Xīdù jí 西渡集
The Western-Crossing Collection by 洪炎 (撰)
About the work
Xīdù jí 西渡集 in 2 juǎn preserves the writings of Hóng Yán 洪炎 (1067–1133), third of the Sì Hóng 四洪 brothers — all Huáng Tíngjiān’s nephews and all listed in Lǚ Běnzhōng’s Jiāngxī shīshè zōngpài tú. Of the four brothers’ collections, Hóng Yán’s is the one that survived through to the Qīng in a complete (manuscript) form, preserved in the Bào family’s Zhībùzúzhāi (Zhèjiāng); the others are Sìkù reconstructions from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. Hóng Yán received his poetic training directly from his uncle Huáng Tíngjiān; the surviving collection includes 9 supplementary poems by Hóng Péng 洪朋 and 24 poems by Hóng Chú 洪芻 plus 2 jì-prose pieces, attached at the end — these supplements were added by an anonymous Qīng-period editor.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Xīdù jí, by Hóng Yán of the Sòng. Yán, zì Yùfù, of Nánchāng. End of Yuányòu passed jìnshì; office to Zhuózuòláng, Mìshū shǎojiān. Yán with his elder-brothers Péng and Chú, younger-brother Yǔ — called Sì Hóng — all Huáng Tíngjiān’s nephews — received shīfǎ (poetic-method) from Tíngjiān. Yǔ entered the faction-register, died early. Their collections in Southern-Sòng times Chén Zhènsūn already said not transmitted — hence the Shūlù jiětí records only Péng’s Guīfù jí 1 juǎn, Chú’s Lǎopǔ jí 1 juǎn, Yán’s Xīdù jí 1 juǎn. From Míng onward the Guīfù, Lǎopǔ two collections together lost — today gathered from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn re-compiled into vols. — only Yán’s collection alone preserved — and also without printed-edition.
This běn is what Zhèjiāng’s Bào-family Zhībùzúzhāi preserves — only divided into upper-and-lower 2 juǎn — slightly differing from Mr. Chén’s record. But the Lǎopǔ jí Mr. Chén also calls 1 juǎn — yet today gathering-and-arranging the cánzhì (residual fragments) — already-not what 1 juǎn can hold — perhaps the Shūlù jiětí’s transmission-error; Sòng shǐ followed it — both unable to be known.
Yán’s poetry is kùsì qí jiù (closely-resembles his uncle [Huáng Tíngjiān]); today the complete-collection kuīrán dúwán (towering uniquely-preserved) — particularly worth-treasuring. The juǎn-end appended Péng’s poems 9 shǒu, Chú’s poems 24 shǒu and 2 jìpiān — its compiler unknown. Examining its referenced books — like SòngYuán shīhuì, Pìjiāng yuán, Sòng wénxuǎn — all Kāngxī mid-period people’s compilations — so [the editor] is also a recent person. The two persons’ collections [Péng’s and Chú’s] are already separately catalogued — these are duplicate-supplements. But Chú’s prose — what Lǎopǔ jí did not include — cannot wholly follow deletion — hence following the old-běn attached-and-recorded. Qiánlóng 44 (1779), 3rd month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Xīdù jí is the principal documentary witness to Hóng Yán, the only one of the Sì Hóng brothers whose collection survived in continuous manuscript transmission. As Huáng Tíngjiān’s nephew and direct shīfǎ (poetic-method) recipient, Hóng Yán’s collection preserves the most-direct genetic transmission from Huáng to the Jiāngxī shīpài’s second generation. The Sìkù editors’ note that Yán’s poetry kùsì qí jiù (closely-resembles his uncle) is the canonical assessment.
The southern-crossing context — Hóng Yán surviving through Jīngkāng / Jiànyán and serving under Gāozōng as Mìshū shǎojiān — gives the collection a transitional Northern-to-Southern-Sòng register. The Xīdù (Western-Crossing) title most likely refers to a place-name from his career (possibly a xīdù river-crossing in Jiāngxī or in his Wúzhōu post).
The textual artifact of the appended Hóng Péng / Hóng Chú materials — a Kāngxī-period editorial accretion, deliberately preserved by the Sìkù editors despite duplication — gives us a small witness to early-Qīng Bào-family bibliophilic practice. Lifedates 1067–1133.
Translations and research
- Sòng-shǐ — Hóng Yán has no biography (附 mentions through Hóng family).
- Lǚ Běn-zhōng, Jiāng-xī shī-shè zōng-pài tú — canonical ranking source.
- Bào Tíng-bó 鮑廷博, Zhī-bù-zú-zhāi cóng-shū — Bào-family’s bibliophile context.
- Hawes, Colin. The Social Circulation of Poetry in the Mid-Northern Song (SUNY 2005).
Other points of interest
- The Sì Hóng brothers — Péng KR4d0131, Chú KR4d0142, Yán (here), Yǔ (lost) — represent the most concentrated genetic lineage of the Jiāngxī shīpài. The Bào-family preservation of Xīdù jí is one of the early-Qīng bibliophilic recoveries of late-Northern-Sòng / early-Southern-Sòng biéjí.