朱雀：唐代的南方意象

by Edward H. Schafer, 薛爱华, 程章灿 (Translator)

今天富饶的岭南（包括广东、广西、海南岛）和毗邻的安南（大部分北越及红河三角洲）地区，在唐代还是一片边远地区的“蛮荒化外”之地，旧称“南越”。本书即是关于这片神秘而燠热之地的历史文化研究，作者“遵循了上帝造物及从诺亚方舟登岸时的顺序”，逐一描述了中古南越引人注目的自然风物与山川地貌：从天空到海洋、岩石、河流、植物、野兽与鸟类，当然还有历史地理、区域分布、语言、人种、宗教、气候等等。

作者卓越的历史语言文献的功底与人类学、民族学与民俗学的广阔视野，使得本书集历史研究、文化人类学研究与名物研究于一体；而唐代诗文与笔记史料中所呈现的中原唐人对南方土著的人文、宗教、风土、名物的认知与想象，使得本书不是在展示“博物馆抽屉中的一些标本”，也不是把历史“观念化”，而是要真正地“复苏”并“认识”那段历史，在千变万化的气、味、音、色中，试图探究这种南方的气味和感觉——以朱雀为象征——如何激发了在南越的唐人的想象力。

Genres: China, History, Nonfiction

580 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 1985

About the author

An American sinologist and a noted expert on the Tang dynasty. Schafer's most famous works include The Golden Peaches of Samarkand and The Vermilion Bird, which both explore China's interactions with new cultures and regions during the Tang dynasty.

Schafer earned a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1947. He then became a professor of Chinese there and remained at Berkeley until his retirement in 1984. From 1955 to 1968 Schafer served as East Asia Editor of the Journal of the American Oriental Society, and from 1969 to 1984 he held the Agassiz Professorship of Oriental Languages and Literature at Berkeley. He is also known within sinology for his uncompromising belief in the importance of language skills and learning and his differing approach on this subject to John King Fairbank. His publications include over 100 scholarly articles and more than a dozen books.

Also known as 薛爱华

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An encyclopedic overview of everything remotely related to China's southern borders during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). Schafer is an erudite and thorough scholar, drawing on a broad range of sources from both East and West. What's more, he knows how to craft a sentence. The Vermilion Bird is an extremely useful resource for anyone interested in the material culture of imperial China and required reading for anyone wishing to study the Tang Dynasty. The only problem is, this book is meant to convey information, not draw conclusions, so the detailed descriptions sometimes feel tedious. Nevertheless, I am glad to have it on my shelf as a ready resource when translating Tang poems.

[Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Vermillion Bird provides a spectacular outline of the cultural exchanges between the traditional epicenter of northern China and the unexploited frontier lands down the far south. While a lot of academic interest of southern China is centered on the massive migration of northerners to the south during the three centuries of wars and division following the collapse of centralized authority in late 2nd century CE, not much attention was paid to the subsequent development of southern settlements and further explorations of Lingnan. Moreover, most studies seem to be focused primarily on the political and economic profile of China's southward population shift while overlooking its cultural and spiritual impacts. Schafer's work effectively filled up some of this void with rigorous analysis of the key factors that drove the north and the south closer -- namely the relatively peaceful incorporation of the south into the realm of China, the cultural exchange catalyzed by the banished/demoted officials, the policy of Jimi, in addition to the arrival of "news" from south -- southern women, animals, plants, minerals, folklores, and mythologies. It is with the effects of these factors we see the formation of what would be known as China Proper in a cultural sense during the Tang dynasty. I feel that it is no exaggeration to claim that the traditional Chinese culture orbiting around the conservative and self-limiting Confucian-Taoist axis experienced a rejuvenation in Tang Dynasty thanks to the input of new blood from the south. Schafer's understanding of Chinese history as an entirety was incredibly deep and insightful. This book is not a book of conclusions but imaginations -- it's totally up to the readers to draw their respective conclusions.