Tang Studies

T'ang Studies 14 (1996) T h e IIP e a rl S c h o la rs " a n d th e F in a l E s ta b lis h m e n t o f R e g u la te d V e rs e JIAJINHUA UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO It has long been agreed that after an extensive period of development , regulated verse (lushi $~) was finally established in the latter years of the Early Tang. However, there is still disagreement about who actually codified the final rules and the exact date when it was done. In this paper, I attempt some resolution of these issues based on a study of the Zhuying xueshi ji ~~¥±. (Anthology of the Pearl Scholars), an important but rarely used text. The Zhuying xueshi ji is an anthology of poetry compiled during the reign of Empress Wu ~m (r. 690-705). In 700 A.D., Empress Wu summoned forty-seven scholars to produce an encyclopedia called Sanjiao zhuying =*X~~ (Pearls of the Three Teachings). These scholars came to be known as the Uzhuying xueshi" or upearl scholars. II All of them were poets as well as scholars, and some of them were among the most famous poets of the time. Consequently, the compilation process of this encyclopedia also became an impetus for writing poems. When the encyclopedia was completed in 701, an anthology of poetry compiled by Cui Rong ~ifl (653-706) came out at the same time. While the Sanjiao zhuying is no longer extant, fragments of the Zhuying xueshi ji exist in two Dunhuang manuscripts, S.27171 and P. 3771.2 Wang Chongmin .:Em~was the first to identify these manuscripts as extant texts of Zhuying xueshi ji and to indicate • This study was supported by a grant from the Graduate School, University of Colorado, Boulder. I thank Professor Paul W. Kroll for his suggestions on the draft version of this article. 1 Dunhuang baozang $X~.M, compoHuang Yongwu Jii7JJ! (d. 712), Xu Yanbo ~~{8 (d. 714), Xue Yao iWlIil, Yun Banqian jl$T (628-721), Wei Zhigu .~t!t (647-715), Yu Jizi T~T, Wang Wujing .:E1mM(652-705), Shen Quanqi, Wang Shi£~, Xu Jian ~~ (d. 729),Yin Yuankai PJGifl. (d. 727),Zhang Yue ~im(667-731), Ma Jifu mErRt, Yuan Xisheng JG~~ (662-707), Li Chuzheng *~lE, Gao Bei ~1m,Liu Zhiji IIJ~~ (661-721), Fang Yuanyang }J;7GII.§, Song Zhiwen, Cui Shi -m~ (671-713),Wei Yuandan #7G s,Yang Qizhe m~m-,Fu Jiamo 1i{J&il (d. 706),and Jiang Feng ~JlI.. Besides the familiar topics, sections on such things as the two teachings of Buddhism and Taoism, as well as on family relationships, family names, and geography were added.8 Later the encyclopedia's title was changed, as Wang Pu records: In the tenth month of the second year of the Kaicheng 1mIVG reignperiod (2 November-1 December 837), His Majesty (Wenzong :>t*, r. 826-840)ordered that the title of the Sanjiao zhuying com7 Yu Ian refers to the Xiuwendian yu Ian ~Xm:3lI. encyclopedia, compiled in the Northern Qi dynasty (550-577),containing three hundred and sixtyjuan. The Wensi boyao was compiled in the fifteenth year of the Zhenguan tiM reign-period (641), having one thousand and two hundred juan. 8 Tang hui yao (Taibei: Shijie shuju, 1982),36.657. This reference has been used by Hu Daojing mmw in his Zhong guo gudai de leishu tfI1iJ~ftl¥J!J!f(. (Beijing:Zhonghua shuju, 1982),86. Hu collated this text with the excerpt quoted in Yuhai. In addition, according to Wu Chi-yu's studies, the name Gao Bei should be Qiao Bei flifm, and Jiang Feng should be Fu Feng ~1I.;see "Deux fragments," 377-78. Also, Yang Qizhe is written as m.m in P. 3771. 3 Jia: The "Pearl Scholars" and Regulated Verse piled in Empress Wu's reign be altered to Hainei zhuying ~pg ~~.9 The Zizhi tongjian liiiim£ says the following: [In the first year of the Jiushi ?-.m reign-period,] in the sixth month (21June-20 July 700) ... [Empress Wu] appointed Zhang Yizhi ~~Z (d. 705) as commandant of imperial mounts (:$1fjE~). When the Empress held...