Dōngmóu jí 東牟集
Eastern Móu Collection by 王洋 (撰)
About the work
Dōngmóu jí 東牟集 in 14 juǎn is the literary collection of Wáng Yáng 王洋 (1087–1153), Qǐjū shèrén 起居舍人 and Zhīzhìgào 知制誥 under Gāozōng. The title takes the name of Wáng’s Shānyáng native place — Dōngmóu was the ancient name for the Huáiān region. Reconstituted from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn by the Sìkù editors; the Sòng shǐ Yìwénzhì records 29 juǎn (probably an error for 30, the figure in Zhōu Bìdà’s preface). The Sìkù recovery yields 700 poems and over 350 prose pieces, divided into 14 juǎn. Wáng’s poetry is praised for jíyì xīkè wǎngwǎng wùào zìxǐ (intensive carving, often distinct-and-self-pleased); his prose for wēnyǎ (warm-and-elegant) tone; his nèiwàizhì drafted edicts especially for diǎnzé (typical-pattern).
Tiyao
Dōngmóu jí in 14 juǎn, by Wáng Yáng of the Sòng. Yáng, zì Yuánbó, of Shānyáng. With shěngshì 2nd-place achieved Xuānhé 6 (1124) jiǎkē. Shàoxīng beginning, cumulatively-promoted to Qǐjū shèrén Zhīzhìgào, Zhí Huīyóugé, served as prefect of three commanderies. His career not in Sòng shǐ. Only Zhōu Bìdà’s collection-preface briefly records his career-tracks.
The Jiādìng Shānyáng zhì’s small-biography-of-Yáng also entirely draws from Bìdà’s preface, unable to add anything. Today examining Hán Hù’s Jiànquán rìjì: Yáng resided in Xìnzhōu’s-city, with lotus-and-water-trees as his interest; styled himself Wáng Nánchí; opened a single-seat-chamber styled Bànsēng liáo; qīngpín yīfú jù shèn (poor-clear, clothing extremely-bare); excelled at poetry. The Jiāngxī tōngzhì also says Yáng resided as a guest at Shàngráo, exchanging-poems-with Zēng Jǐ. With these two works’ records, taken-together with the collection-preface — surely also a nándù zhī qīngliú (clear-current of the southward-crossing).
The collection was compiled by his son [Wáng] Chāngzǔ 昌祖. The Sòng shǐ Yìwénzhì lists its title as 29 juǎn; but Bìdà’s original-preface in fact makes-it 30 juǎn — so the Sòng shǐ erred. Since Míng times, the world rarely has a transmitted-version. Sòng-poetry-anthologies often-and-much do-not include him; only the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn’s various yùn contains many scattered-pieces. Carefully gathered-and-edited, we obtain 700 gǔjīntǐ shī, over 350 miscellaneous-prose-pieces. His poetry, intensively-carved, often wùào zìxǐ (distinct-and-self-pleased), rather not bound by biānfú (edge-and-margin). His prose excels with wēnyǎ (warmth-and-elegance). The nèiwàizhì drafted-edicts especially have diǎnzé (typical-pattern). Surely Yáng was born at the end of Northern Sòng, still able to see the elders’ diǎnxíng (canonical models).
Hóng Mài’s Róngzhāi sānbǐ 容齋三筆 records Yáng’s Tí Yúgànxiàn pípāzhōu shī — “Sàiwài fēngyān néng jìfǒu? Tiānyá lúnluò zì xīnzhī. Yǎnzhōng fēngwù cāncī shì, zhǐ qiàn Jiāngzhōu Sīmǎ shī” — at-the-time praised as fine-lines, but the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn has lost-and-not-recorded-it. Further, Jiànquán rìjì extremely admires Yáng’s Yǎngyuán zhāi jì composed for Lǐ Péngyuán — examining the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn, also without this piece. So other lost-pieces certainly are not few.
Today provisionally based-on what survives, classified-and-arranged, divided into 14 juǎn, to mark the outline. Zhōu Bìdà’s preface still placed at the head. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month.
Abstract
The 14-juǎn WYG version is a Yǒnglè dàdiǎn reconstitution recovering 700 poems and 350+ prose pieces. The Sòng shǐ lacks Wáng Yáng’s biography — an unusual gap for an officeholder of his rank — and Zhōu Bìdà’s preface (preserved at the head of the WYG collection, dated by internal references to the late Southern Sòng) is the principal biographical source. Wáng’s son Wáng Chāngzǔ 王昌祖 compiled the original 30-juǎn edition. The Sòng shǐ Yìwénzhì’s 29-juǎn figure is identified by the Sìkù editors as a transcription error.
The collection is significant for several reasons. First, Wáng’s poem-exchanges with Zēng Jǐ 曾幾 曾幾 document his connection to the Jiāngxī-school late-Southern-Sòng heir generation. Second, the Yǎngyuán zhāi jì composed for Lǐ Péngyuán, praised by Hán Hù’s Jiànquán rìjì, is lost — a known significant lacuna in the recovered corpus. Third, the Tí Yúgànxiàn pípāzhōu shī, preserved in Hóng Mài’s Róngzhāi sānbǐ, is also missing from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn recovery — a measure of how much was lost. The Sìkù editors flag both lacunae explicitly.
CBDB id 15443 confirms 1087–1153.
Translations and research
- 周必大 collection-preface — preserved at head of WYG.
- 韓淲 Jiàn-quán rì-jì — preserves contemporary appraisals.
- 洪邁 Róng-zhāi sān-bǐ — preserves the Pí-pā-zhōu shī.
- No dedicated Western-language study located.
Other points of interest
- One of the few major early-Southern-Sòng biéjí whose author lacks a Sòng shǐ biography; the collection itself is the primary biographical source.