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36LEWIS MAYO111 Baiquege B '&=!if, P.2594vandP.2864v.There are several transcriptions, but thetranslation given here is based on that by LuXiangqian in his Dunhuang Tulufa n wenshulungao, pp.l72--4. There is some controversyabout the dating of the text. I accept thearguments put forward by Rong Xinjiang inGuiyi jun shi yanjiu, p.219, which put it at910. The date of 905 has been advanced byLi Zhengyu in "Guanyu Jinshan guo heDunhuangguo jianguo de jige wenti" [Severalquestions regarding the establishment ofthe Jinshan kingdom and the Dunhuangkingdom] in Li Zhengyu, Dunhuang shidixinlun [New discussions on Dunhuanghistorical geography] (Taipei: Hsin-wenfeng,1996), pp.193-222. Li's date is endorsedin Zheng Binglin, "Tang Wudai DunhuangJinshan guo zhengfa Loulan shikao" [Anexamination of the campaign against Loulanby the Jinshan kingdom of Dunhuang in theTang and Five Dynasties], in Zheng Binglin,ed., Dunhuang Guiyi jun shi zhuanli yanjiu,pp.I-24.112 The word jin means primarily 'metal' inmany of the contexts discussed here.However, because of the strong non-Chinese(especially Turkic) rhetoric around goldenmountains (discussed below), gold seemsnot inappropriate as a translation.113 The Jinshan Guo was established inAutumn Oth/8th month) of 910, to takegreatest advantage of the signs of autumn:the gold or metal element, the colour white,the direction west (which all correspondwith each other in Five Elements theory),and the killing energies of an approachingwinter, capable of striking down enemies(Rong Xinjiang, Guiyijunshiyanjiu, p.219).Rong regards Five Elements divinatoryscience as the foundational ideology of theJinshan Guo. See Guiyi jun shi yanjiu,p.274.114 Zhang Yichao's successor, ZhangHuaishen, was murdered in 890. In the early890s, power passed briefly out of the handsof the Zhang family, and was only restoredby the actions of Zhang Yichao's daughterand her husband's family, after which ZhangChengfeng became head of the Guiyi jun.On these events see Rong Xinjiang, Guiyijun shi yanjiu, pp.197-213. For atranscription of Zhang Huaishen's epitaph(P.2913), see Zheng Binglin, Dunhuangbeimingzan jishi [Dunhuang inscriptionsand epitaphs, edited and annotated] (Lan-The White SparrowMore than a quarter of a century after the white goshawk passed into thehands of the new Uyghur ruler of Ganzhou, a song about the auspiciousomen of a white sparrow announced that a new order of sovereignty hadcome to pass in the former territory of the Guiyi jun. 1 11 This song marks thefounding of the Xi Han Jinshan Guo iZ:91liiw, "The Kingdom of theGoldenll2 Mountains of the Western Han,"113 of which Zhang ChengfengiJllUjk, the grandson of Zhang Yichao, 114 was an imperial sovereign-"theWhite-Robed Son of Heaven" (Baiyi tianzi Er:&r). 115 This break in thehistory of Dunhuang was registered poetically in a blinding field ofwhiteness, The "Song of the White Sparrow":The white sparrow comes flying, passing the White Pagoda [Bai tingB -'r] 116;With beating wings and turning body it enters the Imperial City [Dichengw:lpX],Deep towards the Rear Palace to make manifest jewelled auspiciousness.From a high place in the jade hall 1 1 7 it sends forth a sound of praise.White robes, white leather, a scarf of white gauze,A white horse and a silver saddle bedecked with white tassels.Since ancient times it has never been heard, and books record it not,That one sword can wipe out a million troops 1l8The Queen Mother's original residence was in the Kunlun;To give a white bracelet as tribute she entered into Qin .Han Wu ¥l pointed far off and said to Dongfang Shuo *1J)j,/zhou: Gansu Jiaoyu Chubanshe, 1992), p.301.I am indebted to Zheng Binglin *,Sm1* forgiving me a copy of this work, which hasbeen