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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 August 2018
Forging and using personal networks were and still are common in the Chinese government. Scholars often connect officials’ networking to corruption and factionalism. This article, however, offers a different perspective, through an examination of how Southern Song local officials used personal connections to facilitate their official businesses. I argue that local officials operated networks as an informal means of dealing with governmental affairs outside the normative administrative system. This informal means enabled more efficient political communication that bypassed regular procedures. It also provided local officials with more effective negotiations, especially when defending the interest of their jurisdictions against other agents of the state. Furthermore, the article demonstrates that using connections for governmental affairs, in turn, consolidated and expanded officials’ networks. Altogether, the article depicts a political world in which the interest of “the public” intertwined with that of the “the private,” and the official and non-official means of governing were fused.
I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, who offered invaluable advice for improving the structure and argument of this article. I am also grateful to Professor Sarah Schneewind, who gave me detailed comments on a conference paper from which this article was developed. I especially appreciate Professor Beverly Bossler’s feedback on drafts of this article, which has inspired me to clarify some critical ideas.
1 Jiuyuan, Lu 陸九淵, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (II)” 與張元善 (二), Lu Xiangshan quanji 陸象山全集 (Beijing: Zhongguo shudian, 1992), 16.135Google Scholar.
2 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (II),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.135.
3 Huang Kuanchung 黃寬重 and Hirata Shigeki 平田茂樹 have discussed the impacts of exchanging personal letters on scholar-officials’ political decision making. See Kuanchong, Huang, “Lunxue yu yizheng—cong shuxin kan Sun Yingshi yu qi shizhang de shidai guanhuai” 论学与议政——从书信看孙应时与其师长的时代关怀, Beida 北大史学, 20 (2016), 224–51Google Scholar, especially 225–29; Shigeki, Hirata, “Songdai shuxin de zhengzhi gongyong—yi Wei Liaoweng Heshan xiansheng daquan wenji wei xiansuo” 宋代书信的政治功用——以魏了翁《鹤山先生大全文集》为线索, Beida shixue, 20 (2016), 252–85Google Scholar. Hirata also examines how personal letters contributed to the smooth political communication among the central government, regional/semi-provincial administrations, and local governments. This article, however, focuses on scholar-officials’ role as local administrators, and analyzes how networking helped them carry out their initiatives at the local level and how the exchange of personal letters shaped local administration.
4 In scholarship on factionalism, networks are usually not studied in their own right, but are seen an organic part of the factional politics and conflicts. A large number of studies on factionalism have focused on the Northern Song period. Some representative research includes, Songqin, Shen 沈松勤, Bei Song wenren yu dangzheng: Zhongguo shidafu qunti yanjiu zhi yi 北宋文人与党争: 中国士大夫群体研究之一 (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1998)Google Scholar; Songqin, Shen, Nan Song wenren yu dangzheng 南宋文人与党争 (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 2005)Google Scholar; Levine, Ari, Divided by A Common Language: Factional Conflict in Late Northern Song China (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2008)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For discussions of networks (esp. kinship and marriage) and the acquisition of elite status, see Hymes, Robert P., Statesmen and Gentlemen: The Elite of Fu-Chou, Chiang-Hsi, in Northern and Southern Sung (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986)Google Scholar; Davis, Richard, Court and Family in Sung China, 960–1279: Bureaucratic Success and Kinship Fortunes for the Shih of Ming-chou (Durham: Duke University Press, 1986)Google Scholar; Chaffee, John, The Thorny Gates of Learning in Sung China: A Social History of Examinations (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995)Google Scholar; Bossler, Beverly, Powerful Relations: Kinship, Status, & the State in Sung China (960–1279) (Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1998)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For networks in literati culture and literati community, see de Weerdt, Hilde, Information, Territory, and Networks: The Crisis and Maintenance of Empire in Song China (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015)Google Scholar; Wenyi Chen, “Networks, Communities, and Identities: On the Discursive Practices of Yuan literati” (PhD diss., Harvard University, 2007), esp. Chapter 4; McDermott, Joseph. P., “Book Collecting in Jiangxi During the Song Dynasty,” in Knowledge and Text Production in an Age of Print: China 900–1400, ed. Chia, Lucille and de Weerdt, Hilde (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 63–102CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
5 A circuit was comprised of four commissions—the military, fiscal, judicial, and supply commissions—each taking respectively the responsibilities of military, financial, judicial, and grain supply issues. In practice, the military commissioner often exercised more power than the other three. For a detailed discussion of the Song circuits, see Lo, Winston, “Circuits and Circuit Intendancies in the Territorial Administration of Sung China,” Monumenta Serica 31 (1974), 39–107CrossRefGoogle Scholar, esp. 53–96.
