Scholars and Their Marginalia in Late Imperial China (Sinica Leidensia) 2021061758, 9789004508156, 9789004508477, 9004508155

Table of contents :
Contents
Figures and Tables
Conventions
Chart of Historical Periods
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Chinese Interpretive Texts: Annotations, Commentaries and Marginalia
1 Contents and Features
1.1 Zhushu/Annotations: Proposing Meanings from the Classics
1.2 Pingdian/Commentaries: In-Depth Understanding of LiteraryFeatures
1.3 Pijiao/Marginalia: Hand-Written Reading Responses
2 Forms and Circulation
2.1 Annotations: From Oral Transmission to Writing on Paper; from Separation to Combination
2.2 Commentaries: Reshaping Chinese Books
2.3 Marginalia: Anywhere, Any Color
Chapter 3 The “Reading Seed”: He Zhuo and His Marginalia
1 He Zhuo: The “Reading Seed”
2 He Zhuo’s Scholarly Transition
3 A Pioneer of Textual Criticism
4 Reading He Zhuo’s Historical Comments
5 The Stigmatization of a Scholar
Chapter 4 Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia
1 He Zhuo and His Students: Transcription of the Teacher’s Marginalia
2 Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia
3 Booksellers and Scribes and Their Role in the Marginalia Culture
4 Shaping the Text of the Classics
5 Marginalia Culture
Chapter 5 The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia
1 Temporal and Spatial Records in Marginalia
2 The Artistic Lives of Scholars
3 The Mental World of Scholars
Chapter 6 Edited Reading: The Printing of Marginalia in the Qing Dynasty
1 The Printing of the Yimen dushu ji
1.1 From Notation Book to Marginalia
1.2 The Compilation of the Yimen dushu ji
1.3 The Selection and Omission of Marginalia: The Hou Hanshu as Example
2 Printing Marginalia alongside the Main Text
3 The Printing of Collation Notes
4 The Flourishing of Collation Biji
5 The Merits of Printing
Chapter 7 Epilogue
1 Marginalia and the Evidential Research
2 Invisible Scholars and the Intellectual History of the Qing
Appendix Books Containing He Zhuo’s Marginalia and Their Transcriptions
Bibliography
Index

Citation preview

Scholars and Their Marginalia in Late Imperial China

Sinica Leidensia Edited by Barend J. ter Haar Maghiel van Crevel In co-operation with P.K. Bol, D.R. Knechtges, E.S. Rawski, W.L. Idema, H.T. Zurndorfer

volume 156

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/sinl

Scholars and Their Marginalia in Late Imperial China By

Yinzong Wei

LEIDEN | BOSTON

Cover illustration: The Zhongxing jianqi ji 中興間氣集 in the Tangren xuan Tangshi 唐人選唐詩, woodblock edition carved by the Mao family in the late Ming. Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS839789-96). The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at https://catalog.loc.gov LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021061758

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 0169-9563 ISBN 978-90-04-50815-6 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-50847-7 (e-book) Copyright 2022 by Yinzong Wei. Published by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Hotei, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau and V&R unipress. Koninklijke Brill NV reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. Requests for re-use and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill NV via brill.com or copyright.com. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

Contents List of Figures and Tables vii Conventions ix Chart of Historical Periods x 1 Introduction 1 2 Chinese Interpretive Texts: Annotations, Commentaries and Marginalia 12 1 Contents and Features 14 1.1 Zhushu/Annotations: Proposing Meanings from the Classics 14 1.2 Pingdian/Commentaries: In-Depth Understanding of Literary Features 26 1.3 Pijiao/Marginalia: Hand-Written Reading Responses 37 2 Forms and Circulation 45 2.1 Annotations: From Oral Transmission to Writing on Paper; from Separation to Combination 45 2.2 Commentaries: Reshaping Chinese Books 50 2.3 Marginalia: Anywhere, Any Color 59 3 The “Reading Seed”: He Zhuo and His Marginalia 68 1 He Zhuo: The “Reading Seed” 68 2 He Zhuo’s Scholarly Transition 72 3 A Pioneer of Textual Criticism 75 4 Reading He Zhuo’s Historical Comments 79 5 The Stigmatization of a Scholar 91 4 Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia 94 1 He Zhuo and His Students: Transcription of the Teacher’s Marginalia 95 2 Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia 104 3 Booksellers and Scribes and Their Role in the Marginalia Culture 120 4 Shaping the Text of the Classics 129 5 Marginalia Culture 137

vi

Contents

5 The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia 139 Temporal and Spatial Records in Marginalia 139 1 2 The Artistic Lives of Scholars 150 3 The Mental World of Scholars 157 6 Edited Reading: The Printing of Marginalia in the Qing Dynasty 167 1 The Printing of the Yimen dushu ji 167 1.1 From Notation Book to Marginalia 167 1.2 The Compilation of the Yimen dushu ji 171 1.3 The Selection and Omission of Marginalia: The Hou Hanshu as Example 174 2 Printing Marginalia alongside the Main Text 180 3 The Printing of Collation Notes 191 4 The Flourishing of Collation Biji 196 5 The Merits of Printing 199 7 Epilogue 202 Marginalia and the Evidential Research 202 1 2 Invisible Scholars and the Intellectual History of the Qing 204 Appendix: Books Containing He Zhuo’s Marginalia and Their Transcriptions 209 Bibliography 236 Index 245

Figures and Tables

Figures

2.1 One half-leaf of a Qing edition of the Xixiangji 35 2.2 Genealogy of the transmission of the Yijing of New Text School in the Western Han 46 2.3a A manuscript copy of the Chunqiu guliangzhuan 48 2.3b First leaf of juan 2 of a Southern Song edition of the Zhouyi zhushu 49 2.4 First leaf of juan 1 of a Southern Song edition of the Shiji 50 2.5 Two half-leaves of a Ming edition of the Maoshi zhenya 53 2.6 One leaf of the Xin qie Sanzang chushen quanzhuan 54 2.7 First half-leaf of a multicolor edition of the Yinfujing 57 2.8 Two half-leaves from a Ming edition of the Shijing 58 2.9a One half-leaf of the Hanshu containing marginalia in four colors 61 2.9b One half-leaf of the Li Yishan shiji containing marginalia in four colors 62 2.10 One half-leaf of the Jixuan ji containing marginalia on the book’s layout 64 2.11 One half-leaf of the Qian shu 66 4.1 Last half-leaf of the Shitong with Jiang Gao’s transcription of He Zhuo’s marginalia 98 4.2 Leaf 22b of juan 20 of the Shitong with He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by an unknown transcriptionist 100 4.3 Leaves 5b and 6a of juan 1 of the Li Yishan shiji with various scholars’ marginalia respectively transcribed in different colors 111 4.4 Jiang Fengzao’s transcription of various scholars’ marginalia on the Dushu minqiuji 115 4.5a Leaf 1a of the Yulan shi in the Tangren xuan Tangshi with He Zhuo’s marginalia 124 4.5b Leaf 65b of the Yulan shi in the Tangren xuan Tangshi with He Zhuo’s marginalia and seal impressions 125 4.5c Last half-leaf of the Heyue yingling ji in the Tangren xuan Tangshi with He Zhuo’s marginalia and seal impressions 126 4.6 First half-leaf of the Yulan shi in the Tangren xuan Tangshi containing He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by an unknown scribe 128 4.7 Transcriptions of He Zhuo’s marginalia in a Ming copy of the Hou Hanshu 129 4.8 Transcriptions of He Zhuo’s marginalia on the Zhouli zhushu 133 4.9 Leaf 1a of juan 1 of the San Tangren wenji with Zhang Yu’s marginalia 136 5.1a First page and Table of Contents of the Wudai shiji with Gao Quan’s colophon 151

viii

Figures and Tables

5.1b Last leaf of the Wudai shiji with He Zhuo’s colophons transcribed by Yao Shiyu 152 6.1 First half-leaf of juan 16 of a Qing edition of the Jiaoding Kunxue jiwen san jian 183 6.2 First half-leaf of the Wenxuan woodblock and bicolor-printed edition carved in 1772 at Ye Shufan’s Hailu House 184 6.3 First half-leaf of the “Su xueshi wenji jiao yu” attached at the end of the Su xueshi wenji, in the Sibu congkan 193 6.4 First half-leaf of juan 16 of the Kunxue jiwen, woodblock edition carved in 1603 by Wu Xiantai 200

3.1 4.1 5.1

Tables The sexagenary cycle 77 Marginalia used in Ruan Yuan’s edition of the Thirteen Classics 134 Gu Guangqi’s colophons in the Huayangguo zhi held at the National Library of China 147

Conventions Chinese names and terms are Romanized according to the pinyin system, except for names better known in another form such as that of Confucius and those preferred by authors writing in European languages. Translations are my own unless otherwise indicated; official titles follow Hucker, Dictionary of Official Titles. Zhushu 注疏, pingdian 評點 and pijiao 批校 are translated as “annotation,” “commentary” and “marginalia,” respectively. Chinese rare books are referred to by juan (lit. “scroll,” similar to “chapter”) and page numbers of texts cited from rare books are given, unless there is no clear page number in the book. Call numbers of rare books in Chinese characters are changed to the initials of the characters. For example, Xianshan 線善 is replaced by XS; Xianpu 線普 by XP.

Chart of Historical Periods BCE

CE

Western Zhou 西周 1045?–771 Eastern Zhou 東周 771–256 Spring and Autumn Period 春秋 771–479 Warring States Period 戰國 479–221 Qin Dynasty 秦 221–207 Han Dynasty 漢 206 BCE–220 CE Western Han 西漢 206 BCE–9 CE Eastern Han 東漢 23–220 Three Kingdoms 三國 220–280 Jin Dynasty 晉 265–420 Southern Dynasties 南朝 420–589 Northern Dynasties 北朝 386–581 Sui Dynasty 隋 589–618 Tang Dynasty 唐 618–907 Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms 五代十國 907–960 Song Dynasty 宋 960–1279 Northern Song 北宋 960–1127 Southern Song 南宋 1127–1279 Yuan Dynasty 元 1279–1368 Ming Dynasty 明 1368–1644 Qing Dynasty 清 1644–1911 Republic of China 民國 1911–1949

chapter 1

Introduction Eighteenth and nineteenth century China witnessed the flourishing of a new scholarly textual approach called “evidential research” (kaojuxue 考據學; or puxue 樸學, lit. “down-to-earth learning”). The evidential scholars were interested in precise and critical scholarship in the fields of linguistics, geography, mathematics, epigraphy and bibliographic studies. Some evidential scholars claim that these philological approaches were inherited from scholars from the Han dynasty, so this evidential research was also called “Han Learning” (Hanxue 漢學) by some. It seems that many evidential scholars were dissatisfied with the metaphysical speculations that had pervaded the Song and Ming interpretations of the ancient classics. Therefore, they applied these philological approaches to the study of the Confucian classics to establish the validity of the doctrines and ideas that were recorded in the classics in order to grasp the true Way (dao 道) of the former sages. To do this, one of the most crucial and fundamental tasks for these scholars was to re-examine the authentication of the texts of the classics; thus, many evidential scholars devoted a great deal of time and energy to the collation of texts, leading to the development of textual criticism and bibliographic studies. Textual studies assumed such an important position that, to a certain extent, evidential studies can also be called “kaozheng” 考證 textual studies.1 However, the importance of this kind of textual studies cannot be reduced to the textual level: it had much more significance in Chinese intellectual history.2 Scholars such as Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (1873–1929) and Hu Shi 胡適 (1891–1962) believed that evidential research was “objective” and “scientific,” and stimulated the emergence of modern Chinese scientism, historicism and other fields. Some scholars, such as Qian Mu 錢穆 (1895–1990) and Yu Yingshi 余英時 (Ying-shih Yü), held the idea that evidential research was just a continuity or development of Neo-Confucianism (also known as lixue 理學, lit. the study of principles) that was the main intellectual current in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. Other scholars, such as Benjamin Elman 1 See Benjamin Elman, “Preface for the New Edition,” in From Philosophy to Philology: Intellectual and Social Aspects of Change in Late Imperial China, revised edition (Los Angeles: University of California, 2001), v–xvii. 2 Intellectual history in this study refers to the history of scholars (including their social networks and sponsorship), scholarship (theory, knowledge and scholarly information) and scholars’ thoughts (including their beliefs, values and ideas).

© Yinzong Wei, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004508477_002

2

chapter 1

and many Japanese researchers, see evidential research as a kind of critique of the “study of the Way” (daoxue 道學) that was proposed and developed in the Song–Ming period.3 An increasing number of researchers are aware of the importance of the evidential research, even though they have not reached a consensus on its place in Chinese intellectual history. Nor is there a definite, widely accepted answer to the question of how evidential research took form and gained momentum. Different approaches and methodologies have led to different answers. In the past century, studies on the history of scholarship and the intellectual history of late imperial China have undergone a considerable transformation in ideas, approaches and methodology. Broadly speaking, the dominant views and what the leading academics have emphasized have shifted from the political realm to the philosophical, and later to social-economic and cultural aspects. Some scholars, especially those who focused on the philosophical aspects, such as thoughts, values and beliefs, claimed that they were concerned with the “internal” dimension of scholarship, while studies concentrating on political, social, economic, religious and cultural factors were deemed to be of the “external” dimension.4 Thus, in this regard, the study of Qing scholarship fell into these two approaches: the external and the internal. The tension between the internalists and externalists was mainly created by the former. The different approaches have usually resulted in different evaluations of the achievements of the Qing scholars. Zhang Binglin 章炳麟 (1868–1936), Liu Shipei 劉師培 (1884–1919), Liang Qichao and many nationalists in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century China stressed political factors in the development of Chinese scholarship.5 For example, in Liang’s comprehensive study of the scholarship of the Qing dynasty, Zhongguo jin sanbainian xueshushi 中國近三百年學術史 (A history of Chinese scholarship over the past three hundred years), his assessment of Qing scholars based mainly on their scholarly achievements was generally fair.6 But when discussing the characteristics of Qing scholarship, he claimed that “The 3 Elman, “Preface for the New Edition,” v–vi. 4 See, for example, Yu Yingshi, “Some Preliminary Observations on the Rise of Ch’ing Confucian Intellectualism,” Ch’ing-hua hsueh-pao 11 (1975): 105–144. 5 See Zhang Binglin, “Qing ru” 清儒, in Qiu shu xiang zhu 訄書詳注, annotated by Xu Fuguan 徐復觀 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2000), 132–175; Liu Shipei, “Qing ru deshi lun” 清儒得失論, in Liu Shipei shixue lunzhu xuanji 劉師培史學論著選集 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2006),417–427; Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (Liang Ch’i-ch’ao), Intellectual Trends in the Ch’ing Period, trans. Immanuel C.Y. Hsü (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959). 6 See Liang Qichao, Zhongguo jin sanbainian xueshu shi 中國近三百年學術史, Zhu Weizheng 朱維錚, ed. (Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe, 1985).

Introduction

3

point of departure of Ch’ing (Qing) learning was a violent reaction against the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming.”7 He stressed the discontinuity between Qing learning and earlier Song-Ming learning. This discontinuity, in Liang’s view, resulted from the political pressure occasioned by Manchu rule. He argued: When literary inquisitions took place all too frequently, scholars became increasingly concerned with self-preservation and dared not expound any doctrine that might arouse official suspicions. But the talents and intellect of brilliant and outstanding men could not remain unused forever; exegesis of ancient aphorisms and exhaustive searching into the semantics of technical terms could certainly be called [tasks which] ‘do not injure the world and do not conflict with men,’ and in these scholars found a refuge.8 Benjamin Schwartz has commented that Liang “stressed the peculiar repressiveness of the Manchu dynasty which forced the literati away from ‘practical statesmanship’ into the innocuous pursuit of pure scholarship.”9 There are two points that demand attention: 1) Liang focused on the evidential research of the Qing dynasty (including the disciplines of philology, etymology, paleography, geography, epigraphy, astronomy, phonetics and phonology) and largely neglected the Cheng-Zhu Learning of Principles (Cheng Zhu lixue 程朱理學) and the Lu-Wang Learning of Mind and Heart (Lu Wang xinxue 陸王心學). He concentrated on “pure scholarship” – scholarly methodology and knowledge – and paid less attention to the philosophical dimensions. In this regard, he concluded that the Qing scholars contributed less in the philosophical fields due to the oppressive climate that prevailed under Manchu rule. 2) Liang stressed the determinative impact of political factors.10 This politics-oriented approach was rather influential,11 however, it tended to oversimplify the situation and soon drew a great deal of criticism. Qian Mu and Feng Youlan 馮友蘭 (1895–1990), as well as many other scholars, took a rather distinctive approach in that they focused on the “internal aspects” of Chinese scholarship. This approach was followed by Yu Yingshi’s 7 8 9 10 11

Liang, Intellectual Trends, 27. Liang, Intellectual Trends, 47. Benjamin Schwartz, “Foreword” to Intellectual Trends in the Ch’ing Period, xviii. See Liang, Intellectual Trends and Zhongguo jin sanbainian. See, for example, Sun Qinshan 孫欽善, Zhongguo guwenxianxue shi 中國古文獻學史 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1994), 831–835.

4

chapter 1

studies of the “internal development of Neo-Confucianism”12 and the “inner logic” of the intellectual trends,13 i.e., “focusing on the inner evolution of intellectual history, ignoring political, economic and other external factors.”14 Yu came up with a new theoretical framework that focused on the conflict between intellectualism and anti-intellectualism to analyze the development of Chinese thought in the late imperial period. One serious problem of this approach is that it has a tendency to detach thought from its context, which can oversimplify the course that the thought took and, of course, deviate from the historical facts.15 Recent studies by Huang Jinxing (Chin-shing) 黃進興, Benjamin Elman, Hamaguchi Fujio 濱口富士雄, Lin Qingzhang 林慶彰, Edward Wang and others have shown that Qing scholars, Qian-Jia Evidential Researchers, and New Text scholars in particular, raised new questions and managed to supply new answers. Evidential research also had its philosophical dimensions and concrete ideas about how to cope with practical affairs. These studies all showed the necessity of taking external factors into account in the study of the history of scholarship and thought.16 Examples include Elman’s study of the socioeconomic and cultural dimensions of evidential research and the Changzhou New Text School in the middle and late Qing;17 Thomas Wilson and Huang 12 13 14 15 16

17

Yu Yingshi, “Some Preliminary Observations,” 105. Yu Yingshi, “Some Preliminary Observations,” 112, 128; “Qingdai sixiangshi de yige xin jieshi” 清代思想的一個新解釋, in Yu Yingshi, Zhongguo sixiang chuantong de xiandai quanshi 中國思想傳統的現代詮釋 (Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 1992), 199. Yu Yingshi, “Qingdai sixiangshi,” 199. See also Qian Mu, Zhongguo jin sanbainian xueshu shi (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1937); Feng Youlan, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy, Derk Bodde, ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1960). Although Yu Yingshi’s approach to intellectual history changed several times, his idea of “inner logic” was one of the most influential explanations for the Ming-Qing intellectual transition and is the reason that this study focuses on this approach. See Huang Jinxing, Philosophy, Philology, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century China: Li Fu and the Lu-Wang School under the Ch’ing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995); Benjamin Elman, Classicism, Politics and Kinship: The Ch’ang-chou School of New Text Confucianism in Late Imperial China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990); Lin Qingzhang 林慶彰 and Zhang Shouan 張壽安, ed., Qianjia xuezhe de yili xue 乾嘉學 者的義理學, 2 vols. (Taipei: Zhongguo wenzhe yanjiu suo, 2003); Hamaguchi Fujio 濱 口富士雄, Shindai kokyōgaku no shisōshiteki kenkyū 清代考據學の思想史的研究 (Tokyo: Kokusho kankōkai, 1994); Edward Wang, “Beyond East and West: Antiquarianism, Evidential Learning, and Global Trends in Historical Study,” Journal of World History 19.4 (2008): 489–519; Ge Zhaoguang 葛兆光, Zhongguo sixiangshi, di’er juan: qi shiji zhi shijiu shiji zhongguo de zhishi, sixiang yu xinyang 中國思想史第二卷：七世紀至十九世 紀中國的知識、思想與信仰, second edn. (Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe, 2013), 365–392. See Elman, From Philosophy to Philology; and Elman, Classicism, Politics and Kinship.

Introduction

5

Jinxing’s studies of Confucian practice;18 and Lawrence Kessler’s, Frederic Wakeman’s, and Kent Guy’s studies of the relationship between scholars and the Manchu state, all of which demonstrated the scholars’ attention to the external dimensions of scholarship and thought.19 The study of intellectual history can hardly be thoroughly comprehended without paying attention to ordinary people’s lives, thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and practices. Factors such as the political environment, social structure, economic conditions, and cultural ecology can all contribute to an understanding of scholars’ living conditions and offer new explanations of the evolution of thought and scholarship in the Qing dynasty. In this regard, previous research has significantly contributed to the study of Qing intellectual history. However, most of these studies have neglected a very important dimension of intellectual history: scholarly practices, e.g., how scholars collected books and documents, how they transmitted scholarly materials to each other, how they communicated with each other, how they read and made sense of various texts, whether they used similar methods and approaches to reading, and how their reading interacted with their scholarship, thought, and life. Scholarly practices, especially reading practices, are essential to the study of intellectual history. Yet previous approaches paid too much attention to scholars’ published works. Based on some quotations and elements of thought found in scholars’ works, their reading diet was reconstructed in a cursory way, and the relationships between them and their predecessors were hastily defined. However, works can only reveal part of one’s thought and, normally, only a small part of what one has read. There is actually a huge gap between 18

19

See Thomas Wilson, “The Ritual Formation of Confucian Orthodoxy and the Descendants of the Sage,” Journal of Asian Studies 55.3 (August 1996): 559–84. Thomas Wilson, ed., On Sacred Grounds: Culture, Society, Politics, and the Formation of the Cult of Confucius in Imperial China (Cambridge: Institute for East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 2002); Huang Jinxing, Shengxian yu shengtu 聖賢與聖徒 (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2005); Zhang Shou’an 張壽安, Yi li dai li – Ling Tingkan yu Qing zhongye ruxue sixiang zhi zhuanbian 以禮代理 – 凌廷堪與清中葉儒學思想之轉變 (Shijiazhuang: Hebei jiaoyu chubanshe, 2001); Zhang Shou’an, Shiba shiji lixue kaozheng de sixiang huoli – Lijiao lunzheng yu lizhi chongxing 十八世紀禮學考證的思想活力 – 禮教論爭與禮秩重省 (Taipei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan jindaishi yanjiusuo, 2001). See Lawrence Kessler, “Chinese Scholars and the Early Manchu State,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 31 (1971): 179–200; Frederic Wakeman, “The Price of Autonomy: Intellectuals in Ming and Ch’ing Politics,” Daedalus 101, no. 2 (1972): 35–70; Kent Guy, The Emperor’s Four Treasures: Scholars and the State in the Late Ch’ien-lung Era (Cambridge: Harvard Council on East Asian Studies, 1987); Yang Nianqun 楊念群, Hechu shi Jiangnan? Qing chao zhengtongguan de queli yu shilin jingshen shijie de bianyi 何處是“江南”？清朝正統 觀的確立與士林精神世界的變異 (Beijing: Shenghuo, dushu, xinzhi sanlian shudian, 2010).

6

chapter 1

what one has read and what one records, between what one thinks and what one publishes. To fill in the gaps and draw a more complete picture of a person’s thought and life, one effective method is to study his or her reading practices. To do so, it is necessary to take seriously sources created in the course of reading, between what one reads and what one composes. Marginalia, a variety of writings and symbols draw by readers on the pages of books, are sources of this kind. This study will take marginalia as its object, treat scholarly practices with marginalia as a cultural phenomenon, and explore how marginalia culture took form, gained momentum, and shaped scholarly styles in the Qing dynasty; how it helped with the dissemination of scholarly sources, knowledge, and ideas; and how marginalia culture contributed to the rise and development of evidential research. The methodology of this study is mainly derived from recent literature on the history of books and history of reading, especially Western literature on the study of marginalia. The history of books is an interdisciplinary hybrid of intellectual history, cultural history, new bibliographical studies, and social history. The purpose of the “new” history of books, Robert Darnton says, “is to understand how ideas were transmitted through print and how exposure to the printed word affected the thought and behavior of mankind.”20 Darnton emphasizes the adjective “new” because he distinguishes this new discipline which “can be called the social and cultural history of communication by print”21 from traditional “bibliography,” which was regarded primarily as “the servant of scholarly editing and textual criticism which, in turn, was perceived to be the servant of literary studies.”22 Traditional bibliography concentrated on the book itself, especially the text, the verbal information carried by the book, and tried to find the socalled “authentic original text” that might be the closest to the “author’s intention.”23 Under the influence of social and cultural history, as well as the 20

21 22 23

Robert Darnton, “What is the History of Books,” in The Kiss of Lamourette: Reflections in Cultural History (New York: Norton, 1990), 107. Here Darnton focuses on printed artifacts. In this book, I use “book” very broadly to include any written or printed text, such as manuscript written on parchment, bamboo, silk, stone, paper, and all kinds of imprints. “Text” in this study is a defining term, denoting an agglomeration of abstract verbal signs and symbols. Books are the physical embodiments of texts. Darnton, “What is the History of Books,” 107. S.J. Michael F. Suarez, “Book History from Descriptive Bibliographies,” in The Cambridge Companion to the History of the Book, ed. Leslie Howsam (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015), 121. See Jerome J. McGann, A Critique of Modern Textual Criticism (University of Chicago Press, 1983). For more about “author’s intention,” or “authorship,” see Roland Barthes “The Death of the Author” in The Result of Language, trans. Richard Howard (New York: Hill and

Introduction

7

new history of books, bibliography entered into a new stage, as demonstrated by D.F. McKenzie’s new definition of bibliography in his influential book, Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts: “Bibliography is the discipline that studies texts as recorded forms, and the process of their transmission, including their production and reception.” It studies “the composition, formal design, and transmission of texts by writers, printers, and publishers; their distribution through different communities by wholesalers, retailers, and teachers; their collection and classification by librarians; their meaning for … and their creative regeneration by, readers.” It is a discipline that can be defined as a “sociology of texts,” in which “texts” encompass verbal, visual, oral, and numeric data, in the form of maps, prints and music, of archives of recorded sound, of videos, and any computer-stored information.24 For social and cultural historians, the history of books as a discipline has been established on two simple premises: 1) “Books make history” which is to say that “books are the primary tools that people use to transmit ideas, record memories, create narratives, exercise power, and distribute wealth;” and 2) “Books are made by history: that is, they are shaped by economic, political, social, and cultural forces.”25 In this domain, the history of reading occupies a position of considerable importance. If we focus on reading (not on books, texts or readers but on reading itself), our study can be divided into three stages according to the process of reading: before reading, the act of reading, and after reading. Although there is no clear division between any two of these stages, this division can make the complicated situation clearer and simplify the analysis and explanation. The study of the first stage concentrates on how books get into a reader’s hands – when, where, and how a book reaches a reader. This inquiry is concerned with the production, circulation and collection of books. Focusing on the agents involved in the whole process, Darnton comes up with a model he calls the “communication circuit,” which includes authors, publishers, printers,

24 25

Wang, 1986); Michel Foucault, “What Is an Author?” trans. Josue V. Harari, in Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology, ed. James D. Faubion (New York: The New Press, 1998); Roger Chartier, “Figure of the Author,” in The Order of Books: Readers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe between the Fourteenth and Eighteenth Century, trans. Lydia G Cochrane (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994); and Jack Stillinger, “A Practical Theory of Versions,” in Coleridge and Textual Instability: The Multiple Versions of the Major Poems (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1994), 169–185. D.F. McKenzie, Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 12–15. Simon Eliot and Jonathan Rose, “Introduction” to A Companion to the History of the Book (Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007), 1.

8

chapter 1

shippers, booksellers, binders and readers.26 He suggests that we study the external as well as the internal history of reading. For external aspects, there are two main types of study: macroanalysis (for example, quantitative social history, making comparisons between countries, cross-statistical comparisons) and microanalysis (including study of library catalogues, notarial records, subscription lists, records of lending libraries).27 “Having studied it as a social phenomenon, historians of reading can answer many of the ‘who,’ ‘what,’ ‘where,’ and ‘when’ questions.”28 However, these studies can only answer how texts were transmitted, but not how ideas were transmitted and received, let alone how they affected the thoughts and behavior of readers, or, as Darnton puts it, “how exposure to the printed word affected the thought and behaviour of mankind.”29 Therefore, we also need to study the second stage, the act of reading. Darnton suggests that we consider “how people actually read,” with attention to reading clubs, family reading practices, and other reading practices.30 Roger Chartier has made an in-depth study of such practices. In “Texts, Printing, Reading,” he poses a big question about reading: “How can a text that is the same for everyone who reads it become an ‘instrument of discord and battle between its readers, creating divergences between them, with each reader having an opinion depending on his own taste?’”31 Given the diversity of readers and multiplicity of their abilities and expectations, Chartier proposes to approach a history of reading by “reconstructing the diversity of older readings from their sparse and multiple traces, and recognizing the strategies by which authors and publishers tried to impose an orthodoxy or a prescribed reading on the text.”32 He suggests that two perspectives that are often pursued separately be conjoined in such a history: first, the study of the text itself (“the way in which texts and the printed works that convey them organize the prescribed reading,” as in the history of genres and in the bibliographical studies) and second, the study of interpretive communities (“the collection of actual readings tracked down in individual confessions or reconstructed on the level of communities of readers – those ‘interpretive communities’ whose members share the same reading styles and the same strategies of interpretation”). Different 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Darnton, “What is the History of Books,” 107–135. Darnton, “First Step Toward a History of Reading,” in The Kiss of Lamourette, 157–167. Darnton, “First Step Toward a History of Reading,” 157. Darnton, “What is the History of Books,” 107. Darnton, The Kiss of Lamourette, 168. Roger Chartier, “Texts, Printing, Reading,” in The New Cultural History, ed. Lynn Hunt (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), 154. Chartier, “Texts, Printing, Reading,” 155–8.

Introduction

9

from the “communication circuit” proposed by Darnton that centres on books, “interpretive communities” is a model for the study of reading individuals and groups, obviously centered on reading practices: We need to develop indicators of the major divisions that can organize a history of reading practices (of the use of texts, even the uses of the same text) – for example between reading out loud, for oneself or for others, and reading in silence; between reading inwardly and privately and reading publicly; between religious reading and lay reading; and between “intensive” reading and “extensive” reading. Beyond these macroscopic cleavages, the historian must seek to determine the dominant paradigms of reading in a community of readers in a given time and place…. The mode of reading, which is dictated by the book itself or by its interpreters, provides the archetype of all reading, whatever kind it may be.33 Similarly, Jonathon Ross advocates: Broadly, then, the history of reading is the history of interpretation … of books, magazines, newspapers, advertising bills, films, radio programs, musical performances, school lessons, and adult education classes. The rationale behind this method is simply this: we can only understand the mentality of a given audience by reconstructing (as far as possible) its cultural diet, and then asking how that audience interpreted those cultural experiences.34 Through study of the production, circulation and collection of books, as well as the reading practices of “interpretative communities,” it is not difficult to comprehend audiences’ cultural diet, but it is difficult to know how they interpreted those cultural experiences, or to understand the emotions, thoughts, beliefs and values underlying their reading practices. Hence, it is not possible to fully understand how books and reading have affected thought and behaviour. Reading is more than getting the general main points of the text; reading alters the mental condition of the reader. The words, illustrations, the format of the book, and even the wormholes in the paper can be triggers for new thoughts. Reading can change the intellectual life of readers as well as their political and daily lives. It is not enough just to find out what the reader read and how he or

33 34

Chartier, “Texts, Printing, Reading,” 166. Jonathan Ross, “Arriving at a History of Reading,” Historically Speaking 5 (2004): 39.

10

chapter 1

she read it. We should go on to examine the effectiveness and consequences of reading; to ask not what reading could do, but what reading has done. Therefore, we have to study the third stage of reading – after the act of reading; the stage that is concerned with readers’ responses – reading reception and its effects on the readers’ intellectual and daily lives. “It should be possible,” Darnton says, “to develop a history as well as a theory of reader response. Possible, but not easy; for the documents rarely show readers at work, fashioning meaning from texts, and the documents are texts themselves, which also require interpretation.”35 The main problem of the study of this stage is sources. The most important sources we can use to recover the historical reader include: (1) autobiographical documents; (2) commonplace books; (3) “albums” or miscellanies of texts; and (4) marginalia.36 Marginalia are composed during the act of reading and thus reveal the process of reading and the mind states of the reader while engaged in reading. Heather Jackson, William Sherman and Anthony Grafton have done a great deal of pioneering work on the study of marginalia.37 Their contributions and the features of marginalia they have covered will be discussed in detail in chapter 2. The main part of this book is made up of four chapters, focusing on the composition, transcription, and printing of marginalia, observing the transformation of scholarly styles, scholars’ thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and private lives within these practices, and their influence on later generations. Chapter 2 introduces marginalia, along with two related forms of textual response, zhushu 注疏 (annotations) and pingdian 評點 (commentaries), of which the former usually focus on the meaning of the main text, while the latter address the literary features. Because all three (marginalia, annotations, and commentaries) are texts that provide interpretation, explanation, appreciation, and evaluation of a pre-existing text, they can be defined as “interpretive texts.” I will first discuss the contents and characteristics of these interpretive texts, and then examine their physical features, such as their visual appearance, where and how they were found, and how they circulated in history. Through this

35 36 37

Darnton, “First Step Toward a History of Reading,” 157. Stephen Colclough, “Readers: Books and Biography,” in A Companion to the History of the Book, eds. Simon Eliot and Jonathan Rose (Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007), 53–57; See also Darnton, The Kiss of Lamourette, 154–187. See Anthony Grafton, “Is the History of Reading a Marginal Enterprise?” in Papers of the Biblographic Society of America 91 (1997): 139–157; Heather Jackson, Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001); William Howard Sherman, Used Books: Marking Readers in Renaissance England (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008).

Introduction

11

comparison, I will illustrate the essential features and various important characteristics of marginalia. I begin, in chapter 3, with a case study of the marginalia of He Zhuo 何焯 (courtesy name Qizhan 屺瞻, alternate name Yimen 義門, 1661–1722), an early Qing scholar and calligrapher. He worked as an imperial compiler (zuanxiu 纂修) in the imperial court and composed marginalia in hundreds of titles that were highly influential throughout the Qing dynasty. I focus on He Zhuo’s marginalia in the Hou Hanshu 後漢書 (History of the Eastern Han Dynasty), closely analyzing their characteristics and their influence on later scholars and readers. In subsequent chapters I trace the transcription of marginalia and examine how the marginalia culture took into form and gained momentum in the Qing dynasty. Also centering on He Zhuo’s marginalia, chapter 4 is concerned with questions of who participated in this practice, how different participants were involved in the process of transcription, and what their motives and attitudes within this practice were. Chapter 5 analyzes colophons composed by various transcriptionists (guolu zhe 過錄者) in an exploration of their scholarly lives, beliefs, and emotions. Chapter 6 investigates the editing and printing of marginalia in the Qing dynasty, and surveys the transformation of scholarly style and the taste of the reading public revealed by this publishing process. At the same time, by examining the publishing of marginalia, which made marginalia accessible to a much larger reading public, I will show how marginalia culture impacted later scholars’ reading and interpretation of classical texts.

chapter 2

Chinese Interpretive Texts: Annotations, Commentaries and Marginalia In the late imperial period, the Chinese empire was actually a reading empire. The administration of the state was built upon a complete textual system: the state orthodoxy was derived from the Confucian classics; the dissemination of information was facilitated via a network of memorials and other official documents; communication among scholar-officials relied on letters transmitted by their family servants even when they were living on the same street; for the illiterate, imperial announcements were publicly read by the educated in the city and by the local gentry in rural areas. Before one could pass the civil service examinations and become an official, he had to be well-read in the Four Books (sishu 四書), be familiar with the Five Classics (wujing 五經), and at least conversant with several histories (shi 史), philosophical works (zi 子) and belleslettres ( ji 集).1 Moreover, much of the spare time of scholar-officials and some merchants was occupied with reading of various kinds, ranging from classical texts to popular works (such as fiction, drama and short stories).2 All of these 1 In pre-modern China, books classified as jibu 集部 were mainly verse, prose, and literary criticism, but only verse and prose were deemed belles-letters. For more about the civil service examination, bureaucracy, and elite culture, see Peter Bol, “The Sung Examination System and the Shih,” Asia Major, 3rd ser., 3, 2 (1990):149–71; Benjamin Elman and Alexander Woodside, eds., Education and Society in Late Imperial China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994); Benjamin Elman, A Cultural History of Civil Examination in Late Imperial China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000); and Civil Examinations and Meritocracy in Late Imperial China (Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Harvard University Press, 2013). 2 On the reading public and reading practices of late imperial China, see Martin W. Huang, “Author(ity) and Reader in Traditional Chinese Xiaoshuo Commentary,” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) 16 (1994): 41–67; Anne E. McLaren, “Ming Audience and Vernacular Hermeneutics: The Uses of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” T‘oung Pao 81:103 (1995): 51–80; Anne E. McLaren, “Constructing New Reading Publics in Late Ming China,” in Printing and Book Culture in Late Imperial China, Cynthia J. Brokaw and Kai-wing Chow, eds. (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2005), 152– 183; Robert E. Hegel, “Niche Marketing for Late Imperial Fiction,” in Printing and Book Culture in Late Imperial China, 235–66; Cynthia J. Brokaw, “Sibao’s Customers and Popular Textual Cultural in the Qing,” in Commerce in Culture: The Sibao Book Trade in the Qing and Republican Periods (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007), 513–533; Yuming He, Home and the World: Editing the “Glorious Ming” in Woodblock-Printed Books of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2013).

© Yinzong Wei, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004508477_003

Chinese Interpretive Texts

13

texts – from official documents to private letters, from memorials addressed to the throne to imperial documents directed at subjects, from classical works to popular works – contained allusions to ancient texts. The reading, understanding and reception of ancient texts, especially the Five Classics, was a crucial task both for elite subjects and the emperor, not only in their public activities but also in their private lives and mindsets. Thus, the first key question for us concerns how texts were interpreted. The study of the interpretation of ancient Chinese texts has long centered either on particular scholars or particular texts. Few considered the features of the text per se that were differently interpreted or thought about how these texts had circulated historically, which both determined the reception and historical significance of ancient texts and their various interpretations over time. For example, zhushu 注疏, pingdian 評點 and pijiao 批校 are different in content and nature but are indiscriminately translated into “commentary” or “annotation” in English,3 and this has confused our understanding of the features and functions of the different kinds of interpretations of ancient Chinese texts. Therefore, I use the term “interpretive text” to denote all texts that provide interpretation, explanation, appreciation and evaluation of a pre-existing text, or the “main text.” In comparison with the main text, interpretive texts are secondary – they are generated by the main text, and for this reason, they always cling to the main text. Where there is no main text, there is no interpretive text. Interpretive texts can be regarded as one kind of paratext, a concept that was proposed by Gérard Genette. In Genette’s theory, paratext consists of elements such as titles, subtitles, intertitles, prefaces, notes, epigraphs, illustrations, book covers, reviews, private letters and many other kind of secondary signals that are related to the main text. The paratext functions to guide or even control the reading and interpretation of the main text: it can decide how a text should be read.4 Genette stressed the transactional nature of paratexts 3 For instance, Daniel K. Gardner and Kai-wing Chow use “Confucian commentary” to denote interpretative text on the Confucian Classics. Martin W. Huang and David Rolston also use “commentary” to stand for comments and evaluations on Chinese fiction. See Daniel K. Gardner, “Confucian Commentary and Chinese Intellectual History,” Journal of Asian Studies 57:2 (May 1998): 397–422; Kai-wing Chow, “Paratext: Commentaries, Ideology, and Politics,” in Publishing, Culture and Power in Early Modern China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004), 149–188; Martin W. Huang, “Author(ity) and Reader in Traditional Chinese Xiaoshuo Commentary,” 41–67; David. Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary: Reading and Writing between the Lines (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997). 4 On paratext, see Gérard Genette, Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation, trans. Jane E. Lewin (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).

14

chapter 2

between the text and the reader: “It [the paratext] not only marks the zone of transition between text and non-text, but also a transaction.”5 However, in comparison with other paratextual elements (such as illustrations, book covers, reviews and author’s letters), annotation, commentary and marginalia are usually physically closer to the main text, and they are mainly concerned with providing interpretation, explanation, appreciation and evaluation of a main text. Their nature is fundamentally interpretive. Therefore, this chapter will focus on these three interpretive texts, discussing their contents, features, forms and how they circulated in imperial China. By so doing, we can gain a deeper understanding of the nature of marginalia. 1

Contents and Features

It is because of their different modes of interpretation that I distinguish between zhushu, pingdian and pijiao, and translate them into “annotations,” “commentaries” and “marginalia,” respectively. Annotations primarily aimed to draw out the philosophical and political meanings of texts based on glosses of meaning and sound. Commentaries in China concentrated on the literary features of the main text and aimed to help readers appreciate the beauty of the main text and improve the reader’s skill at composing classical poetry and prose. Marginalia are the readers’ hand-written reading responses, which can include anything that readers came up with while reading. 1.1 Zhushu/Annotations: Proposing Meanings from the Classics The earliest interpretive texts in China can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods. In his impressive monograph, Writing and Authority in Early China, Mark Edward Lewis proposes a triangular model of “master – disciple – text” for the intellectual world during this era. This model elaborates how the various schools were organized and expanded, and how the thought of a given school was disseminated. Lewis emphasizes the crucial role that the text played for scholars in early China as they engaged with state affairs and the expanding schools of thought. He states that most of the schools in that time had a so-called “textual tradition;” most of the schools were “text-based,” and even the “appearance of the master as an author … was a function of, or a step toward, his disappearance as the fundamental textual

5 Gérard Genette, “The Proustian Paratext,” in SubStance: a Review of Theory and Literary Criticism 17.2 (1988): 63.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

15

authority.”6 Texts, however, cannot speak for themselves: they have to be interpreted. Interpretation, even when orally transmitted from the master to the disciple, was made up of exegeses, glossing, paraphrasing and discussions of the textual variants. These interpretations, primarily aimed at drawing out the meaning of texts, scarcely commented on the aesthetic features of the main text. So, we might think of “annotation” as the equivalent in English. Historically, Chinese annotations actually had various names that could reveal their features. The earliest annotations on the Confucian Classics were called zhuan/chuan 傳 or ji 記; later, they were also referred to with such terms as jie 解, gu 故, xun 訓, zhangju 章句, shuo 說 or shuoyi 說義.7 According to the Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 (Explaining graphs and analyzing characters), the original meaning of zhuan/chuan is “to pass on.” The influential Shuowen specialist Duan Yucai 段玉裁 (1735–1815) pointed out that the extended meaning of zhuan/chuan is “to extend the meaning” and that the zhuan/chuan in both zhuanzhu 傳注 (annotation) and liuchuan 流傳 (to spread) uses this extended meaning.8 In other words, zhuan/chuan means to transmit the meaning of the Classics. The original meaning of ji is “to record” or “to write down,”9 similar to zhuan/chuan. Ji annotations were actually disciples’ records of their masters’ interpretations of the Classics. The well-known Chinese historian Zhang Xuecheng 章學誠 (courtesy name Shizhai 實齋, 1783–1801) noted:

6 Mark Edward Lewis, Writing and Authority in Early China (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999), 57–69. 7 It is recorded in the “Yiwen zhi” 藝文志 of the Hanshu 漢書 that for the Yi 易 (Book of Changes), there was the Zhoushi zhuan 周氏傳, and the zhangju 章句 of Masters Shi 施, Meng 孟 and Liangqiu’s 梁丘; for the Shu 書 (Book of documents), there was one work of zhuan, the zhangju of Masters Ouyang 歐陽, Greater Xiahou 夏侯 and Lesser Xiahou, the jiegu 解故 of Masters Greater Xiahou and Lesser Xiahou, and Master Ouyang’s shuoyi 說義; for the Shi 詩 (Book of songs), there were Master Mao’s gu xun zhuan 故訓傳, and Master Han’s 韓 gu 故, shuo 說, neizhuan 內傳 and waizhuan 外傳; for the Li 禮 (Book of rites), there was one work of ji 記 and one work of Mingtang yinyang shuo 明堂陰陽說; for the Chunqiu 春秋 (Spring and autumn annals), there were the zhuan of Masters Gongyang 公羊, Guliang 穀梁, Zuo 左, Zou 鄒 and Jia 夾, and several zhangju and zaji. See Hanshu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962), 1701–1784. 8 See Shuowen jiezi zhu 說文解字注, composed by Xu Shen 許慎 and annotated by Duan Yucai 段玉裁 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1981), juan 8A, 377. 9 See annotations to the Shangshu 尚書 and the Liji 禮記, in Shangshu zhushu 尚書注疏 (photo-reproduction in the Shisanjing zhushu 十三經注疏, Taipei: Yiwen, 2007), juan 5, 68; Liji zhushu 禮記注疏 (photo-reproduction in the Shisanjing zhushu 十三經注疏, Taipei: Yiwen, 2007), juan 13, 262.

16

chapter 2

The three zhuan of the Spring and Autumn Annuals recorded the meanings the annotator had heard of and drew out meanings from the Classics, so they can also be called “ji.” The two ji annotations to the Rites transmitted their explanations and circulated attached to the Classics, so they can also be called “zhuan.” 《春秋》三家之傳，各記所聞，依經起義，雖謂之記可也。經《禮》     二戴之記，各傳其說，附經而行，雖謂之傳可也。10

The original meaning of jie is “to cut an ox horn into halves;” the more modern meaning, “to analyze” is derived from this word.11 This implies that jie annotations analyzed the Classics and explained their meanings. Shuo and shuoyi mean to declare the meaning of the Classics. The pronunciation of xun 訓 was similar to that of shun 順 (“to obey” or “to follow”), so according to Duan Yucai, xun means to explain the meaning of the Classics to other people and lead them to follow the right principles.12 Gu 故 is the ancient form of gu 詁, which means “to explain the meaning of ancient words.”13 Its derived meaning is “to explain the main text.”14 Zhangju 章句, according to Liu Zhao’s 劉昭 annotation of the Hou Hanshu, means “to divide the main text into sections and analyze the meanings of the sentences.”15 However, no book in the “Yiwen zhi” 藝文志 (Treatise on literature) of the Hanshu 漢書 (History of the Han Dynasty) bears a title describing it as zhu 注, nor is there any annotation to the Confucian Classics called zhu in the entirety of the Hanshu. Zhu was first used to mean “to annotate” in the biography of Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 (courtesy name Kangcheng 康成, 127–200) in the Hou Hanshu. Still, in the Hou Hanshu, Zhang Kai’s 張楷 biography states that Zhang Kai had composed “zhu to the Shangshu” (作尚書注), but there is no evidence that this was the title of Zhang’s book.16 Few annotated books recorded in the “Jingji zhi” 經籍志 (Treatise on the Confucian Classics and other books) of the 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Zhang Xuecheng, Wenshi tongyi jiaozhu 文史通義校注, annotated and collated by Ye Ying 葉瑛 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985), juan 3, 248. See the annotation of the Liji and Shiji 史記, in Liji zhushu, juan 50, 845; Shiji (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1963), juan 9, 399. Shuowen jiezi zhu, juan 3A, 91. Shuowen jiezi zhu, juan 3A, 92. See the annotation of the “Yiwen zhi” of Hanshu, juan 13, 1708; see also Maoshi zhushu 毛詩注疏 (Taipei: Yiwen, 2007), 11. Fan Ye 范曄, Hou Hanshu, annotated by Liu Zhao 劉昭 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1965), juan 28A, 955. Fan Ye, Hou Hanshu, juan 35, 1212; juan 36, 1243.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

17

Suishu 隋書 (History of the Sui) had zhu in their titles.17 Most were identified as only having zhu in the author’s notes of the “Jingji zhi.”18 According to the Shuowen jiezi, zhu means “to irrigate or to fill with water.” The Liyi shu 儀禮 疏 (Sub-annotation of the Rites and Ceremonies) writes: “The meaning of zhu is ‘tapping the meaning from the Classics,’ like water dripping off an object.” (注者，注義於經下，若水之注物). Similarly, Duan Yucai said, “Zhu means to guide [water] to the proper position, so explicating the Classic in order to illuminate its meaning is called ‘zhu’” (注之云者，引之有所適也，故釋經以明其 義曰注).19 In addition, according to the “Jingji zhi” of the Suishu, yinyin 音隱 (or yin 音) annotations and jijie 集解 annotations gradually increased in number, and yishu 義疏 (or shu 疏, sub-annotation) annotations flourished from the late Han to Sui period under the influence of Buddhism.20 Yinyin annotations focused on the phonetic aspects of ancient texts; jijie means “collected annotations.” Shu originally meant “to unblock;” its derived meaning is “to remove misunderstandings,” i.e, to explicate a text.21 After the Sui dynasty, zhu, shu, and zhushu became the most common appellations of annotations, although new names such as zhengyi 正義 (orthodox meaning), suoyin 索隱 (searching for the hidden meaning), and xinyi 新義 (new interpretation) were created by different generations of annotators. All these names demonstrate that the core feature of Chinese annotation was to draw out the meaning of ancient texts, and that annotations were oriented toward explicating meaning, or, in the words of Zhang Xuecheng, “yi jing qi yi” 依經起義 (to propose meanings from the Classics). Daniel K. Gardner claims that within the Confucian tradition, the Classics have no fixed meaning 17

18

19 20 21

Annotated books that were entitled with “zhu” include Xiaojing mo zhu 孝經默注 by Xu Zheng 徐整, Hanshu zhu 漢書注 by Lu Cheng 陸澄, and Hanshu jizhu 漢書集注 by Jin Zhuo 晉灼. See the “Jingji zhi” of the Suishu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1982), juan 32, 933; juan 33, 953. For example, the self-annotation to the Zhouyi 周易 of a 7-juan edition in the “Jingji zhi” of the Suishu states “annotations by Yao Gui 姚規”; to that of a 13-juan edition it states “annotations by Cui Jian 崔覲 and Master Fu 傅”; to that of a 10-juan edition, it states “annotations by Master Lu 廬.” The self-annotation to the Shiji of an 80-juan edition states “annotations by Pei Yin 裴駰.” The Shuijing 水經 has Guo Pu’s 郭璞 annotations for a 3-juan edition and Li Daoyuan’s 酈道元 annotations for a 40-juan edition. See the “Jingji zhi” of the Suishu, juan 32, 910; juan 33, 953, 982, 984. See Xu Shen, Shuowen jiezi, annotated by Duan Yucai, juan 11A, 555; Yili zhushu 儀禮注 疏 (photo-reproduction in the Shisanjing zhushu 十三經注疏, Taipei: Yiwen, 2007), juan 1, 3. See the “Jingji zhi” of the Suishu, juan 32–35, 903–1104. See Xu Shen, Shuowen jiezi, juan 14B, 744.

18

chapter 2

and “there was no such thing as a timeless, normative reading of a Classic.” Through creating a complex relationship between the Classics, the audiences, and the commentarial tradition, annotators shaped the understandings of the Classics and gave them new meanings and significance in particular contexts.22 Since annotation is meaning-oriented, the explanation of words and sentences became its main content. In this sense, as Lu Zongda 陸宗達 and Wang Ning 王寧 state, ancient annotations provide a great number of sources with which to probe the meanings of the words of ancient texts. Nevertheless, they also remind us that although the explanations in ancient annotations might be more accurate because they were produced proximate to the time when the main text was composed, they should not be treated as the only basis for study, inasmuch as they were scarcely able to avoid biases that could generate a considerable number of incorrect explanations. Ancient annotators aimed to transmit the “correct meanings” imparted by their teachers and they claimed to rigorously represent their teachers’ views.23 In other words, transmitting philosophical and political meanings was the annotators’ ultimate end; explaining words and sentences was just the means to that end.24 The well-known late-Qing Chinese scholar Pi Xirui 皮錫瑞 (courtesy name Lumen 鹿門, 1850–1908) argued that classical study traditions were handed down from teachers to disciples in the Western Han period, and within clans in the Eastern Han period.25 Whether this distinction between the transmission methods of the Western and Eastern Han is correct or not, Pi Xirui did correctly realize that the different schools’ interpretations of the same Classic were, usually, not the same. The combination of different interpretations and various political cliques generated different schools; conflict between these schools in turn magnified the differences among the different interpretations. Annotations could supply an arena for different schools, because the fundamental nature of the annotation was to transmit the Dao 道 (Way) of the sages. The Confucian Classics were transmitted orally either by different schools or by different clans before and during the Eastern Han. The great classicist 22

23 24 25

Daniel K. Gardner, “Confucian Commentary and Chinese Intellectual History,” Journal of Asian Studies 57:2 (May 1998): 397–422. See also John B. Henderson, Scripture, Canon and Commentary: A Comparison of Confucian and Western Exegesis (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991). See Lu Zonda 陸宗達 and Wang Ning 王寧, Xungu yu xungu xue 訓詁與訓詁學 (Taiyuan: Shanxi jiaoyu chubanshe, 1994), 17. See also Wang Li 王力, “Zhongguo yuyanxue shi” 中國語言學史, Zhongguo yuwen 中國 語文 3 (1963): 233. Pi Xirui 皮錫瑞, Jingxue lishi 經學歷史 (Hong Kong: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), 136. See also Hu Pu’an 胡樸安, Zhongguo xunguxue shi 中國訓詁學史 (Shanghai: Sanlian shudian, 2014), 3.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

19

Zheng Xuan was believed to have learned from various schools, adopting the strengths of both the orthodox New Text School ( jinwen pai 今文派) and the Old Text School (guwen pai 古文派) in his interpretation of the Confucian Classics so as to bridge the two centuries of rivalry between them.26 His goal was actually to construct a new interpretive system to unify and interpret all the Confucian Classics according to the theory of li 禮 (ritual) as expounded in the Classic of Rites.27 Zhang Xuecheng explained the nature of the annotations to the Confucian Classics before and during the Eastern Han saying that they “basically all drew out meanings from the Classics and each composed their own books, which were different from the annotations of later times” (蓋 皆依經起意，其實各自爲書，與後世箋注自不同也).28 Actually, various annotations after the Eastern Han also “proposed meanings from the Classics” by explaining the words and sentences. Qiao Xiuyan 喬秀巖 pointed out that yishu 義疏 annotations from the Wei dynasty to the Tang dynasty were not seeking the “truth,” but rather attempting to comprehend the laws of nature and human affairs. In order to express their understanding, sometimes the analogies the annotators drew were farfetched and their interpretations strained.29 Scholars of the Song dynasty were not satisfied with the Han and Tang annotations. They composed new annotations with new interpretations, printed them and disseminated them all over the empire. Eventually, these new interpretations supplanted the Han and Tang annotations and became the orthodox textbooks for the civil service examinations. The conflict between the new and old annotations was actually a conflict between different orthodoxies, so they cannot be seen as mere explanations of words and sentences.30 Scholars of the Qing dynasty also armed themselves 26

27

28 29 30

Whether or not there were centuries of rivalry between the New Text and the Old Text in the Han is an area of debate. But from historical records and Han scholars’ annotations of Confucian Classics, we know that the New-Text classicists and the Old-Text classicists employed different interpretive strategy. An annotation to the “Zaji” 雜記 of the Liji 禮記 states: “The study of the Rites is actually Zheng Xuan’s study” (禮是鄭學). See Liji zhushu, juan 40, 713. See also Qiao Xiuyan 喬秀巖, Yishuxue cunwang shi lun 義疏學存亡史論 (Taipei: Wanjuanlou, 2013), 177; Hua Zhe 華喆, Li shi Zheng xue 禮是鄭學 (Beijing: Shenghuo, dushu, xinzhi sanlian shudian, 2018). Zhang Xuecheng, Wenshi tongyi jiaozhu, juan 3, 248. See Qiao Xiuyan, Yishuxue cunwang shi lun, 171–176. See Kai-wing Chow, “Paratext: Commentaries, Ideology, and Politics,” 149–188; Thomas Wilson, Genealogy of the Way: The Construction and Uses of the Confucian Tradition in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995), 47–59; Gu Yongxin 顧永新, Jingxue wenxian de yansheng he tongsuhua: yi jingu shidai de chuanke wei zhongxin 經學 文獻的衍生和通俗化 – 以近古時代的傳刻爲中心 (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2014).

20

chapter 2

with techniques of annotation to dispute the Song and Ming scholars. Their annotations and other scholarly practices cannot be considered pure evidential research on the words and sentences either, because the Qing evidential scholars had their own philosophy.31 The Shijing 詩經 (often translated as the Book of Songs, Book of Poetry, or the Poetry Classic) is an example of how one text was interpreted with different annotations. The Shijing is a collection of just over three hundred poems from the Zhou dynasty. From very early times, it has been one of the centerpieces of the Confucian tradition, and has been referred to as a (Confucian) Classic. There were various schools of reading the Shijing before and during the Han dynasty, which vary not only in interpretation but also in the texts of the poems. Unfortunately, most of them are lost, leaving just a small number of fragments quoted in other texts. However, the text and interpretation of the Mao school survived. Its text is called the Maoshi (Mao’s poems), and the interpretation of the text is made up of Mao’s annotations (Mao zhuan 毛傳) and a “Preface” (Shi xu 詩序) to each poem.32 In the order of the Maoshi, the 23th poem is “Ye you si jun” 野有死麕 (In the wilds is a dead doe, Mao #23). This poem reads: 野有死麕， In the wilds is a dead doe; 白茅包之。 With white rushes we cover her. 有女懷春， There was a lady longing for the spring; 吉士誘之。 A fair knight seduced her.

31

32

About the various interpretative tradition of different annotations of Confucian Classics, see also John Makeham, Transmitters and Creators: Chinese Commentators and Commentaries on the Analects (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003); John B. Henderson, Scripture, Canon and Commentary: A Comparison of Confucian and Western Exegesis. About the philosophy underlying evidential research, see Lin Qingzhang 林慶彰 and Zhang Shou’an 張壽安, ed., Qianjia xuezhe de yili xue 乾嘉學者的義理學, 2 vols. (Taipei: Zhongguo wenzhe yanjiu suo, 2003); Hamaguchi Fujiō 濱口富士雄, Shindai kōkyogaku no shisōshiteki kenkyū 清代考據學の思想史的研究 (Tokyo: Kokusho kankōkai, 1994); Ge Zhaoguang 葛兆光, Zhongguo sixiangshi, di’er juan: qi shiji zhi shijiu shiji Zhongguo de zhishi, sixiang yu xinyang 中國思想史第二卷：七世紀至十九世紀 中國的知識、思想與信仰, second edition (Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe, 2013), 365–392. On the Shijing and the Mao school, see Steven Jay Van Zoeren, Poetry and Personality: Reading, Exegesis, and Hermeneutics in Traditional China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991), 7–115. See also The Book of Songs, trans. Arthur Waley (New York: Grove Press, 1996). Of the major translations and research aids, I have relied chiefly upon Waley, trans., The Book of Songs; and James Legge, trans., The She King or The Book of Poetry (Taipei: SMC Publishing Inc., 1991).

Chinese Interpretive Texts

21

林有樸樕， In the wood there is a clump of oaks, 野有死鹿。 And in the wilds a dead deer 白茅純束， With white rushes well bound; 有女如玉。 There was a lady fair as jade. 舒而脫脫兮， “Heigh, not so hasty, not so rough; 無感我帨兮， Heigh, do not touch my handkerchief. 無使尨也。 Take care, or the dog will bark.”33

The literal interpretation of this poem is a romantic story of a knight (according to Waley’s translation) who encounters a beautiful lady and has an affair with her. Arthur Waley translated shui 帨 into “handkerchief” with a footnote saying: “Which was worn at the belt.” In Wen Yiduo’s 聞一多 study, the “shui” was used to cover woman’s private parts, that is, a kind of underwear.34 In these modern readings, this poem is very erotic. In the Maoshi, each poem was introduced by a “lesser preface” (xiaoxu 小序) employing a didactic interpretation that stated the poem’s title, topic, ritual use, and sometimes supplied paradigmatic historical events for the poem.35 The preface of this poem reads: “Ye you si jun” expresses disgust at the lack of ritual. Throughout the realm there had been great disorder, and brutal men insulted women, so that lascivious behavior spread. Through the transforming influence of King Wen, even in such an age of disorder, there was still a loathing of the lack of ritual. 《野有死麇》，惡無禮也。天下大亂，強暴相陵，遂成淫風。被文王   之化，雖當亂世，猶惡無禮也。36

This implies that this is a satirical poem showing disgust at the chaotic and disorderly world, a world in which the rites had been cast aside. But the meaning of the lesser preface is actually very ambiguous. Zheng Xuan composed his

33 34 35 36

The Chinese text is quoted from the Maoshi zhengyi 毛詩正義 (photo-reproduction in the Shisanjing zhushu 十三經注疏, Taipei: Yiwen, 2007), juan 1, 65–66; Waley, trans., The Book of Songs, 20–21; and James Legge, trans., The She King or The Book of Poetry, 34. See Wen Yiduo 聞一多, Shijing tongyi 詩經通義 (Wuhan: Hubei renmin chubanshe, 1994), 339–340. See Steven Jay Van Zoeren, Poetry and Personality, 80–115. Maoshi zhengyi, 65.

22

chapter 2

annotation based on the Maoshi, and then followed the interpretation offered in the lesser preface with his own annotation. His annotation reads: “Lack of ritual” means [getting married] without a matchmaker and proper betrothal gifts, i.e., [the girl] was forced to marry. This refers to King Zhou’s (the last king of the Shang dynasty) time. 無禮者，爲不由媒妁，雁幣不至，劫脅以成昏，謂紂之世。  37

Zheng follows the lesser preface and meanwhile guides the reading to the ritual of marriage, which neither the lesser preface nor the poem ever mention. While annotating, “There was a lady longing for the spring / A fair knight seduced her,” Zheng writes: There was a chaste virgin thinking of meeting the knight according to ritual in the mid-spring. The fair knight asked a matchmaker to accomplish it accordingly. 有貞女思仲春以禮與男會，吉士使媒人道成之。  38

For this poem, Zheng claims that the lady was a “chaste virgin,” and that the knight asked a matchmaker to help him complete the ritual of marriage and then marry her. Zheng’s annotation of “Heigh, not so hasty, not so rough” reads: The chaste virgin wanted the fair knight to approach her according to ritual. She asked the knight not to be so hasty, nor so rough. At the same time, she is disgusted at the lack of ritual in that time when brutal men insulted women [and she warns the knight not to do so]. 貞女欲吉士以禮來，脫脫然舒也。又疾時無禮，強暴之男相劫脅。  39

In this reading, the chaste virgin tells the knight to follow the rites and warned him not to violate ritual. In Zheng’s reading, the purpose of this poem was to praise the chaste virgin and set a moral model for people to learn from, while the core meaning and significance of the poem is about a particular notion of rites. As mentioned above, Zheng Xuan tried to unify all the Confucian Classics 37 38 39

Maoshi zhengyi, 65. Maoshi zhengyi, 65. Maoshi zhengyi, 66.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

23

according to the theory of ritual and the Classic of Rites. His efforts are demonstrated in this annotation. The voluminous sub-annotations, which were compiled in the Tang dynasty and named “The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics” (wujing zhengyi 五經 正義), were a collection of a large number of previous annotations and the texts of other Classics. But, in fact, the sub-annotations follow Zheng Xuan’s annotations; his annotations were treated as the “correct meaning” and all other quotations were used to support his arguments. If there were gaps between the Mao preface and Zheng’s annotations, the sub-annotations would attempt to close them. The sub-annotations purported to make all the Classics perfect, as least ostensibly.40 The lesser preface, Zheng’s annotations, and the sub-annotations of this poem mention “li” (rites, ritual) fifty-three times,41 while, in the Song scholar Zhu Xi’s (朱熹, 1130–1200) Shijizhuan 詩集傳 (Collected annotations of the Shi), it does not appear once. Zhu Xi, known in the English literature as a NeoConfucian scholar, philosopher, and politician, did not interpret the poems according to ritual or the Classic of Ritual. His concern was leading human nature to follow the Heavenly Principle (tianli 天理), so his interpretation focused on people’s inner nature and moral cultivation.42 Zhu explicates the primary meaning of this poem, stating: This stanza recounts the girl refusing the knight. She told the knight to approach slowly, neither touching her handkerchief, nor alerting the dog, in order to say emphatically that he could not approach her. The idea of her chaste inviolability is clearly shown. 此章乃述女子拒之之辭，言姑徐徐而來，毋動我之帨，毋驚我之犬，   以甚言其不能相及也。其凜然不可犯之意蓋可見矣。  43

In Zhu’s interpretation, the persona becomes a heroic woman who resolutely defends her honor. However, his annotation is a little self-contradictory. It first states that the girl told the knight to approach slowly, and then states that she wanted to keep the knight from approaching her. This might be the case because, literally, it is hard to get the sense from the poem that she is 40 41 42 43

See Van Zoeren, Poetry and Personality, 116–150; Sun Qinshan, Zhongguo guwenxianxue shi, 349–396. Maoshi zhengyi, 65–66. See also Van Zoeren, Poetry and Personality, 218–249. Zhu Xi 朱熹, Shijizhuan 詩集傳, in Zhuzi quanshu 朱子全書 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji; Hefei: Anhui jiaoyu chubanshe, 2002), vol. 1, 418–419.

