Dānyáng jí 丹陽集
The Dān-yáng (Cinnabar-Sun, hometown) Collection by 葛勝仲 (撰)
About the work
Dānyáng jí 丹陽集 in 24 juǎn (Sìkù reconstruction: prose 15 + poetry 7 + cí 1 + appendix 1 of xíngzhuàng and shìyì) preserves the writings of Gě Shèngzhòng 葛勝仲 (1072–1144), Chángzhōu Shàoshèng 4 / 1097 jìnshì and triple first-place-holder (jìnshì + xuéguān + cíkē). The title takes Gě’s native place Dānyáng. Per his son-in-law Zhāng Zòng’s xíngzhuàng, the original output was 80 juǎn of wénjí + 20 of wàijí; first cut at Zhēnzhōu, damaged in war; Lóngxīng jiǎyín (1194) re-supplemented at Zhēnzhōu by Sòng Xiǎozhī 宋曉之; Chúnxī bǐngwǔ (1186) re-cut by Yáo Kè 姚恪. Lost from Míng onward; Sìkù reconstruction from Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. Continued Ōuyáng Xiū’s Tàicháng yīngé lǐ in 300 juǎn — when serving as Tàichángqīng, expanded to 300 juǎn — making him a major late-Northern-Sòng / early-Southern-Sòng ritual scholar.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: Dānyáng jí 24 juǎn, by Gě Shèngzhòng of the Sòng. Shèngzhòng, zì Lǔqīng, of Dānyáng. Jìnshì of Shàoshèng 4; further tested xuéguān and cíkē — both first-place; office to Huáwéngé dàizhì, Zhī Húzhōu. Shàoxīng 1, requested cí-position and returned home; 14 died; canonised Wénkāng. Sòng shǐ Wényuánzhuàn preserves details. Per his son-in-law Zhāng Zòng’s xíngzhuàng: had wénjí 80 juǎn, wàijí 20. First cut at Zhēnzhōu — broken by war-fire — Lóngxīng jiǎyín Zhī Zhōushì Sòng Xiǎozhī supplemented and self-postscripted; Chúnxī bǐngwǔ Zhī Zhōushì Yáo Kè further re-cut; Zhōngshū shèrén Wáng Xìn postscripted. From Míng onward, transmitted-copy long broken. Today the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn records — categorized and gathered: wén 15 juǎn, shī 7 juǎn, shīyú (cí) 1 juǎn; further appended xíngzhuàng and shìyì as 1 juǎn — total composing into 24 juǎn.
Wáng Xìn’s postscript and Zhāng Zòng’s xíngzhuàng both record at the Xuānhé bei-fá (Northern-expedition) time, Shèngzhòng wrote a letter to Cài Jīng arguing against it — yet the Sòng shǐ biography does not record this affair, and the collection also has no this letter. Further records: from Yǎnzhōu jiàoshòu entered as Tàixuézhèng — at the time the imperial-favoured-visit to the school — many submitted sòng (eulogies); Shèngzhòng alone submitted fù; the emperor commanded the Zhōngshū to grade-them — Shèngzhòng was first — today the collection has no this fù either.
Other-such as the biography records: discoursing that Guō Tiānxìn should not be tíjǔ; discussing the xīzǔ temple’s adding-rooms not necessary to destroy — those memorials together lost not preserved. Further what calls guān yùdé time made rénxiàoxué sānlùn presented to the tàizǐ — today only xiàolùn, xuélùn preserved — the rest no examination — so what scattered-and-lost is many. But viewing what is one-fourth — also enough to see the broad-outline.
Shèngzhòng as Tàifǔ shǎoqīng time — could refuse Shèng Zhāng’s solicitation; Zhī Rǔzhōu time — could refuse Lǐ Yàn’s tax-extracting; Zhī Húzhōu time — could refuse Zhū Miǎn’s seeking báiquè xīchì (white-sparrow and mandarin-duck) tribute — his integrity shèn wěi (most-grand). Successively-served-prefectures all had administrative-talent. Re-served Húzhōu — meeting kòuluàn (rebel-disorder) — further had quánchéng (preserve-the-walls) merit. His official-record also enough to zìchuán (transmit-itself-through-history). Originally not for wénzhāng solely-valued. Yet on prose-discussing-prose — at the Northern-Sòng / Southern-Sòng transition — also stands-out as one zuòzhě.
Ōuyáng Xiū once compiled from Jiànlóng to Zhìpíng old-affairs as Tàicháng yīngé lǐ 100 piān; Shèngzhòng as Tàichángqīng hand-continued the book to 300 juǎn; hence on the contemporary diǎnzhì most-skilled. As yùdé time once compiled past-dynasty tàizǐ affairs as Chénghuá zhàoměi — further examined-discussed various histories as Pínggǔ piān; hence on past-and-present successes-and-failures most-thorough. Chóngníng 3 in father’s mourning fully-read the Shìshì dàzàngjīng (Buddhist canon) — hence what he composed often elucidates Buddhist principles.
Only the qīngcí, gōngdé shū, jiàofāng zhìyǔ type — following Sòng-people’s vulgar-precedent — entirely-and-mixedly recorded in the collection — particularly violating prose-form. Now respectfully follow the shèngxùn (sage-instruction) all-and-altogether deletion — to better complete-beauty. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Dānyáng jí preserves the writings of one of the more substantial Northern–Southern-Sòng transition literary figures. Gě Shèngzhòng’s literary career is anchored by his triple first-place exam achievement (jìnshì + xuéguān + cíkē) — a rare distinction. His political-administrative career — refusing the corrupt-eunuch Lǐ Yàn’s tax-extortion at Rǔzhōu, refusing Zhū Miǎn’s exotic-bird tribute at Húzhōu, refusing Shèng Zhāng’s solicitation at Tàifǔshǎoqīng — places him among the more-resistant late-Huīzōng-court figures.
Gě’s continuation of Ōuyáng Xiū’s Tàicháng yīngé lǐ (from 100 piān to 300 juǎn) makes him a major Sòng-period ritual scholar; this work is now lost but the biéjí prose preserves Gě’s ritual concerns. The Chóngníng 3 / 1104 reading-through of the entire Dàzàngjīng during his father’s mourning is reflected in the biéjí’s frequent Buddhist references.
The Sìkù editors’ deletion of the qīngcí, gōngdé shū, and jiàofāng zhìyǔ sections — under the shèngxùn (Qiánlóng emperor’s instruction to refuse popular-religious low-prose) — is preserved as an editorial gesture. Lifedates 1072–1144 are confirmed.
Translations and research
- Sòng-shǐ j. 445 (Wén-yuán) — biography.
- McKnight, Brian E. (various works). Background on Sòng administrative culture.
- No dedicated monographic study of Gě Shèng-zhòng located.
Other points of interest
- Gě’s continuation of the Tàicháng yīngé lǐ from 100 to 300 juǎn makes him one of the major Sòng-period ritual scholars; the lost work would have been a comprehensive update of Ōuyáng Xiū’s foundational ritual compilation.