Huáilùtáng jí 懷麓堂集
Embracing-the-Foothills Hall Collection by 李東陽 (撰)
About the work
Huáilùtáng jí 懷麓堂集 in 100 juǎn — the great corpus of Lǐ Dōngyáng 李東陽 (李東陽, 1447–1516), zì Bīnzhī 賓之, hào Xīyá 西涯, posthumous title Wénzhèng 文正; native of Chálíng 茶陵 (Húnán); the great Hóng-zhì-Zhèng-dé-era Senior Grand Secretary, leader of the Chálíng 茶陵 poetic school. Lǐ has the Dōngsì lù 東祀錄, separately catalogued. The Sìkù tíyào is one of the most substantial literary-historical statements in the Sìkù corpus on the two-cycle alternation of Míng literary style: (1) Hóngwǔ to Yǒnglè — píngzhèng diǎnyǎ (level-correct, canonical-elegant) as orthodoxy; degenerated into yōngfū (mediocre-shallow); (2) reaction: necessarily biàn ér qiú xīn (changed and sought new); (3) Zhèngdé and Jiājìng — chénbó wěilì (deep-broad, vast-and-beautiful) as orthodoxy (i.e. Hé Jǐngmíng 何景明 / Lǐ Mèngyáng 李夢陽 fùgǔ movement); degenerated into xūjiāo (false-vain); (4) reaction: necessarily biàn ér wù shí (changed and sought substance). The Sìkù editors’ moderate verdict: Hé and Lǐ are like Qí Huán and Jìn Wén — their merit shook the empire but a hegemonic atmosphere finally remained; Dōngyáng is like declining Zhōu and weak Lǔ — strength insufficient to repel violent intruders, but the canonical institutions and cultural artifacts still had the xiānwáng zhī yífēng (the surviving wind of the former kings). Even the post-Hé-Lǐ xiōngwěi qíjié (heroic-distinguished) talents could not push aside and abolish him. The Sìkù editors’ moral-political verdict on Lǐ Dōngyáng — yī ē Liú Jǐn rénpǐn shìyè jūn wú zú shēnlùn (he attached himself to Liú Jǐn 劉瑾; his personal character and works are not worth deep discussion) — is harsher than on his literary work. The 100-juǎn recension: 20 juǎn poetry, 30 juǎn prose, 10 juǎn poetry-continuation, 30 juǎn prose-continuation, 10 juǎn miscellaneous; the 7 sub-collections (Nánxíng gǎo 南行稿, Běishàng lù 北上錄, Jīngyán jiǎngdú 經筵講讀, Dōngsì lù 東祀錄, Jíjù lù 集句錄, Kūzǐ lù 哭子錄, Qiútuì lù 求退錄). Original blocks burnt; the present text is the Kāngxī rénxū (1682) recutting by Liào Fāngdá 廖方達, then Chálíngzhōu xuézhèng.
Tiyao
Huáilùtáng jí in 100 juǎn — by Lǐ Dōngyáng of the Míng. Dōngyáng has the Dōngsì lù, already recorded. Dōngyáng yī ē Liú Jǐn (depended-and-flattered Liú Jǐn); his personal character and works are not worth deep-discussing. Yet his prose finally is one dà zōng (great mainstream) of the Míng era. Once Lǐ Mèngyáng and Hé Jǐngmíng rose abruptly between Hóngzhì and Zhèngdé, advocating fùgǔ xué (returning-to-antiquity learning); thereupon wén bì Qín Hàn, shī bì Shèng Táng (prose must be QínHàn, poetry must be High Táng); their talent and learning sufficient to lǒngzhào yī shì (cover one age); the empire likewise echoed and followed them; the Chálíng light-flame was nearly extinguished. Once the Běidì 北地 (Lǐ Mèngyáng) and Xìnyáng 信陽 (Hé Jǐngmíng) school’s transmission zhuǎnxiāng mónǐ (transferring imitation), abuses gradually deepened — discussants then somewhat reverted to Lǐ Dōngyáng’s transmission to chēngzhǔ (prop-up). The Míng Hóng[-wǔ]-Yǒng[-lè] and after — prose taking píngzhèng diǎnyǎ as orthodoxy — its conclusion gradually flowed into yōngfū; the extreme of yōngfū could not but change and seek new. Zhèng[-dé]-Jiā[-jìng] and after — prose taking chénbó wěilì as orthodoxy — its conclusion gradually flowed into xūjiāo; the extreme of xūjiāo could not but change and seek substance. For 200+ years the two schools alternately won and lost — clearly all lǐshì zhī bìrán (principle-and-circumstance’s necessity). With calm heart discussing: Hé and Lǐ are like Qí Huán 齊桓 and Jìn Wén 晉文 — gōngliè zhèn tiānxià ér bàqì