巴西集

Bāxī jí 巴西集

The Bā-xī Collection by 鄧文原 (撰)

About the work

The two-juàn partial collection of Dèng Wényuán 鄧文原 (CBDB 10803, 1259–1328), zì Shànzhī 善之, alternate zì Fěishí 匪石, posthumous shì Wénsù 文肅, native of Miánzhōu 綿州 (Sìchuān) but resident in Qiántáng 錢塘 (Hángzhōu) following his father’s flight; self-styled “Bāxī” (Western Bā / Bāshǔ) in the collection’s title — “not forgetting roots.” Born Sòng Bǎoyòu 6 (1258 — note: the Sìkù says 1258, but CBDB and most other sources give 1259; the slight variance is in lunar-Gregorian conversion). At the end of the Sòng (1275) passed the Zhèxī zhuànyùnsī examination first place; in Zhìyuán (post-1280) inducted by the Xíngzhōngshūshěng as Hángzhōulù rúxué zhèng; rose through the offices of Jiāngzhè jiàoshòu, Yuántàichángshǐyuàn jiāyìdàifū, Yuán wénzhōngyuán, to Jíxián zhí xuéshì jiān Guózǐjiàn jìjiǔ (Reader-in-Waiting of the Academy of Worthies concurrent Director of the Imperial University); retired and died at home in Zhìhé 1 (1328). The collection’s principal historiographical importance is signaled by the Sìkù tíyào: in the Dàdé / Yányòu era Dèng was, alongside Yuán Jué 袁桷 and Gòng Kuí 貢奎, one of the three foremost cílín elders (cílín qíjiù) who governed the early-Yuán literary atmosphere — the Sìkù editors explicitly assign Dèng a “chàngdǎo zhī gōng” (leading-and-guiding merit) in the early-Yuán literary flourishing. His major works are listed in the Yuánshǐ j. 172 biography as Nèizhì jí (Court-Document Collection) and Lǚsùzhāi gǎo (Manuscripts from the Lǚsù Studio); both are now lost. The present Bāxī jí preserves only 70+ bēizhìjìxù pieces in two juàn; no poetry survives in this base (Gù Sìlì’s Yuánshī xuǎn preserves Dèng’s verse from a separate transmitted source). Composition window: post-1280 through 1328.

Tiyao

[Standard Sìkù tíyào from source, summarized:] Bāxī jí 2 juàn by Dèng Wényuán of the Yuán. Wényuán, zì Shànzhī, alternate zì Fěishí, a Miánzhōu man — following his father [he] flowed-out and dwelt at Qiántáng; self-styled “Bāxī” — not forgetting roots. Born Sòng Lǐzōng’s Bǎoyòu 6 (1258); at the end of the Sòng tested in Zhèxī Zhuànyùnsī and was selected as kuí. In Zhìyuán the Xíngzhōngshūshěng recruited him as Hángzhōulù rúxué zhèng; held office up to Jíxián zhí xuéshì jiān Guózǐjiàn jìjiǔ; retired. In Zhìhé 1 (1328) died at home; shì Wénsù.

[Dèng] Wényuán’s learning has běnyuán (original-source); what he composed is all warm-pure-typical-elegant. When Dàdé / Yányòu generation, alone with the cílín qíjiù (elder-veterans of the literary forest), he held-the-banner of the [literary] atmosphere; Yuán Jué [and] Gòng Kuí stood-by-his-side; [those who] operate-the-pen as scholars, voiced-attaching, shadow-following; Yuán-[dynasty] literature, at this time, [was] at extreme flourishing — Wényuán in fact has the merit of leading-and-guiding.

What [he] composed includes Nèizhì jí and Lǚsùzhāi gǎo — today none has the transmitted base. This base is not known by whom edited; before-and-behind has no preface-or-postscript; only records his bēizhì, jì, xù prose — over 70 pieces. Even Gù Sìlì’s Yuánshī xuǎn recorded various poems — also has not one piece [in this base]; presumably [it is] what later persons selected — not his complete collection.

Yet Wényuán was a Yuán-dynasty famous figure; in Jiāo Hóng’s Jīngjí zhì — [his] collection title is already not loaded; Huáng Yútài 黃俞邰’s Qiānqǐngtáng shūmù records the name but does not state the juàn count — presumably also has not the transmitted base. The recent-times’ collection-holders’ what-[they]-have likewise are uniformly the same as this base — so whether his complete collection survives or not, [we] do not know. Or [it could be that] lovers-of-strange [things] gathered the surviving pieces to supplement the lost — also not knowable. However the Jíguāng piànyǔ (Auspicious-light fragment-feather) [though] few [is] even more rare; certainly [we] should — by [the fact of its] fortunately-surviving — treasure it; we should not, by [the fact of it being] not-complete, abandon it.

Respectfully collated, fifth month of Qiánlóng 44 (1779). Chief-Compiler Officers Jì Yún 紀昀, Lù Xīxióng 陸錫熊, Sūn Shìyì 孫士毅; Chief-Collation Officer Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.

Abstract

Dèng Wényuán (CBDB 10803, 1259–1328) is, with Yuán Jué (1266–1327) and Gòng Kuí (1269–1329), one of the three foundational architects of the early-Yuán literary culture under the Dàdé / Yányòu reigns. As Jíxián zhí xuéshì and Guózǐjiàn jìjiǔ in late life he held the highest official-cum-academic posts available to Hàn-Confucian elites under the Yuán; through his preface-writing (including the preface to Zhāng Bóchún’s KR4d0433 Yǎngméng wénjí preserved in that collection) he wielded substantial influence over the early-Yuán literary canon. His native Miánzhōu (Sìchuān) origin makes him one of the few major early-Yuán literary figures from the western interior rather than Jiāngnán. His three bēimíng of substantial historiographical value include the famous Hènánfǔ Sōngyuè Sìshéncí jì and the Yuán Pàilái guóshǐyuàn jì — both preserving Yuán imperial-court materials not duplicated elsewhere. The present Bāxī jí is a partial late-Míng-or-later selection (no poetry preserved here); the original Nèizhì jí and Lǚsùzhāi gǎo are lost. CBDB 10803 firmly establishes 1259–1328; the Yuánshǐ j. 172 biography fully corroborates. Wilkinson treats Dèng among the foundational early-Yuán cílín (§35, §38).

Translations and research

• Yáng Yǔ-zhāo 楊鈺釗, Dèng Wén-yuán yán-jiū 鄧文原研究 (Hāng-zhōu shī-fàn dà-xué MA thesis, 2007).
• Yuán-shǐ j. 172 (Dèng Wén-yuán biography) — the standard biography.
• Quán Yuán shī, Quán Yuán wén — collate Dèng’s verse and prose.

Links

• WYG SKQS V1195.4, p507.
• CBDB person 10803 (Dèng Wényuán)
• Yuánshǐ j. 172
• Wikipedia, 鄧文原