Dù Shǐ tǐlùn 杜氏體論
Discourse on the Substance (of Things), by Master Dù by 杜恕 (Dù Shù, c. 198–252, 魏)
About the work
A lost CáoWèi political-philosophical treatise by Dù Shù 杜恕 (son of Dù Jī 杜畿, father of Dù Yù 杜預), preserved only as a Qing-era jíyì 輯佚 reconstruction drawn from quotations in 《太平御覽》, 《意林》, 《藝文類聚》, and from Péi Sōngzhī’s 裴松之 commentary to the Sānguó zhì 三國志 (《魏志‧杜恕傳注》, which preserves a substantial programmatic passage). Not in the Sìkù quánshū; sourced from CHANT (CH2a1373).
Abstract
Dù Shù’s Tǐlùn — sometimes cited in early sources as Dù Shǐ xīnshū 杜氏新書 (cf. the opening fragment) — is a classic WèiJìn zǐbù discourse of jīngshì 經世 (statecraft) orientation. The programmatic opening, preserved by Péi Sōngzhī, sets out four cardinal categories of governance: the bonds of ruler and minister (君臣) under the rubric lǐ 禮; the conduct of self (言行); the administration of subjects (政法); and the conduct of war (用兵). The work derives its title from the formula fú lǐ yě zhě, wànwù zhī tǐ yě 夫禮也者萬物之體也 — ritual as the substance underlying the ten thousand things — hence Tǐlùn. Surviving fragments, gathered from leishu and Sānguó zhì commentary, are aphoristic but politically substantive, with passages on the recognition of worthies, the limits of legal coercion, and the moral basis of military leadership. The author’s date-bracket here follows his Sānguó zhì biography (《魏志》j. 16, Sānguó zhì lists him as Hédōng 河東 Dù Shù; the dating 198–252 follows received scholarly consensus). The received recension is a 19th-century jíyì.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located outside of the standard jíyì compilations (馬國翰 Yùhán shānfáng jíyì shū; 嚴可均 Quán sān guó wén 全三國文 j. 42, which preserves the largest single block of Dù Shù prose). Brief discussions appear in Wèi-Jìn intellectual histories under the Wèi statecraft rubric.
Links
- Sānguó zhì 三國志 j. 16 (杜畿傳附杜恕傳); 裴松之 zhù.
- 嚴可均 Quán sān guó wén 全三國文, j. 42 (杜恕文集).