Lǐ Xiáshū wénjí 李遐叔文集
Collected Works of Lǐ Xiá-shū (Lǐ Huá) by 李華 (撰)
About the work
Lǐ Xiáshū wénjí 李遐叔文集 in 4 juǎn is the surviving collection of Lǐ Huá 李華 (715–766; zì Xiáshū 遐叔), the Tiānbǎo / Dàlì-period prose stylist who is one of the four canonical fùgǔ writers (alongside Xiāo Yǐngshì 蕭穎士, Dúgū Jí 獨孤及, and Yuán Jié 元結) — the bridge from the High-Tang court style to the YuánHé gǔwén movement of Hán Yù 韓愈. The collection is severely attenuated: the Jiù Tángshū records 10 juǎn in his time; Dúgū Jí’s preface (preserved with the WYG file) notes that the pre-monitorate writings filled 10 juǎn (the qián jí 前集) and the post-monitorate writings 20 juǎn (the zhōng jí 中集). Mǎ Duānlín’s Wénxiàn tōngkǎo does not list the collection — meaning the original was already lost by the late Sòng. The transmitted 4-juǎn text is therefore a MíngQīng editorial reconstruction from Wén yuàn yīng huá and Táng wéncuì, with Dúgū Jí’s preface retained as front matter.
Tiyao
Lǐ Xiáshū wénjí in 4 juǎn — by Lǐ Huá of the Táng. Huá’s zì was Xiáshū, a Zhàozhōu 趙州 Zànhuáng 賛皇 (modern Zànhuáng xiàn in Héběi) man, repeatedly jìnshì and hóngcí (vast-erudition) examination passed. Tiānbǎo jiānchá yùshǐ 監察御史; offended the powerful and was demoted to yòu bǔquē 右補闕. When An Lùshān rebelled and Xuánzōng fled to Shǔ, Huá was captured by the rebels and forced to take the rebel office of Fènggé shèrén 鳳閣舍人. After the rebellion he was demoted to Hángzhōu sīhù cānjūn; later Lǐ Xiàn 李峴 biǎo (memorialized) to place him in his staff and promoted him to lìbù yuánwài láng 吏部員外郎; he resigned for fēngbì 風痺 and died. Both Tángshū place him in the Wényuàn zhuàn 文苑傳.
The Jiù Tángshū says Huá’s collection in 10 juǎn circulated in his time; but Dúgū Jí’s preface says that of the writings before his jiānchá office there were 10 juǎn known as the qián jí, and the later writings were 20 juǎn known as the zhōng jí — the figures don’t match. Mǎ Duānlín’s Jīngjí kǎo doesn’t list it, so by the Southern Sòng the original was already lost. The present text — we don’t know who edited it — is gathered from Táng wéncuì, Wén yuàn yīng huá, and similar sources, classified by genre and prefaced with Dúgū Jí’s xù. Therefore there is no original juǎnmù; only piāncì. The arrangement is reasonable and serves for reading; we have therefore divided it into 4 juǎn and registered it.
Huá lived through the An Lùshān crisis and was forcibly placed in the rebel court — disgrace he never escaped, evidenced in his late writings. The Quán Gāo míng 權臯銘 says “Dú ér bù zǐ, yú ér bù xiá 凟而不滓瑜而不瑕” (“muddy yet not dyed; jade yet flawless”); the Yuán Déxiù míng 元德秀銘 says “Zhēn yù báihuā, bù zī bù lín 貞玉白華不緇不磷”; the SìHào míng 四皓銘 says “Dào bù kě qū, Nánshān cǎi zhī 道不可屈南山採芝.” The shǐ takes these as wēiwǎn 微婉 (subtle-and-allusive) self-justification.
Abstract
The 4-juǎn text contains xù, biǎo, zhuàng, qǐ, bēi, mùzhì, jì, zàn, and jìwén; about 100 pieces total. Centerpieces include the Diào gǔ zhàncháng wén 弔古戰場文 (“Lament for the Ancient Battle-Field”), one of the most-anthologized pieces of Tang fù; the Quán Gāo bēimíng 權臯碑銘; and the Yuán Déxiù bēimíng 元德秀碑銘 (the Yuán Déxiù tribute, on the principal Tiānbǎo recluse).
Lǐ Huá (715–766; CBDB cbdbId 32162 confirms; the meta has only 唐 dynasty) was a Zhàozhōu 趙州 Zànhuáng 賛皇 (modern Zànhuáng xiàn in Héběi) native, of the Zhàojùn Lǐ clan (the same jùnwàng line as the imperial Lǐ family). His career is shadowed by the rebel-court appointment in 756; the late writings are saturated with displaced moral self-vindication.
Translations and research
- Anthony DeBlasi. 2002. Reform in the Balance. SUNY. Substantial discussion of Lǐ Huá in the fù-gǔ lineage.
- David L. McMullen. 1988. State and Scholars in T’ang China. CUP.
- Charles Hartman. 1986. Han Yu and the T’ang Search for Unity. Princeton UP. Important context.
- Wáng Xī-yuán 王希源, ed. 2014. Lǐ Huá nián-pǔ 李華年譜.
Other points of interest
The Diào gǔ zhàncháng wén — Lǐ Huá’s signature piece — is one of the most influential mid-Tang fù: a meditation on a desert battlefield (“hàohào hū! píng shā wú yín, jiǒng bù jiàn rén 浩浩乎平沙無垠迥不見人,” “vast! the level sand without bound, distantly no human visible”) that decisively shaped the late-Tang and Sòng biānsài and huáigǔ genres.
Links
- Li Hua (Tang) (Wikipedia)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §54 (Tang literature); §28.7.3 (Tang fu-gǔ tradition).