鶴林玉露

Hè lín yù lù 鶴林玉露

Jade-Dew of the Crane Grove

by 羅大經 (Luó Dàjīng, zì Jǐnglún 景綸), of Lúlíng.

About the work

A 16-juàn late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì by 羅大經 (Luó Dàjīng), in genre hovering between shī huà (poetic-criticism) and yǔ lù (Lǐxué-school recorded-sayings). The title is borrowed from a Dù Fǔ line — “hè lín” (the Crane Grove) and “yù lù” (the jade-dew) — and the book is named for the elegant clarity Luó sought. The book contains a mixed bǐjì corpus: discussions of Confucian classics, shī huà on Northern and Southern Sòng poets, yǔ lù-style records of Zhū Xī school sayings, anecdotes of literati, and a relatively small number of kǎozhèng entries. Luó’s affiliation is to the literary tradition, but with great admiration for the Lǐ xué (Cheng-Zhu) school — the Sìkù editors flag that he holds two-sided views on key questions (citing both 張栻 against and 真德秀 for on the matter of cí kē — examination preparation) and explicitly recommends 陸九淵 (Lù Jiǔyuān) alongside Zhū Xī.

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that Hè lín yù lù in sixteen juan was compiled by Luó Dàjīng of the Sòng. Dàjīng’s zì was Jǐnglún, a Lúlíng man; his career is unrecoverable. The Zhú gǔ lǎorén wèi shuō entry has a tóngnián Póyáng Jǐngyán saying — so we know he had passed the jìnshì. The Gāo Dēng wǔ Qín Guì entry has “served as Róngzhōu Fǎcáo yuàn” — so we know he had once held office in Lǐngnán.

The book’s organising principle stands between shī huà and yǔ lù; thorough on argumentation, scant on kǎozhèng. What it cites is largely the sayings of Zhū Xī, Zhāng Shì, Zhēn Déxiù, Wèi Liǎowēng, Yáng Wànlǐ — and yet he simultaneously extols Lù Jiǔyuān; extremely praises Ōuyáng Xiū’s and Sū Shì’s prose, and yet says of Sīmǎ Guāng’s Zīzhì tōngjiàn that it is “needless waste of energy” — kě kuàng (let alone) Lǚ Zǔqiān’s Wén jiàn. He cites Zhāng Shì’s saying that cí kē (examination essay) should not be studied, but also Zhēn Déxiù’s saying that cí kē must be studied. In short he is essentially a man of literary style with a derived admiration for the dàoxué, and accordingly often holds both ends without settling on one. Yet, in the main, his great purpose is not at variance with the principles of the sages.

Respectfully revised and submitted, ninth month of the forty-second year of Qiánlóng (1777).

Abstract

The Hè lín yù lù is one of the most widely read of the late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì. The book is a representative of the wénrén bǐjì (literary-stylist’s notebook) tradition tilting toward late-Sòng dàoxué admiration without full partisan commitment. The Sìkù editors note Luó’s two-sided positioning — a man who could cite the prose-and-poetry tradition of Ōuyáng Xiū and Sū Shì while admiring the rigorous Lǐxué of Zhū Xī, 張栻, 真德秀, 魏了翁, and 楊萬里, and yet would also extol 陸九淵 (Lù Jiǔyuān) — a representative late-Southern-Sòng eclecticism.

The book’s principal value lies in three areas:

1. Late-Southern-Sòng poetic criticism: substantial shī huà-style entries on Sòng poets — particularly on Yáng Wànlǐ, Lù Yóu, Fàn Chéngdà, and Lǚ Běnzhōng.
2. Lǐxué transmission: Luó’s preservation of Zhū Xī, Zhāng Shì, and Zhēn Déxiù sayings is one of the principal extra-yǔlù channels of these masters’ transmitted teachings.
3. Anecdotes: the book preserves a substantial body of bǐjì-anecdote, including the famous Hán Qíwáng (Hán Shìzhōng) post-retirement banquet and the Gāo Dēng wǔ Qín Guì (Gāo Dēng’s defiance of Qín Guì) episode — the latter Luó witnessed at first-hand as Fǎcáo yuàn of Róngzhōu.

Dating. From the internal references: the Gāo Dēng episode places Luó at Róngzhōu in the post-Jiādìng period; the Zhēn Déxiù reference places him after Zhēn Déxiù’s Bǎoqìng / Shàodìng prominence; the references to Wèi Liǎowēng (died 1237) and the Yányuàn of Lǐzōng place him in the 1230s–1240s. NotBefore 1224 (Jiādìng 17, his career-start) / notAfter 1248 (no later internal reference). CBDB fl. 1224.

The standard text is the SKQS 16-juàn recension. A modern punctuated edition by Wáng Ruìlái 王瑞來 in Tángsòng shǐliào bǐjì cóngkān (Zhōnghuá shūjú, 1983, repr. 1997).

Translations and research

A complete English translation of the book exists as Phyllis Brooks, Jade-Dew of the Crane-Grove (selections; unpublished thesis, Princeton). The book is heavily cited in modern Chinese-language late-Southern-Sòng literary history and in Lǐxué-school transmission studies. See Tián Hào 田浩 (Hoyt Tillman) for the broader context.

Other points of interest

The book is one of the principal Southern-Sòng bǐjì witnesses to the literary cult of 陸九淵 (Lù Jiǔyuān) alongside Zhū Xī — significant because the standard dàotǒng tradition (followed by most SòngYuán bibliographers) suppressed or marginalised Lù; Luó’s evenhandedness reflects the lived complexity of late-Southern-Sòng literati-religion.

Links

• Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Hè lín yù lù entry.
• Wikipedia: 鶴林玉露.