A Brief History of the Tujia — Tujia Culture in the Late Feudal Period (I)
Section 3: Tujia Culture in the Late Feudal Period — I. Tujia Culture Under Tusi Rule: While strengthening political control over the tusi, the central feudal court also tightened cultural control, adopting various measures to gradually make them accept Han culture. In the Yuan dynasty, schools were established in Jianshi and Shizhou (present-day Enshi). In the 28th year of the Hongwu reign of Emperor Taizu of Ming (13...
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Section 3: Tujia Culture in the Late Feudal Society
I. Tujia Culture During the Period of Tusi Rule
While the feudal central dynasties strengthened political control over the tusi, they also intensified cultural control over them, adopting various measures to make them gradually accept Han culture. In the Yuan dynasty, schools were established in Jianshi and Shizhou (present-day Enshi). In the twenty-eighth year of the Hongwu reign of Ming Taizu (1395), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that "all tusi establish county schools"; in the thirty-second year, Badong, Changyang, and other counties established county schools. In the sixth year of Yongle (1408), the Youyang Xuanwei Commission School was established to train native officials and their sons in Han culture. In the fourteenth year of Hongzhi (1501), Emperor Xiaozong of Ming ordered: sons of tusi and native officials who wished to inherit native office must enter school; those who did not enter school were not permitted to inherit. The Ming court adopted such measures to strengthen cultural control over the tusi, forcing them to accept Han culture and Confucian thought and carrying out forced assimilation. But objectively these measures helped raise the culture of the tusi and native officials, causing a group of people with relatively high cultural levels to emerge among the Tujia ruling class. Under the Ming court's coercive policies, some tusi, native officials, and their sons were sent to nearby prefectures and counties to study. During the Zhengde reign of Emperor Wuzong of Ming (1506-1521), the Yongshun tusi Peng Mingfu studied in Chenzhou. During the Wanli reign of Emperor Shenzong of Ming (1573-1620), Peng Yuanjin and Peng Xiangqian studied from childhood in Youyang and "had a reputation for talent in Confucian learning." When Peng Yuanjin later served as tusi, he established Ruoyun Academy in the old Tusi City of Yongshun. The tusi of the Shizhou area sent their sons to Jingzhou to study. The Maodong Anfu Commissioner Xiang Tongting established schools at the commission office and in Xinjiang and other places, recruiting native officials' sons locally to "invite teachers and supervise study." However, toward the serfs under their rule, the tusi implemented a policy of obscurantism, stipulating that common Tujia people were not allowed to read or write, and "violators would be punished up to clan extermination."
The construction of academies caused the Tujia ruling class to be extensively influenced by Han culture, and thus a group of relatively cultured Tujia literati appeared. From the Yuan dynasty to before the replacement of native officials with circulating officials, some feudal Tujia literati, when imperial examinations were held, included no small number who passed as jinshi or juren. Most of those who obtained examination honors were sent to serve as officials in other regions throughout the country, and it was common for them to hold posts such as prefect, subprefectural magistrate, county magistrate, instructor, and professor.
With the rise in culture, the writings of Tujia native officials also gradually increased, mostly in history and literature, including office gazetteers, historical compilations, genealogies, and inscriptions. During the Zhengde reign of Ming (1506-1521), the Yongshun tusi Peng Shiqi wrote the Yongshun Xuanwei Commission Gazetteer, roughly recording hereditary offices, mountains, rivers, scenery, and the like. It was used as a model by later local gazetteer writers, who called it the tusi "old gazetteer," and it is one of the important works for studying the tusi system in Huguang. His son Peng Mingdao, because he did not seek glory or profit, lived in seclusion at Baizhu Mountain and wrote Taoshi Yishi (History of Fleeing the World). The Tian clan tusi of Rongmei practiced poetry and books for generations and were quite famous in Huguang; among them Tian Shunnian was especially erudite, thoroughly familiar with poetry, lyrics, songs, and fu, and widely read in classics, histories, philosophical works, and belles-lettres. He often invited famous Han scholars from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to seek instruction and discuss matters, and wrote such works as Compendium of the Twenty-One Histories, Supplement to the Twenty-One Histories, Record of Rongyang Hereditary Narrations, and Yijia Yan. The Outline of the History of Twenty-One Dynasties, which he edited, cut the complex and simplified it, making it concise and to the point, and on figures and events in Chinese history he "exchanged views... examined errors and analyzed doubts," offering his own opinions. As for genealogies and inscriptions, they were even more common in the late Ming and early Qing.
In Tujia culture of that time, poetry was the most renowned. In the Rongmei Commission, "after Tian Shijue, poetry and books were much pursued." During the Wanli reign of Ming, a poetic school began with Tian Yanshou and was passed down from generation to generation without decline. Tian Zishou, whose name was Tian Jiuling, excelled at poetry and lyrics and loved travel, leaving footprints in Jinling, Beijing, and other places; he "surpassed Chu in talent," and "those with whom he associated and exchanged poetic replies were mostly famous scholars of the time. His poems were harmonious, grand, and elegant, with well-matched tones." When his poetry collection Zhiting Shicao was published, the famous Wuchang scholar Wu Guolun wrote a preface for it. After Tian Jiuling, Tujia poets emerged in succession and poetry collections continuously appeared. The more famous included Tian Yuan, Tian Gui, Tian Chuchan, Tian Ganlin, Tian Jilin, Tian Peilin, Tian Shunnian, and Zhang Zhigang. Tian Yuan wrote Jintan Yinyi Bicao; Tian Ganlin wrote Jingjian Tang Ji; Tian Shunnian especially loved literature and was skilled in poetry and lyrics, writing such collections as Baihu Tang Ji, Qingjiang Jixing, Xutian Shelie Chuanqi, and Huanyu Yin. Zhang Zhigang of Wufeng Commission "elegantly loved poetry and books, never letting go of a scroll, and was skilled in parallel prose, poetry, and fu"; his eight disciples each had poetry collections. Of Tang Shiying's surviving poetic drafts, scholars of Changle County (present-day Wufeng) saw more than a hundred poems. The Baijing tusi Peng Ding also "understood poetry and books and comprehended music." These poetry collections reflecting cultural development during the tusi period have mostly been lost. But from the small number of poems scattered in relevant gazetteers, one can see that they both absorbed the strengths of Han poetry and preserved the characteristics of Tujia folk songs. These poems had diverse forms, including jueju, parallel lines, regulated verse, and ci, with mature writing technique and appropriate use of allusions, possessing a relatively high level.
