Liáo shǐ shíyí 遼史拾遺
Gleanings to the History of the Liáo by 厲鶚 (Lì È, 1692–1752)
About the work
A 24-juǎn supplement to the Liáo shǐ (KR2a0033), with both zhù (commentary) and bǔ (additions); the principal Qing-era addition to the documentation of the Khitan Liáo dynasty. Composed by Lì È 厲鶚, the great Qiánlóng-era kǎozhèng scholar and bibliophile of Hángzhōu. Each entry takes a passage of the Liáo shǐ as a gāng (heading) and supplements it with parallel-source citations from a wide range of Sòng-period and Tang-Sòng works (the Sìkù compilers count 300+ source-works cited).
Tiyao
By Lì È of the present dynasty. È, zì Tàihóng 太鴻, native of Qiántáng 錢塘 (Hángzhōu), jǔrén of Kāngxī gēngzǐ (1720). The work supplements the Liáo shǐ, with both zhù and bǔ — both excerpting old text as gāng and citing other works for collation, line by line. All variants are analysed and weighed, with appended àn yǔ (judgement-words). The Guóyǔ jiě sequence, where it differs from the table of contents, is corrected. Further appendices on Liáo’s sìzhì (four borders) and customs / products are added at the end.
(The tíyào notes lapses: Liú Shǒuguāng’s self-appointment as Jiédùshǐ — the Tang shū and Wǔdài shǐ lièzhuàn give detail, but Lì only takes one entry from the Zīzhì tōngjiàn; Lǐ Sīyuán’s relief of Yōuzhōu — neither Qìdān guó zhì nor the Wǔdài shǐ is cited, only the Tōngjiàn; Wáng Dū’s defeat of Tang armies — Wǔdài shǐ and other sources give variants, all uncited; Jīn’s destruction of Zhōngjīng — Dà Jīn guó zhì gives the most detailed sequence, only one Sōngmò jìwén line cited; Bǎodà and after, much in Sòng shǐ jìzhuàn, all dropped — many oversights. Also — Lántíng stone-inscription material rambles on — eager for breadth, breadth-loving — too dispersive.)
But the Yuán-court compilation of the three histories — most prolix is Sòng, most negligent is Liáo. Liáo book-bans were strict; Liáo materials could not circulate beyond the borders. So one dynasty’s tújí perished without trace. Lì È collected over 300 works, all from edge-and-side cited material, cross-checking to find the threads. Year-and-event details one by one tracked. The supplements to the Tang Zhōnghé personnel; Lǐ zhì’s addition of fánshèng; Yuè zhì’s addition of guōzhàng; Yúfú zhì’s addition of jīnguān zhǎipáo; Shíhuò zhì’s addition of tax-categories — all collected from scattered material, all useful for collation. In Lì È’s Fánxiè shī jí he himself called this work the equal of Péi Sōngzhī’s Sānguó zhì zhù — not a baseless claim.
As to the Guóyǔ jiě at the end — the sound transliteration is corrupt, name-meanings often distorted; this is from the historiographers’ ignorance of translation, taking inherited drafts and so losing the truth. Lì È sorted the sequence, but he did not know the Solon language; the old corruptions could not be confidently fixed. Today the imperial Sān shǐ Guóyǔ (KR2a0037) has come down — washing away all the previous errors — sufficient to display for ten thousand generations. Lì È’s appendix should be preserved without further discussion.
Abstract
Lì È’s Liáo shǐ shíyí is the principal Qing-era supplement to the Liáo shǐ (KR2a0033) and the foundational document of modern Liáo historical scholarship. Composed by Lì È 厲鶚 (1692–1752), one of the great Qiánlóng-era kǎozhèng scholars and a member of the Hángzhōu Wǔlín literary circle, the work systematically supplements the Liáo shǐ by drawing on more than 300 source-works (chiefly Sòng-period biéshǐ, bǐjì, jīnshí records, and Korean and Khitan-language materials accessible through Sòng intermediaries). Each entry takes a passage of the Liáo shǐ as the heading and adds the parallel material with critical àn yǔ (judgement-words).
The composition window is bracketed by Lì È’s mid-career return to Hángzhōu after his successful early-Qiánlóng metropolitan examination attempts (he was unsuccessful) and his death in 1752 (catalog meta gives lifedates 1692–1752). The work is best dated to the 1740s.
The work’s principal contributions: (1) extensive supplementation of the Liáo shǐ personnel data, particularly for the late-Tang and Five-Dynasties figures who became Liáo officials; (2) institutional supplements to the Lǐ, Yuè, Yúfú, and Shíhuò monographs, drawn from Sòng diplomatic records and Khitan epigraphy; (3) appendix essays on Liáo geographical extent and on Khitan customs and products; (4) corrections to the Guóyǔ jiě (the appendix on Khitan-language proper names) — though the Sìkù compilers note that Lì È was not himself a speaker of Mongolic / Tungusic languages and his corrections are imperfect, superseded by the imperial Sān shǐ Guóyǔ jiě (KR2a0037).
Lì È himself, in his Fánxiè shī jí, compared his work to Péi Sōngzhī’s commentary on the Sānguó zhì (KR2a0012) — a self-evaluation the Sìkù compilers endorse: “not unjustified”.
Translations and research
No translation. Cited extensively as a foundational source in: Karl A. Wittfogel and Fêng Chia-shêng, History of Chinese Society: Liao (907–1125) (American Philosophical Society, 1949) — the standard English-language reference on the Liáo, which extensively uses Lì È’s supplementary citations; Liú Pǔjiāng 劉浦江, Liáo Jīn shǐ lùn (Liáoníng Dàxué, 1999) and Sōngmò zhī jiàn: Liáo Jīn Qìdān nǚzhēn shǐ yánjiū 松漠之間：遼金契丹女真史研究 (Zhōnghuá, 2008). Yáng Fùlín 楊復林, Liáo shǐ jí jiào (Mongolian Studies series, 1962) — uses Lì È as a principal source.
Other points of interest
Lì È is also the author of the canonical biographical anthology Sòng shī jì shì 宋詩紀事 (100 juǎn, 1746) — the comprehensive late-Qing source for Sòng poetry and biographical particulars of Sòng poets. The combination of Liáo shǐ shíyí and Sòng shī jì shì makes him one of the most important non-court bibliographers of the Qiánlóng era.