還山遺稿

Huánshān yígǎo 還山遺稿

The Huán-shān (Returning-to-the-Mountain) Surviving Drafts by 楊奐 (撰), 宋挺佐 (輯)

About the work

A two-juàn surviving collection of Yáng Huàn 楊奐 (CBDB 35373, 1186–1255), alternate name Zhīzhāng 知章, zì Huànrán 煥然, hào Zǐyáng 紫陽 / Zǐyánggé 紫陽閣, native of Fèngtiān 奉天 in Qiánzhōu 乾州 (modern Shǎnxī). The Sìkù base derives from the Míng Jiājìng chū compilation by the Nányáng man Sòng Tǐngzuǒ 宋挺佐 — a yígǎo (surviving-drafts) compilation of fragments rescued from various sources. Comprises 1 juàn of prose, 1 juàn of poetry, prefaced by a Kǎosuì lüè 考歲略 (Brief Chronological Examination, i.e. niánpǔ) and appended by an fùlù of biographical sketches and inscriptions. The Sìkù editors particularly note that Sòng Tǐngzuǒ’s editorial method was scrupulous: each piece is annotated as to its source (which book, which person, or which stele) — a degree of philological care characteristic of mid-Míng scholarship.

Tiyao

The Huánshān yígǎo, 2 juàn, by Yáng Huàn of the Yuán. Huàn, also-named Zhīzhāng, zì Huànrán, hào Zǐyánggé, [was] a Fèngtiān man of Qiánzhōu. Born in the Jīn Shìzōng Dàdìng 26 (1186); altogether [he sat] the autumn-examination four times and was selected, but the spring [palace-]examination [he] always failed. Entering the Yuán, by Yēlǜ Chǔcái’s recommendation [he was] appointed Hénánlù zhēngshōu suìkè suǒ zhǎngguān concurrently Liánfǎngshǐ; after ten years [he] retired and returned. [His] deeds [are] in the Yuánshǐ běnzhuàn. Examining the collection’s Bìtóng jì says: “What [I] have composed includes the Huánshān qiánjí 81 juàn, hòují 20 juàn, Jìnjiàn 30 juàn, Hánzǐ 10 juàn, Gàiyán 25 piān, Yànzuǎn 8 juàn, Běijiànjì 3 juàn, Zhèngtǒngjì 60 juàn.” The Yuánshǐ běnzhuàn then only states “having Huánshān jí 60 juàn”. Yuán Hǎowèn composing Huàn’s shéndào bēi then states “Huánshān jí 120 juàn”. The juàn-numbers all differ; not [agreeing]. Yet the old recension cannot be regained — there is no way to confirm.

This base [is] what was compiled by the Nányáng man Sòng Tǐngzuǒ at the beginning of Míng Jiājìng — because [he] gathered-up the leftover-remnants, [he] therefore named it yígǎo. Altogether 1 juàn of prose and 1 juàn of poetry; preceded by the Kǎosuì lüè; further appended [with] biography, inscription, tíyǒng and the like as 1 juàn; and each [piece is] annotated below with [the words] “gathered from [such-and-such] book, obtained from [such-and-such] person, [and] the stone-inscription presently at [such-and-such] place” — likely in the middle period of Míng, scholar-officials, even-when composing one book, were still substantial-and-not-careless [enough to] necessarily seek to be evidence-grounded like this. Huàn’s poetry and prose all [are] guāngmíng jùnwěi (light-and-bright, eminent-and-great) — having the Zhōngyuán wénxiàn zhī yí (remnant of the Central-Plains literary-and-documentary tradition) — not what the Southern Sòng Jiānghú various men qìhán shūsǔn (qi-cold like-vegetables-and-bamboo-shoots) can [equal].

