Wáng Càn jí 王粲集
Collected Works of Wang Can (Reconstructed) by 王粲 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of the literary writings of Wáng Càn 王粲 (177–217 CE), widely regarded as the foremost poet of the Jiàn’ān qīzǐ 建安七子 (Seven Masters of the Jiàn’ān Era). Organized in two juǎn, the collection draws citations from the Sān guó zhì 三國志 (Wáng Càn biography, Wèishū juǎn 21), Wén xuǎn 文選, Shī jì 詩紀 (juǎn 17), and encyclopaedic anthologies. The 〈駕出北郭門行〉 (yuefu ballad on departure from the northern gate) appears among the verse. Cáo Pī 曹丕 in his 〈與吳質書〉 praised Wang Can’s literary gifts above those of the other six masters. Compiled by Zhāng Pǔ 張溥 for his Hàn Wèi Liùcháo bǎisān jiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集.
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 Càn 王粲 (177–217 CE; zì Zhòngxuān 仲宣) was a native of Shānyáng 山陽 Gāopíng 高平 (modern Shandong). A recognized child prodigy, he was singled out by Cài Yōng 蔡邕 as a future literary genius. During the disorders following the fall of the Han court, he took refuge under Liú Biǎo 劉表 in Jīng 荊 province (modern Hubei/Hunan), where he spent some fifteen years in frustrated obscurity. He submitted to Cáo Cāo after the Battle of Red Cliffs (208 CE) and was appointed to high office in the Wei state. His biography is in Sān guó zhì (Wèishū 21). He died in the epidemic of 217 CE. See 王粲 for full biography.
Wang Can’s literary reputation rests above all on the 〈登樓賦〉 (Rhapsody on Climbing the Tower), composed during his years of exile in Jing province — a landmark of Chinese literature expressing homesickness and frustrated ambition that is preserved in Wén xuǎn (juǎn 11). Cáo Pī’s 〈與吳質書〉 (Letter to Wu Zhi) famously mourns Wang Can’s death and singles him out as the master of the group: “Zhòngxuān alone was able to manage the vast scope of a work.” His yuefu verse and shi poetry are notable for their expansive emotional register. The Suíshū Jīngjí zhì records a collected works of eleven juǎn (lost). Zhāng Pǔ reconstructed fragments from Wén xuǎn, Shī jì, Sān guó zhì annotations, and encyclopaedic compilations. The standard reconstruction of his poetry is in Lù Qīnlì 逯欽立’s Xiān-Qín Hàn Wèi Jìn Nánběicháo shī 先秦漢魏晉南北朝詩 (Zhōnghuá, 1983). Wilkinson cites the Seven Masters of Jiàn’ān collectively as the pre-eminent literary group of the period (Chinese History: A New Manual, “literary groups”: “Jian’an qizi 建安七子”).
Translations and research
- Knechtges, David R. Wen Xuan, or Selections of Refined Literature. Vol. 3. Princeton University Press, 1996. Translation of the 〈登樓賦〉.
- Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. Entry on Wang Can.
- Lù Qīnlì 逯欽立, ed. Xiān-Qín Hàn Wèi Jìn Nánběicháo shī 先秦漢魏晉南北朝詩. 3 vols. Zhōnghuá, 1983.
Links
- Wikipedia: Wang Can