Sources of Chinese Tradition: Volume 2: From 1600 Through the Twentieth Century

Sources of Chinese Tradition

SECOND EDITION

VOLUME II

INTRODUCTION TO ASIAN CIVILIZATIONS

Introduction to Asian Civilizations

WM. THEODORE DE BARY, GENERAL EDITOR

Sources of Japanese Tradition

(1958)

Sources of Chinese Tradition

(1960, rev. 1999)

Sources of Indian Tradition

(1958, rev. 1988)

Sources of Korean Tradition

(1997)

Sources of Chinese Tradition

SECOND EDITION

VOLUME II

From 1600 Through the Twentieth Century

Compiled by Wm. Theodore de Bary and Richard Lufrano

WITH THE COLLABORATION OF

Wing-tsit Chan, Julia Ching, David Johnson,

Kwang-ching Liu, David Mungello, Chester Tan

and contributions by

John Berthrong, Woei Lien Chong, John Ewell, Joan Judge, Philip Kuhn, John Lagerwey, Catherine Lynch, Victor Mair, Susan Mann, Ian McMorran, Don Price, Douglas Reynolds, William Rowe, Lynn Struve, Burton Watson, Tu Weiming, Pierre-Etienne Will, John D. Young, and Peter Zarrow

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS

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Copyright © 2000 Columbia University Press

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E-ISBN 978-0-231-51799-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

de Bary, William Theodore, 1919–

Sources of Chinese tradition, vol. 2 / compiled by Wm. Theodore de Bary and Richard Lufrano ; with the collaboration of Wing-tsit Chan . . . [et al.].—2d ed.

p. cm.—(Introduction to Asian civilizations)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0–231–10938–5 (vol. 1 cloth)—ISBN 0–231–10939–3 (vol. 1 paper)

ISBN 0–231–11270–X (vol. 2 cloth)—ISBN 0–231–11271–8 (vol. 2 paper)

1. China—Civilization—Sources. I. Lufrano, Richard. II. Chan, Wing-tsit, 1901–1994. III. Title. IV. Series.

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List of permissions

Azure (Sky Blue). Chinese Sociology and Anthropology (Winter 1991–92). Reprinted by permission from M.E. Sharpe, Inc., Armonk, NY 10504.

Benton, Gregor, and Alan Hunter, eds. Wild Lily, Prairie Fire, China’s Road to Democracy. Copyright © 1995 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.

Bringing Down the Great Wall by Fang Lizhi. Copyright © 1991 by Fang Lizhi. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf Inc.

Building Socialist Spiritual Civilization. Beijing Review, no. 10 (March 9, 1981): 16–17.

Chan, Anita, Stanley Rosen, and Jonathan Unger, eds. On Socialist Democracy and the Chinese Legal System. Reprinted by permission from M.E. Sharpe, Inc., Armonk, NY 10504.

Chang, Carsun. The Development of Neo-Confucianism. NY: Bookman, 1962.

The Chinese Debate on the New Authoritarianism. Chinese Sociology and Anthropology (Winter 1990–91 and Spring 1991). Reprinted by permission from M.E. Sharpe, Inc., Armonk, NY 10504.

Compton, Boyd. Mao’s China: Party Reform Documents. Copyright © 1952, University of Washington Press. Reprinted with permission of publisher.

Communique of the Third Party Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Beijing Review, no. 52 (December 29, 1978): 6–16.

The Deep Structure of Stagnation and Surveillance, by Sun Longji. Translated by Fok Shui Che in Seeds of Fire: Chinese Voices of Conscience, edited by Geremie Barmé and John Minford. Copyright © 1986 by Geremie Barmé and John Minford. Reprinted by permission of Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc.

Engendering China: Women, Culture and the State, edited by Christina Gilmartin, Gail Hershatter, Lisa Rofel, and Tyrene White. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Copyright © 1994 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

Fan, K. H. The Chinese Cultural Revolution: Selected Documents. Copyright © 1968 by K. H. Fan. Reprinted by permission of Monthly Review Foundation.

Feng yu-lan. Selected Philosophical Writings. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1991.

The Fifth Modernization, from The Courage to Stand Alone by Wei Jingsheng. Translated by Kristina M. Torgeson. Translation copyright © 1997 by Wei Jingsheng. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA Inc.

Gao Yuan. Born Red: A Chronicle of the Cultural Revolution. Copyright © 1987 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

Hayhoe, Ruth, and Yongling Lu, Ma Xiangbo and the Mind of Modern China. Reprinted by permission from M.E. Sharpe, Inc., Armonk, NY 10504.

A Higher Kind of Loyalty by Liu Binyan. English translation copyright © 1990 by Random House, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

How China Can Become Prosperous. Bachman, David and Dali L. Yang, translators and editors, Yan Jiaqi and China’s Struggle for Democracy. Reprinted by permission from M. E. Sharpe, Inc., Armonk, NY 10504.

The Hundred Flowers Campaign and the Chinese Intellectuals, edited by Roderick MacFarquhar. Copyright © 1960 by Roderick MacFarquhar. Reproduced with permission of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., Westport, CT.

I Myself Am a Woman by Ding Ling. Copyright © 1989 by Beacon Press. Reprinted by permission of Beacon Press, Boston.

MacFarquhar, Roderick, Timothy Cheek, and Eugene Wu. The Secret Speeches of Chairman Mao: From the Hundred Flowers to the Great Leap Forward. Cambridge: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1989. Used with permission.

Mao Zedong. Report From Xunwu. Translated and with an introduction and notes by Roger R. Thompson. Copyright © 1990 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

Merwin, Wallace C. Documents of the Three-Self Movement. NY: National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, Division of Foreign Missions, Far Eastern Office, 1963. Used with permission.

The Political Thought of Mao Tse-tung by Stuart Schram. New York: Praeger, 1972. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Red Flower of China by Zhai Zhenhua. New York: Soho Press Inc., 1992. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

Selden, Mark, ed. The People’s Republic of China: A Documentary History of Revolutionary Change. Copyright © 1979 by Mark Selden. Reprinted by permission of Monthly Review Foundation.

Several Questions in Strengthening and Perfecting the Job Responsibility Systems for Agricultural Production. Issues and Studies (May 1981). Reprinted by permission.

The Ugly Chinaman, by Bo Yang, from Seeds of Fire: Chinese Voices of Conscience edited by Geremie Barmé and John Minford. Copyright © 1986 by Geremie Barmé and John Minford. Reprinted by permission of Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc.

Yu Qiuli. The Relationship Between Politics and Economics. Issues and Studies (January 1980). Reprinted by permission.

Zhou Enlai. Report on the Work of Government. Beijing Review (January 24, 1975): 21–25.

