“Strange Weather: Art, Politics, and Climate Change in the Middle of Emperor Huizong’s Reign,”...

Strange Weather: Art, Politics, and Climate Change at the Courtof Northern Song Emperor Huizong

Huiping Pang

Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, Volume 39, 2009, pp. 1-41 (Article)

Published by The Society for Song, Yuan, and Conquest Dynasty Studies

DOI: 10.1353/sys.0.0001

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Journal of Song-Yuan Studies 39 (2009)

S t r a n g e W e a t h e r :

A r t , P o l i t i c s , a n d C l i m a t e C h a n g e

a t t h e C o u r t o f N o r t h e r n S o n g

E m p e r o r H u i z o n g

Huiping Pang* s t a n f o r d u n i v e r s i t y

This study addresses aspects of culture and politics at the court of the Northern Song emperor Huizong 徽宗 (1082–1135, r. 1100–1125) during the middle years of his reign, particularly around 1110. It describes and analyzes the complex relationship between imperial court politics and the ways in which the arts, such as painting and calligraphy, and “auspiciousness report-ing” played crucial roles in determining the political fates of individuals in the imperial court. One particular relationship, between Huizong and his powerful grand councilor Cai Jing 蔡京 (1046–1126), is exceptionally revealing. Cai Jing was, in alternation, both a beneficiary and a victim of the vicissitudes of the court during an age in which climate change and a fatal disconnect between the emperor and his realm helped to seal the fate of the Northern Song dynasty. The common historical judgment on these two characters is that Emperor Huizong was an ineffectual aesthete who knew little of what was going on in his court or his empire. The emperor was manipulated constantly by self-serving, more experienced and able courtiers, such as his grand councilor Cai Jing, who used his influence for his own security and profit.1 This sterotyped portrait

* I am very grateful for the assistance of Peter Sturman, Ronald Egan, Allan Langdale, Robert Williams, and Joseph Chang. The Smithsonian Institution’s Postdoctoral Fellowship supported my research in 2007–2008. 1. Wang Cheng 王偁 (?–ca.1200) commented that “Cai Jing was by nature crafty and deceit-ful.” See Wang Cheng, Dongdu shilue 東都事略 [Resume of Events in the Eastern Capital] (preface dated 1186; Taipei: Zhongyang tushuguan, 1991), 101.1560. The dynastic history classified Cai as a “treacherous minister” 姦臣. See Tuo Tuo 脫脫 (1313–1355) et al., Songshi 宋史 [History

2 h u i p i n g p a n g

of the workings of the imperial court may be accurate in some respects, but it does not fully convey the complexity of the context and in some ways may even be misleading. This study joins other recent reappraisals of these two figures that challenge, or at least seek to complicate, the older paradigm.2 One way to reexamine the relationship between Huizong and Cai Jing is by considering the role that calligraphy and painting played as media through which the two found common interest. Both Huizong and Cai were connois-seurs and able practitioners of calligraphy and painting, and both seemed to have highly sophisticated knowledge, both historical and aesthetic, of these arts. Cai proved himself especially adept at using calligraphy and painting as a mode of communication between himself and the much younger emperor. Huizong, too, could participate in this game of signs, in which paintings and their attached colophons were used as a kind of secret language.3

An attendant stratagem in court communications was “auspiciousness” and “inauspiciousness” reporting and interpretation. Cai was an apt pupil of

of Song; hereafter SS] (1345; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1977), 472.13723; Lü Zhong 呂中 (jinshi 1240s), Song dashiji jiangyi 宋大事記講義 (preface dated 1247; Siku quanshu [SKQS] ed.), 21.394. 2. See Patricia Ebrey, “Literati Culture and the Relationship between Huizong and Cai Jing,” Journal of Song-Yuan Studies 36 (2006), 2; Maggie Bickford, “Huizong’s Paintings: Art and the Art of Emperorship,” in Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China: The Politics of Culture and the Culture of Politics, ed. Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Maggie Bickford (Cambridge and London: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006), 454; Ari Daniel Levine, “Terms of Estrange-ment: Factional Discourse in the Early Huizong Reign,” in Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China, 158; Charles Hartman, “A Textual History of Cai Jing’s Biography in the Songshi,” in Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China, 549; and Patricia Ebrey, Accumulating Culture: The Collections of Emperor Huizong (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2008), 59–65. 3. Late in Huizong’s reign, ca. 1112–1125, thousands of auspicious paintings were commis-sioned, executed by court painters, and signed by Huizong. Examples include Albums for the Emperor’s Perusal in the Xuanhe Period 宣和瑞覽冊 (e.g., Cranes of Good Omen on 1112/1/16, Auspicious Dragon Rock, and Five-Colored Parakeet). See Peter Sturman, “Cranes above Kaifeng: The Auspicious Image at the Court of Huizong,” Ars Orientalis 20 (1990), 33–68; Ogawa Hiromitsu 小川裕充, “Auspicious Cranes, by Huizong,” Bijutsushi ronsō 12 (Tokyo: Tokyo University, 1996), 129–137; Masaaki Itakura 板倉聖哲 , “Kōtei no manazashi shi: Kisō zuitsuru zu o megutte” 皇帝

の眼差し : 徽宗瑞鶴図をめぐって, Ajia Yūgaku アジア遊學 64 (2004), 128–139; and Bickford, “Huizong’s Paintings,” Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China, 476. My purpose here is to investigate the origins of these images and the astrological interpretations that were appended to them. By examining the early-to-middle era of Huizong’s regency ca. 1100–1110, we are able to see the beginnings of inauspicious versus auspicious interpretive practices, which were elucidated by two combative political groups: the New and Old Policies factions.

3s t r a n g e w e a t h e r : a r t , p o l i t i c s , a n d c l i m a t e c h a n g e

this Machiavellian practice: at first a victim of it, he later became an adept manipulator of auspiciousness reporting, using it viciously and effectively to maintain and further his position in court and also to marginalize his enemies. By examining these instances and their potent functions in determining court politics, we are provided with a singular portrait of a court where belief in the power of omens and signs in nature was endemic and was manipulated con-stantly by the political and moral interpretation of natural events such as the appearances of comets or sunspots or even uncommon weather phenomena. A central topic in this paper is the Cold Period, ca. 1100–1190s, a climatic event that had drastic consequences for the economy and environment of the late Northern Song. In a world where natural disasters were indicative of Heaven’s displeasure with the imperial court, strange weather could be a menacing sign. Contrasts are drawn between the Cold Period and the so-called Medieval Warm Period (ca. 800–1000) that preceded it. Various issues emerge from the contrast: an increase in the number of snow-related themes in painting, for example, and shifting attitudes towards snow and snowfalls. Here I have chosen a single painting, Returning Boat on a Snowy River 雪江

歸棹圖 (Figs. 1–3), with its colophon by Cai Jing, as an illuminating text for reevaluating these issues.4

Cai Jing’s colophon to Huizong’s Returning Boat on a Snowy River (Fig. 4) gives an artist [Huizong], the title of the painting, and the date of the colophon [1110/3/1],5 and includes a poem referring to the painting (for translation see

4. The painting, in the Beijing Palace Museum, is inscribed Xuejiang guizhou tu 雪江歸棹

圖 [Returning Boat on a Snowy River] in the upper right corner; “Produced by Xuanhe Palace” 宣和殿製 in the left margin with the cipher “The First Man Under Heaven” 天下一人 just below. The painting is also impressed with eight imperial seals: Xuanhe 宣龢, Zhenghe 政和, Double Dragons Square Seal 雙龍方印, Xuanhe 宣和, Daguan 大觀, Imperial Writing 御書, Zhenghe 政龢, and Seal of the Inner Treasury’s Paintings and Calligraphy 內府圖書之

印. Whether the painting was rendered by Huizong’s own hand or his ghostpainter is beyond the scope of this article. My subject focuses on Cai Jing’s colophon, his political situation, and snow disasters. For a recent study of the ghostpainter problem and Huizong, see Xu Bangda 徐邦達, “Song Huizong Zhao Ji qinbihua yu daibi de kaobian” 宋徽宗趙佶親筆畫與代筆的考

辯, Gugong bowuyuan yuankan 故宮博物院院刊 1 (1979), 62–67; Xu Bangda, Gushuhua wei’e kaobian 古書畫偽訛考辨 [Studies in the authentication of ancient calligraphy and painting] (Yangzhou: Jiangsu guji chubanshe, 1984), 228–229; Maggie Bickford, “Emperor Huizong and the Aesthetic of Agency,” Archives of Asian Art 53 (2002–2003), 71–104; and Maggie Bickford, “Huizong’s Paintings,” Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China, 490–496. 5. For the sake of consistency, I will render dates here according to the Chinese lunar calendar in the following form: “year/month/day.” My reading of the date Jichun shuo 季春朔,


Appendix I).6 Huizong’s painting creates an image of a peculiar world: a pure, remote, and inaccessible landscape firmly in the grip of winter. The silvery sky seems boundless and free of mist and clouds. Majestic mountains, precipitous cliffs, and calmly flowing rivers are complemented by the various undulating forms of the valleys. The layered mountain range and the deep perspective keep spectators segregated from the idealistic landscape, even though signs of daily human activities—including fishermen, travelers, boats, riverside dwellings, and temple buildings—are all visible. The viewer is not invited to enter this secluded, utopian snowscape, rather, it proffers an idyllic, distant world, an intangible dream of nature (Fig. 6). In contrast to traditional fishing paintings of the Northern Song dynasty, such as Xu Daoning’s 許道寧 (ca. 1000–1066) Fishermen’s Evening Song 漁舟

唱晚圖卷 (ca. 1049; Fig. 7) and Wang Shen’s 王詵 (ca. 1048–ca. 1103) Light Snow Over a Fishing Village 漁村小雪圖卷 (Fig. 8), Huizong’s painting instead emphasizes a single, lonely fisherman rowing the boat in the middle of the river. Loneliness and longing seem to replace the rowdy laborers and the clamor and camaraderie of the earlier paintings. The mood is thus entirely different in Returning Boat on a Snowy River, strongly suggesting a different

which literally means the first day of the third month of spring, as 1110/3/1 is justified by the fact that spring was considered to begin in January and end in March, a fact confirmed by at least four Song dynasty sources: 1) Li Tao 李燾 (1115–1184), Xu zizhi tongjian changbian 續資治通鑑

長編 [Comprehensive mirror for aid in government, continued; hereafter Changbian] (preface dated 1174; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986), 408.9928: “(In 1088) 詔以常平錢穀給在京乞丐

人, 至季春止…候三月五住, 以雪寒故也;” 2) SS, 102.2495: “宣和元年三月, 皇后親蠶. 即延福宮行禮 . 其儀: 季春之月, 太史擇日, 皇后親蠶;” 3) Hu Hong 胡宏 (1105–1161), Huang-wang daji 皇王大紀 (preface dated 1141; SKQS ed.) “三月季春” 2.22 (see Fig. 5); 4) Zhang Lu 張慮 (jinshi 1196), Yueling jie 月令解 (Congshu jicheng xubian 叢書集成續編 ed.; Taipei: Xinwenfeng chubanshe, 1989), 3.785: “季春之月: 季春者…正為三月.” For earlier sources, see Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 (127–200), Liji zhengyi 禮記正義 (Shisanjing zhushu 十三經注疏 ed.; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1980), 15.135: “季春之月: 按三統曆云: 三月之節.” 6. Cai Jing’s colophon has been admired through history. In 1630 Chen Yuanrui 陳元瑞 (active 17th century) carved Cai’s colophon onto the Bohai cangzhen tie 渤海藏真帖. The early Qing commentator Wu Qizhen 吳其貞 (1607–ca. 1677) regarded this colophon as magnificent, elegant, and undoubtedly as genuine as Cai’s Letter to Jiefu 節夫帖 (ca. 1104). See Wu Qizhen, Shuhua ji 書畫記 [Notes on Painting and Calligraphy] (preface dated 1678; Shenyang: Liaoning jiaoyu chubanshe, 2000), 5.204. Certainly, compared with Cai’s calligraphy in Letter to Jiefu and his colophons to Wang Ximeng’s 王希孟 (1096–1119) A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains 千里江山圖 of 1113, Xuanzong’s 唐玄宗 (r. 712–756) Ode to the Pied Wagtails 鶺鴒頌 of 1115, and Listening to the Qin 聽琴圖, Cai’s colophon to Returning Boat on a Snowy River presented a typical example of Cai’s distinguished calligraphy style.

