Qínzhāi jí 勤齋集
The Qín-zhāi (Diligent-Studio) Collection by 蕭㪺 (撰)
About the work
The 8-juàn recovered collection of Xiāo Jū 蕭㪺** (CBDB 690674, 1241–1318; the catalog meta gives 1230–1307, but CBDB’s 1241–1318 is the modern-standard dating supported by Yuánshǐ Rúlín zhuàn; both dates here may need verification), zì Wéidǒu 維斗, posthumous shì Zhēnmǐn 貞敏, native of Fèngyuán 奉元 (modern Xīān 西安). Yuán-period Jíxián xuéshì 集賢學士 and Guózǐ jìjiǔ 國子祭酒 (Imperial Academy Chancellor) — succeeding Xǔ Héng 許衡 as the principal northern Yuán Neo-Confucian patriarch.
The Sìkù editors note Xiāo’s xíngzhuàng (per Sū Tiānjué’s Zīxī jí preserving the mùzhì míng for Xiāo): Xiāo was extraordinarily learned across the Six Classics and the Hundred Schools, especially expert in the Sānlǐ (Three Ritual Classics — Yílǐ, Lǐjì, Zhōulǐ) and the Yì; profoundly mastered the Liùshū (script-categories). Originally dug a chamber in the earth at the base of Mt. Zhōngnán 終南山, arranged the classics-and-commentaries on its left and right, and there sīsuǒ qí yì (sought-and-pondered their meaning) until forgetting sleep — for thirty years — finally achieving comprehensive insight. Xiāo carried forward Xǔ Héng’s Lǐxué tradition: “After Xǔ Héng’s clarification-and-illumination of Lǐxué, Xiāo Jū truly continued it; [Xiāo’s] composing-of-prose entirely roots in the classics.”
The original Yuánshǐ Rúlín zhuàn (which gives Xiāo a substantial biography) characterizes him: “Xiāo’s zhìxíng (held-conduct) [is] extremely high; [his] zhēnlǚ shíjiàn (true-step substantial-practice); when teaching people, [he] necessarily begins with the Xiǎoxué; composing prose-and-language, lìyì jīngshēn (establishing-meaning, refined-and-deep); yán jìn zhǐyuǎn (words close, aim far); uniformly takes ZhūSì (Confucius and Mencius) as origin, with LiánLuò Kǎotíng (the ZhōuChéngZhū lineage) as basis; [a] generation’s chúnrú (pure Confucian).”
The original Qínzhāi jí was first gathered in Zhìzhèng 4 (1344) — about thirty years after Xiāo’s death — by Sū Tiānjué 蘇天爵 KR4d0523 while serving on the Xītái (Western Censorate): 80 piān of prose, 260 poems, 28 yuèfǔ — total 15 juàn, cut at Huáidōng provincial expense. The Míng-period lost the original blocks; only Yǒnglè dàdiǎn preserves the remnant. The Sìkù base reconstructs: 42 piān of prose, 261 poems, 4 cí — 8 juàn.
The Sìkù editors note that Jiāo Hóng’s Guóshǐ jīngjí zhì names the work Qínzhāi Zhēnmǐn jí (Diligent-Studio Truly-Diligent Collection — combining the studio-name and the posthumous shì); the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn gives only Qínzhāi jí. The Sìkù editors take the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn title as authoritative (since Yáo Guǎngxiào’s Yǒnglè dàdiǎn compilation came shortly after the original 1344 print and likely worked from Sū Tiānjué’s compilation).
Tiyao
[Substantively translated above. The Sìkù editors continue:]
The Sìkù editors note two important documentary contributions of the Qínzhāi jí:
- The Cí rúxué tíjǔ shū (Declining the Confucian School Tíjǔ Letter)
- The Cí miǎn jìjiǔ sīyè děng zhuàng (Declining the Jìjiǔ and Sīyè Memorial) — these preserve the substantive documentation of Xiāo’s chūchù jìntuì zhī dàjié (out-and-in-coming-and-going great-integrity), demonstrating his refusal of imperial advancement in favor of his own scholarly retreat at the Zhōngnán earth-chamber.
The Sìkù editors evaluate Xiāo’s verse: “Shī fēi suǒ cháng (poetry was not where he excelled); yet [in] táoyě xìnglíng (smelting-and-shaping nature-and-spirit), entirely-cutting-off xiānnóng liúpài (slender-rich school-style), [it] is also sufficient to glimpse his zhìqù (will-and-interest) [as] high.”
Respectfully collated, ninth 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
The principal literary monument of Xiāo Jū (1241–1318 per CBDB; alternate 1230–1307 in some sources), the Yuán-period Jìjiǔ of the Imperial Academy who carried forward Xǔ Héng’s 許衡 Lǐxué tradition. With Xǔ Héng as predecessor patriarch, Xiāo establishes the northern Yuán Neo-Confucian institutional lineage at the Imperial Academy.
The principal biographical fact: Xiāo’s thirty-year retreat in an earth-chamber at the base of Mt. Zhōngnán 終南山, where he arranged the classics-and-commentaries on left and right and pursued sīsuǒ wàngmèi (seeking-and-pondering forgetting-sleep) study — eventually emerging with comprehensive scholarly mastery. This is one of the iconic Yuán Confucian self-cultivation legends.
Xiāo’s scholarly distinction: especially expert in the Sānlǐ 三禮 (the three Confucian ritual classics: Yílǐ, Lǐjì, Zhōulǐ) and the Yì 易; profoundly mastered the Liùshū 六書 (six script-categories — the canonical Chinese paleographical-classification scheme). His teaching method strictly required the Xiǎoxué 小學 as the entry point.
The Sìkù Yǒnglè dàdiǎn reconstruction (8 juàn) is approximately half the original 1344 Sū Tiānjué compilation (15 juàn). The original was cut at Huáidōng provincial expense at the Xītái (Western Censorate) — Sū’s office at the time. The two principal documentary contributions of the surviving recension are the Cí rúxué tíjǔ shū (Declining the Confucian School Tíjǔ Letter) and the Cí miǎn jìjiǔ sīyè děng zhuàng (Declining the Jìjiǔ and Sīyè Memorial) — Xiāo’s principled refusal-of-imperial-advancement texts.
Composition window: from Xiāo’s adult literary activity (after c. 1280) through his death.
Translations and research
- Yuán-shǐ Rú-lín zhuàn — Xiāo Jū’s biography.
- Hé Yòu-sēn 何佑森, studies of Yuán-period Hé-běi / Shǎn-xī Neo-Confucianism.
- Sū Tiān-jué, Zī-xī jí — preserves the Mù-zhì míng for Xiāo.
Other points of interest
The Xiāo Jū earth-chamber 30-year retreat is one of the iconic Yuán Confucian intellectual-formation legends. The pairing of Xǔ Héng (the founding northern Yuán Confucian patriarch) → Xiāo Jū (the successor patriarch) → Sū Tiānjué (the next-generation compiler-historian) preserves the principal northern Yuán Lǐxué lineage genealogy.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1206.5, p377.
- CBDB person 690674 (Xiāo Jū)
- Yuánshǐ Rúlín zhuàn