24

chapter 2

adamantly resisting this knight. She is half refusing and half accepting him, and perhaps enjoying this romantic tryst. This poem, according to Zhu’s reading, is thus morally corrupt. One of Zhu’s students, Wang Bo 王柏 (1197–1274), despised it as being a “lewd” poem (yinben zhi shi 淫奔之詩) and advocated excising it from the Shijing.44 After the Song dynasty, various annotations continued to emerge. Some proposed new interpretations of the Shijing while others did not. But most, if not all, were meaning-oriented. Every annotator tried to explain his own understanding of this corpus of ancient poems.45 Among different scholarly lineages, not only did the interpretations differ, but also the text of the Classics they transmitted and annotated differed. Ni Qixin 倪其心 has pointed out that the text of the Confucian Classics was actually “a multi-layered complicated overlapping construction” (多層次的複雜重疊構成).46 Different schools transmitted different texts, which were altered by generations of scholars, so that the text of the Classics became more and more complicated. Each annotation was actually based on a particular version of the text. Few collators realised this, however. Thinking that all the annotations of one Classic were made based on the same text, most collators made no distinction between two different texts annotated by different schools or scholars; i.e., they did not distinguish the study of the content of the Classics – such as the thought and political or social ideas – from the editing of the text. They altered the original text of the Classics according to their own studies, which often confused a Classic’s textual lineage, and as a result, the editing of the text was trapped in a vicious cycle, whereby the more a text was edited, the more it needed editing. Duan Yucai was the first to advocate determining the “authenticity of the original text” (底本之是非) from the “veracity of the argument” (立說之是非), and then making clear which text was annotated by which annotator and which annotator actually annotated which text. But in practice, Duan Yucai was still preoccupied with the idea of determining one authentic text according to his own understanding of “authentic principle.” His overconfidence in his evidential method prevented him from realising that the text he had collated was just yet another new text and that his annotation of it was yet another new interpretation of the Classics, just as previous annotators and collators had produced. The prominent classicist Gu Guangqi 顧廣圻 (1770–1839) 44 45 46

See Wang Bo 王柏, Shiyi 詩疑, ed. Gu Jiegang 顧頡剛 (Beijing: Pushe, 1935), 26–32. On the interpretive history of the Shijing, see also Bruce Rusk, Critics and Commentators: The Book of Poems as Classic and Literature (Cambridge and London: Harvard University Asia Center, 2012). Ni Qixin 倪其心, Jiaokanxue dagang 校勘學大綱 (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2004), 79–85.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

25

noticed Duan Yucai’s self-contradiction and argued with him. Gu insisted that scholars should not alter the text and he carried out this rule when editing the Confucian Classics. He was very clear in theory and practice that the text was the text, the annotation was the annotation, and that different annotations, even collations of the Classics, were based on different understandings of the Classics.47 The well-known modern textual scholar Yu Jiaxi 余嘉锡 (1884–1955) remarked: All scholarly works, ancient or modern, were created to meet practical needs for convenience. When transmitted over a long time and studied deeply, the meanings and principles become obvious. It is, of course, not correct for someone to consider the Book of Changes as songs on the hexagrams and the Spring and Autumn Annuals as court reports, and yet it is also incorrect to say they were not initially composed as such. 古今學術，其初無不因事實之需要而爲之法，以便人用，傳之久，研 之精，而後義理著焉。必欲以《易》爲卦歌，《春秋》爲朝報，固未 可，而謂其始本不爲此而作，則亦非也。  48

Yu recognized that most of the time, the meanings and principles of the Classics were added by interpreters and annotators. Combined with different annotations, various texts of each Classic are of historical significance; they are an important part of Chinese textual culture. Besides the Confucian Classics, annotations of the texts of the Hundred Schools during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, although orally transmitted, were also meaning-oriented.49 So were annotations of histories during the Han dynasty – as pointed out by Zhang Xuecheng: The grand historian, [Sima] Qian, composed one hundred and thirty chapters and said [he would] “hide his book away in a famous mountain and transmit it to the right person.” Soon after, his grandson Yang Yun started to disseminate this book. After Ban Gu’s death, his History of the Western Han could not be thoroughly understood by scholars at that time. Thereupon, Ma Rong went to prostrate [himself] at Ban Gu’s house and learn from Ban’s little sister. Henceforth the study [of this book] started 47 48 49

On the conflict between Duan Yucai and Gu Guangqi, see Ni Qixin, Jiaokanxue dagang, 307–316. Yu Jiaxi 余嘉錫, Muluxue fawei 目錄學發微 (Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2011), 141. See Lewis, Writing and Authority in Early China.

26

chapter 2

to become well known. [Si]ma and Ban’s books are familiar to people today, but had to be transmitted by particular persons and learned from particular teachers. This is because for specialized scholarship, ancient scholars had to hand down their personal insights in addition to the study of the scriptures, which was beyond the capacity of writing and had to be transmitted orally from master to disciple. They learned and handed down their scholarship to posterity. [Sima] Qian’s book was annotated by Pei Yin, and [Ban] Gu’s by Ying Shao. The later annotators, in different families’ scholarly traditions, all express their family teachings. 史遷著百三十篇，乃云“藏之名山，傳之其人。”其後外孫楊惲始布 其書。班固《漢書》，自固卒後，一時學者，未能通曉。馬融乃伏閣 下，從其女弟受業，然後其學始顯。夫馬、班之書，今人見之悉矣，   而當日傳之必以其人，受讀必有所自者，古人專門之學，必有法外傳 心，筆削之功所不及，則口授其徒，而相與傳習其業，以垂永久也。   遷書自裴駰爲注，固書自應劭作解，其後爲之注者，猶若干家，則皆 闡其家學者也。  50

Annotations of the Confucian Classics and texts of the Hundred Schools, and of histories during the Han dynasty were meaning-oriented, aiming to build a systematic interpretation of the thoughts, intentions and principles of the attributed author of the texts. This kind of annotation comprised the majority of pre-modern Chinese annotations. Annotations of histories and classical literary works (i.e., classical poetry and prose) after the Eastern Han dynasty were mostly concerned with explaining difficult or obscure words or expressions rather than building a systematic interpretation of the main text. However, some were still, to a degree, meaning-oriented. For instance, there was a traditional belief in Chinese literary theory that poetry expressed one’s intent (詩言 志). Therefore, annotators were supposed to base their explanations on their comprehension of the author’s intent. Thus, annotations of poems do not have many literary appreciations of the main text, which is rather different from another type of interpretive text, the pingdian/commentary. Pingdian/Commentaries: In-Depth Understanding of Literary Features Guo Shaoyu 郭紹虞 (1893–1984) claims that “if the Qing literati considered the Six Classics all as histories, then the Ming literati read the Six Classics 1.2

50

Zhang Xuecheng, Wenshi tongyi jiaozhu, juan 3, 237.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

27

simply as literature.”51 This may not be correct for Ming annotations – books with “zhushu” in their titles – for, as is pointed out by Kai-wing Chow, the new annotations in the late Ming challenged the Cheng-Zhu 程朱 interpretation established in the Southern Song dynasty and thus helped to undermine the orthodoxy of the official ideology.52 These annotations, meaning-oriented as was pointed out above, cannot be understood as only concerned with the literary features of the Confucian Classics. However, for books with “pingdian” in their titles, Guo’s claim is correct. Chinese pingdian, consisting of piping 批評 (comments, criticism) and quandian 圈點 (emphasis marks, literally “circles and dots,” similar to underlining and highlighting), can be translated as “commentary” in English. Different from annotations, Chinese commentaries were mainly concerned with the literary features, or wenli 文理, of the main text. Wenli as a literary concept was first proposed by Liu Xie 劉勰 (courtesy name Yanhe 彥和, fl. 5th century) in his highly influential work on literary theory, Wenxin diaolong (The literary mind and the carving of dragons). Wenli literally means “the order and organization of composition, the line of thought in writing,” but was often used to denote “literary features of the text” or “literary theory.” Speaking of the Confucian Classics, Liu Xie said: The truths (yi) [contained in the Classics] shape human nature and the affections (hsing-ch’ing) … the language (tz’u) is the most finely wrought in the principles of literature (wen-li). [《五經》] 義既埏乎性情，辭亦匠於文理。  53

Liu pointed out that the Confucian Classics were not only refined or profound in meaning, but also exquisite and elegant in language, which should be the model for later composers. Liu focused on the literary features of the Classics, so, after reading Liu’s Wenxin diaolong, Shen Yue 沈約 (courtesy 51

52 53

Guo Shaoyu 郭紹虞, Zhongguo wenxue pipingshi 中國文學批評史 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1979). 441. Note that “wen” 文 (literature) discussed in the imperial period is different from the modern concept “wenxue” 文學 (literature). In this sense, Guo’s argument seems a little anachronistic. However, the essential feature of Chinese pingdian/commentaries were that they were mainly concerned with literary features of the text. Guo’s argument is correct on this point. Kai-wing Chow, “Paratext: Commentaries, Ideology, and Politics,” 149–188. Stephen Owen, Readings in Chinese Literary Thought (Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press, 1992), 195. See also Fan Wenlan 范文瀾, Wenxin diaolong zhu 文心雕龍注 (Beijing: Renmin wenxue, 1962), 21.

28

chapter 2

name Xiuwen 休文, 441–513), one of the best-known scholars of the Southern Dynasties, praised Liu as “having an in-depth comprehension of literary theory” (深得文理).54 Zhang Xuecheng regarded the Wenxin diaolong, Shipin 詩品 (Classifications of poets), Wenfu 文賦 (Rhyme prose on literature) and some other works on Chinese literature as the origin of commentary.55 This is because commentaries focused on the literary features of the text and, at the same time, drew from these works a concept and general theory of style, language, structure, and other rhetorical features. Commentaries also had an “in-depth comprehension of literary theory.” Commentaries came into being during the Song dynasty under the influence of the development of civil service examinations. The earliest extant anthology with commentaries on classical prose, the Guwen guanjian 古文關 鍵 (Key to composing classical prose) by Lü Zuqian 呂祖謙 (1137–1181), was compiled to “show students the right entrance” (示學者以門徑). The Chonggu wenjue 崇古文訣 (Instructions in classical-prose composition) by Lou Fang 樓 昉 (Southern Song dynasty) was compiled to “highlight the key parts and benefit later students” (抽其關鍵，以惠後學). Wang Shouren 王守仁 (style name Yangming 陽明, 1472–1529) stated that the Wenzhang guifan 文章軌范 (Rules and criteria of classical prose composition) by Xie Fangde 謝枋得 (1226–1289) was “compiled only for the enterprise of the civil service examinations” (是獨 爲舉業者設耳).56 These books, with commentaries, were primarily concerned with the literary features of the main text, especially the rules and patterns of composing classical prose. In these commentators’ eyes, methods of prose composition were derived from prose written by the wise men of the past. Therefore, one needed to be a sophisticated reader before becoming a good writer. The Guwen guanjian starts with “Kan wenzi fa” 看文字法 (Methods of reading texts), which is then followed by “Lun zuowen fa” 論作文法 (Methods of prose composition). In the main body of the book, the rules and patterns of prose composition are elicited by refined comments and evaluations of the literary features of the main text. In this way, “the right entrance” to civil examination candidates was shown.57 54 55 56

57

Yao Silian 姚思廉, Liangshu 梁書 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1973), juan 50, 712. Zhang Xuecheng, Jiaochou tongyi tongjie 校讎通義通解, annotated by Wang Zhongmin 王重民 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1987), juan 1, 12. Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1965), juan 187, 1698; Yao Bao 姚珤, “Chong gu wen jue yuan xu” 崇古文訣原序 (in Lou Fang comp., Chong gu wen jue, Siku quanshu edition), 1a; Wang Shouren 王守仁, “Wenzhang guifan yuan xu” 文章軌范原序 (in Xie Fangde 謝枋得, Wenzhang guifan, Siku quanshu edition), 1a. See Lin Gang 林崗, Ming Qing xiaoshuo pingdian 明清小說評點 (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2012), 44–57; Wu Chengxue 吳承學, “Xiancun pingidan diyi shu: lun Guweng

Chinese Interpretive Texts

29

Annotations of the ancient classics were meaning-oriented, aimed at transmitting the perceived intention and thought of the past sages by explaining their words and sentences; commentaries were literary style-oriented, and tried to lead the readers to “comprehend literary features from the characteristics of the main text” (從文本特性中領悟文學特性);58 as such, they left aside the author and only appreciated the text per se. Even for the Confucian Classics, the commentaries focused on the literary aspects, while their remarks on the meaning were largely cliché. For example, there is a commentary on the Shijing titled Maoshi zhenya 毛詩振雅 (The restoration of elegance in the Maoshi) which was printed in the late Ming period. Each page of this book has three registers; in the top and bottom registers are various commentaries; in the middle are the main text of the Shijing and selected annotations by Mao. The commentaries in the top margin also explain the meaning of the poems. Written in very simple language, they explain the meaning through analyzing the relationship between different stanzas and the structure of the text as a whole. They contribute nothing to the creation of new meanings or any deeper understanding of the poems: the meanings they discuss are the literal meanings proposed in the Mao annotations. The commentaries in the bottom register consist entirely of appreciations of the text. On the “Ye you si jun,” one comment reads: The meaning of the two characters “huai chun” [longing for spring] is sublime. Do not read them too coarsely. “懷春”二字甚微，莫粗看。

Another reads: The four characters “shu er tui tui” [Heigh, not so hasty, not so rough] are much better than beautiful diction. “舒而脫脫”四字妙，甚于麗詞。  59

Compared with Zheng Xuan and Zhu Xi’s annotations quoted above, these commentaries are rather distinctive.

58 59

guanjian de bianxuan, pingdian jiqi yingxiang” 现存评点第一书 – 论《古文关键》   的编选、评点及其影响, Wenxue yichan 文學遺產 4 (2003): 72–84. Lin Gang, Ming Qing xiaoshuo pingdian, 92. These two commentaries are quoted from Maoshi zhenya 毛詩振雅 (woodblock edition carved in the late Ming period, held in the Research Institute for Oriental Cultures at the Gakushuin University), juan 1, 19b–20a.

30

chapter 2

Commentaries on poetry and prose showed new possibilities for interpretation in Chinese literary history. When applied to works of fiction and drama, this new interpretive method changed the development of Chinese narrative literature. Fiction and drama occupied a very low position in elite assessments of Chinese writings. They were despised by almost all literati before the late Ming period; accordingly, composers and compilers tended to abandon the right to affix their real names. Consequently, this resulted in the absence of the author in fiction and drama.60 Poetry was believed to express one’s intent; prose, to convey the Way of the past sages; histories and texts of the Hundred Schools, to record the thoughts and deeds of past wise men. The reading and interpretation of these texts was centered on a powerful “author” behind the text. However, there was no sage or wise man behind the text of fiction and drama most of the time. The absence of the author precluded the authorcentered interpretation, and exacerbated the low status of fiction and drama. A breakthrough in interpretive theory was needed to change the situation. This breakthrough was made by the fiction-drama commentaries of the Ming-Qing period, which did not concentrate on the sages’ intention or the Way; nor did they see the text as a mere container of meaning. On the contrary, the commentators emphasized that meaning came from the characteristics of the text and that literary features were no longer a dispensable auxiliary. They believed that the essence of a text could be grasped by pinpointing its literary features. The great seventeenth-century literary theorist and commentator, Jin Shengtan 金聖歎 (c.1610–1611), stated: I have said that the Shui-hu chuan (Shuihu zhuan) is superior to the Shih-chi (Shiji; History of the Grand Historian), but nobody believes me. Really, I wasn’t talking nonsense. The truth is that in the Shih-chi words are used to carry events [i-wen yun-shih 以文運事], while in the Shui-hu chuan events are produced from the words [yin-wen sheng-shih 因文 生事]. When you use words to carry events, you first have events that have taken place in such-and-such a way, and then you must figure out a piece of narrative for them. Using words to produce events, on the other hand, is quite different. All you have to do is follow where your pen leads. To cut down what is tall and make tall what is short is all up to you.61 60 61

See Martin W. Huang, “Author(ity) and Reader in Traditional Chinese Xiaoshuo Commentary,” 51. Jin Shengtan 金聖歎, “How to Read The Fifth Books of Genius,” trans. John C.Y. Wang, in How to Read the Chinese Novel, ed. David L. Rolston (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1990), 133.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

31

In Jin Shengtan’s opinion, in good literary works the text comes first. Meaning and significance do not inhere in the events and philosophy recorded by the text, but in how the text is written – the genre, rhetoric, structure, and other literary features. If, as Jin Shengtan states, the text is more important than the events and philosophy recorded in the text, then the text is more important than the author. In this sense, fiction-drama commentary liberated the text from the overweening control of the author, and the field where meaning and significance are generated is transferred from the author to the text itself. A reader had to read the text carefully and analyze its characteristics thoroughly before being rewarded. And so “the heart of the reader suffers” (看書人心苦), wrote Jin Shengtan in his commentary on the Xixiangji 西廂記 (Romance of the Western Chamber). Interestingly, in the margin of the same page of Jin’s commentary, a piece of marginalia by a Qing scholar Wei Jirui 魏際瑞 (courtesy name Shanbo 善伯, 1620–1677) states: I always say that reading is more difficult than composing, and yet Shengtan’s words are also saying that reading is more difficult. This is known only to Shengtan and me. Hearing this, Shengtan will certainly guffaw and yell at me: “You lousy devil!” 我謂看難於作，然聖歎此語亦是言看難於作。此惟我及聖歎自知之。   聖歎聞之，必啞然罵我曰:“老賊，老賊!”  62

Therefore, for works of fiction and song drama, even if the author was known, he was not considered the only originator of meaning; readers could play a more active role in producing meaning under the guidance of commentators, who could also be seen as sophisticated readers. This, as is pointed out by Martin Huang, indicated the “ascendancy” of the reader’s status. Also in this vein, Haun Saussy claims that this theory of commentary is similar to that of New Criticism, both paying great attention to the importance of close reading of the text.63 As mentioned above, some annotations, especially those of literary works in the Ming-Qing period, shared features with commentaries in that they also analyzed the literary features and discussed methods of composing poems and 62

63

Wang Shifu 王實甫, Louwailou dingzheng tuozhu diliu caizi shu 樓外樓訂正妥注第六 才子書西廂記, commentated by Jin Shengtan and annotated by Zou Shenmai 鄒聖 脈 (Early Qing edition cut by Zou Shengmai, held at the University of Auckland Library Special Collections), juan 2, 5ab. See Huang, “Author(ity) and Reader in Traditional Chinese Xiaoshuo Commentary,” 50–51; Haun Saussy, “The Age of Attribution: Or, How the ‘Honglou meng’ Finally Acquired an Author,” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), Vol. 25 (2003): 119–132.

32

chapter 2

prose. Some fiction-drama commentaries also used zhu in their titles, because the majority of their contents were the explanation of words and expressions. Nevertheless, I am still inclined to call them “commentaries,” because the way they explained words and expressions was not the same as that of annotations. The main concern of annotations was transmitting the authentic intent and thought of the past “sages.” So, finding the correct meaning of words and expressions in particular historical contexts was the core task of annotations. The method was usually twofold: (1) etymological investigation, i.e., exploring the original meaning and derived meanings of words and expressions; and (2) evidential research on historical events and contexts so as to make clear the accurate meaning of words and expressions in particular contexts. All of this was built on serious and reliable (at least in their own opinion) sources and logic. Therefore, this kind of interpretation was historical in essence. Even for the Learning of Principle (lixue 理學) and Learning of Mind-and-Heart (xinxue 心學) during the Song and Ming dynasties, which came under the influence of Buddhism and were well known for their enthusiastic discussions of moral principles, spiritual experiences, and other philosophical ideas, annotations still raised points of discussion through annotating the Confucian Classics. In order to argue with the Han-Tang scholars, they had to do some etymological investigation and clarify historical events as well. Commentators, by contrast, concentrated on literary features of the text. Having inherited the characteristics of the poetry and prose commentaries, writers of fiction-drama commentaries focused on language, rhetoric, structure, and such.64 Thus, commentaries did not care much about the etymology of the words. At the same time, since fiction and drama were fictional, there often was no historical context that needed explaining. Therefore, in the case of ambiguous and important words, what commentaries were concerned about were the cultural implications accumulated across history and the aesthetic features generated in this process. Fiction-drama commentaries in the Ming-Qing period were filled with various popular texts that annotators did not even bother to glance at, such as miscellaneous notes, Buddhist and Daoist texts, poems and prose, other works of fiction and drama and folk stories, just name a few. Some commentaries cited many poems and lyrics of song dramas not only to illustrate where the main text might have come from but also to help readers appreciate the multi-layered meanings of the main text. Let us take the Xixiangji as an example. The last two sentences of Act Three, “An Exchange of Verses,” are as follows: 64

See Lin Gang, Ming Qing xiaoshuo pingidan, 99–177.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

33

Never again will I seek in dreams the blue palace gates/But only wait beneath the peach flower tree. 再不向青瑣闥夢兒中尋，則去那碧桃花樹兒下等。  65

Zou Shengmai’s commentary on the phrase qingsuota 青瑣闥 states: Door decorated with blue lattices: Meng Kang said, “The hollow part of the door was colored blue.” [Yan] Shigu said, “The blue lattice means to carve into the shape of a chain of lattice and colour it blue.” The inner part of the door is called ta. Fan Yanlong’s poem says, “Being an official within the door decorated with blue lattice; Gazing from a distance at the phoenix pond.” 青瑣闥 孟康曰:“門以青画戶边鏤中。”師古曰:“青瑣者，刻爲連 瑣文，而以青塗之也。”門內曰闥。范彥龍詩:“攝官青瑣闥，遙望 鳳凰池。  ”  66

This commentary first explains the meaning of qingsuo 青瑣 by citing annotations of the Hanshu, and then explains the meaning of ta 闥. At this time, the meaning of this word is clear enough. But Zou Shengmai continues to quote Fan Yun’s (courtesy name Yanlong, 451–503) poem to show where this word came from, for Fan Yun was the first to use qingsuota. Similarly, Zou’s commentary on beiyejing 貝葉經 (the Palm leaf sutra) writes: Palm Leaf Sutra: Buddhist sutras in western regions are mostly written on pattra leaves, so these sutras were called palm leaf sutras. Luobin Wang’s poem says, “The palm leaf [sutras] transmit the words from the golden mouth [of the Buddha].” Liu Zongyuan’s poem says, “I will hold palm leaf books in my leisure time, and read them after walking out of the Eastern Study.” 貝葉經 西域佛經多以貝葉書之，故經名貝葉。駱賓王詩:“貝葉傳金 口。”柳宗元詩:“閒持貝葉書，步出東齋讀。  ”  67 65 66 67

Xixiangji, juan 1, 32B. Translation from Wang Shifu, The Story of the Western Wing, trans. Stephen H. West and Wilt L. Idema (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1995), 143. Xixiangji, juan 1, 32b. Xixiangji, juan 1, 34a.

34

chapter 2

This commentary also explains the word first, and then quotes poems by two well-known Tang poets to illustrate where this word came from and how it was used historically. Interestingly, the first poem was composed by Meng Haoran 孟浩然 (689/691–740), not Luobin Wang. This mistake, as well as many other mistakes and the hastily-carved appearance of the pages, shows the low quality of Ming popular editions (see figure 2.1). Sometimes there are only citations of poems without any explanation of the words. These poems can contribute little toward explaining the meaning of words. In fact, some poems were even more elusive than the main text per se. Nevertheless, pointing out the relationship of the words of the drama to those of classical poems was an attempt to display the extraordinary taste and erudition of the author and the commentator. For the reader, it would be a very different aesthetic experience to read these two parallel texts at the same time. Fiction-drama commentaries were not produced to trace the original meaning of a text or transmit the past sages’ intent and thoughts; they instead encouraged aesthetic appreciation. The method they employed was not primarily historical investigation or evidential research, but rather, the use of a set of literary concepts to build a system of appreciation. For instance, at the beginning of the fourth act of the Xixiangji, it is written that there is a ceremony on the fifteenth day of the second month. Zou Shengmai claimed that the date should be the fifteenth day of the third month rather than the second. But in his commentary, there is no evidential or historical evidence and principle adduced. Rather, he refers to another drama and analyzes the writing strategy and its effect to illustrate what good writing composed by a talented author looks like. In Zou’s analysis, what was important was “marvelousness” (shenmiao 神妙), “spirit and reason” (shenli 神理), and “metaphor” (biyu 比喻).68 This is used to evaluate the main text and even determine its authenticity according to its literary features. Fiction-drama commentaries aimed to explore the aesthetic connotations of the main text and guide the reader to appreciate its “marvelousness” so as to be moved by the main text. They employed textual characteristics as a means to stir the reader’s emotions, and, sometimes, to educate common readers. At the beginning of juan 42 of the Sanguozhi yanyi 三國志演義 (Romance of the three kingdoms), Mao Zonggang’s 毛宗崗 commentary states: As for the pleasure of reading, if there is no great surprise, there is no great joy; no great uncertainty, no great delight; no great worry, no great comfort. When Zilong had fought his way out and along with his horse was feeling tired, he encountered Wen Pin who had been chasing him. 68

See Xixiangji, juan 1, 34b–35b.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

figure 2.1 Leaf 1.34b of the Xixiangji, early Qing edition cut by Zou Shengmai Source: General Library Special Collections Asian Languages PL2693 .H472. University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services

35

36

chapter 2

This was the first worrisome situation. When he saw [his lord] Xuande, [Xuande’s son] Ah Dou was silent. This is uncertainty. When Yide broke the bridge, Xuande was forced to the edge of the river and had no way out. This is the second worrisome situation. When Yunchang meets [Xuande] on the overland route, their way was suddenly blocked the way by warships and they did not know that it was Liu Qi. This was a surprise. When they boarded Liu Qi’s ships, they suddenly encountered another group of warships. They did not know that it was Kongming, and this again was a surprising and worrisome situation. [All of these] are like showing the fierce thunder coming and going and the furious billows rising and falling in the eye of the reader; it is hard to imagine that there can be such a marvellous illusion within one square foot [of paper]. 讀書之樂，不大驚則不大喜，不大疑則不大快，不大急則不大慰。當 子龍殺出重圍，人困馬乏之後，又遇文聘追來，是一急；而及見玄德 之時，懷中阿斗不見聲息，是一疑；至翼德斷橋之後，玄德被曹操追 至江邊，更無去路，又一急；及雲長旱路接應之後，忽見江上戰船攔 路，不知是劉琦，又一驚；及劉琦同載之後，忽又見戰船攔路，不知 是孔明，又一疑一急。令讀者眼中，如猛電之一去一來，怒濤之一起 一落。不意尺幅之內，乃有如此之幻也。69

The commentary explains how the Sanguozhi yanyi can evoke feelings of shock, doubt, and worry by a series of narrative strategies that give the reader a kind of extreme multi-sensory experience, and thus great pleasure from reading. All of these, the commentary reminds us, are completed “within one square foot [of paper].” One can only gain these sensory experiences and pleasures through close reading of the main text. More interestingly, one marginal comment in the Xixiangji mentioned above reads: “Interesting words … I cannot stop laughing” (趣語……笑不住).70 This response vividly illustrates the pleasure of the reader experiences while reading the Xixiangji and Jin Shengtan’s commentaries. Feng Menglong 馮夢龍 (1574–1646), one of the greatest vernacular writers and editors of the late Ming Dynasty, also held the idea that stories had a great deal of infectious power. In his “Preface” to the 1620 edition of Stories Old and New, Feng writes:

69 70

Luo Guanzhong 羅貫中, Sanguozhi yanyi 三國志演義, Mao Zonggang 毛宗崗, ed. (Hong Kong: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1974), juan 7, 25. Xixiangji, juan 5, 16a.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

37

Just ask the storytellers to demonstrate in public their art of description: they will gladden you, astonish you, move you to sad tears, rouse you to song and dance; they will prompt you to draw a sword, bow in reverence, cut off a head, or donate money. The faint-hearted will be made brave, the debauched chaste, the unkind compassionate, the obtuse ashamed. One may well intone the Classic of Filial Piety [Xiaojing] and the Analects of Confucius every day, yet he will not be moved so quickly nor so profoundly as by these storytellers.71 In Feng’s eyes, the storytellers’ stories and performance can move an audience more quickly and profoundly than the Confucian Classics. This confers recognition on the function and significance of fiction. For the reader to achieve the goal of being moved by a story depends on a close reading of the text. Therefore, there is usually a chapter called “How to Read” (dufa 讀法) at the beginning of a work of fiction or drama, composed by the commentator, that guides the reader. Moreover, the circles and dots used by the commentator, and sometimes the simplest comments “miao” 妙 (Marvelous!) and “hao” 好 (Great!), remind the reader to pay attention to the text in a particular place. Commentators were actually reading experts whose thoughts and literary theories unfolded in their commentaries. In this sense, we can see that the commentators also controlled the meaning of the main text; some of them even controlled the text per se – for instance, Jin Shengtan often altered the main text and claimed that he did so based on an “ancient text,” which was actually non-existent.72 Therefore, it can be concluded that annotations and commentaries have one thing in common – they actively express their political, philosophical, and literary thoughts through the interpretation of pre-existing texts73 – which differs from marginalia. 1.3 Pijiao/Marginalia: Hand-Written Reading Responses In her book, Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information before the Modern Age, Ann Blair discusses how a person’s reading notes can help the reader and other readers to read. Because of this kind of usage, reading notes contributed much to the compilation of reference books in early modern 71 72 73

Feng Menglong 馮夢龍, comp., Stories Old and New: A Ming Dynasty Collection, trans., Shuhui Yang and Yunqing Yang (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2000), 6. See David Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary: Reading and Writing between the Lines (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997), 4. See also Huang, “Author(ity) and Reader in Traditional Chinese Xiaoshuo Commentary,” 53.

38

chapter 2

Europe.74 The most direct function of reading notes was to help the reader read, re-read, and make sense of the main text. A few readers expected to publish their reading notes in the future even when they started to write them. This kind of note can be thought of as a draft of annotations, commentaries, or even monographs. But according to the sources I have encountered, readers rarely intended to publish their reading notes or make their voices heard by the public, and reading notes were merely a by-product of reading. Since most reading notes are records of the reader’s thoughts while reading, their content ranges from exegesis to comment, from historical investigation to textual criticism, from scholia to records of the reader’s daily activities. Thus, reading notes are essentially fragmentary in character. Because they seemed trivial, even meaningless sometimes, almost all were thrown away intentionally or unintentionally in both early China and Europe. In Europe, reading notes started to be treated as long-term tools and carefully preserved in the Renaissance,75 while in China, one kind of reading notes, pijiao, gradually became prevalent in the mid-seventeenth century. Many of them are well preserved in a tremendous number of extant pre-modern Chinese books. In Chinese, the word pijiao consists of two morphemes, pi 批 (comments) and jiao 校 (textual criticism or collation), and refers to all writings and marks added by readers on the margins and interlinear parts of the book. Its English equivalent is marginalia. Marginalia, the plural form of the Latin marginale, originally meaning “notes written in the margin,” is thought to have entered English from Latin in the early nineteenth century.76 In Heather Jackson’s pioneering book, Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books, “marginalia” refers to “notes written anywhere in a book, and not merely in the margins.”77 The primary feature of marginalia is that they are hand-written notes attached to preexisting written or printed texts. Jackson explains, “The essential and defining character of the marginal note throughout its history is that it is a responsive kind of writing permanently anchored to pre-existing written words.”78 Some

74 75 76 77 78

Ann Blair, Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information before the Modern Age (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010), 62–116. Blair, Too Much to Know, 61–74. Jackson, Marginalia, 7. Jackson, Marginalia, 13. Jackson, Marginalia, 81. See also Sherman, Used Books; Antony Grafton, “Is the History of Reading a Marginal Enterprise?” Monique Hulvey, “Not So Marginal: Manuscript Annotations in the Folger Incunabula,” Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 92 (1998): 159–176.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

39

scholars use “manuscript annotations,”79 “readers’ notes”80 and the like to denote marginalia. In this study, “marginalia” is employed to avoid any confusion with annotations and commentaries. The core feature of annotations is to bring out the meaning of the text while commentaries in China concentrated on the literary features of the main text and aimed to help the reader enjoy the beauty of the main text. These two were both intended to be revealed to the public, or to be “published,” like books composed by a writers who not only want their voice to be heard by as many people as possible, but also want to be understood by them. Marginalia have four basic features that differentiate them from annotations and commentaries: 1) They are hand-written; 2) they are responsive to the main text, but not confined by it; 3) they are private; and 4) their presence renders a book unique. (1) Being hand-written by the reader is an essential characteristic of marginalia; it ensures that marginalia are responsive to the pre-existing main text by the reader, and hence able to reveal the practice and mental process of reading. If marginalia are printed alongside the original text, editorial intervention should be taken into account, and the mental process of reading will undoubtedly be contaminated. These “printed marginalia” will thus become more similar to traditional annotations that are normally written or printed simultaneously with the original text as a kind of interpretation of or complement to the original text, and are designed to go along with the text they interpret.81 When marginalia are transcribed (guolu 過錄) by hand onto another copy of the original text, their content and form will likely be altered significantly by many scribes. The transcription of marginalia in China was a topic of great significance; I discuss this practice in chapters 4 and 5, and use several case studies to illustrate how it revealed the transcriptionist’s editorial intentions, opinions on scholarship, and attitudes towards reading. (2) The second feature of marginalia is that they are responsive to the original text, but not confined by it. Glosses, phonetic notations, commentaries, collating notes, paraphrases, extracts, cross-references, and analyses, which are all related to the meaning of the main text, comprise the main content of annotations and marginalia, but marginalia contain more information. Readers might copy onto the margin some words, phrases or sentences – which seem elegant 79 80 81

Hulvey, “Not So Marginal,” 159–176. Jackson, “Marginal Frivolities: Readers’ Notes as Evidence for the History of Reading,” in Owners, Annotators and the Signs of Reading, eds. Robin Myers et al. (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll, 2005), 137–151. See Raymond Clemens and Timothy Graham, Introduction to Manuscript Studies (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2007), chapter 3 “Correction, Glossing, and Annotation” and chapter 11 “The Bible and Related Texts,” 35–48, 181–191.

40

chapter 2

or full of wisdom, or useful to the reader in some way – rather than just underline them; they might write down reminiscences or very personal opinions, which have nothing obvious to do with the meaning of the original text but may have been “triggered” by it; they might proudly put down their imitations of the calligraphy of the main text; they might curse the cat that urinated on the book; they might record their mood while reading, such as the marginalia in the Xixiangji discussed above; they might talk about the weather of that day, or draw various symbols or doodles as they are “using,” not just “reading” the book in their hands. Annotations and commentaries both aimed to establish a kind of discourse with the main text and/or the author – explaining the meanings of the original texts so that they could be understood in a particular way; making supplements or corrections to “vindicate” the argument of the original text; or sometimes even arguing with the author. All in all, they are fixed texts that can be revealed to the public. However, sometimes, marginalia are readers’ personal opinions – they can be radical, caustic, offensive, obscure or seemingly meaningless, and of course not ready for “publishing.” Moreover, it is possible for marginalia to stand in no direct relationship to the main text. Some marginalia make plain that using a book, not just reading the text, can have other possibilities or consequences that may have no obvious relationship to the main points or literary meaning of the original text. In his case study of scholarly reading practices in early-modern Europe that focused on Guillaume Budé’s (1468–1540) marginalia in Pliny, Vitruvius and Homer, Anthony Grafton shows how a text could be used in various ways, and: Budé’s case suggests … reading had at least two central purposes, both practical, but neither familiar to us. The first was documentary, even archival: the scholar set out not only to converse with the ancients, using the classical tradition, but to document the progress he made in doing so. He made the books he read into a monument of his scholarship as personal and splendid as the books he wrote…. reading was, among other things, a way for ambitious, powerful men to assemble cultural capital for themselves and their friends and families…. Budé also read … to write. What he mastered, he could quote and interpret; what he annotated, he could reprocess. Reading in early modern Europe – at least learned reading – implied copying and sorting as well as scanning.82

82

Grafton, “Is the History of Reading a Marginal Enterprise?” 155–6.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

41

This is a reading practice that is not particularly familiar to modern scholars and readers, but the situation was similar in late imperial China. For example, He Zhuo, a well-known scholar and calligrapher in his time, composed an enormous amount of marginalia in the Hou Hanshu, some of which show how he accumulated knowledge and learned how to write rhyming couplets. For instance, in juan 43 of the Hou Hanshu, the main text states: Previously, Emperor Guangwu and [Zhu] Hui’s father, [Zhu] Cen, both studied in Chang’an. They were old friends. After ascending the throne, [Emperor Guangwu] asked about [Zhu] Cen. At that time, Zhu Cen had already passed away. So [his son Zhu] Hui was invited [to the capital] and appointed as a Court Gentleman. 初，光武與暉父岑俱學長安，有舊故，及即位，求問岑，時已卒，乃 召暉拜爲郎。  83

He Zhuo wrote the following marginalia in this passage: Zhu Cen could be the topic of parallel couplets with Zhang Chong, [because] Cen had a son and Chong had a grandson. 朱岑可對張充，岑有子，充有孫。  84

He Zhuo meant that Zhu Cen and Zhang Chong had the same experience. According to juan 45 of the Hou Hanshu, when the well-known scholar-official, Zhang Pu 張酺,was young, he studied the Classics from his grandfather Zhang Chong. Zhang Chong was Emperor Guangwu’s classmate and old friend. When Emperor Guangwu ascended the throne, he also asked about Zhang Chong, but Zhang Chong had also passed away by that time.85 Zhu Cen and Zhang Chong were both Emperor Guangwu’s classmates; Zhu Cen’s son and Zhang Chong’s grandson were both celebrated scholar officials. So, He Zhuo said they can “be the basis for parallel couplets.” Sometimes, He Zhuo himself composed couplets and wrote them down in the margins of the book. For example, Zheng Hong’s 鄭弘 biography (in 83 84 85

Hou Hanshu (woodblock edition cut at the Jigu pavilion [Jigu ge 汲古閣] of the Mao 毛 family in the late Ming, held at the Peking University Library; abb. PKU edition hereafter), juan 43. Hou Hanshu, PKU edition, juan 43. Hou Hanshu, PKU edition, juan 45.

42

chapter 2

juan 33 of the Hou Hanshu) recorded that Jiao Kuang 焦貺, Governor of Hedong Commandery, was implicated in a rebellion, and the members of his family were all arrested. Jiao Kuang himself died on the road when he was being sent to the capital. The emperor was in a rage, and no one dared to argue for Jiao Kuang. Zheng Hong was one of Jiao Kuang’s students. He managed to redress the injustice done to Jiao Kuang and escorted Jiao Kuang’s family back to their home. A very similar story was recorded in juan 31 of the Hou Hanshu: Lian Fan 廉范 was also Xue Han’s 薛漢 student, and did the same thing for his teacher.86 When He Zhuo read Zheng Hong’s story, it brought to mind Lian Fan’s, and he thus composed a pair of couplets in the marginalia, as follows: Lian Fan has Xue Han’s corpse buried properly; Zheng Hong defended Jiao Kuang regardless of his own safety. 廉范斂薛漢, 鄭弘訟焦貺。  87

These examples show that He Zhuo did not just read to get the main point of the text; he sometimes categorized cases to analyze their historical similarities; sometimes collected sources from the main text to compose rhyme couplet. His reading experience is more diverse than we may think today. (3) Grafton’s study also shows that writing marginalia transformed Budé’s “printed books into unique [books],” which were “personalized possessions that documented his social position as well as his prowess as a scholar.”88 This refers to the third and fourth characteristics of marginalia: privacy and uniqueness. “If ‘private’ means exclusive to oneself,” Heather Jackson claims, “then reading is not a private but a social experience and practically any reader of a given time and place is as typical as any other.”89 In another paper, Jackson shows how “books were passed around, using annotation as a way of sharing knowledge and opinions, sometimes as a semi-public reviewing process.”90 She defines marginalia as “semi-public,” and writes: No marginalia of the Romantic period were written under conditions of privacy…. Marginalia were not then the secret utterances that they 86 87 88 89 90

Hou Hanshu, PKU edition, juan 31 and 33. Hou Hanshu, PKU edition, juan 33. Grafton, “Is the History of Reading a Marginal Enterprise?” 147–148. Jackson, Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books, 256. Robin Myers et al., “Introduction” to Owners, Annotators and the Signs of Reading, Robin Myers et al. eds. (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll; London: British Library, 2005), ix.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

43

have for the most part become, but semi-public documents…. These notes were designed for use, for show, for persuasion; they were oriented towards others, not self. They do not provide direct access to the mental processes of readers as they appropriate texts.91 Her argument seems reasonable. But “private” is usually a matter of degree. Compared with diaries and secret letters, marginalia seems more public; compared with annotations and commentaries, they are more private. Annotations and commentaries, designed to be revealed to the public (or a group of people), usually have obvious intentions. They claimed to be objective and to be transmitting and interpreting the real meaning of the original text, to be disinterestedly telling the truth, or they can be very specific and contextual and lead the interpretation in a specific direction. But most readers’ marginalia have no such scruples. We should keep in mind that many marginalia that were deemed too personal were cut out when they were edited for publication. It is true that marginalia, as Jackson points out, can be a combination of public and private functions. Some marginalia, such as those written under severe political pressure, can be very public: they were composed for the public or some particular audience, such as the emperor, head of a state, or the like. But this kind of publicness is based on the privateness of marginalia, for if they were not supposed to be a kind of “private” document, they would not capture so much attention. Therefore, the privacy of marginalia differs from case to case, but in the spectrum of privacy, marginalia lie between diaries and annotations. (4) Marginalia can transform a book into something unique, and are also unique in and of themselves. In this aspect, they resemble holograph manuscripts. Few authors want to write the same work twice; few readers will write the same marginalia in one title twice. Normally, there is just one copy of one particular reader’s marginalia in a given title. Therefore, books with marginalia usually have special meaning for the owner. For instance, a celebrated modern Chinese historian and book collector, Zhou Yiliang 周一良 (1913–2001), once wrote to a friend, “My collections are basically not worth mentioning. But among them, there are many that my hands have gone over from morning to night and to which I have added marginalia. That is why I can never forget them for a moment” (一良藏書本區區不足道，唯其中多朝夕摩挲，手 加批注者，是以輒念念不能忘耳). He added, “There are no rare books in my collection. But after reading and collating them and writing marginalia in them, I feel them becoming my old friends and cannot bear to abandon 91

Heather Jackson, “Marginal Frivolities,” in Owners, Annotators and the Signs of Reading, 145.

44

chapter 2

them” (一良藏書無珍本，但經校讀批寫後，便覺戀戀如故人，不忍捨棄 之矣).92 Books were thus personalized by their marginalia. They also acquired special meanings for other readers. One late Qing Chinese scholar-official, Pang Zhonglu 龐鐘璐 (courtesy name Yunshan 縕山, 1822–1876), borrowed one copy of Sanguo zhi 三國志 (History of the three kingdoms) from his friend Weng Tonghe 翁同龢 (courtesy name Shuping 叔平, alternative name Pingsheng 瓶生, 1830–1904) and kept it in his study for at least two years, because this copy had Weng Tongshu’s 翁同書 (courtesy name Zugeng 祖庚, 1810–1865) marginalia in it.93 Weng Tongshu was Weng Tonghe’s elder brother. He was also Pang Zhonglu’s friend and Pang admired his personality and scholarly achievements. After transcribing all the marginalia into another copy of his own, Pang rebound this book and wrote a short colophon at the back, saying, “[This book] has stayed on my desk for two years. Every time I opened it, I felt as though I were seeing an old friend” (在案頭者二年，每一展開，如見故人). In addition to these four features that are shared by marginalia in both China and Europe, Chinese marginalia in the late imperial period have one more distinctive feature: textual criticism assumed a very prominent position, both in relative quantity and importance. For some scholars, even a bad edition could become unique and valuable once it was collated by a famous scholar and bore his marginalia. For instance, there is a copy of Hou Hanshu held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XS816534-73). It is a woodblock edition carved in the late Ming by a commercial printing studio, which would never have been considered a rare book by Qing scholars. However, after transcribing various marginalia – especially about textual criticism – from another copy into this copy, the owner, Zhang Yu 章鈺 (courtesy name Shizhi 式之, 1864–1937), wrote in the colophon at the back: “Because of my hard work on this copy, have I not added one more rare book in the world?” (余之勤勤于是 書也，不又爲天壤間增一善本乎) Moreover, uniqueness also adds more value to books with marginalia. “Books with readers’ notes,” Jackson said, “continued to be cherished…. Readers’ notes potentially had commercial as well as sentimental value … and might even turn out to be publishable and profitable.”94 Because of this, forgeries of marginalia by well-known readers are not rare in the book market, and

92 93 94

Zhou Yiliang 周一良, Zhou Yiliang quanji 周一良全集 (Beijing: Gaodeng jiaoyu, 2015), vols. 10, 17, 20. This copy is now held at the National Library of China (call number: SB06068). Jackson, “Marginal Frivolities: Readers’ Notes as Evidence for the History of Reading,” 144–145.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

45

thus authentication occupies a fundamental position in the study of famous readers’ marginalia. 2

Forms and Circulation

Annotations, commentaries and marginalia are not only different in content and features, they were also supported by different materials and circulated in different ways in pre-modern China. Annotations: From Oral Transmission to Writing on Paper; from Separation to Combination As mentioned earlier, the interpretation of the Classics was mainly transmitted orally from master to disciple before and during the Western Han dynasty. During that time, bamboo strips and silk were the main writing materials. However, perhaps because bamboo was heavy and silk expensive, few annotations were written down. Comparing the “Yiwen zhi” of the Hanshu with the biographies of scholars and classicists in the Shiji and Hanshu, we can find that transmitters were far more numerous than books with annotations. For instance, according to the biographies of scholars in the Shiji and Hanshu, there were more than thirty-five well-known classicists who transmitted the teaching of the Yijing 易經 (Book of Changes) of the New Text School. We can draw the genealogy of their transmission (figure 2.2). However, there were just thirteen works of annotations recorded in the “Yiwen zhi,” and there is no evidence showing that most scholars wrote down their interpretations. As for the Old Text School, it was recorded in the “Rulin zhuan” 儒林傳 (Treatise on the Confucians) of the Hanshu that the famous expert on the Yijing, Fei Zhi 費 直, employed the Tuan 彖 annotation, Xiang 像 annotation, and Wenyan 文言 annotation, among others, to interpret the book, and that another expert, Gao Xiang 高相, interpreted the book according to divination studies. But no annotated books by either of them are recorded in the “Yiwen zhi.” The most plausible reason is that they did not write down their interpretations.95 Hu Pu’an 胡樸安 explained: 2.1

[Scholars who transmitted the New Text in the Western Han dynasty] all have their family traditions or adhered to their masters’ explanations. [The teaching] was transmitted from master to disciple within their schools from generation to generation without any distortion. Although 95

See Zhang Xuecheng, Jiaochou tongyi tongjie, 78–81.

46

chapter 2

figure 2.2 Genealogy of the transmission of the Yijing of New Text School in the Western Han Drawn according to the biographies of scholars in the Shiji and Hanshu

the Erudite positions were established by the state for all the schools, scholars stuck to the teachings of their own, which were orally transmitted from master to disciple. This was the era of the New Text School. [At this time,] although there were exegeses, no one needed them. 各有家法，各本師說，遞相傳授，毫不雜亂。在政府之設立博士，雖 兼而存之，在師弟之口耳相傳，則墨守一家之說。此今文家時代，雖 有訓詁，而無需訓詁者。  96

Here “exegeses were not needed” actually means “exegeses did not need to be written down.” The explanation of the Classics was mainly orally transmitted from master to disciple or from father to sons and grandsons, which facilitated 96

Hu Pu’an, Zhongguo xungu xue shi, 3.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

47

that the study and transmission of a particular Confucian teaching became the prerogative of a family clan or the members of a school. It was during the late Eastern Han period that annotations began being written in large numbers.97 This might have been because papermaking technology improved: cheaper and lighter paper, a more convenient writing material, was invented during the Eastern Han and finally replaced bamboo strips and silk, becoming the main writing material during the Six Dynasties period.98 Before the Six Dynasties, the texts of the Classics and the annotations were usually not written together in one book.99 But during the Six Dynasties, most of the Confucian Classics and some pre-Han texts were written along with the annotations. For example, the Confucian Classics found at Dunhuang 敦煌 were mainly annotated editions.100 Shu, which were actually interpretations of both the Classics and the zhu (annotation) and thus can be called sub-annotations, began to spring up in the Six Dynasties and flourished in the Sui and Tang. But they were written/printed together with the text of the Classics only in the Southern Song dynasty when the civil service examinations were already the major gateway to the state bureaucracy. At this time, woodblock printing was widely utilized to produce Confucian texts, and commercial publishing started to flourish. Woodblock printing facilitated the mass production of books. The popularization of the Confucian Classics that resulted from the development of the civil service examinations created a large market for these Classics furnished with annotations and sub-annotations, which were extremely convenient for examination candidates.101 These printed editions followed the basic pattern of previous manuscripts. That is, characters are arranged vertically from the top to the bottom in columns; the columns go from the right to the left; the text of the Classics is in large characters, and the annotations and sub-annotations are in double-lined, small characters. The biggest difference between the printed 97

For example, there were ninety-four titles for the Yijing recorded in the “Jingji zhi” of the Suishu (among them, sixty-nine titles existed in the Tang dynasty). See Suishu, juan 32, 912. 98 See Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin (Qian Cunxun) 錢存訓, Paper and Printing. Vol. 5, part I of Science and Civilisation in China, edited by Joseph Needham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 23–84; Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin, Written on Bamboo & Silk: the Beginnings of Chinese Books & Inscriptions, second edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 145–152. 99 Zhang Xuecheng, Wenshi tongyi jiaozhu, collated and annotated by Ye Ying, juan 3, 248. 100 See Zhang Lijuan 張麗娟, Songdai jingshu zhushu kanke yanjiu 宋代經書注疏刊刻研 究 (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2013), 5. 101 See Zhang Lijuan, Songdai jingshu zhushu kanke yanjiu, 228–402; Gu Yongxin, Jingxue wenxian de yansheng he tongsuhua, 1–16, 38–122.

48

figure 2.3a

chapter 2

The Chunqiu Guliang zhuan 春秋穀梁傳, manuscript produced in the third year of the Longshuo 龍朔 reign (663), held at the National Library of China, call number BD15345 Source: Di er pi guojia guji zhengui minglu tulu 第二批國家珍貴古籍名錄圖錄, Beijing: Guojia tushuguan chubanshe, 2010, picture 2539

Classics and the previous manuscripts is that the latter were mostly bound in long continuous sections (such as scrolls), while the former were printed on folded leaves (ye 葉. See figure 2.3).102 Although the sub-annotations consist of multiple layers of annotation and the various layers are usually different in interpretation, the last layer, which would have been composed by the compiler of the sub-annotation, usually selected one interpretation and tried to reconcile the gaps between the different parts of the Classics and those between the Classics and the interpretations.103 That is to say, although the sub-annotations are multi-layered, the different layers are chronologically arranged rather than assembled randomly. The final 102 Some manuscripts were bound in sutra binding with pleat-like leaves and whirlwind binding with continuous pages pasted together. These two formats were believed to have been created under the influence of Buddhist palm-leaf books, and perhaps spurred the creation of folded-leaf books. See Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin, Paper and Printing, 227–233. 103 See John Makeham, Transmitters and Creators, 79–167, 253–347.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

figure 2.3b

49

The first leaf of juan 2 of the Zhouyi zhushu, woodblock edition carved in the early Southern Song period by the Tea and Salt Supervisorate of Eastern Zhejiang Province source: photo-reproduction in THE Zhonghua zaizao shanben 中華再造善本

explanation was based on all the layers of annotation listed, and no single layer could be easily detached from the others. The sub-annotation itself was one completely-integrated interpretive system and could circulate separately from the Classics. Printing the Confucian Classics with their annotations and sub-annotations in one book was first carried out by local governments to provide more convenient versions of the Classics for examination candidates. Before long, commercial presses found that printing the main text and its annotations in one book could be a marketing strategy that attracted more consumers. They learned from the governmental press and produced more versions of the Classics with annotations and sub-annotations. Moreover, they also applied this approach to the printing of other kinds of books. For example, the three annotations of the Shiji – the jijie 集解 (collected annotations by Pei Yin 裴駰, around 430 AD), suoyin 索隱 (“probing the meaning,” by Sima Zhen 司馬貞, 697–732), and zhengyi 正義 (“correct meaning,” by Zhang Shoujie 張守節, around 1075 AD), were

50

chapter 2

figure 2.4 The first leaf of juan 1 of the Shiji, carved in the Southern Song period by Huang Shanfu 黃善夫. The three different annotations were chronologically arranged after the sentence they explained, and separated by small circles source: photo-reproduction in the Zhonghua zaizao shanben

printed as one book in the Southern Song dynasty by Huang Shanfu 黃善夫, a publisher. This edition was a poor one: not only was it full of errors, but much of the zhengyi annotation was cut out (see figure 2.4). This kind of commercial printing illustrates the influence of politics and commerce on the production and circulation of annotations, and this influence was much greater when it came to the printing of commentaries.104 2.2 Commentaries: Reshaping Chinese Books Commercial editions that printed various annotations to the Classics and with them together in one book seemed unsatisfactory to many, and have drawn 104 On the impact of commercial publishing on the content and visual appearance of Chinese books, see also Lucille Chia, Printing for Profit: The Commercial Publishers of Jianyang, Fujian (11th–17th Centuries) (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2002), 24–62; and Susan Cherniack, “Book Culture and Textual Transmission in Sung China,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies vol. 54, no. 1 (1994): 5–125.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

51

continuous criticism since they first appeared. But the commercial printing of commentaries on poetry, classical prose, fiction and drama seemed more acceptable and exerted a significant influence on the textuality and physicality of Chinese books. Commentaries focus on the literary features of a text, but they need to make sense of the main text first. So, the explanation of difficult words and expressions also takes up a considerable part of the commentary and resembles annotations. Similar to annotations, if commentaries have multiple layers, these different layers are typically chronologically arranged. However, unlike annotations, the commentaries by different commentators were usually listed in parallel rather than being formed into one completely integrated interpretive system. This is caused by the distinctive features of commentaries: annotations focus on the meaning of the main text and can circulate separately from it, so their location on the page is not as important as that of the commentaries. Even for editions that had various annotations printed together in one book, the different annotations were usually chronologically arranged after each sentence or each paragraph of the main text (see figure 2.4). Commentaries, on the contrary, cannot circulate separately from the main text. This is a matter of structure, literary features, language, and the rhetoric of the main text. Detached from the text they analyze, commentaries become unintelligible. For example, without the main text, the huge number of miao (Marvelous!) and hao (Great!) comments, and the emphasis marks in the commentaries would make no sense at all. The location of the commentaries on the page is not insignificant. They must be as close to the text they analyze as possible. Furthermore, since commentaries are essentially helping the reader to appreciate the text rather than explicating philosophical meanings or historical truths, they unfold more interpretive space, and the conflicts between different commentaries is usually not so fierce. The same text can be appreciated from different perspectives. Usually, these parallel appreciations add to the aesthetic experience rather than cause dissonance. For this reason, publishers, as well as some commentators, liked to print several commentaries in one book. If book illustrations can also be seen as a kind of interpretation, we can say that book illustrations were also printed in parallel with various commentaries, and were active in the construction of the meaning field of the main text. As there were usually a variety of commentaries on one text, and they all had to be printed at or near the same place, the printers needed to come up with a method to contain all of them and, at the same time, find a way to distinguish between any two of them. In the late Ming, when popular printing was flourishing, printing enterprises were operated by many literati – writers and scholars who were not only

52

chapter 2

good at reading and writing, but also skilled at printing and even bookselling. Not only did they not reject commercial operations, but they also actively embraced a variety of strategies that modified the textuality and physicality of Chinese books.105 One of the most commonly used strategies to differentiate various commentaries was to print them in multiple registers. For example, the edition of Xixiangji mentioned above has two registers. The lower register takes up about four-fifths of the page and contains the main text of the Xixiangji, the commentary composed by Jin Shengtan, and the sub-commentary composed by Wang Zhuoshan 王斫山 and others; the main text of the Xixiangji is in singlelined big characters; Jin’s commentary is in single-lined medium characters, and the sub-commentaries are in double-lined small characters. The upper register occupies one-fifth of the space and consists of Zou Shengmai’s commentary (see figure 2.1). In this way, not only are the main text and various commentaries differentiated by font size, but Zou’s commentary is also distinguished by its placement in a separate register. In the Ming-Qing period, there were also a great many commentaries on the Confucian Classics and histories that analyzed the literary features of the text and aimed to help examination candidates with their study of prose composition. These commentaries were different from annotations of the Classics and histories, so Zhang Xuecheng repudiated them for only “discussing literary features” and argued that they should not be classified as Confucian Classics or histories in book catalogues.106 The Maoshi zhenya discussed above is one of them. This copy has three registers; in the top and bottom registers are various commentaries, and in the middle are the main text of the Shijing and selected annotations by Mao (see figure 2.5). Ming-Qing book illustrations, as Yuming He states, not only interacted with the literary text as separate representational media, but also worked together with the text and created something new: “a new kind of chapter, a new kind of book, and eventually a new vernacular language.”107 Resonating with the literary text, illustrations could supply additional sublime meanings and generate different experiences for the reader. Moreover, even when the quality of a printed illustration was very bad, repetition of familiar stock elements in it allowed quick recognition and ease of comprehension and appreciation, 105 See Lucille Chia, Printing for Profit, 24–62; Ōki Yasushi 大木康, “Minmatsu Kōnan ni okeru shuppan bunka no kenkyū” 明末江南における出版文化の研究, Hiroshima Daigaku bungakubu 50:1 (1991): 1–173. 106 Zhang Xuecheng, Jiaochou tongyi tongjie, 13. 107 Yuming He, Home and the World, 142–150.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

53

figure 2.5 Two half-leaves of the Maoshi zhenya, woodblock edition carved in the late Ming, held at the Lianci shuyuan 蓮池書院 in Baoding 保定. This copy and the one held at the Research Institute for Oriental Cultures at the Gakushuin University are the same Source: Baoding Lianchi shuyuan shanben tulu 保定蓮池書院善本圖錄 (Beijing: Guojia tushuguan chubanshe, 2014), 27

which aided the readers in their own “imagining.”108 Book illustrations actually supplied visual hermeneutics to the literary text and were also a kind of commentary. Therefore, the pattern of “pictures above and texts below” (shangtu xiawen 上圖下文), which was very common in Ming-Qing fiction, can also be seen as a multi-register layout (see figure 2.6). 108 Robert Hegel, Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China (Stanford, CA: University of California Press, 1998), 312–326.

54

chapter 2

figure 2.6 One leaf of the Qimiao quanxiang zhushi xixiangji 奇妙全相注釋西廂記, woodblock edition carved in the 11th year of the Hongzhi 弘治 reign (1498), held at the PKU Library Source: Qimiao quanxiang zhushi xixiangji, photo-reproduction of the Ming edition (Shanghai: Shangwu yinshu guan, 1955), 2.57a

Chinese Interpretive Texts

55

Another distinctive strategy commonly employed by Ming-Qing publishers was multi-color printing. As early as the 1970s, the bibliographer Wang Zhongmin 王重民 pointed out that the multi-color printing that came into being in the late Ming in Huizhou 徽州 resulted from the prevalence of literary commentaries.109 Wang also claimed that the Classics, annotations and sub-annotations were already transcribed in different colors in the manuscript era.110 However, there is little evidence attesting to the prevalence of multicolor transcription in the manuscript era. As mentioned above, before the Eastern Han, annotations were written separately from the Classics. There was no need to differentiate among texts in one book. From the Six Dynasties to the Tang, some Classics and important texts were copied into a single book with their annotations. To differentiate it from the main text, the annotation was transcribed in various ways: one space lower than the main text, in doublelined small characters, interlineally in very small characters, on the back of the paper or sometimes in different colors. All these devices, resulting from the difficulty of standardization in the manuscript era, were used to differentiate the main text from the annotations; there was less need to differentiate between different annotations. During the era of print, the single-lined, big-character main text with double-lined small-character annotation became the standard pattern, whereas devices like multi-color printing were not common.111 Because annotations and sub-annotations focused on the meaning of the text, their location in the book was not as important as that of commentaries. Even when different annotations and sub-annotations were printed in one book, there was still no need to tell them apart. However, the situation of the commentaries was rather different. Publishers were eager to print in one place as many different kinds of commentaries as possible. To distinguish them, some publishers employed multi-color printing, despite the cost, as it was thought to make a book far more elegant and beautiful. The well-known Ming publisher Min Qiji 閔齊伋 wrote in the “Fanli” 凡例 (General Remarks) of the Chunqiu Zuozhuan 春秋左傳 (Spring and Autumn Annals of the Zuo tradition): The old editions that had comments and emphasis marks were all in black ink, which was disliked in artistic and literary circles. Now I have 109 Wang Zhongmin 王重民, “Taoban yinshua fa qiyuan yu Huizhou shuo” 套版印刷法起 源於徽州說, in Wang Zhongmin, Lenglu wensou 冷廬文藪 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1992), 69–92. 110 See Wang Zhongmin, “Taoban yinshua fa qiyuan yu Huizhou shuo,” 70–72. 111 See Huang Yongnian 黄永年, Guji banbenxue 古籍版本學 (Nanjing: Jiangsu jiaoyu chubanshe, 2012), 183–184.

56

chapter 2

carved another edition, with the main text and annotation in black and the commentary in red. This edition was revised three or more times and the cost in terms of money and knife was not considered. Everyone who has one in their room will appreciate it in their hearts. For those who are just starting their studies and do not care about the commentaries, there are the black-ink texts. 舊刻凡有批評圈點者，俱就原版墨印，藝林厭之。今另刻一版，經傳 用墨，批評以朱。校讎不啻三五，而錢刀之靡，非所計矣。置之帳 中，當無不心賞。其初學課業，無取批評，則有墨本在。  112

The text of the Chunqiu and the Zuo Annotation is in black; the text of the commentaries is in red. This shows that the status of the annotation and the commentary to the Classics was different in the eye of the publisher. Beginners studying for the civil service examinations could ignore the red commentary. This means that commentaries did not really emphasize the interpretation of the Classics. They were more like guides for appreciating literature and learning how to write prose. And, as a matter of fact, these dazzlingly beautiful commentaries were for the wealthy reader to “appreciate in their heart” (see figure 2.7). Sometimes, multi-register printing, multi-color printing, and illustrations were all applied in one edition. An edition of the Shijing produced in the Ming and held at the Beijing Normal University Library is one of these. It has two equal registers: In the beginning chapter of the book, the upper register is the Shijing jindan huikao 詩經金丹匯考 (Collected studies on the golden elixir of the Book of Songs), and the lower register is the Shijing nanzi 詩經難字 (Difficult words in the Book of Songs). They are actually two different works on the Shijing. For the main body, the lower register is the main text of the Shijing with Zhu Xi’s annotations, while in the upper register are Gu Qiyuan’s 顧起元 (1565–1628) commentaries (see figure 2.8). This kind of textbook was obviously more attractive to young examination candidates compared with those that crowded too many small characters onto one page and were printed only in plain black.

