Shì ér biān 示兒編
A Compilation to Instruct My Sons
by 孫奕 (Sūn Yì, fl. 1190s–1205; zì Jìzhāo 季昭, hào Lǚzhāi 履齋), of Lúlíng.
About the work
A 23-juàn late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì by 孫奕 (Sūn Yì) of Lúlíng. Sūn Yì models the title on Dù Fǔ’s Shì Zōngwǔ (showing-his-son) verses and Hán Yù’s Shì ér poem — the work is, in self-conception, a paternal-instructional book intended for his sons. Sūn’s own preface (dated Kāixǐ 1 = 1205) frames the work as a survey “kǎo píng of the Jīng zhuàn, yú liè of the xùn gǔ” arranged in seven thematic sections, with the explicit aim of transmitting moral and philological learning to his descendants. The seven sections are: Zǒng shuō 總說 (general discussion, 1 juàn); Jīng shuō 經說 (classical exegesis, 5 juàn); Wén shuō 文說 and Shī shuō 詩說 (literary and poetic discussion, 4 juàn combined); Zhèng wù 正誤 (corrections of errors, 3 juàn); Zá jì 雜記 (miscellaneous records, 4 juàn); Zì shuō 字說 (word explanations, 5 juàn). The book is one of the more substantial late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì; its Zì shuō section is particularly cited in later philological scholarship.
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Shì ér biān in twenty-three juan was compiled by Sūn Yì of the Sòng. Yì’s zì was Jìzhāo, hào Lǚzhāi, a Lúlíng man; his career is unrecoverable. The tenth juan records “in Shàoxī dīngsì third month I attended a banquet at the Chūnhuálóu and heard the Great Prime Minister Zhōu Yìgōng discourse” — cross-checking the Sòng shǐ: Shàoxī 1 was gēngxū; through Shàoxī 5 jiǎyín there was the Nèi shàn (abdication); dīngsì is in fact Qìngyuán 3 (1197). He must have served as a shìcóng under Níngzōng; the transmission scribally erred Shàoxī for Qìngyuán.
This compilation: Zǒng shuō 1 juan; Jīng shuō 5 juan; Wén shuō and Shī shuō together 4 juan; Zhèng wù 3 juan; Zá jì 4 juan; Zì shuō 5 juan. Within the 9th juàn, the front is Wén shuō and the back is Shī shuō; Lǐ Wéizhēn’s preface saying “Wén shuō 3 juan, Shī shuō 2 juan” is erroneous. The book carries a Kāixǐ 1 (1205) self-preface, saying “kǎo píng of the Jīng zhuàn, yú liè of the xùn gǔ — not daring to soil the brilliant eyes of the present age, but offering it to my descendants — hence the title Shì ér biān.”
The book miscellaneously cites the various schools, often discursively, and with abundant evidence sometimes errs in transcription. As, in the Jīng shuō class, it cites the Guǎng yǎ and Bó yǎ as parallel and both ascribed to Zhāng Yī; in the Shī shuō class, says Dù Fǔ borrowed from Bái Jūyì’s poems; in the Zá jì class, says Táng Tàizōng took as wife the Cháo cìwángfēi — confusing it with “elder-brother-wife”; in the Zì shuō class, says the Shī contains Chén Tuó (note: Chén Tuó’s name appears in the Shī xù; Yì takes it as in the Shī — which is wrong) — all are failings of kǎo dìng. The “JīngShū shì chéng” line: in the Jīng shuō class he repeatedly argues Xǐgōng [Lǔ Xǐgōng] had no such incident, hence Mèngzǐ ascribed it to Zhōugōng; in the Zhèng wù class he again says Xǐgōng’s affair Mèngzǐ erred by ascribing to Zhōugōng. For the Wáng Ānshí Zì shuō under bà he says “his learning was occupied with novel readings, with no fixed conclusion”; under the Yìyuàn cíhuáng entry he again says “in the Xīfēng period there had been a finished book, correcting errors, learners not investigating deeply called it forced — frequently sneering at it” — sometimes contradicts itself.
In the Wén shuō class, the Qìdān kōng zhǐ jìwén incident is especially gutter-untrustworthy. In the Jīng shuō class, the explanation of “qiè bǐ Lǎo Péng” as “Péng meaning páng” — and the miǎnmiǎn of “miǎnmiǎn cóng shì” as wā (frog) — Wáng Shìzhēn’s Gǔfūyútíng zá lù deeply approves of these — but they are also forced-fit arguments.
Yet, of the book’s zì yīn (sound-glossing) and zì xùn (word-explanation) distinctions of similarity and difference — those that contribute substantively to kǎozhèng — are the majority. The redundant entries can be excised; the precise entries cannot ultimately be discarded.
Respectfully revised and submitted, sixth month of the forty-fifth year of Qiánlóng (1780).
Abstract
The Shì ér biān — modeled on Dù Fǔ’s and Hán Yù’s paternal-instructional poems — is one of the most substantial late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì, both for its size (23 juàn) and its systematic thematic organization. Sūn Yì’s preface (dated Kāixǐ 1 = 1205) sets out the seven sections — general discussion, classical exegesis, literary discussion, poetic discussion, corrections of errors, miscellaneous records, word explanations — making it among the more methodically structured Sòng bǐjì. The Zì shuō section in particular is the most extensive philological component of any Sòng bǐjì and is regularly cited in later xiǎoxué literature.
The Sìkù editors flag several weaknesses: occasional inconsistency in citation (the Guǎng yǎ / Bó yǎ conflation; the Dù Fǔ-on-Bái Jūyì borrowing; the Cháocìwángfēi name); some inconsistency in stance on Wáng Ānshí’s Zì shuō (depending on the chapter); and one particularly weak entry (the Qìdān kōng zhǐ jìwén). But the editors retain the book on the strength of its substantive zì xùn contributions, with the noted endorsement by Wáng Shìzhēn 王士禛 of two emendations (the Lǎo Péng / Péngpáng reading and the miǎnmiǎn / frog reading) — though they reject these as overforced.
Date. The preface is dated Kāixǐ 1 = 1205; the Shàoxī dīngsì reference in the 10th juàn must be corrected (per the Sìkù editors) to Qìngyuán 3 = 1197 — the year Sūn attended the imperial banquet at the Chūnhuálóu and heard 周必大 discourse. NotBefore and notAfter both 1205.
Translations and research
No complete Western-language translation. The book’s Zì shuō section is regularly cited in Chinese-language xiǎo-xué scholarship and in Shuō wén / Yǎ-tradition studies. The Wén shuō / Shī shuō sections are cited in studies of Southern-Sòng poetics.
Other points of interest
The seven-section thematic organization of the Shì ér biān is among the most articulate of the Sòng bǐjì tradition and prefigures the more formal genre-classified compendia of the Yuán and Míng.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Shì ér biān entry.