Lùgōng wénjí 潞公文集
Collected Works of [Wén] Lù-gōng [Yàn-bó] by 文彥博 (撰)
About the work
Lùgōng wénjí 潞公文集 (named from Wén Yànbó 文彥博’s Lùguógōng enfeoffment) is the literary collection of Wén Yànbó (1006–1097, zì Kuānfū 寬夫), the longest-serving senior statesman of the mid-Northern-Sòng — zǎixiàng across four reigns and central host of the Luòyáng Qíyīng huì (1080) and Zhēnshuài huì. The collection’s structure is highly informative for Wén’s career: 2 juǎn fù-sòng; 6 juǎn shī; 1 juǎn lùn; 1 juǎn biǎoqǐ; 1 juǎn xù; 1 juǎn bēijì mùzhì; 1 juǎn záwén; juǎn 14 onward all zòuyì zházǐ — i.e. roughly two-thirds of the surviving collection consists of his statecraft memorials. The transmission is bibliographically tangled: the original 40-juǎn recorded in Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí was lost after the post-Nándù dispersal of major shìzú (great-clan) family libraries; Wén’s youngest son re-assembled 286 surviving pieces into a 20-juǎn Lüèjí prefaced by Yè Mèngdé 葉夢得 — also lost; the present recension differs from both, with one more juǎn than Chén’s record but lacking 1 juǎn of bǔxuǎn (supplements). The Sìkù editors note that the zòuzhá below the entries are mostly time-stamped — making the collection a primary chronological-political source for Yuányòu-period zhèngshì.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Lùgōng jí in 40 juǎn by Wén Yànbó of the Sòng. Yànbó’s deeds in his Sòngshǐ běnzhuàn. The collection comprises fùsòng in 2 juǎn; shī in 6 juǎn; lùn in 1 juǎn; biǎoqǐ in 1 juǎn; xù in 1 juǎn; bēijì mùzhì in 1 juǎn; záwén in 1 juǎn; from juǎn 14 onward all zòuyì zházǐ. Examined: this juǎn-count matches Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí — only still missing 1 juǎn of bǔxuǎn (supplement-selection). Examination of Yè Mèngdé’s xù says: “Since bīngxìng (the Jìngkāng military upheaval) the shìjiā dàzú mostly fled — and the family-held jí of the duke was scattered without remainder; his youngest son Wéishēn (àn: Wéizhōng was the zì of Wén Jífǔ — note flagging the editorial correction) sought-and-collected over a long while, gathering 286 piān; arranged by category into the Lüèjí in 20 juǎn” — that is what Yè prefaced — not the original. What Chén records is again not Yè’s prefaced běn. What is now transmitted further has 1 juǎn less than Chén’s běn. Yànbó is not known for shī; but his fēnggé xiùyì, qíngwén xiāngshēng (refined-flowing, image and sentiment springing together). Wáng Shìzhēn praised them as wǎnlì nóngfǔ, jué sì Xīkūn (delicate-rich, exactly resembling the Xīkūn); often plucked his fine couplets and cited them in Chíběi ǒután. His wénzhāng does not strive for ornament, but his discussions are tōngdá (free-flowing); zhuórán jīngjì zhī yán (decisively the words of statecraft). The zòuzhá below mostly carry month-and-day notes — likewise can be cross-referenced with the zhèngshǐ. Yè Mèngdé’s xù says: “He was never deliberate in writing; but on encountering matters at once seized the brush and the work was done — jiǎnzhì zhònghòu (sparse-substantial, weighty), jīngwěi cuòchū (warp-and-woof interweaving). It is like the great drum and the yōngzhōng (great bell) — sounding shūhuǎn (relaxed-slow), miscellaneous and sounding together upon the hall — they do not interfere with the huìhuì xiāosháo (clear-pure flute and Sháo-music), the dance of the hundred beasts, in harmony with the eight winds.” This statement is yǔn (apt). Qiánlóng 41 (1776) 5th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Lùgōng wénjí is one of the most comprehensive zòuyì-corpora preserved from the late-Northern-Sòng senior bureaucracy: roughly two-thirds of its content is Wén Yànbó’s date-stamped zházǐ and zòuyì across four reigns, including the Xīníng counter-attacks on the New Policies, the Yuányòu restoration debates, and the Yuányòu and Yuányòu-into-Shàoshèng succession-and-policy crises. Wén’s Luòyáng Qíyīng huì (1080) and Zhēnshuài huì — preserved in the xù and jì portions — are the foundational social-form for the gentry-retiree gatherings that became canonical in late-Northern and Southern Sòng qíyīng / xiāngyǐn practices. Wáng Shìzhēn’s appreciation of Wén’s “Xīkūn-manner” shī is one of the more nuanced Qing recognitions that Xīkūn did not in fact die with Yáng Yì 楊億 and Liú Yún 劉筠 but had a substantial late-flowering in the Tiānshèng / Bǎoyuán generation. The Sìkù editors’ careful disentanglement of the editorial layers (Chén Zhènsūn’s recension vs. Yè Mèngdé’s recension vs. the present recension) and their explicit correction of the Wéishēn / Wéizhōng slip in Yè’s preface (in fact a zì-confusion with Wén Jífǔ) is a model of kǎojù. Dating bracket: Wén’s death (1097) to the Sìkù re-collation (1776).
Translations and research
- Liu, James T. C. 1959. Reform in Sung China: Wang An-shih and his New Policies. Harvard UP. Treats Wén Yàn-bó throughout as senior counterweight.
- Levine, Ari Daniel. 2008. Divided by a Common Language. Hawai’i.
- Yú Yīng-shí 余英時. 2003. Zhū Xī de lì-shǐ shì-jiè 朱熹的歷史世界. Sān-lián.
- Pīng Pī 平怑. 1991. Wén Yàn-bó nián-pǔ 文彥博年譜. Tài-yuán: Shān-xī rén-mín. The standard annalistic reconstruction.
Other points of interest
The Luòyáng Qíyīng huì of 1080 — modeled on Bái Jūyì’s Hùichāng Jiǔlǎo huì but more elaborately self-conscious — is a key social form of the late-Northern-Sòng senior retiree culture, and the xù and jì portions of this collection are the principal primary source. Wén’s longevity (92 years) and political continuity across the Tiānshèng through Yuányòu span makes his collection the single most useful chronological-bureaucratic source for the entire mid-Northern-Sòng century.
Links
- Wen Yanbo (Wikidata)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.1 (Sòng biéjí); §44 (Xīníng / Yuányòu).