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Luoxuebian 洛學編

Aug 6, 2019 © Ulrich Theobald

Luoxuebian 洛學編 "The teachings from Luoyang" is a biographical history of philosophy written by the Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) master Tang Bin 湯斌 (1627-1687), courtesy name Kongbo 孔伯, style Qian'an 潛庵, from Suizhou 睢州 (today's Suixian 睢縣, Henan). He obtained his jinshi degree in 1649 and crowned his career with the post of Minister of Works (gongbu shangshu 工部尚書).

Tang was a disciple of Sun Qifeng 孫奇逢 (1585-1675), who belonged to the philosophical tradition of Wang Shouren 王守仁 (Wang Yangming 王陽明, 1472-1529). In the course of his studies, Tang decided to analyse the origins of Neo-Confucian philosophy , as established by the brothers Cheng Hao 程顥 (1032-1085), and Cheng Yi 程頤 (1033-1107) and Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200) (Cheng-Zhu lixue 程朱理學). His scholarly works are manifold, and comprise, apart from the 4-juan long Luoxuebian, the local gazetteer Bu Suizou zhi 補睢州志, and the literary remains Tangzi yishu 湯子遺書.

The book Luoxuebian narrates the evolvement of Confucian philosophy from the Han 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) to the mid-Ming period 明 (1368-1644), but focuses on the teachings of individual persons and their lives. The text is divided into a preliminary part (Qianbian 前編), and a main part (Zhengbian 正編). The former gives evidence of the thought of the scholars Du Zichun 杜子春 (c. 30 BCE-c. 58 CE) Zheng Xing 鄭興, Zheng Zhong 鄭眾 (d. 83 CE), and Fu Qian 服虔 from the Han period, Han Yu 韓愈 (768-824) from the Tang period 唐 (618-907), and Mu Xiu 穆修 (979-1032) from the Song period 宋 (960-1279). The main part includes the biographical explanation of the teachings of 13 (plus 2 in an appendix) Song-period philosophers, 3 (plus 1) from the Yuan period 元 (1279-1368), and 20 (plus 7) from the Ming period. Each biography is enriched by critical comments.

The Luoxuebian is part of the collected writings of Tang Bin, Tang Wenzhenggong yishu 湯文正公遺書, and Tang Wenzhenggong quanji 湯文正公全集. Yin Huiyi 尹會一 (1691-1748) compiled a supplement to the book which includes seven persons from the early Qing period. Guo Chengxian 郭程先 (jinshi degree 1860) added a further lot of 8 persons from the Song to the Qing period. This enlarged version was printed by Wu Yuanbing 吳元炳 (1824-1886) during the Guangxu reign-period 光緒 (1875-1908).

Sources:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, eds. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 1, 976.
Wei Ze 韋澤 (2007). "Luoxuebian de bianzuan yuanyin ji neirong tese 《洛學編》的編纂原因及内容特色", Shangqiu Shifan Xueyuan xuebao 商丘師範學院學報, 2007 (10).