Kāngzhāi jí 康齋集
Health-Studio Collection by 吳與弼 (撰)
About the work
Kāngzhāi jí 康齋集 in 12 juǎn — the writings of Wú Yǔbì 吳與弼 (1391–1469), zì Zǐfù 子傅 (also written 子傳), hào Kāngzhāi 康齋, native of Línchuān 臨川 (Fǔzhōu, Jiāngxī). The great mid-Míng Lǐxué teacher: in Tiānshùn 1 (1457) summoned by Zhōng Guógōng Shí Hēng 石亨’s recommendation; appointed zuǒ Chūnfáng zuǒ yùdé 左春坊左諭德; declined to take office; the throne ordered xíngrén (envoys) to escort him home. Wú is the foundational teacher of the mid-Míng Lǐxué turn: pupils Chén Xiànzhāng 陳獻章 (KR4e0108) and Hú Jūrén 胡居仁 — opening respectively the Báishā 白沙 and Yúgàn 餘干 schools — both successive transmissions of the Míng dynasty came from Yǔbì’s advocacy. The Sìkù editors are unusually candid on the moral and intellectual problems: (1) the Shí Hēng family-genealogy postface — Wú in the seventh month of Tiānshùn 2 [1458] as the door-disciple of Chóngrén Wú Yǔbì respectfully wrote — preserved in the present 12-juǎn recension, refutes attempts to whitewash Wú’s Tiān-shùn-era acceptance of Shí Hēng’s recommendation as a Yǐn Zhí 尹直 Suǒzhuì lù 瑣綴錄 calumny; (2) the yǔlù opens with several dream-visitations from Confucius, King Wén, Zhūzǐ father-and-son — the Sìkù editors note that yes, when admiration reaches the extreme, the heart can produce images, but Wú’s wife also reporting a Confucius-visitation is probably his wife playing-and-mocking and Yǔbì did not catch it — a remarkable case of Sìkù editorial deflation of zhìshèng (sage-aspiration) theatricality. Yet the literary-philosophical merit stands: Wú’s learning jiāncǎi Zhū Lù zhī cháng (combined the strengths of ZhūXī and LùJiǔyuān), with kèkǔ zìlì (rigorous self-effort), and the pupil-line gives substance to the case.
Tiyao
Kāngzhāi jí in 12 juǎn — by Wú Yǔbì of the Míng. Yǔbì, zì Zǐfù, native of Línchuān. Tiānshùn 1 (1457), by Zhōngguógōng Shí Hēng’s recommendation, summoned to the capital; appointed zuǒ Chūnfáng zuǒ yùdé; declined to take office; the throne sent xíngrén to escort him home. The collection was first cut at Fǔzhōu, originally in 4 juǎn; with years it became mànhuàn (faded-and-mottled). The present text is the Chóngzhēn rénshēn (1632) printing by Jiāngnán tíxué fùshǐ Chén Wéixīn 陳維新, divided into 7 juǎn poetry, 1 juǎn memorials-letters-miscellaneous, 1 juǎn prefaces, 1 juǎn jì, 1 juǎn rìlù (diary), 1 juǎn bá-zàn-míng-qǐ-tomb-inscriptions-zhuāng-jìwén. His poetry — from Yǒnglè gēngyín (1410) to Zhèngtǒng xīnyǒu (1441) — all chronologically arranged; below this, sub-titled Hóngdū gǎo 洪都藁 (Hóngzhōu manuscript), Yóu Jīnlíng gǎo 遊金陵藁, Shì Shàngráo gǎo 適上饒藁, Jīntái wǎngfù gǎo 金臺往復藁, Xīyóu gǎo 西游藁, Shì Mǐn gǎo 適閩藁, Dōngyóu gǎo 東遊藁, Dōngyóu Ráozhōu gǎo 東遊饒州藁 — and what is annotated as 某藁 ends here; below that, also further chronologically-continued poems appended.
Yǔbì’s chūchǔ (whether-to-go-out-or-stay) — opinions are quite divided. Yǐn Zhí’s Suǒzhuì lù 瑣綴錄 attacks him particularly forcefully — although unavoidably from ēnyuàn zhī kǒu (favour-or-grudge mouth) — but the Shí Hēng family-genealogy postface saying In Tiānshùn 戊寅 (1458) the seventh month, the twenty-first day, the door-disciple Chóngrén Wú Yǔbì respectfully read — its prose is now in the present 12 juǎn; certainly not what Yǐn Zhí inserted.
Chén Màodé’s 陳懋德 [defense], using Xuē Xuān 薛瑄 receiving the recognition of Wáng Zhèn 王振, and Liú Shìjié 劉世節 [defending] using Confucius wishing to see Fóxī 佛肸 (the Lúnyǔ episode where Confucius considered visiting a usurper) — these 究 cannot 厭 the empire’s heart (cannot satisfy the empire’s mind).
