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Political Concept (1) |
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Vera
Dorofeeva-Lichtmann, EHESS,
Paris Paper (1)
0. This paper is concerned with the part played by the intrusion of spatial thinking into Chinese political thought. My interest is focused on the spatial schematic representations of ancient Chinese geo-political units (principalities/kingdoms) found across diverse classical Chinese texts. Some of these constructs refer to abstract principalities or kingdoms , others deal with a set of specific principalities or kingdoms , yet both are distinguished by rigid orientation to cardinal directions and remarkably regular configuration. Unfortunately, these constructs become uncomfortably elusive when we try to define them, as it is difficult and, perhaps, impossible to conform their "political" content and "spatial" structure to Western frames of reference which tend to more sharply differentiate the domains of political thought and conceptualizing space. The elusiveness of these constructs seems to have served as one of the reasons why they are almost totally ignored in secondary sinological literature concerned with both political history and spatial concepts. I argue that the schematic representations of principalities or kingdoms are sophisticated conceptual constructs designed to convey political ideas in terms of conceptualizing space, and that the failure to grasp the meaning of these constructs results from a failure to recognize their representational code. Needless to say, overlooking an important and distinctive feature of ancient Chinese political thought may lead to considerable confusion in the interpretation of certain political concepts, or even to a failure to detect some of them at all. For this reason, the schematic representations of principalities/kingdoms merit a full-scale systematic examination. However, a discussion as brief as this cannot provide a comprehensive analysis of the issue. This short paper is limited to examining two arrangements of kingdoms found in the "Liao di" chapter of the Wu-zi, a treatise on the art of war of the 4th-3rd centuries B.C. A comparative analysis of these arrangements helps to explicate the representational code of the constructs in question. 1. Before discussing the chosen examples in detail, however, several comments on the fundamental principles of conceptualizing terrestrial space adopted by the ancient Chinese are necessary. Primarily, the Chinese tradition of representing the earth's surface seems to be aimed more at conveying a speculative terrestrial organization than mapping geographical reality. Evidence for this assertion may be seen clearly even in those terrestrial representations which are expected to portray the actual topography of terrains, that is, in geographical maps. The majority of Chinese global maps, as well as the great bulk of local maps made before the influence of European science, are known for their striking lack of precision from the point of view of modern cartography. Distortion of Chinese maps is considered to result from their intention to transmit more a certain spatial idea or viewpoint than geographical facts. Realised consistently and in a "pure" form, this intention is manifested in schematic terrestrial representations or cosmograms. It is necessary to point out here that a geographical map and a terrestrial scheme, or a cosmogram, are not differentiated clearly in classical Chinese. Both are designated by the character tu, and, therefore, both formally relate to a class of "graphical representations." Two basic patterns for constructing cosmograms may be distinguished: 1° a square grid (see fig.1a); There is also an intermediate pattern, that in the shape of a Greek cross, the result of amalgamation of the two basic patterns (see fig.1c). These patterns are characterized by the following structural principles:
Although these principles are rather simple, yet, when applied in a rigid way, they constitute a system of strong constraints which restrict the variables of patterns for constructing cosmograms to the three mentioned above. These patterns form the conceptual framework for Chinese cosmography. Each pattern operates as a sort of coordinate system, differentiating the represented surface, specifically, the terrestrial surface, into units in such a way that their relative locations may be definitively determined. However, the patterns differ dramatically from the coordinate system used, for example, in modern cartography. The main effect of applying these patterns is that the represented terrestrial surface becomes not only considerably distorted (e.g. a piece of land of irregular form will be represented as a square), but is also fundamentally transformed according to a certain idea of space. Primarily, each pattern attributes to the delineated units unequal "values" or "ratings". In general, the "rating" is the highest in the center and gradually decreases towards the periphery. The simplest variation of this hierarchical sequence of "values" is provided by a nest of concentric squares. However, the distinction of the two core dimensions in the patterns may produce much more complicated hierarchical classifications of space than the succession "from the center to periphery." A particularly striking example of such a classification is provided by the cosmogram "Ming tang", as described in the opening section of the "Ming tang wei" ("The Positions in the Hall of Distinction") chapter of the Li ji. The "positions" (wei) referred to