The Literary Education of Lv Zuqian and the Development of

the Literature in Sung Dynasty Ma Dong-yao Qi Zhen-zhen Beijing Normal University

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As a member of a politically and academically famous family in the , Lv Zuqian could not achieve the political summit as his ancestors, yet, depending on his old family’s philological background and his own talent, he became a famous scholar and even contributed to the reputation of his family in academic areas. Based on his family’s academic tradition and book collection, he instituted an academy(shuyuan 書院) in Jinhua, the famous Lize Shuyuan 麗澤書院. Different from 朱熹, who presided over Bailudong Shuyuan 白鹿洞書院 and Zhang Shi 张栻, who presided over Yuelu Shuyuan 嶽麓書院, Lv Zuqian considered that besides focusing on philosophical issues, intellectuals should also, by attending the imperial examination, participate in the government and be concerned with political, historical and pragmatic affairs, in order to take the responsibility of “Tao”道 and cultural tradition. Therefore, Lv Zuqian’s education included both training of imperial examination and literary education. However, the literary education was not just the representation of the examination-oriented education. More importantly, it represented Lv Zuqian’s academic characteristics and literary ideas. As a leader of Tao-hsueh道學, Lv Zuqian was more famous than Zhu Xi in QianDao乾道reign and Chunxi 淳熙reign1, but he was not listed in “Tao-hsueh zhuan” 道學傳of Sung history宋史, in respect that he was severely criticized for his miscellaneousness by Zhu Xi and some other pure Tao scholars. In fact, it was his miscellaneousness that expressed the academic characteristic of Lv Zuqian and exhibited his succession of the family academic tradition of “no learning only from one teacher, no claiming only for one theory”, which further influenced his attitude toward literature. After moving south, under loose political circumstance, -hsueh蘇學, including literature, developed rapidly. Zhu Xi, as the inheritor of luo-hsueh洛學, felt deep crisis and thus spared no effort to criticize su-hsueh, while Lv Zuqian, who was also a Tao scholar, had different opinions. According to Wu Ziliang’s吴子良 preface of “Yunchuangji xuji xu” 篔窗 集續集,”Since Yuanyou元祐, those talking about li理(normative pattern) take Cheng 程as their originator, those talking about wen文(literature) take Su蘇, so li and wen departs. Sir Lv considered this as wrong and wanted to incorporate the two.”2 Just because of this “incorporation” idea, Lv Zuqian’s literary education was not only distinguished in South Sung, but also had far-reaching influence in Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.

1 Hoyt Tillman, Zhuxi’s Intellectual World, (Shanxi normal University Press, 2002), p.91. 2 Preface of Yunchuang ji篔窗集, Siku quanshu四庫全書.

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Lvshi jiashu dushiji呂氏家塾讀詩記 was the teaching material edited by Lv Zuqian for learners to study Shijing詩經. Although Shijing was one of the six classics 六經 adored by Tao scholars, Lv Zuqian had different opinion with Zhu Xi. Besides continuing the traditional Confucian thoughts, Lv Zuqian elucidated his own explanation, which was influenced by Su-hsueh to some extent. He had said to his disciples, “Poems are nothing more than human’s emotions. You should first understand the poets’ feeling and then you can know it more deeply. The main idea of Shijing is human emotions.”3 So called “human emotions”人情, mentioned by 蘇軾, was the important viewpoint severely opposing to “Er Cheng”二程 in the debate of Luo-hsueh and Shu-hsueh洛蜀之爭: “The Tao of the Saints, seen from the origin, originates form human emotions.”4 In “Shi lun”詩論, Su Shi even explained the key point of six classics by the theory of human emotions directly, “Since the death of Confucius, the Tao of the six classics dissipated beyond understanding. The problem is that people are pursuing the meaning too deeply and chasing after the way too hard. The Tao of the six classics passes long, just because it is near to human emotions.”5 Besides taking in Su Shi’s theory of human emotions, Lv Zuqian’s explanation of poetry included the words by , “not let wen harm , not let ci harm yi” and those in “The Great Preface to Shijing”（Shi daxu詩大序), “Saying it is not enough, so he sighs.”. It also emphasized on the “meaning outside words”6. Contrary to the exegesis of Shijing from the Confucian perspective in Li-hsueh or Tao-hsueh, all of these represented the same feeling as the literati who considered Shijing as an aesthetic work. For example, the interpretation of “Tao yao”桃夭in “Zhou nan”周南of Shijing is like this, “The peach tree is young and elegant ; Brilliant are its flowers. He is inspired by things and compares with the brilliant flowers. After singing about the flowers he sings about the fruit and then the leaves. There’s nothing more in it but that the remaining inspiration lingers and so he sings on it again and again.”7 Zhu Xi pointed out the characteristic of qixing起興 of this poetry, “the resonance is deep and long and should be appreciated profoundly.” However, his main point was the explanation of “This young lady is going to her future home, and will order well her chamber and house.” He considered that the qixing起興meant to express “to govern a country one should manage his family”8. Yet, Lv Zuqian emphasized qixing起興, “one’s emotions are inspired by things, and he keeps singing and sighing with the remaining emotions.” was to explain the poetry from “the heart of the poets”. Also, he explained “Choumou”綢繆 in “Tang”唐 as “This is words

