Poor Relief in Northern Song China* von Hugh Scogin

(Chicago)

The late Professor Etienne Balazs wrote that Chinese historical documents' ... con­jure up a striking picture of the cumbrous, gigantic machinery of govemment, with it red tape, it hitches and yet despite these its efficient functioning. No trace ofthat great team roller's many victims is to be found here. "** The poor relief institutions of the

northem Sung dynasty provide us with an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the mo t de­stitute of these' victims 'and to see how the government responded to them. By exa­mining the state s response we may gain a deeper insight into the way public policy emerged from the interaction of social, intellectual and institutional factors during the Sung and into the degree to which this policy was realized in practice.

Poor relief took many forms during the Sung. Buddhist monasteries maintained their charitable organizations. Individuals engaged in private philanthropy, and new private institution such as the family charitable estate were organized. The govemment con­tinued to provide the disaster relief that bad long been considered part of its responsibil­ity. The suffering that this category of relief sought to ameliorate was seen as an anoma­ly. The regular poor relief institutions which will be considered in this paper addressed a different problem. They operated on a permanent basis and represented a formal ac­ceptance of the government's responsibility to provide aid to those who were rendered poor by the natural working ofthe economy. In their fully developed form these institu­tion included a poorhouse, charity clinic and pauper's cemetery.

The three institutions under consideration have been studied by several historian during the past forty years. ***These treatments have concentrated on describing the range of ervices provided to the poor. They have pointed to the relief institutions as a dernon tration of the beneficent nature of a Confucian government operating on the ba i ofMencian ideals ofbenevolence. In order to supplement these studies I will focus on other a r>ects of the ystem: its institutional development, the economic and intellec­tual factor that furtbered its growth, and the degree to which its goals were realized.

The Growth of Institutions Before tracing the growth of Sung relief in titutions, it will be helpful to mention

briefly the T ang e tablishment that preceded them and provided the models on which the Sung program were initially based.

Provi ion of social relief in tbe T'ang centered around the increasingly elaborate program of Buddhist monasteries1 • These activities often included provision of food and Iodging for pilgrims and other travellers medical care for the indigent sick and free ration for the poor. They were funded by the profits derived from land donated by the faithful to monastic communities hence the name of these in titutions pei- t'ien yüan P]

r pei-t ien fang [2 ] which literally means compas ionate fields home". The policy of th early T ang governmen t toward such welfare activities was one of co-operation. The tate apparently ub idized and belped administer institutions which were staffed and perat d by Buddhi t monk . In 717 Sung Ching(3 ] a trusted minister since the time of

Empr Wu ubmitted a memorial which attacked the welfare programs as corrupt, harmful to the people andin theory un-Confucian2 • Citing Confucius he argued that the prop r way for the tate to n ure the people welfare wa8 by good govemment not by

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mall ac of charity. The Emperor howe ·er did permit the program t ntinu andin 734 ordered the Buddh. t to care for the beggar in th capital with fund pr -

ided b . the tate. By 46 the circum tances urrounding the admin · trati n of the r lief h m bad

changed drastically. At thi time the go emm nt in need of copp r and orri d ab ut tbe po er of a virtual tate within a tate had embarked on tbe mo t am biti u uppr -ion of Buddhism in Chinese hi tory. Mona terie with theii land and alth wer n-

fi cated and thou and of monk and nun ere d frocked3 • Li Te-yü[4] a I ading offi­cial of the time and a upporter of the uppres ion pointed out in a mem rial to th thronethat the relief home now had no on to manage them4 • To r m d thi ituati n he ugge ted that the government take over the admini tration of the relief home . H tr ed the u efulness of uch in titution and ought to lend th m r p tability b

claiming that charit was an old Confucian tradition. The new tate- pon ored relief in titution ba ically retained the ld tem. In th

capital ten ch'ing[5 ] offarmer mona tic land were et a ide to provide income ~ r th r -lief home5 . In large di trict seven ch'ing were et aside and in maller localiti inve -tigators were to determine the extent of poverty and et aside an appropriat amount of land. In each case a respected elder wa to be put in eh arge of p ration . Though there i no precise information about the function of the relief home the Tang document do ingle out the poor and the ick a the group that would be hurt if the y tem were 1-lowed to lap e6 • In addition there i mention ofthe need for maintaining a full t ck f rice and rice grueF. We may a ume therefore that the T ang relief home enga ed in a variety of activities which included provi ion of food to the poor and the indigent ick. Since centrat control over provincial affair during thi period wa often ineff ctive however we must remain keptical about the degree to which th · y tem wa actually e tablished throughout the empire.

The date of the Sung institution origin i ob eure, but can b traced at Je t to th fir t half ofthe eleventh century. In di cu sing reform during the reign fYing T ung[ ] (1 064--1068) the official Sung history describes what wa already the old y tem '. Thi early Sung institutionwas a continuation ofT ang practice under a new name fu­t ien yüan (1] again a Buddhi t term. Initially two relief home were et up one in the eastof the capital and one in the we t. Though they were establi hed to provide relief t the aged the ick, beggars and orphan their operation remained on a very mall cale accommodating only twenty four people9 . In the reign of Ying T ung this y tem w greatly expanded. The ea t and we t relief home were enlarged and new e tabli h­ment were set up in the north and southofthecapital. Soon three hundred peoplewere being handled per day10• This figure of three hundred became a quota which meant that the relief home of tbe capital could handle up to one thousand two hundred people at a time11 . Operation were funded by a combination of money from the tre ury and pro­fit from land et aside in the traditional manner. Total expenditure amounted t five and later eight million cashl2 •

In additon to the relief homes the governmen t engaged in other welfare activitie on an ad hoc basis during this period. For example in the early 1 20 the government bad bought parcels of land from Buddhist monasterie to be set aside as public cemeterie . The poor were tobe given money to help defray burial expen e but the y tem wa al­Iowed to Lapse· no payments were made and the poor derived Jjttle benefit13 • Later in the earty 1060's payments were re umed. Thi period had al o een the di" tribution of

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medicine to the poor14 • Reliance on the reliefhomes supplemented by ad hoc measure continued as the pattem for the central government's poor relief activities during the next thirty years. There were some new developments; the government extended aid periods and relief quotas, increased personnel and organized periodic distribution of food15 • None of these measures, however, called for significant institutional change .

This period did see continued innovation in social welfare programs on the locallevel. During the Sung poor relief often provided local officials with a field for creative action. In his book on reliefmeasures Tung Wei[8] a southern Sung writer, mentions the initia­tives of many eleventh century local officials such as Su Shih[9], Wen-yen Popo], Fan Chung-yen(11], Chao Pu12, and Tseng Kung-ch'uan(13 )16 . Their programs ranged from public granaries and agriculturalloans to mass food distribution and health clinics for the poor. The most important of these Iocal initiatives for the future development of nothern S.ung welfare institutionswas the charity clinic established by Su Shih at Hang­chou.

