Hsun (317) and his son Su Shih (1036–1101), one of the most famous of all
Chinese poets—and, despite political enmity, a literary friend of Wang An-shih.
The Neo-Confucians carried out a two-pronged fight against both wings.
Ch’eng I was an uncompromising moralist and struck out against literary
Confucianism. Chou Tun-I too had declared, “Those who engage in purely
literary expressions are vulgar people” (Chan, 1963: 478). To carry out an
anti-literary reform of the examination system was to strike at the status
culture of the mainline Confucians; opposition from the orthodox side dogged
the Neo-Confucians for generations, down to the time of Chu Hsi.
The careers of the core Neo-Confucians were tied up with the struggle
against Wang An-shih. Ch’eng Hao was demoted in 1070 for opposing the
new reforms, and again 10 years later after he had made his way back into
favor; Ch’eng I held himself remote from official position during the Wang
An-shih period. Chang Tsai and Chou Tun-I resigned from the government at
the beginning of the reforms, and advocated counter-reforms such as a return
to the archaic land tenure arrangements of the ancient texts. In contrast to
Wang An-shih’s utilitarian policies, the Neo-Confucians declared that reform
must be moral and ceremonial. “To hope for perfect government without
restoring ancient and changing modern music is to be far off the mark” (Chan,
1963: 473): this was a characteristic utterance of Chou Tun-I.
The Wang An-shih reformers held power only briefly, but the struggle of
factions went on for some time. Ch’eng I became director of education (1087)
in the regime following the reforming emperor’s death, but was twice dismissed
from office, banished, and had his teaching prohibited, as well as being twice
pardoned and returned to office before his death in 1106. The Wang An-shih
group briefly recaptured power at the turn of the century, while the orthodox
Confucians around Su Shih fought for their version of hegemony. Still other
changes in direction were instituted after 1100 by Hui-tsung, an artist-emperor
who was hostile to the moralistic and anti-literary Neo-Confucians as well as
to the economic reformers. None of these maneuverings improved the financial
weakness of the government; crumbling militarily, the Sung was forced to move
south in 1127 when north China was overrun by the tribal Jürchen kingdom.
The Examination System and the Growth of Schooling
The Sung emperors were committed to a policy of civilian control, and built
up the formal examination system as a device to keep government free of
military dominance. As the gentry class competed over educational qualifica-
tions, the size and elaborateness of the examination system developed enor-
mously. In the T’ang there was one examination, open to candidates recom-
mended by prefectural officials or to students at the schools in the capital for
302 • (^) Intellectual Communities: Asian Paths