoid]? These Miao people did not look into the applicability of the criminal cases and did nOt select good men to look inro the correct usage of the five punishmenrs. They were the terrifYing ones who snatched bribes and applied the five punishmenrs, thereby bringing chaos to the innocent. The god on high did not pardon them but sent down misfortunes on the Miao. 37 Since the Miao people could offer no excuses, he cut off their later generation s . "'~ The issue, then, is not that the five punishmenrs are inherently oppressive bur that they were incorrecrly used by the Miao. Those now charged with using punishments are referred [0 as the Heavenly shepherds and are urged to emulate Bo Vi. The text concludes with a lengthy statement by the king advising his fo llowers on the proper administration of the punishmenrs. This chapter was, I suspect , written in response to the rise of centralized states, states that could be characterized in part as employing ever more powerful institutions of organized violence. Instead of taking an idealistic stance and opposing such inStitutions altogether (as Mencius would later do), the author acknowledges them while retaining a generally moralized vision. His method of doing so is cast as an allegory of the emergence of punishments, a clear example of the use of organized violence by me state. The story of how punishments had to be instituted when the Western Zhou dynasty started declining, with an embedded narrative concerning the initial creation of punishments in the distant past, thus provides the author wi[h a way of discussing, indirecrly, the growth of the states of his own day. Throughout, punishments are presented as a lesser form of statecraft, but one that is at times necessary. This point is made clear in the opening frame of the story, and even more sharply in me ensuing narrative ascribed to the king. The narrative is defined throughom by a clear moral tone: proper order is gained only through acts of organization undertaken by sages working under the charge of the god on high. The goal of the narrative is to divorce both the rise of disorder and the original establishment of punishments from this moral order. Both are described as outside impositions, created by a rebel and a barbarian people respectively, and both predate the coming of the sages. Thus, neither the people of the central states in general nor the sages in particular are respDnsible fDr the emergence of diso rder Df for the introduction of punish-

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels ments. The sages appear only later and are described as properly employing the punishmenrs created by the Miao so as to bring order to human ity. The author thus resolves the moral problem concerning the use Df violence by the state through a diachronic model: sages simply appropriated and used correctly the violence that had been created before their arrival. Overall, the author seems resigned to the nDtiDn that, at the time of writing, rulers were instituting organized systems of violence. For him, this is clearly not an ideal state of affairs. Nonetheless he argues that, as IDng as they do so from a moral point of view, true sages can, if necessary. emplDY systems of organized violence to maintain order. Tb.is diachronic model had a profound influence over the next few cenruries, as versiDns of it were constantly formulated and reformulated. THE SAC ELY CREATORS: THE MOZ I

The stDry of the creation of punishments is told with different emphases in the earliest chapters of the Mozi. For example, the "Shangtong, shang," chapter 11, contains the following statement: "TherefDre the master Mori said: ' In ancient times the sage kings made the five punishments.' " 39 Here, the author ascribes the making of punishments nOt to the Miao bur to the sage kings of the past. This point is fleshed out in chapter 12: 40 The people under Heaven now ask: "At the present time,41 the rulers of all under Heaven have not been deposed, but then why is all under Heaven in disorder?" The master Mozi said: ''At the present time, those who are taken as rulers are fundamental ly different from the ancients. Take, for example, the Miao ruler's use of the five punishments. In ancient times the sage kings fDrmed and made the five punishments so as [Q put all under Heaven in order. When it came tD his own time, the Miao ruler formed the five punishments so as to bring disorder to all under Heaven. If this is the case, how can it be that the punishments are bad? It was how they used the punishments that was bad. This is why a book of the former kings, the 'Lo xing,' states: 'The Miao peDple did not train [the people]; they humbled and punished them. They only created the punishments of five executions and called them the

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels law.' This is to say that those who employ punishments well use them to put the people in order; those who employ punishments poorly use them as the five executions. If this is the case, how can it be that the punishmems are bad? It was how they used the punishments that was bad.""z The outline of the narrative given here is explicitly telated to the " Lil xing." As in the "Lil xing," the smry turns on the correct and incorrect use of pun~ ishments by the sage kings of the past and the Miao, respectively. However, the author has reversed the "Lil xing" narrative: here, it is [he sage kings who first make punishmems and [he Miao who appropriate and use them incorrectly. The Miao's creation was not of punishments in general, but of the five fo rms of execution, a creation that the author later poses as a consequence of the incorrect use of the punishments by the sages. This reversal betokens a larger claim on the author's part. The "Lil xing" narrative was s[fuctured around the problem of the creation of punishments. Assigning the creation of punishments to the Miao served to dissociate the act from the sages: since punishments were granted a secondary place, the sages could be presemed as simply using correctly what neither they nor the divine powers had created. With the Mozi passage, however, the normative criteria have shifted: neither punishmems nor the act of creation is inherently negative. As discussed in Chapter 2, the argumen t that runs consistently throughout the Mozi chapters is that creation is value~neu t ral; the basic criterion is use. Accordingly, the author sees no reason to utilize the Miao as a means of divorcing the act of creation from the sages. Instead, the Miao are posed simply as an example of how things created by me sages can be used incorrectly. As with the "Lil xing," the question of correct usage is rooted directly in the politics of the time. Although the Mohists were highly critical of the rulers of their time, they did not reject the cemralizing policies of the rising States. Whereas the author of the "Lil xing" had some reservations about the use of punishments even though he was resigned to them, the Mohists deny the claim that pun ishments are in themselves problematic. For the Mohisrs, the problem is not organi7.ed violence per se, but how such violence is used. This acceptance of violence if properly used is also dear in another chapter from the Mozi, which discusses the creation of weapons. Although when and

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels how weapons were created is not discussed in the "Lil xing," the topic became important for later authors confronting the problem of the use of organized violence by the state and is therefore worth mentioning here. The following is from the "Jieyong, shang" chapter: 43 What is the purpose of making armor, shields, and the five weapons? It is done in order to restrain robbcrs, disorderly elements, bandits, and thieves. If there are such things, those with armor, shields, and the five weapons will win; rhose without will not. This is the reason that the sages created [zuoweil armor, shields, and the five weapons.(( The author of the "Lu xing" justified the use of violence ro counteract violence through a lengthy narrative in which the creation of punishments was ascribed to barbarians and the correct use of punishments was tied to divine legitimacy; the author here, in COntrast, simply states that it is acceptable for the State to uscviolcnce ro control disorder. He thus ascribes the creation of wcapons to the sages, an act that shows his refusal to see weapons as in themselves problematic. Overall, the Mohist chapters discussed here reveal a far greater acceptance of the institutions of the rising centralized states of the time than was seen in the "Lil xing." Although the authors here, like the author of the "Lil xing," wish ro hold our a standard of morality by which to judge the use of such institu~ tions, there is no belief thar the creation of the institutions in itself conRiets with the work of the sages. Accordingly, the device of ascribing acts of creation TO rebel~crearors is dropped from the narrative. TH E SAGELY

ORGANIZERS:~CJq.s ,;> ~''::',:,,--.

If the Mohist discussions were written as an attempt to erase the negative con~ notations of punishments seen in the "Lil xing," Mencius attempts to construct narratives from the opposite intellectual and political perspective. As discussed in the previous chapters, whereas the Mohisrs fully accepted the notion that the sages created culture in general and the institutions of statecraft in par~ ticular, Mencius wishes to root the moral order within a natural, generative process. Even the attempt by the author of the "Lil xing" to bring in disorder :lIld pun ishments through negative figures would have no interest for Mencius. Disorder for Mencius is simply the result of a failure to cultivatc correctly one's givcn nature. Moreover, unlike either the author of the "Lil xing" or the Mohist

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Sages, Mininers, and Rebels chapters, Mencius strongly opposes many of the institutions of the rising centralized states of the time and calls for a return 10 the rituals of the Zhou, which he defines in purely moralized terms. Thus Mencius begins his narrative at the point when the sages begin organizing the world and educating the people; he has no interest in positing an earlier period wherein problematic creations were undertaken. As in the Anaum. the earliest sage that Mencius discusses is Yao. Before Yao's otgamzmgactivities. the world was in chaos: In the time of Yao, all under Heaven was not yet in order. Flooding waters flowed throughout, inundating all under Heaven. The grasses and trees flourished, the birds and beasts multiplied, the five grains were not yet growing. the birds and beasts pressed in upon man, and the paths made by the hooves of beasts and the tracks of birds crossed throughout the central states. Yao alone was concerned about this." Only Vao was concerned with this diso rder-presumably a reference to Mencius's argument that the sage is hewho first awakens and then awakens others.46 Following his awakening, Vao then assigns the actual work of bringing order to the world 10 his ministers: He raised Shun to set forth regulations to deal with rhe situation. Shun put Yi in charge of fire. Yi set fire to the mountains and valleys and burned them. and the birds and beasts ran away and hid. Yu dredged the nine rivers, cleaned out the Ji and Ta so that they flowed into the sea, cleared the Ru and Han, and opened the Huai and Si so that they flowed into the Jiang. Only then were the people of the central states able to obtain food .... Ho u Ji taught m e people to farm 47 and plant the five grains. When the five grains ripened, the people were nourished . As for the way of the people, if they have full stomachs, warm cloches, and dwell in idleness without any education, they become like animals. The sage was concerned about this and charged Xie to become the supervisor of education. He taught them using the relationships of man: fa thers and sons have affection, rulers and ministers have propriety, husband and wife have differentiation, elder and younger have precedence, friends have trust.u

Thus the sages, having awakened first, taught the people the basic aspects of culture and morality. It is of interest 10 note here that, of the sages mentioned, twO of them, Yu and Hou Ji, also appear in the " Lii xing," revealing that m e authors are in large part working with a common set of figures. Moreover, the language used to describe me organizational and educational acts of these figures is comparable [0 that sec:n in the "Lii xing." Finally, Mencius. like rhe author of the "til xing,M treats the civilizing process as divinely inspired, with me only difference being that whereas the "Lii xing" posed the sages as being guided by the god himself. Mencius attempts to root the Heavenly amibutes in the mind. The crucial point, rhen, is that for Mencius, as for the author of the "Lii xing," the sages are teachers and organizers, no t creators: they do nor innovate but put things in order-a point that strongly distinguishes the argument of Mencius from that of the Mohists. Moreover, Mencius is at pains to argue that the organization given by the sages is perfectly natural: the sages were the leaders in [he effort not becau.sc they created something new but because they were the first to awaken to the true hierarchy of nature. Their actions were then undertaken in order to allow nature to be properly realized. For example. in describing the flood , Mencius claims that the waters went against their natural course and that Yu fixed the problem not by building walls and dams but by digging the earm such thar the waters would properly flow into the sea: In the time of Yao. the waters went against their course and inun· dated the central states. Snakes and dragons resided there, and there was no place for the people to settle. Those living in lower areas made nests, while those living o n higher ground prepared caves. The Book of Dotummu states: "The overflowing walers were a warning to me." The "overflowing waters" were flooding walers. Yu was sent to put it in order. He dug the earth and had the water empty into the seas. H e drove away the snakes and dragons and banished them to the marshes. The waters, foUowing the earth, took their proper course: the Jiang, Huai . H e, and Han were thus. The obstacles and obstructions were removed. and the harming of the people by the birds and beasts was extinguished. Only then did the people put their land in order and reside there.'"

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels Elsewhere, Mencius describes Yu's method as foll owing the way of the water and preventing it from going contrary to its course:

rulers. For Mencius, the growing state practices were something to be rejected, not accounted for through a complex narrative of barbarian creators.

Bo Gui said: "My method of regulating the water is superior to that of Yu." Mencius said: "You are wrong. Yu's method of regulating the water was based on the way of the water. It is for this reason that Yu used the four seas as the receptacle. But you are using the neighboring states as the receptacle. When water goes contrary to its course, we call it overflowing water. Overflowing water means flooding water, something that a humane man detests. You are wrong."so

l1ms far. I have presented three sepan.te approaches to the problem of the use

An even more blunt assertion of the point appears in another passage: "As for Yu's moving the waters, he moved them without interference."~' And here we can begin to appreciate one of the statements made in the first of the Mencian narratives quoted above. In describing the chaos of the world in the time ofYao, Mencius states that the five grains were nOt yet growing. His point here, as with his discussion of the Rood, is that the period of chaos was unnatural: it was a time when the waters did not follow their natura..l course, when the proper grains were not being cultivated, when the natural distinction

bervveen man and animal was not recogn ized. The sages' acts of ordering involved not an imposition of culture on nature bUi allowing the natural order and hierarchy of the world ro be recognized. Mencius's goal, then, was to pose in his narratives a purely noncreationist view of the rise of civilization: the sages do nothing bur recognize the hierarchy of nature and bring it to its proper fulfillment by organizing the world and educating the populace. Thus he defines OUi of existence the problem that motivated the "Lil xing" narrarive. He makes no more attempr to deal with the creation of punishments than he did with the creation of utensils (see Chapter z). For Mencius, there was no reason to construct narralives around the problem of how to account for punishments while still posing rhe sages as simply organizers and educators. and thus the attempt by the authorof the "Lil xing" to account for the creation of punishments as an occu rrence preceding and hence divorced from the sages struck Mencius as unnecessary: there was no hinory worth talking about before the sages, and, ifhis contemporary rulers were developing centralized states based strongly on organized violence such as punishments and warfare, (his simply refl ected (he depravity of the current

of organized violence by the state. In the first, the creations of disorder and punishments were ascribed, respectively, to a rebel and to barbarians, and sages played the role of organizing the punishments correctly under the guidance of divine commands. In the second, creations of the violent aspects of statecraft were openly assigned to sages themselves, and hence any criticism of such aspects of statecraft was denied. In the third. both creation and the use of organized violence by the state were denied, and sages, once again. were simply organizers. correctly realizing the order that ought to exist in nature. These same three models were to be worked and reworked in narratives throughout the third century s.c. and later. As we shall see, the later narratives concerning Huangdi and Chi You, narratives that have achieved so much attention in the secondary literature. are in many cases simply the product of authors placing those figures into increasingly complex reweavings of (he narrative structures that we have already encountered. This fact lends further credence to the claim that we should be thinking not of some even earlier oral myth concerning Huangdi and Chi You that is only being written down in (he third century s.c., but of a Warring States debate that is being worked out through the use of various narrative structures. As a consequence, the narn.r.ive structures are more enduring than specific figures like Huangdi. What differentiates the narratives of the third century s.c. from their earlier counterparts, t hen, is not that the authors provided ever more truthful accounts of an oral myth, or that they provided ever mo re fantastic narratives out of individual fancy; rather, the difference lies in the development of the debate. Accordingly, the solutions posed to the debated problems became increasingly refined through their use of more specific vocabulary and figures, and through reworkings of the narrative structures. These developments, and an understanding of the tensions that motivated the debate as a whole. begin to reveal the richness of these narratives.

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels Th~ &cond Stratum

Manyof the concerns expressed in the texts discussed above continue to domi. nate the debate in the third century B.C., including the degree to which the cen· rralizing states of the time accord with the institutions of the ancient sages and the consequent issue of how the initial emergence of organized violence should be conceptualized. The narratives thw continued to be structured around the question of what precise roles nature, sages, and outside forces (rebels, barbari. ans, and o thers) played in the rise of the use of violence. However, a largely new set of figures came to be employed in the narratives, and even those that had appeared earlier (such as C hi You) were utilized somewhat differendy. Of these new figures, the most imporrant by far in texts about the initial rise of the state is Huangdi. To understand why authors writing these narratives turned to this figure , it will be helpful to discuss some of the associations that Huangdi had at the time. Huangdi first appears in the fourth century B.C., in writings unrelated to the genre of narratives of the origin of the state. In fact, his first appearance in early Chinese literature is a passing reference in a bronze inscription, where he is mentioned as an ancestor of the patron of the vessel. The inscription in question is from the "Chenhou Yinzi dun," the patron of which is Duke Wei of Qi.H The reference in the inscription is of some importance, for the patron is the grandson of Tian He, who in )86 B.C. overrhrew the rulers ofQi and established his own line as the ruling family of the state. In the inscription, Duke Wei praises Huangdi as well as the hegemons Duke Huan of Qi and Duu Wen of Jin. Since these latter two were not truly anccslOrs. the claim here would appear to be paradigmatic rather than lineal: Duke Wei places the rise of his line within the paradigms of action defined by these three figures. 53 It seems reasonable to suspect that this is in reference to the Tian usurpation, and that the implicit claim is that the Tian, like these other figures, used force legiti. mately to take power. The Tian rulers, in other words, claimed that there was a history of great figures ruling through force, from Huangdi to the hegemons, and that the Tian themselves were in this line of history. Their usurpation was thus justified not on grounds of descent, not through an aHempt to claim that they were the true inheritors of the Zhou mandate to rule Qi, but through an alternative claim based in the rule offorce. The fact that Huangdi was invoked

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels in such a COntext implies that he, like (he hegemons. was associated with such a form of rule.'" This association is also apparent in o ne of the first references to Huangdi in the exrant recdved literature. The passage is from the fourth-century B.C. Zuozhuan, which mentions, in passing, (hat Huangdi fought a battle north of Banquan." Altho ugh it would be dangerous to read too much into a passing statement of this sort, the fact that Huangdi is referred to in relation to battle (a context in which many of the major sages recognized in the fourt h century B.C. would not be likely to appear) furthers the general impression that Huangdi was at the time associated with the w e of force. Anomer reference possibly related to this theme appears in the Shy'; con· cerning the early cults of the state ofQin. According to the work, Duke Ling of Qin, in the latter parr of the fifth century B.C., set up two altars, the lower one for Yandi and the upper one for Huangdi.'6 Without additional evidence, Sima Qian's assertion is of course impossible to verify. It is, however. at least possible (hat Huangdi was also connected during (he Warring States period with Qin, a state that over the course of the mid-fourth to third century B.C. became increasingly associated with a central i ~d and militaristic form of governanceF With this background in mind we can begin to understand the role that Huangdi played in third-century B.C. narratives. Before this period. no sage was widely seen as a creator of the we of organized violence by the state. When, for example, the Mohists wanted (0 claim that punishments and weapons were created by sages, they simply referred to the creators as "sages." By the third century B.C., however, o ne finds texts (which would later be: classified as legal. ist) focused specifically on the use of violence by the state; the authors of such works wanted to pin the creation of violent aspects of statecraft on a cerrain sage whom they could then claim embodied their teachings. Because of his as· sociarions with warfare and usurpation, Huangdi was the figure chosen. Later authors then attempted to reinterpret the sage to fit their own definitions of the emergence of the state, and it was in this context that figures like Chi You reemerged in the literature. These interpretations and reinterpretations of Huangdi and Chi You are worth following in some depth.

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels THE CREATION OF THE STATE: SHANGjUNSHU

The Shangjumhu is a highly diverse work that was probably written by several different authors during the third century B.C. 58 It is auributed to the lord of Shang, the m inister of the Hate of Qin from 359 10 338 B.C. credited with establishing the system of institutions and laws that would ultimately lead to Qin's dominance. 59 Considering that his name is chosen to represent the work, it is not surprising that it contains some of the most strongly asserted support for the growing cenrralized states of the time. It strongly argues that the state was a creation of H uangdi. "Cengfa" The first chapter narrates the decision by Duke Xiao of Qin, under the influence of the lord of Shang, to reform the laws ofQin. The text opens with Duke Xiao discussing his ideas with three of his miniSters, Gan Long, Du Zhi, and Shang Yang himself: The ruler [Duke )Gao] said: "Once he has succeeded to the position,60 it is the way of the ruler not to fo rget the gods of soil and grain; to refine the laws, auend to the people, and preside over proclamations is the pracrice of the minister. Now, I desire to change the laws so as to put things in order and to alter the rites so as to teach the hundred families, but I am afraid that all under H eaven will criticize me." 61 The author opens by posing the problem of changing the past: for the duke to change the laws and alter the rites would be to risk censure for departing from the traditional understanding of his role. The ministers argue among themselves, with Gan Long opposing a shift from antiquity and the lord of Shang supporting the duke's decision. The lord of Shang's argument is a direct critique of any notion that a sage should model himself on the past: "If a sage can thereby strengthen the state, he does not model himself on antiquity, and if he can thereby benefit the people he does not accord with rites."62 The lord of Shang goes on to argue that the three dynasties did not fo llow the same rites and the five hegemons did not fo llow the same laws.'Thus, he argues, the creation of new laws is acceptable: "Therefore, the knowledgeable [zhi] create (zuol laws, and the stupid are regulated by them. The worthy alter

the rites, and the unworthy are restrained by them."6l The text thus presents a dichotomy berween those who slavishly imitate am iquity and the knowledgeable, who can create laws. In a move comparable to what we saw in some of the extreme creationist arguments at the end of the last chapter, knowledge (zhi) and creation (zuo), rwo of the terms that had become so problematic by the third century B.C., are openly espoused as positive forces, without any attempt to limit their connotations. The lord defends his point by referring to the sage kings of the past: "Fuxi and Shennong taught but did not pm to death; Huangdi, Yao, and Shun put to death but were not angry." 64 The sages are arranged in a temporal hierarchy. Fuxi and Shennong, the earliest of the sages. taught bur did not use killing as a mode of punishment. Both, then, are described in the same terms associated with the educating sages seen so often above. In contrast, the lord states, Huangdi, as well as Yao and Shun after him, did use killing as a punishment.6~ There is no attempt here to assign the institution of such punishments to an outside source: it is simply a question of different sages using different methods according to the changing times. Any normative devaluation of either creation or the use of punishments is completely denied here. "Huace" Many of These themes are taken up, and given greater elaboration, in "H uace," chapter 18 of the Shangjumhu. The point of the chapter is that rulers must change their policies with the times, and that, at the time of writing, the correct policy was administration through laws, not moral values. The author exemplifies his argument with a narraTive of the rise of the state, a narr:uive based in part on a retelling of clements of the "Lii xing": In the time of Shennong, the males plowed and the people were fed; the women wove and the people were clmhed. Punishments and administration were not used, but everything was kept in order. Armored soldiers were not raised, but Shennong reigned as king. After Shennong died, people used strength to overcome the weak, and used the many to oppress the few. 66

The period of peace before the emergence of disorder, relegated in the "Lii xing" to the diSTant past, is here defined as the reign of the sage Shennong.67

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels Following this, disorder emerges. As. in the "til xing," disorder is nOt presented as natural: disorder emerged at a certain time and did not exist before. Intriguingly, however, no explanation is given here for its emergence. For the author of the "Li.i xing," it was crucial to emphasize that disorder was imposed from the outside, created by (he rebel Chi You. The perspective of the "Huace" is different: as time changes, so does behavior. At times, disorder simply emerges, and the ruler must be prepared to respond. As. seen by the "Huace," the response to the emergence of disorder was the creation of the state by Huangdi: Therefore, Huangdi created the rules of propriety for ruler and minister and for superior and inferior, the rites of father and son and of elder and younger brother, and the union between husband and wife. Within he put into practice kn ives and saws, and outside he used armored soldiers. This is because the times had changed. Looking at it from this perspective, it is not that Shennong is above Huangdi; the reason that his name is honored is that he fit the rimes.6B No mention of divine intervention is given here. In what may be a critique of Mencius, the author claims that hierarchy, propriety, and the rites are not natural at all but were the conscious creation of Huangdi. Moreover, the author argues that Huangdi created the use of organized violence by the state: the use of knives and saws (presumably referring to mutilating punishments) within and war outside. Huangdi, then, is the crea[Orofeverything from hierarchy and rites [0 punishments and warfare. Thus, the dichotomy that motivated much of the narrative in the "til xing" is absent. As we saw, the sages in the "Lil xing" were posed as organizers and teachers operating under moral guidelines; the creation of punishments was something that had [0 be displaced Onto barbarians. The "Huace," in COntrast, treats rirual and hierarchy as if they were created in the same way as punishments and warfare: as the conscious creation of Huangdi . The sage in the "Huace" is neither an organizer nor a teacher, and he does not operate under any divine guidelines (whether located in the commands of the god or the Heavenly given mind of the sage): Huangdi is a creator guided only by [he changes of the times. The author of [he "Huace" next addresses anotherof the issues dealt with in the "Lil xing," namely, how [0 account for [he fact that the state uses violence

Sages. Ministers, and Rt:bels to counteract violence. The "Lil xing" posited a separate creator {the Miao} and thus distinguishc:d the creation of counteractive violence from the sages. who could then be presented as acting solely out of virtue. [n conrrasr, the " Huacc" author openly accepts the apparent paradox and justifies it on simple grounds of necessity: Therefore, if you use war to get rid of war, even war is acceptable; if you uS(' killing to get rid of killing, even killing is acceptable; if you use punishments to get rid of (the need forI punishments, even heavy punishments are acceptable.o Instead of ascribing punishments to barbarians or tying the correct usage of punishments to the divine, the author simply proclaims the legitimacy of the use of violence. The "Huace" argues that sages are: creators, fashion ing whatever instruments of governance are necessary fo r their times. The narrative employed here is thus comparable to that of the Mozi, ahhough it is important to note that the "Huace" is far more radical in outlook and political stance [han the Mozi chapters discussed above. Although theMozi chapters propounded a viewof culrure as the creation of sages, such acts of creation we:re: always explicitly rooted in a larger moral ethic. Indeed, the Mozi narrative of the creation of punishments told of the ill-effects of acts of creation that were not so rooted. In contrast, the narrative given here shows no interest in rooting these acts of creation either in the natural world or in any system of morality: the author's only criterion for evaluating the success of rulers is how well they react to changing times. Unlike the Mozi. then, the author here denies the applicability of any moral criteria to evaluate the central iz.ing states of the time. Politically, the chapter is written in strong support of the use of law, pun ishments, and warfare (in other words, the institutions of Qin), and the author's method of doing so is to present all of these as a creation of Huangdi. NATURE AND THE STATE: TWO OF THE TEXTS ATTACHED TO THE MAWANGDUI UOZI B

Support for centralized institutions of statecraft also appears in two of the four texts attached to the: Mawangdui Laozi B, theJingfo and the Shitiujing.7° Unlike the Shangjunshu, however, both of these texts strongly oppose the notio n that such institutions wc:re conscious creations of a sage. Their attempts to root

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such institutions in the world of nature, while denying that the institutions were created by sages, leads the authors, in different ways, to rewrite many of the narrative themes that we have been tracing.

Th eJingfo The authors of the Jingfo are concerned with connecting a defin ition of the state comparable to that seen in the Shangjumhu with a naturalistic cosmology based on the thought of the Laozi7 1 Their first move is to define the state as itself a generated product of the natural world. The text opens with the claim; "The way generates [Ihmg] the laws." 71 Unlike the narratives (such as those that appear in the Shangjumhu) that described me sages as creating (zuo) the laws. the Jingfo authors argue that the laws come from the way and that, moreover, the way does not create the laws bur gives birth (shmg) to them. The emergence of the laws is thus explicitly posed as a natural act - a part, indeed, of the generative process of nature. The authors, however, do not wish to dispense with the sage. The Jingfo continues: " Laws mark gains and losses with a measure and clarify the crooked and the straight. Tnerefore, the one who holds fast to the way generates [shmg] laws and does not dare to violate them.n73 The sage is thus also granred the potency to generate laws. Even here. however. the text roots culture in the natural process by stating that such powers exist only if the sage holds fast to the way (through a process thar is detailed below). Moreover, [he authors o nce again choose the word shmg, mean ing "to give birth, to generare." to describe the manner in which the sage bri ngs laws into being. The vocabulary of the opening lines already reveals authors very much opposed to consciously creative action on the part of the sage. The text then gives a brief cosmogony that presents disorder as a perfectly natural by-product of the generation of the world: Empty and without form , its {the way's1 silence 74 is dark. It is from this that the myriad things are generated. With generation, there are injuries called desires, called not understanding sufficiency. With generation, (here must be movemem, and with movement there are injuries called not acting at the right time, called being timely but [graph missing]. If there is movement there will be activities, and if there are activities there will be injuries called disobeying, called lack of bal-

ance and not understanding whar is useful. If there are activities there must also be speech. and if there is speech there will be injuries called lack of trustworthiness. called nor undersranding to fear other people, called self-promotion, called empty boasting and taking insufficiency as excess?' Differentiation is achieved when the way gives birth to the myriad things. With differentiation. however, desires, movement, activities, and language emerge, all of which contain the poten tiality for injury. Unlike the "Lfi xing," [hen, disorder is not an outside imposition, a creation of the rebel C hi You; [he porentiality for disorder is rooted in the very act of differen tiation. It is for this reason, the text argues, that the sage becomes necessary. For [he sage is he who can avoid acting consciously, hold fast to {he undifferentiated way, and thereby understand whence fo rtune and misfortune arise; Therefore, [everything] emerges together in darkness. Some thereby die, and some thereby live; some are thereby defeated, and some are thereby completed. Misfortune and fortune come from the same way. but no one knows whence they were generated. The way to see and know is simply to be empty and have nothing .... Therefore, the one who holds fas t to the way observes all under Heaven without grasping, without being in a fixed position, without consciously acting, without being selfish?' This argument underlies much of the rest of the text: the discerning sage, by holding fast to [he way. truly understands the patterns of the differentiated world and hence can model the state upon those patterns; Heaven has searom of death and life, the state has policies of death and life. According with the generarion of Heaven and thereby noutishing life is called "civility." According with the ki ll ing of H eaven and thereby attacking and causing death is called "ma rtiality." If civility and martialiry are both put in practice. then all under Heaven will fo llow. 77 Violence is nor a human creation; it is natural, and the only requirement is thar iI must be organized according to the patterns of the differentiated world. The Jingfo authors thus completely deny the narratives of the creation of the state and of organized violence given, fo r example, in the Shangjumhu.

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Disorder, punishments, warfare, and laws are nO[ created things, rhey say, bur products of the natural generation of the world, and the purpose of the sage is (0 organiu these natural products correctly. While still supporting a centralized stare, then, the authors of theJingfo are able (0 argue that the sages are organizers, not creators. This distinction is crucial for understanding the narrarives given in the Shiliujing, the text to which I now rurn. The ShiHujing The authors of the Shiliujing, the second of these four Mawangdui texts, operate within a framework similar to that of the Jingfo, connecting a call for centraliud starecraft with a vocabulary borrowed from the LaQzi. Unlike the Jingfo, however. the authors of the Shiliujingattempt to do so by explicit reference (0 Huangdi as the sage who initially established laws and punishments?8 Their consequem attempt to shift the presemation of Huangdi away from creator and toward organizer along the lines seen in the Jingfo also leads them to bring back the figure ofC hi You in a narrative role reminiscem of that employed in the "Lil xing." The opening chaprer of the Shiliujing presems Huangdi's description of his establishment of the state: I received [he mandate f.rom Heaven, established positions on earth, and completed names among the people. I alone [graph missing] a coumerpart to Heaven. instituted kings and [he three ministers, established the state, and set up the rulers and the three counselors. I numbered the days, measured tbe months, and established [he years so as to match the phases of the sun and moon?9 The passage portrays Huangdi as an organizer, as the figure who established positions of authority and instituted the calendar according to the patterns of nature. The method by which this organization was undertaken is developed at greater length in the second chapter. As in the Jingfo, the basis for discussion in the Shiliujing is the emergence of the differemiated world: Huangdi said: "The swarming multitudes [six graphs missing) as one mass,80 neither dark nor light, as of yet having neither yin nor yang. Before the yin and yang were fixed, I did not yet have that with which

to give names. Now. in the beginning it divided and became two, dif~ ferentiated and became yin and yang. separated and became the four [seasons]."!l Having rhus accounted for the growth of me patterned, differentiated world. [he text argues that the ruler must organize the people according to these patterns so as to continue the generative growth: In spring and summer carry out virtue; in autumn and winter carry out punishmenu. First virtue and then punishments so as to nourish life. ... When punishments and virtue are august, the sun and moon shine on each other so that each illuminates its counrerpart. 81 Punishments do not have to be accounted for by posiring a barbarian creator; in faer. they are not created at alL On the contrary, punishments complement virtue just as the moon complemems the sun. The issue is organization, namely that punishments must be enacted according to the parterns of nature. If properly enacted, virtue and punishments will. like the seasons on which they are based. "nurture life" through the processes of timely growth and killing. Punishments are a part of the larger method by which the sage aids in the generative process. Thus, according to the Shiliujing, the differentiated world emerges through a natural, generative process, and the institutions of the state are modeled on this natural world so as to nourish the life of humanity. Unlike the "Huace" chapter of the Shangjunshu, but very much like the Jingfa, the state is defined nOt as a human creation but as, normatively, an imitation of the hierarchy found originally in natute. These themes concerning the nature of the state are taken up as well in a series ofsections devoted to the problems of the origins of conflict and the ways that conflict can be correctly regulated. Two of these sections present these issues as a reworking of the narratives given in the "Lil xing" and the "Huace" chapter of the Shangjumhu. As in the "Huace" chapter, the text omits mention of the Miao as the evil creator of punishments and, moreover, names Huangdi as the sage who establishes the organ ized state. Unlike the "Huace" chapter, however, the authors of the Shiliujing have no interest in posing Huangdi as a great creator, and they thus bring in the figure Chi You, who was discussed in

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Sages, Mininers, and Rebels the "Lil xing." Here, the Story is told as a battle between C hi You and Huangdi, and the narrative becomes an allegory for the emergence of force and rhe ways that force should be used by [he state. The first chapter in which rhe Shiliujing presents this narrative is rhe "Wum eng." The authors describe rhe minister Van Ran as explaining to Huangdi that the rectification of the world must begin with the rectification of the sd( He then declares that alrhough there is great confli ct. Huangdi must first cul tivate himself before becoming involved. Following that advice, "Huangdi thereupon took leave of his state's officers and ascended a mountain from which he could watch all around him. He calmly83 rested for three years in order to seek himsdf."M Mter this self-cultivation, his minister intervenes to tell Huangdi that il is time to enter into the conflict: The war was raging. Van Ran thereupon aroused Huangdi, saying: "It is acceptable [to engage in the conflict]. To create [zuo] conflict is inauspicious, but not to conflict means thar you cannot complete your tasks. How could it not be acceptable [to engage in the conflict lt'8s Conflict itself is not inherently wrong. and it is Iherefore acceptable for Huangdi to enter into battle. It is rather Ihe act of initiating conflict that is inauspicious, and the act is thus described using the verb zuo. This is, of course, rhe same term used in the "Lil xing" to describe Chi Vou's transgressive introduction of disorder, and the authors of the Shiliujingare making a comparable point: once conflict has been crea[cd, the sage can and must engage in the conflict to restore order. The rext ncxt turns to the battle between Chi Vou and Huangdi: Huangdi thereupon took out his axe and halberd, grasped his weapons of war, and himself raised the drum and beat it. H e met Chi You and captured him. The thearch set forth a covenant, which read: "\Vhoever goes against propriety and acts contrary to the seasons, his punishment will be equal to that of Chi You. Whoever goes against propriety and opposes the ancestors, the law will be death and destruction to extinction."86 The authors thus recast the "Lil xing" narrative in order to fl esh our the paradox given in Van Ran's statement: while it is inauspicious to create conflict, it

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels is impossible for the ruler to accomplish his tasks without using conflict. The point is made in the form of a narrative of a battle between Huangdi a~~ ~hi You: Huangdi engages in conflict just as Chi You does, but he does nor Inltlate the conflict and acts only after he has corrected himself. Like the " Lil xing" chapter, then, the stOry given here is a narrative of the proper use offorce: once conflict has been created, the sage uses it correctly to establish order. Organized violence will thereaft er be used to stOp those who act contrary ro propriety, the order of the seasons, and the ancestors. The authors have chosen the sort of narrative framework given in the " Ui xing" because it provides them with a means of ascribing the creation of conflict ro a negative figure and thus allows them to present the sage as the one who brings order ro the world. Unlike the " Huace" narrative, in which Huangdi is a creator, here he takes over the conflict created by another and organiz.cs ir for the sake of propriery. However, the differences between the account of the establishment of the prohibitions in the "Lii xing" and that in the Shiliujing are equally important. In the "Lil xing" chapter, the author's primary concern was to recognize that punishments Were necessary and yet of secondary importance to the rule of the stare. Thus his narrative grants the Miao rhe negative role of evil creator of punishments and uses Chi You simply to introduce rhe disorder that necessitates the existence of punishments. In contrast, the authors of the Shiliujing want to claim that punishments are part of the natural order. Their fundam ental concern is not to account for the existence of negatively valued punishments but to present a rebel to whom they can ascribe the creation of conRicr. Consequently, figures who serve the narrative function that the Miao did in the " Lil xing" do nor appear in the text. Moreover, the authors treat Huangdi as the one who initially established the stale and name him the sage of the tale. The narrative then unfolds between Chi You and Huangdi, with Huangdi's appropriation of violence for use by the state being equated with Huangdi's capturing and killing of rhe rebel. This narrative use ofehi You appears again in the chapter "Zhengluan": The war was growing. The commissioner of Tai Shan 8? said: "It is acceptable." [Huangdi] thereupon look out his axe and halberd and grasped his weapons of war. Huangdi himself met Chi Vou and cap-

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tured him. He peeled off Chi You's [graph missing] skin in order to make a target. He made men shoot at it, and the one with the most hies was rewarded. He cut Chi You's hair and placed it in the sky, calling it the "Banner of Chi YoU."88 H e stuffed Chi You's stomach in order to make a ball. He made people catch 89 it, and the one who caught it the most was rewarded. He fe rmented Chi You's bones and flesh, threw them in with biner pickled meat, and made all under Heaven ear it. In this way, the great thearch established prohibitions.90 The narrative opens with a great war, but once again, Huangdi enters only after his minister gives approval. Huangdi is then described as establishing prohibitions through his sacrifice of Chi You. As in [he previous narrative, Huangdi appropriates the violence created by Chi You in order to bring it into accord with the proper order. In this narrative, even mote explicitly than in the other srory given in the Shiliujing, Chi You is treated as a sacrifice that enables Huangdi to organize violence for the state. THE

REBEL~ CREATORS

The narrative attempt to use Chi You, as well as other rebels, as the source of negative creations was also common in other works from the second half of the third century B.C. and later. In particulat, one set of texts says that rebels created the implements of statecraft associated with warfare and the use offorce. There is a similarity in approach here to that seen in the three chapters of the LUshi chunqiu analyzed in the previous chapter, wherein ministers are said to have created cultural implements in an attempt to divorce such acts from the sages. Here, however, the position of creator is granted to rebels rather than minis~ tees, for the implements that are said to have been created in these frameworks are seen as far more problematic. In accounting for [he emergence of such implements, authors attribured the creation of implements to various figures who had appeared in previous narratives, including Gun and, most important, Chi You himself. Examples from a few of these texts follow, beginning with those involving Chi You. Chi You Chi You was treated in the "Lil xing" as the first rebel, the one who had "cre~ ated disorder." h was perhaps with this association in mind that the authors of the Shiliujing paired him with a Huangdi defined in noncreationisr terms.

Other works from the mid-third century B.C. and later also appropriated Chi You and ascribed to him the creation of weapons. The goal here was the same one that led the author of the "Lil xing" to ascribe the creation of punishments to the Miao: the creation of an important yet problematic aspect of state rule was ascribed (0 a rebel in order (0 remove the transgressive implications of the creation from the sage. One such ascription to Chi You appears in the "Zuopian" chapter of the Shibm: 91 "Chi You created [zuo) weapons with metal."92 Since most weapons of significance in use during the late Warring States period were made of metal, this statement is of some import: the author here claims that the most common weapons used in the warfare of the time were created by the rebel Chi You. The argument is intriguing, for it conuadicrs the claim in the "Jieyong, shang" chapter of the Mozi that sages created the weapons. Another work, the Shizi, dating from roughly the same period,93 makes a related claim: "The one who first created [zoo) smelting was Chi YoU." 94 The text ascribes the creation of metallurgy in general to Chi You. The sense here, I suspect, is that metallurgy is associated not only with weapons but also with forms of control over narure: the initial creation of the activity is therefore assigned to a rebel. The Shizi also states: "Huangdi killed Chi You at Zhongji." 9~ As in the Shi~ liujing, Chi You is paired with Huangdi, and again as in the Shiliujing, Huangdi appears as the sage who kills Chi You. In the "Dishu," chapter 77 of the GUtlnzi,96 the ascription of the creation of metal weapons to Chi You and the story of a battle berween Huangdi and Chi You are developed into a full narrative. The chapter, wrirten in the form of a conversarion berween Duke Huan of Qi and his minister Guan Zhong, discusses the appropriation of nature. In response to a question by the duke, Guan Zhong describes the history of the use of natural resources by the sages of the past. Guan Zhong argues that Huangd.i was the sage who sought to achieve political unity: "Huangdi asked Bo Gao: 'I wish to mold all under Heaven into one family. Is there a way to do this?' "97 Bo Gao, convinced that political unity would be achievable only when the state controlled all natural resources, de~ scribes how Huangdi must locate the resources existing in the mountains and set up prohibitions, punishable by death, against people appropriating them for themselves. The narrative concerning Chi You then follows:

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[Huangdil cultiva t~d rhis t~aching for ten years, but then [ h~ G~lu mountain gushed forth water with metals. C hi You [Ook them and worked them. using them to make swords. armor, lances, and halberds. That year, those who united together numbered nine lords of the state. Then the Yonghu mountain gushed forth water with m~tals. Chi You took them and worked them, using them to make the halberds, shield thongs, and spears of Yonghu. That year, thOSe who united together numbered twelve lords of the state. Therefore, the ruler of all under Heaven pounded a halberd and in one rage the fallen corpses fi lled the fields. This reveals [he origin of spears.'8 H uangdi's attempt to achieve unity is broken when Chi You starts appropriating metal to make weapons, and Huangdi, in order to regain control of the: state, is thus fo rced to us~ a halberd himself to destroy the rebels. A related narrative is given in the "Da huang jing" section of the Shanhai-

jing:" Chi You created weapons and attacked Hllangdi. Huangdi thereupon ordered Ying Long to subdue him in the fields of Jizhou. Ying Long held back the wa[~rs, and so Chi You asked Fengbo and Yllshi 100 to let loose great winds and rain. Huangdi then sent down the Heavenly female called Ba, and [he rain s[Opped. He thereupon killed C hi YoU. IOI Although this is a later elaboration, incorporating motifs of rain and drought,I02 the basis of the s[Ory is the same: Chi You creates weapons, rebels against the rule of H uangdi, and is finally killed. Lo3 'n.~ model employed throughout these works is similar to that in the "Lii xing" and Shiliujing: when an author wants to claim that a certain element of statecraft associat~d with conflict or warfare is necessary yet separate from either nature or the sages, he amibutes its creation [0 a rebel. The sage (usually Huangdi fo r third- and second-century B.C. texts) can then be presented as appropriating the creation of such an element for proper use by the state. Thus these narratives should be understood as claims widun the larger debates at the time concerning creation and centralized statecraft. Gun Another figu re that came [0 be seen as a rebel-creator in the third c~ n tu ry B.C. is Gun. Gun appears frequently in earlier Warring States narratives in contexfS

concerning the flood. In the "Yaodian" chapter of the Shanphu, for example, he is a minister who fails to stop the flooding waters and is thus rcplac~d by Yu, who successfully controls them.lo~ Later in the chapter, the sage Shun banishes Gun, along with th~ Miao and two other rebels, in his establishment of order.I05 The reason for his banishment is nor given, although it is presumably related to his failure to control the floods. The exact crim e of Gun is then elaborated in the "Hongfan" chapter of the Shang/1m, which argues that Gun was banished because he attempted to dam up the waters, an act that disrupted the natural process:IO
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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels THE. CONP LICT OP NAT U RE

In twO other works from rhis period, the anempt to explain the emergence of weapons by claiming that they were created by the rebel Chi You falls under attack. The authors of these two works turn to a model similar to [har seen in the Jingfo: both attempt to root conflict in nature and thus deny that weapons were created by anyone, let alone a rebel. In both works, the sage is once again defined as an organizer, and creation is denied altogether. Nonetheless, despite this common framework, the two works are written from distinct political viewpoints, revealing once again the tendency among writers of the time to constantly redefine frameworks for their own purposes. The "Dangbing" Chapter of the LUshi chunqiu The "Dangbing" chapter of the LUsh; chunqiu opens as follows: In ancient times, the sage kings had weapons of propriety, and none ceased using the weapons. Weapons arose long ago, at rhe same time as the beginning of mankind. Weapons arc awesome, and awesomeness is su ength. For man to have awesomeness and strength is his nature [xing). Human nature is received from H eaven; it is not something that man can make [Wt'i ). Warriors cannot change it, and artisans cannot alter it.109 In other words, weapons are perfectly natural: they are a product of man's search for awesomeness and strength, and as such they are a part of man's natural endowment. Man's nature, the author underlines. is simply received from Heaven; it cannot be consciously made (wa). As a consequence, weapons are as old as manki nd, and the sages have always used them. The text continues: Weapons arose long ago. Huangdi and Yandi in ancient times used water and fire, and after that Gonggong created disturbances. The five di struggled amongst themselves. and, by alternation, some arose and some were destroyed. Tnose who were victOrious put into practice their affairs. People say: "Chi You created weapons." Chi You did not create weapons; he only sharpened rhe implements. llo The text rhus denies (hat weapons were created by a rebel at a particular time: since weapons have always been used, Chi You cannot be said to have created them. Only disturbances, in this case ascribed to the rebel Gonggong, had a

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels beginning. Even here, however, the author limits the claim: instead of presenting this as an outside imposition on an earlier peaceful populace, the rise of disturbances is simply another step in the history of conflict, a history that can be traced to the beginning of mankind. The text goes on to provide a narrative of the rise of rulership: Before {he time of Chi You, the people form erly stripped down the forests to wage war. He who was victorious became the leader. Although there was a leader, he was still insufficient to put things in order. Therefore they instituted a ruler. But rhe ruler was also insufficient to put things in order, and so they instituted the Son of Heaven . The institution of the Son of Heaven was produced from the ruler; the institution of the ruler was produced from the leader; the institution of the leader was produced from confli ct. Conflict and struggle emerged long ago. They cannOt be prohibited, they cannor be stopped. Therefore the worthy kings of antiquity had weapons of propriety, and none ceased using the weapons. lI1

,

Conflict and struggle are an inherent part of the life of mankind. The first leader was simply the first to be victorious, and the subsequent growth of rulership, culminating in the position of the Son of Heaven, was a process of increasing consolidation. Overall, the author has defined conflict as natural , and has thus denied that either weapons or conflict itself was created at a specific point in time; he therefore has no need for the rebel-creator C hi You. Moreover, he has posed the progressive growth of rulership as the product of the inherently confl..ictual nature of mankind, thus denying the claim that the state was a conscious creation of sages. What the author of the "H uace" attributed to Huangdi and what other authors anributed to Chi You the author here assigns to nature. The text can in this respect be characterized as an attempt to make a generally Mohist argument for the legitimacy of the use of organized violence by the state. but it does so nO[ by ascribing the creation of the state to sages but by using a model reminiscent of that seen in thcJingfo, namely by rooting the emergence of violence in nature itself. The "Yongbing" C hapter of the Da Da; Liji 1"e "Yongbing" chapter of the Da Dai Liji likewise roots the emergence of violence in nature but docs so in more explicitly moral terms, ascribing it to

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels Confucius himself. The chapter is narrated as a discussion berween Duke Ai of Lu and Confucius: The Duke said: "Does the use of weapons proceed from inauspiciousness?" The master said: "How could it be inauspicious? The sages used weapons in order to prohibit cruelty and [0 pm a s[Op [0 oppression throughout all under Heaven. 8m when one comes ro the use of weapons by the greedy ones of the more recent generations, it was in order to cm down the people and bring peril to the states and families."lll Like the MohiSlS, the amhor denies t hat weapons are inherently negative and focuses instead on how they are used. If one uses them for moral purposes, as the author claims the ancient sages did, there is no ethical problem. Since the author rejects the view that weapons are morally ambivalem, he also opposes the attempt to ascribe the creation of weapons to the rebel Chi You. However, unlike the Mohists, who ascribed their creation [0 the sages, he does so in a move quite similar to that seen in the "Dangbing" chapter of the LUshi chunqiu, namely by arguing that weapons are natural : The Duke said: ''As for the weapons of war in anciem times, in what gcneration and in what way did they arise?" The master said: "The birth of injuring others and doing people harm occurred long ago. In fact, these were born [Ogether with humans themselves." The Duke said: "But did Chi You create weapons?" The master said: "No! C hi You was simply a greedy commoner. He reachcd for profi t withom concern for propriety, never lookcd after his relatives, and thereby died. Chi You desired things chaotically and withom satiation. What implements would he havc been able to create? Wasps and scorpions are born attacking and stinging; when they see potcmial harm, they respond in order to protect themselves. Humans were born possessing bOlh happiness and anger, and for this reason weapons were created; weapons were born together with the people themselves. While sages utilized them beneficially to make prohibitions, chaotic men raised them and destroyed themselves." lI 3

Where the Mohists ascribed the creation of weapons to sages, and various other authors ascribed it to Chi You, the author here ties me emergence of weapons to the birth of humanity and sees it as a consequence of the natural emotions of man. 1l4 The: argument of the "Yongbing" chapter is thus a blend of positions: a concern with propriery; a Mohist concern with claiming the value-neutrality of weapons themselves and the consequem need to focus on how weapons are used; and a concern, similar to that seen in the "Dangbing" chapter of the LUshi chunqiu, with posing the use of weapons as natwal. H ere again, neither sages nor Chi You created weapons; sages simply organize that which was originally found in nature. CH I YOU AS M tN t STE R , H UANGD I AS CREATOR: THE "WUX1NG" C HAPTE R OF THE GUANZI

The various themes concerning nature and creation and the role played in the emergence of the state by Huangdi and Chi You are given yet another rwist in chapter 41 of the Guanzi, the "Wuxing."lIS Although the narrative of the creation of order given in the text is not concerned with the introduction and organization of violence, it nonetheless deals with many of the issues r have been discussing. The author's goal is to emphasize the importance of harmonizing with narure while also maintaining the view of Huangdi as a creator. Since it is the sage, rather than a rebel, who creates, the text presents C hi You nOt as a rebel creator but as the chief minister of Huangdi. It states: In ancient times Huangdi obtained C hi You and illuminated the way of H eaven; obtained Da Chang and arranged the resources of the earth; obtained She Long and arranged the eastern regions; obtained Zhu Rong and arranged the southern regions; obtained Da Feng and arranged the western regions; obtained Hou Tu and arranged the northern regions. When Huangdi obtained these six ministers, Heaven and earth were put in order and spiritual illumination was achieved. 116 The author then lists the positions granted to each of these six ministers and mentions that, "Chi You illuminated the way of Heaven and was therefore charged to become the sequencer of the seasons." 117 Far from being an evil rebel, C hi You. is a minister who understands the seasons of Heaven.

