Letters and Epistolary Culture in Early Medieval China

Chapter Three. Structures and Phrases

75 c h a p t e r t h r e e Structures and Phrases There, I flatter myself I have constructed you a Smartish Letter, considering my want of Materials. But, like my dear Dr. Johnson, I beleive I have dealt more in Notions than Facts. —ja ne austen, letter to Cassandra Austen, February 8, 1807 The particular tripartite composition that emerges in letters all over the world has often been compared to the similar structure of a conversation or an oration, which both also start with a salutation and an introductory part, then turn to the relevant core information and finally to closing words.1 Further subdividing the opening and closing , European medieval rhetoric since the twelfth century largely agreed on a five-part letter formula,2 which has been found to be productive in the analysis of non-Western letters as well.3 Since early medieval Chinese epistolary theory did not elaborate on the structure of letters or develop a distinct indigenous terminology,4 this chapter’s introduction of the main components of early medieval Chinese letters will follow the established three- or, respectively, five-part Western model, which differentiates the letter opening (consisting of prescript and proem), main body, and closing (consisting of epilogue and postscript).5 Investigation of the letter formula is complicated by the fact that most of the known early medieval letters were transmitted in edited form, which makes it impossible to decide whether they are complete or not. While some letters appear to be unabridged—that is, they consist of a complete frame and a letter body—others lack certain parts, such as the opening and closing or other epistolary markers. Although we can generally assume that the absence of these parts is the result of editing, which often meant “de-epistolarizing,” we should keep in mind the possibility that certain elements may have Epistolary Conventions and Literary Individuality 76 been dispensable under certain conditions, especially in personal letter writing that was probably not as strictly governed by conventions as official communication. This means that letters that appear to be lacking a part of the frame, for instance, the prescript, may originally never have featured this part. letter opening Prescript Prescripts and postscripts are the most formalized parts of a personal letter in early medieval China. A complete prescript consists of the date of writing, the writer’s self-designation or superscriptio (most commonly the given name, ming), and a predicate, as the following examples show: On the third day of the second month, [Cao] Pi lets you know: . . . 二月三日丕白。 . . . 6 On the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month, [Wang] Xizhi reports: . . . 十二月二十四日羲之報。 . . . 7 On the eighth day of the second month [the day with the cyclical sign], gengyin, your vassal [Wu] Zhi says: . . . 二月八日庚寅臣質言。 . . . 8 On the ninth day of the eighth month, [Sima] Rui knocks his head on the ground: . . . 八月九日睿頓首。 . . . 9 On the twenty-second day of the eighth month, [Liu] Zhilin obeisantly salutes you: . . . 八月二十日之遴和南。 . . . 10 In personal letters, the date usually specifies only the month and the day without indicating the year. In some cases, the month is missing as well, probably because letters were exchanged frequently enough to rule out misunderstandings. The addition of cyclical signs in order to further identify the day, which is common in official communication, is rare in personal letters.11 Variations of the date include references to seasonal festivals and the phases of the moon, which, because of their Structures and Phrases 77 rich connotations, also serve as expressions of affection and longing for the addressee. The years go, the months come, and suddenly it is the ninth day of the ninth month again. . . . 歲往月來。 忽復九月九日。 . . . 12 It is mid-month and I am thinking of you. . . . 月半。 念足下。 . . . 13 Both the Double Ninth, or Double Yang (Chongyang), festival on the ninth day of the ninth month as well as the full moon at mid-month were favorite occasions for writing to friends and family members. The Double Ninth festival was an occasion for getting together with friends, climbing hills, and drinking chrysanthemum wine, while the full moon at mid-month was associated with togetherness and, at the same time, separation, and longing. Only a handful of verbs could be used in the predicate of a prescript . They indicate either the communicative function of writing or the writer’s reverence for the addressee, although there are combinations of both. Concerning the function of writing, the most...