Liǎng yuán zòuyì 兩垣奏議
Memorials from the Two Wards (Personnel and Military Boards) by 逯中立 (撰)
About the work
A 1-juàn compilation of six memorials by Lù Zhōnglì 逯中立 (fl. 1586–1599), the Liáochéng 聊城 Wànlì-period remonstrance official, submitted during his service as gěishìzhōng in the Lìkē and Bīngkē — the “two wards” (liǎng yuán 兩垣) of the title. The collection’s three principal memorials, all preserved in fuller form here than in the Míng shǐ biography, are: Lùn gōng yòngshě 論公用舍 (on the public-versus-private use-and-set-aside of officials); Lùn xiūshǐ yòngrén 論修史用人 (on personnel for compiling state history); Lùn huìtuī géchén 論會推閣臣 (on the joint nomination of cabinet members). Three further memorials — requesting suspension of the zhīzào (textile production), discussing the Dōngwō (eastern barbarian = Japanese) threat, and requesting suspension of the lìjīn (precedent-fee) tribute — though not implemented, are preserved here as evidence of his upright service.
Tiyao
Liǎngyuán zòuyì, 1 juàn, by Lù Zhōnglì of the Míng. Zhōnglì has Zhōuyì zhájì (= KR1a0105) elsewhere recorded. — This work consists of six memorials — all submitted during his gěishìzhōng service. Because he served in succession in the Lìkē and Bīngkē, the title is Liǎng yuán (Two Wards). Of these, the memorials Lùn gōng yòngshě, Lùn xiūshǐ yòngrén, and Lùn huìtuī géchén — the events and outcomes are roughly preserved in his Míng shǐ biography. Zhōnglì for these three memorials: one offended the imperial intent and his salary was suspended; one provoked the chief minister’s hostility; one occasioned his demotion to a provincial post. Therefore the Shǐ specially excerpts them in his biography. — His memorials requesting suspension of the zhīzào, discussing the Dōngwō, and requesting suspension of the lìjīn (regular tribute) — though the proposals were not implemented, all are firm and unyielding, not flattering, with no shame to the fēngbó (sealing-and-rejecting) function. Their volume is small but they may not be set aside for that reason. — The earlier recension of this work was attached after Zhōnglì’s Zhōuyì zhájì; now since the [Sìkù] is divided into the four divisions, and to place this with the Classics is improper, we have separated it out for separate cataloging. — Reverently presented in the ninth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). Chief Editors: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. Chief Collator: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Liǎng yuán zòuyì is a small but interesting documentary monument of late-Wàn-lì remonstrance practice. Lù Zhōnglì’s memorials cluster around three core institutional debates: (1) the gōng yòngshě memorial — the use of officials must be public, not factional; (2) the xiūshǐ yòngrén memorial — the personnel for compiling official state-history must be selected for moral authority not patronage; (3) the huìtuī géchén memorial — the joint-nomination procedure for cabinet members. The latter two memorials in particular bear on the late-Wàn-lì Dōnglín 東林 reform program, and Lù — a minor Wànlì censor — emerges as one of the technical-procedural advocates of Dōnglín positions on official appointments. The Sìkù editors’ decision to separate this collection from his Zhōuyì zhájì (now KR1a0105) — which had been published as a single volume in the original Míng recension — illustrates the Sìkù’s strict division between the Classics ([經部, jīngbù]) and Histories ([史部, shǐbù]) catalog divisions.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language secondary literature located. For the late-Wàn-lì Dōng-lín movement and its remonstrance program, see Heinrich Busch, “The Tung-lin Academy and Its Political and Philosophical Significance,” Monumenta Serica 14 (1949–55).
Links
- Wilkinson 2018 §65.3.7.