Upon arriving at Hang-chou in 1089 Su Shih was confronted with the problems of a famine-stricken prefecture, problems which he energetically sought to ameliorate. As part of his reliefprogram he dispatched officials in the spring ofthe following year to the various wards ofthe city to distribute medicine17. He soon came to the conclusion that uch stopgap measures were insufficient. Because of the city's position near its lake he

felt that an above averagerate of disease was an endemic problern which demanded an ongoing respon e. He therefore set about establishing what may have been China's first pecialized charity health clinic. To this end he collected two thousand strings of cash

from surplus funds and fifty ounces of gold from private sources. To staff the new clinic he relied on the services of Buddhist monks. After three years of operation health care had been extended to over one thousand needy patients18 .

The close of this period saw dramatic shifts in the political climate of China. The years from 1069 to 1085 which bad been characterized by the wide-ranging reforms ofWang An- hih and by developmen ts such as the expansion of reliefins titutions, were followed by a period of reaction. Conservative ministers with the support of the Ernpress Dow­ager et about dismantling the reforms of their predecessors. When the young emperor reached his majority the situationwas reversed. Once again the govemmentmoved to­ward reform, this time on a scale larger than before. The pace of reform quickened in 1103 with the rise to power ofTs ai Ching(14 ], who was to dorninate court politics on and off until the end ofthe northern Sung. The new reforms involved bureaucratic adminis­tration government finances and poor relief1 9.

The new ystem of welfare institutions, referred to in the documents as the chü-yang fa(1 5 ] or poorhouse system, was characterized by a new approach to government fund­ing. The old income-producing land was replaced by a more diversified financial base. One ource of money mentioned in connection with the poorhouse systemwas the prop rty of the heirles dead20 • In some cases it appears that this property along with per onal effects and cash was confi cated by the government with the proceeds ear­marked for welfare purpose . In other cases it seems that this property was itself given over for use by the homele s poor21 • Thesefunds were then combined with. the interest derived by the government from ü operation of the ever-normal granary system22 . The poorb u e was thu designed tobe largely elf sufficient and not divert funds from other area . Thi ideal of cour e was not always attained. A memorial of 1120, for instance complain tbat the poorhou e y tem had outtun its sources of income23 .

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Tb' new financial base enabled tbe poorhouse y tem t tban it forerunner. The document clearly tate that !he n in titution wa able t handle more people'than the older relief bome24 • In addition the n

n a ear round basis. Its activities were not confined to the winter m ntbs a w re th of many previous welfare effort . In 1098 the poorbouse tem wa tabli h d throughout tbe empire. Local officials were ordered to admin · ter the y tem in tb ir various districts. Tbeir effort were to be upervi ed by in pect r wbo had the pow r to ad ju t tbe Ievel of funding in accordance witb local condition 25. id wa t b cut off t tbo e per ons who bad already been housed at go ernment e p n but ho w r in r -alit able to take care of themselve .

Though its method of funding is pelled out in some detail tbe actual op rati n the new y tem during these first few years i le clear. By 109 it bad n ither th pecialized function nor the elaborate facilities that were to be f und in its ub e u nt

development. The poorbouse y tem was till cbarged with re p n iblity for di tributin medicine to tbe poor in addition to it primary duty of providing fo d and helt r. Thi provi ion f food and heiter did not yet involve the actual con truction of governm nt poorhouse. . The poor were only housed in public building a a 1 t resort26 •

Seven ears after tbe poorhouse systembad been e tablisbed in the provinc it had not yet been introduced at the capital. There tbe oJd relief home wa till in operation. In 11 5 an edict wa i sued to .remedy thi ituation.

The capital is an area of ba ic importance. It i one of a ruler prioritie . Wid w , widower or­pban and the poor are all in great di tre and have no one to whom they can turn. The p orhou

tem ha been established throughout the empire, but has not yet reached the capital. My wide­ranging goals are in danger of being thwarted. Today although the capital ha relief home the number of people being cared for i not enough. When the weather turn very cold orvery h t the p or and helples and the ick lo e their mean of urvival. I am ery di turbed by thi . I order th authoritie in K'ai-feng to hou e the widowed and orphaned and care for the ick in accordance with the method in effect in the provinces and thu fulfill my goal 27•

The new y tem bad proven it workability and wa accordingly adopted. In the t 1-lowing year an inspector from Huai-tung(16 ] urged that the in titution be formally given tbe name chü-yang yüan[t 7 )28 • We sbould note tbe distinction in u age betweenfaps] and üan (1 ]. The form er refers to a system or approach, while the latter implie the x­i ten~e of a pecific type of pbysical plant. Prior to 1106 the term poorhouse y tem bad been commonly used as a general term but unles the functions are clearly spelled ut we must not assume that every reference to the system during thi period meant the ex­i tence of a poorhouse whicb involved all tbe aspect ofthe fully developed in titution.

Like it predeccessors the Sung poorbouse was designed to provide food clothing and heiter to tbe needy defined as the aged poor, widows, orphan abandoned children

and aii those who were unable to care for themselves. The pecific form of aid varied according to local needs. In keeping with the traditional Chinese re pect for age, tbe el­derl were given special treatment. An edict of 1107 emphasized care for pe ple over the age of fifty29. Areport from the poorhouse of Ching-nan[20] tate in 1108 that re i­dent over the age of eighty were tobe given newstyle white rice firewood and money. Tho e over ninety were to be given in addition daily ration of pickled vegetable and twent cash. In the summer they were tobe given cloth garments andin the winter lined clotbing. Residents over one nundred years of age were to be given rneat every day along with the vegetables and thirty cash. In the winter they were t<? be given silk clo-

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thing and bedding and in the summ er thin ilk shirts and trousers. All districts were ub­equently ordered to follow this example30 •

For other residents ofthe poorhouse the state was not quite so munificent. Eacb adult wa to be alloted one sheng(21 ] of rice and ten casb per day. During the three winter month an additional payment offive cash per day was made so that the residents could buy fuel. These allotments were cut in half for children31 . Over the years the range of aid wa expanded to include the provision of clothing, bedding and utensils. Many docu­ment al o report that mosquito nets were is ued to residents, but these reports became Log an used by critics of the poorhouse system so that one cannot be sure that they pre­

nt an accurate description of the system. The scope of reliefoperationswas widened duting the winter to provide aid to the homeless beggars who suffered from the cold on the treets of the capitaP2 .