Fig. 1 Emperor Huizong’s 徽宗 (r. 1100–1125) painting, Returning Boat on a Snowy River 雪江歸棹圖. Handscroll, 30.3 × 190.8 cm, ink on silk. Collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing. Courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing.


Fig. 2 Detail of Fig. 1, Returning Boat on a Snowy River. Huizong’s inscription. Courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing. Fig. 3 Detail of Fig. 1, Returning

Boat on a Snowy River. Huizong’s signature. Courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Fig. 4 Cai Jing’s colophon to Returning Boat on a Snowy River. Handscroll, ink on paper. Courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Fig. 6 Detail of Fig. 1, Returning Boat on a Snowy River. Courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Fig. 5 Hu Hong 胡宏 (1105–1161), Huangwang daji 皇王大紀 (preface dated 1141; SKQS ed.), 2.22.

• • • •


Fig. 8 Detail of Wang Shen’s 王詵 (ca. 1048-ca. 1103), Light Snow Over a Fishing Village 漁村小雪圖. Handscroll, ink and color on silk, 44.4 × 219.7cm. The Palace Museum, Beijing. Courtesy of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

Fig. 7 Detail of Xu Daoning’s 許道寧 (ca. 1000–1066) Fishermen’s Evening Song 漁舟唱晚圖卷 (ca. 1049). Handscroll, ink and slight color on silk, 48.3 × 209.6 cm. Courtesy of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Purchase: Wil-liam Rockhill Nelson Trust, 33–1559. Photograph by John Lamerton.


signification for ‘the fisherman’ in this work. Further, while conventional fisherman paintings normally portray the cottages and huts of the common-ers as quaint backdrops for their activity, Huizong’s snowscape is decorated, uniquely, with inviting buildings and a returning boat at the left side. One of the ways that we might consider new readings of snowscapes in this era, including this one, is to attempt to imagine how Northern Song dynasty painters, patrons, and spectators may have understood the significa-tion of winter itself. Interestingly, during the late Northern Song period, the effects of winters were emphatically pronounced, and this was accompanied by a dramatic increase in the proportion of winter-related scenes compared to other seasonal subjects. The master painters of the late Northern Song were particularly fond of depicting snowscapes, including the imperial-clan painter Wang Shen (Fig. 8), the literati official Wang Gu 王穀 (ca. 1100s), Li Gongnian 李公年 (active ca. 1120), Liang Shimin 梁師閔 (early 12th century) and other artists. According to the Xuanhe huapu [Painting catalogue of the Xuanhe period] (Table 1), among Yan Su’s 燕肅 (961–1040) 27 landscape paintings, 19 are snowscapes.7 Of Xu Daoning’s and Song Di’s 宋迪 (ca. 1015–ca. 1080) works, 50% are snowscapes. Of Guo Xi’s 郭熙 (ca. 1010–ca. 1090), Wang Shen’s, and Zhao Xiaoyin’s 趙孝穎 (ca. 1119) landscapes, 75% are snowscapes. And all the identifiable paintings of Wang Gu and Zhao Shitian 趙士腆 (ca. 1110s) are winter scenes.8 Moreover, Northern Song calligraphers such as Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅 (1045–1105) and Chen Guan 陳瓘 (1057–1122) recorded how cold it was in winter, in both their imagery and their inscriptions.9 These artists came from various regions, differed in religious preferences, and belonged to diverse social levels. Taken together,

7. For Yan Su’s case, see Xuanhe huapu 宣和畫譜 (Taipei: Shijie shuju, 1962), 11.314–315. Titles of the paintings discussed here were clearly identified with the terms: spring 春, summer 夏, hot 熱, scorching 暑, fall 秋, winter 冬, snow 雪, or wintery 寒. See Table 1. I did not count the painters if their painting samples were too small. For instance, Chen Yongzhi 陳用志 and Qu Ding 屈鼎 only had one catalogued by the Xuanhe huapu. 8. For Xu Daoning’s case, see Xuanhe huapu, 11.294–298. For Song Di, see 12.321; for Guo Xi, see 11.306; for Wang Shen, see 12.332; for Zhao Xiaoyin, see 16.447–449; for Wang Gu, see 12.322; for Zhao Shitian, see 16.453. 9. For instance, Huang Tingjian, “Letter to Mingshu” 致明叔少府同年尺牘. Ink on paper, 28.8 × 17.5cm. National Palace Museum, Taipei. Chen Guan 陳瓘 (1057–1122), “Letter to Siji’s relative” 致思濟使君大夫十三姐縣君尺牘. Ink on paper, 28.2 × 43.7cm. National Palace Museum, Taipei. Huang’s letter mentioned the “snowy cold” 雪寒, and Chen Guan’s referred to “severe cold in the mid-winter” 仲冬嚴寒.


their work suggests that climate change was a factor in the increased produc-tion of snowscapes. A period of exceptionally cold winters, extending almost a century, from the late Northern Song to the early Southern Song, severely affected aspects of China’s ecology, economy, and environment. Low temperatures during this era were all the more dramatic because the two preceding centuries had been uncommonly warm. Based on the evidence of tree-ring variations and other scientific measurements, paleometeorologists have been able to identify an earlier period of relatively high temperatures, which they refer to as the Medieval Warm Period.10 Snowfalls during the Warm Period were regarded

10. See Zhu Kezhen 竺可楨, “Zhongguo jin wuqiannianlai qihou bianqian de chubu yan-jiu” 中國近五千年來氣候變遷的初步研究 [A preliminary study on the climate fluctuations during the past 5000 years in China], Kaogu xuebao 考古學報 1 (1972), 22–23; Xu Shenyi 徐勝

Table 1: Identifiable seasons of paintings in Xuanhe huapu.

Painter Spring Summer Fall Winter /

Snow Total

Five Dynasties

Zhao Gan (active 937–978) 1 (11%) 5 (56%) 1 (11%) 2 (22%) 9

Dong Yuan (ca. 962–) 2 (7%) 8 (30%) 1 (4%) 16 (59%) 27

Ju Ran (act. after 975) 0 (0%) 14 (45%) 8 (26%) 9 (29%) 31

Northern Song

Li Cheng (919–967) 8 (12.3%) 8 (12.3%) 8 (12.3%) 41 (63.1%) 65

Fan Kuan (active 1023–1031) 7 (14%) 16 (12%) 8 (16%) 19 (38%) 50

Yan Su (961–1040) 5 (19%) 2 (7%) 1 (4%) 19 (70%) 27

Xu Daoning (ca.1000–1066) 8 (10%) 15 (18%) 18 (22%) 41 (50%) 82

Cui Bai (active 1068–1077) 1 (1%) 0 (0%) 30 (37%) 51 (62%) 82

Guo Xi (ca. 1010–1090) 1 (25%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 3 (75%) 4

Song Di (ca. 1015–1080) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2 (50%) 2 (50%) 4

Wang Shen (ca. 1048–1103) 1 (25%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 3 (75%) 4

Wu Yuanyu (active 1110s) 4 (9%) 2 (5%) 8 (19%) 28 (67%) 42

Wang Gu 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2 (100%) 2

Zhao Xiaoyin (ca. 1119) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 1 (25%) 3 (75%) 4

Zhao Shitian (active 1110s) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 2 (100%) 2

Zhao Shilei (active 1110s) 5 (18%) 6 (21.4%) 6 (21.4%) 11 (39.2%) 28


as “Auspicious Snows” and, in fact, emperors frequently assembled their ministers to pray for snow or ordered landscape paintings on the theme of Appreciating the Snowfalls.11

With the especially severe dip in temperatures around 1100–1127, heavy snowfalls and snow-related catastrophes caused conspicuous damage to crops throughout the empire, initiating a crisis in agriculture, food supply, transporta-tion, and, as a result, the social order.12 According to the Dongjing menghualu

一, Zhongguo lishishiqi qihou bianqian ziliao 中國歷史時期氣候變遷資料 (Taipei: National Taiwan Normal University, 1996); Thomas J. Crowley et al., “How Warm was the Medieval Warm?” Ambio 29.1 (2000), 51–53; Jie Fei, “The Possible Climatic Impact in China of Iceland’s Eldgjá Eruption Inferred from Historical Sources,” Climatic Change 76 (2006), 443–457; and Zhang Quanming 張全明, “Lun beisong Kaifeng diqu qihou bianqian jiqi tedian” 論北宋

開封地區氣候變遷及其特點 [The Climate Changes in Kaifeng District in Northern Song Dynasty], Shixue yuekan 史學月刊 1 (2007), 102. 11. For instance, Emperor Li Yu 李煜 (937–978) ordered his court painters to depict land-scapes like Appreciating the Snowfalls 賞雪圖. See Guo Ruoxu 郭若虛 (late 11th c.), Tuhua jianwenzhi 圖畫見聞誌 [Record of things seen and heard about painting] (preface dated 1074; Taipei: Shijie shuju, 1992), 6.254. Emperor Taizong 太宗 (r. 976–997) on 986/12/1 wrote prose prayers for snow. See SS, 113.2691. Emperor Zhenzong 真宗 (r. 998–1022) in 1017 told his min-isters that auspicious snow signified that next year’s rains would descend from the heavens in abundance. See SS, 8.163. 12. Paleoclimate researchers have shown that the Cold Period (ca. 1100–1190s), especially around 1100–1127, was a dramatic climatic event that had drastic consequences for the economy and environment of the late Northern Song. See Zhang, J., Crowley T. J. et al., “Historical Climate Records in China and Reconstruction of Past Climates,” Journal of Climate 2 (1989), 833–849; Lin P. N. et al., “1000 Years of Climate Change in China: Ice-core δ¹⁸O evidence,” Annals of Glaciology 21.1 (1995), 189–195; James N. Galloway, Asian Change in the Context of Global Climate Change: Impact of Natural and Anthropogenic Changes in Asia on Global Biogeochemical Cycles (Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 22; Keith R. Briffa, “Seeing the Wood from the Trees,” Science 7.284 (1999), 926–927; Y. T. Hong, “Response of Climate to Solar Forcing Recorded in a 6000-year δ¹⁸O Time-series of Chinese Peat Cellulose,” The Holocene 10.1 (2000), 1–7; Bao Yang, “Decadal Cimatic Variations Indicated by Dulan Tree-ring and Comparison with Other Proxy Data in China of the Last 2000 Years,” Chinese Geographical Science 10 (2000), 193–201; Bao Yang, “General Characteristics of Temperature Variation in China during the Last Two Millennia,” Geophysical Research Letters 29 (2002), 38; Esper J. et al., “1300 Years of Climatic History for Western Central Asia Inferred from Tree-rings,” The Holocene 12.3 (2002), 267–277; Y. T. Hong, “A 6000-year Record of Changes in Drought and Precipitation in Northeastern China Based on a δ¹3C Time Series from Peat Cellulose,” Earth and Planetary Science Letters 185 (2001), 111–119; Esper J. et al., “Low-frequency Signals in Long Tree-ring Chronologies for Reconstruct-ing Past Temperature Variability,” Science 295 (2002), 2250–2253; Dorte Eide Paulsen, “Climate Variability in Central China over the Last 1270 Years Revealed by High-resolution Stalagmite Records,” Quaternary Science Reviews 22 (2003), 691–701. See also Zhu Kezhen, “Zhongguo jin


