Week 4

Tuesday, 9/19

In Shi Ji 53, Xiao He cultivates a corrupt reputation in order to stay in Emperor Gaozu’s good esteem (H95b – 96t). We have come across a similar tactic at least once before in our Sima Qian readings: The powerful general Wang Jian continually asks the first Qin emperor to award his service by giving him land (Q128m). When asked why he persists in making this (pointless) request, Wang Jian replies: “the king of Qin is suspicious and puts no trust in others…If I do not ask for a lot of fields and houses for the sake of my sons and grandsons and seem to be thinking only of my own interests, then I will just give him occasion to doubt my motives” (Q128b-129t). Like Wang Jian, Xiao He seems to be in a paradoxical situation, where he behaves dishonestly to gain trust. 

What motives make one trustworthy to a ruler?    Wang Jian and Xiao He both wish to show that they are completely loyal servants to their rulers. But unlike Wang Jian, Xiao He’s deception of Emperor Goazu is accomplished by committing actual harm to the common people. His plan has the desired effect, and the common people express their new distrust of Xiao He to the Emperor (H96t). At that moment, one might think that Xiao He has succeeded with this plan: the Emperor has proof (petitions) that Xiao He is motivated by self-interest, and is not aspiring to rule. 

 But there is a problem, because the Emperor also sees that the common people are no longer willing subjects of Xiao He. The Emperor now worries that Xiao He has yet another motive – to somehow appease them. Any explicit move to do something favorable for the people will show the Emperor that Xiao He is beholden to a power other than the Emperor himself. It seems that Wang Jian’s approach was without this detriment – since his way of indicating self-interest could never be fulfilled. While Xiao He’s approach changes the overall circumstances and adds a new force into play. When Xiao He comes with a new request, to provide some of the Emperor’s land as a park for the people, the Emperor believes that his self-interest is leading him to work against the Emperor (H96m). If one is seeking to prove their loyalty to an emperor, it seems they must also be careful to keep themselves free from other entanglements. 

Thursday, 9/20 

In seminar last Tuesday, we discussed why Sima Qian is presenting this history via concurrent biographies. After all, wouldn’t it be more efficient to record everything in single chronology? The concurrently running biographies are not efficient, but they do have a cumulative effect on the reader, allowing the reader to recognize the same events, over and over again, from different vantage points. How does this help the reader understand the events? By looking at just one example, perhaps I can draw some conclusions. 

 In Shi Ji 55, we are told about Zhang Liang’s attempt to assassinate the first Qin emperor (H99b). As I read this, I thought that the event sounded familiar and recalled that I had read that the Qin emperor had been attacked while on one of his trips to put up stone inscriptions to himself. Could it have been the same event? Sure enough, looking back to Q50tm, I could connect these events in my growing overall understanding of the time period. Sima Qian relies to the reader’s memory to make the connection, including key details of the time and place in the text. A resonance is created that would not be possible if we only had one pass through the events. To discover that the unnamed bandit was in fact Zhang Liang, teacher of Emperors, surprises the reader. The reader can’t help but imagine what the Qin Emperor might have thought, had he known! 

These moments are delightful to come across. I feel that my sense of this history is growing more robust; as I read each biography, I walk through familiar territory. Also, if I as a reader, know things that the subject of the biography does not yet know, I expectantly anticipate events of the narrative. This seems to be an effective technique to engage the reader’s imagination and emotion. Is Sima Qian intentionally using this approach in order to teach this history well?

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