麗澤論說集錄

Lìzé lùn shuō jí lù 麗澤論說集錄

Collected Records of Discussions at the Lì-zé Academy discussions of 呂祖謙 (Lǚ Zǔqiān, 1137–1181, 宋, 撰); gathered by 呂祖儉 (Lǚ Zǔjiǎn, d. 1198, 宋, 蒐錄); edited by 呂喬年 (Lǚ Qiáonián, 宋, 編)

About the work

A ten-juan collection of yǔlù-style classical discussions delivered by Lǚ Zǔqiān at the Lìzé Shūyuàn 麗澤書院 in Wùzhōu, gathered by his younger brother Lǚ Zǔjiǎn after his death (1181) and edited and supplemented by his nephew Lǚ Qiáonián. Structure: Yì shuō 易說 (2 juan), Shī shuō shíyí 詩說拾遺 (1 juan), Zhōu lǐ shuō 周禮說 (1 juan), Lǐjì shuō 禮記說 (1 juan), Lúnyǔ shuō 論語說 (1 juan), Mèngzǐ shuō 孟子說 (1 juan), Shǐ shuō 史說 (1 juan), Zá shuō 雜說 (2 juan) — each titled with the prefix Ménrén jí lù 門人集錄, indicating that Zǔqiān himself did not handwrite the material.

The work is the principal source for Lǚ Zǔqiān’s classical and historical jiǎngxué outside the formally-published works (Dōnglái Bóyì, Dàshì jì, Sòng wénjiàn, Dōnglái wénjí). The SKQS tíyào notes Zhū Xī’s substantial criticism of the work in the Zhūzǐ yǔlèi (32 items in a special juan, of which 11 attack Lǚ’s general scholarship and the rest specific works including this one). Lǚ Qiáonián’s preface acknowledges Lǚ Zǔqiān himself had warned against transmitting the yǔlù — alluding to Yǐn Tūn’s parallel testimony about Chéng Yí — but was overruled by his successors, who saw the materials as too important to lose.

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that the Lìzé lùn shuō jí lù in ten juan was the yǔlù of Lǚ Zǔqiān recorded by his disciples. Before is a postface by Zǔqiān’s nephew Qiáonián saying: “the late master often gathered these; they cannot but be transmitted; so we now follow the old recording, with substantial supplements and rearrangement.” Qiáonián was the son of Zǔqiān’s brother Zǔjiǎn — so the gatherer was Zǔjiǎn, the supplementer and arranger Qiáonián.

In all: Yì shuō in 2 juan, Shī shuō shíyí in 1 juan, Zhōu lǐ shuō in 1 juan, Lǐjì shuō in 1 juan, Lúnyǔ shuō in 1 juan, Mèngzǐ shuō in 1 juan, Shǐ shuō in 1 juan, Zá shuō in 2 juan, all prefixed ménrén jílù — making it clear that Zǔqiān did not handwrite them.

Zǔqiān had originally been on close terms with Zhūzǐ; later, after they disputed about the Máo shī and could not reconcile, Zhū came to attack him bitterly. Lí Jìngdé’s yǔlèi gathers a special juan discussing Zǔqiān and his brothers — thirty-two items on Zǔqiān; only one, on Zǔqiān reading the Lúnyǔ during illness, mildly praising; another, on the reply to Xiàng Píngfǔ and the rebuke to Cáo Lìzhī, complaining that the editor of his collection wrongly took in another’s text — the rest, thirty items, criticise his compositions: 2 items against the Xì cí jīng yì; 2 against the Dú shī jì; 5 against the Dàshì jì; 1 against the Shào yí wài zhuàn; 5 against the Sòng wénjiàn; 3 against the Dōnglái wénjí. The remaining 11 items attack his learning generally — saying for instance “Dōnglái’s broad learning and many recognitions, yes; but the shǒu yuē (holding to the few essentials) is doubtful”; “Bógōng’s flaw is all in his cleverness”; “Bógōng on principle is mostly wounded by cleverness, hardly avoids fabrication”; “Bógōng teaches reading text also rough”; “Dōnglái is clear-witted but reads literary substance not careful, because he reads history first, so reads text with a coarse eye”; “Bógōng on history is meticulous but on the classics not careful enough”; “Bógōng would be all-encompassing, but only sweeps over without precision.”

