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The Five Dynasties– Northern Song Period “A New Beginning”

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The Five Dynasties– Northern Song Period “A New Beginning” chapter one The Five Dynasties– Northern Song Period “A New Beginning” Any discussion of the post-Tang intellectual history of Guanzhong has to begin with Zhang Zai (1020–77). Ever since Zhu Xi (1130–1200) in- cluded Zhang Zai and his students in the Records on the Origin of the School of the Cheng Brothers (Yiluo yuanyuan lu), the first genealogy of the Daoxue Neo-Confucian movement, Zhang has been credited along with Zhou Dunyi (1017–73) and the Cheng brothers, Cheng Hao (1032–85) and Cheng Yi (1033–1107), as a co-founder of the movement. Zhang did share certain philosophical assumptions with the other “founders,” es- pecially his belief in the centrality of moral self-cultivation to the pursuit of truth. Nonetheless, the “founders” certainly did not consciously col- laborate to establish a school. In fact, contemporaries were more likely to see the two schools of Zhang Zai and the Cheng brothers as compet- ing for intellectual leadership. For instance, in a postscript dated 1107, Yang Shi (1053–1135), one of the most important students of the Cheng brothers, tried to convince the students of Zhang Zai that they should look on the Cheng brothers, not Zhang Zai, as their real teachers: Hengqu’s [i.e., Zhang Zai’s] learning originated from the Cheng brothers. However, the scholars in Guanzhong hold his works in high regard and seek to establish an independent school. Therefore I have copied this letter [sent by 21 22 The Five Dynasties–Northern Song Period Zhang Zai to the Cheng brothers] to show the students and let them know that Hengqu would consult the Cheng brothers even on such minute matters, and this should speak for the rest.1 It is unclear which of Zhang Zai’s letters Yang Shi was referring to, but the message is clear: the students of Zhang Zai in Guanzhong should not try to establish a school independent of that of the Cheng brothers because even their master was really a student of the Cheng brothers. In a similar fashion, You Zuo (1053–1123), another important student of the Cheng brothers, claimed that Zhang Zai had befriended Cheng Hao and regarded the latter as his teacher.2 Evidently, leading figures in the Cheng school perceived the Guanzhong scholars, who were promoting the teaching of Zhang Zai, as competitors.3 This should remind us that although later generations labeled Zhang Zai as one co-founder of the Daoxue movement, he was actually offering a very different response to the various pressing issues of his times. His teachings were, more- over, persuasive enough to attract a significant number of followers. An intellectual school had apparently been formed in Guanzhong by the second half of the eleventh century. This chapter explores in detail the unique vision of the Zhang Zai school. It begins by examining the historical context within which the school emerged. I will show that the way Zhang Zai and his students ad- dressed the three sets of relations noted in the preceding chapter was to a great extent shaped by the unique conditions of Guanzhong in the two centuries following the fall of the Tang. I will also argue that we need to situate the experiences of these literati within the larger context of the great Tang-Song transition, which Naitō Konan posited as Chinese soci- ety’s transformation from the “medieval” to the “early modern.”4 When members of Zhang Zai’s school looked back at developments over the preceding few centuries, what they particularly saw was the widening of the gap between the court and the literati. They therefore ( 1. Yang Shi, “Ba Hengqu xiansheng shu ji Kangjie xiansheng ren gui you jingsheng shi,” in idem, Yang Guishan xiansheng ji, 26.1055–56. 2. You Zuo, “Shu Mingdao xiansheng xingzhuang hou,” in idem, You Zuo, You Jianshan ji, SKQS, 4.7a–8a. 3. For a detailed discussion of the controversy between the two schools, see Kasoff, The Thought of Chang Tsai, pp. 137–47; and Jiang Guozhu, Zhang Zai Guanxue, pp. 326–60. 4. See Miyakawa Ichisada, “An Outline of the Naitō Hypothesis.” .
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