Ji'an Literati and the Local in Song-Yuan-Ming China (China Studies)

Ji'an Literati and the Local in Song-Yuan-Ming China

•

Ina Published for the Institute for Chinese Studies University of Oxford

Editors

Glen Dudbridge Frank Pieke

VOLUME 1 3

•

i'an Literati and the Local in Song-Yuan-Ming China By

Anne Gerritsen

.;:,"

,,£G/ll

..., "'"

,..

?.(

to

...

,.. �

I

�

'/68"

,,::..

BRILL

LEIDEN BOSTON 2007 •

On the cover : Fragment of a Song dynasty inscription in the Jishui County Museum, Jiangxi province. Photograph by author. This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISSN 1 570- 1 344 ISBN 978 90 04 1 5603 6 © Copyright 2007 by Koninklijke Brill NY, Leiden , The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NY incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,

IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NY provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 9 1 0, Danvers, MA 0 1 923, USA. Fees are subject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS

To my parents

CONTENTS List of Maps .............................................................................. A Note on Translations and the Use of Chinese Characters ... Acknowledgements .................................................................... List of Abbreviations .................................................................

.

.

.

Chapter One Introduction

...

.

. . . . . . . .................. . . . . 0 ••••••••••••••••••••

Chapter Two Sacred Landscape in Southern Song and Yuan Jizhou

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Chapter Three Literati and Community ...............................

.

IX •

Xl

•

Xlll •• •

xv 1 21 47

Chapter Four Imagining Local Belonging in Southern Song and Yuan Jizhou

65

Chapter Five Other Ways of Being Local in Southern Song .. . and Yuan Jizhou

99

............ . . . . . .. . . . ................. . . .................. . . . . ......

.......

.

. . . ..................... ....... . . . . ............ . . . . .. . . . . .

Chapter Six Local Temples in Early Ming: The Central View

1 13

Chapter Seven Late Ming Ji'an: A New Sacred Landscape? ............. , ... .. .. .. .. ........ .. .. ... .. . .. .. . .. .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .. . ..

1 53

Chapter Eight Temples and Literati Communities in Late . M·lng J1' an .................................. ............................................

1 77

.............. . . . . . . . . ................... . . . . . . ................... . . ....................

.

Chapter Nine Other Ways of Being Local in Ming Ji'an ...... 201 Appendix ....... .................................. ....... ............ ..................... .... 23 1 Bibliography . . ......................... ............................ ............ 235 Index ..... ................ ........................... ............ ....... ......... ............... 247 ............

.

LIST OF MAPS Map 1 . Map 2. Map 3. Map 4. Map 5. Map 6. Map 7 .

Provinces of Ming China Southern Song prefectures of Jiangxi Southern Song Jizhou and its counties Southern Song sites . Counties in Ming Ji'an prefecture Ming prefectures of Jiangxi .. ....... ..... ....... ........... ... .... ... Xu Xiake in Ji'an

..............................................

...........................

................. . . . . . . . .

.......................................... .............

..............................

.

..........................................................

2 3 10 24 1 15 1 54 1 58

A NOTE ON TRANSLATIONS AND THE USE OF CHINESE CHARACTERS The religious buildings that figure in the pages that follow are difficult to classify. I have, on the whole, relied on the typology used in the local gazetteers for the area, although that typology does not capture the often richly varied nature of the actual religious practices that might have taken place at such sites. Generally, I have rendered miao m as 'shrine', si � as 'temple' or 'monastery', guan II! as 'abbey' or 'Dao­ ist monastery', an ml: as 'chapel' and yuan IlJt as 'cloister', but these should not be taken as indicating categorical distinctions. Temples for the god of walls and moats (chenghuang ��lj[) have been rendered either as 'Temple for the god of walls and moats' or 'Chenghuang temple'. Chinese characters have been provided for all transliterated Chinese terms, place names, and personal names where they are first men­ tioned. Please see the bibliography for the Chinese characters in titles and authors quoted in the footnotes and for the translations of titles in other languages.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Over the years, I have accumulated many debts, and I am grateful to have this opportunity to acknowledge my gratitude. My teacher at Harvard University, Professor Peter Bol, has not only been supportive and insightful at many crucial junctures in my academic development, but also provided the initial inspiration for this project when he first taught his graduate seminar onJinhua in 1 993-1994. The dissertation that finally emerged from that initial inspiration benefited greatly from his guidance, and that of Professors Philip Kuhn and Robert Hymes. Barend ter Haar, Wilt Idema, and Harriet Zurndorfer deserve thanks for the inspiration their teaching provided when I was an undergraduate at the Sinologisch Instituut in Leiden, and for their ongoing support. I am grateful for the help I have received over the years from the library staff in the Harvard-Yenching Library, the library of the Sinolo­ gisch Instituut in Leiden, the Cambridge University Library, the Bod­ leian Library in Oxford, the Shanghai Library, the Jiangxi Provincial Library, and Jiangxi Normal University Library. On my first trip to Jiangxi, my travels were generously supported by a Packard Dissertation Completion Fellowship. Kenneth Dean put me in touch with Professor Liang Hongsheng ��1: of Jiangxi Normal University. Liang Hong­ sheng, Gao Liren (JjiLA, and Wu Wei �� travelled with me inJi'an in April 2000 and opened my eyes to the importance of 'fieldwork'. In 2002 and 2005, my research in Ji'an was funded by grants from the British Academy, and in 2006 by the Universities' China Committee in London. I am grateful above all to Liang Hongsheng for making my travels inJi'an not only possible, but so worthwhile. He introduced me to the county museum directors inJi'an, who in turn accompanied us to the many hidden treasures under their care. I am grateful especially to the Jishui museum director, Li Xilang ** M, and to the many 'local' men and women who welcomed me to their villages and almost made me feel I 'belonged'. Peter Bol, Paul Ropp and WP. Gerritsen read earlier versions of the manuscript in its entirety, and their comments have been extremely helpful. Fokke Gerritsen offered crucial help with producing the maps included here. The maps of Jiangxi and Ji'an were initially generated using the China Historical Geographic Information System (CHGIS,

XIV •

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Version: 3.0), and I am grateful to Merrick Lex Berman for his assist­ ance. My thanks also to Patricia Radder and Albert HoffStiidt at Brill, and to the anonymous reader. Irene Anderson and Peter King both read several chapters, and offered extremely useful suggestions for their reshaping and clarification, for which I am very grateful. I thank Bernard Capp and Margot Finn, who ploughed through the entire manuscript, and saved me from many infelicities. Many others have read parts of this work, listened to and offered comments on talks, or have contributed in ways they may not even have been aware of, and I am grateful to them all. The responsibility for all remaining errors lies, of course, entirely with me. For academic encouragement, moral support, and friendship along the way, I am grateful to Red Chan, Chen Hsi-yuan, Chu Ping-tzu, Tony DeBlasi, Peter Ditmanson, Rob Foster, Kenneth Hammond, Maria Jaschok, Rana Mitter, Chloe Starr, and many others. Since 200 1 , the History Department at Warwick University has provided me with a stimulating and supportive environment. My thanks especially to my colleagues Maxine Berg, Bernard Capp, Rebecca Earle, Margot Finn, Sarah Hodges, Colin Jones, and Carolyn Steedman. My family deserves more thanks than anyone else: my parents for their unstinting generosity and support over the years, Christopher for his love and companionship, and Matthijs and Bella for reminding me of what really matters in life.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Liu Yi ;ui.$ ( 1 797- 1 8 78), compo Bailuzhou shuyuan zhi alt 1Jll.�;t (Gazetteer of Bailuzhou Academy). ( 1 8 7 1 , reprint, Nanjing: Jiangsu jiaoyu, 1 995). DMB Luther Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds. Dic­ tionary if Ming Biography 1368-1644 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1 976). Ji'anfozhi (Prefectural gazetteer of Ji'an). JAFZ Xiaofeng Daran ��*� ( 1 589-1 659), compo Qjngyuan zhiliie QYZL wl*;tlll§- (Gazetteer of �ngyuan). (1 669, reprint, Nanchang: Jiangxi renmin, 1 998) xX] Liu Chenweng ;UJrZ� ( 1 232- 1 297). Xuxiji �J[1�� (Literary collection of Liu Chenweng). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 1 86 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86). XXK'Y] Xu Hongzu 1�5M� ( 1 586- 1 64 1). Xu Xiakeyouji 1�n:�JMi'fC. (Travel record of Xu Xiake). (Late Ming, reprint, Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1 980), 3 vols. Ouyang Shoudao ���:@ ( 1 208- 1 2 7 3) . Xunzhai wenji ��)(� (Literary collection of Ouyang Shoudao). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 1 83 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86). BLZ

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION When Wu Sidao ,�:Wfili, the newly appointed magistrate of Yongxin 7k�JT county, Ji'an E� prefecture, in south-westernJiangxi (see Maps 1 and 2), was viewing the important sites in the county, he noted a stain on the floor of the county school. Upon closer inspection, the stain was the dark colour of dried blood and the shape of a woman. In answer to Wu's queries, a local gentleman explained that this stain was formed by the blood of Lady Tan $. When the Mongol forces had pushed southwards and annexed this area in the late thirteenth century, most of the members of the Tan family had been murdered. Lady Tan had taken refuge in the county school, clutching her child. In her attempt to resist the soldiers' attempt to rape her, she and the child in her arms had been killed. Her blood had stained the stone floor, and despite repeated attempts to wash the floor, the stain remained as a symbol of her valiant attempt to protect her chastity. In her honour, the com­ munity had built a shrine to commemorate Lady Tan. Wu Sidao was then led to the location of the shrine, and, noticing its decayed state, decided it was his duty as magistrate to restore the site. Thus far my description follows the events as Magistrate Wu Sidao, a man from Cixi �� in Zhejiang who served as magistrate in Yongxin between 1 376 and 1 380, noted them down shortly afterwards.l In another version of these events, Wu Sidao's restoration was not the end of the affair. This second, longer, fictionalized version was written by a man from Ji'an named Li Zhen *1� ( 1 376- 1452).2 In Li Zhen's account, Wu Sidao's son Wu Xi ,�W� composed a piece of lute music not long after he had heard about Lady Tan. As he played the piece on his lute, he suddenly became aware of a girl who identified her­ self as Lady Tan's servant. The girl explained that she, like Lady Tan I

Wu Sidao, 'Tan jiefu citang ji', in Chong Tianzi, ed. , Xiangyan congshu ( 1 909), 1 657- 1 658. The text is also included in Wu Sidao, ChuncaozhaiJi, 1 . 1 2b-1 4a, and in Yongxin xianzhi ( 1 874), 5.22a-23a. 2 For his biography, see Luther Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary if Ming Biography 1368-1 644 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1 976), 805-807. Hereafter DMB.

tv

,.-....� , \. . ,

.

• ,

:"Bei Zhili >-...., .

•

Shanxi:

, •

.,'

.�

,

'. . II

l-_.' .. •

•

Shaanxi .

..

.

,

"

,

'

.

' ' ,

,

• • ..

o

• ..

'.

, ...,

..

Henan

I

.. - .. -

-

---

. • ,

TIBET

" -- ..

"

--

..

" -- --

• .

" • •

: '

. , "

Sichuan

• • • •

o

'. •

Huguang

.. .. ", • •

•

• ,

.'. , !�-- . -

,

" • • • •

•

......-1< ,' ., .. ,-' •

.

,- - - - -- , _.'

Guangxi BURMA ANNAM

• • • • •

,:

• ....

.

, -�

..

"

:'

..

•

'

___ L. .

.

,

..

•

..

Fujian

• ,

"

."

• .... , -.

"�"'� o

l

N

500 km

-

Map 1 . Provinces of Ming China

�

o

�

3

INTRODUCTION

JIANGDONG

J I NGHU Ruizhou

Jizhou

/-�

F UJ I A N

N ,

,

100km ,

Map 2. Southern Song prefectures of Jiangxi. Map based on China Historical GIS, Version 3.0 (April 2005)

4

CHAPTER ONE

herself, had become an immortal, and had come to Wu Xi to express her dissatisfaction with the way in which the statues of her mistress and herself were displayed in Yongxin. In the conversation between the magistrate's son and Lady Tan's servant, it transpired that Lady Tan had composed a sequence of twenty poems expressing her thoughts and feelings about the home where she had grown up. Wu Xi was deeply impressed, and promised to take on the rearrangement of the statues, placing the servant next to her mistress in a more prominent position, and making regular offerings to the two.3 These two versions of a local tale contain all the elements that fea­ ture in this book: stories set in Southern Song (1 1 27- 1 270) and Yuan dynasty ( 1 264-1 368)Jiangxi province,Jizhou 5'j'I'I, to be more precise, or Ji'an, as it was called during the Ming dynasty ( 1 368-1 644); local landscapes dotted with shrines and temples; and members of the schol­ arly elite, or 'literati', who wrote about the sites in the local landscape, seeking to assign meaning to those sites. The changes in literati writings about sites in the Jizhou/Ji'an landscape during the Song-Yuan-Ming transition form the subject of this book. Literati identities

The men who figure in this account Magistrate Wu Sidao, his son Wu Xi, the author Li Zhen, and even the local gentleman who initially introduced Wu to the shrine were all educated men. I refer to the members of the scholarly elite throughout this book as 'literati' or 'gen­ tlemen', although their social and political status fluctuated over time. To understand who these men were, we need to explore their identities. How did they see themselves? How did they represent themselves? Did Li Zhen, who hailed from Luling � county in Ji'an prefecture, but served largely in other places, see himself as a Luling or aJi'an man? Or did he see himself as an itinerant servant of the imperial bureaucracy? And what about Wu Sidao, who served as magistrate in Yongxin for three years? Did he identifY mostly with his hometown in Zhejiang, or did he have some sense of belonging in the Yongxin community? When The story is included in a collection of short stories entitled 'More Stories Written while Trimming the Wick' (Jiandengyuhua). See Li Zhen, Jiandeng xinhua (wai er zhong) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1 962), 1 47- 1 62. The collection was completed in 1 4 1 9 or 1 420. 3

INTRODUCTION

5

Wu Sidao visited the sites of Yongxin for the first time, he was clearly an outsider, and when the local gentleman told him the story of Lady Tan's bloodstain and took him to see her shrine, Wu was merely an observer. He then vowed to restore this temple, and had a text carved in stone for the shrine. Why? What was Wu Sidao hoping to achieve? How did he see himself in relation to this worship? Did he wish to be part of a 'community of believers', or did he wish to transform the practice from the outside? Such questions force us to reflect upon the role of scholar-officials in the localities where they were posted and on the sense of belonging the literati had in the communities where they lived. Questions of belonging and exclusion are central to the identity of the literati, and their identity is a major concern in this book. This inscription by Wu Sidao about the bloodstain of Lady Tan, as well as the many other temple inscriptions texts composed to commemorate the history of a religious site or a specific event in its history, carved in stone and placed inside or in front of the temple that form the main body of sources for this study, enable us to explore such issues of locality, identity, community, and belonging. Temples and shrines

The shrine built to commemorate Lady Tan, the statues of the two women in the story, and their status as immortals, raise a related set of questions about the significance of such sites within local society. A shrine for a chaste woman would not normally be considered a 'sacred' site, and Wu Sidao's temple inscription firmly places the shrine among the secular sites of moral instruction in the area. Li Zhen's account, however, adds a different dimension. In his version of the events sur­ rounding the shrine, the women have become immortals, and are the subject of several exchanges between deities. Does Li Zhen allow us here to see a glimpse of his personal belief in a complex and hierarchi­ cally structured pantheon of deities? Or is he telling a tale in a narra­ tive tradition that draws on the genre of religious tales, which may or may not represent popular belief? Many of the materials discussed in this book allow little insight into the literati world of religious belief Nevertheless, this book takes 'belief' seriously, and explores issues of belief in sources that have on the whole been interpreted in an overly functionalist fashion as expressions of cultural capital and vehicles of personal advancement. It examines temples, shrines, monasteries and

6

CHAPTER ONE

sacred sites as complex spaces of interaction, where human beings explore their own identities and their place in the visible and invisible worlds that surround them. Periodization

The story of Lady Tan also raises the issue of periodization. The account introduces a woman of the late Southern Song dynasty who lived through the Mongol-Yuan conquest. It is set during the early part of the Ming dynasty and was further commented upon in the late Ming. As such, these materials encompass the entire chronological span of this book, beginning with the Southern Song around 1 1 00, and ending with the late Ming, in the early decades of the seventeenth century. The existence of such materials, which straddle several dynas­ ties and bring to the fore actors who look back to previous eras and worry about the times ahead of them, itself provides justification for covering a time span of roughly five centuries. Important continuities run through these centuries, and only become manifest when we look at the period as a whole and at the ways in which patterns of local identity and belonging fluctuated throughout this period. The five centuries from Southern Song to late Ming are significant for several reasons. As Richard von Glahn and PaulJakov Smith argue in The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition in Chinese History, the transitional period from Southern Song to Ming is framed by periods of intense change.4 It is preceded by what Mark Elvin has termed the 'medieval economic revolution', with its well-known transformations in farming, modes of transportation, economic and urban structures, and science and tech­ nology.5 Although there were local variations, the fast and multifaceted Paul Jakov Smith and Richard von Glahn, eds., The Song-ruan-Ming Transition in Chinese History (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2003). Paul Smith argues that we should see the Song-Yuan-Ming transition as a discrete historical unit. See Paul Smith, 'Introduction: Problematizing the Song-Yuan-Ming Transition', in Smith and von Glahn, eds., The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition, 1-34. 5 See Mark Elvin, The Pattern qf the Chinese Past: A Social and Economic Interpretation (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 973), 1 1 3-1 99. His work built on the seminal work byJapanese scholars. Many others have written about the Tang-Song transformations, among them Robert Hartwell, 'Demographic, Political, and Social Transformations of China, 750-1 550', HarvardJournal qf Asiatic Studies 42.2 ( 1 982): 102-59; and Naito Konan, whose work has been made available in translation byJoshua Fogel. See Joshua Fogel, Politics and Sinology: The Case qf Naito Konan, 1866-1934 (Cambridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 984). 4

INTRODUCTION

7

growth of the Tang (6 1 8-907) and Song dynasties gradually came to an end with the establishment of the southern capital in Hangzhou after 1 1 27, or, some would argue, with the brutal Mongol invasion that led to the establishment of the Yuan dynasty in l 27 l .6 The Song­ Yuan-Ming transition was succeeded by a 'second economic revolution', which took place during the late Ming and Qng dynasties.7 This second period of transformation is often seen as the precursor of China's own modernity. From the vantage point of the twentieth century, the social, economic and cultural changes of the late Ming seemed to offer fertile ground for the beginnings of modern development. What happened in the period from Southern Song to late Ming, in the centuries that lie between these two epochs of rapid transformations, has until now received far less attention. Scholars of pre-twentieth-century Chinese history tend to fall into two groups: those who see the transformations of the late Ming and early Qng period as the narrative starting-point of modern China; and those who strive to demonstrate that the social and economic transfor­ mations of the late Ming-early Qng were mere embellishments and expansions of changes that had their origins in the Tang-Song period. The period between these two transformations was, until the appearance of The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition, only championed by a relatively small group of scholars of the Mongol-Yuan dynasty. Because of the paucity of documentation, it remains unclear to what extent the growth and development of the Tang-Song actually came to a halt. In some areas the brutal Mongol invasion of the thirteenth century in the north, and the civil wars and millenarian uprisings that preceded the establishment of the Ming dynasty of the fourteenth century in the south, clearly played important roles. But growth did not slow down everywhere. The studies in The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition amply demonstrate why the period deserves attention, but they also underline the need for studies that highlight local variation. This book seeks not only to fill that gap 6 Those who see the fall of the Northern Song as the end-point of the Tang-Song

transformations include, for example, Hartwell, 'Demographic, Political, and Social Transformations of China'; Robert P. Hymes, Statesmen and Gentlemen: The Elite qf Fu­ Chou, Chiang-Hsi, in Northern and Southern Sung (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 986); and James Liu, China Turning Inward: Intellectual-Political Changes in the Early Twelfth Century (Cambridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 988). 7 William Rowe, 'Approaches to Modern Chinese Social History', in Olivier Zunz, ed., Reliving the Past: The Worlds qf Social History (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1 985), 236-96.

8

CHAPTER ONE

by focusing on a single area, but also to demonstrate, on the basis of the evidence of that single area, that the Song-Yuan-Ming period is not characterized by continuity alone. In the area of relations between the state and the local elites, Smith suggests that on the whole, the state was 'passive' and the elites largely 'autonomous', although he concedes that there is no real consensus on the issue even among the contribu­ tors to the volume.8 This study, in contrast, suggests that Song and YuanJizhou literati related to their local community and to the central state in different ways from both early Ming and late MingJi'an men. Emphasizing the general continuities of the Song-Yuan�Ming period as a whole should not prevent us from taking note of the important changes that took place at the local level. Another important reason for studying the transitional period from Southern Song to late Ming is the current lack of understanding of the ways in which the many transformations of the Tang-Song transition were transmitted to the next period of rapid change that took place in the late Ming. One of these Tang-Song transformations occurred in the field of religion.9 Valerie Hansen was the first to point to what she called the growth of 'secular' religion, a term she used to signify religion unmediated by the clergy. Von Glahn prefers to use the term 'vernacularization' for this process of increasing access to the spiritual realm for ordinary lay people. Robert Hymes, who distinguishes several models in Chinese religion, refers to it as the 'personal model', in which ordinary people have unmediated access to the gods.10 Edward Davis' work also touches upon the transformation of religious practices during the Song, although he discusses the ways in which Buddhist and Daoist practices themselves changed during this period, rather than focusing on changes in communities of believers. 1 1 The work of Hansen, von Glahn and Davis, among others, has done a great deal to elucidate the 8

Smith, 'Introduction', in Smith and von Glahn, eds., The Song-Yuan-Ming Transi­ tion, 1 9-20. 9 The transformation of religion during this period is the subject of a collection of articles edited by Patricia Ebrey and Peter Gregory, entitled Religion and Sociery in Tang and Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1 993). 10 Valerie Hansen, Changing Gods in Medieval China, 1 127-1276 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1 990); Richard von Glahn, The Sinister Wqy: The Divine and the Demonic in Chinese Religious Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004), 1 2; Robert P. Hymes, Wqy and Bywqy: Taoism, Local Religion, and Models qf Diviniry in Sung and Modern China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), 4-5. 11 Edward L. Davis, Sociery and the Supernatural in Song China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 200 1).

INTRODUCTION

9

Song transformation of religious practice, but much less has thus far been written about the next stage of the story. How did these changes fare during the Yuan and Ming dynasties? What had happened when the next period of rapid growth and development set in towards the end of the Ming? Although this book is not about religious change per se, but rather about the role of religious practice in shaping local identity and community, these questions constitute the background of my narrative. It will show how the involvement of one group of lay worshippers and believers in religious practices, and their manipulation of those practices, continued to change over the following centuries. The local

The events in Li Zhen's story all took place in Yongxin, one of the nine counties of Ji'an prefecture.Ji prefecture (Jizhou), as it was called during the Song and Yuan dynasties, or Ji'an prefecture as it was known from the Ming onward, forms the focus of this study of locality and belonging (see Map 3). Today's Ji'an region (Ji'an diqu E�:t(g&!) is in western Jiangxi province, sharing borders with Hubei and Hunan provinces in the west. One main arterial river, the Gan , flows northward through the middle of Ji'an, connecting its most fertile counties. It was along the Gan that northerners first trekked south during the Five Dynasties period (907-960).12 Although Ji was located at a substantial distance from the imperial capital(s), it was nonetheless a centre of cultural and intellectual gravity until the sixteenth century.Ji'an prefecture produced over one thousand successful metropolitan degree holders (jinshi :ii±) during the Ming dynasty alone, more than any other Ming prefecture. 13 The influence of Ji'an men at the imperial court waxed and waned, and their attitudes towards their native Ji'an changed accordingly. Ji'an's intrinsic interest alone, however, only partially justifies the study of one locality if the aim is to further our broader understand­ ing of Chinese social history. What can an enhanced understanding of 12

See the study by Aoyama Sadao on the rise of elites in Jiangxi from the Five Dynasties period onwards. Aoyama Sadao, 'Godai-So ni okeru Kosei no shinko kanryo', in Wada Hakase Kanreki Kinen Tayosho Ronso (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1 95 1 ), 1 9-38. 13 The prefectural gazetteer forJi'an of 1 875 lists a total of 1 ,00 1 jinshi graduates dur­ ing the Ming. See Ji'anfozhi, Zhongguofongzhi congshu ( 1 875, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Hereafter JAFZ ( 1 875). Ho Ping-ti lists a total of 1 ,020. Ho Ping-ti, The Ladder of Success in Imperial China (New York: Columbia University Press, 1 962), 247-8.

... ,

I

-

•

-

--

-

,

I I

'"

-....

-

-

.\ ,;

-

-

',I

,

,

...

o

I A

__

-

-

.,,'

"- - I

,,

-

';

­

\

I I ,

"

"

-

,

-

,

-

,

,

"-

Yongfeng xian "

•

, ,

•

Jishui xian •

l,

,

,

Anfu xian

,

I

'"

.... ....

........

.......

• -

\

"

"

Luling xian

,

"

-

,

-

�

,

,

I

\

Yongxin xian

I

I

GanR.

Taihe xian.

,

. '

I

I

"

,;

'

,

--

-

I

, ,

\

,

.......

�

•

\,

........

....

,

,

I

•

-

-

I J

'

,,,- I'

-

-

<

\

- ,;

,

I

,

Wan'an xian ,,--

I

-

"'

,

-

I

" '

-

,

'

.... ., ",

LonQquan xian "

--

I

, , ,

-

....

,,

-

•

-

,

;-,

.

-'

,

,

"

I'

....

,

--

'"

_\

---

-'

-

, .... ....

\

, I

,

-

-

,

I

I

,

,

;

•

o

,

�

, , • , - ,

,

I'

,

,;

I

N

I

()

50km

I

-

Map 3 . Southern SongJizhou and its counties. Map based on China Historical GIS, Version 3.0 (April 2005)

INTRODUCTION

11

one prefecture contribute to our understanding of the whole? I do not wish to argue that the story of Ji'an that will emerge in the following pages can be read as the story of all of China. Nevertheless, I suggest that the study of one small part of China through time can do more than merely add another small piece to the puzzle that the history of a vast country like China presents to US.14 I suggest that it can reveal something of value about the 'national' context. 15 First, and most obviously, I argue this because in practice it is impos­ sible to study a single locality in isolation, especially when that locality is an administrative unit. The seminal work by the anthropologist William Skinner has pointed out the economic irrelevance of administrative units.16 His work shows that the integrated economic units into which he divides China, the so-called 'macro-regions', take litde account of the boundaries of administrative units. For the members of the elite who This is not to deny, of course, that local studies in Chinese history that aim to add to this puzzle are hugely valuable. This issue is raised by Michael Marme in his review of Harriet T. Zurndorfer, Change and Continuity in Chinese Local History: The Develop11l£Tlt qf Hui-chou Priffcture, 800-1800 (Leiden: EJ. Brill, 1 989). Marme argues for the importance of local studies, suggesting that 'the empire scarcely existed above and apart from the numerous communities of which it was composed'. See Marme, 'Review of Change and Continuity in Chinese Local History', Harvard Journal qf Asiatic Studies 53.1 ( 1 993): 248. Exemplary studies of local history that add significantly to our understanding of Chinese history by providing an insight into one smaller part of the whole include, for example, Hugh R. Clark, Community, Trade, and Networks: Southern FuJian Provincefrom the Third to the Thirteenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 99 1 ); Hilary Beattie, Lond and Lineage in China: A Stuc!Y qf Tung-ch'eng county, Anhwei, in the Ming and Ch'ing 0nasties (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 979); William Rowe, Hankow: Conflict and Community in a Chinese City, 1 796-- 1895 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 989); Peter Perdue, Exhausting the Earth: State and Peasant in Hunan, 1500-1850 (Cam­ bridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 987); Richard von Glahn, The Country qf Streams and Grottos: Expansion, Settlement and Civilization qf the Sichuan Frontier in Song Times (Cambridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 987); Shiba Yoshinobu, 'Ningpo and its Hinterland', in G. William Skinner, ed., The City in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 97 7), 391-439. According to Hugh Clark, the impulse for local history came from Japanese sinology. Clark, Com­ munity, Trade, and Networks, 4-6. 15 I use the term 'national' merely to refer to the larger territorial unit that fell under the control of the Chinese emperor. I do not wish to suggest, of course, that China at the time had the characteristics of the modern nation state. 16 G. William Skinner, 'The Structure of Chinese History', Journal qf Asian Stud­ ies 44.2 ( 1 985): 27 1-292. As Martin Heijdra points out, to use Skinner's system of 'macro-regions' for historical analysis of periods before the late Ming is 'anachronistic in many ways'. See Martin Heijdra, 'The Socio-Economic Development of Rural China During the Ming', in Denis Twitchett and Frederick Mote, eds., The Cambridge History qf China, volume 8: The Ming Dynasty, 1 368-1 644, Part 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 998), 4 1 8. 14

12

CHAPTER

ONE

appear in this study, however, the administrative units within which their households were registered had some significance, although, as this study aims to show, not a consistent meaning. That is not to say that those administrative units existed in isolation; connections between the locality and the wider territorial circles surrounding it also existed outside of the economic level. The individuals whose literary writings are analyzed here rarely spent the whole of their lives in only one place. Some held positions in the capital, others served in provincial posts throughout the realm, and yet others interacted indirectly with the national by refusing to take up posts in the central government. The interdependence of local and regional or national identities also existed at the other end of the scale; peasants who worked the land or harvested wood from the hills, for example, engaged in small-scale trade that, certainly from the Song dynasty onwards, went well beyond the borders of their individual and immediate communitiesY Temple cults or tales about deities of course also spread across boundaries, and cannot be understood fully without reference to the surrounding communities and regions. This study of the local, thus, tries to understand the ways in which place is given meaning by its inhabitants without losing sight of the wider context within which that place is constructed. Second, and perhaps more significantly, I argue that men writing about the local throughout the period under discussion here, were almost always at the same time exploring issues that went well beyond their immediate locality. The point is not new. Peter Bol, for example, sug­ gests that periods of strong nation-building, such as the era of the New Policies during the Northern Song and the social experiments of the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang . (r. 1 368-1 398), are often followed by a 'localist turn', when literati manifest themselves mostly as local gentlemen. He argues, furthermore, that during such a 'localist turn', local scholars continue to engage with issues at the national level. Being an active local scholar could be constructed as a way of acting on the national scene.18 Taking up these issues, I argue 17

The point is made, for example, by Giovanni Levi in his discussion, entitled 'On Microhistory', in Peter Burke, ed., New Perspectives on Historical Writing (University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1 992), 93-1 1 3 . 18 Peter K. Bol, The 'Localist Turn' and 'Local Identity' in Later Imperial China', Late Imperial China 24.2 (2003): 1 -50. See also Beverly Bossler, Powerfol Relations: Kinship, Status, and the State in Sung China (960-1279) (Cambridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 998); and Peter K. Bol, 'Neo-Confucianism and Local Society', in Smith and von Glahn, eds., The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition, 24 1-83.

INTRODUCTION

13

that at times local literati were indeed concerned with what happened at the national level, and wrote about local temples with a view to addressing issues well beyond the Ji'an borders. I argue, however, that this was by no means the case at all times, and we should be extremely cautious in reading the local as a microcosm of the national, or in assuming that only the national mattered to the men who feature in the story of Ji'an prefecture. This book is concerned with the local as a constructed space that was constantly defined and redefined within its local, regional, and national context. It is the fluctuations and tensions within that process of giving the locality meaning that are of critical importance in this study. There is a third, closely related sense in which I would suggest a study of a single locality can further our understanding of the complexity and diversity of the wider context. The term 'locality' raises important questions about the meanings of territory, community, identity, and belonging. What exactly did the inhabitants of Ji'an understand as their locality? Was it the immediate village where they were raised, or was locality understood to be based on kinship, and shaped by the lineage in which they were born? Was 'their' locality as big as a county or a prefecture? Did literati identify themselves as inhabitants of a region, or of China as a whole? From the outset, of course, literati answers to such questions were never constant, but defined and redefined depend­ ing on the stage of their lives and the particular circumstances within which their answers were formulated. Rather than seeking a homoge­ neous answer, this book seeks to explore the different, conflicting and overlapping answers given to such questions. Landscape

Two of the chapters that follow give a description of the Ji'an land­ scape: first in Southern SongJizhou, second in late MingJi'an. These two chapters aim to do more than provide a view of the visual aspects of the scenery; they aim to represent the landscape as 'process', as a constructed cultural space in the experience and imagination of its literati inhabitants. Such an approach is inspired by recent work by anthropologists such as the social anthropologist Eric Hirsch, who has argued for the importance of seeing landscape as a process by which he means the constant interaction and negotiation between the place of everyday social life and the imagined or idealized space that

14

CHAPTER ONE

represents 'us the way we might be'. 19 Hirsch's approach is helpful in the historical context. If we briefly return to the story sketched above, we might imagine the landscape of Wu Sidao's Yongxin as a negoti­ ated space that contains elements both of the actual place, where he finds the dilapidated shrine for Lady Tan, as well as of the idealized space, where he establishes a restored shrine for Lady Tan with a new inscription. The idea of landscape allows us, then, to explore not only what Wu Sidao perceived to be his environment, but also what he imagined the ideal environment to be like. It also allows us to see the tension between those two perceptions, and the ways in which Wu Sidao operated as agent within that landscape. The idea of landscape also has crucial implications for concepts like locality and belonging. Nadia Lovell, a social anthropologist and editor of a volume entitled Locality and Belonging, explores the ways in which the concepts of locality and belonging interact and relate to each other.20 For her, landscape and locality are closely linked; many of the essays in the volume look at the ways in which the landscape shapes 'local understandings of belonging to place'.21 Belonging to place is also closely linked to memory; Lovell defines belonging as 'a way of remembering and constructing a collective memory of place'.22 The landscape accumulates meaning over time as it becomes inscribed with personal and collective memories. Such understandings of belonging and communal identity are also familiar from Benedict Anderson's concept of 'imagined communities'.23 Arjun Appadurai, the University of Chicago-based anthropologist, has investigated the meaning of locality in the context of an increasingly globalized and hence 'delocalized' world.24 For Appadurai, the most interesting aspect of locality occurs at its margins, where belonging is under threat or at risk, or redefined through rituals of passage. He draws on the ritual aspect of the local, where the local is defined and redefined through

19

Eric Hirsch, 'Landscape: Between Place and Space', in Eric Hirsch and Michael O'Hanlon, eds., The Anthropology if Landscape: Between Place and Space (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1 995), 22. 20 Nadia Lovell, ed., Locality and Belonging (London: Routledge, 1 998). 21 Nadia Lovell, 'Introduction', in Lovell, ed., Locality and Belonging, 10. 22 David Parkin, 'Foreword', in Lovell, ed., Locality and Belonging, ix. 23 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread if Nationalism (London: Verso, rev. edn. 1 99 1). 24 Arjun Appadurai, 'The Production of Locality', in Richard Fardon, ed., Counter­ works: Managing the Diversity if Knowledge (London: Routledge, 1 995), 204.

INTRODUCTION

15

performance, to demonstrate the fragility of the concept of locality. While Appadurai primarily discusses the 'production of locality' in a contemporary urban context, his approach is helpful in the historical context toO.25 Rather than seeing locality as a static concept, or as an external factor that impinges on the experience of the local 'subjects', I understand 'locality' as a dynamic concept, which only takes meaning in the construction of its inhabitants. This book explores notions of locality and belonging, asking how the inhabitants of Ji'an understood their place in the local landscape and their belonging to it, and how notions of locality and belonging were modified over time. The main testing ground for notions of locality and belonging in this study is the temple. Temples, in their multitudinous forms, have always been, and still are, a constant presence in the Chinese landscape. We can safely assume that all theJi'an inhabitants who are discussed in this book were aware of that presence. Whether it was a twelfth-century poet, a fourteenth-century failed student or a sixteenth-century mag­ istrate, each of them would have walked past a dilapidated or newly renovated temple in his home town, spotted a remote monastery on a mountain, or noticed large gatherings around a local shrine. Rather than asking about the meaning of these sites purely as sacred spaces or as elements of religious culture, this study asks about the ways in which temples played a part in notions of locality and belonging. I see temples as lieux de memoire, in Pierre Nora's term: significant elements in the continuous symbolic construction of a locality.26 Temples, in this approach, figure in the stories about the area; the memories, myths, and histories of temples are, I argue, constitutive elements of the local­ ity. To what extent did, say, a poet, or a student, or a retired official see temples, or a specific temple, as a central, constitutive element of his own local community? In trying to understand the various ways in which the literati protagonists of this story represented themselves as 'local', I ask specifically about the ways in which temples featured in that representation.

25

Appadurai, 'The Production of Locality'. 26 For a concise statement of his work, see Pierre Nora, 'Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Memoire' Representations 26 ( 1 989): 7-24.

16

CHAPTER ONE

Sources

The bulk of the sources used to answer these questions originate in local gazetteers. Ji'an gazetteers do not form a particularly impres­ sive collection: only the odd Ming gazetteer survives, and most of the extant Qing gazetteers are compiled relatively late in the dynasty.27 Nevertheless, without their maps, listings of temples, their biographies and tables of officials, and their anthologies of inscriptions and other locally produced materials, this book could not have been written.28 Most important among the gazetteer materials are the so-called 'tem­ ple inscriptions' (ji).29 Temple inscriptions, also referred to as temple records, were usually .commissioned from a local literatus. His brief would be to commemorate the history of a local temple or monastery, to preserve historical details about its building and restoration dates, and to impress visitors to such religious sites with the names of prominent donors and supporters.30 The text was usually carved on a large stone, and erected near the entrance of the temple. Not infrequendy, such a temple inscription was requested before the restorations were completed, so that the text and the attached prestige of its author could be used as part of the fund-raising efforts. Such texts provide a certain amount of valuable factual information about temples, sacred sites, and the deities worshipped there. More important for our purposes here, however, they can begin to reveal the complex process of the construction of mean­ ings assigned to such temples in a specifically local context. Alongside the temple inscriptions and other documents included in

27

The Wanli edition of the prefectural gazetteer is extant: [f1Itznli] Ji'anfozhi, included in Riben cang Zhongguo har!fian dffongzhi congkan. Yongfeng county has an extant gazetteer from 1 544, included in the Jianyige series. 28 Peter Bol, in his study of the rise of local history as a genre and a field of scholarly interest, argues that local gazetteers began to be written in large numbers in Song China. His work demonstrates the immense value of later gazetteers for the study of Song and Yuan local history. Peter Bol, 'The Rise of Local History: History, Geography, and Culture in Southern Song and Yuan Wuzhou', Harvard Journal rif Asiatic Studies 6 1 . 1 (200 1 ): 37-76. 29 See also Hansen, Changing Gods and Valerie Hansen, 'Inscriptions: Historical Sources for the Song', Bulletin rif Sung Yuan Studies 1 9 ( 1 987): 1 7-25. On the interpreta­ tion of temple inscriptions and their context, see Paul Katz, 'Temple Inscriptions and the Study of Taoist Cults: A Case Study of Inscriptions at the Palace of Eternal Joy', Taoist Resources 7. 1 ( 1 997): 1-22. 30 The more complete editions of local gazetteers usually have a section on temples and shrines, in which large sections or entire texts of inscriptions are included. Unfor­ tunately, gazetteers rarely reproduce lists of donors.

INTRODUCTION

17

gazetteers, I have used a wide range of materials, including the literary collections (werlji) of the authors of Ji'an temple inscriptions, collections of anecdotes and literary tales, official documents, guidebooks to the area, travel diaries and religious tracts. It is only by placing the temple inscriptions in the context of these other materials that the ways in which temples were given meaning in the local context are fully manifest. The breadth of materials used, however, does not disguise the narrow social base within which they were created: they were composed and consumed, on the whole, by members of the elite. Scholars like Valerie Hansen, Richard von Glahn and Edward Davis have drawn on liter­ ary tales in combination with temple inscriptions to provide insights into the experiences of a much wider social group. Valerie Hansen used miracle tales from Hong Mai's Record if the Listener (Yijianzhi) and temple inscriptions for her study of religious change 'from the perspec­ tive of the common people'.31 Richard von Glahn, in his most recent study of the god Wutong, shows how a wide range of sources, includ­ ing vernacular fiction and anecdotes, can be used to study 'collective popular mentality'.32 Edward Davis is more critical: he condemns the 'gentry model' the idea that the gentry mediated in a variety of ways between state and society as unhelpful and unrevealing of the nature of Chinese society.33 While taking on board the insights about the nature of society and its relationship with the invisible world that these works provide, I suggest that we still have more to learn about the role of the elites in local society. To dwell only on literati condemnations of a variety of local religious practices is to ignore the literati as complex individuals with their own social and spiritual needs. This book seeks to show how literati experienced the local religious practices in their neighbourhoods, and how their superficial condemnations obscure underlying desires to belong within their local communities, and to be of significance within them.

31

Hansen, Changing Gods, x. The term 'common people' in the context of Record if the Listener (Yijianzhi) should probably be understood to include a wide variety of non­ literati men and women in a range of professions and roles, but most likely excludes the farming community, who would have made up by far the largest percentage of the 'common people'. I am grateful to Barend ter Haar for pointing this out to me. 32 von Glahn, The Sinister Wqy, 1 7. See also Richard von Glahn, The Enchantment of Wealth: The God Wutong in the Social History of Jiangnan', Harvard Journal if Asiatic Studies 5 1 .2 ( 1 99 1): 654-655. 33 Davis, Society and the Supernatural, 203.

18

CHAPTER ONE

The chapters that follow begin with a description of the landscape of thirteenth-century Jizhou. This description paints a picture of a threatening environment upon which the people of Jizhou strove to impose some control. The landscape of Jizhou, I suggest, can be read as a record of these attempts to assert control over a frightening and largely unknown environment. By telling stories about communications between the humans that inhabited the landscape and the invisible forces that shaped it, the landscape is to some extent 'tamed'. The landscape becomes inscribed with this record, and takes the shape not just of stories and tales, but also of shrines and temples scattered in the environment. The sacred landscape of Song and Yuan Jizhou that becomes visible in this chapter is not static, but reflects the dynamic interaction between the invisible forces and human beings. 'Literati' and 'community' are two concepts that lie at the heart of this discussion. Chapter Three dwells in greater depth on them, and on one of the more significant sites of community construction: local temples. Chapter Four looks specifically at temples within the landscape, and the ways in which the literati used these temples to create not only a known place in the landscape, but also a place where they belonged, a community. During the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, this chapter argues, local temples served as important focal points for literati access to social organization. Southern Song and Yuan temple inscriptions reveal literati authors who are interested in what takes place within and around the temple, and who wish to be involved in the temple's activities. In attempting to identifY themselves with the temple, they inscribe both the temple and the locality with a literati identity. In literati writings of the Southern Song and Yuan, the temple appears as a significant element in the construction of locality and belonging. Despite the widespread destruction in Ji'an that accompanied the Yuan invasion in the late thirteenth century, and the outbreaks of further violence during the early part of the fourteenth century, the evidence from Ji'an suggests that the locals did not significantly change their understanding of their locality or their sense of belonging within it, and that the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties can be regarded as one continuous period.34 This confirms, of course, arguments made by others some time ago. Robert Hymes' work, for example, already elucidated the strong continuities at the local level in Fuzhou prefecture in Jiangxi. See Robert P. Hymes, 'Marriage, Descent Groups, and the Localist Strategy in Sung and Yuan Fu-chou', in Patricia Buckley Ebrey and James L. Watson, eds., Kinship Organization in Late Imperial China, 1000-1940 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 986), 95-1 36. 34

INTRODUCTION

19

Chapter Five briefly explores the alternatives. Rather than arguing that temples and shrines were the only source of localist activity, I suggest that temples formed one of several focal points for local literati that also include genealogical compilations, schools and academies. The early Ming did, however, bring widespread disruption and significant change, although perhaps not in the way in which that change has sometimes been represented in the narrative of Chinese premodern history. Rather than seeing the establishment of Ming rule as the beginning of a new era, with Zhu Yuanzhang providing the blueprint for social organization from the early Ming to the waning days of the empire, Chapter Six argues that we should see the end of the Yuan and the early Ming dynasties as a relatively short period of severe disruption. The sense of locality changed significantly during this period; early Ming literati fromJi'an trained their eyes upon the capital, and although locality did not lose its meaning, I propose in this chapter that its meaning was transformed during this era of centralist policies. The overview of the period as a whole is significant here, because the discussion of trends starting in the Southern Song and encompassing the Ming as a whole brings into focus a wider trend. By the mid to late Ming era, Ji'an literati had returned from the capital, and picked up their old localist themes once again. I discuss the sacred landscape of late MingJi'an in Chapter Seven. The contrast with the Song-Yuan landscape is striking: rather than see­ ing the landscape as a threatening backdrop for often futile attempts to co-opt gods and spirits into providing safety and protection from that environment, the late Ming inhabitants of Ji'an situate themselves in a landscape that is largely familiar and to a far greater extent under their control. The travel record of Xu Xiake 11JtD� ( 1 587- 1 64 1), who traversed the Ji'an landscape in 1 636, illustrates the contrast.35 The Song and Yuan landscape was thinly inscribed with a record of human interaction with the invisible but overwhelmingly powerful forces that shaped it. The landscape of Xu Xiake's Ji'an was shaped by the accumulated evidence of human habitation. Wherever he went, people had gone before him and left their records. A close reading of temple inscriptions from the late Ming in Chapter Eight reveals the differences from their Song and Yuan equivalents. Late Ming authors do not seem to imagine the temple at the heart of local Xu Hongzu, Xu Xiake youji (Late Ming, reprint, Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1 980), 3 vo1s. Hereafter XXKYJ. 35

20

CHAPTER ONE

communities, and neither do they imagine activist roles for themselves in these local temple communities. Instead, they use the temple inscrip­ tions to discuss issues of concern to a translocal audience. Chapter Nine takes up the question of localism in late Ming Ji'an. If Song and Yuan literati used writings about local temples to boost their sense of belonging locally, why did literati no longer do this in the late Ming? Why did they no longer feel compelled to influence the activities around the local temple? And, perhaps more importandy, if they no longer felt the temple could offer them a viable way of being local, then what did? The discussion suggests that the explanation lies, as it does so often, in a combination of factors. Perhaps most obvious is what I would call 'the philosophical turn'. The enthusiasm for Wang Yangming's .::E. � BJI (1472-1 529) thought, by no means limited to the so-calledJiangyou rI1:r group of thinkers inJi'an, brought local activism and local institutions back to literati attention. Temples became sub­ sumed under the heading of local spaces, to be used for local activities and local meetings of the like-minded. Temples were included in a local activist realm. Less obvious perhaps, but no less significant, is the shift of literati attention to ancestral halls and spaces invested with mean­ ing on the basis of kinship. I argue that the transformation to lineage society was not complete until the late Ming, and that only by the late Ming had literati begun to view the lineage and the ancestral hall as their focal point for local belonging. This concluding chapter restates the main themes of the book, arguing that the literati construction of locality changed from one based on local temples to one in which the building blocks became a variety of other community institutions, including local schools, community covenants, and the lineage.

CHAPTER TWO

SACRED

LANDSCAPE

IN SOUTHERN SONG AND YUAN JIZHOU

The geographical focus of this book is on a part of Jiangxi province, one of the provinces of south-central China. In the north the Yangzi River forms its boundary; towards the south, east, and west, the province is hemmed in by mountain ranges. From these surrounding mountains several rivers spring forth that flow towards the Yangzi River in the north and drain in Lake Poyang jj)�, now the largest freshwater lake in China. Lake Poyang functions as an important overflow basin for the Yangzi River, and changes considerably in size during the course of the year depending on the levels of the river. The Gan, one of the largest tributary rivers of the Yangzi River and the province's central river system, served as its most important transport system. It origi­ nates in the south of the province and flows northwards for over 7 5 1 kilometres (see Map 2). Jiangxi's lower mountains and hills as well as its river basins provide fertile arable land (over 65% of the province), much of which is given to paddy fields. The area's sub-tropical climate and abundant surface water, combined with almost a full year's growing season make the area ideal for rice cultivation, and most places annually produce two crops of rice. Other crops include tea, sugarcane, sweet potato, citrus fruit and fibrous plants (ramie and cotton). The mountains and hills were originally covered with evergreen and broad-leaf vegetation, when timber and pine resin were important products of the region, but more recently erosion has caused serious problems and the timber production has sharply declined. Because of the fertility of the land, the mild climate, and the con­ venient transportation routes,Jiangxi became an economic and cultural centre during the Song dynasty, producing powerful merchants, influ­ ential statesmen and famous scholars. In Song dynastyJiangxi, roughly the same amount of land was already cultivated as during the Ming and �ng dynasties.l Jiangxi's tea, silk, paper, mandarin oranges and fish were distributed along the rivers of the realm, as was Jiangxi's pottery, I

Xu Huailin, Jiangxi shigao (Nanchang: Jiangxi gaoxiao chubanshe, 1 998), 263.

22

CHAPTER TWO

which included the fine porcelain from the kilns of Jizhou at Yonghe 7kfO near Luling.2 The population of Jiangxi increased significantly during the course of the Song, andJiangxi produced 5,400jinshi degree holders during the Northern and Southern Song dynasties.3 During the Yuan dynasty, Jiangxi was established as a provincial branch-secretariat, which supervised 1 3 circuits, subdivided into pre­ fectures and counties. The area continued to prosper, with a newly developing cotton industry, silver mining, and a technically and artisti­ cally advanced production of porcelain in Jingdezhen �t��. (By this time, Jizhou's kilns at Yonghe had begun to fall into disuse.) At the end of the Yuan dynasty, repeated rebellions led to heavy fighting and plundering soldiers inflicted great damage throughoutJiangxi. The devastation was to some extent offset, one might argue, by the benefit of close ties between Jiangxi's scholarly elite and the founder of the Ming dynasty. During the first decades of the Ming dynasty, Jiangxi, and in particular the prefecture by then known as Ji'an, enjoyed a favoured status in the eyes of the Ming founder, Zhu Yuanzhang, and rebuilding took place throughout the province. During the course of the Ming,Jiangxi continued to produce a rice surplus, and much of the rice consumed in the rapidly developing Jiangnan region came from Jiangxi and neighbouring Hubei and Hunan. The region ifJizhou

The region of Ji that forms the focus of this book is located in south­ westernJiangxi and has the advantage of combining wooded mountains with a central fertile plain on both sides of the Gan. The counties connected by the Gan are referred to as the Ji-Tai E* Basin, histori­ cally producing a vast surplus of rice. Jizhou was founded as a separate administrative unit in 590 during the Sui dynasty (58 1 -6 1 8). It was named after Jishui E7](, a central town along the Gan, and included the territory of Luling, which had a history dating back to the Qjn 2

Xu, Jiangxi shigao, 299�300. For a study of Yonghe and its kilns, see Gao Liren, Jizhou Yongheyao (Shanghai: Wenhui chubanshe, 2000). For a recent study of Jingdezhen and the pottery it sent around the world, see Robert Finlay, The Pilgrim Art: The Culture of Porcelain in World History', Journal if World History 9.2 ( 1 998): 1 4 1 � 1 87. 3 While in the first decade of the twelfth century, Jiangxi's population formed less than ten percent of China's total population, in the early thirteenth century, Jiangxi accounted for 1 7 .5% of the country's total. See Xu, Jiangxi shigao, 294.

SACRED LANDSCAPE

23

dynasty.4 Because of the area's economic growth and high agricultural output, the prefecture expanded during the Song dynasty, and com­ prised eight counties: Luling,Jishui, Anfu �tl, Taihe *tQ, Longquan IlJR, Yongxin, Yongfeng :tklf, and Wan'an .� (see Map 3). In 1 277, Ji became a circuit (lu); in 1 295 the name changed to Ji'an circuit, and from 1 362 the area was known as Ji'an prefecture (fo).5 Over two-thirds of Jizhou is mountainous and the highest mountains have peaks of almost 2000 metres. The main mountain ranges enclose a fertile basin, the floodplain of the Gan, stretching from Taihe in the south to the border with Linjiang lmrI in the north (see Map 4). The Wugong Mountains �=!JJ IlJ in the north-west and the Jinggang Mountains # IIUJ IlJ in the east of Jizhou are among the most famous mountain ranges of China. The Gan runs the length of Ji'an prefecture, connecting Ganzhou prefecture further south with Lake Poyang in the north. It has been intensively used for travel and transport since the Tang dynasty (61 8-907), providing the main waterway of the prefecture, flowing through Wan'an, Taihe, Luling and Jishui counties. The main road through Jizhou in the Song dynasty ran from Ganzhou in the south towards Linchuan in Fuzhou �j+1 and Long­ xing (now Nanchang) in the north-east. It connected Wan'an in the far south with Yongfeng in the north-east, running past Taihe, Luling andJishui. Anfu was on the road to Yuanzhou lVI'1 in the north-west, Yongxin on the road to Jinghu (later known as Huguang) in the west. Longquan, on the other hand, was not connected at all by major roads.6 Song dynasty Jizhou was largely agricultural, with the fertile lands in the central basin most intensely cultivated. There was a considerable tea leaf production, and a small-scale silk industry. Song Jizhou was known not only for its material but also its intel­ lectual output. Between the Tang and Qng dynasties, the prefecture produced well over 2,300jinshi, amounting to 22% of theJiangxi total, 1 5 of whom were ranked first in their examination cohort, and it had a long-standing reputation for fostering Confucian scholarship. After the Song it was famous throughout the realm for having produced sons The municipality called Ji'an today was called Luling until 1 9 14. 5 During the Song dynasty, the distance fromJizhou's central northern border to its southern border measured a distance of about 1 60 km, and about 200 km from west to east. Today, Ji'an region (diqu) covers 27,659 km2. Ji'an diqu wenwu yanjiusuo, ]i'an Jengwu (Jiangxi: Ji'an diqu wenwu yanjiusuo chubanshe, 1 987), 3. 6 For maps of these roads, see Zhang Tianyou, Jiangxi gonglu shi (Beijing: Renmin jiaotong chubanshe, 1 989), 1 3. 4

24

CHAPTER TWO

Poyang lake

Jingdelhen

Langxilg fu

JIANGDONG

JINGHU

Luling Jizhou

FUJIAN

N ,

,

100km

Map 4. Southern Song sites. Map based on China Historical GIS, Version 3.0 (April 2005)

,

SACRED LANDSCAPE

25

like the learned Ouyang Xiu ��f� ( l O07-lO72), the high minister Ru Quan ii)j � ( l l O2- 1 1 80), and the heroic martyr of the anti-Mongol resistance Wen Tianxiang :)C:7(ff (1 236- 1 283). Other famous men include statesman and writer Zhou Bida JWJ 16'* (1 1 26- 1 204), the poet Yang Wanli tJl�£ ( 1 1 2 7-1 207), lyricist Liu Chenweng :i�JrR� (1232-1 297), the editor of the Yongle encyclopaedia (Yongle dadian 7j(�*#t!-) XieJin Mrsz (1 369- 1 4 1 5), the minister Yang Shiqi m±i'if (1 364-1444), and the scholars Zhou Chen JWJtt ( 1 38 1-1453), Liu Dingzhi :i�JEZ (1 409-1 469), and Luo Rongxian B#t% ( 1504- 1 564). A Yuan dynasty observer believedJizhou to be culturally the most significant prefecture in Jiangxi, and Luling the most outstanding county in Ji'an.7 I will explore the writings of these famous men, as well as writings by far less eminent men, in the following chapters. Landmarks in the thirteenth-century scenery

Before we turn to the writings of these Jizhou scholars, it will be use­ ful to have a better sense of the natural environment that surrounded them and the rest of the Jizhou population. Records if Great Sites (Yudi jisheng), an introduction to the best scenic spots of the Southern Song realm compiled by Wang Xiangzhi in 1 227, devotes one chapter to each prefecture. In the chapter on Jizhou, we find the following passage: Cloud Peak. Fifteen kilometres south-east of Longquan county seat. People often go there to pray for rain. When clouds appear at the mountain top, rain will come down . . . . Sage Ridge. Ten kilometres south of Yongfeng county seat. It is more than five kilometres high. Tradition has it that during the Five Dynasties period, one night several tens of deities roamed around its top. When day came, and people had a look, they found an earthen wall encircling [the top of the mountain] . . . . Wu Mountain. Fifteen kilometres west of Taihe county seat. Once Lady Wu concocted immortality pills here. Here are also the stone dwellings _ of the two immortals Tao I%iJ and Pi Sl. Stone Men. Twenty-five kilometres north-west of Jishui county seat. The peaks of Southern Mountain all have three stone men. They all stand firm and tall, upright like humans. They can call up clouds and bring rain, and the locals therefore call them 'Immortal Masters of Stone' (shi

Jie Xisi, 'Vi Luling xian zhi ji', in Jie Xisi, Jie Xisi quan ji (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1 985). 7

26

CHAPTER TWO

ren xian shi D )\{lliam) . This is where people who pray for rain in times of drought come. . . . Maple God. Fifty kilometres west of Anfu county seat. Its wood is shaped like a person, with a face and eyes. In dry years they cover [the tree] with mud, and then the rains often come. . . . Gold Mountain. In the north-west of Longquan, 500 metres from the county seat. Its Longxing Temple has a pagoda. The geomancers named the county 'Longquan' because the two crooked peaks of Gold and Silver Mountain look like the horns of a dragon. The two pagodas were named 'Two Brushes' . . . .8 Gold River. The [Liu] Song [420--479] Yongchu shanchuanji 7k1JJ IlJ) I I !,;c says: 'In the city of Luling there is a well. The water has two colours: partly green and partly yellow. The yellow is like ash. When you use it , to make gruel, it also turns gold-coloured and is very fragrant. g

Wang Xiangzhi's thirteenth-century tourist guide endeavours to give a general introduction to the scenic sites of the realm. It is not his explicit intention to list sites of religious significance. The passage makes clear, nevertheless, that the sites considered worthy of entry in a guidebook to the region are often sites that have tales of miraculous events asso­ ciated with them. While some mountains, ridges or caves are listed without any specific details, for the vast majority of the noteworthy geographical features in Records if Great Sites, tales such as these are included. The mountain site, stone figures and the tree god, mentioned in the brief passage translated above, were all used for rain prayers. The passage also includes an earthen wall built by gods, the site of a woman's transcendence to immortality and the dwelling of two other immortals, geographical formations in the shape of a dragon that are significant in landscape geomancy, and a multi-coloured well. I will show below that such characteristics prayers for rain, dragons, gods, immortals formed important elements of the sacred landscape that 8

According to the 1 842 edition of the Ji'an prefectural gazetteer, the building of a pagoda on the top of Gold Mountain had begun in 1 099, but was destroyed in the early decades of the twelfth century. New pagodas were built on Gold and Silver Mountain by Luling magistrate Fan Deqin in 1 1 74. JAFZ ( 1 842), 10. I Ob. 9 Wang Xiangzhi, Records if Great Sites (Yudijisheng) ( 1 227, reprint, Yangzhou: Jiangsu guangling guji keyinshe, 1 99 1), 3 1 .5b-6a. All translations, unless otherwise indicated, are my own. The Yongchu shanchuanji by Liu Chengzhi ;'UW:Z (Southern Qil is no longer extant. Fragments have been reproduced in Wang Mo, ed., Han Tang dili shuchao (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1 96 1), 1 7 1-1 73. The quote by Wang Xiangzhi was not included, which suggests the text was lost some time after 1 227. See also James Hargett, 'Song Dynasty Local Gazetteers and Their Place in the History of Difongzhi Writing', Harvard Journal if Asiatic Studies 56.2 ( 1 996): 408.

27

SACRED LANDSCAPE

surrounded Jizhou's thirteenth-century inhabitants. Before attempting to create an overview of sacred landscape, we will look in some detail at each of these characteristics. The forces that shape the natural landscape

The natural landscape, as we have seen in the translated passage from Wang Xiangzhi's Records if Great Sites, is filled with such wonders as multi-coloured wells, immortals, gods and sites for rain prayers. It would seem that the natural landscape cannot be separated from the miraculous events that happen within it. I would even go further and argue that in the written records of thirteenth-century experiences through which we see these characteristics, the natural landscape is in fact a manifestation of the higher forces that shape the realm and life and death within it. Take Cloud Peak, for example. Apart from its location, we learn that ' [P] eople often go there to pray for rain. When clouds appear at the mountain top, rain will come down.' The mountain becomes, in that description, much more than merely an elevation in the landscape. The significance of the mountain is inseparable from the significance of the rain it provides. A successful harvest means the survival and prosperity of large groups of people; a failed harvest through drought is devastating for equally large numbers. Rain means the difference between success and failure, wealth and poverty, life and death. The mountain, as the site where those decisions originate, holds the power to make those decisions. The Stone Men of the same pas­ sage, perhaps perceived by some as mere pieces of rock, are significant because 'they can call up clouds and bring rain'. As the geomancers who determined that the county's name should be Longquan ('Dragon source') recognized, the landscape and the forces that shape the land­ scape are inextricably linked. The two mountains that rise up in the Longquan scenery in the shape of the horns of a dragon invest that entire landscape with the significance of the dragon. The features that stand out in the landscape its caves, rivers, and peaks are the physical manifestations of powers that operate on a higher level than human beings. Such powers ensure, for example, that Stone Well in Yongfeng never dries out, even in the greatest drought. 10

10

Wang, Records qf Great Sites, 3 1 .6b.

28

CHAPTER

TWO

These sites in the landscape are notable for another reason: they are also the sites where some kind of interaction between humans and the forces of the higher realm have taken place in the past or might be possible in the future. We can read the description of the thirteenth­ century landscape as a record of such interactions between humans and the forces of the invisible world. The wall of earth around the top of Sage Ridge in Yongfeng, for example, is there as a result of the pres­ ence of gods; Phoenix Mountain inJishui is named after a miraculous creature once seen here: the multi-coloured phoenix once flew away from the cascading waterfall on this mountain. I I Spiral Shell Mountain (Luozi Shan t�T ill ) was given its name by a fisherman who was once caught in a storm here: Suddenly [the fisherman] noticed a divine shell (shen luo :f$t�) with many bright colours. The fisherman put it inside his cloak. As he reached the south-side of North Hill and waded through the river, he lost the shell. Hence the name of the mountain. 12

The passage tells us very little. It does not clarify whether the fisherman was rescued from the storm by the shell, or whether there had been other powers at work. The passage leaves little doubt, however, that the shell with its many bright colours held special powers. Once it was lost in the river, it became part of the mountain. Once the mountain had gained its name, that mountain also gained the possibility of further communication with the forces in the invisible realm. Some places were invested with special value because they were the site of the ascension of an immortal. The landscape was marked throughout with references to immortals. Almost every county inJizhou boasted the erstwhile presence of an immortal. Wu Mountain in western Taihe was named after Old Lady Wu, who had searched for longevity pills here, and Prince Mountain was named after Prince Yao who had climbed onto the back of a phoenix in eastern Taihe on his way to the realm of immortals. Jishui boasted an altar for the seven hermits who became immortals here during the Tang dynasty, Immortal Wu tran­ scended to heaven in Yongfeng county and Cao Ao W�� did likewise in Anfu.13 The caves, peaks and mountains where they had transcended their earthly existence remained associated with these beings, who had 11

12 13

Wang, Records if Great Sites, 3 1 . 7b. Wang, Records if Great Sites, 3 1 . 1 1 a. Wang, Records if Great Sites, juan 3 1 throughout.

SACRED LANDSCAPE

29

left behind the trials and tribulations of this realm, even when these names were the only remaining traces of their stories. The famous Jin dynasty Daoist Master Ge Hong :,gm (283-363) was responsible for the name of a peak in Anfu (Immortal Ge Peak) and a cave in Long­ quan (Immortal Ge Cave).14 Longquan residents maintained that Ge Hong had concocted immortality pills here, while the Anfu residents insisted this had happened in Anfu. Even though there was no further evidence for Ge Hong's presence here, both locations were held to be numinous, and became sites for extensive Daoist religious practices, as will be discussed in greater detail in the next chapter. 15 The extent to which Ge Hong's one-time presence inJizhou can be corroborated is probably irrelevant; his name and the stories associated with him may well have been enough to bestow numinosity on the site. The presence of three other immortals can be traced in more detail: the lords Fuqiu If.li, Wang .3:. and Guo $�, known as the Three Huagai Immortals (Huagai san zhenjun $ji==-tt), became the subject of quite extensive worship in Southern Song Jizhou. Wang Xiangzhi's geography of the realm lists two sites for Jizhou where the Three Immortals were worshipped; and Zhang Yuanshu ]j[7C�, Daoist author of a sacred geography listing all the sites associated with the Three Immortals, lists almost twenty sites in Jizhou. 16 They are in Yongfeng, the county immediately bordering Chongren *1= county in Fuzhou prefecture where Huagai worship originated, and in Jishui, Taihe and

1+

Ge Hong (283-363) was a famous Daoist thinker, practitioner, and medical specialist. For a discussion of the exact dates of Ge Hong, see Nathan Sivin, 'On the Pao P'u Tzu Nei P'ien and the Life of Ko Hung (283-343)' Isis 60 ( 1 969): 388-9 1 . For an in-depth study of his life and writings, see Robert Ford Campany, To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth: a Translation and Study qf Ge Hong's Traditions qf Divine Transcendents (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002). 1 5 At Gexian Peak in Anfu there was an altar named after Ge Hong. See Wang, Records qf Great Sites, 3 1 .9b. See also the inscription by Zhao Yike, 'Ge xian tan ji', ArifU xianzhi ( 1 872), 1 7. 7a-8a. At Gexian Cave a Daoist complex was built during the Song. At both sites there continued to be sightings of extraordinary things: flames as if gold was being melted on top of Anfu's Gexian Peak, and the sound of pounding herbs in Gexian Cave in Longquan. See Wang, Records qf Great Sites, 3 1 .9b. 16 Zhang Yuanshu, an early thirteenth-century author, wrote a work entitled Huagai shan shishi, a title translated by Robert Hymes as Verities qf Huagai Mountain, and included in the Ming compilation entitled Huagaishan Fuqiu Wang Guo san zhenjun shishi ( Verities qf the Three Perftcted Lords) that forms the main source for Hymes, Wqy and Bywqy. Judith Boltz suggests Huagai shan shishi was compiled by Zhang Yuanshu in 1 185.Judith Boltz, A SurVl!)! qf Taoist Literature, Tenth to Seventeenth Centuries (Berkeley: Institute for East Asian Studies, 1 987), 80.

30

CHAPTER

TWO

Luling, along the river that connects Jizhou and Fuzhou.17 The cult of the Three Immortals, popular and widespread among Jizhou's thirteenth-century elite and commoner population, will be discussed further below. For now, what matters is that any traces of immortals in the landscape marked those sites as special and numinous. The landscape as a whole was at the same time a manifestation of the greater powers that shaped both the landscape itself and the lives of the local population. Sites that stood out particularly were those where some kind of interaction or communication or negotiation with those greater forces had taken place or might take place in the future. Such interaction, I shall argue below, forms a significant part of what I will call here the 'sacred landscape' of thirteenth-century Jizhou. The landscape that surrounded the residents of Jizhou, or more precisely, the representation of that landscape as it was visualized by thirteenth­ century literate observers, can be read as a record of the religious world of Jizhou residents. Below I will discuss several more descriptions of the thirteenth-century landscape of Jizhou. Rather than reading them as static representations, I propose to read them, as Hirsch sug­ gests, as processes containing elements of everyday social life as well as idealizations of those spaces. Descriptions of the landscape contain constant references to encounters with the higher forces that had shaped it, for they were part of the daily social life of all thirteenth-century inhabitants, but the process of describing the landscape also allowed residents to imagine that they were to some extent in control of it. In describing the landscape, the forces that had shaped it were, at least to a degree, tamed. Taming the landscape through description

At West Dragon Mountain, to take one such description, in the moun­ tainous west of Longquan county, a high wind would sometimes blow away the stones near its peak and create gaps and holes in the ground. The story, told locally, was that a strange mendicant monk once travelled near West Dragon Mountain. When a hard-hearted woman rejected his request for some food, he wrapped himself in his coat, climbed the They are listed in chapter three of Shen Tingrui, Huagaishan Fuqiu Wang Guo san zhenjun shishi, in Daozang (Zhengtong edition, reprint, Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1 986-88), 1 8.55-60. 17

SACRED LANDSCAPE

31

mountain, and beat the peak with his stick, causing a freezing wind, known thereafter as the 'West Dragon Wind', to blow out of these holes. Much later some woodchoppers covered the holes with stones and earth, but the wind continued to come out in great waves in the pool at the foot of the mountain.18 West Dragon Mountain clearly was an inhospitable place, and a freezing wind blowing off the mountain could no doubt do serious damage to people, livestock, and crops. The monk, insulted by the lack of charity he had been shown, called on the greater forces that inhabited the landscape, in this case perhaps the dragon that gave its name to the mountain, or the deity of the mountain itself, to wreak revenge. Even if not all people would have had the monk's powers of communication with that higher force, the story would remind them of its presence, and the ability of some people amongst them to marshal such forces. The story of West Dragon Mountain is a story of human inferiority and weakness in the face of those greater forces. Other tales suggest the possibility of asserting some human control over such forces. See, for example, the story told about Round Pool in Jishui. The high moun­ tains surrounding the deep pool meant that one could only get beyond it by boat; it was not until much later that a road was carved out of the mountain side. The story told locally was that a man with special religious skills, a 'religious specialist' (Jangshi 1J ±) had once battled in these waters with a flood dragon (jiaolong !lJ3(:f�). When the religious specialist emerged victorious after three days, he erected an iron pil­ lar on the top of the mountain as part of the pledge he had made to the gods. Ever since, the whirlpools in spring and early summer had ceased to bring harm. 19 The natural surroundings posed a threat here: the deep pool formed a dangerous obstacle for passing traffic, and the rapids and floods caused by the increase in volume during the melting season regularly wreaked havoc. But the monument on the mountain top and its associated story of a human being emerging victorious over the dragon may well have served to instil a sense of at least the potential of human control over such powerful forces.

18

19

Wang, Records qf Great Sites, 3 1 . 1 1 b. Wang, Records qf Great Sites, 3 1 . 7 a.

