Xiāo Zǐliáng jí 蕭子良集
Collected Works of Xiao Ziliang (Reconstructed) by 蕭子良 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of literary writings attributed to Xiāo Zǐliáng 蕭子良 (460–494 CE), Prince of Jìnglíng 竟陵王, the principal lay-Buddhist literary patron of the Southern Qí 南齊 Yǒngmíng 永明 era. Organized in two juǎn, the fragments survive in the Yìwén lèijù 藝文類聚 and Chūxué jì 初學記 (citations under 《詩紀》五十六 [Shī jì vol. 56]). The collection includes court and occasional poems: 〈九日侍宴〉 (Attending the Double-Ninth Festival Feast), 〈侍皇太子釋奠宴〉 (Attending the Crown Prince’s Feast at the Ritual for Confucius), 〈遊後園〉 (Excursion in the Rear Garden), and others. A note in the collection states that one poem has been incorporated from 《謝宣城詩集》四 (Xiè Tiào 謝朓’s collection, vol. 4) — indicating the compiler’s care to reassign correctly attributed pieces.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Abstract
Xiāo Zǐliáng 蕭子良 (460–494; zì Yúnyīng 雲英; Prince Wénxuān of Jìnglíng 竟陵文宣王; CBDB id 465955) was the second son of Qí Wǔdì 齊武帝 and the dominant literary and religious patron of the Yǒngmíng 永明 era (483–493). See 蕭子良 for full biography.
His literary salon at the Western Residence (Xī dì 西邸) hosted the “Eight Friends” (Bā yǒu 八友) — including Xiè Tiào 謝朓 (KR4b0012), Shěn Yuē 沈約, Liú Xié 劉勰, and Fàn Yún 范雲 — and was the seedbed of the new Palace Style (gōngtǐ 宮體) poetics that defined the Liáng dynasty court aesthetic. He promoted large-scale Buddhist sūtra copying and the Sānbǎo jì 三寶記 compilation. His surviving literary writings (court poems, Buddhist-themed occasional verse) reflect his dual role as aristocratic aesthete and sincere Buddhist lay patron. The collection here incorporates material from the Hóng míng jí 弘明集 tradition (Buddhist apologetics) alongside secular court verse.
The Nán Qí shū 南齊書 lists a Jìnglíng wáng jí 竟陵王集 in one hundred juǎn, of which only fragments survive. Zhāng Pǔ 張溥’s Hàn Wèi Liùcháo bǎisān jiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集 included a Xiāo Jìnglíng jí 蕭竟陵集.
Translations and research
- Mather, Richard B. “The Mystical Ascent of the T’ien T’ai Mountains: Sun Ch’o’s Yu T’ien-t’ai shan fu.” Monumenta Serica 20 (1961): 226–45.
- Gernet, Jacques. Buddhism in Chinese Society: An Economic History from the Fifth to the Tenth Centuries. Tr. Franciscus Verellen. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995. (On Buddhist patronage by the Six Dynasties aristocracy.)
Links
- Wikipedia: Xiao Ziliang