Transformation of the Literati Model in the Imperial Historical Discourse: An Analysis of Biographies of Literati by the Qing National History Bureau

• In Event: The New Paradigm and the Old Style: Intellectual Transformation of the Literati in the Late Qing

Abstract

During Kangxi's reign in 1690, the Qing Empire established the National History Bureau. Biographies of Literati in various national history records set different literati models in their imperial historical discourses. This paper will examine the basic characteristics and standards of literati types depicted by the Qing National History Bureau, with particular attention given to comparisons with Biographies of Literati of the Tang, Song, Liao, Ming and Qing dynasties. The paper will also analyze the spectrum of ideological and social conflicts that influenced the process of national history writing, as well as the collected works of the literati in Qing national history. This paper aims to demonstrate how some highly recognized literati (JI Dong计东, QIN Songling秦松龄 and LU Rou陆葇) in Qing national history were later neglected or disparaged in modern day China. With the modernization of China, the official historical literati were replaced by ideologists who were at the margins of the Qing political center. By illustrating the declining positions of the “traditional” literati in literary and intellectual history, this paper will argue that the intellectual transformation since the Qing Dynasty is not the picture that is currently known; rather it is an intellectual history that has been rewritten by others in modern day China.

Author

• Huichen Xiao, Tsinghua University and National Library of China