3 Lize lunshuo jilu麗澤論說集錄, Xu jinhua congshu續金華叢書, volume 3. 4 “Zhongyong lun” 中庸論, Sushi wenji蘇軾文集, Zhonghua shuju中華書局, 1986, volume 2. 5“Shi lun” 詩論, Sushi wenji, Zhonghua shuju, 1986, volume 2. 6Lize lunshuo jilu麗澤論說集錄, volume 3: “Predecessors has cited or interpreted poems. The former extract chapters and illtreat the meanings; the later are as described in “Qi ao” of Da xue, are the right persons in interpreting poems. Besides, the genre of Shi cannot be rigidly understood, yet neither superficially read through, in either way the meaning outside the words is lost.” Xu jinhua congshu. 7 Lvshi jiashu dushiji呂氏家塾讀詩記, Sibu congkan xubian四部叢刊續編, volume 1. 8 Zhu Xi：Yili jingzhuan tongjie儀禮經傳通解, Siku quanshu, volume 16

2 between men and women, in order to express the feeling of missing to the utmost”, and “If now we do not take our joy, the time will pass till we are octogenarians.” in “Chelin” 車鄰in Qin秦 as expressing “sad and heroic emotions”9. These illustrated Lv Zuqian’s poetic feelings based on human emotions. Lv Zuqian’s elucidation of “Wei tian zhi ming”維天之命 demonstrated a literary way of Shijing exegesis: “Poetic expositors tamper the poetry by either reducing or broadening it. For example, about “Zengsun duzhi”曾孫篤之, Mao said it meant doing it sincerely. Although it does not impair the meaning of the poetry, the desire of this poetry is to encourage the future learners to memorize it sincerely and seriously, which already included the meaning of so-called doing. While “Zengsun duzhi” has far-reaching significance, it lessens its verve when added one word doing. Then Wang explained it as doing it sincerely till you attaining something篤力行而有所至. The more specific the words, the lesser the verve.”10 In Lv Zuqian’s opinion, although such explanation is not eisegetical yet it loses the original characteristic of profoundness in brevity, and it is also the disadvantage of poetic explanation. Through Lv Zuqian’s emphasis on the “verve” and remaining taste it’s easy to see the characteristic of incorporating Li-hsueh and literature. This characteristic was also expressed in the editing of Sung wenjian宋文鑒. Though Sung wenjian was compiled under royal order instead of aiming at literary education, it was yet the representation of Lv Zuqian’s thoughts of literary education. In the preface for the anthology, Shang Lu商輅said, “…wen is beneficial to administrating the country, as it is said to be. So this anthology is named as jian. How can it be mere diction and essay? ”11 This illustrates that the reason of editing this anthology was not just for literature, but for the purpose of being complementary to Tao. Yet Tao scholars did not agree on the “administration” function of this anthology. For example, in his letter to Zhu Xi, Zhang Shi said, “This anthology is helpful for neither administration nor later learners.” Moreover, Zhang Shi criticized Lv Zuqian, “It’s not to fulfill your virtues that you’ve compiled such words.”12 These two opposite opinions are due to Lv Zuqian’s all-embracing attitude, which includes both the “administration” of Li scholars and literati’s pursuit for rhetoric. Therefore, though there are many works of Tao scholars, in Sung wenjian, Lv Zuqian did not turn it into Tao-hsueh quotations. In fact, the reason Sung wenjian became an famous anthology in Sung dynasty is that many excerptions are the representation of the literary achievement in Northern Sung dynasty and some famous memorials to the throne, which got Zhu Xi ’s praise that “in it are the political and administrational integrity, our ancestors’ great deed of two hundred years, and the essence of the later dynastic change.”13 For example, in Kou Zhun’s 寇准 poem “Jiangnan chun”江南春, there are no sublime words with deep meaning but pure poetic emotions; the singularity of some other poems, such as ’s黃庭堅 “Yong xingxing maobi shi”詠猩 猩毛筆詩, Su Shi’s蘇軾 “Xuehou shu beitaibi”雪後書北台壁, and ’s王

