隸釋

Lìshì 隸釋

Explanations of [Hàn] Clerical-Script [Inscriptions]

by 洪适 (Hóng Kuò, 1117–1184)

About the work

The most important Sòng compendium of Hàn-clerical-script (Hànlì 漢隸) inscriptions, compiled during Hóng Kuò’s Yuèzhōu prefecture in 1166 (Qiándào 2, bǐngxū) and printed there in early 1167 with Hóng’s preface. The work is divided into 27 juan: 19 juan reproduce 189 HànWèi stelae in kǎi-script transcription, with critical and palaeographic commentary on each; 1 juan is the Shuǐjīng zhù 水經注 inscription-index; 2 juan are Ōuyáng Xiū’s Jígǔ lù KR2n0012 colophons; 1 juan is Ōuyáng Fěi’s Jígǔ mùlù; 3 juan are Zhào Míngchéng’s Jīnshí lù KR2n0013 colophons; 1 juan is an anonymous Tiānxià bēilù 天下碑錄. Hóng’s distinctive method is full transcription: where Ōuyáng and Zhào reproduce only inscription titles plus colophons, Hóng reproduces the entire text of each stele in kǎi-script (since the lì originals could not be set into type), with character-by-character glosses where the original lì form is unusual, plus historical commentary correlating the inscription to received historical records. The work is the prototype of the Hàn lì full-transcription tradition and the most-cited Sòng-era source for individual Hàn stelae texts.

Tiyao

[Translated and condensed from the Zinbun Sìkù tíyào]

Compiled by Hóng Kuò of the Sòng. Hóng was originally named Zào, later renamed; zì Jǐngbó, of Póyáng (Ráozhōu, Jiāngxī), eldest son of Hóng Hào. Passed the bóxué hóngcí in rénxū of Shàoxīng (1142), rose to shàngshū zuǒpúshè tóng zhōngshūménxià píngzhāng shì, posthumous name Wénhuì. Sòngshǐ has his biography.

The book was completed in bǐngxū of Qiándào 2 (1166), when Hóng was Guānwéndiàn dàxuéshì and zhī Shàoxīng fǔ ānfǔ Zhèdōng (governor of Shàoxīng prefecture and pacification commissioner of Zhèdōng). The next year first month, he prefaced and printed it. Zhōu Bìdà’s epitaph for Hóng says: “He was passionate about the lìgǔ (clerical-and-ancient script), and made a Zuǎnshì in 27 juan” — referring to this work. His brother Hóng Mài, in the preface to Lóu Jī’s 婁機 Hàn lì zìyuán 漢隸字源, says: “My elder brother Lord Wénhuì distinguished Hàn lì into five separate works: Shì (释), Zuǎn (纘), Yùn (韻), Tú (圖), Xù (續). Four are complete; only the Yùn is unfinished.”

Hóng’s own colophon to the Lìxù says: “Lìshì has a Lìxù — together they cover 285 Hàn stele inscriptions.” His colophon to the Chúnxī-era Lìshì says: “The Chúnxī Lìshì outline runs to 50 juan: in the Qiándào era the work was just beginning, and over more than ten years gleanings and supplements were repeatedly cut into print — the total stelae now run to 258.” But Hóng Mài’s Qiándào 3 (1167) postscript says: “189 stelae held in the family — their inscriptions transcribed and the historical context expanded — making 27 juan.” Yú Liángnéng’s 喩良能 Chúnxī 6 (1179) postscript also says: “When the duke headed Yuèzhōu, he gathered 189 Hàn stelae and made 27 juan.” Both postscripts agree with the present 27-juan, 189-stele count. Hóng’s later Chúnxī Lìshì title therefore appears to refer to a combined edition that includes the Lìxù additions; that combined text is no longer transmitted. The transmitted form remains as separate Lìshì and Lìxù books.

The present text is the Wànlì wùzǐ (1588) Wáng Lù 王鷺 cutting: 19 juan of HànWèi stelae, 1 juan of Shuǐjīng zhù inscription-index, 2 juan of Ōuyáng’s Jígǔ lù colophons, 1 juan of Ōuyáng Fěi’s Jígǔ mùlù, 3 juan of Zhào’s Jīnshí lù colophons, and 1 juan of an anonymous Tiānxià bēilù, totalling 27.

Under each stele’s heading, the work indicates whether the stele is recorded in Lì (Lì Dàoyuán’s Shuǐjīng zhù), Ōu, or Zhào. Ōu and Zhào record only inscription titles; for stelae they discuss they reproduce no text. Hóng’s work, made for lì-script research, accordingly reproduces every stele’s full text in transcription, with palaeographic glosses indicating the original lì-character readings character by character, plus historical commentary on inscriptions bearing on important events. This is the most evidentially comprehensive of all jīnshí compendia.

