Júshān sìliù 橘山四六
Júshān’s Parallel-Prose by 李廷忠 (撰), 孫雲翼 (注)
About the work
Júshān sìliù 橘山四六 in 20 juǎn is the dedicated sìliù (4-6 parallel-prose) collection of Lǐ Tíngzhōng 李廷忠 (zì Jūhòu 居厚, hào Júshān 橘山), of Yúqián 於潛 (modern Hángzhōu, Zhèjiāng), jìnshì of Chúnxī 8 (1181); held office to Kuízhōu tōngpàn. The text was annotated by Sūn Yúnyì 孫雲翼 of Dānyáng 丹陽 in Wànlì dīngwèi (1607) — Sūn’s preface explains that he picked up the manuscript while traveling to the capital for the gòng examination in jiǎshēn (1604) and gradually annotated it during his subsequent posting in the south. The annotation, while extensive, the Sìkù editors found unhelpful (wúzá).
Tiyao
[The standard tíyào, here translated:] The Júshān sìliù in 20 juǎn was composed by Lǐ Tíngzhōng of the Sòng. Tíngzhōng’s zì was Jūhòu; Júshān is his hào. A man of Yúqián. Jìnshì of Chúnxī 8; held office as Wúwéi jiàoguān, Zhī Jīngdéxiàn; ended at Kuízhōu tōngpàn. The Sòngshǐ has no biography. Lì È in composing the Sòngshī jìshì records [his] writings as Dòngxiāo shījí — now also lost. Only this compilation survives. In Míng Wànlì, Sūn Yúnyì of Dānyáng made annotations for it. Yúnyì’s self-preface says: “What I store is originally a manuscript-copy; in jiǎshēn (1604) responding to the gòng in the capital, I incidentally carried this zhì; thereupon took it and read-through, hand-by-hand annotating-and-explaining; later following the dié (dispatch) to yánjiào (the southern frontier), the zuǒpì (left-skewed) [region] had much leisure; thereupon took [it] for correction, gradually adding quáncì (annotation-and-ordering)” — and so on. Indeed previously without cut-blocks; from Yúnyì’s annotation-explication onward, [it] was first授-梓 to circulate the world. Tíngzhōng’s name-and-rank were not prominent; therefore the collection’s qǐzhā (letters-and-memoranda) are many — by-and-large hòuwèn chóuxiè (greeting-and-thanking) compositions. And in juǎn 14 are all hèzhèng (congratulating-the-new-year) and hè dōngzhì (congratulating winter-solstice) jiānbiǎo; among them are phrases like chéngyáo hùcáo (mounting-the-light-carriage protecting-the-revenue) — which do not match Tíngzhōng’s career. Must not be his own [composition]. Examining Hóng Mài’s Róngzhāi sìbǐ: it says in Sòng-times the various prefectures successively-passed [the duty of] composing biǎozòu shūqǐ to the jiàoshòu (education-officer); and on this account presented him with money-and-wine — this must be what Tíngzhōng, while jiàoguān, composed on behalf of the prefect and xiànchén (judicial officials); only the original-edition has not yet annotated [this] clearly, so [it] cannot be told apart. Northern-Sòng sìliù is by-and-large diǎnzhòng yuānyǎ (canonical-weighty, deep-elegant) as principle; the post-nándù tail-stream gradually flowed xiānruò (slender-weak). Tíngzhōng was born exactly at Chúnxī Shàoxī — the very time of style about-to-change — therefore his composed tǐgé is somewhat low — often loving broad and proud-of-new — turning to harm by being verbose. Yet the weaving-arrangement is still skilled-stable; his good places truly cannot be hidden — certainly should be preserved as one school’s [example]. As for Yúnyì’s annotations: especially much wúzá (chaotic), insufficient to assist examination. Because his bāozhuì (gathering-and-stitching) was rather diligent, [we] therefore for-the-time-being still record [it] as the old běn, no further cutting-or-removing. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 5th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Júshān sìliù is a notable example of a single-genre Sòng biéjí — devoted entirely to the parallel sìliù prose form, dominant in mid-Southern-Sòng administrative and ceremonial writing. Lǐ Tíngzhōng’s career as jiàoguān (education-officer) and prefectural staff made him a heavy producer of ghost-written ceremonial pieces (hè zhèng, hè dōngzhì biǎo, jiānbiǎo greetings) for prefects and judicial officials — the Sìkù editors identify a substantial number of these in juǎn 14 as not Lǐ’s own positions but compositions on behalf of other officials, citing Hóng Mài’s Róngzhāi sìbǐ on the institutional practice. The dating bracket: 1181 (Lǐ’s jìnshì) through 1607 (Sūn Yúnyì’s annotation-and-cutting — the work was not block-printed before this date).
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
- 黃寬重. 1996. 《南宋史研究集》. Treats Sòng sì-liù and prefectural ceremonial-writing practice.
Other points of interest
The Sìkù editors’ identification of the institutional practice of prefectural staff (especially jiàoguān) producing ceremonial sìliù on behalf of senior officials is one of the more useful documentations of late-Sòng administrative-literary practice. The collection itself is an unusually pure single-genre work in the WYG.