Rì wén lù 日聞錄
Daily Hearings
by 李翀 (Lǐ Chōng, fl. 14th cent.).
About the work
A 1-juàn late-Yuán / Yuán-Míng-transition bǐjì by 李翀 (Lǐ Chōng). The book is set in the Cài Yōng Dú duàn / Cuī Bào Gǔjīn zhù tradition — a methodically-arranged dictionary-of-old-affairs bǐjì, with extensive biàn lùn (debate-discussion) and substantial kǎozhèng. The book preserves Yuán-period anecdote, and its references to Zhìzhèng jiǎchén (1364) and bǐngwǔ (1366) — only a year or two before Hóngwǔ 1 (1368) — place the author in the YuánMíng transition. He still calls the Yuán “guócháo” (Our Dynasty) — marking him as a Yuán loyalist who declined to serve the Míng. The original is now lost; the SKQS recension was restored from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn into 1 juàn. The book is paired in the SKQS apparatus with 陳櫟’s Qín yǒu táng suí lù (KR3j0140), the two short Yuán bǐjì sharing a single combined tíyào.
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Rì wén lù in one juan was compiled by Lǐ Chōng of the Yuán. Chōng does not appear in the standard histories. The book records events of Zhìzhèng jiǎchén (1364) and bǐngwǔ (1366) — only one or two years before Hóngwǔ 1 (1368). The man should have entered the Míng. Yet the book all calls Yuán “guócháo” (Our Dynasty) — so he was a previous-dynasty yí lǎo (loyalist-elder) who preserved his principle and did not serve.
The book mostly draws on past-dynasty gù shì (precedents), roughly in the style of Cài Yōng’s Dú duàn and Cuī Bào’s Gǔ jīn zhù — and the biàn lùn is rather thorough, with much that can be taken; also occasionally touching Yuán anecdote — a zá jiā (miscellaneous-house) class work.
Among the entries: “Diǎn mìng using jiǔ (nine) as jié, qī (seven) as jié, wǔ (five) as jié — this is the jié of zhǎng jié (the Chief-of-Tally)” — most thoroughly yì duàn (forced-decision). And “Tángdài and after the various yǒu sī (officials) were granted mén qí (door-flags) two, lónghǔ qí (dragon-tiger flags) one and the like — i.e. transforming jié (tally) into qí (flag)” — does not realize that the Zhōu lǐ Sī cháng — zhū hóu jiàn qí, gūqīng jiàn zhān, dàfūshì jiàn wù, shī dū jiàn qí, zhōu lǐ jiàn yú, xiàn bǐ jiàn zhào — these are already each by their qí-cháng (flag-banner) as a marking — cannot say from the Táng and after the jié began to be transformed into qí; kǎozhèng not without slight slack.
Also as the Zhēn Déxiù tí Sān jiào tú and the like — also cannot avoid chuán wén fùhuì (rumour-and-forced-attribution). Yet on the whole the citations are detailed-and-exact — sufficient to consult with the shǐ zhì (histories’ treatises); those who shù diǎn (cite the precedents) ought to find adoptable material.
The original is long lost; what is now in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn we have copied-and-arranged into 1 juàn. Huáng Yújì’s Qiānqǐngtáng shūmù records this book and gives the author as Líng Chōng 凌翀; the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn’s record-title also has one entry as Líng Chōng; the rest are not Líng Chōng; we now still title it under Lǐ Chōng’s name, while attaching the xìngshì variant for verification.
[Tíyào continues with KR3j0140 Qín yǒu táng suí lù by Chén Lì — paired together by the Sìkù editors.]
Respectfully revised and submitted, twelfth month of the forty-sixth year of Qiánlóng (1781).
Abstract
The Rì wén lù is a small but substantively interesting late-Yuán / Yuán-Míng-transition bǐjì. The book’s value lies in its style — a methodically-arranged kǎozhèng-rich entry-by-entry dictionary-of-old-affairs in the Cài Yōng / Cuī Bào tradition — and in its preservation of Yuán-period anecdote. The author’s still-calling-the-Yuán-guócháo placement makes him one of the principal small-bǐjì witnesses to the YuánMíng transition’s literati loyalism.
The Sìkù editors flag two specific weaknesses: the Zhōu lǐ Diǎn mìng / jié reading (forced); the Táng-and-after door-flags / dragon-tiger flags claim (since the Zhōu lǐ Sī cháng already records these usages). Other weaknesses include the Zhēn Déxiù tí Sān jiào tú attribution (rumour-and-forced-attribution).
Dating. Internal references to Zhìzhèng jiǎchén (1364) and bǐngwǔ (1366) place the work in the Hóngwǔ opening period (1368) or just before. NotBefore 1364 / notAfter 1368. The standard text is the SKQS 1-juàn recension, restored from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn.
The authorial attribution to Lǐ Chōng is preserved by the Sìkù editors against the alternative Líng Chōng given by Huáng Yújì’s Qiānqǐngtáng shūmù and one Yǒnglè dàdiǎn entry — a small but real xìngshì (surname) ambiguity.
Translations and research
No complete Western-language translation. The book is occasionally cited in modern Chinese-language scholarship on Yuán-Míng transition yí lǎo (loyalist) literature.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Rì wén lù entry (paired with the Qín yǒu táng suí lù tíyào).