Shānxī jūshì jí 檆溪居士集
Collection of the Shān-xī Recluse by 劉才邵 (撰)
About the work
Shānxī jūshì jí 檆溪居士集 in 12 juǎn (Sìkù Yǒnglè dàdiǎn reconstruction; originally 22 juǎn per Zhōu Bìdà preface) is the literary collection of Liú Cáishào 劉才邵 (1086–1158), Gōngbù shìláng 工部侍郎 and Lìbù shàngshū 吏部尚書 (provisional) under Gāozōng. The title takes Liú’s hào Shānxī jūshì 檆溪居士 — the shān 檆 (“China-fir”) variant in his place-name distinguishes the work from the homonymous Shānxī jūshì of Lúxī (Wáng Tíngguī 王庭珪 王庭珪). The collection’s principal historical interest is the substantial body of zhìgào 制誥 prose Liú composed during his two terms in the imperial drafting bureau under Gāozōng — these documents are first-hand evidence for early-Southern-Sòng administrative history and supply corrections to the Sòng shǐ (in the Sìkù tíyào’s enumeration). The work is famously prefaced by Zhōu Bìdà 周必大 (1201) and Yáng Wànlǐ 楊萬里 (1203).
Tiyao
Shānxī jūshì jí in 12 juǎn, by Liú Cáishào of the Sòng. Cáishào, zì Měizhōng, of Lúlíng. Shānxī jūshì is his hào. Dàguān 2 (1108) Shàngshè shìhè (released-from-coarse-cloth — i.e. graduated Shàngshè jiǎkē); Xuānhé 2 (1120) further passed the Hóngcí kē. Repeatedly promoted to Xiàoshūláng; on-account-of supporting-his-parents returned-home; lived-at-home for 10 years. Shàoxīng beginning, called-up as Bìshū chéng; twice headed zhìgào; office to Gōngbù shìláng, Lìbù shàngshū (provisional), added Xiǎnmógé zhíxuéshì. Career in the Sòng shǐ biography.
The collection’s name also appears in the běnzhuàn. But the Yìwénzhì lacks-and-does-not-record-it. According to Zhōu Bìdà’s preface, the original was 22 juǎn. Since Míng times, transmitted-versions are very-rare. Lì È’s Sòng shī jì shì, drawing-from Shīhuà bǔyí, recorded one piece Yè dù niáng gē — examining the original-collection, this is actually four-lines from the Xiāngsī qū — erroneously taken as a complete-poem. From-this we know the old-version had-long-perished, hence no-route to kǎozhèng.
Respectfully drawing on what was preserved in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn, [we have] gathered, edited, and arranged into 3 juǎn of poetry, 4 juǎn of nèiwàizhì (inner-and-outer drafting), and 5 juǎn of miscellaneous prose. Pieces such as those raised in [Zhōu] Bìdà’s original preface — Qīngjiāng yǐn, Dàdī qū, etc. — none-now-survive. But we have approximately 6/10 to 7/10 of the original juǎn-bulk. His poetry’s source originates-from the Sū’s [Sū Shì]; hence his vital-energy is rather zònghéng (free-and-unrestrained). The remainder is mostly xúnyǎ (refined-and-elegant); and the zhìgào compositions especially have tǐcái (form-and-substance).
Other things he records — court-archives often-and-much differing from the Sòng shǐ. For example: the Dìlǐzhì says after the southward-crossing there was Huáipíng but no Xūyí, while the collection has a Xiàng Zǐgù zhī Xūyí jūn zhuǎnguān zhì — a transfer-of-office edict for the prefect of Xūyí. The Zhíguān zhì records that in Zhènghé 7 (1117) the Guānchá liúhòu was changed to Chéngxuānshǐ, while the collection contains a decree refusing Dǒng Xiān’s request to decline the new office of Chéngxuānshǐ — saying “qǐng yǒu cǐ liúwù zhī zhí, yì yǐ shǐ míng zhī yǔ” — from-which we know the title Chéngxuānshǐ in fact began with Shàoxīng not with Zhènghé. Further: the Xuǎnjǔzhì does-not-record the Shàoxīng 26 (1156) admonition concerning the civil examinations; the Zhāng Gāng zhuàn 張綱傳 張綱 does not record Gāng’s Cānzhī zhèngshì; the Chén Kāngbó zhuàn does not record his guǎnzhí posting — all can be relied-on to correct-errors and supplement-lacunae.
