Ouyang Xiu Research Articles

Ouyang Xiu's Literary Writing and Self-Reinvention in the Perspective of the Disease of Secret Worry

The disease of secret sorrow is similar to modern depression, which is a kind of psychological disease caused by excessive worry and sadness. Under the perspective of the disease of melancholy, we analyze Ouyang Xiu's psychological journey from three perspectives: cause and origin, sickness and healing, and self-transcendence; Ouyang Xiu at different times mainly used the three ways of borrowing objects to express his feelings, sending his love to landscapes and constructing a fairyland to ease his psychology. In the process of self-analysis, Ouyang Xiu is constantly revising his self-orientation, transforming from idealization to reality, and ultimately completing the spiritual transformation of the "Sixth Householder".

Toponymic Representation Of Central Asia In Xuan Zang’s “Great Tang Records On The Western Regions”

This article is dedicated to the book “The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions” which recounts the historical journey of the Chinese traveller Xuan Zang to Central Asia in 627 AD, as he embarked on a travelling to India to study Buddhism. Throughout his travels, Xuan Zang meticulously documented the events he witnessed, the geographical locations of various countries, as well as the ethnography and daily life of the medieval inhabitants of the region. The travelogue provides detailed accounts of the distances and routes to several Central Asian countries, offering valuable topographical insights into the history of the region. Xuan Zang's extensive journey encompassed territories that now belong to the Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, offering unique perspectives and impressions of the places he visited. Furthermore, this article delves into comparative analyses of the accounts provided in Xuan Zang’s “The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions” and the Chinese historian Ouyang Xiu’s “Xin Tan Shu” presenting findings from scholarly works by Uzbek, Russian, and Chinese historians. This study sheds light on the rich historical and geographical information preserved in these pivotal sources.

Dissolute Libertine or Venerable Confucian?

Abstract This work aims to explore the moral conflict that many Northern Song (960–1127) scholar-officials (shidaifu 士大夫) experienced as a result of their involvement in the ci 詞 song lyric, by focusing on Ouyang Xiu’s 歐陽修 (1007–1072) collection. The song lyric was held in low regard by many exponents of high culture for several reasons, but primarily due to the fact that it exposed the literati’s relationships with courtesans. A lyricist who belonged to the Confucian elite thus found himself in a complicated position: he had to publicly advocate a moral system that was particularly conservative on matters such as sex, when he in fact privately wrote songs that would be seen as “lascivious” (yin 淫) by the very moral standards that he preached. Firstly, I will approach the problem by exploring the conflict between the Confucian ideal of sexual moderation and the diverging tendencies to sexual freedom that emerged from the practice and the poetics of the eleventh-century song lyric. I will then discuss the long critical tradition aimed at denying Ouyang Xiu’s authorship of the erotic songs attributed to him by some sources. My goal is to try to understand why so many critics espoused this view, regardless of the fact that other literati were also known to have composed rather explicit lyrics. In doing so, I shall seek to demonstrate that the attempts to dissociate Ouyang Xiu from the authorship of the “contested” erotic songs in his collection were mainly motivated by a moralistic need to preserve his reputation as a great master of the literati culture.

