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Sovereignty, Virtue, and Disaster Management: Chief Minister Yao Chong's Proactive Handling of the Locust Plague of 715-16 |
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| Author |
Rothschild, N. Harry (著)
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| Source |
Environmental History
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| Volume | v.17 n.4 |
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| Date | 2012.10 |
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| Pages | 783 - 812 |
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| Publisher | The University of Chicago Press |
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| Publisher Url |
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu
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| Location | Chicago, IL, US [芝加哥, 伊利諾伊州, 美國] |
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| Content type | 期刊論文=Journal Article |
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| Language | 英文=English |
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| Abstract | In Tang dynasty (618-907) China, early in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-56), a severe locust infestation undermined the young sovereign's political legitimacy. When anomalous insect-wrought disasters compromised seasonal agrarian rhythms of state, the stability of the dynasty was imperiled. Given the widespread belief in the idea of tianren ganying, the cosmic resonance of heaven and man, many in court and country understood the plague of locusts as a scourge visited on humankind by a censorious heaven. Thus for newly enthroned Xuanzong to prove that he possessed sufficient virtue, that he possessed the mettle to be Son of Heaven, it was imperative that he successfully manage the swelling tide of insects. A fierce court debate ensued over how best to handle this ecological crisis. The passive camp maintained that if Xuanzong cultivated virtue, the crisis might be resolved of its own accord. Alternatively, proponents of a proactive approach, namely chief minister Yao Chong, urged Xuanzong to wage an aggressive campaign of extermination. With a combination of powerful rhetoric to persuade opponents to follow his proactive course of action and well-devised pragmatic measures to exterminate the locusts, Yao Chong ultimately won the day and quelled the infestation. In the process of the vigorous debate, many epiphenomena are brought to light: the push and pull between central and local authority, growing tensions between Han Chinese and ethnic minority subjects in the cosmopolitan multiethnic state, and the ideological conflict between Confucianism and Buddhism. |
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| Table of contents | INTRODUCTION 784
LOCUSTS IN THE TANG DYNASTY 788
THE LOCUST INFESTATION OF 715-16
THE CONTEXT 790
A MAN OF CONVICTION 793
YAO CHONG VERSUS NI RUOSHUI 793
CONTENDING WITH BUDDHISM 797
YAO CHONG VERSUS ZHANG ZHUO (FU XIUZU) 798
YAO CHONG VERSUS XUANZONG 799
YAO CHONG VERSUS LU HUAISHEN 801
YAO CHONG VERSUS HAN SIFU 802
CONCLUSION 804
NOTES 805 |
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| ISSN | 10845453 (P); 19308892 (E) |
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| Hits | 74 |
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| Created date | 2023.12.01 |
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| Modified date | 2023.12.01 |
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