by Chen Jack W
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Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
295
remove in the suburbs.75 The main historical accounts in the Tang huiyao
and the Zizhi tongjian state that Taizong wanted to provide a residence
where his ailing father, the retired emperor Gaozu, could avoid the sum-
mer heat.76 Prior to his decision to build the palace, Taizong had made an
attempt to persuade his father to join him at the Jiucheng Palace.77 Gaozu,
however, abhorred the idea of inhabiting the palace where Sui Wendi had
died—possibly at the hands of his own son, the future Sui Yangdi—and
so refused Taizong’s suggestion.78
Relations between father and son had been chilly ever since Taizong de-
posed Gaozu in 626. While traditional historians may have wanted to pre-
sent the building of the palace as an act of filial devotion, there is little evi-
dence that such feelings came easily to Taizong.79 Even Taizong’s failed
invitation for Gaozu to join him at Jiucheng Palace had been the result of a
memorial by the official Ma Zhou 馬周 (601–48), who reminded Taizong
that filiality was the basis of sagely transformation.80 In any case, Gaozu
died before the palace could be completed; Taizong called a halt to con-
struction not long after.81
—————
75. See Tang huiyao, 30.553; and Zizhi tongjian, 194.6106–6107. There is a cursory mention of the palace in Xin Tang shu, 2.35. No mention is made in the Jiu Tang shu.
76. It has been noted that Chang’an, and in particular, the palace-city, was terribly hot during the summer months. Victor Xiong has examined how Yuwen Kai sited the capital
following geomantic considerations, inadvertently locating the palace-city at the lowest point of the terrain. Xiong, Sui-Tang Chang’an, pp. 43–53, 76.
77. There is some confusion as to when Gaozu quit the capital. The major historical accounts note that the retired emperor moved to Da’an Palace 大安宮, a palace located in
the western suburbs of the capital. Jiu Tang shu gives the year as 626 in Gaozu’s annals, but as 629 in Taizong’s annals; see Jiu Tang shu, 1.17, 2.36. The year 629 is used in Zizhi tongjian, 193.6064; and in Xin Tang shu, 1.19, 2.30. Neither version, however, would explain why Gaozu would have suffered from the heat of the capital, since he presumbly was living in Da’an Palace.
78. Wright, Sui Dynasty, pp. 162–63.
79. Taizong’s lack of filiality is discussed by Howard J. Wechsler, who relates an anecdote concerning the minister Wei Zheng and his sarcastic criticism of Taizong, whose own
tomb, the Zhaoling, towered over the Xianling 獻陵, which Taizong had built for his father. See Wechsler, Mirror to the Son of Heaven, pp. 136–37.
80. Jiu Tang shu, 74.2613–15.
81. No date is given for the halting of construction, though it likely occurred in 635, the year of Gaozu’s death. The palace would not be finished until 662, in the reign of Taizong’s son, Gaozong, who decided to make it his primary residence. Tang rulers afterwards also used took the Daming Palace as their official palace.
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296
Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
The Rhapsody on Daming Palace
While the tense and complicated relationship between father and son
may have spurred Taizong to build the Daming Palace, this is nowhere
evident in his “Rhapsody on Looking Out from the Layered Terrace.” Ra-
ther, Taizong takes the occasion of the palace construction to reflect upon
sovereign power and responsibility. As befitting a fu on imperial themes,
Taizong makes reference throughout the work to the epideictic composi-
tions of the Han. However, unlike the earlier Han rhapsodies, Taizong’s
poetic tone is rather more meditative and self-conscious, eschewing alle-
gorical conceits for a more lyrical self-representation. Here is the text of
the rhapsody:
Rhapsody on Looking Out from the Layered Terrace 臨層臺賦
In my period of leisure from the myriad tasks,
惟萬機之暇景，
I drive off a thousand worries on the high veranda.
屏千慮於巖廊。
The winter season shifts to its last month,
玄英移其暮節，82
And the white sun dims its slanted rays.
白日黯其斜光。
5 Upon the tumeric-gold stairs rises a fog,
鬱金階兮起霧，
From the azure jade mansions flow frost.
