Ní Shílíng shū 倪石陵書
The Letters of Ní of Shí-líng by 倪朴 (撰), 毛鳳韶 (輯)
About the work
Ní Shílíng shū 倪石陵書 in 1 juǎn is the surviving recension of the prose of Ní Pǔ 倪朴 (zì Wénqīng 文卿, of Pǔjiāng 浦江 in modern Zhèjiāng; lived at Shílíng village 石陵村, hence the hào). Ní attempted the jìnshì in Shàoxīng but was unsuccessful; in the late Shàoxīng he composed a wànyán shū (ten-thousand-word memorial) intended for submission to Gāozōng but never submitted; the memorial was preserved by Zhèng Bóxióng 鄭伯熊 and Chén Liàng 陳亮, who held it in great esteem. He was later framed by villagers and exiled to Yúnzhōu 筠州 (Jiāngxī); released by amnesty. The collection’s title (shū “letter” rather than jí “collection”) was given by the late-Míng compiler Máo Fèngsháo 毛鳳韶 of Máchéng (Jiājìng bǐngxū / 1526) “to indicate the chief weight” — i.e., to mark the Nǐ shàng Gāozōng shū as the dominant single piece. Ní also produced a Yúdì huìyuán zhì 輿地會元志 in 40 juǎn (a geographical compendium, lost) which Wú Shīdào and Sòng Lián particularly esteemed in his memorial zhuàn. The collection contains: 1 Nǐ shàng Gāozōng shū; 8 shūzhá; 7 Shū Tángshǐ zhūzhuàn; 1 biàn (the Guānyīnyuàn zhōng kè biàn on WúYuè’s calendar adoption — a piece the Sìkù editors find historically defective).
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: the Ní Shílíng shū in 1 juǎn was composed by Ní Pǔ of the Sòng. Pǔ’s zì was Wénqīng, of Pǔjiāng; dwelt at Shílíng village, hence the hào. Once attempted jìnshì in Shàoxīng mò; composed a 10,000-word memorial nǐ shàng (intended for submission to) Gāozōng but did not submit; Zhèng Bóxióng and Chén Liàng both extolled it. Later was framed-and-charged by villagers, exiled-set-at Yúnzhōu; on amnesty released-and-returned. Wú Shīdào and Sòng Lián both composed zhuàn for him. Shīdào says he was thoroughly versed in military attack-and-defense strategic-points, particularly refined in geography; composed Yúdì huìyuán zhì in 40 juǎn — now not transmitted; transmitted are only this collection — covering 1 part in 10.
The leading piece is Nǐ shàng Gāozōng shū; further 8 shūzhá; 7 pieces Shū Tángshǐ zhūzhuàn; 1 biàn — largely gǔjiàn yǒufǎ (ancient-strong with method). Only its Guānyīnyuàn zhōngkè biàn — discussing why the WúYuè reckoning changed-eras: namely because the Liáng was destroyed by the Táng, [the WúYuè ruler] would not turn-face-and-serve-the-enemy; rather adopted the Táng’s calendar; this is the great jié of the Qián-house establishing the kingdom — but Qián Liú is in fact the Táng’s surviving subject; at the time of Zhū Wēn’s usurpation-and-rebellion, Luó Yǐn’s words solemnly hold the great-yì — yet [the WúYuè] do not take the cuànTáng zhī Liáng (the Liáng-that-usurped-Táng) as enemy but reverse: take the Liáng-extinguishing Táng (the Later-Táng) as enemy — shìfēi diāndǎo, no greater than this. Ní Pǔ, for the loss of Biànjīng, working to extend the fùchóu (revenge) yì, then combined this affair and force-fitted-and-attached — may be called a defect in his words. Yet Zhèng Kǎi and Dù Huán’s two bá particularly extol this piece. Their words are extreme. The juǎn end has Wú Lái’s one preface — composed for Xiè Áo gathering Pǔ’s various-prose; alone does not lift this piece — his discrimination is firmly above the two persons.
What [Xiè] Áo gathered long has no transmitted běn; his preface is from the Yuānyǐngjí extracted-out. This běn then is what Míng Jiājìng bǐngxū (1526) the Máchéng Máo Fèngsháo gathered. Its-being-not-called-jí (collection) but called-shū (letters) — Fèngsháo’s self-preface says — to use the Shàng Gāozōng shū as principal, to lift what is heavy. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 12th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Ní Pǔ is one of the more documented unsuccessful-jìnshì literary figures of the late-Shàoxīng era. His unfinished and unsubmitted wànyán shū (10,000-word memorial intended for Gāozōng) — which functioned as a manuscript-circulating polemic — was held in unusually high regard by Zhèng Bóxióng and Chén Liàng (the Yǒngkāng school’s leading figure), placing Ní in the network of late-Shàoxīng / early-Lóngxīng alternative-policy critics. Wú Shīdào and Sòng Lián composed his memorial zhuàn; both single out his geographical-strategic expertise as evidenced in his lost 40-juǎn Yúdì huìyuán zhì.
The collection’s structure (1 Nǐ shàng Gāozōng shū, 8 letters, 7 Shū Tángshǐ zhūzhuàn historical-discussions, 1 biàn) makes it a small but tightly-focused jīngshì corpus. The Sìkù editors’ single critical note concerns the Guānyīnyuàn zhōngkè biàn: Ní defends WúYuè’s adoption of the Táng calendar (after the Liáng-usurpation of Táng) as a fùchóu moral act — but WúYuè in fact then took the HòuTáng (which destroyed the Liáng) as the enemy, contradicting the moral logic; Ní force-fits this contradiction. The Sìkù editors detect this defect — and praise Wú Lái’s preface, which excludes the piece from his selection.
The dating bracket: 1162 (the catalog meta gives “fl. 1162–1174”, consistent with Ní’s late-Shàoxīng / early-Lóngxīng activity) through 1180 (a conservative notAfter).
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The 10,000-word memorial-to-Gāo-zōng (Nǐ shàng Gāozōng shū) is one of the principal documented manuscript-circulating critical-political memorials of the late-Shàoxīng era — comparable to Chén Liàng’s Zhōngxīng wǔlùn and other unsubmitted cè — that influenced the late-Shàoxīng and Lóngxīng policy reformulation through informal channels. The compiler’s deliberate naming of the collection as shū (letters) rather than jí (collection) is itself a signal of the genre-emphasis he wished to give the text.