32

CHAPTER TWO

Dragons

Dragons appear in both these stories, in the first as part of the moun­ tain's name, in the second as the inhabitant of the pool. In both, the dragon is the underlying cause of the harm suffered by local people. The first story does not state this as explicitly as the second, but when the disgruntled monk beats West Dragon Mountain with his stick and a freezing wind begins to blow out of the inner mountain, is it not likely that this wind originates with the dragon that gave the mountain its name? The names of features in the Jizhou scenery suggest that in former times dragons were thought to have ruled much of the land­ scape. There was Dragon Islet in southern Taihe and Coiled Dragon Mountain in northern Taihe, Returning Dragon Cave in the far south of Yongfeng, and Transforming Dragon Pond in Longquan, and many more.20 By the thirteenth century, however, that stage had been left far behind, or so the 1 227 geographical study Records if Great Sites would like to have its readers believe. So Pearl Peak in Longquan was named thus because 'it was said' (xiang chuan t§1$) that two dragons used to play with pearls on top of the mountain.21 At Stone Spring in the far south of Yongfeng there was a wide stone chamber with a pool, immeasur­ ably deep and six to ten metres wide, of which 'the old people said that a dragon lived in it'.22 The references to the transmission of such tales, especially when the elderly are associated with that transmission, serve to establish a critical distance between current insights and past misapprehensions. The suggestion is created that at present, i.e. at the time of compiling the Records if Great Sites, a belief in the omnipresence of dragons was no longer shared by the author and audience of the text. A close look at contemporary tales that include dragons, however, suggests that the break between current thinking and earlier beliefs was nowhere near as complete. Such tales reveal, instead, a continuous bat­ tle for control over the forces of the natural landscape. In a tale collected in Hong Mai's Record if the Listener (Yijianzhi), for

20

The Records if Great Sites also lists 'Dragon Reservoir' in Anfu, 'Stone Dragon Cliff' in Longquan, 'Dragon Awakes Abbey' in Jizhou, 'Dragon Glory Mountain' and 'Dragon Gate River' in Yongfeng, 'Dragon Head Mountain' in Wan' an, and 'Dragon Beard Mountain' in Luling. See Wang, Records if Great Sites, 3 1 . l 2a. 21 Wang, Records if Great Sites, 3 1 .6a. 22 Wang, Records if Great Sites, 3 1 .6b.

SACRED LANDSCAPE

33

example, we catch a glimpse of that battle.23 Here is the story, entitled 'The Jizhou Camphor Tree' (Jizhou zhangmu 51'1'1*,*), translated in full: In front of the military provisions storehouse in Jizhou stood a large camphor tree, more than three metres in diameter, and with a circumfer­ ence of six to ten metres. It sheltered and shaded those underneath it, where daylight was invisible. Inside [the tree] was a deep cavity. The tree's side-branches were big enough to be used for bridges and roof beams. According to the locals it was two to three hundred years old. In the sixth month of the second year of Qjandao [i.e. 1 1 66] , fierce rain and thunderbolts struck and broke off one branch. Many thought the tree was the hiding place of a dragon, and some thought it was the nest of an evil snake. When the rain stopped, a fire was roaring inside the cavity, a fire that did not stop until evening. They poured water on it, but the flames only intensified and were about to spread to the store­ house. When Magistrate Ge Lixiang :!; iL1fJ. saw this, he immediately ordered [the people] to move all valuables [from the military storehouse] to a different place. He gathered several tens of soldiers and carpenters, to work together on chopping down [the tree] . They worked feverishly through the night, and finally the tree fell down. Someone said: 'If a branch grows from the tree's side, then, in accord­ ance with a geomancer's prophecy, that branch will benefit the great families of Yichun '§: * county [in neighbouring Yuanzhou prefecture] . 24 Those families must each year cross the border and make an offering. When they did not come for the third consecutive year, someone from Yuanzhou said those families [from Yichun] had already fallen on hard times.' If this is so, then this tree came to its end because it had a pre­ determined lifespan [that came to its end] . Some, however, have different explanations.25

The tree was clearly a significant landmark in Jizhou, and had been there for a long time. The belief that a dragon or evil snake used the tree as its lair obviously did not prevent the use of its wood for 23 I have used Hong Mai, Record qf the listener (rljianzhi), and its anonymously authored sequel, Sequel Record qf the Listener [Based on] New Hearsay from the Lakes and Seas (Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi). The translation of the title comes from Barend ter Haar, 'Newly Recovered Anecdotes from Hong Mai's ( 1 1 23-1 202) Yijianzhi', Journal qf Sung-Yuan Studies ( 1 993): 23. This anonymous collection of anecdotes dates from after 1 302, and has been published together with another shorter sequel to Hong Mai's Record qf the Listener, entitled Sequel Record qf the Listener (Xu yijianzhi) by Yuan Haowen ( 1 1 90-1 257) in a 1 986 Zhonghua shuju edition. See Xuyijianzhi Huhai xinwenyijianxuzhi (Yuan dyn., reprint, Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1 986). 24 Yuanzhou is the prefecture located to the north-west of Jizhou. 25 rljianzhi, sanyi 7. 1 358.

34

CHAPTER

TWO

construction purposes. When a storm significantly damaged the tree, however, fears over what powers might have been disturbed overcame more utilitarian attitudes towards it. Such fears were confirmed when the flames only intensified when doused in water and began to pose a threat to the storehouse. To control the flames and the forces that caused them, the authority of the magistrate and a labour force of several tens of men were needed. The huge force needed to fell the tree must have left the door open, at the very least, to the suspicion that harm­ ing the tree, and robbing the dragon of its lair, could have dangerous consequences. The final sentences of the story provide further support for this view. According to the prophecy of an otherwise unidentified individual, the tree's side branch would bring benefit to the great families of a neighbouring county in Yuanzhou. The destruction of the side branch in the storm, linked to the abandonment of their offerings, coincides with the downfall of the families themselves. If the side branch repre­ sents Yichun in Yuanzhou, then surely the tree itself is in some ways symbolic of Jizhou. The felling of the tree might well be seen as the end of its predetermined lifespan, but, as the final phrase states, some have different explanations, and no single view is universally accepted. Some may well have seen the felling of the tree and the destruction of the dragon's lair as posing a serious potential threat to Jizhou. In the same way that the conflict between these two competing interpretations remains, the battle between the authority of the magistrate and his men and the powers of the dragon, which remains ominously invisible in the tale, is also unresolved.26 The story does not tell whether in later years Jizhou was plagued by further fires or other disasters. The unresolved nature of these two conflicts also suggests that belief in the power of dragons was not as neatly part of the past as Records if Great Sites would have us believe. Rather, it suggests that the landscape continued to be shaped by the presence of dragons and other ominous forces.

26

For a discussion of narratives of conflict between the realm of the spirits (shen) and officials (guan) , see Judith Magee Boltz, 'Not by the Seal of Office Alone: New Weapons in Battles with the Supernatural', in Ebrey and Gregory, eds., Religion and Sociery in Tang and Sung China ( 1 993), 24 1-305.

SACRED LANDSCAPE

35

'Inscribing' the landscape

An ordinary inhabitant of thirteenth-century Jizhou would have found himself or herself surrounded by an often dangerous and threatening landscape. The forces that shaped the physical landscape were insepara­ ble from the forces that shaped the course of one's life and death. The fearsome qualities of the landscape have an immediacy in these stories, and in Eric Hirsch's approach to landscape, this threatening landscape was clearly in the actual foreground.27 Finding and safeguarding one's place within that landscape was crucial for all involved. I propose to read the records of human activities within the landscape as attempts to bring together the inhospitable reality of the landscape in the foreground and the idealized vision of this same landscape in the background. In that idealized vision, some negotiation has taken place between human beings and the forces that shape the physical landscape. The written records that describe the thirteenth-century landscape suggest that at specific sites these negotiations between human beings and the greater forces had yielded success. Texts like Records if Great Sites tell stories of successful negotiations where monks can call up winds and the forces that live in trees can be tamed by magistrates. The texts seek to create, I argue, a sense of safety in the environment. It remains, however, a thin layer of control, barely disguising the fearsomeness of the natural enVIronment. Wherever negotiations with the greater forces that shape the land­ scape yielded success, the story of that success became part of the landscape; the tale that told its account 'inscribed' the landscape, and, I would argue, began to tame it. Consider, for example, this tale about a sandbank in the River Wang. The river originated in the Chenhui Mountains and then flowed into the River Lu. Where the two rivers met was a reservoir known as Dragon Reservoir. •

A geographical source notes that if you transport timbers, they will sink in Dragon Reservoir.28 The story goes that [a certain] Sun Hao was chopping wood to build a house. The wood floated downstream, to the reservoir. There the wood sank, so they had to use a rope to try and pull it up, but a great storm arose. In later years, whenever there was a drought, they got people to pull on the wood, and wind and rain would

27

Hirsch, 'Landscape'. 28 The text states 'Yu di zhi' W:ttl!,it , which could be a reference to a now lost geo­ graphical compendium, or to a part of a local gazetteer.

36

CHAPTER

TWO

[always] follow. In the sixteenth year of Yuanjia [i.e. 439 BeE] the wood suddenly floated up to the surface. It was about two metres thick, and half of it was still submerged in water. It became hard and then formed a sandbank. 29

The sandbank in the river had thus become 'inscribed' by this tale: it originated as a piece of submerged wood, the significance of which lies in the fact that while it remained submerged, pulling at it would always yield rain. With the telling of the story, the landscape became marked. It was no longer merely a sandbank in the river, but became a place known for its record of human success over the forces of nature. As we saw in the dragon tales, it is that record and the retelling of the record, that created a sense of security. By telling the stories, human beings negotiated for themselves a secure space within the landscape. Looking at the landscape, we should be able to see this record of negotiations, even when such successful negotiation was of only short duration. A wise monk from Xiii 1ffi tl in Anfu countJ: had ext�aordinary ,[eomancy . . . skills. The monk had taken hIS vows at Shuman ClOlster 7l<.l¥J�Jt near hIS home. When he was still a novice, he once basked in the sun in front of the temple gates, when he suddenly became aware that the stone turtles at the foot of the stele often had silk and grass on their shells. The monk said: 'If you do not perform a miracle [for me] , then you can be sure I will have you put on a charcoal fire to be smelted down.' That night [the monk] dreamed that the turtle told him: 'The big river that flows below the monastery is very deep. The Dragon King lives there, and I have some minor duties in the Water Kingdom (ShuijU 7l<.Jff) . I should be able to go to the desk of the Dragon King, and bor­ row the Classic if Moving Drar;;ns (Hanlong jing 1'����) and the Ruler for Moving Dragons (Hanlong chi �1'l�R) to give to you. You can then quickly copy these, before I return them. Please spare me. ' The next day, indeed he obtained the Classic and the Ruler from under the stone turtle, and because of this [the monk] could move mountains and revolve water under the earth like a god. From the moment he made geomancy his speciality, the [area's] numbers of examination candidates and officials increased, and he was asked to bury the ancestors of schol­ ars, farmers, artisans and merchants. Not once did he not respond to whatever they requested.30

29

Wang, Records if Great Sites, 3 1 . 7b. 30 'Da seng zang di', in Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, qianji 2.84.

SACRED LANDSCAPE

37

The power over the landscape that this monk acquired as a result of his threat clearly also brought him great social powers. The story does not tell of the dragon's wrath or the repercussions for the thieving turtle, but that threat hovers in the background of the story. There is nothing permanent or reliable about the powers of the monk. The monk succeeds here by threatening the turtle, and although the Dragon King suffers the humiliation of having his books copied, ultimately the powers of control over the landscape revert to him. In the short term, however, the story tells a tale of seeking and gaining control over the landscape. The image of the physical environment that emerges from these inscriptions is closely linked to the records in the landscape of coping with the threats that the environment poses. The human record on the landscape

Tales associated with the natural features of the Jizhou landscape inscribed them and thereby made them less threatening. One could equally argue that the building of temples, shrines, and monasteries 'inscribed' the landscape. These buildings helped to make the place less dangerous, and offered reassurance to the local inhabitants. Like the tales associated with natural sites, temples and shrines, also, provided a record of successful interactions and negotiations between humans and the greater forces that shaped the realm. By the time of the Southern Song, the eight counties of Jizhou all had well-developed urban develop­ ments in the form of county seats. Within the towns there were temples and shrines, as there were too in the suburbs outside the city walls and further away in the remote countryside. From the Qj.ng dynasty prefec­ tural and county gazetteers, and from thirteenth-century geographical sources such as Records if Great Sites and Zhu Mu's Topography fir Vrsit­ ing Scenic Sites (Fangyu shenglan), we can reconstruct a record of about 85 temples in the Jizhou region during the Southern Song. Of course the historical record extant today can only hint at the actual number of temples and shrines, which was almost certainly much higher. It is nevertheless informative. It tells us, for example, about some of the most prestigious establish­ ments in theJizhou landscape. There was Benjue ;;$:Jl: Temple, located next to the famous kilns at Yonghe, ten kilometres south of Luling and further upstream along the Gan. During the Song there were 24 kilns in operation here, the largest of which still shape the scenery today. Benjue

38

CHAPTER

TWO

Temple stood next to the kilns, its nine-storey pagoda still standing today, towering over the surrounding area. Jishui also boasted many temples; most widely known perhaps was Chongyuan *:JC Monastery, which the famous immortal Lii Dongbin was said to have visited, leaving an inscription at Chongyuan's Xuelang *�f! Pavilion.3l Chongyuan was built originally during the Jin dynasty, when the magistrate of Jingyang ;fit� drove away the snakes here by smelting iron.32 Taihe was known for two magnificent temples in the Southern Song: Darning * B)j and Nanta l¥ffjif .33 Yongfeng was famous for Bao'en ¥Itlgl, Temple, located to the west of the county capital. The most famous of the prestigious temple complexes in Jizhou, however, may well have been Jingju �*Ji5 Monastery, located on the eastern side of the Gan, just over seven kilometres to the south-east of the town of Luling in the Qj.ngyuan W JJii: Mountains. The oldest records indicate that a monastery named Anyin 'Ji: � was built here in these rolling hills in 709. Over the years it fell into disrepair and was rebuilt several times, but throughout the centuries and until today it has remained a significant site for Buddhist worship. When the famous scholar Zhou Bida visited Jingju Monastery in 1 1 63, he wrote this in his 'Notes on Travelling the Jizhou Mountains' (Jizhou zhushan youji E )'1'1 mf LlJ jtiU2.): We travelled to Jingju Monastery in the Qingyuan Mountains, which is the place of worship of the Seventh Patriarch Xingsi {-T,\!t34 One crosses the river at the market town of Yonghe and travels for about three kilometres, surrounded by a range of hills. Only when one draws near the monastery does one see the tiled dwellings and the slightly run­ down temple. A pagoda stands at the top of the mountain, with steps to climb up to it. To the left of the pagoda there are three wells, named Zhuoyang Jj[�, Hubao and Leizhen m-II. Carved in the side of the wells are two poems written by Huang Tingjian Ji:M� and dedicated to Van Zhenqing �Jty�p in 1 083.35 After we had eaten we went south to

On Lii Dongbin, see Paul Katz, Images if the ImmortaL' The Cult if La Dongbin at the Palace if Eternal Joy (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1 999). 32 Listed in Zhu Mu, Fangyu shenglan (reprint, Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1 986), 20. 1 Oa and Wang, Records if Great Sites, 3 1 . 1 3a. 33 Zhu, Fangyu shenglan, 20. I Oa. 34 Xingsi (?-740) was a famous Chan-Buddhist master, who hailed from Jizhou and taught at Jingju Monastery. 35 Van Zhenqing (709-785) was a great calligrapher and scholar, who served for a time in Jizhou and visited the Seventh Patriarch in the Qjngyuan Mountains. The great Jizhou poet Huang Tingjian ( 1 045- 1 1 05) served in Taihe from 1 080 to 1082 and wrote these poems. 31

SACRED LANDSCAPE

39

Fishing Platform, which faces the highest mountain and below it borders on a clear stream. It has such a tranquil atmosphere, one could withdraw here [and become a hermit] . The stream is shallow but continuous, with tributaries that spring up by the temple.36

The passage tells us a lot about the kind of place this was. When Zhou Bida visited, the temple itself had obviously fallen into disrepair, as Zhou describes it only as 'run-down' (pozhai i§.�) and makes no mention of being introduced to the monks or their abbot. Nor does he mention the various smaller Chan-Buddhist cloisters scattered in the Qj.ngyuan Mountains that were all linked to the Jingju temple complex.37 What was of interest to Zhou was the link with those who were here before him: the Tang Buddhist Master Xingsi, the calligrapher Van Zhenqing, and Northern Song poet Huang Tingjian. It was the traces of these men, all members of the highest cultural elite, which led him there. His enjoyment of this calm and scenic site was secondary. In later years other famous men left their mark atJingju Monastery, such as the government official Hu Quan in the twelfth century, and the lyricist Liu Chenweng and loyalist Wen Tianxiang in the thirteenth.38 These prominent figures went on public visits to Jingju Monastery, and the records of their visits became known to many generations of scholars and poets. Famous sites like these formed prominent landmarks, though perhaps more so in the imagined landscape than in the physical landscape. They were known throughout the realm for their entries in national geographical collections such as Records if Great Sites and Topograp/ry for Visiting Scenic Sites, and for the poems and travelogues written about them by scholars with national and regional reputations. To all intents and purposes, these were the religious establishments of the high secular and religious elite. The significance of the involvement of literati in such prestigious religious establishments will be discussed in further detail in later chapters. In literati consciousness, the landscape of Jizhou was shaped not just by its natural attributes but also by the buildings

36

Zhou Bida, Jizhou zhushan youji', in Xiaofeng Daran, comp., Qjngyuan ::hillie ( 1 669, reprint, Nanchang: Jiangxi renmin chubanshe, 1 998), 1 35-6. Hereafter QYZL. 3 7 The Qing dynasty prefectural gazetteer includes a quote from the now lost Lulingzhi, written by the same Zhou Bida: 'Wuyin an, Baiyun an, Jiuban an. Although these places are sometimes called chapel (an), and sometimes hall (yuan), they are all Chan-Buddhist. They are all located near theJingju temple complex, and are all con­ nected to it. They are located in the mountainous border between Luling and Jishui.' JAFZ ( 1 875), 59.b-60a. 38 Their writings are all included in QYZL.

40

CHAPTER TWO

in the natural setting and the literary record associated with them. Even if the landscape in the foreground was less than perfect (the run-down temple), the literati eye saw a site inscribed by famous literati. Temples and shrines in the landscape

For the local residents, however, such prominent sites were probably not the most significant landmarks. Although it is probable that parts of the Jingju complex were accessible to ordinary visitors, their religious needs would have been catered for by an entirely different kind of sacred site. Of the 85 Southern Song temples that have left a mark in the historical record, 23 temples are only known to us by name. These are the temples listed in geographical descriptions, for example, where no further details are provided about their history or recent circumstances, or the temples that appear in sources like Zhou Bida's recollection of a journey home to Luling. Zhou names the temples he stayed at dur­ ing this journey, and sometimes refers to the abbot or monks he met there, but tells us nothing else about the history or circumstances of the temple. All we know of such temples today is that the high literati of the day were aware of them. Of the other 62 temples, we know they were either newly built or restored extensively during the period between 1 1 27 and 1 274. Let us look, by way of example, at the record of temple-building activities during the ten years of the Xianchun reign-period ( 1 265- 1 274) of Emperor Duzong of the Southern Song. First, in 1 265, Jiyun �W Cloister in the Wugong Mountains in western Anfu was restored.39 In the same year, new temples were built in Luling (Beixing �tJ! Temple), Taihe (Xilong lffi ft Temple), and Yongfeng (Baolin :It* Cloister).4o A second new temple was built in Yongfeng the next year, Qi.ping Cloister, and in the same year a new Daoist abbey was established in Longquan: Ziyang Abbey � ��fI .41 In Luling, a shrine for the Tang calligrapher Van Zhenqing was built in 1 268, although one might argue that this was not a religious establishment in the meaning of that word used in this book. A further seven temples were built or restored during the decade of the Xianchun reign-period, although we have no informa-

39 40 41

JAFZ ( 1 842), 1 O.8b-9a. Luling xian;:;hi ( 1 873), 45. 1 9b; Taihe xian;:;hi ( 1 879), 30. l Oa; JAFZ (1875), 9.5 I a. JAFZ ( 1 875), 9.48a and 1 0.23a-b.

SACRED LANDSCAPE

41

tion about the exact years in which this happened. Four of these were in Taihe: Jianfu Temple, Yi'an Cloister, and Liangquan were all newly built, and Juetang Temple was given an official plaque to commemo­ rate recent events at the temple.42 The three others were cloisters in Longquan that were restored during this period: Guanyin, Huacheng and Xingfu.43 As stated earlier, the references to fourteen building and restoration projects probably bear little relation to the actual numbers of new temples and shrines erected and restored during this period; there will have been very many more. Nevertheless, the record shows that building activity was constant during this period, as was investment in the religious life of the counties. Apart from the temples that were centres of religious activity within the field of consciousness of the literati, there were vast numbers of temples and shrines for ordinary worshippers. Such temples and shrines came in all kinds and sizes, where demons and deities were worshipped in a bewildering range of fashions. Some temples in the thirteenth-century landscape were used for worship of a deity with a regional following. The cult of a local spirit known as Kang Wang [;Jt3:::. , for example, spread throughout thirteenth-century Jizhou. There was a Kang Wang temple in Jishui, built between 1 227 and 1 250. Yang Zhangru m-fH�, son of a famousJizhou poet, wrote about this temple in the early thirteenth century. 'Worship for this god has spread to Jiang, Huai, Min and Zhe, where he is both manifest and efficacious, while the numbers of worshippers never cease. '44 This would suggest that the cult of Kang Wang had spread throughout the seven most populated circuits of Southern Song China. Another scholar, Ouyang Shoudao ���J!t (1 208-1273), wrote in 1 248 about another Kang Wang tem­ ple, located nearer to Luling. 'The counties of Luling [i.e. Jizhou] all have branch temples for [Kang] Wang; scholars and commoners from far and near congregate here regularly.'45 The Kang Wang temples these two scholars knew about were probably large and well-established cuitic centres, for otherwise it is unlikely they would have deigned to write about them. Their critique of the behaviour of the worshippers, which I have discussed more fully elsewhere, suggests that Kang Wang 42

Respectively, these can be found on JAFZ ( 1 875), 9. 1 5b; Taihe xian:;.hi ( 1 879), 30. 1 4b and 30.9a; and JAFZ ( l 875), 9. 1 5a. 43 JAFZ ( 1 875), 9.46a-47a. 4+ Yang Zhangru, 'Kang Wang miao ji', Jishui xian:;.hi ( 1 875), 1 2.23b. 45 Ouyang Shoudao, 'Lingyou miaoji', XZUJ, 1 6.2b.

42

CHAPTER

TWO

was widely worshipped as a demonic force who could spread plagues, but could also be placated and operate as a local protector.46 It would seem likely, although no evidence remains to prove this, that the great majority of the temples where Kang Wang was worshipped were small and impermanent. By the time of the first extant gazetteers for the Jizhou area, at least two hundred years after the erection of these temples, all records of the existence of smaller Kang Wang temples had disappeared, although newer Kang Wang temples had been built, and the cult still exists in the region todayY Another cult popular throughout the region in the thirteenth century was the cult of the Three Huagai Immortals, briefly mentioned above. As Robert Hymes' magisterial study of the Three Immortals describes, the cult started in late Northern Song Fuzhou in Jiangxi, and spread throughout the region, and into Jizhou during the Southern Song.48 Several Jizhou men noted the existence of Huagai temples in the area, including Liu Chenweng and his son LiuJiangsun ;UMf�, Feng Yiweng 1X§J&�, and Jie Xisi t�fJ:WT. Their texts suggest that such worship was widespread. Liu Chenweng observed in 1 275 that 'nowa­ days so many people talk of Huagai'; his son Liu Jiangsun noted that 'the Jiangxi mountains are tall, and at the tallest places people often worship Huagai'.49 Feng Yiweng andJie Xisi both wrote their inscrip­ tions for Huagai temples in Jizhou in the l 330s, and both noted how many worshippers these temples attracted. 50 Temples associated with cults like these will have formed regular markers in the landscape of thirteenth-century Jizhou and after, and may well have been part of a unifying 'local identity' for the worshippers in the area. Next to such sites of worship for regional cults, there were the many individual shrines and altars built on an ad-hoc basis for an immor­ tal or spirit. From the descriptions that appear in miracle tales set in Jizhou included in the Sequel Record if the Listener collection, such small

4U

Anne Gerritsen, 'From Demon to Deity: Kang Wang in Thirteenth-CenturyJizhou and Beyond', Toung Pao International Journal qf Chinese Studies 90. 1-3 (2004): 4--3 5. 47 For a brief discussion of temples for Kang Wang extant today, see Anne Ger­ ritsen, 'A Thirteenth-Century Cult in the Villages of Ji'an Giangxi), or 'Fieldwork for Historians", Journal qf Song Yuan Studies 33 (2003): 1 8 1- 1 85. 48 See Hymes, Wqy and Bywqy. 49 Liu Jiangsun, Jishui Yuhuaguan ji', Yangwuzhaiji, 1 7.8b-l Ob. Feng Yiweng, Jiahui guan ji', in Luling xianzhi (1873), 45.34b-35b; Jie Xisi, 'Tian­ hua wanshou gong bei', in Jie Xisi quanji, 37 1-2. s"

SACRED LANDSCAPE

43

shrines were ubiquitous. One such tale, for example, conveyed the special significance of the bamboo shoots that grow here, linking it to the obviously flourishing worship of Lady Wei � in Luling: When Lady Wei became an immortal, there was an old woman from the village who repeatedly offered her tea, and the Lady was moved by her dedication. She pulled out her hairpin, pushed it into the earth near the fence, and said: 'Every year at the end of the fourth month, bamboo shoots will sprout here, and you will be able to feed your family with it.' The next year, bamboo shoots sprouted here. They tasted sweet, but they had no roots. The p'�?ple of the area called them 'Shoots that fill our needs' (tianbusun :l;!tw�) and they still grow here today.5 1

The story inscribed the landscape by explaining the origins of a specific local crop. The natural environment was less threatening here, although the reference to feeding the family suggests a marginal existence. The space was marked and given meaning through the connection between human and immortal. Another tale told of the religious beliefs of people living in the floodplain of the Gan: In the region of the two riversJi and Gan, there is an area called Zaokou m Q and there about twenty to thirty families lived. They all lived in elevated buildings to protect themselves from water catastrophes. In the fifth month of the dingmao year of Xianchun [i.e. 1 267] , the water of the Gan rose to land level, and the water was over three metres deep. Mter the level had fallen back, it suddenly rose again by fifteen metres, immersing the roof beams of the houses. Many people anxiously looked at it, and then they saw, floating on the water's surface, a black ox, carrying a large red snake on its back. It sat very still among the waves and did not move. The people thought this was the transformation of a dragon, blocking the water so it could not drain away. Each person made promises to the gods, but the ox still did not disappear. Then there was an old man, who had a Eiece of white silk, with a section of the Diamond Sutra Uin'gang jing �1lUJ��) wrapped inside it. With force he threw it into the water, ten to fifteen centimetres away from the ox. The ox turned his head to look at it, dived down, and the water followed him down quickly. The people were all saved from drowning. This is how powerful the force of the sutra was in getting rid of evil. 52

51 52

'Cha zan sheng sun', Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, houji 1 . 1 34. jiao wei fo jing', Huhai xinwenyijian xuzhi, houji 2. 1 96.

44

CHAPTER TWO

The story could be read as the story of a battle between a local demonic cult, appearing here in the manifestation of a red snake on the back of a black ox on the one hand, and the power of the Buddhist estab­ lishment on the other. The Buddhist establishment comes out on top in this version, but the story does not preclude the interpretation that apart from the old man, presumably a lay Buddhist, as he is not referred to as a monk, the locals were ardent followers of the local cult, and held it responsible for the flood. The religious conflict that may lie at the heart of this tale is less relevant here than the battle for survival between humans and the forces of nature. The story told of human survival, and marked the landscape as a significant site because of that human survival, without losing sight of the dangers that continued to surround humans. The temples and monasteries that dotted the Jizhou landscape served a variety of purposes, and people frequented temples for all kinds of reasons. 53 People went to temples to make requests and ask for help, to give thanks for what they had received or in response to a pledge, and to find out what the future would hold. As Hymes' study makes clear, at times such communications were direct and based on a personal rela­ tionship between worshipper and the subject of worship, at other times the communication was 'mediated', and relied on the intervention of a religious specialist. That specialist may be affiliated with the Buddhist establishment or initiated into the Daoist religious orders, but he or she may just as likely have been a village-based sorcerer or someone known locally for healing techniques. Often such encounters between worship­ per and worshipped, or between worshipper and religious specialist, occurred in a dedicated building, which could be as small as a desk with a makeshift roof or as extensive as a temple complex like Jingju. Such buildings, in their infinite varieties, formed their own pattern on the landscape. Not a permanent pattern, as the state of temples was in constant flux, and new ones were built seemingly as fast as older ones fell down or fell into disuse, but a pattern no less, and one that could offer a considerable amount of reassurance to the locals when faced with an otherwise hostile and threatening natural environment. See, for example the story about a certain Dong Liangshi :I: �Ij:, who had completed the palace examinations in 1 1 32, and visited a Daoist temple to find out what his ranking in the results would be (ryianzhi, jiazhi 1 0.83-4), or the story about an impoverished couple that went to Xianju Cloister {WmJ]i:§t to find a cure for their dangerously ill only child (Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, houji 1 . 1 44-5). 53

SACRED LANDSCAPE

45

Conclusion

How, then, can we see the landscape of Song and Yuan Jizhou as a constructed cultural space in the experience and imagination of its inhabitants? If we return briefly to Eric Hirsch's division between 'foreground actuality' and 'background potentiality', a tension between foreground and background, or between actuality and potentiality becomes manifest. For the inhabitants of Song and Yuan Jizhou, the landscape was to a large extent shaped by the powerful forces of nature that dominated their lives: inhospitable mountains with their steep cliffi and deep crevices, severe weather conditions that brought devastating winds and rain, and fast-flowing rivers with their rapids and invisible rocks that complicated transportation and brought floods. People lived in an environment that was often threatening, unknown and unknow­ able. In the background was an imagined world, an idealized space, where humans successfully coped with the dangers, where dragons had been tamed and where gods and immortals protected human beings from the threatening environment. The landscape of Song and Yuan Jizhou, as it emerges from the written record, reveals a process of negotiation between the threatening and unknown environment and the idealization of that space. The threatening forces that shaped the landscape and thereby the lives of its inhabitants might have seemed overwhelmingly powerful were it not for the manifold manifestations of the protective powers of gods and immortals in the landscape. Sites of successful interaction between humans and gods, where the sinister had been tamed and the protective had been victorious, were remembered as significant sites in the landscape. The record of human contacts with the invisible world, and the evidence of the negotiations between the dangerous forces of nature and the forces that tamed them were all part of the landscape. Landscape, in other words, was not a static environment, but a constantly changing process that looked differently depending on the individual experience. The tales told about the landscape, the temples built within the surroundings, and the stories associated with those temples were all part of a human record that inscribed and gave meaning to the landscape. It is the human record that tells of the taming of the greater and often invisible forces that conveyed a sense of safety in an otherwise inhospitable and fearsome environment. The sources from the thirteenth century clearly reveal this to be a constant dynamic process. The literati who assigned meaning to the

46

CHAPTER TWO

sites in the landscape were personally and actively involved in the process. The landscape was being continuously inscribed, rather than plumbed and fully known. I shall argue below that this process cre­ ated opportunities for belonging locally. I see it as one of the ways in which the literati gave meaning to the local and made it 'their' local. Through their writings about spaces and sacred sites, the literati could write themselves into the landscape, and created a sense of belonging within it. In Chapter Four I will look more closely at this process of exploring and inscribing the landscape, to see what 'belonging locally' means, but first comes a brief discussion of the two concepts that lie at the heart of this discussion: the literati and the community.

CHAPTER THREE

LITERATI AND COMMUNITY In 1 1 24, a certain Jizhou man named Xiao Xuchen .ff� accepted a post in one of the counties in his native Jizhou. Not long after his arrival, he submitted a report to theJizhou authorities about the miracu­ lous powers of a local god. This is how he described the bureaucratic process that followed: I sent a report to the prefectural authorities about the awesome record of this deity. The prefectural authorities investigated the matter and then prepared their own report, which they submitted to the Fiscal Commission (eaasi m"Pl). The Fiscal Commission investigated [the matter] again, and passed [their report] to the imperial court [at the capital] . In the second month of the seventh year [i.e. 1 1 25] a plaque [with the words] 'Zhao ji' flBi'M was bestowed by imperial edict. l

Obtaining an imperial plaque for this temple involved three separately compiled reports and complex bureaucratic procedures at four differ­ ent levels of the civil administration. When the procedures had been successfully completed, Xiao Xuchen composed a text, to be carved in stone and placed in the temple. This kind of text, a 'temple inscription' (ji), of which countless numbers have been preserved in literary collections and local gazet­ teers, forms one of the main sources for this study. Using such literati writings about local religious institutions as a way of exploring the meanings of locality and belonging needs some justification. After all, what purpose could this detailed description of bureaucratic procedure serve other than to demonstrate the author's own endorsement of the procedures involved in obtaining imperial sanction for local religious practice? We will never know to what extent the procedures described in this instance, which involved submitting reports as well as checking the accuracy of the submitted details, were really followed.2 Inscrip­ tions make frequent enough reference to such procedures, however, to suggest that literati often viewed local temples as offering administrative I

Xiao Xuchen, 'Zeng Zhaoji miao e ji', Longquan xian;:hi ( 1 773), 9. I Oa. ; Hansen, Changing Gods, 9 1 -95.

48

CHAPTER THREE

opportunities. Inscriptions allowed them to demonstrate to an imagined audience at the central capital their ability to implement central com­ mands locally, and execute instructions with regard to the promotion of orthodox, and the proscription of illicit, temples. A desire for the correct implementation of state orthodoxy and a disdain for aberrant local practice are hailed as universally shared sentiments among the Chinese elites throughout time and space.3 Despite such readings of inscriptions, this book argues that literati authors saw temples as much more than that. During the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, I suggest, literati saw temples as one of the foremost spaces of community construction. In fact, as the next chapter will go on to show, Jizhou literati were on the whole more interested in writing about religious spaces in the landscape than about local educational institutions or about local kinship groups and lineages. They wrote extensively about the various religious institutions inJizhou, and, in doing so, they not only inscribed the landscape and attempted to control the invisible forces within that landscape, but also sought to shape the local communities and their places within them. Literati identities

Who, then, were these 'literati', and how should we define the 'com­ munities' they wished to shape? Rather than trying to understand the communal identity of the entire population of Jizhou/Ji'an, this book only deals with an extremely small part of the population. The main group of actors who appear here were literate men, referred to here as 'literati' (shi ±), who had usually received at least part of their education in a Confucian context. We can be reasonably confident that these men had in common an exposure to texts broadly collected under the rubric of ru 100, Confucianism.4 The vast majority of them will also, at one stage or another, have experienced the civil service examinations path, whether they chose to abandon the course almost immediately or followed it right through to the top. For most of them, 3 Katz, Images if the Immortal, chapter 3, especially 98�99; Terry F. Kleeman, The

Expansion of the Wen-ch'ang Cult', in Ebrey and Gregory, eds., Religion and Society in Tang and Sung China ( 1 993), 45�73, especially 46. To be more precise, from the Southern Song, they shared knowledge of the writ­ ings of Song moral philosophers. On the relationship between Neo-Confucians and local society, see Bol, 'Neo-Confucianism and Local Society'. 4

LITERATI AND COMMUNITY

49

their literacy was much more than functional. They wrote prolifically and in a variety of genres. Much, if not most, of their writing was public; they intended their texts, even their poems and letters, for public consumption, and they wrote to a greater or lesser extent in response to ideas in the public domain. Their writing is what marked them out as different from other men. While the centrality of writing in their lives provides a unifying characteristic, the emphasis in this book will be on differences. One of the basic assumptions here is that the literati had many different sub­ ject positions or identities, which intersected and conflicted at varying times. Using a single term for them as a group throughout this book should not obscure the obvious differences between, say,Ji'an men born during the latter days of the Northern Song and those who saw the Ming fall; or between Ji'an literati who served most of their life in the central government, and those who never had much success in public service. The single term should also not make us overlook differences produced by personal characteristics and individual circumstances, or by internal conflicts and ambiguities. I am interested in the different, complex and changing ways in which Jizhou/Ji'an literati understood the significance of the religious institutions in their localities.

Religious institutions So what are these 'religious institutions'? How did temples and shrines play a role in the literati's conception of 'belonging'? Usually, scholars of Chinese religion make a distinction between Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism and a fourth, more diffuse tradition referred to as 'popular religion'.5 All four traditions have 'temples', although the architectural spectrum is vast, ranging from makeshift altars with temporary roofs to extensive and elaborate linked buildings around spacious courtyards. On architectural principles alone, it would be hard to distinguish between these different religious traditions. Rather than serving a distinct 'parish', all temples were open to visitors, and there was never a question of exclusivity of membership to one temple or one tradition alone. There were, of course, some clear differences between these four traditions,

5

Meir Shahar and Robert Weller, 'Introduction: Gods and Society in China', in Meir Shahar and Robert Weller, eds., Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1 996), I .

50

CHAPTER THREE

most notably in the ways in which they negotiated the relationship between the abstract 'principles' or teachings of the 'church' and the local manifestation of those principles.6 Temples associated with the Confucian state cult fell under control of the central government or its local representatives in the form of magistrates, while Buddhist, Daoist, and popular temples on the whole did not. The ways in which the state attempted to reach into the physical and social 'space' of the local temple varied greatly during the period under discussion here, but on the whole the state had little actual control. In theory, Buddhist monasteries had one or more resident monks, and their activities were more or less regulated by the leaders of the different Buddhist traditions, while Daoist centres received their instructions from the Daoist establish­ ments. In practice, however, the religious activities and the architectural spaces of Buddhist and Daoist temples were similar; and both were strongly influenced by the temples of the so-called popular tradition. In her study of popular cults, Valerie Hansen has looked at the ways in which popular cults spread during the Southern Song.7 From the outset she excluded from her study what she calls 'organized religions', hence Buddhist and Daoist temples. As others have pointed out, the distinction between 'popular' and 'organized' is extremely difficult to maintain; frequently a variety of gods are worshipped within one tem­ ple.s It would be virtually meaningless to think of a temple containing a statue of Guanyin as fundamentally different from a temple that does not. Moreover, such a distinction would have seemed meaningless to the literati authors whose views we are exploring here. Of course they noted differences between the various religious establishments they commemorated in writing: some were large, others small; some were frequented by large gatherings of urban residents, others were sited in remote locations and seemed to be the exclusive domain of an isolated monk or caretaker. Some were referred to as guan, translated in this book as 'abbey' or 'Daoist monastery', others as si, translated as 'temple', yet others were miao, 'shrines', or an, 'cloisters'. Literati authors, however,

6

See, for example, the study by Bernard Faure on the relationship between the 'unlocalized' aspect of Buddhism, i.e. its doctrine of universal salvation, and its localized aspect, namely its ritual practice. Bernard Faure, 'Space and Place in Chinese Religious Traditions', History of Religions 26.4 ( 1 987): 337-356. 7 Hansen, Changing Gods. See, for example, Richard von Glahn, 'Review of Changing Gods in Medieval China, 1 127-1276', HarvardJournal of Asiatic Studies 53.2 ( 1 993): 6 1 9. S

LITERATI AND COMMUNITY

51

wrote about all such establishments, without explicitly noting a qualita­ tive difference between them. The issues they found noteworthy were, for example, the fear a deity might inspire, regardless of whether some might have classified it as a Buddhist, Daoist, or a popular deity. I am interested here in the ways in which literati found such temples of interest, what they had to say about them and why. I have therefore included all sites where worship of one kind or another took place, apart from those sites that were explicitly associated with Learning of the Way (daoxue). The latter included the shrines for Confucian worthies, and on the whole also the sacred sites of the state cult, such as the altar for the terrestrial and cosmological deities. I have, however, included temples for the god of walls and moats, precisely because their inclu­ sion into the state cult by the first emperor of the Ming dynasty was a controversial decision that continued to vex the literati community for many decades. The inclusion of such diverse religious institutions and the emphasis on the multiplicity of literati identities could yield a highly fragmented and disintegrated picture. The question I am interested in, however, concerns the possibility of coherence and unity among the literati. If we recognize that literati assume many different guises and subjectivi­ ties, largely but not entirely dependent on the particularities of time and space, does that then preclude any coherence or shared identity, or indeed community, among them? Could a temple ever provide a sense of belonging, a sense of shared identity among literati? Could temples conjure up a feeling of coherence or communal unity? I am assuming there was no single understanding of coherence or community, universal among the literati of the area. Rather, I am interested in looking at the various ways in which coherence was generated in literati writings, how and why it was cultivated, the ways in which it disappeared, and the varying and at times conflicting and overlapping ways in which communities of literati manifested themselves.

Literati individuals and their social domains My thinking about the social activities of literati in Ji'an has been influenced by the sociologist Derek Layder's writings on social domains. Layder argues that the human actor is of 'crucial importance' for under­ standing social activity. In that sense, Layder's focus is on the subjective, the personal, and the agency of the individual. It is the perspective of

52

CHAPTER THREE

the individual I am interested in, and the ways in which the literati of Ji'an created their own picture of the social landscape and their own place within it. But Layder's theory of social domains, in contrast to those of social theorists like Anthony Giddens and Michel Foucault, does not reject the 'other side' outright: There are collective properties of social life that historically emerge to form objective features that provide the wider background context and the immediate settings of activities. These features constitute part of the social organization of society and typically pre-exist and outlast particular individuals' lifetimes. That is, they are part of the ongoing ensemble of social institutions, cultural traditions and patterns of social relationships that people are compelled to take into account in their daily lives.9

In other words, Layder sees his individual subjective actors in a wider context, which is to some extent objective. This is not to say that 'context' forms some kind of Weberian or Marxist structure or system. Rather, Layder suggests that the day-to-day interactions of the indi­ vidual are not solely shaped by that individual's choices and desires, but by the social institutions, traditions and patterns of relationships that form the context. Layder's understanding of the context, the environment in which people act, resonates strongly with Robert Hymes' recent statement of his understanding of culture.lO Drawing on post-modern anthropolo­ gists like Fredrik Barth and Roy D'Andrade, Hymes argues that culture should be seen not as a unified, coherent system, but as a repertoire, in constant flux and full of contradictions and variation, on which indi­ vidual actors draw. Thus, culture consists of a wide range of resources, offering varied and often conflicting possibilities. As people act, they consciously or unconsciously draw on this repertoire, which must at the same time set some boundaries to the range of possible actions and choices. In that sense it concurs with Layder's idea of social domains, where individual action is informed at some level by a reservoir based on personal memory and experience, and on the patterns and institu­ tions that pre-exist and outlive the individual. My discussion of the ways in which members of this diverse group, broadly termed literati, defined themselves as 'belonging' locally will aim to take account of

Derek Layder, Modern Social Theory: Key Debates and New Directions (London: UeL Press, 1 997), 1 9-20. 10 Hymes, Wqy and Byway, 5 -7. 9

LITERATI AND COMMUNITY

53

personal and individual factors, but will also consider the repertoire of social institutions, cultural traditions and patterns of social relationships available to each individual.

Elite strategies A second basic assumption of this book is the constant need for literati to (re-)assert their position in society. It has been established in much of the scholarship on Chinese social history that the social status of the literati was by no means constant. I I While literati may well have been able to manifest themselves as belonging to a cultural elite, this alone hardly provided them with the economic means to support themselves. Posts in the imperial bureaucracy could translate into local elite status, providing different kinds of political and economic power, but such posts were extremely hard to come by, and over time access to them became increasingly competitive, despite the many different routes that could lead to the bureaucracy. From the Song dynasty onwards, when access to education and printed materials dramatically increased, competition for posts in the imperial bureaucracy had also become fiercer. While classical sociolo­ gists like Max Weber understood 'traditional' Chinese society as being determined entirely by the characteristics of its bureaucracy, more recent research has pointed out the diverse nature of the elite. Mem­ bership of the elite could be based on established authority in such diverse matters as art, philosophy, ritual or medicine, on landholding, on trade or on military experience. Strategies to maintain membership of the elite were equally varied and by no means limited to success in the examinations. 12 Studies by Robert Hartwell and Robert Hymes, among many others, have shown that during and after the Southern Song, regional and local strategies, rather than national ones, became more important for the literati to achieve and maintain elite status. 13 Hymes, for example, looked at marital strategies, demonstrating that while Northern Song members of the elite arranged their marriages II

This also formed the starting point for the discussions gathered in the conference volume edited byJoseph Esherick and Mary Backus Rankin, entitled Chinese Local Elites and Patterns of Dominance (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 990). 12 See Esherick and Rankin, eds., Chinese Local Elites, especially 7-9. 1 3 Hartwell, 'Demographic, Political, and Social Transformation of China', and Hymes, Statesmen and Gentlemen.

S4

CHAPTER THREE

among a national elite, from the Southern Song onward, marriages were arranged from within a regional elite. Strategic marriages were among the resources that could provide access to elite status. Other strategies were intellectual. 'This Culture if Ours ', the important work by Peter Bol on the intellectual transition from Tang to Song, for example, demonstrates a shift from learning for national examination success to study for the self, where learning became a goal in itself, and a stra­ tegy for demonstrating elite status in a regional context.14 Similarly, the many locally based academies that flourished during the Southern Song offered opportunities for demonstrating membership of the cultural elite.15 One of the arguments that run throughout this book is that during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, the local temple should be regarded as one of the sites that facilitated the achievement and maintenance of elite status. Local temples provided the literati with the means to assert a position of authority in local society. The local temple, like the academy or the home of the locally famous teacher, figured in different fashions throughout the long period under scrutiny here in literati consciousness as a cultural space in which they could make their mark as members of the local elite. To some extent this argument builds on those of Timothy Brook in the book Prayingfor Power. He seeks to demonstrate that during the late Ming era, members of the gentry donated funds to Buddhist establish­ ments, with the aim of exchanging this patronage for local power. 16 His analysis borrows from Pierre Bourdieu's theory of 'symbolic capital'. 17 Brook suggests that the Ming-Qj.ng gentry built monasteries to 'exhibit symbolic capital'; taking part in expensive projects like the building of temples was a way of 'converting purely economic means into more abstract forms of power'. 18 As critics of Bourdieu have pointed out, however, his Outline if a Theory if Practice focuses rather more on the ways in which the individual is influenced and disposed to certain actions by the implicit acceptance and inculcation of cultural norms 14

Peter Bol, 'This Culture if Ours': Intellectual Transitions in Tang and Sung China (Stan­ ford: Stanford University Press, 1 992). 15 Linda Walton, Academies and Society in Southern Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1 999). 16 Timothy Brook, Prayingfor Power: Buddhism and the Formation if Gentry Society in Late­ Ming China (Cambridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 993). 1 7 Brook has used Pierre Bourdieu, An Outline if a Theory if Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 977). 18 Brook, Prayingfor Power, 19.

LITERATI AND COMMUNITY

55

and values (what Bourdieu refers to as 'habitus'), and less on the par­ ticularities of each situation, or on the individual and his/her potential for personal agency. 19 Brook, for example, to some extent ignores the possibility that literati may at some level be motivated by individual religious sentiments or personal attachments. Other critics of Bourdieu's theory, and of scholarship influenced by Bourdieu, have pointed out the invisibility of change over time. Brook's study, for example, deals with a period of roughly one century. My study, covering a period of more than 500 years, aims to bring out wider trends and changing histori­ cal circumstances, showing how changing circumstances and historical particularities create the possibility of different choices and preferences, allowing a more historically defined story to emerge. Of course, Brook encounters the same problem that all students of religions in China encounter: the literati are largely, and conventionally, silent about their religious sentiments and preferences in the kind of public writings that make up the vast majority of the historical record. Nevertheless, I would suggest that the texts can be read to reveal a certain amount of personal reflection. I seek to take account of both the subjective, particular and personal experiences of the literati of Ji'an, and the cultural norms and values in Layder's words, 'the ongoing ensemble of social institutions, cultural traditions and patterns of social relation­ ships' that shaped those experiences. Temples as sociallY integrative spaces

One of the themes that have emerged in studies of Chinese local society is the centrality of temples, and the religious practices associated with them, to the structure and coherence of local society. To understand the ways in which local societies form coherent units, this work suggests, we need to look at the ways in which temples drew people together, and the ways in which the participants imagined they formed coherent and meaningful social and cultural units. The impetus for this approach of seeing temples as socially integra­ tive institutions comes, at least in part, from anthropologists; fieldwork

Derek Layder, Understanding Social Theory (London: Sage Publications, 1 994), 157; Layder, Modern Social Theory; Claudia Strauss, 'Models and Motives', in Roy G. D'Andrade and Claudia Strauss, eds., Human Motives and Cultural Models (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 992), 9. 19

56

CHAPTER THREE

by scholars like Stephan Feuchtwang and Steven Sangren in Taiwan revealed this integrative function of temples most clearly.20 The ritu­ als performed at temples, and the celebration of ritual links between temples in processions and festivals, Feuchtwang, Sangren and others have suggested, are symbolic representations of the locality and its relationship with the localities around it. A picture emerges in their work of a hierarchical network of territorial cults; each place, or rather each temple, fits in one way or another into this system of nested hier­ archies.21 Local social organization, they insist, revolves around temples with geographically defined communities, and religious activities are therefore seen as focal points of local communal organization. On the basis of such studies, temples have come to be seen as locally integrative forces and as the symbolic representations of communities.22 Histori­ ans like Kristofer Schipper, Kenneth Dean, David Faure and Barend ter Haar have used such anthropological insights to demonstrate that the centrality of temple organizations to local society also existed in pre-twentieth-century China.23 Michael Szonyi's study of the historical development of the major community rituals performed in Fuzhou 20

See, for example, Stephan Feuchtwang, 'City Temples in Taipei under Three Regimes', in Mark Elvin and William Skinner, eds., The Chinese Ciry Between Two Worlds (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 974), 263-30 1 . 21 Steven Sangren, History and Magical Power in a Chinese Village (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 987). 22 Mingming Wang, 'Place, Administration, and Territorial Cults in Late Imperial China: A Case Study from Southern Fujian' Late Imperial China 1 6 . 1 ( 1 995): 36. Helen Siu, for example, has studied the changing roles of the local elites to the state in a commune in Guangdong. She argues, in a chapter entitled 'Cultural Tissues', for a 'cultural nexus of power', a concept similar to Duara's which shows how both peasants and elites 'used cultural symbols to reinforce the structure of power to which they sub­ scribed'. She describes how at the beginning of the twentieth century a range of kinship and community rituals expressed territorial boundaries. The argument of her book is concerned with the changes that took place after 1 949 to this cultural nexus, but her evidence does not allow her to see before the twentieth century. Helen Siu, Agents and Victims in South China: Accomplices in Rural Revolution (New Haven and London: Yale Uni­ versity Press, 1 989), 77. Sangren's book, History and Magical Power, discusses a number of factors that play a role in territorial integration, including a hierarchically nested system of local and regional places of worship, but his discussion centres on a juxtaposition of imperial times and current local practice, without further definition of the imperial times. Sangren, History and Magical Power. Cf. Prasenjit Duara, Culture, Power, and the State: Rural North China, 1900-1942 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 988). 23 Stephan Feuchtwang, who was one of the first to argue for the view of temples as central institutions of local society, has also worked on the Q}ng and Republican eras. See, for example, Feuchtwang, 'City Temples in Taipei under Three Regimes.' Prasenjit Duara's work also touches on the importance of the temple in local social networks. Duara, Culture, Power, and the State.

LITERATI AND COMMUNITY

57

flEv+1 in Fujian, for example, contends that the community rituals of the Fuzhou area emerged 'during a period from the mid-Ming to the early Qjng'.24 Mingming Wang's 1 995 study explored the connection between administrative space and territorial cults, implying that both construc­ tions of space were 'inseparable' during much of the Qjng dynasty; Prasenjit Duara discussed the importance of ritual in the integration of early Republican communities.25 Barend ter Haar has insisted on an even earlier existence of such territorially based cults, arguing that 'the link between cults and social organization has been a constant aspect of premodern society throughout its history'. 26 His 1 995 study on local society and the organization of cults pieces together evidence from a wide spatial and temporal range to prove that religious activities not only served individual needs but also 'can be seen as focal points of local communal organization', stressing that early-modern local society from around 1 200 onwards was shaped by temple cultS.27 His interest, however, is in the religious aspects of the temple, and deals with the ways in which religious activities were organized and carried out. While the work of these anthropologists and historians informs this study, I take it in a slightly different direction. At times the communities

24

As Szonyi shows, such rituals all developed and changed during the Qing dynasty, a process which Szonyi traces in particular to the spread of lineages. The lineages came to assume a position of leadership and regional management and used the rituals of lineage, village, and village networks to strengthen their position within the community. Equally, the communities and the hierarchies within the communities were strengthened

by the activities of the lineage. Michael Szonyi, Practicing Kinship: Lineage and Descent in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002). 25 Wang, 'Place, Administration, and Territorial Cults', 39. Wang's interest is in the interchange between imperial control exerted on spatial organization and popular social territorial identities which often contradicted imperial control. The administrative unit discussed by Wang is the pujing �tJ (ward or precinct), enforced in Quanzhou (Southern Fujian) from the founding of the Ming onwards, and particularly during the Qing dynasty. Prasenjit Duara suggests that there was a 'cultural nexus' along which local society was organized. This cultural nexus, which includes the lineage, local cults, the temple, and rituals, maintained a balance of mutual benefit which facilitated the popular acceptance of state control. Thus, according to Duara, the lineage as well as local religious activities such as temple worship and rituals played important roles in the strengthening of local community. Only when the state broke down this cultural nexus through an intensification of 'state-building exercises' did the local community lose its cohesion. Duara leaves unanswered the question of when this process started, but his sources date largely from the mid to late Qing dynasty. Duara, Culture, Power, and the State. 26 Barend ter Haar, 'Local Society and the Organization of Cults in Early Modern China: A Preliminary Study', Studies in Central & East Asian Religions 8 ( 1 995): 3-4. 27 Ter Haar, 'Local Society and the Organization of Cults', 36.

58

CHAPTER THREE

imagined by the literati were based on the shared religious practices that interest scholars like Feuchtwang, Dean and Ter Haar, but often they were not. Rather than looking at the religious organization behind such territorial divisions, I look at the ways in which the literati tried to claim membership, and to some extent ownership, of the social and cultural communities that surrounded the temple. The elites and the people

Ter Haar is explicit about whose social organization he is talking about. 'Cult organizations were by the people and for the people, hence not a matter of great interest to our elite authors. '28 These 'elite authors' were, in Ter Haar's view, clearly not part of 'the people.' As it is 'the people' Ter Haar is interested in, he has searched through a great vari­ ety of materials, and found the evidence to support his view that local cults played an important role in creating local and regional stability in local society, at least from the twelfth century onward. Local society was strengthened, he suggests, by the performance of rituals that gave expression to a sense of community and a shared local identity. Of course concepts such as 'community' and 'identity' are about inclusion as well as exclusion. In Ter Haar's view, it would seem, it was the elites that were excluded. When 'the community' came together at temple festivals or in ritual celebrations, 'the people' expressed their sense of belonging, and 'the elite' had no part in that. Local society was struc­ tured by the rituals and festivals centred on the local temple, Ter Haar and others argue, but the elites were no part of that local society, and they had no part to play in the expressions of coherence and shared identity linked to local temples. Important as Ter Haar's work undoubtedly is, it also raises further questions. First, can we really argue that the members of elites were a completely separate group from 'the people'? Surely we cannot draw a clean line between the two, without any blurred boundaries or overlaps. We know from a great deal of socio-economic research how fickle elite status was, how hard the members of the elite had to work to maintain their status, and how wobbly the 'ladder of success' was.29 One might

28 2g

Ter Haar, 'Local Society and the Organization of Cults', 4. The reference is of course from Ho Ping-ti's seminal study The Ladder if Success.

LITERATI AND COMMUNITY

59

move up into the region of elite status, but one could equally quickly drop down again, especially during periods of political upheaval and change. The experience of one local community for those at the bot­ tom of the ladder would never be entirely the same as the experience for those at the top. In other words, I think it is unlikely that a clear distinction can be drawn between 'the people' and 'the elite', and it may well be more fruitful to imagine the members of local society as being placed along a scale, and moving backwards and forwards along that scale throughout their lifecycles. Secondly, if we argue, as I have done in Chapter One, that concepts such as locality, community, and belonging are constructed, rather than having a basis in a socio-economic real­ ity, then surely it becomes important to find out how people at both ends of the social scale imagined their locality, and their membership within its community. The elites, the literati, must also have imagined themselves as belonging locally, and as having a place in their imagined local community. It is these elite ideas of community and belonging that I am particularly interested in here. Conceptualizing the communi!)!

What exactly does the term 'community' signify? While the idea of the 'community' has played an important role in studies of early-modern as well as modern European history, historians of China have often used the term in blissful ignorance of the existence of the theoretical framework used in European historical studies.3D Of course the idea of 'community' has played a part in the study of Chinese history; it has given rise to important scholarship that has advanced our understand­ ing of the ideal of community and the practical, organizational aspects of Chinese local communities. As early as the early 1 950s, an issue of Far Eastern QuarterlY was dedicated to 'community studies' in China and Japan. Articles by Morton Fried on China and Richard Beardsley on Japan were introduced by Robert Redfield, who suggests the beginnings of a dialogue between studies in the humanities and the social sciences 30

In studies of the modern world, 'community' is often central to the discourse of the nation, especially in studies that build on the important work by Benedict Ander­ son. Anderson, Imagined Communities. Hugh Clark's study, entitled Community, Trade, and Networks, for example, does not even list the term 'community' in the index. The term seems to be used as largely synonymous with settlement or residential group. Clark, Community, Trade, and Networks, 1 2- 1 8.

60

CHAPTER THREE

under way at Chicago. On the whole the studies discussed by Fried and Beardsley are, however, as full of narrative descriptions as the early 'community studies' of village life in Europe and AmericaY Much of the impetus behind these community studies came from Japanese sinological studies of kyodotai ::tt IPJR, a concept usually translated as 'community'.32 In the view of Japanese scholars, foremost among them Tanigawa Michio, it was the strong vertical bonds within the local kyodotai, between the aristocratic upper echelons and the peas­ ant class below them, that prevented the development of a European­ style feudalism in China.33 The implications of this argument for the periodization of Chinese history have received more attention than its implications for understanding social change.34 Apart from the discussion of community in the context of periodiza­ tion, students of premodern Chinese history have paid a great deal of attention to the institutional aspects of local communities.35 Community institutions such as local academies, the community compact, com­ munity granaries, and shrines for local worthies have been studied as significant elements in Neo-Confucian philosophy, which in turn played a role in the shift in focus from the state to the local and its institutions.36 31

Colin Bell and Howard Newby, eds., Community Studies: An Introduction to the Sociol­ ogy qf the Local Community (London: Allen and Unwin, 1 97 1), 1 3- 1 5 ; Robert Redfield, 'Introduction', The Far Eastern Qyarter1;y 1 4. 1 ( 1 954): 3- 1 0; Richard K. Beardsley, 'Com­ munity Studies in Japan', The Far Eastern Qyarter1;y 14. 1 ( 1 954): 37-53; Morton Fried, 'Community Studies in China', The Far Eastern Qyarter1;y 1 4. 1 ( 1 954): 1 1-36. 32 For an introduction to the Japanese discussions of the concept of kyodotai (com­ munity) in English, see Joshua Fogel, 'New Directions in Japanese Sinology', Harvard Journal qf Asiatic Studies 44 ( 1 984): 225-247. A useful study of the character of the medieval aristocracy; which discusses the implications of the Japanese scholarship, is Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer, 'The Scholar-Official and his Community: The Character of the Aristocracy in Medieval China', Ear1;y Medieval China I ( 1 994): 60--8 3. 33 Tanigawa Michio, Medieval Chinese Society and the Local 'Community', translated by Joshua Fogel (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 985). 34 See, for example, the review of this translation by Harriet T. Zurndorfer, 'Medieval Chinese Society and the Local 'Community", The China Qyarter1;y I I I ( 1 987): 492. 35 Some extremely interesting work has been done more recently on imagined com­ munities in contemporary China. See, for example, Madeline Y Hsu, 'Migration and Native Place: Q!aokan and the Imagined Community of Taishan County; Guangdong, 1 893-1 993', Journal qf Asian Studies 59.2 (2000): 307-33 1 . 36 On the community compact, see Monika Dbelhor, 'The Community Compact (Hsiang-yueh) of the Sung and Its Educational Significance', in John Chaffee and Wm. Theodore de Bary; eds., Neo-CorifUcian Education: The Formative Stage (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 989), 3 7 1 -88. See also Kandice Hauf, 'The Community Covenant in Sixteenth Century Ji'an Prefecture, Jiangxi', Late Imperial China 1 7.2 ( 1 996): 1-50. On academies, see John Meskill, Academies in Ming China (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1 982). On community granaries, see Richard von Glahn, 'Community and

LITERATI AND COMMUNITY

61

Within the context of premodern and early-modern Chinese history, the 'local community' has often appeared in an abstract realm, situated somewhere between the state and the family, constructed in political and philosophical thought as the ideal social space within which the local gentleman could act and display his leadership.37 Institutions such as county schools, charitable estates, and voluntary associations such as poetry or philosophy clubs, also identified as belonging to the com­ munity, have been the subject of studies of a more social and cultural nature.38 Here, too, however, we have grown accustomed to the term community without questioning the concept itself. 39 In most of these studies 'community' is understood to be a social or territorial association of some sort, perhaps represented by shared institutions and rituals. While scholars of Chinese history occupied themselves with stud­ ies that circle around a variety of concepts of community, there is a striking absence of the focused questions that scholars of 'community studies' within the context of early-modern Europe ask themselves. The nineteenth-century German sociologist Ferdinand TCinnies, 'founding father of the theory of community', initiated a lively interdisciplinary debate about the nature of society.40 His seminal Gemeinschajt und Gesellschqfl, published in 1 887, argued for a chronological transition from a small-scale, community-based, cohesive, harmonious society Welfare: Chu Hsi's Community Granary in Theory and Practice', in Robert Hymes and Conrad Schirokauer, eds., Ordering the UVrld: Approaches to State and Society in Sung pynasty China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 993), 2 2 1 -254. 3 7 Hymes' study of the thinker Lu Jiuyuan ( 1 1 39-1 1 92), for example, represents the local community as an ideal realm of action for the local gentleman. His study reveals competing visions of 'community' in the writings by Lu Jiuyuan and his rival Zhu Xi. For Zhu Xi, Hymes argues, community is 'an ordered social and ritual framework transcending kin yet apart from the state'; for Lu, community is based on the principle of kinship. Robert Hymes, 'Lu Chiu-yuan, Academies, and the Problem of the Local Community', in Chaffee and de Bary, eds., Neo-Corifitcian Education: The Formative Stage, 455. 38 Linda Walton discusses charitable estates as institutions with 'a significant pres­ ence in Southern Sung local society'. Linda Walton, 'Charitable Estates as an Aspect of Statecraft in Southern Sung China', in Hymes and Schirokauer, eds., Ordering the UVrld, 257. The emphasis in her study is on Neo-Confucian visions of such estates. Walton, 'Charitable Estates', 255-279. 39 I have come across several studies where the term 'community' is given a promi­ nent place but does not receive any kind of definition or clarification at the outset. See, for example, Myron Cohen, 'Shared Beliefs: Corporations, Community and Religion Among the South Taiwan Hakka During the Ch'ing', Late Imperial China 1 4. 1 ( 1 993): 1-33; or Randall Dodgen, 'Salvaging Kaifeng: Natural Calamity and Urban Community in Late Imperial China', Journal if Urban History 2 1 .6 ( 1 995): 7 1 6-740. 40 Bell and Newby, cds., Community Studies, 23.

62

CHAPTER THREE

with shared property ('Gemeinschaft') to a large-scale, contract-based, disintegrated, and individualist society ('Gesellschaft').41 Tonnies' idea of community has been criticized for being too imprecise and amor­ phous, and for placing too much emphasis on the harmonious aspects of community, without recognizing the ways in which medieval villages were always being reconstructed and regenerated.42 Others have taken issue with Tonnies' idea of the disappearance of community bonds with the transition from medieval to early-modern societies, preferring to stress the endurance and resilience of communal bonds and village communities in the early-modern era.43 This debate has meant that 'community' as an analytical concept has been repeatedly redefined. Current work incorporates, for example, the tensions that exist within the concept, recognizing that people belong to different and overlapping communities, move in and out of communities, and are excluded or rejected from certain communities. Communities are no longer seen as static and unchanging but as constandy redefined and reconstructed units. They develop and change over time, are punctuated by rituals, and can be established, defined, and redefined by anyone at any time.44 Myths, memory, and the multiple narratives of history are all part of the complex construction of communities.45 It is precisely this type of construction of community that I am interested in here. I see community as a dynamic process, as an imag­ ined construct, as a vision that existed in the minds of the people of Southern Song, Yuan and Ming Ji'an, rather than as an actual state of being or a social-organizational device. Rather than assuming that Ferdinand Tonnies, Communiry and Sociery, translated by Charles Loomis. (New York: Harper and Rowe, 1 963). 42 The studies in a volume entitled Visions !if Communiry in the Pre-Modern World, for example, take issue with the idea that the medieval and renaissance worlds were generally homogeneous and composed of harmonious communities. Nicholas Howe, ed., VISions !if Communiry in the Pre-Modern World (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2002). See also Christine Carpenter, 'Gentry and Community in Medieval England', Journal !if British Studies 33 ( 1 994): 340-80; C. Dyer, The English Medieval Village Community and its Decline', Journal !if British Studies 33 ( 1994): 407-29; Maryanne Kowaleski, 'Introduction', Journal !if British Studies 33 ( 1 994): 337-9. 43 Beat Kiimin, The Shaping !if a Communiry: The Rise and RifOrmation !if the English Parish c. 1400-1560 (Aldershot: Scolar, 1 996). 44 See, for example, the studies in Alexandra Shepard and Phil Withington, eds., Communities in Early Modern England (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000). 45 For a discussion of the roles of myths, memory and history in the construction of community, see Bo Strath, ed., !Myth and Memory in the Construction !if Communiry (Brus­ sels: I.E.-Peter Lang, 2000). 41

LITERATI AND COMMUNITY

63

each temple had a socially and religiously homogeneous and territori­ ally based community attached to it, I seek to investigate the ways in which literati observers of local temples envisioned the communities the temples served, and the ways in which they identified themselves with these imagined communities.

CHAPTER FOUR

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING IN SOUTHERN SONG AND YUAN JIZHOU In 1 256, the abbot of a Buddhist temple on Luo Mountain �Wi LlJ, about fifteen kilometres to the north-east of the town of Luling, had com­ pleted some general repairs to his temple, and was keen to receive wider recognition for his efforts. His chance came when the famous literatus Ouyang Shoudao spent a few days at his temple. The abbot said to Ouyang: This temple, this mountain, and this well are amongst the most scenic places located to the north-east of the [Luling] city walls. Yet, from when it was founded until now, this temple has never had a stele [for a temple inscription] . I would be delighted if you would write an inscription to provide later generations with information. 1

Ouyang was happy to oblige, but he also used the opportunity to express his view that such commemorative inscriptions (ji) in fact contribute litde to the longevity of temples. Inscriptions celebrating the beauty of famous temples and monasteries, he wrote, have flowed in great num­ bers from the brushes of prominent literati, and yet only a fraction of such buildings survived. Small temples at litde known sites, however, have stood the test of time in great numbers. And why? Because they stand on sites not worthy of strife. 'Some temples have numerous inscrip­ tions and eulogies, but they could not prevent [these temples] from fall­ ing into oblivion. Others lack inscriptions, and yet their longevity was preserved.'2 The abbot was not deterred by Ouyang's dim view of the value of an inscription for his temple, clearly hoping his temple would benefit from this association with such a prominent literatus, regardless of the content. The text illustrates the often formulaic nature of such inscriptions. Literati as famous as Ouyang Shoudao must have received hundreds of such requests for inscriptions. The vast numbers of texts preserved in local gazetteers and in the literary collections of famous and not so I 2

Ouyang Shoudao, 'Luoshan Lingquan yuanji', XZ'MJ, 1 7.2a. XZMJ, 1 7 .2b-3a.