This can be called “exploiting cracks and attacking flaws” without leaving any spare strength. Tuōtuō and others editing the Sòng shǐ therefore put Zǔqiān in the Rúlín zhuàn and not in the Dàoxué zhuàn. Lǚ Qiáonián’s postface also says: “What was discussed in lectures and recorded by the disciples — when Zǔqiān was alive he would warn against passing them on, since they had many errors”. Apparently he too sensed [the danger]. [Continued.]

[Tíyào continues; abbreviated.]

Respectfully revised and submitted, [date].

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

Abstract

The Lìzé lùn shuō jí lù is the principal source for Lǚ Zǔqiān’s jiǎngxué materials and one of the most contested texts in late-twelfth-century Lǐxué historiography. Composition window: the Lìzé Shūyuàn lectures span Lǚ Zǔqiān’s mature career; the disciple-records were generated alongside and consolidated after his 1181 death by his brother Lǚ Zǔjiǎn (who died in exile in 1198). Final editorial work by Lǚ Qiáonián followed Lǚ Zǔjiǎn’s death, conventionally placed in the early thirteenth century. The frontmatter brackets the work to ca. 1175–1220.

The substantive position represented in the work — Lǚ Zǔqiān’s distinctive integration of jīngshǐ zhī xué (classical and historical study) with the daoxué mainstream, anticipating the Yǒngjiā / Yǒngkāng schools’ historical-realist jīngshì programme — is one of the most important alternative Lǐxué positions of the late twelfth century. The Zhū Xī polemic preserved in the Zhūzǐ yǔlèi is methodologically central: it represents the Mǐn / Wù divergence at the level of doctrinal detail rather than principle.

The bibliographic record: Sòng shǐ yìwén zhì; Wénxiàn tōngkǎo; Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí; SKQS Zǐbù — Rújiā lèi. The Sòng shǐ’s placement of Lǚ in Rúlín rather than Dàoxué — flagged in the tíyào — reflects the editorial victory of the Mǐn / Zhū Xī line in canon-formation.

Translations and research

• Hilde De Weerdt, “Discussion in Lǚ Zǔqiān’s jīng-yán”, in various venues — major Western treatment.
• Tian Hao [Hoyt Cleveland Tillman], Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy (1992) — extended treatment of the Mǐn / Wù tension.
• Conrad Schirokauer, “Neo-Confucians under Attack: The Condemnation of Wei-hsüeh”, in J. Haeger (ed.), Crisis and Prosperity in Sung China (Tucson, 1975).
• Standard modern Chinese collation in the Lǚ-zǔqiān corpus integrated by Pān Fù-ēn 潘富恩 (and others).

Other points of interest

The LǚZǔqiān yǔlù are the principal documentary record for the Wùzhōu / Jīnhuá xuépài lineage that continues through Wáng Bǎi 王柏 (SòngYuán) into the early Míng. The Lìzé Shūyuàn itself, established by the Lǚ brothers, was one of the major Southern-Sòng shūyuàn and a sustained centre of Wùzhōu Lǐxué training.

The Lǚ Zǔqiān warning against transmitting the yǔlù — preserved in Lǚ Qiáonián’s preface — directly parallels Chéng Yí’s warning preserved by Yǐn Tūn (cited in the ÈrChéng yíshū SKQS tíyào, KR3a0030). Both cases are foundational moments in the philosophical limits of the yǔlù genre.

Links

• Sòng shǐ j. 434 (Rúlín zhuàn / Lǚ Zǔqiān).
• Zhūzǐ yǔlèi (KR3a0047) — the polemical context.
• Kyoto Zinbun, Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào
• Wikidata