The "biography of Sima Xiangru" and the question of the Fu in Sima Qian's Shiji.

• Author: Kern, Martin

The problem of the authenticity of certain chapters of Sima Qian's (ca. 145--ca. 86 B.C.) Shiji [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Records of the historian) has long been noted, beginning with the remark in Sima Qian's Hanshu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] biography that ten of the one hundred and thirty chapters mentioned in Sima's outline "Taishi gong zixu" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] were lost, "having [merely] a listing but no text" (you lu wu shu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). (1) In analyzing individual chapters, often through a comparison with their Hanshu counterparts, scholars have reached opposing conclusions on the Shiji text. (2) In the present paper, I put forward what I consider the aggregate evidence that calls the authenticity of Shiji chapter 117, the Sima Xiangru [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (179-117 B.C.) biography, into question.

Within the Shiji, the Sima Xiangru biography is our only source for information on the literary genre of the fu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (rhapsody) at the court of Emperor Wu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (r. 141-87 B.C.). This is surprising, as according to the later account in the Hanshu, the fu was the most prestigious, most widely practiced, and most politically charged literary form of the Western Han, reaching its peak during the Emperor Wu period. In the Sima Xiangru biography, fu is mentioned once in the compound cifu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], (3) saying that Emperor Jing [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (r. 157-141 B.C.) was not fond of such compositions, and eight times with respect to Sima Xiangru's works. (4) In addition, the concluding appraisal of Sima Xiangru, introduced by the usual "Taishi gong yue" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], refers to Yang Xiong's [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (53 B.C.-A.D. 18) discussion of the fu as a genre. Obviously, this note cannot come from Sima Qian. (5) Finally, the word fu in connection with Sima Xiangru's literary compositions appears once in Sima Qian's "Taishi gong zixu" in the phrase daren fushuo [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("rhapsodic exposition on the Great Man"). Here, the term is used not in the usual form as genre designation but seems to be pointing to the performative nature of Sima Xiangru's composition on the "Great Man." (6) The only other place where the Shiji deals with the genre of the fu is chapter 84, the joint biographies of Qu Yuan [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (fourth century B.C.) and Jia Yi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (ca. 200-168 B.C.). (7) Here, the term fu appears four times: once for "Huai sha" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Embracing sand), a poem attributed to Qu Yuan and later anthologized in the Chu ci [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] anthology, once in general terms for the works of Song Yu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], Tang Le [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], and Jing Cuo [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (all third century B.C.), purportedly Qu Yuan's immediate late Warring States successors from Chu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], (8) once for Jia Yi's "Diao Qu Yuan" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Lamenting Qu Yuan), and once for Jia's "Funiao fu" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Fu on the owl). (9)

While the Shiji identifies as fu some works by Qu Yuan and his successors that in other early sources do not carry this designation, it does not mention the fu of Mei Sheng [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (d. 141 B.C.), Zhuang Zhu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (d. 122 B.C.; in the Hanshu called Yan Zhu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), Kong Zang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (ca. 201-123 B.C.), Yuqiu Shouwang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (ca. 156-110 B.C.), Zhufu Yan [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (d. 126 B.C.), Zhu Maichen [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (fl. 127 B.C.), Liu An [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (175-122 B.C.), Liu Yan [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (or [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], fl. mid-second century B.C.), Mei Gao [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (fl. 130-110 B.C.), Dongfang Shuo [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (154-93 B.C.), Dong Zhongshu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (ca. 195-115 B.C.), or Zhuang Ji [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (ca. 188-105 B.C.; in the Hanshu called Yan Ji [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), all of whom were well-known, prolific contemporaries of Sima Qian. In the Hanshu "Yiwen zhi," Liu An is credited with eighty-two fu, Kong Zang with twenty, Liu Yan with nineteen, Yuqiu Shouwang with fifteen, Mei Gao with one hundred and twenty (to which one has to add the "several dozens" censored by the compilers of the imperial catalogue), (10) Zhuang Zhu with thirty-five, and even Sima Qian himself with eight. (11) In addition, Dongfang Shuo is mentioned with twenty pian [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] of writings, not among the fu authors but in the eclectic category of zajia [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. (12) Sima Xiangru is said to have composed twenty-eight fu. Most of these men appear in various contexts in the Shiji, and some even have biographies included there. We find information about their official careers and canonical learning, or--in the cases of Mei Sheng and Zhuang Ji--see them mentioned as youshui zhi shi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (wandering persuaders), that is, men of eloquent speech. In no case is any of them praised as a literary talent or author of a certain type of writing.

