金淵集

Jīnyuān jí 金淵集

The Jīn-yuān (Investing-the-Gold-Spring) Collection by 仇遠 (撰)

About the work

The six-juàn literary and poetic collection of Qiú Yuǎn 仇遠 (CBDB 28342, 1247–1327; catalog meta gives “b. 1261” which is too late and inconsistent with the Sìkù editors’ note that Yuǎn was already poetically famous in the Xiánchún 咸淳 reign 1265–1274 — the CBDB date 1247 is followed here), zì Rénjìn 仁近 (also Rénfù 仁父), self-styled Shāncūnmín 山村民 (“Mountain-Village Commoner”), native of Qiántáng 錢塘 (Hángzhōu). Famous as a SòngYuán transition poet who, with Bái Tǐng 白珽 KR4d0449, was paired as “QiúBái” 仇白 — the two most-celebrated late-Sòng / early-Yuán Hángzhōu poets. The original Jīnyuān jí, compiled when Yuǎn was appointed to teach at Jīngkǒu 京口 (during his Yuán post as Lìyáng jiàoshòu 溧陽教授), had long since been lost; the Sìkù editors reconstituted it from the surviving scattered pieces in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn 永樂大典. The recovered collection is prefaced with the Yùzhì tí 御製題 (Imperial-Composed Inscription) by the Qiánlóng emperor, which praises Qiú’s verse as comparable to Sū Shì and Lù Yóu.

Tiyao

The Jīnyuān jí, 6 juàn, by Qiú Yuǎn of the Yuán. Yuǎn, zì Rénjìn, also Rénfù, [was] a Qiántáng man. Because [he] dwelt at Qiú Mountain on Yúháng Stream, [he] called himself Shāncūnmín 山村民. The world transmits [the painter] Gāo Kègōng’s Shāncūn tú juàn — that is [a portrait] made for [Qiú] Yuǎn. Yuǎn, during the Sòng Xiánchún era (1265–1274), was already famous for poetry; in the Zhìyuán era [of the Yuán] (1264–1294) he once served as Lìyáng jiàoshòu; soon [he was] dismissed and returned to roam Lake and Mountain to [the end of his] life. [Qiú] Yuǎn initially cut [for publication] what he had composed into one volume, prefaced by Fāng Fèng, Móu Yǎn, and Dài Biǎoyuán. While teaching at Jīngkǒu he gathered together what he had composed and called it the Jīnyuān jí — for which Wú Qiūyǎn composed a poem-inscription which reads: “Qiú Rénfù has resigned his post at Jiànkāng; he has a new composition called Jīnyuān jí.” Both [original] collections [are now] lost; therefore in the Míng Jiājìng era Gù Yīngxiáng’s bá on the Zèng Shìzhān shàngrén juàn already laments “not seeing the complete collection”. The world transmits the Xìngguān jí and Shāncūn yígǎo — both [are] gathered-and-cut from hand-written ink-traces, not [Qiú’s] complete books. Recently the Shèxiàn man Xiàng Mèngchǎng for the first time gathered-and-selected what is preserved in various books and supplementarily compiled the Shāncūn yíjí in 1 juàn, cut [for publication] at Hángzhōu; but the so-called Jīnyuān jí could not again be seen. Now only the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn preserves several hundred [pieces]; examining the Zèng Shìzhān shàngrén juàn, after [its] colophon there is an Hóngwǔ 21 (1388) bá by the monk Dàoyǎn whose admiration is exceedingly profound — clearly the deep tendency for [Qiú] Yuǎn [shows there]. Therefore [Dàoyǎn], as supervising-editor of [the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn], recorded [Qiú’s poems] particularly abundantly — likely the complete book was incorporated, [so that] of what is lost not much [remains]. Respectfully arranging-by-genre, [we] have edited [them] into 6 juàn.

