Abstracts

Watching and Predicting the Succession of Emperors on Geomancy in the Northern Song Dynasty

A Study on the Alien Races Soldiers in the Imperial Guard of the Northern Song Dynasty

A Study on the Method of Appraisal System to Officials in the Northern Song Dynasty

Private Epistles and Travels of the Song Literati: A Study on Institutions and Social Background

Interpret on Ouyang Xiu’s Poetry “Lofty Mount Lu”

A Research on the Signature Annotations in the Official Papers about Wuyi Xu Weiliof the Southern Song Dynasty

Paradigm and Traction: A Comment on InvokingImperial Ancestors’ Instructions in EarlyNorthern Song Politics, by Deng Xiaonan

A Study of Institutions of Sinecures in the Ming Dynasty

A Case Study on the Metropolitan Examination in the First Year of Chongzhen Period: Based on Ming Scholar Jiang Dejing’s “A Collaborative Examiner’s Dairy in the Metropolitan Examination”

The Significance of Genealogizing the Changzhou Orthodox Learning by Mao Xian during the Jiajing Period

The Way of Reconstruction of the Kingly Outside in Yangming Doctrine Context

A Study on the Ancient Maps of the Grand Canal in the Ming Dynasty

The Exploration of Truth about Wanli Emperor’s Secret Vow

Misunderstood and Restoration of the Acceptance of YanYu’s Poetic Theory from Song and Yuan to the Middle of the Ming Dynasty

s

Watching and Predicting the Succession of Emperors on Geomancy in the Northern Song Dynasty

Pan Sheng (p.1)

Most discussions on the site selection and layout of the Northern Song imperial mausoleums focus on archaeological problems, while less focus on the relationship with politics, especially the succession of emperors. Based on the documents, the article comes to some conclusions. Firstly, in the process of site selection in the Northern Song, a theory of geomancy was also applied besides the prevailing theory which studied the relation of the family name and five ancient Chinese notes (五音姓利). Secondly, the mausoleum dispute of Northern Song could be looked as notes of the succession event known as “zhuying fusheng燭影斧聲” that happened in early Song between Taizu (Zhao Kuangyin) and Taizong (Zhao Kuangyi). From that, we could also find the competition for the imperial throne between the clans of Taizu and Taizong. Thirdly, the layout of the mausoleums could be divided into two groups, one was Xuanzu’s Yong’an Mausoleum and Taizu’s Yongchang Mausoleum, the other was Taizong’s Yongxi Mausoleum and his descendants’ mausoleums. From the theory of geomancy or even the imperial power, the former group was not the center, but the latter was. And fourthly, geomancy was not only a mysterious power to deal with the heir problem, but also a best excuse for covering scandals. It can be used as a method to deal with imperial ceremony problems, and meanwhile was an important resource to the succession of throne and political struggles.

A Study on the Alien Races Soldiers in the Imperial Guard of the Northern Song Dynasty

You Dongjin (p.35)

There were many alien races soldiers in the imperial guard of the Northern Song Dynasty. This study mainly discusses these alien races soldiers from four aspects: ethnic source, origin place, scale and location, and duty. There were big differences between the alien races soldiers and “Fan Bing 蕃兵”, but two of them had the interactive relationship. There were also many common grouds between the alien races soldiers and other Han soldiers, which reflected the further integration between various nationalities in the Northern Song Dynasty. However, different from the tribal allied army of Liao, Jin, Yuan Dynasty, the alien races soldiers in the imperial guard of the Northern Song had unique military organization and command system, which could be regarded as owning more Han features. Moreover, the national relation and international situation at that time influenced more or less the military policy on these alien races soldiers.

A Study on the Method of Appraisal System to Officials in the Northern Song Dynasty

Zhang Yibing (p.65)

From the ninth to the eleventh century, the titles of government’s official positions were turning into ranks without duties. Meanwhile, some new official positions which had virtual duty and power were developing. Both trends led a lot of changes to the appraisal method of civil service system. As the Northern Song Dynasty was founded, the Emperors and ministers made a lot of efforts to set a reasonable and effective system to check officials. Eventually, a system called mokan (磨勘) formed and perpetuated for a long time in the Song Dynasty.