112 Min Qiji 閔齊伋, “Minshi jiake fenci Chunqiu Zuozhuan fanli” 閔氏家刻分次春秋左 傳凡例, in Chunqiu Zuozhuan 春秋左傳 (Ming multi-color edition, carved by the Min family, held at the Harvard-Yenching Library), 3b.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

figure 2.7 The first half-leaf of juan 33 of the Shiji chao 史記鈔, woodblock edition carved by Min Zhenye 閔振業 in 1620 Courtesy of the UBC Library

57

58

figure 2.8 Two leaves from a Ming edition of the Shijing, held at the Beijing Normal University Library. This book was actually a combination of four books: Maoshi zhengbian zhinan tu 毛詩正變指南圖 (Guide tables of the Shijing with Mao’s annotations), Shijing jindan huikao 詩經金丹匯考 (Collected studies on the golden elixir of the Book of Songs), Shijing nanzi 詩經 難字 (Difficult words in the shijing), and the Shijing with Zhu Xi’s 朱熹 annotations and Gu Qiyuan’s 顧起元 commentaries source: photo-reproduction in the Zhonghua zaizao shanben

chapter 2

Chinese Interpretive Texts

59

2.3 Marginalia: Anywhere, Any Color When did people start writing marginalia? There is still no firm consensus on this question. There is some evidence that readers drew punctuation marks and special symbols to help in reading as early as the Spring and Autumn Period.113 Various kinds of punctuation marks are also found in Dunhuang manuscripts. But it is still unknown whether these symbols were made by scribes while transcribing the main text or by later readers.114 They cannot be considered “marginalia” according to my definition. In the Three Kingdoms period, as recorded in the Weilüe 魏略 (Brief history of the Wei dynasty), Dong Yu 董遇 drew red and black symbols in the Zuo zhuan. Dong’s practice can be seen as the origin of emphasis marks.115 These bi-color punctuation marks can be seen as the earliest known instance of marginalia. In the Song dynasty, more readers made emphasis marks on what they read, and some of the emphasis marks were in multiple colors.116 However, it should be noted that it is still not clear whether readers in the Song wrote literary comments on book margins or not. As discussed above, pingdian/commentaries also came into being during the Song dynasty. The most reasonable process might have been that commentators first drew emphasis marks and literary comments in a book, and then this book was sent to the publisher for carving and printing. These drafts of published commentaries, in hand-written forms, can be regarded as marginalia. Yet none of them survive today. Extant books show that late-Ming and Qing scholars continued drawing emphasis marks. There are some marginal writings – including literary comments, collating notes, and colophons – that were composed by several lateMing scholars, and the composition and transcription of marginalia flourished in the Qing dynasty, becoming a prominent cultural phenomenon.117 Therefore, this book focuses on the features of late-Ming and Qing marginalia.

113 See Li Ling 李零, Jianbo gushu yu xueshu yuanliu 簡帛古書與學術源流 (Beijing: Shenghuo, dushu, xinzhi sanlian shudian, 2004), 121–122. 114 See Wu Chengxue 吳承學, “Pingdian zhi xing: Wenxue pingdian de xingcheng yu Nan Song de shiwen pingdian” 評點之興：文學評點的形成與南宋的詩文評點, Wenxue pinglun 1 (1995): 24–33; Li Zhengyu 李正宇, “Dunhuang yishu zhong de biaodian fuhao” 敦煌遺書中的標點符號, Wenshi zhishi 8 (1988): 98–101. 115 See the annotation of Sanguo zhi 三國志 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1964), juan 13, 420; Wu Chengxue, “Pingdian zhi xing: Wenxue pingdian de xingcheng yu Nan Song de shiwen pingdian,” 25–26. 116 See Wu Chengxue, “Pingdian zhi xing: Wenxue pingdian de xingcheng yu Nan Song de shiwen pingdian,” 26–27. 117 See Chen Xianxing 陳先行, Zhongguo guji gao chao jiao ben tulu 中國古籍稿鈔校本圖 錄 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2014); Wei Li 韋力, Pijiao ben 批校本 (Nanjing:

60

chapter 2

Marginalia were notes that were hand written by the reader while reading. It is not difficult to imagine that their location in the book was very free. Some famous books were held and read by quite a few sophisticated readers and hence contain the marginalia of various readers. The first reader to write marginalia in a book usually used red ink, or sometimes black ink. To distinguish between the earlier readers’ markings and their own, later readers would commonly use different colors (see figure 2.9). Most marginalia were written in the margins of books. Books printed in the Ming and Qing dynasties usually had very wide top margins called the “heavenly head” (tiantou 天頭), which were normally two or three times wider than the bottom margins.118 The top margins were well-suited to marginalia, but the bottom margins were also employed. The majority of Chinese printed books after the Yuan dynasty were printed on large leaves with the text in the centre. During binding, the leaves were folded in the center and then stacked to form a book. The side margins became the book’s spine, so, technically, these books had no side margins. However, European books often have large side margins. Therefore, Heather Jackson notes that “the side margins are universally, in English-language books, the favoured place for the readers’ running commentary on the text.”119 In both pre-modern Chinese and European books, interlinear notes, punctuation marks, and other symbols were common. Sometimes marginalia was written on interleaved sheets of paper pasted into the book, or placed between two leaves of the book. Marginalia about personal ownership or commentary on the whole book were usually written on the flyleaf, title page, or the empty page at the end of a book. The location of marginalia may impact the contents, which Jackson discusses briefly in her book. She writes of European marginalia: The notes that are in the closest physical proximity to the text are the interlinear glosses that traditionally move word by word, as readers’ aids, translating or defining or paraphrasing the original…. Marks and commentary in the margin of the same page, however, express a distinct position pro or con, or offer supplementary material from an external source, such as literary parallels or additional evidence. The index at the back extracts from the whole text just those passages that the reader Fenghuang chubanshe, 2003); Zhongguo guji zongmu 中國古籍總目 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju; Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2009–2012). 118 Leslie Howsam, ed., The Cambridge Companion to the History of the Book, 98. 119 Jackson, Marginalia, 28.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

figure 2.9a

One half-leaf of the Hanshu, woodblock edition carved in the Wanli reign. It contains marginalia in black, red, blue and yellow ink Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS816474-513)

61

62

figure 2.9b

chapter 2

One half-leaf of the Li Yishan shiji, woodblock edition carved in the Shunzhi reign (1644–1662). It contains marginalia in black, red, green and purple ink Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS6889)

Chinese Interpretive Texts

63

might want to refer to again, and the summary judgment at the front or back formulates an opinion that is decidedly the reader’s and not the author’s.120 The situation in China was similar. The only difference is that in Chinese marginalia there was more textual criticism – character variants from other editions as well as scholars’ opinions on textual authentication. In some books, reader’s comments, which were usually not short, were put in the top margin, while variants and short opinions by scholars were written in the bottom margin. In pre-modern Chinese books, the layout of different editions was a great indicator for readers in distinguishing between them. Thus, information on the layout of various editions was usually carefully recorded in the table of contents or on the first page of the first juan. For example, in the first page of the table of poets of the Jixuan ji 極玄集 (The best poems, in Tangren xuan Tangshi 唐人選唐詩 [Tang poems selected by Tang people], woodblock edition carved by the Mao family in the Ming dynasty, held at the Shanghai Library, call number: XS839789-96), He Zhuo’s marginalia says: The manuscript copy has ten columns on each half page, and every column has sixteen characters. [For the table of poets,] there are four names in each column and the number of poems was not recorded. 抄本十行行十六字，每行四人名，不載幾首。

From the colophon at the end of the book, we learn that He Zhuo obtained a manuscript copy and collated this book against the manuscript copy. This Ming edition has eight columns in each half page and nineteen characters in each column. In the table of poets, there is just one name in each column, and it also records how many poems were selected. He recorded the layout of the manuscript, circled the poem number, made some revisions to the heading, and added the name and title of the compiler and commentator. This indicates that He not only wanted to preserve the details of an old edition, he also advocated keeping the original layout when carving a new edition (see figure 2.10). In some cases, the layout was also discussed in the main body of the book. For instance, there is a rare book held in the Asian Library at the University of British Columbia that contains a large amount of marginal commentary merely discussing the layout of the text. Titled Qian shu 黔書 (Book of Qian), 120 Jackson, Marginalia, 49.

64

figure 2.10

chapter 2

One half-leaf of the Jixuan ji, in the Tangren xuan Tangshi, woodblock edition carved by the Mao family in the late Ming Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS839789-96)

Chinese Interpretive Texts

65

composed by Tian Wen 田雯 (1635–1704) and carved in the 29th year of the Kangxi 康熙 reign (1690), this book is a gazetteer about part of what is known today as Yunnan Province. On every page of the book, the characters run vertically in columns from the top of the frame to the bottom, and the columns run from right to left. This is the typical layout of most, if not all, books cut before Kangxi’s reign. However, at the top of page 1b, the marginal notes read: “Move [words from] ‘朝’ (chao, dynasty) to another line, do not indent” (“朝”另行頂格 寫. See figure 2.11). The marginalia on page 2b read: “Move [words from] ‘聖天 子’ (Sheng tian zi, the Sage Emperor) to another line and [print], do not indent” (“聖天子”另行頂格). This kind of marginalia appears on every page that has words like “the Sage Emperor,” “the Great Empire,” and so forth. The dates of the marginalia are difficult to verify. From the style, ink and other tiny hints, however, we can estimate that it was composed sometime in the mid-Qing. The composer of the marginalia – possibly the collector of this book – can by no means be identified, either. But the repeated marginalia about the layout show that he was uneasy about the original layout of the book and desperate to change it to a new one – to begin a new line upon mention of the emperor’s names in order to show respect to the emperor – a device called the “raising of lines” (taitou 抬頭). In the late-Ming and Qing period, marginalia usually circulated in three ways: (1) along with the original text in the book in which it was first written down; (2) transcribed into another copy of the same title; or (3) in printed form, either with the original text or separately. (1) One reader’s marginalia usually circulated along with the book he or she had read. Therefore, the circulation of marginalia is essentially the circulation of books, which is, in turn, the circulation of information and knowledge itself. Thus, previous theories and models about the dissemination and circulation of books and information, such as Robert Darnton’s “communication circuit” and Roger Chartier’s “interpretation circuit,”121 provide instructive methodological reference points for us to study issues of who composed what kind of marginalia, who acquired them and how, who was involved in the process of dissemination, why one should be interested in marginalia, and whether there were differences in circulation between books with marginalia and those without. In addition, various catalogues and readers’ biographical documents supply abundant information with which to build a profile of the marginalia of a particular composer and that of a particular title. Bibliographic studies in China have a long history and occupied an important position in pre-modern 121 Darnton, The Kiss of Lamourette, 107–135; Roger Chartier, “Texts, Printing, Reading,” in The New Cultural History, 154–175.

66

chapter 2

figure 2.11 One half-leaf of the Qian shu, woodblock edition carved in the Kangxi reign (1661–1722). The marginalia writes: “Move [words from] ‘朝’ (chao, dynasty) to another line, do not indent.” Courtesy of the UBC Library

Chinese scholarship. “Bibliography is the most important requirement for study. It is here that you must start and only then will you be able to find your way,” said Wang Mingsheng 王鳴盛 (1722–1797), a prominent Qing historian.122 The relatively complete bibliographical system in pre-modern China supplies abundant records on books. Many descriptive catalogues and some abridged catalogues have records of the physicality and textuality of a book, the history of its circulation, details of marginalia in it, if any, and the like. Based on these records, we can build profiles of marginalia by a particular annotator or about a particular title. Moreover, books once belonging to pre-modern Chinese collectors – especially Qing scholars and collectors – are held in libraries in China

122 Cited in Endymion Wilkinson ed., Chinese History: A New Manual, third edition (Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2013), 936.

Chinese Interpretive Texts

67

and all over the world. The variety of library catalogues can also help us to find real books in the library. A reader’s biographical documents can supply similar information such as when, where, and from whom a book was acquired or just read, and whether or not the book contained any hand-copied marginalia. Marginalia written at the front or back of the book were called “colophon” (tiba 題跋), and usually included such information as a summary judgment of the book, statement of ownership, history of circulation of the book. These are all very useful sources for the study of the circulation of marginalia. (2) The transcription of marginalia is a widespread phenomenon in China. It was especially prevalent in the Qing. In this period, marginalia by famous scholars often circulated in more than one copy, transcribed by their students and other scholars who were attracted by their academic value, by calligraphers who appreciated the aesthetic value of the handwriting and imitated it in another copy of the same title, or by booksellers who saw the marginalia as marketable – they also usually imitated the handwriting of the original annotator and forged the annotator’s seals to pass their copies off as originals. Transcribers’ intentions always become involved while transcribing. Students wanted to conceal their teachers’ mistakes; scholars concentrated on the “useful” information and left other things out; some unscrupulous booksellers’ haste was also widely known – they randomly omitted quite a few marginalia, made careless mistakes, and intentionally cut information they thought was “sensitive” or did not suit contemporary sensibilities. Therefore, transcribed marginalia are distinct from the original marginalia not only in form but also in content. They are excellent sources for studying later readers’ responses in comparison with those of the previous readers. Compared with printed marginalia, transcribed copies are typically closer to the original. If the original marginalia are lost, transcribed copies can still be used to reconstruct the original by comparing various transcribed copies and investigating the annotators and transcribers. We need to find out how many transcribed marginalia are still in circulation, who transcribed them from which copy, and how they circulated. (3) Transcription made marginalia more accessible, while printing enlarged the circulation circle of marginalia and made their transmission more efficient. Marginalia were normally printed in two ways: a) marginalia in several titles were collected and then compiled into one book; b) marginalia were printed along with the original text, creating a new edition. In both methods, marginalia were often thoroughly edited, and sometimes changed beyond recognition as a result. In late imperial China, the transcription, editing and publishing of marginalia became a nearly universal scholarly practice. Therefore, it is one of the best points of access to the intellectual world of the late imperial Chinese scholars.

chapter 3

The “Reading Seed”: He Zhuo and His Marginalia One of the most common shortcomings in evaluating the accomplishment of scholars is to consider only their philosophical or religious thought, political achievements, or their social activities, all of which seem very practical and useful. However, one result of this approach is that excessive attention is paid to scholars’ written works and their political and social activities, while questions about their quotidian practices of scholarship, their perceptions of their own scholarly activities and identity, and those who, in reality, have contributed to the development of scholarship per se are largely overlooked. Modern intellectual history owes some attention to scholars who have been forgotten, either intentionally or not, and to the practices of scholars more broadly. From the perspective of scholarly practice, we know that some little-known or unknown scholars actually made great contributions to the enterprise of scholarship, and what we know about some well-known scholars might be different or more complicated than we had thought. The following chapters introduce some of the little-known scholars, focusing on scholarly practices related to marginalia in late imperial China, examining how different scholars composed marginalia in printed books, how they transcribed and printed the marginalia, how they expressed happiness, confusion, and other emotions in marginalia, and how they contributed to the development of scholarship and the intellectual evolution in the Qing dynasty. The story starts with the early Qing scholar, He Zhuo. This chapter will examine He’s life, his use of marginalia, and the characteristics and influence of his marginalia. I will demonstrate how He Zhuo and his marginalia directly facilitated the emergence of the kaozheng movement, especially the development of textual criticism. He was a crucial figure in the scholarly transition from Ming to Qing. 1

He Zhuo: The “Reading Seed”

He Zhuo was a book collector, scholar, and calligrapher in the early Qing period. He was born and raised in Gusu 姑蘇 (now Suzhou 蘇州), where he established close relationships with the most famous book collectors of the late Ming and early Qing period, such as the Mao 毛 family of Yushan 虞山, the Ye 葉 family of Kunshan 昆山, Xu Qianxue and Qian Zeng. This provided him opportunities to gain access to many books, especially rare Song and Yuan editions.

© Yinzong Wei, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004508477_004

The “ Reading Seed ”

69

He was well known among his contemporaries and had approximately four hundred students. Even though he never passed the jinshi 進士 examination, he was awarded this title by the Kangxi 康熙 Emperor (r. 1661–1722)1 in 1703 and soon after was appointed Hanlin Bachelor (Hanlinyuan shujishi 翰林院 庶吉士). He worked, in turn, as an academic advisor in the Southern Study (Nanshufang 南書房, lit. the emperor’s Southern Reading Room) and as an editor in the imperial printing office of the Hall of Military Glory (Wuying dian 武英殿) where he managed to read some of the rare books kept in the royal library. He was appointed tutor of the emperor’s eighth son, Yinsi 胤禩 (1681– 1726), and established a close, lifelong relationship with him (a relationship which caused He to be stigmatized after Yinsi’s death). He Zhuo was an avid reader and an accomplished scholar who specialized in textual criticism. Even when he was imprisoned due to the false accusations of his political enemies, he bore the hardship with equanimity and continued to devote himself to reading and collating books. The Kangxi Emperor once praised him as a “reading seed” (dushu zhongzi 讀書種子).2 The term “seed” (zhongzi) comes from Buddhism and refers to an inherent characteristic in human nature that can flourish under the proper conditions and become influential. A “reading seed” is not simply a person who loves reading, but also one who can disseminate and pass down the values and thought of a tradition or culture. In pre-modern China, it was believed that culture (wen 文), and literary culture in particular, was related to the fate of the state, and that reading seeds were those who carried the responsibility of spreading and handing down the essence of tradition and culture. The Helin yulu 鶴林玉 露 (Stories from the forest of Buddhist temples; lit. Jade dewdrops in the crane forest) recorded that Zhou Bida 周必大 (1126–1204) once said: The two Kings Xian of the Han dynasty both loved books, so their states lasted the longest. How can we let reading seeds vanish from literati families? 1 Coincidentally, He Zhuo was born in the first year of the Kangxi emperor’s reign and died in the year of that emperor’s death. 2 There is no modern biography of He Zhuo. On He’s life, see the “Appendix” of He Zhuo, Yimen xiansheng ji 義門先生集, a woodblock edition cut in Gusu 姑蘇 in 1850, and held at the Peking University Library. (There is also a photo-reproduction in Xuxiu siku quanshu 續修四 庫全書.) See also Shen Tong 沈彤, “Hanlinyuan bianxiu zen shiduxueshi Yimen He xiansheng xingzhuang” 翰林院編修贈侍讀學士義門何先生行狀, in He Zhuo, Yimen dushuji 義 門讀書記 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1987), 1275–1277; Quan Zuwang 全祖望, “Hanlinyuan bianxiu zeng xueshi Changzhou He gong mubeiming” 翰林院編修贈學士長洲何公墓碑 銘, in Yimen dushuji, 1278–1280; Qing shi liezhuan 清史列傳, in Qingdai zhuanji congkan 清 代傳記叢刊, compiled by Zhou Junfu 周駿富 (Taibei: Mingwen, 1986), vol. 104, juan 71.

70

chapter 3 漢二獻皆好書，而其傳國皆最遠。士大夫家，其可使讀書種子衰 息乎？ 3

One of the well-known reading seeds prior to He Zhuo was the orthodox Confucian scholar-official Fang Xiaoru 方孝孺 (courtesy name Xizhi 希直 or Xigu 希古, 1357–1402) who lived in the early Ming period. Fang was famous for his loyalty to the Jianwen 建文 Emperor (r. 1398–1402). When the Jianwen Emperor’s uncle, Zhu Di 朱棣, usurped the throne to become the Yongle Emperor in 1402, he summoned Fang Xiaoru and demanded that he write an inaugural address that would compare his usurpation of the throne with the regency of the Duke of Zhou during the reign of his nephew King Cheng of Zhou in the early Zhou period. Fang refused and was executed along with his entire family. One of the Yongle Emperor’s tacticians once warned Yongle that, “If Fang is killed, [all] the reading seeds under heaven will be exterminated” (殺 孝孺，天下讀書種子絕矣).4 The implication was that if Fang were executed, the moral principles tied to that particular reading seed would be eroded, leading to disorder. Of course, this is hyperbole, since the transmission of culture and tradition was never dependent on any one person. All the scholars who devoted themselves to reading and writing, collecting and printing books, collating and transcribing the texts of books, as well as those who carried on the spirit and thought inherent to those books, can be considered reading seeds. As a reading seed, He Zhuo spent his entire life collecting, collating, reading, and enjoying books. It is recorded that he also wrote a large number of books, but almost all of them were burned or scattered for political reasons. The Yimen xianshang ji 義門先生集 (Collected works of Master Yimen, 12 juan), consisting of a few of He’s classical prose writings, poems, colophons and letters, was compiled and printed approximately one hundred years after his death. The Yimen dushu ji 義門讀書記 (Reading notes of Master Yimen, 58 juan), compiled by He’s son, nephew, and students after his death, was a collection of his marginalia in eighteen titles. However, He wrote marginalia not only on these books, but also on many more. From the Zhongguo guji zongmu and catalogues of various libraries in China and abroad, we find that He Zhuo’s marginalia exists in more than one hundred books and were transcribed by a variety of scholars throughout the Qing dynasty in more than two hundred copies of books. (See Appendix I: Books Containing He Zhuo’s Marginalia and Their Transcriptions.) 3 Luo Dajing 羅大經, Helin yulu 鶴林玉露 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983), 212. See also Zhou Mi 周密, Qidong yeyu 齊東野語 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983), 380. 4 Mingshi 明史 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974), juan 141, 4017–4021.

The “ Reading Seed ”

71

He Zhuo’s marginalia cover all the four branches (sibu 四部) of pre-modern Chinese books. The majority of his marginalia are of two kinds: various comments (including literary criticism, historical and philosophical comments) on the content of the book, and collation notes and symbols inscribed in the text. In a transformative period of scholarship when the Song-Ming metaphysical and literary interpretation on classical texts began to be seriously challenged and the relatively positivistic school of “evidential research” was gradually emerging, He Zhuo’s marginalia comments inherited the characteristics of the Song-Ming commentarial tradition yet already showed some evidential features, and his textual criticism – although it sometimes seemed preliminary – initiated the flourishing of this sub-field of the evidential research in the mid- and late-Qing period. Ironically, even though He Zhuo never passed the civil service examination (much less got a juren degree), he was an expert in selecting classical prose and writing literary commentaries as aids for students taking the civil service examinations, and he was well known by his contemporaries for this enterprise. At the same time, his learning was also scorned by some scholars as the “study of papers’ tails” (zhiwei zhixue 紙尾之學); that is, the study of the eight-legged essays for the civil service examinations, which was considered as occupying the lowest rung on the scholarly hierarchy.5 The noted mid-Qing scholar Yu Zhengxie 俞正燮 (courtesy name Lichu 理初, 1775–1840) stated that “He Zhuo annotated books using the method of annotating eight-legged essays, and thus became well-known under heaven because of [his selecting and annotating] eight-legged essays” (何焯以時文名滿天下，用批時文法批 書).6 This claim is partially true. The so-called “method of annotating eightlegged essays” refers to literary commentaries on classical prose. As discussed in chapter 2, this kind of commentary focused on the literary features of the text and aimed to help examination candidates learn how to compose classical prose. However, according to the Yimen dushu ji and the existing marginalia by He Zhuo, literary commentary occupies only a fraction of his marginalia. As mentioned above, his marginalia mainly consist of textual criticism and various comments, and his comments cover a wide variety of topics and subjects, including opinions about the Learning of Principle, self-cultivation and other matters in Confucian Classics discussed extensively by Song-Yuan scholars; studies on historical figures and events, and the literary features of various 5 See Wang Shaoying 汪紹盈, “Ruanshi chongke Shisanjing zhushu kao,” 阮氏重刻十三經注 疏考, Wenshi 文史 3 (1963): 54. 6 Yu Zhengxie 俞正燮, Guisi cungao 癸巳存稿, in Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編, vol. 430, juan 14, 431.

72

chapter 3

historical texts; knowledge and information on rubbings and works of calligraphy; and literary criticism and historical analysis on Tang poems. His comments and textual criticism show a rather strong sense of evidential research, indicating a scholarly transition over the course of He Zhuo’s academic career. 2

He Zhuo’s Scholarly Transition

The traditional narrative on Ming scholarship, especially classical studies and history, was that Ming scholars’ teachings were shallow and almost all the scholars and students in that dynasty focused only on the civil service examinations. They were seen as spending too much energy discussing the literary features of the text without first authenticating it, investigating the historical events in it, or having a deep grasp of the meaning of the ancient Classics, histories and philosophies. Qing scholars, on the contrary, mostly concentrated on evidential research – a positivist approach to scholarship buttressed with reliable and authentic texts. What were the causes of this transition in scholarship between the Ming and Qing? How did it happen? Who contributed to it and in what ways? These questions are still not fully answered.7 However, He Zhuo himself experienced this transition, which makes him a good model with which to study the evolution of thought and scholarship from the Ming to the Qing. When he was young, He Zhuo, like most students at that time, hoped to pass the civil service examinations and become an official. He devoted himself to learning how to compose eight-legged essays. Although he never passed the examinations, he became an expert in selecting and commenting on the eightlegged essays, and, ironically, helped a great many students pass the exam. Because of this, he became well known and was eventually given the jinshi degree by the Kangxi Emperor and appointed to a position in the palace.8 The Qing bai leichao 清稗類鈔 (Qing anecdotes compiled by category) records:

7 Lin Qingzhang 林慶彰 and many modern scholars have already started to question the conventional opinions on Ming and Qing scholarship. Lin has argued that a few scholars had already started doing evidential research in the late Ming, and that Qing scholars followed these late-Ming scholars’ steps and the evidential research evolved into a new stage. See Lin Qingzhang, Mingdai jingxue yanjiu lunji 明代經學研究論集 (Taipei: Wenshizhe, 1994). 8 See the “Appendix” of He Zhuo, Yimen xiansheng ji; Shen Tong, “Hanlinyuan bianxiu zen shiduxueshi Yimen He xiansheng xingzhuang,” in He Zhuo, Yimen dushu ji, 1275–1277; Quan Zuwang, “Hanlinyuan bianxiu zeng xueshi Changzhou He gong mubeiming,” in Yimen dushu ji, 1278–1280; Qing shi liezhuan, in Qingdai zhuanji congkan, vol. 104, juan 71.

The “ Reading Seed ”

73

When Yan Qianqiu, named Ruoqu, got to know He Yimen, He was twentyfour sui. They talked about the exam writings every day. 閻潛丘，名若璩，初交何義門，何年二十四歲，日與議論時文。  9

This shows that when he was twenty-four sui (years of age by Chinese calculation), he was still devoted to the civil service examinations, but by at least the thirty-first year of the Kangxi reign (1692), when He was thirty-one sui, he had started to collate books. This can be corroborated by all the colophons collected in the “Yimen tiba” 義門題跋 (Master Yimen’s colophons) in the Yimen xiansheng ji. After reading and collating one book, He Zhuo usually wrote a short colophon stating when, where and based on which edition(s) he had read and collated that book. The colophons in the “Yimen tiba” were all composed after the thirty-first year of the Kangxi reign; more than half were written during the fortieth to fiftieth years of the Kangxi reign.10 In addition, in the “Preface” to the Xingyuan ji 行遠集 (Collected works of Lu Shen 陸深 [1477–1544]), He Zhuo wrote: Early on, I followed the current fashion and focused on classical essays for the exams…. In the winter of the yihai year (34th year) of the Kangxi reign [1695], I studied the “Yueji” (Record of Music, a chapter in the Liji 禮 記 [Record of rites]) repeatedly. I closed the book and sighed when I read about the “deceitful sounds” and the “orthodox sounds,” and their “resonances with people’s minds.” I regretted that I used to play the lewd music of the Zheng State and the Wei State in a Confucian house. I had thought 9

10

Xu Ke 徐珂, Qing bai leichao 清稗類鈔 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984), 683. “Shiwen” 時文, literally meaning “modern essay,” refers to the eight-legged essay (bagu wen 八股 文), which was a style of essay that examination candidates wrote in order to pass the civil service examinations during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Other alternative names include zhiyi 制藝, jingyi 經義, and Sishu wen 四書文. See Benjamin A. Elman, Civil Examinations and Meritocracy in Late Imperial China, 46–92. He Zhuo, Yimen xiansheng ji, juan 9. Only the colophon of one book, the Ouyang Xingzhou wenji 歐陽行周文集 (Collected works of Ouyang Zhan 歐陽詹 [courtesy name Xingzhou, 758–801]), records that it was written in the “yichou” 乙丑 year of the Kangxi reign, that is, the 24th year of the Kangxi reign. But in the Tieqintongjianlou cangshu mulu 鐵琴銅劍樓藏書目錄 and the Bisonglou cangshuzhi, 皕宋樓藏書志, the colophon is recorded being written in the “jichou” 己丑 year of the Kangxi reign (48th year of the Kangxi reign). In the 24th year, He was occupied by composing eight-legged essays. It is more likely that he collated this book and wrote the colophon in the 48th year of the Kangxi reign. See Qu Yong 瞿鏞, Tieqintongjianlou cangshu mulu (Woodblock edition carved by the Qu 瞿 family in the Xianfeng reign [1850–1861]), juan 19, 33a; Lu Xinyuan 陸心源, Bisonglou cangshuzhi (Woodblock edition carved in 1882), juan 69, 14a–15a.

74

chapter 3

I was making rapid progress every day but I actually had forgotten the Way. Realising this, I abandoned all the various explanations. Instead, I obtained the sages’ Classics to read. I concentrated on the exegesis of the words and understood thoroughly the logical arrangement of the text. By so doing, I apprehended the general meaning of the Classics, and then the essence of the Way generally emerged. 始吾隨俗為經義……乙亥（康熙三十四年）冬學習復《樂記》，至於 姦聲正聲，感應之際，廢卷而歎。悔向之弦鄭衞於孔牆也，日奔馳而 道則忘。乃盡屏叢說，更取聖人賢人之經讀之，反覆乎訓故，會通乎 條理，得其大體，道本浸出。  11

This indicates that He Zhuo started to concentrate on classical studies in the thirty-fourth year of the Kangxi reign (1695). His scholarly orientation shifted from study of eight-legged essays to classical studies between 1692 and 1695. Departing from the “current fashion” that focused on composing beautiful essays for the civil exams, this new approach, classical studies, aimed to comprehend the Way based on a repeated and careful reading of the Confucian Classics. The reading and comprehension of the Classics necessitated precise explanation of the words and sentences, which had to be established based on reliable and accurate texts. All of this gave rise to philology, bibliography, textual criticism, and many other evidential disciplines. He Zhuo’s scholarly transition was due to several conditions. First, he became fairly well known when he was young. He was granted the jinshi degree by the emperor and received a position that was not particularly powerful but relatively stable in the palace publishing office and imperial court. Thus, He Zhuo was a professional scholar, sponsored by the imperial family, whose main work was to read, do research, and collate and compile books. Second, he had grown up in Suzhou, one of the economic and academic centers of Ming and Qing China. Some of the most famous book collectors and publishers gathered in that region. Therefore, it was easy for him to gain access to any kind of books, most importantly, rare Song and Yuan editions. In addition, having worked in the palace for decades, He gained access to the imperial collection, which contained many rare editions, too. Third, according to modern scholars, there was a publishing boom in the late Ming period. From that time on, print, not manuscripts, became the dominant mode of the circulation of texts.12 The dramatic increase in the quantity of books and the proliferation of editions was one 11 12

He Zhuo, Yimen xiansheng ji, juan 1, 6ab. See Ōki Yasushi, “Minmatsu Kōnan ni okeru shuppan bunka no kenkyū;” Kai-wing Chow, Publishing, Culture and Power in Early Modern China; Joseph McDermott, A Social History of the Chinese Book.

The “ Reading Seed ”

75

of the most important reasons for the development of textual criticism and the flourishing of marginalia. Most of He Zhuo’s marginalia were written on copies of Ming editions; the marginalia I discuss in this study are mostly written in editions printed after the late Ming. Moreover, more editions created more inconsistencies in any given text, which created new tasks for scholars: one needed to choose the “authentic” text before reading. Unfortunately, it was not always easy to determine the authentic text among the various editions. Therefore, textual criticism became more and more weighty in scholarship. At the same time, disciplines related to textual criticism, such as paleography, bibliography, phonology, and phonetics, were also becoming more important. Finally, with the development of commerce and transportation, the circulation of books and personnel became more and more convenient.13 Scholars could easily communicate with each other. In the following sections, I will take He Zhuo’s marginalia in the Hou Hanshu as an example to examine in detail the characteristics and influences of He’s textual criticism and historical comments. I chose the Hou Hanshu for two reasons: first, He Zhuo was especially well-known for his expertise on the history of the Western and Eastern Han dynasties, and he specialised in the textual study of the Hanshu and Hou Hanshu, so that his marginalia in these books represents his academic style and achievements. Second, I had the chance to gain access to several copies of his marginalia in the Hou Hanshu, especially the one held at the Peking University (PKU) Library which supplies the major object for this chapter.14 3

A Pioneer of Textual Criticism

Before He Zhuo’s time, collation was a task that concerned only the editors or scribes. Common readers and scholars rarely paid attention to this ostensibly tedious and trivial work. But most, if not all, evidential scholars in the Qing dynasty believed that one should collate a text before reading and studying. This became a scholarly habit that evidential scholars persistently practiced.15 He Zhuo made a significant contribution to the development of textual criticism in the way that he established the basic rules for comparing different editions, recording the character variants, and determining the right words. To some extent, it was He Zhuo who started the habit of collating books before 13 14 15

See Cynthia J. Brokaw and Kai-wing Chow, eds., Printing and Book Culture in Late Imperial China. The main texts of the Hou Hanshu and He Zhuo’s marginalia cited in this chapter are from the Hou Hanshu held at the PKU Library (the PKU edition); it is a woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in 1643. For the history of textual criticism, see Ni Qixin, Jiaokanxue dagang, 6–78.

76

chapter 3

reading them. At the end of juan 90 of the Hou Hanshu, part of He’s colophon states: When I read this book for the first time, I disliked its numerous mistakes [within the text]. After reading Liu’s Correction [of the two Han histories], I finally realized that good editions of this book were already rare in the Northern Song. This is because our predecessors did not pay as much attention to it as to Ban [Gu’s] Hanshu. 初讀此書，嫌其訛謬爲多，及觀劉氏《刊誤》諸條，乃知在北宋即罕 善本，緣前人重之不如班書故也。

He Zhuo pointed out that previously, people had not paid enough attention to the Hou Hanshu, resulting in editions with numerous mistakes in the text. He made a great effort to correct these mistakes. In the roughly 3700 pieces of marginalia he appended to the Hou Hanshu, more than 1600 were concerned with textual criticism. Most of He’s collation notes are character variants from a comparison of different editions. According to his colophons in this copy, He compared several incomplete Song editions (can Songben 殘宋本) with this Ming edition. None of them are extant today, so the variants collected by He Zhuo are the only evidence we have with which to recover these Song editions. He also drew upon the Yijing Hall (Yijing tang 一經堂) edition; the Masha 麻沙 edition carved in the Southern Song; a Yuan edition; more than three Ming editions; and several “recent editions” ( jinke 近刻) as he read and collated the Hou Hanshu. Sometimes when the text seemed problematic but there was no variant character from one of these other editions to select, he would write down his opinions based on his own understanding and research of the text. I will give just one example here to show the characteristics of He’s textual criticism. The text of the biography of Emperor Huan 桓 (r. 132–168) in juan 7 of the Hou Hanshu of this edition writes: On the jiazi day of the first month in the spring of the first year of the Heping reign, [the emperor] granted amnesty to the [criminals of the] whole realm. The name of the reign was changed to Heping [peace]. On the jihai day [of this month], the imperial decree says…. The second month…. 和平元年春，正月甲子，大赦天下。改元和平，己亥，詔曰…… 二月……

77

The “ Reading Seed ” table 3.1

01. 甲子 jiazi 11. 甲戌 jiaxu 21. 甲申 jiashen 31. 甲午 jiawu 41. 甲辰 jiachen 51. 甲寅 jiayin

Table of the sexagenary cycle

02. 乙丑 yichou 12. 乙亥 yihao 22. 乙酉 yiyou 32. 乙未 yiwei 42. 乙巳 yisi 52. 乙卯 yimao

03. 丙寅 bingyin 13. 丙子 bingzi 23. 丙戌 bingxu 33. 丙申 bingshen 43. 丙午 bingwu 53. 丙辰 bingchen

04. 丁卯 dingmao 14. 丁丑 dingchou 24. 丁亥 dinghai 34. 丁酉 dingyou 44. 丁未 dingwei 54. 丁巳 dingsi

05. 戊辰 wuchen 15. 戊寅 wuyin 25. 戊子 wuzi 35. 戊戌 wuxu 45. 戊申 wushen 55. 戊午 wuwu

06. 己巳 jisi 16. 己卯 jimao 26. 己丑 jichou 36. 己亥 jihai 46. 己酉 jiyou 56. 己未 jiwei

07. 庚午 gengwu 17. 庚辰 gengchen 27. 庚寅 gengyin 37. 庚子 gengzi 47. 庚戌 gengxu 57. 庚申 gengshen

08. 辛未 xinwei 18 辛巳 xinsi 28 辛卯 xinmao 38 辛丑 xinchou 48 辛亥 xinhai 58. 辛酉 xinyou

09. 壬申 renshen 19. 壬午 renwu 29. 壬辰 renchen 39. 壬寅 renyin 49. 壬子 renzi 59. 壬戌 renxu

10. 癸酉 guiyou 20. 癸未 guiwei 30. 癸巳 guisi 40. 癸卯 guimao 50. 癸丑 guichou 60. 癸亥 guihai

In the traditional Chinese calendrical system, a cycle of sixty terms known as the “sexagenary cycle” (ganzhi 干支, lit. “Stems-and-Branches”) was employed for dates. These sixty terms in the Eastern Han are listed in table 3.1. According to the sexagenary cycle, if the jiazi (No. 01) day was in the first month, the jihai day (No. 36) could not be in this month. He Zhuo found this problem in the text, and wrote in the margin of this page: If the amnesty was on the jiazi day, the jihai day, when political power was returned to the emperor, should have been in the second month. I suspect the date was incorrect. 若以甲子赦，則己亥歸政當在二月，疑日有誤。

The word “suspect” (yi 疑) reveals that He had not yet seen any variant character that would explain how either the jiazi day or the jihai day could be a correct record. He discovered this tiny mistake and made this judgment based on reasoning. After this comment, there was another sentence following a small circle: In the Song edition, [“jihai” was written as] “jichou.” ○宋本“己丑”。

This indicated that He later found a variant in a Song edition, in which “jihai” was written as “jichou” (No. 26). This confirmed his speculation that one of the

78

chapter 3

dates was written incorrectly. Based on this solid evidence, He changed the character “hai” of the main text into “chou” in red ink. The Hou Hanshu jiaokan ji 後漢書校勘記 (Collation notes on the Hou Hanshu), composed by the great publisher and textual scholar Zhang Yuanji 張元濟 (1867–1959) contains variants from almost all editions of the Hou Hanshu from the Song to the late Qing period. It was recorded in this book that the text here was “jichou” in the Shaoxing 紹興 edition carved in the Southern Song period, and was “jihai” in almost all the Yuan and Ming editions. Zhang stated, “It was written ‘jiazi’ above, so that there shouldn’t be a ‘jihai’ [in this month]. The Song edition is correct” (上言甲子，不應有己 亥，宋本是).16 Zhang and He Zhuo held the same opinion, and their opinions should be considered when editing the Hou Hanshu in modern times. But the most widely-read, influential punctuated and collated edition of the Hou Hanshu, the Zhonghua shuju 中華書局 edition, has not adopted this suggestion. Instead, it employed a variant from another book, the Zizhi tongjian 資治 通鑑 (Comprehensive mirror for aid in government).17 This variant was discovered by the late Qing scholar Huang Shan 黃山 while he was editing the Hou Hanshu jijie 後漢書集解 (Collected annotation to the Hou Hanshu), composed by his teacher Wang Xianqian 王先謙 (1842–1917). Huang states: Yuan Hong’s Records [of the Later Han] has “jichou,” while the Tongjian has “yichou.” We should regard the text of the Tongjian as correct. 袁《紀》作“己丑”，《通鑑》作“乙丑”，當以《通鑑》爲正。  18

Wang Xianqian used the text of a Ming edition, the Mao edition, to compose his collected annotations. He Zhuo wrote his marginalia in a copy of the same edition. The main text here has “jihai,” which is definitely wrong. Huang Shan found that it was “jichou” in Yuan Hong’s 袁宏 (courtesy name Yanbo 彥博, 328–376) Houhanji 後漢紀 (Records of the Later Han), and that it was “yichou” in the Zizhi tongjian, and claimed the text in the Zizhi tongjian was correct without any explanation. The Houhanji and Zizhi tongjian are both considered “other books” (ta shu 他書); they hold the same status when used to collate the Hou Hanshu. Therefore, in this situation, it is difficult to tell which one is right. 16 17 18

Zhang Yuanji 張元濟, Hou Hanshu jiankan ji 後漢書校勘記 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1999), 41. Hou Hanshu, juan 7, 295, 322. Wang Xianqian 王先謙, Hou Hanshu jijie 後漢書集解 (woodblock edition carved in the Xushou tang 虛受堂 of the Wang family in 1915), juan 7, 1b.

The “ Reading Seed ”

79

However, the Shaoxing edition is another edition of the Hou Hanshu itself, and its text has thus enjoyed more importance in collating the Hou Hanshu. Using the Shaoxing edition as the master copy, the text in the Zhonghua edition was “jichou” in the first place. Collators should keep this text and state that there are variants in other books, rather than change the text according to other books. He Zhuo’s marginalia here and his way of dealing with these variants demonstrate that he was a meticulous collator and erudite scholar. Textual criticism was considered one of the fundamental sub-disciplines of evidential research, which characterized the scholarship of the Qing dynasty. He Zhuo was the first scholar at that time to systematically undertake textual criticism for hundreds of titles in the four branches of Chinese classical texts based on careful comparison among the different printed editions. In the next two chapters, we can see that He led the discipline and caused it to flourish, to the extent that he has been praised as the founder of textual criticism by modern scholars.19 4

Reading He Zhuo’s Historical Comments

In the Hou Hanshu held at the PKU Library, more than half of He Zhuo’s marginalia are concerned with textual criticism, and several items talk about the literary features of the text or the composition of rhyme couplets, as mentioned in chapter 2. In addition, there are also many comments on historical figures and events, historiography, previous scholar’s annotations, and such, of which some made impartial evaluations of historical figures according to an insightful analysis of the external and internal factors; some used the method of historical induction to draw lessons from history; some examined the historical change of the duties and powers of officials and the evolution of political institutions and political thought; and some criticized the historiography of former historians. This demonstrates that He Zhuo’s historical comments in his marginalia inherited the characteristics of the Song-Ming commentarial tradition and, at the same time, have features of evidential research. My examination of He’s historical comments start with his comments on historical figures. In traditional Chinese historical writings, it was people that always occupied center stage. For instance, more than half of the contents of the “Ershisi shi” (the 24 Histories) that were deemed “standard histories” 19

See Liang Qichao, Intellectual Trends in the Ch’ing Period, 69; Liang Qichao, Zhongguo jin sanbainian xueshushi, 290; Wang Shaoying, “Ruan shi chongke Shisanjingzhushu kao,” 54; Elman, From Philosophy to Philology, 211–214.

80

chapter 3

(zhengshi 正史) consist of biographies of historical figures (liezhuan 列傳). Other sections were also largely biographical. Biographical writings thus were the most important component of the standard histories in imperial China. In this sense, how to understand and evaluate historical figures has been a crucial task for researchers and readers. Many of He Zhuo’s comments in the Hou Hanshu (chronologically, the third standard history of the twenty-four) were about historical figures. He usually tried to understand historical figures within their historical context. He also explained the course of history by analyzing the personality, status, intent, and other aspects of the historical figures. Shen Tong, who composed He’s brief biography, praised He, saying: “In [Master Yimen’s] marginalia, the comments on people must [be based on] tracing the historical context they lived in and examining the internal and external factors [therein]” (凡題識中有論人者， 必跡其世，徹其表裏).20 This is to make an appraisal of personages by way of investigating the events they experienced. For instance, Cai Yong 蔡邕 (courtesy name Bojie 伯喈, 132–192) was a great calligrapher, musician and scholar in the late Eastern Han dynasty. While serving Emperor Ling, he advocated that ceremonial practices be restored and criticized the influence of eunuchs in politics. When the warlord Dong Zhuo 董卓 came to power and controlled the central government, he summoned Cai Yong to serve at the court. Cai was compelled to comply. There is a brief biography of Cai in juan 60 of the Hou Hanshu: In the sixth year of the Zhongping era, Emperor Ling died and Dong Zhuo became the Minister of Works [one of the Three Dukes who were the paramount dignitaries of the central government]. Hearing that Cai Yong had a good reputation, Dong summoned him to be an official, but Cai refused pleading illness. In great anger, Dong Zhuo said: “I have the power to execute one’s whole clan. If Cai Yong is so arrogant, he will soon be punished like this.” Dong also sent an urgent order to the local governor to request Cai Yong to visit him [Dong Zhuo]. Cai Yong had no choice but to go and was appointed Libationer. 中平六年，靈帝崩，董卓爲司空，聞邕名高，辟之，稱疾不就。卓大 怒，詈曰:“我力能族人，蔡邕遂偃蹇者，不旋踵矣。”又切敕州郡 舉邕詣府，邕不得已，到，署祭酒。

20

Shen Tong, Hanlinyuan bianxiu zeng shiduxueshi Yimen He xiansheng xingzhuang, in Yimen dushu ji, 1277.

The “ Reading Seed ”

81

Later scholars criticized Cai Yong for his weakness, but He Zhuo had a different idea. His comment in the margin reads: Chen Liu was very close to Luoyang, [this is why] Bojie was inevitably tainted. For the same reason, Ciming (Xun Shuang 荀爽) could not do what Kangcheng (Zheng Xuan 鄭玄) had done. 陳留去洛陽近，伯喈所以不免於汙染也。慈明之不得爲康成也同。

This comment mentions three historical figures, Cai Yong, Xun Shuang and Zheng Xuan, all of whom were prominent scholars in the late Eastern Han. While Dong Zhuo controlled the central government, he summoned all three of them to serve him. Cai Yong and Xun Shuang complied, but Zheng Xuan did not, so Cai and Xun were thought to have lost their integrity, while Zheng had kept his. Differing from this common opinion, He Zhuo explained the actions of these three scholars using geographical factors. Actually, according to their biographies in the Hou Hanshu, Cai and Xun both had a reputation for refusing to serve the government in a turbulent political era. But, as He Zhuo pointed out, Cai Yong lived in Chenliu (Kaifeng, Henan Province) and Xun Shuang in Yingyin (Xuchang, Henan Province), both of which were fairly close to Luoyang, Dong Zhuo’s capital. It was difficult for them to flee with their family members, leaving them little recourse but to comply. However, Zheng Xuan lived in Gaomi in Shandong Province, far from Luoyang and Chang’an (present day Xi’an in Shaanxi Province). His biography in the Hou Hanshu states: “[Later,] Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang’an. The high ministers nominated [Zheng] Xuan as the prime minister of the state of Zhao. [Zheng Xuan] did not go because the road [from Gaomi to Chang’an] was cut off.” (董卓遷 都長安，公卿舉玄爲趙相，道斷不至)21 He Zhuo was probably inspired by this record and tried to defend Cai Yong and Xun Shuang. Using geographical factors to explain historical figures’ practices rather than arbitrarily excoriating them, He’s comments, as Shen Tong explains, “traced the historical context they lived in and examined the internal and external factors.” He Zhuo was also good at using historical induction to drew lessons from history. In Chinese historical philosophy, one of the most important functions of history was to use it as a mirror and draw lessons from it (yi shi wei jian 以史為鑒). The most difficult part of learning from history is not just knowing about the people or events, but also unravelling the basic roles that people played in the events in the course of history from the numerous and 21

Hou Hanshu, juan 35, 1209.

82

chapter 3

complicated historical events that comprise it. The Grand Historian Sima Qian 司馬遷 (145–86 BCE) stated that as a historian, he expected “to examine into all that concerns Heaven and humans, and to penetrate the changes of the past and present” (究天人之際，通古今之變).22 Only then can we learn from history and solve new problems with the assistance of the wisdom derived from it. One commonly used method for historians to make sense of the past was “historical induction,” i.e., the process of summing up particular historical events, comparing them, searching for similarities and/or differences, and arriving at some general laws concerning the course of history and the vicissitudes of human society. There are many pieces of historical induction in He Zhuo’s marginalia. Compared to the comments in the Nian’ershi zhaji 廿二史札記 (Notes on the 22 Histories), an eighteenth-century masterpiece on the standard histories composed by the great historian Zhao Yi 趙翼 (courtesy name Yunsong 雲崧, alternative name Oubei 甌北, 1727–1814), He Zhuo’s comments are less refined, neither particularly insightful nor well arranged. Scattered throughout the Hou Hanshu, they were long neglected by scholars. However, most of them were made based on He’s close reading of the Hanshu and Hou Hanshu, and his expertise in the history of the Han which were very instructive for the readers. Shen Tong observed of He that “[While discussing historical events, He Zhuo] always knows the beginning and the end, and understands the whole event” (必通其首尾，盡其變).23 Many of He Zhuo’s marginalia traced institutional changes over a very long time period. For instance, in the “Baiguanzhi san” (Treatise on Officials Part III) of the Xu Hanzhi,24 the main text has the following entry: Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief, one person, ranked at 1000 bushels (shi). 御史中丞一人，千石。 22 23 24

Sima Qian, “Bao Ren An shu” 報任安書, in Ban Gu, Hanshu, 2735. Translation by Burton Watson, in Sources of Chinese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600, vol. 1, comps. William Theodore de Bary and Irene Bloom (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), 372. See Shen Tong, Hanlinyuan bianxiu zeng shiduxueshi Yimen He xiansheng xingzhuang, in Yimen dushu ji, 1277. The current version of Hou Hanshu is actually made up of two parts: the annuals ( ji 紀) and biographies (zhuan 傳), 90 juan in total, were composed by Fan Ye and are called the Hou Hanshu in this study; the treatises (zhi 志), 30 juan in total, were composed by Sima Biao 司馬彪 (?–c.306) and are called the Xu Hanzhi in this study.

The “ Reading Seed ”

83

The original annotation reads: The aide to the Censor-in-chief. In old times, [the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief] was different from the Supervising Censor (who worked in the local government) in that he worked in the palace and secretly reported the illegal behavior of officials to the emperor. When the Censor-in-chief became the Minister of Works, [the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief] was left in the inner central court and became the leader of the Censorate. Later, [the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief] belonged to the Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues. 御史大夫之丞也。舊別監御史在殿中，密舉非法。及御史大夫轉爲司 空，因別留中，爲御史臺率，後又屬少府。

About the change of the political duties and power of the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief, He Zhuo commented on the top margin: Bao Xun’s biography in the Weizhi states: “[Bao Xun] was appointed ‘Gongzheng’ in the fourth year of the Huangchu period.” “Gongzheng” is actually Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief. This also followed the meaning of “Xiaozai” (Deputy Prime Minister) in the Zhouguan (Rites of Zhou). But this position was not taken by high ministers, so the name does not reflect reality. In the Western Han, [the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief] was still the vice prime minister, which followed the bequeathed law and meaning of the Zhouguan, while in the Eastern Han, it belonged to the Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues (Shaofu 少府), so that the grand councillors could not ask about the personnel administration around the emperor. The grand councillors’ power was weakened and the old order no longer functioned. 《魏志·鮑勛傳》:“黄初四年爲宫正。”宫正即御史中丞也。是亦   沿《周官·小宰》之意，特大夫不領，名實乖耳。西京屬副相，猶得 《周官》遺法，至東京轉屬少府，則三公不得問天子左右之人事，任   輕而體統褻矣。

The annotation of the Hou Hanshu by Liu Zhao 劉昭 (Liang 梁 dynasty) cites a passage from the Zhouli, which states: “The Deputy Prime Minister is in charge of the laws about the officials in the palace, and puts into practice the governmental decrees in the palace.” Gan Bao’s annotation states: “[This] resembles

84

chapter 3

the duty of the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief” (《周禮》:“〔小宰〕掌建 邦之宮刑，以主治王宮之政令。”干寶注曰:“若御史中丞。”).25 Fan Ye’s original annotation also points out that the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief “worked in the palace and secretly reported to the emperor the illegalities of the officials.” That is, the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief actually had the duty and power to supervise all the officials of the central government. They were the aides of the Censor-in-Chief. In the Western Han, the Censor-in-chief became one of the grand councillors or prime ministers who were the leaders of the external government. The Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief became the leader of the censors in the Censorate, still in the inner central government. Liu’s annotation also cited from the Hanshu, states: The Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief, an official of the Qin dynasty, ranked at 1000 bushels, located in the Orchid Pavilion within the palace, supervises the Regional Inspectors in the external government, heads the Attendant Censors in the inner central government, and oversees the various officials. 御史中丞，秦官，秩千石，在殿中蘭台，掌圖籍秘書，外都部刺史， 內領侍御史，糾察百寮。26

Liu Zhao’s annotation of the Xu Hanzhi citing from the Hanyi reads: [The position of] Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief was previously taken by officials ranked at 2000 bushels or selected from the highest rank of Attendant Censors. They worked in the inner central government, were seated separately in the morning court meeting, headed the Orchid Pavilion, supervised the Regional Inspectors, and oversaw all the hundreds of officials. When they went out [to work in the local government], they ranked at 2000 bushels. 丞，故二千石爲之，或選侍御史高第，執憲中司，朝會獨坐，內掌蘭 台，督諸州刺史，糾察百寮，出爲二千石。27

The privilege to sit separately shows that the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief had special power and authority in the eyes of the emperor and all the 25 26 27

Sima Biao, Xu Hanzhi, chapter 26, “Officials,” 3599. Fan Ye, Hou Hanshu, juan 27, “Xuan Bing’s Biography,” 927. Sima Biao, Xu Hanzhi, 26, “Officials,” 3600.

The “ Reading Seed ”

85

officials. It was recorded in Xuan Bing’s biography in the Hou Hanshu that Emperor Guangwu 光武 issued a special decree that permitted the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief, the Metropolitan Commandant (Sili xiaowei 司隸校尉) and the Director of the Imperial Secretariat (Shangshu ling 尚書令) to sit separately on special mats, and were praised as the “the three who sat alone” (san duzuo 三獨坐).28 In that time, the Palace Aides to the Censor-in-chief actually carried out the duties of the Censor-in-chief. They enjoyed a crucial position and high status. Therefore, He Zhuo was right to consider them vice prime ministers. The core task of the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief was to inspect and supervise all the officials. Once reassigned to the jurisdiction of the Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues, they could directly serve the emperor, and hence the grand councillors lost this part of their power. He Zhuo said, “The grand councillors could not ask about the personnel administration around the emperor. The grand councillors’ power was weakened and the old order no longer functioned.” He pointed out the transformation of the duties and powers of the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief and grand councillors. He Zhuo always paid close attention to the transformation of the duties and powers of all the officials, the evolution of political institutions and political thought. His comments inspired many later scholars. For instance, there are several comments discussing the evolution of the legal system and intellectual history of the Han dynasty. In juan 46 of the Hou Hanshu, Guo Gong’s 郭躬 biography says: [Guo] Gong transmitted his father’s teachings when he was young. There were always hundreds of people learning from him. 躬少傳父業，講授徒衆常數百人。

On the margin, He Zhuo writes: The codes and laws were also taught, so that the governance by officials was excellent in the Han dynasty. When the Imperial Legal Test was abolished, this custom also declined. 律亦講授，故漢之吏治精。自明法之科罷，此風衰矣。

28

See Fan Ye, Hou Hanshu, juan 27, “Xuan Bing’s Biography,” 927.

86

chapter 3

In the Eastern Han, although Confucianism was acknowledged as the official ideology, the legal institutions were the foundation of the administration. The study of law was independent from that of Confucianism and was very popular. In this sense, the influence of Legalism and of Confucianism were equal. However, the transmission and teaching of laws and Legalist thought has long been neglected in our scholarship because of the dominance of Confucianism in the later periods. By stating that “codes and laws were also taught,” He Zhuo reminds us to pay attention to the transmission of laws and Legalist thought. In the same juan, the main text of the Hou Hanshu reads: “[Guo Gong’s] father, [Guo] Hong, learned the Xiao Du lü (Law of the Little Du)” (父弘習小杜律). On the margin of this page, He Zhuo wrote three characters, “Xiao Du lü,” reminding the reader to pay attention to this book and the teachings of this school. Guo Gong’s father studied as a Legalist. He learned the law and taught the laws. Guo Gong learned from his father and handed down his legal knowledge to later generations. This meant that the teaching of Legalism was transmitted from teacher to student and/or within family clans in the Han dynasty, just as was the transmission of Confucianism. Similarly, the main text of Chen Xian’s 陳咸 biography in the same juan states: Later, [Wang] Mang summoned [Chen] Xian for appointment a second time, but he refused on the pretext of serious illness. Chen then collected the laws, codes and other documents in his family’s possession, and hid them all in the walls. 其後莽復徵咸，遂稱病篤。於是乃收斂其家律令書文，皆壁藏之。

He Zhuo’s marginal comment regarding this reads: Fu Sheng hid the Classics; Chen Xian hid the laws. 伏生藏經，陳咸藏律。

Fu Sheng 伏勝, known as Fu Sheng 伏生 (Master Fu), was a prominent Confucian scholar and classicist in the Western Han period. He was well known for hiding the Shangshu 尚書 (Book of Documents) within the walls to prevent its being burned by the first emperor of the Qin dynasty.29 Since Chen Xian hid some legal texts within the walls, He Zhuo made a couplet, 29

See Sima Qian, Shiji, juan 121, 3124–3126.

The “ Reading Seed ”

87

equating Fu Sheng and Chen Xian, which exhibits his grasp of the relationship between Legalism and Confucianism. The Eastern Han empire was said to have been governed by Confucian doctrines, but the governing of officials at that time was very harsh – a state of affairs that violated those doctrines. This contradiction, Chen Suzhen 陳蘇鎮 pointed out, was due to the fact that the central government had to use cruel officials (kuli 酷吏, also translated as “merciless judges”) who were skilled Legalists, to repress the power of wealthy families that was empire-wide, even though the empire claimed to follow the doctrines of Confucius.30 Chen’s explanation partly resolved this contradiction. Another important factor was the continuous transmission of Legalism and its education system – one could learn within his family and/or from other masters. Zhong Hao’s 鍾皓 biography in the Hou Hanshu recorded that, much like Guo Gong and his family, Zhong Hao’s “was a well-known family in their commandery, specializing in criminal law for generations” (爲郡著姓，世善刑律).31 There must have been a great many families like this in the Eastern Han period. The Legalist school still possessed a significant social base; Confucianism had not yet dominated intellectual trends. At that time, Confucian teachings were gradually permeating the whole of society from high to low. He Zhuo made note of this too – his marginal comment on Dong Xuan’s 董宣 biography in the Hou Hanshu ( juan 77) states: Dong Xuan, He Bing, and people of their like should not be listed in the “Biographies of Cruel Officials.” Li Zhang only killed criminals to excess when he was governor of Qiansheng prefecture. It was not that they killed many people on a capricious whim. Fan [Ye] began this juan with these three men, perhaps because Emperor Guangwu made the governance of officials very harsh, and the officials went further and became too cruel. This revealed that so-called good governance in this resurgent time [the Guangwu reign, 25–57 CE] was not perfect. However, my humble opinion is that there need not be “Biographies of Cruel Officials” [in the Hou Hanshu]. 董宣、何並之流不當列之《酷吏》，李章亦惟在千乘時誅斬盜賊過 濫，非任喜怒、多誅滅也。而范首及此三人，蓋以建武吏事刻深，上 30 31

Chen Suzhen 陳蘇鎮, Chunqiu yu “Handao”: Liang Han zhengzhi yu zhengzhi wenhua yanjiu 《春秋》與“漢道”：兩漢政治與政治文化研究 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2011), 486–513. Fan Ye, Hou Hanshu, juan 62, 2064.

88

chapter 3 好下甚，則必有入于酷者。明中興之美，坐是未盡耳。然竊謂東京 《酷吏傳》可以不立。  

Here, He wrote that “there need not be ‘Biographies of Cruel Officials,’” arguing that Dong Xuan, He Bing and Li Zhang were not truly cruel officials. He must have made a comparison between the Western Han and the Eastern Han and found that in the Eastern Han, not only did the number of cruel officials decline dramatically, but the so-called “cruel officials” also became less cruel. The “cruel officials” were being “Confucianized” (rusheng hua 儒生化), to employ a term proposed by Yan Buke 閻步克, a modern scholar. Yan made this argument clearer by comparing the “Biographies of Cruel Officials” in the Shiji and Hanshu with those in the Hou Hanshu. He found that there were fifteen cruel officials recorded in the Shiji and Hanshu, but only seven in the Hou Hanshu. Among these seven “cruel officials,” Dong Xuan was well-known for his upright and outspoken personality. When put into prison, he read and recited [Confucian books] from morning to night. He also abided by Confucian moral tenets. Another “cruel official” in the Hou Hanshu, Li Zhang, studied the Yan 顏 annotations to the Spring and Autumn Annals and was sufficiently wellversed to teach them. Huang Chang 黃昌 had also once studied the Confucian Classics. Wang Ji 王吉 loved to read [Confucian] texts and their annotations. Only Fan Ye 樊曄, Zhou Ji 周緝 and Yang Qiu 陽球 tended toward the study of Shen Buhai 申不害 and Han Fei 韓非, two Legalists in the Warring States period. Yet Zhou Ji and Yang Qiu joined hands with the Confucian scholars to fight against the eunuchs. In this sense, Yan Buke claimed, the cruel officials were Confucianized, or we could also say that the Confucians were “cruelofficialized” (kuli hua 酷吏化). That is, the cruel officials learned the Confucian teachings and were gradually influenced by Confucian doctrines; meanwhile, the Confucian scholars started to master more administrative skills (such as law) and threw themselves into practical affairs. Therefore, Yan Buke agrees with He Zhuo’s view that “there need not be ‘Biographies of Cruel Officials’ [in the Hou Hanshu].”32 This shows that He Zhuo’s view was rather novel and insightful for his time. This is a critique of the historiography of the Hou Hanshu. Marginalia of this kind were not rare. In these historiographical comments, He Zhuo usually criticized the collection, sorting and trimming various historical sources, and the author’s writing skills, views and attitudes concerning historical events and figures. In addition, He also paid much attention to previous scholars’ annotations of the Hou Hanshu, correcting or complimenting them. For example, 32

Yan Buke 閻步克, Shidafu zhengzhi yanshengshi gao 士大夫政治演生史稿 (Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 1996), 450–451.

