Rediscovering Wen Tingyun: A Historical Key to a Poetic Labyrinth

Chapter Four. Wen’s Marriage—A Case of Scandal

Chapter Four Wen’s Marriage—A Case of Scandal 69 Since he was Tingyun’s uncle and foster father, and also an official of considerable political influence,Wen Zao had been kind to Tingyun. But he could at most recommend him to other influential ministers for a local subordinate post, and was not able to introduce him directly into officialdom within the central bureaucracy, as Tingyun had hoped. There are no clear records of what resulted from his audience with his uncle. Soon afterward, Wen Zao died (835), and by that time, Tingyun had traveled back to Huainan. There he began his more troubled years, and the most notorious affair in Wen’s life, the Jianghuai Incident, took place. RELATIONSHIP WITH WANG YA One of the victims of the tragic “Sweet Dew Incident”(835), Wang Ya,1 had been Wen’s guardian. Within the general situation of the time, the Jianghuai Incident, which involved the person of Wen Tingyun in a scandal, is only a small aftermath of the Sweet Dew Incident, which precipitated the clan extermination of more than ten court ministers, including WangYa, who plotted the annihilation of the eunuchs. Most probably, it was immediately before the Jianghuai Incident and the Sweet Dew Incident that Wen had served under Wang’s jurisdiction. Since the two men were on friendly terms, when we examine Wen’s tribulations in the Jianghuai Incident, we have every reason to set them against the background of the Sweet Dew Incident.We must also consider both the overwhelming power of the eunuchs and Wen’s hostility toward them. We will first study Wen’s relation with Wang using the following poems: “Two Poems written in the Forest Pavilion of Prime Minister Wang in Feng’an Alley” ( , j. 7, WFQ) Poet’s note: His Excellency is conversant with the Taixuan Scripture. ( ) 70 Rediscovering Wen Tingyun In the filmy dust of flowers and bamboo, At exquisite parties once gathered talented men. Either on Anshi’s Isle amidst the white duckweeds, Or at Ziyun’s Terrace with the red leaves. By the vermilion door, one sets sparrow-nets, While the Yellow Gates come along in their carriages. Alas you did not know the Huai River grew turbid, Now for whom does the pink lotus flourish? In the “Records of Art and Literature” of XTS (59: 1512) are recorded “Six juan of the Taixuan Scripture annotated by WangYa.” In Wang Dang’s Tangyulin (1:18) are similar records:“Prime MinisterWangYa annotated the Taixuan Scripture , and often used it to augur, saying it worked better than the divination in the Book of Changes.”Thus, from the title and Wen’s note, we know the Prime Minster in question must beWangYa,who was an expert inYang Xiong’s Taixuan Scripture.The following key points in this poem deserve our special attention. First, the second couplet implies important information. It is composed after the fashion of Liu Yuxi’s aphorism in his “Inscriptions to My Humble Study”( ):2 “[It is like] either Zhuge [Liang]’s cottage in Nanyang, or [Yang] Ziyun’s Study in Xishu” ( ). Liu compares his own residence with those of Zhuge Liang andYang Xiong3 ( , 53–18, b.c., style Ziyun), exhibiting a sense of self-pride. Wen’s replication of Liu’s couplet, in a way more refined than Liu’s and meant to pay his homage to Wang, likens Wang to Xie An (style Anshi) and Yang Xiong, with the implication that Wen had access to Wang both in the Shu region and in Huainan. “Anshi’s Isle,” believed to be Xie An’s hermitage, was close to Yangzhou,4 where Wang Ya performed his official duty as Salt and Iron Commissioner from 830 to 835.5 “Ziyun’s Terrace” was inYang Xiong’s homeland, Chengdu of the Shu region, a place where Wang Ya also had held office for several years.6 Next, the third couplet tells us that, after WangYa’s clan extermination during the Sweet Dew Incident, few dared to visit his old residence,7 and only those eunuchs, referred to as the “Yellow Gates” (see what follows), exerted power there. Then the last couplet alludes to Wang Dao’s ( , 267–330) divination 8 and Guan Fu’s ( ,?–131 b.c.) clan extermination,9 lamenting thatWangYa was unaware of the impending disaster. “For whom does the pink lotus flourish,” besides being an empathic scenic depiction, indicates that, as Wang’s retainer,Wen was overcome with affliction...