Fù shìwén hùzhù Lǐbù yùnlüè 附釋文互註禮部韻略
The Liturgical-Bureau Rhyme-summary, with Annotation and Cross-Glosses by 丁度 (Dīng Dù, 990–1053) — original Lǐbù yùnlüè base; with anonymous later annotators
About the work
The official Sòng-period rhyme-book for the jìnshì examination — the Lǐbù yùnlüè (literally “Rhyme-Summary of the Bureau of Rites”) — in the form transmitted with later (12th-13th century) annotations and an appended Gòngjǔ tiáoshì 貢舉條式 (Examination Regulations, 1 juàn). The base rhyme-book is by Dīng Dù et al. on imperial command, Jǐngyòu 4 (1037), as a slim companion to the Jíyùn KR1j0057 for examination poets — listing only the characters needed for prose and verse composition under examination conditions, with concise annotation. The work was the official rhyming standard for jìnshì candidates in both Northern and Southern Sòng. The present recension carries every entry-graph’s official gloss (guānzhù) followed by an additional cross-gloss block introduced by the marker 釋, the latter being a later anonymous expansion. The Sìkù has two prints: (1) the Kāngxī bǐngxū (1706) Cáo Yín 曹寅 print, prefaced by Yú Wényù’s preface to Ōuyáng Délóng’s Yāyùn shìyí and by Guō Shǒuzhèng’s preface to the Zǐyún yùn — itself a problematic combination; (2) the Chángshú Qián Sūnbǎo 錢孫保 yǐngchāo Sòng print, with the appended Gòngjǔ tiáoshì (1 juàn, 53 pages) covering all examination-related rhyme amendments and miàohuì / tiàohuì (taboo) rules from Yuányòu 5 (1090) through Shàoxī 5 (1194). The latter is judged by the Sìkù compilers far superior, and constitutes the basis of this Sìkù copy.
Tiyao
The Fù shìwén hùzhù Lǐbù yùnlüè in 5 juàn with appended Gòngjǔ tiáoshì in 1 juàn. Original copies of the Lǐbù yùnlüè are unsigned; Cháo Gōngwǔ’s Dúshūzhì says it is by Dīng Dù — and the 13 mergers it makes from the older Guǎngyùn match those of Dīng Dù’s Jíyùn, so it must be from his hand. The shàngpíng 36 huán spelled “歡” is a Southern-Sòng re-print revision: the front of the book carries Guō Shǒuzhèng’s Chóngxiū tiáolì, which says “the Shàoxīng version still wrote 桓” — proof of the change. The Lèishuō of Zēng Cào cites the Gǔjīn cíhuà: “in the Zhēnzōng’s reign there was a Tiāndé qīngmíng fù examination, where a Mǐn candidate broke the topic with ‘How does the Way of Heaven stand? — I look up to it and it is yet higher,’ and the examiner being also Mǐn, he was selected.” So in the early Sòng the examination-rhyme practice was loose; only after Jǐngyòu, when this book was imperially commissioned, did rhyme-form become officially binding. Down to the end of the Southern Sòng it remained unaltered. Yet the character-coverage was tight: the huán rhyme lacked 判, the tiān rhyme lacked 尖 — Yú Wénbào’s Chuījiànlù had complained of this. So Yuányòu bóshì Sūn È, Shàoxīng cháosàndàfū Huáng Jīhòu, Fúzhōu jìnshì Huáng Qǐzōng, Chúnxī Wúxiàn zhǔbù Zhāng Guìmó, Jiādìng Jiādìngfǔ jiàoshòu Wú Guì all repeatedly petitioned for additions; Yáng Bóyán 楊伯嵒 also composed the Jiǔjīng bǔyùn KR1j0063 to fill these gaps. Each request was reviewed by the Guózǐjiàn and only after multiple deliberation appended to the rhyme-book; some — like Huáng Qǐzōng’s “躋 alternatively 齊” or “鰥 alternatively 矜” — were rebuffed even on appeal (Zhào Yànwèi’s Yúnlù mánchāo). Hence its scrutiny is sharper than other rhyme-books. The official Sòng original is no longer to be seen; what circulates is titled Fù shìwén hùzhù Lǐbù yùnlüè — under each graph the official gloss precedes; the hùzhù (cross-gloss) is signed with a single 釋 mark. There are two recensions: (1) the Kāngxī bǐngxū (1706) Cáo Yín print, prefaced with Yú Wényù’s preface to Ōuyáng Délóng’s Yāyùn shìyí, plus Guō Shǒuzhèng’s Chóngxiūxù, plus 10 Chóngxiū tiáolì, plus a Chúnxī wénshūshì. But the work Guō revised was the Zǐyúnyùn, separately catalogued — so this is not Guō’s work; and Guō’s tiáolì mention Délóng’s gloss on 痀僂 and 其栵 as too literal, but this version has no such gloss — so it is also not Délóng’s work. From Guō’s preface — that the printers’ editions abrade through use, and “every abrasion brings a new edition, which always adds glosses and changes the title” — there were many Yùnlüè recensions, this one being some unidentified shop’s reprint, retaining the older preface and tiáolì. The tiáolì and the book do not match; the Chúnxī wénshūshì even mentions Lǐzōng’s name (1224–) — clear sign of editorial drift. (2) The Chángshú Qián Sūnbǎo 錢孫保 yǐngchāo of a Sòng print: same five juàn of rhyme-text as Cáo’s, but no preface or tiáolì; appended at the end Gòngjǔ tiáoshì in 1 juàn, 53 pages, dated from Yuányòu 5 (1090) to Shàoxī 5 (1194), covering rhyme-amendments, miàohuì / tiàohuì, examination paper-format and grading regulations — much that the History-Bibliographic Treatise does not record — preserving the institutional record of a generation. Far better than the Cáo print. Each juàn carries one extra page, listing graphs avoided due to taboo at that time, attested in Sūnbǎo’s note as added by him, not in the original; here removed for purity. Cáo Yín’s incomplete print is appended below for reference but not separately catalogued. Presented (date not given in source). General Editors Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì.
Abstract
The Fù shìwén hùzhù Lǐbù yùnlüè is the official examination rhyme-book of the Sòng dynasty, originally compiled by Dīng Dù 丁度 et al. on imperial command in Jǐngyòu 4 (1037) — the same imperial xiǎoxué effort that produced the Jíyùn KR1j0057, but in slim “lüè” form (i.e., a digest covering only the characters and glosses needed by examination poets). The transmitted text bears anonymous later expansions: each graph’s official gloss is followed by a 釋-marked cross-gloss layer, and the appended Gòngjǔ tiáoshì (Examination Regulations) — preserving rhyme-amendments, taboo lists, and grading rules from 1090 to 1194 — is one of the principal Sòng institutional sources for examination practice. The Sìkù copy is the Chángshú Qián Sūnbǎo yǐngchāo of a Sòng print. The book was the practical basis of poetry examination throughout both Sòng dynasties; it was succeeded in influence (but not in official status) by Liú Yuān’s Píngshuǐyùn in 1252. Date notBefore = 1037 (Jǐngyòu commission) to notAfter = c. 1264 (the post-1224 emperor-name allusion in the Chúnxī wénshūshì shows the printed witness was last updated in the Lǐzōng era; the appended Gòngjǔ tiáoshì runs to 1194).
Translations and research
- Píng Tián Chāng-sī 平田昌司. 1986. Sòng-dài de yùn-shū yǔ kē-jǔ 宋代の韻書と科擧. — Standard study of the Lǐ-bù yùn-lüè in its examination-administrative context.
- Lǐ Bīng-zhāng 李炳章. 1995. Sòng-dài lǐ-bù yùn-lüè kǎo-shù 宋代禮部韻略考述. — Tradition history.
Other points of interest
The appended Gòngjǔ tiáoshì — preserving by-the-rule the long history of Sòng examination-rhyme amendment — is a major institutional source independent of, and in places contradicting, the Sòngshǐ Xuǎnjǔzhì. It includes such useful detail as the miàohuì (ancestral-temple taboo) lists, the rhyme-merger requests by individual bóshì, and the format requirements for fù and shī examination papers.