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Abstract
The underlying premise of this essay is that travel, as a leisure or recreational activity, appears first as a common literary theme during the Song dynasty (960–1279), and that the informal prose ji 記 writings of Su Shi 蘇軾 (or Su Dongpo 蘇東坡; 1037–1101) are representative of this new trend. While some post-Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) personalities, such as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (Zhulin qixian 竹林七賢), and a few Tang litterateurs, most notably Li Bai 李白 (701–762) and Bai Juyi 白居易 (772–846), achieved notoriety for their pursuit of leisure and/or enjoyment of travel, not until the Song period was sightseeing and some other forms of excursion undertaken for pleasure by significant numbers of writers. Su Shi was one of the first Song authors to produce, in a sustained manner, written records of trips taken during times of leisure. The texts he wrote describing these journeys have influenced countless numbers of writer-travelers in China ever since.
Notes
1 “Lin'gao xianti” 臨臯[皋]閑題, in Dongpo zhilin 東坡志林 (rpt., Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), 4.79.
2 The comments quoted here are from Lin Yutang's, The Importance of Living (New York: The John Day Company, 1937), 148–51 (section on “The Chinese Theory of Leisure”).
3 This graph is alternately written as 閒, 閑, and 間; hereafter, I will consistently use the first of these forms (閒), although they are all often used interchangeably.
4 E.S.C. Weiner, ed., The Compact Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), 959. It should perhaps be noted here that some modern translators render the Greek word σχολή/schole (from which, incidentally, comes the English word “school”) as “leisure.” This is a less than ideal rendition because the ancient Greeks understood schole as an especially important time: one set aside specifically for education and learning, and not for pleasurable pursuits.
5 I am speaking here only in the most general terms. In fact, there is significant disagreement among scholars concerning the proper grammatical use of the word “leisure” in contemporary English. See the comments on this in R.D. Swedburg, “The Grammatical Use of Leisure: An Analysis of the Research of the Ninth Canadian Congress on Leisure Research,” available at: http://lin.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/CCLR10-114.pdf (accessed 12 June 2016).
6 I am certainly aware that the word “pleasure” can be problematic because it is difficult to study and explain, and practically impossible to measure with any degree of certainty. For our purposes in this communication, I suggest we understand “pleasure” broadly as “the pleasant or gratifying sensation produced by sensory or visual experiences that are seen as good or desirable.” Here I am paraphrasing the definition in The Compact Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, 1364.
7 James Legge et al., trans., The Chinese Classics (second rev. ed., 1935; rpt. Taibei: Wenshizhe chubanshe, 1971), 1–2:342.
8 The modern scholar Wang Fengyang 王風陽 describes several differences in nuance of meaning and usage of xian, xia, and jia (xian refers mainly to the absence of activity or work; xia is used mainly as a time expression, referring to time away from particular task; and jia usually indicates free time away from the duties of government officials) in his very useful Guci bian 古辭辨 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe, 1993), 14.
9 Legge et al., trans., The Chinese Classics, 1–2:198.
10 Xu Shen 許慎 (ca. 58–147 CE), Shuowen jiezi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1963), 125xia.
11 Although the phrase yi yan'an wei zhendu 以宴安為鴆毒, often shortened to yan'an zhendu, does not mention any of the Chinese words for “leisure” mentioned earlier, the implication of the statement here is unmistakable: anyone, especially political leaders, who “live a life of ease” (lit., yan'an 宴安, or “at rest and repose”) will eventually become morally corrupt and therefore indulge in various harmful addictions. Cf. the following line from the Zuozhuan 左傳 (Legge et al., The Chinese Classics, 5: 123): 宴安鴆毒, 不可懷也/“Living a life of ease [is like] drinking poisoned wine, and should not be cherished”; and the following warning from the Mengzi: 後知生於憂患而死於安樂也/“From this we came to know that life springs from sorrow and calamity, and death from comfort and pleasure” (Legge et al., The Chinese Classics, 1–2:447).
12 Ban Gu 班固 (32–92) et al., comps., Hanshu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962), 53.2436.
13 A few scholars in contemporary China have attempted to summarize the history of “leisure culture” (xiuxian wenhua 休閑文化) in the entire pre-modern period, but the results in my view are preliminary and tentative. See, for instance, Xie Shanshan 謝珊珊, “Shilun Zhongguo gudai xiuxian wenhua de shenmei yiyi” 試論中國古代休閑文化的審美意義, Foshan kexue jishu xueyuan xuebao 佛山科學技術學院學報 (Shehui kexue ban 社會科學版) 6.28 (Nov, 2010): 9–13; and Lu Changchong 盧昌崇 and Li Zhongguang 李仲廣, “Cong ‘Shijing’ dao ‘Shenghuo de yishu’: Zhongguo gu, jindai xiuxian sixiang tanxi” 從 “詩經” 到 “生活的藝術”: 中國古, 近代休閑思想探析, Ziran bianzheng fa yanjiu 自然辯證法研究 19.5 (May, 2003): 81–84.