Since the presence of children created special problems for the poorhouse, extra mea­ure were taken to care for them. The records show that wetnurses were hired as early

a 1102 to care for infants33 • In 1117 after the system bad been in operation for over a decade a local officialfrom Ch'eng-tu[22] suggested the establishment of an elementary chool for the educable children in the local poorhouse34 . The school was established

and was held up as a model for other poorhouses to follow. Regarding the qu tion of personnet we have seen that the local administrative offi­

cial were initially charged with the responsibility for running the poorhouse system. By 11 6 however, it bad become apparent that additional manpower was needed to handle welfare operations. In that year it was ordered that one police official be sent into each district to help with paperwork35 . He wastobe given additional rice, vegeta­ble and one string of cash per month. Clerical expenses were tobe covered by revenue from the ever-normal granary. A functionary from the local area would also be ap­pointed to assist in admini tering the program for a one year term.

In addition to thesepermanent officials temporary manpower was needed to handle the increa ed workload during the winter months. The problern was particularly acute in the capital. Tbere, petty officials were sent into the streets to collect the homeless who were leeping in the open and bring them to the poorhouse36 • Many of these petty offi­cial were already govemment employees. Since there was no money with which to pay their alarie their promotion schedules were advanced according to the amount of tim they put into welfare activities.

The ame period in which the poorhou e ystem was being developed saw the estab­li hm nt of other poor relief institutions. The mo t striking characteristic of these new in titution is their increasing functional specialization. The older Sung reliefharne bad provided health care as well as food and heiter to the poor. These efforts bad been su p­pl m nted by variou ad hoc health care measures. Now the two functions were for­mall parated and the ad hoc measure were brought tagether in a new institution cal­led the an-chi fang(23].

Thi charity clinic fir t et up in 1102, was modeled on the clinic founded by Su Shih in Han -chou. The y tem actually involved the construction of elaborate hospitals ac­ro th country. There are records of one that contained ten in-patient wards37 • Pa­ti n t ere epara ted on tbe basis of their illnesses expres ly for the purpose of preven t­ing ntagion. The clinic al o included kitchen to prepare food for the patients and pharmacie to prepare drugs38 • Each phy ician was required to keep accurate records of th ca he treatt::d including the nurober of patient who were cured and the nurober

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who di d. At the clo e of the ear th e report were xamined and th tatu ph i ian was decided on the bas. ofhis rateof ucc 39 • Each clini b a taff of four person ho would be replaced ea onall . .

Tb other important category of relief in tituti9n during th · p ri yüan(24 ] or paupers cemetery. The anitation problern uni ersaH ciat d with th di po al of the bodie of the indigent as weil a the traditional Confucian emph · n filial pi t made this matter one of great official conc rn. W bav alr ad e n that th governm nt began buying up plot of land a early as the 1 2 t pr vide burial ground for the poor. Ju t a in the case of the govemment di tributi n f m dicine th e early efforts to set up cemeteries for the poor were con olidated and in tituti n­alized during the first year of the twelfth centur .

The pauper cemeteries were formally e tabli hed in 1104 for th e pr purpo of improving upon the precedent et in Shen T ung reign and thu doing omethin about the " heartbreaking' pectacle of the expo ed corp e of the urban p r4 . Each pr n c­ture wa ordered toset aside unfertile public land for u e a a cem t r and t appoint official to keep records and parcel out the burial plot . Each p n buried in the cemeteries wastobe allotted an eightch'ih (25 ] plot ofland and acoffin. Each grave wa to be provided with a head tone recording the name age date and th r detail f the d ce ed. A central hrine wa tobe et up in each cemet ry to provide a place for an­ce tral acrifice 41 . There are reports that the y tem becarne ela orate that the p r could apply in advance for grave ite 42 . There is archeological evidence that in ne ar a at I a t the orders of the central government were being carried out t the Ietter. Two head tone from a pauper cemetery were unearthed in Shen iin 1960. They aredated 1107 and mention eight ch'ih as the size of the burial plots43 •

The lmpetu to Poor Relief ince human institutions grow as re pon es to need , or ociety perception of th

need we might now con ider ome of the factor social, econornic and intellectual which coalesced during the nortbern Sung to create a ituation that produced perma­nent poor relief institutions. By placing these in titution in their proper context, we can

egin to ee their significance fqr Sung society. Many writer on Sung economic bistory have tres ed the growth that took place during the period. Undeniably production did increa and new pattem of commerce began to develop. A heavy reliance on e ami­nation to recruit the bureaucratic elite meant greater upward social mobility. Thein­crea ingly fluid new society provided opportunitie for many people ofhumble origin to improve their statu . We hould not, however, Iet economicsucce e blind u to the fact that a great many Chinese were rendered destitute by the economic force ofthe time.

On the land, where the vast bulk ofthe people lived everal factor worked to lower independent farmer ' margin of sub i tence. The population of northern Sung China eem to have steadily increased. The number of registered hou ehold grew from

55 729 in 1014 to 12 462,311 in 1063 to 20 882,258 in 111044• The e figure areof

cour e notoriously unreliable. Since they represent tax rolls, their error generally li in und r-reporting. Tbe numbers usually tell us more about the Ievel of govemment con­trol over the countryside than they do about the population. Between 1014 and 111 , however one cannot account for their rise in term of govemment control. The mag­nitude of their increase doe point toward a rise in the actual population. At the ame time the amount of cultivated land increased at a lower rate. ewly cultivated land

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k'en t'ienf26 ] went from 524, 758, 432 mou(27] in 1021 to 228,000,000 in the huang­

yuf18] period (1049-1053) and 440,000,000 in thechih-p'ing(29] period (1064-1067)4s. Two decades later this figure bad increased by approximately 20,000,000 mou. Again, one cannot take these figures at face value. They were occasionally adjusted as a means of providing tax relief to poor farmers46 • N evertheless, w hen placed in the context of the population registers they indicate a decrease in per capita acreage. More important than tbese raw tatistic was the practical position of the poorest farmers. Long distance migration or the reclamation ofvirgin soil required Ievels of organization and tecbnol­ogy that were not available to them. Unlike some of its predecessors, the Sung govem­ment, influenced by the Confucian tradition offilial piety that emphasized the need for maintaining the ancestral shrines, was loathe to organize government sponsored migra­tion . A population pressure on the land increased, division of inheritance meant a di­minution in the average size of the holdings of independent farmers. Their difficultie were compounded by the tax increases that accompanied tbe rise in military spending after the Tangut war.

