Pánzhōu wénjí 盤洲文集
The Pán-zhōu Collection by 洪适 (撰)
About the work
Pánzhōu wénjí 盤洲文集 in 80 juǎn is the biéjí of Hóng Kuò 洪适 (1117–1184, zì Jǐngbó 景伯, hào Pánzhōu lǎorén 盤洲老人, posthumous Wénhuì 文惠), the eldest of the famous Hóng brothers (with 洪邁 and Hóng Zūn 洪遵), of Pó’yáng 鄱陽 in Ráozhōu (modern Jiāngxī). Held office to Tóngzhī shūmìyuàn shì, Shàngshū yòu púyè, and Tóngzhōng shū ménxià píngzhāngshì (chief councillor) under Xiàozōng. Hóng Kuò is most famous as the author of the Lìshì 隸釋 and Lìxù 隸續 — the foundational catalogs of Hàn-stele lìshū (clerical-script) inscriptions, the earliest surviving systematic jīnshí (epigraphy) work in China. The Pánzhōu wénjí preserves his poetry, zòu, qǐ, jì, xù, and mùzhìmíng — a comprehensive late-Sòng senior-official biéjí.
Tiyao
The 000 file in the KR4d0261 source directory is the SBCK table of contents and does not contain the WYG 提要; the standard Sìkù tíyào (j. 159) records the work as 80 juǎn, composed by Hóng Kuò of the Sòng, who reached chief-councillor under Xiàozōng and was canonized Wénhuì. The collection contains ancient-style poetry, regulated-verse, examination essays, memorials, and a substantial body of administrative prose. Hóng Kuò’s literary reputation, distinct from his pre-eminence in jīnshí, is established by this collection; his ancient-style poetry (the imitations of the Nineteen Ancient Poems opening juǎn 1) and his epigraphic-administrative letters (preserved among the prose) are the principal points of interest.
Abstract
Pánzhōu wénjí is the principal biéjí of Hóng Kuò, the eldest of the three Hóng brothers, and the senior member of one of the most distinguished mid-Southern-Sòng jīnshí-and-administrative families. The collection’s structure (80 juǎn) is large enough to function as a multi-genre corpus. The opening juǎn of poetry is notable for its 13 imitations of the Gǔshī shíjiǔ shǒu 古詩十九首 — a programmatic statement of Hóng’s ancient-style aesthetic — followed by extensive cìyùn and antiquarian poems, including a poem on Wú Fùpéng’s 吳傅朋 yóusī shū 游絲書 (a key reference for the early reception of Wú’s calligraphy). The prose includes Hóng’s jīnshí-related letters and prefaces — supplementary material to the Lìshì and Lìxù. The biographical data is firm: 1117 (CBDB id 870 birth year) through 1184 (death). The collection was first cut during Hóng’s lifetime and transmitted through Sòng and Yuán print recensions; the WYG and SBCK both descend from the same family of YuánMíng prints. The dating bracket is anchored by Hóng’s jìnshì year (1142, Shàoxīng 12, with his brother Hóng Zūn — they passed in the same examination, with Hóng Zūn taking 1st place) through his death year 1184.
The Hóng brothers are best understood as a corporate intellectual unit: Hóng Kuò provided the senior administrative gravitas and the jīnshí foundations; Hóng Zūn the jìnshì zhuàngyuán status and senior office; Hóng Mài (KR4d0260) the polymathic literary production. The Pánzhōu wénjí preserves the senior brother’s authoritative voice in this triad.
Translations and research
- Egan, Ronald. 2006. The Problem of Beauty: Aesthetic Thought and Pursuits in Northern Song Dynasty China. Harvard. Treats Hóng’s Lì-shì in context of Sòng jīn-shí scholarship.
- Brown, Shana J. 2011. Pastimes: From Art and Antiquarianism to Modern Chinese Historiography. Hawai’i. Discusses the Lì-shì as a foundational antiquarian text.
- Sòng-shǐ j. 373 (Hóng Kuò biography) is the principal traditional source.
Other points of interest
The interplay between Hóng Kuò’s biéjí and his Lìshì is one of the most useful test cases of how jīnshí erudition flowed in and out of mainstream literary practice in the mid-12th c. — the Pánzhōu wénjí contains poetry on stelae, letters about rubbings, and prefaces to epigraphic works that are crucial supplementary evidence for the social history of jīnshí scholarship.