Méishān xùgǎo 梅山續藁
Méi-shān Continuation Drafts by 姜特立 (撰)
About the work
Méishān xùgǎo 梅山續藁 in 18 juǎn is the supplement-collection of Jiāng Tèlì 姜特立 (b. 1125, zì Bāngjié 邦傑, of Lìshuǐ 麗水, modern Zhèjiāng). Father Jiāng Shòu 姜綬 died in martyrdom defending Nánjīng against the Jīn in Jìngkāng (1126–1127); on this yīn basis Jiāng Tèlì entered office. Held office in Xiàozōng’s reign as tutor in the Tàizǐ chūnfāng (Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace); reached Zhèdōng mǎbùjūn fùzǒngguǎn and Qìngyuǎnjūn jiédùshǐ; placed in the Sòngshǐ Nìngxìng zhuàn (Sycophants Treatise) for his close attachment to Guāngzōng’s princely residence and the Hán Tuōzhòu faction. Companion to the lost Méishān gǎo (6 juǎn); the present 18-juǎn recension descends from the Wāng Sēn 汪森 family-collection at Xiūníng 休寧 and was edited Kāngxī dīngmǎo (1687) — adding miscellaneous prose and cí to the original xùgǎo of 15 juǎn recorded by Chén Zhènsūn.
Tiyao
[The standard tíyào, here translated:] The Méishān xùgǎo in 18 juǎn was composed by Jiāng Tèlì of the Sòng. Tèlì’s zì was Bāngjié, a man of Lìshuǐ. In Jìngkāng his father Shòu, [in service of the throne], died in martyrdom; [Tèlì on this] yīn-basis was supplemented as Chéngxìnláng. Xiàozōng summoned [him] to Tàizǐ Chūnfāng; successively-officed to Zhèdōng mǎbùjūn fùzǒngguǎn, Qìngyuǎnjūn jiédùshǐ. His career is recorded in the Sòngshǐ Nìngxìng zhuàn. Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí records Méishān gǎo in 6 juǎn, xùgǎo in 15 juǎn — listing them in the shījí category; both collections only have shī and no wén. This běn came out of the Xiūníng Wāng Sēn family — appended with záwén and shīyú (cí) — in all 18 juǎn; unknown what person added-and-edited [it]. Sēn’s preface says transmission is exceedingly rare; therefore [he] shànxiě (carefully copied) to transmit — also a rarely-encountered běn. The principal gǎo in 5 juǎn — book-collecting families all do not catalog [it] — supposedly long lost. Tèlì at the time relied on his Guāngzōng princely-residence old [connection], grasping power; repeatedly impeached by court ministers — his person truly not worth speaking-of. Chén Zhènsūn says: his root [origin] was also [as] a shìrén túzhé (scholar’s path) — a single difference, [now] yǎnrán nìngxìng zhī tài (clearly a sycophant’s manner) — alas! As to discussing his shīgé: then yìjìng especially chāokuàng (transcending-broad), often zìrán liúlù (naturally flowing-revealed), not engaged in diāozhuó (carving). Contemporaries Hán Yuánjí and Lù Yóu both loved [it] — also there is a reason. His shàngliáng wén (placing-the-beam text) introduces and self-narrates his lifetime most fully; has the line “100 pieces of clear shī; / by night [I] presented at the nine-fold red-edict morning [edition]“. Now examining what this collection records — all are post-chūnfāng office compositions; and what [he] called 100 pieces — the collection does not record. Perhaps still has lost pieces — not the complete count? Qiánlóng 43 (1778), 9th month, respectfully collated.
Abstract
Méishān xùgǎo is the surviving partial corpus of Jiāng Tèlì — a Sòng official of dubious political reputation (placed in the Nìngxìng — Sycophants — Treatise of the Sòngshǐ for his attachment to the Hán Tuōzhòu faction) but a respected poet whose work was admired by Hán Yuánjí and Lù Yóu. Wāng Sēn’s Kāngxī dīngmǎo (1687) family-edition of the Xiūníng manuscript is the principal surviving recension. The Sìkù editors’ tíyào is a model of separating moral-and-aesthetic judgment: Jiāng’s politics deserve the historical condemnation, but his poetry is genuinely accomplished and was so-recognized in his lifetime. The dating bracket: 1163 (around the start of Jiāng’s senior-court service) through 1200 (end of Hán Tuōzhòu’s pre-Kāixǐ domination). Jiāng’s death year is unrecorded; he was born 1125 per CBDB id 27719.
Translations and research
- No substantial secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The Sòngshǐ Nìngxìng zhuàn (Treatise on Sycophants) entry on Jiāng Tèlì is one of the principal late-Sòng documents of court factional dynamics; this biéjí preserves Jiāng’s own self-justifying voice, useful for cross-reference.