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來齋金石刻考略

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Text ID
KR2n0040
Date
1680–1714
Dynasty
清

Láizhāi jīnshí kè kǎolüè 來齋金石刻考略

Brief Investigations of Inscriptions in Bronze and Stone, from the Studio of Future-Reflection

by 林侗 (Lín Tóng, 1627–1714)

About the work

A 3-juan early-Qing jīnshí register of 219+ stelae from Xià through Tang, all based on personal examination of rubbings and stones (Lín travelled with rubbing-takers to the Tang Zhāolíng péizàng tombs and other ancient-capital sites). Coverage: 6 XiàShāngZhōu, 19 QínHàn, 1 Wèi, 1 Wú, 5 Jìn, 1 Liáng, 3 HòuWèi, 1 BěiQí, 2 HòuZhōu, 8 Suí, 173 Tang. Critical apparatus: most evidential discussions are derived from Gù Yánwǔ’s Jīnshí wénzì jì KR2n0037, but Lín supplements with his own judgements.

The work has 14 Tang imperial-calligraphy stelae listed separately, deliberately excluding Wǔ Zétiān 武后 (Empress Wǔ) — reflecting the Confucian-orthodox view that Wǔ’s reign as the Zhōu dynasty (690–705) is not legitimate. The Sìkù editors approve.

The Sìkù tíyào notes some lapses: the work begins with the Xià Yǔ Gōulóu bēi 夏禹岣嶁碑, citing Lín’s friend Liú Aoshí 劉鼇石’s view that it should be at the Zhùróngfēng 祝融峯 peak — over-credulous on a long-discredited inscription. Each stele entry is followed by fùyǒng shīpiān (descriptive verse) — not in the ŌuyángZhào colophon tradition.

Tiyao

[Translated and condensed from the Sìkù tíyào]

Compiled by Lín Tóng of the present (Qing) dynasty. Tóng, zì Tóngrén, of Hóuguān. Tóng was passionate about jīnshí recording. He once travelled to Cháng’ān; in Chúnhuàshān he obtained Hàn Gānquángōng tiles. He further took rubbing-takers to the Tang Zhāolíng péizàng and obtained 16 stelae starting with Yīnggōng Lǐ Jì. Contemporaneously reckoned a hàoshì (man of unusual interest).

This compilation is a comprehensive record of ancient and modern stelae: 6 XiàShāngZhōu, 19 QínHàn, 1 Wèi, 1 Wú, 5 Jìn, 1 Liáng, 3 HòuWèi, 1 BěiQí, 2 HòuZhōu, 8 Suí, 173 Tang — all from personal observation. The middle critical-evidential discussions mostly derive from Gù Yánwǔ’s Jīnshí wénzì jì; he adds his own zhézhōng (compromise) opinions, with much research.

He records 14 Tang imperial-calligraphy stelae and excludes Wǔ Zétiān — deeply consonant with rejecting the jiànwěi (usurper-pseudo) regime principle.

But the head-piece is the Xià Yǔ Gōulóu bēi, with his friend Liú Aoshí’s view that it should be at Zhùróngfēng — over-credulous about an unusual claim. After each stele he attaches fùyǒng shīpiān (verse appreciations) — not the ŌuyángZhào colophon style.

But his collecting is broad and his discrimination quite careful. So jīnshí researchers do draw on him.

Abstract

The Láizhāi jīnshí kè kǎolüè is a major Kāngxī-era jīnshí register based on direct field observation of stelae and rubbings. The catalog meta dates 1627–1714 are Lín’s lifespan; the work is from his mature career, set notBefore 1680 / notAfter 1714 here.

The work’s contributions:

  1. Field-based register. Most pieces examined directly by Lín or his rubbing-takers, in the Cháng’ān (Hàn) and YāoZhāolíng (Tang) regions.
  2. Tang Zhāolíng péizàng coverage. Lín’s expedition produced 16 péizàng stelae records (Lǐ Jì, Wèi Zhèng, etc.) — primary documentation of these now mostly damaged or destroyed monuments.
  3. Wǔ Zétiān exclusion. A Confucian-orthodox editorial decision representing the Qing-dynasty rejection of Wǔ’s regime as illegitimate.

The companion verse-appreciations (fùyǒng shīpiān) attached to each stele represent a hybrid antiquarian-poetic fǎtièjīnshí form characteristic of the early-Kāngxī hàoshì network of Lín, Zhū Yízūn, and others.

CBDB 82531 confirms Lín Tóng 1627–1714.

Translations and research

No English translation. Studies:

  • Hummel (ed.), Eminent Chinese of the Ch’ing Period, s.v. “Lin T’ung”.
  • Robert E. Harrist Jr., The Landscape of Words (Washington UP, 2008), on Tang stele scholarship.
  • Yáng Rénkǎi 楊仁愷, Zhōngguó shūhuà 中國書畫.

Other points of interest

Lín’s Zhāolíng expedition is documented in his own Yóu Zhāolíng jì 遊昭陵記 (preserved in his collected works) — one of the rare first-person narratives of Qing-era jīnshí fieldwork. The 16 stelae he documented are an important primary source for Tang military prosopography.

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