Li Xinchuan
Li Xinchuan was a Chinese historian during the Southern Song dynasty. Born to a prodigious scholar-official in southern Sichuan, Li gained an interest in history as a teenager and sought to create a set of annals covering the history of the Southern Song.
Failing the jinshi imperial examinations in 1196, he began private scholarship in Sichuan, compiling historical texts. He became well known for his historical studies, and was appointed as the proofreader of the Imperial Library in Lin'an in 1226, where he began compiling a state history of the Southern Song. He was granted an honorary jinshi degree in 1229, but censured in 1233 and forced to return to Sichuan, where he worked for the provincial government. Forced to return to Lin'an by the Mongol invasions in 1237, he became the director of the Imperial Library in 1238 and resumed work on his state histories. He was censured again for criticizing the state response to the wartime famine and forced to move to Huizhou, Anhui, where he died in 1244.
Li's most famous work is his, chronological annals of the Southern Song from 1127 to 1162. His other surviving works include a supplementary guide to the chronology titled, a short history of the Neo-Confucian movement titled, and, a partially-surviving set of notes on Song history.
Biography
In 1167, Li Xinchuan was born in Jingyan County, situated within the salt-producing region of Longzhou in southern Sichuan. He was the eldest of three brothers. His father, Li Shunchen, was a prodigious scholar who had obtained the jinshi degree in 1166. Although he alienated the Southern Song court officials through his advocacy of a warlike policy towards the Jurchen Jin dynasty and the reclamation of northern China, he gained a position at the Court of the Imperial Clan in 1179. This was likely due to the advocacy of Grand Chancellor, who was also from Sichuan. Li moved to Lin'an with his three sons–Li Xinchuan,, and Xingchuan. They were educated in the traditional manner in preparation for the imperial examinations, specializing in the Book of Documents.Li Xinchuan later recalled developing an interest in history while accompanying his father to the imperial archives in Lin'an; he wrote that he had overheard ministers there lamenting the lack of annals since 1127, when the Jin invasion pushed the Song south. Li Shunchen died in 1182, and his sons returned to Sichuan. The Li brothers studied for the imperial examinations over the next fifteen years, seeking to obtain the jinshi rank themselves. Two of them took the exams in 1196; Li Daochuan passed and became an official, while Li Xinchuan failed after one attempt. After this, Li Xinchuan returned to Longzhou and in 1197 began working as a private scholar, compiling historical texts over the following decades. Xinchuan was initially overshadowed by his brother Daochuan, who became a noted Neo-Confucianian scholar and loyalist official. Daochuan compiled the main source for the collected sayings of the philosopher Zhu Xi.
In 1200, Li completed his first book, the now-lost. Eight years later, he presented his major historical work,, and gained acclaim as a historian. He gained the courtesy name Weizhi and the art name Xiuyan. In 1205, an acquaintance warned Li that some powerful political figures were hostile to the compilation of private histories. As a result, he ceased work on these until the death of the autocratic Grand Chancellor Han Tuozhou in 1207.
Li's reputation as a scholar grew across the Song empire. Following the ascension of Emperor Lizong in 1224, a group of 23 officials—including Neo-Confucian scholar Wei Liaoweng—petitioned for him to be appointed to an official position. In 1226, he came to Lin'an and was appointed to be the proofreader for the Imperial Library, where he was commissioned to work on official histories of the Southern Song. Still a commoner at the time of his appointment, he was granted officialdom in 1227, and two years later was granted the jinshi degree; imperial records state that this was conferred due to the emperor's appreciation for one of his memorials to the throne.
In 1233, Li was indicted by the Censorate and forced to return to Sichuan. This was possibly due to his advocacy for Neo-Confucianism; according to the History of Song, Emperor Lizong asked Li in 1232 to recommend scholars who had previously declined offers of court positions. He recommended, whom Li saw as the greatest living Neo-Confucian scholar. As Li Fan had left his administrative posts in protest against Councillor Shi Miyuan's administration, the suggestion may have been interpreted as a protest against Shi. Although the Emperor reportedly approved of Li Xinchuan's suggestion, it was not acted upon, and Li Fan died shortly after. Soon after returning home, Li was ordered to the Sichuan capital of Chengdu to assist the provincial government in compiling a state compendium.
Li was recalled to court in 1236, possibly to allow him to leave Sichuan, which had become the front-line of the Mongol invasion. He returned to Lin'an in 1237 as part of a wave of Sichuan scholar-officials fleeing the conflict. He was appointed as the assistant director of the Imperial Library the following year and resumed work on the state histories. He was promoted to the director of the library later in 1238.
