Yún’ān lèigǎo 芸庵類藁
The Yún-ān Drafts Arranged by Category by 李洪 (撰)
About the work
Yún’ān lèigǎo 芸庵類藁 in 6 juǎn is the Sìkù-reconstructed biéjí of Lǐ Hóng 李洪 (b. 1129, zì unrecorded), son of the Northern-and-Southern Sòng senior official Lǐ Zhèngmín 李正民 (the Dàyǐn xiānshēng, shìláng-rank, originally of Yángzhōu 揚州 but settled at Hǎiyán 海鹽 during the nándù and later moved to Húzhōu 湖州). Lǐ Hóng’s career — undocumented in any standard biographical source, including the Sòngshǐ — was reconstructed from the collection itself: court-attendance to Déshòugōng and Jǐnglínggōng (so he held a capital office), a zhī Wēnzhōu tenure, and ending as Téngzhōu shǐjūn (prefect of Téngzhōu) per the original preface by Chén Guìqiān 陳貴謙. The original collection of 24 juǎn (per Chén’s preface) was reduced to roughly 30%: 5 juǎn of poetry and lyrics (390+ pieces) plus 1 juǎn of prose (30 pieces).
Tiyao
The Yúnān lèigǎo in 6 juǎn was composed by Lǐ Hóng of the Sòng. Hóng’s surname-and-name are not recorded in the standard histories, nor is the collection recorded in any catalog. Only the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn preserves his prose; further [we] separately drew Chén Guìqiān’s original preface, which calls Hóng the son of Lǐ Zhèngmín, and further calls him Téngzhōu shǐjūn — therefore we know Hóng’s office stopped at Zhī Téngzhōu. The collection further contains hùcóng cháo Déshòugōng Jǐnglínggōng poems — therefore he was once a jīngcháo official; further has the zài Wēnzhōu tí qí fù shǒuzé shī whose lines call himself sìzǐ shǒuguān yú cǐ — therefore he was once Zhī Wēnzhōu. The remainder cannot be further examined. Zhèngmín originally was a man of Yángzhōu; after the nándù he sojourned at Hǎiyán — therefore Hóng’s collection (e.g., the Wūlóngjǐng miào yíngsòng shéncí) was all composed at Hǎiyán. But the bǔjū Fēiyīngfāng one piece says bound the books and left the capital-gate, righting the boats and returning to Tiáochuān: then Hóng later moved his residence again to Húzhōu. Yet the two prefectures’ jìliúyù records are all silent on father-and-son — by which the lost-collection’s deficiency, those investigating the wénxiàn rarely reach. Hóng’s compositions in shī, although their bone-frame is not yet firm, his shénsī (spiritual-thought) is qīngchāo (clear-elevated), occasionally exposing alarm-like grace; his seven-syllable regulated-verse is especially perfect-and-stable, sufficient to echo Zhèngmín. Chén Guìqiān’s preface declares the original 24 juǎn; what is now gathered together is barely 390-some shīcí and 30 prose pieces — compared to the original collection only three or four-tenths obtained — also called barely. According to what survives, [we] divide into 5 juǎn with 1 juǎn of miscellaneous prose appended at the back — broadly conveying the outline, in order not to permit it ultimately to sink-and-vanish. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Yún’ān lèigǎo is the surviving fragment of an originally substantial 24-juǎn literary collection by Lǐ Hóng, who has no entry in any standard biographical reference and would be entirely unknown but for this biéjí and Chén Guìqiān’s preserved preface. The Sìkù editors used the biéjí itself to extract Lǐ’s career: capital-office service (attending the imperial court at Déshòugōng and Jǐnglínggōng), a zhī Wēnzhōu tenure, and ending as prefect of Téngzhōu (in modern Guǎngxī). Of biographical interest: the family’s geographic trajectory — Yángzhōu (Northern-Sòng base) → Hǎiyán (post-nándù refuge) → Húzhōu (Lǐ Hóng’s final residence) — is a textbook Sòng southern-migration narrative.
The poetry is the principal substantive content: extensive seven-syllable regulated verse on local cult-sites (the Wūlóngjǐng miào hymns at Hǎiyán), Húzhōu and Hǎiyán landscape poetry, court-attendance pieces, and family-dedication poems on his father’s shǒuzé (manuscript-traces). The Sìkù editors’ aesthetic judgment — that Lǐ’s poetry has qīngchāo spirit but unstable bone-frame, and that his seven-syllable regulated-verse echoes his father’s accomplishments — is a fair assessment.
The dating bracket: 1150 (around when Lǐ would have begun his court career, given his birth in 1129 per CBDB id 19568) through approximately 1190 (the period during which his correspondence with Chén Guìqiān was active, based on Chén’s preface). Lǐ’s actual death year is unrecorded.
Translations and research
- No substantial secondary literature located. The principal reference is the Sì-kù tíyào itself.
Other points of interest
The collection is one of the few WYG biéjí that the Sìkù editors describe as recovered “from the brink of complete oblivion” (使不致終就泯沒). Without the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn preservation and Chén Guìqiān’s preface, Lǐ Hóng would be entirely unknown — even the standard Sòngrén zhuànjì zīliào suǒyǐn relies on this collection as its sole biographical source.