Kuàijī sānfù 會稽三賦
Three Rhapsodies on Kuài-jī by 王十朋 (Wáng Shípéng, 1112–1171) — zhuàn 撰; with annotations by 周世則 (Zhōu Shìzé) and 史鑄 (Shǐ Zhù) — zhù 注
About the work
A 3-juan composite work consisting of three fù (rhapsodies) by Wáng Shípéng on Kuàijī (modern Shàoxīng), supplied with two strata of annotation: the original notes by Zhōu Shìzé of Shèngxiàn 嵊縣, and supplementary notes by Shǐ Zhù 史鑄 of Kuàijī (preface dated Jiādìng dīngchǒu = 1217). The three rhapsodies are: (1) Kuàijī fēngsú fù 會稽風俗賦, modelled on the Sāndū fù 三都賦 of Zuǒ Sī, surveying Kuàijī’s mountains, rivers, products, persons, and ancient sites; (2) Mínshìtáng fù 民事堂賦, on the official hall of the Tiānchā qiānpàntīng (the Mínshìtáng), reconstructed by Wáng during his tenure as qiānpàn (prefectural-judge); (3) Péngláigé fù 蓬萊閣賦, on the Pénglái Pavilion, named from Yuán Zhěn’s poem zhéjū yóu dé zhù Pénglái “Even in exile I lodge at Pénglái.” The Sìkù tíyào commends the annotation tradition as a Sòng-period analogue to the Liú Dá / Zhāng Zǎi annotations of Zuǒ Sī’s Sāndū fù — i.e. a contemporary annotation of a contemporary literary classic.
Tiyao
We respectfully note: the Kuàijī sānfù in three juan is by Wáng Shípéng of Sòng. Shípéng, zì Guīlíng, native of Lèqīng; Shàoxīng 27 jìnshì zhuàngyuán (1157, primus); rose to Lóngtúgé xuéshì, posthumous title Zhōngwén; affairs in Sòngshǐ běnzhuàn. His Méixī jí contains his collected literary works; these three fù circulate separately. One is the Kuàijī fēngsú fù, modelled on the Sāndū fù, surveying mountains-and-rivers, products, persons, and ancient sites of the place. One is the Mínshìtáng fù: the Mínshìtáng is the official hall of the Tiānchā qiānpàntīng of Shàoxīng. Originally borrowed quarters at Xiǎo Néngrén sì, after long years it had collapsed; Shípéng first reconstructed it at Chēshuǐchéng. One is the Péngláigé fù: the pavilion takes its name from Yuán Zhěn’s poem “zhéjū yóu dé zhù Pénglái”; all are at Kuàijī, hence collectively called Sānfù.
In the beginning Zhōu Shìzé of Shèngxiàn formerly annotated the Kuàijī fēngsú fù; his fellow-prefectural-man Shǐ Zhù faulted it as not being detailed, and added supplementary notes, also annotating the latter two fù; at the end is a colophon by Shǐ Zhù dated Jiādìng dīngchǒu (1217). Shípéng’s writing is dignified-and-refined, sufficient to display the excellences of this region. Shǐ Zhù is a man of the time annotating a composition of the time, with what he heard and saw, his words must have evidence — compared to later persons reconstructing by imagination it is especially full and detailed; moreover, what is cited is nothing other than pre-Sòng works — much unlike recent gazetteers’ fabricated stories falsely attached to famous places. With Shípéng’s fù it advances side-by-side; it is also the second-grade after Liú Dá and Zhāng Zǎi annotated the Sāndū. Respectfully proof-read in the eleventh month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781).
Director-General compilers (chén /) Jǐ Yún, (chén /) Lù Xīxióng, (chén /) Sūn Shìyì; Director-General proof-reader (chén /) Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Kuàijī sānfù is the principal Southern-Sòng literary monument to Shàoxīng, ranking with Wáng Shípéng’s other works as a celebration of the eastern-Zhèjiāng heritage. The three rhapsodies were composed by Wáng Shípéng 王十朋 (1112–1171; CBDB 10598) — the Shàoxīng 27 (1157) zhuàngyuán, who rose to Lóngtúgé xuéshì and was posthumously titled Zhōngwén — at various points in his career; the Mínshìtáng fù was composed during his term as Tiānchā qiānpàn of Shàoxīng (1163–1166), in connection with his reconstruction of the official hall.
The first fù (Kuàijī fēngsú fù) is consciously modelled on the Sāndū fù of Zuǒ Sī (西晉), and is among the most important Southern-Sòng adaptations of the WèiJìn metropolitan rhapsody to a regional subject. The second (Mínshìtáng fù) commemorates Wáng’s official act of restoration; the third (Péngláigé fù) celebrates the famous Tang-period viewing-pavilion above the city.
The annotation layer is the principal scholarly value of the present recension. Zhōu Shìzé 周世則 of Shèngxiàn 嵊縣 (CBDB 26970) supplied the first commentary on the Fēngsú fù; Shǐ Zhù 史鑄 (a Kuàijī native, fl. early 13th century, also author of the Bǎijú jí pǔ 百菊集譜 KR3j0058) supplemented Zhōu’s notes on the first fù and added new notes to the latter two, with a self-colophon dated Jiādìng dīngchǒu (1217). The Sìkù tíyào explicitly compares the resulting Wáng + Zhōu/Shǐ apparatus to Zuǒ Sī + Liú Dá / Zhāng Zǎi as the foundational Wèi-Jìn-period self-annotated literary monument.
The work is preserved in Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 589.10).
Translations and research
No comprehensive English translation. The work figures in studies of Sòng-period regional consciousness, the fù as a regional-celebratory genre, and Shàoxīng historiography. See David Knechtges, Wen Xuan or Selections of Refined Literature, 3 vols. (Princeton, 1982–1996), for the fù tradition Wáng follows. For Wáng Shí-péng’s career see Charles Hartman in Hervouet, ed., A Sung Bibliography. Critical Chinese editions: Yú Bīng-rán 俞冰然 ed., Wáng Shí-péng quán-jí 王十朋全集 (Shàoxīng, 1998).
Links
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11178252 (Wáng Shípéng)
- Hervouet, A Sung Bibliography (1978)