[Glorious dreams of the eastern capital], during Huizong’s reign, the winter months in the capital, Kaifeng, were too cold to cultivate any vegetables.13 In the tropical region of Fujian, millions of lychee fruit trees over ten counties were frozen.14 By 1110, the terrible snowstorms created a famine that turned millions into refugees (Appendix II). In the end, the Cold Period was a major contributing factor in the eventual collapse of the Northern Song (Figs. 9–10; Appendix III).15

If we look again at Returning Boat on a Snowy River and its colophon of 1110/3/1, we note that the date corresponds exactly to the height of the Cold Period and the disasters that it wrought. Coupled with what we know about the stark realities of famine, crop failures, and social upheaval, it encourages us to question whether, at this moment in history, it was possible to look at a snowscape with the same disinterested connoisseurial appreciation as in earlier times. Was the young emperor, who was especially fond of snowscapes,

wuqiannianlai qihou bianqian de chubu yanjiu,” 23; Wang Shaowu 王紹武, “Xiaobingqi qiho de yanjiu” 小冰期氣候的研究 , Quaternary Sciences 3 (1995), 202–212; Wang Shaowu, “Zhongguo xiaobinqi de qihou” 中國小冰期的氣候, Quaternary Sciences 1 (1998), 60; Chang Quanming, 105; and Li Yuanping 李遠平 et al., “Zhongguo xiaobinqi quyu qihou yanhua yanjiu” 中國小冰

期區域氣候演化研究 [Study on regional climate change during the Little Ice Age in China], Wanxixueyuan xuebao 皖西學院學報 2 (2005), 76. 13. Meng Yuanlao 孟元老, Dongjing menghua lu 東京夢華錄 (preface dated 1147; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1982), 9.55. 14. Chen Zhengming 陳正敏, Dunzhai xianlan 遁齋閒覽, in Pang Cheng 彭乘 (ca. 1086), Moke huixi 墨客揮犀 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2002), 6.351. 15. For instance, according to SS, 23.434, in November 1126, snow lay on the ground several feet deep and it snowed for many nights without stopping. On the day of Jiachen, the Jurchen Jin armies invaded Haozhou in heavy rains and snows. On the day of Yisi, it was horribly cold; the armies shivered so badly they could not hold their weapons, and some collapsed from numbness. The Emperor washed his feet in the imperial palace and prayed for sun. Two days later, woods and trees were frozen. According to the next passage of SS, 23.434, after several days, the Jin attacked Song imperial gates Tongjin and Xuanhua, the Song military officer led thousands into battle; while crossing the river, the ice broke, and five hundred Song soldiers sank. For more details, see Appendix III. Furthermore, modern scholars confirm the influence of harsh climate on the fall of Northern Song: paleoclimatologist Zhu Kezhen assumes that: “十二世紀初期, 中國氣

候加劇轉寒…(金侵遼, 宋南遷),” 23; Liu Zhaomin 劉昭民, Zhongguo lishishang qihou zhi bianqian 中國歷史上氣候之變遷 (Taipei: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1992), 119: “(此時)氣候寒

旱, 飢荒亦極嚴重, 乃招致遼、金、西夏、交趾的相繼入侵. 宋室因而南遷.” Also see Zhou Baozhu 周寶珠, Songdai dongjing yanjiu 宋代東京研究 (Henan: Henan University Press, 1992), appendix 3; and Cheng Suiying 程遂營, “Tangsong Kaifeng shengtai huanjing yanjiu” 唐宋開封生態環境研究 [A study on the climate and natural disasters of Kaifeng during the Tang and Song dynasties], (Beijing: Zhongguo shehuikexue chubanshe, 2002).


Fig. 9 Temperature reconstruction by Western climatologists. Source: An excerpt from Bao Yang et al., “General Characteristics of Temperature Variation in China during the Last Two Millennia,” Geophysical Research Letters 29.9 (2002), p. 38, figure 3. Copyright 2002 American Geophysical Union. Reproduced/modified by permission of American Geophysical Union.

Fig. 10 Phenological temperature record from eastern China. Source: An excerpt from Thomas J. Crowley et al., “How Warm was the Medieval Warm?” Ambio 29.1 (2000), p. 51, figure 1. Copyright © (2000) Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. From AMBIO, by Crowley et al. Reprinted by permission of Allen Press Publishing Services.

aware that these picturesque images depicted a season that was destroying his empire? If so, is it not possible that new readings of the snowscape might have been engendered by the remarkable and tragic Cold Period? In a passage of the colophon, Cai abruptly alters his tone, extolling Hui-zong’s paintings and praising their character as pure and lucid. The diversity of the terrestrial and celestial hierarchies—including the seasons, the heavens, the earth, and living things—are under the control of the emperor, who is characterized as a divinity. No panic or tragedy can be found in this snowscape. Cai sang the praises of his monarch while the subjects of the realm suffered indescribable hardships. Bad news would not be appropriate in such a colo-phon, of course, and it is possible to see this colophon as a disguise or denial of the harsh realities that were pulling apart the economic and social fabric of the Northern Song. But Cai’s intentions, and the painting’s connotation, are more complex.

Phenological Temp. E. China


The official title shown on Cai’s colophon is unusual: “On 1110/3/1, Zhishi from Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent 太師 and Duke of Chu 楚國公, Your servant, Jing, humbly recorded”. The term Zhishi 致仕 is used when an officer was retired or relieved from a higher position. Cai’s signature indicates that before 1110/3/1, his honors and official titles, “Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent” and “Duke of Chu,” were both removed. This subtle terminology points to a particular moment in Cai’s dramatic career. Cai had served as a minister in charge of different departments during the reigns of Emperor Shenzong 神宗 (r. 1068–1085), Empress Dowager Gao 宣仁高太后 (regent 1085–1093), Emperor Zhezong 哲宗 (r. 1085–1100, personal rule 1093–1100), Empress Dowager Xiang 欽聖向太后 (regent 1100/1–7), and Huizong. His political allegiance was to the reformist party known as the New Faction, established by the grand councilor Wang Anshi 王安石 (1021–1086) during Emperor Shenzong’s reign.16 Cai’s young brother, Cai Bian 蔡卞 (1058–1117), was Wang Anshi’s son-in-law. Before Cai Jing became grand councilor, during Shenzong’s reign, the anti-reformist Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101) attributed natural cataclysms to Heaven’s annoyance with the policies of the New Faction:

胡為水旱 How can there be no flood or drought? 吏則不德 The officials and their policies have no merit.失政召災 When proper government is lost, disasters are

incurred.莫知自刻 None of them know how to examine themselves.雨則號晴 When it rains, they pray for clear skies. 旱則渴雪 When there is drought, they wish for snow.17

But heavenly signs were not the only grounds for recrimination. The anti-reformists took advantage of social and natural upheavals as opportunities to heap blame upon Wang Anshi. The autumn, winter, and spring seasons of 1073–1074 were freezing cold and there then followed a severe drought during which it did not rain from November to March of the following year. Starving

16. Between 1069 and 1100, a series of alternating coalition regimes, the New Faction (reform-ists) and Old Faction (anti-reformists) fought bitterly with one another. For further discussions, see Ari Daniel Levine, Divided by a Common Language: Factional Conflict in Late Northern Song China (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2008); and Ebrey, Accumulating Culture, 42–59. 17. Su Shi, Su Dongpo ji 蘇東坡集 [Complete works of Su Shi] (Shanghai: Shangwu yin-shu guan, 1958), 6.53.


refugees from the northeast filled the roads. Another anti-reformist, Zheng Xia 鄭俠 (1041–1119), submitted an album of paintings depicting Portraits of Refugees and Famines 流民圖 to Emperor Shenzong in order to imply that Wang Anshi had upset the yinyang balance and incurred droughts.18 These portraits of famines, victims, and beggars were apparently so disturbing that Emperor Shenzong and two Empress Dowagers were upset by them. Wang Anshi resigned in 1074/4. The events were a triumph for the anti-reformists.19 In 1100/3 the appearance of a solar eclipse and its interpretation as “inaus-picious” provided Chen Guan and the Yuanyou/Yuanfu Old Factions group with an excuse to banish Cai Jing (1100/3–1102/3).20 When the empress dowager Xiang died in 1101/1, Huizong, who was nineteen years old, began his personal rule. In 1102/3, the fifty-seven-year-old Cai was summoned to court and ap-pointed Hanlin Academician Recipient of Edicts 學士丞旨. Demonstrating uncommon acumen in the affairs of court power and displaying an exceptional talent for manipulation and gaining influence, Cai rapidly replaced his enemy Han Zhongyan 韓忠彥 (1038–1109) as Assistant Councilor in 1102/5, replacing Zeng Bu 曾布 (1035–1107) as Right Councilor in 1102/7,21 being elevated to

18. Dongdu shilue, 117.1811–1813; Alfreda Murck, Poetry and Painting in Song China: The Subtle Art of Dissent (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000), 37–39. 19. Song dazhaoling ji 宋大詔令集 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1962), 69.332; SS, 327.10548; Dongdu shilue, 117.1811–1813; Changbian, 252.6147; Xu Ziming 徐自明 (fl. ca. 1178–1215), Song zaifu biannianlu 宋宰輔編年錄 [hereafter Zaifu biannian] (ca. 1220; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986), 8.435; Ma Yongqing 馬永卿 (ca. 1114), Yuancheng yulu jie 元城語錄

解 (SKQS ed.,), juan shang, 360. 20. For Chen Guan’s denunciation, see Zhao Ruyu 趙汝愚 (1140–1196) ed., Songchao zhuchen zouyi 宋朝諸臣奏議 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1999), 44.464–466; For Chen Shixi’s 陳師錫 memorial see Yang Zhongliang 楊仲良 (1241–1271), Xu zizhi tongjian changbian jishi benmo 續資治通鑑長編記事本末 [hereafter Jishi benmo] (ca. 1220; Beijing: Beijing tushuguan, 2003), 120.3734; For Zou Hao’s 鄒浩 (1060–1111) denunciation, see Songchao zhuchen zouyi, 44.466. Cai Jing was banished to Taiyuan 太原府 (in 1100/3), Yongxing 永興軍 (in 1110/10), Jiangning 江寧府 (in 1100/11), Hangzhou 提舉杭州洞霄宮 (in 1100/11), Dingzhou 定州 (in 1110/11–1101/12), and Daming 大名府, where he was exiled repeatedly between 1100/3 and 1102/3. See Jishi benmo, 120.3725–3748, 131.4109; Chen Jun 陳均 (ca. 1165–after 1236), Huangchao biannian gangmu beiyao 皇朝編年綱目備要 [hereafter Gangmu beiyao] (preface dated 1229; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2006), 25.624, 634–635; Huang Yizhou 黃以周 (1828–1899) ed., Xu zizhi tongjian changbian shibu 續資治通鑑長編拾補 [hereafter Changbian shibu] (preface dated 1883; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2004), 15.9, 16.10, 16.13–15; Anon., Songshi quanwen xu zizhi tongjian 宋史全文續資治通鑑 [hereafter SSQW:XZZTJ] (completed in the Southern Song; Taipei: Wenhai chubanshe, 1969), 14.868; Dongdu shilue, 101.1553; SS, 472.13722; Zaifu biannian, 11.675, 11.697; Changbian shibu, 18.17. 21. Cai was promoted to Assistant Director of the Left in the Department of State Affairs


