Xuānhé fèngshǐ Gāolì tújīng 宣和奉使高麗圖經
Illustrated Account of the Embassy to Koryŏ in the Xuān-hé Era by 徐兢 (Xú Jīng, 1091–1153) — zhuàn 撰
About the work
A 40-juan illustrated record of the Northern-Sòng diplomatic embassy to Koryŏ 高麗 in Xuānhé 6 (1124), under ambassador Gěishìzhōng Lù Yǔndí 路允迪, with Xú Jīng serving as the Tíxiá rénchuán lǐwù guān (officer in charge of the embassy’s personnel, ships, and tribute exchanges). The work originally consisted of two parts: an illustrated section (tú) showing Koryŏ’s institutions, costumes, ritual objects, and ships; and a textual section (jīng) of 40 juan describing them. Both parts were presented to the throne on Xú’s return; one set was archived imperially, the other kept by the Xú family. The original imperial set was lost in the Jìngkāng sack of Kāifēng in 1126–1127; the family copy was lost in the same period, with only the two hǎidào (sea-route) juan recovered from a friendly physician’s possession; the textual portion was further preserved through a Lóng-xīng-period (1163–1164) Jiāngyīn imprint and the Qiándào prefectural-yamen edition. The illustrations are entirely lost. The text is divided into 28 mén (subject categories) covering Koryŏ’s geography, customs, institutions, regulations, costumes, ceremonies, foods, ritual objects, weapons, household items, ships, ports, and the road system traversed by the embassy. The work is the principal twelfth-century Chinese-language documentary monograph on Koryŏ-period Korea, and a foundational source for pre-modern Korean studies in any language.
Tiyao
We respectfully note: the Xuānhé fèngshǐ Gāolì tújīng in 40 juan is by Xú Jīng of Sòng. Jīng, zì Míngshū, hào Zìxìn jūshì. The work has at the end his xíngzhuàng attached, calling him a man of Ōuníng. The Wénxiàn tōngkǎo makes him of Hézhōu Lìyáng; the Sīlíng hànmò zhì further makes him of Xìnzhōu Xú; we should follow the xíngzhuàng as accurate. The Tōngkǎo further calls Jīng a descendant of Xú Xuàn 徐鉉; he himself titles his work “Bǎodà qíshěng shìjiā” (the family of the Bǎo-dà-period Cavalry-Office). Examining: Wáng Zhì’s Mòjì says Xú Xuàn had no son; only Xú Kǎi 徐鍇 had descendants — they lived at Shèshānqián opening a tea-shop; called the Xú Tenth-Brother. The XuànKǎi titles still survive — so the Tōngkǎo also transmits an error.
According to Jīng’s xíngzhuàng: in Xuānhé 6 (1124) Koryŏ paid tribute and the Gěishìzhōng Lù Yǔndí was sent in return-mission; Jīng, as Fèngyì láng, served as Guóxìnshǐ Tíxiá rénchuán lǐwù guān; thereupon he composed the Gāolì tújīng in 40 juan. On returning to court, by edict he submitted it on a presentation-tablet; received in audience at the Side-Hall, was granted the equivalent of jìnshì status; promoted to Zhī Tàizōng zhèngshì with concurrent care of the Shūxué. Later transferred to Shàngshū xíngbù yuánwài láng.
The book is divided into 28 mén; on that country’s mountains-and-rivers, customs, institutions, regulations, down to the ritual-form of reception and the road of coming-and-going — none is unrecorded; and the autograph preface especially earnest about the illustrations. The present text has only the textual part and not the illustrations — already not the complete book. But there is a note at the front by his nephew Xú Chǎn, saying: “The book was submitted to the imperial archives, the duplicate kept at home; in the Jìngkāng dīngwèi (1127) military disturbance it was lost; later from a physician we obtained the copy — only the two hǎidào juan were unscathed.” Further reporting Jīng’s saying: “the world transmits the book — often the tú is lost and the jīng survives; we wished to redraw the illustrations but did not succeed; therefore we engraved what survived at the Chéngjiāng jùnzhāi prefectural studio.” Zhōu Huī’s Qīngbō zázhì also says Jīng modelled his work on Wáng Yún’s Yuánfēng-era Jīlín zhì, taking it as the Gāolì tújīng — illustrating the things and writing their descriptions; Xú [Jīng] had always been good at painting. By the end of Xuānhé, the elder (suspect this is “xiānrén” “the late father” — i.e. Bāngyàn) at Lìyáng — although he saw the book, could only copy the prose and abridge the illustrations. The Qiándào engraved Jiāngyīn jùnzhāi edition is what was transmitted in the family; tú lost and jīng surviving; presumably after the war-fires the Xú family also lost the original set. So in the Sòng there was already no tú. Further Zhāng Shìnán’s Yóuhuàn jìwén says: in that year Koryŏ requested of the Sòng emperor that one able in calligraphy be sent to the country; on this Xú Jīng was made Guóxìnshǐ lǐwù guān — so Jīng’s mission was sent specifically because of his skill in calligraphy, yet he set his mind to recording, and the result was thus.
