National Governance And Study On The Statutes Of Tang And Song Dynasties

With the Statutes on Honor Guard,Statutes on Costumes and Statutes on Music of the Tang and Song dynasties as objects of study,this paper restored some content of the Statutes on Honor Guard,Statutes on Costumes and Statutes on Music of the Song Dynasty by literature analysis,historical data acquisition and collation,reviewed and discussed the restoration effect of the Tang Dynasty's Statutes on Honor Guard,Statutes on Costumes and Statutes on Music,and put forward suggestions for further restoration.On that basis,this paper further investigated the relation between rites and Statutes in ancient China from the perspective of Statutes on Costumes and Statutes on Music,holding that the core function of rites was to “distinguish the noble from the lowly,and the superior from the inferior”,and the content of these Statutes was the legal form of the thought of “ruling by rites”.Since Emperor Wu of Han esteemed Confucianism as the only canon and rejected all other schools,the rulers in all later ages had considered the Confucian thought of governance as a standard.When answering a question about governance asked by Yan Hui,Confucius said,“We should use the lunar calendar of the Xia Dynasty,take the carriage of the Shang Dynasty,wear the hat of the Zhou Dynasty,and play the music of the Shun Period.” In Confucius' opinion,the lunar calendar of the Xia Dynasty,the carriage of the Shang Dynasty,the hat of the Zhou Dynasty and the music of the Shun Period are statecrafts,and imply the Confucian thought of ruling by rites.The lunar calendar of the Xia Dynasty is in line with the farming seasons,and agriculture was a cardinal task in the ancient Chinese society,so it needed to be observed.The carriage of the Shang Dynasty,the hat of the Zhou Dynasty and the music of the Shun Period were,however,not the same as the lunar calendar of the Xia Dynasty,because they had nothing to do with people's livelihood,but they were treated as equal as the lunar calendar of the Xia Dynasty because they represented the “ritual” order thought highly of by the Confucian school.Their function was not only confined to use,since they were also used as a tool to distinguish the noble from the lowly,and the superior from the inferior.The dominators of all dynasties stipulated that different groups should use varying quality,grade and size of carriages,costumes and music,in order to reflect different classes' status,and the ruling class' noble status.As the base of state governance,the carriage,costume and music were gradually put under the legal category,and the related laws were enforced by the coercive force of the state in order to show the rulers' determination to manage state affairs by rites.The Statutes on costumes were specially stipulated in China's first legal code The Statutes of the Jin Dynasty,and the Statutes on carriage were stipulated in this legal code as well.And so it was in the legal codes of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.In The Statutes of the Sui Dynasty there were special Statutes on costumes,carriages and music systems,appearing in the form of Decree on Costumes,Decree on Honor Guard,and Decree on Music respectively.These Statutes were carried on as before in the Tang and Song Dynasties,and included in the Record of National Laws and Systems in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.In addition,the dominators of all dynasties formulated legal provisions and imperial administrative Statutes on punishments against violation of these Statutes.Currently,there are still many problems concerning the restored version of the Tang Dynasty's Statutes on Honor Guard.The content of Statutes on Honor Guard involves two aspects: the first is the rules about formation,called Rules of Honor Guard;the second is the rules about carriage decoration,called Rules of Carriage.However,not only are these two aspects not differentiated from each other,but they are misjudged or some content is missing in the restored Statutes on Honor Guard.For instance,the content irrelevant to Statutes is considered as degrees and restored,while real Statutes aren't restored.For secondary restoration,The Rites of Kaiyuan or The New History of the Tang Dynasty cannot be adopted as a only reference book,while we should start from a comprehensive perspective to refer to The New History of the Tang Dynasty based on The Rites of Kaiyuan,and consult other historical records to restore the rules of honor guard and rules of carriage in the Statutes on Honor Guard of the Tang Dynasty.Roughly 15 Statutes in the Statutes on Honor Guard of the Song Dynasty have been missing,but now we can confirm that there was indeed the Statutes on Honor Guard in the Song Dynasty.As for the carriage system of the Song Dynasty,only the content forming during Zhenghe Period is still available,so only the rules of carriage in the Statutes of Zhenghe in the Sixth Year can be restored.As for the rules of honor guard,the honor guard systems of the early Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty,as well as the one established during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song,can be found in The History of Song Dynasty.It was once argued in the academic circles that the Statutes on honor guard of the Early Song Dynasty recorded in The History of Song Dynasty was the system implemented during the Zhidao Period,but actually,it is just the rules about the honor guard system in Tiansheng Statutes.So,the rules of honor guard in Tiansheng Statutes,Statutes of Zhenghe in the Sixth Year and the Statutes on Honor Guard of the Southern Song Dynasty can be restored.Japanese scholars restored the Statutes on Costumes of the Tang Dynasty,but the Statutes on Costumes of the Song Dynasty hasn't draw attention yet.The costume system of the Song Dynasty was simpler than that of the Tang Dynasty.For emperor's crown and robe,only the long fur robe,robe embroidered with dragons and crown prevalent in the Tang Dynasty were preserved;for empress dowager's and empress' crown and robe,only the robe embroidered with pheasants,the yellow robe,and the robe embroidered with long-tailed pheasants were preserved;for crown prince's crown and robe,Yuanyou crown and informal dress were preserved;for crown princess' crown and robe,only the yellow robe and the robe embroidered with long-tailed pheasants were preserved;for ministers' clothes,only the robe worn for a religious rite and court dress were preserved.The Statutes on Costumes of the Song Dynasty at all stages can be restored according to the Statutes on Costumes of the Song Dynasty and other related records.The Statutes on costumes of all dynasties show that there was a rigid hierarchy in all ages.It is embodied in three aspects: first,emperor supremacy.The core of Confucian ceremony is staying intimate with relatives and respecting seniors.The law of costumes maintained the uniqueness of emperor's crown and robe,in order to show emperor's dignity and supremacy.The second is hierarchy.The law of costumes aimed to “distinguish the noble from the lowly” by stipulating that people in different groups should wear varying quality,color and style of clothes.The third is the distinction between Chinese and barbarians.As an ideologically strong legal system,the law of costumes was used not only to distinguish the superior from the inferior,but also to distinguish the internal from the external,to emphasize the legitimacy of ruling.The relationship between rites and Statutes in the Song Dynasty can be investigated by reference to the Statutes on Costumes.In the Song Dynasty,rite consisted of two parts: the books of rites of the remote ages,including Book of Zhou Rites,Book of Confucian Thought of Rites and Book of Rites,and the ritual standard applicable at that time.The content of Statutes should be the same as recorded in the books of rites,namely “Statutes must be consist with the books of rites”.The Statutes inconsistent with the books of rites needed to be revised,namely “Statutes must be revised according to rites”.But since the books of rites were too old to suit all social realities,“Statutes often prevailed over the books of rites”.The ritual standard and Statutes complemented each other,and were often treated “as a whole”.The Statutes on Music,which came into being in the Sui Dynasty,had been used as a tool by the rulers for propaganda of rites and music since its birth.The classical court music system in it could only be used at ceremonies,so the rules of classical court music in the Statutes on Music barely changed from the Sui Dynasty to the Song Dynasty.But court banquet music and wind and drum music were less colorful in the Song Dynasty than in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.That's why the rules of court banquet music differ from each other,and the rules of wind and drum music was deleted.The rules of ritual music,carillon music,civil and military music and court banquet music in the Statutes on Music of the Song Dynasty can be restored according to available historical data.After Emperor Huizong of Song ordered the abolishment of twelve wind and drum music subsystems,the rules of twelve wind and drum music subsystems in the Statutes on Music were deleted accordingly.A comparison with the Statutes on Music of the Tang Dynasty shows that the change taking place in the music system of the Song Dynasty began in the Five Dynasties,and reached a peak during the Zhenghe Period after undergoing an adjustment in the early Song Dynasty.By restoring the Statutes on Music of the Song Dynasty,we could reexamine the restoration effect of the Tang Dynasty's.The restored version of the Tang Dynasty's has some defects,mainly including obscure definition of Statutes.The classical court music system of the Tang Dynasty can fall into three parts: ritual music,carillon music,civil and military music,but they are confused or the same content is divided into two parts in the current restored version.In addition,the restored rules of court banquet music should belong to the Statutes formulated during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang and Emperor Gaozong of Tang rather than Emperor Xuanzong of Tang.In the Statutes on Music there are not only the rules of classical court music accessories,but also the rules of wind and drum music accessories and costumes.They can be restored according to the content of the Statutes on Music and The Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty.With the social development,the decorative patterns on musical instruments have been given social and political natures,showing the strong Confucian thought of “rites”.The rules of decoration in the Statutes on Music of the Tang Dynasty suggest that Statutes must be made according to the books of rites.Not only were the books of rites referred to literally,but system design must be in tune with the Confucian thought of hierarchy.We restored the Statutes on Honor Guard,Statutes on Costumes and Statutes on Music of the Song Dynasty to investigate the relationship between rites and Statutes in ancient China,and review the current restored version of the Tang Dynasty's.These studies are supplements to the previous studies in the fields outside their concern,or to the existing studies in terms of omissions.Ancient rulers regulated people's daily life by means of laws such as the Statutes on Honor Guard and Statutes on Costumes,to imperceptibly achieve the goal of propagating the idea of ruling by rites,maintaining social stability and harmony,and building a hierarchical ordered perfect society.Moreover,the Statutes on Honor Guard,Statutes on Costumes and Statutes on Music are not only typical representatives of the relationship between rites and laws,but also legal expressions of Confucian thought of administering a country by rites.These systems not only existed as statutes,but also served as a cornerstone for the imperial ruling order,so their importance is self-evident.Therefore,for the academic circles,it is necessary to reexamine the role of Statutes in the ancient legal system and even the national political system.