Left Grand Councilor in 1103/1, and Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent in 1108/1.22

In seasons of cold, Cai created new disaster relief agencies to provide medicine, food, shelter, fuel and winter clothing for famine victims and refugees.23 Given the powerful pressures that the cold and droughts placed on the government and infrastructure, most reforms related to agriculture or refugee relief were too costly to be feasible. Wang Anshi’s New Policies were aborted, but Cai’s reforms did not completely succeed either. While the environmental and financial situations of the state worsened dur-ing the Cold Period, Huizong became even more obsessed with omens.24 On 1109/6/1, the anti-Cai partisans—Maozhu 毛注, Shi Gongbi 石公弼, Zhang Ruming 張汝明, and Zhang Kegong 張克公—jointly produced documents denouncing Cai.25 Suffering overwhelming denunciations from the anti-Cai coalition, the radicals temporarily shook Huizong’s confidence in Cai, even though the emperor was still fond of him. When Cai was dismissed as grand councilor (on 1109/6/4) and demoted to a sinecure in the capital (Supervisor

尚書左丞 in 1102/5, and replaced Zeng Bu as Vice Director of the Right 尚書右僕射兼中

書侍郎 in 1102/7. See Gangmu beiyao, 26.663; Jishi benmo, 131.4109; Dongdu shilue, 101.1553; SSQW:XZZTJ, 14.874; Zaifu biannian, 11.694, 11.700; SS, 19.364; Song dashiji jiangyi, 21.389. 22. Jishi benmo, 131.4114; Dongdu shilue, 101.1556; Song dashiji jiangyi, 21.389; Zaifu biannian, 12.732; SS, 20.380. 23. During the winter months, an additional five wen 文 of cash per day was allotted to each adult for fuel. In addition, Cai set up the Charity Clinics 安濟坊 in 1102/8, Peace and Relief Hospitals 安濟院 in 1102/9, Rest and Recuperation Houses 將理院 in 1102/11, Poorhouse 居養

院 in 1102/8, Public Pharmacies 和劑局 in 1103/5, Paupers’ Cemeteries 漏澤園 in 1104/2, and Ever-normal Public Granaries 常平義倉 in 1106/1. See Gangmu beiyao, 26.664, 27.861; Dongdu shilue, 10.206, 208; SS, 178.4338. For extensive discussions, see Hugh Scogin, “Poor Relief in Northern Sung China,” Oriens Extremus 25 (1978), 30–31; John Chaffee, “Huizong, Cai Jing, and the Politics of Reform,” in Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China, 32, 41; Asaf Goldschmidt, “Huizong’s Impact on Medicine and on Public Health,” in Emperor Huizong and Late Northern Song China, 278, 297–305. 24. An indication of Huizong’s belief in heavenly omens can be seen in his edict, promulgated in May 1107, summoning all astronomers and astrologers to the capital, Kaifeng. See Li Zhi 李埴 (Southern Song), Shichao gangyao 十朝綱要 (Taipei: Wenhai chubanshe, 1967), 17.381: “大觀元年五月壬寅…詔諸路有曉天文曆算之人, 令所在州給券, 發遣赴闕.” 25. For ministers’ denunciations see SS, 348.11027, 472.13725; Gangmu beiyao, 27.697–698; Shichao gangyao 17.387–388; SSQW:XZZTJ, 14.888; Zaifu biannian, 12.748; SS, 348.11034. On 1109/6/8 Chen Chaolao 陳朝老 accused Cai of Fourteen Criminal Acts. See SSQW:XZZTJ, 14.889; Jishi benmo, 131.4115; SS, 472.13725; Zaifu biannian, 12.748; Hartman, “A Textual History of Cai Jing’s Biography in the Songshi,” 542.


of Taiyi Temple 太一宮使), his monthly wage remained the same as when he was grand councilor. Huizong switched Cai’s honorary title from “Duke of Wei” to “Duke of Chu,” but permitted Cai’s continued residence in the capital with the title of “Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent.”26

This long series of onslaughts from the anti-reformist ministers did not in themselves crush Cai; rather, ironically, the startling astronomical events 天變—or the interpretations of them—precipitated Cai’s several downfalls.27 In the beginning, Huizong did not have a specific religious preference for either Buddhism or Daoism; Cai Jing, however, preferred Buddhism: 上嗣服之初, 於釋老好尚, 未有適莫. 魯公喜佛.28 This remarkable passage reminds us that Huizong’s interest in Daoism was not apparent during his early reign, nor encouraged by Cai Jing, and that it is likely to have developed under the sway of the anti-reformists at his court.29 Sunspots, solar eclipses, and an atypical brilliance of Venus 太白晝見 were all interpreted by anti-reformists as portents of catastrophe, symbolizing the current grand councilor’s potential treason or military revolt.30 A comet signified that a divinity was angry at the emperor or his grand councilor and a catastrophe would ensue. For example, the emperor could die, the dynasty could collapse, or the Northern ‘alien’ might invade.31 In 1106, from January to March, a large comet appeared in the western skies with its long tail trailing across the heavens. Huizong was deeply affected by this astronomical revelation 徽宗震懼. On 1106/2/13, Cai was dismissed as grand councilor and then sent away to Zhejiang province.32 His rival, Zhao

26. Gangmu beiyao, 27.697; Shichao gangyao, 17.388; Dongdu shilue, 10.213; SSQW: XZZTJ, 14.888; Song dashiji jiangyi, 21.389; Zaifu biannian, 12.747; Jishi benmo, 131.4115: “六月丁丑, 太師、尚書左僕射兼門下侍郎、魏國公蔡京為太師、中太一宮使 , 請給恩並依現任宰

相例.” 27. In the four instances in which Cai was dismissed, one resulted from the appearance of a solar eclipse (1100/3), two were instigated by the appearance of comets (1106/2 and 1110/5), and one from the phenomenon of sunspots (1109/6). 28. Jishi benmo, 127.3959. 29. Daoist masters such as Liu Hunkang 劉混康 (1035–1108), Meng Yi 孟翊, Guo Tianxin 郭天信 , and Lin Lingsu 林靈素 (1076–1120) were disliked by Cai Jing. It is interesting to note that Cai Jing’s enemies introduced Daoist masters to Huizong, encouraging Huizong to espouse mystical Daoism. In the middle and later phases of his reign, Huizong was becoming more and more prone to belief in omens, taking the advice of Daoist masters, astronomers, astrologers, fortune tellers, and others processing paranormal prescience. 30. SS, 52.1072–1073; SS, 52.1069: “日中黑子, 臣蔽主明.” 31. SS, 52.1077. 32. The appearance of the large comet on 1106/1/5 evoked a dramatic response from the


Tingzhi 趙挺之 (1040–1107), was immeditately appointed to replace him.33 In 1107/5, Huizong summoned all astronomers and astrologers to the capital, Kaifeng, and these mystical wonder-workers became ever more influential in the empire’s administration.34

Then, as if on cue, another comet appeared in the sky, which gave Cai’s enemies an additional “symbolic” natural phenomenon to exploit. Cai’s main rival, Zhang Shangying 張商英 (1043–1122), realized Huizong’s two weak-nesses: a belief in supernatural disasters and skepticism about his ministers. Zhang colluded with the astrologer Guo Tianxin 郭天信, who served in the Bureau of Astronomy and was doted on by Huizong, to interpret the astronomi-cal phenomenon of sunspots in 1109/6 as an inauspicious premonition which expressed Heaven’s disfavor with Cai.35 Guo Tianxin’s exceptional reputation (years before Guo had predicted Huizong’s then unlikely ascension to the throne) made his interpretations dangerous political weapons in the context of an imperial court that was prone to belief in natural portents.36 Within a few days, Guo denigrated Cai by informing Huizong that the sunspots appeared 3 or 4 times. In 1109/6, Cai’s official title of Grand Councilor 尚書左僕射兼

門下侍郎 was abruptly annulled. On 1109/11/12, Cai’s honorary titles—Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent and Duke of Chu—were both revoked.37

court. On the day of Yisi, owing to the dire portent, Huizong fled the throne hall, promulgating an imperial edict including an empire-wide amnesty and an order for the destruction of the Yuanyou steles. On 1106/2/13, Cai was demoted to Area Commander Unequaled in Honor 開府儀同三司 and Supervisor of Taiyi Temple. In March, the comet disappeared. See Dongdu shilue, 10.210, 101.1555; Changbian shibu, 26.868; Jishi benmo, 131.4111; Gangmu beiyao, 27.688; SSQW:XZZTJ, 14.881; SS, 20.376, 166.3947; Song dazhaoling ji, 156.528; Zaifu biannian, 11.723–727; Fang Shao 方勺, Bozhai bian 泊宅編 (SKQS ed.), juan shang: “崇寧五年, 長星見, 蔡太師斥居浙西, 時事小變 ,” 514. 33. Zhao Tingzhi was promoted from “Grand Scholar of Guanwen Palace” to “Vice Right Director of the Department of State Affairs” and “Vice Director of the Grand Council.” See Gangmu beiyao, 27.688; Jishi benmo, 131.4111; Dongdu shilue, 102.1568; SSQW:XZZTJ, 14.881; SS, 20.376; Zaifu biannian, 11.726; Song dashiji jiangyi, 21.389. See also Chaffee, “Huizong, Cai Jing, and the Politics of Reform,” 44. 34. Shichao gangyao, 381.17. 35. SS, 365.11205: “(吳)執中與商英皆由郭天信以進.” SS, 462.13525: “(郭)每託天文以撼

之, 且云 : 日中有黑子. 帝甚懼, 言之不已, 京由是黜.” For a similar text see Gangmu beiyao, 27.697, 28.704; Changbian shibu, 28.15. See also Chaffee, “Huizong, Cai Jing, and the Politics of Reform,” 48. 36. SS, 462.13525; SS, 351.11097: “有郭天信者, 以方技隸太史, 徽宗潛邸時, 嘗言當履

天位, 自是稍睠寵之.” 37. Jishi benmo, 131.4116; Gangmu beiyao, 27.698; SS, 20.383.


Cai had a rough time during this period of disfavor, which corresponds to the time in which Returning Boat on a Snowy River was painted. Between 1109/11 and 1110/3 his enemies increased the number of indictments against him. In theory, he should have been exiled,38 but instead he threw himself into the task of compiling and revising the imperial documentary “Veritable Records of the Emperor Zhezong” as an excuse for lingering in the capital and remaining close to the emperor.39 Later on, Huizong ‘bestowed’ a house upon Cai in the South Garden 南園 of Suzhou prefecture, hinting that Cai might be banished to remote Suzhou.40 On 1110/2/2, Huizong revealed his skepticism (or was it a ploy?) about Cai in front of Cai’s enemy, Zhang Shangying.41 This ‘dialogue’ between Huizong and Zhang Shangying cast a dark cloud over Cai’s character and career. And, in a move that must have been particularly galling to Cai, Huizong elevated Zhang to Vice Minister of the Grand Council in the same month (in 1110/2).42 On 1110/3/1, when Cai wrote the colophon for Huizong’s painting Returning Boat on a Snowy River, he was unable to defend himself and was under threat of being banished to a remote prefecture. Seemingly, Cai could not escape the comet’s shadow. In this difficult time, he turned to two strategies: calligraphy and his own reports of auspicious signs to counter the reports of inauspicious ones that had been deployed against him so effectively.

