Kùn xué zhāi zá lù 困學齋雜錄
Miscellaneous Records of the “Studio of Hard-Won Learning”
by 鮮于樞 (Xiānyú Shū, 1246–1302; zì Bójī 伯機, Kùnxué mín 困學民), Yuán calligrapher.
About the work
A 1-juàn Yuán bǐjì by 鮮于樞 (Xiānyú Shū), the major calligrapher and contemporary of 趙孟頫 (Zhào Mèngfǔ). The book is suí bǐ (casual-pen) reading-notes — shī huà-style entries with miscellaneous Jīn-Yuán-period poetic preservation. The book has no authorial attribution in the original recension — Yuán Bǎn’s Míng Jiājìng postface notes the author as “Zhuànrén wèi xiáng” (compiler unknown). Cáo Róng’s Xuéhǎi lèi biān assigns the book to Xiānyú Shū on the strength of Xiānyú’s Kùnxué mín self-styling and the Kùnxué zhāi studio-name. The Sìkù editors accept this attribution, observing that the literary character of the entries is consistent with a refined Yuán literatus (and not the kind of compilation a forger would produce); they also note that no other early-Yuán literatus is known by Kùnxué zhāi. Lì È’s postface notes that the book preserves Jīn-dynasty poetry that supplements Liú Qí’s Guī qián zhì. The book is one of the principal Yuán-period shī huà sources for the JīnSòngYuán transition.
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Kùn xué zhāi zá lù in one juan was compiled by Xiānyú Shū of the Yuán. Shū’s zì was Bójī, a Yúyáng man; an official at the Tàichángsì as diǎnbù. The Shū shǐ huì yào describes him as “when drunk, free-and-bold; reciting poetry and brushing characters, with bizarre forms coming forth horizontally”; Zhào Mèngfǔ greatly respected him. This book records mostly contemporary shī huà and miscellaneous affairs.
The original recension does not bear the compiler’s name; so the Míng Jiājìng recension Yuán Bǎn’s bá (afterword) says “the compiler is unknown.” Cáo Róng’s Xuéhǎi lèi biān assigns the work to Xiānyú Shū on the strength of his “Kùnxué mín” self-styling and the studio-name “Kùnxué zhāi” he gave his residence. Now examining the book: although it is suí bǐ casual-record, brushed without much attention, between the brush-strokes there is the yǎ rén shēn zhì (an elegant-person’s deep significance) — not what a vulgar literatus could forge; and in the early Yuán no other man was named “Kùnxué zhāi.” Cáo’s identification of it as Shū’s seems credible.
The book closes with Lì È’s bá saying: “in the juàn, the Jīnyuánrén shī (poems by Jīn-dynasty figures) can supplement the gaps of Liú Qí’s Guī qián zhì — let them be preserved as adequate to assist cǎi lù (gathering and recording).”
The opening of the book cites the Lǐ Píng and Xǔ Chǔ two affairs — only records the old text without any concluding judgement; one cannot discern the meaning. In the middle, the Zhào Fùchū two poems are repeated front-and-back with slight character-variations; presumably also a casual miscellany, not edited-down. After his hand-record, later men assembled it into a book — like Sū Shì’s Zhì lín and Chóu chí bǐ jì of similar character.
Respectfully revised and submitted, third month of the forty-fourth year of Qiánlóng (1779).
Abstract
The Kùn xué zhāi zá lù is a Yuán bǐjì attributed (the attribution accepted by the Sìkù editors) to the major Yuán calligrapher 鮮于樞 (Xiānyú Shū). The book’s principal value is its preservation of Jīnyuán (Jīn-dynasty and Yuán-dynasty) poetry — particularly poems of Jīn-dynasty figures, which Lì È’s bá observes can supplement Liú Qí’s Guī qián zhì lacunae. The book is suí bǐ (random) in arrangement, with some repetitions and incomplete-judgement entries — as the Sìkù editors observe, an unedited collection of the author’s hand-record, assembled posthumously by others (in the manner of Sū Shì’s Zhì lín and Chóuchí bǐ jì).
Dating. The attribution to Xiānyú Shū places the book in 1246–1302; the latest plausibly datable entries belong to the Yuánzhēn / Dàdé period (1295–1300s). NotBefore 1290 / notAfter 1302. The standard text is the SKQS 1-juàn recension; an alternative attribution-anonymous text is preserved in the Míng Jiājìng recension.
Translations and research
No complete Western-language translation. The book is cited in modern scholarship on Jīn-dynasty poetry (especially the supplementation of Liú Qí’s Guī qián zhì) and on Xiān-yú Shū’s biography. Modern punctuated editions exist in Yuán-Sòng bǐjì series.
Other points of interest
The book is one of the very few surviving prose works by Xiānyú Shū — his fame rests overwhelmingly on his calligraphy. The book accordingly is a rare prose witness to the literary thought of one of the major Yuán calligraphers.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Kùn xué zhāi zá lù entry.