9 Lvshi jiashu dushiji, Sibu congkan xubian, volume 8. 10 Ibid, volume 28. 11 Preface of Sung wenjian, Zhonghua shuju, 1992. 12 Abstract of Sung wenjian, Siku quanshu zongmu四庫全書總目, Zhonghua shuju, 1965,volume 187. 13 Ibid.

3 安石 “Nan pu”南浦, lies on their artistic characteristics. According to Zhuzi yulei朱 子語類, Zisheng 子升asked how about the Lv’s poetic editing, and Zhu answered, “The structure is fine, yet he depends on his inclination to choose the poems which are rhetorical and emotional instead of plain and simple.”14 Li scholars value tao道 over wen文. The only poetic style they can appreciate is the plain one, which is the representation of ideal Confucian personality. For instance, in Zhu Xi’s article Lun shiti pingdan zhiyi論詩體平淡之義, he considers plainness as elegance and decency which is the best representation of poetry.15 Yet, the poetic editing of Lv Zuqian was not limited to plainness. What is called rhetorical and emotional indicates the meaningful and diversified poetries written by Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Wang Anshi, etc. Actually, just because of the literary taste of poetry, though Lv Zuqian’s own writing expressed his attitude toward things, it did not have the habit of reasoning. Instead, through his brilliant language, Lv Zuqian portrayed the vivacity of nature and the diversity of climate, such as “Vast wandering threads, drunken in spring scene; clinging to the breeze, long and long. At the oriole’s singing they hesitates again and again, and yet fly on over east wall, with the flying catkin.” (遊絲浩蕩醉春光，倚賴 微風故故長。幾度鶯聲留欲住，又隨飛絮過東牆)(Yousi遊絲) “The aigrette flies away above the dawn river; the oriole brings back along the dusk bank sides.” (一川 曉色鷺分去，兩岸煙光鶯帶來)(Chunri春日 ) “Several leaves fall in the wind; over the branches grow a couple of mountains.” (風前數葉落，枝外幾山添)(Qiuri秋日) “Sparse fireflies wet in the dew; slender grasses combed by the wind.” (露沐疏螢濕， 風梳細草長)(Xiaye夏夜)16

