Su Shi: Coping with the Final Exile
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SU SHI: COPING WITH THE FINAL EXILE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES December 2020 By Gregory David Brown Dissertation Committee: Madeline K. Spring, Chairperson Edward L. Davis Robert N. Huey Yun Peng Roger T. Ames ABSTRACT This dissertation is a systematic examination of prose writings by Su Shi (1037-1101). Chinese history treats Su Shi as one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of Tang and Song. Su’s lifetime total of more than 4,800 prose texts is the largest number written among Northern Song (960-1127) literati. Although documentation on Su Shi is more substantial than for any other Northern Song literatus, this study fills a lacuna in Su’s final fourteen months of prose. This study contributes to the broader body of scholarship by focusing solely on Su Shi’s prose writings after his final exile on Hainan Island (1097-1100). I examined all prose writings by Su Shi after his notification of amnesty. My goal is to seek insights into Su’s final period of prose composition, and how Su Shi expresses his views within these texts on themes that include spiritual transcendence, religious concepts, and a search for ultimate life values. The 2010 verified dating of Su Shi’s literary production accounts for 248 prose writings after his Hainan exile. In this dissertation, twenty-four carefully selected texts from those writings are translated and analyzed as the best representing this period. Close reading of these chronologically ordered texts is supported by detailed explicating of annotations and historical circumstances surrounding each prose specimen. We obtain insights demonstrating evolving nuances in Su’s psychological, philosophical, and religious thoughts following his last exile. This dissertation epitomizes Su Shi’s coping with challenges to his life’s previously- known identity. After his Hainan exile, Su’s prose writings document him confronting three prominent themes: an unanticipated retirement suddenly erasing his political value as a scholar- official, troubling truths for spiritually transcending death, and Su’s final identifications with the Three Teachings Sanjiao 三教 of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism for unity with the Way. ii DEDICATION To Liya 礼雅 and Lisong 礼颂, live a bright and shining life. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is remarkable to complete the dissertation in this arduous year of 2020. While the post- pandemic transformation of the academic environment may be unpredictable, the rich years of interactions I had pre-pandemic with my committee members are truly a blessing. I thank you, Sima Laoshi. As my dissertation Chairperson, you guided me through every step of the process with your expertise. I am still awestricken by the depth of your teaching. I thank you, Professor Ames. I have been overwhelmed by your magnanimous sharing of the utmost wisdoms in this world, often with prodigious scholars of philosophy from across the planet, and whether it has been on the Manoa campus, in Beijing, Qufu, or Hawaii Kai. I thank you, Professor Davis. The brilliant mind of yours has always taught us graduate students to consider more ways of thinking outside of the box. It was great fortune that I met you in your history seminar class during my very first semester at UHM. My deep respect and appreciation also go to the other two meticulous scholars on my committee, our former EALL Chair, Professor Huey, and Professor Peng. Both of you always enlighten me with a wide breadth of astute insights into research and scholarship. A thank you also to our Graduate Chair, Professor Fukuda, and Cherry Lacsina for keeping the progress of my work on track during the academic library closures and other challenges in these times. Special appreciation goes to Professor Dominic Cheung at USC. Thank you, Laoshi, for opening this world to me while nurturing us graduate students under your wing. My deepest gratitude is to this rare human being, Tsuyoshi Chitose, who has guided me on my path and shared with me extraordinary knowledge, which led my study up to this day - 先生、いつもお 世話になっております. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ v LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1. OVERVIEW OF POST-HAINAN PROSE .......................................................... 22 CHAPTER 2. TRANSLATIONS OF SELECTED PROSE WORKS AFTER EXILE ............... 