Rénzǐ dàolùn 任子道論
On the Way, by Master Rén by 任嘏 (Rén Gǔ, fl. mid 3rd century, 魏)
About the work
A lost CáoWèi 曹魏 zǐbù treatise by Rén Gǔ 任嘏. Reconstructed from quotations in 《意林》, 《太平御覽》, 《北堂書鈔》, 《初學記》. Not in the Sìkù quánshū; sourced from CHANT (CH2a1452).
Abstract
Rén Gǔ — a native of Lèān 樂安 and a scholar-official of the Wèi court — composed the Dàolùn as a substantial zǐ-house treatise on the Way: surviving fragments are aphoristic and read in the same broad ethical-political register as the more famous Wèi treatises by Wáng Sù 王肅 and Dù Shù 杜恕. The text is mentioned by name in the Suí shū jīngjí zhì 隋書經籍志 in 10 (or by some manuscript variants, 8) juàn; only fragments survive. He is noted in Sānguó zhì commentary as one of the Wéishì 魏氏 “twenty-four worthies” of the Héjiān 河間 area, and the Dàolùn itself is referenced as a youthful work of his maturity. The composition window is bracketed by the Wèi period (220–265); the received recension is a 19th-century jíyì.
Translations and research
No substantial dedicated secondary literature located. Standard fragment-compilation: 嚴可均 Quán sān guó wén 全三國文 j. 43.
Links
- Sānguó zhì 三國志 (passim, 裴松之 zhù).
- Suí shū jīngjí zhì 隋書經籍志.