Lìdài zhōngdǐng yíqì kuǎnshì fǎtiē 歷代鐘鼎彝器款識法帖
A Calligraphic Album of Bell, Tripod, and Sacrificial Vessel Inscriptions through the Ages by 薛尚功 (Xuē Shànggōng, 撰)
About the work
A twenty-juàn paleographic compilation of bronze-vessel inscriptions, rendered in seal-script with extensive jiānshì 箋釋 commentary. Compiled by Xuē Shànggōng 薛尚功 (12th c.), zì Yòngmǐn 用敏, of Qiántáng 錢塘 (modern Hangzhou), in the Shàoxīng era (1131–62) while serving as Tōngzhí láng and Qiāndìng Jiāngjūn jiéduǐ pànguān. Presents the bronze-script (kuǎnshì) of bells, dǐng 鼎, yí 彝, guī 簋, and other ritual vessels arranged dynasty by dynasty. The principal medieval epigraphic compendium after the Kǎogǔtú 考古圖 of Lǚ Dàlín and the Bógǔtú 博古圖 of the Xuānhé era.
Tiyao
Lìdài zhōngdǐng yíqì kuǎnshì fǎtiē in 20 juàn; composed by Xuē Shànggōng of the Sòng. Shànggōng’s zì was Yòngmǐn 用敏; he was a man of Qiántáng. In Shàoxīng he served as Tōngzhí láng, Qiāndìng Jiāngjūn jiéduǐ pànguāntīngshì. The book is recorded in Cháo Gōngwǔ’s Dúshūzhì as 20 juàn; the Sòngshǐ Yìwénzhì the same; both agree with the present text. Only Chén Zhènsūn’s 陳振孫 Shūlù jiětí gives 10 juàn — juàn-counts differ; possibly transmission-error has dropped the upper “two” graph. Yet Wú Qiūyǎn’s Xuégǔbiān also gives 10 juàn, and the place of engraving (Jiāngzhōu) agrees with Chén Zhènsūn — i.e., there were two recensions in circulation. — The seal forms recorded are largely based on the Kǎogǔtú and Bógǔtú, but the gathered material is broader and substantively goes beyond those two. Juàn 16 includes the Bǐgān bronze platter inscription and the like — real-vs-forged is mixed; broadly the work can still be praised as catholic. Looking just at juàn 1 Shāng dǐng: the Jī dǐng and the Wéiyáng stone-engraving (which derive from the Gǔ qìwùmíng); the Jǐnán dǐng (which derives from Xiàngshǐ’ rubbing-print) — none of these are in the older illustrated catalogues. As to his jiānshì of names and meanings, the source-criticism is especially precise. For example, on Chái dǐng, the Kǎogǔtú glosses: “Zhōu Jǐngwáng 13th year, Zhèng Xiàngōng Chái established this dǐng” — but here Xuē Shànggōng follows the Bógǔtú in making it a Shāng dǐng. The Kuí dǐng inscription has 5 graphs; the Bógǔtú says “the upper graph is unclear”; here Xuē identifies the upper graph as kuí 夔. The Fùyǐ dǐng inscription likewise 5 graphs; the Bógǔtú says “the last graph is unclear”; here Xuē identifies it as yí 彝. The Bógǔtú’s Zhàofū dǐng has wǔ kān 午刋 — here written jiā kān 家刋. The Bógǔtú’s Yījiǎ dǐng has lìgē fùjiǎ 立戈父甲 — here written zǐfùjiǎ 子父甲. Wherever the Bógǔtú read “lìgē” or “hénggē” form, Xuē mostly identifies it as zǐ 子 — the argument has documentary support. He loved antiquity and curiosities and was deeply versed in zhuàn and zhòu; he could compass the strengths of all schools and weigh their differences, with real corrective work — not the cribbing-imitation kind. Xuē Shànggōng also produced Zhōngdǐng zhuànyùn in 7 juàn (essentially this book re-sorted by rhyme; not now transmitted) — but the present book gives the substance. The old print was long lost. The present is Míng Chóngzhēn’s Zhū Móuyǐn 朱謀垔 print; his preface claims a Xuē hand-copy as base — whether truly autograph cannot be confirmed, but the seal-script reproduction is exceptionally precise; superior to the world-circulated handcopies. Respectfully edited and presented in the tenth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781).
Abstract
The Lìdài zhōngdǐng yíqì kuǎnshì fǎtiē is the most important Southern-Sòng paleographic compendium of bronze-vessel inscriptions and a foundational source for the modern study of jīnwén 金文. Xuē Shànggōng worked from the imperial Bógǔtú lù of the Xuānhé era (1116) and the private Kǎogǔtú of Lǚ Dàlín (1092), but expanded the corpus with material from epigraphic rubbings (the Wéiyáng stone-engraving, Xiàngshǐ’ rubbing) and other private sources. The Sìkù tíyào gives detailed cases where Xuē corrects the Bógǔtú’s identifications of damaged inscriptions. The book survives via Zhū Móuyǐn’s late-Míng (Chóngzhēn) print, claimed to be from a Xuē autograph. Modern scholarship — especially Lǐ Líng, Yú Xǐngwú, and Bái Yǔxiá — uses the Kuǎnshì fǎtiē as one of the principal Sòng-period transmission-vehicles for jīnwén readings, particularly for vessels later lost. Xuē’s parallel Zhōngdǐng zhuànyùn in 7 juàn (rhymed re-sort) is lost. Dating bracket Shào-xīng-era 1131–1162.
Translations and research
- Hsu Ya-hwei. 2010. “Antiquaries and Politics: Antiquarian Culture of the Northern Song, 960–1127.” In World Antiquarianism: Comparative Perspectives. Los Angeles: Getty.
- Sena, Yunchiahn C. 2019. Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China. Seattle: University of Washington Press. — Treats Xuē Shàng-gōng in the Northern-Sòng to Southern-Sòng transition.
- Bái Yǔ-xiá 白雨霞 et al. 1989. Yīn-Zhōu jīn-wén jí-chéng 殷周金文集成. Beijing: Zhonghua. — The standard modern jīn-wén corpus, drawing extensively on Xuē’s recension.
- Endymion Wilkinson. 2022. Chinese History: A New Manual, §58.2.