Only what he composed for the Qín Guì 秦檜 zhìcí — much of the language is yìliáng (overflow-the-measure, i.e. excessively flattering); going-so-far-as to call him “dàoyì jiē QiūKē zhī chuán; xūnmíng zhēn YīLǚ zhī zuǒ” (his moral-doctrine inheriting [Confucius and Mencius]; his merit-and-renown truly the assistance of Yī Yǐn and Lǚ Wàng) — especially miùwàng (absurd-and-deluded). The shǐ says of-him that during the time of the powerful minister’s tenure, he was able yōngróng xùnbì (composed-and-yielding) so as to preserve his name-and-integrity — much-displaying wéicí (subtle-criticism). Does-it refer to such-as-this? Then this is the báibì zhī xiá (flaw on white-jade). Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month.
Abstract
The textual history is one of substantial loss and Sìkù reconstitution. Zhōu Bìdà’s preface (dated Jiātài 1, 1201) describes a 22-juǎn original compiled by Liú’s grandson Liú Kè 劉恪 from his grandfather’s papers; Liú’s great-grandson Liú Qiānlíng 劉千齡 was the immediate occasion for the printing. The Yáng Wànlǐ preface (Jiātài 3, 1203) supplies the famous biographical anecdote of the two Lúlíng xiānshēng — Liú Cáishào of Shānxī and Wáng Tíngguī of Lúxī 王庭珪 — smuggling the proscribed Ōuyáng Xiū / Sū Shì / Huáng Tíngjiān volumes into the Imperial Academy after lights-out, in defiance of the Cài Jīng literary ban. Yáng makes the two figures into the literary-cultural saviours of the late-Northern-Sòng tradition through the proscription years, with Wáng Tíngguī as Yáng’s youthful teacher (at age 17) and Liú Cáishào as his teacher a decade later.
The Sìkù recension is reconstituted from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn (the MíngQīng manuscript-copy tradition having lapsed) and is divided into 12 juǎn: 3 of poetry, 4 of nèiwàizhì, 5 of miscellaneous prose. The Sìkù editors estimate the recovery at 60–70% of the original. Notable losses include the celebrated Qīngjiāng yǐn and Dàdī qū. The remaining zhìgào are valued for their philological corrections to the Sòng shǐ — the Sìkù tíyào lists four specific corrections.
A blemish (báibì zhī xiá in the editors’ phrasing): Liú’s flattering zhìcí for Qín Guì 秦檜, comparing him to Confucius and Mencius in transmission, and to Yī Yǐn and Lǚ Wàng in service. The Sìkù editors decline to suppress these but flag them as the moral cost of survival under Qín’s chancellery.
Catalog-vs-external check: the catalog meta gives 1085–1157; CBDB (id 1237) gives 1086–1158, followed here. The discrepancy is one-year and stems from differing reckoning of the lunar / solar calendar at the year-boundary; the CBDB figure is bibliographically standard.
Translations and research
- Sòng shǐ j. 422 — Liú Cái-shào biography.
- 周必大 Yì-guó Zhōu-gōng xù (1201) — preserved in WYG.
- 楊萬里 (1203) — preface, preserved in WYG.
- No dedicated Western-language study located.
Other points of interest
- The Yáng Wànlǐ anecdote of the two Lúlíng xiānshēng defying the Cài Jīng literary proscription is one of the principal documentary sources for the late-Northern-Sòng book-history of the proscribed Sū / Huáng / Ōuyáng works — Yáng claims that prices of Sū Shì’s writings reached one jīn of gold for ten juǎn, and that block-printers of Sū and Huáng destroyed their blocks under the proscription, with only a single imperial-relative’s family preserving the Sū blocks intact. Read together with the textual-history sections of KR4d0085 (Sū Shì) and KR4d0091 (Huáng Tíngjiān).