碧玉宇兮流霜。
The elevated walkways extend to eaved pavilions,
延複道於阿閣，83
The double-leafed gate opens on Jianzhang Palace.
啟重門於建章。84
[rhyme:
唐 dang / 陽 srang]
And
then—
爾乃
The lofty edifice has a spiraling structure,
崇基迴構，
10 The high eaves protrude at intervals,
危簷間出，
Heat coheres in the winter terrace,
暑結冬臺，
Cold concentrates in the summer chambers.
寒濃夏室。
I gaze through the carved balcony that rings the
望雕軒之拱漢，
Milky
Way,
And observe the ornate railing that lifts up the
觀鏤檻之擎日。
sun.
—————
82. For xuanying 玄英 as a term for “winter,” see Erya zhushu, p. 41c, in Shisanjing zhushu, p. 2607.
83. The age is a pavilion with eaves on all four sides. Taizong seems to be drawing upon imagery from the Shi ji of the First Emperor’s palace and capital region.
84. Jianzhang Palace, as discussed above, was built by Han Wudi.
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Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
297
15 The columns of cinnamon-wood are round
柱引桂而圓虛，
and
hollow,
Upon the purlins are spread lotuses and hanging
芬舒蓮而倒實。85
fruit.
What is near the cloud-high tower is tinged with
霞觀近兮紅逼，
red,
What is far from the misty edifice is shrouded in
煙樓遙兮翠密。
blue.
I think upon how the builders must have labored,
念作者兮為勞，
20 And am ashamed of living here in such ease.
愧居之而有逸。
[rhyme:
質 tsyet]
Therefore
於是
Dejectedly I think upon myself,
慨然自思，
And my emotions lack cheer.
情懷不怡。
Though I have shifted to a new building site,
雖移新之建址，
In truth I planned its base to conform to the past.
實從故而裁基。
25 I scrutinize how the former kings ruled the
鑒前王之御世，
world,
Likewise following conditions in transforming
亦因機而化之。
things.
In moving to simple houses from cave dwellings,
換卑宮於�
�處，
Or changing tree-nests for thatched-roof huts,
改巢樹於茅茨，86
What a difference there was in dryness and
何燥濕之殊致，
wetness!
30 It was only that pure and impure changed with
乃澆淳之換時。87
the
times.
There was change after change in past ages,
有前前之累改，
But none learned from one another in later times.
無後後之相師。
[rhyme: 之 tsyi / 脂 tsyi]
—————
85. David R. Knechtges, in a personal communication, has suggested that the character fen 芬 (“fragrance”) be read as fen 棼 (“purlin”). See also the comments on purlins in Knechtges, trans., Wen xuan, or Selections of Refined Literature, vol. 1, p. 118 l. 148.
86. This is a reference to the tradition that, before the sage-kings invented buildings, people lived in the wild like animals. See Zhou yi zhengyi, 8.75a, in Shisanjing zhushu, p. 87.
Taizong has constructed the couplet as a chiasmus, rather than with the usual parallelism.
87. This statement follows the Daoist historical perspective that civilization and cultural development marked a retreat from natural morality.
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298
Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
Just
as
則若
When Epang Palace was first constructed,
阿房初製，
Technical crafts of all the lands were used up,
窮八荒之功藝。88
35 When Sweet Springs was just completed,
甘泉始成，
The majestic beauty in the Sanqin was brought
極三秦之壯麗。89
to
extremes.
There was not a single day the craftsmen did not
工靡日而不勞，
toil,
Not a moment when the conscripts could rest.
役無時而暫憩。
[rhyme:
祭 tseiH / 霽 tseiH]
And
moreover—
加以
The Great Wall lay across the earth,
長城亙地，
40 Breaking the earth-arteries in distant wastes.
絕脈遐荒。90
As massed towers reaching to the Milky Way,
疊鄣峙漢，
Tiered eaves reflected onto the courseways.
層簷映廊。
And instead this was an injury to the central Hua
反是中華之弊，
lands,
And on the contrary, helped the power of the
翻資北狄之強。91
Beidi.
