松雪齋集

Sōngxuězhāi jí 松雪齋集

The Sōng-xuě (Pine-Snow Studio) Collection by 趙孟頫 (撰)

About the work

The collected works in ten juàn of Zhào Mèngfǔ 趙孟頫 (CBDB 17690, 1254–1322), zì Zǐáng 子昂, hào Sōngxuě dàorén 松雪道人 (“Pine-Snow Daoist”), posthumous shì Wénmǐn 文敏, posthumously enfeoffed Wèiguógōng 魏國公 (“Duke of Wèi”) — the singular Yuán-period Sinitic-cultural arbiter: tenth-generation descendant of Sòng Tàizǔ through Tàizǔ’s fourth son; resident of Wúxīng 吳興 (Húzhōu, Zhèjiāng); the dominant Yuán-period calligrapher (restoring the Wáng Xīzhī orthodoxy), the dominant Yuán-period painter (literati-painting tradition), the dominant Yuán-period bureaucratic-Confucian elder. Originally a Sòng zōngshì (imperial descendant) who never held office under the Southern Sòng; in 1286 (Zhìyuán 23) recruited by Kublai Khan via the Censorate-recommendation policy — “world-emperor first selection among the Sòng remnant talent”; entered Yuán court service and rose through the Bīngbù lángzhōng, Cháoliè dàifū, Tàishǐyuàn shǐ, Jíxián xuéshì, ultimately Hànlín xuéshì chéngzhǐ (the highest Hànlín literary office); concurrent Rónglù dàifū and Zhīzhìgào jiān xiū guóshǐ. Posthumously promoted Rónglù dàifū Jiāngzhè děngchù xíng zhōngshūshěng píngzhāng zhèngshì, posthumously enfeoffed Wèiguógōng, shì Wénmǐn (Zhìshùn 3 = 1332 imperial edict, preserved in the SBCK frontmatter). The principal contemporary biographical document — the Sòng Lián-supplied posthumous-canonization-discussion text dated Zhìshùn 3 (1332) — is preserved at the front of the SBCK base. The collection’s editorial history: assembled and edited by Zhào’s son Zhào Yōng 趙雍 (Zhòngmù 仲穆); first published in Zhìyuán jǐmǎo (1339) by the Huāxī Shěnshì Bóyù 沈氏伯玉 at family-school; preserved in the SBCK base. Foundational prefaces by Hé Zhēnlì 何貞立 (Chángshā, 1339) and Dài Biǎoyuán KR4d0431 (Dàdé wùxū = 1298) — Dài’s preface is the principal contemporary literary evaluation, ranking Zhào’s gǔfù alongside the ChǔHàn masters, his gǔshī alongside Bào Zhào and Xiè Língyùn, his other compositions still surpassing Gāo Shì and Lǐ Áo. The collection contains: gǔfù (5), gǔshī (juàn 2–3), lǜshī 5- and 7-syllable (juàn 4–5), juéjù 5/6/7-syllable, zázhù (essays), xù, jì, bēimíng, zhìmíng, zhì, zàn, míng, tíbá, yuèfǔ (cí — including the famous Wúxīng fù in juàn 1 — the great Wú-xīng-topography fù equal to Sòng Yù’s Gāotáng fù; and works for Zhào’s Quán-zhēn-Daoist religious associates including Wú Quánjié 吳全節, Zhāng Bóyǔ 張伯雨, Zhāng Yǔcái 張與材, the Long-chūn-gōng Sūnzhēnrén). Composition window: from Zhào’s first official compositions (c. 1286 Yuán induction) through 1322.

Tiyao

No standard Sìkù tíyào in the Kanripo source (the SBCK base preserves the Shì wén — posthumous-canonization-discussion text; the Fēngzèng — Zhìshùn 3 [1332] imperial edict of posthumous-promotion; Hé Zhēnlì’s preface of Zhìyuán jǐmǎo [1339]; Dài Biǎoyuán’s preface of Dàdé wùxū [1298]; plus the Huāxī Shěnshì Bóyù jiāshú colophon. No Qiánlóng Sìkù tíyào is preserved in this source). The standard Sìkù tíyào outside the source places the Sōngxuězhāi jí at the head of “Yuán biéjí lèi 5”; characterizes Zhào as “Yuán-dynasty yīrén” (singular-individual) of literary, calligraphic, painting, and ritual-Confucian arts; emphasizes the biàn jiāosì pèiwèi, dìng Guāngtiānmén biǎnmíng (debate on the Jiāo / suburban sacrifice configurations and the fixing of the Guāngtiānmén tablet-name) as the most consequential of Zhào’s institutional contributions to the Yuán state ritual.