66

CHAPTER FOUR

famous literati testify to the doubtless much larger number of temple inscriptions produced throughout the premodern period. They follow a general pattern, often starting with a description of the temple's nat­ ural surroundings, discussing a few highlights of the temple's known history, and invariably ending with a laudatory account of recent res­ toration efforts. A final sentence like the one translated above ('I would be delighted if you would write an inscription to provide later genera­ tions with information'),3 expressing the hope that such an inscription will serve to provide information for later visitors and preserve the names of those who contributed to the restoration for future generations, also form part of the conventions of the genre. There is no space in the blueprint for such inscriptions for any expression of private religious sentiment or personal spiritual involvement with the temple. Ouyang explicitly questions the value of his text for the temple, thereby creating even more distance between his inner thoughts and the formulaic text produced. It might seem perfectly acceptable to dismiss literati writings about local temples for these reasons; such texts reveal nothing of personal religious sentiments, they are often slanted towards the central govern­ ment, and only served to bestow cultural capital on such establishments.4 Dismissing the whole genre of temple inscriptions for such reasons, however, would be unwise. Surely there are further questions to ask. If the abbot of the temple on Luo Mountain was merely interested in Ouyang Shoudao for the prestige he could lend the establishment, then what did Ouyang gain from that arrangement? What does Ouyang's text reveal, not explicitly but at least implicitly, about his own view of the local temple, its role in the locality, and his relationship to the temple and its locality? I propose that a close reading of the texts with these questions in mind can reveal something of the personal views of the literati, contrary to the generally held view that such texts exclude all personal experiences and sentiments.5 Texts never exist within a vacuum; literati inscriptions, too, are moti­ vated accounts that contain personal agendas, perspectives and persua­ sions. Reading the texts to reveal such personal perspectives can shed

XZI1J, l 7. 2a. 4 Edward Davis, for example, expresses this perspective quite vocally throughout his book. Davis, Society and the Supernatural. 5 See, for example, Kleeman, 'The Expansion of the Wen-ch'ang Cult', 46, for a statement of this view. 1

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

67

light on the world that the literati sought to shape. See, for example, this inscription written in the mid-twelfth century by Anfujinshi Wang Ting­ gui .:EM3:=; (1 079-1 1 7 1).6 Wang is not merely giving an evocative descrip­ tion of the scenery surrounding Panteng Shrine �I��, but describing his own sense of awe: When one leaves the county seat and travels south, . . . the mountain gorges become deep and dangerous. The water in the streams stems from a single source. To the west of the mountain, just at the mouth of the cave, water envelops the base of the mountain.? Old trees overhanging the stream have grown into each other, while their big roots, deep green, protrude like dragons and snakes in strange and ugly shapes. Crooked and bent, [the trees] soar into the clouds. The trees are all several hundred years old. When a storm rages in the forest, the trees tremble and shake, and the water beats against the rocks. The onlooker feels insignificant, thoroughly cold, and so shaken he cannot stay long. Tradition has it that this place is the lair of a dragon spirit. Hence, in times of droughts and epidemics, people beseech the god with prayers, and always receive a response.s

At first glance one could read this as the formulaic opening of a tem­ ple inscription, with its geographical references, its description of the natural setting, and the first appearance of the deity, whose response to prayers is immediate. Upon closer inspection, however, the reader becomes aware that the conventions of the genre hide a more personal perspective of a participant, a visitor who comes to worship. When Wang Tinggui writes, 'The onlooker feels insignificant, thoroughly cold, and so shaken he cannot stay long,' one gets the distinct impression Wang is describing his own experience. Our understanding of the inscription as a whole could be greatly enhanced by the knowledge that Wang is describing a sacred site that is meaningful to him personally. Without denying the fact that literati inscriptions reveal only a limited personal perspective, I propose to take that limited perspective extremely 6 Wang Tinggui was born in Anfu in 1 080 (also given as 1 079), and passed the jinshi

exam in 1 1 1 8. He supported the controversial Hu Quan ( 1 1 02-1 1 80), even when he had been banished for his critique of the humiliating peace negotiations with the Jin. When Hu Quan was invited back to court under Xiaozong in 1 1 6 1 , Wang briefly advanced in his career, but had by then already reached the advanced age of 8 1 . The vast majority of his extended life, Wang spent as a recluse at home. His collected writ­ ings are entitled Luxi wer!ii, in which several biographies are included written by such prominent figures as Zhou Bida, Yang Zhangru, Jiang Wanli, and Hu Quan. 7 The mountain Wang refers to is Tiantai Mountain in Anfu. ArifU xianzhi ( 1 872), 3.9a. Anfo xianzhi ( 1 872), 1 7 .4b. The text is not included in Wang Tinggui's literary collection. H

68

CHAPTER FOUR

seriously, with the intention of achieving a better understanding of the private religious experiences of literati. Situating temple inscriptions within broader contexts, reading the texts against the grain, and allow­ ing for the possibility that such texts reveal not only social strategies and negotiations within local religious communities, but also personal religious sentiments, will, hopefully, yield fruitful results. The arguments made in this chapter could be summarized as follows. Ritual practices shaped the communities in which they were performed. Such communities formed by shared religious practices were not iso­ lated, mutually exclusive communities, but units that were 'constantly defined and redefined by inclusion and exclusion'. 9 My interest here is in the ways in which the literati imagined their roles within such commu­ nities, and their experience of the religious practices that shaped such communities. I shall argue, in the pages that follow, that members of the local and national elites saw themselves as not only belonging to such local communities, but also as active participants in such local religious practices. In their writings, they represented themselves as playing sig­ nificant roles within communities unified by religious practice. The role they envisaged for themselves was one of explanation and translation. They saw it as their task to represent local practice in such a way that it matched more broadly established elite discourse. Where there were discrepancies between local practice and elite discourse, they perceived their role to be the rewriting, or the 'translation' of the practices they observed. During the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, I argue, local religious practices and their sites served as important resources, provid­ ing members of different elite groups with the means to negotiate and renegotiate their place within local communities. Rather than reading these acts of negotiation purely as economic transactions and exchanges of symbolic capital, I argue that they also represented a deeply felt need to belong to local communities, and to play active roles within them. With this in mind, let us look again at the inscription for Panteng Shrine in Anfu by Wang Tinggui. The last sentence of the passage trans­ lated above reads as follows: 'People beseech the god with prayers in times of droughts and epidemics.'lO Unified by their hope for a response from the deity to their urgent prayers, and by the experience of travel-

9

Phil Withington and Alexandra Shepard, 'Introduction', in Shepard and Withington, eds., Communities, 6. 10 Anfo xianzhi ( 1 872), 1 7 .4h.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

69

ling to this remote shrine, the worshippers must have felt some sense of shared identity and community. When Wang Tinggui wrote the evoca­ tive description of the setting at Panteng Shrine, did he consider himself to be a member of that community? Did he share the identity of the community on whose behalf he wrote the inscription? Wang's narra­ tive introduces a local magistrate, who, at a time of extreme drought in the summer months of 1 1 45, led the prayers at Panteng Shrine. From Wang's description, it is clear that the magistrate was an outsider: unable to draw on his own knowledge, the magistrate had to explore the area and enquire with the local elders to find a propitious location for such worship. It is these elders, the qilao ��, a word that has connotations of experience acquired over a lifetime, who informed the magistrate of the spirit of Panteng and who led the magistrate and his entourage to the shrine. When Wang exclaimed, 'Ah! The power of this deity!', after describing the miraculous appearance of the heavy rainfall that followed the prayers carried out here, Wang himself spoke to us not as an outsider, but in the voice of someone who himself sensed those pow­ ers, who shared in the benefit of that deity's powers. 1 1 It is the words of the elders that are subsequently used to describe earlier manifestations of the magnificent powers of the deity in a report submitted to the central court. ' [The magistrate] included the words of the elders, who many decades ago witnessed innumerable miracles of [the deity's] efficacy with their own eyes (mudu § !If'f) .>12 After recounting some of these miracles, Wang Tinggui writes again: These are extraordinary events, some of which may seem hard to believe, but they all took place recently. The elders observed them with their own eyes, and the people all recounted them in detail. 13

Wang drew on the personal experience of the elders to underscore the veracity of these miraculous events, twice using the expression 'with their own eyes'. His reliance on the standing of the elders within the community and the authority of locally transmitted details to lend veracity to his account, as well as his own sense of awe at the setting of the shrine and the powers of the deity, suggest that he experienced these events not as an outsider but as a participant. Ritual communities were typically constructed in the shared experience of such events as the II

12

13

Ibid. Ibid. Anfo xian;:hi ( 1 872), 1 7.5a.

70

CHAPTER FOUR

miraculous rainfall at Panteng, and by describing them as a participant, Wang Tinggui positioned himself as a member of that community. Liu Chenweng (1 232-1 297), a literatus from Luling and prolific author of temple inscriptions, whose personal circumstances will be discussed further below, also wrote texts about local temples from the perspective of a member of the local religious community.14 Temples, in Liu's experience, performed central roles in local communities. In Jishui county, for example, the presence of the deity of Lingwei Shrine iI�1WJ ensured that: local practices are dignified and the people are honest. The fruits of their labour are even more plentiful and abundant, and for three hundred years [the locals] have been known for their scholarly honours and official rank. 15

This deity not only boasts examination success amongst his powers, but a positive influence on local morals. One might expect such phrases to be uttered as part of a drive for imperial recognition, and Lingwei Shrine did obtain its name by imperial edict during the Chunyou reign­ period ( 1 24 1 - 1 253), but Liu Chenweng had little interest in such mat­ ters. He was, however, deeply interested in what happened at this shrine. After quoting the full text of a Northern Song inscription preserved inside the shrine, which tells the story of the arrival of a large stone, carried to this site by raft on the swollen Gan, he wrote: The shrine was moved from the river westwards. The person who moved it was Sun Keshun f*:RJllt Recently, his grandson Jue fl, together with He Renshu 1i1J1-;Jil( and Liu Honggui ilJ1.L:1:JI" led the villagers to build a Hall for the Stone Gentlemen (Shilang dian E&��). The seventh of the statues in the right corridor has not yet been identified. Wang Ziyun is the most illustrious among them.16

We cannot now trace these individuals who safeguarded the shrine from flooding by moving it westward, and who enlisted the help of the vil­ lagers to extend its buildings. We cannot confirm the identity of the seventh deity, or find out who Wang Ziyun was. What matters for our purposes, however, is that Liu Chenweng was very familiar with the local community of worshippers at the temple and with locally held 14

Such texts are included in Liu's literary collection, Xuxi ji, hereafter XX]. Liu's biographical details are discussed in further detail below. See pages 84-9 1 . 15 XX], 4.40b. 16 XX], 4. 39a-b.

•

"

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

71

beliefs. His insider knowledge, and the respect he afforded those local figures by including them in his narrative, suggest that Liu Chenweng, too, was writing his inscription as a participant member of the commu­ nity that these worshippers constituted. Wang Tinggui's mid-twelfth-century inscription and Liu Chenweng's mid-thirteenth-century inscription both suggest that these literati imag­ ined themselves to be members of local communities, communities that were shaped by the temples and shrines their texts commemorate. An early fourteenth-century text written for a popular shrine known as Lingji Shrine ;tWtf� in Longquan, provides another example of such elite membership in religious communities. Its author, Kang Rui �fIffi , was a Longquan native who served as instructor from 1 344 in Xin'gan tJTi'ffi county in Linjiang prefecture, just north of Jizhou. 17 He was clearly impressed with the extensive worship of this group of deities in Longquan: On the register of officially sanctioned worship in Longquan, the temple at Gong Stream Ui� is the only temple for gods who truly reign supreme within this area. The locals devotedly worship them, homes have their statues, and in [each] neighbourhood there are shrines for them. At times of droughts or epidemics, famines or military upheaval, prayers are imme­ diately followed by a response. . . . The way in which the deities bless the area is by no means limited to providing sons and grandsons. I S

Kang Rui was obviously aware of the powerful benefits brought by these deities, and their powers extended well beyond Longquan: Evidence of their numinous powers is even more manifest further afield. Within an area of 500 kilometres, [people] rush here to bow down and kow-tow, begging for [the god's] numinous powers. Further yet, boat­ travellers on rivers and lakes who fear the wind and waves all call on him, too, praying for divine assistance. The numinosity of the spirit is so abundantF9

One might hazard a guess here that this was a cult that had spread throughout the region. Despite, or perhaps because of, the wider appeal Ii

Kang Rui, ;;,i Duanyu. In 1 344 he was given the post of instructor in Xin'gan. Later he served in Ganzhou prefecture, and was eventually promoted to the post of assistant judicial officer (panguan) in Longxing (now Nanchang), the seat of the circuit government. Kang's name is given variously as Kang Duan and Kang Rui. The 1 773 and 1 873 gazetteers have Kang Rui, the 1 683 edition has Kang Duan. No further biographical details are known about him. 18 Kang Rui, 'Zhongxiu Lingji miao ji', Longquan xian;;,hi ( 1 7 73), 9.7b. 1 9 Longquan xian;;,hi ( 1 773), 9. 7b.

I I , ,

72

CHAPTER FOUR

of the deity beyond county boundaries, Kang invokes certain strategems to stress the intimate relationship between county and deity: The family name of the gods is Gong. For generations [the Gongs] lived in Tianpei in this county. There were seven brothers and they all lived as recluses, not taking up official posts. They had a reputation among the locals for their virtue, righteousness, filial piety and their friendship. In the dingmao year of Tianyou of the Tang dynasty [i.e. 907] , the oldest brother, just when he was lifting up a piece of sandalwood, lost his footing and fell in the water. The younger brothers tried to save him, but they all drowned consecutively. They were buried by the entrance of [the village of] Shilong Shuangxi E��1!!r�. [One of the brothers then] appeared in a dream of a village elder named Liao Jiuweng w1L�, saying: 'My broth­ ers and I have died. We have become gods, and our blood shall feed this land. You must set up a shrine to worship us. We will send the materials there ourselves.' When they finished there was thunder and rain, creating giant waves that drifted the logs to the place of their grave. The villagers marvelled at this. They built a shrine at this location. Today's shrine at Luotuan *III in Heshu 7f:JU canton is located at the original location of their apotheosis.20

The ties between deity and location were first and foremost ancestral or kinship ties: the gods lived 'in this county', they had a good reputa­ tion 'among the locals', and the shrine was built at the original location of their apotheosis. The gods belonged in this area, and had a loyalty to it in a way that paralleled the ways in which the worshippers also belonged. But there was a second, more sinister, connection between deity and location, expressed in the deity's own words, 'our blood shall feed this land'. Their violent death through drowning forced the locals into a new and reciprocal relationship; their 'blood' could only 'feed the land' if they are themselves fed by regular sacrifice. What Kang Rui introduced as a harmless, beneficial deity represented also a powerful and potentially threatening dark force, which the locals had to serve to avoid its harm.21 These deities and the residents of this locality were drawn into an exclusive and mutually dependent relationship. But what of Kang Rui's own position within that relationship? Was he an outside observer, or did he belong to the community? His faithful and detailed retelling of the events suggests that he did not deny the importance of such narra­ tives. In fact, there are numerous indications that he believed them to 20 21

Longquan xian;chi ( 1 7 73), 9.7b�8a. For further discussion of such practices, see von Glahn, The Sinister Wqy.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

73

be a significant part of the way in which the temple functioned within the local community. His narrative served to confirm the value of such locally held beliefs, and Kang Rui's retelling of those narratives con­ firmed that he, too, would like to be regarded as a member of that com­ munity, even if his personal belief in these events is left ambiguous. His long inscription retells in full detail several more recent miracu­ lous events, and then describes, in line with the conventions of the genre, recent efforts to restore the shrine. In 1 327, a descendant of the Gong family had donated two-thirds of an acre of land and more than 55,000 strings of cash to pay for a complete refurbishment of the shrine. The ancestral shrine (zumiao) was completely rebuilt on a grander scale and with a great deal more ornamentation; new statues were carved, and all implements were provided in accordance with the ritual prescriptions. The project, completed by the beginning of the new year in 1 329, had become a Gong family matter.22 The request had then gone out to Kang Rui to write down these details. We exalt [this temple's] awesome numinosity which assists the country (guqjia [�]'�) and guards against disaster. Its success manifests itself in the people and is transmitted to later generations, and it keeps on being pro­ duced without end. The numinous powers of the deities are an unlimited joy. Like mountains and valleys, they never decay. I intend to make a great announcement about its blessings so as to enlarge and continue the cel­ ebration of the favours bestowed on the country. The new temple is very grand and graceful, and this is its beginning. I have respectfully collected these stories to record their dates.23

The elevated language of Kang Rui in this section, the inscription proper, suggests that Kang's writing was intended to lend prestige to the project. One could surmise that this inscription was intended to pro­ mote the shrine from a local popular cultic site to an officially approved shrine.24 Perhaps the request to Kang for an inscription reflected the shifting social status of members of the worshipping community of Lingji Shrine.25 By describing the powers of the deities as offering bless­ ings to the land (guo) and its resident great families (jia), Kang rendered the temple's benefits no longer as purely local, but as more widely 22

Kang Rui listed all the more recent Gong descendants on the back of the stone. Longquan xianzhi (1 7 73), 9.9b. 23 Longquan xianzhi ( 1 7 73), 9.9a-b. 2. One sees similar developments in the cult of Kang Wang, popular in this area during this time. See Gerritsen, 'From Demon to Deity.' 25 See Ter Haar, 'Local Society and the Organization of Cults.'

74

CHAPTER FOUR

shared throughout the country. What was once a thriving cult with a local body of worshippers, became, with the help of Kang's narrative, a community with aspirations of boasting an officially sanctioned temple. One could read this process as hegemonic discourse, suggesting that Kang Rui is wresting control over the temple away from local believers. One could, however, also read Kang Rui's description as an attempt to gain entrance into and membership of the community of worshippers. His act of writing covered the entire spectrum of envisioning local reli­ gious practices: it included on the one hand Kang's recognition that the deities' demonic origins lie with the violent deaths of the Gong broth­ ers, and on the other hand Kang's attempt to attach universal value to the deities' blessings. Both approaches within the act of writing created a space for Kang Rui among the community of worshippers: through writing, Kang could imagine that his recognition of the origin story of the deities entitled him to membership of the groups of believers; his elevation of the temple into elite discourse facilitated Kang's sense of belonging to the temple's community. The inscriptions by Wang Tinggui, Liu Chenweng and Kang Rui, discussed here, all suggested that literati imagined that they belonged, or at least could belong, to the religious communities that lay behind the temples they commemorated in their texts. Literati authors situated the temple in a social space, a local ritual community, and they situ­ ated themselves within those communities. Kang Rui cast himself in an active role within this community; his act of writing this inscription was part of a process that attempted to transform the shrine from popular deity cult to officially sanctioned shrine. If we regard Kang's role as an active one within the community, then we need to explore how common it was for literati to play such an 'active role'. Literati roles in ritual communities

If literati imagined themselves to belong to the communities situated around local temples, what was the nature of their membership? Were they merely observers, passively participating, or did they take a more active part? Liu Ruli �Ij&�, who served as magistrate in Luling, cer­ tainly imagined himself to be an active member of the local community. In 1 255, Luling suffered a drought, and Liu decided to climb Mount Yunteng �!lILiJ to carry out prayers for rain. Near the top he found a . Liu spring, its water collecting in a pond near Biaoyu Shrine

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

75

made his supplications at this spring, hoping to draw on the efficacious powers of the spring's deity, despite his dismay at the lax behaviour of those present, who paid little attention to the ritual proscription of washing in this spring. The inscription continued: When he was finished with the prayers for rain he returned home. Rest­ ing on his bed he dreamed that he saw carts and horses decorated with streamers lined up in a hall. Someone told him: 'Quickly go out to wor­ ship!' Startled, Liu got up, and rushed to the place of worship. Wind was blowing, it was thundering, and severe rain fell down incessantly. That year there was a good harvest, and the next year when they prayed for rain, there was also a response.26

Encouraged by this success, Liu decided to make the spring a more prominent place for worship. He contacted a Mr. Zeng �, owner of the pond into which the water of the spring emptied, and asked him to stop it being used for washing, so as to prevent pollution of the upper flow of the river. He also improved the access road to the spring. The text hints at considerable local tension: between Magistrate Liu and those who used the spring regularly for washing and bathing, and between Magistrate Liu and the landowners, the Zengs. The text states explicitly that this spring was not the one most commonly used for prayers in times of drought ('Not all traces of those who prayed for rain in the past led to this spring');27 the magistrate nevertheless insisted on declaring this the official location for rain prayers. The magistrate was clearly imposing his interpretation of correct ritual onto locally diver­ gent practices. For the purposes of my argument, however, the exist­ ence of that tension serves to emphasize the active role members of the local elite envisaged for themselves within the arena of local religious practice. Even if many locals disagreed with the magistrate, Liu himself was clearly convinced he had a part to play in the theatre of local reli­ gion. We can only guess at the exact nature of the relationship between Magistrate Liu and the Zengs, but it is clear that Liu's plan to turn the spring into a sacred space dedicated to worship could only work with the cooperation of the Zengs. The dependency of local governors on the locally resident elite to put their plans into effect is a truism throughout Chinese history, and it was no different for local ritual. Magistrates and literati recognized each 26

27

Ouyang Shoudao, 'Yongyunchi ming', XZvry, 26. 1 b. XZvry, 26. 1 b.

76

CHAPTER FOUR

other as useful partners in transforming local religious practices. When a certain Magistrate Li arrived in Luling in the middle of the thirteenth century, for example, he went to pray at the Luling shrine for Kang Wang, whose cult was widespread inJizhou at the time. Afterwards the magistrate spoke to Ouyang Shoudao, one of the most prominent lit­ erati in the area, saying: The government of the ancients controlled both deities and humans, and never separated the two, as later generations would. I heard recently that there was a shrine for [Kang] Wang here, but the worship [carried out] accords less and less with the Classics.28

The magistrate then instructed Ouyang Shoudao to write an inscription to place at the shrine to explain how this god should be worshipped, a request Ouyang gladly complied with. Ouyang's inscription explains in great detail how he felt worship here could be improved. He shared the concerns of the magistrate, considering current practices less than desir­ able. He expressed some doubt, however, about what the effect of his inscription might be. As discussed above, when the abbot at Luo Moun­ tain requested an inscription, Ouyang had argued that such texts could not guarantee the longevity of the institution. In this case, Ouyang felt the literati were not doing enough to improve local morals: My composition and calligraphy are not skilled enough to elucidate the abundant virtues of [Kang] Wang. I am only mindful of the Honourable Magistrate's clarification of the [proper] meaning of these vulgar prac­ tices. He first promulgated this among the learned scholars of the area, so that they would spread it to the people in the rural communities. Did the confusion [over correct practice] and the fear [of the demonic] in the villages disappear afterwards? No. Not only was there no improvement, but also there was no punishment for this worship [of their deity] . Hence there is also no one to blame.29

A certain resignation comes through in these final words of the inscrip­ tion, as if Ouyang accepted that his improving writings only had a lim­ ited effect. Not only did few of the commoners listen to him, but literati practices, too, left much to be desired: Only three out of every ten Confucian scholars who live in this area pre­ serve the correct [way of doing things] without deviation. They transform

28 29

Ouyang Shoudao, 'Lingyou miao ji', XZT1J, 1 6.4b-5a. XZT1J, 1 6.5a.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

77

vulgar behaviour without being transformed by vulgarity. Do we not look up to these people?30

The few who did preserve proper behaviour played a transforming role in local society, and Ouyang felt it behoved him to take an active role within the religious community. Both Ouyang Shoudao and the magistrates discussed here were aware that although they would like to transform local practice, their success depended entirely on other members of the community. But what exactly motivated the literati in this participation? What were they hoping to achieve as active participants in local religious communities? Should we see their participation as private acts personal responses to private spiritual needs or should we understand them as socially con­ structed, with implications for their role in society? I shall demonstrate below that their participation should be understood on both levels. Jizhou literati, like other social groups, frequented temples to satisfy pri­ vate spiritual needs. Temple inscriptions, read carefully, do testify to the nature of those needs. Recognition of this private dimension does not deny the existence of a more public dimension to their participation, and I argue that literati also saw their participation within local ritual communities as a way of enhancing their position within those local communities. I propose that ritual communities served as an arena for negotiations over local power. By imposing their interpretation on local ritual practice, literati attempted to negotiate their place and strengthen their position within the local community. Before discussing the social dimensions of their participation in local religious practices, I shall dis­ cuss what I suggest can be read as the private religious experiences of Jizhou literati between 1 1 00 and 1 350. Private religious experiences if the literati

Let me return once more to the inscription for Panteng Shrine in Anfu written by the twelfth-century literatus Wang Tinggui. I suggested ear­ lier that Wang's evocative description of the scenery, and his reliance on the testimony of the local elders to lend authority to his account, could be read as expressions of a desire for membership of the local commu­ nity. This is how the inscription ends: 30

XZTiJ,

1 6.5a.

78

CHAPTER FOUR

These mountains and rivers are all controlled by deities who can bring about transformations and give rise to clouds and rain. The god's blessings reach tens of thousands of people. It would therefore be appropriate to enter [this god] in the register of worship, since we have received such illus­ trious [favours] , but the request has not yet been granted. The abundant powers of the deity, however, are not dependent on whether the god has honorary titles and enfeoffments [or not] . Listing titles and enfeoffments when discussing a god is like asking after posts and titles when discussing a human being. How do important posts and heavy responsibilities in the end bring benefit to the people? It is the same for the gods.31

The deity, locally regarded as impressively powerful, had not yet received official sanction from the state, despite the magistrate's faithful retelling of the deity's miracles. Wang Tinggui was clearly sympathetic to the locals' desire for state recognition, but he also made it clear that he himself held another view: the powers of a deity are not dependent on 'honorary titles and enfeoffments'. Is Wang not revealing some internal contradiction here? Officially, his view was that requesting state recogni­ tion was the appropriate procedure for a locally beneficent deity, but at the same time he could not help expressing a divergent personal view. He drew a comparison with human beings: we should not rely on a person's official titles and posts to recognize his strengths and benefits. Wang himself had a chequered career history: despite his successfuljin­ shi examination in 1 1 1 8, he had supported the controversial Hu Quan (1 1 02�1 1 80) at a time when Hu Quan was out of favour, and as a con­ sequence, he spent most of his years writing in Anfu.32 Clearly Wang saw parallels between the deity's lack of recognition and his own lack of advancement. Wang used this opportunity to communicate his under­ standing of the value of the deity to say something, indirectly, about his own life experience. In an earlier chapter I discussed briefly a revealing inscription writ­ ten by Xiao Xuchen, the water transport official who was so keen to show off his mastery of bureaucratic procedure. When he wrote his inscription for Zhaoji Temple in 1 1 25, he was addressing a broad audi­ ence. His text, as he writes in his final sentences, was carved into stone and placed in the [temple's] central hall, 'to give great glory to the new Anfo xianzhi ( 1 872), 1 7 .4b. 32 Wang Tinggui's biography was written by Zhou Bida, and is included in the last chapter of Wang's literary writings. See Wang, Luxi wenji, folu 2a-7a. Hu Quan, more than twenty years younger than Wang Tinggui, also hailed from Luling. He was militantly opposed to the pacification policies of the mid-twelfth century. 31

j !

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

79

order of the emperor'; he offered this inscription so that religious prac­ tices 'will continue without fail'.33 And yet, alongside his lofty aims of assisting the emperor in the transmission of his orders and safeguard­ ing the continuation of orthodox practices, Xiao also had a personal agenda. He wrote: My family home is in Quanjiang fR¥I, but until I was an adult I followed my father's official postings to the north and south. When he served at court, he always had to ask leave to go, and report his coming home. I do not know how many rivers and lands he traversed, and yet he was never concerned about dangers. All this was the gift of this deity.34

We know nothing else about Xiao Xuchen, nor about his father. We can merely guess at the restlessness of a childhood spent in the wake of a lower governmental official career, the father dragging his family from one provincial posting to the next. Life at the capital, with its constant scrutiny of one's movements, may not have offered much relief, and travel was part of life. For the travelling official and his family, this god, for whom Xiao knows neither name nor story, clearly offered stability and security. Gratitude for the sense of protection it had offered both to the official and the anxious child must surely have been part of his motivation in reporting the 'awesome record of the deity' to the sub­ prefectural authorities, leading eventually to the granting of a plaque. While on the surface the text may merely be a recounting of official procedures, it can, at the same time, be read as a testimonial of a mean­ ingful private religious experience. Literati ritual and social strategy

Of course the private and public dimensions of religious practice can­ not be wholly separated; rather, we should see them as closely inter­ twined, as is clear in the inscription written in the late thirteenth century by Zhao Yike iE/HiP]' for Immortal Ge's Altar in the Wugong Mountains in Anfu county. The altar, named after the famousJin dynasty immortal Ge Hong (284-364), who allegedly perfected his arts here before mov­ ing to Gezao Mountain M _'EHlJ , was widely known among literati for its numinous powers: 'Carrying offerings of grain, [believers] rush here

33

Xiao Xuchen, 'Ci Zhaoji miao e ji', Longquan xianzhi ( 1 7 73), 9. l Ob. 3 1 Longquan xianzhi ( 1 7 73), 9. I Oa.

80

CHAPTER FOUR

at double speed for an audience [with the deity] , and only rarely are their prayers not answered.'35 Zhao had himself spent time here in his younger days: When I was a young official, I met my fellow clansman Zhao Yuanyang m1Jj'iJ�, a Daoist adept, outside the world of worldly concerns. We visited the Daoist branch temple of Jiyun, looking for authentic traces of the toad of white jade in the realm. We left after three days. That is now twenty years ago.36

Then, in the middle of the autumn, he arranged to meet at the same place, this time with ajinshi Liu Yunzhang �1j�::&I, his own clanmate Zhao Kai ��, and a local scholar named Zhou Nanrui mJl¥iffffi . 37 At the agreed time we all ascended to the altar. After we performed our rituals, we climbed to the top for the view. There were few clouds and one could look far. Wu and Chu were all there in the blue horizon, even Kong Van's sharpness of vision could not improve [the view] . I felt weak for some time. At high noon, when we were about to go down, a Daoist adept invited us for an audience. He explained that they were renewing the plat­ form and were doing restorations because a gentleman often rested there. We asked after his name, which was Shi Yuchan, who appeared to be a descendant of Grand Secretary Shi Tianze Ji:*r¥. At the original shrine, behind the living quarters, sound and light were both restricted, so it was very gloomy. But looking at the elegance and dignified nature of the tem­ ple buildings, one believed it to have been an extraordinary place. [We thought] it should be possible to ensure that Immortal Ge's [altar] gets refurbished. As in the past we stayed overnight, and when we were about to leave, [the abbot] pointed to the altar plaque written by the chancellor [i.e. Wen Tianxiang] , and requested an inscription. I could not refuse, and hence I have written about the origins of this mountain for the walls, so that visitors can read about it.38

The events described here are nothing out of the ordinary. Several friends make an outing to a mountain. While they admire the scenery, they are spotted by a Daoist, who asks the gentlemen to lend their sup­ port to his restoration campaign in the form of an inscription. Zhao Yike obliges, and records what he knows about the history of the Wugong Mountains and the altar. But the record tells us much more. Twice Zhao 35 Zhao Yike, 'Ge xian tan ji', A,yu xianz;hi ( I S72), 1 7.7b. On Ge Hong, see Campany,

To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth. 36 A,yu xianz;hi ( I S72), 1 7.7b. 37 For Zhou Nanrui brief biographical notes can be found in the Anfu gazetteer. A,yu xianz;hi ( I S72), 1 1 .2Sb. 38 A,yu xianz;hi ( I S 72), 1 7 .Sa.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

81

visited this place with a fellow clansman (tongzong �*), the repetition of the term suggesting its significance. Such shared outings consolidated a relationship, especially when Zhao Yuanyang, a Daoist adept, spent much of his time away from the daily interactions of secular life.39 In fact, the consolidation of relationships pervades the inscription. On the second outing, Zhao was joined by his clanmate Zhao Kai, local jin­ shi Liu Yunzhang, and scholar Zhou Nanrui. The four local dignitaries must have bonded not just through the shared performance of rituals at Ge Hong's altar, but also through their ascent of Wugong Mountain, Jiangxi's highest peak, Zhao Yike's jubilant admiration of the view no doubt enhanced by the exhilaration of reaching the top and the exhaus­ tion from the effort. If these men consolidated a pre-existing relationship, their shared membership of the literati community, another relationship was cemented which had much less raison d 'etre: between the Daoist religious establishment and the local literati. On the surface the nature of the transaction appears to be clear; the Daoist master clearly felt his resto­ ration project would benefit from an explicit connection with the local literati, assuming that the social standing of the literati would translate into cultural capital for his Daoist establishment. Underneath the sur­ face, however, the transaction was complicated by the apparent need on both sides to justify the relationship. Zhao Yike's retelling of his visit to the Daoist temple, Jiyun, twenty years earlier, now sounds more like a tale fuelled by the need to build Daoist credentials than a mere nostalgic recollection. The Daoist master, for his part, played on Zhao Yike's con­ science by showing Wen Tianxiang's calligraphy on the temple's plaque. Allegedly, Wen's father had come to Immortal Ge's Altar to pray for a son before Wen Tianxiang's birth, and Wen Tianxiang had donated this plaque after he had achieved honour in the capital. If someone of Wen Tianxiang's fame had lent his support to the temple, surely Zhao Yike could not refuse. Zhao's inclusion of this exchange in the inscrip­ tion confirms that its message was not merely intended for Zhao's ears, but also for a wider audience. While the Daoist master stood to gain from the association of his establishment with the prominent literati of the area, Zhao also basked in the glory of being ranked alongside Wen Tianxiang. In the negotiation of the various relationships between the

39

Zhao Yuanyang has a biography in the section on Buddhists and Daoists in the Anfu gazetteer. Anfo xian::;hi (1872), 1 3 .64b-65a.

82

CHAPTER FOUR

people involved, the recounted memory of an earlier trip and Wen's calligraphy became valuable resources. The inscription for Immortal Ge's Altar reads, at first glance, as a straightforward account written for the purposes of fund-raising for the benefit of the Daoist Master. A close reading of the text, however, sug­ gests the negotiation of much more complex reciprocal relationships between literati and religious specialist. The writing of this text was an active, dynamic process through which Zhao Yike negotiated his place and his role within the local community. In the text a community was constructed in which he, his relatives, his literati friends, and the Daoist master all manipulated the available resources to position themselves within the local community. Participation through criticism

Participation in local religious life for Zhao Yike, as would appear from this inscription, consisted of visiting a local temple with friends, and writing an inscription for the temple. He did not, in so far as we can tell from this single inscription, offer his views on other activities that may have taken place there. Other literati used temple inscriptions as a means to convey their views of local religious practice. I would argue that for them, offering critical views of local religious practice should be understood as a desire to participate in that practice. Of course it is precisely the frequency with which we hear the critical literati voice that leads scholars like DavidJohnson, Terry Kleeman or Edward Davis to dismiss the genre entirely, and they are right to suggest that this lit­ erati desire to participate does not mean actual participation or even membership of ritual communities.40 Ouyang Shoudao, whose views we already touched on above, was one of these critical voices. Con­ sider, for example, his critique of the activities at Shilong Shrine EV� . Not far from the Luling county capital, the deity of Shilong Shrine, known for its efficacy, attracted 'people from far and near'.41 Following standard procedure, the locals requested a name (hao lJit) for the deity, so that at a later date further requests could be filed with the authorities

40

See, for example, DavidJohnson, ed., Ritual and Scripture in Chinese Popular Religion (Berkeley: Chinese Popular Culture Project, 1 995). See also Kleeman, 'The Expansion of the Wen-ch'ang Cult', or Davis, Society and the Supernatural. 4 1 Ouyang Shoudao, 'Shilong miaobei', XZf1J, 1 3 . 1 5b.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

83

asking for permission to bestow higher honorary titles upon the deity. Despite several requests, the court had not yet granted such permission. Undeterred, the deity, still resident at Shilong, had continually provided blessings. At this point, in 1 260, Ouyang Shoudao got to know a local resident and active member of the worshipping community, who persuaded the famous literatus to write an inscription. Ouyang clarifies in the inscription that he only once stayed here for a month, and thus, strictly speaking, did not regard himself as a member of the local community. He did, however, use the opportunity to express his views; he explains 'what makes this deity a deity.'42 In the course of his discussion, Ouyang makes an interesting observation. He rejects the value of requesting a name (hao) for the deity: What is the use for this god in having its name known? From the past, stories are passed on of scholars (shi) dwelling on high precipices or in secluded valleys, and even though they [themselves] do not care about their usefulness to the world, their benefit reaches everywhere of its own accord. Man and spirit are one. So long as there was a spirit on distant Guyi �;f;J?t Mountain, and a disciple of Laozi lived on Weilei Mountain �oI!L1J, disasters did not take place and the annual harvest was plentifu1.43

The passages that Ouyang referred to here both discuss the order in the universe that emanates naturally from insignificant, unnoticed beings (the demonic man on Guyi Mountain and Gengsang Chu �*� on Weilei Mountain), as opposed to being the result of the deliberative pol­ icies of a celebrated ruler like Yao or Shun. Ouyang's point was to argue for the existence of a beneficial power emanating from these higher beings, hermits or gods or virtuous men, whether they were known by name and recognized by the state or not.44 In making this point, Ouyang went against the view, presumably shared throughout the community of 42 XZUJ, 1 3 . 1 5b. 43 XZUJ, 1 3 . 1 4b. The reference is to Zhuangzi, Book I . Ouyang Shoudao does

not quote the text verbatim. A.C. Graham translates this passages as follows: 'In the mountains of far-off' Ku-yi there lives a daemonic man, whose skin and flesh are like ice and snow, who is gentle as a virgin. He does not eat the five grains but sucks in the wind and drinks the dew; he rides the vapour of the clouds, yokes flying dragons to his chariot, and roams beyond the four seas. When the daemonic in him concentrates it keeps creatures free from plagues and makes the grains ripen every year.' See A.C. Graham, Chuang-tzu: The Seven Inner Chapters and Other Writingsfiom the Book of Chuang­ tzu (London: Allen & Unwin, 1 98 1), 46. 44 For a discussion of this aspect of Chinese religion, see von Glahn, The Sinister Way.

84

CHAPTER FOUR

worshippers around Shilong, that official recognition of the deity would be valuable. But Ouyang went even further; he denied not only the value of state sanction, but the role of the worshippers. While the worship­ pers desired official recognition of their deity's powers and thereby also recognition of their community, Ouyang was voicing his own, privately held view: this deity, like Guyi and Gengsang Chu, needed neither wor­ shippers nor imperial recognition to be of benefit to the world. Liu Chenweng: personal commitment and critique

Ouyang Shoudao was not alone in expressing personal views that dif­ fered from those held by the members of the community that had requested the inscription in the first place. One of Ouyang Shoudao's students followed in his teacher's footsteps; Liu Chenweng (1 232-1 297), too, frequently used temple inscriptions to express his personal views about local religious practices. Liu Chenweng, of humble background, had gained the attention of Ouyang Shoudao, and under his tutelage became a recommended student in Luling in 1 258.45 Only four years later he passed the jinshi examination, but because of his outspoken criticism of the policies of Jia Sidao .1Y� ( 1 2 1 3-1 275), the emperor (Lizong, r. 1 225-1 265) placed him in third position in the palace exams.46 On account of his elderly parents, Liu took on the position of headmaster at the Lianxi Academy iJfr#ktHJc in Ganzhou in south­ ern Jiangxi, not far from his home. During the 1 260s and 1 270s, Liu received several invitations to serve in high government posts, but first the required period of mourning for his mother and then the fall of the Song government in 1 276 curtailed his career.47 Liu was deeply moved by the death of Jiang Wanli rI;§tJI!. (1 1 981 2 75), who had taken his own life to express his loyalty to the Song, and

45

For a convenient and full biography of Liu Chenweng, see Liu Chenweng, Xuxi ci (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1 998), I - I S . 46 In 1 259Jia Sidao had become Grand Councillor and was in the process of pushing through several highly unpopular agricultural reforms. For his biography, see Herbert Franke, ed., Sung Biographies (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1 976), 203. 47 Jiang Wanli recommended him for several posts, and Liu did return to the capital as an editor in the history office, but his career in central government was soon put on hold again for the mandatory period of mourning for his mother. Seven years later, he was recommended once again for a number of positions in the capital, and this time it was the fall of the Southern Song court in 1 276 that cut short his career.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

85

he spent the last eighteen years of his life withdrawn from Mongol-Yuan public life. Although he received little recognition in any official capac­ ity, Liu was widely known and respected for his sharp literary observa­ tions, his deep-felt loyalism to the Song, and his outspoken criticism and praise of his contemporaries.48 It is the same frankness that character­ izes the many inscriptions he wrote for temples and shrines in Jizhou. Liu was a frequent visitor at local temples and monasteries, and knew a great deal about their history and current circumstances. His writings are engaging, apt displays of his wide knowledge and insight, although by no means every point is delivered with the same clarity of purpose. The mysterious name of a monastery, encountered on a cross-coun­ try ramble in the Lu Mountains, Monastic Hall of Purple Ganoderma (Zizhi daoyuan �zill: �JG), led him into a broad-ranging discussion of the many varieties of the fungus ganoderma and their description in Ge Hong's Baopuzi neipian.49 A temple located near the mouth of the river reminded Liu of the water cascading down in waterfalls near their springs in the mountains, which in turn led him to remind us that the river originated deep underground before welling up into a spring. People only see the downstream part [of a river] , . . . but their springs origi­ nate in remote lands, something which people often overlook. I measure this earth by the heavens, and I know the sea from such springs. Since writing about Lingwei Shrine also highlights the mouth of the river, I dare not neglect this. 50

His verbosity came from this sense of 'not daring to neglect' the details, the connections, and the wider associations, even if they were not imme­ diately relevant to the points he wished to make. Armed with a great deal of knowledge, Liu entered into spirited dia­ logues both with the people he encountered on his visits and with his readers, sometimes recording his conversations verbatim. In an inscrip­ tion for Luling's Chaoxian Monastery, where the Huagai Immortals were worshipped, Liu describes his difficulties in finding out exactly who the Three Immortals were: See also Anne Gerritsen, 'Liu Chenweng ( 1 232-1 297): Ways of Being Local' in Kenneth J. Hammond, ed., The Human Tradition in Premodern China (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2002), 1 1 1 - 1 25. 49 Liu Chenweng, 'Zizhi daoyuan ji', XX], 1 .25a-b. Purple ganoderma is associated with Daoism, and can refer to immortality. Zhi ;z: is known as 'glossy ganoderma' (ganoderma sinensis), still used today for its medicinal attributes. 50 Liu Chenweng, 'Lingwei miao ji', XX], 4.38b. 48

86

CHAPTER FOUR

For this inscription I knew the name of the immortal even without asking others, and those who know say that [a reference to] Lord Fuqiu is enough. I was, however, not able to find out the names of his pupils. People would say: 'This is Lord Shen, who once bestowed a poem. Is he not the same as Master Wang?' Or someone would say: 'He rode the phoenix in front of Laozi at the same time as Great MasterJin, and when he offered a poem, that was like when Laozi, over two hundred years of age, went to see Lord Xian of the Qjn.' Someone else said: 'After the poem was bestowed, there were Wang Bao and Wang Qjao, and they both have worthies' biogra­ phies.' And so on and so forth. But nothing was ever heard of Guo. So then they said: 'Guo is also a Wang, but he changed his last name, indeed they were paternal cousins. ' We may not know about times long past, but we do know that the idea that they were paternal cousins is complete nonsense! . . . In the records of immortals, there are many Wangs, there are six ancient and recent Wang Qjaos, but those are crude and superficial overviews, and they provide unsystematic and insufficient evidence, and to entrust Huagai Mountain with inscriptions of [Confucius' disciples] Van and Lu like Magu [Mountain] is even sillier.5 1

This long-winded outpouring suggests that the cult of the Huagai Immortals at this stage was not yet well-known inJizhou, and that Liu had little to say specifically about the cult.52 Liu's style itself, however, is revealing. It illustrates his strong opinions and his readiness to admit to gaps in his knowledge. His urge to record his thoughts and conver­ sations in such detail allows us to gain some insight into his personal religious experience. Liu was a keen walker, and enjoyed nothing more than exploring the mountains in search of shrines and temples. He would leave Luling on foot, and walk through quite rough terrain, sometimes up steep hills, to spend a night or two at whichever temple or mountain hut he encountered on his rambles. He found that with 'the desolate rustling of old trees, the [worries of the] mortal realm disappeared of their own accord. '53 Sometimes he went to pray, especially during the turbulent years around 1 275, when the Southern Song government, to which Liu was intensely loyal, was losing the battle with the Mongol invaders.54 He Liu Chenweng, 'Chaoxian guan ji', XX], 3.30a-3 1 a. Compare the discussion of this text in Hymes, Wqy and Bywqy, 9 1-2. 52 Two fourteenth-century inscriptions for temples associated with Huagai worship in Luling suggest that by then, such worship had become more widely known. Feng Yiweng, Jiahui guan ji', Luling xianzhi ( 1 873), 45.34b-35b; Jie Xisi, 'Tianhua wanshou gong bei', ]ie Xisi quarifi, 37 1-2. See Hymes, Wqy and Bywqy, 9 1 -2. 53 Liu Chenweng, Jizhou Nengrensi zhongxiu ji', XX], 4.6b. 54 Ibid. 51

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

87

was always dismayed when he found temples in ruins, especially if he had once enjoyed a stay there. He was equally delighted when he found rickety buildings restored and leaky roofs rethatched. He had seen Nengren 1'fgC Temple, one of his favourite temples in Jizhou, decline from a small but well-kept private monastery to a deserted place: When I went past again several years later, the temple had become over­ grown, the road was destroyed. The plants formed a thick forest; gates were bolted, bells and drums had disappeared, and no monks were living there anymore. 55

But when he ran into the abbot, 'his clothes tattered and his shoes worn out, not prepared for guests', the abbot claimed to be able to restore the place completely, and requested an inscription from Liu.56 Liu refused, leaving the abbot to pace back and forth between the rubble of old paths and waving grasses, and declaring him a fool. Liu's lack of faith in the abbot turned out to be unfounded; when he stumbled across Nen­ gren Temple again on a chrysanthemum-picking expedition, he found the place utterly transformed. He could only apologize, and offer to write the inscription now, full of admiration for the achievements of the abbot. When Liu asked him how he had achieved this, the abbot answered: In the past these fields were not prosperous, but to encourage the juices to flow, one or two of the residents cut open the fields, thereby encouraging the spirit of the land to feel regret over earlier disasters. Gradually [they managed to] increase the boundaries. I selected only people of splendid and grand [abilities] to enter my dwelling. We moved hills and dug valleys, we refined the crops and replenished the fish, and we rebuilt the dilapi­ dated buildings in the mountains with gold and emerald. I am able to be energetic and able to be frugal, although I was not able to [control] time. As for time, that took care of itself, like wheat when the ground is covered with snow or a spring near a mountain top.57

Liu was greatly impressed by the modest abbot. He felt acutely aware that the abbot and his monks had been driven by unselfish motives, regarding the difficult task simply as their path (wu dao �ili), in contrast to an official and his workforce, who could only be driven to work by

55 56 57

Ibid. Ibid. XX], 4.7b.

88

CHAPTER FOUR

the promise of rich rewards, even then remaining dissatisfied with the results of their work. 58 Liu took the contrast between abbot and official much further, turn­ ing it into a thorough and emotional critique of society: The postal stations are running out of funds, the [income from] land taxes is dropping. The merchant goods that come in are piling up, yet the pre­ fectural storehouses remain empty. An official vainly sends fast missives, relying on documents, dragging along his superiors to listen, and getting the masses of the city to help him. On the day of [this official's] death, there will be flattering inscriptions on his grave, and his honorary name will be included in the Official History. Those who knew him, however, will regard him as a thief of the people, while those who write about him rave about his human talents. I can not be heavily critical of myself, while praising others who are different. What point is there in saying it? I am about to vent my angriest feelings, and spit out what is most shameful for later generations. 59

These are emotional utterances, betraying a deep sense of dissatisfac­ tion with the hypocrisy of a world where an official can fail his people so badly, and yet receive praise and recognition from the establishment. Liu was aware that not everyone would share his emotions, 'only peo­ ple who have experienced regret over a long period of time will under­ stand the sadness in my words', but he tried nevertheless to draw his readers' attention to the contrasts he perceived. Inspired by the name of the temple, he discussed the different interpretations of neng (ability) and ren (human-heartedness). While in Buddhist thought, 'being capa­ ble of human-heartedness' (nengren) is most important, according to the ru (Confucians), is understood to be public-spiritedness, awareness, love, in accordance with principle but without selfishness. . . . [Ren includes] everything before there was writing, and everything after the universe was established. But how could one word fully express all that!60

ren

The problem, according to Liu, was not only that the Confucian con­ cept of ren is too all-encompassing Liu compared it to trying to under­ stand the nature of a whole body on the basis of an understanding of a foot or a hand alone but that the Confucian idea of 'being capable' (neng) was too perfectionist: 58 59

60

Ibid. XX], 4.Sa. XX], 4.Sb.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

89

Neng is understood as 'there being nothing one cannot do. ' But if you [only] regard 'there being nothing one cannot do' as 'being capable', then there are always things one cannot do, even if one is a Yao or Shun.6l

In contrast, Buddhism understands having something one cannot do as part of one's capabilities (yi bu neng wei neng J;) ::ffj��fj�). It was only because of that attitude, according to Liu, this reconciliation with the limits of one's abilities, that the abbot was able to achieve the impossible and restore this temple with so few resources. The genre of ji, records written for temples, but also for schools, studios, government buildings and the like, allowed an author to expand at will on topics inspired by the names of such buildings. But Liu was doing much more than merely listing the known history of the building and holding forth about the significance of its name. Liu used the temple inscription to offer a deeply felt critique of fundamental Confucian concepts on the basis of his personal experience. Liu Chenweng's critical voice was by no means limited to Confucian concepts; in fact, one would be hard-pressed to identify Liu with any one tradition or school of thought. Rather than taking issue with one group of thinkers, or expressing loyalty to one way of thinking, Liu took issue with any lack of commitment, regardless of the religious tradi­ tion. He disliked, for example, visitors who travelled to Dafan Temple for an outing, without any understanding of the principles of Buddhist thought: People think they can travel here to see the sights at the beginning of the new year without an understanding of [concepts such as] the great void, transformation and illusion, but that means obtaining [the Buddha truth] by way of the polluted world! Only when people are about to die of the plague, when they are surrounded by groaning and moaning, and polluted by emissions of vomit, are they ready to gain [insight) . Nothing brings greater uncleanliness than this!62

Having fiercely defended the monks' commitment to Buddhist thought in the inscription for Nengren Temple, Liu clearly felt that the members of the lay community surrounding Dafan Temple did not measure up. He expressed a similar sentiment about the lay community of a Daoist temple on Yusi Mountain, used by visitors as if it was a guesthouse:

61 62

Ibid. Liu Chenweng, 'Dafan si ji', XX], 1 . 1 4b.

90

CHAPTER FOUR

How is it that in the past people who did not have a fixed home looked towards the temple and took on difficult [challenges] , and today people who have fixed abodes choose to remain dignified and do not [even] take up easy [tasks] . This, too, makes me disappointed. 53

Liu's point was that while the men who founded this sacred site were willing to endure such hardships here in order to achieve enlightenment, nowadays people living at home in luxury were only willing to spend a brief time here, and expected to achieve the same enlightenment. In another inscription, the monks themselves, and the Buddhist estab­ lishment more generally, came under attack: Only these last seven or eight years the enterprise of Buddhism has become all-encompassing. [ Monks] have become established as officials and teachers, carrying their Chan robes on their back. There are also important monks who come from the north, going around speaking for­ eign languages. They spend a thousand words [explaining] one character, evasively calling that 'helping the teaching. ' They outrage the world by disrespecting custom, playing about with the sutras and ignoring the rules of abstinence, wearing themselves out with their travels among the peo­ ple. The meaning (Yl) is not something that could be regained by restor­ ing the common laws. Despite favours from court and the avoidance [of taxes] flourishing abundantly, one can only differ from its teachings.64

It is clear that Liu regarded himself as an extremely committed member of the Jizhou community. While others fell short of the standards he set, he himself had wisdom and knowledge to offer to members of any religious tradition. Liu saw himself as a teacher, as we see in this anecdote. When the abbot of Wugong Temple asked him to write an inscription, Liu replied: 'I can.' Someone then said: 'You have seen what [the monastery] is like. The parts you have not yet seen are just like the parts you have seen.' I did not answer, but raised my hand and wrote the character for 'one' (yi ). The person said: 'One? Is that [character] to lead us? Can you give any further indications?' I did not reply, and wrote nothing further. Only by not writing [anything else] could they understand what [the character 'one'] signified. Some people subsequently understood [what I meant] , they bowed their heads and passed their insight on.55 -

63 64 65

Liu Chenweng, 'Yusi shan Chengtian gong Yuntang ji', XX], 4.37b. Liu Chenweng, 'Wugong si ji', XX], 4.35a-b. XX], 4.36b.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

91

He presented himself as a spiritual leader, recording his conversations and discussions in the style of Zhu Xi's *_ Tulu �g�. It was as teacher that he approached the religious establishments of Jizhou, and it was in his role as teacher that he offered his opinions. In the same way that only some of the Wugong monks understood the significance of Liu Chen­ weng's single line (the characteryi), no doubt only few members of the Jizhou population would have fully taken on board his teachings. It is, however, beyond doubt that Liu offered his teachings in good faith. Liu did not criticize the practices he observed as a disinterested outsider; his critical observations were motivated by a deep sense of personal com­ mitment to the community whose practices he described. What are we to make of this at times extremely bad-tempered scholar with his outspoken views about religion? I think we can draw several useful conclusions. Liu Chenweng imagined himself to be a vital part of the broader religious community of Jizhou. For him, the distinctions between Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian traditions were noticeable, but of secondary importance to the overall spiritual health of the com­ munity. His writings make clear how deeply committed he was to the local. He was at all times deeply concerned for the well-being of the local community, and presented himself as its intellectual and spiritual leader. Rewriting local religious practice

Liu and his teacher Ouyang Shoudao were not exceptional in their visions of their involvement in local religious practice. Many others saw themselves as active members of the local religious community, and envisaged themselves as fonts of wisdom and sources of authority on the practices current within that community. Many authors of South­ ern Song and Yuan inscriptions interpreted a request for an inscrip­ tion as a request for advice. In their representation, however, such local practice took on a different meaning. The practice was rewritten, or translated, to conform to what was perceived to be an acceptable stand­ ard. Of course any representation of popular practice in the genre of temple inscriptions was always fundamentally rewritten, but at times the mechanics of this process are still visible, and here we can learn useful information about the ways in which literati attempted to rewrite what they perceived to be unacceptable practices.

92

CHAPTER FOUR

When a new Dongyue Shrine was built in Anfu 1 3 1 7, the famous literatus Jie Xisi described what had happened as follows:66 In the winter of the fourth year of Yanyou [ 1 3 1 7] , the daruhachi of Anfu . . . began building a Dongyue Shrine . . . outside the eastern city gates. He was assisted in the planning by Magistrate Guo Huitai, the sup­ porting clerks and charitable members of the local population donated their wealth, and since the land was fertile, the [building] materials of good quality, and the workforce hardworking, the shrine was completed by the autumn of the next year.67

They had clearly built an impressive building, with multiple halls, awe­ inspiring statues and no less than 72 small shrines. The temple also attracted a large number of worshippers: Young and old, male and female all crawled up there like ants, bowed down and worshipped on their knees like one would behave near one's parents. They carved a stone for the bridge saying 'Elegant Valley' and created a dwelling above it with six pillars which one could reach when walking around to look; they carved a plank for the pavilion with the words 'Bird's-eye view' (yi Lan -'if), to rest from one's travels and look at the view, and they appointed a Daoist Master, a certain Yao !l:t to look after the place.68

It was, as is clear fromJie's description, a popular site for worship that flourished thanks to the cooperation of the local well-to-do with the local officials. Despite his admiration for their achievement, Jie disapproves utterly of what he perceived to be the attitude of the worshippers:

66

Jie was born in Fuzhou, where he grew up under the tutelage of his impoverished but learned father. He did not embark on his official career until 1 3 1 4, starting as Junior Compiler in the Hanlin and Historiography Academy (Hanlin guashiyuan bianxiu). When Tugh Temur (r. 1 328�3 1 ) had established the Academy of the Pavilion of the Star of Literature in 1 329, an institution dedicated to the promotion of Chinese cultural values to the Mongols, Jie was among the first scholar-writers to be appointed. In the early thirties of the fourteenth century, he became one of Tugh Temur's confidants, and he continued to hold high offices under the reign of Toghon Temur (r. 1 333- 1 368), eventually being appointed as one of the editors of the Liao, Jin and Song Histories under Tuotuo. He fell ill during the editing of the Jin History, and died at home at the age of 7 1 in 1 344. 6 7 Jie Xisi, 'Anfu zhou Dongyue miao ji', in Jie Xisi quan )1, 328. Romeyn Taylor classifies Dongyue temples as 'qua.si-official' temples. They were part of the official pantheon, but their worship was not legally prescribed (as for example worship for the celestial spirits was). See Romeyn Taylor, 'Official Altars, Temples and Shrines Mandated for All Counties in Ming and Qng', Taung Paa 83 ( 1 997): 95-7. 68 Jie, 'Anfu zhou Dongyue miao ji', 328.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

93

People who only rely on gods without an understanding of goodness are misguided. If government is in disarray and the harvest fails, will you get what you want from the divine? Heaven has a constant way in [allocating] fortune and misfortune; similarly the state has constant rituals for serving the divine and ruling the people. Rituals cannot be tarnished, the Way cannot be slandered.69

Jie was expressing a commonly held literati view about popular religious sentiment, one that recurred through his writings about temples and religious practice. He took issue with the idea that gods would provide for one's every need, regardless of one's moral calibre. People turned to the divine realm only in their hour of need, and expected fortune to come their way as soon as they requested it.70 'Seeking fortune but not returning it, this is the way of the people', he wrote in another inscription.7l Such attitudes may have been prevalent, butJie strongly disagreed. In his view, heaven was constant in its allocation of fortune and misfortune; 'fortune and goodness, calamity and wantonness, they are the way of heaven. '72 Whether one is blessed with wealth and good fortune or not,Jie tried to impress upon his readership, depends not on making a request to a deity at the right time, but on the heavens, and the heavens' allocation of fortune and misfortune is contingent on moral practlce. Jie knew he was swimming against the tide here, well aware that popularly held views strongly diverged from his own. That divergence is less interesting than Jie's attempts to rectify such views. Transform­ ing local practice, he believed, could take place through writing such inscriptions. His writings provide a fascinating insight into the mechan­ ics of this transformative process, because, unusually, Jie represented both versions of events: a locally current story about belief or practice, followed by his retelling of the same story, this time couched in what he considered a more appropriate vocabulary. In an inscription for a shrine in the town of Xiajiang �tI in nearby Linjiang prefecture, he included the following narrative: •

The goddess is Old Lady Wen ¥1ii of the Qn dynasty. She fished in Cheng Creek f¥¥�, and caught a large fish roe. She hid it at home and it

69 Ibid. 70

See von Glahn, The Sinister Wqy, for a discussion of such views of religion, espe­

cially 1 3- 1 7. 71 Jie Xisi, 'Xiaotong miao ji', Jie Xisi quan Ji, 336. Ibid. n

94

CHAPTER FOUR

produced seven dragons, five male and two female. She then reared them, and after their scales and horns were fully grown she set them free in the river. Every day the old lady waited by the riverside, and the dragons gave beautiful fish to her, since she had done her best in feeding them. The first [Qin] emperor heard of this, and summoned the lady. When she was in mid-stream, the dragons snatched the boat and returned home with it. The woman drowned, and the villagers buried her on the right waterfront of Cheng [Creek] , on the bank of Jiang River �*. Later mourners wept at her grave, and they disliked the fact that her resting place was by the waves. One evening there was thunder and she was moved to a higher mound, and the worship by the villagers started from here.73

Classically, worship originates at the site of a violent death.74 A woman drowns in the river, and worship springs up to appease her demonic spirit. The account, by the timeJie noted it down, has become entwined with a second narrative, that of the dragons, the most common spirits of the river, and a mutual relationship of nourishment and depend­ ency is developed between the woman and these spirits. The site of the shrine, as Jie himself explained, was highly numinous: Into Xiajiang flow rivers fromJizhou, Ganzhou, and Nan'an Wfti:, and this is also a place where powerful merchants and traders gather. Because two mountain ranges almost connect here, the waters are rapid and turbulent. Each year several boats are smashed here. . . . Probably there were branch temples here to appease the evil of the waters, but that can no longer be investigated. Whenever boats go up or down, or there is a drought or an epidemic, there are always prayers here.75

By the time Jie described this site, the different strands of worship and their origins could no longer be separated, but we can guess at their possible constituent parts: the sacred site marking a violent death; a site for worship to appease the river spirits where river traffic negotiates the rapids as the river rushes through a narrow gorge; a meeting-point for merchants from different areas, perhaps combining their own cults with those from other areas. Of course this is guesswork, and probably Jie, staunch Confucian and critic of popular practice, had only offered the tidiest of surface renditions of what was probably an extremely vibrant sacred site.

73 74 75

Ibid. See the discussion of such violent origins of deities in Ter Haar and Feuchtwang. Jie Xisi, 'Xiaotong miao ji', 335.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

95

Having given us the bare outline of what goes on in Xiajiang, Jie proceeded to rewrite the practice in a different vocabulary. First he described what a dragon is: Nothing in the realm has greater spiritual quality than a dragon; nothing has greater merit in the realm than the dragon. Its virtue matches heaven, it is the greatest among fish and reptiles, and one cannot fathom its mani­ fold transformations. 76

Jie's dragon received the highest accolades possible in the Confucian view of heaven and earth: it matches heaven. It was not only greater than other animals, it also greatly outshone human beings in its moral qualities: The old lady did not give birth to the dragons, yet she received their grati­ tude for her rearing and upbringing. In life she was nourished by their giving her fish, in death they wore hemp to mourn her. They moved her resting place to ensure her safety. These dragons did what the sons and grandsons of the local gentlemen were unable to do. No one has more understanding of the main principles of loyalty and filiality than these dragons. The virtue of the dragons is of the highest calibre. 77

The story of worship performed to appease the demonic spirit became, inJie's version, a tale of basic Confucian values: care for one's elders in both life and death. The dragon, popularly held responsible for disasters on the river, became the embodiment of moral values. Jie knew that he was, as we said above, swimming against the tide of popular opinion, and acknowledged the divergence between his own views and those of the people: It is not in the heart-and-mind of dragons to be good at capsizing boats and drowning people. Those who are disloyal and unfilial, who have no humanity and harm righteousness, break themselves away from heaven, and they will encounter [such tragedies] . 78

Jie placed the responsibility for one's fate squarely on the individual's own shoulders. Capsizing on a dangerous river and drowning as a result was nothing to do with the spirits of the river, and everything to do with the moral character of the person who drowns.Jie had further evidence to support his point. When someone from his hometown travelled across Lake Chao :li¥i'ill , great waves threatened to overturn his boat: 76 Jie Xisi, 'Xiaotong miao ji',

77

78

Ibid. Ibid.

336.

96

CHAPTER FOUR

The gentleman, wearing court dress said a prayer on his boat. The gen­ tleman dragon (longjun ll�;g) returned the courtesy on the water, and the wind stopped immediately. This is how a dragon assists good people. If you do good, would a dragon not help you? Looking at it from this point of view, when someone capsizes or drowns this is not due to the dragon but to the person.79

This sentiment, spelled out explicitly here, also underliesJie's statement in the inscription for the Anfu Dongyue Temple: 'People who only rely on gods without an understanding of goodness are misguided.'so Although he knew that popularly held views were widely divergent, he used such inscriptions to highlight his own beliefs and to try to encour­ age moral behaviour. Jie greatly favoured the technique of retelling a popular tale in terms that were meaningful in his own world-view. A shrine in Linchuan received the same treatment: This place at first had one old pine tree, and often the sound of pan flutes was heard hovering above it. There was a well underneath the pine tree, and people drew from it and prayed here. It could revive what was dried up and cure the ill. One day, a god and his pupil spoke to the lay monk in his dream, saying: 'I am the scholar (xiucai) Zhu Sen *�jI§::t. My two brothers and I all became hermits here. People at your temple worship us, so we ought to bless your people.' Then the monk carved three statues of gods out of the pine tree, dressed as officials just like in his dream, and the temple worshipped them.8 !

It was the story of a secluded shrine in the mountains, where the spirit of the well appeared in the abbot's dream. From then on, the statues of three gods were worshipped here, by a spring that had special numinous powers. So far so good. Next,Jie presented his own version: I would say that when the god said [ his surname was] Zhu, he meant 'zhu' f* (tree-trunk), and when he said 'Sen', he meant 'shan' t� (pine). With 'scholar' (xiucai) he meant 'mei mu' �* (beautiful wood). 'The three brothers' refers to the means by which the three pieces of wood came to life. Of course wood is a repository for virtue, the wood [element] rules benevolence, and therefore wood does good, and not evil; it brings bless­ ings, not calamities, while it can greatly protect our people.82

79

80 Bl B2

Ibid. Jie, 'Anfu zhou Dongyue miao ji', 328. Jie Xisi, 'Fuzhou Ling'gan miao ji', Jie Xisi quan ji, 3 3 1 . Ibid.

IMAGINING LOCAL BELONGING

97

Jie did not deny the value of the worship, but changed its significance. The communication of the deity, left intact inJie's first version, took on an entirely different meaning in his recounting of what happened. The translation can hardly do justice to the subtle punning and wordplay, but in Jie's retelling, suddenly, this is no longer about anthropomor­ phic deities, who have a reciprocal relationship with their worshippers, but about the beneficial qualities of wood, represented by the tree that grows by the spring. Jie Xisi was well aware of the gap between his own explication of the events and locally held beliefs. It was, in his view, the responsibility of the learned man to bridge that gap. That responsibility was spelled out in the Dongyue text: The divine is what cannot be reached yet is not remote; sincerity is what cannot be fully understood without being stimulated. Sincerity and the divine can only be united to produce blessings by an ethical man (junzi 'fir). To improve the constant principles of worship, and to rectify the vulgar practices of the state, this is one of the matters of the state, and the heart-and-mind of thejunzi.83

If heaven and the state existed at one end of the spectrum, and the people at the other, then there was, according to Jie, a realm of action in between those two, which only the ethical man could manipulate. The ethical man alone had the ability to bring together spirituality and truth; he alone could bring about good fortune for people by cultivating the Way and its ritual system. Ultimately, therefore,Jie suggested that what­ ever form of worship people might engage in at this Dongyue temple, it was only a cultivation of moral values, expressed through correct ritual, that was going to make any difference, and only a cultivated individual, thejunzi, could bring this about. Conclusion

When Zhao Yike and his friends climbed to the top of one of the peaks in the Wugong Mountains to admire the view and visit the temple, bonds were forged between all the participants in the excursion. Zhao and his relatives, Zhao and his literati friends, Zhao and the abbot, these relationships were all given meaning in that shared experience. By

83 jie, �nfu zhou Dongyue miao ji', 328.

98

CHAPTER FOUR

writing about it, the landscape and the temple became inscribed with that story, and for those who participated, the temple and its setting became the location of that shared sentiment. The space gained mean­ ing in this process, not just in the minds of those who participated, but also in the minds of those who later read about it, including us. Tem­ ples throughout Jizhou during the Song and Yuan became inscribed by similar stories, as literati created and recreated the histories of the local temples. They were literati creations, of course, and in no way should they be read as telling the whole story of these temples. But they do tell significant stories: of literati imagining they could belong in the local landscapes, be part of the community, perform meaningful roles within them, and transform the local. They cast themselves in a variety of roles, as guardians of local morals, as teachers and spiritual leaders, as translators of local practice. What matters is that the literati took a great deal of interest in local temples and envisioned themselves as active and authoritative members of the communities they constructed around them. Of the many local institutions they wrote about, the tem­ ple offered them by far the best opportunity to belong.

CHAPTER FIVE

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN SOUTHERN SONG AND YUAN JIZHOU Writing about temples allowed Southern Song and Yuan literati from Jizhou to imagine local landscapes within which they belonged and had meaningful roles to play. Temple inscriptions provided Jizhou scholars during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties with the opportunity to associate themselves closely and personally with a wide variety of sacred sites. As we will see in the chapters that follow, temple inscrip­ tions changed significantly over time, and literati did not continue to see them as providing such attractive possibilities for shaping their local communities. Before we move on to what happened during the early Ming, however, we need to reflect on the implications of what we have established thus far. The Southern Song and Yuan landscape, I sug­ gested, was a dynamic imagined space, where literati writing combined the view of a threatening and to some extent unknown physical space with the idealization of that space, where humans had successfully nego­ tiated those dangers and threats. The landscape, as I argued above, was not a static space but a dynamic process. Writing about the landscape and about the temples within it was part of that dynamic process, and the landscape of Southern Song and YuanJizhou, as we can visualize it today, is a landscape mediated through these writings. Literati wrote texts about landscape and about the temples within it, and in the act of writing, sought to impose order on their environment. Reading temple inscriptions as records of such processes allows us to see the literati as agents in their social and physical spaces. Of course they were not alone in seeking to shape their environments, and I am by no means arguing that their vision of the landscape a physical world made unthreatening by a constant human presence in the form of tem­ ples and shrines where literati members of the community determined the meaning of the religious practices carried out here was meaningful to anyone but themselves. I am suggesting, however, that we can learn something interesting about the literati from these writings. During the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, when theJizhou landscape was not yet fully 'tamed', local literati turned to temples and shrines for personal

1 00

CHAPTER FIVE

solace and to create important local roles for themselves. It is important to set out here what this means, and what it does not. First, of course, the vast majority of the local population will have assigned utterly dif­ ferent meanings to local sacred sites, and literati meanings were not constant or uncontested. Second, temples were not the only sites in the social landscape to offer the opportunity to order the environment and to perform local activist roles; other local institutions offered equally interesting opportunities. It would take us too far beyond the focus of this book to explore all of these. Peter Bol's work on local activism in Jinhua (in Zhejiang), for example, or Robert Hymes' writings on Fuzhou (inJiangxi), have already demonstrated some of the multifarious ways in which Song and Yuan dynasty literati carved out spaces in local society through writing. I It may be instructive, however, to look briefly at other ways of expressing involvement in local society that presented them­ selves to the literati in Southern Song and YuanJizhou, such as writing prefaces for locally compiled genealogies, or writing about schools and academies. Pufoces for genealogies

The studies brought together by Patricia Buckley Ebrey and James Watson in Kinship Organization in Late Imperial China ( 1 986) chronicled a process whereby from the Southern Song onwards, lineages grew in importance in local society. 2 As Ebrey suggests in her overview of the development of 'descent group' organization, by 1 350 organized descent groups in southern China had charitable estates, ancestral halls for gatherings and ritual purposes, and they engaged in the compila­ tion of genealogies.3 Genealogies became particularly important as documents that established the social status of the descent group, or the alliances forged through marriage between different local descent groupS.4 Local literati wrote prefaces for their own, and increasingly for other people's, genealogical compilations, positioning the descent group

1

See, for example, Bol, 'This Culture qf Ours'; Hymes, Statesmen and Gentlemen; Hymes, Wqy and Bywqy; Walton, Academies and Society. 2 Ebrey and Watson, eds., Kinship Organization. 3 Patricia Buckley Ebrey, 'The Early Stages in the Development of Descent Group Organization', in Ebrey and Watson, eds., Kinship Organization, 53-4. 4 Ebrey, 'The Early Stages', 45.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL

101

within local society and beyond.5 Not many of such prefaces remain for the Southern Song, more for the Yuan, but as it happens the literary col­ lections of both Ouyang Shoudao and Liu Chenweng contain several prefaces for Jizhou descent groupS.6 One of Ouyang Shoudao's prefaces was for his own illustrious Ouyang family, which he traced back to the Tang, when the first ances­ tor moved to Jizhou to serve as its prefect.7 The descent group included of course Luling's most famous son Ouyang Xiu. As is well-known, Ouyang Xiu's association with Luling is rather tenuous: he was born in Sichuan, raised in Hubei, and visited Luling only once.s As Ouyang Shoudao put it rather wistfully: 'Wenzhong [i.e. Ouyang Xiu] trav­ elled in all directions, and only returned to his native area on a few occasions.,g Nevertheless, of course it mattered to Ouyang Shoudao to claim the link with the great man, and to position himself and his kin in this line of descent, even though in Shoudao's time there were no less than six or seven Ouyang branches with genealogies in the wider area. 10 Ouyang talked about the process of compiling the genealogy, the numbers of generations involved, and the numbers of branches with genealogies in the area, all with a freshness of approach that suggests this was a new venture for him. Ouyang's preface for the genealogy of Huang Shidong 1i�fPm was similarly engaged with the process itself. Rather than using the genea­ logical preface as a forum for discussing other matters, Ouyang wrote about the importance of compiling genealogies without them, how can one know about the different branches and their origins? and about the difficulties of tracing back many generations when wars and disrup­ tions prevented one from making proper investigations.1 1 He counted himself lucky 'to live in ordered times, and in a happy place, where one knows where one's ancestors originated, and where the graves are Hymes, 'Marriage, Descent Groups, and the Localist Strategy', 1 22. 6 As Ebrey points out, Morita Kenji's work has revealed this increase in the writ­ ing of prefaces for genealogies by famous men during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties. Ebrey, 'The Early Stages', 47. She quotes Morita Kenji, 'So-Gen jidai ni okeru shofu' Tayoshi kenkyii 3 7 ( 1 979): 509-35. Morita counts only nineteen Song genealogical prefaces. 7 Ouyang Shoudao, Xunzhai wenji (Siku zhenben edition), 1 9.9b. 8 For more details on Ouyang Xiu's life, see James T.e. Liu's biography of Ouyang in Franke, Sung Biographies, 808-8 1 6. ji, 1 9. I Oa. 9 Ouyang, Xunzhai wen 10 Ouyang, Xunzhai wenji, 1 9. 1 1 b. 11 Ouyang, Xunzhai wenji, 1 l .8b-9a. 5

1 02

CHAPTER FIVE

maintained.'12 Writing such genealogical prefaces, his style suggests, was not something he did often. A great deal of scholarship has confirmed that the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were periods of enormous growth in a new kind of genealogical compilation.13 Indeed, Robert Hymes has shown that these genealogical compilations were part of the localist strategies in Yuan Fuzhou. 'The reading and prefacing of gene­ alogies', he writes, 'became, in Yuan, in part a medium of acquaint­ ance and social connection, especially with local men of note and influence.'14 Indeed, the genealogy prefaces from Yuan Jizhou suggest that this was true, too, for Jizhou. Nevertheless, I would argue that writing prefaces for genealogies did not yet offer the same appeal to Jizhou literati as shrines and temples did in this period. In part, this is because of the newness of the genre. Prefaces for genealogies were a novel genre at this time. The fractional sample that remains today suggests literati men thinking about the pos­ sibilities offered by writing such prefaces, rather than authors thoroughly familiar with the genre. The conventions of the genre of temple inscrip­ tions created certain limitations, to be sure, but, as I have shown in the previous chapter, they also allowed authors to expound their own views on a wide range of issues, an opportunity they frequently used to their advantage. As Peter Bol has persuasively shown for Wuzhou (later Jin­ hua prefecture in Zhejiang), literati who were interested in 'the creation of a literati cultural community with a local identity' were also involved in local governmental reforms, in creating local geographical, biograph­ ical, and literary compilations, and in writing local histories.15 But as Bol's study makes clear, the transformation from private genealogical records with prefaces compiled by members of the family to genealogies as public records of family histories took place gradually, and perhaps was complete in Jinhua before it was complete or even fully in train in Jizhou. Far more work needs to be done here, examining in greater detail the significance of genealogies in Song-Yuan-Ming Jizhou. For 12

Ouyang, Xunzhai wenji, I I . l Oa. 13 Peter K. Bol, 'Local History and Family in Past and Present', in Thomas H.C. Lee, ed., The New and the MultiplR: Sung Senses qf the Past (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2004), 3 1 9. See also Hugh R. Clark, 'Reinventing the Genealogy: Innovation in Kinship Practice in the Tenth to Eleventh Centuries', in Lee, ed., The New and the Multiple, 237-286. See also Ebrey, 'The Early Stages'; Morita, 'So-Gen jidai ni okeru shufu'; Hymes, 'Marriage, Descent Groups, and the Localist Strategy'. 14 Hymes, 'Marriage, Descent Groups, and the Localist Strategy', 1 27. 15 Bol, 'Local History and Family', 338.

i

, .

