Luan Da

Luan Da
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For the city, see Luanda.

Luan Da (before 156 BC – before 87 BC; Chinese: 栾大; Pinyin: Luán Dà) was a religious figure during the early Han Dynasty from the state of Yue. Through his display of supernatural crafts he gained the favor of Emperor Wudi of Han, became very influential and married one of the daughters of the emperor. Religious figures during his time often became powerful, and mediumship and related practices were popular. Practitioners of the supernatural later fell from favour, however, with the emperors going so far as to penalize those who married such people. Luan Da took his leave of the emperor due to this decline, but he was eventually captured and executed.

content

1 Background
- 1.1 Cultural background
- 1.2 Han Wudi
2 Career
3 See also
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links

Background

Cultural background

In early imperial China (which consists of the Qin and Han Dynasties), religion centered around the realm of shen (spirits) and yin (shadow). This realm was considered sacred. Religious figures attempted to contact this realm through elaborate ceremonies in which they would blur the perceptions of both themselves and those watching with smoke, incense, and music to achieve a desired effect. For example, the chief priest, before sacrificing, would fast and meditate. This deprivation of food was thought to make him more susceptible to perceiving shen, yin, and other phenomena within the smoke during the sacrifice. During the Han Dynasty, alleged mediums would fall into trances or perform ritual dances to accomplish supernatural feats. Some of these events were documented in the Shi jing (Canon of Odes), written in the Zhou Dynasty.¹

Han Wudi

Emperor Wu was a rather superstitious man, as evidenced by his drinking of a "spiritual dew" composed of crushed jade and morning dew collected on a platter. He only desisted from this habit when he became severely ill from the elixir.²

The court mystic who preceded Luan Da, Shaoweng, had studied with the same teacher as Luan Da. He had performed a ritual that was found to be fraudulent, and, embarrassed, the emperor ordered Shaoweng's execution, keeping quiet about the affair. Shaoweng's death was purportedly by horse liver, which was thought to be poisonous at the time. Regretting later that he had not had time to learn all of Shaoweng's arts, the emperor began to seek out a new mystic.³

Career

Han Wudi, better known as Emperor Wu of Han, worshiping Buddha

Early life

Not much is known about Luan Da's early life; only that he was born in Yue;⁴ the eldest child in his family. Records do not reveal to us even his full name; the Da (大; big) simply signified that his seniority over his siblings. It was conventional at the time, however, to omit surnames for minor figures in the annals of history, and thus this is not unusual.⁵

Rise to power

Luan Da's home state of Yue was renowned for its mediums. He was described by the Shih ji (Records of the Grand Historian) as "tall and a brilliant speaker", as well as "fertile in techniques".⁴ In addition, he was a master of esoteric arts, such as shadow play. According to the aforementioned Shih ji, Luan Da had been recommended to the emperor in 113 BC, while he was the emperor's brother Liu Ji's mystic, by the Marquess of Lecheng, Dingyi. She took advantage of the emperor's regret for never having learnt all of Shaoweng's arts by boasting that while Luan Da and Shaoweng had had the same teacher, Luan Da far exceeded Shaoweng in his capabilities.²

Upon their meeting, Emperor Wu inquired into Luan Da and his teacher's powers; Luan Da boasted of having met immortals in response. He also claimed that with enough stature and skill, one could create gold, manufacture a means of achieving immortality, dam the Yellow River, and become an immortal himself.² Luan Da then expressed concern at how Shaoweng had been killed previous to the offer, but the excited emperor assured him that the rumours of Shaoweng's execution were false.⁶ The emperor, in his enthusiasm, decided to offer him anything⁷ if he would take Shaoweng's place and discover the secret of immortality from his allegedly immortal master.² To this, Luan Da replied:

My master never asks favors from men, it is men who asks from him. If your majesty absolutely wishes to have a conference with immortals (dealing with immortals), then your majesty should let the immortals' envoys (pointedly, Luan Da) attain a position of nobility and let them have a family, treating them like one's highly esteemed guest, never looking down upon them, and letting them have various seals and letters to allow them to convey your majesty's words with royal authority. Even so, it is still uncertain if the immortals might come to a deal with your majesty. Think of how busy they are! Anyway, men plans for things, heaven makes things happen; it is all up to your majesty.⁷

The emperor then, as a precaution, tested Luan Da by telling him to cause chess pieces on a board to charge at one another. On seeing this demonstration of his powers, which had in fact been engineered by covering the pieces in a mixture of rooster's blood, iron shavings, and "magnetic dust," the emperor was reassured that he was of true power.² In Science and Civilisation in China (1986), Joseph Needham discusses the details of how Luan Da might have pulled off this feat; his main point is that lodestone was likely used; powdered magnetite would not have been very effective.⁴

