Wáng Bāo Jí 王褒集
Collected Works of Wang Bao by 王褒 (撰)
About the work
The Wáng Bāo Jí 王褒集 is a two-juàn jíyìběn 輯佚本 (reconstructed anthology) compiled by Zhāng Pǔ 張溥 (1602–1641) for his Hànwèi liùcháo bǎisānjiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集. The text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書. 卷二 is explicitly marked at line 1806 of the source file (total 4319 lines); the earlier material constitutes 卷一.
卷一 is devoted almost entirely to poetry, predominantly in the yuèfǔ 樂府 tradition. It opens with the 樂府 section, featuring frontier-theme pieces: 關山篇, 〈從軍行〉, 〈飲馬長城窟〉, 〈出塞〉, 〈入塞〉, 〈關山月〉, 〈長安道〉, and a number of social and romantic yuèfǔ topics (〈陌上桑〉, 〈明君詞〉, 〈遊俠篇〉, 〈燕歌行〉). It then moves into occasional court verse: 〈和張侍中看獵〉, 〈和庾司水修渭橋〉 (exchange poems with contemporaries at the Northern Zhou court), 〈贈周處士〉, 〈別陸子雲〉, and various hé 和 (matching) compositions. Citations are from Lèijù 類聚, Wényuàn yīnghuá 文苑英華, Yuèfǔ shījí 樂府詩集, and Shījì 詩紀 (fascicle 113). 卷二 contains official prose: memorials including 〈為百僚請立皇太子表〉 (a collective memorial from all officials requesting the establishment of the crown prince), 〈上新定鍾表〉 (presentation of the newly calibrated bell-pitch table), 〈為庫狄峙致仕表〉, 〈上祥瑞表〉, and the personal letter 〈謝賚絹啟〉.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Abstract
Wáng Bāo 王褒 (ca. 513–576 CE), styled Zǐyuān 子淵, was a southern aristocratic poet of Liáng 梁 origin who became one of the leading literary figures at the Northern Zhōu 北周 court. Born in Lángyé Línyí 琅琊臨沂 (modern Shāndōng), he was a scion of the distinguished Wáng clan of Lángye. He served at the Liáng court until the fall of Jiāngling to Wèi forces in 555 CE, when he was taken north along with the future emperor Liáng Yuán 梁元帝’s court, including Yú Xìn 庾信 KR4b0077. He spent the remainder of his life at the Northern Zhōu court, where he held various literary offices. His biography appears in Zhōushū 周書 41 and Běishǐ 北史 83.
Together with Yú Xìn, Wáng Bāo represents the transplanted Southern literary culture at the Northern Zhōu court, bringing the refined Liáng court style northward. His yuèfǔ verse — particularly the frontier-themed pieces — blends the ornate Southern aesthetic with the martial Northern subject matter in a manner characteristic of the late Six Dynasties synthesis. The Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature (Denecke et al. 2017, pp. 400, 435) notes that his frontier pieces on themes such as the “Mount Long” route and the “Pass and Mountain” (関山) topic stand alongside those of his contemporaries Jiāng Zǒng 江總 KR4b0070 and Yú Xìn KR4b0077 as the most accomplished late-Six-Dynasties treatments of these yuèfǔ subjects. Equally notable is his prose: the Oxford Handbook (p. 401) records that a pair of letters in exquisitely crafted parallel prose by Wáng Bāo and Zhōu Hóngrǎng 周弘讓 are preserved in his Zhōushū biography, illustrating the high standards of epistolary culture at the Northern Zhōu court.
The CBDB id for this Wáng Bāo is 462981 (dynasty: Northern Zhou), distinguishable from other homonyms (Míng, Sòng) in the database.
Translations and research
- Denecke, Wiebke, Wai-yee Li, and Xiaofei Tian, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature (1000 BCE–900 CE). Oxford University Press, 2017. References at pp. 400–401, 435.
- Knechtges, David, and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. (Entry on Wáng Bāo.)
- No substantial dedicated monograph or translation of the Wáng Bāo corpus located.