This volume is dedicated to Irene Bloom in appreciation of her outstanding contributions to the study and teaching of Chinese thought and to the development of Asian Studies.

CONTENTS

Explanatory Note

PART FIVE

The Maturation of Chinese Civilization and New Challenges to Chinese Tradition

25. The Chinese Tradition in Retrospect

Huang Zongxi’s Critique of the Chinese Dynastic System

Waiting for the Dawn: A Plan for the Prince

Lü Liuliang’s Radical Orthodoxy

Commentaries on the Four Books

Late Confucian Scholarship: Wang Fuzhi (Ian MacMorran)

Cosmological Foundations

Wang’s Revision of Orthodox Neo-Confucianism

Historical Trends

The Justification of Social and Cultural Divisions

The Preservation of Chinese Political and Cultural Integrity

Gu Yanwu, Beacon of Qing Scholarship

True Learning: Broad Knowledge and a Sense of Shame

Preface to Record of the Search for Antiquities

On the Concentration of Authority at Court

On Bureaucratic Local Administration, ca. 1660 (William Rowe)

The Han Learning and Text Criticism

Dai Zhen and Zhang Xuecheng (Lynn Struve)

Dai Zhen’s Text-Critical Moral Philosophy (L. Struve)

Letter to Shi Zhongming Concerning Scholarship (L. Struve)

Letter in Reply to Advanced Scholar Peng Yunchu (John Ewell)

Zhang Xuecheng’s Philosophy of History (L. Struve)

Virtue in the Historian

Virtue in the Writer

Women’s Learning (Susan Mann)

Cui Shu and the Critical Spirit

Foreword to the Essentials of the Record of Beliefs Investigated

Han Learning and Western Learning

The Qing Version of Neo-Confucian Orthodoxy

Village Lectures and the Sacred Edict

The Sacred Edict

26. Popular Values and Beliefs

DAVID JOHNSON

Ensemble Performance

Ritual

A Procession on the Birthday of the Sanzong God

The Great Sai Ritual of Zhangzi County, Shanxi

The Refining Fire Ritual of Shenze Village, Zhejiang

The Attack on Hell, a Popular Funeral Ritual (John Lagerwey)

Opera

Mulian Rescues His Mother

Guo Ju Buries His Son

Solo Performance

Verse

"Woman Huang Explicates the Diamond Sūtra"

Song of Guo Mountain

Prose

Sacred Edict Lecturing

Chantefable

The Precious Scroll [Baojuan] on the Lord of the Stove

Written Texts

Scriptures

The True Scripture of the Great Emperor

Tracts

Selections from The Twenty-four Exemplars of Filial Piety

27. Chinese Responses to Early Christian Contacts

DAVID MUNGELLO

Li Zhizao: Preface to The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven

Xu Guangqi: A Memorial in Defense of the [Western] Teaching

Yang Guangxian’s Critique of Christianity

Yang Guangxian: I Cannot Do Otherwise (Budeyi) (John D. Young)

Zhang Xingyao and the Inculturation of Christianity

An Examination of the Similarities and Differences Between the Lord of Heaven Teaching [Christianity] and the Teaching of the Confucian Scholars

28. Chinese Statecraft and the Opening of China to the West

Chen Hongmou and Mid-Qing Statecraft (William Rowe)

On Substantive Learning

On Universal Education

On Women’s Education

On the Duties of an Official

On Governance by Local Elites

Statecraft in the Grain Trade and Government-Controlled Brokerages

(Pierre-Etienne Will)

A Memorial on Grain Prices, the Grain Trade, and Government-Controlled Brokerages

Hong Liangji: On Imperial Malfeasance and China’s Population Problem (K. C. Liu)

Letter to Prince Cheng Earnestly Discussing the Political Affairs of the Time, 1799

China’s Population Problem

The Deterioration of Local Government

The Roots of Rebellion

Gong Zizhen’s Reformist Vision (K. C. Liu)

On the Lack of Moral Fiber Among Scholar-Officials

Institutional Paralysis and the Need for Reform

The Scholar-Teacher and Service to a Dynasty

Respect for the Guest

Wei Yuan and Confucian Practicality (K. C. Liu)

The Learning of Statecraft

Wei Yuan: Preface to Anthology of Qing Statecraft Writings (Huangchao jingshi wenbian)

Criteria for Anthology of Qing Statecraft Writings

Learning and the Role of Scholar-Officials

On Governance (Philip Kuhn)

The Pursuit of Profit

On Institutional Progress in History

On Merchants and Reform

On Taxation and the Merchants

On Reform of the Tribute-Rice Transport System, 1825

On Reform of the Salt Monopoly

The Western Intrusion Into China

The Lesson of Lin Zexu

Letter to the English Ruler

Letter to Wu Zixu on the Need for Western Guns and Ships

Wei Yuan and the West

Preface to Military History of the Qing Dynasty (Shengwu jixu), 1842 (K. C. Liu)

Preface to Illustrated Gazetteer of the Maritime Countries (Haiguo tuzhi)

29. The Heavenly Kingdom of the Taipings

The Book of Heavenly Commandments (Tiantiao shu)

A Primer in Verse (Youxue shi)

The Taiping Economic Program

The Principles of the Heavenly Nature (Tianqing daolishu)

PART SIX

Reform and Revolution

30. Moderate Reform and the Self-Strengthening Movement

K. C. LIU

Feng Guifen: On the Manufacture of Foreign Weapons

On the Adoption of Western Learning

Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang: On Sending Young Men Abroad to Study

Xue Fucheng: On Reform

Zhang Zhidong: Exhortation to Learn

31. Radical Reform at the End of the Qing

Wang Tao on Reform

Yan Fu on Evolution and Progress (DON PRICE)

On Strength

Kang Youwei and the Reform Movement

Confucius As a Reformer

The Three Ages

The Need for Reforming Institutions

The Grand Commonality

Conservative Reactions (CHESTER TAN)

Chu Chengbo: Reforming Men’s Minds Comes Before Reforming Institutions

Zhu Yixin: Fourth Letter in Reply to Kang Youwei

Ye Dehui: The Superiority of China and Confucianism

Tan Sitong

The Study of Humanity

Reform Edict of January 29, 1901 (DOUGLAS REYNOLDS)

Liang Qichao

Renewing the People

The Consciousness of Rights (Peter Zarrow)

The Concept of the Nation (P. Zarrow)

Liang Qichao and the New Press (Joan Judge)

Inaugural Statement for the Eastern Times (Shibao) (J. Judge)

Advocates of Script Reform (VICTOR MAIR)

Song Shu: Illiteracy in China

Lu Zhuangzhang’s Attempt at Romanization

Shen Xue’s Universal Script

Wang Zhao’s Mandarin Letters

Zhang Binglin’s Revolutionary Nationalism (P. ZARROW)

Letter Opposing Kang Youwei’s Views on Revolution

32. The Nationalist Revolution

Sun Yat-sen and the Nationalist Revolution

Hu Hanmin

The Six Principles of the People’s Report

Sun Yat-sen

The Three People’s Principles

The Principle of Democracy

The People’s Livelihood

The Three Stages of Revolution

Democracy and Absolutism: The Debate Over Political Tutelage

Luo Longji: What Kind of Political System Do We Want?

