敬齊古今黈

Jìng zhāi gǔ jīn tǒu 敬齊古今黈

Jìng-zhāi’s Yellow-Silk Ear-Blocker Through Past and Present

by 李治 (Lǐ Zhì, 1192–1279; zì Rénqīng 仁卿, hào Jìngzhāi 敬齋), JīnYuán mathematician and Confucian scholar.

About the work

An 8-juàn Yuán bǐjì by 李治 (Lǐ Zhì) — the original 40 juàn now mostly lost, about one-fifth recovered by the Sìkù editors from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and arranged in 8 juàn (two each of jīng, shǐ, zǐ, jí). The book is kǎozhèng-rich and characteristically biàn (disputational), with a programmatic methodological statement at its opening: “the master’s transmission of the various schools’ interpretation of the Five Classics is roughly thus; the student may seek by [his own] meaning. The bound-up [jiāo] is not zhuó (manifestly correct); not bound is zhuó.” The title tǒu 黈 (yellow silk ear-blocker, used in imperial regalia) draws on Hàn shū Dōngfāng Shuò zhuàn “tǒu kuàng chōng ěr — shì bù wài tīng” (“the yellow-silk-ear-blocker stops the ear — meaning ‘do not listen outside’”). The Qiánlóng emperor’s imperial preface (preserved at the head of the SKQS recension) is one of the more substantive imperial readings of a SòngYuán bǐjì. The YuánShǐ original-record gives the work in 40 juàn; the Wényuāngé shūmù misattributes the work to a Sòng author — the misascription owing to graphic-similarity errors in transmission (the title tǒu 黈 transmitted as nán 難).

Imperial preface (御製題)

[The work] has a Yù zhì tí (imperial-titled preface) by the Qiánlóng emperor, with poem, at the head. The preface reads (excerpts):

The Yǒnglè dàdiǎn gathered many books, but arranged them by rhyme — splitting and confounding them — using useful books to be scattered into uselessness; truly to be lamented. Hereby we commission the literary officials to redo the校録 (collation and copying), and to gather from the broken fragments what is mostly the shàn běn (good text). The Gǔjīn tǒu is one such. This book’s table of contents preserved in the Yuán shǐ gives 40 juàn; what we have now collected, although only one-fifth, is in the Sìkù arrangement with thorough order — and accordingly does not fall short of being a complete book. Moreover its biàn xī yí yì (disputational analysis of doubtful matters), the zhé zhōng lí zhèng (compromised arriving at the correct), is especially refined. Truly a jí jiā zhě (very fine one) among the [recovered] separate-pieces collection. As to Lǐ Zhì (Rénqīng) naming his book tǒu — taking the meaning from “not listening outside”; I [the emperor] take it [the tǒu]‘s sense as “the yellow-silk ear-blocker stops the ear-cognitive — having an accord with the Way of ruling-from-above.” Hence I make a poem and write a preface.

[Imperial poem:] “Rhyme-divided book-cut: how endless! / Learning not [yet] reached: how I sigh constantly! / Collected-scattered, fully-arranged: the resource of the Hànyuàn / The chain-of-pearls jí yè — pure and complete. / Investigation: I rejoice in seeing Rénqīng (Lǐ Zhì’s zì) authored / The substance-and-precision — the same as observing the kingdom-vessel / Fāng Shuò’s pioneering speech — Zàng Gǔ continued / (Although the tǒu kuàng blocks the ear yet you listen through no-sound — Zhāng Zànggǔ’s Dà bǎo zhēn speech) — The thread-line text always alerts: being-a-prince is hard.”

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that Jìng zhāi gǔ jīn tǒu in eight juan was compiled by Lǐ Zhì of the Yuán. Zhì has the Cè yuán hǎi jìng, already recorded. This book’s original table of contents was 40 juan. Its naming by tǒu — per Hàn shū Dōngfāng Shuò zhuàn: “the tǒu kuàng (yellow-silk ear-blocker) stops the ear-cognitive”; Yán Shīgǔ’s note says: “meaning: not to listen outside.” Zhì presumably with his concentrated essence covered ancient-and-modern thoroughly to compose this book — hence taking the sense of “not listening outside.”

The Yuán shǐ běn zhuàn, Shào Jīngbāng’s Hóng jiǎn lù, Huáng Yújì’s Qiānqǐngtáng shūmù, all give the title as “gǔ jīn nán” — due to graph-similarity error in transmission. The Wényuāngé shūmù gives the title as if a Sòng-period author — also a misclassification.

