Table of Contents
A
Forging a Unified Empire: Qin (221-210 BC) ............................................................................ 3
Historical overview ...........................................................................................................................3
B
1
Forging a Unified Empire ..........................................................................................................3
2
Qin Finds the Path to Power .....................................................................................................3
3
New Ways of Mobilising the Population...................................................................................3
4
Qin Unity and the First Emperor ...............................................................................................4
5
A New Imperial Ideology – Cosmic Resonance .........................................................................4
6
Lesson from the Qin Terracotta Warriors .................................................................................5
7
Epilogue: The Fall of Qin ...........................................................................................................6
Making Empire last: Western Han .......................................................................................... 6
1
Introduction ..............................................................................................................................6
2
Court Politics .............................................................................................................................6
3
Institutional Tensions 1: Centralism v. Regionalism .................................................................7
4
Institutional Tensions 2: Feudalism v. Bureaucracy..................................................................7
5
Institutional Tensions 3: Heredity v. Merit ...............................................................................8
6
Institutional Tensions 4: Civil v. Military ...................................................................................8
7
Institutional Tensions 5: Inner Court v. Outer Court ................................................................8
8
How to Constrain Imperial Power? ...........................................................................................9
9
History as an Answer ................................................................................................................9
10 Confucian Classics as an Answer ............................................................................................ 10
11 Portents as an Answer ........................................................................................................... 10
12 Conclusion: Wang Mang’s justification of usurpation ........................................................... 10
C
D
State and Society in Western and Eastern Han ......................................................................10
1
State and Society in Western and Eastern Han ..................................................................... 10
2
What is State? What is Society?............................................................................................ 10
3
Four Option for the State ....................................................................................................... 11
4
The Salt and Iron Debate ....................................................................................................... 13
5
The State’s Retreat: Harbinger of the Aristocratic Age ......................................................... 13
6
Epilogue: Reflections on China’s First Great Empire.............................................................. 13
Self-Realization in the Medieval World .................................................................................13
1
Introduction: Four Strands of Aristocratic Culture ................................................................ 14
2
The Learning of Mystery ........................................................................................................ 14
E
3
Daoist Religion ....................................................................................................................... 15
4
Alchemy ................................................................................................................................. 16
5
Literature ............................................................................................................................... 16
Buddhism.............................................................................................................................17
1
Buddhism in China: Universal Religion and Foreign Teaching ............................................... 18
2
Introduction to Buddhism: The Three Treasures ................................................................... 18
3
Mahayana Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra ............................................................................. 19
4
The Transformation of Buddhism in China during the 4th and 5th Centuries: Fotudeng ....... 19
5
The Transformation of Buddhism in China during the 4th and 5th Centuries: Dao’an ........... 20
6
The Transformation of Buddhism in China during the 4th and 5th Centuries: Huiyuan.......... 20
7
Some Reasons for Buddhism’s Success ................................................................................. 21
8
Lingyin Temple ....................................................................................................................... 21
A
Forging a Unified Empire: Qin (221-210 BC)
Historical overview
Shan Yang expanded from the West. 256, the reign of Zhou ended after nearly 900 years. 221
BC, the victorious Qin ruler declared himself Emperor. Unification and military expansion.
Roads, channels were build. Tribes in inner Asia were united. Start of the built of the Great
Wall.
1
Forging a Unified Empire

2
3
In the third century BC central states were fighting, with Zhou being nominal king over all
the states. The Zhou model was clearly not working any longer. Qin laid beyond the
passes, they were pressed by the barbarians and therefore were most direly in need of
change and security.
Qin Finds the Path to Power

The Zhou king survived and without him there would only be warring states, until 256,
when Qin took on the Zhou king. How did they do this?

Unification of Qin happened in 221 BC. Shang Yang was one of the many masters of the
warring states: “do you want to be a king like Zhou, powerless? Of a hegemon who wants
to control?” If you do you have to change your policies, institute laws of your making.

Opposition will be created, but people will accept changes if they are successful.

Ritual was good in the past, but LAW policy breaks with ritual. Are you a slave to the
rituals? They may have been good in the past, but no longer today. Do not imitate the
ancients but mobilise the state to move on.

Farmers produce the wealth, soldiers produce power. Officials supervise and lead the
armies.
New Ways of Mobilising the Population

“Extracting resources from the population”: the Zhou feudal system took the territory and
divided it between the nobles. No real power by the states. The lord depended on the
nobles to defend the state. Control had to come from the centre, but that would
undermine the nobility. The population around the lord himself would report to the lord
himself. New conquered territories would report to the lord directly as well.

Qin adopted the system of districts/counties, guided by centrally appointed officials.
Local supplies can supply the central army.

Qin had lots of land, and lack of people, attracting people from warring areas. Advantage,
nobility could be retasked into the military. Definition of guo from feudal state to
bureaucratic state.
4
5

Shang Yang says: Farmers do not want to pay taxes, soldiers do not want to fight, officials
do not want to work. There should be no possibility of rewards outside of the central
institutions. No private wealth gain outside the state itself. No honour outside of
honours from the state. Public concerns should outweigh private concerns.

How do you ensure that farmers produce and pay taxes? Avoid any option to do anything
else but farming. Rewards must be low, make life simple and frugal. No choice but to
work, no luxuries. No slaves in estates of official families. Bind all to the land. Raise tolls
to avoid long travels.

Xunzi finds Qin dark and gloomy with a poor population.