Many of the e small farmers were consequently driven to serving as tenants of weal­thier landlords. The precise nature of Sung landlord-tenant relations has been a major topic of debate amon·g social historians of China since the beginning of this century. These debates have usually focused on questions of cross-dynastic comparison, seeking to di cover wbether the bonds of dependency were stronger or weaker in the Sung tban in earlier period and thus to determine the Sung's position on a line of development lead­ing to or from feudalism47 • There is, however, generat agreement that these bonds re­gar die of their comparative significance, were an important element in Iandlord ten­ant relations during the Sung. In spite of animprovement in their formallegal status and of imperial decrees affirming their rights, it is clear that many tenants were for all practi­cal purpo e bound to the land and subject to punishment by their landlords48 • That a ignificant nurober offarmer were willing to place themselves in this kind of relation­hip i a mea ure of their desperation. The tenant gained tangible benefits. He no Ionger

had to houlder the tax burden and he could make use of technology that he could not afford on bis own. The independent farmer, meanwbile, continued to get by on a de­crea ing marging of ubsistence.

Sung farmer thus bad little to cushion them from the.shocks ofnatural disasters and a changing phy ical environment. It has been e timated that the Sung dynasty saw 193 flood 1 3 drought 101 hailstorms, 93 windstorms, 90 plagues of locusts 87 famines 77 earthquakes 32 plagues and 18 blizzards49 • No doubt many more disasters went un­reported. A ide from these specific acts of nature, general climatic trends also worked a ain t the pea an . The former northem heartland of China bad been declining in pr ductivit for ome time and this process continued during the Sung. Lessening rain­fall increa ed alinity in the streams erosion and a decrease in the effectiveness of the irrigation y tem all took their toll on northem agricultureso. Recent research has al o hown that the average temperature in China dropped during the Sung. The twelfth

c ntur wa the colde t of the past milleniums1 .

Th impact of the e di a ters and environmental trends on a peasantry whose margin of ub i tenc wa already small produced the refugees who figure so prominently in Sung writing on the need for reliefprogram 52 • The sources are vivid in th.eir descrip­ti n f their uffering. Some even refer to cannibalism among thems3. The desperation

f th homel tarving refugees faced the Sung govemment with a continuing prob-

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lern . La k offood and anitation facilitie cau ed th r fug e t be cau ht in a familiar vicious c cle of hunger and disease. Many died· ome migrat d t ne rur I ar

tber fled to the burgeoning cities here they could cape the burd n f t ti n and corvee labor54

•

The gro th ofthe e citie provided yet another impetu ~ r the e tabli hment fr li f in titution during the Sung. As the pace of commerc quick ned n urban cent r gr w up acro the country55 • Some ofthe e wer of con iderabl ize. F r e ampl b 1 75 K aifeng contained 235 599 registered h u ehold Hang-eh u 2 2 u­chouj30]211 552 and Ch uan-chou(3 1]201 40656 • Though a definition of an urban ar a for the Sung is a difficult problern and these population figure pr bably in Iude ar that e would not con ider urban it i clear that I arge citie were an important a p ct of Sung ociet . Contemporary account ucb as the Tung-ehing meng-hua-lu(32 ] (Dream Record of the Ea tem Capital) atte t to the awe ome ize and opulence of the Sung cap­ital. Marco Polo hirnself a citizen of one of the riebe t citie of Europe wa a t n · h d by the wealth and commerce he aw in Hang-chou ju t a few year after th end of th Sung d na ty.

Behind the plendor lurked the ever-pre ent spectre of po erty. The influ fr m the country ide provided a potential workforce for the new urban enterprise but it al o provided tbe government witb a problem. The documents gi e a triking account ofd -titution among the urban poor. A typical report from K ai-feng in 1107 p ak of · ... b ggar naked and exposed wanderingabout and collap ing in the treet 7 • In

connection witb the e tablishment of pauper cemeterie we aw that the expo d corp-e of the poor lay in the treets of the capital. The poor' concentration in a fairly mall

geographical area made it fea ible for the government to attempt to meet tbeir ne ds. It al o po ed a potential threat to public order in the center of administration that led tho e with an accurate perception ofsocial realitie to upport tbe move toward r gular gov rnment poor relief.

A might be expected the plight of the pea antry Jed during the fir t two decade of the twelfth century to wide pread outbreak of violenc 58• The e di order in the coun­try ide were a problern for the government, but the eruption of such violence in tbe citie would bave been even more serious. These Sungcitie included unorganized re i­dental area along witb the administrative center . Tbe collapse of the o1dfang(33 ] y -tem wbich bad divided cities into walled neigbborhood patrolled by guard meant that I arge cale violence would have been more difficult to contain than would bave been the ca ein the past59. There are reports of rio ts by the poor of everal citie 60 • By undertak~ ing relief operations tbe government en ured that potentially dangeraus el ments were not driven to tbe point of utter de peration.

A combination of factor thus faced the Sung with a need for regular relief measure an ed that often reacbed crisis proportions. This ort of crisi , however wa not a uni­que phenornenon in Chine e history. Previou dynastie bad also een wide pread pov­rty but bad not re ponded by creating uch elaborate relief in titutions. The Sung'

p rc ption of this large se as apart ofits respon ibility was facilitated by certain intel­lectual trend .

Th concern for public welfare was an idea with a long h · tory in the Confucian tra­dition. Mo t writer echoed the theme that the people must be fed before they can be in­tructed in moral precept but they viewed this theme from one particular point of view.

Their concem for the public welfare inevitably led them to a di cu ion of vari u

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policie the government hould pursue and moral standards by which those in govern­men t hould conduct themselves. If these suggestions were adopted, they held the state would be ordered in such a way that every man could attend to his own business and as-ure hi own welfare. Poverty would thus be abolished. Public welfare for traditional onfucian thinkers meant good government, not charity. In fact, we have already een

in conn ction with the T'ang relief institutions that Confucius could be interpreted as po itiv ly oppo ing the idea of charity.

An emphasis on charity presupposed a radically different view of the prospects for improving ociety. Such a view was one ofthe contributions ofBuddhism to the Chine e intellectual tradition. Focusing on the problern of salvation, the Buddhists were less in­ter ted in political issues than were the Confucians. Rather than trying to devise ways of eliminating poverty, they accepted it as an inescapable fact of life in human society and promoted compas ion for the poor as a basic aspect of the morallife. The Buddhist influence can be .seen in the name, "compassionate fields home ' selected for the T ang relief home andin that of the early Sung institution, the "good fortune fields home" .

In addition to promoting the idea of charity, Buddhism also presented the govern­ment with a erie of institutional precedents which were the models for the Sung de­velopm nt . We have een that the Tang govemment took over responsibility for li­mited poor reliefwhen the Buddhists were.no Ionger capable ofhandling the problem. The provi ion of food and shelter grew out of the charitable activities of the monas­terie . The more pecialized charity clinic was based on that established by Su Shih at Hang-chou, which was run by Buddhist monks. When the public cemetery system was fir t e tabli hed the government sent functionaries to collect the corpses that bad been tored in Buddhi t temples and monasteries61 .