Abstract

Zhào Mèngfǔ (CBDB 17690, 1254–1322) is the singular Yuán-period Sinitic-cultural arbiter. Tenth-generation descendant of Sòng Tàizǔ (the founding Sòng emperor) through his fourth son; originally a Sòng zōngshì (imperial-clan member) who, despite the family’s Sòng-imperial blood, never held office under the Southern Sòng. In 1286 (Zhìyuán 23) recruited by Kublai Khan via the Censorate-recommendation policy specifically targeting late-Sòng remnant talent — recorded as “shǒu yīng shì xuǎn” (first to answer the selection). Rose through the Yuán official-academic system to the highest available offices for Hàn-Confucian elites — Hànlín xuéshì chéngzhǐ jiān Rónglù dàifū, the senior literary-and-historical office of the Yuán state. The collection preserves: (1) the great Wú-xīng-topographical fù (the Wúxīng fù of juàn 1, the Yuán-period Gāotáng fù equivalent); (2) extensive correspondence and presentation poetry with Yuán-court literary figures (Yáo Suì 姚燧, Hú Zhīyù 胡祗遹, Wáng Yún 王惲, Yuán Hǎo-wèn-style elder Yán Fù 閻復, the senior Mongol-Confucian Bùhūmù 不忽木 Kānglǐ Bùhūmù, Yēlǜ Yǒngjiē 也先帖木兒, the Cízhōu Zhào Bǐngwén tradition); (3) substantial Daoist religious-friendship pieces (with the Quánzhēn lineage: Wú Quánjié, Sūnzhēnrén of Chángchūngōng, Dù Dàojiān 杜道堅, Zhāng Bóyǔ, Zhāng Yǔcái — these document Zhào’s role as the principal Sòng-Yuán-transition mediator with Daoism); (4) the great bēimíng / mùzhìmíng corpus including the Quándìnggōng shéndào bēimíng (the canonical Yuán-imperial-foundational stele on the founding general Mongolian Quándìnggōng), the Wèiguógōng Kānglǐ Bùhūmù shéndào bēi (for the senior Mongol-Confucian advisor Bùhūmù), the Wǔwēijūn Jiǎfǔ wàngzēng bēi, the Tàiyīn gōng / Lóngxìngsì foundational steles; (5) the Yuán-period imperial zhìzhào drafts; (6) the Sōngxuězhāi shī, cí and yuèfǔ including the great Xuánzhōu shíyǒng and the Tiānguānshān tíyǒng cycles. Composition window: 1286 through 1322 — the entire post-1286 Yuán court service. CBDB 17690 firmly establishes 1254–1322; Yuánshǐ j. 172 gives the standard biography. Wilkinson treats Zhào extensively (§38, §35, §28.1, §42).

Translations and research

• Shane McCausland, Zhao Mengfu: Calligraphy and Painting for Khubilai’s China (Hong Kong: Hong Kong UP, 2011). The major recent English-language monograph.
• Susan Bush, The Chinese Literati on Painting (1971), passim.
• Chu-tsing Li, The Autumn Colors on the Ch’iao and Hua Mountains: A Landscape by Chao Meng-fu (Ascona: Artibus Asiae, 1965). Foundational English-language painting-history study.
• Wàng Liánqi 萬鏈奇 et al. (eds.), Zhào Mèng-fǔ yán-jiū lùn-wén jí 趙孟頫研究論文集 (Shàng-hǎi: Shàng-hǎi shū-huà chū-bǎn-shè, 1995). Major edited volume on Zhào.
• Rén Dào-bīn 任道斌, Zhào Mèng-fǔ xì-nián 趙孟頫繫年 (Zhèng-zhōu: Hé-nán rén-mín chū-bǎn-shè, 1984). Chronological biography.
• Yuán-shǐ j. 172 (Zhào Mèng-fǔ biography) — the standard biography.

Other points of interest

The Dài Biǎoyuán 1298 preface preserved in the SBCK base — Dài’s elegant xīlè (lake-pleasure) analogy comparing scholarly literary judgment to local connoisseurship — is one of the finest single Yuán-period literary-critical paratexts. The Hé Zhēnlì 1339 postscript locates Zhào’s posthumous reception (within 17 years of his death) in the early Yuántǒng / Zhìyuán era, when Zhào’s calligraphic style was already canonized but his literary substance was about to be eclipsed. The Chángshā Hé family’s preservation of the Huāxī Shěnshì 1339 first edition through to the SBCK reproduction is one of the better-documented YuánMíngQīng biéjí transmission lineages.

Links

• SBCK base; WYG SKQS V1196.3, p597.
• CBDB person 17690 (Zhào Mèngfǔ)
• Yuánshǐ j. 172
• Wikipedia, 趙孟頫