Men of Letters within the Passes: Guanzhong Literati in Chinese History, 907–1911 (review)

For some time, our paradigms for understanding late imperial Chinese history have been overly influenced by studies focusing on the Jiangnan region. Exploring a region that has received little attention, Chang Woei Ong’s rich study helps to broaden our picture of Chinese history over the last millennium. He explores the social and intellectual trends among the elites of Guanzhong 關中, focusing on the evolving attitudes towards locality, the imperial court, and the realm. The three main chapters examine this history in three eras: the emerging literati culture of the Northern Song, the tumultuous period of the Jin and Yuan conquests, and then the relatively stable and prosperous centuries of the Ming and Qing. The book includes much useful information on the social and political history of the region along with thoughtful profiles of the ideas and positions of important Guanzhong thinkers over time.

From the tenth century onward, Guanzhong, the ancient name for central Shaanxi, was known to the empire as the environs of the old capital of Chang’an, and also as a strategic frontier area. The transformation of this region in the early Northern Song was similar to that of other areas, with emerging families of civil examination bureaucrats replacing the old aristocratic clans that had dominated the Chang’an region for centuries. Ong traces the development of a scholarly community here by the late eleventh century, largely centered around the Neo-Confucian thinker Zhang Zai 張載 (1020–77). By this time, a kind of “localist turn” had developed, in which elite Guanzhong families took a greater interest in local projects and local connections. This trend culminated in the community compacts (xiangyue 鄉約) and community etiquette guides (xiangyi 鄉儀), developed by the Lü family, disciples of Zhang Zai. Ong shows, however, that this local activism was not in opposition to an active role of the state in local society. While these scholars were clearly against the centralizing statist New Policies of Wang Anshi 王安石 (1021–86), Zhang Zai and his followers argued strongly for the need for a cooperative relationship between local elites and the imperium. Guanzhong literati, argues Ong, “envisioned local society as a joint venture of a ‘gentle’ state and the literati acting in an ‘unofficial’ capacity, one in which the court authorized local officials and literati to act on its behalf” (p. 74).

Discontinuity and social and economic turmoil characterized Guanzhong after the fall of the Northern Song in 1127. Although conditions in the northwest were not as chaotic as elsewhere in north China, the available data indicates a significant population decline in Guanzhong in this period. Ong finds that Guanzhong families found it difficult to maintain their status for more than a couple of generations, and genealogies were uncommon. This lack of clan longevity, he suggests, is the reason for the general paucity of literary productions in Guanzhong in this period. Political vicissitudes at the central court offered limited opportunities for official service, compelling elite families to pursue diversified career strategies in the military or as doctors or clerks. Some joined the Quanzhen Daoist movement, which was centered in this area. Some sought recognition on the basis of their literary talent, though few of these works survive. A handful took up the teachings of Daoxue Neo- Confucianism that had found its way north by the mid-thirteenth century.

In exploring the limited writings of Guanzhong thinkers of this period, Ong again sees a commitment to the joint role of the state and local elite in ordering local society (though limited resources restricted their ability to put this into practice). Despite this consistency with their Northern Song predecessors, Ong finds little or no acknowledgement of this legacy. Similarly, among the Neo-Confucian adherents in this period, there seems to be no effort to reassert Zhang Zai’s place in the Daoxue pantheon as a matter of local pride.

Unfortunately, the limited quantity and nature of the...