Chapter Three

Chapter Three Before the Year of “Having No Doubts”

Very few experiences of Wen Tingyun’s early years appear as clear and plain facts. Basing our arguments upon dozens of Wen’s extant poems and essays which contain important information, and upon other available sources, we can merely construct, by inference and reasoning, a broad outline of Wen’s experiences before he came to be embroiled in the political events of the time. Simply put, before Wen was forty, the “year of having no doubts” (不惑之年) as Confucius called it, he studied for some length of time at the National University of Luoyang, lived a reclusive life in Tonglu and then wandered all over the country. For each of these experiences, we can at best determine only an approximate date, even though each experience is significant in forming a complete picture of Wen’s life.

In the last two chapters, we touched upon Wen’s experience of having been a student at the National University of Luoyang. Now we will supply more evidence for this and clarify some of the details surrounding it.

Days of Diligent Studies

In all of Wen’s extant works, we find a total of three pieces of evidence pointing to his attendance at the National University of Luoyang. Each example, in addition to corroborating the others, presents a new aspect of the same experience. The following comparison of the three evidential statements enables us to identify the school where Wen studied as National University of Luoyang.

First, in Wen’s “Epistle Presented to Prime Minister Pei” we read: “Then I took my registered residence in Liaoxi, before I studied the classics in Jixia. Thereupon I looked up to and exhausted the lore my teacher handed down to me, and engaged myself in the composition of poetry and prose.” “Jixia”, the state school where King Xuan of the Qi (齊宣王) gathered the so-called Jixia Academicians (稷下學士) to comment on and discuss the affairs of the country, here signifies a state-managed university where Wen studied the classics under the instruction of his teacher. Then this same experience is once more referred to in Wen’s “Epistle Presented to the Censor-In-Chief”:

I, one of the students from the Luo River and a member of the junior party of Ganling, once attended National University, failing to know Cheng Gong; but I happened to go to the frontier and luckily met with Zhong Hao (某洛水諸生, 甘陵下黨, 曾游太學, 不識承宮; 偶到離庭, 適逢种高). ¹

Since “Luo River” refers to the city of Luoyang, through which the Luo River flows and where the University was located, it follows that the National University of Luoyang is the very “Jixia” where Wen studied. Throughout the Tang Dynasty, being accepted as a student of National Universities in the capital(s) remained an extraordinary honor, guaranteeing a successful official career. It is no wonder that Wen always mentioned this with a sense of pride. Finally, the following couplet in “Hundred-Rhyme Poem” tells how Wen brought his literary talents into full play when studying at the University:

47 I yearned for the taste of watercress at the Semi-circular Pool, 泮水思芹味,

I found the source of ricefield rent in Langye Commandery. 瑯琊得稻租.

“Semi-circular pool” is an official school of the Lu Kingdom, the Semi-circular Palace, where, it was said, people plucked watercresses and observed the good order of the school and thus of the country.² Here it can only refer to the National University of Luoyang. “To yearn for the taste of watercress” may imply Wen’s aspiration to employ his extraordinary talents in helping his country attain ideal governance. “Rice field rent in Langye Commandery”, which is an allusion in itself, alludes to Li Baiyao³ and has the implication that Wen in his University days was as talented as Li had been. This couplet thus lends credibility to Wen’s fame as a prodigy, ⁴ which had been well known ever since Wen attended the National University of Luoyang.

According to “Records of Selections and Recommendations” (選舉志) of XTS (44: 1159), students of the imperial universities in Chang’an and Luoyang had to be sons of officials not inferior to the fifth rank, and admission was granted only to those who were between 13 and 19 years of age. Since Wen was born in 798, his student days in Luoyang would likely have fallen between the years 810 and 816. The above source also records that, beginning the year 807, the total number of students in the Eastern Capital State Son’s University had been stipulated as one hundred, and student-enrollment in Luoyang National University was limited to only 15 (44: 1164). However, Wen only “once attended” this university and could not have remained there long, perhaps at most one year, before he was forced to quit.

Of course it was Wen’s family status that had provided him the opportunity to attend the National University of Luoyang. In like manner, it was the changes in his family fortunes that forced him to quit. His time at the National University of Luoyang was extremely important for our poet because it was there he met his teacher Li Cheng, whose erudition and personality elicited Wen’s lifelong admiration. Thinking himself second to none in literary talent, Wen seldom yielded to anyone, with the exception of his beloved and respected teacher. Most probably it was in the University that they first formally became teacher and student, although it is difficult to say in exactly which year the two met each other for the first time.

What did Wen do after quitting the National University of Luoyang? Hints can be found both in his “Epistle Presented to Prime Minister Pei” and in “Hundred-Rhyme Poem”. According to the former, something disastrous befell Wen’s family and turned Wen into “a traveling orphan”. In the latter source, beside a metaphor containing an identical message, we find a lengthy pastoral description, ⁵ which may be based on Wen’s long-year reclusive life in Tonglu. The following is a summary recollection of that life:

48 The light rattan cane was gnarled and bumpy, 杖輕藜臃腫,

My lotus attire was disheveled and shabby. 衣破芰披敷. ⁶

49 I was sad for the shrike with his fragrant spirit, 芳意憂 ,

And empathized with the cicadas in their mournful chirps. 愁聲覺蟪蛄.⁷

50 The noisy swallows were shrieking on the short eaves, 短檐喧語燕,

While a hungry squirrel fell from a tall tree. 高木落饥鼯.

