Cai Yong [phrase omitted] : A Neglected Figure of Late Eastern Han.

• Author: Loewe, Michael

PRELIMINARIES

The Eastern Han dynasty was in evident decline by Cai Yong's [phrase omitted] (132-192) adult years, if not decades before. (1) Looking back, positive efforts to control the working activities of the population marked the reigns of Mingdi (r. 57-75), and Zhangdi (r. 75-88). Although both reigns witnessed efforts to support China's cultural activities, they were followed by a marked decline in the prestige of the emperor and in the leadership of the central government. Some who held high-ranking positions in the government may well have recognized the increasing deterioration of dynastic power but did not risk stating their views openly. Believing that steps were needed to repair Eastern Han's rule and promote a Mid-Dynastic Restoration, others at court or in the provinces put forward seven major proposals and initiated certain actions. (2) Meanwhile, some few men of recognized merit, realizing the extent of imperial decline, refused to serve in office, and either applied themselves to scholarly and historical studies, as did Zheng Xuan [phrase omitted] (127-200), (3) or were brave enough to register criticisms of contemporary conditions, events, and leading figures. (4) Perhaps, in such dire circumstances, Buddhism might have offered a refuge to some from a struggle to excel or survive that required a compromise with principles, but such decisions are hardly, if ever, reported.

Scion of a locally prominent family, Cai Yong had clearly acquired training in both the formal means and methods of Han's administration and consequently the ways dynastic authority was liable to decline. (5) Evidence suggests that he correctly adjudged the Eastern Han to have been in steep and steady decline ever since the reign of Hedi (r. 88-106). (6) The part that Cai Yong took in the conduct of official affairs has often been overlooked, perhaps because Cai never held one of the highest offices until the time of Dong Zhuo's [phrase omitted] dominance in court (189-192), despite being recognized for his expertise in several fields. (7) Twice during his career at court, a period of less than twenty years, he had to confront exile, once by the court's order being sent to Shuofang, (8) and the second time, when he fled to Kuaiji, thousands of miles from the Eastern Han capital, in self-imposed exile for twelve years. (9) For accepting a high position under the warlord Dong, with its attendant privileges, he was soon to pay with his life, and to bear the blackened name of one disloyal to the Han ruling house. (10) (That said, there are two plausible readings of his decision to accept Dong Zhuo's appointment to office in 189: either he thought Dong the best man to carry on, with or without the Han ruling house, or he thought he was the best man to prevent the worst excesses of Dong Zhuo's regime. After all, one episode has him preventing Dong Zhuo from putting the distinguished classicist Lu Zhi [phrase omitted] to death. (11) ) As Cai adopted the role of occasional open critic of the status quo, we must wonder to what extent he had lost faith in the Eastern Han's exercise of imperial power and was writing for future generations. And yet Cai strove to direct attention to the strength of Han's traditional values that were in danger of being lost; as a well-educated man of his era, he expounded the traditions associated with the Five Classics, as well as the Han precedents in law and administration, and he was capable of working with very influential loyalists on reform measures. (12)

China's debt to Cai Yong has not always been recognized adequately. He is chiefly remembered today for his supervision of the engraving of the Classics (jing [phrase omitted] ) on stone slabs during the Xiping era. (13) In 175, together with Tangxi Dian [phrase omitted] , Yang Ci [phrase omitted] , Ma Midi [phrase omitted] , Zhang Xun [phrase omitted] , Han Yue [phrase omitted] and Dan Yang [phrase omitted] , Cai Yong requested permission to correct the text of the Six Classics. He personally wrote out in his own calligraphy some of the texts selected for engraving. Yet as a writer in a number of literary modes or genres, he stands as a major contributor to the Eastern Han literary heritage. Fan Ye [phrase omitted] [phrase omitted] (398-446) credits him with authoring compositions utilizing no fewer than ten different types of writing, ranging from poetry in the traditional style (shi [phrase omitted] ) to essays and epitaph inscriptions, amounting to 104 plan [phrase omitted] , with most now, sadly, lost, even if his Du duan [phrase omitted] [phrase omitted] (a title whose translation is disputed) (14) and contributions to the Dong guan Hanji [phrase omitted] [phrase omitted] (Eastern Pavilion Han chronicles) survive, at least in large part. (15) Equally significantly, he took part in the compilation of some of the passages in the treatises that now appear in standard editions of the Hou Han shu, ascribed to Sima Biao [phrase omitted] (ca. 240-ca. 306). (16) As the expert commissioned by the court to compile at least one chronicle for the reign of Lingdi (r. 156-189), which later historians drew upon for their own portrayals of late Eastern Han, we may consider whether Cai Yong had direct access to the whole of Ban Gu's [phrase omitted] Han shu [phrase omitted] (one copy of which should have been in the imperial library holdings) or only to certain parts of Ban's work. But at least two citations, in which he repeats text found in the Han shu, suggest that he knew the work, (17) and indisputably Cai Yong was better versed in the history and practices of the two Han dynasties than most of his contemporaries. In any case, students of early China owe considerable thanks to two modern scholars, Enno Giele and Mark Laurent Asselin, for their important studies of parts of Cai's work. (18)

