Wángzǐ zhènglùn 王子正論
The Correct Discourses of Master Wáng by 王肅 (Wáng Sù, 195–256, 魏)
About the work
A lost CáoWèi political-philosophical treatise attributed to Wáng Sù 王肅. Reconstructed from quotations in 《三國魏志本傳》 (Wáng Sù’s own Sānguó zhì biography), 《太平御覽》, 《尚書》 sub-commentary, and Zhōu lǐ / Zhōu guān exegetical citations. Not in the Sìkù quánshū; sourced from CHANT (CH2a1387).
Abstract
The Zhènglùn is a programmatic political-classical treatise — to be distinguished from Wáng Sù’s KR3a0121 Xīnshū and his polemical Shèngzhèng lùn 聖證論 against Zhèng Xuán 鄭玄. The reconstructed fragments are substantially fuller than for the Xīnshū and include passages on ritual music (Bā yì 八佾, Xián chí 咸池, Dà jūn 太均), the calendar of mourning, Zhōu lǐ offices, and statecraft. The work is repeatedly cited under variant titles (Zhèng lùn 政論, Wángshǐ zhèng lùn 王氏正論) in Táng sub-commentaries and leishu. Wáng Sù’s career and his position as anti-Zhèng-Xuán classical authority are treated in 王肅 and on KR3a0001. The composition window is bracketed by his life. The received recension is a 19th-century jíyì.
Translations and research
No substantial dedicated secondary literature located. The standard fragment-compilation is 嚴可均 Quán sān guó wén 全三國文 j. 23.
Links
- Sānguó zhì 三國志 j. 13 (王朗傳附王肅傳).
- 嚴可均, Quán sān guó wén 全三國文 j. 23.