14 The Mainland scholar Ma Huidi 馬惠娣, who has probably published more than anyone else in recent years on “leisure culture” in traditional China, in a 1999 article declared that the entire canon of Chinese literature, from the Shijing 詩經, Chuci 楚辭, Tang shi 詩 poetry, Song ci 詞 lyrics, Yuan qu 曲songs, to Qing dynasty (1644–1911) novels all contain a rich body of writings that chronicle the “pursuit of freedom and happiness by the ancients” (guren zhuiqiu ziyou xingfu 古人追求自由幸福), and these works are the essential texts for anyone interested in the field of “leisure study” (xiuxian xue 休閒學). This article, titled “A Call to Establish a Field of Chinese Leisure Studies” (“Huhuan Zhongguo de xiuxian xue” 呼喚中國的休閒學) is available at: http://www.chineseleisure.org/huhuan.htm (accessed 12 June 2016).
15 Legge, The Chinese Classics, 1–2:248.
16 Zhuangzi (Sibu beiyao ed.), 1.7a.
17 Cong Ellen Zhang has pointed out that while educated men of the Tang dynasty traveled more widely than their predecessors, their various travels were all related in some way or another to the civil service exams and government service. See her Transformative Journeys: Travel and Culture in Song China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2011), esp. 20–22.
18 Cf. the following comments from Charles Benn: “There was plenty of leisure during the Tang, more so than in later dynasties.” This statement is based mainly on eighth-century Tang statutes, which recognized twenty-eight annual holidays for which “mandarins” received a total of fifty-eight days leave. The various leisure activities described by Benn are centered on various holidays, carnivals, urban entertainments, sports, and games. See Benn's China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 149–75. Two observations: first, Benn says very little about who actually enjoyed all this leisure, except remarking that “peasants, merchants, artisans—also [like “mandarins”] celebrated festivals, though probably with less time off” (149). Second, although he includes a fascinating chapter on “Travel and Transportation,” he rightly says nothing about traveling for pleasure because such activity was practically non-existent.
19 On the various leisure activities and amusements popular during the Song, the best source in a Western language is still Jacques Gernet's Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion 1250–1276, trans. H. M. Wright (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1962), esp. 219–43.
20 For a complete translation of this text, see my Riding the River Home: A Complete and Annotated Translation of Fan Chengda's 范成大 (1126–1193) Diary of a Boat Trip to Wu (Wuchuan lu 呉船錄) (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2008).
21 Much has been written, in modern Chinese and English, about youji. The best history of the genre is Mei Xinlin 梅新林 and Yu Zhanghua's 俞樟華 Zhongguo youji wenxue shi 中國游記文學史 (Shanghai: Xuelin chubanshe, 2004). As for publications in English, one should first consult Richard E. Strassberg's useful and informative Inscribed Landscapes: Travel Writings from Imperial China (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1994). Although now somewhat dated, my article “Some Preliminary Remarks on the Travel Records of the Song Dynasty (960–1279).” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews 7, no. 1–2 (July, 1985): 67–93, provides a useful introduction to the different types of youji writing during the Song.
22 For instance, see Bai Juyi's “Preface to Poems from the Cave of the Three Travelers” (Sanyou dong xu 三友洞序), and Liu Zongyuan's “Eight Records from Yong County” (Yongzhou ba ji 永州八記). These works are translated in Strassberg, Inscribed Landscapes, 137–38, and 141–47, respectively.
23 Dongpo zhilin, 1.2. This lake was southeast of Huangzhou 黃州 (in modern Hubei), where Su Dongpo lived in political exile in the 1080s.
24 Yishao 逸少 was the zi of Wang Xizhi, the famous fourth-century calligrapher.
25 Dongpo zhilin, 1.2.
26 The history of ji as a genre of prose writing is long and complicated. For our purposes here, suffice it to say that ji became a widely practiced form of dedicatory prose writing during the Tang. The main purpose of these works was to provide records about either newly built or recently renovated physical structures, such as pavilions (ting 亭), galleries (ge 閣), towers (lou 樓), and halls (tang 堂). In the works of some Tang authors, however, the ji also functioned as a type of literary prose in which authors would showcase their talent as a wordsmith. See the remarks on this in Xiaoshan Yang's informative essay “Name and Meaning in the Landscape Essays of Yuan Jie and Liu Zongyuan,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 120, no. 1 (Jan.–Mar., 2000): 82–96. The daytrip accounts of the Song are a direct descendant of these literary ji.
27 Fan Wenzheng gong wenji 范文正公文集 (photocopy of the “Northern Song Woodblock” 北宋刻本 edition housed in the Beijing Municipal Library), 8.79b–80b. For a complete translation of Fan Zhongyan's essay, see Strassberg, trans., Inscribed Landscapes, 158–59.
