Arabicus Felix, Luminosus Britannicus: Essays in Honour of A. F. L. Beeston on his Eightieth Birthday.

Montgomery, James E.

This is a celebration of the Oriental interests of Professor A. F. L. Beeston, a Festschrift to mark his eightieth birthday. In essence, the book is fittingly Oxford University's tribute, being edited by Alan Jones, being number 11 in the Oxford Oriental Institute Monographs series, under the auspices of the Ithaca Press which is establishing a reputation for itself in its collaborations with the Oriental Institute, and containing articles predominantly by members, past and present, of Oxford University. In some instances, the articles are a further tribute to A.F.L.B. in that they are the work of former students who have fallen under the spell, and have been affected by the enthusiasms, of this fondly regarded Arabist.

The contributed essays cover five broad areas of interest dear to A.F.L.B.'s heart: The Yemen, medieval Arabic literature (in its widest sense), modern literature, Semitica, and comparative Middle Eastern etymology. If one includes the "Personal Introduction" by Michael Gilsenan, an affectionate, accurate, and humorous depiction of A.F.L.B., there are in all 18 pieces. The three on the Yemen are: Paul Dresch's historical and topographical survey of the two halves of the Yemenite tribe of Hamdan, Hashid and Bakil, in the period after the appearance of al-Hamdani's (d.334/945) Iklil and Sifat Jazirat al-[Arab.sup.c] ("The Tribes of Hashid wa-Bakil as Historical and Geographical Entities," pp. 8-24); Wilferd Madelung's "The Origins of the Yemenite Hijra" (pp. 25-39), arguing that "the concept of the hijra in the Yemen is not of ancient tribal origin" but "was introduced by the Zaydi Shi-ites who understood by it emigration from the land of the 'sinners and oppressors"' (p. 25); R. B. Serjeant's informative and entertaining "Tihamah Notes" (pp. 45-60), observations made by the author in the field, between 1969 and 1986. The contributions on modern literature are informative and readable: "Mahmud Diyab's Contribution to Modern Egyptian Drama," by M. M. Badawi (pp. 181-201); "Romantic Poetry and the Tradition: The Case of Ibrahim Nagi," by R. C. Ostle (pp. 202-12); and "An Arabic Nobodaddy: The Gebelawi of Naguib Mahfouz," by P. J. Stewart (pp. 213-20). The Semitic pieces are: "Kullu nafsin bima kasabat rahina: The use of rhn in Aramaic and Arabic," by Jonas C. Greenfield (pp. 221-27); and "Semitic Marginalia," by Edward Ullendorff (pp. 228-35). The book's "envoi," "Etymologist's Quicksand," by Geoffery Lewis, is an enjoyable and marvelously witty caution on the pitfalls of comparative Middle Eastern etymology.

The bulk of the book (almost half, some one hundred and twenty pages) is concerned with various aspects of medieval Arabic literature and it shall, correspondingly, occupy my attention. David Wasserstein plausibly points out the "rapidity of the passage, for some Christians at least, from the dominion of Latin letters to that of Arabic in Islamic Spain" (p. 6), in "A Latin Lament on the Prevalence of Arabic in Ninth-century Islamic Cordoba" (pp. 1-7). C. E. Bosworth provides a competent and learned review of anecdotes and incidents relating to Buyid history and society ("Ghars al-Ni??ma b. Hilal al-Sabi's Kitab al-Hafawat al-Nadira and Buyid History," pp. 129-41) and D. S. Richards offers an exposition of al-Hamadhani's Rasail with some very high-quality translations of what are obscure and often defective texts. I should have liked to have seen more analysis and less cataloguing in these pieces which are essentially introductions to certain problems and aspects of their chosen texts. Fritz Zimmermann's discussion of what he terms "the Reply of the Nafidhite Imam ... an anti-qadarite epistle, apparently from the eighth century" (p. 163) hinges on our understanding of the use of negation plus the particle hatta as an idiomatic expression of "'far from ...'" and he establishes its relevance tof the oryx's legs ("hooves" being metonymical), set against the brilliant white of its pelage, are likened to stripes of dye on a piece of stuff. Similarly on p. 83, "with two-toned hooves" should be rendered as "with striated (lit. embroidered, decorated) shanks" (mawshiyyi akari??uhu). P.F.K. competently analyzes and compares his parallel passages. On p. 85, however, his statement that Labid's episode and al-Akhtal's episode "share the same narrative and descriptive paradigm of events and motifs" is somewhat misleading. Whilst not contending P.F.K.'s conclusion that "al-Akhtal's episode expands upon the individual motifs/events of Labid's narrative," there is one important difference between them, viz., that the development in Labid's episode is chronological or linear; the uneasy night, spent ill-at-ease through fear of the hunter, leads to the inevitable: the appearance of the hunter. The first line of Labid's episode is not "an adumbration of the whole episode" - it is the cause of the oryx's night of discomfort and disquiet. Al-Akhtal's narrative technique is otherwise. Line 1 of his episode sets the scene. Lines 2-6 are a flashback. In lines 7-12 the poet returns to the chronology of line 1 with his treatment of the stormy-night motif. It is not until line 13 that the hunter appears. This technique is designed to heighten tension, to frustrate narrative expectancy; the audience, in full expectation of the chase, wondering when the poet will introduce it, must wait twelve lines before the climax begins, with the commencement of the chase. In a sense, both the audience and the oryx are forced to wait for the inevitable. This acute awareness of audience psychology is one of the main features of Umayyad verse at its best. It is also worth noting that in all four oryx episodes discussed there are echoes and amplifications of some of the features of an oryx description in a renowned poem by Aws b. Hajar, viz., 21, 11. 18-26 (Diwan, ed. M. Y. Najm [Beirut, 1960!), which is also alluded to by al-Nabighah in another poem (cf. W. Ahlwardt, The Divans of the Six Ancient Arabic Poets [London, 1870], 16 [of the Arabic text] = poem no. 14, 11. 10-13), a fragment not transmitted by al-Asma??i and sometimes ascribed, erroneously in my opinion, to Aws b. Hajar. It is quite possible that P.F.K.'s three poets had Aws b. Hajar's poem in mind when composing their tableaux.

The highlight of A.F.L.B.'s Festschrift for this reader is J. D. Latham's masterly study of "The Elegy on the Death of Abu Shuja?? Fatik by al-Mutannabi" (pp. 90-107). In a detailed analysis of the structure and the contents of this threnody, Latham makes some brilliant and highly illuminating remarks on what he terms "the acoustics of grief" (p. 98), on al-Mutanabbi's depiction of his grief by means of a vivid and intense use of language and metre (pp. 96-99); "to my mind, these two verses (1-2), if correctly recited, convey a very precise expression of feeling and may be described as a faithful transcript of their composer's grief" (p. 97). Such observations and the emphasis throughout on the poet's grief are a timely reminder of the need to confront the issue of emotion in medieval verse, when so many studies focus on the formal aspects of the poetry. Also salutary are the author's judgments on the integral nature of rhetoric and artistry in the medieval tradition, both Eastern and Western. Al-Mutanabbi's exaggerated and almost neurotic sense of his own worth is also brought in to account for the poet's grief and bewilderment, especially with reference to the vituperation of Kafur, in lines 29-32 of the poem, but on no occasion does Latham lose sight of the fact that this was intended as a public threnody and that the poem should be accordingly evaluated.

The contributions in this volume are of a uniformly high standard and are characterized by, in the words of J. D. Latham, "painstaking analysis ... close reading and punctilious attention to detail" which "more often than not ... reveal[s] fof the oryx's legs ("hooves" being metonymical), set against the brilliant white of its pelage, are likened to stripes of dye on a piece of stuff. Similarly on p. 83, "with two-toned hooves" should be rendered as "with striated (lit. embroidered, decorated) shanks" (mawshiyyi akari??uhu). P.F.K. competently analyzes and compares his parallel passages. On p. 85, however, his statement that Labid's episode and al-Akhtal's episode "share the same narrative and descriptive paradigm of events and motifs" is somewhat misleading. Whilst not contending P.F.K.'s conclusion that "al-Akhtal's episode expands upon the individual motifs/events of Labid's narrative," there is one important difference between them, viz., that the development in Labid's episode is chronological or linear; the uneasy night, spent ill-at-ease through fear of the hunter, leads to the inevitable: the appearance of the hunter. The first line of Labid's episode is not "an adumbration of the whole episode" - it is the cause of the oryx's night of discomfort and disquiet. Al-Akhtal's narrative technique is otherwise. Line 1 of his episode sets the scene. Lines 2-6 are a flashback. In lines 7-12 the poet returns to the chronology of line 1 with his treatment of the stormy-night motif. It is not until line 13 that the hunter appears. This technique is designed to heighten tension, to frustrate narrative expectancy; the audience, in full expectation of the chase, wondering when the poet will introduce it, must wait twelve lines before the climax begins, with the commencement of the chase. In a sense, both the audience and the oryx are forced to wait for the inevitable. This acute awareness of audience psychology is one of the main features of Umayyad verse at its best. It is also worth noting that in all four oryx episodes discussed there are echoes and amplifications of some of the features of an oryx description in a renowned poem by Aws b. Hajar, viz., 21, 11. 18-26 (Diwan, ed. M. Y. Najm [Beirut, 1960!), which is also alluded to by al-Nabighah in another poem (cf. W. Ahlwardt, The Divans of the Six Ancient Arabic Poets [London, 1870], 16 [of the Arabic text] = poem no. 14, 11. 10-13), a fragment not transmitted by al-Asma??i and sometimes ascribed, erroneously in my opinion, to Aws b. Hajar. It is quite possible that P.F.K.'s three poets had Aws b. Hajar's poem in mind when composing their tableaux.

The highlight of A.F.L.B.'s Festschrift for this reader is J. D. Latham's masterly study of "The Elegy on the Death of Abu Shuja?? Fatik by al-Mutannabi" (pp. 90-107). In a detailed analysis of the structure and the contents of this threnody, Latham makes some brilliant and highly illuminating remarks on what he terms "the acoustics of grief" (p. 98), on al-Mutanabbi's depiction of his grief by means of a vivid and intense use of language and metre (pp. 96-99); "to my mind, these two verses (1-2), if correctly recited, convey a very precise expression of feeling and may be described as a faithful transcript of their composer's grief" (p. 97). Such observations and the emphasis throughout on the poet's grief are a timely reminder of the need to confront the issue of emotion in medieval verse, when so many studies focus on the formal aspects of the poetry. Also salutary are the author's judgments on the integral nature of rhetoric and artistry in the medieval tradition, both Eastern and Western. Al-Mutanabbi's exaggerated and almost neurotic sense of his own worth is also brought in to account for the poet's grief and bewilderment, especially with reference to the vituperation of Kafur, in lines 29-32 of the poem, but on no occasion does Latham lose sight of the fact that this was intended as a public threnody and that the poem should be accordingly evaluated.

The contributions in this volume are of a uniformly high standard and are characterized by, in the words of J. D. Latham, "painstaking analysis ... close reading and punctilious attention to detail" which "more often than not ... reveal[s] fGoodman is free of such constraints, and is positively certain that the Jewish tradition never held essentially to a literal acceptance of these principles of the faith, entailing as they do for him logically incoherent conclusions.

The governing perspective in Goodman's philosophy is that of a world which contains the possibility of realizing justice and all the virtues, a world in which there is a natural goodness to all things, potentially if not actually. Goodman recognizes that, in fact, goodness is at times perverted and justice thwarted, that evil in fact exists and must be resisted; but, like Maimonides, he tends to minimize the reality of evil, not in the immediate present but in the long run. The world naturally progresses toward the good, he believes; it is an inherent part of the nature of every person, of nature itself, of God.

For Goodman, there are "deserts" to which we have a natural right; it is proper and desirable to seek them and to attain them. They are part of our being, social, sexual, and intelligent creatures that we are, and God has intended us to realize our potentialities in all these areas as fully as reason dictates. Reason, that is, as modified in accordance with the Torah's demand for holiness in everyday life - a holiness which is seen as a sensitivity to and compassion for all persons and for all of nature.

The Torah's ethic, and that of Judaism as a whole, is thus seen as broader, more social and more theologically oriented than Aristotelian ethics. Yet both ethics adopt a teleological view of nature; for Goodman every person and culture has its "project," a role and goal which determines its character.

Linking this philosophy to Jewish theology, Goodman believes that a good deed is its own reward; that the messianic age will be one of collective virtue; and that a person is immortal to the degree he or she acts virtuously. This last view is expressed with the least philosophical support, since Goodman does not appropriate Maimonides' or any other philosopher's cosmology or theory of intellection.

Goodman considers his naturalization of religious beliefs not just as true in itself, and not just the product of medieval Jewish philosophy, but the view of the Bible itself. He insists that a non-personal and particularly non-supernatural messianism is implicit in the Hebrew scriptures, as is a non-physical resurrection. He reads the Torah prophetically, that is, in congruence with the prophets, from the viewpoint of a universal ethic in which the laws serve primarily as instruments for moral perfection.

Goodman in fact makes a traditional case for the utility of Jewish law, the halakha, on both a personal and communal level. However, he ignores or minimizes the punitive and fetishistic historical dimensions of the law, even as he denies the traditional rabbinic understanding, in physical and literal terms, of revelation and providence.

In Goodman's world, the irrational has no natural place, neither in heaven nor on earth. He is very critical of Gershom Scholem for having reintroduced the demonic, chaotic and mythical into current Jewish consciousness, through his studies of Jewish mysticism. Goodman does not deny the historic facticity of the mystical literature and of its adepts, but he refuses to accept its challenge to what he views as normative Jewish theology. Ultimately, he cannot accept the implacable reality of the irrational and of evil, in life and in Judaism.

Goodman thus adopts philosophy's eternal struggle with these phenomena. He fights with a prodigious outpouring of exegesis, dialectical and rhetorical argument. With Maimonides' aid, and that of Hermann Cohen too, it would seem, he believes that he has conquered the sitra ahra, what the mystics saw as the dark side of the divine, and the dark side of life too. He believes he can banish the mythical and literal dimensions of Judaism, as he would banish evil and suffering. While these may be seen as laudable if unrealistic goals, it should notGoodman is free of such constraints, and is positively certain that the Jewish tradition never held essentially to a literal acceptance of these principles of the faith, entailing as they do for him logically incoherent conclusions.

