Campany Robert - The Meanings of Cuisines of Transcendence in Late Classical and Early Medieval China

themeaningsofcuisinesoftranscendence
THEMEANINGSOFCUISINESOFTRANSCENDENCE
INLATECLASSICALANDEARLYMEDIEVALCHINA
by
ROBERTFORDCAMPANY
IndianaUniversity
PractitionersinlateclassicalandearlymedievalChinadeveloped
dietary regimens claimed to make them transcendents (xian )
deathless,superhuman,perhapsposthumanbeings.1ThequestionI
wishtoexplore,followingtheleadsofJeanLviandKristoferSchipper, is simple, though the answer is not: it concerns not so much
what seekers of transcendence ate (or were represented as eating),
thoughthatmustofcoursebeconsidered,aswhattheydidnoteat;
evenmore,itconcernswhattheirdietmeant.2
A culinary choiceespecially when prescribed by a scripture,
sanctioned by a tradition, or regularly attributed to a type of holy
personandnotsimplythecircumstantialpreferenceofanindividualmaycarrymultiplemeaningsandperformmultiplefunctions.
1 ThisarticleisanexpandedversionofapaperpresentedatTrinityCollege,
CambridgeUniversity,inApril2004,amuchcondensedversionofwhichwillbe
publishedinaconferencevolumeeditedbyRoelSterckx.Itisalsoanoffshootof
abookinprogress,tentativelytitledTheMakingofTranscendentsinChina,320B.C.E.320 C.E.: The Social Production of a Religious Role. One chapter of that book applies
a similar analysis to the entire religio-cultural repertoire (a technical term I introduce there) of the transcendent in its formative centuries; regimes of eating
are one of many elements in that repertoire. By such terms as dietary regimen
and culinary discipline, which for present purposes are interchangeable, I simplymeanaregularizedpracticeinvolvingeating(ornon-eating)whichisasserted
toadvancethepractitionertowardsomeimportantgoal(often,ashere,areligious
goal). All translations given in this paper are my own unless otherwise indicated;
when quoting Western-language texts I have silently converted all romanizations
of Chinese names and terms into Pinyin. I am grateful to Roel Sterckx, Barend
terHaar,RobertChard,JuliannaLipschutz,VictorMair,andtwoanonymousreviewersforhelpfulcomments.
2 See Jean Lvi, Labstinence des crales chez les taostes, tudes chinoises:
Bulletin de lAssociation franaise dtudes chinoises 1 (1983):3-47, and Kristofer Schipper,Lecorpstaoste(Paris:Fayard,1982),216-26.
Brill,Leiden,2005
Alsoavailableonlinewww.brill.nl
tp91-13_campany.indd1
ToungPaoXCI
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Twobasickindsmaybedistinguished.ThoseIwillcallinternalistconcernrationalesfordietaryregimesthatexplainandjustifythemin
termsoftheintrinsicbenefits,propertiesandfunctionsofthefoodstuffstheyfeatureorthepreparationstheyprescribe.Oftensuchexplanations explicitly link a dietary choice to a larger theory, set of
beliefs,ideology,cosmology,cosmogony,ormyth;buteveniftheexplanationisassimpleasWeeatXbecauseXmakesuslivelong,
without the addition of and it does so for reason Y, we have to
dealwithaninternalistpurposeorfunctionoftheeatingofX.Externalistmeaningsorfunctionspertainwhendietarychoiceshavethe
effect, whether by intention or not, of associating eaters with certainclustersofvaluesinacultureanddissociatingthemfromothers. Here, culinary regimes are a way of making statements about
a wide range of other matters (and often other groups of eaters),
whateverintrinsicbenefitsmightbeclaimedforthem.IffoodXis
importantinacultureincertainspecificways,andagroupmakes
apointofshunningX,somethingisbeingsaidbythegrouptothe
culture,andthatsomethingmayhavelittletodowiththeintrinsic
propertiesattributedtoX(orevenwithquestionsoffoodandeating
perse);theshunningofXmaybe,instead(oradditionally),away
ofsayingsomethingelse,perhapssomethingmuchlargerinscope.
Externalistmeaningsareinherentlyassociativeorcontrastive,even
if only implicitly so: We eat X, which is not Y, which those other people eat (contrastive or dissociative) or We eat X, which is
whatbeingsofclassZ,too,eat(associative).Whiletheyarerarely
sociallyneutral,internalistmeaningsmayormaynotclaimahierarchyofeaters;externalistonesalmostalwaysdo:WewhoeatX
aretherebyinapositionhierarchicallysuperior(insomerespect)to
thoseotherswhoeatY.3
3
Whilemydistinctionbetweeninternalistandexternalistmeaningsorfunctions
does not map onto the distinction in the philosophy of language between locutionaryactsandperlocutionaryforce(andstilllessillocutionaryacts),externalist functions, when successfully impactful on audiences, might be viewed as a
typeofperlocutionaryforce(seeJ.L.Austin,HowToDoThingswithWords[Oxford:
OxfordUniversityPress,1962]andJohnR.Searle,SpeechActs:AnEssayinthePhilosophyofLanguage[Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1969]).AnotheranalogueofwhatIamenvisioninginanaccountofmeaningsthatincludesexternalist
onesiswhatGilbertRylemeantbythickdescription,anotionfamouslyappropriated by Clifford Geertz: an account of the context, setting, circumstances, intentions, expectations, purposes, and rulesthe surprisingly rich array of factors
lyingaroundandbeyondactionsandstatementsthemselvesthatgiveactionsand
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Mysensitivitytotheexternalistmeaningsofculinarychoicesowes
adebttoseveralsources.Oneistheso-callednewhistoricism,which
workstosituatetextseventhegreatworksofaculturescanon
in relation to their surrounding social, intellectual, religious, and
abovealltextualworldsratherthanviewingthemasself-enclosed,
spontaneous,contextlessproductsofindividualgenius.4Anotheris
theworkofBruceLincolnonmythsasideologyinnarrativeform,
aswellastheworkofcertainstudentsofnarrativewhoreadnarratives as social transactions among interested parties rather than as
contextlessstructures.5YetfromstructuralismitselfIalsodrawthe
fundamental insight that the meanings of signs are not intrinsic to
them but are functions of their places in structures of relations to
othersClaude Lvi-Strauss eloquently demonstrated the fruitfulness of applying this insight to matters culinary. Foucaults fundamentalnotionofdiscoursehasprovedhelpful,ashavesomerecent
attemptstorethinkthemodelofculturebasedontheworkofCliffordGeertz,amongthemAnnSwidlerspictureofculturesasmessilycoexistingrepertoiresortool-kitsofresourcesusedbyindividuals
and groups as they live their lives, rather than as single, total, allenveloping,seamlesssystemsofmeaning.6
statementstheirmeaning(seeGilbertRyle,ThinkingandReflectingandThe
ThinkingofThoughts:WhatisLePenseurDoing?,inCollectedPapers,vol.2of
Collected Essays, 1929-1968 [London: Hutchinson, 1971], 465-96; Clifford Geertz,
ThickDescription:TowardanInterpretiveTheoryofCulture,inTheInterpretation
ofCultures[NewYork:BasicBooks,1973];andCatherineGallagherandStephen
Greenblatt,PracticingNewHistoricism[Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,2000],
20-31).YetanotherisMichelFoucaultsnotionofdiscourse;whatIamattempting
here, to use his terms, is an archeology of certain statements from the archive
ofChinaintheperiodca.320B.C.E.-320C.E.regardingideasandpracticesinvolvingfood,treatingeachofthemasadiscursiveformationdeployedwithina
common discourse (see in particular Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge and the DiscourseonLanguage,tr.A.M.SheridanSmith[NewYork:Pantheon,1972],116-117,
126-131,138-140).
4 SeeGallagherandGreenblatt,PracticingNewHistoricism,1-19.
5 SeeBruceLincoln,TheorizingMyth:Narrative,Ideology,andScholarship(Chicago:
UniversityofChicagoPress,1999);BarbaraHerrnsteinSmith,NarrativeVersions,
NarrativeTheories,CriticalInquiry7(1980):209-239;NatalieZemonDavis,Fiction
intheArchives:PardonTalesandtheirTellersinSixteenth-CenturyFrance(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,1987).
6 See Ann Swidler, Talk of Love: How Culture Matters (Chicago: University of
ChicagoPress,2001);SherryB.Ortner,ed.,TheFateofCulture:GeertzandBeyond
(Berkeley:UniversityofCaliforniaPress,1999);andJeromeBruner,TheNarrativeConstructionofReality,CriticalInquiry18(1991):3-5.
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robertfordcampany
AsourceofinspirationthatisspecifictothestudyofChinaisthe
workofMichaelPuett.7OneofPuettsmostpowerfulmethodologicalinsightsisthatintellectualchoicesmadeinatexttakeonnew
significance when viewed, not in isolation or according to the internaldynamicsofoneoranothertraditionorlineage(realorperceived), but as alternatives to contemporary competing ideas; they
arenotsimplyassertionsmadeinavacuum,orreportsofassumptions, but arguments. That the author(s) of a text T asserted positionXisseendifferentlywhenitisrealizedthatothertextsofthe
timewereurgingananti-XpositionY;Xisthenrevealedtobeone
groupsresponsetoanothergroupinanongoingargument,rather
thanasapositiontheauthorsofTarrivedathaphazardly,neutrally,orsolelyastheresultofdiscussionsinternaltotheirownposition
ortradition.Toreturntotheculinarydomain,agroupsfavoringof
foodA,forexample,mayhavemoretodowiththesheerfactthat
AisnotfoodB,butisratheranalternativetoit,thanitdoeswith
anyintrinsicbenefitsclaimedforAoranyclaimedinadequaciesof
B(andsimilarly,claimsforAsintrinsicbenefitsmaybemotivated
by the desire to counter others preference for B); a womans unconventionalfoodpracticesmaynot,atbottom,beaboutthefood
per se so much as they are a way of wresting control of her social
andreligiouscircumstancesandofherownbodyawayfromothers;8
argumentsaboutpotatoesversusgrainsasstaplecropsinthenineteenthcenturyBritishisleswereaboutmuchmorethantheintrinsic
meritsofeachfoodtype,justasPaulswarningtotheCorinthians
concerningfoodpracticeswasenmeshedinacomplexsetofunderstandings, of social and religious oppositions and associations, and
wasnotacommentonnutrition.9
7
SeeMichaelJ.Puett,NatureandArtifice:DebatesinLateWarringStates
ChinaconcerningtheCreationofCulture,HJAS57(1997):471-518;Sages,Ministers, and Rebels: Narratives from Early China Concerning the Initial Creation
oftheState,HJAS58(1998):425-479;TheAmbivalenceofCreation:DebatesConcerning
InnovationandArtificeinEarlyChina(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,2001);and
ToBecomeaGod:Cosmology,Sacrifice,andSelf-DivinizationinEarlyChina(Cambridge:
HarvardUniversityPress,2002).
8 Caroline Walker Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of
FoodtoMedievalWomen(Berkeley:UniversityofCaliforniaPress,1987),189-244.
9 Onthepotatodebate,seeGallagherandGreenblatt,PracticingNewHistoricism,
110-135; for a study of Pauls culinary warning to the Corinthians, see Peter D.
Gooch, Dangerous Food: 1 Corinthians 8-10 in its Context (Canadian Corporation for
StudiesinReligion,1993).
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Thisviewofcultures,societies,andreligioustraditionsseesthem
as the contestational fields10 upon which agents assert claims and
attempttopersuadeotherstotheirpointsofview.Ideas,traditions,
andbundlesofpracticesanddisciplinesarenotimaginedasevolving or chang[ing] glacially over time as the result of impersonal
processes,11orsolelyaccordingtotheirowninternal,neutrallogic.
Noraretheyunderstoodassimplybelongingtolargebodiesofimpersonal, collective things like mythology, popular religion, or
Daoism(orevenChineseculture)thatdevelop,Hegelianstyle,
asiftheyhadsomesortoflifeoftheirownandessentiallyinvented themselves.12 Instead, they are seen as things made by particular historical agents (even if the identities of those agents are now
losttous),asclaimsadvancedagainstalternativepositionsandwith
significantstakesinvolved;theyarethesitesofpointedandhighly
consequential semantic skirmishes fought between rival regimes of
truthandofprestige.13Aculinarydisciplineis,amongotherthings,
atacticaldeploymentoftaxonomies,andthecontrastitsetsupbetween higher and lower ways of eating is not an idle play of categoriesbutasocialandpoliticalintervention.14Furthermore,the
makingandexchangingofstoriesaboutpractitionersofsuchdisciplines (and much of the surviving material from late classical and
earlymedievalChinaaboutspecialeatingregimensisnarrativematerial)arelikewiseundertakeninlightofdefinitesetsofinterestson
thepartofthemakers,thetellers,andtheaudienceofthestories;
theyareacts,socialtransactions,andnotjustcontextlessstructures,
muchlessidleentertainments.15
10
Foucault,ArchaeologyofKnowledge,126.
Lincoln,TheorizingMyth,18.
12 SeeRobertFordCampany,OntheVeryIdeaofReligions(intheModern
WestandinEarlyMedievalChina),HistoryofReligions42(2003):287-319.
13 Lincoln,TheorizingMyth,18.
14 Lincoln,TheorizingMyth,118;cf.JuliaTwigg,FoodforThought:Purityand
Vegetarianism,Religion9(1979):17.
15 Onthispointseeesp.HerrnsteinSmith,NarrativeVersions,andLincoln,
Theorizing Myth, 149-150. The scope or scale of the relevant context, and hence
thelocatingofthecompetingpositionsinvolved,isanopenquestionforhistorical
research; this context should not be assumed to have been merely local, but beyondthisitishardtogeneralize,excepttopointtoasenseofarchivalandinterpretive inexhaustibility (Gallagher and Greenblatt, Practicing New Historicism, 15).
AstatementsuchasThemeaningofsugarfortheLancashiremillworkerisnot
determinedinthemetropolitanheartlandalone.Itisembeddedinaworldecon-
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robertfordcampany
Although ideas and techniques such as the ones I will examine

