Yúnxī jí 筠谿集
Bamboo-Stream Collection by 李彌遜 (撰)
About the work
Yúnxī jí 筠谿集 in 24 juǎn (with one appended juǎn of yuèfǔ 樂府, i.e. cí) is the literary collection of Lǐ Míxùn 李彌遜 (1089–1153), Hùbù shìláng 戶部侍郎 under Gāozōng, who was forced into retirement for opposing the Shàoxīng peace with the Jīn under Qín Guì 秦檜. The title takes Lǐ’s hào Yúnxī jūshì 筠溪居士 — Yúnxī (“Bamboo-Stream”) was the place-name of his Liánjiāng residence. The 24 juǎn are organised: 3 of zòuyì (memorials), 2 of wàizhì (drafted edicts), 1 of biǎo/zhuàng, 1 of shū/qǐ, 3 of yìgǔ (essays-on-antiquity), 9 of poetry, 1 of wǎnshī (mortuary verse), and 4 of miscellaneous prose, míng / zàn / xù / jì, sacrificial prose, and tomb inscriptions. A separately-paginated Yúnxī Lǐgōng jiāzhuàn 筠谿李公家傳 (Family Biography) in 1 juǎn is appended in the Sìkù recension.
Tiyao
Yúnxī jí in 24 juǎn, yuèfǔ 1 juǎn, by Lǐ Míxùn of the Sòng. Míxùn, zì Sìzhī, of Liánjiāng. Resident at Wúxiàn. Together with elder brother Mídà and younger brother Mízhèng all fùzhòngmíng (held considerable reputation). Dàguān 3 (1109), Shàngshè dìyī. Under Gāozōng tested as Zhōngshū shèrén; twice posted Hùbù shìláng. For opposing héyì (peace negotiations) ran-afoul of Qín Guì; sought-to-return-home. Career in Sòng shǐ biography. The collection’s head has Lóu Yuè 樓鑰 KR4d0247 preface, saying he returned-and-hid in the Western-mountain for 16 years, no-longer having intent of office; chanting-poetry to delight-himself, his brush-strength all-the-more vigorous. Zhū Xī once wrote a colophon to his Sù Guānmiàotáng shī — and-also paid him very-much homage. Surely the man and his prose both zhuórán (clearly-and-uprightly) had-cause to zìlì (stand-on-his-own).
Míxùn self-styled Yúnxīzǐ. Yúnxī was the place where he lived in Liánjiāng; the collection has a Yúnxī tú bá [colophon to a Yúnxī map] very-clearly relating the shǐmò (origin-and-end). The Sòng shǐ Yìwénzhì records Míxùn’s collection also-named Yúnxī, can be cross-checked. The present version’s title says Zhúxī jí 竹溪集 — examining various scholars’ records, none has this name. Knowing this is a transmission-error, today still-restore its title to Yúnxī jí to recover its old-name. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 44 (1779), 5th month.
Abstract
The Sìkù tíyào establishes a key textual point: the version received by the editors bore the spurious title Zhúxī jí 竹溪集 — a transcription-error not attested in any external bibliography. The editors restored the historically-attested Yúnxī jí title (cross-confirmed against the Sòng shǐ Yìwénzhì). Lǐ’s own colophon to the Yúnxī tú (preserved in the collection) supplies the place-name etymology of his hào.
The collection is a documentary witness to the early-Southern-Sòng anti-héyì opposition. Lǐ’s run-of-memorials in juǎn 1–3 includes pieces from the Shàoxīng 8 (1138) peace-debate, when Lǐ was Hùbù shìláng and refused to draft documents in support of the negotiations with the Jīn. The xīshān retirement period (1138–1153, 16 years per Lóu Yuè preface) generated the bulk of the poetry — jiǔ juǎn of shī + 1 of wǎnshī — and the cí in the yuèfǔ appendix. Zhū Xī’s colophon to the Sù Guānmiàotáng shī (preserved by Lóu Yuè) is the standard external aesthetic appraisal.
CBDB id 1062 gives 1089–1153, against catalog “d. 1153”; the catalog is silent on the birthdate, and the CBDB / Sòng shǐ figure 1089 is followed here.
Translations and research
- Sòng shǐ j. 382 — Lǐ Mí-xùn biography.
- 樓鑰 Yún-xī jí xù — preserved at head of WYG.
- 朱熹, colophon to Sù Guān-miào-táng shī — preserved within the collection.
- No dedicated Western-language study located.
Other points of interest
- The 24-juǎn main collection plus 1-juǎn yuèfǔ appendix plus the appended jiāzhuàn makes the Yúnxī jí one of the more structurally complete biéjí of the early Southern Sòng — particularly compared to others of the period reconstructed from Yǒnglè dàdiǎn fragments.