Fēi xuě lù 霏雪錄
Drifting-Snow Records
by 鎦績 (Liú Jì, also 劉績 Liú Jì; fl. 14th cent. late-Yuán / early-Míng; zì Mèngxī 孟熙).
About the work
A 2-juàn Míng bǐjì by 鎦績 (Liú Jì) of Shānyīn. The title — “drifting snow records” — alludes to the diaphanous reading-and-noting habit. The book records miscellaneous jiù wén (old hearings) and biàn hé (resolving disputes) on poetic-prose doubtful points. The book is also a witness to Liú’s late-Yuán intellectual milieu — he associated with late-Yuán elders, and the book carries some of their transmitted commentary. The Sìkù editors flag two distinctive features: the substantial argumentative content (with yìjù “having grounds”) and the inclusion of an unusual claim that Liú’s distant ancestor Mǎmùjūn served the Jīn Tàizǔ with the Jì Xìn jié (Jì Xìn’s loyalty) and that the Yuán compilers of the Sòng shǐ (Ōuyáng Xuán et al.) tried to extort a bribe for including this story. The editors note this is “yī jiā zhī sī yán” (one family’s private speech) and cannot be straightforwardly accepted. The book was first printed in the Chénghuà period; Hú Mì’s postface notes that Liú also produced the Sōngyáng gǎo (Sōngyáng manuscript) and the Shī lǜ (Poetics on Regulated Verse), both lost.
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Fēi xuě lù in two juan was compiled by Liú Jì of the Míng. Jì’s zì was Mèngxī, a Shānyīn man; his ancestors had moved from Luòyáng to Yuè; his father Huàn was expert in the Máo Shī; in the Yuán period he was Sānmáo shūyuàn shānzhǎng; Jì inherited the family-learning; with his son Shīshào, both had a name for talent.
The book mostly records miscellaneous old hearings and biàn hé (resolves-disputes) on poetic-prose doubtful points. Jì often associated with the late-Yuán various elders; hence his argument has yījù (firm grounds). Yet suí shǒu shàn lù (jotted-as-encountered) — without jiǎn tài (selection-trimming); and frequently records mènghuàn huīxié (dream-and-illusion, joking-and-mocking) affairs; cannot be fully consistent.
As to the saying that his distant ancestor Mǎmùjūn served the Jīn Tàizǔ with the Jì Xìn jié; in the Yuán’s compilation of the Sān shǐ, the historians demanded a bribe from his ancestor; refused; therefore [the matter] was not entered — this matter all historians have not approached. Yet at the time, the bǐngbǐ zhū chén (the various brush-wielding officials) — like Ōuyáng Xuán and the rest — were all famous shì of one age; I fear it did not come to this; or it may have come from one family’s private speech; cannot be generally trusted.
The book was printed in the Chénghuà period; with Hú Mì’s hòu xù (postface) noting that Jì had also composed Sōngyáng gǎo and Shī lǜ; both today not transmitted.
Respectfully revised and submitted, fifth month of the forty-second year of Qiánlóng (1777).
Abstract
The Fēi xuě lù is one of the early-Míng bǐjì preserving the late-Yuán intellectual milieu. The book has three distinctive features:
- Late-Yuán literary memory: Liú Jì’s association with late-Yuán elders gives the book primary-source value for the transmission of late-Yuán literary thought to the early Míng.
- Sòng-shǐ-compilation anecdote: the unusual claim that the Yuán Sòng shǐ compilers (Ōuyáng Xuán et al.) extorted bribes to include or exclude entries — a colourful but unverified family-tradition story flagged by the Sìkù editors as suspect.
- Poetic-prose criticism: substantial biàn hé on doubtful points in classical and Sòng poetry-and-prose.
The book is in the casual suí shǒu (jotted-as-encountered) style and includes much mènghuàn huīxié (dream-and-illusion, joking-and-mocking) material — inconsistent with the more serious kǎozhèng core.
Dating. The Míng Chénghuà period (1465–1487) printing places the work’s first publication well after Liú’s lifetime; the work itself was composed in the late-Yuán / early-Míng transition (1370s–1400). NotBefore 1370 / notAfter 1400. The standard text is the SKQS 2-juàn recension.
Translations and research
No complete Western-language translation. The book is cited in modern Chinese-language scholarship on late-Yuán literary transmission and on the early-Míng historiographic-and-bibliographic milieu.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Fēi xuě lù entry.