Shàoxīng shíbā nián tóngnián xiǎolù 紹興十八年同年小錄
The Roster of the Cohort of the Shàoxīng 18 [Examination] edited anonymously (闕名)
About the work
A one-juàn roster of the cohort of jìnshì who graduated together at the Shàoxīng 18 (1148) palace examination, headed by the Zhuàngyuán 狀元 Wáng Zuǒ 王佐. Tóngnián xiǎolù 同年小錄 (literally “small record of those of the same year”) was a standard Sòng product of each triennial palace examination: the Sìkù tiyao explains that after the palace examination’s bǎngchàng 榜唱 (calling out the names), the new graduates would visit the temple of the Sage and the disciples of the Master, attend the wénxǐ yàn 聞喜宴 (Hearing-of-Joy banquet), and then have their names, courtesy names, native places, and three-generation paternal genealogy recorded. After the southern crossing, this is the seventh examination of Gāozōng’s reign (the first being Lǐ Yáo 李昜’s bǎng of Jiànyán 2 = 1128). The cohort comprises 330 zhèng zòu míng 正奏名 jìnshì and 457 tè zòu míng 特奏名 (special-recommendation graduates), of whom only one of the 457 tèzòumíng names is preserved. The roster opens with the imperial handwritten edict (yùbǐ shǒuzhào 御筆手詔) of Shàoxīng 17 calling for the examination, then the cèwèn 策問 (examination question) and the names of the examiners, then the bǎng of names, then for each jìnshì the courtesy name, native place, and three-generation genealogy. An appendix records 32 men’s careers from Dǒng Dé 董德 onwards, plus an excerpt of the Zhuàngyuán Wáng Zuǒ’s and two others’ policy responses (all distinctly pro-peace, “héyì 和議”). The peculiar significance of this roster — the only Sòng tóngnián xiǎolù widely circulated — is that it includes Zhū Xī 朱熹, ranked 5甲第90 (Fifth Class, position 90) in his cohort.
Tiyao
Shàoxīng shíbā nián tóngnián xiǎolù in one juàn — the roster of the jìnshì of Wáng Zuǒ’s bǎng. Examination: in Sòng times, after the palace examination’s bǎngchàng, the visit to the Sage and Master, and the wénxǐ yàn, names with courtesy, native place, and three-generation paternal genealogy were duly recorded — this was called the tóngnián xiǎolù. After Gāozōng’s southern crossing, from Lǐ Yáo’s bǎng of Jiànyán 2 down to this one, was the seventh examination. This cohort has 330 in the regular roll, plus 457 tèzòumíng, of whom 456 are missing — only one preserved. It opens with the previous year’s imperial handwritten edict — the triennial jìnshì examination being already a fixed institution, an imperial handwritten edict was nonetheless required to set it in motion: this is Sòng practice. Then the cèwèn and examiners’ names; then the bǎng; then for each man courtesy, native place, and three-generation genealogy. There follows an appendix recording 32 men from Dǒng Dé 董德 onwards, with a precis of the Zhuàngyuán Wáng Zuǒ’s and two others’ palace-examination policy responses, in all of which “héyì” appears strongly — we do not know who recorded these, but probably SòngYuán hands working in succession, not one editor. The Sòng tóngnián xiǎolù are now mostly lost, but the Bǎoyòu 4 (1256) bǎng (which includes Wén Tiānxiáng 文天祥, Lù Xiùfū 陸秀夫, and Xiè Fāngdé 謝枋得 — three men of the highest renown) and this one are still revered. This one is preserved because Zhūzǐ’s name appears in Wǔjiǎ (Fifth Class) at rank 90 — and so the jiǎngxué jiā (lecturing scholars) one after the other passed it on. In the Míng Hóngzhì period (1488–1505), Wáng Jiànzhī 王鑑之 of Kuàijī re-cut it at the Zǐyáng Academy and changed the title to Zhūzǐ tóngnián lù 朱子同年錄. — Now, jìnshì tóngnián is referred to throughout history by the name of the Zhuàngyuán — “so-and-so’s bǎng” — that is the institutional convention; and prefixing the era-name “X-year graduates’ little roster” is also institutional convention. So preserving the work for the sake of Zhūzǐ is acceptable; but to put Zhūzǐ at the head of the work and so make a dynasty’s institutional document into a single family’s genealogy is unacceptable; to use Zhūzǐ to magnify the work is acceptable; but to title the work after Zhūzǐ — striking out the imperial regnal succession in favour of an honorific Confucian title — is even more unacceptable. Wáng Jiànzhī’s renaming reveals only his concern with sectarian flag-waving and ignores its harm to the broader moral-pedagogic order. We therefore preserve the original title to keep the genuine. Reverently presented in the twelfth month of Qiánlóng 45 (1780). 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 Shàoxīng 18 (1148) tóngnián xiǎolù is the only Southern-Sòng triennial jìnshì roster to circulate widely, owing to its inclusion of Zhū Xī (then aged 19) at Fifth Class, position 90. As an institutional document it is invaluable: it preserves the imperial handwritten edict, the policy question, the examiners’ names, the rank-ordered bǎng, and three-generation genealogical data on each successful candidate — a primary source for Southern-Sòng prosopography. The compilation date is fixed by the date of the examination itself, Shàoxīng 18 = 1148. The Sìkù tiyao’s account of the work’s transmission and the polemic against Wáng Jiànzhī’s Míng Hóngzhì renaming as Zhūzǐ tóngnián lù is itself a valuable Qīng note on the history of Southern-Sòng jiāpǔ and bǎnglù. The work survives because of Zhū Xī, but its substantive content far exceeds that personal interest.
Translations and research
- The standard handbook of Sòng examination culture, John W. Chaffee, The Thorny Gates of Learning in Sung China (Cambridge UP, 1985), draws extensively on this roster.
- Hilde De Weerdt, Competition over Content: Negotiating Standards for the Civil Service Examinations in Imperial China (1127–1276) (HUP, 2007), uses it for prosopography of the Southern-Sòng examination cohorts.
- The Sì-kù tíyào notice is in 史部·傳記類三·總錄之屬.
Other points of interest
This roster contains the earliest definitive prosopographical record of Zhū Xī (his three-generation genealogy via his father Zhū Sōng 朱松). It also preserves a disproportionate emphasis on the héyì (peace-faction) policy positions of Wáng Zuǒ and his cohort — reflecting the political moment of Shàoxīng 18 under Qín Huì’s chancellorship.
Links
- Wilkinson 2018, Chinese History: A New Manual §49.