Kēshān jí 柯山集
The Kē-shān Collection (of Zhāng Lěi) by 張耒 (撰)
About the work
Kēshān jí 柯山集 in 50 juǎn is the WYG-recension collection of Zhāng Lěi 張耒 張耒 (1054–1114, zì Wénqián 文潜, hào Kēshān 柯山, Féixiān 肥仙). One of the Sūmén sìxuéshì (Sū-Shì-circle four disciples). Sū Shì 蘇軾 蘇軾 famously praised Zhāng’s prose as wāngyáng chōngdàn, yǒu yīchàng sāntàn zhī yīn (vast-flowing and bland-substantial, with the sound of one-singing-three-sighing); the late-style poetry — Bái Jū-yì-influenced píngdàn (plain-bland) — gave Zhāng his Southern-Sòng Féixiān 肥仙 *(Plump Immortal) cognomen recorded by Yáng Wànlǐ in Yíngkuí lǜsuǐ. The transmission state is among the most fragmented of Northern-Sòng biéjí: the Wénxiàn tōngkǎo records Kēshān jí in 100 juǎn; Zhōu Zǐzhī 周紫芝’s Tàicāng tímǐ jí postscript “Shū Tánjùn xiānshēng wénjí hòu” lists four parallel recensions: 10-juǎn Kēshān jí (from Luó Zhònghóng 羅仲洪 of Dàliáng); 30-juǎn Zhāng Lónggé jí (from Nèixiàng Wāng Yànzhāng 汪彥章); 70-juǎn Zhāng yòushǐ jí (from Zhèxī cáotái); 100-juǎn Tánjùn xiānshēng jí (from Sìchuān zhuǎnyùn fùshǐ Jǐngshī’s son). The present Sìkù WYG state’s 50-juǎn count matches none of the four — clearly a Yuán / early-Míng zhāicuì (selection-and-gathering) editorial intervention. Hú Yìnglín 胡應麟’s Bǐcóng records his own once-acquisition of a 16-cè / 100-juǎn hand-copy lost to fire — and the prevailing recensions thereafter were chāohé lèishū (transcribed-and-combined-from-class-books). Despite the lacunae the Sìkù recension is several times the volume of Hú’s 13-juǎn truncation.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Kēshān jí in 50 juǎn by Zhāng Lěi of the Sòng. Lěi has Shī shuō, already cataloged. Sū Shì once praised his prose as wāngyáng chōngdàn, yǒu yīchàng sāntàn zhī yīn; in late years his poetry sought píngdàn, imitated Bái Jūyì; the yuèfǔ imitated Zhāng Jí. Hence the Yíngkuí lǜsuǐ records Yáng Wànlǐ’s saying “Féixiān shī zìrán” — Féixiān is the Southern-Sòng person’s name for Lěi’s cí. The Wénxiàn tōngkǎo makes Kēshān jí 100 juǎn; the present collection’s juǎn-count is half. Examined Zhā Shènxíng’s annotated Sūshī says: once seen Lěi’s two poems but the present běn lacks them. Examined Zhōu Zǐzhī’s Tàicāng tímǐ jí “Shū Tánjùn xiānshēng wénjí hòu”: “I once obtained the Kēshān jí in 10 juǎn from Dàliáng Luó Zhònghóng family; later again obtained the Zhāng Lónggé jí in 30 juǎn from Nèixiàng Wāng Yànzhāng family; later again obtained the Zhāng yòushǐ jí in 70 juǎn from Zhèxī cáotái — and the master’s zhìzuò (compositions) are then complete. Now further obtained the Tánjùn xiānshēng jí in 100 juǎn from Sìchuān zhuǎnyùn fùshǐ Nányáng Jǐnggōng’s son Huìzhī — whereupon I knew the master’s shīwén are most numerous; there are still those probably not gathered. I shall take the several collections — pruning duplicates, unifying their having-and-not-having — to guī yú suǒwèi yībǎi juǎn (return to the so-called 100 juǎn) as the master’s quánshū” &c. Then Lěi’s wénjí in Southern Sòng was already not one běn; the duōguǎ (much-and-little) is also mutually different. This běn’s juǎn-count with what Zǐzhī recorded as four běn none match — also do not know what time, what person had assembled the surviving fragments to edit it — clearly the quēyì (lacuna-loss) is rather many. Yet examined Hú Yìnglín’s Bǐcóng says: “Zhāng Wénqián’s Kēshān jí in 100 juǎn — what I obtained was only 13 juǎn — clearly a transcription-combined class-book cut, not the old. I once in Línān a-back-alley saw a hand-copied book in 16 zhì (volumes) — opened it — was Wénqián’s collection — juǎn-count exactly the same. Next morning visiting them — but the previous night’s neighbor-fire had spread, this book had abruptly turned to ash &c.” This běn though does not approach the 100-juǎn completeness — but compared with Yìnglín’s 13 juǎn, this gets several times more — also enough to see Lěi’s compositional outline. Qiánlóng 49 (1784) 11th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Kēshān jí preserves the largest surviving portion of Zhāng Lěi’s Sūmén generation prose-and-poetry. Bibliographically the work is a textbook case of Sòng biéjí fluidity: four parallel Southern-Sòng recensions (Zhōu Zǐzhī’s record); a 100-juǎn full edition lost; the present 50-juǎn state of unclear editorial provenance. The Sū Shì yīchàng sāntàn (one-singing-three-sighing) characterization — preserved by Sòngshǐ — is the canonical evaluation of Zhāng’s prose. Late-style Bái Jūyì-influenced píngdàn poetry and Zhāng-Jí-influenced yuèfǔ together constitute Zhāng’s mature poetic voice — a Sūmén counterweight to the more formally-rigorous Jiāngxī shīpài of Huáng Tíngjiān and Chén Shīdào. The Hú Yìnglín Bǐcóng anecdote of the lost 16-volume hand-copy at Línān (Hú missed acquisition by one night, the manuscript burning in a neighboring fire) is one of the more vivid Sòng biéjí-loss narratives. Companion to the SBCK 60-juǎn Zhāng yòushǐ wénjí KR4d0090 (a different / overlapping recension family). Dating bracket: Zhāng’s death (1114) to the Sìkù re-collation (1784).
Translations and research
- Bol, Peter K. 1992. “This Culture of Ours”. Stanford UP. Treats Sū-mén sì-xué-shì.
- Liu, James J. Y. 1962. The Art of Chinese Poetry. Chicago.
- Egan, Ronald C. 1994. Word, Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi. Harvard. Treats Zhāng Lěi’s Sū-mén role.
- Lǐ Yì-fēi 李逸飛. 1990. Zhāng Lěi yán-jiū 張耒研究. Standard biography.
- Yoshikawa Kōjirō 吉川幸次郎. 1962. An Introduction to Sung Poetry. Treats Zhāng’s píng-dàn late-style.
Other points of interest
Zhāng Lěi as the last surviving senior Sūxué figure (after Sū Shì, Sū Zhé, Huáng Tíngjiān, Qín Guān, Cháo Bǔzhī all preceded him in death) makes his late-period writings — particularly the Chénzhōu exile and the Càizhōu / Yǐngzhōu magisterial postings — a unique witness to the post-Yuán-yòu-coalition’s collapse and the survival of Sūxué doctrines into the Chóngníng / Dàguān periods. The Zhōu Zǐzhī Tàicāng postscript’s enumeration of four parallel recensions is itself a model of late-Northern-Sòng / early-Southern-Sòng biéjí family-history reconstruction.
Links
- Zhang Lei (Wikidata)
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.1 (Sòng biéjí); §47 (Sūmén sìxuéshì).