欽定春秋傳說彙纂

Qīn dìng Chūnqiū chuán shuō huì zuǎn 欽定春秋傳說彙纂

Imperially Determined Compendium of Commentaries and Discussions on the Spring and Autumn Annals

by 王掞 (奉敕撰), 張廷玉 (奉敕撰)

About the work

The Qīn dìng Chūnqiū chuán shuō huì zuǎn 欽定春秋傳說彙纂 in 38 juǎn (sometimes given as 40 juǎn in earlier records) is the principal Kāngxī-era 御纂 imperial Chūnqiū compendium, completed and printed in Kāngxī 60 (1721). It was supervised by the Grand Secretary Wáng Shǎn 王掞 (1645–1728) as zǒng cái 總裁, with Zhāng Tíngyù 張廷玉 (1672–1755) and others as xiào duì 校對 and fēn xiū 分修 (revision and chapter compilation). Its purpose, as stated in Kāngxī’s preface, is to break decisively with the dominance of Hú Ānguó’s 胡安國 Húshì Chūnqiū chuán (KR1e0036) — the YuánMíng examination Chūnqiū — and to install in its place an imperially-authorised eclectic compilation of the four traditional zhuàn (Zuǒ, Gōngyáng, Gǔliáng, Hú) supplemented by an extensive bibliography of post-Hàn commentators, with judgments adjudicated against Zhū Xī’s textual-historical method.

Tiyao

The Sìkù tíyào is not present in the WYG file KR1e0094_000.txt — the front-matter of the WYG copy contains only the imperial preface, the official roster (職名), the bibliographic list of cited authors (引用姓氏), and the table of contents (目錄). The work’s official imperial-canon status meant its placement in the SKQS did not require a regulatory tíyào.

The Sìkù compilers’ notice and dating must therefore be inferred from the imperial preface and other paratexts, on which the abstract below relies.

Abstract

The work was conceived during the Kāngxī emperor’s mature reign as a definitive imperial reading of the Chūnqiū. Kāngxī’s preface (KR1e0094_000.txt, pb 1a–2a) declares: “I alone embrace Master Zhū’s reading. Master Zhū said: ‘The Chūnqiū illuminates the Way and rectifies meaning, recording events as they were so that the reader may take warning from them; the writing of names and titles has no special significance. This is one who has truly grasped the matter — but unfortunately he produced no completed book.‘” — wherefore Kāngxī commissioned the Huì zuǎn explicitly to fill the gap. The methodological program is laid out in two negative principles: “With the four commentaries as the principal frame, those that contradict the canonical text are excised; with the collected discussions as auxiliary, those that violate the zhuàn are not recorded.” The book is dated Kāngxī 60, summer, sixth month, first day (1721 VII).

