Jīngyězǐ nèi piān 涇野子內篇
Master Jīng-yě’s Inner Chapters by 呂柟 (Lǚ Nán, zì Zhòngmù 仲木, hào Jīngyě 涇野, posthumously Wénjiǎn 文簡, 1479–1542, 明)
About the work
A 27-juan yǔlù of Lǚ Nán — Mid-Míng HéDōng xuépài third-generation transmitter and one of the most important Mid-Míng anti-Wáng-Yáng-míng figures — recorded by his disciples across his various lecturing posts and edited by his son Lǚ Yún 呂畇 et al. The structure follows his lecturing locations: Yúnhuái jīngshè yǔ 雲槐精舍語 (2 juan), Dōnglín shūwū yǔ 東林書屋語 (1), Duānxī wèn dá 端溪問答 (1), Jiěliáng shūyuàn yǔ 解梁書院語 (1), Liǔwān jīngshè yǔ 柳灣精舍語 (2), Jiùfēng dōng suǒ yǔ 鷲峯東所語 (12 — the largest single section), Tàicháng nán suǒ fù Shàobó zhōu zhōng yǔ 太常南所附邵伯舟中語 (3), Tàixué yǔ 太學語 (2), Chūnguān wàishǔ yǔ 春官外署語 (2), Lǐbù běi suǒ yǔ 禮部北所語 (1).
Substantively the work is a sustained Mid-Míng Zhūzǐxué defence centring on Lǚ’s gé wù / qióng lǐ method (knowledge before action, with qióng lǐ exercised in concrete situational contexts of yán mò zuò zhǐ — speech, silence, action, repose). His critique of Wáng’s liáng zhī doctrine is preserved within: that the sage taught flexibly without forcing all temperaments into a single mould, whereas Wáng’s liáng zhī “carves the few characters into people”.
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that the Jīngyězǐ nèi piān in 27 juan was composed by Lǚ Nán of the Míng. Nán, zì Zhòngmù, hào Jīngyě, was a man of Gāolíng. Zhuàngyuán of Zhèngdé wùchén (1508); appointed Hànlínyuàn xiūzhuàn; rose in office to Nánjīng Lǐbù yòu shìláng; titled Wénjiǎn. His career is in the Míng shǐ Rúlín zhuàn. Nán studied with Wèinán Xuē Jìngzhī, who carries Hédōng Xuē Xuān’s transmission. At Nánjīng he with Zhàn Ruòshuǐ and Zōu Shǒuyì jointly held the lecturing seat.
This book is the yǔlù his disciples edited: Yúnhuái jīngshè yǔ 2 juan, Dōnglín shūwū yǔ 1 juan, Duānxī wèndá 1 juan, Jiěliáng shūyuàn yǔ 1 juan, Liǔwān jīngshè yǔ 2 juan, Jiùfēng dōng suǒ yǔ 12 juan, Tàicháng nán suǒ — appended Shàobó zhōu zhōng yǔ — 3 juan, Tàixué yǔ 2 juan, Chūnguān wàishǔ yǔ 2 juan, Lǐbù běi suǒ yǔ 1 juan. His son Yún and others classified and printed it.
Nán’s learning, in gé wù to investigate principle — zhī xiān ér hòu xíng (know first, then act). His qióng lǐ is not abstract or detached from the body; it is only verified in yán mò zuò zhǐ (speech-silence-act-repose). His zhī — from wén jiàn zhī zhī (knowledge of seeing-and-hearing) extending to dé xìng zhī zhī (knowledge of moral nature). On every matter not allowing himself to pass over: his practice was the most solid.
Once he attacked Wáng Shǒurén’s discussion of liáng zhī as wrong, holding that “the sage in teaching never confined himself to a single form; today, regardless of zī bǐng zào yì (capacity and accomplishment), he carves the few characters [liáng zhī] to force people to follow — is this not partial?” Hence his arguments throughout return to ChéngZhū, his life-long position unchanged. His holding-firm may be called dǔ xìn hào xué (sincere belief, devoted study).
[Tíyào continues; abbreviated.]
Respectfully revised and submitted, sixth 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.
Abstract
The Jīngyězǐ nèi piān is the principal Mid-Míng HéDōng xuépài / Zhūzǐxué loyalist yǔlù, paralleling Luó Qīnshùn’s Kùnzhī jì (KR3a0084) and Xú Wèn’s Dú shū zhā jì (KR3a0085) as Mid-Míng anti-Wáng-Yáng-míng polemical works. The composition window is Lǚ’s working life from his 1508 zhuàngyuán through his 1542 death. The frontmatter brackets to 1508–1542.
The substantive position — gé wù / qióng lǐ with zhī xiān xíng hòu (knowledge before action), against Wáng’s zhī xíng hé yī (unity of knowledge and action) and liáng zhī — is the canonical Mid-Míng Zhūzǐxué counter-doctrine. The work’s distinctive feature is its multiple lecturing-locations structure, providing institutional-geographical evidence of Lǚ’s wide influence within Mid-Míng Lǐxué-loyalist networks.
The chāo shì tetralogy (KR3a0089–0092) — Lǚ’s abridged-and-glossed selections from Zhōu Dūnyí, Zhāng Zǎi, Èr Chéng, Zhū Xī — extends the present work’s editorial method to the foundational Northern Sòng daoxué sources. The four chāo shì together with the Nèi piān form Lǚ Nán’s complete Mid-Míng Lǐxué-canonical project.
The bibliographic record: Míng shǐ yìwén zhì; Wényuāngé shūmù; SKQS Zǐbù — Rújiā lèi.
Translations and research
- No substantial English-language secondary literature located specific to this work.
- For Lǚ Nán’s role in Mid-Míng Lǐxué: studies of the Hé-Dōng xué-pài lineage (Hóu Wàilú, Sūn Yǔpèi).
Other points of interest
The Lǚ Nán / Wáng Yángmíng polemic on liáng zhī — Lǚ’s accusation that Wáng’s doctrine kè shù zì yǐ bì rén zhī cóng (“carves the few characters to force people to follow”) — is one of the sharpest Mid-Míng Zhūzǐxué attacks on the Yángmíngxué. The metaphor of kè zì (carving characters) captures the dispute over whether moral cultivation should be standardised into a single doctrinal form (Wáng) or held to traditional diversity (Lǚ).
The fact of Lǚ’s Nánjīng joint lecture-circuit with Zhàn Ruòshuǐ and Zōu Shǒuyì (a major Yángmíng disciple) is itself an interesting case of Mid-Míng Lǐxué / xīnxué civility — direct doctrinal opposition combined with institutional cooperation.