Imperial Rulership and Cultural Change in Traditional China

331 Pages·1994·6.337 MB·English

by  Frederick P. Brandauer, Chun-Chieh Huang

Imperial Rulership and
Cultural Change
in Traditional China

Imperial Rulership and
Cultural Change
in Traditional China
Edited by
FREDERICK P. BRANDAUER
and CHUN-CHIEH HUANG
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS
Seattle and London
This book was published with the assistance of a generous grant from
National Taiwan University
© 1994 by the University of Washington Press
First paperback edition © 2014 by the University of Washington Press
Printed and bound in the United States of America
18 17 16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
trans-mitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
University of Washington Press
www.washington.edu/uwpress
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Imperial rulership and cultural change in traditional China / edited by
Frederick P. Brandauer and Chün-chieh Huang.
p. cm.
Includes index
isbn 978-0-295-99375-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Legitimacy of governments—China. 2. Political science—China—
Philosophy. 3. China—Politics and government. I. Brandauer, Frederick
Paul, 1933– . II. Huang. Chün-chieh, 1946–
JC328.2 I46 1994 94-16627
951—dc20 CIP

The paper used in this publication is acid-free and meets the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. ansi z39.48–1984. ∞
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction
by FREDERICK P. BRANDAUER ix
1. Determining Orthodoxy: Imperial Roles
by JACK L. DULL 3
2. Ssu-ma Ch'ien's Portrayal of the First Ch'in Emperor
by STEPHEN DURRANT 28
3. The Emperor and Literature: Emperor Wu of the Han
by DAVID R. KNECHTGES 51
4. Empress Wu and Proto-Feminist Sentiments in T'ang China
by CHEN Jo-SHU! 77
5. Academies: Official Sponsorship and Suppression
by THOMAS H. C. LEE 117
6. Imperial Rulership and Buddhism in the Early Northern Sung
by HUANGCm-CHIANG 144
7. Imperial Rulership in Cultural History: Chu Hsi's Interpretation
by CHON-CHIEHHUANG 188
8. The Emperor and the Star Spirits: A Mythological Reading of the
Shui-hu chuan
by FREDERICK P. BRANDAUER 206
9. Ku Yen-wu's Ideal of the Emperor: A Cultural Giant and
Political Dwarf
by KuWEI-YING 230
v
VI CONTENTS
10. Imperial Powers and the Appointment of Provincial Governors in
Ch'ing China, 1700-1900
by R. KENT GUY 248
11. Some Observations and Reflections
by CHON-CHIEHHuANG 281
Contributors 290
Index 293
Acknowledgments
Appreciation is expressed to National Taiwan University for serving as
host institution for the International Conference on Imperial Rulership and
Cultural Change in Traditional China held at Hsi-t'ou ~m, central Taiwan,
in August and September, 1992, at which time the papers in this volume
were first presented and discussed. For making the conference possible we
express our thanks to NTU President Sun Chen ~. and the members of
his planning and arrangements committees. To National Taiwan University
and expecially to Dean Ch'i-fang Huang fiJffftJ and Professor Chiin-chieh
Huang Ji~~ we express gratitude for a generous grant to pay for the
costs of publication of this volume. Financial support for editing and
producing the book was provided by the China Program of the Henry M.
Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington
and we express thanks to Professor David Bachman and Ms. Laurie Pollack
for their cooperation and assistance. The editors are grateful to members of
the editorial committees in Seattle (Professors Jack L. Dull, David R.
Knechtges, and R. Kent Guy) and Taipei (Professors Ch'i-fang Huang,
Hsien-hao Liao ~Jij!Gm, and Kuang-ming Wu :OO:7\:;IYj) for recommended
revisions and suggested changes and improvements. Appreciation is also
expressed to contributors for their cooperation and patience through what
eventually became a long and tedious process of rewriting of papers.
Appreciation is expressed to the University of Washington Press and its
staff for assistance throughout the project and especially to Donald R.
Ellegood, Naomi Pascal, Veronica Seyd, Julidta Tarver, and Lorri Hagman.
The entire book was produced at the University of Washington on an mM
compatible 486 computer using Chinese Windows and Microsoft Word.
Stuart Aque of the Department of Asian Languages and Literature and
Thomas B. Ridgeway of the Humanities and Arts Computing Center
provided invaluable assistance with technical problems and for this we
express our appreciation. Finally, our thanks go to Chris DeLucia, a
graduate student in Chinese in the Department of Asian Languages and
Literature, who worked as research assistan( on this project for one year.
For his technical expertise, work as copy editor, proof reader, and compiler
of the index, and above all for his generous dedication of time and effort to
the completion of this project we are deeply grateful.
vii

Introduction
Frederick P. Brandauer
The papers in this volume were all first presented at an international
conference on Imperial Rulership and Cultural Change in Traditional China
held at the beautiful mountain resort of Hsi-t' ou ~lm, central Taiwan, from
August 31 to September 5, 1992. Jointly sponsored by the University of
Washington and National Taiwan University and hosted by National
Taiwan University, the conference generated a total of twenty-three papers,
seven in Chinese and sixteen in English.
The wealth of knowledge and insight contained in these twenty-three
papers, presented as they were in Chinese or in English by scholars related
in one way or another to one or both of the sponsoring universities, was
impressive. Participants drew on their cumulative experience of years of
work in chosen fields of specialization, and it was clear to all involved that
the scholarly study of traditional China is an enterprise which can now only
be fully appreciated in a multi-lingual and cross-cultural context.
The conference showed remarkable diversity among participants and the
disciplines they represented. Papers were presented on history and
historiography, on art, art history, and art criticism, on philosophy and
religion, and on literature and literary criticism. Within the disciplines there
was an equally remarkable diversity in subject matter chosen. Some papers
dealt with very broad topics covering a sweep of several dynasties or more.
Others focused on narrower topics such as a particular work or a particular
writer.
Diversity was also seen in the approaches taken and the methodologies
employed by participants. Those presenting papers reflected the entire
range of the spectrum of possible approaches to scholarship, all the way
from analysis at one end to synthesis at the other end. At the Hsi-t'ou
conference we had philologists, textual critics, and translators, but we also
had philosophers, literary critics, and comparative literature specialists.
Two sets of analogies were used to refer to this range of approach.
From the Chinese side came the analogy of badgers (huan jI) who dig deep
in contrast to foxes (hu-li WlW) who run far and wide. From the Western
side came the parallel analogy of caterpillars who chew away at one leaf in
ix