herehaveusuallybeenidentifiedbymodernscholarsasDaoist,I
avoidthispractice,forreasonsthatcanonlybesketchedhere.For
one thing, I am in general averse to reifying religions, to tradition
holism,andtolumpingtogetherquitedisparatethingsandasserting,
almostasanarticleoffaith,thattheymustsomehowbeorganically,ontologicallyrelatedtooneanother,andmustsharesomeessential identity, merely by virtue of the common label wielded by the
modern scholar.16 Such labelings are in any case acts of interpretation and must be defended like any other. I have yet to see any
counterargument to the careful, exacting, chronologically sensitive
sortingofviewsandattitudestowardself-cultivationandmacrobioticpracticeinthelateWarringStatesandHanthatDonaldHarper
hasrecentlygivenus.17Inthewakeofsuchananalysis,onecannot
makethemallDaoismsimplybythelinguistic(and,asithappens,
anachronistic)magicoftheismsuffix.Foranotherthing,itisunclearhowlumpingdisparatepracticesandattitudesintoasingular
Daoismhelpsusunderstandthoseparticularpracticesandattitudes.
Thelumpingoftenservesotheragendasthanthisone.Iwagerthat
particular texts and practices are better explicated on the basis of
thetermstheythemselvespresentaswellasinrelationtotheother
practicesandattitudestowhichtheyconstitutedalternatives.
Inordertounderstandcuisinesoftranscendence,then,wemust
have some grasp of what they were presented as alternatives to.
What they were and what they meant were, in part, functions of
whattheywerenot.
omy(JackGoody,Cooking,CuisineandClass:AStudyinComparativeSociology[Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1982],37)representsaprofoundinsight,but
only when there is a world economy for the meaning of sugar to be embedded in, and not all foods (or other cultural items) are so widely connected; while
contactswith,andimagesof,foreignpeopleswillhavetheirplaceinwhatfollows,
much of what I will be discussing is specific to the Han ecumene. The question
of entertainment is one I must address elsewhere; suffice it to say here that we
modernsmuststrivetoimagineandreconstructpurposesinadditiontoentertainmentforearlypracticesandideasthatpuzzleus.
16 See further Campany, On the Very Idea of Religions, and Jonathan Z.
Smith,DrudgeryDivine:OntheComparisonofEarlyChristianitiesandtheReligionsofLate
Antiquity(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1990).
17 Donald Harper, Early Chinese Medical Literature: The Mawangdui Medical Manuscripts(London:KeganPaul,1998),112-118.
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PARTONE
The Symbolic and Social Significance of Grains, Meats,
Agriculture, and Sacrifice
I begin with two caveats. First, the following is merely an attempttosketchinsomesalientpartsofacomplexpicture,certainly not an attempt exhaustively to survey the views on the subjects
broached,whichwouldbeimpossiblehere.Eachtextciteddoes,of
course,crystallizetheviewsofacircleofauthorsandreaders,butI
willnotassumethatanyofthemistheexpressionofsomeunitary
wholesuchasasingularmythologicaltraditionoranideological
school or ism. Taken as a whole, however, the set of texts selectedrepresentaverywideswathofviewpoints.Second,itshould
be recalled that each of the passages adduced below was likely also circulated as a response to some opposed view; yet it would be
impossibleheretodojusticetoeachoneinitsownargumentative
setting:attemptingtodosowouldopentothedoortoanextensive
if not infinite regress. I am treating these passages as articulating
someofthebaselineviewsandpracticestowhichcuisinesoftranscendence were crafted as alternatives, and it is these alternatives
thataremyfocus;adifferentfocuswouldnaturallyproduceadifferent selection of texts as well as a better rounded and differently
articulatedtreatmentofthese.
1.Theconsumptionofgrainsandthecookingoffoodaskeymarksofcivilization
IntheWangzhi (RoyalRegulations)chapteroftheLiji , representing a Former Han (or perhaps somewhat earlier)
viewpoint,wefindthefollowingdiscussion:
As for the capacities of people in their various habitats, they could not but
conform to the hotness or coldness, dryness or moistness [of each place as
determinedby]heavenandearth.Since[theterrain],whetherbroadvalleys
orgreatrivers,wasdifferentlyconfigured,thepeoplebornineachareavaried in their customs. Their [temperaments]rigid or pliant, light or grave,
slow or rapidwere thus differently made uniform; their [tastes in] the five
flavorsweredifferentlyharmonized;theirimplementsweredifferentlyconfigured;theirclothingwasdifferentlyfitted.Incultivatingmeansofinstruction
for[eachof]them,theircustomswereleftunchanged;inmakingtheirmeans
ofgovernanceuniform,whatwaslocallyfittingwasleftunchanged.
Thus the people of the five regionsthose of the central kingdoms, the
Rong,theYi,[andsoonseebelow]eachhadtheirseveralnatures,which
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robertfordcampany
theycouldnotbemadetoalter.ThoseoftheeastwerecalledYi;theywore
their hair unbound and tattooed their bodies, and some of them ate their
food without cooking it . [The people of] the south were called
Man;theytattooedtheirforeheadsandhadtheirfeetturnedintowardeach
other,andsomeamongthematetheirfoodwithoutcookingit.[Thepeople
of]thewestwerecalledRong;theyworetheirhairunboundandworeskins,
and some of them did not eat grain . [The people of] the north
were called Di; they wore feathers and furs and lived in caves, and some of
themdidnoteatgrain.
Thetextmovesontospeakofthemutualunintelligibilityofthe
languagesoftheseseveralpeoples,andendsinthissection(before
movingontoitsaccountoftheinstitutionofschools)bynotinghow,
inancienttimes,thepeoplewereredistributedintowalledtownsand
portioned fields, so that there was no unoccupied land and there
werenopeopleleftwandering().18
K.C.Changastutelynotesthat,inthispassage,notcookingand
not eating grains are both markers of barbarism, but are different
markers.Onecouldeatgrainbutalsoeatrawmeatoronecould
eathismeatcookedbuteatnograin.NeitherwasfullyChinese.A
Chinese by definition ate grain and cooked his meat19and, we
mightaddinlightofthelastpassage,livedinasettledagricultural
community. According to Chang, in early China a mealat least
fortheeliteclassofpeoplewhoseritualizedeatinghabitsareforegroundedinsuchtextsconsistedofgrainfood,meatandvegetable
dishes,andeitherwaterorjiu (probablybestrenderedasbeer
inthisperiod)orboth.20
Unlike Chang, however, I read this passage as reflective of the
viewsofitslateWarringStatesorHanauthor-redactorsratherthan
asanintactremnantofZhouthought.Further,Iaminclinedtoview
it less as a piece of ancient ethnographic description, an unsponsored text21 that just happened to be cast by fate onto the pages
oftheLiji,thanasapieceofideologywrappedintheguiseofdescription, its message being that eating grains (the products of or18 Lijizhengyi(Shisanjingzhushued.,Shanghai:Shanghaigujichubanshe,1990),
sectionWangzhi,246-47;IhaveconsultedbutsometimesdepartedfromJames
Legge,TheSacredBooksofChina:TheTextsofConfucianism,Parts3and4,TheLiKi,
SacredBooksoftheEast27(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1885),3:228-30.
19 K.C.Chang,AncientChina,inFoodandChineseCulture:AnthropologicalandHistoricalPerspectives,ed.K.C.Chang(NewHaven:YaleUniversityPress,1977),42.
20 Chang,AncientChina,37.
21 Bruner,TheNarrativeConstructionofReality,10.
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ganizedagriculture),cooking,andlivinginsettledcommunitiesare
among the traits possessed by human beings par excellence. Anythinglesseveniftheresultofnatural,localvariationscountsas
lessthanfullyhumanandneedstobemodified,totheextentpossiblegivenpeoplesdistinctivenatures,bytheinstructiveandgoverninginterventionsofthefullyhumanpeoplewhosenormsfillthe
bookspages.
The exclusive association of grain-eating (as well as other culinaryandeconomicmarkers,suchassericulture,theproductionof
hemp,andsaltmining)22withthecivilizedcenterrecursinapassage
inthesecond-centuryB.C.E.Huainanzi thatisnotsomucha
sitiogony(seethenextparagraph)asacosmo-sitiology.Thetextis
alistofthetreasuresofmountainsintheninedirections.Inalldirectionsbutthecenterwefindlistedrelativelyexoticgoods,many
of them metals and minerals (especially multiple types of jade; also mentioned are one plant product and one set of animal ones);
inthecenter,wefindthese:thefivegrains,mulberry,hemp,fish,
andsalt.23Elsewhereinthesametextwefindlistsofthetypesof
graincorrelatedwiththewatersofparticularriversandwiththefive
phases(andhencewitheverythingelsethephasescorrelatewith).24
Butthemainpointforourpurposesisthecorrelationbetweengeographiccentricityandtheresourcesforagriculture.
Manyofthetextsrelevanttoourinquirytaketheformofwhat
BruceLincolnhastermedsitiogoniesnarrativesofthenatureand
originoffood(fromGreeksitosfood,bread,grainnotethatthis
Greekterm,liketheanalogousguinChinese,denotesbothgrain
andgrain-basedstaplefoodsinparticularand,synecdochically,food
ingeneral).25
22 Forasimilarlistofassociations,seeW.AllynRickett,Guanzi:Political,Economic,andPhilosophicalEssaysfromEarlyChina,vol.1,rev.ed.(Princeton:Princeton
UniversityPress,2001),109.
23 Huainan honglie jie, HY 1176, 7.7a3-4 (texts in the Zhengtong daozang will be
cited by the number assigned to them in the Combined Indices to the Authors and TitlesofBooksinTwoCollectionsofTaoistLiterature,ed.WangTu-chien,Harvard-Yen-
chingSinologicalIndexSeriesno.25[Beijing:YanjingUniversity,1925]).AtranslationofthepassageinquestionmaybefoundinJohnS.Major,HeavenandEarth
in Early Han Thought: Chapters Three, Four, and Five of the Huainanzi (Albany: SUNY
Press,1993),164.
24 SeeMajor,HeavenandEarthinEarlyHanThought,182,185-187.
25 On sitiogonies, see Bruce Lincoln, Myth, Cosmos, and Society: Indo-European
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robertfordcampany
Consider,forexample,thepoemShengminintheDaya
,orGreaterElegantiae,sectionoftheBookofOdes .26(I
willnotattempttodojusticetoitsmetricaspectshere:attentionto
thesuccessiveassertionsdeployedinitsnarrativewillsufficeformy
purposes.) The poem opens by asking how Jiang Yuan gave
birthtothepeopleperhapshumanityingeneral,ormorelikely
theZhoupeopleand,asawhole,itcanbereadasansweringthis
question.Itrecountsthat,aftermakinganofferingandprayingfor
achild(theverbsareyin andsi ),JiangYuantrodonthetoeprintofDi andsubsequentlygavebirthtoHouJi ,orLord
Millet;becauseofhersacrifice,herchildbirthwaseasyandpainless.
For reasons unexplained, Hou Ji was thrice abandoned, but oxen
andsheep,woodcutters,andbirdssuccessivelyrescuedhim.27After
the birds departure he began to wail and crawl, and then, so as
to receive food for his mouth , he planted beans, hemp,
ThemesofCreationandDestruction(Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress,1986),65.
For specific textual evidence indicating that abstention from grains meant the
avoidanceofwhatnormallypassedforfoodingeneral,andnotsimplyofthefive
specific grains normally listed as comprised in the group, see Robert Ford Campany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth:ATranslationandStudyofGeHongsTraditions of Divine Transcendents (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002), 23-24.
Here is an additional piece of evidence: when, in Ge Hongs Traditions of Divine
Transcendents(Shenxianzhuan),theadeptJieXiangistoldbyafemaletranscendent
hemeetsinthemountainsthathisblood-eatingqiisnotyetfullyexpunged,he
isdirectedtoabstainfromgrainsforthreeyearsandthencomeback(Campany, To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth, 190)advice that would make no sense if
grainswerelimitedtotwokindsofmillet,hemp,rice,andbeans,or(inacommonalternatelist)twokindsofmillet,rice,wheat,andpulse.
26 On the history of the Odes text overall and its commentaries, see Michael
Loewe,Shihching,inLoewe,ed.,EarlyChineseTexts:ABibliographicalGuide(Berkeley:InstituteofEastAsianStudies,1993),415-423.Forasenseofthesignificance
oftheOdesgenerally,andtheGreaterandLesserElegantiaespecifically,seeStevenVanZoeren,PoetryandPersonality:Reading,Exegesis,andHermeneuticsinTraditional
China(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,1991)andHaunSaussy,TheProblemofa
ChineseAesthetic(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress,1993),bothsuperbstudies.
27 As the reason for Hou Jis abandonment, the Shiji accountwhich
shouldbynomeansbetreatedsimplyasaversionofthesamemythbutrather has its own agenda and concernssays that his mother deemed him inauspicious(4.111thisandotherdynastichistoriesarecitedbychapterandcontinuous
pagenumberinthemodernZhonghuashujueditions).SarahAllan(TheShapeofthe
Turtle: Myth, Art, and Cosmos in Early China [Albany: State University of New York
Press, 1991], 44) points out that, in early myths generally, children conceived by
spiritsareoftenabandoned.InShiji1.3itistheYellowThearch(HuangDi )
whoiscredited,alongwithmuchelse,withthefirstplantingofthefivegrains,
andnoseparatementionismadeoftheoriginatorofcooking.
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wheat,gourds,andmillet,andhiscropsflourishedandfattened(processesthepoemfondlylingersover).Withthisproducehecreated
(orfounded,orcommenced)thesacrifices .
Then comes the poems second question: What are they, our
sacrifices?Theresponsedescribesprocessesforthepreparationof
thegrainandmeatfoodsusedpounding,baling,soaking,boiling,
steamingforthegrains;gatheringortaking(qu )offirewoodand
lambs,roastingandbroilingforthemeat.Nextisdescribedthedivine response: As soon as the fragrance rises, Di on high is very
pleased . The poem concludes with a statement
linkingthetextualpresentviaachain of continual practice to this
august past: Lord Millet founded the sacrifices [ again], and
withoutblemishorflawtheyhavebeencontinuedtillnow
.28
Myreadingisasfollows:
(1)Inthisvisionofthings,theveryoriginandcontinuedexistence
of the Zhou people is bound up with the invention of agriculture,
and the invention of agriculture is bound up with sacrifice. Agricultureandsacrificehavethesameoriginator,LordMillet(named
for what is both a chief product of agriculture and a chief class of
grainsofferedinsacrifice),andalthoughheplantscropstofeedhimself,thefirstthinghedoeswiththeproduceisfoundthesacrifices.AgricultureandsacrificelinktheZhoupeopletoDiinmultiple
waysthroughrepeatedsacrificialritual,throughcontinuoussacred
history, and through divine/human descent (Di is Hou Jis divine
father,andHouJiisthefatheroftheZhoupeople).Further,Hou
Jis human mother, Jiang Yuan, gains procreative access to his divinefatherbymeansofsacrifice.
(2)Thereisanoddnarrativeandexplanatoryloopinthemyth:
thefounderofthesacrifice(si )wasconceivedinresponsetohis
motherssacrificing(si)tothehighgodDiandsteppingonDistoeprint. It is as if the poems makers could not imagine Jiang Yuan
making a request of Di without accompanying it with an offering,
28 Ihavereliedon,butatpointsaltered,thetranslationinArthurWaley,The
Book of Songs, rev. ed. (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1960), 241-243, in rendering the text in Shijing 6:129-131. Another translation may be found in Anne
Birrell,ChineseMythology:AnIntroduction(Baltimore:JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress,
1993),56-57.Cf.DerkBodde,FestivalsinClassicalChina(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1975),247.
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robertfordcampany
even though by the poems own assertion the practice of offerings

wasnotestablishedexceptasthesubsequentoutcomeofthisprocess.
Ineffect,sacrificeisclaimedtogenerateitselfviathemediationof
divine/humanintercourseandbirth(whicharebothanomalous
intercoursethroughthetoes,birthpainless)aswellasthemediation
offecundearth(themediumthroughwhichJiangYuanaccessesthe
terrestrialtraceofDisdivinepower)anditsproduce.Abyproduct
ofthisloopisthatitisHouJi,notJiangYuan,whoisherecredited
withtheinventionofsacrifice,eventhoughhismotherismentioned
ashavingperformeditfirst.Themotheriscutoutoftheloopand
thedescentofsacrifice,aswellasthatoftheZhoupeople,isreckonedaspatrilineal.29
(3)Agricultureandsacrificeareherenecessitatedbyrupturesand
failuresinthefamilytheyarecreatedtosolveproblemsinproper
familyfunction.Theinitialproblemthattriggersthewholeprocess
related by the narrative is Jiang Yuans failure to produce a child
(nomentionismadeofahumanhusbandormate),afailureremediedbysacrificeandbycontactwithDisterrestrialfootprint;and
then,oncethedivine-humanchildisborn,heisabandonedonthe
earth (perhaps because of his hybridity?) and must create agriculturefromtheearthtoassuagehisownhunger,thefruitsofhislabors being used as offerings once again to Di (in the heavens), his
divinefather.Nowtheancestraldescent-and-sacrificecircleiscompleted, and it is this circle that the Zhou people have perpetuatedwiththeirongoingsacrificesinimitationofHouJis(andJiang
Yuans)initialone(s).
(4) The origins of animal husbandry are here taken for granted,notexplained;althoughlambsaswellasseveral cereals,grasses and vegetables are mentioned as sacrificial goods, the products
madebyHouJislaborsarerestrictedtothelattertypes,whichare
herefeatured,30andthetwocategoriesofgoods(grainsandmeats)
areintroducedseparatelyinthepoemsdescriptionofthesacrifice.
Also not explained here are the origin of the use of fire and the
specific techniques of cooking rather lavishly listed as used in preparingthesacrifice.
29 For a provocative study of the cross-cultural prevalence of this sort of maneuver, see Nancy Jay, Throughout Your Generations Forever: Sacrifice, Religion, and Paternity(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1992).
30 AsnotedbyChang,AncientChina,44.
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13
(5) The poem sets up a hierarchy of eaters and foods: the semidivine Hou Ji and his human successors eat grains and vegetables
(and,implicitly,meats)herebelowonearth,andheandtheyeatvia
themouth;thedivineDi,aboveintheheavens,eatsbuttherising
fragranceofthecookedfoods(pileduponaltarsataheightabove
theground),viathenose(theresidualheatfromcookingimpliedto
betheenginethatdrivesthesteamingfragranceupward):
Lowerposition
Higherposition
Eaters:
Station:
Foodseaten:
Organofconsumption:
HouJi;peopleofZhou
earth
grains/vegetablesandmeats
mouth
Di
heaven
fragrances
nose
Wefindpassagessimilarinthisrespectinothertexts.IntheseasonalscheduleofactivitieslaidoutintheWuxingchapterofthe
Guanzi(onwhichmorebelow),forexample,wereadthatduringthe
autumnalandmetalphase,thesonofHeavenissuesorderscommandingtheofficerinchargeofsacrificestoselectsuitableanimals
and birds from their pens and suitable offerings of early ripening
grainstopresentforuseinancestraltemplesandthefivehousehold
sacrifices.Ghostsandspiritswillconsumetheirqi,whilegentlemen
ingest their sapors .31 Other such passageswillbeseenbelow.
IntheHuainanziwefindthefollowingsitiogony:
Inancienttimespeopleatevegetationanddrankfromstreams;they
pickedfruitfromtreesandatethefleshofshellfishandinsects.Inthosetimes
there was much illness and suffering, as well as injury from poisons. Thereupon the Divine Farmer (Shennong ) for the first time taught the people to sow the five grains and diagnose [literally, physiognomize, xiang ]
the quality of soilswhich were arid or wet, fertile or barren, highland or
lowland. He tasted the flavors of the hundred plants and the sweetness and
brackishnessofstreamsandsprings,causingthepeopletoknowwhichwere
31 Text as found in Allyn W. Rickett, Guanzi: Political, Economic, and Philosophical Essays from Early China, vol. 2 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998),
126; my translation differs somewhat. Wang Chongs discussion of sacrifices in
the Lunheng also attends to the idea that spirits might absorb them through smell
and through the nose: see the passage in the Siyi pian , Lunheng jiaoshi,
ed. Huang Hui (Xinbian Zhuzi jicheng, Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1990), 4:104755,andtheratherdatedtranslationinAlfredForke,Lun-hng,2ded.(NewYork:
Paragon,1962),1:509-515.
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tobeavoidedandwhichused.Intheprocesshehimselfwouldsufferpoisoningsseventytimesaday.32
HereShennongleadshumansocietyfromagatheringstage(no
mentionismadeofthehuntingofmammaliangame)tooneofagriculture.Thenarrativeproceedstotellofhow,subsequently,moralitywasfirsttaughtunderYao,howdwellingswerefirstconstructed
underShunsothatpeoplenolongerhadtoliveincaves,howYu
channeled the waters, and how Tang instituted regular hours of
sleepingandwakingandsystemsofcaringforthedead,thesick,the
widowed, and the orphaned. It emphasizes that each of these five
sages(shengren )carednotaboutthebasenessofhisownstation
butaboutthefailuretofollowtheDao;noneofthemworriedthat
hisownallottedlifespanmightbeshortenedbutratherworriedthat
thepeoplemightbeimpoverished.Oneimplicationofthepassage
isthattheagriculturalartsinstitutedbyShennongwereanecessary
conditionfortheflourishingoftheotheraspectsofcivilizationthat,
onthisview,aroselater;anotheristhatthoseartsareinaccordance
withtheDao,whateverthatturnsouttomeanhere.
ApassageintheLiyunchapteroftheLijiportraysaspects
oftheoriginsofsacrificialritesforancestorsandgods.Atfirstpeople
livedincavesandnests;theyknewnotyetthetransformingpower
of fire, but ate the fruits of plants and trees, and the flesh of birds
andbeasts,drinkingtheirblood,swallowingalsothehairandfeathers. They knew not yet the use of flax and silk, but clothed themselves with feathers and skins. Then came the use of fire, which
allowedforthemakingoftoolsforadvancedbuildingarts(enabling
theconstructionofelaborateandpermanenthousing)andforspecificcookingoperationstoasting,grilling,boiling,androastingand
fortheinitialmakingofliquors.Thespecialburdenofthepassage
32 HY 1176, 26.1a-b; the same passage in the Zhuzi jicheng edition of this
text may be found at 19.331; for a translation from which I have both benefited
and departed, see Birrell, Chinese Mythology, 49. A similar account of Shennongs
activities, stressing not only his introduction of agriculture but also his testing of
plants,isfoundinLuJias(fl.200-180B.C.E.)Xinyu ,apassagethatwasperhapsasourceforthisHuainanzitext;seeXinyu,Zhuzijichenged.(Beijing:Zhonghuashuju,1954),1.1,andPuett,TheAmbivalenceofCreation,153.Forfurtherstudy
ofShennnongsideologicaluses,seeA.C.Graham,StudiesofChinesePhilosophyand
Philosophical Literature (Singapore: Institute of East Asian Philosophies, 1986), 67110, and A.C. Graham, Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China
(LaSalle,Ill.:OpenCourt,1989),64-74.
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15
is to argue that this development, along with the working of textiles,allowednotonlyforbetterlivingbutalsoforbettercareofthe

