Chí běi ǒu tán 池北偶談
Casual Talks North of the Pond
by 王士禛 (Wáng Shìzhēn, 1634–1711), the foremost poetic voice of the early Qīng.
About the work
The principal bǐjì of 王士禛 (Wáng Shìzhēn), in 26 juàn, organized into four named subdivisions: tán gù 談故 (talks on institutions; 4 juàn) on court statutes and elite custom; tán xiàn 談獻 (talks on persons; 6 juàn) recording famous officials, virtuous men, extraordinary characters, and exemplary women from the mid-Míng onward and into the early Qīng; tán yì 談藝 (talks on arts; 9 juàn) on poetics and wénzhāng, opening fresh distinctions and which the Sìkù editors deem the book’s jīngsuì (essence); and tán yì 談異 (talks on the strange; 7 juàn) recording supernatural anecdotes — a literatus’s “play of the brush.” The title comes from the studio name Chíběi shūkù 池北書庫 (“Book Library North of the Pond”), the storehouse of Wáng’s books to the north of a small pond in his Xīnchéng garden; a pavilion next to the library, called Shífān tíng 石帆亭 (“Stone-Sail Pavilion”), was where Wáng received guests and engaged in scholarly talk. The preface is dated Kāngxī xīnwèi (1691).
Tiyao
We respectfully submit that Chí běi ǒu tán in 26 juàn was compiled by Wáng Shìzhēn of the Guócháo. The tán gù 4 juàn are all records of court special institutions and refined gentry affairs — including such things as the Wùjǐ xiàowèi (Wùjǐ commander) and the qúndài guān (Skirt-Sash official) — sometimes reaching back to ancient institutions. The tán xiàn 6 juàn records mid-Míng-period and Guócháo (Qīng) famous ministers, virtuous men of greatness, eccentrics, and liènǚ; among these the discussions of Wáng Pǔ, Zhāng Shāngyīng, and Zhāng Cǎi sometimes condemn only their wickedness — supplementary records.
The tán yì (on art) 9 juàn are all discussions of poetry and prose, where his bringing forth the unusual and pioneering the new is his unique strength; the essence of the entire book lies here. The tán yì (on strange) 7 juàn are all records of spirits and oddities — the literatus’s habit of liking the marvellous; calling it xìmò (play of the brush) will suffice.
Chí běi — to the west of Shìzhēn’s residence is a garden with a pond, and a building was erected to store books, named the Chí běi shūkù (Book Library North of the Pond) after Bái Jūyì’s phrase. By the library is the Shífān tíng (Stone-Sail Pavilion), where he often gathered with guests to converse — so the book takes its name from this. There is a preface, written in Kāngxī xīnwèi (1691).
Respectfully revised and submitted, tenth month of the forty-sixth year of Qiánlóng (1781).
Abstract
The Chí běi ǒu tán is the principal bǐjì of 王士禛 (Wáng Shìzhēn) and one of the most widely circulated Qīng bǐjì of any kind. The four-section structure — institutions, persons, arts, and the strange — gives the work the topical depth of a small encyclopedia, while the tán yì (arts) section is the principal locus for Wáng’s prose-form treatment of his shényùn (Spirit-Resonance) poetics.
The book’s principal value:
- Shīhuà / wénhuà. The 9-juàn arts section is Wáng’s most extensive prose articulation of his poetic theory. It treats Tang and Sòng poetry, recent (Míng and early-Qīng) poetic movements, and is foundational for early-Qīng poetic criticism.
- Biographical material. The 6-juàn persons section preserves substantial portrait-anecdotes of mid-Míng to early-Qīng figures — useful for biographical research.
- Institutional material. The 4-juàn institutions section preserves MíngQīng court statutes and elite custom.
- Zhìguài. The 7-juàn strange section is one of the more substantial early-Qīng literatus zhìguài collections.
Dating. Preface dated 1691. Composition spans the 1680s. NotBefore 1680 (start of mature bǐjì phase), notAfter 1691 (preface).
Translations and research
The book is widely cited but has no full English translation. See:
- Richard John Lynn, “Wang Shih-chen’s Pure-Sound Theory of Poetry,” Tamkang Review 6.2 (1975), 27–84.
- Jiǎng Yīn 蔣寅, Wáng Yú-yáng yǔ Qīng-chū shī-tán (Beijing, 2001).
- Modern Chinese editions: Chí běi ǒu tán, ed. Jīn Sī-rén 靳斯仁, Zhōnghuá shū-jú, 1982 — the standard punctuated edition.
Links
- Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào, Zǐbù · Zájiā lèi 3, Chí běi ǒu tán entry.
- Wikipedia: Wang Shizhen (1634–1711).