There are minor lapses [the editors list a series of philological errors — Wèiwèiqīng Héngfāng stele’s kuānlǐn for kuānlì, shēngxiāng for xīnxiāng, Shàohǔ for Zhàohǔ, yóu for máng, Bōkè for yì, kèzhǎng kèjūn for kèzhǎng kèjūn, jiǎnjiǎn for jiǎnjiǎn, lèzhǐ for lèzhǐ; Báishí shénjūn stele’s yōuzàn for yōuzàn, wújiāng for wújiāng; etc., as catalogued by Qián Dàxīn 錢大昕 in Qiánjyántáng jīnshí wén báwěi 潛研堂金石文跋尾]. There are also small misreadings — e.g. taking the ZhèngGù stele’s qūndùn (退讓) on a strained reading; misidentifying the Wǔliángcí 武梁祠 sketch as Wǔ Liáng’s, when its un-tabooed “Lǔ Zhuānggōng” character makes it pre-Míngdì work; etc. But the work is exhaustively rich; one or two errors among hundreds of accurate readings do not diminish its central importance. Yáng Shèn’s 楊愼 criticism of Hóng for misreading the Yángjūn Shíménsòng 楊君石門頌 character — checking the actual stele shows the character is correctly záoshí 鑿石 with no other character — turns out to be Yáng’s own fabrication, and cannot be charged against Hóng.

Abstract

The Lìshì is the foundational compendium of Sòng Hànlì studies and remains the principal reference for individual Hàn stele texts. Hóng Kuò compiled it in 1166 during his Yuèzhōu prefecture (catalog meta dates Hóng’s lifespan 1117–1184); the printed text came out in early 1167 with Hóng Mài’s postscript. The work originated as the first instalment of a planned five-part Hàn-clerical-script encyclopedia — Lìshì, Lìzuǎn, Lìyùn, Lìtú, Lìxù — of which the Lìyùn was never completed and the others survive in some form.

The work’s contributions:

1. Full text transcription. Where Ōuyáng’s Jígǔ lù and Zhào’s Jīnshí lù give only colophons, Hóng reproduces every stele’s complete text in kǎi-script with palaeographic glosses on unusual lì forms. This makes the Lìshì the principal documentary source for hundreds of HànWèi stelae now lost or damaged.
2. Cross-referencing apparatus. Each stele is cross-referenced to Shuǐjīng zhù 水經注 (Lì Dàoyuán), Jígǔ lù (Ōuyáng), and Jīnshí lù (Zhào), enabling rapid comparison of the principal Sòng-era witnesses.
3. Historical commentary. Where the inscription bears on documented historical events, Hóng provides correlation with the dynastic histories. This is the prototype of the historical-philological commentary that Wáng Niànsūn 王念孫 and Qián Dàxīn 錢大昕 would refine in the Qing.

The standard companion is the Lìxù KR2n0018 of supplementary stelae. Together they cover 285+ HànWèi stelae. Modern critical editions: the Sìbù cóngkān facsimile of the Wànlì 1588 Wáng Lù cutting; modern punctuated reprints in Shíkè shǐliào xīnbiān 石刻史料新編 (Xīnwénfēng, Taipei).

CBDB 870 confirms Hóng Kuò 1117–1184.

Translations and research

No English translation of the Lìshì itself. Studies:

• Robert E. Harrist Jr., The Landscape of Words: Stone Inscriptions in Early and Medieval China (Washington UP, 2008), with chapters on Sòng jīnshí methodology.
• Sūn Wéiláng 孫偉良 and others on Hóng Kuò’s jīnshí method.
• Qián Dàxīn 錢大昕, Qiánjyán-táng jīnshí wén bá-wěi 潛研堂金石文跋尾 (Qing) — extensive corrections to Lìshì readings.
• Endymion Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, 6th ed., §58, on Sòng epigraphy.

Other points of interest

Despite his Confucian scholarly success, Hóng Kuò’s political career was contentious. His drafting of the demotion-edict for chief councillor Tāng Sītuì 湯思退 in 1164 in soft language drew the impeachment of censor Cháo Gōngwǔ — author of Jùnzhāi dúshū zhì KR2n0002. After 1164 Hóng retired from court politics and refocused on epigraphy at his Yuèzhōu prefecture, completing the Lìshì there.

Links

• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kuo
• Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15914131 (隸釋)