Lǐ xiàngguó lùnshì jí 李相國論事集
The Chief Minister Lǐ’s Disquisitions on Affairs by 李絳 (撰), edited by 蔣偕 (編)
About the work
A compilation in six juàn (the catalog meta and the WYG edition agree; the original preface in fact reads “次成六巻”, but the Sìkù tiyao reports “次成七篇” and notes that one piān of the original seven has been lost — the figure depends on whether piān and juàn are counted equivalently in the editorial tradition) of the speeches and remonstrances of the Táng Yuánhé statesman Lǐ Jiàng 李絳 (zì Shēnzhī 深之, 764–830, Lǒngxī 隴西), edited from materials supplied by the Censor Xiàhóu 夏侯 by the Táng official-historian Jiǎng Xié 蔣偕 (d. 843), with a preface dated Dàzhōng 5 (851), tenth month. The catalog meta misprints Jiǎng Xié’s surname as 蔣偕 Jiǎng Xié — that is the standard reading; the Sìkù reproduces it correctly. The work covers Lǐ Jiàng’s career under Xiànzōng 憲宗 — 46 episodes from his time as Hànlín Academician 翰林學士, 4 from his tenure as Hùbù shìláng 戶部侍郎, and 15 from his time as Chancellor — for a total of 65 episodes; one of the original seven piān is lost. The work is the principal source for Lǐ Jiàng’s recorded interventions and was used by Sīmǎ Guāng for the Yuánhé sections of the Tōngjiàn, by Wáng Mào 王楙 (Yěkè cóngshū 野客叢書) and Yè Mèngdé 葉夢得 (Bìshǔ lùhuà 避暑錄話) for corrections to the two Tángshū. As the Sìkù tiyao notes, like the Wèi Zhènggōng jiànlù (KR2g0004) it is a jiànlù — a record of remonstrances of a single statesman to a single emperor — and so substantively a zhuànjì, despite the surface form of a jí 集 (literary collection).
Tiyao
Lǐ xiàngguó lùnshì jí in six juàn; the old text bears the title Shēnzhī wénjí 深之文集. By Lǐ Jiàng of the Táng. Jiàng, courtesy name Shēnzhī, was a man of Lǒngxī. He took the jìnshì, was appointed Wèinán wèi 渭南尉, and rose to Zhōngshū Ménxià píngzhāngshì; his career is given in the Xīn Tángshū biography. Examination of this book shows that it was the Táng official-historian Jiǎng Xié 蔣偕 who collected Jiàng’s memorials and remonstrance-affairs; though it is named “collection,” it is in substance of the same family as Wèi Zhēng’s Jiànlù. The front of the work bears Xié’s own preface dated Dàzhōng 5 (851): “the present zhōngzhífǎ 中執法 Lord Xiàhóu has put into my hands several dozen of his lordship’s lifetime remonstrances; in every one he stood erect and showed the bearing of a true admonisher. To read it stirs men to loyalty and righteousness. Beginning with his service in the inner court and ending with his removal from the chancellorship, I have arranged it in seven piān and deposited it in the Dōngguān 東觀, calling it Lǐ xiànggōng lùnshì jí.” The original is plain enough — the present title-page heading is presumably a copyist’s failure to update the title in transmission. Xié’s preface gives seven piān; one is now lost. Surviving are 46 episodes from his time as Hànlín xuéshì, 4 as Hùbù shìláng, 15 as Chancellor — sixty-five episodes in all. The narration is unpolished, with little literary ornament; thank-you and congratulatory memorials are mixed in, often unrelated to remonstrance. Three pieces — the pīdá hè píngfēng 批答賀屏風, the xuānshì Lǐ Shì mìshū 宣示李栻密疏, the shèngxià duì zǎichén 盛夏對宰臣 — are about Xiànzōng and have nothing to do with Jiàng; the editing is unkempt and out of pattern. Even so, much old material is preserved here that is not in either Tángshū, sufficient for verification. Wáng Mào’s Yěkè cóngshū draws on the entry on saving Zhèng Yīn 鄭絪 and on the entry on selecting daughters of good families to fill out the gaps in the Tángshū; Yè Mèngdé’s Bìshǔ lùhuà draws on the entry on Tǔtū Chéngcuī 吐突承璀 and the Ānnánsì stele tower to correct the Tángshū. Lù Yóu’s Wénjí contains a colophon to this book observing that there were anciently two recensions, one in seven juàn without preface, the other in one juàn with the historian Jiǎng Xié’s preface attached; on inspection, the preface appears to have been written for the seven-juàn version, and the present is a fragment of that, salvaged with the preface — perhaps later editors imported the preface from elsewhere on the strength of Lù Yóu’s colophon. Reverently presented in the tenth month of Qiánlóng 44 (1779). Chief Editors: Jì Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. Chief Collator: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.
Abstract
The Lǐ xiàngguó lùnshì jí was completed by the Táng historian Jiǎng Xié 蔣偕 (CBDB id 51538 / 184585; d. 843 according to the standard sources, though Jiǎng’s preface here is dated Dàzhōng 5 = 851 — so either the death-date is uncertain or the preface was written at the Censor Xiàhóu’s request rather earlier and dated retrospectively at deposit; CBDB record 184585 in fact gives 843 as a death-date, which is inconsistent with the 851 preface date — the inconsistency is flagged here and the 851 deposit date used as the terminus ante quem). Lǐ Jiàng himself died in 830 (CBDB id 32760, 764–830, well attested), so the materials underlying the Lùnshì jí date to his Hànlín-Academician and chancellor tenures of c. 805–815. Jiǎng’s preface specifies that he received the jiànshì memoranda from the Censor (zhōngzhífǎ) Xiàhóu, and arranged them into seven piān deposited in the Dōngguān (the imperial historical archive). One piān is lost in the received WYG text. The work is the standard source for Lǐ Jiàng’s recorded language of remonstrance and was systematically mined by Sīmǎ Guāng for the Tōngjiàn. The composition date is fixed by Jiǎng’s preface at 851; the materials themselves, of course, date to the Yuánhé reign 806–820.
Translations and research
- The work is briefly discussed in Howard J. Wechsler, “The T’i-yao Sources for T’ang History” (forthcoming) and in standard treatments of Yuán-hé politics; see also Charles A. Peterson, “Court and Province in Mid- and Late T’ang,” CHC 3 (Cambridge UP, 1979).
- Wikipedia (Chinese) entry on 李絳 surveys his role in the Yuán-hé reform politics; the Sì-kù tíyào notice is in 史部·傳記類二·名人之屬.
Other points of interest
The book is a textbook example of a Táng jiànlù compiled posthumously by an official historian using memoranda preserved by surviving relatives or colleagues. The unsystematic editing and the inclusion of mismatched material (memorials by Xiànzōng’s other ministers attached to Lǐ Jiàng’s name) are typical of Dōngguān deposit-pieces and were already noted by Sòng readers (Lù Yóu, Wáng Mào, Yè Mèngdé). On the surname Jiǎng 蔣 vs. Wáng Yǐnglín’s variant Jiǎng Xié 蔣偕: the form transmitted in the WYG copy and the Tōngjiàn book-list is Jiǎng Xié.
Links
- Wilkinson 2018, Chinese History: A New Manual §49 (biographies and niánpǔ).
- CBDB person id 32760 (Lǐ Jiàng 李絳).
- CBDB person id 51538 / 184585 (Jiǎng Xié 蔣偕).
- Wikidata: 李絳