Tang StudiesPub Date : 2014-12-01DOI: 10.1179/0737503414Z.00000000013
D. Mcmullen
{"title":"THE EMPEROR, THE PRINCES, AND THE PREFECTURES: A POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE PU’AN DECREE OF 756 AND THE FENGJIAN ISSUE","authors":"D. Mcmullen","doi":"10.1179/0737503414Z.00000000013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/0737503414Z.00000000013","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article analyzes four inter-related themes that influenced Emperor Xuanzong’s 756 Pu’an decree dividing the empire into four commands and issued while he was fleeing the An Lushan rebels: the succession, the record of the princes as military commanders and provincial administrators, Xuanzong’s perspective on the Princes’ Revolt of 688, and the debate among Tang scholars about fengjian. This issue is key to understanding Pu’an episode, as marking a turning point, after which fengjian became less an issue for immediate court political decision and more a recurrent theme in general statecraft discourse.","PeriodicalId":41166,"journal":{"name":"Tang Studies","volume":"74 1","pages":"47 - 97"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2014-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86984360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tang StudiesPub Date : 2013-12-01DOI: 10.1179/0737503413Z.0000000009
Carla Nappi
{"title":"RECYCLING HISTORY","authors":"Carla Nappi","doi":"10.1179/0737503413Z.0000000009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/0737503413Z.0000000009","url":null,"abstract":"We historians of China talk a lot about the importance of material culture. Bowls, shoes, objects made of iron or porcelain or cloisonné: these increasingly figure in the stories we tell ourselves, our readers, and our students. These objects, either in their own physical reality or in our historical reconstructions, are often whole: plates, bowls, robes, incense burners. As actors in many of our stories, they are (or are reconstructed to be) intact and functional tools. What we do not often narrativize in explicit terms is what makes up the bulk of the material historical record: broken things, fragments, dust. History is mostly made out of garbage. Of course we know this already, and it will not come as a surprise to any readers of this article. But how often do we celebrate it as a scatter of broken things, as garbage, rather than briefly holding it in place while we try to glue it back together and set it in narrative motion? In Silk Road studies, we have a model for charting a path into a new kind of material historiography. Not: Here is a book that sat on that shelf of this scholar’s library. Instead: Here is a rotting, ripped scrap of paper, let us engage with it as scrap, and in doing so embrace the garbage heap as writing surface and storybook, the scatter of broken bits as historical archive, without immediately narrating them back into pristine wholeness. The history of the Silk Road, as Valerie Hansen tells us in her recent The Silk Road: A New History, was ‘‘most commonly written on recycled paper.’’ It is richer and more self-reflexive than many other historical fields because of this, and is well worth a serious look by historians of other regions and periods for its thoughtful and innovative consideration of the historical craft of turning the raw materials of many media into a compelling historical account. There are some consistent approaches to writing histories built on archives of the discarded. A study of recycled objects is a study of objects in motion. It necessarily pays attention to the media through which this movement happens (time, space) and the sort of movement happening (circulation, translation, preservation) at any given point in the object’s life. The main themes and approaches in Silk Road studies tend to coalesce around points of concern with these media and forms of motion. They consequently function as useful landmarks when mapping any kind of a journey","PeriodicalId":41166,"journal":{"name":"Tang Studies","volume":"21 1","pages":"75 - 90"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2013-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81788964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tang StudiesPub Date : 2013-12-01DOI: 10.1179/0737503413Z.0000000007
N. Williams
{"title":"THE TASTE OF THE OCEAN: JIAORAN’S THEORY OF POETRY","authors":"N. Williams","doi":"10.1179/0737503413Z.0000000007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/0737503413Z.0000000007","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This essay seeks to place Jiaoran’s 皎然 views on poetry in the context of contemporary religious developments and also in relation to the literary heritage of the Six Dynasties. Jiaoran’s key concept of zuoyong 作用 “creating an effect” is likely influenced by the Chan belief in the identity of practice and insight, as in the sermons of Mazu Daoyi 馬祖道一. Jiaoran’s views on the poetry of the past, like his theory of composition, typically assign priority to idiosyncratic styles or literary innovations over the continuity of tradition. In this respect he stands in stark contrast with Liu Xie 劉勰, and an extended contrast of the two critics demonstrates how innovative Jiaoran can be even when his critical vocabulary is conservative. Jiaoran’s special admiration for Xie Lingyun 謝靈運 also tends to elevate Xie outside of his historical milieu, as Jiaoran attributes his greatness to transcendent spiritual insight. Throughout his work Jiaoran asserts the Chan-like view that a moment of poetic creativity can outweigh centuries of tradition.","PeriodicalId":41166,"journal":{"name":"Tang Studies","volume":"30 1","pages":"1 - 27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2013-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80361306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tang StudiesPub Date : 2013-12-01DOI: 10.1179/0737503413Z.0000000008
Shao-yun Yang
{"title":"“WHAT DO BARBARIANS KNOW OF GRATITUDE?” — THE STEREOTYPE OF BARBARIAN PERFIDY AND ITS USES IN TANG FOREIGN POLICY RHETORIC","authors":"Shao-yun Yang","doi":"10.1179/0737503413Z.0000000008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/0737503413Z.0000000008","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This essay argues that, in Tang foreign policy discourse, the stereotype of a moral dichotomy between barbarian perfidy and Chinese trustworthiness was primarily a tool for rhetorical posturing, deployed to justify making war on foreign peoples with whom the Tang had a prior peace agreement. This is demonstrated through close analysis of the political rhetoric surrounding Tang relations with neighboring steppe or Central Asian powers during the periods 625–645 and 734–739, with particular attention to contextualizing the rhetoric of the emperors Taizong and Xuanzong. The essay also presents a new interpretation of the famous 630 debate over the resettlement of the Eastern Türks, arguing that the rhetoric of perfidy, loyalty, and moral or cultural transformation in which that debate was conducted obscures its origin in a pragmatic strategic dilemma that could not be openly expressed.","PeriodicalId":41166,"journal":{"name":"Tang Studies","volume":"39 1","pages":"28 - 74"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2013-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86781946","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tang StudiesPub Date : 2012-12-01DOI: 10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000002