宋人不言慶曆“新政”“新法”“變法”考———基於觀念史的個案研究

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.
 宋人雖常以“新法”“變法”“新政”賅括熙豐政事，但未曾以這些詞彙歸納慶曆之政；當代文史著作常言“慶曆新政”，這説法卻不見於清代以前文獻，原因何在？本文考析宋人慶曆書寫，指出：（1）熙豐變法時期宋人從未直接比較范、王改革主張，也不曾認爲慶曆、熙寧更革是可比的對象，這些聯繫待朱熹而後始。今人或曰熙豐變法之時，慶曆革新派趨於保守，這固屬當代觀點，卻非宋人認識；（2）范仲淹故後，對其顯有貶評者只有梅堯臣、宋神宗、王安石三例，後二者對范的批評，反映熙豐變法主事者並不完全認同慶曆改革；（3）歐陽修等慶曆當事人認爲范仲淹改革失敗皆因“群言營營，卒壞於成”，可是徽宗朝以後卻出現“慶曆之治”説法，其内涵又被簡化爲仁宗能“開納直言，善御群臣，賢必進，邪必退”。這説法無法揭示慶曆之政真正特色，又故意忽略慶曆改革主事者因“衆訾成波，擠落在外”的事實，卻有利於范仲淹作爲忠義第一人形象的建立；（4）宋人從不曾認爲慶曆之政有違祖宗之法，這是宋人不言慶曆“新”政的根本原因。南宋以後論者以范仲淹爲“守我宋之家法者”，進一步確立這觀點。
 When Song-Dynasty people summarized the political situation of the Xining (1068-1077) and Yuanfeng (1078-1085) eras, they used the terms “new laws,” “reform of laws,” and “new policies,” but the Qingli era (1041-1048) was never treated in the same way. The term “New Policies of the Qingli era” is commonly used in contemporary scholarship of Chinese history, but this term was not in existence in the literature before the Qing Dynasty. What is the reason for these phenomena? The present study analyzes Song people’s writing on Qingli and makes the following arguments:
 (1) During the Xining-Yuanfeng reform, Song people had never directly compared the reformist advocacy of Fan Zhongyan (989 1052) and that of Wang Anshi (1021-1086), nor had they ever considered the Qingli and Xining-Yuanfeng reforms comparable, until Zhu Xi (1130-1200) made such a comparison. Today’s view that the Qingli reform advocacy was deemed conservative during the Xining-Yuanfeng reform movement was never so perceived by Song people. (2) After Fan’s death, he was explicitly criticized by Mei Yaochen (1002-1060), Emperor Shenzong of the Song (r. 1067 1085), and Wang Anshi only. The criticisms by the latter two indicate that the Xining-Yuanfeng reform leaders did not completely agree with the Qingli reform. (3) Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) and the other leaders of the Qingli reform held that Fan’s failure was due to the extensive wave of criticisms the reform had triggered. However, during the reign of Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1126), a positive view emerged, coming with it inarguable narratives that describe the reform as a sign of Emperor Renzong’s (r. 1022-1063) willingness to accept advice. Unable to reveal the Qingli reform’s true features, this opinion deliberately ignores the historical fact that the Qingli advocates were lambasted and thus demoted, but helps construct Fan’s personal image as a most loyal person. (4) Song people had never considered that the Qingli reform violated the ancestral custom of the Song Dynasty, and this is the very reason why they had never referred to it as “new policies.” This argument was further supported by the opinion of Southern Song critics, who viewed Fan as a protector of the traditional norms laid down by the ancestors of the Song Dynasty’s royal house.

Ronald Egan’s Research on the History of the Northern Song Ci Poetry from a Gender Perspective

Ronald C. Egan, a renowned American sinologist, is best known for his accurate English translations, exquisite readings, and innovative perspectives on the aesthetic ideas and pursuits of ci poets such as Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, and Li Qingzhao, as well as the scholar-official group of the Northern Song dynasty. However, through his longitudinal study of specific ci poets, he also shows a unique understanding of the development and evolution of ci lyric poetry in the Northern Song. An integrated analysis of Egan’s scattered articles on Northern Song ci poetry indicates that gender is key to his understanding of the evolution of ci in the Northern Song. On this basis, Egan has conducted in-depth research on three aspects: the gender perspective of the lyrical protagonists described by ci poets; changes in the form, content, and patterns of writing ci poetry; and new phenomena in ci criticism. His research further enriches the details of the evolution of Northern Song ci poetry and expands its historical research horizon.

