Qín yǒu táng suí lù 勤有堂隨錄
Random Records from the Hall of Diligent-and-Having
by 陳櫟 (Chén Lì, 1252–1334; zì Shòuwēng 壽翁, hào Dìngyǔ 定宇), the Yuán Shàng shū commentator of Xīnān.
About the work
A 1-juàn Yuán bǐjì by 陳櫟 (Chén Lì), the Yuán Shàng shū synthesist of Xīnān (Huīzhōu). The book is Chén’s casual reading-and-discussion notebook from his retirement at the Qín yǒu táng (“Hall of Diligent-and-Having” — from Hán Yù’s poem “xīnqín sānshí nián shǐ yǒu cǐ shì lú” “thirty years’ diligent labour and there is finally this room and lodge” and “shī shū qín nǎi yǒu” “the Odes and Documents — by diligence one has them”). The book covers Sòng-Yuán-period Lǐxué topics — with relatively even-handed evaluation of late-Sòng / early-Yuán figures (Chén Ānqīng, Huáng Zhíqīng, Lǐ Fāngzǐ, Yáng Wànlǐ, Liú Chénwēng) — and contains kǎozhèng on classical and historical points. The book is paired with 李翀’s Rì wén lù (KR3j0139) in the SKQS apparatus, sharing one combined tíyào.
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Qín yǒu táng suí lù in one juan was compiled by Chén Lì of the Yuán. Lì has the Shū zhuàn zuǎn shū, already recorded. This is his suí bǐ zhá jì (random-brush jotting) prose. Although mostly discussing yì lǐ (principle and right-way), it also engages in kǎozhèng. On the late-Sòng / early-Yuán various men he raises each one’s xué wèn zhī yuán liú (source-and-current of his learning) and wén zhāng zhī dé shī (gain-and-loss of his writing) — not those who fàn fàn tuō zhū kōng yán (carelessly cast on empty words).
He says: Chén Ānqīng [Chén Chún 陳淳] is Zhūmén dìyī rén (Zhū-school first man); Huáng Zhíqīng 黃榦 and Lǐ Fāngzǐ 李方子 have many chā chù (deviations). Yáng Chéngzhāi (Wànlǐ) is also a jiān qì zhī shēng (born of jiānqì, exceptional-born) — how can one easily judge? Liú Chénwēng (Liú Chénwēng = Liú Chénwēng 劉辰翁) — his father’s mourning seven years not removed — is hào guài diào míng (fond of strange behaviour and angling-for-fame) — these are especially píng qíng zhī lùn (even-tempered judgements) — not constricted to school-affiliation views.
Lì’s Dìngyǔ jí has at the front a year-table 1 juàn, saying Zhìzhì 3 (1323) at age 72 he composed the Qín yǒu táng jì (commemorative record of the hall) — so this book should be completed in his old age. Yet the record is not in the collected works; the collection-end has a separate Zhū Shēng record-piece, conveying his great-grandson Pán’s saying: “The Hán Yù poem ‘thirty years of diligent labour and there is this room’ — and ‘the Odes and Documents by diligence one has them’ — viewing our family-hall’s name [Qín yǒu táng], some men are confused and do not understand — please make a record to clarify.” The details suggest the matter is centred on Lì and his wife by diligent-effort having this hall — the late-Sòng Jiànyáng Yú-shi book-stall was also named Qín yǒu táng — and so there was this biàn (clarification).
Respectfully revised and submitted, twelfth month of the forty-sixth year of Qiánlóng (1781).
Abstract
The Qín yǒu táng suí lù is the principal bǐjì of 陳櫟 (Chén Lì) — the Yuán Shū jīng commentator who reluctantly accepted the Yuán Yányòu (1313/14) examination reform’s ZhūCài orthodoxy and produced the Shàng shū jí zhuàn zuǎn shū (KR1b0027) along Cài Shěn-supplementary lines. The bǐjì shows Chén’s earlier, more even-handed critical-evaluative habit before that compromise: his readings of the late-Sòng / early-Yuán Lǐxué figures are notably píng qíng (even-tempered), avoiding the strict school-partisanship that would later characterise the Yuán Shū jīng compromise:
- Chén Chún (hào Ānqīng) — “the first man of Zhū’s gate”;
- Huáng Gàn (hào Zhíqīng) and Lǐ Fāngzǐ — “many deviations” from Zhū Xī;
- Yáng Wànlǐ (hào Chéngzhāi) — too exceptional to judge easily;
- Liú Chénwēng — his seven-year extended mourning is “fond of strange behaviour and angling for fame.”
These positions place Chén among the more independently-judging Yuán scholars before the Yányòu examination compromise. The book is also one of the principal Yuán bǐjì witnesses to the substantive Lǐxué transmission in the post-Zhū-Xī generation.
The Sìkù editors flag the curious detail that Chén’s Qín yǒu táng jì (the record of the studio that gives the book its name) was excluded from his own Dìngyǔ jí collected works — and that a separate record by Zhū Shēng survives at the jí-end, written at the request of Chén’s great-grandson Pán explaining the studio-name. The reason given was that the late-Sòng Jiànyáng Yú-shi book-stall also bore the Qín yǒu táng name — and the family clarification was to distinguish their own Qín yǒu táng (Chén’s hard-won home) from the famous Yú book-shop.
Dating. The Qín yǒu táng jì of Zhìzhì 3 (1323) places the studio at Chén’s age 72. The book itself is plausibly composed in the studio years (1310s–1330s). NotBefore 1310 / notAfter 1334 (Chén’s death). The standard text is the SKQS 1-juàn recension.
Translations and research
No complete Western-language translation. The book is cited in modern Chinese-language scholarship on Yuán-period Lǐxué transmission and on Chén Lì’s pre-Yán-yòu-reform independence of judgement.
Other points of interest
The book’s distinguishing of the Qín yǒu táng (Chén’s family-hall) from the Qín yǒu táng of the famous Jiànyáng Yú-shi shūfāng (book-stall) is significant for SòngYuán book-history: the Yú family’s Qín yǒu táng was one of the most prominent late-Sòng / Yuán printing-houses, and Chén’s family-hall name was self-consciously distinguished from it.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Qín yǒu táng suí lù entry (paired with the Rì wén lù tíyào).