The governing perspective in Goodman's philosophy is that of a world which contains the possibility of realizing justice and all the virtues, a world in which there is a natural goodness to all things, potentially if not actually. Goodman recognizes that, in fact, goodness is at times perverted and justice thwarted, that evil in fact exists and must be resisted; but, like Maimonides, he tends to minimize the reality of evil, not in the immediate present but in the long run. The world naturally progresses toward the good, he believes; it is an inherent part of the nature of every person, of nature itself, of God.

For Goodman, there are "deserts" to which we have a natural right; it is proper and desirable to seek them and to attain them. They are part of our being, social, sexual, and intelligent creatures that we are, and God has intended us to realize our potentialities in all these areas as fully as reason dictates. Reason, that is, as modified in accordance with the Torah's demand for holiness in everyday life - a holiness which is seen as a sensitivity to and compassion for all persons and for all of nature.

The Torah's ethic, and that of Judaism as a whole, is thus seen as broader, more social and more theologically oriented than Aristotelian ethics. Yet both ethics adopt a teleological view of nature; for Goodman every person and culture has its "project," a role and goal which determines its character.

Linking this philosophy to Jewish theology, Goodman believes that a good deed is its own reward; that the messianic age will be one of collective virtue; and that a person is immortal to the degree he or she acts virtuously. This last view is expressed with the least philosophical support, since Goodman does not appropriate Maimonides' or any other philosopher's cosmology or theory of intellection.

Goodman considers his naturalization of religious beliefs not just as true in itself, and not just the product of medieval Jewish philosophy, but the view of the Bible itself. He insists that a non-personal and particularly non-supernatural messianism is implicit in the Hebrew scriptures, as is a non-physical resurrection. He reads the Torah prophetically, that is, in congruence with the prophets, from the viewpoint of a universal ethic in which the laws serve primarily as instruments for moral perfection.

Goodman in fact makes a traditional case for the utility of Jewish law, the halakha, on both a personal and communal level. However, he ignores or minimizes the punitive and fetishistic historical dimensions of the law, even as he denies the traditional rabbinic understanding, in physical and literal terms, of revelation and providence.

In Goodman's world, the irrational has no natural place, neither in heaven nor on earth. He is very critical of Gershom Scholem for having reintroduced the demonic, chaotic and mythical into current Jewish consciousness, through his studies of Jewish mysticism. Goodman does not deny the historic facticity of the mystical literature and of its adepts, but he refuses to accept its challenge to what he views as normative Jewish theology. Ultimately, he cannot accept the implacable reality of the irrational and of evil, in life and in Judaism.

Goodman thus adopts philosophy's eternal struggle with these phenomena. He fights with a prodigious outpouring of exegesis, dialectical and rhetorical argument. With Maimonides' aid, and that of Hermann Cohen too, it would seem, he believes that he has conquered the sitra ahra, what the mystics saw as the dark side of the divine, and the dark side of life too. He believes he can banish the mythical and literal dimensions of Judaism, as he would banish evil and suffering. While these may be seen as laudable if unrealistic goals, it should notove Tree and its Habitat. In commerce, the English expression "cloves" usually refers to the dried, unopened buds of the clove tree, Eugenia caryophyllata, Thunb. (also Eugenia aromatica, Kuntze). The clove tree is a small tree but takes several years to mature. Its buds show slight variations in color and size. In the Moluccas they were usually collected after the tenth year, mainly between September/October and December/January, then dried and made ready for export.(6)

Most modern authors agree in saying that the clove tree is a native of the Moluccas and did not spread to other parts of Asia before the arrival of Europeans in Indonesia. Some Chinese historical records also seem to confine the habitat of the clove tree to the Moluccas,(7) but others indicate the opposite: they list cloves as a product of southern China, in rare cases also of other regions far away from the Spice Islands. These references are incorrect. "True" cloves were definitely not grown in China, nor in the Middle East, as, for example, Chao Ju-kua, author of the famous Chu-fan chih, had thought.(8) Some early European reports are equally misleading: Marco Polo, for example, speaks of cloves in connection with Caindu in eastern Tibet; what he means is probably cassia buds. He also wrongly reports that clove trees were found in the tropical forests of the Nicobar Islands and that cloves were produced on Java.(9) Other stories relate that cloves were the flower, cinnamon the bark, and nutmeg the fruit of one and the same plant. This legend, with a number of variations, spread widely over parts of Asia and, for many centuries, caused confusion among botanists and travellers.(10) In sum, a medieval reference to cloves has to be taken with some reservation; not everything called "cloves" was really cloves.

(b) Ting-hsiang. The most frequently found Chinese expression to designate both the clove tree and its buds is ting-hsiang [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] ("nail incense"). It is possible that in medieval China some rudimentary distinctions were made between ting-hsiang varieties or qualities, or, alternatively, that this expression was used for both "true" cloves and one or several other products similar to cloves such as cassia buds. The principal basis for this assumption are two uncommented lists of commodities, in each of which there is reference to ting-hsiang and hsia-teng ting-hsiang [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] i.e., "cloves" without further specification and "low-grade cloves."(11)

While the precise implications of this differentiation remain unknown, it is evident, on a more general level, that quality considerations played some role in connection with China's trade in aromatics (hsiang [??] or hsiang-yao [??]. Fan Ch'eng-ta, one of the few Sung authors with an intimate knowledge of China's deep south, indicates, for example, that the best of all domestically produced aromatics were those from tropical Hainan; contrary to what people said, the province of Kwangtung did not produce, but imported, most of its aromatics by ship.(12) These observations, if referring to ting-hsiang, can be interpreted as indirect proof of the fact that all claims to domestic Chinese production of cloves were indeed wrong and that such compounds as hsia-teng ting-hsiang probably served to name "false" cloves.(13) Be this as it may, it is often impossible to decide exactly whether a specific reference to ting-hsiang really designated Moluccan cloves or another substance. To simplify matters, the present study equates all imported ting-hsiang with "true" cloves.

(c) Other Chinese Terms. There are a number of other Chinese terms that deserve brief comment. The first, ting-hsiang-hua [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] is very rare and, generally speaking, can be straightforwardly taken as "clove flower buds." To what extent a distinction was made between ting-hsiang and ting-hsiang-hua is not clear. Most likely both terms were interchangeable.

Ting-hsiang-mu [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] poses more complications. Thiove Tree and its Habitat. In commerce, the English expression "cloves" usually refers to the dried, unopened buds of the clove tree, Eugenia caryophyllata, Thunb. (also Eugenia aromatica, Kuntze). The clove tree is a small tree but takes several years to mature. Its buds show slight variations in color and size. In the Moluccas they were usually collected after the tenth year, mainly between September/October and December/January, then dried and made ready for export.(6)

Most modern authors agree in saying that the clove tree is a native of the Moluccas and did not spread to other parts of Asia before the arrival of Europeans in Indonesia. Some Chinese historical records also seem to confine the habitat of the clove tree to the Moluccas,(7) but others indicate the opposite: they list cloves as a product of southern China, in rare cases also of other regions far away from the Spice Islands. These references are incorrect. "True" cloves were definitely not grown in China, nor in the Middle East, as, for example, Chao Ju-kua, author of the famous Chu-fan chih, had thought.(8) Some early European reports are equally misleading: Marco Polo, for example, speaks of cloves in connection with Caindu in eastern Tibet; what he means is probably cassia buds. He also wrongly reports that clove trees were found in the tropical forests of the Nicobar Islands and that cloves were produced on Java.(9) Other stories relate that cloves were the flower, cinnamon the bark, and nutmeg the fruit of one and the same plant. This legend, with a number of variations, spread widely over parts of Asia and, for many centuries, caused confusion among botanists and travellers.(10) In sum, a medieval reference to cloves has to be taken with some reservation; not everything called "cloves" was really cloves.

(b) Ting-hsiang. The most frequently found Chinese expression to designate both the clove tree and its buds is ting-hsiang [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] ("nail incense"). It is possible that in medieval China some rudimentary distinctions were made between ting-hsiang varieties or qualities, or, alternatively, that this expression was used for both "true" cloves and one or several other products similar to cloves such as cassia buds. The principal basis for this assumption are two uncommented lists of commodities, in each of which there is reference to ting-hsiang and hsia-teng ting-hsiang [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] i.e., "cloves" without further specification and "low-grade cloves."(11)

While the precise implications of this differentiation remain unknown, it is evident, on a more general level, that quality considerations played some role in connection with China's trade in aromatics (hsiang [??] or hsiang-yao [??]. Fan Ch'eng-ta, one of the few Sung authors with an intimate knowledge of China's deep south, indicates, for example, that the best of all domestically produced aromatics were those from tropical Hainan; contrary to what people said, the province of Kwangtung did not produce, but imported, most of its aromatics by ship.(12) These observations, if referring to ting-hsiang, can be interpreted as indirect proof of the fact that all claims to domestic Chinese production of cloves were indeed wrong and that such compounds as hsia-teng ting-hsiang probably served to name "false" cloves.(13) Be this as it may, it is often impossible to decide exactly whether a specific reference to ting-hsiang really designated Moluccan cloves or another substance. To simplify matters, the present study equates all imported ting-hsiang with "true" cloves.

(c) Other Chinese Terms. There are a number of other Chinese terms that deserve brief comment. The first, ting-hsiang-hua [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] is very rare and, generally speaking, can be straightforwardly taken as "clove flower buds." To what extent a distinction was made between ting-hsiang and ting-hsiang-hua is not clear. Most likely both terms were interchangeable.

Ting-hsiang-mu [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] poses more complications. Thiwn to be effective in curing certain diseases, which, in part at least, explains the wide usage of cloves in traditional Asian medicine. Many pen-ts'ao [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] works say, for example, that ting-hsiang served as a stomach tonic, to relieve pain, or as an aromatic stimulant.(25)

In India, southeast Asia, the Ryukyu Islands, and Japan, cloves served similar purposes. The main difference probably lay in the range of medical applications and in the frequency of use in the daily cuisine. In some places, such as Goa, cloves may also have been more popular as a breath-sweetener than in China. In Malaysia they were employed in coloring kris blades. Finally, cloves were also reputed to have aphrodisiac properties.(26)

Cloves being used so widely, it is of course legitimate to ask what impact the different applications of this substance had on the demand structure in medieval China and elsewhere. No figures exist to answer this question and qualitative evidence is equally meager, in some cases completely absent. Yet, since in some parts of India cloves were widely used in food preparation, which, apparently, was not the case in China, it is indeed possible that total demand was higher in India than in China. But this must be no more than a guess, even though, as will be explained below, there are reasons to assume that total consumption cannot have been very high in late medieval China.

SUNG IMPORTS OF AROMATICS:

THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

There being at least some demand, China imported cloves since very early times. During the Sung period when China's trade with the countries of southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean quickly expanded, cloves are frequently referred to as an import item. At that time, China's imports from maritime Asian countries were mostly channelled through the so-called Merchant Shipping Offices (shih-po-ssu [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] in ports such as Canton, Ch'uan-chou, or Ming-chou (Ch'ing-yuan). In general, there were two types of imported goods: "coarse articles" ts'u se [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], such as textiles, and "fine" articles (hsi se [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], such as jewels or semi-precious substances. Further distinctions within these two categories are not always clear. Ting-hsiang and various other aromatics were often referred to under the compound expression hsiang-yao (i.e., "aromatic drugs" or "spice and drugs," see also above) but some hsiang-yao were considered as "coarse" articles while others were fine" products. In 1141, for example, cloves were put under the "fine" category.(27) At around 1225 we also find ting-hsiang and ting-hsiang-chih under this category, but ting-hsiang-p'i and various other substances are counted as "coarse"-grade articles.(28)

While the importation and further distribution of "fine" goods was mostly in the hands of the government, which exercised a monopoly or near-monopoly over such commodities, trade in articles of the "coarse" variety remained relatively open. However, in time, more and more import articles were put in the "fine" category and this enabled the government to increase its revenues.(29)

Both monopoly goods (chin-ch'ueh wu [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] and those traded freely were taxed by the government. Import taxes varied from period to period. Initially duties were set at one-tenth of the import value. In 991 the rate rose to one-fifth, after which it was lowered again to one-tenth, at which level it remained, roughly, until the mid-eleventh century. Under Hui-tsung, the tax for "coarse" goods was fixed at three-tenths, while that for "fine" goods remained at one-tenth. In 1136 the tax was set at one-fifteenth and one-tenth, respectively.(30) In 1144, the rate for aromatics was raised to two-fifths. This was more than the merchants could bear and many complaints were filed; hence, in 1147, the rate for some commodities - and there is explicit reference to cloves this time - was reduced to the old value of one-tenth.(31)

Fluctuations in the tax wn to be effective in curing certain diseases, which, in part at least, explains the wide usage of cloves in traditional Asian medicine. Many pen-ts'ao [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] works say, for example, that ting-hsiang served as a stomach tonic, to relieve pain, or as an aromatic stimulant.(25)

In India, southeast Asia, the Ryukyu Islands, and Japan, cloves served similar purposes. The main difference probably lay in the range of medical applications and in the frequency of use in the daily cuisine. In some places, such as Goa, cloves may also have been more popular as a breath-sweetener than in China. In Malaysia they were employed in coloring kris blades. Finally, cloves were also reputed to have aphrodisiac properties.(26)

Cloves being used so widely, it is of course legitimate to ask what impact the different applications of this substance had on the demand structure in medieval China and elsewhere. No figures exist to answer this question and qualitative evidence is equally meager, in some cases completely absent. Yet, since in some parts of India cloves were widely used in food preparation, which, apparently, was not the case in China, it is indeed possible that total demand was higher in India than in China. But this must be no more than a guess, even though, as will be explained below, there are reasons to assume that total consumption cannot have been very high in late medieval China.

