嵗華紀麗譜

Suìhuá jìlì pǔ 嵗華紀麗譜

Manual of the Annual Splendours (of Chéngdū) by 費著 (Fèi Zhù, 14th c.) — zhuàn 撰

About the work

A Yuán-period 1-juan retrospective monograph on the annual festival cycle of Chéngdū 成都, with two appended philological-historical pǔ on Sìchuān local products: the Jiānzhǐ pǔ 牋紙譜 (Manual of Letter-Paper, 1 juan) on Shǔ paper-making, and the Shǔjǐn pǔ 蜀錦譜 (Manual of Shǔ Brocades, 1 juan) on Sìchuān silk-textile production. Composed by Fèi Zhù 費著 (Huáyáng native, jǔ jìnshì; appointed Guózǐ jiān zhùjiào; rose to Chóngqìngfǔ zǒngguǎn) — an ethnically Chinese Yuán official-scholar of Sìchuān origin. The Suìhuá jìlì pǔ describes the year-round festival, banquet, and outing culture of Chéngdū from New Year’s Day through the winter solstice, in a format formally close to the JīngChǔ suìshí jì KR2k0105 but in retrospective elegiac mode comparable to the Dōngjīng mènghuá lù KR2k0111 — composed after the destruction of Chéngdū in the late-Sòng / early-Yuán warfare. The two appended pǔ are the principal pre-Míng documentary monographs on Sìchuān paper and silk technology and the foundational works for the historical industrial economy of the region. The Sìkù tíyào notes that the title coincides with Hán È’s 韓鄂 Tang Suìhuá jìlì (a lèishū) but the works are distinct.

Tiyao

We respectfully note: the Suìhuá jìlì pǔ in one juan, with appended Jiānzhǐ pǔ one juan and Shǔjǐn pǔ one juan, was composed by Fèi Zhù of Yuán. Zhù was a native of Huáyáng; once nominated as jìnshì, given Guózǐ jiān zhùjiào; rose to Chóngqìngfǔ zǒngguǎn.

Chéngdū from Táng times had been called the most prosperous and densely populated city of the Southwest. At that time those who held command there were generally sent down from senior court ministers, with rich-and-noble leisure; the seasonal banquet-gatherings became an established custom — hence Zhāng Zhōufēng made the Huáyáng fēngsú lù and Lú Qiú made the Chéngdū jì, exalting and recording its splendour, with the áotóu xínglè (Crab’s-Head pleasure-tour) tales still preserved. By the early Sòng this custom had not subsided. Successive Grand Wardens such as Zhāng Yǒng — upright and square — and Zhào Biàn — pure and aloof — also followed the local customs and did not abandon entertainment-tours. Although the lavish-and-splendid prosperous-glory cannot be taken as a model, yet the people-and-things were rich and abundant, and song-poems of romantic flavour have often been transmitted as fine tales, esteemed by the world.

In the late years of Southern Sòng the wars-and-fires in Shǔ left dwellings deserted, with no further trace of the old appearance. The author therefore retraced old affairs and gathered them into this book; from New Year’s Day to winter solstice nothing is unrecorded. Its format is close to the JīngChǔ suìshí jì, but in the retrospective gaze toward bygone traces it is not without something of the Dōngjīng mènghuá spirit. (Hán È of Táng had a Suìhuá jìlì — that is a lèishì compendium; this pǔ is incidentally of the same name, but in fact a dìzhì.)

At the end are appended the Jiānzhǐ pǔ and Shǔjǐn pǔ — both of these things, since HànTáng times, have been Sìchuān specialties, but no monograph had given their sources. The author, treating these in addition to the customs section, examines the names-and-categories and lists them rather thoroughly — also useful for kǎozhèng. Respectfully proof-read in the ninth 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 Suìhuá jìlì pǔ is the principal Yuán-period monograph on the annual festival cycle and urban culture of Chéngdū, and the foundational source for late-Sòng / early-Yuán Sìchuān historical-cultural memory. It was composed by Fèi Zhù 費著 (fl. early-to-mid 14th century; native of Huáyáng 華陽 in Chéngdūfǔ; jǔ jìnshì; Guózǐ jiān zhùjiào; rose to Chóngqìngfǔ zǒngguǎn) — an ethnically Hàn Yuán-period local official of Sìchuān origin who lived through the aftermath of the late-Sòng Mongol-Sòng wars in Sìchuān (the wars destroyed much of Chéngdū in the 1230s and again in the late 13th century).

The Suìhuá jìlì pǔ itself follows the JīngChǔ suìshí jì KR2k0105 format — a year-round festival calendar — but in elegiac post-catastrophe mode (the festivals described are now extinct, the city ruined). Its principal value is as the only detailed pre-Míng documentary record of the Táng-Sòng-period seasonal and entertainment culture of Chéngdū, including the áotóu xínglè tradition documented by Zhāng Zhōufēng’s Huáyáng fēngsú lù and Lú Qiú’s Chéngdū jì.

The two appended pǔ are even more important as primary technical sources:

• The Jiānzhǐ pǔ 牋紙譜 (Manual of Letter-Paper) is the principal pre-Míng documentary source for Sìchuān paper-making technology, treating Xuē Tāo jiān (the Tang-period courtesan poet’s coloured letter-paper), Sìpǐn jiān, Bǎiyùnjiān, Bīntiě jiān, and the various other Shǔ paper varieties; foundational for the historical study of pre-modern Chinese paper.
• The Shǔjǐn pǔ 蜀錦譜 (Manual of Shǔ Brocades) is the principal pre-Míng source for Sìchuān silk-textile production, treating the great Shǔjǐn brocade types (Bādáyùn jǐn, Chuánzhī jǐn, Língjiā jǐn, etc.) and the institutional history of the Sòng-period imperial workshops; foundational for the history of pre-modern Chinese silk.

The work is preserved in Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 590.5).

Translations and research

• Han-sheng Chuan and Richard A. Kraus, Mid-Ch’ing Rice Markets and Trade: An Essay in Price History (Harvard, 1975) — for context on the Yuán-Míng-Qīng Sìchuān economy.
• Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin, Paper and Printing, in Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 5, pt. 1 (Cambridge, 1985) — uses Jiān-zhǐ pǔ as principal source for medieval Sìchuān paper-making.
• Dieter Kuhn, Textile Technology: Spinning and Reeling, in Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 5, pt. 9 (Cambridge, 1988) — uses Shǔ-jǐn pǔ as principal source.
• Wáng Yī 王毅, Suì-huá jì-lì pǔ jiào-zhù 歲華紀麗譜校注 (Chéngdū, 1990s).
• Wilkinson §38.4 (paper) and §38.6 (silk technology).

Other points of interest

The combination of the Suìhuá jìlì pǔ + Jiānzhǐ pǔ + Shǔjǐn pǔ as a single compilation (treating festivals + paper + silk as the principal facets of Chéngdū’s traditional economy) is a uniquely thoughtful piece of Yuán-period regional self-documentation, and one of the principal monuments of post-conquest Sìchuān local memory.

Links

• Wikidata
• Tsien, Paper and Printing, SCC vol. 5/1 (1985)
• Kuhn, Textile Technology, SCC vol. 5/9 (1988)