Qiáozǐ fǎxùn 譙子法訓
The Standards and Instructions of Master Qiáo by 譙周 (Qiáo Zhōu, 201–270, 蜀)
About the work
A lost ShǔHàn 蜀漢 zǐbù moral-political treatise by Qiáo Zhōu 譙周, the major Sìchuān classicist and historian. Reconstructed from quotations in 《世說新語》, 《初學記》, 《太平御覽》, 《封氏聞見記》, 《齊民要術》序 and other Táng–Sòng leishu and prefaces. Not in the Sìkù quánshū; sourced from CHANT (CH2a1379).
Abstract
The Fǎxùn (also cited as Qiáozǐ 譙子 in some early notices) is one of three principal zǐ-house works by Qiáo Zhōu — alongside the Gǔshǐ kǎo 古史考 (an early critical reading of the Shǐjì) and the Chóu guó lùn 仇國論 (a famous Shǔ-period memorial on the futility of campaigns against Wèi). The Fǎxùn survives only as fragments arranged thematically: precepts on the conduct of office, the schooling of the young (in the manner of the Yánshì jiāxùn 顏氏家訓 tradition that this work prefigures), agricultural admonitions (the citation in Jiǎ Sīxié’s 賈思勰 Qí mín yào shù 齊民要術 preface is a key witness), and moral aphorisms. The dating bracket follows Qiáo Zhōu’s biography in Sānguó zhì 三國志 j. 42 — Wilkinson, Chinese History, gives 201–270 (followed here); some Chinese reference works give 199–270. He served at the ShǔHàn court as imperial scholar (Diǎn xué cóngshì 典學從事) and is famously associated with the surrender memorial of 263. The received recension is a 19th-century jíyì.
Translations and research
- Michael J. Farmer (2007), The Talent of Shu: Qiao Zhou and the Intellectual World of Early Medieval Sichuan, SUNY Press — the standard English-language monograph on Qiáo Zhōu, covering all three works.
- 嚴可均, Quán sān guó wén 全三國文 j. 59 preserves the most complete fragment-compilation.
Links
- Sānguó zhì 三國志 j. 42 (譙周傳).
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §59 (on Gǔshǐ kǎo).