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Biographies (zhuanji lei 傳記類)

Jul 8, 2010 © Ulrich Theobald

Biographies (zhuanji lei 傳記類) belong to a subcategory in traditional Chinese bibliographies as part of the category of Historiography (shibu 史部).

As can be seen in the structure of the official dynastic histories (zhengshi 正史), biographies played an eminent role in traditional Chinese historiography and were compiled to an incredible amount for official purposes and also for private use.

The introduction to the biographies section in the descriptive catalogue Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要 explains that not only Confucians made intensive use of the genre of biographies, but also Daoists, who trace back the "invention" of biography to the Yellow Emperor 黃帝. Looking at the Daoist Canon Daozang 道藏 it can be seen that all three "Caverns" include a biographies section (Jizhuan lei 記傳類), with a vast amount of collections of the stories of the lives of "immortals" or extraordinary persons like Mu Tianzi zhuan 穆天子傳, Han Wudi neizhuan 漢武帝內傳, Liexianzhuan 列仙傳, Xuxianzhuan 續仙傳, to name but a few.

The compilers of the Siku quanshu divided the subcategory of biographies into four parts: Saints and worthies (shengxian 聖賢, 2 books), i.e. Confucius and his disciples; famous persons (mingren 名人, 13 books) like Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 (181-234), Wei Zheng 魏徵 (580-643), Du Fu 杜甫 (712-770) or Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130-1200); collective biographies (zonglu 總錄, 36 books) like Gu Lienüzhuan 古列女傳, Tang caizi zhuan 唐才子傳, Song mingchen yanxing lu 宋名臣言行錄, Yuanchao mingchen shilüe 元朝名臣事略, or Mingru xue'an 明儒學案; and "miscellaneous" records (zalu 雜錄, 9 books) with a very great narrative part in private memories, like Zhengnanlu 征南錄 "The southern expedition" or Rushuji 入蜀記 "My journey to Shu".

The section of biographies in the Siku quanshu thus includes 60 books, and the cunmu 存目 catalogue of available books describes a further amount of 380 books. Six of these belong to a fifth category, "separate records" (bielu 別錄). These biographies cover the lives of rebels like An Lushan 安祿山 (703-757; Yao Anneng's 姚汝能 An Lushan shiji 安祿山事蹟) or usurpers like Liu Yu 劉豫 (1073-1146), who founded the state of Qi 齊, when the Jurchens occupied northern China (Yang Kebi's 楊克弼 Wei Yu zhuan 偽豫傳 and Cao Rong's 曹溶 Liu Yu shiji 劉豫事蹟).

An overview of the historical development of the literary genre of biographies can be found further below.