Private Epistles and Travels of the Song Literati: A Study on Institutions and Social Background

Cao Jiaqi (p.95)

It was the significant trait of the Song period that the literati had frequent contacts with each other and thus formed a wide, dense, and complicated social network, based upon which a prosperous culture developed. The ways to maintain and protect the literati’s network were quite different from those in the past. During the Northern Song, the officials were allowed to send private epistles through the state postal services, which undoubtedly was revolutionary. Ever since then, a new vision of contacts between literati formed. Compared to the Tang, there were institutional guarantees on the literati’s private travel that all the families of the officials could stay at the courier stations. However, the officials seldom stayed at the courier stations while traveling for private purposes. They frequented inns and Buddhist temples. On the one hand, the poor condition of the courier stations led to this result. On the other hand, it was related to the conveniences brought by the following factors: the roads blazed for tax evasions, the inns established along these roads, and the Buddhist influences on social life. It was the Tang-Song transition of society that shaped the characteristics of the Song literati’s private epistles and travels.

Interpret on Ouyang Xiu’s Poetry “Lofty Mount Lu”

Wang Xiaolan (p.123)

The poetry “Lofty Mount Lu” (《廬山高》) was one of Ouyang Xiu’s most favorite three poems. The poem used the farewell as title, but in reality it was not praise for Liu Huan’s integrity. Liu Huan deeply involved into the “Nihilism”, with excess of contumacy but deficiency of achievements. When Liu Huan retired, the occasion of farewell poems creation provided a good opportunity to Ouyang Xiu. With magnificent and splendid visage, the poetry “Lofty Mount Lu” not only condensed the mood of resentment, but also highlighted the personality charm of Ouyang Xiu’s sincerity to “Tao”. The poem on the surface was antagonistic of “Hard Roads toward Shu” (《蜀道難》), but actually emulated Han Yu, with the odd word, charging dangerous rhyme, taking prose as poem, with superb artistic achievement. The analysis and interpretation of “Lofty Mount Lu” by the predecessors fully embodied the aesthetic differences, changes and diversities, which should be fully understood and respected.

A Research on the Signature Annotations in theOfficialPapersaboutWuyiXuWeilioftheSouthernSongDynasty

Shi Shengwei (p.143)

The publication of theOfficialPapersaboutWuyiXuWeilioftheSouthernSong(《武義南宋徐謂禮文書》) is useful to deepen the research on the official papers of the Song Dynasty. A necessary part of the official papers is the officials’ signatures. After the signatures, sometimes there are some annotations. In this article, we discuss six kinds of rare signature annotations, including Mianshu (免書), Fenshu (分書), Dudu (都督), Dushi (督視)， Fengshi (奉使) and Weishang (未上). Just like Jia (假) and Que (闕), all of them explain why the officials cannot sign the papers by themselves.

Paradigm and Traction: A Comment onInvokingImperialAncestors’InstructionsinEarlyNorthernSongPolitics, by Deng Xiaonan

Diao Peijun & Tong Xiangqing (p.153)

InvokingImperialAncestors’InstructionsinEarlyNorthernSongPoliticswritten by Deng Xiaonan is highly praised both in the field of domestic research on the ancient history of China or in the field of international sinology. As a scholar, she displays the intense questionable consciousness and provides the clear and powerful arguments in the book. She also explains a large number of historical materials correctly and gets a sound conclusion as well. So the book is indeed an excellent model. More and more researchers follow professor Deng’s way to cultivate the sense of questioning and the method of launching academic arguments. This paper focuses on the accuracy and prospect of the topic for the thesis, rational ways to interpret historical data and the cultivation of the deep understanding on history, attempts to make a comment on professor Deng’s book and puts forward some own opinions in the “reader’s confusion” part.

A Study of Institutions of Sinecures in the Ming Dynasty

Huang A-ming (p.181)

The article systematically studies the origin, development, evolution and transformation of the institutions of sinecures. Around the fifteenth year of Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang military regime inherited the institutions of sinecures of the Yuan Dynasty and implemented Wu (武) sinecures. With the development of military actions, especially after eliminating the Chen Han regime, the Xunguan (勳官) and Wen (文) sinecures gradually began to appear when rewarding the dead generals and local offices. After the Ming Dynasty was established, the inherited Xun (勳) and Jie (階) institutions were adjusted and improved, and in the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu the institutions of sinecures including Grade (品), Office (官), Rank (階), Xun (勳) or Salary (祿) were finally set down.