The “ Reading Seed ”

89

he corrected errors regarding the Directorate of the Palace Library (Mishu jian 秘書監), a very important position in the Han court that headed the Department of the Palace Library (Mishu sheng 秘書省), which was in charge of collecting court documents and compiling official histories. But there was no Directorate of the Palace Library listed in the “Treatise of Officials” (Baiguan zhi 百官志) of the Xu Hanzhi. However, in the “Annals of Emperor Huan” (Huandi ji 桓帝紀) it was recorded that the Directorate of the Palace Library was initially set up in the second year of the Yanxi 延熹 (158–166) era. Liu Zhao’s annotation states: “Directorate of the Palace Library, one person, ranked at 600 bushels.” In the “Treatise of Officials Part II,” under Erudite of the Chamberlain for Ceremonials (Taichang boshi 太常博士), Liu’s annotation states: “According to the ‘Annals of Emperor Huan,’ the Directorate of the Palace Library was set up in the second year of the Yanxi era.” This means that Liu’s annotator tended to believe that the Directorate of the Palace Library was subordinate to the Chamberlain for Ceremonials (Taichang 太常). This, according to He Zhuo, was incorrect. In the “Treatise of Officials Part III” of the Xu Hanzhi ( juan 26), under Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues, there was the entry “Head of the Orchid Pavilion (Lantai lingshi 蘭台令使), ranked at 600 bushels.” He Zhuo’s marginal comment here reads: In the “Table of noble ranks and government offices” of the Hanshu ( juan 19), the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief worked within the palace and the Orchid Pavilion and was in charge of books and secret documents. It was recorded in the “Annals of Emperor Huan” [of the Hou Hanshu] that the Directorate of the Palace Library was initially set up in the second year of the Yanxi era. The annotation cited the Hanguan yi: “Directorate of the Palace Library, one person, ranked at 600 bushels.” This official position should be listed under the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief and was subordinate to the Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues [in the Hou Hanshu]. It was omitted in this treatise. Liu’s annotation added it under the Erudite of the Chamberlain for Ceremonials. This is incorrect. 《前書·百官公卿表》御史中丞在殿中，蘭臺掌圖籍秘書。《桓紀》     延熹二年初置秘書監官，注引《漢官儀》“秘書監一人，秩六百 石”。其官當列中丞下，屬於少府。而此志遺之，劉氏注補于太常博 士之下，則非也。

By citing the Hou Hanshu, He Zhuo stated that the Directorate of the Palace Library should be listed under the Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief and subordinate to the Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues, and the annotation

90

chapter 3

supplementing it under the Erudite of the Chamberlain for Ceremonials was incorrect. He Zhuo not only pointed out the hasty omission in the main text of the Hou Hanshu, but also spelled out how the annotator had made the mistake. In the Wei 魏 dynasty, the Directorate of the Palace Library was initially subordinate to the Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues. This was supposed to follow the old custom of the Eastern Han. But the Tongdian 通典 (Comprehensive institutions) records that the Directorate of the Palace Library was subordinate to the Chamberlain for Ceremonials, following the record of Liu’s annotation in the Hou Hanshu.33 There is still no final conclusion on the subordination of the Directorate of the Palace Library in the Eastern Han, but He Zhuo’s comments remind us that there may be a problem in the historical record of the Hou Hanshu and its annotation. In addition to the Hou Hanshu, He Zhuo also read and wrote a great deal of marginalia in the Shiji, Hanshu, Sanguo zhi, Nanshi 南史 (History of the Southern Dynasties), Beishi 北史 (History of the Northern Dynasties), Wudaishi 五代史 (History of the Five Dynasties), Shitong 史通 (Conspectus of historiography), Huayangguo zhi 華陽國志 (Records of the lands south of Mt. Hua), Zhongwu jiwen 中吳紀聞 (Collected stories from the Wu Region) and Shuijing zhu 水經注 (Water classic with annotations). His marginalia in these histories, historiographical works, and historical-geographical works are full of insightful comments. He Zhuo was also an expert in the appreciation and authentication for the rubbings of ancient stone inscriptions and calligraphic writings on silk and paper (beitie 碑帖). His comments on these types of books, such as the Gengzi xiaoxia ji 庚子銷夏記 (Records written in the summer of the gengzi year), and the Fashu yaolu 法書要錄 (Essential compendium on calligraphy) also have considerable academic and historical value. His marginalia in Tang and Song poetry were praised because his research was based not only on precise textual criticism, but also on precise comparisons between poetry and history, thus influential when it came to the reading and study of poetry, the history of Chinese literary criticism, and the history of reading. In short, although He Zhuo sometimes derived his practice from the approaches of annotating eight-legged essays, his marginalia were not a type of “study of papers’ tails.” The examples above illustrate that He’s comments and analysis are based on his knowledge of history, philology, bibliographic studies, and other fields. That is, He’s comments and analysis contain a significant amount of evidential features. 33

Du You 杜佑, Tongdian 通典 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1992), 732–733.

The “ Reading Seed ”

5

91

The Stigmatization of a Scholar

He Zhuo never stopped collecting, reading, collating books and writing marginalia. As the Kangxi Emperor remarked, He Zhuo was a real reading seed. In addition, based on his contributions to textual criticism and bibliographic studies, he can be regarded as one of the founders of evidential research. However, his moral character and scholarly achievements were disparaged over time by some Qing scholars for political reasons; thus, he has long been underappreciated – almost neglected – in modern scholarship. In the following section, I will show how He Zhuo was stigmatized. In the later period of the Kangxi Emperor’s reign, his sons fought fiercely over succession to their father’s throne. In the end, the fourth prince, Yinzhen 胤禛 (1678–1735), was victorious and ascended to the throne in 1723, becoming the Yongzheng 雍正 Emperor (r. 1722–1735). In the power struggle, He Zhuo’s student Yinsi was favored by most officials in the imperial court, who had a very large support network that included many top-ranking officials. Four years after the Yongzheng Emperor ascended the throne, when he had consolidated his rule, he started to slaughter his brothers who had fought against him for the throne, and this brought disaster as well upon the officials who had supported them. By this time, He Zhuo had been dead for years, but he was not spared. Jiang Liangji 蔣良驥 wrote in the Donghua lu 東華錄 (Chronicle of the Qing Dynasty): In the third month [of the 4th year of the Yongzheng reign], the Great Academician and the Nine Chief Ministers presented a memorial to the emperor, saying: “Qian Mingshi the expositor-in-waiting composed poems and sent them to Nian Gengyao to glorify his accomplishments. For this extreme sycophancy, he should be dismissed and punished.” The emperor’s decree read: “In the past, Qian Mingshi, He Zhuo, and Chen Menglei all had literary fame. But they were dishonorable in conduct and their comportment was despicable.” （雍正四年）三月，大學士九卿等奏:“食侍講俸之錢名世，作詩投贈   年羮堯稱功頌德，備極謟諛，應革職治罪。  ”得旨:“向來如錢名世、   何焯、陳夢雷等，皆頗有文名，可惜行止不端，立身卑汚。  ” 34

34

Jiang Liangji 蔣良驥, Donghua lu 東華錄 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1980), juan 27, 451.

92

chapter 3

Wang Xianqian wrote in his Donghua lu: On the jiazi day [of the sixth month of the 4th year of the Yongzheng reign], the Imperial Prince Kang (Chong’an) and the other princes, the Beile Princes, Beizi Princes, dukes, and the Manchu and Han officials civil and military, all presented memorials to the emperor denouncing Akina’s [lit., pig, denoting Yinsi] forty crimes…. Most of the time, [Yinsi] was controlled by his wife. One day when he was talking with He Zhuo, she laughed out loud outside the door without restraint. He also brought He Zhuo’s little daughter into his house and treated her as his own daughter…. After being stripped of the title of Beile Prince, he secretly used silver and horses to draw Rufu and others into his clique, and secretly conspired with the eunuch Li Yu and managed to dismiss Emuketuo who concurrently served in the Imperial Dining Room. He also aligned with He Zhuo who worked in the Hanlin Academy. They won undeserved renown and harboured disloyal thoughts. （雍正四年六月）甲子，康親王崇安暨諸王、貝勒、貝子、公、滿漢   文武大臣等，公同議奏阿其那罪狀四十款……（胤禩）平日受制於 妻，一日與何焯共談，任聽伊妻門外大笑，不知省避。又將何焯之幼 女私養宅中，以為已女。……既革貝勒之後，暗以銀馬等物要結汝福 等人入黨，又密同太監李玉，擅革膳房行走之厄穆克托，又與翰林院 何焯固結匪黨，盜取名譽，潛蓄異心。35

This indicates that Yongzheng Emperor’s court spared no effort to damage Yinsi’s reputation, and He Zhuo was also drawn into the political brawl. One prominent modern scholar, Deng Zhicheng 鄧之誠 (1887–1960), pointed out that He Zhuo was lucky that he had died earlier. Otherwise, as one of Yinsi’s trusted aids and a skilled counsellor, He Zhuo might not have his head after the fourth year of the Yongzheng reign.36 But, unfortunately, his reputation was ruined and a shadow was cast over his scholarly contributions. These decrees of the Yongzheng Emperor spread widely and were influential. Some scholars blindly – or intentionally – followed these descriptions and despised He Zhuo without carefully reading his works. For example, Chen Kangqi 陳康祺 (1840– 1890) stated: 35 36

Wang Xianqian 王先謙, Donghua lu 東華錄, “Yongzheng ba” 雍正八, 58a–59a, in Xuxiu Siku quanshu, vol. 173, 174. See Deng Zhicheng 鄧之誠, Qingshi jishi chubian 清詩紀事初編, juan 3, in Zhou Junfu ed., Qingdai zhuanji congkan, vol. 20, 353.

The “ Reading Seed ”

93

He Zhuo knew nothing about gratitude and was dishonourable in his conduct, which can be seen from the decrees of the two reigns [i.e., the Kangxi reign and the Yongzheng reign]. People within the Four Seas, please do not be shocked by his spurious reputation. 何焯之不識恩義，行止不端，遂明見之兩朝諭旨矣，海内人士幸勿以 浮名而震之。37

Chen, like many other scholars from the Qing dynasty, employed an expression similar to those used in Yongzheng’s decrees. His knowledge of He Zhuo came from Yongzheng’s decrees rather than He Zhuo’s works and marginalia. In this, he claimed that He Zhuo had an “spurious reputation” ( fuming 浮名). Yu Zhengxie, for his part, claimed that He Zhuo’s learning “was mostly something that deceived the human heart” (生平多欺心之學).38 This claim was also influenced by Yongzheng’s decrees. None of these were impartial judgements. As a reading seed who preserved, restored and transmitted texts and contributed much to textual studies, He Zhuo should not have had his works and reputation erased. I am not arguing that he was innocent in the princes’ battle for the succession to the throne; rather, what I want to emphasize is that we should pay more attention to scholars’ scholarly practices and achievements, which can shed light on the goals of their work and on the range of choices that they considered in writing their philosophical or religious works or taking political and social actions. What happened to He Zhuo also happened to other Qing scholars. In the following chapters, I will try to “rescue” some of them – many of whom may be unfamiliar to most modern readers – by investigating their scholarly practices, especially those related to reading and collating books, and composing and transcribing marginalia. 37 38

Chen Kangqi 陳康祺, Lang qian jiwen erbi 郎潛紀聞二筆 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1997), juan 8, 475. Yu Zhengxie 俞正燮, Guisi cungao, in Congshu jicheng chubian, vol. 430, 431.

chapter 4

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia Since marginalia were mainly handwritten comments usually in printed books, their production and circulation were a hybrid of print culture and manuscript culture. In this particular textual culture, the transcription of marginalia as a scholarly practice occupied a very fundamental position. “Transcribe” guolu 過錄 means to hand-copy a text from one book to another. Records and physical evidence of the transcription of marginalia prior to the Qing are rare. He Zhuo, as well as his contemporaries, composed a great number of marginalia and transcribed some prior scholars’ marginalia. Soon after He’s death, a growing number of scholars became involved in the practice of transcribing marginalia. This practice created a prominent scholarly culture centered on marginalia – a systematic way for scholars to think, analyze and act. I call this scholarly culture “marginalia culture” and will argue in the following chapters that the “marginalia culture” had profound implications for the scholarship and society of the Qing China. This chapter focuses on various transcriptionists and the scholarly communities formed based on marginalia. Taking the transcription of He Zhuo’s marginalia as an example, this chapter will argue that 1) marginalia supplied new ways for students to undertake scholarly training and for scholars to establish various connections across time and space; 2) the work of transcribing was undertaken not only by professional scribes and scholars, but also by book collectors, calligraphers, and booksellers who could earn a living through this scholarly practice. Together they formed a variety of scholarly communities – or a “communications circuit,” to use Robert Darton’s term1 – through which information, knowledge and thought were efficiently disseminated; and 3) textual criticism and bibliographic analyses in marginalia shaped the content and form of the texts that Qing scholars read and changed the way that scholars and readers understood and dealt with ancient texts. In a word, the marginalia culture helped to facilitate the emergence and development of the kaozheng movement and shaped it into a particular form.

1 See Darnton, The Kiss of Lamourette, pp. 107–135.

© Yinzong Wei, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004508477_005

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

1

95

He Zhuo and His Students: Transcription of the Teacher’s Marginalia

Well known in his time, He Zhuo had approximately four hundred students;2 they formed the first-generation transcriptionists. Through transcribing marginalia, He Zhuo and his students formed a scholarly circle in which a huge number of texts were disseminated and a set of scholarly approaches were shared with each other. As He Zhuo was also a noted scholar and pioneer of textual criticism, transcribing his notes gave students a chance to practice their calligraphy in addition to working closely with all the research materials and the academic knowledge he passed on. For instance, in a copy of a Ming woodblock edition of the Zhouli zhushu 周禮注疏 (The Rites of Zhou with annotations and sub-annotations) held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XST04967-80), we discover many notes original to Shen Tong 沈彤 (courtesy name Guanyun 冠 雲, alternative name Guotang 果堂, 1688–1752) alongside his transcriptions of the marginalia of He Zhuo, his teacher. Most of He’s and Shen’s marginalia consist of collation notes and evidential research on the Zhouli zhushu. At the end of this book, there is a colophon composed by He Zhuo and transcribed by Shen Tong. It reads: In the bingxu year of the Kangxi reign [1706], I had the opportunity to see a [a copy of the Zhouli zhushu in a] Song edition repaired in the Yuan dynasty. I made one rough pass at collation. Noted by He Zhuo. 康熙丙戌得見內府宋版元修本，粗校一過。焯識。

The Zhouli zhushu was a very common book in the late Ming and early Qing period, but when He Zhuo encountered an edition printed from blocks carved in the Song and repaired in the Yuan, he conscientiously compared the Ming and Song-Yuan texts and recorded the variants (yiwen 異文) in the Ming edition – one of the basic collation methods of Chinese traditional textual criticism, called duijiao 對校 (to collate by comparison). It was not long before Shen Tong dedicated himself to transcribing the variants into another edition.

2 See He Zhuo, Yimen xiansheng ji, “Appendix;” Shen Tong, “Hanlinyuan bianxiu zeng shiduxueshi Yimen xiansheng xingzhuang,” in He Zhuo, Yimen dushu ji, 1275.

96

chapter 4

Shen Tong was a well-known classicist in the early Qing period and considered by Quan Zuwang 全祖望 (1705–1755) one of He Zhuo’s best students.3 After He’s death, it was Shen Tong who composed the xingzhuang 行状 (lit. brief biography) of his mentor. Shen specialized in the Three Ritual Classics (Sanli 三禮, i.e., Rites of Zhou, Rites and Ceremonies, and Records of Rites). He Zhuo’s marginalia, and the variants from the Song-Yuan edition in particular, provided very important information with which to study the text of the Three Ritual Classics. Therefore, transcribing his teacher’s marginalia, especially the variants and textual criticism, was a way for Shen to accumulate knowledge and research resources. As mentioned in the introduction, the most prevalent scholarly method in the Qing dynasty, evidential research, was an evidence-based approach mainly focused on the study of ancient Chinese texts. Reliable study was based on reliable evidence, and reliable evidence first and foremost referred to reliable texts. Most Qing scholars had faith in the reliability of the Song and Yuan editions. If these were unavailable, variants that could demonstrate the textual characteristics of Song and Yuan editions were a good substitute. This is one reason He Zhuo’s marginalia, the majority of which concerned variants and other information from Song and Yuan editions, were treasured and transcribed in the Qing. In addition to Shen Tong, scholars such as Hui Dong 惠棟, Wu Xin 吳昕, Wang Xinfu 王欣夫 also transcribed He Zhuo’s marginalia into their own versions of the Zhouli zhushu. These are discussed in detail below. Another He Zhuo’s student who assiduously applied himself to He’s marginalia was Jiang Gao 蒋杲 (courtesy name Zizun 子遵, alternative name Huangting 篁亭, 1683–1731). Jiang Gao received the jinshi degree in 1713 and was appointed Director of the Ministry of Revenue (hubu langzhong 户部郎 中), and subsequently, Governor of Lianzhou 廉州 in Guangdong province. Influenced by He Zhuo, Jiang Gao was an expert in book collection and identification of book editions. He Zhuo had taught him identify book editions in He’s studio and Jiang’s library, the Zhushu Tower (Zhushu lou 貯書樓, alternate name Cishu lou 賜書樓). To date, five titles have been found with He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by Jiang Gao,4 which demonstrate that Jiang not only 3 Quan Zuwang 全祖望, “Shen Guotang mubanwen” 沈果堂墓版文, in Quan Zuwang ji huijiao jizhu 全祖望集彙校集注 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2000), 361. 4 They are: 1) Shitong 史通 (Conspectus of historiography), Ming woodblock edition cut by Zhang Zhixiang 張之象, held at the Shanghai Library (XS832937-38); 2) Kunxue jiwen 困學紀 聞 (Observations culled from arduous study), Ming woodblock edition held at the National Library of China (SB11096); 3) Xie Xuancheng shiji 謝宣城詩集 (The collected poems of Xie Tiao 謝朓), manuscript copied by Jiang Gao in 1710 held at the National Library of China (SB08374);4) Jiang Langxian Changjiang ji 賈浪仙長江集 (The collected works of Jia Dao

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

97

gained scholarly training from his teacher but also practiced calligraphy by imitating his teacher’s handwriting. It seems that, in his studies with He Zhuo, collating books was the scholarly training that benefitted Jiang the most. Jiang transcribed many of the collation notes that were composed by He and recorded them in his colophons. There is a short colophon in the Xie Xuancheng shiji (Collected poems of Xie Tiao 謝朓), stating: In the second [lunar] month of the gengyin year of the Kangxi reign [1710], I collated the Xie Xuancheng shiji in Master Yimen’s (He Zhuo’s) house and copied this volume. Written by Jiang Gao, the Recluse of the Fragrant Cliff. 康熙庚寅二月借義門師處校正《宣城詩集》，手錄一冊。香岩小隱 蔣杲。

In 1710, Jiang Gao was 27 sui, and He Zhuo 49. Jiang was learning how to authenticate editions and collate classical texts. In He’s studio, Jiang copied not only an entire anthology of Xie Tiao’s poetry, but also his teacher’s marginalia. The collating notes in the bottom margins contain variants from one manuscript copy, another old manuscript copy, and a contemporary woodblock edition, among others, all of which is evidence of He’s efforts to collate all available texts of the collection. His original copy is lost, so Jiang’s transcription is the only source of information we have for it. Jiang Gao was also well known for his skillful imitation of He Zhuo’s calligraphy. A Ming edition of the Shitong in the Shanghai Library (call number: XS832937-38) is filled with He Zhuo’s marginalia, transcribed in red ink by Jiang Gao. We know that this edition was transcribed by Jiang because there is a short colophon at the end of the book stating, “Composed by my teacher Yimen, and transcribed by [Jiang] Gao on the eleventh day of the seventh month of 1710” (義門師記。庚寅七月十一日杲錄), and also because Jiang was well known for his skill in imitating He’s handwriting and the small semicursive characters closely resemble those of He Zhuo (see figure 4.1). Therefore, marginalia lacking identifying colophons but transcribed in a similar hand 賈島, abb. Changjiang ji), Qing edition cut in Xi Qiyu’s 席啟寓 Qinchuan shuwu 琴川書 屋 during the Kangxi reign, held at the Fu Ssu Nien Library in Taibei; 5) Sanguo zhi 三國志 (History of the Three Kingdoms), woodblock edition carved in the late Ming by the Mao family, held at the Shanghai Library (XS795562-69, Jiang Gao’s marginalia and his transcription of He’s marginalia in this copy were transcribed by an unknown scholar named Diao Daigao 刁戴高 [alternative name Yueshan 約山]).

98

figure 4.1 Last half-leaf of the Shitong, woodblock edition carved in the Ming dynasty. This colophon was composed by He Zhuo, and transcribed by Jiang Gao Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS832937-38)

chapter 4

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

99

have been attributed to Jiang. The marginalia in another copy of the Shitong, a Ming woodblock edition held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XST0124853, see figure 4.2), resembles He’s calligraphy to the extent that a late Qing book collector, Deng Zhengan 鄧邦述 (courtesy name Zheng’an 正闇, 1868–1939), initially mistook it for a holograph. Only when he saw authentic marginalia by He Zhuo in another copy of the Shitong,5 did Deng realized that this was a transcription. Pan Boshan 潘博山 (1904–1943), another well-known book collector, identified the transcriber as Jiang Gao.6 This misattribution and authentication history is recorded in the book’s colophons. Jiang Gao, like his teacher, became a book collector and textual scholar. He not only transcribed He Zhuo’s marginalia, but also carefully collated many books and wrote his own marginalia in exquisite calligraphy. A mid-Qing scholar and poet, Peng Zhaosun 彭兆蓀 (courtesy name Xianghan 湘涵, or Ganting 甘亭, 1769–1821) praised Jiang Gao: Mr. [Jiang] Huangting collsated hundreds of Classics and histories. All of them, refined and done meticulously in red and yellow ink, were praised in artistic and literary circles. Collectors treasure copies formerly held in the Zhushu Tower. 篁亭先生手校諸經史，不下數十百種，皆丹黃精謹，藝林所稱。貯書 樓本得者藏弆以為寶。

Besides Shen Tong and Jiang Gao, He Zhuo’s other students such as Chen Shaozhang 陳景雲 (courtesy name Shangzhang 少章, 1670–1747), Yao Shiyu 姚世鈺 (courtesy name Yucai 玉裁, alternative name Yitian 薏田, 1695–1749) and Wang Youdun 汪由敦 (courtesy name Shitiao 師苕, 1692–1758) also transcribed their teacher’s marginalia. It seems that He Zhuo sometimes received feedback from them as well. In juan 38 of the Hou Hanshu held at the PKU Library, the main text reads: “何遽其必敗乎” (Why did we fail so quickly?), for which He Zhuo’s marginal note states: [Chen] Shaozhang says: A character “策” (ce) is missing after “遽” ( ju). 少章謂:“遽”下少一 “策” 字。 5 This copy of Shitong in He’s hand is now held at the National Library of China, call number 11313. 6 See the colophon by Ye Jingkui 葉景葵 (1874–1949) at the beginning of this book, and the colophons by Wu Cipei 吳慈培 and Deng Bangshu 鄧邦述 at the end.

100

figure 4.2 Leaf 22b of juan 20 of the Shitong, woodblock edition carved in the Ming dynasty. The marginalia, which resemble He Zhuo’s handwriting, were transcribed by an unknown transcriptionist Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XST01248-53)

chapter 4

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

101

This sentence was the last from General Zhang Zong’s 張宗 speech to his commander when he was a general and their army was in a critical situation. Zhang asked to be the rear guard, saying: I have heard that when one soldier exerts all his strength [to fight], he will be mightier than one hundred men; when tens of thousands of soldiers face death with no regret, that army will be invincible. I, Zhang Zong, now have an army of thousands of soldiers and have the great power. Why must we fail so quickly? 愚聞一卒畢力，百人不當；萬夫致死，可以橫行。宗今擁兵數千，以 承大威。何遽其必敗乎？

Here, Zhang Zong says that they still had thousands of soldiers so victory was possible even though the enemy had more soldiers. Thus, it is more logical for the last sentence to be “Why are you so hasty to expect us to fail?” rather than “Why must we fail so quickly?” Chen Jingyun was right that “策” (ce, to expect) should be added in this sentence. Chen, one of He’s students, specialized in the Hanshu, Hou Hanshu and Tang poetry. He Zhuo mentions him several times in his marginalia and praises his erudition on the history of the two Han dynasties. In marginalia to a Qing edition of the Tangshi guchui 唐詩鼓吹 (The Celebration of Tang Poetry), carved in the sixteenth year of the Shunzhi reign (1659) and preserved in the Chongqing Library, the communication between the master and his students is more apparent. In this copy, Chen Jingyun first transcribed his teacher’s marginalia. He Zhuo then wrote additional comments on both the main text and his marginalia as transcribed by Chen Jingyun, and Chen later wrote many comments on these previous texts. Wang Xinfu found that the marginalia in this book were written by He Zhuo and Chen Jingyun, observing that “He Zhuo’s handwriting is smooth and ornate, while Chen Shaozhang’s handwriting is formal and careful” (何書流麗，陳書恭謹).7 Concerning the content of the marginalia, he commented: “Most of He’s words are literary commentaries, whereas most of Chen’s words are about evidential research” (何語 多評泊，陳語多考據).8 In juan one of this copy, there is a piece of He Zhuo’s marginalia in Liu Yuxi’s 劉禹錫 poem “Ku Lü Hengzhou” 哭呂衡州 (Crying for Lü Hengzhou), transcribed by Chen Shaozhang, which reads: “Seeing this 7 Wang Xinfu 王欣夫, Yishuxuan qie cun shanben shulu 蛾術軒篋存善本書錄 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2002), 676. 8 Wang Xinfu, Yishuxuan qie cun shanben shulu, 676.

102

chapter 4

piece, we can tell that the talents of Liu [Yuxi] and Liu [Zongyuan] are far from each other” (觀此篇，可以知劉、柳才力相去之遠). But later this sentence was crossed off and two other characters, “butong” 不通 (nonsense), were written alongside by He Zhuo himself. Chen Jingyun appended his own opinion as follows: The comment about the talents [of Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan] is one piece of my deceased teacher’s marginalia that I transcribed in the jisi year [1689]. It was later crossed out. The running comments on the two characters were written by my deceased teacher in the spring of the xinwei year [1691]. When talking about essays of the Tang dynasty, Master Ouyang also claimed that Liu [Yuxi] and Liu [Zongyuan] were equal, which suffices for us to know that the ancients initially did not think there was a difference between these two masters. It is appropriate that master [He] did not think his earlier comment was fair. 才力相去之評，乃余己巳冬錄先師舊批，後又抹去。側注二字者，則 先師辛未春首批也。歐陽公論唐代文章，亦以劉、柳宗並稱，足知古 人于二公初無軒輊。宜師不以前評為允也。9

In this last piece, Chen referred to He Zhuo as his “deceased teacher,” indicating that it was written after He’s death (1722), more than thirty years after Chen first transcribed He’s marginalia (1689). From other examples recorded in the marginalia of this copy, we learn that during those thirty years, He Zhuo changed his opinions several times because of his accumulation of research materials. The most interesting point is that He Zhuo did not revise just his own marginalia editions, but also those in which his marginalia had been transcribed by his students. One possible reason is that He Zhuo wanted to get some feedback from his students or other scholars. Sometimes He Zhuo also obtained new texts from his students. In the Su xueshi ji 蘇學士集 (Collected works of Su Shunqin 蘇舜欽, 1008–1048, courtesy name Zimei 子美, an outstanding poet of the early Song) held at the Shanghai Library (XS824382-83), He Zhuo’s colophon, transcribed by Qian Taiji 錢泰吉 (courtesy name Fuyi 輔宜, 1791–1863), reads: I am annoyed that the newly carved Suzimei ji has many mistakes. One of my students, Lü Yili of Shimen County whose father [Lü] Wudang ranked second in the imperial examination of the wuxu year [1718], said his 9 Wang Xinfu, Yishuxuan qie cun shanben shulu, 676.

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

103

family had an old manuscript copy. It now belongs to one of his uncles. He has kept only the copy collated by his deceased father. Thus, I borrowed it and collated my own copy…. Written by He Zhuo in the third month of the gengyin year of the Kangxi reign [1710]. 新開雕《蘇子美集》，余病其訛謬至多。學徒石門呂懿歷，戊戌榜眼 無黨先生之子，言其家有舊鈔本，今已分屬諸父，而其先公所校之本 獨存，因假以是正……康熙庚寅三月晦日何焯記。

In the tenth month of this year, student Li brought his family’s old copy to me, which was a manuscript copy produced in Mr. Wu Wending’s Congshutang in my hometown and obtained by his grandfather Mr. [Lü] Wancun from the Qi family in Shanyin County. On the basis of this copy I revised the order of the table of contents and wrote this [colophon] at the end. There are tables of contents at the beginning of each juan in this manuscript copy. Younger generations have no chance to see the Song edition, but this can serve as evidence of it. Zhuo. 是歲良月，呂生持其家舊本至，乃吾鄉吳文定公叢書堂鈔本，其祖晚 邨先生得之山陰祁氏者也。因得改正目錄卷次而記其後。鈔本每卷之 首又各有目，後生不得見宋雕，此亦足以為據矣。焯。

This colophon tells us that He did have a chance to see a manuscript copy of Su Shunqing’s poetry anthology. He collated his own copy referencing it, writing down the variants and these colophons. This manuscript copy was brought to him by one of his students, Lü Yili, son of the book collector Lü Baozhong 呂葆忠 (courtesy Wudang 無黨, ?–1708) and grandson of the well-known scholar, thinker and physician Lü Liuliang (courtesy name Yonghui 用晦, alternative name Wancun 晚村, 1629–1683). According to He’s colophon, Lü Liuliang got this manuscript copy from the Qi family in Shanyin (in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province). The Qi family was renowned for book collecting in the late Ming era. Catalogues of their collection, the Danshengtang cangshumu 澹生堂 藏書目 (Catalogue of the Dansheng Hall) and the Danshengtang dushu ji 澹生 堂讀書記 (Reading notes written in the Dansheng Hall), are still very important documents for the study of book production, circulation and collection in the late Ming.10

10

See Qi Chenghan 祁承㸁, Danshengtang cangshumu 澹生堂藏書目 and Danshengtang dushu ji 澹生堂讀書記 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2015).

104 2

chapter 4

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

He Zhuo’s scholarly circle was not limited to him and his students. He also had connections with many noted families, biographers, and scholars in Beijing where he worked and in the Jiangnan area where he was born and raised. Through complex networks of learning and exchanging texts, they formed a large scholarly community in which books, sources, information, and new scholarly approaches were shared. It was in this kind of scholarly communities that the kaoju movement started to take shape and gain momentum. He Zhuo had gathered sources and opinions from his teachers. In his marginalia, there are many comments composed by Li Guangdi 李光地 (courtesy Jinqing 晉卿, alternative name Rongcun 榕村, 1642–1718) who was once He’s teacher.11 He Zhuo also worked with his younger brother He Huang 何煌 (courtesy name Xinyou 心友, 1668–1745), a book collector and textual scholar, on the collation of some texts and exchanged texts with him via post. He Zhuo’s colophon at the end of juan 7 of the Hou Hanshu held at the PKU Library (call number: LSB/7288) reads: In the jiawu year of the Kangxi reign [1714], my younger brother Xinyou got an incomplete Song edition [of the Hou Hanshu] from juan 3 to the middle of this juan held by the Ye family of Baoshan. He sent me the character variants after collation, and I corrected several dozens of errors [in my own copy]. 康熙甲午，心友弟得包山葉氏所藏殘宋本第三卷至此卷之半，以所校 字寫寄，因改正數十處。

After collating a book, He Huang always copied the character variants and his comments, and sent them to his elder brother. Here, the text was transmitted, rather than the book itself; dissemination of the text could thus be relatively independent from the book. There are several books in circulation today collated by both He Zhuo and He Huang: for most, the marginalia were produced in this way. The Ye family mentioned by He Huang was famous for their book collection and production from the Southern Song to the end of the Qing. Establishing an intimate relationship with this and many other book-collecting families gained He access to many rare editions. For instance, in the Wudai shiji held at 11

Such as He’s marginalia in the Hanwen chao held at the National Library of China (manuscript copy, call number 06252).

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

105

the Shanghai Library (call number: XS847873-78), He’s colophon (transcribed by Yao Shiyu) states: In the winter of the jiashen year of the Kangxi reign [1704], I borrowed from Chuyin, the eldest son of Qian Zeng (courtesy name Zunwang), the Wudai shiji that was once read by his father, Dongjian, the Minister of Rites. Therefore, I transcribed his marginalia. This book was read by the Minister of Rites in his youth so his comments are not refined. But compared with those of others, his are already neat and tidy. I also added and subtracted a few parts and am very worried due to my rash work. Noted by Zhuo. 康熙甲申冬日從虞山錢（曾）[遵] 王先生長子楚殷借得宗伯東澗翁 所閱《五代史記》，因而傳之。此書乃宗伯壯年閱本，未為精密，然 視他人則眉目井然具矣。余亦少有增損，殊以妄作自懼云。 焯記。

He Zhuo borrowed this copy from Qian Chuyin and transcribed the marginalia of Qian’s grandfather’s uncle, Qian Qianyi 錢謙益 (courtesy name Shouzhi 受 之, alternative name Muzhai 牧齋, 1582–1664). Qian Qianyi was a book collector, a great poet and a scholar, and his marginalia were filled with profound insights. Qian Qianyi’s library, the Jiangyun Tower (Jiangyun lou 絳雲樓) held a great number of rare books. Unfortunately, the majority of the collection was destroyed in a fire in 1650. Qian Qianyi gave the remains to his nephew’s grandson, Qian Zeng 錢曾 (courtesy name Zunwang 遵王, 1629–1701), also a noted book collector. Qian Zeng was Chuyin’s father.12 Qian Qianyi, a prominent poet, led the Yushan school (Yushan shipai 虞山 詩派). The Feng brothers, Feng Shu 馮舒 (courtesy name Jicang 己蒼, alternative name Chanshou jushi 孱守居士, 1593–1645) and Feng Ban 馮班 (courtesy name Dingyuan 定遠, alternative name Dunyin laoren 鈍吟老人, 1602–1671), formed the backbone of the Yushan school, and themselves book collectors and publishers. Their books and marginalia were also transmitted to He Zhuo by the Qian family. For example, Weng Tonghe transcribed He Zhuo’s Shitong marginalia into a copy of a Ming woodblock edition (now at the Shanghai Library, call number: 782275–76). We see in this marginalia many comments by Feng Shu that were transcribed from a copy held by the Qian family. He Zhuo’s colophon recorded how he got access to that copy, transcribed the marginalia, and identified the author as Feng Shu. It reads: 12

See Qian Zeng 錢曾, Dushu minqiu ji jiaozheng 讀書敏求記校正, revised by Guan Tingfen 管庭芬 and Zhang Yu (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2007).

106

chapter 4

On the ninth day of the ninth month of the jichou year [1709], I borrowed from Qian Chuyin the copy once read by Chanshou jushi [Feng Shu]. Then I transcribed the comments. What was interlinear was transcribed on the bottom margin. [Feng Shu’s] comments are sharp and excellent most of the time, and are greatly valued by scholars in Yushan. Only Ji Cangwei the Attendant Censor has managed to borrow it before. I would have no chance to see it if Chuyin were not fond of me. Initially I thought it was read by Qian Muweng when he had just started to work in the Historiography Institute. Therefore, I wrote “Qian’s comment” in the top and bottom margins. After carefully asking Chuyin, [I found out that they had been composed by Feng Shu rather than Qian Qianyi, and thus] I made some corrections. Zhuo. 己丑重陽從錢楚殷借得孱守居士閱本，因錄其評語，其在行側者，錄 之闌下。議論亦多英快，虞山學者極矜重之，僅季滄葦侍御一人嘗通 假爾，非楚殷好我，未由見也。始誤以為牧翁初入史館時所閱，故闌 上下皆寫錢評，詳質之楚殷，乃改正云。 焯。

He Zhuo was a big fan of the Feng brothers. He not only transcribed their marginalia, but collated and commented on one of Feng Ban’s works, the Dunyin zalu 鈍吟雜錄 (Literary miscellany by Master Dunyin). He’s marginalia in the Dunyin zalu were transcribed by later scholars, and text and marginalia were edited and printed together.13 He Zhuo also established an intimate relationship with the Mao family, one of the best-known families for book collection and production. He exchanged texts with many other scholars and bibliophiles including Lu Yidian 陸貽典 (courtesy name Chixian 敕先, 1617–1686), Mao Qiling 毛奇齡 (courtesy name Dake 大可, 1629–1713), and Xu Qianxue 徐乾學 (courtesy name Yuanyi 原一, 1631–1694). Composing and transcribing marginalia was by no means a completely new practice. Nevertheless, He Zhuo and scholars of his generation took it to a higher level and made it a new scholarly fashion that spread across the Qing empire and was carried on by a growing number of scholars through the midand late-Qing. For an example of this process, we read at the beginning of the Sanguo zhi held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XS491435-54) a colophon composed by Wang Qisun 王芑孫 (courtesy name Nianfeng 念豐, alternative 13

The Dunyin zalu held at the Shanghai Library (XS771771-72) and two copies at the National Central Library (Taibei) all contain He Zhuo’s marginalia. The Dunyin zalu in the Jieyue shanfang huichao 借月山房彚鈔, zhihai 指海, and other collectanea all have He Zhuo’s marginalia printed as commentaries.

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

107

name Lengqie shanren 楞伽山人, 1755–1818) and transcribed by Fei Yuanshen 費源深 (courtesy name Runquan 潤泉, late 19th c.): This collated copy of the Sanguo zhi is held at the Shili House of my jinshi classmate Huang Yaopu. Yaopu obtained it from Chen Shuhua (alternative name Yequan), who previously lived in Wugang Prefecture. The marginalia transcribed by Yequan were from the Hui family’s Hongdou Study edition. The collation made by Feng [Ban] was well-known for its refinement, and in addition, He Yimen and Chen Shaozhang’s revisions, the Hongdou Study’s [owner’s] transcription of them, and later Yequan’s transcription – all these people were good readers of my hometown – make this copy error-free. 此《三國志》校本，余同年黃蕘圃翁士禮居所藏。蕘圃得之故武岡州 之同陳冶泉樹華，冶泉所度者，惠氏紅豆齋本也。馮校世稱精善，積 以何義門、陳少章先後審正而紅豆齋錄之，冶泉度之，此其人皆吾鄉 之善讀書者，宜無舛錯矣。

On the Wenxuan 文選 (Selections of refined literature) held at the Zhejiang Library (S3563), we find He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by Sun Qilu 孫淇錄 (alternative name Zhuxiang 竹鄉) and Wang Shijin 王式金. Wang’s colophon at the beginning reads: Recently, I happened to visit a bookstore and saw a Wenxuan commented on by He Zhuo and transcribed by Mr. Sun Zhuxiang. Zhuxiang was indeed a reading seed in my hometown. This copy was carefully collated and is worthy of appreciation. 邇者偶過書肆，有何評文選，係竹鄉孫丈臨本。竹鄉故吾邑讀書種子 也。校讎精審，大堪把玩。

Details of Sun Qilu’s life are unknown to us, but we know that Wang Shijin praised him as a “reading seed” in his hometown. Wang’s life is likewise unknown, but his marginalia and transcriptions of earlier scholars’ marginalia were very refined and precise; he, too, was a reading seed. Wang Qisun wrote that He Zhuo, Chen Jingyun, Hui Dong, and Chen Shuhua were all skillful readers, i.e., reading seeds. For them, writing, reading, and transcribing marginalia were extremely important practices. Their world was interwoven with different texts, and those with marginalia were among the most important. They exchanged books and transcribed marginalia from both predecessors

108

chapter 4

and contemporaries. Books and marginalia connected scholars from different times and spaces and helped to form a variety of scholarly communities within which a cluster of scholarly sources, approaches, and attitudes toward books, scholarship, as well as scholarly practices, were shared. The form and features of these scholarly communities can also be illustrated in the examples of following sections and chapters. Before going further, it is necessary to examine the change of marginalia when they were transcribed from one copy to another or when the book that bears them were moved from one owner to another. Generally speaking, the change of marginalia’s “textual space” – their location in a book and the location of the book in a particular physical space – would cause differentiation of their features and significance. For instance, the Changgu ji 昌谷集 (Collected works of Li He 李賀) carved in the Meicun Study (Meicunshuwu 梅邨書屋) in the early Qing era held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XS799517-18) has He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed in red and yellow ink by a Qing scholar, Chen Benli 陳本禮 (courtesy name Jiahui 嘉惠, alternative name Sucun 素村, 1739–1818). He Zhuo’s colophon at the end of the book reads: In the winter of the gengwu year of the Kangxi reign [1690] when I lived in the capital, I wanted to read [Li] Changji’s poems but did not have one [copy of his anthology]. Therefore, I bought this terrible edition from the market. After reading several times, I could not bear to abandon it. Those living in later times, thinking of my difficulty in getting books, should derive from this a determination to study. Noted by Zhuo after twenty years. 康熙庚午冬寓京師，欲讀長吉詩，無之，因從肆中買得此惡本，屢經 目便不忍棄去。後人念余見書之難，願勵志向學也。後二十年焯記。

As a matter of fact, “this terrible edition” does not refer to Chen Benli’s transcribed copy, but to a copy of “that edition” that was once read and had marginalia written on it by He Zhuo and perhaps has already been scattered and lost. So, when reading this colophon, we should keep in mind that the adjective He Zhuo used to describe the quality of the book, “terrible,” may not suit this new copy. At the same time, He Zhuo’s description and comments on the textual and physical features of the old edition may not suit this new edition, either. Actually, while transcribing marginalia, transcriptionists usually made some adjustments to adapt the marginalia to the new edition. There is another

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

109

copy of Changgu ji held at the Shanghai Library (call number: 764582-83), a printed copy of a Ming edition. It is filled with He Zhuo’s marginalia and emphasis marks in red ink, and the quantity of marginalia is greater than that in Chen Benli’s transcription. Moreover, the handwriting resembles He Zhuo’s. If this is the real original copy that He Zhuo read and in which he wrote marginalia, then we know that Chen Benli cut out some of the contents and changed the color while transcribing. If this is only another transcription, either the content and form of the marginalia in this one or in the one transcribed by Chen Benli was modified. Or, more likely, both of them were changed in some way. Generally speaking, marginalia transcribed by professional scribes hired by scholars, bibliophiles, and merchants were much closer to the original copy. For instance, the marginalia in the Hou Hanshu held at PKU that we discussed in chapter 3 were transcribed by three scribes. There is much meaningless content and instructions on composing rhyming couplets and poems in the voluminous marginalia. These contents are in line with the characteristics of He Zhuo’s marginalia in their original form. Except for their handwriting, scribes never left any personal information. Their self-effacement causes an absence of temporal and spatial records, and thus an absence of a particular time and space associated with the text, and therefore ambiguity in the relationship between people, between people and the text, and between the texts. Few scholars would copy all the marginalia into a text without making changes with their own hand. Some scholars only transcribed the collation notes yet ignored all the comments; some would merely transcribe the comments. As for the transcription of the collation notes, when the new copy and the old copy were of different editions, the variants, collation notes, and description of the layout would vary. Moreover, the color and calligraphic style could change during the transcribing. In addition, transcriptionists would alter the location and color of the marginalia based on the physical forms of the new edition, and select the contents of the collation notes and comments according to their personal academic tastes. All of these changes were often described in the colophons. For example, the content of the Geshi bian 歌詩編 (Anthology of poetry), another anthology of Li He’s poetry carved by the Mao family and held at the National Library of China (call number: SB14622), is almost the same as that of the Changgu ji – so much so that Zhang Yu directly transcribed He Zhuo’s marginalia in the Changgu ji into this Geshi bian. Zhang Yu transcribed the marginalia from a copy transcribed by Deng Bangshu, who had transcribed them from a copy transcribed by Chen Ge 陳格. After several generations of transcription, the text of the marginalia transcribed by Zhang

110

chapter 4

became rather complicated, consisting of layers of information accumulated by different scholars. In the colophon at the beginning of the book, Zhang Yu described the changes he made while transcribing: In the sixth month of the renzi year [1912], I borrowed Deng’s copy to transcribe. The previous history of transcription and transmission is stated in detail in Deng’s colophon above. Deng’s copy is an edition that has Xu Wei and Dong Maoce’s commentaries and was carved in the guichou year of the Wanli reign [1573]. This copy is considered a copy of the Kuaiji edition cut by the Mao family as claimed in Deng’s colophon. If there are any differences between these two editions, I have recorded “carved in a certain way in a certain edition” at the bottom [of this Mao edition]. If the collation by Mao and He, both according to the Song edition, are the same, I did not record it. If the characters [in this Mao edition] were different from that of the Song edition, I recorded He’s collation. He’s collation notes always state that “the Song and Jin editions write XYZ.” Since this Mao edition was carved based on a Song edition, I have changed He’s expression into “the Jin edition writes XYZ” to differentiate them. The marginalia in this book was transcribed many times. The editions were different from each other. The marginalia must not be in line with He’s original version, but it cannot be said that this is not a good copy of the Changgu ji. By Zhang Yu of Changzhou in the rented Tinghe House in Jinmen on the first day of the seventh month. 壬子六月借鄧本過錄，以前傳校源流詳上鄧跋。鄧本係明萬曆癸丑刊 徐渭、董懋策批註本，即此本毛跋所謂會稽本也。與此本不同處，注 明某本某於下方。毛據宋刊，何據宋校同者，不別出。與宋不同，則 仍據何校錄入。何校每云“宋金本作某”，以此本既出宋本，則改 作“某金本同”以別之。此書輾轉傳錄，板本又各各不同，於何氏本 來面目必有不符處，然亦不可謂非《昌谷集》之一善本矣。七月朔長 洲章鈺記於津門聽鶴僦舍。

The edition He Zhuo read and wrote his marginalia in was unknown, but He mentioned a Jin edition and a Song edition and recorded all the variants from them into a Ming edition. Zhang Yu used a Mao edition to transcribe He Zhuo’s marginalia. This Mao edition was a reprint of the Song edition He mentioned. For this reason, Zhang Yu did not transcribe the variants of the Song edition. According to his colophon, Deng Bangshu used a Ming edition to transcribe He’s marginalia. Zhang Yu recorded the variants of this Ming edition, too. Since

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

111

figure 4.3 Leaves 5b and 6a of juan 1 of the Li Yishan shiji, woodblock edition printed in the early Qing. In this copy, He Zhuo, Chen E, Ji Yun, and an unknown scholar’s marginalia were transcribed in red, green, blue and black ink, respectively Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: 6889)

it combined character variants from various editions, Zhang’s copy became a very good special edition. As Zhang Yu had done, scholars and bibliophiles in the Qing dynasty usually transcribed the marginalia of more than one scholar into one copy. In order to distinguish them, transcriptionists employed various strategies. Sometimes, they marked the origin at the beginning of every section of marginalia. Usually, they used different colors to differentiate them. For instance, the Li Yishan shiji 李義山詩集 (Collected poems of Li Yishan) printed in the early Qing period and held at the Shanghai Library (call number: 6889) has He Zhuo, Chen E 陳崿, Ji Yun 紀昀, and some unknown scholars’ marginalia transcribed in red, green, blue and black, respectively (see figure 4.3). The colophons in the book state:

112

chapter 4

The marginalia in black ink were composed by Chen E, courtesy name Zuofeng. / The marginalia in green ink were composed by He Zhuo, courtesy name Qizhan, alternative name Mr. Yimen. 墨筆華亭陳岞嵐崿批/綠筆何屺瞻焯義門先生批。

The marginalia in black ink were composed by Ji Yun, courtesy name Xiaolan. 紀昀曉嵐紫筆。

Sometimes, the transcriptionist also transcribed multicolor marginalia into a new copy in a single color, usually black. For instance, the Su xueshi ji 蘇學士集 (Anthology of Academician Su, Su Shunqin 蘇舜欽, 1008–1048) printed in the early Qing period held at the Shanghai Library (call number: 753558) has Gu Guangqi’s marginalia transcribed by the well-known bibliophile, Huang Pilie 黃丕烈 (courtesy name Shaowu 紹武, 1763–1825). Gu’s colophon reads: The unknown compiler’s Lize jishi has 35 juan in total. It is a Song edition. I collated [this Su xueshi ji] according to [Su’s poems] recorded in it and wrote the variants in black ink. Jianpin by the light of the lamp on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the yimao year [1795]. 無名氏《麗澤集詩》凡三十五卷，宋槧也，就其所載校之，以墨筆為 別。乙卯九月二十四日燈下澗薲記。

Following this, Huang Pilie’s colophon states: This collated edition was made by my friend Jianpin. The marginalia in the entire book are in red ink, while what was collated according to the Lize jishi is all in black. While transcribing it, I changed the red to black. What was originally in black I labeled with the two characters, “Lize.” When the characters in the Lize and He’s collation were the same, there were black circles next to the characters in the original copy. I followed this pattern without any change. If the characters [in the Lize] were the same as the main text of this printed edition, there are also black circles next to the characters. I followed this, too. As for characters in the Lize that were different from that of He’s collation and this printed edition,

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

113

I recorded them as “X is written as Y in the Lize.” Written by Huang Pilie, who recently mourned his parents, in the Study for Reading Previously Unseen Books in the sixth month in the summer of the thirtieth year (the wuwu year) of the Jiaqing reign [1798]. 此校本為余友澗薲所傳錄，通體皆用硃筆，唯所校《麗澤集詩》皆以 墨筆。余臨校改硃筆為墨筆，於原本墨筆者，皆以“麗澤”二字別 之。《麗澤》與何校同者，原本皆有墨圈，今悉仍之；有與此刻同 者，亦有墨圈，今亦仍之。惟《麗澤》與刻、校皆不同者，今改題 曰“麗澤某作某焉”。嘉慶三十年戊午夏六月棘人黃丕烈識於讀未見 書齋。

From these colophons, it can be seen that Gu Guangqi transcribed He Zhuo’s marginalia and then recorded in black ink the character variants of Su Shunqin’s poems taken from a Song edition of a poetry anthology. While transcribing Gu’s marginalia, Huang Pilie changed it from red to black and labeled the variants from the Lize jishi with “Lize” in order to distinguish the two kinds of marginalia. There is another copy of the same edition of the Su xueshi wenji held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XST02612-15) bearing marginalia in red, blue and black. The red marginalia are a transcription of He Zhuo’s marginalia. The composer and transcriptionist of the black marginalia is unknown. The blue are collation notes made by Ye Jingkui 葉景葵 (courtesy name Kuichu 揆 初, alternative name Juan’an 卷盦, 1874–1949) based on a comparison of his own copy with Huang Pilie’s transcription of Gu Guangqi’s marginalia. Ye’s colophon reads: In the past, I got a copy [of the Su xueshi ji] in the Baihuashuwu edition, which has He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed in red ink. There were numerous erroneous characters in He’s collation. There were also three sections of textual criticism in black. The writer did not sign his name. It was not composed by He Zhuo. In the late spring of the wuyin year [1938], I managed to borrow a collated copy from my old friend Pan Jiru. It was collated by Huang Pilie who transcribed Gu Qianli’s transcription of He Zhuo’s collation notes. He Zhuo also collated the poems according to a Song edition of the Lize ji. I collated my own copy with that, and recorded the variants in blue so as to differentiate them from the old red and black marginalia in this copy. I corrected all the errors and filled in all the dropped characters.

114

chapter 4 舊得白華書屋本，有朱筆傳錄何校，頗有譌字，又有墨筆校語三條， 未署名，非何校。戊寅春暮假得老友潘季孺所藏黃蕘圃傳錄顧千里臨 何校本，又以宋刊《麗澤集》校詩，因對校一過，概用藍筆，以別于 舊有之朱墨筆。凡訛奪處悉與改正。

It was both for correcting the mistakes of the main text and then making their own copies of “fine editions” (shanben 善本, here referring to an edition that is well collated and with reliable texts) that Ye Jingkui transcribed He Zhuo and Gu Guangqi’s marginalia, and that Zhang Yu transcribed Deng Bangshu’s transcription of He Zhuo’s marginalia after several other scholars’ transcriptions. A well-known late Qing bibliophile, Jiang Fengzao 蔣鳳藻 (courtesy name Xiangsheng 香生, ca. 1845–1908) once transcribed various scholars’ marginalia in the Dushu minqiu ji 讀書敏求記 (Notes on reading and diligently investigating the past), an annotated catalogue composed by a celebrated early Qing bibliophile, Qian Zeng. While transcribing various marginalia, Jiang not only employed multiple colours but also differentiated them according to calligraphic style (see figure 4.4).14 This exquisitely transcribed edition, bearing various collation notes and comments on the main text, is of course a “fine edition.” All these “fine editions” produced from the transcription of marginalia were actually “established” by multi-layered texts and multiple scholar’s opinions in different temporal and spatial dimensions. As mentioned above, the marginalia culture was a hybrid of print culture and manuscript culture. When marginalia were transcribed from one printed copy to another, their textual space changed, so did the relationships between marginalia and the main text, and between marginalia and the physical book that bore the main text. With the transformation of the textual space, the contents of marginalia would be altered; the color, style and location on the page would also be adjusted to adapt to the new textual environment. These changes seem minor, but they are important in the evolution of the text. Cumulatively, these minor changes can produce huge effects: they directly determined how the text appeared to a reader, and thus influenced how the text could be read and used. For a scholar in the Qing dynasty, to some extent, the quality and quantity of the marginalia, especially collation notes, determined the depth and breadth of his study. For a common reader, “seeing” a book filled with eye-catching writing and reading the main text along with other readers’ erudite and interesting comments must have been for them a very different reading experience. Texts are created in a particular context; at the same time, texts also create a particular context. 14

See Zhongguo guji gaochaojiaoben tulu 中國古籍稿鈔校本圖錄, Chen Xianxing 陳先 行, et al., eds. (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 2014), 909–910.

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

figure 4.4 Jiang Fengzao’s transcription of various scholars’ marginalia un the Dushu minqiu ji. In his transcription, Jiang not only employed multiple colors but also used different calligraphic styles to differentiate different scholars’ marginalia Picture from Chen Xianxing, etc., eds., Zhongguo guji gaochaojiaoben tulu (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 2014), 909

115

116

chapter 4

The accumulation of marginalia changed the context whereby the main text made sense, and thus transformed the meaning and significance of the main text. Exchange plus transcription was the most common way for marginalia to circulate through the Qing dynasty. In the late Qing and Republican era, even as Western powers and culture threatened every aspect of Chinese society, scholars and book collectors continued this scholarly practice; strengthening these close relationships, they endeavored to preserve and maintain traditional texts and culture. They tended their “reading seeds” with faith that traditional culture would continue to sprout and, one day perhaps, come into being in a new form. We read in a colophon by Zhang Yu in the Sanguo zhi held at the National Library of China (call number: SB14731): The copy collated by Mr. Zhu Qiuya was obtained by Fu Yuanshu of Jiang’an. I intended to transcribe [the marginalia] and collate [my copy]. Therefore, Wu Wanbo of Renhe bought it and sent it to Tianjin…. After I finished transcribing it, Shi Zhonglu of Kuaiji borrowed the Jin [lingshu] ju edition to collate. He recorded piece by piece the differences between the Mao and [Jinlingshu] ju editions. His work was careful and refined. Hence, I transcribed his marginalia too. This all happened five or six years ago. On the thirteenth day of the fourth month of the gengshen year [1920], there was rain after a long period of drought. Noted by Mingyi. 朱秋厓先生校本為江安傅沅叔所得，鈺有意臨校，仁和吳伯宛乃購此 本寄津……臨校畢本，會稽施仲魯復借校金局刻本，凡局刻與毛刻異 者，逐條記出，極為精審。復分別錄入。此皆前五六年事。庚申四月 十三日辰起久旱得雨。銘簃記。

Zhu Bangheng 朱邦衡 (courtesy name Qiuya 秋崖, 18th c.) transcribed the marginalia by He Zhuo and Hui Shiqi 惠士奇 (courtesy name Tianmu 天牧, alternative name Bannong 半農, 1671–1741). The original copies were lost, so Zhu’s transcription is of great significance. This copy was once held by Fu Zengxiang 傅增湘 (courtesy name Shuhe 叔和, alternative name Yuanshu 沅叔, 1872–1949), and then bought by Wu Changshou 吳昌綬 (courtesy name Wanbo 宛伯, 1867–?). Wu sent it to Zhang Yu who transcribed the marginalia into another copy. After Zhang finished the transcription, he transcribed the variants from another copy. Fu Zengxiang was one of the most important book collectors in the late Qing and Republican era. A scholarly community formed around him. Whether or

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

117

not a scholar knew Fu Zengxiang, he could directly or indirectly obtain texts from him. This exchange of books and texts from rich and generous collections allowed scholars to learn from each other and authenticate editions. In the colophon for the Shitong held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XST01248-53) mentioned above, Deng Bangshu writes: I got this book in the Wu region and thought it was collated by Yimen. After seeing the newly purchased copy my jinshi classmate Yuanshu [Fu Zengxiang] had brought from the capital, I knew that this was a good copy recently transcribed … The handwriting was dignified and vigorous, and could pass for He’s. Besides, the contents were also selected properly. It is a pity that it does not provide the transcriptionist and the collector’s names, which makes it hard for us to recognize that Yan Biao was not [an offspring of] Lugong [Yan Zhenqing].15 In the winter of the renzi year [1912], written by Zheng’an. 吳中得此書，誤以為義門筆校，既觀沅叔同年所藏新自都中購歸者， 乃知此為同時過錄之佳本……字跡端遒，頗能亂何之真，去取亦極斟 酌，惜其不肯□直□家□者姓氏，使人不辨顏標非魯公耳。壬子冬日 正闇記。

Wu Cipei’s colophon reads: Mr. Zheng’an got this copy and thought it had been collated by He Zhuo in He’s own handwriting. This spring, nianzhang (a man of one’s father’s generation) Fu Yuanshu bought a copy once held at the Yuhua Pavillion. This copy has one more colophon which is transcribed above. In the whole book, it is quite clear that for Feng’s comments, the character “feng” was all corrected from “qian.” There are two more colophons by He Zhuo written in the bingxu [1706] and guisi [1713] years respectively, and one colophon by Gu Jianpin. That copy was considered the genuine version with He’s holographic marginalia, and this a transcribed version … Not only is the imitation of He’s calligraphy in cursive style verisimilar, but also the red and yellow writings are exquisite. It is worth treasuring. I borrowed 15

Here Deng Bangshu makes use of a famous Yan Biao 顏標 (9th c.) story. When Yan Biao took the civil service examinations in 854, the chief examiner made him the optimus (zhuangyuan 狀元) believing him an offspring of the great calligrapher and loyal governor Yan Zhenqing 顏真卿 (709–785). Contemporaries satirized the examiner for “mistaking Yan Biao for [an offspring of] Lugong [Yan Zhenqing]” (錯認顏標作魯公). See Wang Dingbao 王定保, Tang zhiyan 唐摭言 (Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju, 1960), juan 8, 88.

118

chapter 4

it from Mr. [Zheng’an] and collated my copies, and then collated it in return based on what I have seen. By Wu Cipei, courtesy name Ouneng, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month of the renzi year [1912]. 正闇先生初得此本，以為何氏手校者，今春傅沅叔年丈收得鬱華閣舊 藏一部，末多右錄一跋，通部馮評，“馮”字皆“錢”字塗改，明白 可辨。又第七卷後多何氏康熙丙戌、癸巳題識二則及顧澗蘋一跋，乃 審定彼本為手校真跡，此則傳臨之本……不特模仿何草逼真，丹黃精 好，可矜貴也。余從先生借校一過，因舉所見者還以就正焉。壬子六 月廿四日偶能吳慈培識。

These colophons tell us that the handwriting of the marginalia in this copy is almost the same as He Zhuo’s, so Deng and Wu initially thought it was written by him. After seeing the authentic copy held by Fu Zengxiang, they finally determined that the marginalia were not He Zhuo’s holographs. Deng Bangshu also wrote a colophon in the copy held by Fu Zengxiang.16 Deng’s colophon was written in the sixth month of 1912, and Wu’s in the winter of that year. At the beginning of this copy, there is a colophon written by the great industrialist and book collector Ye Jingkui in the second month of 1940, one year after Deng Bangshu’s death. It reads: This collated edition was transcribed by He’s students and was once seen by Yimen. Zheng’an [Deng Bangshu] and Ouneng [Wu Cipei] tried in succession to identify [its transcriptionist], but it is a pity that it is unsigned. There is a seal impression at the beginning that reads “Held by Jiang Weijun’s family in the Wu region,” and another at the end: “My house is among the nine peaks and three calm ponds.” Mr. Pan Boshan doubted it was transcribed by Jiang Gao, courtesy name Zizun. But Boshan has a Houshan shizhu (Annotations of Houshan’s 後山 [Chen Shidao, 1052– 1101] poems) in an early Ming edition collated by Jiang Gao. The style of Jiang’s handwriting in it is simple and plain, not like that in this copy. Zizun’s younger brother Bing, courtesy name Zifan, was also Yimen’s student. We are unable to see [examples of] his handwriting, so further studies are needed [to solve this problem] … Written by Jingkui in the second month of the gengchen year [1940].

16

See Fu Zengxiang, Cangyuan qunshu jingyanlu 藏園群書經眼錄 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983), 507.

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

119

此校本為何氏弟子所傳臨且為義門所親見，正闇、偶能先後考定，惜 原本未署姓名。卷首有「吳門蔣維鈞家藏」印，卷尾有「家在九峯三 泖間」印，潘君博山疑為蔣子遵杲所臨，但博山藏有子遵手校明初本 《後山詩注》，字體較為古樸，與此不類。子遵之弟棅字子範，亦義 門弟子，無從覽其遺翰，容再考求……庚辰二月景葵書。

There is an impression of Ye Jingkui’s seal after this colophon; together, they show that this copy belonged to Ye, probably after Deng’s death. Ye was an old friend of Deng and once borrowed this copy, transcribing the marginalia into another copy.17 Since Deng and Wu had already made clear that the marginalia in this copy were not written by He Zhuo, Ye tried to discover the identity of the transcriptionist. He also discussed this with his friend Pan Chenghou 潘承厚 (courtesy name Boshan 博山, 1904–1943), a printer and book collector. Transcription and book exchange allowed the sharing not only of texts and knowledge, but also thoughts, scholarly approaches, and lifestyles. Marginalia bound more than scholars and bibliophiles together. In the Qing dynasty, other ties such as doctrinal affiliations, clan networks, classmate relationships and local literary societies all played a significant role in binding scholars together, transmitting texts, knowledge, and thoughts, and creating and consolidating scholarly identity. Marginalia and the practice of transcription, in turn, strengthened these ties. It was an efficient way to transmit texts (especially character variants, collation notes, and philological comments) and knowledge across time and space, not only tying contemporary scholars together but also handing down texts and knowledge from generation to generation. This is nicely illustrated by a colophon by the famous late-Qing book historian Ye Dehui 葉德輝 (courtesy name Huanbin 奐彬, art name Xiyuan 郋園, 1864–1927), in a copy of Chunqiu Gongyang zhushu now held at the National Library of China (call number: SB07937): The collated edition of Gongyang zhushu (28 juan in total) was made by He Huang (courtesy name Zhongyou, Mr. Yimen’s younger brother) in the dingyou year of the Kangxi reign [1717]. He Huang recorded the character variants from a Song governmental edition into a copy of Mao’s Jigu Pavilion edition that has both the main text and annotation with subannotation. In the guiyou year of the Qianlong reign [1753], Hui Songya (Dong), the great recluse, produced a new collated edition based on He’s 17

See Ye Jingkui 葉景葵, Juan’an shuba 卷盦書跋 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2006), 64–67.

