The Age of Courtly Writing
Wen xuan Compiler Xiao Tong (501-531) and His Circle
By Ping Wang
Cover illustration: Wenyuange siku quanshu edition of Zhaoming taizi ji (electronic version).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wang, Ping, 1973-
The age of courtly writing : Wen xuan compiler Xiao Tong (501-531) and his circle / by Ping Wang. p. cm. — (Sinica Leidensia, ISSN 0169-9563 ; v. 106)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-22522-0 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Xiao, Tong, 501-531—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Xiao, Tong, 501-531—Friends and associates. 3. Chinese literature—220-589--History and criticism. 4. China—Intellectual life—221 B.C.-960 A.D. I. Title.
PL2668.H7W36 2012 895.1’82409—dc23
2012003101
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.nl/brill-typeface.
ISSN 0169-9563
ISBN 978 90 04 22522 0 (hardback)
ISBN 978 90 04 22825 2 (e-book)
Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
For DRK and PWK, with gratitude
Attending to the Emperor with Poems
Worthy with Words
Literary Camaraderie and Competition: A Historical Review
Remembering the North, a Repository of the Past
Finding Comfort in a Versified Present
Poems on the Third Day Festival: Celebrating the Curving Waters in a Water Land
Same River, Different View
The Tone of “Gentleness and Ease”
A Long Exchange of Commiseration
4. Xiao Tong’s Encounters with Buddhism
Hosting Lectures on Buddhism in the Hanging Garden
N otes between Emperor Wu and Xiao Tong on Buddhist Lectures
Exchanges between Monk Fayun and Xiao Tong
Commemorating with Verse
Excursions to Buddhist Sites
Matching Poems by Xiao Tong’s Literary Companion
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
From its inception to the present final form, this book has taken almost a decade, but its message is a simple one. Stereotypes and clichés in literary history grow rapidly and reproduce themselves with amazing ease and tenacity, like weeds. It takes, however, much more attention and care to get to the truth, and even more effort to maintain it, because the reality may just be too plain to make a lasting impression. Narratives about literary history tend to tell much more exciting stories, with beginnings and endings, major changes and transitions, watersheds and turning points. But sometimes there isn’t that much drama, as much as we as humans love them. Often scholars create dramas.
This book uncovers a period that has been left out in the dramatic representation of the Southern court and its writings in sixth-century China, an age that has long been condemned, and ironically somewhat championed, as one of “unrestrained indulgence in sound and sight.” Its literature, as the embodiment of sensual pleasures, is said to have led to the demise of Jiankang, the Southern capital. However, the truth of the matter, in terms of the spirit of the elite culture and their literary practice, comes out quite differently if one undertakes the old-fashioned and onerous exercise of reading (not cherry-picking), annotating, translating, and interpreting texts of all sorts. Circumspection and restraint were the norm in court life and its expressions in various forms. It was the dedication to balance, rather than extremity, that governed the thinking and writing of the Liang Crown Prince Xiao Tong and his companions, old and young, living and dead. This book gives priority to what they had to say on specific occasions instead of painting a sweeping big picture, the ample examples of which are in urgent need of review.
In the process of writing this small book, I have had tremendous help from my two mentors, Professors David R. Knechtges and Paul W. Kroll, who most generously offered their time and expertise on countless occasions. It is to them that this book is dedicated.
I have also had the good fortune to be in a field of supportive colleagues. Parts of the book have been presented at the Fifth Annual Medieval Studies Workshop and Early Medieval China Sourcebook Meeting, both hosted by Wendy Swartz. I am grateful for the comments and suggestions offered to me by Alan Berkowitz, Robert Campany, Jack
acknowledgements x
Chen, Cheng Yu-yu, Goh Meow Hui, Liu Yuan-ju, Lu Yang, and Tian Xiaofei. A special thank-you goes to Pablo Blitstein who read the manuscript and offered extensive comments.
Parts of Chapter Five were presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society and the 2008 Western Branch Meeting of the American Oriental Society. I thank the audience for their questions and input, especially Daniel Bryant, Cheng Zhangcan, Matthias L. Richter, and Madeline K. Spring.
The manuscript received two official reviews and I would like to thank the reviewers for their hard work and most valuable comments, which greatly helped in the correction of some errors and refinement of my argument.
I would also like to thank my colleagues in the Princeton community for providing intellectual stimulation by asking hard questions and for reminding me that there is a world outside academia. Martin Kern and Michael Nylan offered their time to read and comment on writings that are now part of the book. Sue Naquin, Benjamin Elman, and Willard Peterson gave invaluable comments during my presentation at the Institute for Advanced Study in November 2008.
Material for part of Chapter Five first appeared in an article, “Between Reluctant Revelation and Disinterested Disclosure: Reading Xiao Tong’s Preface to Tao Yuanming ji,” in Asia Major 23.1 (2010), and I thank the editor for permission to use it.
Lastly, I wish to thank my husband Changli and my daughter Crystal for their love and support. During this long and sometimes seemingly endless process, they indulged me with their faith in me.
INTRODUCTION
The Six Dynasties (220-589), which constituted the longest period of disunion in Chinese imperial history, is somewhat paradoxical in that despite political and social chaos it was a time that saw a flourishing of major cultural achievements, especially in the field of literary production.1 Monumental works such as the Gradation of Poets (Shi pin 詩品), Literary Mind Carving the Dragon (Wenxin diaolong 文心雕龍), and the Selections of Refined Literature (Wen xuan 文選) all came out of the Liang 梁, the penultimate Southern dynasty of this divided period. It was a time when literature was for the first time established and recognized as an independent and legitimate discipline, and during which narratives of literary history were frequently formulated and debated.
Despite the acknowledged and attested importance of Six Dynasties literature, it is still understudied and largely misunderstood. A persistent misconception has been that palace-style poetry (gongti shi 宮體詩) from the Liang dynasty was the predominant form of poetic production from this period. The condemnation of, and thereby inadvertently revealed obsession with, palace-style poetry are the unfortunate result of a long tradition that retrospectively associates an age of political disunity and disorder with moral and artistic “decadence.” The first influential criticism of Liang literature came from the conservative early Tang Confucian minister and scholar Wei Zheng 魏徵 (580-643), who in the History of the Sui Dynasty (Sui shu 隋書) commented:
From the Datong era 大同 (535-546) onward, Liang literature lost the elegant way and gradually deviated from the norm. [Its authors] strived and contended for the new and the crafty. Emperor Jianwen 簡文帝 (Xiao Gang 蕭綱) (503-551) and the King of Xiangdong 湘東王 (Xiao Yi 蕭繹) (508-554) opened up the excessive and unbridled [writing style]. Xu Ling 徐陵 (507583) and Yu Xin 庾信 (513-581) each developed his own way. [Their] ideas were shallow and trivial, while [their] styles were obscure and ostentatious. Their use of words was flighty and haphazard. The emotions expressed were always plaintive and pensive. If Yanling 延陵 (Jizha 季札 ) (fl. 560s bce)2
1 For historical background on the Six Dynasties, see Dien, Six Dynasties Civilization; Tian Xiaofei, Beacon Fire; Lewis, China between Empires; Holcombe, In the Shadow; Luo Zongqiang, Wei Jin Nanbeichao; Wang Zhongluo, Wei Jin Nanbeichao. 2 Yanling, modern day Changzhou 常州 in Jiangsu, was Wu prince Jizha’s enfeoffment. Jizha, the youngest son of Wu King Shoumeng 壽夢 (?-561 bce) is an oft-cited moral para-
would lend his ears to [Liang literature], [he would] probably say that it is the music of a perishing state!