51 Urged by pressure, I had to leave my calm solitude. 事迫離幽墅,

And driven by destitution I ventured upon the fearful way. 貧牽犯畏途.

52 In my loves and hates I took precautions against Du Kui, 愛憎防杜蕢,

In my laments and sighs I felt melancholy, as did Yang Zhu. 悲嘆似楊朱. ⁸

Despite the dazzling diction and allusions, we can discern the pressure underlying Wen’s difficult decision to begin his official career. “The gnarled and bumpy” “light rattan cane” is an epithet depicting Wen’s talent which was out of keeping with the time; “the disheveled and shabby” “lotus attire” gives expression to the poverty and disgrace in the last days of Wen’s reclusion. Wen’s sadness on hearing the cry of the shrike and the summer cicadas voices his yearning to be able to serve his country before it is too late. The “hungry squirrel” is, as we already discussed, Wen’s self-image after his family’s social position had fallen, when he had been driven to leave his hermitage and exert himself in the crowded and chaotic political arena. However, from the very beginning of his political life, Wen found himself in immense difficulties as he faced the eunuchs’ threatening power. In brief, after quitting his studies in Luoyang and then continuing a life of study in bucolic reclusion in Tonglu, he eventually adopted a vagrant and precarious office-seeking existence.

Tonglu acted as the breeding ground for Wen’s personality and poetic style. Here, while constantly studying hard and enjoying all that a quiet seclusion could offer him, Wen cultivated two lifelong tendencies. On the one hand he developed an eagerness to achieve his political ideal to aid his country and his people. On the other hand, his enjoyment of nature and valuation of individual freedom also increased. In a sense, Wen was content and would remain in his reclusion, unless the urge of his ambition and the pressure of life forced him to give it up. In his reclusion, he had acquired all the qualifications requisite for an official career, but was innately endowed with an unfettered spirit that was diametrically opposed to any official hypocrisy. Thus, all his life Wen was torn between the predilection to be a recluse and the aspiration to realize his political ambition. This inner conflict may partly account for the retardation of his office-seeking journey.

“Formerly for long you lived in oblivion and isolation” (當年久索居). ⁹ This is what a good friend of Wen’s, Li Shangyin, said about Wen’s reclusion, most probably the reclusion in Tonglu. Having returned to Tonglu, Wen lived there for about ten years, from some time between 810 and 816 to about 822. After that, he returned to the Guanzhong region once more and remained there for five years until about 827 when he set out for the Shu region. Even after beginning his office-seeking career, he found himself unable, despite his literary talent, to follow the common course of entering into officialdom by passing the Presented Scholar Examination. He chose instead to travel all over the country in search of an opportunity. Evidently, there were political reasons underlying this decision: his family background subjected him to persecution from the eunuchs, forcing him to go to the provinces instead of the capital.

During his Tonglu years, as a scion of an eminent clan and a prodigious talent, he associated with the local literati-officials and became famous for his literary brilliance. “The landscape of Kuaiji has been surpassing and unique from time immemorial”(會稽山水, 自古勝絕), ¹⁰ and during the Tang Dynasty, the region of Wu and Yue was also one of the centers where the provincial poets gathered and prepared themselves for their future political career in the capital. As can be seen from his “Epistle Presented to the Grand Master Cui” quoted in Chapter One, young recluse that he was, Wen already enjoyed the friendship of the local élites including Cui, the Grand Master, Wen’s “twenty-third elder brother”, who, very possibly, was the magistrate of Yuezhou Prefecture for a time.

Another point we must make is that it was in Tonglu, a resort for reclusion since the Eastern Han, that Wen Tingyun’s poetic style took shape. This style, which has been labeled as a style of “license and luxury” (淫靡), has caused him to be frequently criticized and misunderstood in Chinese literary history. Considering that Yuan Zhen held the position of Surveillant Commissioner of Zhedong Circuit for a period (823-829) including Wen’s Tonglu days, and that during his tenure, he “promoted many men of letters to serve in his secretariat.” ¹¹ Wen may very possibly have had a connection with poets centered around Yuan and earned poetic fame by doing so. At the same time Yuan made a considerable contribution to the formation of the so-called Yuanhe Style, such poetic style characteristic of the Yuezhou provincial poets and of Yuan Zhen must also have had an impact on Wen’s early poetic practices. Wen must have been affected by this influence from the beginning of his career as a poet. This is evident, because critics have also labeled Yuan’s poetry “ license and abandon”.

Since the era of Yuanhe, in composing prose writings, people have tried to follow Han Yu’s strangeness and abruptness, and Fan Zongshi’s awkwardness and obscurity; in composing Music Bureau verses, people followed Zhang Ji’s fluency and smoothness; in creating poetry, people followed Meng Jiao’s sophistication and fondness of extremes, Bai Juyi’s simplicity and vividness and of Yuan Zhen’s license and abandon. All labeled their writings “Yuanhe style” (Li Zhao: 57)

（元和已後, 為文筆則學奇詭于韓愈, 學苦澀于樊宗師; 歌行學流蕩于張籍, 詩章則學矯激于孟郊, 學淺切于白居易, 學淫蕩于元稹, 皆名曰元和體).

By all accounts, when Wen entered society, he was already well known as a remarkable poet at the forefront of his time. He was full of self-confidence and ambitious goals, but he knew the way before him would not be smooth.

