Problematic Analogies: Diplomatic Exchange and the Discourse of Legitimacy in Early Medieval China

During the Period of Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589 CE), rival regimes engaged in both military and cultural competitions, appropriating shared symbolic repertoires to assert political legitimacy. At the forefront of the “war of words” were royal envoys, who traveled across borders and debated with their hosts on various cultural matters, during which the very concept of legitimacy became a contentious issue susceptible to verbal manipulation. One prevalent rhetorical device employed for legitimation was forming analogies. The rhetoric of analogy draws parallels between the current state and previous glorious empires such as Zhou and Han, thereby constructing a lineage of cultural inheritance. However, in the diplomatic context, any proposed resemblances faced scrutiny from interlocutors, and triangulating “we,” “you,” and “the past” could also potentially unravel the lineage of political legitimacy accepted within one court community. This talk examines how the rhetoric of analogy was employed, denied, and stretched to the limit in the early medieval diplomatic context and how the mismatch between rhetoric and reality prompted reflections on legitimacy as a discursive construct. This talk will also discuss the era’s deepened rhetorical awareness and explore legitimacy not as a system of thought but as discursive relations.

Lu Kou is an Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University, specializing in medieval Chinese literature. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2018. His research interests include court culture, theories of rhetoric, historiography, bureaucracy and literature, and the global Middle Ages. He is currently completing his book manuscript titled War of Words: Courtly Exchange and the Discourse of Legitimacy in Early Medieval China.

Sponsor(s): Center for Chinese Studies