Zhōngzhōu rénwù kǎo 中州人物考
Investigation of the Persons of Zhōng-zhōu by 孫奇逢 (撰)
About the work
An eight-juàn compilation of biographies of Zhōngzhōu 中州 (= Hénán 河南) worthies, by Sūn Qíféng 孫奇逢 (zì Qǐtài 啟泰, Zhōngyuán 鍾元, 1583–1675; the catalog meta gives 1584–1675), of Róngchéng 容城 in Héběi, jǔrén of Wànlì gēngzǐ (= 1600). Sūn refused all summons under the early Qīng and lived as a yímín (loyalist refugee) in retirement. The book was composed after his move to Sūménshān 蘇門山 in Hénán (post-1644). The biographies are organized in seven categories: Lǐxué 理學, Jīngjì 經濟 (statesmen), Zhōngjié 忠節, Qīngzhí 清直 (incorruptible-and-direct), Fāngzhèng 方正 (upright), Wǔgōng 武功 (military merit), Yǐnyì 隱逸 (recluses); literary men (wénshì 文士) are deliberately excluded — Sūn’s principle is “to cast aside ornamentation and encourage substantive practice” (chù huázǎo lì shíxíng 黜華藻勵實行). All entries are Míng-dynasty figures, with one Yuán figure (Cài Zǐyīng 蔡子英) appended at the end of Zhōngjié. Juàn 8 is Bǔyí 補遺 and Xùbǔ 續補 (supplement and continuation), no longer organized by the seven categories. The Sìkù editors note errors of judgment — particularly the inclusion of Zhāng Yù 張玉, originally a Yuán military man who defected to the Míng and then died fighting against the Jiànwén loyalists at Jǐnán in support of Yǒnglè’s coup; Sūn calls him “a man who chose his lord well,” but the editors point out that he praises Cài Zǐyīng (a Yuán yímín who refused to switch loyalties) under the same rubric — the two judgments cannot stand together.
Tiyao
Zhōngzhōu rénwù kǎo in 8 juàn, by Sūn Qíféng of our dynasty. Qíféng, courtesy name Qǐtài or Zhōngyuán, was a man of Róngchéng. He was a jǔrén of Wànlì gēngzǐ (1600); he entered our dynasty and died at over eighty. The book was composed when he had moved to Sūménshān in Hénán; it gathers the Zhōngzhōu (Hénán) worthies, divided into seven categories: Lǐxué; Jīngjì; Zhōngjié; Qīngzhí; Fāngzhèng; Wǔgōng; Yǐnyì. Wénshì are not admitted — the principle is to cast aside ornament and reward solid practice. All entries are Míng men, except Cài Zǐyīng of the Yuán appended at the end of Zhōngjié. Each man has a biography and verdict; the longer ones run several pages, the briefest a single line. For those of whom no record survives, no detail is given — abridgement is not a sign of low value. The last juàn is called Bǔyí and Xùbǔ, no longer using the seven-category headings — apparently to avoid putting them under the seven heads, so this is a polite fiction. Yet the same scheme is followed: even commoners are given the title “gōng”; finally, those for whom only the name survives, with no biography (34 men), are listed by name only. The zàn (verdicts) are lenient with ordinary men but strict with worthies — not arbitrary. Only the Zhāng Yù verdict is most flawed. Zhāng Yù was a Yuán Shūmì zhīyuàn who defected and joined the Míng, but Qíféng calls this “choosing one’s lord well” — by this logic the Six Ministers of the Táng who handed over the imperial seal to the Liáng would also be choosing well! Yù later supported Yānwáng (the future Yǒnglè) in raising arms against the rightful sovereign and died at Tiě Xuàn 鐵鉉’s defence of Jǐnán; Qíféng calls this “dying in the right place” — by this logic Lǐ Rìyuè 李日月 helping Lǐ Xīliè 李希烈 and dying by the sword would also be “dying in the right place”! Moreover, Cài Zǐyīng’s righteousness in refusing to forget the Yuán, his journey through hardship to return to his old master — Qíféng has placed him in Zhōngjié — and yet to praise Zhāng Yù’s pànluàn (rebellion) here, do these not contradict? Again, Xuē Xuān is properly a Héjīn man, and Lǐ Mèngyáng a Qìngyáng man — to drag them into Zhōngzhōu on tenuous grounds is also a marginal practice. Yet Qíféng, though dying as a commoner, was at the time held in high esteem; Tāng Bīn 湯斌 even paid him the homage of taking his place at the northern face of disciple-deference. His writings have been much circulated and are not to be dismissed as paltry local-prefecture zhuànjì. We therefore preserve the book and discuss it carefully, that the reader may know its merits and demerits both. Reverently presented in the sixth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). 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 Zhōngzhōu rénwù kǎo is one of the major early-Qīng yímín compilations of Míng worthies, organized as a moral-categorical anthology by a leading Lǐxué loyalist. Sūn Qíféng (CBDB id 34807; lifedates conventionally 1584–1675, with the catalog meta agreeing) was the so-called “Sānxiān” 三先生 of early Qīng Lǐxué together with Lǐ Yóng 李顒 and Huáng Zōngxī. He had been an active member of the Dōnglín circle in his youth (he memorialized in defence of Wèi Dàzhōng 魏大中 against Wèi Zhōngxián); after 1644 he refused all Qīng summonses and lived in retreat. The composition date of the Zhōngzhōu rénwù kǎo is uncertain; it must postdate his move to Sūménshān (post-1644) and predate his death in 1675; date bracket here 1644–1675. The work belongs to the wider early-Qīng yímín commemorative tradition (parallel to KR2g0030 Zhāozhōng lù) but applies a moral-categorical organization closer to the Míng míngchén anthology tradition. The Sìkù editors’ carefully phrased criticism — that Sūn’s late-life standing as one of the leading Lǐxué figures of his age makes the work substantively important even when his judgments are flawed — is a fair assessment.
Translations and research
- Lynn A. Struve, The Ming-Qing Conflict, 1619–1683 (AAS, 1998).
- The standard biography of Sūn Qí-féng is in Tāng Bīn’s Sūn Xià-fēng xiānshēng nián-pǔ 孫夏峰先生年譜.
- The Sì-kù tíyào notice is in 史部·傳記類三·總錄之屬.
Other points of interest
The exclusion of wénshì (men of letters) from the zhuànjì — Sūn’s deliberate restriction of zhōngjié / qīngzhí / fāngzhèng commemoration to those who exhibited shíxíng (substantive practice) rather than literary skill — is a striking jiǎngxué polemical position. The Zhāng Yù case (a Yuán Shūmì-yuàn defector to the Míng) is one of the more contentious early-Qīng commemorative judgments and the Sìkù editors are right to flag it.
Links
- Wilkinson 2018, Chinese History: A New Manual §49.
- CBDB person id 34807 (Sūn Qíféng 孫奇逢).