Far Wanderings and Wen Zao

After Wen was forced to give up his reclusive life, he spent many years wandering around the country. It was a common practice for Tang literati to make long journeys, in order to see the world and search for opportunities for entering official service, as a preparatory step for their future political careers. Among the important places Wen visited were first, the Metropolitan Prefecture, where he lived for about five years (during which period he once went to the Western frontier); Sichuan, where he lived for several years; many scenic spots downstream along the Yangtze River, and again, Luoyang, where he had an audience with Wen Zao. Then he returned to the Jianghuai region–the place where he first became involved in a political scandal. What follows is a tentative attempt to illustrate each of the preceding experiences.

As we see in Wen’s “Epistle Presented to Prime Minister Pei”:

Later on, I spent many years at one or another Marquis’ before I traveled to the valley of the Huai River, where I presented myself by writing letters and sought recognition holding a calling card.

The “many years” Wen spent “at one or another marquis’” in fact spanned nearly twenty years. This state of affairs would have continued indefinitely, were it not for the scandal in the Jianghuai region, the most conspicuous event of Wen’s life and one of the important points made in this epistle. Studying this period of the “many years” amounts to rearranging all Wens’ travels reflected in his works in a chronological order. To this purpose, we will examine several couplets in “Hundred-Rhyme Poem”, covering Wen’s experiences from the beginning of his wandering years to his Huainan misadventure.

53 Traveling for a living, I often passed by the country of Wei. 旅食常過衛,

And tarrying in my journey, I almost crossed the River of Lu. 羈游欲渡瀘.¹²

54 On the frontier I lamented the “Song of the Protector-General”, 塞歌傷都護,

By the border I meditated on the horn “Tune of Chanyu”. 邊角思單于.¹³

55 At the military fords lances and spears were clashing, 堡戍 槍槊,

In the River Pass boats and ships were blockaded. 關河鎖舳艫.

The narrative clues in these lines are easy to follow: Wen might have spent some time on the frontier, and he certainly stayed in Sichuan for some years. At any rate, he could only make a living under some local patrons, this he called his “many years at one or another marquis’.” Dealing these experiences of “many years”, we shall first discuss his stay in the capital region, and then single out his journey to Shu for closer study.

In his “Epistle Presented to the Prime-Minister-Duke at the Honor Seat” (Wen Zao, see below) Wen told how, before his journey to the Shu region, he spent “five years” “in the fertile land”:

Before this [coming to see you], I spent five years in the fertile land, and went ten thousand li from Sichuan along the Riverbank (昨者膏壤五秋, 川途萬里).

“The fertile land” here must be a reference for a specific place, otherwise Wen would not have used it in this manner. We find two literary uses of the term prior to Wen’s time. The first is “There are thousands of li of fertile land in the Guanzhong region” (關中膏壤千里). ¹⁴ The second is “There are beautiful trees of Penglai, planted in the fertile land of the Divine Prefecture” (有蓬萊之嘉樹, 植神州之膏壤). ¹⁵ Since even in the Tang, Chang’an, or the Metropolitan Prefecture, was called the “Divine Prefecture” (神州), both sources agree with each other that the fertile land must refer to the Metropolitan Prefecture, or more broadly, the Guanzhong region around Chang’an.

Wen’s statement thus indicates that before he presented the epistle to Wen Zao, he had first spent five years in Guanzhong, and then had gone to Shu, from whence he had just come to the place where Wen Zao held his official post, in order to present to him with this epistle. Wen traveled to the Shu region in about the year 827; thus the time he spent in Guanzhong would roughly cover the period from 822 to 827. This was the second time Wen had come to and stayed in the capital region seek an official career. Although we know very little about his whereabouts during this period, we can infer from the following poems that he once traveled to the western frontier, and had resided somewhere near to the capital.

Writing My Feelings On My Journey to the West (西游書懷, j. 7, WFQ)

The Wei River is connected to a deserted pass, 渭川通野戍,

Where I find my way to the frontier of Sanggan. 有路上桑乾.¹⁶

A lonely bird hovers in the blue, darkening sky, 獨鳥青天暮,

A startled deer strays before a worn-out wildfire. 驚麇赤燒天.

In high autumn, I bid farewell to my native city, 高秋辭故國,

Since yestereve I’ve cherished a dream about Chang’an. 昨日夢長安.

Such is a traveler’s mood of itself, 客意自如此,

That has nothing to do with “The Road Is Hard”. 非關行路難.

This is almost the only poem in Wen’s extant works expressive of a confident young mind filled with ambition to serve his country, and untainted by the gloomy political frustration that permeates most of his later poems. This kind of mood is rare even in his early years, but we can only date it to this early period.

“Luoyang” (洛陽, j. 8, WFQ) may have been written during the same period.

The Gong trees first see spring, twigs laden with “snow”, 鞏樹先春雪滿枝,

On the Shangyang Palace willows are warbling the orioles. 上陽宮柳囀黃鸝.

How could Huan Tan so easily forget smiling westward, 桓譚未遍忘西笑,

Just because there is in Chang’an a phoenix pool? 豈為長安有鳳池? ¹⁷

Wen hints that something other than political concern attracts him to Chang’an, the capital. Since he is reticent about the exact reason for “smiling westward” from Luoyang, we may venture a guess: apart from his ambitions, what drew him to Chang’an, the symbol of imperial power and glory, was that he was an imperial relative. As we have noted, he has some houses in Hu County ( 縣) of the Metropolitan Prefecture, which permits him to live near the two Capitals as frequently as he chose to.

In an attempt to fix the approximate year in which Wen began his Shu journey, we will study a group of poems bearing relevant messages.