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels Having thus demonstrated that he does not require Chi You to be a rebelcreator in his system, the author emphasizes the creative powers of Huangdi: In ancient times, Huangdi, using the lower and higher registers, created the five sounds and thereby rectified the five bells. ... After the five tones were harmonized, he created and established the five phases to rectify the seasons of Heaven, and the five officials to rectify the positions of humanity. After humanity and Heaven were harmonized, the beauty of H eaven and earth was generated. lls Huangdi thus created the five sounds, the five officials, and the five phases. The last claim is of particular interest , for the five phases were generally posed as natural phenomena to which humans ought ro relate their activities. They were commonly mentioned in texts that claimed human activity should base itself upon the movemenrs of nature. Here, however, the author goes so far as to claim that the five phases were created by the sage Huangdi. It is not that human activity ought to correspond to a preexisting nature; on [he contrary, he says, it was Huangdi who rectified the seasons through his creations. Indeed, Huangdi's creations brought harmony to Heaven and man and generated the beauty of Heaven and earth. The contrast between the framework of the "Wuxing" chapter and that of the Shiliujing is instructive here. The Shiliujingwas written to argue that the sage should reject conscious activity and accord with the seasons, and the author rhus used Chi You as a rebel to account for the creation of violence. In contrast, the "Wuxing" author, while accepting the naturalistic view that the sage sought harmony between man and Heaven, claims that such harmony is not a consequence of rejeaing conscious activity and according with nature; on the contrary, only the conscious creations of the sages can bring order to both nature and man and thus make such a harmony possible. In this system, Chi You is not a rebel-creatOr but the most important minister to the creator Huangdi. And here it is possible to explicate my disagreement with Lewis's argument. According ro Lewis, the Warring States myth of Huangdi and Chi You posed the two in an adversarial relationship, and the view that Chi You was a minister of Huangdi originared in Shang ritual practice. I would instead argue that both presentations of the relationship between these two figures are responses

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels to the debates of the Warring States period concerning creation and the proper nature of the state. This debate accounrs for the structure shared by these differing narratives: Huangdi appears as a creator only in those narratives where Chi You appears as a minister; conversely, Huangdi never appears as a creatOr in those narratives where Chi You appears as a creator/rebel. In both cases, the underlying issue is the author's argument concerning the nature of statecrafT and the proper ways that new forms of governance can be introduced. In texrs from the third century a.c. and later, many of the narratives concerning the creation of the state came to center on Huangdi, as well as his rival (or, in other texrs, minister) Chi You. The only exceptions to this were the more strongly naturalistic texrs, like theJingfo, as well as texts dealing with Gun, a figure who, in the context discussed here, served the same narrative function as Chi You. The authors of the narratives employed these figures to approach the aspecrs of statecrafT they saw as most problematic: laws, weapons, punishmenrs, warfare, city walls, etc.-those aspecrs, in other words, based on organized violence. The narratives were then structured around the question of whether those aspects were humanly created and, if humanly created, whether by a sage or a rebel. This debate defined (he characteristics and acrs that were attributed in each narrative to Huangdi and Chi You: depending on the viewpoint of the author, Huangdi could be posed as an inventor of the use of state violence, as a follower of [he patterns of nature, as a sage involved in appropriating the weapons created by the rebel Chi You, or even as a creator of the five phases. Similarly, Chi You, who was frequently defined in relationship to Huangdi, could be posed as a rebel introducing disorder against the reign of Huangdi, as a rebellious creator inventing weapons for use against Huangdi, or as Huangdi's most valued minister. Anyattempt to reconstruct a unified earlier body of mythology from such narratives would be doomed to fai lure: the narrative utilization of these figures is defined by [he debate, and the figures are employed in differing ways because of that dehate. k such, the narratives can only be understood as ways of discovering the reasons that individual authors presented these figures in such opposing ways. Having thus discussed the histOrical development of these narratives, it is now possible to analyze the issues and tensions mmivating the overall dehate.

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels Conclusion The narratives discussed above variously attempted to ascribe the creation of disorder and punishmenes to a rebel or to barbarians, claimed that all aspeces of statecraft are the creations of sages, anempted to deny all aspects of creation and root everything in nature (variously conceived), and attempted to ascribe the creation of weapons to rebels. The debate over precisely who did what in the ancient past ap~ars as a seemingly endless series of attempes to attribute or deny creation [Q human ity or nature. In the first stratum of texes discussed, punishments were said to be, in rum, created by barbarians, created by sages, o r deemed irrelevant for a society that should, normatively, be based on nature. In the second stratum of texts, the debate concerning the emergence of violent aspeces of statecraft (including not just punishmentS bur also weapons, obstructing walls, laws, and the state in general) focused much more forcefu lly (although by no means exclusively) on the figu res of Huangdi and Chi You , and came to emphasize such issues as whether Huangdi was a creamr or an imi tator of nature. and whether Chi You was his minister or an adversarial rebel-creator. Although based in a stock set of themes and figures. the narratives turned constantly on the issue of what precisely should be ascribed to nature, sages, or rebels. It might at fim be tempting [Q reduce this complexity by focusing on the roles to which figures were assigned in mese texts. In doing so, one would quickly notice that there are a limited number of motifs that continually reappear in the narratives. Thus, for example, one could analyze the motif of the sage-educator for texts in which figures like Bo Yi, Ji, and Huangdi appear as organizers and teachers of morality. Similarly, in approaching narratives that ascribe problematic creations to rebels or barbarians, one could focus on the rebels/barbarians themselves, figures like the Miao. C hi You, and Gun. Such figures could then be described using, for example. the motif of the "trickster," a term used by some students of comparative mythology to refer to a crafty fi gure involved (if only in a negative way) with the act of creation.I" Although an analysis of the narratives by motif could in some senses be helpful and is to some extent an inevitable part of any careful analysis of the textS, it would not in itself be sufficient to account for many of the characteristics of early C hinese narratives noted in this chapter. It could nor explain why

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels in some contexts a "trickster" motif is utilized and in other contexts a "sageeducator" motif. Moreover, it could not explain the ways that various figures are, in each narrative. defin ed by each other. For example. any analysis of the ways [hat C hi You is posed must also account fo r the fact that. in works from m e third century B.C. and larer, he is usually paired with H uangdi, thus rendering it necessary [Q account for the transformations of the narratives as wholes rather than to look for singular motifs. Finally, and perhaps most important, it would not be able to explain the diversity of the narratives, why certain narratives are reversed or why specific acts are amibuted to different figures in different texts. What is n~ded. therefore, is a method that can account for the utilizarion of such varying narrative structures and thus for the tensions that generated the debate as a whole. Perhaps one of the more insightful scholars in dealing with these issues is Marcel Granet. I bave al ready criticized Granet's attemptS to use Warring States narratives 10 reconstruct the evolution of earlier social and ritual systems. However, a close reading of Granet's work reveals important insights that. when taken out of the evolutionary model in which they were placed. can be of great value fo r [he historical approach I am advocating. To demonstrate this. t fi rst provide a brief summary of Graner's argumenL Granet argues mat the development of kingship involved a gradual usurpation of the powers associated with sacred areas of nature. The kings' usurpation of power developed in tandem with a growing social complexity, defined by the growth of male authority. succession through the paternal line, and systems of infeudation. One of the earliest stages that Granet posits in the growth of male authority is a social organization based on the rival ries of brotherhoods,120 an organization that probably occurred, he argues, alongside the devdopment of metailurgy.I21 This stage, then, marked a growth in the authority of malecentered rivalries. as well as in the control of nature itself because of the technologies of metailurgy.l ll Later, the continued rise of the authority of the king involved the destruction of such a system as one figure ultimately succeeded in appropriating for himself the powers of his rivals. m It is in the context of this developmental sequence that Granet reads many of the narratives concerning the relationship between the king and the m inisler, the sage and the rebel. He is particularly interested in the fact that several of the famous rebels, such as C hi You and Gun , are also presented in some

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels texts as ministers. His argument is that the basis for this interplay of rebel and minister is an earlier ritual system in which power was divided into the brotherhoods mentioned above. The king and minister came from two rivaJ groups, and, moreover, the minister could actually succeed to the position of the ruler. It is for this reason that the ministerial position is so often associated with transgressive action: the minister was in fact a rival who hoped to claim the throne. Thus, Granet claims. the reason that one so often meets dualistic models in early Chinese narratives is that, in prehistoric times. the king and minister did in fact form an unstable. dualistic system of rule wherein power was based largely on force.'u, In the later evolution of the kingship system, the king gradually gained more and more control over the minister, to the point where he eventually usurped much of the latter's power and finally won the right to base succession on the paternal line, rather than on a system of defeating rival claimants to the throne. 12S What defined this stage of development, then, is a growing mastery over nature and a social system based in the use of force. Rulership was largely an issue of being able to defeat natural fo rces,1l6 one's rivals, and other opponents. It is for this reason, Graner would argue, that the narratives concerning this period are centrally concerned with issues such as transgression, warfare, the creation of weapons, and metallurgy. The narracives concerning Huangdi and Chi You provide for Granet a perfect example of this social and ritual system. Chi You is posed as a minister of Huangdi but also as a rebel associated wim metallurgy and weapons. Huangdi is then presented in several texts as having to sacrifice Chi You in order to establish his rule. m Also in this COntext, Granet nOles that Huangdi is occasionally described in the same terms as Chi You: me rwo are not only rivals but also, in a sense, doubles, each sharing many attributes wim the other. Thus. eimer can be defined as the creator of warfare and of the use of violence.128 Granet's useof transgression to analyze dualistic models is extremely useful, for it allows him to account for the fact that, for example, Chi You appears in narratives at times as a minister and at times as a rebel, at times as an aide and ar times as a rivaJ, as well as the fact that the creation of the use of violence can be ascribed either to C hi You or to Huangdi himself. G ranet would argue that these are not just different motifs but in fact conceptually related narratives based in a common (for him prehistoric) structure, namely the fact that

Sages, Ministers, and Rebels transgression (understood as victory over natural forces. political usurpation, and the use of violence) is an inherent part of the rise of the state, even if, in the final form of kingship that ultimately emerges, the ruler must be able to bring violence into the correct order of the stateP' The limitation of Granet's approach is [hat, because he attempts to discuss these narracive transformations using pre.historic structures. he cannot, by definicion, account for the historical development of me differing narratives in the Warring States; nor can he, again by definicion, account for the reasons that a given author would choose to present, for example, Chi You or Huangdi as a creator.130 Nonetheless, what he does account for, to an extent better man other commentators on early C hinese narratives, is the fact that there is such an interplay in the narratives berween sages, ministers, and rebels; thus he is able to argue, convincingly, that the narratives involving such figures can only be understood in relationship to each other. Moreover, this approach allows him to claim, again convincingly, that the underlying issue behind this interplay is transgression in relation to the emergence of kingship and that, furthermore, this issue is part of a much larger one, namely the problem of the relationship berween nature and culture. The fact that Granet poses these issues not as a Warring States debate abour creation but as schemes based in the actual emergence of the state in the prehistoric past does not diminish the strength of his argument. Granet's insight, then, is that he has analyzed the narracive structures according to the tensions that motivated rhe production of me narratives themselves. In such an approach, the narratives are thought of as generated from a given scheme, a scheme ~ largely in the way the state emerges from nature (or, in Granet's view, from an egalitarian society linked to nature). A given action, then, such as warfare, could be ascribed either to naNre or to humans. and. if to humans, either to a loser in the rise of kingship (such as Chi You) or to a winner (such as Huangdi). Considering this, any figure who was defeated , such as Chi You, could be termed either a minister or a rebel-creator, and any figure who was victorious, such as Huangdi, could be termed either a creator or an organizer. When taken out of the evolutionary frame in which it was written. the implication of Graner's argument is that these different models would be permulations from a given set of possibilities. In dealing with the emergence of the

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels state, one has a basic developmental structure: nature, discontinuity, and the final order of the state. One also has a limited set of roles with which to present such a development: nature, sages, ministers, and rebels. One's choices, therefore , are to deny the discontinuity (by denying that anything is created) and claim that nature and the state are linked; to assign the point of discontinuity to a rebel who is then overcome by a sage linked with nature; to assign the point of discontinuity to a sage and then to accept that the Hate is distinct from nature; or finally, to assign the act of creation to a sage bur to deny, through some means, that such an act leads to discontinuity. In the last of these, the figure who was elsewhere posed as a rebel-creator can appear as a minister. These permutations can then be played upon and combined to almost endless degrees of complexity, depending on the development of the debate and the imagination of the individual authors involved. When pur in this way, it is clear that there were only three narrative structures, or models, utilized in this debate. The first, employed in different ways in the "Lli xing," Shiliujing, and various works attributing the creation of weapons to rebels, had a dualistic framework, wherein negative creations were assigned to rebels or barbarians, while sages wete then posed as simply appropriating and putting to proper use that which rhe evil figure had created. In this framework, violence is acceptable and nonarbinary insofar as it has been taken over and organized correctly by the state. The rwo other models opposed a dualistic framework, in the one case by denying creation altogether, in the other byopenly proclaiming the sages as creators. In the first of these, the argument that sages were organizers rather than crearors was maintained, but acts of creation by rebels were denied. This claim tOok rwo forms. The most idealistic formulation was seen in Mencius, wherein organized violence in general on the part of the state was questioned. Nature was defined in moral terms, and anything created was rhus, by definition, arbitrary and artificial. A similar model was used in the jingfo, the "Dangbing" chapter of the LUshi chunqiu, and the "Yongbing" chapter of the Da Dai Liji. In these three texts, conflict was defined as being a part of nature itself, and sages as those who, in the first case, organized violence according to [he COtrect patterns of nature; in the second, used conflict the mOSt effectively; or in the third, organized violence according to the principles of propriety. Despite the many differences between these texts, they all share an atrempt to develop

Sages, Ministers, and Re bels a framework wherein creation is denied altogether and sages serve simply to organize correcdy that which was found originally in nature, The final model, used in distinct ways in the Mozi, the Shangjumhu, and the "Wuxing" chapter of the Guanzi, explicitly posed the sages as creators of the srate. In the firsr rwo of these texts, this was used to claim thar the use of organized violence is a perfectly acceptable creation of the sages, and thus that such violence is not in itself morally ambiguous. In the last of these, the model was used to suggest that the harmony of man and nature was to be achieved not through the denial of creation but through the creations of the sages. The arguments in all of rhese texts were that the state was formed through creation, not organization, and thar such creations were undertaken by sages, not rebels. The fact [hat these narrative structures were employed over a span of roughly rwo centuries, while the figures employed for each of these positions changed a great deal over the same span of time, confirms one of the theses of this chaprer, namely that rhe texts cannot be explicated by reconstructing the myths of particular figures. Instead, the narrarives were constructed d uring the Warring States period out of responses to tensions and concerns related ro creation, transgression, and discontinuity, and specifically [0 rhe problem of whether [he emergence of aspeCls of organized violence in statecraft (punishments, warfare, weapons) should be seen as arbitrary and hence discontinuous from the natural world or whether disconti nuity could in some way be denied. The production of these opposing narratives can thus be understood as a lengthy process of working through this problem. At stake in the debate was the degree to which one supported the growing centralized states of the time, or, put in the terms of the debate itself, whether one thought of such states as being disjunct from the natural world or part of it, The distribution of the solutions offered to this problem points toward rhe tension: namely that it was highly difficult to account for the creation of organized violence and, at the same time, to see the state as linked with nature. We thus see here many of the same concerns discussed in Chapter 2: advocating creation and accordance with nature at the same time is felt to be extremely difficult. One either denies that organized violence ought to have been created :Uld instead emphasizes accordance with nature; advocates the importance of sages creating new ins[fumenrs of governance and drops rhe concern of according with nature (a solution seen in the Shangjumhu); or attempts, by some

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Sages, Ministers, and Rebels means, to have both (either by rooting the violent aspects of statecraft in nature or by claiming that they were created by rebels, not by sages, or, ingeniously. by claiming that only through the creations of the sages is harmony with nature achievable). Such a formulation is significant, for it emphasizes that all of these narra~ tives were written in response to tensions regarding the issues of continuity and discontinuity. Even a narrative. such as theJingfo, that denies any act of creation in the formation of the state was written not out of an assumption that nature and the state were linked but Out of an attempt to resolve the same set of tensions that led to the composition of. for example. the "Lil xing." All of these works. then, were claims made within a wider debate concerning the acceptability of introducing forms of organized violence. With this in mind we can return to some of the issues raised by scholars discussed in the Introduction. It should be clear by now m at narratives of the emergence of the state in early China are explicicly concerned with the prob~ lems of discontinuity be[Ween nature and culture. tensions be[Ween humanity and divinity. creation and traDsgrwion. As in early Greece, one sees in early China the notion that the creation of at least certain aspects of culture and society involved a potential discontinuity from the natural o r divine world : there is a deep concern in the early Chinese narratives with the issue of transgression. and a strong concern that (he emergence of the state potentially involved transgressive violence. We are now in a position to turn to the debates surrounding the formation of empire itself. Many of the narratives discussed in this chapter became highly important in me events surrounding (he imperial unification. The importance of the approach emphasized in this chapter will become clear for later debates: the opposing ways that figures were employed in narratives from the Warring Srates period affected how emperors and officials chose to utiliu: rhost: same figures in the developing imperial cultures.

C H APTER.

4

The Creation of Empire: The Emergence and Consolidation of Imperial Rule in China

In 221 B.C. the state of Qin overtook Qi, the last of the remaining states. and created the first unified empire in Chinese histOry. This was the culmination of a lengthy process that had started with the reforms of Shang Yang in the midfourm century B.C. and continued through the gradual growth of Q in economic and military power over (he course of the third century B.C. Nonetheless, upon declaring the formation of a new dynasty, the Qin chose [0 emphasize the moment as a point of ruprure-of radical discontinuity from me past. And although the Qin empire would in the end last for only fourteen years, the institutions forged by the first emperor would ultimately have tremendous longevity. Indeed, by the time empire became successfully consolidated under the reign of Wudi (r. 141- 87) of the following Han dynasty. the stare to a large degree resembled that which had been initially created by [he Qin. During this period, from the first emperor's establishment of empire to the consolidation by Han Wudi, the debates traced in the previous [WO chapters in tensified. Did imperial institutions mark a radical break from the past? If so, in what ways, if any. could be they be considered legitimate? In this debate, the arguments that had developed over the previous twO centuries were invoked and reworked with a greater sense of immediacy and urgency- by figures at the imperial court and by those outside it. Ultimately. the voices favoring imperial centralization won and formed an imperial ideology.

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The Creation of Empire: The Qin Dynasty After 221 B.C., the Qin expanded the stare system that had developed over the previous century and a half to rule over all of China. The Qin divided all of its lands into a system of commanderies under the direct comrol of the central COUrt, formalized a universal legal code, and greatly expanded both the power of the state and the area of its domination. In direct contrast to the decentralized kingdom of the previous Zhou dynasty, the Qin created an empire.l Few acts more clearly demonstrate how the Q in court decided to present itself than its choice of a title for the ruler. As I memioned in Chapter 3, the Shang and Zhou titie wang (king) had been widely usurped by rulers during the laner pan of the Warring States period. When Zheng, the king of Qin, defeated the other states and started a new dynasty, he could have kept the tirie of king, thereby both proclaiming the illegitimacy of his earlier rivals' use of the title and emphasiz.ing his own links to the rulers of the Zhou. Bur he did not. Instead of maintaining the traditional tide, the Qin sovereign decided to invent a new one that emphasized the degree to which his regime marked a point of discontinuity from the past. The new title chosen was "huangdi," which means literally "the august de 2 Di, it may be remembered, were the thearchs who stood above spirits in the celestial pantheon. The term was then picked up by various thinkers in the Warring States period to designate the early sages of antiquity. Tne most famous of these was Huangdi (the yellow di) , the main figure in many narratives about the original establishment of the state. By using this epithet in his title, the Q in ruler was proclaiming himself to be a di-in other words, a great sage like those of antiquity. Moreover, it seems likely, for reasons that will soon become clear, that the Qin ruler was advocating an interpretation of these sages comparable to that in earlier works like the Shangjunshu: the di were not organizers but great creators, and the greatest of them, Huangdi, had created the state institutions utilized from then until the rise of the Qin. This interpretation of the di as great creators be<:ame a crucial part ofQin ideology, as the Qin ruler also attempted to present himself as a creator-sage, forging a new state that would surpass that created by the ancient di. Indeed, the historian Sima Q ian, whose work Shiji is our main source for

The Creation of Empire this period, reconstructs a statemem by the Qin ministers on the occasion of choosing this new title. The main theme of the speech was that what the first emperor had accomplished superseded anything accomplished before, even by the di of antiquity.' Although the speech may well be of the historian's own making, Sima Qian's inrerpretation of the meaning of the title seems plausible: the tirie was meant to signify a figure greater than the ancient sages. 4 The king furrhe rcalled himself {he "fi t${ august di." Sima Qian here narrates the emperor as stating that his successor would be called the "second august di," followed by the third, and so on fo r the next ten thousand generations.s Once again, although we cannot verify the historical accuracy of the speech, the interpretation of the histOrian nonetheless seems plausible: the numerical prefix [0 the tirle appears to signify that the ruler was the first of a projected long series of emperors. The empire that he had introduced was thus to continue from then on, and the Qin ruler was the fi rst of this new imperialline.6 The Qin empire, in other words, was nOt simplya new dynasty that would itself be supplanted by another dynasty after a few centuries; it was to rule in a new imperial era that would continue for even longer than the cycle of dynasties introduced by Huangdi. Nonetheless, the first emperor also had an interest in presenting the Qin as a legitimate dynasty that deserved to follow the Zhou. Accordingly, he made use of the five-power theory of governance.' The early histOry of five -power theory is somewhat difficult to ttace, although it is presumed to have originated in early technical practices, such as medicine.' According to late Warring States authot$, Zou Van was the fit$t to apply the system to the spheres of politics and ethics.' At its basis, (he theory posited that the universe operated according to cycles of phases, and that human action ought to define itself in relation ro these cycles. The political implication was that each dynasty should be correlated with the natural movement of the phases. As a result, me dynastic cycle would replicate the larger cycles of nature. IO Several models competed to explain how precisely the previous dynasties matched up with the five powers, which were earth, wood, metal, fire, and water. The one followed by the first emperor was given to him by some of the disci ples of Zou Yan. ll According to this model , it was believed that Huangdi, who ruled over the first state. had attai ned the power of earth , the Xia had

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The Creation of Empire attained the power of wood, the Shang had auained the power of metal. and the Zhou had attained the power of fi re. Since the next dynasty would be succeeding the Zhou, the first emperor decided it was time for the power of water to be attained, because water conquers fi re. As such. the next dynasty would have to follow the power of water, as well as the other phenomena associated with water. such as yin. winter. blackness, punishments, and the number six. Accordingly. the fi rst emperor proclaimed water as the power of the dynasty, set the tenth month (which feU in the winter) as the beginning of the year. honored the color black. and set measures according to the number six. He also, of course, used laws and punishments to organize affairs. 12 The proclamation is interesting, for it implies not only that the Qin empire was a legitimate successor to the Zhou kingdom but also that centralized administrative institutions were purely natural. According to such a theory. then. Qin, by ruling with laws, was simply correlating itself with the movement of the universe: just as, in the progression of the year, there must be a season of winter and death, so in t he cycle of dynasties there must be one devoted to laws, punishments, and warfare. At first glance. however. such a proclamation would appear to contradict the other claims made by the first emperor. Why would the firSt emperor, who in other respects so strongly emphasized himself as [he creatOr of a new era, try to use a theory that defined the Q in as simply another in an unending cycle of dynasties, especially since the theory implied that the Qin empire, instead of ruling for ten thousand generations, would simply he supplanted by anO[her dynasty? The answer to (his question perhaps lies in the fim emperor's interpretation of the five-power cosmological system. Ahhough late Warring States authors posited the movement of (he powers as an unending cycle, the first emperor may not have been employing it in this way at all. In the model that he was using. the first state, that of Huangdi. auained the power of earth, and each following dynasty au ained the next power. The Qin then took the fifth and final power, namely water. Later dynasties aher the Qin would want to claim [hat this was a cycle. and that the dynasty following the Q in would then return to the power of earth originally held by Huangdi, bur it is possible that the first emperor believed that , having artained the fifth and final power, the Qin marked the end of the era begun by Huangdi. There would. then, never be a return to the power of eanh.

The Creation of Empire The m ost important and ultimately most controversial adminislrative reform was the creation of the Q in commandery system. This administrative srrueture was a continuation of the state system that had been developing in the state of Qin since the fourth century B.C. As was discussed in rhe previous chapter, the introduction of centralizing reforms by Shang Yang had initiated a major debate on the legitimacy of a break from the practices of the Zhou. However, the introduction of a centralized administrative structure over the entirety of China marked an even more radical depanure from earlier practices: as had been narrated in the Shangshu, King Wu, upon founding the Zhou dynasty, enfeoffed land to his supponers and relatives. A number of figures at couer believed that the Qin, having starred a new dynasty, should do the same. Wang Wan, the chief minister at the time, and other advisers argued that, in order to control distant regions (such as the land of the former states of Yan , Q i, and Jing), the ruler should enfeoff the land to his rdatives.1} However, Li Si argued that enfeoffment had been a significant factor in the destruction of the Zhou: by enfeoffing their land to relatives, the Zhou rulers gave virtual autOnomy to the lords in managing the affairs of the various domains. With the passing of generations, the kinship relations of the lords to the kings grew less strong, as. therefore, did their loyalty ro the central court. As a result, Li Si argued, the realm gradually fe ll into the disorder that characterized the Warring States. The minister therefore recommended that the Qin ruler reject the traditional practice or enfeoffment. '4 The first emperor did so, and [he realm was divided inro 36 commanderies, each ruled by officials appointed by the central court and hence under its direct contro!.l) The intent was to halt any growth of local autonomy by placing all areas under the charge of figures directly answerable ro the Q in central court. In order to further curb the growth of local centers of contro!' the fi rst emperor forcibly moved powerful families from throughout the realm ro the capital city of Xianyang.'6 The goal was to prevent resurgence of the powerful fami lies that had controlled local areas before the unifica tion. As a result, the imperial magistrates for each commandery would remain the most powerful figures in the area. A similar attempt was made symbolically as well: the first emperor had replicas of the palaces of the former states built near his own capital. The palaces were then filled with women, bells. and drums taken from each feudal rulerP

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The CreaTion of Empire Since each of the states traced irself back to its original enfeoffment from the Zhou rulers, the evident goal of such an act was to claim that the former enfeoffed rulers were now under the direct command of the first emperor. Beyond these moves to undercut local centers of power, the firs t emperor also tried to break down regional cultures and instirurions and forge a unified realm. Accordingly, he standardized weights and measures, the gauge of wheeled vehicles, and the script. All weapons not used by imperial forces were confiscated and melted down to make bells and statues. IS Finally, roads were built connecting the empire. I' The goal of these acts was to unify the states and pacify the realm, bringing an end to the interstate violence that characterized the Warring States period. In 2 19 a.c., the first emperor decided to claim legitimacy for these policies by performing the flng and shan sacrifices. The flng and shan were offered to mark the beginning of a new era, and the fi rst emperor's decision to perform them would constitute a proclamation that a new o rder had been established. According 10 the records, the fi rst emperor performed the fing at the summit of Mt. Tai and Ihe shan at Liangfu?O Unfortunately, the ritual used in the performance was kept secret, so no descriptions of the event exist.21 We are told, however, that while ascending Mr. Tai ro perform thefongsacrifice he encountered violent winds and rain halfway up the slope, a fact that led the Ruisrs to ridicule him for failing to receive the blessings he sought.l l This claim that the first emperor's offerings had not been accepted was to become an imponant issue in later discussions of Ihe Qin creation of empire. The first emperor's desire to proclaim a new order is apparent as well in a sec of commemorative inscriptions that the ruler had carved during his reign.l l The firSt of these inscriptions was set up immediately after the emperor performed the fmg and shan sacrifices, and the others were done as the first emperor continued to tour the empire. The overriding concern in all of the inscriptions was to present the emperor as the creator of an entirely new order, something that fully surpassed the states ruled over by the ancient sages. The second of these inscriptions was set up near Mt. Langya:

It is the twenty-eighth year. The first emperor has created a new beginning [zuo shi]. He has put in order the laws, standards, and principles fo r the myriad things....

The Creation of Empire All under Heaven is unified in heart and yielding in will. lmplemenrs have a single measure, and graphs are wrin en in the same way.... H e has rectified and given order to the d ifferent customs .... H is accomplishments surpass those of the five thearchs [diJ.2~ The tone of the inscription is clear. In the first two lines, (he first emperor presenrs himself as a great creator, fashion ing order for the entire world through laws and standards. The next lines emphasize the unity that the first emperor has initiated, not only politically but also by forming for all under Heaven a unified heart, as well as unified implements, measures, and characters. The final line makes a claim that was also implied in the title invented by the ruler, namely that the first emperor's accomplishments are superio r to those of the five di. Not only does the first emperor make no attempt to claim that his actions are a continuation of the work of the earlier sages, but he also boasts that he has superseded theiraccomplishmenls and created an order unlike anything that existed before. In another inscription carved in stone and set up on Mt. Zhifu, the first emperor presents himself as a sage who has created a new order : The great sage created [zuol order, established and settled the laws and standards, and made manifest the relations and principles .... He universally bestowed and clarified the laws to bind all under Heaven and to stand eternally as a righteous pattern. Great indeed! Everyone within the divisions will receive and accord with the intent of the sage. The numerous ministers praise his accomplishmenrs, requesting to carve them on stone and display them and hand them down as a constant modd. H Here again, the words do not suggest that the first emperor was continuing the work of the earlier sages. They emphasize the idea that the first emperor is himself a great sage who has created a new order, and the issue of transmission is raised only to suggest that the creation will be handed down to posterity. This is the same point, of course, made by the numerical porrion of the firSt emperor's title: the Qin ruler was the first in the series and would be followed by the second , third, etc., for the next ten thousand generations.

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The Creation of Empire These claims by the first emperor to be a great crearor sage clearly had their origins in the textS, such as the Shangjunshu, that presented me original state as the creation of the early sages, most notably Huangdi. Following this model, me Qin, upon unifying all of the states under a new system of governance, seemed uninterested in linking their empire ro t he earlier dynasties. On the contrary, the proclamations of the founde r of the Qin empire emphasize that the ruler personally created a completely new, unprecedented era in Chinese history. The degree to which the first emperor was commined [0 this mode oflegiti. mation can be seen in an incident that occurred in 213 B.C. A scholar, C hunyu Yue, called on the fi rst emperor to model himself on antiquiry and return to the practices of enfeoffment. Li Si, now the chief minister, argued that it was wrong to follow the past and that no one should advocate such a thing. 2' On Li Si's advice, the first emperor then ordered that all books, with the exception of those related [0 medicine, divination, agriculture, and the history of the state of Q in, be proscribed. From then on only scholars would be allowed to possess the proscribed booksP All other copies, with the exception of those owned by the state of Q in itself, were to be burned. Anyone caught "using the past to cri ticize the present" was to be executed.28

The FaJl of the ImperiaJ System The first emperor died in 2 10 B.C. and was succeeded by one of his sons.2t Very quickly, the fai lure of the Q in to consolidate imperial rule became clear: de· spite the unification efforts of the first emperor, me Qin had failed to break local centers of power. In 209 B.C., Chen She initiated a revolt in what had been the state of Chu. Attempting ro link himself with those who supported a reemergence of the pre.Qin states, Chen She called himself a king and took the tide ~enlarge r of Chu." 10 Although Chen She's rebellion was quickly crushed, another rebellion, led by Xiang Yu and his uncle, Xiang Liang, emerged in the fo rmer state of Chu. like Chen She, Xiang Yu and Xiang Liang appealed to those who wanted to re· constitute the pre·imperial states. Early in the revoh , for example, Xiang Liang found the grandson of the late ruler of Chu and entitled him King H uai of

The Creation of Empire Chu.31 Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu then claimed themselves to be working under the command of King Huai. The revolt was rhus presented as the reemergence of the legitima(e C hu rulers against the imperial system. Similar revoirs quickly spread throughout (he empire. By 207 B.C .• the former states of Yan, Zhao, Q i, Chu. Han, and Wei had been reconstiruted, and each had established kings as rwers.32 The Qin armies. by then completely overstretched. were unable to impose control. In the same year, the second em· peror committed suicide.33 The Q in empire, forged to last for ten thousand generations. had falle n in just fourteen years. Another ruler, Ziying, was set up to rule Qin, but in an open admission that the empire had failed, he took the tide of "king" rather than "emperor": Qin was once again only one state among many.H Even this rule was shon~lived, however, and soon thereafter the State ofQin fell completely. At the end of 207 B. C., the rebel Liu Bang reached the capi ~ tal and forced the surrender of the king of Q in. In early 206 B.C., Xiang Yu, who had become by far the most powerful general in the wars against the Qin armies, led his forces in to the capital, killed Ziying, looted the city, and burned the Qin palaces?' At this point, a reconstirution of the pre.Qin system of states became a real possibiliry. However, even if the Qin fai led to create an enduring imperial system, it seems ro have been successful in undercutting local power centers. I infer (his from the ensuing civil wars: after 206 B.C. de facto power was held by the generals of the rebeJ armies, rather than the newly installed kings of the six reconstiruted states. Indeed, the most powerful rebel leader, Xiang Yu, actually overthrew the heirs of the former kings and made a new claim to unity:36 he granted King Huai ofChu the title of ~righ(eo us di,"'37 carved up the old state territories. enfeoffed pieces of each to his own ministers and generals,38 and gave himself the title "hegemon.king of (he Western Chu." 39 Xiang Yu su p~ paned a return to the system of enfeoffment from before the centralized rule of the Qin empire. However, he also wanted to continue the Qin policy of u nde r~ cutting the power of the families that had controlled the pre.Qin states: but instead of doing so through imperial centralization, Xiang Yu divided the states into smaller, and thus less powerfu l, units, and enfeoffed his own supporters. Soon (hereafter, Xiang Yu took action agai nst yet another of the remaining relatives of one of the pre ~Qin ruling famili es: he had the "righteous di" (the

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The Crealion of Empire king of C hu) killed_~o It was on this pretext that Liu Bang, who had b«n enfeolfed as the king of Han, rose up in rebellion, claiming that )Gang Yu had become a tyrant. The armies of Liu Bang and )Gang Yu fought for the next four years, until finally. in 2 0 2 B.C., )Gang Yu was defeated.

The Reintroduction and Consolidation of Empire Under the Han Dynasty Th~

Pounding ofthe Han

tiu Bang, now the dominant figure in China, declared the beginning of a new dynasty: t~e Han. The difficulties facing him were clear. The Qin imperial system had failed, the states that reconS(ituted themselves in 207 B.C. had proven weak, and the hegemonic system of Xiang Yu had failed as well. In 101 B.C., it would not have been at all clear what form of statecraft the Han system should embrace, nor would it have seemed likely that the dynasty would be able to hold power for any length of time. The first major symbolic act that Liu Bang underrook to demonstrate his claims to legitimacy was to choose his title: instead of keeping the title "king of Han," and instead of calling himself "hegemon-king" as )Gang Yu had done, Liu Bang took the Qin title "emperor."~l He thus clearly proclaimed his intent to reestablish the imperial unification introduced by the Qin. Gaozu then went on [0 divide about one-third of the realm into commanderies along the lines of the Qin empire, an act that again revealed his desire to continue centralized rule in China.~2 Nonetheless, he was hesitant to employ all of.the institu tions introduced by the Qin. The reasons for his hesitancy are not dIfficult to find. Although the Qin had united a group of states that had ~ome independent during the Warring States period, the Qin empire had fa iled. Moreover, Gaozu had been forced to contend in the rebellion with many of those who wished to rerum to the institutions of the pre-imperial period, so he knew well the kind of opposition that the Qin system had faced. Indeed, a concern with presenting himself in opposition to Qin Centrali7.ation had defin ed his career for some time. For example, when he had first entered t~e capital city during the revolt and accepted the surrender ?f Ziying, one of hIS first acts was to n:duce the strictness of the Qin legal code. 4l He

The Creation of Empire wan ted to win support by demonstrating that he opposed the more extreme sides of Qin imperial rule. His opposition to centralization became even more pronounced after he declared the formation of the Han. Although it is true thaI he used the Qin commandery system to administer about one~third of his domain, for the remaining two-thirds he returned to the traditional practice of enfeoffment. In order to maintain the allegiance of those who supported him during the revolt, he parceled out large fiefs of land and granted [he rulers tremendous autonomy.~~ For most of his realm, then, Gaozu dismantled one of [he bulwarks of [he Qin imperial system and returned to Western Zhou practices. Gaozu also revealed his concern with showing his connection to the Zhou dynasty by establishing a set of sacrifices. For example, when told that [he Zhou, upon taking power. instituted sacrifices to their ancestor Hou Ji , Gaozu responded by ordering every commandery, kingdom, and county to institute sacrifices to Hou Ji as well.~ s In addition, upon starting the H an dynasty, Gaozu did nOt change (he ruling power of his dynasty: like the Qin, the Han ruled with the power of water, the same element that had been held by the Qin .~6 By doing so, Gaozu denied the Qin a place in the dynastic and cosmic cycle: it was the Han, not the Qin, whose power of water followed the Zhou power of fire. The Han dynasty was thus the true successor to the Zhou, and me fi rst emperor was simply a usurper who had fal sely claimed a place in the succession of dynasties. Overall, then, Gaozu took a mixed Stance on the issue of imperial rule. On the one hand, he presented himself as a ruler attempting to return to the ways of the past, and particularly as a ruler turning against the vicious sides of the Qin imperium. Accordingly, he weakened the legal code, gave out most of his land through enfeoffment. and ruled under the same element in the five-power cycle as the Qin had - presenting himself as the legitimate successor to the Zhou and. at the same time, implying that the Qin were just usurpers. without a place in the dynastic cycle. On the other hand, Gaozu took the title of emperor and divided about one-third of the land into the commandery system created by the Qin. That mixture, however, did not last long. The most pressing problem came to be that of enfeoffment. The dangers of granting so much autonomy to his former supporters became immediately clear as a number of the rulers rose up

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The Creation of Empire in revolt againSl the cenual CQurt.o Recognizing that his empire was in peril, Gaozu began replacing them wilh members of his own family.~ 8 His relatives, he felt, would be far less likely ro [Urn against the central court. But even this solution was only temporary. for the descendants of his relatives would be less likely to offer meir full support to the ruler. As was seen in the history of the Western Zhou, even a relatively small kingdom can, over time. disintegrate through practices of enfeoffment. For a large imperial Slate. such practices were all the more dangerous. As it turned out, the revolts staged against Gaozu by the enfeoffed rulers did indet:d foreshadow trouble. Gaozu's successors thus faced the choice of allowing the empire [0 degenerate into warring regions or attempting to reinstate the Qin system of rule. If they attempted to reinstate the Qin system. however. they would have to find a more successful means of implementation. for the failW'C of the Q in was an undeniable fact. Such were the problems facing the early rulers of the Han.

LuJia It was in this context that Lu Jia wrote the Xinyu. The work is an argument for the importance of following me textual traditions of me earlier sages. and therefore of fo llowing precedent in statecraft. However. this did not email, fo r Lu Jia, completely rejecting the Q in legacy. Accordingly, the work attempts to balance many of the competing arguments in Gaozu's court.49 It is of particular interest to the currem study because the way that Lu Jia presents his arguments owes much to the synthesis and approach forged in the late Warring States by the authors of the Xici. Moreover. I suggest that this marks an important moment in the development of classical scholarship in the Han. 50 In the first chapter. "Oaoji," Lu Jia takes up the issues of innovation and historical change. The chapter opens as follows: "The commemary says: 'Heaven gives birth to the myriad things and uses earth to nourish them. Sages bring them to completion: n ' l In a passage clearly reminiscent of the Xici, the rext claims that the sages observed the patterns of the natural world and used Qian and Kun to determine the proper hierarchy for humans: Thereupon (he early sages looked up to observe the patterns of Heaven and looked down to examine (he principles of Earth. They dia-

grammed Q ian and Kun so as to determine the way of man. The people for the first time were enlightened and understood the affections of fat hers and sons, the propriety of rulers and ministers, the way of husbands and wives, and the order of older and younger. Thereupon the hundred officials were established and the way of the kings was thereby generated.~l

As in the Xici. the sages arc those who observed the patterns of Heaven and Earth and men brought those patterns to humanity. This allowed humans to realize the hierarchy proper to them. And, also as in (he Xici, Q ian and Kun are the mediating elements in the movement fro m nature to humanity. The rext next provides a version of sagely innovations: The people ate Aesh and drank blood and took skins and furs as clothing. When it came to Shennong, he felt it difficult for Aying insects and running beasts to nourish man, and he thereupon sought things that could be eaten. H e tried the fru its of a hundred plants, exam ined the tastes of sourness and bitterness, and taught people to eat me five grains. In all under Heaven. the people took rhe wilds as meir residence and caves as meir dwellings. Since they did not yet have houses. they shared the land with the birds and beastS. Thereupon Huangdi cut down {fees, made beams out of the wood. and built palaces and houses.H The text goes on to describe how Hou Ji taught proper agricultural practice, Yu directed the rivers, Xi Zhong made chariots and boats, and Gao Vao established punishments. S4 At this point. however. the people still had no morality. Accordingly. the sages of the middle period taught them ritual and propriety." For Lu Jia, this middle period - presumably a reference to the truee dynasties- represented a new height for humanity: it enjoyed both the material culture invented by the early sages and the ritual and propriety taught by the middle sages. However. things declined thereafter: "The later ages declined and fell ro waste. Thereupon, the later sages established the five classics and clarified the six arts to correspond to Heaven, govern Earth. and probe affairs."56 The five classics, then , were composed in a state of decline in order to once again connect humanity to Heaven. The later sages thereby "reformed the decline and

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The Creation of Empire chaos."}7 The five classics, therefore, are what will allow later generations [Q return to lhe golden age of the three dynasties. Such a presentation of history allows t u Jia to distinguish two of the poles that had dominated so many of the intellectual debates on creation over the previous rwo centuries: lu Jia accepu the idea that there had been a period of great technological innovations by creator sages, but his historical sequencing allows him to distinguish this fully from the moral governance of the three dynasties. In itself, however, such a historical sequence would not necessarily email a posi tion radically different from that presented in texts like the Shangjunshu. Indeed, as Chapter J desc ri~d . the authors of [he Shangjunshu even accepted the idea that the three dynasties introduced moral governance. Their argument was simply that following the precedents of the three dynasties was wrong: the times had changed, and it was now proper [Q institute amoral, centralized forms of statecraft. And this is precisely why the author's cosmological framing device is so important for Lu Jia's argument: Lu Jia will attempt to claim that sages were not so much responding to changing times as they were successively working to bring things to their proper, and fully natural. completion. For example, he makes the following claim about natural objects: "One can work to make them useful and exhaust their essence to make them into utensils. Therefore I say: Sages complete them. This is the means by which one governs things, penetrates change. controls essence and nature, and makes manifest humaneness and propriery."Sl The practice of humaneness and propriety. therefore. involves humans appropriating natural things and making them into objects of human consumption. Such acts of appropriation, moreover, are defined as sages bringing things to their proper completion. Or, to PUt it in the terms of Lu Jia's opening sentence, the sages' appropriation of the natural world is the proper and moral completion of the process begun by H eaven: appropriating natutal materials for human consumption is a necessary moment in the unfolding of the process begun by Heaven. The sages' creation of material culture is thus nQ(hing more than the process of successive sages correctlyappropriating more and more of nature for the proper use of humans, and the guiding criteria are humaneness and propriety. The goal of the narrative of sagely creations in this chapter, then, is not to celebrate innovation per se but to emphasize the necessity of sages correctly

The Creation of Empi ~ providing humanity with what it requires. Accordingly. the narrative emphasizes not the changing of the times hut the progressive growth of human culture through each successive innovation of the sages. The "middle period" of the three dynasties, therefore, represenrs not a particular moment when sages n=sponded in a particular way. but the moment when the technological innovations of the previous period were properly joined with humaneness and propriety. There is, then, a hidden teleology in the argument, and one [hat. somewhat counterintuitively, parallels the one found in Xunzi. Sages correctly use the natural world to create the proper culture for man, and in doing so they complete the process begun by Heaven. Thus, creating culture is the cosmologically proper way for the sages to utilize nature. A.5 in Xunzi, then, the tacit support of sagely innovation is fu lly linked to followi ng the ethical principles expounded in the classics. Lu Jia, of course, roots these ethical principles in the cosmos itself, rather than presenting them as constructs that a sage will naturally invent if he correctly uses his facu lties. Nonetheless, both adhere to a similar teleology, a position that allows for an argument that the classical texts provide principles that are etcrnally valid. Far from being an argument thal creating anew is legitimate with the changing of the times, the argument limiu any possible innovation by grounding it within a larger cosmology. Accordingly, Lu Jia asseru, there are inde«! unchangeable standards. namely humaneness and propriety. Moreover, these unchangeable standards are expounded in the five classics, which [he later sages established. Accordingly, Lu Jia argues. the classics are essential for proper statecraft: Now, those who plan affairs without humaneness and propriety will surely fail to prosper. If, in erecting things. you build a tall lodging without making the base solid, it will surely collapse. Therefore, sages prevent disorder using the classics and arts, and artisans set Straight the crooked using a level and plumb-line.... Duke Huan of Qi esteemed virtue and thereby became a hegemon; the second emperor of Qin esteemed punishments and pe ri s hed.~~ In other words, those rulers who follow the principles of humaneness and propriety as given in the classics will prosper; those who do not- like the second emperor of Qin-will be destroyed. But if this argument bears some si milarity to that of Xunzi, the far more

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The Creation of Empire important precedent for Lu Jia's argument is in fact the Xid. Lu Jia refers implicitly to the Xic; 's discussion of the hexagrams as the means through which the sages brought patrerns to humanity, and, like the Xici, Lu Jia uses this same framework to account for the ensuing inventions of technologies by the sages. Lu Jia then presents the classics as having been wrinen during an era of decline, when sages thought it necessary to teach humaneness and propriety in a degenerate age. The Xici, in other words, provides Lu Jia with a means of puUing together numerous differeD[ claims: that the sages of antiquity brought patterns from nature to the world of humanity, that these patterns guided subsequent acts of innovation, including both the invention of technologies and the teaching of humaneness and propriety. and that these enduring principles of humaneness and propriety are enshrined in the classics. In short. the Xid provides Lu Jia with the ability to call for following the classics while still allowing fo r innovation. In the context of the early Han. such arguments had crucial implications. Texts such as the Shangjunshu and Han Feui, which provided strong support for sagely innovation, were written to proclaim the legitimacy of introducing centralized institutions of statecraft: since sages create anew with the changing of the times, the argument weD[, the creation of centralized inS[irutions of statecraft was a necessity for the current age. The Hate of Qin took over many of these notions in developing irs own claims for the legitimacy of creating unprecedented imperial institutions. Accordingly, Lu Jia's atrempt to refer to such narratives of sagely creation, while redirecting the argument to emphasize the imponance of following the cosmological principles found in the classics, was also an implicit critique of the ideology of the Qin empire. In shon, Lu Jia was calling on the emperor to avoid embracing all Qin imperial institutions and ideology, and instead to follow the guidelines of the five classics. But the way that he phrased his argument allowed him to accept the legitimacy of new innovations while still advocating a turn to the classics. Similar arguments appear throughout the work. In chapter 2 , for example, he criticizes those who "take that which is transmitted from the past as important, and that which is created in the present as unimportanr."60 Although this may at first sound like a critique of those who would call for following textual precedenrs, it is in fact fullyconsisrent with the position outlined in chapter t: Lu Jia argues that there are eternal principles that should be followed, and ,

The Creation of Empire moreover, that these principles are to be found in works like the Spring and Autumn Annals: The Spring and Autumn Annals does not reach up to the five di or down to the three monarchies. It transmirs the small good poinrs of Huan of Qi and Wen of Jin, and of the twelve dukes of Lu. [Butl. down to the present time, it is sufficient to allow one, in practicing governance, to understand what succeeds and what fails.' l Far from being a critique of followin g textual precedents, therefore, the argument instead calls on the ruler to follow the principles of governance found in works like the Spring and Autumn Annals. The argument is reminiscent of the Mohist position that innovation is acceptable as long as it is guided by proper principles. But unlike the Mohisrs. Lu Jia argues that such principles are to be found not in a U[i1itarian calculus but in texrs like the Spring nndAutumn Annals- and ultimately, therefore, in the patterns brought to humanity by the sages. Throughout the Xinyu, therefore, Lu Jia develops a position that allows him to accept innovation, as lo ng as it is done under proper moral guidelines. Accordingly, he never criticizes the entire Qin imperial system; rather, he criticizes, for example, the Qin's reliance on punishmenrs rather than moral principles. Qin innovations per se are not singled out, bu t instead he criticizes an over-reliance on pun ishmenrs, a failure to follow the classics, and other aspecrs of the imperial system that contradict the cosmological and ethical principles found in the early classics. In sho rt, Lu Jia develops the argument in the)(jci in such a way that he can claim there to be enduring principles that the sages have brought to humanity, and that these principles can also guide proper sagely innovation. Although Lu Jia does not appear to have been immediately influential on the Han court, his general approach may have ultimately had a crucial impact on the development of classical scholarship in the Han.

