Zhúzhāi shījí 竹齋詩集
The Bamboo-Studio Poetry Collection by 裘萬頃 (撰)
About the work
Zhúzhāi shījí 竹齋詩集 in 3 juǎn with 1 juǎn appendix is the surviving poetry-collection of Qiú Wànqǐng 裘萬頃 (zì Yuánliàng 元量, hào Zhúzhāi 竹齋, of Xīnjiàn 新建, modern Jiāngxī), jìnshì of Chúnxī 14 (1187); held office to Dàlǐsī zhí; resigned to be reassigned as Jiāngxī fǔgàn (added-detail post). Eulogized by Yáng Jiǎn 楊簡 楊簡 (who composed his tomb-inscription) for mòshí (silent recognition); identified by Chén Hóngxù as one of the Sìjié (Four Eminent Ones) along with Hú Tóngyuán 胡桐原, Wàn Dànān 萬澹菴, and Xú Zhútáng 徐竹堂. Liú Kèzhuāng’s 劉克莊 Hòucūn jí contains a postface to Qiú’s sīzhí shī. The collection was first cut by Qiú’s descendant Qiú Zòu 裘奏 (Jǐnxiàn zhīxiàn) in Kāngxī jǐchǒu (1709); reprinted by Qiú Yuēxiū 裘曰修 (a Qián-lóng-era Gōngbù shàngshū).
Tiyao
[The standard tíyào, here translated:] The Zhúzhāi shījí in 3 juǎn with appendix in 1 juǎn was composed by Qiú Wànqǐng of the Sòng. Wànqǐng’s zì was Yuánliàng, a man of Xīnjiàn. Jìnshì of Chúnxī 14 (1187); held office to Dàlǐsī zhí; requested outside-appointment, added-detail as Jiāngxī fǔgàn. Yáng Jiǎn composed his tomb-[inscription], with mòshí (silent-recognition) calling him so. Chén Hóngxù’s Hányè lù says Wànqǐng at the time and Hú Tóngyuán, Wàn Dànān, Xú Zhútáng went-and-came chanting-and-rhyming, called the Sìjié — now three persons all already sunk-and-vanished, only Wànqǐng’s collection survives. Liú Kèzhuāng’s Hòucūn jí has Qiú Yuánliàng sīzhí shī bá — saying his biāozhì (standard-aim) is high-and-superior, has Yánshì’s qū (lean) and Gōngshēng’s jié (clean); further saying his yóuzǐ (nephew-son) Nánchāng lǐyuán Yìngcái carried Zhúzhāi yímò gǔlǜ shī 3 [pieces]; his youngest [son] Yuánlíng further hand-recorded 42 pieces; his words “if near yet far, if pale yet deep — near and pale can be possible — far-and-deep cannot be possible — for the person they are self-precious, ashamed of biǎobó — only the shī too is so. The world’s knowing of Zhúzhāi are many; but those who have seen his shī are very few. Why don’t [you] lǐyuán cut [it] on plates and [share] with the same-aspirers?” — and so on. Then Yuánliàng’s shī — at Kèzhuāng’s time — still had no zhuānjí (single-collection). This běn is the Kāngxī jǐchǒu (1709) [time] — his descendant Jǐnxiàn zhīxiàn Zòu cut [it]. In all, shī in 3 juǎn; the end 1 juǎn appended record of gàochì (commendation-edicts) and zhìmíng (tomb-inscriptions) — unknown what person edited [it]. Recently the Gōngbù shàngshū Qiú Yuēxiū has further re-cut [it] — Yuēxiū too is Wànqǐng’s descendant. His shī although the fēnggǔ (wind-bone) is not yet high — yet the qīngwǎn (clear-graceful) is more-than-enough — does not stain Jiānghú [pài]‘s overflow-current. Zhào Yǔpī’s Yúshūtáng shīhuà once praised his Guīxìng one piān; further praised his initial-office at Lèpíng yìncáo with Hóng Mài [exchanging] shīpiān back-and-forth — Mài most pushed his “clouds returning, the green peak’s rain just stopped; / flowers lying on the green moss — spring already over” lines. Qiánlóng 46 (1781), 10th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Zhúzhāi shījí is the surviving fragment of Qiú Wànqǐng’s poetic corpus — preserved largely through family-tradition (the late-Sòng cuttings did not generate independent prints, and the 1709 Kāngxī recension by Qiú Zòu was the first dedicated cut). Qiú’s poetic milieu placed him in conversation with Hóng Mài 洪邁, Yáng Jiǎn 楊簡 (his eulogist), and the late-Sòng Sìjié group; Liú Kèzhuāng’s postface preserved here documents his biāozhì (standard-aim) as gāoshèng (high-superior) — comparable to Yán Hóng (the qū-Confucian) and Gōng Shèng. The dating bracket: 1187 (Qiú’s jìnshì) through 1210 (the latest period of his active career — Qiú’s death year is unknown but is presumed late Southern Sòng). The Qīng-era multi-step transmission (1709 → Qián-lóng-era reprint by descendant Qiú Yuēxiū → WYG) is unusually well-documented.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The collection’s family-line transmission — preserved by descendants over five centuries — is one of the cleaner examples of jiācáng (family-stored) Sòng biéjí survival.