No feudal nobility. Elites must fight, titles are based on military advances. Mutual
responsibility groups: neighbours had to stand in for each other. Liability if things are
hidden. Impartial laws.
Qin Unity and the First Emperor

Qin conquest takes place in the 3rd century BC and is complete by 221 BC. It takes its
system of government and places it onto all the other states. Weapons are melted down
and made into statues.

Civil, military administration and overseers, tripartite system. All states have to have
common standards, same systems, same laws, currencies. The writing system had started
to diverge and this has been stopped.

Those who looked to the past for solutions had their books buried to avoid the creation of
a counter-model. The First Emperor writes: “great are the achievements, farming is
better than trade. Single purpose, uniformity, men carry out their orders everywhere. He
has made known what is forbidden, the universe entire is our Emperor’s realm.”
A New Imperial Ideology – Cosmic Resonance

Mobilisation & Ideology were the cornerstones of the centralised empire.

How did the emperor construct himself: Huangdi = august, high god. This becomes the
term for all time after. His capital is the pole star across the yellow river = the Milky Way.
His measurements are always multiples of six. Official colour is black = the royal colour.

Associations: number 6, black, winter. Everything that happens does so according to
patterns in nature and cycles. Human society can be organised to fit those cycles. Exp:
Agriculture.

This also transforms heaven from something run by god but rather by constant and
predictable patterns according to their phase: wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

This relates to “the universe entire is our emperor’s realm”. He really meant this, he is set
up as the master of the universe by the cosmic resonance theory.
6

After reading the text on cosmic resonance and yin/yang it appears to me that the old
rituals have not simply been removed, but actually replaced by a new set of rituals that
serve a similar purpose: to keep things in balance and make sure that everyone is on the
same page when it comes to doing what needs to be done. It also appears to be a good
way to place the emperor in a benevolent light and establish him as the one person who
makes sure that things work out fine. Talk about screwing with peoples’ minds!

The Spring and Autumn Annals of Master Lu > Cosmic Resonance. Things that are like
each other, stimulate, attract and respond to each other. Same category. NOT “opposites
attract”!

String instruments example: if one instrument uses the C string, all the others respond.

Natural magnets pull metal to it.

People die mostly at night. >>> sickness is Yin, night is Yin. The night pulls the sickness
because they are alike.

Still today, there are Chinese almanacs telling about good and bad days and times.

Season of the year and the colour of the clothes we wear are in response to each other,
although they are in entirely different categories.

Q ::: Zhou: tianming = mandate of heaven. Han = tienhan concept of heaven? What
happened to the idea of tianming, is heaven’s mandate gone? No: heaven used to decide.
This is gone. Heaven is now “the way the natural way works”. Integrated natural order …
human society can have a perfect natural order as well.

Q ::: How are cosmic resonance and yin/yang related? Five phases and Yin/Yang are
talking about the matter energy (qi) forms the universe. What is Qi? Two types of qi,
associated with either yin or yang. Five phases of change are associated with a cycle of qi
in phases, defined as certain categories; correlated with different subjects.
Qi moves from cold to hot and back, just like yin and yang. Both were theories to
understand cycles in nature, and they were combined. Interaction between yin and yang
moves the qi through the cycles. Those two things are also fundamental concepts in
Chinese medicine.

Cosmic Resonance could be regarded as a first attempt to get to grips with the cycles of
nature in a scientific way: cyclical events, transitions, etc.

Three solutions: heaven & earth in balance, glorification of the ruler, cosmic resonance
theory. “Science” is replacing doctrine. Is this simply another way to ensure
government?
Lesson from the Qin Terracotta Warriors

Tomb representing heaven and earth. Emperor had originally sent out expeditions to find
the land of the eternally living! Tomb is a man-made mountain surrounded by the
terracotta warriors. Lots of them.
7

After the Qin fell, the tomb was partly destroyed.

Qin had some technological advantages (crossbows) to bring about military change, but
there was more to it than just that. This is a sign of the social mobilisation of the
population, thus bringing everyone in line. Merit can only be reached through merit from
the state.

We think of China as uniform, but there is evidence for the opposite: the soldiers are all
different, unique and variable: there was a mass-production WITH a level of individuality.
Very unique accomplishment.

Qin didn’t last, though: lots of uniformity, with individuality.
Epilogue: The Fall of Qin

221: unification of all the states, but under the second emperor it collapses. The reason is
that people WERE oppressed and there was no leeway to account for accidental errors or
mishaps that could not be avoided. Everything was made into a personal error someone
had to account for. The intentions did not matter, only the act.

Qin had extended itself too quickly. Once things fell apart, all the old states rose up
against Qin. Four years later, there was a new dynasty.

Lesson: a single centralised empire was not functional, Zhou model was viable, while Qin
was a failure. Is this true?
B
Making Empire last: Western Han
1
Introduction
2

Qin seemed to prove that a centralized empire with one family, bureaucrats etc is
unsuccessful. Han made it work, though, for more than 4 centuries. Key words: Court
politics (decisions, rivalries), institutional tensions, ideologies (when resources flow to the
centre, how do you constrain the autocrat (August Thearch, the huangdi, the emperor)?

Han administration was a compromise between Zhou and Qin, some of the kingdoms
revolted early on. Northern enemies were defused by exporting princesses and marry
them off. Later on, new territories were incorporated, lots of expeditions to increase
surface. State monopolies and taxes were reinstated. Confucianism was turned into a
state ideology. There was a certain amount of unrest inside and outside the Han state
over the whole period.
Court Politics

Han starts from a rebellion against the Qin, interregnum of the New Dynasty, then back to
Eastern Han. Lasts about 400 years.