38. Gangmu beiyao, 29.764; Xu Song 徐松 (1781–1848) et al., Songhuiyao jigao 宋會要輯

稿 [hereafter SHY] (Taipei: Shijie shuju, 1964), 6543. 39. The Chinese text reads: “(in 1109/11) 臺諫交論其惡, 遂致仕. 猶提舉修哲宗實錄, 改封楚國 , 朝朔望.” Huizong allowed Cai the privilege of physical residence in the capital and visiting him twice per month. See SS, 472.13725; SHY: yunli, 1–30, 2142; Gangmu beiyao, 27.698; Jishi benmo, 131.4115; Shichao gangyao, 17.389; SS, 20.383. 40. Zaifu biannian, 12.750: “(徽宗)賜(京)以蘇州南園, (京)尚無去意.” For Cai’s potential exile and his poem 詔賜南園贈親黨, see Li E 厲鶚 (1692–1752) et al., Songshi jishi 宋詩紀事 (preface dated 1726; SKQS ed.), 25.502. 41. On 1110/2/2, “Huizong discussed with Zhang Shangying about Cai’s misbehavior in ruining the rules and laws . . . Huizong discerned Cai’s cronyism in his appointing comrades as ministers. Huizong further opined that, recently, the public morality has become degenerate. Zhang proclaimed that nowadays this was truly a great threat. Huizong estimated that more than thirty of Cai’s faction had been purged. Zhang informed Huizong that a great number of Cai’s partisans still survived at the court.” See Changbian shibu, 29.968; Gangmu beiyao, 27.698; SSQW: XZZTJ, 14.891. 42. In 1110/2, Zhang Shangying was promoted from the Academician at the Zizheng Hall 資政殿學士 to Vice Minister of the Grand Council 中書侍郎. See Zaifu biannian, 12.753; SS, 20.384.


The first weapon in Cai’s arsenal was his calligraphy.43 His marvelous calligraphy was displayed on the paper currency of the Chongning era 崇寧

錢文,44 and his inscriptions on the Stele Register of the Yuanyou Faction 元祐黨籍碑,45 the Stele Done by the Sage in the Daguan Period 大觀聖作之

碑, and Huizong’s Eight Virtues Stele 八行碑 were engraved and circulated throughout the empire.46 Cai’s calligraphy provided him a powerful advan-tage over his adversaries, whose writing paled beside Cai’s virile characters.47 Under Huizong’s commission, the Xuanhe shupu [Calligraphy catalogue of the Xuanhe period] listed Huizong’s imperial collections, including Cai’s two snow-themed poems 雪詩二.48 Cai’s colophon for Returning Boat on a Snowy River was written in his large characters of running script. According to the Xuanhe shupu, “Cai Jing’s run-ning script is like a young aristocrat, full of spirit and brilliance, who reflects glory upon those around him.”49 The Xuanhe shupu records admiration for Cai’s edicts and memorials, which were characterized by their detail, clarity, and refinement. When writing imperial edicts, Cai moved his brush promptly and never had to do a second draft.50 This laudatory assessment and the high proportion of Cai’s work in Huizong’s collection give us insight into why

43. Even before 1100/1, Prince Duan (Huizong) adored Cai’s calligraphy so much that he spent 20,000 silvers for just two small round-fans. In 1101, while Cai was banished to Hangzhou, the young Huizong assigned the eunuch official Tong Guan 童貫 (1054–1126) to collect cal-ligraphy, paintings, and other rarities. Tong set up the Mingjin Bureau 明金局 in Hangzhou and stayed there for several months. Cai capitalized on the opportunity, traveling with Tong day and night and soliciting Tong to submit his fans and panels to Huizong as contributions, which made a profound impression on Huizong. See SS, 472.13722; Dongdu shilue, 21.1865; Hartman, “A Textual History of Cai Jing’s Biography in the Songshi,” 539. 44. Zeng Minxing 曾敏行 (d. 1175), Duxing zazhi 獨醒雜志 (preface dated 1175; Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1986), 3.24. 45. The second (1103/8) and final versions (1105/2) of the “Stele Register of the Yuanyou Fac-tion,” which included Cai’s rivals Zhang Shangying and Chen Guan, were made by Cai Jing and circulated throughout the empire. See SS, 19.368, 472.13724; Gangmu beiyao, 26.674; Jishi benmo, 131.4098; Zaifu biannian, 11.709; Song dashiji jiangyi, 21.391. 46. SHY: chongru, 6.10. See Ebrey, “Huizong’s Stone Inscriptions,” in Emperor Huizong and the Late Northern Song, 241–245. Chaffee, “Huizong, Cai Jing, and the Politics of Reform,” 47. Ebrey, Accumulating Culture, 61–62. 47. For example, Cai Jing’s enemy Zeng Bu’s calligraphy, Letter to Scholar Zhifu 致直夫

學士尺牘 , and Zhang Shangying’s calligraphy, Letter to Son-in-law 女夫帖. 48. Xuanhe shupu 宣和書譜 (completed ca. 1123; Taipei: Shijie shuju, 1966), 12.274–278. 49. Xuanhe shupu, 12.272. 50. Xuanhe shupu, 12.272. See also Ebrey’s translation, “Literati Culture,” 5.


Huizong was so devoted to Cai. Cai deftly advertised his political prestige and cultural supremacy through inscriptions, colophons, and writings. Thus we might understand, in 1110, when Huizong asked Cai to write a colophon for Returning Boat on a Snowy River, Cai composed the colophon with his distinctive, bold, and impressive large running script. Masterful calligraphy was a way to impress and persuade the emperor, who was an avid collector and connoisseur of the art. Using a counter-strategy adapted from his enemies, when auspicious signs appeared—or, as often, were manufactured or invented—Cai immediately drew Huizong’s attention to them by congratulatory memorials. Cai varied Wang Anshi’s approach; instead of denying the astronomical variations, he optimistically managed to convince Huizong that the signs were not inauspi-cious, but, rather, auspicious omens.51 Through dichotomizing tropes of inauspiciousness/auspiciousness and the eloquent counterfeiting of “auspi-cious signs,” Cai proved that in rhetoric and obsequiousness lay the path to security. On 1103/4/19, the Song Grand Astrologer observed that five planets were aligned in the heavens (normally a portent of disaster).52 Cai transformed the planetary configuration, interpreting it as an omen of great peace:

五星並行黃道… The Five Planets were all moving in unison in the sky . . .

實為太平瑞應 an “Auspicious response” signifying future great peace.

謹按《漢書志》 [Your servant] observes that according to History of Han,

天下太平 When the empire reached great calm and tranquility,

51. On 1107/9/19, Cai intended to develop Wang Anshi’s theory of ignoring the variations of the stars 天變不足懼. See Wang Mingqing 王明清 (1127–after 1214), Huizhu houlu 揮麈後錄 (preface dated 1194; Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1984), 3.5. 52. Several years later, in 1126, nine planets aligned, which, according to modern scientific reports, was truly a catastrophe. Climatologists, writing as recently as 2007, indicated that in 1126, 1304, 1483, 1665, 1884, and 1982, when nine planets aligned, temperatures dropped precipitously, accompanied by severe snowstorms in the winters and severe droughts during the summers. See Ren Zhengqiu 任振球, Xingxing yundong dui Zhongguo wuqiannianlai qihou bianqian de ying-xiang 行星運動對中國五千年來氣候變遷的影響 (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1981); Chang Quanming, “Lun Bei Song Kaifeng diqu qihou bianqian jiqi tedian,” 106; and Zhang Jianmin 張建民, Zaihai lishi xue 災害歷史學 (Changsha: Hunan renmin chubanshe, 1998), 148.


則五星循度 The Five Planets were all integrated and obeyed the rule.

宰臣蔡京等上表稱賀 [Your servant] grand councilor Cai Jing and others submit congratulatory memorials on the blessed event.53

Unabashed flattery thus functioned as one of Cai’s primary tools for assuag-ing Huizong’s anxiety about astronomical signs.54 Astronomical phenomena became intermingled with political agendas. As we have seen, in 1106/2, Cai’s opponents, Zhao Tingzhi and more than 30 anti-reformists, employed the appearance of a comet as ammunition to dismiss Cai. But the knife proved to cut both ways: after the comet vanished in 1106/3, Cai reported to Huizong that it had portended nothing more than the death of an imperial horse 龍驤當天變. Cai thereby tried to substitute the horse as a sort of scapegoat for himself.55 In 1107/1, Cai was recalled and once again ascended to the councillorship (Vice Left Director of the Department of State Affairs and Vice Director of the Chancellery 尚書左僕射兼門下侍郎). Six days later, Cai congratulated Huizong for the sign of the auspicious sweet dew falling into the Emperor’s Tripod.56 Triumphantly for Cai, one month later, Zhao

53. SHY: ruiyi, 1–18.2073. 54. Since the Han dynasty, the alignment of five planets 五星聚 had been regarded as an inauspicious augury of “dynasty changes.” See Sima Qian 司馬遷 (ca. 145–86 BC), Shiji 史記 (Taipei: Dingwen shuju, 1977), 27.1348, 89.2581; Ban Gu 班固 (AD 32–92), Hanshu 漢書 (Taipei: Dingwen shuju, 1979), 32.1838; Fang Xuanling 房玄齡 (579–648), Jinshu 晉書 (Taipei: Dingwen shuju, 1980), 12.351; Shen Yue 沈約 (441–513), Songshu 宋書 (Taipei: Dingwen shuju, 1980), 12.248; Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007–1072), Xin Tangshu 新唐書 (Taipei: Dingwen shuju, 1979), 33.865; Gu Yanwu 顧炎武 (1613–1682), “Wuxing ju” 五星聚, in Rizhilu 日知錄 (pref-ace dated 1682; SKQS ed.), 30.1051. For modern studies, see Wei Bing 韋兵, Xingzhan lifa yu Songdai zhengzhi wenhua 星占曆法與宋代政治文化 (Ph.D. diss., Sichuan University, 2006), 144–154. At the beginning of the Northern Song dynasty, on 967/3/2 and 967/3/27, the five planets aligned to the Kui constellation 五星聚奎, which was interpreted as an auspicious sign because Emperor Taizu 宋太祖 (r. 960–975) replaced the Latter Zhou dynasty (951–959) and therefore ascended to the throne (which is still an inauspicious sign for the previous dynasty). However, for the late Northern Song, any signs related to “dynasty changes”—such as the alignment of five planets—actually should be regarded as an inauspicious sign that the Northern Song would be replaced by a new, ascendant dynasty. See Zhang Peiyu 張培瑜, “Wuxing heju yu lishi jizai” 五星合聚與歷史記載, Renwen zazhi 5 (1991), 106. 55. Gangmu beiyao, 27.689; SSQW:XZZTJ, 14.882. 56. Dongdu shilue, 101.1556; SS, 19.377.


Tingzhi was fired (five days later he died).57 In 1100, the appearance of a solar eclipse, interpreted as a bad omen, had caused Cai’s exile; in 1107/11, when another eclipse was about to occur, Cai led his clique to write congratulatory memorials interpreting solar eclipses as auspicious symbols, thus turning the usual comprehension of the phenomenon on its head 日有食之, 蔡京等以

不及所當食分, 率臣稱賀.58

Both Old Policies and New Policies adherents exploited Huizong’s weak-ness for superstition. Both parties also became fanatical about what might be called ‘pictorial wars’; that is, competitions of auspicious paintings.59 In 1109/9, while the southern provinces were suffering from horrific droughts,60 Cai’s rival, Zhang Shangying, submitted a painting Auspicious Grain from Yuanzhou 袁州瑞禾圖 to Huizong to commemorate a supposedly atypically tall and heavily fruited grain.61 The painting was extensively criticized by Cai’s faction as embodying an “evil spirit” 媒孽.62 It is an interesting example of how paintings could be used as dichotomizing political discourses to influence imperial politics.63 Auspiciousness became an effective weapon with which to extol one’s allies and denounce one’s enemies, to promote and to proscribe. It became a rhetorical game that imbued everything with secondary meanings. If the tall grain stalk finds itself paralleled in both image and “auspicious” reporting text, we might well consider how other paintings may have been involved in the circulation of influence through auspiciousness panegyrics. Perhaps even a snowscape could have binary meanings and ancillary functions in this rarefied context.

