Dùzhāi qiāndāo biān 蠹齋鉛刀編
The Bookworm-Studio’s Lead-Knife Edition by 周孚 (撰)
About the work
Dùzhāi qiāndāo biān 蠹齋鉛刀編 in 32 juǎn (the title’s combination of dù “moth-eaten / bookworm” and qiāndāo “lead-knife” — both self-deprecating tropes — gives the collection its modest cast) is the literary collection of Zhōu Fú 周孚 (1135–1177, zì Xìndào 信道, of Jǐnán 濟南; family resettled at Dāntú 丹徒 / Jiāngsū). Jìnshì of Qiándào 2 (1166); held office to Zhēnzhōu jiàoshòu (Education Officer of Zhēnzhōu); died in office. The collection has Chén Gōng 陳珙’s preface (his close friend) reporting 30 juǎn; the Yízhēn xiànzhì (county gazetteer) agrees; but the colophon by Xiè Bǎiyuè 解百禴 records 32 juǎn — the discrepancy resolved by the Sìkù editors as: Chén Gōng’s preface refers to the principal shīwén portion (30 juǎn); the additional 2 final juǎn are the Fēi shī biànwàng 非詩辨妄 — Zhōu Fú’s polemical critique of Zhèng Qiáo’s 鄭樵 Shī biànwàng — originally circulated separately and appended by the carver Xiè Bǎiyuè in the Chúnxī jǐhài (1179) printing. Friend-and-comrade of Xīn Qìjí 辛棄疾 (the great cí-poet); the Sòngshī jìshì claims Xīn carved the collection — but the Sìkù editors detect no internal evidence and attribute the 1179 carving to Xiè.
Tiyao
The Sìkù tíyào: the Dùzhāi qiāndāo biān in 32 juǎn was composed by Zhōu Fú of the Sòng. Fú’s zì was Xìndào, of Jǐnán; resettled at Dāntú. Jìnshì of Qiándào 2 (1166); held office at Zhēnzhōu jiàoshòu. Collection’s front has his friend Jīngkǒu Chén Gōng’s preface saying surviving prose totaling 30 juǎn. The Yízhēn xiànzhì concurs. But the Fūyán Xiè Bǎiyuè’s colophon records 32 juǎn — agreeing exactly with the present text. This is because: Chén Gōng’s preface refers specifically to the shīwén; the final 2 juǎn are the Fēi shī biànwàng — originally with a separate biéběn circulating separately. [Xiè] Bǎiyuè incorporated them, hence in total 32 juǎn.
Further the Sòngshī jìshì says Fú’s death — Xīn Qìjí carved his collection. Now examining the collection: many works of zèngdá (back-and-forth) with [Xīn] Qìjí — their bond was certainly long-standing. But there is no piece on the carving of the collection; the běn what the world transmits is in fact what Chúnxī jǐhài (1179) [Xiè] Bǎiyuè cut for circulation — visible from the colophon — what the Sòngshī jìshì relies on is unclear.
Fú at age 7 was thoroughly versed in the Chūnqiū. As-for poetry, in youth he learned from Chén Shīdào, then advanced and learned from Huáng Tíngjiān — both able to obtain their leftover patterns. The poetry has notes-and-marks: from the jiǎxū year (1154) he begins; through to his death in early Chúnxī — only twenty-some years; mostly his middle-year compositions — his learning daily progressed; hence largely cízhǐ qīngbá (diction’s intent clear-and-extracted), without thread-thin and crooked-and-low or vulgar-and-cheap defects. His prose does not engage in diāohuì (carving-and-painting), but bōlán yìdù (wave-and-billow, intention-and-measure) often approach zìrán. His refuting Zhèng Qiáo’s Shī biànwàng — establishing the discussion particularly in detail-and-exact. In the southern-crossing era, although not flowering-as-a-house, [it] also can-be-said to have a canonical-pattern surviving. Qiánlóng 43 (1778), 5th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Zhōu Fú’s collection has a distinctive double-character: principally a Yuányòu-tradition poetic corpus (Zhōu studied under Chén Shīdào and Huáng Tíngjiān in youth, the former directly and the latter via the Jiāngxī school), with the appended Fēi shī biànwàng (Refuting the Shī biànwàng) — Zhōu’s substantive polemical refutation of Zhèng Qiáo’s 鄭樵 Shī biànwàng. The Fēi shī biànwàng is one of the principal pre-Zhū-Xī Southern-Sòng Shī-classic counter-attacks on the post-Máo-preface school — defending the traditional Máo preface tradition against the ZhèngQiáo / WángZhì / ZhūXī triple-criticism of the late-12th c. Zhū Xī’s eventual Shī jízhuàn synthesis broadly accommodated Zhèng’s position; Zhōu Fú’s polemic represents the conservative defense.
The friendship with Xīn Qìjí — the cí-poet of the háofàng tradition — is documented by extensive back-and-forth poems in the collection. The collection’s transmission via Xiè Bǎiyuè’s 1179 carving is a typical case of friend-disciple-publishing in the late-Sòng biéjí tradition. The 30 juǎn + 2 juǎn (Fēi shī biànwàng) structure is preserved in the Sìkù.
The dating bracket: 1166 (Zhōu’s jìnshì year) through 1177 (his death year per CBDB id 15270). The poems are documented from 1154 onward (the earliest internal date is jiǎxū / 1154).
Translations and research
- van Zoeren, Steven. 1991. Poetry and Personality: Reading, Exegesis, and Hermeneutics in Traditional China. Stanford. Treats the post-Máo-preface vs. Máo-defending controversy in which Zhōu Fú took the conservative side against Zhèng Qiáo.
- 蕭涤非. 1980s. Various essays on the Xīn-Qì-jí circle including Zhōu Fú.
Other points of interest
The Fēi shī biànwàng — preserved as the final 2 juǎn of this collection — is one of the principal Southern-Sòng critical-defenses of the Máo preface tradition, mounted against Zhèng Qiáo’s Shī biànwàng. Zhū Xī’s eventual Shī jízhuàn synthesis broadly accommodated Zhèng’s position; Zhōu Fú’s polemic represents the conservative defense — making this collection a documented witness to a position that did not become canonical.