Lóngxué wénjí 龍學文集
Collected Works of [Zǔ] Lóng-xué [Wú-zé] by 祖無擇 (撰), 祖行 (編)
About the work
Lóngxué wénjí 龍學文集 is the surviving fragmentary collection of Zǔ Wúzé 祖無擇 (1011–1085, zì Zézhī 擇之), an early jīngshù / gǔwén student of Sūn Fù 孫復 and Mù Xiū 穆修. Reconstituted by his great-grandson Zǔ Xíng 祖行 in Shàoxī 3 / 1192 from the small fraction (about two- or three-tenths) that survived the Nándù. Zǔ Xíng’s own text is in 10 juǎn under the title Huàndòu jí 煥斗集 (named from Ōuyáng Xiū’s farewell line zhōngyòu wénzhāng huàn xīngdǒu 中右文章煥星斗); appended are 1 juǎn of Míngchén xiánshì shīwén (responses by Sīmǎ Guāng 司馬光, Méi Yáochén 梅堯臣, and others), and 4 juǎn of jiājí (uncles, brothers, and cousins — including Zǔ Wúzé’s uncle, the Qǐjū shèrén Zhīzhìgào Zǔ Shìhéng 祖士衡 祖士衡, Zǔ Wúpǒ 祖無頗 祖無頗, and the nephew zhī Pǔzhōu Zǔ Dégōng 祖德恭). The total comes to 16 juǎn. The title transmitted to the Sìkù — Lóngxué wénjí — derives from Zǔ Wúzé’s eventual Lóngtúgé xuéshì office; the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and Jiāo Hóng 焦竑’s Jīngjí zhì both cite it under this name (rather than Huàndòu jí).
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Lóngxué wénjí in 16 juǎn by Zǔ Wúzé of the Sòng. Wúzé, zì Zézhī, of Shàngcài. Jìnshì gāodì (high-place jinshi); held office through Lóngtúgé xuéshì zhī Tōngjìn yíntáisī; impeached and demoted to Zhōngzhèngjūn jiédù fùshǐ; transferred to zhī Xìnyángjūn; died. Deeds in Sòngshǐ běnzhuàn. Wúzé in youth followed Sūn Fù in jīngshù and Mù Xiū in wénzhāng; his works were many; after the Nándù only two-three out of ten survived. In Shàoxī 3 / 1192 his great-grandson, Yuánzhōu jūnshì pànguān Xíng, first assembled them in 10 juǎn, taking the line in Ōuyáng Xiū’s farewell poem when Wúzé took up zhī Shǎnfǔ — zhōngyòu wénzhāng huàn xīngdǒu (the literature of Z[hōngyòu] shines like the stars and the dipper) — to name it the Huàndòu jí 煥斗集. He further selected the answering pieces of Sīmǎ Guāng, Méi Yáochén, and others addressed to Wúzé into the Míngchén xiánshì shīwén in 1 juǎn; further assembled the biographies, edicts, and three poems of Wúzé’s grand-uncle Zǔ Shìhéng (then Qǐjū shèrén Zhīzhìgào), his brother Fújiànlù tíxíng Zǔ Wúpǒ and others, and his nephew zhī Pǔzhōu Dégōng’s three poems, into the jiājí in 4 juǎn — all appended at the back. See juǎn 16 in Xíng’s Lóngxué shǐmò — that is the present recension. Only the biāomù on each juǎn differs, separately titled Luòyáng Jiǔlǎo Zǔ Lóngxué wénjí, and so the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and Jiāo’s Jīngjí zhì both call it Lóngxué jí — and the Huàndòu name is unknown. The “Luòyáng Jiǔlǎo” comes from when Wúzé held fēnsī Xījīng (assignment to the Western Capital), forming a zhēnshuài huì 真率會 with Wén Yànbó 文彥博 and others — nine men in all, called of old this name; at the time it was esteemed a great affair, hence Xíng particularly raises it. In the collection are 123 poems and 42 wén pieces. Below the poems are interlinear notes on time and place, rather detailed and careful: e.g. Sānjiào yuántōngtáng says “Lóngxué shírèn Zhīzhìgào”; Càizhōu Húxiānguān says “Lóngxué