Sīkōng Biǎoshèng wénjí 司空表聖文集
The Prose Collection of Sī-kōng Biǎo-shèng [Sī-kōng Tú] by 司空圖 (撰)
About the work
Prose collection in 10 juǎn of Sīkōng Tú 司空圖 司空圖 (837–908, zì Biǎoshèng 表聖, late-life Nàirǔ jūshì 耐辱居士), of Hénèi 河內 (modern Qìnyáng, Hénán). Under Xīzōng (873–88) he was Zhī zhìgào and Zhōngshū shèrén; he resigned and withdrew to Wángguān gǔ 王官谷 in the Zhōngtiáo 中條 mountains. When Zhū Quánzhōng 朱全忠 (Zhū Wēn) summoned him, he refused; when Zhū usurped the throne (founding the HòuLiáng, 907), Sīkōng starved himself to death. Xīn Tángshū placed him in the Zhuóxíng (extraordinary-conduct) biography category — recognizing his loyalty to the fallen Táng.
This is the Tang title Yī míng jí 一鳴集 (One-Cry Collection — from his Zhuóyīng tíng / Yī míng chuāng studio names). The Sìkù tíyào identifies the Yī míng jí mentioned in Tángzhì with this present text. The 10 juǎn contain memorials, prefaces, biographical inscriptions, stele texts (notably the Hán Jiàn dézhèng bēi, the Jiěxiàn xīnchéng bēi, the Hézhōng shēngcí bēi), and reflective prose. Sīkōng’s verse is separately preserved at KR4c0096 (the SBCK Sīkōng Biǎoshèng shī jí, 5 juǎn).
Sīkōng’s enduring fame comes from neither this prose nor his verse but from the Èrshísì shīpǐn 二十四詩品 (Twenty-Four Categories of Poetry) — a 24-section critical-aesthetic taxonomy of poetic moods/manners (each a 12-line 4-character zàn). The Èrshísì shīpǐn circulated separately and is generally found in catalogs of literary criticism rather than in his biéjí; modern philology (Chén Shàngjūn) has questioned its authenticity, attributing it instead to the YuánMíng critic Yú Zhāo 虞兆.
Tiyao
Sīkōng Biǎoshèng wénjí in 10 juǎn — by Sīkōng Tú of the Táng. Tú of Hénèi, zì Biǎoshèng. Xīzōng time Zhī zhìgào, Zhōngshū shèrén; soon resigned. Late life self-titled Nàirǔ jūshì (Endurance-of-Disgrace Layman). Zhū Quánzhōng summoned him, he firmly refused; when Zhū usurped, Tú starved to death. Xīn Tángshū placed him in the Zhuóxíng biography. His verse separately circulates; this 10-juǎn is his prose. = the Yī míng jí of Tángzhì. His prose still has Tang old form, without the Wǔdài wěizá (filthy-mixed) habits.
The Hán Jiàn dézhèng bēi — Wǔdài shǐ says Qiánníng 3 (896) Zhāozōng visited Huázhōu, established it; on returning to court, enfeoffed Jiàn as Yǐngchuān jùnwáng. The stele says Qiánníng 1 (894) established, already wrote Jiàn as Yǐngchuān jùnwáng — Shǐ error. At that time Jiàn was strong-and-arrogant; Zhāozōng unwillingly praised him; Tú on imperial order wrote it; the words mostly jièchì (admonitory caution) — showing his upright spirit. Also Jiěxiàn xīnchéng bēi for Wáng Chóngróng; Hézhōng shēngcí bēi for his brother Chóngyíng. Sòng Qí then said Chóngróng father-and-son much-respected Tú, formerly had him write the steles. Examining the prose, also imperial-order — events not voluntary — not enough to make Tú’s blemish.
The collection’s front 8 juǎn all titled zázhù; juǎn 5 and 6 alone titled bēi. Actually other juǎn also have bēi-prose; the format is messy (lì shū cóngcuò); old text so; we follow.
Chén Jìrú’s Tàipíng qīnghuà records Nàirǔ jūshì mòzhú bǐ míng — not in this collection. Its preface: “Xiántōng 2 I passed jìnshì, joining Shǐguǎn office. By Tang regulation, jìnshì did not enter Shǐguǎn immediately; Tú achieved jìnshì in late Xiántōng; left to follow Wáng Níng as mùzhí.” Biography clear; how would there be Shǐguǎn service? Also: “from then summoned to Lǐbù yuánwàiláng, transferred to Zhī zhìgào; rose by Zhōngshū shèrén to Lǐbù and Hùbù 2 shìláng; daily faced bamboo.” Per the preface: black bamboo planted at Chángān; Tú as Zhī zhìgào and Zhōngshū shèrén was when Xīzōng was at Fèngxiáng; his service as Bīngbù shìláng was when Zhāozōng was at Huázhōu — how could he face bamboo? Furthermore the preface says “today is Liáng’s gēngyín; my year is 82” — Tú died for the Tang at 72, while the preface says 82 — even more clearly forged.
This text front 8 juǎn titled zázhù; juǎn 5–6 alone titled bēi. Format messy; old text so; we follow.
Abstract
Sīkōng Tú is one of the most distinctive and politically uncompromising late-Táng literary figures: a serving courtier under Xīzōng, a recluse under Zhāozōng, and a martyr to the Táng’s collapse under HòuLiáng. His prose collection (this Yī míng jí) preserves official-style imperial-decree prose alongside private literary essays, biographical notices, and stele inscriptions — the latter (the Hán Jiàn bēi, the Wáng Chóngróng steles) the tíyào defends as imperial-commission rather than personal patronage. CBDB id 92445 confirms 837–908; the catalog meta agrees.
For his verse — preserved separately at KR4c0096 — and for the famous (and controversially-attributed) Èrshísì shīpǐn, see those entries.
Translations and research
- Yu, Pauline. 1978. “Ssu-k’ung T’u’s Shih-p’in: Poetic Theories in Twenty-Four Examples.” (Article on the Èr-shí-sì shī-pǐn.)
- Owen, Stephen. 1992. Readings in Chinese Literary Thought. Harvard. Includes Èr-shí-sì shī-pǐn translation.
- 祖保泉 Zǔ Bǎo-quán, 陶禮天 Táo Lǐ-tiān. 2002. Sī-kōng Tú jí jiào-zhù 司空圖集校注. Hé-féi: Huáng-shān shū-shè.
- 陳尚君 Chén Shàng-jūn. 1995. “Sī-kōng Tú Èr-shí-sì shī-pǐn zhēn-wěi biàn” — the principal modern argument against the traditional Sī-kōng Tú attribution of the Èr-shí-sì shī-pǐn.
Other points of interest
The Èrshísì shīpǐn (Twenty-Four Categories of Poetry) — 24 prose-poem characterizations of poetic moods (xiónghún “vast-and-massive,” chōngdàn “tranquil-light,” xiānnóng “delicate-rich,” etc.) — was for centuries treated as the canonical statement of late-Táng poetic aesthetics and the foundational text of Chinese literary criticism. Chén Shàngjūn’s 1995 argument (now widely accepted) that the work is actually an YuánMíng forgery has unsettled this canonical status.