동아시아를 횡단한 의고의 계보와 학술사적 전망

How did the critical scholarship doubting the authenticity of ancient texts originate and theorize? In the case of East Asia, one can quickly think of Gu Jiegang 顧頡剛 (1893-1980), the representative of the so-called Doubting Antiquity School. But there must have been a long history advocating the idea preceding Gu Jiegang. Based on the criticism on the discrepancies inherent in the ancient texts such as the Venerated Document (Shangshu) suggested by Wang Chung 王充 (27-96?), Liu Zhiji 劉知幾 (661-721), and Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007-1072), it was not until the 18th century when the scholarly quest for the cause behind the contradictions indeed began.BR The first step in theorizing the doubting of antiquity was the theory of superseding (kajō 加上) proposed by Tominaga Nakamoto 富永仲基(1715-1746). According to Tominaga, competitions between scholars to overcome previous explanations stimulated them to attribute their narratives to far-earlier sages deliberately. It was Cui Shu 崔述 (1740-1816) who applied a similar idea to history and found a fabricating pattern, in which he hypothesized that later the work, the farther in time the purported knowledge of the past is pushed back and the more complex the historical knowledge. All the same, it was not until the early 20th century when Shiratori Kurakichi 白鳥庫吉 (1865-1942) for the first time initiated the iconoclasm of sage kings such as Yao, Shun and Yu as the premise for establishing the doubting antiquity theory. Refining the relatively weak basis of Shiratori’s argument elaborately, Gu Jiegang completed the approach with the idea of the “accumulated creation of ancient history.”BR However, the sheer accumulation of archaeological discoveries in China during the second half of the 20th century exposed limitations in the idea of fabricated ancient texts promoted by the Doubting Antiquity School. Especially, Li Ling convincingly points out that they oversymplified the complicated long-term process of textual formation in early China. In this regard, studying the canonization process from the stream of textual tradition in the newly unearthed Warring States bamboo slips would provide a new vista to overcome the limitations inherent in the theory of doubting antiquity.

Wang Anshi and Song Poetic Culture

Wang Anshi and Song Poetic Culture

歐陽修《贈王介甫》“吏部文章二百年”用典爭議考

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.
 歐陽修曾寫下“吏部文章二百年”詩句贈送給王安石，但後世文人對“吏部”指涉對象解釋紛歧，甚至産生許多扭曲二人形象的故事。此文透過分析歷代筆記、詩話作品中的相關記録，整理出宋朝文人對此詩句典故有不同的解釋，有以爲這是沈約稱讚謝朓之語，有以爲這是出自孫樵的文章。並且根據典故來源的不同説法，也發展出了影響二人形象的各種附會故事。這些探索多出於文人閲讀相關文獻時的個人領會，在未有明確證據的情況下，重新解讀詩歌典故，甚至不惜顛倒事實。此文更進一步探討歐陽修發揚韓愈文章的時間點，以及孫樵批評韓愈的用意，指出“吏部”確實指韓愈，“二百年”是歐陽修繼承韓愈文章的時間，“吏部文章二百年”是歐陽修創造的詩句，並無典故來源。透過此文的論述，除可釐清爭議之來龍去脈，對歐陽修、王安石二人形象有更確切的認識外，此文依資料産生順序臚列排比的比較方法，也有助於提供讀者實例，了解如何辨析詩話、筆記中對相關詩文典故説法的原則。
 Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) wrote a verse that reads “Two hundred years of writing of the Ministry of Personnel” to Wang Anshi (1021-1086). Scholars of later generations have different views on the referent of “Ministry of Personnel,” which resulted in distortion of the images of Ouyang and Wang in anecdotal records. By analyzing the journals and notes on poetry, this study surveys the different explanations of the allusion to the Ministry of Personnel found in Song- dynasty sources. Some argued that the phrase carries Shen Yue’s (441-531) praise of Xie Tiao (464-499), while others suggested that it was derived from the writing of Sun Qiao (ca. 867). The different theories on the source of this allusion have resulted in various anecdotes with denigration of the images of Ouyang and Wang. These speculative views were mainly based on the personal interpretation of respective scholars. Without offering specific evidence, these premature views of the allusion in the poem even form distortion of the truth. The present study further explores the time when Ouyang Xiu glorified the writing of Han Yu (768-824) and when Sun Qiao criticized Han, and thereby argues that “the Ministry of Personnel” refers to Han and “two hundred years” to the time when Ouyang Xiu succeeded Han’s literary legacy. The verse “two hundred years of writing of the Ministry of Personnel” was not an allusion but was Ouyang Xiu’s creation. This study can clarify the context of the controversy and reconstruct the accurate images of Ouyang Xiu and Wang Anshi. In addition, through an analysis of the sequence and comparison of relevant data, this study provides examples and allows readers to recognize and analyze the poetry and the interpretations of allusions as recorded and discussed in notes on poetry.

On the Influence of Qian Weiyan on Ouyang Xiu

On the Influence of Qian Weiyan on Ouyang Xiu

On the Similarities and Differences of Yan Ou's Ci

Since the Northern Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu's Ci, as the highest achievement in the creation of Ci Poetry in the early Song Dynasty, has always been praised, cited and learned. Their poems have the same atmosphere of graceful poetry, with small images, gentle and delicate language and same feelings. They have many similarities, but they also show their own personality characteristics. They are different in material selection, expression methods and emotions. My work will analyze the similarities and differences between the two from the perspective of knowing people and discussing the world.

