Chen Yuanjing

Chen Yuanjing
Chen Yuanjing
陳元靚
Born	Chong'an, Jianzhou (modern-day Nanping, Fujian), Southern Song dynasty
Died	Yuan dynasty
Occupation(s)	Scholar, writer
Era	Zhongtong (中統) era of the reign of Kublai
Known for	Shilin Guangji

Chen Yuanjing (Chinese: 陳元靚) was a scholar of the Yuan dynasty known for writing the Shilin Guangji. Chen Yuanjing was born at the end of the Southern Song dynasty in Chong'an (崇安), Jianzhou (modern-day Nanping, northwestern Fujian). He probably lived from the late 13th century to the mid-14th century.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Life

Chen Yuanjing had the autograph "Guanghan Xianyi" (广寒仙裔) or descendant of (Chen) Guanghan.^[6]^[1]^[3] According to studies by Fang Yanshou (方彦寿), a certain Guanghan master could be found working around Sanguili (三桂里), Kaoting (考亭), Jianyang (建阳) in Jianzhou (Fujian) province.^[7]^[8]^[9] Chen Guanghan may have been born around Kaoting, Jianyang in Jianzhou.^[10]

Chen Yuanjing himself was born in Chong'an in modern-day Fujian, which was also his ancestral home (祖籍 / 籍贯). Chong'an is also where Guanghan was buried.^[3]

Chen Guanghan had a son named Chen Xun (陈逊),^[11] a Song dynasty person who became a jinshi in the fourth year of Emperor Zhezong (around 1098, Shaosheng 4th year 绍圣四年). Chen Yuanjing was also a descendant of Chen Xun.^[3] The other details of Chen Yuanjing's life are unknown.^[10]^[3]^[12]^[13]^[14]

Publications

Shilin Guangji

During the reign of Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty, Chen Yuanjing wrote and published the Shilin Guangji, an encyclopedia which detailed the life during the Song and Yuan dynasties, as well as containing maps of the large Yuan empire and examples of the ʼPhags-pa script and Mongolian script. Chen's book was popular and easy to understand at the time and would be expanded and used by later scholars in the Ming and Qing dynasties as well as in Korea and Japan to learn more about Chinese history, the Yuan dynasty, and Mongol Empire. Chen's Shilin Guangji and the illustrations therein were used as a basis for later encyclopedias such as the Sancai Tuhui and Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China.^[6]^[13]

In 1684, Confucian scholar Utsunomiya Teki (宇都宮的), also called Utsunomiya Ton'an (宇都宮遯庵), wrote the following in a preface to Chen's work: "There is nothing excluded in his recording of affairs" and that "he cites his sources meticulously" and "his work for modern scholarship is no small thing."^[5]

Other works

Besides the Shilin Guangji, Chen Yuanjing is known for writing the 40 volumes of Suishi Guangji (岁时广记), Bowenlu (博闻录), and other treatises. His works are prefaced by Liu Chun (刘纯), Zhu Jian (朱鉴), and other authors, indicating that Chen Yuanjing may have been born during the reign of Emperor Lizong of Song.^[13]^[14]^[15]

The Suishi Guangji (岁时广记) or "Expansion of the Random Notes to Events of the Annual Seasons" is an annuary or book detailing customs and yearly festivals.^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20] It was an expansion of the Suishi Zaji (岁时杂记) or "Random Notes to Events of the Annual Seasons" written by Lü Xizhe (吕希哲 ca. 1080-1125). Chen's Suishi Guangji has a preface written by Zhu Jian (朱鑑/朱鉴 1190-1258), the grandson of Zhu Xi. Based on Zhu Jian's year of death, it can be deduced that Chen published the Suishi Guangji earlier and had lived during the 12th and 13th centuries.^[5]

