聞分館君 Ask BunKanKun

龍川畧志

4 min read

Text ID
KR3l0037
Date
1099–1099
Dynasty
北宋

Lóngchuān lüèzhì 龍川畧志

Brief Records of the Long River [Lóngchuān] by 蘇轍 (撰)

About the work

A ten-juàn memoir-and-political-commentary compilation written by 蘇轍 Sū Zhé 蘇轍 (1039–1112) in exile at Xúnzhōu 循州 (Lóngchuān is in Xúnzhōu) in Yuánfú 2 (1099). The work has a companion Biézhì 別志 in 8 juàn (originally 4) — the two together composed during the same exile, the first in summer (40 entries per Cháo’s count), the second in autumn (47 entries per Cháo’s count). Of the first 40 entries, juàn 1 and juàn 10 (the bookends) cover 14 miscellaneous matters; the other 25 are political commentary on contemporary affairs. The Sìkù compilers note pointedly that Sū Zhé “records the divergence of opinions but does not, like Wáng Ānshí or Zēng Bù in their diaries, constantly cast blame on the ruler and father” — a measured praise of Sū Zhé’s Yuányòu-faction temper.

Tiyao

Source directory missing in /home/Shared/krp/KR3l/KR3l0037; the following tiyao is from the Kyoto Zinbun digital Shikō Teiyō (curl-fetched from http://kanji.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/db-machine/ShikoTeiyo/0290602.html), base text being the Inner-Court library copy.

By the Sòng Sū Zhé. Zhé’s Shīzhuàn (commentary on the Shījīng) is already catalogued. Per Cháo Gōngwǔ’s Dúshū zhì: Lóngchuān lüèzhì in 6 juàn, Biézhì in 4 juàn; Cháo says Zhé in summer of Yuánfú 2 (1099) was living in Xúnzhōu, doors shut, eyes closed, recollecting his past, having his son Yuǎn write down for him in 40 entries; in the autumn he made another 47 entries. The present text has Lüèzhì in 10 juàn, Biézhì in 8 juàn; Lüèzhì totals 39 entries — one short of Cháo’s 40; Biézhì totals 48 entries — one over Cháo’s 47. Shāng Wéijùn’s Bàihǎi print has disordered the juàn division, so it is no longer original; further it has mistakenly inserted one entry from Lüèzhì into Biézhì, and the “10-juàn” statement in Zhé’s preface is also Wéijùn’s later editorial change. Lüèzhì — juàn 1 and juàn 10 (the head-and-tail two juàn) record 14 miscellaneous matters; the remaining 25 are commentaries on court politics — manifestly the shìfēi bǐwǒ (us-and-them) view, even in exile not forgotten. But Zhé records the divergence of opinion without, like Wáng Ānshí and Zēng Bù in their daily-records, casting blame on the ruler and father at every turn. This is Sū Zhé being Sū Zhé. Biézhì records mostly qíjiù yúwén (the lingering report of the senior generation). Zhū Xī through Chéngzǐ followed in the “LuòShǔ” feud, holding the two Sū’s [Sū Shì and Sū Zhé] in low regard; yet his Míngchén yánxíng lù draws on this zhì in nearly half of its content — proof of the work’s reliability.

Abstract

Sū Zhé (1039–1112; CBDB id 3142) — the younger of the famous Sū brothers, Hànlín xuéshì, Yòu púshè, principal Yuányòu-faction theorist — was exiled to Xúnzhōu (in Lóngchuān, modern Guǎngdōng) in 1097 following the Shàoshèng persecution of the Yuányòu faction; he was further demoted to Léizhōu and recalled only at the Huīzōng succession. The Lóngchuān lüèzhì and Biézhì are the principal direct memoir of the Yuányòu faction’s defeat by an active participant. The Lüèzhì’s political-commentary entries cover the Wáng Ānshí New Policies, the Yuányòu attempt at reversal, the Sīmǎ Guāng — Lǚ Gōngzhù — SūZhé policy alignments, and the Shàoshèng reversal under Zhāng Dūn and Cài Jīng. The Biézhì preserves anecdotes of the previous generation — particularly of Fàn Zhèn, Wén Yánbó, Ōuyáng Xiū, Sīmǎ Guāng — that are crucial for early-Southern-Sòng Confucian historiography.

The CháoBàihǎi divergence (10 juàn vs. 6 juàn) is a typical Sòng-edition / Míng-print confusion. The Sìkù compilers’ implied preference is for Cháo’s original 6 + 4 division.

Standard modern edition: collated in QuánSòng bǐjì; also Yú Zōngxiàn 俞宗憲, ed. Lóngchuān lüèzhì; Lóngchuān biézhì (Zhōnghuá 1982, TángSòng shǐliào bǐjì cóngkān).

Translations and research

  • Egan, Ronald C. Word, Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi (HUP 1994). Treats the Sū-Zhé political and intellectual position.
  • Smith, Paul Jakov. 2009. “Shen-tsung’s Reign and the New Policies,” in Cambridge History of China, vol. 5. Major user of Lóng-chuān lüè-zhì for post-Xī-níng historiography.
  • Levine, Ari Daniel. Divided by a Common Language (UHP 2008) — extensively uses Sū Zhé’s Yuán-yòu-faction memoir.
  • Hartman, Charles. The Making of a Confucian Hero (CUP 2021) — treats Lóng-chuān memoir.
  • No complete European-language translation has been located.

Other points of interest

The Sìkù tiyao’s tart observation that “Zhū Xī, through Chéngzǐ, kept up the LuòShǔ feud and held the two Sū brothers in low regard — yet his Míngchén yánxíng lù drew on this work for nearly half its content” is a pointed piece of historiographic criticism: even an avowedly hostile reader (Zhū Xī) found Sū Zhé’s testimony indispensable.

Graph View

Backlinks