by Chen Jack W
lation in Owen, Poetry of the Early T’ang, pp. 17–19.
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The Reception of Literature in Tang Taizong’s Court
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erary style, so that the Sui can be cleansed of all contamination from the
harm of lingering decadence. This is a radical attempt to bring about puri-
fication in cultural standards, and it is not surprising that Li E would fail
to exterminate all traces of southern literary style from the Sui. In the end,
this petition would stand as the counter-example for Taizong’s own, more
tolerant vision of literary and cultural unification.
Taizong’s Academy of Literature
With the conquest of the Sui and the subsequent consolidation of empire,
the imperial court under Taizong would take up the question of literature
and literary style. Taizong’s father, Gaozu, would show little personal in-
terest in literary matters, but he would nevertheless revive the tradition of
state-sponsored Confucian academies. These were the Academy for the
Sons of State 國子學, the Grand Academy 太學, and the Academy of the
Four Gates 四門學, which, taken collectively, would educate students
from the sons of leading officials down to those of talented commoners.61
However, the true beginnings of a Tang literary culture, however, would
begin with Taizong, whose interest in literary accomplishment and court-
ly refinement would mark a significant—and one might say, inevitable—
shift from his central role in the military foundation of the Tang.
In fact, prior to his accession, Taizong had already evinced a strong
concern with literature. As the Prince of Qin, Li Shimin had defeated the
rival warlords Liu Wuzhou, Dou Jiande, and Wang Shichong in the
fourth year of the Wude reign, and as a result, was promoted to Generalis-
simo of the Heavenly Strategy 天策上將 and granted his own military
command staff.62 Following this, the Jiu Tang shu notes that “Taizong
then became single-mindedly focused on the Classics and other texts, in-
augurating the Academy of Literature in order to attend upon the schol-
ars of the four regions” 太宗乃銳意經籍，開文學館以待四方之士.63
Within Taizong’s biographical account, this moment signals the shift from
a military identity to a cultural one, from the notion of wu to that of wen.
—————
61. See Jiu Tang shu, 189.4940. For the details of the schools, see Jiu Tang shu, 44.1891–92; and Xin Tang shu, 48.1266–67. Also see McMullen, States and Scholars in T’ang China, pp.
17–19, 31–37; and Niu Zhigong, Tang Gaozu zhuan, pp. 218–25.
62. Jiu Tang shu, 1.12, 2.28; and Xin Tang shu, 1.13, 2.26.
63. Jiu Tang shu, 2.28.
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132
The Reception of Literature in Tang Taizong’s Court
The prince’s Academy of Literature 文學館 gathered at its core eigh-
teen talented scholars and literary men.64 These were Du Ruhui, Fang
Xuanling, Yu Zhining 于志寧 (588–665), Su Shichang 蘇世長, Xue
Shou 薛收 (592–624), Chu Liang 褚亮 (560–647), Yao Silian, Lu
Deming 陸德明 (ca. 550–630), Kong Yingda, Li Daoxuan 李道玄, Li
Shousu 李守素, Yu Shinan 虞世南 (558–638), Cai Yungong 蔡允恭,
Xue Yuanjing 薛元敬, Yan Xiangshi 顏相時, Xu Jingzong, He Wenda
蓋文達, and Su Xu 蘇勖.65 Of this group, Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling
were the most prominent, having served on Li Shimin’s staff from the pe-
riod of the establishment of the Tang, and would assume powerful posi-
tions in the imperial court following Gaozu’s abdication. Others would be
known primarily for their literary talents and scholarly abilities. Yao Silian
would, along with Wei Zheng, compile the Liang shu 梁書 ( History of the
Liang Dynasty) and Chen shu 陳書 ( History of the Chen Dynasty). Kong Yingda would lead the compilation of standard subcommentaries to the
Five Classics. Yu Shinan would be the leading southern poet of Taizong’s
court and serve as poetic mentor to the emperor. Finally, Xu Jingzong, a
skilled poet, would rise to become the most powerful official in Wu Ze-
tian’s court.
The literary academy drew its members from both north and south,
and thus represented both traditions of literary scholarship and style. Tai-
zong implicitly rejected Li E’s desire to expunge the court of southern lit-
erary influence, a point that is made in the concluding lines of Li Shimin’s
instruction ( jiao 教) to establish the academy:
Some have turned their backs on the Huai River and arrived from a thousand li
away; some have passed through [the region of] Zhao in order to delight in “three
—————
64. For discussions of the Academy of Literature, see, among others, Seike Eizaburō, Tō no Taisō to Zui Tō bunka, pp. 208–10; Zhao and Xu, Tang Taizong zhuan, pp. 65, 284–85; Tian Jiuchuan, “Lun Qinfu xueshituan”; Luo Shijin, Tang shi yanjin lun, pp. 4–6; Liu Fangling, “Tang chu Wenxue guan.” I am grateful to Christopher Dakin for bringing the articles by Tian Jiuchuan and Liu Fangling to my attention.
