Chūnqiū chén zhuàn 春秋臣傳
Biographies of the Ministers of the Spring-and-Autumn Period by 王當 (撰)
About the work
A thirty-juàn collective biography of 191 ministers of the Spring-and-Autumn period, drawn from the Chūnqiū and its three commentaries, the Guóyǔ 國語, the Shǐjì 史記, and other early sources, by Wáng Dàng 王當 (zì Zǐsī 子思), of Méishān 眉山 in modern Sìchuān, contemporary of Sū Zhé 蘇轍 (1039–1112). The work is alternatively titled Chūnqiū lièguó zhūchén zhuàn 春秋列國諸臣傳 (the form preferred in the WYG full table of contents), and was made before Wáng Dàng entered office. According to his Sòngshǐ biography (Wényuàn zhuàn) Wáng was nominated for the xiánliáng fāngzhèng 賢良方正 by Sū Zhé in Yuányòu (1086–1094), placed in the fourth class at the palace examination, and posted as Sub-prefect of Lóngyóu 龍游; when the chancellor Cài Jīng 蔡京 controlled the government he refused all summonses and remained in retirement. The biographies are arranged chronologically by the duke of Lǔ in whose reign the minister was active (Yǐngōng, Huángōng, etc.), 191 in all, each with a zàn 贊 (encomium) appended. Each ducal reign forms its own group; the work is a pioneering Sòng instance of the jízhuàn 集傳 form that organizes biographical materials chronologically by the Chūnqiū periodization, rather than by category as in Lièzhuàn 列傳.
Tiyao
Chūnqiū lièguó zhūchén zhuàn in thirty juàn, by Wáng Dàng of the Sòng. Dàng, courtesy name Zǐsī, was a man of Méishān. In Yuányòu (1086–1094) Sū Zhé nominated him as xiánliáng fāngzhèng; he was placed in the fourth class at the palace examination, and posted Sub-prefect of Lóngyóu. Cài Jīng then governed Chéngdū and recommended him for academic appointment, but Dàng would not go; when Cài Jīng became chancellor he refused service altogether. His career is given in the Sòngshǐ biography; the Shǐ says that he had earlier failed the jìnshì and retired to the fields, lamenting that “if a gentleman in this world is not employed, he must at least make his words known,” and so composed the Lièguó míngchén zhuàn in 50 juàn — that is, the present work, made before he took office. Of 191 men’s biographies, each ends with a zàn. Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí says: “his arguments are pure, his prose is concise and archaic, and on the meanings of the jīng he opens up much.” On examination, however — for example his contention that “if Lǔ Āigōng had punished Chén Héng 陳恆, he could have brought all the zhūhóu” — his arguments are not free of confusion, and these are not the original meaning of the Sage. The Sòngshǐ describes Dàng as widely read in the ancients, looking only to the principles of royal assistance; his learning was thus oriented to active statecraft, and his arguments here reflect that. Yet the chronological order of his arrangement, his use of the Guóyǔ and Shǐjì to fill in the gaps of the Zuǒzhuàn, are thorough and complete and do represent a real supplement to the classics-and-commentary tradition. The Sòngshǐ yìwénzhì gives the work as 51 juàn; the Sòngshǐ biography gives 50 juàn; both differ from this copy — perhaps the character “卅” (=30) and “五十” (=50) were confused in transmission. The Yùhǎi records also a contemporary Chūnqiū chén zhuàn in 30 juàn by Zhèng Áng 鄭昻 of Chánglè 長樂 (zì Shàngmíng 尚明), arranging affairs by men, with 215 entries plus 39 men named only as cross-references; the Sòngzhì lists this also, with the same title only without the lièguó qualifier. Later transmission of the present book has occasionally suppressed the lièguó and titled it simply Chūnqiū chén zhuàn, becoming confused with Zhèng’s. We therefore retain the old title-form to keep them distinct. Reverently presented in the eighth month of Qiánlóng 42 (1777). 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 Chūnqiū chén zhuàn (full title Chūnqiū lièguó zhūchén zhuàn 春秋列國諸臣傳) is among the earliest Sòng instances of zhuànjì·zǒnglù — the collective biography organized as a complete corpus of ministers of one period, here drawn from the canonical sources of the Chūnqiū. It is foundational for the genre that culminated in such Sòng works as Lǚ Zǔqiān’s 呂祖謙 Dōnglái xiānshēng zuǒshì bóyì 東萊先生左氏博議 (a Zuǒzhuàn exegetical work) and Yáng Bójùn’s 楊伯峻 modern Chūnqiū rénmíng dàcídiǎn. The composition date is fixed by the Sòngshǐ note that the work was made before Wáng Dàng entered office, i.e. before his Yuányòu nomination in c. 1086 — date bracket here 1080–1100. CBDB id 10211 (Wáng Dàng) is attested but lifedates are not. The work is a typical Sū-school product of the Yuányòu anti-reform period: by the early 1100s Wáng Dàng was in retirement under Cài Jīng’s chancellorship.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language translation located. The work is briefly noted in Yves Hervouet, ed., A Sung Bibliography (Hong Kong: CUHK Press, 1978), and in standard Chinese surveys of Sòng Chūnqiū scholarship.
Other points of interest
The transmission of the work has been complicated by the existence of a contemporary Chūnqiū chén zhuàn in the same number of juàn by Zhèng Áng of Chánglè (no longer separately surviving), which uses the same shorter title-form; readers should not confuse the two. The Sìkù editors’ demonstration that the discrepant juàn-counts in the Sòngshǐ yìwénzhì (51) and the biography (50) versus the WYG (30) likely arose from the visual similarity between the abbreviation 卅 (= 30) and 五十 (= 50) is a textbook example of Qīng manuscript-transmission criticism.
Links
- Wilkinson 2018, Chinese History: A New Manual §49.
- CBDB person id 10211 (Wáng Dàng 王當).