Jiaoqiji 脚氣集

Jiaoqiji 脚氣集, full title Yufeng Xiansheng jiaoqi ji 玉峰先生腳氣集, is a "brush-notes"-style book (biji 筆記) written during the late Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Che Ruoshui 車若水, courtesy name Qingchen 清臣, style Yufeng Shanmin 玉峰山民, from Huangyan 黃巖 (in today's Zhejiang province). About his life, nothing is known. The afterword, compiled by the author's son Che Weiyi 車惟一, says, the book was finished in 1274. The title points at a time when Che Ruoshui was suffering of a Thiamine deficiency (jiaoqibing 腳氣病). Lying on his sickbed, he used the time to write down notes on the issued he had studied.

The book of 2 juan discusses the collected annotations Mengzi jiyi 孟子集義, with detailed notes written in small characters beneath it. Che Ruoshui had studied under Chen Qiqing 陳耆卿 (1180-1236), learning ancient texts, and later changed his teacher to Chen Wenwei 陳文蔚, focusing on lectures and teaching. As a result, this book's format is quite similar to that of a collection of "sayings" (yulu 語錄), discussing topics from the Classics, history, and various philosophical schools, while occasionally touching on miscellaneous matters.

The discussions on the Shijing 詩經 "Book of Songs", for instance, suggest to revised the individual prefaces of the songs (xiaoxu 小序); regarding the Chunqiu 春秋 "Spring and Autumn Annals", Che was interested in the summer solstices; and concerning the ritual Classic Liji 禮記, he criticises Confucian scholars from the Han period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE).

Che maintains a strong stance on his own viewpoints, but his book contains some errors and follows certain traditional methods. For instance, in the critique of the winter offices (dongguan 冬官) in the Zhouli 周禮, Che ridicules Yu Tingchun's 俞庭椿 (c. 1150) definitive judgment on the allocation of positions. While this criticism is largely correct, the argument is supported by the claim that the Zhou 西周 (11th cent.-770 BCE) officials still existed in three hundred and fifty positions, suggesting that the winter offices were not completely abolished. His interpretation of the Liji regarding the death by cowardice, being crushed, or drowning, links cowardice to epidemic transmission, must be considered questionable. On literature, he argues that the stele inscriptions of Li Yong 李邕 (674-746) and other similar texts lack coherence, dismissing them as poorly written and illogical, which reflects his tendency to propose unconventional views.

However, the book still offers many valuable insights. For example, his argument on the Zhouli, which asserts that the functionary called shi 師 was entrusted with the management of hunting parks and markets, rather than land taxes, contradicts Su Xun's 蘇洵 (1009-1066) mistaken interpretation. In his commentary on the Chunqiu, he advocates for Chengzi's 程子 idea of the alliance oath being an expression of trust and that the ancient kings did not prohibit it. He also discusses the alliance of Song 宋 at Su 宿, supporting the view of the Gongyang Commentary (Gongyangzhuan 公羊傳).

The book strongly aligns with Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) collected annotations on the Four Books, Sishu jizhu 四書集注 but does not blindly agree with every point. For instance, it argues that the method of "investigating things" (gewu 格物) in the Daxue 大學 "Great Learning" is difficult to teach and should instead follow the old analytic method of five chapters of the Daxue (dang cong wupian jiuxun 當從五篇舊訓), interpreting it through analogy.

The text is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Baoyantang miji 寶顏堂秘笈, Shuofu 說郛 (Wanwei Shantang 宛委山堂 edition), Wuchao xiaoshuo 五朝小說, Wuchao xiaoshuo daguan 五朝小說大觀, Songren xiaoshuo 宋人小說 and Baojinglou congkan 抱經樓叢刊.