The government took the initiative in these matters from a Buddhistreligion that was lo ing it piritual and social efficacy. The widespread sale of monk certificates along with other manife tation of venality weakened the credibility of the monastic order. In addition Buddhi t intellectuallife lost a traditional source of inspiration after the ls­lamic inva ions of north India and central Asia and the consequent decline ofBuddhism in tho e area 62 • Men turned increasingly to Neo-Confucianism to meet their spiritual ne d . In the cour e of it eleventh century resurgence Confucianism was able to ap­propriate traditionally Buddhist ideas and broaden its appeal. Among these ideas was a c ncern for one' moral obligation to all men unmediated by family ties. This less par­ticularized view of ethics wa furtbered during the northern Sung by certain trends in m taphy ic . It mo t explicit and influential tatement can be found in the works of

bangT ai(34].

bangT ai ba ed hi ethical system on the concept of ch'i(35 ] ether as the basic eie­rn nt fall exi tence and the resulting oneness oflife and ontological equality of all be­ing 6 • Thi idea had had a long history in Taoist thought, but here it was fused with Con­fu ian moral precept . In tbe opening line ofhis famous 'Western Inscription" Chang T ai wrote that: ·

1 call heav n my father and earth my mother. I am in ignificant in relation to tbem and I live tbru t in their mid t. I am tbe corporealization of them and I derive my nature from their example. AU m n and 1 emanate from the ame womb and I co-exist with all creatures. The great ruler (h av n and earth) i the clan man of my father and mother. Hisministersare bis clansmen s hou h ld retainer . I honor tbo e great in year o a to pay due re pect for their (heaven and

rth' aged. I have c mpa i n for the lonely and the weak and succor the young so as to provide

38

the care due their hea en and earth children. The ag i on wh i tue (of h a en and earth) and the worthy man i tb f ring people tbe exbau ted the ick the brotherle them m brother wbo are in trouble and ha e no one to whom the can turn. To pr t when n eded i to render aid like a proper on ( of beaven and arth . To delight (in thi and not feel it a burden i the pure t form of filial piet 64.

'bang thu et up a concept of the reality and onene of all b ing in pp · iti n t th Buddhi t idea of un.yata, the world a emptine . Hi theor tical ri ntation w th oppo it of Buddhism s · he devoted much of hi time to critici ms of the Buddhi t · but b infu ing bis metaphy ic with a moral significanc he wa abl to univer ali nfu­cian ethic and end with a vi ion of social respon ibility which in it practical applica­tion wa very clo e to the Buddhist ideal of compas ion and charity.

Tbi development in northern Sung metaphy i and ethic coincid d with anoth r tendenc common in eleventh cen tury eo-Confucian thought which call d for an in­cre ing1y activi t view of man s moral re pon ibility. This chool of thought was characterized by a new attitude toward the Confucian tradition it elf an attitude that wa ex mplified by Hu Yuan(36 ], the most important teacher of the fir t generation of

eo-Confucian 65 . Hu saw the Confucian clas ics a embodying eternal truth which could be applied to the affair of any time and place. Tho e truths could then provide the ba · for an attempt toreform ociety. Hu Yuan bad a I arge following and the attitud he e pou ed found its concrete expre sion in the reform of the leventh and arly tw lfth c nturie of wbich the poor relief y tem was one.

The Limits of Altruism Tbere were many forces at work in eleventh century China ocial economic andin­

tellectual which combined to further the development of relief in titution . In pite of the intention ofofficials in thecentralgovernment and the altruism fthinker uch a 'bang T ai we mu t be very keptical about moving from the e factor to br ad

gen ralizati n about benevolent Confucian government" in the Sung. The ideal that gave ri e to the new programs were limited by everal con traint . In ome c ne might even que tion the degree to which the relief in titution actually benefit d tho e peopl for whom they were designed.

The mo t eriou of these con traint was the apparently perva ive corruption that characterized Sung relief adrnini tration. This corruption took many form and p r­i t d de pite government effort to tamp it out, tbroughout the period. Tb fir t re­

ference to uch malfeasance in the new poorhouse ystem came a early as 11 5. In that ear it was reported that prefectural officials were not keeping proper record of reJief

operation o investigator were ent in seasonally to check into the actual number of people being handled66. Eight month later tbere were more detailed report of corrup­tion and more drastic punitive measure . Local officia1 were padding the 1i of relief re ipient with tbe names of healthy people and of people wbo bad already died67 • Offi­cial found guilty of falsifying their records in this manner were tobe given one hundred lashes. During tbe same month there were accounts of offleials in charge of pauper cemet ri who were remiss in their duties and who by making the grave too hallow left corp e expo ed. Investigator were ent into the field to examine loca1 conditions and end the names of delinquent official back to the central government68 • Such abu led in the following month to the promulgation of an imperial edict which called

39

attention to the fact that local officials were generallylax in their management of relief programs and that as a result the intentions of the central government were being thwarted69. To remedy the situation, an additional official wastobe sent into each town of over one thousand households in order to insure that the programs actually reached the poor.

This sy tem does not seem to have solved the problem, for within a few years there weremore accounts ofwidespread maladministration. By 1110 the Iack ofstandardiza­tion in practises and the provision of aid to many who did not need it led to the dispatch of more investigative officials. Because of the abuses the municipal authorities in the capital were erdered to reduce the scale of their relief operations and retum to the old y tem of four relief homes with a provision for expansion during the winter months7o.

The result was in effect to place a quota on the nurober of paupers who could be sup­ported at government expense. In spite of the cutbacks, some of the functions of the poorhouse system such as tbe hiring of wetnurses for infants, were continued. The poorhouse sy tem was left intact in tbe provinces.

Once again, however, government efforts at reform had little effect. Within a year there were more reports of the same abuses71 . Local offleials were again exhorted to adhere to the centrat govemment's directives. Further investigations were made, but the problern simply compounded. In 1111 there were complaints that the investigative official themselves were remiss and did not report back to their superiors72 • As a result it was aid, local maladministration continued and the poor were in great distress. In 1112 an imperial edict tated that the instructions bad all been sent down but that the local official were not carrying them out. Some were even selling the goods they were uppo ed tobe dispensing to the poor73 . Suchproblems continue to figurein the docu­

ment for the re t of the decade. An interesting eyewitness account from 1114 provides an insight into the ways in

which local corruption was able to perpetuate itself:

I have a certained that in the various districts the people who are actually elderly and who should be plac d in a home, tho e who are actually sick and sbould be hospitalized, those who should actu­ally receive aid are harmed becau e tho e with family connections enter false claims and bend tbe regulations at will. The local officials protect one another and it is therefore impos ible to investi­gate74.