deadinspecificwaysthatareperpetuatedinritesperformeddown
to the present; as the text puts it, [the people] were thus able to
nourishthelivingandsendoffthedead[properly],servingghosts,
spirits, and Di on high. In all these things we follow those beginnings .33Thankstofire,cooking
andthefashioningoftextiles,thedeadmaybeproperlyhousedin
well-builttombs,clothedinfinegarments,andfedwithelaboratelypreparedcookedfoodsandspiritspreciselywhatwefindinexcavatedHantombs.
A passage in the Mencius tells of how Yao lifted humanity from
achaoticstateinwhichthebirdsandbeastspressedinuponthem
andagriculturewasnotyetpracticed.Yaoisportrayedasdelegating
responsibilityforaseriesofadvancestovariousministers:firstthe
development of fire, then river control, then the cultivation of the
five grains (taught by Hou Ji), and lastly education. Thus by stagespeopleweredistinguishedfromotheranimalsandgainedculture
andmorality.Hereagaincookingandagriculturethecultivation
ofthefivegrainsareportrayedasnecessarystagesonthewaytoward the eventual advent of what this text regards as proper relationsamonghumans.34
IntheHanfeiziwefindthefollowingsitiogonyofcookedfood:
Intheearliesttimesthepeoplelivedonfruit,berries,mussels,andclams
thingsthatsometimesbecamesorankandfetidthattheyhurtpeoplesstomachs,andmanybecamesick.Thenasageappearedwhocreatedtheboring
of wood to produce fire so as to transform the rank and putrid foods. The
people were so delighted by this that theymadehimruleroftheworldand
calledhimtheFire-DrillMan(Suiren).35
33
Liji zhengyi 21.416, partially borrowing but also emending the tr. in Legge,
TheLiKi,3:369-370.
34 Mencius3A/4;seethetranslationanddiscussioninPuett,TheAmbivalenceof
Creation,108-9.
35 Hanfeizijijie(Taibei:Shijieshuju,1974),sec.49,p.339.Translationsmaybe
foundinPuett,TheAmbivalenceofCreation,77,andJohnKnoblock,Xunzi:ATranslation and Study of the Complete Works, 3 vols. (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
1988-94),3:29;myrenditiondrawsonbothofthese.Earlysourcesindicatethatthe
graph sui designated any of several devices for producing fire: a mirror that concentratedsunlight,aboringmechanismproducingheatthroughfriction,orflints
thatthrewoffsparkswhenstruck(MorohashiTetsuji,DaiKanwajiten,13vols.[Tokyo: Taishkan shoten, 1957-60], 7.546-47); Suirens name or title may thus be
understoodinanyofthesespecificsenses.
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robertfordcampany
TheGuanziandXunzimentionSuireninpassingasarecognizable
markerofanextremelyearlyphaseinthehistoryofhumanculture,
thatatwhichitbeginstousefiretocookitsfood.36
IntheMendersofNature chapteroftheZhuangzi(chapter16inthereceivedordering),perhapsdatabletothethirdcentury
B.C.E.,Suirenisthefirstrulermentionedinaseriesofwhatwere
usuallytakentobecivilizationaladvancesbutwhichareportrayed
hereasleadingtothedeclineofPowerandtheever-fartherdeparturefromthenaturalDaointosystemsofsocialconstraintandwhat
passesforculture.37Similarinspirittothispassageisonefoundin
thefourthcenturyC.E.UncollectedRecords(Shiyiji ),whichalsofeaturesSuireninthiskeyroleandalsoseestheuseoffireasthe
beginningofhumandescentintothebalefulnessofwhatpassesfor
civilization.38Suchcounter-narrativesandothersmightofcourse
becitedagreewiththeonescitedabovethatcookingandagriculture are key elements of the known social order and of ritual, and
thatiswhytheyattackatthosepoints.
Not all sitiogonic passages are thus socio-mythic in character; a
fewaresituatedwithinfive-phases,qi-basedsystematiccosmologies
and cosmogonies, and here it is the exalted qi pedigree of grains,
rather than their descent from the ministrations of an ancient cultureheroorsage,thatisemphasized.Considertheopeningpassage
oftheNeiye(InnerTraining)chapteroftheGuanzi(a
textassembledbyLiuXiangaround26B.C.E.fromearliermaterials,someperhapsasearlyasthefifthcenturyB.C.E.),39structured
36
FortheGuanzipassage(intheKuidusec.),seeRickett,Guanzi,2:430-31;for
theXunzipassage,seeKnoblock,Xunzi,3:43.
37 See A.C. Graham, Chuang-tzu: The Inner Chapters (London: George Allen &
Unwin,1981),171;intheHarvard-Yenchingconcordanceed.thepassageappears
on p. 41. Suiren is mentioned again in Zhuangzi 18 (see Graham, The Inner Chapters,189),whereheispairedwithShennong,justaftermentionofYao,Shun,and
theYellowThearch.
38 SeeRobertFordCampany,StrangeWriting:AnomalyAccountsinEarlyMedieval
China(Albany:SUNYPress,1996),64-67,314-15;Birrell,ChineseMythology,43-44.
OnewonderswhethertheColdFoodFestival,inwhichforfivedaysinwinterpeopleabstainedfromusingfiretocook,wasconnectedwiththeseearliernarratives
of the advent of the use of fire. The festival was linked with the transcendent Jie
Zitui, who first appears in Zuo zhuan and has a hagiography in Liexian zhuan. See
Donald Holzman, Immortals, Festivals and Poetry in Medieval China (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998), 51-79. The festival is first mentioned in extant texts in Huan Tans
(ca.43B.C.E.-28C.E.)Xinlun.
39 W. Allyn Rickett, Kuan tzu, in Loewe, ed., Early Chinese Texts, 244, but
seenote76below.
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17
inparallelfour-characterlineswithrhymingfinalsyllables:
Inallcasestheessenceofthingsiswhatgivesthemlife.
Below(ordescending)itgiveslifetothefivegrains;
Above(orascending)itcreatesthearrayedstars.
Whenitfloatsbetweentheskyandearth,wecallthemghostsorspirits;
Whenitisstoredinthebreast,wecallthemsagelypersons.40
Beginningwiththefirst-mentioneditem,andthenarrangingthe
restbydegreeofspatialelevation(withindentationmarkingthetwo
sub-pairings,grains/starsandsages/spirits),wegetthefollowinghierarchicaltaxonomy:
Inthisstation:
Below(rootedintheearth)
Inpeopleschests[storedstate]
Betweenskyandearth[flowingstate]
Above(hunginthesky)
Jingmanifestsas:
Grains
Sages
Ghostsandspirits
Stars
Bypairinggrainswiththestars,thetextsetsupananalogy:grains
aretotheearthasthestarsaretotheheavens;grainsareterrestrial stars, stars are celestial grains, each holding an analogous place
in its own proper realm. Furthermore, the root significance of the
groupingtogetherofallfourclassesofphenomenaisboundupwith
thefactthatthetermjing essenceimpliesanachievement,the
resultofarefiningorconcentratingofqi.Eachofthesephenomena, then, is not simply another baseline configuration of qi among
themyriadthingsbutrepresentsqiconcentratedinsuperiorformin
somecharacteristicstationofalayeredcosmos.Grainsaretoordinaryplants(orperhapstootherlowlyterrestriallifeforms)assages
aretoordinarypeople:justasthelatterhavetrainedandcultivat40 In translating I have benefited from Rickett, Guanzi, 2:39, and Harold D.
Roth,OriginalTao:InwardTraining(Nei-yeh)andtheFoundationsofTaoistMysticism(New
York:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1999),46,whileslightlydepartingfromboth.
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robertfordcampany
ed themselves, carrying jing within their chests, so grains represent

aformof(plant)lifethathasbeencultivatedbyhumanlaborand
thusharborssuperiornourishment.
Iknowofnotextthatexaltsgrainsmorehighlyorinsistsontheir
importancemorestronglythantheGuanzi.Morethanoncewefind
itsaidthatThefivegrainsandtheeatingofricearethepeoples
Director of Allotted Lifespans ,41 an extraordinarymetaphorlikeninggrainstotheforbiddingdeity,Siming
,whoalreadybythefourthandthirdcenturiesB.C.E.washeld
to enforce predetermined limits on peoples lifespans.42 Or again,
inthesamechapter:Inallcasesthefivegrainsarethecontrollers
of all things ,43 meaning, as we can see from
thecontext,thatthepriceofgrainsdeterminestheeconomicvalue
ofallelseinsociety.Oragain,inexplainingwhyitisthatthesheji
[onwhichseebelow]aremoretobevaluedthanparents
atrulyastoundingstatementthetextoffers:WhencityandsuburbanwallshavebeendestroyedandthealtarstoLandandGrain
nolongerreceivebloodandfoodsacrifices,therewillnolongerbe
any live ministers. However, after the death of their parents, the
childrendonotdie.Thisisthereasontheshejiaremoretobevaluedthanparents.44
Some of the human or quasi-divine progenitors of agriculture,
cooking, and sacrifice were not simply worked into mythic narrativesorcosmologicalschemesbutalsohonoredwithsacrifices.The
Lijipassageonthetwelfth-monthzhafestival,cursorythoughitis,
suggestsyear-endharvestthank-offeringstotheFirstHusbandman
(xianse , identified with Shennong by the commentator Zheng
Xuan, 127-200 C.E.), the (divine or former human?) overseers of
husbandry(sise ),andthe(discovererof?godof?)thehundred
grains,aswellastothe(godsof?)thefieldsandapparentlybothdo41
For text and translation (my own translation departs slightly), see Rickett,
Guanzi,2:377,n.6,givingalistofotherlociwherethesamestatementappears.
42 SeeRobertFordCampany,LivingOfftheBooks:FiftyWaystoDodgeMing
inEarlyMedievalChina,inC.Lupke,ed.,TheMagnitudeofMing:Command,Allotment,andFateinChineseCulture(Honolulu:UniversityofHawaiiPress,2005)129150; Campany, To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth, 47-52; and Robert L. Chard,
TheStoveGodandtheOverseerofFate,inProceedingsoftheInternationalConference on Popular Beliefs and Chinese Culture, Center for Chinese Studies Research Seriesno.4(Taipei:CenterforChineseStudies,1994),2:655-82.
43 Rickett,Guanzi,2:382.
44 Tr.modifiedfromRickett,Guanzi,2:438.
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19
mesticandwildanimals;tojudgebythisandanotherbriefmention,
itwasacalendricalmomentfortherecognitionofandreturntothe
veryfoundationsofhumansociety,afestivalinwhichgreatlicense
was granted (, the entire realm as if deranged, is
howZigongismadetodescribeittoConfuciusfeedingthevividif
somewhatspeculativeportrayalbyMarcelGranet)andinwhichdue
requital(bao )waspaidinsacrificialfoodtothemyriadthings
fortheirfeedingandsupportofhumanity.45Furthermore,fromthe
HanonwardthespringceremonyknownsimplyasPlowing(geng)
formed part of the imperial ritual system; it opened with an offeringtoShennong(and,accordingtoamoredetailedaccount,tothe
FieryThearch[Yandi ]aswell,perhapsimplyingthathewas
creditedwiththediscoveryoffireforcooking),andwasfollowedby
the emperor and officials ritually breaking the ground in a sacred
fieldusedtogrowthegrainsusedincourtsacrifices.46ThefoundingHanemperor,whentoldthattheZhouhadinstitutedsacrificestoitsancestorHouJiuponfoundingitscapitalcity,47responded
byorderingeverycommandery,kingdom,anddistrictinhisimperialadministrationtoinitiatesacrificestoHouJiaswell,andhedecreedthattheshrinesforthispurposebecalledNumen-StarShrines
(lingxingci )because(atleastaccordingtocommentators)that
star stood in the left corner of the Celestial Field (tiantian ) asterism and thus was auspicious for agriculture. Sacrifices of oxen,
sheep,andpigsweremadethereseveraltimesayear.48
45
SeeLijizhengyi,Jiaoteshengchapter,26.499;Legge,TheLiKi,3:431;Bodde,
FestivalsinClassicalChina,68-74;theotherbriefmentionistobefoundatLijizhengyi, Zaji xia, 34.749a; Legge, The Li Ki, 4:167. For Granets lyrical evocation of
theagriculturalfestivalsofspringandfall,imbuedwithmileDurkheimsemphasis
onsocialmomentsofcollectiveeffervescenceasformativeofasocietyssenseof
thesacred,seeMarcelGranet,TheReligionoftheChinesePeople,tr.MauriceFreedman (New York: Harper & Row, 1975), 40-46, and Ftes et chansons anciennes de la
Chine(rept.Paris:AlbinMichel,1982),179-85.
46 Hou Han shu, Liyi shang, 3106; see also Bodde, Festivals in Classical China,223-241.
47 OnthisseefurtherMarianneBujard,LeSacrificeaucieldanslaChineancienne:
Thorie et pratique sous les Han occidentaux (Paris: cole franaise dExtrme-Orient,
2000),51.
48 Shiji28.1380;Hanshu30.1211.
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20
robertfordcampany
2.Thecentralityofagriculturalcontrolandofsacrificetothestate
Itisclearthat,formanyauthorsinlateWarringStates,Qin,and
HanChina,aprimaryfunctionandprerogativeofthestatewasto
doeverythingpossibletoassureagoodagriculturalharvestandthen
to carefully record, store, and mete out that harvest. Legal documentsfoundinatombatShuihudidatingto217B.C.E.,forexample,revealthecaretakenbytheQinstatetomanagegrainstores,
evendowntothelocallevel;salarieswerereckonedingrain.49The
samedocumentsprovideinsightintothewayinwhichfoodsofthe
sacrificial systemhere, alcohol and meatbonded participants
in social rituals together. Alcohol and meat consumed before the
godssealedlegalbonds between parties: If a husband stole property,hiswifewasnotlegallyliableforhisactunlesssheconsumed
wine and meat with him.50 The Royal Regulations chapter of
the Liji portrays the careful notation of annual grain harvests and
themanagementofgrainseedforthecomingyearsplantingsaskey
functions of the state.51 Conversely, throughout the Monthly Ordinances(Yueling )chapterofthesametext,onefrequently
mentioned effect of the rulers acting out of season is that the five
grainsdonotgerminateormatureproperly.Ministeroffieldswas
akeyhighofficeinthestandardaccountsofgovernmentalstructure
oftheera.52Politicalauthorityandagriculturalproductionwereinextricablyinterwoven.
ThomasWilsonhasrecentlysummarizedthestatesystemofsacrifice, why and how it was centrally important in Chinese society,
andhowitwasco-implicatedwiththesystemofagriculturalproductionandthisisnoteventospeakoffamilialsacrificestoancestors
(other than the royal/imperial ancestors, who were the recipients
ofstatesacrifices):
AprincipaldutyoftheChinesecourtwastoprovideritualfeastsforthegods
andspiritsatimperialaltarsandtemples.Fromancienttimes,theemperorregularlyofferedaritualfeastorsacrifice(ji)toHeavenandEarth,the
royalancestors,thegodsofgrainsandsoils,sunandmoon,stars,andother
49 RobinD.S.Yates,StateControlofBureaucratsundertheQin:Techniques
andProcedures,EarlyChina20(1995):352-57,359-60,361.
50 Yates,StateControlofBureaucratsundertheQin,357.Thebeveragein
questionwasmostlikelymoresimilartoourbeerthantoourwine.
51 Legge,TheLiKi,3:221,293,308.
52 See,forinstance,Rickett,Guanzi,1:108-9.
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21
gods and spirits that reigned over different realms of the cosmos. Ritual officers stationed throughout the empire venerated local deities, such as wind
andclouds,mountainsandrivers,citygodsandthespiritsofthebannersthat
hungatcardinallocationsthroughoutthecity.Sacrificewaspartofacomplex
relationship between men and gods based upon mutual dependency. Farmerstendedthefieldsandherds,andtheritualofficersofthecourtpresented
thefruitsofhumanlabortothegods.Nourishedbythereverenceofpropitiationandsustenanceofthesacrifices,thegodsrequited(bao)thelivingwith
blessings(fu)offecundity.53
Indicativeoftheimportanceofgrainsinthemainstreamcuisine,
and of the centrality of the control of agriculture to the survival,
functioning, and symbolic as well as economic capital of the state,
werethemeaningsattachedtothealtarsto[thegodsof]soiland
grain(sheji)inZhou,WarringStates,Qin,andHantimesto
gods who were the recipients of sacrifices to requite them for the
meritofhavinggivenbirthtograinsandlivingthings
,asWangChongputitinthefirstcenturyC.E.54Alongwith
the temple to the royal or imperial ancestors (zongmiao ), with
which they were spatially and liturgically paired, these altars were
theritual,symbolic,sacredcenteroftherealm,theirsafetysynonymouswiththatofthestate.Ahealthystatewasoneinwhichthe
shejifeedonblood;55theinabilityofastatesshejitofeedonblood
sacrificeconstitutedanationaldisaster.56Settingupanewdynasty
requiredeliminatingtheshejioftheprecedingdynastyanderecting
ones own;57 inheriting the sheji or setting up new ones was tantamount to rulership.58 The destruction of a dynastys or kingdoms
53 Thomas Wilson, Sacrifice and the Imperial Cult of Confucius, History of
Religions41(2002):251.
54 Lunhengjiaoshi25.1049;cf.Forke,Lun-hng,1:510.Foradefinitionoftheelementsofthetermsshejiandzongmiao,whereJiisglossedasthekingofthehundred grains, see Hanshu 31.1269; cf. Bodde, Festivals in Classical China, 56. The
classic study of the she is still to be found in douard Chavannes, Le Tai chan:
Essai de monographie dun culte chinois (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1910), 437-525. Sacrifices to the zongmiao and sheji, ideologically central though they were, are scarcelymentionedintheentiretyofJosephP.McDermott,ed.,StateandCourtRitualin
China(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1999)orinBujard,LeSacrificeau
cieldanslaChineancienne.
55 Shiji 34.1562, 86.2536; cf. Shiji 6.293, where the same is said of the zongmiao.
56 Shiji 87.2549; Hanshu 2.53; cf. Hanshu 114.3980, where the same is said of
thezongmiao.
57 Shiji8.370.
58 Liezi,seeA.C.Graham,Lieh-tzu:AClassicofTao(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1990),170-71;Zhuangzi10,tr.Graham,Chuang-tzu,207.
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robertfordcampany
shejiwasadisastertantamountto the end of its political reign, the

