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Xiao Gang (503-551): His Life and Literature Xiao Gang (503-551): His Life and Literature by Qingzhen Deng B.A., Guangzhou Foreign Language Institute, China, 1990 M.A., Kobe City University of Foreign Languages, Japan, 1996 Ph.D., Nara Women's University, Japan, 2001 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy in The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Asian Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) February 2013 © Qingzhen Deng, 2013 ii Abstract This dissertation focuses on an emperor-poet, Xiao Gang (503-551, r. 550-551), who lived during a period called the Six Dynasties in China. He was born a prince during the Liang Dynasty, became Crown Prince upon his older brother's death, and eventually succeeded to the crown after the Liang court had come under the control of a rebel named Hou Jing (d. 552). He was murdered by Hou before long and was posthumously given the title of "Emperor of Jianwen (Jianwen Di)" by his younger brother Xiao Yi (508-554). Xiao's writing of amorous poetry was blamed for the fall of the Liang Dynasty by Confucian scholars, and adverse criticism of his so-called "decadent" Palace Style Poetry has continued for centuries. By analyzing Xiao Gang within his own historical context, I am able to develop a more refined analysis of Xiao, who was a poet, a filial son, a caring brother, a sympathetic governor, and a literatus with broad and profound learning in history, religion and various literary genres. Fewer than half of Xiao's extant poems, not to mention his voluminous other writings and many of those that have been lost, can be characterized as "erotic" or "flowery". Through an analysis utilizing the concepts of genre and intertextuality, I discover that his yuefu titles cover a wide range of old and new topics. This reveals his efforts to revive traditional yuefu writing and to reassert the centrality of the south in Chinese civilization during the Period of Division. iii This dissertation analyzes Xiao Gang's writing techniques from a philological perspective. With this methodology, I have been able to clarify some misinterpretations by earlier scholars and provide new evidence about Xiao's unique writing skills and creative originality. Rediscovering Xiao Gang is not just a matter of understanding an individual poet from a long past age. The Six Dynasties period during which he lived was politically chaotic and unstable, but it was also a period when literature flourished. Xiao Gang and his literary works provide valuable resources for studying this fascinating era. The re-evaluation of Xiao Gang undertaken in this dissertation comprises an effort to discover the truth that has been hitherto obscured by undue attention to the checkered political history of the Liang Dynasty. iv Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... vi List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. vii Acknowledgements................................................................................................................ viii Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1 Xiao Gang's Life ................................................................................................. 13 1.1 Xiao Gang and His Family ......................................................................................... 13 1.2 Education of Emperor Wu's Children ........................................................................ 22 1.3 Xiao Gang's Career .................................................................................................... 29 1.4 Xiao Gang's Difficulties ............................................................................................. 48 1.5 Liang's Decline and Xiao Gang's Final Days ............................................................. 60 Chapter 2 Xiao Gang's Literary Thought ............................................................................ 85 2.1 Critique of Xiao Gang's Poetry as Decadent .............................................................. 85 2.2 Ideas Linking Xiao Gang and the Yutai xinyong ..................................................... 107 2.3 The Date the Yutai xinyong Was Compiled ............................................................. 115 2.4 The "Preface to the Yutai xinyong" and the Purpose of Compiling the Yutai xinyong146 2.5 Xiao Gang's "Letter to the Prince of Xiangdong" .................................................... 170 2.6 Xiao Gang's "Writing Should Be Unrestrained" ...................................................... 197 Chapter 3 Xiao Gang's Yuefu Poetry ................................................................................. 215 3.1 Reputation for Writing Amorous Poetry .................................................................. 215 3.2 Xiao Gang's Yuefu Poems in Group A ..................................................................... 226 3.3 Xiao Gang's Yuefu Poems with Titles Originating from Southern Ballads ............. 240 3.4 Xiao Gang's Yuefu Poems in Group B ..................................................................... 262 v 3.5 Significance of Xiao Gang's Writing Yuefu Poetry .................................................. 291 Chapter 4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 296 Tables .................................................................................................................................... 305 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 317 Appendix: Xu Chi's Absence from the Yutai xinyong ......................................................... 335 vi List of Tables Table 1: Xu Ling's Career between 531 and 541 ............................................................ 305 Table 2: Xu Ling's Career in Case of the Department of Learning and Virtue was Established after 535 .......................................................................................................................... 306 Table 3: Statistics of Xiao Gang's Extant Poems (based on Xian Qin Han Wei Jin Nan-bei Chao shi) ......................................................................................................................... 306 Table 4: Xiao Gang's Yuefu Poems in Yuefu shiji ........................................................... 307 Table 5: Emperor Wu's Sons and Their Mothers ............................................................ 316 vii List of Abbreviations BS Bei shi 北史. Comp. Li Yanshou 李延壽. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974. CS Chen shu 陳書. Comp. Yao Silian 姚思廉. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1972. DTXY Liu Su 劉肅. Da Tang xinyu 大唐新語. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984. HS Han shu 漢書. Comp. Ban Gu 班固. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962. HHS Hou Han shu 後漢書. Comp. Fan Ye 范曄. Annot. Li Xian 李賢 et al., Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1965. JS Jin shu 晉書. Comp. Fang Xuanling 房玄齡 et al. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974. LS Liang shu 梁書. Comp. Yao Silian 姚思廉. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1973. LQL Lu Qinli 逯欽立, comp. Xian Qin Han Wei Jin Nan-bei Chao shi 先秦漢魏晋南北朝詩. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983. NQS Nan Qi shu 南齊書. Comp. Xiao Zixian 蕭子顯. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1972. NS Nan shi 南史. Comp. Li Yanshou 李延壽. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975. SBCK Sibu congkan 四部叢刊 SKQS Wenjin ge Siku quanshu 文津閣四庫全書. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2005. SS Sui shu 隋書. Comp. Wei Zheng 魏徵, Linghu Defen 令狐德棻 et al. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1973. SSJZS Shisan jing zhushu 十三經注疏. Comp. Ruan Yuan 阮元. Yangzhou: Jiangsu Guangling guji keyinshe, 1995. WS Wei shu 魏書. Comp. Wei Shou 魏收. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974. YKJ Yan Kejun 巌可鈞, comp. Quan shanggu sandai Qin Han Sanguo Liuchao wen 全上古三 代秦漢三國六朝文. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1958. YFSJ Yuefu shiji 樂府詩集. Comp. Guo Maoqian 郭茂倩. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1979. YTXY Xu Ling 徐陵, ed. Yutai xinyong jianzhu 玉臺新詠箋注. Annot. Wu Zhaoyi 吳兆宜 and Cheng Yan 程琰. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985. YWLJ Yiwen leiju 藝文類聚. Comp. Ouyang Xun 歐陽詢 et al. Beijing, Zhonghua shuju, 1982. ZZTJ Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑒. Comp. Sima Guang 司馬光. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe, 2003. viii Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been written without a great deal of support from many people. I owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Jerry Schmidt, whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final phase enabled me to develop an understanding of the subject and to express myself with more precision than otherwise possible . I am deeply thankful to Dr. Daniel Bryant of University of Victoria, who introduced me to the East Asian academic world of North America, and encouraged and challenged me through my academic program as an important member of my research committee. I am deeply indebted to Dr. David R. Knechtges of University of Washington, who gave me many critical suggestions that helped to develop the dissertation in depth and width. My many thanks also go to Dr. Josephine Chiu-Duke, my research committee
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