梁自大同之後 , 雅道淪缺 , 漸乖典則 , 爭馳新巧。簡文、湘東 , 啟其淫放 , 徐 陵、庾信, 分路揚鑣。其意淺而繁, 其文匿而彩, 詞尚輕險, 情多哀思。格以 延陵之聽, 蓋亦亡國之音乎!3
Wei Zheng’s words, while far from the first of their kind, held unprecedented sway and have since been frequently repeated or paraphrased even to this day. In their definitive historical overview of literature in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Cao Daoheng 曹道衡 and Shen Yucheng 沈玉成 recently wrote: “Literature of this period [the Qi and Liang] is seen as the epitome of frivolity, daintiness, ornateness, and flamboyance by the later critics. The term ‘Qi-Liang,’ originally a temporal designation, has become another way to say ‘ornate and flamboyant style.’”4 Ge Xiaoyin 葛曉音 has said in her Badai shishi 八代詩史, an influential work on the history of medieval poetry: “Qi, Liang, and Chen, although three different dynasties, are not distinguishable in terms of their poetic style. Literary historians often evaluate them as a single unit and call it ‘Qi-Liang style poetry,’ which carries a derogatory connotation of flighty and flamboyant character… palace-style verse is banal and empty, and has indeed passed on some negative influence.”5
These statements on the Qi and Liang literature by major scholars in the twentieth century apply the same words and speak in the same tone with the Tang historian, but not exactly about the same thing. Wei Zheng clearly directed his comments toward the latter half of the Liang dynasty. For whatever reason, this important temporal distinction has been neglected in the subsequent studies of Liang and, to a large extent, Southern Dynasties literature and there has been a persistent tendency to extend this generalization to the periods before and after the Liang. Sometimes the entire Southern Dynasties are made to carry this critical burden put in place by Wei Zheng.
Liang literature became susceptible to such politically motivated reading when the ruler Xiao Gang (r. 549-551) overtly championed a poetic
gon who fled Wu to avoid his dying father’s conferment of the thone, which would have rightly belonged to his older brother. Jizha later travelled to Lu and was given a performance of the complete oevre of the Zhou music. His comments became one of the cornerstones for early Chinese literary cricitism. See Shi ji 31.1449-56.
3 Sui shu 76.1730.
4 Cao Daoheng and Shen Yucheng, Nanbeichao wenxue shi, p. 237.
5 Ge Xiaoyin, Badai shishi, p. 227.
introduction 3 form. The irony is that the palace-style poetry promoted by Xiao Gang has survived severe disparagement to emerge as a widely recognized and studied subject from the Six Dynasties, while other important figures and works from the period remain overshadowed. A case that beckons immediate attention would be Xiao Tong 蕭統 (501-531). Any study of Six Dynasties literature without serious examination of Xiao Tong would be incomplete and partial. To this date, scholarly attention to Xiao Tong has largely centered around his role as the compiler of the Wen xuan 文選, undoubtedly the most important work to emerge from the Liang, in the mid-520s.6
As one of the massive cultural projects affirming the Liang state’s legitimacy and power,7 the Wen xuan has come to shape literary production by informing the Chinese writer and influencing what and how he writes. During the centuries of China’s imperial past, the Wen xuan was memorized studiously in preparation for literary exams. It was a book that every aspiring and veteran writer was obligated to read. Scholarly studies of the Wen xuan started with a phonological commentary by Xiao Gai 蕭該 (ca. 540-615), a cousin of Xiao Tong, and culminated in two commentaries presented to the Tang throne, the first by Li Shan 李善 (?-689) in 658 and then another by the group known as the “Five Ministers” (Wu chen 五臣) in 718.8 In addition to being a bible to writers, as an authoritative embodiment and encapsulation of China’s literary past the Wen xuan was studied as a subject in and of itself as early as the Sui dynasty (581-618),9 with the term “Wen xuan studies” (Wen xuan xue 文選學) first used in the Tang. Philologists of the Qing dynasty were particularly noted for their contributions to “Wen xuan studies,” which was by then known by the abbreviated label xuan xue 選學. Today, “Wen xuan studies,” at 1400 years old, is a more active field than ever. In mainland China, there is a research institute dedicated solely to the study of the Liang anthology and nine international conferences on the subject have been held since 1988.10 Two of
6 The exact compilation date of the Wen xuan is a contentious issue. For major discussions, see Shimizu, tr. Han Jiguo, “Wen xuan bianji;” Cao Daoheng and Shen Yucheng, “Youguan Wen xuan bianzhuan;” Yu Shaochu, “Wen xuan chengshu;” Fu Gang, “Wen xuan de bianzhe;” Xu Yimin, “Wen xuan bianzhuan niandai xinshuo;” He Rong, “Wen xuan bianzhuan shijian;” Wang Liqun, “Wen xuan chengshu.”
7 Tian Xiaofei, Beacon Fire, pp. 77-95.
8 For a study on Xiao Gai, see Wang Shucai 王書才, “Xiao Gai shengping jiqi Wen xuan yanjiu kaoshu” 蕭該生平及其《文選》研究考述, Ankang shizhuan xuebao 17 (2005): 66-68, 84.
9 Wang, Sui Tang Wen xuan xue, pp. 36-58.
10 For a brief summary of scholarship on “Wen xuan studies,” see Wu, 20 shiji, pp. 345-
these conferences were held in the reputed hometown of the anthology’s compiler, Xiao Tong, who is commonly known by his posthumous title Zhaoming taizi 昭明太子, Crown Prince of Resplendent Brilliance.11 In consequence the Wen xuan itself is often referred to by the title “Zhaoming Wen xuan.” This posthumous title of Xiao Tong was traditionally attached to this work not long after the year 531, when the Prince died at the age of thirty-one.
Even though Xiao Tong’s name is universally recognizable for compiling the Wen xuan, his own life and writings, in particular, have largely gone unstudied. Yu Shaochu’s 2001 annotated edition of Xiao Tong’s collected works, a welcome contribution to the study of the Liang crown prince, is only a first step toward a more satisfactory and systematic analysis of the man, his writings, and the milieu in which he lived. A key factor that has hindered the study of Xiao Tong’s written works is that he was considered a lesser writer in comparison with other members of the imperial family.12 The scope of scholarly interest, if any, is concentrated on his relation to the Wen xuan, generating a biographical approach that is largely positive and often purely hagiographic due to the exalted status of the Liang prince’s magnum opus. The portrayal of Xiao Tong as a respectable orthodox aristocrat and literary esthete, though true to a certain degree, runs the risk of oversimplification and inevitably leads to a onedimensional caricature of a complex personality inhabiting a subtle familial and political setting. Much in both traditional and current discussions about Xiao Tong is drawn heavily and sometimes uncritically from official biographies. As Denis Twitchett rightly pointed out more than forty years ago, Chinese official biography as a particular form of writing serves to construct a certain type of personality based on a selected set of details, real or imagined, and as such must be used with a critical eye and especially supplemented by other sources. It is hardly reliable for a rounded view of a human life, even less so for accurate insight into a human mind.
59; for an exhaustive study on this subject, see Wang Liqun, Xiandai Wen xuan xue shi. For an account of the historical background of the Wen xuan compilation, see Knechtges, Wen xuan, 1: Introduction. The first and second international conferences on the “Wen xuan Studies” were held in Changchun in 1988 and 1992. The third was held in 1995 in Zhengzhou. The fourth one was held in Changchun in 2000. The fifth was held in 2002 in Zhenjiang. The sixth was held in 2005 in Xinxiang. The seventh was held in 2007 in Guilin. The eighth was held in 2009 in Yangzhou. The nineth and most recent was hosted by Nanjing University in Summer of 2011.
11 I adopt Knechtges’ translation of the term.
12 See Lin Dazhi, Si Xiao, p. 131; Fu Gang, Xiao Tong, p. 188.
In comparison, a person’s own writings are a much more promising source for gaining understanding of and perspective on a historical person and the age in which he lived.13
In Xiao Tong’s case, the valuable source of his own writings, largely untapped to this day, will not only allow us a fresh view into the mind of this important personality in both literary and political history, but also shed light on the cultural and political realities of a critical moment in the Six Dynasties. By this I refer to the first half of the Liang dynasty in the first quarter of the sixth century, a turning point for potential change after the three hundred years of turmoil that had followed the collapse of the great Han dynasty.
For most of the third century and the beginning of the fourth, the heartland of northern China was a bloody battleground on which armies fought for supremacy, first among Chinese warlords and then between the Han and non-Han peoples. Eventually, what had been the central territory of the Han dynasty came under the control of various nomadic tribes. Then in the first half of the fourth century the Chinese aristocratic families undertook a large-scale southward migration settling into the Yangtze valley, a region which the elites had previously considered inferior and backward both in terms of cultural and natural resources. Even here stability was unattainable due to intrigues and threats from within and without the southern court. The center stage of politics became occupied by a competition between cultured yet displaced northern aristocrats and a rising group of military upstarts and civil administrators whose less than desirable socio-economic background, to a certain degree, constituted hindrance to their ascension to the top echelon of the ruling society. Nevertheless, their diligence and competence paid off and they gradually found themselves well-anchored in the southern court, gradually leaving those “high-gate” descendents lamenting, if not feeling bitter, over the change of tides.