SUNG IMPORTS OF AROMATICS:

THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

There being at least some demand, China imported cloves since very early times. During the Sung period when China's trade with the countries of southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean quickly expanded, cloves are frequently referred to as an import item. At that time, China's imports from maritime Asian countries were mostly channelled through the so-called Merchant Shipping Offices (shih-po-ssu [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] in ports such as Canton, Ch'uan-chou, or Ming-chou (Ch'ing-yuan). In general, there were two types of imported goods: "coarse articles" ts'u se [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], such as textiles, and "fine" articles (hsi se [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], such as jewels or semi-precious substances. Further distinctions within these two categories are not always clear. Ting-hsiang and various other aromatics were often referred to under the compound expression hsiang-yao (i.e., "aromatic drugs" or "spice and drugs," see also above) but some hsiang-yao were considered as "coarse" articles while others were fine" products. In 1141, for example, cloves were put under the "fine" category.(27) At around 1225 we also find ting-hsiang and ting-hsiang-chih under this category, but ting-hsiang-p'i and various other substances are counted as "coarse"-grade articles.(28)

While the importation and further distribution of "fine" goods was mostly in the hands of the government, which exercised a monopoly or near-monopoly over such commodities, trade in articles of the "coarse" variety remained relatively open. However, in time, more and more import articles were put in the "fine" category and this enabled the government to increase its revenues.(29)

Both monopoly goods (chin-ch'ueh wu [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] and those traded freely were taxed by the government. Import taxes varied from period to period. Initially duties were set at one-tenth of the import value. In 991 the rate rose to one-fifth, after which it was lowered again to one-tenth, at which level it remained, roughly, until the mid-eleventh century. Under Hui-tsung, the tax for "coarse" goods was fixed at three-tenths, while that for "fine" goods remained at one-tenth. In 1136 the tax was set at one-fifteenth and one-tenth, respectively.(30) In 1144, the rate for aromatics was raised to two-fifths. This was more than the merchants could bear and many complaints were filed; hence, in 1147, the rate for some commodities - and there is explicit reference to cloves this time - was reduced to the old value of one-tenth.(31)

Fluctuations in the tax ng from the table, it appears that Java, Srivijaya, Champa, and perhaps Butuan on Mindanao (if P'u-tuan is really Butuan) functioned as the chief re-exporters of cloves to the Far East. The first two places and Butuan probably had the most direct access to the Moluccas, while Champa probably received its cloves through the Indonesians themselves or through the foreign community resident on its shores.(38) However, there is no clear evidence pointing to direct connections between Champa and eastern Indonesia, nor can I find any clear written statement on Philippine merchants sailing to the north Moluccas. All this might imply two things. Comparatively few ships sailed through the Celebes Sea and if consignments of cloves passed through this area, they were likely to change hands (in Butuan?) before reaching Champa or China. However, in view of Srivijaya's and Java's commercial influence, most cloves arriving in Sung China probably left the Moluccas by way of Java.

A few notes must be added to this tentative picture of China's trade in cloves. Chao Ju-kua lists cloves as a "product" of Srivijaya, Java, and the islands nearby. This is a vague statement since the eastern extent of Srivijaya's and Java's power is not exactly known; hence, in the case of the first two places, "imported" or "re-exported" would be more correct than "produced." Chao also indicates that cloves were brought to Ceylon, south India, and Oman. This can be accepted, but his claim that Ta-shih [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] - the Near East, perhaps only Persia - "produced" cloves, is wrong, as we saw above. Other Chinese geographical works have much less to say on cloves. Ma Tuan-lin and Chou Ch'u-fei list cloves in connection with Tu-po [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] and Java, for example, but add nothing new.(39)

Arabic works dating from the ninth to the twelfth century contain some references to the "Islands of Spices" but these are equally disappointing. Marwazi's brief account of the Moluccas is semi-fictitious and depicts the trade in cloves as "silent barter"; Ibn Khurdadhbih and the Mukhtasar al-Aja'ib put the Moluccas at a distance of only fifteen days from the islands of Jaba, Salahit, and Harang, which may have been near present day Singapore.(40) The distance being much too short for a passage from the Straits area to the Moluccas by way of Java or, alternatively, by way of Brunei, little credit can be given to these Arabic references; they are of no use at all in determining what the situation may have been along the trade routes to and from the Moluccas.

YUAN PERIOD

Maritime trade under the Mongols, by and large, followed the pattern that had evolved under the Sung. The system of Merchant Shipping Offices was kept, but modified in the course of time. The distinction between "coarse" and "fine" goods was also continued. Until 1314, these goods were apparently taxed at rates of one-fifteenth and one-tenth, respectively. In addition to that, a small surcharge had to be paid; this was new and had not been the case under the Sung. In 1314, tax rates were raised to two-fifteenths and one-fifth.(41) Presumably, cloves were classified as "fine" articles but precise data do not exist. Nor is it known whether changes in taxation affected the commodity composition of imports and, if so, how.

The Yuan government, like the Sung government, issued various laws and regulations to curb tax evasion and illegal business. But it also decreed, for example, that merchants and seamen would be exempted from corvee. Hence, some government measures stimulated trade, others were repressive.(42) The major harbors continued to flourish. As before, Canton and Ch'uan-chou were the most important ports for trade with southeast Asia but, since Canton had suffered serious destruction in the Sung-Yuan transitional period, the volume of trade passing through Ch'uan-chou now probably exceeded the volume of trade passing through Canton.(43)

Little is known about imports of individual spices and drng from the table, it appears that Java, Srivijaya, Champa, and perhaps Butuan on Mindanao (if P'u-tuan is really Butuan) functioned as the chief re-exporters of cloves to the Far East. The first two places and Butuan probably had the most direct access to the Moluccas, while Champa probably received its cloves through the Indonesians themselves or through the foreign community resident on its shores.(38) However, there is no clear evidence pointing to direct connections between Champa and eastern Indonesia, nor can I find any clear written statement on Philippine merchants sailing to the north Moluccas. All this might imply two things. Comparatively few ships sailed through the Celebes Sea and if consignments of cloves passed through this area, they were likely to change hands (in Butuan?) before reaching Champa or China. However, in view of Srivijaya's and Java's commercial influence, most cloves arriving in Sung China probably left the Moluccas by way of Java.

A few notes must be added to this tentative picture of China's trade in cloves. Chao Ju-kua lists cloves as a "product" of Srivijaya, Java, and the islands nearby. This is a vague statement since the eastern extent of Srivijaya's and Java's power is not exactly known; hence, in the case of the first two places, "imported" or "re-exported" would be more correct than "produced." Chao also indicates that cloves were brought to Ceylon, south India, and Oman. This can be accepted, but his claim that Ta-shih [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] - the Near East, perhaps only Persia - "produced" cloves, is wrong, as we saw above. Other Chinese geographical works have much less to say on cloves. Ma Tuan-lin and Chou Ch'u-fei list cloves in connection with Tu-po [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] and Java, for example, but add nothing new.(39)

Arabic works dating from the ninth to the twelfth century contain some references to the "Islands of Spices" but these are equally disappointing. Marwazi's brief account of the Moluccas is semi-fictitious and depicts the trade in cloves as "silent barter"; Ibn Khurdadhbih and the Mukhtasar al-Aja'ib put the Moluccas at a distance of only fifteen days from the islands of Jaba, Salahit, and Harang, which may have been near present day Singapore.(40) The distance being much too short for a passage from the Straits area to the Moluccas by way of Java or, alternatively, by way of Brunei, little credit can be given to these Arabic references; they are of no use at all in determining what the situation may have been along the trade routes to and from the Moluccas.

YUAN PERIOD

Maritime trade under the Mongols, by and large, followed the pattern that had evolved under the Sung. The system of Merchant Shipping Offices was kept, but modified in the course of time. The distinction between "coarse" and "fine" goods was also continued. Until 1314, these goods were apparently taxed at rates of one-fifteenth and one-tenth, respectively. In addition to that, a small surcharge had to be paid; this was new and had not been the case under the Sung. In 1314, tax rates were raised to two-fifteenths and one-fifth.(41) Presumably, cloves were classified as "fine" articles but precise data do not exist. Nor is it known whether changes in taxation affected the commodity composition of imports and, if so, how.

The Yuan government, like the Sung government, issued various laws and regulations to curb tax evasion and illegal business. But it also decreed, for example, that merchants and seamen would be exempted from corvee. Hence, some government measures stimulated trade, others were repressive.(42) The major harbors continued to flourish. As before, Canton and Ch'uan-chou were the most important ports for trade with southeast Asia but, since Canton had suffered serious destruction in the Sung-Yuan transitional period, the volume of trade passing through Ch'uan-chou now probably exceeded the volume of trade passing through Canton.(43)

Little is known about imports of individual spices and dr (1405-33), do not mention cloves at all. Fei Hsin, in the first part of his book, which contains original information, lists cloves as a trade item in south India.(53) The TMITC claims that cloves were a produce of Java.(54) Finally, a brief review of the MSL data on early fifteenth-century tribute trade also suggests that no (or at best, only minimal amounts of) cloves were sent as tribute to China in the days of Cheng Ho. To repeat: none of the aforementioned works contains contemporary information on trade in the Moluccas.

It is only in early sixteenth-century sources that more references begin to emerge. Huang Sheng-tseng, writing in 1520, reports that Malacca, Brunei, Siam, and Samudra sent cloves as tribute.(55) Some mid- or late sixteenth-century works list the same countries, or modify the list, but they mostly rely on earlier texts and add practically no new details as far as trade to eastern Indonesia or the Sulu zone is concerned. In most cases, it is not even clear to which period these sources refer.(56) This also applies to the Shun-feng hsiang-sung, a book of uncertain date and origin. It contains sailing instructions, of which some pertain to trade routes in the Sulu zone and beyond, but these instructions probably date from the late Ming period when private Chinese traders indeed sailed through the Celebes Sea.(57)

Returning to the late Yuan and early Ming periods, one has to ask why now, once again, the majority of all imported cloves was apparently sent to China by way of Java. Several factors may have contributed to this second apparent shift in the route of clove supplies. (1) At the end of the Yuan period, between 1357 and 1366, a Muslim rebellion shook the area around Ch'uan-chou, Hsing-hua, and Hui-an. This rebellion was crushed and maritime trade based on the Ch'uan-chou region suffered severely.(58) (2) Added to that, the early Ming emperors prohibited most private sea trade; these developments taken together must have led to a reduction of private trade which, in Yuan days, had extended to the Moluccas, and also thereby to a shortage in aromatics and other imports.(59) (3) Apparently, Majapahit influence extended to northern Borneo, the Sulu Islands, and the Moluccas, and it was only at the turn of the century that this influence disappeared; moreover, for some time, according to Chinese sources, there was turmoil in the Sulu-Borneo region, and perhaps Chinese traders who evaded Ming trade prohibitions, risking severe punishments, thought that going through the Sulu zone would be too dangerous and only pose additional risks.(60) (4) In the early fifteenth century, when China sent out armed fleets and promoted government trade, the Sulu-Brunei area calmed down and both places competed for China's favor and protection by sending tribute to Nanking. (5) But only minor Chinese government fleets sailed to the Sulu zone, the main thrust of China's maritime expansion being directed towards continental southeast Asia, western Indonesia, and into the Indian Ocean. Quite obviously, from the Ming government's viewpoint the Sulu zone was only of marginal importance.(61) (6) By now, private Chinese merchants, among them probably some Muslim refugees from Ch'uan-chou, had settled in places on northern Java, and perhaps these merchants were in touch with eastern Indonesia, thereby supplying Moluccan spices to Cheng Ho's fleets, which called in continental southeast Asian, Sumatran, and Javanese ports.(62) If such cooperation between the private overseas Chinese trade sector and the Ming government trade sector did indeed exist, it was probably cheaper for the Chinese to import cloves by way of Java than by way of the Sulu zone. (7) Javanese and others may have participated in the trade through the Java Sea so that cloves were mostly "drained away" from the Moluccas by markets that could be reached more easily by the southern route than by the northern route.

The factors listed above may tell us something about the route of early (1405-33), do not mention cloves at all. Fei Hsin, in the first part of his book, which contains original information, lists cloves as a trade item in south India.(53) The TMITC claims that cloves were a produce of Java.(54) Finally, a brief review of the MSL data on early fifteenth-century tribute trade also suggests that no (or at best, only minimal amounts of) cloves were sent as tribute to China in the days of Cheng Ho. To repeat: none of the aforementioned works contains contemporary information on trade in the Moluccas.

It is only in early sixteenth-century sources that more references begin to emerge. Huang Sheng-tseng, writing in 1520, reports that Malacca, Brunei, Siam, and Samudra sent cloves as tribute.(55) Some mid- or late sixteenth-century works list the same countries, or modify the list, but they mostly rely on earlier texts and add practically no new details as far as trade to eastern Indonesia or the Sulu zone is concerned. In most cases, it is not even clear to which period these sources refer.(56) This also applies to the Shun-feng hsiang-sung, a book of uncertain date and origin. It contains sailing instructions, of which some pertain to trade routes in the Sulu zone and beyond, but these instructions probably date from the late Ming period when private Chinese traders indeed sailed through the Celebes Sea.(57)

Returning to the late Yuan and early Ming periods, one has to ask why now, once again, the majority of all imported cloves was apparently sent to China by way of Java. Several factors may have contributed to this second apparent shift in the route of clove supplies. (1) At the end of the Yuan period, between 1357 and 1366, a Muslim rebellion shook the area around Ch'uan-chou, Hsing-hua, and Hui-an. This rebellion was crushed and maritime trade based on the Ch'uan-chou region suffered severely.(58) (2) Added to that, the early Ming emperors prohibited most private sea trade; these developments taken together must have led to a reduction of private trade which, in Yuan days, had extended to the Moluccas, and also thereby to a shortage in aromatics and other imports.(59) (3) Apparently, Majapahit influence extended to northern Borneo, the Sulu Islands, and the Moluccas, and it was only at the turn of the century that this influence disappeared; moreover, for some time, according to Chinese sources, there was turmoil in the Sulu-Borneo region, and perhaps Chinese traders who evaded Ming trade prohibitions, risking severe punishments, thought that going through the Sulu zone would be too dangerous and only pose additional risks.(60) (4) In the early fifteenth century, when China sent out armed fleets and promoted government trade, the Sulu-Brunei area calmed down and both places competed for China's favor and protection by sending tribute to Nanking. (5) But only minor Chinese government fleets sailed to the Sulu zone, the main thrust of China's maritime expansion being directed towards continental southeast Asia, western Indonesia, and into the Indian Ocean. Quite obviously, from the Ming government's viewpoint the Sulu zone was only of marginal importance.(61) (6) By now, private Chinese merchants, among them probably some Muslim refugees from Ch'uan-chou, had settled in places on northern Java, and perhaps these merchants were in touch with eastern Indonesia, thereby supplying Moluccan spices to Cheng Ho's fleets, which called in continental southeast Asian, Sumatran, and Javanese ports.(62) If such cooperation between the private overseas Chinese trade sector and the Ming government trade sector did indeed exist, it was probably cheaper for the Chinese to import cloves by way of Java than by way of the Sulu zone. (7) Javanese and others may have participated in the trade through the Java Sea so that cloves were mostly "drained away" from the Moluccas by markets that could be reached more easily by the southern route than by the northern route.

