Preface to the Grand Synthesis Genealogy (Text)

Preface to the Grand Synthesis Genealogy

This preface tells of a genealogy created to show how all Chen lineages are related to each other if one traces back far enough. The author is said to be the more important philosopher of the Ming dynasty, Wang Shouren (better known as Wang Yangming) 1472-1528. However, this preface does not appear in Wang’s collected writings. The genealogy, the preface tells us, shows how beginning from a single moment in antiquity the Chens diverged into so many different branches that people with the same Chen surname do not recognize kinship with each other. The preface then proceeds to the moral and social importance of recognizing kinship connections, achieved by recognizing the history of descent from the ancients.

 Preface to the Grand Synthesis Genealogy

明嘉靖十九年 (1540) 大成譜序 by 王守仁

Ever since the ancient rituals of the Five Descent Lines五宗and the Nine Policies for Social Order九兩stopped being practiced few of the so-called eminent families of the great towns have been able to keep a genealogy for their own families, and those who can keep a genealogy for a lineage are truly rare. How much more so those who extend [the genealogy] to all the different streams coming from the same source! One who is able to include all the different streams coming from the same source must benevolent of heart, lofty of ambition, vigorous in strength, and broad in learning. Today the Qimen Prefectural School student Chen Junjian wants to correct the shortcoming in prevailing customs by tracing back to the root and reaching the source, thus to integrate all the Chen lineages into one; he certainly is making a great contribution to the Chen lineages. Making it possible to follow the traces after a myriad generations so that ethical principles will not be extinguished and the proper arrangement of spirit tablet and graves昭穆 will be constantly illuminated—thus to maintain moral teachings in one’s very heart—whose contribution could this be? So I am delighted to learn about this from a short look, and cannot refuse his request [for a preface to the genealogy].

To trace the origin of the Chens: In the beginning, [their] surname was Wei. They come from Duke Man of Hu, who was enfoeffed at Chen by King Wu of Zhou. For generations they were in charge of the sacrifices to Emperor Yu [=the sage emperor Shun]. In the time of Duke Min of Yue [the territory of Chen] was annexed by the state of Chu. Therefore the descendants used the name of the state as their surname.

At the end of the Qin dynasty (in 206 BCE), there was a Chen named Ping, who was the 10^th generation descendant of Yue. He lived in Huyong county in Yangwu prefecture. He served the Han dynasty founder Emperor Gaozu as a strategist, together with Zhang Liang, and both were given the title of marquis and appointed chief ministers. He was illustrious in the empire. At the time of Emperor Yuan (48-33 B.C.) there was a Chen with the personal name of Tang, who was appointed as the Vice Commandant of the Western Region because of his being Ping’s sixth-generation descendant. He was appointed as a diplomatic envoy to foreign countries, and executed the Xiongnu khan Zhizhi, his wife Ms Yu, the crown prince, the eminent ministers, and those of lesser rank, more than 1500 people. He reported his achievements and was given the title of the Duke Within the Pass, thus to honor his ancestor Ping.

The descendants of Tang moved to Yingchuan. After seven generations, Mr. Wenfan was born, who transformed all around him with his integrity and righteousness to the degree that there was a saying “I would rather be punished by the government than be criticized by Mr. Chen.” He had six sons, all worthies, among whom Yuanfang and Jifang were the most admired by the world. The saying “It is difficult to be an elder brother and difficult to be a younger brother [in the face of such paragons of brotherliness]” probably originated with them. From then on the Chens in Yingchuan became ever more prominent and the descendants of Yuanfang and Jifang became ever more prosperous. [They were] eminent in the Wei dynasty, spread widely in the Jin, and greatly flourished during the Song, Qi, and Liang dynasties [from the 3^rd to 6^th centuries CE]. For example, the Chief Minister of Works Qun, the Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs Tai, on to the one with the personal name Kui who moved to Changcheng, all were the descendant of Yuanfang. The Prefect of Gaoyuan Run, the Registrar of Wei Tan, on to the Military Governor of Fujian Mai and those who moved to Putian, all were descendants of Jifang. Most of Jifang descendants settled in Putian in Fujian; others settled in Quan, Fu, and Jian’an Prefectures (in Fujian). During the period of Song and Yuan they rarely assembled together, therefore this branch did not have descendants.

