閒居錄

Xián jū lù 閒居錄

Records in Leisure

by 吾丘衍 (Wúqiū Yǎn, d. 1311; zì Zǐxíng 子行, hào Zhēnbái xiānshēng 貞白先生); also titled Xián zhōng biān 閒中編.

About the work

A 1-juàn Yuán bǐjì by 吾丘衍 (Wúqiū Yǎn), the celebrated late-Yuán paleographer and seal-engraver of Qiántáng. The book is Wúqiū’s zhá jì shǒu gǎo (jotted hand-draft) — preserved as cǎo běn (rough draft) and not edited before his death. His grand-nephew (the cóngfù family branch) retained the manuscript; 陸友 (Lù Yǒu, the Yánběi zá zhì author of KR3j0143) obtained it and transmitted the text. Because the book is unedited, entries are arranged casually (without sequential order) and the phrasing is sometimes unrevised — yet many entries are valuable. The book covers paleographic-criticism, calligraphic kǎozhèng, bǐjì-anecdote on contemporary literati (Jiǎng Jí 蔣洎, Sūn Qǐyán 孫起岩, Shī Cúnchéng 釋存誠), refutation of standard readings (the Lùn yǔ Yán-shi jiāxùn cōngcōng; the Wèi Bóyáng Cāntóng qì; the Dù Fǔ wú hǎitáng shī matter), classical exegesis, and seal-engraving topics that complement his Xué gǔ biān. The book closes with 陸友’s preserved postface dated Zhìzhèng 5 (1345) at the Sūzhōu Dōnggé.

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that Xián jū lù in one juan was compiled by Wú [-qiū] Yǎn of the Yuán. Yǎn has the Xué gǔ biān, already recorded. This book is Yǎn’s zhá jì shǒu gǎo (jotted hand-draft); Lù Yǒurén obtained it from Yǎn’s cóngfù family copy, transcribed and transmitted it. Still it was not edited before publication; hence all is suí bǐ cǎo chuàng (random-pen rough-creation); the front-back is not sequentially ordered; words-and-phrases are also mostly wèi xiūshì (not yet polished).

Within: such as refuting Dài Tóng’s Liù shū gù fabricating ancient zhuàn (seal) characters; refuting Xú Xuàn’s zhuàn shū bǐfǎ — both with the Xué gǔ biān mutually overlapping — apparently first recorded here, then taken into that book, but the rough-draft was not cut.

Yet líng jī suì yù wǎng wǎng kě cǎi (broken-jade-pieces are still often worth-taking). As: refuting Yán-shi Jiā xùn misinterpreting cōngcōng; refuting Wèi Bóyáng’s Cāntóng qì erroneously taking the yì graph as cóng rì cóng yuè; refuting that Dù Fǔ did not [actually not] sing of hǎitáng — all have insight.

Only on the Yáo diǎn zhōngxīng (the four central stars of the Yáo diǎn) — taking the sì shí (four seasons) all as xū hour evening — cannot avoid being wǔ duàn (arbitrary-judgement). On jiè shū yī chī — saying yǐ wèng chéng juàn zhóu (using a jar to carry scrolls) — also chuānzáo (forced). The Àozào zì (Hearth-Furnace graph) against the Ěr yǎ; the Wǔbǎi zì not investigating the Hòu Hàn shū Mí Héng zhuàn — taking it as the Táng-rén-wielded-cudgel number — both not without shū lòu (slipshod-lacunae).

Other miscellaneous talk of marvels — also much weeds-and-disorder. With Yǎn’s learning rooted broad-and-thorough, art-and-skill refined-and-marvelous — even his ǒu rán shè bǐ (occasionally-touched-by-pen) [pieces] — there is still diǎn xíng (canonical model); so we still record-preserve it, for the benefit of jié qǔ (selective adoption).

[Lù Yǒu’s preserved postface at the book’s end notes:] The book was acquired by Lù Yǒu from the cóngfù family of Wúqiū Yǎn; Lù in Zhìzhèng 5 yǐyǒu (1345) first month jiǎchén day, recuperating at the Dōnggé (East Pavilion), copied and recorded it; Wújùn Lù Yǒurén wrote.

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

Abstract

The Xián jū lù is the zhá jì (jotting-notebook) of 吾丘衍 (Wúqiū Yǎn), the consummate late-Yuán paleographer and seal-engraver whose Xué gǔ biān is the foundational manual of scholarly seal-engraving. The book — a rough draft, never edited by Wúqiū before his death — survives only because of 陸友 (Lù Yǒu)‘s preservation of the cóngfù family manuscript and his Zhìzhèng 5 (1345) transcription.

The book has three distinct values:

1. Pre-versions of Xué gǔ biān entries: the refutations of Dài Tóng’s Liù shū gù and Xú Xuàn’s zhuàn shū bǐfǎ appear first in this bǐjì and were later incorporated into Wúqiū’s manual. The Xián jū lù accordingly preserves the genetic-textual history of the Xué gǔ biān.
2. Connoisseurial-criticism contributions: substantive refutations of standard interpretations — Yán Zhītuī’s Yán-shi jiā xùn on cōng cōng; Wèi Bóyáng’s Cāntóng qì on yì as cóng rì cóng yuè; the “Dù Fǔ wú hǎitáng shī” doctrine.
3. Late-Yuán Hángzhōu literati anecdote: vignettes of contemporary figures — Jiǎng Jí 蔣洎 the Báoshèngsì recluse; Sūn Qǐyán the Yuèrén guest at the Jiāxìng Yìngtiān Buddhist site; Shī Cúnchéng the poet — preserving early-Yuán Hángzhōu literary-religious circles.

Weaknesses flagged: the Yáo diǎn zhōngxīng doctrine; the jiè shū yī chī (jar-as-scroll-carrier) reading; the Àozào graph against Ěr yǎ; the Wǔbǎi graph misreading.

Dating. Wúqiū died in 1311; the book belongs to his mature/late period (1290s–1310s). NotBefore 1290 / notAfter 1311. The standard text is the SKQS 1-juàn recension, derived from Lù Yǒu’s Zhìzhèng 5 (1345) transcription.

Translations and research

No complete Western-language translation. The book is cited in modern Chinese-language scholarship on Wú-qiū Yǎn, on Yuán seal-and-paleographic studies, and on early-Yuán Hángzhōu literary-religious circles.

Other points of interest

The book preserves a remarkable account of the late-Yuán Buddhist fā (release-the-souls) ceremony and various fāngshì (magical practitioner) frauds, including the zhòu shuǐ sì shǒu (the spell that makes water boil — actually achieved with a concealed pig-bladder), the yí jǐng fǎ (the image-projection trick — actually a hidden mirror), and the fúyìn zhòujué bù líng (the inefficacy of talismans-seals-spells) lesson. These overlap with Chǔ Yǒng’s Qū yí shuō (KR3j0125) themes.

Links

• Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Xián jū lù entry.
• Lù Yǒu’s postface, dated Zhìzhèng 5 = 1345.