《歸田録》、《東坡志林》 二種筆記中日常書寫之風貌與意義

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English. 經魏晉至唐代的逐漸轉變，宋代筆記不再拘泥於補史之闕，而是以記録身 邊百事乃至個人經歷、心情感悟爲旨歸。衆多筆記中，歐陽修的《歸田録》與蘇軾的《東坡志林》在承有紀實的史學傳統時，記録日常，平凡俗事之中，見出新奇，傳達意味，具有了資閑談與“自怡”的性質，顯示出對傳統筆記紀實性的新發展，是爲拓展了筆記在表現内容上的寬度和廣度。其關注個體日常生活表現内在情韻的文本因素爲後世筆記創作提供了新的審美視角。 Through the gradual transformation from the Wei and Jin to the Tang Dynasty, the casual notes of the Song Dynasty were no longer confined to supplementing dynastic history, but aimed at recording the personal experience and feelings of people around the author. Among the numerous notes, Ouyang Xiu's (1007 - 1072) Guitian lu (Records of Returning to My Old Fields) and Su Shi's (1037 - 1101) Dongpo Zhilin (Collected Records of Dongpo) stand out for novelty in conveying amusement. They carry on the historical tradition of documentary by recording ordinary life and events, and thereby endow themselves with the nature of idle talk and u self-entertainment ”. These aspects mark a new development in the documentary nature of traditional casual notes， which underwent a process of expansion in the breadth of their content. Their attention to the individual's daily life and expression of inner feelings opened up a new aesthetic perspective for the writing of casual notes in later generations.

ДО ПИТАННЯ МЕТАФОРИЧНОСТІ ДАОСЬКОГО ТРАКТАТУ ІІІСТОЛІТТЯ"КНИГА ЖОВТОГО ДВОРИКА"ТАЇЇВІДЛУННЯУ РАННЬОСЕРЕДНЬОВІЧНІЙ КИТАЙСЬКІЙ ПОЕЗІЇ

The question of the metaphoricity of the Taoist treatise of the 3rd century ʺBook of the Yellow Courtʺ has been investigated; the reflection of Taoist ideas (as well as similar Buddhist) in traditional Chinese poetry have been traced (works by Cao Cao, Wang Wei, Sikong Tu and Ouyang Xiu). We have shown that the metaphoric nature of the ʺBookʺ is due to the eternal tradition of seeing a deep analogy between the micro- and macrocosm, feeling the original holiness of everything and the incorporation of a person into it. This metaphoric nature is already manifested in the title of the ʺBookʺ, since yellow as the color of the center, the earth and the court as an inner closed room reflect the typically Taoist idea of the importance of a tiny center in the human body, able to control not only the whole body but also the Higher Forces of the Universe. It was emphasized the importance of creating poetry in a particular altered state of consciousness, when the artist, feeling unity with all things, is able to penetrate into the transcendent being and get closer to Tao. The influence of conceptual Taoist and Buddhist ideas and postulates covered in the treatise ʺBook of the Yellow Courtʺ on the early medieval Chinese poetry, is demonstrated, which consists, firstly, in the importance of the concept of emptiness for the self-improvement of a Taoist adept and establishing a connection between the individual and the Universe; secondly, in understanding the poet's being and his creative state in a special transcendental state on the verge of being and non-being, which meets the aspirations of the Taoist adept to see his own inner world as if from the outside; thirdly, in the possibility of drawing a parallel between the human world and the macrocosm as a whole; fourthly, in the symbolism of wanderings seen in poetry as an integral part of the Taoist concept of transcendental travel through the human "internal landscape".

