胡仲子集

Hú Zhòngzǐ jí 胡仲子集

The Collected Works of Hú Zhòngzǐ by 胡翰 (撰)

About the work

Hú Zhòngzǐ jí 胡仲子集 in ten juǎn is the literary collection of Hú Hàn 胡翰 (1307–1381), zì Zhòngzǐ 仲子 (also Zhòngshēn 仲申), native of Jīnhuá 金華 in Zhèjiāng. Hú was one of the foremost prose-writers of the late-Yuán / early-Míng Jīnhuá school 金華學派, fourth-generation pupil of the Wú Lái 吳萊 and Wú Shīdào 吳師道 lineage and a disciple of Xǔ Qiān 許謙. He was recommended to the Hóngwǔ court and appointed Qúzhōu fǔ jiàoshòu 衢州府教授; he subsequently participated in the compilation of the Yuán shǐ 元史 and is named on the Wǔxíng zhì 五行志 序論. The collection was assembled posthumously by his pupils Liú Gāng 劉剛 and Wáng Màowēn 王懋温 of Pǔyáng 浦陽 and first cut in Hóngwǔ 14 (1381). It contains nine juǎn of prose followed by one juǎn of poetry, originally circulating as two separate titles (Hú Zhòngzǐ jí for the prose, Chángshān xiānshēng jí 長山先生集 for the poetry) and merged in the present transmission.

Tiyao

The Hú Zhòngzǐ jí in ten juǎn — by Hú Hàn of the Míng. Hàn, zì Zhòngzǐ, alternate zì Zhòngshēn, native of Jīnhuá. In the early Hóngwǔ years he was, on recommendation, appointed Héngzhōu fǔ jiàoshòu 衡州府教授 (note: the source reads 衡州 but the Míng shǐ Wényuàn zhuàn gives 衢州 — a typographical slip in the Sìkù recension); his record is in the Míng shǐ Wényuàn zhuàn. This collection was edited by his pupils Liú Gāng 劉剛 and Wáng Màowēn 王懋温 of Pǔyáng and cut in print in Hóngwǔ 14 (1381). Today the print is rarely transmitted; only manuscript copies still exist in the world. In all there are nine juǎn of prose and one juǎn of poetry. The histories speak of his prose as Hú Zhòngzǐ jí and his poetry as Chángshān xiānshēng jí — now they are combined into a single collection; perhaps this was the work of Gāng and his fellow editors? The histories also say that Hàn studied as a youth under Wú Shīdào 吳師道 and Wú Lái 吳萊 in the composition of gǔwén, and then went to the door of his fellow-townsman Xǔ Qiān 許謙. Examining his prose now, one sees that much of it inherits the legacy of the two Wús, while his arguments are mostly applicable to practical use of the world — slightly different from Xǔ Qiān’s discussions of chéngjìng 誠敬 in his sitting-room talks. But he once participated in compiling the Wǔxíng zhì 序論 of the Yuán shǐ — that piece is his work, and is seen in this collection; in the matter of the unity of Heaven and Man he dissects it quite minutely. His Xīzūn biàn 犧尊辨 and Zōngfǎ lùn 宗法論 are likewise deeply rooted in classical studies; so he was never one who failed to investigate Confucian principles thoroughly. He did not compose much poetry, so the chapter is meagre; yet in framework and conception it stands particularly lofty and refined.

Zhū Yízūn 朱彝尊 in Jìngzhìjū shīhuà 靜志居詩話 says: “Jīnhuá, succeeding the masters Huáng Wénxiàn Jìn 黃溍, Liǔ Wénsù Guàn 柳貫, and Wú Zhēnwén Lái 吳萊, mostly made its reputation in gǔwéncí; poetry was not its strong suit. But if poetry be the standard, I must take Zhòngshēn as foremost.” Dúgū Jí 獨孤及 said: “The source of the five-character poem grew from the Guófēng; it broadened in the Lísāo, took shape in SūLǐ, flourished in CáoLiú; the HànWèi authors had matter to spare but their letters fell short. Measuring today against antiquity, there is the sigh of the zhūxián shūyuè 朱絃疏越, the tàigēng yíwèi 太羮遺味. Reciting Zhòngshēn’s five-character poems is like watching the lùtáo 路鼗 sprung out of the tǔgǔ 土鼓, or the seal and zhòu scripts grown out of the bird-tracks — almost the man-who-has-mounted-to-the-hall!” So Sòng Lián 宋濂 gave him the epithets of “tiger of the learning-forest, whale of the literary deep” — these words are unquestionably true. Compiled and presented respectfully in the eighth month of Qiánlóng 42 (1777).

Abstract

Hú Hàn’s lifedates 1307–1381 are confirmed by CBDB (id 28688: birth 1307, death 1381, fl. 1360–1369). He belonged to the elite stratum of the Jīnhuá scholar-circle that included Sòng Lián 宋濂 (his lifelong friend and the writer of his xù), Liú Jī 劉基, Wáng Wěi 王禕, and Sū Bóhéng 蘇伯衡 (whose Sū Píngzhòng wénjí KR4e0024 he prefaced with a bá in Hóngwǔ 8 / 1375). Sòng Lián’s preface here, dated Hóngwǔ 13 / bǐngxū 8th-month guǐyǒu (1380), was composed by Sòng when serving as Hànlín xuéshì chéngzhǐ jiāyìdàifū zhīzhìgào jiān xiū guóshǐ jiān tàizǐ zànshàn dàifū and is the principal external witness to Hú’s career and intellectual lineage. According to Sòng, the two had studied together under Wú Shīdào and remained colleagues across the YuánMíng transition for over fifty years.

Hú’s prose is exceptionally austere; the Sìkù editors single out his Xīzūn biàn 犧尊辨 (on the form of the ancient ritual vessel) and Zōngfǎ lùn 宗法論 (on the descent-line system) as substantive contributions to classical learning, and his Wǔxíng zhì 序論 — the prefatory essay for the 五行志 chapter of the Yuán shǐ — is the work of his hand alone. Wilkinson, Chinese History, §28.4, lists the Jīnhuá gǔwén school among the foundational models of early-Míng prose. The transmission of his jí in the Wényuāngé is via a Hóngwǔ 14 (1381) printing that the Sìkù editors record as already scarce in their day, surviving chiefly in manuscript copies; the original two-part division into prose (Hú Zhòngzǐ jí) and poetry (Chángshān xiānshēng jí) is preserved in the surviving table-of-contents though the texts were combined for the WYG recension.

Translations and research

• L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds. Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976. Entry on Hú Hàn (vol. 1, pp. 644–645).
• John W. Dardess. Confucianism and Autocracy: Professional Elites in the Founding of the Ming Dynasty. Berkeley: UC Press, 1983. Pp. 207–211 on Hú Hàn and the Jīn-huá scholar-faction.
• Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí).

Other points of interest

The collection preserves Hú’s Yuánshǐ Wǔxíng zhì xùlùn 元史五行志序論 — one of the very few prefatory essays from the Yuánshǐ compilation explicitly attributable to a named participant. The bá he wrote in 1375 for Sū Bóhéng’s collection (KR4e0024) is the principal external witness to Sū’s career chronology and was used by the Sìkù editors to correct an apparent error in the Míng shǐ Wényuàn zhuàn. Note the typographic slip in the WYG Tíyào (衡州教授 for 衢州教授); the Míng shǐ and Sòng Lián’s preface both confirm Qúzhōu.

Links

• Sìkù tíyào, Kyoto Zinbun digital edition
• Hu Han (Wikipedia, Chinese)
• Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng biéjí).