Wéishì jí 唯室集
The Sole-Room Collection by 陳長方 (撰)
About the work
Wéishì jí 唯室集 in 4 juǎn + 1 juǎn of appended materials is the surviving recension of the literary collection of Chén Chángfāng 陳長方 (1108–1148, zì Qízhī 齊之, hào Wéishì xiānshēng 唯室先生 — by which Zhū Xī alone among contemporaries addressed him in his Yǔlù, marking respect). Chén’s father Chén Shēn 陳侁 was a peer of Yóu Zuò 游酢, Yáng Shí 楊時, Zōu Hào 鄒浩, and Chén Guàn 陳瓘 — i.e., the Northern Dàoxué mainstream — so Chén Chángfāng’s learning is firmly within the Chéng family of Lǐxué. The original 14-juǎn recension recorded by Hú Bǎinéng’s xíngzhuàng and the xù by Táng Zhuàn 唐瑑 (200 pieces) was lost; the present Sìkù recension was reconstructed from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn into 4 juǎn (52 prose pieces + 39 poems) plus 1 appendix-juǎn of míng / zhuàng / jì / xù by others, and represents only about half the original.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: the Wéishì jí in 4 juǎn + 1 appendix-juǎn was composed by Chén Chángfāng of the Sòng. Chángfāng has the Bùlǐ kètán — already separately listed. This collection’s poems and prose were scattered across the various yùn of the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. According to Hú Bǎinéng’s xíngzhuàng, the original běn was 14 juǎn; Táng Zhuàn’s original preface says the family-cut version was 200 pieces. Here we have gathered the surviving fragments and obtained 52 prose pieces and 39 poems — arranged in 4 juǎn and with the míngzhuàngjìxù of others appended for reference. Although less than half the original number of pieces, the essence is preserved, and the general outline can be seen.
Chángfāng’s father Shēn associated with Yóu Zuò, Yáng Shí, Zōu Hào, and Chén Guàn — hence Chángfāng’s learning takes the Chéng (program) as its school. Zhū Xī’s Yǔlù, when speaking of contemporary scholars, mostly cites them by their zì — but for Chángfāng alone he says Wéishì xiānshēng, plainly granting him added weight. Féng Shíkě’s Yǔháng zálù says: Sòng Rú in their judgments of men love the strict-and-deep-going. Chángfāng is no exception. For instance: that Liú the Former-Lord eliminating Liú Zhāng to take Shǔ was an act of bùyì and bùcí, hence could not have the empire; or that Zhāng Jiǔlíng administering with Lǐ Línfǔ failed to expose the latter’s villainy and thus brought about the Tiānbǎo disaster — checked against the actual circumstances they may not be wholly so. But the principle is in any case correct.
His Shàoxīng 6 (1136) responsorial zházǐ sincerely takes “tighten military discipline / prepare the Yangtze / reform the canal-grain system” as urgent priorities; and on the court’s removing Zhào Dǐng and using Zhāng Jùn, he composed his Lǐyī (Village Doctor) piece, holding that the State, when making a chronic disease return, must first solidify the yuánqì; replenishing must be steady; attacking must be timed. He neither favored peace as a fixed policy nor was for hasty battle. The catastrophes of Fùpíng, Huáixī, and Fúlí (the three principal Southern-Sòng military debacles of the 1130s and 1160s) were all errors of haste and rashness — as if he had foreseen them. He was distinct from those who indulge in vague high-flown talk; though only one part in ten survives, this is better than empty utterance suitable only for covering rice-pots. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
The “Wéishì jí xù” by Táng Zhuàn (1168, Qiándào wùzǐ) at the head: I once held that the ancients did not begin with making wén; what is seen in their language all served to clarify Dào. Hence “Cí dá ér yǐ” (“Let words be communicating, that is enough”). Later ages, wén prevailing over zhì, scholars boasted of literary craft, the world esteemed it; chīzhāng huìjù, paired-four-and-six — competing for empty flowering — was the result; we have now drifted thousands of years from the Dào. My deceased friend Chén Qízhī from his early days followed teachers and friends, gaining the true acquisition; he gave no thought to empty fame, but submerged his heart in the ancient Dào. His reading of the canons gave the Chūnqiū sījì; his reading of the histories the BānFàn shǐlùn; his deepening was self-attained, his opening of the locks went straight to the inner chamber: even if a Sage were to rise again, he could not change these words. Unfortunately he died early; his deeds done are but a single hair on Mount Tài’s flank — that is why good men deeply lament. Even his everyday-use prose was no perfunctory production; mostly words of dé. What he composed and was carried off by others — what survives is little. When his orphan gathered them — only 200 pieces, soon to be carved on wood for transmission. I therefore wrote this preface. Qiándào wùzǐ, 11th month, full-moon-day. Lǔguó Táng Zhuàn, respectfully composed.
Abstract
Chén Chángfāng was a precocious Lǐxué prodigy whose lineage placed him in the second-generation Yáng Shí — Chén Guàn circle inherited through his father. He is one of the very few contemporary scholars whom Zhū Xī addresses in the Yǔlù by hào (Wéishì xiānshēng) rather than zì, marking unusual respect. The collection’s principal interest is its political zházǐ of Shàoxīng 6 (1136) — anchoring a position that anticipates the actual military disasters of the 1140s/60s through a position that is neither dogmatically peace-seeking nor reckless-warfare. The Sìkù editors single this out as the central historical contribution.
The original 14-juǎn recension (per Hú Bǎinéng’s xíngzhuàng) and Táng Zhuàn’s 1168 Qiándào family-cut (200 pieces) were lost; the surviving material was recovered from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn in the late 18th c., yielding only 52 prose pieces + 39 poems (i.e., approximately half the original).
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located in Western languages.
Other points of interest
Chén Chángfāng’s other surviving work — the Bùlǐ kètán 步里客談 (a biji-style notebook of historical and philological observations) — is separately listed in Zǐbù of the Sìkù; together they give a fairly complete picture of his learning.