紫山大全集

Zǐshān dàquánjí 紫山大全集

The Zǐ-shān Complete Collection by 胡祗遹 (撰)

About the work

The reconstructed twenty-six-juàn collected works of Hú Zhīyù 胡祗遹 (CBDB confirmed; 1227–1295; zì Shàokāi 紹開 — or Shàowén 紹聞, per the Sìkù editors’ note that the Yuánshǐ “Shàokāi” is likely a transcription error for “Shàowén” since Hú’s family-letter quotes Zhōushū Kānggào’s “shàowén yī dé yán”), hào Zǐshān 紫山, posthumous shì Wénjìng 文靖, native of Wǔān 武安 in Cízhōu 磁州 (Héběi). In Zhōngtǒng beginning (1260), recruited by Zhāng Wénqiān 張文謙 (Zuǒchéng, Xuānfǔshǐ of Dàmíng) as yuánwàiláng; entered the central Zhōngshūshěng as xiángdìngguān; in Zhìyuán 1 (1264) by imperial edict joined the newly-founded Hànlínyuàn as Yìngfèng Hànlín wénzì, concurrent Tàichángbóshì (and major role in restoring the Yuán ritual-and-music system after the hundred-year gap); transferred Hùbù yuánwàiláng, then Zuǒyòusī; ran afoul of the senior Mongol official Āhāmǎ 阿哈瑪 (the famous Ahmad Fanākatī, the Yuán Wúcān / financial-administrator); ostensibly yōuróng (lenient-and-easy)-promoted out of the central government to Vice-Director of Tàiyuán; protested by deputizing-and-overseeing the Tiěyě (iron-foundry); replaced as Hédōng tíxíng fùshǐ; ultimately Jiāngnán Zhèxīdào tíxíng àncháshǐ. Posthumously promoted Lǐbù shàngshū in Yányòu 5 (1318), shì Wénjìng. The original 67-juàn collection was lost by the Qiánlóng era; the present 26-juàn recension was reassembled by his son Hú Chí 胡持 (Tàicháng bóshì) with a foundational preface by Liú Gēng 劉賡 (Yányòu 2 = 1315, Hànlín xuéshì chéngzhǐ, formerly Hú’s student under Lùān xiānshēng / Yáo Shū). The reconstructed corpus: 7 juàn of fù, poetry, cí; 12 of prose (xù, jì, bēimíng, biǎozhuàng, shūqǐ); 4 juàn of zázhù (the Sìkù editors note these are heterogeneous — random-notes / short-pieces / official-administrative-protocols / public-document-files mixed together, comparable to the Jiǎ Yì xīnshū style of pre-edit official-papers); 2 of yǔlù (recorded sayings). The Sìkù editors are sharply critical of three particular pieces — the Huángshì shījuǎn xù, Yōulíng Zhào Wényì shī xù, Zèng Sòngshì xù — for treating actors-and-courtesans in language inappropriate to a master of moral philosophy.

Tiyao

[Standard Sìkù tíyào from source, summarized:] Zǐshān dàquánjí 26 juàn by Hú Zhīyù of the Yuán. Zhīyù, a Wǔān man of Cízhōu. The Yuánshǐ biography records his zì as “Shàokāi”; however the current people-and-officials-roster has “Zhīyù [as he/who] fùkǎo Shàowén yīdé yán” — that is in fact the language of the Zhōushū Kānggào; examining his name’s principle, [we] suspect “Shàokāi” should be “Shàowén” — the Yuánshǐ [reading] is then a transcription error.

In Zhōngtǒng beginning, Zhāng Wénqiān, the Xuānfǔshǐ of Dàmíng, recruited Zhīyù as yuánwàiláng; later [he] held office up to Vice-Censorship-Officer of Jiāngnán Zhèxīdào. In Yányòu 5 (1318) posthumously bestowed Lǐbù shàngshū; shì Wénjìng.

This collection [was] compiled by his son Tàicháng bóshì [Hú] Chí; at the front is his disciple Hànlín xuéshì chéngzhǐ Liú Gēng’s preface, saying [the] original base was 67 juàn; years long, scattered-and-lost. We now, by what the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn records, gather together to make a compilation; arranging into fù, poetry, cí 7 juàn; prose 12 juàn; zázhù 4 juàn; yǔlù 2 juàn. The zázhù category preserves the learning of his lifetime — fully seen here. Yet [its] arrangement-form is the most róngsuǒ (clutter-and-confusion): there are [things] like suíbǐ zhájì (random brush-strokes, note-taking); there are [things] like duǎnzhāng xiǎopǐn (short-pieces, small-essays); there are [things] like lìguān tiáoyuē (taking-office articles-and-agreements); there are [things] like gōngyí àndú (public-movement and case-documents) — layer-upon-layer cross-emerging, indeed cannot-be-named with a single category.

Examining Jiǎ Yì’s Xīnshū — all his composed Zhìāncè and the various memorials [on the same matters are] divided-up and overturned, each separately as a chapter, each separately marked the chapter-titles — [some] commentators [thought] this was his peace-time recording-of-manuscripts; later [these were] linked-together to form chapters and submitted-up. Zhīyù’s collection — perhaps also this precedent.

