資暇集

Zīxiá jí 資暇集

Leisure-Time Collection

by 李匡乂 (Lǐ Kuāngyì, zì Jì Wēng 濟翁, late Táng, c. mid–late ninth century; Zōngzhèng shàoqīng 宗正少卿 under Zhāozōng 昭宗)

About the work

A 3-juan late-Táng kǎozhèng 考證 miscellany, organised in three sections — Zhèngwù 正誤 (“Correcting errors”; juan 1), Tányuán 談原 (“Discussion of origins”; juan 2), and Běnwù 本物 (“On the source of things”; juan 3) — that take aim at the philological-and-antiquarian errors of received text and learned conversation in the late Táng. The book is a notable early example of the kǎozhèng genre at scale: it covers questions ranging from minor textual cruxes (Lúnyǔ’s 宰予晝寢 read as 宰予畫寢; Mèngzǐ’s 傷人乎不問馬 punctuated as 傷人乎不？問馬?), through fonts and graph-shapes (the yòng 用 character with a top stroke as a separate character lù 甪; the jǐ 幾 character read as jī 機 in Hàn shū memorials), through Táng administrative idiom (the difference between zuòqián 座前 and géxià 閣下 as forms of address; the formal distinction of chú 除 and shòu 授 in appointment language; the origin of the zhújiǎ 竹甲 wrapper-tag for letters), to historical-onomastic curiosities (the Cuó 鄼 marquisate’s pronunciation as cuó in Pèiguó 沛國 vs zàn in Nányáng 南陽). Catalogued under Zákǎo zhī shǔ 雜考之屬 of the Zájiā 雜家 division (note the sub-division Zákǎo, distinct from the Záxué sub-division of the four preceding texts).

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that Zīxiá jí in three juan was composed by Lǐ Kuāngyì of the Táng. The old text is sometimes titled “Lǐ Jì Wēng” 李濟翁; this is because Sòng prints avoided the taboo on the founding Tàizǔ’s personal name, so the character kuāng 匡 was written as the zì — like the Táng-edition Jìn shū’s renaming Shí Hǔ 石虎 as Shí Jìlóng 石季龍, or written as Lǐ Yì 李乂 with one character cut out, like the Táng-edition Suí shū’s renaming Hán Qínhǔ 韓擒虎 as Hán Qín 韓擒 — all the same person. The Wénxiàn tōngkǎo 文獻通考 places it once under Zájiā citing Shūlù jiětí as “Lǐ Kuāngwén” 李匡文, and once under Xiǎoshuō citing the Dúshū zhì 讀書志 as “Lǐ Kuāngyì” 李匡義 — but the zì “Jì Wēng” 濟翁 is the same in both. Lù Yóu’s 陸游 collected works has a postface to this book also as “Lǐ Kuāngwén”; Wáng Mào’s 王楙 Yěkè cóngshū 野客叢書 has “Lǐ Zhèngwén” 李正文”. But the Dúshū zhì in fact has “Kuāngyì” 匡乂 — the others are transcriptional errors. Kuāngyì’s beginnings and ends are not detailed; the book mentions “my second cousin uncle the Duke of Qiān” (再從叔翁汧公) — known to be Lǐ Miǎn 李勉’s grand-nephew. He also mentions “my clansman [Lǐ] Hàn 瀚 wrote Méngqiú 蒙求 recording Sū Wǔ 蘇武 and Zhèng Zhòng 鄭眾 and so on” — so he is of the line of the Jìn Hànlín xuéshì Lǐ Hàn 李瀚. The man must be of the late Táng. The Táng shū · Yìwén zhì has “Lǐ Kuāngwén, LiǎngHàn zhì Táng niánjì” 兩漢至唐年紀, one juan, with the note: “under Zhāozōng, Zōngzhèng shàoqīng” — this is presumably Kuāngyì. The book’s self-statement gives only “shǒu Nánzhāng 守南漳” — the office of his service, not his terminating office. The Dúshū zhì records that this book has Kuāngyì’s self-preface saying: “the ordinary discourse of the world is mostly mistaken; though one hears and sees, one keeps silent and dares not testify; therefore I have composed this book. The upper piān corrects errors, the middle piān discusses origins, the lower piān the source of things.”