Table 1. Biographies (zhuanji 傳記)
Part of Siku quanshu 四庫全書
Part of Xuxiu siku quanshu 續修四庫全書
1. 聖賢之屬 shengxian Saints and Worthies
孔子編年 五卷 Kongzi biannian (Song) 胡仔 Hu Zi
東家雜記 二卷 Dongjia zaji (Song) 孔傳 Kong Chuan
孔子實錄 一卷 (存目) Kongzi shilu (Yuan) NN
2. 名人之屬 mingren Famous Persons
晏子春秋 八卷 Yanzi chunqiu (Zhou) 晏嬰 Yan Ying (?)
杜工部年譜 一卷 Du Gongbu nianpu (Song) 趙子櫟 Zhao Zili
金佗稡編 五十八卷 (鄂國金佗粹編) Jintuo zuibian (Eguo jintuo zubian) (Song) 岳珂 Yue Ke
忠貞錄 四卷 Zhongzhenlu (Ming) 李維樾 Li Weiyue, 林增志 Lin Zengzhi
諸葛忠武書 十卷 Zhuge Zhongwu shu (Ming) 楊時偉 Yang Shiwei
朱子年譜 四卷 Zhuzi nianpu (Qing) 王懋紡 Wang Maofang
3. 總錄之屬 zonglu Collective Records
古列女傳 七卷
續列女傳 一卷
Gu lienüzhuan (Lienüzhuan)
Xu lienüzhuan
(Han) 劉向 Liu Xiang
漢末英雄傳 一卷 (存目) Hanmo yingxiong zhuan (Sanguo-Wei) 王粲 Wang Can
高士傳 三卷 Gaoshizhuan (Jin) 皇甫謐 Huangfu Mi
續高士傳 五卷 (存目) Xu gaoshi zhuan (Qing) 高兆 Gao Zhao
孝子傳 * Xiaozizhuan ()
卓異記 一卷 Zhuoyiji (Tang) 李翱 Li Ao (?)
春秋臣傳 三十卷 Chunqiu chen zhuan (Song) 王當 Wang Dang
廉吏傳 二卷 Lianlizhuan (Song) 費樞 Fei Shu
高僧傳 GaosengzhuanBuddhist writings (Liang) 慧皎 Huijiao
續高僧傳 Xu gaosengzhuanBuddhist writings (Tang) 道宣 Daoxuan
宋高僧傳 Song gaosengzhuanBuddhist writings (Song) 贊寧 Zanning
廣卓異記 二十卷 (存目) Guang zhuoyiji (Song) 樂史 Yue Shi
伊洛淵源錄 十四卷 Yi-Luo yuanyuan lu (Song) 朱熹 Zhu Xi
伊洛淵源續錄 六卷 (存目) Yi-Luo yuanyuan xulu (Ming) 謝鐸 Xie Duo; (Qing) 張伯行 Zhang Boxing
宋名臣言行錄 七十五卷
宋名臣言行錄續集 八卷
Song mingchen yanxing lu
Song mingchen yanxing lu xuji
(Song) 朱熹 Zhu Xi, 李幼武 Li Youwu (comp.)
名臣碑傳琬琰集 一百七卷 Mingchen beizhuan wanyan ji (Song) 杜大珪 Du Dagui
錢塘先賢傳贊 一卷 Qiantang xianxian zhuanzan (Song) 袁韶 Yuan Shao
慶元黨禁 一卷 Qingyuan dangjin (Song) 滄州樵叟 Cangzhou Qiaosou
昭忠錄 一卷 Zhaozhonglu (Yuan) NN
敬鄉錄 十四卷 Jingxianglu (Yuan) 吳師道 Wu Shidao
唐才子傳 八卷 Tang caizi zhuan (Yuan) 辛文房 Xin Wenfang
元朝名臣事略 十五卷 Yuanchao mingchen shilüe (Yuan) 蘇天爵 Su Tianjue
古今列女傳 三卷 Gujin lienü zhuan (Ming) 解縉 Xie Jin (et al. comp.; imp. ord.)
殿閣詞林記 二十二卷 Diange cilin ji (Ming) 黃佐 Huang Zuo, 廖道南 Liao Daonan
四明文獻錄 一卷 (存目) Siming wenxian lu (Ming) 黃潤玉 Huang Runyu
嘉靖以來首輔傳 八卷 Jiajing yilai shoufu zhuan (Ming) 王世貞 Wang Shizhen
明名臣琬琰錄 四十六卷
明名臣琬琰續錄 二十二卷
Ming mingchen wanyan lu
Ming mingchen wanyan xulu
(Ming) 徐紘 Xu Hong
元儒考略 四卷 Yuanru kaolüe (Ming) 馮從吾 Feng Congwu
諸儒學案 一卷 (續修) Zhuru xue'an (Ming) 劉元卿 Liu Yuanqing
聖學宗傳 十八卷 (存目, 續修) Shengxue zongzhuan (Ming) 周汝登 Zhou Rudeng
皇明輔世編 六卷 (續修) Huang-Ming fushi bian (Ming) 唐鶴徵 Tang Hezheng
(焦太史編輯)國朝獻徵錄 百二十卷 (續修) (Jiao Taishi bianji) Guochao xianzheng lu (Ming) 焦竑 Jiao Hong
濂溪志 九卷 (存目, 續修) Lianxizhi (Ming) 李楨 Li Zhen
濂溪志 十三卷 (存目) Lianxizhi (Ming) 李嵊慈 Li Shengci
皇明名臣言行錄 二十四卷 (續修) Huangchao mingchen yanxing lu (Ming) 徐咸 Xu Xian
善行錄 十卷 * Shanxinglu (Ming) 張時徹 Zhang Shiche
廉吏傳 一卷 (續修) Lianlizhuan (Ming) 黃汝亨 Huang Ruting
開國群雄事略 十二卷 * Kaiguo qunxiong shilüe (Ming) 錢謙益 Qian Qianyi
東林點將錄 一卷 * Donglin dianjiang lu (Ming) 阮大鋮 Ruan Dayue (?) or 王紹徽 Wang Shaohui
印人傳 * Yinrenzhuan (Ming/Qing) 周亮工 Zhou Lianggong
續印人傳 * Xu yinren zhuan (Qing) 汪啓淑 Wang Qingshu
廣印人傳 * Guang yinren zhuan (Qing/Rep) 葉爲銘 Ye Weiming