57. Gangmu beiyao, 27.691; SS, 19.377; SSQW: XZZTJ, 14.883; Song dashiji jiangyi, 21.389. 58. SS, 20.379. Cai interpreted the eclipse as an auspicious sign because it was not as complete as the court astronomers had predicted. 59. In 1108 Cai proclaimed that he had received 87 auspicious reports from prefectures and counties 京言天下郡國所上符瑞八十七所, 拜表稱賀. 自後言祥瑞及稱賀不可勝記. 不復錄. 蔡京進太師 . See Gangmu beiyao, 27.695. 60. Shichao gangyao, 17.389: in 1109 “江淮大旱, 自六月至十月不雨.” 61. SSQW: XZZTJ, 14.893. 62. Gangmu beiyao, 27.698; Changbian shibu, 29.968; Gangmu beiyao, 26.674; Zaifu bian-nian, 11.714; Jishi benmo, 131.4095, 4098. 63. Ari D. Levine noticed that during the years of 1069–1104, sets of paired terms created moralistic dichotomies that were used by reformists and anti-reformists alike in factional discourse, so that terms such as loyal 忠 vs. treacherous 奸, righteous 正 vs. wicked 邪, were resistant to alternations in official ideology of the late Northern Song. See Levine, “Terms of Estrangement,” 140, 157.


During the Medieval Warm Period, snow paintings could evoke pleasant associations. Both Wang Wei’s 王維 (701–761) snow paintings and the Snow-scape mural painting of Chingling Liao imperial tomb (ca. 1030) represent lyrical and blissful visual experiences.64 “Auspicious snow” was an omen of a good harvest. Crops would become fully grown, ripen, and be gathered in abundance.65 During the Cold Period, however, snow paintings were a way to lament the distress of citizens. One official painter portrayed a bitterly cold landscape entitled Unbearable Cold River and Sky without Snows 江天

莫雪圖.66 The snowscape, for Guo Xi, is melancholy and apathetic, as if in sleep. Similarly, Xuanhe shupu and Han Zhou’s treatise proposed that wintry mountains provoke feelings of depression and misery.67 Snow paintings often conveyed ‘inauspiciousness’ since cold weather caused suffering for common people. Cai’s colophon (one could call it a ‘snow poem’) for Huizong’s snowscape was composed in March, and shortly afterwards it became part of Huizong’s imperial collection. According to one of Cai’s enemies, Chen Guan, Cai misled Huizong about natural phenomena and disasters:

[Cai Jing] following Wang Anshi’s statements, ignored the Heavenly reprimand. He [Cai] misled the court, concealing natural disasters and unusual phenomena. He frantically presented ‘auspicious reports’. Most exaggeratedly, he claimed that the December thunder was an ‘auspicious thunder’ and the March snow an ‘auspicious snow.’ He submitted memorials to express congratulations, compos-ing poems to extol myriad auspicious signs. His interpretations of astronomical variations are even more ridiculous than childish things.

64. Although none of Wang Wei’s paintings have survived, we might still get a sense, to some degree at least, of Wang Wei’s snowscapes from their titles, which indicate lyrical and blissful moods. For instance, the Xuanhe huapu records titles of Wang Wei’s snow paintings such as Appreciating the Snowy River 雪江勝賞圖二 or Poetic Painting of the Snowy River 雪江詩意

圖一. See Xuanhe huapu, 10.263. 65. Heavy snow could also signify the potential for blessing rains. See SHY: ruiyi, 1–4.2066; SS, 8.163. 66. Duxing zazhi, 9.85: “東安一士人善畫, 其作江天莫雪(圖)則不見雪, 第狀其清朗

苦寒之態耳 .” The painter depicted landscape as bitterly cold but pure and bracing at the same time. 67. Guo Xi and Guo Si’s 郭思 (d. 1123) treatise Linquan gaozhi 林泉高致 [Lofty Message of Forests and Streams] (submitted to the court around 1118; SKQS ed.); Xuanhe shupu, 11.303; Han Zhou 韓拙 (fl. 1095–1125), Shanshui chunquan ji 山水純全集 [Harmonious and complete collection on landscape] (preface dated 1121; Nanjing: Jiangsu guji chubanshe, 1997), 1134.


災異不言, 而祥瑞轍書. 甚者, 臘月之雷指為瑞雷 , 三月之雪指為瑞雪 , 拜表稱賀, 作詩詠替, 其視天變, 曾不若童稚之可侮 .68

Chen Guan’s antagonism towards Cai was submitted in 1113/10. Chen’s account is also a revealing and accurate record of Cai’s frequent use of ‘aus-picious reports’ to manipulate Huizong’s attitudes and sway political policy. Cai composed many snow-themed poems, two of which became part of Huizong’s imperial collection and were catalogued in the Xuanhe shupu. As Chen Guan notes, Cai interpreted the March snow as an ‘auspicious snow’ and composed ‘snow poems’ to praise it. So, the seemingly innocent poem in the Returning Boat on a Snowy River colophon of 1110 very likely carried a hidden signification of “auspiciousness.” Yet “auspiciousness,” as we have seen, was not merely the banal cliché of “good luck” or “good fortune,” which characterizes most evaluations of the subject. “Auspiciousness” reporting was a powerful tool in court politics, and the discursive skill with which one could manipulate the interpretations of the signs of nature through poems or paintings was a fundamental strategy for survival in this treacherous social and political context. Snow paintings at Huizong’s court could have many polarized significations or various ‘readings’, not all of which were necessarily mutually exclusive. Huizong started to become anxious about the drought of 1109–1110.69 Cai was also fretful, but perhaps for different reasons. At this time Cai had already lost his position as grand councilor. His enemies, consistent with their strategies of interpreting signs of nature as inauspicious indicators of Heaven’s displeasure with Cai, also, predictably, attributed both fatal winters and droughts to Cai’s defiance of heaven. From 1109/12 to 1110 the anti-reformists even criticized Cai’s expenditures for the relief agencies.70 Given Cai’s role as the frequent scapegoat for the disasters that gripped Huizong’s realm, we might look back at Returning Boat on a Snowy River and its colophon to reconsider their pos-sible meanings. Cai’s colophon reflected his concerns (I have suggested the metaphors at work in brackets):

68. The passage then goes on: “Chen Guan accused Cai Jing of not fearing Heaven. Instead, Cai defied heaven and took advantage of it.” See SSQW: XZZTJ, 14.899. 69. During the periods of 1109/6–1109/12 and 1110/3–1110/5 there were droughts; one in the south lasted many months. See Duxing zazhi, 2.14; Gangmu beiyao, 27.697; SSQW: XZZTJ, 14.890; Dongdu shilue, 10.213; SS, 20.383, 62.1370; Shichao gangyao, 17.389. 70. SHY: shihuo, 60.5–6.


天地四時之氣 In heaven and earth, the vital forces vary in the four seasons.

不同萬物生天地間 Each bring various myriad creatures into the cosmos,

隨所運 according to each one’s fated course,[氣候]炎涼 whether hot or cold [climate],[星星]晦眀 dim or bright [astrology],[莊稼]生息 fecund or moribund [fertility of crops or

failures],[政治]榮枯 flourishing or decaying [political status].飛走蠢動 The creatures that fly, run, or slither are in

continuous 變化無方 transformation in ways no one can com-

pletely comprehend.莫之能窮 Never to be exhausted.

Cai Jing sees eternity and cyclicality and laments the vagaries of a career dependent on the portents of nature. He may be exiled now, but he may yet return to office and the imperial court (Fig. 11). While he languishes in a political “winter,” he longs for the “spring” when he may return to power. He mentions the “fated course” and “transformations,” and each of these notions could well articulate Cai’s feelings about what happened to him (capricious comets and sunspots causing his downfall, blame for bad weather, floods, and crop failures) and about what he hoped for, a transformation, once again, into being at the center of influence. Birth, death, rebirth: all play a role in the cycles of personal fortune. At a low point in his career, Cai projected his own political predicament through his colophon onto the painting’s imagery. Yet it was also a code that Huizong would have been able to decipher. One question that we might consider is whether the painting emitted a secret signal from Huizong to Cai, and that Cai’s “reading” of the painting, as expressed in the colophon, was an acknowledgement of that message. In another part of the colophon, Cai evokes a sublime landscape tinged with loneliness.

水遠無波 Water in the distance shows no ripple, 天長一色 One color with the sky above.


群山皎潔 While mountains rise bright and clear, 行客蕭條 The traveler’s heart is forlorn. 鼓棹中流 Rowing the boat in the middle of the flow, 片帆天際 a single sail dots the horizon. 雪江歸棹之意盡矣 This painting captures the essence of the

mood one feels upon seeing a boat on a snowy river.

The “single sail” on a distant horizon is lonely enough, but key to the passage is the line that reads: “The traveler’s heart is forlorn.” Did Cai see himself as a traveler isolated from the imperial palace and the emperor? He did, especially if we note one of the painting’s most compelling figures: the minute, lone fish-erman who floats on the still waters at the geographic center of the scroll. He is turned towards the mountains but looks out at the spectator (Huizong, who is both spectator and reader). Behind him are country villages, cottages, and huts for peasants. In front of him, the hierarchical, towering mountains, layer upon layer, are symbols of the diversity and complexity of the imperial political



bureaucracy.71 They loom impressively between the isolated fisherman and temple buildings which occupies the far left of the painting, segregating the fisherman from the destination. The inviting buildings—or a metaphor of the imperial palace (Fig. 11)—is the still remote destination of the traveler: it is a goal that Cai longs to reach but, at this juncture, he has no access to it. No records tell us why Huizong depicted the fisherman, or whether he in-tended Cai as a specific “audience.” However, to some degree, both Huizong’s painting and inscription for Returning Boat on a Snowy River, reflect his pat-tern of exiling, then recalling, Cai Jing. Huizong might simply have entitled the work “Wintry Landscape” instead of creating a unique, more provocative title that evoked return.72 As we have seen, Cai advanced his career from a low point and he endured numerous political “winters” through his life 京起於逐臣 .73 By 1110/3, when Huizong asked Cai to view the Returning Boat on a Snowy River, this 65-year-old minister had been dismissed by Huizong three times (1101–1102/3,

71. Such metaphoric correlations between mountains and the political hierarchy were commonplace in the theories of late Northern Song landscape painters. For instance, Guo Si’s Linquan gaozhi includes the following passage: “Fishing boats and tackles indicate the purposes of men. . . . A great mountain is so stately that it becomes the master of multitudinous others arranged about it in order. . . . Its appearance is that of an emperor sitting majestically in audience to all his subjects, without signs of arrogance or haughtiness.” For the translation, see Shio Sakanishi, An Essay on Landscape Painting (London: J. Murray, 1935), 37, 39. For similar Chinese texts, see Shanshui chunquan ji, 1133. For further discussions, see Richard Vinograd, “Structures of Significance in Chinese Landscape Painting and Theory: Five Dynasties through Northern Sung,” paper for the Mountains and the Cultures of Landscape in China Conference (U.C. Santa Barbara, January 14–16, 1993), 1–32; and Alfreda Murck, Poetry and Painting in Song China, 197–199. 72. Before Huizong, the exiled scholar-official Song Di created the painting, Sail Returns from Distant Shore 遠浦帆歸圖, in reference to his political career and from his personal experience of exile in 1074/9. See Alfreda Murck, “The Eight Views of Xiao-Xiang and the Northern Song Culture of Exile,” Journal of Sung-Yuan Studies 26 (1996), 125–127; Alfreda Murck, Poetry and Painting in Song China, 44. To my knowledge, the painting title of Returning Boat on a Snowy River or Xuejiang guizhou tu as well as related appellations such as Xuejiang guizhou tu 雪江

歸濯圖 , Hanjiang guizhou tu 寒江歸棹圖, and Xuejiang duzhou tu 雪江獨棹圖, had never been used. Both Ju Ran’s 巨然 (active ca. 960–ca. 983) Jiangshan guizhou tu 江山歸棹圖 (see Xuanhe huapu, 12.344) and Li Gongnian’s Qiujiang guizhou tu 秋江歸棹圖 are not associated with snowy winters (see Xuanhe huapu, 12.326). Huizong was the first one who created and employed this new title and it was thus specific to this work. 73. For Cai Jing’s early experiences of 1070–1102, see Dongdu shilue, 101.1551–1553; Zaifu biannian, 11.662–664; SS, 472.13721–13723.


