Luòlùzǐ fù zhù 珞琭子賦註

Annotated [Three-Fates] Composition of Master Luò-lù by 曇瑩 (Tányíng / Luóyuè, fl. 1127, 宋, zhù 注), composed Jiànyán dīngwèi (1127)

About the work

Tányíng’s 2-juan annotation of the Luòlùzǐ fù — the foundational fate-divinatory composition of the Sòng xīngmìng / bāzì (eight-character) tradition. The work is one of four standard commentaries on the Luòlùzǐ fù recorded by the Sòng-period bibliographer Qián Céng 錢曾: Wáng Tíngguāng 王廷光’s, Lǐ Tóng 李同’s, Tányíng’s, and Xú Zǐpíng 徐子平’s (KR3g0037).

The Sìkù 提要 makes a careful textual-critical case:

  • The transmitted Luòlùzǐ fù zhù exists in two distinct recensions: one by Xú Zǐpíng (KR3g0037) and one by Tányíng (the present work), with the Tányíng recension also incorporating the Wáng Tíngguāng and Lǐ Tóng material at relevant points — making it a synthetic-collation of three of the four Sòng commentaries.
  • The Tányíng recension is dated Jiànyán dīngwèi (1127), 5 years after Wáng Tíngguāng’s recension dated Xuānhé guǐmǎo (1123).

The work’s substantive methodology: Tányíng’s distinctive contribution is integrating xīngmìng divination with Yìjīng principles — “frequently using the mìng (fate) principle to attach toprinciple”. This approach makes the work less procedurally explicit than Xú Zǐpíng’s parallel recension but methodologically more philosophically-grounded. The 提要 commends specific entries: Wáng Tíngguāng’s Tuīyǎn mìngxiàn (Deriving Fate-Boundaries) entry as “especially refined-and-correct”; Tányíng’s own Lùn gūxū (Discussing Solitary-Empty) entry as “also worth selecting”. The work is preserved as the parallel-and-complementary commentary to Xú Zǐpíng’s KR3g0037.

The 提要 notes a textual lacuna: Tányíng’s preface mentions “Lǐ Tóng and Zhèng Lín 鄭潾 jointly named”, but no Zhèng Lín commentary appears in the recension — suggesting either a Yǒnglèdàdiǎn deletion or a pre-Yǒnglè-dàdiǎn copy-loss.

For the parallel commentary, see KR3g0037 Luòlùzǐ sānmìng xiāoxī fù zhù by 徐子平 Xú Zǐpíng. For Tányíng’s biography, see 曇瑩.

Tiyao

[Full text in source file. Dated Qiánlóng 46 (1781), ninth month.]