Chóngbiān Qióngtái gǎo 重編瓊臺藁
Re-Edited Qióng-Terrace Manuscripts by 丘濬 (撰), 丘爾穀 (編)
About the work
Chóngbiān Qióngtái huìgǎo 重編瓊臺會藁 in 24 juǎn — the late-Míng (Tiān-qǐ-era) re-edited recension of the writings of Qiū Jùn 丘濬 (丘濬, 1420–1495), zì Zhòngshēn 仲深, hào Qióngshān 瓊山, native of Qióngzhōu 瓊州 (Hǎinán), the great Hóng-zhì-era Senior Grand Secretary and author of the Dàxué yǎnyì bǔ 大學衍義補 (1487; separately catalogued in KR3a). Qiū’s Jiālǐ yíjié 家禮儀節 is also separately catalogued. The transmission of the biéjí is unusually layered: (a) initial — pupil Jiǎng Miǎn 蔣冕 cut the poetry as Yíngǎo 吟稿; later gathered the prose (jì, xù, biǎo, zòu) as Lèigǎo 類稿; (b) Jiājìng era — Zhèng Tínghú 鄭廷鵠 combined both into a 12-juǎn Huìgǎo 會稿 with newly recovered manuscripts; (c) Tiānqǐ era — Qiū’s descendant Qiū Ěrgǔ 丘爾穀 made a fresh selection (20% of the Lèigǎo, 30% of the Huìgǎo, plus the Yíngǎo) into the present Chóngbiān huìgǎo — less complete than the Lèigǎo and Huìgǎo, but more rigorously sieved, the essence is here. The Sìkù editors’ moral verdict is unusually harsh: Qiū’s xiàngyè (chief-cabinet office) had nothing to commend; cabinet conflicts with Yè Shèng 葉盛, Zhuāng Áng 莊㫤 (cf. Sìkù tíyào on KR4e0100 — Zhuāng Áng is the Lǐxué false-orthodox figure attacked there); collusion with the malicious court physician Liú Wéntài 劉文泰 in framing Wáng Shù 王恕 (the great mid-Míng Lìbù shàngshū); the LiǎngGuǎng pacification policy decisively refuted by Hán Yōng (KR4e0107). Yet his learning is jìsòng yānqià (memory and recital, broad-and-fitting) — covering one age — so the prose is ěryǎ (close-and-elegant) and decisively superior to the yóután wúgēn (wandering-talk without root) sort.
Tiyao
Chóngbiān Qióngtái huìgǎo in 24 juǎn — by Qiū Jùn of the Míng. Jùn has the Jiālǐ yíjié, already recorded. His prose-collection in the world is not one recension. At first his pupil Jiǎng Miǎn and others cut his poetry, calling it Yíngǎo; continuing, gathered his jìxùbiǎozòu and called it Lèigǎo. In the middle of Jiājìng, Zhèng Tínghú combined what the two manuscripts contained, increased it with what he could find in manuscript copies, and arranged it into 12 juǎn, named Huìgǎo. In early Tiānqǐ, his descendant Ěrgǔ 爾穀 selected 20% of the Lèigǎo, increased it by 30% of the Huìgǎo, and combined with the Yíngǎo — printed jointly as Chóngbiān huìgǎo — i.e. this text. Although it does not reach the completeness of the Lèigǎo and Huìgǎo, the jiǎntài (sieve-pruning) is rather strict; the jīnghuá (essence-and-flower) is here — sufficient to summarize Jùn’s writings. Jùn’s chief-cabinet record has nothing to commend. His standing-in-court was incompatible with Yè Shèng — fully recorded in Shèng’s biography in Míng shǐ; he and Zhuāng Áng mutually hated each other — fully recorded in Áng’s biography. The matter of his clansman, the imperial physician Liú Wéntài, falsely framing Wáng Shù — even Jùn’s own wife knew it was wrong — fully recorded in Shù’s biography. Philosophical-school men, because [Qiū] forcefully chóng (esteemed) Zhūzǐ, twistingly defend him; ultimately cannot contend with public discussion. His LiǎngGuǎng píngzéi (pacification) policy spoke confidently; Hán Yōng forcefully refuted his discourse and finally memorialized the pacification — fully recorded in Yōng’s biography. So his fondness for discussing all-under-Heaven affairs is no more than shì qí bóbiàn, fēi yǒu shíjì (relying on his broad-eloquence, not having actual achievement). Yet his recording-and-recitation, yānqià guànjué yīshí (broad-and-fitting, covering one age) — so his prose is ěryǎ and finally surpasses the yóután wúgēn (wandering-talk without root) sort. In the Míng dynasty, [we] cannot but place him in the writers’ rank. Compiled and presented respectfully in the tenth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). Chief Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Editor: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Sìkù tíyào on Qiū Jùn is one of the most morally harsh in the Míng biéjí corpus — a remarkable stance given Qiū’s status as the great Lǐxué statesman and Dàxué yǎnyì bǔ compiler. The editors’ position is grounded in four cross-referenced Míng shǐ biographies (Yè Shèng, Zhuāng Áng, Wáng Shù, Hán Yōng), each documenting Qiū’s politically problematic actions — and explicitly rejects the jiǎngxuéjiā (philosophical-school) defenders’ argument from Qiū’s Zhū-Xī-orthodoxy. The literary preservation, however, is justified on substantive learning grounds — jìsòng yānqià and prose ěryǎ.
The four-stage transmission (Jiǎng Miǎn 蔣冕 Yíngǎo + Lèigǎo → Jiājìng Zhèng Tínghú 鄭廷鵠 Huìgǎo (12 juǎn) → Tiānqǐ Qiū Ěrgǔ 丘爾穀 Chóngbiān huìgǎo (24 juǎn) → WYG) is one of the most editorially-revised mid-Míng biéjí in this division. The Tiān-qǐ-era selection by Qiū Ěrgǔ deliberately reduced the prior more-complete Lèigǎo and Huìgǎo — i.e., the present text is by design a curated subset, not a complete corpus.
CBDB id 33202 (1420–1495) confirms the catalog meta ‘1419? – 1495’.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976. Major notice of Qiū Jùn.
- Wing-tsit Chan, Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton UP, 1963. Selections from the Dà-xué yǎn-yì bǔ.
- Hung-lam Chu, “Ch’iu Chün’s Ta-hsüeh yen-i pu and Its Influence in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries,” in Ming Studies 22 (1986).
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí) and §31.4 (Míng Lǐ-xué).
- Míng shǐ j. 181 — Qiū Jùn biography.
Other points of interest
The Sìkù tíyào’s harsh moral verdict on Qiū Jùn — based on the four cross-referenced Míng shǐ biographies (Yè, Zhuāng, Wáng Shù, Hán) — is a notable case of Sìkù editors using cross-biographical kǎozhèng against a major political-philosophical figure. The Lǐxué-orthodoxy defence is explicitly rejected: the philosophical-school men’s twisting defence ultimately cannot contend with public discussion.