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Lishu gangmu 禮書綱目

Sep 13, 2013 © Ulrich Theobald

Lishu gangmu 禮書綱目 "Outlines and details of the ritual books" is a treatise on the ritual classics of the Confucian Canon compiled by Jiang Yong 江永 (1681-1762). The title imitates the name of Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) book Tongjian gangmu 通鑑綱目, a philosophical interpretation of Sima Guang's 司馬光 (1019-1086) universal history Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑑.

Zhu Xi, the great Neo-Confucian philosopher, had written a comprehensive explanation on the ritual classic Yili 儀禮 and its older commentaries, Yili jingzhuan tongjie 儀禮經傳通解. This book had not been completed and was revised several times, but only Jiang Yong undertook the task to finish a large commentary on the ritual classic. The idea of the "outlines and details" was also based on the structure of the Classic Zhouli 周禮, but Jiang Yong's book covers all three ritual classics (Yili, Zhouli and Liji 禮記), as well as the topic of ritual music.

For the book of 85 juan the author has critically investigated 48 books that provide detailed information on issues only touched superficially in the classical texs. In his compilation Jiang Yong respected the original text and arrangement of the Classics more than Zhu Xi's draft, in which some paragraphs had been rearranged according to the content. As Jiang's text is in some places more logically structured and much more detailed than Zhu Xi's book it is a very helpful text for the study of Confucian rituals. Several prints of the Lishu gangmu were produced during the 19th century.

It is found in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Guangya shuju congshu 廣雅書局叢書.

Sources:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, ed. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 1, 234.
Chen Yongping 陳永平 (2017). "Lishu gangmu chutan 《禮書綱目》初探", Ha'erbin Xueyuan xuebao 哈爾濱學院學報, 2017 (4).
Su Zhengdao 蘇正道 (2017). "Jiang Yong Lishu gangmu de kaozheng tese 江永《禮書綱目》的考證特色", Zhongguo dianji yu wenhua 中國典籍與文化, 2017 (10).
Su Zhengdao 蘇正道 (2018). "Lishu gangmu yu Jiang Yong xueshu 《禮書綱目》與江永學術", Anhui Daxue xuebao (Zhexue shehui kexue ban) 安徽大學學報(哲學社會科學版), 2018 (7).
Su Zhengdao 蘇正道 (2018a). "Zhuzi jiali zai Qingchu de kunjing yu chulu: Jian lun Jiang Yong Lishu gangmu de bianzhuan he kanxing 《朱子家禮》在清初的困境與出路——兼論江永《禮書綱目》的編撰和刊行", Minjiang Xueyuan xuebao 閩江學院學報, 2018-01.