Xìngshàntáng gǎo 性善堂稿
Drafts from the Hall of Original-Goodness by 度正 (撰)
About the work
Xìngshàntáng gǎo 性善堂稿 in 15 juǎn is the Sìkù-reconstructed biéjí of Dù Zhèng 度正 (c. 1166–c. 1235, zì Zhōuqīng 周卿), of Hézhōu 合州 (modern Chóngqìng). Pupil of Zhū Xī 朱熹. Jìnshì of Shàoxī (early 1190s); held office to Lǐbù shìláng; ennobled in his old age. Author also of the canonical Zhōuzǐ niánpǔ 周子年譜 (the principal Sòng chronological biography of Zhōu Dūnyí, separately cataloged in WYG). Dù Zhèng was the principal Mǐnxué exponent in the southwest, anchoring Zhū Xī’s transmission into Sìchuān. Original collection cataloged in Zhào Xībiàn’s Dúshū fùzhì in 15 juǎn with a Cáo Yànyuē 曹彥約 preface; lost since the Míng. Present recension reconstructed from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn.
Tiyao
[The standard tíyào, here translated:] The Xìngshàntáng gǎo in 15 juǎn was composed by Dù Zhèng of the Sòng. Zhèng — author of Zhōuzǐ niánpǔ — already cataloged. The Sòngshǐ biography records Zhèng has Xìngshàntáng jí — but does not record the juǎn-count. Zhào Xībiàn’s Dúshū fùzhì first listed its entry — totaling 15 juǎn; Cáo Yànyuē composed the preface for it. From Míng onwards [it has been] long lost. Now from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn gathering-up-and-arranging-by-category, dividing into 15 juǎn to restore the old. Zhèng roamed in Master Zhū’s mén (gate); his wénzhāng is zhìshí (substantial-real), by-and-large rooted in jīngjì; not engaging in liúlián guāngjǐng (lingering on light-and-scenery) [aesthetic] words. His column-memorial biànmín memorials [total] no fewer than 10,000+ words; pointing-out and explicating lìbì (benefit-and-defect) clearly-and-piercingly; can also be called liúxīn shìwù (paying attention to worldly affairs), not merely making xìngmìng (nature-and-mandate) empty-discussion. Shī-rank although not very high, but the cíyì (diction-meaning) is chàngdá (smooth-flowing); rather similar to Master Zhū’s gélǜ. Looking at his shū Yìxué qǐméng hòu, shū Huìān suǒ shì Xīmíng hòu bá, shēnqǐng shìdiànlǐ various piān: all on his master’s saying dǔxìn (deeply-believed) without doubt; fitting that he too “step-and-arrive” [in his master’s path]. Wèi Liǎowēng Zhūzǐ Yǔlèi xù says: “Fǔ Hàn-qīng授-passed-to-me Master Zhū’s yányǔ wénzì; Dù Zhōuqīng from-me requested a běn to cut at Qīngyī; therefore [I] entrusted him to take the scholar’s bìng to write at the piān-end” — and so on. So Zhèng also once printed-circulated the Yǔlèi, and composed a preface for it; but the collection has no this prose. Further the shǐ says Zhèng officed at Tàicháng, [during which] coincided with the Tàimiào fire — composed two doctrines to present [to the throne]; one used Master Zhū’s discussion; one based on the Sòng dynasty miào system, blending in Master Zhū’s discussion — the original biography fully records its outline; the collection also has no this prose. Indeed in the shāntài biānzuǎn (cutting and editing) leftover, certainly cannot avoid having some lacunae. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Xìngshàntáng gǎo preserves Dù Zhèng’s substantive Mǐnxué-orthodox biéjí — a thinker firmly within Zhū Xī’s circle whose practical-administrative writings the Sìkù editors take pains to praise as evidence that early Mǐnxué had genuine statecraft content. Dù’s biographical role: senior Sìchuān exponent of Zhū-school orthodoxy; printer of the Zhūzǐ Yǔlèi at Qīngyī (the canonical edition referenced in Wèi Liǎowēng’s preface); author of the canonical Zhōuzǐ niánpǔ (his chronological biography of Zhōu Dūnyí). The Sìkù editors note two pieces missing from the present recension: (a) Dù’s preface to the Zhūzǐ Yǔlèi edition he printed at Qīngyī; (b) Dù’s two memorials on the Tàimiào fire ritual. The dating bracket: 1190 (around the start of Dù’s senior career) through 1235 (his approximate death year, per the catalog meta date “1190” being a misprint or partial-date).
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
- 黎靖德 ed. *朱子語類》 — the canonical Yǔ-lèi recension descends in part from Dù Zhèng’s Qīng-yī cut.
Other points of interest
Dù Zhèng’s role as the printer of the Zhūzǐ Yǔlèi at Qīngyī makes him one of the principal early-Sòng disseminators of Zhū Xī’s recorded conversations into Sìchuān; the loss of his preface from the present recension is therefore a significant textual lacuna for Yǔlèi scholarship.