Jiānjìtáng wénjí 兼濟堂文集
Collected Prose from the Hall of Joint Salvation by 魏裔介 (撰)
About the work
The collected prose and verse of 魏裔介 Wèi Yìjiè (1616–1686), the leading early-Qīng Lǐxué grand secretary, in 20 juan: 2 juan of zòushū memorials, 6 juan of xù prefaces, 2 juan of shūdú letters, 2 juan of biographical-and-epitaph prose (zhuànzhì), 2 juan of sacrificial jìwén and treatises (lùn), 2 juan of zázhù, 3 juan of yuèfǔ and modern-style poetry, and 1 juan of niánpǔ (chronological biography). This 20-juan recension was selected and compiled by Wèi’s student Zhān Míngzhāng 詹明章 from Wèi’s much larger output: the original Jiāngnán (1666) imprint had 14 juan, the Jīngnán (mid-Kāngxī) imprint 24 juan; multiple parallel collections (Kūnlín xiǎopǐn, Línxià jí, etc.) overlapped these; the present Sìkù recension represents a curated synthesis. The title takes from the Hall of Jiānjì — Wèi’s late-life Bǎixiāng residence — recalling the Mèngzǐ topos “to bring it about that the realm be brought to safety / jiān (combined / paired) jì (saved).”
Tiyao
Your servants reverently submit the following: the Jiānjìtáng wénjí in 20 juan is by Wèi Yìjiè of our dynasty. Yìjiè, zì Shíshēng, hào Zhēn’ān, was a man of Bǎixiāng. He was a jìnshì of bǐngxū (Shùnzhì 3, 1646) and rose to dàxuéshì, posthumously Wényì. This collection is: 2 juan of memorials, 6 juan of prefaces, 2 juan of letters, 2 juan of biographical-and-epitaph prose, 2 juan of sacrificial prose and treatises, 2 juan of miscellaneous prose, 3 juan of yuèfǔ and modern-style poetry, plus 1 juan of niánpǔ — 20 juan in all. Yìjiè’s output is very copious. Printed in Jiāngnán there is the Jiānjìtáng jí in 14 juan; printed in Jīngnán there is the Jiānjìtáng jí in 24 juan; printed in the capital there are the Wénxuǎn in two parts (upper and lower), the Kūnlín xiǎopǐn in two parts (upper and lower), the Kūnlín wàijí in one part, the Zòushū chǐdú cún yú in 7 juan, and the Chūlín sān bǐ in 5 juan. The present recension is the one selected and combined into a single print by Zhān Míngzhāng. Yìjiè standing at court showed marked breeze and integrity; what he set forth in his memorials largely touched the great body of the state; his poetry and prose are chúnyǎ (pure and elegant), not failing of the rúzhě’s voice. Though he is not famous as a literary master, when placed among the writers of our founding generation he is no disgrace. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 44 (1779), second month. Chief editors your servants 紀昀, 陸錫熊, 孫士毅. Chief proof-collator your servant Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.
Abstract
Wèi was a prominent voice in the Kāngxī-era court establishment of ChéngZhū as the orthodox imperial line of Lǐxué. His Shèng xué zhī tǒng hé lù 聖學知統合錄 — an early-Qīng ChéngZhū prosopographic anthology paralleling 湯斌’s Luò xué biān KR3a0094 — is among the most polemically definite texts of the period. The Jiānjìtáng wénjí preserves an extensive correspondence with Sūn Chéngzé 孫承澤 of Wǎnpíng (the Sūn Běihǎi 孫北海 of Wèi’s self-preface) and with 李光地 Lǐ Guāngdì, 陸隴其 Lù Lóngqí, and 湯斌 Tāng Bīn — placing Wèi at the center of the Kāngxī-era ChéngZhū institutional network. The self-preface gives a remarkable autobiographical bibliographic inventory: 1,036 poems already printed in the Yǔfǎng shījí, 117 memorials in the censorial-and-grand-secretarial register, 10 memorials in the nèigé register, plus the jiǎnyán lù and the topical Classics commentaries (Sì shū dàquán zuǎnyào, Xiào jīng zhù yì, Yì jīng hé dìng zhèng shuō).
Translations and research
Lawrence D. Kessler, K’ang-hsi and the Consolidation of Ch’ing Rule, 1661–1684 (Chicago: U. Chicago Press, 1976) — uses Wèi’s memorials.
Jonathan Spence, Emperor of China: Self-portrait of K’ang-hsi (New York: Knopf, 1974) — references the Wèi corpus.
Ono Kazuko, Min-shin shisō shi no kenkyū (Kyoto, 1996) — extensive discussion of the early-Qīng Lǐ-xué official synthesis.
Liú Hàn-fù 劉漢福, Wèi Yìjiè yǔ Kāngxī jiǔ tóng 魏裔介與康熙朝堂 (Hebei renmin, 2008).
Links
- Wikidata Q7984553 (Wei Yijie)
- ECCP 847–848 (Tu Lien-che)
- Kyoto Zinbun Sìkù tíyào