The Poetics of Sovereignty
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On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
eign’s body and the question of imperial pleasure and leisure time. In the
context of territoriality, the idea of roaming becomes rather problematic,
since the delineation of empire should not be undertaken as an act of per-
sonal gratification, but should reflect the necessary encoding of sovereign
presence in what would otherwise simply be space. Qin Shihuang here is
neglecting the public role of emperor, or perhaps, even more dangerously,
collapsing the distance between the imperial role and his private self, ren-
dering the entire project of empire a radical expression of personal will.
Sui Yangdi’s Pleasure Excursions
The problematic legacy of the First Emperor would return in the figure of
Sui Yangdi. Much of the criticism leveled at Sui Yangdi, in fact, had its
roots in the criticism of Qin Shihuang. The cultural fantasy of the First
Emperor’s unification and failure was bound up in the longstanding theo-
retical problem of the imperial body. The early philosophical conceptions
of kingship emphasized the bodily askēsis of the one who became sover-
eign, even among schools that were otherwise vehemently opposed to one
another in other aspects. The king had to undergo a sublation of the pri-
vate body in order to occupy the universal body of the Son of Heaven.
Against this model, the first Qin emperor aspired to a universalism cen-
tered upon the apotheosis of his physical body. Instead of sublating his
physical body in the interests of the state’s body, he consumed the state’s
body in order to render immortal his physical body. That is, the material
wealth and resources of the entire empire became the means by which he
might gain everlasting life for his otherwise mortal form.
At the beginning, the Sui was clearly conscious of the example of the
Qin. After the military reunification of China, Sui Wendi set about the
process of political and cultural reunification, which includes the building
of a material infrastructure that would allow imperial processions, mili-
tary units, food supplies, and private traders to move quickly from the
capital to the other parts of the empire. In 584, shortly after the comple-
tion of Daxingcheng, he ordered Yuwen Kai to design the Guangtong
Canal 廣通渠, the waterway that connected the capital to the critical
Tong Pass 潼關. Wendi decreed that, because the Wei River was season-
ally shallow or silt-filled, it could not provide a dependable transport
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On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
319
route to the east.21 Furthermore, Chang’an was situated in a relatively
poor-soil area, and the canal allowed the transportation of grain from the
richer plains to the east. As with many of the Sui canals, the Guangtong
Canal essentially revived a Han dynasty canal that had been built for simi-
lar purposes.
Yet, despite Wendi’s role in the creation of the Sui canal system, it is
his son, Yang Guang, the future Yangdi, who has become historically as-
sociated with the canals, which would become a symbol of imperial deca-
dence and profligacy in histories, poetry, and fiction. Yang Guang was
given nominal official and military duties, including command of the
forces that conquered the Chen dynasty in 589.22 His first true step to-
wards power came with his appointment as Area Commander-in-chief of
Jiangdu. The conquered Chen territories were still deeply resentful of the
new Sui masters, so Yang Guang’s primary task involved the integration
of southern political culture into the centralized northern-based admini-
stration. For his role as the viceroy to the Southland, Yang Guang already
had the advantage of literary talent and a wife born of the Liang family,
one of the most important southern families. Further, he won the support
of influential Buddhist clerics in the south through the building of tem-
ples and the construction of a major library in Jiangdu.23 Still, even
though the purpose of his southern post may have been one of political
rapprochement, Yang Guang clearly enjoyed the cultural and literary so-
phistication that was not available in the north. He became a close drink-
ing companion of Liu Bian 柳 , a former official of the Liang. Accord-
ing to the Sui shu biography of Liu Bian, Yang Guang even went so far as
to have a wooden likeness of Liu Bian made—a mu’ou ren 木偶人—so
that he could continue to enjoy Liu Bian’s fellowship into the night. In
what appears to have been a fantastical achievement of mechanical engi-
neering, the likeness was able to sit and stand, as well as to bow and
scrape.24
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21. For the text of the decree, see “Treatise on Economics” 食貨志, in Sui shu, 24.683–84.
22. For an overview of Yangdi’s role in the pacification of the Southland, see Nunome Chōfū, Zui no Yōdai to Tō no Taisō, pp. 66–72. Also see Moriya Mitsuo, “Nanjin to hoku-jin,” in his Chūgoku kodai no kazoku to kokka, pp. 416–60.
