Zhōng yōng yǎn yì 中庸衍義
Extension of the Meaning of the Zhōng yōng by 夏良勝 (Xià Liángshèng, zì Zǐzhōng 子中, 1480–1538, 明)
About the work
A 17-juan extension-and-elaboration of the Zhōng yōng by Xià Liángshèng, composed during his Jiājìng-period exile to Liáohǎi garrison-duty (after 1524). The work is modelled on Zhēn Déxiù’s Dàxué yǎnyì (KR3a0058) — both the genre (imperial-pedagogical yǎnyì) and the editorial method (classical citation followed by yǎnyì commentary). Following the yǎnyì tradition that began with Yè Shí 葉時’s Sòng Lǐjīng huìyuán and was canonised by Zhēn Déxiù, Xià extends the Zhōng yōng across the topics of xìng / dào / jiào / dádào / dádé / jiǔ jīng / sān zhòng (the “nine standards” and “three respects” of imperial governance per the Zhōng yōng j. 31). The tíyào particularly notes Xià’s polemical sub-treatment of four contemporary Jiājìng court issues: chóng shénxiān (favouring transcendents), hào fúruì (delighting in auspicious omens), gǎi zǔ zhì (changing ancestral institutions), yì shàn lèi (suppressing the upright class) — all addressing the Jiājìng emperor Shìzōng’s specific failings. The tíyào praises Xià for wú yī háo yuànduì jīshàn zhī yì (without a hair of resentment-or-mockery), making the work the speech of a “chún chén” (pure minister).
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that the Zhōng yōng yǎn yì in 17 juan was composed by Xià Liángshèng of the Míng. Liángshèng, zì Zǐzhōng, was a man of Nánchéng. Jìnshì of Zhèngdé wùchén (1508); rose to Tàichángsì shàoqīng. His career is in the Míng shǐ biography.
From the Sòng on, the practice of taking ancient and modern meaning, raising up the items, and extending the discussion: began with Yè Shí’s Lǐjīng huìyuán; succeeded by Zhēn Déxiù’s Dàxué yǎnyì. Liángshèng then, on Déxiù’s example, expounded the Zhōng yōng. The book was completed during Jiājìng — composed during his exile-garrison at Liáohǎi after the dà lǐ memorial-affair.
From xìngdàojiào, dádào, dádé, jiǔ jīng, sān zhòng and the like — items by item drawing on ancient and modern, extending broadly. As to chóng shénxiān, hào fúruì, gǎi zǔzhì, yì shàn lèi — several conditions — he especially exhausts the practical evils, ardently speaking on them. All for matters of Shìzōng’s reign that he was raising. Yet these only express his sincerity in remonstrance, without a hair of resentment-or-mockery — this is what makes them the speech of a chún chén (pure minister).
The middle considerably draws Qiū Jùn’s Dàxué yǎnyì discussion. Examining: Liángshèng during Zhèngdé and Jiājìng twice was beaten and demoted for gěng zhí (upright frankness); his style and integrity were imposing; the world of his time esteemed him. His book though resembles Jùn’s; as for his character — not what Jùn could approach.
[Tíyào continues; abbreviated.]
Respectfully revised and submitted, first month of the forty-fourth year of Qiánlóng [1779].
General Compilers: Jǐ Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅.
Abstract
The Zhōng yōng yǎn yì is one of the cleaner Mid-Míng yǎnyì-genre extensions of the Sì shū, complementing the canonical Zhēn / Qiū dyad on the Dà xué (KR3a0058 / KR3a0080) with a parallel Zhōng yōng treatment. Composition window: bracketed by Xià’s Liáohǎi exile (post-1524) through to his 1538 death. The frontmatter brackets to ca. 1524–1538.
The substantive content draws Qiū Jùn’s Dàxué yǎnyì bǔ (KR3a0080) extensively, but applies the yǎnyì method to the Zhōng yōng curriculum. The four pointed Jiā-jìng-era criticisms — transcendent-favouring, auspicious-omen-cult, ancestral-institution-tampering, upright-class-suppression — are particularly cited as the work’s substantive interest.
The bibliographic record: Míng shǐ yìwén zhì; Wényuāngé shūmù; SKQS Zǐbù — Rújiā lèi.
Translations and research
- No substantial English-language secondary literature located.
- For the Dà-lǐ yì (Great Rites Controversy) context: Carney T. Fisher, The Chosen One: Succession and Adoption in the Court of Ming Shizong, Allen & Unwin, 1990.
Other points of interest
The Zhōng yōng yǎn yì’s exile-composition during the dàlǐ (Great Rites) aftermath gives the work substantial political weight as Mid-Míng remonstrative literature in Lǐxué form. Xià’s liǎng cì zhàngzhé (twice flogged-and-demoted) biography is paradigmatic of the Mid-Míng upright remonstrator type.
Links
- Míng shǐ j. 192 (Xià Liángshèng zhuàn).
- Dàxué yǎnyì (KR3a0058, by Zhēn Déxiù) and Dàxué yǎnyì bǔ (KR3a0080, by Qiū Jùn) — the genre precedents.
- Kyoto Zinbun, Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào
- Wikidata