Jiang Tingfu: Revolution and Absolutism

Hu Shi: National Reconstruction and Absolutism

Chiang Kai-shek: Nationalism and Traditionalism

Chiang Kai-shek: Essentials of the New Life Movement

China’s Destiny

Jiang Jingguo (Chiang Ching-kuo): The Republic of China in Taiwan

The Evolution of Constitutional Democracy in Taiwan

Implementing The Three People’s Principles

33. The New Culture Movement

WING-TSIT CHAN

The Attack on Confucianism

Chen Duxiu: The Way of Confucius and Modern Life

The Literary Revolution

Hu Shi: A Preliminary Discussion of Literary Reform

Chen Duxiu: On Literary Revolution

Hu Shi: Constructive Literary Revolution—A Literature of National Speech

The Doubting of Antiquity

Gu Jiegang: Preface to Debates on Ancient History (1926)

A New Philosophy of Life

Chen Duxiu: The True Meaning of Life

Hu Shi: Pragmatism

The Debate on Science and the Philosophy of Life

Zhang Junmai: The Philosophy of Life

Ding Wenjiang: Metaphysics and Science

Wu Zhihui: A New Concept of the Universe and Life Based on a New Belief

Hu Shi: Science and Philosophy of Life

The Controversy Over Chinese and Western Cultures

Liang Qichao: Travel Impressions from Europe

Liang Shuming: Chinese Civilization vis-a-vis Eastern and Western Philosophies

Reconstructing the Community

Hu Shi: Our Attitude Toward Modern Western Civilization

Sa Mengwu, He Bingsong, and Others: Declaration for Cultural Construction on a Chinese Basis

Hu Shi: Criticism of the Declaration for Cultural Construction on a Chinese Basis

Radical Critiques of Traditional Society (Peter Zarrow)

He Zhen: What Women Should Know About Communism

Women’s Revenge

Han Yi: Destroying the Family

34. The Communist Revolution

The Seedbed of the Communist Revolution: The Peasantry and the Anarcho-Communist Movement (PETER ZARROW)

Liu Shipei: Anarchist Revolution and Peasant Revolution

Li Dazhao: The Victory of Bolshevism

Mao’s Revolutionary Doctrine

Report on an Investigation of the Hunan Peasant Movement

The Question of Land Redistribution

The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party

The Mass Line

On New Democracy

The Dictatorship of the People’s Democracy

35. Chinese Communist Praxis

Liu Shaoqi: How to Be a Good Communist

Mao Zedong: The Rectification Campaign

Report of the Propaganda Bureau of the Central Committee on the Zhengfeng Reform Movement, April 1942

Wang Shiwei: Wild Lily

Liu Shaoqi: On Inner-Party Struggle

Mao Zedong: Combat Liberalism

Mao Zedong: On Art and Literature

Wang Shiwei: Political Leaders, Artists

Ding Ling: Thoughts on March 8, 1942

36. The Mao Regime

Establishment of the People’s Republic

Mao Zedong: Leaning to One Side

Mao Zedong: Stalin Is Our Commander

Guo Moruo: Ode to Stalin—Long Live Stalin on His Seventieth Birthday, 1949 (Chao-ying Fang)

Ji Yun: How China Proceeds with the Task of Industrialization (1953)

Li Fuqun: Report on the First Five-Year Plan for Development of the National Economy of the People’s Republic of China in 1953–1957, July 5 and 6, 1955

Changes in Mid-Course

Mao Zedong: The Question of Agricultural Cooperation, July 31, 1955

Mao Zedong: On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People

Liu Binyan: A Higher Kind of Loyalty

Intellectual Opinions from the Hundred Flowers Period

Mao Zedong: Remarks at the Beidaihe Conference, August 1958

Peng Dehuai: Letter of Opinion to Mao Zedong on the Great Leap Forward, July 1959

Wu Han: Hai Rui Scolds the Emperor, June 19, 1959

The Cultural Revolution

The Sixteen Points: Guidelines for the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong

What Have Song Shuo, Lu Ping, and Peng Peiyun Done in the Cultural Revolution?

Red Guard Memoirs

Wang Xizhe, Li Zhengtian, Chen Yiyang, Guo Hongzhi: The Li Yi Zhe Poster, November 1974

PART SEVEN

The Return to Stability and Tradition

37. Deng’s Modernization and Its Critics

R. LUFRANO

The Turn to Stability and Modernization

Zhou Enlai: Report on the Work of the Government, delivered on January 13, 1975, at the First Session of the Fourth National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China

Communiqué of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, December 22, 1978

Yu Qiuli: The Relationship Between Politics and Economics

Uphold the Four Basic Principles, Speech by Deng Xiaoping, March 30, 1979

Building Socialist Spiritual Civilization, Letter from Li Chang, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to a Member of the Party Central Committee, December 1980

Office of the CCP Dehong Dai Nationality and Qingbo Autonomous Zhou Committee: Several Questions in Strengthening and Perfecting the Job Responsibility Systems of Agricultural Production, November 7, 1980

Early Critiques of the Deng Regime

Publication Statement, Beijing Spring Magazine, January 1979

Wei Jingsheng: The Fifth Modernization—Democracy, 1978 (Kristina Torgeson)

Democracy or New Dictatorship, Exploration, March 1979

Wall Poster from the April Fifth Forum

Hu Ping: On Freedom of Speech, Written for His Successful 1980 Campaign to Become Beijing University’s Delegate to the Haidian District People’s Assembly

Wang Ruoshui: Discussing the Question of Alienation

Wang Ruoshui: In Defense of Humanism

Assessing the New Policies

Deng Xiaoping: Build Socialism with Chinese Characteristics

Chen Yun: Speech Given at the Chinese Communist National Representative Conference, September 23, 1985

New Demands for Change and Democracy

Fang Lizhi: Democracy, Reform, and Modernization

Fang Lizhi: Reform and Intellectuals, Talk Given in 1986

Fang Lizhi: The Social Responsibility of Today’s Intellectuals, Speech Given at Beijing University, November 4, 1985

