The Historical Memories in Tang China
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Liao, Yi-fang
Abstract
This dissertation researches on the historical memories in Tang China from different angles, and two main research approaches are adopted. One is to examine the historical memories in Tang dynasty''s political discourses. The other is to study the cultural knowledge in Tang and its production and circulation from the regional perspective.he first chapter researchs how the idea of past Golden Age was accepted and put into practice in the political discourses in early Tang. The past Golden Age is an important idea in traditional China’s political and historical thoughts, but often regarded as a “myth”. This chapter deals with how the literati deliberated this idea and how emperors accepted and intentionally correlated it with their own rule. The second chapter studies the roles and functions of “Recent History” in the historical memories of Tang dynasty. Since the span of “Recent History” moves forward with time, besides in early Tang, the “Recent History” of Tang Dynasty means the accumulative history of Tang dynasty itself. This chapter emphasizes the importance of “Recent History” in Tang’s opinion climate. The third chapter studies how the imperial governments from North Wei(北魏) to early Song(宋初) worshiped former emperors in the past and protected their mausoleums. In addition to the construction of a genealogy of dynasties in the past, the worship of former emperors in the past had one thing interesting: the locations of worship varied several times. This chapter analysed the background of this phenomenon. The forth chapter deals with how the literati understood, estimated the history of Han dynasty and took it as a good example. The historical precedents of Han dynasty’s bureaucracy stimulated the literati in Tang to reform their government. In addition, the Confucian revival movement in mid-Tang was an important trend. This chapter research into how members of this trend praised the rule of Han dynasty, its officer’s administration and its literary achievements. This chapter demonstrates that the literati in Tang felt familiar with their counterparts in Han and found some similarities between Tang and Han. The preceding four chapters put emphasis on the concepts of historical memories, but also pay attention to the background of it. Not only the idea of past Golden Age, recent historical memories and historical knowledge of Han dynasty also played important roles in Tang. The relation between historical memories and identity, including emperors, literartes, and military officers, is also discussed in these chapters.he fifth chapter studies how the people lived around Yellow River downstream regarded their homeland’s history. For the people lived there, their historical memories concentrated on the people and events of Han dynasty and their local pride was the driving force of bringing back historical memories. In the locality they lived, many things, such as a mountain, a river, a tome, or a stone with inscription, etc., all could be linked with history and therefore formed the codes of history. These symbols reminded inhabitants that their homeland had a glorious past. In contrast to the fifth chapter, the sixth chapter focuses on the historical memories of the people lived around Yellow River downstream for a foreign land, Yangtze valley, the land once ruled by Six Dynasty and now a territory of Tang dynasty. The historical understanding for a foreign land is not only obtained by reading books, but also by traveling. So how the people lived in the north traveled to the south is the subject of this chapter. Besides the south’s attractiveness to the traveler, how traveler reported their experiences and how the people stayed in the north imagined the south are all discussed. The seventh chapter demonstrates how the historical memories in medieval China transformed from isolation to circulation. This chapter also describes the development of the local culture of Yangtze valley in mid-Tang. How the local culture developed in mid-Tang and how cultural information circulated between different localities, are important issues in the later three chapters. In contrast to the preceding four chapters emphasizing the discourses and thoughts of emperors and the literati, the later three chapters research into how local officials, local elders, and the literati participated in the local culture. In brief, local officials built pavilions, holding feast, and setting the stage for culture activities. The literati played an important role by recording the event, citing the historical fact and producing culture memories. The indigenous inhabitants took part in and enjoyed it.
Subjects
historical memory
cultural memory
past Golden Age
Confucian revival movement
Tang dynasty
Type
thesis
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