Zhènghé Wǔlǐ Xīnyí 政和五禮新儀
New Ritual Code of the Five Rites, Zhènghé Era by 鄭居中 (奉敕撰)
About the work
The Northern Sòng Huīzōng-period imperial ritual code. Compiled by the Yìlǐjú (Bureau of Ritual Discussion) under the directorship of Zhèng Jūzhōng 鄭居中 (?–1123), then Zhī Shūmìyuàn; the work bears Huīzōng’s own preface dated 1 March of Zhènghé 1 (1111). Originally 220 juǎn in the wǔlǐ (five rites) framework: imperially composed guānlǐ (capping ritual, 10 juǎn) at the head as model, then mùlù (6); xùlì (24); jílǐ (111); bīnlǐ (21); jūnlǐ (8); jiālǐ (42, with marriage moved before capping per Huīzōng’s order); xiōnglǐ (14, especially detailed on imperial-and-commoner regulations). The work was rejected by the rising Cháo school under Zhū Xī’s influence and superseded by the Zhōngxīng lǐshū of the Southern Sòng, but it is the only surviving complete Northern-Sòng ritual code; the earlier Kāibǎo lǐ, Tàicháng yīngé lǐ, and Lǐgé xīnyí are lost. The Sìkù recension is incomplete: juǎn 74, 88–90, 108–112, 128–137, 200 are wholly missing; 75, 91, 92 partial—hence the catalog meta extent “cún 201 卷” (201 juǎn extant).
Tiyao
By the imperially commissioned editorial board of the Yìlǐjú, headed by Zhī Shūmìyuàn Zhèng Jūzhōng. Huīzōng’s imperial preface is dated Zhènghé xīnyuán, third month, first day—that is, the year Zhènghé changed-the-reign (1111). Qián Zēng’s Dúshū mǐnqiú jì mistakenly reads xīnyuán as xīnyuán (new origin), saying its sense is unclear—an error.
The volume opens with the bureau-officials’ deliberation regulations and the imperial autograph instructions on each topic, then the imperial-composed guānlǐ (capping) regulations. These ten juǎn were promulgated as a model and so placed at the head. Then 6 juǎn of mùlù (table of contents), then 24 juǎn of xùlì (general regulations)—the framework of the ritual. Then 111 juǎn of jílǐ; 21 of bīnlǐ; 8 of jūnlǐ; 42 of jiālǐ (with marriage placed before capping, per Huīzōng’s regulation); 14 of xiōnglǐ (with the regulations for officers and commoners specially detailed).
This work was rejected by Zhū Xī. Once the Zhōngxīng lǐshū appeared, this one was no longer in use; transmission has been very poor. In the present text, juǎn 74, juǎn 88–90, juǎn 108–112, juǎn 128–137, juǎn 200 all have only the table-of-contents entry and no body text; juǎn 75, 91, and 92 are missing about half. Even so, of the Northern Sòng ritual codes—Kāibǎo lǐ, Tàicháng yīngé lǐ, Lǐgé xīnyí—none survive; the Zhōngxīng lǐshū of the Southern Sòng exists only in scattered Yǒnglè dàdiǎn fragments, also incomplete. This work alone survives, and antiquarians of administrative practice ought to consult it.
Abstract
The Zhènghé wǔlǐ xīnyí is the only surviving complete Northern-Sòng imperial ritual code. Compilation began with the Yìlǐjú under Huīzōng (active 1107 onward) and concluded in Zhènghé 3 (1113) with the work’s promulgation; Huīzōng’s preface (1111) marks the official inauguration of the project. The dating bracket runs from preface (1111) to promulgation (1113). The catalog meta extent “cún 201 卷” reflects the Sìkù’s recension, which is incomplete by some twenty juǎn.
The work was promulgated under the influence of Cài Jīng 蔡京’s faction; its rejection by the Cháo school followed. Zhū Xī’s adverse judgment, recorded in his Yǔlèi, was decisive: the Southern Sòng Zhōngxīng lǐshū effectively replaced it. The Sìkù editors’ note that the Zhōngxīng lǐshū itself survives only in Yǒnglè dàdiǎn fragments highlights the unusual degree to which mid-Sòng ritual codification has been lost.
The work is reprinted in the Sìkù and is the principal source for Northern-Sòng ritual practice. Wilkinson does not treat it individually but the standard treatment is in Patricia Ebrey, Confucianism and Family Rituals in Imperial China (Princeton, 1991), and Ebrey, Emperor Huizong (Harvard, 2014), pp. 311–323, on the imperial preface and the Yìlǐjú’s working method.
Translations and research
Standard editions: Wényuāngé Sìkù. Patricia Ebrey, Emperor Huizong (2014), is the principal Western treatment. Chinese: Yáng Zhì-gāng 楊志剛, Sòngdài lǐzhì yánjiū 宋代禮制研究 (Wǔhàn dàxué, 2010), pp. 245–96, surveys the Yìlǐ-jú and the Zhènghé code. Mǐn Jiàn 閔劍, Zhènghé wǔlǐ xīnyí jiào yǔ yán-jiū 政和五禮新儀校與研究 (PhD diss., Sūdà, 2017), is the most thorough modern textual study.
Other points of interest
Huīzōng’s decision to place marriage before capping in the jiālǐ sequence is a quiet but notable reversal of the Yílǐ tradition; the Sìkù editors record it without comment, and the change appears to have been short-lived—Southern-Sòng codes returned to capping-first.