6 These bureaus were responsible for collecting and transporting military supplies in designated areas along the border. They included the Bureaus of the Huaixi Overseer General 淮西總領所 (located in Jiankang 建康), the Huaidong Overseer General 淮東總領所 (located in Zhenjiang 鎮江), the Huguang Overseer General 湖廣總領所 (located in Ezhou 鄂州), and the Sichuan Overseer General 四川總領所 (located in Lizhou 利州). For the institutional history of the four bureaus, see Jiasheng, Lei 雷家聖, Ju lian mou guo: Nan Song zonglingsuo yanjiu 聚斂謀國：南宋總領所研究 (Taibei: Wanjuanlou tushu gufen youxian gongsi, 2013)Google Scholar.
7 For a study of Song “tribute tax,” see Weimin, Bao 包伟民, “Songdai de shanggong zhengfu” 宋代的上供正赋, Zhejiang daxue xuebao 浙江大学学报 31, no. 1 (2001), 61–69Google Scholar.
8 Zhu implemented other policies of famine relief that this article will not cover, among which the most important was “exhortations to share” (quanfen 勸分). For a case study of Zhu's “exhortations to share” in Nankang, see Yuji, Toda 戸田裕司, “Shu Ki to Nankōgun no fuka jōko—kosei kara mita Nan Sō shakai” 朱熹と南康軍の富家·上戸—荒政から見た南宋社会, Nagoya daigaku Tōyōshi kenkyū hōkoku 名古屋大学東洋史研究報告 17 (1993), 55–73Google Scholar.
9 For the details of Wang's relationships with Yang Shi, Lü Benzhong, and Zhu Xi, see Xi, Zhu 朱熹, “Zhongfeng dafu zhi Huanzhangge Wang gong shendaobei ming” 中奉大夫直煥章閣王公神道碑銘, Zhu Xi ji 朱熹集, ed. Qi, Guo 郭齊 and Bo, Yin 尹波 (Chengdu: Sichuan jiaoyu, 1996), 8:89.4570–81Google Scholar.
10 Zhu Xi, “Yu Jiangdong Wang cao zhazi” 與江東王漕劄子, Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1111–12.
11 Zhu Xi, “Yu caosi huayi zhazi” 與漕司畫一劄子, “Yu Wang yunshi zhazi” 與王運使劄子, Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1113–14; 1114–15.
12 Zhu Xi, “Yu Jiangdong Wang cao zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1112. The letter is titled “zhazi” 劄子 in Zhu Xi's collected works. Lik Hang Tsui has discussed zhazi as a sub-genre of personal letter developed from bureaucratic documents. Tsui also reminds us not to decide the sub-genre of letters by their titles in the collected works. See Tsui, Lik Hang, “Bureaucratic Influences on Letters in Middle Period China,” A History of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture, ed. Richter, Antje (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 363–97CrossRefGoogle Scholar. This zhazi letter dealt intensively with governmental affairs, and thus cannot be taken strictly as a personal letter; yet it was written as if Zhu was addressing Commissioner Wang in person. It is based on the tone of the letter and the way Zhu expressed his opinion that I classify the letter as a personal one, or at least a personalized one, which was distinct from regular bureaucratic documents.
13 Zhu Xi, “Yu Jiangdong Wang cao zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1112.
14 Zhu Xi, “Yu Jiangdong Wang cao zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1112.
15 Chen was also a native of Fujian. For Chen's biography, see Zhu Xi, “Shaoshi Guanwendian daxueshi zhishi Weiguogong zeng taishi shi Zhengxian Chen gong xingzhuang” 少師觀文殿大學士致仕魏國公贈太師謚正獻陳公行狀, Zhu Xi ji, 8:96.4930–47. For Chen's patronage of Zhu Xi, see Schirokauer, Conrad M., “Chu Hsi's Political Career: A Study in Ambivalence” in Confucian Personalities, ed. Wright, Arthur F and Twitchett, Denis C. (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1962), 162–88Google Scholar.