The factors listed above may tell us something about the route of early early Ming period, various factors point to shipments via the Java route. In all three periods, the volume of China's clove imports appears to have been small, though admittedly some uncertainties prevail. If it ever attained "sizeable" levels, this is perhaps most likely to have occurred in the brief period for which Galvao remarked that Chinese merchants bought cloves "wholesale" in the Moluccas and for which Wang Ta-yuan attests direct traffic between eastern Indonesia and China. Finally, it can be safely assumed that China's demand for cloves had no significant impact on southeast Asia's economic growth.

ABBREVIATIONS OF CHINESE PRIMARY SOURCES

CYCYTC Chien-yeni-laich'ao-yehtsa-chi,by Li Hsin-ch'uan (early 13th-c.). 6 vols. Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng edn. HCSL Hsing-ch'a sheng-lan chiao-chu, by Fei Hsin (preface 1436); ed. Feng Ch'eng-chun. Shanghai: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1954. HP Hsiang-p'u, by Hung Ch'u (early 12th c.). Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng edn. HYCKTL Hsi-yang ch'ao-kung tien-lu, by Huang Sheng-tseng (preface 1520); ed. Hsieh Fang. Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1982. IYC I-yu chih, by Chou Chih-chung (14th c.); ed. Lu Chun-ling. Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1981 (bound together in one vol. with the Hsi-yu lu). IYTC I-yu t'u-chih, anonymous (14th c.). Microfilm copy of Cambridge library (for a description, see Moule's article in T'oung Pao 27:179-88). KCTSCC Ch'in-ting ku-chin t'u-shu chi-ch'eng, comp. 1726 by Ch'en Meng-lei et al. 100 vols. Taipei: Wen-hsing shu-tien, 1964. KHYHC Kuei-hai yu-heng chih chi-i chiao-chu, by Fan Ch'eng-ta (dated 1175); ed. Hu Ch'i-wang and T'an Kuang-kuang. Chengtu: Ssu-ch'uan min-tsu ch'u-panshe, 1986. MHP Ming hsiang p'u, by Yeh T'ing-kuei (c. 1150). Shanghai: Chung-kuo t'u-shu kung-ssu, 1914. MS Ming shih, comp. Chang T'ing-yu et al. (dated 1739). Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1974. MSL Ming shih-lu (different sections completed in different periods), ed. Chung-yang yen-chiu-yuan li-shih yu-yen yenchiu-so. Nankang: Chung-yang ... yen-chiu so, 1966. NHC Ta-te Nan-hai chih ts'an-pen, by Ch'en Ta-chen (dated 1304, fragmentary). Canton: Kuang-chou shih ti-fang chih yen-chiu, 1986. PCKT P'ing-chou k'o-t'an, by Chu Yu (dated 1119). Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng edn. PTKM Pen-ts'ao kang-mu, comp. by Li Shih-chen (dated 1596). 4 vols. Peking: Jen-min wei-sheng ch'u-panshe, 1975-81. SHY Sung hui-yao chi-kao (11th-13th c.; documents collected by Hsu Sung et al. in the 19th c.). Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1957. SS Sung shih, comp. T'o T'o and Ou-yang Hsun (c. 1345). Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1977. SYCTL Shu-yu chou tzu lu, by Yen Ts'ung-chien (preface 1574). Chung-hua wen-shih ts'ung-shu edn. TCMHL Tung-ching meng-hua lu, by Meng Yuan-lao (preface 1147). Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng edn. TICL Tao-i chih-lueh chiao-shih, Ta-yuan (dated 1349); ed. su chi-ch'ing. Peking: Chuang-hua shu-chu, 1981. TMITC Ta Ming i-t'ung chih, comp. Li Hsien et al. (dated 1461). Taipei: Wen-hai ch'u-pan-she, 1965. TPYL T'ai-p'ing yu-lan, comp. Li Fang et al. (dated 983). Kuo-hsueh chi-pen ts'ung-shu edn. WHTK Wen-hsien t'ung-k'ao, by Ma Tuan-lin (begun in late 13th c., completed in 1307, printed in early 14th c.). Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1936. (1) A related study referring to later periods is my "The Northern Trade Route to the Spice Islands," Archipel 43 (1992): 27-56. (2) See, for example, Eliyahu Ashtor, "Spice Prices in the Near East in the 15th Century," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1976): 26, 33, 35; idem, "The Volume of Mediaeval Spice Trade," Journal of European Economic History 8 (1979): 756-59; C. H. H. Wake, "The Changing Pattern of Europe's Pepper and Spice Imports, ca. 1400-1700," JEEH 8 (1979): 363, 371-72, 396-403; idem, "The Volume of European Spice Imports at the Beginning and End of the Fifteenth Century," JEEH 15 (1986): 632-33. For an earlier study, see Jacques Heers, "Il commercio nel Mediterraneo alla fine del sec. XIV e nei primi anni del XV," Archivio Storico Italiano 113 (1955): 162, early Ming period, various factors point to shipments via the Java route. In all three periods, the volume of China's clove imports appears to have been small, though admittedly some uncertainties prevail. If it ever attained "sizeable" levels, this is perhaps most likely to have occurred in the brief period for which Galvao remarked that Chinese merchants bought cloves "wholesale" in the Moluccas and for which Wang Ta-yuan attests direct traffic between eastern Indonesia and China. Finally, it can be safely assumed that China's demand for cloves had no significant impact on southeast Asia's economic growth.

