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Zhongzhenlu 忠貞錄

Mar 6, 2012 © Ulrich Theobald

Zhongzhenlu 忠貞錄 "Records of the loyal and incorruptible" is an unsystematic biography of Zhuo Jing 卓敬 (d. 1402) compiled by the late Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) scholars Li Weiyue 李維樾 (d. 1654) and Li Zengzhi 林增志 (1593-1667).

Zhuo Ying, courtesy name Weigong 惟恭, hailed from Rui'an 瑞安 (modern Rui'an, Zhejiang) and passed the metropolitan examination in the early decades of the Ming. He served as palace steward (jishizhong 給事中) and recommended transferring the Prince of Yan 燕, Zhu Di 朱棣, to the more distant princedom of Nanchang 南昌. When the Prince of Yan effectively pushed away his uncle from the throne (known as Emperor Chengzu 明成祖, r. 1403-1424), Zhuo Jing decided to die instead of serving him. Prince Fu 福王 (r. 1644-1645) bestowed upon him the posthumous title of Zhongzhen 忠貞 "Loyal and incorruptible".

The 3-juan long Zhongzhenlu includes in the first part the writings of Zhuo Jing, like poems, essays and tomb inscriptions, and is enriched by a praise and an introduction. The second part includes writings of later persons about Zhuo Jing. An appendix includes the biographies of Huang Yangzheng 黄養正 and Chen Maolie 陳茂烈 (d. 1517) who both hailed from the same village as Zhuo Jing. Huang Yangzheng also died when the Prince of Yan usurped the throne.

The Zhongzhenlu is included in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and was reprinted in 1935 by the Commercial Press 商務印書館.

Sources:
Hou Yongmei 侯咏梅 (2007). "Zhongzhenlu de neirong ji qi chansheng de shidai beijing: Jian lun Siku quanshu zongmu suo zhuan Zhongzhenlu tiyao zhi wu 《忠貞錄》的内容及其產生的時代背景——兼論《四庫全書總目》所撰《忠貞錄》提要之一誤", Tushuguan gongzuo yu yanjiu 圖書館工作與研究, 2007 (5).
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. 1, 983.
Wenzhou cidian bianweizui 《溫州詞典》編委會, ed. (1995). Wenzhou cidian 溫州詞典 (Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe), 518.