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左氏傳說

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Text ID
KR1e0039
Date
1160–1181
Dynasty
宋

Zuǒshì zhuàn shuō 左氏傳說

Discussions of the Zuǒ-tradition

by 呂祖謙 (撰)

About the work

The Zuǒshì zhuàn shuō 左氏傳說 in twenty juan is one of three principal Zuǒzhuàn works of Lǚ Zǔqiān 呂祖謙 (1137–1181), known as Dōnglái xiānshēng 東萊先生. The other two are KR1e0040 Zuǒshì zhuàn xù shuō and KR1e0041 Zuǒshì bó yì; together with the lost Zuǒzhuàn lèi biān 左傳類編 (in 19 categories) they constitute Lǚ’s lifelong Zuǒzhuàn programme. The present work is rich and detailed expository discussion organised by zhuàn-passage, with extensive analytical comment. Originally 30 juan (per Chén Zhènsūn’s Shū lù jiětí); the present text is 20 juan, with the additional 10 juan being the separate Xù shuō recovered from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. The Sìkù base is the WYG copy.

Tiyao

The Sìkù tíyào (text from the Kyoto Zinbun digital Sìkù tíyào):

By Lǚ Zǔqiān of Sòng. Zǔqiān has the Gǔ Zhōuyì registered. His lifelong study of the Zuǒzhuàn produced three works: (1) the Zuǒzhuàn lèi biān, dividing the Zuǒshì’s text into 19 categories — long without transmitted exemplar, scattered in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn with little to draw from; (2) the Bó yì, raising matters and establishing meanings to evaluate gains and losses; (3) the present work, whose argument is roughly the same as the Bó yì but with much fuller exposition.

Chén Zhènsūn’s Shū lù jiětí says: “On the Zuǒshì’s text, much elucidation; not formal prose; like a moment’s lecture, transcribed by his disciples.” Chén’s view is sound. Zhū Zǐ’s Yǔ lù also calls the work “exceedingly broad and detailed; but the deployment of language and intent rather suffers from cleverness.”

Examining Lǚ’s own Dà shì jì 大事記 (Great Events Record), Zhū Zǐ also says it has “places of fine cleverness” but praises Lǚ’s pointing out the Hàn-period Gōngsūn Hóng 公孫弘 and Zhāng Tāng’s 張湯 villainy as “all stated to humiliate them.” So Zhū’s “clever” refers to Lǚ’s pen-edge being keen — every targeting penetrating to expose without reserve — not to clever debate or to inversion of right and wrong.

The Shū lù jiětí gives this work as 30 juan. The present text is only 20. Examining Zhāng Xuān’s 張萱 Míng Nèigé shūmù 內閣書目: it lists Zhuàn shuō in 4 cè and additionally Xù shuō in 4 cè — making clear that Chén’s “30 juan” includes the Xù shuō in 10 juan. We have separately gathered the Xù shuō from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn into a complete text, and (since its arrangement constitutes its own unit) keep it separately registered (KR1e0040).

Abstract

The Sìkù tíyào makes the principal points: that this is one of Lǚ Zǔqiān’s three principal Zuǒzhuàn works, the rich and detailed expository version; that the work is closely related to the Bó yì KR1e0041 but with fuller exposition; that Chén Zhènsūn’s “30 juan” total combines the present 20 juan plus the 10-juan Xù shuō KR1e0040, the latter recovered separately from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn; that Zhū Xī’s verdict — “clever” prose targeting Hàn-period villainy — captures Lǚ’s polemical edge but does not impugn his judgement.

The work belongs to the Lǚ-school Chūnqiū and Zuǒzhuàn line that had begun with Lǚ Hàowèn, continued via Lǚ Běnzhōng KR1e0035 and Lǚ Zǔqiān’s senior teacher Lín Zhīqí 林之奇 (1112–1176), and culminated in Lǚ Zǔqiān himself. The school’s signature is exhaustive coverage with precise source-attribution.

Translations and research

  • Lǐ Wěitài 李偉泰, Sòng-rén Chūnqiū xué dōu lùn 宋人春秋學論衡 (Tāiběi: Wénjīn 1995).
  • Hoyt Cleveland Tillman, Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy (UHP 1992) — discusses Lǚ Zǔqiān’s place in the Southern-Sòng Dàoxué movement.
  • Yú Yīngshí 余英時, Zhū Xī de lìshǐ shìjiè 朱熹的歷史世界 (Tāiběi: Yúnlóng 2003) — for Lǚ Zǔqiān as Zhū Xī’s intellectual partner.

Other points of interest

Lǚ Zǔqiān co-edited the seminal Jìn sī lù 近思錄 (“Reflections on Things at Hand”) with Zhū Xī — the principal anthology of Dàoxué doctrine — in 1175, the same period in which the present Zuǒzhuàn lectures were being delivered. The intellectual closeness with Zhū Xī (who delivered the rather warm but qualified verdict on this work) is the central political-intellectual hinge of Lǚ’s career.

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