His Stubbornship: Prime Minister Wang Anshi (1021--1086), Reformer and Poet

Jonathan Pease (University of Washington Ph.D., 1986) has taught Chinese language and literature at Dartmouth College and Portland State University. Previous projects include biographies of Guo Pu and Wang Anguo, and an award-winning translation from Wang Anshi’s protégé Wang Ling.

• ContentsIntroduction and AcknowledgmentsDates, Names, CitationsMapsList of IllustrationForeword: The Stone Ox Grotto (ad 1080)part 1: Service1 Leaving Jiangxi (1021–1036)1 The Journey Out2 Marriage—Yangzhou and Yin County (1037–1050)1 Meeting Zeng Gong, Passing the Jinshi2 Yangzhou3 Home Leave at Linchuan; Friendship with the Zengs4 The Qingli Reforms from a Distance; Leaving Yangzhou5 Yin County Magistrate6 Short Means Subtle: An Emerging Way with Words7 Epitaph3 Hidden Mountains—Qianshan (1050–1054)1 Seeking from Wellsprings: Lord Bao’s Stream, the Stone Ox2 Seeking from Mountains: The Nine-Petalled Peaks3 Practical Knowledge from Monks4 Poetry of Public Conscience: Road Scoopers and Monopolizers5 Glimmerings of Green6 The Search Can Yield Data: the Baochan Caverns4 The Herds Office, Changzhou Prefect, Jiangdong Judge (1054–1058)1 Into Ouyang Xiu’s Circle and the Herds Office2 Actual Duties in Kaifeng, 1055–10573 Changzhou Prefect, Jiangdong Circuit Judge, 1057–10584 “Nature Grew This Blackness on Me”5 Kaifeng Again—Drafter of Edicts (1059–1063)1 High Aims: The “Ten-Thousand-Word Memorial”2 Fame through Verse: The Radiant Consort3 Sima Guang4 Official Assignments in Kaifeng, 1059–10635 Kaifeng Life6 Anthologies and Quatrains7 Back to Jinling6 Sages and Crooks—Wang’s Thought in His Early Forties (1063–1066)1 “Of Rites and Music”: What Makes a Sage?2 Oneness3 How Powerful Is Goodness?4 Mainstream or Outlier?5 Was Zanyuan Right?6 Out of Mourningpart 2: Reform7 Shenzong Clears the Deck (1067–1068)1 Recruiting and Firing2 Summoned Out of Turn3 Wang’s Court Diary4 Finance and Murder: Wang vs. Sima Guang Again8 Associate Councillor—the Reforms Begin (1069–1070)1 First and Second New Policies, Spring & Summer 1069: Finance Planning and Governmental Design Review2 The Dowagers Fight Back: Wang’s First Resignation, Summer 10693 Third New Policy, Fall 1069: Equitable Transport System4 Fourth New Policy, and Second Resignation, Fall 1069: The Green Sprout Loans5 Popular Support and the “Three Not-Worths”6 Fifth New Policy, 1069: Shrinking the Imperial Clan7 Sixth and Seventh New Policies, 1069–1070: Farmland and Water Projects; the Baojia system8 Promoted to Grand Councillor, End of 1070; Exiles and Exits9 Nation Rich, Army Strong—Grand Councillor (1071–1072)1 Wang’s Plan for the Borders2 Eighth New Policy, Spring 1071: Civil Service Recruitment3 Ninth New Policy and Wang’s Third Resignation, 1071: Service For Hire4 Tenth and Eleventh New Policies, 1072: State Trade System, Horse Breeding System5 Isolate the Xi Xia, Convert Their Neighbors6 Forcing Shenzong to Choose: Fourth Resignation, Summer 10727 The Kitan Problem; Doubts about State Trade8 Victory, Danger, and the Twelfth New Policy, 1072: Land Survey and Equitable Tax10 Trouble at the Gate (1073)1 Aftermath of the Gate Incident: Wang’s Fifth Resignation, Spring 10732 Thirteenth New Policy, Spring 1073: The Scriptural Interpretations Bureau; Lü Brothers Rising3 Water Projects, 1073–10744 Fourteenth New Policy: The Guild Exemption Tax; Tibetan Slaughter and a Belt of Jade5 More Wars?6 How to Manage Scoundrels11 Watcher on the Ramparts (1074–1075)1 Watcher on the Ramparts: Sixth Resignation and Furlough, Summer 10742 The Śramaņa and the Deva3 Fifteenth New Policy, Fall 1074: Self-Assessment System; Zheng Xia’s Exile, Wang Anguo’s Disgrace4 Back to Kaifeng, Spring 107512 Payback—Wang’s Second Term (1075–1076)1 The Siege against Lü Huiqing: Third through Tenth Month, 10752 Not Provoking and Not Tempting the Kitans, 1072–10753 Demoting Lü’s People While Rebuffing the Conservatives, Late 10754 Vengeance of Yongzhou, Spring 1076part 3: Retirement13 Halfway Hill (1076–1084)1 Building Banshan2 Thinking Back3 News from Kaifeng4 Green14 Ghosts1 Phoenix Hill2 Ink on Walls3 Decompression4 Donkey in the Pines—Unexpected Friends5 Lord Xie’s Mound6 White Rooster15 Words1 Characters as Aggregates2 Larger Significance3 Passion or Duty?16 Company1 Su Shi Banished, 1079; Other Purges2 “To Simmer with Regret,” 10803 The Other Side of Sixty4 Journey to Earthworks Hill, 10815 “Uniting and Dispersing;” Letters from Daughters and from Lü Huiqing6 Zeng Gong Bows Out, 10837 “A Tile Smashed Up My Head”: Chan in Late Middle Age, 1074–10848 “This Me That Is Is the Me That Was”: Art at Dinglin9 Rafting Upstream17 Walk Where It Is Cool1 “Easy Spring Wind Greens That Southern Shore”: Jinling’s Physical World2 Lamplight in the Rain3 Understatement: Southside Paths, Scolding the Spring Wind4 “Shove the Postern”: Couplet Construction5 “Cherish Its Swirling Light”: Voyages through Saṁsāra6 Walk Where It Is Cool: Distillation7 “Tower Thee Slender, Spring Night So Short”: Lyrics18 Sand-Grains in the Sea1 The Mountain Crumbles, 10842 LaterAfterword: Fox PowerAppendix 1: Family TreesAppendix 2: Friends and AssociatesAppendix 3: Poem LocatorBibliographyIndex