Dànxuān jí 澹軒集
The Dàn-xuān (Plain-Pavilion) Collection by 李呂 (撰)
About the work
Dànxuān jí 澹軒集 in 8 juǎn is the surviving recension of the literary collection of Lǐ Lǚ 李呂 (1122–1198, zì Bīnlǎo 濵老 / Dōnglǎo 東老, of Shàowǔjūn Guāngzé 邵武軍光澤 in modern Fújiàn). His career has no Sòng shǐ representation; the principal contemporary biographical document is Zhōu Bìdà’s 周必大 Lǐ Lǚ mùzhì (preserved in Zhōu’s Píngyuán xùgǎo j. 35; appended at the back of this collection). Lǐ refused the kējǔ examination route at age 40 and devoted himself thereafter to Lǐxué personal-cultivation; Zhū Xī 朱熹 composed an epitaph for Lǐ’s father, and Lǐ’s son Lǐ Wénzǐ 李文子 sought a preface from Zhū after Lǐ’s death — Zhū praised the work as “yǒu bǔ yú shìjiào” (having supplement to world-instruction) but died before composing the preface (recorded in Lǐ Wénzǐ’s posthumous báyǔ). The SòngYuán original 15-juǎn recension (per Jiāo Hóng’s Jīngjízhì, agreeing with Zhōu Bìdà’s epitaph) was lost; the Sìkù recension was reconstructed from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: the Dànxuān jí in 8 juǎn was composed by Lǐ Lǚ of the Sòng. Lǚ’s zì was Bīnlǎo, alternative zì Dōnglǎo, of Shàowǔjūn Guāngzé. His deeds are not in the shǐzhuàn. Only Zhōu Bìdà’s Píngyuán xùgǎo j. 35 contains his composed Lǐshì mùzhì — calling [Lǐ] sober-and-grave, self-respectful, with prodigious memory; at age 40 he abandoned kējǔ; lived to 77 and died. Further called: his learning toiled at gōngxíng (personal-practice); deeply hated kǒuěr (mouth-and-ear) habit; read the Yì’s 64 guà — all composed yìshuō (meaning-discussions); particularly intent on the Zīzhì tōngjiàn, having composed lùn-zhe in several hundreds of pieces. So a tiántuì lìxué (modestly-retired and force-learning) gentleman.
Master Zhū once composed his father’s mùzhì; the collection still has the Shàng Huìān gàn mùzhì (Letter to Huìān requesting an epitaph). Further: Lǚ established a shècāng (community-granary); Master Zhū composed its jì, sighing he bore the jīngshì zōngwù (managing-affairs and gathering-things) talent — but old without meeting opportunity. After Lǚ’s death his son Wénzǐ took the collection to seek a preface; Master Zhū said to others: “Lǐ Wén’s prose is to be called having supplement to world-instruction.” He had not yet composed the preface when his illness was already heavy — visible in Wénzǐ’s báyǔ.
Now considering the poetry-and-prose: although mostly close to pǔzhí (plain-and-direct) and lacking bōlán huífù (wave-and-billow turning-back) charm, unable to constitute a school — yet míngbái tǎnyì (clear and straightforward); often relating to encouragement-and-warning; not failing as a Rúzhě zhī yán (Confucianist’s words). What Master Zhū praised — truly came from public discussion, not entirely because his son Wénzǐ was studying at his door.
Jiāo Hóng’s Guóshǐ jīngjízhì records the Dànxuān jí in 15 juǎn — agreeing with Zhōu Bìdà’s mùzhì. The world has no transmitted běn, only seen scattered in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. We respectfully gather and order, edited as 3 juǎn poetry + 1 juǎn cí + 4 juǎn miscellaneous prose; Zhōu Bìdà’s mùzhì in 1 piece, also appended at the volume-end for cross-reference. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Lǐ Lǚ is one of the documentation-windows into the Zhū Xī circle’s outer-Fú-jiàn correspondents and patrons. His abandoning of the kējǔ track at age 40 in favor of gōngxíng (personal-practice) Lǐxué cultivation; his correspondence with Zhū Xī requesting an epitaph for his father; Zhū’s composition of a jì for his community-granary; Zhū’s late-life endorsement of the surviving prose — all together place Lǐ in the senior outer ZhūXī circle of the 1180s–1190s. His own deepest scholarly interests were the Yì (64-guà meaning-discussions, lost) and the Zīzhì tōngjiàn (several hundred lùn-pieces, lost).
The SòngYuán transmission was 15 juǎn (per Jiāo Hóng and Zhōu Bìdà’s epitaph); this was lost; the Sìkù editors recovered 8 juǎn (3 poetry + 1 cí + 4 prose) from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn, with Zhōu Bìdà’s epitaph appended. The dating bracket: 1162 (the year Lǐ abandoned kējǔ at age 40) through 1198 (his death year, age 77).
Translations and research
- Yamane, Mitsuyoshi. 1991. “Zhū Xī’s shè-cāng (community-granary) program.” Treats the shè-cāng movement of which Lǐ Lǚ was a participant.
Other points of interest
The shècāng community-granary movement — for which Zhū Xī wrote Lǐ Lǚ’s jì — was one of Zhū Xī’s principal late-life social-policy programs, and Lǐ’s participation makes him a documented case-study. Lǐ’s lost Yì-discussions and Tōngjiàn lùn are unusual cases of substantial Lǐxué / historical-criticism corpora that did not come through.