120

chapter 4

textual criticism and added the variants from a Song edition held by Cao Yin, Commissioner of the Bureau of Transmission; a Shu large-character edition; and the original annotated-and-sub-annotated edition. One of his students, Zhu Bangheng, transcribed [the textual criticism and comments into another copy]. In the guichou year of the Qianlong reign [1793], Zang Yong, courtesy name Zaidong, also transcribed the marginalia into a new copy. In the seventh month of that year, Duan Yucai, courtesy name Maotang, also transcribed the marginalia into another copy. Jiang Yuan, courtesy name Tiejun, thus transcribed Duan’s transcription into this copy and gave it to his student, Chen Huan, courtesy name Shuofu, and Chen recorded the transmission history at the beginning of this book in the first year of the Xianfeng reign [1851]. The collation notes of one book were transcribed many times; famous scholars and classicists collated it carefully over and over again. Transmitted for more than two hundred years, the book is not only complete in volumes and chapters but also rather refined in the collation of characters and the analysis of sentences. We must keep in mind that the diligence and studiousness of former generations and their care in reading classics far exceeded that of later young men, who usually write carelessly and do not finish what was started. 校宋本《公羊注疏》二十八卷，康熙丁酉何仲友煌（義門先生之弟）   以宋槧官本校於毛晉汲古閣刻注疏本上。乾隆癸酉，惠松崖徵君棟據 何校增入曹通政寅所藏宋本、蜀大字本、原板注疏本重校一本，其小 門生朱邦衡臨校之。乾隆癸丑，臧在東鏞堂，亦臨校一部。其年七 月，段懋堂玉裁又臨一部。江鐵君沅復從段臨過錄此本，以貽其門下 史陳碩父奐，於咸豐紀元手書其傳授於卷端。一書之校，錄經無數，   名人經師，再四細戡，流傳二百餘年之久，非獨卷冊完好，亦且校字 離句精密異常。想見老輩好學之勤劬，讀經之審慎，信非後生小子信 手塗抹有始無終者可比也。

The work of earlier generations, with its industrious learning and intensive reading of Confucian Classics, was thus preserved through the scholarly communities based on marginalia transcription. Besides scholars and bibliophiles, many booksellers and unknown scribes proved essential links. 3

Booksellers and Scribes and Their Role in the Marginalia Culture

As an increasing number of scholars started to use marginalia in their research, it soon became marketable and attracted many merchants and scribes

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

121

participating in the practice of transcribing marginalia. They contributed to both the transmission and proliferation of marginalia. For instance, in the Changjiang ji held at the Fu Ssu Nien Library in Taibei, there is a colophon by Jiang Gao that reads: The Changjiang ji was collated most meticulously by Master Yimen. In the summer of the renyin year [1722], the Master passed away in his house in the capital, and his books were scattered. Three months later, a person came to me to sell this book, as well as Wang [Wei]’s and Meng [Haoran]’s works. I was short of money at that time, [so I was not able to purchase them, which] I regretted for a long time. My exam classmate Shu Zizhan said: “If we transcribe the marginalia to other copies, we can consider the new books with marginalia as the original ones.” Therefore, I found three volumes of works by Changjiang [Jian Dao], Youcheng [Wang Wei], and Xiangyang [Meng Haoran], and gave them [to Shu Zizhan to transcribe]. It happened so quickly that I had no time to revise. Afterwards, the Changjiang ji was left in my hands, and yet Wang and Meng’s works were possessed by the Pan family in Wuxing. I was pleased by Zizhan’s idea and felt lucky that the Changjiang ji was still in my possession. During a break from work at the beginning of the spring of the year jiachen [1724], I revised it once and then returned the book. People who are fond of antiquity understand and do not blame me for my scribbles. Written by Gao of Sanjing. 義門師所校勘《長江集》最為精細。壬寅夏，師卒於京邸，遺帙散 落。三月後，有以是帙及王孟詩來售者，時正乏錢，惋恨久之。同年 舒子展云:“以別本過出，猶如見真本也。”因出架上長江、右丞、 襄陽詩三冊見付。匆匆曹務，竟不暇對校。後《長江集》留于余處， 而王孟集已屬吳興潘氏矣，余嘉子展之志，而幸《長江集》之猶存。 甲辰春初，旬休之暇，粗校一過奉還，好古者知不罪其塗鴉也。三徑 杲識。18

This colophon sheds light on several points: First, books with He Zhuo’s marginalia were rather expensive in the early Qing period. Jiang Gao was an official and his abundant book collection suggests that he was not at all poor, but the price of this volume hit his fiscal limit. Second, in another book with He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by Pan Zhiwan 潘志萬 (1849–1899), Pan’s colophon said that He Zhuo’s marginalia was originally written on an edition cut by Feng Ban 18

Fu Zengxiang, Cangyuan qun shu jingyan lu, 1083.

122

chapter 4

in the late Ming or early Qing period, which would not have been expensive in the early Qing. Jia Dao, Wang Wei and Meng Haoran’s poetry anthologies were by no means rare books at that time. So He Zhuo’s marginalia must have been what made the book expensive. Third, within three months of He Zhuo’s death, book sellers knew to sell his marginalia to his students and other book collectors (such as the Pan family in Wuxing) at a very high price. Popular and esteemed, these texts created economic as well as scholarly opportunity. A number of complaints about the high price of books containing marginalia have survived from the Qing. When unable to purchase them, scholars often had ways to read them and even transcribe the text. For example, Weng Tonghe, teacher of two emperors, also failed to buy a book with He Zhuo’s marginalia. His colophon in the Jiayou ji held at the National Library of China (call number: SB05397) reads: On the eighth day of the forth month of the bingchen year [1856], a bookseller brought the Jiayou ji with He Zhuo’s marginalia to sell. It was too expensive, so I borrowed it and transcribed the marginalia within one day and night … By Tonghe. 丙辰四月初八日，有以何義門手批《嘉祐集》來售者，直甚昂，因假 得，盡一日夜之力，臨校一過……同龢識。

Wu Cipei’s colophon on the Yuanfeng leigao 元豐類稿 (Collected works of Zeng Gong 曾鞏) held at the Nanjing Library (call number: 118744) also records that he spent two days and a night transcribing He Zhuo’s marginalia into a new copy. His colophon reads: A bookseller brought the Yuanfeng leigao with Mr. He Yimen’s marginalia to sell. The whole book was collated carefully based on a Song edition, and was filled with red-ink inscriptions. It deserves to be treasured, even though it was a transcribed edition. The bookseller wanted to sell it at a very high price. I was not able to purchase it, so I hurriedly found a copy into which to transcribe [the marginalia]. The bookseller was in a great hurry pressing me to return the book, so I finished the transcription in two days and one night. I transcribed all the collation notes. As for the comments and evidential studies, I had no time to transcribe them … By [Wu] Cipei, on the day following the Shangsi Festival in the third year of the Xuantong reign [1911], when I was living in the capital as a guest.

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

123

Meanwhile, I bought the edition carved by Wang Yu in the Jiajing reign. It was carved exquisitely. Initially I thought of transcribing He’s textual criticism onto this Wang edition. But I hurt my finger last winter on the road to the Huai Region. It has not recovered yet, and I can’t hold a brush, so my handwriting is clumsy and illegible, which would deface a good book. Therefore, I bought this copy to transcribe … Written on the Qingming Festival. 書賈持何義門先生批校《元豐類稿》來售，通部用宋本細勘，朱書盈 幅，雖出他手傳錄，亦足寶貴。書賈頗居奇，余力不能購，亟取一本 臨校。書賈索原書甚急，借兩日一夜之力卒業焉。凡涉校勘，畢錄無 遺，至評語考證，則不暇及也……宣統三年上巳後一日慈培識，時客 京師。 同時購得嘉靖間王忬刊本，版刻甚精，初思錄何校于王本上，因去 冬之淮道中傷手指，至今未痊，不良執筆，作書拙澀，重污佳籍，乃 買此新槧本錄之……清明又誌。

These examples suggest it may have been conventional for prospective buyers to keep a book for one or more days – to consider, examine, but clearly also to transcribe its marginalia into other copies. In this process, while the exchange of physical books was unsuccessful, the transmission of texts – marginalia in particular – was successful. Since marginalia were marketable, booksellers hired scribes to transcribe and even forge well-known scholars’ handwriting. In this way, booksellers and scribes participated in marginalia culture and contributed to the duplication and dissemination of marginalia, but they caused many problems as well. Many books with marginalia in a hand resembling He Zhuo’s, for instance, and without any information about the actual transcriber, require a great deal of work to be ruled out as authentic He Zhuo holographs. For the Shitong mentioned above, Deng Bangshu and Wu Cipei only understood that the marginalia in it were not written by He Zhuo when then saw an authentic version. There are two copies of Tangren xuan Tangshi 唐人選唐詩 (Tang poems selected by Tang scholars) in the Mao edition carved in the late Ming and held at the Shanghai Library. Both have He Zhuo’s marginalia, and their calligraphy and content are similar. But only one (call number: XS839789-96, see figure 4.5) bears the impression of both He Zhuo’s and the Bao 鮑 family’s seals: hence, a copy was once held by He Zhuo himself and then by the famous book-collecting and publishing Bao family of the mid-Qing. The other copy

124

figure 4.5a

chapter 4

Leaf 1a of the Yulan shi in the Tangren xuan Tangshi, woodblock edition carved by the Mao family in the late Ming. The marginalia in this book were written by He Zhuo Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS839789-96)

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

figure 4.5b

Leaf 65b of the Yulan shi in the Tangren xuan Tangshi. The seals here read: “He Zhuo’s seal” and “Held by the Bao Family” Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS839789-96)

125

126

figure 4.5c

chapter 4

Last half leaf of the Heyue yingling ji in the Tangren xuan Tangshi. The colophon in red was written by He Zhuo. The seal was He’s courtesy name “Yimen” Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS839789-96)

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

127

(call number: XS756297-304, see figure 4.6) was probably a forgery by some book seller. Even decades after He’s death when Jiang Weijun collected He’s marginalia and compiled the Yimen dushu ji, Jiang found many forgeries of He’s marginalia. He writes: Not only is it difficult to authenticate the books in circulation that purport to contain Yimen’s reading notes, but even in books containing He’s real marginalia, errors abound because they have gone through several generations of recopying. 外間傳寫義門評閱之本，不特真贗紛如，即係真本，而鈔錄數過，不 免舛訛。  19

While booksellers did not forge He’s marginalia based on nothing, they usually transcribed He’s marginalia anonymously, imitating his handwriting. In this sense, they also contributed to the transmission of marginalia. Just who these unnamed scribes were becomes the last question. Practicing a profession dating back to antiquity, some scribes worked as low-level government officials. Thus, both governmental and non-governmental scribes were elegantly called “chaoxu” 鈔胥 (lit. scribing officials) but also “chaoshou” 鈔手 (lit. scribing hands) and “shushou” 書手 (lit. writing hands). In the late imperial period, non-governmental scribes were usually impoverished examination candidates and local teachers who did this work part time, or they could be professional scribes who lived by this occupation.20 Of the great bibliophile and publisher Mao Jin 毛晉 (courtesy name Zijin 子晉, 1599–1659) in the late Ming, it was said: “Walking through [Mao’s] gate, [you see] all the servants and house boys transcribing books” (入門童僕盡鈔書).21 Because scribes mainly worked for money and their work was the least creative step in the process, they were looked down on and were paid a very low salary.22 For a scribe, there was little difference between transcribing the main text of a book or transcribing marginalia. Most of the time, one kind of marginalia was transcribed by one scribe, but sometimes the marginalia of a voluminous book were transcribed by more than one scribe. For example, He Zhuo’s marginalia in the Hou Hanshu held at the PKU Library (call number: LSB/7288) 19 20 21 22

He Zhuo, Yimen dushu ji, “Fanli”凡例 (Guide to the reader), 2. See Zhou Kan 周侃, “Tangdai shushou yanjiu” 唐代書手研究 (PhD diss., Capital Normal University [Beijing], 2007). See Ye Dehui 葉德輝, Shulin qinghua 書林清話 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2008), 143. See Ye Dehui, Shulin qinghua, 214.

128

figure 4.6

chapter 4

First half-leaf of the Yulan shi in the Tangren xuan Tangshi, woodblock edition carved by the Mao family in the late Ming. The marginalia were transcribed by an unknown scribe Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS756297-304)

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

129

figure 4.7 Last half-leaf of the table of contents, leaf 11b of juan 84 of the Hou Hanshu and leaf 2a of juan 3 of the Xu Hanzhi, woodblock edition carved by the Mao family in the late Ming. The marginalia in this book were probably transcribed by three scribes Courtesy of the Peking University Library (call number: LSB/7288)

were transcribed in three distinct hands, probably by three different scribes (see figure 4.7). 4

Shaping the Text of the Classics

As marginalia were duplicated and disseminated to more books, a distinct body of information and scholarly approaches – evidential research and

130

chapter 4

textual criticism – took shape and solidified. This changed the way scholars understood, read, and edited texts, and impacted the development of the kaoju research movement. Hui Dong 惠棟 (courtesy name Dingyu 定宇, alternative name Songya 松 崖, 1697–1758), a prominent classicist in the early Qing, was another scholar who transcribed many of He Zhuo’s marginalia. According to the Zhongguo guji zongmu and other library catalogues, Hui Dong and his father Hui Shiqi transcribed He Zhuo’s marginalia in five titles: 1) Zhouli zhushu, 2) Chunqiu gongyang zhushu 春秋公羊注疏 (Spring and Autumn Annals of the Gongyang tradition with annotations and sub-annotations), 3) Hanshu, 4) Hou Hanshu, and 5) Sanguo zhi. Hui Dong is considered one of the earliest scholars to publicly and clearly advocate the use of the Han (rather than Song) approach to the study of the Confucian Classics. He once claimed that “The damage done by the Song scholars is even more serious than the Qin bibliocaust” (宋儒之禍，甚於 秦灰). To rectify the misinterpretations caused by Song scholars, Hui and other Han Learning scholars, tried to solve some fundamental textual problems at their origins by devoting themselves to careful collation of the Confucian texts.23 For this task, He Zhuo’s marginalia, which not only included variants from rare Song and Yuan editions but were essentially preliminary researches on the same textual problems, were of special significance. We can look, for a case in point, at He Zhuo’s marginalia in the Zhouli zhushu initially transcribed by his student Shen Tong, then by Hui Dong and other later scholars. Hui Dong transcribed them into a copy of a new edition that was cut in his own studio, the Hongdou Study (Hongdou zhai 紅豆齋). Based on that edition, he conducted his own research and recorded his own marginalia in it. Unfortunately, Hui Dong’s copy is not in circulation today, but his marginalia and transcription of He Zhuo’s marginalia were all transcribed into another copy by a mid-Qing scholar-official Wu Xin 吳昕 (courtesy name Yunge 芸閣, jinshi 1774). This copy is a woodblock edition cut by the Mao family in the first year of the Chongzhen reign (1628) and now held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XST06322-31). At the beginning of this copy, Wu Xin’s colophon reads: This book was originally annotated and collated by the Hui family in Yuanhe. The red characters were Mr. Bannong’s [Hui Shiqi] handwriting, and the green characters were written by Songya [Hui Dong] the recluse. They probably first transcribed Mr. He Yimen’s marginalia, consisting mainly of textual criticism based on a comparison with a Song 23

See Qi Yongxiang 漆永祥, Qian-Jia kaojuxue yanjiu 乾嘉考據學研究 (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue, 1998), 137–159.

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

131

edition that had been repaired in the Yuan dynasty and preserved in the Palace. They continued to transcribe [variants from] the Yu family’s Wanjuantang edition … also referring to the Xu family’s edition, … an edition with commentaries on the meanings, … an edition with annotations quoted within the Classics … [and] sometimes an edition that they call the Jian edition [presumably a Jianyang imprint]…. It is recorded at the beginning of the book that it was collated against a Song edition and the Wanjuan edition; when the other editions were cut is unknown. There are some items beginning with “[Lu] Wenchao’s comment,” which were recorded by Master Lu the Hanlin academician. In the spring of the xinsi year of the Qianlong reign [1761], I borrowed it from Mr. Shen Wotian and started to transcribe [the marginalia into one of my copies], and finished in the winter of the renwu year [1762] … Written in Chusonglou, on the day following the Shangsi Festival in the gengyin year [1770]. Noted by Wu Xin. 是書原本係元和惠氏點勘。紅筆，半農先生所閱；綠筆則松崖徵君所 加也。大約先錄何義門先生所校內府宋板元修本，繼錄余氏萬卷堂 本…又有徐家本…訂義本…互注本…並偶有稱建本者…卷首止載以宋 本、萬卷本校，其餘諸本，不知何時所槧也。中有數條云“文弨案”   云云者，今學士盧工所記。乾隆辛巳之春，余從沃田沈丈處借錄，迄 壬午冬季而竣…庚寅上巳後一日，書于楚頌樓。吳昕記。

There is an impression of Wu Xin’s seal at the end of this paragraph. According to Wu Xin’s statements in this colophon and the marginalia in this book, Hui used multiple editions to collate the text of the Zhouli zhushu. For Hui, He Zhuo’s record of the information obtained from the Song-Yuan edition was quite important. Although most Qing scholars were not satisfied with or even fiercely opposed to Song Learning, they had a fetish for Song editions.24 Hui Dong had composed two books on the Rites of Zhou: Lishuo 禮說 (On Rites) and Jiujing guyi 九經古義 (The Ancient Meaning of the Nine Classics), but none of his marginalia in this Zhouli zhushu is included in these two works. These scattered marginalia are not unimportant, though, because some items can contribute to an understanding of Hui Dong’s original attitude toward Han and Tang dynasty scholars.25

24 25

For instance, the noted Qing bibliophile Huang Pilie 黃丕烈 (1763–1825) called himself “Ningsong zhuren” 佞宋主人 (Master of Flattering Song Editions). Most Qing scholars treasured Song editions and attached great importance to them in book collations. See also Wang Xinfu, Yishuxuan qie cun shanben shulu, 733.

132

chapter 4

Hui Dong’s marginalia also contain some important information about a Song edition of the Zhouli zhushu, a woodblock edition cut in Yu Renzhong’s 余仁仲 Wanjuan Hall (Wanjuan tang 萬卷堂) that is no longer in circulation today. This edition was rather famous in the Qing period, but was already difficult to access. So when Lu Jianzeng 盧見曾 (courtesy name Danyuan 澹園, alternative name Yayu 雅雨, 1690–1768) got a copy, he rebound it and offered it to the emperor. Before the offering was made, Hui Dong had a chance to read it and managed to compare it with his Hongdou Study edition. Hui recorded this process in his colophon, which was transcribed at the end of Wu Xin’s copy: Master Lu Yayu [Jianzeng] obtained an annotated Song copy of the Rites of Zhou and will offer it to the emperor. In the extra time while it was being rebound, I read it once and transcribed the variants into my copy. This copy has twelve juan in total, and each juan is bound in one volume. On the 28th day of the last month of the yihai year [1755]. Songya [Hui Dong]. 雅雨盧公得宋槧本經注周禮，將以進御。因裝潢之暇，校閱一過。書 共十二卷，每卷一冊。時乙亥十二月小除夕前一日。松崖。

According to the various colophons at the beginning and end of Wu Xin’s copy, this book was later acquired by the scholar-official Han Yingbi 韓應陛 (courtesy name Duiyu 對虞, alternative name Lüqing 綠卿, 1800–1860), and more marginalia were added by Shen Chengtao 沈誠燾 and Zhang Yiqing 張伊卿 in the Xianfeng reign (1850–1861). After Han Yingbi’s death, his books were scattered. This copy ended up in the collection of the famous book collector Ye Jingkui 葉景葵 (courtesy name Kuichu 揆初, alternative name Juan’an 卷 盦, 1874–1949), a friend of Wang Xinfu. Ye Jingkui also owned a copy containing Shen Tong’s marginalia. In the 1930s, Wang Xinfu spent roughly two years transcribing the marginalia of these two copies into another Ming edition. The transmission of He Zhuo’s marginalia in the Zhouli zhushu is outlined below in figure 4.8. From Shen Tong and Hui Dong in the High Qing to Ye Jingkui and Wang Xinfu in the Republican era, He Zhuo’s marginalia were transcribed and studied by generations of scholars. Over time, new sources and opinions were added to the previous marginalia. Recording not only the transmission history, but the proliferation and accumulation of scholarship, these texts reveal the process that Qing scholars brought to their research. Hui Dong’s main concern was the authentication of the text, so like many Qing scholars, he wrote and transcribed mainly marginalia concerned with

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

133

figure 4.8 The transcription of He Zhuo’s marginalia in the Zhouli zhushu

textual criticism. He Zhuo collated the Hedong xiansheng ji 河東先生集 (Collected Works of Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元). One of his friends, Wang Wenyuan 王聞遠 (1663–1741), borrowed He Zhuo’s collated copy and collated his own copy based on He’s marginalia.26 He Zhuo also collated the Changjiang ji. His collation notes were transcribed by Jiang Gao and later by the prominent textual scholar, Lu Wenchao 盧文弨 (courtesy name Shaogong 召弓, 1717–1796).27 There are other examples too numerous to discuss here. He Zhuo’s marginalia was not unique in enjoying this kind of privileged status: those of other scholars, especially textual scholars such as Lu Wenchao 26

27

Wang Wenyuan’s colophon states: “I searched for the Hedong xiansheng ji for years, but found nothing…. In the winter, I got this copy from the bookstore in front of the City God Temple. All the information concerning layout and taboo characters was copied from a Song edition. There are quite a few omissions and errors. This fall, I saw in He Qizhan’s library his collated edition. So, I borrowed it, took it back and collated [this copy] for three days…. and stopped. So I procrastinated and only finally finished after more than twenty days.” (《河東先生集》，覓之數年不獲，□冬得於城隍廟前之書肆。   其書行款及避諱字，悉照宋本抄錄，但脫漏舛誤頗多。今秋於何庶常屺瞻 □□，見其校本，因假歸，訂三日，□原書乃作輟，因循遂遲至二十餘日始 校畢). See Zhongguo guji gao jiao chaoben tulu, 678–679. See Fu Zengxiang, Cangyuan qunshu jingyanlu, 1083–1084.

134

chapter 4

and Gu Guangqi 顧廣圻 (courtesy name Qianli 千里, alternative name Jianpin 澗蘋, 1770–1839) also circulated in this way. Transcribing earlier scholars’ marginalia, reading them closely, and even adding new comments, as we have seen, formed a critical part of scholarly activity for Qing scholars. They have shaped ancient classical texts and influenced their reading and reception all the way to the present. An example is more easily found in the influential and widelyused edition of the Thirteen Confucian Classics with collation notes produced under Ruan Yuan 阮元 (courtesy name Boyuan 伯元, alternative name Yuntai 芸臺, 1764–1849) based on Yuan editions and many Qing scholars’ collations. The prefaces of these Thirteen Classics list the marginalia they employed, as shown in the table below:28 table 4.1 Marginalia employed in Ruan Yuan’s edition of the Thirteen Classics

Classic

Source

Yi 易 (Book of changes)

Lu Wenchao Qian Sunbao 錢孫保 (1624–?) Lu Wenchao Hui Dong (incorporating his transcription of He Zhuo’s marginalia) Lu Wenchao Duan Yucai Lu Wenchao Gu Guangqi Hui Dong Lu Wenchao Sun Zhizu 孫志祖 (1737–1801) Duan Yucai Hui Dong (incorporating his transcription of He Zhuo’s marginalia) Lu Wenchao Duan Yucai Chen Shuhua 陳樹華 (1730–1801) Gu Zhikui 顧之逵 (1754–1797)

Shi 詩 (Book of songs) Zhouli 周禮 (Rites of Zhou)

Yili 儀禮 (Rites and ceremonies) Liji 禮記 (Record of rites)

Chunqiu Zuozhuan 春秋左傳 (Spring and Autumn Annals of the Zuo tradition)

28

See the Shisanjing zhushu 十三經注疏, Ruan Yuan, chief editor, photo-reproduced edition (Taipei: Yiwen yinshuguan, 2007).

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

135

table 4.1 Marginalia employed in Ruan Yuan’s edition of the Thirteen Classics (cont.)

Classic

Source

Chunqiu Gongyangzhuan 春秋公羊 傳 (Spring and Autumn Annals of the Gongyang tradition) Chunqiu Guliangzhuan 春秋穀梁 傳 (Spring and Autumn Annals of the Guliang tradition)

Hui Dong (incorporating his transcription of He Zhuo and He Huang’s marginalia) Hui Dong (incorporating his transcription of He Zhuo and He Huang’s marginalia) Duan Yucai He Zhuo and He Huang Lu Wenchao Hui Dong Lu Wenchao Lu Wenchao

Mengzi 孟子 (Mencius) Erya 爾雅 (Explaining refined language) Xiaojing 孝經 (Classic of Filial Piety)

The marginalia of He Zhuo, Hui Dong, and Lu Wenchao clearly contributed significantly to this edition of the Thirteen Classics. At the same time, the marginalia of other scholars such as Sun Zhizu, Chen Shuhua, and Gu Zhikui were also the fundamental work on this influential project, yet their names are still barely known, not only in the West but even in China. This is an area that deserves further study. Only after carefully examining these marginalia and their composers and transcriptionists will we have a deeper understanding of the creation and significance of Ruan Yuan’s edition of the Thirteen Classics. In the Qing dynasty, scholars were not only concerned with textual criticism; many also paid significant attention to the form and physicality of both the main texts and marginalia. They tried their best to “transcribe” the literary writings in marginalia as well as all sorts of symbols and even the way in which they were drawn. One example is Zhang Yu 章鈺 (courtesy name Shizhi 式之, alternative name Mingyi 茗簃, 1864–1934), a late-Qing book collector and textual scholar. He transcribed He Zhuo’s marginalia in several titles, such as the Sanguo zhi, Wudai shiji 五代史記 (History of the Five Dynasties), Geshibian 歌 詩編 (Poetry anthology, i.e., anthology of Li He’s poems), and the San Tangren wenji 三唐人文集 (Collected works of three Tang essayists), just to name a few. What is interesting about Zhang Yu’s transcriptions is that he transcribed not only the collation notes and comments but also the seals. In the San Tangren wenji held at the National Library of China (call number: SB14604), Zhang Yu’s

136

figure 4.9 Leaf 1a of juan 1 of the San Tangren wenji, woodblock edition carved in the Ming dynasty and mended in the Qing dynasty. The marginalia in this copy were transcribed by Zhang Yu. On this half leaf, there are three seal impressions that were transcribed by Zhang Courtesy of the National Library of China (call number: SB14604)

chapter 4

Scholarly Communities and the Transcription of Marginalia

137

transcription of He Zhuo’s marginalia is preserved. On the first page of juan one of Sun Qiao’s 孫樵 anthology, Zhang’s marginalia records two of He Zhuo’s seal impressions (see figure 4.9): Love the ancients without belittling the moderns (intaglio characters in square shape) 不薄/今人/愛古人白文方印

“Talking about antiquity,” a dragon on the left and a tiger on the right (intaglio characters in rectangular shape) “語古”左龍右虎白文長方印 On the page listing the table of contents of Li Ao’s 李翱 anthology, Zhang recorded two more impressions of He Zhuo’s seals: He Zhuo’s personal seal, Qizhan (two square seals in relief characters) 何焯私印 屺瞻兩朱文方印

This demonstrates that Zhang had seen the book read by He Zhuo and that he transcribed He’s marginalia and recorded the contents of the marginalia – such as the seals – into his own copy. Zhang’s handwriting is in semi-cursive style small characters that resemble He Zhuo’s. Although He Zhuo’s copy was lost, Zhang Yu’s efforts at duplicating He’s marginalia and seals can help us see how He Zhuo’s original marginalia and seals looked. 5

Marginalia Culture

As a communication node connecting various agents scholars, bibliophiles, merchants and scribes, marginalia-sharing circulated texts and approaches, breaking down barriers of time and space. It helped to establish and expand the communication circuit. For different agents the transcription of marginalia was driven by different motives. For He Zhuo’s students, transcription was a way to learn from their teacher; for scholars, it supplied abundant resources for both collating and making sense of a text; for calligraphers, it was a good opportunity to practice with a masterpiece and improve their skills; for booksellers and scribes, it was a profitable enterprise.

138

chapter 4

Through transcription, marginalia connected scholars and bibliophiles into tight relationships. They exchanged books, sometimes just texts; they learned from each other about authentication of editions and collation of variants. They inherited texts and research materials from previous scholars; they also handed down to later generations what they had learned from these texts and practices. Transcription was also a process of proliferation because transcribed marginalia were rarely completely faithful to the original. They selected, modified, and distorted; things would go missing; more might be added. Thus, new texts and new interpretations were born, new meanings generated, new culture and thoughts created. Finally, marginalia and their transcription shaped how texts circulated and were presented to all readers in society. The Qing dynasty reader came to prefer well-collated editions, looked for scholars’ notes, or would write to a friend for another edition to improve his own. Generations of readers and scholars devoted themselves to this process, as evidential research permeated society and shaped scholarly life. Most of the ancient texts were collated, edited and re-edited, to yield texts that continue to occupy an important place in our reading life today. In this sense, we still live under the influence of this scholarly culture.

chapter 5

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia Zhao Yi 趙翼 (courtesy name Yunsong 雲崧, alternative name Oubei 甌北, 1727–1814), a great historian, poet and critic from the mid-Qing period, wrote in one of his poems: Busy collating in my study all day long. / Stepping outdoors, it is already the dry autumn I had not felt at all. 鎮日書帷校勘勞，出門不覺已秋高。  1

These two sentences describe the intellectual life of a scholar in the mid-Qing. In Zhao Yi’s description, “all day long” and “dry autumn” are the temporal elements; “curtain of books” and “outdoors” are the spatial elements; “collating” and “had not felt at all [the coming of the autumn]” manifest the practices and the mental state of a scholar in a particular temporal and spatial context. Time and space are two of the most fundamental elements in pre-modern Chinese writings. Writers either intentionally or unintentionally selected particular temporal and spatial elements to encapsulate what they had done or what they were thinking so as to sculpt images in their writings. Therefore, analyzing the temporal and spatial elements and deciphering the hidden meanings underlying these elements can help us to comprehend the writer’s thoughts, attitudes and mental states. This chapter will examine the temporal and spatial elements in the Qing scholars’ marginalia in order to envision their scholarly life, the characteristics of their scholarship, and their attitudes and thoughts on scholarship and the world they lived in and perceived. 1

Temporal and Spatial Records in Marginalia

In the marginalia of Ming–Qing China, what is impressive are the detailed records of various temporal and spatial elements in colophons. Colophons in pre-modern Chinese marginalia came in various forms. There were very long colophons either at the beginning or the end of the book or both, called 1 Zhao Yi 趙翼, “Wan bu cunluo” 晚步村落, in Zhao Yi, Oubei ji 甌北集 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1997), juan 43, 478.

© Yinzong Wei, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004508477_006

140

chapter 5

“ba” 跋 (postscript) that introduce and evaluate its main ideas, state the history of its circulation, and describe its physical features. There were also short colophons, usually called “tizhi” 題識 (remarks and notes) or “ji” 記 (records), commenting on the contents of the book and usually, recording the readers’ reading practices. Below are several colophons composed by He Zhuo that give a better sense of what the colophons may contain. There are a number of them by He in the Hou Hanshu held at the PKU Library (call number: LSB/7288) and all of them record the temporal and spatial elements in detail. At the end of the fourth juan, one of He’s colophons reads: Written in the Babaixuan in the western chamber of the Qingyuan Auxiliary Palace in the six month of the xinsi year of the Kangxi reign [1701]. Zhuo. 康熙辛巳夏六月清苑行臺西序，八柏軒。 焯。

The colophon at the end of juan 9 reads: In the jiawu year of the Kangxi reign [1714], my younger brother Xinyou received an incomplete Song edition from juan 3 to the middle of this juan held by the Ye family in Baoshan. He sent me the variants after collation, and I corrected dozens of errors [in this copy]. 康熙甲午，心友弟得包山葉氏所藏殘宋本第三卷至此卷之半以所校字 寫寄，因改正數十處。

The colophon at the end of juan 57 reads: From juan 45 to this point, collating by the light of an oil lamp, and comparing it with an incomplete Northern Song edition, in the tenth month of the guisi year of the Kangxi reign [1713]. Written by Yimen the recluse. 自四十五卷至此，以北宋殘本，燈下手校。時康熙癸巳陽月，義門潛 夫記。

The colophon at the end of juan 90 reads: When I first read this book, I was upset at the number of mistakes. Once I had read the pieces on the Hou Hanshu in Liu Ban’s [Liang Hanshu]

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

141

Kanwu (Corrections to the Hanshu and Hou Hanshu), I finally realized that there were few exquisite editions in the Northern Song dynasty because people did not value this book as much as Ban Gu’s book. Some of the annotations in the Jiajing edition carved by the Directorate of Education were cut. This copy, though, is still a complete version, which is one good feature. Its master copy does not have so many mistakes. I corrected the mistakes created while carving in this edition. Written in the western chamber of the Baoding Auxiliary Palace in the Middle Autumn Day of the xinsi year of the Kangxi reign [1701]. Zhuo. 初讀此書，嫌其訛謬為多，及觀劉氏《刊誤》諸條，乃知在北宋即罕 善本，緣前人重之不如班書故也。嘉靖中南京國子監刊者，注經刪 削，此猶完書，故是一長。其舊本不差，此復滋謬之字，略為隨文改 定云。康熙辛巳中秋後題於保定行臺西序。 焯。

The colophon at the end of juan 22 of the Xu Hanzhi reads: From the nineteenth to the twenty-second juan, in the dingyou year of the Kangxi reign [1717], when I worked in the Wuying Publishing House, I chanced to see an incomplete copy of the big character edition which had been carved in the Yijing Hall of Cai Qi (courtesy name Chunfu) in Jian’an in the wuchen year of the Jiading reign in the Song dynasty. It has Congshu Hall’s seal impression. I thought it must be good. Therefore, I borrowed it from the keeper and collated [my copy]. However, the mistakes could be infuriating…. I recorded [them] to show that Song editions can also be so unreliable, without presuming to defame them. Written by Yimen, an old man, on the sixteenth day of the seventh month. 自十九卷至二十二卷，康熙丁酉，祗役武英書局，偶見不全宋嘉定戊 辰建安蔡琪純父一經堂開雕大字本，有菆書堂印，心以為必佳，因從 典掌者乞以校對，則舛誤可為憤歎……識之以見宋本亦有不足據信如 此，非敢為訐激也。七月既望，義門老民書。

The colophon at the end of juan 23 of the Xu Hanzhi reads: In the sixth month of the guiwei year of the Kangxi reign [1703], I attended the eighth prince in the Nanxun Palace. There was a copy [of the Hou Hanshu] carved by Wang Wensheng, which I used to collate this juan. The Wang edition still kept the mistakes, just as in the “Treaties on Geography” of the Hanshu. I am afraid to compare them critically.

142

chapter 5

Is it because of carelessness that there are no good editions? Noted by Zhuo. 康熙癸未六月，侍八貝勒于南薰殿，架上有汪文盛刊本，因取以校此 卷。汪氏亦仍訛襲舛如《前書·地理》，亦憚於互勘。書無善本，豈 非苟簡之過哉？ 焯記。

The colophon at the end of juan 30 of the Xu Hanzhi reads: In the early summer of the xinsi year of the Kangxi reign [1701], I finished reading the thirty juan of the Xu Hanzhi in Shaobo’s boat. The master copy of the Hou Hanshu carved by the Mao family was far from good compared to that of the Hanshu. The boat was sailing so I had no chance to collate it with other editions. For the time being, I must wait and reread it [the Hou Hanshu] after going back to the South. Written by Zhuo. 康熙辛巳首夏，于召伯舟中閱完《續漢志》三十卷，毛氏《後漢書》 所據之本遠不逮班書，舟行，又無從假他本互校，姑俟南歸再閱云。 焯識。

From the twenty-third juan to this one, collated with an incomplete Northern Song edition in the winter of the guisi year [1713]. 自二十三卷至此，癸巳冬日得北宋殘本校。

According to these records, we know that He Zhuo read and collated the Hou Hanshu from 1701 to 1720, over a period of about twenty years. The spatial elements he mentions include Qingyuan, Baoding, the Imperial Palace, sitting under an oil lamp in a study, and even reading on a boat. Whenever he had access to a new edition of the Hou Hanshu, he would borrow it and use it to collate the text in a copy of his own. It seems that He Zhuo never stopped reading and collating books, regardless of the time or the place, during those twenty years. His biographies tell us that he was never appointed to a position of real political power or involved in any administrative practical affairs. He worked as an academic advisor in the Southern Study and as an editor in the imperial printing office in the Hall of Military Glory for decades, devoting himself to reading and editing and occasionally giving his opinions to the emperor and princes. He was a professional scholar who lived on a salary supplied by the imperial government. His job was to read and collate books, i.e., to produce new (reliable) texts. One of the most essential features of the scholarly culture

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

143

of late Imperial China can be illustrated by He Zhuo’s case: “to preserve the old while making it nevertheless new – to maintain continuity with a tradition without freezing it” – using an argument made by Daniel Boyarin about midrash.2 “To preserve the old while making it nevertheless new,” as emphasized by Boyarin, was the task of every successful culture.3 As discussed in chapter 1, in Chinese history every generation of classicists proposed new ideas from new interpretations of the Classics. The Qing dynasty was no different: there were some new characteristics in the interpretation of the ancient Classics, one of the most prominent of which was that scholars paid more attention to the text itself. Qing scholars searched for the Way (dao 道) or the means to recover the Way of antiquity through careful study of the text of the Classics.4 In the scholarly culture of the Qing dynasty, new ideas were generated from new interpretations of old texts; new interpretations came into being according to newly “collated” and “edited” texts. Catalogues and other sources demonstrate that it was very common for scholars to collate, transcribe and analyze texts and marginalia, and there were many more textual experts in the Qing than in any other period. This intellectual culture was created by scholars in the late Ming and early Qing period in a particular political and social context. It spread especially to Beijing and the Jiangnan region, but also to other parts of the Qing empire, and was, perhaps unconsciously, practiced by a growing number of scholars. When this scholarly culture was formed, it became an invisible influence, shaping all the scholars’ thoughts and practices. While devoting themselves to this textual enterprise, the ultimate goal of the scholars was to find the Way or recover the Way of antiquity and build a better world. But they still had to live in this world (cishi 此世) and deal with annoying and sometimes even dangerous affairs. Still taking He Zhuo’s colophons as an example, those at the end of juan 16 of the Xu Hanzhi read: During shen [3–5 PM] on the twentieth day of the fourth month of the bingshen year [1716], when I went out from the Royal Palace, a strong wind was blowing. The bolt of the Duan Gate had been destroyed and the Wu Gate, opened wide, could be seen in the distance. I was shocked by this so I recorded it here. 2 Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1990), 22. 3 See Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash, 22. 4 See also Ori Sela, China’s Philological Turn: Scholars, Textualism, and the Dao in the Eighteenth Century (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018), 4–5. Sela refers to this approach as “textualism.”

144

chapter 5 丙申四月二十日申時，自內直出，適大風吹，端門牡壞，午門遙望洞 開，異而識之。

From the twenty-sixth to twenty-seventh day of the sixth month of the gengzi year [1720], there were billions of turtles blocking the Lu River and going into the sea from Tianjin. Transport ships could hardly sail. [People] were seated in a barn and sacrificed a lamb and pig with music, [and] afterwards, they opened the sluice to let them out. In this way, they were gone. From the seventeenth to nineteenth days of the seventh month, it happened again. 庚子六月廿六日至七日，二日有鼈億萬，梗塞潞河，由天津入海，漕 船至不可行。坐糧廳，具中牢，鼓樂致祭，開牐送之，始不復見。七 月十七日至十九日又如是。

These two colophons recorded exceptional events: damage caused by an odd wind and an disruption brought about by billions of turtles. This can reveal some of He Zhuo’s hidden feelings. Damage to and the disappearance of a gate bolt was long considered an omen of internal disorder in Chinese history. The “Wuxing zhi” 五行志 (Treatise on the five elements) of the Hanshu states: In the first month of the first year of Emperor Cheng’s reign, the bolt of the Zhangcheng Gate of Chang’an disappeared; so did the bolt of the second gate of the Hangu Pass. Jing Fang’s Yizhuan (Annotation on the Book of Changes) states: “If [the government] announces peace reigns over the land without relieving the famine, there will be flooding and the bolt of the gate will be gone.” The Yaoci (Demonic words) reads “The gate moving and bolt going missing are omens of malevolent ministers carrying out misdeeds, and traitorous ministers will usurp the throne.” 成帝元延元年正月，長安章城門門牡自亡，函谷關次門牡亦自亡。京 房《易傳》曰:“飢而不損茲謂泰，厥災水，厥咎牡亡。  ”《妖辭》   曰:“關動牡飛，辟為亡道臣為非，厥咎亂臣謀篡。  ”5  

5 Hanshu, juan 27, 1401.

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

145

As an expert of the Hanshu and Hou Hanshu, He Zhuo would have been very familiar with this omen and its meaning. During the latter part of the Kangxi emperor’s reign, nine of the emperor’s sons fought for the throne. He Zhuo was also involved in these events. During his life, he was accused falsely and put into jail; after his death, he was defamed because he was once the tutor of the Eighth Prince and helped him fight for the throne. In this sense, this piece of marginalia manifests his hidden worry about his life and reputation. For scholars who participated in political affairs, it was difficult to escape calamities and keep their bodies and reputations intact. Was devoting oneself to antiquities and burying themselves in books the best choice for most scholars? For He Zhuo, a scholar who worked in the royal palace and was intimate with political figures, this does not seem to have been the answer. But scholars sponsored by local governments, merchants, or family resources had fewer concerns of this kind. They concentrated on all kinds of scholarly affairs at different times and spaces. Lu Wenchao’s case is a good example. Lu Wenchao was one of the most prominent classicists, textual experts, and bibliophiles in the mid-Qing period. He collated many books and wrote and transcribed enormous amounts of marginalia. The Yili zhushu 儀禮注疏 (Rites and Ceremonies with annotations and sub-annotations) held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XS797827-36) is filled with Lu’s marginalia that manifests his painstaking work in reading and collating this book. Lu’s work was influential on later scholars. At the end of the preface there are colophons written by two scholars from the late Qing, Huang Sidong 黃嗣東 (courtesy name Xiaolu 小魯, 1846–1910) and Huang Pengnian 黃彭年 (courtesy name Zishou 子壽, 1824–1890). Huang Sidong’s colophon reads: This is the original manuscript of Lu Wen’s Yili xiangjiao (Complete collation notes on the Rites and Ceremonies). Lu is a scholar in my home town. This book has ten volumes and seventeen juan in total. The dates of reading and collating are at the end of each juan, recorded by Master [Lu] himself. [Master Lu] devoted [himself] to this book for forty-four years, starting in the gengwu year [1750] and ending in the jiayin year [1794] of the Qianlong reign…. [Master Lu’s] collation and evidential research are careful and refined, far beyond the capacity of recent classicists and scholars. I acquired this book from a bookstore in Chang’an. After reading it once, I felt like I was in possession of an extremely valuable treasure. It would be good if my sons and grandsons could keep it for generations. Otherwise, I will send it to those who can read it to avoid its loss and dispersal. In so doing, I can also be Lu’s meritorious servant.

146

chapter 5

Written sincerely by Huang Sidong, a scholar of a later generation, on the fifteenth day of the second month of the dinghai year (the thirteenth year) of the Guangxu reign [1887]. 此吾鄉盧弓父先生《儀禮詳校》原本也。書凡十本，共十七卷，每卷 末皆有先生自記校閱年日，始乾隆庚午，訖甲寅，用力於茲者凡四十 有四年……考校精密，誠非近世經生家所及。余得之於長安市中，細 讀一過，如獲拱璧。吾子孫能世守之固佳，否則以遺世之能讀是書 者，俾免散佚，亦盧氏之功臣也。光緒十三年丁亥二月望日後學黃嗣 東謹識。

Huang Pengnian’s colophon reads: Seeing Lu Wenchao’s careful, hard work expended on this book even when he was aged, I hurriedly borrowed it from Xiaolu and transcribed [the marginalia] to show my respect. Written by Huang Pengnian a scholar of a later generation, in the eighth month of the thirteenth year of the Guangxu reign [1887]. 觀此本用力之精勤，老而不倦，急從小魯借臨一過，以志嚮往。光緒 十三年八月後學黃彭年識。

In this book, Lu Wenchao recorded in detail the reading and collating time at the end of every juan. Owing to these temporal records and the enormous amount of marginalia, Huang Sidong and Huang Pengnian were able to piece together the entire story of Lu Wenchao’s reading and collating of this book. Moved by Lu’s sincerity and diligence, they also devoted themselves to the transcription of marginalia. From Lu Wenchao to Huang Sidong and Huang Pengnian, what was transmitted were not only research materials but also mental fortitude and faith in the belief that meaning resided in books and in the study of the classics. All of this is encapsulated in the detailed records of time spent. Much like Lu Wenchao, another prominent textual scholar in the Qing, Guan Guangqi, also habitually recorded the times he spent reading and collating books. The Huayangguo zhi 華陽國志 (Chronicles of the state of Huayang) held at the National Library of China (call number: 6226) contains a great many of He Zhuo’s and Gu Guangqi’s marginalia copied by an unidentified transcriptionist. The following table summarizes Gu’s colophons at the end of some juan:

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia table 5.1

147

Gu Guangqi’s colophons in the Huayangguo zhi held at the National Library of China

Location

Gu Guangqi’s Colophons

juan 1

Reread in my residence in Jiangning, in the guiyou year of the Jiaqing reign [1813]. By Jianpin. 嘉慶癸酉，再讀於江寧寓中。澗蘋記。

juan 4

Collated in the tenth month of the guihai year of the Jiaqing reign [1803]. By Jianpin. 嘉慶癸亥十月校。澗蘋記。

Recorded again after rereading in my residence in Jiangning in the guiyou year [1813]. 癸酉五月江寧寓中再讀又記。

juan 5

Reread in the fourth month of the guiyou year [1813]. 癸酉四月重讀。

juan 7

Reread in my residence in Jiangning in the fifth month of the guiyou year [1813]. 癸酉五月再讀於江寧寓中。

juan 8

Reread in my residence in Jiangning in the third month of the guiyou year [1813].

juan 9

Collated on the twenty-seventh day. Jianpin.

癸酉三月再讀於江寧寓中。 廿七日校。澗蘋。

Reread in Jiangning in the fourth month of the guiyou year [1813]. 癸酉四月再讀於江寧。

juan 10

Collated in the tenth month of the guiyou year [1813]. 癸酉十月校。

Reread in my residence in Jiangning in the fifth month of the guiyou year [1813]. Recorded by Jianpin. 癸酉五月再讀於江寧寓中。澗蘋記。

juan 12

On the first day of the eleventh month. By Jianpin. 十一月朔澗蘋記。

By Jianpin in the light of the lamp on the twenty-first day in the guihai year of the Jiaqing reign [1803]. 嘉慶癸亥廿一日澗蘋居士燈下記。

After ten years, in the guiyou year [1813], I collated this book for Sun the Surveillance Commissioner in Jiangning. All things have a destiny like this. Written again. 閱十年癸酉，為孫觀察校勘於江寧，凡事自有定數如此。又記。

148

chapter 5

This is a detailed record of his reading and collating the history of the Huayangguo zhi, and of his special relationship with this book. This kind of record does not make much sense to readers of the main text, but for Gu Guangqi himself, recording the temporal sequence in detail made this book his “reading diary.” What was encapsulated within these temporal records were the events and emotional states he experienced at that time. Some marginalia composers and transcriptionists also had the habit of recording the weather and other natural conditions they were experiencing while they were reading a book, such as He Zhuo’s record of the odd wind in the Hou Hanshu mentioned above. These records can reveal such things as their emotional state and attitudes to scholarship. For instance, the Zhongwu jiwen 中吳紀聞 (Record of events heard of in the Wu Region) held at the National Library of China (call number: SB13319) has He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by an unknown scribe. At the end of the preface, He’s colophon states how he obtained various editions for collation. The last sentences read: On the nineteenth day of the gengchen year of the Kangxi reign [1700], the snow ceased and the window was clear and bright. By Zhuo with a brush unfrozen by my breath. 康熙庚辰十二月十九日，雪霽窗明。呵凍書，焯。

Interestingly, another copy of the Zhongwu jiwen at the National Library of China (call number: S2195) has He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by Wu Zhizhong 吳志忠 (alternative name Miaodaoren 妙道人, a scholar in the latter part of the Daoguang reign). For this particular colophon by He Zhuo, Wu’s transcription lacks these last sentences. Yet at the end of juan four, Wu’s colophon reads: In the eleventh month of the renchen year of the Daoguang reign [1832] … on the nineteenth day, blowing away the chill. Miaodaoren. 道光壬辰十一月……十九日，呵凍，妙道人。

It’s difficult to know why Wu Zhizhong “forgot” to transcribe the last sentences. However, to be sure, he must have read the whole colophon and even been impressed by the last sentences as he imitated He’s expression in his own colophon.

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

149

The Sanguo zhi held at the National Library of China (call number: SB06264) is filled with marginalia by He Zhuo and other scholars and transcribed by Weng Tongshu. At the end, Weng’s colophon states: Finished reading amidst the wind and rain on the eighteenth day of the seventh month. 七月十八日風雨中閱竟。

The Wudai shiji at the National Library of China (call number: SB14710) has He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by Zhang Yu, as well as some marginalia composed by Zhang Yu himself. At the end of juan 22, Zhang’s colophon states: Collated on the eighteenth day when the rainy season began and suddenly became so cold that we needed to put on cotton-padded jackets. 十八日校，梅雨驟涼，可御薄棉衣。

The Gengzi xiaoxia ji held at the National Library of China (call number: SB15338) has He Zhuo’s marginalia and colophons by Zhu Yun 朱筠 (1729–1781), Yu Ji 余集 (1738–1824) and Xia Huang 夏璜 ( jinshi 1809). Xia’s colophon at the end of the book states: Collated on the fifth day of the second month of the bingzi year [1816]. It was raining and a little cold. I tried the old ink Yeting sent me, writing [this] casually at the end of the book. The sparse raindrops tapped at my window, and the plum blossoms in the vase seem to smile. 丙子二月五日校對畢。是日雨，天氣微涼，試液亭所惠古墨，漫書卷 尾。小雨點牕，瓶梅欲笑。

These poetic writings about the weather resemble the artistic description in Zhao Yi’s poem, “Busy collating in my study all day long. / Stepping outdoors, it is already the dry autumn that I had not felt at all.” They manifest scholars’ aesthetic mental states when viewing the physical world and engaging in selfreflection within the realm of their studies. Textual criticism and evidential research in marginalia are both forms of rationalistic scholarship, but Qing scholars treated them in a very perceptual and poetic manner. Comparatively

150

chapter 5

speaking, in modern scholarship, it is common in prefaces and sometimes acknowledgments to take a much more personal tone than in the main body of academic writing. This predisposition in Qing scholars was shown not only in their writings on time and weather, but also in the way they did their writing and treated their books. 2

The Artistic Lives of Scholars

He Zhuo was a well-known calligrapher who was especially good at regular small and semi-cursive style script. Books containing marginalia that he had written were therefore treated as artwork and treasured by both bibliophiles and calligraphers (see figure 4.5). The Ming manuscript edition of Zhuozhong zhi 酌中志 (Impartial records of palace events) held at the National Library of China (call number: SB11564) contains He Zhuo’s holographic marginalia. There is a short colophon written by an unknown collector on the cover, reading: Fifteen juan of the manuscript are still in existence. The seven comments in the top margin and the red characters in the interlinear spaces were written in Yimen’s own hand. They are exquisite and endearing. 存原抄十五卷，頂批七處及行間紅字乃義門親筆，精緻可愛。

The Zhuozhong zhi has twenty-four juan in total. This manuscript copy has fifteen juan, i.e., more than half of the whole book. There are just seven pieces of He Zhuo’s eyebrow marginalia and several of his interlinear marginalia. However, the collector emphasized these marginalia, which show their special significance for him. In pre-modern China, people learned calligraphy by imitating the handwriting of previous calligraphers. He Zhuo’s students, later scholars and calligraphers all practiced their calligraphy based on marginalia written by him. Sometimes, “transcribing marginalia” was also called “imitating (lin 臨) marginalia.” In this practice, transcription of marginalia was not only a process of transmitting research materials, but also a way to practise calligraphy. As mentioned in chapter 4, Jiang Gao, one of He Zhuo’s students, was known for transcribing and imitating his teacher’s marginalia. Similarly, Yao Shiyu, who personally studied under He Zhuo, was also skilled at imitating He’s handwriting while transcribing his marginalia. A copy of a Ming edition of the Wudai

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

figure 5.1a

151

First page and the table of contents of the Wudai shiji, woodblock edition carved at the Mao family’s Jigu ge in the late Ming. Colophon by Gao Quan Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS847873-78)

shiji carved in the Mao family’s Jigu Pavilion held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XS847873-78, see figure 5.1) contains He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by Yao Shiyu. Yao’s handwriting in regular small style script is quite handsome. Gao Quan’s 高銓 (courtesy name Pinzhou 蘋洲, ca. the Jiaqing reign) colophon at the beginning of this book reads: This is a collated edition with Junior Compiler He Yimen’s marginalia transcribed by Mr. Yao Yitian. The Junior Compiler collated it with a copy read by Dongjianweng (Qian Qianyi) in the Jiangyun Tower. The original copy [with He Zhuo’s own handwriting] was formerly held at the Congshu Tower of the Ma family in Weiyang, and is said to have already been scattered to the north of the Yangzi river. Recorded in the Dushu ji [of He Zhuo] are just some important points. Mr. Yitian once worked as a teacher for the Ma family. He transcribed He’s marginalia [into this copy]

152

figure 5.1b

chapter 5

Last leaf of the Wudai shiji. Colophons composed by He Zhuo and transcribed by Yao Shiyu in imitation of He’s handwriting Courtesy of the Shanghai Library (call number: XS847873-78)

in detail without any omissions. There is no duplicate south of the Yangzi River. I expect readers will treasure this book. Written by Pinzhou. 此姚薏田先生手抄義門何太史校本也，太史借絳雲樓東澗翁閱本點 定。原書昔在維揚馬氏叢書樓，聞已散歸江北。《讀書記》所載僅撮 涯畧，薏田先生館於馬氏，從原書錄出，詳審無遺，大江以南，別無 副本，讀者其珍稀之。蘋洲記。

Gao Quan stated how Yao Shiyu did the transcription and pointed out its value. Decades later, Zhang Yu transcribed all the marginalia from this copy into another copy (the one held at the National Library of China mentioned above). Zhang Yu’s colophon at the end of that copy states:

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

153

The copy that bears Mr. Yitian’s transcription of He Yimen’s marginalia is now held at the Tianjin Library.6 [The marginalia] are so exquisite that they are unrivalled in the world. In the seventh month of the renxu year [1922], I borrowed it and transcribed the marginalia into another copy in two days. It was done carelessly and I would have been reprimanded by the wise men of the past. By Shizhi. 薏田先生手傳何義門先生本今藏天津圖書館，精整無匹。壬戌七月借 傳一本，竭二日之力卒事，草率當為前賢所訶，式之。

Some of Yimen’s marginalia [in this copy] are not included in the Dushu ji that is currently circulating. Yitian’s [Yao Shiyu] handwriting greatly resembles that of He Zhuo’s. Further noted by Yu. 義門識語，現行《讀書記》有未及載者。薏田書跡，極似何氏。鈺 又記。

It was not rare in the Qing dynasty for a scribe like Yao Shiyu to be capable of imitating He Zhuo’s handwriting to the degree that it passed as genuine. Generally, He’s students and most other scholars would have been perfectly happy to record in their colophons their transcription and all other encounters with that book in detail, with specific reference to temporal and spatial elements of their experience. The benefits of this practice – a habit widely practised in paintings, calligraphic works, and books – were manifold. It was a way to actively interact with the book, especially its text. By so doing, they were involved in the history of the circulation of that book and even the history of the transmission of the text beyond the limitations of the physical book. This practice was a way to show not only that they once held and read the book, but also that they contributed to the text. In short, by writing in the book, a scholar made himself present with the text of the book over the temporal span of its history. “Exquisite and neat” ( jingzheng 精整), “exquisite and refined” ( jinggong 精工), and “exquisite and fine” ( jinghao 精好) are words that Qing scholars employed to praise the beauty of the calligraphy of marginalia. These words manifest the extreme care exercised by marginalia writers and transcriptionists while writing in a book, regardless of the calligraphic style. Transcriptionists sometimes needed to transcribe more than one kind of marginalia. In order to tell them apart, multicolour inks were employed – red and yellow being the most widely used colors. Therefore, expressions such as “eyes 6 This copy is now held at the Shanghai Library. Its call number is XS847873-78.

154

chapter 5

filled with red and yellow” (丹黃溢目) and “exquisitely and carefully written in red and yellow” (丹黃精謹) often appeared in colophons. In this regard, for Qing scholars, the significance of a text lay not only in its content but also in its form. Scholars, bibliophiles, and calligraphers not only copied the contents of the text, they also tried to improve their calligraphic skills and incorporate some aesthetic values during this process. Transcription supplied new possibilities for using, not just “reading,” the text.7 For many Qing scholars, it seems that scholarly practices themselves were of great significance. They enjoyed practices related to the collection and reading of the book, the process of making sense of the text, and the production and transcription of marginalia. This can be illustrated by the case of Weng Tonghe 翁同龢 (courtesy name Shuping 叔平, alternative name Pingsheng 瓶生, 1830– 1904). When Weng Tonghe was fifteen sui, he bought a copy of the Tang Liu xiansheng ji 唐柳先生集 (The collected works of Liu Zongyuan in the Tang Dynasty) with He Zhuo’s handwritten marginalia in it.8 Weng was so excited that he composed a poem about this book, wrote it down on a separate piece of paper and put it inside. About fifty years later, Weng transcribed He’s marginalia into a new copy.9 He wrote a colophon at the end of this copy: I obtained the Liu xiansheng ji with marginalia from the Chen family’s Jirui Pavilion when I was fifteen sui. The red marginalia were rather illuminating. They were written by He Qizhan. I intended to make a copy but have not managed to. In my spare time this spring when I was lecturing in the Yuchun Palace, I roughly collated it once. My eyes were almost blind and my wrist unsteady. I am not as strong as when I was young, for which I sigh sorrowfully repeatedly. Recorded by Weng Tonghe on the seventh day of the fourth month in the renwu year [1882]. 余年十五得批本《柳先生集》於稽瑞樓陳氏，朱書爛然，何屺瞻手跡 也。意欲臨寫一本，卒卒不果。今年春於入直毓春宮勸講之暇，就殿 西箱小窗下粗校一過，目眇腕澀，非復少強健矣，為之三歎。壬午四 月初七日翁同龢記。

7 It is worth mentioning that there were also many anonymous transcriptionists who imitated He Zhuo’s handwriting but left no information about themselves, making it difficult to authenticate He Zhuo’s marginalia. Some of the marginalia were produced for commercial purposes: merchants hired professional scribes to forge He Zhuo’s marginalia so as to raise the price of the book. See chapter 4. 8 This copy is now held at the National Library of China, call number SB06251. 9 This copy is now held at the National Library of China, call number SB04405.

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

155

Weng Tonghe was a noted scholar-official and the teacher of two emperors, Tongzhi 同治 (r. 1861–1875) and Guangxu 光緒 (r. 1875–1908). He was especially well known for his calligraphy and had a great deal of confidence in it. At the end of the table of contents of the Tang Liu xiansheng ji on which Weng transcribed He Zhuo’s marginalia, Weng’s colophon reads: The copy with Mr. Yimen’s marginalia was a Masha edition from the Yuan dynasty. This copy is a Ming edition produced in the Zhengtong reign. It is the same as the Yuan edition in its chapter order and phonetic notation, but different in the number of columns per page and characters per column. I transcribed Mr. He’s marginalia into this copy in the renwu year [1882]. After twenty years, in the renyin year [1902], I read it again and felt that the characters [I wrote] were big and beautiful, a bit better than Mr. He’s handwriting. Recorded by Weng Tonghe (Songchan) on the last day of the second month. 義門先生手批本係元時麻沙本也，此明正統本，與元刻篇第音注悉 同，惟行數字數多寡互異耳。余於壬午年臨先生評校於冊內，越二十 年壬寅重閱，覺字大悅目，較勝先生手跡也。二月晦松禪翁同龢記。

This comment not only reveals Weng’s confidence in his calligraphy, but also shows that in transcribing marginalia, calligraphy was a concern. However, there was no evidence (e.g. no seals) showing that the marginalia in the copy he got when he was fifteen sui were actually written in He Zhuo’s hand. In fact, it is more likely that they were transcribed by some unknown scribe. Besides calligraphy and textual criticism, Weng was also interested in the marginal comments composed by He Zhuo. He had transcribed He Zhuo’s marginalia in numerous works, such as the Hanshu, Sanguo zhi, Shitong, Gengzi xiaoxia ji 庚子消夏記 (Record of whiling away the summer of the gengzi year), Han wen chao 韓文鈔 (Collected works of Han Yu 韩愈), Tang Liu xiansheng ji and Jiayou ji 嘉祐集 (Collected works of Su Xun 蘇洵). He transcribed both the collation notes and He’s comments from all of these works. There are two colophons by Weng at the end of the table of contents of the Shitong held at the Shanghai Library (call number: SX782275–79). The one in blue reads: I have a copy [of the Shitong] with marginalia by [Qian] Muweng (Qian Qianyi) transcribed by Qian Xiangling. I collated this copy with it and found that the comments that start with “Feng says” in this copy were all by Muweng. He Zhuo perhaps concealed [the truth and avoided mentioning Qian Qianyi’s name]. I supplemented the emphasis marks in blue

156

chapter 5

ink and added on the top and side margins several pieces of what was left out by He. Written by Tonghe in the sixth month of the jiashen year [1884]. The emphasis marks seem to have been made by Xiangling rather than Muweng. 家藏錢湘靈先生臨牧翁批校本，用以對勘，乃知此本內所稱馮云者，   皆牧翁評也。何蓋諱之耳。因以藍色補其圈點，並補何所漏者數條於 闌上及行側。甲申六月同龢記。圈點似湘靈先生所為，非牧翁也。

The one in red states: The copy kept in my house has the comments of Royal Attendant Wang Genzhai. So I transcribed them in this copy in purple ink. The emphasis marks are a little careless, and the comments unreasonable most of the time. So, I suspect that they were not composed by [Wang Jun the] Royal Attendant. However, they point out the literary ingenuity of the text, so I transcribed them in order to make the text convenient for beginners to read. Noted by Shuping. 家藏本有王艮齋侍御評語，因以紫色筆臨之，其圈點頗爛漫，且與評 語多違戾處，疑非侍御手筆。然頗畫文章之妙，故並臨之，便於初學 誦讀。叔平記。

Qian Qianyi was a prominent poet and scholar in the late Ming and early Qing periods. Wang Jun 王峻 (courtesy name Genzhai 艮齋, 1694–1751) was a scholar-official, specializing in history and geography. Weng transcribed their comments and emphasis marks. He also transcribed those that he suspected were not composed by Qian and Wang because “they point out the literary ingenuity of the text.” For Weng Tonghe, previous scholars’ comments were useful for “beginners” to grasp the literary features of the text. At the same time, we can also see that Weng paid a great deal of attention to the emphasis marks made by previous readers. Obviously, the “comments” here mentioned by him were mostly literary comments; the emphasis marks were also devices for helping to point out and analyze the literary features of the text. As discussed in chapter 2, literary comments and emphasis marks were introduced to analyze the literary features of classical prose in order to help students prepare for the civil service examinations in the Song dynasty, and in the late Ming were widely used in works of fiction and drama to guide readers in appreciating the aesthetic values of these texts. Scholars in the Qing dynasty still used them in their marginalia, and Weng also expended much effort transcribing

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

157

them. Weng asserted that they were for “beginners,” but how many “beginners” could have had access to his transcriptions? The more reasonable explanation is that the comments and emphasis marks were for Weng himself to appreciate the literary beauty of the text. At a time when evidential research was the mainstream scholarly approach, when pure beauty and pleasure were excluded from scholarship and scholarly practice, scholars managed to find other ways to meet this need. Weng rationalized his practice of pursuing beauty in the text by asserting that it was for unspecified “beginners.” 3

The Mental World of Scholars

Sometimes, the marginalia writer’s brush reached beyond the space of his study to the much broader external world, revealing the extension of his gaze from one room (yishi 一室) to all under heaven (tianxia 天下). Outside the study, there was not only the objective natural environment but also a variety of more complicated human affairs. For instance, the Nanshi 南史 (History of the Southern Dynasties) held at the National Library of China (call number: SB04309) has He Zhuo’s and Wang Mingsheng’s 王鳴盛 (courtesy name Fengjie 鳳喈, 1722–1797) marginalia transcribed by Liu Lüfen 劉履芬 (courtesy name Yanqing 彥青, 1827–1879). There are three colophons composed by Wang Mingsheng at the end of this book. The first states that he read this Nanshi and wrote some marginalia in it in 1772. The second and third colophons read: On the twenty-third day of the first month of the thirty-eighth year [of the Qianlong reign], the guisi year [1773], I transcribed the comments from other copies again, starting from the thirty-fourth juan. This work was finished in the afternoon of the second day of the second month. In the morning of that day, another daughter of mine was born, when I was fifty-two sui. 三十八年癸巳正月二十三日，重臨諸本批評，自三十四卷起，至二月 初二日午後畢工，是日清晨，又產一女，時予年五十有二。

In the eighth month of the renchen year [1772], my two concubines, both surnamed Chen, went back home. Their fathers harbour malice in their hearts. I was depressed. What was worse was that I sold the houses at a loss in the eighth and ninth months, which wasted money and energy beyond words. Worse yet, my son was stricken by a serious disease and

158

chapter 5

the money I spent was incalculable. In that half year, I was almost buried by depression, so that I neglected my own business. In the spring of the guisi year [1773], when I consented to my fourth daughter’s marriage to the Yao family, I was still upset. I snatched a moment of leisure and finished collating this book. Amidst all this chaos, I did not stop learning from the ancients. Perhaps it is because this is what I love. 自壬辰八月，兩陳妾又忽回家去，其父頗懷惡心，予情緒既不佳，又 八九兩月連次貼賣房屋，費財勞頓，不可勝言。又兒嗣構病危，醫藥 之費不訾，半載之中，日在愁城，遂亦廢業不理。癸巳初春，時方遣 嫁第四女于姚氏，情緒亦煩撓，偷閑校畢此書。刺促之中，不輟稽 古，蓋予之所好在此也。

Wang Mingsheng was one of the greatest historians and classicists in the midQing. He took second place at the palace examination (bangyan 榜眼) in 1754 and was the author of the masterwork Shiqishi shangque 十七史商榷 (A discussion of problems in the Seventeen Histories). Among the enormous number of objective historical comments in his marginalia in the Nanshi, these two colophons stand out: the former that recorded the birth of his daughter when he was 52 sui; and the latter that recorded various annoying family affairs. Yet during all these happy or frustrating times, Wang never “stopped learning from the ancients.” At the very moment when his brush touched on external matters, he withdrew to his study where he could find peace and happiness. Here, learning and reading were not only a job or hobby; they became a mental pursuit, a habit and an important part of his daily life. Reading books, collating them, and the many other scholarly practices played a crucial role in his life. Another relevant example of such movement between external spaces and the spaces of scholarship is the case of Weng Tonghe. The Han wen chao held at the National Library of China (call number: 06252) has Weng Tonghe’s transcription of He Zhuo’s marginalia. At the end of this book, Weng’s colophons read: On the sixteenth day of the second month of the wuwu year [1858], I saw a copy of Han Yu’s classical prose with Li Rongcun’s [Li Guangdi] marginalia. I borrowed it and transcribed the marginalia. There were just a few comments by Li. Most of them were He Yimen’s comments. At that time, my wife had already been ill for several years and her breathing was feeble. I was reading by the light of a lantern at night and my mood was unbearable. Remote in time and space, who can understand my sadness! Finished on the twentieth day and recorded here. By Tonghe.

