The Poetics of Sovereignty
Page 61
was a place called “Stone Village” ( Shilü), supposedly located at a site south of Mount Tai.
Accordingly, Han Wudi held his Shan sacrifice there.
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On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
347
cannot be completely erased or controlled, as we saw in Sui Yangdi’s failed
attempt to use the xunshou ritual for his own personal ends. Rather, they
form a kind of palimpsest of meaning, each layer still visible below the
new use or interpretation. Taizong’s evocation of Han Wudi shows that
he cannot escape this ghost of past significance, whatever new meaning he
might want to claim for the sacrificial act.
At this point, Taizong admits that there are important aspects in
which his reign has not matched those exemplary reigns of the past. He
goes on to state:
But in recent times, the single clan of the Yantuo has been roving and plundering
in the western frontiers, deploying bows and conniving with myriad stratagems.73
They have just reverted to the Tang calendar, abandoning the lands of the sandy
passes, but are now wandering souls in the land of the Northern Dipper.74 A sin-
gle thing so insignificant will still startle my heart with nighttime worries; with
the nine barbarian tribes still uncivilized, how could We forget to worry how
they may be given a means of existence? We have newly set them in ropes and
bonds, and by principle will need to settle them peaceably. Further, in the past
years, We personally undertook to rescue [the people] from difficulties; since the
hot months have arrived, We feel less and less at peace. High ministers and nu-
merous subordinates have all individually expressed their sincere concerns.75
Accordingly, there was the matter of Cuiwei Palace, which was not done
without the toil of building and construction. Not long afterwards, because
mountains blocked it and valleys hid it, [it was determined that] the natural flow
had blockages.76 Once again evincing utmost sincerity, it was requested that Yu-
hua Palace be built. Our one-inch heart is used for the affairs of state and the
common people; We brave this extreme heat of summer, having been bequeathed
the deep cares of those inside and outside the court. If We truly remain steadfast
and sincere, then We can help fulfill all of the expectations of this land.
But again, afterwards, there were frequent construction works; We feared that
it would reach the point where toil would become legion, and at the same time,
heard that in several districts of Hebei there was very harmful flooding. As the
parent of the people, We think upon succoring the masses. As for “acting accord-
—————
73. The Yantuo was a Turkish frontier nation.
74. The “land of the Northern Dipper” refers to North China.
75. The first part of the sentence refers to the expedition against Koguryŏ in 645, which Taizong personally led, and the second, to the illness that Taizong contracted in the campaign.
76. This sentence describes the inauspicious fengshui of the site.
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348
On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
ing to what is proper” and “making the announcement [to Heaven],” the princi-
ples cannot both be followed.77 As for the grand ritual at the great mountain, it is appropriate that We halt the proceedings for the time being.
而今延陀一姓，流竄西陲，控弦萬計。初歸正朔，亡其沙塞之地，
游魂戴斗之鄉。一物之微，猶驚心於夕惕，九夷乃陋，豈忘懷於施
生。新就縶維，理須安置。又以朕往歲躬勤拯溺，至於炎月，沿比不
安，公卿庶僚，各陳誠請。
遂有翠微之役，非無版築之勞。既而山谷阻深，朝宗有礙，重披丹
懇，請建玉華。朕以寸心，經綸億兆，冒茲隆熱，貽朝野之深憂，允
乃誠忱，副率土之僉望。
遂復頻有興造，恐致勞煩，兼聞河北數州，頗傷淹澇。朕為人父
母，思濟黎元。順動升中，理無兼遂。其介邱大禮，宜且權停。
Though his achievements have indeed been great, Taizong then explains
why the circumstances make it impossible for him to go on with the ritual
performance. Weighing especially heavy on his mind are the Turkish tribe
problems and the construction of new palaces. Strangely, the flooding in
Hebei, which Sima Guang in the Zizhi tongjian cites as the sole reason
why Taizong cancelled the rites, is only given a brief mention here.78 Tai-
zong claims that he is “the parent of the people,” a metaphor that negates
the particularity of kinship and translates it into the discourse of universal
sovereignty. As such, he must then balance his own responsibilities to
make the report to Heaven against his responsibilities for the livelihood
of his subjects. Since “the principles cannot both be followed,” Taizong
decides to cancel the scheduled performance.