33 2.1 Three Letters to the Emperor ........................................................................................... 33 2.1.1 First of Three Memorial Letters - Fifth Lunar Month of 1100 ................................ 39 2.1.1.1 Su’s Controversial Inscription Concurrent to the First Memorial Letter .. 48 2.1.1.2 A Sole Lun Treatise in Su’s Final Year after Amnesty ............................ 60 2.1.2 Second of Three Letters, the Eighth Lunar Month of 1100 ..................................... 66 2.1.2.1 Coping with the Sudden Death of Qin Guan ............................................ 79 2.1.3 Third of Three Letters, the Eleventh Lunar Month of 1100 .................................... 83 2.1.3.1 Coping with the Sudden Status of Retirement .......................................... 89 2.2 A Daoist Trying to Dress in a Buddhist Robe ................................................................. 94 2.2.1 New Year’s Day, 1101: Prose in Transition from the External to the Internal ....... 97 2.2.2 Beginning Retirement with an Updating of Philosophical Views ......................... 110 2.2.3 Buddhism by way of Daoism ................................................................................. 125 2.2.4 A Consolidation of Final Philosophical Beliefs..................................................... 130 CHAPTER 3. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ............................................................................ 152 3.1 Four Themes in Su’s Prose after Final Exile ................................................................. 154 3.2 Varied Roles of Death in these Four Periods after Final Exile ..................................... 162 3.3 Semantic Interpretations from Specific Textual Connotations ...................................... 164 CHAPTER 4. CONCLUDING REMARKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................... 168 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 172 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Classifications of the 248 post-exile prose writings by Su Shi........................... 23 Table 2. The post-exile works written by Su Shi in formal classical literary prose ......... 24 Table 3. The months containing narrative-type post-exile prose writings by Su Shi ....... 26 Table 4. Quantifying the transition in types of allusions of Su’s second memorial ......... 78 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of China depicting the time of Su Shi ....................................................... 38 Figure 2. Portrait of Su Shi by Li Longmian .................................................................. 141 vii INTRODUCTION Overview of the Dissertation The middle period of Northern Song (960-1127) was an unmatched era of renaissance in China. Wang Guowei 王國維 (1877-1927) argued that regarding the Northern Song, “neither the earlier two extraordinary dynasties of Han 漢 (206 BC – 220 AD) or Tang 唐 (618 – 907), nor the following dynamic dynasties of Yuan 元 (1279 – 1368) or Ming 明 (1368 – 1644), equaled the Northern Song in terms of intellectual and literary development.”1 Chen Yinque2 陳寅恪 (1890-1969) further demarcated the Song period as the peak of literary prosperity in China.3 The Song dynasty was also the era of literary giants, and Su Shi 蘇 軾 (1037-1101) was the giant among giants, whose contribution to Chinese culture was unmatched by anyone during his time.4 Since the Southern Song (1127-1279), scholars specifically extolled Su Shi’s prose as the illustrious model for the civil service examinations. According to Lu You 陸遊 (1125-1209), a common saying for exam candidates in Southern Song held, “Those familiar with Su’s prose, will enjoy eating lamb meat; those unfamiliar with Su’s prose, will be relegated to eating overboiled broth” 蘇文熟, 吃羊肉; 蘇文生, 吃菜羹.5 1 Wang Guowei 王國維, “Songdai zhi jinshixue" 宋代之金石學, in Wang Guowei yishu 王國維遺書, vol. 5 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1983), 69-70. 2 Since early 20th century, Chen Yinque 陳寅恪 is also spelled as Chen Yinke, and elsewhere as Tschen Yin Koh. 3 Chen Yinque 陳寅恪, "Songshi zhiguan zhi kaozheng" 宋史職官志考證, in Jinming guanconggao erbian 金明館 叢稿二編 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1980), 245-249. 4 Zhou Yukai 周裕鍇, preface to Su Shi quanji jiaozhu 蘇軾全集校注, ed. Zhang Zhilie 張志烈 et al., vol. 1 (Shijiazhuang: Hebei renmin chubanshe, 2010), 1-2. 5 Lu You 陸遊, Laoxuean biji 老學庵筆記, vol. 5 (Zhonghua shuju, 1979), 78. 1 This dissertation traces the prose