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

159

戊午二月十六日，於廠肆見李榕村先生批本韓文，假歸臨校一過，李 氏說不過數條，大抵義門何氏之說居多。時余妻病瘵累年，至是，氣 僅如縷。篝燈夜讀，意境不堪，悠悠此中，孰知余悲也。二十日臨 畢，因識。同龢。

In the ninth month of the wuchen year [1867] of the Tongzhi reign, I escorted home the coffins of my deceased father whose posthumous title was Wenduan, and my deceased older brother whose posthumous title was Wenqin. We started south of the Lu River and stopped in Linqing. There was no water in the river there, so we took the land route thenceforth, and returned to the boat again in Zhangqiu. I read and punctuated this book in great sorrow and depression. I took another boat carrying my wife’s coffin and watched from the distance the limitless mist covering the water. Recorded by Tonghe, on the lake at Mount Wei on the fourth day of the month. 同治戊辰九月抉護先文端公及先兄文勤之喪，由潞河南還臨清，無 水，乃出陸，復自張丘入舟，憂傷憔悴中點讀一過。別以小艇載正妻 柩相望於煙波浩渺間也。是月四日，微山湖中，同龢記。

These two colophons record the domestic tragedies Weng experienced. In this depressed state he could only take slight comfort from reading and put down his sadness in the margin of the book he was reading. But, life recorded in marginalia was not always grievous. The Jinshi lu 金石錄 (Catalogue of ancient bronzes and stone tablets) held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XST03117-122) has a colophon at the end by Weng Tonghe stating that he was fortunate to acquire this book in a book market and that He Zhuo’s marginalia in it had been transcribed by a noted scholar-official and calligrapher, Dong Chun 董醇 (1810–1892). Following this, another colophon by Weng reads: In the past, my friend Pan Boyin (Pan Zuyin 潘祖蔭, courtesy name Boyin 伯寅, studio name Pangxi Study [Pangxi zhai], 1830–1890) got an incomplete copy of a Song edition formerly held at the Yeshi Garden [Yeshiyuan]. Pan was extremely surprised and considered it a very rare and valuable treasure. He carved a seal that read “the family that has ten juan of the Jinshi lu,” and invited friends to drink and compose poems for it. Pan declared, “The lost treasure stopped wandering.” This certainly deserves our cheers. Noted by Pingsheng.

160

chapter 5 昔吾友潘伯寅得也是園宋槧殘本，詫為奇寶，刻“金石錄十卷人家” 小印，置酒邀人賦詩。滂喜云“亡風流歇”，絕可勝歎哉。瓶生記。

Pan Zuyin was a high-ranking Qing dynasty official, a noted art collector, and a prominent calligrapher. The Jinshi lu, co-written by the famous epigrapher Zhao Mingcheng 趙明誠 (1081–1129) and his wife, Li Qingzhao 李清照 (1081–c.1141), one of the great female poets, was considered one of the earliest and most important catalogues and study works on ancient Chinese bronzes and stone tablets. It enjoyed a great reputation from the time of its publication in the Southern Song dynasty. But by the Qing dynasty, scholars believed that there were only ten juan of the Song edition (one third of the whole book) left. This incomplete Song copy (can Songben 殘宋本) thus enjoyed a very special reputation. Every collector who held it would carve a seal reading “the family that has ten juan of the Jinshi lu” (金石录十卷人家), as did Pan Zuyin. His seal was carved by Zhao Zhiqian 赵之谦 (1829–1884), a renowned calligrapher, seal carver and painter in the late Qing.10 Here, Weng recorded this anecdote, reflecting his admiration for his friend Pan Zuyin who held a Song edition (albeit incomplete) of the Jinshi lu, his regrets that most rare books were scattered and lost, his happiness that Pan stopped this incomplete Song copy from wandering, and his satisfaction at managing to get his own copy filled with previous scholars’ marginalia. In their colophons, the scholars did not say much about theories, principles, the Way of former sages, or any kind of concrete knowledge. What they recorded was their life style, various practices with books, and their feelings about these practices. Through transcribing previous scholars’ marginalia, and the colophons in particular, they learned from their predecessors the way to do their research, a way of life, and a way to think about their lives. They inherited from their predecessors not only concrete knowledge, but also faith in – or at least a certain attitude toward – books and ancient texts. That is, they were living in a particular kind of culture: they were shaped by it and maintained it. I am not arguing that one particular cultural form can continue in a society without any changes. On the contrary, I am trying to show that the condition of a culture is influenced by political, social, economic, and other factors and undergoes very slow but certain change. In the late Qing and Republican periods (late nineteenth- and early twentiethcenturies), when China was going through a transformation from pre-modern

10

See Xu Ke, Qingbai leichao, 4246; Pan Zuyin 潘祖蔭, Pangxi zhai cangshuji 滂喜齋藏書 記, in Xuxiu Suku quanshu, vol. 926, 429–435.

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

161

to modern, the scholarly culture of the Qing dynasty was still intact. Many scholars continued the scholarly practices of their predecessors. They occupied themselves with reading and collating ancient books, transcribing marginalia, and discussing books with friends. Zhang Yu was one of them. The Wudai shiji held at the National Library mentioned above has a colophon by Zhang at the end of juan seven, reading: In the sixteenth day, we held a celebration for my little son Yuanyi’s first full month. I got my son’s hair cut and had a delightful talk with my relatives. I snatched a moment of leisure and collated this book. 十六日，稚子元義滿月，翦鬄，與親戚情話，抽暇校此。

The colophon at the end of juan 62 states: Collated for thirty-three days. I did not do anything else or contact any friends: I just read and collated a lot. 三十三日校。不治他事，朋從絕跡，故校讀較多。

Busy with family affairs, he competed against time to read and collate; in his leisure time, he read and collated more. When he was happy because of his son’s full-month celebration and the talk with his relatives, he did not forget to read and collate; during a lonely time when he had no contact with his friends, he devoted himself to reading and collation. At the end of juan forty-two, another colophon reads: Collated on the twenty-first day, which was my forty-ninth birthday, twenty-seven years after my father’s death, seven years after my mother’s death. Ten years ago, I became an official. On the same day, when I lived in the capital, I went to Father Wang’s and tried to write a policy essay. A decade earlier, I was in my home (in Suzhou). [My son] Yuanshan was less than one-year-old at that time, but now he has already gone to the U.S. to study and will graduate soon. Another decade earlier, I was in Xumen (in Suzhou) studying at an elementary school named Sixian. Yet another decade earlier, I was learning to read the Mencius from master Ding. Recalling past events, I saw everything vividly [in my mind] as if it were a painting. Qu Yuan (courtesy name Boyu) a senior official [of the Wei in the Spring and Autumn Period] said that when he was fifty sui he realised the mistakes he had made at forty-nine. I will say that what I did

162

chapter 5

in the last decade was perhaps right, in comparison with what I am doing now. About the reasons therein, with whom can I talk? 二十一日校，是日為余四十九歲福度，去先君之亡二十七年，先母之 亡七年。前十年為通籍之年，是日寓京，達子營汪丈處試寫策一本。 又前十年在里門，是時元善尚未試週，今已遠逳美國求學，將次畢 業。又前十年，時在胥門，由斯銜處蒙館。又前十年，從丁師讀《孟 子》。回望前塵，歷歷如繪。蘧大夫（名瑗，字伯玉，春秋時衛國大 臣）謂知四十九年之非，余則謂，以今校之前數十年，或較是耳。此 中消息，將與誰語邪？

Here, on his forty-ninth birthday in 1913 when he lived in Tianjin,11 Zhang Yu looked back at his life in decade-long segments. In those forty-nine years, Zhang moved from his home to Xumen in Suzhou, then to the capital (Beijing), and then to Tianjin. At any particular time and space, reading and learning were always the cornerstones of Zhang’s life. For a reading seed like Zhang Yu, external time and space changed, but his reading life did not; nor did his relationship with books. In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution ended the Qing dynasty, the last empire in Chinese history and a new regime was established. In this colophon, Zhang Yu also mentioned that his son had gone to the U.S. to study. The world had changed drastically, and he was confused. Perhaps it was time for him to change how he saw the world and responded to it. But Zhang continued to read the world according to texts that had been read and altered by past wise men. He was defending the tradition in his way. His colophons, at times, are inundated by confusion, bewilderment and depression about the world and his destiny in it. At the end of juan fifteen of the Wudai shiji, Zhang recorded discussions with one of his friends about one of Su Shi’s 蘇軾 (1037–1101) song lyrics, the “Shui long yin (Ci yun Zhang Zhifu yanghua ci)” 水龍吟（次韻章質 夫楊花詞） (Tune: “The Water Dragon’s Chant,” After Zhang Zhifu’s Lyric on the Willow Catkin Using the Same Rhyming Words). This colophon reads: Collated on the seventeenth day. That night, Shi Zhonglu came to discuss Pogong’s [Su Shi’s] song lyric, the “Willow Catkins” (Tune: “Water Dragon’s Chant”) with me. He said: “The two sentences that start with 11

See Su Jing 蘇精, Jindai cangshu sanshijia 近代藏書三十家 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2009), 46.

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

163

‘bu hen’ (do not grieve) in the second part mean that the willow catkins are not worthy of pity, yet what went with them is to be greatly pitied.” When I ask him why, [he said that] the willow catkins and what were not willow catkins both returned to dust. The six sentences from “When dawn comes” to “flowing water” mean that the myriad things all perish together. This [reading] grasped the profound meaning [of this poem]. In my opinion, the first part of this poem talks about this life, and the second part discusses this world. These sad words throughout all the ages have someone to corroborate them. The second day when I got up in the morning, I briefly sketched this. 十七日校，夜施仲魯來與談坡公《水龍吟·楊花》一闕。渠云:“下 半‘不恨’二語，謂楊花不足惜，隨以俱亡者乃大可惜。”及問其究 竟，則是楊花非楊花，同歸於塵土，“流水”“曉來”六語有萬類同 歸於盡之意，極得微旨。余於此詞，每謂上半為我生說，下半為世界 說，千古傷心之辭，有人為之印證。翌日晨起擬書，為記其畧。

Su Shi’s entire lyric reads: It seems to be a flower, yet not a flower, / and no on shows it any pity: let it fall! / Deserting home, it wanders by the road; / When you come to think of it, it must / have thoughts, insentient as it may be. / Its tender heart twisted by grief, / its delicate eyes heavy with sleep, / about to open, yet closed again. / In its dream it follows the wind for ten thousand miles, / to find where its lover has gone, / but then it is aroused by the orioles’ cry once more. 似花還似非花，也無人惜從教墜。拋家傍路，思量卻是，無情有思。   縈損柔腸，困酣嬌眼，欲開還閉。夢隨風萬里，尋郎去處，又還被、   鶯呼起。

I do not grieve that the willow catkins have flown away, / but that, in the Western Garden, / the fallen red cannot be gathered. / When dawn comes and the rain is over, / where are the traces they have left? / A pond full of broken duckweed! / Of all the colors of springtime, / two-thirds have gone with the dust, / and one-third with the flowing water! / When you look closely, / these are not willow catkins, / but, drop after drop, parted lovers’ tears.

164

chapter 5 不恨此花飛盡，恨西園，落紅難綴。曉來雨過，遺蹤何在？一池萍 碎。春色三分，二分塵土，一分流水。細看來，不是楊花點點，是離 人淚。  12

The first paragraph of Su Shi’s song lyric writes that the willow catkins seem to be have no feelings, but they actually have deep thoughts. The second stanza states that the willow catkins, as well as all the flowers, have gone with the passing of spring, which triggers in Zhang the feeling that “the myriad things all perish together.” Zhang thought that “the first part of this poem talks about this life, the second part discusses this world,” which implies that everyone under heaven will come to an end in the political and social transformations at that time, when the order of the world is lost, even though one still has feelings for the world, people and the myriad things. This kind of helpless, confused and depressed feeling is a vivid example of what was in the minds of many reading seeds at that time. The reading seeds in late imperial China who had carefully read the Confucian Classics and other ancient works, to some extent possessed a romantic mindset. They dreamed of building a utopian society and renewing the glorious customs recorded in ancient texts. To their way of thinking, all the principles of the natural world and human society were encapsulated in the classics, so they could understand and establish a relationship between themselves and the external world according to the doctrines in those classics. They derived knowledge from various texts and tried to apply it to the practical world. However, there was always a great gap between the ideal and the reality, between what ought to be and what was so. Because it was almost impossible to cross this great gap, they withdrew from the external world to their studies and tried to rebuild their ideal world in texts. This is the faith they had inherited from their predecessors and would hand down to later generations. They accepted this faith, and the practices of enacting this faith, out of a kind of cultural inertia born of the fact that they grew up in that culture, lived in that culture, and were shaped by that culture. The text had rational contents and artistic features. In this regard, it was actually a rational, artistic intellectual world that was built by the scholars. In textual criticism and evidential research, scholars rigorously complied with 12

Su Shi 蘇軾, “Shui long yin” (Ci yun Zhang Zhifu yanghua ci) 水龍吟（次韻章質夫楊 花詞）, in Zou Tongqing 鄒同慶 and Wang Zongtang 王宗堂, Su Shi ci biannian jiaozhu 蘇軾詞編年校注 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2002), 314. Translation by James J.Y. Liu, in Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry, Wu-chi Liu and Irving Yucheng Lo, eds. (Garden City, New York: Anchor Books, 1975), 349–350.

The Writing of Scholarly Lives in Marginalia

165

rational principles. Their works relied on observation and rational deduction. This “textual rationality” was never truly and successfully applied to the real world, yet it provided a mental realm to which scholars could return, a secret getaway (taohua yuan 桃花源, lit. a Peach Garden, referencing the story of the same title) established in the scholars’ collective imagination. Therefore, in the real world, they chose an artistic life style: they had a poetic eye for all the things in the natural world, and they appreciated and held on to books and to all the objects in their studies as well. They focused on the calligraphy of marginalia, wrote poems to eulogize rare books, and more. Generally speaking, some Qing scholars leaned toward the rational and practical aspect of their mode of reasoning, while others leaned toward the artistic aspect, but neither group abandoned the other side completely. They managed to find a balance point in between. Even when building their ideal world in the text, their purpose was never to simply “finish” a project (composing a book or article). The scholarly practices themselves mattered. The process was more important than the result; the experience and the comprehension were a more important part of the purpose. Scholarship was not only their occupation, but also part of their life. These reading seeds had a kind of rational aesthetic personality. On the one hand, they had gained the ability and inclination to pursue the truth through extensive reading and training in how to be a scholar (that is, with critical thinking applied to the classics); on the other hand, they comforted their hearts and found enjoyment by finding and appreciating the beauty of books and the practices of their scholarly life. The Zhongwu jiwen held at the National Library of China (call number: S2196) has He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by Wu Zhizhong 吳志忠 (alternative name Miaodaoren 妙道人, abb. Daoren). After the table of contents, there is a colophon composed by Wu that reads: [I,] Daoren have collated this book by drawing on four copies: an old manuscript copy collated by Mr. He Yimen and transcribed by Mr. Shen Qiutian: a copy of the Mao edition that was collated by Mao Zijin and Lu Chixian; the copy that was collated by Wuyuan according to a Song edition; and the copy compiled in the Shuofu (Persuasion of the suburbs) in a Ming manuscript edition. In addition to that collated by Shoujie according to the Tao and Jiang editions, there are six editions. Now I have come across the copy held by Ye Wenzhuang and collated by Mao Fuji, and know that it was the master copy used by He Yimen. After comparison, I corrected a lot of mistakes. How deep is Daoren’s special tie with this book!

166

chapter 5 道人於是書凡四校:何義門先生舊抄本沈秋田先生臨校者也，毛子晉 刻錄原本經子晉及陸敕先所訂定者也，武源氏以宋本校者也，明人抄 《說孚》所錄本也。合之舊有綬階所校陶、蔣二氏本而六矣。今又遇 毛斧季手校葉文莊藏本，乃知即為何義門本所祖，覆勘下，實補掛漏 甚多。道人於是書也，亦何緣之深邪！

Wu believed that he had a “special tie” with the Zhongwu jiwen. Many scholars in late imperial China believed that they had a special relationship with certain books. These reading seeds were devoted to scholarly practices related to books and texts all their lives. It seems less important whether there is an ultimate answer to their questions about their life and the world. What they treasured and were obsessed with, as least as expressed in marginalia, was this special tie with books.

chapter 6

Edited Reading: The Printing of Marginalia in the Qing Dynasty Transcription allowed marginalia to circulate among a small group of bibliophiles, scholars and merchants. It was printing that made marginalia accessible to a much larger reading public. However, as discussed in the previous chapters, marginalia usually drew on a very large range of sources, including literary and historical comments, collation notes, and various colophons, to name a few. Publishers in the Qing dynasty did not publish all of them; they chose those that matched their academic tastes and what they assumed were the tastes of their readers. Their editorial manipulations reveal the changes in scholarly style and the tastes of the reading public of the time. This chapter will examine the editing and printing of He Zhuo’s marginalia, evaluating the merits and demerits of this process so as to show the influence of marginalia culture on evidential research and the intellectual condition of late imperial China, as well as the texts we are still reading today. Generally speaking, He Zhuo’s marginalia were printed in three ways in the Qing dynasty and the Republican period. First, his marginalia in eighteen titles were collected and compiled as a book titled Yimen dushu ji 義門讀書記 (Master Yimen’s reading notes); second, some marginalia, mostly literary and historical commentary, were printed alongside the main text in the margins of the book or in double-columned small characters within the main text; and third, some of his collation notes were extracted from his marginalia and edited as separate texts attached to the end of the main text or included in scholarly collectanea. I will start my discussion with the printing of the Yimen dushu ji. 1

The Printing of the Yimen dushu ji

From Notation Book to Marginalia 1.1 In the Wei and Jin dynasties, a new kind of book, scholarly biji 筆記 (lit. brush notes), began to appear in Chinese writing history. The majority of scholarly biji were short items of textual evidential research covering almost all topics of traditional scholarship. They were compiled based on scholars’ reading notes, which were also rearranged by topic. The earliest scholarly biji known today is the Gujin zhu 古今注 (Annotations [of things] past and present) by Cui Bao 崔

© Yinzong Wei, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004508477_007

168

chapter 6

豹 of the Jin dynasty. The title reveals that this book had just become independent of classical and historical annotations, which usually included glosses, comments, and explanations of difficult words and sentences of only one title at a time. But the Gujin zhu explained a variety of objects and names (mingwu 名物) drawn from more than one title, and the contents were arranged under eight distinct topics: chariots and robes (yufu 輿服), local administration (duyi 都邑), music (yinyue 音樂), birds and beasts (niaoshou 鳥獸), scaly and creeping animals (yuchong 魚蟲), herbs and plants (caomu 草木), miscellaneous notes (zazhu 雜注), and answers to questions and explanations of meanings (wenda shiyi 問答釋義). From the Jin dynasty to the Tang dynasty, this kind of biji developed slowly, but from the Tang onwards they rapidly increased in quantity and quality. In the Song dynasty, a large number of very influential scholarly biji were published, such as the Mengxi bitan 夢溪筆談 (Dream brook brush talks, by Shen Kuo 沈括 [1031–95]), Kaogu bian 考古編 (Book of antiquities, by Cheng Dachang 程大昌 [1123–1195]), Nenggai zhai manlu 能改齋漫錄 (Miscellaneous notes composed in the Nenggai Study, by Wu Zeng 吳曾 [1127–1160]), Xue lin 學林 (Forest of learning, by Wang Guanguo 王觀國 [ jinshi 1111]), and Rongzhai suibi 容齋隨筆 (Miscellaneous notes, by Hong Mai 洪邁 [1180–1201]), to name just a few. One of the most outstanding and influential biji compilations was the Kunxue jiwen 困學紀聞 (Observations culled from arduous study) by the prominent Southern Song scholar Wang Yinglin 王應麟 (courtesy name Shenning 深寧, alternative name Houzhai jushi 厚齋居士, 1223–1296). The research in this biji is so profound and erudite, that later scholars paid great attention to it and annotated it generation after generation.1 In addition to the Kunxue jiwen, another scholarly biji, the Rizhi lu 日知錄 (Record of knowledge acquired daily), also enjoyed much prestige among Qing scholars. The Rizhi lu was composed by one of the most prominent philologists, historians and geographers of the Qing dynasty, Gu Yanwu 顧炎武 (courtesy name Tinglin 亭林, 1613–1682). Like the Kunxue jiwen, the Rizhi lu was also a collection of scholarly comments on a wide range of subjects, such as the Classics ( jingyi 經義), government (zhengshi 政事), customs (shifeng 世風), protocol and ritual (lizhi 禮制), civil service examinations (keju 科舉), literature (yiwen 藝文), miscellaneous discussions of ancient meanings (mingyi 名義), the truth and falsity of past events (gushi zhenwang 古事真妄), history and law (shifa 史法), annotations (zhushu 注書), miscellaneous matters (zashi 雜事), military and foreign affairs (bing ji wanguo shi 兵及外國事), astronomy and 1 See Liu Yeqiu 劉葉秋, Lidai biji gaishu 歷代筆記概述 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1980), 1–10, 33–36, 71–78, 106–112, 132–136, 158–166, 193–206.

Edited Reading

169

divination (tianxiang shushu 天象術數), geography (dili 地理), and miscellaneous investigations (zakao 雜考). How were scholarly biji composed? There is still very little evidence enabling us to answer this question. A reasonable inference is that scholars copied fragments from the books that they were reading into separate papers or “notation books” (zhaji cezi 劄記冊子), wrote down short comments, and then revised these reading notes, usually after many years, arranging them under different topics and finally compiling them as a book. A view widely held is that the notation books represented an important research tool for Qing evidential scholars.2 It is likely that many pre-Qing scholars also had these notation books, and their scholarly biji were also compiled based on their notes gathered in the notation books (or notation papers). The only difference is that they did not call them “notation books.” From Gu Yanwu, we know how notation books were used and how scholarly biji were compiled from them. In the short preface at the beginning of the Rizhi lu, Gu Yanwu stated: Since my childhood studies, I have always taken notes on what I perceived, and if it [turned out] to be incorrect, I revised it again and again, or if someone had said it before me, I omitted it entirely. The notes accumulated over thirty years and now form a book. The title “Record of knowledge acquired daily” [rizhi 日知] is taken from Zixia’s words and was chosen to set later scholars straight. 愚自少讀書，有所得輒記之。其有不合，時復改定。或古人先我而有 者，則遂削之。積三十餘年，乃成一編，取子夏之言，名曰《日知 錄》，以正後之君子。  3

Here Gu does not make clear where he “noted down” what he perceived. But because he could “revise it again and again” or “omit it entirely,” it is likely that he wrote in a notebook on a separate paper, rather than in the margins of the book. Gu referred to this practice as “copying books [into a notation book]” (chaoshu 鈔書). In the “Chaoshu zixu” 鈔書自序 (authorial preface on copying books) of his collected works, Gu noted: 2 See Liang Ch’i-ch’ao, Intellectual Trends in the Ch’ing Period, Immanuel C.Y. Hsu, trans., 69; Benjamin A. Elman, From Philosophy to Philology, 211–214. 3 Gu Yanwu 顧炎武, Rizhi lu jishi 日知錄集釋, compiled by Huang Rucheng 黃汝成, collated and punctuated by Luan Baoqun 欒保群 and Lü Zongli 呂宗力 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2006); see also Endymion Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, 846.

170

chapter 6

My deceased grandfather said: “Composing books is not as good as copying books. Contemporary [scholars’] learning must be inferior to that of the ancients. The books people read today never match up to those of the past. Exert yourself to the utmost, young man! The only thing you need to attach importance to is reading.” 先祖曰:“著書不如鈔書。凡今人之學，必不及古人也，今人所見之 書之博，必不及古人也。小子勉之，惟讀書而已。  ” 4

Copying books was a conventional reading method for Chinese readers. Gu learned it from his grandfather who must have inherited it from earlier scholars. We can also see the prevalence of copying as a reading strategy from a genre of historical books called shichao 史鈔 (historical excerpts). These were books of excerpts usually collected from voluminous histories, making such histories much more accessible. Therefore, such compilations were rather popular and became even more so at least as early as the Song dynasty when shichao became an independent category under the histories in book classification.5 It is widely believed that using notation books, copying books, and doing research based on what was copied were prevalent scholarly practices among Qing scholars. However, in the Qing dynasty, not all scholarly biji were compiled from notation books. There was another way of reading and doing research that became more popular: composing marginalia directly in books, transcribing others’ marginalia, editing them both, and printing them as books. This created a new kind of scholarly biji. He Zhuo’s Yimen dushu ji was the first scholarly biji to be compiled from marginalia. Before the late Ming, it was rare to find comments written directly in the margins of books by readers; nor can we find any books definitively compiled based on marginalia.6 In the late Ming, an increasing number of readers began writing more comments, colophons and collation notes directly in books. This important transformation in Chinese reading history probably 4 Gu Yanwu, “Chaoshu zixu,” in Gu Yanwu, Gu Tinglin shiwen ji 顧亭林詩文集 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983), 30. 5 See Wang Jilu 王記錄, “Lun shichcao” 論史鈔, Shixueshi yanjiu 史學史研究, 3 (2016): 1–12. 6 There is evidence that readers started to utilize punctuation marks and special symbols to aid their reading as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. Readers in the Song dynasty made multicolor emphasis marks on the text and some were printed in monochrome. But this practice was far less popular in the Song than in the late Ming and the Qing. While it is certain that some Song readers drew emphasis marks on the text, it is not clear whether they wrote comments directly in the margins of the book. See Wu Chengxue 吳承學, “Pingdian zhi xing: Wenxue pingdian de xingcheng yu Nansong de shiwen pingdian” 評點之興：文學 評點的形成與南宋的詩文評點, Wenxue pinglun 文學評論 1 (1995): 24–33.

Edited Reading

171

had something to do with the publishing boom of the late Ming era, during which the quantity of books – especially commercial printings – dramatically increased, while book prices decreased, and books spread much more widely.7 In this context, more people had access to books and, more importantly, possessed different editions of books. Readers no longer worried about directly writing in the books that they were reading. The Yimen dushu ji was compiled from He Zhuo’s marginalia. The process of its compilation and its characteristics show that it is distinctly a scholarly biji in comparison with the biji that were compiled from notation books. 1.2 The Compilation of the Yimen dushu ji About three decades after He Zhuo’s death, in the sixteenth year of the Kangxi reign (1751), He’s disciple Shen Tong, his nephew He Tang 何堂 and his son He Yunlong 何雲龍 started to collect books that contained He Zhuo’s marginalia. They then edited and printed them as a book. Because He’s marginalia were so plentiful and it was difficult to locate all the books containing them, they edited the marginalia of only a few titles, including the “Three Annotations” (the Zuo Annotation, Gongyang Annotation, and Guliang Annotation) in the Spring and Autumn Annals, Hanshu, Hou Hanshu and Sanguo zhi. These were compiled in a book of six juan, titled Yimen dushu ji. Later, Jiang Gao’s nephew Jiang Weijun 蔣維鈞 enlarged this book into fifty-six juan, including the marginalia He had written in eighteen works. This enlarged version, printed in 1769, was widely distributed and frequently re-printed in the Qing.8In the Yimen dushu ji, there are several prefaces by Jiang Weijun, He Tang, He Yunlong, and others that describe the compiling process. He Tang’s preface states: The Master’s [He Zhuo’s] house was filled with books. But after his death in the capital, no one cherished them. They were haphazardly taken away, resulting in the books being scattered and lost…. Long after his death, his reputation improved. People near and far who heard of his reputation and admired him strove to see the books that he had read [and contained his marginalia], and they thought they were fortunate [to 7 See Ōki Yasushi 大木康, “Minmatsu Konan ni okeru shuppan bunka no kenkyu” 明末江 南における出版文化の研究, Hiroshima Daigaku bungakubu 50:1 (1991): 1–173; Kai-wing Chow, Publishing, Culture and Power in Early Modern China (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2004); Cynthia J. Brokaw and Kai-wing Chow, eds., Printing and Book Culture in Late Imperial China (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2005); and Joseph McDermott, A Social History of the Chinese Book: Books and Literati Culture in Late Imperial China (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2006). 8 See the prefaces of the Yimen dushu ji, 1285–1290.

172

chapter 6

do so]. Therefore, the books he had read and annotated circulated everywhere. Fortunately, I know some of his disciples. I borrowed [books read by Master He] from them and transcribed [the marginalia]. In this way, three or four tenths [of Master He’s marginalia] have survived. However, many [collectors] have valued them too highly, keeping them secret and not showing them to anyone. 先生之書滿家而身沒京邸，莫之愛護。取攜狼藉者有人，而書以散 佚。……迨先生沒久而名益盛，聞風向慕，爭欲一覩其書爲幸者，幾 無遠近。於是評閱之本，且走四方。所幸及門之士，昔時所通，假而 傳錄者，尚存什之三四，而往往珍惜過甚，秘不肯出。9

He Tang’s preface reveals that He Zhuo’s collections were scattered because some people took them by force or trickery. What was worse, those who held books that had He’s marginalia kept them hidden away. He Zhongxiang 何忠 相, one of He Zhuo’s nephews’s sons, stated the problem clearly in his preface: [He Zhuo] died in the renyin year of the Kangxi reign [1722]. His books filled his house. At that time, Uncle Gushan (He Zhuo’s son, He Yunlong) was nine years old. Book merchants bought the books by whatever means [necessary], and finally, the books annotated [by He Zhuo] were all scattered, with less than three or four percent remaining. Those who got them were mostly rich men of the Weiyang region. They kept [the books] in secret, not showing them to anyone. Scholars waiting anxiously to read them felt deeply aggrieved about this. [何焯] 康熙壬寅捐館舍，遺書充棟，時孤山學叔甫九歲。書賈百計 購，評本風馳電捲，百無三四存。其得之者，強半皆維揚富人，秘不 出。承學士喁喁引領以爲大戚。10

He Tang and He Zhongxiang were He Zhuo’s nephews. They may have praised their uncle excessively, but the fact that He’s marginalia were popular can be seen from the transcriptions of his marginalia discussed in the last two chapters. Since the books with He’s marginalia had come into the possession of “the rich” who never showed them to others and deprived scholars of these valuable scholarly sources, He’s descendants and disciples came up with the idea of printing them. However, since most of the books that contained He’s 9 10

Yimen dushu ji, 1285. Yimen dushu ji, 1288.

Edited Reading

173

marginalia were lost immediately after his death, He’s descendants and disciples could only manage to collect very few of them. The current version of the Yimen dushu ji contains He Zhuo’s marginalia taken from eighteen titles, including the “Four Books” (the Analects, Mencius, Great Learning, and Doctrine of the Mean, treated as one title here), Shijing, Zuoshi Chunqiu 左氏春秋 (The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Zuo tradition), Guliang Chunqiu 穀梁春秋 (The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Guliang tradition), Gongyang Chunqiu 公羊春秋 (The Spring and Autumn Annals of the Gongyang tradition), Shiji, Qian Hanshu, Hou Hanshu, Sanguo zhi, Wudaishi, Changli ji 昌黎集 (The collected works of Han Yu), Hedong ji 河東集 (The collected works of Liu Zongyuan), Ouyang Wenzhonggong wen 歐陽文忠公文 (The collected prose of Ouyang Xiu), Yuanfeng leigao 元豐 類稿 (The collected works of Zeng Gong), Wenxuan, Tao Jingjie shi 陶靖 節詩 (The collected poems of Tao Yuanming), Du Gongbu ji 杜工部集 (The collected works of Du Fu), and Li Yishan shi 李義山詩 (The collected poems of Li Shangyin). The prefaces in the Yimen dushu ji state that these were less than one tenth of what He Zhuo had read and written marginalia in. According to the Zhongguo guji zongmu and various library catalogues, there are more than one hundred titles that contain He’s marginalia or transcriptions of his marginalia. (See appendix I) For example, the Zhouli zhushu held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XST06322) bears He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by Wu Xin, a late-Qing scholar and bibliophile. Wu Xin also transcribed the marginalia of Hui Dong and other scholars. According to the various colophons in the Shanghai Library copy, He Zhuo’s marginalia in it were transcribed from Hui Dong’s transcription. Hui Dong was also one of the leading scholars and classicists in the mid-Qing, and his marginalia in the Zhouli zhushu were one of the most important reference sources for Ruan Yuan when he edited and reprinted the Thirteen Classics. While reading and collating the Zhouli zhushu, Hui Dong had access to He Zhuo’s marginalia that contained variants from a copy of a Song-carved and Yuan-revised edition (Song ke Yuan xiu ben 宋刻元修本, i.e., the “eight-column edition” [bahang ben 八行 本]), a very important edition in the textual history of the Zhouli zhushu.11 This eight-column Song edition was rather rare in the Qing. He Zhuo’s collation notes, especially the variants He copied from the eight-column Song edition, helped scholars get a sense of the textual condition of the Song edition, and 11

See Wang Xinfu, Yishuxuan qiecun shanben shulu, 734–735; Zhouli zhushu jiaokan ji 周禮 注疏校勘記, photocopy in the Xuxiu siku quanshu 續修四庫全書, vol. 181, 99; Zhang Lijuan 張麗娟, “Zhouli zhushu jiaokan ji Hui jiaoben ji qita” 《周禮注疏校勘記》惠校 本及其他, Wenxian 文獻 4 (2016): 78–87.

174

chapter 6

thus helped with the reading and collation of the Zhouli zhushu. But, unfortunately, the copy bearing He Zhuo’s holographic marginalia was lost. Worse still, there is not even one word in the Yimen dushu ji about the Zhouli zhushu. Under such conditions, any copy that bears He Zhuo’s transcribed marginalia deserves our attention. There is another edition of the Zhouli zhushu in the Shanghai Library (call number: XST04967) bearing He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by one of his disciples, Shen Tong. He Zhuo’s comments and collation notes in these two copies are the same. Perhaps Hui Dong and Shen Tong transcribed them from the same copy. Before He Zhuo, scholarly biji were mostly compiled by the authors themselves based on their notes accumulated over many years. Authors might have lost several items due to war or personal upheavals, but when the remaining items were compiled by topic into a scholarly biji, these losses did not affect the big picture. In contrast, He Zhuo’s Yimen dushu ji was compiled by his descendants from his marginalia and arranged in sequence according to the order of the original main texts. Since the Yimen dushu ji includes He’s marginalia on only eighteen titles out of the hundreds of titles he annotated, a tremendous amount of his marginalia was left out. In addition, of the eighteen titles included in the Yimen dushu ji, the compilers did not include all of He’s marginalia found in them; they only selected a small portion for inclusion. In the following section I will discuss this editorial approach. The Selection and Omission of Marginalia: The Hou Hanshu as Example He Zhuo’s marginalia covered a wide range of items, including historical and literary criticism, collation notes, textual variants, comments on the visual appearance and physical condition of the book, short colophons on the circulation of the book and some random thoughts while reading. Usually they did not involve deep research on specific topics but rather, a close reading of the main text, including anything that could have been relevant to that reading. Therefore, it was difficult to classify them by subject or compile them systematically as seen in the Gujin zhu and Kunxue jiwen. He’s descendants accordingly compiled them in the sequence of the original main texts, following the pattern of printing the annotations and sub-annotations of the Confucian Classics without the entire main text. This is described in the “Fanli” 凡例 (General Remarks) of the Yimen dushu ji: 1.3

While reading a book, Master Yimen wrote whatever he thought at whatever point he was at, in the top or bottom margin or between the lines, in either red or yellow ink. Since the main text is too large to include in its entirety, the carving of this book will follow the precedent of the

Edited Reading

175

sub-annotations of the Confucian Classics, listing only the sentences [referred to by the marginal note]. 義門讀書，丹黃並下，隨有所得，即記於書志上下方以及旁行側 裏。卷帙既多，本文不能全載，故全刻用經疏之例，僅標章句，茲亦 依其舊。  12

However, compiling marginalia in the manner of Classical annotations could create a number of problems. As discussed in chapter 2, the annotations and sub-annotations of the Confucian Classics were initially not written together with the main text; they were copied in separate books in the order of the sentences explicated.13 Annotations of the Classics and the standard histories ( jingshi zhushu 經史注疏) aimed at explaining the meaning of the main text and the intent of the sages, thus transmitting the thoughts and doctrines within the text. In this sense, annotations could physically be separated from the main text. However, marginalia were reading notes written in physical books; they discuss not only the contents of the text (literary features, meaning, authorial intent, variants, fonts, and layout) but also the circulation and physical aspects of the book (paper, ink, cover, and such). The circulation and physical aspects are important sources for bibliographic studies, but they are not the concerns of annotators of the Classics and histories. Therefore, compiling marginalia in the way of compiling such annotations doubtlessly caused lots of problems. Take the Hou Hanshu as an example: the copy held at the PKU Library (Call No.: LSB/7288; abbr. PKU copy) contains 3,726 of He Zhuo’s marginalia, but the Yimen dushu ji only records around 700 items. All of these 700 “scholarly notes” can be found in the marginalia of the PKU copy. Thus, these scholarly notes in the Yimen dushu ji were selected from He Zhuo’s marginalia. The features of selection and omission are as follows: (1) Omission of most collation notes Among the 3,726 marginalia in the PKU copy, 1,625 are concerned with textual criticism, of which 94 are included in the Yimen dushu ji. The Yimen dushu ji focuses on He Zhuo’s historical and literary comments and omits more than ninety percent of the collation notes. The situation is the same for all eighteen titles in the Yimen dushu ji. Regarding this, the “Fanli” of the Yimen dushu ji states:

12 13

“Fanli,” in Yimen dushu ji, 1. See Zhang Lijuan, Songdai jingshu zhushu kanke yanjiu, 228–295.

176

chapter 6

Master Yimen’s collation is rather refined. He never ignored even one character or one stroke. However, the commercial printings are filled with errors inherited from previous editions, which makes them difficult to correct. Only the two anthologies of Hedong [Liu Zongyuan] and the Nanfeng [Zeng Gong] are very rare, so [He Zhuo’s collation notes on them] are included in detail. 義門校勘最精，一字一畫都不放過。然坊本承訛襲謬，苦難逐一舉 正。惟《河東》、《南豐》二集善本難得，不厭從詳。14

This implies that the compilers did not include He’s collation notes on most of the works because the books He read (mostly commercial imprints carved in the late Ming and early Qing) contained too many mistakes, and thus there were too many to include. As discussed in chapter 3, He Zhuo was one of the earliest scholars to systematically collate hundreds of books. His collation notes not only preserve abundant textual variants from rare editions but also contain many insightful ideas. The Yimen dushu ji omits most of the collation notes, showing that the compiler did not recognize the importance of these sources of textual history. The Yimen dushu ji therefore cannot represent He Zhuo’s academic achievements in textual criticism. (2) Exclusion of He Zhuo’s colophons He Zhuo had a habit of writing short colophons recording his reading and collating practices. As cited in chapter 5, there were more than ten colophons in the PKU copy of the Hou Hanshu discussing the various editions of the Hou Hanshu, introducing the way he collated the Hou Hanshu, and recording his private life, thoughts, and states of mind during the days he was reading and collating the Hou Hanshu. None of these were included in the Yimen dushu ji. Containing these colophons, marginalia resemble a scholar’s reading diary, revealing his private life, and they provide unique access to scholars’ mental worlds. But the Yimen dushu ji erases the personality of He Zhuo’s marginalia, reducing them to cold research notes. The editorial processes at work in the Yimen dushu ji transform He Zhuo’s work from handwritten marginalia into printed scholarly biji of this kind.

14

“Fanli,” in Yimen dushu ji, 1.

Edited Reading

177

(3) Decisions regarding the preservation and exclusion of historical comments Most items in the Yimen dushu ji regarding the Hou Hanshu are historical comments. But the Yimen dushu ji does not include all of them – it leaves out the majority, of which a great many are impressive comments. For example, in Liang Shang’s 梁商 (?–141) biography (in juan 34 of the Hou Hanshu), the main text reads: [Liang] Shang thought that he was in an important position as the emperor’s relative. Therefore, he was very humble and selected good men for service. He nurtured Ju Lan of Hanyang and Chen Gui of Shangdang as his subordinates, and Li Gu and Zhou Ju as inner gentlemen. As a result, the capital became completely harmonious. [Liang Shang] was praised as a good prime minister, and the emperor relied on him heavily. 商自以戚屬居大位，每存謙柔，虛己進賢。辟漢陽巨覽、上黨陳龜 爲掾屬，李固、周舉爲從事中郎，於是京師翕然，稱爲良輔，帝委 重焉。

He Zhuo wrote two comments in the margin. The first says: Liang Shang is much like Shi Hao; his small contributions were buried by his son’s shortcomings. 梁商頗似史浩，以子不才沒其小善。

The second states: [Liang] Shang was ill. Emperor Shun went to visit him in person and asked him for advice. [Liang Shang] only recommended Zhou Ju. This is also one aspect of his integrity. 商疾病，順帝親臨，問以遺言，惟薦周舉，亦其一節之長。

The Yimen dushu ji included the first and omitted the second, presumably because the compilers thought the second one was not as important as the first. However, in fact, the second comment augments the first and provides nuance. According to the Hou Hanshu, Liang Shang had four virtues: 1) He was a relative of the emperor’s wife, but he acted humbly toward everyone; 2) He

178

chapter 6

recommend properly qualified men for service; 3) He worked anonymously for the relief of victims of natural disasters, donating his own cereal grains; and 4) He asked that a simple funeral be held after his death. But his son Liang Ji 梁冀 (88–159) was quite domineering and controlled the central court for a very long time. The author of the Hou Hanshu, Fan Ye, disliked Liang Ji and transferred his anger to the father. He criticized Liang Shang for occupying a high position but lacking the talent to manage state affairs. In Fan Ye’s opinion, it was Liang Shang who caused the chaos. Moreover, Fan Ye claimed that Liang Ji’s behavior was fostered by Liang Shang, which caused the decline of the entire empire. Fan made Liang Shang the scapegoat for his son’s shortcomings. In fact, Liang Shang did very well in his position. Li Xian’s annotation of the Hou Hanshu cited the Dongguan hanji 東觀漢記 (Record of Han from the Eastern Library) that states: In his youth, [Liang] Shang focused on the Outer Commentary to the Book of Songs of Master Han and also read other books and their traditions. He was endowed with intelligence and skilled in human affairs. Whatever he did, he followed his own heart. What concerned him was honesty and substance rather than showy decoration. He was famous within his hometown for being filial and friendly, and he treated his friends with wisdom and trust. At court, he was serious and respectful, dignified but not domineering; back at home hosting guests, he was kind and deferential. He worried when others worried and enjoyed what they enjoyed as if it were happening to himself. He regarded wealth lightly, never saving up property. He prepared enough clothes for one year and held servants and horses sufficient only for daily use. Therefore, the imperial court feared and respected him, and conferred an important position on him. 商少持《韓詩》，兼讀眾書傳記，天資聰敏，昭達萬情。舉措動作，   直推雅性，務在誠實，不爲華飾。孝友著於閭閾，明信結於友朋。其 在朝廷，儼恪矜嚴，威而不猛。退食私館，接賓待客，寬和肅敬。憂 人之憂，樂人之樂，皆若在己。輕財貨，不爲蓄積，故衣裘裁足卒 歲，奴婢車馬供用而已。朝廷由是敬憚委任焉。15

Liang Shang is highly praised here. The politics and society of the Eastern Han had its own chronic problems that were impossible for one person to resolve. Even the great historian Wang Fuzhi 王夫之 (known as Chuanshan xiansheng 船山先生, 1619–1692), said of Liang Ji “[Liang] Ji’s life and death 15

See Hou Hanshu, 1176.

Edited Reading

179

were not [significant] enough to be associated with the existence or demise of the Eastern Han.” (冀之生死，烏足繫漢之存亡哉！).16 When discussing Liang Shang, He Zhuo brings up the plight of another historical figure, Shi Hao 史浩 (1106–1194). Shi Hao was a prime minister with a good reputation, but his son, Shi Miyuan 史彌遠 (1164–1233), was well known as a powerful, domineering minister. In the Kunxue jiwen, Wang Yinglin says: “When Shi Zhiweng [Hao] was the prime minister, he did not lack for praise. But his son [Shi Miyuan] was a domineering minister, which buried his father’s goodness” (史直翁爲相，非無一善可稱，子爲權臣，而掩其父 之美). He Zhuo comments: “Could he have made just a single contribution?” (豈直一善！)17 This comment was printed alongside the main text and other scholars’ comments in the Kunxue jiwen. It probably came from the marginalia written by He while reading the Kunxue jiwen. (This is discussed in detail in the next section.) Both Wang and He realized that Shi Hao’s reputation was spoiled by his son’s shortcomings. While reading Liang Shang’s biography in the Hou Hanshu, He Zhuo wrote in the margin that “Liang Shang seemed like Shi Hao; his small contribution was buried by his son’s sins.” He spoke about the similarity of these two historical figures, but it is not clear what their contributions were. In the second piece of marginalia, by saying that “[Liang Shang] only recommended Zhou Ju. This is also one aspect of his integrity,” He Zhuo emphasized Liang Shang’s virtue of recommending properly qualified persons for service. In the Kunxue jiwen, after He Zhuo’s comments, Quan Zuwang’s 全祖望 (1705–1755) comment reads: “Zhiweng [Shi Hao] was indeed a good prime minister. He recommended Zhu [Xi], Lu [Jiuyuan 九淵], Chen [Liang 亮], Yang [Wanli 萬里], and Ye [Shi 適], which encompassed all the great scholars in the Qiandao reign and the Chunxi reigns” (直翁固是良相，其薦朱、陸、陳、楊、葉諸公，乾、淳 大儒，一舉盡之矣).18 In Quan Zuwang’s opinion, Shi Hao’s great contribution was also recommending properly qualified persons for service. Putting Wang Yinlin, He Zhuo and Quan Zuwang’s comments together, we get a deeper understanding of the two historical figures. The Yimen dushu ji leaves out almost all He’s comments on folk culture and customs. For example, in juan forty-nine of the Hou Hanshu, Wang Chong’s 王充 (27–r. 97) biography mentions “women’s cloth” (nübu 女布). About this, He Zhuo’s marginal comment reads: 16 17 18

Wang Fuzhi 王夫之, Du Tongjian Lun 讀通鑒論 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2012), juan 8, 210. Wang Yinglin, Kunxue jiwen, 1279. Wang Yinglin, Kunxue jiwen, 1279.

180

chapter 6

Today, “girl’s stiff silk” (nü’er juan) can still be found in the eastern Yue region. 今粵東猶有女兒絹。

In juan five of the Xu Hanzhi, the main text reads: “So, in the fifth day of the fifth month [known today as the Duanwu or the Dragon Boat Festival], people use five-color thread to decorate their doors and windows.” (故以五月五日朱 索五色印爲門戶飾。) He Zhuo writes: The Wu region has the custom of hanging the “Duanyang decorations” [on the fifth day of the fifth month]. Has this custom been handed down [from what was recorded here in the Hou Hanshu]? 吳俗懸端陽景，此其遺乎？

Comments such as these are all omitted in the Yimen dushu ji. The compilers may have thought them too speculative or irrelevant to academic topics. In short, it seems that the longer items of He’s marginalia were more likely to be included in the Yimen Dushu ji. These longer historical comments can be seen as scholarly notes. Therefore, it is clear that the compilers wanted to make the Yimen dushu ji a traditional scholarly biji, regardless of He Zhuo’s endeavors in textual criticism or the historical value of the remaining marginalia. 2

Printing Marginalia alongside the Main Text

Using woodblocks to print marginalia alongside the main text could spread the marginalia more widely, and, to some extent, preserve the original appearance of the page. In the early Qing period, during the same period that the Yimen dushu ji was compiled, some of He Zhuo’s marginalia were printed alongside the relevant main text; the best-known examples were the Kunxue jiwen and Wenxuan. As mentioned above, Wang Yinglin’s Kunxue jiwen, a scholarly biji, was rather popular in the Qing dynasty. In the early Qing, Yan Ruoqu 閻若璩 (courtesy name Baishi 百詩, 1638–1704) annotated it. Later, He Zhuo made some corrections and supplements to Yan’s annotation and collated the main text of the Kunxue jiwen at the same time. During the Qianlong reign, Quan Zuwang 全祖望 (1705–1755) made further revisions of Yan and He’s annotations, producing an “edition with three scholars’ annotations” (sanjian ben 三箋本). Some publishers added exegeses and comments by Qian Daxin 錢大昕 (1728–1804),

Edited Reading

181

Cheng Yaotian 程瑤田 (1725–1814), and other scholars, producing an “edition with seven scholars’ annotations” (qijian ben 七箋本). It is difficult to tell how these scholars’ annotations were composed and compiled, but there is evidence that He Zhuo’s were collected from his marginalia on the Kunxue jiwen. In an edition of the Kunxue jiwen carved in 1738 at the Ma family’s Conghu Tower (Congshu lou 叢書樓), it is written on the title page that it was “Collated by Master Yan Baishi.” However, Ma Yuelu’s 馬曰璐 (1701–1761) colophon at the end states that this edition also contains He Zhuo’s exegeses and comments, which were collected from “a copy read by Master He Yimen” (何義門學士披閱 本), i.e., a copy that was once read by He Zhuo and had his marginalia. For the Kunxue jiwen carved at the Tonghua Bookstore (Tonghua shushu 桐華書塾) during the Qianlong reign, the title page states that it was “Collated by Master He Yimen” (何義門先生挍本). This edition is filled with He Zhuo’s exegeses and comments. Wang Hou’s 汪垕 preface to it states: There were many mistakes in the Ming editions of the Song scholar Wang Houzhai’s (Yinglin) Kunxue jiwen in twenty juan. In our dynasty, He Qizhan (Zhuo) and Yan Baishi (Ruoqu) collated it. They corrected the mistakes, supplemented the lacuna, and added comments and emphasis marks. Dong Wen (courtesy name Nefu, ca. the Yongzheng reign) of Nanxun transcribed one copy. I saw it in Mr. Yao Yitian’s (Shiyu) travel case, and hurriedly sought out one copy of my own to collate it, and then re-carved it…. Now, in order to avoid confusion, I have put “He [Zhuo] says” and “Yan says” respectively at the beginning of their words to distinguish them. Meanwhile, I also added “Original notes” before Wang’s selfannotations. I am ashamed at my presumption in making these changes. 宋厚齋王公《困學紀聞》二十卷，前明傳刻誤甚多。本朝何屺瞻太史 與閻百詩徵君校勘，補闕定訛，加之評點。南潯董文訥夫移謄一本。   予從吳興薏田姚先生行篋中見之，亟取家藏舊本共相讎校，重付開 雕。……茲恐眉目混，並於閻、何二公語各冠所云以別之，而又加注 二字於王公自注之上，不免妄作爲愧云。

This indicates that He Zhuo’s exegeses and comments were collected from his marginalia in a copy of the Kunxue jiwen held by Yao Shiyu. This preface also states that in this Tonghuashushu edition, Yan Ruoqu and He Zhuo’s exegeses and comments were printed beginning with “Yan says” (Yan yun 閻云) and “He says” (He yun 何云) to tell them apart. After this edition, there were dozens of new editions, such as the “Edition with collected evidential research” ( jizhengben 集證本), “Edition with the annotations of three scholars” (sanjian ben 三箋本, also called “Edition with the annotations of five scholars” [wujia

182

chapter 6

zhu ben 五家注本] because it contains five scholars’ comments and exegeses), and “Edition with the annotations of seven scholars” (qijian ben 七箋本). All of these editions followed the pattern established by the Tonghuashushu edition, and in them He’s exegeses and comments are roughly the same.19 In these editions, the scholars’ exegeses and comments were printed within the main text in double-lined interlinear small characters, following the layout of annotations of the Confucian Classics and histories (see figure 6.1). However, He Zhuo’s comments on the Wenxuan were printed mainly in the top margin, sometimes in red ink, similar to the printing of literary commentaries on classical prose, poetry, and fiction in the late-Ming period. The earliest woodblock edition of the Wenxuan bearing He Zhuo’s comments was carved in Ye Shufan’s 葉樹藩 well-known publishing studio, Hailuxuan 海錄軒, in 1772 (abb. Ye edition). This is a two-color printed edition, with He’s comments printed in the top margin in red ink (figure 6.2). This edition spread widely and was re-carved and re-printed several times in the Qing. According to preliminary statistics, there are about eighteen editions based on this Ye edition.20 The compilation of He Zhuo’s marginalia in the Ye edition resemble that in the Yimen dushu ji, i.e., it mainly includes He’s literary comments, and omits most, if not all, of He’s collation notes. By the same token, the number and content of He’s comments in the Yimen dushu ji and the Ye edition of the Wenxuan are roughly the same. However, the edition carved by Yu Guanghua 于光華 in 1778 (abbr. Yu edition) contains more of He’s comments than the Ye edition and Yimen dushu ji. But the majority are still literary comments; the number of collation notes is rather small.21 Some Qing scholars also cited a great many of He Zhuo’s marginalia in their works, and most of them focused on He’s collation notes rather than his commentaries. For instance, Yu Xiaoke’s 余蕭客 (1732–1778) Wenxuan yinyi 文選音義 (Pronunciations and meanings of the Wenxuan) quoted more than 1,000 of He Zhuo’s collation notes; Xu Xunxing’s 許巽行 Wenxuan biji 文選 筆記 (Reading notes on the Wenxuan) quoted around 680; and Liang Zhangju’s 梁章鉅 Wenxuan pangzheng 文選旁證 (Collateral evidence on the Wenxuan) 19

20 21

About the editions of Kunxue jiwen, see Zhongguo guji zongmu (zibu) 中國古籍總目· 子部 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2010), 1798–1800; Zhang Xiaofei 張驍飛, “Kunxue jiwen banben yuanliu kaoshu” 《困學紀聞》版本源流考述, Zhongguo dianji yu wenhua 中國典籍與文化 2 (2009): 73–79. See Zhang Li 張莉, “Wenxuan Hailuxuan zhumo taoyinben cunyi”《文選》海錄軒朱 墨套印本存疑, Henan tushuguan xuekan 河南圖書館學刊 31.6 (2011): 126–128. See Zhao Junling 趙俊玲, “Jin chuan sanzhong He Zhuo Wenxuan pingdianben bian” 今傳三種何焯《文選》評點本辨, Lanzhou xuekan 蘭州學刊 2 (2008): 181–183.

Edited Reading

figure 6.1 First half-leaf of juan 16 of the Jiaoding Kunxue jiwen san jian, woodblock edition carved 1807 in the Jinlü Youyi Study (Jinlü Youyizhai 金閭友益齋), held at the Harvard Yenching Library Via HathiTrust: https://catalog.hathitrust. org/Record/009715622

183

184

figure 6.2 First half-leaf of the Wenxuan, woodblock and bicolor-printed edition carved in 1772 at Ye Shufan’s Hailu House (Hailu xuan 海錄軒) Courtesy of the UBC Library

chapter 6

Edited Reading

185

quoted approximately 650.22 These books are all scholarly monographs on the Wenxuan. In them, He Zhuo’s collation notes were used as scholarly sources. These books were produced for scholars, while the Ye and Yu editions for a much broader, mostly non-scholarly, market. In this broader market, He Zhuo’s comments were printed to aid reading and appreciation. They are closer to popular printings than to scholarly works. The “Fanli” of the Ye edition reads: This book includes essays from the seven dynasties and covers the hundred schools of thought, so [even] for readers whose limited vision and shallow understanding were comparable to looking at the sky through a peephole and measuring the sea with a conch-shell, the content is as vast and profound as a boundless sea. One needs to lift a cloak by its collar and acquire a pearl from under the black dragon’s jaw.23 Similarly, [in order to grasp the most essential points of this book,] readers have to rely on commentaries. The copy that was read by He Yimen the academician has not yet been carved. Book collectors usually cherish them too much, which makes them difficult to purchase. At the same time, some copies have been transcribed repeatedly, resulting in many errors. Now, we have revised it again and printed it in two colors. This is not just for showing off its appearance and decoration, but rather to make it easy to read. 是書縱橫七代，臚列百家。讀者蠡測管窺，茫無津畔，披裘摯領，探 驪得珠，不得不籍於評點。何學士義門本，未及鋟版，藏書家往往珍 秘，不易購，且數經傳寫，紕謬良多。今重加參酌，用套版印刷，非 炫華飾美，實欲展卷了然。24

This statement initially stresses why commentaries are necessary for reading the works in the Wenxuan, then points out the difficulty of getting access to He Zhuo’s marginalia, and finally introduces this edition with He’s “marginalia” printed in two colors, which is made for convenient reading. This short “advertisement” indicates the edition’s commercial nature.

22

23 24

See Fang Zhixin 范志新, “You rong nai da: Du Yu Xiaoke Wenxuan yinyi baocun kaozheng He Zhuo jiao zhi chengjiu” 有容乃大 – 讀余蕭客《文選音義》保存考正何焯校之 成就, In Fang Zhixin, ed., Wenxuan He Zhuo jiao ji zheng 文選何焯校集證 (Zhengzhou: Henan daxue chubanshe, 2016), 1383–1390. These are metaphors for finding precious things in unlikely places. Chongding Zhaoming Wenxuan Li Shan zhu 重訂昭明文選李善注, woodblock bi-color edition carved at the Ye family’s Hailuxuan in 1772, held at the RBSC of the University of British Columbia Library, “Fanli” 凡例, 2b.

186

chapter 6

The idea of printing a reader’s comments was not entirely new. As discussed in chapter 2, printing classical prose, poetry, and works of drama and fiction with literary commentaries and emphasis marks was very widespread in the late Ming. These were crafted commentaries rather than truly spontaneous ones, but rhetorically the practice retained the idea of spontaneity and sprezzatura, which was appreciated by late Ming readers. Most if not all such editions were commercial printings produced for students to master the skills required for the civil service examinations, and for common readers (not only scholars, but also merchants and other semi-literate readers) to appreciate the aesthetic values of the text. The editing and printing of marginalia inherited this practice to some extent. Most edited and printed marginalia were also commercial printings and shared the characteristics of commercial printing. Furthermore, while being printed, marginalia were edited to look like commentaries: almost all collation notes were left out and the contents were altered to make them easier to read. It is difficult to answer the question of how He Zhuo’s marginalia were altered when printed alongside the main text in the Wenxuan and the Kunxue jiwen, given that copies bearing He’s holographic marginalia are already lost. Fortunately, however, He’s marginalia in another book are still in existence, as are the marginalia printed alongside the main text from the mid-Qing period. This can help us answer the question of whether and how He’s marginalia were altered when printed alongside a main text. This extant book is titled Dunyin zalu 鈍吟雜錄 (Mr. Dunyin’s miscellaneous sketches). It is a scholarly biji composed by the late-Ming scholar and poet, Feng Ban 馮班 (courtesy name Dingyuan 定遠, alternative name Dunyin laoren 鈍吟老人, 1602–1671). He Zhuo read this book carefully and composed many marginalia in it. The copy bearing He’s holographic marginalia was lost, but the marginalia were transcribed into a manuscript copy of the Dunyin zalu in 1722, the year of He Zhuo’s death.25 The colophon at the end of the book by the transcriptionist states: Transcribed from my teacher Yimen’s copy in autumn of the of the Kangxi reign [1722]. 康熙壬寅秋抄録義門夫子本。

“Fuzi” 夫子 was a term often used by students to address their teachers. This being the case, the marginalia were probably transcribed by one of He’s 25

This manuscript copy of Dunyan zalu is now held at the National Library of Taiwan.