Competition breeds intrigue. The winner takes all, the loser loses his head.
3
4

Why did Qin fall? Did the second emperor follow the ideas of his suitors too much? Han
had successes and problems. Liu Bang was good at managing men. But his wife: Empress
Lü was from a higher family, Liu Bang was more attracted to a concubine and her son.
Gaozu died: the concubines were exterminated. Lü assumed emperorship through her
weak son. When she died, the house of Han came back.

Eastern kings plot against the western dynasty due to a murder/accident.

Wang Mang usurps the throne in 9 AD. Peking opera: The beheading in the Sutra Hall
(Wang Mang’s daughter is married to a general. His mother tells him that Wang Mang
had killed her husband and that Wang Mang’s daughter needs to be killed for revenge.
He cannot do it as he loves her too much, but she kills herself eventually. General is
devastated and cannot forgive his mother for making his wife kill herself. Mother kills
herself to relieve her son of the burden of grief. Son goes off to war with the Eastern Han
against Wang Mang). Archetypical story about court politics, family obligations and
divided loyalties and intrigue.

Does court politics explain things? Liu Bang founds the Han dynasty, he is good at
managing men. But it does not ultimately account for the success of the Han dynasty.
Institutional Tensions 1: Centralism v. Regionalism

Main Regions: North China Plain, North West (ChangAn, South East, Sichuan (West)

Should the regions be governed from the centre? What proportion of income should
remain in the region? Should we tax regions in the same fashion or recognise diversity?

Centralism has its advantage: power, target investments, concentrates resources, national
events at one place.

Regions understand their own needs, tries to suit policies to the needs of the region.

Qin was committed to centralisation: NO regional differences whatsoever – Han
recognised the problem. Han divided the country in two parts: NorthWest and Sichuan
were governed directly, but most of the East were governed by princes > revolt.

At some point the Eastern Kingdoms wanted more control and to place their sons into
important roles at home. In the end, Han moved away from the regional system and
returns to the Qin centralised system. Limitation of the amount of land that belonged
directly to the Eastern Kings.

By and large: a move away from the original mixed system to return to a largely
centralised system.
Institutional Tensions 2: Feudalism v. Bureaucracy

How do you employ your officials? We tend to think that Bureaucracy is the lesser of the
two evils.
5
6
7

Feudalism: a certain official has limited authority that is granted by the centralised
government. Han: not really power over armies. Officials must do well by the locality to
maintain power.

Bureaucracy: changes the relationship between the official and the government. It’s a
temporary delegation with particular powers. The officials are sent out for limited terms
to carry out tasks and when finished they are promoted. They want to please their
superiors.

Both systems can work. Qin had only bureaucracy, the nobility has no influence. Han
retained kingdoms, but a large bureaucracy controlling all areas. Probably the largest
bureaucracy ever, larger than in later dynasties!
Institutional Tensions 3: Heredity v. Merit

How do officials get recruited? Hereditary rights: protection privilege = someone can
inherit the right to office from parent. In practice: officials can see to it that their sons can
get titles or offices.

Merit needs defined criteria: military, education? Qin had a meritocratic system through
success in the military towards the bureaucracy.

Han begins with more space to hereditary rights: allows high officials to make their sons
eligible. Officials can buy off punishments > easy perpetuation = serving government,
serving family. Merit criteria: honest and filial > recommendation through moral conduct;
schools in the capital. The best and most qualified person should be employed? Smart is
not equal to talented.
Institutional Tensions 4: Civil v. Military

What do we do with the resources coming to the centre?

Military interest are investment into army or power, expanding territories

Civil interests: investment into roads and canals, reducing taxes

Qin applied both, Han used something like “benign neglect”, but when the government
finds that there is money left to spend, they start to expand the army and start
conquering > Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Xiongnu (North), Northwest (desert area).

At first they are very successful. But once the war has started, it has to continue. But
soon the stores were empty and things had to change on the home front.
Institutional Tensions 5: Inner Court v. Outer Court

Who makes the decision? Two centres of power: the emperor and his immediate
surroundings, and the civil officials.
8

Inner Court: the relatives of the emperor and his concubines, eunuchs > all have a certain
influence through their DIRECT connection with the emperor. They have a vested interest
in the emperor’s staying in power.

Outer Court: carry out the law, deal with taxes > these people rise through the ranks.
They want rational policy, not intrigue.

Qin: no question that the emperor is in control. His apparatus has functioned very well,
but the power was in the Inner Court.

Han: efforts by the inner court to control power, but the bureaucracy had a consensus
that the house of Liu should remain in control. Families of imperial women (empress and
consorts): it has become a basic understanding in Chinese history that women in control
were generally a source of problems. They often bridged the inner and outer court, which
was probably a good thing.

Han starts out as reaction to Qin centralisation, makes room for more flexibility and
influence from the regions and feudal lords, hereditary rights. But over time it slowly
returns towards centralism. Not completely, but in the form of a balance between the
two.
How to Constrain Imperial Power?

9
This is a discussion of ideological possibilities. Most apparent of emperor Wu: movement
against autocracy, the ruler should be able to orchestrate everything (book of Huainanzi).
Against the notion that the emperor should be above the law and all-powerful.
History as an Answer

Sima Qian 145-86 BC: main work: Shiji Historical Records. His text became a classic.

Beautiful reading: history of civilisation as far back as he could find out. Basic Annals
going back to the mythical emperors, treatises of important subjects, biographies
(including his own) > all standard features of later historiography.

