Chén Hòuzhǔ jí 陳後主集
Collected Works of the Last Emperor of Chen (Reconstructed) by 陳叔寶 (撰)
About the work
A reconstructed collection (jíyìběn 輯佚本) of the literary and imperial writings of Chén Hòuzhǔ 陳後主 — Chén Shūbǎo 陳叔寶 (553–604 CE; r. 582–589 CE), the last emperor of the Chén 陳 dynasty. Organized in three juǎn, the collection contains palace-style poems (gōngtǐ shī 宮體詩) cited from Lèifǔ shījí 樂府詩集 and Shī jì 詩紀 juǎn 98 (including 〈採桑〉, 〈日出東南隅行〉, 〈三婦豔詞十一首〉, 〈采蓮曲〉, 〈昭君怨〉, and others); a range of imperial edicts and rescripts cited from Chénshū Hòuzhǔ jì 陳書後主紀 (the annals of his reign), covering legal reform, recruitment of talent, agricultural policy, Buddhist temple construction, and dynastic succession; the 〈揚都興皇寺釋法朗墓銘〉 (epitaph for monk Falang, cited from Xù gāosēng zhuàn 續高僧傳); and the 〈題江總所撰孫瑒墓誌銘後四十字〉 (forty-character colophon on the tomb inscription of Sūn Chǎng, written by Jiāng Zǒng 江總, cited from Chénshū Sūn Chǎng zhuàn 陳書孫瑒傳). Two supplementary pieces in juǎn 3 are drawn from the Lù Qīnlì jibenben 逯欽立輯本 (Lü Qinli’s reconstruction of the Quán Chén shī 全陳詩), including the notorious 〈玉樹後庭花〉 fragment (“玉樹後庭花，花開不復久”), and three further pieces noted as doubtful in Dīng Fúbǎo’s 丁福保 Quán Chén shī 全陳詩 appendix. A critical note (按語) by the editors clarifies the attribution dispute over the 〈諮詢詔〉 (Chūxué jì juǎn 20 and Yìwén lèijù juǎn 53 attribute it to Jiāng Zǒng 江總). 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 not included 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
Chén Shūbǎo 陳叔寶 (553–604 CE; temple name Chén Hòuzhǔ 陳後主, “Last Ruler of Chen”; CBDB: no pre-Song entry) was the last ruler of the Chén 陳 dynasty, which fell to the Suí 隋 forces of Emperor Wen in 589 CE. His biography is in Chénshū 陳書 juǎn 6–7 and Nán shǐ 南史 juǎn 10. After the fall of Chen he lived as a prisoner under the Sui until his death in 604 CE. See 陳叔寶 for full biography.
Chén Hòuzhǔ is best known in traditional historiography as a wànggúo zhī jūn 亡國之君 (a ruler who lost his kingdom), his downfall attributed in moralistic accounts to his obsession with palace music and sensual poetry. The song 〈玉樹後庭花〉 (Jade-Tree Blossoms in the Back Garden) became a byword for the music of dynastic ruin (wánggúo zhī yīn 亡國之音). Du Mu’s 杜牧 famous poem “商女不知亡國恨，隔江猶唱後庭花” (Singing girls, heedless of a fallen kingdom’s grief, across the river still sing the Garden Blossom) fixed this association permanently. Within the jíyìběn, however, the bulk of the collection consists of imperial edicts that reveal a conscientious ruler concerned with legal reform, agricultural policy, and Confucian education — the inscribed 〈諮詢詔〉 inviting broad public opinion to the throne, the 〈崇儒詔〉 on rebuilding the Confucian temple, and numerous other rescripts cited from his annals in the Chénshū. The palace-style poems, though attributed to him, may in some cases reflect the work of his court poets; the jíyìběn editors follow Zhāng Pǔ’s attribution.
Translations and research
- Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. Entry on Chen Shubao.
- Tian, Xiaofei. “Palace Style Poetry.” In Denecke et al., Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Links
- Wikipedia: Chen Shubao