Kuàijī jì 會稽記
Records of Kuaiji by 孔靈符 (Kǒng Língfú, d. 465 CE) — zhuàn 撰 (transmitted under the name of 孔曄 Kǒng Yè of the Jin dynasty in Shuōfǔ editions)
About the work
A fragmentary geographic record of the Kuàijī 會稽 region (modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang), distinct from the shorter Kuàijī tǔdì jì (KR2k0170) and from a second set of Kuàijī jì fragments preserved in KR2k0192 (KR2k0192). The work draws on myths, legends, and historical accounts associated with Kuaiji’s famous landscape, and is cited in classical commentaries including the Shǐjì 史記 Zhèngyi 正義 commentary, Sòng bǎoqìng huìjì zhì 宋寶慶會稽志, and the Huìjì xùzhì 會稽續志.
Abstract
The surviving fragments of this Kuàijī jì treat the legendary and historical geography of the Kuaiji region:
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The Origin of “Yuè” (越): Shǎo Kāng 少康 (mythological sage-king, traditionally of the Xia dynasty) enfeoffed his youngest son at a place called “Yú Yuè” 於越, and this is the origin of the name of the Yue state. The passage cites the Shǐjì 史記 (Yuèwáng Gōujiàn shìjiā 越王句踐世家 Zhèngyi commentary).
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Yǔ’s Well (禹井): On Mt. Kuaiji there is a “Yǔ’s Well” (禹井), twenty-five steps from the legendary “Yǔ’s Burrow” (禹穴). The text notes that tradition holds Yu himself dug this well. The passage cites the Huìjì sān fù 會稽三賦 commentary by Zhōu Shìzé.
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The Stone Basket (石簣): The Stone Basket on the summit of Wǎnwěi Shān 宛委山 (Heaven’s Pillar Mountain). A detailed account of the legendary gold-letter jade-book treasure buried there (as recorded in Wú Yuè chūnqiū 吳越春秋): a great jade book with golden script and silver binding, containing the secrets of hydraulic engineering that Yu the Great found by dreaming of a red-embroidered emissary who guided him to the mountaintop. The text preserves a substantial quotation from Wú Yuè chūnqiū describing Yu’s journey, the divine emissary, the writing tablets, and the engineering knowledge that enabled him to control the Great Flood.
The text circulates in Shuōfǔ and ctext.org editions attributed to “晉孔曄 Kǒng Yè of Jin” — a name not attested in the Jìn shū — but the work is more probably by Kǒng Língfú 孔靈符 (Liu Song, killed 465 CE), a twenty-generation descendant of Confucius from Shānyīn, who served multiple terms as Administrator of Kuaiji. The attribution to “晉孔曄” is a later scribal error or pseudonymous attribution. Lǔ Xùn 魯迅 compiled fragments in his Kuàijī jùn gùshū zájí 會稽郡故書雜集 (1915).
The text’s citations of Shǐjì Zhèngyi commentary (compiled *c.*736 CE by Zhāng Shǒujié 張守節) and Song-period Bǎoqìng huìjì xùzhì suggest that the present KRP edition is a later anthology compilation. The underlying text is probable Liu Song, with composition during Kǒng Língfú’s active career before his death in 465 CE.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- ctext.org search: https://ctext.org/search.pl?if=en&search=會稽記