Cáo Cíbù jí 曹祠部集
The Collection of Cáo, [Director of] the Bureau of Sacrifices by 曹鄴 (撰), 蔣冕 (輯), with appended Cáo Táng shī by 曹唐 (撰)
About the work
Verse collection of Cáo Yè 曹鄴 曹鄴 (zì Yèzhī 鄴之, of Yángshuò 陽朔, Guǎngxī; jìnshì of Dàzhōng period, ~849; rose through Tàicháng bóshì, Cíbù lángzhōng — hence the title — to Yángzhōu cìshǐ). The collection is in 2 juǎn per the catalog meta — a Míng compilation by Jiǎng Miǎn 蔣冕 蔣冕 (1462–1532, Wéndìng 文定, of Quánzhōu 全州, Míng zhōngshū shèrén and Grand Secretary, Tàizǐ tàifù). Prefaced by Jiǎng. Cáo Yè’s career — passing the jìnshì late after great hardship — produced verse of yuànlǎo jiēbēi (regret-of-aging, lament-of-low-station) tone. He was also part of Zhāng Wèi’s Zhǔkè tú (his school-position not specified in the tíyào).
Appended is Cáo Táng 曹唐 曹唐 (zì Yáobīn 堯賓, of Guìlín; first a Daoist priest, returned to lay life Tàihé period, eventually jìnshì; held cóngshì posts at various offices). The 1-juǎn appended Cáo Táng poems were gathered by Jiǎng Miǎn from anthological sources after he could not locate the original collection. Cáo Táng is best known for his Yóuxiān shī 遊仙詩 (Daoist immortality poems) — modeling Yán Yánzhī’s Wéi zhīnǚ zèng Qiānniú shī and extending into a series of female-immortal exchanges — verse much-anthologized but the Sìkù finds it not first-rate.
Both poets being from Guǎngxī is the editorial principle behind their joint publication.
Tiyao
Cáo Cíbù jí 2 juǎn + appended Cáo Táng shī 1 juǎn — by Cáo Yè of the Táng. Yè zì Yèzhī, of Yángshuò. Míng Jiǎng Miǎn’s preface: “Dàzhōng period passed jìnshì; from Tiānpíng jiédù zhǎngshūjì rose to Tàicháng bóshì, Cíbù lángzhōng; reached Yángzhōu cìshǐ.” But Zhèng Gǔ’s Yúntái biān has Sòng Cáo Yè Lìbù guī Guìlín shī — Cáo also held Lìbù office; Jiǎng’s record incomplete. Tángshū Gāo Yuányù zhuàn records Yè as Tàicháng bóshì, deliberating Gāo Jǔ’s posthumous title — argument lofty.
But his verse is mostly yuànlǎo jiēbēi (lamenting age and low station) — kǎnlǎn bù yù (frustrated and unsuccessful), late in finally achieving fame; lifetime entrustment never beyond this. Not just Wéi Què’s praised Sì yuàn sān chóu wǔ qíng zhū piān — even after passing, the Xìngyuán xíshàng tóngnián shī: “sudden out of nine roads / servants’ faces strange”; Xiàn ēnmén shī: “name like bird flying / in days reaches Yuè”; Jì Yángshuò yǒurén shī: “Guìlín must produce thousand-autumn cassia / unable now to open under heaven’s moon-light / I to the moon will get the seed / for me transplant to old garden plant” — how shallow!
Zhāng Wèi’s Zhǔkè tú listed him; in his time literati respected him. Dú Lǐ Sī zhuàn and Shǐhuáng língxià zuò 2 — anthologies sometimes select; but no deep meaning. Tángzhì: 3 juǎn; present 2 — perhaps fine pieces lost. Long-circulated; preserved as one family.
End: appended Cáo Táng shī 1 juǎn. Táng zì Yáobīn, of Guìlín; first a Daoist; Tàihé returned to lay; jìnshì; staff posts. Yóuxiān shī most famous; modeled on Yán Yánzhī’s Wéi zhīnǚ zèng Qiānniú shī, expanding to female immortals’ zèngdá — but pieces though varying in name, similar in language and meaning; not really standout. Tángzhì: 3 juǎn; Jiǎng Miǎn could not find original; gathered from anthologies into 1 juǎn; appended after Cáo Yè’s poems — both being Yuèxī (Guǎngxī) natives.
Abstract
The Cáo Cíbù jí is a Míng-period combined edition of two late-Táng Guǎngxī-region poets — Cáo Yè (Cíbù lángzhōng) and Cáo Táng (Daoist-turned-civil-servant) — assembled by Jiǎng Miǎn in the early 16th century on the principle of regional affinity. Cáo Yè’s verse, yuànlǎo jiēbēi in tone, reflects the late-Táng dilemma of the long-failed examination candidate; Cáo Táng’s Yóuxiān corpus represents the Daoist-immortality strand of late-Táng verse. The transmission for both is severely diminished from the Sòng-period 3-juǎn recensions. Cáo Yè CBDB id 94473; Cáo Táng has no CBDB entry. The combined volume’s bibliographic interest lies partly in Jiǎng Miǎn’s editorial principle — preserving regional minor poets as a Yuèxī Tang-poetry sample. Catalog gives no specific dates for either; the period dating is Dàzhōng (847–860) for Cáo Yè and Tàihé (827–835) onward for Cáo Táng.
Translations and research
- 梁超然 Liáng Chāo-rán, 毛水清 Máo Shuǐ-qīng. 1989. Cáo Yè shī zhù 曹鄴詩注. Shàng-hǎi gǔ-jí.
- No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
Jiǎng Miǎn’s editorial decision to combine Cáo Yè + Cáo Táng on the principle of shared Yuèxī regional origin — even though their poetic styles and life circumstances are quite different — is one of the early Míng moves toward xiāngbāng (regional-sub-anthology) consciousness, prefiguring later Yuèxī shīxuǎn Qīng provincial-poetry compilations.