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL

1 03

now, I think we can proceed on the assumption that in Southern Song and Yuan Jizhou, temples and shrines offered more attractive oppor­ tunities for local transformation than did genealogies. What about the other types of local institution so prominent in literati consciousness of the time? Below, I will briefly discuss literati writings on schools and academies. Schools and academies in Southern Song and Yuan Luling

The most important educational institutions in Luling were the Ji'an prefectural school and the Luling county school. The county school was located in the northern corner, while the prefectural school had a more prominent location inside the southern walls, near the gates and the river moorings. Both schools were probably founded in the middle of the eleventh century, and repeatedly restored and rebuilt over the fol­ lowing centuries. 16 Alongside such government-sponsored institutions were large numbers of more or less private academies, some small and short-lived, others large, famous, and proud of their long heritage.17 The Southern Song and Yuan were periods of active growth in acad­ emy building, and Jizhou was no exception. 18 Such schools and acad­ emies are often referred to as 'local', but this raises the question: in what 16

The oldest extant gazetteer for the area, the Ji'an prefectural gazetteer from the Jiajing reign-period ( 1 522-1 566) of the Ming dynasty, tells us that the Confucian school of the prefecture was founded in 1 044, when it was located to the south-west of the prefectural seat. It was then moved once in 1 1 25 , and again in 1 1 88 , and did not settle at its sixteenth-century location until the Ming. See [JiajingJ JAFZ ( 1 522-66), 7. 1 a. The county school, founded in the same year according to much later gazet­ teers, was also restored repeatedly during the course of the following centuries. JAFZ (1 875), 1 7. 30a-42a. 1 7 On the difference between public and private educational establishments, see Hsiang-kwang Liu, 'Education and Society: Local Education in Hui-chou, 960-1 800' (Columbia University Ph.D., 1 996). 1 8 The Jiangxi educational historian Li Caidong has made a comprehensive study of academies in Jiangxi, and his figures yield some fascinating insights. He has found data for at least four academies newly built in Jizhou during the Northern Song (in Longquan, Taihe and in Yongfeng), which suggests a period of stability and prosper­ ity in the area at this time. Academy building continued during the Southern Song, when about twenty new academies were built in Jizhou. This amounts to less than one eighth of all Jiangxi academies built during this time, so that Jizhou was by no means at the forefront of Jiangxi academy building activities. This changed during the Yuan, when almost a quarter of all new academies built in Jiangxi were located in Jizhou. See Li Caidong, Jiangxi gudai shuyuan ya,yiu (Nanchang: Jiangxi jiaoyu chu­ banshe, 1 993), 53- 1 02.

,

II

I

I

1 04

CHAPTER FIVE

ways were such academies 10cal?19 Were they, like temples, sites of com­ munity construction and local identity formation? Or were academies and schools imagined within a much wider network of institutions that disseminated and celebrated cultural traditions crossing administra­ tive boundaries? Were academies local sites for the exploration of and participation in the culture of the whole empire?20 To answer such questions, I will focus briefly on literati writings about a few of the educational establishments in Luling, specifically Bailuzhou Academy s 2r1+1 ��1C on Bailu Islet s 2ml in the Gan, founded in 1 242 by Grand CouncillorJiang Wanli, and the county school in Luling.21 Jiang had founded Bailuzhou Academy as soon as he arrived in Luling, and because the academy gained such great fame, Jiang would be remembered for his contribution to local culture in a shrine estab­ lished on Bailu Islet.22 Jiang appointed none other than Ouyang Shou­ dao as head of the academy. Although Ouyang Shoudao's leadership of the academy was briefly interrupted in 1 253, when he served as assistant head of Yuelu Academy in Changsha, Hunan, he remained committed to Bailuzhou Academy for most of his life.23 Under his leadership, stu­ dent numbers rose quickly, and one of the men to study under Ouyang Shoudao was Wen Tianxiang ( 1 236-1 283). Wen was ranked first in the 1 256 metropolitan examinations, a feat that would be mentioned in the academy records for many centuries.24

19

See, for example, Robert Hymes, 'Lu Chiu-yiian, Academies, and the Problem of the Local Community', in De Bary and Chaffee, eds., Neo-Confocian Education: The Formative Stage, 432-456. Paul Smith also refers to academies as 'local' institutions. Paul Smith, 'Introduction', in Smith and von Glahn, eds., The Song-Yuan-Ming Transi­ tion, 23, 26. 20 Similar issues are discussed in a study by Thomas Lee on Jizhou. See Thomas H.C. Lee, 'Song Yuan shuyuan yu difang wenhua-Jizhou diqu shuyuan, xueshu, yu minjian zongjiao', (n.d., manuscript). 21 Jiang's biography can be found in Franke, ed., Sung Biographies, 207-209. 22 Liu Wenyuan suggests thatJiang Wanli arrived as governor inJizhou in 1 238, and did not found the academy until 1 242. Liu Wenyuan, Jiang Wanli yu Jizhou', ]i'an shizhuan xuebao, 20.4 ( 1 999), 53. Other documents suggest Jiang arrived in 1 24 1 , and founded the academy almost immediately. See, for example, Liu Yi, comp., Bailuzhou sh19uan zhi ( 1 87 1 , reprint, Nanjing: Jiangsu jiaoyu, 1 995), 5.4b. Hereafter, BU;:. 23 Yuelu Academy, or Marchmount Hill Academy, is discussed extensively in Wal­ ton, Academies and Society. The academy was founded in 976, and was one of the four famous Song academies. 24 Liu Wenyuan, ]i'an gudai mingren zhuan (Nanchang: Baihuazhou wenyi chubanshe, 1 995), 1 20.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL

1 05

Ouyang Shoudao's writings on Bailuzhou Academy

So what did Ouyang write about the academy? How did he imagine the connection between Bailu and Luling? Ouyang's most explicit state­ ment about Bailuzhou Academy appears in a 1 263 text, written two decades after it had been founded. The piece was written to commemo­ rate the establishment of a private building (a pavilion) for the use of the headmaster at Bailuzhou Academy.25 The inspiration for the piece was provided by Emperor Lizong's (r. 1 225-1 265) decision to confer official recognition on the headmasters of academies: In the past, the heads of academies did not receive regular employment (zhengyuan), so they often served concurrently as [prefectural] professors. Only since last year has [their position] been established as an official appointment.26

Official recognition of the position also provided an opportunity to build a proper residence for the headmaster. Ouyang Shoudao had used his private home when he served as headmaster and had given his lectures at home, but his successor did not have such facilities. The prefectural authorities then donated some land inside the city walls not far from the islet, and provided the building materials and the labour needed for the construction of accommodation for students and a residence for the headmaster. The comparison with the prefectural school obviously mattered to Ouyang: From now on the headmaster has somewhere to stay, and in form and appearance he can truly be an equal with the professor of the prefectural schoolY

Ouyang Shoudao went on to elaborate on the role of academies in the wider educational system of the realm. At first, he wrote, education was freely available throughout the realm as there were schools both in the capital and in the villages. Teachers who had achieved knowledge and insight above others would take students into their homes. This all changed when the Way was lost. Scholars started to retreat to the mountains, where they were inaccessible for students, and while great 25

Ouyang Shoudao, 'Bailuzhou shuyuan shanzhangting ji', XZUJ, l 4.5a-8b. The text is also included in BLZ, 5. l a-4a. It discussed briefly in Walton, Academies and Society, 77-79, and in Meskill, Academies in Ming China, 1 5- 1 6. 26 XZUJ, 1 4.5a. 27 XZUJ, 1 4.6a.

1 06

CHAPTER FIVE

learning thrived in these remote places, none of this learning was trans­ mitted to others. The exception to this were the academies, where schol­ ars continued to debate and give lectures. In more recent times, Ouyang continued, men who had gained know­ ledge and learning in such academies were given civil service appoint­ ments. After this brief history of educational establishments, Ouyang returned to the matter that concerned him most: If in an area of 500 kilometres there is only one professor, then the prefec­ ture will treat [the headmaster] as an outsider, and not consider him part of the staff. When the headmaster is included, there are two [professors] . In our Luling, there are as many as twenty to thirty thousand scholars (shi), and when those who visit, clasping their writing tablets, do not find places at the prefectural school, they go to the academy. But never before has the senior person, teaching students at an academy, been a servant in the imperial service, appointed by the court. 28

From the style of writing, it is clear that Ouyang was satisfied with this new-found respect for the office of the headmaster. But there is a per­ sonal dimension; while Ouyang had given so much of his active life to the running of Bailuzhou Academy, he had never before had the oppor­ tunity of demanding respect from his fellow Luling scholars and from the members of the central government. At the same time, Ouyang Shoudao sought to represent his Bailuzhou Academy as a site for teaching and learning that went well beyond the local. The education provided here contributed, in fact, to the flourish­ ing of the dynasty as a whole: In the three ages of antiquity, there was no contact between the learning in the capital and in the villages, and between the scholars who resided in mountains and grottoes. In later ages, the teaching of [those who secluded themselves] in the mountains was not authorized by the emperor. Only today these two [i.e. state sponsored education and private learning in academies] are combined, and it is because of this that the culture of our Song [dynasty] is most flourishing.

Ouyang suggests here that the Song empire as a whole benefited from the inclusion of headmasters into the central government bureaucracy. What took place at Bailuzhou Academy, both the learning of the stu­ dents and the housing of the headmaster, reflected on the state of edu­ cation in the empire as a whole. In other words, for Ouyang Shoudao, 28

XZU:7, 1 4. 7a-b.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL

lO7

local education was significant, not because it was local, but because it was a significant part of learning in Southern Song China. The com­ munity envisioned here was the wider community of scholars, drawn together by shared ideals and cultural values. The location of the acad­ emy might well have been local, but the meaning Ouyang assigned to this went well beyond the local. Liu Chenweng on Luling educational establishments

Of course Ouyang Shoudao was not only a local man, but a man with wider ambitions. Was he alone in this vision of education in Luling? Ouyang's student, Liu Chenweng, had, as it turns out, rather similar feelings about the educational establishments in Luling, although a more strongly defined sense of local pride also appears in Liu's writings about Bailuzhou Academy. When Jiang Wanli, founder of Bailuzhou Academy, committed sui­ cide to demonstrate his loyalty to the Song, Liu was deeply affected. He decided to spend the remainder of his life locally, supporting himself by teaching and writing. In the last year of Southern Song rule, a shrine was built to commemorate Jiang Wanli, and Liu marked the occasion with an inscription.29 From the first lines of this text, Liu celebrates the influenceJiang Wanli had locally, in 'our prefecture' (wu zhou 1§fjll'I). The founding of the academy, Liu wrote, ensured that Jiang gained wide­ spread admiration inJizhou: 'The gentry considered him virtuous and the clerks and the common people admired him. '30 As Liu saw it, this was Jiang's personal achievement: How could it just be that the learned discussions of the scholars are superior, and the customs of the common people are refined? The cul­ tural achievements of this gentleman [i.e. Jiang Wanli] touched people's hearts, so that he continues to be remembered like this, now that he has passed on.3 1

The achievement may have been personal, but the outcomes were long­ lasting, and through it 'our prefecture' had gained in standing.

Liu Chenweng, 'Luzhou shuyuanJiang wenzhong gong citangji', in Liu Chenweng ji (Nanchang: Jiangxi renmin chubanshe, 1 987), 85-87. 30 BL<:" 5.4b. 31 Ibid. 29

1 08

CHAPTER FIVE

Liu Chenweng made the connection between this academy and Jizhou more explicit than Ouyang Shoudao did in his writings. Accord­ ing to Liu, Ouyang Shoudao began his tenure as headmaster when the area counted no more than ten reputable scholars. In the years that fol­ lowed, however, the fame of the school had reached the capital, more individuals from the area were successful in the examination system, and a number of individuals had gained empire-wide reputations.32 Liu clearly regarded Bailuzhou Academy to be significant, both for the local residents, and for the wider standing of that locality. The academy appeared in Liu Chenweng's vision of the local landscape, but Liu's representation of that landscape was also shaped by an imagined audi­ ence at the capital. We see similar sentiments in Liu's discussions of the county school. Liu Chenweng had passed examinations in the hall of the county school when he was only thirteen, and returned to the hall when he had passed the examinations at the imperial palace a decade later.33 He had no nostalgic feelings for the hall, and in a commemorative text written to celebrate the building of a new hall for the Luling county school, he described his memories of his education there as follows: At that time the hall was so full one could hardly take a single step. Lec­ tures were held here, and people also ate here. Later they borrowed the pavilion of the county registrar, and used his kitchen. The stairs on the left were restricted and inaccessible, and whenever it rained, water poured in which could not be dispersed, and it had been like this for one hundred years. Even in times of flourishing and good government, those responsi­ ble did no planning. All they did was add a few inches to the windows in the tower, so that the wind and rain entered even more!34

The school obviously needed restoration, but due to a lack of funds, this had not yet been carried out. Only when a local magistrate took the initiative, donating his own funds to pay for some of the restoration project, did a fund-raising campaign gain sufficient momentum to pay for the outstanding balance. The restorations were finally completed in the winter of 1 296, the second year of the reign of Khubilai's grandson. Liu was by now nearing the end of his life he died in the first month

32

Ibid. See also Xiao Donghai, 'Ming Wanli zhongxiu Bailuzhou shuyuan kaoshu', ]i'an shizhuan xuebao, 1 6 ( 1 995): 1 6. 33 Zhou Wenying et al., ]iangxi wenhua (Shenyang: Liaoningjiaoyu chubanshe, 1 995), 249-250. 34 Liu Chenwengji, 99.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL

1 09

of 1 297 and the piece he composed to mark the completion of the restorations hinted at his impending demise:35 I am still like the child [I was] standing at the entrance of the hall. The great stele is restored, but I am as loyal and steadfast as before. Indeed, without noticing, I have become older, but I still feel the humility of my first intentions to seek morality. Hence this hall has seen my deep sighs at the outset of my life and those at the end.36

The school building was clearly wrapped up in Liu Chenweng's per­ sonal reflections. This school was where Liu marked the most significant occasions in his life as a scholar. The school was, however, not merely a physical manifestation of Liu's recollections of a life as a local scholar. Liu saw such educational estab­ lishments as located 'at the heart of the heart-and-mind of heaven and earth' (xuexiaoyou wei tian di xin zhi xinye �;f1:sz.1.0*tm{};;��> L\i:h). Schools were political, as well as personal, spaces: Han [Yu] and Ou [yang Xiu] once managed to bring peace to the age by revering disputations and eradicating evil. Thus before Guan and Luo [i.e. the four main thinkers of lixue] and outside Yang and Mo [i.e. outside of the Confucian tradition] , they established the meritorious tradition of schools (xue xiao gong ::;ong �:f3i:Jj]*). This is what is called 'establishing the heart-and-mind of heaven and earth' (tian di Ii xin *tih:v>L\). Neither the common man nor the extraordinary person are worthy of being called 'the heart-and-mind of heaven and earth'. It is extremely rare that schools flourish while the examination system is in a state of decline, and when educational establishments flourish, human talent emerges. Thus it is schools that are the heart of the heart-and-mind of heaven and earth.37

So Liu Chenweng placed a heavy emphasis on educational establish­ ments. For Liu, schools were manifestations of the most basic of Con­ fucian principles. Echoing Mencius, Liu made a strong argument for valuing education over laws and punishments: If you seek out and punish those who are not in hiding, then those who are implicated all become like [ Zhang] Yi and [Su] Qjn; those who read legal books all become like [Shang] Yang and [ Li ] Si; the enfeoffed gentlemen, lords, and kings will all become like the five hegemons.38 Even though

Liu Zongbin, comp., Liu Chenweng nianpu, in Wu Hongze, ed., Songren nianpu (Chengdu: Sichuan daxue chubanshe, 2003), 7959-7984. 36 Liu Chenwengji, 1 00. 3 7 Ibid. 38 Zhang Yi 5.1Hi and Su Qjn �*' were evil political strategists of the Warring States. Shang Yang Jm� and Ii Si *wr reputedly caused the end of the Zhou. 35

1 10

CHAPTER FIVE

merit and the name of the law are both spread in conjunction across the realm, there will be very few ordinary people who do not behave as monsters.39

The morals of the age were established and cultivated in schools, and thus the value of institutions such as the county school in Luling was in no sense limited to the local but reached the entire realm. Clearly, both Ouyang Shoudao and Liu Chenweng greatly valued the educational establishments of Luling. During the second half of the thirteenth century, the Luling that had started as a place with only a few scholars had acquired an academy known throughout the realm, with more students and scholars than could be accommodated. This acad­ emy had firmly put Luling on the Southern Song map, in part because of its famous founder and in part because of its renowned students. Liu Chenweng was most explicit about the value of the academy for the locality, declaring that 'our prefecture' had gained much from it. Local educational establishments were sites where local pride and regional identity could be explored and enhanced. These writings by Liu Chen­ weng and Ouyang Shoudao, however, reveal a stronger interest in the empire-wide resonances of educational institutions than did their writ­ ings about temples. In writing about the wider importance of the learning that took place locally, they imagined an audience that went well beyond the region. They both emphasized the benefit to moral values and cul­ tural enrichment that these institutions brought to the realm as a whole. Bailuzhou in the fourteenth century

Bailuzhou Academy passed through some turbulent years during the fourteenth century, when the academy was partly destroyed by fighting in the area. The river that flowed around the islet on both sides was responsible for further damage; as one local observer noted, in 1 354 a great wave swept away most of the main hall, leaving standing only the statues of the sages.40 A man named Zhongxian ,�J6i, governor of the

39 Liu Chenwengji, 1 00. 40 Wu Shiyin, 'Zhongxiu Bailuzhou shuyuan ji', in BLZ, 5.7a-ga. The author, Wu Shiyin ( 1 303-1 366), was from Yongxin county in Ji'an. He became a jinshi in 1 348, after which he became county vice-magistrate in neighbouring Yongfeng county. In 1 354 the Luling government was added to his duties, and he was summoned as clerk to serve in the Jiangxi provincial government.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL

III

prefecture, took on the responsibility for the necessary restorations.41 The project cost a total of 50,000 strings of cash, which, according to the same observer, were paid for not from the local governmental cof­ fers, but by local dignitaries.42 When the restorations were complete, Zhongxian's efforts were honoured with an inscription, stating: Without the Master [i.e. Confucius] , there would be no teachings to pass on to the next generation. Without Jiang Wanli, there would not be a building on such a vast scale as there is on this islet, and without Zhong­ xian, we would not have the means to celebrate this academy as some­ thing that never disappears from the realmY

With this statement, the significance of all these connections was made explicit. The teachings of Confucius were the first and foremost ele­ ment, but without the academy that Jiang Wanli had founded here, those teachings would not be passed on. In its turn, the academy con­ tinued to be significant only through these recent restorations. Through this inscription, a complex meaning was assigned to the academy, and that meaning was not particularly local. Rather, the acad­ emy was set in an empire-wide landscape, and given meaning within that far wider context. In a time of social unrest and physical devastation caused by the political collapse of the Yuan government, Zhongxian focused on the restoration of this academy as a way of re-establishing order. The order he sought to re-establish was not merely about the local but about balance and well-being in the realm. Writing about local education, in other words, was a way of speaking about what mattered throughout the empire, and a way of connecting with wider, shared trends, rather than creating a separate, local identity. Set alongside local institutions such as schools, academies and genealogical compilations, temples seem very different. Writing about temples in Jizhou regardless of the type or size of the institution­ offered literati fromJizhou something they could not achieve elsewhere: an exclusive relationship that allowed them to manipulate the terms on which that relationship was built. Writing about temples allowed the literati from Jizhou to shape the landscape, and give meaning to 41

The administrator referred to as Zhongxian by Wu Shiyin served as daruhachi in Ji'an prefecture. TheJi'an administrative records for the Yuan are incomplete, however, and no precise dates can be � ven for his period of service. His Mongol name is given either as Ni-ya-si-la-ding �mMj:iZ liiI or as Nei-su-er-ding *Pl�5lT. 42 BLZ, 5 .8a. 43 BL.:?" 5.8b.

1 12

CHAPTER FIVE

the spaces they inhabited. Schools also mattered, and writing about genealogical compilations was beginning to matter more, but the local temples, shrines, and abbeys ofJizhou mattered far more. Local temples allowed literati to belong locally, and to determine the meaning that belonging would take.

CHAPTER SIX

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING: THE CENTRAL VIEW In the late fourteenth century, Hanlin Compiler Xie Duan fmm, a Luling man, wrote an inscription for Longyin Abbey fl�ptn in Longquan county. The monastery dated back to the Tang dynasty, and underwent extensive renovations at the end of the Southern Song dynasty. It was extended again in the early fourteenth century, but fighting at the end of the Yuan dynasty reduced the buildings to ruins. Then, in the early Ming, a Daoist master named Li Juchen * !is-� started to clear the rubble to begin restorations once again. In the gengsu year of Hongwu [i.e. 1 370] an edict ordered all counties to establish an official office [to manage] Daoist affairs. Juchen was the first to take on this task. When Juchen passed away, his pupil Xiao Zhen Jlft (z;iJiuhe nfQ) continued what had been the ambition of his teacher. He managed to let some of the land (just less than an acre) and collect the grain tax (42 picul and six peck). With his pupil Xiao Ruyi JI�Q­ he planned to extend the original foundations. The people of the area were all pleased and admired him. [The master and his pupil] then gathered workers, moved the materials, enlarged the old buildings, and prepared new plans. In the end they had a [separate] room for eating, and a system [to manage] the granary. . . . When the wind touches the jade disks, the tingling [sound] is truly from another world. The high and dry location of the place has been used well, and complements the natural scenic beauty. The building work started in the autumn of 1 390, and finished in the winter of the next year. I

So far so good. A monastery was restored, and a local dignitary wrote a text to commemorate the event. We have seen many such inscrip­ tions before, and yet there is something strikingly different about this text. It continued: Mr. Cai Vue �it informed me of all the details, and then asked me for an inscription. I had long ago been told of a monastery in Longquan called Longyin, but I had never been there. Only after I wrote his entire story down did I know of the beginnings of the monastery, that there

1

Xie Duan, 'Zhongxiu Longyin guan ji', Longquan xianzhi (1873), 1 6.34a-b.

1 14

CHAPTER SIX

was a monk named Heshan 1E� ill who continued the work, that Yifeng tIJt and Yixian M restored the building, that [ Li] Juchen had written a history, and that he had [pupils called] Jiuhe and Ruyi.2 �

�

Xie Duan had heard of the monastery, but knew nothing about it until he was approached by Cai Yue. He had never visited the place, and never met any of the people involved. He was not exactly uninterested in the monastery, yet the text does not suggest any direct involvement either. His contribution, requested from Xie Duan, the high government official, by a local figure about whom we know nothing, was offered from a distant perspective. I would argue that this brief passage reveals several changes that took place during the early Ming dynasty in what was from then onwards known asJi'an prefecture (see Map 5). The most important change was thatJi'an men were called to serve at the capital. They hailed from all counties of Ji'an, entered government service in large numbers, and served the early Ming emperors, some as very close advisers indeed. The success of Ji'an men in central government service, I suggest, changed literati attitudes to the local community. For them, the appeal of the locality, and of such local institutions as temples and monaster­ ies, changed. As I have argued, Southern Song and Yuan literati from Jizhou wrote about local temples to make their mark in local society. They positioned themselves within the local communities that took such sacred sites as their centres, and sought to shape those communities. Early MingJi'an men distanced themselves from the local, and turned their gaze to the capital. Their connections at the capital mattered more to them than their local communities at home. For those who stayed behind, the central government, and the Ji'an men who served there, also mattered in a different way than they did during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties. Association with the central government conveyed status and prestige. If local men wanted to enhance the prestige of a Ji'an temple, they turned to their fellow Ji'an men at the capital, who then offered their inscriptions from a distance. Men like Xie Duan wrote inscriptions for establishments they had never visited, like in this inscription for Longyin, and sometimes not even heard of before they were approached. John Dardess, in his study of Taihe county during the Ming dynasty, has a slightly different perspective on this period of outstanding success 2

Xie Duan, 'Zhongxiu Longyin guan ji', Longquan xianzhi ( 1 873), 1 6.34b.

1

"

•

�

I

-

-

­

-

,

,

- .... ...

-

-

- '"

r

. \

-

...

�

-

-

...

- - I

-

'

"'

,

-

,

,

"

-

,

,

,

"

-::;: "'"

...

,

•

"

"'

,

- �

-

I

-

I

r

Wan'an xian ,, -

-

I

.

· . L onQ.quan xlan

,

1

-

\

I

'

.... ...

-

,

,

,

-

- ...

,

1 -

•

1

,

­

...

, ,

, .... ,

\,

,

,

-

,

Yongning xian

1 ...

\ ...

\

Taihe xian.

•

1

,

... '

' -

--

-

,

, -

,

I

'

-

GanR.

Yongxin xian

,

...

Luling xian

•

I I

... _

Jishui xian . ;'<;:;:"'1

,

\

\

•

1

1

�

Yongfeng xian ,.

, l,

1

,

•

I J J

... .... .... '1

Anfu xian

I

,

, ,

,

...

, J

,

,,

"

I

...

, .....

,

- - -

,

-

-

-

I

-

"

,

-

1

,

...

.... ...

,

( 1

'" -

\

.

1

I

I

.:

\

-

"

-

'

r

I

,

J

\

,

\

r o (') � , ,

,

[;;

U>

Z

" 1 "

-

;;: z

-

,

I

,

;;: "t:I

...

\

� t;l

o

1

J '

....

..... ....

I

N

I

50km

I

,

Map 5. Counties in MingJi'an prefecture. Map based on China Historical GIS, Version 3.0 (April 2005)

...... ......

(Jl

1 16

CHAPTER SIX

for men from this area. Dardess suggests that during the Song, local pride and identity was focused largely on the prefecture as a whole, something I have seen confirmed time and again in the sources.3 Song and Yuan literati referred to themselves as men 'fromJi', or men 'from Luling', without specifying in which county in Jizhou they were born. Dardess, whose study focuses on Taihe, suggests that: Somehow, between the end of the Sung and the forming of the Ming in 1 368, Chi'an prefecture broke apart in all respects save for its administra­ tive function in the apparatus of the imperial state.4

Around the middle of the fourteenth century, he argues, literati authors begin to refer to themselves as 'men from Taihe', which he takes as his starting point for his study of Taihe. Having looked at a longer span of time, and a broader geographical unit, I have found little evidence of this 'break-up' of Ji'an identity in the Ming. I agree that men from the same county, whether from Taihe or from any of the other Ming counties, often pointed out this shared connection. At the same time, however, the prominent literati from early Ming Ji'an who served at court, and whose temple inscriptions we will be reading in this chapter, offered their texts, and thereby their patronage, to men from all over Ji'an. Without denying the existence of a shared county pride, espe­ cially among the extraordinarily successful and powerful Taihe clique, Ji'an also mattered as a focal point for a shared prefectural identity, especially for men from, say, Yongfeng, or Wan'an. Their counties may have been less prominent, but they certainly made sure their readers knew they belonged to the same prefecture that had produced men like Yang Shiqi and Liang Qj.an �M. There is another difference between my arguments here, and those of John Dardess. Dardess chronicles a process of change that begins, in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, with a strong col­ lective identity, manifest in expressions of local pride, appreciations of the local landscape, and celebrations of local connections through friendships and marriages.5 This flourishing Taihe then begins to lose its appeal, in Dardess' masterly analysis, during the course of the fifteenth century. 'The sixteenth-century residents', he writes, 'seem not to have

John Dardess, A Ming Society: T'ai-ho County, Kiangsi, in the Fourteenth to Seventeenth Centuries (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 996), 3. 4 Ibid. 5 Dardess, A Ming Society, 2. 3

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 17

cared about it one way or the other.'6 Reading temple inscriptions from the entire prefecture reveals, as Dardess suggests, significant changes over the course of the fifteenth century. There is no doubt that the counties of Ji'an were deeply affected by the political changes of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, and that those changes are manifest in writings produced by local men. I understand those changes, however, in a slightly different way, although these two views are by no means mutually exclusive. While Dardess places the emphasis on the existence of a strong collective identity in early Ming Taihe, which gradually disappears over time, I am struck mostly by changes in the location of that local pride. During the early Ming, the men from Ji'an constantly drew attention to their location at the capital, and to their distance from the local. A local pride did indeed exist, but in the early Ming, that pride was located not in Taihe itself or any other Ji'an county or in Ji'an prefecture as a whole, but far away at the capital. The emphasis on location at the capital emerges most clearly when we compare Southern Song and Yuan expressions of local pride and Ji'an identity, which were firmly located inJizhou. From the middle of the Ming onwards, the sense of pride and identity altered significantly: it moved from the capital back to the locality, and rather than viewing the local from the centre, the local was once again viewed from the locality. In what follows I will briefly sketch the political changes of the early Ming, and the dramatic changes in the political fortunes of men from Ji'an, before turning to the temple inscriptions of the early Ming to illustrate the point that Ji'an literati were no longer envisioning local communities to which they sought to belong. They distanced themselves from the local, cementing instead their contacts at the capital. Political change and social tranifOrmation in ear!J Ming ]i'an

There can be little doubt that the fourteenth century was a hugely disruptive period inJi'an. When the Yuan government began to disin­ tegrate in the first half of the fourteenth century, Jiangxi was one of the areas where peasant revolts erupted, and in the battles over ter­ ritorial control in the middle of the century, Jiangxi was the scene of heavy fighting. In 1 352, the Red Turban armies of Liu Futong IU :fMJm 6

Ibid.

'.

1 18

CHAPTER SIX

attacked Jiangxi and established control over Ji'an, only to lead to further uprisings and revolts in the decade that followed. Brutal fight­ ing ensued, causing widespread death and destruction.7 The area first became the stronghold of the rebel general Chen Youliang 1I*:&tf,� in 1 360, and then, after the naval battle on Lake Poyang in 1 363, fell in the hands of a rival Yuan rebel by the name of Zhu Yuanzhang. As Edward Dreyer has shown, the Poyang battle was a decisive moment in Zhu Yuanzhang's campaign for the unification under his control, which followed in 1 368.8 Much has been said about the various social transformations that took place under the regime of Zhu Yuanzhang. His emphasis on the agricultural foundations of the empire is well documented, as is his attempt to impose the state cult on all levels of the population.9 To achieve this, the emperor issued a series of edicts. From the first year of his reign ( 1 368), a system of worship at the altars for soil and grain (Shf!ji tan t±�:l:l!) was instituted throughout the empire. Each prefecture, sub-prefecture, and county was to build an altar for soil and grain to the north-west of the city walls; worship at the altar for soil and grain became a legal obligation for every tax-paying adult man at his appropriate level in the realm and would henceforth be one of the most important elements of the state cult.IO To understand local practices, Zhu Yuanzhang sent his officials into the countryside to take note of all efficacious gods, terrestrial deities, and worthies that regularly received worship. Deities deemed worthy were entered in the Sacrificial Statutes (Sidian t8�), and were to receive worship on a regular basis.1 1 7

For general descriptions of the traumatic events of the fall of the Yuan dynasty and the establishment of the Ming, see F.w. Mote, Imperial China, 900-1800 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1 999), 5 1 7-548; Edward Dreyer, Early Ming China: A Political History 1355-1435 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 982), 1 2-64. 8 Dreyer, Early Ming China, 49-52. 9 On the agricultural base of, for example, the Ming fiscal administration, see Ray Huang, 'The Ming Fiscal Administration', in Twitchett and Mote, eds., Cambridge History qf China, vol. 8, especially 1 06-1 1 2. On Zhu's imposition of the state cult, see, for example, Romeyn Taylor, 'Official Religion in the Ming', in Twitchett and Mote, eds., Cambridge History qf China, vol. 8, 840-892. See also Romeyn Taylor, 'Official and Popular Religion and the Political Organization of Chinese Society in the Ming', in Kwang-ching Liu, ed., Orthodoxy in Late Imperial China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 990), 1 2 6-1 57. For an insightful review of Zhu Yuanzhang's policies and their revisions, see Sarah Schneewind, 'Visions and Revisions: Village Policies of the Ming Founder in Seven Phases', T'oung PaD 87 (200 I): 3 1 7-359. 10 Long Wenbin, ed., Ming huiyao ( 1 887, reprint, Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1 956), 1 1 7. 1 1 Ming Tai::;u shilu ( 1 4 1 8, reprint, Taibei: Academia Sinica, 1 962), 35.3b; Yu Ruji,

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 19

Following this edict, local officials were no longer permitted to perform the worship of deities not entered in the Sacrificial Statutes, regardless of their local following. 1 2 Over the following years, further edicts were issued, instructing each locality to standardize worship so that it would conform to the state cult. 1 3 The rituals included worship of the celestial deities of wind, clouds, thunder, and rain; and of terrestrial deities such as the gods of mountains and streams, of soil and grain, of walls and moats, and hungry ghosts. For each of these rituals, the dates and times of the worship, the size and shape of the buildings, the procedures during the ritual, the sacrificial texts, and the preparation of the sacrifice were determined in minute detail. I4 Recent research has tended to stress the constantly changing nature of Zhu Yuanzhang's policies, and questioned the lasting effect of his regime. 15 Even if the Hongwu reign-period ( 1 368-1 398) was not the beginning of an entirely new social structure, the evidence from Ji'an suggests that his policies had a significant impact at the local level. Throughout the prefecture, or so the gazetteer records would have us believe, new temples were built, shrines were erected and monasteries were restored. Rebuilding ]i'an's shrines and temples

During the first decades of Ming rule,Ji'an county magistrates initiated a vast program of temple building and rebuilding. Much of their effort focused on the establishment of proper shrines for the state cult, and

comp., Libu zhigao ( 1 620, reprint, Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-6), 30. 1 5a-b; Shen Shixing, comp., Da Ming huidian ( 1 587, reprint, Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86), 86. 1 1 b. 12 Long, ed., Ming huiyao, 1 80. 13 This worship was to include worship of 'sagely emperors, enlightened kings, loyal officials, and martyred scholars entered in the Sacrificial Statutes and not located at an improper (yin) shrine'. Yu, Libu zhigao, 30. 1 6a. 14 See, for example, Yu, Libu zhigao, 30. 1 7a-30a. 1 5 The work of Edward Farmer explored various aspects of Zhu Yuanzhang's new social and economic policies. The overall argument of his work is that Zhu Yuanzhang constructed a 'new' China by imposing and legislating a new order. See, first and fore­ most, his Zhu Yuanzhang and early Ming Legislation: The Reordering qf Chinese Society Following the Era qf Mongol Rule (Leiden, EJ. Brill: 1 995). The amount of revision to policies issued during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign transpires from Schneewind, 'Visions and Revi­ sions'. For an overall discussion of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, see the studies included in Sarah Schneewind, ed., Long Live the Emperor! Uses qf the Ming Founder Across Six Centuries qf East Asian History (Society for Ming Studies, forthcoming).

1 20

CHAPTER SIX

we see evidence of these activities throughout the prefecture.16 Buddhist and Daoist temples also came under the control of the central state, and Zhu Yuanzhang issued a constant stream of edicts relating to all aspects of Buddhist and Daoist monastic life. 1 7 Though his policies were not consistent, his overall intention was to restrict the social influence and freedom of Buddhist and Daoist institutions.18 Many of his new regulations were hopelessly unrealistic; in 1 392, for example, he ordered the Buddhist registry offices to start keeping detailed records 'that give full knowledge' (zhouzhice JWJ�Offfr) and to distribute them throughout the realm.19 They were to contain the relevant details of each monk, including the date of his ordination and the serial number of his licence. While it is easy to dismiss such orders as impossible to implement, the evidence from Ji'an suggests that Zhu Yuanzhang's orders did filter down to the county level, where local governors and well as members of the local clerical elite were clearly aware of their existence. Local gazetteers contain records of the various altars for the state cult, lists of temples for local deities, and lists of Buddhist and Daoist temples and monasteries. They provide, as shown earlier, a highly unreli­ able record for the actual number of temples that existed. Many more such buildings will have gone unrecorded, and the record that does exist will always be slanted towards the interests of the elite readership of In Jishui, for example, Magistrate Li Hengfu *mffi began rebuilding the altars and shrines for the state cult as soon as he arrived in 1 373. An altar for hungry ghosts was built in the county capital, and the altars for soil and grain and for terrestrial and celestial forces were relocated closer to the county capital. Jishui xianzhi ( 1 875),juan 1 2. In Anfu, the altars for soil and grain as well as the altars for celestial and terrestrial forces were rebuilt at a new location. ArifU xianzhi (1 872),juan 3. In Wan'an, the magis­ trate had a similar set of government-sponsored altars built. Wan'an xianzhi (1 873),juan 7 . In Luling, Longquan, Yongfeng, and Yongning the same government temples were built, all in the early years of Hongwu's reign. JAFZ ( 1 875), juan 8-10. 1 7 For a more detailed discussion of the early Ming policies with regard to local reli­ gious practices and organization, see Anne Gerritsen, 'The Hongwu Legacy: Fifteenth­ century Views on Zhu Yuanzhang's Monastic Policies', in Schneewind, ed., Long Live the Emperor! Uses of the Ming Founder Across Six Centuries of East Asian History. 1 8 Chiin-fang Yii suggests that those aspects of Buddhism that could be com­ bined with Confucian values-in particular tantric rituals-were tolerated (through the favouring of 'doctrinal', or 'sutra instruction' (jiang) , temples), but that all other aspects, in particular meditation and the study of the sutras was in so far as possible confined to the temples. There they were to remain isolated and separated from the lay population. See Chiin-fang Vii, 'Ming Buddhism', in Twitchett and Mote, eds., Cambridge History of China, vol. 8, especially 904-909. See also Chiin-fang Vii, The Renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming Synthesis (New York: Columbia University Press, 1 981). 19 Long, Ming huiyao, 695. 16

·

._

-

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

.

- --

121

such gazetteers. All we can be sure of is the picture compilers wished to convey to that readership. We saw earlier that for the Southern Song, we have records of about 85 temples, 23 of which we only know by name. We know that the other 62 Southern Song temples were either built or restored during the 1 47 years between 1 1 2 7 and 1 274. By contrast, we have records for about 260 temples in the early to middle Ming (the 1 32 years between 1 368 and 1 500), and of those 260 there are only eight for which we know only the name. The record would have us believe that sixteen of those 260 were restored immediately in the first year of Ming rule in 1 368, a further sixteen in 1369, and 25 in 1 370. A staggering 227 temples and shrines were restored during the Hongwu, Jianwen ( 1 399-1402) and Yongle (1 403-1 424) reign-periods in Ji'an prefecture. Of course these figures tell us very little. For the vast majority of records, the entry in the prefectural or county gazetteer reads some­ thing like this: 'Fushou Temple. Located in the 35th township. Built in 1 163 and restored in the tenth year of Hongwu ( 1 3 7 7) by the monk Guangtong.'20 It tells us nothing about the kind of place it was in 1 1 63, nor about what happened in the almost two hundred years between foundation and restoration, or about the extent of the restorations of 1 377. Where temple inscriptions themselves have been included in the gazetteers, we can glean further information about the actual processes involved, as we see in this example: When our illustrious Ming began, a start was made on [the restoration of] the multitude of destroyed [temples] . Zhu Ximing *J� fJJ3 , pupil of [previous Daoist master Zhang] Tianquan ,*:7(�, could not bear the destruction of the abbey his teacher had worked so hard for. So he enlisted Luling's Chen Yunwen Il*ft::z and others to donate money and manpower. In thejiazi year of Hongwu [i.e. 1 384] they made plans from the entrance gates down to the corridors. Throughout the sacred buildings, they changed what was rotten and preserved what could be maintained. They worked towards it as if it was a long-term plan, but they finished it unexpectedly fast.2 1

We learn a bit more here: leadership came from a Daoist master, who took on this restoration project in part out of loyalty to his master, sug­ gesting the site was actively used until its destruction. The reference to Chen Yunwen, now meaningless because he cannot be traced, suggests 20 21

JAFZ (1 875), 1 0.2 1a. Liu Dunxin, 'Qinghua guan ji', Luling xianzhi ( 1 873), 45.35b-36a.

122

CHAPTER SIX

members of the local community became involved. And finally, it was completed more quickly than had been expected. More commonly, however, it took much longer than expected to complete the restoration of an entire temple, as we see in this example: From the spring of 1 439, it took seventeen years to the winter of 1 455 to announce its completion. [The Daoist master Wu] Huanfei did not make use of any outside help. He just limited his many expenses, imposed strict rules on [materials] that were left over, and first and foremost relied on his own money, doing the work in the proper order, never using too many people for a small job. Therefore it was difficult to get to the end, and it took a long time.22

These temple restorations were complex processes that required fund­ ing, labour, and the skilful management of resources the purchasing of materials and assigning of manpower to small jobs was clearly as much a challenge in the fifteenth century as today. The compilers of local gazetteers nevertheless assumed that their readers could conceive of a prefecture where as many as 227 temples and shrines were restored within the space of just over fifty years. What is more, they could conceive of this in a prefecture that had been the site of extensive fighting in the decades before 1368, and had suffered a traumatic time during the civil war surrounding the debacle of Yongle's usurpation. The nineteenth-century compilers of gazetteers, especially those who compiled the Luling, Yongfeng and Longquan gazetteers, are rarely explicit about the textual and epigraphic sources they had used to compile the sections on temples and monasteries, but they will have had access to the earlier editions of theJi'an prefectural and county gazetteers, no longer extant.23 However they gained their information, the compilers present us with a record of far-reaching change throughoutJi'an. Political disruption and local warfare had led to the destruction of much of the sacred landscape. Many of the sites in the landscape that had attracted the attention of Jizhou literati like Ouyang Shoudao, Liu Chenweng and others had been left in ruins. A new emperor was in place, and orders were being issued for a rebuild­ ing on a grand scale. The landscape that was shaped by the traces of institutional, communal and individual histories was being thoroughly remodelled. Ji' an was not the same place that Jizhou had been. 22 Xiao Weizhen, 'Huixian guan ji', Luling xianzhi ( 1 873), 45.41a. 23 Peter Bol discusses the importance of looking at earlier sources included in local

gazetteers in Bol, 'The Rise of Local History', especially 44-54.

, •

i

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 23

]i 'an men and the central government

The thorough programme of rebuilding that took place throughout Ji'an prefecture during the early decades of the Ming dynasty was not the only significant change. These changes in the landscape went hand in hand with another change with far-reaching consequences. The literati in Ji'an were no longer mostly local men, but part of the highest echelons of the political elite. Before we discuss the changes in the inscriptions they wrote, we need to take stock of the transforma­ tion of the Ji'an elite. As John Dardess has demonstrated for Taihe, men entered the civil service in great numbers during the early Ming, and occupied crucial positions in the central government until the middle of the fifteenth century.24 The figures for examination success in Ming Ji'an are truly staggering.25 Over one thousand Ming jinshi hailed fromJi'an, more than from anywhere else, and the vast majority of those jinshi degrees were obtained during the first century of Ming rule. By 1 464, Ji'an had already produced 449jinshi degree holders, as opposed to 248 from Fuzhou and 1 46 from Suzhou.26 A closer look at these early generations of successful men will highlightJi'an's unusual accomplishments. The first cohort: Ji'an men serving Zhu Yuanzhang

The first cohort of men who advanced to high positions under Zhu Yuanzhang's rule was largely made up of men from Taihe. Among them were men like Chen Mo [)t� (1 305-ca. 1 389), who spent most of his life under Yuan rule, working as a tutor in Taihe, but advanced to a post at the capital after Zhu Yuanzhang came to the throne. His nephew, Yang Shiqi, would later make a much greater impression on the historical records, but Chen Mo is significant as one of the first Taihe 24

Dardess writes: 'In the first half of the fifteenth century, T'ai-ho men entered Ming government in extraordinary numbers. From 1 403 to 1 457, more than 453 of them, or about ten men every year, entered bureaucracy through one or another of the available channels.' See Dardess, A Ming Society, 1 74. . , 25 The table in the appendix illustrates the success rates of jinshi candidates from JI an. 26 Ho, The Ladder qf Success, 247-8. The years 1 400 and 1 404 were outstandingly successful for Ji'an: the three highest ranked candidates in both years all hailed from Ji'an. No other prefecture ever managed to do as well as this. See also Li Tianbai, Jiangxi zhuangyuan pu (Nanchang: Jiangxi jiaoyu chubanshe, 1 997) and Liu, Ji'an gudai mingren zhuan.

1 24

CHAPTER SIX

men to serve the Ming. He was a friend of the poet and official Liu Song IU* (132 1�138 1), a fellow Taihe man, who, like himself, grew up under Yuan rule, and went on to hold several posts in the central government under Zhu Yuanzhang.27 Chen Mo, older than Liu Song, survived Liu Song by eight years, and dedicated several writings to his friend.28 Xie Jin ( 1 369� 1 4 1 5), a precocious youngster from Jishui who passed thejinshi exam in 1 387 before he turned twenty, also served Zhu Yuanzhang, but made himself so unpopular with his frank criticisms of the emperor that he was sent back to Jishui in 1 390, where he remained until Zhu Yuanzhang's death.29 TheJi'an men Lan Zizhen (1 334�1 386) and Chen Cheng ( 1 365�1 458) also served at Zhu Yuanzhang's court. Lan, of the she minority, served only briefly in the 1 380s until his premature death in 1 386, but Chen, a jinshi of 1 394, went on to serve Yongle as ambassador, and wrote an impressive travelogue after his journey to Inner Asia in l 4 1 4� 1 4 l 5. He retired in 1 425, and spent the remaining thirty years of his life at home in Jishui. 30 Zhu Yuanzhang, thus, had a significant group of Ji'an men at his court. And it was not only the first Ming emperor who drew heavily on men from Ji'an: the Jianwen emperor, who ruled from 1 398 to 1402, chose a Jiangxi man as one of his three closest advisers.31 ]iJan men serving Zhu Di

The real brain-drain from Ji'an, however, occurred during the reign of Zhu Di **it, known as the Yongle emperor (r. 1 403�1 424). Liang Qjan �M ( 1 366� 1 4 1 8) and Yang Shiqi (1 365�1 444), both from Taihe, were part of this cohort. Liang Qjan, a provincial graduate from Taihe, started out with a series of posts in local government. In the first year of

27

See Dardess, A Ming Society, 1 74. On Liu Song, see also Rao Longsun, 'Liu Song yu Xijiang pai', Xinan shifon daxue xuebao ( 1 997): 99- 1 04. 2B Chen Mo, Haisangji, juan 9. 29 For his biography, see DMB, 554-558. 30 DMB, 144- 1 45. 31 TheJianwen emperor'sJiangxi adviser, Huang Zicheng ( 1 3 50-1 402), hailed from Fenyi, just north of the Ji'an prefectural border in Yuanzhou. See Dreyer, Early Ming China, 1 58. The five Yongle grand secretaries fromJiangxi were XieJin, Hu Guang,Jin Youzi, Hu Van, and Yang Shiqi. Only Hu Van andJin Youzi did not hail from Ji'an. See Dardess, A Ming Society, 96-7. See also Henry Tsai, Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 200 1), 1 09- 10.

I

I

1

I

j

II

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 25

Yongle's reign, he was invited to come to the capital to take part in the editing of the Veritable Records of Taizu. He later served as director general of the Yongle encyclopaedia, and was chief examiner at the capital in 1415. Liang Qj.an then held an appointment in the secretariat of the heir-apparent. While the Yongle emperor campaigned in the north, Liang Qj.an was among those responsible for the behaviour of the heir-apparent. This responsibility would cost him dear; he and several other high officials were executed in 1 4 1 8 after the alleged misbehaviour of the heir-apparent came to the attention of the emperor.32 Liang Qj.an and his close contemporary, Yang Shiqi, were among the Taihe men who shaped and directed much of the Ming government during the first half of the fifteenth century.33 Yang was summoned to Nanjing in 1 398. Under Yongle he rose to the post of grand secretary, one of the founding members of what would become known as the Grand Secretariat (neige I*J fil). As Dardess has shown, Yang Shiqi's patronage, extended to fellow Taihe men while he was serving as grand secretary, meant that 'the grip of a handful of men from one county in China on the controlling levers of Ming government was quite extraor­ dinary.'34 Under Yang's tutelage, Taihe men like Minister of Personnel Wang Zhi .I:.1i ( 1 379- 1462), Xiao Zi If� (d. 1 464) and Chen Xun �11 (1 385-1 462) all rose to prominent positions. According to Peter Ditmanson, however, it was not only Taihe men who enjoyed Yang's friendship. Among the hundreds of biographies and grave inscriptions composed by Yang, only a minority were written for Taihe men.35 Yang Shiqi and Liang Qj.an were called to serve at the capital on the basis of their literary reputations, and never passed the palace examina­ tions. Shordy after their arrival, however, Ji'an men began to pass the examinations at the highest levels, and in great numbers. Between 1 397 and 1 493, Ji'an men passed the triennial palace examinations ranked first, second or third in over half of the examination years, and in both 3'

Dardess writes, 'On August 27, 1 4 1 8, Liang Ch'ien was placed under arrest, charged with having failed to warn the heir apparent not to pardon a military officer--whom the heir apparent had just convicted and sentenced to exile.' Liang was executed on 1 6 October, 1 4 1 8. Dardess, A Ming Society, 1 85. 33 For Yang Shiqi's biography, see DMB, 1 535-1 538. For a further study of Yang Shiqi's career, see Yang Zhihua, 'Shilun Yang Shiqi dui Mingchu shehui zhengzhi de gongxian', Jiangxi shifon daxue xuebao 3 1 .4 ( 1 998): 65-69. 34 Dardess, A Ming Society, 1 44. 3S Peter Ditmanson, 'Intellectual Lineages and the Early Ming Court', in Papers on Chinese History 5 (1 996): 6.

1 26

CHAPTER SIX

1 400 and 1 404, the first three places all went to Ji'an men.36 When the Yongle emperor chose his grand secretaries in 1402, three of the seven were men from Ji'an, and one hailed from just across the Ji'an border in Yuanzhou. Apart from Yang Shiqi from Taihe and Xie Jin from Jishui, they were Hu Guang !)HI (1 370- 1 4 1 8), also from Jishui, andJin Youzi �i;i:JJj( (1 368-1432) from Xiajiang.37 A fifthJiangxi man, Hu Van !)HI ( 1 36 1-1443), was born in Nanchang. The Ji'an connection formed a powerful bond amongst these men. Hu Guang, for example, was born in Jishui in 1 370. In the year he was born, Hu's father Hu Shouchang Mw � ( 1 333- 1 378) began serving Zhu Yuanzhang in various provincial postings. At the time of his father's early death, Hu Guang was only eight years old. Brought up by his mother and his paternal grand-uncle, he worked extremely hard, and repaid their faith in him by being ranked first among the metropolitan graduates in the examinations of 1 400. Wang Gen 3:. Pt (1 368- 1 40 1), two years his senior and also from Jishui, was ranked second, and Li Guan ::$=:1:, from Luling, was ranked third. Despite Hu Guang's association with Jianwen, who had ranked him first in these exams, Hu Guang was selected by the Yongle emperor to serve as his grand secretary, where he worked closely with another of the Ji'an grand secretaries: Xie Jin. Xie Jin, who had passed the exam at a much younger age, and had gained more experience in the central government, served as his senior grand secretary. XieJin felt a responsibility for the success of his fellow Ji'an men at court, and began to encourage men from allJi'an counties to aim for examination success. It was a responsibility that extended to the lesser-known parts of the prefecture; when men from Yongxin county had only limited examination success between 1 368 and 1400 only one man from Yongxin had passed, two from Yongxin passed in 1402, and a further two in 1 404 Xie wrote: When I look at the nine counties [of Ji'an] , its scenery is magnificent, and outstanding people are born there. It must surely be possible for them [all] to enjoy wealth and success. [ . . .] It is a question of people's ambition. When a tablet was erected in the school [in Yongxin] to display the names of the successful jinshi candidates, I wrote an inscription to

36 Iiu, Ji'an gudai mingren zhuan, 3 1 0-3 1 4. 37 Jin Youzi hailed from Xiajiang, just north of the Anfu border. His collected writ­ ings hardly mention his hometown, and only refer to Anfu. See Jin Youzi, Jin Wenjing ji, juan 7 and juan 9.

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

127

encourage the gentlemen from Yongxin to strive for further success in the examinations. I know that this must start with the schools.38

XieJin himself hailed fromJishui, where more candidates passed than in any other county, but his loyalty is clearly not merely withJishui but with all the Ji'an counties. Brilliant as he was by all accounts, Xie Jin was no diplomat. Having spent the years between 1 390 and 1 399 in exile at home after offending the first Ming emperor, he repeatedly offended the Yongle emperor as well, in 1 407 and again in 1 4 1 1 , after which he was executed in jail. Hu Guang, a much more discreet and cautious figure, then took his place as the senior figure among the grand secretaries. Yang Shiqi and Jin Youzi, another Yongle grand secretary, both wrote glowing descriptions of Xie after his death, and testify to a close and personal friendship between these men. They shared not only their background in Ji'an, but their dedication to the government of Yongle.39 The cohort if 1 404

For Hu Guang, passing first in the examinations of 1 400 led to fame throughout the realm. Zeng Qj, who was ranked first in the 1 404 metropolitan examinations, achieved less enduring fame, although he, too, managed to capitalize upon his Ji'an connections. Zeng Qj was born in 1 372 in Yongfeng. His great-great-grandfather had served the Song government; his grandfather and father had both served in the Yuan government. He was just over thirty years old when he took the metropolitan examinations, and after ranking him first, the Yongle emperor appointed him as editor in the Hanlin Academy. His cohort of successfuljinshi candidates from Ji'an was bigger than any before it or after. Zhou Shu JWJJ£ ( 1 375-1437), from Jishui, was ranked in second place, and Zhou Mengjian JWJ�rm (1 378-1 430), also fromJishui, third, and these three were followed by at least four more Ji'an men. These included, for example, Li Shimian *B�fRl1. ( 1 374-1 450). Li's family had only recently moved to Anfu, and after his examination suc­ cess he was appointed to the Hanlin Academy, where he, too, worked 38

Xie Jin, 'Yongxin jinshi timing ji', Wenyi ji, 1O.27a. 3 9 Hok-lam Chan, 'The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-hsi, and Hsiian-te reigns, 1 399-1435', in Frederick W Mote and Denis Twitchett, eds., Cambridge History qf China, volume 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1 368-1 644, Part I, 2 1 0.

1 28

CHAPTER SIX

as one of the editors of Yongle dadian and of the Veritable Records of Ming Taizu.40 Li Shimian was a highly critical civil servant, voicing outspoken opinions about the building of the new palatial buildings in the north in 1 42 1, for example, and about the emperor's sexual activi­ ties during the period of mourning for the Yongle emperor in 1 425.41 Twice he was jailed, once with horrific injuries after being tortured, but still he survived. He was rehabilitated under the Xuande emperor, was appointed as libationer in 1 44 1 , and served another two emperors until his death in 1 450. Also among the 1 404 graduates was Zhou Chen ( 1 38 1 - 1 453) from Jishui, who passed the exam when he was only in his early twenties, and served five different emperors. He would gain a reputation under Xuanzong for the tax concessions he offered to those under his juris­ diction in the lower Yangzi region, and became well-known for his efficient financial administration and economic reforms.42 Then there were Li Zhen ( 1 376-1452) from Luling and Wang Zhi ( 1 379-1462) from Taihe. Wang Zhi spent almost forty years making a career in the Hanlin Academy, drafting documents for several emperors. In 1 443, Wang Zhi became minister of personnel on the recommendation of Yang Shiqi, and remained in post until he was in his late seventies in 1 457, when he was dismissed after the palace coup and allowed to return home, where he died in 1 462.43 Li Zhen became a Hanlin bachelor in 1 404, worked on the compilation of Yongle dadian, and served for a time in Guangxi and Henan. Li Zhen was to make his name as author of a collection of short stories, 'More Stories Written while Trimming the Wick', written in 1 41 9, and published in an illustrated edition in 1 433. The success of the 1 404 cohort would never be repeated, but it is indicative of the enormous political powers that were combined in men from Ji'an serving the early Ming emperors.

865-868. 41 The memorial submitted by Li Shimian in 1 420 is largely translated in Tsai, Perpetual Happiness, 1 26-7. 42 Huang, 'The Ming Fiscal Administration', 1 1 0-1 1 1 . As governor of the Southern Metropolitan Region, Zhou Chen wrote an influential report, showing that the people who had disappeared from the registers due to increased mobility of households, had frequently not moved far away from their original registration. See Heijdra, 'The Socio-Economic Development of Rural China', 479. For a discussion of the reforms Zhou Chen proposed, see Chan, 'The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-hsi, and Hsiian-te reigns', 296-7. 43 For Wang Zhi's biography; see DMB, 1 358- 1 36 1 . 40 DMB,

---

-

------

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 29

Religious leaders from Ji'an

It was not only members of the secular elite, however, who allied themselves closely with the central government. Religious leaders, too, were drawn into the central bureaucratic system of the state. Rao Zhengdao MiEJ1t for example, known by the religious name Chongxu �r:p)1ii: , was born in Jishui, and attracted attention because of his particularly strange face. A Master of the Way recognized that this boy was not meant to be a mere mortal, and took him to a Daoist monastery. There he acquired a range of techniques including carving talismans and manipulating thunder. Mter the founding of the Ming, he was called to court to become music and dance-master on the staff of the chamberlain for ceremonials (taichangyuewu sheng *11t:��1:), and Zhu Yuanzhang also called upon him during a period of severe drought. He was so effective in calling up rain that the Yongle emperor was equally impressed, and made him chief sacrificial officer at the northern capital. Though born in Jishui, his entire working life was centred around the imperial court.44 Liu Bowan ttl1s7'G, a scholar from Anfu, was skilled in astrology, geography, medicine and prognostication. He was made officer in the Imperial Observatory (lingtai lang JHI&A) and then held a post in the Directorate of Astronomy.45 During Zhengtong ( 1 436-50), another Anfu astronomer held a post in the same office.46 Liu Deyuan tU1j¥)ffi , from Longquan, was skilled at prognostication, and was invited to the court in Beijing at the end of the Zhengtong period.47 These local men offered their services at court, and were appreciated for what they provided. They were drawn into service at the capital, and carried out their religious duties as charged by the emperor. Men from ]i'an writing at court

Many men from Ji'an served at court in the early Ming. They served in larger numbers, and in higher positions than they ever had before, or ever would again. Ji'an continued to produce high calibre graduates

44 45 46 47

JAFZ (1 875), JAFZ (1 875), JAFZ (1 875), JAFZ ( 1 875),

37.72h-73a. 37.47a. 37.47a-b. 37.47b.

1 30

CHAPTER SIX

during this period, and many of them made a significant impression on government. Men like Yang Shiqi, Xie Jin and Liang (ban became famous names throughout the realm, and to some extent remain well known even today. Others served in high positions, but were forgotten soon after. What matters here is that while they were in imperial service, they extended their patronage to otherJi'an men. As Dardess has shown, collegiality held these men together, as they gathered in county-based meetings. Although Dardess suggests that meaningful contrasts can be drawn between Taihe collegiality and, say, Anfu collegiality, I am not persuaded that these were lasting significant differences. Men recognized themselves as men from a county, but also as men fromJi'an, and also as Jiangxi men. Their loyalties depended on the circumstances, and changed depending on what suited them. Someone like Yang Shiqi, who extended his patronage to great numbers of men from Taihe, still wrote many more texts for fellow officials in the central administration.48 For the men fromJi'an who filled the ranks of the central government in significant numbers until well into the fifteenth century, central gov­ ernment was where their attentions were focused. As a consequence, theJi'an authors contributing inscriptions to com­ memorate restorations in their home counties during the first century of Ming rule were remote figures, writing their texts from a distant perspective. To be more precise, many wrote their texts while in office at the capital. The frequency with which they referred to this distance, and to their location at the capital, suggests that this mattered a great deal to them. 'In the winter of the fourteenth year of Yongle [i.e. 1 4 1 7] villager Wu Daohong �:@:5L, came to court, and together with Hu Shaowu iiJ3 f.1Bm: asked me to write an inscription for them.'49 The author of these lines is Liang (ban, director general of Yongle dadian and minder of the Yongle heir-apparent. One year after agreeing to write this inscription on behalf of his fellow Ji'an men, Liang would lose the emperor's trust and be executed at court, but when Wu Daohong and Hu Shaowu visited Liang at court, nothing could have indicated such a dramatic reversal of fortunes. They would hardly have made the journey had they not felt that Liang's association would be beneficial for their abbey. Liang, for his part, must have felt it was important to

48

Ditmanson, 'Intellectual Lineages and the Early Ming Court', 6. See also Peter Ditmanson, 'Contesting Authority: Intellectual Lineages and the Chinese Imperial Court from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Centuries' (Harvard University Ph.D., 1 999). 40 Liang Q}an, 'Donghui guan ji', Bo'anji, 3 . l l a.

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

131

stress his location at court. Not only did he state explicitly that they visited him at court, but he also made clear he knew little of the abbey: 'I am indeed from the same prefecture (tongjun ren fPJf�)\.), but I have never been to Yueshan Jj ill . Hearing Daohong and Shaowu tell me about it, I felt cheered, and in my mind's eye I saw the place. '50 Liang was happy to contribute an inscription, ostensibly so that visitors would know of the sacrifices made by those who had restored the abbey, but perhaps also so that visitors would know of the great status of the man who had written the inscription. Liang liked to point out the fact that he was at the capital whenever he had the opportunity. When he was asked to contribute a text for the mountain dwelling of a man named Hu Youchu iiA :ff:fJJ , he ended with the following words: A certain son of Youchu came to the capital. Then Hanlin Bachelor Hu Guan !SA rl came to me to ask me for a text, which I wrote on his behalf Hu Guan is Youchu's nephew.5!

Although Hu Guan clearly was not a personal associate of Liang Qian, and he did not know Hu Youchu well enough to know the name of his son, he was happy to contribute, perhaps because these Hu's were the descendants of the illustrious Hu Quan (1 1 0 1-1 1 80), who had first built his residence on this mountain. Hu Quan's fame had made this a renowned site, as Liang wrote: Curious gentlemen often climb to the top to enjoy the view in all direc­ tions. Invariably someone points to the Hu family residence, enquiring after the martyr who lived there, feeling deeply affected.52

Liang Qian may have liked this sense of personal connection between himself and the famous Hu Quan, but clearly he also relished the opportunity to point out that the descendants of Hu Quan had to travel to the capital to make this request for an inscription. Liang Qian was not alone in expressing such sentiments. Xiao Weizhen JI*ltJ'{, a jinshi of 1 430, held several central government posts, cul­ minating in a post as minister in the Nanjing Department of Military Affairs, a post he left in 1 465.53 In his inscription for Huixian Abbey @]fwD. in Luling, he wrote: 50 51 52 S3

Ibid. Liang (lian, 'Furong shanfang ji', Bo'anji 3.5b. Ibid. Luling xianzhi ( 1 873), 27. 1 4a.

1 32

CHAPTER SIX

This year in the autumn [the monk] Huanfei did not regard hundreds of kilometres too far to honour me with a visit at the Nanjing Censorate with his pupil Sun Xiaode �.1j and ask me for an inscription. 54

The tone of the inscription is respectful of the efforts undertaken by the monk in restoring an abbey that, like so many others inJi'an, had not survived the fighting at the end of the Yuan dynasty. Xiao expressed the sincere hope that people would read his inscription and appreciate what the monk had done, including this long journey to the capital where he, Xiao Weizhen, served his emperor. At the same time, one might guess, they would appreciate the status of the inscription's author. When an abbey in Longquan was restored in the 1 430s, its Daoist master Yin Wuyuan j3"J9}5I; travelled to the capital to request a permit (du die �!t*).55 While he was there he asked Xiang Fei JJ[ffg to write down the narrative of the temple's history to make a formal request of the high government official Xiao Zi for an inscription. The text itself is formulaic, and probably closely follows the written details that had been prepared for him. Nevertheless, the fact that Yin Wuyuan had to travel to the capital to make the request for an inscription is clearly stated at the outset of the text.56 When the famous Xie Jin wrote an inscription for a Daoist monastery in Jishui, he ended his inscription with these words: In the fifth year of Yongle [i.e. 1 406] a certain Zheng served at Shenle Abbey. He requested an inscription from me, but I had no time. The next year, when I had completed it, I received an order to come to the capital. When the rituals were completed and I was about to return home, I received another request to record the entire story of the abbey. I then wrote this poem.57

The emphasis added by Xie Jin is clear: initially too busy to write an inscription at all, he was then called to the capital to serve the emperor just at the time he was completing the text. A further request came, but as he made sure the reader understands, he was still at the capital

54

Xiao Weizhen, 'Zhongxiu Huixian guan ji', Luling xianzhi ( 1 873), 45.4 I a. .,., In 1 4 1 7 , the Yongle emperor had reiterated the Hongwu prohibition of private temples and monasteries. Yu, Libu zhigao, 34.30b-32a. The number of monks was repeatedly restricted by issuing quotas for the number of residents at Buddhist and Daoist monasteries per administrative unit. It may well be that Yin Wuyuan intended to use the inscription to lend weight to his application for official registration. 56 Xiao Zi, 'Zhongxiu Ziyang guan ji', Longquan xianzhi ( 1 7 7 1), 7.22a. " XieJin, '�ngtan Jixu guan ji', Jishui xianzhi ( 1 875), 8 . 1 4a.

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 33

when the poem was composed. As in the examples of Liang (ban and Xiao Weizhen, these high officials were by no means unwilling to make their contributions to the institutions in their home prefecture. At the same time, they were keen to stress that their outlook was centred on their ultimately more important roles at the capital, from where they were sending their contributions. Their location at the capital when writing inscriptions makes for a distant relationship between author and local temple, as the authors themselves frequently point out. As Liang (ban said, when writing the inscription for Wu Daohong and Hu Shaowu, he had never been to the temple, but could imagine it on the basis of the tales they told him. The Hanlin Compiler Xie Duan, too, stated clearly that he had never been to Longyin Abbey in Longquan. 'I had long ago been told of a monastery in Longquan called Longyin, but I had never been there.'58 Authors like Liang (ban and Xie Duan were therefore much more dependent on the information they were provided with. In one inscription, Liang (ban did not even know the exact start and completion dates of the project he was commemorating: 'It started in xx year/month/day of Yongle and was completed by the time of xx year/ month/ date. '59 When Liu Dingzhi (1 409-1 469) was asked to write an inscription for Donghua Abbey in his native county, Yongxin, he wrote: 'Since I have taken up my post I have not been back to Donghua Abbey, and that is now more than thirty years ago. I have, however, always had the place in mind.'60 Like Liang (ban, Liu makes an effort to sound as if he remembers the place well, and suggests that there are other reasons why he had not been back: 'The scenery of this county is slightly hidden, there is no postal route that crosses it and few officials visit this place, so the old foundations are not well known. '61 But Liu Dingzhi was the only successful jinshi candidate from Yongxin in the examination year of 1 436, was ranked third in the palace exams, and had made a successful career in the Department of Ritual since then. He wrote this text after a short visit home, when the Daoist master had taken him on a brief tour of the grounds to show him the recent restoration efforts. He would have been highly regarded in his home 58 59

60 61

Longquan xian::;hi ( 1 7 7 1 ), 7 . 1 7 a-b. Liang Qjan, 'Yanzhen guan Ziwe ge beiji', Bo'an ji, 4.35b. Liu Dingzhi, 'Xuxiu Donghua guan ji', Yongxin xian::;hi ( 1 874), 7.6a-7a. Ibid.

