Three Entries for a T’ang Biographical Dictionary: Wang Hsi-i, Huang Ling-wei, Ho Chih-chang

Tang Studies 10-11 (1992-93) T h ree E n tries fo r a T 'an g B io g rap h ical D ictio n ary: W an g H si-i, H u an g lin g -w ei, H o C h ih -ch an g RUSSELL KIRKLAND UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA 1.WANG HSI-I WANG Hsi-i ~~~ (ca. 630-ca. 726). Recluse. CJtnces (fIonorary) Provisional Erudite Scholar in [the College for] the Sons of State (shou kuo-tzu po-shih ~ li'iI.:r 1f:± ) Wang Hsi-i is one of those historical figures whose biographies tell us much more about the biographers than about the subject himself. All that we know for certain about Wang Hsi-i is that he was a native of Hsii-chou ~ JH who was living as a recluse when Hsiiantsung heard of him and invited him to attend the feng ceremony in 725. All the other reported data of Wang1s life are dubious to some extent. The standard biographies of Wang are based upon an account of his life in a work by Liu Su i'~ m- entitled the Ta T1 ang hsin-yu *~~j& ('New Accounts of the Great T'ang," compiled in 807). Liu Su (fl. ca. 806-821) was a superintendant of records (chu-pu ±-) in Hsiin-yang ?4J~Idistrict of Chiang-chou IT m; little more is known about him. According to Liu, Wang began as a pious and filial lad who hired himself out as a shepherd in order to raise the money to bury his deceased parents. He then secluded himself on Mt. Sung It,where he studied the arts of self-cultivation (hsiu-yang ~,.) with an unnamed tao-shih. Afterwards, he resided in the Ts'u-lai til * mountains in Yen-chou ~ ~illapparently for many years. Eventually, the prefect Lu Ch'i-ch'ing .JlH!!I called upon him and asked for advice about governing, but Wang simply quoted Confucius' "Golden Rule.1I When Hsiian-tsung was about to perform the feng, he ordered the local officials to bring forth the hermitl who was then ninety-six years old. The emperor had Chang Yiieh ~i~ question Wang, but 153 Kirkland: ThreeEntries for a T'ang Biographical Dictionary while Chang was profoundly impressed with the man, he refrained from entrusting him with public office, citing the hermit's advanced age. At this point, Liu Su reproduces a laudatory edict by Hsilantsung . It is interesting that the edict praises Wang as a recluse who "holds to unity and dwells in purity" (allusions to the Tao te ching), but also styles him a "scholar" (ju ~) and a "worthy" (hsien ft). In addition, itcompares Wang to the Han-dynasty worthies Ch'i Li-chi~ m~ and Fu Sheng tI\ ~, and closes by conferring upon Wang the rank of chung-san ta-fu tJ:r ~ -}::;.~, as well as an honorary academic title. Following the edict, Liu adds that Wang was allowed to retire to the mountains, where the local officials were ordered to convey annual gifts of silk, mutton, and wine to him. No death date is provided, but owing to Wang's advanced age, it is reasonably assumed that he passed away relatively soon after the events of 725. Liu's biography of Wang must be read critically. Wang's alleged filiality sounds fictitious: the motif of working as a laborer to raise his parent's funeral expenses is a biographical stereotype. It is also noteworthy that Wang is never said to have had any education (a fact that makes one suspicious about his quotation of Confucius in response to Lu Ch'i-ch'ing). Since the text provides no details about Wang's alleged studies in "self-cultivation" with the unnamed taoshih , one suspects that that element may have been an invention designed to explain the man's extreme longevity. Allof these matters are rendered historically questionable by the fact that Liu is unable to provide any other real historical data in the life of the nonagenarian . Clearly, to Liu Su, all that really mattered about Wang is that he was an aged hermit who attended Hsuan-tsung's feng. Beyond that fact, Liu had relatively little...