Mailed to Assistant Du of He’nan Prefecture (寄河南杜少府, j. 4, WFQ)

After ten years I’m back, my temple hairs not yet gray, 十年歸來鬢未凋,

Hawksbill hairpins and pearled boots–face an ordinary clerk. 玳瑁珠履見常僚.

Not that fame and wealth separate us on the glorious way, 豈關名利分榮路,

Though talent and gift must omen auspicious career. 自有才華作慶霄.

Now shadows of the birds linger over the Shanglin Garden, 鳥影不飛經上苑,

And din of hooves clatter along the Middle Bridge. ¹⁸ 騎聲相續過中橋.

Below the Setting-Sun Pavilion is a picturesque mountain, ¹⁹ 夕陽亭下山如畫,

You must know how lonely I am with my rural song. 應念田歌正寂寥.

Evidently this poem was written near the capital after a ten-year separation from it. At the time, although a mere “ordinary clerk”, Wen seems to have had a hopeful perspective on his official career, and his hair was not yet gray. All the descriptive details bespeak the uniqueness of the occasion. It can only refer to one specified time in Wen’s life, the second year of Kaicheng (837), when he had come all the way from Huainan to the capital, where he would live for the following three years. In other words, it has been ten years since about 827 or so. In actuality his tour to Sichuan fits broadly within these ten years, as is indicated more clearly in the following poem.

Presented to A Shu General (贈蜀將, j. 4, WFQ)

The poet’s note: He had considerable success fighting the Nanman (the southern barbarians), when the latter entered the city of Chengdu (蠻入成都, 頗著功勞).

Since the autumn we parted company on Sword Pass ten years ago, 十年分散劍關秋,

Myriad happenings have all followed the Brocade River’s flow. 萬事皆從錦水流.

Your ambition and spirit were proved to merit a Staff of Han, 志氣已曾明漢節,

Yet distinction and renown went amiss, despite your dagger of Wu. 功名猶自滯吳鉤.²⁰

By the [fallen] hawk I recognized your arrow, as cold clouds thickened, 雕邊認箭寒雲重,

On horseback we heard a reed-horn, amid border grasses depressing. 馬上聽笳塞草愁.

Today’s meeting with you renders me doubly disheartened: 今日逢君倍惆悵,

Han Xin and Guan Ying [not we] are all offered rank of Marquis. 灌嬰韓信盡封侯.²¹

Historical records indicate that, before the Xiantong era (860-873), an event, which could be termed as “southern barbarians entered Chengdu”, happened only once: “On the Bing-shen day of the eleventh month of the third year of Dahe (829), the Nanman reached Chengdu.... They stayed in the western city of Chengdu for ten days”. ²² It was some years before Kaicheng, and during Wen’s stay in Sichuan, that he made the acquaintance of the Shu General. Therefore, it must be around the year 829 that the Shu General rendered remarkable military services to the Tang court by warding off the Nanman assault on Chengdu.

It can be inferred from this poem that, some time before 829 Wen had already arrived in Shu and made the General’s acquaintance. When the two men enjoyed each other’s company in the army barracks before Wen bid farewell to the Shu General, the latter may not yet have accomplished his military feats. Comparing the first line of “Mailed to Assistant Du of He’nan Circuit” (dated 837) with the first line in this poem, it is therefore inferential that the “ten years” in the two cases differ only slightly, covering virtually almost the same period. Adding this to the information that Wen had last left the capital in around 827 or so, we can infer that soon after Wen had left Chang’an, he arrived in Shu. In other words, he left Chang’an for Shu.

In “Respectfully Mailed to A Few Intimate Friends When Lodging in Xinjin” (旅泊新津卻寄一二知己, j. 8, WFQ), after describing the landscape and his feelings during his stay in Xinjin County of the Shu region, Wen ends the poem with this couplet: “As sentimental as was Wang Can in a troubled life / My heart is being broken when I ascend the tower” (王粲平生感, 登臨幾斷魂). Here Wen likens himself to Wang Can, who also led a wandering life for almost twenty years. Wen’s age when traveling to the Shu region is quite similar to that of Wang Can in his wandering, another example of how Wen uses historical allusions with multiple implications.

Wen’s residence in Shu was at least two or three years in duration. He could not have made such a long journey into the center of the Shu region without a purpose; he must have had several motives: to go sightseeing, to make a living, to find a way to establish himself, and even to seek political refuge under the patronage of some local officials. Serving at the frontiers was a commonly accepted avenue for Tang literati to gain recognition and distinction. Together with the Shu General, Wen might have served for some length of time on the frontier, as the subaltern of a Military Commissioner. He says in “Hundred-Rhyme Poem”: “And tarrying in my journey, I almost crossed the River Lu”–i. e., he almost decided to go to the southernmost border. Although we cannot say exactly when he left Shu, we know that in the sixth year of Dahe (832), he was continuing his journey eastward along the Yangtze River Valley.

The following poem is the most representative work Wen wrote while in Shu, a poem that reflects the complex mentality of the young traveler, the orphan of a persecuted loyal court official and the scion of a traditional aristocratic family.

Ode of the Brocade City (錦城曲， j. 1, WFQ)

Shu mountains in the sun, a mass of dark eyebrow

are capped with unmelted snow, 蜀山攢黛留晴雪,

Like bamboo shoots and bracken sprouts

they wind themselves around the Nine-Turn Slope. 寮筍蕨牙縈九折.

To cut the brocade of colored clouds

the River breeze sends forth a nimble blow, 江風吹巧剪霞綃,

When the flowers ascend a thousand boughs

as red as the cuckoo’s tears of blood 花上千枝杜鵑血.²³

The Cuckoo hovers and flies

into the groves at the foot of the cliff, 杜鵑飛入巖下叢,

It sends forth a homesick cry at night

amid the mountains in the moonlight. 夜叫思歸山月中.

