聞分館君 Ask BunKanKun

御定小學集註

6 min read

Text ID
KR3a0046
Date
1187–1727
Dynasty
宋

Yùdìng Xiǎoxué jízhù 御定小學集註

Imperially Sanctioned Collected Commentary on the Xiǎo xué parent text by 朱熹 (Zhū Xī, 1130–1200, 宋, 撰); commentary by 陳選 (Chén Xuǎn, zì Shìxián 士賢, 1429–1486, 明, 集注)

(Note: the catalog meta gives the title as 御定小學集駐 — a typographical slip 駐 for 註. The correct title 御定小學集註 (“Imperially Sanctioned Collected Commentary”) is preserved in the WYG itself and in the SKQS tíyào; 駐 (zhù, “to halt, station”) and 註 (zhù, “to gloss, comment”) differ in meaning.)

About the work

A six-juan imperial-sanctioned edition of Zhū Xī’s Xiǎo xué 小學 — the foundational pre-Sìshū primary-classical pedagogical anthology, completed by Zhū at age 58 in Chúnxī 14 (1187) — with the standard premodern commentary of Chén Xuǎn (mid-Míng), promulgated under Yōngzhèng 5 (1727) as the official imperial primary-classical curriculum. The work as transmitted has three layers: (i) Zhū Xī’s original Xiǎo xué in two parts (Nèipiān 內篇 — drawing on classical materials; Wàipiān 外篇 — historical exemplars), 6 juan total; (ii) Chén Xuǎn’s Míng-period jízhù — a phrase-by-phrase exegetical commentary; (iii) the Yōng-zhèng-period imperial sanction, with Yōngzhèng’s preface (preserved in the WYG KR3a0046_000.txt) and a Manchu-language translation by Shàngshū Gù Bādài 顧八代. The work is the principal early-childhood Confucian-pedagogical text of the late-imperial Chinese (and East Asian) educational system, paralleling the Sānzì jīng and Bǎijiā xìng in actual classroom use.

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that the Yùdìng Xiǎoxué jízhù in six juan was, in Yōngzhèng 5 (1727), commanded by Shìzōng Xiànhuángdì for the Confucian chén to take the Míng chén Chén Xuǎn’s jízhù, correct it, and publish it. Prefixed with the imperial preface elucidating the cardinal gāngcháng lúnjì — to be honoured; the shì tīng yán dòng — to be guarded; the jiāyán yìxíng — to be followed in admiration. The Confucian’s foundational learning is fully here.

Zhūzǐ composed the Xiǎo xué in nèipiān and wàipiān to instruct the young, drawing miscellaneously from those passages in the classics and traditions that discuss the rituals of childhood, classifying and connecting them, and supplementing with historical anecdote. The Sòng Confucians’ “yǎng zhèng zhī gōng (the work of nurturing rectitude), lì jiào zhī běn (the foundation of establishing instruction)” — truly not excessive praise.

Chén Xuǎn’s commentary follows the wording with extending sense, taking in every case clear and accessible explanation, so that village-school tóngméng could all read it and grasp its sense — really an act of substantial pedagogical merit. Xuǎn, zì Shìxián, was a man of Línhǎi. Jìnshì of Tiānshùn gēngchén (1460); rose in office to Guǎngdōng bùzhèngshǐ; promoted posthumously to Guānglùsì qīng; posthumously titled Gōngquè. As Censor he supported Luó Lún and impeached Ní Qiān, Qián Pǔ, Mǎ Áng, and Wāng Zhí — his bearing was noble. Holding office in Guǎngdōng he opposed the eunuch faction over shìbó matters and was arrested and died for it. His personal conduct, from beginning to end, is no shame to his learning; and this commentary, having now been celebrated by the great sage [emperor] and recited in every household, has its happy retribution as well.

Respectfully revised and submitted, second month of the forty-fifth year of Qiánlóng [1780].

General Compilers: Jǐ Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. General Reviser: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.

Abstract

The Xiǎo xué itself was completed by Zhū Xī in Chúnxī 14 (1187 dīngwèi) — the SKQS-base yuánxù of Zhū’s hand attests this. It is structured in two parts:

  • Nèipiān 內篇 (in 4 chapters: Lì jiào 立教, Míng lún 明倫, Jìng shēn 敬身, Jī gǔ 稽古) — passages from the Lǐjì, Yí lǐ, Xiào jīng, Lúnyǔ etc.;
  • Wàipiān 外篇 (in 2 chapters: Jiā yán 嘉言, Shàn xíng 善行) — historical exemplary anecdotes.

Chén Xuǎn’s mid-Míng commentary is a phrase-by-phrase exegesis. The Yōng-zhèng-period imperial sanction (1727) reproduced this commentary as the standard, with Manchu-language translation by Gù Bādài. The frontmatter brackets the work’s three layers from Zhū Xī’s 1187 to the Yōngzhèng 1727 imperial promulgation.

The position of the Xiǎo xué in the late-imperial curriculum: it is the standard pre-Sìshū foundational text, taught to children entering classical study before they begin the Sìshū / Wǔjīng sequence proper. Its substantive role parallels the Yáng Shí Cuìyán and ÈrChéng yíshū / Wàishū as the Lǐxué curriculum — but in primary-school form. Korean Sǒngnihak and Japanese Shushigaku education followed the same model.

The bibliographic record: Sòng shǐ yìwén zhì (the original Xiǎo xué); Wénxiàn tōngkǎo; Míng shǐ yìwén zhì (Chén Xuǎn’s jízhù); SKQS Zǐbù — Rújiā lèi (the imperially-sanctioned consolidated edition).

Translations and research

  • Daniel K. Gardner, Chu Hsi: Learning to Be a Sage, University of California Press, 1990 — partial translation and study of Xiǎo xué and the Lǐxué pedagogical tradition.
  • M. Theresa Kelleher, “Personal Reflections on the Pursuit of Sagehood: The Life and Journal (Ji-lu) of Wu Yübi (1392–1469)”, PhD diss. Columbia, 1982 — context for the early-Míng Xiǎo xué tradition.
  • William T. de Bary and JaHyun Kim Haboush (eds.), The Rise of Neo-Confucianism in Korea, Columbia University Press, 1985 — major treatment of the Korean Xiǎo xué tradition.
  • Patricia Ebrey, “Education through Ritual: Efforts to Formulate Family Rituals during the Sung Period”, in Neo-Confucian Education (Berkeley, 1989), 277–306.
  • Wáng Yùmíng 王育民, Zhū-zǐ Xiǎo-xué yánjiū — modern Chinese studies.

Other points of interest

The Xiǎo xué’s continuous use across China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and the Ryukyus from the late twelfth century through the twentieth makes it one of the most widely-circulated Chinese books in pre-modern East Asia. The Yōng-zhèng-period imperial sanction with Manchu-language translation reflects the Qīng court’s commitment to the Lǐxué curriculum across the multiethnic empire.

The Chén Xuǎn commentary is one of a number of Míng-period Xiǎo xué commentaries (others include those of Hǎi Ruì 海瑞, Wú Nà 吳訥, and the Korean Yi Hwang’s Sohak chipchu zenghae); the imperial selection of Chén Xuǎn’s reflects the Qīng’s preference for an official-rather-than-academic commentary tradition.

Graph View

Backlinks