The Power of an Alleged Tradition - CHINA Buchservice

Summarizing the professional duties of Sima Tan and Sima Qian as they become
evident from the Shiji as well as from the Han shu, it becomes plain that both were
very much involved in Emperor Wus grand ceremonial reform. As we learn from the
two accounts in which a taishigong is explicitly mentioned in this chapter, Sima Tan,
in collaboration with the offi cials of sacrifi ces, advised the emperor to inaugurate at
least two cults: the cult for Houtu in Fenyin and that for Taiyi in Ganquan. 114 Apart
from Sima Tans role as an imperial adviser in questions of sacrifi ces, we saw that
Sima Tan and Sima Qian both had the duty to accompany the emperor on his travels
to these manifold sacred sites. 115
All these activities including that of fi xing the calendar match exactly with
those mentioned in the Hou Han shu passage cited above as belonging to the position
of a Director the Grand Scribe (taishiling). 116
And from the notion in the Hou Han shu that one of the duties of the taishiling
was to be responsible for submitting to the throne the auspicious days and those to
be avoided one may conclude that the choice of the day on which the cult for Taiyi
was fi rst established during the time of Emperor Wu – a xinsi day which was a
day of the new moon and the day on which the winter solstice occurred – was made
by the Grand Scribe as the emperor’s adviser.
If one compares Sima Tans and Sima Qian’s activities with the content of Gongsun
Qing’s prophetic message we fi nd striking parallels. First, the newly established
sacrifi ce to Houtu was closely linked with the discovery of the precious tripod at
Fenyin, the event by which Gongsun Qing had justifi ed his claim to get access to the
emperor and reveal him the oral tradition of this teacher in combination with the
alleged transmission of the inscription on Huangdi’s tripod. Second, the inauguration
of the sacrifi ce dedicated to the Grand Unity was performed precisely on the
day which coincided with the winter solstice, the date to which, as we remember,
a special signifi cance had been attributed by Gongsun Qing. Third, the color Yellow
which the Grand Scribe recommended to be the color appropriate for the ceremonial
vestments was the color related to Huangdi from whom Gongsun Qing had –
via his teacher – received the presage that within the cycle of dynastic succession
the grandsons and grand-grandsons of Gaozu would be favored. Moreover, the day
on which the New Year Taichu began, based on the new calendar calculated by Sima
Qian and others, was the day of the new moon and corresponded, as Gongsun Qing
had predicted, with the winter solstice. 117
We may thus draw the conclusion that the ideological framework within which
Gongsun Qing on the one hand and Sima Tan and Sima Qian on the other hand
were engaged was very much similar. Indeed, one might even be inclined to say that
they must have operated within the same ideological milieu. And to put it more
precisely, this ideological milieu seems to be very close to, or even to overlap with,
114 Ganquan was located at about 70 km to the northwest of Chang’an.
115 The conclusion that Sima Tan too had the duty of accompanying Emperor Wu on his travels to sacred sites, can
be drawn from the above quoted words of Sima Tan’s on his death-bed that he “will not have the privilege to
accompany him [i.e. the emperor]” when he would proceed to perform the Feng and Shan sacrifi ces, cf. p. 258
above.
116 Cf. p. 260 above.
117 Cf. Shiji 26/1260–1261. The precise date on which the new calendar was established is also contained in an
imperial edict which Sima Qian quotes before describing the details of the new calendar.
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