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Mingxianji 名賢集

Sep 14, 2013 © Ulrich Theobald

Mingxianji 名賢集 "Collection of writings of famous worthies" is a textbook for elementary education compiled by an unknown author from the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279).

It consists of three parts, the first written in four-syllable verses, the second in five-syllables verses, and the last in seven-syllable phrases, all in rhymes. The texts recites the works from ancient writers and thinkers, but transformed in poetic language. Most themes of the book are of Confucian content, but there are also Daoist and Buddhist ideas included, and many stories circulating among the population.

The largest part of the text admonishes the reader to be cautious and to live a life of moral integrity, and often quotes from generally known proverbs and popular sayings, like "those who do not plan carefully in the future, will have trouble tomorrow" (ren wu yuan lü, bi you jin you 人無遠慮,必有近憂), or "nobody will care for poor people just living on the market place, but a rich man living deep in the mountains will have numerous visitors" (pin ju nao shi wu ren wen, fu zai shen shan you yuan qin 贫居鬧市無人問,富在深山有遠親), or "use your money as long as you live, because there will be nothing for you when you are dead" (you qian bian shi yong, si hou yi chang kong 有錢便使用,死後一場空).

The book is in many parts identical to the Zengguang xishi xianwen 增廣昔時賢文 (today known as Zengguang xianwen 增廣賢文). During the Qing period 清 (1644-1911), both texts were widely circulating and were referred to as Zengweng-Xianwen 增文賢文.

Sources:
Feng Wenquan 馮文全, Li Fengping 李鳳平 (2019). "Lun Mingxianji deyu sixiang dui dangdai jiating jiaoyu de qishi 論《名賢集》德育思想對當代家庭教育的啓示", Neimenggu Shifan Daxue xuebao (Jiaoyu kexue ban) 内蒙古師範大學學報(教育科學版), 2019 (6).
Jiaoyu da cidian bianzuan weiyuanhui 《教育大辭典》編纂委員會, ed. (1991). Jiaoyu da cidian 教育大辭典, Part 8, Zhongguo gudai jiaoyu shi 中國古代教育史 (Shanghai: Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe), Vol. 1, 215.
Wang Wenbao 王文寶 (1997). "Mingxianji 名賢集", in Men Kui 門巋, Zhang Yanjin 張燕瑾, ed.Zhonghua guocui da cidian 中華國粹大辭典 (Xianggang: Guoji wenhua chuban gongsi), 284.
Xia Dangying 夏當英, Wang Chuhui 王處輝 (2007). "Lun gudai mengyang shu Mingxianji tixian de chuantog shehui shenghuo linian 論古代蒙養書《名賢集》體現的傳統社會生活理念", Kongzi yanjiu 孔子研究, 2007 (7).