東坡全集

Dōngpō quánjí 東坡全集

Complete Works of [Sū] Dōng-pō [Shì] by 蘇軾 (撰)

About the work

Dōngpō quánjí 東坡全集 is the comprehensive collection of Sū Shì 蘇軾 (1036–1101, zì Zǐzhān 子瞻, hào Dōngpō jūshì 東坡居士), the most consequential literary-political figure of the mid-Northern Sòng. The 115-juǎn recension preserved in the Sìkù WYG version is a Kāngxī-period Cài Shìyīng 蔡士英 cut, descending — like all post-Sòng SūShì recensions — through the late-Sòng fēnlèi hébiān (classified-and-combined) tradition rather than the original Sū Zhé 蘇轍-edited Dōngpō qījí 東坡七集 (the seven separate collections: Dōngpō jí 40 juǎn + Hòují 20 + Zòuyì 15 + Nèizhì 10 + Wàizhì 3 + Hé Táo shī 4 + Yìngzhào jí 10, total 102 juǎn). The transmission complexity makes this collection the most bibliographically complicated Northern-Sòng biéjí: the Sìkù tíyào enumerates Hángběn, Shǔběn, Jiànānběn (Sū Qiáo 蘇嶠’s cut), Máshā shūfáng dàquánjí běn, Jízhōuběn (Zhāngshǒu cut), Gūsū Jūyīngběn, Sōngjiāng Dōngrì héshàng small-and-large běn, and notes that the original taboo (“the Bāojiāng taboo for Sòng emperors”) was lost progressively across recensions. The Wànjì (115-juǎn) recension is a re-edited Cài Shìyīng cut based on the late-Yuán/Míng Sū Wénzhōng quánjí 114-juǎn + 1 juǎn niánpǔ (王宗稷-edited under Sòng) — supplemented and re-arranged. The Yùzhì prefatory pieces by Qiánlóng — the Yùzhì Sū Shì yùshū sòng lùn and Yùzhì dú Sū Shì Fàn Zēng lùn — preceded by the tíyào.

Tiyao

The Sìkù tíyào: Dōngpō quánjí in 115 juǎn by Sū Shì of the Sòng. Shì has Yìzhuàn, already cataloged. Sū Zhé’s mùzhì for [Sū] Shì: Shì wrote Dōngpō jí 40 juǎn, Hòují 20 juǎn, Zòuyì 15 juǎn, Nèizhì 10 juǎn, Wàizhì 3 juǎn, Hé Táo shī 4 juǎn. Cháo Gōngwǔ’s Dúshū zhì and Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí both same; only differing by adding Yìngzhào jí 10 juǎn, combined into one biān — what the world calls Dōngpō qījí. The Sòngshǐ Yìwénzhì records qiánhòu jí in 70 juǎn — juǎn-count not matching the mùzhì — and separately lists Zòuyì bǔyí 3 juǎn, Nánzhēng jí 1 juǎn, Cí 1 juǎn, Nánshěng shuōshū 1 juǎn, Biéjí 46 juǎn, Huángzhōu jí 2 juǎn, Xùjí 2 juǎn, Běiguī jí 6 juǎn, Dāněr shǒuzé 1 juǎn — names rather cóngsuì (multiplicitous-and-fragmentary). Now examined: Shì’s collection in Sòng times originally was not one běn. Shào Bó’s Wénjiàn hòulù says: the Jīngshī (capital) printed-běn Dōngpō jí — Shì himself collated; xiāngláo characters’ errors appear nowhere else — likely destroyed in the Jìngkāng upheaval. Chén Zhènsūn’s record: there were Hángběn, Shǔběn; further the Sūshì great-grandson Qiáo’s cut Jiànānběn; further Máshā shūfáng dàquánjí běn; further what some Zhāng cut Jízhōuběn. The Shǔběn and Jiànānběn lack the Yìngzhào jí; the Máshā and Jízhōu recensions both load Zhìlín záshuō-class without kǎodìng (verification). And Chén Hú 陳鵠’s Qíjiù xùwén says: the Gūsū Jūyīng cut Dōngpō quánjí particularly has order, also exceptionally few chuǎnmiù (errors), extremely worth admiring — clearly at the time the Sūzhōuběn was the best — and now likewise has none. Yè Shèng’s Shuǐdōng rìjì further says: Shào Fùrú’s family had a xìzì xiǎoběn Dōngpō dàquán wénjí; Sōngjiāng Dōngrì héshàng held had a dàběn Dōngpō jí, and further had a xiǎozì dàběn Dōngpō jí. What Shèng saw is all Sòng-period old cut, and the cuòhù (interconnections) are already like this. Examined the Ménshī xīnhuà says: the Yè Jiā zhuàn in fact composed by his fellow-villager Chén Yuánguī; the Hé Hè Fānghuí Qīngyùàn cí in fact composed by Huátíng Yáo Jìn; pieces in the collection like Shuìxiāng zuìxiāng jì are bǐlǐ qiǎnjìn (vulgar-near), decidedly not Pō-composed; today’s shūsì (booksellers) often add-and-replace to seek-quick-sale, and the officials do not know to forbid &c. Clearly Shì’s collection circulated all over the empire, with cut-recensions multiplying daily; and the disorder grew worse — this is the natural state of affairs. Yet though transmitted recensions are many, their tǐlì (compositional principle) reduces to two main types: one is fēnjí biāndìng zhě (separate-collection edited) — the cause being from Shì’s original běn and yuánmù, with later supplements — i.e. Chén Zhènsūn’s Hángběn (the Hángzhōu recension), already circulating during Shì’s own lifetime; through the Míng-period Jiāngxī cut likewise — but its re-cutting has long ceased. The other is fēnlèi hébiān zhě (classified-and-combined) — suspected to begin with the Jūyīngběn — what Sòng-people called the dàquánjí type. Through the Míng with cut-transmission especially many: there is the 75-juǎn one called Dōngpō xiānshēng quánjí loading prose without poetry — abridgements many; there is the 114-juǎn one called Sū Wénzhōng quánjí — bǎn somewhat fine but the biānjí lacks method. This běn is the present-dynasty (Qing) Cài Shìyīng’s cut, generally based on the old cut and re-edited — what the world commonly circulates. Today therefore we use it for zhùlù (cataloging). At the head of the collection there was a niánpǔ in 1 juǎn — what the Sòng Nánhǎi Wáng Zōngjì 王宗稷 edited; Shào Chánghéng 邵長蘅 and Zhā Shènxíng’s 查慎行 bǔzhù Shìshī praises that the zuòshī suìyuè biāncì (poem-composition month-and-year ordering) often errs — but it is in the original běn — we now together preserve it. Qiánlóng 46 (1781) 4th month, respectfully collated.