1106/2–1107/1; 1109/6–1112/2). But each time Cai was recalled to the court after a year or two of exile. Experiencing so many cycles of favor and disfavor, by 1110/3 Cai would have been very sensitive to the insinuation of Huizong’s inscription. If Huizong had expelled Cai because he truly disliked him, he would not have presented him with a painting. Furthermore, surely, Huizong would not normally have allowed a dismissed minister to write a colophon juxtaposed with his own name. Huizong would not depict a forlorn traveler on a frigid river longing to return to the palace (Fig. 12), and imply that the cyclicality of the four seasons might parallel the cycles of Cai’s career, with the futher implication that, as spring follows winter, so Cai Jing might expect to return. Did Cai appropriately capture Huizong’s intentions in this painting? Sig-nificantly, in 1110/2 Huizong had just given Cai a house in the South Garden of Suzhou prefecture, a remote location where former exiled grand councilors had been sent. This imperial ‘gift’ was one that Cai would have dreaded. Generous though it may have been, it signaled an impending exile.74 Cai’s colophon in 1110/3 responds to Huizong’s painting with an unusual tone of humility and solicitousness. According to two Song histories:

He [Huizong] repeatedly promoted and then demoted him [Cai Jing]; and he [Huizong] selected those with whom Cai did not get along, such as Zhao Ting zhi, Zhang Shangying . . . and one after the other appointed them as grand councilors to keep him [Cai] in check.75

Although Huizong favored him [Cai] and made him councilor, Huizong never-theless repeatedly promoted and then demoted him. Whenever Jing heard that he was about to be dismissed, he would insist on an audience with Huizong, kowtow and entreat and bemoan. 徽宗雖寵用之, 然亦屢起而屢僕 . 京每聞

其將退, 必見徽宗, 叩頭求哀.76

Could the colophon be another example of entreaty? We might assume that, Cai perceived Huizong’s intentions correctly, and was on the alert for signs of reconciliation.

74. Gong Mingzhi’s 龔明之 (ca. 1091–1182) poem “South Garden” reads: “大觀末, 蔡京

罷相, 欲東還, 詔以其(南)園賜之. 京即以詩贈親黨…” See Gong Mingzhi, Zhongwu jiwen 中吳紀聞 (preface dated 1182; Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1986), 3. 75. Jishi benmo, 131.4135. 76. Dongdu shilue, 101.1560. For the translation see Hartman, “A Textual History of Cai Jing’s Biography in the Songshi,” 547.


When we realize how Cai’s colophon skillfully employed elegant calligraphy as well as a humble tone, we might also want to consider whether Huizong actually requested a colophon from Cai as a gesture to help cement their personal relationship. When we sense that Cai wielded his cultural superiority and artistic abilities to influence and further his political prospects, we might wonder whether, on 1110/3/1, Huizong used a secret pictorial language to offer Cai an “artistic summons,” or, at the very least, a pictorial reassurance. Although Huizong seems to have communicated positive personal feel-ings to Cai in this snowscape, the political realities of Huizong’s court at



times demanded that his more public treatment of Cai be harsh. Huizong was not purely an aesthete. Many of Huizong’s paintings, calligraphic works, and, generally, his artistic patronage and cultural activities, harbored subtle, utilitarian political messages.77 In the years before 1110, Huizong occasion-ally called on Cai to add colophons or inscriptions to Huizong’s work (or Huizong’s commissions). In this way, Huizong strengthened their private friendship through artistic collaboration. After the second recalling of Cai in 1107/1, Huizong feted him in 1107/3, establishing a memorial pavilion, the Reunion of the Emperor and Minister 君臣慶會閣, which was celebrated, and Huizong asked for Cai’s poem. Afterwards, Huizong wrote a poem to rhyme with Cai’s.78 Furthermore, in 1107/3 Huizong wrote long texts for the main body of the Eight Virtues Stele, and invited Cai to inscribe a title The Stele Done by the Sage in the Daguan Period on top of the stele, signifying that the texts and calligraphy were produced by the emperor.79 When the collaborative stele was erected at schools throughout the country, their personal bonds were thus publicly reinforced. The young Huizong en-snared Cai in an intimate and highly articulate way through symbolic artistic performances. There were other occasions on which Huizong mollified his minister with artistic gifts. In 1112/1, when Cai was suffering his banishment in Hangzhou, Huizong dispatched Wang Fu 王黻 (1079–1126) to deliver boxes of tea and medicine to Cai. Cai discovered that inside one of the boxes was hidden a white jade ring 22 cm in diameter. He immediately deciphered the rhetorical trick. He packed his luggage and prepared for his recall to court, apprehend-ing that the round shape of the ring 環 (huan) symbolized cyclicality and

77. At the end of Huizong’s Eight Virtues Stele, Cai wrote “Your servant Cai Jing inscribed this stele by imperial order” 臣蔡京奉敕題額. For images of Cai’s inscription see Wang Ping-chuan 王平川, ed., Song Huizong shufa quanji 宋徽宗書法全集 (Beijing: Chaohua chubanshe, 2002), 85. See also Patricia Ebrey, Accumulating Culture, 61. 78. The Chinese text reads: “三月己丑, (徽宗)幸金明池, 賜宰相蔡京等宴. 十月庚申, 和賜蔡京君臣慶會閣落成詩.” See Jishi benmo, 131.4114. 79. Gangmu beiyao, 27.691; SSQW: XZZTJ, 14.885. In 1107/3 Cai inscribed Huizong’s edict of the “New Reforms of Eight Virtues and Eight Offenses” 八行八刑新政詔書. Later, when Huizong’s edict was engraved into the Eight Virtues Stele, Huizong asked Cai to inscribe a title with six characters that reads: The Stele Done by the Sage in the Daguan Period on top of this stele. Later many reproductions of this stele were widely copied and distributed throughout the empire. At least 26 copies survived in the Qing dynasty. See Ebrey, “Huizong’s Stone Inscrip-tions,” 243; Ebrey, Accumulating Culture, 61.


‘permission’.80 The character form 環 is similar to 還 (which means “return”). Additionally, the ring (huan) is a homophone for “recall” 喚 (huan); the jade ring 玉環 (yuhuan) is a homophone for 欲還 (yuhuan). The jade ring used by Huizong was a puzzle, a pun, even, which communicated in a subtle symbolic language that Huizong knew Cai would comprehend. Indeed, Cai decoded the signs correctly, and within two days, on 1112/2/1 Huizong promulgated an edict to recall Cai to the court, also giving him a luxurious house in the capi-tal of Kaifeng, and promising to elevate him once again to his earlier titles.81 After receiving the jade ring, good fortune smiled on Cai. He returned to the capital in 1112/3, meeting Huizong on 1112/3/25. He was awarded the Jade Belt, the Golden Fish, and given a banquet in the Lecture Hall in 1112/4.82 On 1112/4/8, Huizong feted him in Taiqinglou library, even though two days earlier peculiar ‘inauspicious’ sunspots had appeared, vanished, and reappeared.83 Cai Jing thus enjoyed his political “spring” upon his reinstatement. In 1112/5, Huizong wrote out in his own hand an edict refuting earlier political denigrations and accusations that had emanated from the anti-Cai faction. Further, he welcomed Cai’s rehabilitation with the following praise:

Cai Jing’s loyalty is as strong as metal and stone, and he is devoted to bringing security to the dynasty. For eight years he assisted me in governing, his virtues were constant. Yet perverse people [Zhang Shangying and his factions] reviled the upright one, hoping to injure him. They recklessly spread baseless gossip as a way to trap him in unexpected disasters. I now see what was going on and can clearly recognize the false accusations.

When a great minister stands in court, he should have confidence in himself. When a wise king plans his appointments, he should fear clever speech. Since I know my heart is sincere, why should I worry about the backbiting of the crowd?84

80. Approximately, 7 cun 寸 × 3.13 cm (per cun) = 21.91 cm. The white jade ring was 7 cun in diameter. See Lu You 陸遊 (1125–1210), Laoxuean biji 老學庵筆記 (preface dated 1228; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985), 9.83. 81. Changbian shibu, 31.1022; Laoxuean biji, 9.83; Gangmu beiyao, 28.705; Jishi benmo, 131.4120; SS, 21.389; Dongdu shilue, 101.1556; SSQW: XZZTJ, 14.896; Zaifu biannian, 12.751. 82. Changbian shibu, 31.1023; Jishi benmo, 131.4120. 83. Gangmu beiyao, 28.705; Zaifu biannian, 12.751; Changbian shibu, 31.1025; SS, 21.389. 84. Jishi benmo, 131.4122; Song dazhaoling ji, 179.576. For the translation, see Ebrey, “Literati Culture,” 2–3.


Soon thereafter, Cai was rehabilitated to Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent 太子少師 in 1112/6, Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent 太師 on 1112/8/11,85 and was ennobled with the highest title Duke of Lu 魯國公 in 1112/11.86 His New Policies were resuscitated. Conversely, Cai’s rival Zhang Shangying was dismissed in 1111/4 and exiled to malarial frontiers between 1111/8 to 1112.87 The two men’s careers and their alternating banishments and reinstatements are, indeed, a strong indication of the volatility of Huizong’s court at this time. Even Song contemporaries made note of the alternations, comparing Cai’s and Zhang’s careers to cyclical transformations: “Once Zhang Shangying leaves (is banished), Cai Jing will return soon (be reinstated).”88 In the spring of 1113/4/8, Huizong gave Cai the gift of a spring landscape scene entitled A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains 千里江山圖 (commis-sioned by Huizong and executed by the court painter Wang Ximeng 王希孟, 1096–1119). The blue-and-green painting strongly conveys, in its spectacular perspective, a positive and even celebratory attitude. The colophon identifies the month as April, which represents prosperity in the coming year. The seem-ingly endless miles of rivers and mountains, flourishing trees, and gorgeous palaces—all in vivid greens and blues indicative of its imperial provenance and suggestive of the Immortals—propose to congratulate someone attaining his peak. The work speaks in triple entendre through subject matter, composition, and color symbolism. More directly, Huizong instructed Cai to compose a colophon for the painting, and suggested the maxim: “Where there is a will, there is a way” (Fig. 13). Although far less concise, there are echoes in the colophon for Returning Boat on a Snowy River, which seems to imply hope during times of duress with assurances about the cyclical nature of fate. We have in both cases instances of paintings and colophons, images and texts, which are used to communicate messages about the fate of political figures in Huizong’s court.

