Dànān wénjí 澹菴文集
Dàn-ān (Tranquil-Hut) Prose Collection by 胡銓 (撰)
About the work
Dànān wénjí 澹菴文集 in 6 juǎn (5 juǎn of prose + 1 juǎn of poetry) is the surviving fragment of Hú Quán 胡銓’s literary collection. The title takes Hú’s hào Dànān 澹菴. The original was 100 juǎn per the Sòng shǐ běnzhuàn; 78 juǎn per Chén Zhènsūn’s Zhízhāi shūlù jiětí KR3h0011; 70 juǎn per Sòng shǐ Yìwénzhì. The substantial loss is partly a consequence of political suppression under Qín Guì 秦檜 and partly of normal medieval transmission attrition. Hú is the canonical figure of the Shàoxīng 8 (1138) Fēngshì (sealed-memorial) opposing the peace with the Jīn — the document that the Jīn ransomed for 1000 liǎng of gold to discover (per the original preface preserved in the WYG). Master Xiāo Chǔ 蕭楚’s Chūnqiū training underlies Hú’s argumentative method.
Tiyao
Dànān wénjí in 6 juǎn, by Hú Quán of the Sòng. Quán, zì Bānghéng, of Lúlíng. Jiànyán 2 (1128) jìnshì jiǎkē. Shàoxīng 5 (1135), by recommendation, appointed Shūmìyuàn biānxiūguān; kàngshū (resisting-letter) attacking the héyì (peace), demoted to Jíyángjūn. Xiàozōng acceded to the throne, specially recalled-and-employed; passed-through-office to Quán Zhōngshū shèrén, also Quán Guózǐ jìjiǔ, Quán Bīngbù shìláng; with Zīzhèngdiàn xuéshì retired; died, posthumous canonisation Zhōngjiǎn. Career detailed in Sòng shǐ běnzhuàn.
[Hú] Quán’s master Xiāo Chǔ was clear on the Chūnqiū; hence the collection’s jiāyán dǎnglùn (excellent-words and forthright-discussions) much-and-much draw-on Chūnqiū yìlì. To the southward-crossing’s great-government, much bǔjiù (saved-and-supplemented). The shǐ says-only of his under-Gāozōng requesting-execution of Qín Guì.
Today examining the collection’s Lùnzhuàn hè Jīnguó qǐ one piece — then under Xiàozōng’s reign after recalled, [Hú] further qǐng zhū Tāng Sītuì (requested-execution of Tāng Sītuì). Further: the Xiàozōng běnjì, Lóngxīng yuánnián (1163) 3rd-month — Jīn with letter came-asking the four prefectures, not-yet-replied — 8th-month again sent-letter to Liǎngshěng. Now examining the collection’s Yùyīn wèndá one piece — knowing the reply to the Jīn-letter, Xiàozōng already with [Hú] Quán fixed-it on 5th-month 3rd-day. Delayed to 8th-month not-dispatched — must Tāng Sītuì had-something-to-hold-it. The contemporary affair-and-situation can-be examined-and-seen. Shǐ-text shūlòu (negligent-and-leaky); reliant-on this collection still-preserving its rough-outlines.
The běnzhuàn says [Hú] Quán’s collection altogether 100 juǎn. Today what’s-preserved is barely prose 5 juǎn + poetry 1 juǎn — surely obtained from the lost-and-fallen residue. But Shūlù jiětí records [Hú] Quán’s collection 78 juǎn; Sòng zhì records [Hú] Quán’s collection 70 juǎn — at-the-time already not the 100-juǎn old. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 10th month.
Abstract
The 6-juǎn WYG version preserves the surviving fragment of the most consequential dissident Sòng official of the Jiànyán / Shàoxīng / Lóngxīng periods. The original 100 juǎn recorded by Sòng shǐ běnzhuàn had already been reduced to 78 (Chén Zhènsūn) or 70 (Sòng shǐ Yìwénzhì) at the late Sòng — substantial loss had occurred under Qín Guì’s chancellery. The Sìkù recension (5 prose + 1 poetry) is the residue.
The collection has unique documentary value for two political moments. First, the Shàoxīng 8 (1138) Wùwǔ shàng gāozōng fēngshì — preserved as the most consequential single document in the collection, attacking the peace with the Jīn and demanding execution of Qín Guì, Sūn Jìn, and Wáng Lún. Second, the Lóngxīng 1 (1163) Lùnzhuàn hè Jīnguó qǐ — under Xiàozōng — demanding execution of Tāng Sītuì 湯思退. The Yùyīn wèndá preserved in the collection establishes the otherwise-not-recorded fact that Xiàozōng had agreed to Hú’s draft-reply on 5th-month 3rd-day, supplying a crucial historiographic correction to the Sòng shǐ Xiàozōng běnjì.
The original preface (preserved at the head of WYG) contains the famous account: when Hú’s Fēngshì circulated, the Jīn ransomed it for 1000 liǎng of gold, finding it within three days; Lǔjūn (the Jīn) gave-up its ambitions, and the Huáng tàihòu (Húzōng’s mother) was returned. The 20-year cessation of Jīn-cavalry-southward-movement is implicitly attributed to Hú’s Fēngshì.
CBDB id 10565 confirms 1102–1180.
Translations and research
- Sòng shǐ — Hú Quán biography.
- 王庭珪 farewell-poem KR4d0176 — preserved in Lú-xī wén-jí.
- 張元幹 Hè xīn-láng farewell-cí KR4d0194 — preserved in Lú-chuān guī-lái jí.
- Sòng yuán xué-àn — Hú’s intellectual lineage (master Xiāo Chǔ).
- No dedicated Western-language monograph located. Hú is treated in surveys of the Sòng-Jīn peace debate.
Other points of interest
- Hú Quán is a central documentary figure of the Shàoxīng peace debate; the present collection is the principal first-person source. Read together with KR4d0176 (Wáng Tíngguī’s farewell-poem), KR4d0194 (Zhāng Yuángàn’s Hè xīnláng cí), KR4d0164 (Wáng Zhīdào’s letters to Wèi Gāng and Zēng Tǒng).