Yúnxī jí 雲溪集
Cloud-Stream Collection by 郭印 (撰)
About the work
Yúnxī jí 雲溪集 in 12 juǎn is the literary collection of Guō Yìn 郭印 (b. before 1100 — d. after 1180), Sìchuān local official and friend of Zēng Zào 曾慥 曾慥 and Jì Yǒugōng 計有功. Reconstituted entirely from Yǒnglè dàdiǎn recoveries (the collection was unrecorded in the Sòng shǐ Yìwénzhì and other standard catalogs). The title takes the name of Guō’s country villa, where he constructed his yī mǔ zhī yuán (one-mǔ garden) over twenty years. Internal evidence in the collection allows substantial biographical reconstruction — Guō served county magistracies for fifty years; reached eighty; practised dǎoyǐn breath-and-stretch.
Tiyao
Yúnxī jí in 12 juǎn, by Guō Yìn of the Sòng. [Guō] Yìn’s poetry — several-hundred pieces — scattered-and-visible in the various yùn of the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn — all titled Yúnxī jí. Yet Sòng shǐ Yìwénzhì and various scholars’ catalogs none recorded. Only Lì È’s compiled Sòng shǐ jì shì records [Guō] Yìn as a Chéngdū man, Zhènghé jìnshì; further does-not detail his official-titles. Records only two pieces: one from QuánShǔ yìwénzhì drawn-out — Yóu Dàsuìshān shī; one from Sìchuān zǒngzhì drawn-out — that is the collection’s Yóu Xiàyánsì shī.
Today examining the collection: there is a Yúnxī záyǒng xiǎoxù — self-titled Yìlè jūshì; further says: “xìng shì shuǐzhú; jīngyíng èrshí zǎi shǐ dé yī mǔ zhī yuán” (by-nature fond of water-and-bamboo; managed-and-ran for 20 years before-finally obtaining a one-mǔ garden). Then Yúnxī is the name of his country-villa.
Further has Guò Tóngliángxiàn shī, says: “shèzhí lín zī yì; yú jīn wǔshí nián” (taking-charge near this town; up-to-now 50 years). Further the Rénshòuxiàn shānzhāi shī, says: “suí dié jǐ tuīqiān; tóngzhāng lǐng yányì” (following-the-decrees, what tracks-of-promotion; bronze-seal heading the cliff-town). Further Cìyùn Sòng Nánbó shī, says: “shuāichí lái zuò yì; láokǔ jù wànzhuàng” (in-decline-and-late, came-to-be-magistrate; toils a myriad-shapes). So he once served-cumulatively as xiànlìng; late-then retired-and-resided.
Further the Cèng Liú Yuánguī shī — jīnnián suì bāshí (this-year my-age is 80) — so his teeth also reached upper-life-span. Examining what he composed: the Yǎngshēng gē and Dú Yì shī — surely had-attainment in dǎoyǐn arts. His friends most-closely Zēng Zào, Jì Yǒugōng, etc. — all yīshí bóyǎ zhī shì (broad-elegance gentlemen of one-time). Then Yìn also a shèngliú (top-tier figure) too. Only because the collection long-not-transmitted — hence those who-record Sòng-poetry rarely could speak-or-narrate of him.
Today, drawing on what is recorded in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn, classified by genre, edited and compiled into 12 juǎn. His poetry’s cáidì shāo ruò (talent-ground somewhat weak); unable-to zìchū jīzhù (issue from his own loom and shuttle); but the qīngcí jùnyǔ (clear-words and elegant-language) — bànxiāng (offering-incense, i.e. lineage-of-respect) really resides-in Méishān (Sū Shì). To-look-at — versus late-Sòng cáozá zhī yīn (clamorous-noisy tones) — solidly still has diǎnxíng (canonical-models). Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month.
Abstract
The 12-juǎn WYG version is a remarkable case of Yǒnglè dàdiǎn recovery: Guō Yìn was unrecorded in the Sòng shǐ Yìwénzhì and standard private catalogs; even Lì È’s early-Qīng Sòng shī jì shì records only two of his poems and could not specify his official titles. The Sìkù editors’ biographical reconstruction is entirely internal — drawing on Guō’s own self-introduction (the Yúnxī záyǒng xiǎoxù, Yìlè jūshì sobriquet, twenty-year garden-construction), his itinerary poems (Tóngliángxiàn, Rénshòuxiàn, Sòng Nánbó), and his Cèng Liú Yuánguī shī (jīnnián suì bāshí = age 80 at the time of composition). The internal date-bracket is 1118 (Zhènghé graduation) to post-1180 (his eighties).
The aesthetic verdict is moderate: the Sìkù editors call Guō’s talent shāo ruò (somewhat weak) but praise the qīngcí jùnyǔ with offering-of-incense to Méishān (Sū Shì). The Sìkù editors’ decision to recover him is a methodologically interesting one — establishing a minor biéjí with no external bibliographic-record by Yǒnglè dàdiǎn extraction alone.
CBDB id 10762 has no lifedates; estimated as before 1100 to after 1180 from internal evidence.
Translations and research
- 厲鶚 Sòng shī jì shì — early-Qīng partial record (now superseded).
- Quán-Shǔ yì-wén-zhì; Sì-chuān zǒng-zhì — late-Qīng provincial sources for Guō’s poetry.
- No dedicated Western-language study located.
Other points of interest
- The Yúnxī jí is one of the more striking Yǒnglè dàdiǎn recoveries in biéjí: the editors essentially recovered an author from oblivion. Compare the case of KR4d0165 (Huáng Yànpíng).