Page 45 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

times record statements addressed to ancestors or
spirits. The earliest transmitted texts from the Zhou
period came to be considered the holy texts of the
Confucian tradition, classics to be read with
reverence or, better yet, memorized. Even though
these texts did not convey the words of gods, they
contained the teachings of the sages. In later
centuries, after the use of paper became common,
paper with writing on it was considered sacred, and
well into the twentieth century old men would
collect and burn scrap paper, that being the way to
dispose of it with proper respect. Writing was also,
—of course, considered an art to many, calligraphy
was the highest of all the arts.
The power of written texts can be fully tapped
only by those learned in the written traditions, able
to interpret the preserved texts and add to the
repertoire by writing books themselves. Because the
Chinese language was written in a logographic
— —script one graph for each word reading and
writing were skills that took many years to master,
and from Shang times on those who had mastered
the thousands of symbols used to make records
were technical experts in demand at court. In
Confucius' day learned men served at court as
advisers, teachers, strategists, and clerks. They knew
the rules for rituals and ceremonies, such as
sacrifices to ancestors and reception of envoys; they
knew about the Heavens and could advise on
setting the calendar; they kept records and advised
on precedents. But they depended on rulers for
employment, and as states were destroyed, these
learned men frequently found themselves in the
uncomfortable position of having to locate a new
lord in need of their services.
Confucius urged his followers to master the literary
traditions of their day, and the Analects reported that centralization or economic integration as a basis tor
Confucius often discoursed on "poetry, history, and
the performance of ceremonies" (7. 17). Yet he did
not want men of education to think of themselves
as narrow experts, but rather as persons whose
moral sensibilities had been cultivated by studying
the words of the sages. Their aim should be to
become "gentlemen," men of integrity and honor
who deserved to be respected as much for their
moral cultivation as for their mastery of tradition.
The true gentleman, in Confucius s vision, is not
moved by profit like the petty man, but rather
aspires to things lofty. He concentrates on
improving himself and is indifferent to recognition
or reward. "The gentleman feels bad when his
Hecapabilities fall short of the task. does not feel
bad when people fail to recognize him" (15. 18). If
he can retain his self-respect even though no ruler
employs him, he is not dependent on the ruler, and
can develop ideas and take stands independent of
the ruler.
THE INTELLECTUAL AND RELIGIOUS CONTEXT OF CHINESE ART
The Confucian claim to the moral autonomy of
the educated came to have much greater historical
significance after men trained in Confucian texts
gained a hold on government posts, giving them
some degree of social and political independence as
well. During the course of the Han, it became
widely accepted that officials should be men
trained in the Confucian classics and respected for
their character. Ambitious young men sought out
whomteachers with to study the classics, for
learning could lead to power and prestige. All over
the country teachers attracted large numbers of
students and disciples, and the enrollment at the
imperial academy increased from a few dozen
students to more than thirty thousand in the mid-
second century ce.
Confucian officials, trained to view their obligation
to the ruler in moral terms, made forthright critics
of imperial policies. During the Han many
Confucian scholars and officials opposed activist
policies such as government monopolies,
questioning their morality and their effect on
people's livelihoods. Scholars regularly objected to
imperial extravagance, urging emperors to reduce
their spending on palace ladies, entertainment,
hunting parks, stables, and rituals. Thus, the
coupling of Confucianism and the Chinese
bureaucracy created a sort of balance of power
between the emperor and the Confucian-educated
officials who staffed the government but did not
consider themselves mere servants of the emperor.
Because the court set the standards that the literati
had to fulfill to gain entry into officialdom, it
circumscribed their autonomy, their capacity to set
their own standards, but it never eliminated it. By
the end of the Han those with Confucian
educations had become self-conscious of their
common identity. In the succeeding centuries the
strength and coherence of this elite of educated
gentlemen proved as important as political
the unity of Chinese civilization.
The impact of these developments on Chinese
culture was profound. The importance placed on
texts and learning fostered some of China's most
renowned advances, such as the invention of paper
in the Han period and printing in the Ting period.
The obligation of the gentleman to devote himself
both to learning the tradition and to refining and
cultivating his own character legitimated artistic
activities of many sorts, above all. perhaps, poetry-
writing and calligraphy, but also painting and
Aconnoisseurship of ancient objects. highly self-
referential style 111 painting and calligraphy, one thai
required firm grounding in what had come before,
accorded well not only with the Confucian
commitment to learning but also with the literati
approach to other intellectual pursuits, such .is
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