Xiānglíng wénjí 襄陵文集
The Xiāng-líng (Hometown Xiāng-yì) Collection by 許翰 (撰)
About the work
Xiānglíng wénjí 襄陵文集 in 12 juǎn preserves the writings of Xǔ Hàn 許翰 (d. 1133), the Northern–Southern-Sòng transition official remembered for his consistent advocacy of military preparedness against the Jurchen. The title takes Xǔ’s native place Xiāngyì 襄邑 (Xiānglíng). Originally in 24 juǎn per Chén Zhènsūn’s Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí; lost from late Sòng. Sìkù reconstruction from Yǒnglè dàdiǎn preserves c. half of the original. The cardinal documents of the collection are: (1) Xǔ’s Xuānhé-period memorial to Cài Jīng warning that the people were exhausted and the Yúnzhōng campaign should be cancelled; (2) his memorials defending Zhǒng Shīdào 种師道 against demotion; (3) his Southern-Sòng memorials defending Lǐ Gāng against Huáng Qiánshàn 黃潛善’s attacks.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Xiānglíng wénjí 12 juǎn, by Xǔ Hàn of the Sòng. Hàn, zì Sōnglǎo, of Gǒngzhōu Xiāngyì. Jìnshì of Yuányòu 3; in Huīzōng / Qīnzōng times twice was Jǐshìzhōng, raised to Tóng zhī Shūmìyuàn; for argument-not-fitting withdrew. At Gāozōng’s accession summoned as Shàngshū yòuchéng jiān quán Ménxià shìláng; again requested gōngcí and returned. Career details in his Sòng shǐ biography. Per Cài Tāo’s Tiěwéishān cóngtán, Tāo and Hàn were on most-friendly terms — yet shǐ says Hàn during Xuānhé memorialised Cài Jīng saying “people exhausted-and-impoverished, rising as outlaws — tiānxià has the worry of wēiwáng; wishing to abolish the Yúnzhōng expedition, repair frontier-protection” — at the time not used; afterward the Yānshān expedition finally provoked the disturbance — critics say he had the qūtūxǐxīn (bend-the-chimney, move-the-firewood; i.e., timely-warning) plan. His remonstrance against Zhǒng Shīdào not being demoted — to three-or-four memorials — also deeply got the jiùshí yāolǐng (saving-the-times key-points). At Southern-crossing, entered the cabinet — extremely arguing Huáng Qiánshàn’s jiānxié (treacherous-evil), and forcefully saying Lǐ Gāng’s zhōngyì (loyal-righteous) usable — for which the xiāoxiǎo (vile-petty) bit-and-clawed-him out of office. His lifelong zhèngzhí (upright) virtue, beginning-to-end not bending. Today the memorials submitted are all in the collection — his vigorous qì lǐnrán (chilling) — still imaginable. So Cài Tāo’s records were also for his Xīqīng shīhuà relying on SūHuáng to seek fame — not enough to burden Hàn.
Hàn composed Lùnyǔ jiě, Chūnqiū zhuàn and other books — clearly devoted his mind to jīngshù; deeply-rooted, what came forth as wénzhāng — possessed source-and-base. Only one Lùn pèixiǎng zházǐ — saying Yáng Xióng with Mèngzǐ “different ages, same merit” — requesting to pèi shí Kǒngzǐ miàotíng wèicì Mèngzǐ (placing Yáng Xióng’s tablet alongside Mèngzǐ in the Kǒng temple) — that argument is rather forced-and-erroneous. Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí said Xiānglíng jí 24 juǎn — that běn long lost. Now from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn abstracted — ordered into 12 juǎn. Where memorials were lacking in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn — separately according to the Lìdài míngchén zòuyì — supplementary-inserted; so that direct-speech and forthright-discussion can still let people see his ten percent. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Xiānglíng wénjí preserves the writings of one of the Yuányòu-cohort officials who survived through the Jīngkāng / Jiànyán catastrophe and continued as a senior figure of the Southern-Sòng court. Xǔ Hàn’s principal historical importance lies in his persistent military-and-strategic advocacy: warning Cài Jīng of impending peasant rebellion (Xuānhé period), defending Zhǒng Shīdào against demotion (the cardinal pre-Jīngkāng military-defense general), and supporting Lǐ Gāng 李綱 under Gāozōng. The Lìdài míngchén zòuyì-supplemented memorials in this collection are valuable primary documents for the Xuānhé–Jīngkāng–Jiànyán military-political crisis.
The Sìkù editors’ careful note that Cài Tāo’s Tiěwéishān cóngtán (which records Cài and Xǔ as friends) does not contradict the shǐ’s record of Xǔ as a Cài-faction critic — and that Cài Tāo’s later compromised position should not retroactively damage Xǔ — is a model of fair political-textual judgment. Xǔ’s classical work — Lùnyǔ jiě, Chūnqiū zhuàn — is mostly lost, but the Lùn pèixiǎng zházǐ (proposing Yáng Xióng’s canonisation alongside Mèngzǐ) is preserved here as one of the more-controversial classical positions of the Yuányòu / Northern-Sòng intellectual landscape.
Composition bracket: 1088 (jìnshì) to 1133 (death). The military memorials are largely from 1119–1130.
Translations and research
- Sòng-shǐ j. 363 — biography.
- Tao, Jing-shen. Two Sons of Heaven: Studies in Sung-Liao Relations (Tucson 1988). Background on the Xuān-hé / Jīng-kāng military crisis.
- Levine, Ari Daniel. Divided by a Common Language (Hawaii 2008). Background on faction politics.
- No dedicated monographic study of Xǔ Hàn located.
Other points of interest
- Xǔ’s classical-canon position on Yáng Xióng’s elevation (Lùn pèixiǎng zházǐ) anticipates and parallels the contemporary anti-Mèngzǐ arguments of Cháo Yuèzhī KR4d0104 — an alternative Yuányòu-circle classical-canon stance.