Guǎnglíng jí 廣陵集
The Guǎng-líng Collection (of Wáng Lìng) by 王令 (撰)
About the work
Guǎnglíng jí 廣陵集 is the literary collection of Wáng Lìng 王令 (1032–1059, originally zì Qīnměi 欽美, later Féngyuán 逢原), of Guǎnglíng (Yángzhōu) — the qícái (extraordinary talent) protégé whom Wáng Ānshí 王安石 particularly esteemed and to whom he gave his wife’s younger sister in marriage. Wáng Lìng died at 28; his posthumous daughter married Wú Shīlǐ; her son Wú Shuō 吳說 — àn: in the catalog and the Sìkù tíyào Wáng Shuō — i.e. Wáng Lìng’s “sūn” — is in fact Wú Shuō 吳說 by the daughter’s line. The collection: 18 juǎn shīfù + 12 juǎn wén + 1 juǎn shíyí (lost-pieces gathered) + appendix material (mùzhì, shìzhuàng, jiāoyóu tóuzèng zhuīshù pieces by friends and admirers). Cataloged at 31 juǎn total in the Sìkù. The 30-juǎn base in the WYG and the 31-juǎn count in the printed catalog vary by treatment of the shíyí juǎn.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Guǎnglíng jí in 31 juǎn by Wáng Lìng of the Sòng. Lìng of Yuánchéng, in youth followed his great-uncle Yǐ to Guǎnglíng — hence became a Guǎnglíngrén. Originally zì Qīnměi; later Wáng Cuì gave him the zì Féngyuán. In youth not careful in conduct; later turned-around (zhéjié) in study. Wáng Ānshí gave him his wife Wúshì’s younger sister in marriage. Aged 28 died, leaving a posthumous daughter who married Wú Shīlǐ — bore a son named Shuō. The collection — that which Shuō (i.e. Wáng Lìng’s grandson by daughter) edited. Shīfù in 18 juǎn, wén in 12 juǎn; further shíyí in 1 juǎn — mùzhì shìzhuàng and jiāoyóu tóuzèng zhuīshù pieces all appended. Lìng’s talent and thought are qíyì (strange-flowing); the poetry is pángbó àoyǎn (vast-flowing, profound-elaborated), generally taking Hán Yù as principal but moving in-and-out of Lú Tóng / Lǐ Hè / Mèng Jiāo. Although his dénián bùyǒng (years of life not long-lasting) — unable to duànliàn yǐ lǎo qí cái (forge-and-temper his talent to maturity) — and at points he could not avoid zònghéng tàiguò (untrammeled-overdone) — but compared with the júcù piàoqiè zhī liú (constrained, plagiarizing types) — he was tìtì hū yuǎn (utterly far-removed). Liú Kèzhuāng’s Hòucūn shīhuà once praised his Shǔhàn kǔrè poem as gǔlì lǎocāng, shídù gāoyuǎn (firm-strong, old-and-dark, judgment lofty-and-far); further praised his Fùgōng bìngménrén xiāngdá, Sūn Shēnlǎo wényàn etc. pieces. His gǔwén — like the Xìng shuō and so on — likewise zìchéng yī jiā zhī yán (form their own school’s discourse). Wáng Ānshí of people seldom approved, but most highly esteemed Lìng; tóngshí shèngliú (then-time eminent personalities) like Liú Bēi all tuīfú (esteemed) him — clearly not ēsī suǒ hào (private-flattery favoritism). The collection long without printed-edition; transmitted-copies are étuō (errors and drops) — almost unreadable. We now where there is kǎoxiào (collation-grounds) all clean-up; what is absolutely uninterpretable is provisionally followed in old běn — at least not failing the quēyí (suspended-doubt) intent. Qiánlóng 46 (1781) 11th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Guǎnglíng jí preserves the surviving qícái poetry of one of the most short-lived of Northern-Sòng major poetic talents — dead at 28, before he could duànliàn yǐ lǎo his style. The Wáng Ānshí connection — through both intellectual sponsorship and family marriage to Wáng Ānshí’s yí (wife’s younger sister) — makes this collection a key adjunct primary source for Línchuān jí studies; many Wáng Ānshí zèngdá poems to “Féngyuán” can be paired with corresponding Wáng Lìng pieces here. Liú Kèzhuāng’s Hòucūn shīhuà praise — particularly of the Shǔhàn kǔrè poem — and the Sìkù editors’ framing of Wáng Lìng as Hán-Yù-rooted-but-Lú-Tóng/LǐHè/Mèng-Jiāo-inflected places him in the qífēng (strange-style) lineage opposite the píngyì (plain-easy) Mèi Yáochén 梅堯臣 梅堯臣 line — a useful pedagogical contrast. The textual condition (étuō — error-and-drop ridden in transmitted manuscript copies, no Sòng cut surviving) makes the Sìkù recension the standard despite its quēyí lacunae. Dating bracket: Wáng Lìng’s death (1059) to the Sìkù re-collation (1781).
Translations and research
- Schmidt, Jerry D. 1989. “Wang Ling’s Poetry of Social Concern.” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews 11: 33–74. The principal English-language treatment.
- Yoshikawa Kōjirō 吉川幸次郎. 1962. An Introduction to Sung Poetry. Tr. Burton Watson. Harvard. Treats Wáng Lìng briefly in the Wáng Ān-shí context.
- Wáng Lìng’s biographer Shěn Shī-shū 沈世淑. Guǎng-líng jí jiān-zhù 廣陵集箋註 (Sì-chuān 1986) — standard modern annotated edition.
Other points of interest
The Wáng Ānshí / Wáng Lìng family marriage — Wáng Ānshí’s wife Wúshì being the elder sister of Wáng Lìng’s wife Wúshì — together with Wáng Ānshí’s particular literary esteem of the younger man, makes this one of the most intimate Northern-Sòng patron-protégé relationships and is central to recent biographical work on the Wáng Ānshí family network. Wáng Lìng’s xìng shuō — preserved here — is one of the more striking xìng (nature) discussions outside the strict dàoxué canon, taking a Mèngzǐ-rooted but rhetorically Hán Yù-style approach that anticipates the Yuányòu-period xìnglùn debates.
Links
- Wang Ling (Wikidata)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.1 (Sòng biéjí); §47 (Sòng shī).