Early Dynastic Problmu In the short term, however, tu Jia's argumenrs seem to have had little if any impact on court politics. The primary issue facing the early empire was con· trolling the enfeoffed areas, and there is no evidence that classical scholarship 0 11 that issue became a significant force in the debates during the first few de-

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The Creation of Empire cades of the Han. Gaozu himself died from a wound received fighti ng agai nst Qing Bu, the king of Huainan who had revolted against the emperor.61 Following his death, the empire endured a series of crises involving problems of dynastic succession and an attempted coup by the empress dowager. -Ibe immediate consequence of waning central power was growth in the strength of the enfeoffed kingdoms. By the reignof Wend i (r.180-157 B.C.) , theenfeoffed kingdoms had become so powerful thar a number of ministers, such as Jia Vi and Chao Cuo, began calling for increasi ngcentr3lization to prevent a disimegr3tion of [he empire.63 The emperor thereafter gradually began implementing a policy of reducing the size of the larger kingdoms. H is most notable achievement in this regard occurred in 164 B.C., when Wendi successfully divided the enormous kingdom of Huainan into three parts.64 Reducing the size of the kingdo ms, however, sparked tremendous opposition from the enfeoffed rulers themselves. Finally, during the reign of Jingdi (r. 157- 141 B.C.), the siruarion reached a crisis point. In 154 B.C., seven of the enfeoffed kings, led by the king of Wu, launched a revolt against the central court. The Han armies ultimately put them down, and Jingdi used the occasion ro expand the commandery system and cut even more significantly imo the power of [he enfeoffed kingdoms. 6S Th~

OrgalliZlltion of Empir~ by Han Wudi EARLY COURT DEBATES

Issues related to imperial centralization and enfeoffment came to a head during the reign of H an Wudi (r. 141-87 B.C.). Although Jingdi had begun cent~liz­ ing, the process was still Far from complete, and much of the empire was still under the control of enfeoffed kings. Many of the court debates therefore came to rest on whether Wudi should reverse his Father's policies and rerum to a decentr3lized feudal system or continue those policies and thereby move toward a recreation of the Qin imperial system of centralized rule. When Wudi took the throne. several practitioners of "techniq ues of the Ru" called on him to build a Mingtang, a hall where the feudal lords would come to court.66 The implicit goal of such a recommendation was to get the emperor to reverse the trend toward imperial centralization and to return to the practices of enfeoffment-a shift that would be marked symbolically by the emperor's building a temple where he would meet the enfeoffed rulers. They

The Creation of Empire also called on him to perform the flng and Ihlln sacrifices,67 acts rhat would signiry the consolidation of the dynasty. As d iscussed above, the Ruists ~­ lieved that the first emperor's offering of the flng and Ihlln sacrifices had ~n rejected because he refused to follow precedent. A successful performance, by their reckoning, would be one offered by a ruler fully linked to the traditional practices associaled with the Zhou. Finally. they called on him to alter the cal~ endar and official color of the dynasry.61 Presumably, the goal here was for the emperor to define himself as attaining a power different from one associated with punishments, warfare, and the Qin system. The HUllinllnzi One of the most dramatic points of this debate cemered on [he relationship between the court of Wudi and that of Huainan, which remained, even after the division under Wendi, one of the largest and most powerful enfeoffed areas in the Han empire. At Wudi's accession, Huainan was ruled by Liu An, the grandson of Gaozu and the uncle of Wud i himself. Liu An was a patron of scholarly ideas, and, in 139 B.C., tiu An traveled to the centr31 court and presented Wudi with the text. 69 Consisting of 1. 1 chapters, the HUilinanzi stands as one of the longest and richest sources for understanding the political and intellectual climate of the early years of Wudi's reign. In Ihe concluding chapter of the work, the authors proclaim the intent of [he text as a whole. They provide a lengthy survey of earlier figures who wrote works as advice to rulers, including the Ruisrs, Mohists, and Shang Yang7° However, (he autho rs claim, each of these figures only provided specific advice for rulers at a particular rime; in contrast, they said, the work of Liu An would provide timeless advice: The book of M ister tiu observes the images of Heaven and Earth, penetrates the affairs of ancient times and the present, weighs affairs and establishes regulations, measures form s and puts forth what is fining .... It does not follow a path from one trace or hold fast to instructions fro m one corner.... Therefore, one can establish it regularly and constancly and never be blocked; one can promulgate it throughout all under H eaven and never make a mistake?1 "n\e HlIllinanzi is intended to be a work that will survive the ages. Unlike all other previous works written at crucial historical junctures. the Huainanzi does

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The C~arion of Empire not merely make helpful suggestions for its own time but teaches one how to become a sage who can always accord with changing circumstances. And the basis fo r this claim is similar to that made in theXici: the HU4inanzi will en du~ because it alone is based upon .a proper understanding of me natural world.'l O ne of the most powerful st.atements in the HU4inanzi concerning precisely wh.at such claims would mean appears in ch.apter f3 , the "Fanlun xun." The ch.apter is a lengthy attempt to argue against both the claims of figures like Lu Jia as to the importance of following textual authority and the strong support for the creation of centralized institutions being advocated by several figures at the H an court. Intriguingly, the chapter also builds on [he arguments in texts like theXid, although it does so as a way to deny the very claims mat the .authors of the Xici, as well as Lu Jia, wished to maintain - namely that sages brought enduring patterns to humanity and mat humans should continue to fo llow these patterns. The chapter opens with a n.arrative of how successive sages created houses, cloth ing, ploughs, boats, wheels, carts, and weapons.n This narrative is clearly indebted to texts like the "Ciguo" chapter of the Mozi and the "Wudu" chapter of the Han hizi: the sages are defined as active creators of the material culture of humani ty. The text then draws from this narrative the same conclusion found in the "Wudu" chapter of the Han hizi, namely mat it is necessary for sages to create anew with the changing times: true sages make innovations at the proper time. without regard for preceden(7~ Thus, the text argues. the five di and the three monarchies "changed in accord with me rimes."" In the context of the early Han, such claims had great resonance. By the late Warring States period, the narratives of the creation of material culrure by successive sages, when combined with (he argument that sages change in accord with the times, had become associated with the arguments of texts like me Shangjumhu and Han Frizi advocating the creation of unprecedented forms of c_entralized rule. By the early Han, this SOrt of argument would imply a strong support for the imperial system (hat had been created by the first emperor and thaI Jingdi had begun to reinstitute. The text goes on to argue that following textual precedent - the very thing advocated by figures such as Lu Jia- was foo lish: When the way of the kings splintered, the Shi was created. When the house of Zhou was neglected and rituals and propriety fell to waste,

The Crearion of Empi~ the Chunqiu was created. As for the Shi and Chunqiu, mose who study them view them as beautiful. But they are the products of ages of decline [JhU4i Jhd . The Ruists follow them in order to teach and guide the generations. But how can they compare to the flo urishing of the three dynasties? They take the Shi and the Chunqiu as the way of the ancients. and they ho nor them. But there is also the time before the Shi and Chunqiu were created. Now, the splintering of me way is not as good as the enti rety of the way. To recite the poems and texts of the fo rmer kings is not as good as hearing and atraining meir words. And hearing and attaining their words is not as good as anaining that about which they spoke. As to attaining thaI about which they spoke, words are not able to express it. Therefore: "The way that can be spoken is nor the enduring way." 76 Textual traditions cannot recover the actual way of the earlier sages: quoting from the Laozi. the authors make the poillt that words cannot even provide an understanding of the way. And, regardless. the way of the period from which these texts date is simply one of degeneracy. The text thus denies the crucial claims made by Lu Jia, namely that enduring pau erns exist, and that such patterns arc articulated in the texts of the sages. The text continues with its critique: " How can all under Heaven have constant models?"77 There are no enduring models, and therefore trying to imitate the past is foolish: times change, and what worked in the past will no longer work now?' Accordingly, sages m ust crealewith (he changing times. and omers must simply follow mem: "Great men create and disciples comply."7'J Having thus rejected the following of textual precedents. and having strongly assened the claims fo und in texts like the Shangjumhu and Han hizi that true sages create with the changing of the times, the authors at first glance appear to be arguing for centralized rule. In other words, the text appears to be advocating (he imperial system created by the first emperor, and to be calling on Wudi [Q rebuild such a system instead of follow ing precedent. as the Ruists would have (hem do. In fact, however, the text at this poim takes these arguments in a completely different direction. The authors turn to a lengthy discussion of self-cultivation :md then argue that, thereafter, the sage will be able to accord spontaneously with the generative processes of the universe:

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As for the qi of Heaven and Earth, there is nothing greater lhan harmony. Harmony is the joining of yin and yang. Day and night are distinguished, and things are born. Spring is distinguished and there is birth ; autumn is distinguished and there is completion. Birth and completion muSt have the essence of harmony. Therefore, the way of the sage is lenient yet firm, stern yet kind, soft yet Straight, forceful yet humane .... The sage resides between hardness and softness, and he thereupon obtains the root of the way.so The procc:ssc:s of the universe are defined as spontaneous, generative movements, wherei n each process occurs at the proper moment. Similarly, the sage, insofar as he accords with these processes, must always rest between extremes. It is this claim that sets up the crucial part of the argument. Although thus far the authors have appeared to provide a narrative of innovation comparable to texts like the Shangjunshu, this claim, that the sage must correspond to particularly defined processes in the natural world, allows for a very different conclusion. Instead of celebrating disconti nui ty in the narrative of sagely innovation, the authors claim that such acts of innovation were simply examples of sages properly responding to the processes of nawre. In other words, not unlike the Xici, the authors here claim that acts of zuo do not involve inherent discontinuity; on (he contrary. such acts are simply an example of sages correlating themselves with the natural world. But, unlike the Xici, the amhors do not employ the mediating role of the hexagrams, and, unlike Lu Jia, do not allow for the possibility of eternal pan erns embodied in the classics. Thus, although the authors deny rhe kind of celebration of discontinuity found in the Shangjumhu, they also deny textual authori ty. The implications of rhis position become clear in the fo llowi ng secdon, where the authors turn to a narrative of the rise of imperial rule in C hina. Contrary to what the first section might have led one to expect, the text describes the rise of the Qin imperium in highly critical terms. Far from being a proper r~action to the rimes, and far from demonstrating sagacious moderation , the Qin is singled our as having been excessive in every way: In the time of Q in, they built 10 great heighl (Qw~ rs and pavillions, made extensive gardens and enclosures, buill far-reaching imperial roads, and cast bronze fi gures. They sent out troops and brought in

The Creation of Empire grasses and grains .... Young and strong men were s~m west to Linchao and Didao, east to Huiji and Fushi. south to Yuzhang and Guilin, and nonh to Feihu and Yangyuan. On the roads, t he d~ad filled the ditches.1I This extr~me militarization of society under Qin rule led to a denigration of all ethical principles: "At this time, those who loyally remonstrated were called inauspicious, and those who look humaneness and propriety as their way were called mad."81 The rise of Gaozu, however, is presented as a time when the radical dcstruc* riveness of the Qin was overcome and links to the past were forged onc~ again: "When we come down to the time of Emperor Gao, he preserved what had been extinguished and continued what had been cut off."H Unlike the Qin, Gaozu linked himself with the past -presumably by supporting the enfeoffed states against Qin imperial centralization .8~ During the civil war, the Ruists and Mohists continued to be opposed: ~At this rime, those who wore sumptuous clothing and wide sashes and who took Ruism and Mohism as their way were taken as unworthy."ss But, follOwing the end of the civil war and the founding of the dynasty, Gaozu once again balanced wm and wu, civil and military: This continued until the tyranny and disorder was ended and overcome. When, throughout the land, things were gready senled, he continued the undertakings of wm and established the merits of wu. ... He unified the Ruists and Mohists of the Zou and Lu and penetrated the transmitted teachings of the fo rmer sages . ... In this period, wm and wu alternated as female and male; at rhe right time each was used."

Wm. in this chapter, is thus used to refer to rh~ cultural patterns handed down from the ancient sages, and support for wm is thus defined as support for the Ruists and Mohists- that is, those fi gures who advocate following rhe textual precedents of the early sages.87 And wu, of course. refers to the military. Gaozu was a success, the text claims, because he balan c~d his support for the two, understanding the proper time to follow precedent and the proper time to utili1.c the military.

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The Creation of Empire It claims that in the current age, however, the balance that charactcrized the reign of Gaozu has been 10s(;

In the present time, those who practice wu reject the Wffl. Those who practice wen reject wu. The wen and wu oppose each other, but they do not understand timely utilization. Each sees only one insuuction from a corner or a bend and does not understand me length and greatness of all the eight points. sa The history of the rise of empire, therefore, is read as a dichotomy between wen and wu. It would not be lost on contemporary readers that the support· ers of wen as defined here, namely those who suppon the following of textual precedent, also favored the policy of enfeoffment outlined in the early Zhou texts like the Shi and Shu, while the rise of the military was associated with the forcib le creation of imperial centralized rule. The lack of conciliation between wen and wu in the "present time," therefore, was a clear reference to the on· going debates between those who supponed a decemralization of the empire and a continuation of the early practice of enfeoffmem, and those who favored a return to the policies of imperial militarization and cemralization forged by me Qin and reintroduced by Jingdi. At this poim, the text returns to a discussion of the importance of the self· cultivation of the sage. The emphasis cominues to be on weighing or decid· ing the proper balance to be maintained: "Only the sage, in acting, is able to understand weighing."" The text continues: Thus, the sage appreciates the alterations of movemem and srillness. understands the appropriateness of the measures of receiving and giving, sees the panern of the fundamentals of likes and dislikes, har· monizes the rhythm of joy and anger. Now, when movement and S[illness have been obtained, then distress will nOt be excessive; when receiving and giving are appropriate. then faults will not be accumu· lated; when likes and dislikes are patterned, then anxieties will not approach; when joys and anger are modulated, then enmity will not be commined. 90 The sage, then. is one who undergoes the correct form of self·cultivation so as to be able to understand what action to take at a given time. 91

The Creation of Empire With t his as a general summary. let us reRect on the overall argument of the chapter. First, the chapter claims that, since times change. there can be no enduring standards to guide action. Accordingly, attempting ro foUow t~xrual precedent is foolish: sages must act according (0 the times, and what worked in the past is not necessarily r~l evant to the current siruar.ion. Even though. at times. the patterns of me past can be important for statecraft. only a sage can understand when to use them and when to ignore mem. Instead. the text argues, a sage is one who has cultivated himself to a point where he simply understands the correcr way to act at any moment and the correct balance to maintain. The text also makes it clear, although implicitly, that such claims have direct implications for the issue of ~mpire. The authors have defined their terms 50 as to claim that Gaozu is the one who maintained a proper balance between Wffl and wu, and between imperial rule and enfeoffment. The chapter thus places itself between two of the arguments dominant at the central court: [hat textual precedents should be followed . incl uding a return to the policies of enfeoff· ment described in such texts from the Zhou period, and (hat Jingdi's policies of centralization should be continued. Thus, in an ironic twist on what readers of [he time would expect from a text that provides a narrative of the creation of material culture by earlier sages, the authors argue [hat crear.ing anew with the changing of times is perfectly accept· able, but that mis does not mean that the crear.ion of imperial centralization should be fully supported. And intrigui ngly, the argument for this is based on claims similar to mose in the Xici. As in the Xiti. the authors of the "Fanlun xun" wish to account for acts of creation. but they also want to pose such acts as not leading ro any discontinuity from the generative relations of the natural world. But instead of positing the mediating role of the hexagrams, they argu~ that the true sage creates only when he is moving spontaneously with the changes of the natural world, and they then defin e those changes in a way that argues for panicular forms of imperial cenrraliz.ation to be legitimately maintained. In both cases, however, th~ act of zuo is posed as not leading to the forms of discontinuity that were emphasized (either positively or negatively) in so many of the earlier Warring States texts.91 And it is for this reason, 1 believe, that the argument of the Xici became so

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The Creation of Empire

influential among scholars during the early Han dynasty. Both Lu Jia and the authors of the "Fanlun xun" turned to the SOrt of argument given in theXicibecause it granted them a powerful form of critique against imperial rule. Instead of taking a simple rejectionist stance toward empire, the type of argument given in the Xici enabled them to allow for innovation- and thus to accept aspects of imperial rule-while still using cosmological notions to criticize specific aspects of centralized statecraft. This is why, despite their enormous political and intellectual differences, both Lu Jia and the authors of the "Fanlun xun" commit to a notion of zuo that involves according with the natural world, rather than marking a point of discontinuity. Dong Zhongshu But if such arguments in the Huainanzi represent an anempt to oppose imperial centralization while still denying a return to textual authority and earlier precedents, Dong Zhongshu represents an attempt to oppose imperial centralization precisely on the grounds of the importance of textual precedent. Although Dong Zhongshu was later to be reinterpreted as the forger of imperial Confucian ism, his memorials to H an Wudi reveal a very different sort of figure.93 The memorials are extremely blum in their rejection of the Qin dynasty and in their open opposition to the Han arrempt to maintain aspects of Qin rul e.9~ AI:, for the Qin itself, Dong makes the following claims: When it came to the last generations of the Zhou, they greatly brought about the destruction of the way and thereby lost all under Heaven. Qin succeeded them. But not only were they unable to change, they also made it worse. They strongly banned the study of cultural patterns and prevented the possession of books. They discarded rituals and what is appropriate, and hated to hear of them. In their hearts they desired to completely extinguish the way of the former kings and only to make a governance of their own recklessness and carelessness?S And, ifQin was so deteStable, then it is equally wrong for Han to continue Qin practices. Even the attempt to improve upon Q in statecraft is unacceptable: Confucius said: "Rotten wood cannOt be carved; walls of dung cannot be worked with a trowel." Now, Han has succeeded Qin. It is like ronen wood or a wall of dung. Although you desire to improve it and

put it in order, how is this possible? Laws are promulgated, but crime grows; orders are sent down, but deceit arises. This is like using hot water to stop boiling water, or carrying kindling to put out a firc.96 In other words, the policies of Qin should not be used, and neither can they be improved upon: they are like rotten wood that simply cannot be carved. In another memorial, Dong makes a similar claim. After praising the morality of the Zhou, he argues: When if came to the Q in, things were not like this. They taught the laws of Shen [Buhail and Shang [Yang] and put in practice the theories of Han Fei. They detcsted the way of the di and the kings, taking greed and cruelty as customary, and did not have cultural patterns or potency to teach and instruct those below.97 Unlike the "Fanlun xun" of the Hutlinanzi, which criticized the Qin system (as well as its resurgence in the Han) for being extreme, Dong Zhongshu is proclaiming the complete illegitimacy of the Qin institutional system. In its place, Dong advocates following the Spring and Autumn Annals, a text created by Confucius: "Confucius created [ztlol the Spring and Autumn Annals, above calculating it to the H eavenly way, below making it substantive with the fundamentals of man; comparing it with antiquity, examining it with the present."98 We see here again the view that sages zuo by articulating patterns. In this case, Dong argues that Confucius zuo-ed the Spring and Autumn Annals such that he connected H eaven and man , past and present. AI:, such, the Spring and Autumn Annals are in fact the patterns of a sage: "Confucius created [zuol the Spring and Autumn Annals, first correcting the king and then connecting (he myriad things, manifesting therein the patterns of the uncrowned king."99 This reading of Confucius as the uncrowned king is a variant of Mencius's reading, quoted above:

As the generations declined and the way became obscure, heterodox teachings and violent practices arose. There were instances of ministers killing their rulers and sons killing their fathers. Confucius was worried and created [zuo] the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Spring and Autumn Annals is an undertaking for a Son of Heaven. This is why Confucius said: "Those who understand me will do so through the

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Spring and Aurumn Annals; those who condemn me will do so through the Spring and Aurumn Annals." 100 Like Mencius. then, Dong Zhongshu argues that Confucius was indeed a sage. And, building upon the cosmological ideas that had developed over the subsequent two centuries, Dong further claims that the patterns manifested by Confucius's act of zuo-ing link Heaven and man, past and present'. In the context o f the early Han. however, an argument that Confucius was an uncrowned king has additional implications. Dong wishes to assert that Confucius's Spring and Autumn Annals, insofar as it is [he produC[ of a king (albeit uncrowned). and insofar as it was wriuen as a criticism of his own king (the reigning Zhou monarch): should hav~ marked the beginning of a new dynasry. By calling on Han Wudl to model himself on the work, Dong in essence claims [hat the Qin was illegitimate and that the Han should become the dynasry that ought (Q have begun with Confucius. In many ways, this is a stronger (and more explicit) criticism of Han policies than that made in the "Fanlun xun" chapter of the HUtlinanzi, and a far more complete rejection of the Qin imperial system of statecraft than the earlier figure Lu Jia had made. Far from being the forger of imperial Confucianism, the Dong Zhongshu that appears in these memorials does not seem to accept the legitimacy of empire at all. THE LEGITIMATI NG ACTS OF HAN WUD I

Both the HUtlinanzl and Dong Zhongshu, in very different ways. called on Wudi to turn away from the centralization policies inherited from the Qin and reintroduced by Jingdi. In the end. neither recommendation was followed. On the contrary. over the next few decades. Han Wudi, far from preserving the enfwffed kingdoms, greatly increased the central power of the state and radically reduced. through a varieryof means, the powerof the local rulers. IOI Indeed, his policy of centralization involved a far more radical cunailment of the enfeoffed lands than his father had undertaken. The single most imponant act of this policy was Wudi's desrruction of the kingdom of Huainan itself. Liu An was accused of treason 101 and in 122 B.C. took his own life. The kingdom of Huainan was occupied by imperial tTOOps and thereafter incorporated into an imperial commandery.103 Through policies such as these, much of the empire was again made into a

The Creation of Empire commandery system reminiscent of that in the time of the Qin,104 and a strong legal system was once again introduced.105 The emperor also greatly expanded the size of the empire through a number of invasions of nonhern regions, Central Asia, and the south.l~ Finally, he implemented a series of centralizing economic policies. including the creation of several state monopolies. 107 In short, the empire returned in large part to the centralized state created by the first emperor. As such, Wudi final ly ended the danger that the local rulers posed to the empire, a danger that on several occasions had almost destroyed the Han. However. while these centralizing policies continued, Wudi also attempted to legitimize his imperial state. Perhaps the most surprising decision he made. in 136 B.C., was to establish positions for boshi to teach the five classics,108 and his later decision in 124 B.C. to institute an academy for the training of boshi.10 9 This act has often been read as an example of Wudi embracing the imperial Confucian ideas of Dong Z hongshu. One leading scholar. for example, has described Wudi's support for the classics and his attack on Huainan as part of a general Han shift from "Huang-Lao" thought to Confucianism: During the first few decades of the rule of Emperor Wu. the ideology of statecraft had swung away from the Huang-Lao Taoism of earlier periods to the Confucianism of such scholar-bureaucrats as Tung Chung-shu .... To a Confu cian central government preoccupied with consolidating power. armed intervention may have seemed to be the only choice. llo However. as I have argued, both the HUtlinanzi and Dong Zhongsbu were, albeit in different ways, highly critical of Han Wudi's centralizing policies. Moreover, labeling these voices "Huang-Lao" and " imperial Confucian" respectively, and reading the reign of Wudi as one of shifting from the former to the laner, may be misleading: both Liu An and Dong Zhongshu were critics of Wudi's policies, and both ultimately fai led to sway the emperor. Although Dong Zhongshu did nOt, like Liu An, lose his life, it is unclear how much significant inRuence he hdd at Wudi's court. Instead of positing the emergence of an imperial Confucianism designed by Dong Zhongshu, J suggest a somewhat different explanation. Although we have, unfortunately, no direct evidence to suggest what Wudj's intentions were in this regard, I think the debates we have been tracing might lead to another

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The Creation of Empire hypQ[hesis. Figures like Lu Jia, building on the Xici, had begun developing a vocabulary that reconciled the notion of innovation with suppOrt for the patterns brought by the ancient sages from the natural world to the world of man. Although Dong Zhongshu himself called for a full repudiation of the Qin imperial system, the approaches developed by figures like Lu Jia did not. J would suggest that it is more likely in line with arguments such as these that Wudi made his decision: Wudi's goal was to ptove that he was in fact in accord with the patterns of the ancient sages as found in the five classics, and that his rebuilding of the institutional system created by the first emperor in no wayentailed the kind of rejection of the past that was such a dominant part of the Qin imperial ideology. It must be emphasized, however, that there is no evidence to suggest that support fo r the five classics led to the rise of something that might legitimately be called "imperial Confucianism." As the later text Yanti~ [un shows, Ruist officials several decades later were still in the same position that Dong Zhongshu had been in during the reign of Han Wudi - namely, arguing against the imperial policies dominant at the central court. 1Il Instead, what we see here is an attempt by Wudi to use trus rhetoric to very different ends. Not only, therefore, did Wudi establish posts for the study of the five classics, he also built a Mingtang temple, performed the fong and shan sacrifices, and changed the official colorof the dynasty. However, far from symbolizing a rerum to the practices of the Zhou, such acts seemed designed with the opposite purpose in mind-to claim that the imperial system was now consolidated and that empire had become the new norm.1ll If Sima Qian's presentation can be believed on this point, Wudi's interest in performing the fong and shan sacrifices arose in part out of stories concerning Huangdi. One Story is particularly telling. It was told to him bya man from Qi named Gongsun Qing, who claimed that he had received, via a figure called Shen Gong, a cauldron with the following inscription: When the Han arises, it will again accord with the calendar of Huangdi. The sage of the H an will be the grandson or great-grandson of Gaozu. A precious cauldron will appear and he will communicate with the spirits. He will also perform the fong and shan. Of the 7'1. kings who attempted the fengand shan, only Huangdi was able to ascend Mt. Tai and perform the fong. 1I3

The Creation of Empire Shen Gong also stated: "The ruler of the Han will also be able to ascend and perform the fong. If he ascends and performs the fong, then he will be able to become immortal and rise to Heaven." 11 4 The stOry thus emphasizes that a descendant ofGaozu (an obvious reference by the author of the inscription to Wudi) would return the Han to the calendar of Huangdi and perform the fongand shan sacrifices. Such a ruler would also be a sage and would, like Huangdi, achieve immortality and ascend to Heaven. 11 ' Whether or not this particular stoty was in fact a major stimulus to Wudi's actions is impossible to say, but there is further evidence to suggest that Wudi did indeed undertake the sacrifices in emulation of Huangdi: Wudi began the preparations for the fongand shan by sacrificing at the grave of Huangdi.116 He also ordered that the Mingtang be constructed according to the same specifications purportedly used by Huangdi.117 The rest of his preparations are worth following in detail, because they are among the few clues that we possess for explicating the meaning of the sacrifices.ll8 One of his acts of preparation involved an inspection, followed by a ritual disbanding of his troops: In the winter of the next year, the ruler [Wudi) stated: "In ancient times, one would perform the fong and shan only after first bringing out the trOOps and then disbanding them." He thereupon made an inspection of the north, and brought back over 100,000 of his troops. Upon remming, he sacrificed at the tomb of Huangdi at Mt. Qiao. He disbanded the troops at Xuru.ll !J Following this, the emperor had rocks carried up to the summit of Mr. Tai: [Wudi j traveled eastward and ascended Mt. Tai. The grasses and leaves of the trees had not yet sprouted. He thereupon ordered his men to carry rocks up the mountain and set them up on the summit of Mt. Tai. 120 Wudi then performed the sacrifices. The entire description is as follows: On yimao [May q, ltO B.C.], [Wudij ordered the attending Ruists to wear skin caps and official sashes and to shoot an ox and proceed with the ritual. He then performed the fong sacrifice on the eastern foot of Mr . Tai. It was like the ri tual of the jiao sacrifice to Taiyi. 12I The fong l l l

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The Creation of Empire was one zhang and two chi wide, and nine chi high. Underneath was an inscribed jade tablet, but the inscription was kept secreL When (he

ritual was completed. the Son of H eaven, alone with his attending car· riage driver Zihou. ascended Mt. Tai and again performed the [tng. ll3 This was done in secret. The next day. he descended by the northern road. On bingchtn [May 18. IIO s.c.]. he performed the shan northeast of Mt. Tai. on Mr. Suran. It was like the ritual of the sacrifices to Houru.I U The description continues: In these rituals. the Son of Heaven did the obeisance and presenred himself in person. His clothes honored yellow, and he used music throughom. A grass with three ridges that grows betw~ n the Yan!;1.i and Huai Rivers was used to make the divine mats. Earth of five colors was put on top and mixed into the flng. He set free strange beaslS, Oying creatures, white pheasanlS, and other animals from distant regions in order to augment the ritual. Animals like rhinoceroses and e1ephanlS were not used, bu( were brought to Mt. Tai and then taken away.1H During the [fflg and shan sacrifices, there appeared to be a light at night. and during the day a white cloud arose from the [mg. I ~6 Following the performance of the flng and shan, Wudi sat in the Mingtang and issued an edict, one portion o f which read: "Let there be a great amnesty for all under Heaven.... The places [hat I passed through in my travels should not "e · "117 Pums . hmeors an d construction . were t hus stopped , t urn t 0 const rucnng. after the performance. When a comet then appeared, the emperor's officials are quoted by Sima Qian as stating: "Since you have institmed the [mg and shan for the house of Han, Heaven has responded with this star of power." In The star revealed that Heaven had accepted the sacrifices and had thus accepted the Han dynasty itself. Although Sima Qian has nOt provided any detailed discussions o f the offerings themselves, he has given enough inform:uion to allow us to make hypothe· ses about the meaning of the sacrifices as a whole. One clue can be seen in the preparations, which included raising his army and then disbanding it. Another

The Creation of Empire o f the few descriptions included t he detail (hat animals from all over the em· pire were released during the performance-animals from the lands that he had conquered and unified. In both of these cases. phenomena associated with imperium were first exercised and then relinquished. A similar sense would appear to be implied in the name "fong" itself. and the fact that the term refers both to the sacrifice and to the mound built for (he sacrifice. " Fmg." when used as a verb. means "to enfeoff"; when used as a noun it refers ( 0 mounds that were built to demarcate owned uacts of land. The latter usage seems particularly important, for, in the description. mounds o f rocks were constructed. and these mounds were themselves referred to as flng. The sense appears to be that. by building such mounds, the e.mperor was staking his claim to conrrol the land. Further evidence fo r such a reading can be seen in the fact that five colors of earth were mixed into the mounds. As we have seen in the theory of the five phases, five was commonly taken in the late Warring States and early Han to symbolize the totaliry of a natural phe· nomen on. The five colors of earth thus presumably referred to the totality of the land, and the building of the mound therefore marked a claim to such a totality. The sacrifice then represented a yielding of the emperor's control of the land to the divine powers, presumably to Heaven.ll11 A successful sacrifice would signify that Heaven accepted the ruler's imperium and thus allowed him to maintain his position. Finally. after the sacrifice, an amnesty was called, and construction was put to a halt. The emperor thus temporarily relinquished his powers o f coercive and constructive action, implying that, following the sacrifice. his rule had been divinized and , in a sense, namralized. Methods of control and work could thus temporarily cease. The timing of the ritual is also of interest. The [eng mound was built in the spring, before grass and leaves had begun to grow. The sacrifice itself was then given in May. and the Oowering of spring would presumably be taken to symbolize a correlation between the beginning of a new political order and the rebirth of nature. Following the sacrifice, the ruler could then claim a symbolic link between his new o rder and the natural world. Overall, then, it is worth speculating that the sacrifices were expiatory rites. in which the imperial o rder taken by the ruler was offered to higher powers.

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Th~ succ~S$ful compl~tion of the sacrifices thus would signify that the higher powers had accepted the new order. The implicit claim here would appear to be that the form ation of the new order involved a transgression that required expiation. A5 a result of [he sacrifices, the new order became accepted by [he divine as [he norm. Wudi's goal in performing the sacrilices was thus to pro. claim that [he imperial order had been given divine approval and should there. after be seen as the proper organ ization for the Chinese reaJm. Such an organization , clearly. was fae removed from that hoped for by the Ruists at the beginning of the emperor's reign. Although Wudi had built a Mingtang and had undertaken the fing and Jhan sacrifices, the acts were not imended 10 signify a return to the traditional practices of pre-imperiaJ China. On the contrary, they were performed to signify the beginning of a new era, in which it was hoped that the imperial order would be recognized thereafter as the norm. Wudi was thus proclaiming himself a sage who, like H uangdi, had consolidated a new order and would thereafter ascend ro Heaven as an immortal. And, as a further claim along these lines, Wudi went on ro change the calendar and official color of the dynasty. Whereas the eartier Han rulers had con. tinued ruling under warer, the same power held by rhe Qin, Wudi switched to the pow~ r of earth: In the summer [of 104 B.C.], the Han changed the caJendar. so that the first month was at the beginning of the year. A5 for the color. they honored yellow. The tides of officiaJs were recarved on seals so as to consist of five graphs. This was the firs t year of the period "Great 8eginning.nuo Since earth was thought to conquer water, the Han was thus officially succeeding the Qin. Here again, Wudi was fulfilling one of the requests that the some of Ruins had made of him upon his accession, but the symbolism of the claim was radically different from that hoped for by the Ruists in ques. tion. Instead of differentiating himself from the policies of the Qin, Wudi was stressing a continuity: the Han was truly following the Qin. Unlike the earlier H an rulers. then. Wudi was no longer posing the Qin as simply usurpers outside of the dynastic cycle: if the Han dynasty was the successor to the Qin, then the Qin was officially recognized as a dynasty. The implicit claims here

The Creation of Empire are that the institutions of the Qin ought to be accepted as a part of the natural cycle, and therefore that the Han could legitimately appropriate and organiu: such institutions. As has been seen, this symbolism betokened a larger reaJiry: many of the creations of the first emperor were indeed being employed and consolidated by Wudi. An additionaJ symbolic claim was made in this change as well. As noted above. Wudi wished lO compare himself with Huangdi. and indeed undenook the fmg and Jhan sacrifices and constructed a Mingtang in order, at least in pan, to emulate the actions of Huangdi. Interestingly, H uangdi, il may be recalled, also ruled under the power of earth. By changing the power of the dynasty, Wudi was arguing that the movement of the virtues was indeed a cycle, and moreover that the cycle had repeated itself: Wudi was thus a figure comparable to Huangdi. In contrast to the first emperor, Wudi was not claiming to have created a new era surpassing that of the ancient sages. On the contrary, he was claiming that his consolidation of a new imperial era was no different from what the great sage Huangdi had done in consolidating feudal institutions in the distant past. This point reveals the different orientations taken lOward the early sages by [he first emperor and Wudi. As discussed above, the first emperor followed the interpretation of the early sages as found in works such as th~ Shangjunshu, namely that the sages of antiquity were great creators. The first emperor then presented himself as a creator·sage as well. although one even greater than those in the ancient past. In contrast, Wudi followed the interpretation that posed Huangdi as an organizer of institutions created by an earlier. transgressive figure. Wudi {hen presented himself as another H uangdi. in this case establishing a new order by consolidating the empire created by the Qin. For Wudi. then. Huangdi was a figure to be emulated, not surpassed: just as Huangdi had successfully organized the state. so was Wudi successfully organizing the empire. Wudi thus hoped to be for the empire what Huangdi had been for the feudal stare. From here on. Wudi was claiming, the norm for succeeding dynasties 10 follow would not be enfeoffm ent but imperial centralization, and the organizing sage that such successors would try ro emulate would be, Wudi hoped, himself. Empi re was thus presented as the new norm, completely in accord with the di vine and natural worlds.

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C H APTER

Conclusion

The Tragedy of Creation: Sima Qian's Reconstruction of the Rise of Empire in Early China

Michael Loewe has stated it a "paradox" thal the first emperor, a ruler "denigrated consistently in the C hinese uadition," was one of the mOSt influential figures in the formation of imperial institutions. III This chapter has in part attempted to explicate the issues behind this paradox. The argument has been that the first emperor's historical reputation as a failure was not, in the end, an impediment to claiming that the empire that he had created should come to be seen as the norm. O n the contrary, Wudi was able to use the first emperor in the same way that so many narratives of the creation of the state had used evil creators like C hi You, namely as a transgressor responsible for (he negative aspects of the inuoduction of new instruments of governance. Wudi could then present himself as a consolidator like Huangdi, appropriating those new elements and organizing them into a proper order. He could, in other words, claim that empire, even if created by one such as the first emperor, was fully in accord with the divine. fully in accord with the patterns of the ancient sages. and fully deserving of acceptance as the norm. The claim that empire had been fully dissociated from the transgressive implic:uions of its creation, however, was not universally accepted in early China. Indeed. in the next chapter. I argue that the historian Sima Qian strongly opposed that claim by Wudi. However, even Sima Qian makes it clear that empire. if not as moral or as unproblematic as Wudi made it out to ~. was nonetheless (he new norm for China.

5

Sima Qian was a court historian during t he reign of Wudi and an active participant in the debates of the time: His work, the Shiji, was i~[ended t~ be a ~isto?, of the entirety of China's past. beginning with Huangdl and ending With his own emperor. The text is particularly fascinating in regard to the issues t~at have been discussed in this study, for the historian is dire<:cly concerned With the problems of how empire came to be created and to wh a~ extent this ~ew creation could still be seen as linked to the past. Moreover, hiS reconstruction of the rise of empire involved an implicit commentary on many of the issues concern ing creation that had been debated for the previous few centuries.

Sima Qian's Project In the "postface" to his work. Sima ?-ian stakes out s~me of his" d~ims ~ a historian. At one point, he narrates a dialogue between himself and H igh Mmister H u Sui " concerning the nature of the Shiji and its relationship to the classics: H igh Minister Hu Sui asked: "Why is it that. in ancient times, Confucius created lzuol the Spring and Autumn AnnaLs?" The Taishigong [Sima Qianl responded: ~ I have heard that Mum Dong [Zhongshu) said, 'When the way of the Zhou declined and fell to waste, Confu-

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The Tragedy of Creation cius was the supervisor of justice in Lu .. .. He showed the rights and wrongs of 242 years 50 as to make a guide and standard for all under Heaven: "2 Sima Qian thus accepts the view rhat Confucius was a sage who zuo-ed the Spring and Autum~lI;aii(th-~Dong Zhongsll~~ a:;.~ent that the act- involved presenting the patterns of right and wrong as a model for the world. Inde<=d , he goes on to assert that the Spring and Autumn Annals "clarifies the good and bad." J Sima Q ian then praises the classics. showing how they provide a proper guide for humanity.• Following this, he poses Hu Sui as q uestioning Sima Qian's intentions in writing the Shiji: if the Spring and Autumn Annals was written as a critique of his age, then was Sima Qian doing something similar ~ Sima Qian begins by assening [hat the classics are not simply critiq ues: he mentions Fuxi 's zuo.-ing of the eight trigrams. as well as the praises given in the various classics for great figures.' He then goes on to praise the greatness of Han Wudi's reign, mentioning, among other things, Wudi's performance of the fong and shan sacrifices.' But then Sima Qian states that his work cannot be compared with the Spring and Autumn Annals anyway, because he, unlike Confucius. is simply transmitting, not creating: "What ' am referring to is transmitting ancient affairs and arranging and ordering the traditions passed down through the generations. It is not what can be called creating (.zuoj, and for you to compare this with the Spring and AutumnAnnals is mistaken."7 Echoing the modesty of Confucius's statement in Lunyu 7/1, Sima Qian then proclaims that he is o nly a transmitter and thus not a sage. In making a statement so dearly parallel to the one attributed to Confucius, Sima Qian implicirly stakes a claim to sagehood through his denial. Immediately thereafter, however, Sima Q ian presents such a claim even more strongly. H e says that he is writing the Shiji in a state of despair and compares such a situation to (hat faced by earlier sages when creating great works; among those situations mentioned is Confucius's creation (zuo) of the Spring and Autumn Annals. s He then presents the contents of his work, explaining why he wrOte each section; the verb he uses to describe his acts of composition is zuo.' Thus, while Sima Qian mimics Confucius's claim to be only transmitting. he elsewhere stares that he is a creator, implying that he, like Confuc ius, is an unrecogn ized sage.

The Tragedy of Creation But, if Sima Qian is implicitly presenting himself as a sage, then what sort of work does he claim the Shiji to be~ As we have seen, both Mencius and Dong Zhongshu were committed to the idea that an act of zuo by a true sage involved nor the introduction ofartifice but the distilling of proper panerns for humanity, and that Confu ci us's act of zuo-ing rhe Spring and Autumn Annals was accordingly an act of distilling moral patterns as a guide to future genera~ions. And, as we have seen, Sima Qian quotes Dong Zhongshu on this very ISsue.