ABBREVIATIONS OF CHINESE PRIMARY SOURCES

CYCYTC Chien-yeni-laich'ao-yehtsa-chi,by Li Hsin-ch'uan (early 13th-c.). 6 vols. Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng edn. HCSL Hsing-ch'a sheng-lan chiao-chu, by Fei Hsin (preface 1436); ed. Feng Ch'eng-chun. Shanghai: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1954. HP Hsiang-p'u, by Hung Ch'u (early 12th c.). Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng edn. HYCKTL Hsi-yang ch'ao-kung tien-lu, by Huang Sheng-tseng (preface 1520); ed. Hsieh Fang. Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1982. IYC I-yu chih, by Chou Chih-chung (14th c.); ed. Lu Chun-ling. Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1981 (bound together in one vol. with the Hsi-yu lu). IYTC I-yu t'u-chih, anonymous (14th c.). Microfilm copy of Cambridge library (for a description, see Moule's article in T'oung Pao 27:179-88). KCTSCC Ch'in-ting ku-chin t'u-shu chi-ch'eng, comp. 1726 by Ch'en Meng-lei et al. 100 vols. Taipei: Wen-hsing shu-tien, 1964. KHYHC Kuei-hai yu-heng chih chi-i chiao-chu, by Fan Ch'eng-ta (dated 1175); ed. Hu Ch'i-wang and T'an Kuang-kuang. Chengtu: Ssu-ch'uan min-tsu ch'u-panshe, 1986. MHP Ming hsiang p'u, by Yeh T'ing-kuei (c. 1150). Shanghai: Chung-kuo t'u-shu kung-ssu, 1914. MS Ming shih, comp. Chang T'ing-yu et al. (dated 1739). Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1974. MSL Ming shih-lu (different sections completed in different periods), ed. Chung-yang yen-chiu-yuan li-shih yu-yen yenchiu-so. Nankang: Chung-yang ... yen-chiu so, 1966. NHC Ta-te Nan-hai chih ts'an-pen, by Ch'en Ta-chen (dated 1304, fragmentary). Canton: Kuang-chou shih ti-fang chih yen-chiu, 1986. PCKT P'ing-chou k'o-t'an, by Chu Yu (dated 1119). Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng edn. PTKM Pen-ts'ao kang-mu, comp. by Li Shih-chen (dated 1596). 4 vols. Peking: Jen-min wei-sheng ch'u-panshe, 1975-81. SHY Sung hui-yao chi-kao (11th-13th c.; documents collected by Hsu Sung et al. in the 19th c.). Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1957. SS Sung shih, comp. T'o T'o and Ou-yang Hsun (c. 1345). Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1977. SYCTL Shu-yu chou tzu lu, by Yen Ts'ung-chien (preface 1574). Chung-hua wen-shih ts'ung-shu edn. TCMHL Tung-ching meng-hua lu, by Meng Yuan-lao (preface 1147). Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng edn. TICL Tao-i chih-lueh chiao-shih, Ta-yuan (dated 1349); ed. su chi-ch'ing. Peking: Chuang-hua shu-chu, 1981. TMITC Ta Ming i-t'ung chih, comp. Li Hsien et al. (dated 1461). Taipei: Wen-hai ch'u-pan-she, 1965. TPYL T'ai-p'ing yu-lan, comp. Li Fang et al. (dated 983). Kuo-hsueh chi-pen ts'ung-shu edn. WHTK Wen-hsien t'ung-k'ao, by Ma Tuan-lin (begun in late 13th c., completed in 1307, printed in early 14th c.). Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1936. (1) A related study referring to later periods is my "The Northern Trade Route to the Spice Islands," Archipel 43 (1992): 27-56. (2) See, for example, Eliyahu Ashtor, "Spice Prices in the Near East in the 15th Century," Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1976): 26, 33, 35; idem, "The Volume of Mediaeval Spice Trade," Journal of European Economic History 8 (1979): 756-59; C. H. H. Wake, "The Changing Pattern of Europe's Pepper and Spice Imports, ca. 1400-1700," JEEH 8 (1979): 363, 371-72, 396-403; idem, "The Volume of European Spice Imports at the Beginning and End of the Fifteenth Century," JEEH 15 (1986): 632-33. For an earlier study, see Jacques Heers, "Il commercio nel Mediterraneo alla fine del sec. XIV e nei primi anni del XV," Archivio Storico Italiano 113 (1955): 162, Ju-kua, 209. (15) PTKM, 3:1940-41. (16) Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, 3:168, 4:102. (17) Joseph Needham et al., Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, part IV: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Apparatus, Theories and Gifts (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1980), 159. (18) Hirth and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, 209-10; Yamada, Tozai koyaku shi, 358. (19) Only some handbooks with short references to ting-hsiang are listed here: Bernard E. Read (and Liu Ju-ch'iang), Chinese Medical Plants from the Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu, A.D. 1596: 3rd Edition of a Botanical, Chemical and Pharmacological Reference List, publ. by Peking Natural History Bulletin (Peiping: The French Bookstore, 1936), 66; idem., Flora Sinensis, series A, vol. 1: Plantae Medicinalis Sinensis: Bibliography of Chinese Medical Plants, from the Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu, 1596 A.D., 2nd ed. (Peking: Department of Pharmacology, 1927), no. 225; E. Bretschneider, Botanicon Sinicum: Notes on Chinese Botany from Native and Western Sources, 3 vols. (London: Trubner, 1882-96), 3: no. 308; Jacques Roi, Traite des plantes medicinales chinoises, Encyclopedie biologique 47 (Paris: Paul Lechevalier, 1955), 235-36; Chung-yao ta tz'u-tien, ed. Chiang-su hsin i-hsueh yuan, 3 vols. (Shanghai: Shang-hai k'o-hsueh ch'upan-she, 1977-79), 1:12-13; Chung-huajen-min kung-ho-kuo yao-tien, ed. Chung-hua jen-min kung-ho-kuo wei-sheng-pu yao-tien wei-yuan-hui, vol. 1 (Peking: Jen-min wei-sheng ch'u-pan-she, 1990), 1; Chen (=Ch'en) Yung, Chung-kuo shu fen-lei hsueh, Chung-hua nung-hsueh-hui ts'ung-shu (Nanking: Chung-hua nung-hsueh hui, 1937), 880; Chia Tsu-chang and Chia Tsu-shan, Chung-kuo chih-wu t'u-tien, 3rd ed. (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1958), 619. (20) Li Hui-lin, Nan-fang ts'ao-mu chuang: A Fourth Century Flora of Southeast Asia (Hong Kong: The Chinese Univ. Press, 1979), 11, 12, 87, 89. (21) PTKM, 3:1940-41; Hirth and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, 209-10. For earlier examples of descriptions of or references to ting-hsiang or chi-she-hsiang, see TPYL, 981.4233d4234a; HP, 1.3-4 (chi-she-hsiang and ting-hsiang considered under separate entries!); KCTSCC, ts'e 555 ("Ts'ao mu tien," ch. 301), 13a-14b. Also see the interesting comments in Yamada, Tozai kayaku shi, esp. 358. (22) Wheatley, "Commodities," 45; Edward H. Schafer, "T'ang," in Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives, ed. K. C. Chang (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1977), 110-11. For sources, see, e.g., MHP, 12b. (23) Joseph Needham and Lu Gwei-Djen, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, part II: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Magisteries of Gold and Immortality (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1974), 137, 143. (24) Schafer, op. cit. (25) PTKM, 3:1940-41; Joseph Needham et al., Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 6: Biology and Biological Technology, part 1: Botany (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1986), 277. (26) Burkill, Dictionary, 2:963-64; Watt, Dictionary, 2:203-5; Yamada, TOzai kayaku shi, 354; D. B. Stibbe et al., eds., Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indie, 4 vols. and 4 suppl. vols. (The Hague: M. Nijhoff, and Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1917-39), 2:455-58. (27) Ch'en Kao-hua and Wu T'ai, Sung Yuan shih-ch'i te haiwai mao-i (Tientsin: T'ien-chin jen-min ch'u-pan-she, 1981), 49; Jitsuzo Kuwabara, "On P'u Shou-keng, a Man of the Western Regions, who was Superintendent of the Trading Ships' Office in Ch'uan-chou...," part 1, Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 2 (1928): 18-20. (28) Pao-ch'ing Ssu ming chih, quoted after Lin Shih-min, Hai-shang ssu-ch'ou chih lu, 87. (29) Ch'en Kao-hua and Wu T'ai, Sung Yuan, 49, 78-79; Kuwabara, "On P'u Shou-keng...," part 2, Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 7 (1935): 74-76. (30) Kuan Lu-ch'uan, Sung-tai Kuang-chou te hai-wai mao-i (Canton: Kuang-tung jen-min ch'u-pan-she, 1987), 62-65; Ch'en Kao-hua and Wu T'ai, Sung Yuan, 78-83; Sun Kuang-ch'i, Chung-kuo ku-tai hang-hai shih (Peki Ju-kua, 209. (15) PTKM, 3:1940-41. (16) Yule, Cathay and the Way Thither, 3:168, 4:102. (17) Joseph Needham et al., Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, part IV: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Apparatus, Theories and Gifts (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1980), 159. (18) Hirth and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, 209-10; Yamada, Tozai koyaku shi, 358. (19) Only some handbooks with short references to ting-hsiang are listed here: Bernard E. Read (and Liu Ju-ch'iang), Chinese Medical Plants from the Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu, A.D. 1596: 3rd Edition of a Botanical, Chemical and Pharmacological Reference List, publ. by Peking Natural History Bulletin (Peiping: The French Bookstore, 1936), 66; idem., Flora Sinensis, series A, vol. 1: Plantae Medicinalis Sinensis: Bibliography of Chinese Medical Plants, from the Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu, 1596 A.D., 2nd ed. (Peking: Department of Pharmacology, 1927), no. 225; E. Bretschneider, Botanicon Sinicum: Notes on Chinese Botany from Native and Western Sources, 3 vols. (London: Trubner, 1882-96), 3: no. 308; Jacques Roi, Traite des plantes medicinales chinoises, Encyclopedie biologique 47 (Paris: Paul Lechevalier, 1955), 235-36; Chung-yao ta tz'u-tien, ed. Chiang-su hsin i-hsueh yuan, 3 vols. (Shanghai: Shang-hai k'o-hsueh ch'upan-she, 1977-79), 1:12-13; Chung-huajen-min kung-ho-kuo yao-tien, ed. Chung-hua jen-min kung-ho-kuo wei-sheng-pu yao-tien wei-yuan-hui, vol. 1 (Peking: Jen-min wei-sheng ch'u-pan-she, 1990), 1; Chen (=Ch'en) Yung, Chung-kuo shu fen-lei hsueh, Chung-hua nung-hsueh-hui ts'ung-shu (Nanking: Chung-hua nung-hsueh hui, 1937), 880; Chia Tsu-chang and Chia Tsu-shan, Chung-kuo chih-wu t'u-tien, 3rd ed. (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1958), 619. (20) Li Hui-lin, Nan-fang ts'ao-mu chuang: A Fourth Century Flora of Southeast Asia (Hong Kong: The Chinese Univ. Press, 1979), 11, 12, 87, 89. (21) PTKM, 3:1940-41; Hirth and Rockhill, Chau Ju-kua, 209-10. For earlier examples of descriptions of or references to ting-hsiang or chi-she-hsiang, see TPYL, 981.4233d4234a; HP, 1.3-4 (chi-she-hsiang and ting-hsiang considered under separate entries!); KCTSCC, ts'e 555 ("Ts'ao mu tien," ch. 301), 13a-14b. Also see the interesting comments in Yamada, Tozai kayaku shi, esp. 358. (22) Wheatley, "Commodities," 45; Edward H. Schafer, "T'ang," in Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives, ed. K. C. Chang (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1977), 110-11. For sources, see, e.g., MHP, 12b. (23) Joseph Needham and Lu Gwei-Djen, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, part II: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Magisteries of Gold and Immortality (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1974), 137, 143. (24) Schafer, op. cit. (25) PTKM, 3:1940-41; Joseph Needham et al., Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 6: Biology and Biological Technology, part 1: Botany (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1986), 277. (26) Burkill, Dictionary, 2:963-64; Watt, Dictionary, 2:203-5; Yamada, TOzai kayaku shi, 354; D. B. Stibbe et al., eds., Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indie, 4 vols. and 4 suppl. vols. (The Hague: M. Nijhoff, and Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1917-39), 2:455-58. (27) Ch'en Kao-hua and Wu T'ai, Sung Yuan shih-ch'i te haiwai mao-i (Tientsin: T'ien-chin jen-min ch'u-pan-she, 1981), 49; Jitsuzo Kuwabara, "On P'u Shou-keng, a Man of the Western Regions, who was Superintendent of the Trading Ships' Office in Ch'uan-chou...," part 1, Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 2 (1928): 18-20. (28) Pao-ch'ing Ssu ming chih, quoted after Lin Shih-min, Hai-shang ssu-ch'ou chih lu, 87. (29) Ch'en Kao-hua and Wu T'ai, Sung Yuan, 49, 78-79; Kuwabara, "On P'u Shou-keng...," part 2, Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 7 (1935): 74-76. (30) Kuan Lu-ch'uan, Sung-tai Kuang-chou te hai-wai mao-i (Canton: Kuang-tung jen-min ch'u-pan-she, 1987), 62-65; Ch'en Kao-hua and Wu T'ai, Sung Yuan, 78-83; Sun Kuang-ch'i, Chung-kuo ku-tai hang-hai shih (Pekieking: Hai-yang ch'u-panshe, 1988), 57-87; Li Tung-hua, Ch'uan-chou yu wo-kuo, 195-224; Ch'en Ts'ang-sung, "Shih-po kuan-li," 153-58. The last study contains an interesting comparison between Ch'uan-chou and Canton. (44) NHC, 36. (45) TICL, 175, 177 n. 4, 204, 207-8 n. 4, 257, 330, 364, 375. (46) IYC, 2.58, 69, 81; IYTC, 43a, 89a. Arabic sources contain equally vague references to a "Clove Mine," the "Islands of Cloves," and the "Island of Perfume"; see Tibbetts, Arabic Texts, 180. (47) NHC, 37-38; TICL, 93-96, 178-81, 209-13; Carrie C. Brown, "The Eastern Ocean in the Yung-lo ta-tien," Brunei Museum Journal 4.2 (1978): 53; Ch'en Chia-jung, Chung-wai chiao-t'ung shih (Hong Kong: Learner's Bookstore, 1987), 368; and my "Some References to Timor in Old Chinese Records," Ming Studies 17 (1983): 16. (48) See TICL, 148, 209; and my "Kurze Zusammenfassung der wichtigsten chinesischen Nachrichten zu den Sulu-Inseln wahrend der Ming-Zeit," ZDMG 136 (1986): 627-28. (49) Th. M. Jacobs, tr. and ed., A Treatise on the Moluccas (c. 1544): Probably the Preliminary Version of Antonio Galvao's Lost Historia das Molucas, Sources and Studies for the History of the Jesuits 3 (Rome and St. Louis: Jesuit Historical Institute, 1971), 79, 81. (50) See references in Chung-kuo ku-chi chung yu kuan Fei-lu-pin tzu-liao hui-pien, ed. Chung-shan ta-hsueh Tung-nan-ya li-shih yen-chiu-so (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1980), 16; and TICL, 93, 95-96, for Klabat and the imported textiles. (51) On the Yuan campaign against Java, see Slametmuljana, A Story of Majapahit (Singapore: Singapore Univ. Press, 1976), 67-73; George Coedes, Les Etats hindouises d'Indochine et d'Indonesie (rpt. Paris: de Boccard, 1964), 361-66. (52) MSL, Tai-tsu, 71.1316, 114.1879, 195.2925, 196.2943. The material on tribute delegations from maritime countries is conveniently presented in a number of works - e.g., Hiroshi Watanabe, "An Index of Embassies and Tribute Missions from Islamic Countries to Ming-China (1368-1644) as Recorded in the Ming shih-lu, Classified according to Geographic Area," Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 23 (1975): 285-347; Cheng Ho hsia Hsi-yang tzu-liao hui-pien, ed. Cheng Hao-sheng and Cheng I-chun, 2 vols. in 3 (Tsinan: Ch'i Lu shu-she, 1980-1983), 2:2, 1158-1296; Ming shih-lu lei-tsuan, She-wai shih-liao chuan, ed. Li Kuo-hsiang et al. (Wuhan: Wu-han ch'u-pan-she, 1991); Geoff Wade, "The `Ming shi-lu' as a Source for Southeast Asian History, 14th to 17th Centuries," paper presented to the 12th IAHA conference in Hong Kong, June 1991 (the appendix of 117 pp. contains an index of tribute delegations). (53) HCSL, ch'ien-chi, 32. (54) TMITC, 90.5540. (55) HYCKTL, 1.41, 45; 2.61, 69. (56) For example, SYCTL, 7.380; 8.405, 411, 419, 430; 9.440. (57) J. V. Mills, "Chinese Navigators in Insulinde about A.D. 1500," Archipel 18 (1979): 73, 79. The Tung-hsi-yang k'ao and other sources with information on the Moluccas also refer to later periods. (58) Chuang Wei-chi, "Yuan-mo wai-tsu p'an-luan yu Ch'uan-chou kang te shuai-jo," Ch'uan-chou wen-shih 1980.4:17-25; Chang Pin-tsun, "Maritime Trade and Local Economy in Late Ming Fukien," in Development and Decline of Fukien Province in the !7th and !8th Centuries, ed. E. B. Vermeer, Sinica Leidensia 22 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1990), 65. (59) O. W. Wolters, The Fall of Srivijaya in Malay History (London: Asia Major Library, Lund Humphries, 1970), 67-68. (60) Sources in Chung-kuo ku-chi chung yu kuan Fei-lu-pin tzu-liao hui-pien, 75, 81, 83, 90. Also see Liu Tzu-cheng, "Ming-tai Chung-kuo yu Wen-lai chiao-wang k'ao," Ming shih yen-chiu chuan-k'an 5 (1982): 5, 12-13; N. J. Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche geschiedenis (rpt. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1931), 432-39; Denys Lombard, Le Carrefour javanais: Essai d'histoire globale, Civilisations et societes 79, 3 vols. (Paris: Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 1990), 2: 36, 40. It is difficult to determine the nature of relations between Java and the other places mentioned. For this also seeking: Hai-yang ch'u-panshe, 1988), 57-87; Li Tung-hua, Ch'uan-chou yu wo-kuo, 195-224; Ch'en Ts'ang-sung, "Shih-po kuan-li," 153-58. The last study contains an interesting comparison between Ch'uan-chou and Canton. (44) NHC, 36. (45) TICL, 175, 177 n. 4, 204, 207-8 n. 4, 257, 330, 364, 375. (46) IYC, 2.58, 69, 81; IYTC, 43a, 89a. Arabic sources contain equally vague references to a "Clove Mine," the "Islands of Cloves," and the "Island of Perfume"; see Tibbetts, Arabic Texts, 180. (47) NHC, 37-38; TICL, 93-96, 178-81, 209-13; Carrie C. Brown, "The Eastern Ocean in the Yung-lo ta-tien," Brunei Museum Journal 4.2 (1978): 53; Ch'en Chia-jung, Chung-wai chiao-t'ung shih (Hong Kong: Learner's Bookstore, 1987), 368; and my "Some References to Timor in Old Chinese Records," Ming Studies 17 (1983): 16. (48) See TICL, 148, 209; and my "Kurze Zusammenfassung der wichtigsten chinesischen Nachrichten zu den Sulu-Inseln wahrend der Ming-Zeit," ZDMG 136 (1986): 627-28. (49) Th. M. Jacobs, tr. and ed., A Treatise on the Moluccas (c. 1544): Probably the Preliminary Version of Antonio Galvao's Lost Historia das Molucas, Sources and Studies for the History of the Jesuits 3 (Rome and St. Louis: Jesuit Historical Institute, 1971), 79, 81. (50) See references in Chung-kuo ku-chi chung yu kuan Fei-lu-pin tzu-liao hui-pien, ed. Chung-shan ta-hsueh Tung-nan-ya li-shih yen-chiu-so (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1980), 16; and TICL, 93, 95-96, for Klabat and the imported textiles. (51) On the Yuan campaign against Java, see Slametmuljana, A Story of Majapahit (Singapore: Singapore Univ. Press, 1976), 67-73; George Coedes, Les Etats hindouises d'Indochine et d'Indonesie (rpt. Paris: de Boccard, 1964), 361-66. (52) MSL, Tai-tsu, 71.1316, 114.1879, 195.2925, 196.2943. The material on tribute delegations from maritime countries is conveniently presented in a number of works - e.g., Hiroshi Watanabe, "An Index of Embassies and Tribute Missions from Islamic Countries to Ming-China (1368-1644) as Recorded in the Ming shih-lu, Classified according to Geographic Area," Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 23 (1975): 285-347; Cheng Ho hsia Hsi-yang tzu-liao hui-pien, ed. Cheng Hao-sheng and Cheng I-chun, 2 vols. in 3 (Tsinan: Ch'i Lu shu-she, 1980-1983), 2:2, 1158-1296; Ming shih-lu lei-tsuan, She-wai shih-liao chuan, ed. Li Kuo-hsiang et al. (Wuhan: Wu-han ch'u-pan-she, 1991); Geoff Wade, "The `Ming shi-lu' as a Source for Southeast Asian History, 14th to 17th Centuries," paper presented to the 12th IAHA conference in Hong Kong, June 1991 (the appendix of 117 pp. contains an index of tribute delegations). (53) HCSL, ch'ien-chi, 32. (54) TMITC, 90.5540. (55) HYCKTL, 1.41, 45; 2.61, 69. (56) For example, SYCTL, 7.380; 8.405, 411, 419, 430; 9.440. (57) J. V. Mills, "Chinese Navigators in Insulinde about A.D. 1500," Archipel 18 (1979): 73, 79. The Tung-hsi-yang k'ao and other sources with information on the Moluccas also refer to later periods. (58) Chuang Wei-chi, "Yuan-mo wai-tsu p'an-luan yu Ch'uan-chou kang te shuai-jo," Ch'uan-chou wen-shih 1980.4:17-25; Chang Pin-tsun, "Maritime Trade and Local Economy in Late Ming Fukien," in Development and Decline of Fukien Province in the !7th and !8th Centuries, ed. E. B. Vermeer, Sinica Leidensia 22 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1990), 65. (59) O. W. Wolters, The Fall of Srivijaya in Malay History (London: Asia Major Library, Lund Humphries, 1970), 67-68. (60) Sources in Chung-kuo ku-chi chung yu kuan Fei-lu-pin tzu-liao hui-pien, 75, 81, 83, 90. Also see Liu Tzu-cheng, "Ming-tai Chung-kuo yu Wen-lai chiao-wang k'ao," Ming shih yen-chiu chuan-k'an 5 (1982): 5, 12-13; N. J. Krom, Hindoe-Javaansche geschiedenis (rpt. The Hague: M. Nijhoff, 1931), 432-39; Denys Lombard, Le Carrefour javanais: Essai d'histoire globale, Civilisations et societes 79, 3 vols. (Paris: Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 1990), 2: 36, 40. It is difficult to determine the nature of relations between Java and the other places mentioned. For this also sees, and collected biographies.(1) This new, fragmented arrangement of historical data allowed Ssu-ma Ch'ien to approach events from diverse angles, and indeed he sometimes narrates a single incident more than once, in different chapters, from slightly different points of view. Wu Hung has noted, with particular reference to Ssu-ma Ch'ien, that "whenever an author deliberately made a major change in the form of historical descriptions and interpretations, he was exercising a new idea about history."(2) If we assume that all five sections of the Shih chi were integral to Ssuma's conception of history, what are we to make of the chronological tables? What function did they serve in Ssu-ma's history and in his historical thought?

