Wáng Shǐ xīnshū 王氏新書
A New Book by Master Wáng by 王肅 (Wáng Sù, 195–256, 魏)
About the work
A lost zǐbù miscellany by the Wèi classicist Wáng Sù 王肅, distinct from his commentaries on the canonical Jīng. The work is preserved only in fragments, drawn here primarily from quotations in 《司馬彪戰略》 (Sīmǎ Biāo’s Zhànlüè, itself transmitted via the Sānguó zhì commentary) and from 《魏志》本傳 (Wáng Sù’s own biography in the Sānguó zhì). The reconstruction is a Qing-era jíyì and is not in the Sìkù quánshū; the Kanripo entry derives from CHANT (CH2a1374).
Abstract
The Xīnshū is one of several non-classical works ascribed to Wáng Sù in the early bibliographic record. The Suí shū jīngjí zhì 隋書經籍志 lists a Wèi-period Wáng Sù xīnshū in three juàn (some manuscript variants give five), characterized as a biàn 辨 / yì 議-style discussion treatise. The reconstructed fragments cover political analysis (military strategy, ruler-minister relations), classical exegesis, and personal anecdote. The largest preserved block — the dialogue on Sīmǎ Yì’s 司馬懿 northwestern campaign — is transmitted through Sīmǎ Biāo’s 《戰略》 and emphasises Wáng Sù’s role as imperial counsellor and son-in-law of the Sīmǎ house. Because the text is fragmentary and partly indistinguishable from Wáng Sù’s other 子-style writings (the Shèngzhèng lùn 聖證論 and a Jiā jièlùn 家誡論), some traditional bibliographers treat Xīnshū and Zhènglùn (cf. KR3a0129) as alternate titles for closely related material — but the modern reconstructions keep them separate. The date-bracket is bounded by Wáng Sù’s career under Wèi.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located dedicated specifically to the Xīnshū. The standard fragment-compilation is 嚴可均 Quán sān guó wén 全三國文 j. 23. For Wáng Sù’s wider polemic against Zhèng Xuán 鄭玄, see the literature cited on KR3a0001 (Kǒngzǐ jiāyǔ).
Links
- Sānguó zhì 三國志 j. 13 (王朗傳附王肅傳).
- Suí shū jīngjí zhì 隋書經籍志.
- 嚴可均, Quán sān guó wén 全三國文 j. 23.