Fēngshān jí 楓山集
Maple-Mountain Collection by 章懋 (撰)
About the work
A slim 4-juǎn literary remainder of Zhāng Mào 章懋 (1436–1521), zì Démào 德懋, hào Fēngshān 楓山, shì Wényì 文懿, of Lánxī 蘭谿 (Jīnhuá, Zhèjiāng) — the Sìkù-recognised first of the Chénghuà bǐngxū Hànlín sān jūnzǐ 翰林三君子 (Three Gentlemen of the Hànlín, Chénghuà 2 / 1466 cohort): Zhāng Mào, Zhuāng Chāng 莊㫤 (KR4e0127), and Huáng Zhòngzhāo 黃仲昭 (KR4e0128) — the three who, as junior Hànlín biānxiū and jiǎntǎo, jointly memorialised against the Inner-Court Lantern-display (內廷張燈) of Chénghuà 3 (1467) and were zhàng (caned at the palace gate) and demoted in punishment. Zhāng was sent down to Línwǔxiàn zhī xiàn 臨武縣 (Húguǎng); recovered to Nánjīng Dàlǐsì píngshì; rose to Fújiàn ànchásī qiānshì; resigned and lectured at home for over twenty years; recalled as Nánjīng Guózǐjiàn jìjiǔ; resigned again; from Jiājìng beginnings progressed jí jiā (at-home) to Nánjīng Lǐbù shàngshū — that is, he was never recalled to capital but the post was conferred while he stayed at Fēngshān. The 4 juǎn (奏疏, 書簡, 雜著, 序記詩賦贊) are all that he wrote; he held literary composition to be xiǎojì (a minor craft) and refused requests for occasional pieces.
Tiyao
Fēngshān jí in 4 juǎn — by Zhāng Mào of the Míng. Mào, zì Démào, native of Lánxī; Fēngshān is his hào. Chénghuà bǐngxū (1466) jìnshì dì yī rén (= huìshìyuán); entered the Hànlín. Together with Zhuāng Chāng and Huáng Zhòngzhāo, by memorial remonstrating against the inner-palace lantern-illumination, was zhàng (caned) at the gate and demoted as Línwǔxiàn zhī xiàn; transferred to Nánjīng Dàlǐsì píngshì; promoted to Fújiàn ànchásī qiānshì; resigned and resided at home for more than twenty years; called to be Nánjīng Guózǐjiàn jìjiǔ; again withdrew. Repeated summons, did not rise. At the beginning of Jiājìng, by edict at-home, promoted to Nánjīng Lǐbù shàngshū; on death, posthumous shì Wényì. Record in Míngshǐ main biography. Mào from his early Hànlín service was famous for zhí jiàn (direct remonstrance). The first piece of the present collection is precisely the original memorial; though jiǎojī wèi miǎn tài guò (its intemperateness was perhaps too extreme), its intent does not lose what chízhèng (keeps to the right) is. As for his gěngjiè juésú (upright-and-pure, severing himself from the vulgar) clean carriage, it truly surpasses average men. In his at-home retirement he occupied himself only with dúshū jiǎngxué (reading-and-lecturing); his prose chiefly held to the yìxùn (righteousness-and-instruction) of the prior worthies, not stepping outside their chǐcùn (inch-and-foot); refused to make fúkuā biǎobào (extravagant, self-revealing) talk. The main biography records that someone urged him to compose literature; he replied: cǐ xiǎojì ěr, yǔ fúxiá — “this is a small craft, I have no leisure.” Another urged him to zhùshù (author works); he replied: xiānrú zhī yán zhì yǐ, shān qí fán kě yě — “the prior Confucians’ words have reached the limit; one need only cut the redundancies.” His whole point is in shēntǐ lìxíng (bodily-practice-and-firm-action); to the realm of language and letters he gave no attention. Thus his lifetime’s output stops at just this. Yet what does survive — shū jié dé líng, hé yú gǔ rén (in writings his nodes-of-conduct are pure, harmonising with the ancients). Compiled and presented respectfully. Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Zhāng Mào is the Sìkù-recognised principal of the Hànlín sān jūnzǐ of Chénghuà 3 (1467) — the first faction-purge of the Chénghuà era after Lǐ Xián (KR4e0104) and entirely separate from the post-Tiān-shùn cabinet (Hán Yōng / Yuè Zhèng / Luó Lún / Zhāng Níng) banishments documented elsewhere in this division. The Three Gentlemen — Zhāng Mào of Lánxī, Zhuāng Chāng of Jiāngpǔ (KR4e0127), Huáng Zhòngzhāo of Pútián (KR4e0128) — jointly memorialised against the Inner-Court Lantern-display ordered for the New Year, were caned at the palace gate, and went into provincial exile. Of the three, Zhāng’s recovery was the slowest (twenty-plus years in retirement) and his posthumous standing the highest (Nánjīng Lǐbù shàngshū, posthumous shì Wényì).
The literary judgement of the Sìkù on the Fēngshān jí is unusual: the editors are explicit that Zhāng’s slimness is not failure but principle. Zhāng held literary composition to be xiǎojì — a minor craft — and refused to author at length; what survives is principled brevity. The cluster comparison is with his contemporary Chén Xiànzhāng (KR4e0108) — Chéng’s jìngzuò (quiet-sitting) Báishā school sliding into Buddhist quietism — and the Lǐxué judgement of the day held Zhāng’s gěngjiè juésú line to be the cleaner mid-Míng Zhūzǐ survival.
Zhāng’s principal Lǐxué work, the Fēngshān yǔlù 楓山語錄, is catalogued separately under KR3a0082 (Cuī Xiàn 崔銑 / others on Míng chén shí jié). The present Fēngshān jí therefore documents the political-literary side of the same figure whose intellectual record is in KR3a.
CBDB id 34532 confirms 1436–1521.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976: notice of Zhāng Mào.
- Míng shǐ j. 179 — Zhāng Mào biography.
- Huáng Zōng-xī, Míng-rú xué-àn j. 45 — Zhāng Mào under the Chóng-rén xué-àn.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí) and §31.4 (Míng Lǐ-xué).
Other points of interest
The Hànlín sān jūnzǐ cluster — Zhāng Mào, Zhuāng Chāng, Huáng Zhòngzhāo — is one of the few mid-Míng factional purges where all three principals’ independent biéjí survive in the Sìkù; the next three entries in this division (KR4e0126 – KR4e0128) catalogue them as a unit. The Sìkù editors’ explicit preservation of these three together is one of the most coherent factional-record clusters in the entire Míng biéjí corpus.