Sūn Chǔ jí 孫楚集
Collected Works of Sun Chu (Reconstructed) by 孫楚 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of the writings of Sūn Chǔ 孫楚 (c. 218–293 CE), a Western Jìn 西晉 official and writer. Organized in two juǎn, the fragments survive primarily through citations in the Tàipíng yùlǎn 太平御覽 (explicitly attributing 《孫楚集》) and in the Shìshuō xīnyǔ 世說新語 and its annotations, as well as in the Yuèfǔ shījí 樂府詩集 and Chūxué jì 初學記. The collection includes several poems — notably 〈答弘農故吏民〉 (Responding to Former Subordinates and People of Hóngnóng) and 〈除婦服詩〉 (Poem on Completing Mourning for One’s Wife) — and some prose writings.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Abstract
Sūn Chǔ 孫楚 (c. 218–293; zì Zǐjīng 子荊; CBDB id 397666) was a Western Jìn official and writer of considerable reputation but difficult personality, known for his biting wit and proud independence. Native of Tài’yuán 太原. He served in various posts including Fēng Dào biānjūn shī 馮道邊軍使 (Envoy to the Frontier Armies) before settling into provincial administrative roles. Famous anecdotes in Shìshuō xīnyǔ depict his unconventional lifestyle — including the story of his misquoting “I wish to be a stone, letting the spring flow over me” as “I wish to pillow my head on a stone and rinse my mouth with the spring” and brazenly reinterpreting it. His biography is in Jìnshū 晉書 56.
His jiǎo 矯 (arrogant) personality and his distance from court literary salons meant his works were not widely anthologized; the Suíshū Jīngjízhì records a Sūn Chǔ jí 孫楚集 in eleven juǎn. Zhāng Pǔ 張溥 included a Sūn Zǐjīng jí 孫子荊集 in his Hàn Wèi Liùcháo bǎisān jiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集. The surviving fragments in the present reconstruction show a range from occasional verse to formal correspondence.
Translations and research
- Mather, Richard B., tr. A New Account of Tales of the World (Shih-shuo Hsin-yü). Minneapolis, 1976. (Contains anecdotes about Sun Chu.)
Links
- Wikipedia: Sun Chu