Xiàotáng jígǔ lù 嘯堂集古錄
A Whistling Studio Collection of Antiquities by 王俅 (Wáng Qiú, 12th cent., 宋, zhuàn 撰)
About the work
A 2-juàn register of ancient bronzes and seal-impressions by Wáng Qiú 王俅 (zì Zǐbiàn 子弁) of the Sòng. Wáng is poorly documented; the Shūlù jiětí of Chén Zhènsūn 陳振孫 says only that he was the son of one Chángrú 長孺 of Jìzhōu 濟州 Rènchéng 任城 — making him a Shāndōng man. The book records ancient ritual bronzes — zūn 尊, yí 彝, duī 敦, yǒu 卣 etc. — from the Shāng down to the Hàn, “several hundred kinds” (shùbǎi zhǒng), reproducing each piece’s kuǎnshí 款識 (inscription) in tracing-copy and providing a jīnwén (i.e. Sòng-current regular-script) gloss. Several dozen ancient seal-impressions are also included, of which the most famous is the “Xià Yǔ” seal — judged a Hàn-era wū 巫 (sorcerer) ritual flood-warding charm by Wú Qiūyǎn 吾丘衍 in his KR3h0077 Xuégǔ biān, on the basis that its script-style is Hàn-period zhuànshū and not Xià-period gǔwén. The work is one of the principal Northern-and-early-Southern-Sòng jīnshí sources, alongside Lǚ Dàlín’s KR3h0086 Kǎogǔ tú and Wáng Fǔ’s Xuānhé bógǔ tú KR3h0087. The original preface by Lǐ Bǐng 李邴 (hào Hànlǎo 漢老; Xuānhé 3 / 1121 jìnshì, later Right Vice-Director of the Right; the preface is signed Yúnkān Xiǎoyǐn Lǐ Bǐng Hànlǎo) is preserved at the head of the WYG transmission. It says: “Chángrú’s son Wáng Qiú Zǐbiàn came to see me, bringing two great volumes — all categorised zhōngdǐng characters — most plentiful — titled Xiàotáng jígǔ lù. He said to me: ‘I have inadvertently given my heart to this for a long time. Since childhood until now, every time I have come upon a vessel, I have copied the inscription and dropped it into my collection-box; for thirty-some years, finally several boxes’ worth; then I culled and trimmed, keeping only the good, arranging them in order. My ambition still considers it incomplete: in future, if I get more ancient characters, I will append at the end.‘” — fixing the work in the mid-twelfth century, after Lǐ Bǐng’s career and during Wáng Qiú’s active life.
Tiyao
We have respectfully examined: Xiàotáng jígǔ lù in two juàn, by Wáng Qiú of the Sòng. Qiú, zì Zǐbiàn, one source has Qiú 球 with zì Kuíyù 夔玉 (Mǐ Fú’s Huàshǐ also gives Kuíshí 夔石); unclear which is right. Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí says: Lǐ Bǐng’s preface only calls him “the son of the late Chángrú,” without specifying the Wáng-family origin. Checking Bǐng’s preface, he says “in the same district as Chángrú” — Bǐng’s seat is Jìzhōu Rènchéng; so Qiú is a Shāndōng (Qí) man. This compilation records ancient zūnyí-duī-yǒu type vessels, from the Shāng to the Hàn — several hundred kinds — copies the inscriptions and renders each in modern script. Among them are several dozen ancient seal-impressions. One is labelled “Xià Yǔ.” Yuán’s Wú Qiūyǎn in Xuégǔ biān says this is a Hàn wū “water-disaster ward” ritual seal; the popular tradition has it that wearing a “Yǔ” character protects from drowning; this seal is in Hàn zhuànshū, hence — Wú knew it. Wú is expert in connoisseurial jiàngǔ — his identification should hold. Wú also says the Ténggōng mùmíng writes the yùyù 鬱鬱 as two separate characters, unlike the ancient practice (which uses two small strokes) — so we know it is a fake. Hence the book mixes genuine and false. Yet what is gathered still suffices as evidential reference; we should not let one or two flaws discard it. Sitting a thousand years downstream and distinguishing the yíqì of a thousand years upstream — the objects sometimes true, sometimes false; the descriptions sometimes accurate, sometimes not. From the Kǎogǔ tú downward, all such works are largely the same; this book is not unique in that. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 46 (1781), tenth month.
Abstract
The Xiàotáng jígǔ lù is one of the four foundational works of Sòng jīnshí (epigraphy/antiquarianism), alongside Lǚ Dàlín’s KR3h0086 Kǎogǔ tú, Wáng Fǔ’s KR3h0087 Xuānhé bógǔ tú, and Xuē Shàngǒng’s Lìdài zhōngdǐng yíqì kuǎnshí fǎtiè 歷代鐘鼎彝器款識法帖. Wáng Qiú’s distinctive contribution is the kuǎnshí + modern-script gloss format — for many ShāngZhōu inscriptions, this is the earliest surviving Sòng reading. The work is the principal source for the iconography of several hundred bronze vessel types in the Sòng connoisseurial tradition. The dating range is bracketed by Lǐ Bǐng’s career: Bǐng obtained the jìnshì in 1121 and continued in office to the mid-1140s, so the preface is most plausibly written in the 1130s–1140s, with the work itself perhaps slightly earlier. Catalog-vs-external dating note: CBDB gives a Wáng Qiú (CBDB id 126618) with dates 1445–1507 of the Míng — this is a separate person; the Sòng Wáng Qiú of the Xiàotáng jígǔ lù is not in CBDB with confirmed dates, but the catalog meta’s “12th cent” is correct on internal evidence.
Translations and research
- Sena, Yunchiahn C. Bronze and Stone: The Cult of Antiquity in Song Dynasty China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2019. [The standard Western study of Sòng jīn-shí xué, with detailed analysis of the Xiào-táng jí-gǔ lù.]
- Hsu, Ya-hwei. “Antiquaries and Politics: Antiquarian Culture of the Northern Song.” Hsiang Lectures on Chinese Poetry 7 (2014).
- Wáng Guówéi 王國維. Sòng-dài jīn-wén zhù-lù-biǎo.
- Rong Geng 容庚. Shāng Zhōu yí-qì tōng-kǎo 商周彝器通考. Beijing: Yanjing Daxue, 1941. [Uses the Xiào-táng extensively in its bibliographic apparatus.]
Other points of interest
The Xiàotáng jígǔ lù’s reproduction of the “Xià Yǔ seal” became the standard target of YuánMíngQīng kǎogǔ critique on the gǔwén / zhuànshū distinction — Wú Qiūyǎn’s identification of it as a Hàn-period magico-religious charm, cited by the Sìkù editors here, is a key piece of Yuán kǎozhèng.