23. See Kenneth Ch’en, Buddhism in China, p. 202.
24. For Liu Bian’s biography, see Sui shu, 58.1423–24. There is a history of automata in traditional China, some examples of which seem to anticipate the uncanny figures of the sto-This content downloaded from 129.174.21.5 on Sat, 20 Jul 2019 13:01:55 UTC
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During his reign, Yangdi may not have been able to unite the literary
cultures of north and south; however, he did manage to carry out a physi-
cal means of joining the northern capital of Luoyang to his southern capi-
tal of Jiangdu. He accomplished this through one of the most important
infrastructural projects in medieval China: the construction of the Grand
Canal.25 Though a significant part of the construction of the Sui canal
system had already taken place under Wendi’s reign, Yangdi greatly ex-
panded the length of the canal system in 605, the first year of his reign,
when he ordered the construction of the Tongji Canal 通濟渠. This ca-
nal connected Luoyang with Sizhou 泗州, a city on the Huai River, and
then from Huaiyin 淮陰 down southwards to Jiangdu. As with the
Guangtong Canal, the Tongji Canal used the routes of older canals. Vari-
ous other canals followed in quick succession. In 606, the Shanyang
Channel 山陽瀆, which began at Shanyang and ended at Jiangdu, was
built. In 608, construction began on the Yongji Canal, the longest of all
the canal sections. This canal extended an old canal at Luoyang and ran to
the northeast, ending near the site of modern-day Beijing. A 609 exten-
sion, the Pinglu Canal 平慮渠, brought the Yongji Canal further north.
In 610, the Jiangnan Waterway 江南運河 was constructed from the
Yangtze River at Jiangdu to the bay of Hangzhou, which would become
the most important port city in Song dynasty China.
Yangdi’s need for a controlled transportation and communication sys-
tem was obvious, since the northern cap
ital of Chang’an had to have a re-
liable route to the southern capital of Jiangdu. A truly unified China re-
quired an infrastructure that would allow political and cultural exchange
between the various local and regional cultures; otherwise the regional di-
—————
ries of E. T. A. Hoffmann and the modern American writer Steven Millhauser. Some of
these occur in imaginative writings, the most famous of which is the automaton of Master Yan 偃師, whose figure amazed King Mu of the Zhou. See Liezi jishi, 5.179–82. For a later example, see the tale “Cao Hui” 曹惠, which concerns two lifelike mu’ou ren, in Taiping guangji, 371.2951–52. This tale was originally from the Tang anomaly account collection, Xuanguai lu 玄怪錄 ( Record of the Mysterious and Weird), compiled by Niu Sengru 牛僧
孺 (779–847). However, others (like the story of Liu Bian) seem to have a more historical basis. See the discussion of mechanical toys in Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 4, pp. 156–65.
25. For the historical development of the Sui canal, I have drawn upon Wright, Sui Dynasty, pp. 177–81, as well as Aoyama Sadao, Tō Sō jidai no kōtsū to chishi chizu no kenkyū, pp. 257–94; and Zhang Kunhe, “Sui yunhe kao.”
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On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
321
visions might have continued to work against the ideology of unification.
The economic reasons—food transport and the circulation of trade
goods—also seem obvious, though the emperor would also open himself
up to criticism from agrarian-minded Confucians. However, I would ar-
gue that Yangdi had a third major purpose in the construction of the Sui
canals: the creation of a vast ritual complex by which he could manifest a
sovereignty that echoed those of the sage-kings in antiquity.
At the outset of his reign, Yangdi issued a decree stating his intentions
to send out eight officials who would investigate the conditions and cus-
toms of the people. His intention seems to have been that they would tra-
vel to the various parts of the empire and report back to him. The decree
reads:
In former times, the rulership of the sagely kings surely resided in their love of the people. They secured the people’s wealth and taught them, ensured that households had provisions and that the people were content. Thus, they were able to
make the customs pure and honest, and cause the distant to draw close and the
near to be at peace. In establishing government and accomplishing works, they followed this Way. We have inherited this precious succession; We care for and
nurture the worthiness of the people; and morning and night, We tremble with
dread as if perched over a watery ravine. Even though We rightly honor the great
patrimony, and do not dare to let it decline, in Our constant words and govern-
mental arts there are many failings. Even more, in the vastness of the Four Seas,
the crowds of the common folk cannot be paid personal visits, or their worries
and difficulties inquired after. We constantly worry that the worthy recluses will
not be raised up, and injustice will go unreported. If one thing is out of place,
then the harmony will be destroyed; if there is crime in the world, then the guilt
resides in Our person. For this reason, Our rest is increasingly filled with sighs,
and even at night We guard Our conduct and harbor cares.
At present, We have only begun to carry out our governmental duties to the
utmost, and it is appropriate that We inquire after [those living] far and wide.