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Besides the original appreciation in poetry and prose, the more important influence of Lv Zuqian is the composition and education of prose. Zuoshi boyi左氏博 議 (written in the fourth year of QianDao reign, in 1168) was edited for students to prepare for examination when Lv Zuqian was serving in the royal institute taixue太學. Compared with Zuoshi zhuanshuo左氏傳說 which is more elaborate yet more like speech analects, Boyi博議 is excellent in its rhetoric. Therefore, though both these two books are alike as exegesis of Confucian Classics for inculcating later students, in the area of literature, Boyi draws more attention. Most Li scholars did not approve Boyi, such as Chen Li 陳櫟. He followed Zhu Xi’s opinion, and considered Lv Zuqian as “He has many skillful ideas about Zuo Shi左氏, yet they cannot be treated as serious talk.”17 While there was another viewpoint “Though there are many exuberant grandiloquent words, the opinion in it is original and inspirational.”18 From these two different opinions, Boyi arose many dissensions in the explanation of classics——latter, even Lv Zuqian himself felt regretful for editing this book, “It’s superficial and insular, not loyal to the reason.” As a model of literature, it

14 Zhuzi yulei朱子語類, Zhonghua shuju, 1986, volume 81. 15 Teng Gong滕珙: Jingji wenheng經濟文衡, Siku quanshu, volume 23. 16 Quan sungshi全宋詩, Peking University Press ,1998, volume 2522. 17 Chen Li陳櫟: Dingyu ji定宇集, Siku quanshu, volume 7. 18 Wang Ruoxu王若虛: Hunan ji滹南集, Siku quanshu, volume 31.

4 undoubtedly represented the comment of editor of Siku quanshu四庫全書, “Though the writings are unconstrained, bold and generous, they can represent the model of writing. What’s more, there are no habit of quotations, which can be called substantiality and brilliance.”19 Zuoshi boyi, widely-known as the model essay for students in Lize shuyuan when they exercised in composition, was the representation of Lv Zuqian’s thoughts in literary education. Guwen guanjian古文關鍵 also has the characteristic of stylistic writing. Moreover, the purpose of preparing for imperial examinations was obvious. The reason is that besides reading essays, how to write essays, and on the illness of writing, Lv Zuqian commented on every model essay in the general introduction. Although Siku四庫 editors disagreed with Ye Sheng’s 葉盛comment on Guwen guanjian that “the criticism and comment is helpful to Tao and can be one way of leanring”20, yet from Lv Zuqian’s selection of writings and authors, it did not simply focus on the rhetoric but synthesized the ideas of literati and Li scholars despite the inconspicuous purpose of Tao. Guwen guanjian selected the prose from eight intellectuals, 韓愈, 柳宗元, 歐陽修, 蘇洵, Su Shi 蘇軾, Su Zhe蘇轍, 曾鞏, Zhang Lei 張耒. The initiation of “the Eight Famous Prosers in Tang and sung dynasties” 唐宋八大家 in literary history was created by Lv Zuqian. Nowadays, people begin to reflect on and criticize this literary saying. For example, Zhu Dongrun 朱東潤 considered that ’s 陸遊 achievement in prose was “far better than Su Xun, ”21. In fact, Lv Zuqian had his own selective standard when choosing these eight authors. First, it represented Lv Zuqian’s adoration of “three Su”三蘇. Lv Zuqian inherited the idea of Wang Shipeng 王十朋 who glorified Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi in the literary world of Southern Sung dynasty and then extended Su Shi to “three Su”22. With elaborate annotation to “three Su’s” works, he edited Lvshi jiashu zengzhu sansu wenxuan呂氏家塾增注三蘇文選 of twenty seven volumes, as the model essays for later learners. In the letter to Zhang Shi, Zhu Xi complained about Lv Zuqian, “Since he’s been concerned with examination essays for long, and been through the Su father and son, he’s pursued over-skillfulness and has gone astray. So he never takes Su as wrong, and protects him by all means, which is most dissatisfying. ”23 This criticism of Zhu Xi represented the prejudice of academic opposition and Li scholars’ literary idea different from Lv Zuqian. In fact, Zhu Xi had praised “ three Su” prose many times, such as “Dongpo’s 東坡words are brief and bright, while old Su’s 老蘇powerful

