Projections No 2 (2013) 164 China s Southern Tang Dynasty, 937-976 Johannes L. Kurz 160 pages, USD120.78, hardback Routledge, 2011 Reviewed by JIANG Jinshen, University of Macau Whether for Chinese historians or Western sinologists, the history of the Five Dynasties and Ten States is unpopular for it was a chaotic period between two great dynasties. Scholars thus concentrate more on the former Tang Dynasty and the later Song Dynasty. Johannes L. Kurz s new book, China s Southern Tang Dynasty, 937-976, contributes new research to this area. Kurz has spent several years in the study of the history of the Five Dynasties and Ten States. His first article about the Southern Tang Dynasty, Sources for the history of the Southern Tang (937-975) 1994), clarifies the basic literature in the study of the Southern Tang. His next articles, including The Yangzi in the Negotiations between the Southern Tang and Its Northern Neighbours (mid-tenth century) (1997), present the Southern Tang Dynasty s relation with northern countries through the river. Actually, the study of the Southern Tang enables a better study of the Song dynasty, the northern neighbour, because the Southern Tang plays an important role in the development of the Song Dynasty. Thus, Kurz has written articles about the second emperor in the Song Dynasty, such as The Politics of Collecting Knowledge: Song Taizong s
Projections No 2 (2013) 165 Compilations Project (2001), that show the influence of the Southern Tang s culture on the Song Dynasty. All this prior work has laid the foundation for his book. The study of the Five Dynasties and Ten States has a critical tradition in Western sinology. Edward Hetzel Schafer, who is considered by many scholars to be the most widely-read Western expert in the culture of the Tang Dynasty (Zhang, 2010), is the pioneering figure in research of the Five Dynasties and Ten States. In The Empire of Min (1954), Schafer discusses one country called Min in the period of Five Dynasties and Ten States. That inspired later scholars to study the single country during this period. His second book, The Vermilion Bird: T ang Images of the South (1967) studies the people, landscape, and culture in Southern China. Peter Lorge is another expert on this period and his two books, War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900 1795 (2005) and The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (2011), are both comprehensive discussions about the history of this period and mainly concentrate on the countries policies, war between these countries, and changes in society. Kurz inherits this tradition of Western sinology. As he reveals in the acknowledgements of his book, he wrote it due to the invitation of Lorge who is also an expert on the history of the Five Dynasties and Ten States. He focuses on a single Kingdom, the Southern Tang, which is important to understanding the Tang-Song transition and extensively researched the Southern Tang s policies, wars, and culture. The structure of the book is organized according to the chronology of four periods in the history of the Southern Tang Dynasty: the state of Wu, the founding of the Southern Tang and the reign of Li Bian, the reign of Li Jing, the reign of Li Yu
Projections No 2 (2013) 166 and the decline of the Southern Tang. The first part, about Wu, the former dynasty of Southern Tang, relates how Xu Wen, the adoptive father of Xu Zhigao (the founder of the Southern Tang Dynasty who changed his name to Li Bian), defeated his opponents and grasped Wu s political power. When Xu Wen died, Xu Zhigao defeated other heirs in Xu Wen s family, mastered Xu Wen s power, and became the most powerful man in Wu. In this part, Kurz clearly and carefully points out the succession relations between the Wu and Tang Dynasty, especially in relation to the bureaucratic system and military establishment. The second part discusses the founding of the Southern Tang by Xu Zhigao (Li Bian) who renamed the state Tang, thus announcing the potential unification of the territories under one ruler. Kurz discusses in particular the policy of internal affairs which was intended to recuperate and build up strength in the state, pointing out the Southern Tang s formulation of laws and regulations based on the Tang code. What is more, Kurz describes how in-laws and eunuchs were not allowed to participate in the running of government in the Southern Tang, which is different from the Tang Dynasty, and shows how this rule is retained in the Song Dynasty. This change shows the role the Southern Tang played in the Tang-Song transition. The third section focuses on Li Jing, the successor of Li Bian, in whose reign the Southern Tang Dynasty conquered the country of Chu and Min and achieved the largest territory, but lost them quickly. After the failure of the war with the Later Zhou (951 CE-960 CE), the ruler before the Song Dynasty in Northern China. the Southern Tang ceased to exist as an independent empire and served the Later Zhou as a vassal