The Ba River is flowing with this feeling,

And this feeling will be everlasting. 巴水漾情情不盡,

While Wenjun is weaving her yearning

into the red brocade on a loom of spring. 文君織得春機紅.²⁴

Since the soul of the wronged one has not returned

and the fragrant herbs all decease, 怨魄未歸芳草死,

At the River’s head I can only learn

to sow seeds of the lovelorn tree. 江頭學種相思子. ²⁵

When the tree grows up to bear peas,

I will send one to the home-yearning man. 樹成寄與望鄉人, ²⁶

But the forlorn city of the White Emperor

is five thousand li away. 白帝荒城五千里.

The information implied in this poem can help us trace what motivated Wen to tour the inland Shu region. There is some profound emotion, linked possibly to the poet’s lamentation for his father or to his father’s friends, underlying the heartbroken tone. The deep feeling and powerful appeal of the poem are too thought-provoking for the reader to misunderstand it as a poem on a trivial subject.

The opening scenic depiction is startling and ingenious as against the background of the threatening Sichuan hills, the glaring red flowers are suddenly thrown into bold relief, with the colored cloud as their natural counterpart. Through the red flowers the legendary tragic Dujuan is introduced and subsequently plays the leading role in the poem. Why is he unable to go home, and why is he called a “wronged soul”? Beyond evoking the Dujuan image itself, the poet has some deeper reason for relating the Dujuan story to himself. Since Dujuan is a symbol for a wronged emperor (such as Emperors Shunzong, Xianzong or Jingzong, all of whom died at the hands of the eunuchs), and “the fragrant herbs” is symbol for worthy and honest court officials, the line “the soul of the wronged one has not returned and the fragrant herbs all decease” must have some relevance to a situation in which both the emperor and the ministers loyal to him have been subjected to a great injustice. Wen, when referring to himself, declares that he followed someone’s (perhaps Liu Yuxi’s) example of sowing the seeds of red peas in memory of the dead, with the earnest hope of consoling those who were exiled and yearning for home. Thus, it is only logical to infer that the killing or banishment of the wronged soul(s)–the wronged ministers–ensued from the death of the emperor(s). These tragic elements commingle in this poem, making its subject matter difficult for the readers to fathom. For all its gorgeous diction, this is not a poem expressing lovesickness. It is rather a political poem with covert personal feelings hidden behind the lines. An attractive clue is provided by the manner in which Wen mourns the death of “the fragrant herbs”. This reference could be linked with his late father, who, very possibly, died in exile to the Shu region. In brief, only an understanding Wen’s early life can enable us probe into the deeply hidden motif. In turn, while this poem enriches our knowledge of that early life.

To find out more about Wen’s earlier life, we shall peruse the following epistle.

An Annotated Translation of “The Epistle Presented

to the Prime-Minister-Duke at the Honor Seat” (上首座相公啟)

I hear that Wang Ji’s recommendation avoids none of his own clansmen; I also hear that Xie Xuan’s advancement is because of his being a near kinsman [of Xie An]. ²⁷ Such is the norm by which a man of wisdom shows his kindness, and also the way the former worthies lived in amity, with their clansmen (某聞舉不違宗, 得于王濟; 近因其族, 聞自謝玄. 雖通人與善之規, 亦前哲睦親之道).

I fortunately partake of your eminent genealogical line, and was able to shelter myself under our ancestral protection. Consequently I was favored by your fatherly benefaction, just as Kong Li passed below the hall; and I received your promise of tacit approval, like a Ruan Xian who lived in the southern alley. ²⁸ Thereupon I had my flesh and bones grafted [to this branch of ours], so as to uphold the trunk and make the blossoms [of our family tree] flourish. Hence, like a hard-pressed bird flying into your arms, I should not look elsewhere; and, as a migrating bird circling a tree, what other twig but this one shall it perch upon (某謬參華緒, 得庇馀蔭. 固已鯉庭蒙翼長之恩, 阮巷辱心期之許. 遂得遷肌改骨, 擁本揚英. 則窮鳥入懷, 靡求他所; 羈禽繞樹, 更托何枝)?

Before this I spent five years in the fertile lands, and went ten thousand li from Sichuan along the River bank. Far away from your fatherly instruction, I found myself this poor shelter. I will divine a good date [to sit for the examination], when the end of the year is approaching.²⁹ This adds to my sighs and sorrow, while I stay in the hostel of the metropolitan port³⁰ (昨者膏壤五秋, 川途萬里. 遠違慈訓, 就此窮棲. 將卜良期, 行當杪歲. 通津加嘆, 旅舍傷懷).

Minister-Duke Your Excellency, your river-like nourishment has provided more than generous benefaction; and your cloud-like movement has distributed widespread kindness. The taste in the soup you season, ³¹ however, has not benefited a clansman; the surplus benevolence in your care for the people will, I hope, favor the young and weak. If I could avail myself of one word of your recommendation, I would be able to follow the awakening to life of the hundred hibernating creatures. Then, the shade of the twining creeper could offer equal safekeeping to all beneath them; and the seeds of the pepper-plant would thus be enabled to flourish. I could then follow the example of Zhong Yi, in performing the Southern music, and relieve myself of the anxiety of Gu Ti, kneeling before the letter from his father. My humble feelings are beyond expression (相公河潤馀津, 雲行廣施. 調羹之味, 未及宗親; 育物之馀, 希沾幼弱. 倘或假一言之甄發, 隨百蟄之昭蘇. 庶令葛壘之陰, 均其煦育; 椒聊之實, 遂彼扶疏. ³² 成鍾儀操樂之規, 寬顧悌拜書之戀. ³³下情無任).