Shiji: Sima Qian tried to find universal patterns in history, but he starts to see that there
are lots of different points of view, depending on the life and biography of the viewer. In
a way, the biographies were more important.

He was not a fan of Emperor Wu, the problems of the Han did not come up over night,
they came on gradually. He started to think what was needed to undo those choices
made in the past.

When he defended the honour of an official (friend of his) and was ordered to be
castrated. Because of his rank he could have bought off the castration, but he did not
have and receive enough copper to do so. He tells us that he did continue to live to finish
his book, though.
10
11
12
Confucian Classics as an Answer

If we look to the past, we can find solutions for the present (Sima Qian)

Dong Zhongshu is interested in Cosmic Resonance, statecraft. He tries to combine the
two and that leads to the notion of “classics”, texts from antiquity as models for the Han
dynasty. They encompass Documents, Odes, Changes, Spring and Autumn Annals, Rites

Five classics had great authority. Early Han was a mixture of all kinds of schools, but later
on, the five classics gain more influence and replace the mix. The Classics had become
more popular with the scholars as they link to education and merit (which granted access
to the system).

There are higher standards by which to govern than the one represented by the Emperor.
Portents as an Answer

A third way to constrain the Emperor. Dong Zhongshu turns to the Natural order (Cosmic
Resonance). Frequent accounts of officials who record ‘anomalies’ = signs that the cycle
of heaven and earth are not in resonance = something is wrong at court. Connecting
human and natural events are linked, but these links are open to interpretation = politics

History, the Classics and portents come together in the usurpation of Wang Mang.
Conclusion: Wang Mang’s justification of usurpation

C
He points out that the Han are on the wrong track. History, Classics and Portents could be
used to allow his usurpation. He calls his dynasty “New” Dynasty.
State and Society in Western and Eastern Han
Xin Dynasty (=Wang Mang) = restoration of Zhou in about 40 BC. The Eastern Han starts in
about 25 with Liu Xiu (25-57) till 220.
Beginning of Religious Daoisms. > Religious rebellion against Eastern Han.
1
2
State and Society in Western and Eastern Han

How did the Han State relate to the interests of the Han common people? They were the
source of revenue > made it possible to have a national defence, pay the court and the
salaries of the officials.

They were also the source of danger > internal rebellions (more of those during the Han
than there were foreign invasions!).

The relation between the government and the people is crucial for success.
What is State? What is Society?

State or Society? This is based on 19th century Western understanding. Can we use
those in Chinese history? For Chinese there is no distinction: political order should
provide social order. This is all rhetorical, there might be a difference. Chinese make a
difference between “public” (gong) and “private” (si). What are the distinctions? This will
be dealt with in terms of PLACES, PEOPLE and PRACTICES that make up “state” and those
that make up “society”.
3

STATE: PEOPLE: Capital city, secondary/tertiary capitals, government centres where
officials go, garrisons / military bases, along the borders. They are points on the map.

STATE: PLACES: all civil officials, military, those working at court = the very small part of
the population that is in the service of government.

STATE: PRACTICES: tax administration to extract tax from the general population; law and
justice to maintain courts, punish crimes, etc.; education. Education is not understood as
“transform by education”, but “transform by instruction”. What does that mean? Maybe
the application of proper rituals, in court, local government, worship, etc. Maybe what is
meant is morals and moral behaviour. Or even proper training to be civilised and capable
to serve government.

STATE about SOCIETY: Guan Zhong defines society as four groups: shi (?), nong (farmers),
gong (artisans) and shang (merchants).

This hierarchy is built from a point of view: who serves the state best/most?

SOCIETY: we should be looking at the kinship system = horizontal.

PLACES: where people live, most have no official representation; markets, networks of
paths, villages. Not national, not hierarchical, very regional:

SOCIETY: PEOPLE: the vast majority of the population, most of them farmers. Organised
by household and family: kinship. A hierarchy based on wealth, culture and family power.
Later on there are also local elites, but not in Han.

SOCIETY: PRACTICES: farming is most important, preparing foods; procreation! Marriage
leads to inter-family networks. Until nearly today, you were not supposed to marry
someone with the same surname. (Most people belong to about 10-20 surnames).
Families had to seek new members elsewhere. In society education transmits knowledge
how to do things, art, how to farm, etc. Also, religion, how to worship gods, those were
local, how to make offering, and how to ask them for favours.

The different logics of state and society: state: impersonal, abstract, universal,
hierarchical. Society: kinship, relations. Kinship does not scale well, though. The
perception depends on the scale we look at the country: as a whole? Or as the village we
are in? Both logics are necessary. Q: who has the upper hand and which relationship is
there between the two?
Four Option for the State

Taxation system: what demands made the Han from the population? Agricultural taxes =
percentage of production. Han reduced them early on. Poll tax = head tax per adult
person in each family, but also for children. To increase population, any unmarried
woman had to pay a special tax of 5 times the regular tax. > standard idea: what tax do
you need to change behaviour? Property tax = for lots of stuff, like oxen, wagon, cow, etc.

Other obligations were that adult males had to do 1 month of labour service per year
(dykes, canals, etc.) This until the age of 56.

Early Han had a limited, not oppressive tax system > wealth was flowing to the
government. Emperor Wu wanted territorial expansion (W, NE, N against Xiungnu, SE).
The money surplus was soon used up. > raise more income. How to extract more?

