貴耳集

Guì ěr jí 貴耳集

Collection of “the Honoured Ear”

by 張端義 (Zhāng Duānyì, b. 1179; zì Zhèngfū 正夫, hào Quánwēng 荃翁); compiled in exile at Sháozhōu.

About the work

A 3-juàn late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì by 張端義 (Zhāng Duānyì), composed during his exile at Sháozhōu 韶州 (Guǎngdōng), to which he was banished after his three forthright memorials in answer to the Duānpíng (1234) zhào — submitted as “wàng yán” (forthright speech). Each of the three juàn has its own self-preface: the shàng juàn dated Chúnyòu 1 (1241); the zhōng juàn dated Chúnyòu 4 (1244); the xià juàn dated Chúnyòu 8 (1248). The book’s title is from the classical contrast guì ěr jiàn mù — “the ear is honoured (to receive past doctrine), the eye despised” — and replaces his earlier Duǎn cháng lù (lost — destroyed by his wife after his banishment). The book is principally bǐjì in the yì wén (anecdote) and shī huà (poetic-criticism) modes, with a substantial body of kǎozhèng. The xià juàn descends to more wěi zá (vulgar miscellany) material, consistent with the author’s own preface description of it as “bàiguān Yúchū zhī wén” — xiǎoshuō-class material. The book has been faulted by the Sìkù editors for several scholarly slips (Chen Tāo as Sòng courtier; Wúyǔ shàndào yī huǎn as Long-Dí; calendrical Tàixuán; Wáng Ānshí on Chūnqiū; Shī Yíshēng on xióng; Yìwén lèi jù attribution; Dōngfāng Shuò and língguān); but the editors retain the book on the strength of its substantial yì wén preservation.

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that Guì ěr jí in three juan was compiled by Zhāng Duānyì of the Sòng. Duānyì’s zì was Zhèngfū, self-styled Quánwēng. A Zhèngzhōu man; settled at Sūzhōu. In Duānpíng (1234) he answered the imperial zhào and submitted three memorials; he was condemned for wàng yán (forthright speech) and was settled in Sháozhōu. This book was composed at Sháozhōu, and each juan has its own preface. The shàng juàn was completed at Chúnyòu 1 (1241); the preface speaks of his life-meeting with the various elders’ surplus drift, compiling a Duǎn cháng lù in 1 fascicle; after his condemnation, the women of the family burnt it; so he retraced old affairs to record them; named Guì ěr jí: because the ear is the most honoured of human parts; yán yóu yīn rù shì yóu yán tīng (speech comes in by sound; affairs come in by speech being heard) — the ancients have the lesson “the ear penetrates, the heart attends” — and the saying “honour the ear, despise the eye.”

The collection’s last entry records his life-record in detail. The zhōng juàn was completed at Chúnyòu 4 (1244); the xià juàn at Chúnyòu 8 (1248). The book records mostly court anecdotes, with poetic-criticism material and some kǎozhèng entries.

The zhōngjuàn end has the Wáng Páiàn nv̌-sūn entry — beginning to involve the supernatural-marvelous. The xià juàn records much wěi zá (vulgar-mixed) matter — so his preface calls it “bàiguān Yúchū zhī wén” (small-talk and Yú-chū-school writing).

Within the book: he discusses zhì gào (imperial-decree drafting), citing Lù Yóu’s NánTáng shū recording Lǐ Yù’s cíchén as having Táo Gǔ and Xú Xuàn — but Táo Gǔ went from JìnHànZhōu into Sòng without serving Lǐ Yù; Lù’s NánTáng shū has no such passage either. He discusses wù cóng Zhōngguó míng cóng zhǔrén, citing the Gōngyáng zhuàn saying that the ChángDí called shàndào (good rice) Yīhuǎn — but the Gōngyáng actually says it was the Wú who called shàndào “Yīhuǎn,” not the ChángDí. He discusses the Yì hexagrams, saying the Hàn’s Zhōu Yì did not take Qián / Kūn as the first hexagram — and so Yáng Xióng’s Tàixuán jīng taking Zhōngfú as the first hexagram reflects the Hàn Yì. Now examining: guàqì starting from Zhōngfú appears in the Yì wěi Jī lǎn tú — i.e. Mèng Xǐ’s liù rì qī fēn method — not the actual Yì hexagram-order.

