王荊公詩注

Wáng Jīnggōng shīzhù 王荊公詩注

Annotated Poems of Wáng [Ān-shí, Jīng-gōng] by 王安石 (撰), 李壁 (撰)

About the work

Wáng Jīnggōng shīzhù 王荊公詩注 is the principal annotated edition of Wáng Ānshí 王安石 王安石’s poetry, in 50 juǎn — gǔshī in juǎn 1–21, lǜshī in juǎn 22–50 — composed by Lǐ Bì 李壁 (1159–1222) during his Línchuān exile after Hán Tuōzhòu 韓侂胄’s 1207 fall. The work is one of the great Southern-Sòng zhùshī (poetry-annotation) projects, ranking with Rèn Yuān 任淵 任淵’s Shāngǔ shīzhù KR4d0085, Rèn Yuān’s Hòushān shīzhù KR4d0088, and Shī Yuánzhī 施元之 施元之’s Sū shīzhù (collated as Shīzhù Sūshī KR4d0080) — together the foundational layer of Northern-Sòng poetic annotation. Lǐ’s annotation method: places sources on a cíyǔ kǎojù (word-and-source) basis, normally at the jùxià (line-end) or jùzhōng (mid-line); accepts variant readings from multiple recensions; cites bùtóng (alternative) sources where Wáng “had a different basis”; explicitly marks wèixiáng chūchù (source uncertain) when no source can be located — refusing the speculative-pretended sourcing characteristic of less rigorous annotators. Compared to the standard circulating Línchuān jí recension KR4d0073, Lǐ’s annotated edition contains 72 additional poems not preserved in the standard collection (and lacks 4 minor pieces present there) — making this a primary source for the recovery of lost Wáng Ānshí poetic pieces.

Tiyao

The Sìkù tíyào: Wáng Jīnggōng shīzhù by Lǐ Bì of the Sòng. Examined: in the Sòngshǐ and the various cuts, [Lǐ’s name] Bì is sometimes written 璧 with the yù radical — but Bì was Lǐ Tāo’s third son; his elder brothers Hòu and Shú, his younger Bīn — the names all from the tǔ (earth) radical — clearly writing it with yù is wrong. Bì, zì Jìzhāng, hào Yànhú jūshì. First by yīn entered office, later took the jìnshì. Under Níngzōng rose through Lǐbù shàngshū, Cānzhīzhèngshì, concurrent Tóngzhī shūmìyuànshì; shì Wényì. Deeds in his Sòngshǐ běnzhuàn. This book was composed in his Línchuān exile period. Liú Kèzhuāng 劉克莊’s Hòucūn shīhuà once derided his note on the Guīcháng yīyè rào Zhōngshān line citing Hányú’s poetry but not the Wúzhì note; on the Shì lùn ān yǐ chóng yí bīng line citing Zhuāngzǐ but not Lú Hóngyī or Táng Yànqiān — taking these as omissions. But generally his jūnzhāi sōucǎi (compass-of-collection-and-gathering) is fully grounded; where in doubt he leaves blank — not the kind of chuānzáo fùhuì (forced sourcing). The original běn circulates very rarely; recent collectors do not record it. Hǎiyán Zhāng Zōngsōng 張宗松 obtained the Yuán-people’s cut, and first collated and printed. The gǔjīntǐ shī in the collection — compared with the world-circulating Línchuān jí — adds 72 pieces; what is lost is appended at the back. Examination of Yè Shàowēng’s Sìcháo wénjiàn lù says: in early Kāixī Hán Píngyuán (Hán Tuōzhòu) wished to mobilize troops, dispatched Zhāng Sìgǔ to spy out the enemy; Zhāng returned greatly contrary to Hán’s wishes; further dispatched [Lǐ] Bì; Bì returned with words different from Zhāng’s — by which step he advanced into the government &c. Clearly Bì fùhé (followed) the powerful jiānrén (Hán Tuōzhòu), bringing about sàngshī rǔguó (loss-of-army, shame-of-state), really duò qí jiāshēng (sinking the family reputation) — his person is not to be valued. His jiānshì (annotation) merit, however, is enough to benefit later students — like Wáng Ānshí’s poetry — neither is to be discarded for the man. Qiánlóng 44 (1779) 7th month, respectfully collated.

