Dōngtáng jí 東堂集
The East-Hall Collection by 毛滂 (撰)
About the work
Dōngtáng jí 東堂集 in 10 juǎn (Sìkù reconstruction: 4 of poetry + 6 of prose) preserves the writings of Máo Páng 毛滂, prolific late-Northern-Sòng cí-poet and minor official. The title Dōngtáng — “East-Hall” — refers to the Eastern Hall of the Wǔkāngxiàn office where Máo had served as magistrate. Originally per Chén Zhènsūn’s Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí: 6 juǎn of Dōngtáng jí, 4 of poetry, 1 of letters, 2 of yuèfǔ (lyrics) — totalling 13 juǎn. The Dōngtáng cí (lyric collection) circulates separately in Máo Jìn’s Liùshíjiā cí. The principal anecdote of Máo’s career: his Xīfēnfēi 惜分飛 lyric caught Sū Shì’s ear when Máo was preparing to leave Hángzhōu after his term as fǎcáo; Sū sent a letter recalling him, and the two spent some months in literary association.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Dōngtáng jí in 10 juǎn, by Máo Páng of the Sòng. Páng, zì Zémín, of Qúzhōu Jiāngshān, office to Cíbù yuánwài láng and Zhī Xiùzhōu. Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí records Páng’s Dōngtáng jí 6 juǎn, shī 4, shūjiǎn 1, yuèfǔ 2 — Páng once held office at Wǔkāngxiàn, the xiàn had a Dōngtáng (East Hall), hence took it to name the collection. At first, in Yuányòu mid-period, Sū Shì kept-watch at Hángzhōu; Páng was fǎcáo (legal-officer); finished term and went; already had reached Fùyáng — Shì heard one singing his Xīfēnfēi cí — folded a letter chasing-recalled him — extended their stay several months — through this gained fame. Yet afterward [Páng] emerged from the gate of the Cài brothers. Cài Tāo’s Tiěwéishān cóngtán records Cài Jīng holding-the-fasces — Páng submitted a lyric most-grandly-elegant — therefore quickly got promotion-and-use. Wáng Míngqīng’s Huīzhǔ hòulù further records Páng was appreciated by Zēng Bù — promoted to the guǎngé; Bù in southern banishment was implicated in faction-association, got punishment, drifted-and-fell. Cài Biàn took military-command of Rùnzhōu — and Páng with [Cài] Biàn were both Línchuān Wáng’s sons-in-law — Páng inclined-mind serving him; one day at family-gathering watching the pool-edge mandarin-ducks, Biàn composed a poem saying mò xué jīyīng bǎo biàn fēi (“don’t follow the hungry hawk: full and you fly away”). Páng returned with verse: tān liàn ēnbō wèi kěn fēi (“clinging to favour-flow, not yet willing to fly off”). Biàn’s wife laughed and said: “Wasn’t this the one that just flew over from Cabinet-Master Zēng’s pool?” Páng was greatly ashamed.
His native conduct xuànbó fǎnfù bùcháng (light-and-shifting, repeating-and-not-constant) — even being mocked by women-and-girls. Even the works of correspondence-and-reply in the collection — much have an air of qǐngyè gànqí (calling-on-and-petitioning), unable to escape the zhǐwěi tiǎnniǎn (sticky-paste-and-cringing) attitude. Hence Chén Zhènsūn says his shīwén (poetry-and-prose) compared to yuèfǔ (lyrics) is rather inferior — also probably for his person and slighting [the work].
But discussing fairly: his poetry has a fēngfā quányǒng zhī zhì (wind-issuing, spring-gushing flavour) — quite háofàng bùjī (unrestrained); his prose also dàqì pánbó wāngyáng zìsì (great-spirit, encompassing-broad-vast-and-self-flowing) — getting one línpiànjiǎ (scale-and-shell) of the two-Sū’s. At the end of Northern Sòng, deserves to zìchéng yījiā (form-its-own-school). Cannot finally be put-aside-without-discussion. Now from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn gathered, arranged into 4 juǎn of shī, 6 of wén, restoring its 10-piān old. Letters merged into the prose-collection, not separately edited. As to the Dōngtáng cí — Máo Jìn already cut it into the Liùshíjiā cí, the world has many copies — also separately catalogued. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Dōngtáng jí preserves the writings of one of the more politically-mobile late-Northern-Sòng literary figures — Máo Páng moved through the patronage networks of Sū Shì, Zēng Bù, and the Cài brothers in succession. The Sìkù editors’ assessment is searing on his character but careful on his literary merit. The famous Xīfēnfēi episode with Sū Shì grounds his early reputation; the embarrassing yuānyāng poem at Cài Biàn’s residence is the canonical character-defining anecdote.
The Dōngtáng cí (lyric corpus) is the more substantial literary contribution and circulates separately. The prose biéjí preserved here documents the late-Huīzōng patronage culture — particularly through correspondence with Zēng Bù and the Cài brothers.
Lifedates conventionally c. 1056–c. 1124.
Translations and research
- Sòng-shǐ — no biography.
- Quán Sòng cí — preserves the Dōng-táng cí lyrics.
- Lin, Shuen-fu. The Transformation of the Chinese Lyrical Tradition (Princeton 1978). Background on late-Northern-Sòng cí in which Máo participates.
- No dedicated monographic study of Máo Páng located.
Other points of interest
- The Xīfēnfēi recall episode with Sū Shì — recorded in multiple Sòng bǐjì — became one of the canonical Sòng anecdotes about literary serendipity and patron-protégé recognition.