He discusses Chūnqiū, saying Wáng Ānshí struck the Chūnqiū as a Sage classic — so the Yuányòu literati all wrote Chūnqiū zhuàn — beginning with Hú Āndìng. Now: Hú Yuàn (Āndìng) was a Rén-zōng-era man, and so did not see the Xīníng prohibition. He discusses Shī Yíshēng’s Rì shè sān shí liù xióng fù — “xióng means hóu (target), not xióng (bear-beast).” Now per the Chéng shǐ’s record: Jīn’s Hǎilíngwáng on a national hunt in one day caught 36 bears; at the tíng shì (palace examination) he set the fùtí (rhapsody-topic) as “bears” — so it is the bear-beast, not the target.

He discusses Yìwén lèi jù’s entry — “Kīshānzǐ” for the chicken, “Lúshāngōng” for the donkey, and WúYuè Máo Shèng’s Shuǐzú jiā ēn bù — “follows Ōuyáng Xún’s bequeathed intention.” Now: this is from the Yìwén lèi jù’s Qín and Shòu sections compiled from earlier writings — not Ōuyáng Xún’s own composition. He discusses líng guān, saying that from Hàn Wǔdì onward Dōngfāng Shuò used xié xuè to enter — but the yōu Shī yǎn (jester Shī’s clear-sightedness) already in the Chūnqiū — not beginning with Shuò. Shuò himself rose to Tàizhōng dàfū; also not a clown-performer.

Looking at the xià juàn — it is essentially of the Jiāngxī school of poetry, with a strong taste for controversy — hence the references are not his strength; the deviations like the above are frequent. Yet what is preserved is much of yì wén — adequate to assist kǎozhèng; his discussions of poetry, of literature, and of contemporary affairs all have some adoptable points. His strengths cannot ultimately be erased.

Respectfully revised and submitted, tenth month of the forty-sixth year of Qiánlóng (1781).

Abstract

The Guì ěr jí is one of the principal late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì of the Lǐzōng period. The book has three distinctive features:

1. Exile-composed: the three sequential juàn — dated 1241, 1244, 1248 — were composed at Sháozhōu during Zhāng’s banishment, marking the work as a Sòng liúfàng wénxué (exile-literature) piece. The earlier Duǎn cháng lù was destroyed by his wife after his exile — a poignant biographical detail Zhāng records in his self-preface.
2. Jiāngxī school of poetry: Zhāng is identified by the Sìkù editors as a Jiāng-xī-school poet by family tradition. The book contains substantial shī huà-style poetic-criticism material rooted in the Jiāngxī school’s positions.
3. Multiple genres in one work: anecdotal-political record (shàng juàn); supernatural-marvelous (zhōng juàn end); vulgar-mixed xiǎoshuō (xià juàn) — covering most of the late-Southern-Sòng bǐjì’s range.

The Sìkù editors flag seven concrete kǎozhèng errors but retain the work on the strength of its substantial yì wén preservation and its critical contribution to poetics. The book is heavily cited in modern Sòng bǐjì-textual scholarship for its preservation of Yuán / Chúnyòu-period court anecdotes.

Dating. The three juàn prefaces date the work to Chúnyòu 1 (1241), Chúnyòu 4 (1244), and Chúnyòu 8 (1248). NotBefore 1241 / notAfter 1248. The standard text is the SKQS 3-juàn recension.

Translations and research

No complete Western-language translation. The book is cited in Chinese-language scholarship on the late-Southern-Sòng Lǐ-zōng-period court politics, on the Duān-píng purge, on the Jiāng-xī school of poetics, and on the loss-and-recovery of bǐjì manuscripts in personal calamity (the Duǎn cháng lù burnt by the wife).

Other points of interest

The story of Zhāng’s earlier Duǎn cháng lù being burnt by his wife after his exile — and his re-composition of the Guì ěr jí from memory — is one of the more poignant accounts of bǐjì loss-and-recovery in Sòng literature.

Links

• Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Guì ěr jí entry.