The catalog meta credits Wáng Shǎn (Wényuāngé Grand Secretary) as the senior zǒng cái and Zhāng Tíngyù (then Lǐbù yòu shìláng) as the senior xiào duì. The full editorial team listed in the zhí míng 職名 (KR1e0094_000.txt, juan 職名) further includes Jiǎng Tíngxī 蔣廷錫, Lì Tíngyí 勵廷儀, Wèi Tíngzhēn 魏廷珍, Chén Bāngyàn 陳邦彦, Wáng Túbǐng 王圖炳, Zhào Xiōngzhào 趙熊詔, Wāng Yìngquán 汪應銓, Zhāng Zhào 張照, Bó Hǎi 薄海 (in the Nánshūfáng checking team); and the substantial zàiguǎn fēnxiū team including Wáng Qǐjìng 王企靖, Lǐ Fú 李紱, Lú Xuān 盧軒, Xú Ángfā 徐昻發, Wāng Fèn 汪份, Wáng Mó 王謩, Huì Shìqí 惠士奇 (the celebrated Sūzhōu Yì jīng scholar), Wáng Shíxiàn 王時憲, Wáng Shíhóng 王時鴻, Wáng Zūnyǐ 王遵扆, Yáng Shéngwǔ 楊繩武, Miào Yuán 繆沅, Wáng Shù 王澍, etc. The bibliographic yǐn yòng xìngshì 引用姓氏 list (KR1e0094_000.txt, juan 引用姓氏) is itself a small history of Chūnqiū studies — running from Zhōu (Zuǒshì, Gōngyáng, Gǔliáng) through Hàn (Dǒng Zhòngshū, Liú Xiàng, Liú Xīn, Jiǎ Kuí, Wáng Chōng, Fú Qián, Zhèng Xuán, Xú Miǎo, Hé Xiū) – Jìn (Dù Yù) – Suí (Fàn Níng, Liú Xuàn) – Táng (Lù Démíng, Kǒng Yǐngdá, Yán Shīgǔ, Yáng Shìxūn, Xú Yàn, Dàn Zhù, Zhào Kuāng, Lù Chún, Liǔ Zōngyuán, Lú Tōng, Lǐ Jǐn, Chén Yuè) – Sòng (substantial: Yè Qīngchén, Hú Yuán, Sūn Fù, Shí Jiè, Wáng Yán, Lǐ Yáoyú, Ōuyáng Xiū, Lí Chún, Liú Chàng, Sīmǎ Guāng, Dù È, Shī Xié, Sūn Jué, Chéng Yí, Sū Shì, Sū Zhé, Cuī Zǐfāng, Rèn Bóyǔ, Zhāng Dàhēng, Lù Diàn, Liú Xuàn, Sūn Biàn, Yáng Shí, Yè Mèngdé, Lǚ Běnzhōng, Xǔ Hàn, Chén Xiángdào, Hú Quán, Wáng Bǎo, Hú Ānguó, Hú Hóng, Hú Níng, Gāo Kàng, Chéng Jiǒng, Liú Běn, Chén Fùliáng, Zhū Xī, Lǚ Zǔqiān, Lù Jiǔyuān, Xuē Jìxuān, Xiàng Ānshì, Luó Yuàn, Shěn Bài, Zhāng Qià, Dài Xī, Liú Kèzhuāng, Huáng Zhòngyán, Lǐ Qí, Zhào Péngfēi, Zhào Mènghé, Huáng Zhèn, Lǚ Dàguī, Jiā Xuānwēng, Wú Zhòngyū, Rèn Gōngfǔ, Sòng Yíchūn, Zhào Yǔquán) – Yuán (Jīn Lǚxiáng, Yú Gāo, Wàn Xiàogōng, Xióng Pénglái, Wú Chéng, Chén Shēn, Qí Lǚqiān, Chéng Duānxué, Huáng Zé, Wáng Yuánjié, Zhèng Yù, Lǐ Lián) – Míng (Zhào Fǎng, Wāng Kèkuān, Liú Yǒngzhī, Zhāng Yǐníng, Liú Shí, Huáng Hàn, Shào Bǎo, Jīn Xián, Zhàn Ruòshuǐ, Jì Běn, Xióng Guò, Zhào Héng, Yú Guāng, Wáng Zōngmù, Wáng Qiáo, Jiāng Bǎo, Wáng Xījué, Wáng Dǐngjué, Zhū Mùxiè, Huáng Zhèngxiàn, Yáo Shùnmù, Gāo Pānlóng, Zhāng Huáng, Hǎo Jìng, Qián Shíjùn, Hè Zhòngshì, Zhuó Ěrkāng, Luó Yùyì, Chén Zōngzhī, Zhāng Pǔ, Chén Jìtài, Yán Qǐlóng, Zhèng Sì, Zhèng Xiánjiǎn, Wáng Guàndào, Gān Yǔ).

The structural plan, given in the table of contents (juan 目錄), runs from a substantial juǎn shǒu 卷首 in two halves — gānglǐng 綱領 (general principles) plus Wángcháo shìbiǎo 王朝世表, Lièguó niánbiǎo 列國年表, Wángcháo lièguó shìcì 王朝列國世次, Wángcháo lièguó xīngfèi shuō 王朝列國興廢説, Lièguó juéxìng 列國爵姓, Lièguó dìtú 列國地圖, Wángcháo dìmíng 王朝地名, Lièguó dìmíng 列國地名 — to the entry-by-entry exposition organised by the twelve Lǔ rulers in 38 substantive juǎn.

Structural significance

The book is the immediate Qīng predecessor to the Qiánlóng-era Yù zuǎn Chūnqiū zhí jiě (KR1e0095) — and the latter explicitly adopts the Huì zuǎn as its anchor while focusing on a more concentrated direct reading. The Huì zuǎn’s structure (juǎn shǒu + ruler-organised exposition) becomes the model for both subsequent imperial Chūnqiū compilations. The dating bracket here is fixed at the publication year 1721 (Kāngxī 60).

Translations and research

• Yáng Xiànghuá 楊向華, Qīng-dài Chūnqiū xué shǐ 清代春秋學史 (Bēijīng: Zhōngguó shèhuì kēxué chūbǎnshè 2014).
• Smith, Kidder, Peter K. Bol, Joseph A. Adler, and Don J. Wyatt, Sung Dynasty Uses of the I Ching (Princeton 1990) — for the broader programme of Zhū Xī classical studies that anchors this work.
• Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §48.1.1 (on the Chūnqiū and its commentaries).
• Pi Xirui 皮錫瑞, Jīng xué tōng lùn 經學通論 (rpt. Bēijīng: Zhōnghuá 1954) — the standard pre-modern overview of the imperial Chūnqiū canon.

Other points of interest

The methodological declaration in the imperial preface — “The writing of names and titles has no special significance” (shū míng shū jué yì wú yì yì 書名書爵亦無意義), framed as a citation from Zhū Xī — is one of the most consequential editorial moves in Qīng Chūnqiū studies: it institutionally forecloses the GōngyángHúĀnguó tradition of finding bāo biǎn 褒貶 in every name-particle, and authorises the more direct Zuǒ-leaning evidential reading that becomes the high-Qīng imperial line. The 38 juǎn (not the 40 juǎn sometimes recorded in earlier sources) reflects the WYG copy as held in the imperial library.

Links

• Sìkù yǐng yìn Wényuāngé base: V173.1, p1.
• CBDB record for 王掞: id 65762.
• CBDB record for 張廷玉: id 56675.