Literary Criticism and the Ethics of Poetry: The “Four Elites of the Early Tang” and Pei Xingjian

T'ang Studies 15-16 (1997-98) L ite ra ry C ritic is m a n d th e E th ic s o f P o e try : T h e IIF o u r E lite s o f th e E a rly T a n g " a n d P e i X in g jia n TIMW.CHAN UNNERSITV OF COLORADO One day in the late sixties or early seventies of the seventh century , Pei Xingjian ~fi{ti (619-82),Attendant Gentleman of the Ministry of Personnel (libu shilang 5l!g~ftfN~), is said to have interviewed four fellows-Wang Bo~=1h(650-c.676),Yang Jiong mm (650-c.694), Lu Zhaolin IitOO~ (634-c.684), and Luo Binwang ~~.:E (c. 626-84).1 They came to enjoy great fame in their time and were later referred to as the "Four Elites of the Early Tang" *]]mlm~(Chu Tang sijie). On this occasion, Pei Xingjian made certain comments on the four 1 The date of the meeting between the two parties has been established as 671. See Fu Xuanzong mJ}$f~, "Yang Jiong kao" m:l:1l!l~, in his Tangdai shiren congkao m{~W' Ail~ (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1981), 7; Luo Xiangfa .tm~~, Chu Tang sijie yanjiu (Beijing: Dongfang, 1993), 147, provides a time range of 670 to 676 for the meeting. Some scholars, however, disagree with this dating. Uu Zhenlun j1j~fIfIrdates the incident in the Zongzhang reign-period (668-69). See his "Sijie Zongzhang canxuan kao" 1l9~~~$;.iB~, Chengdu daxue xuebao 32 (1990): 25-26. Suzuki Shuji ~*~* claims that Luo Binwang was in Sichuan for the whole period of the Xianheng reign (670-74). See his "Sho-To ni okeru kagyotai no shi no bungeisei ni tsuite" fJ]mfcto~t.Q;v.:fiftq)iFJQ):;tIi·M:f~"?lt\-c, in his Todai slzinjinron Ji~wAtPi, vol. 1 (Tokyo: Otori shuppan, 1969), 14. Huang Qinghui 1i11Ff~for this reason, as well as her effort to ward off any denigration of the four men based on her analyses of their writings, simply negates the existence of their meeting with Pei. See her "Chu Tang sijie zhuanji kaobian ji qi wenxue sixiang yanjiu"fJ1mlZY~{$~~m&;ltj(~ ,~,~lVf~, M.A. thesis, National Taiwan University, 1996, 155-61. In my opinion, Pei probably interviewed the four men in 670. First, Wang Bo attended the official assessment in early Xianheng reign-period, according to Yang Jiong's "Wang Bo ji xu" x~mFJ.:, in Xu Mingxia ~ElJ3i!1,ed., Lu Zhao lin ji, Yang Jiong ji (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1984),36. The Jiu Tangslzu (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1987; hereafter ITS), 5.94, records that the reign-period was changed to Xianheng in the third month of the third year of Zongzhang, i.e., 670. Second, to account for the "alibi" of Luo Binwang, who left Chang' an in the autumn of 670 and returned in 674, the intimate tone in his writings presented to Pei (dating from 670 to 674), and Pei Xingjian's recruitment of Luo upon the latter's return, it is reasonable that Pei reviewed Luo's dossier before Luo's absence from the capital. 157 Chan: Literary Criticism and the Ethics of Poetry men. His comments, and the ways they have been understood, are the subject of the present study. I. THE DISTORTION AND ITS RESOLUTION The meeting between the sijie and Pei Xingjian marked a high point in the careers of the former. However, this meeting has been subject to much misinterpretation in later accounts of the incident. The origin of the distortion comes from a stele inscription written by Zhang Vue 11m (667-731),for the "spirit way" leading to Pei's tomb. This inscription was composed in 730,and has been accorded high credibility.2 It includes a paragraph that tells of the acquaintance between Pei and the sijie: Pei once gave audience to Luo Binwang, Lu Zhaolin, Wang Bo, and Yang Jiong at the appointments office. Pei commented, "Even though [Yang]Jiong enjoys fame as a man of talent, he will not achieve a position higher than a district magistrate. The rest will flower but will not bear fruit. It will...