論歐陽修與曾鞏的結交及其文學史意義-兼及歐曾文道觀之異同

論歐陽修與曾鞏的結交及其文學史意義-兼及歐曾文道觀之異同

Buddhist Apologetics in East Asia: Countering the Neo-Confucian Critiques in the Hufa lun and the Yusŏk chirŭi non by Uri Kaplan

Reviewed by: Buddhist Apologetics in East Asia: Countering the Neo-Confucian Critiques in the Hufa lun and the Yusŏk chirŭi non by Uri Kaplan A. Charles Muller Buddhist Apologetics in East Asia: Countering the Neo-Confucian Critiques in the Hufa lun and the Yusŏk chirŭi non, by Uri Kaplan, Leiden: Brill, 2019, viii + 273 pp. Scholarly discourse on the content and background of Confucian-Buddhist debates, polemic, and apologetics has occurred in fits and starts over a period of decades, despite the seminal role of this discourse in the development of the intellectual history of China, Korea, and Japan (and no doubt Vietnam, if a study were undertaken to take account of the situation there). Modern Western academic treatments of this phenomenon began within the landmark volumes on Neo-Confucianism published by de Bary and others during the eighties and nineties. Since the attack on Buddhism was an integral part of the development of the Neo-Confucian project, most of the major figures in the Neo-Confucian movement assailed Buddhism in writing at one point or another. Since no sustained work on the Buddhist responses was done during this period, for a time awareness of this issue in the West was received mainly in terms of the Neo-Confucian polemic, and not in the context of any kind of Buddhist response. Elizabeth Morrison's 2010 monograph, The Power of Patriarchs (Brill), contained a solid discussion that not only elaborated the response by the Song Chan monk Qisong (1007–1072), but also contextualized well the nature and background of Chinese Buddhist apologetics—and apologists on a broader scale. Morrison's work focused on the situation in Song China. My own work, Korea's Great Buddhist-Confucian Debate (University of Hawai'i Press, 2015), attempted to shed light on the philosophical background that framed the Chinese/Korean Neo-Confucianism/Buddhism debate, but did not thoroughly investigate the historical development of this debate from its earliest origins, or attempt to summarize the major representative works in China, Korea, and Japan. [End Page 173] In Uri Kaplan's Buddhist Apologetics we have the first thoroughgoing, complete effort to explicate the content and character of the back-and-forth between (Neo-)Confucians and Buddhists, from their first encounters before the Tang, through the Song, and into Koryŏ and Chosŏn Korea. He also briefly introduces the Japanese Edo-period manifestations of this debate. Kaplan takes as the centerpiece of his work two well-known and influential works, one from China (Hufa lun 護法論; T 2114; rendered as "In Defense of the Dharma") and one from Korea (Yusŏk chirŭi non 儒釋質疑論; HPC 7.252–278; rendered as "Doubts and Concerns Between Buddhism and Confucianism"); these he translates and annotates with a skill, erudition, and faithfulness deserving of accolades. He supports these translations with a substantial, well-organized, and well-argued introduction, which provides what is by far the most magisterial discussion of East Asian Buddhist apologetics to be submitted to date, one which I suspect will not be surpassed for some time to come. The introduction starts with a discussion of the earliest Chinese Buddhist polemics, foregrounding the all-important Buddhist notion of karma treated through early inter-traditional works such as the Hongming ji (T 2122). Part 2 then moves into the origins of the Neo-Confucian critique of Buddhism, starting from the rather simplistic diatribes of Han Yu (768–824), expanded by Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), and then developed in philosophical sophistication through the writings of Neo-Confucian founders Zhang Zai (1020–1077), Cheng Hao (1032–1085), and Cheng Yi (1033–1107), culminating in the Neo-Confucian synthesis of Zhu Xi (1130–1200). As I tried to point out in my own work, there was a considerable philosophical/semantic quagmire involved in these discussions, since most of the philosophically interesting disputes were rooted in the difference between Buddhist and Confucian system-based interpretations of such key terms as mind (心), emotions (情), nature (性), essencefunction (體用), and so forth. Kaplan then shows how this discussion was transferred to Korea, where Koryŏ and Chosŏn Neo-Confucians revived Zhu Xi's arguments, culminating in a final comprehensive summary of the Neo-Confucian arguments by Ch...

