唐大詔令集

Táng dà zhàolìng jí 唐大詔令集

Great Collection of Táng Edicts and Commands by 宋敏求 (編)

About the work

The principal collection of Táng-dynasty imperial edicts (zhào 詔), proclamations (lìng 令), and related court documents, originally in 130 juàn, edited and prefaced by Sòng Mǐnqiú 宋敏求 (1019–1079) in Xīníng 3 (1070) on the basis of materials gathered by his father Sòng Shòu 宋綬 (Xuānxiàngōng 宣獻公, d. 1040). Of the 130 original juàn, juàn 14–24 and 87–98 (23 juàn in total) had already been lost by the Sòng or Yuán; only 107 juàn survive in transmission. The work classifies its documents in 30 categories (heir-apparent enthronement, empress investiture, prefectural-and-county appointments, exile-and-recall, examination-and-selection, etc.) and is the principal surviving body of Táng-period imperial-edict text.

Tiyao

Táng dà zhàolìng jí, 130 juàn, edited by Sòng Mǐnqiú of the Sòng. Mǐnqiú, zì Cìdào, was from Zhàozhōu Píngjí, son of Cānzhī zhèngshì Sòng Shòu; he passed the jìnshì and rose to Shǐguǎn xiūzhuàn and Lóngtú gé zhí xuéshì; his career is in the Sòng shǐ biography. Mǐnqiú had previously taken part in the editing of the (Xīn) Táng shū, and had privately compiled the Táng wǔzōng yǐxià shílù in 148 juàn; he was the most expert of his age in Táng history. This collection is based on the materials his father Shòu had hand-edited, brought into final form by him under thirty categories. In Xīníng 3 (1070) he composed his own preface, recording: “I had begun fair-copying the work, when I came afoul of the powerful and was relieved of my office; with brush and ink at leisure, I took the Táng zhàolìng materials, ordered the collection, and put it in storage” — referring to the moment when, having sealed and returned the cítóu for Lǐ Dìng’s appointment, he was relieved as Zhī zhìgào and reduced to fèng cháoqǐng. The work was never printed in the Sòng or after; it was transmitted only by hand-copy with much corruption, and the missing juàn 14–24 and 87–98 (23 juàn total) appear lacking in all witnesses examined — the lacuna evidently dating from very early. The Táng dynasty held the realm for three hundred years; the writings of its commands are brilliant and full. Mǐnqiú and his father gathering and editing them have made the high writings of an entire age clearly displayed and ready to consult. — Sìkù editorial questions noted: (1) For Péi Dù 裴度’s appointment as Ménxià shìláng and Zhāngyì jūnjiédùshǐ etc., according to the Jiù Táng shū, Lìnghú Chǔ 令狐楚 had drafted the document; after issuance, Péi requested changes (“cut the like-categories” → “make the records new”, etc.); the Xiànzōng approved, and Lìnghú lost his Hànlín post over it. The version that was actually promulgated is Péi’s revision; yet the version preserved in this collection is still Lìnghú’s draft, not the revised version — unclear why. (2) For Bǎolì 1 (825) [the year after Bǎolì began] enthronement-amnesty edict — the Jīngzōng běnjì records that during Lǐ Shēn’s exile, Lǐ Féngjí et al. did not wish him recalled and so wrote into the amnesty document only that “those left-degraded who had already been transferred should be transferred nearer,” omitting the clause for those not yet transferred; the Hànlín memorialized objection and the emperor recalled the document for amendment. The version in this collection retains only the amnesty clause without the liángyí clause — likely a partial loss. (3) The Jiù Táng shū preserves many edicts; over half are also in this collection, but some are missing — including the change of era to Tiānyòu 天祐, appointments of Yǐn Sīzhēn 尹思貞 as Yùshǐ dàfū and Lǐ Guāngbì 李光弼 as Bīngmǎ fù yuánshuài; posthumous gifts to Zhāng Yuè 張說, Yáng Wǎn 楊綰, Yán Zhēnqīng 顏真卿, Lǐ Jiàng 李絳, Guō Ài 郭曖, Zhèng Lǎng 鄭朗, Tián Bù 田布; the retirement edicts of Dù Yòu 杜佑 and Xiāo Miǎn 蕭俛; the praise edicts for Láo Jiěwǎn 勞解琬, Lǐ Cháoyǐn 李朝隱, Lìnghú Zhāng 令狐彰 and the Yīxī Běitíng commanders; the demotion edicts for Wáng Máozhòng 王毛仲, Hán Gāo 韓臯, Lǚ Wèi 呂渭, Zhāng Yòuxīn 張又新, Lǐ Xùzhī 李續之, Xióng Wàng 熊望; and the death-by-decree edicts for Chángsūn Xīn 長孫昕, Péi Jǐngxiān 裴景仙, Péi Móu 裴茙. All these relate to major court actions, yet are missing from this collection. As Mǐnqiú was famously thorough, he should not have been lax in collecting; or perhaps they too were among the lost portions — uncertain. The work is therefore to that extent imperfect; nevertheless, since the Táng shílù are now entirely lost, it is by means of this work that the zhàogào and mìnglìng may still be examined — truly an oceanic sourcebook of historical precedent. Reverently presented in the ninth month of Qiánlóng 44 (1779). Chief Editors: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. Chief Collator: Lù Fèichí.

Abstract

This is the principal surviving collection of Táng zhàolìng (imperial edicts and orders); the parallel Táng-era state archives (shílù, qǐjūzhù) being almost entirely lost, the Táng dà zhàolìng jí is the largest single source for the form and language of Táng official pronouncements. The Sìkù editors note that the Jiù Táng shū preserves another partly overlapping body of Táng edict-language, and they cross-check the two; their tíyào discussion of textual problems (the Péi Dù / Lìnghú Chǔ episode, the Bǎolì amnesty, the various appointments and demotions missing from this collection) is one of the most thorough such editorial notices in the Sìkù tíyào corpus. Modern scholarship (notably Lǐ Xīmì 李希泌 and the Táng dà zhàolìng jí bǔbiān 唐大詔令集補編 published Shanghai Guji 2003) has supplemented the surviving 107 juàn with 4,000+ further Táng edicts recovered from the Jiù Táng shū, Sòng lèishū, and epigraphy.

Translations and research

• Sòng Mǐn-qiú 宋敏求 (comp.); modern punctuated editions: Shāngwù, 1959; Xuélín, 1992. (See Wilkinson 2018 §61.3.7 for full bibliography.)
• Lǐ Xī-mì 李希泌 et al., eds., Táng dà zhào-lìng jí bǔ-biān 唐大詔令集補編 (Shanghai Guji, 2003) — the principal modern supplement.
• Sì-bù bèi-yào 116 (catalog notice with bibliographic detail).
• Hilde De Weerdt, Information, Territory, and Networks: The Crisis and Maintenance of Empire in Song China (HUP, 2016) — context for Sòng-period archival-edict practice.
• Wáng Wén-cái 王文才, Sòng Mǐn-qiú niánpǔ 宋敏求年譜 (study of Sòng Mǐn-qiú’s life and works).

Other points of interest

The work was never printed in the Sòng or any subsequent dynasty before the Qīng; the Sìkù quánshū WYG copy (and the parallel SBCK reproduction of a manuscript witness) are the foundational textual carriers. The Cài Yì 蔡毅 series of articles on the Táng zhàogào fixed-form are the principal modern philological work.

Links

• Wikidata: Táng dà zhàolìng jí
• Wilkinson 2018 §61.3.7.