Liú Bèi jí 劉備集
Collected Writings of Liu Bei (Reconstructed) by 劉備 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of memorials, proclamations, and other official writings attributed to Liú Bèi 劉備 (161–223 CE), the founding emperor of Shǔ-Hàn 蜀漢. The surviving fragments, organized in two juǎn, are drawn almost entirely from quotations in the Sānguó zhì 三國志 (Shǔzhì 蜀志, biographies of Liú Bèi and others) and related sources. The most substantial piece is the 〈代漢中王上漢帝表〉, the famous memorial submitted when Liú Bèi assumed the title King of Hànzhōng 漢中王 in 219, declaring himself the loyal continuator of the Hàn dynasty against Cáo Cāo’s usurpation.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Abstract
Liú Bèi 劉備 (161–223; zì Xuándé 玄德; posthumous temple name Shǔ Hàn Zhāolièdì 蜀漢昭烈帝) claimed descent from the Hàn imperial house and became the founder of the Shǔ-Hàn 蜀漢 state, one of the Three Kingdoms. His biography is in Sānguó zhì 三國志, Shǔzhì 蜀志 2.
The preserved writings in this collection are almost exclusively official in character: memorials (biǎo 表) addressed to the Hàn emperor, including the important 〈代漢中王上漢帝表〉 composed after he was acclaimed King of Hànzhōng in 219 CE. This memorial outlines his loyalty to the Han house, his military record, and his condemnation of Cáo Cāo; it is the principal surviving extended prose piece from Liú Bèi’s own brush. Additional fragments include proclamations about his enthronement as emperor in 221, marriage announcements, and brief official documents preserved in the annotations to the Sānguó zhì.
No standard collected works of Liú Bèi are listed in the Suíshū Jīngjízhì or other bibliographic catalogues, confirming that no independent collection circulated. The present reconstruction is compiled from scattered citations in the Sānguó zhì and its Péi Sōngzhī 裴松之 annotations. The Sìkù did not include a Liú Bèi jí.
Translations and research
- de Crespigny, Rafe. Generals of the South: The Foundation and Early History of the Three Kingdoms State of Wu. Canberra: Australian National University, 1990. (Context for the Three Kingdoms political situation.)
- de Crespigny, Rafe. Imperial Warlord: A Biography of Cao Cao 155–220 AD. Leiden: Brill, 2010. (See also for Liu Bei’s relationship to Cao Cao.)
Links
- Wikipedia: Liu Bei