of enormous help to me. There is a vastquantity of writing on the circumstances ofZhang Huaishen's death, much of which islisted in Zheng, id., p.302.115 According to records of presages associatedwith the foundation of the Tang, popularsongs foretold the appearance of a WhiteRobed Son of Heaven at the time when thefounding emperor of the Tang was beginninghis rise to power in Taiyuan. See Wechsler,Offerings of jade and silk, p.62. Evidentlymuch of the imagery of this tradition was incirculation at Dunhuang in the early tenthcentury. The author of the song, ZhangYongjin jJfb:k, signs himself as "the fishermanof the three divisions of Chu" (San Chuyu ren '::'A), so it is not impossiblethat he had strong links to central China.116 In all likelihood the place that was knownas White Pagoda [Postal] Relay Station (Bailing/yi B¥,t.l), located to the northeast ofDunhuang. See the eighth-century Dunhanggazetteer P.2005, transcription in ZhengBinglin, Dunhuang dili wenshu hUiji jiaozhu,p.l0.117 The "imperial City," "rear palace" and"jade hall" all refer to the buildings that hadhitherto been the house and offices of thehead of the Guiyi jun. Lu Xiangqian connectsthem with "up in the hall" (loushang ;jIJ:),a term used in many Guiyi jun documents torefer to the governor's residence. See Lu,"Guanyu Guiyi jun shiqi yi fen buzhi poyongIi de yanjiu," p.l52.118 This refers to the "dragon spring" (longquan*, a conunon metaphor for a sword)whose powers are celebrated in anotherpoetic paean to the "White-Robed Emperor,"the Longquan shenjian ge *tE\Iiif\[Song of the divine sword of the dragonspring], P.3633v. See the transcription in LuXiangqian, Dunhuang Tu/ufa n wenshulungao, pp.189-91.
BIRDS AND THE HAND OF POWER37"We sense a person from the white cloud heaven above.,, 119In the peaks south of the Purple Pagoda [Ziting 112o a white wolfroams;To offer omens of auspicious fortune it comes to this prefecture.In past days the King of Zhou [Zhou wang ffl].:EJ brought forth the NineTailed Fox fjiuwei J1JfJ 121How can this compare with the present radiance of the Dipper and theHerdboy Star [Dou niu 44-1 ? 122A white flag, white sashes, a white yak-tail pennant,A white jade carved saddle and a white auspicious dove.After building an altar to perform the Suburban Sacrifices fjiao 1123 toheaven,The Golden Star was spontaneously there, to assist the royal regalia ... . "This sparrow initiates a new phase in the histolY of independentDunhuang: the ultimately short-lived Kingdom of the Golden Mountains ofthe Western Han 124 A radical transformation is effected in the structure ofsovereignty, which is also a new order of colour. A new state is consecrated,and the white sparrow has pride of place in establishing that newness. Butrecognising the sign is not enough. There must be publicity. The "Song of the119 A reference to the famous encounterbetween the Emperor Han Wudi :Lt\ffl,Emperor Wu of the Han, and the goddess XiWang Mu j§.:E a, the Queen Mother of theWest, where the minister (and later Daoistsaint) Dongfang Shuo is seen spying on thecouple. See Suzanne E. Cahill, Transcendenceand divine passion-the Queen Mother of theWest in medieval China (Stanford, Calif.:Stanford University Press, 1993), pp.54-7.See Zhang Hua '** , Bowu zhi jiaozhengt!no/)iiS;fXm [The Monograph on BroadLearning, corrected and verified], juan 8(Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1980), p.97.120 A key site located to the southwest ofDunhuang, generally thought to be in themodern Su'nan Mongol Autonomous County.l¥i El m. It is mentioned inseveral geographical manuscripts fromDunhuang, including Shazhou dizhi iY'1+1:l:fu [Geographical monograph on Shazhou](P 5034), Shazhou tUjing iY'1'1'1 1Il[Scripture with maps on Shazhoul (S.788),and the Shouchang