Jiǎnzhāi jí 簡齋集
The Plain-Studio Collection by 陳與義 (撰)
About the work
Jiǎnzhāi jí 簡齋集 in 16 juǎn is the principal Sìkù collection of Chén Yǔyì 陳與義 (1090–1138), the leading post-1127 Jiāngxī 江西-school poet ranked by Fāng Huí 方回 as one of the three zōng 宗 (patriarchs) — alongside Huáng Tíngjiān 黃庭堅 KR4d0091 and Chén Shīdào 陳師道 KR4d0103 — in the yīzǔ sānzōng 一祖三宗 canon descending from Dù Fǔ 杜甫 KR4d0050. The 16-juǎn WYG version places one juǎn of fù and miscellaneous prose at the head and one juǎn of cí (詩餘 18 pieces) at the end; the central 14 juǎn are gǔtǐ and jìntǐ poetry. A separately-transmitted 30-juǎn annotated version with notes by Hú Zhì 胡稺 forms KR4d0154; a supplementary outer-collection of poems excluded from the main collection forms KR4d0155.
Tiyao
The Jiǎnzhāi jí in 16 juǎn, by Chén Yǔyì of the Sòng. Yǔyì, zì Qùfēi, of Luòyáng. Jiǎnzhāi is his hào. Graduated Zhènghé 3 (1113) Shàngshè jiǎkē; in Shàoxīng office to Cānzhī zhèngshì. Career in Sòng shǐ biography. The first juǎn is fù and miscellaneous prose 9 pieces; the 16th juǎn is shīyú (詞) 18 pieces; the middle 14 juǎn are all gǔjīntǐ poetry.
Fāng Huí’s Yíngkuí lǜsuǐ says the Jiǎnzhāi jí contains no whole-poem on snow, only the line Hòulǐng xuěcháyā (Behind the ridge, snow-jagged-branches) from the Jīntán dàozhōng poem placed in the snow category. Today examining the collection, ancient-style and quatrains both have snow poems — not matching what Huí said. This is because what Huí selected was only five- and seven-character regulated verse; hence he spoke only of regulated verse — not because later persons interpolated.
Yǔyì’s birth was somewhat-later than the Yuányòu generation; hence Lǚ Běnzhōng’s 呂本中 Jiāngxī zōngpài tú did not list his name. But after Jīngkāng, Northern-Sòng poets had withered-and-fallen almost-completely; only Yǔyì — literary elder — survived towering-and-alone. His poetry, although-its-source originates-from Yùzhāng (Huáng Tíngjiān), has heaven-allotted-elevation high; works at transformation; the air-and-style vigorous-and-rising; the thought-power deep-and-sincere; able to exceptionally cleave its own pathway. Yíngkuí lǜsuǐ takes Dù Fǔ as the one ancestor, Huáng Tíngjiān, Chén Shīdào, and Yǔyì as the three patriarchs — this is admittedly a one-school’s gateway-evaluation. But within the Jiāngxī school’s terms, below Tíngjiān and above Shīdào — really to place a high seat for him — is no shame.
In the beginning, Yǔyì composed a Mò méi shī (Ink-plum poem) and was-recognised by Huīzōng. Afterward, the line Kèzǐ guāngyīn shījuàn lǐ; xìnghuā xiāoxī yǔ shēng zhōng (the traveller’s-time within the poem-scrolls; the apricot-blossoms’ news amid the rain-sound) was praised by Gāozōng — leading him gradually to high office. Among post-southward-crossing poets, he was the most-prominent. Yet these are not his masterpieces. As-for the residue of Húnán wandering-displacement, after the Biànjīng bǎndàng (collapse-of-the-capital), responding-to-times and stroking-events, vehement-and-emotional, deeply-lodging-his-traces — there he often surpassed the ancients.
Hence Liú Kèzhuāng’s Hòucūn shīhuà says-of-him: in haste he forgot-not concern-and-love; using jiǎnyán (concise-and-strict) sweeping-away embellishment; using xiónghún (vigorous-and-deep) replacing pointed-cleverness — his quality-and-rank ought-to-be-placed above the various poets. His cousin’s son Zhāng Niè 張嵲 KR4d0161 composed his mùzhì saying: the lord’s poetry, in tǐwù yùxìng (embodying-things and lodging-feelings), was qīngsuì chāotè (clear-and-deep, unique-and-special), yūyú hóngsì (relaxed-and-unhurried, broad-and-unbridled), gāojǔ hénglì (high-rising and crosswise-fierce) — also rather good at xíngróng (form-description). But comparing-him to Táo, Xiè, Wéi, Liǔ — that is rather not-similar. It does-not-match Kèzhuāng’s discussion in obtaining the truth. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 43 (1778), 4th month.
Abstract
The 16-juǎn WYG version is the Sìkù compilers’ standard recension. The yuányǐn (original-introduction, by 晦齋 Huìzhāi — Liú Chénwēng’s 劉辰翁 yìngchéngtóng (壬午 1222 = Lóngxīng 1) preface and the yuánxù by Liú Chénwēng of Lúlíng 廬陵 須溪 are both preserved at the head of the collection and constitute the principal Sòng-period external aesthetic appraisals. Chén’s discipleship of Huáng Tíngjiān is genealogical (he was Huáng’s third-generation poetic descendant) rather than direct, and the Sìkù tíyào explicitly deploys him to defend the Jiāngxī school against critics like Liú Chénwēng who would dismiss it as mere school-erudition.
The aesthetic centre of the collection is the displacement poetry from after Jīngkāng (1127) — composed during Chén’s flight via Dèngzhōu 鄧州, Xiāngyáng 襄陽, Húběi, and Húnán to the Southern court. These pieces — including the celebrated Wángyúshèng and Sòngshī poems — are unanimously identified by both the Sìkù editors and Liú Kèzhuāng’s Hòucūn shīhuà as superior to the court-favoured Mò méi and Xìnghuā couplets. Lifedates 1090–1138 (CBDB id 8004 has approximate dates; standard biographies confirm).
Catalog-vs-external check: the Sòng shǐ and CBDB give 1090–1138; the catalog meta agrees, and no correction is needed.
Translations and research
- Michael Fuller, The Road to East Slope: The Development of Su Shi’s Poetic Voice (Stanford UP, 1990) — provides the Jiāng-xī-school context within which Chén must be read.
- Yoshikawa Kōjirō 吉川幸次郎, Sō-shi gaisetsu 宋詩概說 (Iwanami, 1962; Eng. tr. Burton Watson, An Introduction to Sung Poetry, Harvard, 1967) — chapter on Chén Yǔ-yì.
- Wáng Cì-méng 王次孟 ed., Chén Yǔ-yì jí jiào-jiān 陳與義集校箋 (Shànghǎi guǔ-jí, 1990) — modern critical edition.
- Sòng shǐ j. 445 (Wén-yuàn zhuàn) — biography.
Other points of interest
- The pairing of KR4d0153 (WYG, 16 juǎn), KR4d0154 (SBCK, 30 juǎn annotated), and KR4d0155 (SBCK, wàijí 1 juǎn) is the standard tripartite collection of Chén’s poetry; serious researchers consult all three.