At the time, the Yellow River was flooding, and due to Luan Da's extravagant claims regarding it, the emperor felt the quickly pleasing the mystic would be wise.² He granted Luan Da the title of the General of Five Profits,⁸ and then, almost as an afterthought, four other such titles: the General of Justice, the General of the People, and the General who Clears the Way. However, Luan Da was not satisfied with mere titles,² and so Emperor Wu also granted him the marquisate of Letong; giving him some 2,000 households to rule over.⁹ Further lavished on him were a luxurious mansion, a thousand servants, lavish transportation, 10,000 catties of gold, many decorations, a seal labelled "General of Moral Authority",¹⁰ and even the hand of the emperor's eldest daughter, Princess Wei Zifu, in marriage, with an estimated dowry of 10,000 catties.² The emperor himself, along with envoys, members of the royal family, and high-ranking officials often invited him to dine or paid him house calls merely to ask how he was doing.¹¹ Within a few months, Luan Da had attained six seals: five generalships and his marquisate, and his standing had skyrocketed.¹² He was no longer a subject of the emperor but an envoy of the immortal beings; the emperor's equal.²

With these honours on him, Luan Da spent every evening at home attempting to summon spirits. According to the Shih ji, no spirits appeared, but only "a multitude of ghosts who gathered around." These, the text claims, he was able to command.¹² On the same page, its author, Sima Qian, scorns Luan Da. He notes that "Everyone on the seacoast of Yan and Qi began waving their arms about, declaring that they possessed secret arts and could summon spirits and immortal ones."⁹¹² Indeed, Luan Da's exponential grwoth in reputation and stature became a great source of discussion in the Han capital of Chang'an, and mystics were eager to imitate his success.²

Fall from power and death

By the summer after his elevation, Luan Da had forgotten the emperor's request for an audience with the immortals. Emperor Wu, anxious to achieve immortality, decided to send an envoy to remind him of his task. Luan Da attempted to delay, but eventually he realised he had to pretend to journey to meet the immortals to appease the emperor and allay his suspicions.² With a group of followers, he first travelled to Shandong and then to Peng-lai.¹³ Emperor Wu, however, was suspicious already, and sent a spy to follow Luan Da.²

The spy followed him to Mount Tai,¹³ where he performed a ritual with his followers, though they did not see any immortals. He then ordered his followers to stay behind while he went to see the immortals, with the rationale that the immortals would not descend to see such lowly servants. The spy followed Luan Da as he went forth alone, but only saw him walking on the beach. Luan Da then returned to the group and reported that he had seen his immortal master and that they were to report back to the emperor. The spy, angered by his trickery, rushed back to the capital before Luan Da to inform Emperor Wu. The emperor was incensed that Luan Da had managed to trick so much out of him, but decided to play along when the mystic returned to see what lies he he would tell.²

When Luan Da returned, he told the emperor of his falsified meeting with the immortals; however, as he fabricated, he sensed that the emperor did not believe him. Before long, the emperor broke out in a rage, ordering Luan Da to tell what he had actually done. Luan Da was dumbfounded, but attempted to continue telling his story, but the emperor called for the spy to come and contradict each of the lies Luan Da told. At a loss for words, Luan Da was arrested by Emperor Wu's order, and executed by severance by his waist. The emperor extended his fury to the Marquess of Lecheng as well, having her beheaded for her recommendation of Luan Da, and her body then defiled.²

Later in the Han Dynasty, mystics like Luan gradually lost their influence, with many laws passed against them. Mediums were not allowed to attempt to barter their crafts alongside roads, and some were even forbidden to make a living at such a craft at all. Those married to shamans were not even allowed to hold government office, though this latter law was often bypassed.⁹ Luan Da's fall merely signaled the beginning of the end for these mystics.

Notes

^ Lewis 2007, p. 180
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Zhang 2006
^ Eno 2006, p. 10
^ ^a ^b ^c Needham 1986, p. 316
^ Xuhui 2008
^ Eno 2006, p. 11
^ ^a ^b Qian 1993, p. 31
^ Qian 1993, p. 32
^ ^a ^b ^c Lewis 2007, p. 181
^ Qian 1993, pp. 32–33
^ Peerenboom 1993, p. 255
^ ^a ^b ^c Qian 1993, p. 33
^ ^a ^b Eno 2006, p. 12

References

Eno, Robert. "The Reign of Wu-di" (PDF). Indiana University. Retrieved on August 2, 2008.
Lewis, Mark Edward (2007). The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02477-9.
Needham, Joseph (1962). Science and Civilisation in China 3. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521058025.
Peerenboom, Randall P. (1993). Law and Morality in Ancient China: The Silk Manuscripts of Huang-Lao. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0791412374.
Sima Qian (1993). Records of the Grand Historian: Han Dynasty II. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-08167-2. Edited by Burton Watson.
(Chinese) Xuhui (2008). Chaotic Times: China's 30 Most Controversial Historical Figures. Beijing, China: New World Publishing. ISBN 9787801877000.
(Chinese) Zhang, Zhengzhong (2006). The Mythological Figure of Han Wudi. Jilin, China: Period Literature Publishing. ISBN 7-5387-2180-0.

External links

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