xian dijing I§ :l:fu:I:l[ [Gazetteer of Shouchang county]. This lastdocument was copied by Xiang Da rOJii inDunhuang in the 1940s and is not held in anyof the major collections. See 'Ji Dunhuangshishi chu Jin Tianfu shi nian xiebenShouchang xian dijing" [A record of the manuscriptof the gazetteer of Shouchang countyIfrom the 10th year of the Tianfu reign of the[Latter] Jin (Houjin 1&ff) (945) found in theDunhuang stone chamber], in Xiang Da,Tangdai Chang 'an yu Xiyu wenming [Tangdynasty Chang'an and the civilization of theWestern Regions] (Beijing: Sanlian Shudian,1957), pp.429-42. A useful collection of thesetexts (with some errors in transcription due topoor microfilms) is found in Zheng Binglin,Dunhuang dili wenshu huiji jiaozhu, whichhas references to Ziting from the three textsmentioned above on pages 44, 57, and 60,respectively. See also the discussion of Zitingin Chen Guocan, "Tang Wudai Gua-Sha Guiyijun junzhen de yanbian" [The evolution of themilitary garrisions of the Guiyi jun in Guazhouand Shazhou in the Tang and the FiveDynastiesl, in Dunhuang Tulufa n wenshuchulan-er hian [Preliminary explorations inthe Dunhuang and Turfan documents-pt 2],ed. Wuhan Daxue Lishixi Wei Jin Nan-BeiChao Sui-Tang Shi Yanjiu Shi (Wuhan: WuhanDaxue Chubanshe, 1990), pp.559-{i0. ChenGuocan discusses the modern location ofZiting on p.559 of this work.1 21 Refers to the transformative powers ofKing Wen of the Zhou dynasty, whose virtuewas able to tame the mythic nine-tailed fox:this is often meant to connote the power tobring foreign peoples to heel. As the followingline shows, it also has stellar associations.122 Stellar auspices were associated with therise of the Tang as well. The Dipper inparticular is stressed as a star with stronglinks to the position of emperor. SeeWechsler, Offerings ofjade and silk, p.62.The statement that the Dipper is the star ofthe emperor is made explicitly in theTianguan shu 7('§ [Book of theAstronomy Official] section in the Shiji ;e a[Records of the Grand Historian]. SeeXinjiaoShiji sanjia zhu bing fubian erzhong [Thenewly corrected Records of the Historian,with notes by three commentators and twoappended sectionsl,juan 27, Tianguan shu(Taipei: Dingwen Shuju, 1980), p.1330.123 These sacrifices to heaven were themost important annual imperial rituals inthe Tang era, the key part of the expandingimperial cult of heaven in the period. Theywere performed at sites outside the formalwalled perimeters of the capital, hence thetranslated term "suburban sacrifices." SeeWechsler, Oferings of jade and silk, ch.5.By building an altar to perform thesesacrifices, the Kingdom of the GoldenMountains of the Western Han was makinga bold claim to the dynastic legacy.124 There are numerous studies of the JinshanGuo, beginning with that of Wang Zhongmin.3:..m.§';, "Jinshan guo zhuishi lingshi"[Various matters relating to the Jinshankingdom], originally in The Bulletin of theNational Library of Peiping 96 (1935),reprinted in Wang Zhongmin, Dunhuangyishu lunwen ji [Collected articles onDunhuang documents] (Beijing: ZhonghuaShuju, 1984), pp.85-ll5. Other studiesinclude Tang Changru, "Baiyi tianzi shishi"[An attempted explication of the WhiteRobed Son of Heaven], in Yanjing xuebao35 (Dec. 1937): 227-38; Lu Xiangqian,"Jinshan guo liguo zhi wojian" [My view onthe establishment of the Jinshan kingdom],in Lu Xiangqian, Dunhuang Tulu/an wenshulungao, pp.171-200; WangJiqing, "YouguanJinshan guo de jige wenti" [Several issuesrelated to theJinshan kingdoml, Dunhuangxue jikan 3 (982): 44-50; and Li Zhengyu,"Guanyu Jinshan guo he Dunhuang guojianguo de jige wenti," pp.193-222. RongXinjiang has given a good summary of therelevant materials in Guiyi jun shi yanjiu,pp.361-4.
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