The Poetics of Sovereignty
Page 53
pivot.
The commoners were allowed to pursue
肆黎元於耕鑿，
farming,
Script and axles made uniform for carts and writing.
一文軌於車書。100
[rhyme: 魚 nguo / 虞 nguo]
I keep with present achievements and observe
循今蹤兮覽前跡，
those of the past,
70 I look down from the Layered City and out
俯層城兮臨太液。101
over
Taiye
Pool.
I scrutinize the outward strength of high towers
鑑高深之外固，
and
deep
pools,
But am agitated in mind and spirit, overbrimming
蕩心神而內益。
within.
—————
97. In 630, Taizong decided to relocate the conquered Eastern Turks to Chinese territory, hoping that they would become “civilized.” See Wechsler, “T’ai-tsung (Reign 626–49) the Consolidator,” pp. 222–23.
98. The term “earthly axle” ( dizhou) is used also in “Rhapsody of Lament for the Southland” 哀江南賦 by the poet Yu Xin 庾信 (d. 581). The relevant couplet, translated by
William T. Graham, reads: “They struggled to move the gate of Heaven, / Fought to turn the axis of the earth” 競動天關，爭回地軸. See Graham, ‘ Lament for the South’, p. 77.
For the text of the rhapsody, see Zhou shu, 41.738.
99. This couplet uses the metaphors of the axletree and pivot to describe the imperial capital.
100. The standardization of value is a common sovereign trope, referring to the acts of the sage-king Shun, as described in Shang shu zhengyi, 3.15b–15c, in Shisanjing zhushu, p. 127, as well as to those of Qin Shihuang, described in Shi ji, 6.237–39.
101. The name “Layered City” 層城 originally referred to the fabled city at the top of the Kunlun mountains; later, it was used as a term for the imperial palace complex. Taizong had an artificial pond with the name “Taiye Pool” installed in Daming Palace, perhaps in imitation of Han Wudi, who gave this name to the artificial lake in Jianzhang Palace. See Xiong, Sui-Tang Chang’an, pp. 92–93.
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Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
301
By making use of the two toilings of earth and
有土木之二勞，
wood,
There is no need for the two tasks of shield and
非干戈之兩役。102
spear.
[rhyme: 昔 seik]
75 But even so
雖復
The storied edifice may be many meters high,
重基數仞，103
But it differs from when they first camped at
異細柳之初營。104
Xiliu.
The layered banks may be teeming and full,
疊岸盈丈，105
But it is like entering the Imperial Park and
開上林而玩兵。106
toying
with
troops.
How frugal was that matter of the exposed
彼露臺之一儉，
terrace,
80 Extending beneficence unto the common
乃延德於蒼生。107
people.
This lofty edifice has gradually become so
此崇基之漸泰，
massive,
It now starts to arouse censure among the
方起謗於黎甿。
commoners.
In seeking profit, I have embraced the trifling
利懷小而忘大，
and neglected the important,
—————
102. The phrase “earth and wood” refers to construction; “shield and spear” refers to warfare.
103. The term chongji 重基 usually means “tall mountain”; here, it refers either to the high terrace from which Taizong gazes or to the palace complex itself.
104. “Xiliu” here refers to the name of a tower ( guan 觀) in the Imperial Park, as mentioned by Sima Xiangru in his rhapsody. See Shi ji, 117.3037; Han shu, 57A.2568; and Wen xuan, 8.373. There was another Xiliu, which was a camp was set up by the general Zhou Yafu 周亞夫 (d. 143 bc) during the reign of Han Wendi as a base of operations to guard
against Xiongnu invasions. When Han Wendi visited the camp, Zhou Yafu would not
bend even a single military regulation to accommodate the emperor, which impressed him greatly. See Shi ji, 57.2074–2075. Also, see Loewe, Biographical Dictionary, pp. 735–36.
105. For yingzhang 盈丈, compare its usage with yingren 盈仞, which means “fullness,” in Hou Han shu, 78.2510.
106. The comment on the Imperial Park and “toying with troops” is a criticism of rulers who justified hunting through the excuse of military practice and demonstration. Of
course, Taizong himself did precisely this in the poem “Going Out Hunting,” discussed in Chapter 4.
107. Taizong alludes to Han Wendi’s decision not to have an exposed terrace constructed even though it would only cost a hundred in gold.