After a careful perusal of this epistle, we find out that the so-called “Prime-Minister-Duke at the Honor Seat” was one of Wen’s clansmen, although only a distant uncle. Wen Tingyun lived for a time under the fatherly patronage of this man, and was appreciated by him. Thus the uncle adopted Wen as a foster-son by moving his name to the genealogy of his own branch of the clan.

As is revealed by the title as well as in the contents of this epistle, “the Prime-Minister at the Honor Seat” was at the time a figure of such renown that the histories could not afford to ignore him. Among those who bore the surname Wen, the most famous person in the ninth century with a biography in the standard histories is Wen Zao. Referring to Zao’s biographical records and other sources, we find the following reasons to identify him with the subject addressed here.

The position “Honorary Minister of Finance, Imperial Deputy of the Eastern Capital, in Charge of the Chancellery in the Eastern Capital” (檢校戶部尚書東都留守判東都尚書省事), held by Wen Zao in the fifth year of Dahe (831), in its own right entitled him to be styled Prime-Minister Duke (相公). ³⁴ After his promotion in 833 to Censor-in-Chief, a position which, in most cases during the Tang period, he was all the more qualified to be thus addressed. The Censor-in-Chief, Councilor-in-Chief (丞相) and Defender-in-Chief (太尉) were referred as the Three Dukes (三公) during the Qin and Han dynasties. During the Tang Dynasty the case was similar, as can be proved by Fengshi Wenjianlu: ³⁵”Ever since the founding of the Tang, most of the Prime Ministers ascended to power from the censorship, thus Censor-in-Chief is called Prime-Minister too.”

Because Wen was a junior clansman, he did not use the surname when addressing Zao in his epistle.

“The Honor Seat” originally refers to the seat at the head of the table, which the most senior or respected man took in a feast or assembly. The term is also a proper name for the head monk in a monastery, who, as chief preacher, was responsible for giving lectures on Buddhist doctrine. According to Sengshilue (僧史略) and Shishi Yaolan (釋氏要覽), ³⁶ Xuanzong (r. 847-859) once appointed the monk Bianzhang (辨章) as the Honor-Seat [Preacher] for the Three Religions (三教首座). This epistle provides the only example in any Chinese historical sources where “the Honor Seat” (a Buddhist title) and “the Prime Minister” are combined to form a title. We know that Wen Zao once discussed the Buddhist doctrine with Zongmi (宗密, 779-840), ³⁷ the well-known Buddhist master of the time. Zao, referred to as Minister Wen of Shannan (山南溫尚書) in the discussion, raised a question that Zongmi answered at great length; Zongmi then also summed up the main points of his argument with a Buddhist verse that he later chanted for Wen Zao. It is apparent that Zao in his late years became devoted to the Buddhist faith and, after completing his official routine, might on some occasions preach the Buddhist doctrines to his subordinates or retainers. Thus, imaginably, he may have received the appellation “the Prime-Minister-Duke at the Honor Seat” from his auditors.

In the course of his official career, Wen Zao more than once organized the people to dig canals to irrigate their fields, both when he was the magistrate of Langzhou and when he held the post of Military Commissioner of Heyanghuai Circuit (河陽懷節度使). It was for this that Wen praised him for his “River-like nourishment”. Moreover, Wen Zao was well known for his courageous action, when he held the post of the Military Commissioner of the Western Circuit of Shannan (garrisoning in Xingyuan), of executing without hesitation those who had murdered Li Jiang (李絳, 764-830), the former Military Commissioner. Liu Yuxi praised Wen Zao’s heroic deeds on that account: “Henceforth all people of the country will open their eyes / To know that an outstanding general rose up from among men of letters” (從此世人開耳目, 始知名將出書生). ³⁸ From this, as well as from other details in Wen Zao’s biographies, we become aware of his political tendencies and actual influences, both of which could have enabled his clansman Wen to enter into the officialdom without the necessity of sitting for the civil examination. Such an avenue is illustrated in the case of Wen Zhang (溫璋,? -869), Wen Zao’s son, who began his official service by dint of family privilege. Herein lies the possible reason why Wen begged for a chance “to follow the example of Zhong Yi, in performing the southern music.” This implies that, Wen wished, by dint of the family privilege, to directly take up a position to succeed the official career of his late father, bypassing the ordinary examination. That position, most probably, refers to one in Palace Library, because Wen’s father Wen Xihua (?) once was Director of the Palace Library (秘書監). ³⁹

Therefore, the “Prime Minister at the Honor Seat” is Wen Zao, Wen’s clan uncle.

From this epistle, we can deduce that, after a long vagrant life, spent for five years around the Guanzhong region (the so-called fertile land), and then “ten thousand li from Sichuan along the River bank”, Wen came to the place he called the Metropolitan Port, Luoyang, where Wen Zao held his post. He hoped that, with the coming of spring and with the help of this uncle and foster-father, he could benefit from the family’s prerogative and advance in the political world. Wen Zao was Military Commissioner of the Western Circuit of Shannan (山南東道節度使) from the fourth (830) to the fifth year of Dahe, but only after he was promoted to be in charge of the Chancellery in the Eastern Capital (831), could he have been called Prime Minister [as he remained, as Censor-in-Chief (833), until his death (835)]. Therefore this epistle must have been presented between 831 and 835. As it was within the time of Zao’s tenure as Military Commissioner of the Heyanghuai Circuit (from the eighth month of 831 to the eleventh month of 834) that he organized the people to dig canals (in 833), this epistle probably was written some time at the end of either 833 or of 834.