Li Xiaojiang: Awakening of Women’s Consciousness

The New Authoritarianism

Wu Jiaxiang: An Outline for Studying the New Authoritarianism, May 1989

Rong Jian: Does China Need an Authoritarian Political System in the Course of Modernization?, May 1989

Yan Jiaqi: How China Can Become Prosperous

38. Twentieth-Century Christianity in China

JULIA CHING

Ma Xiangbo

Religion and the State (Ruth Hayhoe)

Religion and Culture (R. Hayhoe)

Zhao Zichen

Present-Day Religious Thought and Life in China

Leadership and Citizenship Training

Wu Yaozong

The Present-Day Tragedy of Christianity

The Reformation of Christianity

The Christian Manifesto

Wang Mingdao

We, Because of Faith

Wu Jingxiong: Christianity and Chinese Tradition

Beyond East and West

The Lotus and the Mud

39. Reopening the Debate on Chinese Tradition

The New Confucians

Xiong Shili (Tu Weiming)

Manifesto for a Reappraisal of Sinology and the Reconstruction of Chinese Culture

Mou Zongsan’s Confucian Philosophy (JOHN BERTHRONG)

The Sensitivity and Steadfastness of Humaneness (ren)

Feng Youlan: China—An Ancient Nation with a New Mission

The Continuing Critique of Tradition

Bo Yang: The Ugly Chinaman

Sun Longji: The Deep Structure of Chinese Culture

Su Xiaokang and Wang Luxiang: River Elegy, a Television Documentary

Li Zehou: A Reevaluation of Confucianism (Woei Lien Chong)

Gu Mu: Confucianism as the Essence of Chinese Tradition

Bibliography

Index

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The names of contributors are indicated in the table of contents alongside the sections or selections that they are responsible for. At the end of each selection the sources of translations are rendered as concisely as possible; full bibliographical data can be obtained from the list of sources at the end of the book. Unless otherwise indicated, the author of the text is the writer whose name precedes the selection; the initials following each selection are those of the translator, as indicated in the table of contents. Where excerpts have been taken from existing translations, they have sometimes been adapted or edited in the interests of uniformity with the book as a whole.

In translating Chinese terms there is often no single equivalent in English for pivotal words that have multiple meanings in the original. Simply to transliterate the original term would be an easy way to avoid having to choose among alternatives, but it would not be a solution for the great majority of readers who are unfamiliar with Chinese. Consequently, we have adopted a standard rendering and used it wherever possible but have allowed for variants (followed by the romanized term) to be substituted when necessary. At the end of volume 1 of Sources is a glossary of key terms listed in romanized Chinese (pinyin and Wade-Giles) with alternate renderings in English; from this the reader can approximate the range of meanings that cluster around such pivotal terms.

Chinese words and names are rendered according to the pinyin system of romanization. For readers unfamiliar with pinyin, it is useful to know that the consonants q and x are to be read as ch and hs, respectively. The Wade-Giles romanization is also given for names and terms already well known in that form, as are the renderings preferred by important modern figures and in common use (such as Sun Yat-sen). A comparative table of pinyin and Wade-Giles romanizations may be found at the end of the book. Indic words appearing in the chapters on Buddhism as technical terms or titles in italics follow the standard system of transliteration found in Louis Renou’s Grammaire Sanskrite (Paris, 1930), pp. xi–xiii, with the exception that here ś is regularly used for ç. To facilitate pronunciation, other Sanskrit terms and proper names appearing in roman letters are rendered according to the usage of Webster’s New International Dictionary, second edition unabridged, except that here the macron is used to indicate long vowels and the Sanskrit symbols for ś (ç) and ṣ are uniformly transcribed as sh. Similarly, the standard Sanskrit transcription of c is given as ch.

Chinese names are rendered in their Chinese order, with the family name first and the personal name last. Dates given after personal names are those of birth and death; in the case of rulers, reign dates are preceded by r. Generally the name by which a person was most commonly known in Chinese tradition is the one used in the text. Since this book is intended for the general reader rather than the specialist, we have not burdened the text with a list of the alternate names or titles that usually accompany biographical reference to a scholar in Chinese or Japanese historical works.

In the preparation of this volume for publication the editors have been especially indebted to the following for their expert assistance: Martin Amster, Renee Kashuba, Glenn Perkins, and Marianna Stiles.

PART 5

The Maturation of Chinese Civilization and New Challenges to Chinese Tradition

Chapter 25

THE CHINESE TRADITION IN RETROSPECT

Although the Manchu conquest of China might have been expected to produce, under foreign rule, dramatic changes in Chinese life, it is a sign of the powerful inertial force of Chinese civilization—the magnitude of the society and the survival power of both its people and its culture—that so much of traditional thought and institutions persisted into the new era and, in fact, even lent stability and strength to the new regime. It is also a credit to the adaptability of the Manchus to their new situation.

A key instance of this political and cultural survival was the early resumption of the civil service examination system, with the same basic curriculum that had been adopted, under Neo-Confucian influence, in the Mongol and Ming periods. Nothing else so radically conditioned the intellectual life of Qing China, since this curriculum based on the Four Books and Five Classics provided both the common denominator for educated discourse and the ground for further advances in classical scholarship, which became, in the Qing period, the greatest achievement of the cultural elite.

Although in principle education was open to all, classical learning remained accessible only to the more leisured classes; commoners, most of them heavily engaged in manual labor, could not indulge in such time-consuming pursuits. True, basic literacy and popular culture shared many of the same Confucian values on the moral level, but farmers and craftsmen could only admire, and did not often share in, the higher forms of culture respected among the elite.

Scholar-officials, however, had their own problems. As Confucian loyalists and survivors from the Ming, their consciences kept many of them from serving the new dynasty. At the same time, as upholders of Confucian ideal standards who blamed the fall of the Ming dynasty on its own lack of political virtue, the four major thinkers represented below, instead of commemorating and eulogizing, engaged in a searching critique not just of the Ming but of dynastic rule down through the ages—a critique of unprecedented depth and incisiveness. Given, however, the unchallengeability of Qing power and authority in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the fuller significance and effect of this critique of dynastic rule was not felt until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—if, indeed, it is not still to be felt.

Of these same thinkers, three (Huang Zongxi, Lü Liuliang, and Gu Yanwu) were recognized as outstanding scholars in their own time, while Wang Fuzhi worked in great isolation and became widely appreciated only much later. Lu’s fate, however, was ironic. In the first decades of the Qing he was a powerful force in the revival of the Zhu Xi school and influenced leading Neo-Confucians who played a major role in the Kangxi emperor’s promotion of an official Zhu Xi orthodoxy. Yet when Kangxi’s successor discovered the politically subversive character of Lü’s commentary on Zhu Xi’s Four Books (see chapter 21) he engaged in a ruthless and almost totally successful proscription of Lü’s works.