The preeminent northern families who had helped establish the southern regime found it necessary not only to relinquish their prerogatives as quasi-rulers, but also to respect those whom they would consider humble and low-born southerners. Members of the northern émigré families faced a competitive political reality in which the only thing they could still rely on was their distinguished family lineage. To a large degree, what allowed these men a place in the southern court was an ideal that they
13 See Dennis Twitchett, “Problems of Chinese Biography,” in Confucian Personalities (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1962), pp. 24-39.
stood for: the glorious past in the north where the true Han civilization had been created. In other words, it was the collective cultural capital of the northern aristocrats that sustained their prestige, which in turn could only be affirmed and possibly enhanced through textual corroboration and solidification of a cultural and political past that had become anything but a fleeting memory. It was in the proffering, protecting, or producing of culture that various forces at the southern court would come into contact and competition, when battles in other areas had subsided.
When the founding emperor of the Liang dynasty, Xiao Yan, entered the southern capital of Jiankang 建康 (modern Nanjing) in 501 at the head of his conquering army, it had been three centuries since the last Han emperor had been abducted and reduced to a bargaining chip. In the interim, political dramas of all kinds had been staged and witnessed. It was evident to the astute and triumphant general that staying in power after his immediate military victory would be the more challenging task. That may explain why Xiao Yan did not rush to assume the throne. Instead he took time to do things properly by ritual standards, i.e., according to the “books,” some of which had to be created by his own supporters. There was no reason not to believe that this was the chance to end the “dark ages” and found a great and enduring dynasty. As a matter of fact, Xiao Yan enjoyed a full complement of the expected auspicious signs including a male successor, Xiao Tong, born only when Xiao Yan was already forty years of age. The birth of this heir, accompanied as it was by other favorable portents, became an especially encouraging omen of a promising new age. The History of the Southern Dynasties (Nan shi 南史) notes the birth of Xiao Tong as one of the heavenly instigations for Xiao Yan’s overthrow of the Qi in the following way:
The Crown Prince of Resplendent Brilliance, [Xiao] Tong, style name Bestower of Virtue, nickname Vima[lakirti], was the eldest son of Emperor Wu. He was born in Xiangyang in the ninth month of the first year of the Zhongxing reign [501]. Turning forty, Emperor Wu had only now produced an heir. At the time Xu Yuanyu14 had capitulated, and moreover an envoy from Jingzhou also reported: “Xiao Yingzhou (462-501)15 has died suddenly.” These were called “Three Felicities.” Shortly thereafter, Jianye was taken.
14 Xu Yuanyu was the general guarding the residence of Prime Minister, who also served as governor of the capital. After his surrender, Xu escaped to Guangdong where he had been based, but was captured and killed by then governor Yue Ai 樂藹 in 503. See Liang shu 1.12, 17.283, and 19.303.
15 Xiao Yingzhou was the Qi prime minister. For his biography, see Nan Qi shu 38.665-74.
introduction 7
The cognoscenti knew these [events] were gathered together by Heaven’s decree.
昭明太子統字德施, 小字維摩, 武帝長子也。以齊中興元年九月生于襄陽。
武帝既年垂強仕 , 方有冢嗣 ; 時徐元瑜降 ; 而續又荊州使至 , 云 : 「蕭穎冑暴 卒。」時人謂之三慶。少日而建鄴平, 識者知天命所集。16
Xiao Tong’s birth was taken as an auspicious portent, namely signifying heaven’s sanction of Xiao Yan’s imperial aspirations. This son would become the bearer of a new era and the insurer of continuity. However, installing Xiao Tong as crown prince was not uncontroversial, as the History of the Liang Dynasty (Liang shu 梁書) reports that Xiao Tong’s initiation as crown prince was only made after persistent requests by court officials. The emperor himself openly resisted naming Xiao Tong the crown prince, citing a lack of stipulations in the new administration.17 The real concern, however, was probably Xiao Zhengde 蕭正德 (d. 549), an heir whom Xiao Yan had previously adopted from his younger brother Xiao Hong 蕭宏 (473-526).18 The adoption took place in 499 when Xiao Yan’s first wife Xi (or Chi) Hui 郗徽 (468-499) had passed away, leaving behind only three daughters. As he himself was about to turn forty years old, Xiao Yan had not expected the arrival of a son of his own, at least not so soon. Xiao Tong’s mother was Ding Lingguang 丁令光 (585-526), a maid whom Xiao Yan had taken as his second wife upon the death of Xi Hui and who was only sixteen years old when she gave birth to Xiao Tong.19 Although a “felicity” for the soon-to-be emperor and the new dynasty, the arrival of Xiao Tong was a personal disaster for Xiao Zhengde, especially when what he stood to lose was an empire. Disowned and disaffected, Xiao Zhengde would always be an incipient peril for the dynasty.20 He was not the only case, though.
Xiao Zong 蕭綜 (502-532), born of Lady Wu (Wu shuyuan 吳淑媛) proved another threat to the Liang from the inside. Lady Wu probably had
16 Nan shi 53.1307.
17 Liang shu 2.38.
18 For Xiao Hong’s biography, see Liang shu 22.339-41 and Nan shi 51.1275-79. For Xiao Zhengde’s biography, see Liang shu 55.828-29 and Nan shi 51.1279-82. For a summary of major life events of Xiao Zhengde and Xiao Hong, see Fu Gang, Xiao Tong, pp. 63-70.
19 For Xi Hui’s biography, see Liang shu 7.157-158. For Ding Lingguang’s biography, see Liang shu 7.160-161. Also see Fu, Xiao Tong, p. 71.
20 Xiao Zhengde was the one eventually to let in the rebel general Hou Jing 侯景 (?-552) who brought destruction upon the Liang. See Fu, Xiao Tong, p. 70. For circumstances of Liang’s fall, see Liang shu 56.833-863 and Scott Pearce, “Who, and What was Hou Jing?”, Early Medieval China 6 (2000): 49–73.
already conceived Xiao Zong by the Qi emperor Xiao Baojuan 蕭寶卷 (r. 499-501) when she was taken into Xiao Yan’s harem. Only seven months later, she gave birth to Xiao Zong who long harbored suspicion about his own identity. Xiao Yan’s blindness to the matter eventually pushed the alleged Liang prince to conduct a folk “DNA test” by dropping his own blood onto the late Qi emperor’s bone excavated from the tomb and watched it be absorbed. The result of such compatibility presumably proved him right. He was, since then, compromised in his loyalty toward Xiao Yan, and secretly harbored rebellious thoughts and eventually put them into actual plans.21
Despite the inconvenient matter of the emperor’s adopted son, Xiao Tong was installed as crown prince in the eleventh month of the first year of the Tianjian 天監 reign (502—the precise date is December 24, 502). Every step the prince took and every aspect of his life, from now on, would be punctiliously orchestrated in accordance with that of a future ruler. He was provided with a comprehensive education in Buddhist scriptures as well as Confucian classics. Not only did the prince learn most of these texts by heart, it was also arranged for him, starting at a tender age, to elucidate their meaning in front of a learned audience. In addition to Xiao Tong’s remarkable intellectual capacity, the Liang shu praises the prince’s pleasant mien and literary talent:
The crown prince was handsome in his appearance and proper in demeanor. When he read he apprehended several lines all at once and remembered all that he read. On occasions of excursion, banquets, and farewell parties, he would compose poems of over ten couplets. At times he was ordered to compose in verse using difficult rhymes, and in each instance he would promptly write his inspiration down without any correction or alteration.