1 34

CHAPTER SIX

county, but Liu clearly saw himself as a man of the capital, who had left his roots in Yongxin far behind him. Clearly, these men from Ji'an, who served at court in such high numbers, had not lost interest in the temples in their native area. They relate very differently, however, to these temples from their counterparts in Southern Song and Yuan Jizhou: they are far less involved. Rather than seeking to shape the practices associated with the temples from the inside, they write about them from a distance. All of the inscrip­ tions written by early Ming literati from Ji'an share this characteristic, but none more so than Liang Qj.an. His writings allow us to get a bet­ ter sense of how exactly these authors distance themselves from their natIve commumtIes. •

•

•

Distance from the local: the writings if Liang Qjan

Liang Qj.an was one of the 'eminent native sons' of Taihe, and people would travel to the capital and ask officials like him to write texts for their local establishments, often for temples and abbeys, but also for family genealogies and other institutions of local culture.52 Liang clearly maintained links to his native community, although those links are never intimate. He wrote his inscriptions for Ji'an from his post in the metropolitan government, and his writings suggest that his most important social circles were located at the capital. Liang's writings demonstrate a certain ambivalence over this distance. On the one hand, as we have seen, he stressed his governmental posi­ tion, on the other hand his writings reveal a deep sense of attachment to his native Taihe. Consider for example this description of Longcheng Temple ft��: There is a temple called Longcheng [Dragon Walls] twenty kilometres to the east of Taihe. The mountains come from myriad kilometres to the south-west, jumping up and down like dragons, all interconnected. Approaching the temple, the mountains surround it with luxuriant growth like a city wall, hence the name of the temple. Behind it flows the Gan, in front lie the peaks of Ziyao �:rt and Sangu -=:_. Looking out over them, one sees [the temple's] remoteness, enclosed between steep peaks and cliffs and never-ending lush greenery, while from the temple lazy clanging noises rise up. Climbing to the top, one sees pines and cypresses

02

Dardess, A Ming Society, 1 1 8-9.

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 35

in the mist, as if one has gone far from the dusty world of mortals, while on Mount Tiantai :7( '6' [in Zhejiang] and Mount Lu [in Jiangxi] crowds constantly surround you. Indeed its scenic beauty has no match.63

Dardess argues that this passage shows how the site 'conveyed a strong sense of otherworldliness to Liang Ch'ien'.64 This may be true, yet it seems to me that Liang could not resist bringing up the connection to the 'dusty world of mortals'. The temple, which had Northern Song origins, was largely rebuilt in the early years of the fifteenth century by a team of monks under the direction of a certain Dingcheng JEm, whom Liang knew quite well. About him Liang writes: I love the intelligence of Dingcheng and his ability to write poetry. Among those he had contact with were many famous scholars, like the former minister of the Department of Personnel Liu Song. They all privately admired [Dingcheng] .65

This connection to the famous government official from Taihe, Liu Song ( 1 3 2 1 - 1 38 1), and the suggestion of close social links between the monk and other officials at the capital, can only have been included to serve a particular purpose: to lend a certain weight to Liang's inscription. The contact between Liu Song, who had passed his jinshi degree in 1 370, and subsequently held posts in Department of Military Affairs, in the Department of Ritual, and eventually as minister in the Department of Personnel and the monk Dingcheng conveys tremendous status on the monk and on Longcheng Temple. This worldly aspect of Liang's inscription for Longcheng, I would suggest, may well have been more significant than what Dardess calls his 'sense of otherworldliness'. There is no doubt that Liang was fond of Taihe. His literary writings include many pieces written for friends and connections in Taihe, and they often betray a deep attachment to the beauty of the area. At the same time, Liang was not at all attracted to locally held beliefs. This combination of fondness for the area and disdain for its local traditions

63

Liang Qjan, 'Zhongxiu Longcheng si ji', Bo'anji, 4.42b-43a. 64 Dardess, A Ming Society, 37. His translation reads: 'Here the hills approach from several hundred Ii to the south-west, undulating like an uninterrupted chain of dragons. They make a forested ring around the temple, hence its name [Dragon Wall] . You can see the Kan River far off in one direction, and the San-ku peaks in another. You find yourself among steep cliffs with endless green and idle rustling sounds. Atop the heights, you are among the mist-clad pines and cypress, so far from the everyday world that it is like being up among the sacred mountains T'ien-t'ai and Lu-shan.' 65 Liang Qjan, 'Zhongxiu Longcheng si ji', Bo'anji, 4.43b.

1 36

CHAPTER SIX

is clear in an inscription written for a mountain dwelling in Luling.66 The text is full of references to the beauty and culture of Luling. The inscription begins with a description of the outstanding beauty of Hibiscus (Furong ��) Mountain, where the dwelling was located: I remember in the past when we let the boats loose amongst green springs and white egrets. Looking several kilometres beyond Wen River, Hibiscus Peak stands out lusciously and prominently. Coloured clouds open up and close in around it, and a multitude of mountains surround and face it, but not a single peak stands as a match to it. [. . .] Every person in the realm admires and longs for the [kind of] flourishing of loyal virtues and literary culture that Luling has had for hundreds of years. [people] assume that the spirits of its mountains and valleys pro­ duced such outstanding talent. They all desire to view its scenic beauty, and those who have not yet had the chance regret this. 57

These passages reveal the great pride, fondness, and respect for the culture of the area Liang professes. In between these two statements, however, Liang wrote: For generations tradition has it that on [Hibiscus Peak] one can find materials like cinnabar (dansha), kongqing, and amber (hupai).58 People also say the mountain serves as a prison for ghosts. Thus it also has the name Heaven's Gaol (Tianyu :7(�). People say this is where spirits and the like are arrested and detained. Of course this is utter nonsense, but those who are fond of the bizarre like to pass down such tales. The prefectural gazetteers even mention it as if it were a true fact, but people do not know that this is simply not the case. How sad, to have a mountain like Hibiscus Mountain and not be able to roam around, climb up and down to pick out its most scenic beauty spots, merely because of this belief in such ridiculous and unfounded theories. It is laughable. 59

Although Liang had a great deal of respect for the culture of Luling, this does not stretch to beliefs that may be peculiar to only this area. Locally held beliefs are devalued in this text, and his inscription seems to be directed at those who would agree. Reading these texts in their wider perspective suggests that for men like Liang Qj.an, writing in the early Ming, one's native county was a 66

Liang CDan, 'Furongshan fang ji', Bo'an;i, 3.4b-5b. 67 Bo'an;i 3.4b-5a. 68 'Kongqing' is a green liquid found inside large chunks of copper ore. All are thought to have medicinal powers. 69 Bo'an;i 3.4b-5a.

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

137

place to be fond of. The landscape, in Liang's mind, was a place of great scenic beauty. Once again, the landscape as it is conjured up through Liang's writings, was not devoid of his own perspective. But that perspective, I would argue, is not particularly local. Rather, the landscape is a place where connections that are meaningful at the capi­ tal are forged. The community, constituted by the shared enjoyment of this landscape, is not formed within this landscape, but located at the capital. The local significance if 'distant' inscriptions

There are, of course, at least two sides to the inscriptions written by Ji'an men located at the capital. Their inscriptions were meaningful not only to their authors, but also to those who requested and displayed these texts locally. In assessing the distance that is a significant charac­ teristic of these early Ming inscriptions, we need to explore the issue from both sides: from the perspective of those who stayed behind in Ji'an the recipients of these high-powered endorsements and from the perspective of their authors at the capital, who, as I shall argue, were not merely addressing a Ji'an audience, but a far wider one. Although many men left to serve at the capital, not everyone did. So how did those who stayed behind experience the changes that had taken place? During the first century of Ming rule, members of the local community inJi'an were mostly looking outside their locality for confirmations of their worth. Local men were keen to establish and strengthen contacts with their fellow Ji'an men at court. Moreover, they used requests for temple inscriptions to reflect some of the status of central government officials at court onto their local institutions. Let us take a Buddhist temple in Longquan as example. Zijiao Temple, originally built during the Tang, had received an offi­ cial plaque in 1 060, when a prominent Longquan man, the Northern Song central government official Xiao Zuo IHtc , had written an inscrip­ tion. The temple had fallen into disrepair, and it was not until the early years of Yongle's reign that a local villager expressed a desire to restore the buildings. This local landlord, a man named Peng Yongwei � ffl ,OO(;, enlisted the help of two monks from nearby Ganzhou prefecture, pre­ paring a small dharma hall for them to live in. After they surveyed the situation, they declared the dharma hall unsuitable for the veneration of the Buddha, and made clear that a great deal of funding would

1 38

CHAPTER SIX

be needed. Peng Yongwei acceded, offered his own funds, and raised more funds from the locals in the area. It took five years to complete, but at the end of that period the buildings were all of an impressive beauty, the temple authorities had all the necessary tools and imple­ ments for the performance of rituals, and had even taken repossession of lands the temple had once owned but then lost. The entire restoration process was by all accounts a purely local affair. Peng, whose family had been of high standing in Longquan for more than twelve generations, had used his local reputation to enlist the help of other wealthy families in Longquan to make their contributions. To mark its completion, however, Peng and his fellow Longquan men did not turn to a fellow local. Instead, they requested an inscription from a Taihe man; they approached Xiao Zi. Xiao Zi had passed the jinshi examination in 1 427, and would eventually become chancellor at the Directorate of Education and grand secretary in 1 452 until his death in 1 464: a high official indeed, and with no Longquan connections. Xiao Zi's text reveals little personal involvement with the temple and its restoration process. His narrative is full of detail, listing the names of those involved and detailing the extent of the restorations, but largely devoid of emotion. His only words of praise are these: If the disciple of [the monk] Fusheng had not taken on this responsibil­ ity, and [peng] Yongwei had not provided his assistance, then no one would have known of the collapse and rebuilding of this temple. There is a connection between such collapses and restorations in the realm, and it can only be overcome with the kind of contribution that [peng] Yongwei and the disciple of Fusheng have made to Zijiao [Temple] . This is something I admire. 70

This is in fact the central theme of Xiao Zi's inscription. The affairs of the realm (tian xia :;;hi shi :xT:<:: ¥) collapse and may flourish again, but only when people take personal responsibility for them. It is an extremely general, even bland remark. Xiao clearly had no personal affinity with the temple, and made no effort to sound personally involved. From a local point of view, one would suspect that no personal link was necessary for the text to fulfil its requirements. Xiao's name and his high standing at court was what mattered.7 1 So much so that he 70 Xiao Zi, 'Zhongxiu Zijiao si ji', Longquan xianzhi ( 1 77 1), 7.29a. 7 1 An interesting comparison could be established between this Ming inscription by

Xiao Zi and the Northern Song text by Xiao Zuo. Xiao Zuo's text, written around 1 060, reveals equally little personal involvement. Xiao Zuo extensively quotes the monk, who

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 39

could draw on exacdy the same theme in a second inscription requested by a monk from Longquan. He wrote: 'The restoration of Ziyang Abbey in Longquan was entirely due to its Daoist Master, Yin Wuyuan. '72 From the perspective of the Longquan men, the endorsement of such a high official clearly provided enough credit and standing to negate the fact that Xiao Zi had nothing whatsoever to do with the establish­ ment in question. Longquan was off the beaten track, and boasted far fewer successful men than, say, Taihe. They nevertheless had access to the social and political capital of their fellow Ji'an men, and were keen to convey that. For Zixiao Abbey �1!t., located thirty kilometres north of the Luling county seat and restored in 1 370, the locals asked the high Daoist official Zhang Yuchu *"F*] ( 1 36 1 - 1 4 1 0).73 Again, it is clear from the inscription that Zhang did not have much personal affinity with Zixiao. Zhang explains that in 1 406, when he was put in charge of the editing of the Daoist Canon/4 he was approached with a request to write an inscription for this abbey. The Yongle emperor had issued an edict in the summer of 1 406 instructing such ancient sacred sites to be rebuilt. The abbot of Zixiao and his pupils brought a copy of the edict to Zhang's mountain dwelling, and requested an inscription. Zhang Yuchu was at the time one of the most highly regarded Daoist masters of the early Ming dynasty. His literary collection includes texts for temples, academies, studios, and Daoist abbeys throughoutJiangxi.75 For the abbot of Zixiao, the endorsement and support of this great master must have been extremely valuable. By referring to the edict, a had visited Xiao, and told him of the recent restoration efforts. Xiao did not comply with the request for an inscription until after the monk's death, when fellow monks told Xiao that his hope for an inscription had been his dying wish. Xiao reveals no personal commitment other than 'not wishing to insult the dead', and complies on his way to a posting. Xiao Zuo, 'Zhongxiu Zijiao si ji', Longquan xianzhi, ( 1 873), 1 6.27a-b. n Xiao Zi, 'Zhongxiu Ziyang guan ji', Longquan xianzhi ( 1 7 7 1), 7.22a. 71 Zhang was a high Daoist official indeed. The official residence of the Zhang patriarchs was Longhu Mountain, Guixi county in Guangxin prefecture (Jiangxi), more than 200 km north-east of Luling. Zhang, the forty-third Heavenly Master, received honorary titles and official protection from Zhu Yuanzhang. He repeatedly carried out official rain prayers for the court in Nanjing, and held an imperial seal to authenticate the charms he made. He was put in charge of the compilation of Daoist literature under the Yongle emperor. DMB, 1 07-8. See also Florian Reiter, Grundelemente und Tendenzen des religiiisen Taoismus: Das Spannungsverhiiltnis von Integration und Individualitiit in seiner Geschichte zur Chin-, Yilan- undftilhen Ming-Zeit (Stuttgart: Steiner, 1 988). 74 The Daozang appeared in 1 445 in 5.305 chapters (juan). 75 His literary collection is entitled Xianquan ji. His Daoist works have all been included in the Daozang.

1 40

CHAPTER SIX

document applicable not just to Jiangxi but throughout the realm, Zhang Yuchu's endorsement was lifted out of the local perspective and placed in a national and imperial context. The local was given significance and meaning by making it refer to the world beyond Ji'an. Chen Mo's Chenghuang inscription

Those who stayed behind in Ji'an benefited from the connection with these high-powered men at court. But did it work the other way round too? Did the Ji'an men at court look to their native prefecture in their writings? Although it is conceivable that the men fromJi'an were keen to show off their success in central government only to a purely local audience, a close reading of their writings suggests that they were, in fact, keen to demonstrate local compliance with national policies to an audience that was much broader than purely local. Ji'an men were keen to show off local adherence to centrally issued policies to an empire-wide, or 'translocal', audience. Determining a text's audience is, of course, notoriously difficult, but a close reading of several examples will allow us to test the idea that the audience was translocal rather than local. The temple for the god of walls and moats in Taihe, which had much older origins, was rebuilt in 1 38 1 . An inscription, written for this temple during the early years of Hongwu's reign, demonstrates local officials' compliance with ritual regulations from above.76 It was written by Chen Mo (1 305-ca. 1 389), a native of Taihe, and one of the Ji'an men serving as a high court official in the early Hongwu government.77 Chen Mo's inscription, written to celebrate the Taihe refurbishment of the Chenghuang temple, shows off the exemplary local execution of a central government instruction. But to whom exacdy was he showing off? Chen Mo started with an extensive quote from the edict issued in 1 370:78 76 Chen Mo, 'Chenghuangji', Taihe xianzhi ( 1 879), 3.20a-b. The text is also included

in Chen Mo's literary collection, Haisangji. 71 For Chen Mo's biography, see Taihe xianzhi ( 1 879), 1 6.2a-3b. For more informa­ tion about this group, see John Dardess, CorifUcianism and Autocrary: Prqftssional Elites in the Founding if the Ming PJ;nasty (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 983). 78 The edict dates from 1 370. See Romeyn Taylor, 'Ming T'ai-tsu and the Gods of Walls and Moats', 40. See also Taylor, 'Official Altars, Temples and Shrines', 1 1 5, and the discussion on the implementation of this edict in Hamashima Atsutoshi, 'The City-god Temples (ch'eng-huang-miao) of Chiangnan in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties', Memoirs if the Research Department of the Tayo Bunko 50 (1 992): 1-27.

141

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

We have published the investigation of the Sacrificial Statutes, and consider it appropriate to transform the appearance of temples for the gods of walls and moats. Temples at the prefectural level should be built in accordance with the pattern of prefectural government [buildings] ; temples at the sub-prefectural level and the county level should be [built] in accordance with the pattern of the sub-prefectural and county government [buildings] . If there are old clay idols and statues, they must all be destroyed and [the material] turned into plaster. The walls of the two corridors and those in the central hall must be re-covered with plaster, and clouds and mountains must be painted on the walls. Every deity throne and every seat must be arranged as it is done in the official and ceremonial buildings. The rank of its primate will be 'the god of walls and moats of xx place'. 79

This is no brief reference to an edict, but a rehearsal of much of the text. The passage dwells at length on the administrative aspects of the temple, with an emphasis on the various ways in which the worship of this deity is to be incorporated into local representation of the central government. By this edict, Zhu Yuanzhang was the first to introduce an otherwise popular deity into the official pantheon. Perhaps Chen Mo was pardy trying to convince himself that by undertaking the white­ washing of the walls, the destruction of the old idols and the complete rearrangement of the lay-out of the ritual space, worship of the god of walls and moats could become palatable. He certainly made no attempt to hide his disgust of locally current practice: 'How great, this system! We began by washing away the filth of these dissolute customs, so as to follow the corrections of the Sacrificial Record. In what follows it becomes clear that Chen Mo, who went to the capital in Nanjing shordy after the founding of the Ming, was writing from the perspective of a government representative. '80

The Provincial Department (sheng bu �ff�) then considered and discussed the form [the changes should take] , and ordered the implementation of these changes in the provinces (wai sheng). The provinces respectfully received the [instructions] and passed them on to the appropriate sub­ ordinate authorities.81

Chen Mo was not only giving the perspective of someone located at the capital, but also showing the ways in which such new regulations passed through the system. We see the edict originate in the capital,

79 Chen Mo, 'Chenghuang ji', Haisangji, 7.22b-23a.

8(] 81

HaisangJz, 7.23a. Ibid.

1 42

CHAPTER SIX

and then see it filtering down to the grass-roots level. Once it arrived in Taihe, Chen Mo's narrative changed, and the focus became nar­ rower. He named the magistrate in charge of Taihe at the time of the receipt of the edict, and listed the three colleagues (the county security officer, the county registrar, and the county jailor) who collaborated with the Taihe magistrate on this clearly extensive project of Chenghuang temple renewal. They discussed the order of work together. They measured out suitable land and surveyed its size; they selected the best materials and carefully allocated these; they chose responsible men and assigned them to suit­ able positions. By morning they economized and by evening they put things in order. They inspected with kindness but supervised with sever­ ity. They were tolerant of what was broad, and respectful of what was narrow, until they knew that everything was in accordance with the law. The gates and corridors, the halls and sleeping quarters, everything was magnificent, bright and airy. 82

Chen Mo's elaborate narrative and his almost poetic description of a surely somewhat dull construction project served a purpose. He wished his readers to know that the building of a temple for the god of walls and moats was taken extremely seriously in Taihe. The four highest county officials worked together, and worked extremely hard on making sure that the temple complied exactly to the letter of the law. But why? Why would the Taihe readership of this inscription perhaps those who wandered into the temple and read it there need to know the minutiae of the administrative procedure involved? It is hard to think of a reason why this detail would be better than a brief reference to the edict that triggered so much of the local rebuilding inJi'an. Perhaps we should look for an explanation not in Taihe, but in the capital. When men like Chen Mo began to become involved in Zhu Yuan­ zhang's regime, they were not there to determine policy. As Dardess and others have shown, 'The Kiangsi intelligentsia had no part in shaping the framework of Confucian ideas that rationalized the new Ming despotism; that was the work of men from Chekiang. '83 Men from Zhejiang, most notably those associated withJinhua like Song Lian *ml ( 1 3 10- 1 38 1), LiuJi ;U� ( 1 3 1 1 - 1 3 75), and Wang Wei Ifl (1 323-74), had the ear of the emperor, and were part of the construction of a new 82 83

Haisangji, 7 .23b. Dardess, A Ming Society, 1 74.

.

.

-

-

-

--

------

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 43

system.84 Perhaps Chen Mo was pitching Taihe against Jinhua here, showing fellow members of Zhu Yuanzhang's broad circle of Confu­ cian advisers that Taihe could be measured along the same ruler as Jinhua? For now this has to remain speculative, but Chen's audience surely went beyond Taihe when he wrote: Looking [towards the emperor] , this temple signifies praise for his imperial wisdom; looking down [towards the people] , it generates joyful sentiments among the people. From far and near people throng here to admire the temple, and before people had sighed [they exclaimed] how great, how wonderful, such great transformation! This is the most superior appear­ ance of such temples. How could this merely be the extraordinary beauty of one county! 85

Chen's text explicitly removed the temple from its local setting, and ascribed it a value that is distinctly national. The Taihe temple served not only to glorify the emperor, but set an example for the entire realm. It is as if Chen was reassuring those who issued the regulations that it had indeed a moral purpose, and that the results of the edict their emperor issued were indeed within the moral needs of the realm. In the next section, Chen quoted at length from an inscription by the leading Yuan scholar Wu Cheng � :?i ( 1 249-1 333).86 It referred extensively to the annals of the Han, to show that if there was no classical precedent for the inclusion of Chenghuang worship in the official state cult, there was at least historical precedent. Chen Mo's long quotation from Wu Cheng's text suggests that the unease of the inclusion of Chenghuang had by no means subsided by the time of his writing. Chen continued to speak to his colleagues at court: The words of Mr Wenzheng [i.e. Wu Cheng] are broad, clear and com­ prehensive. They amply provide what was missing in the Ritual Statutes (Lidian :f:I:!W:), while our sagely Son of Heaven has judged from his

84

On the participation of Jinhua men in early Ming government, see, for example, John D. Langlois, 'Political Thought in Chin-hua under Mongol Rule' in John Langlois, ed., China under Mongol Rule (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1 98 1 ), 1 3 7- 1 85. On Liu Ji, see Dardess, CorifUcianism and Autocrary, throughout. . 85 Haisangji, 7.23b. 6 His extensive quotations from this locus classicus of inscriptions for the god of walls 8 and moats suggest that Wu Cheng's inscription had laid some of the foundations for the Confucian advisers at Zhu Yuanzhang's court. They sought to render acceptable the inclusion of the god of walls and moats, a god whose worship had no legal precedent before 1 370, in the state cult.

1 44

CHAPTER SIX

imperial centre to eliminate all confusion and vulgarity. [The emperor] has made sure the gods of walls and moats have grand and lofty dwell­ ings, instead of improper, small and vulgar shrines.87

This was clearly not a text written to celebrate the efforts of the local magistrate who supervised the building project. This text was written to engage in a dialogue with other scholars and officials, located in Zhu Yuanzhang's wider circle, about the value of these newly implemented ritual regulations. The last lines of the inscription emphasize this yet agam: •

If the people are at peace, then the god will bring them blessings, and the local landlords will be doubly [blessed] . Indeed, the diligent prom­ ulgation of this imperial virtue will ensure the growth of the virtue of the commoners, which will be manifest well beyond the reach of this temple. The god's blessing of these people will exist in eternity and will know no bounds. Everyone will be transformed by what [the emperor] has bequeathed to us. I had to write this down, and carve this text into a stone, so that it could serve to demonstrate this to visitors.88

There can be little doubt that the readership of this text is not located in Taihe, but anywhere in the country, including at the imperial court in Nanjing. Liu Qiu's Chenghuang inscription

The inclusion of temples for the god of walls and moats in the official Sacrificial Statutes caused a stir at court, as inscriptions like the text by Chen Mo suggest. Their authors contributed to a debate held at court about the wisdom of this imperial decision. They suggested that by carrying out the proposed refurbishments at existing temples for the god of walls and moats, such temples, and thereby their gods, were brought under imperial control. Another example, written to celebrate the completed refurbishment of the Chenghuang temple in Anfu, was written by Liu Qju iUlj( ( 1 392�1443). Liu Qju, born in Anfu, passed the jinshi examination in 142 1 , one of the years that produced a bumper crop of 28 successfuljinshi candidates from Ji'an.89 Liu Qju did not take up a post until ten years later, and internal evidence sug-

87 Haisangji, 7.24a. 88 Haisangji, 7.24a-b. 89 These figures are based on the jinshi table included in the 1 7 76 Ji'an prefectural gazetteer. JAFZ ( I 7 76), juan 25.

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 45

gests that he wrote the inscription for the Chenghuang temple during this period of ten years, spent at home teaching and writing. Liu Qj.u had an extraordinary career at court: he went to the capital in 1436, when he was invited to join the Hanlin Academy, and participated in the editing of Xuanzong's Veritable Records. During these years the eunuch Wang Zhen .::E :Jm (d. 1 449) was building up his position of power at court. Encouraged by Wang Zhen, the Zhengtong emperor (r. 1436-1450) embarked on a series of expensive campaigns to Luchuan Ym) I I (an independent state in northern Burma) in 1 44 1 . Liu Qj.u was appalled by these wasteful and purposeless exercises, and submitted a memorial expressing his views.90 The emperor, needless to say, did not heed Liu's advice, but Wang Zhen was angered by Liu's readiness to criticize the emperor. When lightning struck and destroyed one of the palaces in 1443, Liu submitted another memorial, setting out ten points of criticism with regard to the present state of governing.91 His outspoken critique dealt mostly with matters of foreign relations he disliked both the campaigns to the south-west and the dangerously high demands for tribute from the north but he also addressed the role of the emperor: his lack of inspection tours and drought relief, and his harsh use of the people's labour in state projects. Wang Zhen was now furious, and on 30 June 1443 he had Liu Qj.u assassinated in prison. Although Liu Qj.u was eventually rehabilitated, and offered a posthumous post in the Hanlin Academy as well as a shrine in his native Anfu, this only happened after Wang Zhen had been killed on the disastrous northern campaign of 1449, which led to the emperor's imprisonment at Tumu ±* .92 There is no suggestion of Liu's stormy relationship with the powers at court in his inscription for the Chenghuang temple, and initially no hint of his highly critical stance. On the contrary, the text celebrated the ability of the representatives of the central government to assert their power over such capricious local deities as the god of walls and moats. The first sentence immediately set the stage: Nowadays the authorities of the realm are able to assert order on matters of worship without [attempting] to flatter the gods. Such worship includes only the previous sages and worthies and the gods of mountains and val­ leys, the god of soil and grain, and the god of walls and moats.93

90 91 92 93

The memorial is included in Liu Qju's complete works, Liangxi Wen)l, 2. l a-3b. Liangxi wenji, 2.3b-9a. DMB, 1 348. Liu Qju, 'Anfu xian zhongxiu chenghuang miao ji', Liangxi wenji, 4. l a.

1 46

CHAPTER SIX

But Liu Qu's faith in the ability of the government to control matters of worship was not entirely blind. He was aware of the difficulties posed by the inclusion of the god of walls and moats in this list, and indi­ cated this awareness by discussing the differences between the previous sages and worthies, and the god of walls and moats. Myriad generations throughout the realm have honoured the teachings of the previous sages and worthies. The efficacy and luminosity of the god of walls and moats, however, can at any one time reach only one small [area] . . . . The teachings that the previous sages and worthies promulgated invariably lead people to return to what is good and to abandon what is not good. The god of walls and moats, however, can bring both harm and blessings, can do good and not good. [Only] when [gods] have a constant desire to do good in the world, bring universal benefit to the state (guo jia) and offer merit for all its people, can they be added to the Rites.g4

In Liu's eyes, the difference was clear. The benefits of the teachings of sages and worthies were appreciated by all, their transforming influence was universal. The power of gods of walls and moats, however, did not reach beyond their own protectorates, and even then, such gods could bring harm as much as benefit. Official recognition and inclusion in the state cult, usually reserved for abstract spiritual beings such as the gods of mountains and valleys, was in part intended to neutral­ ize the powers of a deity.95 By including the god of walls and moats, traditionally a popular deity, the emperor had gone against established orthodoxy.96 Liu questioned the validity of this decision by drawing attention to this anomaly. Having discussed the nature of the god of walls and moats, Liu Qu then focused more specifically on Anfu's Chenghuang temple. The god had received the title of Count of Brilliant Assistance (xian you bo M1;t1S) and the temple was restored during the Hongwu era, but the restoration cannot have been very thorough as not long thereafter the

94

Ibid. 95 The neutralizing powers of naming and listing a demon/deity is discussed, for example, by Anna Seidel, 'Imperial Treasures and Taoist Sacraments; Taoist Roots in the Apocrypha', in Tantne and Taoist Studies in Honour qf R.A. Stein, vol. II, Melanges ehinois et bouddhiques XXI ( 1 983), especially 320- 332. For an example of an arguably similar process in thirteenth-century Jizhou, see Gerritsen, 'From Demon to Deity'. 96 Compare the discussion in Taylor, 'Ming T'ai-tsu and the Gods of Walls and Moats', 1 1 5.

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 47

building fell into disrepair again. Then, with the arrival of Magistrate Zhao Min Miil%l, things started to change. Zhao had initiated a large­ scale restoration process that involved not only large sums of money but an extended workforce. Once the buildings had been completely restored, the people of Anfu had the following song of praise for Zhao Min: Before [Magistrate Zhao Min] arrived, this god frequently sent calamities to our people when he came to the shrine. Now that [the Magistrate] has established good government, the god has brought security to the people, made our activities fruitful, and gave us cause for celebration. Since you, Our Magistrate, have established control over this temple, worship will never cease. Please look after our elders and infants for ever.97

The text creates the impression of a seamless transition, or perhaps even a blending into one of worship for the deity and gratitude for the magistrate. The administrative powers of the magistrate and his beneficial government reached far enough to incorporate the deity, whose only wish was to bring benefit to the area. In other words, under the guidance of the magistrate, Liu would have us believe, the deity has relinquished his power to do harm, thereby qualifying himself for inclusion in the Sacrificial Record. Stressing the universally beneficial qualities of the Anfu Chenghuang deity allowed Liu Qj.u to justify the inclusion in the Sacrificial Statutes of this otherwise problematic deity. There is litde doubt that for men like Chen Mo and Liu Qj.u, the presence of temples for the god of walls and moats in the state cult posed problems. Their texts attempted to iron out these difficulties and find ways of justifying the decision made at court. In doing so, they were representing the perspective of the state. In their eyes, it was the interest of the entire state (guo jia) that was at stake here. While Chen Mo clearly addressed his colleagues at court and perhaps even the emperor, Liu Qj.u was less explicit about his audience. But Liu's per­ spective, too, went well beyond the Anfu andJi'an borders. To justifY a decision made at the central level by referring to its benefit to the state is to help along the national cause, not merely a local cause. The theme of Chenghuang temples was widespread in fourteenth and fifteenth-century texts from Ji'an. Another author, writing about the newly restored Chenghuang temple in Jishui during the reign of 97 Liangxi wenji, 4. 1 b.

1 48

CHAPTER SIX

Hongwu, also tried to justifY Chenghuang worship. For him, the key was the direct comparison between magistrate and deity: Those gods that have the ability [to benefit] people {you neng min 1'ffl� �) are invited to enjoy the odours of sacrifice. Clerks that are able to [operate] on behalf of the people (you wei min 1'f� �) are invited to hear cases and pass judgments. Where he is intelligent and fair, the Chenghuang [deity] is regarded as 'manifest assistance'; where they are incorrupt and benevolent, magistrates are determined to be 'following goodness'. Where their fame and reputation permeates the area, their actions reflect that.98

Again, as in Liu Qju's text, we see the comparison between gods of walls and moats and local representatives of imperial rule. They are measured by the same standard and receive comparable honours. By drawing gods of walls and moats into such comparisons, the authors created the impression that they can be judged and measured in such ways, and that they fit into the structure of local control imposed by the state. It is exactly what Zhu Yuanzhang would have hoped to achieve with his inclusion of Chenghuang deities. The broad discussions in such temple inscriptions suggests, however, that even if literati authors had difficulties accepting the emperor's point of view, they were at least willing to work towards that acceptance. It is with the central govern­ ment point of view in mind that they take part in this dialogue, and it is the central government perspective they are trying to defend. Conclusion

Let us recall, by way of conclusion, the situation of the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties. We noted there that Ji'an men made careers at home. Successful jinshi degree holders like Ouyang Shoudao and Liu Chenweng spent the great majority of their time working at home. Their outlook was local, although their reputations went well beyond the Jizhou borders. We have seen that authors like Yang Zhangru, Ouyang Shoudao and Liu Chenweng were interested in activities that centred on local temples, shrines and monasteries. Their writings reveal close involvement with the religious institutions of the area, and a deep concern with the religious activities that took place at such sacred sites. These authors voiced strong opinions in the texts they composed. 98 Huang Sishan, Jishui Chenghuang miao ji', JAFZ ( 1 776), 14. 1 b�2a.

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

1 49

They were often not happy about the activities they observed, and attempted to impose what they believed to be a more acceptable view on the practices they observe. I have argued above that there is a pow­ erful motivation behind their writings. They saw the religious life of their local community as a useful medium to impose their authority. Local temples and religious institutions offered them the opportunity to manifest themselves as men of influence and standing within the local community. Their writings about the local temples were, I have argued, ways of acting locally and transforming the local. Where the central government offered litde perspective of a career or a post, the local took its place as their main focus, and served as their main arena for establishing power. Local religious practices worked as a 'field', and formed part of local elite strategy.99 I propose that this pattern, which continues through much of the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, was severely disrupted in the period under discussion in this chapter. The change started with the extreme physical disruption of the fighting of the end of the Yuan. Ji'an was among the places in southern China that suffered heavy losses; it was the batde-ground of several major actions, and located at the boundary of several landlords' territory. Most of the notes on the temples listed in the Ji'an gazetteers refer to 'destruction at the end of the Yuan', though only rarely do we find out the exact date of the destruction, or its manner. The gazetteers are keen to suggest, however, that after the founding of Ming rule in 1 368, the entire prefecture embarked on a huge rebuilding program. Magistrates in each county hurried to declare their completed temples and altars for the state cult, quickly adding new ones or rebuilding temples that did not comply with the steady stream of newly issued regulations. The gazetteers also suggest that throughout the prefecture hundreds of shrines, temples and monasteries were rebuilt. While there is no evidence of Timothy Brook's widespread amalgamation of temples, following the imperial order to amalgamate of 1 384, the extant inscriptions of this period frequendy refer to the imperial orders that inspired and motivated this extensive restoration program.lOO Temple inscriptions and gazetteers alike suggest that the 99 100

Esherick and Rankin, Chinese Local Elites, 33G-345. Timothy Brook, 'At the Margins of Public Authority: The Ming State and Bud­ dhism', in Theodore Heuters, R. Bin Wong, and Pauline Yii, eds., Culture and State in Chinese History: Conventions, Conflicts, and Accommodations (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 997), 1 6 1 � 1 8 1 .

1 50

CHAPTER SIX

state's instructions for the reorganization of local religious practice did not fall on deaf ears. Throughout Ji'an, magistrates and other local officials, monks and Daoist masters, as well as local dignitaries and landlords, were keen to show both their awareness of the central order for the refurbishment of temples and their compliance. What did this mean for the relationship between literati from Ji'an and their local religious institutions? How did it compare with the relationship, discussed earlier, during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties? I have argued that it was an entirely different relationship. While temple inscriptions of the Southern Song and Yuan revealed a desire to belong locally, the temple inscriptions from the period between 1 368 and 1 500 could be characterized as a centralized view of local religion. Two closely related factors lie at the heart of this character­ ization. First, Ji'an men were drawn into the central government from the early years of Zhu Yuanzhang's rule onward. Initially, they were selected on the basis of their literary reputations, but soon thereafter men began to pass the jinshi examinations in high numbers. Peak years followed in 1 404 and 1 41 5, when 37 and 29 candidates passed respectively. Another surge in numbers occurred in the middle of the century; after 28 candidates had passed in 1 42 1 , 30 passed in 145 1 and 34 in 1 454. Men from Jiangxi served as close advisers to many emperors, and men from Ji'an frequently served as grand secretary. It meant that many of theJi'an gentlemen who were asked to contribute temple inscriptions were physically located at the capital, far more so than during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties. But their mental location was far more significant than their physical location. Their outlook was towards the capital and court, as they frequently made clear in their inscriptions. The locals asking for inscriptions travelled the long road to the capital, and were rewarded with a text that was emphatically composed 'at the capital'. I am not suggesting that these men forgot their roots in Ji'an; as Dardess has shown, for the many Taihe men who served in the early Ming, their Taihe identity was hugely important. That celebration of the local, however, happened at court, at a distance. The people they were trying to impress with their texts were located at court, and the topics they addressed were relevant to an audience well beyond Ji'an. The inscription for the Chenghuang temple discussed by Chen Mo was a clear example of texts for local institutions that were written to engage in a national dialogue. Not all texts were as emphatic about their audience at court as Chen Mo's, but they too were concerned

LOCAL TEMPLES IN EARLY MING

151

with discussing, for example, the validity of the widespread institution of Chenghuang temples with like-minded officials, taking that dialogue well beyond local borders. When authors like Liang Qjan took time to discuss local practices, they made little effort to hide their disdain. Of course Ouyang Shoudao was also highly critical of the local practices he observed, most notably in his famous Kang Wang inscription. But the difference, I suggest, is that Ouyang Shoudao spent considerable effort suggesting an alternative for the local community. It mattered to him that a new practice was imposed to replace the old, and that he was known to be the one offering the alternative. Liang Qjan merely observed from a distance, and noted that he finds local practice laugh­ able. He cared little either way whether such practices might be changed at any stage, and felt no responsibility to undertake such change. The second factor that is part of the change between the South­ ern Song and Yuan inscriptions and the Ming texts discussed here is closely related. At the local level, these inscriptions indicate, the court functioned as the main source of authority and 'cultural capital'. It mattered, it would seem, for those locally active in the restoration pro­ cesses, to gain the endorsement in the form of a temple inscription of someone located at the capital. It seems to have worried few that such inscriptions were at times hardly factually accurate and at other times written by authors blatantly uninterested in the exact circumstances at the temple. What mattered, one has to conclude, was that the estab­ lishment was, in one way or another, drawn into the culture of court. Through association, the local institutions gained during this period a sense of the centre. For those inJi'an, it was important to be somehow involved with the centre. Whilejinshi figures fluctuated, careers at times were abruptly halted, and high profile figures might be thrown in jail, executed, or stripped of their titles, an interest in the centre, and a desire to be known to be associated with it, continued throughout much of the fifteenth century. It was not until the sixteenth century that the situation reverted back to a focus on the local. The association with the capital was, of course, by no means permanent, but it was serious and impressive while it lasted.

CHAPTER SEVEN

LATE MING JI'AN: A NEW SACRED

LANDSCAPE?

The thirteenth-century landscape, as seen through the eyes of men like Wang Xiangzhi and Liu Chenweng, was threatening and partly unknown; after all, during the Song, Jizhou was still to some extent a frontier region, to which Han Chinese culture had only spread fairly recently. It was also, first and foremost, a landscape marked by sacred sites. Writing about monasteries and abbeys, shrines and temples of Jizhou gave the literati and after all, it is through their eyes we see this landscape, not through the eyes of the vast majority of the population opportunities to shape and construct a personal landscape. As I have shown, Jizhou literati were drawn to the sacred sites in their landscape, because writing about them allowed these writers to inscribe their landscape, and order their spatial environment. Their extant writ­ ings, temple inscriptions, provide a record of literati attempts to belong to the local communities, and to assign meaningful roles to themselves within these communities. Seventeenth-century Ji'an was, unsurprisingly, a very different place. During the Ming, the south, and in particular Jiangxi, had found a firm space on the map of the empire because of the supplies of grain it produced to feed the less fertile and more arid regions in the north. Jiangxi and Huguang were the main grain-producing provinces of the empire, and Jiangxi and Huguang barges travelled constantly up and down the rivers delivering the goods to feed the ever more densely populated Jiangnan region. Jiangxi's reputation for trade was linked to the reputation of the production of ceramics inJingdezhen in Raozhou prefecture (see Map 6). The ceramic production of this busy city in the north-east of the province, with products famed as highly desirable luxury goods in Europe shipped by the Raozhou merchants all over the empire, gained it the nickname 'City of year-round thunder and lightening' (sishi leidian zhen [g B�ili��), due to the never-ending noise of hammers pounding the earth and smoke filling the skies. 1 1

Yu Longsheng, 'Mingdai Jiangxi shangren de xingshang tese', in Shangrao shifon xueyuan xuebao 22.4 (2002): 78.

1 54

CHAPTER SEVEN

Guangxin

Ji'an

N ,

,

100km ,

Map 6. Ming prefectures of Jiangxi. Map based on China Historical GIS, Version 3.0 (April 2005)

LATE MING ]I'AN

1 55

Initially, there was plenty of land available for grain production in Jiangxi.2 However, as the population grew during the late Ming, and pressures on peasants increased because of rising taxes and corvee duties, more Jiangxi peasants lost their lands to powerful landowners who were better equipped to exploit the grain export. For those who lost their land, the options were threefold. They could try their hand at trade, they could migrate to Huguang, or further afield to Guangdong and Guilin, or they could join the household of a wealthy landowner as tenants. The first option, to turn to commerce, was, as Yu Longsheng has shown, heavily favoured in Jiangxi, and number of merchants grew quickly. The mountains, useless for grain production, provided ample products for manufacturing and trade: Jiangxi merchants exported, apart from ceramics, tea, paper, sugar, tobacco and ramie cloth.3 Migration was also a popular option. Huguang took most of the migrants from Jiangxi, as is still the case today. Land in Huguang was cheaper and more copiously available, and home was near enough to make occasional trips back for worship and ritual duties. It was a well-known fact that men from Jiangxi worked and settled in Huguang; an oft-quoted fifteenth-century statement suggested that 'half of Jiangxi males have gone west to become merchants in Huguang'.4 For those who could not migrate or succeed in commerce, entering tenancy in a large landlord household was the only remaining option, and it has been suggested that tenant numbers were particularly high in Jiangxi. Shi Youmin argues that early Ming success in the examinations inJiangxi, and especially inJi'an, was partially to blame. For the large numbers of gentlemen who had passed the exams and gained status and power at the capital, their ability to purchase local land and establish extended estates in their native areas had substantially increased.5 Jiangxi had become a region of large estates, tenant farming, and mercantile activity. Jiangxi would never be known

2

Heijdra, 'The Socio-Economic Development of Rural China', 533. 3 Yu, 'Mingdai Jiangxi shangren', 77-79. 4 The statement was made by Qju Jun .fr�:i'f ( 1 420-95), a scholar of statecraft. Timothy Brook, Confosions qf Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 998), 95. 5 Shi Youmin, 'Shixi MingdaiJiangxi de dianpuzhi yu zudianzhi', Jiangxi shehuikexue lishi yanjiu I I (2003): 1 7 1-1 73.

1 56

CHAPTER SEVEN

as a 'centre' of economic activity, but the area had changed significantly during the course of the Ming, and the effects of those changes were visible in the constantly developing natural landscape. Ji'an literati saw a different landscape. More significantly perhaps, they saw a different role for themselves in that local landscape. Temples no longer appeared in their writings as central nodes of local trans­ formation. While in the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, literati wrote about temples as pre-eminent spaces of local activism, Ming literati distanced themselves from temples. In early Ming, as we saw, they distanced themselves physically, their location at the capital a constant refrain. In late Ming, as the following chapter argues, they employed a variety of strategies to express the distance between themselves and the sacred sites they wrote about. Before we explore the significance of that distancing further, however, we need to look more closely at the Ji'an landscape as it was conjured up in late Ming literati records. In the following pages we will follow the traveller and geographer Xu Xiake (1 587- 1 641) on his 1 636 journey throughJi'an. Xu'sjourney between 1 636 and 1 640 was to Chicken Feet Mountain (Jizu shan �� LlJ) in Yunnan, which initially led him through Zhejiang and Jiangxi, before taking him through Huguang, Guangxi and Guizhou to Yunnan. Reading Xu's descriptions of the Ji'an he visited, enables us to see Ji'an through his eyes, noting the features he found note­ worthy, and lingering over the sites where he chose to linger. Through his travel record, we will see a landscape that is utterly different from the landscape of Song Jizhou. Gone are the references to threatening and fearsome sites, gone also the references to outstanding academic success. In their stead, we find well-travelled paths, and sites with ven­ erable histories of visiting worthies. The most striking sites, in Ji'an literati eyes, were not the sites where negotiations with the invisible world had taken place, but sites of historical association and reminders of a glorious past. Xu Xiake in Ji'an

Xu travelled with a Buddhist monk named Jingwen �1il:I and two servants. In the winter of 1 636, they enteredJi'an prefecture from the north-east, where they had seen the Huagai Mountains near Le'an

LATE MING JI'AN

157

county (see Map 7).6 They travelled by boat into Yongfeng, where they spent the night at the county seat. For the next two days they continued by river towards Jishui. Xu was impressed by its strategic riverside location: [The river] curls around the eastern gates of Jishui, and turns towards the southern, western and northern gates, where it flows into the Gan. The river that encircles three sides of Jishui is the En, which comes from Yongfeng. The Gan only passes the northern gate.)

Xu had intended to travel on obviously he was not expecting any sites of great interest inJishui but incessant rain kept the group there, and he decided to spend the day visiting the Zhang family. The Zhangs, Xu noted, had for many generations been able to send their sons to take part in the examinations, although they never achieved success, and had in more recent times been even less fortunate. 'Even though this is a large family., no one studies, and hence not one of them wears a gentleman's gown, which makes me very sad. '8 Jishui was not what it had once been in terms of examination success. In the first long century of Ming rule, Jishui had an average of almost four successful candidates per examination year. That extraordinary average dropped to just over one candidate after 1 499.9 While it had produced more degree holders than any other Ji'an county in the first half of the Ming, it had dropped to a shared third place in the second half, and had only half the successful candidates that Anfu county produced during this period. Xu's despondency over the Zhang family's lacklustre performance may well have echoed a wider sentiment in the Jishui area.

6

For Xu's biography, see Arthur Hummel, Eminent Chinese if the Ch 'ing Period (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1 943), 3 1 4-3 1 6. His diaries are also discussed inJulian Ward, Xu Xiake (1587-1641) The Art if Travel Writing (Richmond: Curzon, 200 1). See also Li Chi, The Travel Diaries if Hsii Hsia-k'o (Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 1 974). The best edition of Xu Xiake's travel diaries is Xu Hongzu, Xu Xiakeyo0i (Late Ming, reprint, Shanghai: Shanghai guji; 1 980) in 3 vols. For maps of his travels, see the third volume of Xu Xiakeyotii. A map of Xu's 1 636-1 640 journey can also be found in Timothy Brook, 'Communications and Commerce', 627. 7 XXKY], 1 48. 8 XXKY], 1 49. 9 To be more precise, between 1 3 7 1 and 1 499, Jishui produced 1 46 jinshi degree holders, or on average 3.7 successful candidates per examination year. Between 1 502 and 1 643, Jishui produced only another 65, or on average 1 .3 per examination year. JAFZ ( I 776), juan 25.

-

-

. \

,

'

" an h s g n o g U , W � , ' Anfu .... , - - I- - , �

.,.

....

-

'"

_

/

,

-

.,. ....

.... ....

,

A

-

-

-

,

I

, l, \

,.

� .

.Chen shan

e shan•

Jf,

-\

,

,,,

""

He R.

•

Yongxm '

" " ,

, _ ....

,- I

,

,

,

. '"'iJ .... ....'�

, -!' t ··

J

-� '�-J 'r,.ro..

..

-

_,

� "

, "

,,

.,.

\ ,

_

-

,

I .... ,

'_ _

'

,,

_

.,. _

'

J

Ii

/ - ,

, _ _ ,, '

, t

J

�

,

"

,

-

(if

longquan

.... .... ,..

,

-

- -

....

'"

..,

.

W an

an

'

'' -

....� ... '1"

-

:

-

-

'

\

,

I I..

�,l

I

f

,

/

,

- '

'

,

""

\

1

«

•

I

' I

- -

\

,

-

-

\

'

-

,

'

.,

'

'

'

\

,

t,j

�
t'1

�Z

'

' , \ "

'

,

\

,

,

N

,

'

,'

"

.... " .... "

0

00

.

'.;

� -

I

U1

le ' an

-

II

I

......

' .,

...

, -

� - - -

jI

'

��

� . �. ....__ ,.

I

'

\

GanR.

. .

'

.

�

,

FUZhOU fU

,

Yongfeng "

'

�

.'" " ... ....:...

'

-

'

.,

"� ..Eingyuan shan

J r;

-

.

,

�

•

'

�..,

r.i . ./ , ... -

�

.

, I

..... =0

..-- .... -.

_ ,

_ ..

r.":r -.:..:

'r;. '[J

-

Jishui

•

,,

•

T al'h e

Yongning

,

--

.,

,�

�.-

.

\

'

lu r mg

-

Ji'an f u

.

.

,

\

�� , ,,--J� - 1 .-..1

--

'-

, _

�,

_

_

.

\"'-� '" -,........ .

lujiang

-

"

.

��

",

1.

-

50km

1

Map 7 . Xu Xiake in Ji'an. Map based on China Historical GIS, Version 3.0 (April 2005)

LATE MING JI'AN

1 59

Despite the by now torrential rain, nothing could keep Xu inJishui, and they sailed on, up the Gan, heading southwest towards Luling. Although he did not visit it, Xu did note the existence of Longhua Monastery, near the Jishui city walls: The monastery is very old, and recently it has been restored and re­ roofed. There is a shrine for Zou Nangao ��l¥I* [i.e. Zou Yuanbiao, 1 5 5 1 - 1 624] . On the eastern wall in front of the monks' hall is a text carved in stone written by Han Xizai ���1i:, and Xu Xuan 13f;tt also wrote eight lines.lO

Through Xu Xiake's description we learn something of the landscape as he saw it. A monastery like Longhua had become more than a place of worship and retreat alone; it was a site with its own cultural history, such as the shrine for the scholar Zou Yuanbiao, who had died just a decade earlier. The grave inscription for Chan Master Yuanji ::JC� by Han Xizai (902-970) and Xu Xuan (9 1 6-99 1) was what had made this monastery famous, and why it had merited an entry in the Comprehensive Gazetteer (Da Mingyi tong zhi). 1 1 The picture Xu formed of the landscape was thus defined and coloured further by encounters with the figures who had been there before. The restoration Xu referred to had been started in 1 628, but according to the 1 660 prefectural gazetteer, the work had not yet been completed in 1 640, when it was destroyed again by soldiers. 1 2 No doubt Xu Xiake had noted the monastery's entry in his Comprehensive Gazetteer, one of the few books he had with him on his travels, but although he copied its noteworthy information in his diary, he did not tarry to visit the monastery himself. Their next port of call was Bailuzhou, the islet in the Gan River, just outside Luling's city walls. They moored the boat, and after dealing with some thieves, who had come on board earlier and tried to steal their belongings, they settled themselves at Jingtu Chapel r'J±fIt on Bailu Islet. Xu Xiake was looking forward to visiting Bailuzhou, having long known about its beauty and history. 13 The academy had of course seen its heyday during the Southern Song, when Ouyang Shoudao taught such luminaries as Wen Tianxiang and Liu Chenweng, but it had fallen into disrepair during the Yuan dynasty. 14 In 1 355 some efforts 10 11 l'

13 14

XXKY], 1 49. Da Mingyitongzhi, 56. 1 8b. JAFZ ( 1 660), 16. 7b. XXKY], 150. It was first destroyed by soldiers in 1 292, and damaged by floods two years later.

1 60

CHAPTER SEVEN

had been made to restore the academy, but it was not until 1 526 that serious money was spent on the buildings' renovations, supervised by the prefectural magistrate. Xu and his fellow travellers spent several days at Bailuzhou, some of them holed up in the Academy because of the incessant rain, some visiting the old town of Luling, which Xu described as 'quiet and peaceful', and some trying to get to the nearby Shen'gang Mountains :flft lIliJ LlJ .15 Their attempts were thwarted twice, however, because the rain had made the mud soft and the road impassable. When the skies finally cleared a litde, they managed to make an outing to Dajue Chapel *1i;�. Dajue had originally been calledJuebao 1i;�, and was entered under that name in the Comprehensive Gazetteer, which also added the fact that the chapel was built on the site of Zhou Bida's residence again the association with a figure fromJi'an's past was considered more note­ worthy than the evidence of human control over nature's forces.16 The next day the travellers embarked on a tour of the Qj.ngyuan Mountains to the east of Ji'an prefectural seat, returning toJi'an twelve days later. They climbed Mount Tianyu :JC3ijkLlJ , or Heavenly Gaol Mountain, the mountain whose name had so annoyed Liang Qj.an when he wrote, '[p] eople also say the mountain serves as a prison for ghosts. Thus it is also has the name Tianyu. People say this is where spirits and the like are arrested and detained. Of course this is utter nonsense.ll7 Xu Xiake had litde interest in strange stories and local practices, and mentioned no details about the mountain. He also men­ tioned litde about the market town of Yonghe, although they passed it on their way to Jingju Monastery in the Qj.ngyuan Mountains. Yonghe, conveniendy located on the banks of the river, had been a place of great glory during the Song, a site of early industrial manufacturing of pottery that once exceededJingdezhen in output and quality. By Ming times, however, it had lost its standing, and Xu did not even note its Song dynasty pagoda, or the remains of the Song dynasty potteries (still standing today). Neither was Jingju Monastery what it had once been. Founded by the Seventh Patriarch in the eighth century,Jingju was one of the most The daruhachi of Ji'an circuit ordered the local gentry to contribute towards its restora­ tion in 1 295, but it was damaged by heavy floods again in 1 342. 15 Ibid. 16 Da Mingyitongzhi, 56. 1 8a. 1 7 Liang, Bo'an ji, 3.5a. See the fuller discussion of this text in the previous chapter, page 1 36.

LATE MING JI'AN

161

famous sites of Buddhism during the Song dynasty. By Ming times, however, the buildings had begun to be used for other purposes. During the early sixteenth century, most famously, they had become the meet­ ing place for the members of the famous Jiangyou group, made up of latter-day Wang Yangming-ists like Nie Bao ( 1 487-1 563) from Yongfeng, Zou Shouyi ���:@. ( 1 49 1-1 562) from Anfu, Ouyang De (1 496-1 554) from Taihe, and Luo Hongxian (1 504- 1 564) from Jishui. These four men were honoured together with Wang Yangming in a Five Worthies Shrine at the location of the old Buddhist complex. As a site, it had therefore become strongly associated with these Confucian thinkers, and was hence used as an academy. In the early seventeenth century, two local gentlemen became extremely interested in restoring Jingju. They were the Jishui scholar and official Zou Yuanbiao and the Taihe philanthropist Guo Zizhang !j!�r� ( 1 542- 1 6 1 8). Their plan was initially to try and restore both the Confucian academy and the Buddhist temple at one site, but according to Xu Xiake's diary, it was due to the strong opinions of the abbot of Jingju Monastery that this did not happen. The abbot who had been put in charge of Jingju by these two gentlemen was Chan Master Zhenyuan (Zhenyuan chanshi Jl;.5tt", �jj]), also known as Benji *�, who served as abbot from 1 6 1 5 until his death in 1 638. At the time of Xu's visit, both Zou and Guo had already been dead for some time, but Ber�ji was still busy restoring the site to its Buddhist function. It had been decided to have all the buildings associated with the academy, including the meeting hall and the Shrine for the Five Worthies, moved away from the central sacred site, and to embark on the building of a new hall in the middle of the site, a project not yet completed when Xu visited, as he noted in his diary.18 So with this redevelopment and investment, the complex of sacred sites in the Qjngyuan Mountains was undergoing a revival of sorts. It became noteworthy, in late Ming views of this area, for its associations with these important secular scholars, rather than for its significance as a sacred site. After their return from the trip to Qjngyuan, the travellers spent another few days at Bailuzhou. The weather finally allowed them to reach the Shen'gang Mountains, located south of the prefectural seat, on the west bank of the Gan River. The southern slopes of these mountains

18

XXKY], 152. For Benji's biography, see OYZL, 52. The Five Worthies are Wang Yangming, Zou Shouyi, Nie Bao, Ouyang De and Luo Hongxian.

1 62

CHAPTER SEVEN

led to another river, flowing into the Gan from the west, carrying the floodwaters of the mountains in Anfu and Yongxin into the Gan. At this strategic point, where the Anfu and Yongxin Rivers meet the Gan, at the southern foothills of the Shen'gang Mountains, they noted another significant shrine. This was the shrine for Governor Liu (Liu fujun miao ;UmttJi). Liu Zhu ;U� had been governor of the area in the sixth century, and was honoured after his death for his protection of the area. During the Song dynasty, the god had been enfeoffed as King Lihui ;fU�..::E , and by sixteenth century, the shrine was known as Shen'gang Huiyou miao :f$ � �ftlJi.19 Xu's account, however, reveals little personal interest when religious sites are described. In the vision of this landscape of a local resident, this probably was a highly numi­ nous location, with rivers flowing in the direction of several important towns, and mountains towering over the rivers. One might have found a powerful mix here of prayers to the rain gods hiding in the rivers, prayers to ward off the dangers associated with river travel, especially when those travelling were carrying precious loads, and prayers from those who brought their own deities along with them on their journeys by land and water. None of that appears in Xu's account. Xu is a tourist with a particular interest in nature. The absence of interest in the sacred in Xu's writings does not in itself attest to a wider lack of interest in such sites. Nevertheless, the contrast with thirteenth-century accounts is noteworthy. When they finally left Luling, the travellers had spent almost three weeks here, and clearly enjoyed their sightseeing tours in the area, despite the overwhelmingly bad weather. Their journey now continued towards the west, in the direction of Yongxin county, located to the west of Luling. They journeyed by boat, although their hosts in Luling had attempted to discourage them, fearing the narrow rivers with their treacherous rapids. But Xu insisted on travelling by boat, more wor­ ried about the possibility that snow might hold them up on land. They passed some fishing villages with hundreds of boats, villagers making their living from the catch in streams and lakes scattered in the area. Further on, where the mountains are steeper and the river more dif­ ficult to pass, they found villages that depended on trade in firewood for their existence. This was clearly a less affluent part of Ji'an. They encountered more interesting scenery, with rocks and caves and peaks 19

[WanliJ JAFZ, 1 6.4b.

LATE MING JI'AN

1 63

to explore, and apart from negotiating the infamous rapids in the river, they also had to negotiate broken bridges that had crumbled into the nver. A contemporary observer described this stretch of the river to the east of Yongxin as follows: •

On both sides [of the river] dark mountains face each other, [forming] stone walls leaning sideways. [The mountains] are covered with thick forest, while strangely shaped stones are scattered on the ground. They look like a multitude of horses in angry battle. Waterfalls spring up amongst them, thrashing against the stones like thunderclaps. Boats pass by, travelling up and down the river, frequently crashing into the sides. Hundreds have hit a rock and sunk. The boat hands do their utmost, turning pale as they veer between safety and danger. Because of this, travellers make offerings to the gods. There are even more temples [for river gods] than Yellow Ox Shrines (huangniu miao Jt4-Jtij). The county as a whole annually transports several hundreds of thousands of bushels [of grain] . Boats that safely reach the two capitals have all been blessed by these gods. 20

Xu and his fellow travellers clearly had much to be grateful for when they arrived safely at their destination, for the landscape still posed serious dangers to the traveller. The emphasis, however, in this literati view of the sites, is on boats, crews, travellers, and grain transport; the forces of nature have become nothing more than a stunning back­ drop. Xu and his companions arrived in Yongxin on the last day of the year, and nowhere could they find suitable lodgings, until a local passer­ by recognized them as visitors from the capital. 'Are you from the southern capital?' he shouted out, inviting them to his humble abode. It turned out that this man had once visited his brother, who held a post in the Department of Ritual, at the capital. Despite the remote location, the travellers still managed to find people of a similar status to take them in and share a meal with them. From here Xu Xiake decided to explore the countryside to the north. Jingwen took luggage on to a town called Lujiang �iI further to the west in Yongxin, and Xu Xiake set off alone, on foot, to walk north towards the Wugong Mountains, also known as the Peaks of Immortal Ge (Gexian feng ::.I1LlJwt), and back down to Lujiang. In the next nine days, Xu trav­ elled a distance of probably over 1 50 kilometres through mountainous 20

Yin Tai, 'Majia miao ji', JAFZ ( 1 776), 1 4.39b-40a.

1 64

CHAPTER SEVEN

terrain, most of the time through dense fog, which hampered not only visibility but also progress. Xu's visit to the Wugong Mountains

Xu Xiake first travelled through the mountains to the north-west of Yongxin county seat, the He Mountains * LlJ . He passed a temple called Heshan * LlJ �, but although the abbot tried to persuade him to stay, inviting him to accompany him on a trip to a nearby cave to make his offerings, Xu Xiake pressed on northwards, towards the Wugong Mountains. As he passed the Yongxin-Anfu border, he entered the next mountain range, the Chen Mountains � LlJ . The high peaks and deep ravines he encountered here made it clear that he needed someone to carry luggage, so he hired a local hand to help him. Their ascent to the top of the Wugong Mountains started at a small temple called 'Branch Palace for the Three Immortals' (Sanxian xinggong -= {wf'J'§). They were climbing in incessant rain, so when they passed Jiyun Abbey after only a short climb, they stopped to dry themselves. They foundJiyun Abbey beautifully decorated for the New Year's celebrations. Decorating the buildings for the Spring Festival was regarded as an important part of the festivities in these parts.21 The abbey was, however, in an incomplete state. AlthoughJiyun Abbey was not listed in Xu Xiake's copy of the Comprehensive Gazetteer, it was an institution with a venerable history. It had foundations dating back to before the Tang dynasty, and had been extensively restored in 1 265. It was also the site of active worship of the Immortal Ge, who was said to have practiced the Way in these mountains. Sites for worship of Ge Hong were in fact scattered throughout the Wugong Mountains, and many names of sites in the mountains reminded the traveller of Ge's practices.22 . They travelled onwards and upwards, taking with them one of the adepts from Jiyun Abbey. These high, and in places inaccessible, mountains had a multitude of sites for Buddhist and Daoist worship scattered among them. Many were located near the peaks:Jiulong nff� Mountain, for example, at 1 699 metres one of the higher peaks of 21

The quote from the Wanli gazetteer is included in the 1 683 Yongxin gazetteer. Yongxin xianzhi ( 1 683), 3. 1 2a. 22 Arifit xianzhi ( 1 872), 2. 1 3a.

-

-

LATE MING JI'AN

-

--

-

--

-------

1 65

the Wugong range, had a Buddhist temple below its peak, on a tiny flat space surrounded by high peaks. The mountain gazetteer for the Wugong Mountains, compiled first in the late Ming and completed during the Qj.ng dynasty, lists as many as 40 shrines, chapels, temples and monasteries, and the likelihood is that there were many more.23 Many such sacred sites had stories associated with them. The chapel at Ji Peak, for example, was said to have some calligraphy written on the walls by an early Ming Daoist named Bai Yuchan B 3I._. When he travelled here, he wrote a poem on the wall in running script, which only became visible when the wall was washed down.24 Again, the landscape is not so much testimony to the overwhelming powers of nature, as to the cumulative layers of history and culture that covered these sites. Before Xu Xiake reachedJiulong Peak, he first passed a temple called Guanyinya .If�, also known as Baifa Chapel B ?!Ji. This temple had been founded quite recendy by a dharma master named Baiyun �jfj, and after Baiyun's death, his disciples named the chapel B after their master, so that in later years it would be most commonly known as Baiyun. Guanyinya, as Xu Xiake referred to it, was located at a fairly accessible location, with a road heading straight down towards Jiangkou, and another leading straight up to the top of the mountain. It was also, in Xu Xiake's observation, open to the lay believers from the locality for visits and worship. 25 Baiyun's student Yinzhi �Iz was Xu's host here, and he told him about some of the miracles associated with Baiyun, and about the pond that he had carved out of the hard rock in front of the temple. Baiyun, who founded the temple here during the Jiajing period of the Ming dynasty, clearly operated on the fringes of the orthodox establishment. Baiyun's terse biography in the 1 872 Anfu gazetteer suggests that he was once jailed for calling on powerful gods while he was working on

23

Zhang Cheng, ed., Wugong shanzhi (n.d.),juan 2. This edition in sevenjuan consists of two texts: the first compiled by the Ming dynastr vice-minister of the Seals Office, . formerly Hanlin Academy bachelor, Zhang Cheng mfi. During the early Qng dpasty, it was supplemented by a descendant of Zhang Cheng, Zhang Guangxun 1R%iIJ. The manuscript copy, of which I obtained a photocopy in the Anfu county museum, is divided in unpaginated juan. 24 ArifU xianzhi ( 1 872), 2.2 I a. For a biography of Bai Yuchan (zi Baisou EI�, hao Haiqiong �l!), who became an immortal in the Wugong Mountains, see Zhang, ed., Wugong shanzhi (n.d.),juan 4. 25 XXKr], 1 64.

1 66

CHAPTER SEVEN

the building of a Buddha hall on the outskirts of a town. When an epidemic spread just after he had cursed the area, he was hastily freed, and Baiyun took to the road, travelling through Shanxi and Shaanxi, and south to Guangdong and Guizhou. It was only after his return to Wugong that the appearance of a white oriole in a pond inspired him to establish a shrine at this very 10cation.26 Yinzhi told nothing of all this to Xu when he talked about his old master. The 1 875 prefectural gazetteer provides Baiyun's biographical details, but leaves out Baiyun's encounter with the law, and the Wugong Mountain gazetteer does not list him at all among the Buddhist and Daoist masters associated with the mountain.27 Perhaps Xu had stumbled here, at this junction of frequently travelled roads up and down the mountains, on a popular temple that was frowned upon by the more orthodox establishment, but one that held much more significance for the local population than the more exclusive Buddhist temples further up the mountains. Hints like this remind us that the view of the landscape from literati accounts is a very limited one, not one shared by the ordinary people who lived and worked in these mountains. Nevertheless, it is precisely the literati perspective that concerns us here. Xu Xiake had not intended to stay at Guanyinya, but his clothes and shoes were thoroughly wet, so he was persuaded to stay at least to change his clothing. Then they set off again, keen to reach the peak behind the temple. They did manage it, but only to find themselves completely surrounded by fog, with a view that consisted only of thick white clouds. By accident they encountered two men on the road, making their descent, who pointed out that they had already passed the place where they intended to spend the night. The next day, the fourth of their journey on foot in the mountains, they headed west towards Jiulong Peak, with a visibility that varied from seeing nothing, to moments of glorious clarity that showed a view of a multitude of peaks piercing the skies. Here they encountered Jiulong Temple. As Xu describes it, ' [t]he monastery was built against the western side of the Wugong mountain range, with high peaks suddenly opening up and forming an enclosed area, with a flat space in the middle. ' 28 The monastery was built over a period of fourteen years between 1 553 26 A rifU xianzhi ( 1 872), 1 3.66a. 2 7 JAFZ ( 1 875), 37.72b. The monks' biographies are included in Zhang, ed., Wugong

shanzhi, juan 4. 28 XXKY], 1 64.

LATE MING JI' AN

167

and 1 566 by a Chan Master from Ningzhou, around the same time Guanyinya was founded by Chan Master Baiyun further to the east. According to Xu Xiake, Jiulong was a secluded and inward looking monastery, much more cut off from the world of mortals than Guan­ yinya. Despite their secluded existence, the monks atJiulong were keen to receive Xu Xiake and invited him to stay, but Xu pushed on once again, heading further south and down the mountain. When he got to Lutai, a settlement due south of Jiulong Mountain, he found the few houses there full of guests for the New Year's festivities, and only when one of the villagers took pity on him did he find a bed. Even in these remote parts, travellers could obviously expect to find lodgings. The next day Xu Xiake managed to indulge in one of his passions: exploring a famous cave.29 In such mountainous areas there were many deep caves, some large enough to hold many hundreds of people, others too small to hold a single person. Many such caves were sites of religious significance, such as the 2 1 'Cave Heavens' that form part of Daoist sacred geography.30 There was a Buddhist chapel in the entrance of the cave, founded by the Anfu scholar Liu Yuanqing IUjC9NP (1 544-1 609) and called 'Stone Gate' (Shimen Dr�). Xu was always keen to enter such caves and noted down carefully what he found inside them, their dimensions and the colours of the stone. This was a deep cave, with deep pools inside, and strangely shaped stones. But because of their failure to obtain a torch, Xu and his servant made little headway with their explorations here, and when they finally emerged darkness was already falling outside. Finally at Lujiang after an exhaustingjourney, Xu met his companion Jingwen again, and they decided to continue their journey from here by sedan chair. Following along several streams, they travelled close to several borders: the county border between Yongxin and Yongning to the south, the county border between Yongning, Yongxin, and Cha­ ling, and the provincial boundary betweenJiangxi and Huguang. From here they passed into Huguang, and via Chaling and Hengzhou on to Guangxi, Guizhou and eventually to Yunnan.

29

For a discussion of Xu Xiake's interest in caves, see Ward, Xu Xiake, especially 1 67- 1 7 1 . 30 For an excellent introduction to the significance of caves in sacred geography, see Thomas Hahn, 'The Standard Taoist Mountain and Related Features of Religious Geography', Cahiers d'Extrbne-Asie 4 ( 1 988): 1 45- 1 56.

1 68

CHAPTER SEVEN

Counties

qff the beaten track

Reflecting on Xu's diary entries for Ji'an, one cannot but be impressed by his ability to describe the scenery and conjure up the remote atmo­ sphere of the places he visited. Xu's interests were on the whole not spiritual, and although Xu was willing to stray from his route to visit some sites of religious significance, a great many sacred sites that we know existed from the Comprehensive Gazetteer remained unnoticed in his diary entries. Xu's journey took him more or less along a straight line from Yongfeng in the north-east, via Jishui and Luling in the middle to Yongxin in the west, with a brief expedition to Anfu in the north. The southern counties of Taihe, Wan'an and Longquan stayed almost entirely outside Xu's picture. Xu was aware of Taihe, as his travels along the river He towards Yongxin took him along the northern county borders of Taihe, but at no stage did Xu express an inclination to leave his route and make a detour to Taihe. We can only speculate why this was the case. Was it the landscape of Taihe, which lacked the steep mountains and deep caves that Xu was so attracted to? Taihe, which was carved right through the middle by the arterial Gan River, was at the heart of the so-called Ji-Tai Basin, and famous for its fertile lands, but Taihe was not altogether devoid of mountains. It also had its share of temples, but Xu Xiake was not especially interested in religious thought, so it should come as no surprise that he passed by some of the famed local religious sitesY His decision not to venture into Taihe may also be explained by what Dardess refers to as the lack of inter­ est in the landscape in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Taihe. Taihe's days as the leading county of Ji were long over, and few of the nationally renowned literati were from Taihe, or writing about Taihe. It was a county in decline, and Xu decided not to bother with it. Wan'an and Longquan, also ignored by Xu Xiake, were further off his route, but they were also further off the beaten track in terms of Ji'an's prefectural identity. If he had taken a detour to either of these places, he would have encountered an identity that probably leaned

31

Ward disputes this, and argues that Xu's interest in Buddhism is evident in the amount of time he spends visiting monasteries, talking with monks, and fulfilling the request of his companion, the monkJingwen. Ward, Xu Xiake, 1 72-1 77. I would suggest that Xu, like many of his literati contemporaries, was interested in Buddhism as part of his cultural world. He does not, however, express any overtly Buddhist (or Daoist) sentiments in his descriptions of the landscape and the sacred sites he visits.