16 Zhu Xi, “Yu Chen shuai huayi zhazi” 與陳帥畫一劄子, Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1109.
17 Zhu Xi, “Yu caosi huayi zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1113.
18 For a depiction of the flow of official documents between the local and central governments, see Shigeki, Hirata, “Seiji no butai ura o yomu—Sodai seiji shi kenkyū jo” 政治の舞台裏を読む—宋代政治史研究序, Chishikijin no shosō: Chūgoku Sōdai o kiten to shite 知識人の諸相—中国宋代を基点として, ed. Hiroshi, Ihara 伊原弘 and Tsuyoshi, Kojima 小島毅 (Tokyo: Bensei shuppan, 2001), 31–49Google Scholar, esp. the chart on page 39.
19 Zhu Xi, “Yu caosi huayi zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1113–14.
20 Zhu Xi, “Yu Zhou canzheng zhazi” 與周參政劄子, Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1124.
21 Zhu Xi, “Yu Jiangdong Wang cao zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1112.
22 Zhu Xi, “Yu Chen shuai huayi zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1109.
23 Zhu Xi, “Yu Chen shuai huayi zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1109.
24 Zhu Xi, “Qi jieliu migang chong junliang zhentiao zhenji zhuang” 乞截留米綱充軍糧賑糶賑給狀 and “Qi boci jianfang hena miaomi chong junliang zhuang” 乞撥賜檢放合納苗米充軍糧狀, Zhu Xi ji, 2:16.627–29; 634–35.
25 Zhu Xi, “Yu Zhou canzheng zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1122.
26 Zhu mentioned to Commissioner Chen that he “had an official application submitted to the fiscal commission” 有狀申漕司. See Zhu Xi, “Yu Chen shuai huayi zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1110.
27 Zhu Xi, “Yu Chen shuai huayi zhazi,” 26.1110.
28 For a discussion of Zhu Xi's participation in the government as a reluctant official, see Schirokauer, “Chu Hsi's Political Career.”
29 Zhu Xi took similar actions when he later served in other official positions. When serving as the prefect of Zhangzhou in 1190, Zhu also persistently sought support from the grand councilor, Liu Zhen 留正 (1129–1206), to abolish an extra levy for his prefecture.
30 I have discussed this case in Lin, Zoe Shan, “‘Favoring Their Own’: Grain Embargoes in Southern Song China,” Journal of Song-Yuan Studies 46 (2016), 169–208CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
31 Zhu Xi, “Yu Jiangxi Zhang shuai zhazi (I)” 與江西張帥劄子（一）, Zhu Xi ji, 3: 26.1115–16.
32 Zhu Xi, “Yu Jiangxi Zhang shuai zhazi (II)” 與江西張帥劄子（二）, Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1116.
33 Zhu Xi, “Yu Jiangxi Qian cao zhazi” 與江西錢漕劄子, Zhu Xi ji, 3:1117.
34 Zhu Xi, “Yu Chen shuai shu” 與陳帥書, Zhu Xi ji, 3:1110–11.
35 Zhu Xi, “Yu Zhou canzheng zhazi,” Zhu Xi ji, 3:1124, 1125.
36 Zhu Xi, “Qi shenming bidi zhihui zhazi” 乞申明閉糴指揮劄子, Zhu Xi ji, 2:836.
37 Zhu Xi, “Yu Zhou canzheng zhazi” Zhu Xi ji, 3:1125.
38 In a letter to Zhu Xi in 1180, Zhou Bida commented that the prohibition on grain embargoes was an important regulation, frequently ignored by local administrators. Therefore, in response to Zhu Xi's request, he would make sure the prohibition would be reasserted. See Bida, Zhou, “Yu Zhu Yuanhui daizhi zhazi (I)” 與朱元晦待制劄子（一）, Quan Song wen 全宋文, ed. Zaozhuang, Zeng 曾棗莊 and Liu Lin 劉琳 (Shanghai: Shanghai cishu chubanshe, 2006)Google Scholar; [henceforth abbreviated QSW].
39 Zhu Xi, “Yiwen Jiangxi tongfang kemi ji benjun dimichuan shi” 移文江西通放客米及本軍糴米舡事, Zhu Xi ji, 9:5606–07 and Zhu Xi, “Yu Jiangxi Zhang shuai zhazi III” 與江西張帥劄子（三）, Zhu Xi ji, 3:118.
