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沖虛至德真經四解

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Text ID
KR5c0123
Date
1189–1189
Dynasty
金

Chōng xū zhì dé zhēn jīng sì jiě 沖虛至德真經四解

Four Explanations of the True Scripture of the Void and Supreme Virtue

compiled by 高守元 (Gāo Shǒuyuán, zì Shàn zhǎng 善長, hào Hè guāng sàn rén 鶴光散人); dated 1189

A Jīn-dynasty four-commentary composite edition of the [[KR5c0049|Chōng xū zhì dé zhēn jīng]] (the Lièzǐ) in twenty juàn, compiled by Gāo Shǒuyuán 高守元. Preserved as DZ 732 / CT 732 (Dòngshén bù, Yù jué lèi 洞神部玉訣類). The compilation preserves four commentaries in parallel alongside the base text — the standard late-medieval scholarly format for a foundational Daoist classic.

About the work

Hans-Hermann Schmidt’s notice in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004, 2:2814–50, DZ 732) gives the authoritative modern framing.

Compiler

Little is known about Gāo Shǒuyuán’s life. The Jīn shǐ 金史 131.2813 mentions that he held the position of collator in the Imperial Library (jiào shū láng 校書郎) during the Tiān dé era (1149–1153) under the Jīn Hǎilíng wáng 海陵王 (r. 1150–1161). His 1189 compilation came roughly forty years after this official appointment — placing it in the late years of his life, under Jīn Shìzōng 世宗 (r. 1161–1189).

The four commentaries

The compilation contains four commentaries, presented in parallel, together with:

  1. Their prefaces.
  2. A brief biography of Lièzǐ — drawn from DZ 163 Xuán yuán shí zǐ tú 玄元十子圖 (“Portraits of the Ten Disciples of the Mysterious Origin”) — the same source used in the DZ 668 Daozang edition of the Lièzǐ.

The four commentaries are:

  1. Zhāng Zhàn 張湛 (fl. 370) — the foundational Eastern-Jìn commentary, which is the primary received-recension of the Lièzǐ (see KR5c0049).
  2. Lú Zhòng xuán 盧重玄 (Táng) — the second canonical commentator, whose work provides the Chóngxuán 重玄 framework for the Lièzǐ.
  3. Sòng Huīzōng 徽宗 (徽宗, r. 1100–1125) — the imperial commentary from 1118, preserved here in complete form (while DZ 731 is only fragmentary).
  4. Fàn Zhì xū 范致虛 (fl. late Northern Sòng–early Southern Sòng) — a fourth commentator, otherwise little documented.

Preservation of Huīzōng’s preface

The compilation is especially important for preserving Sòng Huīzōng’s 1118 preface to his Lièzǐ commentary, which is missing from the fragmentary DZ 731 (KR5c0122) but is preserved here in full.

Prefaces

The compilation includes:

  1. Huīzōng’s 1118 preface to his imperial commentary.
  2. A brief biography of Lièzǐ (drawn from DZ 163).
  3. Various prefaces to the other three commentaries (Zhāng Zhàn’s, Lú Zhòng xuán’s, Fàn Zhì xū’s).
  4. Presumably a compiler’s preface or colophon by Gāo Shǒuyuán, though its precise form is not documented.

Abstract

The compilation is the most important single witness to the medieval commentarial tradition on the Lièzǐ. It preserves:

  1. Zhāng Zhàn’s complete commentary — the foundational Eastern-Jìn commentary.
  2. Lú Zhòng xuán’s commentary — the primary Táng commentary.
  3. Huīzōng’s complete commentary — including his otherwise-lost 1118 preface.
  4. Fàn Zhì xū’s commentary — a rare witness to a late-Northern-Sòng voice.

Together, these represent the full range of pre-1189 Lièzǐ commentary — Eastern Jìn through Northern Sòng.

Dating. Compiled 1189. Per the project’s dating rule, the frontmatter gives 1189 as the composition date. Dynasty: 金.

Author. Gāo Shǒuyuán 高守元, zì Shàn zhǎng 善長, hào Hè guāng sàn rén 鶴光散人 (“Diffuse-Person of Crane-Radiance”). Jīn shǐ 131.2813 mentions his earlier position as Jiào shū láng 校書郎 in the Tiān dé era (1149–1153). The 40-year gap between his earlier official appointment and the 1189 compilation suggests he was a senior scholar by the time of compilation.

Translations and research

  • Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 2:2814–50 (DZ 732, H.-H. Schmidt). Primary reference.
  • Jīn shǐ 金史 131.2813. On Gāo Shǒuyuán’s earlier office.
  • Graham, A. C. The Book of Lieh-tzu. London: John Murray, 1960. For the Lièzǐ generally.
  • See KR5c0049 (base text), KR5c0120 (Lín Xīyì’s kǒu yì), KR5c0121 (Jiāng Yù’s commentary), KR5c0122 (Huīzōng’s commentary, fragmentary witness).

Other points of interest

The four-commentary compilation format (sì jiě 四解) is distinctive for the Lièzǐ; a comparable format for the Dàodé jīng is DZ 706 (KR5c0093, 1098, Liáng Jiǒng’s Dàodé zhēn jīng jí zhù with four commentaries). In both cases, the compiler gathers the major historical commentaries in parallel for scholarly comparison.

The inclusion of Fàn Zhì xū 范致虛 — otherwise little-documented — alongside the three canonical commentators (Zhāng Zhàn, Lú Zhòng xuán, Huīzōng) is an interesting editorial choice, preserving what would otherwise likely be a lost voice. Fàn Zhì xū appears to have been a late-Northern-Sòng scholar whose commentary was known to Gāo Shǒuyuán but not widely circulated.

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