The Art of Severing Relationships (Juejiao) in Early Medieval China (Report‪)‬

1. INTRODUCTION Even if we don't share Hong Mai's [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1122-1202) melancholic and idealized view on the period from Han to Tang as the "Golden Age" of friendship, it is probably safe to say that relationships based on other than kinship ties were a strong focus of interest in the intellectual discourse of the period known as early medieval China. (3) Different authors such as Wei Wendi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (r. 220-226) and his "Jiaoyou lun" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("On Friendship"), Cai Yong [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (133-192) in his "Zhengjiao lun" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("On the Rectification of Relationships"), (4) Xu Gan [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (171-218) in the chapter "Qianjiao" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("On Castigating Networks") of his essay collection entitled Zhonglun [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("Disquisitions that Hit the Mark") or, to give a later example, Liu Jun [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (462-521) in his "Guang juejiao lun" [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ("Expanded Treatise on Severing Relations") agree on the fact that the ability "to associate with friends" (jiaoyou [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) or, more generally, "to establish [well-ordered] relations" (jiao [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) was considered exceedingly important by the majority of their contemporaries. (5) Friendship played an important role in a double sense: first as a universal ideal that had, by the late Han, become part and parcel of the philosophical systematization of human relationships; (6) secondly, though no less important, a social practice or skill. For in a society where political and social prominence was increasingly dependent on connections to the court or the participation in webs of patronage, the ability to form "beneficial friendships" (yiyou [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), to use Confucius' own words, were essential for every person hoping to achieve political influence. (7) Thus, in "China as in Europe, webs of patronage that involved royal relatives and high officials were a result." (8) Jia Mi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (d. 300) and his coterie of men known as the "Twenty-four Friends" (9) (ershisi you [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) or the "Eight Friends of [the Prince of] Jingling" (10) (Jingling ba you [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) are just two well-known examples of such webs of patronage. We must suspect, however, that the alleged friendship ties between the members of these groupings were retrospectively constructed rather than real. (11)