Emperor Wu wants to increase income without increasing taxes on farmers > increase
production. Near the borders where the garrisons are. Expand large private estates.
Taxing merchants and artisans, they could easily hide their wealth, so reports over tax
evaders were rewarded. Iron become a state monopoly. Salt production and sale was
also taken over. (Salt was used mainly as a preservative, not a condiment). State took
over certain trade functions in order to equalise trade, but also picking off some profits.

These policies can be considered ‘anti-merchant’, putting the state in charge. However,
military campaigns opened trade routes to SE Asia and to the West. The draining of local
resources could be seen as expansion of trade. There was, however a backlash from
Confucian officials who resisted state expansion.

Were those opposed to Wudi on the side of “society”? They wanted to move back to
taxes in kind rather than cash. > less need for government industries, mining and
smelting. State monopolies could be turned over to private traders. End to wealthy and
poor. They wanted a non-changing agrarian society.

Some changes were pulled back. SALT AND IRON DEBATES. What was correct: support
for Wudi? Or relaxing the measures?

WANG MANG. Confucian trained bureaucrat who created his own dynasty. He combined
statist tendencies with reduction of commercialisation. He wanted a strong and wealthy
state that expands. He brought more revenue through state control and state
monopolies. However, he called for strict control of private wealth. “Land cannot be
sold” – “no trade in humans” – “no private lending” – “new kind of coinage”. Han coins
were cash coins, Wang Mang created key shaped coins.

There was a rebellion against Wang Mang in 23 AD. His policies were actually far more
statist than during Wu’s reign.

Eastern Han: Gradual withdrawal of the state from society (responsibility for social and
popular welfare). After natural disasters, control of the state over violence slowly slips
into private hands > bandits, etc.

167-184 AD: scholar officials a plotting against the eunuchs (= proscription). The scholar
officials move into the countryside.
4
5
6
D

Yellow Turban Rebellion > power to the generals, 220: three kingdoms created from the
Han.

All of these movements were also religious movements.

The state withdraws ever more > private power rises. Monopolies are shut down, state
factories were closed. The state shrinks. No assistance in disaster, no suppression of
bandits.

2 AD: population = 60 million, 140 AD = 50 million! Registered population has shrunk.

New elites in the countryside were called Confucian magnates, they start to build up their
own great walled estates with watchtowers, own private armies, yet also representing
culture, civilisation and leadership.
The Salt and Iron Debate

Regent Huo Guang follows Emperor Wu as the mentor to Emperor Zhao.

Questions: what kind of society, and economy do you want? What are the visions of the
Literati?
The State’s Retreat: Harbinger of the Aristocratic Age

The State retreats. The Han empire broke into three kingdoms, tribes invaded northern
China > a new age started: an Aristocratic age. Government lost control over the elites
that were in its service.

Beginning of the nine-rank system. Not nine ranks of officials, but nine ranks of people
eligible to become officials!
Epilogue: Reflections on China’s First Great Empire

Han = first great empire. It is not necessarily a stable thing: problems of court politics,
limiting the power of the emperor. Financial and societal interests in balance are hard to
achieve. Still, it lasted nearly 400 years.

