Table Of ContentConsidering the End:
Mortality in Early Medieval Chinese Poetic
Representation
Sinica Leidensia
Edited by
Barend J. ter Haar
Maghiel van Crevel
In co-operation with
P.K. Bol, D.R. Knechtges, E.S. Rawski,
W.L. Idema, H.T. Zurndorfer
VOLUME 107
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/sinl
Considering the End:
Mortality in Early Medieval Chinese
Poetic Representation
By
Timothy Wai Keung Chan
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2012
Cover illustration: Li Jian 黎簡 (1747–99), “Xiao’ao yanxia” 嘯傲煙霞. Art Museum, The Chinese Univer-
sity of Hong Kong. Acc. No.: 1973.0764 (4).
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chan, Timothy Wai Keung.
Considering the end : mortality in early medieval Chinese poetic representation / by Timothy Wai
Keung Chan.
p. cm. — (Sinica leidensia ; v. 107)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-22209-0 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Chinese poetry—221 B.C.-960 A.D.—History and criticism. 2. Mortality in literature. 3. Death
in literature. I. Title.
PL2313.C36 2012
895.1’1209—dc23
2012003513
ISSN 0169-9563
ISBN 978 90 04 22209 0 (hardback)
ISBN 978 90 04 22902 0 (e-book)
Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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contents v
CONTENTS
Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Preface and Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction: As the End Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. Wang Yi on Integrity and Loyalty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2. A Young Lady on Yellow Pongee Silk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3. Ruan Ji on Apocalypse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
4. Tao Qian on His Deathbed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
5. Xie Lingyun on Awakening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
6. Composed on the Verge of Unnatural Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
7. Epilogue: The Fisherman in Reclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
vi contents
CONTENTS
TIMELINE VII
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDgEMENTS IX
INTRODUCTION:
AS THE END APPROACHES 1
WANg YI ON INTEgRITY AND LOYALTY 7
A YOUNg LADY ON YELLOW PONgEE SILK 41
RUAN JI ON APOCALYPSE 65
TAO QIAN ON HIS DEATHBED 97
XIE LINgYUN ON AWAKENINg 127
COMPOSED ON THE VERgE OF UNNATURAL DEATH 159
EPILOgUE: THE FISHERMAN IN RECLUSION 187
WORKS CITED 209
INDEX 229
contents vii
TIMELINE
ca. 2100–ca. 1600 bc Xia Dynasty
ca. 1600–ca. 1050 bc Shang Dynasty
ca. 1046–256 bc Zhou Dynasty
Western Zhou (ca. 1046–771 bc)
Eastern Zhou (ca. 771–256 bce)
Spring and Autumn Period (770–ca. 475 bc)
Warring States Period (ca. 475–221 bc)
221–206 bc Qin Dynasty
206 bc–ad 220 Han Dynasty
Western/Former Han (206 bc–ad 9, 23–25)
Xin Dynasty (9–23)
Eastern/Later Han (25–220)
220–589 Six Dynasties Period
Three Kingdoms (220–265)
Wei (220–265); Shu Han (221–263); Wu (222–280)
Jin Dynasty (265–420)
Western Jin (265–316)
Northern and Southern Dynasties (386–589)
Southern Dynasties: Eastern Jin (317–420), Liu Song (420–479),
Qi (479–502), Liang (502–558), Chen (557–589)
581–618 Sui Dynasty
618–907 Tang Dynasty
907–960 Five Dynasties
960–1279 Song Dynasty
Northern Song (960–1127)
Southern Song (1127–1279)
1279–1368 Yuan Dynasty
1368–1644 Ming Dynasty
1644–1912 Qing Dynasty
1912–1949 Republic Period
1949–present People’s Republic of China
viii contents
preface and acknowledgements ix
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDgEMENTS
The contents of this book have been inspired by my adventures over the
last decade or so. The name of the book, “Considering the End,” was remi-
niscent of the vicissitudes I experienced along the way. During the long
process of rewriting and revision, frequent scenes from my past were
replayed to remind me how I embarked on and continued the research.
Two stand out.
