居易錄

Jūyì lù 居易錄

Record of Easy Dwelling

by 王士禛 (Wáng Shìzhēn, 1634–1711, zì Yíshàng 貽上, hào Ruǎntíng 阮亭, also known as Yúyáng shānrén 漁洋山人), the dominant poetic voice of the early Qīng.

About the work

A 34-juàn bǐjì compiled by 王士禛 (Wáng Shìzhēn) during the thirteen-year span from his appointment as Zuǒ fù dū yùshǐ (Vice Censor-in-Chief) in Kāngxī jǐsì (1689) up to his appointment as Xíngbù shàngshū (Minister of Justice) in Kāngxī xīnsì (1701). The title — Jū yì (Easy Dwelling) — alludes both to Gù Kuàng’s 顧況 quip to the young Bái Jūyì (“rice is dear at Chángān; dwelling here will not be ‘easy’”) and to the Zhōng yōng’s phrase jū yì yǐ sì mìng (“dwelling at ease, awaiting one’s destiny”) — a deliberate double meaning. The bulk of the book is poetic criticism, where Wáng’s strengths in biāojǔ míngjùn (singling out the eminent) are exemplary, but he also includes detailed kǎojù (textual investigation) of ancient books — tracking the yuánliú (origins and currents) and weighing the déshī (merits and failings). From juàn 3 onwards he intersperses contemporary affairs and from juàn 9 onwards the dispatches and promotions of his career, in rìlì qǐjūzhù (daily-court-record) chronological form, mixed in with the záshuō (miscellaneous discussions). The Sìkù editors regard this as an irregular departure from the bǐjì genre, though they note its precedent in Páng Yuányīng’s Wénchāng zálù. The work was originally written 王士禎 but, by the Yōngzhèng taboo on 胤禛 and a Qiánlóng 40 (1775) imperial edict, the name was changed in print to 王士正 and later 王士禎; the KRP canonical text retains the original 王士禛.

Tiyao

We respectfully submit that Jūyì lù in 34 juàn was compiled by Wáng Shìzhēn of the Guócháo. Shìzhēn’s zì was Yíshàng, hào Ruǎntíng, also called Yúyáng shānrén and Cánwěi lǎorén; a Shāndōng Xīnchéng man, jìnshì of Shùnzhì yǐwèi (1655 — correction: actually Shùnzhì wùxū 1658); held office to Xíngbù shàngshū; in Qiánlóng 30 (1765) was granted the posthumous title Wénjiǎn. The last character of his original name violated the Shìzōng Xiànhuángdì (Yōngzhèng) miào-taboo; printed editions mostly changed it to zhèng 正; in Qiánlóng 40 (1775) by imperial direction the character zhēn 禎 was substituted.

This book records the thirteen years from his appointment as Zuǒ fù dū yùshǐ in Kāngxī jǐsì (1689) to his appointment as Xíngbù shàngshū in xīnsì (1701). The preface says he takes the phrase Chángān mǐ guì jū dà bù yì (Gù Kuàng on Bái Jūyì) and at the end the jū yì sì mìng (dwelling-at-ease, awaiting destiny) idea — the two meanings being divergent and not clearly identifiable.

Within, much is poetic discussion; his biāojǔ míngjùn (drawing out the eminent) is his strength. His records of various ancient books — kǎojù yuánliú (investigating origins and currents) and lùnduàn déshī (judging merits and failings) — are also most detailed. Other points of investigation, much is worth taking. Only from juàn 3 onwards he suddenly records contemporary affairs, and from juàn 9 onwards covers commissions, promotions, and reappointments — wholly in the rìlì qǐjūzhù style of chronicling-by-year-and-month — mixed in with the záshuō (miscellaneous notes). His method, though originating in Páng Yuányīng’s Wénchāng zálù, is still at odds with [the bǐjì] formal example.

Also he likes to record his own píngfǎn (commutation of) judicial cases and his kàngzhí (upright) court memoirs to demonstrate his strengths. Now: Lǐ Bì’s Yèhóu jiāzhuàn came from his descendants, and the Wèi gōng yíshì came from his subordinates — composed by others. To write oneself, and on one’s own writing self-praise, even if word for word factual, is still shallow. This is the blemish that does not hide the merits.

Respectfully revised and submitted, tenth month of the forty-fifth year of Qiánlóng (1780).

Abstract

The Jūyì lù is the principal bǐjì of 王士禛 (Wáng Shìzhēn)‘s middle and later career, covering the thirteen years 1689–1701 — the period when he served first as Vice Censor-in-Chief and then through his appointments at the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice. It is a hybrid composition: part poetic criticism (the area in which Wáng’s reputation as the founder of the shényùn 神韻 (Spirit-Resonance) school is rooted), part kǎojù on rare books and inscriptions, and part day-by-day record of his official career. The four sections shade into one another, and the Sìkù editors register both the work’s substantive contributions and its departures from the standard bǐjì form.

The work’s principal value:

1. Shīhuà. Wáng’s poetic criticism here is exemplary of his mature Shényùn aesthetic. The book is a major source for the Shényùn school’s reading of Táng poetry, especially Wáng Wéi and Mèng Hàorán.
2. Kǎojù on rare books. Wáng’s notes on ancient books, their transmission, and their textual problems are detailed and well-judged.
3. Career chronicle. The intermingled day-by-day record of Wáng’s official career (from juàn 9 onwards) provides a near-diary of an elite early-Kāngxī official’s life — unusual for the bǐjì genre.

Dating. NotBefore 1689 (Kāngxī 28, his appointment to the Censorate); notAfter 1701 (Kāngxī 40, his appointment to the Ministry of Justice).

Name controversy. The original name is 王士禛, with the last character violating the Yōngzhèng emperor’s personal name 胤禛. The Qiánlóng court replaced zhēn 禛 with zhèng 正 in 1722 onwards and then with zhēn 禎 by edict of 1775. KRP canonical 王士禛.

Translations and research

Substantial Western-language scholarship on Wáng Shìzhēn focuses on his poetics:

• Richard John Lynn, “Tradition and the Individual: Ch’ien Ch’ien-i’s and Wang Shih-chen’s Theories of Poetry and Their Roots in the Sung,” in Wen-lin, 1968. Foundational.
• Lynn, “Orthodoxy and Enlightenment: Wang Shih-chen’s Theory of Poetry and Its Antecedents,” in The Unfolding of Neo-Confucianism, Columbia, 1975. The classic English-language treatment of shén-yùn.
• Jonathan Chaves, “Wang Shih-chen and the Shen-yün Theory of Poetry,” in Heaven My Blanket, Earth My Pillow, Weatherhill, 1975.
• Chinese-language scholarship: Jiǎng Yīn 蔣寅, Wáng Yú-yáng yǔ Qīng-chū shī-tán 王漁洋與清初詩壇 (Beijing, 2001) — definitive recent monograph.

Links

• Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Jūyì lù entry.
• Wikipedia: Wang Shizhen (1634–1711).