The two Shiji biographies that mention the fu differ distinctly in their presentation of the nature of the genre. In the Qu Yuan/Jia Yi chapter, the fu appears as a vehicle of personal frustration; (13) in the Sima Xiangru chapter, it serves the purpose of indirect political admonition. (14) The latter corresponds to the terms in which Yang Xiong, the most prominent literary figure of late Western Han times and the Wang Mang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] interregnum (9-23), saw the fu. Nothing suggests that Sima Xiangru was driven by any of the intense feelings of personal misfortune and mistreatment that are given as the raison d'etre of Qu Yuan's and Jia Yi's work. And conversely, while portraying Qu Yuan as a forthright official who in vain tried to influence his ruler, no effort is made to explain how Qu Yuan's and Jia Yi's "frustration fu" were designed as works of political criticism. (15) Altogether, the Shiji seems to define the "frustration fu" (Qu Yuan and Jia Yi) and the fu of political admonition (Sima Xiangru) through strong moral and political claims only to fall into complete silence on them beyond the two biographical chapters. Thus, the Shiji account on the fu is contradictory in at least two respects: first, between the Qu Yuan/Jia Yi and the Sima Xiangru biographies; second, between either one, and both of them, and the silence on the fu throughout the rest of the Shiji. This is all the more remarkable as Sima Qian can be counted among the politically most critical, personally most frustrated, and stylistically most accomplished authors of his time. These three aspects of his personality are given ample expression in his "Da Ren An Shu" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Letter in response to Ren An) and the "Taishi gong zixu." (16) If the mid-Western Han fu had the moral and political significance accorded to it in the two biographies, one wonders why Sima Qian apparently stripped almost all his contemporary fu authors, including his eminent teacher Dong Zhongshu, of their angry and critical voices. (17)

Before moving to a close discussion of the Sima Xiangru biography, the substantial problems of textual integrity and authenticity in the combined Qu Yuan/Jia Yi biography may be briefly recounted. In terms of its structure, contents, and authorship, the chapter constitutes a quite dubious part of the Shiji. As noted by David Hawkes, "the biography of Qu Yuan reads like a not very successful patchwork of contradictory and in some cases obviously unhistorical sources." (18) These sources include (a) Liu An's "Li sao zhuan" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (Tradition of "Encountering sorrow"), (19) which includes the biography's references to the "Li sao" but no references to other works; (b) a brief rhymed passage of four lines that immediately precedes the account of the composition of the "Li sao"; (20) (c) the poem "Yu fu" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (The fisherman), integrated into the narrative; (21) (d) the poem "Huai sha," explicitly marked as a fu; (22) and (e) an unknown source that comprises the bulk of the historical narrative, including the entire account prior to Qu Yuan's banishment. (23) This unknown source, together with sources (a) and (b) that are embedded in it in the Shiji, mention the protagonist invariably as Qu Ping [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (twelve times) or simply Pring [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (once). (24) On the other hand, the following narrative on his banishment, most of it being the text of the "Huai sha," (25) mentions him exclusively as Qu Yuan (seven times), as do the transition to the Jia Yi biography (twice), (26) the historian's judgment ("Taishi gong yue"; twice), (27) and the five other passages in which Qu Yuan/Ping is mentioned throughout the Shiji. (28) In sum, "Qu Ping" is associated only with the "Li sao" (mostly in the section coming from Liu An's "Li sao zhuan") and "Qu Yuan" only with the "Huai sha" and, albeit not explicitly, the "Yu fu." The "Yu fu" section is the only substantial part of the "Qu Yuan" narrative; it also is the part of the biography that includes the notion of fu.

It is thus apparently that the Qu Yuan/Qu Ping account is not a coherent whole; its poor, basically unedited combination of separate sources with their own idiosyncrasies--and perhaps even concerning two different figures?--largely defies the notion of individual historiographic authorship or style. The biography betrays either some profound textual corruption or the work of a...