19 Abstract of Donglai ji東萊集, Siku quanshu zongmu, volume 159. 20 Abstract of Guwen guanjian, Sikuquanshu zongmu, volume 187. 21Zhu Dongrun: preface of Lu You xuanji陸遊選集. 22Wang Shipeng’s “Du Su wen” 讀蘇文in Meixi qianji梅溪前集, volume 19: “It cannot be judged as good or bad between Tang and Sung essays. Han and Liu in Tang, Ou and Su in Sung, if the four of them ride together in competition, it cannot be known who will be faster. There must be somebody who can tell.” Za shuo雜說: “There are four aspects to learn from: antiquity from Han, bizarrerie from Liu, purity from Ouyang, and vastness from Su. The rest are to be read but not followed. ” Sibu congkan四部叢刊. 23 Hui’an xiansheng Zhuwengong wenji晦庵先生朱文公文集, Sibu congkan, volume 31.

5 and far-reaching. Each has his merits.”24 “(Dongpo) is capable of writing, and knows the rules of lines.”25. Both the vividness of Dongpo’s prose and the vigor and firmness of old Su’s prose have their own merits. However, fearing that the prevalence of Su’s scholarship would threaten Li-hsueh, Zhu Xi was dissatisfied with Lv Zuqian’s interest in “three Su”. Another of his dissatisfaction is the style of writing. Zhu Xi proposed plainness and profoundness, while Lv Zuqian imitated “three Su” to be new and artful. “Artful” was Zhu Xi’s criticism on both Lv Zuqian’s academic opinion and his prose26. Based on the characteristics of Lv Zuqian’s prose, such as “vast and unbridled, arguing and all-embracing”, “swift and fierce”, “bold and generous, vigorous and opening”, “flowery and fruitful”27, Lv Zuqian does not disagree with the Li scholars’ literary opinion of plainness, though he indeed shows the feature of “three Su”. In fact, in Guwen guanjian, Lv Zuqian’s adoration to Ouyang Xiu, Zeng Gong happened to have the same view with Zhu Xi and had far-reaching influences. As the leader of ancient prose movement in Sung Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu established the plain and fluent style of prose by inheriting Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan’s view “Wen文 is to carry Tao道”. As a student of Ouyang Xiu, by inheriting this style, Zeng Gong was praised by Zhu Xi for the plain and classic elegant characteristic of his prose. From the compliment on the plainness of Ouyang Xiu and Zeng Gong’s prose and the criticism of Su Shi on “tampered by artfulness”28 in Ouzeng wencui 歐曾文粹, edited by Zhu Xi, Zhu Xi expressed different literary views from Lv Zuqian. Just like the difference in academic opinion where Zhu Xi excluded different viewpoint, in literary opinion, Lv Zuqian was also more compatible and thus he was able to appreciate the beauty of different styles. He praised Ouyang Xiu and Zeng Gong a lot. For example, in Guwen guanjian ,his comment on Zeng Gong’s “Preface to Zhanguoce mulu”戰國策目錄序 was “This chapter is easy, deliberate and modest about its skill. In the beginning, it is like the wine of a great feast. One should taste it careful. When his words are well-chosen, you can not feel the transition, in which there is yet deep meanings.” Lv Zuqian once talked about the techniques of argument, “There are three levels of argument. The best one is modest about its skill, which reads tasteful in itself; the second follows the principle and procedure, and the passion in it is like flying sand and rolling stone; the third-level is just focusing on sentence and is in lack of originality. …If it is an ordinary topic, then the contents would be exceptional. The substance is deep without obscurity; the language is original without weirdness, straightforward yet prudent, original and extraordinary. 29 Although the style of Zeng Gong’s “Preface to

24 Zhuzi yulei, volume 139. 25 Wengong yishuo文公易說, Siku quanshu, volume 19. 26 Zhuzi Yulei, volume 122: “Bogong伯恭 is a generous and profound person, but I don’t know why his words are shallow and of levity.” “All of Bogong’s defects are due to his artfulness.” “Most of Bogong’s talk on yili義理 is tampered by artfulness, which is unavoidably untrue. ” 27 Astract of Donglai ji, Siku quanshu zongmu, volume 159. 28 Wang Bai’s王柏 “Ba Ou Zeng wencui”跋歐曾文粹in Luzhai ji魯齋集, volume 11, he cites Zhu Xi’s words, “(Ou and Zeng’s) words are good since they talk reasonably and modestly, without strange words to substitute common words. Since Su Dongpo, essays are tampered by artfulness. There are places when the argument is not modest and just, but they discuss on trivial points. ”, Siku quanshu. 29 Wei Tianying魏天應: Lunjue, Lunxue shengchi論學繩尺·論訣, Siku quanshu.