The issue of the palaces deserves some discussion here, as it returns us
to the discussion in the preceding chapter and to the problem of the im-
—————
77. The phrase “acting according to what is proper” ( shun dong 順動) is taken from the hexagram “Yu” 豫: “Heaven and Earth act according to what is proper, thus sun and
moon do not err, and the four seasons are not out of order. The sage acts according to what is proper, and so punishments are made clear and the people submit” 天地以順
動，故日月不過，而四時不忒。聖人以順動，則刑罰清而民服. See Zhou yi
zhengyi, 2.19c, in Shisanjing zhushu, p. 31. The phrase “making the announcement [to Heaven]” ( sheng zhong 升中) is taken from the “Instruments of Ritual” chapter of the Li ji: “It is for this reason that one sacrifices to Heaven according to [the position of] Heaven, that one sacrifices to Earth according to [the position of] Earth, that one relies on famous mountains to make the announcement to Heaven” 是故因天事天，因地事地，因名
山升中於天. See Li ji xunzuan, 10.375.
78. See Zizhi tongjian, 198.6248.
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On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
349
perial body. Both the Cuiwei 翠微 and the Yuhua 玉華 palaces are sum-
mer palaces, built expressly for the purpose of allowing the emperor to es-
cape the heat of Chang’an during the summer months. The building of an
imperial palace is no small matter, as it involves great expense and labor.
Yet, as Taizong points out, the comfort of the summer palace would allow
him to function when the heat is intolerable, and here he includes men-
tion of his deteriorating health. The importance of the one body (say,
Taizong eating the locusts and ridding the land of the crop plague) be-
comes a more complicated matter, as it is now translated into the comfort
of the one body. The sovereign can only sacrifice himself for the good of
the people if he is comfortable, so the people must accept the heavy bur-
den of constructing a new palace. Taizo
ng seems to accept this argument
as consistent with his prior statements about askēsis and sovereignty; un-
fortunately, the poor fengshui of the new palace requires that it be razed
and that a second new palace be built. What might have been a justifiable
construction project now begins to seem unnecessary and extravagant.
This worry over costs and his public image is all the more reason to post-
pone the Feng and Shan rites for the next year.
Following this, Taizong goes on with a list of other related cancella-
tions, including the gathering of non-Han chieftains and the changed lo-
cation for the selection of official candidates. From this point on, the
grand style of his edict is replaced by a more mundane list of the particular
details that must be taken care of. In fact, Taizong ends with a very par-
ticular detail: he appends a command to the laborers working on the Yu-
hua Palace:
Previously We had issued a decree that commanded [those in charge of the con-
struction] to be frugal and thrifty. At present, in all aspects you should still cut costs and be economical, but We further order that [the palace] be mean and
base, clearly allowing one to avoid wind and rain. Let it be said that my intention
resides here.
前巳下詔，務從菲薄。今乃庶事減省，更令卑陋。示免風雨，稱朕
意焉。79
—————
79. Cefu yuangui, 35.392a–92b; Tang huiyao, 7.94–95; Tang da zhaoling ji, 66.336–37; Quan Tang wen, 6.100b–101b; and Tang Taizong quanji jiaozhu, pp. 568–71.
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350
On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
In closing, Taizong attempts to recapture the high moral ground of ascetic
sovereignty, of the negation of personal desires for the public good. How-
ever, the closing instruction is permeated with the pragmatics of askēsis, rather than its grand rhetoric. We may hear echoes here of the example of the
sage-king Yu, whom Confucius said lived in a very modest dwelling. Yet it
is a strange kind of ascetic statement, as it is not a thatched hut that Tai-
zong is having built, but a palace. In a way, this might be considered an apt
symbol for Taizong: an ascetic desire projected onto the reality of an impe-
rial palace—but the palace remains an imperial palace, no matter how
many corners are cut or how cheap the building materials may be. What is
ascetic, therefore, is merely the representation of the palace, the rhetorical
means by which Taizong speaks about it.
The problem of sovereign representation is at the heart of the passages I
have discussed in this chapter, and there is perhaps no greater example than
the edict Taizong issued for what would be the final cancellation of the
Feng and Shan rites. In the decision of 647, there is a sense that Taizong
made a personal sacrifice, a sense no doubt heightened by our own knowl-
edge that Taizong would pass away from his illness soon afterwards. Yet,
according to the Confucianized model of the Feng and Shan, there should
not have been any personal stake in the ritual performance. Though Tai-
zong did not seek the ritual performance for the selfish reasons of the
First Emperor of the Qin, it is clear that Taizong did conceive of the sacri-
fice as something he deserved, as the symbolic representation of his politi-
cal accomplishments. Yet the fact that he did not succeed in realizing this
wish has bequeathed to Taizong a symbolic representation just as forceful,
perhaps even more so, in light of his violent path to the throne.