The Shih chi's ten tables consist of gridded tabulations of information with time, in some form, being represented along one axis. Various tables mark time by generations, years, or months, with years sometimes being grouped by emperor or reign-name. On the other axis are family branches, feudal states, fiefs, or government offices, depending on the table. Within this framework Ssu-ma Ch'ien places names, information about these individuals, important events, and specific dates. Most of the people and events recorded in the tables are mentioned elsewhere in the Shih chi, but the tables allow readers to see at a glance what was happening in several places simultaneously and also provide an overall temporal structure for the fragmented narratives (for example, the tables' synopsis of the order of local rulers is invaluable when one is thumbing through the Shih chi trying to determine if there is more information on a specific person).

So far in my account, the tables operate as a guide to the main text, integrating information that can be found in other chapters and coordinating chronology. These functions have been widely praised in Chinese historiography; for instance, Chang Ta-k'o [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] refers to the tables as a "bridge" between the annals and the biographies, and he further compares the tables to the woof that holds together the warp of the other Shih Chi sections.(3) Nevertheless, some commentators have suggested additional functions in which the tables supplement the annals and biographies. The Ch'ing scholar Chao I [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (1727-1814) noted that officials whose achievements or mistakes did not merit separate biographies could be treated in the tables, and he further observed that the information in the tables allowed the biographies to avoid lengthy explanations that would unduly complicate the narrative.(4) More recently, Hsu Fu-kuan [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] has proposed that Ssu-ma Ch'ien used the tables to highlight key events.(5) This last suggestion contradicts the preceding point, which held that the tables communicate nonessential information, and raises a crucial question: are the tables merely indexes and supplements, or do they embody interpretive insights?

Several critics seem to have opted for the latter. Ssu-ma Chen [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (fl. c. 725), who wrote a T'ang-dynasty commentary on the Shih chi, explained that the term "tables" (piao [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED]) meant "to illuminate" (ming [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED!), and he suggested that the tables served to bring to light obscure points of history.(6) The Sung-dynasty historian Cheng Ch'iao [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (1108-66), in the preface to the chronological tables in his own comprehensive history, the T'ung chih [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] noted that:

For specialists in the study of history, nothing is easier than [to write] annals and biographies, and nothing is more difficult than tables and monographs. The Grand Astrologer [Ssu-ma Ch'ien] encapsulated his entire book, all within the ten tables.(7)

And a typical modern scholar, Chou Hu'lin [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] quotes the above comments and refers to the tables as the "soul," the spirit," the essence," and the "lifeblood" of the Shih chi, without specifying hes, and collected biographies.(1) This new, fragmented arrangement of historical data allowed Ssu-ma Ch'ien to approach events from diverse angles, and indeed he sometimes narrates a single incident more than once, in different chapters, from slightly different points of view. Wu Hung has noted, with particular reference to Ssu-ma Ch'ien, that "whenever an author deliberately made a major change in the form of historical descriptions and interpretations, he was exercising a new idea about history."(2) If we assume that all five sections of the Shih chi were integral to Ssuma's conception of history, what are we to make of the chronological tables? What function did they serve in Ssu-ma's history and in his historical thought?

The Shih chi's ten tables consist of gridded tabulations of information with time, in some form, being represented along one axis. Various tables mark time by generations, years, or months, with years sometimes being grouped by emperor or reign-name. On the other axis are family branches, feudal states, fiefs, or government offices, depending on the table. Within this framework Ssu-ma Ch'ien places names, information about these individuals, important events, and specific dates. Most of the people and events recorded in the tables are mentioned elsewhere in the Shih chi, but the tables allow readers to see at a glance what was happening in several places simultaneously and also provide an overall temporal structure for the fragmented narratives (for example, the tables' synopsis of the order of local rulers is invaluable when one is thumbing through the Shih chi trying to determine if there is more information on a specific person).

So far in my account, the tables operate as a guide to the main text, integrating information that can be found in other chapters and coordinating chronology. These functions have been widely praised in Chinese historiography; for instance, Chang Ta-k'o [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] refers to the tables as a "bridge" between the annals and the biographies, and he further compares the tables to the woof that holds together the warp of the other Shih Chi sections.(3) Nevertheless, some commentators have suggested additional functions in which the tables supplement the annals and biographies. The Ch'ing scholar Chao I [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (1727-1814) noted that officials whose achievements or mistakes did not merit separate biographies could be treated in the tables, and he further observed that the information in the tables allowed the biographies to avoid lengthy explanations that would unduly complicate the narrative.(4) More recently, Hsu Fu-kuan [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] has proposed that Ssu-ma Ch'ien used the tables to highlight key events.(5) This last suggestion contradicts the preceding point, which held that the tables communicate nonessential information, and raises a crucial question: are the tables merely indexes and supplements, or do they embody interpretive insights?

Several critics seem to have opted for the latter. Ssu-ma Chen [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (fl. c. 725), who wrote a T'ang-dynasty commentary on the Shih chi, explained that the term "tables" (piao [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED]) meant "to illuminate" (ming [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED!), and he suggested that the tables served to bring to light obscure points of history.(6) The Sung-dynasty historian Cheng Ch'iao [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (1108-66), in the preface to the chronological tables in his own comprehensive history, the T'ung chih [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] noted that:

For specialists in the study of history, nothing is easier than [to write] annals and biographies, and nothing is more difficult than tables and monographs. The Grand Astrologer [Ssu-ma Ch'ien] encapsulated his entire book, all within the ten tables.(7)

And a typical modern scholar, Chou Hu'lin [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] quotes the above comments and refers to the tables as the "soul," the spirit," the essence," and the "lifeblood" of the Shih chi, without specifying hssin-retainers, Reasonable Officials, and Money-makers (SC 62-66, 86, 119, 129), as well as the monograph on the feng and shan sacrifices (SC 28).

The disjointed structure of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's account of this period perhaps reflects the chaotic nature of Chinese society at the time, but in any case it makes it difficult to relate individuals to their larger contexts, especially given the many wars, territorial shifts, and inter-state fugitives and adventurers that characterized the Spring and Autumn Era. For example, stories about Kuan Chung [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (d. 645 B.C.), a statesman of Ch'i, appear in nine chapters in addition to his own biography, and readers are forced to keep in mind several contexts, all of which must be correlated chronologically.

The narrative portions of the Shih chi make some attempt to aid readers in this task; for instance, most of the hereditary houses break the narratives of their respective states to note the assassination of Duke Yin of the state of Lu in 712 B.C. (apparently this event sent shock waves through all the feudal states).(16) Since each state used its own calendar, numbering years from the ascension of whichever feudal lord was on the throne, a single event such as this can help tremendously in fixing relative chronologies. But it is not as effective as the "Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords," where the reader knows at every instant what is going on throughout China (Kuan Chung's life is fixed by four entries in SC 14). There is no question that the table is useful, but is there more?

The form of the table itself reveals several important aspects of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's historiography. First, he was deeply concerned with accuracy. As Cheng Ch'iao noted, constructing tables is painstaking work, especially since the Ch'in regime had systematically destroyed the chronicles of the other feudal states, yet Ssu-ma provides us with a detailed year-by-year reconstruction.(17) The table is not perfect, and indeed as Liang Yu-sheng [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] often points out in his commentary, the dates in the table do not always match up with dates in other sections of the Shih chi, but the "Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords" is an impressive achievement nonetheless.(18) Perhaps even more telling, there are at least thirteen instances where the table corrects dates from the Spring and Autumn Annals themselves. Ssu-ma's regard for accuracy led to the type of skepticism that allowed him to contradict directly the Confucian classics when he felt he had more accurate information.(19)

Second, the table exhibits Ssu-ma's fascination with hierarchy. The first thing one notices about the "Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords" is that it actually has rows for fourteen states. If, as Chuan Chan-heng[UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] suggests, we exclude both Chou and Lu (the top two rows) from the count because of their superior stations (Chou was the royal house, and the Spring and Autumn Annals were based on the annals of Lu), we have twelve feudal states which seem to be organized according to social hierarchy.(20) The next four states in order are Ch'i, Chin, Ch'in, and Ch'u. This is a traditional ordering of the first four of the Five Hegemons (Wu being the fifth).(21) There are other orderings, but it is clear that Ssu-ma Ch'ien followed this one since he specified Ch'i, Chin, Ch'in, and Ch'u as hegemons in his introduction to the table. If we suppose that Wu has been transferred to the bottom row for some reason (either its semi-barbarian nature or simply because it was the last state enfeoffed), the next row is Sung, which is also often included among the Five Hegemons. I do not know exactly what criteria were used in assigning the rest of the rows, but I suspect that some sort of social hierarchy was involved. Thus the state up from Wu is Yen, another semi-barbarian state, rather than Cheng, which was the second-to-last to be enfeoffed.(22)

Third, Ssu-ma Ch'ien was very selective in what he chosssin-retainers, Reasonable Officials, and Money-makers (SC 62-66, 86, 119, 129), as well as the monograph on the feng and shan sacrifices (SC 28).

The disjointed structure of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's account of this period perhaps reflects the chaotic nature of Chinese society at the time, but in any case it makes it difficult to relate individuals to their larger contexts, especially given the many wars, territorial shifts, and inter-state fugitives and adventurers that characterized the Spring and Autumn Era. For example, stories about Kuan Chung [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (d. 645 B.C.), a statesman of Ch'i, appear in nine chapters in addition to his own biography, and readers are forced to keep in mind several contexts, all of which must be correlated chronologically.

The narrative portions of the Shih chi make some attempt to aid readers in this task; for instance, most of the hereditary houses break the narratives of their respective states to note the assassination of Duke Yin of the state of Lu in 712 B.C. (apparently this event sent shock waves through all the feudal states).(16) Since each state used its own calendar, numbering years from the ascension of whichever feudal lord was on the throne, a single event such as this can help tremendously in fixing relative chronologies. But it is not as effective as the "Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords," where the reader knows at every instant what is going on throughout China (Kuan Chung's life is fixed by four entries in SC 14). There is no question that the table is useful, but is there more?

The form of the table itself reveals several important aspects of Ssu-ma Ch'ien's historiography. First, he was deeply concerned with accuracy. As Cheng Ch'iao noted, constructing tables is painstaking work, especially since the Ch'in regime had systematically destroyed the chronicles of the other feudal states, yet Ssu-ma provides us with a detailed year-by-year reconstruction.(17) The table is not perfect, and indeed as Liang Yu-sheng [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] often points out in his commentary, the dates in the table do not always match up with dates in other sections of the Shih chi, but the "Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords" is an impressive achievement nonetheless.(18) Perhaps even more telling, there are at least thirteen instances where the table corrects dates from the Spring and Autumn Annals themselves. Ssu-ma's regard for accuracy led to the type of skepticism that allowed him to contradict directly the Confucian classics when he felt he had more accurate information.(19)

Second, the table exhibits Ssu-ma's fascination with hierarchy. The first thing one notices about the "Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords" is that it actually has rows for fourteen states. If, as Chuan Chan-heng[UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] suggests, we exclude both Chou and Lu (the top two rows) from the count because of their superior stations (Chou was the royal house, and the Spring and Autumn Annals were based on the annals of Lu), we have twelve feudal states which seem to be organized according to social hierarchy.(20) The next four states in order are Ch'i, Chin, Ch'in, and Ch'u. This is a traditional ordering of the first four of the Five Hegemons (Wu being the fifth).(21) There are other orderings, but it is clear that Ssu-ma Ch'ien followed this one since he specified Ch'i, Chin, Ch'in, and Ch'u as hegemons in his introduction to the table. If we suppose that Wu has been transferred to the bottom row for some reason (either its semi-barbarian nature or simply because it was the last state enfeoffed), the next row is Sung, which is also often included among the Five Hegemons. I do not know exactly what criteria were used in assigning the rest of the rows, but I suspect that some sort of social hierarchy was involved. Thus the state up from Wu is Yen, another semi-barbarian state, rather than Cheng, which was the second-to-last to be enfeoffed.(22)

Third, Ssu-ma Ch'ien was very selective in what he choslies (births, marriage problems, disputes of brothers, etc.) 28 Arrests and kidnappings 23 Cities (moving capitals, building walls, etc.) 10 Confucius (biographical details) 9 Other (sacrifices, state organization, taxes, etc.) 27 [Note that the total exceeds 870 since a single entry may include more than one type of comment; for example, assassinations, succession stories, and flights are often combined.!

There is always a danger in this sort of exercise that the categories reflect one's own interests more than Ssu-ma Ch'ien's.(27) For instance, I have grouped together under "wars" a wide variety of military maneuvers including "punitive attacks" fa [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "attacks" kung [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "routs" p'o [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "defeats" pai [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "invasions" ch'in [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED!, "surprise attacks" hsi [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "sieges" wei [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "rescues" chiu [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], and "extinctions" mieh [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED!, even though Ssu-ma Ch'ien and his contemporaries could have regarded these as very different sorts of events. Nevertheless, I believe that the above table is a fair, albeit rough, representation of the types of historical data Ssu-ma considered important.

