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玉照新志

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Text ID
KR3l0063
Date
1194–1202
Dynasty
南宋

Yùzhào xīnzhì 玉照新志

New Notes from the Jade-Mirror Studio by 王明清 (撰)

About the work

A six-juàn historical bǐjì by 王明清 Wáng Míngqīng 王明清, written in the Qìngyuán — Jiātài reigns (c. 1194–1202) as a thematic supplement to his earlier KR3l0062 Huīchén lù. The title derives from a circumstance recorded in the author’s own preface: Wáng obtained a yùzhào (jade mirror-fragment) from Bào Zǐzhèng 鮑子正 of Yǒngjiā, together with a Mǐ Fú 米芾 (Nángōng) inscription of the two characters yùzhào in his calligraphy; Wáng mounted the inscription in his studio and accordingly named the studio and the new book of records the Yùzhào xīnzhì. The work covers court anecdotes (cháoyě jiùwén), strange and supernatural occurrences (shénguài), and trivial matters (suǒshì), with a special emphasis on full preservation of important Northern-Sòng prose documents — its inclusion of 王堯臣 Wáng Yáochén’s jiànqǔ YānYún shū (memorial advising against the attempt to recover the Sixteen Prefectures), Lǐ Chángmín’s Guǎng Biàndū fù, Yáo Píngzhòng’s draft Lùbù (battle-dispatch) for the strike on the Jūrchen camp, and the full seven biàn of Zēng Bù’s Féngyàn shuǐdiào gētóu (the latter not present in any extant cípǔ) gives the work an unusual documentary value.

Tiyao

Your servants report: Yùzhào xīnzhì in 6 juàn, by the Sòng Wáng Míngqīng. This book speaks much of spirits and supernaturals (shénguài) and of trivial matters (suǒshì), and likewise touches on court and country old reports (cháoyě jiùwén) and lost compositions of previous men. As for what is recorded of Hú Shùnshēn’s Jǐyǒu bìluàn jì, which considerably impugns Hán Shìzhōng, Míngqīng does not refute it — for at that time [the events] were very recent, and praise and blame were tangled and not yet settled. The Sòng Qíyú prison-document entry expresses deep dissatisfaction with Lǐ Gāng — yet the Zhūzǐ yǔlèi also has the same words; this is not a malicious slander of an upright man. Likewise: Wáng Yáochén’s jiànqǔ YānYún shū (memorial against retaking the YānYún territories), Lǐ Chángmín’s Guǎng Biàndū fù (Expansive Rhapsody on Biànjīng), Yáo Píngzhòng’s draft ní jiésài pòdí lùbù (mock battle-dispatch on breaking the enemy at the pass) — all recorded in their entirety, sufficient material for textual research. And the recording of Zēng Bù’s Féngyàn shuǐdiào gētóu (Encountering the Swallow: Water-Tune Song-Head) in seven páibiàn (paired stanzas) of cí — not contained in [any other] cípǔ — is sufficient to show the form of the Sòng dàqǔ (great-song). For Míngqīng, broadly learned and well-versed in precedents, his suíbǐ jìlù (off-the-brush jottings) all bring benefit to the reader. As to the title Yùzhào xīnzhì: his own preface says that he obtained a yùzhào (jade-mirror fragment) from Bào Zǐzhèng of Yǒngjiā, then acquired Mǐ Nángōng’s [Mǐ Fú’s] calligraphy of the two characters “yùzhào”; he mounted it in his study and so named the book accordingly. Respectfully checked, Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 10th month. Chief Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. Chief Collator: Lù Fèichí.

Abstract

The Yùzhào xīnzhì is Wáng Míngqīng’s last major bǐjì, written after the Shílùyuàn’s requisition of the Huīchén lù in Qìngyuán 1 (1195) and serving as a thematic appendix in which the author worked out material that did not fit the Huīchén lù’s court-archival mold. Internal dating: the book quotes the Qìngyuán and post-Qìngyuán environment and presupposes the completion of the sānlù and yúhuà of the Huīchén lù (preface Shàoxī 5 = 1194); the bracket of c. 1194–1202 (Jiātài 2) is accepted on these grounds and is consistent with the Sòng shǐ Yìwén zhì and Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí references.

The work’s distinctive features:

  1. Preservation of full-text Northern-Sòng documents. Where the Huīchén lù often gives anecdotes about prose works without quoting them, the Yùzhào xīnzhì preserves the full Chinese text of several lost or partly-lost Northern-Sòng pieces: 王堯臣 Wáng Yáochén’s jiànqǔ YānYún shū (his anti-irredentist memorial of Qìnglì), Lǐ Chángmín’s Guǎng Biàndū fù, and Yáo Píngzhòng’s draft Lùbù (his proposed Jìngkāng battle-dispatch for the planned night raid on the Jūrchen siege-camp). These survive only in this work.

  2. Preservation of Zēng Bù’s Féngyàn shuǐdiào gētóu. The full seven-biàn (paired-stanza) cycle of Zēng Bù’s 曾布 (Wáng Ānshí’s protégé) Féngyàn set to the Shuǐdiào gētóu tune is preserved here alone; the cípǔ (song-formula manuals) do not record this form. The Sìkù compilers emphasize its value as a primary witness for the dàqǔ (Sòng “great-song” suite) form.

  3. The Hú Shùnshēn / Hán Shìzhōng controversy. The work transmits Hú Shùnshēn’s Jǐyǒu bìluàn jì without comment — an account critical of Hán Shìzhōng’s conduct in 1129. The Sìkù compilers note that this is not malicious slander; the controversy was still live in Wáng Míngqīng’s lifetime, with even the Zhūzǐ yǔlèi recording the same critique. The work is therefore an important corrective to the later-imperial canonization of Hán Shìzhōng as one of the Four Generals of the Restoration.

  4. The Sòng Qíyú prison-document. The work preserves the prison-record of Sòng Qíyú 宋齊愈 (executed in 1127 as a Jīn-collaborator for proposing 張邦昌 Zhāng Bāngchāng as the puppet Chǔ emperor); the entry expresses some sympathy for Sòng Qíyú and dissatisfaction with Lǐ Gāng’s role in his prosecution. The Sìkù judges this consistent with Zhū Xī’s view in the Yǔlèi and not partisan-motivated.

Standard modern edition: collated in QuánSòng bǐjì (Dàxiàng 2006–) vol. 6.13; also reprinted as part of the Huīchén lù wài èrzhǒng (Zhōnghuá 1961, repr. 2002) packaging Huīchén lù + Yùzhào xīnzhì + KR3l0064 Tóuxiá lù together as the three Wáng Míngqīng works.

Translations and research

  • Hartman, Charles. The Making of a Confucian Hero (CUP 2021). Cites Yù-zhào xīn-zhì on the Hú Shùn-shēn / Hán Shì-zhōng controversy.
  • Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland. Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy (UHP 1992). Uses Yù-zhào xīn-zhì on the Zhū Xī — Sòng Qí-yú materials.
  • Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §63.
  • No full European-language translation has been located.

Other points of interest

The yùzhào (jade-mirror) studio name from which the book takes its title is one of the better-attested instances of a Sòng shūzhāimíng (studio-name) being established by combining a physical artefact (the jade fragment) with a calligraphic gift from a famous contemporary (Mǐ Fú’s two characters). The pattern — a found object plus a calligraphic title-page — is widely imitated in Yuán and Míng shūzhāimíng practice.

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