Liú zuǒshǐ jí 劉左史集
The Collection of Adjunct Recorder Liú (Liú Ān-jié) by 劉安節 (撰)
About the work
Liú zuǒshǐ jí 劉左史集 in 4 juǎn preserves the writings of Liú Ānjié 劉安節 (1068–1116), Yǒngjiā Yuánfú 3 / 1100 jìnshì and one of the Sān xiānshēng 三先生 (with Liú Ānshàng 劉安上 and Zhōu Xíngjǐ 周行己). The title takes Liú’s zuǒshǐ (left-historiographer / qǐjūláng) office. The recension carries a preface by Liú Yuángāng 留元剛 noting that the work is published under “Liú zuǒshǐ” but begins-and-ends grouping the three Yǒngjiā Sān xiānshēng together — i.e., is conceived as a triadic foundational document of the school. The collection’s most distinctive content is a substantial body of jīngyì (classical exegesis) — Zhōulǐ 11 piān, Lùnyǔ 3, Mèngzǐ 2, Zhōngyōng 1 — drawn from the Tàixué chéngshì (university examination) tradition that the Sān xiānshēng had passed through. The Yúqiáo wènduì 漁樵問對 attached at the end is anomalous: also attributed to Shào Yōng 邵雍.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Liú zuǒshǐ jí in 4 juǎn, by Liú Ānjié of the Sòng. Ānjié, zì Yuánchéng, of Yǒngjiā. Jìnshì of Yuánfú 3; office to Qǐjūláng; raised Tàicháng shǎoqīng; out as Zhī Ráozhōu; promoted to Zhī Xuānzhōu; died in office. The collection — its compiler unknown. Has Liú Yuángāng’s preface; titled Liú zuǒshǐ but the prose-itself begins-and-ends grouping Zhōu Xíngjǐ, Liú Ānshàng, and Ānjié as the Sān xiānshēng — only saying their qìjié (character-and-integrity), not one word touching wénjí — its origins not detailed.
The arrangement is rather without method: first zòuyì; next biǎo; next shūzhuàng — that is right; but inserting Gōngdé shū into shūzhuàng — out-of-sequence; further next yìngchóu zhū qǐ (correspondence-replies, qǐ-letters) before the muzhi; next jìwén qīngcí before jīngyì lùncè — even more upside-down. Ending with Yúqiáo wènduì — its title same as the world-transmitted Shàozǐ shū (Shào Yōng’s book); examining the prose, also all the same. Per Cháo Gōngwǔ’s Dúshūzhì, Yúqiáo wènduì 1 juǎn by Shào Yōng — set as question-and-answer to discuss yīnyáng huàyù’s clue, xìngmìng dàodé’s subtlety etc. Mr. Shào (Shào Yōng’s descendant) says it is his ancestor’s book — should be examined etc. — so Yúqiáo wènduì — there are those who say it is from Shào Yōng, those who say from Shào Yōng’s ancestor — none say composed by Ānjié — unknown why edited into the collection. But the Tàijí tú attributed to Hèlínsì monk Shòuyá and the Xiāntiān tú attributed to Huáshān daoist Chén Tuán — the rú (Confucians) all yínyín contended; this shū attributed to Ānjié — the rú never refuted its non-truth — perhaps also “doubt-pass-on-doubt” (yíyǐ chuányí).
Ānjié emerged from Yīchuān (Chéng Yí)‘s gate; his lifetime beginning-and-end visible fùlù in the Shǎngcài yǔlù three items, and in Xǔ Jǐnghéng’s elegy and muzhi. His prose is also míngbái zhìshí (clear-and-substantial), not failing to be a Confucian’s speech; the jīngyì is especially tiáochàng (well-flowing) — covering at the time of Tàixué test compositions — what later became Bābǐ (eight-legged)‘s germinal source. Indeed Zhōulǐ 11 piān, Lùnyǔ 3, Mèngzǐ 2, Zhōngyōng 1 — within these the Zhōngyōng 1 inserted between the two Mèngzǐ piān — clearly the copyist accidentally lost the order. The Zhōulǐ 4th piān lacks 4 lines at the front — by wényì examined, its title should be Shí jiàn yuē huì — its lost three lines no longer to be supplemented. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 5th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Liú zuǒshǐ jí preserves the second member of the foundational Yǒngjiā school’s Sān xiānshēng corpus, alongside Zhōu Xíngjǐ’s Fúzhǐ jí KR4d0125 and Liú Ānshàng’s Gěishì jí KR4d0127. The most-distinctive content is the jīngyì corpus — Tàixué-test essays on Zhōulǐ, Lùnyǔ, Mèngzǐ, Zhōngyōng — preserving the form of examination prose in its mature Northern-Sòng state. As the Sìkù editors note, this is the proximate precursor of the bāgǔwén (eight-legged essay) of the MíngQīng exam culture.
The textually-anomalous Yúqiáo wènduì — also attributed to Shào Yōng (or Shào Yōng’s ancestor) — preserved here under Liú Ānjié’s name represents an unsolved attribution problem. The Sìkù editors carefully refuse to either confirm or refute the attribution.
Lifedates 1068–1116 are confirmed by CBDB and Sòng shǐ j. 347.
Translations and research
- Sòng-shǐ j. 347 — biography.
- Sòng yuán xué-àn 宋元學案 j. 32 (Zhōu, Xǔ zhū-rú xué-àn).
- Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland. Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy (Hawaii 1992).
- No dedicated monographic study of Liú Ān-jié located.
Other points of interest
- The Tàixué jīngyì essays preserved here are a primary source for the structural antecedents of the eight-legged essay form; the Sìkù editors flag this evolutionary observation explicitly.