In early September 2000, on a most dismal journey from Columbus,
Ohio, to San Diego, California, with my wife and son in our old car loaded
with household belongings, we passed through Boulder, Colorado.
Notified of my arrival, Professor Paul W. Kroll drove overnight from
Minnesota (where he had just dropped off his own son at college) for a
brief reunion fourteen months after my graduation. In our conversation, I
likened myself to Wang Bo 王勃 (650–75?), a Tang poet who suffered
from political setbacks, journeyed to the far south, and ended his life
there. With similar disappointment I was on my way Down Under, to take
up a position at the University of Sydney. Professor Kroll responded, “No,
this is not an apt analogy—you will not be dying there!” Despite the
unflagging spiritual and academic support he lent me in the years follow-
ing, my sky seemed shrouded even under the Californian and Australian
sun.
During these years, I started revisiting my favourite writers from an
eschatological perspective. I first found Tao Qian, who knew well the situ-
ation of facing adversity (窮 qiong) in his career. The next unforgettable
scene was a casual chat with my wife Zhang Hong at Strathfield train sta-
tion in Sydney. Heaving a deep sigh, she compared our sojourning life
with a dream, a realm to which we could no longer return. We talked of
how life unfolds, and I explained to her the idea of kalpa in Buddhist cos-
mology. That conversation formed an important framework for my chap-
ter on Ruan Ji, which subsequently yielded new insights for my reading of
Xie Lingyun’s poetry. Xie sought enlightenment and understanding
throughout his career, but his life ended in tragedy. When I picked up the
Chuci again, ‘summoning the soul’ and ‘the fisherman’ assumed new
meanings, which opened up further paths of exploration for me.
The actual work on this book began in 2002, and the writing proper has
since travelled to many corners of the world and undergone numerous
x preface and acknowledgements
revisions. Most of the chapters were initially presented, in early versions,
as conference papers in the United States, Australia, and Hong Kong.
Here I would like to express my gratitude to my two mentors, Professors
ge Xiaoyin and Paul W. Kroll, for their work with me at Peking University
and the University of Colorado respectively. For the present project, their
guidance has been of foremost significance. In December 2003, Professor
ge invited me to participate in a conference on the literature and reli-
gions of the Han, Wei, and Northern and Southern Dynasties periods,
held at Hong Kong Baptist University. This conference provided me with
a new vision of medieval Chinese literature and prompted me to be aware
of relevant religious backgrounds when reading literary texts. Professor
Kroll brought me to the fields of Daoist and Buddhist studies, in addition
to prompting deeper analysis of classical Chinese literature. These skills
became a foundation for broad, interdisciplinary visions and insights for
my scholarship. I am also grateful for his close reading of the manuscript
and numerous suggestions for revision.
My gratitude also goes to the following colleagues who gave valuable
feedback on early drafts of different chapters, on specific arguments, or
even choices of words: David R. Knechtges, Donald Holzman, Ralph J.
Hexter, Derek Herforth, Barbara Hendrischke, and Michael Schimmel-
pfennig. Robert gimello and Jan Nattier generously shared their expertise
in Buddhist studies. The anonymous readers of the manuscript are
thanked for their feedback and criticism, which prompted me to recon-
sider problematic arguments, structure, style, and format in early drafts. I
alone, however, am responsible for all remaining errors.
Various sources of funding and research programs lent significant sup-
port to the project. During my years at the University of Sydney, I received
several grants under different schemes from the Faculty of Arts, College
of Humanities and Social Science, and School of Languages and Cultures.
These funds enabled me to conduct research and present early drafts at
conferences from 2002 to 2004. The one semester of leave under the
Special Study Program (i.e., ‘sabbatical leave’) that I took from July to
December 2004, which came with a travel grant, offered essential support
for the research. The most recent funding I received from Hong Kong
Baptist University under the ‘Faculty Research grant, Category I’ scheme
gave an important boost in the final stage of the project.
In conjunction with my Special Study Program leave in 2004, I held a
five-month Visiting Scholar position at the Department of East Asian
Languages and Cultures, Harvard University. I thank Stephen Owen and
Wilt Idema for their sponsorship and Susan Kashiwa for coordinating this
