Liángxī màn zhì 梁谿漫志
Random Notes from Liáng-xī
by 費袞 (Fèi Gǔn, zì Bǔzhī 補之), guózǐ miǎnjiě jìnshì of Wúxī (Liángxī, modern Jiāngsū).
About the work
A 10-juàn late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì by 費袞 (Fèi Gǔn) of Wúxī (Liángxī). Composed in Shàoxī 3 (1192) per the self-preface dated 12th month, 20th day. The SKQS recension is supplemented by a Kāixǐ 2 (1206) imperial-edict transmitting the book to the Guóshǐ shílù yuàn — for use as compilation reference in the Sāncháo zhèngshǐ of Gāozōng, Xiàozōng, and Guāngzōng. Lóu Yuè 樓鑰 (1137–1213) supplied an authenticating colophon dated Jiādìng 1 = 1208 zhōngyuán day (15th of 7th month), discussing Hán Qíwáng’s twin cí poems sent to Sū Zhònghǔ — a story Lóu cross-checks against Fèi’s account and finds genuine. The book is one of the most kǎozhèng-sharp of the late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì, with several major historical re-readings: that Hàn Tián Fén’s and Táng Cuī Qì’s illnesses are bàoyìng tales the historians should have struck; that Hàn Gāozǔ did not in fact seize Hán Xìn’s army from his bedchamber; that Yáo Chóng’s xù jìn lánglì memorial does not indicate Xuánzōng’s negligence. The Sìkù editors regard these as “specially insightful, beyond the work of those who merely pile up old citations.”
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Liángxī màn zhì in ten juan was compiled by Fèi Gǔn of the Sòng, a jìnshì. Gǔn’s zì was Bǔzhī; a Wúxī man. The book records hearings, comprehensive and exact, sufficient to assist kǎozhèng; among Sòng shuōbù (miscellaneous works) it is fairly esteemed for precision. Several of its historical-event arguments break new ground previously unrecognised. For instance: that Hàn Tián Fén’s illness and Táng Cuī Qì’s getting sick involve huòfú bàoyìng (karmic-retribution-of-fortune-and-misfortune), and that historians should have struck them and not written them in. The argument that Hàn Gāozǔ on the bedchamber-cushion seized Hán Xìn’s army is not credible. The argument that Yáo Chóng’s xù jìn lánglì should not be taken as evidence of Xuánzōng having a “dài xīn zhī méng” (a sprouting heart of slackness). All these have distinctive insight, not comparable to those who collect existing utterances to fatten their volume.
According to the Sòng shǐ Yìwén zhì: this book is 1 juàn; but in this recension the front-matter has appended a Guóshǐyuàn diéwén (Government History Bureau dispatch) of early Kāixǐ, already calling it 10 juàn — so the Sòng zhì’s “one” is erroneous.
Respectfully revised and submitted, fifth month of the forty-second year of Qiánlóng (1777).
Abstract
The Liángxī màn zhì is one of the most kǎozhèng-sharp of the late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì. The book’s distinctive contributions, all flagged by the Sìkù editors:
- Hànshū revisionism: Fèi argues that Hàn Gāozǔ did not in fact seize Hán Xìn’s army from his bedchamber — the standard Shǐ jì / Hàn shū anecdote — a textually and politically motivated re-reading.
- Yáo Chóng’s xùjìn lánglì: Fèi defends Xuánzōng against the standard reading of Yáo Chóng’s jìn lánglì memorial as evidence of Xuánzōng’s incipient dài xīn (slackening heart).
- Hàn Tián Fén / Táng Cuī Qì: Fèi argues that the Hànshū’s account of Tián Fén’s illness and the Jiù Táng shū’s account of Cuī Qì’s illness are bàoyìng moralising-anecdote that historians should have excised — an early Sòng anticipation of the modern critical-historiographic position against the inclusion of gǔjì in standard histories.
The book also has the famous Hàn Qíwáng (Hán Shìzhōng 韓世忠, 1089–1151) cí anecdote — recording the post-Shūmìshǐ retired Hán’s casual wandering on the West Lake, his encounter with Sū Zhònghǔ’s banquet, his subsequent thank-offering of two hand-written cí-poems, and the preservation of these by the Sū family. Lóu Yuè’s Jiādìng 1 colophon (1208) authenticates Fèi’s account by cross-checking against the stone-rubbings shown by Hán Shìzhōng’s grandson the Shūmìshǐ chéngzhǐ.
The book was selected by imperial-edict (Kāixǐ 2 = 1206) of the Sānshěng for compilation use by the Guóshǐ shílù yuàn — a high recognition of its historiographic value. The diéwén is preserved at the head of the SKQS recension.
Dating. The book’s preface is dated Shàoxī 3 (1192) twelfth-month 20th-day. The 1206 Sānshěng edict authoritatively cites the work in 10 juàn, refuting the Sòng shǐ Yìwén zhì’s “one juàn” attribution. NotBefore and notAfter both 1192. The standard text is the SKQS recension in 10 juàn; later additions include the 1206 diéwén and the 1208 Lóu Yuè colophon.
Translations and research
No complete Western-language translation. The book is heavily cited in modern Chinese-language Sòng historiographic scholarship and in studies of Hán Shì-zhōng’s late-life retirement. Modern punctuated edition by Jīn Yuán-mín 金圓敏 in Sòng-Yuán bǐjì cóngshū (Shànghǎi gǔjí, 1985).
Other points of interest
The 1206 imperial-edict requesting Fèi Gǔn’s Liángxī màn zhì for use as compilation reference is one of the rare cases of a private bǐjì being explicitly recruited by the central historiographic bureau — a measure of the Sìkù editors’ contemporary recognition that the work’s historical kǎozhèng exceeded the usual bǐjì standard.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Liángxī màn zhì entry.