Huángdì yīnfú jīng zhùjiě 黃帝陰符經註解
Commentary on the “Yīnfú jīng” by Zōu Xīn (Zhū Xī)
Southern-Sòng commentary attributed to Zōu Xīn 鄒訢 — a pseudonym for Zhū Xī 朱熹 (1130–1200) — printed c. 1305 by Huáng Ruìjié 黃瑞節; ten folios; preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng 正統道藏 (DZ 0125 / CT 125 = TC 124), 洞真部 本文類; also in the Sìkù quánshū as Yīnfú jīng kǎoyì 陰符經考異
About the work
A ten-folio commentary attributed in the Daozang heading to Zōu Xīn 鄒訢, a Daoist from Kōngtóng 崆峒 (where the Yellow Emperor reportedly discoursed with Guǎngchéngzǐ 廣成子 on the meaning of the Yīnfú jīng; cf. DZ 120 preface). Zōu Xīn is a pseudonym of Zhū Xī 朱熹 (1130–1200): during the Warring States period, Zōu 鄒 was the name of a state earlier called Zhū 朱; and xīn 訢 is synonymous with xī 熹 (cf. [[KR5a1002|DZ 1001 Zhōuyì cāntóng qì]] 3.8a). The present work is identical with the commentary in Zhū Xī’s Yīnfú jīng kǎoyì.
The real authorship is revealed by Huáng Ruìjié 黃瑞節 in his compilation Zhūzǐ chéngshū 朱子成書 (preface dated 1305): the explanations are not by Zhū Xī himself (he only revised the text) but by his friend and collaborator Cài Yuándǐng 蔡元定 (1135–1198). Cài used the long version of the Yīnfú jīng (446 characters), dividing it into three piān 篇; the disputed final part is left uncommentated. Huáng Ruìjié’s supplementary notes quote additional sources and point out textual variants in four different Yīnfú jīng versions (8a).
This same commentary-text appears separately in the Daozang at [[KR5a0118|DZ 118 Huángdì yīnfú jīng zhù (Cài shì)]].
Prefaces
Editorial note by Huáng Ruìjié, c. 1305, on the Zōu Xīn = Zhū Xī identification and the actual Cài Yuándǐng authorship.
Abstract
Hans-Hermann Schmidt, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004) 2:698 (§3.A.1), dates the edition to c. 1305. The frontmatter brackets composition notBefore 1198 (Cài Yuándǐng’s death — earliest plausible composition by the student) / notAfter 1305 (Huáng Ruìjié’s edition), with dynasty 南宋—元. Zōu Xīn (= Zhū Xī) is the catalog-meta person wikilinked.
Translations and research
No translation. Standard scholarly entry: Hans-Hermann Schmidt, “Huangdi yinfu jing zhujie” (Zōu Xīn / Zhū Xī), in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.1, 698.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5a0125
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.1, 698 — DZ 124 (TC) / KR5a0125 (Kanripo) entry.