Fēngshān yǔlù 楓山語錄
The Recorded Sayings of Master Fēng-shān by 章懋 (Zhāng Mào, zì Démào 德懋, hào Fēngshān 楓山, 1436–1521, 明)
About the work
A one-juan yǔlù of Zhāng Mào — the Mid-Míng pure-Confucian official whose abrupt resignation from the Hànlín over the Áoshān dēng affair (1467) and subsequent retreat to Lánxī made him a paradigm of upright withdrawal. The work covers his lecturing-conversations during his lifetime, with appended xíng shí (Records of his deeds) at the end (1 juan). Within the Mid-Míng pure-Confucian field — alongside Hú Jūrén (KR3a0081) and the slightly later Lǐxué writers — Zhāng’s distinction is his unblemished personal-moral record: Cuī Xiàn 崔銑’s Míng chén shí jié contrasts him favourably with his contemporaries Chén Xiànzhāng (Buddhist taint), Luó Lún (rashness), and Zhuāng Chāng (insincerity).
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that the Fēngshān yǔlù in 1 juan was composed by Zhāng Mào of the Míng. Mào, zì Démào, bié hào Ànránzǐ, was a man of Lánxī. Huìshì first place in Chénghuà bǐngxū (1466); changed to shùjíshì and appointed Biānxiū. On the Áoshān lantern festival, the throne ordered him to compose a celebratory poem; he refused and submitted a remonstrance, was demoted to Wǔlíng Magistrate. Under Hóngzhì and Zhèngdé he rose successively to Nánjīng Lǐbù shàngshū and retired. His career is in the Míng shǐ biography.
Cuī Xiàn’s Míng chén shí jié says: “In Chénghuà, Báishā Chén Xiànzhāng learned Chán but was sparse; One-Peak Luó Lún was upright but rough; Dìngshān Zhuāng Chāng courted reputation without substance — all bore great weight. Fēngshān Zhānggōng Mào — sober, austere, pure, refined — qián xiū mò chéng (cultivating in silence, achieving in stillness). At forty he abandoned office and returned to his commandery. Jiànyì Hè Qīn and Yùshǐ Zhèng both criticised him for distancing from Chén; Zhānggōng deferentially declined. Later Báishā received a sinecure and his social ties grew thin; One-Peak followed xiāng yuē and slaughtered family-clan members; Zhuāng late-life served office again and failed. Only Zhānggōng — moral conduct without flaw.”
In the Míng one may say he is no shame to a chún rú (pure Confucian). The work is not many juan; it divides [as follows].
[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 Fēngshān yǔlù is a useful Mid-Míng pure-Confucian yǔlù, important less for doctrinal innovation than for its association with Zhāng Mào’s exemplary biographical arc — the Áoshān dēng refusal-poem and subsequent retreat to Lánxī. The composition window is the working life of Zhāng Mào, from his 1466 huìshì through to his 1521 death. The frontmatter brackets to ca. 1466–1521.
The substantive content is broadly Lǐxué-orthodox; the work’s significance is largely contextual — providing the yǔlù of one of the cleaner pure-Confucian official lives in Mid-Míng tradition. The appended xíng shí records the biographical material that gives the yǔlù its weight.
The bibliographic record: Míng shǐ yìwén zhì; Wényuāngé shūmù; SKQS Zǐbù — Rújiā lèi.
Translations and research
- No substantial English-language secondary literature located.
- For Mid-Míng pure-Confucian biographies: studies of Mid-Míng eunuch crises and shì-dà-fū withdrawal patterns (e.g. Chu Hung-lam’s writings).
Other points of interest
The Áoshān dēng episode — Zhāng Mào’s refusal to compose celebratory poetry for the lantern festival, followed by his demotion — is one of the cleaner Mid-Míng shìdàfū upright-conduct episodes, and is preserved in detail through the appended xíng shí.
Links
- Míng shǐ j. 179 (Zhāng Mào zhuàn).
- Cuī Xiàn 崔銑, Míng chén shí jié 明臣十節 (the principal Mid-Míng comparative biographical assessment).
- Kyoto Zinbun, Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào
- Wikidata