Yuán Míng shì lèi chāo 元明事類鈔
A Categorized Anthology of Yuán and Míng Affairs
by 姚之駰 (Yáo Zhīyīn), Qīng jìnshì and compiler of the Hòu Hàn shū bǔ yì.
About the work
A 40-juàn early-Qīng lèishū (categorical compendium) of Yuán and Míng affairs compiled by 姚之駰 (Yáo Zhīyīn). The work selects entries from Yuán and Míng shuōbù (notebook genre) and bǐjì, divides them topically, and is more closely related to Jiāng Shàoyú’s Shì shí lèi yuàn (KR3j0181) than to a free-form bǐjì; it is actually a lèishū in formal structure. The work is dated 1721 in the catalog meta and is contemporary with Yáo Zhīyīn’s other major compilation, the Hòu Hàn shū bǔ yì (a supplement-recovery of fragments from lost Eastern-Hàn historiographies). The Sìkù editors praise the work’s typically diǎnzé (institutionally-grounded and observant) compilation: the jiāngyù (territorial) section cites Liú Yù’s Xī shǐ jì on Yuán western boundaries; the rèn guān (office-holding) section cites the Jīngshì dàdiǎn on Yuán quánfǎ (selection-method) — both serve to supplement gaps in the Yuán shǐ monographs. The biographical sections cite the Shī huì xiǎo zhuàn on Mǎ Zǔcháng’s gěngzhí (uprightness) and the Míng chén yán xíng lù on Huò Sù’s fairness — supplementing the Yuán shǐ biographies. The gōngdiàn (palace) section gathers material from the Yuán yè tíng jì and Yuán-poet collections, and is to be compared with the Xī jīn zhì and similar works. The Sìkù editors note one error: Yáo cites the Chángān kè huà on the zhī xùn robe (sub-attendant’s outer garment), without realizing this is the yúfú zhì’s zhì sūn — a corruption of jìxùn, already corrected in the Yuán shǐ guóyǔ jiě. Generally the Yuán material is well done; the Míng material — drawn from the vast shuōbù sea — is less complete. Wànlì onwards material is sparse, since ménhù jiāo zhēng (factional struggle) and ēnyuàn jiū chán (entangling grudges) of the late Míng make most bǐjì unreliable; Yáo’s restraint in selection is praised as quēyí (preserving the doubtful — the proper kǎozhèng attitude).
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Yuán Míng shì lèi chāo in 40 juàn was compiled by Yáo Zhīyīn of the Guócháo. Zhīyīn’s Hòu Hàn shū bǔ yì is already recorded. This compilation extracts from various Yuán and Míng books, divides them by mén with attached records — also of the Jiāng Shàoyú Shì shí lèi yuàn lineage. Checking its rubrics, it is actually a lèishū. What he compiled is generally diǎnzé (institutionally-grounded and observant), worth seeing.
As: Yuán-era gùshí (institutions) found in shuōbù are very scarce; this book in the jiāngyù section cites Liú Yù’s Xī shǐ jì to demonstrate the breadth of Yuán expansion; in rènguān (office-holding) cites the Jīngshì dàdiǎn to demonstrate the closeness of quánfǎ — all sufficient to supplement the gaps of the various Yuán shǐ monographs. Also: citing Shī huì xiǎo zhuàn to record Mǎ Zǔcháng’s gěngzhí (uprightness); citing Míng chén yán xíng lù to record Huò Sù’s gōngzhèng (fair-uprightness) — also sufficient to make up for what the Yuán shǐ biographies fail to provide. The gōngdiàn (palace) section gathers material from the Yuán yè tíng jì and Yuán-people’s poem collections, with broad gleaning — can be cross-consulted with the Xī jīn zhì and similar books. Only the Kuízhānggé entry, without knowing the Chóngwéngé was even more important; the Zhī xùn entry, citing Chángān kè huà to call it the shàngzhí robe — not knowing it is the yúfú zhì’s zhì sūn (note: Zhī xùn, Zhì sūn are both errors for Jì sūn; the Yuán shǐ guóyǔ jiě has already corrected it; now to argue with his variant text, we therefore note each in its original form to show the source of the differences and contradictions). From the Son of Heaven down to the guards, all had it — yet he successively cites and is short on investigation; not without some looseness.
As to Míng-era shuōbù being vast like the sea of mist, what he selected is also not complete and broad. But after Wànlì, factional struggles cross and engage, grudges and favors entangle, the residual waves reach to brush and ink — most records are unreliable. Zhīyīn perhaps was troubled by their rǒnglàn (verbose-overspill) and selected with jīnshèn (careful caution)? This too does not lose the meaning of quēyí (preserving the doubtful).
Respectfully revised and submitted, tenth month of the forty-sixth year of Qiánlóng (1781).
Abstract
The Yuán Míng shì lèi chāo is an early-Qīng (1721) topical anthology of Yuán and Míng affairs by 姚之駰 (Yáo Zhīyīn), more closely allied to the lèishū tradition than to free bǐjì. The work is intended as a supplement to the Yuán shǐ and as a working topical anthology of Míng bǐjì material.
The book’s principal contributions:
- Supplement to the Yuán shǐ. Yáo’s citations of Liú Yù’s Xī shǐ jì, the Jīngshì dàdiǎn, the Shī huì xiǎo zhuàn, the Míng chén yán xíng lù, the Yuán yè tíng jì, and Yuán poetic collections provide substantial supplementary material to the Yuán shǐ monographs and biographies.
- Topical organization. The 40-juàn topical arrangement covers a wide range of institutional, biographical, ritual, and ceremonial categories — making the work a useful working reference for YuánMíng institutional history.
- Restraint on late-Míng material. Yáo’s deliberate exclusion of much late-Míng partisan-ridden bǐjì — recognized by the Sìkù editors as quēyí (preserving the doubtful) — gives the work credibility.
- Companion to the Hòu Hàn shū bǔ yì. Together with Yáo’s recovery of Eastern-Hàn lost historiography, the Yuán Míng shì lèi chāo shows him as a systematic kǎozhèng historian active across multiple periods.
Dating. The catalog meta dates the work to 1721 (Kāngxī 60). NotBefore / notAfter both 1721 (the year of completion).
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language treatment located. The work is cited in modern Chinese scholarship on Yuán institutional history and as a secondary source for now-lost Yuán bǐjì.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 5, Yuán Míng shì lèi chāo entry.