太子美姿貌 , 善舉止。讀書數行並下 , 過目皆憶。每遊宴祖道 , 賦詩至十數 韻。或命作劇韻賦之, 皆屬思便成, 無所點易。22
On other aspects of Xiao Tong’s life, historians give accounts that are invariably laudatory; his image as a “benevolent and virtuous” ( rende 仁德) heir apparent is well established and remains largely unchallenged and unscrutinized to this day. Even the obvious puzzle of Xiao Tong’s early death has not been fully addressed. This book is an attempt to readdress exisiting narratives on the Liang and Southern Dynasties literature by integrating historical records with
21 Liang shu 55.823-5 and Nan shi 53.1315-1318.
22 Liang shu 8.166.
personal writings, literary and otherwise, in the study of Xiao Tong, together with his close circle headed by important historical personages such as Shen Yue 沈約 (441-513) and Liu Xiaochuo 劉孝綽 (481-539). My investigation of the Liang court culture and politics allows us to see that how inaccurately the Southern Dynasties literature has been represented. Far from being “frivilous” or “morally suspect,” writers from the period, as we shall see, strive to be “balanced” and “courtly.” These are not only desirable as literary qualities, but also evince a certain degree of truth in personal cultivation and political conduct.
I shall also suggest that Xiao Tong’s death was most likely a result of his falling out of favor with the emperor when the Liang crown prince abandoned Buddhism as a personal pursuit and denounced it as a politically viable model. This clash and its consequences represented a cultural and political divide in the early sixth century which is analogous to what was taking place in the field of literary criticism and is similarly reflective of a shared quest for political relevance and sense of historical urgency among the power elite. Tian Xiaofei has rightly pointed out an important feature of the Liang political culture, i.e., that literary accomplishments gradually took the place of lineage in personality evaluation and hence played a major role in access to power.23 In establishing standards for this new field of competition, much debate focused on the issue of established practice vs. innovation, and ancient vs. contemporary.24 This “keen awareness of the opposition between ‘old’ and ‘modern’” and the “deliberate pursuit of novelty,” ostensibly present in the literary field, were indeed part and parcel of a collective mentality that was caught in the middle of a tremendous historical potential. The audacity to break apart from the old and embrace something radically different came out of the anxiety of being trapped in a field of historical inertia.
For the Xiao ruling family, the urgent question was how to construct a cultural dominance that would effect a political and historical transmutation to put an end to the subordinate status of the southern court as an exile regime. However, the two critical members of the Xiao family were drawn towards two different visions. For Xiao Yan, Buddhism not only supplied the benefit of redeeming the violent purging of enemies that haunted his personal past, but also placed him high above members of the old aristocracy and thus granted him unquestionable legitimacy and supremacy. Xiao Tong, however, had a uniquely different perspective
23 Tian Xiaofei, Beacon Fire, pp. 39-52.
24 Ibid., pp. 150-60.
from his father, as he was born into rulership and thus legitimization was not among his concerns. Xiao Tong’s ideas of rulership derived largely from a synthesized version of classical learning that integrated what we would call Confucianism and philosophical Taoism. This eclectic yet sophisticated school of thinking, often simply called “Arcane Learning” (xuanxue 玄學), is widely known to have been particularly popular among southern-born intellectuals even while its impact on Liang intellectual and political life is still underestimated. Xiao Tong received this influence from the erudite Shen Yue who played a key role in the crown prince’s early education. Xiao Tong would have agreed with his father that change and transformation were needed. Judging from his writings, however, the crown prince would also have disapproved of how drastic the Liang emperor’s measures were.
This study of the Liang crown prince also aims to complement, if not complicate, recent scholarly efforts in rectifying previous misinterpretations of Six Dynasties literature by bringing to light a body of extremely important yet neglected texts. Most of these texts were written by, to, or for Xiao Tong. In many cases, the texts treated in this study demonstrate that endeavors in literary production are indicative of and sometimes directly the result of a larger historical context and specific political events. The cultural life of the Southern Dynasties has predominantly been noted for its turning outward and away from conventional norms and established orthodoxy, yet beneath the surface of escapism and externalization was a deep and definitive current of introspection. Buddhism and religious Taoism as new alternatives were pursued not to supplant orthodox teachings, but rather to reach a higher level of philosophical understanding that would reveal essences of exisiting thoughts yet transcend the limits of them. The pursuit of transformation and transcendence is an outbound process that has its destination within the self. This can be interpreted as an implicit quest to end the long political disunion of the empire and resurrect a strong and unified dynasty, but it also signifies the endeavor to create monumental literary writings that surpass those of previous ages. Xiao Tong’s political ambition unfortunately expired with his early death, but his writings, if read with a consideration of his perspective as a future ruler, should offer us a glimpse of a political and philosophical alternative that could have changed the course of events on a large scale.
Chapter One of this study first discusses the establishment of Xiao Tong as crown prince and the political meaning embedded in the role and
expected from the actions of a crown prince. A group of poems written by Xiao Tong in his teenage years together with other members of his court is examined to reveal the political philosophy that Xiao Tong was exposed to in the course of his education. Through a careful exploration of the meaning behind a seemingly simple concept of “big versus small,” the metaphysical significance of this duality in the political thought of early medieval China can be seen. This illustrates how Shen Yue, as the crown prince’s teacher and someone steeped in such thinking, intended this literary exercise to be a lesson on rulership. The fundamental principle unfolded here is one of the elements of paradoxical thinking prized in philosophical Taoism. A brief account of Xiao Tong’s entourage is also provided together with an examination of how the crown prince was portrayed in the official history as a Confucian ruler.
Chapter Two begins with background information on the Wen xuan, the work that Xiao Tong is chiefly known for today, followed by an examination of Xiao Tong’s literary thought as seen from his preface to the Wen xuan. Since the compilation of a comprehensive literary anthology signifies the affirmation of cultural power by the aspiring young ruler of a new dynasty, we can see how Xiao Tong aimed to define literature as both a state enterprise and a matter of private aestheticism. Consistent with a dualistic political philosophy, the Liang crown prince’s literary vision reveals an emphasis on balance and eclecticism that was termed “gentlemanly style.” A number of poems and letters exchanged between Xiao Tong and his brothers are translated and analyzed to further illustrate the convergence of Xiao Tong’s literary style and political thinking. Chapter Three takes up the writings of Liu Xiaochuo, the most important member of Xiao Tong’s court, as an example to analyze what exactly defined the “gentlemanly style” and why it was so prized at the Liang court.
Chapter Four takes a close look at Xiao Tong’s Buddhist activities. As a member of the Xiao imperial family in which the emperor’s adoption of Buddhism is all too well-known, Xiao Tong is often mistakenly regarded as a Buddhist himself. But this common characterization of the crown prince is far from the truth, as demonstrated by a series of documents connected with his Buddhist activities concentrated around the late 510s, when he was approaching twenty years of age. A close reading of these documents reveals that Xiao Tong’s Buddhist activities were impelled by the emperor’s campaign to promote Buddhism. Despite Xiao Tong’s lectures on Buddhism and the historical account of his Buddhist activities,
the prince eventually decided to vocalize his dissent from the emperor’s employment of Buddhism in Liang political life. The startlingly straightforward disagreement expressed in the poems Xiao Tong exchanged with his father on the occasion of Buddhist excursions and assemblies has never received serious attention from scholars. The importance of this episode in Xiao Tong’s life is far-reaching, and it is probably that his overt expression of disenchantment with Buddhism eventually led to his discontent with the emperor.
Chapter Five explores the cultural and political significance of reclusion among members of Xiao Tong’s entourage and its impact on Xiao Tong’s personal and political life. A perennial theme in the life of Chinese intellectuals, reclusion came to be closely associated with Taoist quietism along with a philosophical outlook informed by “Arcane Learning.” Not only were its moral high ground and political freedom appealing for those who would contemplate reclusion, other attractive aspects were the discursive dualism and philosophical relativism that had become an intrinsic part of intellectual discourse due to the pervasive new interpretations of the Taoist texts Laozi and Zhuangzi, and the “Confucian” Yijing, that had emerged in the fourth century. When Xiao Tong’s political life came to a halt due to a series of setbacks in the 520s, he first appealed for moral support from the famed recluse He Yin 何胤 (446-531) whom his father had highly honored. After He Yin rejected his appeals, Xiao Tong resorted to philosophizing about the self, prompted by a discussion on the life and works of the revered Jin 晉 dynasty recluse Tao Yuanming 陶淵明 (365427). This piece, probably the last significant writing by Xiao Tong, again embodies an eclectic philosophy that underlies his literary and political thinking.
