聞分館君 Ask BunKanKun

人譜

4 min read

Text ID
KR3a0098
Date
1632–1645
Dynasty
明

Rén pǔ 人譜

Genealogy of the Human by 劉宗周 (Liú Zōngzhōu, 1578–1645, 明)

About the work

A foundational moral-pedagogical work by Liú Zōngzhōu in three components: (i) the core Rén pǔ in 1 juan (containing the Rénjí tú shuō 人極圖說 — Liú’s Confucian counterpart to Zhōu Dūnyí’s Tàijí tú shuō —, the Jì guò gé 記過格, and the Gǎi guò shuō 改過說); (ii) the Rén pǔ lèi jì 人譜類記 in 2 juan in 6 piān (Tǐ dú 體獨, Zhī jǐ 知幾, Dìng mìng 定命, Níng dào 凝道, Kǎo xuán 攷旋, Zuò shèng 作聖) — anthology of exemplary words and deeds organised by topic with totals at the head and explanatory comments at the close. The work was prepared during Liú’s tenure as head of the Jíshān shūyuàn 蕺山書院 for use in instructing his students.

The Rénjí tú shuō is the work’s distinctive philosophical contribution: where Zhōu Dūnyí’s Tàijí tú shuō set out the cosmological generation, Liú’s Rénjí sets out the human-moral counterpart — making xìng / xīn / yì / zhī / wù the human-pole counterparts of the cosmic Tàijí / yīnyáng / wǔ xíng. The Jì guò gé and Gǎi guò shuō — the recording-of-faults and reform-method — extend the shèn dú doctrine into specific behavioural-pedagogical form. The work is the foundational text of Liú’s shèn dú doctrine and of the Jíshān xuépài method.

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that the Rén pǔ in 1 juan and Rén pǔ lèi jì in 2 juan was composed by Liú Zōngzhōu of the Míng. Late Míng — rénrén jiǎng xué (everyone lectures and discusses), the days run long; the truly-judged true Confucians no more than several persons. Zōngzhōu is one of them. His learning takes shèn dú (cautious in solitude) as the focus, expounding the Yáojiāng xù lùn (lineage discussion) but adding jǐn yán qiē shí (rigour and substantiality).

This book was made when he held the Jíshān shūyuàn, given to the students. The Rén pǔ 1 juan begins with the Rénjí tú shuō; next the Jì guò gé; next the Gǎi guò shuō. The Rén pǔ lèi jì 2 juan: Tǐ dú piān, Zhī jǐ piān, Dìng mìng piān, Níng dào piān, Kǎo xuán piān, Zuò shèng piān — all gather ancients’ praiseworthy words and good deeds, classified and recorded as model. Each piān has a zǒng jì (general note) at the head and entries listed after, with lùn duàn (judgments) attached. Aimed at qǐ dí yòu xué (instructing the young) — therefore wording mostly píng shí qiǎn (level, substantial, plain).

[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 Rén pǔ is one of the most-studied Late-Míng Lǐxué texts and the foundational work of Liú Zōngzhōu’s mature pedagogical project. Composition window: bracketed by Liú’s Jíshān shūyuàn tenure (the academy was active from the early 1630s through Liú’s 1645 death). The frontmatter brackets to ca. 1632–1645.

The substantive role: the Rénjí tú shuō provides Liú’s counter-cosmology to Zhōu Dūnyí’s; the Jì guò gé and Gǎi guò shuō ground the shèn dú doctrine in specific moral-pedagogical practice. The lèi jì extends to applied moral exemplars. Within the broader Late-Míng tradition — and especially in early-Qīng Huáng Zōngxī / Chén Què / Zhāng Lǚxiáng adaptations — the Rén pǔ method became the canonical shèn dú practice.

The bibliographic record: Míng shǐ yìwén zhì; Wényuāngé shūmù; SKQS Zǐbù — Rújiā lèi.

Translations and research

  • Tu Wei-ming, Centrality and Commonality (1989) — context for Lǐxué religious-moral cultivation.
  • William T. de Bary, Self and Society in Ming Thought (1970) — extended treatment of Liú’s shèn dú method.
  • Chow Kai-wing, The Rise of Confucian Ritualism in Late Imperial China (1994) — foundational treatment of the Rén pǔ tradition.
  • Pei-Yi Wu, The Confucian’s Progress: Autobiographical Writings in Traditional China, Princeton, 1990 — uses the Jì guò gé method extensively.
  • Cynthia J. Brokaw, The Ledgers of Merit and Demerit: Social Change and Moral Order in Late Imperial China, Princeton, 1991 — places Liú’s Jì guò gé in the late-imperial gōng guò gé tradition.

Other points of interest

The Rén pǔ’s ledger-of-faults methodology is methodologically related to but doctrinally distinct from the late-imperial Buddhist / Daoist gōng guò gé (merit-and-demerit ledgers): Liú’s method is Lǐxué-grounded shèn dú practice rather than Buddhist bào yìng (karma-retribution) bookkeeping. Brokaw’s treatment is the standard analysis.

Graph View

Backlinks