Message #29599

[Bianca]

In C.E. 502 the Southern Ch’i Dynasty, with Chien-k’ang (Nanking) as its capital, was overthrown by Liang Wu Ti. He established the Liang Dynasty which for a short time was stable. The possibility appeared for Hwui Shan to present himself at court.



 Reconstructed drawing of a
Chinese royal court, c. 831
Institute of Texan Cultures, 74-239


The choice of the southern capital for a reception was a good one, for both the priest and for the record which exists today. Emperor Wu Ti was not only a good ruler by the standards of the day but also a patron of Buddhism. Hwui Shan, who probably could speak little court Chinese, was nevertheless heard politely, and the court realized that his story was a most unusual one. In fifth century China a land to the far east was known mostly as a myth—a land where the sun was born and a proper subject matter for poets. The earlier Classic of Mountains and Seas could not be confirmed. But what the priest said rang true—or the court was just being polite.

When the priest related his story, a number of nobles were at court. One of them, Yu-kie, was asked by the emperor to question Hwui Shan further, translate when necessary, and write his story for the court records. Working together, certainly misunderstanding each other from time to time, Hwui Shan and Yu-kie produced a short narrative of the journey. (30) But the royal court of the day was, if anything, highly cultured, and Yu-kie could not resist writing a parallel version of his own, satiric and interspersed with humorous comments.

Literary scholars rather enjoy these two versions of the land of Fu Sang; earlier historians, however, were a bit uneasy with the second version because a humorous document is always an uncertain record. How can one decide when the author is being serious?