A house in darkness: The politics of history and the language of politics in the late Northern Song, 1068--1104 (China)

From the introduction of the New Policies in 1068 to the political proscriptions of 1104, an escalating factional conflict divided the Song imperial court. Political theorists and practitioners employed distinctive vocabularies to delineate the legitimate boundaries of the political community, as did official historians long after the fact.; In Chapter Two, I reveal how the official historiography of the factional conflict was severely compromised by Northern and Southern Song court politics. Official historiography provided a retroactive means of pronouncing or denying the political legitimacy of a ministerial regime. These official histories articulated a political and ideological agenda; their compilers incorporated source materials that suited their interpretation of history, and excluded those which did not.; In Chapter Three, I investigate the textual history of a major historical source, the “Treacherous Minister” biographies of the Song History. The court historiographers of the Yuan dynasty worked by reproducing and assembling fragments of foundation texts to intensify their condemnatory portrayal of biographical subjects. They constructed a narrative representation of the factional conflict that suppressed political and ideological ambiguity, creating villains for posterity.; In Chapter Four, I examine the historical and intellectual evolution of the term “faction,” as it functioned in Northern Song political theory. Manipulating classical and historical discourse, political theorists bifurcated the political community into ethical and unethical political practitioners. By engaging in a close reading of Northern Song “Essays on Faction,” I demonstrate the intellectual context that influenced theorists' efforts to delineate the boundaries of legitimate politics.; In Chapter Five, I scrutinize the language of Northern Song politics, which constructed ethical oppositions between political allies and adversaries. By reading a sample of political language drawn from the various phases of the factional conflict, I illustrate that political rhetoric was a shared language, even as political practices escalated in brutality. Analyzing both historical and political discourse and practice, I illuminate the linkages between the politics of history and the culture of politics to provide a new perspective on factionalism.