The present text bears the seal of Yú Shān Qián Zūnwángshì 虞山錢遵王氏, formerly of the Yěshìyuán 也是園 collection; the colophon at the end gives Dàichuān Gùshì jiāshú zǐxíng 埭川顧氏家塾梓行. In the middle, the characters zhēn 貞, zhēng 徵 and wán 完 are all written with strokes omitted — a Southern-Sòng print, with the yīn 殷 character also still missing strokes — so cut prior to Lǐzōng 理宗’s reign, at the time when Xuánzǔ 宣祖 [Northern-Sòng founder’s father] had not yet been removed from the imperial ancestral tablet roll; rather better than the modern editions. But it lacks this preface — perhaps lost by the binder. The book also does not mark the three piān headings, and the things it discusses do correspond with the headings; perhaps the self-preface is itself an yǐnkuò 隱括 retroactive synopsis, and the original did not have explicit piān-headings.

The book in general is a kǎodìng 考訂 of received text. Huáng Bósī 黃伯思’s Dōngguān yúlùn 東觀餘論 once rebutted its chátuō 茶托 entry; Huáng Cháoyīng 黃朝英’s Xiāngsù zájì 緗素襍記 once rebutted its bàozhí 儤直 entry; Hú Zǎi 胡仔’s Tiáoxī yúyǐn cónghuà 苕溪漁隱叢話 once rebutted its yàolán 藥欄 entry; Wáng Mào’s Yěkè cóngshū once rebutted its jíjí rú lǜlìng 急急如律令 entry. Now examining what he himself argues — like the qiānlǐ bú tuò jǐng 千里不唾井 saying being said to derive from a Southern-dynasty Sòng jìlì 計吏 — one notes that the Yùtái xīnyǒng 玉臺新詠 old text records Cáo Zhí’s 曹植 Substitute Liú Xūn’s banished wife Wángshì poem 代劉勛出妻王氏詩 already with “qiānlǐ bú tuò jǐng, how much more the xī suǒ fèng 昔所奉句*"" — so the Sòng jìlì derivation is mistaken. Further: the [Táng] courtesan Xuē Tāo 薛濤 is recorded in the Táng poetry collections invariably as 濤; this book alone writes Xuē Táo 薛陶 — clearly an error. Further: glossing lóngzhōng 龍鍾 as “the place where the dragon trampled” is also a strained etymology. Further: the whole book is kǎozhèng writing — yet the Mù Níng eats xióngbái 穆寧㗖熊白 entry suddenly mixes in mockery and miscellany — quite out of place in kǎozhèng style. However, things like saying that Xún Yuè 荀悅’s Hàn jì 漢紀 anticipated a future error; or Jiǎolǐ 角里 should plainly be written Lùlǐ 禄里, and the addition of one stroke to make it a separate Jiǎo 甪 character is an error; or that the reading of Lúnyǔ 宰予晝寢 as 畫寢 is the doctrine of Liáng Wǔdì 梁武帝, and the punctuation of 傷人乎？不問馬 [as 傷人乎？不問？馬] is the doctrine of the Jīngdiǎn shìwén 經典釋文 — neither beginning with Hán Yù 韓愈’s Bǐjiě 筆解; or the claim that the Wǔchén 五臣 commentary on the Wénxuǎn secretly took over Lǐ Shàn 李善’s text; or that Hán Yù’s Huìbiàn 諱辨 mistook Dù Dù 杜度 as the surname Dù [氏]; or that one whose mother is alive cannot use Wèiyáng 渭陽 as a circumlocution for “uncle”; or that the Lù Jī 陸璣 of the Shī yì 詩疏 was [a different person] with the yù 玉-radical character, not [Lù Jī 陸機 of] Shìhéng 士衡; or that the wànjī 萬幾 character was wrongly written jī 機 owing to Wáng Jiā’s 王嘉 sealed fēngshì 封事 of the Hàn; or the distinction between chú 除 and shòu 授 in appointment language; down to the difference between zuòqián 座前 and géxià 閣下, the origin of the zhújiǎ tíqiān 竹甲題籖 wrapper-tag, the origin of ménzhàng 門杖 — all are clearly evidenced and capable of being cited as authority.