The Changcheng branch, eleven generations after Kui, produced Emperor Wu, named Baxian, who succeeded the Liang dynasty and conquered the empire [in 558 CE]. His Chen dynasty passed the empire down through five emperors over thirty-two years, and thus at the time most of the fertile lands were settled by Chens. [He now explains how members of the family received land grants from the Chen emperors and set up new branches]

There were those in Xin’an were Bogu was enfeoffed, and whose descendants moved to Jixi. The Jingde, Changxi, Xiaxi, Chencun, Gushan, Yunling of Jing, Changhua, and Yigan lineages were all branches of those who settled in Jixi.

There were those in Henan where Shuxian was enfeoffed and whose descendants moved to Wuzhou [i.e. modern Jinhua]; the Tongcheng, Susong, Gao’an, Hukou, Changshan, Donglu, Yushan, Tengpeng, Huangmei, Guangji, Jianchang, and Chenqiao lineages were all branches of those who settled in Wuzhou.

There were those in Xiangdong where Shuping was enfeoffed and whose descendants moved to Huangdun in Xi; the Leping, Linhuai, Dinghai, Yongjia, Kunshan, Jinhua, and Lingbi lineages were all the branches of those who settled in Huangdun.

There were those in Yiyang where Shuda was enfeoffed and whose descendants moved to Yingjiang in Yushan; the Banxi kou, Damen li, Yiyang, Rongjin fang, Chenyuan in Dexing, Nuanchuan, Qicun, Shangrao, and Shaxi lineages were all branches of those who settled in Yinjiang.

Ren was enfeoffed in Luling, and all the lineages in Anlu, Xinchang, Dagu, Xinfeng, Xintian, Ningzhou, Shanshi, Xuancheng, and Chang’an regarded him as their ancestor.

Yun was enfeoffed in Wuxing and all the lineages in Pinghu, Yenjin, Jiaxing, Dongyang, Yuwu, Lianshi, Haiyen, and Zhapu regarded him as their ancestor. Zhuang was enfeoffed in Kuaiji, and all the branches of Fengyang, Tushan, Guangde, Kuzhu dun, Taizhou, Zhuangyuan tang regarded him as their ancestor.

Xian was enfeoffed in Henan, and all the lineages in Yuanwu, Ningling, Xiangfu, Shihe, Linpin, and Xinzheng regarded him as their ancestor.

Yen was enfeoffed in Xunyang, and all the lineages in Anren, Taiyuan, Chenying, Henan, Boyang, Nancun, Guixi, and Yongfeng regarded him as their ancestor.

Yu was enfeoffed in Wuchang, and all the lineages in Jiangxia, Jinsha, Zhupai, Tuanfeng, Jingxiang regarded him as their ancestor.

The lineages in Zheshan, Shanyin, Suichang, Fenghua, Wucheng, Wuxi, Changzhen originated from Prince Tian in Qiantang and Prince Jian in Nan’an.

The lineages in Boyang, Dayuan, Nanchang, Shiqiao, Jinxian, Luoling, and Hunan \ originated from Prince Shan in Boyang and Prince Mo in Badong.

As for the lineages in Xichuan and Dongmeng, they began when Crown Prince Shen moved to escape the Sui dynasty. Later there were some who lived in Baoning and Xinjing who in the end made their families famous, such as in Sanyao. There was also one who was appointed a military defender, and moved to Fuliang, Yenchang lin, and in the end died defending the state and was sacrificed to in the state temple, such as Grand Master Yi. There was also someone who was appointed to Jiangzhi but who so loved its beautiful landscape that he stayed in Tonglu, such as Surveillance Commissioner Qing.

The lineages in Chongqing, Nanchuan, Boyang, Licheng, Wuyuan, and Huokou attributed their origin to the Xinjing Chens. their descendants divided, for example the Tonggang Chen in Le, the Jinchan in Wu, and the Baisha in Dexing. There were also some from Licheng and Huokou. The Zhuyuan Chen in Qi, the Chencun in Xiu, and the Yinjing in Fu along with those in the towns, began from the Yenchang ling, but went off on different roads, such as the Chen lineages in Qixi, Fangcun, Chengcun, Panxi, Xuanhua, Chongshan, Zonglu, and Gumu. As for lineages in Jiande, Xiaomei, Qingyang, Wanli, Shuitan in Xiu, Qianfu, Xinxu, Dexing, Luowu, Cixiao fang in Xi, and Xixiang in Taiping: they were originally from either Zhuyuan or Chencun.

The branch in Tonglu was particularly segmented. Close by there were lineages in Chun’an, Sui’an, Fuyang, and Jikou; far away there were lineages in Tengxi in Xiu, Shimen in She, Yatou in Hu, Changmen in Su, and Tianzhu in Hang, along with those in the Shangguang, Shanyin, Tiantai, Xiushui, and Pingyang areas, all of which can be verified.

