Nángōng zòugǎo 南宮奏稿
Memorial Drafts from the Southern Hall (Ministry of Rites) by 夏言 (撰)
About the work
A 5-juàn compilation of ritual memorials by Xià Yán 夏言 (1482–1548; Wénmǐn his posthumous title) submitted while he served as Lǐbù shàngshū 禮部尚書 (Minister of Rites) in the second wave of Jiājìng ritual reforms (c. 1535–1539). The Nángōng of the title is the customary designation of the Ministry of Rites (its yamen being to the south of the imperial palace). The work was edited and printed by Yùshǐ Wáng Tíngzhān 王廷瞻 and contains memorials on the major ritual reorganizations of the period: separation of the Northern and Southern jiāo sacrifices; revision of the Wénmiào (Confucian temple) canonical lineage; the dàdì (great suburban) ritual; the empress’s xiāncán tán (sericulture altar); and major fēngjué (enfeoffment) and gòngjǔ (examination-tribute) protocols.
Tiyao
Nángōng zòugǎo, 5 juàn, by Xià Yán of the Míng. Yán, zì Gōngjǐn, from Guìxī, Zhèngdé dīngchǒu (1517) jìnshì, conferred Bīngkē gěishìzhōng, served to Lǐbù shàngshū and Wǔyīngdiàn dàxuéshì; framed by Yán Sōng over his connection with Zēng Xiǎn, executed at qìshì; in early Long-qìng posthumously restored to original rank with Wénmǐn as posthumous title; his career in his Míng shǐ biography. — Yán was at first noted by Shìzōng for his open and quick competence; but once in power his mind grew arrogant and his temper overflowed; haughty and self-willed, he in the end came to grief. The whole of his career has little to commend it, except that his xuéwèn (learning) was wide-ranging — he had habitually paid attention to ritual-protocol and numeric-orders — and he met with Shìzōng’s eager interest in such discussions, hence his court compositions and adjustments are often well-grounded in the canonical foundations. As in: separation of the Northern and Southern jiāo sacrifices; revision of the Wénmiào sacrificial canon; the dàdì ritual protocol; the establishment of the xiāncán tán — all of these are matters Yán supported. After the emperor promoted him to oversee the Ministry of Rites, his power within his office grew the stronger; the memorial drafts before and after also have many that may be excerpted. — This recension was published by Yùshǐ Wáng Tíngzhān and consists of the memorials and discussion-papers from his ministerial tenure: from jiāomiào great rituals down to feudal investitures and tribute-examinations — none lacking; the discourse is bright and conversant with the past — fit to be called one capable of zhézhōng yú gǔ (mediating with reference to antiquity). To record and preserve them is to not let his strengths go unmentioned, and also to enable readers of the Míng shǐ to set this against the Lǐ zhì in tracing the changes of practice — surely not without help. — Reverently presented in the ninth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Chief Editors: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. Chief Collator: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Nángōng zòugǎo is the principal documentary monument of mid-Jiājìng ritual reform — the second-wave settlements following the Dàlǐ yì of 1521–24 (KR2f0022 Yáng Wénzhōng sānlù documents the first wave). The 5 juàn preserve memorials on: (1) the 1530 separation of the Northern and Southern jiāo sacrifices, locating the Tiāntán and Dìtán on opposite sides of the city — the canonical Míng arrangement that survives at present-day Tiāntán Park in Beijing; (2) the Wénmiào canonical reform of 1530 (re-grading the disciples and removing some figures from the temple); (3) the xiāncán tán (empress’s sericulture-altar) establishment; (4) the dàdì great suburban ritual. The Sìkù editors’ assessment is unusually critical — Xià Yán’s career-end qìshì execution makes him a difficult figure to praise — but they explicitly acknowledge his ritual scholarship as adequate and the Nángōng zòugǎo as essential supplementary material to the Míng shǐ Lǐ zhì.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chao-ying Fang (eds.), Dictionary of Ming Biography (1976) — entry on Hsia Yen.
- Carney T. Fisher, The Chosen One (1990) — context for the post-Dà-lǐ yì ritual reorganization.
- Wáng Líng 王立, Míng dài Jiā-jìng cháo lǐ-zhì gǎi-gé yánjiū 明代嘉靖朝禮制改革研究 (Beijing, 2018) — extensive use of the Nán-gōng zòu-gǎo.
- Wilkinson 2018 §65.3.7.
Other points of interest
The Sìkù’s critical assessment of Xià Yán’s character — “lìshēn běnmò shū wú kě chēng” (his life and conduct have nothing notably commendable) — is one of the more politically negative summaries in the zòuyì division. Yet they preserve the work: ritual scholarship of substance trumps personal-character defect.
Links
- Wikidata: Xia Yan
- Wilkinson 2018 §65.3.7.