45 Beacons, just beginning to smoke, again had
烽纔煙而已備，
to be readied,
The Yellow River, almost frozen, needed
河欲凍而先防。
precautionary
defenses.
—————
88. Epang Palace was Qin Shihuang’s largest palace, built in 212 bc at the foot of Mt. Li.
See Shi ji, 6.256.
89. “Sweet Springs Palace” was begun by the First Emperor of Qin in 220 bc. It was rebuilt by Han Wudi in 109 bc and served as his official court until the construction of Jianzhang Palace. See Shi ji, 6.241, 28.1388. Afterwards, however, Wudi enjoyed spending time in Sweet Springs Palace, even building an important sacrificial center to the deity Taiyi there.
There are notes of his visits to the detached palace through Wudi’s biography in the Han shu. On the establishment of the ritual center, see Han shu, 22.1045.
90. Taizong alludes here to Meng Tian 孟田 (d. 210 bc), who was wrongfully condemned
to death by the Second Emperor of the Qin. In Meng’s final words, he acknowledged that he did deserve to die because he had cut through the earth-arteries in building the Great Wall. See Shi ji, 88.2570.
91. The Beidi were a northern frontier people, contemporaneous with the Zhou dynasty, and supposedly the ancestors of the Mongolian people. Here, the term is being used to refer generally to northern non-Han Chinese nomadic tribes.
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Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
299
While jades and silks were depleted from the
玉帛殫於帤藏，
state
treasury,
The common folk perished before wind and
黎庶殞於風霜。
thunder.
Turkish dust was spit into the Wei River,
噴胡塵於渭水，
50 Northern horses were galloped at Yuyang.
騰朔馬於漁陽。92
They used up the limited sum of tax exactions
罄有限之賦斂，
To provide for the insatiable wolves and dholes.
給無厭之豺狼。
Since they had made incursions from time
既陵轢於千古，
immemorial,
I respectfully contemplated the measures taken
乃虔思於百王。
by the hundred kings.
[rhyme: 唐 dang / 陽 srang]
55 It happened that this useless body followed in
屬虛躬之纂武，
their
footsteps,
Taking up “the imperial design” and governing
登皇圖而御宇。93
the world.
I expanded the “Three Plans” before the
宏三策於廟堂，94
temple
hall,
And transformed the wild hordes’ thousand
變千機於狂虜。
schemes.
I prepared a kingly skein for the desert lands,
頓王綱於沙漠，95
60 And wove a cloudy net for the seacoasts
製雲羅於海浦。96
and bays.
[rhyme: 麌 nguoQ / 姥 muoQ]
—————
92. The Wei River is located in present-day Shaanxi province. Yuyang 漁陽 commandery
(located near Beijing) was established during the Qin.
93. Huangtu 皇圖 refers to the ruler’s position or throne ( huangwei 皇位). The term is used also to denote the “Yellow River Diagram,” for example, in Ban Gu’s “Rhapsody on the Eastern Capital,” in Wen xuan, 1.29.
94. The “Three Plans” either refers to the three stratagems proposed by the Warring States rhetor Su Qin 蘇秦 (fl. 4th-3rd centuries bc) to control Zhao’s rival states ( Shi ji, 69.2246), or to the three memorials Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 (ca. 179–ca. 104 bc) offered to Han
Wudi for governing the empire ( Han shu, 56.2498–2523). Here, it is being used in the general sense of “effective strategies.”
95. The phrase “kingly skein” refers to the laws and regulations of the king and can be traced to the greater ode “Thorny Oak” 棫樸 (Poem 238): “Assiduous is our king, / Giving the
skein of law to the world” 勉勉我王，網紀四方. See Shi jing zhengyi, 16.3.247a, in Shisanjing zhushu, pp. 514–15.
96. For "cloudy net," see Chapter 5, note 100.
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300
Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
I relocated the various tribes,
移種落，
And destroyed their evil leaders.
殄凶渠，
Rolled up their felt canopies,
卷毳帳，
Swept away their felt-c
overed yurts.
埽穹廬。97
65 Though doors were not shut around the
門無關於地軸，98
earthly axle,
Gates were not entered under the celestial
戶不納於天樞。99
