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歐陽文粹

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Text ID
KR4d0069
Date
1173–1781
Dynasty
宋

Ōuyáng wéncuì 歐陽文粹

Selections from Ōuyáng [Xiū]‘s Writings by 歐陽修 (撰), 陳亮 (編)

About the work

Ōuyáng wéncuì 歐陽文粹 is a 20-juǎn selection of Ōuyáng Xiū 歐陽修 歐陽修’s writings — 130 pieces in all — compiled by Chén Liàng 陳亮 陳亮 (1143–1194) of Yǒngkāng with a Qiándào guǐsì / 1173 hòuxù. The selection’s textual interest is that it preserves an earlier draft state of several pieces — including the Yuán Zhèngtǒng lùn 原正統論, Míng Zhèngtǒng lùn 明正統論, Zhèngtǒng lùn shàng 正統論上, and Zhèngtǒng lùn xià 正統論下 (i.e. four pieces) — whereas the standard Jūshì jí 居士集 (Ōuyáng’s own selected and decided final-form collection, post-1067) preserves only the two final Zhèngtǒng lùn shàng and xià. Likewise the Jízhōu xué jì 吉州學記 and Lónggāng qiānbiǎo 瀧岡阡表 differ between the wéncuì state and the Jūshì jí state. Zhōu Bìdà 周必大 周必大 noted in his preface to the standard collection that the Jūshì jí had been juézé (decided) by the master himself and the piānmù sùdìng (titles fixed early); but a cānjiào zhòngběn (collation across multiple recensions) shows them jiǒngrán bùtóng (sharply different). The Sìkù editors observe that this matches Zhōu’s account exactly; Ōuyáng wéncuì and the Jūshì jí coexist as alternative recensions, the former preserving Ōuyáng’s pre-final draft state, the latter his post-revision authorial state.

Tiyao

The Sìkù tíyào (Lì Shǒuqiān 勵守謙 family-held copy): Ōuyáng wéncuì in 20 juǎn, edited by Chén Liàng of the Sòng. Liàng has Sānguó jìnián, already cataloged. This volume has Liàng’s Qiándào guǐsì / 1173 hòuxù, which says: “We record the gōng (Master Ōu)‘s wén in all 130 piān.” Examined: Xiū’s zhùzuò are hàofán (vast); Liàng’s selection does not reach one or two-tenths of it — seemingly insufficient to fully express what Xiū does best. Yet examination of Zhōu Bìdà’s preface says: “the Jūshì jí by the gōng’s juézé, piānmù sùdìng; but the cānjiào zhòngběn (collation across recensions) is jiǒngrán bùtóng (sharply different) — as in the Zhèngtǒng lùn, Jízhōu xué jì, Lónggāng qiānbiǎo, all are so.” Now we collate this běn — exactly matching Bìdà’s words. This volume’s first juǎn has Yuán Zhèngtǒng lùn, Míng Zhèngtǒng lùn, Zhèngtǒng lùn shàng, Zhèngtǒng lùn xià — four pieces; Jūshì jí preserves only the Zhèngtǒng lùn shàng and xià — two pieces. Of these the Zhèngtǒng lùn shàng takes the Yuán Zhèngtǒng lùn xuézhě yí yān (and over ten lines following) and inserts them in; and within the lùn the qí kěyí zhī jì yǒu sì, qí bùtóng zhī shuō yǒu sān and following half-piān — much shānyì (deletion-and-replacement). The Zhèngtǒng lùn xià further takes the Míng Zhèngtǒng lùn sīlì zhèngtǒng yǐ (and several lines following) and inserts them in; and within the lùn the xī Zhōu Lìwáng zhī luàn and following: also dàbàn shānyì (mostly deleted-replaced). The other zìjù yìtóng (variant readings) are uncountable — all serviceable for cānkǎo (cross-reference). They certainly need not be excluded from coexisting with the original collection. Qiánlóng 46 (1781) [month not specified], respectfully collated.

The KRP source-files under directory /home/Shared/krp/KR4d/[[KR4d0069]]/ actually contain the SBCK reprint of the full Ōuyáng Wénzhōnggōng jí 歐陽文忠公集 (50-juǎn Jūshì jí + sequels), not the 20-juǎn wéncuì recension; the catalog metadata for KR4d0069 stipulates the wéncuì per the Sìkù listing. The present entry is written from the Sìkù / Zinbun tíyào.

Abstract

Ōuyáng wéncuì is — bibliographically — one of the most important SòngrénxuǎnSòngrén (Sòng selecting Sòng) anthologies, because Chén Liàng’s selection-base appears to derive from a recension predating Ōuyáng Xiū’s own final-form revision of the Jūshì jí. The Zhèngtǒng lùn set is the most-studied case: the early-draft Yuán Zhèngtǒng lùn (preserving Wúdài shǐ’s Liáng / HòuLiáng legitimacy positions) was suppressed by Ōuyáng in the Jūshì jí revision and replaced with the more cautious Zhèngtǒng lùn shàng / xià; Chén Liàng’s recension preserves both states. As a Southern-Sòng gōnglìpài thinker repeatedly battling Zhū Xī’s dàoxué over the legitimate-rule question, Chén Liàng’s interest in selecting and preserving Ōuyáng’s Zhèngtǒng lùn set is itself politically charged: the yuán and míng lectures have a more openly gōnglì-tilted handling of post-Hàn / Jin / Wǔdài succession. The Sìkù editors’ explicit framing of the work as preserving the “pre-final-form” Ōuyáng — and equally explicitly pairing it with the Jūshì jí in the biéjí corpus rather than treating it as a duplicative selection — is a model of philological judgment. Dating bracket: Chén Liàng’s hòuxù (1173) to the Sìkù re-collation (1781).

Translations and research

  • Egan, Ronald C. 1984. The Literary Works of Ou-yang Hsiu (1007–1072). Cambridge UP. Treats the Zhèng-tǒng lùn set in detail, using both recensions.
  • Bol, Peter K. 1992. “This Culture of Ours”. Stanford UP. Treats Chén Liàng vs. Zhū Xī.
  • Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland. 1982. Utilitarian Confucianism: Chen Liang’s Challenge to Chu Hsi. Harvard UP. The standard English-language treatment of Chén Liàng — situates the Wén-cuì in his broader gōng-lì programme.
  • Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland. 1992. Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy. Hawai’i.
  • Dèng Guǎng-míng 鄧廣銘. 1996. Chén Liàng zhuàn 陳亮傳. Rén-mín. Standard Chinese biography.

Other points of interest

The Zhèngtǒng lùn set’s preservation in alternate states across Wéncuì (early) and Jūshì jí (final) is one of the textbook cases of authorial revision in Sòng biéjí studies — and the Sìkù editors’ careful collation of the two states (including specific insertion-points and cuts) is a notable piece of imperial-edition philology. Chén Liàng’s selection of Ōuyáng (rather than, say, Wáng Ānshí or Sū Shì) reflects his particular concern with zhèngtǒng and shǐxué questions — Ōuyáng’s Wǔdài shǐ and Xīn Tángshū historiographical practice being a key model.

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