Journey Along the River and Friendship with Buddhist Monks

Bearing his special relationship to Wen Zao in mind, we know that toward the end of the Dahe era, Wen traveled back to Luoyang. Prior to this, between his audience with Wen Zao (833?) and his sojourn in Shu (827-), there were years of constant wandering, termed the “ten thousand li from Sichuan along the River bank.” Changing patrons from time to time, he sailed down from Sichuan along the Yangtze River.

First, Wen sailed through the Three Gorges, passing Qian (黔) and Kui Prefectures (夔州) in the east of Sichuan, as can be elicited from the following lines from “Sending Off Bureau Director Cui to Military Service” (送崔郎中赴幕, j. 4, WFQ):

Having parted company in Qian and Wu, we were like broken strings, 一別黔巫似斷弦,

My old friend now is going eastward, and I am all in tears. 故交東去更潸然.

My mind distracted, my gaze blurred, a distance of three thousand li, 心游目想三千里,

The rain scattered, the clouds flown, a separation of twenty years... 雨散云飛二十年....

Although this is a poem written at a later time, it tells clearly that Wen and Bureau Director Cui once were together in Qian and Wu (Kui) Prefectures and then parted company with each other. The title of another of his poems, “The Temple of the Goddess of Mount Wu” (巫山神女廟, j. 7, WFQ), reaffirms the inference, since Mount Wu is situated on the eastern border of Sichuan at the entrance to the Three Gorges.

After a voyage along the Yangtze River from Sichuan, Wen next arrived in the Eastern Shannan Circuit (Yangtze-Han River Plain), and left to posterity nearly twenty poems, ⁴⁰ written in prefectures such as Xiangyang, Jiangling and Wuchang. From these poems, however, we deduce that he traveled to these places more than once. The last time he came to the Yangtze-Han region was in his late years, and the poems he wrote in these years are easily discernible as those of an old man who has survived the hardships of a lifetime. The poems that reflect his early-year travel to this region, therefore, are not difficult to identify, although we cannot determine any exact date for them.

Basing himself in the area of the Yangtze-Han Valley, Wen may have made many side-trips. We know, for example, that he once went to the south of Dongting Lake, far into modern Hu’nan. However, since this is a clear fact, we will concentrate on his stay at Mount Lu, because this is something that has not yet been much studied.

In “Two Poems Written in the Courtyard of the Monk Taigong” (題僧泰恭院二首, j. 7, WFQ), we find a couplet” In the former year, under the Eastern Woods, Senior Shen knew my surname and name” (昔歲東林下, 深公識姓名), which indicates that Wen once followed the Buddhist monks at Mount Lu.⁴¹ In actuality, enchanted by the landscape, he did tour Mount Lu and study there for a considerable length of time. “Why do the scholars of Mount Sumen \ Hand in hand, roam atop the South-Eastern Peak?” (何意蘇門生, 攜手東南峰) ⁴² (Sent to Someone in the Mountains, 寄山中人, j. 8, WFQ), implies similar information. Furthermore, the remark in “Gatherings and Feasting on Mount Lu” (廬山宴游集) of Li Zhenggu (李徵古, fl. 930) reaffirms this judgment: ⁴³

In the Ji-chou year of Qianzhen [929], I wandered to this spot, and found the relic of the reading hall of Wen Tingyun, the Four Gate Erudite of our state dynasty

(乾貞己丑歲, 余旅游及此, 得國朝四門學士庭筠書堂舊基).

Once having ascertained that Wen studied at Mount Lu we can fully understand the narration in Wen’s “Epistle Presented to Minister Feng” (上封尚書啟).

I am in a muddy quagmire, and have none to act as my mediator. I always try to impel myself, so as to rid myself of disgrace and humiliation. Although endowed with a dull mind, I have long had a predilection for poetry. Consequently I built my cottage on the summit and weeded the grasses in the wild (某跡在泥途, 居無紹介.常思激勵, 以發湮沉. 素稟顓蒙, 夙耽比興. 因得誅茅絕頂, 雉草荒田).

If Wen had not had the personal experience of studying on Mount Lu, he would not have talked of his “cottage on the summit [of Mount Lu, evidently].” According to Wen’s own account, it seems that he had resided there for some time. The footnote of Wen’s poems “Presented to Appointed Scholar Zheng” (贈鄭徵君, j. 5, WFQ) gives the approximate time of Wen’s stay in the vicinity around Mount Lu: “[Zheng] abided in Mount Kuang [Lu] and exchanged visits with Prime Minister Duke of Zanhuang, in the beginning of spring” (家匡山, 首春與丞相贊皇公游止). ⁴⁴ Therefore, Wen had access to Li Deyu when the latter was demoted to Jiangxi, in about 832 or so. This supports our assertion that Wen had traveled Mount Lu.

