Hidden Private Entreaties Behind Two Public Steles in the Mid-Tang Dynasty

This article reveals the hidden private entreaties behind two public steles honouring the governors of a semi-autonomous province, Weibo, in mid-Tang China. One inscription was supposed to be composed by Lu Zhi, the other by Han Yu, both outstanding politicians and literati during that period. Although the two authors had been officially ordered by the emperors to draft these inscriptions, the provincial governors still chose to make private entreaties through personal correspondence. However, only one governor was successful in his entreaty while the other's strategy failed. This article exposes the complicated attitudes of the capital officials towards Weibo provincial governors as well as the intertwining of "public" and "private" spheres within a highly developed bureaucratic state