ChinaKnowledge.de -
An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History and Literature

Fengsu tongyi 風俗通義

Jul 17, 2010 © Ulrich Theobald

Fengsu tongyi 風俗通義 "Comprehensive meaning of customs and habits" is an enyclopaedical collection of various matters compiled during the Later Han period 後漢 (25-220) by Ying Shao 應劭 (d. c. 203 CE), courtesy name Zhongyuan 仲瑗.

Ying Shao hailed from Runan 汝南 (modern Xiangcheng 項城, Henan) and was made a court gentleman (lang 郎) in 173 and rose then to the post of magistrate (ling 令) of Xiao 蕭, then of Yingling 營陵, and was finally promoted to governor (taishou 太守) of the commandery of Taishan 泰山. He ruthlessly suppressed the uprising of the Yellow Turbans 黃巾, when it inundated his district. In the aftermath, he prepared to receive the warlord Cao Song 曹嵩 (d. 194, the father of the famous Cao Cao 曹操) and his son Cao De 曹德 (d. 194), but before they arrived in Taishan, they were killed by general Tao Qian 陶謙 (132-194). Fearing revenge by Cao Cao, Ying Shao fled to the territory of the powerful general Yuan Shao 袁紹 (d. 202), who made him commandant for military counsel (junmou xiaowei 軍謀校尉). Ying Shao compiled several books, like Zhonghan jilu 中漢輯錄, Hanguan yi 漢官儀 (see Hanguan jiuyi 漢官舊儀) or Liyi gushi 禮儀故事, as well as some short comments to the Hanshu 漢書. He seems to have specialized in the administrative history of the Han dynasty.

The 10-juan-long Fengsu tongyi was written in the aftermath of the Yellow Turban uprising in the hope that the encyclopaedia might be useful for the reconstruction of the shattered fundaments of the empire. Ying Shao expounded numerous common matters valid as knowledge among the population, with the incentive to establish a standard of what was important for common knowledge and state administration. His chapters Yanli 愆禮 and Guoyu 過譽 are critical towards the lavishness of his times and the superfluous aspects of many rituals and open praises made at the court. The chapter Shengyin 聲音 is very important for the history of music. The chapter Shanze 山澤 is a valuable supplement for the history of ancient China's rivers. Parts of the chapter Guaishen 怪神 served as source for the collection Soushenji 搜神記. The Fengsu tongyi was praised as a rich source on many aspects of Han period life. Later it was almost forgotten and is barely investigated.

The received versions have all 10 juan. Only the version in Wu Wan's 吳琯 (jinshi degree 1571) Gujin yishi 古今逸史 has 4 juan. Yet the imperial bibliography Jingji zhi 經濟志 in the official dynastic history Suishu 隋書 speaks of 31 juan, including one additional fascicle of "records" (lu 錄). The bibliographies in the histories Jiutangshu 舊唐書 and Xintangshu 新唐書 list the book with a length of 30 juan.

The size of 10 juan is documented in Song-period 宋 (960-1279) sources. Su Song 蘇頌 (1020-1101) during that time wrote a critical preface, the Jiao Fengsu tongyi tixu 校風俗通義題序. A lot of chapters were apparently lost before the Song period. Of the 20 lost chapters, at least the names are known from records by Su Song and Lu Xinyuan 陸心源 (1834-1894), but their order is unknown. Kang Zongrong's 康仲容 Zichao 子抄 from the Liang period 梁 (502-557) and Ma Zong's 馬總 (d. 823) Yilin 意林 from the Tang period 唐 (618-907) both quote from the Fengsu tongyi. Other parts of the text can be reconstructed or testified by quotations in the large Song-period encyclopaedia Taiping yulan 太平御覽.

The oldest print dates from the Dade reign-period 大德 (1297-1307) of the Yuan era 元 (1279-1368) which is based on an earlier edition by Ding Fu 丁黼 (1166-1236), who had used two different versions of the Fengsu tongyi for his lost edition. The Yuan print was reproduced during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Yao Ruo 姚若.

The Fengsu tongyi is included in the series Han-Wei congshu 漢魏叢書, Gezhi congshu 格致叢書, Gujin yishi 古今逸史, Bai mingjia shu 百名家書, Zishu baizhong 子書百種, Mishu ershiyi zhong 秘書二十一種, Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Sibu congkan 四部叢刊. There is a chapter on families (Xingshi pian 姓氏篇) in the Zhangshi congshu 張氏叢書. In 1980, the Tianjin Renmin Press 天津人民出版社 published Wu Shuping's 吳樹平 commentary Fengsu tongyi jiaoshi 風俗通義校釋.