Now we have come to the appropriate time to study Wen’s friendship with Zongmi, ⁴⁵ the fifth patriarch of the Hua Yan Sect and the seventh patriarch of the Chan School. As a Buddhist master, he had played a political role of considerable importance and exhibited anti-eunuch tendencies. In the Dahe era (827-35), he “was called to the court. The emperor more than once asked him about the essentials of the law.... Only Pei Xiu [Prime Minister during 852-6] understood and gained a deep insight into his lore, so he received the precepts as an outside patron of the Buddhist religion.” In spite of being a Buddhist monk, Zongmi once tried to save Li Xun (李訓, ? -835), the leading figure of the abortive coup d’état against the eunuchs in the Sweet Dew Incident, and was almost put to death by Qiu Shiliang (仇士良, 779-841). However, after some hesitation, Qiu, a Buddhist disciple himself, spared Zong Mi’s life.

Wen maintained a constant connection with Wen Zao, Liu Yuxi and Pei Xiu (? -864), all of whom were among Zongmi’s best friends among laymen.⁴⁶ This is only one fact bespeaking Wen’s intimate relationship with Zongmi. In Wen’s works we can find more evidence revealing the nature of Wen’s contact with the Buddhist master.

Revisiting the Aranya of the Chan Master Zongmi on the Eastern Peak

(重游東峰宗密禪師精廬, ⁴⁷ j. 4, WFQ)

Atop a hundred-foot black cliff, a three-foot grave, 百尺青崖三尺墳,

Your subtle words are gone, never to be heard again. 玄言已絕杳難聞.

A Dai Yong of this day became a Buddhist layman, 戴 今日稱處士,

The Zhi Dun of old year knew the Army Commander. 支盾他年識領軍.⁴⁸

Firs, pines and I unite, as if forming an association, 暫對杉松如結社,

Occasionally joining the deer we are of the same herd. 偶因麋鹿自成群.

Your disciple of the old mountain looks back in vain, 故山弟子空回首,

On Onion Ridge perhaps have you met with Song Yun? 蔥嶺還應見宋雲.⁴⁹

First we must point out that in this poem, Wen calls himself Zongmi’s “disciple of the old mountain.” Other examples include “Lodging in the Yunji Temple” (宿雲際寺, j. 8. WFQ), where he more clearly refers to himself as “the disciple of the Eastern Peak”, and “Visiting the Senior Zhixuan” (訪知玄上人, j. 9, WFQ), where he calls himself “a disciple of Mount Zhong.” Thus, Wen confesses that he was a Buddhist lay disciple and had once followed Zongmi, studying Buddhism on Zhongnan Mountain.

In actuality, Wen possessed some estates in Hu County, as can be seen from his poems “Living in the Suburbs of Hu Du” ( 杜郊居, j. 4, WFQ) and “Sent to An Intimate Friend from my Villa of Hu Suburbs” ( 郊別墅寄所知, j. 8, WFQ). Zongmi’s Biography in Jingde Chuandenglu (13: 12) says: “[Zong] traveled north to the Pure and Cold Mountain, then returned to live in the Cottage Temple of Hu County, and soon afterwards, he entered the Gui Peak Aranya, to the south of the Cottage Temple.” Comparing Zongmi’s biography with Wen’s travels enables us to infer that for a considerable length of time Wen had access to Zongmi and remained the latter’s disciple.

Secondly, we must pay special attention to the fifth line of the above poem: “Firs, pines and I unite, as if forming an association.” We find that there was a certain kind of association gathered around the group of monks headed by Zongmi, and formed by some half dozen literati, including Wen himself. The association was more than merely a religious one, having to do with literary and even political matters. More examples having similar implications are the line from “Sent to the Monks in the Pure and Cool Temple” (寄清涼寺僧, j. 4, WFQ): “If people in the White-Lotus Association⁵⁰ asked me”(白蓮社里如相問) and the couple from “Sent to the Yue Monk Yue Yun” (贈越僧岳雲, j. 7, WFQ): “I will accompany the White-Lotus Association members \ To wait for one another among the pines and osmanthus” (應共白蓮客, 相期松桂前).

Thirdly, the second couplet of the poem also contains noteworthy information. The allusions used in this couplet can also be found elsewhere, for examples, from “Lodging in the Mount Study of A Monk of Qin” (宿秦僧山齋, j. 9 WFQ):

From Wu or from Heng, my way can be different 衡巫路不同,

But you have your cottage on the Eastern Peak. 結室在東峰. When the year approaches its end, I come upon a Zhi Dun, 歲晚得支盾,

And as the night turns cold you meet a Dai Yong. 夜寒逢戴 .

And from “Sent to the Monk in the Pure Cold Temple” (寄清涼寺僧, j. 4, WFQ):

A bamboo path, with no dust, opens on the stony road, 石路無塵竹徑開,

Where in old days, you came in the company of Dai Yong. 昔年曾伴戴 來.

The allusion to Dai Yong is meant to refer to Wen himself as a pious lay Buddhist and a native of Tonglu, just as Dai Yong was. In any event, Wen’s frequent identification with Dai Yong poses a question for us to study. Since “Dai Yong” refers to Wen himself, then it follows that Zhi Dun refers to Zongmi, but to whom does the “Army Commander” that “the Zhi Dun of old year knew” refer? By analogy, it should be somebody other than Wen himself, a special figure selected from among Zongmi’s friends. Considering Zongmi’s particular political capacity as a Buddhist master, I venture the suggestion that it must refer to Li Xun, the architect of the Sweet Dew Incident! That is to say, Wen must have had, in addition to the consolation of his frustrated self, one political purpose in following Zongmi to learn Buddhism. Even when he chose to be a follower of the Buddhist religion, discussing dharma and emptiness with the Buddhist masters, he did not abandon his worldly concerns, i. e., how to deal with the eunuchs. However, we cannot be certain whether he ever realized any political aims in connection with this.