Xiè Língyùn jí 謝靈運集
Collected Works of Xie Lingyun (Reconstructed) by 謝靈運 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of the literary writings of Xiè Língyùn 謝靈運 (385–433 CE), the founder of the Chinese landscape poetry (shānshuǐ shī 山水詩) tradition. Organized in five juǎn, this is the largest and most comprehensive of the Liú Sòng jiyiben reconstructions in this series, drawing on the Wénxuǎn 文選, Sòngshū biography (Sòngshū juǎn 67, with first-person signatures “靈運白” and “謝靈運和南”), the Buddhist apologetics preserved in the Hóng míng jí 弘明集, and extensive lèishū citations. The collection includes landscape poems, travel fù, letters, religious essays, and administrative documents. The documented “腳諸疾” (leg ailment) of the author appears as a biographical detail within the collection, confirming the attribution.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Abstract
Xiè Língyùn 謝靈運 (385–433 CE; original name Kè 客; zì Língyùn 靈運; CBDB: see 謝靈運 for details) was a Liú Sòng aristocrat and poet from the illustrious Chéngjùn Xiè 陳郡謝 clan. Prince of Kāngning 康寧王 under the Jìn, he served as governor of Yǒngjiā 永嘉 and Línchuān 臨川 under the Liu Song. See 謝靈運 for full biography.
Xie Lingyun is recognized as the inventor of Chinese landscape poetry, transforming the depiction of natural scenery from a background element into the primary subject of verse. His poems describing mountain excursions in the Guì 貴 region and around Shǐnìng 始寧 (modern Zhejiang) established the vocabulary of shānshuǐ shī that dominated Chinese poetry for centuries. The Wénxuǎn preserves several of his major landscape poems and fù, including the celebrated 〈山居賦〉 (Rhapsody on Living in the Mountains). He also wrote Buddhist philosophical essays on gradual vs. sudden enlightenment. He was executed in 433 CE for alleged rebellion. The Suíshū Jīngjízhì records a Xiè Língyùn jí in twenty juǎn; only a portion survives. Zhāng Pǔ 張溥 included his works in the Hàn Wèi Liùcháo bǎisān jiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集.
Translations and research
- Fröhlich, Tilman, and Markus Niklaus. Xie Lingyun’s Rhapsody on Living in the Mountains and Other Works. Leiden: Brill, 2022.
- Frodsham, J. D. The Murmuring Stream: The Life and Works of the Chinese Nature Poet Hsieh Ling-yün (385–433). Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press, 1967. 2 vols.
- Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. Entry on Xie Lingyun.
Links
- Wikipedia: Xie Lingyun