CHAPTER ONE
BORN AND BRED TO BE A RULER
What Is in a Name?
The name Xiao Tong 蕭統, given to the young infant born to the triumphant general Xiao Yan 蕭衍, was well thought out. The literal meaning of Tong 統 is the head of the filament in a silkworm cocoon, and the character is often used in its symbolic sense to denote the beginning of an enduring and continuous dynasty, hence the frequent English translation of “unification.” If a father’s role is to start an enterprise, then that of the son is to carry it on. Xiao Yan had eight sons whose names all contain characters sharing the “silk” radical and have a common semantic core of “continuation.” “Tong” as the name for the first-born son was particularly significant. So was the prince’s style name Deshi 德施, literally “spreading virtue,” the prerogative and responsibility of an imperial ruler. Such was the expectation placed on Xiao Tong at his birth.
Establishment of the Eastern Palace
When Xiao Tong was formally invested as crown prince, an administration for him was established in the Bureau of Eternal Blessing (Yongfu sheng 永福省). Due to his tender age, Xiao Tong was allowed frequent visits and extended stays with his mother. It was under close supervision of the emperor that Xiao Tong commenced his early education. At the age of three, the prince was instructed in the Classic of Filial Piety (Xiao jing 孝經) and the Analects (Lunyu 論語) by Yu Qianlou 庾黔婁 (ca. 470-510), a man known not only for his profound understanding of the Classic of Filial Piety but also extraordinary conduct as a filial son.1
In the year 506, Shen Yue 沈約 (441-513) was appointed in the crown prince’s administration as Supervisor of the Household of the Heir
1 Liang shu 47.650-51. It is in the section on “Exemplars of Filial Piety” (xiaoxing 孝行) that we find Yu Qianlou’s biography. Given as evidence of his extraordinary conduct in filial piety, Yu is reported to have tasted his father’s stool in order to tell how sick his father was.
Apparent (Taizi zhanshi 太子詹事).2 An important figure at the southern court, Shen had played a significant role in founding the Liang state. One of the major projects he undertook immediately was to rebuild the Eastern Palace, first constructed in 438 during the reign of Emperor Wen of the Song 宋文帝 (r. 425-453). During the Liang overthrow of the Qi dynasty, the palace had been burned down and would take ten months to rebuild. After its completion, Xiao Tong left the inner palace at the age of seven and took up residence in the Eastern Palace.
As a separate administrative and living quarters for Xiao Tong, the Eastern Palace symbolized the independence of the crown prince. His relocation there was in consequence an important event, and we have two official documents composed for the occasion. One was written by Lu Chui 陸倕 (470-526) on behalf of the younger prince Xiao Zong, congratulating the crown prince.3 It reads:
周固本枝 In strengthening their own blood line,
寔資明兩 The Zhou [dynasty] relied on the Bright Double.4
漢啟盤石 In laying a foundation stone for the imperial clan,
必係元良 The Han [dynasty] bound it around the Prime Excellence.5
所以 Thereupon,
闡弘祚鼎 The blessed cauldron was broadly upheld.
光崇守器 The guarded vessel was brightly exalted.6
伏惟皇太子 Respectfully, I consider the Crown Prince:
道契生知 With his birth came knowledge of the Inscribed Way;
照均天縱 Lavished by heaven was the Potter’s Wheel;7
不藉審諭之功 No want of work for explication;
無待溫文之輔 No need for a lesson on gentility.
而冬書秋記 You study the Documents in the winter and the Records [of Rites] in the fall,
2 See Liang shu 13.235. For Shen Yue’s biography, see Liang shu 13.232-45 and Nan shi 57.1403-15. For studies on Shen Yue, see Mather, The Poet Shen Yüeh and Yao Zhenli, Shen Yue ji qi xueshu tanjiu. For translations of Shen’s poetry, see Mather, The Age of Eternal Brilliance.
3 For Lu Chui’s biography, see Liang shu 21.401-3 and Nan shi 48.1192-3.
4 Mingliang is a kenning for Crown Prince.
5 Yuanliang is another kenning for Crown Prince.
6 Both cauldron and vessel are metyonymy for the royal house.
7 I read zhaojun 照均 as a variant for taojun 陶均(鈞).
Born and Bred to be a Ruler 15
夙表睿資 Invariably displaying your inborn discernment;
春誦夏絃 You recite the Odes in the spring and devote to the [Canon of] Music in the summer.
幼彰神度 Even in youth, you’ve shown a divine bearing;
雖復直門守令 Toward even guards and clerks,
長壽察微 You’ve given the greeting “To your long life!” and been attentive to details.8
魏贊多容 The Wei [dynasty] applauded [Lu Luyuan] for boundless toleration;9
漢稱寬博 The Han [dynasty] praised [Liu Ao] for broad-mindedness.
不足以連輝茂則 Neither were sufficient to join in your brilliance or surpass your mark.
疋景令圖 Or match your fine prospect and excellent outlook.
甲觀惟新 Number One Tower has just been finished;10
桂宮告始 Magnolia Palace reports its completion.11
朱班徙次 Vermilion painted wheels move in order;12
翠蓋移陰 Halcyon canopies shift their shade.
華裔式瞻 Chinese and foreigners both behold you.
人祇蹈舞 Humans and gods dance alike.13
As celebratory writing, this piece first points out the significance of the crown prince as the key to dynastic continuity, for the crown prince carries on the imperial bloodline. Centering around the crown prince are other male offsprings whose enfeoffments and power bases are designed in such way that as a whole, they form a strong defense system for the capital while possibilities for cooperative conspiracy between each other against the central state are made minimal. The phrase “strengthened trunk and weakened branches” (qianggan ruozhi 強榦弱枝) is an apt metaphor used as early as during the Han dynasty to refer to such a system to ensure that the “original blood line (literally, the trunk) lasts for a hundred generations” (benzhi baishi 本支百世).14 Taking wisdom from
8 I read the phrase changshou as a form of greeting.
9 See Wei shu 34.801.
10 Number One Tower (Jiaguan 甲觀) is the name of a tower in the Eastern Palace of the Han dynasty. See Han shu 10.301 and Sanfu huangtu 3.7a.
11 Magnolia Palace (Guigong 桂宮) was built in 101 bce by Emperor Wu of the Han 漢武帝 (r. 140-87 bce). See Sanfu huangtu 2.6a-7a.
12 The character 班 is interchangeable with 斑, meaning “painted patterns of stripe.”
13 Quan Liang wen 53.3b. Yiwen leiju 16.302.
14 Shi ji 17.803. 而漢郡八九十, 形錯諸侯間, 犬牙相臨, 秉其厄塞地利, 強本幹弱 枝葉之勢, 尊卑明而萬事各得其所矣。
the historically exemplary and successful dynasties of Zhou and Han, the ambitious new Liang house designed a plan for the long term that would pivot around the crown prince praised here, both for inborn qualities befitting a ruler and the broadly esteemed virtues of cultivated diligence and humility. The establishment of the Eastern Palace, administrative seat for the crown prince, marked a ritually important commencement for both Xiao Tong and the state in which his fate would be embedded. A similar poem celebrating the same event was composed by Xu Mian
徐勉 (466-535), a former Qi minister who had joined Xiao Yan’s insurgent army at Xinlin 新林 outside the capital. After Xiao Yan succeeded in seizing the throne, Xu was made a close advisor. In addition to his assignment at the Bureau of Personnel, he was put in charge of Xiao Tong’s education. Together with Zhang Chong 張充 (449-514), Xu was known to have held classic texts for the young prince to read.15 In the following composition, Xu Mian makes reference to a celebratory gift of white silk bestowed by the prince for this occasion.
伏惟皇太子 Respectfully, I think of the crown prince,
睿情天發 Your discerning disposition has issued from heaven;
粹性玄凝 Your pure nature is congealed from the mystic.
作震春方 You generate thunder in the east.
繼離朱陸 You extend radiance to the vermilion land.
嘉日茂辰 On this fine day and at this felicitous hour,
畢宮告始 The entire palace reports its completion.