The book is composed of correcting old text by kǎozhèng — supporting yì lùn (debate-discussion); the verbal-edge swift, the discriminating exhaustive. His discussion of the Máo Shī’s Cǎochóng fǔzhōng entry: “The master’s transmission of various schools’ [readings of] the Five Classics is roughly such; the student may but seek by meaning. The bound-up is not zhuó (manifestly correct); not bound is zhuó.” This is the book’s overall purport.

Among the entries: he holds that Chī yóu’s name takes meaning from chī chī zhī yóu (foolish-foolish particularly); Nèi zé (chapter of the Lǐ jì) is bēi suǒ fán wěi (lowly-trivial and complete-mean), mostly like the world-transmitted Shí zuǎn (food-recipes); Zhōng yōng suǒ yǐn xíng guài “suǒ” is the “suǒ” of sù cān (idle-eat-the-imperial-grain); Mèng zǐ Xiōng dài gài — taking it as one phrase, Lù wàn zhōng as one phrase, dài gài meaning “riding a high-carriage.” [These are] occasionally not exempt from hǎo wéi pì lùn, héng shēng bié jiě (fond of bizarre discussion and casually-generating alternative-interpretations).

But the Chúnhuà gé tiē — the Hàn Zhāngdì’s Qiānzì wén; the Mǐ Fú’s Shū shǐ; the Huáng Bósī’s Fǎ tiē kān wù; the Qín Guān’s Huáihǎi jí — all take it as a forgery-tiè; and Zhì can use them to refute that the Qiānzì wén is not Zhōu Xìngsì’s composition. The Tàipíng guǎngjì records Xú Pǔ — Yánguān Lǐ Bǎiqín entered the xī wǔ miào shén; the affair is in Zhēnyuán, with year-and-month; Zhì then takes Lǐ Bǎiqín as Lǐ Bái’s son — also a momentary failure to verify.

Yet among the book’s: refuting the Shǐ jì Wēizǐ “miàn fù zuǒ qiān yáng yòu bǎ máo” — that the qiān and bǎ are by his cóngzhě (followers); Sīmǎ Qiān’s record is not wrong; Kǒng Yǐngdá’s Shū zhèng yì refutation is wrong. Refuting the Zhèng yǔ “shōu jīng rù xíng gāi” — that jīng is Jīng (capital), gāi is gāi (the great unit gāi); Wéi Zhāo wrongly notes jīng as cháng. Refuting the Lùn yǔ “wǔ shí yǐ xué Yì” — that Lùn yǔ is the [Confucius’s] speech when he had not yet studied the Yì; the Shǐ jì’s account is afterward; need not change wǔ shí to zú (eventually). Refuting the Mèng zǐ Lóng duàn — that it is what the Liè zǐ calls Jì zhī nán, Hàn zhī běi, wú lóng duàn yān. Refuting the Shǐ jì zì xù’s ŌuLuò xiāng gōng — that it should be MǐnYuè xiāng gōng. Refuting Zhāng Lěi’s Shū Zōuyángzhuàn hòu — that Hán Ānguó in fact appeared twice before Cháng gōng zhǔ; the Hàn shū is not wrong, and Lěi is wrong. Refuting Wèi Qīng zhuàn “sānqiān yīshí qī jí” — that jí (level) carries the meaning from zhǎn (cut) above; Yán Shīgǔ wrongly carried bǔ (capture) above, then took the live-captured as jí — refuting Wèi zhì “chuān fāng fù tǔ” — that this is the algebra-classic’s lì fāng dìng lǜ (cubic-set rate). Refuting Wú zhì Sūn Quán’s gào tiān wén — that one should not call the Shàng dì “ěr”. Refuting Tōng jiàn’s wò shuò bù chuò — that Hú Sānshěng erred in taking chángxíngjú (a game) as chángmáo (long spear).

And: refuting the ancients’ private-house and official-office both being called “court” — citing Hòu Hàn shū Liú Chōng, Chéng Yīng, and Zuǒ zhuàn Bóyǒu’s affair as evidence. Refuting Gōu lǘ zhàngrén chéng tiáo — to be supplied with food: citing Nèi zé Zhèng Xuán’s note and Xún zǐ Yáng Liàng’s note as evidence. Refuting Wú dū fù chīzǐ chángxiào — “chángxiào” should be “chángxiào (long laughter)”; citing Shānhǎi jīng as evidence — all have solid ground; substantially different from idly-talked-out, casually inferred [arguments].

