Lǎn zhēn zǐ 嬾真子
The Idle-but-True Master
by 馬永卿 (Mǎ Yǒngqīng, zì Dànián 大年, jìnshì of Dàguān 3 = 1109; self-styled Lǎnzhēnzǐ “the Idle-but-True Master”).
About the work
A 5-juàn Sòng bǐjì by 馬永卿, the disciple-recorder of 劉安世 (Liú Ānshì, 1048–1125). The book is paired in transmission with Mǎ’s Yuánchéng yǔ lù (KR3j0102); like the Yǔ lù it preserves a substantial body of Liú Ānshì’s talk, and through Liú a body of 司馬光’s (Sīmǎ Guāng’s) transmitted teaching to which Liú gave first claim. The book itself is bǐjì in form — a free-running record of textual kǎozhèng, anecdotal bǐjì-jottings, and reflections — and is the more philological of Mǎ’s two surviving works. The colophon dates the compilation to Shàoxīng 6 (1136), making it the later of his two books.
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Lǎnzhēnzǐ in five juan was compiled by Mǎ Yǒngqīng of the Sòng. This is his miscellaneous-records book; yet it too transmits much of Liú Ānshì’s [the Yuánchéng-master’s] speech, and opens at the head with an entry on Sīmǎ Guāng, with frequent further mention of him throughout — for these are the sources of his school.
The Sòng shǐ Yìwén zhì records it; but the bibliographies of Cháo [Gōngwǔ] and Chén [Zhènsūn] both omit it. Yet Yuán Wén — a Jiànyán / Shàoxīng-period writer — and Wáng Mào, of the Qìngyuán / Jiātài period, and Fèi Gǔn 費袞, of the Shàoxī / Kāixǐ period — Wén in his Wèng yǒu xián píng refutes an entry of the book on five-character imprint inscriptions; Mào in his Yěkè cóngshū refutes an entry on the dew-catching pouch; Gǔn in his Liángxī màn zhì KR3j0121 refutes an entry on the Hàn Tàigōng’s having no given-name and his mother no surname — these prove that the book had currency in its own day, and that Cháo and Chén merely overlooked it. The book ends with “Shàoxīng 6” — meaning its compilation belongs after the Jiànyán / Shàoxīng southern migration (1136).
Among the entries: many touch on miscellaneous matters, but textual investigations (kǎozhèng) make up the larger share. For example: citing the Hàn shū Wáng Jiā fēngshì, the Shū jīng’s “教逸欲有邦” should be “敖”; Táo Qián’s Yóu Xiéchuān shī opening line “開歲倐五十” should be “五日”; the same poet’s Yǔ Yīn Jìnān bié shī originally had ten rhymes, transmitted versions lacking one — and Sū Shì in matching the poem also dropped one. Dù Fǔ’s “qiúxū shíbā jiǔ” 虬鬚十八九 derives from the Hàn shū Bǐng Jí zhuàn. Hán Yù’s Gǎn èr niǎo fù xù — “Zhēnyuán 11” — has been transmitted as “Zhēnyuán 15.” The Cáo Chéngwáng bēi contains yǎnwén and corrupt characters; the entries on punctuation and gloss are notably exact. The Hàn shū Bǎiguān biǎo Shǎofǔ Zūnguān should be — by the Táng Bǎiguān zhì — Dǎoguān. Chéng Yuányīng’s Zhuāngzǐ shū misread xiàn lìng as xuán jiě — taking “xiàn” for “xuán” (high-name) and jiě as “made famous.” The ancient xímiànzhī bīn was called kè; the row-seated guests were all called lǚ — cited from the Zuǒ zhuàn. Among the èrshíbā xiù (28 lunar mansions), the Yùn lüè mispronounces kàng, dī, and zī. The cì pú (imperial banquet) was begun by Zhào Wǔlíngwáng. The Hégǔ (the Drum-and-Cymbal asterism) “hé” should be “hé 何.” The Táng zhōngxìng sòng’s “fù fù zhǐ qī” originates in the Hàn shū Kuāng Héng zhuàn. All of these citations are exact, unlike speculation. The entry that Lísāo’s “Zhèngzé” / “Língjūn” are the elder Qū Yuán’s xiǎomíng / xiǎozì — though not formally supported elsewhere — is a sufficiently interesting interpretation to record.
Only it occasionally lapses into mixing with the Two Schools [Daoism and Buddhism]; the entry that says Hán Yù was also deeply versed in Buddhist principle — this too is from Liú Ānshì’s school’s fondness for chányuè — let it stand and pass.
Respectfully revised and submitted, fourth month of the forty-sixth year of Qiánlóng (1781).
General Compilers: Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Reviser: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Lǎn zhēn zǐ — the title from the author’s self-style “Idle-but-True Master” — is Mǎ Yǒngqīng’s miscellaneous bǐjì, completed at Shàoxīng 6 (1136) by the colophon date. The book is the principal philological monument of the 劉安世 school and an important witness for late-Northern-Sòng / early-Southern-Sòng textual scholarship.
In content the book is mixed. The major elements are: (a) kǎozhèng on classical texts (Shū, Shī, Hàn shū, Zhuāng zǐ) — generally exact and oft-cited by later philologists; (b) Sòng bǐjì anecdotes, especially those preserving the recorded speech of 司馬光 (Sīmǎ Guāng) and 劉安世; (c) opening entries on Sīmǎ Guāng, a continuation of Mǎ’s role as a transmitter of the Wēngōng tradition; (d) reflections on contemporary politics, the Yuányòu / Shàoshèng factional struggle, and the post-Jìngkāng southern migration; (e) some chán-flavoured speculation, deriving from Liú Ānshì’s known interest in chán — for which the Sìkù editors apologise.
The book’s three most-cited refutations — by Yuán Wén 袁文, Wáng Mào 王楙, and Fèi Gǔn 費袞 (KR3j0121) — are themselves a witness to its sustained Southern Sòng circulation. The book is not registered in Cháo Gōngwǔ’s Jùnzhāi dúshū zhì or Chén Zhènsūn’s Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí; the Sìkù editors regard this as an oversight, citing the running refutations as proof of the book’s general currency in Southern Sòng.
Dating. The colophon dates compilation to Shàoxīng 6 (1136), one year after the prefaces to the companion Yǔ lù. Author lifedates are not precisely known; CBDB id 33866 records fl. 1109 (the jìnshì date).
The standard text is the SKQS recension. A modern edition is in the SòngYuán bǐjì cóngkān series (Zhōnghuá shūjú).
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language translation. The book is regularly cited in Chinese-language kǎo-zhèng scholarship and in Sòng bǐjì studies; the kǎo-zhèng entries on Hàn shū and Zhuāng zǐ are routinely cited by editors of those texts.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Lǎn zhēn zǐ entry.