In 1240, famine struck Lin'an, exacerbated by the Mongol invasions, resulting in widespread death and cannibalism. Li wrote another memorial, blaming the famine on a lack of war preparations and incompetence by self-serving officials, and advocating that the emperor fire many of his advisors. For this, Li was again censured and sent to Huizhou, Anhui, where he was given a sinecure, serving as the guardian of a temple.
Li's successor as compiler of the state histories, Gao Dingzi, submitted them to the court at the request of chancellor. Shi censored portions of the text relating to his uncle Shi Miyuan's installment of Emperor Lizong as heir to the throne. Several officials, including Li, opposed this change. After this, Li had his sinecure removed and was sent into official retirement in 1242. He died in Huizhou in 1244. Li had no sons, and it is unknown if he was married. As such, one of his brother Daochuan's sons served as his heir.
''Chronological Record''
Li's most famous work is the , a chronological annals of the Song dynasty from its flight south in 1127 to the abdication of Emperor Gaozong in 1162. This book is one of the most widely-referenced primary sources for the Southern Song by historians, described by historian John C. Chaffee as a "detailed and authoritative history". The book may have initially covered up to the year 1194. According to the Song bibliographer, Li was forced to leave behind his drafts for the later portions by the Mongol invasion of Sichuan.The primary source for much of the work was the, as well as to a lesser extant the . Portions of the were altered and censored in the early 1140s by to support the regime of his father Qin Hui. As such, Li was forced to consult with various other sources to supplement the for the affected years of 1143 to 1155. These supplementary sources include various Veritable Records as well as private accounts such as the scholar 's and the diary of. Li decried Xiong's work as "evasive", but frequently cited it throughout the Chronological Record, often with the correction of Xiong's errors.
An initial draft of the Chronological Record was compiled in 1205, but faced heavy revisions over the following years. Following the death of Han Tuozhou in 1207, Li was able to levy harsher criticism against Qin Hui, which would have previously been seen as a veiled attack against Han's similarly autocratic leadership. Li's revisions significantly impacted future historical perspectives on Qin's leadership. The first full edition was delivered to the capital in 1212. Upon reading the work, the poet wrote that "now I understand that the requitals from Heaven make no error", referencing a line from the Han dynasty Sima Qian's history,.
Through its transmission to the Yuan, Ming, and Qing, the Chronological Record acquired multiple layers of commentary in addition to Li's own. It was relatively unknown throughout this period, although it was included in the 15th-century Yongle Encyclopedia'' and the 18th-century. Its first printing after the fall of the Song was made in 1882.
Other works
While employed by the Song court in Lin'an, he collaborated on an official history entitled . Another of his surviving works is the 1239, a short history of the Neo-Confucian movement from 1084 to 1224. The surviving edition is a dramatically expanded version produced by the scholar Cheng Rongxiu in 1333, and was rewritten to center Cheng's ancestor Cheng Yi. However, the first half of Li's original survives through a portion of the Yongle Encyclopedia.Li's lost works include his first book, ', as well as his 1221, which gave a chronology of contemporary events in Sichuan during the period, including the 1205–1207 Jin–Song war and 's defection to the Jin.' In 1219, alongside Zhu Xi's student Huang Gan, he produced an edited volume of Zhu's sayings entitled and edited his commentary on the I Ching'', . In 1223, Li published a collection of miscellaneous notes on Song history entitled, which partially survives.''''''
Historiography and legacy
Li was unusual among his peers for expressing a relative disinterest in art, philosophy, or most government service. He was not fond of the study of past dynasties, preferring to focus solely on the Southern Song. Although many of his contemporaries shared his interest in recent history, Chaffee writes that none except Li Tao could compare to him "in singularity of purpose or magnitude of accomplishment".While Li's work impacted future evaluations of Neo-Confucian history, it is unknown if he was a Neo-Confucian scholar himself, despite his political sympathies for them, as his essays often lack the philosophical ideas associated with the movement, such as an emphasis on sagehood and the search for the overriding principles of history and the universe.
Dedicated to Confucian ideals, Li frequently attacked Buddhism, criticizing their temples for their large landholdings, which he saw as harmful to the common people. When a monk persuaded him to write an essay for a Huzhou Buddhist temple in 1234, he used the opportunity to denounce the religion, writing "country establishes schools in the prefectures and counties in order to clarify human relationships; this is the proper business of Confucians. In establishing schools, is there any reason not to oppose the flourishing of monks?"
Li's work was admired by many of his contemporaries; Chaffee notes that he was "one of those rare historians whose works were widely read and influential in his own day." The 14th-century History of Song was less favorable towards him, describing him as talented but over-emphasizing his coverage of Sichuan.