The Zhāng Zōngsōng 張宗松 Qiánlóng xīnyǒu (1741) tící preserved at the head: explains how Zhāng obtained the Yuán-people’s cut from the Huáshān Mǎ family (the Dàogǔlóu collection); collated against the tōngxíng Línchuān jí — finds the piānmù counts differ; declares that the work alone is not in Jiàngyún (Qián Qiānyì 錢謙益’s Jiàngyúnlóu) or Chuánshìlóu holdings — one of the more vivid post-Yuán zhùshī survival narratives. Lüèlì (editorial principles) follows.

Abstract

Wáng Jīnggōng shīzhù is one of the four foundational Northern-Sòng poetic-annotation projects (with Rèn Yuān’s Shāngǔ and Hòushān, and Shī Yuánzhī’s Sū). The Sìkù editors’ (and Liú Kèzhuāng’s) attention to Lǐ Bì’s annotation method — jūnzhāi sōucǎi, yí zé quēzhī (collected with judgment, leaving doubts blank) — frames it as a model of Sòng zhùshī philology. Bibliographically the work is significant for: (1) preserving 72 Wáng Ānshí poems not in the Línchuān jí (recovered through Lǐ’s Línchuān-exile access to local-gentry recensions); (2) preserving the alternative title-and-rhyme states of poems in the Línchuān jí; (3) the original Liú Xūxī 劉須溪 (Liú Chénwēng) commentary-and-grades, which Zhāng Zōngsōng’s recension preserves through editorial intent (the Sìkù editors removed them as záluàn). Wèi Liǎowēng 魏了翁’s preface (lost from the Sìkù base copy and not yet recovered) is the original Sòng-period framing of the work. The Sìkù editors’ moral-political flagging of Lǐ Bì’s fùhé (collaboration) with Hán Tuōzhòu — but their explicit framing of the annotation as separable from the man — is one of the more graceful Qing handlings of the yǐ rén fèi shū (discarding the book for the man’s defects) question. Dating bracket: Lǐ’s composition in Línchuān exile (post-1207) to the Sìkù re-collation (1779).

Translations and research

• Wáng Jīng-gōng’s poetic corpus has substantial English-language treatment in:
• Egan, Ronald C. 1994. Word, Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi. Harvard. Treats the Bàn-shān late-style poetry.
• Bol, Peter K. 1992. “This Culture of Ours”. Stanford UP. Treats Wáng’s poetics.
• Hú Yǔn-xián 胡雲翔. 1989. Lǐ Bì zhuàn 李壁傳. Sì-chuān rén-mín. Standard biography.
• Wáng Wén-jǐn 王文錦, ed. 1985. Wáng Jīng-gōng shī-zhù 王荊公詩注. Zhōng-huá. Standard modern punctuated edition.
• Yú Yīng-shí 余英時. 2003. Zhū Xī de lì-shǐ shì-jiè. Sān-lián.

Other points of interest

The Liú Xūxī 劉須溪 (Liú Chénwēng 劉辰翁) original píngdiǎn (commentary-grading), present in the Yuán-period cut from which Zhāng Zōngsōng worked but stripped from the Sìkù recension, is one of the more substantial SòngYuán poetic-grading enterprises and is preserved separately in the modern Sòngrén biéjí cóngkān facsimile of Zhāng’s edition. Lǐ Bì’s Línchuān-exile authorship — composing this defense of the Línchuān-native Wáng Ānshí while himself in Línchuān exile after the Kāixī northern-campaign disaster — is one of the more poignant Sòng moral-political coincidences.

Links

• Li Bi (Wikidata)
• Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.1 (Sòng biéjí); §28.6 (Sòng shīzhù tradition); §47 (TángSòng bājiā).