40 Yingshi, Yu 余英時, Zhu Xi de lishi shijie: Songdai shidafu zhengzhi wenhua de yanjiu 朱熹的歷史世界：宋代士大夫政治文化的研究 (Taibei: Yunchen wenhua, 2003), 2:149–80Google Scholar.
41 Lu Jiuyuan, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 36.338.
42 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Luo chunbo shu” 與羅春伯書, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 15.127.
43 Even during Lu's retreat to Mt. Xiangshan 象山 in Jiangxi, he continued to correspond with Xue. They discussed current politics and evaluated contemporary officials. Regarding introducing worthy people to Xue, Lu observed that “Although I am now living in seclusion, it is not necessarily the case that [I] would not come down the mountain for you” 吾雖屏居，未必不為足下出山爐也. See Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Xue Xiangxian” 與薛象先, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 13.113. In another letter to Xue, Lu addressed him as “elder brother (xiong 兄).” Although using “elder brother” was a very common way to show politeness, it does indicate a certain degree of closeness. See Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Xue Xiangxian (I)” 與薛象先（一）, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 15.127. In addition, Lu frequently mentioned Xue in his personal letters to Zhan Tiren 詹體仁, always addressing him by his courtesy name, “Xiangxian,” rather than by his official title; Lu addressed Zhan Tiren in his letters to Xue in the same manner. The tone of these letters suggests close connections among these three. See Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (II)”; “Yu Xue Xiangxian (I),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.135; 15.127.
44 For Xue's biography, see Song shi, 397.12091–95; Xue supported Daoxue officials in their struggles with the anti-Daoxue faction led by the grand councilor, Wang Huai 王淮 (1126–1189). Xue's impeachment helped depose Wang in 1188. For the struggles between the Daoxue officials and the anti-Daoxue faction during the 1170s and the 1190s, see Yu, Zhu Xi de lishi shijie, 1:441–95; 2:131–48.
45 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Xue Xiangxian (I),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 15.127. Xue left Hubei in 1192.
46 Yang Jian 楊簡, “Xiangshan xiansheng xingzhuang” 象山先生行狀, QSW, 276:7241.24.
47 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Xue Xiangxian (II)” 與薛象先書（二）, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 15.128.
48 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Xue Xiangxian (I),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 15.127.
49 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Xue Xiangxian (II),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 15.128.
50 Yang Jian, “Xiangshan xiansheng xingzhuang,” QSW, 276:7241.24.
51 Zhang's interactions with Lu's son was indicated in Lu's own letters to Zhang. See Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Demao (I), (III), (IV)” 與章德茂（一）、（三）、（四）, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.130–31.
52 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Demao (II)” 與章德茂（二）, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.130.
53 Zhu Xi, “Yu Yan tiju zhazi (I), (III)” 與顏提舉劄子（一）、（三）, Zhu Xi ji, 3:26.1098, 1099. Zhu also used autograph letters to request assistance from state councilors to reduce the tax quota of Xingzi county under his jurisdiction. See “Zhu Wengong yu shizai er shouzha (xingshu)” 朱文公與時宰二手劄（行書）, Tao, Ni 倪濤,Liuyi zhiyi lu 六藝之一錄, Yingyin wenyuange siku quanshu 景印文淵閣四庫全書 (Taibei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1983–1986) vol.837, 395.24a–25aGoogle Scholar.
54 The official applications included Huang Gan, “Shen Huaixi zhuanyunsi qi mian qifu yunliang shizhuang (I), (II), (III), (IV)” 申淮西轉運司乞免起夫運糧事狀一、二、三、四, QSW, 287:6532.412–14. For the reporting letters Huang Gan sent on the exact same topic, see Huang Gan, “Yu Huaixi Qiao yunpan bian qifu yunliang shi zhazi (I), (II), (III)” 與淮西喬運判辨起夫運糧事劄子一、二、三, QSW, 287:6529.356–58.
55 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Chen Jiaoshou (II)” 與陳教授（二）, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 8.70–71.
56 Huang Gan, “Jiangling gui qi yuemiao zhazi” 江陵歸乞嶽廟劄子, “Jiangling gui qi yuemiao di er zha” 江陵歸乞嶽廟第二劄, “Qi yuemiao di san zha” 乞嶽廟第三劄, “Qi yuemiao disi zha” 乞嶽廟第四劄, QSW, 287:6527.322–26.
