屏巖小稿

Píngyán xiǎogǎo 屏巖小稿

Small Manuscripts from Píng-yán by 張觀光 (撰)

About the work

A one-juàn poetic collection of Zhāng Guānguāng 張觀光 (CBDB 27951, lifedates uncertain — Sòng-end / early-Yuán fl.), zì Zhífū 直夫, native of Dōngyáng 東陽 (Wūzhōu / Jīnhuá, Zhèjiāng). Zhāng’s shǐmò (beginning-and-end) was not preserved in the standard histories or local gazetteers; the Sìkù editors carefully reconstruct his lifedates from internal evidence: the collection has a Hé Qiú Shāncūn jiǔrì yínjuǎn (Harmonizing Qiú Yuǎn’s Mountain-Village September-9 Chant-Roll) — Qiú Yuǎn (CBDB 28342, 1247–1326, zì Rénjìn 仁近, hào Shāncūn 山村, KR4d0447) — placing Zhāng in the Hángzhōu Yuán-period poetic society around Qiú; a Wǎnchūn jíshì poem with the lines dùjuān wángguó hèn / guīhè gùxiāng qíng (“cuckoo, [the] fallen-kingdom resentment; returning crane, [the] hometown feeling”) — i.e. a Sòng-loyalist late-Sòng / early-Yuán figure; a Jiǎzǐsuìdàn shī (Jiǎzǐ Year New Year Poem) with the line suì huàn shàngyuán xīn jiǎzǐ (“the year changes to the new Shàngyuán jiǎzǐ”) — the jiǎzǐ of 1324 (Yuán Tàidìng 1) is the only Shàngyuán (Upper-Origin) jiǎzǐ of his expected lifespan (the Sòng Jǐngdìng 5 = 1264 jiǎzǐ was earlier and Sòng-state, not “new”); a Chúxī jíshì poem with míngcháo nián bāshí (“tomorrow my age is 80”) — placing Zhāng’s age at 80 in early 1325, so birth c. 1245. The verse is rich in qióngtú zhī gǎn (sense of poverty-and-trapped-circumstance); the Zèng tánmìng Yáo Yuèhú (Presenting to the Diviner Yáo Yuèhú) poem has the line shì bǎ wǔxíng tuīcè kàn / guǎngwén guān lěng jǐ shí chūn (“Try to push-and-divine the Five Phases — the Guǎngwén [Erudite of Letters] office is cold, how many springs?“) — confirming that Zhāng once held the (junior) Guǎngwén literary office. Took first place in the Yuèzhōng poetry society’s Zhěnyì (Pillow / Yìjīng) theme — the same contest Huáng Gēng KR4d0430 also won — under examiner Lǐ Yìngqí 李應祈, who graded Zhāng’s piece “ruò fēnfēn pénàng zhōng dé gǔléixǐ” (“as if amid scattered basins-and-pots [one] gets an ancient bronze ritual-basin”); the original poem with Lǐ’s evaluation is preserved.

Tiyao

[Standard Sìkù tíyào from source, summarized:] Píngyán xiǎogǎo 1 juàn by Zhāng Guānguāng of the Yuán. Guānguāng, zì Zhífū, a Dōngyáng man. His shǐmò (beginning and end) is not detailed. In the collection there is a Hé Qiú Shāncūn jiǔrì yínjuǎn poem; and the Wǎnchūn jíshì poem has “cuckoo-[the]-fallen-kingdom-resentment / returning-crane-[the]-hometown-feeling” — so [he is] a late-Sòng / early-Yuán person. Also has a Jiǎzǐsuìdàn poem; examining Jǐngdìng 5 (1264) was jiǎzǐ, Yuán Tàidìng 1 (1324) was also jiǎzǐ; the poem has “the year changes to the new Shàngyuán jiǎzǐ” — by the calendrician’s Three-Origins’ order to push, the Shàngyuán jiǎzǐ must be in [Yuán] Tàidìng. Observing the Chúxī jíshì poem [which] says “tomorrow [my] age is 80” — so [he] reached rather long-life; at that time [he was] still alive.

The poetry [is] mostly of [a sense of] poverty-and-trapped-circumstance — presumably an unmet-with [his] time shì. Only the Zèng tánmìng Yáo Yuèhú poem has “try to push-and-divine the Five Phases / the Guǎngwén [Erudite of Letters] office is cold, how-many springs” — perhaps [he] once held [an office in the] Xuéguān (Confucian school office).

The whole collection — all the géyì qīngqiǎn (form-and-meaning clear-and-shallow), rather pinned by the biānfú (margins-and-tassels); yet the tǔshǔ wǎnxiù (utterance subtle-and-elegant), without gōuzhāng jíjù (hooked-sentence and thorny-line) manner. The Yuèzhōng poetry society took “Pillow-Yì” as theme; Lǐ Yìngqí ranked the order, [taking] Guānguāng as first. His poetry today is seen in the collection, also loaded [is] [Lǐ] Yìngqí’s evaluation calling it “as if amid scattered basins-and-pots [one] gets an ancient bronze ritual-basin.” Further there is a Méihún seven-syllable lǜshī one piece, note saying “Wǔlín examination selection-[place]”; a Zhōngqiūsè five-syllable lǜshī one piece, note saying “Shānyīn poetry-society middle-selection” — so on that day [he] also gained renown for [his] chanting.

Respectfully collated, first month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). 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

Zhāng Guānguāng (CBDB 27951, lifedates uncertain — Sòng-end / early-Yuán; Sìkù internal reconstruction gives c. 1245 – after 1324) is a minor but documented late-Sòng / early-Yuán Wūzhōu (Jīnhuá) poet, attached to the Hángzhōu Yuán-period poetic society around Qiú Yuǎn. The Sìkù editors’ painstaking reconstruction of his lifedates and brief office-holding from internal poetic evidence is a model demonstration of Qián-lóng-era kǎojù. His successful entries in two early-Yuán Hángzhōu / Shānyīn poetry contests (the Zhěnyì theme and the Méihún / Zhōngqiūsè themes) document his real if minor place in the early-Yuán poetic-society network. The collection is small (one juàn, c. 30–40 pieces) and uniformly in the qióngtú (poverty-and-trapped-circumstance) mode. Composition window: late Sòng (per the cuckoo / fallen-kingdom line) through 1325 (the New Year poem). CBDB has no firm dates. Wilkinson does not single out Zhāng.

Translations and research

• Méi Xīn-lín 梅新林, Zhè-jiāng wén-xué shǐ 浙江文學史 vol. 2 (2010) — passing references to the Hángzhōu-Shān-yīn Yuán-period poetic society network.
• Quán Yuán shī — collates Zhāng’s verse.

Links

• WYG SKQS V1195.5, p579.
• CBDB person 27951 (Zhāng Guānguāng)