If, then, Sima Qian is implicitly comparing his work to (he Spring and Autumn Annau, and if he is implicitly claiming to have zl4o-ed a work, then is his composition intended to be similar to the Spring and Autumn Annals, and is his act of zuo intended to be comparable ro the act of zuo attributed to Confucius by figures like Mencius and Dong Zhongshu? And. if so, is he claiming to have unmediated access to eternal patterns, and is he using such patterns to criticize Wudi? , believe that although Sima Qian is indeed claiming [ 0 zuo, he does not intend his work to be modeled on the Spring and Autumn Annals. To begin with. it would be difficult to argue that this work is intended to distill moral patterns from the historical process. While it is {rue that Sima Qian frequent..lydoses his chapters with moral statements, it is not at all clear that he really believes them, and indeed the juxtaposition of such se<=mingly simplistic statements against his more nuanced narratives appears frequen tly to function as a critique of the statements. IO But, then, is Sima Qian arguing the opposite? Is his goal to undermine the claims of the Spring and Autumn Annals, to deny that moral principles can be applied to the complexities of the historical process? I doubt this as well. After ali, it would hardly take a t30-chapter work to make such a point. J believe that Sima Qian is up to something very different, and ultimately much more complex. 1I On the meaning of zuo, Sima Q ian s«ms to question the claim that a sage's act of zuo involves a pure distillation of inherent patterns in the world and to argue that there is an act of cons{ruction-even artificial construction- in any act of authorship. He is questioning the sorts of claims made in the Ruist tradition-and argued so influentially in theXiciconcerning the way that sages can replicate and distill parrerns. -nlCclearest discussion of such issues appears in Sima Qian's famous "Biog-

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The Tragedy of Creation raphy of Bo Yi." In this, he openly quwions the reliability of the sages, particularly Confucius, who wrote the classics. He begins by pointing out men of "highest propriety" who are not even menuoned.12 He then questions Confuci us's interpretation of Bo Vi and Shu Qi. Allhough, claims Confucius, Bo Yi and Shu Qi felt no resentment, Sima Qian poinrs out that a poem attributed to them does indeed reveal signs of resemmem.13 Sima Qian next turns to the question of whether Heaven really rewards the good. He points out that both Bo Yi and Shu Qi were good men, and yet they starved to death. Similarly, Van Hui, Confucius's best disciple, died young, while the murderer Robber Zhi lived to old age.14 Having rhus questioned the reliability of the classics, the reliability of Confucius himself, and the reliability of Heaven as a force that rewards the good and punishes the bad, Sima Q ian turns to the question of sagehood and authorship. He begins by quoting from the "Wenyan" commentary to the Yi; "Things of the same degree of brightness illuminate each other, things of the same categoty seek each other. C louds fo llow dragons, winds follow tigers. A sage zuos, and the myriad things become manifest." I S The "Wenyan" statemem, which closely parallels the claims made in the Xici, says that there is pauern inhercm in the natural world that becomes manifest when a sage zuos. Here, as in the Xici, zuo is best translated as "arises." Sages, therefore, serve to make manifest to humanity the patterns of the natura] world. Having thus quoted from a passage presenting the view of sagely action that had become dominant by this period, Sima Qian immediately undercuts the claim: Although Bo Vi and Shu Qi were worthy, they were picked up by Confucius and their names became all the more illustrious. Although Van H ui studied diligently, he attached himself to the tail of a horse and his conduct became all the more known. The scholars in caves may give and take at the right time, but names of their kind are extinguished and never praised. How sad! 16 There is, in other words, a degree of arbitrariness in all of this. It is not that a sage simply zuos and thereby makes manifest the patterns of the world; on the contrary, what is made manifest is simply that which the sage comes to know and celebrate. Bo Vi and Shu Qi became known simply because Confucius

The Tragedy of Creation happened to tell their story. Moreover, as Sima Qian made d ear earlier in the chapter, Confucius's presemation of them was not even accurate. Of particular interest here is the fact that Sima Qian does not call an ention to these deficiencies in order to point out the need for a superior sage. On the contrary, he undermines the emire claim that sages simply zuo and thereby make manifest the patterns of the world. There is, Sima Qian claims, an inherent element of construction in the process: sages do not simply lift up the patterns of the world; they construct. Confucius did not distill the lives of 80 Yi and Shu Qi as they really were; instead, he constructed a reading of them that was, Sima Qian points out, incorrect. Such claims become all the more powerful when we remember that, as discussed above, Sima Qian implicicly stakes a claim to sagehood and implicitly claims to be zuo-ing. If, as I have argued, Sima Qian is denying the claim, worked out so powerfully in the Xici, that sages, in zuo-ing, are simply making patterns manifest to the world of humanity, then Sima Q ian is admitting that there is an inevitable degree of construction in his own project. Sima Qian is claiming to zuo, but he is also arguing that such acts involve arbitrariness and construction. But if Sima Qian is denying the ability to simply articulate patterns, then what claims does he make in his work?And, more to the immediate point here, what does he say about empire? I believe that concerns similar to those seen in his views of authorship inform his presentation of the rise of empire. 1 will try to demonstrate that Sima Qian saw an inherent element of discontinuity in a process that others around him defined as continuous. More specifically, Sima Qian seems to provide a critique of Han Wudi's claim to have brought empire into the moral patterns defined by the classics. His reconstruction of the rise of empire rhus becomes a meditation on notions of creation, the role of sages in human history, and the ways that historical change occurs. To demonstrate this, I trace [he ways that Sima Qian presenrs the initial rise of the state and rhe subsequent emergence of empire. Sima Qian takes up a number of the themes played upon in the narratives of the initial emergence of the state and provides a powerful meditation on the issues of continuity and discontinuity.

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The Tragedy of Crearion Sima Qian's Presentation of (he History of the C hinese Stare Th~ Ru/~

of Huangdi

The Shiji opens with a description of [he emergence of the state. Sima Qian emphasizes in his conclud ing remarks [0 this chapter on the early sages th:u he wrote the essay by collating all of the extant materi31 and weeding out the more fantastic elements. 17 Following this statement, many commentators have read Ihe chapter as a rntionalized, hisroricized version of earlier myths. Ls I argue, in conrrast, that this is not simply an attempt to give a ration31ized, historical account of the past sages but a narrative written with specific purposes in mind. Here, as elsewhere. Sima Qian does nor simply present the closest thing he can get to objective history: he crafts the story in order to pose various issues related [Q the historical process. In this case. he provides, for reasons that will have to be discovered, yet another version of the narratives that were discussed in C hapter 3 of this study. At each stage in the reading of the story, then, it is necessary 10 ask why Sima Qian chooses ro narrate [he story in the way that he does. Sima Qian begins with Ihe decline of the reign ofShennong: ''At the lime of Xianyuan IHuangdil, the era ofShennong was declining. The lords of Ihe Slates were anacking each other and tyrannizing the hundred families, but Shennong was unable to subjugate them."I' As discussed earlier, Shennong was used in third-century B.C. narratives, such as the "Gengfa" and "Huace" chapters of the Shangjumhu, (0 refer 10 a period of peace before the emergence of disorder in other words. before the introductio n of violence rhat Huangdi appropriated in his creation of the state. H ere, we do indeed see the emergence of disorder with the decline of Shennong, although, as in the chapters from the Shangjunshu, there is no anempt to explai n that emergence: Chi You is not posed as introducing the violence, and there is no anempt to root violence in the natural world. As with the Sh{mgjumhu chapters, the emergence is simply posed as a part of the changes of history. The author next turns to the attempts to control such disorder: "Xianyuan thereupon practiced and put inro use shields and spears so as to subjugate those who had not su bmitted. The lords of the states 311 came and gave their allegiance to the court."zo Whereas Shennong was unable to launch success-

The Tragedy of Creation ful campaigns against the lords, Huangdi correctly employed weapons 10 force their submission. Unlike in [he Shangjunshu chapters, where the distinction between Shennong and Huangdi is drawn between a peaceful ruler and a creator of the state. here it is between one who is unable to de31 adequate.ly with the emergence of disorder and one who is so able. Also worthy of note here is that the poi nt of successful subjugation is equated with gaining the 31legiance of [he lords of {he states. The loc31 lords. in other words, are clearly S[iIl in ais{enCe after Huangdi's victory. Sima Qian is not, then, providing a legalist narrative of the destruction of the lords through the creation of a centralized state. h is only now, after disorder has 31ready emerged , and after Huangdi has already begun using weapons, that Chi You appears in the narrative: "But C hi You was the most ryrannic31, and no one was able to attack him." 21 Chi You creates neither disorder nor weapons: both precede his appearance, and neither one is discussed in relation to rhe problem of crearion. Si ma Qian instead poses Chi You as one of the lords of the srate- as the most oppressive of the lords and the most difficult opponent. Before discussing the figure further, however, the author introduces anorher opponent, Yandi: "Yandi wanted [0 attack and usurp the power of the lords of the stares. The lords of the states all Rocked to Xianyuan." 22 If Chi You was {he mosr oppressive lord, Yandi is the opposite: instead of being a lord who refuses to submit to the central court, Yandi , in Sima Qian's narrative. attempts to usurp the powers of the lords. It is only al rhis point that Sima Qian discusses [he organizing activities of Huangdi. which so many authors would see as defining the work of the sage: "Xianyuan thereupon cultivated his vinue, look up arms, put in order the five vapors, planted the five seeds, pacified the myriad peoples, and measured [he fou r quarters."l' Now Huangdi is ready to destroy the rebels. He first disposes of Yandi: "H e thereby fought with Yandi in the fields of Banquan. Only after three barrles did he achieve his goal." Next C hi You rebels: "Chi You created disorder, and did nor obey the commands of [Huangldi ."24 Chi You creates disorder here, although not, as in the "Lu xing," for the first time. The sense here is like that seen in the Shiiiujing, namely that it is a specific act of rebellion. Huangdi then defeats the rebel with the help of [he lords of the states:

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The Tragedy of Creation "H uangdi thereupon summoned and led the lords of the states to fight with Chi ¥ou in the fields of Zhuolu. He then captured and killed Chi ¥OU."2S It is this destruction of ¥andi and Chi You by Huangdi that final ly leads the lords [0 recognize him as the Son of Heaven, the successor to Shennong. H e thereupon continues to use force to maintain order: "The lords of the states then all recognized Xianyuan as the Son of H eaven. He succeeded Shennong. This was Huangdi. As for those under Heaven who would not accord, Huangdi would pursue them and subjugate them. O nce they were pacified, he would depart."26 The entire narrative thus revolves around the relationship between the ruJee and the lords of the states. The narrative opens with Shennong being unable to control the lords, and it ends with Huangdi gaining the allegiance of the lords and thus being recognized by them as the new Son of H eaven. As presented here, the key to successful rule is that the sovereign must be able co control the lords without usurping their power. To emphasize this point, Sima Q ian uses the relationship between Huangdi and the rebels Yandi and C hi You. He portrays Yandi and Chi You as complementary figures, one insufficiently respectful of local power and the other insufficie ntly respectful of central power. If Huangdi must defat Yandi in order to prevent a usurpation of the power of the lords, he must also defeat Chi You in order to prevent the disorder that characterized the end of the reign of Shennong. The significance of Yandi is that, when he threatens to usurp the power of the lords, it is Huangdi to whom [he lords turn; the significance of C hi You is that, when he opposes the central court, Huangdi is able successfully to lead the lords of the states against him. Only after thus showing that he can lead the lords while still respecting their position is Huangdi recognized by the lords as their next sovereign. Far from being, as in the Shllngjumhu, a creator of the centralized state, Huangdi is a supporter of feudal institutions in which the local power of the lords is balanced witb the central power of the monarch. Huangdi, moreover. is an organizer. not a creator, and his opponents are employed in the narrative not as figures [0 whom creations can be ascribed but as representations of the opposing poles that Huangdi had to balance in order to organize the correct use of force by the state. None of the figures involved, including Huangdi and Chi You, are creators; Huangdi does not create

The Tragedy of Creation anything new or appropriate anything created by Chi You. Even when Sima Qian mentions weapons, one of the issues that figured so prominently in the Huangdi-Chi You narratives concerning the creation of organized violence, he does not at any point confront the issue of their origin. O n the contrary, all that interest! him is showing that Huangdi was able to use weapons effectively to control the lords. This is an issue of the correct use of violence, but not one of creation. Although the historian poses Huangdi as instituting order after the emergence of chaos at the end of the reign of Shennong. it is not clear that Huangdi 's successful implementation of order involved anything other than what Shennong ought [0 have been able to do: nothing new is introduced by either Huangdi or his rebels. This point is of interest because many of the authors who used an organizational model in their narratives of the emergence of the state did so out of an ideological opposition to the notion that the state instituted by the sages involved any elements that were created. r do nor believe, however, that Sima Qian's goal here is to engage in an ideological debate about the initial emergence of the state, o r, to be more precise. to do so only to the extent that it helps him to deal with the issues that really interest him. His main concern is to present a definition of the state that will allow him to measure later historical developments, including the introduction of empire. And it is in those sections dealing with the introduction of empire that Sima Qian turns to the problem of creation: if the feudal structure organized by Huangdi marks the basic form of the state, then the introduction of empire- the introduction, in other words, of a centralized rule that ends the traditional balance between local and central power-will mark a radical discontinuity. This firSt section of the Shiji is thus the opening move in a complex reweaving of the themes dis* cussed at length in Chapter 3, a reweaving that occupies much of the remainder of this discussion.

The Riu ofthe Qin An overview of the rise of the Qin and the historical importance of the Qin

empire is given in the introductory remarks to chapter 15. Sima Qian's emphasis here is on tbe barbarian, transgressive qualities of the Qin people and state. The author opens by referring to the formal beginning of the state of Qin, when the Zhou king enfeoffed Duke Xiang as a lord . Although the State thus

18S

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The Tragedy of Creation

l n e Tragedy of Creation

began according to a proper f~udal proc~dure, Duke Xiang imm~diately trans.

Scholars, following what they have heard, see that the Q in occupied the imperial position for only a short time. But they do not investigate the consequences or beginnings of the situation, and accordingly they mention the Qin only to laugh at it, not daring to speak about them. This is no differe nt from using one's ear to eat. How pitiful!Jl

gr~ssed th~ traditional relationship be[W~~n lord and monarch:

When Duk~ Xiang of Qin was e nf~off~d as a lord, h~ made a western altar for use in sacrificing to the god on high. Th~ beginning of the Qin's usurpation is clear to s~e. Th ~ Liji says: "The Son of Heaven makes off~rings to H eav~ n and Earth, while the lords of the states make offerings to th~ fam ous mountains and great ri v~rs within th~i r domains."l7 The state thus began with a usurpation: the duke, immediately upon being en. feolfed as a lord of the state, usurped the royal pri vileg~ of sacrificing to the god on high. Moreover, Sima Qian argues in th~ next sentenCe. th~ customs of th~ Qin we r~ mix~d wi th th~ Rong and Vi barbarians and thus stood apart from the

morality that d~fincd the Zhou : "Now, the customs of the Q in were mixed with those of th~ Rong and Yi. The [rulers) put cruelty and violence first and humaneness and propriety sccond."lt Overall, the Q in rulers were barbaric usurpers, strangers to the practices and moraliry of the central states. Nonetheless, by the time the Qin came to prominence in the Warring States period, all of the $fates had broken from their proper feudal relationship with the Zhou kings. Indeed, Sima Q ian states explicitly that the Warring States period itself began in usurpation, when three minist~rs divided the state ofJin, and when the minister Tian He killed the rulers of Qi and took over the state: "The three stares in th~ end divided up Jin, and Tian He destroyed the Qi ru l~rs and took possession of the $fate. The flourishing of the six states began from this. All effort resided in strengthening arms and annexing enemies." l' The period of the Warring States is thus characterized by a usurpation of the power of the lords enfeoffed by [he earlier Zhou kings. In this context, the historian argues. [he Qin's acts were a great accomplish. ment: the state did indeed bring to an end the disorder into which the realm had fal len: "When the Q in captured all under Heaven. it involved much vio. lence. But the times had changed, and their accomplishments were great." 'O C ontrary to the opinion of other scholars, Sima Qian claims, the fact that the Qin empire was so short-lived does not negate its historical importance:

Th~

Qin were indeed barbaric usurpers, and the empire held by the Qin was indeed extremely short, but nonetheless the state successfully brought to an end a period of time that was itself defined by usurpation. Sima Qian is rhus arguing that the Qin empire served a valuable historical function. But his merhod of argument is intriguing. He does not attempt to morally resurrect the Qin or claim that the Q in played a valuable role despite their immoraliry. On the contrary, he emphasizes that the Qin were usurp· ers who violently destroyed the feudal institutions of the past. Nonetheless, he claims, the times had changed such that all of the states had degenerated to an intolerable level; in this context, the actions of the Qi n were historically laudatory. Sima Qian hints here at some points that will become of paramount importance in his broader discussion: first, that times do change, such that in certain contexts ruthless actions become understandable, and second, that the Q in were crucial in ending the disorder of the Warring States- not in spite of but because of their barbaric qualities. At first glance, this argument would appear to be similar to that in the Shdng. junshu: times change and, in the chaos of the Warring States, only a centralized state structu re based upon a srrictlegal system could bring order. But our read· ing of Sima Qian's treatment of Huangdi in the first section of this chapter has already suggested that the historian is far removed from the concerns of [hose who favored centralized rule: if he sympathized with such concerns, why, in· stead offollowing the Shdngjunshu in presen ting a narrative of the creation of a centralized state, did he pose the basic form of me state as feudaJistic ? Indeed, Sima Qian is highly critical of strong centrali7.ed institutions, and he is also critical of those who, like the authors of the Shangjunshu, are ov~ rly willing to ignore precedent. Nonetheless. he is also not a Mencian idealist longing for a return to the traditional, feudal institutions of the past. Sima Qian's guarded praise for the Qin is instead part of a complex presentation of how empire came to be introduced and later consolidated in Chinese hisrory, and his own view

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The Tragedy of Creation

The Tragedy ofCreadon of empire is intimately wrapped up in this larger historical understanding. In order to explore his argument. I tu rn to Sima Qian's presentation of the first emperor. Th~

Fim Em~TOr

When King Zheng of Qin in 121 B.C. unified the states and created the first empire in Chin~ history. he entitled himsdf "first emperor" and is purported to have proclaimed that his descendants would rule rhe empire for ten thousand generations. Opposing the practice of enfeoffment. he instituted a unified system of prefectures and commanderies, which he hoped would place all control under the central state. The first emperor's own inscriptions emphasized his reign as one of uemendous innovation. This theme of radical innovation dominares Sima Qian's presentarion of the first emperor as well. The historian paints the first emperor as a dicratorial extremist who purposely destroyed the practices of the ancient sages and attempted to creare an entirely new order. Sima Qian further presents the first emperor in much the same terms that he uses to describe the state of Qin in general : the founder of the first empire in Chinese history was a usurper who stood fully outside the moral concerns that should normatively define a ruler. The theme of innovation is played particularly srrongly by Sima Qian through the use of dialogue and speeches. For example, in Sima Qian's narration of the debates over whether the Qin ruler, upon unifying the states, should assume the old tide of "king" or create a new tide, he presents the ministers as stating the following: In ancient times, the land of the five di,2 was a thousand Ii square. Beyond this were lords and barbarians who had submitted. Of the lords of the stares, some came to court and some did not; the Son of Heaven was unable to control them. Now you have raised righteous weapons and punished the robbers and thieves. You have pacified and settled all under Heaven, and you have made [weil all of rhe land within the seas into cornmanderies and prefectures. Laws and ordinances come from one authoriry. Since the earliest times there has never been such a thing. This is something that the five di were unable to main." In other words. the ruler has started an enti rely new era, beyond anything accomplished by the five di.

Sima Qian next turns to the debate as to whether the emperor should, like the dynasties before him, enfeoff land to various lords. His minister Li Si is de~ scribed as arguing that the practice of enfeoffm ent led ultimately to the breakdown of the Zhou: as the lords became increasingly independent of the central court, the Zhou eventually lost power. Accordingly, he argued, no enfeoffment should occur.'~ The firs t emperor agreed and thus created the system of cen~ trally controlled cornmanderies into which he divided the land.'s By narrating the policy choice in this way. Sima Qian again emphasizes that such a form of centrali13.tion was a radical break from anything that had preceded, and that the first emperor had fuUy rejected the traditional relationship between the central court and the lords of the states. This point is underlined by Sima Qian's own presentation of history. In his first chapter, Sima Qian not onlydcscribcd Huangdi's control over the lords of the states as limited, but went so far as to claim that it was the lords of the statCS who granted Huangdi his throne. In contrast, the ?-in r~ler has de~t~oyed. the practice of enfeoffment entirely and has created an Impenal realm diVided Into commanderies. Through his creation of empire. the first emperor has, then, destroyed the balance that defined the rule of Huangdi. Sima Qian emphasizes the hubris of such a willful dismissal of precedent by providing a series of critiques purportedly given by minis~ers an~ schol~ atS. These figures criticize the first emperor for a lack of morality, a fatlu re to imitate t he past, and other deficiencies, and argue that his empire is. door~cd unless he follows the ways of the ancient sages. In one such example, Sima Qtan quotes a scholar. Chunyu Vue, who remonstrates to the emperor as follows: "I have heard that the kings of the Yin and Zhou ruled for over a thousand years by enfeoffing their sons. younger brothers. and accomplished ministers.... I have never heard of one whose undertakings did nor imitate antiquity [fhi gu] and yet was able to endure for a long time."36 The first emperor then asks his ministers to discuss the criticism. Li Si is qUQ[ed as saying [0 the first emperor: You have fashioned [chuang] a great undertaking and established a merit that will last for ten thousand generations ... . Now all under H eaven has been settled and the laws and ordinances emerge from a single source.... But the scholars, instead of according with the present, study the past so as to negate the present age and to delude and bring disorder to the massesF

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The Tragedy of Creation

The Tragedy of Creation

He goes on to ask that the emperor burn all but an excepte::d se::t of books and 38

Sima Qian makes the followi ng sratement in summary: "The:: firs t emperor

The first emperor

believed that his own achievements exceed ed those of the five di, his te::rrirory

approved. Not only, the:: n, docs the fi rst e::mperor fail to listen to Chunyu Vue's admonitions to follow the:: past, but he burns moS[ of the books dealing with

was large r than that of the three kings, and he felt ashamed ro be seen as similar

the past and pledges to execute anyone who would dare give comparable ad·

ments here underline the foolhardiness of such claims.

monitions in the future. Thus, instead of simply providi ng a narrative about the burning of thc books

ruler is consistently portrayed as ar rogant in the exu eme and as obsessed with

by the first emperor, Sima Qian presents the act as coming immediately after,

exceeding the achievements of the past sages. H is actions are described with the

and indeed in direct response to, a statement of admonition to imitate the pas£.

the following narrative, for example, the first emperor is presented as attacking

terms of creation that had become so problematic in early Chinese w ritings: chUlJng, ~i, and (in the fi rst emperor's inscri ptions quoted in Chapter 4 of this study), zuo. Moreover, Chunyu Vue's purported 5[atement, quoted above, has been presented as prophetic: by failing to imirate rhe past, the first emperor doomed his empire to a shorr life::. Sima Q ian's narrative would th us appear to be a simple diatribe:: against innovation; the moral, rhen, would be that radical innovation is bad and that one should follow the:: sages of the past. Such a negarive portrait of the first emperor to some degree supports the statementS qUOted in the previous section, wherein Sima Qian treated the Qi n

a spirit for causing troublesome winds:

as barbaric usu rpers, opposed to the proper order of the past. In those stare·

e::xecute all those:: who use the:: paS[ to negate:: the:: prese::nt.

H e thus emphasizes the hubris of the first emperor, and Chunyu Yue's warning that the Qin empi re will not be able to endu re without a connection to the past becomes a strong fo reshadowing of the ultimate failure of the firS[ emperor's rule. Sima Qian further emphasizes the hubris of the first emperor through nu· merous anecdotes. Although there is no basis on which to judge:: the:: historical veraciryof these stories,}' they are very telling of the viewpoint of the:: author. In

to them."",1 Considering the first emperor's rapid demise, Sima Q ian's com· Overall, Sima Qian's presentation of the first emperor is not flattering. The

Floating down the Yangzi River, he arrived at the shrine of Mt. Xiang.

men ts, however, he also praised the Qin, however guardedly, arguing that their

H e encountered a strong wind and was almost u nable:: to cross. He

violent actions did successfully end the disorder of the Warring Sratc=s. Thus,

asked the:: scholars, "Which spirit is the:: ruler of Xiang?" The scholars

while the introduction of empire is here strongly crieicized from a moral point

respond ed: uWe:: have heard th at she was the daughter of Yao and the::

of view, tbe author elsewhere recognizes the accomplishments of rhe Qin im-

w ife of Shun, and that she is buried here." The fim emperor was the::re::· upon very angry and sent three thousand convicts to cut down the trees on Mt. Xiang. The mountain was left bare."'o

perial system. 42 These [\vo somewhat d ifferent treatments of the Qin would seem to imply that, in Sima Qian's view, there is aconOict between necessiryand moraliry: the first emperor may be morally deplorable, but his acrions were::, unfortunately,

Instead of submitting himself to divine powers, the first emperor is presented

necessary for the rim e. I believe, however, that the problem posed by Sima Qian

here:: as punishing the spirit of ML Xiang, a spirit intimately associated with

here is concerned more directly with the manner in which e:: mpire was intro·

the:: sages of the past, for not offering full submission to him. Once again, Sima

duced into history, an issue that Sima Qian believes relevant to understanding

Qian paints the first emperor as lacking any regard for either the past or the divine.

certain aspects of his culture.H To follow this, I nexr analyze his discussion of the Q in·Han inrerregnum and the beginning of the H an dynasry, both of

True to the statements of the moralizers quoted througho ut the chapter,

which narrare the h isforical processes by wh ich the innovations of this tra ns·

rhe empire was destroyed soon afte r the death of the firs t emperor. Far from

gressive:: and amoral creator were taken over and brought into a m ore successful

creating an empire that would last for te n thousand generations, the dynasty

order.

laste::d only fourteen years.

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192.

The Tragedy of Creation Th~

Dntruction ofth~ Qin and th~ Founding of th~ Han: Th~ War Bmvu n Liu Bang and Xiang YtJ XIANG YU

The next chapter in the text is devoted to )(jang Yu, the great rebel who succeeded in destroying the Qin empire. Sima Qian presents the figure as a purely warlike, arrogant tyrant and frequently pairs him with Liu Bang, another rebel who eventually defeated )(jang Yu and started the Han dynasty.~~ Much of the contrast between these twO figures is defined by their relationship to the imperial system created by the first emperor, and in particular by the differing stands they took on whether to return to the traditional relationship between central and local power. At the beginning of their rebellion, Xiang Yu and his uncle Xiang Liang gained support by placing (he descendants of the rulers of the pre-imperial states back on their thrones. Xiang Liang and )(jang Yu claimed to be simply working at the behest of the grandson of the late ruler of Chu.H The revolt was thus o riginally posed as a revolt of the traditional, local rulers (some of whom could claim that their ancestors were originally enfeoffed by the Zhou) against the imperial rule of the first emperor. The apparent claim, then, was that the first emperor had no right to proclaim a new dynasty at all, and )(jang Yu was thus leading the rightful heirs of the States againSt the Qin tyranny. Later, after the rebellion succeeded, Xiang Yu's claims shifted. Instead of supporting (he descendants of the pre-Qin rulers, he had the ruler of Chu killed.46 At this point it became clear t hat he was insri{Uting a tyranny. Following this, a number of local rulers began rebelling against what they perceived ro be a growi ng usurpation of their power. One of the mOSt important among these new rebels was Liu Bang, the King of Han.~7 The final vicroryof Liu Bang over Xiang Yu is posed by Sima Qian as due to the stronger support by and superior utiliution of the lords of the states by the former. According to Sima Qian, Liu Bang decided to mack Xiang Yu when his ministers poinred Out that the lords were on the side of Liu Bang.u The turning point in the battle occurred when Liu Bang promised to enfeoff" Han Xin and Peng Yue with land and thereby convinced them to join him with their troops.49 Sima Qian thus presents the success of Liu Bang as the victory of a supporter of local power over a tyrant who wished to usurp that power. Sima Qian then d o~ the chapter with a narrative about the final period of

The Tragedy of Creation Xiang Yu's life. He quotes a poem purportedly sung by the hero once he came co realize the inevitability of his defeat: My strength [/j) has uprooted mountains, My vitaliry has dominated the era. But the times were not propitious.)O On his own ability, Xiang Yu claimed, he dominated the world ; his failure only occurred because the times were not favorable. Sima Qian also quotes Xiang Yu's closing soliloquy: From the time of my raising an army until now has been eight years. I have personally been in 70 or more battles. Those I faced were destroyed, those 1 attacked submitted. I bave never been defeated o r turned back. As a hegemon, I possessed all under Heaven. Bur now, in the end, I am hemmed in. This is H eaven's destroying me; it is nOt my faults in banle.~1 O nce again, Xiang Yu emphasi:z.es his own greatness and blames his final defeat on an outside source, this time the arbitrary power of H eaven. Sima Qian begins his moral assessment by arguing that Xiang Yu's claims to greatness in batcle are absolutely true. Indeed, he states that Xiang Yu's accomplishments were equal to if not superior to those of the ancient sages: The grand historian says: "1 have heard Zhou Sheng state, 'Shun's eyes in fact had double pupils.' I have also heard that Xiang Yu had double pupils. Could it be that Xiang Yu was Shun's progeny? H ow sudden was his rise! When the Q in lost its rule and Chen She started the revolt, heroes rose up like wasps, suuggling with each other, so many that they could not be counted. But )Gang Yu, without even a foot or an inch of territory, seized the right moment and arose from the countryside. Within three years, commanding five lords, he destroyed the Qin. He divided the empire and enfeoffed the kings and lords. The rule emanated from Xiang Yu ; he was referred co as the hegemon-king. Although this position was not held until the end, from ancient times until now there has never been such a thing."s2 These are strong words of praise. Sima Qian compares Xiang Yu to the great sage Shun himself and describes him as being, quite possibly. a descendant of

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The Tragedy of Creation the sage. The importance of this description becomes clear in the next few !ines, wherein the figure is praised for deStroying the Qin empire and reinstating rhe traditional practice of enfeoffment: as a figure possibly linked-lineally to one of the ancient sages, Xiang Yu's rebellion represented an attempt to destroy rhe innovations of the first emperor and to return to the ways of rhe past. Thus far, Sima Qian praises Xiang Yu strongly for his connection to the past, both in the sense of his rerum to the ways of the ancient sages and in the claim that he may be connected by descent to Shun. Even the Statement that the speed of Xiang Yu's rise surpassed that of the sages is not an imputation of innovation. Sima Qian simply argues this to underline [he hero's greatness: Xiang Yu was so amazing, Sima Q ian is saying, that he rose to prominence even faster than the sages of the past. But, the author continues, Xiang Yu did deserve his fat e. The point of failure is that, ultimately, he roo rejected the ways of the past. After rhe fall of the Qin, Xiang Yu turned against his own reconstitution of the traditional feudal relationships that, Sima Qian has argued, defined the sagely rule of the past: ~ But when it came to Xiang Yu turning his back on the Pass [the cap ital] and returning to Chu, banishing the righteous emperor and establishing himself, is it difficult to understand why the resentful kings and lords revolted1" B Not content to abide by the traditional relationships, he left the capital and rerurned to his native land, and [hen killed his own ruler. His failure is revealed by the fact that the enfeoff"ed kings and lords revolted against him. Sima Qian then turns to an explanation of what aspects of Xiang Yu's character led to this ultimate fai lure: He boasted of his own achievements and merits. He was determined in his own knowledge [zhi] and did not imitate the ancients [shi gu]. H e described his undertaking as one of a hegemon-king, wishing to use his strength to subjugate and manage al[ under Heaven. Within five years he was dead and his state was destroyed. H Sima Qian characterizes Xiang Yu as having the attribute of knowledge (zhi ). Moreover, he is singled out for having failed to imitate the ancients (shi gu)_ the same criticism leveled by Chunyu Vue against the first emperor. The significance of this statement is revealed when we recall the discussion in Chapter 3 concerning the debates of the third and second centuries B.C., wherein

lbe Tragedy of Creation knowledge (zhi) was consistently posed as a problematic term, associated with creation and opposed to such notions as according and following the past. Sima Qian implies that the only way for a figure to start a new dynasty after the fall of the Qin would be to reconnect with the past that the Qin empire had attempted to destroy. Although Xiang Yu at first began to do just that with his reinstatement of the practice of enfeoffment , he ultimately, not unlike the first emperor, attempted to wipe our the local rulers and institU[e a tyranny. H e was therefore, Sima Qian claims, very much deserving of his fate: "He claimed that ' Heaven destroyed me; it was not a fault in my use of arms.' Was this not deluded?"s5 Like the first emperor, Xiang Yu turned his back on the morality and practices of the past sages and was thus unable to start a new dynasty.56 Liu Bang

Sima Qian's ensuing discussion of the founder of the Han dynasty is given largely in counterpoint to his presentation ofXiang Yu. Liu Bang won suppOrt by granting land to loyal followe rs, and unlike Xiang Yu. Liu Bang respected the local rulers and made no attempt to institute a tyranny. This point is emphasized in several places in Sima Qian's chapter on Liu Bang as well. 57 In one scene, Sima Qian narrates a dialogue between Liu Bang and his lords and generals concerning the reasons for his victory. One of the reasons given is that, unlike Xiang Yu, who attempted to hoard all power for himself, Liu Bang was willing to share his rule and reward those who helped him in battle.58 Like Huangdi, Liu Bang succeeded because he was able to lead local rulers without usurping their privileges. Liu Bang's respect for the local rulers is also made clear in Sima Qian's narration of the rebel's acceptance of the imperial title. After his victory over Xiang Yu, Liu Bang was purporredJy asked to take the title by [he enfeoff"ed lords and kings themselves. When Liu Bang declined, his followers are quo ted as saying co him: "As for those who have merit, you have parceled out the land and enfeoffed them as lords and kings. If the great king does not accept the title, everyone will doubt and refuse to believe [the titles]." 59 Finally, Liu Bang accepted the tirie of emperor with the following words: "If all of the rulers take this as beneficial, then it must be beneficial to the states and fami lies."6Q Sima Qian thus presents Liu Bang as at least in part reinstating the traditional relationship berween ruler and lords. Like Huangdi, Liu Bang supported

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196

The Tragedy of Creation the local power of the lords against those who had attempted to usurp their power, in this case the firs t emperor and )Gang Yu. And again l i~ Huangdi. Liu Bang accepted the imperial title only at me behest of the local rulers. Indeed, Sima Qian poses the local rulers as claiming that Liu Bang's acceptance of the role will allow tbem to preserve their power. The contrast with the fi rst emperor and Xiang Yu is clear. The first emperor took power at the expense of the lords and kings and indeed defined the empire by his refusal to enfeoff land, and Xiang Yu attempted to usurp local power and institute a tyranny. Liu ~ang. in COntrast. returned in part to the traditional relationship between central and local power, and this return is presented by Sima Qian as a causative factor in his success.61 But the nature of this return is intriguing. Although he presented himself as following the traditional relationships of the feudal past, Liu Bang accepted the imperial title inherited from the fi rst emperor. Moreover, he enfeoffed only about {\Vo-thirds of the land of the empire; the rest was organized into commanderies along the lines of the Qin empire. Sima Qian subtly exploirs [he potential tension between these two faCts. O n the one hand, Sima Qian has made it clear in his critiques of the first emperor and )Gang Yu that historical longevity can be achieved only by those who follow the past. Moreover, he has attributed [he success of Gaozu to his return (albeit panial) to the practice of enfeoffment.62 On me other hand, Sima Qian is at pai ns to point out in the remainder of the chapter that, by granting so much power to others through enfeoffment, Gaozu was also endangering the very empire that he had just instituted. If this was his method of success, in other words, it also planted the seeds for his destruction. Sima Qian develops this notion by devoting a significant part of the remainder of the chapter to detaili ng one revoir after another by the local rulers. Gaozu's response to these revolts was to replace the rulers with members of his own fam ily-figures, in other words. who would tend [ 0 be more loyal to him.6l As it was fo r the Zhou, however, this is only a temporary solution: the passi ng of generations inevitably generates distance between the ruling line and the descendanrs of the enfeoffed rulers, and the problem then develops again. Although Sima Qian mus presents Gaozu as succeeding in part because of his willingness to avoid the harsh aspects of Qin centralization, his narrative also makes it clear that this avoidance made Gaozu's empi re highly unstable. If

The Tragedy of Creation Xiang Yu ultimately failed by refusing to grant any true power to local rulers. Gaozu fai led on me other side. H e won their allegiance and was mus able to start a new dynasty at their behest. but his failu re 10 control them endangered the empire. Indeed, Gao:tu himself died from a wound received figh ting against Q ing Bu, the king of H uainan who had revolted against the emperor.u Sima Q ian's narrative thus presents the rise of empire as a seemingly unresolvable tension. O n the one hand, he has emphasized that the basic form of the state, as seen in [he reign of H uangdi. involved infeudation, and he has made it dear that only by imitating that state can one successfully maintain a lasting dynasty. This is why born the first emperor and )Gang Yu failed and why Gaozu succeeded. On [he other hand. he has argued that, owing to the changes of history (beginning with me Warring States). the feudal state is no longer adequate to maintain order. Any departure from that form of the state is doomed to fai lure, but simply maintaining it is equally doomed in the attempt to maintain order. The resolution of this tension during the reigns of t he next few emperors of the Han dynasty constitutes one of the themes of Sima Q ian's study. In particular, the author is interested in presenting the eventual resurgence of the Qin system under the H an.

ChtUJ Cuo The dangerous potential in the policy of enfeoffment continued to develop during the next few reigns, finally forci ng Emperors Jing and Wu to centralize power once again. Sima Q ian's view of this development can be seen in some of his discussions of the ministers of the time. The most important of these for our purposes are his writings on Chao Cuo. a figure who held positions during the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing. In his chapter on Chao Cuo, Sima Q ian begins by describing (he minister as harsh, frank, and ruthless, and states that he studied the doctrines of the Lord of Shang and Shen Buhai.6s Early in his career, C hao C uo sent over ten memorials to Wendi, advising him to cut back the power of [he lords of the Srales and to change the laws. Wendi, however, did nOt follow the advice.6 6 When Jingdi came to power, Chao Cuo, still recognizing the dangerous potential of the enfeoffed rulers, again recommended that the emperor cur back the land of the lords and, fu rthermore, take over the outlying provinces.67 This time, his advice was fo llowed. Not surprisingly, the lords of the states strongly

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opposed Chao C uo's changes. The ruler of Wu, along with those of six other states, then revohed, demanding that Chao Cuo be executed. Yuan Ang and Dou Ying, both of whom had long opposed Chao Cuo,'! rttommended that the emperor do so. In order to appease the local rulers, Jingdi ordered Chao Cuo Cut in half." After the execution, the emperor sent Duke Deng to a[(ack Wu and C hu. When the duke returned, he chastised the emperor, saying that Chao Cuo, afraid that the lords of the states could not be controlled, had tried to diminish their land simply in order to save the empire. The emperor fell silent and rhen said that he regretted the decision to execute his minisrer.70 The moment is made all rhe more powerful by the fact rhat Jingdi , as well as his successor, Wu, went on to implement the general thrust of Chao Cuo's policies by dramatically increasing the power of the central court at the expense of the local areas.

When Jingdi then came to power. Chao C uo's argument to him is narrated by Sima Qian as follows:

By executing Chao Cuo, Jingdi held fast to the traditions of enfeoffment and thus prevented the re-employment of the policies imroduced by the Qin. The emperor's purported regret, so strongly emphasized by Sima Q ian, underscores the fact that Chao Cuo's policies were indeed necessary. C hao C uo, he says, provided an accurate assessment of the problem concerning cemral and local power, and his views were necessary, though ruthless. This relatively favorable reading of Chao Cuo appears elsewhere in rhe Shiji as well. For example, in his chapter on Liu Pi, the king of Wu who revol ted against rhe court , Sima Q ian again says Chao C uo was correct to hvor curtailing the power of the enfeoired rulers. The relevant section of the chapter begins with a description of the relationship berween Chao Cuo and Wendi, the ruler who refused to heed Chao Cuo's advice:

Chao Cuo is shown to be perfectly aware that his actions will spark a revoir. Nonetheless, considering the dangerous point to which the situation had been allowed to develop, he feels it far better to act immediately before Wu gains any more power. At least this way, he is saying, the scale of the revolt will be manageable. The narrative here, like that in the chapter on Chao C uo himself, d early presents the minister as correct: he eval uated the situation well, and the only significant blame provided in the chapter is placed on Wendi for faili ng to follow the mininer's advice. Even the het that C hao Cuo's actions helped to spark the revolt is presented as simply an inevitable result of a policy oriented toward curbing local power. The view of Chao Cuo that underlies both of these discussions is of a prescient minister whose policies were thwarted by the poor judgment of his rulers. Wendi fa iled [0 listen to C hao Cuo, and Jingdi lost his will to maintain C hao Cuo's policies and instead had the minister executed. If, however, Si ma Qian presents Chao C uo in a favorable light in his narratives, his concludingsummaries are sharply critical. Instead of posing the minister as having been unfairly executed, Sima Qian's evaluations criticize Chao C uo strongly and argue that, insofar as he failed ro accord with the past, he deserved his destruction. In his remarks at the end of the chapter on Chao Cuo, for example, Sima Qian begins: "Many were the things that he altered and changed. The lords of

When Chao C uo became the steward of the heir apparent and won the laner's favo r, he on numerous occasions said that, because of rhe transgressions of Wu, the terri tory of the state should be reduced. He sent several statements to the Filial Wendi, but Wendi declined, not wishing to use punishments. Because of this, the state of Wu daily grew more powerfuFl Sima Qian makes it clear here that Wendi's refusal to fo llow Chao Cuo's advice and punish the ruler of Wu allowed the latter to achieve the power that he did. Wendi 's inaction only made rhe situation worse.

In earlier times, when Emperor Gaozu first brought stability to all under Heaven, his brothers were few and his sons young. H e thus enfeoired large amounts of land to his fam ily members.... Now rhe king of Wu ... is growing increasingly arrogant and excessive. He is casting money from the [the materials} in the mountains, boiling water from the sea to make salt.n inviting fugitives from all under H eaven, and planning to create disorder. Now, if you reduce his land, he will revolt, and if you do not reduce his land he will also revolt. But if you reduce his land, his revolt will be undertaken soon, and the scale will be smaller. If you do not reduce his land, the revolt will come later, and it will be a major calamity.73

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The Tragedy of Crearion the states then rose up in revolt." 7~ Immediately, Sima Q ian places C hao Cuo in the same light as the first emperor and Xiang Yu : Chao Cuo was in favor of change. His rejection of the past men led to a revolt by the lords against a usurpation of their traditional privileges. At the end of his closing remarks, Sima Q ian returns to this point, utilizing, as he often does in his final statemems, a uaditional saying about the necessity of following the past: "There is a saying: 'AI; for changing the old and bri nging chaos to the constant, if it d~ not bring death it will certainly bring destruc~ tion: This clearly refers to people like C hao C uo!nn The main problem with C hao C uo is that he attempted [Q change the old and the cons tam. By doing so, he brought destruction on himself. Sima Qian makes a similar poim in the concluding remarks to his chapter on Liu Pi, again turning to a uaditional saying about the dangers of innovation: " 'Do not be an initialOr in issues of power, or it wiU be turned around and you will receive its inauspiciousness: Does this not apply to Yuan Ang and Chao C UO?"76 Just as the traditional saying suggested would happen, Chao Cuo, as an initiator, was destroyed, as was Yuan Ang, anOlher minister of Jingdi. Once again, Sima Qian reads the ultimate fate of individuals through a moral frame~ work: those who depart from the ways of the past are doomed [Q failure. The act of initiating something is inherently inauspicious, and the initiator will [ here~ fore be destroyed. C hao C uo, like both the first emperor and Xiang Yu, failed to imitate the past, and his fate, like theirs, was very much deserved. There is a fascinating ambivalence here between, on the one hand, a rela~ rively sympathetic narration of the figure and, on the other, a highly critical summary based upon the criterion of according with the past. If C hao C uo's attempt [Q increase central power at the expense of the local rulers is presemed as necessary in the narrative portions of the work, it is posed as immoral, and doomed to failure, in the concluding portions. The ambivalence is compounded when we note one of the statements made in another of Sima Qian's concluding summaries, this time [Q his chapter on Jingdi: The grand hislOrian sa~: "When the Han arose, the Filial Wen spread great virrue, and all under Heaven embraced peace. When it came to the time of Jingdi, there was no longer any anxiety concerning the dif. ferent famili es [in control of local areas]. But Chao C uo cut away:u

The Tragedy of Creation the lords of the states, finally maki ng seven states rise up, join together, and turn their sights wes~d [toward the central court]."" It will be recalled that, in one of the chapters just discussed, Sima Q ian pre· sented the refusal by Wend.i to follow the advice of C hao C uo as a mistake that allowed the power of the state of Wu to grow [0 dangerous proportions. H ere, in contrast. the emphasis is not on the fai lure of Wendi to follow Chao Cuo's suggestions but on the greatness of Wendi for achieving peace through virtue, instead of centralizing policies. The rebellion by the local kings is then posed as the fault of Chao Cuo, and the blame in particular is focused on the ruthlessness of his policies. The moral her(: is that the way to peace is through a rule of virtue. while centralizing policies lead to destruction. Chao Cuo, then, is simply a negative example of the kind of behavior the state should reject. The question then arises as to what exacdy Sima Qian's view of C hao Cuo is. Was he a laudable and unfairly executed adviser who correccly recogniz.c:d the need for change, or was he a ruthless minister who. by failin g to respect

traditional practice. deserved to be executed? I think that Sima Qian's point is that both statements are true: C hao Cuo was a ruth.1ess supporter of centralizing policies who departed from tradition and deserved his fate, but he was also the initiator of a policy in the Han dy. nasty that ultimately saved the empire. This is the same kind of ambivalence seen earlier in Sima Qian's treatment of the fi rst emperor. The figures deserved to be destroyed for failin g to accord with the past, but historically speaking, the institutions that the first emperor created and that Chao Cuo attempted to reintroduce for the Han were necessary for the rimes: just as the first emperor brought an end to the Warring States period through his creation of the first unified empire, so does Chao Cuo initiate for the H an the institutions that will ultimately destroy local power and hence bring stability to an otherwise weak and probably doomed empire?' . The author's point, then, is not that Chao Cuo ought to have conunued in his role. any more than the empire of the first emperor deserved to achieve longevity. Instead, his point is that what they introduced had to be introduced, even if the act was ruthless and deserved moral censure. And here Sima Qian's view of history begins to become clear. Following, albeit reluctantly, texts like the Shangjunshu, Sima Qian recognizes that times change, and that , since the total breakdown of order in the Warring States,

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The Tragedy of Creation the introduction of imperial institutions had. unfortunately, become necessary. Nonetheless. Sima Qian also reads history through the lens of a moral frame~ work in which those who follow the ancient sages pros~r and (hose who do not are destroyed. Sima Qian has thus laid out a complex problem, wherein the continuation of the traditional practice of enfeoffment is treated as dangerous, and yet any deviation from this tradition is doomed. Sima Qian's purpose in setting up this tension and his means of resolving it become dear in his presentation of Wudi.

