Yǎnjí 衍極
Expounding the Extremity (a Yuán treatise on calligraphic origins and method) by 鄭枃 (Zhèng Bǐng, zì Zǐjīng 子經, fl. Tàidìng 1324–1328, 元, zhuàn 撰); annotated by 劉有定 (Liú Yǒudìng, zì Néngjìng 能靜, hào Yuánfàn 原範, 元, dìngzhù 定註)
About the work
A two-juàn Yuán treatise on calligraphic theory in five piān, with three further piān of jìzǎi 記載 (records). The work runs from Cāng Jié to the Yuán, discussing the transformations of script-form from gǔwén, zhuàn and zhòu through to the methods of calligraphy of the Yuán present. Zhèng Bǐng was a man of Luóyuán 羅源 in Fújiàn; he served as Jiàoyú of Nán’ān 南安 xiàn in the Tàidìng (1324–1328) period and was a literary friend of Chén Lǚ 陳旅. The text was presented to the throne by Xuānfǔshǐ Qí Bóhēng 齊伯亨, who built a Yǎnjí táng for it; Táo Zōngyí’s KR3h0043 Shūshǐ huìyào notes that Zhèng excelled at large script and was also skilled in bāfēn (eight-thirds clerical). The commentary is by Liú Yǒudìng of Pútián 莆田 (recorded in Lín Chénglín’s Púyáng shībiān and in the Shūshǐ huìyào). The work was preserved in fragmented form in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and in separate Yuán editions; the Sìkù editors collated both branches to restore an approximation of the original.
Tiyao
We have respectfully examined: Yǎnjí in two juàn, by Zhèng Bǐng of the Yuán. Hé Qiáoyuán’s Mǐnshū says: “Bǐng, zì Zǐjīng, a man of Luóyuán; in the Tàidìng era held office as Nán’ānxiàn jiàoyú; was a literary friend of Chén Lǚ; composed Yǎnjí in five piān and Yǎnjí jìzǎi in three piān. The book runs from Cāng Jié to the Yuán, gǔwén 古文, zhuàn 篆 and zhòu 籀, the transformations of calligraphic method — all discussed within. Xuānfǔshǐ Qí Bóhēng selected and offered it up, building the Yǎnjí táng to store the book.” Táo Zōngyí’s Shūshǐ huìyào further records that he was good at large script and bāfēn — so his mind was occupied with the art and he could analyse the sources thus. The book is preserved in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn but missing the three jìzǎi piān. Separate editions also have illustrations of Xuéshū cìdì and Shūfǎ yuánliú, also missing from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. However, the separate editions have heavily corrupted phrases and merged text-and-notes, far below the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn in care. We have respectfully combined the two and corrected the text, restoring the old order. The annotations are by Liú Yǒudìng, zì Néngjìng, hào Yuánfàn, a man of Pútián; his name is in Lín Chénglín’s Púyáng shībiān and in the Shūshǐ huìyào — a refined man also. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 46 (1781), ninth month.
Abstract
Zhèng Bǐng’s Yǎnjí is the principal Yuán theoretical treatise on calligraphic origins and method, the Yuán counterpart to Jiāng Kuí’s KR3h0031 Xù shūpǔ. The work integrates a paleographic account of script-form transformation with a method-and-doctrine treatment of calligraphic practice — a synthesis characteristic of the Yuán return to canonical WèiJìn standards exemplified by Zhào Mèngfǔ. The Sìkù editors’ reconstruction from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and separate editions restores the work to something close to its original form. The annotator Liú Yǒudìng of Pútián supplies an exegetical commentary that the Sìkù editors regard as integral. The book was first cut after presentation by Xuānfǔshǐ Qí Bóhēng, who built a Yǎnjí táng for it — the only Yuán calligraphic treatise to receive this institutional support.
Translations and research
- McNair, Amy. “Public Values in Calligraphy and Orthography in the Yuan Dynasty.” Monumenta Serica 43 (1995): 263–278.
- McCausland, Shane. Zhao Mengfu: Calligraphy and Painting for Khubilai’s China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011.
- Yú Jiànhuá 俞劍華. Zhōngguó gǔdài shū-lùn lèibiān. Beijing: Renmin Meishu Chubanshe, 1957 (collated text and commentary).
- No standalone Western-language monographic study.