Běishān jí 北山集
The Northern-Mountain Collection by 程俱 (撰)
About the work
Běishān jí 北山集 (also titled Běishān xiǎojí 北山小集) in 40 juǎn is the literary collection of Chéng Jù 程俱 (1078–1144), Northern–Southern-Sòng bìshūshǎojiān 祕書少監 (Junior Director of the Imperial Library) and author of the foundational administrative monograph Líntái gùshì 麟臺故事 KR2l0003. The collection takes its title from his hào Běishān (Northern Mountain) — Chéng’s residence on Mount Běishān 北山 in Qúzhōu 衢州. The 40 juǎn contain 11 juǎn of poetry and 29 juǎn of fù and miscellaneous prose. The administrative zhìgào 制誥 (drafted edicts) and jiāzǐ 劄子 (memorials) — Chéng was Zhōngshū shèrén 中書舍人 (Drafter at the Bureau of Foreign Imperial Edicts) under Gāozōng — constitute first-hand documentary evidence for early Southern-Sòng court politics, the Shàoxīng personnel rotation, and the Qín Guì 秦檜 administration.
Tiyao
The local source for KR4d0156 is the SBCK reproduction (titled Běishān xiǎojí 北山小集) and lacks a Sìkù tíyào. The following is translated from the Kyoto Zinbun digital Sìkù quánshū zǒngmù tíyào (集部九 別集類九, Běishān xiǎojí 40 juǎn; entry no. 0328901; source-edition 浙江鮑士恭家藏本):
By Chéng Jù of the Sòng. Jù has the Líntái gùshì — already-recorded. The collection altogether contains 11 juǎn of poetry and 29 juǎn of fù and miscellaneous prose. Jù’s nature was upright-and-straight. While he was in the yèyuán (Imperial Library / drafting office), he much jiūzhèng (corrected and rectified). For example: the GāozōngxìngXiùzhōu cìduì jiāzǐ — strongly arguing that rewards-and-punishments and dispositions ought-to-be matched-with people’s-hearts. The Lùn Wǔgōngdàfū Sū Yì zhuǎn héngxíng jiāzǐ — strongly arguing that the court ought to value-and-respect office. Further, when Xú Fǔ 徐俯 KR4d0117 composed verse in exchange with the Zhōngrén (palace eunuchs) and was abruptly-promoted to Jiànyìdàfū, Jù also rejected-and-returned the lùhuáng — much-displaying qìjié (resolute integrity). Now the various jiāzǐ are all in the collection; their kànglùn bùē (resisting-discussion, not-flattering) demeanour, on reading, can still be imagined.
As-for the zhìgào compositions — these are especially his greatest-strength. The shǐ says of-them diǎnyǎ hóngào (typical-elegant, broad-and-deep) — practically without need-for-shame. As-for poetry — he took-the-path-from Wéi [Yìngwù] and Liǔ [Zōngyuán] to look-up to Táo [Yuānmíng] and Xiè [Língyùn]. Sùsǎn gǔdàn (austere-and-relaxed, ancient-and-bland), also has its self-attained interest. His Jiǔrì (Ninth-day) one-piece — Máo Qílíng’s selection of Tang seven-character regulated verse so-much-as erred in taking-it as Gāo Shì’s composition — enough to know its yīnqíng zhī jìngǔ (sound-and-feeling close to ancient).
The collection is rare in transmission. This version: Shímén Wú Zhīzhèn obtained-it from the Tàixīng Jì Zhènyí family — apparently still descended from a Sòng block-print copy — hence with-few lost-passages. Recently Lì È 厲鶚 composed Sòng shī jì shì, recording two ancient-style poems and two regulated-verse pieces of Jù’s, plus one liánjù — all said-to-be drawn-from the Běishān jí. Among them, the Nányuán one-piece — examining the present collection-version, actually titled Zhāng Púyè shānlín — does-not-match what È cites. Further, the Yóu Dàdí one-piece, drawn-from the Dòngxiāo shījí, while the present collection’s third juǎn contains Tóng Yúhángwèi Jiāng Zhòngjiā Bāo dàorén Chén Zǔdé Liángsūn yóu Dòngxiāogōng one-piece — examining-collated, this is what È cited, but the piānfú (length) is rather longer, almost half-again. È did-not-detail-examine; conversely wished to use-it to supplement the lost-pieces of the present collection — quite shūchuǎn (negligent-and-erroneous). Surely È relied-on other-books to second-cite, and never saw this version.
Abstract
The Běishān jí (or xiǎojí) — Chéng’s collection bears both titles in transmission, the WYG titling 北山集 and the SBCK titling 北山小集 — was rare from the Sòng forward. The Sìkù version derives ultimately from a Wú Zhīzhèn 吳之振 manuscript transcribed from a Sòng-print copy held by Jì Zhènyí 季振宜 of Tàixīng (Jiāngsū). Yè Mèngdé’s 葉夢得 葉夢得 preface — preserved at the head of the SBCK version — establishes the personal context: Yè had encountered Chéng’s prose during the Shàoshèng 紹聖 (1094–98) period and was struck by it; later in Zhènghé (1111–18), forced from the Hanlin and resident at Wúxià 吳下, Yè renewed contact and pressed Chéng’s writings on the prime minister, who declared Chéng “today’s Hán Tuìzhī” (= Hán Yù).
The collection is structurally important for several reasons. First, it preserves the most extensive surviving body of zhìgào prose from the early Southern-Sòng court; the personnel records embedded in juǎn 22–27 (wàizhì 1–6) are valuable prosopographic evidence for the post-Jīngkāng official corps. Second, the jiāzǐ and memorial sequence in juǎn 35–40 documents Chéng’s tenure as a censorial dissident — his refusal to draft edicts for personnel actions he considered improper (Xú Fǔ’s eunuch-aided promotion, Sū Yì’s héngxíng transfer, etc.) is preserved here as the rejected lùhuáng (registered drafts). Third, the closing 鄭作肅 Hòuxù preserves a remarkable conversation: Chéng and Yè Mèngdé had agreed in Jiànyán jǐyǒu 建炎己酉 (1129) that whichever survived would compose the other’s zhìmíng — Chéng died first in Shàoxīng jiǎzǐ 紹興甲子 (1144), and Yè composed his tomb-text accordingly.
CBDB confirms 1078–1144.
Translations and research
- Sòng shǐ j. 445 — Chéng Jù biography.
- 葉夢得, Běi-shān xiǎo-jí xù (preserved at head of SBCK).
- 鄭作肅, Hòu-xù (preserved at head of SBCK).
- For Chéng’s Lín-tái gù-shì see KR2l0003 and the standard administrative-history references; the Imperial-Library context informs the diplomatic prose collected in the Běi-shān jí.
- Lì È 厲鶚, Sòng shī jì shì — partially anthologises Chéng’s verse.
Other points of interest
- The Běishān jí / Běishān xiǎojí title-doubling reflects two distinct printing traditions: the WYG editors used the simpler Běishān jí, while the SBCK reproduces the older xiǎojí form. There is a separate Běishān jí in 30 juǎn by Zhèng Gāngzhōng 鄭剛中 KR4d0201 — not to be confused with the present work.