As to the cited Zhànguó cè Cài Shènghóu yīn shì jǐ — “yīn shì jǐ” two characters in the current text are all “yǐ”; verifying with Lǐ Shàn’s note on Ruǎn Jí’s Yǒng huái shī — the citation in fact uses jǐ — sufficient to verify ancient copies. The Dà xué jié jǔ — present-text zhāngjù takes “jié dù” — Zhì’s seen recension takes “jié wéi” (to bind-bunch). Sū Shì’s Chìbì fù — present-text gives “ér wú yú zǐ zhī suǒ gòng shì” — Zhì’s seen recension gives “gòng shí” (eat-together) — and refutes one recension’s “gòng lè” as wrong — also widening exceptional hearings; for the Yuán dynasty’s shuōbù, nothing has surpassed it.

Although the original is long lost, what is now collected from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn is not yet four or five-tenths; yet the jīnghuá (essence-and-flower) is fully present — and one can still see its outline. We have reverently arranged them by jīng, shǐ, zǐ, jí, two juàn each, for the resource of kǎozhèng.

Respectfully revised and submitted, eleventh month of the forty-sixth year of Qiánlóng (1781).

Abstract

The Jìng zhāi gǔ jīn tǒu is the principal bǐjì of 李治 (Lǐ Zhì) — the major JīnYuán mathematician otherwise known for the Cè yuán hǎi jìng and Yì gǔ yǎn duàn. The book is one of the most accomplished Yuán-period kǎozhèng compilations and is regarded by the Sìkù editors as “for the Yuán dynasty’s shuōbù, nothing has surpassed it.”

The book’s distinctive contributions, all flagged by the Sìkù editors:

1. Calligraphic-textual criticism: identifying the Qiānzì wén attributed to Zhōu Xìngsì as a forgery, citing the Chúnhuà gé tiē and Mǐ Fú’s Shū shǐ. This is a substantial Yuán kǎozhèng contribution.
2. Shǐ jì revisionism: the Wēizǐ qiān yáng bǎ máo reading — establishing that Sīmǎ Qiān’s record is correct and Kǒng Yǐngdá’s refutation in the Shū zhèng yì is wrong.
3. Hàn shū revisionism: the Zhèng yǔ shōu jīng / gāi reading; the Wèi Qīng zhuàn jí reading; the Hán Ānguó / Chánggōngzhǔ double-appearance.
4. Lùn yǔ wǔ shí yǐ xué Yì reading: not requiring the wǔ shí / zú (50/eventually) emendation.
5. Mèng zǐ Lóng duàn reading: linking it to Liè zǐ’s Jìnán Hànběi wú lóng duàn yān.
6. Suànjīng identification: identifying Wèi zhì chuān fāng fù tǔ as the algebra-classic’s lì fāng dìng lǜ (cubic-set rate) — a contribution from Lǐ’s mathematical background.
7. Hú Sānshěng correction: the chángxíngjú / chángmáo reading in the Zīzhì tōngjiàn.

The book also preserves ancient-text variants — including the Zhànguó cè “yīn shì jǐ” (preserved via Lǐ Shàn’s note on Ruǎn Jí’s Yǒng huái shī), the Dà xué “jié wéi” reading, and the Sū Shì Chìbì fù “gòng shí” reading — substantial contributions to textual criticism.

Some weaknesses flagged: the Chī yóu etymology; the Nèi zé characterisation; the Zhōng yōng suǒ yǐn xíng guài reading; the Mèng zǐ Xiōng dài gài parsing; the Lǐ Bǎiqín / Lǐ Bái’s-son confusion.

Dating. Lǐ Zhì lived 1192–1279. The book belongs to his mature/late period, after the Jīn fall (1234) when he retreated into private scholarship. NotBefore 1240 / notAfter 1279. The standard text is the SKQS 8-juàn recension, restored from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn; the original 40-juàn recension is lost.

Translations and research

No complete Western-language translation. The book is cited in modern Chinese-language scholarship on Yuán-period kǎo-zhèng and on Lǐ Zhì’s textual-scholarly versatility (beyond his mathematical work). See Ulrich Libbrecht, Chinese Mathematics in the Thirteenth Century (1973) for Lǐ Zhì’s mathematical biography.

Other points of interest

The Qiánlóng emperor’s Yù zhì tí (imperial-titled preface) to the SKQS recension — with the imperial poem — is one of the more substantial Qián-lóng-era imperial readings of a SòngYuán bǐjì. The emperor takes Lǐ Zhì’s tǒu (ear-blocker) as a metaphor for the jūnlín zhī dào (the principle of ruling from above) — a striking case of an imperial reading of a private-scholarly metaphor.

Links

• Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Jìng zhāi gǔ jīn tǒu entry.
• Qiánlóng emperor’s Yù zhì tí Jìng zhāi gǔ jīn tǒu (imperial preface, preserved at the head of the SKQS recension).