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宛陵集

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Text ID
KR4d0056
Date
1060–1576
Dynasty
宋

Wǎnlíng jí 宛陵集

The Wǎn-líng Collection (of Méi Yáo-chén) by 梅堯臣 (撰)

About the work

Wǎnlíng jí 宛陵集 (also Wǎnlíng xiānshēng jí 宛陵先生集 in the SBCK reprint) is the principal collection of Méi Yáochén 梅堯臣 (1002–1060, zì Shèngyú 聖俞), the central poet of the early-Northern-Sòng gǔwén turn whose qióngzhě érhòu gōng 窮者而後工 (“only after impoverishment is the work refined”) status was crystallized by Ōuyáng Xiū 歐陽修 歐陽修 in his Méi Shèngyú shījí xù (preserved in the SBCK as well as Ōuyáng Wénzhōnggōng jí). The collection’s transmission has three superimposed editorial layers: (1) Méi’s wife’s nephew Xiè Jǐngchū 謝景初 first arranged Méi’s poetry from the Luòyáng and Wúxìng periods in 10 juǎn; (2) Ōuyáng Xiū supplemented this with what he had collected and prefaced it in Qìnglì 6 / 1046, in 15 juǎn; (3) the final 60-juǎn shape was the result of further editorial intervention (perhaps by Xiè Jǐngchū again — Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí says so, but the Sìkù editors are unsure). The KRP source is the SBCK reprint of the Míng Wànlì 4 / 1576 Sòng Yíwàng re-cutting at Xuānchéng (cut by Jiāng Qífāng 姜竒方), with a Yáng Shìqí preface from Zhèngtǒng 4 / 1439 (representing the earlier Yuán Xù 袁旭 Xuānchéng cutting); the Sìkù WYG version is parallel.

Tiyao

The Sìkù tíyào (palace-held copy): Wǎnlíng jí in 60 juǎn, fùlù in 1 juǎn, by Méi Yáochén of the Sòng. Yáochén, zì Shèngyú, of Xuānchéng; ended his career as Túntián Dūguān yuánwàiláng. Deeds in Sòngshǐ běnzhuàn. His poetry was first compiled by Xiè Jǐngchū — only 10 juǎn; Ōuyáng Xiū obtained more remnants and supplemented them — only 15 juǎn. The increase to 59 juǎn plus a further 1 juǎn of other prose and fù — by whom done is unclear. Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí says: this is in fact Jǐngchū’s old recension that Ōuyáng prefaced — but examination of Ōuyáng’s preface gives no precise account. The Tōngkǎo records the main collection in 60 juǎn and an Wàijí in 10 juǎn further. This copy is the Míng Jiāng Qífāng cut, the juǎn-count matches the Tōngkǎo — only the Wàijí is missing; only three bǔyí pieces and one juǎn of zèngdá poems and mùzhì added — by whom appended is also unknown. Chén Zhènsūn says the Wàijí mostly duplicated the main collection — perhaps later people pruned the duplicates, hence what is recorded ends here. In early Sòng, shīwén still followed the late-Táng / Five-Dynasties habit. Liǔ Kāi 柳開 and Mù Xiū 穆修 wished to change the prose style; Wáng Yǔchēng 王禹偁 wished to change the poetry style — all with insufficient force. Ōuyáng Xiū rose up as the strong leader, restoring the ancient register. At that time Zēng Gǒng 曾鞏 曾鞏, Sū Xún 蘇洵 蘇洵, Sū Shì 蘇軾 蘇軾, Sū Zhé 蘇轍 蘇轍, Chén Shīdào 陳師道 陳師道, Huáng Tíngjiān 黃庭堅 黃庭堅 were not yet known. He who assisted Ōu in changing the prose style was Yǐn Zhū 尹洙; he who assisted Ōu in changing the shī-style was Yáochén. Zēng Mǐnxíng 曾敏行’s Dúxǐng zázhì records: Wáng Shǔ 王曙 as zhī Hénán, Yáochén was a county zhǔbù; he came in person bearing his shīwén; Shǔ said his poetry has the JìnSòng yífēng (Jin-Liu-Song remnant manner): “since Dù Zǐměi (Dù Fǔ) died, in two hundred years no such work has been seen” — yet Yáochén’s poetic zhǐqù is gǔdàn (ancient-bland), those who recognized it were few. Chén Shàn’s Ménshī xīnhuà records: Sū Shùnqīn said throughout life of his own poetry, “my misfortune is to be compared with Méi Yáochén”; further records: Yàn Shū 晏殊 admired his couplet hányú yóu zhuódǐ, báilù yǐ fēiqián (the cold fish still touches the bottom; the white egret has already flown ahead) — Yáochén himself thought this not his best — so his gūpì guǎhé (solitary, with few echoes) is clear. Only Ōuyáng Xiū deeply admired him. Shào Bó’s Wénjiàn hòulù further records chuánwén hearsay that Ōuyáng feared Yáochén would surpass himself, often when discussing Yáochén’s poetry deleted his finest pieces — this is wūmán (slanderous distortion). Setting aside that Ōuyáng would never sink to that — even Yáochén would not be one unable to distinguish black from white. Lù Yóu’s Wèinán jí has a Méi Wǎnlíng biéjí xù saying: “Sū Hànlín (Shì) does not approve much of the ancients — only matched-rhyme harmonies with Táo Yuānmíng’s and the present master’s two collections.” Sū Shì’s matched-Táo poems have a transmitted recension; matched-Méi poems have not been heard of — but Lù was no fabricator, so they must have existed and now be lost. So Yáochén’s poetry — Sū Shì too admired him from the heart.