Abstract

Dōngpō quánjí is the operational base for all subsequent Sū Shì study. The catalog’s 115-juǎn count reflects the late-Cài Shìyīng Kāngxī re-edition of the Míng Sū Wénzhōng quánjí (114 + 1 niánpǔ) plus minor bǔyí. The collection’s transmission history — the loss of the original Sū Zhé-edited Dōngpō qījí in the Jìngkāng upheaval; the Háng / Shǔ / Jiànān / Máshā / Jízhōu / Sūzhōu Sòng cuts; the fēnjí vs. fēnlèi hébiān division; the Míng-period mass interpolation of pseudonymous pieces (the Yè Jiā zhuàn, the Qīngyùàn cí hézuò, the Shuìxiāng zuìxiāng jì) — is one of the longer textual histories among Sòng biéjí and is unusually well-documented through Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí, Chén Hú’s Qíjiù xùwén, Yè Shèng’s Shuǐdōng rìjì, and the cumulative Qing collations. The Wáng Zōngjì niánpǔ — though imperfect (later collation by Shào Chánghéng / Zhā Shènxíng) — is the foundation of all later Sū Shì niánpǔ scholarship. The two Qiánlóng prefatory imperial pieces (Yùzhì sònglùn on Sū’s Yùshū sòng allegedly produced for Zhāng Shìxùn while still tàizǐ; Yùzhì dú Fàn Zēng lùn) — both engaging with Sū’s cèlùn in detail — show how seriously the Qing imperial editorial authority took Sū’s prose. Dating bracket: Sū’s death (1101) to the Sìkù re-collation (1781).

Translations and research

• Egan, Ronald C. 1994. Word, Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi. Harvard. The standard English-language full study.
• Lin, Yutang. 1947. The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo. John Day. A popular but substantial biography.
• Watson, Burton. 1965. Su Tung-p’o: Selections from a Sung Dynasty Poet. Columbia.
• Sargent, Stuart. 1992. “Hsi-K’un Style and Su Shih’s Poetry.” Background.
• Wáng Wén-gào 王文誥. 1819. Sū Wén-zhōng-gōng shī-biān-zhù jí-chéng 蘇文忠公詩編註集成. The standard Qing reception of Sū-shī editing.
• Sū Shì wén-jí 蘇軾文集. 1986. Zhōng-huá. 73 juǎn. Standard modern critical edition.
• Sū Shì shī-jí 蘇軾詩集. 1982. Zhōng-huá. 50 juǎn. Standard modern critical edition.

Other points of interest

The SūShì biéjí transmission — multiplied by the 200-year gap between Sū’s death and the Yuán-period printing-revolution that fixed the surviving recensions — is a textbook case of Sòng biéjí recensional fluidity. The Yè Jiā zhuàn — repeatedly identified as the work of Chén Yuánguī (Sū’s yìrén / fellow-townsman) — is the most-cited example of pseudo-Sū prose; even today the piece sometimes circulates as authentic. The Qiánlóng emperor’s two prefatory pieces engage substantively with Sū’s cèlùn — the Yùshū sòng problem (concerning cílì — what is appropriate for a tàizǐ to receive) and the Fàn Zēng lùn problem (concerning Liú Bāng / Xiàng Yǔ’s parting) — both pieces of imperial kǎojù that resemble jīngshǐ lectures more than the customary Yùzhì preface.

Links

• Su Shi (Wikidata)
• Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.1 (Sòng biéjí); §47 (TángSòng bājiā).