Zhōngzhèng déwén jí 忠正德文集
The Loyal-Upright-Virtue-Letters Collection by 趙鼎 (撰)
About the work
Zhōngzhèng déwén jí 忠正德文集 in 10 juǎn (Sìkù reconstruction) preserves the writings of Zhào Dǐng 趙鼎 (1085–1147), one of the Sì xián (Four Worthies) of the early-Southern-Sòng resistance and Gāozōng’s chief councillor in Shàoxīng 5–8 (1135–1138). The title is unusual: in Shàoxīng 5 / 1135, when Zhào completed compilation of the Shénzōng and Zhézōng shílù (veritable records), Gāozōng wrote in his own hand the four characters Zhōngzhèng déwén 忠正德文 (“Loyal-Upright-Virtue-Letters”) and presented them to Zhào — the collection takes this imperial inscription as its title. Sòng shǐ records his prose at “húnrán tiānchéng” (entirely heaven-formed) and over 200 pieces; Sìkù reconstruction yielded 64 memorials, 14 parallel-prose pieces, 274 poems, 25 cí, and 7 bǐlù — totalling nearly 300 pieces. The 12 supplementary memorials added from Lìdài míngchén zòuyì.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Zhōngzhèng déwén jí 10 juǎn, by Zhào Dǐng of the Sòng. Dǐng, zì Yuánzhèn, hào Déquán jūshì, of Jiězhōu Wénxǐ. Passed Chóngníng 5 jìnshì; successively-promoted-to Shàngshū zuǒ púshè tóng zhōngshū ménxià píngzhāngshì jiān shūmìshǐ; died, raised to Tàifù, posthumously enfeoffed Fēngguógōng, canonised Zhōngjiǎn. Career details in Sòng shǐ biography.
Originally in Shàoxīng 5, Dǐng jiānxiū (concurrent-compiler) of the Shén and Zhé èrzōng shílù; upon completion, Gāozōng personally wrote-out the Zhōngzhèng déwén four characters and bestowed them — therefore taken to name the collection. The shǐ says: his prose “entirely heaven-formed; all military-and-state engaged-affairs mostly his draft-vision” — there are zòushū shīwén over 200 piān. Shàoxīng zhènglùn and Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí both record 10 juǎn — today long lost-and-not-transmitted.
Now from Yǒnglè dàdiǎn — scattered-seen in various items, by shíshì (chronological-order) and category gathered — got zòuyì 64 piān, piántǐ (parallel-prose) 14 piān, gǔjīntǐ shī 274 shǒu, shīyú 25 shǒu, bǐlù 7 piān; further according to Lìdài míngchén zòuyì supplementary-supplemented 12 piān; still arranged into 10 juǎn — counting what is preserved still 296 piān. With Sòng shǐ called 200-some-pieces unmatched — suspecting his collection was originally 300-some-pieces; the printed-version of the shǐ perhaps mistakenly took “3” character to be “2” character.
With Dǐng — Southern-crossing famous-minister — yìrán zhòngwàng (towering important-prestige), qìjié xuéshù (integrity, learning), biāobǐng shǐshū (radiantly-illustrated in history-books) — fundamentally not for cízǎo (literary-prose) competing-short-and-long; yet what came from his xùyú (overflow) — without burden as a zuòzhě (writer) — generally is yǒuwù zhī yán (substantial-content speech) — has those that need-not-await carved-chapters and painted-couplets to-be-skilled. Viewing this collection one can see the broad-outline. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Zhōngzhèng déwén jí preserves the writings of Zhào Dǐng, one of the canonical Sì xián (Four Worthies) of early-Southern-Sòng resistance — alongside Lǐ Gāng 李綱, Lǐ Guāng 李光, and Hú Quán. As Gāozōng’s chief councillor in Shàoxīng 5–8 / 1135–1138, Zhào represented the resistance position against the héyì faction. The unusual title — Zhōngzhèng déwén — is the imperial four-character inscription Gāozōng personally wrote upon completion of the ShénZhé èrzōng shílù; this is one of the rare cases of an imperial inscription serving as the biéjí’s permanent title.
The political tragedy of Zhào’s career — repeatedly dismissed by Qín Guì 秦檜 in Shàoxīng 8 / 1138, banished progressively to Quánzhōu, Xìnghuàjūn, and finally Jíyángjūn (Hǎinán Island), where he starved himself to death (1147) — makes the collection a foundational document of the resistance-faction’s defeat. His Yíbiǎo (posthumous memorial) and the xíngzhuàng of his suicide are preserved here.
The cardinal documents include: military memorials advocating Gāozōng’s qīnzhēng (personal-expedition); the Yángzhōu / Línān policy debates; correspondence with Yuè Fēi 岳飛 and other military commanders; classical-historical reflections on dynastic crises. The 12 Lìdài míngchén zòuyì-supplemented memorials fill out the documentary record.
Lifedates 1085–1147 are confirmed by CBDB and Sòng shǐ j. 360–361.
Translations and research
- Sòng-shǐ j. 360–361 — biography (extensive).
- Tao, Jing-shen. Two Sons of Heaven (Tucson 1988). Background.
- Davis, Richard L. Wind Against the Mountain (Harvard 1996). Background.
- Wáng Zēng-yú 王曾瑜. Yuè Fēi xīn zhuàn (modern biography of Yuè Fēi, treats Zhào Dǐng’s role).
- Sòng-rén nián-pǔ cóng-kān — preserves Zhào Dǐng nián-pǔ.
Other points of interest
- The imperial-inscription-as-title (Zhōngzhèng déwén) is one of the more-distinctive titling-mechanisms in the Sòng biéjí tradition; the literal four characters bestowed by Gāozōng become the durable name of Zhào’s literary corpus.
- The death-by-self-starvation in Jíyáng (Hǎinán) is one of the canonical loyalist-suicide narratives of the Southern-Sòng moral-political tradition.