cuttingoffofitspeoplesdescentlines,theoverwhelmingofitspopulation by brute force and the exhaustion of their resources.59 To
embark on a policy that endangered the sheji was to endanger the
realm,somuchsothattheverbtoimperiltheshejibecameasynecdocheforanycalamitousundertaking.60Amancoulddeclarehimself the vassal of the sheji; as long as the sheji feed on blood, why
wouldIworrythatthereisnolord?61Theshejiarementionedsynonymouslywiththepublicgood,asagainstthosewhoacttofurther
merely private interests.62 In the Liji, we have two passages saying
that important events in the realm should be announced to (the
gods and spirits of63) the sheji, zongmiao, and mountains and rivers;
militaryexpeditionsdidnotbeginuntilofferingshadbeenmadeat
the sheji and zongmiao altars and the commander had received his
chargethere.64
Notonlywerethespiritsofheaven,earth,mountains,rivers,soil,
andgrainfedinsacrificesorchestratedbythestate.Thehumandead
werealsofedbytheliving:theroyal/imperialdeadbythestate,others by their living descendants. This obligation to feed the ancestral deadnotably in offerings of grains, liquors (grain products),
andmeatwasofcoursenothingshortoffoundationaltoChinese
society and is voluminously attested both in transmitted texts and
inarcheologicallyrecovereddocumentsandgravegoods,thelatter
includingcookedmealslaidoutasifforabanquetandsuppliesof
foodandutensilsforusebythedeadinthetomb.Theproperextentofthisritualizedculinaryservicewasperenniallydebated,with
authorsofvariouspersuasionstryingtocurbexcesslavishofferings
tothedeadhavingclearlybecome,amongotherthings,amodeof
conspicuousconsumptionandastatusmarkeramongtheliving65
59 Shiji89.2573,79.2403;cf.Shiji6.278,Hanshu50.2007,Xunzi15.4,inKnoblock,
Xunzi,2:229.
60 AsforexampleinHanshu46.1910.
61 HouHanshu17.577.
62 Hanfeizijijie49.18.
63 WangChong,atleast,makesthisveryclear:seeForke,Lun-hng,1:517.The
passages in question occur in the Zengzi wen section, 7.359a and b in the Lijizhengyiedition.
64 OnthispointseeMarkEdwardLewis,SanctionedViolenceinEarlyChina(Albany:SUNYPress,1990),23.AllofthiswasgraspeddecadesagobyGranet(see
TheReligionoftheChinesePeople,79)andChavannes.
65 Mozi jijie (Chengdu: Guji shudian, 1988), 6.156-172; John Knoblock and
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butthatthelivingwereobligedtofeedthedeadwasassumedbyall
parties,eventhose(suchasthefirstcenturyC.E.WangChong)who
arguedthatthedeadlackedconsciousnessandcouldnottherefore
receive,require,orbegratefulforfoodofferings.Numerousstories
arepreservedinlateWarringStates,Han,andearlymedievaltexts
inwhichunfedghostscomplainabouttheirlotorthankthosenonkinwho,outofcompassion,offertofeedorreburythem.66Insome
cases the dead are represented as actively making very specific requests and having particular preferences regarding their food and
clothing.67Theunquiet,resentfuldead who wentwithoutfood offerings through the normal channels were a special object of concernandreceivedspecialritualattentionsandfeedings.68
Feeding the dead was an emotionally charged event in which
sensory and verbal as well as commensal contact between the living and the dead was briefly but powerfully reopened. (This is an
aspectofancestralritesthatdeservesmorestudy,andperhapsifwe
had a better appreciation of it the question as to whether what is
normally reified as Confucianism is a religiona question as
badlyformedasitispersistentwouldsubside.)Atthebanquettable,alivingdescendantactedasritualimpersonator(shi )ofthe
honored ancestor. Offerings were preceded, on the part of living
participants,byaperiodofseclusion,purification,andfastingmost
commonlysummarizedwiththetermzhai or.TheLijipoignant-
ly insists at several points that after completing this fasting for the
full period of three daysand only after having done sowill the
sacrificerbeabletoseeandhearthebeingsheisfeeding,69passages
Jeffrey Riegel, The Annals of L Buwei (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000),
227-233; Jeffrey Riegel, Do Not Serve the Dead as You Serve the Living: The
Lshi chunqiu Treatises on Moderation in Burial, Early China 20 (1995):301-330;
Forke,Lun-hng,2:369-375.
66 SeeRobertFordCampany,GhostsMatter:TheCultureofGhostsinSix
DynastiesZhiguai,ChineseLiterature:Essays,Articles,Reviews13(1991):15-34.
67 AsforexampleinForke,Lun-hng,1:512;DonaldHarper,Resurrectionin
WarringStatesPopularReligion,TaoistResources5.2(1994):13-29;TerryKleeman,
LicentiousCultsandBloodyVictuals:Sacrifice,Reciprocity,andViolenceinTraditionalChina,AsiaMajorThirdSeries7(1994):185-211.
68 SeeKleeman,LicentiousCultsandBloodyVictuals,195;RobertL.Chard,
TheImperialHouseholdCults,inMcDermott,ed.,StateandCourtRitualinChina,241-242.
69 E.g.Lijizhengyi27.507,49.830,and,forthemostexplicitexample,47.805ff.
(cf. Legge, The Li Ki, 4:210-15), where we find this poignant statement: During
thedaysofvigilandpurification,[themourner]thinksontheplacewhere[thede-
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undoubtedlyreflectiveoftheoftenrepeatedyetmisconstruedConfucianremarkthatoneistosacrificetothespiritsasifthespirits
are present. Note that here one temporarily abstained from food
in order to purify oneself to see the spirits of the dead when presentingfoodtothemandeatingwiththem.
Thechronological,ideological,andgenericvarietyofthetextsI
have juxtaposed, while it would be a liability in an attempt to do
justicetoanyoneofthosetextstakenseverally,atleasthasoneadvantageformypurposes.Itindicatesthedepthandbreadthofculturalassumptionsaboutthepriorityofgrains,cooking,sacrifice(of
meats and grains), agriculture and its products, and the extent to
whichthesewerecentraltopoliticalauthority,socialfunction,and
culturalidentity.Withrareexceptions,thespiritsofnatureaswell
asthehumandeadwerethoughtofasneedingtoeat.Withnoexceptions,itwasthoughtthatthejobofthelivinghumancommunitywastofeedthem.Whattheywerefedwasgrainssynecdochic
for the products of agricultureand meats. Grain was, in short, a
symbol and summation of culture itself, or rather of nature acculturated, as well as of the fully human community. A natural locus
ofnutritiveessence(jing),grainneverthelessrequiredcooperative,
communal,70 differentiated stages of productionplanting, tending, harvesting, storing, thrashing, milling, mixing, and cooking
tobetransformedintofood.Thustransformed,itwasperhapsthe
most culturally celebrated food of humans (both living and dead)
andofgods.
parted]sat,thinksonhowtheysmiledandspoke,thinksontheiraimsandviews,
thinks on what they delighted in, thinks on what they enjoyed. On the third day
ofsuchvigilandpurificationhewillseethoseforwhomhehasbeenkeepingvigilandpurifyinghimself,
.Forfurtherdiscussion,seeGranet,TheReligionoftheChinesePeople,
83-86,andJordanPaper,TheSpiritsareDrunk:ComparativeApproachestoChineseReligion(Albany:StateUniversityofNewYorkPress,1995),112-15.
70 A sitiogonic passage in Mozi unmistakably links the advent of agriculture
withthatoflivingincommunities;whenpeoplegatheredfoodfromthewild,they
livedindistinctlocations (Mozijijie1.38).
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Interlude:
StrategiesofDisciplinedEatingwithintheMainstream
Cuisine
In some late Warring States texts we find a concern for disciplineineatingthatis,attemptstotransformeatingfromasimple
satiation of hunger or social activity into a self-cultivational practice.AsDonaldHarperhasnoted,suchregimens,withtheirwarnings against excessive consumption and against overly rich foods,
clearly presume as their target audience a noble class of people.71
How one eats is assumed in these texts to be part of a larger matrixofself-cultivationaldisciplineofsomekind,andthesheerpursuit of gustatory pleasure is subordinated to a higher goala very
basic and, to this point, moderate kind of asceticism (in the sense
oftheGreekverbaskekein,toexercise).72Butthereisnosensein
these texts that the mainstream cuisine can or should be replaced
withanalternatediet.
In the Lshi chunqiu (compiled ca. 239 B.C.E.) chapter
FulfilltheNumber ,forexample,wearetoldthatwhenessence(jing)andspirit(shen)aresecuredwithinthehumanframe,
lifespanisextended;thetexthastenstoadd,however,thatthisdoes
not mean lengthening an otherwise short lifethat is, changing
onespreallottedspanoflife,orming butmerelybeingassured
offulfillingthespanoneotherwisewouldhave,orbiqishu .
Accordingtothetext,thewaytodothisistoavoidextremesofall
sorts:inflavors(excessivesweetness,sourness,bitterness,acridness,
orsaltiness,thefivesaporswuwei ,aretobeshunned),emotions, temperature, humidity, and quantity of food eaten. Rules of
71 DonaldHarper,TheBellowsAnalogyinLaozi5andWarringStatesMacrobiotic Hygiene, Early China 20 (1995):391; Harper, Early Chinese Medical Literature,111.
72 TheadvicegiveninthePullingBook foundin1983atatombinZhangjiashan (burial dating to mid-second century B.C.E.)with drink and food, let
hunger or satiation be whatever the body desires (Harper, Early Chinese Medical
Literature,111)mightappeartobeanexception,buteventhisisseasonaladvice
specifictoautumninanoverallmacrobioticregimenattributedtoAncestorPeng.
Another example of moderation in the consumption of a mainstream diet (here,
specifically,theimportanceofkeepingtrim)asapartofalargerprogramofcultivationcanbeseeninanearlytreatiseonthecirculationofqi:seeVivienneLo,
TrackingthePain:JueandtheFormationofaTheoryofCirculatingQithrough
theChannels,SudhoffsArchiv84(2000):208.
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robertfordcampany
eating are offered: no rich or fatty foods, no heavily spiced foods,

no strong alcoholic beverages; eat at regular intervals, neither going hungry nor engaging in gluttony.73 Similar advice of moderationisgivenelsewhereinthisbookregardinglifeingeneral,andthe
applicationofextrememeasuressuchasanabsurdcaseofaman
whoclaimedtobeabletoraisethedeadbydoublingthedosageof
amedicineforparalysisiscriticized.74Thefactthatthistextgoes
out of its way more than once to argue against extreme practices
for the lengthening of life suggests that its authors knew of practitionersofsuchartsandopposedthemonthegroundsthat,though
lifeispreciousandshouldbecarefullyguardedandmaintained,to
attempt to lengthen it artificially will in fact have the opposite effect:whatshortenslifeistogoagainstwhatisnatural.75Clearlythe
mainstreamcuisinewasthoughtofhereasnaturaltohumans.
Similarly,theInnerTrainingsectionoftheGuanzi,perhapsa
slightly older text,76 contains a section on the dao of eating that
opens with a warning against both over- and underconsumption
andpositsasidealabalancebetweenoverfillingandoverrestricting,
withspecificphysiologicalharmsassociatedwitheachextreme.We
sawabovetheexaltedcosmologicalstationaccordedbythistextto
thefivegrains.Overall,itlaysoutaprogramofcultivationfeaturingmeditationand,mostespecially,theregulatedintakeandrefinementofqithroughbreathingexercisesinwhichlongevityismerely
onegoal(thoughitisnotasminimalasRothinsistsduetohisprivilegingofthetextsapophaticstrands).77Rothhimselfnotessim73
KnoblockandRiegel,TheAnnalsofLBuwei,99-101.
Forthesimilaradvice,ibid.,64ff.;forthecriticismofextremes,ibid.,628.
75 Ibid.,67-70,518-20;attainingtheone[deyi ]ismentionedashaving
manybenefits,butlongevityisnotamongthem;ibid.,107.
76 Harold Roths arguments for a fourth century B.C.E. date for this section
(Original Tao, 23-30), however, are suspect in that they are based, in part, on his
speculative and wishful assumption that political considerations were added only
latertoanoriginalDaothatstartedasapureprogramofpersonalcultivation
innocent of politicsan assumption belied by the actual content of the text (see
theportionsdesignatedbyRothaschs.9,10,18,and22,onlythelastofwhichis
admittedbyhimtoharborpoliticalcontent).IfurthermorerejectRothsargumentthatthistextrepresentsanoriginalteachingthatwaspasseddowncontinuouslyanddevelopedorganicallyasaholistic,singleTaoistmysticism(toquote
his subtitle; see also ibid., 2-3, 8-9), as well as his view that it was the first text
of Taoism to be written down (ibid., 9). For a critique of the model of religions
seeminglyimplicithere,seeSmith,DrudgeryDivine,1-35.
77 Seeesp.Roth,OriginalTao,86-87,82-83;forRothsprivilegingofthetexts
apophatic(histerm)ormysticalaspects,seeibid.,169.
74
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27
ilarities between this text and a dialogue found within the Ten
QuestionsmanuscriptfoundatMawangdui;butthattextmustbe
discussedbelowsince,unliketheGuanzigenerally,itcertainlydoes
notexaltthemainstreamcuisineandseems,asIwillargue,tohave
somethingquitedifferentinmind.
PARTTWO
AlternativeCuisinesforSuperiorEaters
ManylateWarringStates,Qin,Han,andearlymedievaltextual
and visual representations depict or prescribe an array of culinary
possibilities other than the mainstream (elite) diet. It will become
obviousthattheydonotofferthesepossibilitiesneutrally,asasimpleexpansionofthechoicesavailabletoconsumersoffoodandof
texts,butratherthattheyrecommendthemassuperiorandimply
orstatethatthosewhopracticethemaresuperior.
1.Eatingqiisbetterthaneatinggrains
I begin with the following well-known passage from the oldest
portion(theinnerchapters)oftheZhuangzi,datingtoaround
320B.C.E:
JianWuputaquestiontoLianShu:IheardJieYusaysomething.Hiswords
wereexpansiveyettouchednothing,wentfarbutneverreturned.Iwasamazed
andfrightenedbyhiswords,whichliketheMilkyWaywerewithoutanylimitandvarious,comingnowherenearpeopleastheyreallyare.
Whatdidhesay?
He said that on the distant mountain of Guyi a divine man dwells.
Hisskinandflesharelikeiceandsnow.Heisgentleasavirgin.Hedoesnot
eat the five grains, but rather sucks wind and drinks dew .
Heridestheqiofcloudsandmountsdragons,roamingbeyondthefourseas
.Whenthespiritsinhimcongeal ,thiscauses
creaturestobefreefromplaguesandtheyearsgraincropstoripen .
Ithoughthimcrazyanddidnotbelievehim.
Lian Shu replied: Yes, the blind cannot partake of the spectacle of ornaments and emblems [of writing], nor the deaf in the sound of drums and
bells. But is it only in flesh and bone that there are blindness and deafness?
No,understandinghasthemtoo.78
78 Zhuangzi ch. 1, lines 26-31 in the Harvard-Yenching ed., relying greatly on
Graham, Chuang Tzu, 46, but adding slight emendations; cf. Victor H. Mair, Wan-
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Itwouldbeamistaketolump this strange figure into the ranks

ofthosesoontobeknownastranscendents(xian ),atleastnot
without careful consideration.79 For one thing, his rhetorical functionhereistoserveasoneofaseriesofwonders,thingsbeyondthe
kenofordinaryfolk,andnotasrepresentativeofaclassofdeathless
beings.Thepointissimplythattheworldisbigandfullofstrange
things, and one of them is this divine man. The passage does not
suggestthatreadersshouldorcanemulatehim(althoughheisclearlypresentedasadmirableratherthandespicableornegligibleanythinginthischapterthatroamsisso,sincethechaptercriticizes
fixed, narrow views). And, quite conspicuously, for all the divine
mansremarkablepropertiesthereisnomentionofalonglifespan
orimmortality.But,ontheotherhand,eachofthepropertiesthat
domarkhimasdifferentfromordinaryhumanswillhavebecome
part of the repertoire of transcendents within the next two centuries:(1)Taxonomicallyheisneitheraspiritnoraman,butsomethinginbetween,adivineman,perhapsasortofhybridorelse
oneofadistinctclassofbeings.(2)Astohisdiet,hedoesnoteatthe
fivegrainsbutsubsistsonwindanddewinstead.Wemightinfer
(thoughitisnotexplicitlystated)thatitisthisdietthataccountsfor
hiswondrouslyrefinedbody;wemightalsoinfer,sinceheisadivine
man, that this strange diet is being claimed superior to one based
ongrains.(3)Hedwellsatadistantplace,notinthecentralkingdom,andonamountain,notonagriculturalplains;healsoroams
beyondtheknownlimitsofthesettledworld.(4)Hetravelsbyridingqianddragons,implyingflightandascensionintotheheavens.
dering on the Way: Early Taoist Tales and Parables of Chuang Tzu (New York: Bantam,
1994),6-7.AsimilarandclearlyderivativepassageoccursintheYellowThearch
chapterofthemuchlaterLiezi,andthesamelanguageisusedtodescribethedivine
mans avoidance of grains and subsistence on wind and dew. But there are differences:(1)Thedescriptionofthemanisnotsurrounded,asintheZhuangzi,byany
conversational context. (2) The geography of the mountain is specified: it here becomes (by virtue of an intertextual linkage with passages in the Shanhai jing) an offshoreislandvisiblefromthepointwheretheYellowRivermeetsthesea,thusakin
to the fabled eastern isles of Penglai and Yingzhou. (3) Most significantly, the list
of benefits conveyed by the divine mans activities expands to cosmic proportions;
even the sun and moon, yin and yang, and the four seasons respond to him with
timelymovements,transcendentsandsagesservehimasministers,andghostsquietdown.SeeGraham,Lieh-tzu,35,andLiezijishi,ed.YangBojun(Beijing:Zhonghuashuju,1979),2.44-46.
79 AsnotedbyHarper,EarlyChineseMedicalLiterature,113.
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(5)Despitehisextremespatialdistance,bysomeunexplainedmechanismhisspirit-congealingactivitiesbringbenefitstothepeople
ofthecentralkingdom,wardingoffillnessesamongthemandripeningthefruitsoftheiragriculturallabors.(Inmanycasesoftranscendents,wewillbetoldatleastthatcertainparticulararts[shu ]
areresponsibleforsucheffects,evenifthoseartsarenotexplained
tousindetail.)Thisbeingwhodoesnotconsumegrainssomehow
helpsthemgrowbyhisself-cultivationaldisciplines.80
ThesongYuanyou ,orFarRoaming,intheanthology
ofChulyricsknownasChuci mapsoutacosmicjourneyand
a path of self-cultivation toward a specific sort of transcendence.81
The soteric, progressive structure of the song deserves closer scrutinyelsewhere;forourpurposesitsuffices to focus on two clusters
oflines.Thefirstreads:82
Ishallfollow,then,WangQiao formypleasureandamusement
SuponthesixqianddrinkDriftingFlow
RinsemymouthwithTrueYangandswallowDawnAurora
Conservethelimpidclarityofspiritillumination
Asessenceandqienterin,pollutionandfilthareexpelled
Here,thepoet,followingtheexampleofthenotedtranscendent
WangQiao,beginsaculinaryregimebasedonqiandatleastby
implicationno longer on grain food. By the final verse, the purifying effects of this regime on his biospiritual person begin to be
noted. As Harper explains, the three types of qi mentioned in the
secondandthirdlinesDriftingFlow,TrueYang,andDawnAuroraare the names of the beneficialqi of midnight, midday, and
dawnrespectively.Thesixtypesofqi,alsomentionedhereasaclass,
areallbeneficialandcorrespondspatiallytothefourquarters,heavenabove,andearthbelow,andtemporallytotheseasons,andlater texts specify seasonal schedules by which to ingest them; there
80 Thisaspectofwhatwouldsoonbecomethediscourseoftranscendencehas
beenoverlookedbyscholarsandwillbehighlightedinmyforthcomingbook.
81 This composition may date to the late fourth century at the earliest, or to
theearlyHanatthelatest.Thevexedquestionofitsmoreprecisedatingisofno
relevancetomypurposehere.
82 Chuci jizhu (Saoye shanfang woodblock print ed., n.d.), 5.2b-3b. My translation is based on the ones found in Paul W. Kroll, An Early Poem of MysticalExcursion,inReligionsofChinainPractice,ed.DonaldS.Lopez,Jr.(Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1996), 159-160, and in Donald Harper, Early Chinese
MedicalLiterature,307n.1.
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robertfordcampany
are also five types of qi to be avoided, already mentioned in some

