Yùpō zòuyì 玉坡奏議
Memorials of Yù-pō by 張原 (撰)
About the work
A 5-juàn compilation of the official memorials of Zhāng Yuán 張原 (1474–1524), the Míng remonstrance official from Sānyuán. The collection covers his decade of remonstrance — first as Lìkē gěishìzhōng under Wǔzōng (1514–c.1517), then through his eight-year demotion to a Guìzhōu post-station, then his early-Jiājìng recall (1522–24).
Tiyao
Yùpō zòuyì, 5 juàn, by Zhāng Yuán of the Míng. Yuán, zì Shìyuán, from Sānyuán, Zhèngdé jiǎxū (1514) jìnshì, conferred Lìkē gěishìzhōng; for memorializing on the affairs of the day demoted to Guìzhōu Xīntiān yìchéng; in Jiājìng 1 (1522) recalled and restored to his former office. Eight years of frustration did not break his will; he became all the more kāngkǎi-direct in remonstrance — claiming himself a zhíjiàn. — As in his memorials: rectifying the appointment of Yīn Tōng et al. as xíshì (heredity); the Zhāo Yún appointment-edict; the xuǎn jìnxí (selection of palace-favourites); the request to dismiss the eunuch Xiāo Jìng (two memorials); the impeachment of Jǐnyī wèi Zhū Chén et al.; the suspension of Yáng Lún’s appointment-edict; the suspension of guóqī (imperial in-laws) Zhāng Hèlíng et al.’s grace-favours; the suspension of Sīlǐ jiān’s begging requests; the impeachment of guóqī Zhāng Yánlíng et al.; the discussion of inner-eunuch supervision of zhīzào (textile production); the impeachment of Zhāng Cōng and Guì È — all forcefully break the powerful and favoured, refuse to avoid calamity, speak what others cannot. — All are now in this collection. At the time of his recall, Zhào Hàn 趙漢 — his fellow jìnshì of the same year — sent him a gift-poem with the lines “the green peach-trees stand empty in rain and dew, a thousand of them; the old bamboo, having seen wind and frost, stands as one cane” — and again, “returning, the dragon-blade still has its star-pattern; in late life let us, hand-in-hand, look at it together.” (Now in Zhào Hàn’s Jiànzhāi shīgǎo.) Read together with this collection: Yuán may indeed be said to have not shamed those words. — Reverently presented in the ninth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). Chief Editors: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. Chief Collator: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Yùpō zòuyì is a documentary monument of the Wǔzōng / early-Jiājìng transition — particularly the impeachments of imperial-in-law families and inner-court eunuchs. Zhāng’s eight-year demotion (c. 1517–1522) preserved him from death during the most extreme phase of Wǔzōng’s reign, and his recall in 1522 produced the second wave of bold remonstrance memorials — including the impeachments of Zhāng Cōng and Guì È themselves, the leaders of the Dàlǐ faction, just as their power was rising. Notably, although a Sānyuán native (the same town as Wáng Shù 王恕 KR2f0018), Zhāng’s career was shorter and his memorials’ characteristic targets are the imperial-affinal Zhāng Hèlíng / Zhāng Yánlíng siblings (relatives of Empress Dowager Císhòu).
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chao-ying Fang (eds.), Dictionary of Ming Biography (1976) — entry on Chang Yuan.
- Wilkinson 2018 §65.3.7.
Other points of interest
Zhāng’s recall-poem from his fellow jìnshì Zhào Hàn — “bìtáo yǔlù kōng qiānshù, lǎozhú fēngshuāng jiàn yīgān” — is an emblematic Míng-period image of the yánguān who survived political winter to bloom again in the new spring. The Sìkù editors close their tíyào on this poetic note.
Links
- Wikidata: Zhang Yuan (Ming)
- Wilkinson 2018 §65.3.7.