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302
Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
In causing harm, I abandoned what was crucial
害棄重而思輕。
and thought only of the trivial.
[rhyme: 清 tscheing / 庚 keing / 耕 keing]
85 This was just like
是猶
The lord of Shu who lusted for gold
蜀侯之貪金，
And lost his state at Mts. Min and Emei,
喪其國於岷峨。108
Or Earl Zhi, who was so reckless and clever,
智伯之縱辯，
Was fooled into drowning under vast waves.
迷自灌於洪波。109
Those who reflect on lessons of gain and loss are
鑒損益而為寡，
few,
90 While those with varying fortunes are many.
殊禍福而成多。110
[rhyme: 歌 ke]
Thus the lofty aims of this common, obtuse man—
故庸愚之尚志，
How could it be the rare wisdom of worthies or
豈賢達之殊智。
paragons?
In regard to
至若
The life-giving rains and clouds aflight,
膏雨雲飛，
That to the eight bounds extend favor,
八紘廣被，
95 Truly, by analogy, I should let flow my grace,
信觸類而流澤，
And not do so to seek repayment or reward.
非有求於報施。
Therefore it is said
故謂
If in giving one does not boast about it,
施而不自矜者，
This is also the true meaning of achievement,
亦成功之大義，
—————
108. The Huayangguo zhi 華陽國志 ( Records of Huayang) recounts a legend concerning how King Huiwen of Qin 秦惠文王 (r. 337–311 bc)” tricked the greedy Lord of Shu into
opening up a road through the mountainous terrain that protected Shu from Qin. King
Hui ordered the construction of five stone oxen filled with gold and let it be known that the oxen could defecate gold. The greedy lord had five strong brothers drag the oxen to Shu, creating a route between the two states. See Chang Qu 常璩 (fl. 265–316), Huayangguo zhi, in Liu Xiaodong et al., eds., Ershiwu bieshi, vol. 10, pp. 27–28. Mt. Min (also known as Mt. Wen 汶山) and Mt. Emei are located in present-day Sichuan and should
109. Earl Zhi led the armies of Jin, Han, and Wei; Zhibo attacked Duke Xiang of Zhao by flooding Xiang’s capital of Jinyang with the Jin River. However, Duke Xiang persuaded Han and Wei to betray Zhi; they turned the waters against Zhi’s army and captured him.
See Liu Xiang 劉向 (79–8 bc), comp., Zhanguo ce, 18.585–93.
110. I take this couplet as saying that Taizong is examining the relative seriousness of the empire’s problems so as to find the appropriate level of stewardship.
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Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
303
If in receiving favor, one does not know gratitude,
受而不知感者，
100 This is the profound injury of defying virtue.
乃悖德之深累。
[rhyme:
寘 tsyiH]
I dispel and purge my cares,
澄遣心意，
And naturally is my heart made cheerful,
坐怡情抱，
A single act of virtue is to be treasured,
一德是珍，
The things of this world are not precious.
萬物非寶。
105 I do not avoid being scorned for genuine
不 避 辱 於 真 惡 ，
opprobrium,
So how could I then seek honor in false goodness?
豈求榮於偽好。
Both those of “same virtue” and “same mind”
既同德而同心，111
Together flow in fragrance from the Kingly Way.
共流芳於王道。112
[rhyme:
晧 ghauQ]
Following the rhyme scheme that Taizong employs, I have broken the 108
lines of the rhapsody into twelve sections. The first two sections (ll. 1–8;
10–20) set the scene of the rhapsody, describing first the emperor at lei-
sure and then the vast splendor of the palace. Sections 3–4 (ll. 22–32; 33–
38) take up the moral problems associated with the palace. Section 5 (ll.
39–54) deals with the threat posed by frontier nations. Sections 6–8 (11.
55–60; 61–68; 69–74) describe Taizong’s ordering of the empire. Sections
9–10 (ll. 75–84; 85–90) express Taizong’s shame at having failed to mea-
sure up to models of the past. Finally, sections 11–12 (91–100; 101–108) ar-
ticulate the moral wisdom gained in the course of Taizong’s meditation.
Following the conventions set by the epideictic rhapsodies of the Han
dynasty, Taizong’s composition moves dialectically from the representa-
tion of imperial power and extravagance to the final realization of his folly.
