Liùtiē bǔ 六帖補
Supplement to the Six Tablets
by 楊伯喦 (Yáng Bóyán, late Southern Sòng, 撰); preface by 呂午 (Lǚ Wǔ).
About the work
A late-Southern-Sòng supplement to Bái Jūyì’s Liùtiē and Kǒng Chuán’s Hòu liùtiē (KR3k0008), in 20 juan and 20 categories. Compiled by Yáng Bóyán 楊伯喦 (zì Yànzhān 彥瞻, hào Yǒngzhāi 泳齋, self-styled Dàijùn rén 代郡人 — though Dàijùn had long been under Jīn rule, the designation reflects ancestral seat). Yáng was great-grandson of Yáng Héwáng 楊和王 (Yáng Cúnzhōng 楊存中); served as Gōngbù láng zhī Qúzhōu 工部郎知衢州 in the Chúnyòu period (1241–1252); Zhōu Mì’s Yúnyān guòyǎn lù 雲煙過眼錄 records his collection of Xuānhé imperial paintings, placed after Gāo Kègōng 高克恭 and Hú Yǒngzhī 胡詠之, suggesting he was still alive into the Yuán. The preface by Lǚ Wǔ 呂午 (Zhúpō 竹坡) is dated rényín 2/15 — most likely Chúnyòu 2 (1242).
The work fills the topical gaps of the BáiKǒng liùtiē, especially material on Sòng-period figures and events. The Sìkù editors note its tendency to cite via intermediary lèishū (e.g. citing Tàipíng guǎngjì rather than Hàn Wǔ nèizhuàn directly) — a sign that Yáng’s learning was jùnzhí (snatched-and-gathered), not deep philological kǎozhèng; but recognize that he preserves Sòngdài yìshì yíwén (Sòng-period lost-events and lost-writings) not preserved elsewhere, making the work a valuable supplement to the BáiKǒng tradition.
Tiyao (abridged)
The Liùtiē bǔ in 20 juan by Yáng Bóyán 楊伯嵒 of the Sòng. Bóyán, zì Yànzhān, hào Yǒngzhāi, self-styled Dàijùn rén: but after the southern crossing, Dàijùn had long entered Jīn territory — so his ancestral seat. In the Chúnyòu period he served as Gōngbù láng knowing Qúzhōu. Zhōu Mì’s Yúnyān guòyǎn lù records the Xuānhé paintings in Bóyán’s collection, placing them after Gāo Kègōng and Hú Yǒngzhī — suggesting that he was still alive into the Yuán.
The compilation is to supplement what Bái Jūyì’s Liùtiē and Kǒng Chuán’s Hòu liùtiē did not cover; 20 categories in all. Many Sòng-period verse-citations are cut into pieces; the source-citation is not always thorough — apparently what was in the two earlier books was not duplicated. Also, the ancient events recorded often have no explicit source — not without the charge of wú zhēng (no proof). But Yú Shìnán’s Běitáng shūchāo already did this; the Liùtiē often does too — so it follows old practice without revising; the failing has its cause.
Lǚ Wǔ’s preface praises Bóyán’s knowledge that the character Yúnáo 雲璈 comes from the Tàipíng guǎngjì; but the Guǎngjì in fact cites the Hàn Wǔ nèizhuàn — Bóyán did not raise the original book but only the lèishū — so his learning is also juānzhí (gathering), and he often does not get the shìshǐ (first occurrence). But for BáiKǒng the shíyí bǔquè (supplementing the lost and patching the gaps) is not without merit, and Sòng-period yìshì yíwén are preserved by reference to it. Compared to Míng-period lèishū with their dòudīng bàifàn (cobbled-together popular wares), this is still close to the ancients.
Respectfully revised and submitted, fifth month of the forty-first year of Qiánlóng [1776].
General Compilers: Jǐ Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅. General Reviser: Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.
Abstract
The Liùtiē bǔ is the principal late-Southern-Sòng supplement to the BáiKǒng liùtiē (KR3k0008) tradition. Yáng Bóyán was a high-status official-scholar of the Yáng family (descended from the Sòng military hero Yáng Cúnzhōng) whose career spanned the late Southern Sòng and possibly into the early Yuán. The work is a comprehensive 20-category compendium, supplementing the BáiKǒng tradition particularly for Sòng-period material. Lǚ Wǔ’s Chúnyòu 2 (1242) preface is the principal early-Sòng witness; composition is bracketed here from 1242 to 1260 (Yáng’s likely active period).
The work’s bibliographic value is twofold. First, it preserves a substantial body of Sòng yìshì (lost events) and yìwén (lost writings), especially poetry, that would otherwise be unattested. Second, as the Sìkù editors observe, it documents the late-Southern-Sòng pattern of lèishū compilation via lèishū — citation through intermediate compendia rather than from primary sources — a habit that itself becomes an evidential issue for modern kǎojù on classical sources cited only through Sòng lèishū.
Translations and research
- Hú Dào-jìng 胡道靜, Zhōngguó gǔdài de lèishū (Zhōng-huá, 1982), §Sòng.
- Lǚ Wǔ 呂午’s preface as preserved in the Sìkù recension is itself a useful early-Sòng paratext for the history of the Bái-Kǒng liù-tiē tradition.
No European-language translation.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Lèishū lèi, Liùtiē bǔ entry.
- Wikidata: Q11074498.