Lǐngnán fēngwù jì 嶺南風物記
Record of the Customs and Products of Lǐng-nán by 吳綺 (Wú Qǐ, 1619–1694) — zhuàn 撰; supplemented by 宋俊 (Sòng Jùn) — zēngbǔ 增補; pruned-and-edited by 江闓 (Jiāng Kǎi) — shāndìng 刪訂
About the work
A 1-juan early-Qīng fēngtǔ monograph on the natural products and customs of Lǐngnán (Guǎngdōng, Guǎngxī, Hǎinán), composed by Wú Qǐ — zì Yuáncì 園次, also Fēngnán 豐南, native of Jiāngdū 江都; Shùnzhì 11 jǔrén (1654); held office as Prefect of Húzhōu 湖州 — and supplemented and edited by two collaborators (Sòng Jùn of Shànyīn and Jiāng Kǎi of Guìyáng). Wú was a literatus rather than a professional naturalist; the work’s narration is consequently elegant and concise, in the Guìhǎi yúhéng zhì tradition of Fàn Chéngdà KR2k0115 rather than the encyclopedic mode. Organised topically: 2 entries on climate; 10 on stones (including detailed notes on inkstones); 60 on plants, flowers, bamboos; 17 on birds; 5 on beasts; 6 on insects; 17 on fish, scaled-and-shelled; 3 on incense; 2 on wines; 4 on vegetables and grains; 15 miscellaneous appended at the end.
Tiyao
We respectfully note: the Lǐngnán fēngwù jì in one juan is by Wú Qǐ of our state, supplemented by Sòng Jùn, and pruned-and-edited by Jiāng Kǎi. Qǐ was originally a literatus, hence what this work narrates is generally simple-elegant and not laboured — it can stand on equal footing with Fàn Chéngdà’s Guìhǎi yúhéng zhì KR2k0115.
The first 2 entries narrate climate; the next 10 narrate stones; the next 60 narrate plants-flowers-bamboos; the next 17 narrate birds; the next 5 narrate beasts; the next 6 narrate insects; the next 17 narrate fish-scaled-and-shelled; the next 3 narrate incense; the next 2 narrate wines; the next 4 narrate vegetables-and-grains; the next 15 are miscellaneous matters appended at the end. Its narrations of inkstones and incenses are particularly detailed and accurate. Only the Jiéshíwèi pǐnzì shí item should belong in the záshì at the end; presumably in segmented compilation it has fallen out of order.
What Sòng Jùn supplemented is in all 7 items, all separately marked. His discussion of the stones that Mǐ Fú (1051–1107) had prized — that they originally came from Hánkuāng county, and were taken from sand-pits in late autumn when the water dried up; called tuōshā; later, when Hánkuāng was merged into Yīngdé, this came to be called Yīngdé shí; in fact both are different things — this is also what earlier persons had not brought out.
What Kǎi pruned cannot now be seen; whether his deletions were appropriate is no longer ascertainable. Wú Qǐ’s Línhuì jí is separately catalogued. Sòng Jùn, zì Chángbái 長白, native of Shànyīn. Jiāng Kǎi, zì Chénliù 辰六, native of Guìyáng. Respectfully proof-read in the seventh month of Qiánlóng 45 (1780).
Director-General compilers (chén /) Jǐ Yún, (chén /) Lù Xīxióng, (chén /) Sūn Shìyì; Director-General proof-reader (chén /) Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Lǐngnán fēngwù jì is one of the principal early-Qīng fēngtǔ monographs on Lǐngnán, by the well-known cí-poet and Húzhōu Prefect Wú Qǐ 吳綺 (1619–1694; CBDB 55666; zì Yuáncì 園次, hào Línhuì 林蕙; native of Jiāngdū 江都). Wú is principally remembered as a literatus and cí-poet; his collected works Línhuì jí / Tíngcài jí 林蕙集／停采集 are catalogued elsewhere. The Lǐngnán fēngwù jì came out of his Lǐngnán travels, with two collaborators — Sòng Jùn 宋俊 (zì Chángbái 長白, native of Shànyīn 山陰; CBDB 475707) supplied 7 supplementary entries (especially valuable on inkstones and Mǐ Fú’s tuōshā / Yīngdé shí distinction); and Jiāng Kǎi 江闓 (zì Chénliù 辰六, native of Guìyáng; CBDB 55669) did the final editorial pruning.
The work is in the elegant Guìhǎi yúhéng zhì tradition rather than the encyclopedic mode; the Sìkù tíyào explicitly compares it to Fàn Chéngdà’s work as ranking equally with it in literary distinction. The entries on inkstones (especially the Duānxī and Lǐngnán varieties) and on incense are technically detailed and have been used by historians of Chinese material culture.
The work is preserved in Wényuāngé Sìkù quánshū (vol. 592.4).
Translations and research
No comprehensive English translation. See ECCP s.v. Wu Ch’i; for Wú Qǐ’s literary career see Karl S. Y. Kao in Hervouet, ed., A Sung Bibliography. The work is regularly cited in studies of Qīng-period Lǐng-nán natural history and inkstone-historical research.
Links
- Wikidata: not yet linked
- ECCP s.v. Wu Ch’i