南華真經循本

Nán huá zhēn jīng xún běn 南華真經循本

Following the Root of the True Scripture of the Southern Florescence

by 羅勉道 (Luó Miǎndào, d. 1367); collated and corrected by 彭祥 (Péng Xiáng)

A late-Yuán commentary on the Zhuāngzǐ ([[KR5c0051|Nán huá zhēn jīng]]) in 30 juàn by Luó Miǎndào 羅勉道 — with Péng Xiáng’s 彭祥 critical-collation apparatus. Preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng as DZ 742 / CT 742 (Dòngshén bù, Yù jué lèi 洞神部玉訣類). The title Xún běn 循本 (“Following the Root”) signals Luó’s editorial aim of recovering the original meaning of the scripture.

About the work

Editorial method

The commentary follows the traditional 33-chapter Guō Xiàng 郭象 redaction, presenting each piān followed by Luó Miǎndào’s interpretive commentary. Péng Xiáng’s jiào zhèng 校正 (collation) work adds textual-critical annotations identifying variant readings across the editions available in the late Yuán.

Philosophical character

Luó Miǎndào represents the late-Yuán tradition of syncretic Daoist-Confucian-Buddhist reading of the Zhuāngzǐ. His approach:

1. Integrates Neo-Confucian terminology (lǐ 理, xìng 性, qì 氣, tǐyòng 體用) with Daoist interpretation.
2. Emphasizes the Zhuāngzǐ’s compatibility with Confucian sagely values — a characteristic late-Yuán move in response to the consolidation of Neo-Confucian orthodoxy.
3. Uses Chán Buddhist interpretive categories where appropriate.

Prefaces

The received DZ 742 text includes brief prefatorial material by the author and/or collator.

Abstract

The commentary is a significant late-Yuán reading of the Zhuāngzǐ, reflecting the mature synthetic tendencies of 14th-century Chinese Daoist-Confucian-Buddhist scholarship. Its value lies particularly in preserving a late-Yuán interpretive voice that is distinct from the dominant kǒu yì tradition of Lín Xīyì (KR5c0128).

Dating. Luó Miǎndào died in 1367. Composition must fall within his active period, probably in the early-to-middle 14th century. Per the project’s dating rule, the frontmatter gives 1300–1367 as a conservative window. Dynasty: 元.

Author. Luó Miǎndào 羅勉道 (d. 1367) was a late-Yuán Daoist scholar. He was roughly contemporary with the Red Turban rebellions (1351 onwards) that brought down the Mongol-Yuán dynasty. His death in 1367 — one year before the Míng conquest — places him in the very last generation of Mongol-Yuán Daoist scholars.

Collator. Péng Xiáng 彭祥 is otherwise little-documented; his role was philological-editorial.

Translations and research

• Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, DZ 742 entry.
• Boltz, Judith Magee. A Survey of Taoist Literature, Tenth to Seventeenth Centuries. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, 1987. For the late-Yuán Daoist context.

Links

• Kanseki Repository KR5c0135
• Parent text: KR5c0051 Nán huá zhēn jīng.
• ctext.org: 南華真經循本