Zōng Zhōngjiǎn jí 宗忠簡集
The Collection of Zōng Zhōng-jiǎn (Zōng Zé) by 宗澤 (撰), 樓昉 (編), 王庭曾 (重編)
About the work
Zōng Zhōngjiǎn jí 宗忠簡集 in 8 juǎn preserves the writings of Zōng Zé 宗澤 (1059–1128), the cardinal early-Southern-Sòng resistance figure who as Zhī Kāifēngfǔ (Prefect of the fallen capital) repeatedly memorialised Gāozōng to recover the north and resume the offensive against Jin. The title takes Zōng’s posthumous canonisation Zhōngjiǎn 忠簡 (Loyal-and-Simple). Originally compiled by Lóu Fǎng 樓昉 樓昉 in Jiādìng 14 (1221) — almost a century after Zōng’s death, when his Sìmíng compatriot Lóu was Zhī Nánxúzhōu (Zhènjiāng) and recovered Zōng’s surviving prose from the Jiànchāng family. Re-edited and supplemented by Wáng Tíngzēng 王庭曾 in the early Qīng (when Zhī Yìwū of Zōng’s native county). The Míng Chóngzhēn-period Xióng Rénlín 熊人霖 had earlier re-cut from old copies. Juǎn 1–6 are zházǐ, zhuàng, shū, shū, miscellaneous prose; juǎn 7–8 are appended biographical materials, gàochì, míngjì.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Zōng Zhōngjiǎn jí in 8 juǎn, by Zōng Zé of the Sòng. Zé’s career details in his Sòng shǐ biography. The compilation: juǎn 1 to 6 are zházǐ, zhuàng, shū, prose, miscellaneous-form; juǎn 7–8 are yíshì fùlù — all later persons recording Zé’s shìshí, plus gàochì míngjì and similar.
Zé’s gūzhōng gěnggěng (lonely-loyalty steadfast); essence-penetrating sān guāng (sun-moon-and-stars); his memorials guīhuà shíshì (planning-out the times’ situation) — xiángmíng kěnqiè (clear-and-thorough, sincere-and-pressing). At the time fixed-on the héyì (peace-talks) — they did not use his words — also jìng wú shōushí qí wénzhě (finally none gathered-up his prose). To Níngzōng Jiādìng mid-period (early 13th century), Sìmíng’s Lóu Fǎng then zhuìjí sànyì (collected-from-scattered-and-lost) to make this collection. Yet Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí finally not records — so by end of Sòng [the work] not much circulated. Probably from Lǐzōng onward, tiānxià tilted-toward the court’s cháotíng fēngzhǐ (court-fashion’s intent) — Dàoxué daily flourishing — those discussing xīnxìng called zhēn rú — those discussing shìgōng (statecraft-merit) called zábà (mixed-hegemony) — what people pursue is in that not in this — its sinking-and-not-illuminated firmly is its place.
In Míng Chóngzhēn mid-period, Xióng Rénlín then according to old-běn re-cut. Our-State Yì-wū-xiàn-magistrate Wáng Tíngzēng further re-edited and fixed — supplemented-and-inserted the Jiàn zhǐ gēdì one memorial — and with Lóu Fǎng’s original-preface and Míng’s Fāng Xiàorǔ’s preface placed at the front. Examining the shǐ says: Zé strenuously requested Gāozōng to huán Biàn (return to Biànjīng) — memorials altogether 20-some — the biography did not record-it-all of his prose. Today the collection records only 18 piān — still missing 10 — so its scattered-and-lost is much. Qiánlóng 42 (1777), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Zōng Zhōngjiǎn jí is the foundational documentary witness to early-Southern-Sòng resistance. Zōng Zé’s Zhī Kāifēng memorials — repeatedly urging Gāozōng to abandon the southern court and return to recapture the north — are the most-cited single corpus of early-Jiànyán resistance documents, comparable to Lǐ Gāng’s KR4d0138 Liángxī jí but more focused. Zōng’s guò Hé! deathbed cry became the iconic phrase of the loyalist position; his disciple Yuè Fēi 岳飛 would carry forward the resistance program for another thirteen years.
The recensional history is itself politically-textual: the original collection was nearly lost between Zōng’s death (1128) and Lóu Fǎng’s compilation (1221) — a 93-year gap during which the héyì (peace-faction) court suppressed loyalist memory. The Sìkù editors’ historiographical reflection on this — that the post-Lǐzōng rise of Dàoxué further marginalised statecraft-figures like Zōng — is one of the more substantive biéjí tíyào discussions of the politics of textual transmission.
The Jiādìng re-canonisation (the 1221 Lóu Fǎng compilation) coincided with the late-Southern-Sòng anti-Jīn (later anti-Mongol) revival under Hán Tuōzhòu and Shǐ Míyuǎn — when statecraft loyalists were recovered as resources for contemporary mobilisation. The MíngQīng transmissions reinforce the canonisation. Lifedates 1059–1128 are confirmed.
Translations and research
- Sòng-shǐ j. 360 — biography.
- Wáng Zēng-yú 王曾瑜. Zōng Zé yán-jiū — modern Chinese-language biographical study.
- Tao, Jing-shen. Two Sons of Heaven (Tucson 1988). Background.
- Davis, Richard L. Wind Against the Mountain: The Crisis of Politics and Culture in Thirteenth-Century China (Harvard 1996). Background on the late-Sòng loyalist-canon question.
Other points of interest
- The phrase guò Hé — Zōng’s deathbed cry — became the iconic phrase of resistance-loyalism in Sòng cultural memory, comparable to Yuè Fēi’s jǐn jǐ shānhé (return our rivers and mountains).
- Lóu Fǎng’s 1221 recovery of the collection is one of the more-celebrated cases of late-Sòng documentary archaeology — recovering an early-Jiànyán loyalist’s writings nearly a century after his death.