Lǚshì zá jì 呂氏雜記
The Lǚ-family Miscellaneous Notes
by 呂希哲 (Lǚ Xīzhé, zì Yuánmíng 原明, fl. c. 1089–1115; senior member of the great Lǚ-clan; Mìgé jiàolǐ, Zhī Cáozhōu)
About the work
A 2-juan recovered bǐjì by Lǚ Xīzhé — son of Lǚ Gōngzhù 呂公著 and great-grandson of Lǚ Yíjiǎn 呂夷簡, two of the most prominent Northern Sòng chancellors. Reconstructed by the Sìkù editors from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn (the book had been lost in independent transmission). Lǚ Xīzhé was the central exemplar of Northern Sòng intellectual eclecticism — having personally studied under Jiāo Qiānzhī 焦千之, Sūn Fù 孫復, Shí Jiè 石介, the two Chéng brothers (Chéng Hào and Chéng Yí), Zhāng Zǎi 張載, and the Wáng Ānshí father-and-son lineage (Wáng Ānshí, Wáng Páng 王雱) — and the book accordingly mixes Confucian, Buddhist, Daoist, and Xīníng reform-school materials. The Sìkù editors observe: “Zhū Xī’s Yǔ lù says of Lǚ Xīzhé: ‘his learning was in the Chéng tradition; he wished to reach the sage directly; he spent his entire life’s strength on it, and ended by finding the Buddha at one with the sage’” — a verdict the Sìkù editors confirm from the actual text.
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Lǚshì zá jì in two juan was compiled by Lǚ Xīzhé of the Sòng. Xīzhé’s zì was Yuánmíng. His ancestors were of Láizhōu, later settling in Shòuzhōu. Yíjiǎn was his ancestor; Gōngzhù his father. Initially entered office through his father’s yīn protection. When Gōngzhù was prime minister he refused to seek advancement; after Gōngzhù’s death he was made Bīngbù yuán wàiláng and entered Chóngzhèng diàn shuōshū. In the early Shàoshèng (1094–1098) reign, as Mìgé jiàolǐ, he was sent out as Zhī Huáizhōu; soon assigned to Nánjīng and then resided at Hézhōu. At the beginning of Hui-zōng’s reign he was recalled as Guānglù shǎoqīng and forcefully requested external office; assigned as zhí Mìgé and Zhī Cáozhōu. Under the Dǎng jí purge he was demoted; later restored and held Zhī Xiāngzhōu and Zhī Xíngzhōu; ended as Fèngcí sinecure-holder living between Huái and Sì rivers, where he died. The biography is in Sòng shǐ.
Xīzhé in youth studied with Jiāo Qiānzhī, Sūn Fù, and Shí Jiè; later visited the two Chéngzǐ, Zhāngzǐ [Zhāng Zǎi], and the Wáng Ānshí father-and-son. So his learning is also a mixture of several schools — purity and admixture both visible.
Zhūzǐ’s Yǔ lù says of him: “studied with Chéngshì; wished to reach the sage directly; exhausted his life’s strength on it, and ended seeing Buddha at one with the sage.” Now examining the book: he is fond of speaking chán lǐ (Buddhist principles), and habitually mixes Confucian and Mòzǐ as one — truly as Zhūzǐ described.
The Sòng shǐ records that Wáng Ānshí wished to recommend him as jiǎngguān (lecturer); Xīzhé declined, saying: “I have been honored with the gentleman’s friendship long enough; should I take office, the friend-friend bond will surely be tested by differences of view, and our long mutual goodwill will be exhausted.” Ānshí accepted his answer; so Xīzhé’s records of Ānshí father-and-son contain no criticism.
Yet his record of Gù Lín’s 顧臨 mission-to-the-north reply argues that the principles of the world-teaching must privilege the Confucian; he says explicitly that grounding-in-Kǒng and venerating-Mèng is the right learning, that whatever differs from this is not right. He records Sīmǎ Guāng’s anti-Buddhist argument; he criticizes Lǎozǐ’s pōu dǒu zhé héng (smash the bushel-measure, break the balance) doctrine and argues vigorously that Kǒngzǐ was not Lǎozǐ’s student. He argues forcefully against the doctrine of abolishing rites-and-music. So his actual views are like those of Sū Shì and Sū Zhé — sometimes drifting toward the two teachings [Buddhism, Daoism] but not to be dismissed entirely as yì xué (heterodoxy).
