Notes
1. Qing liu (clear stream清流) is a self-image of Confucian intellectuals which can be traced back to the Western Han era (25–220 C.E.). In Eastern Han, Confucians defined imperial rule as “pure” (qing) and considered it to be a force intent on eliminating corruption in the political sphere and insistent on political ethics. Qing was not a mode of governance, but a political movement and key part of the grand political program offered by the Confucians, aimed at purifying the corrupted world by reforming the real-world and achieving their political goals – a Confucian state. For a discussion of the development of the concept, see Huai-chen Kan's Purifying the World: A Political Discourse in the Late Han, Interpretation and Intellectual Change: Chinese Hermeneutics in Historical Perspective, edited by Ching-I Tu, New Brunswick: Transaction Publisher, 2005, Chap. 6, pp. 81–92.
2. Ming shi (名士), “eminent personalities,” refers to persons detaching themselves from the masses and society, especially officialdom.