It is significant that the included events center on the political situation of the period-wars, state relations, the fortunes of ruling families, and changes of authority. This focus may not be surprising to readers of the other Shih chi sections, but it does offer a counter-example to Hayden White's characterization of the annals genre in the Western historiographical tradition. The "Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords" represents history in an annalistic fashion, that is, continuity is provided by the steady progression of years, many years have no entries, and the whole has no natural climax or denouement. Most importantly, the form of the table is overwhelmingly non-narrative, despite occasional connections between entries (see 719 Wei, 719 Ch'en, and 718 Wei, above, for Chou-hsu's [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED! rebellion, arrest, and execution) and some extended entries (such as the reconciliation with a mother in 721 Cheng). But the relationship between entries is seldom explicitly defined.(28) White regards such annals as politically uncentered, as lacking a clear notion of law or authority, but this is evidently not the case with the table.(29)_Both its hierarchical form and the types of events it includes (note the specific entries on Confucius) suggest a very political orientation.(30)

A tabulation of the entries by states shows little geographical bias:

Chin 121 Ch'in 54

Lu 113 Chou 38

Ch'u 103 Ch'en 37

Ch'i 82 Wu 37

Cheng 80 Ts'ao 36

Sung 58 Ts'ai 30

Wei 57 Yen 24

The states that were largest and most aggressive during this period tend to have the most notations.(31) Even the state of Chou, the royal house, has a low number of entries that corresponds to its relative weakness. Ssu-ma Ch'ien did not try to bolster its prestige by including extraneous notations on ceremony or tradition. However, there is one glaring exception, and that is the state of Lu, whose entries far outnumber its actual political importance. This is due in part to the fact that Ssu-ma relied heavily on the records from this state (the Annals in particular), but it also reflects a bias in the distribution of certain types of comments. There are twenty-three eclipses and four earthquakes included in the table, and all of these are recorded under Lu, though they presumably affected other regions as well.(32)

Yet one may wonder if Ssu-ma Ch'ien regarded all the categories that I have identified as equally important. Perhaps particularly surprising is the extensivelies (births, marriage problems, disputes of brothers, etc.)

28 Arrests and kidnappings

23 Cities (moving capitals, building walls, etc.)

10 Confucius (biographical details) 9 Other (sacrifices, state organization, taxes, etc.) 27 [Note that the total exceeds 870 since a single entry may include more than one type of comment; for example, assassinations, succession stories, and flights are often combined.!

There is always a danger in this sort of exercise that the categories reflect one's own interests more than Ssu-ma Ch'ien's.(27) For instance, I have grouped together under "wars" a wide variety of military maneuvers including "punitive attacks" fa [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "attacks" kung [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "routs" p'o [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "defeats" pai [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "invasions" ch'in [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED!, "surprise attacks" hsi [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "sieges" wei [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], "rescues" chiu [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], and "extinctions" mieh [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED!, even though Ssu-ma Ch'ien and his contemporaries could have regarded these as very different sorts of events. Nevertheless, I believe that the above table is a fair, albeit rough, representation of the types of historical data Ssu-ma considered important.

It is significant that the included events center on the political situation of the period-wars, state relations, the fortunes of ruling families, and changes of authority. This focus may not be surprising to readers of the other Shih chi sections, but it does offer a counter-example to Hayden White's characterization of the annals genre in the Western historiographical tradition. The "Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords" represents history in an annalistic fashion, that is, continuity is provided by the steady progression of years, many years have no entries, and the whole has no natural climax or denouement. Most importantly, the form of the table is overwhelmingly non-narrative, despite occasional connections between entries (see 719 Wei, 719 Ch'en, and 718 Wei, above, for Chou-hsu's [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED! rebellion, arrest, and execution) and some extended entries (such as the reconciliation with a mother in 721 Cheng). But the relationship between entries is seldom explicitly defined.(28) White regards such annals as politically uncentered, as lacking a clear notion of law or authority, but this is evidently not the case with the table.(29)_Both its hierarchical form and the types of events it includes (note the specific entries on Confucius) suggest a very political orientation.(30)

A tabulation of the entries by states shows little geographical bias:

Chin 121 Ch'in 54

Lu 113 Chou 38

Ch'u 103 Ch'en 37

Ch'i 82 Wu 37

Cheng 80 Ts'ao 36

Sung 58 Ts'ai 30

Wei 57 Yen 24

The states that were largest and most aggressive during this period tend to have the most notations.(31) Even the state of Chou, the royal house, has a low number of entries that corresponds to its relative weakness. Ssu-ma Ch'ien did not try to bolster its prestige by including extraneous notations on ceremony or tradition. However, there is one glaring exception, and that is the state of Lu, whose entries far outnumber its actual political importance. This is due in part to the fact that Ssu-ma relied heavily on the records from this state (the Annals in particular), but it also reflects a bias in the distribution of certain types of comments. There are twenty-three eclipses and four earthquakes included in the table, and all of these are recorded under Lu, though they presumably affected other regions as well.(32)

Yet one may wonder if Ssu-ma Ch'ien regarded all the categories that I have identified as equally important. Perhaps particularly surprising is the extensivep gradually over a long period." For this reason one who rules a state cannot afford not to know the Spring and Autumn. If he does not, he will fail to perceive slander near about him, or will not understand the reason when rebels rise behind his back.(37)

Scholars in the Han dynasty regarded the Annals as a handbook of political interpretation, and great efforts were made to decode the judgments that Confucius had reputedly hidden in the text. This effort, revolving around nuances of terms and selection, was largely fruitless since the compiler of the Annals (probably not Confucius) did not encode such messages.(38) But this type of deciphering may apply, in some degree, to the "Table of the Twelve Feudal Lords." It seems that in some cases Ssu-ma had specific interpretations in mind when he included certain minor details.

A few entries contain their own interpretations. The notion of li [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], or correct behavior, was a prominent concern in the Confucian world-view, and it figures explicitly in ten notations, usually in the form of "so-and-so did not observe li."(39) In effect, Ssu-ma Ch'ien is reading these instances as signs, though they may have also been partial causes; war could answer the insult occasioned by a lack of li (as it did in Ch'u in 684 B.C.). So also when Ssu-ma notes an event and adds "a gentleman criticized this" or some similar remarks, his own disapproval is clear.(40)

This type of interpretation is similar to what we find in the Tso chuan, and indeed six of the above judgments on li are directly quoted from that text.(41) But there are other entries whose meanings are not so obvious. For example, at 770 Ch'in we read, "First established the Western Altar to sacrifice to the White Emperor." The import of this is puzzling until we read the introduction to the "Table by Years of the Six States," where Ssu-ma Ch'ien observes that when Duke Hsiang of Ch'in was first enfeoffed he built the Western Altar, which he used to serve Shang-ti. This impinged on the prerogatives of the King of Chou, and Ssu-ma notes, "Here is the first sign of usurpation.... Such behavior is enough to fill a gentleman with fear!"(42)

At times it is possible to ascertain the meaning of events from later developments in the table. For instance, the following notations appear to concern only minor family affairs:

741 Wei - "[The Duke] loved Chou-hsu, the son of his concubine, and Chou-hsu liked military matters." 735 Wei - "The queen had no sons, so Duke Huan ascended to the throne." 734 Wei - "Duke Huan of Wei, named Wan, first year." 733 Wei - "His younger brother Chou-hsu was arrogant. Huan demoted him and he fled abroad."

But when we read the entries for 719 and 718 describing Chou-hsul's coup and assassination of Duke Huan (translated above), we realize that these seemingly trivial events were actually the seeds of much more important developments.(43) Nevertheless, it is usually necessary to turn to the narratives in the "basic annals" and "hereditary houses" to discover the connections between the entries in the table. Thus in the chapters of "hereditary houses" devoted to Wei, Sung, and Cheng, we learn that Chou-hsu was joined by Prince Tuan (noted at 722 Cheng) in his revolt, that he used Prince P'ing (of 720 Sung) as a pretense for a military alliance with the state of Sung, and that Cheng's attack on Sung (at 718 Sung) was in retaliation for a military campaign of the new alliance.(44) Here an advantage of the chronological tables becomes evident. Where the narratives of various houses are good at tracing direct lines of causation (which would be represented horizontally in the table), the table represents a web of connections, both horizontal and vertical, provided one already knows the various accounts in the Shih chi.

It would seem that in most cases, the entries in the table function as a distillation of the Shih chi narratives, with Ssu-ma Ch'ien selecting details of greatest importance (either for politip gradually over a long period." For this reason one who rules a state cannot afford not to know the Spring and Autumn. If he does not, he will fail to perceive slander near about him, or will not understand the reason when rebels rise behind his back.(37)

Scholars in the Han dynasty regarded the Annals as a handbook of political interpretation, and great efforts were made to decode the judgments that Confucius had reputedly hidden in the text. This effort, revolving around nuances of terms and selection, was largely fruitless since the compiler of the Annals (probably not Confucius) did not encode such messages.(38) But this type of deciphering may apply, in some degree, to the "Table of the Twelve Feudal Lords." It seems that in some cases Ssu-ma had specific interpretations in mind when he included certain minor details.

A few entries contain their own interpretations. The notion of li [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], or correct behavior, was a prominent concern in the Confucian world-view, and it figures explicitly in ten notations, usually in the form of "so-and-so did not observe li."(39) In effect, Ssu-ma Ch'ien is reading these instances as signs, though they may have also been partial causes; war could answer the insult occasioned by a lack of li (as it did in Ch'u in 684 B.C.). So also when Ssu-ma notes an event and adds "a gentleman criticized this" or some similar remarks, his own disapproval is clear.(40)

This type of interpretation is similar to what we find in the Tso chuan, and indeed six of the above judgments on li are directly quoted from that text.(41) But there are other entries whose meanings are not so obvious. For example, at 770 Ch'in we read, "First established the Western Altar to sacrifice to the White Emperor." The import of this is puzzling until we read the introduction to the "Table by Years of the Six States," where Ssu-ma Ch'ien observes that when Duke Hsiang of Ch'in was first enfeoffed he built the Western Altar, which he used to serve Shang-ti. This impinged on the prerogatives of the King of Chou, and Ssu-ma notes, "Here is the first sign of usurpation.... Such behavior is enough to fill a gentleman with fear!"(42)

At times it is possible to ascertain the meaning of events from later developments in the table. For instance, the following notations appear to concern only minor family affairs:

741 Wei - "[The Duke] loved Chou-hsu, the son of his concubine, and Chou-hsu liked military matters." 735 Wei - "The queen had no sons, so Duke Huan ascended to the throne." 734 Wei - "Duke Huan of Wei, named Wan, first year." 733 Wei - "His younger brother Chou-hsu was arrogant. Huan demoted him and he fled abroad."

But when we read the entries for 719 and 718 describing Chou-hsul's coup and assassination of Duke Huan (translated above), we realize that these seemingly trivial events were actually the seeds of much more important developments.(43) Nevertheless, it is usually necessary to turn to the narratives in the "basic annals" and "hereditary houses" to discover the connections between the entries in the table. Thus in the chapters of "hereditary houses" devoted to Wei, Sung, and Cheng, we learn that Chou-hsu was joined by Prince Tuan (noted at 722 Cheng) in his revolt, that he used Prince P'ing (of 720 Sung) as a pretense for a military alliance with the state of Sung, and that Cheng's attack on Sung (at 718 Sung) was in retaliation for a military campaign of the new alliance.(44) Here an advantage of the chronological tables becomes evident. Where the narratives of various houses are good at tracing direct lines of causation (which would be represented horizontally in the table), the table represents a web of connections, both horizontal and vertical, provided one already knows the various accounts in the Shih chi.

It would seem that in most cases, the entries in the table function as a distillation of the Shih chi narratives, with Ssu-ma Ch'ien selecting details of greatest importance (either for politiention of Kuo yu specialists is puzzling since Kamada Tadashi could identify only four entries that directly rely on that text,(50) and at least one feature of the table seems to require the type of esoteric explanation provided by the Kung-yang and Ku-liang - although the Annals note thirty-six eclipses, Shih chi 14 records only twenty-three. I have no idea why.

The Shih chi tables, although they share a common form with Western medieval annals, are of a very different nature. This difference might be summed up best by describing the tables as post-narrative rather than pre-narrative. They derive their meaning from already existing chronicies and histories, and the author's judgments and historiographical biases are revealed by his selection. Robert Scholes and Robert Kellogg have written, "In chronicle, annals, and diary the lack of selectivity impedes movement and inhibits the growth of anything like a plot,"(51) but narrative plots are not the only conveyors of sophisticated historical interpretation. Hayden White was right when he proposed to "treat the annals and chronicle forms of historical representation not as the `imperfect' histories they are conventionally conceived to be but rather as particular products of possible [alternative] conceptions of historical reality," even though his observations on Western genres have little application to Chinese traditions.(52)

The Han conception of the Spring and Autumn Annals, despite its historical inaccuracy, was enormously influential, and Ssu-ma Ch'ien drew upon the interpretive principles of the Tso chuan to construct an interpretive synthesis of his own. Not only does the "Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords" synchronize calendars and provide an historical framework for the narrative sections of the Shih chi, it also highlights events that were significant in Ssu-ma's historiography, corrects and supplements the Annals and Tso chuan, and provides a synopsis of the Spring and Autumn Era which is in some ways independent of the rest of the Shih chi. Though Ssu-ma did not necessarily have a specific explanation in mind for every entry in the table (some events may have struck him as potentially useful to later interpreters), there are nonetheless many notions that seem to bear specific interpretive meanings, and Shih chi 14 challenges readers to discover Ssu-ma Ch'ien's editorial intentions. (1)The Shih chi was actually begun by Ssu-ma Ch'ien's father, Ssu-ma T'an [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] but since his exact contribution is unknown, I will write of Ssu-ma Ch'ien as if he were the sole author. Certainly as primary author and final editor, Ssu-ma Ch'ien bears most of the responsibility and deserves most of the credit. See Chang Ta-k'o [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] Shih chi yen-chiu [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (Lanchow: Kan-su jen-min ch'u-pan-she, 1985), 58-73. (2) Wu Hung, The Wu Liang Shrine (Stanford Univ. Press, 1989), 149. (3) Chang Ta-k'o, 207. This praise, however, has not been universal. The maverick T'ang critic Liu Chih-chi [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED! (661-721) felt that the Shih chi tables needlessly duplicated. material in other chapters, and in his Shih t'ung [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED! he wrote that "to have them is no benefit, and to omit them would be no loss." Shih t'ung (SPTK), 3.15. Note also that with the exception of the Han shu, which borrows extensively from the Shih chi, the standard histories all omit tables until Ou-yang Hsiu's Hsin T'ang Shu (much to Ku yen-wu's [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] 1613-82] consternation). Thereafter, most of the later standard histories include tables of some kind. See Ku Yen-wu, Jih-chih lu chi-shih [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] additions and comments by Huang Juch'eng [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (n.p.: Ch'ung-wen shu-chu, 1872), 26.12a/b. (4) Chao I, Nien-erh-shih cha-chi [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] 2 vols. (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1963), 1:4-5. An empirical demonstration of the first point has been provided by A. F. P. Hulsewe's recent analysis of Shih chi 18. Of the 152 menention of Kuo yu specialists is puzzling since Kamada Tadashi could identify only four entries that directly rely on that text,(50) and at least one feature of the table seems to require the type of esoteric explanation provided by the Kung-yang and Ku-liang - although the Annals note thirty-six eclipses, Shih chi 14 records only twenty-three. I have no idea why.