欧阳修遗迹与文学的互动关系及价值

欧阳修遗迹与文学的互动关系及价值

Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China by Yunchiahn C. Sena

Reviewed by: Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China by Yunchiahn C. Sena Jianjun Mei (bio) Yunchiahn C. Sena. Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2019. xiv, 220 pp. Hardcover, isbn 978-02-95-74457-5. The rise and development of “the study of bronze and stone” (jinshixue) during the Song dynasty (960–1279) has been a topic of considerable interest among scholars working on the cultural history of premodern China for some time, as [End Page 309] exemplified, for instance, by Chen Fang-mei’s Qingtongqi yu Songdai weihuashi (Bronzes and Cultural History of the Song Dynasty) published in 2016. There has, however, been no in-depth study on the topic previously published in English. Therefore, Yunchiahn C. Sena’s Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China is a much-needed work offering a concise and comprehensive exploration of the Song antiquarian movement, which, in the view of K. C. Chang (1981), is one of the three sources of scholarship for the establishment of present-day archaeology in China. Bronze and Stone comprises five parts: an introduction, three major chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction sets out to define the objectives and approach of this research and review previous studies of Song antiquarianism. It also highlights the parallels between Song antiquarianism and its counterpart in early modern Europe in participants’ “conscientious efforts to document, classify, and preserve ancient objects” (p. 15). The three chapters, arranged roughly in a chronological order, examine the development of the Song antiquarian movement, with chapter 1 focusing on “Ouyang Xiu’s Records of Collecting Antiquity,” chapter 2 on “Development of Song Antiquarian Writings,” and chapter 3 on “Archaistic Objects and Song Material Culture.” The conclusion offers an overview of the Song antiquarian movement, highlighting its three major aspects: antiquity as a source of historical authenticity, antiquity as idealized society, and the legacy of Song antiquarianism. Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) has been widely singled out in previous studies as one of the key figures in the rise of the Song antiquarian movement. His work Records of Collecting Antiquity, compiled in 1062, marked the beginning of Song antiquarian writing. There has been little research, however, delving deeply into Ouyang’s interest in rubbings, in particular, the intricate relationship between a stone stele and the rubbings taken from it. To our modern gaze, a rubbing can easily be seen as a mere (partial) “reproduction” of the original stone stele and thus lack authenticity. But Sena sees clearly beyond the notion of reproduction, and further raises a compelling argument that “a rubbing is always more faithful to the original condition of an object –that is, more authentic –than the object itself in its current state” (p. 51). It is through a thorough analysis of the concept of “historical authenticity” that Sena convincingly reveals the driving force behind Ouyang’s collecting activity, especially his remarkable interest in stele rubbings. Thus, in Sena’s opinion, the pursuit of historical authenticity did not just motivate Ouyang’s collection of rubbings, but also characterized the early stage of the Song antiquarian movement in which Ouyang played a leading role. In reviewing previous studies of the Song antiquarian movement, Sena notes astutely that it has been the predominant approach to view Song antiquaries as “a collaborative group that worked within the same set of parameters and for a common goal” (p. 68). She argues that “this approach –assuming a homogenous [End Page 310] perception of antiquity among Song antiquaries –is problematic, for it ignores their different intellectual agendas and social positions” (p. 68). Sena adopts an alternative approach, focusing attention on individual preferences and their wide influence. The person she chooses to highlight is Li Gonglin (1049–1106), the accomplished scholar and antiquarian, who has seldom received any detailed treatment in previous studies. According to Sena, Li stands out from other Song antiquaries because his collection included “Shang-Zhou ritual bronzes, jade ornaments, chariot fittings, and household items” (p. 82), indicating his strong interest in the physical form of objects as well as their secular functions. Furthermore, Li did not just study ancient objects from...

COMPLAINING ABOUT LIVED SPACES: RESPONSES TO THE URBAN LIVING ENVIRONMENT OF NORTHERN SONG KAIFENG

AbstractThis article explores the understudied issue of urban problems in pre-modern China and examines the responses to the negative impact of urban development on life in the populous city of Kaifeng in the Northern Song (960–1127). Although writers, painters, and historians have portrayed the capital city's splendor for centuries, various urban problems emerged as medieval China became a more urbanized society. This article investigates Ouyang Xiu's (1007–1072) accounts of how extreme weather conditions adversely affected the lives of Kaifeng residents. These experiences, which he discussed in letters and poems, are associated with longer trends that result in climatic anomalies and disasters in the city. Ouyang Xiu also complained about living costs and medical services in Kaifeng. These reflect the difficulties in maintaining good urban provisions and services in a city of this scale.