Today his calligraphic works are not known to survive in even a single character; only this work survives. Examining: Wèi Liǎowēng’s Hèshān jí says Jīng’s zhuàn (small-seal) departed from the Shuōwén jiězì and made its own school; even his name Jīng — the zhuàn form on his seal — is also different from the standard zhuàn method. So his zhuàn abolished the ancient method, fittingly not preserved by later persons. But this work is enough to transmit Jīng — although his zhuàn is not transmitted, that may be left aside. Respectfully proof-read in the second month of Qiánlóng 42 (1777).
Abstract
The Xuānhé fèngshǐ Gāolì tújīng is the principal twelfth-century Chinese-language documentary monograph on Koryŏ-period Korea (Gāolì, 918–1392) and one of the foundational pre-modern documentary sources in any language for Korean institutional, social, and material history. It was composed by Xú Jīng 徐兢 (1091–1153 per CBDB 3378; zì Míngshū 明叔, hào Zìxìn jūshì 自信居士; native of Ōuníng 甌寧 in Mǐn) — a Northern-Sòng calligrapher and Hànlín official — based on his service as the Tíxiá rénchuán lǐwù guān in the Xuānhé 6 (1124) Sòng embassy to Koryŏ under ambassador Lù Yǔndí. Xú himself was selected for the embassy specifically for his calligraphic skill (Koryŏ having requested an able calligrapher from the Sòng court).
Catalog-vs-CBDB note: the catalog meta gives 1093–1155; CBDB 3378 gives 1091–1153; followed CBDB here, as it is more authoritative.
The work was originally in two integrated halves — an illustrated portion (tú) and a textual portion (jīng) of 40 juan; the imperial set was lost in the Jìngkāng (1126–1127) sack of Kāifēng, and the family duplicate was also lost, with only the two hǎidào juan recovered intact from a sympathetic physician. The textual portion was later printed at Jiāngyīn in Qiándào (1163–1164) on the basis of partial fragments. The illustrations are entirely lost.
The 28-mén arrangement covers: Koryŏ’s geography and walled cities; the royal palace and government offices; ritual and ceremonial protocols; costume and personal ornament; ritual implements; weapons and military equipment; banner and ensign systems; vehicles and saddlery; foods and drinks; markets and currency; household furnishings; women’s customs; commoners and crafts; ships; ports and harbours; the hǎidào (sea-route) of the embassy; etc. The work is the principal documentary basis for the modern reconstruction of Koryŏ-period material culture, and is regularly cited in Korean archaeology, art history, and institutional history.
The work is preserved in Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 593.6).
Translations and research
- Yi Hyo-yong 이효영 et al., Sŏn-Hwa pongsa Koryŏ tokyŏng 宣和奉使高麗圖經 (Korean translation with critical apparatus, several editions). The standard Korean-language critical edition.
- Pak Sang-hwan 박상환, Sŏn-Hwa pongsa Koryŏ tokyŏng kanyŏk.
- Werner Sasse, Das Ko-rye togyŏng des Sui Ching (Wiesbaden: Steiner-Verlag, 1981 — German translation with apparatus).
- Edward J. Shultz, Generals and Scholars: Military Rule in Medieval Korea (Honolulu, 2000), uses the work extensively.
- Don Baker and others, in studies of Koryŏ Buddhism and royal ritual.
- Wilkinson §73.5.
- Standard Chinese editions: Pái Lì-shēng 排立生 ed., Gāo-lì tú-jīng (Hángzhōu, 1980s); Yán Shàng-yáng 顏尚陽 critical edition.
Other points of interest
The work is a key source for the early-twelfth-century maritime route between Mǐngzhōu (Níngbō) and the Koryŏ capital at Kaesŏng — the two hǎidào juan being the principal pre-modern Chinese description of the route. It is also a primary source for the LiáoSòngJīn-period East Asian diplomatic-protocol world.
Links
- Wikidata
- Sasse, Das Ko-rye togyŏng (Steiner-Verlag, 1981)
- Wilkinson §73.5