The Shih chi tables, although they share a common form with Western medieval annals, are of a very different nature. This difference might be summed up best by describing the tables as post-narrative rather than pre-narrative. They derive their meaning from already existing chronicies and histories, and the author's judgments and historiographical biases are revealed by his selection. Robert Scholes and Robert Kellogg have written, "In chronicle, annals, and diary the lack of selectivity impedes movement and inhibits the growth of anything like a plot,"(51) but narrative plots are not the only conveyors of sophisticated historical interpretation. Hayden White was right when he proposed to "treat the annals and chronicle forms of historical representation not as the `imperfect' histories they are conventionally conceived to be but rather as particular products of possible [alternative] conceptions of historical reality," even though his observations on Western genres have little application to Chinese traditions.(52)

The Han conception of the Spring and Autumn Annals, despite its historical inaccuracy, was enormously influential, and Ssu-ma Ch'ien drew upon the interpretive principles of the Tso chuan to construct an interpretive synthesis of his own. Not only does the "Table by Years of the Twelve Feudal Lords" synchronize calendars and provide an historical framework for the narrative sections of the Shih chi, it also highlights events that were significant in Ssu-ma's historiography, corrects and supplements the Annals and Tso chuan, and provides a synopsis of the Spring and Autumn Era which is in some ways independent of the rest of the Shih chi. Though Ssu-ma did not necessarily have a specific explanation in mind for every entry in the table (some events may have struck him as potentially useful to later interpreters), there are nonetheless many notions that seem to bear specific interpretive meanings, and Shih chi 14 challenges readers to discover Ssu-ma Ch'ien's editorial intentions. (1)The Shih chi was actually begun by Ssu-ma Ch'ien's father, Ssu-ma T'an [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] but since his exact contribution is unknown, I will write of Ssu-ma Ch'ien as if he were the sole author. Certainly as primary author and final editor, Ssu-ma Ch'ien bears most of the responsibility and deserves most of the credit. See Chang Ta-k'o [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] Shih chi yen-chiu [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (Lanchow: Kan-su jen-min ch'u-pan-she, 1985), 58-73. (2) Wu Hung, The Wu Liang Shrine (Stanford Univ. Press, 1989), 149. (3) Chang Ta-k'o, 207. This praise, however, has not been universal. The maverick T'ang critic Liu Chih-chi [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED! (661-721) felt that the Shih chi tables needlessly duplicated. material in other chapters, and in his Shih t'ung [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED! he wrote that "to have them is no benefit, and to omit them would be no loss." Shih t'ung (SPTK), 3.15. Note also that with the exception of the Han shu, which borrows extensively from the Shih chi, the standard histories all omit tables until Ou-yang Hsiu's Hsin T'ang Shu (much to Ku yen-wu's [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] 1613-82] consternation). Thereafter, most of the later standard histories include tables of some kind. See Ku Yen-wu, Jih-chih lu chi-shih [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] additions and comments by Huang Juch'eng [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (n.p.: Ch'ung-wen shu-chu, 1872), 26.12a/b. (4) Chao I, Nien-erh-shih cha-chi [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] 2 vols. (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1963), 1:4-5. An empirical demonstration of the first point has been provided by A. F. P. Hulsewe's recent analysis of Shih chi 18. Of the 152 menons of all these positions (except Liang's), see Takigawa Kametaro on [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], Shiki kaichu kosho [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], 10 vols. (Tokyo: Toho bunkagakuin Tokyo kenkyujo, 1934), 14.2-3. Liang, 1:301-2. Note also that at the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Era there were some 170 states in China, so even winnowing the list to fourteen required some sort of hierarchical criteria. Several important states, such as Ch'i [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] and Yueh [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], were omitted. See Richard L. Walker, The Multi-state System of Ancient China (Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String Press, 1953), 20. (21) For example, this list is found in Po-hu t'ung te lun [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (SPTK), 1.12. (22) The order in the table, from top to bottom, is Chou, Lu, Ch'i, Chin, Ch'in, Ch'u, Sung, Wei, Ch'en, Ts'ai, Ts'ao, Cheng, Yen, and Wu. In general, the states that are higher in the table had more power, with the exceptions of Chou and Lu (which held moral authority) and Cheng and Wu (which, though important, were enfeoffed after the table began). Ch'en and Ts'ao may also have been displaced downward slightly, because they were destroyed before the table ended. See Walker, 37-38 and 50, for a discussion of the relative strengths of Spring and Autumn states. There may be other hierarchical factors involved as well. Yen occupies a position between Wu and Cheng, perhaps because it shared Wu's semi-barbarian status, and Ts'ai was placed between Ts'ao and Ch'en, perhaps because its rulers shared the same clan name, Chi [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], with all the states below it in the table. (23) James Legge, trans., The Ch'un Ts'ew, 2nd ed., The Chinese Classics, vol. 5 (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1896 [Taiwan reprint]), prolegomena, 102-1 1. Chavannes also substituted this type of list for a translation of SC 14. Edouard Chavannes, Les Memoires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien, 6 vols. (Paris: E. Leroux, 1895-1905 and [vol. 6] 1969), 3:21, 29-46. (24) The situation is very different for the 119 years of the table that precede the Spring and Autumn Era. Without the Annals and the Tso chuan as sources, Ssu-ma's information was even more meager. Those years contain 92 entries (excluding the initial entries in 841 B.C.) for an average of only .77 entries per year. Of the 92 entries, 64 note first years. There are 55 years that are blank in all rows, as opposed to only 14 for the 242 years of the Spring and Autumn Era. (25) The use of the first-person pronoun wo [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] is interesting. In the Spring and Autumn Annals this pronoun always refers to the state of Lu. In Shih chi 14, wo occurs several times in each of the fourteen horizontal rows, and it always refers to the state in whose row it appears. One might be tempted to read this as evidence that Ssu-ma Ch'ien was quoting from the chronicles of the various states, but he insisted in his preface to chapter 15 that these records had all been destroyed when the state of Ch'in conquered China (SC 15.686; however, see Liang 1:387 for doubts). I am inclined to think that Ssu-ma simply adopted the conventional language of the Annals for this chronological table, especially in light of the fact that most of the information in chapter 14 can be traced to the Annals and the Tso chuan. (26) Of course, without the grid of years and states, this translation does not convey all the information contained in the table. (27) One might here compare the list of significant categories in SC 14 compiled by the Ch'ing scholar Wang Yueh [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED! (fl. 1705-20). He notes (without an attempt at exhaustive enumeration) first years, biographical details about Confucius, wars, usurpations, unusual natural phenomena, treaties, and executions, and he suggests that these types of entries demonstrate Ssu-ma's respect for Heaven, the House of Chou, the sages, Confucian morality, etc. Wang Yueh, "Tu Shih chi shih piao" [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] in Shih chi Han shu chu-piao ting-pu shih-chung [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], ed. Liangons of all these positions (except Liang's), see Takigawa Kametaro on [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], Shiki kaichu kosho [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], 10 vols. (Tokyo: Toho bunkagakuin Tokyo kenkyujo, 1934), 14.2-3. Liang, 1:301-2. Note also that at the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Era there were some 170 states in China, so even winnowing the list to fourteen required some sort of hierarchical criteria. Several important states, such as Ch'i [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] and Yueh [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], were omitted. See Richard L. Walker, The Multi-state System of Ancient China (Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String Press, 1953), 20. (21) For example, this list is found in Po-hu t'ung te lun [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (SPTK), 1.12. (22) The order in the table, from top to bottom, is Chou, Lu, Ch'i, Chin, Ch'in, Ch'u, Sung, Wei, Ch'en, Ts'ai, Ts'ao, Cheng, Yen, and Wu. In general, the states that are higher in the table had more power, with the exceptions of Chou and Lu (which held moral authority) and Cheng and Wu (which, though important, were enfeoffed after the table began). Ch'en and Ts'ao may also have been displaced downward slightly, because they were destroyed before the table ended. See Walker, 37-38 and 50, for a discussion of the relative strengths of Spring and Autumn states. There may be other hierarchical factors involved as well. Yen occupies a position between Wu and Cheng, perhaps because it shared Wu's semi-barbarian status, and Ts'ai was placed between Ts'ao and Ch'en, perhaps because its rulers shared the same clan name, Chi [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], with all the states below it in the table. (23) James Legge, trans., The Ch'un Ts'ew, 2nd ed., The Chinese Classics, vol. 5 (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1896 [Taiwan reprint]), prolegomena, 102-1 1. Chavannes also substituted this type of list for a translation of SC 14. Edouard Chavannes, Les Memoires historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien, 6 vols. (Paris: E. Leroux, 1895-1905 and [vol. 6] 1969), 3:21, 29-46. (24) The situation is very different for the 119 years of the table that precede the Spring and Autumn Era. Without the Annals and the Tso chuan as sources, Ssu-ma's information was even more meager. Those years contain 92 entries (excluding the initial entries in 841 B.C.) for an average of only .77 entries per year. Of the 92 entries, 64 note first years. There are 55 years that are blank in all rows, as opposed to only 14 for the 242 years of the Spring and Autumn Era. (25) The use of the first-person pronoun wo [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] is interesting. In the Spring and Autumn Annals this pronoun always refers to the state of Lu. In Shih chi 14, wo occurs several times in each of the fourteen horizontal rows, and it always refers to the state in whose row it appears. One might be tempted to read this as evidence that Ssu-ma Ch'ien was quoting from the chronicles of the various states, but he insisted in his preface to chapter 15 that these records had all been destroyed when the state of Ch'in conquered China (SC 15.686; however, see Liang 1:387 for doubts). I am inclined to think that Ssu-ma simply adopted the conventional language of the Annals for this chronological table, especially in light of the fact that most of the information in chapter 14 can be traced to the Annals and the Tso chuan. (26) Of course, without the grid of years and states, this translation does not convey all the information contained in the table. (27) One might here compare the list of significant categories in SC 14 compiled by the Ch'ing scholar Wang Yueh [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED! (fl. 1705-20). He notes (without an attempt at exhaustive enumeration) first years, biographical details about Confucius, wars, usurpations, unusual natural phenomena, treaties, and executions, and he suggests that these types of entries demonstrate Ssu-ma's respect for Heaven, the House of Chou, the sages, Confucian morality, etc. Wang Yueh, "Tu Shih chi shih piao" [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] in Shih chi Han shu chu-piao ting-pu shih-chung [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED], ed. Lianghree years what the Tso chuan reported in just two years (with references to past events), since this provides a graphic illustration of the point made by Ssu-ma at SC 130.3298 that an assassination is "not something that came about in one morning or evening, but something that had built up gradually over a long period." This breaking up and expanding of material that the Tso chuan related in flashbacks is characteristic of the table; Kamada Tadashi has identified 27 instances. See Kamada, 248-251. (44) SC 37.1592, 38.1623, 42.1760. (45) The twenty-one entries reporting eclipses are never referred to in the narrative portions of the Shih chi, but in six cases these notices were tied to other, noted events. The other seven independent portents are of various types. (46) Ssu-ma Ch'ien's heavy reliance on the Tso chuan is somewhat surprising since he studied with Tung Chung-shu, a prominent advocate of the Kung-yang commentary on the Annals, yet Ssu-ma's preference is clear. Though SC 14 frequently borrows Tso chuan descriptions of events not mentioned in the Kung-yang, Kamada could identify only three instances where Ssu-ma used a Kung-yang account that was not in the Tso chuan (700 Ch'en, 682 Sung, 681 Lu; see Kamada, 251-52). In addition, Ssu-ma almost never addresses the terminological issues that were the focus of the Kung-yang and the Ku-liang, and although the table sometimes follows the Tso chuan when it contradicts the Kung-yang or Ku-liang (as at 707 Ch'en and 695 Lu), I find no cases of the opposite.

The Shih chi chapters on "hereditary houses" are also closely related to the Tso chuan. Their narratives are usually paraphrases of that text, though it is not uncommon for the Shih chi accounts to include additional information and occasionally correct the Tso chuan. In the cases where there are discrepancies between the "hereditary houses" and the Tso chuan, the table frequently follows the Tso chuan (as at 706 Ch'u, 690 Ch'u, 669 Chin, and 617 Chin). (47) Tso chuan, Hsuan 15.8, Hsiang 10.iii. (48) SC 33.1529; Tso chuan, Yin 5.1. (49) SC 14.511. Note also that elsewhere Ssu-ma explicitly states that he wrote this table in part because many things were omitted from the Annals (SC 130.3303). (50) Kamada actually identified twelve entries, but only four were from the Spring and Autumn Era: 644 Chin, 637 Chin, 637 Wei, and 633 Chin. See Kamada, 252-54. However, the relationship between the table and our present Kuo yu may be a non-issue. It is possible that Ssu-ma Ch'ien used the term Ch'un ch'iu kuo yu to refer to a composite text including both the Tso chuan and the Kuo yu, which later was divided into separate works. Ssu-ma never clearly differentiates the two books, and he ascribes them to the same author (see SC 14.509-10 and 130.3300). See also Chin Te-chien [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED! Ssu-ma Ch'ien so-chien shu k'ao [UNKNOWN TEXT OMITTED] (Shanghai: Shang-hai jen-mi ch'u pan-she, 1963), 5. (51) Scholes and Kellogg, The Nature of Narrative (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1966), 211. (52) White, "The Value of Narrativity," 6. Others have criticized the inability of White's models to account for non-Western historiographical traditions. See Marilyn Robinson Waldman, "`The Otherwise Unnoteworthy Year 711': A Reply to Hayden White," in On Narrative (see n. 29 above), 241-45.