In one entry on Cuóhóu 鄼侯 read as Cuó 鹺, the Míng’s Jiāo Hóng 焦竑 in Bǐshèng 筆乘 records this as a strange piece of information — not knowing that those located in Pèiguó 沛國 are read Cuó 鹺, those located in Nányáng 南陽 are read Zàn 賛: Kuāngyì had already cited Zōushì’s 鄒氏 Shǐjì commentary to rebut the Cuó reading. Jiāo evidently did not see this book.

Respectfully revised and submitted, sixth month of the forty-third year of Qiánlóng [1778].

General Compilers: Jǐ Yún 紀昀 (note: 均 in the original is a typographical slip for 昀), Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. General Reviser: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.

Abstract

Lǐ Kuāngyì 李匡乂 (zì Jì Wēng 濟翁) was a late-Táng official of the Lǐ 李 imperial clan, attested in the Táng shū · Yìwén zhì under the variant name Lǐ Kuāngwén 李匡文 as Zōngzhèng shàoqīng 宗正少卿 (Vice Director of the Imperial Clan Court) under Zhāozōng 昭宗 (r. 888–904). The CBDB record (id 92898, under the name Lǐ Kuāngwén) gives a fl. of 860–896. He is identified by Zīxiá jí itself as Lǐ Miǎn 李勉’s (717–788) grand-nephew (zàicóngshūwēng 再從叔翁) and as a clansman of Lǐ Hàn 李瀚, the Tang author of the Méngqiú 蒙求. The variant transmissions of his name (Kuāngyì 匡乂 / Kuāngwén 匡文 / Kuāngyì 匡義 / Zhèngwén 正文) are explained by the Sòng Tàizǔ taboo on the Kuāng 匡 character: Sòng prints either substituted the zì (Jì Wēng) or removed strokes from the personal name (whence Kuāngyì 匡乂 → Yì 乂 → Lǐ Yì 李乂). The standard recension of the Dúshū zhì 讀書志 has 匡乂; the Sìkù editors follow this. The dating bracket adopted here (notBefore 850, notAfter 904) reflects his fl. under the late Táng, with Zhāozōng’s death (904) as the latest plausible terminus.

The book is a 3-juan miscellany of kǎozhèng 考證 entries, organised by Kuāngyì’s own self-preface (preserved in the Sòng-era Dúshū zhì but lost from most surviving recensions, including the SKQS) into three sections: Zhèngwù 正誤 (correcting received errors), Tányuán 談原 (discussing origins), and Běnwù 本物 (the source of things). The Sìkù editors note that the present recension does not mark these piān headings, and that the entries do nonetheless map onto the headings — suggesting that the self-preface is a retrospective synopsis (yǐnkuò 隱括) rather than a description of the original arrangement. Thematically the entries range from textual cruxes in the Lúnyǔ and Mèngzǐ (often correctly attributing the received Sòng-era reading to a Liáng or SuíTáng scholarly source rather than to Hán Yù’s Bǐjiě), through Tang administrative-and-epistolary idiom (the formal distinction of chú 除 and shòu 授 in appointment language; the difference between zuòqián 座前 and géxià 閣下 as honorific addresses; the origin of the zhújiǎ tíqiān 竹甲題籖 letter-wrapper tag), to onomastic and pronunciation cruxes (Xuē Tāo 薛濤 written wrongly as 薛陶; the Cuóhóu 鄼侯 marquisate read as cuó in Pèiguó vs. zàn in Nányáng), and to such philological scruples as the Lù Jī 陸璣 of the Máo Shī cǎomùniǎoshòu chóngyú shū 毛詩草木鳥獸蟲魚疏 not being identical with [Lù Jī 陸機] Shìhéng of the Wénfù 文賦.

