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經濟文衡

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Text ID
KR3a0057
Date
1190–1230
Dynasty
宋

Jīngjì wén héng 經濟文衡

A Balance of the Texts on Statecraft parent material by 朱熹 (Zhū Xī, 1130–1200, 宋, 撰); compiled by 滕珙 (Téng Gǒng, zì Dézhāng 德章, hào Méngzhāi 蒙齋, 宋, 編)

About the work

The major Sòng-period thematic anthology of Zhū Xī’s writings, drawing comprehensively from his yǔlù (presumably the Sòng-period recensions before Lí Jìngdé’s 1270 integration, KR3a0047) and his collected works (Huìān jí). The work is in three sections — Qián jí 前集 25 juan (on lùn xué / discussion of learning), Hòu jí 後集 25 juan (on lùn gǔ / historical commentary), and Xù jí 續集 22 juan (supplements to both) — for a total of 72 juan. Each thematic lùn opens with the source-context and the proposition’s core, then provides extracts in detailed analytical sequence. The work was first printed under Wǔzōng’s Zhèngdé xīnsì (1521) with Yáng Yīqīng 楊一清’s preface, and reprinted under Wànlì bǐngwǔ (1606) with Zhū Wúbì 朱吾弼’s preface — but neither printing named a compiler. The compiler-identification was contested: Huáng Yújì’s Qiānqǐngtáng shūmù gives Mǎ Jìjī; Chéng Xún’s preface to the Qiánlóng jǐwèi (1739) Yáng Yúnfú reprint argued for the Sòng disciple Téng Gǒng of Wùyuán, on the strength of the work’s evidently insider-knowledge editorial method.

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that the Jīngjì wén héng in 25 juan Qián jí, 25 Hòu jí, 22 Xù jí — with the original recension not naming the compiler. First printed in the Zhèngdé xīnsì with Yáng Yīqīng’s preface; reprinted in Wànlì bǐngwǔ with Zhū Wúbì’s preface — both speak of “compiled by an earlier Confucian” without indicating the person. Huáng Yújì’s Qiānqǐngtáng catalog records the book as Mǎ Jìjī’s edition; the qián / hòu / xù table of contents matches.

In Qiánlóng jǐwèi (1739) the Nánchāng man Yáng Yúnfú reprinted, with Chéng Xún’s preface, calling it Téng Gǒng of the Sòng’s edition. Examining: Téng Gǒng, zì Dézhāng, hào Méngzhāi, was a man of Wùyuán. Jìnshì of Chúnxī 14 (1187); served as Magistrate of Héféi. With his elder brother Lín, he studied at Zhūzǐ’s gate. Zhūzǐ in inscribing their father’s tomb says both sons had reputation in their districts, and praises Gǒng’s tíngduì as fine — also a senior Xīnān student.

Looking at the work: it takes Zhūzǐ’s yǔlù and wénjí, classifies and arranges. The Qián jí is all lùn xué; the Hòu jí is all lùn gǔ; the Xù jí covers what was missed by the two. For each lùn, it first gives the original context, then specifies the proposition’s intent — divided in detail and orderly throughout. Compared to other thematic editions of Jīngshì dàxùn and the like — sometimes too brief and incomplete, sometimes too long and disorderly — this is quite different; not the work of an outsider, must be one with deep schooling. Chén [Chéng] Xún’s account presumably has its basis.

Only the work is titled Jīngjì (Statecraft) when in fact it gathers Zhūzǐ’s lifelong studies in their main bearing — the title is hard to understand. The categorisation is also too fine, with many divisions where division was unnecessary, especially in the Qián jí — also a flaw. The reader may take up its hóng zhǐ (broad bearing) and let the rest go.

Respectfully revised and submitted, ninth month of the forty-third year of Qiánlóng [1778].

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

Abstract

The Jīngjì wén héng is the major Sòng-period thematic anthology of Zhū Xī’s writings, predating Lí Jìngdé’s Zhūzǐ yǔlèi (1270) and assembled by Téng Gǒng most likely in the early thirteenth century. The composition window is the period after Zhū Xī’s death (1200), when his disciples were consolidating his teaching. The frontmatter brackets to ca. 1190–1230 (overlapping Zhū Xī’s mature output and the immediate post-death disciple-editorial work).

The work’s authorship was contested in late-imperial scholarship; Chéng Xún’s 1739 preface and the SKQS tíyào both argue for Téng Gǒng on internal-evidence grounds. The naming of the work Jīngjì wén héng — when the contents are largely classical-philosophical rather than statecraft-specific — is the tíyào’s standing complaint, and is one of the more obscure title-content mismatches in the SKQS Rújiā corpus.

The bibliographic record: Sòng shǐ yìwén zhì (no specific entry); Wényuāngé shūmù; Qiānqǐngtáng shūmù (under Mǎ Jìjī); SKQS Zǐbù — Rújiā lèi (under Téng Gǒng).

Translations and research

  • No substantial English-language secondary literature located.
  • The work is treated within studies of Sòng-period Zhū Xī thematic anthology and within Zhū Xī editorial-history scholarship.

Other points of interest

The contested authorship — between Mǎ Jìjī (Yuán?) and Téng Gǒng (Sòng) — represents one of the cleaner cases of pre-SKQS / SKQS philological correction of a thematic-anthology attribution. The methodological move is from named-printing tradition (the Zhèngdé / Wànlì printings name no compiler) → catalog tradition (Huáng Yújì’s Mǎ Jìjī attribution) → internal-evidence diagnosis (Chéng Xún’s Téng Gǒng diagnosis based on insider-style editorial knowledge).

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