Literary convention is also present in the opening of the rhapsody, where
Taizong ascends the layered terrace to rid himself of his anxieties and
concerns. Classical readers would have recognized this act as the com-
monplace of a poet climbing to a high place and gazing upon the scene be-
low. Taizong, however, recodes the commonplace by appropriating it as
—————
111. The allusion is to King Wu of Zhou’s “Great Vow” 泰誓, discussed below. Edward L.
Shaughnessy points out that this chapter “is generally regarded as a forgery of the Han period.” See Shaughnessy, “Shang shu,” pp. 378–79.
112. The phrase liufang 流芳 is a standard figure for transmitting virtue and reputation to later generations.
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304
Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
within the subgenre of imperial poetry, of poetry written by emperors. The
poet now climbs the terrace during a “period of leisure” ( xiajing 暇景)
from pressing imperial duties; this act is no longer that of a generalized po-
etic subject for whom leisure time is unremarked, but that of the sover-
eign who must account for how he spends his time.
An emperor who wrote poetry in his leisure was engaged in a poten-
tially dangerous activity. Poetry stood in ambivalent relation to the work
of sovereignty: while a purely orthodox poetry might bring about moral
transformation within the empire, other forms of poetry risked corrupt-
ing custom through surfeits of pleasure. This is the problem that Taizong
foreshadows by framing his rhapsody on palaces within an interval of lei-
sure. As Taizong moves from poetic descriptions of the weak winter sun-
light to the misty stairs and frosty mansions, he finds himself among “ele-
vated walkways” ( fudao 複道) and “eaved pavilions” ( age 阿閣), a
palace-scape reminiscent of the First Emperor’s capital, and then suddenly
sees, through the gates, a vision of Jianzhang Palace (ll. 3–8). There is a
question (likely unanswerable) of how literally one should take such lan-
guage of the scene, since it is not clear whether the historical name of Jian-
zhang Palace is meant as a tropic substitution for Daming Palace or if in
fact Taizong sees the apparition of Han Wudi’s grand palace before him
in the poetic scene.
In any case, what the evocation of the detached palaces does is to pre-
pare a space where the poet can lodge not only his consciousness, but
more problematically, his body. As Taizong goes further into the palace,
he takes note of the warm winter terrace and the cool summer chambers
(ll. 11–12). While he may have built the palace for his aged father, it is his
own body that now enjoys the respite from seasonal extremes. Yet it is al-
so because of this sensuous pleasure that Taizong comes to recognize the
unjustifiable luxury represented by the detached palace. Another descrip-
tive passage on the fine ornament and decoration of the palace is followed
by an explicit acknowledgment of Taizong’s troubled conscience: “I think
upon how the builders must have labored, / And am ashamed of living
here in such ease” (ll. 19–20). The grandeur of imperial construction pro-
jects was always haunted by the specter of physical labor, the base matter
from which architectural beauty, as if through alchemy, was created.
When Taizong realizes the true cost of his leisure, he is stricken by the
thought that his one body enjoys a state of ease ( yi 逸) as a result of the
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Palatial Form and the Rhapsodic Imagination
305
suffering of the bodies of the multitudes who had been tasked with the
palace’s construction.
Taizong then attempts to defend his decision to build the Daming Pal-
ace, which required unusual alterations to the original layout of the palace-
city, with the statement, “Though I have shifted to a new building site, / In
truth I planned its base to conform with the past” (ll. 23–24). The ques-
tion of innovation and fidelity to the past leads Taizong to consider other
historical acts of innovation—in particular, the invention of architecture
by the sage-kings. Against the argument that technological advances have
only led to moral decline and a loss of naturalness, Taizong claims that it
was sim
ply the changing nature of social mores and an unwillingness to
learn from the past that impeded moral evolution.113
At the same time, however, Taizong’s departure from palatial custom,
combined with his shame over the treatment of the laboring populace,
bring fully to the surface of the poem what had been alluded to before: the
palatial tyrannies of the First Emperor and Han Wudi, as exemplified in
the Epang and Sweet Springs Palaces. Here, the relationship between
physical labor and architectural beauty is revisited, with an emphasis on
how the conscripted laborers’ experience of work time must have differed
from the emperor’s leisure time: “There was not a single day the crafts-
men did not toil, / Not a moment when the conscripts could rest” (ll. 37–
38). The mere fact of labor did not have to signify tyranny; rather, what