As for the others: some left this branch and joined this, left that and joined this, like broken threads and untied ropes, one cannot figure out where they began. In the Tiancheng reign (926-30) of the Later Tang dynasty, there were some gentlemen, such as Chen Tianqi and Wanyi who organized an assembly of the branches and more than three hundred branches responded [to their call]. Another was held in the Kaiqing reign period (1259) in the Song dynasty, and half as many participated. When it was followed in the Zhizheng reign (1341-1368) in the Yuan dynasty, only half of that number joined.

After that each lineage established its own local reputation and traced its ancestry through its own genealogy. Even if two Chen lineages were only separated by several yards it was as if one was living away in the north and the other in the south. How different from the ancients, who regarded the whole world as a family.

Why is Mr. Chen engaged in this study? Does he only want to regard the whole world as a family? I think he wants to rip out degraded customs and bring back the pure and simple, so that each member of the lineage will extend from his own body to his father, from his father to his grandfather, from his grandfather to his great grandfather, extend from his great grandfather to his great great grandfather, and from his great great grandfather on without end. Then those who have the same body with me, those who have the same father with me, those who have the same grandfather with me, those who have the same great grandfather with me, those who have the same great great grandfather with me, and those who have the same first ancestor with me, although some are well-known and some unfamiliar, some distant and some close, rich and poor, eminent and humble, smart and stupid, and worthy and unworthy – from the perspective of the ancestors all of them are descendants. Is there any difference between the well-known and the unfamiliar, the distant and close, rich and poor, eminent and humble, smart and stupid, and worthy and unworthy? Since there is no difference between the well-known and the unfamiliar, distant and close, rich and poor, eminent and humble, smart and stupid, and worthy and unworthy, then those who are intimate should think about how to promote friendly relations with those with whom they are unfamiliar; the close should think how to meet the distant periodically; the rich should think how to help the poor; the eminent should think how to support the humble; the smart and the worthy should think how to encourage the stupid and the unworthy. Let them have the same likes and dislikes, share worries and happiness, socialize with each other, support each other, encourage each other to cultivate virtue, and admonish each other for their faults. Let peasants and merchants assist each other and traveling merchants and local merchants cooperate with each other. Let them take care of each other in the case of flood, fire, bandits or thieves; show sympathy to each other in the case of illness or disasters; and help each other in weddings and funerals. Let the powerful ones not mistreat the weak, the majority not insult the minority, and the elders not bully the young. In one lineage harmony will prevail and benevolence will flourish. Then first, they will not stand in shame before the ancestors; second, they will not stand in shame before eminent families; and third, they will not stand in shame before this genealogy. How good it is that Mr. Chen is doing this!

He has edited the genealogies, charted the lineages, narrated the excerpts [of the biographies], and drawn the portraits of the dead. This is what Mencius called “Rectify them; straighten them; help them; give them wings; thus causing them to become possessors of themselves.” Should someone criticize this work as useless work it will be because he does not understand what the genealogy this. This is not a reason to criticize Mr. Chen!

Therefore I say “One who is able to extend [the genealogy] to all the different streams coming from the same source must be benevolent of heart, lofty of ambition, vigorous in strength, and broad in learning. Alas! Only the strongman Wu Huo can lift a ten-ton tripod, and only a Jinren can swim the mile-deep abyss. Such tasks must be entrusted to such men!

Genealogical learning has not been transmitted for a long time. Those who are bothered by this and want to do something about it are quite a few. However, one that is as brilliant, righteous, simple, succinct, substantial, and easy to read as this one is very rare. Therefore I know Mr. Chen is indeed a man capable of ordering the world, and indeed this genealogy is a grand synthesis! Thus I have set this forth to encourage future generations.

This classic was begun in the yihai year of the Zhengde reign (1515), finished in the jichou year of the Jiajing reign (1529), and published in the gengzi year (1540).

On the auspicious day of the tenth month of the lunar year in the winter of the dinghai year, the sixth year of the Jiajing reign of the Great Ming (1527).

Written by the Bearer of the titles of Palace Graduate, Grand Master for Splendid Happiness, Pillar of State,

And

Bearer of the appointments of Heavenly Assistant Guard, the Sincerity-and-Effort-Exerting Minister of the Ministry of War at the Southern Capital, concurrently Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Duke of Xinjian,

the recluse of the Yangming Mountain, Wang Shouren.

(from the Zhiyan cun Chen shi zongpu, 1996 ed.)