Meanwhile, alongside the promotion of the official orthodoxy, a broad movement of critical textual scholarship was developing, which, intellectually speaking, became the dominant scholarly trend (known as the Han Learning or Evidential Learning). Gu Yanwu was generally regarded as the progenitor and towering example of this movement, and his prestige endured into the twentieth century.

In terms of their official standing and formative role in shaping official orthodoxy and cultural policy, other major figures like Lu Longji, Li Guangdi, and Zhang Boxing (most of them influenced to some degree by Lu Liuliang and identified with the so-called Song Learning), would have to be mentioned, but outstanding though they were in their own day, we pass them by here in favor of others whose significance transcends their own time.

HUANG ZONGXI’S CRITIQUE OF THE CHINESE DYNASTIC SYSTEM

Huang Zongxi (1610–1695) was the son of a high Ming official affiliated with the Donglin party who died in prison at the hands of the eunuchs. At the age of eighteen, after the fall of the chief eunuch, Wei Zhongxian, Huang avenged his father’s death by bringing to justice or personally attacking those responsible for it. Thereafter he devoted himself to study, took part in a flurry of political agitation at Nanjing just before the fall of the Ming dynasty, and then engaged in prolonged, but unsuccessful, guerrilla operations against the Manchus in southeast China. There is evidence that he even took part in a mission to Japan, hoping to obtain aid. After finally giving up the struggle, Huang settled down to a career as an independent scholar and teacher, refusing all offers of employment from the Manchu regime.

Warfare being less total and intensive in those days, Huang was probably not forced to neglect his intellectual interests altogether during those unsettled years. Nevertheless, it is remarkable that his most productive years should have come so late in life. His first important work, Waiting for the Dawn (Mingyi daifanglu), was produced at the age of fifty-two. Thereafter he worked on a massive anthology of Ming dynasty prose and a broad survey of Ming thought, Mingru xuean, which is the first notable attempt in China at a systematic and critical intellectual history. At his death he was compiling a similar survey for the Song and Yuan dynasties. Huang’s range of interests included mathematics, calendrical science, geography, and the critical study of the classics, as well as literature and philosophy. In most of these fields, however, his approach is that of a historian, and this underlying bent is reflected in the fact that his most outstanding disciples and followers in the Manchu period also distinguished themselves in historical studies. Huang was an independent and creative scholar who questioned the predominant Neo-Confucian emphasis on individual virtue as the key to governance and instead stressed the need for constitutional law and systemic reform.

Huang characterized dynastic rule as inherently selfish, rather than conforming to the Confucian ideal of governance in the public interest or common good (gong), and he also reaffirmed the traditional (especially Mencian) emphasis on the critical remonstrating function of conscientious ministers. Yet he went further to insist on having a prime minister as executive head of the government (rather than the emperor, as was the case in the Ming period) and also on having schools at every level (including the capital) serve as organs of public discussion, with the emperor and his officials required to attend and listen to the airing of major public issues.

The crises of the late Ming-early Qing evoked from other scholars, like Gu Yanwu, Lu Liuliang, and Tang Zhen, similar critiques of the dynastic system based on Confucian principles. None, however, produced as systematic and comprehensive a statement, expressed in such forceful language, as Huang. Unfortunately, under the strong, efficient rule of the Qing dynasty Huang’s forthright critique could be circulated only among a few scholars discreet enough not to publicize it widely or attract official repression. Only in the declining years of the Qing dynasty did reformers, both monarchist and republican, succeed in reprinting and circulating it as a native manifesto for constitutional change.

WAITING FOR THE DAWN: A PLAN FOR THE PRINCE

Huang’s Waiting for the Dawn (Mingyi daifanglu)¹ is probably the most systematic and concise critique of Chinese imperial institutions ever attempted from the Confucian point of view. Besides dealing with the theory and structure of government, it takes up the problems of education, civil service examinations, land reform, taxation, currency, military organization, and eunuchs. Huang’s views on only a few of these can be set forth here.

On the Prince

In the beginning of human life each man lived for himself and looked to his own interests. There was such a thing as the common benefit, yet no one seems to have promoted it; and there was common harm, yet no one seems to have eliminated it. Then someone came forth who did not think of benefit in terms of his own benefit but sought to benefit all-under-Heaven and who did not think of harm in terms of harm to himself but sought to spare all-under-Heaven from harm. Thus his labors were thousands of times greater than the labors of ordinary men. Now to work a thousand or ten thousand times harder without benefiting oneself is certainly not what most people in the world desire. Therefore in those early times some men worthy of ruling, after considering it, refused to become princes—Xu You and Wu Guang² were such. Others undertook it and then quit—Yao and Shun, for instance. Still others, like Yu,³ became princes against their own will and later were unable to quit. How could men of old have been any different? To love ease and dislike strenuous labor has always been the natural inclination of man.

However, with those who later became princes it was different. They believed that since they held the power over benefit and harm, there was nothing wrong in taking for themselves all the benefits and imposing on others all the harm. They made it so that no man dared to live for himself or look to his own interests. Thus the prince’s great self-interest took the place of the common good of all-under-Heaven. At first the prince felt some qualms about it, but his conscience eased with time. He looked upon the world as an enormous estate to be handed on down to his descendants, for their perpetual pleasure and well-being. . . .

This can only be explained as follows: In ancient times all-under-Heaven were considered the master⁴ and the prince was the tenant. The prince spent his whole life working for all-under-Heaven. Now the prince is master and all-under-Heaven are tenants. That no one can find peace and happiness anywhere is all on account of the prince. In order to get whatever he wants, he maims and slaughters all-under-Heaven and breaks up their families—all for the aggrandizement of one man’s fortune. Without the least feeling of pity, the prince says, I’m just establishing an estate for my descendants. Yet when he has established it, the prince still extracts the very marrow from people’s bones and takes away their sons and daughters to serve his own debauchery. It seems entirely proper to him. It is, he says, the interest on his estate. Thus he who does the greatest harm in the world is none other than the prince. If there had been no rulers, each man would have provided for himself and looked to his own interests. How could the institution of rulership have turned out like this?

In ancient times men loved to support their prince, likened him to a father, compared him to Heaven, and truly this was not going too far. Now men hate their prince, look on him as a mortal foe,⁵ call him just another guy.⁶ And this is perfectly natural. But petty scholars have pedantically insisted that the duty of the subject to his prince is utterly inescapable.⁷ . . . As if the flesh and blood of the myriads of families destroyed by such tyrants were no different from the carcasses of dead rats.⁸ Could it be that Heaven and Earth, in their all-encompassing care, favor one man and one family among millions of men and myriads of families? . . .

