Shíqī Shǐ Méngqiú 十七史蒙求
Meng Qiu on the Seventeen Histories by 王令 (撰)
About the work
The Shíqī Shǐ Méngqiú 十七史蒙求 is a Northern Sòng historical primer in the tradition of Lǐ Hàn’s 李瀚 Táng-dynasty Méngqiú 蒙求 (cf. KR3k0010). Where Lǐ Hàn’s work draws on a broad sweep of historical figures and anecdotes, Wáng Lìng’s 王令 primer focuses specifically on the “seventeen standard histories” (shíqī shǐ 十七史) — the canonical corpus from the Shǐjì 史記 through the Xīn Wǔdài shǐ 新五代史 — as its source base. The format follows the Méngqiú model: paired four-character phrases name two historical figures with their most celebrated attributes (e.g., Sòng Jǐng dì yī, Lǐ Guǎng wú shuāng 宋璟第一、李廣無雙 — “Sòng Jǐng was first; Lǐ Guǎng was without equal”), followed by prose passages drawn from the relevant histories explaining the allusion. The text served as a primer for historical knowledge and as a reference tool for parallel-prose (piánwén 駢文) composition.
The Kanripo file (KR2d0027, 858 lines) preserves only a portion of the full work. Internal cross-references within the text point to other juan (“見第三卷畤子可誇注”, “見第八卷「父子二傳」注”, “見第十一卷注中”) confirming that the complete edition comprised multiple juan, of which only a portion survives in this transmission.
Prefaces
No preface survives in the received KR file.
Abstract
The Shíqī Shǐ Méngqiú 十七史蒙求 was compiled by Wáng Lìng 王令 (1032–1059, zì Féngyuán 逢原), the short-lived Northern Sòng poet and close friend and protégé of Wáng Ānshí 王安石. Though Wáng Lìng is primarily known as a poet (his collection Guǎnglíng jí 廣陵集 KR4d0075 survives in 31 juǎn), he also compiled this historical primer in the early part of his brief adult life. Wilkinson (Chinese History, §24.2.4) identifies it as “a widely circulated historical primer” and provides the example phrases that match the opening of the Kanripo text exactly: “宋璟第一, 李廣無雙; 燕許手筆, 李杜文章” (Song Jing was number one, Li Guang without equal; Yan and Xu excelled in writing style, Li and Du in literary achievement).
The work is modelled on the Méngqiú 蒙求 by Lǐ Hàn 李瀚 (Táng, early 8th c.), which is preserved in the Méngqiú jízhù 蒙求集注 KR3k0010 annotated by Xú Zǐguāng 徐子光 (Southern Sòng). Unlike the Méngqiú jízhù, which is a commentary on an earlier text, the Shíqī Shǐ Méngqiú is an independent composition structured around paired anecdotes drawn from the standard histories up to and including the Wǔdài (Five Dynasties) period. The historical scope extends from the Zhànguó 戰國 period to the Wǔdài, drawing on the Shǐjì 史記, Hànshū 漢書, Hòu Hànshū 後漢書, Sānguó zhì 三國志, Jìnshū 晉書, Nánshǐ 南史, Běishǐ 北史, Wèishū 魏書, Xīn Táng shū 新唐書, Wǔdài shǐ (i.e., Xīn Wǔdài shǐ 新五代史 by Ōuyáng Xiū 歐陽修), and other sources including the Zhànguó cè 戰國策 and Xīn xù 新序.
Thematic groupings in the preserved portion include: loyalty and integrity (shuāngzhōng 雙忠), literary talent and wit (wéncái 文才), clever judgment (míngcháo 明察), and many other virtues and vices drawn from across dynasties. The paired-phrase format makes the work especially useful as a composition aid: each paired phrase signals a historical parallel that could be deployed in formal prose or examination writing.
The Shíqī Shǐ Méngqiú was listed in Sòng bibliographic catalogs. A Mǎshā print edition (Mǎshā běn 麻沙本) dated 1169 (Southern Sòng) is the earliest known printing; a modern critical edition was published by Yuèlù shūshè 岳麓書社 (Changsha, 1986). It is placed in the biéshǐ 別史 category of Kanripo’s KR2 division, following the Sìkù pattern of assigning miscellaneous history-related primers to that section.
Extent note: The Kanripo file is a single merged text (858 lines) without juan headings. Cross-references within the text confirm the full work extended across multiple juan; only a portion is preserved here.
Translations and research
- Wilkinson, Endymion. Chinese History: A New Manual, §24.2.4: brief description with example phrases.
- Modern critical edition: Shíqī shǐ méngqiú 十七史蒙求. Cháng shā: Yuèlù shūshè, 1986. (Mǎshā facsimile edition of 1169.)
- No substantial secondary literature on this text specifically located.
Links
- Wikidata: Q31090044 (十七史蒙求)
- ctext.org entry for the work type