During the tusi period, in addition to the poems and writings of Tujia literati, there were also many stone inscriptions. The contents of the inscriptions included records of tusi construction projects, reflections of Han-Tujia ethnic relations, and epitaphs and grave steles of native officials. There were also some inscriptions that, although erected by Han people, were historical testimony to Han people migrating into Tujia areas and settling and multiplying there.
The Shunqiao Stele stands on the Wufeng side of Baishun Bridge at the border of present-day Hefeng and Wufeng in Hubei, erected in the twenty-ninth year of Kangxi in the Qing dynasty (1690) by the Rongmei tusi Tian Shunnian. During the tusi period, this was an important route to Yidu, Jingzhou, and other places, and also the necessary path for the Rongmei tusi when inspecting the various chief's offices under his jurisdiction. To facilitate merchants and travelers and to govern the various tusi, Tian Shunnian built a large bridge about 30 meters long and 3 meters wide over the stream river between two mountains. The inscription records the bridge from survey to construction, as well as Tian Shunnian's journey to the capital to have an audience with the Kangxi Emperor before the bridge was completed. The inscription states that with the completion of the bridge, "the former dangerous route has been transformed into a broad highway... Therefore I had stone carved and named it Baishun Bridge. It is because Shunnian has neither talent nor virtue, as Sima Qian said, and everything has been greatly favored by Heaven." At the time, in the twelfth month of the twenty-ninth year of Kangxi, Gengwu, Rongmei Cavalry General Tian Shunheng wrote it at the Xinsui Hall of Pingshan." Below are written the names of more than 50 officials of the subordinate commissions. Because of weathering and erosion, more than a hundred characters of the inscription have fallen away, but the place names and personal names in the postscript after the main text are basically intact, providing important materials for studying the territory under the Rongmei tusi and its subordinate officials.
The Han-Tujia Boundary Steles are located in Zhugiao of Huaibaowo Township in the Shuijin Tusi area of present-day Wufeng, and in Piaoshuiyan of Hongyuping Township in Fujiayan Town, one each, with identical inscriptions. The stele is 1.9 meters high and 0.73 meters wide, with the four large characters "Han-Tujia Boundary" carved at the top. According to records, from the late Kangxi to the early Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty, disputes over land boundaries often occurred between Han people and the tusi. In the eighth month of the third year of Yongzheng (1725), after the Huguang Governor-General's office, Jingzhou Prefecture, Changyang County, and other relevant local officials and Rongmei tusi officials "determined the boundary in order to pacify Han-Tujia disputes," this stele was erected. The inscription says: "Tujia people may not arbitrarily buy Han land; the fixed regulations are clear; Han people also may not cross over to cultivate tusi land, causing trouble; it is necessary to survey clearly and separately observe the boundaries, so that Han and Tujia may be at peace." After joint survey by officials of all sides, "the mountain and river conditions of Baiyi (present-day Baiyiping) and Maizhuang (present-day Xiejiaping), being both distant and dangerous from Changyi (present-day Changyang), and with their offices, houses, and graves all belonging to old tusi sites, Tujia
people of more than a hundred and ten families lived and cultivated there, and no Han people resided there... Receiving this, all are to comply and proceed to the places bordering Han and Tujia at Baiyi and Maizhuang, erect stone markers, and fix the boundaries, which all must observe, and no further disputes may arise, so as not to fail the high intentions of the superior office to settle disputes and pacify the people." Below are jointly signed seven local officials and the Rongmei tusi Tian Manru. The inscription has 25 lines in total, about 1,000 characters, providing typical exemplary material for studying ethnic relations in western Hubei in the early Qing.
The Baijing Xuanwei Commissioner Peng Ding's Self-Narration and Epitaph Stele. The tombs of Peng Ding and his wife are on the rear mountain of Ganxi Village, Datuo Township, Baojing County, Hunan, namely present-day Fenghuang Mountain. The stele is already broken and incomplete. The Self-Narration was written by Peng Ding himself. In the twenty-third year of Kangxi in the Qing dynasty (1684), Peng Ding "divined a site on the south side of the rear mountain of Ganxi and greatly opened his tomb," building a mausoleum for himself and his wife, and the Self-Narration should have been written at this time. The Epitaph was written by "world junior brother Luo Gongchen" in the twenty-sixth year of Kangxi. It was erected by his son Peng Zehong and 23 others. Peng Ding inherited the office of Baijing Xuanwei Commissioner from his father Peng Chaozhu in the Gengzi year (the seventeenth year of Shunzhi, 1660), at the age of 28. Although the Self-Narration and Epitaph contain no lack of praise and eulogy, they also provide valuable materials for studying ethnic relations in western Hunan and the tusi system in the early Qing.
Tujia painting art also developed during this period. For example, Peng Ding excelled at painting, and "when people obtained several of his paintings, it was like obtaining a treasure; his Three Lords Painting, Five Horses Painting, and Ten Deer Painting were exquisite and lifelike," and deeply loved.