Pavilions to Celebrate Honest Officials: An Authenticity Dilemma in Fifteenth-Century China

The article centers on the celebration of Wenzhou Prefect He Wenyuan (1385–1457)’s moral integrity in a building called the “Lodge of Spurned Gold.” Building on historian Ying Zhang’s conception of late-Ming Confucian image politics, in which gentrymen and officials faced an “authenticity crisis,” the article introduces a new concept, the “authenticity dilemma.” A person faces an authenticity dilemma when his or her virtue is questioned precisely because it has been celebrated. The article shows that He rejected an illegal gift intended as a bribe, in a way that may have gone against social norms. The monument to his act accorded with orthodox encouragement of honesty in others, being based on celebrations of Han and Tang exemplars. Despite having clashed with bureaucratic colleagues and emperors, He won state recognition for his excellent service to the people of Wenzhou prefecture and until he was promoted to high office at court there was no question about his honesty. Yet his biographer worked hard to argue that He deserved the honors he won in Wenzhou, because changes in personnel policies and factional fighting meant that He was impeached at court for having “stolen a reputation,” based on the building of the Lodge. On the model of the Lodge, a number of other officials, beginning with envoys sent overseas, were honored for their honesty with “Spurned-Gold Pavilions” (que jin ting 卻金亭). Their multiplication and painter Wen Zhengming’s involvement further undermined He’s reputation, sharpening the authenticity dilemma. As a result, earlier stories of He’s life were reshaped to insist on his deep honesty, at the expense of historical details of the incident.