Liǎng Hàn zhàolìng 兩漢詔令
Edicts and Commands of the Two Hàn by 林虙 (編), 樓昉 (編)
About the work
A 23-juàn anthology of Hàn-dynasty imperial edicts, conjoining Lín Fú 林虙’s Xī Hàn zhàolìng 西漢詔令 in 11 juàn (preface by Chéng Jù 程俱 dated Dàguān 3 = 1109) with Lóu Fǎng 樓昉’s continuation, Dōng Hàn zhàolìng 東漢詔令 in 12 juàn (Lóu’s own preface dated Jiādìng 15 = 1222). The two works were transmitted together by an unknown Sòng or Yuán editor under the title Liǎng Hàn zhàolìng, prefixed with a zǒnglùn essay by Hóng Zīkuí 洪咨夔 (1176–1235; the essay was extracted from his lost Liǎng Hàn zhàolìng lǎnchāo 兩漢詔令擥抄). Lín Fú’s portion preserves 401 edicts from the Western Hàn (Gāozǔ to Píngdì plus the Wáng Mǎng interregnum, in 11 juàn corresponding to the eleven Western Hàn reigns).
Tiyao
The 23 juàn of Liǎng Hàn zhàolìng: the Western Hàn Edicts in 11 juàn edited by Lín Fú of the Sòng; the Eastern Hàn Edicts in 12 juàn edited by Lóu Fǎng of the Sòng. Lín Fú, zì Dézǔ, was from Wújùn; he obtained the cíxué degree and served as Kāifēngfǔ yuàn. Lóu Fǎng, zì Yángshū, was from Yìnxiàn; he served as Zōngzhèngsì zhǔbù. Earlier, Lín Fú found that the Xī Hàn wénlèi’s coverage of edicts was sparse, so he combed the annals and biographies and obtained 401 Western Hàn edicts, arranging them by reign chronology, each reign in one juàn. In Dàguān 3 (1109), Chéng Jù wrote a preface for it. After the Southern Crossing, Lóu Fǎng followed Lín’s pattern and extended the project with the Eastern Hàn edicts; he wrote his own preface in Jiādìng 15 (1222). The present Sìkù edition combines them as a single work and titles it Liǎng Hàn zhàolìng, with each original preface attached at the end. At the head it carries a single zǒnglùn on Liǎng Hàn zhàolìng by Hóng Zīkuí 洪咨夔. — Now, examining the matter: Hóng Zīkuí had a Liǎng Hàn zhàolìng lǎnchāo recorded in his biography. In this present zǒnglùn he says: “While I was jiǎshǒu (acting prefect) of Lóngyáng, I read freely through the three histories, gathering the zhào 詔, zhì 制, shū 書, cè 策, lìng 令, chì 勅 and the like, briefly noting their substance, and appending my own opinion to each emperor.” Therefore what is here called lǎnchāo must have included Hóng’s argumentative remarks; but the present work contains none of these; this work is simply a later editor’s combination of the two books of Lín Fú and Lóu Fǎng with Hóng Zīkuí’s general essay prefixed — the Lǎnchāo is in fact a different book from this. The Liǎng Hàn zhàolìng is among the closest in form to high antiquity; Lín Fú and his collaborator have collected with detail and learned breadth. Although Chén Zhènsūn 陳振孫 (in the Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí) noted that for the reigns of Píngdì and Xiàndì, when Wáng Mǎng and Cáo Cāo respectively held real power — including the bestowal of the title “Mǎng” and the deposition of Empress Fú — these should be excluded; in editing they have been somewhat inconsistent. Yet the work is complete from beginning to end and is convenient to consult; it may serve as a reference. — Reverently presented in the sixth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Chief Editors: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. Chief Collator: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Liǎng Hàn zhàolìng is the principal classified anthology of Hàn-period imperial edicts: a Sòng-era reorganization of the edict-text scattered through Bān Gù 班固’s Hàn shū and Fàn Yè 范曄’s Hòu Hàn shū, presented reign-by-reign for ease of consultation. It became the standard reference for Hàn-period chancery prose and was consulted by Sòng gǔwén movement essayists (Lóu Fǎng was a student of Lǚ Zǔqiān 呂祖謙, the gǔwén anthologist of the Gǔwén guānjiàn). The text was used by Yuán and Míng compilers of zhàolìng anthologies (KR2f0040 Míngchén jīngjì lù; the unfinished Sāncháo bǎoxùn etc.). The two original prefaces (Chéng Jù 1109; Lóu Fǎng 1222) and Hóng Zīkuí’s zǒnglùn are themselves valuable Sòng-period reflections on the typology of imperial documents — the latter contains a famous typological description distinguishing cèshū 策書, zhìshū 制書, zhàoshū 詔書, jièchì 誡勅, etc., quoting Cài Yōng 蔡邕’s Dúduàn 獨斷 and other early sources.
Translations and research
- Hóng Zī-kuí 洪咨夔, zǒng-lùn (extracted from his lost Liǎng Hàn zhào-lìng lǎn-chāo). Reprinted as the head-essay in all extant editions.
- Chén Zhèn-sūn 陳振孫, Zhí-zhāi shū-lù jiě-tí — early bibliographic notice with criticisms.
- Wilkinson 2018 §47.5.7 on the typology of imperial-document genres.
- Wáng Méi-ying 王美英, Liǎng Hàn zhào-lìng yánjiū 兩漢詔令研究 (PRC dissertation studies of the early 21st c.).
Other points of interest
The work is unusually transparent about its own editorial logic: where the Hànshū records “the emperor said …” without preserving the actual edict-text, the entry is omitted. (Lín Fú’s preface gives the example: Jiànyuán 1 / 7 / autumn, zhào yuē: “the wèishì shall be transferred for sending and welcoming, twenty thousand men, halve to ten thousand” — such items are not recorded.) This is one of the earliest pieces of Sòng-period text-critical thinking about distinguishing textual record from chronicle paraphrase.
Links
- Wikidata: Liǎng Hàn zhàolìng
- Wilkinson 2018 §47.5.