In the Wake of Wei Chien’s Flotilla or “Precious Chicken, Indeed!” Some Additional Notes on the Great Heavenly Treasure Scandal

Trang StudIes 3 (1985) IN THE WAKE OF WEI CHIEN'S FLOTILLA OR "PRECIOUS CHICKEN, INDEED!" SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE GREAT HEAVENLY TREASURE SCANDAL Elling O. Eide In an article 1 for Trang Studies, No.1, I observed that the interpretation of a riddle attributed to Li Po required us to postulate Emperor HsUan Tsung's cancellation of hitherto unknown plans for a Feng Sacrifice in 742 to mark the inauguration of his Heavenly Treasure reign period, and that Li Po himself , in his "Rhymeprose on the Great Hunt," seemed to provide us with evidence that such a sacrifice had, indeed, been planned, but cancelled. I suggested there that something scandalous might have prompted the cancellation, that the notorious "Divine Talisman" promoted as "the Heavenly Treasure" might have been concocted to cover up the scandal, and that the scandal itself might have been caused by a public perception (or awareness) that Hstian Tsung' s "Heavenly Treasure" was really his new concubine, the illustrious Yang Kuei-fei.2 If so, the new "Heavenly Treasure" reign title would have had connotations 1"Li Po's Riddle Naming Cloud-Ritual Hsti in Relation to the Feng Sacrifice of 742 and the Great Heavenly Treasure Scandal , to Which is Appended a Note on Stamping Songs and a Sino-Turkish Name for the Huns," Trang Studies 1 (1983), 820 . 2Yang Kuei-fei did not officially become the kuei-fei ~ -b-u or "Precious consort" until the Eighth Month of 745, but she was clearly the Emperor's Number-One Tomato from the time of her introduction into the palace in 741, and I refer to her here somewhat anachronistically as "his new concubine the illustrious Yang Kuei-fei" to avoid the confusion that might result from introducing a lesss familiar name. See The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 3 (Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Press, 1979), 427; see also the 95 T'ani:i Studies 3 (1985) IN THE WAKEOF WEI CHIEN'S FLOTILLA OR "PRECIOUS CHICKEN, INDEED!" SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE GREAT HEAVENLYTREASURESCANDAL Elling O. Eide In an articlel for T'ang Studies, No. 1, I observed that the interpretation of a riddle attributed to Li Po required us to postulate Emperor Hsi.ian Tsung's cancellation of hitherto unknown plans for a Feng Sacrifice in 742 to mark the inauguration of his Heavenly Treasure reign period, and that Li Po himself , in his "Rhymeprose on the Great Hunt," seemed to provide us with evidence that such a sacrifice had, indeed, been planned, but cancelled. I suggested there that something scandalous might have prompted the cancellation, that the notorious "Divine Talisman" promoted as "the Heavenly Treasure" might have been concocted to cover up the scandal, and that the scandal itself might have been caused by a public perception (or awareness) that Hsiian Tsung's "Heavenly Treasure" was really his new concubine, the illustrious Yang Kuei-fei.2 If so, the new "Heavenly Treasure" reign title would have had connotations 1"Li Po's Riddle Naming Cloud-Ritual Hsi.i in Relation to the Feng Sacrifice of 742 and the Great Heavenly Treasure Scandal , to 曲ich is Appended a Note on Stamping Songs and a Sino-Turkish Name for the Huns," T'ang Studies 1 (1983), 820 . 2Yang Kuei-fei did not officially become the kuei一fei _$t 武 士乙 or "Precious consort" until the Eighth Month of 745, but she was clearly the Emperor's Number-One Tomato from the time of her introduction into the palace in 741, and I refer to her here somewhat anachronistically as "his new concubine the illustrious Yang Kuei-fei" to avoid the confusion that might result from introducing a lesss familiar name, See The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 3 (Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Press, 1979), 427; see also the 95 of "Celestial Bimbo," and it would have been quite unthinkable to let the emperor go parading up T'ai Mountain to report such a thing to Heaven--the more particularly unthinkable since Yang Kuei-fei had been the legal wife of the emperor's son, the Prince of Shou ~..:l (Li Mao ~ J ~ ), until the emperor contrived to have her brought into the palace as a Taoist priestess...