Manling Luo
{"title":"WHAT ONE HAS HEARD AND SEEN: INTELLECTUAL DISCOURSE IN A LATE EIGHTH-CENTURY MISCELLANY","authors":"Manling Luo","doi":"10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper is a case study of the Feng shi wenjian ji 封氏聞見記 (Record of Things Heard and Seen by Mr. Feng) by Feng Yan (fl. 750–800). Because of the views on contemporary political and social life its diverse materials offer, scholars have often treated this collection as an important reservoir of historical information. Here I examine the work as an innovative project undertaken by Feng Yan within a particular historical context. Combining the traditional reportage-style miscellany and the genre of the discourse (lun 論), Feng Yan transforms the wenjian ji into a new mode of independent intellectual exploration. He not only creates an order of knowledge that decentralizes court authority, but also establishes a distinct style of analytical inquiry to achieve what he considers to be a true understanding of the world’s diverse phenomena. His strategies of organization and discussion illustrate an emergent trend of using the miscellany as a flexible yet serious medium of self-expression in the late medieval period.","PeriodicalId":41166,"journal":{"name":"Tang Studies","volume":"95 1","pages":"23 - 44"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2012-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79253763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tang StudiesPub Date : 2012-12-01DOI: 10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000004
Michael A. Fuller
{"title":"DEFINING THE SOVEREIGN BODY","authors":"Michael A. Fuller","doi":"10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000004","url":null,"abstract":"Jack W. Chen’s Poetics of Sovereignty is an ambitious study of Tang Taizong’s corpus of texts and its roles in the political and cultural transformations of the Zhenguan era. Chen is ambitious on three levels. First, he makes strong claims for the role Taizong’s writings played in shaping his rule. Secondly, Chen examines texts that have been explored by major scholars of Tang history and literature writing in English and offers new interpretations within a distinctive analytic framework. Finally, he seeks to broaden this framework to include hermeneutic perspectives that make it accessible to scholars of European traditions. While Chen does not fully succeed in all aspects of this ambitious program, his accomplishments remain significant and are an important contribution to our thinking about the role of literary practice in middle-period Chinese culture and society.","PeriodicalId":41166,"journal":{"name":"Tang Studies","volume":"14 1","pages":"70 - 85"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2012-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85509249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tang StudiesPub Date : 2012-12-01DOI: 10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000001
P. Kroll
{"title":"ZHANG JIULING AND THE LYCHEE","authors":"P. Kroll","doi":"10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Preface. When asked to contribute a piece in honor of Elling Eide’s scholarship to this journal whose publication he so generously supported for many years, I thought first of offering something on Li Bo 李白, the Tang poet most admired by both of us, about whom we have both written, and whom we also discussed often with each other at length. But that would be predictable, and Elling was anything but predictable. My thoughts turned instead to his appreciation of rare plants, especially subtropical fruit. Combined with Elling’s fondness for the court of Xuanzong and his lifelong dedication to the practice of translation, the specific choice of topic was then obvious.","PeriodicalId":41166,"journal":{"name":"Tang Studies","volume":"94 1","pages":"22 - 9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2012-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83572872","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tang StudiesPub Date : 2012-12-01DOI: 10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000003
Andrew J. Eisenberg
{"title":"EMPEROR GAOZONG, THE RISE OF WU ZETIAN, AND FACTIONAL POLITICS IN THE EARLY TANG","authors":"Andrew J. Eisenberg","doi":"10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/0737503412Z.0000000003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This essay analyzes the key participants in the factional struggle that resulted in the enthronement of Wu Zetian as Empress in late 655 by exploring in detail the shifts of high imperial personnel during the height of the factional struggle from 652 through 655 and emphasizing the direct role of the throne in cooperation with the Tang general and courtier, Li Ji 李勣, in advancing the throne’s agenda against the Zhangsun Wuji 長孫無忌 clique. For this early period Wu Zetian is understood as a willing tool of the throne’s factional agenda. Close attention is focused on Li Ji and his earlier linkages with Gaozong, Wu Zetian, and her maternal relatives, in particular. The essay concludes with a discussion of the royal couple’s extended tour of Bingzhou 并州 in 660 and the relevance of this tour to the accelerated program of dynastic legitimation following the successful elimination of the entire Zhangsun clique by 659. The Bingzhou experience will lead the throne into unprecedented experiments in the manipulation of sacred Buddhist relics for the purpose of dynastic legitimation.","PeriodicalId":41166,"journal":{"name":"Tang Studies","volume":"37 1","pages":"45 - 69"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2012-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86907358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tang StudiesPub Date : 2012-12-01DOI: 10.1179/0737503412z.0000000006
Michael R. Drompp, P. Kroll, V. Mair, David R. Knechtges
{"title":"IN MEMORIAM: ELLING O. EIDE","authors":"Michael R. Drompp, P. Kroll, V. Mair, David R. Knechtges","doi":"10.1179/0737503412z.0000000006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1179/0737503412z.0000000006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41166,"journal":{"name":"Tang Studies","volume":"35 1","pages":"2 - 8"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2012-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78022283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}