Lìzé cóngshū 笠澤藂書
The Bamboo-Hat-Lake Bundle by 陸龜蒙 (撰)
About the work
Self-edited prose collection in 4 juǎn + bǔyí 1 juǎn of Lù Guīméng 陸龜蒙 陸龜蒙 (?–881, zì Lùwàng 魯望, hào Tiānsuízǐ 天隨子, also Jiānghú sànrén and Pǔlǐ xiānshēng). Lùmèngméng was a Sūzhōu native, son of the Húzhōu cìshǐ Lù Bīn 陸賓, member of the great Wú jùn Lù lineage. He failed the jìnshì and lived as a recluse near Sōngjiāng, where his close friendship with Pí Rìxiū 皮日休 (= KR4c0088) produced the Sōnglíng chànghé jí of joint poetry-exchange. Lù has the Lěisì jīng (treatise on plows and harrows, separately catalogued in KR3 / agriculture).
The Lìzé cóngshū — title from the Lìzé (Bamboo-Hat-Lake) at Lù’s residence — is described by Lù in his self-preface as cóngcuò xìsuì (densely-fragmented, finely-broken) — hence titled cóngshū (bundle, miscellany). Organized by gānzhī sequence (jiǎ, yǐ, bǐng, dīng) — one of the earliest systematic Chinese self-compiled prose collections by gānzhī sub-division.
Tiyao
Lìzé cóngshū in 4 juǎn, bǔyí 1 — by Lù Guīméng of the Táng. Guīméng has the Lěisì jīng, separately catalogued. The collection was self-edited by Guīméng; because it is cóngcuò xìsuì, titled cóngshū. Ordered by jiǎyǐbǐngdīng. Followed by a bǔyí of 1 juǎn. Sòng Yuánfú period Shǔrén Fán Kāi 樊開 first prefaced and printed; Zhènghé beginning Pílíng Zhū Gǔn 朱袞 re-collated, dividing into shàngxià 2 + bǔyí 3. The present text is Yuán late period Guīméng’s descendant Déyuán 德原 re-cut: following the Shǔ-print division into 4 juǎn; but the preface still says 3 juǎn per the Pílíng edition — character mistake.
Wáng Shìzhēn’s Yúyáng wénlüè has a colophon: obtained Dū Mù 都穆’s reprint of the Shǔ-print; Jì jǐnqún in bǐngjí, Yíngcháo cí in dīngjí; in this text Jǐnqún in yǐjí, Yíngcháo cí in bǐngjí — sequence not all per Shǔ. Suspect Déyuán made further changes.
Guīméng and Pí Rìxiū were chànghé partners; in the Sōnglíng jí, gōnglì xī dí (their work-power tied at the bowstring); hard to determine jiǎyǐ (winner-loser). But on záwén (miscellaneous prose), Guīméng’s xiǎopǐn (small pieces) is more abundant, not as full as Pí’s Wénsǒu time-marked wěilùn (great arguments). Yet jiānqíng biézhì (interspersed-feeling distinct-poise) — also forms a school. Indeed each excels in his own way.
Abstract
The Lìzé cóngshū is one of the earliest Chinese xiǎopǐn (literary-miniature) collections — short, witty, often satirical prose pieces in modes anticipating the late-Míng xiǎopǐn tradition. The gānzhī-organized self-compilation is unusual: rather than divide by genre (shū, xù, lùn, etc.), Lù divided his miscellany by Heavenly Stems alone, producing what amounts to four lettered “books” of cóngcuò xìsuì. Major pieces include the Yě miào 野廟碑 (a satirical inscription on village shrines), the Báiyǎ (a short philosophical-philological tract), and various yùyán (parables). The transmission: original 4 juǎn → Sòng Yuánfú (1098–1100) Fán Kāi (Shǔ) → Zhènghé (1111–17) Zhū Gǔn (Pílíng) re-cut to 2 + bǔyí 3 → late-Yuán Lù Déyuán → present WYG. Substantial reorganization at each stage. CBDB id 33753 gives ?–881.
Translations and research
- See KR4c0088 (Pí Rì-xiū) for the joint Sōng-líng chàng-hé jí.
- 王錫九 Wáng Xī-jiǔ. 2000. Pí-Lù shī yánjiū 皮陸詩研究. (Joint study of Pí Rì-xiū and Lù Guī-méng.)
- No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
Lù Guīméng’s late-life withdrawal — Tiānsuízǐ (Heaven-Following Master), Jiānghú sànrén (River-and-Lake Wanderer), avoiding the political commitments that destroyed Pí Rìxiū during the Huáng Cháo crisis — is the prototype of the yǐnshì (recluse-literatus) life-mode that the early Northern-Sòng would canonize in figures like Lín Bū 林逋. The Lìzé (Bamboo-Hat-Lake) became, by the Sòng, a standard literary place-name for the yǐnjū (recluse-residence) trope.