Píngshān jí 屏山集
Mount Píng-shān Collection by 劉子翬 (撰), edited by his son 劉玶 (編); preface by 朱熹
About the work
Píngshān jí 屏山集 in 20 juǎn is the literary collection of Liú Zǐhuī 劉子翬 (1101–1147), Zhū Xī’s youthful teacher. The title takes Liú’s hào Píngshān 屏山 (his Chóngān residence). Edited by Liú’s son Liú Píng 劉玶 劉玶 from family papers; prefaced by Zhū Xī 朱熹 (signing as ménrén Zhū mǒu). The collection’s central content is tánlǐ zhī wén (philosophical-discussion prose) — Shèngzhuàn lùn and Wéimín lùn in particular — together with substantial lùnshì memorial-style prose, regulated verse and gǔtǐ poetry, and a notable strain of Chányǔ (Zen-language) poetry that the Sìkù editors flag as evidence of Liú’s early Buddho-Daoist study.
Tiyao
Píngshān jí in 20 juǎn, by Liú Zǐhuī of the Sòng. Zǐhuī, zì Yànchōng, of Chóngān. Liú Gé’s youngest son. Once Tōngpàn Xīnghuàjūn. Withdrew through illness, returned-home, built-residence at Píngshān, where he ended. This collection is what his heir-son [Liú] Píng compiled. Zhū Zǐ wrote-the-preface for-it; the preface-end signed ménrén Zhū mǒu — surely in his youth he once received-instruction from Zǐhuī by his father’s command.
In the collection, the tánlǐ zhī wén (philosophical-prose) — biànxī míngkuài, qūzhé jìnyì (analytical clear-and-fluent; turn-and-twist exhausting-the-meaning) — without the Southern-Sòng yǔlù habit. The lùnshì prose dòngxī shíshì (penetrates-and-knows the conditions-of-the-times); also without yūkuò zhī jiàn (impractical-broad views). For example, Shèngzhuàn lùn, Wéimín lùn, and the Lùn shíshì jiāzǐ etc. pieces — all are míngtǐ dáyòng zhī zuò (clarifying-substance, attaining-application compositions). Not what those-who-discuss-the-Three-Dynasties chasing-empty-fame are to be compared-with.
The gǔshī fēnggé gāoxiù bù xí chényīn (high and graceful, not-cliched). Only the seven-character jìntǐ mixes-with the Xījiāng (= Jiāngxī) school. Surely Zǐhuī once travelled-with Lǚ Běnzhōng 呂本中. Hence the gélǜ (rhythmic-rule) at-times resembles. Wáng Shìzhēn’s Chíběi ǒután says: Píngshān jí poetry often has Chányǔ — for example Mùniú sòng says: “zhí ráo mùdé hún chúnshú; tòngchù hái yīng zhe yī biān”; Jìngshān jì dàofú says: “liáo jiàng Fórì sān duān bù; wèi zào Qīngzhōu yī lǐng shān”. Further says: “cǐ páo biànmǎn sānqiānjiè; yào yǔ hánér gòng jiěyán” — these-types are this. Further narrates Zǐhuī’s words: “wú shǎo guān Pútián; yǐ jíbìng shí jiē FóLǎo zhī tú; wén qí suǒwèi qīngjìng jìmiè zhě ér xīn yuè zhī. Bǐ guī dú rúshū, nǎi jiàn wúdào zhī dà” — etc. So Zǐhuī’s learning initially entered through Chán (Zen). At-the-time he originally did-not-conceal-it. Hence what shows in his chants — like-this. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 41 (1776), 5th month.
Abstract
The 20-juǎn WYG version is the standard recension. Zhū Xī’s preface — signed as ménrén — is among the more historically significant prefaces in Dàoxué literature, marking Zhū’s lifelong reverence for his early teacher. The LiúZhūCàiLiú network at Chóngān (Liú Zǐhuī, Zhū Sōng 朱松, Cài Yuándìng 蔡元定, and others) constituted the immediate intellectual milieu of Zhū Xī’s youth. The pre-Yánpíng (Lǐ Tóng) period of Zhū’s intellectual development depended substantially on Liú Zǐhuī.
The Sìkù editors’ methodologically-sharp verdict on the Chányǔ poetry — drawing on Wáng Shìzhēn’s Chíběi ǒután — preserves Liú’s own self-account: he came to Dàoxué via Chán. The editors’ tone is non-judgmental — observing that Liú “did-not-conceal” this trajectory, hence the persistence of Chányǔ in his poetry. This is one of the more candid contemporary evaluations of the Chán / Dàoxué boundary in early-Southern-Sòng intellectual history.
CBDB id 11827 confirms 1101–1147; CBDB id 11833 confirms his editor-son Liú Píng 1138–1185.
Translations and research
- 朱熹 Píng-shān xiān-shēng wén-jí xù — preserved at head of WYG (the standard preface).
- 王士禎 Chí-běi ǒu-tán — preserves the Chán-yǔ discussion.
- Sòng yuán xué-àn — Liú’s intellectual lineage.
- No dedicated Western-language monograph located. Liú’s role in Zhū Xī’s education is treated in surveys of Zhū Xī biography (Wing-tsit Chan, etc.).
Other points of interest
- The Liú Zǐhuī biographical / textual record is one of the better windows into the Dàoxué / Chán boundary in the early Southern Sòng — preceding the eventual sharper polemical separation under Zhū Xī’s mature thought.