Míng míngchén wǎnyǎn lù 明名臣琬琰錄
Anthology of Stelae and Biographies of the Great Ministers of the Míng edited by 徐紘 (編)
About the work
A 24-juàn anthology of biographical stelae, zhìmíng, xíngzhuàng, and biographies of Míng officials of the Hóngwǔ through Hóngzhì nine reigns, plus a 22-juàn Xùlù (continuation), edited by Xú Hóng 徐紘 (zì Cháowén 朝文, of Wǔjìn 武進 in modern Jiāngsū), jìnshì of Hóngzhì gēngxū (= 1490), who served as Xíngbù láng 刑部郎, then provincial Lǐngdōng cháánfēnxún 廣東按察司僉事分巡嶺東, and ended as Yúnnán cháánfùshǐ 雲南按察司副使. The work is explicitly modelled on Dù Dàguī’s Sòng Míngchén bēizhuàn wǎnyǎn jí (KR2g0025), as the title’s wǎnyǎn (jade tablets) signals; it gathers the same kinds of materials — stelae, zhìmíng, xíngzhuàng — for the early-and-middle Míng. The qiánlù (front compilation) records 117 men; the xùlù records 95 men. The Sìkù editors flag occasional infelicities of selection (e.g., Lǐ Jǐnglóng 李景隆 — the disastrous Jiànwén commander — is included though not properly a míngchén; the imperial relative Huìān bó Zhāng Shēng 張昇 is included though never an officeholder; cases of contradictory portrayals between two pieces in the same volume — Chén Tài 陳泰’s zhìmíng praising him while Lǐ Xián 李賢’s zhìmíng of Kòu Shēn 寇深 attacks Chén). But on the whole the editors find the early-Míng fēngqì (literary-moral atmosphere) honest and unfussy, and the materials reliable.
Tiyao
Míng míngchén wǎnyǎn lù in 24 juàn, Xùlù in 22 juàn, edited by Xú Hóng of the Míng. Hóng, courtesy name Cháowén, was a man of Wǔjìn. He took the jìnshì in Hóngzhì gēngxū (1490), served as Xíngbù láng, was then sent out as Guǎngdōng cháánfēnxún Lǐngdōng, and ended as Yúnnán cháánfùshǐ. The book follows the model of Dù Dàguī’s Míngchén bēizhuàn wǎnyǎn jí of the Sòng. It gathers the affairs of nine reigns from Hóngwǔ to Hóngzhì; the qiánlù records 117 men, the xùlù records 95 men. Stele-inscriptions, zhìmíng, biographies, plus dìzhì (gazetteers) and yánxínglù and the like are all included. Among them: Lǐ Jǐnglóng’s loss of the army and ruin of the state cannot be called those of a great minister; Huìānbó Zhāng Shēng among the imperial relatives, though of good repute, never held office and cannot be ranked with the meritorious ministers. Again, in the zhìmíng of Chén Tài one reads that Kòu Shēn was jealous of his talent and reputation and induced others to file false impeachment; in the same volume Lǐ Xián’s zhìmíng of Kòu Shēn praises his strict legal administration — Hóng adds his own balancing note, but it does not entirely avoid the contradiction. Yet the literary atmosphere from the early Míng to the Chéng- and Hóng-period is honest and unaffected; shìdàfū who took up the brush were largely direct and unpadded — the materials are essentially trustworthy. Among the figures recorded are Yù Xīn 郁新, Wú Shòuchāng 吳壽昌, and dozens of others not in the Shǐzhuàn; for considering the xiàn (worthy precedents) of the Míng, the literary materials are sufficient as evidence — quite unlike xiǎoshuōjiā writers who pile up hearsay without basis. Reverently presented in the tenth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). 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 Míng míngchén wǎnyǎn lù (with its Xùlù) is the principal mid-Míng anthology of biographical-stele literature on early-Míng officials, in conscious imitation of Dù Dàguī’s Sòng work (KR2g0025). Xú Hóng (CBDB id 338384 or 540528 — multiple records, none with firm lifedates; jìnshì of Hóngzhì 3 = 1490) was a Hóngzhì-era provincial official; the compilation date is best estimated at c. 1500–1520 on the basis of his career trajectory. The 117 + 95 = 212 men covered, drawn from now-lost Míng biéjí and stele-rubbings, make this the principal source for early-Míng official prosopography supplementing the Míngshǐ. The work was a working source for the Míngshǐ compilers and remains a standard secondary anthology for early-Míng materials.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language translation located. Standard reference for early-Míng prosopography; cf. Hok-lam Chan, Mongolian Yuan and Early Ming Source Materials (Asian Studies Monographs, 1969); the work is one of the principal sources for the CBDB project’s mid-Míng prosopography. The Sì-kù tíyào notice is in 史部·傳記類三·總錄之屬.
Other points of interest
The work’s conscious imitation of Dù Dàguī’s Sòng prototype, including the wǎnyǎn in the title, makes it a textbook example of Míng-period biographical-anthology continuity with Sòng forms.
Links
- Wilkinson 2018, Chinese History: A New Manual §49.