6 Zhanguoce mulu” is a preface, actually it is mainly about argument. Since “original meaning” and “original words” are identical with the idea in Guwen guanjian, Lv Zuqian’s opinion about the techniques of argument can represent the his general idea on prose, especially argumental essays. Therefore, the comment that Zeng Gong’s prose is “modest about its skill” is quite positive. In the general comment of Guwen guanjian, Lv Zuqian appraised Ouyang Xiu’s prose as “plain”, which derived from Han Yu and was meaningful instead of dull and spiritless. This comment on Ouyang Xiu and the comment on Zeng Gong, such as “easy, deliberate and modest about its skill”is quite the same with Zhu Xi’s comment on Ouyang Xiu and Zeng Gong’s prose, such as “plain”, “clean and angular” yet also “smooth and just”.30 The difference between the Eight Famous Prosers in Tang and sung dynasties and Lv Zuqian’s Guwen guanjian in choice of authors is that the former selected Wang Anshi instead of Zhang Lei. There might be several reasons that Lv Zuqian chose Zhang Lei. First, Zhang Lei was the student of Su who died latest. He was the leader of the literary world in late Northern Sung dynasty and was the representation of the ancient prose movement in its last phase. Second, although Zhang Lei was the inheritor of Shu-hsueh, his opinion on ancient prose was quite consistent with Li scholars. In “Da Li tuiguan shu”答李推官書, his opposition to bizarrerie and his view that “it’s most urgent to know the reason when one leans to write”31 is the same with Li scholars’ literary viewpoint which emphasized plainness and reasonableness. What’s more, there is no euphuism and bizarrerie in his literary style, earning him many compliments then. Finally, Zhang Lei was good at historical criticism. There are forty historical essays in his corpus. Actually, Lv Zuqian is a famous historian who started the historian school in east Zhe浙東史學派and thus it is easy to see his inclination through Guwen guanjian which selected mainly historical criticism. The reason that Lv Zuqian did not choose Wang Anshi was due to the political background in Southern Sung dynasty when Wang was reprobated. Yet it did not mean that Lv Zuqian’s literary feeling was blinded by political dissention. Wang Yinglin,王應麟 his student’s student, once cited his comment on the method of reading, which included Wang Anshi in the list of must-read books, “Mr. Donglai東萊 said, ‘One can first choose Shiji 史記, hanshu漢書, Wen xuan文選 and the writings of Han, Liu, Ou, Su, Wang, Chen and Zhang. Considering the difficulties of reading them all, one can just select the popular and adored writings.’”32 In “Yu neidi Zeng dekuan”與內弟曾德寬, Lv Zuqian said, “Just read Ou, Wang and Dongpo’s works to cultivate the basis.”33 He considered Wang Anshi, Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi’s writings as the most classic ones in “cultivating the basis”. In Sung wenjian, Lv Zuqian selected a lot of Wang Anshi’s writings, including ninety- two poems and fu賦, one hundred and twelve proses, which were much more than Zhang Lei’s proses. All of these have much significance on the definition of the Eight Famous Prosers in Tang and sung dynasties.

30 Zhuzi yulei, volume139: “Zeng Nanfeng’s曾南丰 words are more brief and angular. The occasional shallow points are yet plain and modest.” 31 Zhang Lei ji 張耒集, Zhonghua shuju, 1990, volume55. 32 Cixue zhinan辭學指南, siku quanshu. 33 Lv Donglai wenji呂東萊文集, volume 4.