Wua'i Wudi finally ended much of the power of the rulers of rhe various states and reimplemented a legal system and complex prefectural system reminiscent of (hat seen in the Qin empire. In OIher words, Wudi successfully pur into practice the imperial system created by the first emperor and initiated for the Han by Chao Cuo. Sima Qian's view of this seemingly successful implementation has been much discussed, and (he dominant scholarly view has been that Sima Qian was opposed to the policies of his ruler.1!1 The reasons for the scholarly consensus are not hard to find. Although Sima Qian could not, for obvious reasons, attack his ruling emperor directly, his implicit critiques of the ruler are pervasive in the Shiji and are frequently only thinly veiled. For example, in the "Pingjun shu.~ chapter }O, Sima Qian discusses Han economic policy. After a brief discussion of the policies of the first Han ruiers, the historian details those of Wudi, focusing in particular on his attempts to conduct expansionist wars and build state monopolies. In his concluding remarks, he provides a lengthy diatribe against the first emperor for impoverishing the people through rhe same policies.8o As many commentators have noted,81 the diatribe is clearly aimed at Wudi. The method of criticism, however, is intriguing: Sima Q ian attacks his ruler by drawing implicit parallels wi(h the first emperor. h is possible that the historian's only 'reason for doing so is thar drawing such a parallel would be a very potent form of critique. Bur the fact that Sima Qian uses rhe same method elsewhere should perhaps lead us to suspect that he is providing a more complex critique than simply pointing to the lack of virtue of Wudi. He uses such parallels in another chapter, as well, the WFengshan shu:' The work is devoted to the hisrory of the fong and shan, twO sacrifices discussed in

The Tragedy of Creation Chapter 4 of this study. The " Fengshan shu" has achieved some degree of notoriety for its portrayal of Wudi in an extremely negative light throughout the narrative. Indeed, much of the chapter recounts how the emperor fell under the influence of one magician after another, and the historian makes it dear that many of the magicians were obviously fraudulent. Because of this, it might at first be assumed that the historian's point in the chapter is to criticize the superstitiousness of Wudi, and that parallels with the first emperor are again drawn in order to underline the lack of virtue of the emperor. To evaluate the adequacy of this reading, I discuss the narration of the chapter as a whole. Sima Qian opens the chapter by defining rhe purpose of the [mg and shan sacrifices: "With the height of each era, the fongand shan are undenaken, and when the period of decline is reached, they are sropped. The performances of them have been separnted, at the most distant, by more than a thousand years, and at the very least by several hundred years." 82 The fong and shan sacrifices mark the consolidation of an era. This point is of importance. for it implies a criticism of the attempts by the first emperor and Wudi ro use the rituals not only for such a consolidation but also fo r the purpose of gaining immortality. With this as background, Sima Qian goes on to narrate the attempted performance of the sacrifices by the firSt emperor. One of the themes he emphasizes is the conflict between rhe first emperor and the Ruists. The first emperor called on 70 Ruists to meet him at Mr. Tai and discuss how the sacrifices should be undertaken. Since their opinions were mutually contradictory as well as impractical, he dismissed them and performed the sacrifices on his own.83 While climbing Mt. Tai to perform the fong sacrifice, the first emperor encountered violent winds and rain, a fa ct that, Sima Qian claims, led the RuislS to criticize him.B4 He goes on to narrate the same stories that occupy the latter part of the "Annals of the First Emperor," namely the various anemplS at immortality made by the emperor." After narrating the fal l of the Qin, Sima Qian sums up the dynasty as follows: "Twelve years after rhe[mgand shan sacrifices of the first emperor, the Qin was destroyed." 86 Considering that the fong and shan sacrifices were intended to signify the consolidation of an era, this reference to the (Iuick end of the dynasty following the ritual performance strongly underlines the fililure of the first emperor. The historian continues:

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The Tragedy of Creation All of the Ruist scholars despised the Qin for burning the Shi and the Shu and for putting to death the scholars. the hundred famili es fe. sented their laws. and all under Heaven rebelled against them. They all faulted [the first emperorl. saying: wWhen the firSt emperor climbed Mt. Tai, he was attacked by violent wind and rain and was not able to attain the [mg and shan." Is this not what would be called being without virtue and yec performing the rit~? 8? The first emperor, then, falsely performed the rites: he neither consolidated an era nor possessed the virtue sufficient to undertake the sacrifices. His attempted performance of them is placed in parallel with his search for immortality, an equally doomed efforr. When Sima Qian turns to Wudi, much of the discussion is devoted to a lengthy recounting of how the emperor fell under the influence of one charla. tan after another. The narrative follows a general partern: the emperor accepts a given magician as having powers and then follows the advice of the magician until evidence proves the magician a fraud; the emperor then has the charlatan executed. The superstitiousness of Wudi is thus implied to be comparable to that of the first emperor. When the narrative turns to the [mg and shan sacrifices under Wudi, par. a1lels with the first emperor are also highlighted. Like the first emperor, Wudi called upon the Ruist scholars to discuss how the rituals should be per~rmed , and like the first emperor he dismissed their ideas for being contradictory and impractical." There is, however. one m.ajor difference. Wudi's performance of the ricuals is described as successful: "The [mg and shan sacrifices were given. At night there appeared to be a bright light, and during rhe day a white cloud arose from the mound of the [mg rituaJ."" The success of the sacrifices means, as Sima Qian points out in his opening remarks to the chapter. that Heaven has accepted the dynasty. Thus. when a comet appears after the completion of the rituals, the emperor's officials are quoted by Sima Qian as stating: wSince you have instituted the [mg and shan for the house of Han , H eaven has responded with this star of virtue,"'O Nonetheless. Wudi thought of the sacrifices as related to immortality as well, and Sima Qian makes it clear that in this sense the rituals were not successful ; After the Son of Heaven performed the [mg sacrifice at Mt, Tai, there were no wind, rain, or disasters, and the magicians again said that it ap.

The Tragedy of Creation peared as though all of [he spirits of Penglai could soon be auained.91 The emperor was ecstatic, thinking that he would soon meet them, He thereupon returned east and went to the sea. He gazed afar, hoping (Q see Penglai. His arriage driver. Zihou, became violenrly ill and died in one day. The emperor then departed,n Since Zibou had accompanied the emperor on his ascent of Mt, Tai to perform the [mg sacrifice, his death was inauspicious. signifying a fa ilure of some sort. Moreover, the emperor was unable (Q make cOnlact with the spirits of Penglai, thus revealing the failure of his attempt to gain immortality through the cults, Sima Qian then doses the narrative portion of the chapter by stati ng that Wudi had succeeded in instituting the fong and shan sacrifices. as well as other rituals, for the Han,9l but he also includes an overt criticism of Wudi's supe r~ stitiousness: But as for the magicians sacrificing to the spiritual beings and going our on the sea searching for Penglai, in the end nothing was gained, , .. The Son of Heaven became increasingly tired of the absurd teachings of the magicians, but he was bound by them and could not break free: he still hoped to find true teachings. After this, the magicians' discus~ sions of spirits and sacrifices proliferated. bur the results of all of this are plain to see.'4 Having thus discussed the chapter as a whole, I now rerum (Q the ques· tions with which I opened this chapter. Sima Qian dearly presents a critique of Wudi's obsession with magicians and their Ollts of supernatural phenomena. and he poinls out the parallels between this obsession and thar of the first em· peror, Nonetheless. the fram ework he uses suggests that his criticism may be directed ro other issues as well. Of particular imerest here is the fact that Sima Qian opens the chapter by emphasizing that the meaning of the ritual is nor one of immortality but of consolidating an era, In this regard, the first emperor and Wudi are presented as missing the point of the sacrifices by using them to achieve immortality, and the historian makes it d ear that their efforts in this regard failed miserably. Ar rhe same time, he emphasius that Wudi did successfully complete the fong and shan sacrifices, and that by doing so (he ruler successfully instituted the sacrifices for the Han.

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The Tragedy of Creation H is point here appears to be that, unlike t he first emperor, Wudi doeI, fo r bener or for worse, mark the consolidation of an era.~ And herein lies the significan ce of the implicit parallels that the historian draws, in both the "Pingjun shu" and the "Fengshan shu," between the policies of the first em~ror and those of Wudi. I suspect that he presents th~ parallels in reference to the fact that Wudi had finally succeeded in developing centralized power al the expense of the local rulers-had finally succeeded. in orher words. in instituting the kind of imperial government that the first emperor had failed to build. The first em~ro r and Wudi thus form ~rfect complements, with the lam:r having succeeded in accompl ishing what the former had introduced but failed to complete. To underscore the significance of this point, I here review the issues discussed earlier in this chapter. [n his writings on the fiTS[ emperor and C hao Cuo, Sima Qian consistently portrayed the introduccion of the imperial system as a transgressive creation, and, insofar as it did not conform to antiquity, as one doomed ro fa ilure. But he also portrayed the institutions as necessary in order to preven t the total breakdown of order. The history of empire before Wudi was thus presented as involving a seemingly unresolvable tension: the institutions of empire were both necessary and yet, since they departed from the practices of the past sages, doomed. Sima Qian's narrative use of parallels between the first emperor and Wudi is intended to mark the hisrorical means by which this tension came to beresolved. Wudi, Sima Qian implies. took over the transgressive creations of the firs t emperor and successfully implemented them. The resolution, then , is temporal, and involves the same dualistic model that was so pervasive in Warring States and early Han thought: the transgressive creations of an evil, immoral figure are taken over and successfully utilized by a sage. Bur what makes Sima Qian's work so fascinating, and his implied critique of Wudi so ~netrating, is that he reverses the narrative emphasis of the dualistic model and thus directs his cricicism in a powerful way. The emphasis in the dualistic models was on divorcing problematic acts from the sage: a transgressive, immoral outsider was presented as introducing problematic aspects of governance, and the fu lly moral sage was then presented as simply appropriating the creation and using it correctly. Sima Qian employs a similar device in his discussion of the rise and consolidation of empire: each

The Tragedy of Creation stage of the process is initiated by an immoral figure or state driven primarily by force, and the process initiated by such figures is then completed and consolidated by Wudi. But the narrative point is reversed. Instead of posing the final order that emerges as fully moral and nontransgressive, Sima Q ian uses the model to argue that the final order is based, and completely dependent upon. that which was initiated by the immoral, barbaric figure . Thus the Han dynasry that is consolidated by Wudi (both symbolically through [hefrogand shan sacrifices and de facto through the exterm ination ohhe power of the local rulers) is fully based upon the creations of the first emperor. Wudi may present himself as a moral sage, Sima Qian argues, but his empire CQuid nOt have emerged without me creations of the fi rst emperor. Moreover, the structure created by the first emperor undergirds the empire of the Han. The fi tst emperor and Wudi thus serve as doubles in the emergence of empire in a way comparable to the way that C hi You and H uangdi served as doubles in earlier narratives of the origi n of the state. But in Sima Qian's narrative the doubling serves not to emphasize the pure sagacity of the second figure but to underscore the immoral underpinnings of his rule. Sima Qian's pornait ofWudi, thcn, is not one of a sage ruling over a consolidated dynasty as powerful and morally centercd as that of Huangdi. lnstead, it is a portrait of a reign thar is hisrorically successful but also based upon the Qin system ofcoercion. Instead of narrating the successful appropriacion of the creations of the immoral outsider, Sima Q ian emphasizes the complete dependence of Wudi on those creations; it would be as if, in the narratives discussed in Chapter j, Huangdi was presented not as a great sage realigning the state with the world of nature but as a dictatorial and somewhat farcical ruler fully dependent upon the creations of the evil Chi You. We have seen how Sima Qian struCtures much of his narrative concerning the rise of empire according to a conflict between innovating and following the past, a conflict seen most concretely in the issue of enfeoffment versus imperial centralization. In order to set up a basis for defining these issues, Sima Q ian opens by presenting the ancient sage Huangdi not as a creator or even as a consolidator of another's creations but as an institutor of the paradigmatic state. [t is according to this basic form of the state that Sima Q ian then judges those involved with the much later introduction of empire.

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The Tragedy of Creation The ensuing study works through the problems of creation by means of a complex technique involvi ng juxtapositions of narrative and moral critique. As a moraJ critique, the work resonates with Statements abom (he importance of according with the past. For aarrtple. the chapt('t on the first emp('ror is punctuated by a s('ries of critiques by minis(('fS and scholars to th(' df('Ct that rh(' Qin empir(' is doomed as long as it continues to base itself on innovation. Wh('n the Q in rh('n falls . thos(' critiques ar(' posed as prescient. Similarly, Sima Qian's own concluding remarks ar(' almost always based on moraJized rh('toric abom the n('c('ssiry of following the ancient sages. According [Q this rhetoric, th(' historicallong('viry of a stat(' depends on the degree [Q which that stat(' follows the past; innovators, then, are doom('d. Within such a framework, how. ('v('r, the problem of empire becomes highly important: if moraJity is defined as that which existed at the time of the earlier sages. then empire. which had been introduced little more than a century before Sima Qian was writing, was by definition immoral. The problem is highlighted by the fact that Sima Qian d~ not long for a return to the ways of the earlier sages. On the contrary, he seems to accept the argument found in texts like the Shllngjumhu (hat times had chang('d, and that centralized inStitutions had becom(' necessary for order. Accordingly, he treats the innovative figures involved in the introduction of empire as sympathetic from a historical poim of view: cven if unvirtuous and deserving of destruc. tion, they nonetheless took the actions n('Cessary to end the disorder of tKe Warring States and, later, save the rule of the Han. In particular, bmh the first emperor and Chao Cuo are present('d as correct in their realization [hat the times necessitated a f2dical departur(' ftom (he ways of the past. This interplay of narrative sympathy and moraJ critique thus sets up an intriguing ambivalence, wherein acts of creation are both n('Cessary and yet doomed. H is argument is that this tension was resolved historically by the reign of Wudi, and, in narrating the resolution, he turns to the dualistic model found in various narf2tives of the emergence of the state. Wudi, he argues, is (he consolidator of the necessary but morally problematic institutions created by (he first emp('ror and reintroduced by Chao Cuo. But instead of posing Wudi as a fully moral sage bringing the cr('ations into the proper order, Sima Qian presents the order that emerges as fully dependent upon what was introduced by (he amoral creators.

The Tragedy of Creation The narrariv(' thus ends with a consolidated empire, radically diff('r('nt from th(' f('udal rul(' ofHua ngdi. Unlike so many of the narrativ('S about rb(' creation of the state, howcv('r, the end point of the process looks distinctly worse than the starting point. If Huangdi rul('d over a moraJ state that def('nded without usurping local pow('r, Wudi rul('d over an empire devot('d largely to war and ('xtreme c('ntraJization. Non('thdess, Sima Qian's narrative makes it cl('ar that there is no going back."

Implications Sima Qian took a critical stanc(' toward both of the views of cr('ation that were becoming dominant during the reign of Han Wudi. H(' criticized th(' notion that, as amhors, sages simply distilled patterns in their composition of th(' c1as· sics. I argued that Sima Qian was claiming instead that any act of composition did in fact involve active construction, and therefore was not si mplya process of "lifting up" patt('rns. On the issue of empire, I have argued that Sima Qian was critical of Han Wudi's claims to hav(' consolidated an empire in accord with the patterns of th(' past and of nature. In both instances, I bdicv(', Sima Qian was arguing that acts of zuo did involv(' inevitabl(' discontinuity that could be neither denied nor overcome. These claims are of gr('at significanc(' in refi('cting upon [he d('velopm('nt of rh(' d('bate on creation over th(' previous sev('raJ c('nruri('S. AI; noted in th(' Innoduction, K('ighrl('y argued: "the univ('fS(' of moral action, at least as it was represented in th(' accounts of myth and history. was untrammded by ambiguities .... Cause-and-eff('C[ in [he univ('fS(' w('r(' rigorously fair; the moral prosper('d, the wicked did no[."97 I not('d in C hapt('r } that this rule hdd nue for many of the Warring States narrativ('s of the ('m('rgence of the stat(', but that it failed to take account of th(' de('p-root('d conc('rn that discontinuity and transgression may be an inherent part of th(' emergence of the state, ('ven if they were ultimatdy overcome in the fi nal ord('r institut('d by the sage. Sima Qian not only recognized this point but car('fully exploited it in his narrative of the creation of empire. By curning around th(' narrative emphasis to focus on the degre(' to which that final order depends upon th(' earlier transgressions, Sima Qian articulates a fascinating critique of the ris(' of ('mpire.

209

210

The Tragedy of Creation At the same time, Sima Q ian seems equally interested in the opposite side of this equation: the degree to which the introduction of empire required transgressive figures like the first emperor and Chao Cuo. He argues that the discontinuity marked by figures like the first emperor and Chao C uo was a necessary pan of the rise of empire, and he thus presents them as immoral transgressors who could nor, by definition, exhibit rhe q ualities necessary ro consolidate what they introduced. Pur in teleological terms, they were, Sima Qian maintains, necessary for the unfolding of history even if they were deserving of destruction.

But if Sima Qian has shifted the d ualist model ro emphasize the inevitability of moments of discontinuity in any act of innovation, then what are the impl ications of the point? What is intriguing about the work is that Sima Qian provides a critique of his own culture, and it is a critique that could perhaps serve as a corrective ro many of the scholarly arguments referred to in the Introd uction. Sima Q ian recognizes a tension concerning this problem of creation and explores the consequences of it by tracing the rise of empire through a meditation on the problem. H is emphasis on ambivalent figures is thus pan of a larger study of his own cuh ure, one based nor so much in denying a moral paradigm but in showing the implications of such a paradigm when applied to the workings of history. Sima Qian does indeed. then. provide a narrative along the lines that Keightley described: he presents the rise of empi re through a framewo rk in which those who are moral and connected ro the past are rewarded and those who are immoral and not so connected are punished. And just as would be expected in such a fra mework, transgressive crearors are destroyed. But, in emphasizing the degree to which the introduction of empire required transgressions like this, Sima Qian demonstrates a place where, in the development of history, a tragic possibility exists: the creation of a new order requires a transgressive action, yet that transgression is intrinsically in opposition to the order [hat the figure is trying to create. This, of course. is the same point referred ro earlier in the discussion of the narratives of the sages, only here the moral is reversed : instead of proclaiming the ultimate victory of proper order, Sima Qian emphasizes the degree to which the order thus achieved is based upon transgression. In opposition to the earlier narratives of the rise of the state, then, he den ies that the transgression of the act of creation can be divorced from the later ap-

The Tragedy of Creation propriacion of what was created. In other words, he denies the mechanism that had been used to allow for acts of creation while also denying their negative implications. Yes, he is saying. that which was tr.msgressively created can later be successfully consolidated and implemented, but it is still transgressive. H is goal, then, is to read the introduction of empire through the lens of a moralist, with the result that the narrative of the rise of empire becomes a mediration on the tragedy of creation. If acts of creat ion are assigned the negative position but are nonetheless necessary. then there is a fundamental ambivalence: creation is both necessary and yet outside the moral and natural cycles that should normatively define the historical process. And Sima Qian's point is that this is a necessary corollary ro the idea that only that which existed in the time of the sages, or, put in naturalistic terms, only that which existed o riginally in nature, is morally acceptable. As such, one is caught in an inescapable paradox: only by returni ng to the past can there be true morality, but once one accepts that discontinuity is inevitable, such a rerum is impossible. Whether it be in the act of sages distilling patterns from naTUre or of emperors claiming links to the past, discontinuity is inevitably introduced. In his time. therefore, Sima Q ian claimed that imperial institutions may be immoral and fully derived from the creations of an arrogant first emperor, but returning to the feu dal institutions of the past, or returning to the patterns of the natural world, was simply not an option. And the claim (hat empire is in fact in continuity with the past and with the world of nature. Sima Q ian seems to imply, is foll/~8 Sima Q ian, then, is not, despite some scholars' claims, a conservative who longs for a return to the past before the discontinuity that occurred with the creation of empi re. On the contrary, he makes it dear in his narrative that empire was, at that stage in Chinese his£Ory. necessary. Sima Qian's critique demanded a proper accounting, called foran admission that transgressive acts can never be fully expiated. that empire, if trangressively created, remained transgressive: if empire was created as a dictatorial system, then so will it remain. He was, in other words, strongly opposed to the idea that it was possible simply to displace creation to a rebel and then claim that a sage, in this case H an Wudi, had appropriated what was created and successfu lly realigned it with nature and the ancestors. Such, I have argued. is Sima Q ian's implicit view of history, namely that there can be no act of creation without a concurreOl destruction, and hence no honest appropriation of what was created without an admission

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The Tragedy of Creation of discontinuity. Thus, even while presenting empire as absolutely necessary, as the rightful new norm for society. Sima Qian seems always to have an underlying sense ofloss. a sense of a past that is forever gone. His goal, in essence, was to expose the mechanism, seen also in some of the narratives of the origin of the state and in sacrificial practice, by which Han Wudi was able to claim that, however created, empire itself was fully moral, fully in accord with the divine, and fully linked to the original stare organized by the great sage Huangdi.

Conclusion

I opened the fi rst chapter of this book by quoting fro m Xu Shen's description of the origin of writing. Xu Shen presented sages as «lifting up» patterns from the natural world and bringing them to the world of humanity. Cultural artifacts were presented as linked to the world of nature. Such ideas were connected to elements of classical scholarship that had become dominant at the time, and they were connected as well ro notions of authorship that were developing in literary theory. These ideas concerning continuity played an important role in scholarship on early China, and statementS concerning continuity were frequently contrasted in this scholarship with statements from early Greece, or "the West" more broadly. In this book, I have suggested an alternative approach, in which such statements like those found in the Shuo wen jie zi are treated as claims within a larger debate. I believe that the goal of the analyst should be to recon. . . struct the debate within which such claims were made and to explicate why the claims were made and what their implications were at the time. To this end, 1 have traced the debates concerning innovation and anifice over the course of the Warring States and early Han. The context from which these debates grew was the rise of centralized, bureaucratic state structures d e~ fined apart from, and largely in opposition to, the feudal istic rule of the Bronze Age kingdoms. As these institutions became increasingly removed from those the Western Zha u, concerns arose over whether the new institutions could

or

214

Conclusion still be linked to the past and to the divine. It was from this context that the issues of innovation and creation became an overt topic of discussion. I traced the history of these debates and analyzed their permutations over the course of their development - fro m arguments in the emergent philosophical literature. to the developing narratives of the o rigin of statecrah. to the actual creation of empire and the attempts to present empire as the new norm. and. finally, to a penetrating critique of such a presentation by an early H an histo rian. M uch of what is interesting lies in the nuance, in the ways that specific individuals defined and redefined terms for particular purposes, in the types of narrative models chosen to tell particular stories. and in the reasons that individual rulers chose to emphasize: particular interpretations of sagely figures. I have argued that the specific claims of continuity that influenced Xu Shen emerged only at the end of the Warri ng States period, and for intellectual and poli tical reasons achieved prominence only in the early Han. Even then, claims of continuity were highly controversial, and Sima Qian's work was in part written as a critique of such notions. More specifically, I argued that Sima Qian's claim is that the introduction of discontinui ty is an inherent part of the emergence of something new. Sages do not simply replicate and disrill panems; they create. And the act of creation , for Sima Q ian. is ambivalent: necessary for the emergence of anything new. bur always involving discontinuity. On the issue of empire, he chastises orher members of his culture for denying the dependence of empire on transgression : even if empire, he implies, gains fuj i legitimacy. it could never have bttn introduced without transgression. and as a result, it will always be dependent upon transgression. There could have been no empire without the first emperor. and as a result, the empire that had been rightfully consolidated was also, and would cOnlinue to be, despotic. It is not true, then, that early Chinese..Ibinkcrs EBtmed..continui'I....between nature' and culture. between past and present. Neither is it true mat sages were assumed to be inherently linked to the natural world. O n the contrary, Sima Qian's point seems more accurate, namely that the very attempt to claim continuity implied a Strong concern wirh discominuiry. The compararively in teresdng point, then, is nOt that early Chinese figures assumed a continuity denied in G reece. What is inreresring is the similar concern with discontinuity and transgression, and rhe historical implicarions of (he different ways that such an intellectual and political debate played out.

Reference Matter

APPENOIX

The Semantics of Creation

The purpose of this appendix is to review and provide a critique of some of the more important philological studies of zuo. I discuss some of [he philological speculations abom zuo as well as question some of the assumptions on which such speculations have been made.

Philological Discussiom In a 1992 arricle, Zeng Xiantong argues that the basic meaning of zuo is " [ 0 cultivate."1 H e bases this argument on several pieces of evidence, each of which is worth discussing in order to evaluate his claim. The first part of Zeng's argument is based upon an analysis of the earliest forms of the graph that we possess, namely those that appear in late Shang oracle inscriptions. The mOst common of these forms is the following:~. Most scholars have assumed that this mUSt be a pictograph. bm exactly what it is supposed to represent has been the object of a fair amount of speculation. Explanations include a person kneeling and doing something,2 a working hand,3 and the making of textiles:' For his parr, Zeng argues that the I:. of the graph is in fact a plow, as in the archaic graph for the word "plow" itself, lei: t. The smaller portion of rhe graph would then represent a piece of earth being dug up by the plow. Accordingly, he argues, the "root" meaning of the word is "towork the earth," and from this come the meanings "cultivating" and "performing agriculture."~

As Zeng correctly points our, the term is used in several early inscriptions

2 18

Appendix

Appendix

with this sense. The following, for example, are alternative divinations from Period I: "Command Yin to cultivate [zuo] the great fields. "/; "We ought not command Yin to cultivate (zuo] the great fields.'" In these inscriptions, zuo would ind~ appear to have a relatively concrete sense of "cultivate." Zeng a150 discusses the other major form of the graph: ~. Zeng believes that the portion of the graph should be read as a pictograph of a hand. Such a reading would lend further credence [Q his claim that the graph represents an active manipulation of something.' The final piece of evidence adduced by Zeng is that zuo is, in its root meaning, similar to another word meaning "plow, cultivate," namely ji fJ:. He argues first that the two words had very similar archaic pronunciations.
e:.

Such a concrete meaning, Zeng argues, is more accurate than that given by Xu Shen. This point is brought up in a shon: discussion by Zeng of inscriptions such as the following : Crackmaking on xinhai (day 48], Yang divining: "The dragon has not yet arisen {zuoJ. We will continue to pray. Let it be a dings; day for the yang sacrifice." 12 The inscription is fascinating. because it reveals an early use of the term with the meaning of "rise," the sense that Xu Shen defined as the root meaning of the word. Zeng's argument is that this sense of "rise" is a later development from the root meaning of the word "to dig up the ground ."u

If this is true, it would imply a very different etymology of the word from that given by Xu Shen. As I noted above, Xu Shen's definition of the word as "rise" was based in large parr on his political and philosophical views, and the definition was provided with a connotation of "lifting up" something from one realm and bringing it into ano ther. It was, in other words, a definition intended to emphasize an imitative sense, rather than a sense of imposing one's will on something else. In COntrast, Zeng's erymologyemphasizes the sense of active fashioning that Xu Shen had allempted 10 expunge. Far from the sense of "making arise" advanced by Xu Shen, Zeng reads the root meaning of the term as being a concrete sense of dearing and plowing, and hence, it might be added, as possessing a strong connotation of active work and domestication. If accurate, it would imply that later senses of constructing and fashioni ng had a clear etymological rOOt, and the more imitative sense given by Xu Shen would appear to be a later redefinicion of the term away from its more basic sense of actively working and imposing one's will on something. This view that the term must have at its rOOt a concrete, active sense is held by many of the recent philologists who have studied the issue. Although numerous etymologies have been suggested, many scholars have attempted to find a root meaning for the word in some kind of concrete action: cutting, constructing, plowing, or in some other way imposing one's will on something. Kato Joken, for example, argues that the graph of the word represents a knife, and, accordingly, the basic meaning of the term is "to cur" or "to cruse!," from which one gets later notions of fashion ing, forging, making, creating, and related senses.l • Shirakawa Shizuka reads the root meaning of the word as "to construct " and argues that only later does the word acquire the sense of "raise up" emphasized by Xu Shen." Although they offer diffe rent interpretations of the root meaning of the word, all t hr~ of these scholars, Kato, Shirakawa, and Zeng, share the belief that the root meaning would have to be a specific, concrete action. Such attempts to deduce a concrete sense from a general term for "making" or "creating" has a long history in modern philology. Indeed, philological studies of Indo-European vocabulary reveal a similar approach. 1n his analysis of Indo-European terms of making and doing, for example, Gen-Ichiro Yoshioka argues that the etymological origin of such general terms resides in specific, concrete senses. For example, Yoshioka claims that the origi nal meaning

2 19

220

Appendix of TOU'W, the classical Greek word for "creating" and "making," was " [0 pre· pare or "to arrange." 16 Like Zeng's analysis of ZUO, Yoshioka argues that the root meaning o f TOIE"W was that of a concrete action. Q

Analysis O ne set o f inscriptions quoted above reveals that zuo was indeed used, during the late Shang, to mean "cultivate." It is also dear that the word cominued [0 be so used during the Warring States period. For example, to mention a pas· sage that u ng himself does not allude to, one finds the following in the "Yu gong" chapter of the Shangrhu: "Da Lu was cultivated [ZU01."1 1 This sense of zuo as one of actively working on and domesticating parts o f nature is thus dearly attested in both earlier and later writings, and indeed. such a meaning was frequently utilized by authors d uring the Western Zhou period as well (see Chapter I). Nonetheless, Zeng's claim that this represents the basic meaning of the term is highly questionable. Zeng feels that the early Chinese term that would later be used to mean "ere· ate" probably had a concrete mean ing at its basis. In arguing this. Zeng repeats a common tendency among philologists, namely to search for the most precise understanding of a term by attempting to find its earliest possible meaning, a search that frequently involves the funhe r assumption that such an earlier meaning would tend to be more concrete than the later senses. The semantic historyof the term is then seen as a development toward increasing abstractness and complexity. This problem takes on considerable importance in studying words with senses of "creating" and "making," for such an assumption would imply that one ought to search for a concrete semantic base to such general terms. The above-mentioned study by Yoshioka of early Indo· European terms for "doing" and "making" is a case in point. The inuoductory statement to the work reads as fo llows: "That such a vague, general notion as that of 'do' or 'make' is secondary and rests upon some more specific force, is an assumption demanded by all psychological probability and fully confirmed by linguistic evidence." 18 Although it is difficult to imagine a contemporary philologist like Zeng making so bald and universal a statement, I do think that this represents a tendency in the approach of Zeng, as well as in that of other philologists. I believe that such a tendency should be avoided. Although it is possible

Appendix that some terms had more concrete senses in earlier usages, the opposite could just as easily be true: there is no inherent reason why semantic change should follow an evolutionary line of progression fro m the simple to the more com· plex. We must be open to the possibility that the earlier semantic senses we can fi nd for a given word will involve a wide range of meanings, including absuac[ ones. Having said this. I now rum to a critique o f Zeng's specific argument. I will begin with his discussion of the archaic graph. Although I am not convinced that the graph is a pictograph of a plow and a piece o f earth, my main cri· tique lies not in his particular reading of this graph but in the attempt to use an analysis of graphs to discuss semantic issues. In specific instances, graphs may be helpful in determining the meaning of a term, especially when the graph is pictOgraphic and represents a word that, in a given conrext, is used as a noun with some concrete reference (such as the early graph for the word yang, wsheep," which is a pictograph of a sheep), Nonetheless. the claim that the earliest known form of a graph provides a clue to the roOt meaning of a word, or even a due to the Shang view of what the rOOt meaning was, is inde~ fens ible. The decision to use a certain graph to re present a word may he based on no orher criteria than ease of wriling or phonetic links to other words for which a graph already exists. A graph can also be, it must be remembered, a rbi~ tracy. Thus Zeng's reading of the graph, even if accurate, cannot be taken as indicative of the rOOt meaning of the term. My second criticism lies in Zeng's use of phonetic similarities with the word ji to dedua meaning. Part of ung's specific argument here is q uite plausible. It is certai nly true [hat %UO and ji had similar archaic pronunciations. As noted earlier, Schuessler reconstructs these as tJaX and dzjak respectively. Although Bernhard Karlgren does nOt place these within the same word fam ily.I' [he phonetic similarities do render u ng's argument plausible. There is also a se· mantic similarity between the twO words, a similarity rendered perhaps even more plausible when one looks at evidence nor considered by Zeng himself. For example, the meaning of %Ul) as "clear (fields)" was later standardized graphi. cally with a wood radical fF. This latter word is clearly cognate with zuo, as seen from the similar phonetic reconstructions o f the terms: tsak for fF and tirak for fF.20 Because of this phonetic similarity, Karlgren has convincingly placed the terms within the same word family.ll Considering the close seman~

221

222

Appendix tic and phonetic links between these terms and ji, it is possible that they are etymologically linked and should be considered as belonging to the same word family. Nonetheless, even if this specific claim is plausible, Zeng's anempt to use this hypothesis as a clue to the basic meaning of zuo is flawed . In general, looking at word families to analyze etymology can be helpful, bur, as in the analysis of early graph forms, one must use the approach carefully. It is important to avoid simply picking and choosing particular meanings from a word family and designating them as the etymological roor of the entire group. At issue here is Zeng's claim that the proposed etymological link of zuo and ji points roward a common sense of "cultivate" in the former. While the words ze and ji, both associated with agricultural activities, are indeed phonetically close to zuo, many orher action verbs are as well. The immediate word family of zuo includes, for example, nOt only u but also zha :/.'F , "ro cook," and zha ~ (rsrakh),22 "to lie, deceive, be crafty." Neither of these is easily reducible to a sense of digging dirt with a plow. In fact, the only etymological claim that seems possible here is that the word family involves a wide range of action verbs, with associations of change, deception, and craft. A wide range is clear as well in even a brief survey of the different uses of the term in late Shang and Western Zhou writings. Although Zeng might try to claim that these different meanings are simply latet derivations of the root meaning that he has posited, I would argue that it is difficult in rhe extreme to see how such a range of meanings could be derived from the concrete sense "cultivate." The word from very early on had a sense of "creating, making for the first time." For example, one finds in the Da Yu ding the following statement concerning King Wu, the Zhou ruler who defeated the Shang and started the Zhou dynasty: "Then IGng Wu succeeded King Wen and created [zuo] the state."ll From the Shang inscriptions, a similar meaning is clear in a number of Period I inscriptions concerning the making of cities: Divining: "The king will make [zuo] a settlement, [for if he does] Di will approve." l4 Divining: "The king ought nOt make [zuo] a senlement, [for if he docs not] Di will approve."2S

Appendix The term is also commonly used to mean "to make," with the sense of "building" or Wconstructing." For example, the Yin Jie ding has rhe following line: "The Duke of Mu made [zuo] Yin Jie an ancestral temple." 26 Yet another sense is that of "to compose." The term thus appears frequently in discussions of the composition of a song or poem: "The gentleman made [zuo] the song."27 Still another sense of the term is "to make oneself into," and thus "to act as, to be." Thus, for example, one finds in the Yang gui the following charge: "The king said to the effect: 'Yang, be [zuo: literally, make yourself into] the supervisor of artisans.' " 28 A comparable sense is seen in the Bangui: "The king commanded the Earl of Mao to succeed Duke Cheng of Guo's service in protecting the king's position and acting as [zuol a model fo r the four quarters." 2~ It should be clear that zuo is used to describe a wide variety of actions. It is difficult to see how any of these could have been derived from a root sense of "cultivate." Indeed, the attempt by Zeng to reduce the word to a root meaning of "cultivate" is as unconvincing as the much earlier attempt by Xu Shen to define the word as "to rise." Both of these meanings are clearly in evidence in the earliest texts that we possess, bur neither meaning can cover the entire semantic field that the word seems to include. What, then, is the early meaning of the term? The only answer that seems to fit all of the contexts in which the word appears is that zuo is a general term for activity, and that its "basic" meaning includes a variety of senses of creating, making, doing, acring, rising, and ot he~ activities. Any attempt to reduce the term to ODe specific meaning from which this more general sense arose would be mistaken: as far back as we can go, it has a generalized sense. Wirh this in mind, I return to the argument by Zeng by way of a discussion of another pair of divinations:

Onguihai [day 60] divining: "The king will command the many Yin to open [qi] the fields in the west, [for if we do wel shall receive millc(."JO On guihai divining: "The many Yin ought not do [zuoJ this, [for if they do nor wel shall receive millc(."31 The issue of these divinations concerns whether or nor the many Yin should open the fields in the weSL In the first inscription, the term qi ~ is urilized. Qi

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224

Appendix is a concrete action verb meaning "opening up, clearing." The negative alter* native

[0

this uses the more general "ought nor zuo [this]." This is a pau ern

Notes

thar one sees repeated1y in the early inscriptions: zuo, being the general rerm for making and doing, is often paralleled by a more concrete verb fo r a given acrion. This generali ty of (he sem antic range of zuo should be taken into account in any d iscussion of the rerm. Thus, in the inscriptions emphasized by Zeng, w here zuo seems to mean "[0 cultivate" fields, the most philologically rigorous reading would actually be more vague and general: they "do," or "make" the fields. I am nor, of course, recommending thar we actually use this rendering in translation ; the point is simply to emphasize that the term has a general sense, which in various contcxts can take on a num ber of specific con no tations: build , clear, etc. Instead of tryi ng to read [he root meaning of zuo as the concrete " [0

dear," I would argue that the root meaning is in faCt a q uite broad one of

activity in general.

lntToduction

The same is probably true for the Greek tecm "TOU;W. Yoshioka, following his argumen t that semantic evolution ru ns from simple and concrete to complex and general, tried to trace the basic meaning of "TOl £W to "prepare, arrange," and claimed that the general sense o f "make" arose only later.31 Subsequent research, however, has revealed that the term is derived from the proto*lndoEuropean te rm /tun, which already had a sense of "to make":)) general notions seem to have been in existence from quite early on. This strongly suggests that the developm ent of "TOt£W parallels that of zuo, although in a way op posite fro m the similari ty berween Yoshioka's and Zeng's arg uments. Despite the p hi lological claims that have been made abo ut them by Zeng and Yoshioka respectively, both zuo and

"TOt£W

were, from an carty period, general terms for "making,"

"doing," and "crea ting." The breadth of this sem antic range is important for understanding why thinkers during the Warri ng States period focused upon zuo as a topic of such concern-something that did nor occur with the morc concrete action verbs. Any attempt to read these specific Senses given to the word as representing the word's root m eaning is doomed to failure: the term was taken up in the debates precisely because of its broad ra nge of meanings.

I. Shiji, "Qin Shihuang benji," Zhonghua shuju edition, 6.245. The five thearchs (ai) were the ancient sages, the most imponant of whom was Huangdi. Who exactly the other four were was a topic of debate in the late Warri ng States and early H an. although the expression "five ain was nonetheless used widely to refer to the early sages in general. 2. Quoted in Gerner, China and lIN Christilln ImfJllct, p. 25. J. See Mungello, Lribniz and Confocillnism, pp. 46- 48. 4. Lcibniz. TIN Prifaa IV Ltibniz' Novissima Sinica, pp. 68-69. 5· Ibid., p. 74· 6. Ibid., p. 75. 7. de Condorcet, Slutch for a Historical Picturt, p. 32. 8. Ibid., p. 24. 9· Ibid. , p. 24· 10 . Ibid., p. 197. II. Diderot, "Supplement to Bougainville's Voyage," p. 187. 12. Voltaire, OlU Vrtl rompllus, M.ix.444. I}. Ibid. , M.xxx.6. 14-. Ibid., M.xi.m. 15. Ibid.• M.xi.3}2- m. 16. Ibid., M.xi.}29. 17. Ibid .• M.xi.}3 1. 18. Hegel, Hrgtli PhiloJophy of Right, p. 220.

"5

226

Notes to Pages 10-18 19. Ibid. , p. no. 20. Hegel, L«turn, p. 112. 21. Ibid., p. 198. 22. Ibid. 23· Ibid., p. 199. 24. Ibid. loS. Ibid., p. 201. 26. Mote, Inulkctual Foundations ofChina, p. 13. 27· Tu, Confucian Thought, p. 43. 28. Keightley, "Early Civilization in C hina," p. 32. 5« also the discussion in Kdghdey's "Clean Hands and Shining Helmers," pp. 41- 42. 29. Ktightley, "Early Civilization in C hina," p. 20. 30. Ibid. 31. See, for e:xample:. Liu, TIN Art ofChinm Poary, p. 151.: "Epic and trage:dy are: practically absent in Chinese." On the question of epic, see also Prusek. "History and Epics," pp. 17-34: and C. H. Wang, "Towards Defini ng a C hinese Heroism." 32. Gerner with Vernant. "Social History," p. n 33- Mair, "The: Narrative Revolution," p. 6. 34. Ibid., p. 20. n. Ibid., p. 26. 36. Kwang-Chih Chang, "Ancient China," p. 161. 37. Ibid., p. 165. 38. Ibid. 39· Ibid.) pp. 161-64. C hang develops his argume:nt concerning shamanism at length in Art, Myth, and Ritual. 40. Ibid., p. 162. .p. Kwang-chih Chang, Thr ArchaMlogyafAncimt China, pp. 418-19. 42· Ibid., p. 421. 43· Kwang-chih Chang, "Anciem C hina," pp. 161-62. 44· Ibid., p. 165· 4S. Lunyu, 7/1 . 46. Shiji, 130 ·32.99-3300. 47. G ranet, Daltsts tl /tgrndu, pp. 602.- 6 and 61I-15. 48. Zhanguoct, 32..)b. 49· Shiji, ), 104· so. A further aspect of these Slories is that both of these figures were of Shang lineage (the state of Song being made up of the descendants of the Shang). The

Nores to Pages 19-26 Shang worshipped Shangdi as their deity; the Zhou wors hipped Heaven. It is possible [hat [he authors here were playing on this cultural difference as well in the stories. 51. Granet, La civiliSllnolt chinoist, pp. 22)-2.7. 52. This is a vision taken largely from the "Guofeng" scction of the Shijing. A fuller discussion of his argument can be fou nd in his earlier nus t t chansons ancienntl tk fa Chine. n. D. C. Twitchett, inu oduClion to Maspcro, China in Antiquity, p. xix.

Chapttr 1 I. ShutJ wm jit ri zhmbm, Sibu bciyao ed., Isa.l32. [bid., Is.a.lb. 3. Ibid., Isa.2a. 4. The classic discussion of the importance of such a notion in the C hinese literary tradition is in Owen, Traditional Chi"ts~ POttry. 5. In order to avoid possible confusion, let me stare at the outset that when I use the term "creation" in this study, I am referring to (he act of fabrica£ing, constructi ng, and fashion ing: I am in no way referring to a notion of crtatio tx nihilo. "creation out of nothing. ~ Crrano tx nihilo is simply a certain type of creation, Specifically defined as occurring without pre-existing matter. In itself, however, the term "creation" implies nothing about whether there exists raw material for use in the act. 6. That Di is some kind of high god is clear from, fo r example, the bin, a ri tual in which the king would entertain a near ancestor, who would in turn entertain the next ancestor in the hierarchy. The chain would continue until the highest anceStor would entertain Di. For an interesting discussion of the bin ritual, especially of how it relates to the hierarchy of Shang ancestors, see Keightley, "The Religious Commitment." For an auem pt to argue that "Di " represents not a high god but simply the Shang ancestors in their collcctivity, see Eno's provocative "Was There a High God Ti in Shang Religion?" 7· Htji J1423. 8. Htji 14 178. 9. Htji 1)683· to. Htji 31981. II. Ibid. 12. Htji 14182. 13. Htji 2725. 14· Htji 2194.

227

228

Notes

[0

Pages 26-29

Notes to Pages 33-34 3(. Sh. I1..61: 64 7. All brontt inscriptions are taken from Shirakawa Shiluka'S

IS· Hqi 14860. 16. Hqi271. 17· Hqi 6506. 18. Hqi 2124. 19· Hqi 33209. 20. Ibid. 21. Hqi 14r82 . 22. Hqi 14201. 2). Hqi 14206.

Kinbun tsushaku (Kobe:: H akutsuru bijutsukan, 1962-) , abbreviated as "Sh."

24· Hqi IJSl4· 25. For a debate about this issue, see the forum in &irly OJimt 14 (1989): n172, involving Qiu Xigui. David Nivison. Fan Yuzhou. Jao Tsung-i, David N. Keighdey. Jean A. Lefeuvre, Li Xucqin, Edward L. Shaughnessy, and Wang Yuxin. 26. Wang Yuxin, Xi-Zhou Jillgu tan/un. HII :133-96. 27. See Shaughnessy, ~Zhouyuan Oracle-Bone Inscriptions," pp. 156-57; and Shaughnessy, "Shishi Z houyuan buci si li." The use of the term in the late r C hu divinarory strips is discussed by Li Ling, "Formulaic Structure," p. 76. 28. Heaven was the main deity of the Z hou people, while Di. as we have seen, was the major deity of the Shang. 29. A brief note here should be made about the relations betwetn Di and H eaven. In many post-conqueu wri tings, the names of the two deities are used imerchangeably. It is frequ ently asserted that this interchangeability reflects an alternpt at assimilation. Such a view seems reasonable, although I would point out simply tha t the view of some people that the interchangeability rep resents an attempt 10 convince the Shang people to follow their own deity probably tells only half the story (see, e.g., Cred, Tht Origim ofSlattcrafi, p. 500): it is just as likely that the pre-conquest Zhou were activdy assimilati ng the Shang deity as a means of app ropriating its power. )0. I read the poem as being recited from the poim of view of the kings, or at least nobles. "Us." men, would refer to them, as distinct from thle common people, the min. mentioned later in the line. Zhmg has a senS(; of "uphold" or "uplift ," as well as related senses of ~offer" and "steam." See, for example, the Da Yu ding (Sh 12.61: 647)(see nlext note abo ut this sourcle): "assist me, the one man to uphold [zhmg] the four quarte rs." Karlgren reads the Ii herle as fiZ, "to supply with grain," and takes zhmg as having a sense of "many." He thus translau:s: "You have given grain-food to our multitude." I see no reason to force such a rleading.

*

}2. Sh. 48.1: 171. 33. I am here following Tang Lan's reading of the graph as bing ~ ("Hie zun mingwen jieshi,~ Wmwu I [l976J: 60). The inscription is very uncllear. 34. Tang Lan (" He zun m ingwen jieshi," p. 63 n. 1.) and Ma Chengyuan ("H e lun mingwen chusru," Wmwu I [1976]: 65) tead both fing !l and fo t! as rilUals. While fmg does indeed appear in Westlern Zhou contexlS as a rilual tetm, it also appears frequently with a sense of ~abundan l " (see, for example, Shi '74). as I have transl.ated it. Fu is morc problematic. Without the hand signific. [he word simply means "blessings." Tang and Ma argue that the graph with the hand signific, as it appears in the inscription. could refer to a kind of ritual. Therle is, how.ever, no clear .evidence [hat the word is actually used in this way elsewhere, and, accordingly, I sele no reason to posit a distinct meaning here. In general, it is probably worthwhille to avoid [hie widespread tende ncy to read slighrly unusual forms of graphs as simply terms for rituals, especially whlen, as in the case at hand, the common meaning of the word in question makes perfectly good sense in the context. 35. Tang Lan ("H e l un mingwlen jieshi," p. 6} n. }) and Ma Chengyuan ("H e lun mingwen chushi," p. 65) read this as "H eaven [alw]," the place from which the rituals would be given. This seems to me qui te forced. 36. Tht:se two graphs, da ming *$, cannot be seen on the vessel. Tang Lan ("H e zun mingwen jieshi," p. 63 n. 7) claims to be able to St:1e the edges of thle graphs, but I am afraid that I cannot. It is, however, possible that Tang is right here: the reference to thle receiving of the mandate also applears in the Shangrhu "Luo gao" chapter. a text that closely parallels the H e zun inscription in both style and content. Moreover, the Shangshu ~J uns hi " chapter explicitly refers to King Wen as having rleceived the mandate. Other, later, inscriptions. such as the Do Yu ding (discussed above) and the Shi Q iangpan (discussed below) also claim that the mandate was received by Wen, while King Wu actually performed the conquest. Although this evidence makes Tang's interpretation plausible, it is not absol utely convincing. 37· Sh. 49· Ho 15: m· 38. This rleading of ring is based on Tang, "Luelun Xi-Zhou Weishi jiazu jiaocang rongqi qun," p. 2} n. 14. 39. Following Shaughnessy, SourctS of Wt'Surn Zhou HiJrory, p. 186. 40. The term ch~ has a meaning of "take away,~ "get rid of." The sense is probably closer to "clearing out bad elements" (perhaps a reference to putting

1.1.9

1)0

Notes to Pages 40-43

Notes to Pages }5-40 down the rebellion that occurred under his rule}. See, for example, Shi (Z09): "clear away [chtl without dday,~ and (262): "Would thar you open up the fou r quarters / (and) dear (rluj my borderlands." 41. The auempt has been made by Wang Yuxin, in Xi-Zhou jiagu tanlun. But see the criticism by Shaughnessy. "Zhouyuan Oracle-Bone Inscriptions." pp. 15 0 -54. Chapf~r 2

The best historical survey of the Warring States period is Yang Kuan's ZhangUQ shi. I:or a fascinating interpretive study of thc:sc changes. sec Lewis's I.

