Lǐbù jí 禮部集
The Ministry-of-Rites Collection by 吳師道 (撰)
About the work
The 20-juǎn collected works (9 juǎn shī + 11 juǎn wén) of Wú Shīdào 吳師道 (1283–1344). Original title Lányīn shānfáng lèigǎo 蘭陰山房類稿. Renamed Lǐbù jí on the basis of his final-promoted office Fèngyìdàfū Lǐbù lángzhōng (the Sìkù tíyào notes a discrepancy: Zhāng Shū’s mùbiǎo and Dù Běn’s mùzhì both say “after retirement promoted to Lǐbù lángzhōng”; but Sòng Lián’s mùbēi and the Yuánshǐ — both Sòng-Lián-derived — say “retired as Lǐbù lángzhōng”). Wú Shīdào is most famous for his Zhànguó cè jiàozhù and his Jìngxiāng lù; pupil of Jīn Lǚxiáng 金履祥, alongside Xǔ Qiān 許謙. The Cōngshān copy was discovered by Wáng Shìzhēn 王士禎 at Xú Bǐngyì’s 徐秉義 house in Kūnshān and put into circulation. Wú’s prose elaborated the yìlǐ of Confucianism and rejected Buddhism and Daoism; his poetry was fēnggǔ qiúshàng yìjìng yìshēn, “xíngrán shēng zuòzhě zhī táng” — no longer the merely jiǎngxuéjiā manner.
Tiyao
Lǐbù jí, 20 juǎn. By Wú Shīdào of the Yuán. Shīdào has Zhànguó cè jiàozhù already in the catalog. The collection was originally titled Lányīn shānfáng lèigǎo. This recension is titled Lǐbù jí because after Shīdào retired he was awarded the position Fèngyìdàfū Lǐbù lángzhōng — so the jìnzhīguān gives its name. (Note: Zhāng Shū’s mùbiǎo and Dù Běn’s mùzhì both record “after retirement, given Fèngyìdàfū Lǐbù lángzhōng”; but Sòng Lián’s mùbēi says “retired as Lǐbù lángzhōng,” and the Yuánshǐ biography — also Sòng-Lián-derived — agrees with the bēi but contradicts Zhāng and Dù, who were both Shīdào’s old friends and unlikely to err; perhaps Sòng’s record was not exact.) In total 9 juǎn shī + 11 juǎn wén. Transmission is rather rare; the present copy was hand-transcribed by Wáng Shìzhēn of Xīnchéng from Xú Bǐngyì’s family copy at Kūnshān, and so brought into circulation. Shīdào in youth, with Xǔ Qiān, both studied under Jīn Lǚxiáng. He wrote Yì záshuō 2 juǎn, Shū záshuō 6 juǎn, Shī záshuō 2 juǎn, Chūnqiū Húshì chuán fùzhèng 12 juǎn — quite deep in classical learning. His supplementations of Bào Biāo 鮑彪’s Zhànguó cè zhù and his Jìngxiāng lù also do verifiable kǎozhèng for historical material. He exchanged poetry with Huáng Jìn 黃溍, Liǔ Guàn 柳貫, Wú Lái 吳萊 — so his poetry and prose have fǎdù. His prose mostly elucidates yìlǐ and refutes Buddhism and Daoism, faithfully holding the teacher’s transmission. His poetry has bone-and-spirit running strongly, the yìjìng deep — xíngrán shēng zuòzhě zhī táng — no longer the gélǜ of the Rénshān jí (= Jīn Lǚxiáng’s collection). In early years he was attentive to memorization-and-reading, deliberately working at cízhāng; only from his early-20s did he begin to research Zhēn Déxiù’s books. So his work is, decidedly different from the jiǎngxuéjiā using-spare-energy manner. Respectfully collated, fourth month of Qiánlóng 45 (1780).
Abstract
The Lǐbù jí is the principal extant collected works of Wú Shīdào, alongside the Zhànguó cè jiàozhù and Jìngxiāng lù — three Jīn-Lǚ-xiáng-school monuments by a major-second-rank Yuán scholar. The Sìkù tíyào draws careful attention to the discrepancy between two contemporary records of Wú’s final office: Zhāng Shū (mùbiǎo) and Dù Běn (mùzhì), both old friends, say Lǐbù lángzhōng was a post-retirement honorific; Sòng Lián’s mùbēi (and the Yuánshǐ biography derived from it) say he retired as Lǐbù lángzhōng. The tíyào prefers the contemporary witnesses (Zhāng and Dù) over Sòng Lián. The stylistic positioning — jiǎngxuéjiā roots (Jīn Lǚxiáng line) but mature fēnggǔ qiúshàng poetic style after Zhēn Déxiù — places Wú midway between Neo-Confucian doctrine and high-Yuán literary aesthetics. Composition window: 1315 (mid-Yán-yòu, after Wú’s intellectual maturation) to his 1344 death.
Translations and research
- Yuán-shǐ j. 190 (Wú Shī-dào biography).
- Yáng Lián. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ.
- The Zhàn-guó cè jiào-zhù is a major reference text in Yuán philological scholarship.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1212.1, p1.