Sima Qian EC Preceptorial

  [22tm]   The class interpreted Yu’s diligence at regulating the floods in terms of his shame that his father, Kun, had not been successful as a hydraulics engineer.   In the text, there is nothing about shame: “Yu was saddened that the work of his deceased father . . . was unsuccessful and that Kun had been punished for this.”   If there is anything we should have learned from reading Sima Qian, it is that filial piety does not allow one to feel “shame” for one’s parents or ancestors.   The man who employed Yu was Shun, the very epitome of filial piety.   Shun’s parents and brother were always trying to kill him, and yet when they needed him, he was always there, surrounding them with filial love [8m, 11-12].   Yao recognized Shun’s worthiness, and Shun in turn recognized Yu’s virtues.   Shun did not hold the father’s incompetence against Yu, and would certainly have recognized lapses of filial piety on Yu’s part.   I see no shame: Yu work...

 What does Shun expect when he places K’uei in charge of music (15m)? How does music align with his rule? What does it portend? First, it provides a form of education, teaching “the young people to be upright but warm, liberal but stern, firm but not tyrannical, simple but not presumptuous” (15m). Although they are phrased in the same “A but B” pattern, like the nine virtues expounded by Kao-yao to Yü under Emperor Shun, they are not just a subset (33m). Music provides a different way of cultivating virtue. Poetry, which is considered a subset of music, strength ideas; songs improve word use; melody serves to teach one to follow; and tones train that harmony (15m). Specifically, Shun advises K’uei to make sure that the sounds are “capable of being in harmony” and ensure that they “do not…lose the relationship to each other” (15m). While Shun is speaking of sound, we may hear people. The people are “capable of being in harmony” because music’s harmony reminds each person of their re...

  11) “Your face bears the marks of one who will revolt!” (H1.404t) Why did Liu Pi, the Emperor Gaozu’s own nephew, a valiant battlefield commander at 20, and the former marquis of Pei, the emperor’s hometown (H1.403m), presumably a staunch Liu family loyalist, revolt against Emperor Jing, the rightful claimant to the Liu imperial throne? A flippant but half-serious answer is because his uncle and mentor, the Emperor Gaozu, told him he would (404t), based on his bearing and face in his youth, thus planting a crazy idea that took root in Liu Pi’s mind over time, taunting him in his heart with the possibility of doing exactly that, and shaping the curve of his character over the course of his lifetime. Possibility became character became inevitability. A heartbreaking and gravely serious answer is because Emperor Jing, as an “overbearing” youthful heir apparent, killed Liu Pi’s son, the crown prince of Wu, in a dispute over chess. (404b) This tragedy was compounded when the cou...

    Emperor Wen, time and time again, received wrongdoing with kindness. He did this out of a concern for transforming “the people by means of virtue” (306m) . While there were moments when this approach proved effective, there were several when it proved questionable.   The following few are examples of when Wen’s gentle, kind responses gave the wrongdoer room to “mend their actions and do good” (301tm) . When Zhao Tuo, king of Southern Yue, declared himself emperor, Wen’s reply was to call Zhao’s brothers to court and treat “them with great honour” (305b-306t) . Eventually, Zhao himself decided to abolish his plans and serve as a subject of Han. Emperor Wen gave Zhao the space to do so by choosing a teaching approach, rather than a punishing one—by showing Zhao that him and his are treated with kindness, he gave Zhao the chance to see for himself that there was no need for rebellion; that current circumstances were good and just (“…if the laws are just, the people w...

    Sima Qian met with what throughout the ages was considered to be the gravest punishment (229tm*). The reason he was branded so was because he was misunderstood (230mb, 232m) . While attempting to illuminate Li Ling’s merits so as to control slander, and give His Majesty a broader, clearer picture (232m) , Sima instead was interpreted as attempting to deceive the Emperor and slander the Ershi General (232mb) . Why was the relationship between Sima’s intention and its reception so broken? Was there anything that could be done about this dissonance? In his Lament for Unemployed Gentlemen , Sima Qian speaks of the pain that comes with being born out of one’s time (line 1) . This translates into living during a time where one’s talents, one’s intentions are unappreciated, even scathed; where said person is isolated, ignored, “hemmed in” (line 11) . In line 9 , Sima suggests that it isn’t poverty or success that marks a person’s worth, as often times said status is determined b...

  Tuesday, 10/3  In the first month of his rule, Emperor Wen announces that “agriculture is the basis of the empire” (H296t). Later, in the fifth month, he reiterates this statement, and changes taxes in order to encourage more farming and distinguish it from other activities such as trade (H301m). Why is agriculture so important to Emperor Wen?  In Sima Qian’s closing remarks for Empress Lu, he notes that during her reign the people enjoyed peace and “applied themselves to the tasks of farming, and food and clothing became abundant” (H284m). This is not due to overt actions from Empress Lu to encourage farming; rather she offered a “surcease of action” (H284m). This rest allowed the people themselves to choose and take up this activity. Emperor Wen, it seems, is following the lead of the people with this proclamation, allowing the people to continue the trajectory that they themselves set. When he makes this proclamation, is he not also saying that the people themselves...

  Class 11: Sima reports that both Chao Cuo and Yuan Ang are “outspoken.” (462mb and 465mb respectively): does this characteristic have a particular goodness or badness to it? To start, how Chao both “very severe” and “outspoken?” (462mb) Often, severity is quiet and concentrated, the opposite of outspokenness, which is loud and often not taken as seriously. There is a time for people to speak out (465mt), but to be called “outspoken” is not a compliment. Yuan, however, Sima reports, is “outspoken in his loyalty ”—italics my own (465b). Yuan will speak out when it regards his fealty to his ruler, not, as we read about Chao, outspoken in general. The latter’s outspoken behavior gets him the nickname of “Wisdom Bag,” (463t), perhaps because the prince’s household was sick of spouting, but there’s more. Coupled with his severe nature (462mb), we know he speaks often, with opinion, and is not kidding around (further evidence his nickname is ironic). Whatever he says, he says seriousl...