龍樓起耀 From Dragon Tower, a bright glow appears;16
博望增華 From Broad Vista, a glorious luster emanates.17
In this short excerpt of Xu Mian’s piece, what is notable is the use of allusion to The Classic of Changes to evoke correlative associations among the palace location, the timely inauguration, the cosmic power the crown prince commands, and the political weight of Xiao Tong in the Liang imperial system. Two of the eight trigrams employed are zhen (in the fourth line of the excerpt) and li (in the fifth line). Zhen, composing of one solid line on the bottom and two sets of broken lines on the top, denotes an arousing movement. This trigram correlates to thunder in nature,
15 See Liang shu 25.377-89 and Nan shi 60.1477-86.
16 Dragon Tower was a gate tower in the Crown Prince palace during the Han. See Han shu 10.301.
17 See Quan Liang wen 50.5a-b. Broad Vista was the name of an imperial garden in the Western Han. It was built by Emperor Wu for Crown Prince Liu Ju 劉據 (128 bce-91 bce) where he could meet his guests. See Sanfu huangtu 4.3a-b.
Born and Bred to be a Ruler 17
spring in the seasonal cycle, green in color, east in direction, and first son in family relationship. Zhen is also one of the sixty-four hexagrams, formed by stacking two zhen trigrams and signifying great energy and power that inspires awe of its inner strength. The hexagram li is another double sign composed of two li trigrams, each comprising a broken line sandwiched between two solid lines. It is the next cyclical phase after zhen, representing summer in the seasonal cycle, red in color, south in cardinal direction, and brightness.
These two hexagrams, interpreted in terms of rulership, aptly capture the quality of an heir apparent who, blessed with great potential, is on the course to realize it, i.e., to become a superior ruler. In the hermeneutics of the Classic of Changes, the crown prince is dubbed the “Bright Double” and compared to the sun and moon. Though not yet the monarch, it is his great potentiality waiting to be released that justifies the crown prince being ranked as the emperor’s “Bright Double.” As the succeeding younger ruler, the crown prince is both the thunder that heralds the arrival of something great and new, and the light-giving sun and moon. It is this dynamic movement and change that characterizes the crown prince and distinguishes him from the emperor. To a large extent, establishing the crown prince’s own residence and administrative seat is a significant event that marks the beginning of a new era. Granted, this system and practice propagating the crown prince’s power was not invented by the Liang ministers but rather something they inherited from the Han, the great empire that still loomed large in the minds of its successors.
While the names of Zhou and Han are cited explicitly in above poems, there are also lines in which the Liang Eastern Palace and its chambers are compared to or referred to by the names of the towers and galleries built for crown prince under the Han dynasty. The purpose of these Han palatial buildings went beyond their residential function: Liu Ju’s 劉據 (128bce.-91bce.) biography in the Han shu says the following about the construction of Broad Vista Garden (Bowang yuan 博望苑): “After [Liu Ju] had his capping ceremony [coming-of-age rite] and moved to the palace, the emperor built Broad Vista Garden for him to socialize with his guests.”18 For the next two decades, the Eastern Palace would likewise become a center for literary activities and scholarly production in the Liang state.
18 Han shu 63.2741.
Writing Profundity and Subtlety: Speaking of the Big and the Small Shen Yue was probably the most important person who instructed and influenced Xiao Tong before his coming of age. This was by no means coincidental. Shen was an exceptionally prominent statesman in the fifth and early sixth century, with a political career that spanned three dynasties and reached its pinnacle during the Liang. He had urged Xiao Yan to take the throne himself, for which encouragement the Liang emperor on one occasion expressed his indebtedness to his old friend: “Since I raised the army it has been three years. There are many generals and vassals who contributed to my cause. However, you two are the ones who helped me become emperor.”19 The second person referred to by the emperor is Fan Yun 范雲 (451-503), who like Shen Yue had become acquainted with Xiao Yan as early as the 480s at the residence of Xiao Ziliang, the Qi dynasty Prince of Jingling 竟陵. Xiao Yan rewarded these two onetime literary companions with high positions for their assistance in establishing the Liang dynasty. As noted above, Shen Yue was put in charge of Xiao Tong’s education and remained in that capacity until his death in 513. Among Xiao Tong’s extant works is a set of poems, unique in content and style, that may allow us to travel back in time and glimpse the interactions between the elderly erudite and Xiao Tong, together with his study companions.
This group of poems is titled “Poems of Magniloquence” (Dayan shi 大 言詩) and “Diminiloquence” (Xiaoyan shi 小言詩).20 There were altogether six composers: Shen Yue, Xiao Tong, Yin Jun 殷鈞 (484-532), Wang Gui 王規 (492-536), Wang Xi 王錫 (499-534), and Zhang Zuan 張纘 (499-549), and each wrote a pair of poems on “magniloquence” and “diminiloquence,” with the former a description of an exaggeratedly large universe and the latter the opposite, giving a portrayal of an exaggeratedly miniscule world.
This writing practice followed a long tradition. The terms dayan 大言 and xiaoyan 小言 are first seen in the Zhuangzi 莊子, Chapter “On Making Things Equal” (Qiwu lun 齊物論):
Great words are clear and limpid; little words are shrill and quarrelsome.21
19 See Liang shu 13.234.
20 For xiaoyan, alternatively known as xiyan 細言, my original translation was “miniloquence.” I owe the word “diminiloquence” for xiaoyan or xiyan to Timothy O’Neill.
21 Watson, Zhuangzi, p. 32.
Or
Born and Bred to be a Ruler 19
Big talk is bland and flavorless; petty talk is detailed and fragmented.22
大言炎炎, 小言詹詹23
In this context, the meaning of dayan and xiaoyan has nothing to do with talking in exaggerated terms. However, hyperbolic discussions on differences between “that which is big” (da 大) and “that which is small” (xiao 小) are found in the famous “Xiaoyao you” 逍遙游 chapter in the Zhuangzi. That section presents contrasts between “small knowledge” ( xiaozhi 小 知) and “big knowledge” (dazhi 大知), “small year” (xiaonian 小年) and “big year” (danian 大年).24 This is certainly part of Zhuangzi’s formulation to illuminate the important philosophical principle of relativity in perspective, as in the well-known story of his butterfly dream. The vivid images in this chapter represent the varied scales of the universe as seen from different perspectives, such as those of the enormous kun 鯤 fish and the gigantic peng 鵬 bird in contrast to those of cicadas and doves. This passage fed the imagination of posterity concerning hyperbolic diction.
Yet more than simply literary attraction is needed to explain the enduring tradition of the dayan/xiaoyan contrast, of which the earliest pieces are attributed to Song Yu 宋玉 (fl. 298-263 bce.). Guwen yuan 古文苑, a Song dynasty literary anthology compiled by Zhang Qiao 章譙 (jinshi 1213) with writings not found in the Wen xuan 文選 or other earlier sources such as the official histories, lists one “Dayan fu” 大言賦 and one “Xiaoyan fu” 小言賦 by an unknown Warring States writer.25 Zhang Qiao, in his commentary on the title, points out a quotation from the The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong 中庸) in the Records of Rites (Liji 禮記) that may complement the meaning of the paired phrases as used in the Zhuangzi. A proper understanding requires restoring these abstruse lines to their original context. I therefore quote in full the passage in which the relevant phrase is embedded.
The proper way (dao) of exemplary persons (junzi) is both broad and hidden. The dullest of ordinary men and women can know something of it, and yet even the sages (shengren) in trying to penetrate to its furthest limits do not know it all. The most unworthy of common men and women are
22 Ziporyn, Zhuangzi, p. 10.
23 See Zhuangzi jishi 1B.51.
24 Zhuangzi jishi 1A.11.
25 In Zhang Qiao’s preface to the Guwen yuan, he attributed the compilation of this work to an unnamed person from the Tang dynasty.
Another random document with no related content on Scribd:
during that time; but when the sword was afterwards taken away from him, he died immediately.
After that, therefore, he blessed Dermach, and left a custodian of his people there, viz., Cormac Ua Liathain.[995]
He went subsequently to Aedh Slane,[996] son of Diarmait. He arrived at the place in which to-day is Cenandas,[997] viz., it was the dunof the king of Eriu then, the dunof Diarmait mac Cerbaill. When Colum Cille tarried[998] at the door of the dun, he began predicting what would be the fate of the place[999] afterwards; and he said to Becc mac Dead,[1000] i.e.the royal prophet of Diarmait mac Cerbaill:
Tell me, O Becc—
Broad, bright-grassed Cenandas— What clerics shall possess it, What young men[1001] shall abandon it?