We can send emissaries, who would go inspect the regional customs, reform pop-
ular morality through proclamation, raise up the downtrodden, and report cases
of injustice. Those who are filial in the home and industrious in the fields will be granted a remission of their taxes. Those who have been widowed and orphaned
and cannot support themselves will be given additional measures of grain to re-
lieve them. Righteous husbands and wives will be given banners [to post] on their
doors and gates. Those of truly hoary old age will be given additional honorary
designations as well as special regulations, and receive grain and silk. People who
are deathly sick will be given caretakers; even if they [already] have caretakers in name, but have not yet received care in reality, We will examine [the cases] deci-This content downloaded from 129.174.21.5 on Sat, 20 Jul 2019 13:01:55 UTC
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On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
sively and make sure that they obtain subsistence and nurture. If there are those
who brightly manifest moral reputations or behavior, adopt the path of virtue or
cultivate purity, or even those who have talents in academic study, are skilled in
one of the arts—all of these should be sought out and gathered, so that they can
be made to join the court. For all within the provinces and prefectures, follow ri-
tual in making assignments. Where there are corrupt administrators who perse-
cute the people but are not convenient [to deal with] at the time, on the day you
return to the matter, prepare a report to inform the imperial throne.
昔者哲王之治天下也，其在愛民乎。既富而教，家給人足，故能風淳
俗厚，遠至邇安。治定功成，率由斯道。朕嗣膺寶曆，撫育黎獻，夙
夜戰兢，若臨川谷。雖則聿遵先緒，弗敢失墜，永言政術，多有缺
然。況以四海之遠，兆民之眾，未獲親臨，問其疾苦。每慮幽仄莫
舉，冤屈不申，一物失所，乃傷和氣，萬方有罪，責在朕躬，所以寤
寐增歎，而夕惕載懷者也。
今既布政惟始，宜存寬大。可分遣使人，巡省方俗，宣揚風化，薦
拔淹滯，申達幽枉。孝悌力田，給以優復。鰥寡孤獨不能自存者，量
加振濟。義夫節婦，旌表門閭。高年之老，加其版授，並依別條，賜
以粟帛。篤疾之徒，給侍丁者，雖有侍養之名，曾無賙贍之實，明加
檢校，使得存養。若有名行顯著，操履修潔，及學業才能，一藝可
取，咸宜訪採，將身入朝。所在州縣，以禮發遣。其有蠹政害人，不
便於時者，使還之日，具錄奏聞。26
Much of this proclamation contains the kind of rhetoric one might expect
from any sovereign concerned with the proper self-image. For example,
there is the usual claim that the emperor is anxious about the kind of care
his people are receiving and as a result cannot sleep. However, what is
of central interest in this first imperial document is the emphasis Yangdi
places on the problem of knowledge. What the ruler needs to know is the
condition of his empire. There is a parallel to the Han ideology of caishi
採詩, or “gathering poems.” According to this theory, the Classic of Poetry
was put together when rulers concerned over the state of their kingdoms
collected the folksongs of their peoples in order to find out whether the
people were happy or not. Yangdi mentions “gathering” ( cai) as well, but
it is a matter of seeking out worthy men to serve in his government, not
poems.
The main issue remains how Yangdi will come to know the state of his
empire, and he proposes the idea of sending out royal emi
ssaries who will
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26. Sui shu, 3.62–63.
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On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
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report back to him. Because of the vastness of the territory of China, the
Qin structural innovations in administration proved to be vital to the in-
vention of empire in China. Sui Yangdi’s solution follows such a struc-
tural view of sovereignty, as the emissaries who carry out the king’s work
would be the king’s delegate-bodies to the local prefectures and regions.
They would be invested with certain powers of the sovereign, such as the
power to bestow honors, to lessen taxes, and to banish corrupt officials.
While these powers stop short of life and death, they nonetheless repre-
sent a considerable investiture. The true sovereign could then remain in
the capital while his delegates traveled through the empire. Yet to commit
fully to a structural conception of sovereignty would mean that Yangdi
would have to inhabit the body of state without reserve. The capital of
Daxingcheng would become his new home and prison, and he would have
few chances to enjoy the leisurely pleasures of Jiangdu.
It is here that the construction of the canal system would seem to pro-
pose the ideal solution for a northern emperor who loved the south. The
existence of a water transport system would allow easy passage through
varying terrains and provide direct connections through the principal riv-
ers and cities. Moreover, Yangdi’s travels could be used to evince the deep
care of an emperor who desired to look after his subjects in person, rather
than through the use of intermediary delegates. Shortly after his initial
decree, Yangdi decided to tour the empire in person, citing the impossi-
bility of actually knowing the true state of the empire from official reports.
He issued another decree in which he proclaimed his intention to enact a
personal tour of inspection from the newly built “Eastern Capital” of
Luoyang. The second decree reads:
One should listen to and gather the people’s odes, and make plans that reach