Dònglùtáng jí 洞麓堂集
Cavern-Foothills Hall Collection by 尹臺 (撰)
About the work
The literary collection of Yǐn Tái 尹臺 (1506–1579), zì Chóngjī 崇基, hào Jiùshān 舊山 (also referenced as Dòngshān 洞山, after his residence), of Yǒngxīn 永新 (Jiāngxī). Jiājìng 14 (1535, 乙未) jìnshì; office reached Nánjīng Lǐbù shàngshū (Nánjīng Minister of Rites — hence the title Dà Zōngbó). His home was about a lǐ from an extraordinary cavern with steep peaks, from which he named his studio (the Dònglùtáng) and his manuscripts. Zhū Yízūn’s Míngshī zōng refers to a Dòngshān jí — the Dònglùtáng jí of the WYG edition is essentially the same collection. The 10-juǎn recension comprises 6 juǎn of prose plus 4 of poetry. The collection is notable for: (i) Yǐn’s principled defense of Yáng Jìshèng 楊繼盛 (the Yáng Zhōngmǐn of Yáng Zhōngmǐn jí KR4e0200) against the Yán Sōng persecution — the Sìkù tíyào singles this out as Yǐn’s qīngyì (public reputation) anchor; (ii) Yǐn’s intellectual position as one of the more articulate Jiā-jìng-era fǎn–Yáojiāng (anti–Wáng Shǒurén) writers from the Zhū Xī standpoint — his letter to Luó Hóngxiān (Niànān wénjí KR4e0187) argues that “the xīnshuō (mind-doctrine) of the liángzhī school is only the work of xīnlíng jué zhī miào (‘the wondrousness of mind-numinous awareness’) — not the lǐ itself.”
Tiyao
Dònglùtáng jí in 10 juǎn — by Yǐn Tái of the Míng. Tái, zì Chóngjī, hào Jiùshān, native of Yǒngxīn. Jiājìng yǐwèi (1535) jìnshì; office reached Nánjīng Lǐbù shàngshū. Míngshī zōng calls it the Dòngshān jí; this work makes it Dònglùtáng jí. Examining the head of the collection’s preface by Zōu Yuánbiāo 鄒元標: “Dònglùtáng gǎo — the Dà Zōngbó Dòngshān Yǐn-gōng composed; about a lǐ away from his home there is an extraordinary cavern, with strange-rising peaks — therefore he named the hall, and named his manuscript thereby.” So Dòngshān is his place-of-residence’s name; Dònglù is the hall’s name — actually one collection. Yǐn, on the matter of defending Yáng Jìshèng, was the focus of qīngyì (clean-discussion, public reputation). In the collection — such as the letter to Luó Niànān: “in recent times, the family-ancestors of liángzhī — the xīnshuō (mind-doctrine) is bubbling and swelling — only because Jīnxī (i.e. Lù Jiǔyuān/Xiàngshān) misread the Mèngzǐ’s ‘xiān lì hū qí dàzhě’ (‘first establish the great’ [Mencius 6A.15]) phrase.” He also extensively argues the wrongness of jí xīn jí lǐ (“mind is precisely principle”) — that even if there is actually-something-attained, it is only xīnlíng jué zhī miào (“the wondrousness of mind-numinous awareness”) — surely not the lǐ that is to be perceived. Shìshì (Buddhists) have insight on xīn but not on xìng; the Lùshì (Lù Jiǔyuān) school is generally of this type. He also says: among Chéngzǐ’s disciples, there were already lost-transmissions at the time — such as Lǚshì and Yóushì soaked into Chánxué; after Zhūzǐ’s death, Miǎnzhāi (Huáng Gàn) and Hànqīng (Chén Shùn) just barely self-guarded — beyond two transmissions all lost the orientation. People like Hé, Wáng, Jīn, Xǔ all secretly betrayed the master’s teachings — not just Cǎolú (Wú Chéng) alone. His attack on Yáojiāng (Wáng Shǒurén) learning is very vigorous — can also be called yìrán bù yí (firm-standing, not moving).
The collection has one jìLù Dōnghú wén (sacrificial-prose for Lù Dōnghú), praising him as “wàng zhòng cháotíng, gōng shèng shèjì” (“reputation heavy at court, merit prosperous in shèjì”) and so on. Dōnghú is Lù Bǐng 陸炳’s hào. Bǐng’s name is listed in Míngshǐ Nìngxìng zhuàn (Biographies of Sycophant-Favorites); it is utterly not in the same class with Yǐn Tái. Examining the history: Bǐng’s annual income was incalculable; treating-with the power-and-important — circulating with good-types — also nothing he spared. Shìzōng (Jiājìng) repeatedly started dàyù (great prison-cases); Bǐng bǎo quán (preserved-complete) much; zhéjié shìdàfū wèicháng gòuxiàn yīrén (“bent his integrity for shìdàfū, never structurally implicated even one”) — hence in the court hall many praised him. Yǐn Tái’s borrowed-relation perhaps was for this reason? A gentleman discusses gōngyì (public-truth), does not discuss sījiāo (private-friendship) — ultimately a white-jade flaw.
The collection has prose 6 juǎn, poetry 4 juǎn. Yuánbiāo (Zōu Yuánbiāo)‘s preface said: his poetry several-hundred pieces lì zhuī Tángyǎ (vigorously pursued Táng-elegance); zhìshū, shū, xù, jì, míng, zhuàng, biǎo several-hundred pieces chūrù HànSòng (going-in-and-out of Hàn and Sòng), chǎnyì mínglǐ (interpreting and unfolding name-and-principle), bù xiè qǐyǔ (not stooping to silken-language). Even though xiāngqū zhī cí (hometown-bend speech) is by convention all yìměi (excess-praise) — now examining what he actually wrote — shàng bù jǐn wū (“still not entirely false”). Compiled and presented in the fifth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Yǐn Tái of Yǒngxīn is one of the more articulate Jiā-jìng-era anti–Yáojiāng (anti–Wáng Shǒurén) writers, attacking liángzhī doctrine from a Zhū Xī standpoint and tracing what he sees as the corruption of ChéngZhū transmissions through Chán intrusions. His letter to Luó Hóngxiān (Niànān wénjí KR4e0187) is one of the more substantial extant documents of mid-Míng Zhūxué polemic — Yǐn’s reading is that jí xīn jí lǐ (“mind is principle”) is at best a description of “the wondrousness of mind-numinous awareness,” not the substantive lǐ. Yǐn was a defender of Yáng Jìshèng during the Yán Sōng persecution — the qīngyì foundation of his reputation. The Sìkù tíyào, however, notes a báibì zhī xiá (“white-jade flaw”): Yǐn’s sacrificial prose for Lù Bǐng 陸炳 — a Jiājìng fèixìng (sycophant-favorite) listed in Míngshǐ Nìngxìng zhuàn — exposes Yǐn’s sījiāo (private friendship) running against gōngyì (public truth).
Date bracket: 1535 (Jiājìng 14 jìnshì) — 1579 (death). CBDB 34710 gives 1506–1579; catalog meta has 1506 implied; standard works follow CBDB.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
- Míng shǐ j. 216 — Yǐn Tái biography.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
Zōu Yuánbiāo 鄒元標 — the Dōnglín 東林 leader of the Wànlì era — composed the canonical preface, preserved in the source: the Sìkù tíyào treats Zōu’s “shūjì míngzhuàng biǎo chūrù HànSòng, chǎnyì mínglǐ” formula as a credible critical anchor, only with the caveat that xiāngqū zhī cí lì jiē yìměi (hometown-formula prefaces are typically over-praising) — itself a useful Sìkù methodological remark.