zhōng cún (their merit shaking the empire but a hegemon’s-air finally remaining); Dōngyáng is like shuāiZhōu ruòLǔ — force insufficient to repel violent intruders, but canonical institutions and cultural artifacts still had the surviving wind of the former kings. Even the later xióngwěi qíjié (heroic-distinguished, marvellous-extreme) talent finally could not push him aside and abolish him — there is reason. The collection’s old blocks have been destroyed; this text is the Kāngxī rénxū (1682) printing by Chálíngzhōu xuézhèng Liào Fāngdá: 20 juǎn poetry-manuscript, 30 juǎn prose-manuscript, 10 juǎn poetry-continuation, 30 juǎn prose-continuation, also 10 juǎn miscellaneous-manuscript called Nánxíng gǎo, Běishàng lù, Jīngyán jiǎngdú, Dōngsì lù, Jíjù lù, Kūzǐ lù, Qiútuì lù — 7 kinds. The poetry-continuation is originally 10 juǎn; Zhāng Hóngliè’s 張鴻烈 bá makes it 20 juǎn — a brush-error. At the head are Zhèngdé bǐngzǐ (1516) Yáng Yīqīng 楊一清 preface and Dōngyáng’s own preface. Yet [Dōngyáng’s] own preface is composed for Nǐgǔ yuèfǔ (Imitating-Ancient yuèfǔ), not for the complete collection — later men moved it to crown the complete collection. 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 Lǐ Dōngyáng is one of the most influential statements of mid-Míng literary historiography in the entire Sìkù corpus: the two-cycle alternation model (Hóngwǔ Yǒnglè píngzhèng diǎnyǎ → yōngfū → Zhèngdé Jiājìng chénbó wěilì → xūjiāo) provides the foundational chronological-stylistic frame; the Hé / Lǐ as QíHuán JìnWén (forceful but hegemonic) and Dōngyáng as decling-Zhōu weak-Lǔ (weak but with the surviving wind of the former kings) analogy provides the canonical literary-political evaluative frame.
The chief catch: the Sìkù editors are unusually candid on Lǐ Dōngyáng’s moral-political record — yī ē Liú Jǐn (he attached himself to Liú Jǐn 劉瑾, the great Zhèng-dé-era eunuch dictator); rénpǐn shìyè jūn wú zú shēnlùn (his personal character and works are not worth deep discussion). The LǐXián / YuèZhèng pair (KR4e0104 / KR4e0109) is reproduced here in moral-and-literary form: Lǐ Dōngyáng’s literary excellence is preserved, but the moral verdict is severe.
The 100-juǎn total — second only to KR4e0090 Yáng Shìqí Dōnglǐ jí (93 juǎn) in this division — reflects Lǐ Dōngyáng’s extraordinary literary productivity across his HóngzhìZhèngdé Senior Grand Secretary career.
The 7 sub-collections are documentary on specific career episodes: Nánxíng gǎo (southern-journey, embassy travels); Běishàng lù (northern ascent, capital-bound); Jīngyán jiǎngdú (imperial-lecture commentaries); Dōngsì lù (eastern sacrifice, the famous Tàishān sacrifice records); Jíjù lù (collected-line, jíjù poetry); Kūzǐ lù (mourning-the-son, the elegies for his dead son); Qiútuì lù (seeking-retirement memorials, the late-career retirement-petitions).
CBDB id 28691 (1447–1516) confirms 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 Dōng-yáng.
- John W. Dardess, Confucianism and Autocracy: Professional Elites in the Founding of the Ming Dynasty. UC Press, 1983. (Background on the Tái-gé tǐ / Chá-líng transition.)
- Daniel Bryant, The Great Recreation: Ho Ching-ming (1483–1521) and His World. Brill, 2008. (For the Hé Jǐng-míng / Hòu-qī-zǐ counter-school.)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí) and §28.6 (mid-Míng poetic schools).
- Míng shǐ j. 181 — Lǐ Dōng-yáng biography.
Other points of interest
The Sìkù tíyào’s two-cycle alternation model is foundational to the standard mid-late-Qīng literary historiography of the Míng — the source for the canonical periodization that remains the standard frame in modern Míng-literary-history scholarship.