oftheMawangduimanuscripts.83
Thepoemmoveson.AfterreceivinginstructionfromWangQiao,
thepoetcontinuesviaflightontotheFeatheredPersons[theseare,
of course, transcendents] at the Cinnabar Mound, loitering in the
long-standing land where death is not
,andproceedstobatheatothermythicdestinationsinthecardinaldirections(asortofritualpurification)tillhesucksinthedark
liquor of the Flying Springs (a site located at the
westernMt.Kunlun)andclutchesto(his)breastthefloriateblooms
ofgorgeousgemstones .Hethennarrates:
Myessence,becomingwholeandunmixed,nowtookonstrength
Asmybody,weakeningandwasting,turnedtenderandlistless
And my spirit, growing fine and subtle, was released, unrestrained
The very processes that transform qi into sustenance sufficient

to support life are described with metaphors grounded in the processingandcookingofagriculturalproductsandinthesmeltingof
metallicores.Inthefirstlinewehavethreetermsdrawnfromthe
domainoftheproductionofliquorfromgrains;thetermjing(essence)itself,containingthericeradical,partakesofthismetaphor.
In the second line we have two terms suggesting smelting, drawn
fromthedomainofmetallurgy,84andthepoetsbodyisdenominatedasifitweretherawmaterial(zhi )ofasmeltingprocessin
which the essence is purified and strengthened, the bodily form is
meltedaway,andthespiritisreleased. This conception of what it
meanstotranscendthatonesessenceandspiritarereleased
fromthedrossofthebodilyformismerelyoneconception,by
nomeanstheonlyoreventhepredominantone,andissharplyat
odds,aswillbenotedbelow,withothersthatprioritizethepreservationandstrengtheningofthebody.Itiscongruent,ontheother
hand,withpassagesinothertextsthathierarchizetherelationbetweenspiritandbody.
83
Harper,EarlyChineseMedicalLiterature,307-8.
Acommentatorglossesthiscompoundas .Therhymingbinomial
expressionyaoyaothatclosesthislinerecallsthelinefromtheZhuangzisdescription
ofthedivineman,Heisgentleasavirgin(insomeversions ,inothers ,
).
84
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Among the silk manuscripts found at Mawangdui is one titled

EliminatingGrainandEatingQi(Quegushiqi).85Thetext
outlines a method for avoiding the eating of grains (presumably
hereasoftensynecdochicfortheproductsofagriculture)byingestingqiaccordingtoscheduledproceduresandbyconsumingtheherb
shiwei ,orpyrrosia,apparentlyhereusedasadrugtotreatthe
urineretentionthatcomesfromeliminatinggrainratherthanasa
substitutefood.Specificmodesofexhalationareprescribed,andseasonalandage-basedguidelinesforthepractitionersingestionofthe
varioustypesofbeneficialqiarelaidoutalongwithataxonomyof
thefivetypesofharmfulqitobeavoided.Thebrieftexttwiceposits
ahierarchyofeaters,thosewhoeatgrainversusthosewhoeatqi;in
thefirstpassagethebasisforthishierarchyisnotmadeclear,butin
thesecondweread:Thosewhoeatgraineatwhatissquare;those
who eat qi eat what is round. Round is heaven; square is earth.
No specific benefits of this regimen are promisedperhaps details
onthemarelostintheseverallacunaebutthehierarchyisclear:
eatinggrainsistoeatingqiasearthistoheaven.
Similarly, the Heshanggong commentary to the second
lineofchapter6(inthereceivedorderingofchapters)oftheDaodejing , which reads This is called the mysterious female
,informsus:
Mysterious refers to heaven; in people it is the nose. Female refers to
earth; in people it is the mouth. Heaven feeds people with the five types of
qi,whichenterthroughthenoseandaredepositedintheheart.Thefiveqi
are pure and subtle and they constitute [in people] the essence, spirit, intelligence,voice,hearing,andthefivenatures.Theirghosts(gui )aretermed
cloudsouls (hun ). The cloudsouls are male and come and go through the
nose;theycoursethrough(tong )thewayofheaven;thisiswhythenoseis
the Mysterious. Earth feeds people with the five sapors (wuwei ), which
enter through the mouth and are deposited in the stomach. The five sapors
are impure and turbid and they constitute the form, skeleton, bones, blood,
vessels, and the six emotions. Their ghosts are termed whitesouls (po ).
Thewhitesoulsarefemaleandcomeandgothroughthemouth;theycourse
throughearth;thisiswhythemouthistheFemale.86
85 IrelyontheannotatedtranslationinHarper,EarlyChineseMedicalLiterature,
305-9.UnfortunatelyatthiswritingIhavenotyetseenacopyoftheChinesefacsimileandtranscriptionpublishedin1985asvolume4ofMawangduiHanmuboshu.
86 Daode zhenjing zhu (HY 682) 1.5a-b. The figure of Heshanggong was assimilated by some into the ranks of transcendents; see Campany, To Live as Long as
HeavenandEarth,305-7.
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robertfordcampany
Hereahierarchyoffoodsqiversusmeresaporsiscorrelated
withahierarchyamongseveralotherphenomena:
Inthisdomain:
thehigherpositionis:
andtheloweris:
Cosmos
Humanfacialapertures
Foods
Componentsoftheself
Ghosts
Gender
heaven
nose
thefivetypesofqi
spirit,essence,etc.
cloudsouls
male
earth
mouth
thefivesapors
body,bones,etc.
whitesouls
female
The manuscript known as Ten Questions (Shiwen ) found

onbamboostripsatMawangdui,thoughttohavebeencopiedbetween 180 and 168 B.C.E.,87 like some other texts of the period
(including another Mawangdui medical manuscript and the Tai-
pingjingorScriptureofGreatPeace,onwhichmorebelow)presentsits
teachings in the form of dialogues between august figures of antiquitywhoarecastintherolesofmasteranddisciple.Thediverse
techniquesrevealedinthistextaremethodsfortheintake,circulation,andcultivationofqi(orsometimes,asatthecloseofthefirst
dialogue,eatingspiritqi )thatutilizebreathing,stretching,
andsexualintercourse.Herethereisnomentionofaneedtoavoid
grains,andonepassageimpliesthatthemethodoutlinedforeating Yin prepares the body for the maximally advantageous
intakeofdrinkandfoodalthoughthatfoodmaybetheotherwise unspecified diet of elemental stuff (pu shi ) mentioned
earlier in the text and perhaps synonymous with the expression su
shi ,usedintheMozi,atleast,andperhapsinafewotherearly texts to indicate a diet of uncultivated plants gathered from the
wild.88ButadialoguebetweentheYellowThearchandRongCheng
89 embedded in this text sets up a hierarchy in which being
signless(wuzheng),formless(wuxing),andbodiless(wuti ) are pronounced superior to their alternatives; it is in these
states that the culminant essence of heaven and earth is said to
bebornanditissignlessnessthatthepractitionerissaidtoaccumulatewhenhecultivatesqiandconcentratesessence.(AsHarper points out, the Huainanzi uses formless as an epithet for Dao
87
Harper,EarlyChineseMedicalLiterature,28-29.
SeeHarper,EarlyChineseMedicalLiterature,385-87;Mozijijie,chapterCiguo,
1.38,andnotethecommentaries;Rickett,Guanzi,2:223.
89 OnwhomseeCampany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,358-359.
88
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orOneandtermsthepersonwhocultivatestheDaoasbodiless
aswellasformless;theGuanziatteststothenotionthattheDaois
signless and gives the oldest statement that obtaining the Dao is
the key to life and losing it means death. We will see these tropes
againbelow.)90Methodsforeatingqiandsuckingsweetdew(ganlu ,onwhichalocusclassicusisDaodejing32)arethenoutlined,
andthetextaloneamongtheMawangduimedicalmanuscripts
closesbymakinganexplicitanddramaticpromiseofdeathlessness
tothosewhopracticeitsmethods.Theascending,soaringimagery
characteristic of transcendence is used, although the term xian (
or ) is not. The successful practitioner is said to become a spirit
(shen ),toachievereleaseof(orfrom?)theform(xingjie ),91
ascend on high, and become as constant as heaven and earth and
thecoequalofYinandYang,notdying.92
IntheHuainanzitreatiseontopography(2ndc.B.C.E.,incorporatingsomeearliermaterials),wefindaseriesofcorrelationsbetween
thetypesofsoilsprevalentinpeopleshabitatsandtheirdispositions
(reminiscenttothisextentof,thoughdifferentincontentfrom,aLijipassageadducedabove),followedbyalistofcorrelationsbetween
dietsanddispositions.Thelastfouritemsreadasfollows:93
90
Harper, Early Chinese Medical Literature, 394 n. 1. The passage in Huainanzi

12.9a-b(inHY1176)bearsfurtherstudyandcomment.
91 I concur with Harper that this xingjie should not be equated with the shijie
of somewhat later techniques of transcendence; these terms signify multiple techniques and are linked into diverse webs of associations in the various texts and
eras in which they are used, and so the use of a common or similar term should
not at all be assumed to indicate a common understanding of, and surrounding,
the term. The redefinition and redeployment of terms was a typical intertextual
polemicalstrategy.
92 Harper, Early Chinese Medical Literature, 392-99. This passage also mentions
aprecedentexemplarbyname,oneWuchengzhao.Incidentally,themodeofimmortality attributed to Guangchengzi in his teachings to the same disciple (the
Yellow Thearch) in chapter 11 of the Zhuangzi constitutes a perhaps slightly ear-
lierorroughlycontemporaneouscontrasttothisone.There,noingestion,whetherofqiorofgrains,ismentioned(although,inhisinitialandunsuccessfulrequest
forteaching,theYellowThearchmentionshisdesiretousetheessencesofheaven and earth to assist the five grains and thus feed the peoplea project roundly rejected by Guangchengzi); the practice is one of remaining still, sealing ones
spirit and essence within ones body, and minimizing ingress and egress (through
sensory contact and also through learning), so that one preserves the body and renders it deathless. There is no hint there of formlessness, of reducing or escaping
thebodyintoamodeofpurespirit.SeeGraham,Chuang-tzu,176-179,andCampany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,159-161.
93 HY 1176, 7.8b; Zhuzi jicheng ed. 4.60 (preferring this texts han in the
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robertfordcampany
Thosewhoeatflesharebraveanddaringbutfierce
Thosewhoeatqiarespirit-illuminedandlivelong
Those who eat grains are knowledgeable and clever but short-lived
Those who do not eat do not die; they are (or become) spirits
Rearrangingtheorderofthepassagetoreflecttheascendinghierarchyitentails,weseethat:
Thosewhoeat:
Havetheseproperties(positive+andnegative-):
Flesh
Grains
Qi
Nothing
+brave,daring
+knowledgeable,clever
+spirit-illumined,long-lived
+deathless;arespirits
-fierce
-short-lived
-[none]
-[none]
Feedingonqi,then,isclearlysuperiortoeatingfleshandgrains
and confers great longevity. Even better is to eat nothing at all,
whichconfersdeathlessnessandisapropertyofspirits.Thisclaim
thatspiritsdonot(needto)eatseemstomenovelforitstimeand
implies a new class of beings who would, it is implied, require no
sacrificialministrationsfromthehumancommunity.94
AtonepointinthemassiveScriptureofGreatPeace(Taipingjing
),muchofwhichwasperhapsassembledinthesecondcentury C.E., possibly incorporating older material,95 we find an interlocutorposingthequestion:Whatarethefunctionsorofficesofthe
ninegradesofpersons(jiuren)?TheCelestialTutorgivesananswer summarizable in the following table, where left-hand entries
are the types of persons mentioned and right-hand entries are the
objectoftherepeatedverbalphrasetheirofficialfunctionconsists
inmanaging... :96
Formlessdivinepersonsof fineqi
Greaterdivinepersons
Primordialqi
Heaven
first line to the former texts han ; the commentary mentions tigers, leopards,
andraptorsasexamplesofthetaxon);intranslatingIhavebenefitedbutdepartedfromMajor,HeavenandEarthinEarlyHanThought,172.
94 Tosomeextent,thisnewpossibilitywastakenupandmodulatedbytheearlyCelestialMastercommunity,inwaystobeexploredelsewhere.
95 The dating of the various strata of the Taiping jing has been the subject of
much scholarly discussion, most recently in Barbara Hendrischke, Early Daoist
Movements,inLiviaKohn,ed., DaoismHandbook(Leiden:E.J.Brill,2000),14345.Forpurposesofmyargumenthere,amoreprecisedatingofthepassagesadducedisunnecessary.
96 WangMing,ed.,Taipingjinghejiao(Beijing:Zhonghuashuju,1960),88-91.
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Perfectedpersons
Transcendentpersons
Personsof thegreatDao
Sages
Worthies
Ordinarypeople
Servantsandslaves
35
Earth
Thefourseasons
Thefivephases
YinandYang
Writings,
books,andall
transmitted
speech
Plants,trees,and
thefivegrains
Materialgoods
Much could be said about this scheme. Key for our purposes is
thehierarchicaloppositionitsetsupbetweentwobundlesofthings:
at the top, divinity, formlessness, and primordial qi (with other
modes of divinity, perfected ones, transcendents, and persons of
theDaoalsoinhighechelons);secondfromthebottom,ordinary
humanity, vegetation, and the five grains. We are next told that
when each of the nine types of persons controls (or harmonizes
theverbistiao )thetypeofqicorrespondingtoit,thenthenine
types of qi and yin and yang will be harmonized and the inherited burden (chengfu ) from previous generations will be eliminated, and this brings about the coming of the eponymous Great
Peace.97Linkedtothishierarchyisthedirectivethatsuperiorpractitioners must begin by not eating what has form but rather eatingqisoastounite(orharmonize)withtheprimordialqi.Todo
this they shut themselves inside a thatch hut, fasting, not looking
upon anything evil or defiledlanguage clearly echoing the Lijis
accountsoffastingbeforeancestralandothersacrificesdailyrefiningtheirforms andnotgraspingafterwhattheydesire,
untiltheybecomeabletoleave[therealmwhere]thereisnointervalanddepart ,98atwhichpointtheyascendtoassistthetranscendentsandperfectedonesinthecelestialrulebased
onprimordialqi.(Thisleavingoftheworlduponattainingthedao,
wearetold,althoughitisofnoimmediateordirectusetothepeo97 Theintriguingquestionofwhetheritispossibleforbeingstomoveupand
downthishierarchyisaddressed,thoughsomewhatevasively,abitfurtheron,Taipingjinghejiao,pp.96-97.Onthesignificanceofthetermchengfu,aconceptcentral
tothescripture,seeBarbaraHendrischke,TheConceptofInheritedEvilinthe
Taipingjing,EastAsianHistory2(1991):1-30.
98 The meaning of the phrase is somewhat unclear to me and the translation
istentative.
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robertfordcampany
ple,assistsintheharmonizationoftheqiofyinandyangandthus
benefits the myriad thingsthese lines seemingly meant to ward
offcritiquessuchasthoseofLuJia andtheHuainanzithatthe
pursuitoftranscendenceisselfish[seebelow].)Butthesesamebeingsaretheoneswhodescendtoearthtoeatwhethertoeatthe
qiofimperialorfamilialsacrificesisunclear;therealmostseemsto
bethesuggestionthatbyeatingthefoodofferedbypeopleinsacrifice, these spirits, who possess merit, allow people to lessen their
inherited burden. Several pages on, the link between spirit-beings
andqiisagainemphasized:spirits(shen)rideon(or,ifthephraseis
understoodfiguratively,dependon)qi,soifapersonhasqithenhe
has shen and vice versa; likewise, when a persons shen departs, his
qiiscutoff,andviceversa.
Elsewhere in this text one is enjoined to eat moderately, graduallyreplacingfoodswithqiandmedicinalsuntiloneconsumesonly
thingsthatarewithoutbodilyform .99Oragain:
Thequestionwasasked:Whatdothehigher,middle,andlowerbeingswho
have obtained the way and surpassed the world (or crossed the ages)
eat? The reply: The uppermost rank eat wind and qi, the second rank
eatmedicinalsapors ,andthethirdrankeatlittle[food],reducingwhat
passes through their stomach and intestines. It was said further: Heaven
is extremely distant and knows no bounds. If one does not eat wind and qi,
howcanonetravelquicklyenoughtocircuitcompletelythroughthecourses
ofheaven?Further,ifoneistoworkalongsidethespirit-envoysandbeassociatedwiththem,onemusteatwindandqi.Atthenext[lower]level,ifone
is to match the essences of earth in ones powers, harmonize the five types
of soil (?), look down from above on mountains and rivers, follow mountain
chains and enter waterways, so as to have commerce with the changings of
earth(?)andeatandworktogetherwith[othersofthislevel],thenonecannot eat grains; one drinks water and practices [medicinal formulas?
].Atthenext[andlowest]level,eatinginmoderationistheway.Althoughonedoesnotthusfirmlyestablishonesform(? ),one[eats]
lessthanordinarypeopleandisthusslightlydifferentfromthem.Therefore
even those who [merely] eat little so as to pass little through their intestines
arepeoplewhoareintheprocessofachievingtheway.100
Inotherpassages,notsurprisingly,theScriptureprovidesinstruc-
99
Taipingjinghejiao684;cf.466.
Taiping jing hejiao, 716-717; the passage is difficult and the translation tentativeatpoints.Forabriefdiscussionofthisworksviewsondietarymatters,see
MaxKaltenmark,TheIdeologyoftheTai-pingching,inHolmesWelchandAnnaSeidel,eds.,FacetsofTaoism(NewHaven:YaleUniversityPress,1979),42-43.
100
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37
tions for specific methods of eating wind and qi to maximum

