Shìzǔ Zhānghuángdì shèngxùn 世祖章皇帝聖訓
Imperial Instructions of Shìzǔ, the Splendid Emperor by 聖祖 (敕編)
About the work
A six-juàn compilation, in 32 categorical headings and 113 entries, of pronouncements by the Shùnzhì 順治 emperor (Fúlín 福臨, 1638–1661, posthumously Shìzǔ Zhānghuángdì), edited by his son the Kāngxī emperor with a preface dated Kāngxī 26 / 3 / 27 (1687) — the same date as the preface to the Tàizōng shèngxùn (KR2f0002). A second imperial preface by the Qiánlóng emperor was added in Qiánlóng 4 (1739) at the time of printing.
Tiyao
The six juàn of the Sage Instructions of Shìzǔ Zhānghuángdì were respectfully edited in Kāngxī 26 (1687) by the Shèngzǔ Rénhuángdì (Kāngxī) emperor — 113 entries divided into 32 headings; in Qiánlóng 4 (1739) the present emperor wrote a preface for the printed edition. Vastly was our Shìzǔ Zhānghuángdì enthroned in his early years and fixed the tripod at Yānjīng (Beijing). Looking to Dì Yáo’s rise from the Táng feoffment, we are still earlier by five years; yet born of divine intelligence, in youth swift and orderly, in maturity steadfast and acute, he stood comparable to the Yellow Emperor 黃軒. Thus he grasped the Heavenly Pivot and drove on the assembled energies; he pacified the Three Sprouts and settled the Four Seas, unified the script of the realm, and laid the great foundation of countless ages. To the leisure of his late nights and early dawns he ever devoted himself to study; the imperial commentary on the Xiào jīng 御注孝經 grasps the source of supreme virtue and essential way; the imperial compilation Nèizé yǎnyì 內則衍義 illuminates the root of beginning-near-and-extending-far; the imperial composition Rénchén jǐngxīn lù 人臣儆心錄 lifts up the canons of governance and orders the affairs of office; the imperial Zīzhèng yàolǎn 資政要覽 ranks the principles of moral order and refines the world’s instruction. Of the sage-and-worthy’s principle-treasures, none is left unillumined; of the imperial-kingly methods of rule, none is left unexpounded. Surely his founding the polity from the heart, his every act fittingly in place — this is the shèngmò 聖謨, the words that are the world’s standard. Heaven cannot be fathomed: we fathom it by the courses of the stars; Earth cannot be measured: we measure it by the patterning of mountains and rivers; the sage cannot be known: we know him by what is transmitted in the canonical books. The admonitions of Yáo and the inscriptions of Tāng — bequeathed to later generations — are here, in scarce part, glimpsed through the writings. 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
Like its predecessors in the imperial Qīng shèngxùn series, the source-base is the veritable records — in this case the Shìzǔ Zhānghuángdì shílù compiled in 1672 under the chief editorship of E-bi-long 鼇拜 / Suo-ni 索尼, etc. The 32 categorical headings of this work — lùn zhìdào 論治道 (on rulership), jìng tiān 敬天 (revering Heaven), shèng xiào 聖孝 (sage filial piety), shèng xué 聖學 (sage learning), qiān dé 謙德 (modesty), jié jiǎn 節儉 (frugality), and so on — are markedly more numerous than for Tàizǔ (26) but fewer than for Tàizōng (23 doubled into more granular subcategories), reflecting the broader administrative compass of the first Qīng emperor to rule over both Manchuria and the conquered Míng territories from 1644. Distinctive headings include 重祀典 (sacrificial ritual), 禮前代 (ceremonial treatment of the previous dynasty), 招降 (terms for surrender), 諭外藩 (instructions to the outer dependencies). The tíyào enumerates the Shùnzhì emperor’s other personal compositions: the imperial commentary on the Xiàojīng, the Nèizé yǎnyì, the Rénchén jǐngxīn lù (KR2m0010 / KR3a series), and the Zīzhèng yàolǎn (KR3a0091).
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language translation located. On Shùnzhì’s reign and the political-cultural setting of the shèng-xùn, see Chen Jo-shui 陳弱水 et al., and the institutional studies of John Robert Shepherd and Mark Elliott.
Links
- Wikidata: Shunzhi Emperor
- Wilkinson 2018 §65.3.7.