Sìshū tōngzhèng 四書通證
Citation-Verification Companion to the Penetrating Discussions of the Four Books
張存中 (Zhāng Cúnzhōng, zì Déyōng, fl. early 14th century)
About the work
A 6-juàn citation-verification companion to Hú Bǐngwén’s Sìshū tōng (KR1h0034). Hú Bǐngwén had concentrated on yìlǐ (philosophical-doctrinal) reading and left míngwù 名物 (names-and-objects) verification mostly to one side; Zhāng Cúnzhōng accordingly compiled this tōngzhèng — methodically tracking down the source of every citation in Zhū Xī’s Sìshū jízhù and Hú Bǐngwén’s Sìshū tōng — and Hú Bǐngwén appended it to his own work as a fù (appendix). Hú Bǐngwén’s preface is preserved at the head of the WYG copy.
Tiyao
(From the Kyoto Zinbun digital Sìkù tíyào.*)
We respectfully submit: Sìshū tōngzhèng in 6 juàn — by Zhāng Cúnzhōng of the Yuán. Cúnzhōng, zì Déyōng, native of Xīnān. Hú Bǐngwén earlier composed the Sìshū tōng, detailing on yìlǐ but neglecting míngwù. Cúnzhōng accordingly arranged the old explanations to make this book and append it after — hence the title Sìshū tōngzhèng. Bǐngwén wrote the preface, naming Dù Gōushān 杜緱山 of the North as having composed YǔMèng pángtōng 語孟旁通 (note: Dù Gōushān is named Dù Yīng 杜瑛, a Jīn-period figure), and Xuē Shòuzhī 薛壽之 / Xuē Yǐnnián 薛引年 of Píngshuǐ 平水 as having composed Sìshū yǐnzhèng 四書引證 — both of which were too over-extended. Cúnzhōng was able to trim away verbosity, simplify into substance, and discard error to retain truth. Bǐngwén further says: “of my Tōng, the student knows the depth of the Sìshū’s intent; of the Tōngzhèng, knows the precision of the Sìshū’s source-use.” High praise.
In examination, the book on each citation marks the source — every character must have its provenance noted. But on the Lúnyǔ “Xià yuē Hú Shāng yuē Liǎn 夏曰瑚商曰璉” entry — which inherits Bāo Xián’s error — it does not cite the Lǐjì to verify against. And on “shí jiàn yuē huì zhòngfǔ yuē tóng 時見曰會, 衆頫曰同” — slightly different from the Zhōulǐ original wording (the Sòng dynasty avoided 殷, so altered 殷 to 衆; Cúnzhōng simply cites the Zhōulǐ below without explaining why) — these are huíhù (factional defence). It is not as if the master’s [Zhū Xī’s] learning, in clarifying the orthodox sage-Way, would suffer from a small xùngǔ-defect being noted plainly!
On the Mèngzǐ entry “fought with Zhāo Yáng of Chǔ and lost seven cities” — Cúnzhōng says the Shǐjì gives 8 cities, status undetermined. He does not realise that Sīmǎ Zhēn’s Shǐjì suǒyǐn 史記索隱 plainly notes “the old text of the Shǐjì reads 7 cities” — i.e. Zhū Xī’s “7” follows the old text and is not in error. Cúnzhōng held the doubt without resolving — a failure of investigation. And on the sān ràng 三讓 entry, he cites the WúYuè chūnqiū and goes lateral into miscellaneous works; on historical events, he often sets aside the zhèngshǐ (standard histories) and cites the Tōngjiàn — not the gēnběn 根本 (root-source) learning.
Yet on the whole the citation-finding is detailed-and-clear; on places where the reader had not investigated, it sets out the source. It saves the trouble of search. To the student it is no small aid. — (Date: late Qiánlóng.)
Abstract
The Sìshū tōngzhèng is the Yúnfēng school’s citation-source companion to the orthodox Sìshū tōng. Its primary value, fairly assessed by the Sìkù editors, is its careful tracking of Zhū Xī’s quotations to their sources — a real working aid for the student of the Jízhù. Its primary defect, equally fairly noted, is the huíhù (factional-defensive) habit of suppressing or screening textual problems where these would embarrass the orthodox reading.
The two diagnostic cases — the HúLiǎn gloss missing a Lǐjì counter-citation, and the Sòng-period 殷 → 衆 substitution in the Zhōulǐ citation — are model cases of how Cheng-Zhu rigid orthodoxy could turn into philological cover-up. The Qián-lóng-period Sìkù editors, with their Hànxué sympathies, correct these without compromise.
The textual history is well-attested via Hú Bǐngwén’s preface; the work is firmly dated to the early-to-mid Yuán (after Hú Bǐngwén’s Sìshū tōng of c. 1290–1300 but before Hú Bǐngwén’s death in 1333).
Translations and research
No English translation. Modern Chinese: 點校本 in Yuán-rén Sì-shū wén-xiàn jí-chéng (Hé-nán-rén-mín 2005). Studies: Cài Fāng-lù 蔡方鹿, Sòng-Yuán Sì-shū xué shǐ; passing notice in Daniel K. Gardner, Zhu Xi’s Reading of the Analects (Columbia, 2003).
Other points of interest
Pairs naturally with KR1h0034 Sìshū tōng — the two together transmit the complete Yún-fēng-school Sìshū commentary apparatus. As the Sìkù editors note in their tōng tíyào, the citation-verification labour here is the principal philological aid in late-Yuán Lǐxué education.
Links
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §28.7.3.
- 全國漢籍データベース 四庫提要