in this text are supposed to be those taken by the governors of principalities (zhu hou) and the chiefs of barbarians during the audience given to them by the Son of Heaven. All the delineated "positions" are cardinally-oriented with respect to that of the Son of Heaven. The governors of principalities are identified and placed according to their ranks , so that the holders of the same rank share one "position". Since the relative "values" of ranks in the social hierarchy are definitively determined, the "values" of the spatially organized "positions" may be also determined in a definitive way. In general, the "value" of these "positions" gradually descends from the center towards the periphery. Thus, the holders of the three highest ranks (gong, hou, bo) are placed by the Son of Heaven. They surround him to the front, east and west respectively. The holders of the two lowest ranks (zi and nan) are placed at the main entrance into the Hall (the southern doors). The barbarians are given the peripheral "positions", those outside the Hall, in such a way that one group of barbarians is arrayed outside each of its cardinally-oriented doors. However, the placement of the governors of principalities shows that the "best" "position" among them is that in front of the Son of Heaven, and that being to the east of him or of the main entrance is "better" that to the west The accounted "positions" are characterized by an extremely important nuance directly related to the issue of this discussion, yet somehow missed in translations of this famous text. Beginning from the governors of principalities of the third rank (bo) and down to the barbarians, the text specifies the "positions" of kingdoms (guo) which belong to holders of a certain rank, rather than to the persons who actually hold this rank! This curious characteristic, which posed a considerable problem to the translators, shows that the specified "positions" express a hierarchy of terrestrial space classified according to social hierarchy. The "Ming tang wei" chapter highlights the key term in the conceptualizing of space by the ancient Chinese - "position" (wei). This term points to the principal function of the spatial patterns, namely that they determine the places of the represented geographical objects with respect to the idea of a hierarchical organization of space. The non-linearity of these patterns involves the delineated "positions" in a multi-dimensional, yet well-balanced set of relationships. Thus, each pattern inevitably produces a construct of remarkably regular configuration. By means of these, the idea of properly ordered and harmonious terrestrial organization is expressed. In brief, the conceptualizing of space by the ancient Chinese provides an excellent illustration of its relativistic perspective, that is, its view as an expression of a set of relationships between objects. From this point of view, space changes with the alterations in the "positions" of objects and of the "observer" (the cross-point of the co-ordinate axes corresponding to the "center" of the world). 2. There is a consensus among scholars that the "The Five Zones (Layers)", as found already in the "Yu gong", and "The Nine Provinces," as presented in the "Di xing xun", the fourth chapter of the Huai nan zi (not later than 139 B.C.), and the "Ming tang" are of a purely schematic nature. The schematic character of these constructs is easy to grasp due to their highly abstract content. By contrast, the cosmograms with specific content, that is, those referring to actual features of relief or units of actual territorial division, are much more difficult to recognize due to the very specificity of their content. The more specific the content of a schematic spatial representation, the less evident is its conventionality. However, it is essential to consider that, as soon as toponyms are incorporated into a scheme, they immediately become markers of ideally perceived locations or "positions". Dispersion of these "positions" may only correspond in a fairly loose way to actual topography for the simple reason that the schemes are designed to make it conform to a spatial idea, and the only way to do this is to accept some distortions or violations. Elsewhere I have discussed a conventional image of the world derived from the Shan hai jing ("The Classic of the Mountains and Seas", compiled about the 1st century B.C.). This is an example of a cosmogram with highly specific content referring to features of relief. The description of the world found in this text is supplied with precise directions and distances between locations, and thus gives an impression of topographical accuracy. Nevertheless, analysis of the system of accounted locations as a whole shows that this description refers to a conceptual organization of space. This conception is expressed in a highly elaborate and ramified form, but it is still a schematic representation with the attributes and characteristics of the latter. In contrast to the Shan hai jing, spatial arrangements of specific principalities/kingdoms include, as a rule, a low number of constitutive elements, have a simple structural organization, and correspond rather satisfactorily to their actual respective locations. At first sight, they may seem to be nothing more than rough approximations of these locations. However, as will be shown in the course of the following discussion, such an arrangement of principalities or kingdoms may still imply a sophisticated political concept. [Continued on Next Page]
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