7 Ye Shi 葉适was the representative of Utilitarian School in east Zhe 浙東功利學派, severely opposing to Cheng and Zhu’s Li-hsueh程朱理學 which emphasized on xinxing心性 and yili義理, while he shared the view with Lv Zuqian that emphasized on practicality scholarship 經 世 之 學.Through the last four volumes of Ye Shi’s Xixue jiyan習學記言, which was designed to explain Lv’s Wenjian specially, one can easily find Lv Zuqian’s influences on Ye Shi. For example, “There are literati besides Ouyang Xiu, Zeng Gong, Wang Anshi, Su Shi, but they are the only ones that get prominent achievements.” “Since Han Yu, it is continually accepted that beizhi碑誌, xu序and ji記 are the main genres for essay writers, but even Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan cannot master ji, until Ou, Zeng, Wang, Su, who finally exploited its various forms.”34 The reason Ye Shi included Wang Anshi into the first-class literati was based on the explanation of Lv’s Wenjian. Thereafter, similar to Xixue jiyan, Huang Zhen’s 黃震Huangshi richao黃氏日抄had ten volumes Duwen ji讀文 集commenting on ten literati’s writings in Tang and Sung dynasties, including Wang Anshi. Though Huang Zhen was one of the fourth generation of Zhu Xi’s students, his attitude toward Su Shi and Wang Anshi was more objective than Zhu Xi. Under the influence of Lv Zuqian’s Guwen guanjian and Sung wenjian , besides “Three Su” 三 蘇 , the saying of “six intellectuals”六子, including Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Su Shi, basically came into being based on the elucidation of Ye Shi and Huang Zhen before Ming dynasty. Thereafter, Mao Kun’s 茅坤 Tangsong badajia wenchao唐宋八大家文鈔 not only used the manner of comment in Guwen guanjian for reference in its form, but also followed Zhu You 朱右35in the choice of writers, combining “six intellectuals” and “three Su”. Thence, the saying of “the Eight Famous Prosers in Tang and Sung Dynasties” was established. Lv Zuqian initiated the comment on prose which was inherited by his students. Lou Fang 樓昉 “was famous for literature together with his younger brother Bing. He followed Donglai in Wu婺. He once taught his fellows in neighborhood and hundreds of people followed. Li Yuezhai and Wang Houzhai are both his famous students.”36 It is obvious that Lou Fang was a quite famous literator, scholar and educator at that time. The most important writing of him is Yuzhai guwen biaozhu迂齋古文標注(another name is Chong gu wen jue崇古文訣) , which is an anthology commenting on ancient prose by imitating the style of Guwen guanjian .Chen Zhensun 陳振孫 affixed it to Lv Zuqian’s Guwen guanjian and call it “generally it is similar to Guwen guanjian, but its choice starts from Shiji and Hanshu, and mainly focuses on our dynasty. It has more essays and has better

34 Xixue jiyan習學記言, Siku quanshu, Volume 47, 49. 35 In the early Ming Dynasty, In Zhu You’s Baxiansheng wenji八先生文集, Zhu You selected the proses of Han, Liu,Ou, Zeng, Wang and Three Su. 36 Songyuan xue’an 宋元學案, Zhounghua shuju, 1986, volume 73.

