Xiāngshān jí 香山集
The Xiāng-shān Collection by 喻良能 (撰)
About the work
Xiāngshān jí 香山集 in 16 juǎn is the surviving recension of the literary collection of Yù Liángnéng 喻良能 (zì Shūqí 叔奇, of Yìwū 義烏 in modern Zhèjiāng). Jìnshì of Shàoxīng 27 (1157); supplementary appointment as Guǎngdé wèi; transferred to Guózǐjiān zhǔbù; recalled as Guózǐjiān bóshì concurrent Gōngbù lángzhōng; appointed Tàichángsì chéng concurrent his old post; out as Zhī Chǔzhōu; soon retired with Cháoqǐng dàifū. No Sòngshǐ biography. The title Xiāngshān is from the mountain on which Yù dwelt (per his self-note in a Cì yùn Lǐ Dàzhù chūnrì záshī: “qīngmèng dào Xiāngshān” — “in clear-dream arriving at Fragrant Mountain”). His brothers Yù Liángyǐ 喻良倚 and Yù Liángbì 喻良弼 were also literary figures. The original Yìwū zhì records the collection at 34 juǎn; Jiāo Hóng’s Jīngjízhì at 17 juǎn; the Sìkù editors recovered 16 juǎn of poetry from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn with cross-checking against the NánSòng míngxián xiǎojí.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: the Xiāngshān jí in 16 juǎn was composed by Yù Liángnéng of the Sòng. Liángnéng’s zì was Shūqí, a man of Yìwū. Jìnshì of Shàoxīng 27 (1157); supplementary Guǎngdé wèi; transferred to Guózǐjiān zhǔbù; recalled with Guózǐjiān bóshì concurrent Gōngbù lángzhōng; appointed Tàichángsì chéng concurrent old post; out as Zhī Chǔzhōu; soon with Cháoqǐng dàifū retired.
The Sòng shǐ did not establish a biography for him; only the Jīnhuá xiānmín zhuàn records his career rather fully. His elder brother Liángyǐ and younger brother Liángbì were also famous in their time for gǔwén — these are the Bóshòu xiōng and Jìzhí dì mentioned in his collection.
His authored works Zhōngyì zhuàn in 20 juǎn, Various-canon jiǎngyì in 5 juǎn, and Jiāzhǒu biān in 15 juǎn — all long lost. His collection: the Yìwū zhì gives 34 juǎn; Jiāo Hóng’s Guóshǐ jīngjízhì gives 17 juǎn — the world also has no transmission. Only the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn records numerous ancient-and-modern poems; verifying the rules-and-pattern, mostly shūxiě rúzhì (writing as the will), not finely fussing over polished phrases or ornamented lines.
Yáng Wànlǐ’s Cháotiān jí has a Sòng Yù Shūqí Zhī Chǔzhōu (Seeing-off Yù Shūqí to Chǔzhōu) saying: “Kuòcāng mountain-water famous in the realm / Gōngbù (Dù Fǔ) wind-and-mist enters brush-tip” — quite of the recommendation-acclaim. And in Liángnéng’s collection there are also many call-and-response works with [Yáng] Wànlǐ; hence his poetic pattern is approximately close, only not reaching Wànlǐ’s broad-and-great.
Further, Chén Liàng’s Lóngchuān jí has a Tí Yù Jìzhí wénbiān one piece, saying: “Yù Shūqí to people, warm-and-warm, has ēnyì — can make people part for three days and miss him without ceasing. His wén is jīngshēn jiǎnyǎ (refined-deep and concise-elegant); reading-it long, the meaning seems new.” So Liángnéng’s wén also independently constituted one school. Pity that his poetry alone survives, and his prose is buried-and-lost-and-no-transmission. We now from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn gather and edit, and with the NánSòng míngxián xiǎojí records cross-check supplementary insertion, edited as 16 juǎn — at least to be examined for an outline.
The collection’s titling as Xiāngshān: examining the lǜ under Cìyùn Lǐ Dàzhù chūnrì záshī among them is the line “In clear-dream arriving at Xiāngshān”, with self-note saying: “Where I dwell — the mountain is named [Xiāngshān]” — i.e., taking the place-name for the collection’s name. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Yù Liángnéng is one of the more substantive second-rank Southern-Sòng poets — closely-aligned with Yáng Wànlǐ 楊萬里’s circle and exchanging poetry with him. Chén Liàng (the Yǒngkāng school’s leading figure) preserves a tribute to Yù’s prose (“warm-and-warm with ēnyì; jīngshēn jiǎnyǎ”) attached to his lost Wénbiān; Yáng Wànlǐ’s Cháotiān jí preserves a Sòng Yù Shūqí poem placing him in the poetic establishment of the late-Lóng-xīng / Chúnxī era.
The transmission is severely reduced: of an original 34-juǎn recension (per Yìwū zhì) or 17-juǎn recension (per Jiāo Hóng), the Sìkù editors recovered 16 juǎn of poetry from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn with cross-checking against the NánSòng míngxián xiǎojí. Yù’s prose is entirely lost — a particular regret given Chén Liàng’s tribute. His other lost works include the Zhōngyì zhuàn (20 juǎn, biographical compendium of loyal-and-righteous figures), various-canon jiǎngyì (5 juǎn), and Jiāzhǒu biān (15 juǎn).
The dating bracket: 1157 (Yù’s jìnshì year) through 1190 (a conservative notAfter covering his late career). CBDB id 17648 (no precise lifedates).
Translations and research
No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The Zhōngyì zhuàn — Yù’s lost 20-juǎn compendium of loyal-and-righteous figures — is one of the more substantive lost mid-Southern-Sòng zhuànjì compendia, anticipating the YuánMíng zhōngyì-genre canonization. The Yáng Wànlǐ / Yù Liángnéng correspondence is a window into the Yáng-school poetic circle of the 1170s–1180s.