Gǔráng jí 古穰集
Antique-Ráng Collection by 李賢 (撰), 程敏政 (編)
About the work
Gǔráng jí 古穰集 in 30 juǎn — the cabinet-corpus of the great Tiān-shùn-era Senior Grand Secretary Lǐ Xián 李賢 (1408–1466), zì Yuándé 原德, native of Dèngzhōu 鄧州 (Hénán; gǔráng 古穰 refers to the ancient name of Dèng), posthumous title Wéndá 文達. Xuāndé guǐchǒu (1433) jìnshì; rose to Shàobǎo, Huágàidiàn dàxuéshì. The Sìkù tíyào emphasizes Lǐ’s role as Yīngzōng’s most trusted Tiān-shùn-era cabinet minister — self the Sān Yáng, none has matched his closeness to the ruler — and the great reformer who zhènshì gāngjì (rectified standards and discipline) and jiǎnglì réncái (encouraged talent) in the post-Tǔ-mù / post-Wáng-Zhèn restoration. The editors note the negative side of his record — suppressed Yè Shèng 葉盛, ousted Yuè Zhèng 岳正 (cf. KR4e0109), did not save Luó Lún 羅倫 (cf. KR4e0124) — but on balance the positive case prevails. The collection is the Chéng Mǐnzhèng 程敏政 edition (Chéng was Lǐ Xián’s son-in-law; Hànlín scholar of the Chénghuà / Hóngzhì era), printed perhaps in early Chénghuà. The most documentary-distinctive sub-collection is the 3-juǎn Tiānshùn rìlù 天順日錄 — Lǐ’s own diary of the Tiānshùn restoration period; this also circulates separately and is recorded in the Shǐbù (KR2 catalogue). The 30 juǎn break down: 2 juǎn zòushū; 1 juǎn shū; 2 juǎn jì; 3 juǎn xù; 1 juǎn shuō / tíbá; 4 juǎn shéndàobēi; 1 juǎn mùbēijié; 2 juǎn mùbiǎo; 2 juǎn mùzhì; 1 juǎn xíngzhuàng / zhuàn; 1 juǎn jìwén / míng / zhēn / zàn / fù / āicí; 2 juǎn poetry; 2 juǎn héTáo poems (echoing Táo Yuānmíng); 3 juǎn Tiānshùn rìlù; 3 juǎn zálù (memorials and miscellany).
Tiyao
Gǔráng jí in 30 juǎn — by Lǐ Xián of the Míng. Xián, zì Yuándé, native of Dèngzhōu. Xuāndé guǐchǒu (1433) jìnshì; office reaching Shàobǎo, Huágàidiàn dàxuéshì; posthumous title Wéndá. The events are detailed in his biography in Míng shǐ. Xián was relied on by Yīngzōng; knowing anything he did not speak of, speaking anything that was not followed — never; from the Sān Yáng onward, his obtaining-of-the-ruler is without equal. Although suppressing Yè Shèng 葉盛, squeezing out Yuè Zhèng 岳正, not rescuing Luó Lún 羅倫 in various matters, rather criticized and discussed by the world — its main thrust is in rectifying-and-cleansing the standards-and-discipline, encouraging talent, at a time when court-and-people had many troubles, being able with his single person to support himself among [these troubles] — his accomplishment in fact has much to commend it. As for prose-and-letters, this was not what he set his mind upon. Yet his time was not far from the early Míng; the flowing manner and lingering rhyme still had a canonical model; so his poetry-and-prose are also all zhìshí xiányǎ (substantial-elegant), without the habit of jiǎoróu zàozuò (forced-fabricated). This collection was edited by his son-in-law Chéng Mǐnzhèng: 2 juǎn zòushū, 1 juǎn shū, 2 juǎn jì, 3 juǎn xù, 1 juǎn shuō-tíbá, 4 juǎn shéndàobēi, 1 juǎn mùbēijié, 2 juǎn mùbiǎo, 2 juǎn mùzhì, 1 juǎn xíngzhuàng zhuàn, 1 juǎn jìwén míng zhēn zàn fù āicí, 2 juǎn ancient-and-modern style poems, 2 juǎn hé Táo poems, 3 juǎn Tiānshùn rìlù, 3 juǎn zálù zòushū záwén — many bear on contemporary politics and personalities, can be cross-referenced with the shǐshèng. Tiānshùn rìlù has a separate single-circulating recension; already discussed in the Shǐbù; here too we leave the original recension and record [the work] together. Compiled and presented respectfully in the seventh month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Chief Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Editor: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Lǐ Xián is the great architect of the Tiānshùn (1457–1464) restoration — the cabinet reconstruction after Yīngzōng’s recall from captivity and the Duómén zhī biàn (Gate-Seizing Coup) of 1457 that returned Yīngzōng to the throne after the 1449–57 Jǐngtài interregnum. The Sìkù tíyào’s zì SānYáng yǐlái déjūn wèi yǒu qí bǐ (since the Three Yangs, none has matched his closeness to the ruler) is the standard formulation.
The negative documentation — Yè Shèng 葉盛 suppressed, Yuè Zhèng 岳正 (KR4e0109) ousted, Luó Lún 羅倫 (KR4e0124) unrescued — is explicitly noted by the Sìkù editors; both Yuè Zhèng and Luó Lún are catalogued in the immediate sequence later in this division, giving the reader the documentary witness from the targets’ side.
The Tiānshùn rìlù 天順日錄 sub-collection (3 juǎn) is one of the most important first-person diary-witnesses to mid-15th-century Míng cabinet politics — it covers the Duómén coup, the suppression of the Jǐngdì faction, and the early restoration period. It circulates separately and is also recorded in the KR2 (Shǐbù) tradition.
The editor Chéng Mǐnzhèng 程敏政 (1445–1499) is Lǐ’s son-in-law — the great ChénghuàHóngzhì Hànlín scholar, separately catalogued in this division as the editor of KR4e0097 Táng Wénfèng Wúgāng jí and of the KR4e0109 Yuè Zhèng Lèibógǎo (where Chéng is a third-party editor). The two-fold editorial connection — son-in-law editing Lǐ’s collection AND independently editing the work of Lǐ’s victim Yuè Zhèng — is itself a documentary curiosity.
CBDB id 29603 (1408–1466) confirms the catalog meta dates.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976. Major notice of Lǐ Xián.
- Frederick W. Mote and Denis Twitchett, eds. The Cambridge History of China, vol. 7, The Ming Dynasty. Cambridge UP, 1988. Treatment of the Tiān-shùn restoration.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí).
- Míng shǐ j. 176 — Lǐ Xián biography.
Other points of interest
The Tiānshùn rìlù — Lǐ’s own diary of his Tiānshùn cabinet years — is one of the rare cabinet-minister first-person diaries of the Míng era. The Sìkù editors’ decision to preserve it as a 3-juǎn sub-collection within the biéjí (rather than only as a separate Shǐbù entry) is a small but instructive case of the cross-classification logic at the boundary of jí and shǐ.