Zūnbáitáng jí 尊白堂集
The Zūn-bái Hall (Hall-That-Honors-Bái-Jū-yì) Collection by 虞儔 (撰)
About the work
Zūnbáitáng jí 尊白堂集 in 6 juǎn is the surviving recension of the literary collection of Yú Chóu 虞儔 (zì Shòulǎo 夀老, of Níngguó 寜國 in modern Ānhuī). Tàixué member at the start of Lóngxīng (1163); jìnshì shortly thereafter; rose to Bīngbù shìláng with sinecure-temple retirement; died. The hall-name Zūnbái expresses Yú’s lifelong admiration of Bái Jūyì 白居易 / Bó Lètiān: he composed a Dú Bái Lètiān shī with the line “Dàjié gèng sī gōng chūchǔ / liáoliáo qiānzǎi shì wú shī” (“On the great cardinal moral, again think on his career; liáoliáo over a thousand years he is my master”). The Sìkù editors detect that the prose-style is also self-consciously modeled on Bái — including both the strengths (plain-and-flowing) and the weaknesses (occasionally rough-and-easy). The SòngJīn diplomatic-record is a small but important component: Yú’s shǐbēi huí shàngdiàn zházǐ (Memorial-on-return-from-the-North-Embassy) records his participation in the 1201 Tàihé 1 / Jiātài 1 mission to the Jin court (his name is in the Jīn shǐ Jiāopìnbiǎo under that date). The original 24-juǎn recension (per Chén Guìyì’s yuánxù preserved at the front) was lost; the Sìkù editors recovered 6 juǎn (4 poetry + 2 prose) from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: the Zūnbáitáng jí in 6 juǎn was composed by Yú Chóu of the Sòng. Chóu’s zì was Shòulǎo, a man of Níngguó. At the start of Lóngxīng he entered the Tàixué, took the jìnshì; rose to Bīngbù shìláng with sinecure-temple retirement; died. His deeds are not in the Sòng shǐ; the local-records record them rather fully. Beginning as Magistrate of Jìxī, he was recommended by his governance-and-conduct; transferred to Jiānchá yùshǐ; struck the powerful-and-noble; the court was sùrán (solemn). As Zhèdōng tíxíng; transferred to Zhī Húzhōu — meeting the year of poor-harvest, executed famine-administration, saving-and-saving-life many — also not merely of literary distinction.
The collection contains Shǐbēi huí shàngdiàn zházǐ — so he too once carried-an-imperial-command on embassy to Jin. Examining the Jīn shǐ Jiāopìn biǎo: Tàihé 1 (1201) 3rd month yǐhài, the Sòng shìxíngbù shàngshū Yú Chóu and Quánzhōu guāncháshǐ Zhāng Zhòngshū etc. came to bàoxiè (return-thanks) — i.e., this thing.
Chóu admired Bái Jūyì’s being-as-person, used Zūnbái to name his hall and also to name his collection. His Dú Bái Lètiān shī says: “On the great cardinal moral, again think his career-and-residence; liáoliáo over a thousand years he is my master” — his lifetime aspiration can be imagined. Hence the rhymed compositions are mostly clear-and-bright, plainly-flowing, not engaged in zǎoshì (decorative-flourish). His genuine-plain places approach Jūyì rather closely; the rough-and-easy and casual-and-changing places too approach Jūyì rather closely — xīnmó shǒuzhuī (heart-tracing, hand-pursuing), with him entirely transformed: long-and-short alike resemble.
But pieces such as Chúrì yù kōng, Chūn cán xíng, and Quàn nóng dǎoyǔ xǐyǔ — kǎiqiè cíxiáng (deeply-sincere and gentle), word-meaning earnestly arrived — sufficient to verify his xīn láo fǔzì (heart-toiled in pacifying-the-people) — surely should not only-be-sought in the singing-realm.
The collection’s prose only zhìgào and zházǐ two styles survive — already losing much. But his diction is wēnyǎ (warm-and-elegant), discussion xiángmíng (clear-and-detailed), particularly pointed on the era’s fèichí jībì (decayed-and-stagnant accumulated-abuses); his intent is also rather to-be-preserved.
According to Chén Guìyì’s 陳貴誼 yuánxù: the běn was originally 24 juǎn. Now from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn search-and-edit, edited as 4 juǎn poetry + 2 juǎn prose, recorded and preserved — also what is called bùbó shūsù zhī wén (cloth-silk-bean-millet’s prose) — though common but cannot be wearied-of. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 3rd month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Yú Chóu’s Zūnbáitáng jí documents an unusual case of Southern-Sòng senior-official literary self-modeling: Yú self-consciously cultivated both the prose-style and the zhōngyán zhíjié (loyal-words direct-conduct) ethos of Bái Jūyì 白居易, going so far as to name his hall and collection Zūnbái (“Honor-Bái”). The Sìkù editors detect the modeling as both strength and weakness in his prose — Bái’s plain-flowing virtues are reproduced, but so are his occasional roughness.
His career: Lóngxīng-era Tàixué and jìnshì; rose as Magistrate of Jìxī recommended for governance; Jiānchá yùshǐ striking the powerful; Zhèdōng tíxíng; Zhī Húzhōu during a famine year (with documented relief work); ended as Bīngbù shìláng. The 1201 embassy to the Jin court — confirmed in the Jīn shǐ Jiāopìn biǎo — places Yú in the late-Hán-Tuō-zhòu / early-Jiātài diplomatic exchanges.
The transmission: 24-juǎn original (per Chén Guìyì’s preface), reduced to 6 juǎn (4 poetry + 2 prose, zhìgào and zházǐ only) by the Sìkù editors via Yǒnglè dàdiǎn recovery. The dating bracket: 1168 (a conservative notBefore for Yú’s mature career; per the catalog meta “fl. 1168–1199”) through 1199 (a conservative notAfter; precise lifedates unknown — CBDB id 27301 has no dates).
Translations and research
- Hervouet, Yves. 1959. Bibliography of Sung Biography. Treats the secondary literature on Yú in passing.
Other points of interest
The BáiJūyì self-modeling — including the explicit hall-naming “Zūnbái” — is one of the most explicit Southern-Sòng cases of a senior official adopting a Tang model as a personal bǎngyàng (exemplar). The 1201 embassy memorial-on-return is a concrete documentary cross-reference between this collection and the Jīn shǐ Jiāopìn biǎo.