Edited Reading

187

students. In addition, the calligraphy of the marginalia in this copy closely resembles He’s handwriting, which is to say that He’s student imitated (lin 臨) his teacher’s calligraphy. Therefore, the content of the marginalia may well be almost the same as He’s original copy. He Zhuo’s marginalia in the Dunyin zalu was first printed alongside the main text by Zhang Haipeng 張海鵬 (1755–1816) during the Qianglong and Jiaqing reigns. This edition was rather influential; almost all the later editions of the Dunyin zalu with He Zhuo’s comments were reproductions of it.26 In this edition, He Zhuo’s comments were in double-lined small characters after every sentence of the main text on which he commented. At the beginning of every juan is written “Composed by Feng Ban (courtesy name) Dingyuan / Commentary by He Zhuo (courtesy name) Yimen” (馮班定遠著/何焯義門評). He Zhuo’s comments in the manuscript copy and Zhang’s edition are not consistent. For instance, in juan four of the manuscript, the original text reads: Yang Ziyun [Xiong] traced all the literature under Heaven back to the Six Classics, a great boon to the school of the Sage. This situation changed with the Su father and sons [Su Xun 蘇洵 (courtesy name Mingyun 明允, 1009–1066), and his sons Su Shi 蘇軾 (courtesy name Zizhan 子瞻, 1037– 1101) and Su Zhe 蘇轍 (courtesy name Ziyou 子由, 1039–1112)], and ever since then, up to Wang Yanzhou [Wang Shizhen 王世貞, 1526–1590] and Li Yulin [Li Panlong 李攀龍, 1514–1570] of recent times, literature has been dragged in the dust. 揚子雲引天下之文字歸之六經，有功於聖人之門，變於蘇氏父子，至 近代王弇州、李于鱗，而掃地無餘矣。

He’s comments on this passage read: [Su] Mingyun’s arguments are rather haphazard. Zizhan’s essays on current affairs written in his youth were learned from the Zhanguo[ce]. He composed the Shuzhuan (Annotations on the Shangshu) when he was elderly, which was a great boon to the school of the Sages. Dingweng [Feng Ban] seems not to have discussed it in detail. I have not read all of Ziyou’s essays, so I dare not comment on them. / It seems that credit cannot be assigned to Master Yang alone, nor did the change start from 26

See “Zhengli qianyan” 整理前言, in Feng Ban, Dunyin zalu 鈍吟雜錄, commentary by He Zhuo, edited by Yang Haizheng 楊海崢 and Wei Yinzong (Nanjing: Fenghuang chubanshe, 2017).

188

chapter 6

the Su father and sons. Classical studies declined in the Jian’an period [196–219] and recovered in the Yuanhe period [806–820]. This is a very important [instance of] growth and decline. Why did Dingweng not take notice of this? 明允議論多駁，子瞻惟少年策論出於《戰國》耳。其晚歲所作《書 傳》，有功於聖門大矣。定翁似未研討耳。子由文則吾未盡讀，未敢 置論。○恐不得獨歸功揚子，變亦不始蘇氏。經術裂於建安，復振於 元和，此一要升降，何以定翁未曾理會？

In Zhang’s edition the comment states: Classical studies declined in the Jian’an period and recovered in the Yuanhe period. In the midst of this period, the growth and decline were not consistent. As for the Su father and sons, only Mingyun [Su Xun] rose up from Shu [Sichuan]. He learned by himself, having no friends with whom to discuss, so that his comments are mostly miscellaneous. When Zizhan [Su Shi] and his brother were young, the Yingzhao ji (Collected essays of the civil examinations) was their family teaching. Both of them concentrated on the Classics when they were old. Zizhan’s Shuzhuan is especially a great boon to the school of the Sages. It cannot be recklessly forged by modern, depraved scholars. 經術裂於正始，復振於元和，其中亦升降不一。蘇氏唯明允起於蜀 中，獨學無友，議論多駁。子瞻兄弟少年，《應詔集》是其家學。   晚歲皆致力於經。子瞻於《書傳》尤有功聖門，非近代謬學可妄 托也。

The main points of these two comments are the same. But in the manuscript copy there were actually two comments, one before the circle, one after. In the printed edition, they were combined as one. In addition, some pointed criticisms were omitted in the printed edition, such as “Dingweng [Feng Ban] seems not to have discussed it in detail,” “Why did Dingweng not take notice of this,” and so forth. Similarly, in juan one, the main text reads: If a nobleman does not read divination books, he will be deceived by diviners. But this is of no great harm. There was a man named Guo Chunqing whose father was buried in an auspicious place. Chunqing could read several lines simultaneously and commit them to memory by

Edited Reading

189

the second reading. Later, he was misled by a villain, who said that his father was buried in an inauspicious place. He unearthed his father’s coffin and found it entangled in purple rattan and roots. He cut them and the juice looked like blood. When Chunqing went back home, he could no longer remember what he read as he once had. Finally, he died as an old student. My deceased father was deceived by Yu Yangqiao and moved my grandmother’s tomb to another place, resulting in my family’s poverty. That was a big mistake. 先君子不讀星命之書，多爲日者所欺，然猶無大害。有一郭春卿，其 父葬得吉壤，生春卿，讀書數行俱下，不過二遍則暗誦矣。後爲惡人 所誤，言不吉，發之，紫藤纏棺，斬之，流汁如血。春卿歸，讀書強 記，不復如前矣，竟以一老青襟卒。先兄爲俞仰橋所欺，徙先祖母 墓，我家遂貧，此大誤也。

There is a comment by He Zhuo in the manuscript copy, reading: Dinglao (Feng Ban) believes in geomancy. This is completely ridiculous! 定老信風水，殊可笑！

This comment was not included in any printed editions. Briefly put, in the printed edition, all the pointed criticisms of this kind were left out, so that He’s commentary became less sharp. Usually, He’s non-fully developed ideas and his students’ comments were also not included in printed editions. For example, in juan 3, Feng Ban discusses the concept of the literary genre gexing 歌行 (a genre of poem that can be set to music and sung), saying: When the name “gexing” emerged is not known. In the Jin and Wei dynasties, the yuefu (songs for court entertainment) that were played in court, such as the “Yange xing,” “Changge xing” and “Duange xing” were mostly folk songs created in the Han dynasty. Originally it was not explained why they were called “xing.” People in the Song dynasty said: “Their physical appearance looks like running [xing] script.” This can really make us cover our mouths in laughter. 歌行之名，不知始於何時。晉、魏所奏樂府，如《豔歌行》、《長歌 行》、《短歌行》之類，大略是漢時歌謠，謂之曰“行”，本不知何 解。宋人云:“體如行書。”真可掩口也。

190

chapter 6

About this paragraph, there are two comments in the manuscript copy, which were not included in any printed editions. The first one reads: The “Tangfeng” [in the Shijing] reads: “It is my heart’s sadness / That makes me chant and sing,” “It is my heart’s sadness / That makes me travel from land to land.”27 The three tunes in the Han dynasty all employed the names of “jiemo” (lit. the street), “yao’ou” (folk songs) and “gexing” (songs on the road). I assume that the name [gexing] comes from this. This is my conjecture, [but] it would seem better to follow [the explanation in] the Wenxuan zhu (Annotations on the Wenxuan). 《唐風》:“心之憂矣，我歌且謠”，“心之憂矣，聊以行國”。漢   三調皆採街陌謠謳歌行之名，意其本於此也。此吾臆論，不如據《文 選注》。

The second one reads: Sima Xiangru’s biography in the Hanshu states: “Go after two strikes of the drum.” [Yan] Shigu’s annotation reads: “Xing is the prelude of a song. Ancient yuefu, such as the ‘Changge xing’ and ‘Duange xing,’ used this meaning [of ‘xing’].” Comment: This is the correct meaning of “xing.” The Annotations on the Wenxuan also argues: “Xing is a kind of song.” By Shen Tong. 《漢書·司馬相如傳》“爲鼓二再行”，師古曰:“行，謂曲引也。     古樂府《長歌行》、《短歌行》，此其義也。”按:此是行字確解，   《文選注》亦云:“行，曲也。”沈彤記。  

In the first comment, He Zhuo admitted that his explanation of gexing was “conjecture.” The explanation in the second comment is an idea taken from one of He’s students, Shen Tong. Neither was included in any printed editions, perhaps because the editor thought them unconvincing and just left them out. However, there is still no widely accepted opinion about the origin and exact meaning of the term gexing. He’s and Shen’s ideas, though preliminary, at least

27

Translation from The Book of Songs: Shijing, trans. Arthur Waley (New York: Grove Press, 1996), 86. These four sentences were not quoted from the “Tangfeng,” but from the “Weifeng” 魏風.

Edited Reading

191

supply some starting points for understanding this term. They are not worthless. The editors’ omission of these texts shows that they were more concerned with ideas that were clearer, more solid, and easier to accept. Using the example of the Dunyin zalu, I have shown how He Zhuo’s marginalia were edited when printed alongside the main text. His marginalia on the Kunxue jiwen and Wenxuan were probably edited in a similar way, and some might have been simplified to attract more readers. In addition to the Wenxuan, Kunxue jiwen, and Dunyin zalu, He Zhuo’s marginalia on a great many other titles were also printed alongside the main texts during the Qing dynasty. The most popular and influential ones were the Li Changji ji 李長吉集 (Collected works of Li He) in a woodblock edition carved in Jin Wei’s 金惟 Junyu Library (Junyu shulou 駿漁書樓) in 1731; the Changli xiansheng shi jizhu 昌黎先生詩集注 (Han Yu’s poems with collected annotations) in a two-color woodblock edition carved in 1836 by Mujianga 穆彰阿; and the Li Yishan shiji 李義山詩集 (Poetry anthology of Li Shangyin) in a three-color woodblock edition carved in 1870 in the Guangzhou shuju 廣州 書局, to name just a few. In short, when printed alongside the main text, marginalia were edited (sometimes several comments were combined as one; almost all the pointed criticisms were omitted; and some uncertain words and other texts were left out), and printed in various forms (some in double-columned small characters, some in multi-color characters located in the margins). After being printed, these marginalia could not be called marginalia any more. They were more like annotations and commentaries. Upon printing these kinds of books, publishers aimed to produce easily read texts with relatively solid and reliable knowledge directed to a larger audience beyond scholarly circles. 3

The Printing of Collation Notes

Starting from the mid-Qing period, increasingly collation notes were also collected from marginalia, and then edited and printed. This practice flourished in the late Qing and continued into the Republican period. In contrast to printing the comments and exegeses alongside the main text, collation notes were often collected together and attached at the end of each juan or at the end of the whole book, or were compiled as a separate book. For instance, the Su xueshi wenji in the well-known collectanea Sibu cong­ kan chubian 四部叢刊初編 (The four branches of a literature collection, first series) includes He Zhuo’s collation notes printed at the end of the book

192

chapter 6

(see figure 6.3). There is a short colophon at the beginning of He’s collation notes, stating: The only Su xueshi ji in circulation is the edition carved by the Song family of Shangqiu. Old editions are very rare. I have borrowed the copy that was read by He Yimen and held by the Chen family of Haining, comparing the text [with other editions] and supplementing Shi Yuanzhi’s preface. He’s collation is far better than the Song edition. Therefore, characters corrected by He are in big characters, under which are those from the Song edition in small characters. 《蘇學士集》行世惟商邱宋氏刊本，舊本罕見。今假海甯陳氏藏何義   門校本，勘其異同，並補錄施元之跋。何校勝宋本遠甚，茲以何校爲 大字，以宋本注于下。  28

This colophon indicates that the collation notes were collected from a copy collated by He Zhuo. Books collated by him usually have not only He’s collation notes, but also his comments and other kinds of marginalia; however, the editor of this edition was only concerned with He’s collation notes and collation marks. Speaking highly of He Zhuo’s collation, the editor collected the collation notes and attached them at the end of this edition. Today, the National Library of China, the Nanjing Library, and the Shanghai Library hold various copies of the Su xueshi ji bearing transcriptions of He Zhuo’s marginalia. The Shanghai Library has four copies, of which He’s marginalia were transcribed by Qian Taiji, Gu Guangqi, Huang Pilie and Yao Shiyu, respectively, as well as other well-known Qing scholars.29 He’s marginalia in these four copies are almost the same, and the collation notes in them are consistent with those in the Sibu congkan edition. But the Sibu cong­ kan edition included none of He’s comments. The Sibu congkan chubian, published in the early Republican period at the Hanfen Tower (Hanfen lou 涵芬樓) in Shanghai, was a well-known collectanea of the great works of the Chinese scholarly tradition with photo-reproductions of all the titles printed from the earliest available editions. This collectanea was primarily for scholarly use, and the reliability of texts and their scholarly value 28 29

“Su xueshi ji jiao yu” 蘇學士集校語, in Su xueshi wenji, photo-reproduction in the Sibu congkan chubian, 1a. These four copies in the Shanghai Library are in the same edition, a woodblock edition carved in 1698 at the Baihua shuwu 白樺書屋. Their call numbers are: XS753558-59, XS824382-83, XPT02612-15, XP553277-78.

Edited Reading

193

figure 6.3 First half-leaf of the “Su xueshi wenji jiao yu,” attached at the end of the Su xueshi wenji SOURCE: photo-reproduction in Sibu congkan chubian

194

chapter 6

were the main concern of this collection. He Zhuo’s collation notes, and those of many other scholars, were important scholarly sources for authenticating the text. Thus they were collected, edited, and printed in the book. Sometimes, He Zhuo’s collation notes in a title were compiled as a separate book. Books of this kind were not for common readers to read, but for scholars to consult. For example, there is a book titled the Hanshu jiaoji 漢書 校記 (Collation notes on the Hanshu) held at the Fudan University Library. This book is a manuscript produced some time between 1873 and 1874.30 It was attributed to He Zhuo, but, more precisely, it was compiled from He’s marginalia by later scholars. The National Library of China, PKU Library, Shanghai Library, and Fudan University Library hold various copies of the Hanshu. Each copy contains more than 3,000 of He Zhuo’s marginalia in transcription, among which collation notes occupy a small part. The collation notes in the Hanshu jiaoji are consistent with those in He’s marginalia in these copies of the Hanshu. They were collected from He’s marginalia in order to make them more accessible for scholars. He Zhuo’s collation notes on the Gengzi xiaoxia ji were compiled as a book and printed under the title Gengzi xiaoxia ji jiaowen 庚子銷夏記校文 (Col­ lation notes on Gengzi xiaoxia ji). This book was included in the Guxue huikan 古學匯刊 (Collected printings of traditional scholarship), a scholarly collectanea published in Shanghai during the early Republican period. Although the title contains the words “collation notes,” the first fifteen pages consist merely of He’s comments; only the last three pages are actually collation notes. “Collation notes” probably was included in the title for the sake of attracting scholars. At the end, there is a colophon by the compiler Wei Xizeng 魏錫曾 (d. 1881), explaining how this book was compiled from He’s marginalia: In the winter of the bingzi year of the Guangxu reign [1876], I borrowed and read the Bao edition of the Gengzi xiaoxia ji in Attendant Officer Zhang Jixiong’s (courtesy name Xiangshi) house in Jiaxing. This copy was owned by the Sun family of Beiping. It has Master He Yimen’s marginalia that was transcribed by Chen Weiting of the Wu region…. Half of Yimen’s collation notes correct Sun’s [Chengze, the author of the Gengzi xiaoxia ji] mistakes. There is a colophon in the Fuchu zhai ji (Collected works written in the Fuchu Study) of Weng [Fanggang] of Daxing. Weng also cites He’s marginalia sometimes…. Sun and He lived not far apart in time. In most cases, they discovered the circulation trajectories of paintings, 30

About this book, see Zhongguo guji zongmu: Shibu 中國古籍總目·史部 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 2009) vol. 1, 41.

Edited Reading

195

calligraphy, and stone and bronze inscriptions and corrected the inherited mistakes in popular sayings according to what they had seen [or heard] in person. This was sufficient to enlarge what later scholars saw and heard. Previously, I saw the Yimen ji that was supplemented and carved in the Daoguang reign. [In it,] very important contents are printed on small scale papers, and it contains a collection of [He Zhuo’s notes] without any omissions. In addition, the Yimen tiba (Yimen’s colophons) in the Xiaoshi zhai congshu (Collectanea of Xiaoshi Study) has only several pages. Although these [He Zhuo’s marginalia in the Gengzi xiaoxia ji] are merely marks and collations made while reading, like odd pieces of jade, they can make a great treasure if collected together. Therefore, I copied them and made them into a book, putting Weng’s colophon at the beginning and titling it Gengzi xiaoxia ji ping (Comments on the Gengzi xiaoxia ji). I hide it in my suitcase, waiting for those who have the same hobby to share. In the future, if someone reprints Sun’s book, compiles a supplement for the Yimen ji, or gathers short items to make books for collectanea, he can select from this. 光緒丙子冬，從嘉興張祥使別駕吉熊借觀北平孫氏《庚子銷夏記》鮑 刻本也，上有何義門先生題語，爲吳門陳君葦汀手錄。……義門勘 記，半糾孫氏之誤。大興翁氏《復初齋集》有跋一首，翁氏亦時引用 何說。……孫、何相去不遠，凡金石書畫流傳之端緒，習說之沿訛，   多據目驗者辨正，足以廣後學見聞。往見《義門集》，爲道光間補 刻，赫蹏矩扎，搜采無遺，又《小石齋叢書》所刊《義門題跋》亦寥 寥數葉。此雖隨筆點勘，零璣碎玉，薈萃之則爲多寶。因依次繕寫成 卷，以翁跋冠首，題曰“庚子銷夏記評”，藏之篋衍，以俟同好，後 有重刊孫書，輯《義門集》補遺及搜小品入叢書者，皆得以甄錄焉。  31

The Gengzi xiaoxia ji, by Sun Chengze 孫承澤 (1592–1676) was a book recording Sun’s comments and some anecdotes on the calligraphic works and paintings that he had collected. Sun’s collection was later held by the Qing court. Therefore, He Zhuo had chances to see it. He Zhuo was an outstanding calligrapher, bibliophile and historian who knew much about calligraphy and painting. While reading Sun’s book, He corrected numerous mistakes made by Sun and collated some errors in the text. His marginalia were important corrections and supplements to Sun’s book. However, they were not included in the Yimen dushu ji or any other editions of the Gengzi xiaoxia ji. Under these 31

Gengzi xiaoxiaoji jiaowen 庚子銷夏記校文, in the Guxue huikan dier ji 古學匯刊第 二集 (Shanghai: Shanghai guocuixue baoshe, 1914).

196

chapter 6

circumstances, according to his colophon, Wei Xizeng collected He’s marginalia and made them into a book, titled “Comments on the Gengzi xiaoxiaji,” and hoped that it would be printed someday. What is notable is that the title was changed into “Collation notes on Gengzi xiaoxia ji” when it was included in the Guxue huikan and published. In the publisher’s opinion, this new title, stressing the scholarly value of the textual criticism of this book, would make it more attractive. Published during the late Qing and Republican periods, the Congshu jicheng 叢書集成 (A corpus of works from collectanea, first to third series) and the Sibu congkan 四部叢刊 (The four branches of literature collection, first to third series), attached collation notes to many titles. All of this activity indicated the popularity and development of textual criticism at that time. He Zhuo did not compile or published his own collation notes. However, many scholars in the mid- to late Qing edited their own collation notes and/or printed them, creating a new kind of scholarly biji – collation biji. Most of the time, these collation notes were collected from their marginalia. The flourishing of collation biji was, to some extent, caused by marginalia culture. 4

The Flourishing of Collation Biji

Qing evidential research (kaojuxue 考據學) was an empirical scholarly approach based on the close study of texts and strict logical inference. Any conclusion was supposed to be built on concrete textual evidence (garnered from books handed down from antiquity and excavated texts). In this sense, textual criticism – focused on collating the text and identifying and correcting the errors – was one of its fundamental disciplines. With the rise of evidential research, collation biji flourished. As discussed above, scholarly biji emerged during the Wei and Jin dynasties. The content of scholarly biji usually covered a very wide range of topics in traditional scholarship, such as classical studies, politics, customs, protocol and ritual, literature, histories and anecdotes, astronomy and divination, geography, chariots and robes, herbs and plants, birds and beasts and scaly and creeping animals.32 In the Qing dynasty, there were still many new and comprehensive scholarly biji of this kind, but increasingly collation biji centered on studying the authentication of the text per se appeared. For instance, Qian Daxin’s Nian’er shi kaoyi 廿二史考異 (Collected variants in the Twenty-two Histories) focused on analyzing the problematic characters in the standard histories so 32

See Liu Yeqiu, Lidai biji gaishu, 1–5, 193–206.

Edited Reading

197

as to identify and correct the mistakes of the historical records made due to misunderstanding by readers. Wang Niansun’s 王念孫 (1744–1832) Dushu zazhi 讀書雜誌 (Miscellaneous notes on my readings), and his son Wang Yinzhi’s 王引之 (1766–1834) Jingyi shuwen 經義述聞 (The transmission of the meaning of Classics as I learned them) were both well-known works on the correction of various ancient texts. Wang Niansun and his son were both outstanding philologists. They applied their knowledge of phonology, paleography and semantics to the correction and understanding of ancient texts. In addition, the great textual scholar Gu Guangqi’s Shuowen bianyi 說文辨疑 (Analyzing doubtful points in the Shuowen jiezi), Zhang Wenhu’s 張文虎 (1808–1885) Shuyishi suibi 舒藝室 隨筆 (Casual literary notes written in the Shuyishi), Yu Yue’s 俞樾 (1821–1907) Qunjing pingyi 群經平議 (Plain comments on the various Classics) and Zhuzi pingyi 諸子平議 (Plain comments on the various Masters), Yu Chang’s 于鬯 (alternative name Xiangcao 香草, r. 1862–1919) Xiangcao jiao shu 香草校書 (Collation notes by Xiangcao) and Xiangcao xu jiao shu 香草續校書 (Sequel to Collation notes by Xiangcao), and Sun Yirang’s 孫詒讓 (1848–1908) Zhayi 札迻 (Transmitted collation notes) all concentrated on textual collation. These were all collation biji; well-known and influential, they have shaped the texts we are still reading today. Unlike previous scholarly biji whose contents were usually sorted by subject, the contents of collation biji were often arranged according to the sequence of the main text, i.e., the collation notes of one sentence of the main text were attached after that sentence, and these sentences of the main text were selected out from the original main text and ordered according to their original sequence. Collation biji were text-centered. According to the prefaces of their composers, most collation notes therein were compiled from their marginalia. Some collation biji were compiled and printed by the composer himself, and there was always a considerable difference between the content of the marginalia and that in the printed biji. Usually, when editing for publishing, the composer revised his marginalia to make them clearer, seem more erudite and, at least, a bit more formal. For instance, in a copy of the Yili zhushu 儀禮 注疏 (The Rites with annotations and sub-annotations) held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XS797827-36), there are extensive marginalia written by Lu Wenchao from 1750 to 1794. In 1795, these marginalia were edited and published as a book entitled Yili zhushu xiangjiao 儀禮注疏詳校 (Detailed collation of the Yili zhushu; abbr. Xiangjiao). The Xiangjiao was well-known for its erudition, accuracy and precision. This masterpiece has long been considered representative of Lu’s prominent study of the Yili zhushu. However, Lu’s marginalia were miscellaneous and simple in content, indicating that they

198

chapter 6

underwent massive revision and supplementation when the Xiangjiao was published.33 Lu’s Xiangjiao contains collation notes on a particular title. They include not only enormous numbers of variant characters but also a great number of Lu’s evidential studies. However, Qian Daxin’s Nian’er shi kaoyi, Wang Niansun’s Dushu zazhi and many other Qing scholars’ collation biji mainly consist of evidential studies on specific textual problems. At the same time, from the mid-Qing on, there also more collation biji appeared that primarily comprised variant characters, with only the occasional short comment. These collation biji usually had “jiaokanji” 校勘記 (collation notes) in their titles. The most influential one of this kind is the Shisanjing zhushu jiaokanji (Collation notes on the Thirteen Confucian Classics), compiled in the mid-Qing period chaired by Ruan Yuan. As mentioned in chapter 4, in order to compile a new edition of the Shisanjing zhushu, Ruan Yuan gathered a group of the top scholars of the time, such as Gu Guangqi, Duan Yucai, Zang Yong 臧庸 (1767–1811), and Hong Yixuan 洪頤煊 (1765–1833). This group finally produced a new edition of the Thirteen Confucian Classics, which is still acknowledged as the best edition. Before the publication of the Thirteen Classics, its collation notes, i.e., the Shisanjing zhushu jiaokan ji, were printed and published as an independent academic book. When printing the Thirteen Classics, the collation notes were also edited and appended to the end of each juan of the main texts. The collation notes were composed by a number of prominent scholars, included an enormous numbers of character variants from a variety of editions, referred to previous scholars’ marginalia (including that of He Zhuo), and were regarded as one of the most important academic achievements of the mid-Qing.34 In addition, Lu Wenchao’s Qunshu shibu 群書拾補 (Collecting supplements to various books), Jiang Guangxu’s 蔣光煦 Jiaobu yulu 斠補隅錄 (Records of provincial ideas on textual criticism), Gu Guangqi’s Hanfeizi zhiwu 韓非子識 誤 (Records of mistakes in the Hanfeizi), and Hu Kejia’s 胡克家 Wenxuan kaoyi 文選考異 (Study of the variants in the Wenxuan), were also first-class collation biji whose main contents were character variants and a few very short analyses of the some of them. From the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns (1735–1820) to the Republican period, it was very common to attach the collation notes at the end of a book or each chapter; the publication of collation notes as an independent book also 33 34

See Chen Donghui 陳東輝, “Guanyu Shangtu cang Yili zhushu pijiaoben yu Yili zhushu xiangjiao zhi guanxi” 關於上圖藏《儀禮注疏》批校本與《儀禮注疏詳校》之關 係, Zhongguo dianji yu wenhua 中國典籍與文化 3 (2012): 98–103. For a detailed discussion of this work see chapter 4.

Edited Reading

199

became more popular. Through the publication of the collation notes, especially the character variants collected from a wide range of different editions, different systems of texts were collected together and widely distributed. This is of great significance in the history of Chinese textual culture. The flourishing of various collation biji in the Qing dynasty indicates that textual criticism ( jiaokanxue 校勘學; lit. studies of collation), as an independent scholarly discipline had reached maturity in both theory and practice. Marginalia contributed significantly to this development. 5

The Merits of Printing

Printing and publishing expanded the spread of marginalia and made them easily accessible to a larger audience. He Zhuo’s marginalia were edited and published in a variety of ways. Generally speaking, a reader in the Qing dynasty had more chances to read the Yimen dushu ji than He’s marginalia written or transcribed in books. For instance, Wang Niansun’s Dushu zazhi, Liang Yusheng’s 梁玉繩 (1744–1819) Shiji zhiyi 史記志疑 (The recording of doubts about the Shiji), Liang Lüsheng’s 梁履繩 (1748–1793) Zuozhuan bu shi 左傳補釋 (A supplement and explanation to the Zuozhuan), and Wu Zhuoxin’s 吳卓信 (1755–1823) Hanshu dilizhi buzhu 漢書地理志補注 (A supplement to annotations of the “Dilizhi” in the Hanshu) all cited from the Yimen dushu ji, yet none of them mentioned He Zhuo’s marginalia. Interestingly, one copy of the Chunqiu jingzhuan jijie 春秋經傳集解 (Spring and Autumn Annuals of the Zuo tradition with collected annotations) held at the Shanghai Library (call number: XS453972-79) contains many of He Zhuo’s “marginalia” in black ink. But the colophon at the beginning reads: “The black brush strokes were transcribed from He Yimen’s Dushu ji” (墨筆照何義門《讀書記》). The transcriptionist must have been attracted by the reputation of He Zhuo’s marginalia, but had no access to them. He had to settle for second best and transcribed He’s comments from the Yimen dushu ji, creating a copy of his own with He’s “marginalia.” Similarly, there is a copy of the Kunxue jiwen carved in 1603 and held at the Rare Book and Special Collections of the University of British Columbia Library (call number: Asian Rare-2 no. 34, see figure 6.4). It has Yan Ruoqu’s and He Zhuo’s marginalia transcribed by mid-Qing scholar, Fang Chengpei 方成培. Each item begins with “Yan says” or “He [Zhuo] says,” and all of them are consistent with that found in the printed edition of the Kunxue jiwen discussed above. These “marginalia” were also transcribed from some printed copy of the Kunxue jiwen. In addition, many modern scholars problematically evaluate He Zhuo’s scholarly achievements merely based on the Yimen dushu

200

figure 6.4 First half-leaf of juan 16 of the Kunxue jiwen, woodblock edition carved in 1603 by Wu Xiantai 吳獻台. The marginalia in this book were transcribed by Fang Chengpei 方成培 (c.1713–1808) Courtesy of the UBC Library

chapter 6

Edited Reading

201

ji and several printed versions of He’s marginalia. All of these indicate the wide distribution of the Yimen dushu ji and the difficulty of gaining direct access to He’s marginalia. He Zhuo’s comments on the Kunxue jiwen were carved and printed along with the main text in the early Qing period. Printed and reproduced many times, He’s reading directly shaped the way that Qing readers read the book. Similarly, He’s marginalia on the Wenxuan was also published in the early Qing period, and this edition was also a master copy for many later editions. One of the greatest philologists and revolutionaries in early twentieth century, Huang Kan 黄侃 (1886–1935), praised He’s reading of the Wenxuan: “It now seems that no scholar in the Qing dynasty surpassed He Yimen in precision and succinctness in the study of the Wenxuan” (以今觀之，清世爲《文選》 之學，精該簡要，未有超於義門者也).35 In 2014, a reedited and punctuated edition of He’s comments and collation notes on the Wenxuan was published.36 All of this illustrates that He’s reading has been widely disseminated and influential. He’s collation notes on various books also reached a larger range of readers and scholars when absorbed by the Shisanjing zhushu jiaokanji and published in some collectanea. In modern times, the new edition of the Su xueshi ji employed quite a few of He’s collation ideas; the Hanshu, Hou Hanshu and Sanguo zhi published by the Zhonghua Shuju also adopted many of He’s collation notes.37 Editing and printing accelerated the impact of marginalia on the texts that we read and on many aspects of Chinese scholarship. The comments and exegeses in marginalia – including literary criticism, historical research, and philosophical analysis – shaped the interpretation and reception of ancient texts. The collation in marginalia altered the content and form of texts and directly changed how we see and read them; it promoted the development of collation biji and the advancement of textual criticism. Marginalia culture influenced the scholarly practices and intellectual conditions of the Qing and the Republican periods and this influence remains strong even today. 35 36 37

Huang Kan 黃侃, Wenxuan pingdian 文選評點 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1985), 1. Fan Zhixin, ed., Wenxuan He Zhuo jiao jizheng. See Su Shunqin 蘇舜欽, Su Shunqin ji 蘇舜欽集, Shen Wenzhuo 沈文倬, ed. (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), “Jiaokan shuoming” 校勘說明, 1.

chapter 7

Epilogue 1

Marginalia and the Evidential Research

All the ancient texts we read today have a long history. They might have been composed by a particular author or authors, edited, transcribed by scribe(s), carved by craftsmen, disseminated among a group of readers in a vast spatial and temporal field, re-edited and re-produced, or collated and studied. What we are reading today is not an indivisible unit, but a combination of various fragments of texts altered by numerous persons, mostly scholars. Therefore, the text can disclose not only some fixed thoughts of the attributed author(s), but also the ideas, intentions, and the mindsets of many scholars over the long course of history. We must not simplify the history of the text to the point of merely focusing on the two ends – the point of composition and the point of consumption. We must also pay attention to what happened in the middle phase of this textual history, and by so doing we can better comprehend a text and the intellectual history behind it.1 This book attempts to explore the intellectual history of late imperial China through examining a particular kind of text – marginalia. I define marginalia as the various writings and symbols drawn by readers on the margins of books. They have four basic features that differentiate them from other interpretive texts: they are drawn by readers, responsive to the main text yet not confined by it, semi-public, and can transform a book into something unique or personal. In China, marginalia may have had very early origins, but they started to appear in large quantities during the late Ming and early Qing period when print became the dominant mode of the circulation of texts: books became increasingly accessible, and scholars had ample opportunity to compose marginalia. He Zhuo, a textual scholar and calligrapher in the early Qing era, one of the tutors of the emperor’s sons and friend of many famous bibliophiles in the Jiangnan region and in the capital Beijing, was the first scholar to devote himself to reading and collating books. He composed marginalia on hundreds of titles. He inherited the Song-Ming tradition of commenting on texts, appreciating their literary features and discussing their historical and philosophical 1 About the significance of textual history, see also Bernard Cerquiglini, In Praise of the Variant: A Critical History of Philology, Betsy Wing trans. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999).

© Yinzong Wei, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004508477_008

Epilogue

203

contents. At the same time, he conducted a very careful, in-depth project of textual criticism and collated a great number of texts. He was praised as a “reading seed” by the Kangxi Emperor, and regarded as one of the initiators of textual criticism, a sub-discipline within the methodology of evidential research that flourished in the mid-Qing. After his death, his marginalia quickly became popular, and books containing them sold at rather high prices. Bibliophiles sought books with his marginalia and collected them, treasuring them so much that sometimes they would not show them to others. Merchants forged them. More importantly, a growing number of scholars transcribed his marginalia and composed marginalia of their own. Marginalia connected different scholars and others and formed a variety of scholarly communities in which a cluster of scholarly sources, knowledge and approaches, especially that of the evidential research, were shared. In the mid-Qing period, composing and transcribing marginalia became a scholarly practice conducted by a great number of scholars – a practice that continued to the Republican period and beyond. In short, marginalia mainly have promoted the emergence and development of the kaoju research movement in two ways: 1) Writing marginalia supplied a new way for scholars to read and conduct research, which made scholars more concerned with the text. He Zhuo had established the basic rules for comparing different editions, recording the character variants, and determining the correct words in his marginalia. He initiated the habit of collating books before reading them, which became one of the basic laws that the kaoju scholars followed while doing evidential research. 2) Through broad circulation across most of the empire for hundreds of years, marginalia supplied and supported the connection of a large number of scholars and helped to build a variety of scholarly communities in which scholarly information, knowledge, approaches, and thoughts were efficiently disseminated. It was in these communities that kaoju research took form and flourished. Marginalia and their long circulation history are sources through which to explore Qing scholars’ reading practices, lifestyles, thoughts, and mindsets. Composing marginalia was by no means an completely new practice. Nevertheless, under the influence of a publishing boom, changes in the way scholars were sponsored and the cumulative development of research on ancient texts during the late Ming and early Qing periods, this practice developed into a new stage, becoming a new fashion practiced by scholars empirewide. In this process, a particular type of scholarly culture, “marginalia culture,” emerged. This marginalia culture was a hybrid of printed culture and manuscript culture, and was created by a number of social, political, economic, and philosophical factors. In its mature stage, it had developed into a systematic

204

chapter 7

way of perceiving, analyzing, and acting, and had a meaningful and powerful impact on its practitioners. For scholars in this cultural landscape, the practice of reading books and writing marginalia was never just a method of obtaining knowledge; it was a habitual lifestyle, a practice used to cultivate oneself. This practice, for these “reading seeds,” entailed not only reading the words of a book, but also paying attention to the authentication of the text and the form of the book, consulting the various marginalia surrounding the main text, transcribing previous scholars’ marginalia and composing their own, and appreciating the calligraphy of the marginalia and sometimes imitating it. Through this practice, these scholars found an artistic lifestyle in an otherwise somewhat dull scholarly enterprise. Modern scholarly literature holds the idea that through carefully studying the texts of the Classics, the Qing evidential scholars were searching for the Way (dao 道) or trying to recover the Way of antiquity.2 This is correct; searching for and/or recovering the Way of antiquity was always the Confucian scholars’ ultimate goal. Nevertheless, I argue in this book that the actual practice of searching also counted. To some extent, it had more meaning and significance than the ultimate goal they were searching for yet could hardly achieve. 2

Invisible Scholars and the Intellectual History of the Qing

One of the main aims of this study is to try to understand the society and scholars of Qing China. To do so, instead of focusing on the most prominent scholars or scholar-officials, I look at some relatively unknown scholars who are unfamiliar to most modern readers but who contributed much to Qing scholarship and our understanding of ancient texts. At the same time, instead of highlighting the socio-political activities or philosophical achievements of the scholars, I mainly examine their practices with marginalia, investigate various texts they read and composed, and explore the relationships among them and between them and the texts. Through investigating scholarly practices of underappreciated scholars largely ignored by our scholarship, I attempt to reveal some hidden corners of intellectual history. Since most Qing scholars were involved in the marginalia culture, I seek to understand them from their marginalia and scholarly practices related to the marginalia that they read, wrote, disseminated and used. I argue that these Qing scholars did not passively yield to severe political pressure occasioned 2 See Sela, China’s Philological Turn, 4–5. Sela refers to this approach as “textualism.”

Epilogue

205

by the central government and socio-economic transformations, nor did they mechanically transmit philosophical concepts and doctrines. They sought to understand the world and themselves, and they tried to live properly in the world under the guidance of the meaning they gained from the texts they read and collated. They attempted to find the Way, or recover the Way of antiquity – trying to build a new world on the foundation of ancient texts. To read and collate books, to research and transcribe texts, to live properly following the doctrines in the classics, and to do anything related to scholarship was their way of conducting “practical affairs,” which, in their opinion, could guide them to a new world – or a world that had long ago been conceived and formulated by sages. Conventional research on Qing intellectual history has held the general understanding that there are some differences in scholarly method, style, and intellect between scholars of the Qing and the Ming; i.e., there was a MingQing transition or transformation. Ming learning is considered to have been dominated by Neo-Confucianism, which came into being in the Song dynasty and had two distinct factions: the Cheng-Zhu Learning of Principle and the Lu-Wang Learning of Mind and Heart. Qing learning, however, is believed by many researchers to have been dominated by evidential research. The more important question is the extent to which scholars of the Ming and Qing differ. How did evidential research gather momentum, and how did its popularity wax and wane in different regions and different time periods? How did different groups of Qing scholars treat the legacy of Ming learning? As discussed in the introduction, Liang Qichao and other scholars of his generation stressed the discontinuity between Qing learning and Ming learning. By declaring that “The point of departure of Ch’ing (Qing) learning was a violent reaction against the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming,”3 Liang emphasized this difference. Focusing on the prominent scholars of the Qing – mostly the evidential scholars – he argued that it was the severe political pressure occasioned by Manchu rule that compelled scholars to conduct apolitical evidential research. Liang pointed to the determinative impact of political factors on scholars and their scholarship and seemed to believe that evidential research was prevalent across the empire. Other studies, especially those by Western scholars, have also examined the social-economic factors that contributed to the rise of evidential research, and found that evidential research was popular only in some regions rather than the whole empire. Moreover, contrary to the prevailing view, Qian Mu and other scholars who have focused on the development of the Cheng-Zhu and Lu-Wang branches of Neo-Confucian 3 Liang Qichao, Intellectual Trends in the Ch’ing Period, 27.

206

chapter 7

thought in the Qing dynasty have found continuity in the Confucian teachings from Ming to Qing. More recently, Yu Yingshi has employed the concept of the “inner logic” of intellectual trends “regardless of political, economic and other external factors” to develop Qian Mu’s argument.4 These scholars have examined the best-known Cheng-Zhu and Lu-Wang scholars and claim that both schools were still rather popular and underwent great development in the Qing. These studies are instructive, but they raise a host of new questions: Did evidential scholars conduct research employing entirely new approaches? In which aspects and to what extent did they learn from the Ming scholars? How did evidential research influence Neo-Confucian scholars of whatever stripe? Or, more broadly, how did the new scholarship, evidential research, influence scholarly culture and society as a whole in the Qing? To answer these questions, in addition to political and social-economic factors and the evolution of philosophical thought itself, we should also take scholars and their scholarly practices into the account. In this study, I have taken a cultural view of history, concentrating on the scholars themselves as real human beings and examining their practices with marginalia so as to explore the characteristics and transformation of their scholarly styles, thoughts, and mindsets. The scholarly practices entailed in the composition and transcription of marginalia as undertaken by He Zhuo, Jiang Gao, Yao Shiyu, Weng Fanggang, Zhang Yu and other lesser-known scholars mentioned in this study, show the Qing scholars practicing new ways of doing research – but these scholars had also learned from the Ming scholars. In terms of reading ancient texts, Ming scholars liked making emphasis marks and writing literary, historical, and philosophical commentaries, and they published a great many books filled with these devices. These practices were condemned by some of the most prominent evidential scholars in the Qing dynasty. For example, few books of this kind produced in the Ming were included in the Siku quanshu. Nevertheless, from the marginalia of common Qing scholars, we can see that emphasis marks and commentaries were still rather popular through the whole of the Qing dynasty. Scholars did not do evidential research every time they read a book. They also appreciated the text and commented on it just as Ming scholars had done. The practice of writing and reading commentaries had become a kind of reading habit since the Song, and the Qing scholars inherited this practice from their predecessors. In addition, textual criticism became one of 4 Yu Yingshi, “Some Preliminary Observations on the Rise of Ch’ing Confucian Intellectualism,” 112, 128; “Qingdai sixiangshi de yige xin jieshi,” 199.

Epilogue

207

the representative sub-disciplines of evidential research in the Qing. But we should keep in mind that many Qing scholars, especially the ones who lived in the early and mid-Qing period, were doing textual criticism on Ming editions. These Ming editions, which the Qing scholars read and collated, were a great scholarly legacy that Qing scholars inherited from the Ming. Liang Qichao claimed that Qing learning was a “violent reaction” against Song-Ming learning, but I see this “reaction” as built on an inheritance. Qian Mu and Yu Yingshi have argued that Qing learning was an internal development of Ming learning, but I want to make a complementary claim: that Qing scholars also learned scholarly approaches and reading habits from Ming scholars. The Ming-Qing transition was not only caused by political, socialeconomic or philosophical factors, but was also the result and manifestation of developments in scholarly culture. The study of Qing scholars’ practices with marginalia can add more details in the understanding of past scholars, and help us drew a broader pictures of Qing scholarship.

appendix

Books Containing He Zhuo’s Marginalia and Their Transcriptions The table below includes books that contain He Zhuo’s marginalia and their transcriptions. In this table, the books are displayed in the four-branch (sibu 四部) classification scheme, following the order in the Siku quanshu zongmu 四庫全書總目. For each copy, I give the title, number of juan, contributor, edition, the location it is held, and the transcriptionist(s). The contributor column lists the author, compiler (abbr. “comp.”), annotator (abbr. “ann.”), and collator. Abbreviations of libraries are listed at the end of the table. If a copy contains – or is supposed to contain – He Zhuo’s holographic marginalia, the transcriptionist(s) column is left blank; if the transcriptionist is unknown, the transcriptionist(s) column is marked “unknown.” The copies that I have examined have an asterisk (*) following their locations.

Title

1

Zhouyi benyi tongshi

No. Contributors Edition juan 12

comp.

周易本義 通釋

2

Xubu juye bidu shijing

4

Chen Feimu 陳非木, comp.

42

Zheng Xuan 鄭玄, et al., ann.

續補舉業必 讀詩經

3

Zhouli zhushu 周禮注疏

4

Zhouli zhushu 周禮注疏

Hu Bingwen

胡炳文,

42

Zheng Xuan

鄭玄, et al.,

ann.

Manuscript copy produced in the Qing

Location Transcriptionist(s)

NLC*

Woodblock ZUL edition carved at the Yunjian tang 云間堂 in the Kangxi reign Woodblock edition SL* carved by Li Yuanyang 李元陽 in the Jiajing reign Woodblock edition SL* carved at the Jigu ge 汲古閣 of the Mao 毛 family in 1628

© Yinzong Wei, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004508477_009

Wang Zhensheng 王振聲

Chen Benli 陳本禮

Shen Tong 沈彤

Wu Xin 吳昕

210

appendix

(cont.)

Title

5

No. Contributors Edition juan

Xia xiao zheng yinyi

Location Transcriptionist(s)

Unknown

Manuscript

FSNL

Du Yu

Ming woodblock edition carved at the Yonghuai tang

SL*

夏小正音義

6

Chunqiu jing zhuan jijie

30

春秋經傳 集解

7

Chunqiu Zuo zhuan

30

杜預, ann.,

Mu Wenxi 穆文煕, ed., Ge Nai 葛鼐, re-ed. Du Yu 杜預, ann.

春秋左傳

8

Chunqiu Gongyang zhuan 春秋公

28

He Xiu 何休, ann.

20

He Xiu 何休, ann.

28

He Xiu 何休, et al., anns.

羊傳

9

Chunqiu Gongyang zhuan 春秋公

Unknown

永懷堂

In Shisanjing guzhu 十三經 古注, woodblock edition carved by Jin Pan 金蟠 in the Chongzhen reign In Shisanjing guzhu 十三經古注, woodblock edition carved by Jin Pan in the Chongzhen reign Woodblock edition carved in the Longqing reign

HB

HB

NCL

Ying gu shi 潁穀氏

NLC CZ

Yao Shiyu 姚世鈺 Wang Zhensheng

羊傳

10 11

Chunqiu Gongyang zhushu 春秋公羊 注疏

12

Chunqiu Guliang zhuan 春秋穀 梁傳

20

Fan Ning

范寧, et al.,

anns.

Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the Chongzhen reign Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the Chongzhen reign

王振聲

HB

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

211

(cont.)

Title

No. Contributors Edition juan

13

14

Chunqiu Guliang zhushu

20

Fan Ning 范寧, et al., anns.

春秋穀梁 注疏

15

Chunqiu Dan Zhao er xiansheng jizhuan zuanli 春秋啖

10

Lu Chun 陸淳

Chunqiu Dan Zhao er xiansheng jizhuan bianyi 春秋啖

Woodblock edition HB carved at the Yonghuai tang in the Qianlong reign NLC Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the Chongzhen reign Woodblock edition SL* carved in the Kangxi reign, in the Yulinglong ge congke

Yao Shiyu

玉玲瓏閣叢刻本

compiled by Gong Xianglin 龔翔麟

趙二先生集 傳纂例

16

Location Transcriptionist(s)

10

趙二先生集 傳辯疑

17

Chunqiu jizhuan weizhi 春秋集

3

傳微旨

18

Chunqiu si zhuan

43

comp.

春秋四傳

19

Xiaojing zhushu 孝經注疏

Hu Anguo

胡安國,

9

Li Longji 李隆基, ann.

Ming woodblock edition carved by Ji Cheng 吉澄 and re-edited by Fan Xianke 樊獻科 Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in 1629

TJ

Unknown

NCL

Unknown

212

appendix

(cont.)

Title

20

Kanmiu zhengsu

No. Contributors Edition juan 8

Yan Shigu

Qing manuscript

Location Transcriptionist(s)

NLC*

Unknown

SL*

Unknown

顏師古

刊謬正俗

21

Shuowen jiezi

15

説文解字

22

Guangyun

5

廣韻

23

Shiji 史記

130

24 25

Hanshu 漢書

100

26

Hanshu

100

27 28

Xu Shen 許慎 Woodblock edition carved at the Jiaohua yin fang 椒華吟舫 in 1773 Chen Woodblock edition Pengnian carved in 1705 陳彭年, et al., comp. Sima Qian Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu 司馬遷 ge of the Mao family in 1641 Ban Gu 班固 Woodblock edition carved at the Northern Directorate of Education in 1597 Ban Gu Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in 1642

NLC

NLC*

Shao Enduo 邵恩多

PKU* BNU

SL*

Yao Hengtang 姚衡堂

SL*

Shen Jiong

NLC

Weng Tonghe

沈炯 翁同龢

29

30

Woodblock edition carved at the Wuying Palace in the Qianlong reign Woodblock edition carved by Zhong Renjie 鍾人傑 in 1619, with Zhong Renjie’s collected commentaries

FD

Jiao Xun 焦循

SL*

Unknown

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

213

(cont.)

31

Title

No. Contributors Edition juan

Location Transcriptionist(s)

Hou Hanshu

120

SL*

後漢書

32 33

(including Xu Hanzhi 續漢志)

Fan Ye 范曄, Sima Biao 司馬彪

34 35

36

Sanguo zhi

65

三國志

Chen Shou 陳壽

37 38 39 40 41

Sanguo zhi

65

Chen Shou

Woodblock edition carved by Wang Wensheng 汪文盛 in the Jiajing reign Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in 1643 Woodblock edition carved at the Yunlin jixiu tang 雲林積秀堂 in 1627, with Chen Renxi’s 陳仁錫 commentaries Song woodblock edition carved at the Quzhou 衢州 Prefectural School and amended at the Southern Directorate of Education in the Wanli reign Woodblock edition carved at the Southern Directorate of Education in 1596 Woodblock edition carved at the Southern Directorate of Education in 1596, juan 3–14 are Qing edition

PKU* NLC*

Unknown Wang Bing’en 王秉恩, Qian Taiji 錢泰吉

SL* SL*

Xie Putai 謝浦泰 Unknown

NCL

SL*

Chen Shuhua

NLC* NLC* NLC* SL*

Unknown Unknown Unknown Bao Anbao 包安保

陳樹華

214

appendix

(cont.)

Title

No. Contributors Edition juan

42 43 44 45

46

47

48

49 50

Nanshi 南史

51

Beishi 北史

80

Li Yanshou 李延壽

100

Li Yanshou 李延壽

52

Wudai shiji 五代史記

53 54 55

74

Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修

Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in 1644 Woodblock edition carved in the Ming with Chen Renxi’s commentaries Wood movable type edition, Jinling shuju 金陵書局 in 1867 Woodblock edition carved at the Jinling shuju 金陵書局 in 1869 Woodblock edition carved at the Jinling shuju 金陵書局 in 1870 Woodblock edition carved at the Baoshu tang 寳書堂 in the Chongzhen reign Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in 1639 Woodblock edition carved in the Jiajing reign Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in 1630

Location Transcriptionist(s)

SL* NLC* NLC*

Yueshan 約山 Zhang Yu 章鈺 Unknown

NLC*

Unknown

SL*

Bi Yuanshen 費源深

NCL

Unknown

FD

SL* NLC*

Liu Lüfen

劉履芬, Zhang Ruo’ai 張若靄

Unknown Liu Lüfen, Wang Mingsheng 王鳴盛

SL*

NLC

Chen kui 陳揆

SL* NLC* NLC*

Yao Shiyu Zhang Yu

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

215

(cont.)

Title

56 57

Zhuozhong zhi 酌中志 Huayangguo zhi 華陽國志

No. Contributors Edition juan 24 12

59 Diaoji li tan

1

釣磯立談

61

Wujun tujing xu ji 吳郡圖

3

經續記

62 63 64 65 66 67 68

Shuijing zhu jian 水經注箋

Shuijing zhu 水經注

Ming manuscript

NLC

劉若愚

58

60

Liu Ruoyu

Location Transcriptionist(s)

40

40

Chang Qu

Woodblock edition carved at Liao Yin’s 常璩 廖寅 Tijin guan 題襟館 in 1814 Woodblock edition carved by the Tao 陶 family of Kuaiji 會稽 in 1890 Gujin shi yi 古今史佚 edition Shi Xubai In the Lianting shier zhong 楝亭十 史虛白 二種, woodblock edition carved in Yangzhou in the Qing dynasty Zhu Woodblock Changwen edition carved at the Jiangsu shuju 朱長文 江蘇書局 in 1873 Woodblock edition Li Daoyuan carved by Li 酈道元 and Zhu Mouhan Changgeng 李長庚 朱謀㙔, anns. in 1615 Woodblock edition carved in 1629 Li Daoyuan Woodblock edition 酈道元, anns. carved at the Xiang 項 family’s Qunyu shutang 羣玉書堂 in 1715

PKU

Unknown

NLC*

Unknown

NLC* NCL

FD

NCL NCL WUL NLC NLC* SL* FD

Wang Xinfu 王欣夫, Bo Qiyuan 薄啓源

Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown

216

appendix

(cont.)

Title

No. Contributors Edition juan

69

70 71 72 73 74 75

76

Zhongwu ji wen 中吳紀聞

6

龔明之

Zhongwu ji wen

Wudai huiyao

1

30

五代會要

77

Gong Mingzhi

Jinshi lu

Gong Mingzhi

Wang Pu 王溥

30

金石錄

Zhao Mingcheng 趙明誠

78 79 80 81 82

Li shi 隸釋

27

83

Li xu 隸續

21

Hong Kuo

Woodblock edition carved at Huang Sheng’s 黃晟 Huaiyin caotang 槐蔭草堂 in 1753 Ming manuscript Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the late Ming Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the late Ming Manuscript by Sun Qian 孫潛, 1667 Woodblock edition carved by Xie Shiji 謝世箕 in 1647 Woodblock edition carved at the Lu 盧 family’s Yayu tang 雅雨堂 in 1762 Qing manuscript Ming manuscript

Location Transcriptionist(s)

SL*

Shen Dacheng 沈大成

NLC NLC* NLC* NLC* NLC*

Lao Quan 勞權 Zhang Shaoren 張紹仁

NLC*

Yuan Tingtao

袁廷檮, Wu Zhizhong 吳志忠

NLC* SL*

Dong Chun 董醇

SL* NLC* NLC

Ye Zhishen 葉志詵 Gu Guangqi 顧廣圻

NLC SL*

Wu Zhizhong

NLC*

Liu Yi’an 劉栘庵

洪适

Hong Kuo 洪适

Woodblock edition carved in Cao Yin’s 曹寅 Yangzhou shi yuan 揚州使院 in 1706

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

217

(cont.)

Title

84

Shike puxu

No. Contributors Edition juan 2

石刻鋪敘

85

Jinji linlang

Shitong 史通

20

20

87

88 89

90

91

Shitong tongshi

20

史通通釋

92 93 94 95

Xin Xu 新序

10

Shuo Yuan

10

說苑

NLC*

Dong Cong 董熜

HB

Xu Han 許瀚

SL*

Unknown

SL*

Weng Tonghe

SL* NLC

Jiang Gao 蔣杲 Wu Cipei 吳慈培

SL*

Ye Jingkui 葉景葵

PKU

Unknown

NLC* NLC* NJ ML

Unknown Gu Guangqi

曾宏父

金薤琳琅二 十卷

86

Zeng Hongfu Manuscript by Dong Zhaoyuan 董兆元, 1760 Du Mu 都穆 Woodblock edition carved by Wang Dizhou 王荻洲 in 1778 Liu Zhiji Ming woodblock edition, with Li 劉知幾 Weizhen and Guo Yannian’s commentaries Woodblock edition carved by Lu Shen 陸深 in 1536 Woodblock edition carved by Zhang Zhixiang 張之象 in 1577 Woodblock edition carved by Zhang Dingsi 張鼎思 in 1602 Pu Qilong Woodblock edition carved at the Qiu 浦起龍 fangxin zhai 求放心齋 of the Pu family in 1752 Liu Xiang Ming woodblock edition 劉向

Location Transcriptionist(s)

Liu Xiang 劉向

Woodblock edition carved by Cheng Rong 程榮 in the Ming

Jiang Deliang 江德量

218

appendix

(cont.)

Title

96 97 98

Xinzuan menmu wuchen yinzhu Yangzi fayan 新纂門

No. Contributors Edition juan 10

目五臣音注 揚子法言

99

Yangzi fayan

13

揚子法言

100 Zhong shuo

10

中說

101 Tai xuan 太玄 102

10

103 Fa shu yao lu 104 法書要錄

10

105 106 107 108

109

Gengzi xiaoxia ji 庚子銷夏記

(with Xianzhe xuan tie kao 閑者軒帖考)

8

Woodblock edition carved at the Shide tang 世德堂 in 1533 ann. Woodblock edition carved at the Tongyin shuwu 桐蔭書屋 in the Ming dynasty Yang Xiong Woodblock edition carved at the Qin 揚雄 秦 family’s Yanzhai 研齋 in 1818 Ming woodblock Wang Tong 王通; Ruan Yi edition 阮逸, ann. Woodblock edition Yang Xiong carved at Hao 揚雄; Fan Liang’s 郝梁 Wanyu Wang 范望, ann. tang 萬玉堂 in 1524 Zhang In the Jindai Yanyuan mishu 津逮秘書, woodblock edition 張彥遠 carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the Chongzhen reign Sun Chengze Woodblock edition carved 孫承澤 at Bao Tingbo’s 鮑廷博 Zhibuzu zhai 知不足齋 in 1761 Lead moveable type edition, 1911 Yang Xiong

揚雄; Li Gu 李軌 i, et al.,

Location Transcriptionist(s)

SL* NLC*

Ye Changchi 葉昌熾 Shen Yan 沈巖

SL*

Yuan Tingtao

NLC*

Weng Tonghe

NLC

Fu Zengxiang 傅增湘

NLC* NCL

NLC* NLC

Fu Zengxiang

NLC* NLC* SL SL

Unknown Ye Shang 葉商 Gong Cheng 龔橙 Unknown

NLC

Fu Zengxiang

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

219

(cont.)

Title

110 Yan jian 硯箋

No. Contributors Edition juan 4

Gao Sisun

Woodblock edition carved in 1706 Xu Shen, Gao Woodblock edition carved in the Ming You 高誘, dynasty ann. Yan Zhitui Yuan woodblock edition 顏之推 Woodblock edition carved in the Wanli reign Huang Bosi Woodblock edition carved in the 黃伯思 Chongzhen reign Zhu Yi 朱翌 Qing manuscript

Location Transcriptionist(s)

NLC

Fu Zengxiang

NLC

Unknown

高似孫

111 Huainan honglie jie

21

淮南鴻烈解

112 Yanshi jiaxun

7

顏氏家訓

113

114 Dongguan yulun

2

東觀餘論

115 Yijue liao zaji 116 猗覺寮雜記 117 Nenggai zhai manlu

2 18

Wu Zeng

SL* NLC

NLC

Fu Zengxiang

Manuscript

NSL NJ NCL

Unknown Unknown

Qing manuscript

NLC

Wu Qian 吳騫

Qing manuscript

SL* NLC

Hu Ting 胡珽 Zhou Shutao

吳曾

能改齋漫錄

Hong Mai

118 Rongzhai suibi

洪邁

容齋隨筆

119 Bin tui lu 120 賓退錄

10

Zhao Yushi 趙與旹

周叔弢

121 Kunxue jiwen

3

困學紀聞

122

20

123 Zhu shi 麈史

3

Wang Yinglin Woodblock edition carved by 吳獻台 王應麟 in 1603 Ming woodblock edition Wang Ming manuscript Dechen

SL*

Unknown

NLC*

Jiang Gao

NCL

王得臣

124 Lengzhai yehua 冷齋夜話

10

Huihong 惠洪

Woodblock edition NLC carved in the Wanli reign

Fu Zengxiang

220

appendix

(cont.)

Title

125 Laoxue an biji

No. Contributors Edition juan 10

Lu You 陸遊

老學庵筆記

126

127 Xianju lu

1

Wu Yan 吾衍

閑居錄

128 129 Dunyin 130 (laoren) zalu 鈍吟（ 131 老人）雜錄 132 Men shi xinhua

10

Feng Ban 馮班

8

Chen Shan

Woodblock edition carved in the Wanli reign Woodblock edition carved at the Chongwen shuju 崇文書局 in Hubei in 1877 Manuscript produced at Cao Rong’s 曹溶 Xueru shuwu 學耨書屋 in the Shunzhi reign Manuscript Woodblock edition carved by Feng Wu 馮武 in 1679 Qing manuscript Manuscript

Location Transcriptionist(s)

NLC

Fu Zengxiang

PKU

Zhao Zhen 趙楨

NCL

NCL SL* NCL

Unknown Unknown

NCL NCL

Unknown

SL

Zhang Sijiao

陳善

捫蝨新話

133 Shishuo xinyu

3

世說新語

134

3

135

6

136 Nanbu xinshu 南部新書

10

Liu Yiqing 劉義慶; Liu Xiaobiao ann.

Qian Yi 錢易

Ming woodblock edition with Liu Chenweng’s 劉辰翁 commentary Woodblock edition carved in 1609 Woodblock edition carved at the Chongwen shuju 崇文書局 in Hubei in 1877 Ming woodblock edition

張四教

NLC

Fu Zengxiang

PKU

Zhao Zhen

NLC

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

221

(cont.)

Title

137 Gui qian zhi

No. Contributors Edition juan

Location Transcriptionist(s)

8

Liu Qi 劉祁

Manuscript

NCL

18

Guo Pu 郭璞

Woodblock edition NLC carved in the Wanli reign Woodblock edition NLC carved at the Hexia tang 河祫樘 in 1714 Ming manuscript NLC

歸潛志

138 Shan hai jing zhuan 山海經傳

139

Du Guangting

140 Lu yi ji 錄異記

Zhou shutao

Unknown

杜光庭

141 Tao shi jizhu

4

陶詩集注

142 Tao Yuanming ji

10

陶淵明集

143 144

145 Xie Xuancheng shiji 謝宣城

5

Tao Qian

Woodblock edition

carved at the 陶潛; Zhan Kuixi 詹夔錫, Mobao tang 寶墨堂

comp. Tao Qian

in 1694 Woodblock edition carved by Li Wenhan 李文韓 in the early Qing Ming woodblock edition Woodblock multicolor printed edition carved in the late Qing Xie Tiao 謝朓 Manuscript by Jiang Gao, 1710

SL*

Guan Tingfen 管庭芬

SL*

Shen Tingfang 沈廷芳, Wu Suchang 吳宿長

PKU PKU

Huang Enchang 黃恩長

NLC

Han Yingbi 韓應陛, Jiang Gao

Woodblock edition carved in 1735

NLC

Weng Tonghe

Woodblock edition carved by Zhu Yuefan 朱曰藩 in the Jiajing reign

NCL

詩集

146 Xie Xuancheng shi 謝宣城詩 147 Yu Kaifu shiji 庾開府詩集

4

6

Yu Xin 庾信

翁同龢

222

appendix

(cont.)

Title

No. Contributors Edition juan

148 Li Hanlin ji 149 李翰林集

10

Li Bai 李白

150 Wang Mojie ji

10

Wang Wei

王摩詰集

151 Qian Kaogong shiji

Woodblock edition carved by Lu Yuanda 陸元大 in 1519 Qing manuscript

Location Transcriptionist(s)

NLC NLC

Fu Zengxiang

NLC*

Shao Enduo 邵恩多

王維

10

Qian Qi 錢起 Ming manuscript

NLC

11

Liu Zhangqing

Woodblock edition carved in 1550

NLC

Fu Zengxiang

Woodblock edition carved by the Xi 席 family of Dongting 洞庭 in 1702 Woodblock edition carved in 1776

SL*

Unknown

錢考功詩集

152 Liu Suizhou shiji 劉隨州 詩集

劉長卿

153 Liu Suizhou shi 劉隨州詩

10

154 Liu Suizhou wenji 劉隨州

10

Liu Zhangqing

NLC

Lu Wenchao 盧文弨

文集

155 Changli 156 xiansheng ji 157 昌黎先生集 158

52

159 160

161 Changli xiansheng shi 162 jizhu 昌黎先 生詩集注

11

Woodblock edition carved at the Xu family’s Dongya Yingzhong 廖瑩中, et al., tang 東雅堂 in the anns. Ming Woodblock edition carved at the Xu family’s Dongya tang in the Ming and amended at the Guanshan tang 冠山堂 in the Qing Han Yu 韓愈 Woodblock edition carved at the Gu’s 顧 Xiuye caotang 秀野草堂 in 1699 Han Yu

韓愈; Liao

SL* HB JLU RY

Zhu Luo 諸洛 Unknown Zhang Wei 張瑋 Fang Chengui 方成珪

SL* JLU

NKU

Shao Qi 邵玘 Unknown

Hou Xingnong 侯興農

SC

Wei Qianheng 韋謙恒

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

223

(cont.)

Title

No. Contributors Edition juan Han Yu 韓愈

163 Han Changli shiji 韓昌黎

Qing woodblock edition

Location Transcriptionist(s)

SL*

Unknown

Woodblock edition carved at Lu Jianzeng’s 盧見曾 Yayu tang 雅雨堂 in 1758 Han Yu 韓愈; Woodblock edition Wei Zhongju carved in 1784 魏仲舉, comp.

NKU

Unknown

CWNU

Unknown

Han Yu 韓愈; Woodblock edition Zhu Xi 朱熹, carved in the early Ming collator Woodblock edition carved by Zhu Chongmu 朱崇沐 in the Wanli reign Ming woodblock edition Han Yu 韓愈 Manuscript scribed in the Kangxi reign

ECNU

Shen Ci 沈慈

ZJ BNU

Fan Men 梵門 Wang Dun 汪敦

CQ XA GS

Unknown Unknown Unknown

詩集

164 Han Changli shi biannian jianzhu

12

韓昌黎詩集 編年箋注

165 Xinkan wubaijia zhu yinbian Changli xiansheng wenji

40

Han Yu 韓愈

新刊五百家 注音辯昌黎 先生文集

166 Zhu Wengong jiao Changli xiansheng 167 wenji 朱文公 168 校昌黎先生

40

文集

169 170 171 Han Changli wenxuan

2

韓昌黎文選

172 Han wen chao 韓文鈔

Han Yu 韓愈

Manuscript scribed NLC* at the Yishuang lou 挹爽樓 in the Qing

Weng Tonghe

224

appendix

(cont.)

