愧郯錄

Kuì Tán lù 愧郯錄

A Record [That] Shames [Me] before Tán

by 岳珂 (Yuè Kē, 1183–c. 1242; zì Sùzhī 肅之, hào Juànwēng 倦翁), grandson of Yuè Fēi 岳飛 (1103–1142).

About the work

A 15-juàn late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì by 岳珂 (Yuè Kē), grandson of the great general Yuè Fēi. The book’s title is from the Zuǒ zhuàn Tán zǐ lái cháo episode — the visit of the Tán-ruler to Lǔ in the Chūnqiū period, on which Confucius questioned the matter of officialdom — invoking the Confucian deference to those skilled in the gù shì (old institutional practice), with the author’s apologetic kuì “shame”: that he, a mere literatus with only modest claim to institutional expertise, dares record what he has gathered. The book records principally Sòng institutional history — guān zhì, ceremonial nomenclature, court ranks, the yú dài (fish-pouch) signage, public-titles, the change of gōng zhǔ to dì jī, the gòngyī of the bā / bǎo and the jīn dài (gold belt) varieties — much of it filling the gaps in the Zhèngshǐ Bǎiguān zhì. The work is divided into 15 juàn totaling 117 entries; the bǎishū (table of contents) gives the entry-titles. Yuè Kē’s preface is dated Jiādìng gēngwǔ (the yǎnféng yān mào of his gānzhī-style dating = Jiādìng 3 = 1210), the 16th of the 8th month. The book stands with 葉夢得’s Shílín yàn yǔ (KR3j0105) and similar institutional-bǐjì in the Sìkù editors’ framing.

Tiyao

[Transcribed from the Kyoto University Zinbun digital Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, as the source files contain Yuè Kē’s preface but no tíyào.]

We respectfully submit that Kuì Tán lù in fifteen juàn was compiled by Yuè Kē of the Sòng. Kē has the Jiǔ jīng sān zhuàn yángé lì, already recorded. This book records much on Sòng-period institutions, drawing on cross-evidence from old statutes for similarities and differences. The “Kuì Tán” is taken from the Zuǒ zhuàn’s account of Tánzǐ lái cháo and Confucius’s questioning him on officialdom — saying that to know the gù shì (old institutional practice), [the author] has shame [kuì] before the ancients.

Within the entries: the record of the yú dài (fish-pouch) bestowals and the development of insignia; the change of gōng zhǔ (public-princess) to dì jī (emperor’s-princess) — both finely argued. The “tóng èr pǐn” (same-second-rank) institution beginning in the Five Dynasties; the gold-belt’s having six varieties; the gold-plated-belt’s having nine varieties — all matters not detailed in the standard histories’ treatises. As to expounding the Shàng shū’s name — citing the Warring-States period as already having Shàng guān, Shàng yī and the like — all this is what Dù-shi’s Tōng diǎn Zhíguān lacks. His citations may indeed be called erudite, ranking with 葉夢得’s Shílín yàn yǔ and other such works — “so the carriage-horses tie up in alignment.” The occasional slip — the entry on the Jīn Tàizǔ’s reign-name beginning with Tiānfǔ but mistaking Shōu guó as a Liáo emperor reign-name; the Tōng kǎo-cited misidentification of jiǔpǐn zhōngzhèng as guān pǐn — these are occasional. Yet on the whole, the kǎojù is full and refined; for the historians’ and ritualists’ houses both, it is useful. One cannot but call it a Zhōngyuán wénxiàn zhī yí (a Central-Plain / cultural-tradition surviving piece).

Abstract

The Kuì Tán lù is one of the most substantial late-Southern-Sòng institutional bǐjì. Yuè Kē — by then a senior court official, having served as Hùbù shàngshū, Tàizǐ tàibǎo, and Tàishī — wrote it as a private compilation of his institutional research. The book’s preface is dated Jiādìng 3 (1210), 8th month, 16th day; Yuè was 28 suì and an active courtier; the book reflects the institutional knowledge of a participant rather than an outside observer.

The 15 juàn are divided into 117 entries arranged by topic. Substantively the book is a guān zhì / yí jié (institution / ceremonial) compendium, fillling lacunae in the Zhèngshǐ Bǎiguān zhì and Lǐ zhì. The most cited contributions:

1. Yú dài (fish-pouch) bestowals and zhāngshì (insignia) history;
2. The change of gōng zhǔ to dì jī under Cài Jīng (Huīzōng era);
3. The Five-Dynasties-period institution of tóng èr pǐn;
4. Sub-classification of gold belts (6 varieties) and gold-plated belts (9 varieties);
5. Pre-Sòng usages of shàng in office-titles (Shàng guān, Shàng yī, etc.) — filling Dù Yǒu’s Tōng diǎn lacuna.

The Sìkù editors place the book in the first rank of late-Southern-Sòng institutional bǐjì — comparing it directly to 葉夢得’s Shílín yàn yǔ (KR3j0105).

The principal weakness flagged by the editors is some Jīn-history misdating (the Shōu guó / Tiānfǔ confusion). The book is, on the whole, well-grounded in kǎojù and remains one of the most cited Sòng institutional sources for the late-Northern-Sòng / early-Southern-Sòng guān zhì.

Dating. Yuè Kē’s preface is dated Jiādìng gēngwǔ = Jiādìng 3 = 1210, 8th month 16th day, qièmào (gentle clear weather). NotBefore and notAfter both 1210. The standard text is the SBCK recension (also the Zhī bùzú zhāi edition) — both in 15 juàn.

Translations and research

No complete Western-language translation. The book is fundamental to modern Chinese-language scholarship on Sòng institutional history — heavily cited in Dèng Xiǎo-nán 鄧小南, Zǔ-zōng zhī fǎ, and in studies of Sòng guān zhì and ceremonial. Modern punctuated edition in Sòng-Yuán bǐjì cóngshū (Shànghǎi gǔjí).

Other points of interest

The book is one of the principal sources for the change of gōng zhǔ (princess) to dì jī under Huīzōng — a small but recurring trope in late-Sòng literati lament for the Zhènghé / Xuānhé aesthetic-political conjuncture that preceded the Jīngkāng catastrophe.

Links

• Kyoto University Zinbun digital Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 5, Kuì Tán lù entry (http://kanji.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/db-machine/ShikoTeiyo/0254501.html).
• Yuè Kē, preface, dated Jiādìng 3 (1210).