Jiāngnán Biélù 江南別錄
Supplementary Records of Jiāng-nán (Southern Táng) by 陳彭年 (撰)
About the work
The Jiāngnán Biélù, in 1 juàn (originally 4 juàn — one for each of the four Southern-Táng rulers), is the early-Sòng Southern-Táng history of 陳彭年 Chén Péngnián (961–1017), the great Northern-Sòng lexicographer (compiler of the Chóngxiū Guǎngyùn KR1j0055 and the Dàguǎng yìhuì Yùpiān KR1j0056). Written privately as a bǔyí 補遺 (supplement) to the official Jiāngnán lù 江南錄 of 徐鉉 Xú Xuàn and 湯悅 Tāng Yuè, it covers the Yìzǔ 義祖 徐溫 Xú Wēn (the Wú regent who installed the Lǐ family), and the three Southern Táng rulers — 李昪 Lièzǔ, 李璟 Yuánzōng, and 李煜 Hòuzhǔ. Chén Péngnián was a personal protégé of Lǐ Yù: at age thirteen, the Hòuzhǔ “summoned him into the inner palace and ordered him to associate with [his son] Zhòngxuān 仲宣,” and consequently Chén had unparalleled access to the inner workings of the Southern-Táng court. The book is heavily cited by 司馬光 Sīmǎ Guāng in the Zīzhì tōngjiàn.
Tiyao
By Chén Péngnián 陳彭年 of the Sòng. Péngnián, zì Yǒngnián 永年, of Nánchéng 南城 in Fǔzhōu 撫州. He was a Tàipíngxīngguó 太平興國 jìnshì, rising to Bīngbù shìláng 兵部侍郎 and Cānzhī zhèngshì 參知政事; his posthumous title was Wén 文. Biography in the Sòngshǐ. The book records the historical events of the four reigns of Yìzǔ 義祖, Lièzǔ, Yuánzōng (= Sìzhǔ Lǐ Jǐng), and Hòuzhǔ. At the time of writing, 湯悅 Tāng Yuè and 徐鉉 Xú Xuàn, by imperial commission, were producing the official Jiāngnán lù 江南錄; this work of Péngnián’s is a privately compiled supplement, hence the title “Biélù”. The Sòngshǐ Yìwénzhì and Cháo Gōngwǔ’s Dúshū zhì both list it in 4 juàn — one for each reign — and the present 1-juàn book is presumably a later collation. The book is fond of the marvelous: Xú Zhīhuì 徐知誨’s wife of the Lǚ 呂 family possessed by ghosts; Chén Réngǎo 陳仁杲 supernaturally aided in battle; Zhào Xīcāo 趙希操 conversing with ghosts — entries of the bàiguān 稗官 sort. Yuánzōng (Sìzhǔ Lǐ Jǐng) was originally named Jǐngtōng 景通; on his accession he changed his name to Jǐng 璟, and after submission as a Zhōu vassal, avoiding the Zhōu taboo, changed it again to Jǐng 景. The present book has him initially named Jǐng 景, contrary to the standard histories. The Lièzǔ relocated the Wú Rànghuáng 讓皇 to Rùnzhōu 潤州; one year later he died, and only after another year was his clan removed to Tàizhōu 泰州. The present book combines all of this under the period of Lièzǔ’s accession, blurring the chronological line. Yet much else is precise. Péngnián at thirteen wrote a Huánggāng lùn 皇綱論 of over ten thousand characters and was praised by Jiāngzuǒ míngbèi 江左名輩; Lǐ Hòuzhǔ summoned him into the inner palace to associate with his son Zhòngxuān 仲宣, so on Lǐ-period matters his information is firsthand. Péngnián also helped compile the Cèfǔ yuánguī KR2k0058 — its Jiànwěibù 僭偽部 entry on Lǐ Biàn (writing that Biàn claimed descent from Yǒngwáng Lǐn 永王璘) is the standard view there too, attributable to the same circle. The present book describes Lǐshì merely as “Táng zhī zōngshì 唐之宗室” (a member of the Táng house), preserving the principle of chuányí 傳疑 (where evidence is lacking, one transmits without commitment). Sīmǎ Guāng’s Tōngjiàn draws heavily from this book — far more so than from texts based on hearsay.
Abstract
陳彭年 Chén Péngnián (961–1017), zì Yǒngnián, of Nánchéng 南城 (modern Jiāngxī), was the great Northern-Sòng phonologist and lexicographer responsible for the Dàzhōngxiángfú 大中祥符 1 (1008) Chóngxiū Guǎngyùn KR1j0055 and the Dàzhōngxiángfú 6 (1013) Dàguǎng yìhuì Yùpiān KR1j0056. He was a Southern-Táng prodigy: at thirteen years of age (974) he wrote a Huánggāng lùn of ten thousand characters and was summoned into the inner palace by Lǐ Yù to be the companion of the heir-apparent Lǐ Zhòngxuān 仲宣. After the Sòng conquest he held a series of senior posts under Tàizōng and Zhēnzōng, rising to Bīngbù shìláng and Cānzhī zhèngshì. The Jiāngnán Biélù was composed in the early Sòng — after Xú Xuàn and Tāng Yuè’s official Jiāngnán lù (presented to Tàizōng c. 982), as a private supplement — so a composition window of c. 980–1010 is defensible. The book is one of the most important Sòng-period sources on the inner workings of the Southern-Táng court (especially on the Hòuzhǔ years), and is heavily cited in Sīmǎ Guāng’s Zīzhì tōngjiàn and in 馬令 Mǎ Lìng’s and 陸游 Lù Yóu’s later NánTáng shū recensions (KR2i0017, KR2i0018). Of particular note is its careful preservation of the chuányí principle on the question of Southern-Táng dynastic ancestry — Chén refuses to endorse Lǐ Biàn’s claim of descent from Yǒngwáng Lǐ Lǐn 李璘, in pointed contrast to the Cèfǔ yuánguī (which Chén himself helped edit) — a small but telling case of his historiographical scrupulousness.
Translations and research
- Kurz, Johannes L. 2003. “Hai Internis Discordiis Disjectus — On the Sources for the History of the Southern T’ang Dynasty (937–975).” Tang Studies 21: 75–115.
- Kurz, Johannes L. 2011. China’s Southern Tang Dynasty (937–976). London: Routledge.
- Standard modern Chinese edition: in Wǔ-dài shǐ-shū huì-biān 五代史書彙編 (Hangzhou: Hángzhōu chū-bǎn-shè, 2004); also in Sì-bù bèi-yào.
- No standalone English translation.
Other points of interest
The Jiāngnán Biélù’s position as a bǔyí (supplement) to Xú Xuàn / Tāng Yuè’s official Jiāngnán lù makes it a key witness to the early-Sòng historiographical project of “framing” the absorbed kingdoms. Chén Péngnián’s reluctance to endorse the Lǐ family’s claim of imperial Táng descent — visible here in his use of the noncommittal Táng zhī zōngshì — became influential in later judgements, including the Cèfǔ yuánguī’s ambivalent treatment.