Postscript to the Continued Genealogy of Zhixi (1824) (Text)

Postscript to the Continued Genealogy of Zhixi (1824)

In this postscript the 62^nd generation descendant Chen Shi discusses the history of his branch, which settled in this area after 1126, when the Song dynasty lost the north to the Jurchens and many officials and their families sought refuge in the south. His theme is the divisions that emerged over time in the descent group and failed efforts to make the genealogies of branches converge. In this case his Zhiyancun branch recognizes that they share a common descent with others but, being unable to rhyme the genealogy with the Baikang branch, rejects their efforts to join together. Why the Baikang branch wanted to do this is unclear.

Postscript to the Updated Genealogy of Zhixi (dated 1824)

             I have observed: if there is unity there must be division – such is the natural inclination of things; if there is division there must be unity – such is the principle we ought to follow. For what is divided to divide still further is also the natural inclination of things; but not to be united, yet for there to be no difference with being united – such is the principle we ought to follow. For there to be no difference with being united yet in the end to be incapable of uniting – such is the natural inclination of things even in the context of having a principle we ought to follow. To be divided and then further divided, to the point that in the end it can be divided no more – such is the principle that we ought to follow in the context of the natural inclination of things. If one does not observe unity, one cannot understand the reasons for being divided; if one does not observe division, one cannot understand the reason for being united. When one inquires this further, one find that unity, division, principles, and the inclinations of things are all connected by the emotions. How so? Because the emotions internally come from principles and externally accord with the inclination of things. To whom shall I turn to verify this view? I can verify it with the establishment of lineage and the compilation of the genealogy.

My lineage has been settled in Zhixi from the time of Mr. Di. Mr. Dajing followed the emperor in going south in 1126, and temporarily resided in Anji. Due to being prefect of Mu Prefecture, he settled down in Fenshui county in Mu. He begot Mr. Zhan and Mr. Di. Mr. Di then moved to Zhishan in Jiande. He was upright in his lifetime, and became a local god after his death. The local people being grateful, they built a temple in Ruyuan and sacrificed to him for generations without break. He married Ms Hu, and was buried in Mountain Wanluo in Ruyuan. Mr. Di’s son, the minor second ancestor, married Mrs. Zhang. The tomb fields for Mr Dajing and his sons Mr. Zhan and Mr. Di were all in Ruyuan.

In the gengshen year (1740) in the Qianlong reign period of This Dynasty, the Baikang branch came to compile its genealogy together with ours. Who would have expected that it was a unified compilation in name but a divided compilation in fact. After the genealogy was finished, the sequence of generations the two lineages were still separate and could not be made to fit with each other. When the genealogy was brought back, the elders read it and sighed, saying: “Nothing was accomplished except a lot of traveling! What is the point of a joint compilation?” They were not at all happy.

Afterwards, in the jiyou year of the Qianlong reign period (1789), our lineage updated the genealogy, but only for ourselves; the Baikang lineage was not involved. In the seventh year (1802) of the Jiaqing reign period, four members of Baikang lineage came for the joint compilation of the genealogy again. Reflecting on our previous experience, our lineage refused to go along with them. Even today, not only Baikang, but also the sub-branches which divided from us in Zhixi and moved away to Houjiang and Changxi have not joined us in a common genealogy. Only the two sub-branches of Mamu and Yencheng have combined in unity. As the lineage expanded, the genealogy became too voluminous. The natural inclination of things made full unity difficult. Alas! Mr. Hongji was only one person, yet he was extended into two. Mr. Di and Mr. Zhan were brothers, yet they were extended to become two lineages, Zhixi and Baikang. Yet they were further extended to become the sub-branches of Mamu, Yencheng, Houjiang, and Changxi. This is what is meant by “if there is unity there must be division;” this is what is meant by “further division followed by division;” this is what is meant by “what is divided will divide still further;” this is what is meant by “there is no difference with being united yet in the end they are incapable of uniting.”

However, if we trace back to the source and seek the root based upon the branches, it is still not beyond what I called “if there is division there must be unity,” “not to be united, yet for there to be no difference with being united,” and “to be divided and then further divided, to the point that in the end it can be divided no more.” However, these are cases of minor divisions and minor unities. Mr. Hongji was the first ancestor of the Xiangfu branch; his ancestor Mr Shuxian was enfeoffed as Prince of Henan and became the Henan branch; Kuei, the seventeenth-generation ancestor of Shuxian, moved to Changcheng and became the Changcheng branch; the even earlier ancestor, Mr. Wenfan, was the first to be conferred with the title Marquis of Kangle after his death, to which was added the title Prince of Yingchuan Commandery in the first year of the reign of Dajian (502), which was the origin of the Yingchuan Chens. Following this and tracing backward, the ancestor Tang served the Han dynasty, and was conferred with the title the Marquis inside the Pass. Ping served the Han dynasty, and was appointed as the Left Counselor-in-Chief. Tracing the origin of the Chen lineage, it originated from Duke Man of Hu’s enfeoffment in Chen in the early Zhou, which is why his descendants used the title of the kingdom as their surname. The Chens spread through the whole world, and our lineage took the Henan branch as our ancestors. In addition to the Henan branch, there were Xiangdong, Yiyang, and Xin’an branches. The rest were either not included in this branch but included in that one, or included in that branch but not in this one. It was like the threads that are numerous and complicated, beyond what counted on one’s fingers, but all were put in order in the Great Synthesis Genealogy by the Chen Jian, the Qimen Prefectural School student, in the Jiajing reign period (1522-1566). Thus the more numerous and complicated the divisions were, the more extensive the unity was. Is this not why it was a “great synthesis?”

In recent years, our lineage has frequently proposed recompiling the genealogy. In the spring of last year, each sub-branch had begun to collect the drafts, and it was completed this summer. Dundian, Dunyuan, Xisan, and Kueinian, etc., were in charge of it. Each collected various editions and integrated them into a general volume and listing the naming sequences and the proper arrangement of generations. They made it so that when one traces origins the connections  are obvious, like pearls thread on a single strand or perfectly matching halves of jade disks; when one calculates the generations, it is as easy as scooping grains of rice or drawing on sand.  It made the connections to the ancestors in the past and opened the way to good fortune in the future. It accords with the natural inclination of things, takes its measure from the principle of how things ought to be, and considers human feelings.

As for the meaning of the name Weirui: Wei is the name of a river. The ancient Erya dictionary says: “The northern bank of the river is called rui;”[1] the sage king Shun settled there. Our ancestors used “Weirui” instead of “Yingchuan” as our choronym to slightly differentiate our lineage from all the other branches.

 On an auspicious morning of the eighth month in the autumn of the jiashen year (1824), the fourth year of the Daoguang reign period.

 Respectfully noted by the sixty-second-generation descendant Shi, after ritual cleansing and repeated prostrations.

(from Zhiyan cun Chen shi zongpu 1996 ed. p. 56)

 [1] It is not from Erya, but from the Commentary to the Book of Documents by Kong Anguo in the Han dynasty.