The Power of an Alleged Tradition - CHINA Buchservice
The Power of an Alleged Tradition - CHINA Buchservice
The Power of an Alleged Tradition - CHINA Buchservice
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haps the most striking detail is the fact that again the coincidence <strong>of</strong> the day <strong>of</strong> the<br />
new moon with the winter solstice – the constellation Gongsun Qing had prophesied<br />
to be <strong>of</strong> special signifi c<strong>an</strong>ce – was chosen as the date on which the new calendar<br />
<strong>of</strong> the H<strong>an</strong> was established. In this case, apart from the start <strong>of</strong> a new yearly cycle<br />
<strong>an</strong>d that <strong>of</strong> a new month cycle, the start <strong>of</strong> a third cycle is added, namely the beginning<br />
<strong>of</strong> a sexagenary day cycle (jiazi���). 106<br />
Even more remarkable is a detail in the imperial edict, namely that Emperor<br />
Wu refers to the fact that Hu<strong>an</strong>gdi “had achieved perfect [harmony] <strong>an</strong>d thus never<br />
died.” If we recall the enthusiastic reaction <strong>of</strong> this emperor who, according to the<br />
testimony <strong>of</strong> the Shiji, upon hearing Gongsun Qing’s report <strong>of</strong> Hu<strong>an</strong>gdi’s ascent<br />
to Heaven would regard the thought <strong>of</strong> quitting his wife <strong>an</strong>d children as being no<br />
more th<strong>an</strong> casting <strong>of</strong>f one’s slippers, 107 this remark – surprisingly enough found in<br />
<strong>an</strong> <strong>of</strong>fi cial document – matches perfectly with the historical account. Given that the<br />
edict is authentic, one c<strong>an</strong>not but get the impression that the emperor’s endeavor to<br />
achieve harmony between microcosm <strong>an</strong>d macrocosm in fact originated in his hope<br />
to achieve immortality. According to Gongsun Qing’s words, Hu<strong>an</strong>gdi alone – the<br />
fi rst calendar maker – had achieved this before. It has been suggested above that the<br />
matching <strong>of</strong> the dates prophesied in Gongsun Qing’s message with Emperor Wu’s<br />
actual calendar reform would have been intentionally brought about by the specialists<br />
entrusted with the installation <strong>of</strong> the new calendar. 108 This, <strong>of</strong> course, was not so<br />
diffi cult to achieve for a person who was responsible both for the prophecy <strong>an</strong>d for<br />
the task <strong>of</strong> making it come true. As for the persons who were ordered to take steps to<br />
prepare for the calendar <strong>of</strong> the H<strong>an</strong>, the passage in the “Monograph on Pitch Pipes<br />
<strong>an</strong>d the Calendar” (Lüli zhi����) <strong>of</strong> the H<strong>an</strong> shu continues:<br />
�����������������������<br />
<strong>The</strong>n [the Emperor] ordered [Gongsun] Qing, [Hu] Sui, [Sima] Qi<strong>an</strong> together<br />
with the Attend<strong>an</strong>t Gentlem<strong>an</strong> Zun, the Offi cial in Charge <strong>of</strong> the [observation <strong>of</strong><br />
the] Pl<strong>an</strong>ets, Yi Xing <strong>an</strong>d others to deliberate on the question <strong>of</strong> how to establish<br />
a calendar for the H<strong>an</strong>. 109<br />
106 One might perhaps expect that the ch<strong>an</strong>ge <strong>of</strong> the calendar should have taken place in the very same year when<br />
the Feng <strong>an</strong>d Sh<strong>an</strong> sacrifi ces had been performed for the fi rst time. An indication that this probably was the<br />
original idea is given at the beginning <strong>of</strong> the part pertaining to Emperor Wu in the “Treatise on the Feng <strong>an</strong>d<br />
Sh<strong>an</strong> Sacrifi ces” (Shiji 28/1384; 12/452). As mentioned earlier, it is recorded at the beginning <strong>of</strong> this chapter that<br />
all the high dignitaries at court had hoped that the emperor would soon proceed to perform the sacrifi ces <strong>an</strong>d<br />
ch<strong>an</strong>ge the calendar. Later in the same chapter we fi nd the entry that on the jiazi day in the eleventh month,<br />
when the winter solstice occurred on the day <strong>of</strong> the new moon the calendar specialists took this date as the basis<br />
for the new beginning (Shiji 28/1401; 12/481: ������). Only after having accomplished this, the emperor<br />
was allowed to proceed to perform the Feng <strong>an</strong>d Sh<strong>an</strong> sacrifi ces on Mount Tai. But shortly after that we also<br />
read that in the fi rst year <strong>of</strong> the era Taichu that the calendar was ch<strong>an</strong>ged (Shiji 28/1402; 12/483). It is open to<br />
speculation whether Sima Qi<strong>an</strong> <strong>an</strong>d his colleagues originally pl<strong>an</strong>ned to establish the new calendar simult<strong>an</strong>eously<br />
with the perform<strong>an</strong>ce <strong>of</strong> the Feng <strong>an</strong>d Sh<strong>an</strong> sacrifi ces, but – for whatever reasons – there was a delay.<br />
107 Cf. the tr<strong>an</strong>slation on p. 253.<br />
108 I am grateful to Licia DiGiacinto (Bochum) who directed my attention to <strong>an</strong> article by Christopher Cullen in<br />
which he had already pointed out that Emperor Wu, by establishing the new calendar, satisfi ed Gongsun Qing’s<br />
expectations. See his “Motivations for Scientifi c Ch<strong>an</strong>ge in Ancient China: Emperor Wu <strong>an</strong>d the Gr<strong>an</strong>d Inception<br />
Astronomical Reforms <strong>of</strong> 104 B.C.” in Journal for the History <strong>of</strong> Astronomy 24 (1993), 199. As Aihe W<strong>an</strong>g argued,<br />
it was Jia Yi’s proposal which Emperor Wu’s court put into practice when he decided to ch<strong>an</strong>ge the calendar. See<br />
Aihe W<strong>an</strong>g, Cosmology <strong>an</strong>d Political Culture in Early China (Cambridge: University Press, 2000), 148.<br />
109 H<strong>an</strong> shu 21A/975.<br />
BMFEA 74 · 2002<br />
THE POWER OF AN ALLEGED TRADITION<br />
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