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澠水燕談錄

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Text ID
KR3l0031
Date
1067–1097
Dynasty
北宋

Shéngshuǐ yàntán lù 澠水燕談錄

Records of Banquet Conversation by the Sheng River by 王闢之 (撰)

About the work

A ten-juàn compilation of 285 entries (originally 360+ per the Sòng Dúshū zhì; some lost in the Míng Bàihǎi edition’s editorial pruning) organised into 15 categorical sections — Dìdé 帝德 (Imperial Virtue, 17), Dǎnglùn 讜論 (Forthright Discussion, 11), Míngchén 名臣 (Famous Ministers, 50), Zhīrén 知人 (Recognising Persons, 4), Qíjié 奇節 (Extraordinary Integrity, 12), Zhōngxiào 忠孝 (Loyalty and Filiality, 8), Cáishí 才識 (Talent and Recognition, 12), Gāoyì 高逸 (Lofty Retirement, 20), Guānzhì 官制 (Office System, 20), Gòngjǔ 貢舉 (Examination, 21), Xiānzhào 先兆 (Omens, 17), Gēyǒng 歌咏 (Songs and Chants, 18), Shūhuà 書畫 (Calligraphy and Painting, 8), Shìzhì 事誌 (Recorded Matters, 32), Zálù 雜錄 (Miscellaneous, 35). Composed by the Northern-Sòng official 王闢之 Wáng Pìzhī 王闢之 (1032–1098 per CBDB id 10760), jìnshì of Zhìpíng 4 (1067), in his Qízhōu retirement.

Tiyao

Your servants report: Shéngshuǐ yàntán lù in 10 juàn; the old title gives the Sòng Qíguó Wáng Pìzhī as compiler. Sòng Yìwén zhì writes Wáng Guānzhī — graphs bì/guān easily confused. Tōngkǎo cites Cháo Gōngwǔ and Chén Zhènsūn as recording Wáng Bì — perhaps “zhī” was dropped by copyist. Shūlù jiětí: Wáng was jìnshì of Zhìpíng 4 [1067]. Dúshū zhì: Wáng served in office in many provinces, and in conversation with worthy shìdàfū at banquets, what was worth keeping he recorded — over time he gathered 360-plus entries. The present text records Shàoshèng-and-earlier miscellaneous matter, in 15 categories: Dìdé 17, Dǎnglùn 11, Míngchén 50, Zhīrén 4, Qíjié 12, Zhōngxiào 8, Cáishí 12, Gāoyì 20, Guānzhì 20, Gòngjǔ 21, Xiānzhào 17, Gēyǒng 18, Shūhuà 8, Shìzhì 32, Zálù 35; total 285. The total does not match Cháo Gōngwǔ — this is the Míng Shāng Jùn Bàihǎi print, which trimmed entries. What is recorded is solid and trustworthy, much overlapping with the histories. Among entries: Shuí chuán jiājù dào Yōudōu (Who will transmit fine lines to the [Liáo] capital) — this was actually composed by Sū Zhé while on embassy to the Liáo, sent to his elder brother Sū Shì; the work mis-credits Zhāng Shùnmín. Also Liǔ Yǒng on the connections of zhōngguān (eunuch) presenting Zuì pénglái cí to Rénzōng — the work says Rénzōng was delighted, whereas Rénzōng actually rebuked Liǔ Yǒng. Such occasional slips notwithstanding, the work as a whole is reliable.

Abstract

Wáng Pìzhī (CBDB id 10760; 1032–1098; c_fl_latest_year 1097) — jìnshì of 1067 — was a mid-level Northern-Sòng official, ending his career as Magistrate (zhīzhōu) of Qízhōu 齊州. The “Shéng water” of the title is the Shéng River in Qízhōu, where the work was composed in retirement. The categorical organisation (15 mén arranged hierarchically from emperor down to zálù) is unusually formal among Sòng bǐjì and reflects the systematic Confucian editorial ambition of the Zhìpíng — Yuányòu generation.

The work is a major Sòng source for: (a) Tàizǔ through Shénzōng court and ministerial biography (the Míngchén section alone has 50 entries on senior officials of the previous century); (b) examination culture (Gòngjǔ, 21 entries); (c) early-Sòng calligraphy and painting (Shūhuà, 8 entries — important for art history); (d) connoisseurship of poetry (Gēyǒng, 18 entries — proto-shīhuà material). The compilation period (1067 onwards into the 1090s) makes the work a direct witness to the Xīníng / Yuánfēng / Yuányòu political controversies, though Wáng Pìzhī himself was distant from court politics.

Standard modern edition: Lǚ Yǒurén 呂友仁, coll. Shéngshuǐ yàntán lù; Guītián lù. Zhōnghuá 1981 (TángSòng shǐliào bǐjì cóngkān).

Translations and research

  • Lǚ Yǒu-rén 呂友仁, coll. 1981. Shéngshuǐ yàntán lù; Guī-tián lù. Zhōnghuá.
  • Levine, Ari Daniel. 2008. Divided by a Common Language. UHP. Cites Shéng-shuǐ yàn-tán lù on faction-discourse.
  • No European-language translation has been located.

Other points of interest

The 15-category system anticipates the formal bǐjì cóngshū organisation of the late Sòng and Yuán: the categorical division by social function (imperial, ministerial, learned, official, examination, omen, song, art, recorded, miscellaneous) is one of the earliest Sòng analytic taxonomies of court-society narrative material.

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