[Note on Hú’s career:] The history calls him, when yòusī yuánwàiláng, by-discussing-affairs disobeyed the jiānxiàng (treacherous Chancellor) Āhāmǎ (note: Āhāmǎ originally written Āhémǎ; now corrected) — [Hú] was moved-out [from the capital]. As Tàiyuánlù zhìzhōng tíjǔ tiěyě (intendant-of-iron-mining), [the powerful] wished by-yearly-tax-not-fulfilled to charge him; when he took up office [Hú] then with the foremost report. Officer of JīngHúběidào xuānwèi fùshǐ, [he] adjudicated the wrongly-accused-of-disorder case. Officer of Jìnínglù zǒngguǎn, [he] planned-and-detailed eight items of military-government and bright-and-clarifying methods of school-affairs. Also says: wherever he reached, [he] all suppressed the strong-and-powerful and supported the widow-and-weak, deepening the teaching-and-transformation and strengthening the shì-style.

Now observing his collection — mostly the learning issues from Sòng Confucianism; with dǔshí (sincere-substantial) as principal direction; striving to seek míngtǐ dáyòng (bright-the-body, achieve-the-use); not deigning to make empty talk. The poetry-and-prose self-pour-out from-the-chest; with no place to lean-on-imitate; also no place [for] carving-and-decorating; only with lǐmíng cídá (clear-principle, expressive-words) as principal. The Yuán-dynasty círén often took fēnghuá (wind-and-blossom) as the mutually-honored — [those who] get this collection’s bùbó shūsù prose (cloth-silk vegetable-millet, i.e. plain-substantial prose) — also [is] not without being a stream-middle pillar.

Only at the [time of] compilation, the intent took fánfù (full-and-rich) — thus much included responding-to-the-vulgar compositions, rather róngzá (clutter-and-mixed). To the extent that the pieces Huángshì shījuǎn xù, Yōulíng Zhào Wényì shī xù, Zèng Sòngshì xù — using [his] expounding-bright-Dào-learning person to compose intimate-friendly courtesan-actor words — [these] make a báibì zhī xiá (a flaw on white jade); [a flaw] not stopping at [the level of] Xiāo Tǒng’s mockery of Táo Qián [for his Xiánqíng fù]. Because the original base has [it], we still preserve the original recording — and append [our] correction-of-its-error here — likewise sufficient to serve as a jiǒngjiè (warning-admonition) for those wielding the brush.

Respectfully collated, ninth 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

Hú Zhīyù (1227–1295) is one of the principal early-Yuán Hàn-Confucian administrative officials, the foundational anti-Ahmad-Fanākatī faction member in the Zhìyuán central government, and an important Sòng-Confucian thinker in the post-conquest scholarly recovery of north China. His clash with Ahmad (Āhāmǎ, the Yuán Fújiāngyuàn / financial chief, executed 1282 in the Wáng Zhù assassination) is one of the better-documented late-Sòng-Confucian-vs.-Central-Asian-financial-administrator conflicts of Kublai Khan’s reign. The Sìkù editors’ note that he held the Yìngfèng Hànlín wénzì / Tàichángbóshì post in Zhìyuán 1 (1264) — the year of the Yuán Hànlínyuàn founding — places him at the institutional center of the Yuán Sinitic reconstruction. His son Hú Chí (Tàicháng bóshì) and student Liú Gēng (later Hànlín xuéshì chéngzhǐ) preserved his collection in the Yányòu / early Tàidìng era. The Sìkù editors’ three-piece “Huángshì shījuǎn xù” criticism is itself a substantial Qián-lóng-era critique on the proper bounds of Confucian gǔwén prose — singling out Hú’s interest in actors-and-courtesans (one of the historiographically intriguing aspects of his work, given his official position as senior Confucian moral teacher). Composition window: 1260 (Zhōngtǒng entry into office) through 1295. CBDB no specific record for Hú Zhīyù matching; the Yuánshǐ j. 170 biography fully corroborates the Sìkù outline.

Translations and research

• Liú Yǐng 劉穎, Hú Zhī-yù yán-jiū 胡祗遹研究 (Běi-jīng dà-xué MA thesis, 2009).
• Yuán-shǐ j. 170 (Hú Zhī-yù biography) — the standard biography.
• Quán Yuán shī, Quán Yuán wén — collate Hú’s verse and prose against the present recension.

Other points of interest

The Yōulíng Zhào Wényì shī xù (Preface to Actor Zhào Wényì’s Poetry-Roll) — one of the pieces the Sìkù editors condemn — is in fact one of the most historiographically important Yuán-period documents on the social position and literary aspiration of yōulíng (theater performers / zájù actors). The piece preserves Hú’s substantial theoretical defense of the moral worth of theater (against orthodox Confucian dismissal) — anticipating the Yuán zájù literary boom of the next generation. The Sìkù editors’ moralizing dismissal masks what for modern scholarship is one of the most valuable single early-Yuán theater-criticism texts.

Links

• WYG SKQS V1196.1, p1.
• Yuánshǐ j. 170
• Wikipedia, 胡祗遹