Zhāng Huá jí 張華集
Collected Works of Zhang Hua (Reconstructed) by 張華 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of the poetry and prose of Zhāng Huá 張華 (232–300 CE), the leading literary figure of the Western Jìn 西晉 court. Organized in two juǎn, the surviving fragments are preserved in the Yìwén lèijù 藝文類聚, Chūxué jì 初學記, Yuèfǔ shījí 樂府詩集, Tàipíng yùlǎn 太平御覽, Shìshuō xīnyǔ 世說新語 annotations, and the Wénxuǎn 文選. Major pieces include the celebrated 〈輕薄篇〉 (Poem on the Flippant and Frivolous), which depicts the decadent lifestyle of Western Jìn aristocratic youth, and 〈門有車馬客行〉 (At the Gate Guests Arrive in Carriages).
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Abstract
Zhāng Huá 張華 (232–300; zì Màoxiān 茂先; CBDB id 12368) was the pre-eminent literary figure of the Western Jìn court, celebrated as an encyclopaedic polymath (bówù 博物) as well as a poet and prose writer. His principal work as a prose author is the Bówùzhì 博物志 (KR3l0092 area), a compendium of strange phenomena. As a politician he served as Grand Mentor (Tàifù 太傅) under Jìn Huìdì 晉惠帝 and was one of the senior statesmen of the Western Jìn until his execution in 300 during the Disturbance of the Eight Princes (Bāwáng zhī luàn 八王之亂). See 張華 for full biography.
The Suíshū Jīngjízhì lists a Zhāng Huá jí 張華集 in ten juǎn, which had already been substantially reduced by the Táng 唐; Zhāng Pǔ 張溥 produced a reconstruction in the Hàn Wèi Liùcháo bǎisān jiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集. The present reconstruction preserves the same range of fragments. The most significant surviving piece is 〈輕薄篇〉, a long poem satirizing the extravagance of Jìn aristocratic youth; it is one of the most widely cited poems of the Western Jìn period, attributed to Zhāng Huá in the Wénxuǎn 文選 and in the Lèijù 類聚. Some citations also appear in the Bào Zhào jí 鮑照集 (see KR4b0011) for texts sharing thematic overlap. The 〈招隱詩〉 and 〈離思賦〉 fragments are also notable.
Translations and research
- Knechtges, David R. Wen Xuan, or Selections of Refined Literature. 3 vols. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982–1996. (Translations of Zhang Hua pieces in the anthology.)
- Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. Entry on Zhang Hua.
Links
- Wikipedia: Zhang Hua (Jin dynasty)