Sanctiontd Vioknct in Early China. 2. For an excellent discussion of the social changes in the period, see Hsu Cho-yun. Ancimt China in Transition. 3. The trnditional view of the composition of the Lunp is that given in the "Yiwenzhi~ chapter of the Hanshu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, ' 959, 30.1717). which describes the work as having been put together by disciples of Confucius after their master's dearh. This would mean that the text was written sometime in the fifth century B.C., based upon the statementS and actions of Confucius and his disciples in the earlier parr of that century and the latter part of the previous century. As scholars have long noted, however, the Lunp is at least in part composite. containing later interpolations and possibly emire sections of a later provenance. A great deal of textual work on this question was produced by the Q ing scholar Cui Shu, who raised the view, stililargdy accepted, that chapters 16 through zo seem to date from a later period than the rest of the rext. See his 1<40 xin lu (1810; n:print, Taibei: Shijie shuju, 1960). More recent work has been undertaken both on the text itself and on relevam material from other texts (concerning quotations, attributed or unamibuled, that are similar to passages in the LunJu. later statements about the composition of the work. etc.) by, among others, Takeuchi Yoshio, in Rongo no lunlty;;. Some of the findings from this research have been conveniently summarized in Lau, Tht Anaucts, pp. nZ-33; Eno, Tht Gmfocian Cuarion of Htavttl. pp. 240-41 n. 4 and n. 6; and C heng, QLunyu," pp. 313Z3_ Unless otherwise noted, the passages referred to in this seerion are from the earlier portions of the Lunju, portions that probably date from the fifth century H.C., and, accordingly, represent some of the earliest formulations of the issues and concerns that dominated discussion for the next few centuries. For the sake of convenience, r follow the convention of referring to the statements attributed to Confucius as the statements of Confucius himself. In doing

so, I am not, of course, claiming that the words given in the text are necessarily the actual words spoken by Confucius. Since there are no other documents with which to judge, there is dearly no basis for discussing the relationship between these passages and the actual words that might have been spoken by the historical Confucius. 4. Lunp, Sibu beiyao (hereafter cited as SB BY), 7/1. 5. Ibid., 7/20. 6. Ibid., 11/14. 7· Ibid., 3/14. 8. Ibid., 15/11. 9· Ibid., 7/34. 10. Reading bao ~ as pao f@. II. Mozi, ~Fei Ru, xia," SBBY, 9.12b- 13a. n. Nothing is known about Gong Mengzi. other than that in the Mozi he is considered a follower of Confucius. Robert Eno has suggested from the figure's name that he may be a caricature of Mencius; see Eno. Tht Confucian G'lation of Htavttl, p. 257 n. 38). In terms of ch ronology this is certainly possible: nothing in the passage would prevent one from daring it fairly late in the fourth century B.C., when Mencius was active. However, it seems more likely that Gong Mengzi is simply an early Confucian about whom we know nothing. The author uses the figu re Gong Mengzi to spout stock Confucian lines that Mozi Ihen demolishes. If the author was in faCt portraying Mencius, one would expect him to have Gong mention some of Mencius's doctrines, and to have Mozi refute Mencian theory. Either way. in terms of how he is utilized in the passage his identity is irrdevanl: he is simply a set-up for Mohist cri tiques. 13- For "transmits," reading sbu ~ as shu iifi. Because of their phonetic similarity, these are commonly interchanged in early texts. Both belong to the same word family; Karlgren, Grammata Sui.a R«nun. p. 136, word fami ly #497. 14. For Qrransmit," n:adingwu as shu .1:£ . based again on phonetic similariry. 15. For "transmit," reading rui.il: as shu ~. The reconstruclt':d pronunciations of the words arc again almost identical: /sdjedh/ for sui and /djet/ for shu. See Schuessler, A Dictionary of Early Zhou Chintsl, pp. 591 and 565 respectively. 16. In other words, they want all good things to be created by themselves and thus refuse to transmit anything from the pau. 17. Mozi, "Gengzhu," 1I.12b. 18. The two best discussions of Confucius's view of morality and ritual (or, more precisely, of Confucius's conflation of moraliry and ritual) are Fingarette's

'*

231

232

Notes to Pages 44-46

Gmfucius: The 5«uillr as Sacrtd and Eno's The Confucian C"ation of Htavtn, pp. 79-98. Both of these authors emphasize, convincingly, [hat ritual marked for Confucius the defining de mem of moral education. As w;;,ill see, it is only ./ ifier coming to terms with the issue of ritual for Confucius that it is possible to understand his perspective on the problem of creation. Another work that has emphasized the ritual emphasis of Confucius is David Hall and Roger Ames's Thinking Through Confucius. Although the work is highly provocative in its attempt to discuss the AnakclS within a framework of comparative philosophy, the authors' ~I ~f describing Confucius's thought in terms borrowed from modern phenomenology at times causes them to lose sight of the vocabulary and analogies used in the text itself. 1his is unfortunate, for it is precisely in such concrete imagery that much of what is of interest in Confucius's arguments lies. 19. Lunyu, 12/ 1. 20. Ibid., tS/18. 21. Ibid., 12/20. 22. Ibid.,~ 2}. Ibid. , 12/8. 24. Reading wu :tij for wu ~ij.

1.5. Lunyu, S/IO. 1.6. Ibid., 5/4. 1.7. Sec the excellent discussion of this passage in Herbert Fingarene, Gmfucius, pp. 71-79. 28. Lunyu, tS/IO. 1.9. Ibid., 6/23. }O. Reading gong for gong ~.

m

31.

Lunyu,

2/1.

Ibid. , 15/5. 3l The 2$SOCiation of a sage with the quality of not acting consciously [WItwei] became common in the third cemury B. C. It seems unlikdy that Confucius would have been discussing the notion a[ such an early date. 34. Huan Tui was an officer from the Slate of Song. mentioned in the ZUiJwuan, Duke Ai, fourteenth year. 35. Lunyu, 7/23. Sima Q ian contextualiz.cs this passage by stating that Huan Tui wa nred to kill Confucius, and that Confucius's statement was made in response to such a danger (Shiji, "Kongzi sh ijia,~ 47.1921). It is impossible to know whether this is an authemic tradition going back to the writing of the piece. At the same time, however, the basic point of the passage, namdy Confucius's }2.

Notes to Pages 47-52 response to the fact that someone wishes (0 do him harm, is dear regardless of whether we accept the authenricity of Sima Qian's story.

36. Lunyu, 8/19. 37· Ibid., 9/5. 38. Ibid., 17/17. Although many scholars sec chapter 17 as relatively late, the content of this passage is consistent with the passages discussed above from the earlier portion of the book. In general, I agree with Robert Eno's statemenr that, unlike chapters 16 and 18, chapter 17 probably conrains a great deal of older material. See Eno, The Confucian C"ation of Htavm, p. 242 n. 6.

Lunyu, 3/14. See in particular Fang Sho uchu, Mo xutYUllnliu, pp. 15- 17; Watanabe. "Bokka no shudan to sono shisO: pp. 1221-23; and Graham. lAter Mohist Logic, 39· 40.

pp. 6- 15. It may, however, be dangerous (0 attempt (0 determine the social class of an entire school based upon the analogies it uses. The text, after all, does not provide detailed instructions for how to build a boat but uses the analogy of construction to discuss the actions of past sages. Such analogies are widespread among early Chinese discussions of the origins of culture. Considering this, the various claims made about the social position of the members of the Mohin school seem (0 lack convi ncing evidence. It is true that some stories pose Mozi himself as a craftsman (such as, for example, the "Luwen" chapter, I}.8a-8b), but it is impossible to know if these should be read as accurate representations . or as expressing a view within the school. Moreover, even if Mozi himself was an artisan, there is no basis for saying that the later Mohist school was composed predominantly of artisans. 41. The earliest section of the Mozi consists of what are referred (0 as the core chapters. Each chapter in the core exists in three versions (although nor all are extant), and each of these appears to represent one of the three major d ivisions within the school. The views that I discuss here, however, are shared by all three d ivisions. The best analyses o f the core chapters are Graham's Divisions in Enrly Mohism and Maeder's "Some Observations on the Composition of the 'Core C hapters,''' pp. 27-82.

42. Mozi, "Tianzhi, mong," 7.63. 43. The six domestic animals are traditionally defined as oxen, pigs, horses, sheep, dogs, and fowl. 44. Mozi, "lianzhi, 2hong,» 7.6a-6b. 45. For "sent down thunder," I have reversed the order of the characters ki

jiang'llM..

233

2}4

Notes to Pages 52-54

46. For "materials and," I have reversed the order of the characters rr eai

iliiM. 47. Mozi, "T ianzhi, zhong," 7·6b-7a.

48. Ibid·,7·9a. 49. Both of these ace oms ide of, and probably later than, the core cha pters. But they lack the concern with logical rigor that dominates the later canons, which Graham dates to roughly 300 B.C. in Laur Mohist Logic, p. n 50. Mozi, "Fayi," 1.7a. 51. There has been a great deal of debate over whether the "Ciguo" chapter belongs among the core chapters of the Mozi. Although it is omside of the core chapters in the extant version of the text, Wang Huanbiao has claimed that it may be the missing "Jieyong, xia" chapter; see his Mozijiaoshi, pp. 176- 86. The basis for the claim is that the chapter is closely related in both argument and vocabulary to the "Jieyong, shang," chapter 20 . O n the other hand, A. C. Graham, after an extensive and quite convincing textual study, concluded that ~Jieyong, shang" was a somewhat later essay misplaced in the core chapters; see his Divisions in Early Mohism, pp. 4 and 16-17. It seems likely, then, that both the "Ciguo" and "Jieyong, shang" chapters postdate the core chapters and develop some of the ideas found therein in more detail. For example, one of the core chapters, "Jieyong, zhong," chapter 21 , contains a narrative of the creation of palaces and houses very similar to that given in the "Ciguo ~ chaprer (6.4a), but the "Ciguo" chapter develops the argument ar much greater length. The argument and vocabulary seem to date the "Ciguo" to the fourth century s.c., probably not much later than the core chapters. The terms yin and yang, for example, ace used in the chapter simply to refer [0 the modulations of nature (1.14a). 'This resembles the usage in another fourth century B.C. work, the Zuozhuan , where, in a speech ami bmed to physician He, yin and yang are refer red to, along with wind and rain, dark and light, as the six vapors of Heaven (Duke Zhao, year one). As A. C. Graham, following Xu Fuguan, has argued,yin and yang in such contexts are simply used as opposites, and should perhaps be simply rendered by the literal translation of "shade and sunshine." It is not until the third century B.C. that the terms are utilized as part of larger cosmological systems. See Graham, YIn-Yang, pp. 70 - 71; and Xu, Zhongguo renxing/un shi. Another reason for dating the "Ciguo" to the fourth century B.C. is that it lacks the concern for logical rigor that dominates the later canon, which Graham dates to ro ughly 300 B.C.; see his !aur Mohist Logic, p. 23 . Moreover, the chapter does not show a concern for any of the issues that come to dominate the debate over creation in the third century B.C.

Notes to Pages 54- 57 52. The literal meaning of zuowei

fF ~

here is Ucreated the making of."

53. Mozi, "Ciguo," I.lob- u a.

54. For

"perversions,~

reading bi ffi! as pi lIlj .

55. Mozi, "Ciguo," l. I1a.

56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

61.

Ibid.,I.I1b. Ibid . Ibid., 1.I2b. Ibid., 1.13a. Mmgzi, SBBY, 3B/9. Ibid., JA/4. The passage is virtually identical to Anakcts, 8/19, quoted

above. 62. For a brilliant discussion of the concept of human nature in Mencius, see G raham "The Background of the Mencian Theory of Human Nature," pp. 7-66. r would, however, agree with Eno (Confocian Creation of Hraven, pp. 25758 n. 41) in questioning one small aspect of Graham's study, namely his claim that Mencius took up the problem of human nature specifi cally to counter the arguments of Yang Zhu (Graham, "The Background of the Mencian Theory," pp. ,8-20). Although none of Yang Zhu's work is extant, the caricatured view of him is that of an extreme individualist. Graham's claim is that Mencius, concerned that Yang Zhu's views would detract from a Confucian morality. too k up the problem of human nature in response. The goal of his argument, then, was to show that following one's basic desires should lead one to morality, not individualism. Graham considered the possibility that Mencius might have been responding to the Mohists instead, but he ruled it out on the basis that the Mohists had linle or no interest in The issue of hu man naw re. Although it is certainly nue that the Mohisls did nOt discuss human nature, the argumems given by Mencius seem TO respond much more TO the Mohist critique than to an individualist position. Eno argues that Mencius used the notion of human nature in order to more convincingly defend [he Confucian teachings concerning ritual against the Mohist attacks (see Eno, Confocian Crration of Hravm, pp. 110- 12). Although Eno may go toO far in his claim (as we will see, some of the arguments do work against an individualist position as well, and probably were aimed at Yang Zhu), in general I think his view is sound. In what follows, I attempt to show that much (although by no means all) of the actual argument given in the text seems to be ultimately intended to teject the Mohist definitions of kingship and culture discussed in the previous section. 63. Mmgzi,7A/21. 64. Ibid·,7A/1.

235

'1}6

Notes to Pages 58-61 65. Ibid., 6A/19. 66. Ibid.,6A/3S. 67. Ibid.,6A/J. 68. Ibid., 6A/7. 69· Ibid., 58/1. Vi Yin was the mininer of Tang, the founder of the Shang dynasty. Eno (Confucian Cnation of Heaven, p. z6r n. 60) points out that Yi Yin may well have exemplified the position that Mencius hoped to play himself: just as Yi Yin taught Tang, 50 Mencius hoped to instruct a ruler in how to start a new dynasty. It is interesting to note here that Mencius de6nes the sage as a minister who then instructs the king, a view which, if Eno is correct, would have obvious attractions for someone in Menciw's position. As we will see. this question of defining sages as kings or ministers becomes quite important in later texts. 70. This statement also appears in sA/7. 71. The dating of the text of the Laozi has been subject to a great deal of debate. Some of this debate was sparked by the Story, told in a number of texts, that Confucius visited Laozi. It was on this basis that the Laoz; was claimed by some to have predated the Lunyu. For a fascinating reconstruction of the development of the legend about Laozi and Confucius, sec Graham, "The Origins of the Legend of Lao Tan." The content of the Laozi clearly postdates the early debates between the Confucians and Mohists, for it criticizes both sides and, ind~ , atlempts to undermine the terms of the debate itself. However, it could not have been written much later than around 2S0 B.C. To begin with, the work is mentioned by name in the Xunzi (chap. 17, 11.142) and the LUshi chunq;u (chap. 17/7, 17. ISb). The fo rmer of these was written within a few decades of the mid-third century B.C., and the latter was composed around 240 B.C. Moreover, the work exerted a tremendous influence on numerous texts dating from the latter part of the third century B.C. Thus, although its exact date of composition (in either the fourth or the early third century B.C.) is unclear, the crucial point fo r our purposes is that , by around the mid-third century B.C., the texr was being widdy circulated in intellectual circlcs and soon thereafter became highly influential. 71. Laozi, chap. 57. 73- Ibid., chap. 37. 74. Ibid., chap. 25. 75. Ibid .• chap. 42. 76. Ibid., chap. 52.

Notcs to Pages 61-64

n

Ibid. , chap. 6. Ibid., chap. 78. See also chap. 36. Ibid., chap. 16. Ibid., chap. 18. Ibid., chap. 80. According to a number of rexts, knOtted ropes were used b~fore the invention of writing (sec, for example, the Xici, 8/2). Thus, in calling for people to return to using knott~d ropes, th~ author is calling on man to return to a time before writing was invented. 81. Most readers accept that the majority of the chapters of the Xunzi were written by Xunzi himself. The only chapters that seem to be exceptions to this arc "Ruxiao," "Yibing," and "Qiangguo," all of which refer to Xunzi in the third person, and hence were presumably written by his disciples. See Liang Qichao. "Xun Q ing ji Xunzi," p. 110. There has, however. been a minority opinion, advanced by Yang Junru (GuJhibian. vol. 6, pp. 130 - 47) and def~ nded by Eno (TIN Confucian CTtation of Htavtn, pp. 136-37), [hat the Xunzi is a product of several authors. Eno's specific argument is that the text was composed by several Confucians (one of whom might have been Xunzi himself, and the others may well have been inspired by Xunzi) writing at, and hence queSlioning some of t h~ main theorists of, the Jixia Academy during the third century B. C. Th~re is no parricularly compelling evidence either way to solve the question of authorship, so th~ only criterion can be the admittedly subjective impression of the reader as to whether the chapters s~em to represent the thought process of a single individual. My own impression is that the traditional interpretation is correct: the chapt~rs do seem to reflect the developing thought of a single figure working through some of the t~nsions of the time. Although the chapters ar~ not as uniquely distinctive as, for ~xample, the "Inner chapt~rs" of the Zhuangzi, they nonetheless convey a fairly consistent level of originality and uniqueness, qualities that would be difficult (although not impossible) to maintain with separate authors. The issue of authorship has important consequences for dating (he J64nzi. The most careful rec~nt attempt to dare th~ individual chapters was made by John Knoblock in "The Chronology of Xunzi's Works." Sinc~ the evidence for dating the chapters is relatively limited, th~ assumption of single authorship forms a critical part of his analysis. The assumption allows him to arrange the chapters relative to each other in terms of how they seem to reflect th~ developing thought of a single figure. Thus. even if only a few chapters contain dues 78. 79. 80. 81.

137

Notes to Pages 70-76 for dating, Knoblock can still, once he has arranged the chapters rdative to each olher, make educated inductions about the date of other chapters for which dues do not exist. In general, his conclusions do seem to be plausible hypotheses. 83. Explicit critiques aimed at the Laoz; by name are found throughour the text, such as in chap. 17, 11.143. 84. Xunzi, ~ Tianlun," 1l.13b. 8S· Ibid., "Tianlun," 1I.9b. 86. Ibid., "Xing'e," 17.la. 8]. Ibid., "Wangzhi," S.7a. 88. Yan fg, translated here as "kneads," means ~ to stretch," a meaning clear throughout the word family (as in yan Mi, "to lengthen, extend"). The sense here is to pull and stretch the day-i.e., to work it. 89· "Practice" in the sense of a habit or custom. 90. Xunzi, "Xing'e," 17.,b-3a. 91. Ibid., "Zhengming," t6. la-lb. 92. The "TianIun" chapter has been discussed recendy by a number of scholars. See in panicular: Ivanhoe, "A Happy Symmetry"; Machle, NafUT? and H~avm in th~ Xunzi; and Eno, Tht Cmfocian CT?ation of Htavm, pp. 154- 67. See note 96 for some of my disagreements with Eno's interpretation. 93· Xunzi, "Tianlun," l!.loa. 94· Ibid., "Tianlun," 1I.lOb. 95· Ibid., "Lilun," l}.Ioa. 96. Here it may be worthwhile to comment on the interpretation of Xunzi's

works by Roben Eno. In many ways, Eno's work is among the most careful explications (hat have been done on the text, in large part because he anempts to discover the basic concerns that led the author (or. for him, authors) to make particular stalements on a given topic. On the problem of how Heaven is presented in the Xunzi, Eno hali recognized that the treatment appears contradictory, with Heaven at times treated as value-neutral and distinct from humanity, and at other times as a provider of the faculties that allow humanity to develop correctly. See Eno, Tht Confocian CrtahOIl of H~avm, pp. 144-69. Nonetheless, I must voice some disagreement with Eno's explanation of the apparent contradictions. He argues that the authors' inconsistency reveals that they were uninterested in Heaven as a concept, and that they simply used Heaven in different ways in different contexts in order to counter other thinkers of the time: in some places it was rhetorically advantageous to counter naturalistic daims by arguing that nature was value-neutral and that culture was distinct from it, and in other places it was rhetorically advantageous to argue that

nature formed the normative basis for ritual. See Eno, TIN Confucian Crration of Hrallm. pp. 154. 168-69. While I agree that Heaven is described in d istinct ways in the teXt , and that many of these descriptions of Heaven should be understood in terms of a response to the naturalistic approaches of the time. I do nOl think that these seemingly contradictory sratements can be explained simply as different responses in different contexts to the naturalistic challenge. On the contrary. I would argue that the differing approaches to Heaven given in the Xunzi are structurally related: the author (who I believe was Xunzi himself) was trying to show that the problem of discontinuity and creation could be posed in different ways than those attempted by the naturalists-that, to sum up the claims made in the main text, culture could be seen as related to nature without allowing for a conRation of the two. Xunzi, then, was uying to steer a middle course between extreme positions that would call for either a pure conflation of nature and culture or a complete discontinuity between the two. (As we will see below. Xunzi's recognition that these extremist positions were realistic options in the thinking of the time was prescienr : later authors would indeed take these positions.) 97. Xunzi. "Jiebi," IS·7b. 98. Ibid., "Zhengming," 16.2b. 99. Ibid., 16·}3;-3b. 100. For "similar," I have changed yi ~ to tong raJ in order to maintain the parallelism. 101. Xunzi, "Zhengming,~ 16.3b-4a. 102. For "names," reading ming:t for ming frio IOJ. Xunzi. "Zhengming," 16.6a-6b. 104. Liji wngy;, "Yueji," S88Y, 37.9a. 105. Ibid. 106. Ibid., 37.9a-9b. 107. Ibid. , 37.9b. 108. Ibid., 37.ua. 109. Ibid. 110. Ibid. III. Tomb three of the Mawangdui site. where the manuscripts were discovered, has been dated to 168 B.C. The Laoz; B, ali well as the attached texts, avoid from the reign of Liu Bang, but they do not avoid the taboo character bang the taboo character of his successor. This means that they were copied some~ time du ring the latter's reign, between 194 B.C. and 180 B. C. As to when they were actually composed. numerous hypotheses have been advanced. Tang Lan

n

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140

Notes to Pages 77-80

Notes to Page 76 argues that, based on similarities with some of the Shen Dao fragments, the texts should be dated to around 4 00 B.C. See his "Mawangdui chum Laozi." This .ute, however, is much tOO early. Although the authors may have used some of Shen Dao's statements, the overall system presented in the textS is comparable to texts (such as some of the chapters fro m the LUsh; ~hunqiu) da teable no earlier than the mid-third cenrury B.C. A reasonable date would have to be sometime from roughly 250 D.C. to the very early Han, a view shared by the large majority of scholars who have worked on the texts. See, fo r example, Wu Guang, Huang-Lao XI« tonglun; and Kanaya, -Senshin ni okeru hoshis6 no tenkai." Because they seem to fall into the same intellectual context as the Liishi ~hunqiu, and because none of the works refers to [he imperial unification, I view them as late Warring States texts. Indeed. in many of the chapters of the texts the authors ass ume a Warring States political situation. See, for example, jingfo, "tiu fen," and Shiliujing, "Ben fa." Although one could perhaps try (0 argue that such chapters might refer to wars be(Ween the centralized government and rebellious enfeoffed ki ngdoms during the early Han period, this would lead (0 extremely forced readings of the passages. 112. For ~nourishes," following the editors in reading IU as 1" ff, based upon their phonetic similarity. II). Shifiujing, in Mawangdui Hanmu Boshu, vol. I, p. 66, lines 96b-97a. All references to the Shiliujing, as well as to the Chmg later in this essay, are to the 1980 version of the Mawangdui Hanmu &shu, an edi tion that incorporates a great deal of the textual work that has been done on the manuscripts. Since each page contains a large amount of text, I have for the sake of convenience followed Pet-renboom's method of adding rhe original line num ber as well. See his Law and Morality in Andmt China. The form of the citations thus consists of the page number, followed by the original line number of the passage. Since these line numbers are marked in the text of the 1980 edition, the passages cited in this form should be easy to locate. 114. Similarly, in a fragment from the Shm Buhai, quoted in the &ilang shuchao, one finds the sratement: "The way of the Earth is not [0 be active [zuoJ. II is thus constantly still Uingj. Being constantly still, it is thus correer and square,~ (1888 edition; uprint, Taibci: Wenhai chubanshe, 1962.. 157.1:1.). 11 5. According to traditional accounts, the ~ Kaogongji " chapter was added to the Zhouli during the reign of Han Wudi. As for its date of composition , most scholars see it as a product of the late Warring Statcs period. See the convenient summary given in William Boltz. Early Chin~~ Tats: A Bibliographic GUiM, pp. 2.4-)2..

wi

m

116. Readingshuo j:t as shuo if. 117. Zhouli zhmgyi, uKaogongji." SBBY, 74·7a-7 b . 118. Han F~izi, "Wudu," SBBY, 19·1a. 119. Qi Sihe has argued that it was a fundamental notion in the Warring StatCS period that sages were defined as creators and that Han Feizi is one of the first figures to work out a narrative sequence of their creations. See his "Huangdi zhi zhiqi gushi," p. 2.01. From this analysis of the development of the debate, however, it would appear that both of these points are swpect: far from working out fo r the first time a discussion of the inventions of the sages, Han Feizi was presenting a particular position in a long-standing debate, and far fro m giving voice (0 a common sentiment, he was prcsenting a radical position that few othe r thinkers of the time would fo llow. In particular, the claim that people in the Warri ng States saw sages as creators needs qualification. as will become clear in the next section of this chaprer. IZO. It has become fashionable to refer to the kinds of texts discussed in this section as "H uang-Lao." Since such a term does not appear in any pre-Han text, however. I prefer to avoid using this label in discussing Warring States issues. 121. Zhuangzi, "Zhibeiyou," SBBY, J.2)a-23b. Graham, in Chuang-tzu, pp. 14 8-49, argues that this passage was wrongly placed by the editor of the work into chapter '12, a chapter devoted in part to denying the importance of knowledge (zhi). He instead places it with a number of pamges involved in what he calls "'rationalizing the way.'" There is, however, nothing in the passage that defends the use of knowledge, and if other texts utili2ing this general framewor k are any guide, the author would probably object (0 the use of knowledge. The textual emendation is thus unnecessary and perhaps misleading. 122.. Htguanzi, "Tianze," SBBY, 1.5b. Dating the chaptcts of the Hq,uanzi is difficult. The work was widely believed to be a post-Han work until [he discovery of the four silk manuscripts attached to the Mawangdui Laozi B. Textual parallels be(Ween these texts and the Hq,uanzi have led to a widesp read (and very plausible) belief that the work, like the fou r silk manuscripts. dates to the late Warring Stares or early Han. As:t consequence, the work has been subject to a number of studies in ucent years by early China specialists, most notably Li Xueqin, "Mawangdui boshu yu Hq,uanzi "; Graham, "A Neglected Pre-Han Philosophical Text," and Peerenboom, Law and Morality in Ancitnt ChiM, pp. 2.73- 8 3. The conscnsus of Li and Peerenboom, but not Graham, is that the work is a composite of distinct essays and that the individual chapters must accordingly be dated separately. Graham argues that the entire work is the product of a single author whose

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Notes to Page 80 thought underwent a number of changes during irs composition. Because of this claim . Graham is able (0 use the few clues about dating that exist in various chapters (such as Chu tides in chapter 9 that disappeared after the unification. and the lack in chapters I and 2 of the wotd zhmg lE. a taboo character during the Qin dynasty) to determine a date for the entire work. His argument is that the text was written over a pt"riod spanning from the very late Warring States to JUSt before the beginning of the Han dynasty. He divides the work into three sections, one of which he claims (0 have been written JUSt before the Qin unificat ion and during the Qin empire iudf (a section that would include, among others, chapters I, 2, and 9), another to have been written just after the fali of the Qin dynasty, and the final one just before the reunification under the Han. The chapter in <juestion here would be from the second of these sections, which Graham characterizes as an attempt to place a generally legalist framework into a larger cosmological system. Such a project, he argues, would likely have been undertaken immediately after the fall of the Qin by someone disill usioned by the dynasty's fast collapse and hoping to p lace its institutions into a larger, and hOpt"fully more successful, cosmological framework. There are, however, several problems with Graham's argument. The primary one is thar the claim of single authorship sctms to be more of a convenient device for dating the entire work than a convincing argument based upon the actual chapters. Unlike the claim of single authorship for the Xunzi chapters, a claim that seems (0 fit well with the general sensc that the chapters do in fact ~present the development of a single figu ~'s ideas, many of the chapters of the HtguJlnzi do not fit particularly nearly into the dcvc.lopmental scheme developed by Graham. This is of some import, for much of Graham's framework for periodiution is based upon this claim of single authorship. For example, he places chapter 4, the chapter in <juestion here, into the section just mentioned for the simple facr that it attempts to define culrure by using a larger cosmological fram ework. Since the chapters that he places in the first section arc more straightforwardly legalistic, it seems reasonable, if one assumes that the text represents a single individual's thought process, to rtad such works as reRecting a rethinking, in light of the fall of the Qin, of that author's earlier legalistic views. If one docs not assume a single author's personal development, however, the argument breaks down. To begin with, the primary concern in chapter 4 is with placing culture in a cosmological framework, a concern that is dearly in evidence in the pre-Qin pt"rioci. On its own terms, it is difficult to sec anything in the chapter that would lead one to ~ad it as a criti<jue of the Qin empire. Indeed, it seems to reRcer the same intellectual concerns as those that characterize many of the Liishi

Notes to Pages 8o-S!

chunqiu chapters (some of which arc discussed later). As such, a late Warring States date for the chapter seems somewhat more plausible. The fact that this date would not fit well with the developmental scheme outlined by Graham may imply thar such a scheme, although perhaps applicable to the few chapters that Graham discusses, simply cannot account for all of !he chapters in the work. 123. iAozi, chap. 80. 12+ G raham argues that chapters 8, 9, 10, the first part of II , and a few sentences of chapter 12 from the Zhuangzi represent a related block that can be referred to as "primitivist.~ Sec Graham, "How Much of Chuang-Tzu Did Chuang-Tzu Wri(e~" pp. 301-7, building on the work ofGuan Feng. Zhu4ngzi zhtxu~ fao/unji, pp. 61-98. Graham further argues that the chapters can be dated "with surprising precision" to the Qin-Han interregnum (p. 307). The first piece of evidence for this is an implicit reference in chapter 10 (4.9a-9b) to the fal l of Q i, a fa ll that occurred in 221 B.C. Thus, the chapter would have to date to sometime after the Qin unification. Moreover, the fragments that Graham considers "primitivist" from chaptets 11 and 12 seem to refer to the tesurgence of the Confucian and Mohist schools. If one assumes that these sentences were written at the same time as chapter 10, and hence date to after 221 s.c., such a resurgence could only have occurred bt tween (he fall of the Q in empire and the beginning of the Han. Graham thus feel s that the Qin-Han interregnum would be the most reasonable time to date the chapters and fragments in <juestion. Graham's argument rests on twO assumptions. Ir assumes that all of the chapters in <juesrion were written at the same time, and thus that pieces of evidence can be taken from diffe~nt chapters [Q build to a final conclusion. It also assumes that sentences can be taken out of the chapters in which they appt"ar in the ZhUilngzi and placed into others. Thus, sentences from chapter 12 and sections of chapter II can be placed together and read in relation to chapters 8 through 10. Both of these assumptions strike me as questionable, and as a result, it would seem possible for chapter 10 to date to the early Han, and for chapters 8 and 9 to date anywhere from the late Warring States to the early Han. 125. Graham argues that chapters 12 and I) from the Htguanzi are primitivist; sec "A Neglected Pre-Han Philosophical Tcxt," pp. 527-29. He feels that these chapters were probably written at the same rime as the primitivist chapters of the Zhuangzi: during the Qin-Han interregnum, presumably a time of fai rly intense political despair. Although Graham seems to have successfully isolated the orientation of these chapters, I would, for the reasons mentioned in note t22, be somewhat more hesitant to follow Graham's dating of the chapters: without the assumption of single authorship that Graham posirs, there is no compelling

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Notes to Pages 81-86 reason to date the chapters in this way. While the political situation outlined by Graham would certainly be a possible time to expect the writing of such chapters, the call for a conflation of culture to nature is clearly a theoretical possibility by the late Warring States. Elements of this conflation are evident as early as the UbU, and Xunzi clearly recognized that much of the naturalistic thinking of the time could easily lead to such a position. There is, then, no reason to posit a direct link between primitivist theorizing and political instability. After all, the primitivist "Benjing" chapter of the Huninanzi, which I discuss later, was probably written around 140 B.c.- during a high point (relative to what had preceded) in the centralized power of the Han empire. 17.6. Huainanzi, "Benjing," SBBY, 8.4b. 17.7· The Liishi chunqiu is a work commissioned by Lil Buwei, the chief minister of the state of Qi n from 247 to 237 B.C., and was written around 240 B.C. The three chapters d iscussed here, the "Junsho u," "Renshu," and "Wugong," are similar in style, argument, phrasing, and diction -so similar that they may weI! have been written by rhe same autho r. 17.8. LUshi chunqiu, "Junshou," SBBY, 17.4a. 129. Ibid. 130. Ibid.,17.4b. 1) 1. uozi, chap. 45. I)Z. Ltwu, chap. 57. 133· Lii.rhi chunqiu, "Junshou," 17.Sb-6a. 1)4. For "agitated," readingyou. for rOb 11. 135· Liishi chunqiu, "Renshu," 17.7b. 1)6. Ibid., "Wugong," 17.lob. 1)7· Ibid., '7.8b-9a. 138. uoa, chap. 61. 139· Chmg. in Mawangdui Hanmu &shu, vol. 1, p. 83, lines 164b- 165a. 140. Ibid., p. 83, lines 166a-167a. ,..p. Another interpretation has been olfered by Hsiao Ku ng·ch'ilan, who argues that much of the Liishi chunqiu can be read as a critique of the legalist policies of the stare of Qin. Hsiao reads the chapters under discussion here as a questioning of the authoritarian rulership existing in the state. arguing that the texts "conceal the intent to promote a 'titular monarchy,'" in other words, a system in which the minisrer, rather than the monarch, would perform the actual administering of the state. Hsiao furt her attributes these views to the minister Lu Buwei himself; sec Hsiao, A History ofChinm Political Thought, p. 566 .

Notes to Pages 86-93 Leaving aside the question of how directly we can read particular statements made in specific essays of the LUshi chunqiu as representing tbe thought of Lil Buwei himself, the crucial issue here is that the three chapters in question do not advocate the political vision that Hsiao attributes to tbem. A1tbough it is true that the framewo rk set up by these authors would result, in practical terms, in a system in which the minister would perform most of the acrual administering of a Stale, it is nonetheless important to reiterate that the statements concerning tbe ministers appear in the context of larger claims about the relation of the sage to Heaven and his importance in the generative process o f narure. The granting of credit to officials fo r various acts of creation is not so m uch a politely worded exhortation to the king to sit back and let the ministers do th eir work as it is an attempt to divorce such acts from the world of the quiescent sage. perfecdy in tunc with tbe processes of nature. The sympathies of chese chapters are with the sage-king. not the minister, and the proper context of the works is not the proposed personal views of Lii Buwei but the larger debate of the time concerning the relationship of culture to nature and the ensuing problem of how to conceptualize conscious human innovation. 142. Until recently, the date of the Xici was uncertain. Gu Jiegang (Gushibian, vol. ), pp. 36-43, 45-69) claimed that in all likelihood it postdated the Huni· nanu, a work that was completed by 139 B.C. (when Liu An, Prince of H uainan, presented the work to Han Wudi). In the early 19705, however, a copy of the work was found among the silk manuscripts from M:.twangdui. This proves that the work could have been written no !:.trer than the very early Han. The work seems to have been composed in tbe same l:.tte W:.trring States intellecrual COntext that we have been discussing, a COntext defined in pan by an oven concern with cosmological speculation. 14j. See. for example, Zhouyi wngyi, '"Xici," SBBY, A/l.. For an exceUent d iscussion of the Xici cosmology, see Peterson , "Making Connections." 144. Zhouyi zkngyj, "Xici," A/H. 145. Ibid., B/2. t46. Ibid. 147. Ibid. 148. Ibid.

Chapter 3 Bodde, "Myths of Ancient China," p. 46. 2. Granet's Danses et /igmdes contains fai rly lengthy and carefully referenced I.

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Notes to Pages 93-97 Notes to Pages 98-102. analyses of what he feels to be the sociological implications of the narratives in question. La dvi/iJation chinoise is a laur book imended in pan to summarize the findings of his earlier works (particularly Dans~ ~t ligmd~ .. nd Fhn ~t chansom tln~ron~ Ik In C~jn~, his work on early peasant customs based on the "Guofeng" section of the SIn) and place them into a chronological order according to his conception of the development of Chinese society. While the book cons«Juendy lacks many of the detailed analyses that mark his other work, his willingness in the book to say bluntly what he thinks of a given issue makes it invaluable. 3· Many of the more imponanr essays by Gu and his colleagues are given in Gu et aI. , Gwhibittn. 4· Stt ibid., vol. preface, p. 52.

I,

pp. 105-50. For a good summary of the argument, see G u's

5· See, for example, Yang Kuan's discussion in "Zhongguo shanggushi daolun," pp. 189-93. Yang's work is discussed below. 6. Ibid., pp. 65-}18. 7· Karlgren, ~Legends and Cults," p. 199. 8. Ibid. , p. 201, among other places. 9· Ibid., pp. 199-20}. 10. Stt Yuan Ke's "Foreword" in Birrel, Chinm Mythology, p. xi. II. Ibid. 12. Ibid. I}. Ibid., p. xii. 14· See Yuan Ke's numerous works, particularly Zhonggw gudtii Jhmhua. 15· Yang, "Zhongguo shanggushi daolu n," p. 207. 16. The evidence Yang marshals to make this claim is not persuasive. He argues, for example, that in one text, the "Lil xing" (discussed below), Shangdi is referred to as "huangdi" 1i!Wi. He then poi nts to texts from a much latet time period that refer to Huangdi by the same epithet. This use of the same term to describe both Shangdi and Huangdi reveals, he argues, that they are in faCt the same figure (ibid., pp. 195-96). However, "huang" here simply means "august," and is used th roughout the early period to refer to impon anr figu res in general. Heaven itself, for example, is referred to in the Shijing as "Huang Tian" ~.7(: "august Heaven" (Mao 282). The use of such an adjective hardly shows an Identity between the figures the reby modified. Yang also argues that Huangdi is oc~asio~a1ly described as residing in divine places (p. 196). For example, he is desCribed In !WO of the outer chapters of the Zhuangzi as spending time in the Kunlun mountains (Zhuangzi, "Tian di," pb, and "Zhi Ie," 6.17b), an area asso-

ciated in the Warring States and H an periods with various gods and immortals. However, the fact chac some authors place him in the Kunlun mountains hardly means thac he should be equated with Shangdi. For a careful critique of many of Yang's arguments, see Mitarai, "Kotei densersu ni tsuite." 17· See Le Blanc, ~A Re-Examination"; and Jan, "The Change of Images." 18. Le Blanc, "A Re-Examination," pp. 48, 49, 50-51, 62. 19. Ibid., pp. 62-63. 20. Lewis, Sanction~d Vio/rou, p. 165. 21. Ibid., p. 194. 22. Ibid .• pp. 195-96. 23. For a comparable study of narratives concerning the early dynasties, sec Allan, The Heir and th~ Stlgt. 24· That the "Lil xing" was wriHen no later than the fourth century B. C. is d ear from the fact that the chapter is referred to in other works dating fro m that century, such as .sections of the Mozi ("Shangtong, zhong," 3.6a) and GuOJu ("Chu yu, xia," SBBY, t8. la-2b), both of which are discussed below. It probably does no t predate these other works by very much, however, for the figures referred lO in the work belong to the same strata as other fourth-century D.C. compositions, such as the Mmdus. 25· The king is never explicitly mentioned by name in the cha pter, although the traditional interpretation has been that the king referred 10 here is Mu. Below, I mention aspects of the text that seem to confirm the traditional inte rpretation. 2.6. My use of the term "organized violence" owes much to the excellent analysis by Lewis in Sanction~d VioJmu. 27· This statement char the beginning of King Mu's reign occurred tOO years afte r the beginni ng of the dynasty is attested in other Warring States texts as well. For a discussion, sec Shaughnessy, "On the Authenticity of the Bamboo Annals," pp. 176-79. For an argument thac historically Mu's reign may really have marked a centennial in the dynasty, sec Shaughnessy, Sourt~J of Wmem Zhou History. pp. 246-54. 28. Shangrhu mengyi, "Lil xing," SBBY, 19.10a. 29. The situation presented by the aut hor here may have: some basis in fact. h now appean that ihe reign of King Mu was indeed marked by both a gradual decli ne in state power and a growth in legal disputes. For a discussion of the ap · parent contraction of the Zhou state du ring Mu's reign, see ho, Chiigoku Itodai jjcho no Itrisri, p. }07. For the rise of legal disputes during [he reign of Mu, see

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Notes to Pages 102-} 1t6, Chiigolru Irodai lrolrlra no shiha; 1r0ZlJ, pp. 277-}36. Thus th~ au thor's claim her~ that Mu introduc~d punishm~nrs in respons~ ro rh~ declining pow~r of his s.ute may have b~c n based in part on historical accounts of his reign. It app~ars lIkely, then , that so m ~ traditions concerning Mu wcr~ in ~rist~nc~ during the Warring States period. A comparison of this text with the Mutianzi zhuan, which also concerns the reign of King Mu, d~rves smdy. 30. Shangshu zhmgyi, " Lu ring," 19. 103. 31. Lewis (Sanctionrd Violenu, p. 196), for exarnpl~, attempts ro r~ad th~ enti r~ "Lil xing" narrative through the lens of the later H uangdi-Chi You stories. Thus he argues that this statement concerni ng Chi You is an implici t reference to his creation of weapons; disorder arose because Chi You invented weapons. AI> I argue below, however, the atuibution of the creation of weapons ro Chi You does not occur um il later and is a res ult of later concerns. 32. Shangshu zhmgyi, "Lil xing," 19.1oa-lOb. }3. This reference to Shangdi, the god on high, as "huangdi" s!:fi'i is one of the passages used by Yang Kuan to argue for a link betwecn Shangdi and the sage Huangdi ~%' ("Zhongguo shanggushi daolun," pp. 196, 199). For a critique of this reading. see note 16. Mark Lewis, in keeping with his attempt to read the text through the lens of the later Huangdi-Chi You cycle, argues that the figure here is not Shangdi but ra ther H uangdi himself. He does so by emending the text from huang li! to huang Ii and thus reading the figure in question as Huangdi, as opposed to the god on high mentioned a few lines earlier; see Lewis, Sanctionrd Violena, pp. 196-97.3 14 n. 116. He thus rejectS the claim that the hwmgdi referred to here is Shangdi , but accepts Yang's claim of a link between huang.il and huang Ii. The reason for this emendation is that later tens pose Huangdi as defeating Chi You in batcle. Such an emenda tion, however, is unnecessary. To begin with, the narrator is not talking about a batde, and the narra ti ve at this point focuses on the relationship between this figure and the Miao, not Chi You; the role of Chi You in this narrative is simply to introduee disorder, and once this is done, he does not reappear in the work. Moreover, later in the chapter, when the king reviews the dest~uct~on of th~ Mia?, he explicitly refers to the figure in question as "the god on high, Shangd,. Trymg to read the figu re here as H uangdi is simply anothe r example of the danger of attempting to reconstruct a single myth concerning Huangdi and C hi You.

34· Shangshu zhmgyi," Ui xing," 19.IOb.

Notes to Pages 10)-13

35. Ibid., t9· 12a-l2.b. 36. Ibid .• 19.12b-1)a. 37· This summary makes it d ear that the "august god" referred to above is in fact the god on high. 38. Shangthu zhmgyi, "Lil ring," 19. 13b. 39· Mozi, "Shangtong, shang," 3.2b. 40. For a careful textual analysis of the "Shangtong" triad of the core chapters, see Maeder, "Some Observations," pp. 61-68. 41. These opening wo rds (amounting to the first ten graphs) appear a few lines earlier in the received text (3.5b, line 6), where they are incoherent. The text is thus commonly emended to place the words here, where they open this section on punishments. The emendation does not change the ov~raIl meaning of rhe

passage. 42. Mozi, "Shangrong, zhong; ).sb-6a. 43. Graham has argued convincingly that "Jieyong, shang" was probably misplaced by Han bibliographers into the core chapters. H e daims that it is instead one of what he calls the "digest" chapters, which serve as "short bur complete summaries of the Mohist doctrines"; see Graham. Divitions in Early Mohism, p·4·

44. Muzi, "Jieyong, shang," 6.Ja-lb. 45· Mmgzi, 'jA/4' 46. See Mrngzi. 58/1 and 6A/7. 4? "jia St"; literally, to sow and reap. 48. Mmgzi, 'jA/4' 49· Mmgzi, 38/9. 50. Mmgzi,68/tt. 51. Mmgzi,48/26. 51· See Shi rakawa, Kinbun uiishalru, 38: 421. The inscription has been discussed by a num ber of scholars. See Xu Zhongshu, "Chen H ou si qi kaoshi"; Ding, "You Chenhou Yimi dun"; Yang Kuan, "Zhongguo shanggushi daolun," pp. 190-91; and G uo Morno, Shipipan shu, pp. 152-B. 53. See rhe excellent discussion by Lewis in Sanctiontd Violtnct, p. )08 n. 60. 54. Ibid. 55. Duke Xi, twenty-fifth year. The adversary with whom H uangdi fought is not clear here. Later texts identify the opponent of Huangdi at 8 anquan as Yandi (see, for example, the Shiji. "Wudi benj i," 1.3). The Guoyu, a text probably written around the same lime as the Zuozhuan, also mentions a rivalry between

249

1.50

Notes to Pages 1I}- 16

Notes to Pages 117-'2.2.

Huangdi and Yandi, although it does not mention a battie at Banquan ("Jin yu," 4, SB BY. 1O.8a). At any rate, there is no evidence TO suggest that Chi You was identified as an adversary of Huangdi at this early a date. 56. Shiji, "Feng shan shu," 28.1364. 57. As we will see shortly, H uangdi was an important figure in third-century a.c. tats associated with the state of Qin. So it is also possible that Sima Qian was simply readi ng this association back to an earlier ri me period. 58. A good summary of the problems of da ting the individual chapters is given by Duyvendak in The Book of Lord Shang, pp. 141-59. See also the discussion by Luo Genu in Gu et aI. , cds, Gushibian, vol. 6, pp. 295-306. 59. For a good discussion of the various texIS that mention Shang Yang's reforms, see Qi Sihe, ~S hang Yang bian fa \tao," reprinted in Zhongguo shi tan yon (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), pp. 118- 43. For.:l. discussion of the reforms themselves, see Yang Kuan, Shang Mlng bian fo. 60. For ~position.M reading Imi for Ii 61. Shangjunshu, "Huace," 1.1a. 61. Ibid.,I.lb. 6}. Ibid. , I.2b. 64. Ibid. 65. We see here another piece of evidence in support of Gu's argu ment abou t the way that sages are categorized in early Chin.:l., namely that, as they enter the literature, they are said to have lived in earlier and earlier time periods in the myt hological past. Thus, Yao and Shun. as was discussed above, entered the literature with the Analects and remained the most important figures through Mencius. H uangdi entered later, and was consequently placed in .:I.n earlier time period man Yao and Shun. Fuxi and Shennong, among the last sages to appear in the Warring St.:l.tes, were, just as Gu .argued. posited as being among the very earliest historically. 66. Shangjunshu, "Huace,M 4.9b. 67. For an excellent discussion of some of the uses to which Shennong was pUt. see Graham, "The Nung-Chia 'School of the Tillers.''' Graham's argument. building upon Gu's insight into the way that me sages were categorized, is that Shennong was a sage posited by the School of TtUers, a school that advocated a re(U rn to a more egalitarian lifestyle cemered on agricultural production. Various other authors, such as the one who composed the chapter under discussion here, then used Shennong to represent a peaceful period before the introduction of organized violence during the reign of Huangdi. 68. Shangjunshu, ~ Huace," 4.9b-1oa.

m

n.