Howard J. Wechsler has suggested that Taizong’s anxiety over histori-
cal judgment was the primary motivation for the cancellation of the rites,
asking, “had T’ai-tsung lost his taste for a ritual act that surely would have
invited the charge from historians of later times that he had committed
hubris?” Wechsler then goes on to cite one later commentator, the Qing
scholar Qin Huitian 秦蕙田 (1702–64), compiler of the Wuli tongkao 五
禮通考 ( Comprehensive Examinations of the Five Ritual Categories), who
praised Taizong for not following in the footsteps of Qin Shihuang and
Han Wudi by performing the rites.80 Certainly his refusal to be aligned
—————
80. Wechsler, Offerings of Jade and Silk, p. 183.
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On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
351
with Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi can be identified as one of the motives
underlying Taizong’s final decision to halt the preparations. Further, it
seems even more likely that this is the case when we consider that Taizong
halted such ritual preparations three separate times during his reign.
Though biographical or psychological speculation cannot reach a definite
conclusion on this point, it seems that a deep ambivalence may have run
through Taizong’s constant interest in the Feng and Shan rites.
Yet I would like to consider another possible reading of Taizong’s ac-
tions in relation to the Feng and Shan. In a review of Wechsler’s Offerings
of Jade and Silk, Jack L. Dull criticizes Wechsler for placing his emphasis
on ritual as the main source of political legitimation in the Tang, while
not accounting for seeming contradictions such as the behavior of Tai-
zong himself, who neither performed the Feng and Shan nor often went
on tours of inspection. Dull points out that, “T’ang T’ai-tsung presents a
case of a ruler desperately in need of legitimation: he was able to ascend
the throne only because he killed his older brother (the heir apparent)
and, the historical records suggest, because he was able to force his father
to abdicate to him.”81 Yet, although Dull may be correct in taking issue
with the idea that ritual performance was the central mode of legitima-
tion for emperors in the Tang, he has not addressed the question of what
counts as ritual. What Dull and Wechsler both fail to see is the possibility of ritual in the absence of performance, or more precisely, in the negation
of performance. For Taizong, there is a choice between three models of ri-
tual sovereignty in the question of the Feng and Shan performance: (1) he
may follow the examples of Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi in seeking tran-
scendental incarnation or auxesis; (2) he may follow the example of Han
Guangwudi in performing the Feng and Shan as simply the announce-
ment to Heaven; or (3) he may refuse the honor of the Feng and Shan. Of
course, it is not clear whether Taizong’s decision to follow the third op-
tion was a conscious one or merely made by default. However, by refusing
to perform the sacrifice (and dying not long after), he can be identified
with the ideal of askēsis, the negation of sovereign desires, by later historians and critics. It would be the memory of Taizong as a wise and moder-
ate sovereign that would ultimately legitimate the infamy of his usurpa-
tion.
—————
81. Dull, Review of Offerings of Jade and Silk, p. 583.
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352
On “The Imperial Capital Poems”
“The Imperial Capital Poems”
If Taizong sought to rationalize and justify both the performance and
non-performance of the rites in his public documents and speeches, he
does something very different in his poem-cycle, “The Imperial Capital
Poems.”82 While poetic discourse may, like the discourse of public prose,
take up the act of suasion, it cannot be reduced to the simple function of
suasion. That is to say, poetry may be composed in the interests of politi-
cal ideology, but it is never simply reflective of ideological concerns. In
public prose, the writer’s words may contradict his behavior, or at least,
may not be entirely consistent with his behavior, but the words them-
selves bespeak a unity of intention. Poetry, however, can find contradic-
tion within its shifting moods, feelings, and thoughts; this is not inconsis-
tency, but rather as the poem is supposed to reveal and communicate the
writer’s mind, serves as evidence of dialectical complexity, as the unfold-
ing of a mental process.
The poems of Taizong’s “The Imperial Capital Poems” are both com-
plex and self-contradictory, not only in terms of how they represent an in-
teresting mixture of courtly and didactic poetics, but also in how they
speak to the tensions inherent within the imperial persona. The conceit
of the work is that the ten poems detail the emperor’s actions and
thoughts during a single day of leisure from his official duties. Each of the
ten poems takes place at a different location in the imperial residence and
its environs, beginning with the emperor in his palace and ending with his
return to the same palace. Here is a quick sketch of the day as it unfolds
through the ten poems: (1) the emperor still in his palace; (2) reading clas-
sics in the Chongwen 崇文 Academy; (3) displaying his skill as an archer;
(4) enjoying a performance in the music quarters; (5) entering into the
imperial park; (6) going boating on his lake; (7) enjoying the evening in a
pavilion; (8) savoring a feast; (9) entering into the imperial harem; and