advantage.101
Comparedwiththeserelativelyelaboratehierarchiesofeaters,the
Xianger commentary to the Daodejing , a text dating to
earlierthan255C.E.andperhapstothelatesecondorearlythird
century,returnstoarelativelysimpledualitybetweenthosewhoeat
qiandthosewhoeatgrain:
Transcendentnobles(xianshi )differfromthevulgarinthattheydonot
valueglory,rank,orwealth.Theyvalueonlydrawingsustenancefromthe
motherthat is, [from] their own bodies. In the interior of the body, the
motheristhestomach,whichgovernstheqiofthefiveviscera.Commonerseatgrain,andwhenthegrainisgone,theydie.Transcendentnobleseat
grainwhentheyhaveit,andwhentheydonot,theyconsumeqi.Theqireturnstothestomach,whichisthelayeredsackofthebowels.Whathappens
whenthebellyisrepleteIhavealreadyexplainedabove.102
BythelatesecondandfirstcenturiesB.C.E.,theideathatsome
practitionerswereabstainingfromgrainswhilepracticingmethods
forconsuming,directing,andcultivatingqiasalternatenourishment
was ubiquitous and commonplace, whether we find authors advocatingorcriticizingit.IntheShijibiographyofZhangLiang ,
forexample,wereadthatlateinhislife,havingreachedremarkable
social heights, he declared himself ready to abandon the affairs of
thehumanworldandsimplyfollowMasterRedpineandgoroaming,whereuponhepracticedgrainavoidance,guidingandpulling,
and lightening the body no explanation offered
or,apparently,requiredbyreaders.ButafterthefoundingHanemperorsdeath,EmpressLpressuredhimtoeat(orforce-fedhim?
),saying,Ourlifeinthisworldisasbriefasthepassingof
a white colt glimpsed through a crack in the wall. Why must you
push yourself to such extremes of austerity? Zhang then had no
recoursebuttosubmittocompulsionandeatandthenextthing
wereadofhimisthathediedeightyearslater.103
101
See,e.g.,Taipingjinghejiao,259,699-700,etc.
The translation is slightly altered from that found in Stephen R. Bokenkamp, Early Daoist Scriptures (Berkeley: University of California Press), 112, based
on the text as reproduced in Rao Zongyi, Laozi Xianger zhu jiaozheng (Shanghai:
Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1991), 26-27. For the point explained above see
p.78ofBokenkampstranslation;thebasicideaisthattheDaoreturnstothebellywhenitisfullofqi,anditbecomesfullofqiwhenevilisdrivenfromtheheart.
Onthedateofthecommentary,seeBokenkamp,ibid.,58-62.
103 Shiji55.2048,benefitingfromBurtonWatson,RecordsoftheGrandHistorian,
102
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robertfordcampany
This part of Zhangs story, with its somber conclusion, is reminiscent of the following poignant tale of Han-era events found in
theHanworkArrayedTraditionsofTranscendents(Liexianzhuan )
butreworkedbyGeHong(282-343C.E.)orbysomenowlostintermediatesource:
During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han, hunters in the Zhongnan
Mountains saw a person who wore no clothes, his body covered with black
hair.Uponseeingthisperson,thehunterswantedtopursueandcapturehim,
but the person leapt over gullies and valleys as if in flight, and so could not
beovertaken.Thehuntersthenstealthilyobservedwherethepersondwelled,
surrounded and captured him, whereupon they determined that the person
wasawoman.Uponquestioning,shesaid,Iwasoriginallyawomanofthe
Qin palace. When I heard that invaders from the east had arrived, that the
KingofQinwouldgooutandsurrender,andthatthepalacebuildingswould
beburned,Ifledinfrightintothemountains.Famished,Iwasontheverge
ofdyingbystarvationwhenanoldmantaughtmetoeattheresinandnuts
ofpines.Atfirsttheywerebitter,butgraduallyIgrewaccustomedtothem.
Theyenabledmetofeelneitherhungernorthirst;inwinterIwasnotcold,
insummerIwasnothot.Calculationshowedthatthewoman,havingbeen
amemberoftheQinKingZiyingsharem,mustbemorethantwohundred
yearsoldinthepresenttimeofEmperorCheng.
Thehunterstookthewomanbackin.Theyofferedhergraintoeat.When
shefirstsmelledthestinkofthegrain,shevomited,andonlyafterseveraldays
couldshetolerateit.Afterlittlemorethantwoyearsofthis[diet],herbody
hairfellout;sheturnedoldanddied.Hadshenotbeencaughtbymen,she
wouldhavebecomeatranscendent.104
Fewnarrativesmoresuccinctlysummarizetheargumentthatordinaryfoodsorgrainsblockthepathtotranscendence.Here,as
often,avoidinggrainsisassistedbytheingestionofasimpleplant
product gathered in the wilds; whether this regimen helps by virtueofitsappetite-suppressingpropertiesoritsprovisionofsuperior
nourishmentisunclear.105
HanDynastyI,rev.ed.(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1993),113.Master
Redpine,likeWangQiao,wasanexemplaryearlytranscendent.
104 TextinWangMing,ed.,Baopuzineipianjiaoshi(Beijing:Zhonghuashuju,1985),
11.207.GeHongsversionresemblesthestoryoftheHairyWomanfoundinthe
Han-periodArrayedTraditionsofTranscendents(HY294,2.7b-8a);seeMaxKaltenmark,
LeLie-sientchouan:Biographieslgendairesdesimmortelstaostesdelantiquit(Peking:UniversitdeParis,CentredtudessinologiquesdePkin,1953),159-161.Themaindifferencesarethat,intheLiexianzhuanaccount,(1)boththewomanandherteacherare
named: she is Yu Qiang, and he is Gu Chun(hereceivesahagiographyin Liexian
zhuan[HY294]2.6b-7a;Kaltenmark,ibid.,157-58);and(2)thewomanisnotcapturedorfedgrains,andtheimplicationofherinclusioninthehagiographyisthat
shedid,infact,achievetranscendenceasenvisionedinthattext.
105 Elsewhere pine resin is said to transform in the ground into a marvelous,
longevity-conferringherb;seeCampany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,25.
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39
InArrayedTraditionsofTranscendents,oneadeptissaidtohaveavoidedthefivegrainsandfedontheflowersofvariousherbsinstead;another,tohaveavoidedgrains,absorbeddew,andfedonpinenuts,
asparagusroot(onwhichmorebelow),andstonyfat;andstillanothertohavesubsistedonsesame,whichwasnotconsideredadomesticgrainatthetimeandwasstillanexotic,importedproduct.106
Grainavoidance,theshunningofordinaryagriculture-basedfoods,
continuedtobeasalientmarkerofapersonengagedinthepursuit
of transcendence in Ge Hongs time and beyond, for he writes of
contemporarypractitionersheregardsascharlatanswhoannounce
that they have cut off [the ingestion of] grains (duan gu ) for
decades so as to attract followers.107 A sizable handful of the adepts he includes among his gallery of successful transcendents are
describedashavingpracticedgrainavoidanceandqiingestionand
circulationamongtheirothermethods,thoughnoneofthemreach
transcendencebythesemeansalone(forthereasonthatGeHong
polemicallyfavoredalchemyaboveothermethods).108InsomecontextssuchasintheopeningpagesofthefifteenthofGeHongsInnerChaptersitbecomesclearthatavoidinggrainsistantamountto
noteatingfoodatall(astheHuainanziandsomeotherearlysources said that the highest spirits were able to do), merely swallowing
saliva and qi and ingesting medicinal preparations to suppress appetite and strengthen the body. A number of adepts, here includingDongJing ,aresaidtohaveaccomplishedthis.109ZuoCi
was reportedly enclosed in a room by Cao Cao, denied food
andpermittedonlywaterforonewholeyear,asatestofhisarts;he
emergedlookingjustashehadwhenhewentin;elsewhereamethodforsurvivingfamineyearsbynoteatingisattributedtothissame
master,110andothermethodsfornoteatingareattributedtoother
106 See items 4, 10, and 41 in the series of hagiographies in HY 294, and
Kaltenmark,LeLie-sientchouan,48-50,65-67,and135-37.
107 Baopuzineipianjiaoshi,20.346.
108 Foralist,seeCampany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,24.
109 See Campany, To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth, 300, 24; Baopuzi neipian
jiaoshi15.266-68(andnotethatthispassagementionsDongWeinian,whomIerroneouslyincludedintheB-groupofadeptsinToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth;
Dongshould,bythecriteriaIdevelopedinthatwork,bemovedtogroupA,among
theearliest-attestedhagiographies).
110 See Campany, To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth, 279-280, 150, and 284,
respectively.
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robertfordcampany
transcendents-in-the-making, such as Gan Shi , who also was

reportedtohavegoneawholeyearwithouteatingfood.111
AcenturyandahalfbeforeGeHong,WangChong,writingca.
70-80C.E.,hadalsodocumentedthatgrainavoidancewaswidely
claimedtobearoutetotranscendence,aclaimhedisputesonwhat
strikethemodernreaderascommonsensegrounds:
Therearemanywhotakepeoplewhoavoidgrainsanddonoteat
tobepersonswithdaoarts.TheyspeakofWangziQiaoandthelike,who,in
noteatinggrainsandineatingdifferentlythanordinarypeople,therefore
alsoachievedadifferentlongevitythanthatofordinarypeople,exceedinga
hundred [years of age], surpassing the world, and thus becoming transcendentpersons.Thistooisfalse.
He proceeds to argue that it is natural for people to eat since

they were given mouths and teeth for the intake of food and alimentarycanalsforitsdigestionand the elimination of waste, then
continues:
People,whenalive,usefoodas[thesourceof]theirqi ,justasplantsand
trees when alive draw qi from the soil. Pull up the roots of a plant or tree,
separatethemfromthesoil,andtheywillwitherandsoondie.Shutupapersonsmouthsothathecannoteatandhewillstarveandnotlivelong.
Masters of dao boast to others, saying, The perfected man consumes qi,
and make qi their food. Thus it is handed down that those who eat qi live
longanddonotdie112[andthat]althoughitisnotongrainsthattheybecomefull,theyneverthelessfillthemselvesbymeansofqi.Thistooisfalse.
Wang then argues against these claims by considering two possibletypesofqiascandidatesforthisrolethoseofYinandYang

andthoseofmedicinesandrejectingbothinturnasunablealone
tosustainlife.Heendsbysurmisingthatsuchaclaimmustreferto
the exhalation of stale qi and the inhalation of fresh, living qi, but
rejectsthis,too,asabasisforimmortalitysinceitwaswhatAncestor
Pengpracticedandhe,althoughlonglived,diedofillness.113This
was,ofcourse,merelyoneviewofPengZu;othersbeforeandafter
sawhimasasuccessfultranscendent as well as an ancient teacher
ofartsofbreathingandsexualcultivation.114
111
SeeCampany,ibid.,151-152.
WangisherequotingaHuainanzipassagediscussedabove.
113 Lunhengjiaoshi7.335-36;foradatedtranslation,seeForke,Lun-hng,1:347-
112
49.
114
SeeCampany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,172-186.
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41
TheextantScriptureoftheFiveNuminousTreasureTalismans(Lingbao
wufujing ),atextcomposedofmaterialofvariedprovenanceandassembledca.280C.E.thatconveysnumerousmethods
oftranscendence(somebasedonbreathcultivation,someaswewill
see belowon the use of medicinal herbs), features an exercise in
whichthecosmicsprouts(ya )ofthepentacoloredqiofthefive
directions are systematically ingested, leading to transcendence.115
Followingitsoutliningofthismethod,whichisembedded(asistypical)withinanarrativeofitsowninitialrevelationinthiscaseby
three Transcendent Kings from the Heaven of Grand Purity
totheYellowThearchinantiquitythescripturecontinues
withthefollowingstrikinglines:
Thethreetranscendentkingsfurtherdeclaredtothethearch:Weformerly
fed according to this method and thereby attained transcendence. Our formerteacherhadusincreasethesweetspringwithinourmouthsandthen
swallowtothefollowingtwenty-twowordincantation:Thewhitestones,craggy,proceedinorder;116thespring,bubblingandpervading,becomesaperfected juice; drinking it, I obtain long life, my long life span becoming even
longer!You,too,canpracticethis.Ifyouareabletocontinuouslyingestthe
perfected One without ceasing, swallow the floriate pond without resting,
and keep your qi shut within you without flagging, then you will forthwith
attaintheDaoandyouwillhavecutoffgrains ;youneednolongerfollow the changes of the moon for completion .117 The people
of primordial antiquity lived long because they remained in leisure and did
noteatgrains.TheVerseofGreatExistencesays:Thefivegrainsarebores
that gouge out life span ;theyrotandbefoulthefiveviscera
[lit.thefivestorehouses] andshortentheallottedlifespan.118Once
thisfoodentersthemouththereisnofurtherhopeofgreatlongevity.Ifyou
wish not to die, you must keep your intestines free of sediment . If
youwishtolivelong,youmustmaketheqiofyourviscera/storehousesclean
andpure119[by]decantingthefloriatejuiceintothebody .Youwill
115
HY388,3.12a-b.Onthefirstandthirdfasciclesofthistext,seeGilRaz,
Creation of Tradition: The Five Talismans of the Numinous Treasure and the
FormationofEarlyDaoism,Ph.D.dissertation,IndianaUniversity,2004.
116 Thislinenodoubtreferstotheteeth,whicharetobegroundtogetheror
pressedbythetongueinprecisesequencesthroughouttheingestingofthesprouts
(3.21a-b).
117 Thislineappearstomeanthatoneneednotdependonthelunarcyclefor
plantingandharvestinggrains;oneisfreedfromtheneedtofollowthestrictures
oftheagriculturalyear.
118 TheimageryofboresrecallsthefamousallegoryconcerningHundun
inchapter7oftheZhuangzi,andtheeffectofgrainsonthevisceraisdescribed
intermsmetaphoricallysuggestiveofthestenchofrottingflesh.
119 This teaching on keeping the intestines clean is echoed by a passage in
Ge Hongs Inner Chapters. The context is a rhetorical contrast between the puni-
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robertfordcampany
thenmeetheavenwiththejadeliquidinyourmouth,andyouandheavenwillreachthesamelongevity.120
First, we note once again how metaphors drawn from the domainofthemainstreamcuisinesalivaasaspringofliquororasa
(cooked?concentrated?)juiceorelsefromthedomainofnature
tive and bloody habits of rulers, on the one hand, and the requirement of seekersoftranscendencethattheyextendregardeventolowlycrawlingcreaturesand
notharmlivingthings.Themethodsoftranscendencecallforthecessationand
cutting off of anything foul and putrid, abstaining from grains and purifying the
intestines, but in the case of the lords of men there is the cooking and slicing of
fat pork and the butchering of all manner of living things (Baopuzi neipian jiaoshi,
2.18).OnemightalsoadduceapassageinMeiChengs(d.141B.C.E.)rhapsody
orrhyme-proseSevenStimuli(Qifa )inwhichrichfoods(literallythings
sweet, crisp, oily, and syrupy) are warnedagainstasbeingrot-gutreagents
; see the text and translation (which I here quote) in Victor H. Mair, Mei
CherngsSevenStimuliandWangBorsPavilionofKingTerng:ChinesePoemsforPrinces(Lewiston:EdwinMellenPress,1988),26-27.IthankProfessorMairforbringingthispassagetomyattention.
120 HY 388, 3.21b-22a; I have consulted but not much followed the partial
translationinLiviaKohn,LaughingattheTao:DebatesamongBuddhistsandTaoistsin
MedievalChina(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1995),101.Asanindicator
ofhowinadequateitwouldbetospeakofasingleDaoiststanceongrains,considerthispassagequotedfromthefamousScriptureontheConversionoftheBarbarians
(Huahujing )inthepro-BuddhistpolemicaltractInMockeryoftheDao(Xiaodao
jing)(570C.E.):WhentheThreeSovereignscultivatedtheDao,nohuman
everdied.Duringhighantiquity,heavenbroughtforthsweetdewandearthproducedspringsofwine[read:beer].Peopleateanddranktheseandenjoyedlong
life.Inmiddleantiquity,heavenbroughtforththefiveqiandearthproducedthe
five flavors. People lived on these and prolonged their years. In lower antiquity,
theworlddeclined.Heavenbroughtforthwindandrain,andearthnurturedthe
manykindsofwildanimals;peoplecaughtandatethose.I[LordLao]wasgrieved
atthesecircumstancesandthereforeraisedthehundredgrainstofeedthemultitude of the people. Consequently the three sovereigns [Celestial Masters] offered
me five pecks of grain as a pledge of their faith. They prayed that their descendantsshouldliveforgenerationsunbrokenandthatthefivegrainswouldcontinuetogrowinthiscountryofthegods(textnumbered2103intheTaishshinsh
daizky, 52.148b, translation from Kohn, ibid., 100-101). Immediately following
thisquotation,thepro-BuddhistauthorcitestheHY388passagequotedaboveto
contradict it. Consider also the narrative deployed by the apparently early sixth
century C.E. scripture Taishang Laojun kaitian jing (as preserved in
HY1425andasanthologizedinYunjiqiqian,HY1026,2.9aff.;anexcellenttranslation appears in Edward H. Schafer, The Scripture of the Opening of Heaven by the Most High Lord Lao, Taoist Resources 7.2 [1997]:1-20; on dating see
Kohn, ibid.,176-77), in which it is none other than the divine Laozi who, as a
blessingforthepeople,descendsandinstructsShennongonagriculturesothathe
may teach the people to sow the five grains as a better alternative than hunting
and slaughtering birds and beasts, and then again descends to show Suiren how
tomakefireforcooking.
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saliva as a pond and, negatively valorized, food as carrionare