Ut dixit Becc:—
The clerics who are on its floor Sing the praises of a king’s son; Its young men[1001] depart from its threshold; A time shall be when ’twill be sure.[1002]
He afterwards marked out that city in the form in which it is, and blessed it all; and said that it should be the highest[1003] establishment[1004] he would have in the lands, although it was not in it his resurrection would be. And as he was uttering[1005] this prophecy he turned his face to the south-west, and laughed very much. Boithin asked him the cause of the joy. ‘A son[1006] of life,’ said Colum Cille, ‘that shall be born in one night[1006] to the Lord, in this solitude[1007] to the west;’ to wit, Grafann[1008] of Cill-Scire he predicted then, as it was fulfilled afterwards.
A great oak, moreover, under which Colum Cille was whilst he was in that place—that oak lived for long ages, until it was thrown down by a great storm of wind; when a certain man took some of its bark
to tan his shoes. As soon, however, as he put on his shoes after tanning them, leprosy seized[1009] him from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.
Colum Cille went afterwards to Aedh Slane; and he uttered[1010] a prophecy unto him, and said to him that he would be long-lived if he were not fratricidal. If he committed fratricide, however, there would not be but four years of his age.[1011]
He (Colum Cille) then blessed a cloak[1012] for him (Aedh Slane), and said that he could not be wounded while that cloak would be about him. Aedh Slane, however, committed fratricide, against Colum Cille’s injunction, on Suibhne,[1013] son of Colman. At the end of four years afterwards he went on an expedition. He forgot his cloak. He was slain on that day.
Colum Cille founded many churches after that in Brega.[1014] He also left many patrons[1015] and reliquaries in them. He left Ossine, son of Cellach, in Cluain-mor of Fir-arda.[1016]
He went after that to Manister.[1017] It was there his crozier[1018] struck against the glass ladder by which Buite ascended to heaven, so that its sound was heard throughout the whole church; and he discovered the grave of Buite, and measured his church,[1019] as Buite himself predicted on the day of his death. For great was the number of churches he marked out, and of books he wrote, as the poet said:—
Three hundred he measured, without fault,[1020]
Of churches fair,’tis true; And three hundred splendid,[1021] lasting books, Noble-bright he wrote.
Whatever book, moreover, his hand would write, how long soever it would be under water, not even one letter in it would be obliterated.[1022]
He founded a church in Rechra[1023] of the east of Brega, and left Deacon Colman in it.
One time they were in that church, viz., Colum Cille, and Comgall, and Cainnech. Comgall said that Colum Cille should make the
offering of the body and blood of Christ in their presence. Colum Cille obeyed them[1024] regarding that. And it was then that Cainnech saw a fiery column over Colum Cille’s head, while he was engaged in the offering. Cainnech told this to Comgall, and both of them afterwards saw the column.
He founded a church in the place where Sord[1025] is to-day: and left an eminent man of his people there, to wit, Finan Lobur. And he left there the Gospel his own hand had written. He also marked out a well there, the name of which is Sord,[1026] i.e.pure, and blessed a cross; for it was a custom of his to make crosses and polaires,[1027] and book-satchels, and ecclesiastical implements, as the poet said[1028]:—
He blessed three hundred excellent[1029] crosses, Three hundred wells that abundant were; A hundred fine artistic polaires;[1027] With a hundred croziers, with a hundred satchels.
One day Colum Cille and Cainnech were on the sea-shore. There was a great storm on the sea. Cainnech said, ‘What sings the wave?’[1030] ‘Thy people,’ said Colum Cille, ‘that were in danger a while ago, on the sea, so that one of them died; and the Lord will bring him to us in the morning[1031] to-morrow, to this shore on which we are.’
[Colum[1032] Cille left a cleric of his people in Derry, to wit, Dacuilen, in his comarbship;[1033] viz., a cleric of his (Colum Cille’s) own tribe was he. And he left to the Cenel-Conaill[1034] the viceabbotship of the same place, and the headship of its divines. He[1035] went afterwards to Drumcliff,[1036] and blessed that place, and left a man of his people there, viz., Mothairen[1037] of Drumcliff; and he left the headship, and the patronage, and the comarbship, of that place with the Cenel-Conaill[1034] for ever.]
One time Brigid was going over the Curragh of the Liffey.[1038] And when the virgin saw the beautiful shamrock-flowery[1039] plain before her, what she said in her mind was, that if she had the
ownership[1040] of the plain, she would present it to the Lord of the elements.
This thing, moreover, was manifested to Colum Cille, and he in his recles[1041] in Sord;[1042] and he said, with a loud voice, ‘What has occurred to the virgin saint is strange; for it is the same to her if the land she offered to Him belonged to the Lord,[1043] as if it rightfully belonged to herself.’
He went afterwards to the Leinstermen, with whom he left numerous churches which he had founded, including Druimmonach[1044] and Moen,[1045] and several other churches.
Colum Cille proceeded afterwards to Clonmacnois, with the hymn which he had composed for Ciaran; because he composed many eulogies of God’s people, as the poet said[1046]:—
Thrice fifty noble lays the apostle made,
Whose miracles are more numerous than grass; Some in Latin, which were beguiling;[1047]
Some in Gaelic, fair the tale.
It was in Cluain,[1048] also, the little boy went to him, and pulled a small hair[1049] out of his garment without being observed by him. God manifested this thing to him, however; and he predicted for the boy, that he would be a sage, and would be devout. He is Ernan[1050] of Cluain-Deochra[1051] to-day.
Colum Cille went after that into the territories of Connacht, on his visit of instruction, when he founded many churches and establishments in that province, including Es-mic-Eirc[1052] and Druim-cliabh.[1053] He left Mothoria[1054] in Druim-cliabh,[1053] and left with him a bachall[1055] which he himself had made.
Colum Cille went after that across Es-Ruaidh,[1056] and founded many churches amongst Conall[1057] and Eoghan.[1058]
He founded Torach,[1059] and left an eminent man of his people in it, to wit, Ernaine.
When Colum Cille, however, had made the circuit of all Eriu; and when he had sown faith and religion; when numerous multitudes had been baptized by him; when he had founded churches and
establishments, and had left in them seniors,[1060] and reliquaries, and relics of martyrs, the determination that he had determined from the beginning of his life came into[1061] his mind—viz., to go in pilgrimage. He then meditated going,[1062] across the sea, to preach the word of God to the men of Alba, and to the Britons, and to the Saxons. He went, therefore, on a voyage.
His age was 42 when he went. He was 34 [years] in Alba. His entire age was 77. And the number that went with him,[1063] moreover, was 20 bishops, 40 priests, 30 deacons, and 50 students, ut dixit:—
His company was forty priests, Twenty bishops of noble worth; For the psalm-singing, without dispute, Thirty deacons, fifty youths.[1064]
He went afterwards, in good spirits,[1065] until he reached the place the name of which to-day is Hii-Coluim-Cille. On Quinguagesima night, moreover, he arrived.
Two bishops that were in the place[1066] came to receive his submission[1067] from him. But God manifested to Colum Cille that they were not in truth bishops; wherefore it was that they left the island to him,[1068] when he exposed[1069] their real history and career.
Colum Cille then said to his people, ‘It is good for us that our roots should go under the ground here.’ And he said to them, ‘It is permitted to you, that some one of you may go under the clay of this island, to consecrate it.’
Odran rose up obediently,[1070] and what he said was, ‘If you would accept me,’ said he, ‘I am ready for that.’
‘O Odran,’ said Colum Cille, ‘thou shalt have the reward therefore, viz., his prayer shall not be granted to any one at my grave,[1071] unless it is from thee[1072] he asks it first.’ Odran went then to heaven.
He (Colum Cille) afterward founded the church of Hii. He had thrice fifty persons in it[1073] for meditation,[1074] under monastic rule, [1075] and sixty for manual labour, as the poet said[1076]:—
Illustrious the soldiery[1077] that was in Hii, Thrice fifty in monastic rule; With their Curachs, along the sea, For rowing were threescore men.
