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陳氏禮記集說補正

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Text ID
KR1d0070
Date
1675–1685
Dynasty
清

Chénshì Lǐjì jíshuō bǔzhèng 陳氏禮記集說補正

Supplements and Corrections to Mr Chén’s Lǐjì jíshuō

by 納喇性德 (撰)

About the work

A Kāngxī-period systematic refutation-and-supplement to Chén Hào’s KR1d0059 Lǐjì jíshuō in 38 juàn by Nàlàn Xìngdé 納喇性德 (1655–1685, the famous Manchu cí poet better known as Nàlán Xìngdé / Nàlán Róngruò 納蘭容若), composed during his short life as a Tóuděng shìwèi 頭等侍衛 (First-Rank Imperial Guard). The work goes section-by-section through Chén Hào’s commentary, separating omissions (bǔ 補, “supplements”) from errors (zhèng 正, “corrections”), with the canonical Lǐjì text quoted first, then Chén Hào’s exposition, then the supporting evidence and corrective argumentation. Sections where Chén Hào is correct and complete are silently passed over (the canonical text and Chén Hào’s exposition are not reproduced where no correction is offered). Of the corrections, the tíyào judges roughly thirty to forty percent are kǎozhèng of xùngǔ míngwù (training and named-objects) and sixty to seventy percent are yìlǐ shìfēi (philosophical-principle right-and-wrong) — reflecting Chén Hào’s heavy yìlǐ orientation.

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that Chénshì Lǐjì jíshuō bǔzhèng in thirty-eight juan was composed by Nàlàn Xìngdé of the present dynasty, Tóuděng shìwèi. [Nàlàn] Xìngdé has Shānbǔ hédìng Dàyì jíyì cuìyán, already catalogued. This compilation is because Chén Hào’s Lǐjì jíshuō’s errors-and-meanness are great-to-the-extreme — therefore [it] proceeds by tracing-and-analysing-and-rebutting [the work]. Whatever [Chén] Hào omitted is called bǔ (supplement); whatever [Chén] Hào erred is called zhèng (correction). Each first lists the canonical text; next lists [Chén] Hào’s saying; then citing-evidence-and-textual-investigation to display its faults. For places where there is no supplement-and-correction to be made, the canonical text and [Chén] Hào’s saying together are not recorded.

[The work] considerably draws on the discussions of Sòng, Yuán, and Míng men; on the Zhèng annotation and the Kǒng shū also at times establishes variants. In general: those examining xùngǔ míngwù are three-or-four out of ten; those discriminating yìlǐ shìfēi are six-or-seven out of ten — because [Chén] Hào’s annotation mostly takes yìlǐ as principal, therefore [the corrections] following the text in rebuttal are also many. Whatever [Chén] Hào’s saying — [Nàlàn] traces each one back to which person it originally came from — quite scrupulously-and-precisely. And being fond-of-the-broad and partial-to-the-rare — [he] also at times broadly takes-up unusual sayings.

[Examples follow of two cases where Nàlàn over-corrects, two cases where Nàlàn confuses the target by chasing further down the citation chain, etc. — the tíyào gives detailed instances. The general assessment:]

In general — for these instances — all are because of citation-and-evidence broadly-and-richly, fondness-incapable-of-being-cut. Yet [in] gathering-and-checking the various discussions, source-and-stem clearly-distinguished. Whatever [he] indicates — what [he] hits-the-mark in is eight-or-nine out of ten. Even where [he] proceeds by jùlǐ tuīqiú (relying-on-principle-and-pursuing) — like the Qǔlǐ “hěn wú qiú shèng, fēn wú qiú duō” (in trial avoid-pursuing-victory; in division avoid-pursuing-much), where [Chén] Hào’s annotation states “moreover those pursuing-victory are not necessarily able to win; those pursuing-much are not necessarily able to be much” — [Nàlàn] Xìngdé then says: “this is precisely bù zhì bù qiú (not envying, not coveting), chéng fèn zhì yù (restraining anger and stopping desire) matter — what Mr Chén states inevitably amounts to calculating gain-and-loss; if so, then [if] one can necessarily win, [if] one can necessarily get much — [one will] not find difficulty in pursuing it.” Even were one to set [Chén] Hào on the side, [I] fear [Chén Hào] would have no way to respond. Then for those who read [Chén] Hào’s annotation — how can this compilation be discarded?

Respectfully revised and submitted, ninth month of the forty-sixth year of Qiánlóng [1781].

General Compilers: Jǐ Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. General Reviser: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.

Abstract

Nàlàn Xìngdé’s Chénshì Lǐjì jíshuō bǔzhèng is the principal early-Qīng systematic critique of Chén Hào’s KR1d0059 Lǐjì jíshuō — the official MíngQīng examination commentary on the Lǐjì. Composed during Nàlàn’s short life (he died at thirty in 1685), it was completed under Kāngxī and was the first sustained scholarly intervention against the YuánMíng dominance of Chén Hào’s text. The Sìkù tíyào — which is generally hostile to Chén Hào (see KR1d0059, KR1d0060, KR1d0068) — endorses Nàlàn’s critique with unusual warmth: eighty to ninety percent of his corrections “hit the mark”, and even the over-corrections (where Nàlàn cites unusual sources beyond what is needed) are forgivable as the natural product of broad reading.

The work’s significance for the Lǐjì commentary tradition is twofold: (i) as the first systematic kǎozhèng-style critique of Chén Hào, it laid the foundation for the imperial-court demotion of Chén Hào’s text under the Qiánlóng Qīndìng Lǐjì yìshū KR1d0068 sixty years later; (ii) as a witness to Manchu high-aristocratic engagement with classical-textual scholarship in the Kāngxī period, the work documents the assimilation of Manchu intellectual elite culture to the high-Qīng kǎozhèng current. Nàlàn was the eldest son of Míngzhū 明珠, the senior Manchu minister of Kāngxī’s reign, and his combination of high-aristocratic background, Imperial Guard military service, and serious classical scholarship is a notable feature of the early-Qīng Manchu cultural assimilation.

The dating bracket 1675–1685 covers Nàlàn Xìngdé’s adult life — from his jìnshì in 1676 to his death in 1685; the work is undatable to a precise year within this range.

Translations and research

  • William Schultz, “Nara Singde’s Lyric Poetry”, Journal of the American Oriental Society 79:4 (1959), 273–282 — biographical material on Nàlàn Xìngdé as poet and aristocrat.
  • Qīng shǐ gǎo 清史稿 j. 484 (biography of Nàlàn Xìngdé).
  • Pèng Lín 彭林, Sānlǐ yánjiū rùmén 三禮研究入門 (Fùdàn dàxué chūbǎnshè, 2012) — covers the early-Qīng critique of Chén Hào.
  • Sūn Xīdàn 孫希旦, Lǐjì jíjiě 禮記集解 (Zhōnghuá shūjú, 1989) — draws extensively on Nàlàn Xìngdé’s corrections.

Other points of interest

Nàlàn Xìngdé is far better known to general readers as the great Manchu cí poet (the Yǐnshuǐ cí 飲水詞 collection — among the most celebrated cí anthologies of the Qīng period). His scholarly classical work is much less widely known but was substantial: in addition to the Bǔzhèng, he edited the Tōngzhìtáng jīngjiě 通志堂經解 — the major early-Qīng anthology of SòngYuán jīng commentary, including 140 works in 1860 juan, the principal Kāngxī-era classical-scholarship publishing project.

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