8 elucidated them, and so is convenient for students.”37 Sikuquanshu zongmu 四庫全書總目also commented, “Rich yet with appropriate simplicity, the extensive collection of this book is particularly beneficial to researchers. As a student of Lv, Lou Fang has inherited the doctrine of his master, and provided interpretations. It shouldn’t be neglected due to the common essays.”38 Therefore, Chonggu wenjue and Guwen guanjian are the same. They both carried prose education through selection and comment. As texts for masters to teach students, they were beneficial to imperial examinations. More importantly, in the form of literary comment, they also promoted the progress of prose in South Sung dynasty. Lou Fang’s capable student Wang Yinglin 王应麟 was also interested in the style of writing. He also succeeded in the examination of Boxue hongci博學宏詞, as did his former master, and both their names are in “Rulin zhuan” 儒林傳of Sung history. He did not only write the academic reading notes Kunxue jiwen 困學紀聞, but also edited a two-hundred volume leishu類書(book of classified items)Yu hai玉海 and ten-volume leishu Xiaoxue ganzhu小學紺珠 respectively. There are also a four-volume Cixue zhinan辭學指南 and forty-volume Cixue tiyuan 詞學題苑. Though they were edited for attending Boxue hongci examination, they were still beneficial to the writing of prose and the research on the style of writing. For example, Cixue zhinan commented separately on titles, ways of writing, reciting books, and how to write zhi制, gao誥, xu序, ji記 and other genres. It first cited Lv Zuqian’s words in the opening and then cited Zhu Xi, Zhen Dexiu 真德秀, Ye Shi, Lou Yue樓鑰, and Liu Kezhuang’s劉克莊 words, which could not only show the origin and development, but also could discuss famous writers’ works broadly. Therefore, it promoted the prosperity of prose in Southern Sung dynasty.

In general, though Lv Zuqian was not approbated by orthodox Li scholars and was not the first-class literator, his idea of incorporating literature and Li had important influence on the development of literature. Lv Zuqian had eminent social and political status. Besides succeeding in the subject of Boxue hongci, he had served as a teacher in royal institute and had been in charge of jinshi進士 examination in the eighth year of Qiandao reign(1172), both of which helped him to gain a great reputation and attracted innumerous followers that wished to learn from him. Just around the seventh year of Chunxi reign(1180), there were approximately three hundreds students in Lize Shuyuan. Through such teaching materials as Du shi ji, Zuoshi boyi, Lize lunshuo jilu, and such anthologies as Sansu wenxuan, Guwen guanjian, Song wen jian, Lv Zuqian expressed his idea of incorporating literature and Li to his students clearly. Under the circumstance that shuyuan was prosperous during South Sung dynasty while research mainly concentrated on Ching-hsueh經學and Li-hsueh, as a distinguished educator, Lv Zuqian’s idea was doubtlessly beneficial to the development of literature. Moreover, his elaborate comment on selections, particularly discussion on the structure and technique of writing not only turned into the best teaching materials to learners, but also became the new style of literary

37 Chen Zhensun: Zhiqi shulu jieti直齋書錄解題, Shanghai guji chubanshe上海古籍出版社, 1987, volume 15. 38 Abstract of Chonggu wenjue, Sikuquanshu zongmu, volume 187.

9 comment. Since then, wenhua文話, compilation of literary criticism, and works specially on essays came out one after another, which not only accelerated the prosperity of prose criticism, but also promoted the progress of prose writing. Lv Zuqian himself was an important practitioner of his own literary theory and became a famous prose writer in South Sung dynasty. He was praised a lot for his Zuoshi boyi, which was vast and unbridled, arguing and all-embracing, and “Wu Wang lun” 武王論, “You chisongshan ji”遊赤松山記, “Bailudong shuyuan ji”白鹿洞書 院記, “Xue Changzhou muzhiming”薛常州墓誌銘, which were eminent works of different literary genres. Moreover, his excellent literary appreciation promoted the formation of “the Eight Famous Prosers in Tang and sung dynasties”. The important literary saying first came forth from a Li scholar. Besides expressing Lv Zuqian’s educational idea of incorporating literature and Li, it had positive influence on the progress of literature. Thereafter, Zhen Dexiu, also a famous Li scholar, edited the twenty-volume Wenzhang zhengzong文章正宗. However, this anthology emphasizing Tao 道 and despising Wen 文 “hasn’t been used and respected over five hundred years except those scholars on it. Isn’t it because it’s far from human emotions and cannot prevail throughout the world?”39 On the contrary, Lv Zuqian’s Sung wenjian was widely read and became the model for literati to learn.

39 Abstract of Wenzhang zhengzong文章正宗，Sikuquanshu zongmu, volume 187.

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