B2
Art & Culture
3 – 9 juLY 2012
Chinese Traditional Culture
Chinese Traditional Culture
History: Emperor Tang Taizong’s
Leniency Based Principles
Minghui.org
(1) Emperor Tang
Taizong Emphasised
Leniency
In the Zhenguan Era, Year One of
the early Tang Dynasty (618-917),
a plot against the emperor was
discovered in Qingzhou, and local
officials arrested many people. The
local prison was full. Being uneasy
with the situation, Emperor Taizong
dispatched investigator Xue Renshi to
take a closer look.
As soon as Xue arrived at the
prison, he ordered the warden to
remove the prisoners’ shackles, and
provide them with adequate food and
bathing facilities. At the end of his
trip, only a handful of prisoners were
still being punished for their crimes.
Sun Fujia, a high-ranking Imperial Court official, questioned Xue
Renshi’s result, thinking that Xue
exonerated too many prisoners. Xue
defended his actions by saying: “Following the emperor’s order, in handling criminal cases, we should base
our decisions on compassion and
leniency. How could I make judgment in compliance with orders from
higher officials and yet punish people
despite their innocence? As long as
I make a judgment based on justice
and moral principles, even if I offend
the emperor’s family and relatives,
and they kill me for that, I would have
no regrets.”
Emperor Taizong wanted to give
Sun Fujia the benefit of the doubt, so
he sent another official to investigate
Xue Renshi’s handling of the case. All
evidence showed that the pardoned
prisoners were indeed innocent. After
reading the report, Emperor Taizong
knew he could trust Xue Renshi even
more.
(2) Compassionate
Ruling and Moral
Teachings Make
Zhenguan the
Pinnacle Era in
Chinese History
Chinese culture is based on
principles from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. These beliefs
Under Emperor Tang
Taizong’s Leniency
Based Principles, the
social order improved,
people left their doors
unlocked, and would
not pick up anything
in the street that did
not belong to them.
and teachings peaked during the Tang
Dynasty. The common core principle
of the three schools is rectification of
the human heart. The effect of these
principles on society far exceeds that
of law and order.
Emperor Taizong believed in
compassion and leniency by the
authorities, and he was open to
different opinions. Under his rule, the
law was simple and lenient, but his
rules for official conduct were tough
and clear. The accomplishments of
the Tang Dynasty are unsurpassed
in Chinese history. In Year Four of
the Zhenguan Era, only twenty-nine
criminals were condemned. It was a
hard time, as China had just ended
a bloody war, and the people and
government both faced economic
hardship. Despite that, society was in
good order, thanks to the emperor’s
emphasis on moral teaching. People
learned to restrict their own conduct
according to these principles. Faced
with natural disasters, people pulled
together and prevailed.
In the following years, the nation
returned to prosperity. The social
order improved, people left their
doors unlocked, and would not pick
up anything in the street that did not
belong to them. In the latter years of
the Zhenguan Era, if people forgot
to bring food on the road, they could
lineage in a personal profile. He
ordered them to come forward to
confess. In the past, anyone found
be committing such fraud would be
condemned to death. The emperor
was furious, and he ordered that the
man be killed.
Dai Zhou objected in his report,
“According to our new law, this man
should be sent to exile.” The emperor
was not pleased, “If you follow the law,
I will lose my credibility!” Dai Zhou
argued: “Your order to condemn the
man was due to your personal anger.
But the law is the foundation for
the country to earn people’s trust.
Your majesty was offended by the
fraud, so you ordered that the man
be killed. But we know this is not
right, especially when the new law
was just enacted. We should all follow
the law. I call this ‘endure the small
anger, uphold the big principle’.”
The emperor was impressed and
said, “What do I have to worry about,
Emperor Taizong of Tang (Reign : 626 now that I have someone like you to
- 649). Public domain
execute the law?”
Dai Zhou was outspoken and
eat in a stranger’s home. This was a consistent in his work. He was not
time envied by people for thousands afraid of opposing the emperor in
of years. Historians called Emperor upholding the law. Even the emperor
Taizong’s time the Model Society of listened to him. So at the time,
injustices were very rare.
Zhenguan.
Emperor Taizong emphasised
leniency, and he was able to overcome
(3) Tang Taizong’s
his personal feelings and respect the
Reform of Extreme
law. From this perspective, it is clear
Punishment
From the outset, Emperor Taizong that Taizong was an emperor of great
devoted much of his effort to reform- compassion.
ing harsh punishment. According to
the Song Dynasty history book “Zi Zhi (Story from Qing Dynasty book “Book
Tong Jian”: “The Emperor ordered of Social Harmony” by Zhou Siren)
Zhangsun Wuji, the Chief Justice,
and other officials to work with scholProfile
ars and judges to reduce the severity
of the laws. They removed 50 types of
Personal name : Li Shìmín
crimes from a ‘death by hanging’ sentence. They proposed to replace the
Born : 4 Sep 626 - 10 July 649
regular death sentence to ‘cutting-off
the right big toe’. But the Emperor
Reign : Second emperor of
still felt it was too cruel and told them,
the Tang Dynasty of China,
‘Body-harming punishment has been
ruling from 626 to 649
obsolete for a long time. You should
find some alternatives.’ Finally, OffiKnown : Greatest emperor
cial Pei Hongxian proposed to substiin Chinese history. Set as
tute these sentences with hard labour,
an exemplary model against
1500 km away from home for three
which all other emperors
years. The emperor approved it.”