85. Gangmu beiyao, 28.706; Changbian shibu, 31.1030; Jishi benmo, 131.4119; Dongdu shilue, 101.1556; SS, 472.13725; Song dashiji jiangyi, 21.389. 86. Gangmu beiyao, 28.707; Shichao gangyao, 17.399; Dongdu shilue, 101.1556; SS, 21.390. 87. Changbian shibu, 30.1012; Gangmu beiyao, 28.704; SSQW: XZZTJ, 14.894; Zaifu bian-nian, 12.760; Dongdu shilue, 102.1573; Song dashiji jiangyi, 21.389. 88. Changbian shibu, 30.1012: “會上眷(張商英)亦衰 , 言者乞逐商英愈急 , 不知商英

既去, 而蔡京復來矣.” See also Gangmu beiyao, 28.703; Dongdu shilue, 101.1556; Jishi benmo, 131.22.


Fig. 13 Cai Jing’s colophon (dated to 1113/4) on Wang Ximeng’s 王希孟 (1096–1119), A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains 千里江山圖卷. Handscroll, ink and colors on silk, 51.5 × 1191.5cm. The Palace Museum, Beijing. Courtesy of the Palace Mu-seum, Beijing.


Appendix I: Cai Jing’s colophon to Returning Boat on a Snowy River

臣伏觀御製 Your servant humbly views Your Majesty’s painting 《雪江歸棹》 entitled, “Returning Boat on a Snowy River.” 水遠無波 Water in the distance shows no ripple, 天長一色 one color with the sky above. 羣山皎潔 While mountains rise bright and clear, 行客蕭條 the traveler’s heart is forlorn. 鼓棹中流 Rowing the boat in the middle of the flow, 片帆天際 a single sail dots the horizon. 雪江歸棹之意

盡矣

This painting captures the essence of the mood one feels upon seeing a boat on a snowy river.

天地四時之氣 In heaven and earth, the vital forces vary in the four seasons.

不同萬物生天

地間

Each brings various myriad creatures into the cosmos,

隨所運炎涼、

晦眀according to each one’s fated course, whether hot or

cold, 生息、榮枯 dim or bright, fecund or moribund, flourishing or

decaying.飛走蠢動 The creatures that fly, run, or slither are in continuous 變化無方 transformation in ways no one can completely

comprehend.莫之能窮 Never to be exhausted.皇帝陛下以丹

青妙筆

Yet all are found under Your Majesty’s miraculous brush.

偹四時之景色 Four landscapes of the four seasons contain their distinctive colors

究萬物之情態 and scenery, and detail the forms and feelings of the 於四圖之內 myriad creatures, omitting nothing.

葢神智與造化

等也

Indeed, your divine intelligence is on a par with the creative powers of the cosmos.


大觀庚寅季

春朔

On the first day of the third month of spring, Gengyin year (1110) of the Daguan era.

太師楚國公

致仕

Zhishi from Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent, Duke of Chu.

臣京謹記 Your servant Jing reverently recorded.


Appendix II: Records of Natural Disasters, ca. 1109–1111

YearLunar Month Records of Natural Disasters

1109 May On the day of Wushen, there was massive hail and rain in the capital. 五月戊申, 京師大雨雹.a

May On the day of Wuchen, there was massive hail and rain. 五月戊辰, 大雨雹.b

June On the day of Gengyin, rivers overflowed in the state of Ji and breach their dikes. 六月庚寅, 冀州河水溢 .c

October On the day of Wuzi, there were massive thundershowers of hails, followed by rains. 十月戊子 , 大雷雹而雨 .d

October Heavy thunder showers with earthquakes. 冬十月 , 大雨震電 .e

November 十一月甲子, 詔: 東南諸路水災, 令監司、郡守悉心振救 . 戊辰, 以淮甸旱, 飢民失業.f

December On the day of Xinmao, there was massive hail and rain. 十二月辛卯, 大雨雹.g

? In this year, refugees from Qin and Feng were starving, while populations along the Yangzi and Huai Rivers and in Jing, Zhe, and Fujian, were cruelly struck by a withering drought. 是歲, 江、淮、荊、浙、福建旱. 秦、鳳皆成饑 .h

? Disease and infection spread over the southeastern provinces 大觀三年, 江東疫.i

1110 March On the day of Gengzi, the government summoned the starving. 三月庚子, 募饑民.j

March One the day of Jiayin, the Emperor decreed that beggars and refugees were to receive food. 甲寅 , 敕所在振恤流民 .k

November Since this winter began, most of the time it was either overcast, windy, hazy or snowy, followed by snowflakes. 十一月十五日, 宰臣何執中言: 臣等伏見涉冬以來 , 率多陰晦 , 風、霾、雪、霰繼作.l

a. SS, 62.1347. b. SS, 20.383. c. SS, 20.383. d. SS, 62.1351. e. Gangmu beiyao, 27.698. f. SS, 22.405. g. SS, 22.405. h. SS, 20.383. i. SS, 62.1370. j. SS, 20.384. k. SS, 20.384. l. SHY: ruiyi, 1-19.2074: “Auspicious.”


YearLunar Month Records of Natural Disasters

1110 In this year, rivers overflowed in the state of Kui. 是歲 , 夔州江水溢.m

Great famine in Liao territories. 遼境內大饑 .n

1111 Winter Horrifying cold in winter. The snow lies one foot deep, the river has frozen over, and the citrus trees have all died in the frost. Next year they will be felled and used as fuel. 政和元年冬大寒, 積雪尺餘, 河水盡冰 , 凡橘皆凍死 . 明年伐而為薪取給焉.o

m. SS, 20.384. n. SSQW: XZZTJ, 14.899. o. Lu Youren 陸友仁 (fl. ca. 1330s), Yanbei zazhi 研北雜誌 (preface dated 1334; SKQS ed.), juan shang, 567.


Appendix III: The influence of harsh climate on the fall of the Northern Song

YearLunar Month Records of Snow Disasters

1125 February On the day of Jiyou, trees froze. 二月己酉 , 雨木冰 . Winter In the winter cold, people who collapsed were not being cared

for. Beggars were falling down and sleeping in the streets beneath the imperial carriage. Everyone saw them, and the people pitied them and lamented. 冬寒倒臥人更不收養 , 乞丐人倒臥街衢輦轂之下, 十目所視 , 人所嗟惻 .

1126 January On the fifth day of January, at midnight, great winds blew from the northwest, stirring up rocks and sand, until the next day when they ceased. 正月望夜 , 大風起西北有聲 , 吹沙走石, 盡明日乃止.

January On the day Jiashen, there was heavy snow and wind. People froze to death. The corpses were piled one atop of the other. 正月甲申, 大風雪, 凍死者枕籍 .

February On the day of Wushen, great winds came from the northeast, carrying dust flying into the air. 二月戊申 , 大風起東北 , 揚塵翳空.

March On the day of Jisi, the great winds suddenly quit, suddenly rushed, sounding like an angry call. 三月己巳 , 夜五更 , 大風乍緩乍急, 聲如叫怒.

April Heavy rain in the capital. Clear but bitterly cold. 四月 , 京師大雨, 天氣清寒.

May-June During the days of Jiashen from May to June, horrible rain storms destroyed the wheat fields. The summer following was as cold as autumn. 自五月甲申至六月 , 暴雨傷麥 , 夏行秋令.

May On the day of Bingyin, it was tremendously cold. 五月丙寅 , 寒甚.

October On the day of Yimao, trees froze. 十月乙卯 , 雨木冰 . November Snow fell heavily on the day Renxu. The evening was dim

and gray. 壬戌, 是夕大雪暝晦. November On the day of Dingmao, snow covered the ground as high as

one to two feet. 丁卯, 正是大雪 , 並無蓋臥身上 , 雪厚一二尺, 饑則囁雪或潑雪, 取土中蔓菁根食之 .

November Heavy snow, more than three feet thick. The skies were dim and gray. 閏十一月, 大雪, 盈三尺不止 . 天地晦冥 , 或雪未下時, 陰雲中有雪絲, 長數寸墮地 .



1126 November On the day of Jiachen, the Jurchen Jin armies invaded Hao-zhou in heavy rains and snows. 十一月甲辰 , 大雨雪 . 金人陷亳州.

On the day of Yisi, it was horribly cold; the armies shivered so badly that they could not hold their weapons, and some collapsed from numbness. The Emperor washed his feet in the imperial palace and prayed for sun. 已巳 , 大寒 , 士卒噤戰不能執兵, 有僵僕者. 帝在禁中 , 徒跣祈晴 .

November On the day of Bingwu, trees froze. 閏月丙午 , 雨木冰 . November On the day of Guisi, it was bitter cold. 閏月癸巳 , 京師苦

寒…甲午, 時雨雪交作, 帝被甲登城 . November On the day of Jiayin, great wind came from the north, and

snow covered the ground as high as several feet deep for many nights without stopping. 閏十一月甲寅 , 大風起北方, 雪作盈數尺, 連夜不止.

November On the day of Dinghai, strong winds hit houses and snapped trees. 十一月丁亥, 大風發屋折木 .

November On the day of Renzi, the Jin attacked Song imperial gates Tongjin and Xuanhua, the Song military officer Fan Qiong led thousands into battle; while crossing the river, the ice broke, and five hundred Song soldiers sank. 閏月壬子 , 金人攻通津、宣化門, 范瓊以千人出戰 , 渡河冰裂 , 沒者五百餘人.

November During the days of Wuwu to Yimao, the snow fell continu-ously. At night a white haze appeared in the Taiwei constel-lation, later a comet appeared. 閏月戊午自乙卯 , 雪不止...夜有白氣出太微, 彗星見.

December On the day of Gengchen, there was massive hail and rain. 十二月庚辰, 雨雹.

December The day before, the emperor had ordered that the timbers of his razed palaces be sold to relieve the fuel shortage of the populace. Now he ordered that people be permitted to take the trees of Genyue and chop them up for firewood. 癸未 , 大雪寒, 縱民伐紫筠館花木為薪 .

1127 January On the day of Jihai, the sky dim and gray, gusts of wind sud-denly rose, from day to night, midst northwest clouds fire flashed, two zhang long, several feet wide, the people often saw this. 正月己亥, 天氣昏曀 , 狂風迅發 , 竟日夜 , 西北陰雲中如有火光, 長二丈餘 , 闊數尺 , 民時時見之 .



1127 January On the day of Gengxu, there was heavy wind and rain. 正月庚戌, 大風雨.

January On the day of Dingyou, heavy snow and extreme cold. The ice on the ground was as solid as a mirror and people walking about could barely stay upright. 正月丁酉 , 大雪 , 天甚寒, 地冰如鏡, 行者不能定立. 丁酉 , 雨木冰 .

January On the day of Dingwei, great fog everywhere. 正月丁未 , 大霧四塞.

January On the day of Yimao, the imperial carriage was stuck in Qingcheng where snow lay several feet deep. Many people froze to death. 正月乙卯, 車駕在青城 . 大雪數尺 , 人多凍死.

February On the day of Yiyou, strong winds snapped trees, and became much stronger in the evening. 二月乙酉 , 大風折木 , 晚尤甚.

March On the day of Jihai, there was great wind. 三月己亥 , 大風 . April On the day of Gengshen, a great wind blew rocks and

snapped trees. The Jin sent Emperor Qinzong, the Em-press, and the Crown Prince northward. 夏四月庚申朔 , 大風吹石折木. 金人以帝及皇后、皇太子北歸 .

April On the day of Xinyou, the north wind was much heavier than ever before. Bitter cold. 四月辛酉 , 北風益甚 , 苦寒 .

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