28 Just one example would be his “Record of Stone Bell Mountain” (Shi Zhongshan ji 石鐘山記), translated in Strassberg, Inscribed Landscapes, 190–91, which essentially describes Su Shi's empirical investigation of a sounds resembling “resounding bells” that supposedly emanate from the mountain. This text was composed during a side trip taken by Su and his son while traveling from one exile post to another.
29 This text is translated in Strassberg, Inscribed Landscapes, 65–66.
30 Su's friend and fellow official Zhang Huaimin was also living in exile in Huangzhou and resided in the Chengtian Monastery.
31 Dongpo zhilin, 1.2.
32 Compare this statement with the following declaration, which appears in the closing section of Wang Anshi's 王安石 (1021–1086) famous daytrip essay “Record of a Trip to Baochan Mountain”: 此所以學者不可以不深思而慎取之者也 / “This is why scholars must consider matters in depth and then exercise care in their judgments.” Strassberg, Inscribed Landscapes, 177.
33 Ibid., 186.
34 Ibid., 187.
35 The Dan, sometimes called the Tanka, were a non-Chinese boat people who lived in the south.
36 Dongpo zhilin, 1.1
37 On Su Shi's Hainan exile, see my “Clearing the Apertures and Getting in Tune: The Hainan Exile of Su Shi (1037–1101).” Journal of Sung-Yuan Studies 30 (2000): 141–67. Su lived there from 1097 to 1100.
38 The term yiren 逸人 (“an idle man”) has a much wider range of meaning than xianren 閒人 (“man of leisure”). Essentially, it refers to someone who is free of constraints; in other words, someone who is “unrestrained,” “unbridled,” and “unconfined.” For this reason, “idle man,” meaning “someone at leisure with nothing to do,” seems to work well here.
39 Zizhan was Su Shi's zi, or courtesy name.
40 “Former marquis” (guhou 故侯) refers to Su Shi himself. Clearly, Su's literary reputation reached the residents of Mount Lu before he did. The “blunders” mentioned in the next line allude to the writings he produced opposing Wang Anshi's “New Reforms” that got him into political trouble and led to his exile.
41 Dongpo zhilin, 1.4.
42 Su Che, Luancheng ji 欒城集 (Siku quanshu ed.), 24.3a–4b.
43 Yoshikawa's ideas about the “transcendence of sorrow” are described at length in his An Introduction to Sung Poetry, trans. Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967).
44 Hatch, In A Sung Bibliography (Bibliographie des Song), edited by Yves Hervouet (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1978), 282. Richard E. Strassberg argues that some Chinese writers, exiled to “distant, alien environments,” where they were often “frustrated and underemployed,” felt a need to “redefine themselves within an alternative context.” The result, he contends, is that “landscape became both a refuge for the persecuted official and a mirror of his virtuous, misunderstood self.” Inscribed Landscapes, 17. While I agree that in some of the works Su Shi composed later in life during his years on Hainan landscape does serve as a refuge from the stress and depression brought on by political banishment (for examples, see my “Clearing the Apertures and Getting in Tune,” esp. 164–67), I see nothing of this agenda in Su Shi's daytrip youji. It seems farfetched to me to think that Su Shi was “pretending” to enjoy the experiences described in his daytrip essays, so that others might think he was now “rehabilitated” and deserving of recall from exile.
45 This comment is from Su Che's “Record of the Delightful Pavilion in Huang County” (Huangzhou Kuaizai ting ji 黃州快哉亭記). Here I use Strassberg's translation in Inscribed Landscapes, 198.
46 On the sightseeing activities of Song government officials, see Zhang, Transformative Journeys, esp. 154–79 (Chapter 7: Sightseeing and Site Making, Visiting and Inscribing Places).
47 Mei Yaochen 梅堯臣 (zi Shengyu 聖俞; 1002–1060) was Ouyang Xiu's closest friend.
48 Zeng Zaozhuang 曾棗莊 and Liu Lin 劉琳, eds., Quan Songwen (Shanghai: Shanghai Cishu chubanshe, 2006), 35:743.172.
49 Here I use the translation of Chang Chun-shu (Zhang Chunshu 張春樹) and Joan Smythe, which appears in their South China in the Twelfth Century: The Travel Diaries of Lu Yu, July 3–December 6, 1170 (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1981), 75.
50 South China in the Twelfth Century, 169.
51 Lord Chunshen 春申君 (d. 238 BCE), personal name Huang Xie 黃歇, was an important minister in the state of Chu during the late Warring States period (fifth century–221 BCE).
52 Dongpo zhilin, 4.74 (“Huangzhou Sui Yongan jun” 黃州隋永安郡).
53 The term lao 獠, rendered here as “aboriginal,” is often used as a general reference for non-Chinese people who lived in the southwestern part of China.
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James M. Hargett
James M. Hargett teaches Chinese language and literature at the University at Albany, State University of New York. His main research interest is traditional literature and historical geography, and he is now preparing a history of the development of travel literature in imperial China.