hereappliedtodescribeadisciplinewhichresistsandoverturnsthe
mainstreamcuisineandimprovesuponnature.Second,thisisone
oftheearliestpassagesofwhichIamawareinwhichgrainsareattackedasafoodsourcebasedonwhatwemightcallnegativeinternalistreasonsthatis,onthegroundsthattheycauseactualharm
tothebodyinspecific,theorizedways.Againweshouldbewareof
thesortoflumpingthatwouldreadthispassageastheimplicitrationale underlying all of the passages on grain avoidance adduced
above. In those earlier passages there is no hint of the notion that
grains(i.e.,mainstreamfoods)actuallydoharmtothebody;121the
argumentisratherthatqiandothermorerefinedsubstances,when
ingestedandcirculatedinesotericallyprescribedways,givesuperiorand(forsometextsatleast)longevity-inducingnourishment.This
argumentinturnrestedonaviewofthebodyatopicdeservingof
moreattentionthanIhavebeenabletogiveithereasaself-sufficientmicrocosmthatcouldimbibebeneficialessencesfromthecosmosandthencloseitselfofflikeasealedreaction-vesseltofurther
refine and recycle them, periodically exhaling the old and inhalingthenewbutotherwisedrasticallyminimizingcontactwiththe
surroundingsensory,cultural,socialworld.Fromthesameviewof
thebodycametheideasandpracticesofembryonicbreathingor
breathinglikeafetus(taixi )foundinmanyearlytexts.122
Thereisanother,moreparticulartheoryofthebodythatmight
berelatedtoearlyinternalistrationalesfortheavoidanceofgrain.
Irefertothetheorythatthebodyfromitsconceptionharborsbiospiritualparasitesknownalternatelyasthethreeworms(sanchong
)orthreecorpses(sanshi).123Variousearlywefttextsand
scripturesportraythesebeingsinbothzoomorphicandbureaucraticmetaphors.Theyweresaidtoappearasmaggotsinexcrement124
andlackorgansofsightandhearing,suggestiveoftapeworms,but
121 The single line in Mei Chengs Seven Stimuli is an exception, but that
passageprovidesnohintofanytheorytoexplainwhyfoodsareharmful,andits
basicthrustseemstobethatoverlyrichfoodsexcessivelyconsumeddoharm,not
thatmainstreamfoodsperseharmthebody.
122 For more information and a list of recent secondary-source discussions of
taixi,seeCampany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,365n.23.
123 For further information, see Campany, ibid., 49-52, and works cited
there.
124 Foranexample,seeCampany,ibid.,166.
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robertfordcampany
they also ascended monthly to report to the register-keeping officialsonhighoftheirhumanhostsmisdeeds.Theydidsobecause

they wished to make their host die so as to be free to roam about
stealingsacrificialofferings.InfourthcenturyC.E.andearliertexts
arepreserveddozensofmethodsforexpellingthemfromthebody.
A key and as yet unanswered question for my purposes, however,
iswhether,inearlytexts,itisclaimedthatthesebeingsfeedon,or
aregeneratedfrom,grainsinthehumandigestivetract,orareabyproductofthedigestionofgrains.Onefindsthisnotiondevelopedin
certaintextsanthologizedinthecompendiumYunjiqiqian ,
compiledca.1028C.E.,125butthesetexts,ofuncertainprovenance,
seembytheircontentandwordingtopostdatethefourthcentury.
Pendingfurtherresearch,Iamatthiswritingunawareofanyclear
linkagebetweenthethreewormsorcorpsesandadietbasedonthe
fivegrainsintextsdatabletoca.320C.E.orearlier.
2.Feedingonexotic,rare,marvelousdelicaciesofthecosmos
Theideathatstrangelocalesonthedistanthorizonsoftheknown
worldharborlongevity-ortranscendence-inducingsubstancesisas
oldinChinaasthegoaloftranscendenceitself.Wefindnumerous
referencestothehopeoffindingthesemysteriousrealms,penetratingtheveilofmysteryandinaccessibilitysurroundingthem,andingestingtheirmarvelous,potentproducts.Ingeneral,theseproducts
seemtofallintothreesometimesoverlapping,fuzzycategories:(1)
naturally occurring trees, herbs, or fungi, ready for gathering and
consumption; (2) naturally found minerals; and (3) elixirs of one
or another sort, implying some degree of prior human or divine
processingofnaturalingredients.Thetermzhi ,oftentranslated
asmushrooms,infactoftendenotesmembersofbothofthefirst
two categories and seems to indicate any naturally occurring vegetable or mineral formation with marvelous properties and divine
powers (usually with the added characteristic, by no means incidental,ofbeingrareordifficulttoaccess);thatiswhy,inmyview,
125 See,forinstance,thetextscitedintheYunjiqiqian(HY1026)at83.2band
10b.ThethreewormsarementionedintheLunhengasinhabitingthegutsofhuman beings, and worms are also noted as infesting rice (Lunheng jiaoshi 16.718, a
passage noted by Lvi in Labstinence des crales, 11 n. 18), but the claim is
notmadetherethatgrain-eatingiswhatcausesworm-infestationinhumans.
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45
translatingitasexcrescencesbestcapturestherangeofphenomenaitnamed.126
Totheeast,therewerePenglai ,Yingzhou ,andother
oceanisles,wheretranscendentsandtheirherbsorelixirsofdeathlessnesswerethoughttolurk;QinandHanrulersfamouslysentexpeditionstosearchforthem,andtherewerereportsofsightingsbut
nosuccessfulimperiallysponsoredretrievalsoftheseislandparadisesherbsanddrugs.Tothewest,therewereMountKunlun
and the Queen Mother of the West , each of them associatedwithimmortality-inducingproducts(andotherparadisaldelights)beforetheybecameassociatedwitheachother.
Theloreconcerningtheseexoticlocalesandtheirproductsisrelativelywellknown.127Forourpurposeshere,threefeaturesaresignificant.Oneisthatthesestrangerealms,vastlydifferentanddistant
fromtheagriculturalheartland,areimaginedasthesourcesofingestible substances that are longevity-producing alternatives to ordinaryfood.Theyarepointedlydescribedasharboringmarvelous
sourcesofnourishmentsuperiortothoseavailableathome.AsecondfeatureisthatbothKunlunandtheeasternislesareuniformly
describedintextsandpicturedinvisualiconographyandinfunctionalobjectssuchascensersasmountains.Thisfacetagainemphasizestheirdifferencefromthetopographyoftheagrarianplains
and river valleys of the Chinese heartland: mountains were places
wheregrainsandothermainstreamcropscouldnotbegrown,but
whereotherlife-prolongingproductsgrewnaturallywithoutneedof
cultivation.Thethirdfeaturethattheselocationsallshareisthedifficultyofgainingaccesstothem.Onlytheinitiatedmaypenetrate
their secrets; often, flight or spirit-travel are said to be required to
reachthem.Theirspatialdistanceisacodeforothersortsofbarriers to access. To obtain the alternate, wondrous ingestible products they harbor requires initiation and training in esoteric arts, a
factwhichinitselfannouncestheseproductssuperiorityoverordinarydomesticfoods.
126
ForfurtherdiscussionseeCampany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,27,
andRobertFordCampany,Long-DistanceSpecialistsinEarlyMedievalChina,
inEricZiolkowski,ed.,Literature,Religion,andEast/WestComparison:EssaysinHonor
ofAnthonyC.Yu(UniversityofDelawarePress,2005),109-124.
127 Many of the relevant received texts and some modern archeological finds
are discussed in Michael Loewe, Ways to Paradise: The Chinese Quest for Immortality
(London:Allen&Unwin,1979).
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robertfordcampany
ClosertohomeremovedfromtheagrarianlowlandsnothorizontallybutverticallywerethemountainsofChina,seenaswild,
dangerous zones where wild animals, semi-barbaric ethnic groups,
andaggressivespiritslurkedandwherehumansfromtheplainsfled
toescapecentralizedbureaucraticcontrol.128Thesenearer(though
hardly domesticated) mountains, too, were insistently portrayed as
sourcesofexoticedibleswithlongevity-inducingandhealingpowers,
andalsoasrestricted,perilousareasrequiringinitiationandesoteric
manticprotectionforsafeentry.Bothoftheseaspectsofmountains
arethesolesubjectofanentireessaywrittenbyGeHongearlyin
the fourth century C.E., and the second fascicle of the Scripture of
theFiveNuminousTreasureTalismansisdevotedtoscoresoftranscendence-artsrecipesemployingmountainherbs.129Inthisscriptureand
elsewhere,someoftheseherbsareexplicitlyrecommended,among
theirotherbenefits,asreplacementsforgrainfood.130
Inotherwords,transcendentswereinsistentlyportrayedasfeeding on exotic, longevity-enhancing substitutes for what counted in
Chinaasordinaryfood,substanceslocatedonlyinzonesremoved
(horizontally or vertically) by geographic distance and by barriers
toaccessfromtheheartlandofChinesecivilization.Itisnowonder
thattranscendentswereoftenrepresentedinverbaldescriptionand
iconicdepictionaswingedbeingsabletofly,andthattheabilityto
travellongdistancesrapidlywasonemanticartoftenmentionedas
having been practiced by transcendence-quest adepts.131 It is also
nowonderthatoneofthemarvelousartsoftenattributedtoadepts
in hagiographies and prescribed in scriptures is the esoteric abilitytosummonthetravelingkitchen(xingchu )todeliverexot128
For specific examples of this latter feature, see William G. Crowell, SocialUnrestandRebellioninJiangnanDuringtheSixDynasties,ModernChina9
(1983):324,331,334-38.
129 The relevant chapter of Ge Hongs Baopuzi neipian is chapter 17. For the
ScriptureoftheFiveNuminousTreasureTalismansrecipes,seeHY388,fascicle2;fora
translationofatypicalpassage,seeCampany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,
26(concerninghuangjing orSolomonsSeal).
130 AsforinstanceatHY388,2.15a-b.
131 OnthispointseeCampany,Long-DistanceSpecialistsinEarlyMedieval
China,andformoreontheexoticnatureofthetranscendentscuisine,seeRobert Ford Campany, Ingesting the Marvelous: The Practitioners Relationship to
NatureAccordingtoGeHong,inN.J.Girardot,JamesMiller,andXiaoganLiu,
eds.,DaoismandEcology:WayswithinaCosmicLandscape(Cambridge,Mass.:Harvard
UniversityPress,2001),125-46.
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47
ic,longevity-inducingfoodstuffstotheadeptratherthantheadepts
needingtotraveloutwardtothelimitsoftheworldtosecurethem.
Suchbanquetsdisplayedtheexoticcuisineofthecosmicperiphery
(aswellasoftheheavens)intheCentralKingdomforotherstobe
amazed by, and hagiographies sometimes narrate scenes in which
ordinary-food-eatingaudiencesaredulyamazedbythem.132
Many of the specific herbs and mineral formations mentioned
in scriptures and accounts of transcendents are promised to bring
spectacular benefits, and, as mentioned above, some are explicitly
claimed to function as substitutes for ordinary food (and it is well
known that some mountain herbs were long used as food during
times of famine). But, aside from the repeated and rather generic
promisesofgreatlongevity,vigoroushealth,andotherbenefits,the
textsprovidelittlebywayofinternalistrationales.Thatis,theydo
notexplainwhyordinaryfoodsshouldnotbeeaten;nor,withfew
exceptions,133dotheyprovideanybutthebarestoftheoriestoexplainhowitisthatsuch-and-suchamountainherbcausesonewho
eatsitnottodie.Andinthecaseofcosmicallydistantproductsof
theperipheries,suchexplanationsareneverforthcoming.Inowturn
towhatIconsidertobethemainreasonforthesefacts.
Conclusion
Why did those in quest of transcendence, from the very earliest
mentionofanyevenvaguelyproto-transcendent-likefiguresintexts,
rejectgrainsandothereverydayfoods?Whydidtheyshunthetotalityofagriculturalproductsconstitutingthemainstreamdietofthe
peopleofChina,infavorofqiorexoticfloraandminerals,things
not normally considered food at all? Why do we find a chorus so
insistentonthispoint,acrosstextsofdiverseperiods(beginningas
earlyas320B.C.E.andrunningupthrough320C.E.andbeyond)
that teach different methods and envision quite different conceptionsofwhatitmeanstobecomeatranscendentindeed,evenin
sometextsthatdonotadvanceagoalrecognizableasbecominga
transcendentatall?
One of the striking things about the texts we have reviewed is
132
133
Foranexample,seeCampany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,327.
Forafewexamples,seeCampany,ibid.,25-26.
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robertfordcampany
thatmostofthemofferverylittlebywayofaninternalistcritiqueof
grainsorothereverydayfoods.Thatis,theyallrecommendavoidinggrainsandofferwhattheytoutassuperioralternatives,buton
the question of precisely why grains are such inferior nourishment
theyhavelittleornothingtosay.Whatlittleinternalistcritiquewe
dofindcomesquitelateapparentlyEasternHanattheearliest
anddoesnotseemwelldeveloped:ordinaryfoods,describedasrottenandsmelly,impurifyabodythatmustbebroughtintoqi-based
resonance with heaven. This impurity is located specifically in the
intestines.WefindanechoofthisnotioninGeHongswritings,134
but elsewhere we also find Ge Hong averring that even the five
grainscansustainpeople;whenpeoplegetthemtheylive,ifcutoff
from them they die. How much the more, then, in the case of divinemedicinesofsuperiorgrade:howcouldtheirbenefitstohumans
not be a myriad times that of the five grains?135 In most discussions, then, it is not that prescribers and practitioners of transcendenceartsportrayedordinaryfoodasharmful;itisratherthatthey
hadwhattheyconsideredsuperioralternativestooffer.
Onthepositiveside,ofcoursewedofindsomeinternalistrationales for the ingestion of qi: notions concerning the benefits of its
circulationandcultivationinthebody,groundedinwiderviewsof
themicrocosmicselfandinparticularcosmogoniesandcosmologies.
And,asjustpointedout,wealsofindrepeatedassertionsofthelifeprolongingbenefitsofvariousherbalandmineralpreparations.But
again,whythesedietsofqiorofrareherbsandmineralsshouldbe
regardedassuperiortooneofordinaryfoodisaquestionthatvery
oftenremainsunanswered;wearemerely,butrepeatedlyandindiverseways,toldthattheyaresuperior.
Take,forinstance,theHeshanggongcommentarypassageadduced
above. Why, for this text, does eating qi surpass eating food? The
answerthetextgivesisthatthebinarypairqi/food(hereexpressed
assapors,acommonenoughsynecdochicfigureofspeech)correlateswithaseriesofotherpairsinwhichonememberoutranksor
bests the other. This is to say that, for this text, eating qi is better
thaneatingfoodinthesamewaythatheavenoutranksearth,men
areinasuperiorstationvis--viswomen,andsoon;thesuperiori134
135
Seenote119above.
Baopuzineipianjiaoshi,4.71.
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49
tyofeatingqi,onceplacedwithinthismatrixofotherasymmetrical
pairs,issimplyself-evident.ThesamecanbesaidoftheMawangdui
textonavoidinggrainsdiscussedabove.Thesetextswayofsaying
theirmethodsaresuperioristojuxtaposethemagainstotherpracticeswithwhichtheymaybefavorablycompared;theirrecommended
methodsarevalorizedbybeingplacedinahierarchyvis--vistheir
alternativesandnotbyreferencetoanyintrinsicmeritsclaimedfor
them.Here,atleast,itappearsthat,withoutagrain-basedcuisine,
the proposed qi-based cuisine would have nothing to commend it,
norhetoricalorideologicaltraction;itisfromthecontrastbetween
twoopposedcuisinesthattherhetoricdrawsforceandbecomesan
argumentofsortsforeatingqi.The prestige of eatingqi is a functionofthiscontrastwithitsculinaryother.
Or,taketheassertion,articulatedinseveraltextssurveyedabove,
thatitisbettertoeatwhathasnoformthantoeatordinary,formed
food. This assertion is correlated with a ladder of beings crowned
byformlessones,andisaccompaniedbyanoutlineofmethodsby
which one might hope to become a formless being oneself. These
featuresareinturncorrelatedwithacosmogonyinwhichformlessnesscharacterizesthepure,primordial state that preceded the decline into ever-deepening degrees of formedness such as the texts
readersfindthemselvesincurrently.Sinceqihasnoform,andfoods
do,bettertoeatqi.Evenbetteristoeatnothingwhatsoever.
Herewehaveabitmoreofaninternalistbasisforeatingqiornot
eatinganythingatall,totheextentthatthosepracticesareembeddedinalargerideologicaldiscourseofformlessness.But,inasense,
thismaneuversimplyaddsalayertothesamerhetoricalstructure
seenintextsthatsimplyofferrankedbinarylists:why,andhow,is
formlessnessagoodthing?Partoftheanswer,atleast,isthatitisa
goodthingbecauseithasformednesstobecontrastedto.Formednessconstitutestheproblemthatamethodologyofformlessnesscan
befashionedtosolve;formednesssetsthetermsinwhichitsopposite
will come to be strategically deployed. Or, more accurately, practicesotherwise(andcertainlybyotheragents)regardedindifferent,
oftenfavorabletermsarehererepositionedandrecontextualizedas
formedbybeingnewlyopposedtopositedformlessrivals,and
thusnewlyrevealedasinferior.
Eventhemoreelaboratearticulationofinternalistrationalesfor
thecuisinesoftranscendence,then,heavilydependsonthecontrasting of those cuisines with others: an externalist discourse seeps in at
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everyturn.Anotherwaytomakethepointistosuggest,somewhat
speculatively,thatamajorreasonfortheclaimthatcertainparticular wild herbs and other exotic products had such power to bestowlongevitywasthesheerfactthattheywerewildandexotic.It
isasthoughthemostimportantfeaturetorecommendthecuisines
oftranscendencewasthattheywerenotthecuisineofagricultural
andpastoralsociety,thecuisineofgrains.
Whywasitthatthegazeofthesewritersandpractitionersstayed
sopowerfullyfixedonthecuisinetowhichtheywereconstructing
alternatives?Iwanttosuggest,inshort,thatgrainswere,toecho
a passage from Lvi-Strauss, good to oppose rather than being
seenasintrisincallybadtoeat,136andthattheyweregoodtoopposebecauseofallthattheyexpressed,symbolized,andimplied,all
oftheotherculturalvaluesandinstitutionstowhichtheywere,as
wehaveseen,indissolublylinked.Providinganalternativetoeating
grains meant providing an alternative to all that eating grains entailed and invoked and had been linked to, and this surplus of associations,Isuggest,wasaprimaryreasonifnotindeedthemost
importantreasonwhyalternatecuisinesweredeveloped.Declaringindependencefromagrain-basedcuisineaffordedleveragefor
the construction and legitimation of alternative paths and for endowingthemwithacontrastiveprestige.Thiscontrastivenesswasa
majoryet,becauseimplicit,oftenoverlookedaspectofthecultural
meaningofcuisinesoftranscendence.
If,forexample,cultivatingandeatinggrains,cooking,anddwellinginsettledagriculturalcommunitieswerethetraitsseenbysome
as quintessential marks of civilization and as key tropes in the sacred history of the people of the Central Kingdom, then the fashioners of cuisines of transcendence would blaze paths constituted
precisely by the antitheses of these three traits: a diet (1) based on
something other than grains (whether inhaled qi or qi as found in
exotic foodstuffs gathered from the cosmic periphery), (2) ingested
raw (already cooked by the action of heaven and earth) or else
prepared according to secret methods different from the standard
cookingtechniques,perhapscookedwithinthebodyoftheadept
or in the alchemists cauldron, and (3) prepared and consumed as
136 See Claude Lvi-Strauss, Totemism, tr. Rodney Needham (Boston: Beacon
Press,1963),89.
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partofadisciplinedlifepartiallylivedinthemountainsandroaming
throughthewildsandbarrensofthecosmos,separatedfromcommercewithordinarypeople.Totheextentthatsomeearlyauthors
sawtheadventofagricultureasanecessaryconditionfortheflourishingofotherculturalvaluesandarts,therejectionofagriculture
byotherearlyauthorsincluding(butnotlimitedto)someshapers
ofpathsoftranscendenceentailedarejectionandcritiqueofthose
valuesoftencouchedintermsofareturntonaturalsimplicity.That
graincultivationwasoftenfeatured(byitsproponents)morethanthe
cookingofmeatasamarkerofpropercivilizationperhapsexplains
whygrainsweresingledoutforreplacementbythecreatorsoftranscendence paths; later, the Celestial Master movements would, by
contrast,focusonmeatandbloodasthekeyavoidancesandwould
developdifferentcontrastiveideologiesbased,inpart,onthevaluationoflife.137Itisinlightofnarrativesofthegenesisofculturethat
linkedtheadventofpatternedtextileclothingtothatofsettledagriculture,raisinghumanityabovethemeredonningoffeathersand
animalskinsastheyalsomadeitpossibleforpeopletoeatcooked
grains rather than raw flesh, that we must view representations of
transcendentsasfeather-clad,winged,bird-likefigures.
Ifagriculturalfoodwasthefoodoftheprivilegedcenter,thecountryofthegods,thenadeptsinquestoftranscendencereversedthat
hierarchy,privilegingtheexoticcosmicperipheryandthewild,undomesticatedzonesofmountainforestsastheirculinarysources.In
effect,theseadeptsreturnedtoagatheringstageofculture,butin
adiscoursethatprioritized,astheirsdid,pure,simple,formlessoriginsoverpolluted,complex,too-formedlatterdays,suchareturn
wasvaluedpositively.(Thiswasatropethattheshapersofpathsof
transcendenceappropriatedfromwhatsomehavetermedtheprimitivistdiscoursefoundinsectionsoftheZhuangziandLaoziandotherworks.)Theyclaimedtohavesoleaccesstotheartsofflightand
speedylong-distancetravelnecessaryforreachingsuchdistantclimes
and made possible by esoterically transmitted methods and by the
lightening and levitating (qingju ) of their bodies that their ab137 See,forexample,TerryKleeman,LicentiousCultsandBloodyVictuals:
Sacrifice,Reciprocity,andViolenceinTraditionalChina,AsiaMajorThirdSeries
7(1994):185-211,andTerryKleeman,MountainDeitiesinChina:TheDomestication of the Mountain God and the Subjugation ofthe Margins, Journal ofthe
AmericanOrientalSociety114(1994):226-38.
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robertfordcampany
stentionfromgrainshelpedaccomplish.Theyalsoclaimedexclusive
possession of the spiritual technologies of protective talismans and
spellsnecessaryforventuringintothemountainwilds.
Ifthedivineprogenitorsandoverseersoftheannualagriculturalcyclewerethankedwithelaborate,society-wide,royallyandimperiallysponsoredritesofsacrifice,thenthoseadeptswhoclaimed
the ability to thrive without consuming the products of this cycle
were,ineffect,absentingthemselvesfromthisentiresacrificialsystem.Furthermoreandevenmoremomentously,totheextentthat
these sacrifices implied that these gods needed or wanted to eat
theproductsoftheagriculturalsystemtheycreatedandsponsored,
transcendence-questadeptswereimplicitlybutunmistakablybeing
portrayedassuperiortothemintheirabilitytoeschewagriculturalproducts.Ifadeptsrequirednoordinaryfoods,allthemoredid
successfultranscendentsrequirenosacrificialfoodofferings,unlike
the gods and spirits against whom they were constructed as a distinctcategoryofsuprahumanbeings.138Thegodsofgrainrequired
tobefedgrainandmeat:notsothepractitioneroftheartsoftranscendence, not so the transcendent. No wonder, then, that adepts
arerepeatedlyportrayedasuniquelyhavingtheprerogativetocommand spirits and gods and to ignore their demands for sacrifice
demandsthatpressedominouslyuponlocalcommunitiesoffarmers
andmerchantsbutthattheadeptcouldaffordtodismissastheoverweeningimpudenceoflesserbeingswhomheoutranked.139
Totheextentthatpoliticalauthoritywasinextricablyboundup
withthemanagementofagriculture,andtotheextentthatthealtars and sacrifices to the gods of grain and soil were the symbolicandritualcenterofthestate,practitionersoftranscendencearts
weretranscendingthesestructuresofauthorityaswell.Nowonder,
then,thatthesepractitionersarerepeatedlydepicted,intextsboth
sympatheticandhostiletotheirclaims,asrefusingorignoringthe
importunitiesofrulersandofficials,occasionallygoingsofarasto
138 Thisdidnotpreventshrinesandtemplestotranscendentsfrombeingconstructedforthepurposeofmakingofferings;butthispracticerepresentsanappropriationoftranscendentsbypractitionersofsacrificialreligionandwasnotsomething
thatadvocatesoftranscendenceartsapproved(see,forinstance,GeHongsattacks
onsacrificialreligionintheninthchapterofhisBaopuzineipian).
139 Hagiographies are full of instances of this prerogative; for examples, see
Campany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,252-55and153.
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53
make a theatrically elaborate and humiliatingly complete mockery

