Garden of Eloquence / Shuoyuan說苑

1353 Pages·2022·60.707 MB·English

by  Liu Xiang, Eric Henry

Andrew H. Plaks and Michael Nylan, Series Editors
Exemplary Figures / Fayan
Yang Xiong, translated and introduced by Michael Nylan
Zuo Tradition / Zuozhuan
Commentary on the “Spring and Autumn Annals”
Translated and introduced by Stephen Durrant, Wai-yee Li,
and David Schaberg
Garden of Eloquence / Shuoyuan
Liu Xiang, translated and introduced by Eric Henry
Garden of Eloquence
Shuoyuan
說苑
劉向
Liu Xiang
(79–8 BCE)
Translated and introduced by
Eric Henry
University of Washington Press
Seattle
Garden of Eloquence / Shuoyuan was made possible in part by a grant
from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Additional support was provided by gifts from Michael Burnap, Irene
Tanabe, and Ruth Eller.
Copyright © 2021 by the University of Washington Press
Design by Thomas Eykemans
Composed in Minion, typeface designed by Robert Slimbach
25 24 23 22 21 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmit-
ted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.
University of Washington Press
uwapress.uw.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Liu, Xiang, 77 B.C.–6 B.C., author. | Henry, Eric P., 1943– translator.
Title: Garden of eloquence, Shuoyuan 說苑 / Liu Xiang, Eric Henry.
Other titles: Shuo yuan. Selections. English
Description: Seattle : University of Washington Press, 2021. | Series: Classics
of Chinese thought | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021000642 (print) | LCCN 2021000643 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780295995199 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780295806334 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: China—History—To 221 B.C.—Anecdotes.
Classification: LCc DS736 .L534772513 2021 (print) | LCc DS736 (ebook) |
ddC 931/.04—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000642
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021000643
The paper used in this publication is acid free and meets the minimum require-
ments of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48–1984.∞
To the memory of Xiang Zonglu and all the scholars who devoted
their lives to the restoration of textual accuracy in the written legacy
of early China
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Chronology of Dynasties xii
Introduction xiii
Garden of Eloquence / Shuoyuan
1 The Way of a Ruler 君道 2
2 The Craft of an Officer 臣術 76
3 Building the Root 建本 130
4 Establishing Integrity 立節 184
5 Prizing Virtue 貴德 222
6 Repaying Favors 復恩 280
7 Principles of Government 政理 338
8 Honoring the Worthy 尊賢 408
9 Upright Remonstrance 正諫 494
10 Diligent Care 敬慎 566
11 Skill in Argument 善說 628
12 The Performance of Missions 奉使 690
13 Judgment and Strategy 權謀 738
14 Impartiality 至公 814
15 Military Affairs 指武 860
16 Aphorisms 談叢 902
17 Miscellaneous Discourses 雜言 966
18 Discrimination 辨物 1038
19 The Cultivation of Civil Order 修文 1110
20 Returning to the Essence 反質 1196
Appendix: List of Anecdote Titles Created by Translator 1243
Bibliography 1265
Allusions Index 1279
Personal Name Index 1281
Place Name Index 1307
Topics and Motifs Index 1317
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to the University of North Carolina for awarding me a
Grier-Woods Fellowship, which freed me from teaching responsibilities
in the spring of 2008 and thus enabled me to complete my translations
of the last several books in Garden of Eloquence. I am also grateful to
Professor Tang Huisheng of Nanjing Shifan Daxue, who, on one occa-
sion when I was far from my library, went to extraordinary lengths to
procure on short notice a copy of Shangshu dazhuan that I needed to
consult (he at length found a copy on a graduate student’s flash drive)
and to Li Tianshi, also of Nanjing Shifan Daxue, who supplied me with
a copy of Shuoyuan jiaozheng from his institution’s library that I could
use while traveling elsewhere in China. E. Bruce Brooks of the University
of Massachusetts Warring States Project looked at the manuscript as I
was writing it and made valuable suggestions. David Pankenier of Lehigh
University, an expert in early Chinese astronomy, gave me some abso-
lutely crucial assistance in translating item 18.2, which concerns that
subject. Michael Nylan of the University of California, Berkeley, was
particularly meticulous in critiquing my text, raising innumerable
points in every section of the text. Every book in this translation has
benefited greatly from my (often strenuous) discussions with her. Profes-
sor Michael Loewe was willing to serve as a sounding board with regard
to difficult passages in several anecdotes. I am also greatly beholden to
Susan Stone, whose astute copy editing for the University of Washington
Press saved me from many errors, inconsistencies, and other problems.
I have benefited as well from the observations of Zhu Baoqing of Beijing
Shifan Daxue, Yoav Ariel of the University of Tel Aviv, and two anony-
mous readers for the University of Washington Press. Spencer Smith
gave me substantial and timely assistance in preparing the bibliography.
I am grateful to Dr. Jefffrey Tharsen of the University of Chicago for
creating a special font so that eight particularly rare characters not in the
Unicode set could be displayed in this book. I am also indebted to vari-
ous barristas working in the downtown Caribou Cafe in Chapel Hill who
IX
over many years provided a pleasant environment in which I could sip
coffee and work on Garden of Eloquence.
It is inevitable that a work of this scope will contain more than a few
errors, and for those I beg to accept complete responsibility. I hope also
that readers will be forthcoming in drawing these errors to my attention.
X Acknowledgments