If it were possible for latter-day princes to preserve such an estate and hand it down in perpetuity, such selfishness would not be hard to understand. But once it comes to be looked upon as a personal estate, who does not desire such an estate as much as the prince? Even if the prince could tie his fortune down and lock it up tight,⁹ still the cleverness of one man is no match for the greed of all. At most it can be kept in the family for a few generations, and sometimes it is lost in one’s own lifetime, unless indeed the life’s blood spilled is that of one’s own offspring. . . .

It is not easy to make plain the position of the prince, but any fool can see that a brief moment of excessive pleasure is not worth an eternity of sorrows.

On Ministership

Suppose there is someone who, in serving the prince, sees [what to do] without being shown and hears without being told.¹⁰ Could he be called a [true] minister? I say no. Suppose that he sacrifices his life in the service of his prince. Could he then be called a [true] minister? I say no. To see without being shown and hear without being told is to serve [one’s prince] as one’s father.¹¹ To sacrifice one’s life is the ultimate in selflessness. If these are not enough to fulfill this duty, then what should one do to fulfill the Way of the Minister?

The reason for ministership lies in the fact that the world is too big for one man to govern, so governance must be shared with colleagues. Therefore, when one goes forth to serve, it is for all-under-Heaven and not for the prince; it is for all the people and not for one family.

When one acts for the sake of all-under-Heaven and its people, then one cannot agree to do anything contrary to the Way even if the prince explicitly constrains one to do so—how much less could one do it without being shown or told! And if it were not in keeping with the true Way, one should not even present oneself to the court—much less sacrifice one’s life for the ruler. To act solely for the prince and his dynasty and attempt to anticipate the prince’s unexpressed whims or cravings—this is to have the mind of a eunuch or palace maid. When the prince brings death and destruction upon himself, if one follows and does the same, this is to serve him as a mistress or some such intimate would.¹² That is the difference between one who is a true minister and one who is not.

But those who act as ministers today, not understanding this principle, think that ministership is instituted for the sake of the prince. They think that the prince shares the world with one so that it can be governed and that he entrusts one with its people so that they can be shepherded, thus regarding the world and its people as personal property in the prince’s pouch [to be disposed of as he wills].

Today only if the toil and trouble everywhere and the strain on the people are grievous enough to endanger one’s prince do ministers feel compelled to discuss the proper means for governing and leading the people. As long as these do not affect the dynasty’s existence, widespread toil, trouble, and strain are regarded as trifling problems, even by supposedly true ministers. But was this the way ministers served in ancient times, or was it another way?

Whether there is peace or disorder in the world does not depend on the rise or fall of dynasties but upon the happiness or distress of the people. . . . If those who act as ministers ignore the plight of the people,¹³ then even if they should succeed in assisting their prince’s rise to power or follow him to final ruin, they would still be in violation of the true Way of the Minister. For governing the world is like the hauling of great logs. The men in front call out, Heave!, those behind, Ho!¹⁴ The prince and his ministers should be log-haulers working together.¹⁵ . . .

Alas, the arrogant princes of later times have only indulged themselves and have not undertaken to serve the world and its people. From the countryside they seek out only such people as will be servile errand boys. Thus from the countryside those alone respond who are of the servile errand-boy type; once spared for a while from cold and hunger, they feel eternally grateful for his majesty’s kind understanding. Such people will not care whether they are treated by the prince with due respect (lit., according to the proper rites governing such a relation) and will think it no more than proper to be relegated to a servant’s status. . . .

It may be asked, Is not the term minister always equated with that of child?¹⁶ I say no. Father and child share the same vital spirit (psycho-physical force, qi). The child derives his own body from his father’s body. Though a filial child is a different person bodily, if he can draw closer each day to his father in vital spirit, then in time there will be a perfect communion between them. An unfilial child, after deriving his body from his father’s, drifts farther and farther from his parent, so that in time they cease to be kindred in vital spirit. The terms prince and minister derive from their relation to all-under-Heaven. If I take no responsibility for all-under-Heaven, then I am just another man on the street.¹⁷ If I come to serve him without regard for serving all-under-Heaven, then I am merely the prince’s menial servant or concubine. If, on the other hand, I have regard for serving the people, then I am the prince’s mentor and colleague. Thus with regard to ministership the designation may change.¹⁸ With father and child, however, there can be no such change.

On Law

Until the end of the Three Dynasties there was Law. Since the Three Dynasties there has been no Law. Why do I say this? Because the Two Emperors and Three Kings¹⁹ knew that all-under-Heaven could not do without sustenance and therefore gave them fields to cultivate. They knew that all-under-Heaven could not go without clothes and therefore gave them land on which to grow mulberry and hemp. They knew also that all-under-Heaven could not go untaught, so they set up schools, established the marriage ceremony to guard against promiscuity, and instituted military service to guard against disorders. This constituted Law until the end of the Three Dynasties. It was never laid down solely for the benefit of the ruler himself.

Later rulers, once they had won the world, feared only that their dynasty’s lifespan might not be long and that their descendants would be unable to preserve it. They set up laws in fear for what might happen, to prevent its coming to pass. However, what they called Law was laws for the sake of one family and not laws for the sake of all-under-Heaven. . . .

The Law of the Three Dynasties safeguarded the world for the sake of all-under-Heaven.²⁰ The prince did not try to seize all the wealth of the land, high or low, nor was he fearful that the power to punish and reward might fall into others’ hands. High esteem was not reserved for those at court; nor were those in the countryside necessarily held in low esteem. Only later was this kind of Law criticized for its looseness, but at that time the people were not envious of those in high place, nor did they despise humble status. The looser the law was, the fewer the disturbances that arose. It was what might be called Law without laws. The laws of later times have safeguarded the world as if it were something in the [prince’s] treasure chest.²¹ It is not desired that anything beneficial should be left to those below but rather that all blessings be gathered up for those on high. If [the prince] employs a man, he is immediately afraid that the man will act in his own interest, and so another man is employed to keep a check on the other’s selfishness. If one measure is adopted, there are immediate fears of its being abused or evaded, and so another measure must be adopted to guard against abuses or evasions. All men know where the treasure-chest lies, and so the prince is constantly fretting and fidgeting out of anxiety for its security. Consequently, the laws have to be made tight, and as they become tighter they become the very source of disorder. These are what one calls un-Lawful laws.