65. Jiu Tang shu, 72.2582; Xin Tang shu, 102.3976–77, and Tang huiyao, 64.1117. Taizong’s
“Instruction to Establish the Literary Academy and Its Academicians” 置文館學士教, is
preserved in Cefu yuangui, 97.1163a–63c; Quan Tang wen, 4.49b; and Tang Taizong quanji jiaozhu, pp. 200–204. This fascicle is missing from the Songben Cefu yuangui.
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The Reception of Literature in Tang Taizong’s Court
133
meetings.”66 All were able to let their sleeves hang down in the princely mansion
and pledge themselves to this feudal state, guiding it with ritual standards and
perfecting canonical rules, letting flourish literary language and chanting the
“Airs” and the “Odes,” roaming at ease in my command garrison, and in this way,
lending elegance to it.
或背淮而至千里，或適趙以欣三見。咸能垂裾邸第，委質藩維，引禮
度而成典則，暢文詞而詠風雅，優游幕府，是用嘉焉.67
Here, the Huai River (which flows into the Yangtze River at modern-day
Yangzhou) and the old domain of Zhao (spanning parts of modern Shan-
xi and Hebei) are used to denote the general areas of the south and the
north, respectively. Li Shimin’s garrison command gains not only cultural
prestige by having literary men from north and south on staff, but more
importantly is transformed into a vision of sagely elegance, complete with
the chanting of poems from the Classic of Poetry.
Still, despite this characterization, the Academy of Literature probably
played a role that was more political brain trust than literary institute.
The academy effectively provided the future Taizong with a shadow civil
court to complement his military staff as generalissimo—and one might
note that this was not lost upon the Crown Prince Jiancheng, who began
at this time
to actively plot against the Prince of Qin.68 The academy’s po-
litical purpose is hinted at in Chu Liang’s biography, where Taizong’s de-
sire “to collect and appoint worthies and talents” 收聘賢才 is given as
the main motive for its establishment, as if he were a sovereign filling the
offices of the government.69 Again, one might note how Du Ruhui and
Fang Xuanling would assume leading positions in Taizong’s government.
Moreover, once Taizong took the reins of power, the institute would be
—————
66. This is an allusion to the opening lines of the hexagram “Jin” 晉, which states that the lord who achieves peace is granted herds of horses and three daily audiences with the sovereign. See Zhou yi zhengyi, 4.37a, in Shisanjing zhushu, p. 49. The phrase “three meetings”
has come to mean “to receive with great favor.”
67. See Cefu yuangui, 97.1163b; Quan Tang wen, 4.49b; and Tang Taizong quanji jiaozhu, p. 201.
68. See Wechsler, “Founding of the T’ang Dynasty,” p. 183.
69. Xin Tang shu, 102.3976.
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The Reception of Literature in Tang Taizong’s Court
renamed the Academy for Exalting Literature 弘文館 and its roster ex-
panded, even as it would diminish in political importance.70
The politicized nature of the Academy of Literature does not negate its
importance in the history of early Tang literature. Rather, if anything, it is
indicative of Taizong’s underlying conception of literature. For Taizong,
literature was a sociopolitical discourse—much as Confucius had con-
ceived of it—but it was also essential to the construction of courtly ele-
gance, something that Confucius would not have as readily recognized as
a critical function of literary discourse.
The Sui shu Preface to the “Biographies of Literary Men”
Once Taizong ascended to the throne, he would set about consolidating
both the material bases of power and their ideological forms. The most sig-
nificant evidence of Tang cultural ideology and its understanding of litera-
ture would come in the compilation of what would eventually number
eight dynastic histories. Here one might see the intersection of the con-
cerns of historical representation and literary ideology, since it was the early
Tang historians who first laid stress on the historical narrative of literary
writing, connecting the changes in political life to those in literary culture.
I will focus my discussion on the Sui shu, which was compiled under the
direction of Wei Zheng and presented to the court in 636.71
As with all of the Tang-compiled dynastic histories, the Sui shu con-
tains a separate chapter on the collective biographies of literary men—
figures whose primary historical interest lay in literary, rather than politi-
cal, accomplishments. The idea of a collective biography for literary men
was introduced by the Hou Han shu 後漢書 ( History of the Later Han
Dynasty; presented in 445). After that, two other histories, the Nan Qi shu 南齊書 ( History of the Southern Qi Dynasty; presented in 537) and Wei
shu 魏書 ( History of the Wei Dynasty; presented in 554), also included chapters on literary men. However, in the Wei shu, composed by Wei
—————
70. On the change of name to “Academy of Exalting Literature,” see Jiu Tang shu, 189A.4941; and Xin Tang shu, 198.5636. Also see Li Linfu 李林甫 (d. 752) et al., comps., Tang liudian, 8.254–55. For an overview of the academy, see Zhao and Xu, Tang Taizong zhuan, pp. 284–86.