sìyuè bārì yóu”; Jiǔlǎo poem says “Yīngzōng jíwèi Lóngxué chōng Qìdān guóxìnshǐ”; the Yǒng Zhènshānyán Péng zhēngjūn diàotái has even a phrase “Shàoxīng jǐwèi léihōng shíduàn (Shàoxīng 9 / 1139, thunder smashed the rock)” — clearly from Xíng’s dìngbǔ (correction-and-supplement), not Wúzé’s own zìzhù. Likewise Shàng Ānfǔ Zhāng Záduān jiàn Sūn Fù Niú Zhòngróng shū notes “First posting Qízhōu tōngpàn; in office 11 months; wrote this letter.” Now examined: Sòngshǐ Wúzé zhuàn records only that after taking the jìnshì he passed through zhī Nánkāngjūn and does not say he served as pàn Qízhōu — so this can supplement the shǐ’s lacuna. Wúzé’s prose is qiàolì jìngzhé (sharp-acute, taut-firm), in fact opening the trend of the times — fully matching Yǐn Zhū 尹洙 尹洙. Although what circulates is little, and we have gathered the scattered fragments, the jīnghuá (essence) is not yet wholly lost. As to the appended jiājí — Shìhéng’s Xīzhāi huàjì records early-Sòng gùshì (precedents) often not in other books — likewise can serve for kǎojù. Qiánlóng 46 (1781) 10th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Zǔ Wúzé’s principal interest is as a transitional figure: a student of Sūn Fù in Chūnqiūxué and of Mù Xiū in gǔwén, both of whom died young (Mù in 1032, Sūn in 1057) and whose direct disciples are otherwise sparse. The Sìkù editors’ bracketing him with Yǐn Zhū 尹洙 places him in the same xiānfēng (vanguard) as Ōuyáng Xiū’s earliest gǔwén circle. The collection’s reconstitution by the great-grandson Zǔ Xíng in 1192 — and its reception under the alternative title Lóngxué wénjí (deriving from Wúzé’s Lóngtúgé xuéshì office) — is a model of Southern-Sòng family literary memory. The Luòyáng Jiǔlǎo group reference (with Wén Yànbó 文彥博 文彥博 and others, when Wúzé held fēnsī Xījīng) deliberately echoes the famous Hùichāng Jiǔlǎo (Bái Jūyì’s group) — a piece of gǔwén self-positioning. Catalog gives 1006–1085, CBDB and Sòngshǐ sources give 1011–1085 (followed here). The Zǔ Shìhéng Xīzhāi huàjì in the jiājí is independently valuable for early-Sòng bǐjì sources. Dating bracket: Zǔ Xíng’s editing (1192) to the Sìkù re-collation (1781).
Translations and research
- Yú Zhèn-jiā 余振家. 1986. “Zǔ Wú-zé yǔ Sūn Fù — Sòng-chū Chūn-qiū-xué pài tàn-yuán” 祖無擇與孫復—宋初春秋學派探源. Wén-shǐ-zhé 文史哲 1986.4.
- Liu, James T. C. 1959. Reform in Sung China: Wang An-shih and his New Policies. Harvard UP. Treats the early-Xī-níng opposition (Zǔ Wú-zé was demoted by Wáng).
- Bol, Peter K. 1992. “This Culture of Ours”. Stanford UP.
Other points of interest
The Xīzhāi huàjì of Zǔ Shìhéng (Wúzé’s grand-uncle), preserved in the jiājí portion of this collection, is the only surviving witness to a number of early-Sòng gùshì anecdotes — and was especially valued by the Sìkù editors as supplementary historical material. The Sòngshǐ Wúzé zhuàn’s lacuna concerning his pàn Qízhōu posting (recoverable only from the zìzhù on the Shàng Ānfǔ Zhāng Záduān letter) is a textbook example of how biéjí fill shǐzhuàn lacunae.
Links
- Zu Wuze (Wikidata)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.1 (Sòng biéjí); §47 (early-Sòng gǔwén).