We do not know what the common people thought of it. The DID join diverse rebellions,
so we can assume that the people were not happy. Most movements were religiously
inspired at least in part.
Self-Realization in the Medieval World
220-589: Complex History of Wei, Shu and Wu. None could really restore unity and order. Jin
superseded Wei finally managed to unify China for a short period, until it was forced to move
south by invading northern tribes.
Yellow Turban uprising become more powerful than the state. Cao Pi started the Wei dynasty
in 220. After Shu was defeated by Shu, a family created Jin with the capital Luoyang. A
Xiungnu declared himself as a follow-up of Han, he eventually defeated Wei/Jin.
Clear distinction between North and South. South: Jiankang = Nanjing as new capital.
Northern emigrates tried to introduce Han culture to the south, but then the Chen dynasty
was coming to power. Finally, Chen was overpowered by the Sui dynasty who eventually
unified China and started their own empire.
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Introduction: Four Strands of Aristocratic Culture
What happened when Han broke up: parallels between the breakup of Rome and Han:
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Invaded by invaders
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New religious movements
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Rise of aristocracy.
North is invaded by tribal peoples who are very much NOT Chinese and fighting amongst
themselves. The Chinese elites are organised in great clans. When the north is invaded, the
great clans moved to the south. They provide some continuity in times of frequent change in
dynasties.
Finally, the empire is restored, but not by the aristocracy, but rather by invaders from the
North.
Aristocrats loose an empire and search for a new foundation for a better life. Self-discovery is
a novel idea they come up with.
What is the real foundation for culture, but they cannot find consensus: revelations, heaven
and earth (nature), something in us, or Buddhism.
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The Learning of Mystery
“Neo Daoism” and pure conversation. Everything happens by itself. The search for a new
political order, maybe in nature >>> have a new beginning. Politics did not accord. Restoring
empire turned into something different. Naturalness vs Conformity.
New model figures appear: Ji Kang writes to Shan Tao: natural is superior to people and the
demands of government. One of the seven sages of the Bamboo Grove. Ji Kang was one of
these cultured gentlemen. Following spontaneous ideas and inspirations. Naturalness as a
sign to not be corrupted, to be pure. Makes you more attractive to government. These
virtuous people have chosen to come to me, thus my government is good.
Non-conformity > Fatalism. If these inclinations are embedded in us, then letting ourselves be
the way we are, some of us might be bad and show it. Some might want to save the world and
realise there is no chance to do it.
Pure conversation: capture essence of somebody with an anecdote or a story. Those were
common at the time. Ranking people fits very much with an aristocratic culture. “Our family
will produce other superior” people.
Superior men do not compete. Idea of spontaneity and naturalness. A movement that was
looking for a new foundation for unity has ended up finding a foundation for individuality!
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Daoist Religion
Not Daoist philophy, but revelations of the immortals/perfected in heaven > The Celestial
Masters cult. The teachings do not come from antiquity or the government, but from
revelations. Texts are revealed from contact with the heavens. These teachings still exist
today.
We can be freed from sin and join the immortals and they will someday be reborn and perfect
society will ensue. All parts are connected and play a role and communicate through their Qi,
their spirit moves through the world. During dreams, our mind is leaving the body and meets
with the spirits, communicate and pass on knowledge.
Physically, the Qi is kept moving through the body. There are exercises to keep the Qi moving.
Social implication: procreation and sex are very important: more mingling of the Qi.
Great interest in physical cultivation. The body is important. A new generation of hermits with
different diets, or living on the Qi in the air. Sitting in certain postures, moving pure Qi (male
semen) with the mind. No ejaculation, but pushing the Qi into the body.
Having sex with women where women have frequent orgasms to produce Qi for the male who
does NOT ejaculate. Exploitation of the women for the increase of Qi in males.
Why: because it is supposed to help achieve immortality!
Maoshan Revelations and Supreme Purity Daoism:
Elixir immortality: ex: coffee, redbull, energy drinks > Elixirs giving energy and vitality. In
Medieval China those were meant to lead to immortality. People who imbibed those elixirs
died: why would this be? Could they think that immortality = death?
Northern Celestial Masters started to use herbs, psychedelics, medicines in the South, they
start talking about the immortals.
4th century: Yang Shi has visits from the immortals from a “new heaven” = supreme purity
heaven. We have new information about their domain. He was asked to share this
information with the Xiu family who also get visits from these immortals. Young Xiu was told
that he would get a high position in the bureaucracy of the new heaven.
How to take such an elixir of immortality? There are recipes for these elixirs containing
strange ingredients like “dragon fetus” “effluence of linga” and such.
Xiu took an elixir and died, thus he joined the immortals.
Elixir Daoism flourished, a cult that kills people? There must be more than that, but a supreme
religious expression. People in high position believe in it. They have visions and conversations
that can be shared and induce visions with others. Career opportunities for those who
propagate it and those who adopt it.
Some of the poisons used in the elixirs were also used to invigorate the body.
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Alchemy
The status of Alchemy was a reason for the belief in elixirs. Inner Alchemy is inside the body
(diet and moving the Qi). Outer alchemy is about taking base metals and turn into gold, not
for wealth, but to create an elixir of immortality.
Gold is PERFECT. Balance of yin and yang is fixed and ideal.
Qi exists in cycles and balance. Minerals grow and change. Certain minerals would ultimately
change and transform into gold (4320 years). Gold did not tarnish, it was constant. People
could interfere in the cycles of development of minerals and metals. Theory of 5 Phases of
Change: the next state must be inherent > speed up the process of transformation must be
possible. “We can make it happen in just one year”.
Alchemists showed that they could change certain metals. Why 4320? 360days+24hours.
If alchemist can influence the metallurgic change, he should also be able to create an elixir to
effect change in the human body. The idea is that people look at the cycles in the universe,
understand them and apply them to other uses.
Immortality was always a huge issue in China. Alchemists, however, did NOT create immortals,
as far as we know. Giggle.
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Literature
Writing that is personal and occasional. Letters, inscriptions, birthday poetry. Literature was
thought to be about expression emotions towards a particular event: mostly poetry.
