Thomas Jansen

The period of Early Medieval China, roughly the centuries between 200 and 600 AD, is generally acknowledged to be a time of dramatic socio-political transformation as well as great cultural achievements. However, the precise nature of this transformation is still poorly understood, despite the lasting impact it had on the trajectory of Chinese history and culture. It was during these four hundred years of conquest, colonisation, and the assimilation of huge non-Chinese populations that China gradually consolidated into the integrated empire we think of today. A meritocracy arose as cultural accomplishments were elevated as the new criterion for social position, thus transforming a social hierarchy primarily based on birth to one that greatly valued talent. The study of Early Medieval China further provides rich evidence on how culture, religion, and politics worked together in the crafting of a new cultural identity, both in the northern and southern half of the divided empire. Hence it is of great interest to historians who want to engage theoretical issues of cultural identity, the re-invention of tradition or the process of nation building in a comparative perspective.
This book engages these issues by offering an in-depth analysis of the cultural activities of Prince Xiao Ziliang (460-494) of the Southern Qi dynasty (479-502) and his circle of friends in the “Western Villa,” the prince’s residence just outside the imperial palace compound at Nanjing and home to one of the most illustrious aristocratic “salons” of the entire early medieval period. On the basis of a wide range of political, religious, and literary primary sources, the book describes the rise of a new type of aristocratic identity and self-representation during the Qi that finally became influential in the Liang (502-557), when Emperor Wu (r. 502-549), a former member of the Western Villa, sought to strengthen the imperial system by elevating the role of Buddhism in official life and by promoting a courtly aristocracy to the detriment of those with an independent basis in the countryside.
The story of the salon in the Western Villa furthers our understanding of the social and intellectual transformations of the south’s early medieval society after the traumatic loss of the north to non-Chinese invaders at the beginning of the fourth century. The reconstruction of the salon’s composition, its activities and topics of discussion provides a fascinating example of the ways in which an extremely heterogeneous aristocratic society builds up a new collective cultural identity and exemplary lifestyle in a geographic and cultural setting unfamiliar to many of them. Moreover, it demonstrates the fruitfulness of an approach that, instead of treating politics, religion, and literature as separate realms, reveals the close interrelationship between the salon’s various cultural activities and debates on the one hand and the nature of socio-political change on the other.
Chapter One, “Emigration and the decline of aristocratic power,” provides a general discussion of the socio-political situation in the Southern Dynasties as a result of several migration waves from the north. It illustrates the ensuing tensions between the powerful and extremely status-conscious exiled high nobility from the north, the well-established yet politically disadvantaged local aristocratic clans of the south, and a growing group of lesser aristocrats and people with commoner background that was able to increase their influence through loyal service to the emperor.
The second chapter, “The salon of the Prince of Jingling and its members,” proceeds to analyse the composition of Xiao Ziliangs salon, which gathered around the famed “Eight Friends of the Prince of Jingling.” These were: Shen Yue (441-513), Xie Tiao (464-499), Wang Rong (467-493), Xiao Chen (478-529), Fan Yun (451-503), Ren Fang (460-508), Lu Chui (470-526), and Xiao Yan (464-549; i.e. Emperor Wu of the Liang). The entire circle consisted mainly of people stemming from the lower northern aristocracy and from local powerful families, but also included members of the high émigré nobility, students and unrecognised talents, thus being a reflection of southern society at large. The stress Xiao Ziliang put on individual talent over family connections or descent, however, indicates a first break with the more common status-consciousness of those days.
Chapters Three and Four, respectively entitled “Salon culture and forms of aristocratic self-representation” and “Aesthetics and politico-religious discourse,” shift the focus from the socio-political orientation of the first two chapters to the activities and discussions within Xiao Ziliang’s salon. The activities described in some detail reached from the performance of Buddhist ceremonies, the participation in literary games to the compilation of anthologies, bibliographies and numerous classificatory texts, while the debates among the circle’s friends included such diverse topics as the introduction of new prosodic rules in poetry, the assets and drawbacks of the “Nine-rank system” of official recruitment, and the immortality of the soul.
Together with the new prosodic rules that were meant to enable poets to imitate the euphonic effects of Sanskrit verse, the salon proposed an alternative view of poetry in which a poem no longer served a conservative didactic function. Poetry was intended to be emotive, rather than educational, it was employed to strengthen the emotional impact of Buddhism in that it creates receptivity towards the Buddha’s teaching on part of the listener. In the same way, members of Xiao Ziliangs circle argued in favour of a universal Buddha nature inherent in all human beings, a notion that stressed equal access to enlightenment. While such notions of equality jeopardised the inherited status claims of the eminent northern émigré aristocracy vis-à-vis the local elite and social newcomers, they also greatly enhanced the position of the court as the centre of culture and power. It was precisely this conflict between central power and local power, between court-aristocracy and landed aristocracy that also surfaced in the debate about abolishing or upholding the “Nine-rank system” of recruitment and the question of whether local public opinion or the judgement of the central administration should predominate in choosing suitable candidates for office.
The concluding fifth chapter (“The new aristocracy of Liang times”) recounts Liang Wudi’s rise to imperial power that offered him and some other former members of Xiao Ziliangs salon who were still alive the opportunity to implement their political, religious, and cultural ideals. Wudi’s official conversion to Buddhism in 504 set the course for his long reign that was dominated by the emperor’s effort to reinvigorate the imperial institution by creating the self-image of a universal saviour who assumes immediate responsibility for each and every one of his subjects. Wudi’s ordination as a bodhisattva in 519 was the most significant moment in this respect.
A number of reform edicts issued during the Tianjian (502-519) reign period, hence known as the “Tianjian reforms,” affirmed the priority of meritocratic criteria over inherited status in the selection of state officials. The reform thus opened the path to official positions for members of the lesser aristocracy, although commoners as a whole were barred from political influence. Through the Tianjian reforms the emerging scholar-gentry confirmed its claim to be the sole political power-holders, which proved to be an important step in the direction of the establishment of an examination system under the Tang.
The book closes with the end of the Tianjian period that was in several ways the culmination of a successful re-invention of aristocratic culture in the south, the origins of which went back to Xiao Ziliang and his friends in the Western Villa.
The appendix contains translations of additional source material not translated in the main text, a list of different groups of people that frequented Xiao Ziliangs salon, and a chronology of major events related to the Western Villa from the time the Xiao Ziliang started to gather friends in his residence (479) until Liang Wudi’s death in 549.

... A panel which dealt with the period of early medieval China was entitled "Reactions to Change: China during the 3rd - 6th Century AD" It was jointly organised by Annette Kieser (University of Munich), Monique Nagel-Angermann (University of Munster), and Thomas Jansen ...

http://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/humanities-performingarts/chinese-studies/eacs-workshop/

Admission and deadline We will select 20 MA and PhD students in Chinese Studies from all over Europe. Applications by advanced undergraduates will also be considered. Applicants are requested to send a CV, an official certificate of their student status, and a motivation letter to Dr Thomas Jansen (t.jansen@uwtsd.ac.uk).