References

(一)^ ^a ^bLiu Chun (刘纯): writes that the birth and death date are unknown︽四库全书总目提要︾载‥“元观，不知其里贯，自署广寒仙裔。而刘纯作后序，称为隐君子。其始末亦未详言，莫之考也。” (二)^ Chen, Klasing (2020-12-16). "Memorable arts: The mnemonics of painting and calligraphy in Late Imperial China" (University of Leiden) (三)^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^eLu Xinyuan (陆心源), Qing dynasty: Chen Yuanjing was from Chong'an, Fujian. He descends from Chen Guanghan, whose tomb is in Chong'an. Guanghan had a son named Chen Xun, who is an ancestor of Chen Yuanjing. 陆心源︽仪顾堂续跋︾卷十一︿永乐椠︽事林广记︾跋﹀云‥“元靓仕履无考，当为福建崇安人，广寒先生之裔。广寒先生名字无考，墓在崇安。其子名逊，绍圣四年进士。元靓必逊之裔也。” (四)^ "Vast Record of Varied Matters, Age of the Great Khan". theme.npm.edu.tw (National Palace Museum). Retrieved 2022-06-17. (五)^ ^a ^b ^cWest, Stephen H. "Time Management And Self-Control: Self-Help Guides In Yuan". Text, Performance, and Gender in Chinese Literature and Music: 113. (六)^ ^a ^bAnnotated Bibliography of the Four Treasuries ︽四库全书总目提要︾ (七)^ Fang Yanshou (方彦寿): Chen Fahui's grandson Chen Sheng served as secretariat in Jianzhou (Fujian) and moved to Jianyang, where the royal Guanghan master (Chen Yuanjing) could be found (学者方彦寿据︽颖川堂陈氏宗谱︾载︽唐入闽考亭始祖世系︾提及，陈法会的曾孙陈盛，“任建州刺史，迁居建阳三桂里考亭。公葬三桂里水东源玉女怀胎形，谥颖川郡公，食邑一千户，御赐广寒先生。”) (八)^ Yingchuantang Chen family genealogy︽颖川堂陈氏宗谱︾ (九)^ Tang ru min kao ting shizu shixi︽唐入闽考亭始祖世系︾(Ancestral lineages of the Tang dynasty and Fujian Kaoting). Here min 闽 can refer to Fujian and surrounding areas in Southeast China. (十)^ ^a ^bChen family genealogy︽陈氏族谱︾云‥“神讳逊，行二十四，建阳考亭人。三月初三日生，生则有异于人。甫八岁，读书过神庙，见神迎送，止之方回，以其事告父母。弱冠登科，累官至侍中，终于任。” (11)^ Not to be confused with another Chen Xun, a Ming dynasty politician (12)^ Yigutang continued postscript Volume 11, Yongle qian Shilin Guangji postscript (︽仪顾堂续跋︾卷十一︿永乐椠︽事林广记︾跋﹀) (13)^ ^a ^b ^cWang Ke (王珂). Chen Yuanjing's Family and Life︿陈元靓家世生平新证﹀，︽图书馆理论与实践︾，2011 (14)^ ^a ^bHu Daojing. Preface to Shilin Guangji, Fudan University edition (2004) 胡道静‥︿元至顺刊本︽事林广记︾解题﹀，收录于胡道静著‥︽中国古代典籍十讲︾，复旦大学出版社，2004 (15)^ Encyclopedia of China (中国大百科全书) (in Chinese). Section entry by Hu Daojing 胡道靜 (1992). Preface to﹃Shilin guangji 事林廣記﹄in Encyclopedia of China. (2nd ed.). Beijing: China Encyclopedia Publishing (中国大百科全书出版社 Zhongguo dabaike quanshu chubanshe)︽中国大百科全书︾第二版总编辑委员会. 2009. ISBN 978-7-5000-7958-3. OCLC 244563750.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) (16)^ Sakai, Tadao (酒井忠夫).﹃Mindai no nichiyô ruisho to shomin kyôiku﹄明代の日用類書と庶民教育 (Everyday Encyclopedia/Leishu and the Education of Commoners in the Ming), in Kinsei Chūgoku kyōikushi kenkyū (17)^ Masayoshi, Tanaka (1959). "Review of Kinsei Chūgoku kyōikushi kenkyū—sono bunkyō seisaku to shomin kyōiku". Monumenta Serica. 18: 480–482. ISSN 0254-9948. (18)^ Sakai Tadao, "Confucianism and Popular Education Works," in Self and Society in Ming Thought, ed. William D. Bary (New York, Columbia University Press, 1970), pp. 338-341 (19)^ Self and society in Ming thought,. Wm. Theodore De Bary, Conference on Ming Thought. New York: Columbia University Press. 1970. ISBN 0-231-03271-4. OCLC 65657.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) (20)^ Wu Huifang (吴蕙芳)‥Chinese Everyday Leishu and Historical Value︽︿中国日用类书集成﹀及其史料价值︾，Jindai Zhongguo shi yanjiu tongxun︽近代中国史研究通讯︾(Modern Chinese Historical Research Communications) 第30期 (2000)

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