Lù Jī jí 陸機集
Collected Works of Lu Ji (Reconstructed) by 陸機 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of the literary writings of Lù Jī 陸機 (261–303 CE), the preeminent poet and literary theorist of the Western Jin dynasty. Organized in ten juǎn, the collection opens with the celebrated 〈文賦并序〉 (Rhapsody on Literature, with preface), one of the most important theoretical statements in the history of Chinese literary aesthetics. Subsequent juǎn include the 〈感時賦〉, 〈豪士賦并序〉, 〈瓜賦〉, 〈思親賦〉, 〈遂志賦并序〉, 〈懷土賦并序〉, 〈行思賦〉, and many other fù 賦, shi 詩, and documentary prose pieces. Citations are drawn from the Wénxuǎn 文選, Běitáng shūchāo 北堂書鈔, Yìwén lèijù 藝文類聚, Chūxué jì 初學記, and related encyclopaedias. This jíyìběn was compiled by Zhāng Pǔ 張溥 (1602–1641) for his Hàn Wèi Liùcháo bǎisān jiā jí 漢魏六朝百三家集 and is distinct from any separately transmitted edition of 陸機集 in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source. This text is an extra-catalog reconstruction not included in the Sìkù quánshū 四庫全書.
Abstract
Lù Jī 陸機 (261–303 CE; zì Shìhéng 士衡; CBDB id 33671) was the foremost poet and literary critic of the Western Jin 西晉 dynasty. A scion of the powerful Wú 吳 ruling house — his grandfather Lù Xùn 陸遜 and father Lù Kàng 陸抗 had been the greatest generals of the Wu kingdom — Lù Jī and his brother Lù Yún 陸雲 traveled to Luoyang after the Jin conquest of Wu in 280 CE and were immediately recognized as outstanding literary talents. His biography is in Jìnshū juǎn 54. See 陸機 for full biography.
The Wén fù 文賦 (Rhapsody on Literature) is Lù Jī’s signal contribution to Chinese literary thought. Composed in the ornate, rhymed fù 賦 form, it offers a systematic meditation on the mental processes of literary composition — from the initial gathering of inspiration (qíng tóng lǒng ér mí xiān 情曈曨而彌鮮) to the treatment of the ten major genres (poetry, fù, monument inscription, elegy, inscription, admoniton, encomium, discourse, memorial, and persuasion). Wilkinson (Chinese History: A New Manual, §30.7) cites Achilles Fang’s 1951 translation of the Wén fù in HJAS as the canonical English-language rendering. Denecke et al. (Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature, 2017) note that Lù Jī’s description of literary production directly shaped Cáo Pī’s 曹丕 Lùn wén 論文 tradition and was further developed by Liú Xié 劉勰 in the Wén xīn diāo lóng 文心雕龍.
Lù Jī was executed in 303 CE during the War of the Eight Princes (Bā Wáng zhī Luàn 八王之亂), falsely accused of treachery by Sīmǎ Yǐng’s 司馬穎 faction. His death marked the end of the first great flourishing of Western Jin literature. His collected works were listed in the Suíshū Jīngjízhì 隋書經籍志 in fourteen juǎn. The present jíyìběn in ten juǎn represents Zhāng Pǔ’s reconstruction from encyclopaedic citations.
Translations and research
- Fang, Achilles. “Rhymeprose on Literature: The Wen-fu of Lu Chi (261–303 A.D.).” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 14 (1951): 527–566.
- Lù Jī 陸機. Wén fù jí shì 文賦集釋, annot. Zhào Shàokāng 趙少康. Beijing: Rénmín wénxué, 2002.
- Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. Entry on Lu Ji.
- Shi, Zijian (David Shih). “Lu Ji’s Wen fu and the Problem of Literary Inspiration.” In Denecke et al., Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Links
- Wikipedia: Lu Ji (writer)