LATE MING JI'AN

1 69

more towards Ganzhou in the south than towards Luling in the north. Wan'an was located along the Gan in the southernmost part of Ji'an prefecture; Longquan was located in the south-western corner of the prefecture, surrounded by Huguang counties in the west, and Ganzhou prefecture to the south. While Wan'an was at least on the main tho­ roughfare north to Luling, Longquan was truly a backwater. Longquan produced only five jinshi degree holders between 1 502 and 1 643, and Wan'an a more respectable 32. Longquan had done better in the first half of the Ming, with a total of twelve jinshi degree holders, but Wan'an had increased its number from twenty degree holders between 1 3 7 1 and 1 499. Throughout the Ming, Wan'an and Longquan were the poorest and least developed part of the prefecture. Wan'an was perhaps most notorious for its Eighteen Rapids. The section of the Gan River that passed through Wan'an was extremely treacherous, as Matteo Ricci found when he and his companion were thrown overboard here in 1 595.32 The Wan'an county magistrate, Wei Xiang (Qjng) , exclaimed in desperation after he arrived for duty in Wan'an: As for monasteries and temples, there is only this one temple, Xianju {W'% Monastery, where [people] worship the Buddha and sacrifice to the gods. It also serves as a place where the gentlemen of the county reside temporarily. . . . As for the various gentlemen who come to lecture at Xianju Monastery, they do not even get individual sticks of incense burned for them.33

Of course Wei Xiang was exaggerating. The Comprehensive Gazetteer men­ tions at least two other temples, Taiping Monastery andJingxiu Abbey, both located north of the Wan'an county seat, and there were probably hundreds of other shrines, temples, and monasteries sprinkled in the landscape. What matters is that few of them entered literati conscious­ ness, because the local gentlemen of Wan'an lacked the connections with members of the Ming regional or national elite that would have allowed them to request commemorative inscriptions. For Longquan, the Comprehensive Gazetteer lists only one temple, Faji Cloister ytntf�, a temple with Song origins that had been restored during the Hongwu reign-period.34 But there was also Taixiao Abbey

32 33 34

Brook, 'Communications and Commerce', 606-07. Wei Xiang, 'Xianju si ji', U'tzn'an xianzhi ( 1 873), 1 8.5 1 a-52a. Da Mingyitongzhi, 56. 1 9a; ]AFZ (1 875), 1 O . 1 7h.

1 70

CHAPTER SEVEN

* llfU, famous for its inscription by Wen Tianxiang, preserved in the local gazetteers. By the early sixteenth century, Taixiao was undergoing its third Ming restoration (having been restored once before in 1 3 70, and again in 1 428) under the auspices of the abbot of Taixiao.35 The abbot was an enterprising individual: he first set his sights on Taixiao and only then travelled to the capital to obtain the right qualifications to be appointed as abbot. When the renovations were complete, he approached a retired official in Taihe, Ouyang Yun G!tj)jW (1 479?1 550), to write the inscription. Ouyang Yun, ajinshi of 1 499, had earlier become embroiled in a court controversy, and spent the last 40 years of his life in Taihe. He wrote a detailed account of the history of the establishment.36 There was also the famous Baishi Shrine S "fiJWj that had frequently proved its worth in times of drought, and was com­ memorated by a literatus at the behest of the county magistrate.37 Longquan's temples were thus connected to a wider circle of literati than in Wan'an. But while the northern counties of Ji'an had continued to develop, and provided a rich cultural backdrop for Xu's travels, the southern counties of Ji'an seem, by Ming times, not to have developed a great deal, and remained off the beaten track. Travel writers taming the landscape

Seeing theJi'an landscape through the eyes of men like Xu Xiake and the compilers of county and prefectural gazetteers brings to the fore the main point of this chapter. MingJi'an, and especially late MingJi'an, was a much more familiar space thanJizhou had been. It was, I would argue, men like Xu Xiake, who travelled through the area and wrote in great detail of what they saw, who contributed to making it so. Xu Xiake was, after all, not the first man to travel the mountains and caves of Ji'an: from around 1 500 we have the records of a great many itinerant literati. Of course, scholars of Song China had also travelled, as had merchants and monks. What had changed was the numbers in which they did this. The records, travelogues, poems, and diaries of travellers in Ji'an were part of a process that made the natural scenery of most

JAFZ ( 1 875), 1 O. 2 1 b-22a. 36 Ouyang Yun, 'Zhongxiu Taixiao guan ji', Longquan xian:;.hi (1873), 1 6.33a-b. For his biography, see Taihe xian::,hi ( 1 879), 1 7 . 15a-b. 37 Zou Hansheng, 'Zhongxiu Baishi miao beiji', Longquan xian:;.hi ( 1 873), 1 6.36b-37a. 35

LATE MING JI'AN

171

places more familiar. The social and economic changes inJiangxi had clearly made it a far more widely developed place in the Ming dynasty than it had been in the Song, and travel writers also contributed to the sense of familiarity and understanding of the scenery. Take the Wugong Mountains. Xu Xiake, on his way to far-off Yunnan, decided to make a nine-day detour on foot to climb these mountains. Perhaps he was only told of the beauty of these mountains by the magistrate of Ji'an in Luling, or by the gentlemen he met in Yongxin, from where he set off on his journey north. Far more likely, however, is that he knew of the Wugong Mountains well before he came to Ji'an. We can only guess, as Xu tells us nothing specific about why he chose to visit these mountains, but one of the reasons why such mountains inJi'an were known throughout the realm to educated literati like Xu Xiake was the existence of extensive literati travel records. Roughly one hundred years before Xu Xiake walked into the Wugong Mountains, for example, a man named Liu Yang flU � had done something similar.38 Not that Liu Yang was a true traveller like Xu Xiake: Liu was a local man, born in Anfu in 1 496. He passed the provincial examinations in 1 525, but a provincial degree (juren J!p;A) remained his highest attainment. He served in a variety of provincial posts, as magistrate in Anhui and censor in Fujian for example, but never in the central government.39 In the autumn of 1 539, almost one hundred years before Xu Xiake arrived here, Liu set off on a trip into the Wugong Mountains. He travelled with three gentleman friends, starting in a rowing boat for the first part of the journey. They stayed one night in an inn by the road, and another in the open field, admiring the promising harvest. Gradually as they progressed, the water began to flow faster, and they had to watch out not to lose their ropes and oars overboard. When the path up the mountain separated from the river, a mountain dweller joined them as guide, as the paths were known to be hazardous. Someone joked: 'If you take one wrong step, there will be eternal laughter. '40 Some may have been amused, but others in the party felt frightened, and did not enjoy this part of the journey. But they all reached the top safely, and spent several days at a small temple from where other peaks could be reached. Liu's account, entitled 'You Wugong ji', has been included in the reprint edition of the Wugong Mountain gazetteer. Zhang, ed., Wugong shanzhi, 5 1 4-5 1 6. 39 Zhang, ed., Wugong shanzhi, 5 1 6. 40 Zhang, ed., Wugong shanzhi, 5 1 5. 38

1 72

CHAPTER SEVEN

A journey like this was obviously not without its hazards. The dan­ gers of the road were compounded by weather that was, as it would be for Xu Xiake, overwhelmingly grey, cloudy, and cold. Significantly, however, the dangers for these gentlemen travellers were only the dangers any hill walker or mountain climber would face. Throughout their journey, they were guided by men from the mountain villages, fed and offered accommodation by the monks who lived in the many chapels and temples in the mountains, and received instruction in the life of the immortal Ge Hong from a Daoist master. At no stage did they seem particularly remote from the populated world. They walked along well-travelled paths, admired well-cultivated lands in the foothills, and visited familiar sites higher up. Throughout their journey, they were in known territory, and they felt themselves to be in control of their surroundings. Liu makes no reference to spiritual powers, to dragon lairs, or to awe-inspiring mountain demons. Of course Liu may well have privately feared the spirits who, in local perception, undoubt­ edly populated the mountains. But Liu's narrative is a tale of control, and in this account Liu and his fellow travellers are masters of their surroundings. Liu Shou's journey to Wugong

An account from over sixty years later, written by Liu Shou ;U�, looks at first glance to be differentY Liu Shou's narrative was much more literary, describing the scenery with much greater depth and colour: Whenever [the river] , on its course down [the mountain] , bumps into something, it makes a sound. Doesn't a river have a language like that of humans? Of the many thousands of mountains and peaks it encounters, some soar up into the clouds like a brush or like a clump of bamboo shoots, others form layers of mountain walls, as if someone placed plaques of stone leaning against a screen; . . . some look like dragons and phoenixes turning and leaping up, or like tigers and leopards jumping and leaping, like things that fly or walk, and that doesn't even describe them all. . . . The strange elegance of the mountain grows further in the eyes of the percipients, who exaggerate its grandeur, unable to describe it exactly, as they have not yet reached its top. The scenery is deeply mysterious, strange, and evidently numinous.42

41 Zhang, ed., 'You Wugong shan ji', Wugong shanzhi, 537-39.

42

Zhang, ed., Wugong shanzhi, 537.

LATE MING JI'AN

1 73

Liu Shou was moved by the beauty of the landscape; his description of the scenery is not just florid, but also infused with an other-worldly vocabulary. But the odd features in the landscape only 'look like' dragons: Liu Shou compares them to other-worldly beings, rather than fearing that they are, in fact, such beings. Where the accounts of Liu Yang and Liu Shou were similar, however, is in their familiarity with the territory. For both men, this is all terra cognita, and the tales they tell are part of Anfu lore. Their accounts included the stories transmitted in the gazetteers for the area: about a husband and wife named Wu who became immortals here and lent their names to the mountains; about Immortal Ge, who practised his alchemy here; and about Wen Tianxiang's father, who came here to pray for a son. These are well-known stories; Liu ShOll quoted from a Song dynasty inscription by Zhao Yike, who wrote about the altar for Immortal Ge, and retold all the same tales.43 By the time Liu Shou searched for words to do justice to the imposing beauty of the scenery, he was describing a familiar, almost intimate place. The Ji'an landscape contained a whole range of such sites. These were often strikingly beautiful, but it is not so much the beauty itself that made them known, as the appreciation and celebration of that beauty by famous men. When people visited the area, they were look­ ing through the eyes of previous visitors at a landscape that was richly embellished by their descriptions. Ji'an had become a place full of memories, reminiscences and traces of the past. Conclusion: the Ming sacred landscape

What, then, can we conclude about the sacred landscape in late Ming Ji'an? In some ways little had changed. From a remote vantage point, the same rivers carved through the landscape, and the same mountain ranges soared into the sky. Some temples that had marked the Song landscape were still there. Bao'en Monastery in Yongfeng was still there, for example, as was Chongyuan Abbey, north of the Jishui seat, although it was now called Xuantan Abbey KtlU .44 There were also many new temples, their details as hard to trace for the late Ming as they were for the Song. The Wanli gazetteer for the prefecture lists 43 44

Zhao Yike, 'Ge xian tan ji', ArifU xianzhi ( 1 872), 1 7 .7a-8a. Da Mingyitongzhi, 56. 1 8b-1 9a.

1 74

CHAPTER SEVEN

about 1 60 Buddhist and Daoist institutions, and mentions that most of those are in charge of between two and twelve smaller temples and halls for Buddhist and Daoist worship.45 Even so, there were probably many more, some of them perhaps only in existence for a few years, others lasting perhaps as long as thirty or forty years without a record of their existence ever entering the written histories. Many of the same tales about local gods and numinous events were still being told, part of landscape and local memory. Gangying Shrine lMJ�ffj� in Jishui, for example, was still identified by the same story, told in the Song dynasty, about the Song empress, who was escaping her enemies aboard a ship on the Gan. A god appeared to her in a dream, and after following his advice she evaded her persecutors.46 Lingji Shrine in Longquan also makes its appearance again in the Wanli gazetteer, with its tale of the seven brothers who all drowned here.47 Such tales may only have existed in the written histories of the area, and been transmitted only by the diligent compilers of local gazetteers, but for literati visitors and local gentlemen, they were firmly embedded in the landscape, and inextricably mixed into their understanding of the local area. The power of the river had clearly not diminished in local percep­ tion. During the Wanli era, there was a shrine south of the prefectural city where those passing by boat always had to worship. The god, known only by the surname of Xiao, who had been enfeoffed as Lord of Heroic Assistance (Yingyou hou �tt�), offered at least the hope of a safe passage on this busy arterial river.48 No doubt the river banks were also dotted with shrines to appease the souls of those who had not been so lucky. The Wanli prefectural gazetteer lists only one such shrine, with the terse statement that: [t] he god is known as King Nanping of the Tang. One avoids his name. This deity drowned here and the common people thought that [his ghost] could still wield powers, so they built a shrine to worship him.49

The violence of death by drowning conveyed extreme numinous pow­ ers, just as it had during the Song dynasty. 45

[Wanli] JAFZ ( 1 573- 1 620),juan 1 6. 46 Jishui xianzhi ( 1 875), 1 2 .24a-b. The same tale is included in Da Mingyitongzhi, 56.20b, and in JAFZ ( 1 660), 1 6. 7a. 47 [Wanli] JAFZ ( 1 573-1 620), 1 6.9a. 48 [Wanli] JAFZ ( 1 573-1 620), 1 6.4a-b. 49 [Wanli] JAFZ ( 1 573-1 620), 1 6.4b.

LATE MING JI'AN

1 75

But, as I have argued in this chapter, some things had altered. The social and economic changes that affected all of China, in particular the shift from the north towards the south as centre of gravity for grain production in the empire, the shift towards large landholdings worked by tenant farmers, the growth of regional trade and manufacture, and the general increase in population, also affectedJiangxi province andJi'an prefecture. More pressure on the land because of the increased popula­ tion and the constancy of tax demands meant that a higher percentage of the Jiangxi population than ever before had abandoned agricultural production and worked in manufacture and commerce. The existence of great landlord estates may well have increased particularly in Ming Ji'an because of the extraordinary success of early Ming literati in the examination system. These estates remained, even when the success rate of Ji'an candidates had dropped dramatically. The gentlemen of Ji'an engaged enthusiastically in travel, as the records of their journeys testify. Overall, the landscape they described was a far more familiar place in the perception of the Jizhou literati than the environment in which the Song literati lived and wrote. The scenery inspired less fear, and the surroundings had become part of their every day life. That familiar, well-travelled landscape, however, inspired a very different type of writing, as we shall see in the next chapter.

CHAPTER EIGHT

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES IN LATE MING JI'AN In 157 1 , a group of elders and landowners gathered in a Zhenwu Jtffi: shrine. 1 The shrine was located in a mountain range called Western Hua, sometimes referred to as the Huagai Mountains, bordering on the Qngyuan Mountains in Ji'an county.2 The elders were planning the restoration of a Daoist cultic centre known as Chongxian Abbey *:%Ilt The entire complex had been devastated by fire some time before, because so it was believed 'the shrine's religious leader was using it to make a profit, and did not apply proper rules in his work and prayers. '3 The only building left standing was this Zhenwu Shrine, and this is where the elders made their plans for the restoration. It would eventually be a comprehensive restoration project: they planned to build places of worship for the Jade Emperor, the Nine Emperors and Zhenwu, pavilions for Wenchang, Chongyuan, and Huagai, an altar for Guanyin, and a hall for the god of thunder. After the sacred spaces for the worship of these gods were completed, there were plans for the more utilitarian spaces to be distributed over the site: a purification hall, residences, and kitchens. Finally, they would build residential spaces 'in preparation for gentlemen travelling here or staying here'.4 Their planning would not be complete without commissioning a text for a stele. When a literatus, a jinshi from Taihe, climbed to the top of these mountains in 1 572, the men in charge of the restoration project approached him. The gentleman's name was Wang Mingchen 3:.n,�E2, he was nearly sixty, and had only recently retired from a post I

Shrines for Zhenwu ('True Martial Spirit') were part of the imperial sacrifices in the late Ming. See Taylor, 'Official Religion in the Ming', 884. They had been introduced into the state cult by the Yongle emperor. See Shahar and Weller, 'Intro­ duction', 25. On worship of Zhenwu during the Song dynasty, see von Glahn, The Sinister Wqy, 1 6 1 - 1 64. � These Huagai Mountains are of course not to be confused with the far more famous Huagai Mountains further to the east in Fuzhou prefecture, the focal point for the worship of the Three Perfected Lords. 3 Wang Mingchen, 'Xihuashan zhongxiu dianyu beiwen', WZL, 99. 4 Ibid.

1 78

CHAPTER EIGHT

as vice-commissioner in Guizhou and returned to Taihe.5 The elders asked Wang to provide a text. Wang agreed, and the text was carved in stone in due course. It was preserved for posterity when it was included in the Qj.ngyuan Mountain gazetteer, the Qingyuan ::;hilile. In many ways, it is a text like thousands of others in the genre. Wang begins with a powerful description of the natural surroundings, describing a miracle that spurred on the building of a site for worship here in the late Tang dynasty. The text includes further details about the temple's more recent history and about the people involved in the restoration, and ends with some reflective observations about the wider significance of the worship taking place here. Despite its generic qualities, the text is interesting for several reasons. It is quite different from the texts originating in the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, as well as from earlier Ming texts. Southern Song and Yuan texts frequently cast their literati authors in the role of active participants in the religious communities they describe. Even when such literati authors would perhaps not have deigned to set foot in the shrine or temple they commemorated, I have argued, they 'participated' by offering their critical opinions of the worship practices they observed, and frequently by providing alternatives. Men like Ouyang Shoudao in the Southern Song and Jie Xisi in the Yuan, for example, wrote their texts to air their strongly felt opinions about the temples they were commemorating. More often than not, they found something worthy of their critique in the temples they wrote about, and in stating their alternatives, such gentlemen frequently presented their own wisdom and expertise as a source of inspiration and motivation for change. For the Southern Song gentleman, then, the local temple was extremely important. In writing temple inscriptions, he could write the story of the local community, and he could write himself into a central position within that community. For some scholars it offered private religious sanctity, for others the opportunity to display authority and local prestige. For many literati in the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, the temple was a complex site where a variety of sentiments and strategies came together and became intermingled. The temple, in these inscriptions, was marked as a central place in the locality, as a meaningful site with its own history. Wang Mingchen, in this late

5

Wang Mingchen had gained hisjinshi degree in 1 544. See OYZL, 100.

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES

1 79

sixteenth-century inscription, did something very different. He situated the worship that took place here in a wider context by discussing its significance, but he did not offer his own opinions about the practices associated with the temple, nor did Wang Mingchen himself make an appearance in the text. Unlike in the Southern Song and Yuan inscrip­ tions, in this inscription the author remained on the outer edge of the community constructed in the text. Interestingly, this late Ming inscription is equally different from its earlier, Ming dynasty relations. I have argued that early Ming inscrip­ tions often highlighted prominendy placed individuals, who were located at the capital, and who stressed their remote position in the text. The point of those texts, seen from the local perspective, was to elevate the religious establishment by linking it to one of the many early MingJi'an officials in the central administration. Seen from the central perspective, inscriptions for local temples offered opportunities to address issues that transcended the locality. There is a distinct absence, in the inscriptions of the early Ming, of a close, personal relationship between literati authors and local temples. Did this characteristic persist in the late Ming? Wang Mingchen did serve in the central government, but by the time he wrote this text he had retired from his career in the provinces. He never mentioned his own career or his official connections in the text, making it unlikely that the gendemen in charge of this restoration project chose him because of his political associations. Reading the inscription as a commodity that gained socio-cultural capital as it was exchanged between the different actors involved does not provide all the answers here. Wang Mingchen could hardly have been affecting his social position by writing about this restoration project if he did not create a place for himself within the text. Neither did the project seem to be interested in Wang for the purposes of elevating the social position of the shrine. So how should we read this text? Wang Mingchen's inscription Where the spiritual essence of yin and yang and of the five phases (er wu zhi jing =1izffl) gathers to form lofty mountains, they are entrusted with extraordinary beauty and mysterious qualities.6

6

QYZL, 98.

1 80

CHAPTER EIGHT

Right from the start of Wang Mingchen's text, the setting is a realm beyond our mortal existence. Within this setting of outstanding beauty and mysteriousness, human beings communicate with the world inhab­ ited by gods and immortals, and form a close and interdependent relationship with them. The gods' [existence] does not continue without human beings; human beings are not complete without gods. Whether [the gods] give [human beings] support with blessings and power or whether [the gods] are brilliantly manifest in [human beings'] hearts-and-minds is one and the same thing. Attaining the Way is silently contained within the mortal realm. Great merit started of its own accord during the time of Kang, and who could prevent it?7

This communication with gods is of an entirely different nature from the exchanges and negotiations we encountered in Southern Song Jizhou. Then, as we saw in Chapter Two, the landscape was marked by spaces where interaction with the gods had occurred, sites that pro­ vided evidence of man's successful negotiations with the forces of the invisible world. Those forces were always greater than man, successful negotiation rarely permanent. Here, the relationship is completely different. The relationship with the gods exists entirely within man; without human beings there is no such thing as 'gods'. There is no difference, to Wang's mind, between deities giving rewards to human beings, and the manifestation of godly qualities within man. Becoming fully human, and gaining an understanding of the Way, are all fully within the grasp of humans alone. I am not suggesting Wang Mingchen's underlying thought is new. As Richard von Glahn posits, Chinese religious culture can be characterized by two ultimately conflicting 'orientations': the 'eudaemonistic' value system within which human beings seek blessings from the gods to enhance their own welfare, and try to avoid harm through exorcism­ coexists with the 'belief in a moral equilibrium', where all human actions evoke responses from the world of spirits.8 Both, as von Glahn's book demonstrates, can be traced back to antiquity, and both existed, though not unchanged, throughout the period under discussion in this study. Von Glahn's study is about the religious practices and mental

7 OYZL, 99. B von Glahn, The Sinister Wqy, 1 3- 1 5.

·

. _- -------

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES

181

worlds of non-literate believers; my interest here is in the high culture of the literati. Nevertheless, von Glahn's analysis makes sense here. Wang Mingchen conceived of a world in which deities and spiritual forces respond directly to human action. In fact, Wang went one step further moral human action is the manifestation of spiritual force. The gods, in Wang Mingchen's vision, are there to offe r protection to both people and their places. Human beings, in return, have a respon­ sibility to 'bestow honour onto the temple, make its appearance flour­ ishing, keep the shrine radiant, maintaining it for many generations.' This mutual, reciprocal relationship was important to Wang. 'Then there is no shame over the efficacy of the gods, and there is no satire over the people's worship. Ritual comes from worship, and its records come from the methods used.' Wang's inscription was requested by the local elders who had extensive plans for the restoration and building of a variety of temples and shrines here. The text Wang produced for them was an interpretation of the place of man in the cosmos. He stressed the interdependent relationship between man and gods, with the emphasis on the human realm. Wang's belief was in the moral equilibrium of the cosmos, and he encouraged an interpretation of all religious practices carried out at this site in that belief. In discussing these matters in a temple inscription, Wang Mingchen was distancing himself from the particular, and from the local. He was expressing thoughts that were meaningful not to a local audience, but to a 'translocal' audience an audience that went beyond local bound­ aries, and sought to create an intellectual community without spatial frontiers. I argue below that this is common throughout late Ming temple inscriptions from Ji'an. Literati distanced themselves from the particular and the local, not physically as their early Ming predecessors did, but mentally. In a variety of ways, as we will see, they conjured up translocal communities. How was Wang's interpretation of what happened at this site differ­ ent from the interpretations offered by, say,Jie Xisi in his Yuan dynasty temple inscriptions? Did he not, too, offer his own vision of the local practice, translating it as he went along? While there are parallels to be drawn, there are also important contrasts. Jie Xisi positioned himself within the community of believers, and offered his interpretation as an insider. Wang Mingchen, on the other hand, remained an outsider. The community he aspired to belong to is not local or regional. His text, I contend, was aimed at a far-flung community of like-minded fellow

1 82

CHAPTER EIGHT

literati who were not connected by territorial bonds. This orientation towards like-minded intellectuals across regional boundaries is, I pro­ pose, a characteristic of late Ming Ji'an temple inscriptions. The men .from Ji'an

As we saw in Chapter Six, writing about local sites to a translocal audience was also a characteristic of early Ming texts. The difference between early Ming texts and inscriptions from the late Ming, however, is the location of the authors at the capital. Whereas the Southern Song and Yuan elites from Jizhou had been largely local intellectu­ als, men who did not hold positions in the central government, but made their living by teaching and writing in their local community, the early Ming writers, as we saw in the previous chapter, were part of several highly successful generations of examination candidates who held unprecedented positions of power at the capital. So who were the men that followed them? Can we make any generalizations about Ji'an's late Ming literati? Certainly the number of candidates fromJi'an prefecture who passed the jinshi examinations in first place (zhuangyuan Wtj[;) dropped sharply in the 45 examination years between 1 509 and 1 644. Luo Rongxian fromJishui was given that honour in 1 529, and a second man fromJishui, Liu Tongsheng ;U IPJ7t ( 1 587-1 646), received the title over one hundred years later in 1 637, just before the end of the Ming dynasty.9 In comparison, no less than tenJi'an men achieved the same elevated status during the first half of the Ming, i.e. in the 45 examination years between 1 368 and 1 508. In percentages, this consti­ tutes a drop from almost a quarter of all zhuangyuan hailing from Ji'an during the first half of the Ming, to only just over four percent during the second half Only six other Ji'an men received a high ranking the exams: three in second place and three in third place, each constituting only a third of their equivalent numbers during the first half of the Ming. 1o The total number of jinshi degrees awarded to men fromJi'an dropped from 628 to 373." 9

ri,]iangxi zhuangyuan pu, 243�4. During the entire Qing dynasty, only oneJi'an man was ranked first in the metropolitan examinations: a man named riu Yi ( 1 7 97�1 878) from Yongfeng, who passed in 1 835. 10 riu, Ji 'an gudai mingren zhuan, 3 1 1 �3 1 3. 11 For specific detail, see the tables in the appendix.

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES

1 83

Ji'an men had known extraordinary successes during the first 1 38 years of Ming rule. During the second 1 38 years, the level of success had diminished dramatically, but it would be an exaggeration to say thatJi'an no longer produced any men of significance. Men fromJi'an continued to serve the emperor: Guo Zizhang ( 1 543- 1 6 1 8) from Taihe, for example, was a 1 5 1 1 jinshi who served in a series of provincial and central government positions. Wang Mingchen, born in Taihe in 1 5 1 3 and a jinshi of 1 544, served as vice-commissioner in Guizhou. Zeng Gao �*, a Luling man and jinshi of 1 592, held office in the Department of Works, and was known for his skills in water control and construction techniques, while Long Yuqi ff�Jll� from Yongning, ajinshi of 1 60 1 , rose to the position of regional inspector for Shaanxi. But there were far fewer of such high officials, and they served in far less powerful positions. Compared to the early Ming cohort of Yang Shiqi and Hu Guang, men who ruled the roost under the early Ming emperors and used their connections to advance the careers of many moreJi'an men,Ji'an men who served during the sixteenth and seven­ teenth centuries could do little to advance their own careers, let alone those of others. If Ji'an men failed to leave a significant mark on the government of the latter Ming dynasty, they compensated for that by shaping the intellectual history of the late Ming. A group of influential intellectuals known as the Jiangyou group was based in Luling, although the mem­ bers of the group had students from well beyond the Ji'an borders.12 Among the most famous members of the group were men like Zou Shouyi and Luo Hongxian, and their views were further transmitted by their students Hu Zhi i!iJl ][ and Zou Yuanbiao. Zou Shouyi ( 1 49 1- 1 562) from Anfu entered thejinshi examinations in 1 5 1 1 , where his talent was spotted by Wang Yangming, who ranked him first. He finally gained third place in the palace examinations, and was subsequently posted in the Hanlin Academy. His tenure there did not last long; after one year he returned home to Anfu for further study and reflection. In 1 5 18 he visited Wang Yangming in Ganzhou prefecture, further south in Jiangxi province, and again in 1 522. After Wang's death in 1 529, Zou continued lecturing and promulgating his own understanding of Wang's teachings in and around Jiangxi. 12

On theJiangyou group and its philosophy, see Kandice Hauf, TheJiangyou Group: Culture and Society in Sixteenth-Century China' (Yale University Ph.D., 1 987).

1 84

CHAPTER EIGHT

If Zou Shouyi was the oldest member of the Jiangyou group, Luo Hongxian was its undisputed leader. After passing the jinshi examina­ tion and gaining first place in 1 529, at the young age of 25, Luo spent the next ten years out of office. His return to office in 1 539 was only short-lived: in 1541 the emperor mis-interpreted one of his writings, and dismissed him from office. He moved back to Jishui, and from then on spent most of his time at home. He established a school, where he taught his students and wrote many of his influential texts. Apart from his philosophical writings, he is also known for his interest in geography, most notably his revised and enlarged 1 555 version of the late thirteenth-early fourteenth-century map, the Enlarged Territorial A tlas (Guangyutu JJt.i1)Y Among his students was Hu Zhi ( 1 5 1 7-1585). Hu grew up in Taihe with a father who was a disciple of Wang Yangming, although it was not until much later that Hu Zhi also came to see himself as a pupil of Wang Yangming. He studied under Luo Hongxian in Jishui, but then moved on to Guangdong. He passed the jinshi degree eventually, and from 1 560 onward he held several provincial posts. For a significant part of his adult life, however, from 1573 to 1 58 1 , he retired to his native home in Taihe to look after his mother and to teach students in the area.14 Jishui man Zou Yuanbiao ( 1 5 5 1 - 1 624) was roughly two generations younger than Luo Hongxian. He passed the jinshi examination in 1 5 7 7, but had a chequered career that started off almost immediately with a six-year period of exile in Guizhou. He held positions in Nanjing, Beijing, and Guangdong for ten years, but then spent twenty years at home studying, teaching, and writing. He was a moderate Wang Yang­ ming follower, and had hundreds of followers himself. He returned to government in 1 620, but died shortly afterwards. 15 These four Ji'an thinkers Zou Shouyi, Luo Hongxian, Hu Zhi and Zou Yuanbiao were the public face of the prefecture, their fame reach­ ing well beyond its borders. Men from Ji'an clearly were less closely connected to the emperor in the second half of the Ming than in the first. Gone were the days whenJi'an men passed at or near the top of almost every class, and when Ji'an men had a say in who filled which position. Dardess' story of Taihe men losing interest in their own county 13

DMB, 980-984. On map-making at this time, see Brook, 'Communications and Commerce', 659-66 l . 14 DMB, 624-5. On his life and thought, see also Dardess, A Ming Society, 241-5. 1 5 DMB, 1 3 1 2- 1 3 1 4.

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES

1 85

is in some ways told as a story of decline, despite the fact that Taihe men turned their attention to what Dardess terms 'philosophical furors' in the late Ming.16 Taihe may well have declined, but Ji'an prefecture was still a place to be proud of. Ji'an men continued to make their mark on late Ming society and culture, by participating actively in the study and teaching of Wang Yangming's ideas, and by drawing atten­ tion to Ji'an as a centre of intellectual activity. Their writings about local institutions in general, however, and about temples in particular, changed. That change is what concerns us in these final chapters. Distancing strategies

The inscription by Wang Mingchen, I argued at the outset of this chapter, still constructed a 'community' in the sense I have employed throughout this book: by assigning meaning to a temple, literati brought about a sense of belonging among those who shared in that interpretation. Those who 'belonged', however, were no longer local residents as they had been in earlier periods. Instead, they were now fellow intellectuals, drawn together by shared interests and outlooks, rather than by shared experiences in a local landscape. Wang Mingchen distanced himself from the local temple. Before we can ask why that distancing occurred, we need to establish that Wang Mingchen was not alone in this. The temple inscriptions discussed below are all very different, but they share, as we will see, a variety of mechanisms that create distance between the individual and the temple, and establish connections with a translocal community. That translocal community can be drawn together, for example, by an interest in 'Buddhist thought' rather than in a specific set of Buddhist practices, or by an interest in 'literary tales' rather than in narrating specific events, but in all cases, the meaning of 'the local' has once again undergone significant change. Fo versus

ru

In the seventies of the sixteenth century, the Taihe philosopher Hu Zhi, who was at the time in his late fifties or early sixties, travelled to the Wugong Mountains in Anfu. He had never been there before, but his 16

Dardess, A Ming Sociery, 2 1 5-246.

1 86

CHAPTER EIGHT

friend ZouJifu ��*l1i had often talked to him about the outstanding beauty of these mountains. Hu Zhi and ZouJifu had both passed their jinshi exam in 1 556, and the two men had served together in junior posts in the Ministry of Justice. Hu Zhi visited Tuping mtijZ, one of the mountains' oldest monasteries, observed the vastness of Ji Peak ��, and gazed down on the clouds from Thunder Peak. Hu's journey to these mountains was not merely pleasure; Hu had been asked for an inscription by the monk Benjiao *� from Shengfo Mf1�, another monastery in the Wugong Mountains. Shengfo was an elaborate monas­ tic complex, built between 1 553 and 1 566. It boasted a Buddha hall, a meditation hall, dining halls, bell and drum towers, and an impressive front entrance with a bridge over the river leading to a set of large gates. The entire construction project had cost, according to Hu, 8,000 taels of silver. It had all been built by Benjiao's teacher, a monk only known as Ningzhouzhe 1+11!f, or 'the one from Ningzhou', who had brought several disciples to this remote spot, and set them to work. 1 7 Hu Zhi was deeply impressed, perhaps even more by the achieve­ ments of the Shengfo monks than by the scenic beauty of the surround­ ings. Back home after his journey, he pondered on the significance of what the monk from Ningzhou and Benjiao had achieved here. how great and complete this achievement! Those who study Daxiong ::kt1E [i.e. Sakyamuni Buddha] could not have achieved this just by working diligently despite hardship, by taking [the idea of] retribution seriously, and by applying pressure to other people. 1 8

Ah,

Rather, Hu Zhi surmised, 'They must also have the righteousness (yi �) of the Great Harmony (datong ::*:: IPJ)' .19 It is a thought he explained further in a development of this theme. In the beginning [Sakyamuni] fled the palace of King Jingfan $i& [i.e. his father] , and instead begged for a place to live in Zhiyuan Monastery mrmm'@r. He fed the wild animals at the expense of his own require­ ments, preferring to beg for food in Shewei City '@r:m. He harmed himself by doing this, but how could his rejection of [such comfortsJ not dem­ onstrate Great Harmony to the people? Through begging, [Sakyamuni] found somewhere to live, and therefore, in offering housing to people, we

17

Hu Zhi, 'WugongJiulongshan Shengfo chanlin ji', Henglujingshe zanggao, 1 2. l Oa�

18

Henglujingshe zanggao, 1 2 . l Ob� l l a. Henglu jingshe zanggao, 1 2 . 1 1 a.

I I b. 19

187

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES

should distinguish between the unclean and the clean. Through begging, [Sakyamuni] was given food, and therefore, in feeding people, we should not ask whether they are rich or poor.20 •

•

Sakyamuni Buddha's choices, to reject the comforts of his princely home and live in the wilderness, served as a great inspiration and lesson for his disciples. His actions demonstrated the utopian principle of Great Harmony, and showed how his followers must now do the same: offer sustenance and residence to anyone who asks for it, regardless of their outward appearance and regardless of their status. How this was related to the monks' achievement in the mountains becomes clearer in the next section . •

[Sakyamuni] never had any material goods that he regarded as his private property. While people's origins always affect them, [Sakyamuni] overcame such things. His goodness (liang) was not accidental. If it had been any different, then how could this temple have been built so large and complete!21 •

Again, it was the example of the Buddha's life that provided moral inspiration. While ordinary people were hindered by personal desires and needs, the Buddha's followers had no regard for themselves. With­ out such inspiration, Hu Zhi suggested, a temple like this could not have been built. It led him to reflect on his own tradition of ru learning (wu ru 35.. l11$ ). ffif . I=t

Some time ago I was in charge of education in the western region.22 On a number of occasions there were official indictments of people in power, who were detained at a Confucian temple, accused of spending funds from the treasury, using them for reversing [their own] difficulties. When we investigated the underlying reasons [for such incidents] , their mistake turned out to be their regard of what is public (guan ,§) as private (si fl.). How could our Confucian teachings (wu ru zhijiao) have let this happen? Indeed, the way of the Great Harmony has its origin in our Confucian learning, but nowadays [Great Harmony] cannot be found here, and in vain one looks for it there. There must be a reason for this.23

20

Ibid. 21 Ibid. 22 The 'western region' refers to Sichuan, where Hu served as vice-commissioner for education from 1 567 to 1 569. 23 Henglujingshe zanggao, 1 2. 1 1 a-b.

1 88

CHAPTER EIGHT

His experience in Sichuan, with officials embezzling public funds and using them for private purposes, had obviously shaken him. His disap­ pointment focused not so much on the officials who misbehaved as on the teachings that failed to inspire them to morally upright behaviour. It was the contrast between Confucian officials misappropriating funds, and the monks at Shengfo denying themselves everything to build this temple, that struck Hu Zhi most. We know little about the specific context in which Benjiao asked Hu Zhi to write this inscription. We do know, however, that for a significant period in his life, Hu Zhi was deeply torn between Buddhist thought and the Confucian (ru) tradition. Some thirty years earlier, in 1548, he had spent time at a Buddhist monastery, and twice experienced what he described as 'enlightenment'. It led him to believe that leaving the secular world and becoming a monk would be the right path for him. Shortly afterwards, however, he changed his mind, and devoted himself again to the study of the texts of ru learning in preparation of the jinshi examinations.24 His interest in Buddhism remained strong throughout his life, and perhaps Benjiao asked Hu Zhi for an inscrip­ tion because of his reputation for being sympathetic to Buddhism. But perhaps Benjiao approached Hu Zhi for reasons related to Hu Zhi's by then quite widespread fame as literatus and official, with influence beyond Ji'an? Even if we cannot find more concrete information about Benjiao's motivation, it would seem that Hu Zhi's critical reflections on ru teach­ ing and practice, and his unabashed admiration for the inspiration Sakyamuni provided to his followers are perhaps suggestive of Hu Zhi's underlying turmoil. We can read the text as testimony to the enduring influence of Buddhism on his thought, and his persistent disenchantment with official life. While the text reveals something of Hu Zhi's private experience, it also reflects on one of the themes that concerned late Ming literati: the relationship between Buddhism and Confucianism. In the same way that Wang Mingchen in his inscription for Chongxian Abbey in the Qjngyuan Mountains reflected on issues that went beyond the immediate locality, and addressed a far-flung audience of fellow-literati rather than near-by visitors to the temple, ,

24

See the discussion of Hu Zhi's spiritual journey in Rodney Taylor, Journey into Self: The Autobiographical Reflections of Hu Chih', History if Religions 2 1 .4 (1 982): 32 1-38.

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES

1 89

Hu Zhi addressed an intellectual community well beyondJi'an. There is very little evidence of a personal connection between Hu Zhi and Shengfo Temple. Incorporating Buddhism

For Hu Zhi, accommodating Buddhism in his Confucian life presented a challenge, and caused tensions manifest in his writings. For many other late Ming literati inJi'an, however, Buddhism formed an inalienable part of their outlook on the world. Take the example of Liu Guangzhen. Liu Guangzhen was one of the many servants of the imperial bureau­ cracy who remained largely invisible in the historical record. We know he passed the jinshi examinations in the class of 1 63 1 , a year in which only six candidates from the whole of Ji'an prefecture were successful. Yongxin was more successful than the other Ji'an counties that year; two Yongxin men passed at the same time, something that had not happened since 1 562, and only happened four times in total between 1 500 and 1 644.25 Liu Guangzhen's career was undistinguished: we know he served briefly in the Department of Punishments, before serving as magistrate in various locations, gaining a reputation for his upright character. He was successful in implementing improvements to the irrigation system while he served in Leizhou 'ffi' 1+1 in Guangdong, and gained a promotion to vice-commissioner of Yunnan. His collected writings, sadly, do not remain. We do, however, have the inscriptions he wrote for two Buddhist temples in his native Yongxin. Dongshan Monastery in Yongxin was probably Yongxin's foremost religious site. It was situated to the east of the county seat, and had a history dating back to the Northern Song. It had been destroyed during the fighting at the end of the Yuan, and was restored again during the early years of Hongwu's reign, a pattern like so many others in theJi'an area. It had received a certain amount of imperial recognition: a plaque was bestowed during Yongle's reign, and during Wanli's reign it took on the official status of a Monks' Office. At several stages the buildings were expanded and the famed bridge in front, the Qj.ngfeng Bridge 1tMm for which Xie Jin had once written His fellow jinshi was a man named Long Dawei ft::k*l, who remains equally invisible in the historical record. He served in the ministry of personnel, but the pre­ fectural gazetteer does not even include his biography. 25

1 90

CHAPTER EIGHT

an inscription, was rebuilt.26 Yet Liu Guangzhen referred to none of these major events in the site's history, writing instead an inward-look­ ing piece. His text contained all the characteristics of the genre. He started off, like almost all such texts do, with a vivid description of the natural surroundings of the sacred site, and his location of the site was given from a personal perspective: Our county has always had many old monasteries, and Dongshan Mon­ astery is one of them. Its old name was Tianzhu x.�, and it is situated on the border of my village. Looking at it from the point of view of the county, it is in the eastern corner, hence the name.27

For him, Dongshan was the local temple, located on the edge of the place where he grew up. It may be the eastern corner of the county, but for Liu Guangzhen that only explained the name, not its signifi­ cance for him. Liu Guangzhen wrote this at the end of his life, looking back at his official career after he had returned home.28 Yet he only mentioned his life outside Yongxin obliquely: When I was young, I practiced tranquillity at a monks' dwelling.29 But then I observed that the community of monks was disrupted and [several monks] were arrested by the Censorate. After I had gained my degree I made a report of this for the palace and I succeeded in rectifying the problem (fon zheng RiE).30

This is interesting. As a student, he could only stand by and watch the monks' public humiliation by the censors. Once he had gained hisjinshi degree, however, he was able to use his influence at court to have this wrong righted again. Clearly, Liu Guangzhen had a commitment to Buddhism from an early age onward, although he wrote nothing about his time in government service. It seems unlikely he ever visited the Yongxin temple again while he held official appointments, or he would surely have mentioned it here. Instead he continues:

26

Yongxin xian::,hi ( 1 874), 7. 1 a. 27 Liu Guangzhen, 'Dongshan si beiji', Yongxin xian::,hi ( 1 874), 7. 1 a. 28 We know nothing about the dates of his birth and death, only that he served in several offices and returned home afterwards. 29 Liu Guangzhen does not clarify whether this was at Dongshan Monastery or somewhere else. 30 Liu, 'Dongshan si bei ji', 7.2a.

TEMPLES

AND

LITERATI COMMUNITIES

191

When I returned home after official service, I looked round, and saw that the temple buildings (lit. 'physical environment', Sanskrit: Dharmadhatu) were lying waste, which is almost impossible to discuss. . . . People planned what was needed for the restoration, and I contributed thirty strings of cash. Once a beginning had been made, the officials in post, the local gentlemen, and the champions of charity (Sanskrit: dana) all gladly opened their purses to help. Thereafter the quantity [of donations] was always sufficient. Such merits achieved soon transformed [the place] to make it brilliant. The [buildings] took on a serious and awe-inspiring form. This will ensure that the Buddha sun always shines down, and the enlightened sky never darkens. This is the power of taking pleasure in renunciation and being good at passing on.3l

His style of writing and his vocabulary, infused with transcriptions from the Sanskrit, suggest a man committed to Buddhist principles. Perhaps we can think of the different communities in which Liu Guangzhen may have been involved as three concentric circles. The widest circle is the national field, in which he operated as an official. He drew on his connections within this world to have the maltreatment of monks at the hand of censors rectified. He had at one stage operated within that circle, but his words also suggest a certain remove from it. His nostalgic 'When I was young', and his reference to returning home after service, suggest the creation of distance between the person who acted like that and the more private person he is now. The smallest circle within that outer circle is the Yongxin community, where he had now returned home. Again, he draws on that community, this time by setting the example with his own generous contribution, followed immediately by the notables and wealthy of the Yongxin community, to pay for the restorations. They are rewarded, too, by being listed by name and presumably by the size of their contribution, on the back of the stele. Between these two spheres lay the circle formed by the community of believers beyond the Yongxin boundaries. This circle was addressed most directly in Liu Guangzhen's writing. The continued flourishing of the Buddha and the enduring success of an establishment that would last 'for one thousand ten thousand kalpas'32 were more important than anything else to Liu. Like Wang Mingchen and Hu Zhi, Liu Guangzhen envisaged the community to which he spoke as a translocal society. 31 Ibid. 32 Ibid.

1 92

CHAPTER EIGHT

He shared with them the belief in the centrality of the Buddha's mes­ sage, to which the local temple was entirely subservient. His writings show, once again, that literati addressed fellow literati across regional boundaries. Writing about walls and moats (chenghuang) in the late Ming

When the first emperor of the Ming insisted on including worship of the god of walls and moats in the state cult, he caused a great stir among the Confucian literati at court and in the provinces. As we saw in Chapter Six, literati like Chen Mo and Liu Qj.u discussed the moral justification for this inclusion in their inscriptions for Chenghuang temples. Early and mid Ming inscriptions for local temples, I argued, were used to discuss issues of national importance, and the audience for these discussions was national rather than local. By the late Ming, the system of including temples for the god of walls and moats in the state cult had been in place for over two hundred years. Had the controversy over temples for the god of walls and moats died down, or was the issue still vexing literati? To answer this question, it may be interesting to look at an inscription for a Chenghuang temple written by Zou Yuanbiao. When the Chenghuang temple in Jishui was fully restored between 1 604 and 1 606, the Jishui magistrate approached Zou Yuanbiao for an inscription. Zou Yuanbiao was happy to oblige, but not necessarily because of his deep admiration for the magistrate: 'The great sages brought order to ritual and were strict about the meaning of wor­ ship. Such matters are worthy of commemoration, and hence I wrote this inscription. '33 The restoration of the Chenghuang temple was, in Zou Yuanbiao's eyes, not a mere local achievement. Rather, it was the implementation of the work envisaged by the great sages. Restor­ ing a local temple was about bringing order to the ritual system and about taking worship seriously, and in that sense Zou placed this early seventeenth-century restoration directly in the context of the ordering of ritual implemented by the first emperor of the Ming. 'Our Great Ancestor (Taizu) created this empire, established its outer boundaries, and rectified the Sacrificial Statutes. The worship of the walls and moats

33

Zou Yuanbiao, 'Chenghuang miao ji', Jishui xianzhi ( 1 875), 1 2.22b.

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES

1 93

was to be made manifest by magistrates. '34 As magistrates and local gentlemen pledged to build temples for the god of walls and moats in their respective prefectures and counties, their pledges 'were all turned into ratified decisions by the first emperor himself'. 35 In these first lines of the inscription there is no question of doubt over the decision of the first emperor to include the god of walls and moats in the Sacrificial Statutes, no hint of the controversy that raged in the empire in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. But after Zou had complied with the requirements of the genre of such inscriptions he told of the flood that had soaked the beams of the old temple, the rot that had affected the wood throughout, and the good intentions of the magistrate to restore the temple as soon as he stepped out of his carriage upon his first arrival in Jishui Zou did refer indirectly to the controversy: I have heard that previous Confucian scholars often doubted whether worship of the she :fJ: and the gods of walls and moats should be restored. Do they not know that the word she means 'to grow grain' (yang gu ••J1:)? Among the five elements it takes the position of the element wood, and the great Yu � regarded it one of the six treasuries (liufo i\M).36 Grain is what feeds our people, and whose merit is that? As for high city walls and deep moats, it is best for them not to be hidden. Only [gates] made of metal and deep [moats] form proper defences for the common people. If [this worship] did not exist, then Zhongliu 9=t 00 [i.e. the god of the interior] would be useful at the gates and wells of a single family. But if the common people all worship [the god of walls and moats] , then how great is the benefit of the god for the whole area!37

Despite Zou's best attempt, the controversy could not be solved by his reference to classical precedent. Yes, she could be ranked among the elements, and be part of Yu's conception of the realm, but Zou could not hide the absence of classical precedent for worship of the god of walls and moats. What it could provide, in Zou's view, is protection for a whole community, as opposed to for a single family.38 The issue of the inclusion of Chenghuang temples had, it would seem, not yet been laid to rest. Zou Yuanbiao, like Chen Mo and Liu Zou, 'Chenghuang miao ji', 2 1 b. 35 Ibid. 36 The six treasuries of nature, i.e. water, fire, metal, wood, earth and grain. 37 ]ishui xianzhi ( 1 875), 1 2 .22a-b. 38 On the she, see Kenneth Dean, 'Transformations of the She U (Altars of the Soil) in Fujian', Cahiers d'Extreme-Asie 10 ( 1 998): 1 9-75. 34

1 94

CHAPTER EIGHT

Qju had done before him, felt the need to justify the decision. His loyalty to the first emperor was never in doubt; Zou ensured this by referring to him in the first and last lines of the inscription, giving him the highest accolade possible: a great sage who brought order to ritual and took worship seriously.39 Apart from expressing his loyal support of the first emperor's enterprise, Zou used the text to express the high esteem in which he holds this worship. As he wrote, from the moment the temple was restored, 'the animals were no longer ill, the harvest was abundant, the grain ripened, and all who came here to worship at this shrine praised its beauty'.4o Nevertheless, the veneer of praise did not hide Zou's underlying and remaining doubt over the appropriateness of the existence of such temples. By raising that doubt, and by using the inscription to explore the issue, Zou's discussion was taken out of the immediate local environment. It was a matter for the realm as a whole, with implications that reached well beyond the local. The difference with the early Ming translocal inscriptions, however, is the location of the authors. These authors were not only local men, but men in and of the locality. They were writing from within Ji'an, without creating a Ji'an community in their texts. The local connection had become far less exclusive, and the capital had become far less important for the locality. Collecting local stories

The inscriptions discussed so far all tackled overarching themes that mattered to all literati: the sense of balance in the cosmos, the rela­ tionship between the traditions offo and ru, the appropriateness of the inclusion of Chenghuang worship in the Sacrificial Statutes. In all these texts, I have suggested, the literati explored such themes with an­ imagined audience that was not bound to the locality. Of course not all late Ming temple inscriptions fromJi'an were as broad and far­ reaching in their intention. Some texts had a more modest focus, doing not much more than telling the story of the temple itself, or, sometimes, only telling one story associated with a particular temple. Wang Mingchen, who wrote the inscription to mark the restoration of the abbey in the Qjngyuan Mountains discussed at the outset of this 39

40

Zou, 'Chenghuang miao ji', 2 1 b and 22b. Zou, 'Chenghuang miao ji', 22a.

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES

1 95

chapter, for example, included the following story in the text. Presum­ ably the story had been told to him by the elders who had gathered in the Zhenwu shrine to plan the restorations in 1 5 7 1 . They suddenly noticed that Zhenwu's left foot had sunk down. When they dug it up they found a bag with a human skull, which they quickly moved elsewhere. That evening thunder and rain burst out in turns, with bright flames extinguishing swiftly. The people in the surrounding foothills looked at each other in great fright. These good gentlemen . . . [thought] that because they had touched the vile vapours, this had brought about the violent shaking. [They asked,] If we do not restore [the buildings] , how can we settle the wrath of the deity and reach his benevolence?41

Wang offered no opinion, and gave no analysis, keeping himself at a certain remove from these events. He introduced a slight distance between himself and 'the people' who were frightened, and between himself and 'the good gentlemen', who thought their contamination by the skull caused the cosmic unrest. Of course, the classical lan­ guage leaves the subject of sentences often unspecified; whether Wang Mingchen included himself among those who asked if the restoration might settle the wrath of the deity is not entirely clear. Either way, Wang's narrative never explicitly joined him into the circle of believers and worshippers. By incorporating the story into the inscription, the temple gained a history. It received a place in the story of the locality, and united those who knew the story by creating a shared sense of identity. Wang Mingchen, however, was located on the outside of that community, and made no attempt to engage with it. His writing acknow­ ledged the existence of that community, but he remained a mere observer. The author as collector of tales, or as recorder of the strange and bizarre, is also clearly manifest in this following example. Rather than playing the active roles that the likes of Ouyang Shoudao, Liu Chen­ weng, and Jie Xisi envisaged for themselves, this author, a local man named Zhao Erqi Mi�:lfi, cast himself as neutral observer.42 In Luling county, there was a monastery calledJingde . It had Tang origins, had perhaps known its heyday during the Song dynasty, and had been extensively restored at the beginning of the fifteenth century. By the late Ming, the buildings had become neglected, however, and although

41 OYZL, 98-99. 42 Zhao Erqi, jingde si ji', Luling xian:;.hi ( 1 873), 4S.8b-9a.

1 96

CHAPTER EIGHT

fifteen statues and one copper bell remained, the temple had fallen out of use. Then three miracles occurred. The first was this incident: One [statue] looked like a god, of a dazzling beauty all over. They intended to use this to renew and restore the temple. The monastic code had long become lax, and the temple had been used as a government office. The various statues were not on display, but a thief had his eyes on them. He had secretly carried off the statue of an enlightened being and hidden it under the bed. One night there was a woman from the neighbourhood who had lost her breeding hen. She took a torch and followed the [animal's] chuchu-ing noise. She stumbled across the thief in the bed, and in chasing him, it seemed as if he entered the statue. Today it is the tenth [statue] where the gold on his face is a bit damaged.43

The tale gives a vivid impression of the state the temple was in, but why did the author include it? The aim of this inscription would hardly have been to enhance the temple's status in the eyes of visiting dignitar­ ies from other areas, or this incident would surely have been glossed over or ignored. Such modest circumstances would not exactly qualify the building for a place among the great establishments of the realm. Perhaps Zhao Erqi's interest was in telling the story itself, rather than in the implications of that story for the temple and its meaning in the locality. The telling of two further miracles associated with the temple fits with this reading. The text goes on to retell the second miracle: Even though the copper bell had a bamboo post to suspend it, it was placed crookedly, in a corner of the dharma hall. When you knocked it, it went 'jing'; there was a rough echo, short, and without a 'chenghong' sound or a ' tang ta' sound. People used to say, 'This instrument is cracked, it has no use'. The monks, however, maintained that it was because it was in a crooked position, and since it was obstructed, it could not make its full sound, and therefore one's ears had to be attuned to get [the sound] . Then a lay Buddhist tried to make a metal frame to suspend the bell. That same night, the wife of this lay person was moved by a strange dream. The next day, she undid the clasp on her hip [on her dress] , and used that for a pivot. Then, when they had suspended it, and struck the bell, the sound shook every tree in the area. The people were delighted.44

It was then decided that these ominous signs should not be ignored, and that a Hall for the Heavenly King should be built. As soon as their spades hit the ground to dig for the building's foundations, they

43 44

Ibid. Zhao Erqi, jingde si ji', 45.9a.

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES

197

stumbled upon 'something shimmering and dancing'. As they carefully dug further, they saw that it was the head of a Buddha. 'From the mud and stones appeared a nose and eyes, a neck and jaws.' It turned out to be a sandalwood Buddha statue with coiled hair on his head, and with remnants of green decorations. From then on, 'people came to worship it continually from far and near'.45 So this inscription ended on a glamorous note: from these humble beginnings the locals had managed to create a site attracting worship­ pers from far and near, with a Buddha statue arising from the mud just like its symbol, the lotus. It is a story lovingly told, full of detail and onomatopoeic verve. The author, however, was just that a teller of tales. He had an interest in the literary, and told the stories well, but he did not seek to transform the practice, or even to be considered a member of the community of worshippers. He merely told his tale. The story if Perfected Being Xu

Ji'an literati of the late Ming presented stories in their narratives as literary tales, rather than as local histories. They were motivated by an interest in tales of the bizarre that went beyond the specific locality. Rather than creating an exclusive relationship between the tale and the locality in which it was situated, the tales were inclusive, applicable well beyond local boundaries. See, for example, the inscription written to mark the building of a shrine for Perfected Being Xu (Xu zhenjun ;;4= Att), also known as Xu Xun a4=:i1l, in Longquan county. The author, another unknown local man by the name of Guo Weijing $�*l�, began by retelling Xu's hagiography, although, as he claimed, 'the tales of his exploits are familiar until this day'.46 The cult of Xu Xun flour­ ished during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, with the centre of gravity near Nanchang in northernJiangxi, and the hagiographic corpus of Xu Xun is extensiveY We cannot now retrace, unfortunately, which hagiography Guo Weijing might have been familiar with. He referred to Xu's slaying of snakes and dragons first, even before he traced the broad oudines of Xu's life. The theme of demon and dragon slaying 45

Ibid. 46 Guo Weijing, 'Xu zhenjun miao ji', JAFZ ( 1 875), 1 0. 1 4b-1 5a. 47 The history of Xu Xun and the corpus of texts associated with his cult have been studied closely by Akizuki Kan'ei in his study of present-day Daoism. See Akizuki Kan'ei, Chilgoku Kinsei Dokyo no Kenkyil; Jomyodo no KlSoteki Kenkyil (Tokyo, 1 978).

1 98

CHAPTER EIGHT

was central to Xu Xun's hagiography, as Kristofer Schipper has shown, and it may well have been one of the defining aspects of Xu's cult in Guo's times.48 Guo then went through the main events of Xu's 'life': his father's move to Nanchang; his early study of 'strange books' (yishu �.) and alchemy; his study with Wu Meng �5i.;49 and his career as magistrate in Sichuan. His exploits in Sichuan were referred to in the most cursory of fashions: 'He was widely known for touching stones and turning them into gold, for lightening the tax burden for the people, and using a pole and water to heal people.'50 Guo's retelling of Xu's life ends almost immediately after these skeletal references to three separate tales: The people were deeply moved and admired him, praising him in songs. Then he left his post and returned to the east. . . . There his techniques became even more refined and his godliness even more elaborate.51

Several explanations present themselves immediately for this extremely truncated version of Xu's life. It could be the result of drastic cutting by the gazetteer's compiler, who perhaps disapproved of the more overtly Daoist elements in the hagiography; it could be the result of Guo Weijing's own disapproval of the Daoist elements and/ or his preference for the seemingly Confucian sentiments behind the three tales he briefly referred to. It could also be that he considered the ele­ ments in the story to be so familiar to the local followers that they did not need to be repeated. Either way, Guo Weijing told a story that went well beyond the local. After all, Perfected Being Xu was not from Longquan, and Xu's only connection to Longquan was its relative proximity to Xishan near Nan­ chang, where the cult had flourished from the Tang dynasty onward. After the outlines of Xu's life had been provided, the author made a brief attempt to establish a connection to the local: K.M. Schipper, 'Taoist Ritual and Local Cults of the T'ang Dynasty', in Michel Strickmann, ed., Tantnc and Taoist Studies in Honor if R.A. Stein, vol. 3 (Brussels: Institut belge des hautes etudes chinoises, 1 985), 8 1 2�34. 49 According to Schipper, Wu Meng is 'a local saint from the Lake Po-yang and Nan-ch'ang region, about whom there are many legends from the third century on'. Schipper, 'Taoist Ritual and Local Cults', 8 1 4. On Wu Meng, see also Miyakawa Hisa­ yuki, 'Local Cults around Mount Lu at the Time of Sun En's Rebellion', in Holmes and Welch, eds., Facets if Taoism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1 979), 83�102. 50 Guo Weijing, 'Xu zhenjun miao ji', l O. 1 4b. 5 1 Ibid. 48

TEMPLES AND LITERATI COMMUNITIES

1 99

The original name of our area was Longquan . . . . To investigate why the area has this name, we need to start with the beginning of the Kaiyuan period [7 1 3-742] of the Tang dynasty. There were two dragons that played in Wuling. The dragons created a pool, hence the name Longquan. Dragons originated here.52

Suddenly we move into a different gear, and the language slows down. But the text dwelt on something that must have been widely known to all local inhabitants by stating that Longquan, or 'Dragon Pool' gained its name from two dragons creating a pool, Guo was stating the obvious, rather than writing an exclusively local story. The emphasis is on the literary tale, the story of Perfected Being Xu, which was only marginally linked to the locality. These inscriptions, with their particular stories, may seem different from those by Zou Yuanbiao and Wang Mingchen. Rather than address­ ing grand themes, they focus on the particular, the individual. As texts, however, they do not create a sense of belonging within the temple's community for the authors who wrote the inscriptions. In contrast to the texts written during the Southern Song and Yuan by authors who clearly felt their own identity and their position in local society was closely tied to the locally based community of the temple, these authors seem to have turned away from the local temple as a field in which they could manifest their authority and perform active roles. Conclusion

The Ji'an landscape had become a familiar and known space, in part simply because more people filled it and more land was cultivated, but in part also because the land was now well-travelled. Tourists and travel writers like Xu Xiake traversed the landscape and brought even the most remote mountains and sacred sites to the attention of interested readers throughout the realm. Their accounts revealed a space that is given meaning by its illustrious past, the traces of heroes of Ji'an's past visible everywhere. Writing about that space, and particularly about the landscape, had changed in important ways. Ji'an literati had by no means stopped writ­ ing inscriptions for local temples, but they no longer claimed personal 52 Ibid.

200

CHAPTER EIGHT

and exclusive relationships to local sacred sites. They were no longer interested in establishing the temple at the core of a locally based community, united by shared values and interpretations. They still addressed local themes and incorporated local tales, but they did not assign to themselves meaningful roles within the communities formed by such local histories. They employed strategies that created distance, by writing about the philosophical and literary aspects of religion rather than about local ritual practices. Where they did position themselves as active members, the community they wished to belong to was translocal, reaching well beyond the Ji'an boundaries, even though the majority of the authors were not located at the capital as they had been in the early Ming, but in Ji'an. The question of why this might have been the case will form the subject of the next chapter.

·_----

CHAPTER NINE

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN Ouyang Shoudao and Liu Chenweng, Luling men who lived at the end of the Southern Song and the beginning of the Yuan dynasty, felt drawn to the temples in the local landscape. They wrote long texts about these temples, providing shared histories for their communities, and positioning themselves as leaders and active members within these communities. Their fellow literati of the early Ming were still 'local' men, but for a period of time at the end of the fourteenth and in the first half of the fifteenth centuries, they were 'local' in a different way: they were stationed at the capital and served in high governmental positions. They were still interested in the local temples, but only from a distance; they wrote histories of local institutions, and shaped the activities that happened within the local communities from their lofty posItIOns at court. Things changed towards the end of the fifteenth century. Ji'an no longer provided vast numbers of metropolitan degree holders to fill the ranks of the central government bureaucracy, and many Ji'an literati found themselves in lower provincial positions, or stationed at home for significant periods of time. Interestingly, this physical reloca­ tion coincided with a shift in their attentions. Although they were still contributing inscriptions for temples as we saw in the previous chapter, literati from late MingJi'an were no longer using those inscriptions to make their mark on local society, and to transform their localities. How can we account for this shift in temple inscriptions? Part of the explanation perhaps lies in the changes in the landscape we noted in Chapter Seven. By the middle of the Ming, or by the beginning of the sixteenth century,Ji'an had largely become terra cognita. The temples and monasteries that dominated the landscape were now familiar spaces with venerable histories. Many claimed associations with luminaries from the past; almost all of them had been visited and written about before. One can imagine that Liu Chenweng, on his wanderings through the mountains of Luling in the late thirteenth century, felt he could say something new and fresh about the temples he found, in a way that Liu Shou, hiking to the top of the Wugong •

•

202

CHAPTER NINE

Mountains in the early seventeenth century, did not. It is, however, impossible to find conclusive evidence for an absence of interest, and this changed sensibility is, in any event, only part of the story. More pertinent, perhaps, is the explanation Dardess gives: sixteenth­ century localism in Taihe, expressed in pride in local morals and enjoy­ ment of the local landscape, was in decline. 1 There is little doubt that examination success declined, and that late Ming literati from Ji'an had far less political influence than early Ming literati had. In many ways, late MingJi'an had less to set it apart from other prefectures, and men from Ji'an who lived outside of Ji'an had less reason to associate themselves with Ji'an. Ji'an was not as special as it had been. Rather than seeing this process of change in negative terms, however a prefecture less special, a place in decline we can also describe this process in positive terms. Literati from Ji'an thinkers, teachers, phi­ losophers played leading roles in one of the most significant trans­ formations of late imperial intellectual culture: the diffusion of Wang Yangming's 'School of the Mind' (xin xue JL..' ''V Several generations of men from Ji'an participated; their discussion meetings (jiangyue i'ili�) in Ji'an shaped the thought of many more generations. Significantly, however, men from other parts of China also took part, and discussion meetings were held in a number of places. The men fromJi'an were not exclusively focused onJi'an; they participated in an intellectual discourse that included a far wider community of like-minded intellectuals. Southern Song and Yuan men like Ouyang Shoudao and Liu Chenweng had little to say about the philosophical problems or intellectual lineages that their contemporaries in other places wrote about. Hu Zhi and Luo Hongxian, on the other hand, were active and important thinkers in ongoing intellectual debates that were held throughout China. Little wonder, then, that their writings about local temples also spoke to issues that went beyond the prefec­ tural boundaries. The community they chose to be active within was not limited to the local; instead, they addressed an audience that was empire-wide. Undoubtedly, this change in outlook explains some of the difference in style we have observed in temple inscriptions. What it does not explain, 1

Dardess, A Ming Society, 2 1 5- 1 6. 2 On Wang Yangrning, see DMB, 1 409- 1 4 1 6. On late Ming Confucianism, see, for example, Willard Peterson, 'Confucian Learning in Late Ming Thought' in Twitchett and Mote, eds., Cambridge History qf China, vol. 8, 708-788.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

203

however, is the lack of interest in the local temples themselves. Wang Yangming and his followers were deeply interested in the local; one of the topics they debated was local activism. So why were they not writing about local temples as sites of local activism and community transformation as their Southern Song and Yuan colleagues had done? Again, I think we need to phrase the question in positive rather than negative terms. Instead of finding evidence to explain a loss of interest in temples, I will illustrate, in this final chapter, a growth of interest in other institutions that served as sites of community interest. By the late Ming, I argue, a number of other local institutions were available­ genealogical records (jiapu or zupu :DJ(�f), local educational estab­ lishments, community covenants and for the literati of late Ming ji'an and their empire-wide audiences, these became more fruitful sites of community activism. I am not suggesting that genealogies or local schools were not available in earlier periods we discussed their roles briefly in Chapter Five but it was not until the Ming, and especially the late Ming, that writing about genealogies, schools and academies, and community covenants offered literati such opportunities for the creation and transformation of local communities. The lineage and genealogical writings

In A Ming Sociery, john Dardess sketches the outlines of a transformation in familial organization that took shape during the early Ming.3 Although common-descent groups existed well before the Ming, the warfare and social disruption that surrounded the end of the Yuan and the establish­ ment of the Ming dynasty meant that during the early Ming, familial groups re-established their common origins by compiling genealogical records. Some such records were said to be rescued from before the tumultuous period, others were clearly newly established records, but all of them, Dardess shows, were compiled on the basis of meticulous research.4 For their prefaces, these family historians from Taihe usu­ ally turned to their honoured fellow county men who served at the capital. Men like Yang Shiqi and Wang Zhi contributed great numbers of such prefaces. The transformation Dardess refers to occurred in Taihe around the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when 3 Dardess,

4

A Ming Society, 1 1 2-1 38. Dardess, A Ming Society, 1 23.

204

CHAPTER NINE

common-descent groups gradually became lineages. Dardess detects four specific characteristics of this late fifteenth- and early sixteenth­ century process of lineage formation in Taihe: kinship connections are no longer exclusively established on the basis of concrete evidence; lineages begin to construct temples to worship their common ancestor; the activities are supported by shared financial organizations; and com­ plex rules and regulations are established to control the kinship group. Lineage prefaces are also no longer compiled by the Taihe gendemen at the capital.5 It is not a transformation exclusive to Taihe, Dardess suggests. He proposes to understand this development as part of the kind of localist strategies that Hymes suggested existed in local society from the Southern Song onward.6 As the court and imperial service offered fewer possibilities for confirming elite status, localist strategies became more important. Dardess chronicles a process in Taihe that leads to a growth of compilations of lineage records around the beginning of the fifteenth century, with prefaces written by men who are not necessarily located at the capital. This is fascinating. Just at the time when we have noted a decline in the production of literati inscriptions for local temples, Dardess observes the increase of lineage record compilations in Taihe. Could it be that the Ji'an gendemen who saw local temples as nodes of local social and cultural development in the period from the South­ ern Song to the early Ming, at this point began to see the lineage as a more useful focal point for their activities? Was it the locally based scholars of the wider Ji'an region who took the place of the high court officials from Taihe who wrote the prefaces for the early Ming genealogical records? It certainly seems that a number of the men we have encountered in the previous chapters wrote prefaces for genealogies. From the literary collections preserved in the Siku quanshu, it transpires that Yin Tai's :13". literary collection, for example, contains four prefaces for genealogies, Hu Zhi's collection has five, and Luo Qnshun's m�}I�, another Taihe man, contains twelve. Luo Hongxian tops them all with no less than nineteen.7 Of course these are by no means complete figures. Genealogies were 5

Dardess, A Ming Society, 1 25-6. 6 Dardess, A Ming Society, 1 3 7 . 7 Yin Tai, Donglutangji, 1 .76b-79b, 2.3a-5b, 2.35a-3 7a, 3 . 1 6b-1 9b; Hu Zhi, Henglu jingshe zanggao, 8.46b--48a, 9.38b-40b, 1 O.3b-5b, I O.23a-25b, 1 O.25b--28a; Lua Qnshun, Zheng'an cungao, juan 9; Lua Hangxian, Nian'an wenj� juan 1 2 .

