Wǔgōng jí 武功集
Martial-Merit Collection by 徐有貞 (撰)
About the work
Wǔgōng jí 武功集 in 5 juǎn — the prose of Xú Yǒuzhēn 徐有貞 (1407–1472), original name Chéng 珵, zì Yuányù 元玉, native of Wúxiàn 吳縣 (Sūzhōu, Jiāngsū). Xuāndé guǐchǒu (1433) jìnshì; eventually Bīngbù shàngshū jointly Huágàidiàn dàxuéshì; enfeoffed Wǔgōngbó 武功伯 (Earl of Wǔgōng — the source of the collection’s title); soon imprisoned and banished to garrison Jīnchǐ 金齒 (Yúnnán). The principal author of the Duómén zhī biàn (Gate-Seizing Coup) of 1457 — the yáoxìng gūzhù (lucky-and-isolated-stake gamble) that returned Yīngzōng to the throne after the Jǐngtài interregnum. The Sìkù tíyào notes that Xú is broadly read in tiānguān (astronomy), dìlǐ (geography), bīngfǎ (military methodology), shuǐlì (water conservancy), yīnyáng fāngshù (yin-yang techniques) — but morally qīngxiǎn zàojìn (slanting-dangerous, hasty-advancing): always seeking to establish merit-and-fame by zhìshù (clever schemes), the Duómén coup is one such gamble, and the post-coup faction-and-power abuse (hùquán zhídǎng, wēifú zìzhuān) led to his downfall. The Sìkù literary judgement is double-edged: his prose has qíqì pènyǒng (marvellous force welling up) and his learning is enough to support his rhetoric; pieces such as Wénwǔ lùn, Zhìzòng lùn, Tí Wǔhóu xiàng / Chūshī biǎo are zá zònghéng zhī shuō (mixed with vertical-and-horizontal-school discourse) — evidence both of unrefined scholarship and of unmistakable talent. The model is Xià Sǒng 夏竦 (Sòng Wénzhuānggōng). The collection includes the Yǔlínzǐ 羽林子 pair of poems (praised by Zhū Yízūn’s Jìngzhìjū shīhuà as yuán chū Yòuchéng — sourced from Wáng Wéi), but the Sìkù editors note this is píngpíng (just-so) and merely jǐn jù Tángrén zhī mào (only has the Táng-men’s appearance).
Tiyao
Wǔgōng jí in 5 juǎn — by Xú Yǒuzhēn of the Míng. Yǒuzhēn’s original name was Chéng 珵, zì Yuányù, native of Wúxiàn. Xuāndé guǐchǒu (1433) jìnshì; office reaching Bīngbù shàngshū jointly Huágàidiàn dàxuéshì; enfeoffed Wǔgōngbó. Soon thrown into prison and banished to Jīnchǐ; released and let return — a long while after, died. The events are detailed in his biography in Míng shǐ. Yǒuzhēn intensely studied jīngjì (economy / statecraft): astronomy, geography, military methods, water-conservancy, yin-yang-and-techniques books — none not read broadly. Only [he was] qīngxiǎn zàojìn (slanting-dangerous, hasty-advancing); always wished to establish merit-and-fame by zhìshù (cunning calculation). With Shí Hēng 石亨 and others he proposed the Duómén [coup], yáoxìng gūzhù zhī yī zhì (lucky-and-isolated-stake’s single throw) — fortunately it succeeded; again indulging in power and planting his faction, exercising authority on his own, in the end was also incriminated by others. As the saying goes yǐ cǐ shǐ bì yǐ cǐ zhōng (you begin with this, you must end with this) — truly deeply despised by gentlemen. Yet Zhù Yǔnmíng 祝允明 was Yǒuzhēn’s grandson-by-daughter; his Sūtán 蘇談 often shields and covers his words — but in the end this cannot dislodge public discussion. Yet Yǒuzhēn’s gànlüè (managerial capacity) is fundamentally long, his jiànwén (knowledge) also broad; so his prose [has] qíqì pènyǒng (marvellous force welling up), and his learning is again sufficient to support his eloquence. In the collection, pieces such as Wénwǔ lùn, Zhìzòng lùn, and pieces titling Wǔhóu’s portrait and Chūshī biǎo are mostly mixed with zònghéng (Strategists’) discourse — the impurity of his learning is here visible; the unattainability of his talent-and-spirit is also here visible. Compared to ancient writing, this is the line of Xià Sǒng’s Wénzhuāng jí. Since the surviving compilation is complete and present, certainly we cannot wholly yǐ rén fèi (abandon-on-account-of-the-man). As for his poetry, it is mostly written at the Hànlín for chóuyìng (response) and is not what he excels at. In the collection the Yǔlínzǐ two pieces — the Jìngzhìjū shīhuà says — yuán chū Yòuchéng (sourced from Wáng Wéi, Yòuchéng = Wáng yòuchéng); yet the language is plain, only with the appearance of Tángrén. People each have what they can and cannot — to keep and not discuss is enough. 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
Xú Yǒuzhēn is the principal author of the Duómén zhī biàn 奪門之變 (Gate-Seizing Coup) of Jǐngtài 8 (1457) that returned Yīngzōng to the throne and inaugurated the Tiānshùn era — the same restoration moment in which Lǐ Xián (KR4e0104) emerged as the dominant Senior Grand Secretary. The XúLǐ pair represents the two faces of the Tiānshùn restoration: Xú the zhìshù (cunning-calculation) strategist who engineered the coup, Lǐ the longer-lasting administrative reformer who stabilized the result. Xú’s own downfall — imprisonment, banishment to Jīnchǐ, eventual release-and-return — is part of the same broader narrative of post-coup faction-politics.
The Sìkù tíyào is one of the cleaner moral-and-literary balanced assessments in the Sìkù corpus: the moral jūnzǐ zhī gòubìng (gentlemen’s despising) is acknowledged; the kǎozhèng-style refutation of Zhù Yǔnmíng’s Sūtán (Xú’s grandson’s family-defense) is included; but the literary merit — qíqì pènyǒng, learning supporting rhetoric, Xià Sǒng Wénzhuāng parallels — is preserved. The Yī rén fèi (abandoning on account of the man) principle is explicitly rejected.
The interest of the Zhù Yǔnmíng 祝允明 family-link is significant: Zhù is the great Hóng-zhì-Zhèng-dé-era literatus and Wúzhōng sìcáizǐ (Four Talents of Wú) member; the Sūtán is his prose miscellany.
Xú’s lifedates: catalog meta 1407–1472; CBDB id 34508 gives 1408–1473. Wikipedia (1407.6.16 – 1472.7.22) and most standard sources give 1407–1472; followed here per catalog meta.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976. Major notice of Xú Yǒu-zhēn.
- Frederick W. Mote and Denis Twitchett, eds. The Cambridge History of China, vol. 7, The Ming Dynasty. Cambridge UP, 1988. Treatment of the Duó-mén coup.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí).
- Míng shǐ j. 171 — Xú Yǒu-zhēn biography.
Other points of interest
The Sìkù tíyào’s explicit rejection of yǐ rén fèi (the principle of abandoning a work on account of the man) in favour of preserving Xú’s literary corpus despite the moral verdict is one of the cleaner statements of late-Qiánlóng editorial principle on the moral-literary distinction.