Yěchǔ lèigǎo 野處類藁
Yě-chǔ Drafts Arranged by Category by 洪邁 (撰)
About the work
Yěchǔ lèigǎo 野處類藁 in 2 juǎn is a slim self-anthology of Hóng Mài 洪邁 (1123–1202, zì Jǐnglú 景盧, hào Yěchǔ 野處 / Róngzhāi 容齋), the famous Sòng polymath, compiler of Róngzhāi suíbǐ (KR3l0027), Yíjiān zhì, and Tángrén wànshǒu juéjù. The collection contains only poetry — about 80 pieces — drawn from poems Hóng had not discarded, gathered at Póyáng 鄱陽 during a period of illness in Shàoxīng 24 (1154, jiǎxū). The earliest dateable poem (yè Pǔzhào tǎ) bears the Jiànyán 3 (1129, gēngxū) cyclical year. The original Yěchǔ wěigǎo in 104 juǎn (per Sòngshǐ yìwénzhì) was lost; only this small derivative is transmitted.
Tiyao
The Yěchǔ lèigǎo in 2 juǎn was composed by Hóng Mài of the Sòng. Mài, with his learned-and-broad talent, eyed his time with vigor; his works Róngzhāi suíbǐ, Yíjiān zhì, and Tángrén wànshǒu juéjù are all cataloged separately. His wénjí seen in the Sòng yìwénzhì: there is Yěchǔ wěigǎo in 104 juǎn and Qióngyělù in 3 juǎn; while Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí records only this 2-juǎn collection and says “the full collection [I] have not seen” — so by then the circulation was already rare. Only Míng [Zhāng Xuān]‘s Nèigé shūmù has Yěchǔ nèiwài jí in 9 cè without juǎn-count — perhaps the incomplete běn of the full-collection in transmission still surviving — now also lost-and-untraceable. What the world circulates of Mài’s collection is uniquely this běn alone. The collection’s prefatory zìxù says: in spring of jiǎxū he was at-home ill and composed several poems to slow his sorrow, then took what was previously not discarded and recorded them in 2 juǎn. Jiǎxū is Gāozōng Shàoxīng 24 (1154) — these were composed during Mài’s withdrawal at Póyáng. The collection’s Yè Pǔzhào tǎ poem also has gēngxū annual-record — should be in Jiànyán 3 (1129); separated by some 24 to 25 years; there are barely 80-some poems in the collection. Further the Róngzhāi sānbǐ records: in Shàoxīng 19 (1149) at the Fújiàn examination-court he composed poetry with Yè Huìshū — exactly before the jiǎxū — but the collection does not record [these]. The suspicion: it is what was at hand in his chest, occasionally gathered — therefore what is recorded is so deficient. Yet his lifetime of yùnyǔ (poetry) — uniquely on the basis of this — can be examined to its outline; therefore tiny-jade and broken-jade — never insufficient to preserve as one [author’s] testimony. Further: Mǎ Duānlín’s Jīngjí kǎo placed this book in the biéjí category. Yet the collection has shī and no wén; following Duānlín’s example it should belong in the shījí category — perhaps a confused-and-erroneous receipt; he too had not seen this běn. Qiánlóng 43 (1778), 5th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Yěchǔ lèigǎo is a fragmentary record of Hóng Mài’s poetry — almost certainly representing a small fraction of his lifetime yùnyǔ output, since his prose corpus alone (the Róngzhāi suíbǐ, Yíjiān zhì, etc.) is enormous and the Sòngshǐ yìwénzhì records a 104-juǎn main collection that is now entirely lost. The poems were gathered by Hóng himself during illness in Shàoxīng 24 (1154, when he was 32) at Póyáng 鄱陽; the zìxù (self-preface) presents them frankly as a “緩憂之一物” (one thing for slowing my anxieties), not a polished literary statement.
The Sìkù editors include a textual-bibliographic correction of Mǎ Duānlín 馬端臨, observing that since this work contains only shī (and no wén), Mǎ’s classification as biéjí is wrong; it should belong in shījí — a small but typical instance of Sìkù editorial fastidiousness. The dating bracket reflects the actual range of Hóng’s poetic activity preserved in the collection: from the 1129 yè Pǔzhào tǎ poem at the early end to the 1154 self-preface as the terminus. (Hóng Mài himself died in 1202 — CBDB id 10157 — but the collection captures only his early-mid-career poetry.) The Sìkù tíyào also identifies poems Hóng’s Róngzhāi sānbǐ records him having composed in Shàoxīng 19 (1149) at the Fújiàn examination-hall with Yè Huìshū — these poems are absent from the present collection, evidence that Hóng was working only from what was at hand.
Translations and research
- Inglis, Alister D. 2006. Hong Mai’s Record of the Listener and Its Song Dynasty Context. SUNY. Treats Hóng’s Yí-jiān zhì; introductory chapter has substantial biographical information on the bié-jí tradition.
- Hervouet, Yves, ed. 1978. A Sung Bibliography. Hong Kong. Standard bibliographical reference.
- Sòng-shǐ j. 373 (Hóng Mài biography) is the principal traditional source.
Other points of interest
The disjunction between Hóng Mài’s enormous prose-and-historical output (the Róngzhāi suíbǐ alone is one of the principal Sòng bǐjì) and the meager survival of his poetry (just 80-odd pieces) is itself a textbook case of Sòng biéjí transmission asymmetry: prose with administrative or historical interest tended to circulate widely, while yùnyǔ (poetry) — even by major figures — could vanish almost entirely.