Zhōu Yuángōng jí 周元公集
Collected Works of [Zhōu] Yuán-gōng [Dūn-yí] by 周敦頤 (撰), 周沈珂 (編)
About the work
Zhōu Yuángōng jí 周元公集 (named from Zhōu Dūnyí 周敦頤’s posthumous shì Yuángōng 元公, bestowed in Jiādìng 13 / 1220) is the literary-and-philosophical collection of the founding Northern-Sòng dàoxué figure Zhōu Dūnyí (1017–1073, zì Màoshū 茂叔, hào Liánxī xiānshēng 濂溪先生 — Yuán originally Dūnshí 惇實, changed to avoid Yīngzōng’s pre-accession taboo). The structure is unusual: only 1 juǎn of yíshū zázhù (his actual surviving prose, including the Tàijí tú shuō 太極圖說 and Tōng shū 通書 KR5i0079 KR5i0080 — already independently cataloged) and 1 juǎn of túpǔ (diagrams) — followed by 6 juǎn of zhūrú yìlùn (later rú-tradition discussions of Zhōu) and zhìzhuàn jìwén (epitaphs, biographies, sacrificial offerings). The collection thus operates more as a xuéàn-style anthology of Zhōu and his reception than as a strict biéjí. Mǎ Duānlín’s Jīngjí kǎo records it as 7 juǎn; Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí says “the yíwén hardly amount to several piān, in 1 juǎn; the rest are all fùlù.” First printed under Míng Jiājìng by Wáng Huìcéng 王會曾 of Zhāngpǔ 漳浦; re-cut under Kāngxī by Zhōu Chénkē 周沈珂 周沈珂 (descendant), with the Yífāng jí 遺芳集 5 juǎn (later writings of his descendants) appended — the Sìkù editors detached the Yífāng as miscellaneous and recategorized it under zǒngjí.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Zhōu Yuángōng jí in 8 juǎn by Zhōu Dūnyí of the Sòng. Dūnyí, zì Màoshū, of Dàozhōu Yíngdào — Yuán originally Dūnshí, changed to avoid Yīngzōng’s pre-accession (jiùhuì) taboo. Through his maternal uncle Zhèng Xiàng’s ēn he was bǔguān; in early Xīníng rose through office to Guǎngdōng zhuǎnyùn pànguān, tídiǎn xíngyù; on illness sought zhī Nánkāngjūn; died. Jiādìng 13 / 1220 bestowed shì Yuángōng; in Chúnyòu enfeoffed Rǔnánbó, cóngsì Kǒngzǐmiào tíng (paired-sacrifice in the Confucius temple court). Deeds in Sòngshǐ Dàoxué zhuàn. This collection in Mǎ Duānlín’s Jīngjí kǎo is 7 juǎn; Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí says “the yíwén hardly amount to several piān, made into 1 juǎn; the rest are all fùlù.” This copy: front yíshū zázhù in 1 juǎn; next túpǔ in 1 juǎn; the back 6 juǎn are all zhūrú yìlùn and zhìzhuàn jìwén — not very consonant with the Sòng běn, but the general trend is also not very different — clearly later people slightly added something. Dūnyí composed the Tàijí tú tracing the beginning-and-end of the myriad things; composed the Tōngshū clarifying the source of Confucius and Mencius — of great benefit to xuézhě; and his other shīwén are mostly jīngcuì shēnmì (refined-essential, deep-close), with guāngfēng jìyuè (light-and-breeze, clear-moon) character. The Zhūzǐ Yǔlèi (the Recorded sayings) says: “Liánxī in his time — those who saw his zhèngshì jīngjué (governance affairs refined-decisive) thought his huànyè (career achievements) surpassed others; those who saw his shānlín zhī zhì (will of the mountain forests) thought his jīnxiù sǎluò (sleeves clean-flowing), with xiānfēng dàoqì (immortal-wind, Daoist-air)”; further says “Liánxī qīnghé (clear-harmonious).” Kǒng Yìfǔ’s sacrificial-text says: “the gōng (the duke) in vigor of years was yùsè jīnshēng (jade-color, bronze-sound), cóngróng héyì (relaxed and harmonious-firm), the whole prefecture inclined to him.” His character may be imagined — observing this, sufficient to know his zhùzuò (writing). His collection in mid-Míng Jiājìng by Zhāngpǔ Wáng Huìcéng was first printed-and-circulated; in our dynasty’s Kāngxī his descendant Zhōu Chénkē re-cut. The original běn had appended at the back a Yífāng jí in 5 juǎn — assembling the zhùshù and shìjì of the descendants — not closely fitting the principal collection — we now separately enter it into the zǒngjí category. Qiánlóng 45 (1780) 2nd month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Zhōu Yuángōng jí is the standard format under which the founding dàoxué texts (the Tàijí tú shuō, the Tōngshū) and Zhōu Dūnyí’s incidental writings have been transmitted as a self-contained biéjí. The collection’s heavy fùlù loading (6 of 8 juǎn) is a structural reflection of the fact that Zhōu’s surviving prose is in fact small — Chén Zhènsūn’s “hardly several pieces” is no exaggeration — and the xuéàn-style accumulation of Zhū Xī’s yǔlèi citations, Kǒng Yìfǔ’s sacrificial offerings, and the lineage of Northern-and-Southern-Sòng yìlùn about Zhōu is itself the principal evidence of his dàoxué canonization. The Yífāng jí 5 juǎn — Zhōu Chénkē’s Kāngxī-period addition of his descendants’ writings — was deliberately detached by the Sìkù editors and re-classified under zǒngjí: a textbook example of Sìkù editorial principle (the biéjí / zǒngjí boundary is strict; family-collected miscellanies do not belong in a single-author biéjí). Zhū Xī’s evaluation of Zhōu as qīnghé and guāngfēng jìyuè — preserved in Zhūzǐ yǔlèi and cited by the Sìkù editors — established the standard dàoxué portrait. Dating bracket: Zhōu’s death (1073) to the Sìkù re-collation (1780).
Translations and research
- Adler, Joseph A. 2014. Reconstructing the Confucian Dao: Zhu Xi’s Appropriation of Zhou Dunyi. SUNY Press. The standard English-language treatment.
- Adler, Joseph A. 2002. Introduction to the Study of the Classic of Change (I-hsüeh ch’i-meng) by Chu Hsi. Global Scholarly Publications. Includes Zhōu Dūn-yí materials.
- Wing-tsit Chan. 1967. Reflections on Things at Hand (Jìn-sī lù). Columbia. Substantial Zhōu Dūn-yí material.
- Liú Yú-tíng 劉玉珽 (Hong Kong) and others on Zhū Xī’s Tài-jí tú shuō jiě.
- Smith, Kidder, Jr., et al. 1990. Sung Dynasty Uses of the I Ching. Princeton UP. Treats the Tài-jí tú.
Other points of interest
The Tàijí tú — Zhōu’s one-page diagram — and the Tōngshū (40 short piān) are the structural foundations of the SòngMíng lǐxué metaphysical system; their inclusion as the first juǎn of this biéjí (alongside the túpǔ in juǎn 2) reflects the standard dàoxué framing whereby the Tàijí tú shuō + Tōngshū together constitute the foundational Liánxué canon. The Sìkù editors’ Yífāng jí detachment is a model of editorial principle. The Sòng-Daoist appropriation of the Tàijí tú via the Chén Tuán → Mù Xiū lineage — accepted by Zhū Xī’s Tàijí tú shuō jiě and noted in the parallel Sìkù tíyào of Jīrǎng jí (the Dàozàng under jiàn / lǐ number-marks) — is here implicit rather than stated.
Links
- Zhou Dunyi (Wikidata)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §43 (Sòng dàoxué); §28.1 (Sòng biéjí).