Báishì Chángqìng jí 白氏長慶集
The Cháng-qìng Collection of [the Master of] the Bái Family by 白居易 (撰)
About the work
The collected works of Bái Jūyì 白居易 白居易 (772–846, zì Lètiān 樂天, late name Xiāngshān jūshì 香山居士) — the second-most-prolific (after Lù Yóu) major Chinese poet, the most widely read Táng poet during his own lifetime, and the canonical voice of the late-mid-Táng. Bái was jìnshì of Zhēnyuán 16 (800), eventually xíngbù shàngshū and Tàizǐ shàofù, and a lifelong literary partner of Yuán Zhěn 元稹 (= KR4c0068) — the YuánBái pairing — and friend of Liú Yǔxī 劉禹錫 (= KR4c0051). CBDB id 32227 confirms 772–846.
The transmission is unusually well-documented: Bái himself organized his works in stages and deposited multiple manuscript copies at major Buddhist temples. His own records:
- Tàihé 9 (835), placed at Dōnglín sì: 2,964 pieces in 60 juǎn.
- Kāichéng 1 (836), placed at Shèngshàn sì: 3,255 pieces in 65 juǎn.
- Kāichéng 4 (839), placed at Sūzhōu Nánchán yuàn: 3,487 pieces in 67 juǎn. — All titled Báishì wénjí.
- Kāichéng 5 (840), placed at Xiāngshān sì: 800 pieces in 10 juǎn. — Titled separately Luòzhōng jí.
The title Báishì Chángqìng jí originates with Yuán Zhěn’s Chángqìng 4 (824) preface, which compiled Bái’s pre-Chángqìng corpus into 50 juǎn, 2,191 pieces. Subsequent post-Chángqìng additions kept the title. Táng yìwénzhì gives 75 juǎn; Sòng zhì 71 juǎn (= present extent); Cháo Gōngwǔ describes 50 (qiánjí) + 20 (hòují) + 5 (xùjí, 3 lost) = 72 juǎn; Chén Zhènsūn gives 71 + 1 wàijí = 72. The current 71-juǎn form is the result.
Tiyao
Báishì Chángqìng jí in 71 juǎn — by Bái Jūyì of the Táng. Jūyì has the Liùtiē, separately catalogued. Qián Zēng’s Dúshū mǐnqiú jì records two Sòng prints titled Báishì wénjí, not Chángqìng jí. Wāng Lìmíng’s 汪立名 Xiāngshān shī jí preface argues that post-Bǎolì (825) verse should not be subsumed under Chángqìng. Examining Bái’s own records: he transcribed his collection multiple times for placement at temples — Tàihé 9 Dōnglín sì (2,964 pieces, 60 juǎn); Kāichéng 1 Shèngshàn sì (3,255, 65 juǎn); Kāichéng 4 Sūzhōu Nánchán yuàn (3,487, 67 juǎn) — all titled Báishì wénjí; Kāichéng 5 Xiāngshān sì (800, 10 juǎn) — separately titled Luòzhōng jí. Only Yuán Zhěn’s Chángqìng 4 preface compiled 50 juǎn / 2,191 pieces, calling it Báishì Chángqìng jí — meaning the Chángqìng set was specifically the pre-Mùzōng jiǎchén (824) corpus. Wāng Lìmíng and Qián Zēng’s argument is grounded.
But: Táng zhì records Báishì Chángqìng jí at 75 juǎn; Sòng zhì at 71 juǎn; Báishì wénjí not catalogued. Gāo Sīdé’s Chǐtáng cúngǎo has a Báishì Chángqìng jí xù. Sòng catalogues — Cháo Gōngwǔ’s Dúshū zhì, Yóu Mào’s Suìchūtáng shūmù, Chén Zhènsūn — all use Báishì Chángqìng jí. So claiming the Sòng prints were necessarily titled Báishì wénjí is not entirely accurate. Moreover, Yuán Zhěn’s preface was originally for Chángqìng jí; Bái’s own Shèngshàn sì wénjí jì records: “Yuán xiànggōng’s preface and a 1-juǎn contents-list separately” — meaning the Chángqìng jí preface was migrated to head the Kāichéng additions. Post-Bǎolì prose-verse was edited as xùjí, retaining the old name. So total titling as Chángqìng is not strictly wrong.
The juǎn count: Cháo Gōngwǔ — qiánjí 50 + hòují 20 + xùjí 5 (3 lost) = should be 72; Chén Zhènsūn — 71 + wàijí 1 = 72; both stating 71 to match present text — reasoning unclear. Péng Shūxià’s Wényuàn yīnghuá biànzhèng records a corruption in the 2nd jìnshì cèwèn; Féng Bān’s Cáidiào jí píng notes each juǎn-head’s gǔdiào lǜshī géshī taxonomy was re-cut by re-printers. So the present text already much-departs from the original.
Abstract
Bái Jūyì’s collection is the most thoroughly documented biéjí of any pre-Sòng Chinese writer — Bái himself recorded the deposit copies, their juǎn-counts, and their compositional dates at temples. The 71-juǎn form preserves verse and prose from his Zhēnyuán youth (the Cèlín policy essays of his jìnshì preparation) through his Wǔzōng / Huìchāng Lètiān retreat (the Xiāngshān and Luòzhōng late lyrics). Major works include: the Chánghèn gē 長恨歌 (“Song of Lasting Sorrow”) on Xuánzōng and Yáng Guìfēi; the Pípá xíng 琵琶行; the 50 Xīn yuèfǔ 新樂府 (with formal preface program-statement, the foundational document of the social-realist yuèfǔ movement); the 10 Qínzhōng yín 秦中吟; the 30+ Dàowáng poems (paralleling Yuán Zhěn’s); the Cèlín 60 piān; the substantial záwén on Buddhism, governance, and friendship. The text’s wide East Asian circulation (Heian Japan, Koryŏ Korea) is itself a major chapter in literary history.
Translations and research
- Waley, Arthur. 1949. The Life and Times of Po Chü-i, 772–846 A.D. Allen and Unwin. The classic Western-language biography.
- Levy, Howard S. 1971–78. Translations from Po Chü-i’s Collected Works. 4 vols. Paragon. Substantial corpus translation.
- Owen, Stephen. 2018. The Poetry of Bai Juyi. Wiley/De Gruyter. Translation of the Bái-shì wén-jí — the most extensive English-language Bái Jū-yì translation project.
- Feifel, Eugen. 1961. Po Chü-i als Zensor. Mouton.
- 朱金城 Zhū Jīn-chéng. 1988. Bái Jū-yì jí jiān-jiào 白居易集箋校. 6 vols. Shàng-hǎi gǔ-jí. Standard modern critical edition.
- 謝思煒 Xiè Sī-wěi. 2006. Bái Jū-yì shī jí jiào-zhù 白居易詩集校注. Zhōng-huá.
Other points of interest
Bái’s deliberate temple-deposit program — placing copies of his collected works at Dōnglín sì (Lúshān), Shèngshàn sì (Luòyáng), Sūzhōu Nánchán yuàn, and Xiāngshān sì — is the most aggressive author-curated transmission strategy known from pre-Sòng China. Bái understood, in the period of Wǔdài coming chaos, that single-copy preservation was inadequate; the surviving SòngYuán recensions all descend from one or another of these deposits. The Sūzhōu Nánchán yuàn deposit is the source of the Japanese Hakushi monjū tradition that became canonical at the Heian court.