Jiànnán shīgǎo 劎南詩槀
Drafts from South-of-the-Sword by 陸游 (撰), 陸子虛 (編)
About the work
Jiànnán shīgǎo 劎南詩槀 in 85 juǎn is the principal poetry-collection of Lù Yóu 陸游 (1125–1210, zì Wùguān 務觀, hào Fàngwēng 放翁), of Shānyīn 山陰 (modern Shàoxīng) — the most prolific premodern Chinese poet (over 9,200 surviving poems) and the central anti-Jīn / pro-recovery voice in Southern-Sòng letters. The title alludes to Jiànnán 劍南 (south of the Jiànmén pass, i.e., Sìchuān), where Lù served from 1170 to 1178 — but as Lù’s son Lù Zǐyú 陸子虛 (also written 陸子虡) explains in the jiādìng 13 (1220) postface, the title encompasses all of Lù’s poetry, since his heart “had not for a single day forgotten Shǔ”. Compiled by Lù Yóu himself in two stages (the Jiànnán shīgǎo and the Jiànnán shīxùgǎo) and printed by his son Lù Zǐyú as Zhī Jiāngzhōu jūnshì in Jiādìng 13 (1220). An earlier 1187 (Chúnxī 14) recension was edited by Lù’s pupil Zhèng Shīyǐn 鄭師尹 and Sū Lín 蘇林 — preface preserved at the head of the WYG.
Tiyao
The Jiànnán shīgǎo in 85 juǎn was composed by Lù Yóu of the Sòng. Yóu — author of NánTáng shū — already cataloged. The end of this collection has the postface of Jiādìng 13 (1220) by Yóu’s son, Cháoqǐng dàfū and Zhī Jiāngzhōu jūnshì Zǐyú, which says: Yóu went west and ascended to Bódào; loving its風 [winds-and-customs] he had the wish to end [his life] there; lingered [there] for almost ten years. In wùxū (Chúnxī 5, 1178) spring, Xiàozōng — anxious about his long [absence] outside — urged-summoned [him] downward east. Yet his heart had not for a single day forgotten Shǔ. Therefore he titled the shījuǎn of his lifetime works Jiànnán shīgǎo — not only because of the Shǔdào [where] he composed shī. [The postface] further says: poems after wùshēn jǐyǒu (1188–1189) — Yóu from Dàpéng [a place name] resigned office and returned to his old residence at Shānyīn; commanded Zǐyú to edit them in 40 juǎn; further entitled their qiān (slip) “Jiànnán shīxùgǎo”. From this until [Yóu’s] vacating-the-residence [death], including the previous draft, totaling 85 juǎn of shī. Zǐyú as substitute-prefect of Jiǔjiāng cut it at the jùnzhāi and named [the collection] Jiànnán shīgǎo — and so on. Then this běn is still what Zǐyú edited. But when the postface says: when Yóu was at Xīndìng, what he edited as the front-draft, in old shī much was rejected; [and the] poems that were left were still 7 juǎn, not daring again to mix them with the juǎn-head, separately naming it yígǎo (left-over draft) — now [those] cannot be seen. Míng’s Luó Hè 羅鶴 in his Yìngān rènyì lù records Guō Yòngduān’s 郭用端 family-collected LùYóu mòjì (manuscript-traces) as having two Péngláiguǎn quatrains and further two Yèhuán yìshè poems, all whose full pieces are recorded; verifying the diction-and-spirit, definitely Lù’s compositions. Are these in the 7 juǎn? — At the head of the juǎn further is Lù Yóu’s pupil Zhèng Shīyǐn’s preface of Chúnxī 14 (1187), which says his shī was collected by Sū Lín of Méishān, and Shīyǐn edited [it]; differing from Zǐyú’s postface — indeed Shīyǐn’s edition was previously a separate běn; Zǐyú preserved the old preface and capped it on the full collection. Yóu’s shī-method was transmitted from Zēng Jǐ; what he composed for Lǚ Jūrén’s jí xù further calls his source from Jūrén — both Jiāngxī pài. Yet Yóu’s shī are clear-fresh, sharply-revealing, but emerging in round-and-moist [lines] — actually self-opens one school, not following the old style of Huáng [Tíngjiān] and Chén [Shīdào]. Liú Kèzhuāng was called good-at-shī, yet his Hòucūn shīhuà records Lù’s shī picking only its parallel-couplet skill — already superficial-view. Later anthologists also abridge his stirred-激, vigorous-and-bold, deep-and-melancholy, profound-and-graceful pieces — taking only those continued-light-views that can be plagiarized-and-moved — passing-around for sale. The Fàngwēng shīpài thus became a hǎoshì discussed by mouths [of critics]. Indeed Yóu’s talent and feeling are abundant; touch-of-the-hand becomes chant; sharp-and-blunt mutually displayed; truly cannot be avoided. Therefore Zhū Yízūn’s Pùshūtíng jí has a postface to this collection picking out its self-derivative passages — up to over 140 lián (couplets); these are chényīnkējiù (worn-out conventions). Yóu too cannot avoid it himself. How much less those who came afterward. Yet his tuōxìng deep-and-subtle, his diction elegant-and-piquant — through the full collection [examples] are uncountable. How can one for the selectors’ errors heap arrows at the author? Now we record the full collection — perhaps so that one school of Jiànnán in itself has its truth, not what the shallow scholars can excuse. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Jiànnán shīgǎo is the canonical gēngzhěng recension of Lù Yóu’s poetry — over 9,200 poems edited by Lù himself and his son Lù Zǐyú into chronological juǎn. The transmission has two principal recensions: (1) the 1187 Chúnxī recension edited by Zhèng Shīyǐn from material gathered by Sū Lín — covering Lù’s poetry through wùshēn (1188); and (2) the Jiādìng 13 (1220) post-mortem recension by Lù Zǐyú — adding the xùgǎo covering 1188–1210, totaling 85 juǎn. The WYG and SBCK both descend from this 1220 recension via YuánMíng print recensions.
The Sìkù editors’ tíyào is unusually substantive: it (a) preserves the textual history of the principal recensions; (b) defends Lù Yóu against Liú Kèzhuāng’s Hòucūn shīhuà and against the Qīng anthologists who reduced Lù to a writer of liángkǒu parallel couplets — citing Zhū Yízūn’s 朱彝尊 Pùshūtíng jí postface (which counts 140+ self-imitating couplets) as a fair criticism but insisting on Lù’s deeper achievements; (c) traces Lù’s poetic genealogy through Zēng Jǐ 曾幾 and Lǚ Jūrén 呂居仁 (Lǚ Běnzhōng) as a serious Jiāngxīpài descendant who broke its mold.
The dating bracket: 1162 (Lù’s earliest dateable poems in the collection) through 1210 (his death year — CBDB id 3640 gives 1209, but standard biographies including Sòngshǐ j. 395 give 1210, followed here as the more widely-accepted figure; the catalog meta also gives 1210). Lù’s complete poetic corpus, edited by himself and his son, makes this collection the most authoritative single edition of any major Sòng poet.
Translations and research
- Watson, Burton, trans. 1973. The Old Man Who Does as He Pleases: Selections from the Poetry and Prose of Lu Yu. Columbia.
- Chen, Shih-hsiang. 1971. Lu Yu. Twayne. Standard early-English monograph.
- Duke, Michael S. 1977. Lu You. Twayne (revised). Updated standard reference.
- 錢鍾書. 1958. 《宋詩選注》. Beijing. Includes substantial Lù Yóu selection with annotation; Qián’s introduction is the most influential modern critical reading.
- Sargent, Stuart H. 2007. The Poetry of He Zhu (1052–1125). Brill. Comparative material on the Jiāng-xī-pài lineage.
Other points of interest
Lù Yóu’s poetry is the largest single-author corpus in pre-modern Chinese literature and the principal voice of the Southern-Sòng anti-Jīn / pro-recovery sentiment. The collection’s organization by Lù Yóu himself — chronological, with the Shǔ-period poetry foregrounded by the title — is also one of the most self-consciously curated single-author biéjí of the pre-modern period.