Juéshuǐ jí 潏水集
The Jué-shuǐ (Jué-river) Collection by 李復 (撰)
About the work
Juéshuǐ jí 潏水集 in 16 juǎn preserves the surviving prose of Lǐ Fù 李復 (fl. Yuánfēng 1079– Chóngníng), Cháng-ān-resident XīHé fiscal intendant. The title takes the Juéshuǐ — the river south of Chángān, near his residence. Originally 40 juǎn, cut at Ráojùn 饒郡 in Qiándào (the Xìnzhōu běn mentioned by Zhū Xī); lost from late Sòng onward. The Sìkù editors reconstructed 16 juǎn (about 40% of the original) from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Juéshuǐ jí in 16 juǎn, by Lǐ Fù of the Sòng. Fù, zì Lǚzhōng. His ancestry was of Kāifēng Xiángfú; through his father’s office in Guānyòu he became a Chángān resident. Jìnshì of Yuánfēng 2; held office through XīHé zhuǎnyùnshǐ, ending at Zhōngdàfū jíxiándiàn xiūzhuàn. His career not in Sòng shǐ. Hóng Mài’s Róngzhāi suíbǐ records him on the matter of Cài Jīng and Xíng Shù 邢恕 plotting to use zhànjiàn (war-galleys) — Fù memorialised against it most directly — and laments the shǐ’s lack of detail. Zhū Xī’s yǔlù also says: “Mǐnrén Lǐ Fù (note: Fù is not Mǐn — this clause may be a transmission error) — he met Master Héngqú [Zhāng Zǎi]; in Shàoshèng was Western-frontier envoy. Of broad memory, capable of literature. Today there is Xìnzhōu a Juéshuǐ jí — that is his prose. Within it, on Mèngzǐ’s yǎng qì — that motion-must-follow-pattern, hence looking-up not-ashamed-toward-Heaven, looking-down not-ashamed-toward-others, no worry, no fear; how could the qì not be filled? Setting that aside, then visibly there are persons, hidden there are ghosts holding-responsible — self-deficient within, the qì by it is destroyed. This language though shū (rough) yet got the dàzhǐ (great-purport). Recent generations’ various Confucians’ discussions much like over-loftily-flowing-into LǎoZhuāng, not knowing not-as-good-as this expression.”
Now examining: as in saying Yáng Xióng did not know the Way; saying that jǐngtián and military-system cannot be hastily said to be restored — all firmly hit-the-mark. His other discourses are also all chúnzhèng (pure-correct), not just the one item Zhū praised. Further, having long resided in military life, well-practised in róng (military) affairs — hence his memorials are mostly kǎnkǎn candid recommendations, deeply hitting the times’ faults — also more than the two memorials Hóng Mài noted. As to his kǎozhèng of past-and-present, guànchuān bóqià (penetrating, broadly-thorough), in Yì-image, mathematics, wǔxíng, lǜlǚ learning — there is not one he does not split-and-resolve subtle and detailed, with substance and beginning-and-end — surpassing what mere empty-talkers can match. Among the Sòng rú (Confucian-thinkers), one may call him yǒuyòng (useful). The collection was originally 40 juǎn; in Qiándào once cut at Ráojùn — namely Zhū’s Xìnzhōu běn. Later lost without preservation. Sòng-prose specialists mostly cannot raise his name. Now from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn gathered, edited, and arranged into 16 juǎn — both to bring forth the qiándé (hidden virtue), and to supplement the shǐzhuàn’s lacuna. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Juéshuǐ jí preserves the writings of an unusual Northern-Sòng figure: a Yuánfēng-cohort jìnshì who spent most of his career on the XīHé (western frontier) and developed substantial expertise in military, fiscal, and frontier-administrative affairs. His memorial against Cài Jīng and Xíng Shù’s war-galley project — preserved here — is the cardinal political document of his career. Lǐ Fù’s youthful contact with Zhāng Zǎi 張載 張載 (the Guānxué founder) gave him a philosophical formation distinct from Sū-Huáng-school literati: Sòngrú learning combined with frontier military experience.
The Sìkù editors’ assessment — that Lǐ Fù among Sòng rú may be called yǒuyòng (useful, practical) — distinguishes him from the empty-discourse tendency they criticised in late-Northern-Sòng intellectual culture. The biéjí contains Yì-image and lǜlǚ (musical-pitch) discussions, zòuyì on Héběi / Xīxià military matters, and historical-philological essays. Zhū Xī’s transmitted reading — “Mǐnrén Lǐ Fù” — was a kǒushòu (oral) error preserved in the yǔlù; the Sìkù editors carefully flag it.
The dating bracket runs from Yuánfēng 2 (1079) onward; flourished particularly in Shàoshèng / Yuánfú (1094–1100) on the western frontier; likely died in early Chóngníng. Lifedates remain undetermined.
Translations and research
- Hóng Mài 洪邁, Róng-zhāi suí-bǐ — preserves Lǐ Fù material.
- Zhū Xī, Zhū-zǐ yǔ-lèi — preserves the philosophical assessment.
- Smith, Paul Jakov. Taxing Heaven’s Storehouse: Horses, Bureaucrats, and the Destruction of the Sichuan Tea Industry, 1074–1224. Harvard 1991. Context for Xī-Hé fiscal administration.
- No dedicated monographic study of Lǐ Fù located.
Other points of interest
- Lǐ Fù’s contact with Zhāng Zǎi makes him a peripheral but documented witness to the Guānxué school’s early period, complementing the Chángān–Húzhōu connection of Zhāng’s main disciples.
- The Juéshuǐ jí’s strong technical content on Yì-image, lǜlǚ, and suànshù is unusual for biéjí and provides material for the wider Northern-Sòng technical-classical interface.