Representing Kingship and Imagining Empire in Southern Dynasties Court Poetry

Abstract

Before the fifth century, the imperial identity of a ruler seems to have disabled him as a writer rather than encouraged him to be more prolific. Literary production gradually became centered in the court by mid-fifth century, and a distinct feature of the Southern Dynasties literature is the phenomenon that emperors and princes joined with their courtiers in the act of writing poetry on social occasions. This paper focuses on a number of poems by Yan Yanzhi (384-456), Liu Yilong (407-453), Xie Tiao (464-499), Shen Yue (441-513) and Liu Xiaochuo (481-539) that represent kingship and empire and thereby become a means of disseminating and implementing imperial power. In particular, it examines the physical and discursive construction of the capital Jiankang. This paper argues that the Southern Dynasties court poetry was instrumental in the performance of sovereignty and the envisioning of the new, southern empire.