A picture emerge of local officials tied to family interests joining in a virtual conspir­acy of ilence to protect each other from the central govemment. As a result of this re­p rt an edict was i sued calling for further inve tigations and the demotion of guilty offi­cial 75 • Still the corruption continued.

Finally in 1120 the govemment erdered a cutback in relief programs. Because of the wid r pread abu e it wa alleged that relief administrations had lost sight of the origi­nal purpese of their institution . The poorhouses, which appear to have been rein­troduced in the capital after their partial di establishment in 1110, were erdered to re-trict th ir op ration to the dispen ing of food and money. Other measures such as the

hiring of wetnur e and tbe conducting of religious services were to be stopped entirely. The minimum age at which arelief recipient could qualify for treatment as an elderly per n wa raised from fifty to ixty years of age76.

The cutback meant that fewer of the urban poor could count on govemment aid and that the ope of the aid given each of them was reduced. The resulting misery is de­

ribed in a memorial of 1125:

40

In inter the collap ing people are not beiog cared for. The beggars are fall in do n and 1 p­ing in the treet beneath the imperial carriage. Ever one e them and the pe pl pity them and Iament The benevolence and ympathy of our enlightened ruler are great. In e ta li hing poorhouse to ave these people from their mi ery the expenditur i utterl in ignifi ant hil th ble ing tobe gained are great. (The sy tem) hould be re-e tabli hed77.

The recommendation was adopted and on the eve of it collap e the n rthem ung government reinstituted the full operations of the poorhou e y t m.

In dealing with the unavoidable fact of corruption in relief admini tration traditi nal Chinese historians have often simply attributeditto the per onal iniquity of th prim mini ter T ai Ching. The official Sung hi tory for in tance refer to th poorhou tem as an example ofT 'ai Ching s corrupt administration78 . An aminati n of th ources indicates, however that this interpretation is a impli tic one that avoi the

questions raised by the existence of wide pread corruption. Am re balanced a ment can be made once the T ai Ching myth has b en di carded.

The growth and eventual fictionalization of the myth ofT ai hing a an e illa t mini ter has been traced in detail by Dr. Rolf TrauzetteF9 • The tandard hi torical ac­counts were based on these biased sources. In the end T 'ai Ching cam tobe regarded, in the words of a leading twentieth century reference work a omeone who e

... poison eeped through the whole empire ... who cau ed the di aster of 112 (th fall of the northern Sung) ... who is regarded by the world a the foremo t of the ix villain 80 • 'The propagation of such a myth wa very u eful during the outhern ung andin later periods. The Chinese historical tradition has from tim immem rial ught to find the cause of the fall of dynasties in the evil characters of their politicallead r . T ai Ching provided a handy capegoat on whom to blame the fall ofthe northern Sun . In addition he provided' objective" proof for the contention of the increa ingly influen­tial Ch eng-Chu(37 ] school of Neo-Confucianism that the way to national alvation lay not in political reform uch as those ofWang An-shih(38 ] and T ai Ching but in moral cultiva tion.

From the timing of the relief institution development during the early twel.fth cen­tury, it becomes obviou that this development was closely tied toT ai Ching care r81 .

The rapid expansion of the poorhouse y tem the e tabli hment of the charity clinics and the founding of pauper' cemeterie came during bis fir t two year in power. Mo t of the edicts calling for expan ion of relief activitie date from period when he wa in control of the government. The temporary di establi hment of the p orhou in K ai­feng came during a brief period when he was out of power. The cutback of relief ac­tivities in 1120 followed by a matter of weeks T 'ai Ching' departure from offic 82

•

The poor relief system was one of Ts'ai Ching program and there was certainly corruption in its administration, but to blame it all on T ai Ching i to gro sly over-implify. It is true that official investigations into corruption were mo t common during

periods when Ts'ai Ching was out of power but the e efforts at reform were all in vain and the maladministration continued whether Ts ai was in or out of office. Tbe e inve -tigations hould be viewed in the context of the violent factionali m that characterized the late northe.m Sung court since they provided Ts ai's enemies another i u with which to seek to discredit him. Ts ai hirnself was aware of the maladministration and took mea ures though equally usele to tamp it .out. The earliest inve tigation into and punishment of corruption in the relief sy tem in fact date from a period when he was in power83.

41

When one considers the pattern of corruption and of the govemment's response to it it eems unfair to blame any particular individual in the central govemment. Corruption wa widespread among the local officials. They falsified their reports and exaggerated the nurober of relief recipients in order to have their allotments increased and they di _ tributed aid to friends and relatives who were neither sick nor needy. The relief institu­tion were involved in dispensing food, cash medicine and clothing, all highly market­able items and thus represented an potential bonanza for hard pressed local func­tionarie .

The general in titutional factors that led to corruption in Sung local government have been widely discus ed by historians of the period. There was a steady increase in tbe nurober of govemment officials, which on occasion outstripperl the government's ability to pay them. Wehave already encountered a concrete example of this problern in tbe nece ity of paying petty officials for their winter service in the relief system by ac­celerating their promotion chedules in lieu of giving them cash. The huge military budget also meant a diminution in the amount of money available for paying civilian alarie . On the locallevel opportunities for graft were enhanced because sub-officials

stayed in one locale and developed ties with locally prominent families while their uperiors were quickly rotated in office. This situation gave rise tothat described in tbe

memorial of 1114. These factors help us understand why government efforts tostampout corruption in

the relief y tem were uniformly unsuccessful. The mainstream of Chinese political thought bas alway emphasized the importance to good government of personnel. Tbis frame of mind conditioned the responses of early twelfth century officials to the prob­lern of corruption that confronted them. Wehaveseen that each ofthe attempts at re­forming the relief y tem consisted of sendingadditional administrative or investigative functionarie into the field. This increase in personnel, of course only resulted in put­ting even greater pre sure on limited government funds and served to exacerbate the ba ic problem. The Sung government thus became trapped in a vicious cycle and cor­ruption continued to plague the relief system.