He also directly transcribes Liú Jīng’s 劉涇 Tài xué sòng — to show its over-veneration of Wáng Ānshí; and Chéng Gōngxùn’s 程公遜 Hè dài zhì shī — to show its over-flattery of Wáng Páng. So on the WángSū father-and-son he also has implicit criticism — he was not entirely partisan.
Other entries: family-history old-anecdote and court precedents, all useful for cross-checking historical records. Some entries [examples: bǎ liǔ tuān shuǐ, xǐ nù āi lè, gēng shēn diào wèi] have been mis-incorporated into the Chéngshì yí shū — perhaps because the wording was similar and the editors did not distinguish.
The Sòng zhì does not list this book. The Tōng kǎo under Suì shí lèi records Lǚ Yuánmíng Suìshí zá jì in 2 juan — but the Wényuāngé shūmù records Lǚ Yuánmíng zá jì in one fascicle — that is, this book. The book has long had no transmitted printed edition; the present recension is gathered from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and arranged in 2 juan.
Respectfully revised and submitted, ninth month of the forty-sixth year of Qiánlóng [1781].
General Compilers: Jǐ Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. General Reviser: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.
Abstract
Lǚ Xīzhé 呂希哲 (fl. c. 1089 — early 12th century), zì Yuánmíng 原明, of the great Lǚshì family of Shòuzhōu 壽州 (originally of Láizhōu 萊州). Son of Lǚ Gōngzhù 呂公著 (1018–1089, Sītú); great-grandson of Lǚ Yíjiǎn 呂夷簡 (978–1043, Tàishī chéngxiàng). Three generations of Lǚshì chéngxiàng (prime ministers). Refused to seek office while his father was prime minister; after his father’s death served sequentially as Bīngbù yuán wàiláng, Chóngzhèng diàn shuōshū, Mìgé jiàolǐ, Zhī Huáizhōu, Zhī Cáozhōu; banished under the Yuányòu dǎng purge; restored; ended in Fèngcí sinecure. The biographical record is Sòng shǐ j. 336.
The book is one of the most fascinating Northern Sòng intellectual-biographical bǐjì: Lǚ Xīzhé sat at the center of late-Northern-Sòng intellectual networks, studying under figures as varied as the Tàixué tradition (Sūn Fù, Shí Jiè), the Luò xué (the Chéng brothers), the Guān xué (Zhāng Zǎi), the Xīníng reform school (the Wángs), and absorbing both Chán Buddhist and Daoist material. The book is the principal first-hand record of this intellectual eclecticism.
The work was lost from continuous transmission and reconstructed by the Sìkù editors from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. Dating: the work covers Lǚ’s mature life (c. 1089 — Lǚ’s father’s death and Lǚ’s entry to office — onward). NotBefore 1089 and notAfter 1107 (a conservative late-life date) bracket the composition.
The standard text is the SKQS recension reconstructed from Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. Modern punctuated edition in Quán Sòng bǐjì 全宋筆記.
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language complete translation. The work is regularly cited in modern Chinese-language and Japanese-language scholarship on Northern Sòng intellectual sociology — Lǚ Xī-zhé being one of the most-studied transitional figures between the Lǐ-xué schools and the Xī-níng reform group. Robert Hartwell’s classic articles on Sòng elite families touch on the Lǚ-shì.
Other points of interest
The book preserves substantive material — including Wáng Ānshí’s intended appointment of Lǚ Xīzhé as imperial lecturer and Lǚ’s refusal on grounds of preserving friendship — that constitutes important first-hand evidence on the Xīníng / Yuányòu faction-relations.
The book also preserves significant material on Sīmǎ Guāng (the anti-Buddhist argument), on Chéng Hào / Chéng Yí, on Sū Shì, and on Wáng Páng 王雱. Several entries have been mis-attributed in later transmission to the Chéngshì yí shū — a small but methodologically interesting case of intellectual cross-attribution.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào 四庫全書總目提要, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3 · Záshuō zhī shǔ, Lǚshì zá jì entry.