Diàngé cílín jì 殿閣詞林記
Records of the Hall-and-Pavilion Literati by 廖道南 (撰), incorporating substantial portions of 黃佐’s Hànlín jì 翰林記
About the work
A 22-juàn prosopographical compilation of the Míng Hànlín and adjacent court-literary establishment, by Liào Dàonán 廖道南 (zì Míngōng 鳴公, of Pújiāng 蒲江 in Húguǎng 湖廣, jìnshì of Zhèngdé xīnsì = 1521 — given as a shùjíshì 庶吉士 and risen to Shìjiǎng xuéshì 侍講學士). Liào, having served long in the Hànlín, was familiar with its institutional history (zhǎnggù 掌故) and gathered the careers of its successive officials by category. From juàn 9 onwards the title-page bears “co-edited by Guózǐjiàn jìjiǔ Huáng Zuǒ 黃佐 and Shìjiǎng xuéshì Liào Dàonán” — i.e., the lower half of the compilation incorporates substantial extracts from Huáng Zuǒ’s earlier Hànlín jì 翰林記 (1530) without disguise; this transparent acknowledgment of dependence is a Sìkù-praiseworthy gesture of “earlier-generation honesty.” Each entry sets out the man’s office, imperial favours received, and notable affairs. The categorical divisions are: diànxué 殿學 (those who reached Huágài 華蓋, Wǔyīng 武英 etc. Hall-Academician offices); géxué 閣學 (Wényuān 文淵, Dōnggé 東閣); guǎnxué 館學 (those who held both Liùguǎn); gōngxué 宮學 (Zhānshì); fāngxué 坊學 (Chūnfāng); guǎnxué (a separate sub-category for those of the Hóngwénguǎn); yōngxué 廱學 (Tàixué / Guózǐxué); qīngxué 卿學 (those who rose to flag-rank within the academy); zèngxué 贈學 (those of conspicuous fēngjié); yìxué 藝學 (those distinguished in calligraphy or arts); yuànxué 院學 (those who began and ended in the academy proper). The work is a textbook example of the Míng zhíguān (officeholding) sub-genre.
Tiyao
Diàngé cílín jì in 22 juàn, by Liào Dàonán of the Míng. Dàonán has the Chǔ jì 楚紀 listed elsewhere. He took the jìnshì in Zhèngdé xīnsì (1521) and was changed to shùjíshì; from Hànlín compiler he rose through Shìjiǎng xuéshì. He was long in the cíyuán (literary academy) and so familiar with court precedent. He gathered the Hànlín, Diàngé, Gōngfāng, and Táishěng officials’ affairs and arranged them by category, in this book. The arrangement gives those who attained Huágài, Wǔyīng etc. as diànxué; those of Wényuān, Dōnggé as géxué; those who held both Liùguǎn as guǎnxué; those who became Zhānshì as gōngxué; those attached to the Chūnfāng as fāngxué; those attached to the Hóngwén as also guǎnxué; those of the Chéngjūn as yōngxué; those who rose to flag rank in the academy as qīngxué; those of fēngjié (high moral standing) as zèngxué; those distinguished in calligraphy as yìxué; those who began and ended in the academy as yuànxué. Roughly the format imitates the lièzhuàn — recording office and imperial favour, with the actual events appended. From juàn 9 down, the title-page heads bear “co-edited by Guózǐjiàn jìjiǔ Huáng Zuǒ and Shìjiǎng xuéshì Liào Dàonán” — for Dàonán did indeed adopt the language of Huáng Zuǒ’s Hànlín jì without concealing the source: a token of his elder-generation honesty. We now retain the old practice and preserve both names. Reverently presented in the fifth 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 Diàngé cílín jì is one of the most ambitious mid-Míng prosopographical works on the Hànlín and Imperial Academy establishment. Liào Dàonán’s date of compilation is not exactly fixed, but the work post-dates Huáng Zuǒ’s Hànlín jì (1530, on internal evidence), so the date bracket is c. 1530–1547 — Liào Dàonán’s death-date is uncertain but conventionally placed in the 1540s. The work was much used by subsequent MíngQīng prosopographers; the Míngshǐ compilers drew on it. The category-system diàn / gé / guǎn / gōng / fāng / yōng / qīng / zèng / yì / yuàn is itself a distinctive Hànlín prosopographical schema. Huáng Zuǒ (CBDB id 30674, 1490–1566), the Cantonese jìnshì of Zhèngdé 16 (1521), was a major scholar in his own right (Yuèfú zhīyīn 樂府指音; Tàiquán xiānglǐ 泰泉鄉禮; etc.), and his Hànlín jì of 1530 is the foundation of the work.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language translation located. The work is a primary source for John W. Dardess’s studies of Míng officeholding. The Sì-kù tíyào notice is in 史部·傳記類三·總錄之屬.
Other points of interest
The Sìkù editors’ praise of Liào Dàonán’s preservation of Huáng Zuǒ’s name on the title-page even though the lower half of the work is essentially Huáng’s Hànlín jì — a token of “elder-generation honesty” — is a touching Qing tribute to mid-Míng intellectual fēngqì.
Links
- Wilkinson 2018, Chinese History: A New Manual §49.
- CBDB person id 30674 (Huáng Zuǒ 黃佐).