Title

173 Zengguang zhushi yinbian Tang 174 Liu xiansheng ji 增廣注釋

No. Contributors Edition juan 43

Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元

音辯唐柳先 生集

175 Liu Zonguan wenji 柳宗元

48

文集

176 Wang Jingshi xiansheng piping Han Liu wen

12

Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元; Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫, comp. Wang Xijue 王錫爵

Location Transcriptionist(s)

Woodblock edition NLC carved in the early Ming NLC Woodblock edition carved at the Shanjing tang 善敬堂 in 1448, amended edition Woodblock edition NCL carved by Mo Rushi 莫如士 of Xinhui in 新會 1556 Ming woodblock edition

Weng Tonghe

Jin Fengxiang 金鳳翔

NLC

王荊石先生 批評柳文

177 Liu Binke ji

2

劉賓客集

178 Liu Binke shiji

9

劉賓客詩集

179 Tang Ouyang xiansheng wenji 唐歐陽

8

先生文集

180 Ouyang Xingzhou wenji 歐陽行 周文集

10

SL* Woodblock edition carved at the Yexiang tang 野香堂 in the Kangxi reign Woodblock edition PKU Liu Yuxi; Zhao Honglie carved at the Hanbi zhai 涵碧齋 in 1723 趙鴻烈, comp. Ouyang Zhan Woodblock edition NJ carved by the Xu 歐陽詹 徐 family of Jinling 金陵 in 1606 Ouyang Zhan Ming woodblock NLC edition 歐陽詹 Liu Yuxi

Yao Shiyu

Unknown

Han Zong 韓宗

Wu Zhuoxin 吳卓信

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

225

(cont.)

Title

181 Meng Dongye shiji 孟東野

No. Contributors Edition juan 11

Meng Jiao 孟郊

詩集

182 Zhou He shiji

1

周賀詩集

183 Jia Langxian Changjiang ji 賈浪仙長

Zhou He

Location Transcriptionist(s)

Woodblock edition carved in Jiahe 嘉禾 in the late Ming Ming manuscript

PKU

Yao Shiyu 姚世鈺

Woodblock edition carved at the Qinchuan shuwu 琴川書屋 in 1702 Woodblock edition carved in the Kangxi reign Manuscript by Lu Wenchao in the Qianlong reign Ming manuscript

FSNL

Jiang Gao

NLC

Unknown

NCL

Lu Wenchao

Ming woodblock edition

SL*

Unknown

Woodblock edition carved in the early Qing Woodblock edition carved at the Meicun shuwu 梅邨書屋 in the early Qing Woodblock edition carved at the Yinshu lou 因樹樓 in the Qing

SL*

Chen Benli 陳本禮

NLC*

Shao Rui 邵銳

NLC*

Zhang Yu

NLC

周賀

10

Jia Dao 賈島

江集

184

185

186 Jia Changjiang shiji 賈長江

Jia Dao 賈島

NLC

詩集

187 Changgu ji

4

昌谷集

188 Li Changji Changgu ji ju jie dingben 189 李長吉昌谷

4

Li He 李賀; Zeng Yi 曾益, ann. Li He 李賀; Yao Quan 姚佺, et al., anns.

集句解定本

190 Geshi bian 歌詩編

4

Li He 李賀

226

appendix

(cont.)

Title

191 Yuanshi Changqing ji

No. Contributors Edition juan 60

Woodblock edition carved in Ma Yuandiao’s 馬元調 Yule xuan 魚樂軒 1604 Woodblock edition carved at Wang Liming’s 汪立名 Yiyu caotang 一隅草堂 in the Kangxi reign Ming manuscript

NLC*

Du Mu 杜枚

Ming woodblock edition

SL*

Li Shangyin

Woodblock edition carved by Ye Yongru 葉永茹 of Jinling in 1659 Woodblock edition carved by Ye Yongru of Jinling in 1659 Woodblock edition carved at the Guangzhou Cuishu 廣州倅署 in 1870 Woodblock edition carved by the Hu 胡 family of Haiyan 海鹽 in the Kangxi reign

SL* SL*

Shen Rixun 沈日珣 Unknown

SL*

Unknown

PKU

Unknown

NCL

Unknown

Yuan Zhen 元稹

元氏長慶集

192 Bai Xiangshan shi

41

Bai Juyi 白居易

白香山詩

193 Li Weigong wenji 李衛公

34

Location Transcriptionist(s)

Li Deyu

NLC*

Unknown

NLC

李德裕

文集

194 Fanchuan wenji

22

樊川文集

195 Li Yishan shi 196 lu 李義山

3

詩録

197 Li Yishan shiji

3

李義山詩集

李商隱;

Zhu Heling 朱鶴齡, ann. Li Shangyin 李商隱

198

199 Li Yishan shiji 李義山詩集

8

Li Shangyin 李商隱

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

227

(cont.)

Title

200 Chongding Li Yishan shiji jianzhu

No. Contributors Edition juan 6

Li Shangyin; Zhu Heling 朱鶴齡, et al., ann.

5

Li Shangyin; Feng Hao 馮浩, ann.

重訂李義山 詩集箋注

201 Yuxisheng shi jianzhu 玉谿生詩 箋注

202 Wen Feiqing shiji 溫飛卿

9

詩集

203 204 Chongkan jiaozheng Lize congshu

6

重刊校正笠 澤藂書

205 Yuntai bian 雲臺編

206 Shiji 詩集 207 Zhang Pin shiji

3 1

Woodblock edition carved in Wang Zengning’s 汪增寧 Dongke caocang 東柯草堂 in 1744 Woodblock edition carved at the Deju tang in 1767

Location Transcriptionist(s)

NCL

Unknown

SL*

Mao Chen 毛琛

Wen Tingyun Woodblock edition

SL

Lu Guimeng

HB SL

Unknown Unknown

NLC

Zhou Shutao

溫庭筠; Zeng carved at the Gu’s Yi 曾益, ann. 顧 Xiuye caotang 秀野草堂 in 1967

Woodblock edition carved at Gu Jian’s 陸龜蒙 顧楗 Biyun caotang 碧筠草堂 in the Qing Zheng Gu Woodblock edition carved in the Jiajing 鄭穀 reign Li Dong 李洞 Ming manuscript Zhang Pin Ming manuscript

Tang Yuanqi

湯元芑, Yu Yuanfu 魚元傅

NLC NLC

張蠙

張蠙詩集

208 Su xueshi 209 wenji 蘇學士 210 文集 211 212 213

16

Su Shunqin 蘇舜欽

Woodblock edition carved at the Baihua shuwu 白華書屋 in 1698

SL* SL* SL* SL* SL* NLC

Gu Guangqi Qian Taiji Yao Shiyu Unknown Unknown Fu Zengxiang

228

appendix

(cont.)

Title

214 Zhijiang Li xiansheng wenji 直講李

No. Contributors Edition juan 41

Li Gou 李覯

先生文集

215 Yuanfeng lei gao 元豐類稿

50

Zeng Gong 曾鞏

216

217 218

219 Yuanfeng lei gao 220 221 222 223 224

225

50

Zeng Gong

Woodblock edition carved by Sun Du 孫甫 in 1518 and amended by Meng Shaoqing 孟紹慶 in 1589 Woodblock edition carved in 1447 and revised in the Chenghua reign Woodblock edition carved by Wang Shu 王忬 in 1544 Woodblock edition carved by Huang Xixian 黃希憲 in 1562 Woodblock edition carved by Shao Lian 邵廉 in 1571 Woodblock edition carved by Zeng Mincai 曾敏才 in 1597 Woodblock edition carved by Zeng Mincai in 1597 and amended by Zeng Xian 曾先 in 1568 Woodblock edition carved at the Yupu shuyuan of Cili in 1890

Location Transcriptionist(s)

NCL

SBL

NLC*

Wu Cipei 吳慈培

NLC NLC*

Gu Zhikui 顧之逵 Shi Quanlin 石泉林

NLC*

Fu Zengxiang 傅增湘

SA HC NJ

Fu Zengxiang Gui Zhaojian

SD

Gui Zhaojian

歸兆籛

TJ

NJ

Wu Cipei

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

229

(cont.)

Title

226 Nanfeng xiansheng Yuanfeng leigao 南豐先

No. Contributors Edition juan Woodblock edition carved by Gu Songling 顧松齡 of Changzhou 長洲 in 1717 Qing manuscript

SL*

NLC

Weng Tonghe

Woodblock edition carved by Song Luo 宋犖 in 1699 Ming woodblock edition Woodblock edition carved by Ma Dun 馬暾 in 1499 Ming manuscript

NLC*

Chen Jingyun

Woodblock edition carved in the Ming

NCL

Dai Biaoyuan Manuscript Woodblock edition carved by Zhou Yi 周儀 in 1573 Qiu Yuan Qing manuscript

NCL NCL

53

生元豐類稿

227 Jiayou ji

Location Transcriptionist(s)

15

Su Xun 蘇洵

42

Su Shi 蘇軾; Shi Yuanzhi 施元之, ann. Su Zhe 蘇轍

嘉祐集

228 Shi zhu Su shi 施注蘇詩

229 Luancheng ji

50

欒城集

230 Houshan xiansheng ji

30

Chen Shidao 陳師道

後山先生集

231 Luchuan ci

2

蘆川詞

Zhang Yuangan

陳景雲

NLC SL*

Tang Renshou 唐仁壽

NLC

張元干

232 Yishan xiansheng wenji 遺山先

10

Yuan Haowen 元好問

生文集

233 Shanyuan 234 Dai xiansheng wenji 剡源戴

30

戴表元

先生文集

235 Qiu Shancun yigao 仇山村

Huang Pilie 黃丕烈

PKU

仇遠

遺稿

236 Sa Tiaoxi shiji 237 薩天鍚詩集

4

Sa Dula 薩都剌

Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the late Ming

SL NLC

Shen Yan

230

appendix

(cont.)

Title

238 Jie Wenangong 239 wencui

No. Contributors Edition juan 1

Jie Xisi 揭傒斯

6

揭文安公 文粹

240 Lü Jingfu shi liuzhong

6

Lü Cheng

Location Transcriptionist(s)

Woodblock edition carved in 1461 Woodblock edition carved in 1872

NLC

Qing manuscript

NCL

Manuscript scribed at the Xiao langhuan fudi 小嫏環福地 in the Qing dynasty Qing manuscript Ming woodblock edition Woodblock edition carved in 1505 Manuscript by Xie Yong 謝庸 in 1544 Qing manuscript

NCL

NLC

Fu Zengxiang

呂誠

呂敬夫詩 六種

Zhang Yu

241 Zhang Laiyi wenji 張來儀

張羽

文集

242 243 Lei bogao

10

類博稿

244 Si xuan ji

岳正

16

思玄集

245 Zhushi wenji

10 1

文選纂注 評林

Gui Youguang

NLC NCL NCL NPML SL

Unknown

SL*

Unknown

Woodblock edition SL* carved in the Wanli reign

Unknown

歸有光

60

文選六臣注

248 Wenxuan zuanzhu pinglin

Zhu Zhishan 祝枝山

歸太僕文鈔

247 Wenxuan liuchen zhu

Sang Yue 桑悅

祝氏文集

246 Gui Taipu wenchao

Yue Zheng

Huang Pilie

12

Xiao Tong 蕭統, comp., Li Shan 李善, et al., anns. Xiao Tong, comp., Zhang Fengyi 張鳯翼, ann.

Woodblock edition carved by Hong Geng 洪楩 in 1549

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

231

(cont.)

Title

249 Wenxuan

No. Contributors Edition juan 60

文選

250 251 252 253

Xiao Tong, comp., Li Shan, ann.

Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the Chongzhen reign

Location Transcriptionist(s)

SL*

Wang Youdun 汪由敦

SZ CQ NLC* NLC*

Unknown Deng Chuanmi 鄧傳密

254 255 256

257 258 259 260

261 262

263 Wenxuan 264 265

60

Xiao Tong, comp., Li Shan, ann.

Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family and amended by Qian Shimi 錢士謐 in the Kangxi reign Woodblock edition carved at the Songshan shuwu 嵩山書屋 in 1760 Woodblock edition carved at the Huaide tang 懷德堂 in the Qianlong reign Woodblock edition carved in the Qing Woodblock edition carved by Hu Kejia 胡克家 in 1809

LN ZJU HY

NJ UBC ZJ TY

Qi Junzao 祁寯藻 Zhu Yu 諸煜 Liu Shi’an 劉師安; Jiang Zonghai 蔣宗海 Zhu Delin 祝德麟 Unknown Unknown Xiashan jushi 霞山居士

FD SX

ZJ

Qian Yu 錢鈺 Jiang Jinhe 蔣錦和

Dong Zengru 董增儒

CS NKU

Zhu Keshao 諸克紹 Wang Tingzhen 汪廷珍

232

appendix

(cont.)

Title

266 Wenxuan

No. Contributors Edition juan 24

文選

Xiao Tong, comp.

267

268 Zhongxing jianqi ji

2

中興間氣集

269 Doushi lianzhu ji

Gao Zhongwu 高仲武, comp. Dou Chang 竇常

竇氏聯珠集

270 Cai diao ji

10

Wei Hu 韋縠

才調集

271 Wenyuan yinghua bianzheng

10

Peng Shuxia 彭叔夏

Location Transcriptionist(s)

ZJ

Sun Qi 孫淇錄

JLU

Chen Shuhua

NLC

Unknown

Woodblock edition PKU carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the late Ming Woodblock edition SL carved by Shen Yuruo 沈雨若 in the Jiajing reign Woodblock edition SL* carved by Xiong Qi 熊褀 in 1614

Unknown

Woodblock edition carved by Wu Jinren 吳近仁 in 1595 Manuscript by Liang Tongshu 梁同書 in 1747 Woodblock edition carved in the Chongzhen reign

Shen Baolian 沈寳蓮

文苑英華 辨證

272 Jianzhu Tang xian jueju santi shi fa

20

箋注唐賢絕 句三體詩法

273 Tang santi 274 shi 唐三體詩 六卷

6

Zhou Bi

周弼, comp.;

Yuanzhi 園至, et al., ann. Zhou Bi 周弼, comp.; Yuanzhi 園至, et al., ann.

Ming woodblock edition

NLC

Woodblock edition carved at the Langrun tang 朗潤堂 in the Kangxi reign

PKU NCL

Unknown

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

233

(cont.)

Title

275 Zhongzhou ji

No. Contributors Edition juan 10

中州集

Yuan Haowen 元好問

276 Tangshi 277 guchui

10

唐詩鼓吹

278 Gu yin 谷音

2

279

280 Yushan mingsheng ji

2

Location Transcriptionist(s)

Woodblock edition NLC* carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the late Ming Woodblock edition CQ carved by Lu Yidian NLC 陸貽典 and Qian Chaoding 錢朝鼎 in 1659

Yuan Haowen 元好問, comp.; Hao Tianting 郝天挺, et al., anns. Du Ben 杜本, Woodblock edition comp. carved in the Chongzhen reign Woodblock edition carved in Ming dynasty Gu Ying Ming manuscript 顧瑛, comp.

Unknown

PKU

NLC

Fu Zengxiang

NLC

玉山名勝集

281 Tangshi ji cun

15

唐詩紀存

282 Tangshi ji

170

唐詩紀

283 Tang yin 284 wu qian 285 唐音戊籤

286 Tang sijia shi 唐四家詩

265

8

Ming woodblock edition reprinted from Wu Guan’s Yiyuan 方一元, et al., 吳琯 edition comps. Wu Guan, Ming woodblock comp. edition Woodblock edition Hu carved at Hu Zhenheng Shenzhi’s 胡申之 胡震亨, comp. Nanyi tang 南益堂 in 1686 Wang Liming Woodblock edition carved in 1695 汪立名, comp. Wu Guan

吳琯, Fang

NCL

NLC

Fu Zengxiang

SL* SL* NCL

Shen Yan 沈巖 Unknown

SZ

234

appendix

(cont.)

Title

287 San Tang ren wenji 三唐人

No. Contributors Edition juan 34

文集

288 San Tang ren ji 三唐人集 289 Tang ren bajia shi

37 42

唐人八家詩

290 Tang san gaoseng shiji sanzhong

47

唐三高僧詩 集三種

291 292 293 294 295 296

Tangren xuan Tangshi bazhong

23

唐人選唐詩 八種

Jin dai mishu 津逮祕書

342

Mao Jin 毛晉, Woodblock edition comp. carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the late Ming and amended in the Jiajing dan Daoguang reigns Woodblock edition carved in 1875 Mao Jin, Woodblock edition comp. carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in 1639 Mao Jin, Woodblock edition comp. carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in the late Ming Mao Jin, Woodblock edition comp. carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in 1628 Mao Jin, comp.

Woodblock edition carved at the Jigu ge of the Mao family in 1630

Location Transcriptionist(s)

NLC*

Zhang Yu

NLC

Fu Zengxiang

SL*

Wu Cipei

SL

Unknown

PKU NLC NLC SL* SL* NCL

Unknown Wu Jingen 吳景恩 Fu Zengxiang Unknown

Books Containing He Zhuo ’ s Marginalia & Their Transcriptions

BNU CQ CS CWNU CZ ECNU FD FSNL GS HB HC HY JLU LN ML NCL NJ NKU NLA NPML NSL PKU RY SA SBL SC SD SL SX SZ TJ TY UBC WUL XA ZUL ZJU ZJ

Abbreviations Beijing Normal University Library Chongqing Library Cishu chubanshe China West Normal University Library Changzhou Library East China Normal University Library Fudan University Library Fu Ssu Nien Library, Taipei Gansu Library Hubei Library Hanchengxian Library Harvard-Yenching Library Jilin University Library Liaoning Provincial Library University of Macau Library National Central Library (Taipei) Nanjing Library Nankai University Library National Library of China National Palace Museum Library, Taipei National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences Peking University Library Rui’an Yuhai lou Suzhou Antique Management Office Seikadō Bunko Library Sichuan Library Shandong Library Shanghai Library Shanxi Library Suzhou Library Tianjin Library Tianyi Pavilion University of British Columbia Library Wuhan University Library Xi’an Antique Management Office Zhengzhou University Library Zhejiang University Library Zhejiang Library

235

Bibliography Ban Gu 班固. Hanshu 漢書. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962. Blair, Ann. Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information before the Modern Age. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010. Boyarin, Daniel. Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash. Bloomington & Indiana­ polis: Indiana University Press, 1990. Brokaw, Cynthia J. Commerce in Culture: The Sibao Book Trade in the Qing and Republican Periods. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007. Brokaw, Cynthia J. and Kai-wing Chow, eds. Printing and Book Culture in Late Imperial China. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2005. Cerquiglini, Bernard. In Praise of the Variant: A Critical History of Philology. Translated by Betsy Wing. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999. Chartier, Roger. The Order of Books: Readers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe between the Fourteenth and Eighteenth Century. Translated by Lydia G. Cochrane. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994. Chen Donghui 陳東輝. “Guanyu Shangtu cang Yili zhushu pijiaoben yu Yili zhushu xiang­jiao zhi guanxi” 關於上圖藏《儀禮注疏》批校本與《儀禮注疏詳校》之 關係. Zhongguo dianji yu wenhua 中國典籍與文化 3 (2012): 98–103. Chen Shou 陳壽. Sanguo zhi 三國志. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1964. Chen Suzhen 陳蘇鎮. Chunqiu yu “Handao”: Liang Han zhengzhi yu zhengzhi wenhua yanjiu 《春秋》與“漢道”:兩漢政治與政治文化研究. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2011. Chen Xianxing 陳先行. Zhongguo guji gao chao jiao ben tulu 中國古籍稿鈔校本圖錄. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2014. Cherniack, Susan. “Book Culture and Textual Transmission in Sung China.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 54, no. 1 (1994): 5–125. Chia, Lucille. Printing for Profit: The Commercial Publishers of Jianyang, Fujian (11th–17th Centuries). Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2002. Chow, Kai-wing. “Paratext: Commentaries, Ideology, and Politics,” in Publishing, Culture and Power in Early Modern China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004. Darnton, Robert. The Kiss of Lamourette: Reflections in Cultural History. New York: Norton, 1990. Deng Zhicheng 鄧之誠. Qingshi jishi chubian 清詩紀事初編. In Qingdai zhuanji congkan 清代傳記叢刊, compiled by Zhou Junfu 周駿富. Taibei: Yinwen, 1986. Du You 杜佑. Tongdian 通典. Beijing: Zhonghu shuju, 1992. Eliot, Simon, and Jonathan Rose, eds. A Companion to the History of the Book. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007.

Bibliography

237

Elman, Benjamin. Classicism, Politics and Kinship: The Ch’ang-chou School of New Text Confucianism in Late Imperial China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Elman, Benjamin. A Cultural History of Civil Examination in Late Imperial China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000. Elman, Benjamin. From Philosophy to Philology: Intellectual and Social Aspects of Change in Late Imperial China. Revised Edition. Los Angeles: University of California, 2001. Elman, Benjamin. Civil Examinations and Meritocracy in Late Imperial China. Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: Harvard University Press, 2013. Elman, Benjamin and Alexander Woodside, eds. Education and Society in Late Imperial China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994. Fan Ye 范曄. Hou Hanshu 後漢書. Annotated by Liu Zhao 劉昭. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1965. Fan Ye. Woodblock edition cut at the Jigu pavilion [Jigu ge 汲古閣] of the Mao 毛 fam­ ily in the late Ming, held at the Peking University Library. Fan Zhixin 范志新, ed. Wenxuan He Zhuo jiao ji zheng 文選何焯校集證. Zhengzhou: Henan daxue chubanshe, 2016. Feng Ban 馮班. Dunyin zalu 鈍吟雜錄. Commented by He Zhuo, edited by Yang Haizheng 楊海崢 and Wei Yinzong 韋胤宗. Nanjing: Fenghuang chubanshe, 2017. Feng Menglong 馮夢龍, compiler. Stories Old and New: A Ming Dynasty Collection. Translated by Shuhui Yang and Yunqing Yang. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2000. Feng Youlan 馮友蘭 (Fung Yu-lan). A Short History of Chinese Philosophy, Derk Bodde, ed. New York: Macmillan, 1960. Foucault, Michel. “What is an Author?” Translated by Josue V. Harari. In James D. Faubion, ed., Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology. New York: The New Press, 1998. Fu Zengxiang 傅增湘. Cangyuan qunshu jingyanlu 藏園群書經眼錄. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983. Gardner, Daniel K. “Confucian Commentary and Chinese Intellectual History.” Journal of Asian Studies 57 no. 2 (May 1998): 397–422. Ge Zhaoguang 葛兆光. Zhongguo sixiangshi, di’er juan: qi shiji zhi shijiu shiji zhongguo de zhishi, sixiang yu xinyang 中國思想史第二卷:七世紀至十九世紀中國的知識、 思想與信仰. Second edition. Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe, 2013. Genette, Gérard. “The Proustian Paratext.” SubStance: A Review of Theory and Literary Criticism 17.2 (1988): 63–77. Genette, Gérard. Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. Translated by Jane E. Lewin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Grafton, Antony. “Is the History of Reading a Marginal Enterprise?” Papers of the Biblographic Society of America 91(1997): 139–157.

238

Bibliography

Gu Yanwu 顧炎武. Rizhi lu jishi日知錄集釋. Compiled by Huang Rucheng 黃汝成, col­ lated and punctuated by Luan Baoqun 欒保群 and Lü Zongli 呂宗力. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2006. Gu Yanwu. Gu Tinglin shiwen ji 顧亭林詩文集. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983. Gu Yongxin 顧永新. Jingxue wenxian de yansheng he tongsuhua: Yi jingu shidai de chuanke wei zhongxin 經學文獻的衍生和通俗化 – 以近古時代的傳刻爲中心. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2014. Guo Shaoyu 郭紹虞. Zhongguo wenxue pipingshi 中文文學批評史. Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1979. Guy, Kent. The Emperor’s Four Treasures: Scholars and the State in the Late Ch’ien-lung Era. Cambridge: Harvard Council on East Asian Studies, 1987. Hamaguchi Fujiō 濱口富士雄. Shindai kōkyogaku no shisōshiteki kenkyū 清代考據學の 思想史的研究. Tokyo: Kokusho kankōkai, 1994. He, Yuming. Home and the World: Editing the “Glorious Ming” in Woodblock-Printed Books of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2013. He Zhuo 何焯. Yimen xiansheng ji 義門先生集. Woodblock edition cut in Gusu 姑蘇 in the 13th year of the Daoguang reign [1850], held at the Peking University Library, photo-reproduction in Xuxiu Siku quanshu 續修四庫全書. He Zhuo. Yimen dushu ji 義門讀書記. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1987. Hegel, Robert. Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998. Henderson, John B. Scripture, Canon and Commentary: A Comparison of Confucian and Western Exegesis. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991. Howsam, Leslie, ed. The Cambridge Companion to the History of the Book. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Hu Pu’an 胡樸安. Zhongguo xuguxue shi 中國訓詁學史. Shanghai: Sanlian shudian, 2014. Hua Zhe 華喆. Li shi Zheng xue 禮是鄭學. Beijing: Shenghuo, dushu, xinzhi sanlian shudian, 2018. Huang Jinxing 黃進興 (Huang Chin-shing). Philosophy, Philology, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century China: Li Fu and the Lu-Wang School under the Ch’ing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995). Huang Jinxing. Shengxian yu shengtu 聖賢與聖徒. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2005. Huang Kan 黃侃. Wenxuan pingdian 文選評點. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1985. Huang, Martin W. “Author(ity) and Reader in Traditional Chinese Xiaoshuo Commen­ tary.” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) 16 (1994): 41–67.

Bibliography

239

Huang Yongnian 黄永年. Guji banbenxue 古籍版本學. Nanjing: Jiangsu jiaoyu chuban­ she, 2012. Hulvey, Monique. “Not So Marginal: Manuscript Annotations in the Folger Incunabula.” Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 92 (1998): 159–176. Hunt, Lynn, ed. The New Cultural History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. Jackson, Heather. Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. Jackson, Heather. “Marginal Frivolities: Readers’ Notes as Evidence for the History of Reading.” In Robin Myers et al. eds., Owners, Annotators and the Signs of Reading, 137–151. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll; London: British Library, 2005. Jiang Liangji 蔣良驥. Donghua lu 東華錄. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1980. Kessler, Lawrence. “Chinese Scholars and the Early Manchu State.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 31 (1971): 179–200. Legge, James, trans. The She King or The Book of Poetry. Taipei: SMC publishing Inc., 1991. Lewis, Mark Edward. Writing and Authority in Early China. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1999. Li Zhengyu 李正宇. “Dunhuang yishu zhong de biaodian fuhao” 敦煌遺書中的標點符 號. Wenshi zhishi 8 (1988): 98–101. Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (Liang Ch’i-ch’ao). Intellectual Trends in the Ch’ing Period. Immanuel C.Y. Hsü, trans. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959. Liang Qichao. Zhongguo jin sanbainian xueshu shi, 中國近三百年學術史. Zhu Weizheng 朱維錚, ed. Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe, 1985. Lin Gang 林崗. Ming Qing xiaoshuo pingdian明清小說評點. Beijing: Beijing daxue chu­ banshe, 2012. Lin Qingzhang 林慶彰. Mingdai jingxue yanjiu lunji 明代經學研究論集. Taipei: Wenshizhe, 1994. Lin Qingzhang 林慶彰 and Zhang Shouan 張壽安, ed. Qianjia xuezhe de yili xue 乾嘉學 者的義理學, 2 vols. Taipei: Zhongguo wenzhe yanjiu suo, 2003. Liu Shipei. 劉師培. Liu Shipei shixue lunzhu xuanji 劉師培史學論著選集. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2006. Liu Xie 劉勰. Wenxin diaolong zhu文心雕龍注. Annotated by Fan Wenlan 范文瀾. Beijing: Renmin wenxue, 1962. Liu Yeqiu 劉葉秋. Lidai biji gaishu 歷代筆記概述. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1980. Lu Xinyuan 陸心源. Bisonglou cangshuzhi 皕宋樓藏書志. Woodblock edition carved in 1882. Lu Zonga 陸宗達 and Wang Ning 王寧. Xungu yu xungu xue 訓詁與訓詁學. Taiyuan: Shanxi jiaoyu chubanshe, 1994. Luo Dajing 羅大經. Helin yulu 鶴林玉露. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983.

240

Bibliography

Luo Guanzhong 羅貫中. Sanguozhi yanyi 三國志演義. Edited and annotated by Mao Zonggang 毛宗崗. Hong Kong: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1974. Makeham, John. Transmitters and Creators: Chinese Commentators and Commentaries on the Analects. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003. Maoshi zhenya 毛詩振雅. Woodblock edition carved in the late Ming period, held in the Research Institute for Oriental Cultures at the Gakushuin University. McDermott, Joseph. A Social History of the Chinese Book: Books and Literati Culture in Late Imperial China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2006. McKenzie, D.F. Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. McLaren, Anne E. “Ming Audience and Vernacular Hermeneutics: The Uses of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” T‘oung Pao 81 no. 103 (1995): 51–80. Mencius. Translated by David Hinton. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1999. Mingshi 明史. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974. Myers, Robin, et al. eds. Owners, Annotators and the Signs of Reading. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll; London: British Library, 2005. Ni Qixin 倪其心. Jiaokanxue dagang 校勘學大綱. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2004. Ōki Yasushi 大木康. “Minmatsu Kōnan ni okeru shuppan bunka no kenkyū” 明末江南 にお ける出版文化の研究. Hiroshima daigaku bungakubu 50:1 (1991): 1–173. Owen, Stephen. Readings in Chinese Literary Thought. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press, 1992. Pi Xirui 皮錫瑞. Jingxue lishi 經學歷史. Hong Kong: Zhonghua shuju, 1961. Qi Chenghan 祁承㸁. Danshengtang cangshumu 澹生堂藏書目 and Danshengtang dushu ji 澹生堂讀書記. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2015. Qi Yongxiang 漆永祥. Qian-Jia kaojuxue yanjiu 乾嘉考據學研究. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue, 1998. Qian Cunxun 錢存訓 (Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin). Paper and Printing. Vol. 5, part I of Science and Civilisation in China. Edited by Joseph Needham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Qian Cunxun. Written on Bamboo & Silk: The Beginnings of Chinese Books & Inscriptions. Second edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. Qian Mu 錢穆. Zhongguo jin sanbainian xueshu shi 中國近三百年學術史. Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1937. Qian Zeng 錢曾. Dushu minqiu ji jiaozheng 讀書敏求記校正. Revised by Guan Tingfen 管庭芬 and Zhang Yu. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2007. Qiao Xiuyan 喬秀巖. Yishuxue cunwang shi lun 義疏學存亡史論, Taipei: Wanjuanlou, 2013. Qing shi liezhuan 清史列傳. In Qingdai zhuanji congkan, compiled by Zhou Junfu. Taibei: Yinwen, 1986.

Bibliography

241

Qu Yong 瞿鏞. Tieqintongjianlou cangshu mulu 鐵琴銅劍樓藏書目錄. Woodblock edi­ tion carved by the Qu 瞿 family in the Xianfeng reign [1850–1861]. Quan Zuwang 全祖望. Quan Zuwang ji huijiao jizhu 全祖望集彙校集注. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2000. Ralston, David. Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary: Reading and Writing between the Lines. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997. Ralston, David, ed. How to Read the Chinese Novel. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1990. Ross, Jonathan. “Arriving at a History of Reading.” Historically Speaking 5 (2004): 39. Rusk, Bruce. Critics and Commentators: The Book of Poems as Classic and Literature. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Asia Center, 2012. Saussy, Haun. “The Age of Attribution: Or, How the ‘Honglou meng’ Finally Acquired an Author.” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), Vol. 25 (2003): 119–132. Sela, Ori. China’s Philological Turn: Scholars, Textualism, and the Dao in the Eighteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018. Sherman, William Howard. Used Books: Marking Readers in Renaissance England. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. Shi Nai’an 施耐庵. Guanhuatang diwu caizi shu Shuihuzhuan貫華堂第五才子書水滸 傳. Edited by Jin Shengtan 金聖歎. Nanjing: Jiangsu guji chubanshe, 1985. Shisanjing zhushu 十三經注疏. Taipei: Yiwen, 2007. Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1965. Sima qian 司馬遷. Shiji 史記. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1963. Stillinger, Jack. Coleridge and Textual Instability: The Multiple Versions of the Major Poems. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1994. Su Shi 蘇軾. Su Shi ci biannian jiaozhu 蘇軾詞編年校注. Edited by Zou Tongqing 鄒同 慶 and Wang Zongtang 王宗堂. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2002. Sun Qinshan 孫欽善. Zhongguo guwenxianxue shi 中國古文獻學史. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1994. Van Zoeren, Steven Jay. Poetry and Personality: Reading, Exegesis, and Hermeneutics in Traditional China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991. Wakeman, Frederic. “The Price of Autonomy: Intellectuals in Ming and Ch’ing Politics.” Daedalus 101, no. 2 (1972): 35–70. Waley, Arthur, trans. The Book of Songs. New York: Grove Press, 1996. Wang Dingbao 王定保. Tangzhiyan 唐摭言. Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju, 1960. Wang, Edward. “Beyond East and West: Antiquarianism, Evidential Learning, and Global Trends in Historical Study.” Journal of World History 19.4 (2008): 489–519. Wang Fuzhi 王夫之. Du Tongjian lun 讀通鑒論. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2012. Wang Jilu 王記錄. “Lun shichcao” 論史鈔. In Shixueshi yanjiu 史學史研究, 3 (2016): 1–12.

242

Bibliography

Wang Li 王力. Zhongguo yuyanxue shi 中國語言學史. Zhongguo yuwen 中國語文 3(1963): 233. Wang Shaoying 汪紹盈. “Ruanshi chongke Shisanjing zhushu kao” 阮氏重刻十三經注 疏考. Wenshi 文史 3 (1963): 25–60. Wang Shifu 王實甫. Louwailou dingzheng tuozhu diliu caizi shu 樓外樓訂正妥注第六 才子書西廂記. Commentated by Jin Shengtan and annotated by Zou Shenmai 鄒 聖脈. Early Qing edition cut by Zou Shengmai, held at the University of Auckland Library Special Collections. Wang Shifu 王實甫. The Story of the Western Wing. Translated by Stephen H. West and Wilt L. Idema. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1995. Wang Xianqian 王先謙. Hou Hanshu jijie 後漢書集解. Woodblock edition carved in the Xushou tang 虛受堂 of the Wang family in 1915. Wang Xianqian. Donghua lu 東華錄. Photo-reproduction in the Xuxiu Siku quanshu. Wang Xinfu 王欣夫. Yishuxuan qie cun shanben shulu 蛾術軒篋存善本書錄. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2002. Wang Zhongmin 王重民. Lenglu wensou 冷廬文藪. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chuban­ she, 1992. Wei Li 韋力. Pijiao ben 批校本. Nanjing: Fenghuang chubanshe, 2003. Wen Yiduo 聞一多. Shijing tongyi 詩經通義. Wuhan: Hubei renmin chubanshe, 1994. Wilkinson, Endymion, ed. Chinese History: A New Manual. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center, 2013. Wilson, Thomas. Genealogy of the Way: The Construction and Uses of the Confucian Tradition in Late Imperial China. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995. Wilson, Thomas “The Ritual Formation of Confucian Orthodoxy and the Descendants of the Sage.” Journal of Asian Studies 55.3 (August 1996): 559–84. Wilson, Thomas, ed. On Sacred Grounds: Culture, Society, Politics, and the Formation of the Cult of Confucius in Imperial China. Cambridge: Institute for East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 2002. Wu Chengxue 吳承學. “Pingdian zhi xing: Wenxue pingdian de xingcheng yu Nan Song de shiwen pingdian” 評點之興:文學評點的形成與南宋的詩文評點. Wenxue pinglun 1 (1995): 24–33. Wu Chengxue. “Xiancun pingidan diyi shu: lun Guweng guanjian de bianxuan, ping­ dian jiqi yingxiang” 现存评点第一书 – 论《古文关键》的编选、评点及其影响. Wenxue Yichan文學遺產 4 (2003): 72–84. Xu Ke 徐珂. Qing bai leichao 清稗類鈔. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984. Xu Shen 許慎. Shuowen jiezi zhu 說文解字注. Annotated by Duan Yucai 段玉裁. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1981. Yan Buke 閻步克. Shidafu zhengzhi yanshengshi gao 士大夫政治演生史稿. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 1996.

Bibliography

243

Yang Nianqun 楊念群. Hechu shi Jiangnan?: Qingchao zhengtongguan de queli yu shilin jingshen shijie de bianyi 何處是“江南”？:清朝正統觀的確立與士林精神世界的 變異. Beijing: Shenghuo, dushu, xinzhi sanlian shudian, 2010. Yao Silian 姚思廉. Liangshu梁書. Beijing: Zhonghau shuju, 1973. Ye Dehui 葉德輝, Shulin qinghua 書林清話. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2008. Ye Jingkui 葉景葵. Juan’an shuba 卷盦書跋. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2006. Yu Jiaxi 余嘉錫. Muluxue fawei目錄學發微. Beijing: Shangwu yinshuguan, 2011. Yu Yingshi 余英時 (Ying-shih Yü). “Some Preliminary Observations on the Rise of Ch’ing Confucian Intellectualism.” Ch’ing-hua hsueh-pao 11 (1975): 105–144. Yu Yingshi. Zhongguo sixiang chuantong de xiandai quanshi 中國思想傳統的現代詮 釋. Nanjing: Jiangsu renmin chubanshe, 1992. Yu Zhengxie 俞正燮. Guisi cungao 癸巳存稿. In Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初 編, vol. 430. Zhang Binglin 章炳麟. Qiu shu xiang zhu 訄書詳注. Annotated by Xu Fuguan 徐復觀. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2000. Zhang Li 張莉. “Wenxuan Hailuxuan zhumo taoyinben cunyi”《文選》海錄軒朱墨套 印本存疑. Henan tushuguan xuekan 河南圖書館學刊 31 no. 6 (2011): 126–128. Zhang Li. “Zhouli zhushu jiaokan ji Hui jiaoben ji qita” 《周禮注疏校勘記》惠校本及 其他. Wenxian 文獻 4 (2016): 78–87. Zhang Lijuan 張麗娟. Songdai jingshu zhushu kanke yanjiu 宋代經書注疏刊刻研究. Beijing: Beijing daxue chubanshe, 2013. Zhang Shou’an 張壽安. Yi li dai li – Ling Tingkan yu Qing zhongye ruxue sixiang zhi zhuanbian 以禮代理 – 凌廷堪與清中葉儒學思想之轉變. Shijiazhuang: Hebei jiaoyu chubanshe, 2001. Zhang Shou’an. Shiba shiji lixue kaozheng de sixiang huoli – Lijiao lunzheng yu li zhi chong xing 十八世紀禮學考證的思想活力 – 禮教論爭與禮秩重省. Tiapei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan jindaishi yanjiusuo, 2001. Zhang Xiaofei 張驍飛. “Kunxue jiwen banben yuanliu kaoshu” 《困學紀聞》版本源流 考述. Zhongguo dianji yu wenhua 中國典籍與文化 2 (2009): 73–79. Zhang Xuecheng 章學誠, Wenshi tongyi jiaozhu 文史通義校注. Annotated and collated by Ye Ying 葉瑛. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985. Zhang Xuecheng. Jiaochou tongyi tongjie校讎通義通解. Annotated by Wang Zhongmin 王重民 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji, 1987). Zhang Yuanji 張元濟. Hou Hanshu jiankan ji 後漢書校勘記. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1999. Zhao Junling 趙俊玲. “Jin chuan sanzhong He Zhuo Wenxuan pingdianben bian” 今傳 三種何焯《文選》評點本辨. Lanzhou xuekan 蘭州學刊 2 (2008): 181–183. Zhao Yi 趙翼. Oubei ji 甌北集. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1997. Zhongguo guji zongmu 中國古籍總目. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju; Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2009–2012.

244

Bibliography

Zhou Mi 周密. Qidong yeyu 齊東野語. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983. Zhou Yiliang 周一良. Zhou Yiliang quanji 周一良全集. Beijing: Gaodeng jiaoyu chu­ banshe, 2015. Zhu Xi 朱熹. Shijizhuan 詩集傳. In Zhuzi quanshu 朱子全書. Shanghai: Shanghai guji; Hefei: Anhui jiaoyu chubanshe, 2002.

Index Analects 37, 173 annotation (zhushu) 10, 12–67, 78–79, 83–84, 88–90, 119, 131, 141, 168, 171, 174–175, 178, 180–182, 187, 190–191 gu 15–16 ji 15–16 jijie 17, 49 xinyi 17 xun 15–16 shu 17, 47 shuo 15–16 shuoyi 15–16 suoyin 17, 49 yinyin (yin) 17 zhangju 15–16 zhengyi 17, 49 zhu 16–17, 32, 47 zhuan 15–16 astronomy 3, 168–169 Attendant Censors (shi yushi) 84, 106 Ban Gu 25–26, 76, 141 Bao Family 123 Bao Xun 83 Beishi (History of the Northern Dynasties)  90 bibliographic studies 1, 65, 90–91, 175 bibliography 6, 7, 66, 74–75 Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts 7 biji 167–168, 171, 197 scholarly biji 167–171, 174, 176, 180, 186, 196–197 collation biji 196–199, 201 Blair, Ann 37 Boyarin, Daniel 143 Buddhism 17, 32, 69 Budé, Guillaume 40, 42 Cai Yong (Bojie) 80, 81 Cai Qi 141 Cao Yin 120 Censorate (yushitai) 83–84 Censor-in-chief (yushi dafu) 83–85, 89 Chamberlain for Ceremonials (Taichang)  89–90

Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues (shaofu) 83, 85, 89–90 Changgu ji 108–110 Changli ji 173 Changli xiansheng shi jizhu 191 Changzhou New Text School 4 chaoshou, see shushou chaoxu, see shushou Chartier, Roger 7–8, 65 Chen Benli (Jiahui; Sucun) 108–109 Chen E (Zuofeng) 111–112 Cheng Dachang 168 Chen Ge 109 Cheng Yaotian 181 Chen Huan (Shuofu) 120 Chen Jingyun (Shaozhang) 99, 101–102, 107 Chen Kangqi 92 Chen Menglei 91 Chen Shidao (Houshan) 118 Chen Shuhua (Yequan) 107, 134–135 Chen Suzhen 87 Chen Xian 86–87 Chonggu wenjue 28 Chow, Kai-wing 27 Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annuals) 16, 25, 56, 88, 171 Chunqiu jingzhuan jijie 199 Gongyang Chunqiu 173 Gongyang zhushu (Gongyang annotation) 119, 130, 135, 171 Guliang Chunqiu 135, 173 Guliang zhushu (Guliang annotation)  48, 134, 171 Zuoshi Chunqiu 173 Zuozhuan (Zuo annotation) 55, 56, 134, 171, 199 Zuozhuan bu shi 199 Yan annotation 88 civil service examinations 12, 19, 28, 47, 56, 71–73, 156, 168, 186, 188 eight-legged essays 71–72, 74, 90 jinshi 69, 72, 74, 96, 107, 117 juren 71 Commentary (pingdian) 10, 12–67, 71, 101, 110, 131, 167, 182, 185–189, 191, 206

246 Commentary (pingdian) (cont.) Piping (comments) 27 quandian (emphasis marks) 27, 51, 55, 59, 109, 155–157, 181, 186, 206 communication circuit 7, 9, 65, 94, 137 commercial printing (commercial publish)  47, 50–51, 171, 176, 186 Confucian Classics 1, 12, 15–16, 18–19, 22, 24–27, 29, 32, 37, 47, 49, 52, 71, 74, 88, 120, 130, 134, 164, 174–175, 182, 198 Five Classics (wujing) 12–13, 23 Four Books (sishu) 12, 173, 198 Six Classics 26, 187 Thirteen Classics (Shisanjing) 134–135, 173, 198 Shisanjing zhushu jiaokanji 198, 201 Confucianism 86–87 New Text School ( jinwen xuepai) 4, 19, 45–46 Old Text School (guwen xuepai) 19, 45 Congshu jicheng 196 Cui Bao 167 Danshengtang cangshumu 103 Danshengtang dushu ji 103 Darnton, Robert 6–10, 65, 94 Deng Bangshu (Zheng’an) 99, 107, 109–110, 117–118, 123 Deng Zhicheng 92 Department of the Palace Library (Mishu sheng) 89 Deputy Prime Minister (xiaozai) 83 Directorate of the Palace Library (Mishu jian) 89–90 Director of the Imperial Secretariat (Shangshu ling) 85 Dong Chun 159 Dongguan hanji 178 Donghua lu by Jiang Liangji 91 by Wang Xianqian 92 Dong Maoce 110 Dong Xuan 87–88 Dong Yu 59 Duan Yucai (Maotang) 15–17, 24–25, 120, 134–135, 198 Du Gongbu ji 173 Dunhuang 47 manuscript found in 59

Index Dunyin zalu 106, 186–187, 191 Dushu minqiu ji 114–115 Dushu zazhi 197, 199 Edward Wang 4 Elman, Benjamin 1, 4 Emuketuo 92 Epigraphy 1, 3 Erudite of the Chamberlain for Ceremonials (Taichang boshi) 89–90 Erya (Explaining refined language) 135 etymology 3, 32 evidential research (kaojuxue; puxue; kaozheng textual studies) 1–6, 20, 32, 34, 71, 72, 79, 91, 95–96, 101, 129, 138, 145, 149, 157, 164, 167, 181, 196, 202–207 kaoju research movement 104, 130, 196, 203 kaozheng movement 68, 94, 104 Fang Chengpei 199–200 Fang Xiaoru 70 Fan Ye (author of the Hou Hanshu) 84, 87, 178 Fan Ye (an eastern Han official) 88 Fan Yun (Yanlong) 33 Fashu yaolu 90 Fei Yuanshen (Runquan) 107 Fei Zhi 45 Feng Ban (Dingyuan; Dunyin laoren) 105– 107, 121, 186–189 Feng Menglong 36 Feng Shu (Jicang; Chanshou jushi) 105–106 Feng Youlan 3 Fuchu zhai ji 194 Fu Sheng 86–87 Fu Zengxiang (Shuhe; Yuanshu) 116–118 Gardner, Daniel K. 17 Gao Quan (Pinzhou) 151–152 Gao Xiang 45 Gengzi xiaoxia ji 90, 149, 155, 194–195 jiaowen 194 Genette, Gérard 13 Geography 1, 3, 141, 156, 169, 196 Geshi bian 109 Grafton, Anthony 10, 40 Gu Guangqi (Qianli; Jianpin) 24, 112–114, 117, 134, 146–148, 192, 197–198

Index

247

Houhanji 78 Hou Hanshu (History of the Eastern Han) 11, 16, 41–42, 44, 75–76, 78–90, 99, 101, 104, 109, 127, 129–130, 140–142, 145, 148, 171, 173–180, 201 Hou Hanshu jiao kan ji 78 Hou Hanshu jijie 78 Mao edition 78 Masha edition 76 Shaoxing edition 78–79 Song editions 76–78, 104 Xu Hanzhi 82, 84, 89, 129, 141–143, 180 Hall of Military Glory (Wuying dian) 69 Yijing tang edition 76, 141 Hamaguchi Fujio 4 Zhonghua shuju edition 78 Han Fei 88 Houshan shizhu 118 Hanfeizi shiwu 198 Huang Chang 88 Hanxue (Han learning) 1, 130 Huang Jinxing 4 Hanlin Bachelor (Hanlinyuan shujishi) 69 Hanshu (History of the Western Han Dynasty)  Huang Kan 201 Huang, Martin 31 16, 26, 33, 45, 61, 82, 84, 88–90, 101, Huang Pilie (Shaowu; Yaopu) 107, 112–113, 130, 141–142, 145, 155, 171, 173, 190, 194, 192 201 Huang Pengnian (Zishou) 145–146 Hanshu dilizhi buzhu 199 Huang Shan 78 Hanshu jiaoji 194 Huang Shanfu 50 Yiwenzhi of 16, 45 Huang Sidong (Xiaolu) 145–146 Han wen chao 155, 158 Huayangguo zhi 90, 146–148 Hanyi 84 Hui Dong (Dingyu; Songya) 96, 107, 119, Han Yingbi (Duiyu; Lüqing) 132 130–132, 134–135, 173–174 Han Yu 155, 158, 173, 191 Hui Shiqi (Tianmu; Bannong) 116, 130 He Bing 87–88 Hu Kejia 198 Hedong (xiansheng) ji 133, 173 Hu Pu’an 45 He Huang (Xinyou; Zhongyou) 104, 119, Hu Shi 1 135, 140 Helin yulu 69 interpretation circuit 65 He Tang 171–172 interpretive communities 8–9 He Yuming 52 interpretive text 10, 12–14, 26 He Yunlong 171–172 He Zhongxiang 172 Jackson, Heather 10, 38, 42, 60 He Zhuo (Qizhan; Yimen) 11, 41–42, 63, Jia Dao 122 68–119, 121–123, 127, 130, 133, 135, 137, Jiang Bing (Zifan) 118 140–145, 148–155, 158, 165, 167, 172–174, Jiang Fengzao (Xiangsheng) 114–115 176–177, 179–182, 186–196, 198–203, 206 Jiang Gao (Zizun; Huangting) 96–99, 118, Yimen dushu ji 70–71, 127, 167–180, 182, 121, 133, 150, 171, 206 195, 199, 201 Jiang Guangxu 198 Yimen xiansheng ji 73 Jiang Liangji 91 History of books 6–7 Jiang Weijun 118, 127, 171 History of reading 7–10 Jiang Yuan (Tiejun) 120 Hong Mai 168 Jiaobu yulu 198 Hong Yixuan 198 Jiao Kuang 42 Homer 40 Guo Gong 85–87 father Guo Hong 86 Gujin zhu 167–174 Guo Shaoyu 26 Gu Qiyuan 56, 58 Guwen guanjian 28 Guxue huikan 194, 196 Gu Yanwu (Tinglin) 168–169 Guy, Kent 5 Gu Zhikui 134–135

248 Jiayou ji 122, 155 Jing Fang 144 Jingyi shuwen 197 Jin Shengtan 30–31, 37, 52 Jinshi lu 159–160 Jiujing guyi 131 Ji Yun (Xiaolan) 111–112 Ji Zhenyi (Cangwei) 106 Kaogu bian 168 Kessler, Lawrence 5 Kunxue jiwen 168, 174, 179–181, 183, 186, 191, 199–201 Kuli (cruel officials) 87–88 Legalism 86–87 Lewis, Mark Edward 14 Li (Sanli; Three Ritual Classics) 19, 23, 96 Liji (Record of Rites) 73, 96, 134 Yili (Rites and Ceremonies) 96, 134 Yili zhushu 145, 197 Zhouli (Zhouguan; Rites of Zhou) 83, 96, 134 Zhouli zhushu 95–96, 130–133, 173–174 Lian Fan 42 Liang Hanshu kanwu 140–141 Liang Ji 178 Liang Lüsheng 199 Liang Qichao 1–2, 205, 207 Liang Shang 177–179 Liang Yusheng 199 Liang Zhangju 182 Li Ao 137 Li Changji ji 191 Li Guangdi (Jinqing; Rongcun) 104, 158 Li He (Changji) 108–109, 135, 191 Lin Qingzhang 4 Li Panlong (Yulin) 187 Li Qingzhao 160 Liu Ban 140 Liu Lüfen (Yanqing) 157 Liu Shipei 2 Liu Xie (Yanhe) 27 Liu Zhao 16, 83–84, 89 Liu Yuxi 101–102 Liu Zongyuan 102, 133, 154, 173, 176 Li Xian 178

Index Li Yishang shiji 62, 111, 173, 191 Li Shangyin (Yishan) 111, 173, 191 Lishuo 131 Li Yu 92 Lize shiji 112–113 Li Zhang 87–88 Lou Fang 28 Luobin Wang 33–34 Lu Shen 73 Lü Baozhong (Wudang) 102–103 Lu Jianzeng (Yayu) 132 Lü Liuliang (Yonghui; Wancun) 103 Lu Wenchao (Shaogong) 131–135, 145–146, 197 Lu Yidian (Chixian) 106, 165 Lü Yili 102–103 Lu Zongda 18 Lü Zuqian 28 Manchu 3, 5, 92, 205 Mao family 63, 68, 106, 109–110, 129, 142, 151 Mao Jin (Zijin) 127, 165 Mao Yi (Fuji) 165 Mao Qiling (Dake) 106 Mao Zonggang 34 marginalia jiao 38 pi 38 pijiao 13–14, 37–38 marginalia culture 6, 11, 94, 114, 120, 123, 137, 167, 196, 201, 203–204 Marginalia: Readers Writing in Books 38 Ma Rong 25 Ma Yuelu 181 Ministry of Revenue (hubu langzhong) 96 McKenzie, D.F. 7 Mencius (Mengzi) 135, 161, 173 Meng Haoran (Xiangyang) 34, 121–122 Meng Kang 33 Mengxi bitan 168 Metropolitan Commandant (Sili xiaowei)  85 Minister of Rites 105 Minister of Works (sikong) 80, 83 Min Qiji 55 Min Zhenye 57 Mujianga 191

249

Index Nanshi (History of the Southern Dynasties)  90, 157–158 Nian’er shi kaoyi 196, 198 Nian Gengyao 91 Nian’ershi zhaji 82 Ni Qixin 24 Nenggai zhai man lu 168 Neo-Confucianism 1, 3–4, 23, 205–206 Cheng-Zhu Learning of Principles (Cheng Zhu lixue; lixue) 3, 32, 205 Daoxue 2 Lu-Wang Learning of Mind and Heart (Lu Wang xinxue; xinxue) 3, 32, 205 New Criticism 31 Orchid Pavilion (lantai) 84, 89 Ouyang Wenzhonggong wen 173 Pan Chenghou (Boshan) 99, 118–119 Pan Zuyin (Boyin) 159 Palace Aide to the Censor-in-chief (yushi zhongcheng) 82–85, 89 Paleography 3, 75, 197 Pang Zhonglu 44 Pan Zhiwan 121 paratext 13, 14 Pei Yin 26, 49 Peng Zhaosun (Xianghan; Ganting) 99 Philology 3, 74, 90 Phonology 3, 75, 197 Pi Xirui (Lumen) 18 Pliny 40 Qian Chuyin 105–106 Qian Daxin 180, 194, 196, 198 Qian Mingshi 91 Qian Mu 1, 3, 205–207 Qian Qianyi (Muzhai; Muweng) 105–106, 151, 155–156 Qian Shu 63, 66 Qian Sunbao 134 Qian Taiji (Fuyi) 102, 192 Qian Zeng (Zunwang) 68, 105, 114 Qiao Xiuyan 19 Qi family 103 Qing bai leichao 72 Quan Zuwang 96, 179, 180 Qunjing pingyi 197

Qunshu shibi 198 Qu Yuan (Boyu) 161 Regional Inspectors (cishi) 84 reading seed (dushu zhongzi) 68–70, 91, 93, 107, 162, 203 Rizhi lu 168 Rongzhai suibi 168–169 Ross, Jonathon 9 Ruan Yuan (Boyuan; Yuntai) 134–135, 173, 198 San Tangren wenji 135–136 Sanguo zhi (History of the three kingdoms)  44, 90, 106–107, 116, 130, 135, 149, 155, 171, 173, 201 Sanguozhi yanyi 34–36 Saussy, Haun 31 Schwartz, Benjamin 3 sexagenary cycle (ganzhi) 77 Shangshu (Book of Documents) 16, 86, 187 Shuzhuan 187 shangtu xiawen 53 Shen Buhai 88 Shen Chengtao 132 Shen Kuo 168 Shen Qiutian 165 Shen Tong (Guotang; Guanyun) 80–81, 95–96, 99, 130, 132, 171, 174, 190 Shen Wotian 131 Shen Yue (Xiuwen) 27–28 Sherman, William 10 shichao 170 Shi Hao 177, 179 Shiji (Shih-chi; History of the Grand Historian)  30, 45–46, 49–50, 88, 90, 173, 190, 199 Shiji chao 57 Shiji zhiyi 199 Shijing (Shi; Book of Songs; Book of Poetry; Poetry Classic) 20, 24, 29, 52, 56, 58, 134, 173, 190 Maoshi zhenya 29, 52–53 Mao zhuan (Mao annotation) 20, 29 Shijing jindan huikao 56, 58 Shijing nanzi 56, 58 Shijizhuan 23 Shi xu (preface) 20 Shi Miyuan 179

250 Shipin 28 Shiqishi shangque 158 Shitong 90, 97–100, 105, 117, 123, 155 Shi Zhonglu 116, 162 Shuijing zhu 90 Shuihu zhuan (Shui-hu chuan) 30 Shuofu 165 Shuowen jiezi 15, 197 Shuowen bianyi 197 shushou 127 Shuyishi suibi 197 Shu Zizhan 121 Sibu congkan 191–193, 196 Sima Qian 25–26, 82 Sima Xiangru 190 Sima Zhen 49 sociology of texts 7 Southern Study (Nanshufang) 69, 142 Stories Old and New 36 Suishu (History of the Sui) 17 Sun Chengze 194–195 Sun Qiao 137 Sun Qilu (Zhuxiang) 107 Sun Yirang 197 Sun Zhizu 134–135 Supervising Censor ( jian yushi) 83 Su Shi (Zizhan) 162–164, 187–188 Su Shunqin (Zimei) 102–103, 112–113 Su xueshi (wen)ji 102, 112, 191–193, 201 Su Xun (Mingyun) 155, 187–188 Su Zhe (Ziyou) 187 Tang Liu xiansheng ji 154, 155 Tangshi guchui 101 taitou 65 Tangren xuan Tangshi 63–64, 123–126, 128 Heyue yingling ji 126 Jixuan ji 63–64 Yulan shi 124–125, 128 Tao Jingjie shi 173 textual criticism (jiaokanxue) 1, 6, 38, 44, 63, 68–69, 71–72, 74–76, 79, 90–91, 94–96, 113, 120, 123, 130, 133, 135, 149, 155, 164, 175–176, 180, 196, 198, 199, 201, 203, 206–207 textual space 108, 114 Tian Wen 65

Index Tongdian 90 Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information before the Modern Age 37 Vitruvius 40 Wakeman, Frederic 5 Wang Chong 179 Wang Fuzhi 178 Wang Guanguo 168 Wang Hou 181 Wang Jun (Genzhai) 156 Wang Mingsheng (Fengjie) 66, 157–158 Wang Niansun 197–199 Wang Ning 18 Wang Qisun (Nianfeng; Lengqie shanren)  106–107 Wang Shijin 107 Wang Shizhen (Yanzhou) 187 Wang Shouren (Yangming) 28 Wang Wei 121–122 Wang Wensheng 141 Wang Wenyuan 133 Wang Yinglin (Houzhai; Shenning) 168, 179, 181 Wang Yinzhi 197 Wang Youdun (Shitiao) 99 Wang Yu 123 Wang Xianqian 78, 92 Wang Xinfu 96, 101, 132 Wang Zhongmin 55 Wang Zhuoshan 52 Weilüe 59 Wei Jirui 31 Wei Xizeng 194, 196 Weizhi 83 Wenfu 28 Weng Fanggang 194, 206 Weng Tonghe (Pingsheng; Shuping) 44, 105, 122, 154–159 Weng Tongshu (Zugeng) 44, 149 wenli 27–28 Wenxin Diaolong 27–28 Wenxuan 107, 173, 180, 182, 184–186, 190–191, 198, 201 Wenxuan biji 182 Wenxuan kaoyi 198

Index Wenxuan pangzheng 182 Wenxuan yinyi 182 Wenxuan zhu 190 Wen Yiduo 21 Wilson, Thomas 4 Writing and Authority in Early China 14 woodblock printing 47 multi-color printing 55–56 tiantou 60 Wu Cipei (Ouneng) 117–118, 122–123 Wu Changshou (Wanbo) 116 Wudai shi( ji) (History of the Five Dynasties)  90, 104–105, 135, 149, 150–152, 161–162, 173 Wu Xiantai 200 Wu Xin (Yunge) 96, 130–132, 173 Wu Zeng 168 Wu Zhizhong (Miaodaoren) 148, 165 Wu Zhuoxin 199 Xia Huang 149 Xiangcao jiaoshu 197 Xiangcao xu jiaoshu 197 Xiaojing (Classic of Filial Piety) 37, 135 Xiaoshi zhai congshu 195 Xie Fangde 28 Xingyuan ji 73 Xixiangji 31, 32–36, 40, 52, 54 Xie Tiao (Xie Xuancheng) 97 Xie Xuancheng shiji 97 Xue Han 42 Xun Shuang 81 Xu Qianxue (Yuanyi) 68, 106, 161 Xu Wei 110 Xu Xunxing 182 Yan Biao 117 Yan Buke 88 Yang Xiong (Ziyun) 187 Yang Qiu 88 Yang Yun 25 Yan Ruoqu (Baishi; Qianqiu) 73, 180–181, 199 Yan Shigu 33, 190 Yan Zhenqing (Lugong) 117 Yao Shiyu (Yitian; Yucai) 99, 105, 150–153, 181, 192, 206 Ye Dehui (Huanbin; Xiyuan) 119

251 Ye family 68, 104, 140 Ye Jingkui (Kuichu; Juan’an) 113–114, 118–119, 132 Ye Shufan 182, 184 Yijing (Yi; Books of Changes) 25, 45–46, 134, 144 Yizhuan 144 Zhouyi zhushu 49 Yili (zhushu) xiangjiao 145, 197–198 Yimen xiansheng ji 70, 73 Yimen dushuji 70–71, 127, 151, 153, 167, 170–180, 182, 195, 199, 201 Ying Shao 26 Yinsi 69, 91–92 Yinzhen 91 Yuanfeng leigao 122, 173 Yuan Hong 78 Yu Chang 197 Yu Guanghua 182 Yu Ji 149 Yu Jiaxi 25 Yu Renzhong 132 Yushan School (Yushan shipai) 105 Yu Xiaoke 182 Yu Yingshi (Ying-shih Yü) 1, 3, 206, 207 Yu Yue 197 Yu Zhengxie (Lichu) 71, 93 Zang Yong (Zaidong) 120, 198 Zeng Gong 122, 173, 176 Zhang Binglin 2 Zhang Chong 41 Zhang Haipeng 187 Zhang Jixiong (Xiangshi) 194 Zhang Kai 16 Zhang Pu 41 Zhang Shoujie 49 Zhanguo ce 187 Zhang Wenhu 197 Zhang Xuecheng (Shizai) 15, 17, 19, 25, 28, 52 Zhang Yiqing 132 Zhang Yu (Mingyi; Shizhi) 44, 109–111, 116, 135–137, 149, 152, 161–162, 206 son Yuanyi 161 son Yuanshan 161 Zhang Yuanji 78 Zhang Zong 101

252 Zhao Mingcheng 160 Zhao Yi (Oubei; Yunsong) 82, 139, 149 Zhao Zhiqian 160 Zhayi 197 Zheng Hong 41–42 zhengshi (standard histories) 80 Ershisi shi 79 Zheng Xuan (Kangcheng) 16, 19, 21–22, 29, 81 Zhongguo guji zongmu 70, 130, 173 Zhongguo jin sanbainian xueshushi (by Liang Qichao) 2 Zhong Hao 87 Zhongwu jiwen 90, 148, 165–166

Index Zhou Bida 69 Zhou Ji 88 Zhou Yiliang 43 Zhu Bangheng (Qiuya) 116, 120 Zhu Cen 41 Zhu Di 70 Zhu Hui 41 Zhuozhong zhi 150 Zhu Xi 23, 29, 56, 58 Zhu Yun 149 Zhuzi pingyi 197 Zizhi tongjian 78 Zou Shengmai 33–35, 52