Shījīng shūyì (huìtōng) 詩經疏義會通
Sub-commentary on the Classic of Poetry (Comprehensive) by 朱公遷 (Zhū Gōngqiān, zì Kèshēng 克升)
About the work
A 20-juǎn late-Yuán zhèngyì-style sub-commentary on Zhū Xī’s Shī jí zhuàn, expanded after Zhū Gōngqiān’s death by his fellow-Lèpíng townsman Wáng Féng 王逢 (additions titled Jílù 輯錄) and Wáng Féng’s pupil Hé Yīng 何英 (additions titled Zēngshì 增釋). Hé Yīng’s final-form publication in Zhèngtǒng jiǎzǐ (1444) was titled Shī zhuàn yì 詩傳義 with a board-title of Shī zhuàn huìtōng 詩傳會通; the present Shījīng shūyì huìtōng combines Zhū Gōngqiān’s original title with the alternate. Methodologically the work is the most disciplined of the three Yuán Zhū-Xī-school sub-commentaries (with KR1c0027 Xǔ Qiān, KR1c0028 Liú Jǐn, KR1c0029 Liáng Yì): “the zhù has its shū, hence Shūyì.” Zhū Gōngqiān is doctrinally strict in defence of the Jí zhuàn but willing to correct Zhū Xī on points where the philological evidence is decisive.
The Sìkù editors highlight two such corrections: (1) on Juǎn’ěr the Jí zhuàn mistakenly takes the Máo zhuàn’s reading of cuī wéi 崔嵬 as “an earth-mountain wearing stone”; the Ěryǎ and Shuōwén in fact give the opposite — “a stone-mountain wearing earth”; Zhū Gōngqiān corrects. (2) On Qī yuè the Jí zhuàn takes Liú huǒ (the descent of the heart-asterism) as occurring in the sixth month, following the Yuèlìng; Zhū Gōngqiān, applying precession-of-the-equinoxes calculations to Gōng Liú’s date, argues that Liú huǒ in Gōng Liú’s time would have fallen at the fifth-sixth month boundary. Both are genuine kǎozhèng contributions and the editors approve.
The work is also useful for its source-attribution: Zhū Gōngqiān runs down every textual parallel and citation Zhū Xī used. Where Zhū Xī’s named source is unclear (e.g. the Wèi fēng reading “Zhàozǐ” — actually the otherwise-obscure Zhào Bóxún 趙伯循; the Xiǎo Yǎ Sī gàn “or said —” — actually Zēngshì 曾氏), Zhū Gōngqiān gives an attribution.
Tiyao
By the Yuán Zhū Gōngqiān. Gōngqiān zì Kèshēng, of Lèpíng. The Jiāngxī tōngzhì records him as Chùzhōu xuézhèng in the Zhìzhèng era. Hé Yīng’s later postscript says he was given a xiàoguān office by special edict, getting the JīnHuá fǔxiáng. The two accounts differ. The Lèpíng xiànzhì records that Gōngqiān passed the Zhìzhèng xīnsì (1341) Zhèjiāng provincial examination, taught at Wùzhōu, and was transferred to Chùzhōu. So Hé’s preface gives the start; the Tōngzhì gives a summary.
This work was made to manifest Master Zhū’s Jí zhuàn. Since the zhù has its shū, the work is called Shūyì. Later, his fellow-townsman Wáng Féng and Wáng Féng’s pupil Hé Yīng each gathered the various sayings to supplement: Wáng’s additions called Jílù; Hé’s called Zēngshì. Successive enlargements, but the unifying intent is one.
His exposition strictly defends Master Zhū, never an inch deviating. But he occasionally adjudicates: e.g. on Juǎn’ěr the Jí zhuàn erroneously uses the old Máo zhuàn reading, taking cuī wéi as “earth-mountain wearing stone”; Gōngqiān cites the Ěryǎ and Shuōwén to show it should be “stone-mountain wearing earth.” On Qī yuè the Jí zhuàn follows the Yuèlìng, taking Liú huǒ in the sixth month; Gōngqiān calculates the suìchā (precession) and argues that in Gōng Liú’s time it should be at the fifth-sixth month boundary. Both supplement the Jí zhuàn’s gaps.
For every textual referent the Jí zhuàn cites, he documents the source. Where original-source attribution was missing — e.g. Wèi fēng’s “Zhàozǐ” (in fact Zhào Bóxún), Xiǎo Yǎ Sī gàn’s “or said —” (in fact Zēngshì) — he investigates and confirms. Although these have no bearing on the great themes, they show his careful method.
The book was completed in Zhìzhèng dīnghài (1347). In Zhèngtǒng jiǎzǐ (1444) Hé Yīng took Wáng Féng’s transmitted draft, gave it a fresh expansion-and-revision, titled it Shī zhuàn yì, “detailed exposition manifesting clearly,” gave it to the Yè family of the Shūlín book trade for printing — but the board-title gave Shī zhuàn huìtōng. The reason is unclear. We have here restored Zhū Gōngqiān’s original title, Shījīng shūyì, so as not to bury the founder.
Abstract
The Shījīng shūyì (huìtōng) is the principal late-Yuán Zhū-Xī-school Shī sub-commentary, completed in 1347 (Zhū Gōngqiān’s draft) and given final form by Hé Yīng’s expansion in 1444. The work occupies a middle position between Liú Jǐn’s eclectic Tōngshì and Liáng Yì’s strictly source-documenting Pángtōng: Zhū Gōngqiān is willing to correct Zhū Xī on kǎozhèng points but does not depart from the Jí zhuàn’s doctrinal frame. The Sìkù editors prefer it to Liú Jǐn’s Tōngshì on grounds of evidentiary discipline. The composition window is set 1340 (the start of Zhū Gōngqiān’s mature teaching career, post-1341 jǔrén) to 1347 (the Zhìzhèng dīnghài completion date); the Wáng Féng / Hé Yīng layers were added later but are ancillary to Zhū Gōngqiān’s original.
Translations and research
No translation. Treated in Bao Lǐlì’s Yuándài Shī xué shǐ. The work is the principal subject of dedicated study in Yuán Mǐn 袁敏, Zhū Gōngqiān Shījīng shūyì yánjiū (Zhōngshān dà., 2013).
Other points of interest
The Sìkù editors’ restoration of Zhū Gōngqiān’s original title — over Hé Yīng’s later Shī zhuàn yì and the printer’s Shī zhuàn huìtōng — is one of several places in the Shī-class tíyào where the editors actively prefer the founder’s titling against later editorial reorganization.