The book is a substantial early monument of Táng kǎozhèng practice — heavily cited and rebutted by Sòng biji-writers (Huáng Bósī, Huáng Cháoyīng, Hú Zǎi, Wáng Mào), which is itself a measure of its status as a standard reference target by the Northern Sòng. The Sìkù editors give a fair-minded assessment: a number of the entries are clearly errors or strained etymologies (the Xuē Tāo error; the lóngzhōng 龍鍾 etymology; the qiānlǐ bú tuò jǐng 千里不唾井 derivation), and the book’s overall kǎozhèng tone is broken in one entry (the Mù Níng eats xióngbái 穆寧㗖熊白 mockery) — but the substantive successes (the punctuation of the Mèngzǐ’s 不問馬 line; the etymology of jiǎolǐ 角里 / lùlǐ 禄里; the formal distinction of chú and shòu; the Cuóhóu readings) are real, and the book is “evidenced and capable of being cited as authority.”

Modern editions: the standard recension is the SKQS (V850.4); the Hong Kong CHANT and Sōng Yáo 宋瑤’s modern punctuated edition are the standard scholarly bases. Wáng Yúnwǔ 王雲五’s Cōngshū jíchéng Zīxiá jí · Sūshì yǎnyì · Zhōnghuá gǔjīn zhù combined volume is widely cited.

Translations and research

No complete European-language translation exists. The work figures as a frequently-cited primary source in studies of Tang philology, kǎozhèng, and the biji genre.

• Yáng Bó-jùn 楊伯峻’s modern Lúnyǔ and Mèngzǐ commentaries cite Zīxiá jí on the zǎi-yú zhòu-qǐn 宰予晝寢 reading and the bù wèn mǎ 不問馬 punctuation respectively, treating Kuāng-yì’s documentation as authoritative for tracing the Sòng-era reading-tradition.
• Wú Chéng-xué 吳承學, Zhōngguó gǔdài wéntǐ-xué yánjiū 中國古代文體學研究 (Rénmín, 2011), uses Zīxiá jí on the formal categories of Tang official communication (chú 除, shòu 授, etc.).
• Glen Dudbridge, The Tale of Li Wa (Ithaca, 1983) and other Anglophone Tang studies cite Zīxiá jí incidentally for late-Tang social-textual evidence.
• Cáo Lín-dì 曹林娣 (modern punctuator), Zīxiá jí · Sū-shì yǎn-yì combined punctuated edition, in Tángsòng shǐliào bǐjì cóngkān 唐宋史料筆記叢刊 (Zhōnghuá Shūjú).
• The CHANT ICS concordance project includes Zīxiá jí among its Tang-era texts.

Other points of interest

The Sìkù tiyao for Zīxiá jí is itself a small monograph in SòngYuán bibliographical confusion — laying out the history of the four name-variants for the author (Kuāngyì 匡乂 / Kuāngwén 匡文 / Kuāngyì 匡義 / Zhèngwén 正文) and tracing each to the Sòng Tàizǔ taboo or to specific transcriptional errors. The textual history of the book is also typical of late-Táng záshuō 雜說: a Sòng jiāshú 家塾 print (Dàichuān Gùshì) with characteristic Sòng taboo-stroke omissions (zhēn 貞, zhēng 徵, wán 完, yīn 殷) gives a relatively clean witness, but loses the author’s own self-preface which the Dúshū zhì preserves separately. The book is regularly bound or printed together with Sūshì yǎnyì 蘇氏演義 (KR3j0028) and Zhōnghuá gǔjīn zhù 中華古今注 of Mǎ Gǎo as a cluster of Tang-Five Dynasties kǎozhèng miscellanies.

Links

• Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào 四庫全書總目提要, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi, Zīxiá jí entry.
• Wikidata: Q11075014.
• Related: Sūshì yǎnyì 蘇氏演義 of Sū È 蘇鶚 (KR3j0028); Zhōnghuá gǔjīn zhù 中華古今注 of Mǎ Gǎo (附 in Sìkù).