| Chapter 1: | Poetry and Political Thought |
|
|
reforms in transport, grain collection, and the registration of migrant households for taxes in the context of the regional competition between the new rich and the old elite. Moreover, the factional composition of the political elite led to considerable corruption in official circles and corresponding extravagance in Xuanzong’s harem and court. In the emperor’s late years, under Yang Guozhong’s rule as prime minister, the transport system was being increasingly exploited as a means to bring all manner of luxury goods to the imperial palace.45 These issues form the central focus of “Traveling from the Capital,” which contains a long section on the corruptions of the supply system that was used not to supply the capital region with grain for the population but rather to bring to the Lishan resort a vast variety of luxury goods for the emperor and his entourage while the economic and moral connections between the dynasty and the people had been severed. The poem does not hesitate to indict both the emperor and his royal and aristocratic court officials for perverting the system, even as it stirringly depicts the plight of not only Du Fu and his family but their whole village. “Qiang Village” takes up again the consequences of these political-economic events for the farming population. These images are not only descriptive of reality, they prompt important questions: Is there an ideal political economy? What should be the proper relationship between the various social classes in society?
The impact of political factionalism and economic corruption on the population, especially in the areas in which Du Fu lived and traveled, was made all the sharper by the incessant rain and flooding during the years leading up to the rebellion.46 The floods became an important issue used by political factions against each other. The continuous rain in the fall of 754 prompted, according to Edwin G. Pulleyblank, “a public distribution of grain from government stores.” He adds that the “dominance of yin over yang” may have been taken at the time as a sign of Yang Guifei’s undue influence at court and that “[t]he evil portent was used to force the resignation of the second Chief Minister, Chen Xilie 陳希烈,” who had already become an enemy of Yang Guozhong.47 Politics and