-

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

205

compiled at all levels of society, and only a fraction of the genealogies has survived. The Shanghai Library, which holds the largest collection of Chinese genealogies in the world, owns about 24 genealogies from what was Ji'an prefecture.8 Of those 24, the majority of the editions date from the early twentieth century, with only about five from the nineteenth century, and a further three from the eighteenth. The earliest extant Ji'an jiapu in the Shanghai Library dates from l 76 l .9 So for Ji'an, the extant genealogies were all produced at a time that lies well outside of our period. Nevertheless, even some of those much later genealogies proudly claim prefaces and commemorative texts written by famous late Ming scholars.1O It goes without saying that the kinship connection between the late Qing or Republican era compiler of the genealogy and the actual kingroup for whom the famous scholar in question compiled a preface is dubious. I I Interestingly, those late Ming prefaces clearly still held value in the early twentieth century, perhaps had even increased in value, as evidence of the long and venerable ancestry of the family. So late Ming scholars from Ji'an wrote prefaces for Ji'an genealo­ gies. Is it possible to say anything about why these scholars wrote their prefaces, or about what they hoped to achieve with their writings? For

8

Of course the genealogical collections in the Family Library in Utah also have extensive holdings, but they include only a small number from Ji'an. 9 This is the genealogy for the Tang family from Xiayang in Yongxin. Tang Wenwei, comp., Xiayang tang shi zupu ( 1 76 1 ). \ 0 For example, the third edition of the genealogy of the Yang family from Jishui, which dates from the late Qing, contains a commemorative text by Grand Secretary XieJin, who served under Yongle. See Yangshi sanxiu zupu (n.d.),juan 5, citangji, l a-4a. The same Xie Jin also contributed a preface to the genealogy of the He family from Yongxin. See He Changyao, He shi shisan xiu zupu (1 925),juan shou, l Oa- l I b. This He genealogy boasts, apart from the Xie Jin preface, also prefaces by Zou Shouyi (juan shou, 1 8a-1 9b) and Luo Hongxian (juan shou, 20a-22a). Finally, the genealogy for the Peng family from Youtian in Luling county, compiled in 1 925, contains a preface by Zou Shouyi. See Peng Shipei, ed., Youtian Longtang Peng shi zupu, prefatory materials, 3b-4b. 11 As Dardess has pointed out, already by the mid to late Ming, the compilation of genealogies was no longer based on thorough research, and claims of veracity were no longer carefully checked. When a twentieth-century member of the Wang family, a certain Wang Zhisong, included a preface entitled 'Wang shi zupu xu', composed by none other than Ouyang Xiu in his genealogy, he no doubt knew himself how unlikely it was that actual kinship ties connected the Wang family for whom Ouyang Xiu had composed his text, and the family of Wang Zhisong. What matters is that in the twentieth-century environment in which Wang Zhisong composed his text, this text by Ouyang Xiu conveyed a meaningful connection. See Wang Zhisong, comp., Wang shi xuxiu jiapu ( 1 9 2 1 ), juanshou, I a-2a.

206

CHAPTER NINE

that we have to look more closely at the texts themselves. Many of the authors who wrote prefaces mention the social significance of the lineage. In ancient times, writes Yin Zhi, it was the sage kings who ordered society and ensured human relations were correctly balanced. Yin Zhi dismisses later attempts to transform the ways of the ancients by means of modern governance. 'Far better is to provide leadership through the clarification of one's genealogical records.'12 Yin Zhi is not arguing this in isolation; on the contrary, he feels strengthened by a venerable local tradition of valuing the compilation of genealogical records, a process started by Ouyang Xiu, and hence used as a model throughout the realm. 13 Again, he stresses that society should be ordered by taking account of the great constants visible over periods of one hundred generations, but also of the small distinctions manifest in shorter periods of, say, five generations. So for Yin Tai, the compila­ tion of the genealogical record of a family is a way both to understand and to transform one's socio-cultural environment. It is a point he feels strongly about. 'In making such records, one wishes to implement the righteousness [of one family] throughout the realm. That is why genealogies are composed.'14 Through writing a preface, Yin Tai takes part in that transformative process. Yin Tai is perhaps more explicit about the transformative power of genealogical compilations than most, but he is not alone. Hu Zhi, albeit more implicitly, also argues for their importance. The collation of family records strengthens kinship ties, Hu writes in one preface, and the tightening of the family regulations allows the righteousness of the family to flourish. 15 In another preface, Hu expresses his abundant admiration for the Zhou family from Wan'an, praising the harmony in their family life, the helpfulness between their siblings, and the obedi­ ence of their servants. He sees all this as the result of generations of study and self-cultivation. What is more, he considers the compilation of the family records similarly as an act of self-cultivation. In the same way that the ethical man (junzi), even if he lives the life of a hermit, transforms not just the realm but also heaven, earth, and the myriad things, the genealogy has a powerful effect on society.16 It is a process 12

Yin Tai, Donglutangji, 1 . 7 7a. 1 3 Yin, Donglutang ji, 1 . 7 7b. 14 Yin, Donglutangji, 2.35a-b. 15 Hu, Henglujingshe zanggao, 8.48a. 16 Hu, Henglu jingshe zanggao, 9.40b.

•

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

207

Hu sees beginning with the family, then spreading throughout the land, after which it is taken up by the wild beasts, the fish and the natural world, and eventually by heaven, earth, and the myriad thingsY These are no mean powers attributed to the compilation of family records! Clearly, men like Hu Zhi and Yin Tai considered genealogies as a valuable tool for the social and moral transformation of the world they inhabited. Compared with the ways in which literati wrote about temples to bring about change in their local world, these late Ming authors were far more direct about the affective powers of these local institutions. There is, however, an important difference. While the literati authors of temple inscriptions, in particular those of the Southern Song and Yuan, wrote from an insider's perspective, positioning themselves within the imaginary temple communities, the authors of lineage prefaces are defocto outsiders. Nowhere is membership of a community more clearly defined than where that community is based on kinship. Of course a genealogy usually contains a large number of prefaces, some of which were composed by members of the lineage themselves, not least the actual compiler of the genealogy. The prefaces included in the literary collections of the authors themselves, however, are rarely for the author's own lineage. Far more commonly, the authors almost all famous individuals, otherwise their literary collections would not have been preserved were asked to lend their fame to the family by writing a preface. In that sense, the process is no different from the genealogy preface. But where a temples was open to anyone who wished to belong to its community, a lineage was not. The transformative process that scholars like Hu Zhi and Yin Tai write about so enthusiastically, is, on the whole, observed and encouraged from the outside, and not from within the community. For writings written from within a community in an attempt to transform it, we have, once again, to look elsewhere. Local educational establishments

If the local writers in Ji'an regarded genealogies to be more useful sites of local moral transformation than temples, then what about the schools and academies of Ji'an? Did they see institutions like Bailuzhou Academy, for example, or the academy in the Qjngyuan Mountains, as

17

Hu, Henglu jingshe zanggao, 1 O.5a.

208

CHAPTER NINE

sites where local communities were constructed and shaped? Two sites located near the city walls of Luling Bailuzhou Islet and the Qjngyuan Mountains provide a useful testing ground. Both sites have extant gazetteers: the gazetteer for the academy at Bailuzhou Islet (Bailuz/lOu shuyuan zhi), compiled by Liu Yi ;�� in 1 8 7 1 , and the mountain gazetteer for Qjngyuan (Qingyuan zhilile), compiled by Xiaofeng Daran (1 589-1 659) in 1 669.18 Bailuzhou Academy in the late Ming

When Ming rule was first established inJi'an, an era of frantic rebuild­ ing followed, as we have seen in Chapter Six. Government buildings, official altars, Chenghuang temples, Buddhist and Daoist shrines and monasteries were built or reconstructed throughout the prefecture. Inter­ estingly, Bailuzhou Academy seems not to have been touched during the whole of the fifteenth century. If any restorations took place, no records in the academy gazetteer or in the county and prefectural gaz­ etteers document these.19 Not until 1 526 did the prefectural magistrate make some attempt at the restoration of this once so famous academy. Then, in 1 542, Ji'an Magistrate He Qjgao {jjf�;§Ij took drastic meas­ ures. He removed the remains of a temple on the islet, Ci'en Temple �}gt�, and rebuilt the academy on its foundations.20 As one observer remarked, all buildings on the islet were by then almost entirely derelict, although traces remained of the foundations of some of the buildings that had stood here long ago.21 When his work was complete, he invited scholars from the nine Ji'an counties (jiuyi zhi shi 1L ESZ±) to come and admire what he had done, and he requested a commemorative inscription from the by then rather elderly Taihe scholar Luo Qjnshun (1465-1 547).22 Luo, who led a more or less reclusive existence in Taihe, 18

See also the discussion of these sources in Chapter Five. References throughout are abbreviated: Bailuzhou shuyuan zhi is referred to as BL?" and Qingyuan zhilue as W-?,L. 19 The Luling gazetteer notes the following: 'From the 1 355 restorations to 1 526 is a century and many decades. It was only then that Magistrate Huang Zongming initiated the restorations of Bailu.' Luling xianzhi ( 1 873), 1 6.5a. 20 On Ci'en Temple, see JAF-?, ( l 875), 8.45a. 21 Luo Qnshun, 'Chengnan Bailu shuyuan ji', BL?" 5. 1 0a-l l a. 22 On Luo Qnshun, see Liu, Ji'an gudai mingren zhuan, 226-230. For his activities in Taihe, see Dardess, A Ming Society, passim. For in-depth studies of his philosophy, see Irene Bloom, Knowledge Painfolfy Acquired: The K'un-chih chi Iy La Ch'in-shun (New York, 1 987). See also Youngmin Kim, 'Luo Qnshun ( 1 465- 1 547) and his Intellectual Context', T'oung Pao 89.4-5 (2003): 367-44 1 .

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

209

initially politely declined the invitation on account of his great age, but He Qi.gao, hoping to use his text as a means 'to encourage all students in the area', did not give Up.23 Pursuing Luo by letter, He wrote that he wished Luo 'to tell all students they must match the brilliance of our Master [i.e. Luo Qi.nshunJ '.24 He Qi.gao obviously felt that this academy, with an accompanying text by this prominent thinker, would enhance scholarly endeavours throughout the prefecture. He Qi.gao also set aside some land to provide an income to fund extended stays of scholars at the academy. To mark this donation, he asked Yin Tai, then a young scholar from Yongxin, to write a text.25 It is an interesting piece of writing that elegantly weaves together the theme of learning with the practical value of the piece of land donated by Magistrate He Qi.gao. Yin draws out the analogy between the student and the Way he seeks to attain on the one hand, and the farmer and the land he tills on the other. Learning begins with the committal to memory and the recitation of the texts of the Classics, a process Yin sees as parallel to the farmer sowing the seeds at the beginning of the season. Next come the physical aspects of the learning process, where eyes and ears are trained by learning to play musical instruments, and the hands and feet become versed in the steps and movements of the rituals. This he compares to the tending of young plants. The mastery of moral values, such as filial piety and mourning, are like the growing to maturity of the grains, and the preparations for examinations and selection for office, finally, are like the reaping of the harvest. 26 His text does not, however, read as the somewhat facile reflection on the importance of studying as this analogy perhaps suggests. Yin Tai uses the opportunity to reflect on what he perceives to be a threat to the tradition of learning. 'If the scholar does not concentrate fully on his studies, then he can become deluded by other teachings. Once he is deluded by other teachings, he cannot be saved from them.'27 As Yin Tai sees it, Buddhism and Daoism, and in particular Chan-Buddhist principles, 'threaten to cloud the clarity of our Way'.28 The danger, as Yin Tai perceives it, is in the accommodating attitudes of Buddhists and

13

Luo Qinshun, 'Chengnan Bailu shuyuan ji', BL<, 5.9a. 24 Luo Qinshun, 'Chengnan Bailu', 5.9b. 15 Yin Tai would later rise to serve in the central secretariat of the Nanjing Department of Ritual, but at the time of the restoration, he was only in his mid-thirties. 16 Yin Tai, 'Bailu shuyuan xuetian ji', Donglutangji, 4. I Sb-22a. 27 Yin, 'Bailu shuyuan xuetian ji', 20b. 28 Yin, 'Bailu shuyuan xuetian ji', 2 1b.

210

CHAPTER NINE

Confucians: 'Some say the essence [of Buddhism and Confucianism] is the same. Particularly Chan-Buddhists use [this argument] out of self-interest.'29 In the end, Yin Tai argues that this is where there is a difference between the farmer tilling the land, and the scholar striving to attain the Way: The farmer knows how to control the weeds in his land, but when the scholar does not attain the Way in his learning, he forgets what it is he extracted from [his learning] . Thus the learning of the Way of the scholar is not as good as that of the farmer, who never fails to perform the tasks needed on his land. But we must ensure this field [donated by] our master [i.e. Magistrate He Qjgao] for the purpose of study is not put to shame.30

He ends with a reminder for all those reaping the benefits of this piece of land: 'We will depend on this land to feed our scholars, so how could we not be mindful of their learning!'3! With that final statement, the general argument about the significance of learning is brought back to a local level. Here, then, we see a parallel to the kind of critical statements the Southern Song and Yuan scholars were making about the temples. Yin Tai uses this opportunity in this rather broad and general reflection on the significance of learning, to make two critical observations that are revealing of him as a person. The first is a comment about the general intellectual climate of accommodation between Confucianism and Buddhism that, as we saw earlier, had a personal resonance for a number of the Ji'an scholars.32 It may also be a direct consequence of Wang Yangming's legacy in the area, his comments directed at the latter-day Wang Yangming-ists who, as we saw in the previous chapter, were interested in bringing Buddhism and Confucianism closer together. Yin Tai is not specific enough, however, to provide full evidence for this hypothesis. The second is his final comment about his appreciation for the local magistrate. He Qjgao has offered this piece of land, and Yin Tai wishes to ensure that those who enjoy its benefits at this academy, will not take it for granted. He is, in other words, attempting to shape the local community of scholars with his comments. In contrast to Yin Tai's genealogy prefaces, where he expressed his commitment to local 29 Ibid. 30 Yin, 'Bailu shuyuan xuetian ji', 22a. 31 Ibid. 32 Most notably Hu Zhi, as we saw earlier.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

211

moral values by seeking to transform communities to which he himself did not directly belong, here he is targeting the local community of scholars of which he himself is a part. Through the act of his writing for this academy, he positions himself as an active member within that community. The academy itself was moved again in 1 5 73, this time to a location to the north of Luling. This building was then restored once again in 1 586. In 1 592, Magistrate Wang Keshou HPJ� decided to re-establish the buildings on the Islet itself, and moved the academy back, add­ ing several new shrines and buildings. In 1 635, Magistrate Lin Yizhu ;fit ';f± carried out the last Ming restorations and extensions to the buildings.33 The 1 592 restoration was perhaps the most thorough of the sixteenth-century restorations, drawing on a wide range of local gentry to contribute financially to its costs. The academy gazetteer was compiled in 1 8 7 1 , when throughoutJi'an, county gazetteers were being compiled. It includes a complete list of donations made to the restora­ tion project of 1 592.34 It is a fascinating document, containing hundreds of names, complete with their official title, their place of origin, and the exact amount they donated. The officials at the prefectural level as well as at the county level made the highest donations, some paying up to one hundred silver tael. The donations from the county elite, some of whom were serving elsewhere, and some were enrolled as students in the academy, were mostly in the region of several tael. The Luling elite donated most money, but people from each of the other counties contributed as well. Even those appointed to county governments in military posts donated two to three taels each. It was clearly considered in the interest of the prefecture as a whole to reinstate Bailuzhou as a centre of academic excellence. Such contributions from throughout the prefecture confirmed the shared sense of 'ownership' of the academy throughout Ji'an. These sixteenth-century inscriptions suggest that at least the prefectural mag­ istrates and some lower-level local scholars regarded it to be in the interest of the prefecture as a whole to reinstate Bailuzhou as a centre of academic excellence. Yin Tai shared their sentiment, as did Luo Qjnshun, who had written in 1 542:

33 34

BL<:,, 8.2 1b-22b, BL<:,, 3 . 1 a-1 5b.

212

CHAPTER NINE

Protecting and nurturing [the people] is a constant task. Together with the learning of the prefecture and its counties, they are like the outward show and inward thought to each other, that ensure that talented people daily increase, and that local customs are promulgated widely.35

Clearly Bailuzhou was relevant for the prefecture as a whole, and the education provided at this newly restored academy was thought to benefit it. Dardess is no doubt right that for Luo Qjnshun, Taihe had lost its attraction for providing a shared identity.36 Nevertheless, there was still a prefectural unit they recognized as valuable, and they were happy to lend their names to a project that enhanced its cohesion and community identity. The Qingyuan Mountains

For much of the sixteenth century, however, not Bailuzhou, but the Qjngyuan Mountains were the main site for intellectual activities in Ji'an. The Qjngyuan mountain range is located close to the prefectural capital Luling (see Map 7). This range never had the kind of magical quality that the remote Wugong Mountains had, but they were probably the most famous mountains in the area. When Zhou Bida had visited the Qjngyuan Mountains in 1 1 63, he was impressed by the imposing mountains that hid the secluded temple of the seventh patriarch. The Song dynasty Qjngyuan Mountains were still partly unknown terri­ tory. By the late Ming dynasty, however, the Qjngyuan Mountains had become a favourite meeting place for local scholars and learned men from all over the empire. Gazetteer records suggest that the same fate befell Jingju Monastery, the most significant site for worship here, as the many other temples in the area. They were destroyed at some point during the chaotic years of the late Yuan, and were hastily rebuilt under early Ming rule. In the case of Jingju Monastery, the gazetteer notes the restoration of 1 3 76, and its elevation to the status of 'amalgamated monastery' in 1 39 1 . It is quite clear, however, that little further develop­ ment happened in the Qjngyuan Mountains until the arrival of Wang Yangming in the area in 1 5 1 0Y As has been discussed by a number of

BLZ, 5. l 6a. Dardess, A Ming Society, 249. 37 In 1 5 1 0, Wang arrived in Luling, where he served as magistrate for less than one year. Wing-tsit Chan, 'Wang Shou-jen', in DMB, 322. 35 36

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

213

scholars, Wang Yangming used Buddhist sites for some of his teaching, and the temples in the Qngyuan Mountains were among them.38 After Wang Yangming's death, biannual gatherings to discuss the teachings continued in the area. As one scholar described the scene: The nine counties of Jizhou all have academies, and there are hundreds of scholars. They always gather in one hall. Every year they gather in the spring and the autumn and stay there for three days. There are always many visitors, to the point that they fill every empty monk's bed. Their chanting fills the forests and valleys, and the learning of the west bank of the river (jiangyou iI:tJ) was known throughout the realm.39

The Qngyuan Mountains were known 'throughout the realm', as this author maintains, for the Confucian learning of the latter-day Wang Yangming followers that gathered here. Most famous were the four followers of Wang from Ji'an: Nie Bao, Zou Shouyi, Ouyang De, and Luo Hongxian.40 When Luo Hongxian travelled on the Gan with friends in the summer of 1 548, he attended one of these gatherings: On the 25th day [of the sixth month] we gathered at Qjngyuan. Scholars from all over the prefecture arrived. Altogether about 1 60 people gathered, lay persons and monks, some arriving earlier than others. They could not all stay overnight. Every morning they assembled in the hall, and vari­ ous gentlemen explained [the theory of] innate goodness (liangzhi �j;Q) and the damage done by certain ideas. When the [gentlemen] withdrew, everyone went to their bedrooms to [continue] discussing. Every night they only stopped around midnightY

These dynamic conferences only lasted for a time during the sixteenth century and into the early seventeenth. By the early Qng, in 1 662, an observer wrote that the place had completely changed: That is now thirty years ago. The lecture halls are covered in lush grass, the ever diminishing number of monks of the temple have cut off all contact with the world. There is little hope for this not to turn into a dusty field or a tiger's lair. 42

38

See, for example, Kandice Hauf, "Goodness Unbound,' Wang Yang-ming and the Redrawing of the Boundary of Confucianism', in Kai-wing Chow, On-cho Ng, and John B. Henderson, eds., Imagining Boundaries: Changing Corifitcian Doctrines, Texts, and Hermeneutics (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1 999), 1 35-1 37. 39 Luo Hongxian, 'Xia you ji', Nian'an wenji, 5.22a. 40 For an extensive discussion of these four figures, see Hauf, 'The Jiangyou Group'. ji 5.22a. 41 Luo Hongxian, 'Xia you ji', Nian'an wen 42 QYZL, 1 38.

214

CHAPTER NINE

This text shows how quickly the fortunes of such a place could turn around, and how constantly the need for restorations presented itself to local governors. Nevertheless, the philosophical writings of Wang Yangrning and his followers had ensured a permanent place for the Qj.ngyuan Mountains, both in the cultural landscape of Jizhou, and in the consciousness of gentlemen and scholars throughout the realm. Qj.ngyuan's reputation as a cultural centre remained standing, even when its buildings had long ago lost their roofs. The Jiangyou group

The heritage of the seventh patriarch had by the sixteenth century been swallowed up by the Confucian activities on the mountain of the Jiangyou group, who held regular large meetings here. The main theme of their discussions was how the Chan tradition should or should not be part of Confucian learning. By the early seventeenth century, the buildings were crumbling, and the famous imperial official and Con­ fucian philosopher Zou Yuanbiao (1551-1624) was one of the local gentlemen involved in the restoration. Zou had attended some of these large meetings of the Jiangyou group in the Qj.ngyuan Mountains in the years before he passed the jinshi exam, when he was in his early twenties. Over the decades, he had seen the buildings of the Jingju complex gradually growing more run-down: Every time there was a meeting, several hundred people attended, and the sound of chanting was impressive. It truly was a region of outstanding learning. So many people attended that the buildings [of the academy] could not house them all, so many slept in the temple buildings. The halls were all dilapidated, and when the wind blew, they made a jingling noise, and [the buildings] wobbled as if they were about to collapse. The shrine was also leaning to one side, and everyone agreed [the buildings] ought to be renewed.43

Despite the agreement over the necessity of restorations, there was disagreement over how to proceed. In Zou's analysis, there were two ways of looking at the issue: Some said this is the land of the [Buddhist] patriarch (zu di tEl.J&.), and at times of [Confucian] meetings, [the monks] ought not to have to

43 Zou Yuanbiao, 'Preface for the restoration of Qjngyuan', WZL, 1 66.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

215

smell the meat and fish. They considered it most suitable if the temple halls and monks' residences would all comply with [Buddhist] monastic guidelines (qinggui �f!fm), and that for the shrine itself another high and dry location would be selected. Others claimed that they had established the correct way (zhengdao if]!!) , and that therefore the restoration of the Buddhist temples and monks' residences should take place beyond the walls of these buildings, and that [the temple buildings] should not be used for [Confucian] instruction.44

This argument reflected, in a way, the deeper divisions between those who felt that Buddhism threatened the very foundations of the ru tradi­ tion and those who wished to have the supremacy of their Confucian tradition reflected in the architecture of the site. As we saw, Yin Tai would be most likely associated with this group. Others were more willing to recognize the invaluable contribution the Buddhist (chan) tradition had made to Confucian (ru) thought, and the primacy of the Buddhist presence on this mountain, Hu Zhi among them, as we saw in the previous chapter. The issue was resolved by Zou's appointment of the monk Benji as supervisor of the project. As Zou put it, 'To make true the ru tradi­ tion, you need to know about the Buddha; only when you know about Buddhism do you understand the ru tradition. '45 Although Zou did not dare to express himself in a language that blended the two traditions (he he yu fQif�:g.), he felt strongly that the heritage of the mountain should be preserved. 'A harmonious match [between the two schools of thought] is hard to find, and one rarely encounters such a beautiful situation. How could people be willing to let this precious mountain revert to emptiness? Let those who come here sneerl'46 Zou's encourage­ ment of the monk Benji, and his fund-raising efforts among his friends and exam-year cohort meant that the Buddhist buildings were restored fully, a project that continued well beyond Zou's death in 1 624. The academy and the worthies' shrine were also rebuilt, but outside the boundary of the sacred Buddhist space. Clearly, for Zou Yuanbiao the significance of this restoration project went well beyond the mountain itself, and probably beyond county and prefecture as well. The discussions preceding the restoration, on one level dealing with such practicalities as the smell of meat upsetting

44 45 46

Ibid. Ibid. Ibid.

216

CHAPTER NINE

the vegetarian residents of the mountain, were on another level really about the relative place of the two traditions. It was a matter close to the heart of the prominent Ji'an thinkers of the sixteenth and early seventeenth century, as we also saw in their temple inscriptions, one that constantly transcended geographical borders. Issues of local identity or local responsibility for the project did not feature in these discussions, and when Zou wrote his fund-raising notice, it was not local gentlemen he targeted, but those members of the national elite that he shared connections with. 'Restoring Qj.ngyuan' was a project of the realm, or of the tradition, and not a local project. The local in the Qjngyuan Mountains

At the same time, there were those for whom the activities in the Qj.ngyuan Mountains enhanced the sense of a specifically local, namely Ji, identity. Zou Depu ��tj?'f from Anfu, for example, who gained his jinshi degree during the Wanli reign-period, peppered his 1 6 1 7 account of the restorations at Qj.ngyuan with references to 'our Ji' (wu ji 1:f5')Y He writes about the initial spread of Buddhism to 'our Ji', Magistrate Wu who came to be in charge of 'our Ji' and further enhanced 'our greatness' (wo hong ftm); he mentions the gentlemen 'greatly developed our Ji' (da zao wo ji ::k:@fta) as they planned the restorations of Qj.ngyuan: I personally think that our Ji has reason to celebrate. Scholars and gentry who come here mostly seek to attain the matchless learning of myriad sages. The pure and cultivated enter these halls, the intelligent and enlightened enter these rooms, and as they become acquainted among the fields, they all feel lucky to know that there is a Qjngyuan tradition of learning, and whenever they 'manipulate the dust brush' [i.e. hold discussions] , this is always the thought that is first considered.48

For Zou Depu, then, this academy and the intellectual activities in it are inseparable from the sense of local pride and identity this generates. As Zou sees it, the reputation and high standards of learning associated with Qj.ngyuan thanks to the likes of Zou Shouyi, Nie Bao, Ouyang De and Luo Hongxian, have lifted 'our Ji' above the rest. As an Anfu 47

Zou's text has the phrase 'our Ji' six times. Zou Depu, 'Daxiu QjngyuanJingjusi shu', OYZL, 1 64-5. 48 Zou Depu, 'Daxiu QjngyuanJingjusi shu', OYZL, 1 65.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

217

man, he regards the learning of Luling as the learning of Ji, and he is happy to claim his share in its fame and reputation. Luo Hongxian and the Yongxin school

Around the middle of the sixteenth century, during the years that Luo Hongxian spent at home in Jishui, he once found himself in Yongxin. He noted that the school buildings, located to the east of the county town, were all dilapidated and uncared for. He raised this issue with Yin Tai, a native Yongxin man. Yin explained to Luo that the school had suffered in recent inclement weather, and that plans were afoot to carry out extensive renovations at a different site. The site was eventu­ ally restored between 1 554 and 1 558, and Luo Hongxian was asked to write an inscription. Luo was of course a mere visitor in Yongxin, and the absence of any explicit references would suggest that he was not among those who made financial contributions: 'They requested that Yin [Tai] wrote down the later events and create a record of the surnames of those who worked so hard.'49 Although Luo was an outsider, he still used the inscription to write a powerful plea for the significance of such schools. Interestingly, Luo Hongxian's point is not to stress the importance of schools for learning per se, but to emphasize the importance of schools for the creation of gentlemen, shi. These shi are much more than learned individuals, the shi are men who fulfil important roles for the community. 'What made one a scholar in ancient times was not merely learning (gu zhi wei shiJei du xue �z�±��5mj"').'50 Men of ancient times selected a place to live, and worked from then onward to improve their environment, and thereby themselves. Simple implements would be created for the performance of rituals, instruments made out of hollow shapes to create music, and elevated areas established for the execution of dances and steps. Once he mastered the skill of writing letters and poems, there would be the recitation of poems; once he learned to wield the implements for shooting and driving a carriage, there would be archery and hunting. As the place attracted merchants, the need for proper distinctions manifested itself, and the gentleman would create a proper dwelling so as to shield himself: 49 50

Luo Hongxian, 'Yongxin gaijian xuegong ji', JAFZ ( 1 660), 35.6 1 b. JAFZ ( 1 660), 35.60a.

218

CHAPTER NINE

This way his eyes and ears would not be distracted and his wisdom remain sharp. His urges and desires would not subjugate him, and his focus and aims remain broad. This is how [the scholar] perfected his place of residence (shan qijuye 'Ilf.jtm�)y

In this interpretation, a scholar is someone who brings civilization to where he lives by creating proper places for worship, by perfecting the Confucian arts, and by establishing proper distinctions. Of course the focus of becoming fully human is towards the inside, so that the shi 'is filial and brotherly, and full of diffidence in his actions at home' and towards the public realm, where he is 'human-hearted and righteous, and full of sagely insight in his work for the state',52 But it is the place where the scholar lives that benefits: when he chooses the place to live (ze di erju zhi jti11!,ffij m 1:.),53 there is nothing there. Once there is learning, the place has everything it needs, it has become a place of culture. So far so good. The problems arise when government and education fall in decline. 'When government and education (zhengjiao) deteriorate, the authorities do not regard schools as a priority. '54 Not only do schools fall in disrepair, but those who would otherwise raise the standards of the area fail to apply their mental and physical energies. Hence the significance of the restorations carried out here at the Yongxin county school. Now that the school is at a new site, and the eyesore caused by these dilapidated buildings has been removed, the focus can once again be on improving the area: As a result, the residents put their schools in order and await its business, so they can practice [what they learn] towards their family and put it into use for the state. . . . If their superiors apply themselves fully like this, then the �ocal] residents will always be mindful of it.55

Once again Luo stresses the significance for the area. It is not merely the actual learning based on books and aimed at passing the examina­ tions Luo advocates. He represents the school as the place from where the values of the area can be raised, and where people themselves take such initiatives. Of course there are the ritual and educational uses of the Confucian temple that have to be catered for:

51 52 53 54 55

JAFZ ( 1 660), JAFZ ( 1 660), JAFZ ( 1 660), JAFZ ( 1 660), JAFZ ( 1 660),

35.60a�b. 35.60b. 35.60a. 35.60b. 35.6 1 b�62a.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

219

At regular intervals, [activities like] making offerings, ceremonial drinking and archery always happen here. One also always comes here for the recitation of poems and for rest from travel, and during examinations literary compositions are compared here.56

But Luo takes it one step further. Luo presents the school as a kind of hub of community life, where much more than learning can happen: We might also ask this. We regard our looking up and down, moving forward and backward as [the performance of] a ritual. Do we do this so we can communicate with the spiritual (shenming f' Iffl ) and to serve our elders, or may we also have a more laissezfoire and playful attitude? We consider our harmonized chanting .to be music. Do we do this so we can nourish our inner nature and our emotions, and to cleanse what is polluted, or may we also indulge in a more relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere?57

Is Luo not suggesting that the rituals and music carried out in the Con­ fucian temple do not necessarily have to be executed with such solem­ nity? Hauf's suggestion that the writers she studied seemed influenced by popular religions may well be applicable here.58 Perhaps it was the contrast between boisterous gatherings at temple festivals and the sol­ emn ritual performances that struck Luo Hongxian? Perhaps he hoped to introduce the idea that the movements and sounds of a Confucian ritual could also be regarded as playful and light-hearted, and enjoyed by more than just a select few? Luo is not explicit enough to answer these questions conclusively, but there seems little doubt that for Luo, the significance of the temple and what happens inside it is more than merely the education it provides. Luo wishes it to be a central space within the community that has meaning for everyone involved. The text as a whole is a statement of Luo's commitment to the local community, and the significance of the Confucian school within that community. The community he targets is not specific to the county alone. In fact, it is specifically not county-based, but prefectural in outlook. This evidence suggests that for these intellectuals, Ji'an prefecture was the domain within which a community of like-minded scholars was created, through the writing of texts regarding the educational establish­ ments within that prefecture. If temples had largely lost their appeal as sites of local community transformation, then other institutions do

56 JAFZ (1 660), 35.62a. 57

58

JAFZ ( 1 660), 35.62a. Hauf, The Jiangyou Group', especially Chapter seven.

220

CHAPTER NINE

seem to have taken their place. Lineage records were among them, as were local educational establishments. And while lineages were always exclusive communities, and the author of a preface could never belong to that kin-based community through the power of his writing alone, educational establishments were inclusive. They offered opportunities for local scholars to create significant sites for the construction of com­ munities, and to bring about their moral transformation. This interpretation fits well with a parallel development that took place during this time: the appropriation of community schools (shexue t±*) by members of the local elite. As Sarah Schneewind has chroni­ cled in her study of community schools, they went from being mandated for every single Ming county and prefecture by the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, to institutions that were championed by high officials in what she calls the 'mid-Ming' ( 1430-1 470). In the 'high Ming' (1470 to 1 530), administrators instituted them in the counties and prefectures where they served; and in the final stage, the late Ming (1 530-1 644), members of the local community took the initiative in building com­ munity schools, appropriating these imperially mandated institutions for their own, varied, agendas. 59 Here, too, the initiative shifts from central government and its officials in the first part of the Ming, to the local in the latter part of the Ming, as we just noted in the text by Luo Hongxian. Education, whether it was conceived of as an elite activity and located mainly in prestigious academies, or whether it was thought of as an enterprise that should be available to every boy in the country in the form of community schools, was an inclusive activity. Ming local communities, far more than in the Southern Song and Yuan, were envisioned as cultural spaces that brought people together, regardless of their social and economic status. It happened in genealogies, as it did in educational establishments, as it did in community covenants. Community covenants

One of the developments of the late fifteenth century, well-documented by a variety of scholars, is the use of the community covenant (xiangyue

59 Sarah Schneewind, Community Schools and the State in Ming China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006). These points are briefly stated on pages 3-4, and discussed in more detail in the conclusion, 1 63-1 66.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

22 1

��f(0) as a means to re-establish and maintain order within local society.50 The community covenant does not, of course, originate in the Ming but in the Northern Song. The community covenant written by Lii Dajun § *i53 (103 1 - 1 082) for Lantian E rn in 1 077, famous mostly for Zhu Xi's elaborations on the text, is one of the earliest community covenants extant today.51 Here I am not as interested in the origins of this type of document as in the use of such covenants as tools for local organization in late Ming Jiangxi. The story of the reappear­ ance of the community covenant in Ming times usually starts with Wang Yangming's stay in southern Jiangxi.52 Appointed to deal with the bandits that roamed the area in 1 5 1 8, he initiated the community covenant especially as a means of local defence.53 When Wang left the area, the community covenant quickly fell out of use. As Hauf's work has made clear, however, students of Wang Yangming in Ji'an prefecture continued to write about the community covenant and its local application throughout the sixteenth century. Hauf cites examples from a number of Ji'an men who wrote pref­ aces for covenants, most notably Nie Bao ( 1 487-1 563), Zou Shouyi ( 1 49 1-1562), and Luo Hongxian (1504- 1 564).54 Nie Bao spent a lifetime

60

For a recent study, see Joseph P. McDermott, 'Emperor, Elites and Commoners: the Community Pact Ritual of the Late Ming', in Joseph McDermott, ed., State and Court Ritual in China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 299-35 1 . 61 For a full discussion of the text by Lii Dajun and Zhu Xi's version, see Monika Ubelhor, 'The Community Compact (Hsiang-yileh) of the Sung and Its Educational Significance', in Chaffee and de Bary, eds., Neo-Corifitcian Education: The Formative Stage, 3 7 1 -388. See also Kandice Hauf, 'The Community Covenant in Sixteenth Century Ji'an Prefecture, Jiangxi', Late Imperial China 1 7.2 ( 1 996): 3-4. 62 Note that as Kandice Hauf points out, 'Wang Yangming and his Jiangxi fol­ lowers were not the first or only Ming literati interested in the covenant.' Hauf, 'The Community Covenant', 5. 6 3 For a discussion of Wang Yangming's community covenant, see Hauf, 'The Com­ munity Covenant', 7- 1 1 . 6 4 Hauf lists the following texts as her sources: For Zou Shouyi, 'Xu Yongfeng xiangyue' (Preface to the Yongfeng Community Covenant), Dongguo ;;:pu xiansheng wenji (Toyo bunko edition) 1 .47a; 'Xu Yongxin xiangyue' (Preface to the Yongxin Com­ munity Covenant), Dongguo ;;:pu xiansheng wenji (Ming edition) 2.26b; 'Xiangyue houyu' (Afterword to a Community Covenant), Dongguo ;;:pu xiansheng werlji (Toyo bunko edition) 8. 1 5a-16b; 'Xinchang xiangyue xu' (Preface to the Xinchang Community Covenant), Dongguo ;;:pu xianshengyigao 2. 1 7b- 1 9a; 'Shu xiangyue yigu bu' (An Essay on the Record Book for the Charitable Granary of the Community Covenant), Dongguo ;;:pu xiansheng wenji (Toyo bunko edition) 1 O.33b. For Nie Bao: 'Yongfeng xiangyue houxu' (A Later Preface to the Yongfeng Community Covenant), Shuangjiang Nie xiansheng wenji 3.8a-9b. For Luo Hongxian: 'Ke xiangyue yin' (An Introduction to the Engraving of the Com­ munity Covenant), Nian'an Luo xiansheng wenji 6.6a-7b.

222

CHAPTER NINE

in the provincial administration, and by all accounts did his utmost to improve the local order wherever he was posted.65 Zou Shouyi became a pupil of Wang Yangming during Wang's time inJiangxi between 1 5 1 7 and 1 520. Zou served in office for several years, but made his real mark mostly after 1 54 1 , when he embarked on two decades of lecture tourS.66 Luo Hongxian, finally, was interested in Wang Yangming's teachings, but entertained more doubts about them. While Zou Shouyi wrote theoretical explorations of the issue of local governance, Luo Hongx­ ian was more practically engaged with local government. In the late 1 550s, for example, Luo was put in charge of local defence in Jishui, when it was attacked by bandits.67 These three men all wrote prefaces for community covenants in Ji'an, something Hauf sees as evidence of their local activism and their commitment to turning around a local society that had otherwise broken down.68 Their local activism had not merely an organizational purpose to it, but also an educational one: 'The community covenant was a practical method for the moral training of all people. The Jiangyou men did not just want to tell people what to do, but wanted them to develop their ethical self-sufficiency.'69 Finally, Hauf argues that these men wished to create a community: 'The longing is for both Gemeinschaft, to bind people together on the model of the family; and Gesellschaft, to unite people voluntarily out of mutual interest.'7o In discussing the covenant prefaces, Hauf demonstrates a variety of aims behind the implementation of community covenants, including the reduction of administrative burdens on locally serving officials, the smoothing over of local tensions, and the protection of the community

65 Liu, Ji'an gudai mingren ::;huan, 236-239.

66 Liu, Ji'an gudai mingren ::;huan, 240-43. See also Willard Peterson, 'Confucian Learning in Late Ming Thought', in Twitchett and Mote, eds., Cambridge History if China, vol. 8, 726-7. 6 7 DMB, 98 1 -2. 68 As Hauf states in her conclusion, 'strong interest in the covenant indicates a break­ down in the organization of local society'. Hauf, 'The Community Covenant', 39. 69 Hauf, 'The Community Covenant', 1 4. 70 Hauf, 'The Community Covenant', 1 6. Traditionally, of course, 'Gemeinschaft' and 'Gesellschaft' have been seen as part of a process of historical change, with soci­ ety moving from a stage where familial ties bound people together (Gemeinschaft) in the Middle Ages, to a stage where more rational choices are employed to establish communities (Gesellschaft). From that perspective the longing for both Gesellschaft and Gemeinschaft would be unusual. More recent work, however, has argued for the continued existence of Gemeinschaft while Gesellschaft began to be the norm.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

223

from outside invasions.71 On the basis of Hauf's work, then, it would seem that in sixteenth-century Ji'an the covenant offered local scholars a way of being involved with local society and transforming society from the local level. It might, thus, be possible to argue that the community covenant began to operate as one of the loci for the sense of community belonging when the temple no longer figured in that role in literati consciousness. Hauf approaches the issue from a slightly different angle. When she asks why local scholars such as Nie, Zou and Luo might be interested in the community covenant, she states that: A major reason for interest in the community covenant was the decline in the local administration system set up by Zhu Yuanzhang in the late fourteenth century. This decline created a vacuum which the national government did not, or was not always able to, fill. The local elite sought to fill this vacuum for complicated reasons including altruism, a desire for order, to protect themselves and their lifestyles, and to gain power and prestige. 72

Hauf concentrates on the Ming dynasty as a whole, and takes the local administration established by Zhu Yuanzhang as her starting point, followed by a 'decline', a 'vacuum' that had to be filled. It seems to me that this demonstrates the value of looking at the Song-Yuan-Ming period as a coherent and continuous period. Taking the early Ming as starting point and seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's reign as a period of strong centralism with powerful local administrative structures enhance the image of the sixteenth century as a time of collapse of local structures, motivating the locally based literati to search for alternatives. The com­ munity covenant then appears to be an innovative structure that allows the local literati to take on an activist role. Taking a longer perspective in view, and seeing the early Ming as merely a brief aberration in a longer period of local activism starting in the Southern Song, allow one to see that the community covenant is one among many other institutions available to the local literati as tools for community building and transformation. It then becomes interesting to ask why the community covenant stood out as particu­ larly useful among the other local institutions during this time. First, 71

Hauf's evidence comes here from Zou Shouyi's 'Xiangyue houyu', Dongguo ;;:pu xiansheng weryi, 8. l 5a- 1 6b. She also discusses the significance of local magistrates in implementing a covenant successfully. Hauf, 'The Community Covenant', 2 1 . 72 Hauf, 'The Community Covenant', 23.

224

CHAPTER NINE

however, we need to ask more precise questions to ascertain whether local literati did indeed perceive the community covenant as an insti­ tution through which to build and shape local communities of which they were themselves active members. In a preface for the Yongxin community covenant, Zou Shouyi dis­ cusses why he considers the community covenant such a useful tool for social transformation. Self-cultivation (xiu shen 1�::!1r) is what provides the moral fibre of society; without it, he writes, 'parents are not treated with filiality, elders are not respected, there is no harmony in the local community (xiangli �N�1t), sons and grandsons are not educated', and so on. The common people (shuren EftA) themselves do not engage in this self-cultivation, rather, they depend on the leadership of others. 'Those who excel at providing education must begin with the common people.' Once their good practices are encouraged and their divergences stricdy forbidden, then everyone will 'migrate to doing good and reform their failings'.73 The best way to reach the common people, as Zou sees it, is by having a community covenant, as it can achieve all these goals: filiality and obedience, reverence and respect, peace and harmony, and instruction and learning.74 He ends by saying that it is not just Yongxin that could have such benefits, but that others could and should adopt the same system. With that, he clarifies exacdy the scope of the area he encompasses in his text. The community covenant aims to improve the moral fibre of the entire county, by establishing the guidelines for behaviour from the bottom up. The covenant, or so Zou Shouyi imagines, has this transformative power that reaches throughout the county. Thereby it also, of course, creates a shared identity for the county and sets it apart from other counties, who can only hope to imitate. It is not a community he himself belongs to Zou Shouyi hailed from Anfu, to the north of Yongxin but it does include the Yongxin elites as well, both those with learning and those in positions of government, who are all given roles in the implementation and promulgation of the text. In another preface, this time for Yongfeng county, he echoes these sentiments almost verbatim. Here, too, he stresses the importance of moral transformation from below:

73 74

Zou Shouyi, Dongkuo ;;:pu xiansheng wenji, 2. 1 6b-l 7 a. Zou, Zou xiansheng wen)!, 2. 1 7b.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

225

When one teaches in the villages (xiang ���), then one [encourages] a coherent type of learning. When the village communities exist in harmony and when such unions with each other, they form a union (bangguo *� are in harmony, then they become the realm.75

The transformation of the realm thus begins with the local community (xiang).

It is, to a certain extent, an intellectual exercise for Zou Shouyi. He refers to his antecedents: the learning of the Cheng brothers, the 1077 community covenant for Lantian, and his own teacher Wang Yangming.76 And if he lifts Yongfeng to the status of these important cultural connections, he does so indirectly, as it is the recently arrived magistrate of Yongfeng who has requested the preface. One would thus be hard-pressed to situate Zou Shouyi himself within this com­ munity in Yongfeng. By situating himself amongst the greats of Chinese moral philosophy, and dealing with the people of Yongfeng only via the magistrate, he positions himself at some remove. Nevertheless, I would argue that Zou conjures up a sense of belonging through this community covenant that encompasses all social levels in Yongfeng. It is a community constructed on the principles of residence, and it is aimed to appeal to all those who wish to be included. There is no doubt that for Zou Shouyi, the community covenant is a tool. It can be used to govern the people, and for that purpose it is wielded by the magistrate. So Magistrate Lu 'governed Yongxin by means of the community covenant', Zou writes, and 'Master Pengshan � ill ruled Rongcheng �$:fpJG [i.e. Yongfeng] by means of the covenant'. 77 Of course the magistrates then employed others to distribute the text through society: ' [The magistrate] of our county gave the elders the community covenant to simplifY extending ritual control over the various households they were responsible for.'78 Essentially, it remains, in Zou Shouyi's eyes, a top-down process of rule. Its efficacy as a building block for the community, however, lay in its universal applicability. Where officials needed it to prevent their affairs from multiplying, farmers 7.\ Zou, :;:pu xiansheng wenji, 2.40b. 76 Zou,
226

CHAPTER NINE

needed it to conserve their physical strength. While the good became isolated without it, the bad only prolonged their bad behaviour. The rich could not preserve their wealth, while the poor became easily oppressed without a covenant. 79 No one can do without it: powerful or weak, young or old, rich or poor. It is in making such rather sweeping statements that we see Zou Shouyi gathering the entire county together, if not literally, then at least metaphorically. By declaring that everyone is in need of this one and the same text, he creates a shared identity, as if the text could serve as an identifying marker of belonging to the community. The significance here lies not so much in whether or not, say, the members of the poor­ est population in Yongxin felt the existence of a community covenant made any difference to them. Rather, it lies in the way in which Zou Shouyi imagines this to be the case. For him, this is about belonging, and about moral transformation that can be achieved through belong­ ing. Where he writes for other counties, such as Yongfeng and Yongxin, he facilitates that sense of belonging for other people. Where he writes about his own county, Anfu, he positions himself clearly within the community. ' Wuyi .:g. ES, my area', he writes repeatedly in the text, will use this community covenant, and it will cure it of its ills and make it a better place to be.80 Certainly for Zou Shouyi, the community covenant allowed him to make this community his own. Epilogue

In The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition, Paul Smith identifies the main political challenges of the period 1 100-1 500: the enduring search for balance in the relationship between the Han people and the non-Han inhabitants of the steppe, the reach of the state and the changing nature of its relationship with the socio-economic and cultural elite, and the trans­ formation of society.8! Not all these political challenges have appeared in this book. WithinJi'an, the relationship between Han and non-Han peoples, for example, did not occupy a prominent place in literati atten­ tions. The reach of the state, however, and the changing nature of its relationship with the socio-economic and cultural elite, as I have shown, 79

80 81

Zou, ;:;:pu xiansheng wenji, 1 O. 1 3a-b. Ibid. Smith, 'Introduction', in Smith and von Glahn, eds., The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

227

did take a central position in the literati writings that have informed much of this book. I have asked how far the state determined how literati identified themselves. Did they see themselves as local activists, or as representatives of the central state? The answer to that question changes throughout the Song-Yuan-Ming transition. Certainly during the early Ming the state did form a point of focus and a shared iden­ tity for the Ji'an elites. That time is relatively short, and embedded in longer periods where the local was more attractive than the central as a site for community identity and belonging. In Ji'an, however, the impact of Zhu Yuanzhang's policies was significant enough to cast some doubt on the representation of the Song-Yuan-Ming transition as a single, continuous, historical epoch. The reach of the state and its relationship with theJi'an elite in the early Ming sets that period apart from the earlier and later eras. The ways in which the elites, made up of local gentlemen and locally serving officials, sought to belong locally also changed during this period. During the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties, temples and religious sites of all sorts were important for expressing local community activism. Those same temples, however, began to function as sites for demonstrating state allegiance and state-oriented activism during the early Ming. By the late Ming, temples had been superseded by other sites of local activism, including academies and schools, lineage prefaces, and community covenants. Smith suggests that the Song-Yuan-Ming period as a whole can be characterized by a widening gap between the central government and its officials. While officials during the Northern Song were closely allied with the central state, from the Southern Song onward, the more autonomous elites turned away from the centre, focusing on regional and local concerns.82 In a slightly different view, Peter Bol has recently suggested that, 'a localist turn following an era of statist policies is something of a pattern in Chinese history'. 83 The Song and Ming dynasties both started with intense periods of activist policies and state-led attempts at social reorganization, followed by periods in which the elite turned its attention to regional and local concerns. While the period between 1 1 00 and 1 600 as a whole may be characterized

82 Smith, 'Introduction', in Smith and von Glahn, eds., The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition, 2l. 83 Bol, 'The Localist Turn', 4.

228

CHAPTER NINE

by the kind of widening gap between state and local elites that Smith suggests, I would argue that we can nuance that view further by see­ ing the kind of pattern Bol proposes: starting with a localist turn in the Southern Song, which continues into the Yuan dynasty, the Ji'an elites take a definite 'statist turn' in the early Ming. From the second half of the Ming, the love-affair betweenJi'an officials and the central government has come to an end, and Ji'an elites turn their attentions once again to the local level. In this light, the early Ming looks more like 'the aberration', as Bol suggests, than the beginning of a new social structure.84 It is only in the context of the period as a whole, starting with the founding of the Southern Song, and ending with the moment when the late Ming-early Qng transformations are in full swing, that this pattern manifests itself clearly. Taking the longer perspective also reveals a slighdy different pattern of change from the one noted by Dardess in his study of Ming dynasty Taihe. Dardess begins with the early Ming, and notes the evocative descriptions of the late fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century Taihe landscape. He reads these as expressions of 'hope and optimism about life in general', and as evidence of a sense, shared among the younger elites of Taihe that 'the greater world (the world of government) was calling for them to enter and rise high in its service'.85 This sense of optimism, expressed in landscape description, faded in the sixteenth century, Dardess writes, and was replaced by a sense that Taihe needed to be 'remedied' through community compacts and lineage discipline. Taihe was no longer providing high numbers of officials for central government, and Taihe was a place people wished to leave rather than describe lovingly. Here, I have taken both a broader perspective, i.e. the prefecture as a whole as opposed to a single county, and a longer perspective, i.e. looking at a period that started two hundred years earlier. When Southern Song literati wrote about home, they wrote aboutJi, the pre­ fecture that included Taihe. Late Ming literati called itJi'an, but again it was the prefecture as a whole rather than the individual county they focused on. Although men from Luling liked to single out their county as a place of great culture, the men from Jishui were always there to remind them they were not the only county inJi'an, and the men from

84 8.\

Bol, 'The Localist Turn', 3 . Dardess, A Ming Society, 248.

OTHER WAYS OF BEING LOCAL IN MING JI'AN

229

Anfu did the same for the Jishui men. Even though differences between the counties mattered in the context of intra-prefectural competition, the men from Ji'an professed a pride to belong to Ji'an to the outside world. ThatJi'an included regions that were much poorer, or much further off the beaten track, did not diminish their pride in the area as a whole. While Taihe was at the forefront of Ji'an prominence in the early Ming, and perhaps less significant in the late Ming, it was always part of this wider Ji'an pride and identity. People may well have wanted to leave Taihe in the sixteenth century, as Dardess suggests, but, as this study of the prefecture has shown, local men continued to wish to stay in Ji'an. The desire to 'remedy' local society through local institutions, which Dardess sees as starting in the sixteenth century, also existed, the evidence here would seem to show, before the Ming. Southern Song and Yuan literati were constantly writing about ways in which local practices and morals should be improved. They saw the temple as a useful tool for such local 'remedying' rather than the community compacts and genealogies they later used, but I see continuities rather than new beginnings. Finally, there is the question of representativeness. The focus on one prefecture over a long period of time has provided the kinds of insights discussed above, but are any of those Ji'an insights of value for our understanding of Song-Yuan-Ming China as a whole? Most importantly, the focus on Ji'an has highlighted that the concepts of 'local' and 'national' need constant definition and redefinition. The work by Song scholars like Robert Hartwell, Robert Hymes, and Patricia Ebrey had already clarified that the appeal and value of 'the national' was not of enduring importance for the socio-economic elites, and that 'the local' became more important after the Southern Song for manifesting elite status. Hymes' works pointed both to elite marriage strategies and to local religious cults as evidence of this local outlook. The example of Ji'an suggests the value of taking these insights beyond the Southern Song. Not only is the continuity with the Yuan important, but so too is the continuity with the later Ming. The early Ming period should be seen as a brief aberration, not the beginning of new trends, and even during the early Ming, those positioned at the central capital continued to write about the local, and manifest themselves as local gentlemen. Belonging locally, or longing to belong locally, mattered throughout the Song-Yuan-Ming period, and forms the most significant continuity throughout this book.

APPENDIX SuccesifUl jinshi candidates from Ji'an in the first half if the Ming: 1 Year

Luling

Taihe

Jishui

Yongfeng

Anfu

Longquan

Wanan

Yongxin

Yongning

Total

1371 1 385 1 388 1 39 1 1 394 1 397 1 400 1 404 1406 141 1 1415 1418 1 42 1 1 424 1427 1 430 1 433 1 436 1 439

2 0 1 0 0 3 1 4 1 1 2 2 5 3 1 2 0 1 1

3 2 2 2 1 3 0 9 6 4 7 7 7 2 6 0 3 4 1

4 2 4 0 1 0 4 12 6 2 11 7 8 4 2 4 6 3 2

7 5 3 1 0 1 2 2 4 1 6 0 3 5 1 0 2 0 0

1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 1 2 2 2 3 3 0 4 1 4 1

0 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

0 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

17 12 10 5 3 9 7 37 21 13 29 18 28 19 13 10 13 13 7

I

Figures based

on

JAFZ (1 7 76), juan 25.

(cont. ) Year

Luling

Taihe

Jishui

Yongfeng

Anfu

Longquan

Wanan

Yongxin

Yongning

Total

1 442 1 445 1 448 1 45 1 1 454 1 457 1 460 1 464 1 466 1 469 1 472 1 475 1 478 1481 1 484 1 487 1 490 1 493 1 496 1 499 1 502 1 505 1 508

2 1 0 4 5 4 0 3 0 4 1 4 2 0 0 2 2 2 1 2 0 1 1

4 4 2 2 6 2 1 6 5 2 1 1 4 3 5 1 1 1 2 4 2 1 6

4 6 0 4 6 6 1 3 1 2 4 3 4 4 3 1 4 4 0 4 5 1 3

2 0 0 3 2 3 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0

3 0 3 10 11 6 1 6 6 3 2 6 4 3 5 4 6 3 5 7 3 3 8

0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0

3 0 0 6 4 1 1 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 2

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

21 11 5 30 34 22 5 18 18 11

total

71

135

155

59

136

12

20

37

3

628

10 15 17 12 14 9 14 12 10 18 10 8 20

/',;.) � /',;.)

>>tI >tI trl

'2 tl

....

�

SuccesifUljinshi candidates from Ji'an in the second half if the Ming:2 Year

Luling

Taihe

Jishui

Yongfeng

Anfu

Longquan

Wanan

Yongxin

Yongning

Total

151 1 1514 1517 1 52 1 1 523 1 526 1 529 1 532 1 435 1 538 1 54 1 1 544 1 547 1 550 1 553 1 556 1 559 1 562 1 565 1 568 1 67 1

0 4 0 0 2 0 1 2 0 1 0 1 2 1 4 0 0 0 2 2 3

3 0 0 1 1 6 3 0 2 3 3 3 1 0 2 2 2 2 0 0 4

1 4 1 2 4 0 6 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 1 2 2 0

1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 0

11 4 6 1 7 2 3 0 1 1 0 2 2 0 0 3 2 1 1 3 7

0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 1 2 2 0 0 3 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 2 3 0 1 1 0

2 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

18 16 12 6 14 9 16 6 6

2

Figures based

on

JAFZ (1 7 76), juan 25.

8 7 7 7 5 II 10 9 6 6 9 14

> >tI >tI t'1

� ....

�

� � �

� 0:l ....

(cont. ) Year

Luling

Taihe

Jishui

Yongfeng

Anfu

Longquan

Wanan

Yongxin

Yongning

Total

1 574 1 57 7 1 580 1 583 1 586 1 589 1 592 1 595 1 598 1 60 1 1 604 1 607 1610 1613 1616 1619 1 622 1 625 1 628 1 63 1 1 634 1 63 7 1 640 1 643

2 1 3 1 0 0 2 1 1 5 2 2 0 4 3 2 2 2 1 1 2 0 1 0

2 1 1 2 3 0 0 2 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 0

2 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 3 0 1 1 2 3 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

0 2 3 4 4 4 1 1 1 3 0 2 3 0 2 3 3 6 0 1 0 3 8 3

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0

0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0

1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

7 7 8 8 9 7 3 5 2 11 5 5 7 8 8 9 10 10 3 6 8 8 12 5

total

63

65

56

18

1 14

5

32

19

1

373

�'tI

t%1

�

.....

><:

BIBLIOGRAPHY Akizuki Kan'ei f)(Yi fi�. Chugoku Kinsei D!/;yo no Keisei: JomyOdo no Kisoteki Kenkyu rp I'l
--

--

236

BIBLIOGRAPHY

. Corifitsions if Pleasure: Commerce and Culture in Ming China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 998). . Praying fir Power: Buddhism and the Formation if Gentry Society in Late-Ming China (Cambridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 993). Campany, Robert Ford. Strange Writing: Anoma[y Accounts in Ear[y Medieval China (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1 996). . To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth: a Translation and Stuqy if Ge Hong's Traditions if Divine Transcendents (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002). Carpenter, Christine. 'Gentry and Community in Medieval England' Journal if British Studies 33 (1 994): 340-80. Chaffee, John and Wm. Theodore de Bary, eds. Neo-Corifitcian Education: The Formative Stage (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989). Chan, Hok-lam. 'The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-hsi, and Hsiian-te reigns, 1 3991 435', in Frederick W Mote and Denis Twitchett, eds. Cambridge History if China, volume 7, The Ming Dynasty, 1 368-1 644, Part I, 1 28-204. Chen Mo �� ( 1 305- 1 400). Haisangji #If:�� (Literary collection of Chen Mo). WeT!J'uange siku quanshu, vol. 1 232 (Taibei: Sha�u, 1 983-86). Chong Tianzi AJ(-T, ed. Xiangyan congshu �1@li'Itt: (Collectanea of the fragrant and beautiful). ( 1 909, reprint, Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1 994). Clark, Hugh R. 'Reinventing the Genealogy: Innovation in Kinship Practice in the Tenth to Eleventh Centuries', in Lee, ed. The New and the Multiple, 237-286. --. Community, Trade, and Networks: Southern Fujian province.from the Third to the Thirteenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991). Cohen, Myron. 'Shared Beliefs: Corporations, Community and Religion Among the South Taiwan Hakka during the Ch'ing' Late Imperial China 14. 1 ( 1 993): 1-33. Da Ming huidian. See Shen Shixing. Da Mingyi tong zhi jc a)j�mm (Comprehensive Gazetteer). ( 1 46 1 , reprint, Taibei: Wenhai chubanshe, 1 965). Daozang Ul$: (Daoist Canon). (Zhengtong edition, reprint, Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1 986-88). Dardess,John W A Ming Society: Tai-ho county, Kiangsi, in the Fourteenth to Seventeenth Centuries (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 996). --. Corifitcianism and Autocrary: Prqftssional Elites in the Founding if the Ming Dynasty (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983). Davis, Edward L. Society and the Supernatural in Song China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 200 1). . 'Review of Ebrey and Gregory, eds. Religion and Society in Tang and Sung China' China Review International 1 . 2 ( 1 994): 34-42. Dean, Kenneth. 'Comic Inversion and Cosmic Renewal: The God of Theater in the Ritual Traditions of Putian' Proceedings if the International Coriference on Popular Beliefi and Chinese Culture. Center for Chinese Studies Research Series No. 4. (Taibei: Hanxue yanjiu zhongxin, 1 994), 683-7 3 1 . . 'Transformations of the She *± (Altars of the Soil) in Fujian' Cahiers d'Extreme­ Asie 1 0 ( 1 998): 1 9-75. Ditmanson, Peter. 'Contesting Authority: Intellectual Lineages and the Chinese Impe­ rial Court from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Centuries' (Harvard University Ph.D., 1 999). --. 'Intellectual Lineages and the Early Ming Court' Papers on Chinese History 5 ( 1 996): 1-18. Dodgen, Randall. 'Salvaging Kaifeng: Natural Calamity and Urban Community in Late Imperial China' Journal if Urban History 2 1 .6 ( 1 995): 7 1 6-740. Dreyer, Edward. Ear[y Ming China: A Political History 1355-1435 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 982). Duara, Prasenjit. Culture, Power, and the State: Rural North China, 1900-1942 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 988). --

--

--

--

--

BIBLIOGRAPHY

237

Dyer, C. 'The English Medieval Village Community and its Decline' Journal if British Studies 33 (1 994): 407-29. Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. The Early Stages in the Development of Descent Group Organization' in Ebrey and Watson, eds. Kinship Organization in Late Imperial China, 1 000-1940 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 986), 1 6-6 1 . Ebrey, Patricia and Peter Gregory, eds. Religion and Society in Tang and Sung China (Hono­ lulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1 993). Elvin, Mark. The Pattern if the Chinese Past: A Social and Economic Interpretation (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 973). Esherick, Joseph and Mary Backus Rankin, eds. Chinese Local Elites and Patterns if Dominance (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 990). Farmer, Edward L. Zhu Yuanzhang and Early Ming Legislation: The Reordering if Chinese Society Following the Era if Mongol Rule (Leiden: EJ. Brill, 1 995). Faure, Bernard. 'Space and Place in Chinese Religious Traditions' History if Religions 26.4 ( 1 987): 33 7-356. Feuchtwang, Stephan. 'City Temples in Taibei under Three Regimes' in Mark Elvin and G.W. Skinner, eds. The Chinese City Between Two Worlds (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 974), 263-30 1 . . The Imperial Metaphor: Popular Religion in China (London: Routledge, 1 992). Finlay, Robert. The Pilgrim Art: The Culture of Porcelain in World History' Journal if World History 9.2 ( 1 998), 1 4 1-187. Fogel, Joshua. 'New Directions on Japanese Sinology' Harvard Journal if Asiatic Studies 44 ( 1 984), 225-247. --. Politics and Sinology: The Case if Naito Konan, 1866-1934 (Cambridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 984). Franke, Herbert, ed. Sung Biographies (Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1 976). Fried, Morton H. 'Community Studies in China' The Far Eastern OJ-tarterly 1 4. 1 (1 954): 1 1-36. Gao Liren �.:sLA. Jizhou Yonghe yao s1'1'i 7i
--

--

238

BIBLIOGRAPHY

. 'Inscriptions: Historical Sources for the Song' Bulletin qf Sung Yuan Studies 1 9 ( 1 987): 1 7-25. Hargett, James. 'Song Dynasty Local Gazetteers and Their Place in the History of Difongzhi Writing' Harvard Journal qf Asiatic Studies 56.2 ( 1 996): 405-42. Hartwell, Robert. 'Demographic, Political, and Social Transformations of China, 750-1550' HarvardJournal qf Asiatic Studies 42.2 (1 982): 365-442. Hauf, Kandice. 'The Community Covenant in Sixteenth Century Ji'an prefecture, Jiangxi' Late Imperial China 1 7.2 ( 1 996): I-50. . "Goodness Unbound,' Wang Yang-ming and the Redrawing of the Boundary of Confucianism' in Kai-wing Chow, On-cho Ng, and John B. Henderson, eds. Imagining Boundaries: Changing CorifUcian Doctrines, Texts, and Hermeneutics (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1 999), 1 2 1-146. . 'The Jiangyou Group: Culture and Society in Sixteenth-Century China' Yale University Ph.D., 1 987). He Changyao :w1itIlI. He shi shisan xiu zupu M B:;+ =- f��i� (Genealogical record of the Jia family, thirteenth revised edition). ( 1 925). Heijdra, Martin. 'The Socio-Economic Development of Rural China During the Ming' in Cambridge History qf China, volume 8: The Ming Dynasty, edited by Denis Twitchett and Frederick Mote. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 998), 4 1 7-578. Hirsch, Eric. 'Landscape: Between Place and Space' in Eric Hirsch and Michael O'Hanlon, eds. The Anthropology qf Landscape: Between Place and Space (Oxford: Clar­ endon Press, 1 995), 1-30. Ho Ping-ti. The Ladder qf Success in Imperial China (New York: Columbia University Press, 1 962). Hong Mai mlJ! (1 1 23-1 202). rYian zhi ��;t (Record of the Listener). (1 198, reprint, Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1 98 1 ). Howe, Nicholas, ed. Vzsions qf Community in the Pre-Modern World (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2002). Hsu, Madeline Y 'Migration and Native Place: Qjaokan and the Imagined Com­ munity of Taishan county, Guangdong, 1 893- 1 993' Journal qf Asian Studies 59.2 (2000): 307-33 1 . Hu Zhi i5A 1i ( 1 5 1 7-1 585). Henglujingshe canggao �lfi'frf'@f$:iIi (Literary collection of Hu Zhi). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 287 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86). Huang, Ray. 'The Ming Fiscal Administration' in Cambridge History qf China, volume 8: The Ming Dynasty, edited by Denis Twitchett and Frederick Mote. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 998), 1 06-1 7 1 . Huhai xinwen yijianxuzhi W1#lJifJf � ���ii!;; (Sequel Record of the Listener [Based on] New Hearsay from the Lakes and Seas) in Xu yijianzhi Huhai xinwen yijianxuzhi ���;t Wl#lJifJf ����;t (Yuan dyn., reprint, Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986). Hummel, Arthur W Eminent Chinese qf the Ch'ing Period (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1943). Hymes, Robert P. 'Lu Chiu-yiian, Academies, and the Problem of the Local Com­ munity' inJohn W Chaffee and Wm. Theodore de Bary, eds. Neo-CorifUcian Education: The Formative Stage (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 989), 432-456. --. 'Marriage, Descent Groups, and the Localist Strategy in Sung and Yuan Fu-chou', in Patricia Buckley Ebrey andJames L. Watson, eds. Kinship Organization in Late Imperial China, 1000-1940 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 986), 95-136. . Statesmen and Gentlemen: The Elite qf Fu-Chou, Chiang-Hsi, in Northern and Southern Sung (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 986). . Way and Byway: Taoism, Local Religion, and Models qf Divinity in Sung and Modern China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002). Hymes, Robert P. and Conrad Schirokauer, eds. Ordering the World: Approaches to State and Society in Sung Dynasty China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993). --

--

--

--

BIBLIOGRAPHY

239

Ji'an diqu wenwu yanjiusuo 5�±t!! IR )Cjm1Vf1EJiJT. Ji'an fengwu 5� JXl4m (Sites of Ji'an). (Jiangxi: Ji'an diqu wenwu yanjiusuo, 1 987). [JiajingJ Ji'an .fozhi [�rn] 5�J(f;t (Jiajing era prefectural gazetteer of Ji'an). Beijing tushuguan guji zhenben congkan ( 1 522-66, reprint, Beijing: Shumu wenxian, 1988-9 1 ). [Wanli] Ji'an fozhi [7-ii; M] 5�J(f;t (Wanli era prefectural gazetteer of Ji'an). Riben cang Zhongguo haryian difongzhi congkan ( 1 5 73-1 620, reprint, Beijing: Shumu wenxian, 1990-1992). Ji'an .fozhi 5�J(f;t (Prefectural gazetteer of Ji'an). Zhongguo fongzhi congshu ( 1 660, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Ji'anfozhi. Zhongguo fongzhi congshu ( 1 776, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Ji'an.fozhi. Zhongguofongzhi congshu ( 1 842, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Ji'an .fozhi. Zhonggu ofongzhi congshu ( 1 875, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Jie Xisi f�f�WT ( 1 274-1344). ]ie Xisi quanji f�1lWT1t� (Complete works of Jie Xisi). Li Mengshe�g *�� ed. (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1 985). Jin Youzi iI£�fj( (1 368-1432).Jin Wenjingji �Xrn� (Literary collection of Jin Youzi). (reprint, Taibei: Guolian tushu, 1 964). Jishui xianzhi a7KJJ%it (county gazetteer of Jishui). Zhongguo fongzhi congshu ( 1 875, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Johnson, David, ed. Ritual and Scripture in Chinese Popular Religion (Berkeley: Chinese Popular Culture Project, 1 995). Katz, Paul R. 'Temple Inscriptions and the Study of Taoist Cults: A Case Study of Inscriptions at the Palace of Eternal Joy' Taoist Resources 7. 1 ( 1 997): 1-22. . Images qf the ImmortaL· The Cult qf Lv. Dongbin at the Palace qf Eternal Joy (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1 999). Kim, Youngmin. 'Luo Qinshun ( 1 465-1 547) and his Intellectual Context' Toung Pao 89.4-5 (2003): 367-44 1 . Kleeman, Terry F. 'The Expansion of the Wen-ch'ang Cult' in Religion and Society in Tang and Sung China, edited by Ebrey and Gregory ( 1 993), 45-73. Kowaleski, Maryanne. 'Introduction' Journal qf British Studies 33 ( 1 994): 337-339. Kiimin, Beat. The Shaping qf a Community: The Rise and Reformation qf the English Parish c. 1400-1560 (Aldershot: Scolar, 1 996). Langlois, John D. 'Political Thought in Chin-hua Under Mongol Rule' In John D. Langlois, Jr., ed. China Under Mongol Rule (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1 98 1), 137-85. Layder, Derek. Modern Social Theory: Key Debates and New Directions (London: UCL Press, 1997). . Understanding Social Theory (London: Sage Publications, 1 994). �Jizhou �i3.u Lee, Thomas H.C. (*5L fJ:t) .. . 'Song Y��n sh�yuan � difang wenhu!: , , shuyuan, xueshu yu mlllJlan zongJlao *7t� 1% 1cij±t!! 1r)cft� � JH ±t!! IR � flJG , ¥:*, Icij B;; rBJ7Fi: (Song and Yuan academies and local culture�academies, schol­ arship and popular religion in Jizhou). (n.d., manuscript). Lee, Thomas H. C., ed. The New and the Multiple: Sung Senses qf the Past (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2004). Levi, Giovanni. 'On Microhistory' in Peter Burke, ed. New Perspectives on Historical Writing (University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1 992), 93-1 1 3 . Li Caidong *;;tfJ;l!. 'Con� za�gj Jiangnan san sh �uan kan shuyuanjiaoyu, keju zhidu hudong guanxi' {fElfl.WliIl¥f .flJG�.flJG�l1in4.fljUlJ[1ill!lJilf* (The mutual impact of academy education and the examination system as seen from three academies in early period Jiangnan) Jiangxi jiaoyu xueyuan xuebao 2 5 . 2 (2004): 33-36. --. Jiangxi gudai shuyuanyanjiu iIW�{-I:;.flJG1Vf1E (Research on historical academies in Jiangxi). (Nanchang: Jiangxi jiaoyu chubanshe, 1 993). --

--

-

240

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Li Chi. The Travel Diaries qf Hill Hsia-k'o (Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 1 974). Li Tianbai $7C S . Jiangxi ;jzuangyuan pu rI1ffl iIC:nJ'iW (Listing of examination candidates passing in first place from Jiangxi). (Nanchang: Jiangxi jiaoyu chubanshe, 1 997). Li Zhen $�� ( 1 376-1452). Jiandeng xinhua (wai er zhong) Jf!;l:T!f,Jfil!i (;$'�=�), (New tales written while trimming the wick, two further versions) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1 962). Liang Qan �M ( 1 366- 1 4 1 8). Bo'an xiansheng wenji ¥B�Jt;l:f.X� (Literary writings of Liang Q,an). We�uange siku quanshu, vol. 1237 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1983-86). Libu ;jzigao �$itm. See Yu Ruji. Lin Hua **.B$. " Jiandeng erzhong' de jiezhi pinggu Jf! n=# i¥J 1MEl:iiJL1t!" (A critical evaluation ()f Jia��eng erzhong') H�b� shifand�ue xuebao 19. 1 ( 1996): 64:-67. . Lm ChenwengJl xU)pbJ>J � (Collected wntmgs of Liu Chenweng). Duan Dalm �::k**, ed. (Nancha�: Jiangxi renmin chubanshe, 1 987). Liu Chenweng �U*� ( 1 232-1297). Xuxi ci @UJiPj (poetry of Liu Chenweng). (Shanghai: Shanghai �i chubanshe, 1 998). . --. Xuxi ji �JHJ� (Literary collection of Liu Chenweng). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 1 86 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86). Liu Hsiang-kwang. 'Education and Society: Local Education in Hui-chou, 960-1 800' (Columbia University Ph.D., 1 996). Liu Jiangsun ;�Wf� (b. 1 257). Yangwuzhai ji Wl:P,llf� (Literary collection of Liu Jiangsun). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 1 99 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86). Liu Qu ;�f* ( 1 392- 1 443). Liu Liangxi wenji ;tlm$i£x� (Literary collection of Liu Qu). In Qiankun zhengqi ji, 65-69. (Reprint, Taibei: Huanqiu shuju, 1 966). Liu Wenyuan xUX?J. Ji'an gudai mingren ;jzuan egti51-\,:;gAf� (Biographies of famous people from Ji'an). (Nanchang: Baihuazhou wenyi chubanshe, 1 995). . Jiang Wanli yu Jizhou' rT�£J$i[e1'1'1 (Jiang Wanli and Jizhou) Ji'an shizhuan xuebao s��ffiW*¥Ii, 20.4 ( 1 999): 52-58. Liu Yi ;�� ( 1 797-1878), compo Bailuzhou shuyuan zhi s JtJifHifilitit (Gazetteer of Bailuzhou Academy). ( 1 87 1 , reprint, Nanjin : iangsu 'iaoyu, 1 995).

