Liùjīng tiānwén biān 六經天文編
Compilation of Astronomical Material from the Six Classics by 王應麟 (撰)
About the work
The Liùjīng tiānwén biān is a Southern-Sòng compilation by 王應麟 Wáng Yīnglín (1223–1296) which assembles in two juǎn every passage in the Six Classics (Yì, Shū, Shī, Lǐ, Yuè, Chūnqiū) that touches on astronomical, calendrical or celestial-omen matters, with brief gloss-notes drawing on the HànTáng commentary tradition and the Sòng lǐxué synthesis. It is a satellite to Wáng’s much larger encyclopaedic enterprise, the Yùhǎi 玉海 (Wilkinson §41.4 #4), with which it shares editorial method.
Abstract
Wáng Yīnglín is the Southern Sòng’s most accomplished philologically-trained encyclopaedist; Wilkinson treats him at length as the compiler of the Yùhǎi, the Xiǎoxué gànzhū 小學紺珠, and the Kùnxué jìwén 困學紀聞 (Wilkinson §38.12, §41.4 #4, §64.3.9). The Liùjīng tiānwén biān is a typical product of Wáng’s classicising philology: in defence of the position that the Chinese astronomical tradition is rooted in canonical Confucian texts, he gathers and explains every astronomical reference in the Five Classics + Yuèjīng (when “Six Classics” is intended; in Wáng’s usage the Liùjīng covers the canonical set of the Yì, Shū, Shī, Lǐ-Yuè / Lǐjì, and Chūnqiū). Sample headings include “the asterisms of the Yáo diǎn” (the canonical Shàngshū passage on the four solstitial-equinoctial asterisms), “the Língxiào 靈囂 of the Shī”, the “Shī fēng — Qī yuè” 詩風七月 seasonal calendar, the Chūnqiū sun-eclipse records, the cosmological diagrams of the Yìzhuàn, etc.
The work was preserved in the SòngYuán transmission and was incorporated into the Sìkù quánshū (zǐbù, tiānwén suànfǎ lèi). Composition can be dated to Wáng’s retirement period (after 1275, when he retired to his native Qìngyuán 慶元 in present-day Níngbō) and before his death in 1296. The work is one of the principal vehicles by which HànTáng commentarial scholia on the canonical astronomical passages — many of which would otherwise be lost — survive in a useable form.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language translation located.
- Soffel, Christian. 2004. Ein Universalgelehrter verarbeitet das Ende seiner Dynastie — Eine Analyse des Kunxue jiwen von Wang Yinglin. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. — the principal Western-language monograph on Wáng Yīnglín’s intellectual project as a whole; treats the Tiānwén biān as part of Wáng’s classicising encyclopaedism.
- Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland. 1990–92. “Encyclopedias, polymaths, and tao-hsüeh Confucians: Preliminary reflections with special reference to Chang Ju-yü.” JSYS 22: 89–108 — compares Wáng Yīnglín with Zhèng Qiáo and Zhāng Rúyú.
- For the Yáo diǎn solstitial-equinoctial asterism problem, see Edward Schafer, Pacing the Void (Berkeley 1977) and the Cambridge History of Ancient China §15 (Pankenier).
Other points of interest
The work documents an important moment in Confucian science: the late-Southern-Sòng attempt to ground the Chinese astronomical canon in classical philology and to demonstrate that the empirical tradition (calendar-making, eclipse prediction, instrument design) was anticipated in the Classics. The same project underlies Wáng’s Yùhǎi and the editorial enterprise of the entire Sìmíng 四明 school.
Links
- Wikipedia (zh): https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/王應麟
- Person: 王應麟.
- Companion encyclopaedic works by Wáng: Yùhǎi, Xiǎoxué gànzhū, Kùnxué jìwén.