oftheirattemptsatcoercion.140Adeptsrepeatedlyclaimedexemptionfromtherulerssphereofcommandandassertedtheirrightto
deferencefromofficialswhowishedtolearntheirsecretarts,justas
theyclaimedahigherplaceinthecosmichierarchythanthegods
to whom the rulers and their administrations were obliged to performsacrifice.
What,then,oftheancestorcult,thatbedrockofcivilizationperhaps even older and certainly more ideologically freighted than agriculture? Ancestors needed to eat, as transcendents did not; more
urgently,transcendentswerenolongeravailabletocontinueofferings
toancestors.Thepatrilinealfamilyandthecorebodiesofritualthat
sustaineditdependedfortheircontinuedexistencenotonlyonthe
uninterruptedgenerationofmaledescendantsandontheirperformanceofsacrificesbutalsoonthecontinueddeathoffamilymembers. Large numbers of successful transcendents would undermine
societyinallthreeoftheseways,removingpeoplefromthelineage
systemanddisruptingitstransgenerationalcontinuityinpursuitof
whatseemedtootherstobeapurelyselfishgoal.Opponentsofthe
questfortranscendencewerequicktoattackitonthesegrounds.Lu
Jia(fl.200-180B.C.E.)inhisXinyu criticizedthosewho,hopingtoachievedivinetranscendence,abstainedfromthefivegrains,
strained their bodies, cast aside the classics of Odes and Documents,
andexhaustedtheirphysiqueswhileabandoningtheirparentsand
families.141EventheHuainanziweighedin:
ThosesuchasWangQiaoandRedpineleavetherealmofdustandseparate
themselves from the noxious whirl of the crowd; they inhale the harmonies
ofYinandYang,feedontheessencesofHeavenandEarth,exhalingtoexpeltheoldandinhalingtotakeinthenew.Theytreadthevoidandlighten
theirbodies,ridingcloudsandroaminginmists.Theymaybecallednurturersoftheirnature,buttheymaynotbecalledfilialsons.142
InhisMasterWhoEmbracesSimplicity:InnerChapters,GeHonghas
aninterlocutorposetheproblemmoreexplicitly:
Ifuponexaminationitturnedoutthatdivinetranscendencecouldbeachieved
bystudy,thatpeoplecouldthusflyupwardsintotheempyrean,wouldthey
140 AnotableexamplemaybeseeninthecaseofZuoCi,inCampany,ibid.,
279-86.Achapterofmyforthcomingbookisdevotedtothisissue.
141 Thepassageisfoundinthesixthsectionofthework;seetheZhuzijicheng
ed.(citedabove),10-11.
142 Zhuzijichenged.,20.354;HY1176,27.10a.
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robertfordcampany
notturntheirbacksonordinarylifeandquitthisworld,sothatnooneany
longer perform the rites of offering food? And then would not the ghosts of
theancestors,whopossessconsciousness,gohungry?
Thiswasamostseriouscharge,onethatanyadvocateofthepursuitoftranscendencemustanswer.GeHongsresponse,anticipatingwhatwouldsoonbecomeastandardBuddhistmonasticreplyto
thesamechallenge,wastoarguethattheadeptsachievementofhis
religiousgoalconstitutednotalackoffilialitybutahigherformof
it.And,characteristicallyforthequestfortranscendence,thishigherpathoffilialityinvolved,amongotherthings,extendingtheopportunitytoeatsuperiorfoodstotheadeptsentirefamily(notethe
italicizedpassagesbelow).InGeswords:
Ihaveheardthatpreservingonesbodyfreeofinjuryistheultimateinfiliality.DoesnottheattainmentoftheWayoftranscendence,longlifeandeverlastingvision,comingtoanendonlywhenHeavenandEarthdo,surpassby
farthereturningintacttoonesancestrallineagethatwhichonehadreceived
whole?Foronecouldtherebyascendintothevoid,treadamidstphosphors,
ride in a cloud-chariot with a rainbow canopy, sup on mist from the aurora of
dawn,inhalethepurifiedessenceofmysticyellow.Whatonedrinksthereisliquorofjade
andjuiceofgold;whatoneeatsisexcrescencesofblueandefflorescencesofvermilion;one
dwellsinhallsofagateandchambersofjasper;fortravel,oneroamsaimlessly
inGrandPurity.Iftheghostsoftheancestorshaveconsciousness,thenthey
wouldshareinonesglory,perhapsservingasadviserstotheFiveThearchs,
perhaps overseeing the hundred numina. They would receive such stations
withoutrequestingthem.Forfood,theywoulddineonfloriaterarities;forposition,
theywouldoverseeLuofeng.143Noneamongthemwouldgohungry.144
Underlyingthispassageistheancientviewthatmerit,guilt,and
fortune were not only matters for individuals but were also collectivelysharedbythefamily,andnotonlyitslivingbutalsosomeof
itsdeadmembers.Hence,althoughintheshortrunfromthefami-
143
Oneofthedestinationsoftheordinarydead.
Baopuzineipianjiaoshi,3:51-52,emphasisadded.Thetechnicaltermsinthis
passageareexplainedintheannotationstomytranslationofitinToLiveasLong
as Heaven and Earth, 35 and 88-89 (mystic yellow, for example, sometimes designates massicot, an oxide of lead). For an especially clear example of the Buddhistparalleltheargumentthatthemonasticlifeisnottheabrogationoffiliality
butitshigherfulfillmentduetothesuccorthesuccessfuladeptisabletogiveher
parents(and,inthiscase,toalllivingbeingsaswell)seeArthurF.Wright,BiographyoftheNunAn-ling-shou,HarvardJournalofAsiaticStudies15(1952):19396,reprintedinWright,StudiesinChineseBuddhism,ed.R.M.Somers(NewHaven:
YaleUniversityPress,1990),69-72.CompareStephenF.Teiser,TheGhostFestival
inMedievalChina(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1988),65.
144
7/13/20058:07:39AM
55
lyspointofviewtheremightappeartobegravecostsinoneofits
membersneglectingfilialdutybycultivatinghimselfinthehills,the
benefitsofhisattainingtranscendencewouldspreadtoallmembers
ofthepatriline,even(orperhapsespecially)thedead,whoseafterlife
lotinbothofthemajorcategoriesofconcernfoodandotherworld
officewouldtherebymarkedlyimprove.Theclaimisstriking.To
my knowledge, no modern scholar has drawn any connection betweenthesearchfortranscendenceandtheconcernforaidingthe
familialdead,145butGeHongisherequiteclearlyclaimingasortof
transferofmeritfromthetranscendenttohisancestors.Nospecial
mechanism or explanation is required (unlike the Buddhist system
fortransferofmerit,whichmustsurmounttheprimafacieobstacleof
karmas strictly individual basis); the distribution of benefits in the
otherworldworksjustasitwouldinthisone:allrelativessharein
thehonorofacourtappointment,whetherthecourtbecelestialor
terrestrial,andinbothcasesthebenefitsareinpart,quitecharacteristically,culinary.146
Itremainstonoteonlyafewcuisine-relatedexamplesofthemany
specificwaysinwhichthemethodologiesoftranscendenceandthe
terms in which they were justified were constructed, in significant
measureandbricoleur-style,fromelementsofthealternativesystems
theyopposedelementsnowcreativelyreconfiguredtodonew,sometimessurprisingwork.Forexample,(1)thedeviceofahierarchyof
eaters,withthespiritseatingqiorfragranceandgentlemeneating
thefoodsthatgaveofftheseetherealbyproducts,wasalreadyemployedintheGuanzi,perhapsthemostgrain-glorifyingofallearly
works,andinothertexts.Thefashionersoftranscendenceartsappropriated this strategy but inserted themselves in the place of the
spirits so imagined. (2) The Guanzi exalted grains as the terrestrial
counterpartofstarsbecauseoftheirconcentrationofessencedueto
humanagriculturallabor;manytranscendencemethodsinvolvedthe
refinementandstoringupofessencewithintheadeptsownbody,
145
And,arguably,notmerelythefamilialdead:afewadeptsareonrecordas
having revived recently deceased relatives of their lay clients. The Shenxian zhuan
hagiographyofMaoYing,incidentally,providesanotherpowerfulinstanceofsuch
justificationoftranscendence(seeCampany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,32627).Thistopicwillbeaddressedinachapterofmyforthcomingbook.
146 ComparetheHantombmirrorinscriptionreportedinLoewe,WaystoParadise,200.
7/13/20058:07:40AM
56
robertfordcampany
thusneatlybypassingtheneedtoeatgrainsessence,andtheScripture
oftheFiveNuminousTreasureTalismanssuppliedadossierforyellow
essence(huangjing)or(intheWesternnomenclature)Solomons
Sealthatrivalsandmayhavebeencraftedasaresponsetothe
Guanzis cosmological account of grains.147 (3) The Guanzi went so
farastocharacterizegrainsastheoverseeroflifespan(siming )
ofthepeople,appropriatingabureaucraticmetaphorfromcommon
religion; one technique of transcendence often mentioned in texts
datingfromatleastthelateHanforwardinvolvedhoodwinkingthe
underlings of this divine lifespan-limit-enforcing official into thinkingthattheadeptwasalreadydead,sothattheywouldremovehis
name from the list of those due to die and effectively free him to
continuelivingoffthecelestialbooksindefinitely.148(4)Inthesacred
ritesforfeastingtheancestors,thefamilialimpersonatorofthedead
at the ancestral banquet was termed the shi , which also means
corpse; the transcendence technique just alluded to came to be
knownasshijie orescapebymeansofasimulatedcorpse
or,wemightsay,escapebymeansofanimpersonatorofaperson
inthiscasefalselyrepresentedasdeadastartlingreconfiguration
of the ancestral impersonator, here redeployed for the purpose of
artfullydeceivingthebureaucraticsystemofdeathandinfactofescapingtheveryobligationtofeed the ancestral dead that the rites
enacted.149(5)Beforeenteringintoritualizedculinarycontactwith
thespiritsofthedeadandwithgods,thesacrificerwastofast(zhai
),retiringtoathatchchamber,abstainingfrom(elegant)foodand
fromordinarysocialintercourse,andifhedidsoproperlyandfor
therequiredthreedayshewaspromisedthegiftofseeingthespiritsbeforehimashepresentedtheofferings.Howmuchgreatervisionaryaccesstospiritsmustbeenjoyed,then,bythosewhofasted
not for three days but continuously, repairing daily to a similarly
namedchamber?Suchcontinuousfastersdidnotmerelyseespirits
147 For a translation of the passage, see Campany, To Live as Long as Heaven
andEarth,26.
148 See further Campany, Living Off the Books (cited above), and Campany,ToLiveasLongasHeavenandEarth,47-60.
149 This, at least, is one common meaning of the term shijie, though not the
onlyone;seeCampany,ibid.,52-60,andUrsula-AngelikaCedzich,CorpseDeliverance,SubstituteBodies,NameChange,andFeignedDeath:AspectsofMetamorphosis and Immortality in Early Medieval China, Journal of Chinese Religions
29(2001):1-68.
7/13/20058:07:40AM
57
andgods:theybecamespirit-likebeingsofanother,self-proclaimedlyhigherclass,withpowers,abilities,andprerogativesthatresembledbutsurpassedthoseofgodsandspirits.
I believe we do not understand cuisines of transcendence if we
consider only their internalist meanings and functions. Those cuisineswereatleastasprofoundlyshapedbyeverythingtheyappear
tohavebeenexquisitelycraftednottobe;whattheywerenot,and
howtheywerenotwhattheywerenot,figuresimportantlyinassessing what they were and what they meant. Zhuangzis aphorism
Withoutanother,thereisnoself150isasapplicableto
thecollectivecreationoftraditionsofdiscourseandpracticeasitis
toindividualepistemologyandmetaphysics.
150
HYtext,ch.2,line14;Graham,tr.,Chuang-tzu:InnerChapters,51.
7/13/20058:07:41AM

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Campany Robert - The Meanings of Cuisines of Transcendence in Late Classical and Early Medieval China

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themeaningsofcuisinesoftranscendence

Although ideas and techniques such as the ones I will examine

even though by the poems own assertion the practice of offerings

is to argue that this development, along with the working of textiles,allowednotonlyforbetterlivingbutalsoforbettercareofthe

ed themselves, carrying jing within their chests, so grains represent

shejiwasadisastertantamountto the end of its political reign, the

eating are offered: no rich or fatty foods, no heavily spiced foods,

Itwouldbeamistaketolump this strange figure into the ranks

are also five types of qi to be avoided, already mentioned in some

The very processes that transform qi into sustenance sufficient

Among the silk manuscripts found at Mawangdui is one titled

The manuscript known as Ten Questions (Shiwen ) found

Harper, Early Chinese Medical Literature, 394 n. 1. The passage in Huainanzi

tions for specific methods of eating wind and qi to maximum

transcendents-in-the-making, such as Gan Shi , who also was

He proceeds to argue that it is natural for people to eat since

Wang then argues against these claims by considering two possibletypesofqiascandidatesforthisrolethoseofYinandYang

saliva as a pond and, negatively valorized, food as carrionare

they also ascended monthly to report to the register-keeping officialsonhighoftheirhumanhostsmisdeeds.Theydidsobecause

make a theatrically elaborate and humiliatingly complete mockery

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