Jiǔhuá jí 九華集
The Nine-Splendor Collection by 員興宗 (撰)
About the work
Jiǔhuá jí 九華集 in 25 juǎn with 1-juǎn appendix is the Sìkù-reconstructed biéjí of Yún Xīngzōng 員興宗 (d. 1170, zì Xiǎndào 顯道, hào Jiǔhuázǐ 九華子), of the Sānyú 三嵎 region (modern Réngshòu 仁壽 in Sìchuān). Held office to Zhùzuò láng and Shílùyuàn jiǎntǎoguān. Yún is also the author of the separately-cataloged Cǎishí zhànshèng lù 采石戰勝錄 (record of the Cǎishí victory of Shàoxīng 31, 1161, in which Yú Yǔnwén 虞允文 routed the Jīn forces). The original 50-juǎn recension was edited by Yún’s grandson Róngzǔ 榮祖 and prefaced by Yún’s brother Mèngxié 夢協 and the historian Lǐ Xīnchuán 李心傳 in Bǎoqìng 3 (1227); long lost by Míng. The present recension is reconstructed from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn: 6 juǎn of poetry, 15 of miscellaneous prose, plus separate items: Lùnyǔ jiě, Lǎozǐ jiělüè, Xīchuí bǐlüè (Notes on Western Frontier Affairs), and the Shàoxīng Cǎishí dàzhàn shǐmò (full account of the Cǎishí battle), with appended sacrificial texts from contemporaries.
Tiyao
The Jiǔhuá jí in 25 juǎn with appendix in 1 juǎn was composed by Yún Xīngzōng of the Sòng. Xīngzōng — author of Cǎishí zhànshèng lù — already cataloged. His collection seen in Jiāo Hóng’s Guóshǐ jīngjí zhì was originally 50 juǎn, edited in Bǎoqìng 3 (1227) by his grandson Róngzǔ. Xīngzōng’s brother Mèngxié, and Jǐngyán Lǐ Xīnchuán, both prefaced it. Lost since the Míng. Now examining what is recorded in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn, gathering and arranging, [we] divide into: shī in 6 juǎn, miscellaneous prose in 15 juǎn; further the Lùnyǔ jiě, the Lǎozǐ jiělüè, the Xīchuí bǐlüè, and the Shàoxīng Cǎishí dàzhàn shǐmò — each in 1 juǎn. As for the contemporary sacrificial-pieces in the original collection that can mutually verify Xīngzōng’s life-and-work — separately formed into 1 juǎn and appended at the back. The collection contains many letters back-and-forth with Zhāng Shì 張栻 and Lù Jiǔyuān 陸九淵 — indeed [a man] of the jiǎngxué family. Yet the memorials submitted are mostly resolutely-upright counter-arguments — pointing-out time’s defects with many root-cutting words. Lǐ Xīnchuán’s preface says: that guīfù (the surrendered) once detained were [proposed for] dispatch back; that yúyù (palanquin and chariot) being driven out were soon recalled; that the jūnshū (uniform-transport tax) long abolished was suddenly restored — these three matters are all what the court must do, yet Xīngzōng wielded brush and spoke fully [against them], driven out yet did not regret. Then his statesmanship and integrity all had real substance — not those who indulged in empty talk. Further: Hóng Kuò 洪括 [Hóng Kuò], composing the Lìshì, once consulted [him] about several Hàn-stele matters — Xīngzōng for him verified source-and-end, finely-erudite. The single answer-letter is in the collection. His learning is broad-elegant, also not easily attained. Although his style strives to follow Hán [Yù] and Liǔ [Zōngyuán], not without the defect of excessive forging — yet his bony-strength is sharp-and-firm, certainly without the post-southern-crossing flowing-and-tangled habits — he stands out as a writer. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Jiǔhuá jí preserves the corpus of one of the principal mid-12th-c. Sìchuān civil-service voices, with substantial polemical memorials against three signature policies of Gāozōng’s early Shàoxīng government — the proposed return of Jīn-territory refugees, the recall of disgraced officials, and the revival of the jūnshū (uniform transport / jūnshū fǎ) tax. The collection’s textual contributions include: (a) the Lùnyǔ jiě and Lǎozǐ jiělüè — Yún’s classical exegesis; (b) the Xīchuí bǐlüè — frontier essays on the Sìchuān-side defensive system; (c) the Cǎishí dàzhàn shǐmò — a contemporary first-hand account of the 1161 Cǎishí battle that complements Yún’s separately-transmitted Cǎishí zhànshèng lù; (d) a single answer-letter to Hóng Kuò 洪适 documenting Yún’s antiquarian-epigraphic erudition (Hóng Kuò was author of the Lìshì 隸釋, the foundational catalog of Hàn stele inscriptions).
The dating bracket: 1163 (Yún’s earliest dateable composition, when he submitted memorials early in Lóngxīng) to 1227 (the date of Lǐ Xīnchuán’s preface to the original 50-juǎn recension, which is the terminus ante quem for the principal recension). Yún himself died in 1170 per CBDB id 27397; the lower bracket reflects the work’s transmission and recognition rather than its composition. The author was a member of the Zhāng Shì–Lù Jiǔyuān corresponding network, attested by surviving letters in the collection.
Translations and research
- Franke, Herbert. 1976. Sung Biographies. Wiesbaden: Steiner. Brief biographical entry on Yún Xīng-zōng.
- Sòng-rén zhuàn-jì zī-liào suǒ-yǐn records this bié-jí as the principal source for Yún’s life.
- No substantial monographic Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The Hóng Kuò answer-letter on Hàn-stele epigraphy is one of the more interesting documents of mid-12th-c. jīnshí (epigraphic) scholarship, providing testimony for the network of antiquarian correspondents of which Hóng Kuò was the central figure. Yún’s antiquarian engagement is otherwise nearly unknown.