57 I explore the implications of bingzha further in chapter two of my doctoral dissertation, “Playing the System: Food Supplies, Political Communication, and Local Governance in Southern Song China, 1127–1279” (University of California-Davis, 2018).
58 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Demao (III),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.131.
59 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Demao (IV),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.131–132.
60 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (II)”, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.135.
61 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Demao (IV),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.132.
62 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (II),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.135.
63 See Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang jian (II).” 與張監（二）, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 17.136–38; Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan” 與張元善, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.134.
64 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan,” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.134; “Yu Zhang jian (II),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 17.138.
65 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (I),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.134.
66 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (I),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.134.
67 For example, in 1191, Lu initiated a project of building the city wall of Jingmen jun. In early 1192, the rammed earth of wall was built. In order to fund the bricked wall, Lu planned to appropriate 5,000 liang of the “quota purchase silver 買名銀,” which was a source of revenue in the charge of the supply commissioner of the circuit. After communicating with Supply Commissioner Zhang, Lu submitted an application for the silver to the court. Thereafter, Lu asked Supply Commissioner Zhang to write to court officials and put in good words for Lu's proposal. See Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Jian (I)” 與張監（一）, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 17.136. Regarding Lu's positive comments on Supply Commissioner Zhang, see “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (I),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.134.
68 Lu had always been respectful to Zhang Gai, probably because he was the son of Zhang Tao 張燾, a prominent and respectable minister in early Southern Song. After having a dinner with Zhang Gai, which Lu himself recalled, Lu sent him a flattering letter. See Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Boxin” 與張伯信, Lu Xiangshan quanji, 17.140.
69 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Jian (II),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 17.138.
70 Zhan Tiren was mentioned in the opening episode of this article. Zhan was adopted by his mother's elder brother and thus took on his uncle's surname, Zhang 張, until he changed it back to Zhan between 1191 and 1194. See QSW, 280:6353.257, note 1. In Lu Jiuyuan's letters to him in 1192, Lu addressed him as Zhang Yuanshan 張元善 (Yuanshan was his courtesy name).
71 It is evident from Lu's letters to Zhan (two were preserved in Lu's collected works) that they maintained regular correspondence. In the beginning of the letter discussed in this article, Lu mentioned he had “opened three letters [from Zhan] in a row” and was touched by Zhan's humble and solicitous language, which compensated for the troubles of letter deliveries. See Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan shu (II).” In another letter to Zhan, Lu explained that he had not written to Zhan for a while, because the timing of letter delivery was not good for him, but he always asked Commissioner Xue Shusi to send his regards to Zhan. See “Yu Zhang Yuanshan shu (I).” Finally, when Lu died, Zhan also composed a eulogy for him. See Zhan Tiren, “Ji Xiangshan xiansheng wen” 祭象山先生文, QSW, 280:6353.257.
72 Despite its name, “Harmonious Purchase” had by the Southern Song become semi-coercive grain purchase implemented by local officials according to quotas assigned by the court and their superiors. For an introduction to “Harmonious Purchase,” see Zengyu, Wang 王曾瑜 and Zhu Jiayuan 朱家源, “Songchao de hedi liangcao” 宋朝的和籴粮草, in Wenshi 文史 24 (1985), 127–56Google Scholar. Yoshinobu, Shiba 斯波義信, “Sōdai shiteki seido no enkaku” 宋代市糴制度の沿革, Aoyama Hakushi koki kinen Sōdai shi ronsō 青山博士古稀紀念宋代史論叢 (Tokyo: Seishin Shobō, 1974), 123–59Google Scholar.
73 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (II),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.135.
74 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Demao (III),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.131.
75 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan,” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.133–34.
76 See Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan,” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.134.
77 This new fiscal commissioner would succeed Xue Shusi.
78 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (II),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.135.
79 The title “gan” refers to “gan-ban-guan” 幹辦官, a sub-official functionary who served as a kind of chief clerk in the headquarters of Fiscal Commissions and many other agencies. Hucker, Charles O., A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985), 276Google Scholar.
80 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Yuanshan (II),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.135.
81 Lu Jiuyuan, “Yu Zhang Demao (II),” Lu Xiangshan quanji, 16.130.
82 For a discussion of the meaning of “gong” and “si” in Song language, see “Introduction” in Ordering the World: Approaches to State and Society in Sung Dynasty China, ed. Robert P. Hymes and Conrad Schirokauer (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993), 51–55.
