Immigrants and Strangers: From Cosmopolitanism to Confucian Universalism in Tang China

Abstract

Tang Studies 20-21 (2002-03) Immigrants and Strangers: From Cosmopolitanism to Confucian Universalism in Tang China CHARLES HOLCOMBE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA An immigrant monk from northern India named Amoghavajra ^SHjic (705-774) served as Preceptor of State for three midTang dynasty emperors, held ministerial court rank, and enjoyed lavish honors.1 Earlier, in 638, a Nestorian Christian church was erected at the Tang capital by imperial decree, with the explanation that "the Tao has no constant name, the Sage has no constant form, and religions are established according to their [different] places."2 Over the course of the entire dynasty the top executive office of Grand Councilor was filled by no fewer than forty-three persons of traceably nomadic (and therefore, in some eyes, not Chinese) H u £E descent.3 One recent study reveals that at least A n early draft of this paper was first presented at the 211th meeting of the American Oriental Society, in Toronto, March 2001. 1 Zhipan (fl. 1269), Fozu tongji, T. 2035.49: 373c, 375c, and 377c-378a; Song gaoseng zhuan by Zanning (918-999) (SKQS), 1.9a-17b. For modern references, see Ikeda On, "Tocho shogu gaizoku kansei ryakko," Zui-To teikoku to higashi Ajia sekai, ed. Todaishi kenkyukai (Tokyo: Kyuko shoin, 1979), 263; Kamata Shigeo, Bukkyo denrai (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1995), 201-2,206; Qu Xiaoqiang, Bai ma dong lai: Fojiao dongchuan jiemi (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe, 1995), 96. 2 Tang huiyao, comp. Wang Pu (922-982) (Taibei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1968), 49.864. On Nestorian Christianity in Tang, see also He Fangchuan and Wan Ming, Gudai Zhong-Xi wenhua jiaoliu (Taibei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan , 1993), 59-60. 3 Lin Tianwei, Sui~Tang shi xinlun (Taibei: Donghua shuju, 1978), 74. 71 Holcombe: Immigrants and Strangers 2,536 foreigners (fan #) served as officers in the Tang army.4 A Tang Protector General of Annan 5£BH35fS (in what is now northern Vietnam) sometime between 742 and 756 was a Central Asian merchant.5 Another mid-eighth century Protector General of Annan , Abe no Nakamaro MfSWMB (ca. 698-770), had been born in Japan.6 As this scattering of examples illustrates, the Tang dynasty was an age of exceptional cosmopolitanism. The epitaph for a General of Sogdian descent who died at the capital in 682 captures something of the early Tang mood: "It is always said that, in antiquity , among gentlemen there was no division between Chinese and barbarian. When we examine later eras, heroes were no different in China or abroad." To suggest that no distinction whatsoever was made between Chinese and foreign is surely an exaggeration even for the early Tang dynasty. This general's Chinesestyle mortuary inscription by itself is evidence less of indiscriminant multiculturalism than of assimilation, with a residual undercurrent of defensiveness concerning foreign origins. Contemporaries acknowledged, as emperor Taizong (r. 626-649) explained in 647, that in "antiquity everyone honored the Chinese and looked 4 Zhang Qun, Tangdaifan jiang yanjiu (Taibei: Lianjing chuban, 1986), 37. Zhang also notes (p. 96), however, that 60% of this total seem to have been purely honorary diplomatic appointments. 5 Xie Haiping, Tangdai liu Hua waiguoren shenghuo kaoshu (Taibei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1978), 78; Xin Tang shu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975), 225A.6425. 6 Lin Wenyue, "Tangdai wenhua dui Riben Ping'an wentan zhi yingxiang: cong Riben qian Tang shi shidai dao Bai shi ivenji zhi dong chuan," Zhong-gu zvenxue luncong (Taibei: Da'an chubanshe, 1989), 382-84; Sugimoto Naojiro, "The Life of Abe no Nakamaro (Ch'ao Heng) as Commented on by Waley: A Critical Study/' Acta Asiatica 17 (1969); Xin Tang shu, 220.6209. 72 Tang Studies 20-21 (2002-03) down upon barbarians." But now, in early Tang, the Emperor boasted that he "loved them [all] as one."7 The case of the Tang official from Japan, Abe no Nakamaro, is especially intriguing. This was not some mere barbarian military auxiliary, colorfully entertaining exotic, or princely tribute-bearer. Instead, Abe was elevated to some of the most illustrious Chinese court circles on the strength of accomplishments in precisely those literary and cultural arenas that supposedly defined the very highest and most distinctive achievements of Chinese civilization. It...