Zhúzhōu jí 竹洲集
The Bamboo-Islet Collection by 吳儆 (撰)
About the work
Zhúzhōu jí 竹洲集 in 20 juǎn, with an appended 1-juǎn Dìhuá zázhù 棣華雜著 (also Wú Jǐng’s yígǎo), is the literary collection of Wú Jǐng 吳儆 (1127–1183, zì Yìgōng 益恭, original given name Chēng 偁, changed to avoid the name-taboo of the prince of Xiù — Xiùdǐ; of Xiūníng 休寧 in modern Ānhuī). Jìnshì of Shàoxīng 27 (1157); rose to Cháosànláng, Guǎngnán Xīlù ānfǔshǐ, finally Zhǔguǎn Táizhōu Chóngdàoguàn. Posthumous shì Wénsù 文肅. Late-life intimate of Zhāng Shì 張栻 (Nánxuān); Zhū Xī 朱熹 also held him in high regard. The collection is preceded by Chéng Bì 程珌’s Duānpíng yǐwèi (1235) preface, which establishes Wú’s prose place at the Yuányòu end of Sòng prose-canon — the comparison being to Chén Shīdào and the Yuányòu lineage.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: the Zhúzhōu jí in 20 juǎn, with appended Dìhuá zázhù in 1 juǎn — also Jǐng’s yígǎo — was composed by Wú Jǐng of the Sòng. Jǐng’s zì was Yìgōng, original given name Chēng, changed to avoid the Xiùdǐ taboo. A man of Xiūníng. Jìnshì of Shàoxīng 27 (1157); held office through Cháosànláng, Guǎngnán Xīlù ānfǔshǐ; Zhǔguǎn Táizhōu Chóngdàoguàn; died. Posthumous shì Wénsù.
His lifelong filial-piety conduct was full and complete; in late life he and Zhāng Shì cut and polished each other; Zhū Xī also held him in high regard. The collection’s front has Duānpíng yǐwèi (1235) preface by Fūwéngé xuéshì Chéng Bì, calling his prose “sharp-direct yet unwound; severe-clean yet level-bland; substantial without being uncouth; flowery without being chiseled”. Now examining the poetry-and-prose: all close to Chén Shīdào — i.e., taking the Yuányòu generation as the model.
His memorial Letter to the Privy Councilor Jiǎng discussing the zhànhéshǒu (war-peace-defense) triple-error, and his letter to Wāng Chǔcái (汪楚材) discussing the Yīchuān’s disciples — both have remarkable insight. His Chúyán (Hay-Words) — within them the háomín huálì (overbearing rich-and-cunning officials) entry, and the Yōngzhōu yǐ hùshì jiézhì huàwài (Yōngzhōu using cross-border markets to stiffly control the trans-cultural realm) entry — also exhibit administrative talent: he is not weighty by wénzhāng alone. Qiánlóng 42 (1777), 6th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Wú Jǐng is one of the more substantial second-rank Southern-Sòng Lǐxué / literary figures who maintained close personal contact with Zhāng Shì 張栻 and won the explicit endorsement of Zhū Xī. His Guǎngnán Xīlù ānfǔshǐ posting (modern Guǎngxī) made him a frontier administrator with first-hand expertise on the hùshì (cross-border markets) at the Yōngzhōu / Annamese frontier, the substance of which is preserved in his Chúyán. The Letter to Jiǎngshūmì discusses the zhànhéshǒu (war / peace / defense) triple-error — a position within the same orbit as Shǐ Hào’s 史浩 graduated-strengthening program. The Letter to Wāng Chǔcái on the Yīchuān (Chéng Yí) disciples is a useful third-party Southern-Sòng Lǐxué prosopography.
The Chéng Bì 程珌 Duānpíng yǐwèi (1235) preface, requested by Wú’s grandson Wú Xuàn over many years, places his prose in the Yuányòu genealogy through Chén Shīdào — i.e., positions Wú as a continuator of the high-Northern-Sòng prose tradition. The 20-juǎn + 1-juǎn Dìhuá zázhù recension survived intact; the dating bracket: 1157 (jìnshì year) through 1183 (death year per CBDB id 17527).
Translations and research
- Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland. 1992. Confucian Discourse and Chu Hsi’s Ascendancy. Hawai’i. Treats the Wú Jǐng / Zhāng Shì / Zhū Xī mid-Southern-Sòng Lǐ-xué network.
- Anderson, James. 2007. The Rebel Den of Nung Trí Cao. University of Washington. Treats the Yōng-zhōu / Annamese-frontier hù-shì trade in the period overlapping Wú’s commission.
Other points of interest
The Chúyán (Hay-Words, an old self-deprecating designation for one’s own provincial-administrative observations) section preserves substantive frontier-administration documentation that supplements the Sòngshǐ economic-treatise on the hùshì southern markets. Chéng Bì’s prose-genealogy preface of 1235 — placing Wú in the Northern-Sòng Yuányòu line through Chén Shīdào — is one of the principal Sòng-end prose-criticism statements.