Gǔwén jíchéng qiánjí 古文集成前集
Compendium of Ancient Prose, First Collection by 王霆震
About the work
A 78-juǎn late-Southern-Sòng pedagogical anthology of gǔwén, organised in ten jí (sets) labelled with the tiāngān (Heavenly Stems) — jiǎjí, yǐjí, bǐngjí, dīngjí, wùjí, jǐjí, gēngjí, xīnjí, rénjí, guǐjí. Each jí is qualified as “qiánjí” (first / earlier collection), implying a parallel hòují (latter collection) that has not survived. Compiled by Wáng Tíngzhèn 王霆震 (zì Hēngfú 亨福) of Lúlíng 廬陵 (modern Jí’ān, Jiāngxī). The transmitted text bears no compilation date, but internal evidence — the taboo-character writing of “Wèi Zhèng” 魏徵 as “Wèi Zhèng” 魏證 (avoiding zhèng), the kōnggé (space-leaving) honorific for cháotíng guójiā — locates it as a Southern-Sòng commercial print (probably Lǐzōng era, 1224–1264). The title-page declares “Xīnkān zhūrú píngdiǎn” (Newly-Printed Commented-and-Marked, with the Various Confucians’ Critiques), drawing on the píngdiǎn tradition of Lǚ Zǔqiān’s Gǔwén guānjiàn KR4h0041, Zhēn Déxiù’s Wénzhāng zhèngzōng KR4h0046, and Lóu Fǎng’s Chónggǔ wénjué KR4h0044 (whose marginal notes are preserved).
Structure: jiǎ 6 juǎn, yǐ 8, bǐng 7, dīng 9, wù 8, jǐ 8, gēng 8, xīn 7, rén 8, guǐ 9 — totalling 78 juǎn and 522 prose pieces, of which about 80% are Sòng prose and only 20% pre-Sòng (from Chūnqiū down through Tang). The Sòng dominance is unusual among extant pedagogical anthologies.
Tiyao
Your servants respectfully submit: the Gǔwén jíchéng in 78 juǎn — the old text attributes the compilation to Lúlíng Wáng Tíngzhèn zì Hēngfú; no date given. Observing the signature: “Wèi Zhèng” 魏徵 is still written “Wèi Zhèng” 魏證 [in the original, Wèi Zhèng’s name is taboo-altered]; and Sòng-men’s memorials, wherever they touch cháotíng (the court) and guójiā (the state), all leave one kōnggé (blank space) — these are marks of a Southern-Sòng book-shop print.
The juǎn-head says “Xīnkān zhūrú píngdiǎn” (newly-printed píngdiǎn by the various Confucians); the text originates from Lǚ Zǔqiān’s Gǔwén guānjiàn, Zhēn Déxiù’s Wénzhāng zhèngzōng, Lóu Fǎng’s Yūzhāi gǔwén biāozhù (= Chónggǔ wénjué) — every quān and diǎn (circle and dot) is preserved. Probably it was cut in the Lǐzōng period.
The collection is organised by the ten stems as classifications; jiǎ through guǐ all called “qiánjí” — so there must have been a hòují that is lost. Jiǎ 6, yǐ 8, bǐng 7, dīng 9, wù 8, jǐ 8, gēng 8, xīn 7, rén 8, guǐ 9. The recorded pieces run from the Chūnqiū down to the Southern Sòng: 522 prose pieces, of which 80% are Sòng. While many are familiar pieces, the contemporary famous-hand collections that have since perished — those of Mǎ Cún 馬存, Zēng Fēng 曾丰, Chéng Dàchāng 程大昌, Chén Qiān 陳謙, Fāng Tián 方恬, Zhèng Jǐngwàng 鄭景望 — are largely preserved here. The various píng (commentaries) cited — Huáichéng, Sōngzhāi, Xiàozhāi, Láng xuéshì, Dài Xī’s Bǐyì, Dōngshú, Yàntán — are now also rarely seen; some of which we cannot now identify by name. Sòng anthology selections rarely transmit to the present; record and preserve it, that it may be a resource for xúnlǎn (browsing). Reverently submitted, tenth month of Qiánlóng 44 (1779). Editor-in-Chief Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Date: by the Sìkù editors’ internal-evidence analysis, the book was cut in the Lǐzōng era of the late Southern Sòng (1224–1264). The compiler Wáng Tíngzhèn of Lúlíng is otherwise unknown.
Significance:
(1) Largest extant Sòng pedagogical gǔwén anthology. At 78 juǎn and 522 pieces, the Gǔwén jíchéng is much larger than its principal antecedents — Lǚ Zǔqiān’s Guānjiàn (60+ pieces), Zhēn Déxiù’s Wénzhāng zhèngzōng (200+ pieces), Lóu Fǎng’s Chónggǔ wénjué (200+ pieces). It is the fullest documentary witness to the late-Southern-Sòng gǔwén pedagogical canon as it had developed by the Lǐzōng era.
(2) Preservation of secondary critical apparatus. The book preserves the píngdiǎn (commentary-and-marking) of multiple Sòng-period critics whose works are otherwise lost — Huáichéng, Sōngzhāi, Xiàozhāi, Láng xuéshì, Dài Xī (Bǐyì), Dōngshú, Yàntán. The SKQS editors specifically note that several of these critics’ identities are no longer recoverable. The Gǔwén jíchéng is consequently the principal source for Southern-Sòng gǔwén critical reception.
(3) Documentary witness to lost Sòng prose. The 80% Sòng content includes substantial prose by Mǎ Cún, Zēng Fēng, Chéng Dàchāng, Chén Qiān, Fāng Tián, Zhèng Jǐngwàng — whose individual collections are lost. The SKQS editors highlight this preservation function.
The lost hòují (latter collection) would presumably have continued the Sòng selection further into the late Southern Sòng, but no YuánMíng catalogue records it; it is irrecoverably lost.
Translations and research
- Peter Bol, “This Culture of Ours” (Stanford, 1992) — Sòng gǔ-wén anthology tradition.
- Charles Hartman, Han Yü and the T’ang Search for Unity (Princeton, 1986).
- Wáng Shuǐ-zhào 王水照, Sòng-dài wénxué tōng-lùn — comprehensive treatment.
- Mò Lì-fēng 莫礪鋒, Jiāng-xī shī-pài yánjiū — Lúlíng (Jí’ān) as Jiāngxī-school heartland.
- Zhāng Bóqiáng 張伯強, Lǚ Zǔ-qiān wén-xué sī-xiǎng yánjiū — píng-diǎn tradition.
Other points of interest
The work is a fine example of Sòng commercial píngdiǎn publishing — the book-shop trade that produced the Jiānghú anthologies of Chén Qǐ (KR4h0053 and KR4h0054) and the examination handbooks like the Lùnxué shéngchǐ KR4h0056. The Lúlíng compiler Wáng Tíngzhèn’s choice of the tiāngān organisation rather than chronological or generic is characteristic of commercial-publishing convenience.
Links
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §31.4.
- ctext