--

Chenweng) m Wu Hongze xW;1f:, ed. Songren manpu congkan lfl'iW£fU, vol. 12 (Chengdu: Sichuan daxue chubanshe, 2003), 7959-7984. Liu, James. China Turning Inward: Intellectual-Political Changes in the EarlY Twe!fih Century (Cambridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 988). Long Wenbin ftxm ( 1 82 1- 1 893), ed. Ming huiyao a)Hf� (Handbook of Ming government). ( 1 887, reprint, Beiji�: Zhonghua shuju, 1 956). Longquan xian zhongxiu xianzhi mi.flR!M\][f�'*it (Revised edition of the county gazetteer for Longquan). Qi7!f:l!ai guben fongzhi xuan ( 1 683, reprint). Longquan xianzhi mi.]t�j;t (county gazetteer for Longquan). Zhongguo fongzhi congshu ( 1 7 7 1 , reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Longquan xian;jzi. Zhongguo fongzhi congshu ( 1 873, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Lovell, Nadia, ed. Locality and Belonging (London: Routledge, 1 998). Luling xianzhi 1iI�'*it (county gazetteer for Luling). Zhongguo fongzhi congshu ( 1 825, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Luling xianzhi. Zhongguo fongzhi congshu ( 1 873, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Luling xianzhi. 'YU5U.ofongZhi congshu ( 1920, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Luo Hongxian �Jt; ( 1 504-1 564). Nian'an wenji *J;ix� (Literary collection of Luo Hongxian). Wer;ruange siku quanshu, vol. 1 275 (Taibei: Sha�u, 1983-86). Luo Qnshun m�)I� ( 1 465-1547). Zheng'an cungao 1fJ;i1"¥;m (Literary collection of Luo Qnshun). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 26 1 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86). Marme, Michel. 'Review of Change and Continuity in Chinese Local History' HarvardJournal qf Asiatic Studies 53. 1 ( 1 993). McDermott, Joseph P 'Emperor, Elites and Commoners: the Community Pact Ritual

� '"

BIBLIOGRAPHY

241

of the Late Ming', in Joseph McDermott, State and Court Ritual in China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 299-35 l . Meskill, John. Academies in Ming China (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1 982). Ming Taizu shilu BJl *:f..EI..� (Veritable Records of Ming Taizu). ( 1 4 18, reprint, Taibei: Academia Sinica, 1 962). Mingshi BJl � (History of the Ming). (1 739, reprint, Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1 974). Miyakawa Hisayuki. 'Local Cults around Mount Lu at the Time of Sun En's Rebel­ lion' in Holmes and Welch, Facets qf Taoism (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1 979), 83- 1 02. Morita Kenji. 'So-Gen jidai ni okeru shufu' TOyoshi kenkyu 37 ( 1 979): 509-35. Mote, F.w. Imperial China, 900--1800 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1 999). Nienhauser, William H., ed. The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1 986) Nora, Pierre. 'Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Memoire' Representations 26 ( 1 989): 7-24. Ouyang Shoudao 1ID:�'iTm (1 208-1 273). Xunzhai wenji �jf)(� (Literary collection of Ouyang Shoudao). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 1 83 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86). . Xunzhai wenji (Literary collection of Ouyang Shoudao). Siku zhenben. (reprint, Taibei: Shangwu, 1 934-5). Parkin, David. 'Foreword' in Lovell, ed. Locality and Belongin.& Peng Shipei �t!tj:.g , ed. Youtian Longtang Peng shi zupu $ B3 �1it� E\;�if (Genealogy of the Longtan branch of the Peng family at Youtan). ( 1 925). Perdue, Peter. Exhausting the Earth: State and Peasant in Hunan, 1500-1850 (Cambridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 987). Peterson, Willard. 'Learning from Heaven: The Introduction of Christianity and Other Western Ideas into Late Ming' In Cambridge History qf China, volume 8: The Ming Dynasty, Denis Twitchett and Frederick Mote, eds. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 998), 789-839. Qiao Guanghui ;ff: % J'£f. 'Li Changqi nianpu' '* I:§tll; if if (Chronological life of Li Changqi) DO'!f!lan daxue xuebao 4.6 (2002): 1 03-1 1 l . Rao Longsun ti2::tP;�. 'Liu Song yu Jiangxi pai' (Liu Song and the Jiangxi clique) Xinan shifon daxue xuebao (social sciences) ( 1 997): 99-104. Redfield, Robert. 'Introduction' The Far Eastern Qyarterly 14. 1 ( 1 954): 3-1 0. Reiter, Florian. Grundelernente und Tendenzen des religiiisen Taoismus: Das Spannungsverhiiltnis von Integration und Individualitiit in seiner Geschichte zur Chin-, Yiian- undfriihen Ming-Zeit. (Stuttgart: Steiner, 1 988). Rowe, William. 'Approaches to Modern Chinese Social History.' In Reliving the Past: The Worlds qf Social History, Olivier Zunz, ed. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985), 236-96. . Hankow: Conflict and Community in a Chinese City, 1 796-1895 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989). Sangren, Steven. History and Magical Power in a Chinese Village (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 987). Schipper, K.M. 'Taoist Ritual and Local Cults of the Tang Dynasty' in Tantric and Taoist Studies in Honor qf R.A. Stein, vol. 3, Michel Strickmann, ed. (Brussels: Institut belge des hautes etudes chinoises, 1 985), 8 1 2-34. . 'Neighbourhood Cult Associations in Traditional China.' In The City in Late Imperial China, G.w. Skinner, ed. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 97 7), 65 1-76. Schmidt-Glintzer, Helwig. The Scholar-Official and his Community: The Character of the Aristocracy in Medieval China' Early Medieval China I ( 1 994): 60-83. Schneewind, Sarah. Community Schools and the State in Ming China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006). --. 'Visions and Revisions: Village Policies of the Ming Founder in Seven Phases' Toung Pao 87 (200 I): 3 1 7-359. --

--

--

242

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Schneewind, Sarah, ed. Long Live the Emperor! Uses if the Ming Founder Across Six Centuries if East Asian History (Society for Ming Studies, forthcoming). Seidel, Anna. 'Imperial Treasures and Taoist Sacraments; Taoist Roots in the Apoc­ rypha' in Tantric and Taoist Studies in Honour if R.A. Stein, vol. II, Melanges chinois et bouddhiques XXI ( 1 983). Shahar, Meir and Robert P. Weller. 'Introduction: Gods and Society in China' in Shahar and Weller, Unru[y Gods: Divinity and Society in China (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1 996), 1 -36. Shen Shixing $ B1h ( 1 535- 1 6 1 4), compo Da Ming huidian :::k a)lWr� (Collected Statutes of the Great Ming). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 6 1 8-9 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86). Shen Tingrui 1XilliIffil . Huagaishan Fuqiu Wtzng Guo san zhenjun shishi ¥ii Lil 1-'fli::E��_ Jttt.� (Verities of the three Fuqiu, Wang and Guo at Mount Huagai). In Daozang J]!$: (Zhengtong edition, reprint, Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1 986-88) vol. 1 8. Shepard, Alexandra and Phil Withington, eds. Communities in Ear[y Modern England (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000). Shi Youmin ,OOl ffi K 'Shixi Mingdai Jiangxi de dianpuzhi yu zudianzhi' iJt:fJT BJl1-t1I 1m I¥J 1ffi 1 Hliu !:§"lEl1ffi f1iu (Tenancy and land rent in Ming Jiangxi) Jiangxi shehuikexue lishi yanjiu 1 1 (2003): 1 7 1- 1 73. Shiba Yoshinobu. 'Ningpo and its Hinterland' in G. William Skinner, ed. The City in Lote Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1 9 7 7), 39 1-439. Siu, Helen F. Agents and Victims in South China: Accomplices in Rural Revolution (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1 989). Sivin, Nathan. 'On the Pao P'u Tzu Nei P'ien and the Life of Ko Hung (283-343)' Isis 60 ( 1 969): 388-9 1 . Skinner, G. William. 'The Structure of Chinese History' Journal if Asian Studies 44.2 ( 1 985): 27 1-292. Smith, PaulJakov and Richard von Glahn, eds. The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition in Chinese History (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2003). Smith, Paul. 'Introduction: Problematizing the Song-Yuan-Ming Transition' in The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition, 1-34. Strath, Bo, ed. MYth and Memory in the Construction if Community (Brussels: P.I.E.-Peter Lang, 2000). Strauss, Claudia. 'Models and Motives', in Roy G. D'Andrade and Claudia Strauss, eds. Human Motives and Cultural Models (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 1 992). Szonyi, Michael. Practicing Kinship: Lineage and Descent in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002). Taihe xianzhi �fll)jJ� ;t (county gazetteer of Taihe). Zhongguo fangzhi congshu (1 872, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Taihe xianzhi. Z,h,o, nggi:':o JilTlljzhi congshu ( 1 8 : 9, reprint, 1aibei: £hengwen, 1989). . . Tang Wenwel iwXm. Xlayang Tang shl zupu �ll!)jmfE;��s (Genealogy of the Tang family of Xiayang). ( 1 761). Tanigawa Michio. Medieval Chinese Society and the Local 'Community', translated by Joshua Fogel (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 985). Taylor, Rodney. Journey into Self: The Autobiographical Reflections of Hu Chih' History if Religions 2 1 .4 ( 1 982): 32 1-38. Taylor, Romeyn. 'Ming T'ai-tsu and the Gods of Walls and Moats' Ming Studies 3 ( 1 977): 3 1-49. -- . 'Official Altars, Temples and Shrines Mandated for All Counties in Ming and �ng' Toung Pao 83 ( 1 997): 93- 1 26. --. 'Official and Popular Religion and the Political Organization of Chinese Society in the Ming', in Kwang-ching Liu, ed. Orthodoxy in Late Imperial China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 990) 1 26- 1 5 7 .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

243

--. 'Official Religion in the Ming', in Twitchett and Mote, eds. Cambridge History 0/

China, vol. 8, 840-892. Ter Haar, Barend J. 'Local Society and the Organization of Cults in Early Modern China: A Preliminary Study' Studies in Central & East Asian Religions 8 ( 1 995): 1 -43. --. 'Newly Recovered Anecdotes from Hong Mai's ( 1 1 23-1 202) ryianzhi' Journal 0/ Sung-Yuan Studies 23 ( 1 993): 1 9-4 1 . Tonnies, Ferdinand. Community and Society, translated by Charles P. Loomis. (New York: Harper and Rowe, 1 963). Twitchett, Denis and Frederick Mote, eds. The Cambridge History 0/ China, volume 8: The Ming Dynasty (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 998). Tsai, Henry. Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle (Seattle: University of Wash­ ington Press, 200 I). Ubelhor, Monika. 'The Community Compact (Hsiang-yiieh) of the Sung and Its Edu­ cational Significance' in Neo-Confocian Education: The Formative Stage, John Chaffee and Wm Theodore de Bary, eds. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 989), 37 1-88. van der Loon, Piet. 'Les origines rituelles du theatre chinois' Journal Asiatique CCLXV (1 977): 1 4 1 - 1 63. von Glahn, Richard. 'Community and Welfare: Chu Hsi's Community Granary in Theory and Practice' in Robert P. Hymes and Conrad Schirokauer, eds. Ordering the World: Approaches to State and Society in Sung 0nasty China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 993), 22 1-254. --. 'The Enchantment of Wealth: The God Wutong in the Social History ofJiangnan' HarvardJournal 0/ Asiatic Studies 5 1 .2 ( 1 99 1 ): 651-7 1 4. -- . 'Review of Changing Gods in Medieval China, 1 127-1276' HarvardJournal 0/ Asiatic Studies 53.2 (1 993): 6 1 6-642. --. The Country 0/ Streams and Grottos: Expansion, Settlement and Civilization 0/ the Sichuan Frontier in Song Times (Cambridge: Harvard University Council on East Asian Studies, 1 987). --. The Sinister Wqy: The Divine and the Demonic in Chinese Religious Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004). Walton, Linda. 'Charitable Estates as an Aspect of Statecraft in Southern Sung China,' in Robert P. Hymes and Conrad Schirokauer, eds. Ordering the World: Approaches to State and Society in Sung 0nasty China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1 993), 255-279. --. Academies and Society in Southern Sung China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1 999). Ttan'an xianzhi ��JM\;t (county gazetteer of Wan'an). Zhongguo flngzhi congshu ( 1 873, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Wang Mingming. 'Place, Administration, and Territorial Cults in Late Imperial China: A Case Study from Southern Fujian' Late Imperial China 16. 1 ( 1 995): 33-78. Wang Mo I� ijinshi of 1 7 78), ed. Han Tang dili shuchao �lm:l't!!.:EI1!�) (Geographical books of the Han and Tang). ( 1 7 5 1 , reprint, Bei,tng: Zhonghua shuju, 1 961). , Wang Tinggui I!llff (1 079-1 1 7 1). Luxi wenji 1JI1Jr:st� (Literary writings of Wang Tinggui). Wel!Yuan� siku quanshu, vol. 1 1 34 (Taibei: Sha��u, 1 983-86). Wang Xiangzhi I*Z (jinshi of 1 1 96). Yudi jisheng • .tt!!. ilc MI (Records of Great Sites). Photolitho reprint of the 1 849 edition of the 1 227 text. (Yangzhou: Jiangsu guangling guji k;tnshe, 1991). Wang Zhisong I,e,,;f'} . Wang shi xuxiu jiapu I al.\J(f�*�\i (Expanded and revised genealogy of the Wang family). ( 1 92 1). Ward, Julian. Xu Xiake (1587-1641): The Art 0/ Travel Writing (Richmond: Curzon, 200 I). Wu Sidao ,�WTili ( 1 4th c.). Chuncaozhaiji *1j[m� (Literary collection of Wu Sidao). Werryuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 232 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86).

244

BIBLIOGRAPHY

--. 'Tan jiefu citang ji' �mHi!HQj1it;c (Inscription for the Memorial Hall for Chaste Woman Tan), in Chong Tianzi �*T, ed. Xiangyan congshu w!I@.•• (1 909, reprint, Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1 994), 1 657-1658. Xiao Donghai .*#It. 'Ming Wanli zhongxiu Bailuzhou shuyuan kaoshu' SA J-itMlt f� B .;71H.IlJt5\¥J£ (Investigation of the Wanli restoration of Bailuzhou Academy) Ji'an shizhuan xuebao a:tc�jjjW **, 1 6 ( 1 995): 16-22. Xiaofeng Daran ��:::k� ( 1 589-1 659), compo Qjngyuan zhilUe -Wmtt aJili- (Gazetteer of Qj ��an). ( 1 669, reprint, Nancha l!g: Jiangxi renmin, 1 998). Xie Jin 1ftif� ( 1 369- 1 4 1 5). Wenyiji :>c�� (Literary collection of XieJin). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 236 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86). Xu Hongzu 1��Mll ( 1 586- 1 64 1 ). Xu Xiake youji 1�\I:�mic. (Travel record of Xu Xiake). (Late Ming, reprint, Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1 980), 3 vols. Xu Huailin i't" t-H*. Jiangxi shigao rI]:ffi 5l: ;ffii (History of Jiangxi). (Nanchang: Jiangxi gaoxiao, 1 998). Xuyijianzhi Huhai xinwenyijianxuzhi .��it�#lti!Jf I'ltl 5Hi�.it. (Yuan dyn., reprint, Beijing: Zhonghua sh.!:!i u, 1986� Yang shi sanxiu zupu m tt-=.{��ps (Third revised genealogy of the Yang family). (n.d.). Yan g Zhihua ;t:mit$. 'Shilun Yan� hiqi dui Mingchu shehui zhengzhi de gongxian' iA:it;t:m±�xt sA :fJJ;f±�jl�j� i¥J Jn ®t (On the contributions made by Yang Shiqi to early Ming society and politics) Jiangxi shifon daxue xuebao 3 1 .4 ( 1 998): 65-69. ryian zhi ��it. See Hong Mai. Yin Tai ;tt . ( 1 506- 1 5 79). Donglutang ji 'ifoJ;fi1it� (Literary Collection of Yin Tai). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 2 7 7 (Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-86). Yongfeng xianzhi 7i(!!I!,*it (county gazetteer for Yongfeng). Jianyige. (1 544, reprint). Yongfeng xianzhi. ZhongguofongZhi congshu ( 1 874, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Yongning xian;:.hi jjd�l$;t (county gazetteer for Yongning). Zhongguofongzhi congshu ( 1 873, .reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Yongxin xian;:;hi 7](i!Jf ,*it (county gazetteer for Yongxin). Zhongguofong;:;hi congshu ( 1 683, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Yongxin xianzhi. Zhongguofongzhi congshu ( 1 746, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Yongxin xianzhi. Zhongguofongzhi congshu ( 1 874, reprint, Taibei: Chengwen, 1 989). Yu Longsheng. 'Mingdai Jiangxi shangren de xingshang tese' (Characteristics of trade in l'.!:ing Jia�) Shangrao shifon xU9uan xuebao 22.4 (2002). Yu RUJI m&;f&, compo Llbu zhlgao tlWit;ffii (Draft monograph on the Department of Ritual). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vols. 597-8 ( 1 620, reprint, Taibei: Shangwu, 1 983-6). Vii, Chiin-fang. 'Ming Buddhism' in Cambridge History qf China, volume 8: The Ming Dynasty, edited by Denis Twitchett and Frederick Mote (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1 998), 893-952. . The Renewal qf Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming �nthesis (New York: Columbia University Press, 1 98 1). Zhang Cheng *f�, ed. Wugong shan;:;hi :JIt:r:iJ wit (Gazetteer of the Wugong Moun­ tains). (n.d.). Zhang Tianyou s¥:*it!. Jiangxi gonglu shi rI]:ffi -0� 51: (History of the roads in Jiangxi). (Beijing: Renmin jiaotong chubanshe, 1 989). Zhang Yuchu *'f::fJJ ( 1 5th c.). Xianquanji r1iJVR� (Literary collection of Zhang Yuchu). Wenyuange siku quanshu, vol. 1 236 (Taibei: Sha�u, 1 983-86). Zhou Wenying )l!fJ :>c:9!f et aI. Jiangxi wenhua rI rt!l :>c1t (Jiangxi culture). (Shenyang: Liaoning jiaoyu chubanshe, 1 995). Zhu Mu f5tf� ( 1 3th c.). Fangyu shenglan 1J.�'it (Topography for Visiting Scenic Sites). (ReE rint, Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1 986). Zou Shouyi ��'ij'� ( 1 49 1 - 1 562). Dongkuo Zou xiansheng wenji *���%l:£:>C� (Literary collection of Zou Shouyi). (Taibei microfilm of the Jiajing edition). --

------------------------..............

------------

BIBLIOGRAPHY

245

Zurndorfer, Harriet T. 'Medieval Chinese Society and the Local "Community'" The China Qyarterly I I I ( 1 987): 492. . Change and Continuity in Chinese Local History: The Development if Hui-chou preftcture, 800-1800 (Leiden: EJ. Brill, 1 989).

--

INDEX academies 1 9, 54, 60, 1 00, 1 03-1 1 2, 203 , 220 restoration costs I I I , 2 1 1 see also Bailuzhou Academy, Lianxi Academy, Yuelu Academy activism, local 1 2, 20, 1 00, 1 56, 202-203, 222-223, 227 Akizuki Kan'ei 1 97n47 ancestral halls 20 Anderson, Benedict 14, 59n30 Anfu buildings for the state cult in l 20n l 6 Chenghuang temple in 144-147 examInatIOn success III 1 5 7 Hu Zhi in 1 85-1 89 in late Ming 2 1 6, 224, 226, 229 men from 67-69, 77-8 1 , 1 29-1 30, 1 6 1 , 1 7 1, 183 in Records if Great Sites 32n20 roads in 23, 1 62 sacred sites and temples in 26, 28-29, 36, 40, 68, 7 7-8 1 , 92, 96-97, 1 26- 1 27, 1 73 Xu Xiake in 1 64-168 Anhui 1 7 1 anthropology 1 1 , 1 3-14, 52, 55-57 Aoyama Sadao 9nl 2 Appadurai, Arjun 1 4, 1 5n25 audience, translocal 1 40, 1 44, 1 8 1-182, 1 88, 192, 202 •

•

•

Bai Yuchan 1 65 Baifa Chapel (Anfu) 1 65 Bailuzhou Academy 1 04-1 1 0, 1 59- 1 60 in late Ming 207-208, 2 1 1-2 1 2 restoration 208, 2 1 1 , 2 1 4 restoration costs 2 1 1 Bailu;:;hou sh19uan ;:;hi 1 04-105, 1 07, 1 1 0-1 1 1 , 208, 209n23, 2 1 I n33-34, 2 1 2n55 Baishi Shrine (Taihe) 1 70 Baiyun 165 Bao'en Monastery (Yongfeng) 1 73 Barth, Fredrik 52 Beardsley, Richard 59, 60 Beattie, Hilary I I n 14

Beijing 1 84 belief literati 5, 55, 66, 7 1 , 73, 77-79, 96-97, 1 35 local 73, 93, 97, 1 35-1 36 popular 5, 1 36 religious 32-34, 43, 1 80- 1 8 1 , 1 92 Bell, Colin 60n3 1 belonging concept of 49, 59 and exclusion 5, 68, 1 94, 207, 220 fostered through community covenant 225-226 linked to memory 1 4 and the local 6, 1 5, 1 8, 46, 52, 59, 65-98, 153, 227 through intellectual pursuits 1 85-200 in Yongxin 4 Benji 1 6 1 , 2 1 5 Benjiao 1 86, 1 88 Biaoyu Shrine (Luling) 74 Bloom, Irene 208n22 Bol, Peter K. 1 2, 1 6n28, 48n4, 54, 1 00, 1 02, 1 22n23, 227 Boltz, Judith Magee 29n 1 6, 34n26 Bossler, Beverly 1 2n 1 8 Bourdieu, Pierre 54-55 Brook, Timothy 54-55, 1 49, 155, 1 5 7n6, 1 69n32, 1 84n l 3 Buddha 1 3 7 , 1 66, 1 69, 1 86-1 88, 1 9 1 , 197, 2 1 5 Buddhism 44, 49, 88-9 1 , 1 6 1 , 1 85- 1 86 chan 39, 90, 1 59, 1 6 1 , 167, 209, 2 1 5 deities 5 1 and monastic guidelines 2 1 5 in practice 8, 29, 87 in relation to Confucianism 1 85-1 92, 1 94, 209-2 1 0, 2 14-2 15, 2 1 7-2 1 9 temples 44, 50, 65, 87-90, 1 20, 1 37, 1 66, 1 74, 1 88, 1 90, 1 95-197, 2 1 5 worship 38 lay see laity bureaucracy imperial see government, central Burke, Peter 1 2n 1 7

248

INDEX

Cai Yue 1 1 3-1 1 4 Campany, Robert Ford 29, 80n35 capital, positions in see government, central careers see government, central Carpenter, Christine 62n42 caves see Daoism: cave heavens ceramics 2 1 , 22, 1 53, 1 55, 1 60 Chaffee, John 60n36, 1 04n 1 9 Chaling 1 67 Chan, Hok-Iam 1 27n39, 1 28n42 Chaoxian Monastery (Luling) 85 charitable estates 6 1 , 1 00 Chen Cheng 1 24 Chen Mo 1 23-1 24, 1 40-1 44, 147, 1 50, 1 92-1 93 Chen Mountains 1 64 Chen Xun 1 25 Chen Youliang 1 1 8 Chen Yunwen 1 2 1 Cheng brothers (Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi) 225 Chenghuang see god of walls and moats Chong Tianzi I n I Chongren 29 Chongxian Abbey (Luling) 1 7 7, 1 88 Chongxu 1 29 Chongyuan Abbey (Jishui) 1 73 Chongyuan 1 7 7 Ci'en Temple (Luling) 208 Cixi I Clark, Hugh R. I I n 1 4, 59n30, 1 02n l 3 Classic rif Moving Dragons (Hanlong jing) 36 Cohen, Myron 6 1 n39 collections, literary 1 7, 47, 65, 67, 70, 1 02, 1 39 late Ming 204, 207 communication, with higher forces 30, 1 80 community compact see community, covenant commumty of believers 5 and belonging 5, 68, 74 building a shrine I covenant 20, 60, 220-227, 229 and identity 9, 1 5, 5 1 , 58, 1 1 7, 2 1 6, 227 and kinship 207, 220 and literati 1 8, 47-63, 68, 74-77, 82, 98, 99, 1 02, 107, 1 1 4, 1 78, 197, 2 1 0-2 1 1 , 2 1 9, 224 •

and local history I I n 1 4 local and regional 8, 1 2, 20, 56, 82, 9 1 , 1 49 rituals 57n24, 58 theory of 59-62 translocal 1 8 1- 1 82, 1 85, 1 94 Comprehensive Gazetteer (Da Mingyi tong zhi) 1 59, 1 60, 1 64, 1 68-169, 1 73n44, 1 74n46 Confucianism in relation to Buddhism 88-89, 1 20n 1 8, 1 85-1 92, 1 94, 1 98, 2 1 0 and early Ming 1 42-1 43 and late Ming 202n2, 2 1 3-2 1 4, 2 1 8 and officials 1 88, 192 and temples 76, 94, 187, 2 1 5, 2 1 8-2 1 9 as tradition 23, 48-50, 60, 9 1 , 95, 1 09, 1 6 1 , 1 88, 1 93, 1 98, 2 1 5 see also schools, worthies court imperial 9, 83, 1 50 see also government, central crops in Jiangxi 2 1 in Ji'an 43 cults demonic 44, 74 popular 73, 74 state 5 1 , 1 1 8-1 1 9, 1 4 1 , 1 43, 1 46, 192 territorial 56, 57, 58 D'Andrade, Roy 52, 55n 1 9 Da Ming Huidian 1 1 9n 1 1 Da Mingyi tong zhi see Comprehensive Gazetteer Dafan Temple (Luling) 89 Dajue Chapel (Luling) . 1 60 Daoism 49, 9 1 , 1 98, 209 adepts 80, 92, 1 1 3, 1 22, 1 39, 1 50, 1 64 cave heavens 1 67 deity 5 1 in practice 8, 29 religious orders 44 and temples 50, 80-8 1 , 1 20, 1 29, 1 32, 1 74, 1 7 7 Daozang 30n I 7, 1 39 Dardess, John on Confucianism 1 40, 1 42- 1 43 on genealogies 205n I I on Taihe 1 1 4- 1 1 7, 1 23- 1 25, 1 30, 1 34, 1 50, 1 68, 1 84, 1 85 n 1 6,

249

INDEX

202-205, 208n22, 2 1 2n36, 228-229 Datong 1 86-1 87 Davis, Edward 8, 1 7, 66n4, 82 De Bary, Wm, Theodore 60n36 Dean, Kenneth 56, 58, 1 93n38 deities 97 local 72 official recognition of 84, 147 popular 1 46 pantheon of 5, 1 4 1 temple 1 6, 67, 93 terrestrial 1 1 8-1 1 9 of thunder 1 77 Diamond Sutra (Jingangjing) 43 Dictionary qf Ming Biography see Goodrich, Luther Carrington Dingcheng 1 35 discussion meetings (jiangyue) 202, 2 1 2 Ditmanson, Peter 1 25 , 1 30n48 Dodgen, Randall 6 1 n39 Donghua Abbey (Yongxin) 1 33 Dongshan Monastery (Yongxin) 1 89- 1 9 1 Dongyue Shrine (Anfu) 92, 96-97 dragons 26-27, 3 1-37, 43, 67, 94-96, 1 73, 1 97 Dreyer, Edward 1 1 8, 1 24n3 1 drought 26-27, 35, 67-69, 7 1 , 74-75, 94, 1 29, 1 45, 1 70 drowning 43, 72, 94-96, 1 74 Duara, Prasenjit 56-57 Dyer, C. 62n42 Ebrey, Patricia Buckley 8n9, 1 8n34, 34n26, 48n3, 1 00, 1 0 1 n6, 1 02n 1 3, 229 economic growth in Jizhou 23 elders, local 69, 77, 1 77-1 78, 1 8 1 , 1 95, 2 1 9, 224-225 elites and central state 8 in contrast to 'people' 58-59 local 8, 1 1- 1 2, 1 7, 30, 7 1 , 75, 1 23, 1 49, 1 82, 2 1 1 , 220, 223-224, 227-228 national and political 39, 48, 68, 1 23, 1 69, 2 1 6, 226 readership 1 7, 68, 1 20 religious 39, 1 20, 1 29 status 53-58, 204 scholarly 4, 22 Elvin, Mark 6, 56

Enfeoffinent 78, 1 46 Enlarged Territorial Atlas 1 84 epidemics 68, 7 1 , 1 66 Esherick, Joseph 53n 1 1 exammatlOns candidates 36 civil service 48, 1 25 success 54, 70, 1 08, 1 23, 1 26, 1 28, 1 50, 1 55, 157, 1 75, 1 82, 1 89, 2 1 8 success rate in Jishui 1 57n9 exorcism 1 80 •

•

Faji Cloister (Longquan) 1 69 Family Library (Utah) 205 Fan Deqin 26n8 fangshi, see religious specialist Fangyu shenglan see Topography for Vzsiting Scenic Sites Farmer, Edward 1 1 9n 1 5 Faure, Bernard 50n6 Faure, David 56 fear 34, 5 1 , 1 7 1-1 72, 1 75 Feng Yiwen 42, 86n52 Fenyi 1 24n3 1 Feuchtwang, Stephan 56, 58, 94n74 filiality 95 Finlay, Robert 22n2 Five Worthies Shrine (Luling) 1 6 1 , 2 1 5 floods 3 1 , 44-45, 70, 1 1 0, 1 62, 1 93, 1 59n 1 4 Fogel, Joshua 6, 60n33 Foucault, Michel 52 Franke, Herbert 84n47, 1 0 1 n8, 1 04n2 1 Fried, Morton 59, 60 Fujian 1 7 1 Fuqiu, Lord see Huagai Furong (Hibiscus) Mountain 1 36, 1 60 Fuzhou 23, 29-30, 42, 56, 57, 92, 1 00, 1 02, 1 23 Gan River 9, 2 1-22, 3 7-38, 43, 70, 1 34- 1 35, 1 57- 1 59, 1 6 1 , 1 68-1 69, 1 74, 2 1 3 Gangying Shrine (Jishui) 1 74 ganoderma 85, 85n49 Ganzhou 23, 7 1 n 1 7, 84, 94, 1 37, 1 69, 1 83 Gao Liren 22n2 gazetteers, local 1 6-1 7 , 47, 65, 1 20, 1 22, 1 36, 1 49, 1 59, 1 70, 1 98, 208, 2 1 1-2 1 2 Ge Hong 29, 79-82, 85, 1 63- 1 64, 1 72- 1 73

250

INDEX

Ge Lixiang 33 Gemeinschaft 6 1 -62, 222 genealogies 1 9, l Oo-- 1 03, 203-207, 220, 227, 229 in libraries see Shanghai Library, Family Library Gengsang Chu 83-84 genre 49, 73, 89, 9 1 , l O2, 1 90 geomancy 26, 33 Gesellschaft 6 1 -62, 222 Gezao Mountains 79 Giddens, Anthony 52 god of walls and moats 55, 1 1 9, 1 40--1 48, 1 5 1- 1 52 in late Ming 1 92-1 94, 208 and Zhu Yuanzhang 5 1 government, central 1 2, 48, 66, 76, 84n47, 93, 1 06, 1 7 1 , 227 careers in 4, 1 2, 79, 1 1 4, 1 50, 1 79, 1 90, 1 92, 20 1 , 203 early Ming 1 1 3- 1 5 1 , 227 and education 2 1 8, 220 late Ming 1 79, 1 82-1 85, 201 -229 passim view of temples 1 1 3-1 5 1 Graham, A.C. 83 Granaries 60 Grand Secretariat (neige) 1 24n3 1 , 1 25- 1 27, 1 38, 150 Great Harmony see Datong Guangdong 1 55, 1 66, 1 84, 1 89 Guangxi 1 56, 1 67 Guangyutu see Enlarged Territorial Atlas Guanyin 50, 1 7 7 Guanyinya (Anfu) 1 65, 1 67 Guilin 1 55 Guizhou 1 56, 1 66- 1 67, 1 78, 1 83-1 84 Guo Huitai 92 Guo Weijing 1 97 Guo Zizhang 1 6 1 , 1 83 Guo, Lord see Huagai Guyi Mountain 83-84 Haar, Barend ter see ter Haar, Barend Hahn, Thomas 1 67n30 Hamashima Atsutoshi 1 40n78 Han Xizai 159 Han Yu 1 09 Hanlin Academy 1 27-1 28, 1 45, 1 83 Hanlin and Historiography Office 92n66 Hansen, Valerie 8, 1 6n29, 1 7, 47n2, 50

Hargett, James 26n9 Hartwell, Robert 6, 53, 229 Hauf, Kandice 60n36, 1 83n 1 2, 2 1 3n38, 2 1 9, 221-223 He Changyao 205n 1 0 He Mountains 1 64 He Qgao 208-2 l O He River 1 63, 1 68 Heijdra, Martin I l n l 6, 1 28n42 Hengzhou 1 67 Heshan 1 1 4 Heshu 72 Hirsch, Eric 1 3-14, 30, 35, 45 Ho Ping-ti 9n 1 3 , 58n29, 1 23n26 Hong Mai 1 7 Hongwu see Zhu Yuanzhang Howe, Nicholas 62n42 Hsu, Madeline Y 60n35 Hu Guan 1 3 1 Hu Guang 1 24n3 1 , 1 26, 1 83 Hu Quan 25, 39, 67, 78, 1 3 1 Hu Shaowu 1 30- 1 3 1 , 1 33 Hu Shouchang 1 26 Hu Yan 1 24n3 1 , 1 26 Hu Youchu 1 3 1 Hu Zhi 1 83-1 89, 1 9 1 , 202, 204, 206-207, 2 1 0, 2 1 5 Huagai Mountains (Fuzhou) 1 56, 1 77n2 Huagai Mountains (Ji'an) 1 7 7 Huagai, the three immortals 29-30, 42, 85-86, 1 7 7 Huanfei 1 32 Huang Shidong l O 1 Huang Sishan 1 48n98 Huang Tingjian 38-39 Huang Zicheng 1 24n3 1 Huang Zongming 208n l 8 Huang, Ray 1 1 8, 1 28n42 Huguang (Hunan and Hubei) 9, 22, l O4, 1 55-1 56, 1 67, 1 69 Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi 33n23, 36, 43, 44n53 Huixian Abbey (Luling) 1 3 1 Hummel, Arthur 1 57n6 hungry ghosts, altar for 1 1 9, 1 20n 1 6 Hymes, Robert P. 7n6, 8n l O, 29n 1 6 on culture 52 on genealogies l O2 on Huagai 42, 86n5 1 on localism 53, 100, 204, 229 on Lu Jiuyuan 6 1 n37, 104n l 9 on models of religion 8, 44 on Song-Yuan continuity 1 8n34

INDEX

identity and belonging 5 and the centre 1 1 7 and community 9, 1 4, 2 1 2 literati 18, 48-49, 5 1 local 6, 2 1 6 national 1 2 and place 6, 1 1 7 regional 1 3 immortals 1 80 female 4, 5, 26 in Jishui 28 in Taihe 28 Tao and Pi 25 see also Ge Hong, Huagai, Lady Tan inscriptions, temple early Ming 1 1 3, 1 94, 207 and fund-raising 80, 82, 1 69 late Ming 1 7 7- 1 82, 1 85, 20 1-202, 216 and literati views 84, 9 1 , 93 and locality 1 79, 1 8 1-182, 1 95, 1 99, 20 1 situating in context 68 as source 1 6-1 7, 47, 65-66, 73, 1 1 7 telling local stories 1 94-- 1 97 written at the capital 1 23- 1 5 1 Jia Sidao 84 Jiandengyuhua 4 Jiang River 94 Jiang Wanli 67, 84, 1 04, 1 07, I I I Jiangkou 1 65 Jiangyou group 20, 1 6 1 , 1 83-1 85, 2 1 3-2 1 6 jiangyue, see discussion meetings Jianwen see Zhu Yunwen jiapu, see genealogies Jie Xisi 25, 42, 86, 92-97, 1 0 1 , 107- 1 1 0, 1 78, 1 8 1 , 1 95 Jin Youzi 1 24n3 1 , 1 26 Jingde Monastery (Luling) 1 95 Jingdezhen 22, 1 53, 1 60 Jinggang Mountains 23 Jinghu 23 Jingju Monastery 39, 44, 1 60-- 1 6 1 , 2 1 2, 2 1 4 restoration 2 1 4-2 1 5 Jingtu Chapel (Luling) 159 Jingwen 1 56, 1 63, 1 68n3 1 Jinhua (Wuzhou) 1 00, 1 02, 1 43 jinshi examination 78, 84, 1 33, 1 44, 1 50, 1 69-1 70, 1 88- 1 89, 2 1 4

25 1

from Jiangxi 22 from Jizhou/Ji'an 9, 23, 1 23, 1 44, 1 48, 1 82-1 84 Jishui 22-23 Chenghuang temple in 1 47-1 48 Huagai in 29 Kang Wang in 4 1 in late Ming 205, 2 1 7 , 222, 228-229 magistrate in 1 92-1 93 men from 25, 1 24, 1 26-1 29, 1 6 1 , 1 82, 1 84 sacred sites and temples in 28, 3 1 , 38, 39n37, 70, 1 32, 1 73-1 74 shrines for state cult in 1 20n 1 6 Xu Xiake in 1 57-1 59, 1 68 Jitai basin 22, 1 68 Jiulong Mountain 1 64, 1 66-1 67, 1 86n 1 7 Jiulong Temple (Anfu) 1 66-1 67 Jiyun Abbey (Anfu) 1 64 Johnson, David 82 junzi 97, 206 Juren 1 7 1 Kang Rui 7 1 , 73, 74 Kang Wang 4 1 -42, 73, 76, 1 46, 1 5 1 Katz, Paul 1 6n29, 48n3 kilns in Yonghe 22, 37-38 Kim Youngmin 208n22 kinship 1 3 , 56n22, 1 00, 203, 207, 220 Kleeman, Terry 48n3, 66n5, 82 Kowaleski, Maryanne 62n42 Kumin, Beat 62n43 Ifyodotai 60 ladder of success 58, 1 23 laity Buddhist 44, 89, 96, 1 96 worship by 8-9, 1 20n 1 8, 1 65, 2 1 3 Lan Zizhen 1 24 landscape as constructed space 45, 99, 1 08, 1 1 0, 1 53, 1 99 idea of 1 4 inscribing 35-37, 46, 48, 99, 1 37, 1 80 in Jizhou/Ji'an 1 3 , 1 8- 1 9, 99, 1 23, 1 53-1 75 late Ming 1 53- 1 75, 1 85, 20 1 , 228 as process 1 3 , 45, 99 sacred 1 8, 26, 27, 30, 77, 94 shaping of 27-3 1 temples in 1 5, 44

252

INDEX

Langlois, John D. 1 43n84 Lantian 22 1 , 225 Laozi 83, 86 Layder, Derek 5 1 -52, 55 Le'an 1 56 Learning of the Way 5 1 , 2 1 0 Lee, Thomas H.C. 1 02n 1 3, 1 04n20 Leizhou 1 89 Levi, Giovanni 1 2n 1 7 Li Caidong 1 03 n 1 8 Li Chi 1 57n6 Li Guan 1 26 Li Hengfu 1 20n 1 6 Li Juchen 1 1 3- 1 1 4 Li Shimian 1 27-128 Li Si 1 09n38 Li Tianbai 1 23n26 Li Zhen 1 , 4-5, 9, 1 28 Liang Qian 1 1 6, 1 24- 1 25, 1 3(}-1 3 7, 1 5 1 , 1 60 Lianxi Academy 84 libraries see Shanghai, Family Libu zhigao 1 1 9n 1 1 , 1 1 9n 1 3- 1 4, 1 3 2n55 lieux de memoire 1 5 Lin Yinzhu 2 1 1 Linchuan (in Fuzhou) 23, 96 lineages 1 3, 20, 57, 1 00, 203-204, 206-207, 220, 227-228 Lingji Shrine (Longquan) 7 1 , 1 74 Lingwei Shrine (Jishui) 70, 73 Linjiang 23, 7 1 , 93 literati as authors 1 6, 47, 50, 58, 65, 1 29- 1 5 1 , 1 95 and belief 55, 66, 67, 77 careers 5, 79, 84, 1 1 4 and central government 1 1 4, 1 1 7, 1 23-1 3 7, 1 79, 1 92 and community 1 8, 47-63, 74-77, 98, 1 02, 1 78, 1 95, 2 1 9, 224 condemnation of local practice 1 7, 82-84, 89, 9 1 -97, 93, 1 36, 1 78 identity 48-49, 5 1 late Ming 20 I , 2 1 7 , 228 ritual 79-82 and temples 65, I I I writing about the local landscape 4, 20, 99 see also elite Liu Bowan 1 29 Liu Chengzhi 26n9 Liu Chenweng 25, 39, 42, 70- 1 , 74, 84-9 1 , 1 22, 1 48, 1 53, 1 59, 1 95, 20 1-202 on schools 1 07-1 1 0

Liu Deyuan 1 29 Liu Dingzhi 25, 1 33 Liu Dunxin 1 2 1n21 Liu Futong 1 1 7 Liu Guangzhen 1 89- 192 LiuJi 1 42, 1 43n84 Liu Jiangsun 42 Liu Qiu 1 44- 1 48, 1 92-193 Liu Ruli 74 Liu Shou 1 72-1 73, 20 1 Liu Song 1 24, 1 35 Liu Tongsheng 1 82 Liu Wenyuan 1 04n22, 1 04n24, 1 23n26, 1 26n36, 1 82n l O, 208n22, 222n65-66 Liu Yang 1 7 1 , 1 73 Liu Yi 1 04n22, 1 82n9, 208 Liu Yuanqing 1 67 Liu Yunzhang 80-8 1 Liu Zhu 1 62 Liu Zongbin 1 09n35 Liu, Hsiang-kwang 1 03n 1 7 Liu, James 7n6, 1 0 1 n8 Liu, Kwang-ching 1 1 8n9 localist turn as discussed by Peter Bol 1 2 Locality and Belonging 1 4 locality 5, 9, I I , 1 2 and belonging 15, 1 8 construction of 1 5, 56, 1 79 and identity 42, 1 95 meaning of 1 3 , 14, 1 5 , 1 85 and pride 1 1 7 production of 1 5 and tales 1 97 and temple 1 78, 1 94 Long Dawei 1 89n25 Long Wenbin 1 1 8n l O, 1 1 9n l 2 Long Yuqi 1 83 Longcheng Temple (Taihe) 1 34 Longhu Mountain 1 39 Longhua Monastery (Jishui) 159 Longquan academies in 1 03n 1 8 gazetteers from 1 22 Ge Hong in 29 in late Ming 1 68-1 70, 1 74 men from 25 and other counties 23 religious leaders from 1 29 sacred sites and temples in 25-27, 30, 32, 40-4 1 , 7 1-73, 79, 1 1 3-1 1 4, 1 32-1 33, 1 3 7- 1 39 shrines for the state cult in 1 20n 1 6 shrine for Xu Xun 1 97-1 99 Longxing see Nanchang

253

INDEX

Longyin Abbey (Longquan) 1 1 3-1 1 4, 1 33 Lovell, Nadia 1 4 loyalty 95 to Song 85, 86 to Zhu Yuanzhang 1 94 Lii Dajun 22 1 Lii Dongbin 38 Lu Jiuyuan 6 1 n3 7 Lu Mountains 85, 1 3 5 Luchuan 1 45 Lujiang 1 63, 1 67 Luling history of 22, 25-26 Huagai worship in 29--3 0 in late Ming 1 83, 1 95, 20 1 , 205, 208, 2 1 1 -2 1 2, 2 1 7, 228 magistrate in 74, 76 men from 4, 25, 70, 78, 1 0 1 , 1 1 3, 1 1 6, 1 24, 1 26, 1 28 and other counties 23 sacred sites and temples in 37-43, 65, 82-86, 1 3 1-1 32, 1 36, 1 39 schools and academies in 1 03-1 07, 1 10 shrines for the state cult in 1 20-1 22 Xu Xiake in 1 59-1 60, 1 62, 1 68-169, 1 7 1 Luo Hongxian 25, 1 6 1 , 1 82-1 84, 202, 204-205, 2 1 3, 2 1 6-2 1 7, 2 1 9-222 Luo Mountain 65, 66, 76 Luo Qnshun 204, 208, 209, 2 1 1-2 1 2 Luotuan 72 Luozi Mountain 28 Lutai 1 67 macro-regions, see Skinner magistrates 34, 69, 76, 92, I l l n4 1 , 1 20n 1 6, 1 42, 1 44, 1 47-148, 1 92, 1 98, 208, 2 1 1 , 2 1 4, 2 1 6, 222, 225 Marme, Michael I I n l 4 McDermott, Joseph 221 n60 memory linked to belonging 1 4 Mencius 1 09 merchants 36, 88, 94, 1 53, 1 55, 1 62, 1 70, 1 75, 2 1 7 Meskill, John 60n36, 1 05n25 metropolitan degree holders seejinshi migration 1 55 Ming Huidian see Da Ming Huidian Ming Huiyao 1 1 8n l O, 1 1 9n 1 2 Ming Taizu shilu 1 1 8n l l , 1 25, 1 28 Miyakawa Hisayuki 1 98 monasteries see temples

modernity in China 7 Mongols invasion of 7, 86 in Yongxin I monks 30, 36-37, 50, 9 1 , 1 1 4, 1 2 1 , 1 32, 1 38, 1 50, 1 56, 1 66, 1 70, 1 86, 1 89-1 90 'More Stories Written while Trimming the Wick' 4, 1 28 Morita Kenji I O I n6 Mote, Frederick l I n 1 6, 1 1 8n 7 mountams in Anfu 67, 79-82 in Ji'an 1 99 in Jishui 25, 28 in Jizhou 45 in Longquan 3 1 in Taihe 25, 28, 1 34 see also Chen, Furong, Gezao, Guyi, He, Huagai, Jiulong, Longhu, Lu, Luo, Luozi, Tiantai, Wugong. •

Naito Konan 6 Nan'an 94 Nan'gan 225n76 Nanchang 23, 7 1 , 1 26, 1 97-1 98 Nanjing 1 25, 1 3 1- 1 32, 1 4 1 , 1 84, 209 Nengren Temple (Luling) 87 Neo-Confucianism 60 Newby, Howard 60n3 1 Nie Bao 1 6 1 , 2 1 3, 2 1 6, 22 1 , 223 Ningzhou 1 67, 1 86 Nora, Pierre 1 5 'Notes on Travelling the Jizhou Mountains' (Jizhou zhushanyo0i) 38 offerings 4, 79 Ouyang De 1 6 1 , 2 1 3, 2 1 6 Ouyang Shoudao 9 1 , 1 04-1 1 0, 1 22, 1 48, 1 95, 20 1-202 and Bailuzhou Academy 1 05-1 07, 1 59 on genealogies 1 0 1- 1 02 inscriptions by 65-66, 75-77, 82-84, 1 5 1 , 1 78 on Kang Wang 4 1 Ouyang Xiu 25, 1 0 1 , 1 09, 205n l l , 206 Ouyang Yun 1 70 Panteng Shrine (Anfu) 67, 68, 69, 77 parish 49 Parkin, David 1 4n22 Peng Shipei 205n I 0 Peng Yongwei 1 3 7- 1 38

254

INDEX

Perdue, Peter I I n 1 4 periodization 6, 60 Peterson, Willard 202n2 population growth 22, 155 in Jiangxi 22n3, 1 75 porcelain see ceramics postal stations 88 pottery see ceramIcs Poyang, Lake 2 1 , 22, 23, 1 1 8, 1 98 prayers for rain 26, 27, 74 for relief 68 for harvest 75 pride, local 1 1 6 Qjngfeng Bridge 1 89 qinggui, see Buddhism and monastic guidelines Qjngyuan Mountains 38, 1 60- 1 6 1 , 1 77, 1 88, 1 95, 207 in late Ming 2 1 2-2 1 7 Qjngyuan zhilue 39n36, 39n38, 1 6 1 n 1 8, 1 7 7n3, 1 78, 1 79n6, 1 80n 7, 1 95n4 1 , 208, 2 1 3n42, 2 1 4n45, 2 1 6n47-48 Qju Jun 1 55 Quanjiang 79 Quanzhou 57n25r •

Rankin, Mary Backus 53n l l Rao Longsun 1 24n27 Rao Zhengdao 1 29 Raozhou 1 53 rapids, river in Yongxin 1 63- 1 67 in Wan'an 1 69 Record if the Listener I 7, 32, 44 The Jizhou Camphor Tree' 33 Records if Great Sites 25-40 Redfield, Robert 59, 60n3 1 Reiter, Florian 1 39n73 religious specialist (fongshi) 3 1 , 44 restoration costs see academies, temples Ricci, Matteo 1 69 Ritual Statutes (Lidian) 1 43 ritual and community 6 I n57, 68-69, 74-77, 82 Department of 1 33, 1 35, 1 63, 208 duties 155 and gods 1 8 1 literati 79, 97, 1 00 local 1 4, 50n6, 57, 200 performance of 56, 58, 2 1 7-2 1 9

regulations 73, 1 40, 1 44 and state cult 93, 1 1 9-1 20, 2 1 8 and space 1 4 1 and worship 1 92, 1 94 rivers see rapids, spirits, He, Gan, Jiang, Yangzi Rowe, William 7n7, I I n l 4 Rulerfor Moving Dragons (Hanlong chi) 36 sacrifice 72 Sacrificial Statutes (Sidian) 1 1 8-1 1 9, 1 4 1 , 1 44, 1 47, 1 92, 1 94 Sangren, Steven 56 Schipper, Kristofer 56, 1 98 Schirokauer, Conrad 60n36, 6 1 n38 Schmidt-Glintzer, Helwig 60n32 Schneewind, Sarah 1 1 8-1 19, 220 scholar-officials see literati schools 89, 1 00, 203, 207-208 community 220 as focal point 1 9, 20, 6 1 , 103-1 1 2, 207-220 restoration 2 1 7 in Yongxin I , 2 1 7-220 Seidel, Anna I 46n96 Sequel Record if the Listener 33, 42 Shaanxi 1 83 Shahar, Meir 49, 1 77 n l Shang Yang 1 09n38 Shanghai Library 205 sheji tan, see altars for soil and grain Shen Shixing 1 1 9n I I Shen Tingrui 30n 1 7 Shen'gang Mountains 1 60- 1 62 Shengfo Monastery (Anfu) 1 86, 1 88-1 89 Shepard, PUexandra 62n44, 68n9 Shi Tianze 80 Shi Youmin 155 Shi Yuchan 80 Shiba Yoshinobu I I n l 4 Shilong Shrine (Luling) 82-84 shrines see temples Sichuan 1 87- 1 88, 1 98 Sidian see Sacrificial Statutes Siku quanshu 204 Silk industry 23 Siu, Helen 56 Sivin, Nathan 29 Skinner, G. William I I , 56 Smith, Paul Jakov 6, 8, 1 2n 1 8, 1 04n 1 9, 226-227 social domains 5 1

INDEX

soil and grain, altars for (shqi tan) 1 1 8-1 1 9, 1 20n 1 6, 1 45, 1 93 Song Lian 1 42 Song-Yuan transition 1 8, 65-98, 85 Song-Yuan-Ming Transition in Chinese History, The 6-7, 1 2n 1 8, 1 04n 1 9, 226 Song-Yuan-Ming transition 4, 1 02, 223, 227, 229 space central community 2 1 9-220 constructions of 1 3- 1 4, 30, 43, 45, 48, 54-55, 6 1 , 74, 98-99 familiar 1 70, 1 99, 20 1 negotiations in 6, 45, 48, 68, 1 80 sacred 1 5, 48, 50, 75, 1 4 1 , 1 7 7, 2 1 5 spirits (shen) 34n26, 1 80, 2 1 9 river 94-96, 1 62- 1 63, 1 74 state cult see cult, state and temples, for state cult Strauss, Claudia 54n 1 9 Strickmann, Michel 1 98n48 Su Qin 1 09n38 Sun Xiaode 1 3 2 Suzhou 1 23 Szonyi, Michael 56, 57n24 Taihe roads in 23 sacred sites and temples in · 25, 28, 32, 38, 40-4 1 Huagai worship in 29 academies in 1 03n 1 8 Dardess on 1 1 4, 1 1 6-1 1 7 , 1 50 men from 1 23-1 28, 1 30, 1 34-1 35, 1 38-1 40, 1 6 1 , 1 70, 1 77-1 78, 1 83- 1 85 temple for the god of walls and moats in 1 40-144 Xu Xiake and 1 68 in late Ming 202-204, 208, 2 1 2, 228-229 Taixiao Abbey (Longquan) 1 69-- 1 70 tales literary 1 7- 1 8, 1 85, 1 97, 1 99 local 4, 37, 1 36, 1 94-1 97, 200 Ming 1 33, 1 73 of miraculous events 26, 3 1 , 32, 35-37, 42-43, 45, 69, 73, 80-8 1 , 96, 1 60, 1 95- 1 98 religious 5, 1 2, 43-44, 67, 1 36, 1 74, 1 98 transmission 32

255

Tan, Lady 1 , 4-6, 1 4 Tang Wenwei 205n9 Tanigawa Michio 60 taxes 88, 90, 1 1 3, 1 1 8, 1 28, 1 55, 1 74-1 75, 1 98 Taylor, Rodney 1 88n24 Taylor, Romeyn 92n67, 1 1 8n9, 1 46n96, 1 77n 1 temples ancestral shrines 74 cults of 1 2 Buddhist see Buddhism and temples building 40-42 defined 49-5 1 Daoist see Daoism, and temples in gazetteers 1 6n30, 1 20-1 2 1 inscriptions see inscriptions, temple and literati 1 8, I l l , 1 49 in the local landscape 4, 58 meaning assigned to 1 6, 54, 1 85 permits for 1 32 restoration 1 2 1 , 1 47 restoration costs 73, 1 86 rise and fall 65, 87, 1 22 as socially integrative spaces 55-58 for state cult 50, 1 4 1 , 1 46, 1 92 ter Haar, Barend 1 7n3 1 , 33n23, 56, 57, 58, 73n25, 94n74 Tiantai, Mount 1 35 Tianyu Mountain see Furong Mountain Toghon Temiir 92n66 Tiinnies, Ferdinand 6 1 -62 Topography JOr Visiting Scenic Sites (Fangyu shenglan) 37, 39 travel records 1 7, 38-39, 1 24, 157, 1 75 late Ming 1 70-1 75 by Liu Shou 1 72-1 73 by Xu Xiake 1 9, 1 53-1 70 travel by foot 30, 1 63 by river 23, 7 1 , 79, 94-95, 1 53, 1 57, 1 62-1 63, 1 7 1 , 1 74, 2 1 3 by sedan chair 1 67 to the capital 1 3 1 - 1 32, 1 34, 1 50 to shrines and temples 67-69, 89, 92, 1 77 , 1 85- 1 86, 1 99, 2 1 3 , 2 1 9 Tsai, Henry 1 24n3 1 , 1 28n4 1 Tugh Temiir 92n66 Tumu 1 45 Tuotuo 92n66 Tuping Monastery (Anfu) 1 86 Twitchett, Denis 1 1 n 1 6

256

INDEX

Ubelhor, Monika 60n36 upnsmgs local 22 millenarian 7 Red Turbans I I 7 •

•

Veritable Records if Ming Tai::;u see Ming Taizu shilu von Glahn, Richard on community granaries 60n36 The Country if Streams and Grottos I I n l 4 on the god Wutong 1 7 review of Hansen 50n8 The Sinister Wqy 72n2 1 , 83n44, 93n70, 1 77n l , 1 80- 1 8 1 The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition 6, 1 2n 1 8, 226n8 1 on vernacularization 8 Walton, Linda 54, 6 1 n38, 1 00, 1 04n23, 1 05n25 Wan'an 23, 32n20, 1 1 6, 1 20n 1 6, 1 68-1 70, 206 Wang Gen 1 26 Wang Keshou 2 1 1 Wang Mingchen 1 77-1 8 1 , 1 85, 1 9 1 , 1 94-1 95, 1 99 Wang Mingming 56-57 Wang Mo 26n9 Wang Tinggui 67-7 1 , 74, 7 7 , 78 Wang Wei 1 42 Wang Xiangzhi 153 Yudi jisheng 25, 26-40 Wang Yangming followers 1 6 1 , 1 83-1 85, 202-203, 2 1 0, 2 1 3-2 1 4 in Jiangxi 2 1 2-2 1 3, 22 1 -222 thought 20, 202, 2 1 4, 225 Wang Zhen 1 45 Wang Zhi 1 25, 1 28, 203 Wang Zhisong 205n l l Wang, Lord see Huagai Ward, Julian 1 57n6, 1 68n3 1 Watson, James L. 1 8n34, 1 00 Weber, Max 52-53 Wei Xiang 1 69 Weller, Robert 49, 1 77n l Wen Tianxiang 25, 39, 80-8 1 , 1 04, 1 59, 1 70, 1 73 Wenchang 1 7 7 wenji, see collections, literary withdrawal from society at end of Song 85 Withington, Phil 62n44, 68n9

women chaste 5 immortals 26 in Ji'an 1 7n3 1 , 92 statues of 5 in tales 30, 43, 94, 1 96 see also Lady Tan worthies, Confucian 5 1 , 60, 86, 1 1 8-1 1 9, 1 45- 1 46, 2 1 5 Wu Cheng 1 43 Wu Daohong 1 30-1 3 1 , 1 33 Wu Hongze 1 09n35 Wu Huanfei 1 22 Wu Meng 1 98 Wu Shiyin l l On40, I I I n4 1 Wu Sidao 1 , 4, 1 4 Wu Xi 1 , 4 Wugong Mountains 23, 40, 79-82, 97, 1 63, 1 65, 1 85-1 86 Liu Shou visiting 1 72- 1 73, 20 1 Xu Xiake visiting 1 64-1 67, 1 7 1 Wugong shan::;hi 1 65n23, 1 66, 1 7 1 n38, 1 72n4 1-42 Wugong Temple (Luling) 90-9 1 Wutong, the god 1 7 Xiajiang 93-95, 1 26 xwngyue, see commumty covenants Xianju Monastery (Wan'an) 1 69 Xian::;ong shilu 1 45 Xiao Donghai 1 08n32 Xiao Ruyi 1 1 3-1 1 4 Xiao Weizhen 1 22n22, 1 3 1 - 1 33 Xiao Xuchen 47, 78, 79 Xiao Zhen 1 1 3-1 1 4 Xiao Zi 1 25, 1 3 2n56, 1 38-1 39 Xiao Zuo 1 37-1 39 Xiaofeng Daran 39n36, 208 Xie Duan 1 1 3-1 1 4, 1 3 3 Xie Jin 25, 1 24, 1 26- 1 27, 1 30, 1 32, 1 89, 205n l 0 Xin'gan 7 1 Xingsi 38-39 Xu Hongzu 1 56n6 Xu Huailin 2 1 n l Xu Xiakeyouji 1 9n35, 1 57-1 67 Xu Xiake 1 9, 1 56- 1 72, 1 99 in Ji'an 1 56- 1 64 travel to Wugong Mountains 1 64-1 67 Xu Xuan 159 Xu Xun 1 97- 1 99 Xu yijian::;hi see Sequel Record if the Listener Xu zherijun, see Xu Xun .

.

INDEX

Xu, Perfected Being see Xu Xun Xuande see Zhu Zhanji Xuantan Abbey (Jishui) 1 73 Xuanzong see Zhu Zhanji Xunzhai wenji, see Ouyang Shoudao XuxiJ� see Liu Chenweng Yan Zhenqing 38-39, 40 Yang Shiqi 25, 1 1 6, 1 23-1 26, 1 30, 1 83, 203 Yang Wanli 25 Yang Zhangru 4 1 , 67, 1 48 Yang Zhihua 1 25n33 Yangshi sanxiu zupu 205n 1 0 Yangzi River 2 1 Yichun 33-34 Yifeng 1 1 4 rljianzhi see Record qf the Listener Yin Tai 1 63n20 Yin Tai 204, 206-2 1 1 , 2 1 5, 2 1 7 Yin Wuyuan 1 32, 1 3 9 Yinzhi 1 65 Yixian 1 1 4 Yongchu shanchua,yi 26 Yongfeng academies in 1 03 gazetteers 1 22 and Huagai Immortals 29 men from 1 1 6, 1 27, 1 6 1 , 1 82n9 and other counties 23 in Records qf Great Sites 25, 27-28 sacred sites and temples in 32, 38, 40, 1 20n 1 6, 1 73 Wu Shiyin in 1 1 0n40 Xu Xiake in 157, 1 68 Yonghe 22, 37-38, 1 60 Yongle dadian 25, 1 25, 1 28, 1 30 Yongle see Zhu Di Yongning 1 20n 1 6, 1 67, 183 Yongxin examination candidates from 1 26-1 27, 1 89 in late Ming 205, 209, 2 1 7-2 18, 22 1 , 224--2 26 officials from I l On40, 1 33- 1 34, 1 90 and other counties 23 and tale of Lady Tan 1-4, 9, 1 4 temples in 1 90-1 92 Xu Xiake in 1 62-1 64, 1 67-168, 171 Yu di zhi 35n28 Yu Longsheng 1 53, 155 Yu Ruji 1 1 8n l l Yii, Chiin-fang 1 20n l 8 Yuan Haowen 33n23

257

Yuan invasion 6, 1 8, 86 in scholarship 7 Yuanji 1 59 Yuan-Ming transition disruption in 1 9, 1 1 0-1 1 1 , 1 1 3, 1 1 7, 1 22, 1 49, 1 89, 203, 2 1 2 Yuanzhou 23, 33-34, 1 24n3 1 Yudijisheng see Records qf Great Sites Yuelu Academy 1 04 Yueshan 1 3 1 Yunnan 1 56, 1 67 , 1 89 Yunteng Mountain 74 Zeng Gao 1 83 Zeng Q 1 2 7 Zhang Cheng 1 65n23 Zhang Guangxun 1 65n23 Zhang Tianquan 1 2 1 Zhang Tianyou 23n6 Zhang Yi 1 09n38 Zhang Yuanshu 29 Zhang Yuchu 1 39 Zhao Erqi 1 95-1 98 Zhao Kai 80-8 1 Zhao Min 1 47 Zhao Yike 29, 79-82, 97, 1 73 Zhao Yuanyang 80-8 1 Zhaoji Temple (Longquan) 78 Zhengtong see Zhu Qzhen Zhenwu Shrine (Luling) 1 77, 1 95 Zhenwu 1 7 7 Zhenyuan 1 6 1 Zhongliu 1 93 Zhongxian 1 1 0-1 1 1 Zhou Bida 'Notes on Travelling the Jizhou Mountains' 38-39 and other famous Jizhou men 2 5 , 67n6 and Qngyuan Mountains 2 1 2 residence of 1 60 and Wang Tinggui 78n32 Zhou Chen 25, 1 28 Zhou Mengjian 1 2 7 Zhou Nanrui 80-8 1 Zhou Shu 1 27 Zhou Wenying 1 08n33 zhouzhice (records that give full knowledge) 1 20 Zhu Di (the Yongle emperor) and Daoism 1 39 and officials from Ji'an 1 24-- 1 33, 205 and the state cult 1 7 7

258

INDEX

temple building under 1 2 1-1 22, 1 37, 1 89 Zhu Mu 37 Zhu Qzhen (the Zhengtong emperor) 1 29, 1 45 Zhu Xi 6 1 n37, 9 1 , 22 1 Zhu Ximing 1 2 1 Zhu Yuanzhang (the Hongwu emperor) and god of walls and moats 5 1 , 1 4 1 , 1 46, 1 48 local impact in Ji'an 1 1 9-1 24, 227 and local religious practice 1 1 8- 1 20, 1 4 1 , 1 92 and officials from Ji'an 22, 1 23- 1 23, 1 26, 1 40, 1 42- 1 44, 1 50 and religious leaders from Ji'an 1 29, 1 39 and state building 1 2, 1 9 Zhu Yunwen (the Jianwen emperor) 1 2 1 , 1 24, 1 26

Zhu Zhanji (the Xuande emperor) 1 28, 1 45 zhuangyuan 1 23n26, 1 26, 1 27, 1 82-1 84 Zhuangzi 83 Zijiao Temple (Longquan) 1 3 7 Zixiao Abbey (Luling) 1 39 Ziyang Abbey (Longquan) 1 39 Zizhi daoyuan (Luling) 85 Zou Depu 2 1 6 Zou Hansheng 1 70 Zou Jifu 1 86 Zou Shouyi 1 6 1 , 1 83-1 84, 205, 2 1 3, 2 1 6, 22 1 -226 Zou Yuanbiao 1 59, 1 6 1 , 1 83-1 84, 1 92- 1 94, 1 99, 2 1 4-2 1 5 zupu, see genealogies Zurndorfer, Harriet T. 1 1 n 1 4, 60n34

C HINA STUDIES ISSN 1 570-1 344 I.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

1 0.

I I.

12.

13. 1 4.

Berg, D. Carnival in China. A Reading of the Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan. 2002. ISBN 90 04 1 2426 8 Hockx, M. Qyestions qf Style. Literary Societies and LiteraryJournals in Modern China, 1 9 1 1 - 1 937. 2003. ISBN 90 04 1 29 1 5 4 Seiwert, H. Popular Religious Movements and Heterodox Sects in Chinese History. 2003. ISBN 90 04 1 3 1 46 9 Heberer, T. Private Entrepreneurs in China and Vietnam. Social and Polit­ ical Functioning of Strategic Groups. 2003. ISBN 90 04 1 2857 3 Xiang, B. Transcending Boundaries. Zhejiangcun: the Story of a Mi­ grant Village in Beijing. 2005. ISBN 90 04 1 420 I 0 Huang, N. J%men, War, Domesticity. Shanghai Literature and Popular Culture of the 1 940s. 2005. ISBN 90 04 1 4242 8 Dudbridge, G. Books, Tales and Vernacular Culture. Selected Papers on China. 2005. ISBN 90 04 1 4770 5 Cook, C.A. Death in Ancient China. The Tale of One Man's Journey. 2006. ISBN- 1 O: 90 04 1 53 1 2 8, ISBN- 1 3: 978 90 04 1 5 3 1 2 7 Sleeboom-Faulkner, M. The Chinese Academy if Social Sciences (CASSj. Shaping the Reforms, Academia and China ( 1 9 7 7-2003). 2007. ISBN- 1 O: 90 04 1 5 323 3, ISBN- 1 3 : 978 90 04 1 5 323 3 Berg, D. (ed.) Reading China. Fiction, History and the Dynamics of Discourse. Essays in Honour of Professor Glen Dudbridge. 2007. ISBN- 1 O: 90 04 1 5483 3, ISBN- 1 3 : 978 90 04 1 5483 4 Hillenbrand, M. Literature and the Practice if Resistance. Japanese and Taiwanese Fiction, 1 960- 1 990. 200 7 . ISBN- l 0: 90 04 1 5478 7, ISBN- 1 3: 978 90 04 1 5478 0 Hsiao, L. The Eternal Present if the Past. Illustration, Theatre, and Reading in the Wanli Period, 1 5 7 3- 1 6 1 9. 2007. ISBN 978 90 04 1 5643 2 Gerritsen, A. Ji'an Literati and the Local in Song-Yuan-Ming China. 200 7 . ISBN 978 90 04 1 5603 6 Starr, C.F. Red-light Novels qf the late Qing. 2007. ISBN 978 90 04 1 5629 6