Master

Author: Zhai Mangui
Publisher:
Publish Date: July 1, 2002
Features: When Liu Zongyuan was demoted to Yongzhou, it was already a major turning point in his life. He was exiled to a distant land and politically placed in a situation described as "blamed by the masses, surrounded by suspicion" (from his letter to Xu Jingzhao Mengrong). After his mother's death, he also suffered a series of family misfortunes. In the fifth year of Yuanhe, his beloved daughter and younger sister passed away. As early as the twelfth year of Zhenyuan (796), at the age of twenty-four, he married Yang Ping's daughter, whom he had been betrothed to since childhood. Yang Shi suffered from "foot disease" and "infertility," and tragically died three years after their marriage. After Yang Shi's death in the fifteenth year of Zhenyuan, Liu Zongyuan never formally married again. During his time in Yongzhou in the fifth year of Yuanhe, he wrote the "Epitaph for a Younger Sister Who Died Young" for his daughter and younger sister, stating that she was "ten years old" at the time of her death. If calculated this way, Hema should have been the daughter he had with a woman in Chang'an around the sixteenth year of Zhenyuan. In addition to the family tragedies of his mother's death and daughter's passing, changes in his relatives' lives were also significant. Although his wife Yang Shi passed away at a young age, he maintained a close relationship with his father-in-law Yang Ping and his family. On his way to Yongzhou, he passed through Tanzhou (now Changsha, Hunan), which was the seat of the Hunan Inspection Commission, where Yang Ping was serving as the Inspection Commissioner. Liu Zongyuan and his party visited and stayed briefly, writing the "Record of Dai Shi's Hall in Dongchi, Tanzhou, by Yang Zhongcheng." Yongzhou was under the jurisdiction of the Hunan Inspection Commission, and Yang Ping should have shown some support to him. However, he was soon transferred to Jiangxi and later became the Capital Commissioner. Yang Ping was known for his extravagance and love of luxury. As Capital Commissioner, he built a mansion in Yongningli and kept concubines in Yongleli. At the time of Emperor Xianzong's ascension to the throne, when the court was vigorously suppressing extravagance, this gave rise to grounds for criticism. In the fourth year of Yuanhe, Cui Yijian, who had long held a grudge against Yang Ping, took the opportunity to impeach him. Yang Ping was demoted to the post of Weihu (now southern He County, Guangxi), and his property was confiscated. He was later transferred to the position of Chief Historian of Hangzhou. In the seventh year of Yuanhe, when the court enfeoffed Su Wang You as the crown prince and granted a general amnesty, he returned to the capital as Grand Tutor. In the fifth year of Yuanhe, Cui Min, the governor of Yongzhou, passed away, and Cui Jian, then the governor of Lianzhou, was appointed to take his place. Cui Jian was the husband of Liu Zongyuan's older sister. In the sixth year of Yuanhe, before Cui Jian arrived in Yongzhou, Hunan Inspection Commissioner Li Zhong falsely accused him of corruption. Li Zhong also bribed subordinates of the censor Lu Ze, who was handling the case, leading to Cui Jian's conviction and exile to Huanzhou (now Rong City, Vietnam). Cui Jian's younger brother, who was studying under Liu Zongyuan and preparing for the imperial examination, abandoned his exam and traveled to the capital to file a complaint. This eventually led to the court dismissing Lu Ze and demoting Li Zhong to the position of En Wang Fu, but Cui Jian's case was not completely overturned. Cui Jian died in Huanzhou in January of the seventh year of Yuanhe. Liu Zongyuan's exile due to his crimes, coupled with the loss of several relatives, dealt him a heavy blow, leaving him in a state of deep depression and rapidly deteriorating health. When he first arrived in Yongzhou, he was only thirty-three years old, still a strong, energetic, and youthful young man. Within just three or four years, by the age of thirty-six or thirty-seven, he had already become "infected with a hundred diseases, with hard lumps accumulating internally, not eating yet feeling full. Sometimes he suffered from alternating fever and chills, as if water and fire were attacking him, internally consuming his flesh and bones" (from his letter to Xu Jingzhao Mengrong). His body had become extremely frail. His mental state was also poor. "After suffering blame and exile, followed by great misfortune, his mind was exhausted by chaos and worry. He often felt anxious and fearful, his spirit declining, and the books he read were soon forgotten."