Hàn Wǔdì wàizhuàn 漢武帝外傳
Extraneous Stories on Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty
Anonymous Six-Dynasties to Táng compilation, nineteen folios, presented as a sequel to [[KR5a0304|DZ 292 Hàn Wǔdì nèizhuàn]], preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng 正統道藏 (DZ 0293 / CT 293 = TC 293), 洞真部 記傳類.
About the work
A collection of anecdotes and legendary biographies presented as a sequel to [[KR5a0304|DZ 292 Hàn Wǔdì nèizhuàn]]. Early bibliographic sources tend to confound the two texts: Chūxué jì 初學記 5.103, for instance, cites the source of the present collection’s account of Lǐ Shàojūn 李少君 (10b) as coming from the Hàn Wǔdì nèizhuàn, and the Yìwén lèijù 藝文類聚 (94.1626) does the same for the story of Féng Jūndá 馮君達 (6b). Moreover, no ancient catalogue lists the title Hàn Wǔdì wàizhuàn. Qián Xīzuò 錢熙祚, in his colophon to his critical edition in Shǒushān gé cóngshū 守山閣叢書, accordingly suggested that this wàizhuàn originally corresponded to the second juan of DZ 292 (the Xīn Táng shū·Yìwén zhì 新唐書藝文志 59.1519 records Hàn Wǔdì nèizhuàn in two juan, whereas the present version has only one). The text divides into three parts: a Dōngfāng Shuò 東方朔 frame (apparently from the preface to Shízhōu jì 十洲記); six biographies, including those of the King of Huáinán 淮南王 and the alchemist Lǐ Shǎowēng 李少翁 (perhaps added by the dàoshì 道士 Wáng Yǒuyán 王幽巖 in 746); and eight biographies opening with that of Lǔ Nǚshēng 魯女生, all concerning the transmission of holy scriptures given to the emperor by his goddess-visitors.
Prefaces
No preface in the source. The text opens directly with Dōngfāng Shuò’s account: “Emperor Wǔ, having heard from Wángmǔ that within the eight directions of the great sea there are ten zhōu 洲 — places that human feet do not reach — and beginning to know that Dōngfāng Shuò was no common man of the world, summoned him to a private chamber and personally inquired about the locations of the Ten Zhōu and what is found there, recording his answers.”
Abstract
Kristofer Schipper, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004) 1:116–117 (§1.A.6, Sacred History and Geography), traces the three-part composite structure of the present version. The first part relates to the legend of Dōngfāng Shuò and seems to come from the preface to Shízhōu jì 十洲記 (a work closely related to DZ 292). The second part — six biographies — may have been added by the dàoshì Wáng Yǒuyán in 746; Cháo Zàizhī 晁載之, in his Xù tánzhù 續談助 4.76 (Cóngshū jíchéng ed.; cf. Zhōngxīng guǎngé shūmù 中興館閣書目, quoted in Yùhǎi 玉海 58.9a), quotes a colophon by Wáng stating that he made this addition, the addition aiming to illustrate the transmission of alchemical secrets handed down by the eight scholars (bā gōng 八公) at the court of the King of Huáinán; in this part, however, the stories of Lady Quán 鈿夫人 and the dwarf Jùlíng 巨靈 appear to have been borrowed from the Hàn Wǔdì gùshì 漢武帝故事, suggesting later remodelling. The third part — eight biographies, beginning with Lǔ Nǚshēng — all concern the transmission of scriptures given to the emperor by visiting goddesses; it forms a sequel to DZ 292’s narrative, and the biographies are close to those in the Shénxiān zhuàn 神仙傳. A similar transmission is also given in Wǔyuè zhēnxíng xùlùn 五嶽真形序論 (DZ 1281). Given this composite character, the frontmatter brackets composition broadly between the late Six Dynasties (parallel to DZ 292) and the mid-Táng (746 addition).
Translations and research
No full translation. Standard scholarly entry: Kristofer Schipper, “Han Wudi waizhuan,” in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 1 §1.A.6, 116–117. Substantial study: Shimomi Takao 下見隆雄, “Sō Shisōn no denki” 蘇詩孫の伝記; Kristofer Schipper, L’empereur Wou des Han dans la légende taoïste (Paris 1965).
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5a0305
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 1 §1.A.6, 116–117.