His Biàn gùgōng jì (Record of the Old Palace at Biàn) describes the remaining traces of the Northern Sòng Imperial Palace; his Letter to Yáo Gōngmào discussing Zhūzǐ’s Family-Ritual Spirit-Tablet Form cites what he saw at Táng Dù Yǎn’s family-shrine and the Sòng Imperial Ancestral Temple at Biànjīng as evidence. His Dōngyóu jì (Record of the Eastern Journey) describes the ancient traces of the Kǒnglíng (Confucius-Forest) with particular thoroughness — all may serve as documentary-evidence-supplements. Táo Zōngyí’s Chuògēng lù records that Huàn once, reading the Tōngjiàn, reached the discussion on HànWèi zhèngrùn (legitimate-vs.-intercalated [succession]) and was greatly indignant; [he] thereupon revised the Hànshū and refuted-and-corrected its affairs — composing a poem: “Wind-and-mist cǎndàn (gloomy-and-dim), holding-down the Three-Bā [region]; Hàn-flames about-to-burn, Shǔ-women weep; [Sīmǎ] Wēngōng asks of book-method — after Wǔhóu’s entering-as-foe whose-family’s [enemy]?” — afterward attacking Sòng [historians, his] army [of words], returning, began to see [ZhūXī’s] Tōngjiàn gāngmù. His book was thereupon dormant. So his learning-and-insight [were] indeed in dark agreement with Zǐyáng [Zhū Xī].

Respectfully collated, tenth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). Chief-Compiler Officers Jì Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅; Chief-Collation Officer Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.

Abstract

Yáng Huàn (CBDB 35373, 1186–1255) is a major JīnYuán transition Confucian figure, one of the principal northern scholar-officials of the early Mongol administration. Native of Fèngtiān in Qiánzhōu (Shǎnxī). Repeatedly successful in the Jīn-period autumn (xiāng) examination but unable to pass the palace examination. After the Mongol conquest of Jīn (1234), recommended to the Mongol court by Yēlǜ Chǔcái 耶律楚材 (1190–1244, the great Mongol Khitan minister) and appointed Hénánlù zhēngshōu suìkè suǒ zhǎngguān concurrent Liánfǎngshǐ — Yáng was thus a senior Mongol-period tax administrator. Retired after ten years. The Sìkù editors note Yáng’s broad literary output — multiple substantial works on history (the Tōngjiàn-inspired Zhèngtǒngjì in 60 juàn), philosophy (Hánzǐ in 10 juàn, Gàiyán), and topographical-historical observation (the Biàn gùgōng jì preserving Northern-Sòng palace remains, the Dōngyóu jì on the Kǒnglíng, the Letter to Yáo Gōngmào on Zhū Xī’s Jiālǐ spirit-tablet form). Particularly notable: Yáng anticipated Zhū Xī’s Tōngjiàn gāngmù in repudiating the HànWèi zhèngrùn succession judgment of Sīmǎ Guāng’s Tōngjiàn — Yáng began revising the Hànshū on Shǔ-Hàn-legitimist grounds, but abandoned the project when he learned of Zhū Xī’s prior Gāngmù solution.

Yáng’s original 80+20=100-juàn (per his own Bìtóng jì) or 60-juàn (per Yuánshǐ) or 120-juàn (per Yuán Hǎowèn’s shéndào bēi) corpus is almost entirely lost — only the 2-juàn yígǎo compilation by Sòng Tǐngzuǒ in early-Jiā-jìng Míng survives, supplemented by Yuán Hǎowèn’s Shéndào bēi and Yuánshǐ biography. The compilation is notable for its scrupulous source-annotation practice — each piece carries its provenance.

Translations and research

• Igor de Rachewiltz et al. (eds.), In the Service of the Khan: Eminent Personalities of the Early Mongol-Yuan Period (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1993) — Yáng Huàn is discussed in context.
• Yuán-shǐ j. 153 (Yáng Huàn biography).
• Yuán Hǎo-wèn’s Yí-shān xiān-shēng wén jí preserves the Yáng Huàn shén-dào bēi.

Other points of interest

Sòng Tǐngzuǒ’s mid-Míng (Jiājìng chū, 1520s) editorial method — annotating the provenance of each gathered piece — is the most-praised feature of the yígǎo by the Sìkù editors, who use it as evidence that “in the middle period of Míng, scholar-officials, even when composing one book, were still substantial-and-not-careless”.

Links

• WYG SKQS V1198.6, p219.
• CBDB person 35373 (Yáng Huàn)
• Yuánshǐ j. 153