Abstract

The Wǎnlíng jí is one of the foundational primary sources for the early-Northern-Sòng gǔwén turn — the poetic counterpart to Yǐn Zhū 尹洙’s Hénán xiānshēng wénjí in the prose register. The collection’s structure preserves Méi’s career-long output: the Luòyáng (early), Wúxìng (middle, when as xiànwèi of Chángxìng he was bracketed with the local circle), and Chízhōu hòu (late) periods are still distinguishable in the juǎn-ordering. The Ōuyáng Xiū xù — yú yǒu Méi Shèngyú, shǎo yǐ yīnbǔ wéi lì and the yù qióng zhě érhòu gōng dictum — together with Ōuyáng’s Shū Méi Shèngyú shīgǎo hòu (preserved in the SBCK fùlù) is the earliest critical statement on Méi’s “ancient-bland” (gǔdàn) aesthetic. Modern MéiYáochén scholarship dates from Zhū Dōngrùn 朱東潤’s Méi Yáochén jí biānnián jiàozhù (1980), the standard scholarly edition. Wáng Shǔ’s “two hundred years no such work” assessment, repeated through Sū Shùnqīn (with self-deprecating envy) and Sū Shì (with deeper admiration), forms the locus classicus of the Méi reputation. Dating bracket: Méi’s death (1060) to the Wànlì 4 / 1576 Xuānchéng re-cutting that supplied the SBCK source — the Sìkù WYG was jiào up to Qiánlóng 39 / 1774.

Translations and research

  • Chaves, Jonathan. 1976. Mei Yao-ch’en and the Development of Early Sung Poetry. Columbia UP. The standard English-language monograph; substantial translations.
  • Egan, Ronald C. 1984. The Literary Works of Ou-yang Hsiu (1007–1072). Cambridge UP. Treats the Ōu-Méi friendship and Ōuyáng’s three Méi prefaces.
  • Zhū Dōng-rùn 朱東潤. 1980. Méi Yáo-chén jí biān-nián jiào-zhù 梅堯臣集編年校註. 3 vols. Shàng-hǎi gǔ-jí. The standard chronological-collated critical edition.
  • Zhū Dōng-rùn 朱東潤. 1957. Méi Yáo-chén zhuàn 梅堯臣傳. Zhōng-huá. The standard biography.

Other points of interest

Méi’s poems on rural hardship — Tiánjiā, Táozhě (Potter), Xiǎngpǎo — together with his Lǚshí (Selected from the Saddle) realist yuèfǔ are a major touchstone for what Chaves calls the plain-style turn in Sòng shī. The Sū Shì matched-Méi poems mentioned by Lù Yóu (preserved in the Wèinán jí xù) are otherwise unattested — a celebrated lost subset of Sū’s héshī. Ōuyáng Xiū’s three pieces on Méi’s poetry — the Wǎnlíng jí xù, the Shū Méi Shèngyú shīgǎo hòu (preserved as jiào at the SBCK fùlù), and the Méi Dūguān mùzhìmíng — are together the most coordinated critical estimation any Northern-Sòng poet received from a contemporary.

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