Dōngshān cúngǎo 東山存稿
Surviving Drafts from East Mountain by 趙汸 (撰), with appended xíngzhuàng by 詹烜 (撰)
About the work
A seven-juǎn prose-and-verse collection by Zhào Fǎng 趙汸 (1319–1369, style-name Zǐcháng), the great late-Yuán / early-Míng Chūnqiū classicist of WùyuánXiūníng (Huīzhōu); plus a one-juǎn appendix containing Zhān Xuǎn 詹烜’s xíngzhuàng of Zhào. Zhào is principally remembered as the author of Chūnqiū jízhuàn and other Chūnqiū scholarship; the literary collection is therefore the supplementary record of his teaching, prose, and verse correspondence. The collection’s principal preface — by Zhào’s disciple-and-friend Wāng Zhònglǔ 汪仲魯 of Xīngyuán — gives a substantial biographical-pedagogical narrative: Zhào and Wāng both studied under their kinsman elder Gǔyì xiānsheng (Wāng Zhònglǔ’s grandfather’s brother); Zhào then studied under Huáng Zé 黃澤 (Chǔwàng) of Jiǔjiāng; Zhào also spent a year at the home of Yú Jí 虞集 (Wénjìng gōng) at Línchuān. The post-Yuán biographical anchor: in Hóngwǔ 2 (1369) Zhào was summoned for the Yuán shǐ compilation, served briefly, returned home in poor health, and died less than a month later. The collection also includes Zhào’s own xíngzhuàng of his teacher Huáng Zé — an important source for late-Yuán Huīzhōu Confucian transmission lines.
Tiyao
Dōngshān cúngǎo, 7 juǎn, with fùlù 1 juǎn. By Zhào Fǎng of the Yuán. Fǎng, style-name Zǐcháng, was a man of Wùyuán. He accumulated learning and wrote books, living in seclusion without office. At the end of the Zhìzhèng era, having helped the yuánshuài Wāng Tóng 汪同 raise troops to defend his hometown, he was made Jiāngnán xíng shūmìyuàn dūshì. In all classical texts there was nothing he was not versed in; particularly profound in the Chūnqiū. His Chūnqiū jízhuàn, Chūnqiū shīshuō, and Chūnqiū zhǔcí are all already catalogued in the Classics division. This text is his poetic and prose surviving drafts. In the late Yuán, Fǎng built a house in Dōngshān and shut his gate to write. In the early Míng he was repeatedly summoned but did not come out; only once did he come out, to compile the Yuán shǐ; the work done, he immediately took leave and went home. His zhìxíng (conduct) was extremely high and clean; his prose is largely chúnshí diǎnquè (pure, solid, classical, accurate), not given to fúshēng (floating sound). The legacy of the ancients’ jǔyuē (rules) is still visible. Zhān Xuǎn’s xíngzhuàng of Fǎng says: he once visited Huáng Jìn at Hángzhōu, and Jìn marvelled greatly at him; he also went to Línchuān to see Yú Jí, who hosted him for a year. So those with whom he discussed and studied were all renowned scholars of the day. That is why his prose holds firm shīfǎ (teacher-method). The collection also contains Fǎng’s own Huáng Zé xíngzhuàng — a piece on the lineage of classical transmission, dissecting the yuánliú with great detail; his lifelong learning’s purity and where it drew its strength are particularly visible in outline. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng forty-second (1777), fifth month. Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì; head proofreader: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Dōngshān cúngǎo is a documentary anchor for late-Yuán / early-Míng Huīzhōu Confucian transmission lines. The principal documents preserved are: (1) Zhào Fǎng’s own prose, mostly commissioned for local clientele, with notable yǎdàn (sober-clear) register that the Sìkù compilers explicitly commend; (2) Zhào’s xíngzhuàng of his teacher Huáng Zé — one of the most important Yuán-era jīngshù chuánshòu (classical transmission) statements; (3) Zhān Xuǎn’s xíngzhuàng of Zhào (appendix), providing the standard biographical record. Composition window: from c. 1340 (Zhào’s young maturity) through to his death in 1369. Zhào is a major node in the Huáng Zé → Zhào Fǎng Chūnqiū lineage that fed into early-Míng classical scholarship; his Chūnqiū jízhuàn and related works are catalogued in the SKQS jīng division. The literary collection is therefore secondary in standard treatment but documentary anchor for the biographical and pedagogical history.
Translations and research
- Zhào Fǎng’s Chūnqiū scholarship is the principal Western-language entry point: see Hung-Ming Cheng and others.
- Studies of Huáng Zé’s jīng-shù lineage routinely use Zhào’s xíngzhuàng preserved in this collection as primary evidence.
- The Wāng Zhòng-lǔ preface (cited above) is a standard documentary anchor for late-Yuán Huīzhōu Confucian society.
Other points of interest
- Zhào’s late-Yuán military service alongside the yuánshuài Wāng Tóng 汪同 (defending Huīzhōu against the Red Turbans) is one of the better-documented cases of Yuán Confucian-classicist military involvement.
- The collection’s Huáng Zé xíngzhuàng is the principal Yuán-era account of Huáng Zé’s classical method — an important source for the Huīzhōu Yuán Confucian tradition.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1221.4, p159.