The quality of our response reveals our character. This is why ancient China developed ritual.
Literature allows for far more individuality than ritual does.
3rd century is the beginning of the flourishing of this art form. We are in tune with cultural
tradition, but we replicate the processes of heaven and earth, but it also reveals our character
and morals. Reading those things brings a new kind of immortality independent of status or
power. It will be enduring and will live forever. Another reference to immortality.
Aristocratic culture that has a newly developed concern in SELF. Being spontaneous, trying to
be oneself at all times. The individual could be more important than family or state. Not
entirely new, but never so popular.
Interview about Tian Xiaofei, Medieval Literature in China: the idea of “they did not reunify
China” is the general idea of the Southern Dynasties. However, they developed a completely
new philosophy to make up for political failures. This view comes from the conquering
dynasties = the winners. The Southern literature had a huge influence on later literature as
well as political developments in the Northern dynasties!
The south was fascinated with “newness and innovation”. Emphasis on literary excellence in
the Southern Dynasties because it was a large aristocratic culture, bloodlines, lineage, etc.
were important. There were developments to change this in the south, especially Emperor Wu
of the Liang dynasty who instigated testing of literary excellence during recruitment of new
bureaucrats. Literary talent was important at the time. Liang was also very interested in
Buddhism. Liang dynasty 202-259.
There are a lot of common threads between Northern and Southern dynasties: Confucian
classics were a passion for both, also Buddhism.
A candle within the curtain (Liu Xiaowei, 6th century Liang court)
Door opens, the curtain casts a shadow
The flame in the wind flickers back and forth
Drifting light illuminates the brocade sash
A congealed drop of wax stains hanging flowers
Description of the time of day, darkness and light, a breeze slips in. Candle and wind describe
the transience of human life. Characteristic of Liang poets are fascinated by details = the
brocade sash. The poet zooms in to an even more minute detail of a bit of wax sitting on part
of the embroidery of the sash.
Enigmatic. Strong fascination with visual detail and movement of the eye. Material objects
are part of the concept of representation of sensuous appearance of the material world.
Buddhist doctrine. Everything is transient. The stain is an attempt at destruction, end. Sense
of fragility of beauty and life. Fleeting moments.
Passing through Danyang in the Morning (Yang Wanli, Southern Sung 12th century)
A breeze comes out from inside the boat
It puffs up the curtain purple brushing the sky
When I examine where the breeze comes from it is nowhere to be found
A crack in the worn window smaller than a coin
Also inside, window, breeze, crack in the window. Kind of a mystery: how does a breeze come
from inside the boat. There is a very small crack in the window, explaining the breeze.
Here we see a process of discovery, not a static description. There is an image, but also a
process. Finding the reason for something. He refuses to be absorbed by the detail, he wants
to find the reason. Not just appearance.
E
Buddhism
Division between North and South = Medieaval China. Jin finally reunified China for about 30
years. The fragmentation brings us back to the Yellow Turbans, preaching of great peace. The
Civil War general Cao Cao became dictator, his son declared the Wei Dynasty in 220. 265: Jin
dynasty. There were a lot of frictions between the Han Chinese and the invaders in the north.
The 16 Kingdoms were dominated by tribal groups. They were better in winning wars, than
maintaining power. Tuoba clan adopted a Chinese surname. The new capital had about 1000
Buddhist monasteries. The Northern Zhou restored unity in the North. The Northern tribes of
Sui reunified the complete Chinese area, North AND South.
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Buddhism in China: Universal Religion and Foreign Teaching
A lot of Chinese were attracted to Buddhism. Rosaries are used to pledge allegiance to
Buddha. Did China conquer Buddhism, or the other way round?
Portable shrine with the Buddha and disciples inside, icons carved from wood for reasons of
meditation. Buddhism was introduced in the Medieaval period by missionaries from Central
Asia and India. The first religion in Chinese history that became a national religion, shared by
all.
It has left a grand material legacy: shrines, giant cave sanctuaries, wooden buildings for the
Buddhist monasteries. There was much private patronage, leading to the development of the
faith and its followers. Government as well patronised Buddhism. Surprise, because many of
the government officials were followers of Confucius. Criticism existed then and now.
Government has as recently as 2013 discouraged Buddhist practices.
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Introduction to Buddhism: The Three Treasures
Overview: Buddha, the Dharma (teachings), the Sangha (community).
The Buddha: historical Buddha, transcendent being, a god. The historical Buddha was a prince
of the Shakya clan. He was given the name Siddhartha, living in the 5th/6th century BC. No
clear information about the historic person can be pinned down.
He was not exposed to the suffering of the world until he was 29. He leaves the palace for the
first time and sees an old man, realising that people get old and sick. He starts to understand
suffering. He encounters a monk and decides to follow the way of the mendicant monks,
break totally with his family for many years.
One day he has the enlightenment, a middle way between worldly indulgence and radical
poverty.
Dharma, the law and the teachings: 4 noble truths: The nature of life itself is suffering.
Suffering is caused by desire. We have to cease desiring. There is a path to cease desiring.
Without that understanding we will never end suffering. We are reborn again and again, and
unless we do anything about it, we will continue to suffer. The is karma, of course, and each
life can create karmic seeds, ultimately allowing us to end suffering. (image of the flame that
lights the next candle).
Without the desires, emptiness remains (sunyata). When desires are gone, emptiness arrives
and ultimately leads to nirvana (the end of rebirth).
Dharma = law AND reality. How are those teachings communicated?
Sangha = community of monks and nuns. The have chosen to live apart. Chujia = leave the
family. They create their own communities in the monasteries.
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Mahayana Buddhism and the Lotus Sutra
When Buddhism arrives, it comes in the form of Mahayana (Dacheng) Buddhism. First
mention in Eastern Han, not Theravada Buddhism that comes along the sea routes. The
Buddha has come to save the world from suffering. It’s not the cessation of suffering that
saves us, but the belief in Buddha can do so too.
Bodhisattvas are monks who have not moved on to nirvana in order to keep assisting others.
The doctrine of expedient means: the Buddha preaches at the level people are capable of
understanding. This is written down in the Lotus Sutra.
Mahayana Buddhism says that salvation is possible for lay people as well.
The Lotus Sutra has parables. The Parable of the Burning House is one of the most notable
ones. The children are us, the father is the Buddha, but we cannot hear the truth because they