竹人錄 二卷 * ZhurenluBooks on material culture and nature studies (Qing) 金元鈺 Jin Yuanyu
明名臣言行錄 九十五卷 (續修) Ming mingchen yanxing lu (Ming) 徐開任 Xu Kairen (comp.)
洛學編 四卷 (存目, 續修) Luoxuebian (Qing) 湯斌 Tang Bin
(欽定)宗室王公功績表傳 十二卷 (Qinding) Zongshi wanggong gongji biaozhuan (Qing) imp. ord.
(欽定)外藩蒙古回部王公表傳 十二卷 (Qinding) Waifan Menggu Huibu wanggong biaozhuan (Qing) imp. ord.
(欽定)續纂外藩蒙古回部王公表傳 十二卷 (續修) (Qinding) Xuzuan waifan Menggu huibu anggong biaozhuan (Qing) imp. ord.
(欽定)八旗滿洲氏族通譜 八十卷 (Qinding) Baqi Manzhou shizu tongpu (Qing) imp. ord.
(欽定)勝朝殉節諸臣錄 十二卷 (Qinding) Shengchao xunjie zhuchen lu (Qing) 舒赫德 Šuhede, 于敏中 Yu Minzhong et al. (imp. ord.)
朱子年譜 六卷 (存目) Zhuzi nianpu (Qing) 朱世潤 Zhu Shirun
理學宗傳 二十六卷 (續修) Lixue zongzhuan (Qing) 孫奇逢 Sun Qifeng
明儒學案 六十二卷 Mingru xue'an (Qing) 黄宗羲 Huang Zongxi
東林列傳 二十四卷 Donglin liezhuan (Qing) 陳鼎 Chen Ding
儒林宗派 十六卷 Rulin zongpai (Qing) 萬斯同 Wan Sitong
道命錄 十卷 (存目, 續修) Daominglu (Qing xxx) 李心傳 Li Xinchuan (comp.); 程榮秀 Cheng Rongxiu (rev.)
疑年錄 四卷 (續修) Yinianlu (Qing) 錢大昕 Qian Daxin
疇人傳 五十二卷 (續修)
疇人傳續編 六卷
Chourenzhuan
Chourenzhuan xubian
(Qing) 阮元 Ruan Yuan; 羅士琳 Luo Shilin (suppl.)
疇人傳三編 七卷 (續修) Chourenzhuan sanbian (Qing) 諸可寶 Zhu Kebao
疇人傳四編 十一卷 (續修) Chourenzhuan sibian (Qing) 黃鍾駿 Huang Zhongjun
元祐黨人碑考 一卷 (續修) Yuanyou dangren beikao (Ming) 海瑞 Hai Rui
元祐黨人傳 十卷 (續修) Yuanyou dangren zhuan (Qing) 陸心源 Lu Xinyuan
宋元學案 百卷 (續修) Song-Yuan xue'an (Qing) 黄宗羲 Huang Zongxi (comp.)
明儒言行錄 十二卷 Mingru yanxinglu (Qing) 沈佳 Shen Jia
清儒學案 * Qingru xue'an (Rep) 徐世昌 Xu Shichang
忠節錄 六卷 (存目, 續修) Zhongjielu (Qing) 張朝瑞 Zhang Chaorui
國朝先正事略 六十卷 (續修)
國朝先正事略補編 二卷 (續修)
Guochao xianzheng shilüe
Guochao xianzheng shilüe bubian
(Qing) 李元度 Li Yuandu (comp.)
(清)學案小識 十五卷 (續修) (Qing) Xue'an xiaoshi (Qing) 唐鑒 Tang Jian
國朝先正事略續編 (中興將帥別傳) 三十卷 * Guochao xianzheng shilüe xubian (Zhongxing jiangshuai biezhuan) (Qing) 朱孔彰 Zhu Kongzhang (comp.)
國朝耆獻類徵初編 * Guochao qixian leizheng chubian (Qing) 李桓 Li Huan
吳中人物志 十三卷 (續修) Wuzhong renwu zhi (Qing) 張昶 Zhang Chang et al.
楚寶 四十五卷 (存目, 續修) Chubao (Qing) 周聖楷 Zhou Shengkai
清史列傳 * Qingshi liezhuan (Qing)
南越五主傳 * Nanyue wuzhu zhuan (Qing) 梁廷楠 Liang Tingnan
碑傳記 * Beizhuanji (Qing) 錢儀吉 Qian Yiji
續碑傳集 * Xu beizhuanji (Qing) 繆荃孫 Miao Quansun
碑傳集補 * Beizhuanji bu (Qing) 閔爾昌 Min Erchang
碑傳集三編 * Beizhuanji sanbian (Rep) 汪兆鏞 Wang Zhaoyong
大清縉紳全書 * Da-Qing jinshen quanshu (Qing) gov. ed.
4. 雜錄之屬 zalu Miscellaneous Records
(孫威敏)征南錄 一卷 (Sun Weimin) Zhengnanlu (Song) 滕甫 Teng Fu
驂鸞錄 一卷 Canluanlu (Song) 范成大 Fan Chengda
吳船錄 二卷 Wuchuanlu (Song) 范成大 Fan Chengda
攬轡錄 * Lanpeilu (Song) 范成大 Fan Chengda
入蜀記 六卷 Rushuji (Song) 陸游 Lu You
西游錄 * Xiyoulu (Jin-Yuan) 耶律楚材 Yelü Chucai
西使記 一卷 Xishiji (Yuan) 劉鬱 Liu Yu
使西域記 一卷 (存目) Shi Xiyu ji (Ming) 陳誠 Chen Cheng
粵閩巡視紀略 六卷 Yue-Min xunshi jilüe (Qing) 杜臻 Du Zhen
使西紀程 二卷 (續修) Shi Xi jicheng (Qing) 郭嵩燾 Guo Songtao
* not included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, the catalogue Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目題要 (Cunmu 存目 section), nor the Xuxiu siku quanshu 續修四庫全書.

The imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 quite correctly identified these as fiction and refrained from including them into the collection (with a few exceptions that are found in the subcategory of tales among the Masters and Philosophers). The more scholarly genre of biographies is first used in the book Yanzi chunqiu 晏子春秋 (as jiazhuan 家傳 "family or personal report") or the book Kongzi sanchao ji 孔子三朝記 that recorded the conversation between Confucius and Duke Ai of Lu 魯哀公 (r. 494–468 BCE) during three audiences.

When Pei Songzhi 裴松之 (372-451) commented on the dynastic history Sanguozhi 三國志 and Liu Xiaobiao 劉孝標 (462-521) on the collection Shishuo xinyu 世說新語 (that is focusing of the conversations and lives of various scholars of the 3rd and 4th centuries CE), both made use of a vast array of biographies.

From the beginning, historians discerned between different types of biography. The first criterion was ruler or subject, the second legitimate or (semi-)legitimate ruler, and the third the type of political, social and moral function. Biographies of rulers are generally mixtures of narrative parts, describing youth, personal character and life, and a chronicle part that lists the political decisions and activities. Biographies of local potentates that (illegally) seized the title of king or emperor were always separated from those of the rightful rulers.

"Normal" persons were not always, but often characterized by a general term and thus part of "collective" biographies of, for instance, benevolent or competent officials (xunli 循吏), cruel officials (kuli 酷吏), magicians and diviners (fangji 方技), Confucian scholars (rulin 儒林), writers (wenyuan 文苑), scholars or thinkers living in seclusion (yinyi 隱逸), women of outstanding moral behaviour (lienü 列女), persons displaying filial piety (xiaoyi 孝義) or loyality (zhongyi 忠義), or rebels (zeichen 賊臣) and traitors (jianchen 姦臣). Other collective biographies assemble the vitae of officials serving in a particular state institution, like the Hanlin Academy 翰林院 or the Censorate (yushitai 御史臺). Yet other types of collective biographies joined scholars with the same ideas, persons with similar careers, or those coming from the same town or region.