Table 1. Contents of the Fengsu tongyi 風俗通義
1 皇霸 Huangba Emperorship and hegemony
2 (6) 正失 Zhengshi Right and wrong
3 (8) 愆禮 Yanli Indulgence in rituals
4 (7) 過譽 Guoyu Extravagant honouring
5 (9) 十反 Shifan The ten reverses
6 (13) 聲音 Shengyin Sounds and tones
7 (15) 窮通 Qiongtong Exhaustingly covering
8 (20) 祀典 Sidian Sacrificial statutes
9 (31) 怪神 Guaishen Strange events and deities
10 (24) 山澤 Shanze Mountains and swamps
Lost chapters
心政 Xinzheng The rule of the heart
古制 Guzhi Ancient government institutions
陰教 Yinjiao Teachings about women
辨惑 Bianhuo Discourses on doubtful matters
折當 Zhedang Decision for the proper
恕度 Shudu Measures for benevolence
嘉號 Jiahao Good terms
徽稱 (穢稱) Huicheng Designations
情遇 (恃遇) Qingyu (Shiyu) About emotions
姓氏 Xingshi Family names
諱篇 Huipian Posthumous names
釋忌 (釋忘) Shiji (Shiwang) Forgetfulness
輯事 Jishi Collected statements
服妖 Fuyao Subjection of evil spirits
喪祭 Sangji Funeral offerings
宮市 Gongshi Palaces and capital markets
市井 Shijing Markets and field allotment
數紀 Shuji Mathematics
新秦 Xin Qin A new assessment of the state of Qin
獄法 Yufa Penal law
Sources:
Ba Zhaoxiang 巴兆祥 (1994). "Fengsu tongyi 風俗通義", in Zhou Gucheng 周谷城, ed. Zhongguo xueshu mingzhu tiyao 中國學術名著提要, Vol. Lishi 歷史卷 (Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe), 304.
Cang Xiuliang 倉修良 (1995). "Ying Shao he Fengsu tongyi 應劭和《風俗通義》", Wenxian 文獻, 1995 (3): 213-233.
Cao Daoheng 曹道衡 (1988). "Fengsu tongyi he Wei Jin Liuchao xiaoshuo 《風俗通義》和魏晉六朝小說", Wenxue yichan 文學遺產, 1988 (3): 10-17.<
Chen Ying 陳瑛, Xu Qixian 許啟賢, eds. (1989). Zhongguo lunli da cidian 中國倫理大辭典 (Shenyang: Liaoning renmin chubanshe), 127.
Dong Yan 董焱 (2017). "Fengsu tongyi de wenxian jiazhi 《風俗通義》的文獻價值", Beijing shixue luncong 北京史學論叢, 2017 (1): 275-289.
He Shuai 何帥 (2023). "Fengsu tongyi zhong Donghan jisi wenhua yanjiu 《風俗通義》中東漢祭祀文化研究", Henan Guangbo Dianshi Daxue xuebao 河南廣播電視大學學報, 36 (1): 80-85.
Jia Sheng 姜生 (1998). "Fengsu tongyi deng wenxian suo jian Donghan yuanshi daojiao xinyang 《風俗通義》等文獻所見東漢原始道教信仰", Zongjiaoxue yanjiu 宗教學研究,1998(01): 14-19.
Li Quandi 李權弟 (2014). "Fengsu tongyi de bianzhuan ji qi wenxian jiazhi 《風俗通義》的編撰及其文獻價值", Anhui daxue 安徽大學xxx,2014.
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. 2, 1944.
Liu Haifeng 劉海峰 (2012). "Fengsu tongyi yanjiu zongshu 《風俗通義》研究綜述", Tianzhong xuekan 天中學刊, 27 (6): 110-114.
Liu Mingyi 劉明怡 (2009). "Fengsu tongyi de wenti tedian ji qi wenxue yiyi 《風俗通義》的文體特點及其文學意義", Wenxue yichan 文學遺產, 2009 (2): 20-29.
Meng Xin 孟心, Wang Lingjuan 王玲娟 (2011). "Fengsu tongyi tongjia xianxiang yanjiu 《風俗通義》通假現象研究", Nanyang Shifan Xueyuan xuebao 南陽師範學院學報, 10 (8): 53-56.
Nylan, Michael (1993). "Feng su t‘ung i", in Michael Loewe, ed. Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide (Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China/Institute of East Asian Studies), 105-112.
Qin Song 秦松 (1996). "Fengsu tongyi 風俗通義", in Feng Kezheng 馮克正, Fu Qingsheng 傅慶升, eds. Zhuzi baijia da cidian 諸子百家大辭典 (Shenyang: Liaoning renmin chubanshe), 461.
Shi Shuqing 史樹青 (1981). "Cong Fengsu tongyi kan Handai de lisu 從《風俗通義》看漢代的禮俗", Shixue yuekan 史學月刊, 1981 (4): 3-9.
Wang Yuguang 王余光, Xu Yan 徐雁, eds. (1999). Zhongguo dushu da cidian 中國讀書大辭典 (Nanjing: Nanjing daxue chubanshe), 1162.
Wu Feng 吳楓, ed. (1987). Jianming Zhongguo guji cidian 簡明中國古籍辭典 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), 145.
Wu Feng 吳楓, ed. (1994). Zhonghua gu wenxian da cidian 中華古文獻大辭典, Vol. Wenxue 文學卷 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), 98.
Yao, Ping. 2003. "A General Discussion of Customs (Fengsu tongyi)", in Robin R. Wang, ed. Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period through the Song Dynasty (Indianapolis: Hackett), 189-190.
Yao Shengliang 姚聖良 (2016). "Fengsu tongyi de zhiguai xiaoshuo shuxing: Jian lun Handai siaoshuo de leibie tezheng 《風俗通義》的志怪小說屬性——兼論漢代小說的類別特徵", Zhengzhou Daxue xuebao (Zhexue shehui kexue ban) 鄭州大學學報报(哲學社會科學版), 49 (4): 73-77.
Zhang Handong 張漢東 (2000). "Fengsu tongyi de minsuxue jiazhi 《風俗通義》的民俗學價值", Minsu yanjiu 民俗研究, 2000 (2): 164-171.
Zhang Jianguo 張建國 (2016). "Fengsu tongyi yu Soushenji chuangzuo duibi yanjiu 《風俗通義》與《搜神記》創作對比研究", Taiyuan Xueyuan xuebao (Shehui kexue ban) 太原學院學報 (社會科學版), 17 (3): 39-43.
Zhang Ying 張影, Wu Xiaodong 鄔曉東 (2023). "Fengsu tongyi zhong de xiaoshuo yinsu tanxi 《風俗通義》中的小說因素探析", Mingzuo xinshang 名作欣賞, 2023 (35): 54-57.