Sū xuéshì jí 蘇學士集
The Collection of Academician Sū (Sū Shùn-qīn) by 蘇舜欽 (撰)
About the work
Sū xuéshì jí 蘇學士集 (also titled 蘇學士文集 in the SBCK Sòng manuscript line, and 蘇子美文集 in earlier Sòng witnesses) is the 16-juǎn literary collection of Sū Shùnqīn 蘇舜欽 (1008–1048, zì Zǐměi 子美), one of the canonical Qìnglì generation of gǔwén poets — bracketed with Méi Yáochén 梅堯臣 as “SūMéi” 蘇梅 in Ōuyáng Xiū’s classic formulation, and a key pre-Ōuyáng innovator who helped break the XīKūn style. Sū’s life was cut short by the Zòuyuàn 奏院 scandal of 1044 (the “Jìnzòu yuàn shìjiàn” in which Sū, then Jíxián xiàolǐ, was accused of “making free with public funds for entertaining” and dismissed at the height of the Qìnglì reforms — an event widely read in later Sòng historiography as a deliberate attack on the reform faction).
Tiyao
No tíyào in the local file — the source is the SBCK file with prefaces by Sòng Luò 宋犖 (the zǎnzhì commemorative xù, dated Kāngxī wùyín 1698 bāyuè shuò) and the rebuilt Cānglàng tíng 滄浪亭 commemorative materials. Sòng Luò’s preface is the principal Qing-period editorial witness: he encountered the ruined Cānglàng tíng (Sū’s famous studio at Sūzhōu) in his Sūzhōu post and rebuilt it; the collection was then reprinted by Xú Zǐqī 徐子七 of Wúmén and his brother Niànxiū 念修 in 1698. The Sìkù WYG 16-juǎn tíyào (V1092.1) — not in the local file — follows the Sòng gǔwén tradition in placing Sū as a transitional figure between Liǔ Kāi / Mù Xiū and Ōuyáng Xiū, and (paraphrasing Ōuyáng’s well-known xù) treats Sū’s prose as “lǐnluò zì xǐ, fǎn xióngjiàn fù qí qì” — bold, self-pleased, vigorous and martial.
Abstract
Sòng Luò’s preface is itself the principal narrative document on the late-Qing reception. He reports that Sū’s collection had long circulated but the printing blocks were lost; very few copies survived. Ōuyáng Xiū’s earlier xù — quoted by Sòng Luò — said that Sū was younger than Ōuyáng but “studied antiquity earlier,” and that Sū’s writings were “gold and jade — abandoned and buried in dirt cannot rust them; what is forsaken in one age must be picked up and treasured by a later one.” That 1698 reprinting in Sūzhōu (the city of Sū’s exile and last years) is one of the better-documented instances of Qing-era literary recovery of a Sòng biéjí.
Sū Shùnqīn was the son of Sū Yìjiǎn’s 蘇易簡 grandson Sū Tài 蘇耆 — a member of the prominent Tóngshān 銅山 (Sìchuān) Sū family, distantly related to the great Sū Shì line of Méishān (though the connection is several generations back). Jìnshì of Jǐngyòu 1 / 1034. Married to Dù Yǎn’s 杜衍 daughter — a connection that placed him at the heart of the Qìnglì reform faction and was the proximate political cause of his 1044 dismissal. After dismissal he retired to Sūzhōu, built the Cānglàng tíng on the ruins of the WúYuè guójiā yuán, and lived as a private literatus until his death in Qìnglì 8 / 1048 at age 41. The famous Cānglàng tíng jì 滄浪亭記 (preserved in the present collection) is one of the canonical Qìnglì gǔwén essays — taken by Ōuyáng Xiū as a model. The dating bracket marks Sū’s death (1048) to Sòng Luò’s reprint (1698).
Translations and research
- Egan, Ronald C. 1984. The Literary Works of Ou-yang Hsiu. Cambridge UP. Treats Sū extensively in the Ōuyáng circle.
- Yoshikawa Kōjirō. 1962. An Introduction to Sung Poetry. Treats Sū-Méi poetic innovation.
- Bol, Peter K. 1992. “This Culture of Ours”. Stanford UP. Discusses Sū in the Qìng-lì generation.
- Levine, Ari. 2008. Divided by a Common Language. Hawai’i. Treats the Zòu-yuàn scandal of 1044 and its political fallout.
- Fù Píng-xiāng 傅平驤, ed. 1991. Sū Shùn-qīn jí biān-nián jiào-zhù 蘇舜欽集編年校注. Bā-Shǔ shū-shè. Standard modern critical edition.
Other points of interest
The Cānglàng tíng — Sū’s famous Sūzhōu garden studio, the literary symbol of Qìnglì-era retreat from the political fall — has been continuously rebuilt since Sū’s death and is today one of the surviving classical gardens of Sūzhōu (a UNESCO World Heritage site). The Zòuyuàn scandal of 1044 — the proximate cause of Sū’s dismissal — is one of the principal documented instances of Northern-Sòng partisan use of administrative-procedural charges against political rivals.
Links
- Su Shunqin (Wikidata Q15888879)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §54 (gǔwén movement); §28.1 (Sòng biéjí).