83 See “Introduction” in Ordering the World, especially 12–36; Bol, Peter, Neo-Confucianism in History (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2008), 202–04, 229–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Jiping, Lin 林繼平, Lu Xiangshan Yanjiu 陸象山研究 (Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan,1983), 34–41Google Scholar.
84 Yu Yingshi has labelled such officials as “professional bureaucrats.” See Yu, Zhu Xi de lishi shijie, 2:462–66.
85 Wanli, Yang 楊萬里, “Da Jizhou Zhao cui” 答吉州趙倅, Yang Wanli ji jianjiao 楊萬里集箋校, ed. Xin Gengru 辛更儒 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2007), 8:111.4254Google Scholar.
86 Yang Wanli, “Da Jizhou Zhao cui,” Yang Wanli ji jianjiao, 8:111.4254.
87 Yang Wanli, “Da Jizhou Zhao cui,” Yang Wanli ji jianjiao, 8:111.4254.
88 In the personal realm, Yang Wanli also never hesitated to use personal networks to solicit recommendation letters for promotions for his son, relatives, and friends. See Ruilai, Wang 王瑞來, “Neiju bu biqin: yi Yang Wanli wei ge'an de Song-Yuan biange lun shizheng yanjiu” 內舉不避親——以楊萬里為個案的宋元變革實證研究, Beijing daxue xuebao 北京大學學報 49, No.2 (2012), 117–28Google Scholar.
89 Similarly, the magistrate of Jishui county 吉水 (in Jizhou prefecture), surnamed Qin 秦, also asked Yang to help remove a purchase quota assigned by the overseer general of Huguang, Lin Zuqia 林祖洽. It is evident that Yang had maintained a good relationship with Magistrate Qin as well. See Yang Wanli, “He Jishui Qin zai jiaoge” 賀吉水秦宰交割; “Da Jishui Qin zai qi” 答吉水秦宰啟; “Wei Qin zai” 慰秦宰; Yang Wanli ji jianjiao, 5:59.2598; 8:109.4165. Yang wrote a letter to General Lin, but the sources do not tell us about the result of his request. See Yang Wanli, “Yu huguang zongling Lin langzhong” 與湖廣總領林郎中, Yang Wanli ji jianjiao, 8:111.4249.
90 Han served as the supply commissioner of Jiangxi circuit during 1197 and 1199. Han was a relative of Empress Han (1165–1200), the Empress of Emperor Ningzong (r. 1194–1224).
91 Yang Wanli, “Yu Huaixi Han zongling” 與淮西韓總領, Yang Wanli ji jianjiao, 8:111.4252.
92 See, Yang Wanli, “Xie Han tiju hezheng song bixiang jiu bing exiu qi” 謝韓提舉賀正送碧香酒并鵝饈啓; “Da Han yunshi” 答韓運使, “You 又 [Da Han yunshi II],” “You 又 [Da Han yunshi III]”; “Da Han zongling langzhong” 答韓總領郎中, “You 又 [Da Han Zongling langzhong II],” “You 又[Da Han Zongling langzhong III]”; Yang Wanli ji jianjiao, 5:59.2596; 8:107.4052, 4053, 4054; 8:108.4098, 4099, 4100.
93 Yang Wanli, “You [Da Han yunshi II],” Yang Wanli ji jianjiao, 8:108.4099.
94 Yang Wanli, “You [Da Han yunshi III],” Yang Wanli ji jianjiao, 8:108.4100.
95 Regarding the use of flattery in building scholar-officials’ epistolary networks, see David Pattinson, “Epistolary Networks and Practice in the Early Qing: The Letters Written to Yan Guangmin,” in A History of Chinese Letters and Epistolary Culture, 775–826.
96 Yang Wanli, “Da Jizhou Zhao cui” 答吉州趙倅, Yang Wanli ji jianjiao, 8:108.4094.
97 Fang Dacong, “Zheng Jinbu” 鄭金部, Song zhong hui tie'an Fang gong wen ji 宋忠惠鐵庵方公文集, Beijing tu shu guan gu ji zhen ben cong kan: 89 北京圖書館古籍珍本叢刊 89 (Beijing: Shu mu wen xian, 1988), 17.39b.
98 The Treasury Bureau was one of five bureaus in the Ministry of Revenue.
99 Fang Dacong, “Zheng Jinbu,” Song zhong hui tie'an Fang gong wen ji, 17.39b.