Some say that each dynasty has its own laws and that succeeding generations of the royal house have a filial duty to follow the ancestral laws. Now un-Lawful laws are originally instituted because the first prince of a line is unable to curb his own selfish desires. Later princes, out of the same inability, may break down these laws. The breaking down may in itself do harm to all-under-Heaven, yet this does not mean that the original enactment of the laws did no such harm. Yet some still insist that we get involved in this kind of legalistic muck, just to gain a little reputation for upholding the regulations²²—all of which is just the secondhand drivel of vulgar Confucians.²³ . . .

Should it be said that there is only governance by men, not governance by law,²⁴ my reply is that only if there is governance by law can there be governance by men. Since un-Lawful laws fetter men hand and foot, even a man capable of governing cannot overcome inhibiting restraints and suspicions. When there is something to be done, men do no more than their share, content themselves with the easiest slapdash methods, and can accomplish nothing that goes beyond a circumscribed sphere. If the Law of the early kings were still in effect, there would be a spirit among men that went beyond the letter of the law. If men were of the right kind, all of their intentions could be realized; and even if they were not of this kind, they could not slash deep or do widespread damage, thus harming the people instead [of benefiting them]. Therefore I say that only when we have governance by Law can we have governance by men.²⁵

Establishing a Prime Minister²⁶

The origin of misrule under the Ming lay in the abolition of the prime ministership by [the founder] Gao Huangdi.²⁷

The original reason for having princes was that they might govern all-under-Heaven, and since all-under-Heaven could not be governed by one man alone, officials were created for the purpose of governing. Thus officials shared the function of the prince.

Mencius said, The Son of Heaven constituted one rank, the duke one, the marquis one, and viscounts and barons each one of equal rank—five ranks in all. The ruler constituted one rank, the chief minister one, the great officers one, the scholars of the highest grade one, those of the middle grade one, and those of the lowest grade one—six ranks in all.²⁸ In terms of external relationships,²⁹ the Son of Heaven was removed from the duke to the same degree that the duke, marquis, earl, and viscount and baron were in turn removed from each other. As to internal relationships,³⁰ the prince was removed from the chief minister to the same degree as the chief minister, great officers, and scholars were in turn removed from each other. Rank did not extend to the Son of Heaven alone and then stop, with no further degrees of rank.

In ancient times during the regencies of Yi Yin and the Duke of Zhou,³¹ these men, in serving as prime ministers, acted for the emperor, and it was no different from the great officers’ acting for the chief ministers, or the scholars acting for the great officers. In later times princes were arrogant and ministers servile, so that for the first time the rank of emperor fell out of line with those of the chief ministers, great officers, and scholars. . . .

In ancient times the prince treated his ministers with such courtesy that when a minister bowed to the emperor, the emperor always bowed in return.³² After the Qin and Han this practice was abandoned and forgotten, but still when the prime minister presented himself to the emperor, the emperor rose from the throne, or, if he were riding, descended from his carriage.³³ When the prime ministership was abolished there was no longer anyone to whom respect was shown by the emperor. Thus it came to be thought that the Hundred Offices³⁴ were created just for the service of the prince. If a man could serve the prince personally, the prince respected him; if he could not, the prince treated him as of no account. The reason for having officials being thus corrupted, how could the reason for having princes be understood?

In ancient times the succession passed not from father to son but from one worthy man to another. It was thought that the emperor’s position could be held or relinquished by anyone, as was the prime minister’s. Later the emperor passed his position to his son, but the prime minister did not. Then, even though the sons of emperors were not all worthy to rule, they could still depend on the succession of worthy prime ministers to make up for their own deficiencies. Thus the idea of succession by a worthy man was not yet entirely lost to the emperors. But after the prime ministership was abolished, the moment an emperor was succeeded by an unworthy son, there was no worthy person at all to whom one could turn for help. Then how could even the idea of dynastic succession be maintained?

It may be argued that in recent times matters of state have been discussed in cabinet, which actually amounted to having prime ministers, even though nominally there were no prime ministers. But this is not so. The job of those who handled matters in the cabinet has been to draft comments of approval and disapproval [on memorials] just like court clerks. Their function was inconsequential enough to begin with, yet worse still, the substance of the endorsement came from those closest to the emperor³⁵ and was then merely written up in proper form. Could you say that they had real power?

I believe that those with the actual power of prime ministers today are the palace menials. Final authority always rests with someone, and the palace menials, seeing the executive functions of the prime minister fall to the ground, undischarged by anyone, have seized the opportunity to establish numerous regulations, extend the scope of their control, and take over from the prime minister the power of life and death, as well as the power to award and confiscate, until one by one all these powers have come into their own hands. . . .

The best that could be done by the worthy men in these cabinets was to talk about following the ancestral example. This was not because the ancestral example was always worthy to be followed but because no one took the position of these men seriously, so they were forced to use the prestige of the royal ancestors as a means of restraining their rulers and thwarting the palace menials. But the conduct of the royal ancestors was not always what it should have been, and the craftier of the palace menials could find a precedent for each of their own bad practices, saying they were following the ancestral example. So the argument about following ancestral law became absurd. If the prime ministership had not been abolished, the practices of wise kings and ancient sages could have been used to mold the character of the ruler. The ruler would have had something to fear and respect, and he would not have dared to flout it.

There follows a detailed discussion of how governmental business should be handled by the prime minister’s office and the various ministers so as to ensure that all petitions and memorials from the people are properly acted on.

Schools

Schools are for the training of scholar-officials. But the sage kings of old did not think this their sole purpose. Only if the schools produced all the instrumentalities for governing all-under-Heaven would they fulfill their purpose in being created. . . . Indeed, schools were meant to imbue all men, from the highest at court to the humblest in country villages, with the broad and magnanimous spirit of the classics. What the Son of Heaven thought right was not necessarily right; what he thought wrong was not necessarily wrong. And thus even the Son of Heaven did not dare to decide right and wrong for himself but shared with the schools the determination of right and wrong. Therefore, although the training of scholar-officials was one of the functions of schools, they were not established for this alone.

Since the Three Dynasties, right and wrong in the world have been determined entirely by the court. If the Son of Heaven favored such and such, everyone hastened to think it right. If he frowned upon such and such, everyone condemned it as wrong. . . . Rarely, indeed, has anyone escaped the evil tendencies of the times; consequently, people are apt to think the schools of no consequence in meeting the urgent needs of the day. Moreover, the so-called schools have merely joined in the mad scramble for office through the examination system, and students have allowed themselves to become infatuated with ideas of wealth and noble rank. . . .