Such difficultie provided evidence for the system s critics who argued that it did not help tho e for whom it wa intended. To these voices were added those representing a more ba ic oppo ition. They complained not that the poor were receiving insufficient aid but that they w re receiving too much. Provision of aid was seen as a useful, yet omehow tainted act which hould be kept to a minimum. The criticism of exces in re­

li f administrationwas actually as common asthat of corruption. These observer were hocked by the provi ion of such luxuries' as mosquito nets or wetnurses . A typical

critici m i contained in a document from 1109:

The p rhou cbarity clinic and pauper' cemetery arematter of high priority for a benevol-nt v rnment. Tbey are meant to care for tbe living and to dispose of the dead. They are to prev­

ent pe ple fr m lo ing their mean of urvival and nothing more. I bear that the various district are too travagant in their operation . Some even provide mosqu.ito nets, wine and delicacie . On cannot fail to be di turbed by the manner in which they conduct their affairs. They should be topped. They hould not be allowed to continue such excessive indulgence84 (italics mine).

referred to in this document became formulaic slogans which appear a­gain and again.. Mo quito net wii!e meat and wetnurses were the images with which writer conve ed their hock at the govemment s profligate expenditures. When relief program were cutback in 1120 the tated reason was not so much the corruption in-

42

ol ed a what wa con idered the wasteful e travagance of th pread concem for providing the least po ible aid tbe govemment ith

wa a far cry from the ethical ideals of a Chang T ai or the rhetoric lished the relief ystem.

The edict of 1120 presents yet another argument again t larg pendi-ture. After decrying the luxuries that were given the poor it teil how the re ulting la k offund for military expen e placed the country oldier in di tre and cau d th m to flee from their po ts86 • Pres ure on tbe northem border and pea ant upr· ing in th countryside placed the late northern Sung government in a potentially dang r i­tion. Thi document tatement of the govemment primar re p n ibilit of pr id­ing defence rather than poor relief reflect the increasing burden of military expenditur that plagued the govemment. The tatu of its soldier bad unk o low that in 111 e -oldier were declared eligible for aid through the poorhou e y tem if they w r willing

to accept it87 .

Behind such general critici ms lay the traditional Confucian empha i on the tat re pon ibility to eliminate poverty through good govemment rather than to ac pt it and seek to ameliorate its effects. Ssu-ma Kuang(39] a leading con ervative f hi day began a lengthy memorial on the refugee problern by tating that:

The govemmentofa sage kingcause the people to becontent witb their land anddeligbtin tbeir work and to spend their entire lives without thought of running away. The m t important fa tor in bringing thi about is per onnel. In my humble opinion there i nothing better than paying careful attention to tbe selection of public official 88.

He then went on to sugge t agricultural aid programs to prevent people from having to flee in the face of natural disaster . Tung Wei in hi detailed monograph on r Ii f mea ure dealt with neither the poorhouse charity clinic nor the pauper cemeteri of tbe northern Sung. Hi attention, like S u-ma Kuang , was focu ed n prev ntative measures. The opening lines ofhis chapter on refugee tatethat' The refugee are lik a flood of water. If you treat its source then it is easy to get re ult . If you try to uppr its manife tations, then it is difficult to be succe sful89 . This attitude of cour e do imply an Opposition to poor relief, but it doe express a different view of th prioritie in dea1ing with the problern of poverty.

In fact none of tbe critics of tbe poor relief y tem expre a total oppo ition to the idea of relief. They attack the sy tem corrupti.on or it extravagance or th y tres a preventative approach to social problern but they all agree on the need for ome mini­mal provision of poor relief. For example when in 1106 T 'ai Ching enernie cam temporarily to power and set about cancelling bis program only the relief y tem w allowed to remain90. This Consensus in favor of some attempt at poor relief how the extent to which an originally Buddhist idea bad become a comrnon-place of northern Sung political thought.lt also how that the official , in spite oftheir frequent re erva­tion about the relief system had a reali tic appreciation ofthe gravity and the potential danger of the situation facing the urban poor.

What emerges from this study is a picture neither of 'evil officials who e poison seeped through the empire" nor of disintere ted altruistic Confucian scholar bureau­crat . One sees ba ically pragmatic men, influenced by the intellectual climate of their tim es appropriating ideas from another tradition in order to come t grip with the o­cial problems confronting them.

43

Unfortunately the instrument upon which they relied to implement their programs was their own greatest obstacle. One finds that the 'cumbrous, gigantic machinery' of Profes or Balazs powerful image did not function all that smoothly during the northern Sung. Corruption and maladministration consistently thwarted the goals of the central authoritie . Officials, regardless oftheir factional allegiance, were aware ofthe problern and did their best to solve it, but they were prisoners of a traditional approach to gov­ernment admini tration. Their efforts to eradicate corruption only served to increase the number of corrupt officials. The "victims" in this case were the poor, the sick, pre­cisely those elem~nt of society who were the objects of the central government's con­cern.

Notes

* I must acknowledge my debt to Prof Ping-ti Ho and to the late Prof Edward Kracke for their introduction to the Chinese sources and for the unfailing generosity with which they have given of their time. I must also thank my colleague Mr. James Lee for his enlightening conversations on Chinese institutional history.

** Etienne Balazs, Chinese Civilization and Bureacracy, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1964 p. 149.

*** See Chin Chung-chu, "Sung-tai chi chung she-hui fu-li chih-tu," Hsin-ya hsüeh-shu nien- · k'an X (Sept. 1968), 127-169; Hsü 1-t'ang, " Sung-tai p'ing-shih ti she-bui chiu-chi hsing-cheng" Chung-kuo wen-huayen-chiuhui-/Can V (Sept. 1945), 33-47; and WangTe-~Sung-tai tsai-huang ti chiu-chi cheng-ts'e, Taipei: Commercial Press, 1970, pp. 86-130.

1 Ch üan Han-sheng, " Cbung-kuo fo-chiao s u-yüan ti tz'u-shan shih-yeh", Shih-huo /4(1935) 1-7.

2 Tang hui-yao 49 (World Book Co. ed. volume 2 p. 863). Kenneth Ch'en, "Economic Background of the Hui-ch'ang Persecution," Harvard Journal

of Asiatic Studies 19 (1956), 67-105. 4 Tang hui-yao 49 vol. 2, p. 863. See also Li Te-yü Li Wen-jao wen-chi , 12/ 11, 12, Commer-

cial Pre 1929 reprint of Ming edition. 5 /bid. 6 lbid. 7 Li, wen-chi 12/ 11 12. 8 Sung-shih 178/ 12, Ssu-pu pei-yao edition. 9 lbid.

10 lbid. 11 Fan T u-yü, Fan Tai-shih chi, 14/5-8, Ssu-k'u ch'üan-shu chen-pen edition. 12 Sung-shih 178/ 12. 13 /bid. 14 Hsü tzu-chih t'ung-chien eh ang-p'ien, 186. 15 Sung hui-yao, 68/ 128 (World Book Co. edition). The documents relating to poor relief are

also included in chüan 60. 16 Tung Wei, Chiu-huang huo-min shu, 3/ pas im. 17 Accounts of Su Shih' activities can be found in Sung-shih, 33817-8, ch'ang-p'ien, 435120

and Sung hui-yao , 68/ 130. 18 lbid . 19 ForT ai Ching's reforms seeSung-shih, 472 and RolfTrauzettel, Ts'ai Ching als Typus des

lllegitimaten Mini ters, Munich: Inaugural Di sertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades, 1964 pp. 83- 120.