A Case Study on the Metropolitan Examination in the First Year of Chongzhen Period: Based on Ming Scholar Jiang Dejing’s “A Collaborative Examiner’s Dairy in the Metropolitan Examination”

Chen Shilong (p.215)

Setting topics and grading exam papers in the metropolitan examinations in the Ming Dynasty were strictly exclusive to the examiners. The outsiders never knew the procedure. However, the examiners seldom wrote down their experiences. Jiang Dejing, a senior grand secretary in late Ming Dynasty, severed as a collaborative examiner in the metropolitan examination of the first year of Chongzhen period, and recorded his experience in the twenty three days. Jiang’s four thousands words’ dairy, “A Collaborative Examiner’s Dairy in the Metropolitan Examination”, covers all the procedures of metropolitan examination, including examiner’s taking office, task dividing, setting topics, printing papers, grading exam papers, determining the qualifier’s rank, and even the examiners’ drinking and social intercourse in the examination hall, which will give us more information about the metropolitan examination in the Ming Dynasty.

The Significance of Genealogizing the Changzhou Orthodox Learning by Mao Xian during the Jiajing Period

Hong Guoqiang (p.251)

This article focuses on the establishment of the Neo-Confucian tradition of Changzhou Orthodox Learning (pilingzhengxue, 毗陵正學). Its creator Mao Xian was a local anti-Yangming scholar in early Jiajing period. Through compilingPilingZhengxuebian(《毗陵正學編》), a biography collection of “orthodox” scholars, Mao Xian constructed a continuous genealogy which covered lots of Cheng and Zhu School scholars from Northern Song to Ming. This study shows that this kind of Neo-Confucian tradition was created as a response to the Yangming Learning, as their “orthodox” were heavily impacted by the rise of latter.

The Way of Reconstruction of the Kingly Outside in Yangming Doctrine Context

Lan Fadian (p.275)

The harsh political reality forced the scholar-bureaucrat group of Ming Dynasty rethink the meaning of kingly outside. In the context of Yangming philosophy, how to implement the “kingly outside” is not a question of political practice, which instead of the value awakening, in response to the meaningless of political practice in Ming Dynasty politics. The thought of “mind theory” replaced the realistic political order into the value order, expected the lectures awakened people to achieve salvation ideal. In the context of “Innate Knowledge”, the new realization about “kingly outside” from the political practice to the value of awakening, from the order guided by political power to the natural order of people’s heart, is the response to the Ming political reality.

A Study on the Ancient Maps of the Grand Canal in the Ming Dynasty

Wang Yao (p.307)

With only some maps attached in ancient literatures and few painted maps of the Grand Canal in the Ming Dynasty, there have no related papers at present. In this paper, the maps have been divided into three categories: the maps in water literatures, the maps in geographic literatures and the painted maps in Taipei Palace Museum. Further, the paper studies the content and value of maps, the relationship of different maps and spreading paths, and shows the development context of maps in the Ming Dynasty. Overall, early maps in the Ming Dynasty appeared simple, then with the development, the drawing of maps became rich and practical, and some topic maps and local maps were also emerging, at the same time, the painted maps appeared in document system. All of this had been developed to a higher level in drawing techniques and classification, which provided the reference materials for the drawing of maps in the Qing Dynasty.

The Exploration of Truth about Wanli Emperor’s Secret Vow

Zhao Chengzhong (p.343)

The rumor that Wanli Emperor and highest-ranking Imperial Concubine Zheng made a vow in private, appeared and spread in the period of Emperor and courtiers standing opposite each other for next Crown Prince. Later generations had descriptions and comments on it, but they did not provide any evidence to identify the true and the false. Fortunately, a few inscriptions on tablet from the Ming Dynasty blew the lid of secret vow. Whether there was a secret vow had a lager effect on the historical trend of Wanli Empire. Therefore, although it is a little thing, maybe we can recognize the whole through the observation of the part.

Misunderstood and Restoration of the Acceptance of YanYu’s Poetic Theory from Song and Yuan to the Middle of the Ming Dynasty

Hou Rongchuan (p.363)

Although it had been spread widely by the poetic works such asShirenYuxie(《詩人玉屑》), YanYu’s poetic theory did not become the mainstream and was dismembered and misunderstood for a long time from Song and Yuan to the middle of Ming Dynasty. It was the introduction by Li Dongyang’sLutangShihua(《麓堂詩話》) that make it become the classical poetic theory with the complete texts. From the discussion we can recognize the interaction between many factors and the dependence on the external conditions of the formation process of literature model.