Xīxī jí 西溪集
The Xī-xī Collection (of Shěn Gòu) by 沈遘 (撰)
About the work
Xīxī jí 西溪集 is the 10-juǎn collection of Shěn Gòu 沈遘 (1025–1067, zì Wéntōng 文通), a precocious mid-Northern-Sòng Hànlín xuéshì of the celebrated Qiántáng Shěn family — elder cousin of the polymath Shěn Kuò 沈括 and elder brother of the poet Shěn Liáo 沈遼. The three are bracketed as the “Wúxìng Sān Shěn” 三沈 in late-Sòng cataloging, with their three collections combined as the Sān xiānshēng wén jí 三先生文集 KR4d0036 in early-Southern-Sòng publishing.
Tiyao
[Translation summary] The Sìkù tíyào: Xīxī jí in 10 juǎn by Shěn Gòu of the Sòng. Gòu, zì Wéntōng, of Qiántáng. Entered office by yīn (hereditary privilege) as Jiāoshè zhāiláng; in Huángyòu 1 / 1049 took the jìnshì in first place — the Zhízhèng (then in office) said it was inappropriate for an existing official to come ahead of all the candidates and adjusted him to second place. Held zhī Hángzhōu, zhī Kāifēngfǔ — both with reputation for ability. Final office: Hànlín xuéshì. Deeds in Sòngshǐ. Xīxī jí in 10 juǎn; in early Southern Sòng Cóngshìláng Chǔzhōu Sīlǐ cānjūn Gāo Bù 髙布 combined-cut with his younger brother Liáo’s Yúncháo biān and his cousin Kuò’s Chángxìng jí at Kuòcāng under the title Wúxìng Sān Shěn jí — placing this work first. But the Shǐ says Gòu while Tōngpàn Jiāngníng, returned to court, presented Běnzhì lùn 本治論 in 10 piān; Rénzōng greatly praised them — but they are not in the present collection — so this is not a complete text. Gòu by wénxué rose; in lìshì (administrative affairs) he was sharp and skilled; the age called him a man of singular talent. His Zhīzhìgào drafted címìng are dignified and warm, with the diǎnzhì style of the ancients; his poetry is qīngjùn liúyì (clear-handsome and flowing-ease), not falling into the vulgar. Juǎn 2 ends with two Yángzhōu Shānguāngsì poems — one with a jiāzhù “for Lú Zhōngfǔ hé (echoes for L)” — and the other “the high terrace already toppled, the curving pond level” — already given earlier and repeated here, with characters slightly different and a jiāzhù “transmitted from the Shānguāngsì wall, varying from the collection’s text” — these are likely Gāo Bù’s xiàokān additions, not the original. Qiánlóng 43 (1778) 8th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Shěn Gòu’s career was unusually accelerated: entered office at age 16 by yīn, took the jìnshì at age 25 in first place (later adjusted to second on technicality), held Zhīzhìgào and prefectures of Hángzhōu and Kāifēng in his thirties, and died young at Zhìpíng 4 / 1067 age 43 — just as he might have entered the Zǎixiàng track. The Běnzhì lùn in 10 piān — his major political-philosophical work — is mentioned by Sòngshǐ but lost. The collection’s principal contents are zhìgào (his Hànlín drafts), zòuyì, xùjì, and a substantial poetry corpus. Shěn’s prose was repeatedly drawn on by Sīmǎ Guāng and Ōuyáng Xiū as a model of the dignified zhìgào register. The dating bracket marks Shěn’s death (1067) to the early-Southern-Sòng combined-cutting at Kuòcāng (the terminus ante quem of the present recension).
Translations and research
- Egan, Ronald C. 1984. The Literary Works of Ou-yang Hsiu. Cambridge UP. Treats Shěn Gòu in the mid-Northern-Sòng court literary milieu.
- Bol, Peter K. 1992. “This Culture of Ours”. Stanford UP. Briefly treats the Shěn family.
- Sivin, Nathan. 1995. “Shen Kua.” In Science and Civilisation in China, ed. Joseph Needham. Cambridge UP. Discusses the Shěn family context.
Other points of interest
The combined publication of the three Shěn collections at Kuòcāng in the early Southern Sòng is one of the more striking instances of jiāzú (lineage) literary self-presentation in Sòng book culture. Shěn Gòu’s Běnzhì lùn — lost — would have been one of the more substantial mid-Sòng political-philosophical treatises had it survived; the collection’s principal lacuna is felt here.
Links
- Shen Gou (Wikidata)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.1 (Sòng biéjí).