Zhōngzhōu míngxián wénbiǎo 中州名賢文表
Memorial of Documents by Famed Worthies of the Central Plain by 劉昌
About the work
A 30-juǎn mid-Míng anthology of the writings of six Yuán-era Hénán/Central Plain masters, compiled by Liú Chāng (劉昌, 1424–1480, zì Qīnmó 欽謨, jìnshì of Zhèngtǒng yǐchǒu / 1445) during his tenure as Hénán tíxué fùshǐ (Vice Education Commissioner of Hénán), later Guǎngdōng cānzhèng. The six masters represented are: Xǔ Héng 許衡 (6 juǎn; the Lǔzhāi yíshū), Yáo Suì 姚燧 (8 juǎn; otherwise lost in his original 50-juǎn biéjí), Mǎ Zǔcháng 馬祖常 (5 juǎn; the Shítián jí), Xǔ Yǒurén 許有壬 (3 juǎn; the Zhìzhèng jí), Wáng Yún 王惲 (6 juǎn; the Qiūjiàn jí), and Fù Zhūlǐ Chōng 富珠哩翀 (catalog meta originally 孛术魯翀 Bózhúlǔchōng; the SKQS editors changed to 富珠哩翀 — 2 juǎn; otherwise lost in his original 60+ juǎn biéjí). Each master’s selection is sub-classified by literary form following the original biéjí, with bēizhì míngzhuàn (epitaph-and-tombstone-biography) pieces appended as a fùlù. The work is the principal documentary witness for two Yuán-master corpuses lost in independent transmission — Yáo Suì and FùZhūlǐ Chōng.
Tiyao
Your servants respectfully submit: the Zhōngzhōu míngxián wénbiǎo in 30 juǎn — the Míng Liú Chāng edited it. Chāng zì Qīnmó, Wúxiàn man. Jìnshì of Zhèngtǒng yǐchǒu (1445); served as Hénán tíxué fùshǐ, promoted to Guǎngdōng cānzhèng. This compilation is what he assembled during his Hénán tenure. The total: Xǔ Héng 6 juǎn, Yáo Suì 8, Mǎ Zǔcháng 5, Xǔ Yǒurén 3, Wáng Yún 6, FùZhūlǐ Chōng 2 (catalog meta originally 孛术魯翀, now changed to 富珠哩翀 [the SKQS editors’ standardised transliteration]). Each selection roughly follows the original biéjí’s sub-categorisation, with bēizhì míngzhuàn appended as fùlù.
Examining: Xǔ Héng’s Lǔzhāi yíshū, Mǎ Zǔcháng’s Shítián jí, Xǔ Yǒurén’s Zhìzhèng jí, Wáng Yún’s Qiūjiàn jí — though still surviving as transmitted texts, only the Lǔzhāi yíshū has printed woodblocks; the rest were transmitted in hand-copied form with rampant chuǎné (errors). Through this compilation’s extraction of their yīnghuá (essence-and-flower), we can cross-collate. As for Yáo Suì’s original collection in 50 juǎn and FùZhūlǐ Chōng’s original collection in 60+ juǎn — both attested in various catalogues — long lost and not transmitted; only through this compilation do they barely survive. Liú’s biǎozhāng zhī gōng (work of public commemoration) cannot be erased.
At the end of each collection, Liú has appended several báyǔ (postscripts) showing his textual-critical work. Wáng Shìzhēn’s Xiāngzǔ bǐjì records his observing Sòng Mùzhòng 宋牧仲 (Sòng Luò 宋犖) reprinting Wénbiǎo, and noting “Qīnmó’s various bá-postscripts should all be engraved to preserve the original”. The present recension is in fact the Kāngxī bǐngxū (1706) edition engraved by Wāng Lìmíng 汪立名 of Qiántáng under Sòng Luò’s commission; the inclusion of Liú’s original postscripts indeed follows Wáng Shìzhēn’s suggestion.
Liú’s own preface further says: this is his nèijí; there are also wàijí, zhèngjí, zájí of several juǎn. None of these has been seen — probably long scattered.
Reverently submitted, ninth month of Qiánlóng 45 (1780). Editor-in-Chief Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Date. Liú Chāng (1424–1480) was Hénán tíxué fùshǐ in the mid-Tiān-shùn to Chénghuà period (c. 1457–1465). The compilation must date from these years. notBefore: 1450, notAfter: 1465.
Significance. (1) The work is the principal documentary witness for the early-Yuán Central-Plain (Hénán) intellectual circle: Xǔ Héng (1209–1281), the Lǐxué dean of early Yuán; Yáo Suì (1238–1313), the prose-master; Mǎ Zǔcháng (1279–1338); Xǔ Yǒurén (1287–1364); Wáng Yún (1227–1304); and FùZhūlǐ Chōng (Bózhúlǔchōng, 1278–1338) — five Hàn literati plus one Mongolian. The volume preserves an unusually concentrated documentary record of early-Yuán Hénán Hànjūn xímǔ chūzǐ (Mongol-conscript children) culture. (2) For Yáo Suì and FùZhūlǐ Chōng, this anthology is the principal source — their original biéjí are lost. (3) Liú Chāng’s bǎyǔ (postscripts), preserved in the SòngLuò reprint, are themselves valuable mid-Míng textual-critical statements about Yuán literature. (4) The work’s first imprint was Yuán-era; reprinted Kāngxī 45 (1706) by Sòng Luò 宋犖 (the celebrated Qīng official-bibliophile) and the engraver Wāng Lìmíng of Qiántáng; this SòngLuò reprint is the SKQS source.
Translations and research
- 楊鎌 Yáng Lián, Yuán dài wén-xué shǐ (Beijing, 2003) — chapters on Xǔ Héng, Yáo Suì, etc.
- 周良霄 Zhōu Liáng-xiāo, Yuán-dài shǐ — political-cultural history of Yuán Hé-nán.
- Hok-lam Chan, “Yao Sui and the Northern Confucian Tradition under the Yuan” — Western study of Yáo Suì.
Other points of interest
The work’s catalog meta entry change from 孛术魯翀 (the Yuán-era spelling) to 富珠哩翀 (Qīng-standardised) is itself documentary evidence for the SKQS-era policy of replacing Yuán-era Mongol-name transliterations with newer (standardised) forms. The Qīng-style transliterations of Yuán Mongol names are a Sìbù zǒngmù tíyào policy applied across the corpus.
Links
- ctext
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §32.