In the oldest book catalogues (Qilu 七錄 and the bibliographic chapters in the Suishu 隋書 - see Jingji zhi 經籍志 - , the Jiutangshu 舊唐書 and Xintangshu 新唐書; still used in the Song period catalogue Suichutang shumu 遂初堂書目) the section of biographies is called zazhuan 雜傳 "miscellaneous biographies", referring to the stand-alone character of these books, in contrast to the biographies embedded in history books.

The introduction to the subcategory of zazhuan in the Suishu bibliography is comparatively long. It explains that during the Spring and Autumn period 春秋 (770-5th cent. BCE) countless biographical information was recorded and storied in the royal archive (tianfu 天府) as well as in those of the regional rulers or the branches of ducal houses (mengfu 盟府). Even various offices had their own archives, where the careers (with ups and downs) of individual office-holders were recorded. For average people from "among the masses", moral conduct was the focus of biographies. Based on these records the local administration would be able to recommend "worthy and competent" persons (xian zhe neng zhe 賢者能者) for promotion. This system of recording the circumstances of all officials' lives followed a recommendation by Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 (179-104 BCE) to Emperor Wu 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE) of the Han dynasty 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) and was brought to perfection by Sima Qian 司馬遷 (c. 145-c. 90 BCE) and Ban Gu 班固 (32-92 CE), authors of the first two official histories.

These official biographies were enriched by collections of normal biographies, the first of which, called Liexiantu 列仙圖 "Chart of the many immortals", was written by Ruan Cang 阮倉. The librarian and bibliographer Liu Xiang 劉向 (c. 77-c. 6 BCE) compiled the collective biographies Liexianzhuan 列仙傳 "Biographies of immortals", Lieshizhuan 列士傳 "Servicemen/scholars" and Lienüzhuan 列女傳 "Eminent women". During the Later Han period 後漢 (25-220 CE) the genres of biographies of honourable elderly persons (qijiu 耆舊) and persons of moral integrity (jieshi 節士) became fashionable, along with such on persons known for their virtues (mingde 名德) or "worthies of the past/exemplary worthies" (xianxian 先賢).

From the 3rd century on more and more phantastic elements crept into the genre of biographies, so that it became necessary to discern between historiography and fiction. This is in fact done in the Suishu bibliography, whose biographies section begins with "worthies" of all regions of China, continues with "eminent scholars" (gaoshi 高士) and such living in seclusion and filial and loyal persons, then begins a section of family chronicles (jiazhuan 家傳), one of eminent women, and a short one on Buddhist monks, and ends with phantastic collections or "immortals" and other supernatural persons.

The structure of the subcategory of biographies in the Jiutangshu and Xintangshu is quite similar to this model, but in the latter book the biographies of women are grouped at the end of the section. Even the bibliography in the alternative history Tongzhi 通志 which is compiled with great care, follows this principle. It introduces a new category of persons following a quite new channel of career: examination graduates (kedi 科第).

From the early Song period 宋 (960-1279) on the term zazhuan is replaced by the term zhuanji. The bibliography Junzhai dushu zhi 郡齋讀書志 shows how heterogenous the subcategory of biographies can be. It includes fictional stories like Huangdi neizhuan 黃帝內傳 "Esoteric biography of the Yellow Emperor", Han Wu neizhuan 漢武內傳 "Esoteric biography of Emperor Wu of the Han", biographies of Confucius and his descendants like Kongzi biannian 孔子編年 and Dongjia zaji 東家雜記, an official register of eminent families of the Tang period 唐 (618-907), Yuanhe xingzuan 元和姓纂, and also serious research on family names like Xingyuan yunpu 姓源韻譜 (arranged phonetically) by Zhang Jiuling 張九齡 (678-740).

The bibliographic chapter in the statecraft encyclopaedia Wenxian tongkao 文獻通考 includes very different books in the biographies section: Quite a large amount of books in this subcategory belong to a type of writing that might be called "personal memories" and concentrate on singulary events, like the participation in a military campaign, an inspection tour or a mission to a foreign country, like Ping Shu shilu 平蜀實錄 "Veritable records of the pacification of Shu" or Xuanhe shi Jin lu 宣和使金錄 "Memories from a mission to the Jin empire during the Xuanhe reign". Other texts belong to the genre of "miscellaneous histories", like Li Zhao's 李肇 (Tang) Guoshibu (唐)國史補 or Li Deyu's 李德裕 (787-849) Ci Liushi jiuwen 次柳氏舊聞.