His teaching-effort is detailed in the yǔlù table-of-contents: the first item says yǐsì (1425) dreaming of Confucius and King Wén; the second item says dreaming of Zhūzǐ; further on says bǐngzǐ (1456) in the second-month first-day dreaming of visiting Zhūzǐ; the fifth-month twenty-fifth night dreaming Confucius’s grandson coming on Confucius’s command to visit; xīnsì (1461) post-meal weary-and-sleeping, dreaming Zhūzǐ father-and-son coming to call. These can still be called xiàngmù zhī jí, yīn xīn shēng xiàng yú lǐ huò yì yǒu zhī (admiration’s extreme, by heart producing image of the principle, perhaps it can be so). As for saying his new dwelling, planting bamboo, returning at night, his wife also dreaming an old man with two attendants saying Master Confucius arrived to visit here — could it not be that his wife was xìwǔ nòng zhī (playing-mocking, teasing him) and Yǔbì did not catch it? Looking at his saying everywhere [I] only sigh that the sage is hard to learn and with one taste learning the sage, conquering my un-resembling-the-sage — his zhìqù (intent-tendency) is uniquely high in this; his kèhuà (carving-painting, i.e. aesthetic shaping) excessive is also in this.
Yet Yǔbì’s learning truly can jiāncǎi Zhū Lù zhī cháng (combine the strengths of ZhūXī and LùJiǔyuān) and kèkǔ zìlì (rigorously self-establish). His door-disciple Chén Xiànzhāng got his jìngguān hányǎng (still-observing, nourishing) — opening the Báishā school; Hú Jūrén got his dǔzhì lìxíng (devoted-intent, vigorous-conduct) — opening the Yúgàn school. The Míng dynasty’s two schools transmitting in succession all came from Yǔbì’s advocacy — his merit cannot be wholly effaced. His prose-and-poetry too are all chúnshí jìn lǐ (pure-substantial, near to principle), without the later huàngyàng zìsì zhī tán (vague-vague, indulgent-and-lavish discourse). One cannot use his being jí yú xíng dào, sù yú qiú míng (eager to practise the Way, hasty to seek fame) to combine [criticism] and disparage even his books. 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 Wú Yǔbì is one of the more substantial mid-Míng Lǐxué historiographic statements in the Sìkù corpus. Wú is the foundational teacher of the mid-Míng Lǐxué turn — pupils Chén Xiànzhāng (KR4e0108) and Hú Jūrén opened respectively the Báishā 白沙 and Yúgàn 餘干 schools, the two principal mid-Míng Lǐxué lineages, both contributing to the eventual emergence of Wáng Yángmíng’s Yáojiāng school in the early 16th century. The Sìkù historiographic verdict — both successive transmissions came from Yǔbì’s advocacy — is foundational.
The Sìkù editors’ moral verdict is double-edged: they preserve the Shí Hēng family-genealogy postface as documentary evidence against attempts to defend Wú’s Tiān-shùn-era summons (i.e., Wú genuinely accepted Shí Hēng’s recommendation, even though Shí Hēng was the Duómén coup leader and the Tiānshùn faction-head); they note the Confucius-and-Zhū-zǐ dream-visitations with kǎozhèng-style scepticism (esp. the wife-dreaming-Confucius episode); but they affirm the philosophical-pedagogical accomplishment.
The jiāncǎi Zhū Lù zhī cháng judgement — that Wú integrated the strengths of Zhū Xī and Lù Jiǔyuān — is a striking intellectual-historiographical claim, particularly notable as the Sìkù editors generally favour orthodox ZhūXī positioning.
The intellectual lineage: Wú Yǔbì → (a) Chén Xiànzhāng (Báishā / jìngguān) → Wáng Yángmíng (Yáojiāng / liángzhī); (b) Hú Jūrén (Yúgàn / orthodox-Zhū). The eventual mid-Míng xīnxué explosion in the 16th century traces directly back to the present collection.
CBDB id 34529 (1391–1469) 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 Wú Yǔ-bì.
- Wing-tsit Chan, Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton UP, 1963.
- Theodore de Bary, Neo-Confucian Orthodoxy and the Learning of the Mind-and-Heart. Columbia UP, 1981. (For the mid-Míng Lǐ-xué turn.)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí) and §31.4 (Míng Lǐ-xué).
- Míng shǐ j. 282 (Rú-lín zhuàn) — Wú Yǔ-bì biography.
Other points of interest
The Sìkù editors’ deflation of the wife-dreaming-Confucius episode — probably his wife was playing-mocking and Yǔbì did not catch it — is one of the cleanest cases of late-Qiánlóng kǎozhèng scepticism applied to Lǐxué-school zhìshèng (sage-aspiration) theatricality. The jiāncǎi Zhū Lù zhī cháng judgement is also a notable departure from strict-Zhū orthodoxy.