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散見簡牘合輯‧河北定縣八角廊四十號漢墓竹簡儒家者言

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Text ID
KR2p0120
Date
-100–-55
Dynasty
漢

Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí‧Héběi Dìng Xiàn Bājiǎolóng Sìshí Hào Hànmù Zhújiǎn Rújiā Zhě Yán 散見簡牘合輯‧河北定縣八角廊四十號漢墓竹簡儒家者言

Collected Scattered Documents — Bamboo Slips from Han Tomb no. 40 at Bājiǎolóng, Dìng County, Hebei — “Words of Confucians” (儒家者言 Rújiā Zhě Yán)

(anonymous compiler; Confucian anecdote collection)

About the work

A bamboo-slip manuscript titled 儒家者言 Rújiā Zhě Yán (“Words of Confucians”), recovered from Han tomb no. 40 at the Bājiǎolóng 八角廊 site, Dìng County 定縣 (modern Dìngzhōu 定州), Hebei Province, in 1973. The manuscript is a collection of Confucian anecdotes and maxims featuring Confucius 孔子, his disciples, and various rulers. It is closely related to the received texts Shuōyuàn 說苑 and Xīnxù 新序 attributed to Liú Xiàng 劉向, and represents a pre-received or alternative version of such material. Published in KR2p 散見簡牘合輯 (Sǎn Jiàn Jiǎndú Héjí), compiled by the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 1990.

Abstract

Provenance. Tomb no. 40 at Bājiǎolóng, excavated in 1973 by a Hebei Provincial Museum team, is part of a large cemetery associated with the Zhōngshān 中山 princely state of the early Western Han. On the basis of seal impressions and other evidence, the tomb is conventionally identified as that of Liú Xiū 劉修, a prince of Zhōngshān, sealed around 55 BCE. The bamboo slips were in badly deteriorated condition when excavated; many are fragmentary. The tomb also yielded manuscript versions of the Lùnguǒ 論過, Tàigōng 太公, Wényán 文言, and Wén Wáng 文王 texts, among others.

Content. The 儒家者言 consists of a series of anecdotes, mostly framed as dialogues or reported sayings (zhě yán 者言, “the words of”). The text opens: “Said: The enlightened ruler has three fears (míng zhǔ yǒu sān jù 明主有三懼): one is [to fear he does not] hear his own faults (wén qí guò 聞其過); two is [to fear that having] obtained his ambitions (dé zhì 得志)… he cannot carry them through.” This apophthegm on the virtuous ruler’s need for self-criticism parallels passages in the received Shuōyuàn (ch. 1).

Other anecdotes in the Rújiā Zhě Yán include: a dialogue between Zǐgòng 子贛 (Zǐgòng 子貢) and Confucius about the virtue of being in a subordinate position, compared to earth (tǔ 土) which nourishes all things; a story of Zēngzǐ 曾子 being beaten by his father (zēng zhé yuán mù jī Zēng Zǐ 曾折援木擊曾子) and refusing to run away; anecdotes about Duke Huán 桓公 and Guǎn Zhòng 管仲; a fishing story involving Confucius; an anecdote about Zhōu Gōng Dàn 周公旦 and the taming of the realm; and a dialogue between Xiāngyù 襄子 and Confucius on the question of whether Confucius’ Way is “unacceptable” (bù tōng 不通). Further sections feature Yàn Zǐ 晏子 threatened with death by Cuīzǐ 崔子 but refusing to yield; Zǐlù 子路 asking about the “perfected person” (chéng rén 成人); and discussions of filial piety (xiào 孝) involving Zēngzǐ 曾子 and Yuèzhèng Zǐ 樂正子. Several fragments invoke King Tāng 湯 and King Wén of Zhōu 文王 in Confucian exemplar mode. The text closes with anecdotes about Qí Jǐnggōng 齊景公 asking Zǐgòng about the height of Confucius.

Relationship to received texts. The Rújiā Zhě Yán is of considerable importance because it provides pre-received, manuscript-tradition versions of anecdotes that appear in the Shuōyuàn 說苑 and Xīnxù 新序 of Liú Xiàng 劉向 (77–6 BCE). Since the tomb was sealed around 55 BCE — i.e., before Liú Xiàng compiled his collections — the manuscript represents an earlier stratum of the anecdotal tradition on which Liú Xiàng drew. Variants between the bamboo-slip version and the received text illuminate the editorial processes underlying early Chinese anthology compilation.

Dating. The tomb is dated to c. 55 BCE based on numismatic and paleographic evidence. The manuscript was therefore copied and deposited no later than that date; the oral or written sources behind it are presumably earlier. notBefore is set at 100 BCE to allow for the composition period; notAfter at 55 BCE (tomb sealing).

Translations and research

  • 中國社會科學院歷史研究所, 《散見簡牘合輯》, 文物出版社, 1990 — editio princeps.
  • 河北省博物館文物管理處, 「河北定縣40號漢墓發掘簡報」, 《文物》 1981.8, pp. 1–10 — excavation report.
  • 定縣漢墓竹簡整理組, 「定縣40號漢墓出土竹簡簡介」, 《文物》 1981.8, pp. 11–31 — palaeographic introduction.
  • Knoblock, John, and Jeffrey Riegel, trans. The Annals of Lü Buwei. Stanford University Press, 2000 — comparative reference for pre-received anecdote traditions.
  • Kern, Martin. “The Odes in Excavated Manuscripts.” In Martin Kern, ed., Text and Ritual in Early China. University of Washington Press, 2005, pp. 149–193 — methodology for comparing excavated and received texts.

Other points of interest

The Dìng County site yielded several bamboo-slip manuscripts, some of which overlap with other classical texts — notably a fragmentary Lùnyǔ 論語, an early Wényán 文言 commentary on the Yì, and a Tàigōng 太公 text. Together, the Dìng County manuscripts represent one of the most important collections of pre-Han Confucian texts in manuscript form. The Rújiā Zhě Yán is of particular significance for the history of the anecdote (zhě yán 者言) genre and its relationship to received compiled works.

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