Xītáng jí 溪堂集
The Stream-Hall Collection by 謝逸 (撰)
About the work
Xītáng jí 溪堂集 in 10 juǎn preserves the writings of Xiè Yì 謝逸 (c. 1068–1113), Línchuān recluse-poet and canonical Jiāngxī shīpài figure. The title takes Xiè’s hào Xītáng 溪堂 (Stream-Hall). Recensional history is partial: Chén Zhènsūn’s Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí records 20 juǎn; the Sìkù received recension is only 10. The collection is most famous for the Bǎi yǒnghú dié shī 百詠蝴蝶詩 (Hundred Butterfly Chants) — a poetic cycle that won Xiè the nickname Xiè Húdié (Butterfly Xiè). The Bǎi yǒnghú dié itself is not fully preserved here — only fragments remain — but the literary reputation derives from the cycle.
Tiyao
Abstract
Xītáng jí documents one of the canonical Jiāngxī shīpài figures whom Lǚ Běnzhōng 呂本中 listed in the Jiāngxī shīshè zōngpài tú alongside Huáng Tíngjiān, Chén Shīdào, and others. Xiè Yì never entered office; he lived as a recluse-poet in Línchuān (Jiāngxī), where his brother Xiè Kē 謝薖 謝薖 kept him company. The collection contains gǔshī, lǜshī, juéjù, cí, and a small body of prose (xù, bá, jì, letters), with the Bǎi yǒnghú dié cycle as its most-cited single set.
The Sìkù tíyào on Lǐ Péng’s Rì shèyuán jí KR4d0120 notes that Xiè Yì, Hóng Péng KR4d0131, and Lǐ Péng together formed a Northern-Sòng / late-Northern-Sòng Jiāngxī shīpài secondary network — distinguishable from but parallel to the central HuángChén axis. Xiè Yì’s correspondence with Hán Jū, Hóng Yán [洪炎], and other late-Northern-Sòng poets situates him in this secondary network.
The dating bracket runs from his yīshēng wèi shì (lifelong without-office) state — most pieces probably date from c. 1095–1113. Lifedates 1068–1113 are drawn from CBDB.
Translations and research
- Sòng-shǐ — no biography (Xiè Yì held no office).
- Sòng-shī jì-shì 宋詩紀事 — extensive collection of Xiè’s poems and anecdotes.
- Jiāng-xī shī-shè zōng-pài tú (Lǚ Běn-zhōng) — original ranking source.
- Hawes, Colin. The Social Circulation of Poetry in the Mid-Northern Song (SUNY 2005). Background on the Jiāng-xī shī-pài secondary network including Xiè.
- No dedicated monographic study of Xiè Yì in Western scholarship.
Other points of interest
- The Bǎi yǒnghú dié cycle — even fragmentary — is one of the more famous Northern-Sòng yǒngwù (chanting-of-objects) sets, and the Xiè Húdié nickname enters Sòng anecdotal history (preserved in Cíyuán and Sòngshī jìshì).
- Xiè Yì and his brother Xiè Kē — Èr Xiè 二謝 — represent one of the documented sibling-pairs in the Jiāngxī shīpài lineage, alongside the Hóng brothers (Hóng Péng KR4d0131, Hóng Chú KR4d0142, Hóng Yán KR4d0141).