ÈrChéngzǐ chāo shì 二程子抄釋
Selections from the Two Masters Chéng, Annotated by 呂柟 (Lǚ Nán, 1479–1542, 明)
About the work
A ten-juan abridgement-and-gloss of the Èr Chéng corpus by Lǚ Nán — the third of his chāo shì tetralogy. Lǚ obtained the Èr Chéng quán shū (= Yí shū + Wài shū + Wén jí + Yì zhuàn + Cuì yán — the Míng-period integrated edition) from Cuī Xiàn 崔銑 (KR3a0086 author); finding it overwhelming for elementary students, he abridged it. The self-preface (1531) gives 8 juan / 29 篇; but the Jiājìng xīnmǎo (1531) postface by Cuī Xiàn-grade pupil Chéng Jué 程爵 already says “10 juan”, and the Jiājìng bǐngshēn (1536) Dèng Hào 鄧浩 reprint matches “10 juan” — apparently Lǚ supplemented and re-divided after the original self-preface. The work follows Zhū Xī’s Yí shū by listing each entry under the disciple-recorder’s name; Lǚ’s gloss at the close of each entry sets out the main bearing in 1–2 sentences. Lǚ’s editorial method is praised by the SKQS tíyào as careful and substantive in its selection from the originally mixed Yí shū / Wài shū (which Zhū Xī had already partly diagnosed for zhēnyàn xiāng zá “true-false intermixed”). The tíyào’s concern is rather that the prose-style — Lǚ wrote in the contemporary Lǐ Mèngyáng gǔwén style — is sometimes obscure, requiring careful reading.
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that the ÈrChéngzǐ chāo shì in 10 juan was edited by Lǚ Nán of the Míng. Before is a self-preface saying he first obtained the Èr Chéng quán shū from Cuī Xiàn; finding the explanations of Liù jīng Sì shū and the disciples’ question-and-answer combined into one book — vast and complex, hard for elementary students to view — he therefore abstracted what he liked and gathered into 8 juan, totalling 29 篇; with the Chéngzǐ disciples’ surnames listed at the head.
After is a postface by Nán’s pupil Chéng Jué of Xiūníng dated Jiājìng xīnmǎo (1531) that calls “Master Jīngyě’s abridgement-and-gloss of Chéngshì’s writings, in 10 juan”. This present text is the Jiājìng bǐngshēn (1536) edition by Nán’s pupil Dèng Hào; the juan-count matches Jué’s postface. Perhaps when Nán made the preface the book stopped at 8 juan; later he supplemented and divided, but the preface was not changed.
The book does not divide categories nor narrate chronological sequence; it follows the Èr Chéng yí shū’s old listing under the disciple-recorders. Each item below has 1–2 sentences setting out the main meaning. In old times Zhūzǐ editing the Yí shū once complained of zhēnyàn xiāng zá (true-false intermixed); Nán in this book pruning the corrupt and retaining the pure is no less careful. Apparently Nán’s learning issues from Héjīn — most solid; therefore qǔ shě (taking and rejecting) is full of insight.
Only his prose originally issued from Lǐ Mèngyáng’s quán jí — generally jié qū (dense and bent), not easy to read. Therefore each item below — the gloss-words — often huì sè (obscure-cramped) — not what the elementary student can fully comprehend.
[Tíyào continues; abbreviated.]
Respectfully revised and submitted, eighth month of the forty-second year of Qiánlóng [1777].
General Compilers: Jǐ Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅.
Abstract
The ÈrChéngzǐ chāo shì is the third of Lǚ Nán’s chāo shì tetralogy and the most editorially complex (10 juan, vs. 2 / 6 / 2 of the other three). Composition window: bracketed by the 1531 self-preface and the 1536 reprint with revised juan-count. The frontmatter brackets to 1530–1536.
The substantive method follows Zhū Xī’s editorial tradition (preserved in KR3a0030) but with a fresh selection-cut. Lǚ’s prose-style — Lǐ Mèngyáng gǔwén — is acknowledged by the SKQS as obstructive to elementary use.
The bibliographic record: Míng shǐ yìwén zhì; Wényuāngé shūmù; SKQS Zǐbù — Rújiā lèi.