Tiáoxī jí 苕溪集
Tiáo-xī Stream Collection by 劉一止 (撰)
About the work
Tiáoxī jí 苕溪集 in 55 juǎn is the literary collection of Liú Yīzhǐ 劉一止 (1079–1160), the Jǐshìzhōng 給事中 (Supervising Secretary) of Gāozōng who served barely a hundred days in the drafting office before being dismissed for opposing Qín Guì 秦檜. The structure is 53 juǎn of poetry and prose plus a 1-juǎn xíngzhuàng (career biography, by Hán Yuánjí 韓元吉) and a 1-juǎn gàocí (decree-of-appointment) appendix. Lǚ Běnzhōng 呂本中 and Chén Yǔyì 陳與義 both praised Liú’s poetry — “the language does not come from the human-realm.” The original title — per Hán Yuánjí’s xíngzhuàng and Chén Zhènsūn’s Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí KR3h0011 — was Fēi yǒu zhāi lèigǎo 非有齋類稿 in 50 juǎn; the Tiáoxī jí re-titling derives from a Zhū Yízūn family manuscript.
Tiyao
Tiáoxī jí 55 juǎn, by Liú Yīzhǐ of the Sòng. Yīzhǐ, zì Xíngjiǎn, of Húzhōu Guīān. Xuānhé 3 jìnshì. Shàoxīng beginning, called-and-tested, appointed Bìshūshěng xiàoshūláng; passed through Jǐshìzhōng; with Fūwéngé zhíxuéshì retired. Career in Sòng shǐ biography. According to Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí, Yīzhǐ resided in the suǒtà (drafting office) only just over a hundred days — opposed Qín Guì and was dismissed; lived in retirement for over ten years. After Guì’s death, called-up again — still firmly declined and did-not-rise. At eighty-two finally died. Surely also a shǒuzhèng bùē (uphold-rectitude not-flatter) gentleman.
His death — Hán Yuánjí composed his xíngzhuàng, saying his prose tuīběn jīngshù, chūrù Hán Liǔ, bù xiào shìsú xiānqiǎo kèzhuó; suī yǎnyí hóngbó ér guānjiàn yánbèi. As-for his poetry, yùyì gāoyuǎn zìchéng yījiā. Lǚ Běnzhōng and Chén Yǔyì on reading-it said: “yǔ bù zì rénjiān lái yě” (the language does not come from the human-realm). This is his composition also vigorously promoted by his contemporaries.
Both the xíngzhuàng and Sòng shǐ běnzhuàn call it Fēi yǒu zhāi lèigǎo in 50 juǎn; Shūlù jiětí also same. The present version-front has the Pùshū tíng yìnjì (Sun-Books-Pavilion seal-impression) — surely Zhū Yízūn’s family old-transcription titled Tiáoxī jí — unclear who altered it. Further: poetry-and-prose together 53 juǎn, the end appended xíngzhuàng 1 juǎn, gàocí 1 juǎn, all 55 juǎn — the count also not-its-old. Perhaps later persons culled-and-collected lost-pieces, added-and-appended at the back, and accordingly renamed it. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 44 (1779), 9th month.
Abstract
The Tiáoxī jí presents a complex bibliographical case: the title and juǎn-count both differ from the Fēi yǒu zhāi lèigǎo in 50 juǎn recorded in Hán Yuánjí’s xíngzhuàng, the Sòng shǐ běnzhuàn, and Chén Zhènsūn’s Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí KR3h0011. The Sìkù editors trace the present recension to a Zhū Yízūn 朱彝尊 Pùshū tíng family manuscript bearing the Tiáoxī jí title (Tiáoxī = the Tiáo Stream of Húzhōu, Liú’s home); the additional 5 juǎn (= 55 vs. 50) consist of the appended xíngzhuàng, gàocí, and apparently some later-gathered supplementary material. The title-discrepancy is unresolved.
The collection’s documentary value lies in the fēngbó memorials Liú composed during his hundred-day tenure as Jǐshìzhōng — preserving the texts of his rebuttals to Qín Guì’s drafted edicts. The poetry — celebrated by Lǚ Běnzhōng and Chén Yǔyì for its quality of being bù zì rénjiān lái — is the principal aesthetic content; Liú’s late retirement at his Tiáoxī residence generated a substantial cífù corpus.
CBDB id 3594 lacks lifedates; the Sòng shǐ běnzhuàn gives 1079–1160 (age 82 at death, Shàoxīng 30), followed by the catalog meta and adopted here.
Translations and research
- Sòng shǐ j. 378 — Liú Yī-zhǐ biography.
- 韓元吉 Liú-gōng xíng-zhuàng — preserved in WYG (1 juǎn appendix).
- No dedicated Western-language study located.
Other points of interest
- The Tiáoxī jí title is shared with the major shīhuà compilation Tiáoxī yúyǐn cónghuà 苕溪漁隱叢話 by Hú Zǐ 胡仔 KR4h0006, which is unrelated. The two works are bibliographically and authorially distinct.