Yúnxī jí 鄖溪集
The Yún-xī Collection (of Zhèng Xiè) by 鄭獬 (撰)
About the work
Yúnxī jí 鄖溪集 is the 28-juǎn Sìkù reconstitution from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn (and supplemented from the Sòng wén jiàn and Liǎng Sòng míngxián xiǎo jí) of the original 50-juǎn literary collection of Zhèng Xiè 鄭獬 (1022–1072, zì Yìfū 毅夫), the celebrated Huángyòu 5 / 1053 zhuàngyuán (top-place jìnshì) and Hànlín xuéshì whose anti-Xīníng opposition led to his removal from court. The title commemorates Zhèng’s zhī Yúnxiāngjūn office (the Yúnxī river). The 50-juǎn original was cut by Qín Hú 秦焴 in Chúnxī 13 / 1186; lapsed thereafter.
Tiyao
[Translation summary] The Sìkù tíyào: Yúnxī jí in 28 juǎn by Zhèng Xiè of the Sòng. Xiè, zì Yìfū, of Ānlù 安陸. Huángyòu 5 / 1053 first-place jìnshì. Tōngpàn Chénzhōu, entered as Zhí Jíxiányuàn Zhīzhìgào; under Yīngzōng repeatedly memorialized; sent out zhī Jīngnán, returned as Pàn Sānbānyuàn; under Shénzōng called as Hànlín xuéshì quán zhī Kāifēngfǔ; refused to enforce the New Policies, opposed Wáng Ānshí; sent out zhī Hángzhōu, transferred to Qīngzhōu; further opposed Qīngmiáo — pleaded illness and was given Tíjǔ Hóngqìnggōng (a sinecure); died. Deeds in Sòngshǐ. Originally Zhèng’s jìnshì exam paper was read by Shèrén Liú Chǎng 劉敞, who said “this prose resembles Huángfǔ Shí 皇甫湜”; Zhèng once wrote to Liú saying: “Hán Tuìzhī’s age, those who established themselves as great men of letters are only Lǐ Áo, Huángfǔ Shí, Zhāng Jí 張籍. But Áo’s prose stresses substance with little artifice; Shí’s stresses solidity but is not unrestrained; Zhāng Jí’s gēxíng is better than his shī; in his other prose seldom seen, surely below his gēshī. Combine substance with artifice, oddness with unrestraint — that is Hán’s.” — Reading this we know Zhèng’s wénzhāng zōngzhǐ (literary purport) sources from the Hán-school. Sòngshǐ Yìwénzhì records Yúnxī jí in 50 juǎn; in Chúnxī 13 / 1186 Qín Hú prefaced and cut; long lost. We have gathered from Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and supplementing from Sòng wén jiàn, Liǎng Sòng míngxián xiǎo jí, etc., into 28 juǎn. Wáng Déchén’s Zhǔ shǐ praises Zhèng as long-active in the exam halls, his diction shaking the age; his jìnshì day, fellow candidates all sighed “hǎo zhuàngyuán (good top-graduate)”; Rénzōng was pleased. Běnzhuàn praises his prose’s háowěi qiàozhěng (bold, elegant, sharp, ordered), discussions sharp on mínshì. Among present pieces: in the Lùn Suízhōu see his far-sighted strategy; in the Lùn huǐyù see his “jūchǒng sīwēi” (in honor think on danger); his biàn Yáng Huì jiù Zǔ Wúzé shows his upright independence not following the crowd. Qiánlóng 46 (1781) 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Zhèng Xiè’s career: top-place jìnshì in Huángyòu 5 / 1053 (the same examination as Sū Shì’s father Sū Xún 蘇洵 attended); held Zhí Jíxiányuàn Zhīzhìgào and Hànlín xuéshì offices; under Shénzōng was Hànlín xuéshì quán zhī Kāifēngfǔ in 1069 but refused to enforce the Qīngmiáo loan policy and the broader Wáng Ānshí New Policies; demoted to zhī Hángzhōu, then Qīngzhōu; finally pleaded illness for Tíjǔ Hóngqìnggōng (a contemplative sinecure) and died in Xīníng 5 / 1072 age 51. Zhèng’s wénzhāng declares itself in the Hán Yù lineage (his letter to Liú Chǎng on the subject is one of the best Northern-Sòng gǔwén-self-positioning documents). Wáng Déchén’s Zhǔ shǐ anecdote — that the jìnshì candidates sighed “hǎo zhuàngyuán” on hearing his name announced — became a Sòng xiánshù trope. The dating bracket marks Zhèng’s death (1072) to the Sìkù reconstitution (1781).
Translations and research
- Liu, James T. C. 1959. Reform in Sung China. Harvard. Treats Zhèng Xiè among the Xī-níng opposition.
- Bol, Peter K. 1992. “This Culture of Ours”. Stanford UP.
- Levine, Ari. 2008. Divided by a Common Language. Hawai’i. Background on the partisan environment.
- Lǐ Yǒng-lǐ 李永禮. 2003. Zhèng Xiè yán-jiū 鄭獬研究. Hú-běi rénmín. Standard Chinese monograph.
Other points of interest
Zhèng Xiè’s zìjué placement of his prose in the Hán Yù lineage — distinguishing himself from Lǐ Áo, Huángfǔ Shí, and Zhāng Jí — is one of the more articulate Sòng gǔwén self-positioning statements and is the rationale for Liú Chǎng’s recognition. His refusal of the Qīngmiáo enforcement at Kāifēngfǔ is one of the dramatic 1069 confrontations of the early Xīníng period.
Links
- Zheng Xie (Wikidata)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §44 (Xīníng reforms); §28.1 (Sòng biéjí).