Projections No 2 (2013) 167 state. Kurz points out that the means of selecting officials in the Southern Tang was based on literary talents, not through examination. Meanwhile, The Southern Tang was the only Chinese state to have established an examination system until the founding of the Song Dynasty. Kurz does not explain the meaning of this contrary situation. The Southern Tang established the system and ignored it. That urged the Song Dynasty to establish a more strict system. So the Song Dynasty selected officials strictly according to the results of examination, not the emperor s preferences. Meanwhile the emperors in the Song Dynasty could still choose the literary men, but they could only select them after they passed the examination because the names of the participants in the examination were covered before the scores were given to them. So the Song Dynasty made a balance between the examination system and the emperor s preferences. The contrary situation in the Southern Tang helped the system construction of the Song Dynasty. The fourth section of the book is concerned with the decline of the Southern Tang. Li Yu, the successor of Li Jing, is famous for his artistic talents. Li Yu was addicted to Ci (the most popular literature form in the Song Dynasty), poetry, and painting and did not spend time governing his Kingdom; even when he was surrounded by the Song Dynasty s army in his capital, he was unaware. These aesthetic occupations meant that he finally surrendered to the Song Dynasty, the terminator of the Five Dynasties and Ten States. Due to Li Yu s promotion of Ci, Kurz may spend more words talking about the literary interests of Li Yu and his officials, which influenced the cultural atmosphere of the Song Dynasty, including the
Projections No 2 (2013) 168 life style of the Southern Tang s literati, the relation between the emperor and ministers through literature, and the literary hobby of the Southern Tang. Following these four sections, Kurz provides an epilogue that mainly discusses the influence of the Southern Tang on the Song Dynasty, especially in the area of keeping traditions of learning and knowledge alive. Indeed, Kurz shows the key to the study of the Southern Tang. As this book shows, the Southern Tang inherited part of the political system and culture from the Tang Dynasty and then created its own literary atmosphere, before it was succeeded by the Song Dynasty. Kurz realizes the role of the Southern Tang in the Tang-Song transition, however, he does not provide more in-depth explanation. As Kurz mentions in his introduction, he has relied mainly on two chronological histories of the Chinese Empire, Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government (Zizhi Tongjian) and Long Draft of the Continuation of the Zizhi Tongjian (Xu Zhizi Tongjian Changbian). His study mainly refers to these two books, so there is no additional discussion of the significance of the Southern Tang for the changes in Chinese society between the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. Kurz concentrates on the timeline of history and ignores the analysis and evaluation of historical events. As Kurz argues, the Southern Tang Empire actively adopted the heritage of the Tang dynasty and similarly pursued a policy of cultural restoration. He shows that many policies, like those relating to the examination system, the name of the country, and the establishment of two capitals, were taken by the Southern Tang to identify the inheritance from the Tang Dynasty. Kurz also shows how the Southern Tang affected the Song dynasty in the areas of
Projections No 2 (2013) 169 book production of historiographical,and geographical works, as the most famous writers and scholars at the beginning of the Song Dynasty were from the Southern Tang. As I said above, Kurz mentions the Southern Tang s relation with the Tang and Song Dynasty in policy, culture, and system, but he only discusses them briefly rather than provides comprehensive analysis. Due to the chronological structure of the book, Kurz mainly relates a detailed history of the Southern Tang and ignores the idea he mentions in the book s introduction, that is, of the Southern Tang as the true facilitator between the Tang and the Song dynasties. He does not present an in-depth discussion of the Southern Tang s power and influence.especially in social fashions, like the writing of Ci by scholars. The transformation of Tang-Sung China is a complex issue, which involves questions of the conversion from an aristocratic society to a civil society, as well as the changing relation between landlords and peasants. So the influence of culture on the Song Dynasty is only one aspect. It would be worth spending more ink discussing the broader significance of the Southern Tang Dynasty to its successors. In the process of discussion, the author fully uses the achievements of Western Sinology as is evident by his bibliography; however, he misses Chinese reference data, such as that of Du Wenyu, an expert on the history of the Tang Dynasty who has published a series of articles and books about the Five Dynasties and Ten States including Nan Tang Shi Lue (The History of the Southern Tang Dynasty) in 2001. Overall, this is a detailed book that introduces the history of the Southern Tang to Western readers. If the author had further discussed the effect of the Southern Tang on
Projections No 2 (2013) 170 Tang and Song dynasties, his work would perhaps appear more significant. Reference Zhang. H., et al. (ed.) (2010) Chinese Studies in North America: Research and Resources. Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju.