Àixuān jí 艾軒集
The Ài-xuān (Mugwort-Pavilion) Collection by 林光朝 (撰), 鄭岳 (編)
About the work
Àixuān jí 艾軒集 in 9 juǎn + 1 appendix-juǎn is the surviving Míng-era selection of the literary collection of Lín Guāngcháo 林光朝 (1114–1178, zì Qiānzhī 謙之, hào Àixuān 艾軒, of Pútián 莆田 in Fújiàn). Lín Guāngcháo is one of the principal Southern-Sòng Lǐxué figures known by hào alone — the so-called Nán fūzǐ (“Master of the South”). Sixteen years older than Zhū Xī 朱熹, who is said to have called him “elder brother”. Jìnshì of Lóngxīng 1 (1163), at age 50; rose to Guózǐjiān jìjiǔ concurrent Tàizǐ Zuǒ yùdé; appointed Zhōngshū shěrén concurrent shìjiǎng; on the Xiè Kuòrán drafting affair, returned the cítóu (drafted edict) — an unusual act of administrative protest — and was reassigned to Gōngbù shìláng concurrent Jíyīngdiàn xiūzhuàn zhī Wùzhōu (Prefect of Wùzhōu); died in office. The collection was originally 10 juǎn (compiled by his clansman Tóngshū 同叔, with a Chén Mì 陳宓 preface), then expanded to 20 juǎn (by his nephew Fāng Zhītài, Liú Kèzhuāng 劉克莊 preface, carved at Póyáng); both were lost by the Míng. Zhèng Yuè 鄭岳 in Zhèngdé xīnsì (1521) selected 9 juǎn + 1 juǎn of biographical materials from the surviving manuscript; this is the present text.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: the Àixuān jí in 9 juǎn + 1 appendix-juǎn was composed by Lín Guāngcháo of the Sòng. Guāngcháo’s zì was Qiānzhī, a man of Pútián. Jìnshì of Lóngxīng 1 (1163); held office to Guózǐjiān jìjiǔ concurrent Tàizǐ Zuǒ yùdé; appointed Zhōngshū shěrén concurrent shìjiǎng; with Jíyīngdiàn xiūzhuàn zhī Wùzhōu; died.
Guāngcháo was the son-in-law of Zhèng Xiá 鄭俠; further studied with Lù Zǐzhèng 陸子正; his learning and qìjié (firm conduct) had source. Sixteen years senior to Master Zhū; Zhū served him as elder brother. As Shěrén he returned the Xiè Kuòrán drafted edict — an act for which he was particularly extolled by the world.
In life he disliked composing books. After his death his clansman Tóngshū 同叔 gathered his surviving prose into 10 juǎn, with a Chén Mì preface. Later his nephew Fāng Zhītài searched for further fragments and compiled into 20 juǎn, carved at Póyáng with a Liú Kèzhuāng preface. Reaching the Míng dynasty the Sòng-era printing was already lost; only the manuscript copies remained.
In Zhèngdé xīnsì (1521) Guāngcháo’s fellow-villager Zhèng Yuè selected the best, 9 juǎn, with 1 juǎn of yíshì (anecdotes) appended, titled Àixuān wénxuǎn — this is the present běn; the so-called 10-juǎn and 20-juǎn recensions today are no longer to be seen. Wáng Shìzhēn’s Jūyì lù says he once borrowed Huáng Yújì’s [collection] to view; he laments not having transcribed — we cannot tell whether that was this běn or not. But considering this běn: the learning and qìjié may also be glimpsed in part. The old text has marginal evaluations — these were appended by Lín Jùn 林俊 of the Míng — having no insight; we have wholly cut them. Qiánlóng 41 (1776), 10th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Lín Guāngcháo is the principal Lǐxué figure of pre-Zhū-Xī Southern-Sòng Pútián and one of the few whom Zhū Xī acknowledged as a personal senior — sixteen years older, with Zhū addressing him as elder brother (per Liú Kèzhuāng’s lost-but-cited preface and Lín Jùn’s later commendation). His jìnshì came late in life (1163, at age 50) and his court career was brief but pointed: as Zhōngshū shěrén concurrent shìjiǎng he returned the cítóu (drafted edict) for the appointment of Xiè Kuòrán — i.e., refused to draft the edict, an act of formal administrative protest — for which the Sòng tradition particularly remembers him. Reassigned to Gōngbù shìláng concurrent prefect of Wùzhōu, he died in office. He was Zhèng Xiá 鄭俠’s son-in-law and a disciple of the late Northern Lǐxué figure Lù Zǐzhèng 陸子正 (himself a YángShí / Yǐn Tūn 尹焞 transmitter — i.e., the principal southern-Pú-tián channel of Cheng-brothers learning before Zhū Xī’s mature synthesis).
The textual transmission is doubly reduced. The original 10-juǎn compilation by his clansman Tóngshū (with Chén Mì preface) and the 20-juǎn expansion by his nephew Fāng Zhītài (with Liú Kèzhuāng preface, carved at Póyáng) were both lost by the Míng. Zhèng Yuè 鄭岳 in 1521 made a xuǎnběn of 9 juǎn + 1 juǎn of biographical yíshì (anecdotes) from the surviving manuscript; this is what survives. The Sìkù editors cut Lín Jùn’s marginal evaluations as having no insight.
The dating bracket: 1163 (Lín’s jìnshì year, the start of his court career) through 1178 (his death year per CBDB id 10612).
Translations and research
- Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland. 1992. Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy. Hawai’i. Treats Lín Guāng-cháo as a senior figure in the pre-Zhū-Xī Lǐ-xué network.
- 何乃川. 1995. Fú-jiàn Zhū-zǐ-xué. Treats the pre-Zhū-Xī Pú-tián Lǐ-xué lineage in detail.
Other points of interest
The Xiè Kuòrán cítóu jiǎohuán (Returning the Xiè Kuòrán drafted edict) is one of the most-commemorated administrative-protest acts of the Lóngxīng / Chúnxī era — comparable to the Yuányòu refusal-to-draft tradition of the Northern Sòng. The Pútián Lóngpō shrine to Lín Guāngcháo (the Yǎngzhǐ shūyuàn, restored in the 1521 carving year) is the principal physical commemoration. Lín Jùn’s zúsūn jiànsù identification — preserved at the front of the surviving collection — is the principal late-Míng documentation.