Zhōushēng Lièzǐ 周生烈子
Master Zhōushēng Liè by 周生烈 (Zhōushēng Liè, fl. mid-3rd century, 魏)
About the work
A jíyì 輯佚 reconstruction of surviving fragments attributed to the Cáo Wèi 曹魏 Confucian classicist Zhōushēng Liè 周生烈. The file contains nine short passages quoted in lèishū under the title 《周生烈子》, drawn from the Tàipíng yùlǎn 太平御覽 (five passages) and the Kùnxué jìwén 困學紀聞 (one passage). This reconstruction is distinct from the related jíyì at KR3a0119 (Zhōushēngzǐ yàolùn 周生子要論), which preserves a somewhat different and larger set of fragments assembled from the Yìlín 意林, Tàipíng yùlǎn, Běitáng shūchāo 北堂書鈔, and other encyclopaedias.
Abstract
Zhōushēng Liè 周生烈 (compound surname 周生, míng Liè; zì Wényì 文逸 in some sources) was a CáoWèi classicist of Dūnhuáng 敦煌 origin. He is mentioned obliquely in the Sānguó zhì Wèi shū j. 13 (in Péi Sōngzhī’s commentary to the biography of Wáng Sù 王肅); the Suí shū jīngjí zhì 隋書經籍志 records his Lúnyǔ yìshuō 論語義說 in 10 juàn, a Yàolùn 要論, and a Lǐjì zhù 禮記注, all subsequently lost. He is conventionally treated as a contemporary of Wáng Sù (195–256) and as part of the anti-Zhèng-Xuán 鄭玄 classicist circle at the Wèi court.
The nine fragments preserved in this Kanripo file are cosmological-political in character. They invoke the concept of universal equilibrium (tàipíng 太平 as arising from the alignment of political and moral standards), the metaphor of the loyal minister as a rake (pá 杷) clearing away filth, and brief comparisons of sage-king statecraft (Shùn driving five dragons, Wǔ-wáng 武王 on horseback). The passage quoted in the Kùnxué jìwén compares Jié 桀 and Zhòu 紂 to Tāng 湯 and Wǔ: “Jié and Zhòu were the ladder by which Tāng and Wǔ climbed; Qín and Xiàng were the steps by which the Hàn rose.”
These fragments overlap partially but not identically with the Zhōushēngzǐ yàolùn (KR3a0119): the yàolùn reconstruction draws mainly on the Yìlín 意林 and contains considerably more material. The present Kanripo text appears to represent a separate, smaller jíyì compilation — perhaps extracted from the same lèishū tradition but not keyed to the Yìlín corpus. The compiler is not identified.
Composition dating: Set to the Wèi period (220–265), the tightest defensible bracket for a classicist active at the Wèi court. Exact dates for Zhōushēng Liè are not recoverable from surviving sources.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located. The fragments have attracted occasional mention in surveys of Wèi–Jìn intellectual history. The principal Qīng jíyì edition is in Mǎ Guóhàn’s 馬國翰 Yùhán shānfáng jíyì shū 玉函山房輯佚書. See also the entry for KR3a0119.
Links
- Chinese Text Project: 周生烈子
- Chinaknowledge.de: Zhousheng Liezi