Yīfēng wénjí 一峯文集
One-Peak Literary Collection by 羅倫 (撰)
About the work
Yīfēng jí 一峯集 in 10 juǎn (the Sìkù tíyào reading; with the appended Mènggǎo 夢稿 in 2 juǎn the catalog meta gives 14) — the writings of Luó Lún 羅倫 (1431–1478), zì Yízhèng 彝正, biéhào Yīfēng 一峯, native of Yǒngfēng 永豐 (Jíān, Jiāngxī). Chénghuà bǐngxū (1466) jìnshì dìyī (zhuàngyuán); appointed xiūzhuàn; only three months after his initial-tassel ceremony, by memorial impeaching the Senior Grand Secretary Lǐ Xián 李賢 (李賢) — the same Lǐ Xián who is documented in the KR4e0104 tíyào as the suppressor of Yè Shèng, Yuè Zhèng (KR4e0109), and Luó Lún himself — banished to Quánzhōu shìbó fù tíjǔ 泉州市舶副提舉; the next year recalled to original office, transferred to Nánjīng; soon retired by illness, returned to Jīnniúshān 金牛山 to teach pupils until his death. Luó had a shíjiāo (stone-friendship) with Chén Xiànzhāng 陳獻章 (KR4e0108) but their learning differed: Chén centred on chāowù (transcendental-realization), Luó dǔshǒu Sòng rú zhī túzhé (devotedly held to the Sòng Confucians’ way). The Míngrú xuéàn judges him: firm-and-decisive, free of vulgarity; in life, would not make conventional words; would not perform soft-bowing; cold-and-starving almost to death, but nothing was enough to move his inner mind — can be called no-desire*. The Sìkù literary judgement: prose gāngyì zhī qì xíng yú zhǐmò (firm-resolute breath manifest in paper-and-ink); poetry lěiluò bùfán (upright, unusual); but yìjiàn guòjiān shī yú yūkuò (his wilfulness too firm sometimes loses to yūkuò — far-and-broad / impractical), and his fánrǒng (redundant) accumulation of prior-Confucian zhuànzhù chéngyǔ (annotation set-phrases) is less in the meritorious work of táotài (washing-away). The 2-juǎn Mènggǎo 夢稿 (Dream Manuscripts) appended at the end — 300+ pieces of dream-records — is yǐnyuē huànmiǎo, jǐ mòcè qí yòngyì suǒ zài (dim-and-vague, fantastic-and-blurred, almost no way to fathom what intent is in it); yì wénjí zhōng hǎnjiàn zhī tǐ (also a rare form within prose-collections); preserved because the man’s weight is enough, [it] gets to be appended to the original collection and transmit.
Tiyao
Yīfēng jí in 10 juǎn — by Luó Lún of the Míng. Lún, zì Yízhèng, biéhào Yīfēng, native of Jiāngxī Yǒngfēng. Chénghuà bǐngxū (1466) jìnshì dìyī; appointed xiūzhuàn; only 3 months after the shìhè (initial-tassel ceremony), by memorial impeaching dàxuéshì Lǐ Xián, banished to Quánzhōu shìbó fù tíjǔ; the next year by edict returned, restored to original office, reassigned Nánjīng. Soon by illness resigned and returned. Retired-residence at Jīnniúshān, taught pupils-and-lectured until the end. The events are detailed in his biography in Míng shǐ. Lún and Chén Xiànzhāng are called shíjiāo (stone-firm friends); yet Xiànzhāng took chāowù (transcendental-realization) as his school, and Lún dǔshǒu Sòng rú zhī túzhé (devotedly held to the Sòng Confucians’ way) — their learning was different. Míngrú xuéàn says: Lún was firm-decisive, free of vulgarity; in life would not say hétóng (conformist) words; would not do ruǎnxùn (soft-bowing) conduct; cold-starving almost to death-and-disappearance, yet nothing was enough to move his inner [mind] — can be called no-desire. Now examining his prose: gāngyì zhī qì xíng yú zhǐmò; poetry too is lěiluò bùfán — although zhíyì guòjiān shí huò shī yú yūkuò (his wilfulness too firm sometimes loses to far-and-impractical); also fond of accumulating prior-Confucian zhuànzhù chéngyǔ; less in the work of táotài (washing-away [the redundant]); sometimes loses to fánrǒng (redundant-and-bulky); yet also many xīndé zhī yán (heart-attainment words); not the sort wài qiáng zhōng gàn (outwardly-strong, inwardly-dry). At the back is recorded the Mènggǎo in 2 juǎn, recording dreams’ words to the extent of 300+ pieces — yǐnyuē huànmiǎo, jǐ mòcè qí yòngyì suǒ zài — also a rare form within prose-collections; because the man’s weight is sufficient, [it] gets to be attached to the original collection and transmitted. Now we also leave the original recension and record [it]. Compiled and presented respectfully in the tenth month of Qiánlóng 41 (1776). Chief Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Editor: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Luó Lún is the third figure in this division (with KR4e0107 Hán Yōng, KR4e0109 Yuè Zhèng, KR4e0114 Zhāng Níng) banished by Lǐ Xián (KR4e0104)‘s post-Tiān-shùn cabinet politics. The cluster of four, all separately catalogued in this division, is one of the cleanest documentary records in Sìkù of a single faction-battle’s losing-side. Luó’s case is particularly striking: a freshly-minted zhuàngyuán (Chénghuà 2 / 1466) impeaching the dominant Senior Grand Secretary within 3 months of his shìhè — the most rapid principled break of any zhuàngyuán in the Míng era.
The intellectual position — dǔshǒu Sòng rú zhī túzhé (devotedly holding the Sòng Confucians’ way) — places Luó in the orthodox-Zhū Hú Jūrén / Yúgàn xuépài wing, in deliberate contrast to the Báishā jìngguān school of his shíjiāo (stone-friend) Chén Xiànzhāng (KR4e0108). The Sìkù preservation of both — Luó’s full work here, Chén’s full work earlier — gives a balanced documentary record of the two main mid-Míng Lǐxué sub-schools.
The 2-juǎn Mènggǎo (Dream Manuscripts, 300+ dream-record pieces) is one of the most unusual sub-collections in this division and indeed in the Sìkù Míng biéjí corpus more broadly — a sustained dream-poetry sub-corpus. The Sìkù editors’ decision to keep it on the yǐ qí rén zú zhòng (because the man’s weight is sufficient) principle is one of the cleaner cases of the yī rén zhòng wén (weighting prose by the man) editorial logic.
CBDB id 34531 (1431–1478) 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 Luó Lún.
- Wing-tsit Chan, Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton UP, 1963.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí) and §31.4 (Míng Lǐ-xué).
- Míng shǐ j. 179 — Luó Lún biography.
- Huáng Zōng-xī, Míng-rú xué-àn j. 45 — Luó Lún under the Chóng-rén xué-àn (Wú Yǔ-bì school).
Other points of interest
The 2-juǎn Mènggǎo Dream Manuscripts — 300+ dream-record pieces — is one of the most unusual sub-corpora in the Sìkù Míng biéjí tradition. The Sìkù editors’ editorial decision to keep it on zhòngrén (weighting-the-man) grounds, rather than literary-craft grounds, is a notable case of the principle in operation.