WHAT ONE HAS HEARD AND SEEN: INTELLECTUAL DISCOURSE IN A LATE EIGHTH-CENTURY MISCELLANY

Abstract

Abstract This paper is a case study of the Feng shi wenjian ji 封氏聞見記 (Record of Things Heard and Seen by Mr. Feng) by Feng Yan (fl. 750–800). Because of the views on contemporary political and social life its diverse materials offer, scholars have often treated this collection as an important reservoir of historical information. Here I examine the work as an innovative project undertaken by Feng Yan within a particular historical context. Combining the traditional reportage-style miscellany and the genre of the discourse (lun 論), Feng Yan transforms the wenjian ji into a new mode of independent intellectual exploration. He not only creates an order of knowledge that decentralizes court authority, but also establishes a distinct style of analytical inquiry to achieve what he considers to be a true understanding of the world’s diverse phenomena. His strategies of organization and discussion illustrate an emergent trend of using the miscellany as a flexible yet serious medium of self-expression in the late medieval period.