Consequently the place of the schools has been taken by the academies.³⁶ What the academies have thought wrong, the court considered right and gave its favor to. What the academies have considered right, the court thought must be wrong and therefore frowned upon. When the [alleged] false learning [of Zhu Xi] was proscribed [in the Song]³⁷ and the academies were suppressed [in the Ming],³⁸ the court was determined to maintain its supremacy by asserting its authority. Those who refused to serve the court were punished, on the charge that they sought to lead scholar-officials throughout the land into defiance of the court.³⁹ This all started with the separation of the court and the schools and ended with the court and schools in open conflict. . . .

When the school system was abandoned, people became ignorant and lost all education, but the prince led them still further astray with temptations of power and privilege. This, indeed, was the height of inhumanity, but still he made people call him by what is now an empty name, The Prince our Father, the Prince our Father. As if anyone really believed it!

The prefectural and district school superintendent (xueguan) should not be appointed [by the court]. Instead, each prefecture and district should, after open public discussion, ask a reputable scholar to take charge. . . .

In populous towns and villages far from the city, wherever there are large numbers of scholars, a classics teacher should also be appointed, and wherever there are ten or more young boys among the people, longtime licentiates⁴⁰ not holding office should act as elementary teachers. Thus, in the prefectures and districts there would be no students without worthy teachers.

The Libationer [Rector]⁴¹ of the Imperial College should be chosen from among the great scholars of the day. He should be equal in importance to the prime minister, or else be a retired prime minister himself. On the first day of each month the Son of Heaven should visit the Imperial College, attended by the prime minister, six ministers, and censors. The Libationer should face south and conduct the discussion, while the Son of Heaven too sits among the ranks of the students. If there is anything wrong with the administration of the country, the Libationer should speak out without reserve.

When they reach the age of fifteen, the sons of the emperor should study at the Imperial College with the sons of the high ministers.⁴² They should be informed of real conditions among the people and be given some experience of difficult labor and hardship. They must not be shut off in the palace, where everything they learn comes from eunuchs and palace women alone, so that they get false notions of their own greatness.

In the various prefectures and districts, on the first and fifteenth of each month, there should be a great assembly of the local elite, licentiates, and certified students in the locality, at which the school superintendent should lead the discussion. The prefectural and district magistrates should sit with the students, facing north and bowing twice. Then the teacher and his pupils should bring up issues and discuss them together. Those who excuse themselves on the pretext of official business and fail to attend should be punished. If minor malpractices appear in the administration of a prefectural or district magistrate, it should be the school’s duty to correct them. If there are serious malpractices, the members of the school should beat the drums and announce it to the people. . . .

The Selection of Scholar-Officials, Part 2

In ancient times the selection of scholar-officials was liberal, but the employment of them was strict. Today the selection of scholar-officials is strict, but the employment of them is liberal. Under the old system of district recommendation and village selection,⁴³ a man of ability did not have to fear that he would go unrecognized. Later on, in the Tang and Song, several types of examination were instituted, and if a man did not succeed in one, he could turn around and take another. Thus the system of selection was liberal. . . .

But today this is not so. There is only one way to become an official: through the examination system. Even if there were scholars like the great men of old . . . they would have no other way than this to get chosen for office. Would not this system of selection be called too strict? However, should candidates one day succeed, the topmost are placed among the imperial attendants and the lowest given posts in the prefectures and districts. Even those who fail [the metropolitan examinations] and yet have been sent up from the provinces⁴⁴ are given official posts without having to take examinations again the rest of their lives. Would not this system of employment be called too liberal? Because the system of selection is too confined, many great men live to old age and die in obscurity. Because the system of employment is too liberal, frequently the right man cannot be found among the many holding official rank. . . .

Therefore, I would broaden the system for selecting scholar-officials and choose men [not only] through the regular examinations [but also] through special recommendations, through the Imperial College, through the appointment of high officials’ sons, through [a merit system for] junior officials in prefectures and districts, through special appointments, through specialized learning, and through the presentation of memorials. And the strictness in the employment of these men might be correspondingly elaborated upon.

LÜ LIULIANG’S RADICAL ORTHODOXY

Though not considered, like Huang Zongxi, one of the Three Great Scholars of the early Qing period, Lü is without question a figure to be reckoned with. An active partisan in the unsuccessful resistance to the Manchus, Lü subsequently refused all invitations to serve them and went down in history as a symbol of unremitting hostility to China’s foreign conquerors. He is known also, however, as the most articulate spokesman of the orthodox Neo-Confucian revival, which came to be identified ideologically with the very dynasty he struggled against.

Lü was born in 1629; his home, like Huang Zongxi’s, was in eastern Zhejiang province, an area rich in history and culture, and especially in historians and philosophers. His family were well-established members of the educated elite who had been scholar-officials for generations and local leaders known for their philanthropy and sense of community responsibility. From an early age, instead of looking upon his study of the Neo-Confucian curriculum as routine, he described himself as deeply impressed and inspired by the works of Zhu Xi. Several scholars have noted the religious intensity with which he took to Zhu Xi as his guide in life. Along with this went a deep sense of loyalty to the Ming, despite increasing signs of the dynasty’s weakness and eventual collapse. With other members of his family and the community, he took part, even at a young age, in the resistance movement carried on in his region against the Manchus, but when that proved futile, in 1647 he gave it up and returned home to a more normal pattern of life.

This pattern included passing the first level of civil service examinations, which he did in 1653, thus maintaining his family’s membership in the ranks of the official literati, with the status of shengyuan, i.e., a stipendiary or licentiate, officially registered as a candidate for the higher examinations and some form of public service. He remained in this privileged status for thirteen years, during which he quickly made a name for himself as a scholar and in his sideline occupation as an editor of examination essays. The latter sold well, given the reading public’s special orientation toward literature useful for official careers, and also given his own talents for philosophical analysis, lucid exposition, and literary style.

As a conscientious Neo-Confucian, however, Lü could not be insensitive to the ambiguities of his situation. His privileged status as a stipendiary was difficult to justify in one whose Ming loyalist, anti-Manchu sentiments, strictly held to, would seem to preclude any semblance of accepting favors from the new dynasty. Thus by 1666 he had decided to take the drastic step of renouncing his official status—no easy thing to do in a society providing few alternative careers for the educated outside of officialdom. That Lu could succeed at all in this decision testifies to his native scholarly talent and resourcefulness at commercial enterprise, and also to his continued willingness to compromise by writing model examination (eight-legged) essays, which he did more or less actively for some years thereafter.

Meanwhile Lü maintained close personal relations with some of the leading scholars of his day. Though strong-minded, irascible—and, some said, arrogant—he was respected by other prominent figures in the revival of Neo-Confucian orthodoxy, whose thinking he deeply influenced, and it was not for lack of opportunities to enjoy state patronage that he withdrew increasingly from most social involvements, and eventually,