The Xikun Experiment: Imitation and the Making of the New Poetic Style in the Early Northern Song

Abstract Despite its tremendous influence in the early eleventh century, Xikun poetry was essentially written out of the main literary historical narratives of the Northern Song dynasty. When it does appear in such narratives, it is usually used as a foil to set up the reputedly real grand beginnings of Song poetry in the generation led by Ouyang Xiu. This article takes another look at the Xikun phenomenon, arguing that in the Xikun poets' imitative works modeled on the Late Tang poet Li Shangyin, we see a burgeoning interest in creating a more internally consistent world and a tendency toward a more immersive mode of composition that would become a defining feature of the new style of Song poetry. Through closely comparing the technical innovations and rhetorical strategies of the Xikun poets against those used by Li Shangyin, the author demonstrates how these poetic and rhetorical choices made sense in their own new world of creation and how their imitation actually helped advance positive future developments.

The Adoption of Neo-Confucianism in Discussing Legitimacy Dispute

Lipset (1960) denotes legitimacy as “the capacity of the system to engender and maintain the belief that the existing political institutions are the most appropriate ones for the society.” All political powers, including Chinese dynasties in history, needed legitimacy to ensure their governance. In general, Western thinkers who discuss political legitimacy could be identified into two groups (Habermas, 1979). The “empiricists”, likes Max Weber, studies legitimacy in an empirical method, focusing on the types, constitutions, functions, and evolutions of legitimacy. The second group consists of “normativists”, such as Plato and John Rawls, who tend to base legitimacy on various normative values such as justice or democracy. Pre-modern Chinese views on political legitimacy have the similar approaches like west. The first one pays attention to different empirical factors of legitimacy. For instance, the pre-Qin philosopher Zou Yan (305-240 BCE), and Western Han thinker Liu Xin (50 BCE-23 CE) view a dynasty’s legitimate by its adoption of rightful dynastic phase (Wang 2006). The Song Dynasty (960–1279) historian Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) argues that the just position and the unification of China make a legitimate dynasty (Rao 1996). The second approach bases legitimacy on normative values. For example, Confucius (551-479 BCE) indicates that the rightfulness of a ruler relies on his properly practicing both “benevolence” (ren ), and “rites” (li ). Many present scholars give us their studies on the legitimacy in Chinese history. For instance, Rao Zong (1996) provides the general overviews of legitimacy in the Chinese tradition, with an extensive collection of relevant primary sources. Hou Deren (2009) introduces most relevant present-day Chinese studies on that issue. For English readers, general studies of traditional Chinese views on legitimacy can be found in the writings of Hok-lam Chan (1984) and Richard Davis (1983). Nevertheless, it is notable that the question of legitimacy became pressing from the 13th century onwards in China, when China was ruled by non-Chinese ruling houses, such as the Yuan Dynasty 元 (1272-1368) and Qing Dynasty (1889-1912). Scholars during that period showed a great interest in discussing the question of what makes a legitimate ruler of China. In general, these scholars approached that question in two ways; they introduced the prevailing Neo-Confucianism to define the virtuous rule as the principal value of legitimacy (Bol, 2009), or they defined a Chinese ruled dynasty as legitimate. To reveal these scholars’ distinct views on legitimacy, this paper investigates two of them, the Yuan literatus Yang Weizhen (1296-1370) and the Ming (1368-1644) scholar-official Fang Xiaoru (1357-1402). For English readers, only Richard Davis (1983) gives a brief introduction on Yang Weizhen’s views on legitimacy. Few studies focus on Fang Xiaoru’s relevant views. Following the text analysis way, this article proves that Yang Weizhen and Fang Xiaoru acted as two representatives of scholars in the late imperial China. Both of them adopted Neo-Confucianism to discuss legitimacy, viewing the discussion of legitimacy as a moral evaluation of the dynasty and monarch. They also shared the idea that Chinese ruled dynasty should be viewed as legitimate.

The Investigation into the Ouyang Xiu’s Acceptance Pattern of The Biography of the Six to One Layman －Based on Gi(記) of Dang(堂), Heon(軒) and Jae(齋) in the Late Joseon Period

The Investigation into the Ouyang Xiu’s Acceptance Pattern of The Biography of the Six to One Layman －Based on Gi(記) of Dang(堂), Heon(軒) and Jae(齋) in the Late Joseon Period