do not understand what death/burning house means. He offers what we desire in order to
bring us to understand.
Problem: if the desire is the reason we suffer, is this a good track? Have they learned
anything? They have learned to have faith. The Lotus Sutra also mentioned ways to earn
merit, contribute to the Sangha, spread the message, give support, build monasteries.
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The Transformation of Buddhism in China during the 4 th and 5th Centuries: Fotudeng
Three figures help us understand how Buddhism was successful: monks are foreign, they do
not even speak Chinese. The conceptual vocabulary does not line up, the styles of argument
are unknown from earlier Chinese history.
1. Fotudeng = “Buddhadeng”. Dies in 349 in Luoyang, comes from Kushan in Central Asia. He
starts a religions centre in 310. The Jin dynasty princes started fighting in 311, some of the
princes brought in Xiongnu warriors. The Jin fled south > southern emigrate clans. Those who
took over the north were foreign tribes.
Fotudeng stays with Shi Hu of the Jie tribe, associated with Later Zhao dynasty. He persuades
them to support Buddhism. > he succeeds in convincing foreigners as well as Chinese to
convert.
His biography mentions his three roles: he was a wizard performing powerful magic, he was a
political advisor, a religious teacher. Doing magic was a thing that also the Jesuit missionaries
did in the 16th century! The rulers son appears to die, and he revives him = knowledge of
medicine! He can see across time, hear the language of bells. He can give premonitions to the
ruler. He can see across space as well.
He is very useful, then. He was called the Protector of the State, even during a minor civil war.
Is he self-interested? He is able to persuade the ruler to kill less people. Fotudeng says: do not
kill the “innocent”! Again a parallel to the Jesuits in Japan.
Some tension in the early church: who is Buddhism for. It’s for everyone, but the rulers were
not of this opinion. Fotudeng persuades the rules to provide lots of patronage. More than 900
monasteries.
Is it for all peoples? Buddhism and the rulers come from abroad. Fotudeng insists that the
Chinese as well should be allowed to be Buddhists.
Is it for women as well? Fotudeng tells of a vision about a woman being a nun. Women can
become part of the Sangha as well.
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The Transformation of Buddhism in China during the 4 th and 5th Centuries: Dao’an
2. Dao’an: He starts to build an enduring sangha of Buddhist men and women monks. When
Fotudeng dies, many disciples flee, Dao’an flees later and builds a temple with donations for
400 monks. He builds a pagoda to worship the Buddha. Collects 400 pounds of bronze for a
statue of the Buddha.
Buddhist monks become the centre of the economy in the agrarian world from then on.
Dao’an builds monastic rules for these monasteries. He reads Indian Buddhist literature and
builds this up. The Chinese monks become members of a new family, where the Buddha is the
patriarch.
It mirrors the habit of generals asking their soldiers taking on his last name.
Dao’an has established an intellectual identity for the Buddhist monks. He begins to
understand that Buddhism is clearly different to Chinese ideas. Earlier a Chinese equivalent
had been determined for foreign terms. Those equivalents were often not the same thing!
Later on, Buddhist ideas were thought to be understood on their own terms.
Since those ideas are new, how do I know I am interpreting them correctly? I might base my
understanding on the wrong assumptions?
Dao’an finds a solution: he creates a cult to worship Maytreia, the future Buddha. Maytreia
can guide people to reach salvation. Correct understanding of the Buddhist dharma. Daoism
had revelations. Buddha’s texts come from the West, and are understood as teachings from
an enlightened person.
Dao’an was probably the greatest of Chinese monks of his lifetime. He is concerned with all
aspects of Buddhism as a community. Other missionaries kept coming from Central Asia,
however. The greatest foreign translator, comes Kumarajiva. His translation project is still
regarded as the most readable translation. Foreign monks reads and interprets, a translator
tells it to Chinese who then write this down in good Chinese.
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The Transformation of Buddhism in China during the 4 th and 5th Centuries: Huiyuan
3. Huiyuan: Dao’an’s greatest disciple. He showed that Buddhist sangha could have
intellectual centrality, but also political independence within the Chinese landscape. He comes
from Daoism, but finds Buddhism. He builds a monastery in the mountains. The mountain
retreat is where Buddhism has to be located. Not in the cities.
He makes the countryside monasteries into intellectual centres for not only monks, but all kind
of artists, intellectuals, etc. > the sangha must be independent. We are strangers to the
world, we do want no part in politics. He does not take sides, but he welcomes all sides (all
people can be saved, so all are welcome).
Military is afraid of intrigues, monks acquire and are not responsible for it tax-wise. At several
times, pogroms are launched against Buddhist monks.
“Monks Do Not Bow Down Before Kings”. There was an extreme anti-Buddhist movement at
times of struggle. Yunggang Grottoes with Buddhist statues were built by the government as
an apology to having tried to destroy Buddhism.
Huiyuan wants everyone to have religious experiences, not just the “professional” Buddhists.
This is where the icons come into play. In a secluded spot, concentrate on the Buddha without
interruption, and Buddha will manifest himself to you.
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Some Reasons for Buddhism’s Success
Continues firmly embedded in society and cannot be eradicated even today. A foreign
missionary comes and gains influence, his disciples rebuild the original form into something
very Chinese and they end up separating the movement from the state.
New civilisation with its own architecture, medicine. Clerical community trying to live a good
life apart from others. Refuge in times of upheaval. Offers salvation to all people.
Buddhism and karmic merit gives you a reason to be good out of self-interest.
8
Lingyin Temple
Major Buddhist monument have become a tourist centre. What do we think happens in those
places on a normal day? Is there still religious activity?
Lots of people walking around, tourists, bicycles.
Used to have 3000 monks in the early days. During the Cultural Revolution the monks found
refuge here. The great wall says “you are a step away from paradise”.
Main courtyard: people milling around in the courtyard, talking on the phone. Mahavira Hall
has the statue of the Buddha (replaced in 1956). People are reciting mantras(?) and burning
incense(?) in front of the Buddha. Most are actually million around . they are throwing coins
into a vase/fountain(?). Many of them are wearing clothes that do not seem entirely
appropriate for the location.
About 400 carvings in stone (not Tang like in other places), but begin in 951 and much later
until the Ming dynasty. It’s a popular place, stones worn smooth by endless pilgrims. Many
contribution from the Yuan dynasty who brought the Tibetan variation of Buddhism with
them. There are about 50 Tibetan statues in this monastery.
The stream has been blocked up: this pool is a Pool for Releasing Life. All sentient beings have
a value > vegetarianism. Pools are used to save a life. Take a fish and bring it here to be free.
> karmic points.