When Colum Cille founded Hii, he went on his circuit of instruction among the men of Alba, and the Britons and Saxons, until he brought them to faith and religion, after he had wrought many miracles, and had awakened the dead from death.
There was a certain man in the country, moreover, to whom Colum Cille preached until he believed, with all his people, in the Lord. This thing filled the demon with envy;[1078] and he afflicted[1079] the son of that man with a heavy illness, so that he died thereof. The Gentiles were afterwards reproving Christ and Colum Cille, until he (C. C.) made earnest prayer to God, and awakened the dead boy from death.
As Colum Cille was on a certain day preaching to the multitudes, a certain man went from them across the river that was near them, in order that he might not be listening to the Word of God. The serpent seized him in the water, and killed him immediately. His body was brought into the presence of Colum Cille, who made a cross with his bachallover his (the dead man’s) breast; and he arose forthwith.
A severe illness attacked[1080] his attendant, whose name was Diarmait, so that he died; but he (C. C.) prayed for him,[1081] and he was awakened from death. And not only this, but he (C. C.) entreated for him (Diarmait) an existence of seven years after himself.
One time when Cainnech came away from him, from Hii, he forgot his bachallin the east.[1082] When he arrived hither,[1083] he found his bachall before him here, and Colum Cille’s shirt along with it, viz., this was Cainnech’s share of his (C. C.’s) rechull;[1084] and the reason why he (C. C.) did this was because he knew that he was nigh unto his death.
A great blushing affected him[1085] one time in Hii. The cause of the blushing was demanded of him. ‘God’s fire from heaven,’ said he,
‘that has now come upon three cities in Italy, and has killed three thousand men, besides women, and boys, and girls.’
Another time he heard a shout in the port[1086] of Hii, whereupon he said:
A rustic[1087] is in the port, With his bachallin his hand, Who’ll visit my hornlet, And spill my ink. He will then bend down,[1088] To visit my pax, And he’ll touch my hornlet, And will leave it empty.
Another time Baithin left Colum Cille cooking a beef for the labourers. There was an ex-warrior[1089] of the men of Eriu with them, viz., Maeluma, son of Baetan. Colum Cille asked him what was the extent of his appetite[1090] when he was a young warrior. Maeluma said, ‘I would consume a fat beef for my fill[1091] when I was a young warrior.’ Colum Cille commanded him that he should eat his fill. Maeluma did so for him, and ate the whole beef. Baithin came afterwards and asked if the food was ready. Colum Cille commanded Maeluma to collect all the bones of the beef in one place, and it was done so. Colum Cille then blessed the bones; and their own flesh was round them after that, and was taken to the workmen.
[When[1092] Colum Cille had been thirty years in Alba, great anxiety seized the men of Eriu to see him, and speak with him, before he died;[1093] and messengers went[1094] from them to meet him, that he might come to speak with them to the great convention of DruimCeta, that he might bless them in that place, men, boys, women, and that he might heal their diseases and pestilences. Or it is for three reasons Colum Cille came from the east[1095]—viz., to retain the poets in Eriu (for their exactions were great, to wit, thirty was the full company with an ollamh,[1096] and fifteen with an anradh[1097]); and to make peace between the men of Eriu and the men of Alba
regarding the Dal-Riada (for there was[1098] a battle-meeting between the men of Eriu and Alba concerning them,[1099] if Colum Cille had not come from the east to pacify them[1100]); and to release Scannlan, son of Cennfaeladh[1101]—the son of the king of Ossory whose father, moreover, had given him in hostageship into the hands of Aedh,[1102] son of Ainmire. And Colum Cille was surety to him that he would be released at the end of a year; and he was not released, and no hostage was accepted in his stead. And a wicker building[1103] was constructed round him, without any passage out of it save a way through which a modicum of salt food, and a small allowance[1104] of ale, used to be given to him. And fifty warriors were wont to be around the building[1103] outside, guarding him. And there were nine chains upon him in the building.[1103] And when he would see any one going past what he would say is, ‘A drink,’ says he.
And this thing was reported to Colum Cille, to Hii, and he wept greatly at what he had heard; and this it was that brought him quickly from the east.
It is how Colum Cille, moreover, came from the east, and a blackened cloth over his eyes, and his collar[1105] down over that, and the hood[1106] of the cape down over that again, in order that he might not see the men of Eriu, nor its women; because he prophesied it before, when he went to Alba at first, and he uttered the rann—
There is a grey eye That views Eriu backwards. It will not see henceforth[1107] The men of Eriu, or its women.
And it was to certify this the poet[1108] said—
Though mild Colum did come From the east in a boat,[1109] across the sea, He saw naught in noble Eriu, After coming into the great convention.
It was reported to Aedh, son of Ainmire, moreover, that Colum Cille had come to the convention, and he was greatly vexed at what he heard, and he said that whoever he might be from whom he (C. C.) would obtain respect in the assembly, it would be avenged[1110] on him.
They afterwards saw Colum Cille going towards the convention; and the assembly[1111] that was nearest to him was the assembly[1111] of Conall, son of Aedh, son of Ainmire; and he was a worthy son of Aedh.
As Conall saw them,[1112] therefore, he incited the rabble of the assembly[1111] against them, so that three score men[1113] of them were captured and wounded.[1114] Colum Cille inquired, ‘Who is he by whom this band has been launched at us?’ And it was told to him that it was by Conall. And Colum Cille cursed Conall, until thrice nine bells[1115] were rung against him,[1116] when some man said, ‘Conall gets bells (cloga),’ and it is from this that he is called ‘Conall Clogach.’[1117] And the cleric deprived him of king-ship,[1118] and of his reason and intellect in the space of time that he would be prostrating his body.
Colum Cille went afterwards to the assembly[1111] of Domhnall, son of Aedh, son of Ainmire. And Domhnall immediately rose up before him, and bade him welcome,[1119] and kissed his cheek, and put him in his own place. And the cleric left him many blessings,[1120] viz., that he should be fifty[1121] years in the sovereignty of Eria, and be battle-victorious during that time; and that every word he would say would be fulfilled by him; that he would be one year and a half in the illness of which he would die, and would receive the body of Christ every Sunday during that time.
It was told to the queen[1122] that her son[1123] was cursed, and the kingship [promised] to Domhnall. The queen said to her handmaid, ‘Go to Aedh, and say to him that if that crane-cleric[1124] finds respect with him, I shall not be peaceable towards him.’
This thing was reported to Colum Cille, and he granted[1125] to the queen and to her handmaid that they should be two cranes[1126] in Druim-Ceta,[1127] from that day to the day of judgment, ut poeta dixit:—
The queen’s anger grew therefrom— From Domhnall being in the kingship— The promise of kingship given to Domhnall, And her own son without land.
‘What crane-work[1128] is that thou dost?’
Said the queen, most wickedly.
‘I’ll not be in peace with Aedh, plainly, For showing thee respect, O Cleric.’
‘Thou hast leave to be a crane,’
Said the cleric furiously;
‘As just punishment to thy handmaid, She’ll be a crane along with thee.’
Aedh’s wife and her waiting-maid, Were turned into herons.[1129]
They live still,[1130] and make complaint, The two old herons of Druim-Ceta.
And Colum Cille then said to Domhnall that they should both go to converse with Aedh, son of Ainmire. And Domhnall was much afraid to converse with the king. But Colum Cille said, ‘Be not much afraid, for the Holy Spirit shall be protecting thee against him.’ They went together to speak to the king.
Grievous fear seized the king afterwards [on seeing the cleric[1131]], because of the great miracle he had previously wrought. The clerics came subsequently into the assembly. The king rose and bade them welcome.
‘Our demand must be granted,’ [said Colum Cille[1132]].
‘You shall get it truly,’ said the king.
‘The poets must be retained,’ said Colum Cille.
‘It shall not be done,’ said the king, ‘for their evils against us are great.’
‘Say not so,’ observed the cleric, ‘for the praises they will sing[1133] for thee shall be enduring, as the praises the poets sung for him are enduring for Cormac,[1134] grandson of Conn. And the treasures that were given for them were transitory, while the praises live after them.’
