Lúxī wénjí 廬溪文集
Lú-xī Stream Prose Collection by 王庭珪 (撰)
About the work
Lúxī wénjí 廬溪文集 in 50 juǎn is the literary collection of Wáng Tíngguī 王庭珪 (1080–1172), the famous Lúlíng xiānshēng who was banished to Lǐngnán for the 1138 farewell-poem to Hú Quán 胡銓 胡銓. The structure is 25 juǎn of gǔjīntǐ poetry + 25 juǎn of letters, prefaces, and miscellaneous prose, with incomplete drafts appended at the end. The principal external aesthetic appraisals are Liú Chéng 劉澄’s verdict (Wáng’s prose in Lúlíng “kě jì Ōuyáng zhī hòu” — can continue Ōuyáng Xiū) and Yáng Wànlǐ’s (his pupil) appraisal that Wáng’s poetry derives from Dù Fǔ and Hán Yù in xiónggāng húndà register.
Tiyao
Lúxī wénjí in 50 juǎn, by Wáng Tíngguī of the Sòng. Tíngguī, zì Mínzhān, of Lúlíng. Zhènghé 8 (1118) jìnshì; assigned Chálíngchéng. With his superior incompatible, abandoned-office and went-away. Lived-in-retirement at Lúxī. When Hú Quán was-demoted to Lǐngnán, Tíngguī sent-him with a poem — has the line “chīér bù liǎo gōngjiā shì; nánzǐ xū wéi tiānxià qí”. Later for-this banished to Lǐngnán. Under Xiàozōng’s reign called-and-interviewed, granted Guózǐ jiān zhǔbù. Qiándào 6 (1170) again appointed Zhí Fūwéngé. At 93 died. Collection-head carries Hú Quán etc. prefaces; appended-at-back Zhōu Bìdà etc. zhìzhuàng and colophons — narrating beginning-and-end very-clearly.
His-life’s compositions rather rich: had Liùjīng Lúnyǔ jiǎngyì, Yìjiě, Yǔlù, and Cānghǎi yízhū, Fèngtíngshān cónglù etc. books. Today most-of-them lost; only this collection still transmitted. Tíngguī embraced jīngjì (statecraft) talent — pent-up and not-released. Hence xióngzhí zhī qì (vigorous-and-upright air) at-times leaks-out into the poetry-and-prose. Liú Chéng evaluated his prose: in Lúlíng can-continue Ōuyáng’s line. Yáng Wànlǐ once travelled-with him; said his poetry comes-out from Shàolíng (Dù Fǔ), Chānglí (Hán Yù); dàyào zhǔ yú xiónggāng húndà (the great-essential rests in vigorous-and-firm, deeply-broad). Surely also obtained the close-likeness.
This version: at-the-head loaded gǔjìntǐ etc. poetry 25 juǎn; next loaded letters, prefaces, and various miscellaneous-prose 25 juǎn. Those drafts incomplete — appended at the end-of-the-bundle. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 44 (1779), 7th month.
Abstract
The 50-juǎn WYG version is one of the more substantial survivals among early-Southern-Sòng biéjí — owing to Wáng Tíngguī’s age (93 at death, hence a long career), the imperial recall under Xiàozōng, and the family-and-pupil printing tradition. The structure (25 + 25 juǎn, with drafts appended) is unusually tidy.
The collection’s principal historical content is twofold. First, the Hú Quán 1138 farewell-poem — politically the most consequential single piece in the collection. The poem is the type-case of integrity in opposition to Qín Guì 秦檜 and is paired in Sòng historical memory with the qùfēng (sweep-away-the-wind) of Hú Quán’s Fēngshì. Second, the substantial prose corpus — letters, prefaces, jì, xù — preserves Wáng’s classical-philosophical positioning (his lost classical works include a Liùjīng Lúnyǔ jiǎngyì and Yì jiě), making him a documented late-Northern-Sòng / early-Southern-Sòng classicist.
The discipleship-network is also significant: Yáng Wànlǐ 楊萬里 was his pupil at age 17 (per Yáng’s own preface to Liú Cáishào’s Shānxī jūshì jí KR4d0157), and the late-Southern-Sòng zhōngxīng poetic tradition runs through Wáng → Yáng. The pairing of Wáng Tíngguī (Lúxī) and Liú Cáishào (Shānxī) — the two Lúlíng xiānshēng — also represents the core of late-Northern-Sòng / early-Southern-Sòng cultural-textual transmission, particularly through their famous defiance of the Cài Jīng literary proscription.
CBDB id 12158 confirms 1080–1172; catalog meta gives 1079–1171; CBDB followed (one-year boundary).
Translations and research
- 胡銓 collection-preface — preserved in WYG.
- 周必大 zhì-zhuàng — preserved as appendix.
- 楊萬里 collection-preface to KR4d0157 — preserves the Lú-líng-xiān-shēng anecdote and Yáng’s discipleship.
- No dedicated Western-language study located.
Other points of interest
- The 1138 Hú Quán farewell-poem is preserved here and is a central document of the Southern-Sòng resistance to Qín Guì.