71. On the composition of the Sui shu, see Du Weiyun, Zhongguo shixueshi, vol. 2, pp.
214–15; and Ng and Wang, Mirroring the Past, p. 118.
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The Reception of Literature in Tang Taizong’s Court
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Shou 魏收 (506-72), the chapter on literary men was prefaced by a short
historical narrative that discussed the exemplary talents of each preceding
dynasty, the tumultuous division of empire following the Yongjia 永嘉
reign (307–13) of the Western Jin, and the revival of literary writing under
the Wei.72 The Tang compilers appropriated the Wei shu’s model, setting
their collective biographies within prefatory historical narratives, and in
turn, setting a standard format for some of the later dynastic histories.73
Let me turn now to the preface to the “Biographies of Literary Men”
文學列傳 in the Sui shu.74 Authorship of this text is sometimes assigned
to Wei Zheng, who served as nominal editor of the dynastic history of the
Sui, though there is no direct evidence for this attribution. It is more like-
ly that the preface is the joint work of a number of scholars, and I will
treat it as such in the following discussion. The preface begins with a
grand vision of literature as part of the sagely creation of civilization:
The Changes says: “Observe the wen of Heaven in order to examine the transformations of the seasons; observe the wen of human beings in order to transform and perfect all that lies below Heaven.”75 The Zuo zhuan says: “Speech is the wen of the self; if one speaks without wen, it will not go far.”76 Therefore Yao modeled himself on Heaven to express praise for the moral brilliance of wen;77 and the Duke of Zhou made abundant his virtue to manifest praise for “how radiant [Yao
was].”78 In this way, then, the function of wen is indeed great! Those above use it to spread virtuous teachings among those below, and those below use it to let
feelings and desires reach those above. In its primary form, it acts as warp and
woof upon Heaven and Earth, establishing admonitions and promulgating mod-
—————
72. Wei Shou, comp., Wei shu, 85.1869.
73. Histories following the two Tang dynastic histories (compiled respectively during the Five Dynasties period and the Song dynasty) would not be as invested in the construction of broad literary historical contexts, but instead would focus on summaries of the single historical period under discussion.
74. Sui shu, 76.1729–30. My discussion of this passage has benefited from the analysis in Luo, Sui Tang Wudai wenxue sixiang shi, pp. 30–35.
75. See Zhou yi zhengyi, 3.37c, in Shisanjing zhushu, p. 49.
76. See Zuo zhuan, Duke Xi, 24th year / Chunqiu Zuo zhuan zhu, pp. 418–19.
77. Lunyu 8.19 / Lunyu jishi, 16.549–52. Note that the character yue 曰 is simply a modal particle and not the verb “to speak.”
78. “Zhou” most likely refers to the “Duke of Zhou.” The use of huanhu 煥乎 refers again to Confucius’ comment on Yao. The character yun 云 is simply a modal particle.
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The Reception of Literature in Tang Taizong’s Court
els. In its secondary form, it is folk air and village rhyme, song and hymn, rectifying the ruler and harmonizing the people.79
易曰：觀乎天文以察時變，觀乎人文以化成天下。傳曰：言，身之文
也，言而不文，行之不遠。故堯曰則天，表文明之稱；周云盛德，著
煥乎之美。然則文之為用，其大矣哉。上所以敷德教於下，下所以達
情志於上，大則經
緯天地，作訓垂範，次則風謠歌頌，匡主和民。
The citation of the Classic of Changes and Zuo zhuan in the opening lines not only locates the idea of wen, or literature, within the traditions of canonical scripture, but it also situates the historical narrative of the preface
within the grand narrative of sagely transmission. In the first section of
this narrative, however, the primary focus is not wen as literature, but ra-
ther wen as cosmological and sagely patterning. It is then the purpose of
the narrative to clarify how the literary sense of wen relates to its broader meanings. By beginning with the Classic of Changes’s correlation of the
“patterns of Heaven” to the “patterns of humanity,” the authors of the
preface show how human civilization mirrors the cosmological order.
However, the parallelism is not exact. While the heavenly patterns can be
seen in the stable order of the cosmos, the “patterns of humanity”—here,
the civilized teachings ( wenjiao 文教) of the sages—are needed for kings
and rulers to bring order to the world. The necessity of civilized teachings
arises from the uncivilized given of the world, in the underlying sense that
the world is raw material that needs to be refined through human intention.
A similar logic is present in the Zuo zhuan’s use of wen, which is, in this instance, actually a splicing of two separate quotations. The first part
of the Zuo zhuan statement, from the twenty-fourth year of Duke Xi, re-
fers to an explanation by Jie Zhitui 介之推 as to why he has decided to go
into reclusion without informing his lord and patron, the ruler of Jin:
“Words are the patterning of the self. If the self is about to hide, then
what use is it to pattern it? This would be to seek renown” 言，身之文
也。身將隱，焉用文之？是求顯也.80 The second part, which occurs
in a slightly different form in the Zuo zhuan, is the statement attributed
