K'ung Shang-jen and the K'ang-hsi Emperor

-31K 'vmg Shang-jen and the K'ang-hsi Emperor Richard E. Strassberg Yale University K'ung Shang-jen -J-L. T"? rC (1648-1718) was a descendent of Confucius in the sixty-seventh generation, best remembered for his poetry and his drama, The Peach Blossom Fan "¡Hfc /ftj *fä (1699). Born in Ch'ü-fu, Shantung to a notable branch of the K'ung clan, he spent his early years studying Confucian ritual and developing his distinctive poetic style characterized by realism, irony and the evocation of historical worlds. Due to the early death of his father, however, he lacked the patronage necessary to enter officialdom and was hampered as well by a certain aversion to the strictures of the essay form. He reached his thirties still a Licentiate, often spending time in his retreat on nearby Stonegate Mountain where he fruitlessly attempted to start an academy. But in 1684, the K'ang-hsi Emperor visited Ch'ü-fu on his return from his Southern Tour. Kung, by delivering a formal lecture and guiding the Emperor about the Shrine complex, was able to gain notice. As a result, he found himself catapulted into Peking by imperial appointment and commenced a career which included service at the National University, in the river control projects in the Huai River area, and as Vice-Director of the Kwangtung Bureau of the Ministry of Revenue. Shortly after K'ung arrived in Peking to take up his first post in 1685, he wrote a record of his experience with K'ang-hsi titled Down from the Mountain ^Jj (L; ? SJÇ J^. It is a rare and incisive view of an imperial visit, written in a linguistic style which ranges from high Confucian rhetoric to personal confession. Not only is it a valuable document for its biographic information about K'ung, but also for its details of the -32logistics and ceremonies of an imperial visit, the personality of K'ang-hsi and the politics of the K'ung clan. Several years afterwards, K'ung Shangjen sent the piece to his friend, the anthologizer Chang Ch'ao T^ '^?? , who included it in the 1700 edition of Chao-tai ts' ung-shu Hw l\ |!¿ ~% The following is a complete translation of the Chang version which will hopefully be of interest to scholars of the early Ch'ing. -33CHAPTER TWO: DOWN FROM TBE MOUKTAIN "I was a Licentiate from Lu studying on Stonegate Mountain, about fifteen miles north of Shao Hao's Tomb. History says that Shao Hao made his capital at Ch'ii-fu and was buried at Yun-yang, 'North of the Clouds.' So it was called 'Cloud Mountain' in ancient times and because there is a stone archway, it was later changed to its present name. The mountain is filled with caves and ravines as well as pure streams and fine trees. 2 Legend has it that long ago, the Morning Gatekeeper lived here in retire3 ment. Chang Shu-ming, who was also a Licentiate from Lu, built his studio at the foot of the mountain. Tu Fu wrote 'Two poems on Visiting Mr. Chang Who Dwells in Seclusion' and also ? Poem to Judge Liu Chiù and Mr. Cheng Who Serves in Hsia-ch'iu, Writtenata Banquet on Stonegate Mountain.' Li Po also has a ? Poem for Tu Fu Written on Stonegate Mountain in Eastern ,6 Lu. All thse works refer to this place. I cut down reeds and piled up stones, building a studio within which I dwelled for about a year. In the autumn of 1682, Duke of the Sagely Posterity K'ung Y'u-ch'i, who is the head of our clan in the sixty-seventh generation , sent a letter with gifts inviting me to come down from the mountain to arrange the funeral of his wife, nee Chang. In spring of the next year, I was quartered in the Confucian Temple in order to edit The Genealogy of the K'ung Clan and A New Gazetteer of Ch'u-fu. I also selected about seven hundred students from the Lu and Tsou areas and taught them ritual and music while at the same time, commissioning artisans to create sacrificial vessels. -34AIl this...