Ping Wang's book is a biographical study of Xiao Tong (501–31)—heir to the Liang throne and traditionally assumed to be the compiler of the anthology Wen xuan (Selections of refined literature)—and some members of his courtly circle. It is not a study of the Wen xuan or of the courtly culture of the Liang, for Wang does not systematically explore the links between literary production and the material, political, social, and intellectual life at a princely court. Instead, the author focuses on historical records and personal writings in an effort to add complexity to the simplistic narratives that still dominate our view of the literary world of the early sixth century and its key protagonists.
In the first chapter, Wang analyzes “poems of magniloquence” (dayan shi) and “diminoloquence” (xiaoyan shi), composed by the young crown prince to develop his intellectual depth and linguistic versatility.
Chapter 2 presents an analysis of Xiao Tong's literary thought on the basis of the well-known preface to the Wen xuan. Wang highlights shared concerns between Xiao Tong and the antiquarian Pei Ziye (469–530). Both men adhered to classical literary norms and to the idea of poetry as a means of self-expression, while being critical towards the view of poetry as entertainment that was associated with the “new poetic style” favored in Xiao Ziliang's salon at the end of the Southern Qi dynasty (479–502). Wang reappraises the traditional narrative of the relationship between Xiao Tong and his brother Xiao Gang, the supposed rivalry between whom, it has been argued,Footnote 8 should be seen as an attempt to dramatize the relationship between the two literary patrons and the two literary anthologies they sponsored, the Wen xuan and the Yutai xinyong (New songs of the jade terrace), respectively. While Wang does emphasize the harmonious relationship between the brothers, she does not seem to follow Tian Xiaofei's more radical rejection of the scholarly division of the Liang literary scene into three different contending schools—the “archaic/traditionalist school,” the “avant-garde school,” and the “compromise school”—as an ideological construct.
Chapter 3 focuses on Liu Xiaochuo (481–539), whose writing embodied Xiao Tong's idea of a “gentlemanly style,” a literary style characterized by personal moderation and a balance between “ornateness” (wen) and “substance” (zhi). In addition to matters of style, the texts translated in this chapter consistently address the themes of remembering the past and contemplating the literary tradition, but the chapter says little about those themes in spite of their relevance to questions of style and Xiao Tong's sense of history.
Chapter 4 is the strongest in the book. Wang's careful analysis of the exchanges between Xiao Tong and his father, Emperor Wudi (r. 502–49), shows a young man between seventeen and twenty years of age, who bravely defies the pressure to share in his father's religious fervor and instead develops his own ideas as the designated future monarch about what constitutes good rule. Besides providing an interesting glimpse of the imperial father-son relationship, Ping Wang's biographical reading of the exchange illustrates the use of poetry as a “mode of communication” in courtly society.
The fifth and final chapter discusses Xiao Tong's engagement with the perennial question of reclusion by studying Xiao Tong's preface to his biography of the recluse-poet Tao Qian (365–437). Tao Qian's type of reclusion, which did not hinge upon hiding one's physical existence or avoiding government office, appealed to Xiao Tong, for it offered him a way to balance his eremitic inclinations with his position as crown prince.
Occasionally, Ping Wang's strategy of focusing on details to address larger issues leads her back into the established narratives she set out to undermine. For example, she augments Xiao Tong's reservations about his father's religious fervor and patronage of Buddhism into a “clash” between different political models, which “represented a cultural and political divide in the early sixth century which is analogous to what was taking place in the field of literary criticism” (p. 9, emphasis added). Wang also suggests that “Xiao Tong's death was most likely a result of his falling out of favor with the emperor” (p. 9). Is there any evidence to substantiate such claims?
Ping Wang's careful and well-presented analysis of hitherto neglected biographical sources of the life of China's most influential literary patron enriches our understanding of a crucial moment in China's literary history. However, Wang's decision to read the texts exclusively as a source for biography and the lack of an overarching analytical framework have limited the scope and depth of her analysis. The Age of Courtly Writing is therefore not a groundbreaking book. Nevertheless, everyone with an interest in medieval China must read it.
