榘菴集

Jǔān jí 榘菴集

The Jǔ-ān (Square-Hut) Collection by 同恕 (撰)

About the work

The 15-juàn recovered collection (10 juàn of prose, 5 juàn of poetry) of Tóng Shù 同恕 (CBDB 34968, 1254–1331), zì Kuānfǔ 寬甫**, hào (collection-name) Jǔān 榘菴. Originally a Tàiyuán 太原 (modern Shǎnxī) family that relocated to Fèngyuán 奉元 (modern Xīān). At age 13, Tóng came first in the local examination on the Shūjīng. Posthumous shì Wénzhēn 文貞**; posthumously enfeoffed Jīngzhào jùnhóu 京兆郡侯; posthumously appointed Hànlín zhíxuéshì. Yuánshǐ Rúxué zhuàn gives the substantial biography.

Career path.

• Zhìyuán era: appointed Guózǐ sīyè — declined
• Shǎnxī xíngtái shì yùshǐ Zhào Shìyán 趙世延 requested establishment of the Lǔzhāi shūyuàn 魯齋書院 (named for Xǔ Héng 許衡); Tóng presided over the teaching
• Yányòu 6 (1319): on the establishment of the Yuán Crown Prince (huáng tàizǐ), summoned as Fèngyì dàfū zuǒ zànshàn 奉議大夫左贊善
• Next year (1320): on Yīngzōng’s succession, Tóng returned home on grounds of illness
• Zhìhé 1 (1328): appointed Jíxián shìdú xuéshì — again declined, did not respond
• Died 1331

The collection’s editorial history:

• Original 30 juàn; cut at JiāngHuái by the Shǎnxī xíngtái yùshǐ Guānyīnbǎo 觀音保 and Pān Wéizǐ 潘惟梓** in Zhì-zhèng-era beginning. Sū Tiānjué 蘇天爵 composed the preface
• Wényuāngé shūmù records 1 bù, 8 cè; Jiāo Hóng’s Jīngjí zhì records 20 juàn (likely a transmission error)
• Lost in mid-Míng; Yè Shèng’s Lùzhútáng shūmù and Cháo Lǐ’s Bǎowéntáng shūmù both omit
• The Sìkù base recovers approximately half (15 juàn) from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn

Distinctive features:

1. Poetic-and-prose temperament. “Píngshēng zhùzuò bù shì fěnshì, ér yú chúnhòu dūnpǔ zhī zhōng shí lù jùnjié qiàolì zhī qì” (lifelong compositions not engaged in fěnshì (powdering-ornament), yet within the chúnhòu dūnpǔ (purely-thick, sincerely-plain) at-times reveals jùnjié qiàolì zhī qì (eminently-clean, sharply-firm qì)).
2. Poetic taste. Per Jiǎ Rén 賈仁’s xíngzhuàng: Tóng loved Lù Yóu 陸放翁; admired Zhōu Bìdà 周益公 (the Sòng Zhōu Yìgōng) in prose.
3. Khubilai-era historical-archive function. Fùzhūlǐ chōng 富珠哩翀’s shéndào bēi (preserved in this collection) records that in Zhìyuán 31 (1294), the Guóshǐ compilation of the Shìzǔ (Khubilai) běnjì was gathering materials from across the realm; the Shǎnxī xíngshěng píngzhāng zhèngshì Xiánníngwáng 咸寧王 (recipient of Khubilai’s posthumous-canonization stele) recruited Tóng Shù to serve as yuàndiǎnsī biānlù (Bureau-Compiler — i.e. Tóng helped compile the Khubilai Shílù and the Yuánshǐ Shìzǔ běnjì). Therefore the zhìzhuàng (epitaph-and-record) pieces in the Jǔān jí preserve substantial early-Yuán diǎngù (precedents) that the Yuán-shǐ-and-Jīn-shǐ standard biographies often need to be cross-checked against.
4. Sìkù editorial intervention. The Sìkù editors specifically deleted the qírǎng qīngcí (祈禳青詞 — Daoist sacrificial blue-words / cí) from the collection on the grounds that Tóng “sù yǐ míngdào xīngjiào zìrèn” (always took míngdào xīngjiào — clarifying-the-way and reviving-the-teaching — as his self-appointed task) and should not have written for heterodox Daoist ritual. The Sìkù editors apply imperial shèngxùn (imperial-instruction) authorization to delete these heterodox pieces — “gài cóng shānxuē” (uniformly following deletion).

Tiyao

[Substantively translated above. Sìkù tíyào ending:]

“Now respectfully following the imperial-instructions, [we] uniformly follow deletion — so as not to obscure the collection’s complete beauty.”

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 Tóng Shù (CBDB 34968, 1254–1331), a Yuán-period Shǎnxī Confucian scholar-official who served as the founding-master of the Lǔzhāi shūyuàn 魯齋書院 — the regional Yuán Confucian academy named for Xǔ Héng (the founding northern Yuán Neo-Confucian patriarch 許衡) — and as architect of the Yuán Crown-Prince’s education under Rénzōng. Tóng’s career exemplifies the principled refusal-of-imperial-advancement pattern: he twice declined imperial summons (Guózǐ sīyè in Zhìyuán; Jíxián shìdú xuéshì in Zhìhé 1328) and only briefly served as Crown-Prince zànshàn before retiring on grounds of illness.

The collection’s principal historiographical interest is the early-Yuán imperial-archive function: per Fùzhūlǐ chōng’s shéndào bēi, Tóng participated as biānlù (compiler) in the Zhìyuán 31 (1294) gathering of materials for the Khubilai Shílù / Yuánshǐ Shìzǔ běnjì — making the Jǔān jí a substantial source for early-Yuán diǎngù (precedents) not always preserved in the standard Yuánshǐ.

The Sìkù Yǒnglè dàdiǎn reconstruction (15 juàn) represents about half of the original 30 juàn cut by Guānyīnbǎo and Pān Wéizǐ at JiāngHuái in early Zhìzhèng, prefaced by Sū Tiānjué. The Sìkù editors applied imperial shèngxùn-authorized deletion of the qírǎng qīngcí (Daoist sacrificial blue-words) on the grounds that such heterodox pieces should not appear in a Yuán Confucian patriarch’s collection.

Composition window: from Tóng’s adult literary activity (after c. 1290) through his death in 1331.

Translations and research

• Yuán-shǐ Rú-xué zhuàn — Tóng Shù’s biography.
• Sū Tiān-jué’s preface to the Jǔ-ān jí — the principal Yuán-era critical statement.
• Hé Yòu-sēn 何佑森, studies of northern Yuán Neo-Confucianism.

Other points of interest

The Sìkù-era imperial deletion of Tóng Shù’s qírǎng qīngcí (Daoist ritual cí) is a remarkable case of Qián-lóng-era editorial intervention to enforce Confucian-doctrinal purity on Yuán-Confucian literary collections. The deletion follows the principle articulated in the shèngxùn (imperial-instruction) authorizing the Sìkù editors to remove heterodox sub-materials from Confucian patriarchs’ collections — a politically-motivated editorial practice that should be borne in mind when reading Sìkù-base Yuán literary collections.

Links

• WYG SKQS V1206.7, p659.
• CBDB person 34968 (Tóng Shù)
• Yuánshǐ Rúxué zhuàn