were measured, and his
Later the emperor found that an
“Reign of Zhenguan”
official was falsifying their family
An embroidered silk robe for a high-ranking aristocratic lady, made for festival wear. Qing dynasty, Daoguang period, £32,000
(S$63,600). Jacqueline Simcox Ltd
Painted silk textile, 45 × 29½ in. (114.3 × 74.93 cm), Qing Dynasty, China,
mid-18th century. Public Domain
An Ancient Story of the
Consequences of Adultery
Clearwisdom.net
During the Qing Dynasty, there were
twin boys who lived in Yuzhang.
They not only looked the same, they
acted the same as well; even their
parents couldn't tell them apart.
The parents named them after they
started to speak. At school, their
understanding of text and writing
were also the same. At the age of
20, they became students of a court
academic.
After they grew up, they both
got married. The parents worried
that their wives would have a hard
time telling them apart, so they
taught their daughters-in-law to
differentiate them based on their
different clothes. A year later, each
wife gave birth to a son.
When the twins turned 31,
they went to take the provincial
examination. During the exam
period, an attractive young widow
lived next to the place where the
brothers stayed. After a while, she
tried to seduce the older brother. But
the older brother refused with stern
words. He worried that this woman
would seduce his younger brother,
so he told his younger brother what
she did and advised him: “You and I
look exactly the same. She seduced
me. She will most likely try to
seduce you as well. You should not
fall for her and lose your virtue!” The
younger brother nodded.
The widow did not know that
the brothers were twins and that
they looked exactly the same.
She thought the younger brother
was the older one, so she tried to
seduce him again. The younger
brother fell for her and committed
adultery with her. After a while, the
younger brother told the woman,
“If I am successful in the imperial
examination, I will marry you.” As it
turned out, the older brother was
successful, and the younger brother
failed. So the younger brother
deceived her again, saying, “This
year, although I was successful,
I still need to take the spring
examination. After that, I will marry
you and you will have a rich and
happy life.” Then he told her that he
had run out of money to prepare for
the examination. The widow really
trusted him and gave him all she
had saved to help him.
The following spring, the older
brother was successful again. The
woman thought it was the younger
brother who did well, and she was
looking forward to becoming his
wife. However, she never heard from
the younger brother again, and she
became sick. So she wrote a letter to
tell him about the pain in her heart.
She soon died from depression.
The widow's letter finally ended
up in the older brother's hands.
He was very surprised after he
realised what had happened. He
questioned the younger brother
about his behaviour and was very
disappointed. The younger brother
had nothing to say. The following
year, the younger brother's son died
suddenly. The younger brother was
so saddened that he could not stop
crying. He lost his eyesight because
of it and died soon after.
A set of four Chinese panels of ivory silk satin from the late Ming dynasty (1368-1644), which were made for
Imperial use, £200,000 (S$397,600) for the set of four. Jacqueline Simcox Ltd
From East to West
A treasure trove of Eastern art exhibits in London
By Jane Gray
Epoch Times Staff
While Western art emphasises
precise and perfect details on the
surface, Chinese art focuses on the
inner meaning of the subject. This
is an aspect of Chinese art that
fascinates Jacqueline Simcox, who
specialises in Chinese and central
Asian silk textiles.
“In the West we have become
accustomed to looking at the surface
decoration,” she explains. “Chinese
art has many layers of meaning.”
She gave an example of flowers on
Chinese textiles; they are not just for
decoration but often express an inner
essence: flowers blossoming in the
winter can represent fortitude.
One of the textiles Simcox will
be exhibiting at Masterpiece London
is a turquoise silk robe dating from
the Daoguang period in the Qing
dynasty—the last imperial dynasty of
China. Beautifully embroidered with
glowing colours, this is a garment
that was made for a lady of the
Imperial court.
The large roundels on the costume
contain butterflies, peaches, and
gourds around peony blossoms—a
design that carries auspicious wishes
including the wishes for sons and
grandsons. This special robe will be
on exhibit at Masterpiece for £32,000
(S$63,600).
Simcox has been in the business
for over 30 years. Talking of how she
thinks the sales will go, she says:
“In the West we have become accustomed to looking
at the surface decoration, Chinese art has many
layers of meaning. They are not just for decoration
but often express an inner essence: [She gave an
example of flowers on Chinese textiles] flowers
blossoming in the winter can represent fortitude.” –
Jacqueline Simcox
“You never know … every dealer
has hope and anticipation before a
fair.” So far, from her experience,
Masterpiece has mostly drawn in
English and London-based collectors;
Simcox is positive it will pull in more
international clientele in the future
as it grows.
Details of the four panels, an embroidered bronze vessel, delicately tinted.
Jacqueline Simcox Ltd