Modern readers are fortunate that Asselin provides a detailed study of Cai Yong's use of discrete literary forms to register the "end-of-days" sense elites felt for the era through which Cai was living. Here is Asselin's description of his project:

The epoch to be defined by the Common Era years of 159-192 witnessed the growth of a "kairotic literature" that manifests literary interpretations of past and present in concern for the end of an era, and reveals emerging sensibilities of a new age, especially in the choice of themes and subject matter. Also critical to understanding the literature of this period is recognizing the freer use of lyric composition for the express purpose of conveying personal feelings. This study will demonstrate how selected works by Cai Yong and a few of his contemporaries, Zhao Yi [phrase omitted] (ca. 130-ca. 185 C.E.), Zhu Mu [phrase omitted] (100-163 C.E.), and Zhang Chao [phrase omitted] , reflect the "sense of an ending" and manifest literary qualities attendant to their seizing this critical moment in which to write. (19) The following pages, designed to supplement Asselin's study devoted to literary qualities, concentrate on the place that Cai Yong took in dynastic and political concerns. Equally well acquainted with Western and Eastern Han history, Cai Yong witnessed the growth of leadership independent of the capital. Having arrived at court somewhat late in life, in the 170s, Cai offered a long submission in 177 (a summary of which appears in the Hou Han shu), listing suggestions for much needed public reforms under seven headings. He called for better attention to [phrase omitted] (rites, rituals) as an ordered and regular mode of behavior and, criticizing the current management of the court, he asked that the court develop better means of recruiting the right sort of officials. (20) In practical matters, he made enemies of a number of his contemporaries. When Cai Yong, at the death of Dong Zhuo, faced accusations of disloyalty, there may not have been many who came to his defense. We are at a loss to know where Cai Yong directed his loyalties, and it may well be that in those troubled decades he himself was subject to considerable doubt. But if Cai Yong himself was helplessly divided regarding the choice of a leader whom he should follow, need we be surprised if later historians assessing his character cannot seem to portray him in a consistent way or make sense of the varied opinions about his conduct?

1. EARLY APPEARANCES OF CAI YONG AT COURT

   Cai Yong was first called to the court in the 160s, as an expert in music; perhaps because his early recommenders were senior eunuchs who intended him to work as a professional musician, he feigned illness on the road to the capital, and then returned home. (21) In the early 170s, Cai Yong abruptly reappears, first as staff member serving Qiao Xuan [phrase omitted] , (22) next as county prefect, then, by 172, with his patron Hu Guang [phrase omitted] , then senior tutor (taifu [phrase omitted] ), (23) working in the Eastern Pavilion libraries collating texts in the role of gentleman consultant.

   This section of my essay will begin by considering three incidents in which Cai Yong made important comments on court proceedings: the first, dated to 172, concerns the court's decision to conduct gravesite ceremonies at the tomb of the Eastern Han founder, Guangwudi; the second, dated to 178, notes Cai Yong's interventions on military matters, in light of Western Han precedents; and the third, dated to 190, concerns Cai Yong's advocacy in a decision to strip the previous century's worth of Eastern Han rulers of their honorific temple names. After that, this section will treat briefly Cai Yong's authoritative omenological readings.

   The Hou Han ji [phrase omitted] of Yuan Hong [phrase omitted] , (328-376) carries a short entry that recounts the meeting held by high-ranking dignitaries at the tomb of Gaozu [phrase omitted] in 172, in Chang'an, and the solemn rituals performed there, (24) at which Cai Yong was in attendance. (25) Oddly enough, an account of this incident does not...