Tàizōng Wénhuángdì shèngxùn 太宗文皇帝聖訓
Imperial Instructions of Tàizōng, the Cultured Emperor by 世祖 (敕編), 聖祖 (續編)
About the work
A six-juàn compilation, in 23 categories and 111 entries, of pronouncements by Huáng Tàijí 皇太極 (1592–1643), the second Qīng ruler and posthumously Tàizōng Wénhuángdì 太宗文皇帝. The work was begun under the Shùnzhì emperor (Shìzǔ, 1638–1661) but left incomplete; the Kāngxī emperor (Shèngzǔ) brought it to completion in Kāngxī 26 (1687) with a preface dated the third month of that year. The Qiánlóng emperor added a second preface in Qiánlóng 4 (1739) when the work was printed.
Tiyao
The six juàn of the Sage Instructions of Tàizōng Wénhuángdì were begun in the late Shùnzhì period under Shìzǔ Zhānghuángdì (the Shùnzhì emperor) but left unfinished; in Kāngxī 26 (1687) the Shèngzǔ Rénhuángdì (Kāngxī) emperor continued and completed them — 111 entries divided into 23 headings. In Qiánlóng 4 (1739) the present emperor wrote a preface and printed the work. Now, our Tàizōng Wénhuángdì inherited the prior task and yet further expanded the great foundation: he piled high the citadel-walls, reviewed troops at the Mùyě plain, his martial authority resounded and reverberated, far surpassing the achievements of the early Zhōu; in matters of ordering the ranks of the multitude, naming the hundred things rightly, and bringing rites and music to fullness, he stood with the Yellow Emperor — who outside displayed the might at Zhuōlù 涿野 and inside ordered the rites of the Hégōng 合宫 — in shared standard. Truly he combined preservation with creation, raised valour together with cultural patterning. Of those who command the myriad classes, their luminous wisdom must overtop the myriad classes — Tàizǔ possessed it; of those who bequeath good fortune for ten-thousand years, their creative spirit must encompass the ten-thousand years to come — Tàizōng possessed it. The exalted posthumous title, “encompassing-Heaven and patterning-Earth,” is justly applied. The historians’ brushes have already recorded the great achievements; here, of the sage virtue manifested, of the model words spoken and movements made — every action conforming to the Qián and Kūn, every word inwardly and outwardly aligned with the canonical books — these have been respectfully transmitted, divine speech recorded in this volume, that the ancestral virtue may be made evident and the descendants instructed. Reverently presented in the eighth month of Qiánlóng 48 (1783). Chief Editors: Jì Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. Chief Collator: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.
Abstract
The compilation history given in the tíyào establishes the chain of authorship: the project was inaugurated late in the Shùnzhì reign (post-1655), interrupted by the Shùnzhì emperor’s death in 1661, then resumed and completed under Kāngxī in 1687. The 23 headings (论治道, 训诸王, 训群臣, 谦德, 寛仁, 智略, 求贤, 求言, 辑人心, 恤民, 勸农, 興文教, 訓将, 励将士, 怀远人, 訓诸藩, 恤降, 招降, 恤旧劳, 敦睦, 节俭, 谨嗜好, 禁异端) reflect the more elaborated Manchu state of Huáng Tàijí’s era — note especially the headings on conduct toward conquered peoples (恤降, 招降) and toward the Mongol allies (訓诸藩, 怀远人), absent from the simpler Tàizǔ shèngxùn. Like the other shèngxùn of the dynasty, the underlying source materials are the qǐjūzhù 起居注 (court diaries) and the Tàizōng shílù compiled in the early Shùnzhì period.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language translation located. For Huáng Tài-jí’s reign and the institutional context of his pronouncements, see Pamela Crossley, A Translucent Mirror: History and Identity in Qing Imperial Ideology (UCalP, 1999); Mark Elliott, The Manchu Way (Stanford UP, 2001).
Links
- Wikidata: Hong Taiji
- Wilkinson 2018 §65.3.7.