69. Ibid., 4- loa. 70 . Since their discovery in 1973, these texts have bc:c:n the subject of an enormous outpouring of scholarship, much of which has focused on the rexts as represen tative of "H uang-Lao," a term used to denote teachings important in the court of the early H an before the reign of Emperor Wu. See, fo r example. Peerenboom, Law and Morality in Ancient China. Although it is possible (hat some early Han scholars would have classified these texts as "H uang-Lao," I believe that such a labeling would have been retrospective. Indeed, since the term " Huang-Lao" does not appc:ar in any pre-Han text, I prefer to avoid using the label altogether for a discussion of Warring States issues. I therefore simply treat these texts as specific responses to the de bates of the late Warring StatCS period. 71. For analyses of the vision of statecraft given in the Jingfo, see Turner, "The Theory of Law in the Ching-fo"; Peerenboom, Law and Morality in Ancient

China. 72. jingfo, in Mawangdui Hanmu BOihu, vol. " p. 4), line lao

n Ibid. 74. For "silence," feading shu ~ as ji ift. 75 . jingfo, in Mawangdui Hanmu Boshu, vol. I. p. 43, lines Ib-2b. 76. Ibid., lines 2b-}b. n Ibid., p. 47. lines 19 a- 19b . 78. One of the many problems that has afflicted the scholarship on m.ese Mawangdui texts has been a te ndency to read the four works as representing ~ single ideology. even as the product of a single author. A recent example of thIS can be seen in Peerenboom's Law and Morality in Ancimt China. Pec:renboom tfeats the four works as representing a single line of thought and, indeed, quotes indiscriminately from all of the works to support his claims about "Huang-Lao." I believe this to be mistaken. While it is true that the four texts share a common framework and vocabulary, a fact that certainly accounts fo r their being placed together, they are, as we shall see, distinctive texts that argue d istinctive positions. 79 . Shiliujing, in Mawangdui Hanmu &shu, vol. I. p. 61, lines 78b-79a. 80. The word for "mass," jun iii . me.:l.ns a round bin or granary. The sense here is of an enclosure encompassing everything, before any differe ntiation or separation.

.

81. Shiliujing, in Mawangdui Hanmu Boshu, voL I, p. 62, hnes 822-83a. 82. Ibid., lines 8sb-86a. 8}. For "calmly." reading tan ~ as Jan j;ll:.

15 t

2.52

Notes to Pages 122.-2.5

84· Shiliujing. in Mawangdui Hallmu Boshu. vol. 85. Ibid., lines 942-94b. 86. Ibid. , Jines 94b-9sa.

Notes to Pages 12S- 26 I,

p. 65. lines. 93b-942.

87· The commissioner of Tai Shan appears here as one of Huangdi's min~ isters. This accords with other works as well. For example, the fo llowing s ta te~ mem appears in the ~ Lanming,~ chapter 6 of the Huainanzi: "In ancient times Huangdi pur all under Heaven in order. Li Mu and the commissioner of Tai Shan assisted him" (SBBY. 6.6b).

88. The "Banner of Chi You" is a comet. mentioned in the Liishi chunqiu, " Mingli,~

6.9b.

wi

m.

89· For "catch," reading zhi fA as %hi JR!: . The editors read ~ as to "to kick," but there is not a suffici ent phonetic link here to W:.J.rrant the emenda~ tion. I ass ume that the editors hoped to connect the passage with other received tcxts that discuss Huangdi as the creator of the game of kickball. Sec Lewis, SanctioMd VioknCl!, p. 148. for an attempt to argue that this passage refers to such a creation. Here again, however, I would caution against assuming that there is a single Huangdi-Chi You myth that is being referred [0 in all the texts that mention the figures , and I would therefore caution against making textual emendations in order to try to achieve some SOrt of unity in this $en~. As with the common attempt to emend "huang Di" in the "Lil xing" chapter, J find the emendation propo~d here unconvincing and based upon questionable premises about the nature of early Chines(: myths.

90 . Shiliujing, in Mawallgdui Han mu Boshu, vol. I , p. 67. lines I04a- 105a. 91. The text of the Shibm is no longerexram, and only fragm ents of the work survive. From these, however, a few poims concerning the text can be made. The work appears to have been written as an attempt to pull together into one tCXt all that had been said about a few sets of topics concerning figures of antiquity. For example, one of the chapters, entitled "Jupian," is simply a listing of the places that figures from the paS( were said to have lived. Another, entitled "Xingpian." is a listing of the lineages of the early sages. The chapter that is of the most interest to the present study is the "Zuopian," which is a lisring of the creations attributed to figures of {he past. The text appears to be little more than a compendium of such attributions. a characteristic (hat makes the work invaluable for discovering what figures were being credited with what creations at the time.

As to when the text was compiled . C hen Mengjia dates it to the late Warring States period, and more specifically to (he reig n of King Qian of Zhao. His primary evidence for this is a fragment quoted in Pei Yin's commentary to Ihe Shiji.

a fragment that refers to the birth of the "present ~ng Qi~~ ~Chen M~~~ia.'... Lilt guo j inum, p. 138; the reference is to be found III the Shljl, Zhao shlJla, jlJu, 43. 1832. n. I). Based upon the kings of other states mentioned in various other fragments, Chen argues that the work could only date from between 234 and 22.8 B.C. (pp. 137-39)· In support of Chen's periodi'Zation, the generic featu res of the text would also suggest a late Warring States date. Attributions of various innovations to figures of the past were extremely common at this time. Moreover, it is easy. through corroboration with other works, to show that many of these attributions date from the late Warring Slates period. For example. we know from the "Dangbing" chapter of the Liishi chunqiu (discussed below) that the attribution of the CJe~ ation of weapons to C hi You is dateable to this period. C hen's argument thus seems plausible. 92.. Shibrn, "Zuopian," Congihu jichmg I.}. 93. The Shiz,i is another miscellany probably dating fro m the third or second cenrury s.c. It contains several stories concerning the sages and ascribes a few creations to specific figu res. The editor (or collator) of the collection does not appear to have attempted [0 put the stories into any coherent framework. As a consequence, the work is beSt read as simply a collection of stories.

94. Shizi, SBBY, 2.13b. 95. Ibid.• 2. 14a. 96 . The chapter belongs to [he "Qing z.hong~ series of chapters in the GuarW. Luo Genu has argued convincingly that these probably belong to the Western Han period, when the economic questions posed in the chapters were issues of imperial policy; see Luo, Guami tanyuan, pp. 12.2.- 42. A Western Han date for the "Dishu" in particular seems plausible, considering the overt concerns voiced in the chapter over such topics as state control over resources and means of maintaining unity. 97. GuarW. "Dishu," SBBY, 23. lb. 98. Ibid., 2).2a. 99. The problem of dating the sections of the Shanhaijing has attracted a great deal of attention. Most scholars agree that the "Da huang jing" section is probably a Han text, although assigning a more precise date has thus far proven impossible. Sec the summary by Riccardo Fracasso, "Shan hai ching," in Loewe, ed., Ea,1y ChintJt TrxtJ, pp. 359-61. n too. " Fengbo~ literally means "baron of the wind. "Yushi~ literally means "director of the 10 1.

rains.~

Sha"haijingjiamhu. " Da huang bei jing," SBBY. 17·Sa-sb.

2.53

254

NOles to Pages 126-}1 102. Some of the Han background 10 understanding these later motifs is provided by Michael Loewe in his excellem "The Cuh of the Dragon." 10j. Despile the late date of the "Da huang jing" senion of the Shanhaijing, it is this narrative that many scholars have used as the basis for reconstructing an earlier Huangdi-Chi You myth. J bdieve (his effort 10 be entirely mistaken. lbe narrative provided here is dearly a later version and should be understood as an attempt 10 place the earlier versions of the story into a tale about rainmaking and drought. It ought nOT be read as an earlier version of the myth as a whole. 104 · Shanphu zlNngyi, "Yaodian," 2.llb-lla. 105· Ibid., ).8b- 9a. 106. \[ is relevant here to refer 10 the related Mencius passages, discussed earlier, in which Yu controlled the floods not by damming them up but by dredging our rhe ri ver beds and allowing them to Row in their natural courses. [07. Shallgshu du"gyi, "Hongfan," 12.2a. J08. Shihm, "Zuopian," Congshu jicheng, 1.3. 109. Uishi clJllnqiu, "Dangbing," 7.2b-3a. 110. Ibid.,7.3a. Ill . Ibid., na- )b. 11 2. D(1 Dai Liji, "Yongbi ng," Sibu congkan cd., ll.}a-3b. II}. Ibid. , IL}h. 114· Qi Sihe argues thai this passage is an example of a v.ridespread belief in early C hina that only sages can create. Thus, claims Qi, the author of the passage is arguing that Chi You, since he is not a sage. could not have created weapons; see Qi, "Huangdi wi w iqi gushi," p. 201. In fact , however, the motivating issue is nOt that only sages can create; it is also 10 deny that weapons, and indeed violence in general, were created at all. No one, neither sages nor the rebel Chi You. created weapons: they are so pervasive that they can only be natural, not created. The issue. then, is how these natural weapons arc 10 be used: will they be: used to benefit the people (as sages used them) or win they be used to tyrannize the people? 115· 'Ib e "Wuxing" is one of a series of chapters &om the Guami, along with chapter 8 ("You guan"), chapter 9 ("You guan tu"), chaprer 41 ("Sishi"), and chapter 85 ("Qing zhong ji"), based upon calendrical systems. For an excellent discussion of these systems, sec Rickett, Guanzi, pp. 148-69. Because many of these chapters, including the "Wuxing," offe( calendars distinct from those that later became predominant, G raham has argued that they should be seen as relatively early, probably formulated in the lale Warring States period ; sec G raham, Yin , Ytl"g, pp. 84- 89. Such a daring would also seem likely from the debates dis-

Notes to Pages J3J- 36 cussed herein: as we v.rill see, the text appears to be a reaction 10 some of the claims made about Huangdi and C hi You in late Warring States texts. 116. Gua"zi. "Wuxing," SBBY, 14.loa-lOb. 117. Ibid., t4.lob. 118. Ibid.,14. IOb-lla. 119. The classic study of the motif is Paul Radin's T~ TricltsUr. See also the recent entries on the trickster by Lawrence Sullivan. R. Pelion, and M. Linscott in the Encyc/optdia of Rtligions, ed. Mircea Eliade et al., vol. 15, pp. 45-53 (New York: Macmillan, t987). The applicabilily of the te rm for the study of G reek mythology has been discussed by Karl Ker~nyi. who, nOt surprisingly, focuses on Promerheus; see Ker~nyi, "The Trickster." 120. For a summary. see Granet, Dansn tt ligmdn, pp. 606-11; and Granet, La civilisation chinoist, pp. 219-29. 121. Granet, Danses tt Ugmdts, pp. 609- 10; Granet, La civilisation chinoist, pp. 219- 23· 122. This argument pervades both Dansrs tt l(gendts (see esp. pp. 608-9) and La civilisation chinoist (pp. 219-2.0). 12.}. Danses tt [Igendes, pp. 393 fr.; La civilisation chinoise, pp. 231-43. 124. Sec Danser et ligmdts, pp. 270- 97. summarized on pp. 295-97; and La civilisation chi"oist, pp. 2.2.0- 4}. 125. Graner auempts to subsrantiale Ihis point by referring to some of the narrarives regarding Yao, Shun, and Yu, in which rhe laner two were posed as being minisrers ro the previous ruler before be-comi ng rulers themselves. The stories concerning the beginning of the first dynasty. when Yu is said to have asked his son, rather than his minister, to succeed him, are read by Granet as marking the shift from the rivalry of brotherhoods to an agnatic sYSlem of succession. In such a shift, the king appropriates for himself and his line the power [hat was previously shared between himself and the minister. Granct's furt her argument is that whereas in rhe earlier accounts the son is sacrificed so that the minister may take power. in the later accounts the minister is sacrificed so that the son may succeed (Danser et lIge"dts, pp. 272-97. and fA civilisation chinoise, pp. 231-43). Although Granet's argument here has (typically) received little scholarly attention. Sarah Allan has reexamined some of these materials and found that there is some basis 10 G ranet's claim; sec Allan, The Heir and the Sagt. I too would argue that, although significant reconceptualization would be necessary, Graner's claim has much in it that is wonh taking seriously. In particular, his discussion of [he narratives of Yu, Yi, and Qi deserves careful examination. 126. The ritual that G raner posits as involving the rule r shooting arrows at

255

256

No tes to Pages 136-42 the sun (discussed above) wo uld also be dated to the same stage of develop ment; see Graner, IA civilisation chinoist, pp. 223-27. 127. Graner, Da1lm et lIgmdn, pp. 270-72, 350-60; Granet, IA dvilisarion

chinoise, pp. 220-2}. Granet discusses both Gun and the Miao in the same context as Chi You. For Gun, see Dames et lIgentks, pp. 272-73, and IA civilisation chinoise, pp. 233-35. For the Miao, see Dames nllgmdn, pp. 350-51, and La civiliJlltion chinoise, pp. 233-}4. 128. Dames tt IIgtndn, p. 352.

understanding of other aspects of this period of history, however, has been greatly enriched by archaeological materials. Most notable are the ma[er~als excavated from the Shui hudi site, materials that include portions of the Q m legal code. O n the code, .see in particular Hulsewe, &mnants of Ch'in lAw. None· theless, for the issues under discussion here, t he chapters of {he Shiji are still the most important source.

aUf

2.

Shiji,6.236.

3. Ibid. 4. I examine this speech in [he next chapter, where I d iscuss Sima Qian's presentation of the rise of empire. Here. as elsewhere in (his chapter,. I do not assume that the speeches given represc:nt the aet ual words spoken. It LS, of course, likely t hat the Qin kept reco tds of the stateme nts made at coun , and i{ is pos-

129. Joseph Needham has atte mpted to build o n Granet's theories by arguing that t he Miao, Chi You, and Gu n, along with other rebels such as Gonggong, repr~m leaders associated with metallurgical guilds in rhe early Bronze Age. The narratives of vario us sages defeating them in battle then represent t he later rise of t he feudal stare, which usurped the power of the earlier leaders; see Needham , Scienu and Civilisation, pp. 115- 20. In making this argument, Needham builds on G ranet's analysis that the myt hs reflect the rise of the state in the

sible t hat Sima Qian had access [0 t hese. But it would be dangerous this.

Bronze Age. Unfo rtunately, this interpretation ignores the more intriguing elements of G raner's theories (his expla nation of the interplay of sage, rebel, and m ininer in the narratives) and focuses on t he least intriguing sides of them (his attempt to roor t he narratives in an earlier period of historical development). 130. As G ranet states about the Chin~ historians: "They neit her understood nor invented the sch~e which guided them in their arrangement of t he faets: it was imposed on them by tradition" (Dames et lIgendes, p. 47). This denial of authorial invention is, of course, necessary insofar as he wants to argue that

5. Shiji,6.236. 6. From here on, I follow t he conventio n of referring to the uFi rsr augus t di" as t he "first emperor." Although not a literal translation, it captures, as does the translation of "king" for the earlier title wang, the nature of the posidon. 7. Shiji, 6.237-238. 8. See the discussion by Gu Jiegang in Gu et al., Gushibian, vol. 6, pp. 40461 7. 9. Since there are no extant writings by Zou Van, our understanding of the

t hese schemes and principles predate {he given authors by a rather large stretch of time, and the denial of authorial comprehension is necessary insofar as he wishes to grant himself t he liberty to read statements and accou nts of evenrs outside of their context in the texts. {His reconstruction of a rirual involving ki ngs shooting arrows at the sun would be a good example of the lattet liberty. The early Chin~ historians record such an activity o nly in the contexr of showing the evil hubris of a given ki ng. Granet's reconstruction works only if one argues that (he histo rians, trying to pr~m a moralized vision of his[Ory. simply did not understand rhe true meaning of the activity.)

figure comes entirely through other authors' descriptions. Perhaps t he most important of th~ is Sima Qian's discussion (Shiji 74.2344). For a usefu l summary of what linlewe know abo ut Zou Van, see G u et aI., Gushibian, vol. 5, pp. 411-22. 10. In the extant literature, the most powerful statement of the theory appears in t he Liish,- chunqiu, "Yingtong," 13.4:1..

Chapur 4 I. The best overall discussion of (he Qin empire remains Yang Kuan, Qin Shi. huang. See also Bodde, Chinas First Unifier. Bodde provides a careful overview in

~ The State and Empire of Ch'in." The main source that we have for discussing the political history of the Qin empire remains the relevant chapters of the ShiP.

II.

Shiji, 28.1368.

12. Ibid., 28.1366. 13· Ibid., 6. 239. '4· Ibid. Ibid. ,6. Ibid. '7- Ibid. Ibid. 19. Shiji,6.24I. 20. Shiji, 6.141; 28.1366- 1367.

".

".

[0

assume

Notes to Pages ISO- 53 2.58

Notes to Pages 146-50 2.1. Ibid., 2.8. 1367. Sima Q ian does, however, provide a brief description of the performance of che rituals by Emperor Wu. This is discussed below. 2.2.. Ship, 2.8.1367. In his description of the event in the chapter on the first emperor himself. Sima Qian stares that the sto rm hit while the first emperor was descending the mountain (6.2.42), which would imply less of a rejection by the divine powers. The word ru. which I leave unn-anslated here. is usually translated as "Confucian." "Ruists" refers to those who advocated followin g the teachings of the classical tradition. Exactly what this meant varied greacly from figure (0 figu re. Particular readings of the &olt of Pomy, the Boolt of Docummts, and the Spring and Autumn Annals were strongly supported by most Ruists; the Boolt of Rita and the Book of Changa were used increasingly over the course of the Western Han dy nasty. Since Confucius was frequ ently posited as the s.agc who edited or, in the case of the Spring and Autumn Annab, wrote-these works, he was seen as a crucial fi gure by the Ruists. But his precise role was interpreted quite differen tly from figure to figure. 23. Since none of these inscriptions arc now extant, the only source that we possess fo r them is the ShiP. Nonlethelcss, the llength and num ber of the inscriptions <JuOlcd make it unlikely (hat the historian simply made them up. 24. Ship, 6.245. 25. Ibid., 6.249. 26. Ibid.• 6.254-55. 27. Ibid., 6.2.55. For an in-depth exploration of the proscription on books, sec Peterson, "Which Books?" 28. Ship. 6.255. 2.9. Ibid., 6.2.64. 30. Ibid., 8.149. }1. Ibid .,7. }00. 32.. Ibid., 6.173. 33. Ibid., 6.174. 14. Ibid., 6.175. 35. Ibid. 36. Ibid., 7.316- 17. 37· Ibid., 7.315. 38. Ibid ., 7.316-17. 39· Ibid. , 7.317. 40. Ibid .• 7.32.0. 41. Ibid .• 8.379.

42. ~G aozu" is the posthumous name given to Liu Bang. In his narrative about the figure. Sima Qian switches the appellation from tiu Bang to Gaow when the ruler accepts the emperorship. For ease of reference, I do th~ same hlere. 43. Ship, 8.362.. There is no independent evidence 10 confirm such a move: all of our sources dale from the early Han, when there would have been clear ideological reasons to differentiate the fou nde r of the dynasty from what wle~e seen to be Ihle excesses of Ihe Qin empire. At the same orne. however. reducmg the severity of a legal cadle in order 10 gain th~ support of the inhabitants living near the capital would nor be a surprising aClion for a rebel 10 take. Regardless of Liu Bang'S actual views toward law, then, there seems to be little reason to doubt that he did modify [he legal code. 44. Ship. 8.380. 45. Ibid. , 28.1380. 46. Ibid .• 8.394. 47. Ibid.,8.}82.-391. 48. See, for example, ibid., 8·384· 49. Numerous do ubts about [he aUl hemicity of the Xinyu have been raised, although not with convincing evidence. I suspect that such conClerns arose out of a belief that Dong Zhongshu was the first Confucian in the Han to embrace cosmological principles. Therle is, however, no mon.g reas~n to e1ai~ t~is. a.nd I argue later that the view of Dong as the fat her of Impenal ConfuCianism IS misplaced anyway. See the discussions by Luo, ~ Lu Jia Xinyu kaoweng";.and Xu Fuguan. ~ Han chu de qimeng sixiangjia Lu Jia," in liang Han sixUlng shz, vol. z. pp. 85-108. Ku Mei-kao provides a very convincing argumem as r~ the authenticity of the Xinyu as well; see Ku, A Chintsl Mirror, pp. [~ -23. MI~ael .Loe~e provides a helpful summary of the texmal issues surroundmg the Xmyu III hiS ess.ay, "Hsin yu." so. C f. He, "Lu Jia de zhengzhi sixiang." 51. Lu Jia, Xinyu, "Daoji." SSBY cd., A. la. The identity of the "commentary" here is unclear. As we will see, however, the chapter is closely linked to the Xici, so it is possible that this is the intcnded reference. If so, it is not a true ~uot~tion, since the statemenr appears in neither the received nor the Mawangdul VlerSlon of the Xid. Nonetheless, it is possible that the author am ibutes one of his major claims to the Xu; in order (0 bolster his position. 52. Lu Jia, Xinyu, ~Daoji ," A.ib. 53. Ibid. , A. lb. 54. Ibid .• A.lb-2a. 55. Ibid., A.2..a-2b.

2.59

160

Notes to Pages 15)-60 56. Ibid., A.lb. Lu Jia does not specify what the five classics are. He does, however, refer in various places to the Shi. Shangshu, Liji, Yijing, and Chunqiu, so it is likely that the five classics to which he refers are the same as the canon that would later be established under Han Wudi. 57. Ibid . S8. Ibid. 59. Lu Jia, Xinyu, QOaoji," A.3b. 60. Ibid., A.430-4b. 61. A.4b. 62. Shiji,8.391. 6l The precise recommendations of C hao C uo are discussed at length in C hapter s. 64. Shiji, u8.3081. 65. Ibid. , 8.440. 66. Ibid., 28. 1384. The Mingtang was a build ing used for ritual functions. The interpreration of what functions ought to be performed in it varied, bm those Ruists in question here clearly believed that it should be used for rituals related to traditional feudal relationships. 67. Shiji,28.1384· 68. Ibid. 69. For an excellent attempt to coUate available evidence concerning the life of Liu An, see Kanaya, RosD ulti Uklli, esp. pp. 24-S6. Harold Roth, in TIx Tarual History of th~ Huai-nan Tzu, provides a superb study of both the history and nature of the text. 70. Huaimmu, "Yaolue," 21.6b, 2J.7b. 71. Ibid., 2J.7b-8a. 72. The Huainatui is often read in contemporary scholarship as an example of "Huang-Lao" ideology. For example, Harold Roth calls the HuailUmzi "the principal representative of Huang-Lao thought d uring the Han"; see Th~ Tmual History ofth~ Huai-nan Tzu, p. 13. Similar arguments ate made by Le Blanc, in Huai-Nan Tzu, p. 6; and by Major in H~avm and Earth in Early Han Thought, p.12. Since, however, the authors of [he Huainanzi never associate themselves with the term "Huang-Lao." it strikes me as unnecessary to label it as such. Indeed. as a general methodological principle, the attempt to categorize texts in terms of schools is not always helpful: the concern should rather be to explicate the claims of each text within the debates of the time. For the Han (as for the Warring States). these claims are not necessarily d iscussed most fruitfully as a

Notes to Pages 160-65 "school." Even when dealing with a text that posits itself within a defined textual trad ition, the analyst should seek to undemand that textual tradition and what claims are being made through such a positing. In the case of the Huainanzi, however, where no claim of a school affiliation is ever made, the label strikes me as unnecessary. 73. HuainAnzi, "Fanlun xun," 1J. la-2a. 74. See ibid. 7S. Ibid., I).:}2. 76. Ibid.,IJ.3b. n Ibid ., IJ.4 b. 78. Ibid. 79. Ibid .• 13·6a. 80. Ibid., 13.6b. 81. Ibid., l}.8b. 82. Ibid. 83. Ibid. 84. As we saw above. chis is only tr ue in part. Liu Bang d id claim that he was going to war with Xiang Yu be<:ause the lauer had kiJIed the rul~r of C hu, and thus, in a sense, Liu Bang could be said to hav~ been supporting the descendants of p~-Qin states. Moreover, Liu Bang did go on to enlist the help of the generals who had been enfeoffed with land by Xiang Yu. But, of course, this was only after Xiang Yu had deposed most of the kings of the reconstituted states and broken up the states themselves into smaller divisions. 8S. Huainanzi, ~Fan l un xun," 1)·9a. 86. Ibid. 87. The authors' decision to combine the MohislS and Ruists like this might at first glance seem surprising. conside ring the de bates between the twO that were d iscussed in C hapters 2 and). But it is important to remember that both the Mohists and Ruists emphasized the importance of following the ancient sages, albeit in d iffe rent ways-something that the Qi n court opposed. 88. Huainanzi. " Fanlun xu n ,~ 13.9a- 9b. 89. Ibid .• llllb. 90. Ibid.,IP9b- 2oa. 91. In understanding these notions of self-cultivation, I have been particularly aided by Harold Roth's excellent analysis in "Psychology and Self-Cullivation in Early Taoistic Thought." 9 1 . It was mentioned in Chapter 2 (hal Gu Jiegang believed rhe Xici to POStdate the Huainanzi (Gushibian, vol. 3, pp. )6-43, 45-69). O ne ofGu Ji~ga ng's

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Notes to Page 166 main reasons for this claim was based on the ~Fanlun xun" under d iscussion here. Since the chapter includes a discussion of the creation of utensils by the sages that is similar to that in the Xid, Gu argues, one must be based upon the other. However, the "F;mlun xun" does not mention the notion, so central to the argument of the Xid, that the creations of the sages w= based on the hexagrams. Gu finds this particularly surprising, since, he argues, Liu An, the figure who commissioned the composition of the Huai1lllnzi, was a follower of the Yi: if the Xid had been in existence at the rime, the model found therein would assuredly have been used (see in particular Gu et aI. , Gushibinn, vol. 3, pp. 41, 61). As a consequence, Gu claims, it must be that the Xid was modded on the ~ Fan l unxun," rather than the other way around. This specific statement concerning the da re of rhe Xici is nO( entirely convincing, as Hu Shi, in a critique ofGu's argument, pointed out soon after it first appeared (Gu er ai., Gushibian, vol. 3, pp. 84-88) . And, of course, the Mawangdui find later proved beyond a doubt that the Xid predated the Huainanzi by at least 50 years, and quite possibly by as much as a century. Even if Gu was wrong about the date of the Xid, however, his general point concerning the content of the two works is, as I have suggested here, quire accurate. Hu Shi, for his part, also argues thar it was the ~ Fanlun xun" that was modeled on the Xici, and that the reason rhe author of the former did not use the hexagrams was simply because he had differen t interests (pp. 84-85, 86). In this section, I have elaborated on what these different interests might have been. I would also like (0 point out, in response to Gu, that, regardless of whether he is correct [hat Liu An himself was a devotee of the Yi, the fact of the matter is that divination is posed in a number of the Huai1lllnzi chapters as a problematic activio/. Although it is seen as a possible method for connecting one's actions to the natural world, and hence laudable, such a calculated means of connection is posed as lower than a purely spontaneous harmonization with nature (see, for example, Huai1lllnzi, "Benjing," 8.la). Such a formulation seems applicable to the ~ Fanlun xun" as well. It is true that the chapter, like the Xici, argues that sages do in fact create, and ,he authors, again like those of the Xid, want to root such actions in [he generative processes of nature. However, instead of following the Xid in usi ng the mediating device of the hexagrams, he roots the sages' actions in nature by arguing that the true sage creates only when he is moving spontaneously wi,h the changes of the natural world. 93. Two important studies published in ,he 199°S rethink the received tradition concerning Dong Zhongshu: Queen, From Chronick to Canon; and Arbuckle, Rtstoring Dong Zhongrhu (S.C.E. I9J-llJ). Both Queen and Arbuckle

Notes to Pages 166-68 question the view of Dong as an imperial Confucian, and both question the impact that Dong's ideas had on the imperial court. As Queen rightly points OUI: ~we may reconsider whether it is useful to employ the old and familiar phrue 'the victory of Han Confucianism' when speaking of the ritual practices of Emperor Wu" (p. 205). I would only add to this that it is not simply about ritual practice that Dong seems to have been ineffectual. For example, Sima Qian, a contemporary. clearly did not see Dong as a significant player at Wudi's court. See ,he brief biographial mention in Shiji 121. }t27-3129· The reason, of course, that Dong ultimately became known as the initiator of a form of imperial Confucianism is that later Han Ruists chose to present him as such. In order to avoid allowing this later view to prejudice our understanding of the figure, it is important to ignore much of the Chunqiu fonlu. a work that has bcc:n recogniud since the Song period as including a great deal of later Han material. See the useful summary by Loewe, "Ch'un ch'iu fan lu," in Early Chjntst uxts, pp. 77-87. Both Arbuckle and Queen provide useful hypotheses concerning the daring of portions of the Chunqiu fan'u, and both conclude that several of the chapters are probably authentic. Nonetheless, here I restrict my own comments on Dong Zhongshu to his memorials, since these are among the few writings thai can, with full confidence, be attributed to Dong. 94. The precise da tes for the memorials have long been debated. Since the evidence given in the Hamhu appears contradictory, it is unlikely that a solution to the problem will ever be found . Sarah Queen provides a good summary of the evidence and arguc::s that Ihe evidence points (0 a date of either 140 or 134 B.C.; see From Chronick to Canon, pp. 249- 54. Arbuckle, in contrast, argues for a date of l30 B.C.; see Rtstoring Dong Zhongshu, pp. 34-46. My own view is [hat we simply do nor have enough evidence to give a fi rm date. 95. Hamhu, 26.2504. 96. Ibid. 97. Hamhu, 26.2510. 98. Ibid., 26.2515. 99. Ibid. , 26.2509· 100. Mmgzi,3B/9. l Ot. Shiji, 30.1439 and 112.2961. 102. There is no way to determine if the charges are accurate. It is possible that, seeing the growing centralization of the Han imperium, Liu An fdt he had no choice but to plot revolt. It is also possible that the charges were simply a made-up pretext to legitimiu an annexation by the Han state. 103. Shiji, 1I 8·3095-3096.

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No tes to Pages 169-71 104. The process of transformi ng kingdoms into commandcries and of establishing new commanderies in recently conquered terri tories appears thro ughout

many of the chapters on Wud i. The most important example of the former is Wudi's abolition of (he kin gdom of Huainan and the establishment of t he territory as a commandery; Shiji 118.}094. For an example of t he laner, see the description of his creation of new commanderies in the south; Shiji }0.1440. 105· Here, tOO, the return to a strong legal system appears repeatedly throughout the chapters on the reign of Wudi. For examples. see Shiji }0.1421. 1424. and 1428. 106. See. for example, ibid., 30. 1424, 1428, 1438-1439, a nd 1440. 107. Sec in particular ibid., 30. 1429 and 14}2. For a good summary of Wudi's policies, see Loewe, "The Former H an Dynasty." pp. 152-79. 108. Hanshu, 6.159. 109. Ibid., 6.159.1]1- 172. 110. Roth, The uxtual History of,ht Huai-nan Tzu, p. 17. See also t he argumenr by Si in HUilng-Lao xutshllo. III . The Yan/ie lun is sup posedly a record of the debates staged in 81 B. C. as to the legitimacy of the state monopolies on salt and iron. The text, however, is d early written by an aut ho r sympathetic to the RuiS{ calls to reject the centralization policies of the COUH, and it is doubtful that it can be used as an actual record of the debate itself. Nonetheless, it is of interest to my argument precisely because of its defense of t he Ruist position: it is obvious that the text is wriuen from the perspective of a group whose ideas are not influential at court. The best overall discussion of both the debates and t he text that purports to describe them is Wu Hui, Sang Hongyangyanjiu. 112. loe best overall discussion of this period of H an Wudi's reign is Loewe, Crisis and Conjlid in Han China. pp. 17-36. II).

Shiji,28.1393.

114. Ibid . 115· A comparable story concerning immortality was provided by a Li Shao-

jun, who claimed t hat immortality could be gained through a performance of the fong and shan sacrifices. This, Li argued, is precisely what Huangdi did (Shiji, 28.1385). 116. Ibid .• 28.1396. Emperor Wu had already given offerings to Huangdi in another context. The emperor had ordered a set of sacrifices instituted in the springtime in order to dispel evil forces . One of t he recipients of these sacrifices was Huangdi, to whom was offered an owl and a broken mirror, both of which

Notes to Pages 171-73 were considered inauspicious (Shiji, 28. 1386). The sacrifice t hen presumably represented an expiation of such inauspiciousness. 1I 7.

Shiji,28.140 1.

1I8. Unforcunately, Sima Qian w.u not inle rested in describing t he details of

rituals (see his statements on t he issue in Shiji, 28. 140 4). There is a sizable body of material concerning performances of t he fo"t and shan sacrifices in much later ti me periods, bur since t he rituals may well have changed a great deal over the centuries. I do not believe t hat such accounts can be used to discuss the early imperial performances. For a discussion of t hese: later materials. sec C havannes, L~ Tai chan, pp. 20-26, 158-261.

Il9. Shiji,28.1396. 120. Ibid. , 28.1397. 121. Sima Qian states t hat the ritual for the feng was like that used for t he jirlo sacrifice to Taiyi. But in his discussion of the jiao sacrifice to Taiyi, Sima Qian simply mentions that it was like the }iao sacrifice at Yong (Shiji, 28.1395). Unfortunately, he never describes this sacrifice either. As a result, we simply do not possess a full description of t he ri tual performance. 122. The fmg (written with the same graph as the name of the sacrifice) is also t he name for a mound raised to mark out a territory. In the descriprion of the offering, t he mound on which the fong sacrifice is given is consistently referred to as the fong. The significance of t his is discussed below. 123. It wiU be recalled that one of the prepa.ratory acts for the sacrifice involved carrying rocks up Mt. TaL It was presumably at or on t he fmg mound made from t hese rocks that the sacrifice at the summit of the mounwn was gIVen.

124. Shiji, 28. IJ98. Here agai n, t he analogy proves useless for reconstructi ng the ritual: Sima Q ian provides no descrip tion of t he sacrifices to Houtu. 125. This translation follows the readi ng given in the "Annals of the Filial Emperor Wu ~ (Shiji, 12.475), a chapter of (he Shiji t hat simply d uplicates this portion of the "Fengshan shu. ~ 126. Shiji, 28. 1398. 127. Ibid. 128. Shiji,28.1399. 129. Unfortunately. Sima Qian does not explicitly state which divinities were to receive the offerings. In aU later works that discuss t he sacrifices, however, the fong and shan are described as being offered to H eaven and Earth respectively. This was probably tr ue when Emperor Wu performed the sacrifices as well. Par-

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Notes to Pages 174-79 tial evidence fo r trus interpretation can be seen in one of the statements quoted above. When a comet appea red after the completion of the rituals, Emperor Wu's officials are said to have stated : ~S i nce you have inscituted the fing and shan for the house of H an, Heaven has responded with this nat of virtue" (Shy'i, 28. 1399). The offerings were described as successful, in other words, when Heaven ~­ sponded 10 reveal its acceptance. It may then be that the imended recipients of the earlier sacrifices were th e same as those of the later forms. 1)0. Shiji,28.1402. I)!. Loewe, "The Concept of Sovereignty," p. 740.

Chap ur 5 I. The exact dates of Sima Qian's life have long been debated. O ne of the more inHuentiai discussions was provided by Wang G uowei, who placed Sima Q ian's date of birth at 145 a.c.; see "Taishigong xingnian bo." Other scholars dispute this date, including G uo Moruo, who argued 135 B.C. was more plausible; see" 'Taishigong xingnian bo' yo u wenti." This latter date is supported by Zhang Dake as well in Shijiyanjiu, pp. 108-2.0 ; see pp. 74-107 for a cogent discussion of the issues involved in de termining the chronology of Sima Qian's life. 2. Shy'i, 1)0.)297. 3. Ibid. 4· Shiji, I)0.)297-)29 8. 5· Ibid., 1)0.)299. 6. Ibid. 7. Shy'i, 1)0.)299-)300. 8. Ibid., 1)0.3300. 9. Ibid., 1)0.3301-3)20. See Watson, Ssu-ma Ch'im, pp. 90- 91; Warson also correcdy points out that in similar contexts Ban Gu, a far more orthodox rustorian than Sima Qian, always used the term shu (U'3I1smit) instead of SlO; see Watson, Ssu-ma Ch'im, p. 22) n. )1. I would also read Ban Gu's statement that Sima Q ian created (1:110) th e "Benji" secdon (Hanshu lOoB'42)5) as an implied criticism of Sima Qian. 10. Stephen W. D urrant has argued that Sima Qian tries, in the Shiji, 10 write a text like the Spring and Autumn Annals but that he fails because of psychological conHicts and ends up writing a very differe nt work; see D urrant, Tht Cloudy Mirror, esp. pp. 1-71. Sec also my review of Durrant's book in Harvard/ournai of Asiatic Studits 57, no. I (1997): 290-)Ot.

Notes to Pages 179-90 II. I should also state that, overall, I read the Shiji itself as a series of medirations on historiographic and cultural problems. My readi ng, therefore, is largely in agreement with that of Willard Peterson; see Peterson, "Ssu-ma Ch'ien as Cultural His(Orian." 12. Ship, 61.2121. 13. Ibid., 61.2122-212). 14. Ibid., 61.212.4- 2125. IS. Ibid., 61.2127. The "Wenyan" passage is almost identical to the one quoted by Sima Qian; sec Zhouyi, HY, 2/1. 16. Shiji,61.2127. 17. Ibid., 1.46. 18. For example, Mark Lewis reads this scc(ion on H uangdi as "a 'true' and 'plausible' account of the career of the Yellow Emperor [i.e., H uangdil as it appeared (0 a literate, critical Chinese of the second century B.C .•.•"; sec Lewis, Sanctiontd Vioknct, p. 174.

J9. Shiji, 1. 3· 20. Ibid. 21. Ibid. 22. Ibid. 2). Ibid. 24. Ibid. 25. Ibid. 26. Ibid. 27. Ibid., 15.685. 28. Ibid. 29. Ibid. 30. Ibid., 15.686. )1. Ibid. 32. The five di, it may be remembered, were the sage heroes of the past, (he fi rst of whom was Huangdi. Although au thors differed abou( who the other four were, the term "five di" was nonetheless u5ed widely to refer to the early sages. 33· Shiji,6 .236. 34· Ibid., 6.238- 239. )5· Ibid., 6.239. 36. Ibid., 6.254. )7. Ibid., 6.254-255. )8. Ibid., 6.255.

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Notes to Pages 190-92 39· Derk Bodde, for one, argues that many of these more fantastic anecdotes, including the one I discuss next, are probably without historical basis ("The State and Empire of C h'in," pp. 80, 94-98). 40. Shiji,6·248. 4 1. Ibid., 6.276. 42. Zhang Dake also notes that, despite his mong criticisms of the first emperor, Sima Qian does praiS(: his accomplishments; s(:'" Shiji Jllnjiu, pp. 3626J. Zhang explains this by arguing that Sima Qian is unequivocally in favor of unity, and thus, although h... opposes th ... way that th... first ... mperor used viol ... nc... against the populac ... , h... still s«s th ... Qin's usc of viol... nc... in ord ... r to achi... v... unity as a great contribution. I discuss this argument in mor... d... pth below. 4). Burton Watson reads Sima Qian as giving a purdy negative portrait of th ... first emperor. He Furth... r argues that Sima Qian holds a cyclial vision of history, d...fined by th ... rise and fall of dynasties. Under Watson's reading, Sima Qian pr...sents th ... fi rst emperor as th ... srereotypical evil last rule r of the state of Qin. The history of the Q in, in other words, should be read as a "dynasty" of SOrtS, with the first emperor as the dynasty's degenerate terminator; see Ssu-ma Ch'im, p.6. I interpret Sima Qian's portrait quite differently. In Sima Qian's reading, the lirst emperor is indeed the culmination of the history of the Qin state, in the sense that he culminates their barbaric, transgressive qualities, but his historical importance lies in the fa ct that he is a crearor outside the normativ... dynastic cycles. Far from being a stereotypical evil last ruler, he is a transgressive crearor foreign to the cycles of history. The implication of this is that Sima Qian's view of history is not purely cyclical; as regards the issues that arc the focus of this chap ter, for example. he is interested in exploring how something new can be introduced into the cycle of rising and fal ling dynasties. The point is of some importance, for, as defin..-d in works such as the Mmcius, the dynastic cycle, insofar as it eqUltes dynastic success with the degree to which the past is imitated, would not allow for innovation. 44· In discussing Sima Qian's portrait of th~ two figu res, I focus on the way that Sima Qian presents the reasons for their respective success and failure. For an analysis of how Sima Qian pain(S the differem personalities of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, see Zhang Oake, Shiji yanjiu, p. 312. For a discussion of Sima Qian's presemacion of Xiang Yu's personality in panicular, see Nie, Sima Qinn lungao, PP· 189- 97. 45· Shiji,7.JOO. 46. Ibid., 7.320.

Notes to Pages 192-96 47. Ibid., 7.321 . 48. Ibid·,7·W· 49. Ibid., 7.331-332So. Ibid·,7·m· 51. Ibid., 7.334. 52. Ibid., 7.338-339. B. Ibid., 7.339. 54. Ibid. 55. Ibid. 56. Ji Zhenhuai criticizes Sima Qian's moral reading of the fall of Xiang Yu and the success of Liu Bang as baS(:d in a notion of fate; S(:e Simn Qinn, p. I to. However, I hope that (he fo llowing discussion will make it clear that Sima Qian's reading of history is far more complex than such a characterization might imply. 57. Since many of the policies of Liu Bang were discussed earlier, I will simply review here Sima Qian's presentation of the counterpoint between [he ruler and Xiang Yu. 58. ShYi,8.381. 59. Ibid. , 8.379. 60. Ibid. 61. Here again, my interest in this section is to outline Sima Qian's presentation of the historical significance of Liu Bang for the risc of empire. For a discussion of Sima Qian's portrayal of the personllity of Liu Bang, see Nie, Sima Qion lungao, pp. 93-95, 197- 205. N ie notes in panicular many of the implicit criticisms made by Sima Qian concerning the personality of Liu Bang. 62. As memioned in the previous chapter, MGlOZU" is the posthumous name given 10 Liu Bang. In his narrative of the ligur!!, Sima Qian switches the ap~ peUation from Liu Bang to Gaozu upon the ruler's acceptance of the imperial position. For caS(: of reference, I do the sam!! here. Sima Qian's treatment of Xiang Yu and Uu Bang may at first glance S(:em surprising. In more recent studies, Xiang Yu is often said 10 have rejected empi re and 10 have anempted to start a confederacy of states with himself as a hegemon. These acts would make it seem that Xiang Yu was attempting to turn back the clock to a pre-imperial system of governance (see, for example:, Loewe, ~ The Former Han Dynasty," p. 116). In contrast, Liu Blng took the tide of emperor and organized part of the land according to the Qin system of wmmanderies. Given this, it may se!!m that it was Xiang Yu, not Gaozu, who attempted to conform to the past. Although there may be some: historial basis for such a reading, it is important

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Notes to Pages 196-202 to nOte that Sima Qian reaches the opposite conclusion. From the perspective of a moral reading, Sima Qian argues, the problem with Xiang Yu is that he did not fully follow the past, or more precisely, he began by following the past but ultimately turned his back on it. In COntrast, Liu Bang did, to a much greate r extent, conform to anti<Juity by returning in large pan to the practice of enfeoffment. 63· Ship, 8.382- 391. 64. Ibid., 8·391. Some of Sima Qian's portrayals of the problems encoumered in the Han practice of enfeoffmen t are discussed by Nie, Sima Qian lungao, pp. I12 - t 7·

65. Ship, 101.2745. 66. Ibid., 101.2746.

67. Ibid., 101.2747. The radicalness of C hao C uo's alteration of the laws is slressed in several places throughout the text; see, for example, 96.2684. 68. Ibid., 101.2746 and 101.2747, respeclively. 69· Ibid., 101. 2747. 70. Ibid., 101.2747- 2748. 71. Ibid., [06.2824. 72. Both of these were prerogatives of the central court. As noted in Chapter 4, one of the narratives of the invention of weapons presented Chi You appropriating resources that were reserved for use by the unified state of Huangdi. The narrative in <Jucsrion (the "Oi shu" chapter of the Guanzi) was probably written during the early Han as well, when this was a strong concern of the central state.

n

Shiji,106.2824- 2825·

74· Ibid., 101.2748. 75. Ibid. 76. Ibid., t06.2836. n Ibid.,1f.449· 78. Nie (Sima Qian /ungao, pp. 55-56) argues that Sima Qian supported a rule of virtue over a rule of law, and this is why he denounced figures like Chao Cuo. Although it is true that Sima Qian had a generally negative opinion of imperial institutions, it is nonetheless important to nOte that, in the narrative portions of his writings, the work of figures like Chao Cuo is posed as historically necessary. 79· See, for example, )i, Sima Qian, pp. 94- 95; Watson, Ssu-ma Ch'im, pp. 33- 36; and Su, "SIJiji shi dui Han Wudi de pipan shu," pp. 75-100. Zhang Oake makes this point as well (Shiji yanjiu, pp. 396- 400) , although he also argues that Sima Qian is generally in favor of Wudi's consolidation of centralized rule (p. 394)· This point is discussed below.

