"Short Scrolls" and "Slanderous Reports": Political Communication and Political Culture in the Early Southern Song

Abstract

In the fifth month of 1187 a fire engulfed a densely populated area in the city of Chengdu. The prefect, Zhao Ruyu 趙汝愚 (1140–1196), provided swift and effective disaster relief. Within a few months, the affected area reemerged from the ashes with new buildings constructed with the support of government funds. But this did not earn him universal acclaim. Instead, his report of the fire damage became the subject of controversy at court. In the months that followed, Zhao was impeached and investigated for underreporting the fire losses, but eventually he was cleared of all charges. Two accounts have survived from the early thirteenth century on these impeachments and investigations. One of these accounts is found in Zhao’s tomb epitaph, written by Liu Guangzu 劉光祖 (1142–1222) between 1208 and 1222.1 It seems to have