元史續編

Yuán shǐ xù biān 元史續編

Continuation of the History of the Yuán by 胡粹中 (Hú Cuìzhōng, fl. Yǒnglè era 1402–1424, zhuàn 撰)

About the work

A 16-juan supplement to the official Yuán shǐ (1370), composed by Hú Cuìzhōng during his Yǒnglè-era service as Chǔfǔ chángshǐ. Covers the post-Sòng Yuán from Shìzǔ Zhìyuán 13 / 1276 (the year of effective Yuán conquest of the Sòng) to Shùndì Zhìzhèng 28 / 1368 (the Yuán flight north before the Míng founding). The principal Míng-period chronicle of the Yuán independent of (and supplementing) the official Yuán shǐ.

Tiyao

Yuán shǐ xù biān, 16 juǎn. (Held in the home of Wāng Rǔruí of Zhèjiāng.) By Hú Cuìzhōng of the Míng. Cuìzhōng’s name was Yóu, called by zì, of Shānyīn. In Yǒnglè he held office as Chǔfǔ chángshǐ. The book’s main intent: the early-Míng compiled Yuán shǐ is detailed on Shìzǔ-and-earlier attack-and-fight affairs, but sketchy on Chéng-zōng-and-after order-and-peace traces; Shùn-dì-period affairs also have many gaps and omissions — therefore he made this to summarize the essentials. Begins at Shìzǔ Zhìyuán 13, ends at Shùndì Zhìzhèng 28. Year-and-month set, large-script with sub-notes, with lùn and duàn attached event by event — wholly imitating the Tōng jiàn gāngmù form.

But the Gāngmù ends at the Five Dynasties; the two cannot connect. That it is called Xù biān — apparently again continuing Chén Jīng’s book. Huáng Yújì’s Qiānqǐngtáng shūmù records this book in 16 juǎn; further separately listing Yuán shǐ píng without giving juan-numbers. Suspected at the time perhaps the píng sections were detached and separately published — like the Hòu Hàn shū zàn precedent.

In its shū fǎ: such as at the start of Wénzōng, knowing the existence of Tàidìng Crown Prince’s Tiānshùn year-period; but at Míngzōng yuán nián he turns to deleting and not noting; still writing the year-period that Wénzōng changed to Tiānlì 2 — advance and retreat unable to escape baselessness. Again, on Yīngzōng’s Nánpō affair, writing “and his chancellor said-such-and-such” — apparently wanting to imitate the Chūn qiū’s wording but forgetting it should be nèi cí (insider language). Also Liú Zhījī’s “looks the same in heart different” type. The other discussions, although foot-by-foot inch-by-inch learning the steps of the Sòng Confucians — unable to escape Yōu Mèng yī guān (clothes of Yōu Mèng) — over-engraved.

Yet such as: saying Zhāng Shìjié seizing the boat and blocking the harbor — unable to decide on righteousness-or-profit at the moment of life and death; saying Wú Zhífāng urged Tuōtuō to “great righteousness destroys kin” — not knowing the Chūn qiū meaning — the arguments are also not improper. As to Wénzōng plotting to harm his elder brother — even more able to use old-elders’ transmission, exposing what historians had not exposed — particularly with regard to chéng jiè. Shāng Lù et al. in compiling the Xù gāngmù wholly took this book as base, also extracting its píng discussions.

To Míng Tàizǔ rising and styling Wáng onwards — the Xù gāngmù sub-notes the year-period and excises the Yuán guó hào. But Cuìzhōng alone large-prints Zhìzhèng down through the eighth month of the 28th year and stops. Inside-and-outside language — never slightly disordered. The impartiality of his arguments is not what Lù et al. attain. Also on the late-Sòng Two Wángs (Èrwáng), not granting them tǒng — also fitting their fairness. Zhèng Yuán’s Jǐngguān suǒ yán says “Hú Cuìzhōng’s Yuán shǐ xù biān is even below Chén Jīng’s Xù biān. Déyòu’s northward removal — the MǐnGuǎng successively raised — the Sòng’s tǒng was not yet broken; abruptly suppressing the Jǐngyán and Xiángxīng years to sub-script — not in the Gāng mù’s precedent of ShǔHàn and Eastern Jìn.” How partisan he is.

Abstract

The Yuán shǐ xù biān is the principal Míng-period chronicle of the Yuán independent of the official Yuán shǐ of 1370. Hú Cuìzhōng’s project was the systematic supplementation of the Yuán shǐ on its known weak points: detailed on the pre-conquest wars, sketchy on the post-Shìzǔ administrative record (especially after Wénzōng), and chaotically incomplete on the Shùndì reign that ended the dynasty. The work draws on (a) the Yuán shǐ itself; (b) old-elders’ oral transmission for episodes the Yuán shǐ had suppressed (notably Wénzōng’s covert murder of his elder brother Míngzōng); (c) Tōngjiàn gāngmù-style narrative reorganisation.

The form is strict Gāngmù: large-script gāng lines, sub-script fēnzhù details, with lùn and duàn (judgment and adjudication) appended after each major event. The Sìkù editors are critical of the doctrinal yì lì (Sòng-Confucian-mimicking judgments) but are warm in their praise of two specific judgments: (a) Hú’s exposure of Wénzōng’s covert fratricide of Míngzōng, drawn from old-elders’ transmission and not in the Yuán shǐ; (b) Hú’s strict consistency in the year-period scheme — large-printing Zhìzhèng through the eighth month of Zhìzhèng 28, that is, the historical truth of when the Yuán imperial-era ended, against the imperially-commissioned later Xù gāngmù (Shāng Lù et al., 1476) which sub-noted the Yuán years and pretended the Míng founding had earlier de jure legitimacy.

The work was the principal base for Shāng Lù et al.’s imperially-commissioned Xù gāngmù of Chénghuà 9 / 1476 — that is, it was the canonical Míng-period source for the Yuán-period coverage in late-Míng Lǐxué historiography. Its modern significance is as a primary documentary source for several Yuán-period episodes (notably Wénzōng / Míngzōng) that had been suppressed in the official Yuán shǐ.

The dating bracket is set to Hú’s Yǒnglè-era service period (1402–1424); no firmer date is recoverable.

Translations and research

No translation. No standalone Western-language monograph. Discussion in:

• John W. Dardess, Conquerors and Confucians: Aspects of Political Change in Late Yüan China (Columbia, 1973) — uses the work for late-Yuán politics.
• F. W. Mote, Imperial China 900–1800 (Harvard UP, 1999), §§16–17 — discusses Hú’s Wén-zōng / Míng-zōng exposure.
• Sìkù tíyào (Shǐ-bù, Biānnián-lèi, juǎn 47).

Other points of interest

The work is the principal Míng-period documentary witness for episodes the Yuán shǐ compilers had been pressured to suppress, and on this basis is essential for any serious modern reconstruction of late-Yuán court history (especially the Wénzōng / Míngzōng / Tàidìng succession crises of 1328–1332).

Links

• Wikidata Q11084134
• Kyoto Zinbun Sìkù tíyào 0105001.
• Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §49.5.