Notes to Pages 20 2-9 80. Shiji,30. 1442-1443. 81. Watson, for example, notes in his translation of the chapter that Sima Qian's concluding remarks against the Qin are in fact a thinly veiled criti<Jue of the policies of Wudi; see Rtcords oftht Grand Historian, vol. 2, p. 106. Su ("Shiji,~ p. 90) argues the same point, as does Zhang Oake (ShiP yanjiu, p. 28). 82. Shiji,28.1355· 83. Ibid" 28.1366-1367. 84. Ibid., 28.1367. 85. Ibid., 28. 1368- 137°. 86. Ibid., 28.1371. 87. Ibid. 88. Ibid. , 28. 1397, 1398. 89. Ibid., 28. 1398. 90. Ibid., 28.1399. 91. Penglai was a land of immortals_ 92. Shiji, 28.1398. 93. Ibid., 28.1403. 94. Ibid., 28.14°3-1404. 95. The claim that Wudi successfully consolidated centrali2ed rule appears elsewhere in the Shiji as well (as in his explanation to the unwtitten ''Annals of Wudi," 130.3303). Zhang Oake also notes that Sima Qian sees Wudi as having consolidated centralized rule (Shiji Jdnjiu, p. 394)· 96. A number of other analyses have been given of Sima Q ian's view of empire. Many, following Sima Q ian's generally negative presentation of the first emperor and Wudi, have read Sima Q ian as being largely opposed to imperial centralization. For example, Burton Watson goes so far as to describe Sima Q ian as a conservative who longs for earlier times, and who could not see that the policics of Wudi were necessary in order ro maintain order (Ssu-ma Ch'im, p. 36). A similar point is argued by Ji Zhcnhuai (Sima Qian, p. III). Such argumentS, however, fail to take into account the numerous places in the work where Sima Qian does emphasize, albeit reluctantly, the necessity of imperial institutions. Other scholars have noted such elements and have therefore attempted to account for this seeming ambivalence in Sima Qian's presentation. The most interesting studies to confront this issue include rhose by Zhang Oake and Nie Shiqiao. As mentioned in a previous note, Zhang Oake recognizes that Sima Qian, while strongly attacking rhe first emperor, still sees him as having played an important historical role (Shiji yanjiu, pp. 362-63). Elsewhere, Zhang makes the

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272

Notes to Pages 209- 18

Notes to Page 209 same poin! concerning Wudi: in some places Sima Q ian criticizes his ruler, yet in several other places he shows great admiration for the emperor. Zhang attempts to explain this apparent inconsistency by isolating the differing nonnative criteria that Sima Qian utilizes in making these judgments. On the one hand, unlike Ji Zhenhuai and Burton Watson, Zhang believes that Sima Qian does support centralization. and indeed that he holds an essentially progressivist view of history vis-:\-vis the problem of empire (pp. 395-96). This is why, in some passages, the historian praises both the hm emperor and Wudi for their coruributions in instituting centralized rule (pp. 362-63; 395-96). On the other hand, Sima Qian strongly opposes acts of oppression against the people, and for this reason he cridcizes the ruthlessness of me rwo emperors (pp. 362-63; 396-400). Z hang thus accounts for the seeming ambivalence of Sima Qian's presentation byattempting to distinguish the various normative criteria supposedly utilized by the historian. A somewhat related argument, albeit with different emphases, is given by Nie Shiqiao (Sima Qian lungao, pp. 54-55). Like Z hang, Nie believes that Sima Qian strongly supports unity; this is why he gives some approval to both the hrst emperor and Wudi, and also why he criticizes the rebellious local rulers. Nonetheless, he argues. Sima Qian strongly opposes the use of legalistic memods to gain such unity, and his work is thus designed to expose the hypocrisy of the unity achieved by Wudi (p. 58). Along these same lines, as it was noted in an earlier footnote, Nie argues that Sima Qian was strongly opposed to the policy of Chao Cuo (p. 56). Both Zhang and Nie, then, try to read these apparently contradictory views of Sima Qian as resulting from a basic division in his thinking: he supports unihcation but opposes legalist institutions. I would argue, on the contrary, that the seeming ambivalence arises not because he is upholding differing normative criteria but because of his view of history, and specifically because of his views concerning the way in which empire was introduced. The problem for Sima Q ian, as 1 read it, is the opposite of that ascri bed to him by Nie and Zhang: the problem is not that he sees unity and legalist institutions as distinguishable, with the former deserving praise and the latter deserving rejection; the problem is ra ther (hat he views unity and legaliS( institutions as inseparably linked. Contrary to Z hang's claim, then, I do not believe mat Sima Qian favors imperial centralization unequivocally; instead, he sees centralization as a necessary, if in many ways deplorable, historical development. And contrary to Nie's claim. I would say that, although Sima Qian freq uently, especially in his clOling comments, presents legalist practices as immoral, he also sees such practices as

d irectly linked to the issue of unity. For e1Cample, Nie's statement that C hao C uo is simply criticiz.ed by Sima Q ian fails to take into account the relatively sympathetic treatment accorded his legalist policies in various narrative sections of the work. The description of Sima Qian as resolutely opposed to legalism is thus only partially right, insofar as it fails to note the complexity of his treatment of history. It is because of this complexity that one can get readings as distinctive as those of Watson and Ji on the one hand and Zhang and Nie on me other. 97. Keightlcy. "Early C ivilization in C hina," p. 20. 98. Zhang Dake (Shiji yanjiu. pp. 374-75) argues that one of Sima Q ian's great contributions to Chinese historiography was that he developed a progressivist view of history to replace the earlier cyclical conception. Such a formulation. however, is misleading. Although it is true that Sima Qian does not see history in purdy cyclical terms, he also cannOt be said to hold a truly progressivist view. Perhaps it would be more accurate to 5:ly that he poses history as accumulative, in the sense that once insritUlions have been introduced it is not possible to re turn to an earlier period. But he does not believe that such an accumulative process is necessarily good. Indeed, on the introduction of imperial centraliz.ation , which Zhang reads Sima Qian as posing in progressivist terms (pp. 395-96). I have argued that Sima Qim does, fro m a moral perspective, long for the past, even while supporting the notions that the introduction of empire was necessary and that a rejection of empire would result in total chaos.

Appmdix I . Z eng, "'Z" uo Zl tanyuan. " 2. This is the view of G uo Momo. See Li Xiaoding, Jiagu wmzi jishi, vol. 8,

p. 2637·

3. Tsung· tung Chang. D~r Kult dtr Shang-DynllJtit, p. 2t5· 4. Zhu, "Shi wo." 5. Zeng," 'Zuo' 2i tanyuan." p. 4tl-

6. Htji 9472. 7. Ibid. 8. Zeng, "'Zuo' zi tmyuan," pp. 4 12- 16 . 9. Ibid., p. 419. Axel Schuessler gives the pronunciations as dzjak for ji and unk for zuo; see A Dictionary of Early Zhou Chin~~, pp. 268 and 874 respectively. Schuessler's phonetic reconstructions are based primarily on Li Fanggui's system. 10. Zeng," 'Zuo' zi tan1Oan," p. 4 t 9· II. Ibid., pp. 419-20. 12. Htji 25892. Although a context is lacking for understanding the exact

273

2.74

Notes to Pages 2.18-24 meaning of these inscriptions, it is likely that the dragon was associated with rain. Evidence for this can be sun in another set of inscri ptions, such as th e follow ing from Period II: "Let us make a dragon at Fantian, [for if we dol we n will have rain (Htji 29990). In a fascinating article, Q iu Xigui has connected the ritual mentioned here with a practice attested in later sources of making clay dragons in order to bri ng about the rain; see "On the Burning of Human Victims and the Fashioning of Clay Dragons in Order to Seek Rain in the Shang Dynasty Oracle-Bone inscriptions," EArly China 9-10 (1983-8S): 290-)06. The dragon would thus appear to have been linked to the making of rain, and the fa ilure of the dragon to arise would then be a sign of drought. If so, the prayer mentioned in the divination would presumably have involved beseeching the divine powers for rain. l}. Zeng," 'Zuo' zi tanyuan," p. 4l7. 14. Ka ta, Kanji no Itigm, pp. 4}5-}7. IS. Shirakawa, Smubun shinqi, pp. 1631-33. 16. Yoshioka, A Smutntic Study, p. 38. 17. Shangshu, "Yu gong," 6.3b. 18. Yoshioka, A xmanhc Stutiy, p. 7. 19. Karlgren, Grammala SerUa &cmsa. Karlgren's word fa milies involve the grouping of etymologically related words, based upon phonetic and semantic similarities. Karlgren places ji in family #798 and LUO in #806. 20. Schuessler, A Dictionary of &rly Zhou Chinm, pp. 874 and 808 respectively. 21. The fam ily in question that includes both zuo and u is Karlgren's #806. 22. Schuessler, A Dictionary of &ZrlyZhou Chinrs~, p. 811. 23. Sh 12.61: 647. 24.

Htji 14 201.

25. Ibid. 26. Sh 14.72: 794. 27.

Shi 204.

28. Sh 2}.I31: 81. 29· Sh IS·79: 34.

30. Htji 3}209. 31. Ibid. 32. Yoshioka, A S~mantic Study of th~ lft'rbl of Doing and Making, p. 38. B. Pokorny, IndiJgmnanischrs ErymoWgisches Wiirurbuch, p. 637·

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187

Index

Agriculture:, 26, 29, 40, 54, 82, 10}, 108,

'B Ai, Duke of Lu,

I}O

Akat5UiGt Kiyoshi, 14

AnakctJ, 93. S~ also Lunyu Anthropology, 14, 15 Artifice: culture as, 23-24, 76; morality as, 65; opposition 10, 62-63, 66, 80. Sualso Culture, discontinuity from nature Arts, 153

Ban Gu, 266n9

Raoxi (Fwd), 4-5, 22, 2}, 87, 88, 115 Barbarians, su Miao people La Siblt mfin txpliquil! (Voltaire), 8 Bin diviner group, 25 Gao, lIS 80 Gui, 110 Bo Vi, 81, 103, 1)4, 180-81 Sodde, Dcrk, 92-93 Bouvet, Joachim, 4-5 Bronze Age China, 18, 24, 25, 25-28, 93-94 80

Buddhism, 14 Ca lendars, 120, 144, 159, 174

Cang]ic:, 1:1.-2}. 81, 82 Cenlr.lli'lC:d government: as break with

past, 141, '45, 146-47, ,89-90; charter myths, 99-100; control of natural resources, 125; debates on, 112, 139-40, 160, 21}-14;

development as

COntext

of debates on creation, 39, 80-81, 106, 160,213-14; of Han empire, 150, 158- 59, 168-70,175, t96, t97, 206; of independent states in Warri ng States period, ~9, 99-tOOj legitimacy, 144, 156, 160, 161 ; Mohist view of, 106; needed in WntCXt of time, 201-2, 208; o pposition to, 108, ttO -H, 166-67, 170; problems with enfeoffment, 37. 14$, t64. 165. 183-84, 197-98; ofQin empire, 144, 145- 46. 149. 188, 189; of Qin state, 113, 11415, 14S; Sima Qian's criticism of, 187, 201; use of organized violence, t04; in Warring States period, 99-100, 113 Chang, K. c., 3, '4-15, 36 Chao Cuo, 158, 197-201, 209 Chaos, $(( Disorder Chen She, 148 Cheng, King, 33-}5, 37 Chrog, 85 ChengLholl, 33-34, 37 Chcnhou Yim;i dun, 112 Chi You, 256n129; conflict with Huangdi,

290

Index 100,111- 24,11,-16, l}l-H, 18}-S4; Creation: a.s artifice. 1}- 14. 59. 80-SI; c reation of disorder, 101, u6, 113, IS1; Confucian-Mohist dcbate, 42-43, 50crealion of weapons, 100, 12" 126, 1}6, 51,55-56,70,77,78- 80; correct usage, 24Sn}l; a.s Huangdi's minisler, 100, I}I, 106; debates on, 56, 209; discontinuity 1)2-n, 136; a.s rebel-crea tor, 124-26, wi th pa.st, 209. 110, 111. 1t4; disjuncrion 127, 1}2, In, IH; symbolism in texts, from nature. 63, 7S-80, 211; innovation 99- 100, 135; use of weapons, 12.8, I }O justified by changi ng ti mes. 78, 154- 55. Chinese cul ture, sa Cultu re; European 156-57,160-61,166, 170.101_2; !.aozi analyses of Chinese culture on, 60-61; oflaWl. 114- 15; Mcncius on, Ch ristianity, 3, 4-5, 7-9, t2 56-57, I}S; myths, 97; oppos ilion to. 16, Chu, Slate of, 14S, 192 4 1- 41, 4}, 190-91, 100; plant growth Chunyu Vue, 148, 189, 190 melaphors, 57-5S: political conta t of City walls, creation of, 117 debate on, 39. SO-81, 106. 160. 213-14; La ciIJUU4tWn chinoiH (G ranet). 19. 93 reconciling wilh adhercnce to classics. Civiliz.uion, s« Culture 156-57. 181; Sima Qian on, lO9; SlanCias.sics; canon, z60n56; C hristian readduds for, ss, 56; as lransgression against ings of, 4; establis hment by sages, IHnature, 79, So-81: Westcrn Z hou vi(':W, 54, 'H; ethical principles, ISS; innovatio n 51-5}: Xum:i on, 70-n Su also Culco nsistent with , 156-57, 181; opposition ture; Material c ulture; Sages, role in 10 following, 160-61; scholarship in creation; Zw H an period, 152; Sima Qian's vi(':W of, C reator gods, 11, 14, 97, 1}1-}1. IlJ, 141. ISO; training in, 169, 15Sn11 5« also Deiries Comets, 171, 104, z65-66n119 C ulrure; Confucius's view of. ~3, 50; conCondorcer, Antoine· Nicola.s de, 6-7 ti nuity with H eaven, 70, 90; defined by Confl ict, Ill, IZ1, I1S, 129. S« also VioXunzi as everyday crafi, 66-67; dcfined lence,organi2c:d in Liji a.s ritual and music. 73; divine Confucianism, 169, 170. Sa also Ruists inspiralion, 109; lack of disrinction from Confucius; AtUll«tl, 9}; on So Yi and Shu religion, 9-10; Mcncius's definition, Qi, ISo-SI; clai m 10 be reacher rad.er ~7; Moh ist definition, 80; of "primi. Ihan sage, 41; claim ro transmit rather tjve~ societies, 14, IS, 18: rela[ionship to lhan create, 16, 40, .p , 4}, 49-51, n, nature, 16-IS, 76, S6-91: Xunri's dcfi76-77, 178; craft analogies used by, 45, nicion. 70. Sa aIM European analyses 47,49, H-54; o n emergence of cuI· of Chinese culture; Materi al culturc; ture, 90; love of past, 40 - 41; morality Rituals and ritual aClion, 43-51; Ruin vi(':Wof, Cullure. continuity with naturc, 7-9, 258n12; on sages' role in CfC'ation, 41, 16.90-91,161; Confucius o n, 47, 90; 49-50, H; Sima Qian's vi(':W of. 177law generated from naturc, 118, 1+4: 7S, ISO-SI; Sprint and AutJImn AntUlls, Mencius on, 57-58, 59; s«n in Chinese 56-57,59, 167-6S, 177. 179; viewed as thought by Europeans,}, 9- 10, 11-15; sage, 56-57. 59, 167-6S, 177-78. 179; Xici o n, 24, S9, 156, 160, 161, 165. Sa also Voltairc's praise of, 8; on weapons, I}O Nature, patterns of Cosmology, I}, 16. 60- 61, 75-76, S5, 86 Culture, diSC()ntinuity from nume, 36; Crafi , vocabulary of, 45, 47. 49. 51. 53-55, and creation of state. 137. 140; HllI1i5S. 59. 66-67 tUI,w on, 81; laozi on, 6" 80; Mohist

Index vi(':W, 78-80; as pari of debate. 91; si milarities berween Weslern and C hinesc views, 140, 114; vicws in late Warring States period, 76: in Western cul ture, 69, n, 14-15, 140, 114; Zhou view, }6, }8. Sa abo Anifice; Transgression Culturc, emergence of; Confucian views, n, 90: conscious creation, 66-67; crealed by ministcrs rather Ihan sages, 81-84, 8~-S6, 108; debale on, 24. 64, 80: divine inspiration, 103; Menci us's view, 58, S9, 10], 108- 11 ; Mohist view, 51,55-56.90: role of sages, 2}-14. 64. 65-68,69-70, 7}-75. [17: Xici on, 8690; Xunri o n. 6~-70. Sa also Sages, role in creation

Do Dai Liji; ~ Yongbing,~ [29- }1, 138 Da Yu ding, 33 B

"Oa Zhuan (" Great Appendixn) to the Y"zjin:. see Xin Deities: arbiuariness. 27. 18; continuity with h umans, 19. 30. 31-}3, 34,}S; can· lrol of nalure, 26- 17; cults ofQin, II); di, 142; humani'l.c:d as sages, 93-94; inscriptions to, 15. 19: possi blc conflicts with human actions, 17-1S; relations with kings, 36. &t abo Creator gods; Mythology. Chi nese Deng, D uke, 198 Di (high god): arbi trariness, 18; inscriptions to, 15, 27; interchangeable with H eaven, 128n29: rituals, 1171'16; Z hou kings a.s descendants of, 19. 31-3}, 34, 35 Diderot, D<-nis, 7 Disordcr: created by Chi You, !O1, 116, Ill; cmergence of, 116, IIS -19. 181; Mencius on, 107. 110; order brought by Q in, 187; order brought by sages. 108, Ill-1}, 182-8~; use of violence to control, 107, 1)1 . &t also Rebels Divination, 28. Su also Inscriptions D ong Zhongshu, 166-67. 168, 169. 170. 177- 78,179. 161- 6}n93

Dou Ying, 198 Du Zhi, 114 Eastern Zhou, 37 Education: imroduction of, lOS Emperon, sa First emperor: Gaozu; Wudi Empire, creation of; dcbale on legitimacy of. 1, '-41: narrative in HllI1itUl,w, 15965; nuded in contO[t of time, 101- 1, 208; a.s rupture wilh pa.sr, 141, 141, 145, 189-90,109; Si ma Qian on, 177, 18[, 18~, IS7-88, 197. 101-1, 106-ll., 1717}n'}6: leruion between innovation and following pan. 206-ll., 110- 11, 214: transgression in, 175. 176, 106-7, llO-ll.. 114. 5« abo Centrali'l.c:d govern · ment; Han dynasty: Qin dynasty: State, creation of Enfcoffed lords: con Aicts with central power, n. 145, 164, 165. 18}-84. 19798; in H an period. 157-59, 197-98, 199. 100-101; rebellions. 151, I~S: under Xiang Yu. 149; in Zhou period, }7, 39. 145.IS6 Enfcoffmenl; dcbate in Qin cmpirc, 14S, 189-90; undcr Gaozu, 1~1 - 52, 163, 16~j, 191, 195-96; t~rms, 173; under Wud i, 158-59,168 Enlighlcnmem , 6-7, 9 Essai SIl' Us mtxUrs ~t l't1prit tks tUItions (Vohaire), 8, 9 Elhics, 155 European a nalyses of Chi nese culture, 3, 8, 14, 19; amhropological analyses, 14. I~. 18; comparisons 10 othcr ancien! cultures, 14- 15, 18, 10; in eighteenth century, 6-9; history s«n a.s Sial ic, 7-8, 9.10-11: in nineu:emh ccmury, 9- 11: in .sevcnteenth centu ry, 4- 6; in rwe mieth century, [1- 15 Executions. 106, 115 Exorcisms, 26 Ex quo Jingulari, 4

Z9 1

'9'

Index Femininity. 61, 8<4, 85

Fmg sacrifices, In; by fina emperor. 146, 10)-4; purpose, 173 - 74, IO}, 10,; by Wudi, IS9. 170-74. 178, 101- 6, 16S-

66n119 Fiction, 14 Firs! emperor: associa tion with early sages. 147; attempl$ to control independent lords, 145-46, 188, 189 - 90, 196; books proscribed, 148, 190; brnk with pas!, 189- 90; confliel with Ruisu. 146, lOJ4; as crUlor, 1- 2, 147; death, 1,,8i/mg

:md shan sacrifices. 146, lOl-4; hubris, 190; influence on later d ynast ies, 1]6; innovations, 188; inscripdons, I, ,,,6-47; palaces, I 'Hi parallels to Wudi, 101, 1034. lOS. 2.06; Sima Qian's prescmalion of, 188-91, 168n43; as [ide, '41- 43, IS8; as

trlwsgreuor, 109; vi~ of ancient sages, 175i weapons confisClicd by, 146. &t also Qin dynasty Five-power throt)' of governance, 143- 44.

lS I. '74 Flood, 109-10, 117

Force, IN Violence. organized Gan Long, 114 Gao Tao, 81 Gao Yao, ISJ Gaolu, emperor: acceptance of im perial title, 195, 196; account in Shiji, 19597; attempu to show legitimacy, 151, 163, ccmraliud governmen t, 150, 196; d~th, 158, 197: enfeoff"ed lands, lSI-51, 16), 16S, 191, 195-96: legal code, 15051, links with past, lSI, 163, 169-7on61; rebellions against, 151, 196, 197: n::btions with enfeofl'ed lords, 195-97: sacrifices,

.,.

Gerner, Jacques, I) Gods, Itt Creator gods, D eities Gong, King, 34 Gong Mengzi, 43, IJInI2 Gonggong, 128, 156m1.?

Index Gongsun Q ing, 170-71 Govemmem: Heaven as modd , 53. Stt also Centraliud governmen t Granet, Marcel, 14, 18-10, 93, 94. I}S - }8, 115ml, Greece: contrasted with Chinese culture. 3,7-9, (I-IS: culture disr.tnccd from nature, 7. II, 14- 15, 140, 114, reason and natural law, 4 Gu Jiegang, 9)-94 Guan Zhong, 115 GUIlnzi: "Dishu ,ft 115: "Wuxing," I)I - H, 1)9,2H-ssnIl5 Gun , 116-17, 13), 134, 135-}6, ls6n l19

Han Frizi, 156, 160, 14lnIl9: "Wudu,ft 77-78,160 Han, srate of, 149, 150 H an Xin, 191 H an dynasty: anempu to control independent states, 158, calendar and color, 159,174; centClllizcd government, 150, 158-59, 168-70, 171, 196, 197, 106: commandcry system, ISO, 158, 168-69, 196, con$Olidation of em pire. 141. 1.07, debates on centClllizcd government, IS859, cnfcolfcd lands. 157-59, 197-98, 199, 200-101; founding of, ISO, 151, 19597: institutions, 101, legitimacy, 1, lSI, 168: ministers, 197; power of earth, 174; power of water, 15[: problems. 157-58: revohs against, 158, 198, 10I; ruler's lide, ISO: as successor to Qin, 174-75, 107: as successor 10 Zhou, lSI. 168. Stt also Gaozu;Wudi Harmony, 73. 1}2. 162 Heaven: activity of, 75-76, 84: arrows shot at, 18-19: creation of landscape, 31}l; interchangeable with Di. n8n29; masculinity, 85; patterns used to create c ulture, 73-75; relationship to man. 57, 69-70,71; nillness of, 81-81, 84, 85: virtue generated from, 46, Zhou dei ty, 29, }O

Hegd, Georg Wilhdm Friedrich , 9-11

Htg'UIlnzi, 81, duing and aUlhorship, 141-4}1lI12, 24}-44011S; "lianu,ft 80 H enne, Carl, 14 Heroes, I} Hexagrams, 5, 88- 89, 156 He zun, 33-34 H istory: as accumulative, 173n98: cyclical, 16, 14}, 268n43, moral readings o f, 16; myths transformed into, 93: relationship with nature, 14}: role of authors in C hina, 256m}O: Si ma Q ian's view of, 201-2, 268n4}, 173n98;uagcs, 18 , natic. 7-8, 9, 10-11 ; transmission by hinorians, 16 Hou Ji , 19-30, Sz, 108, 109, lSi, 153· Stt also Ji H uai, King of Chu, 148-49 H uainan, 158, 159, 168, 197 HUIlinanzi, 81, 159-60, 160-61; ~ Bcnjing,~ 81; "Fanlun,~ 160- 65, 166, 161-62n91 Hum, Duke ofQi, Ill. 115, t55 Huan Tui, 46, 2}1.n}4, 131- )3n35 H uangdi: altars to, II}; C hi You as min· i5la, 100, I}I, 131-H. 1}6, as civilizing sage, 100, 134, 153, 175, 18}. 184-85, conflict with Chi You. 100, 111- 14, 115-26, 1}1.-}3, 18}-84; creation of Slate, 114, 116, 13}, 142, 148, 181-85: as creator, '}1-}2, 133: as humani zed Slu ngdi. 97, 246-47nI6, 148n}3: inventions, 88- 89; law established by, UO -lli ministers, 112,131, 1}1.-33, [}6: power of eanh, 14}; punishments created by, IIO - lJ; relalionship with Chi YOIl, 1}S; rdalions with cnfeoffed lords, 184; sacrifices at gCllve of. 171: .scribe. 12-2}; SttTI as mythological, 93-9 4, 98: symbolism in Wuring States tCXts. 98-100, IlSC of force, 112-13, liS, 116. Ill-13, 116, 184, 185; Wudi's illierest in, 170-71, 175, 176 Huangdi (t itle), 142- 4} " H uang_uo thoughl, 169 " H uangyit JI-Jj H

H umaneness. 44, 45-46, 49, 57, 75, 154, ISS. Stt alsD Monli!)' Human nature. 57, 67-69 Imperial institutions, s« Empire India, 14 Innovation, luCrea lion; Sages, rol e in creat ion Inscriptions: Bronze Age, 24, 25-1.8: Early Western Z hou , 18-}6; of the first emperor, I , 146- 47; meanings of zoo, 24; references to Huangdi , Ill, related to sickncs:s, 25-16; Western Zhou, 33-}6,

.

Intelligence. 73 Jan Yun·hua, 98 Jesuit missionaries. 4-5. 7 Ji, [a}, 134. 5uaiso Hou Ji Jia Yi, 158 lin, state of. 186 Jingdi (Jing, emperor), 158, '97, 197-98, 199, 100-101 Jingfo, "7-20, 1}8 Kang, King of Song. 18 Kang, King of Zholl. }3 Karlgren, Bernhard , 94, 97-98, 111 Kato Joken, 219 Keightley. David, 11- 1}, 209 Kings: arrows Shot at Heaven, 18-19; conscious activity, 8}: domestication of landscape, }I. }1-3); punishments used, 101-5; tdations with deities. }6; stillness o f, 6t; Zhou, 19, 30, }1.- H. }4, 35· Stt Enfeoffcd lords Kingship: Confucius on, 46; Gromer's view of emergence. 135-37, 2jSnllS; rise of, 18-19, 11.9. ~ abo State, creation of

aw

Lanb>uage: invention by sages, 71; invention of writing, 12-13, 81, 81 u02i: Confucius and, 136n71; criticisms of, 64, 66; d efinition of the way, 60-61;

'93

294

Index descriptions of sag('s, 84-85; influence, 85, uS, 161; opposition to artific(' and cultural implem('nts, 62-63, 66, 80: stillness of sages, 82: use of 1:UO, 61-62: view of creation, 60- 61: vocabulary, 59-60 Law: adminis[r.ltion through, 115, 144: creation of, 114-15; generated from nature, 1I8, 144; in Han dynasty, ISO -51; natural, 4 -~, 8; original lawgiver.;, 45; in Qin dynasty, 150: sages' roles, 118, 120-21 Le Blanc, Charies, 98-99 Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, 5-6, 7 Lewis, Mark Edward, 99-100, 132 Li Si, }7, 145, 148, 189 Liangfu, 146 Liji, 76, 95; "Yueji," 73-76 Ling, DukeofQing, tl3 Liu An, 159, 168, 169, See also Huainanzi Liu Bang, 149, 150, 192, 195- 97. 26970n62. Su also Gaozu, emperor Liu Pi, 198, 200 Loewe, Michael, 176 LuJia, 152-'j7. 160, 161, 166, 170, 260n56 Lunyu: composition of, 230n3: Confucius's vicw of morality and ritual action, 4351: images, 44- 45, 47, 59-60; sages' rol(' in creation, 57, 72, 73: STalements of Confucius, 40- 41, 76-77, 79- 80, 178 LUshi chu7Iqiu, 82-84, 85-86, 95, 2440127, 244-450141: ~ Dangbi ng,~ 128-29, 138: "Junshou," 81- 83: "Renshu," 83; "Wugong,» 83-84 "Lii xing~ (Shangshu); Chi You as rebclcreator, 124; creation of culture, 109, 116; retclling in Shangjunshu, 115; use of organized violence, 101-6, 107, 110, n6-17, t23, 138 Mair, Victor H., 13-14 Masculinity, 85, 135-36 Maspero, Henri, 14, 93, 94, 95 Mate ri al culture: creation of, 80-81, 82-

Index 84, 85-86; disjunction from nature, 80 -81; helpfulness, 82-8}; inspiralion for sages' creations, 88- 89; mastery of implemcnts, 70: sages' inventions, 50, 54-S), 70, 77, 81, 153, 154-55, 160: use opposed by Laozi, 62-63, 80-81. &t also Culture Mawangdui Laozi B, 239-40nllf, 251n78. See also Chmg;Jingfo: Shiliujing Mencius: claim that Confucius was sage who created, 56-57, 59, 167-68: craft imagery not used by, 58, 59: creation as artilice, 138; criticism of, 65; defi· nition of culture, 57: diffcrcnces from Mohim, 109, 235n62: on flood, 10910: Heavcn's rdationship to man, 57; on human nature, 57; on morality, 57-59, 65, 66: opposition to centralized rulc, 108, 110-11; on rituals, 57, 66; similarities (0 Laozi, 60; use of %UO, 56-'j7, 179; view of disorder, 107; view of emergence of culrure, 57-58, 59, 107, 108-11; view of sag~, 58-59, 60, 179, ~36n69; view of state use of violence, 110- 11, 138 M('talJurgy, 125, 1}5, 1}6, 2560129. &,.also Weapons Miao pcople, 101.- 4, 105-6, 116, 117, 123, 127,134,2560129 Military, 26. &,. also Violence, org;tnizcd; Warfare Mingtang, 158-59, 170, 171, 172, 260n66 Ministers: creation of culture, 82-84, 85- 86,108; in H an dynasty, 197; of H uangdi, 100, 131, 1}2-3}, 1}6; rdations with kings, 135-36; sages as, 2~6n69 Missionaries, Jesuit, 4-5, 7 Mohists: belief that sages creat('d culrural implements , 50, 54-55, 70, 77; on creation of cultu re, 51, 66-67, 77, 90; criticism of Confucian view of creation, 42- 4}, 50-51, 78-80; differences from Mencius, 109, 235n62; differences from Ruists, 163: Laozi's critiqucs of, 63: view of ceOiralized. rule, 106. See also Mozi

Morality, ZIO; as artilice, 65; Confucian, 43-51,56; as conscious activity, 65, 70; creation by sages, 65- 66, 71.: Mencius on, 57-'j9, 65, 66; as rooted in nature, 57-'j9, 66, 75: Xunu on, 6" 70. S« also Punishments Mote, Fredcrick W. , 12, 15 Mozi: ~Ciguo," 54, 58, 160, 234n5I: craft analogies, 51, 54-55: creation of punish. ments and weapons, 105- 7, I17: creadon of state, 1}9; "Fayi,H53; "]ieyong, shang," 107; myths recorded by, 95; relationship belW«n Heaven and man, 51-5}: sages as active cr('ators, 105, 117; sages menrione.::!, 93; "Shangtong, shang,H IOj; "Tlanzhi, 7.hong," 51; use of %UO, 50. &,. also Mohists Mu, King, 101-5, 1.47-48n29 Music, 73-75, 76 Mythology: tricbter figures, 134 Mythology, Chinese, 92-98, 99-100, 182 Names: creation of, 71-72 Narrative genres, 13, 14 Nature: appropriation by sages, 125, 11.6, 154-55; comrolled by deities, 26- 27: cycles related to human history, 16; disjunction of human activity, 63, 65, 81; domestication of landscape. 31, 32-33, 36, 49, )2-53; effects of human craftsmanship, 47: European understandings of Chinese views of, 5-6, 7-10, 12-14; as gcnerative process, 90-91; human relationships with, ,6, 1}2, 1}6: Laozi's vicw of, 63; relationship to state, 19, 117zo, 121, 136-37, 140; stillness of, 61.. &,. also Culture, continuity with nature; Culture, discontinuity from nature Nature, patterns of: appropriate.::! by sage5, 154-55: creation by Heaven, 51-5}: his· tory reflecting, 143; poetry taken ftom , z,; punishments rela ted to, 121: raise.::! up or imitated by sages, 22-23, 24, 79, 152-53, 156,162,167,180, 2t3; Statc mod-

eled on, 119, Ill; lransmitted by sages, 47-49,5°,57,86-9° North Star analogy, 46, 48 Oracle inscriptions, 28- 29, 31, 35 Order: Confucius on, 46. Sa also Disorder Papal bulls, 4 Past: cemraliud govcrnment seen as rupture with, 141, 14" 146-47, 189-90; discominuity with, 194-95, 210, 214: importance of prece.::!ent in statccrarr, 1,2; innovation consistem with following, 156-57; tension with creation, 160-61, 207, z09, 211. &,. also Classics Patterns, 44- 45, 50, 55. &t also Nature, patterns of Peng Yu(', 192 Phases, livc, 131. Phiiosophyof Right (Hegel), 9- 10 Poetry: creation of, Z3; Shi, 1.8, 29-H; use of 1:UO in Zhou, 30, 31, 32, 36; Western Zhou, 36, 38 Political thought: fivc-power theory of gov· crnance, 143-44, lSI, 174; Western views of Chi nese, I} Primitivism, 80-81 , 2430124, z43- 440125 Punishments: created by minister, 82; crealcd by sages, 105-6, 153; death, 106, liS; introduction of, 101-6, 110, 120-21: necessity, 104: purpose, 106; rclationship to nature, 121, 123: use by sages, 105, 106: used by Miao, 10Z-4, 105-6, 116, 117, 123: used by Qin, 155, 157 Qi, state of, 112, 149, 186 Qin dynasty: attempts to comrol independent lords, 145-46, 149, 188, 189-90, 196; break with past, 141, 142, 145, 146-47,1.48,189-90: centralized govemmem, 145-46, 149, 188, 189: fall of, 149, 192-95, 203; fiv(' . powcr theory of governance, t43 - 44: formation of empire, 1, 141, 142, 18'j-88; historical

295

296

Index imponance, 186-87; inslitutions, I.p, 141, 174-75, 176; later critiques of. 1,6. 161-63,166-67.168; legal codc. 150; Icgirimacyof, 148. 156; ~r of water, 144; punishmcnu, ISS, 157; rcbclliolU. 148-49; ruler's titlc, 141-'0, 188;secood emperor, 148. 149. ISS; as unending, 14}, ' 41, 147· Su ttIs4 Firsl cmperor Qing Bu. 158, 197 Qin stale. IIj. 111- '5, '45, '49. 18,-86 Qishan, }0-}1 Rcaliry: ChillC$e view of, 14 Rebels, 1560119; disturbances, 118-l9; Gun, 116-17, IB, 114, 1}5-}6; H uangdi 's demuclion of, 18j-84; liu Bang as, 149,150,191; org.tniud violence associatcd wit h, 124-17, 1304; aga insl Qin dyn:l5ty, 148-49; Qing Bu, 197; relations with sages, 1}5-}6, 138; roles in creation of state, 138; weapons created by, 1}8; Xlang Yu, 192-95_ Sualso Chi You Rel igion: Buddhism. 11; comparisons of Western and Chinese, 11; culu of Q in, II}; Europan proofs of cxistence of God. ' 7; lad: of distinction from cullUre, 9-10, Su o/w Christianity; Mythology, Chi nese Ricci , Manco, 4' S Rituals: bill, U7n6; in Bronze Age, 15; c reation by sages. 6,-66, 71. 7}-15, 116, IB: cuJlUre a!i. So. ]0, 7}; Mencius on, S7; practiced by sages, 46; reb.tionship to OlI.lUre, 47: taught by sages, I S}- See also Fmg sacrifices: S!mll sacrifices Ruisu: classics taught by, 161, 158n11: criticism of first emperor's sacrifices, 146. 20}-4; diffefences from Mohins, [6}; Wudi and, 104 Ru lers, su Empire; Enfeolfed lords; Kings Sacrifices, SC'e Fmg sacrifices; Shall sacrifices Sages: chronology, 150n6,; Confucius as, ,6-57.59,167-68, 177-78,179: Con-

Index rucius on foHowing, 40; first emperor associated wi th, 147; five di, I , 118, 141, 147. 115m: a!i hu manized gods, 9}-94: Laozi's dcscriprion of, 84-8,: Mencius's view 0(, 58-59. 60; as min iners. 1}6n69; mi nisters of. loS. 138; Mohist view of, 54: moral roles, 58-,9; orner restored by, 111-1}: relations wil h rebels, 1}5-j6, 1j8; self-cultivation, [64, 16,; stillness of, 60, 6}, 81, 84, 84, 85; USC' of force, l iS: usc of punishm~nrs, l OS, 106 Sages, role in aC3tion: appropriate fOf changing times, i\"4-55, 1,6-~7' 16061, 165, 170; appropriation of natural patterns, tH-S5: a!i argument for ecntralized government, IS6, 160; Confucius on, 41, 49-S0, H; conscious activity. n, 67, 77-78, 86, 214; construction, [81; of culture, 64, 65-68, 69-70, 7375, "7; desc ribed in " Yucji ,~ 73-75, 76; generation of culture, 70, 71; harmony with nature, 161- 61: Heav~n's pallerns used. to create cult ure, 73-15; imi ta tion or raising up of natural panerns, 11-1}, 79,119, 152-5}, 1,6, 161, 167. 180, 21}; inventions, 11.-14, SO. \"4 -55. 71-72, n, 88-89, 153-55. 160: lad: of conscious action, 57-59. 6}, 79, 80, 81-81, 84: law gener-ned by. 118; Mohin view, 51. 545S: a!i organizers rat her than creators, 55. 103, loS-II, 110-21, 127, 128, Ijl, 134. , }B-}9, 115; punishments Cleated by, 105-6. IS}; of ritual and music, 73-75; Sima Qian on. 179-81, 114; of state. 119, 1}8, 139, 148: transmission of natural pallcrns, 47-49, So, S7. 86-90: use of ministers, 82-84; Xiri on, 86-90; XUnli on, 6" 71-71. Sa a/.so Huangdi Sanctiond Violmu in EIlrly China (Lewis), 99- 100 Schuess ler, Axd, 111 Science, 6, 9 Seasons, 131 Shamanism, IS

4; purpose, 103; by Wudi, 159, 170-74.

than create, 178; on Confucius, 17778; criticism of centralized govern ment, 187,101; on dangers of innovation. 100; fint emperor's stele. J; as historian. 16. In. t89-9O; purpose of Shiji, 178-79, 181; tension between innovation:llld following past, 106-12. 114: usc of =0, 178-79; view of empire, 171-73n96; view of history, 101-1, 168n43, 273n98; o n Wudi's interest in sacrifices, 170-73See also Shiji ~Si wen," 19-}0

178,101-6,26,-66m19

Sktfth for a HisttJri(ai Pittuff oftIN Human

Shang, 10m of, 114- 15 Shang Yang. 114, [41, 14S Shangd i, 97. 146- 47nl 6. 148n}} Sh:lllgdynasty, 18, IS - 18, }1,}3, 144 Shangjll1/Shu, 1}9. I'll, 148, 1\"4, 156, 160, 187; "Gengfa; 114- 15, 181, 18}: ~ H uace,~ 115- 17, 184, 183 ShaIlKfhll, 16, 28. j8, 14'; ~ Hongfan .~ 117; M ~Yaodian,~ 1l7. Sa also "Ui xing

Shanhllijing, 9}, 126 Shan sacrifices: by first emperor, 146. 10}-

Shen Gong, [70 -7' "Sheng min: 19 Shenn ong, 88, tis, ' 53, 181- 8}, 184, 150n67 Shi, 18, 29-33,49. 9} Shibm, 95, 151-53n91; "Zuopian," 115, t17. 251-n n 9 1 Shiji: " Biography of Bo Yi ,~ 179- 81; Chao Cuo chapter, 197-101; cfeation of empire, In, 181, 185, 187-88. 197, 201-2, 206-1l; " Fengsh:lll shu," 101- 6; Han dynasty, 195-97, 201-j, 169-70n61; moral S[;l.tements, 179; myths tcwrinen in, 95; narraTive of emergence of State. 182-8S; "Pingjun shu; 101-3, 106; purpose, 178-79. 182; Q in empire. 141-43, 185-87. 188-91, ' 92-95, 10}, 268n43; Qin S[;l.le, II}; relationship to dassics, In-8I; Wu Vi story, 18 Shiliujing, 15-76, 117- 18. 110- 14, Ijl, Ij8; "Wuz.heng." 112; "Zhcngluan," 11}-24 Shi Qiang fil",}4- 35 Shirakawa Shizw, 2[9 Shu;, 115 Shu Qi, 180-81 Shujing, 93 Shun , 88-89, 9}-94, 108, "5, 117 Shun, Kin g, 46 Shuo wm ji~ zi (Xu Shen). 11- 1}, }6, 11} Sickness: inscript ions rel ated to, 15-16 Sima Qian : birth oall:, 166m; claim to c reate, 179, 18t: claim 10 transmit ra ther

Milld (Condorcet), 6-7 SocialstruCiures. }9, [}6, 151-53 Spn-ng and Autumn Annals, 56-57, '9, 157, 167- 68, t77.179 State. creation of: anributcd to H uangdi, 114, 116, IB; as break wit h nature, 19, 136-j7, 140; debate on, 139-40, [85; fi rsl stratum of Warring Statcs tCXts, 101-11. 134; Hegel on, 10; narratives of, 1I5-16, 1}7-39, 182- 85; rooted in natu r~. 11710,111; sages' roles, 119. 138. 1}9, 148; second strarum of Warring States tCXts. 1I1- lj, 13}. 1304. Sa 4istJ Centralized government; Empirc. creation of; Violence, organi zed Statecraft, 152 S[iIlness: association with femin inity, 84; of Eart h, 75-76. 8-4: of H e:tvc:n, 81-82, 84 • 85; of humans, 46; of kings, 61: of nature, 62; of sages, 50, 63, 81. 81, 84 , 8, Su n Zuoyun. 14 Tai, King , 30, 35 Tai, Mount, 146, 171-72, 10} "Jhrcc: dynasties period, 15), 154, '55 Tian H e, 111, 186 T ian ru lcrs, [11 "Ti an 1.UO," )0-31 Transgression: in creation of empire:, 175, 176, 106-7,110- 11,1[4; in creation of state, 19,1}6-)7, 140; in Greek view of

'297

Indc:x culture, 140, J.14' in human creation, 79, 80-81, laler views of first emperor, 175, 176: reconciled by $ages, 175, 106-7_ Sa IlUO CullUrc. discontinui ty from nature Tricksters, '}4 Trigrarru. n. 1}. 87 Tu Wei-Ming, 11, IS Twi lChel[, D. C, '9 Vioknce, organized, use by state: acceptance by Mohist5, 106-7: approaches 10 issue, tit, 116-17, IH: associalion wi th H uangd i, tI1- t}, 115. 116, t11 - 1}, 116,184. 185: in lroduclion. 101-5, 1}2, I}}, '}4. 1}6, 1}9-40: legitimacy. 117, 119, tJ8, 139; rebel-creatOrS ;md, ' 2417,1)4; roo led in nature, 119- Sa abo Punishments: Weapons Voltaire, 8-9 Wang Wan. 145 Warfare, 117. 119. Sa auo Violence, organiud Warring Slates period: centralized states, 99- 100. 1I}; cosmology. 75-76, independence of enfcaffed lords, 37, 145, 186; political devclopment5, 39, 50cialmucture, }9. I}6; technological dcvdopment5, 39-40 Warring Siales to:u: creation of Slale, 101-11, 1}4: Granet's analy5is of, 18- J.o; historical context , 99-100, tH, motifs, 1}4-}S; myths reconstructed from, 9}96,97,98,99-100; origins of state, 101, 133. 1}4; rela tio nship to myths. 96-98, I}} ; Statements on etntio n, 16 Weapons: confiscation by firs t emperor, 146; creation by Chi You, 100, 125, 126. 136, 248n] l; creation of, 106-7, 126, 1}8; moral uses, 129- }O, 131, 185; roOted in nature, 128, I}O-}I. $u abo Violence, organized Wei, Duke of Qi, III Wei, Slate of, 149

Wen, Duke, of Jin, 112 Wen, King, 30, n, 35, 47-48 Wendi, emperor, 158, 197, 198, 201 Western cullures: arbitrary despotism, 7, 9; contrasted with C hincsc culture , 14IS; culture dioitanc:ed from nalu re, 6-9, 11,14-15, t40' 214. Suahq Europe.m :uulyses of C hincsc cultucc; Greece Writing, invention of, 11-23, 8" 82 Wu, King, 33-}4,}S, }7, 145 Wu, state of, 158, 198, 199 Wu Yi, 18 Wudi (Wu, emperor): account in Ship, 202-6, J.07; adherence to da5.5ies, 181 ; association with Huangdi, '70-71, 175, 1]6: centralized governmenl, 158-59, 168-70, 175, 197, 198, 206: consolidation of emp ire, 141, J.07; Do ng's memorial s to, 166- 67, 168; econo mic pulicies, 169,202; enfeoffed lands, 158-59, 168; expansion of empire, 169;ftng and shlln sacrifices, 159, 170-74, 178, 2026, 265-66nt29; legitimacy, 169, 170-74; Mingnng built by, 158-59, '70, 171, 172.; parallels [Q first emperor, 102, 20}4, 2.05, 206; power of earth, 174, 175: primitivist tendencies in reign of, 81; $acri6ccs. 264-65 nIl 6; Sima Qian's view of, 178, 181 Wudi ng, King. 2S Xi Zhong, In Xia kingdom, 143-44 Xiang, DukeofQin, ,8~-86 Xiang Liang, 148-49, 192 Xiang Yu, 148-50, 192-95, 196, 269-70n62 Xianyang, 145 Xianyuan, 1« Hu angdi Xiao, Duke of Qin, t1 4 Xiri, 261-62 n92; cosmo logy, 86; culture c reated by sages, 86; influence, 23, 152, 156,165-66; relationship of nature and culture, 86-90, 162, sages' imitation of natural pan erns, 24, 156, 160

Xie,108

Xinyu, 152-57;

~Daoji,~

152.

Xu Shen, 22.-23, 21} Xunu: authorship of XMnzi, 237n82: craft ;malogies, 66-67; definition of the Wlly, 72; on human nature, 67-69, on innovation. ]O-n; ~Lil un,~ 68-69; relat ionship between culture and nllture, 64-70; o n sages' crea tion of culture , 65-68, 69-70, ISS: ~ Tianl un," 67-68; treat ment of Heaven, 238-39 n96: use of !GIIO, 71-730 74; view of morality, 6,; view of relationship bctw« n culture ;md nature, 76, 91; vocab ulary, 64-65: MZhengming ," 67 Van Hui, 180 Van Ran, 122 Van, stale of, 149 Yandi, 183, 184 Yang Kuan, 94, 97 Yang Zhu, 235n62 Yllnri, fun, 170, 264nt II Yao, 47, 88-89. 93-94, loS, liS Yi, 108 Yi, 86-87, 180 Yi Yin, 59, 2}6n69 Yijing, 5. Sec also Xiri Yizhowhu, 28 Yoshioka, Gen-Ichiro, 2-19-20. 224 Yu, to}, loS, 109-10, 127, 153 Yuan Ang, 198, 200 Yua n Ke, 95-96. 98 "Yueji,~ set:

lip

Zeng Xiantong, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, lU, 22},224 ZhanguOCt, 18

Zhao, 5tal e of, 149 Z heng, king of Qin. 141. fit, alsfl FiUl em peror Zh i, Robber, 180 Zh ifu, Mount , 147 Zhou dynasty: bronze inscriptions, H -}6; ConfucillS on, 41; conqucsu, }3- }4; dedine, }6-37, 104; Eao;tern , 37; enfcofred lands, }7, 39, '45, 186; growth of Slale, 3'; inscriptions in ElIrlyWcstern, J.8-36; kings as descendants of H eaven, 29, 30, }2-3},}4, }S; later pt:rceptio ns of,}738, lineage, 34-35: poetry, 28, 29-33, 49; power of fire, 144; relations with independent statcs, 39: settlement at Qishan, )0-}2. Stt abo Warring Stales period Zimuli: " Kaogongji,~ 76-77; myths rewri n en in, 95 Zhuangzi, 81, 243 m24; "Zhibeiyou,~ 79, 80 Zigong, 45, 48, 79-80 Zihou, 205 Z iyin g, Ki ng of Qin, t49 , 150 Zu,,: as 'activity', 61- 62, 76: as 'construct ', J.7; as 'CR'ate', 2}-2-4, 77; as 'raising up' o r 'making arise', 2}, 74-75, 76, 180; Confucius' usc of, 40, 49-50; as consciollS creation, 79: defin ition in lip, n; etymology, 24, as imiution of natucc's PlIllerns (Xiri), 87- 90: in itiation of con Rkt, 122: Laozi's use of, 61- 62; Mencius's usc of, 56-57, 179; Mohist view, So, SS; philological discussions, 217-24; Sima Q ian's usc of term, 178-79; usc in Bronu Age inscriptions, 23-2.4, 27; usc in Z hou dynaJ;ty poetry, }O, 31, 32, }6; Xunzi's use of, 71-n, 74 lou Yan, 143 ZlIowuan, '3, II)

199