2 0 Sung hui-yao 68/ 128 following. 21 lbid. The document states that in the absence of property of the heirless dead the poor are

to be hou ed in a govemment building. 22 For detail on thi ystem in which the govemment kept stockpiles of grain to be Ient to far-

mer in time of need e Imahori Seiji, ,sodai joheiso kenkyu' , Shigaku Zasshi LXVI: 10 11. 23 Sung hui-yao 6 / 136. 24 Ibid . 6 / 130. 2 5 lbid . 6 / 129. 26 /bid . 27 /bid. 68/ 128. 2 Jbid. 6 / 132. 29 Ibid. 6 / 131.

44

3o Jbid. 68/ 133. 31 Jbid. 68/ 136 32 Ibid. 68/ 132 33 Ibid. 68/ 128. 34 lbid. 68/136. 35 lbid. 68/ 131. 36 lbid. 68/ 135. 31 Ibid. 68/ 129. 38 Ibid . 39 Ibid. 68/ 131. 4o Jbid. 68/ 130. 4 1 lbid. 42 Ibid. 134. 4 3 Ho Cheng-huang, ,Sung wu-ming shih mu chuan," Wen-wu 1966 no. 1, 53-54. 44 Edward Kracke, Civil Service in Early Sung China , Carnbridge: Harvard Univer ity Pre

1953, p. 15. 45 Ma Tuan-lin, Wen-hsien t'ung-k'ao, 4 (Hsin-hsing Book Co. ed., pp. 53-60). 4 6 lbid. 5/ 61. 4 7 Arguments by the mo t important students of this question can be found in Sudo Yo hiyuki,

Chugoku tochi seido shi kenkyu Tokyo: 1954; and Miyazaki Ichi ada, Chugoku shijo no hoen and "Sodai igo tochi shoyu keitai," in hisAjia shi kenkyu, vol. 4, 22-38 and 87-130. Al o ee a Chine e translation of Miyazaki "Ts'ung pu-ch'ü tao tien-hu," Shih-huo, Ill (1973-74) no. 9 427-443, no. 10, 473-487.

48 Sudo, tochi seido, pp. 107-172. 49 Wang, Te-i chiu-chi cheng-ts'e, p. 26. 5° Yao Pao-yü, " Chung-kuo li-shih-shang eh i-hou pien-ch'ien chih ling-i yen-chiu, ' hih­

hsüeh chüan-k'an, 1:1 (1935) 111-146· Ch'üan Han-sheng, Tang Sung ti-kuo yü yun-ho, Com­mercial Press, 1946, pp. 3-5.

5 1 Chu K'o-chen ,Chung-kuo chin wu-ch'ien Iai eh i-hou pien-ch' ien ti eh u-pu yen-chiu ' K'ao-ku hsüeh-pao , 1972, no.l, p.25.

52 For example see Ma, Wen-hsien t'ung-k'ao, 261252-253 ; Tung Wei Chiu-huang huo-min shu 2118 ; Sung hui-yao, 69/ 35-69; Ssu-ma Kuang, Wen-kuo wen-eheng Ssu-ma kung wen-chi, 36/10-12, (Ssu-pu ts ung-k an ed.) Cheng Hsia, Hsi-t'ang hsien-sheng wen-chi 1/ 12-15 Ming Wan-li edition in National Library Peking. microfilm)

53 Ma, Wen-hsien t'ung-k'ao, 26/ 252. 54 See Lawrence Ma Commercial Development and Urban Change in Sung China, Ann Ar­

bor: Michigan Geographical Publications, no. 6 1971, pp. 114-118. 55 Fora detailed study of Sung cities see Michael Finegan, Urbanism in Sung China , unpub­

li hed doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago, 1976. 56 Kracke, Civil Service, p. 13. Fora discussion of the complications involved in e timating

Sung urban populations see Finegan, Urbanism , pp. 224-316. 57 Sung hui-yao, 68/ 132. 58 Li Wen-chih, , Pei-Sung min-pien chih ching-chi ti tung-H," Shih-huo, IV 464-484; Tao

H i- heng, " Sung-tai ti ko cbung pao-tung. ' Chung-shan chi-k'an , I: 2, 671-681. 59 Ma, Commercial Development, p. 80. 60 The potential for violence among the urban poor became a reality during tbe southem Sung.

For example see Wang Ying-ch'en, Wen-ting chi 16/ 12-15. (Wu-ying-tien edition) ; Chen Te­h iu Hsi-shan wen-chi 6/ 11-14. (Ssu-pu ts'ung-k'an edition).

61 Sung hui-yao, 68/ 130. 62 Kenneth Ch'en, Buddhism in China, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964, pp.

399-402. 63 Feng Yu-lan, History of Chinese Philosophy, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953

vol. 2, pp. 477-498. 64 Chang Tsai, Chang tzu ch'üan-shu, 111-4 (Ssu-pu pei-yao edition), Translations oftbis pas­

age differing in places from my own may be found in Feng, History, p. 493; Ch' en, Buddhism p. 395; and Wing-t it Chan, Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy, Princeton: Princeton Univer ity Press 1963, p. 497.

65 See W. Theodore deBary, "A Reappraisal of Neo-Confuciani m,' Artbur Wright, ed. Studies in Chinese Thought, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968, p. 90.

66 Sung hui-yao, 681131. 67 lbid. 68 Ibid ., 681132. 69 Ibid. 70 lbid., 681134.

45

71 Ibid. 72 Ibid. 73 Sung ta chao-ling chi, 186/681 (Ting wen Book Co. edition). 74 Sung hui-yao, 68/ 135. 75 Ibid. 76 lbid., 68/ 137. 77 Ibid. 78 Sung-shih, 178/12. 79 Trauzettel Ts'ai Ching. 80 Tz'u-hai, Taipei: Chung-bua Book Co. p. 2510. 81 ForTs ai Ching' career se Sung-shih, 472 ; Fora chronology of the most important minis­

ters of state see Sung-shih 212; for high govememnt officials during the reign of Hui-tsung see Trauzettel, Ts'ai Ching, pp. 180-190.

82 Sung hui-yao, 68/136. 83 lbid., 68/131. 84 lbid. 68/133. 85 lbid., 68/ 136. 86 lbid. 87 lbid . 88 Ma, Wen-hsien rung-k'ao, p. 253. 89 Tung Wei Chiu-huang huo-min shu 2118. 90 See Chin Chung-chu, "Sung tai .. . , pp. 149-150.

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