[Qiú] Yuǎn, at the end of the Sòng, was already paired in fame with Bái Tǐng, called “QiúBái”. Subsequently Zhāng Zhù and Zhāng Yǔ, those who became poetically famous in the Yuán era, all came from his school. The others with whom he exchanged compositions — Zhōu Mì, Zhào Mèngfǔ, Wú Qiūyǎn, Xiānyú Shū, Fāng Huí, Huáng Jìn, Mǎ Zhēn — all were the famous gentlemen of [their] time. Therefore his poetic style [is] elegant and high, often matching the ancients without the late-Sòng cūguǎng (rough-and-coarse) habit. Fāng Fèng’s preface relates [Qiú] Yuǎn’s saying: “For jìntǐ I take Táng as master; for gǔtǐ I take the Wénxuǎn as master.” Qú Yòu also records [Qiú] Yuǎn self-colophonising his poetry: “Recent-era students of Táng poetry take ‘not-using-allusion’ as the first-rank-grade; Shàolíng [Dù Fǔ] [has] not one character without source — the multitude indeed [does] not recognize [it]. As for the ‘not-using-allusion’ saying — [it] is in fact a fault of writing-without-reading.” His words rather hit upon the defects of the Jiānghú and Sìlíng two factions. Now examining his compositions, [they] are not unworthy of his words. And this collection [emerging] from the dust-burial and bookworm-eating leftovers — all [are pieces] not contained in Xiàng Mèngchǎng’s recension. As if divine spirits had silently protected [it] to wait for the Sage Dynasty — afterward [for it to be] manifest [is] all the more precious.

Respectfully collated, fourth month of Qiánlóng 40 (1775). 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

Qiú Yuǎn (CBDB 28342, 1247–1327) is the principal Sòng-Yuán-transition Hángzhōu poet. Together with Bái Tǐng 白珽 KR4d0449 he formed the “QiúBái” pair — the two most-celebrated late-Sòng / early-Yuán poets of the southern capital. Trained in the late Sòng Xiánchún era poetic milieu (Hángzhōu was the Southern Sòng capital until 1276), Qiú took Yuán office as Lìyáng jiàoshòu (Lìyáng education-instructor) but soon returned to retirement on Lake and Mountain. His poetic doctrine — “jìntǐ takes Táng, gǔtǐ takes the Wénxuǎn” — represents a deliberate rejection of the late-Sòng Jiānghú and Sìlíng poetic schools’ “no-allusion” doctrine, arguing that even Dù Fǔ’s poetry has its sources. His students Zhāng Zhù 張翥 KR4d0530 and Zhāng Yǔ 張羽 carried this Táng-orthodoxy into the Yuán mainstream. The collection is a Yǒnglè dàdiǎn reconstruction (Sìkù 1775) from the otherwise-lost original; the title Jīnyuān jí derives from the tóujīn lài (Throw-Gold-Rapids) at Lìyáng. The companion collections — Shāncūn yígǎo and Xìngguān jí — survive only as later collations from manuscript fragments; the Sìkù editors note that the present Jīnyuān jí is “chū zì chénmái dùshí zhī yú” (emerging from dust-burial and worm-eating leftovers) and represents a major recovery.

The catalog meta gives “b. 1261” but this is inconsistent with the explicit Sìkù statement that Qiú was already poetically famous in the Xiánchún 咸淳 reign (1265–1274), when on the catalog dating he would have been an infant; CBDB 28342 gives 1247–1327, which is the standard date and is followed here.

Translations and research

• Stephen H. West, “Qiu Yuan”, in Encyclopedia of Chinese Literature.
• Various studies of late-Sòng / early-Yuán poetry treat Qiú Yuǎn substantially; see Yán Jūn 顏軍, Qiú Yuǎn nián-pǔ 仇遠年譜 (Háng-zhōu, 2008).

Other points of interest

The transmission of Qiú Yuǎn’s poetic corpus is one of the better cases of Sìkù-era Yǒnglè dàdiǎn-based reconstruction. The Hóngwǔ 21 (1388) bá by the monk Dàoyǎn (Yáo Guǎngxiào 姚廣孝) on the Zèng Shìzhān shàngrén juàn — preserved in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn — was decisive in alerting the Sìkù editors to the existence of the Jīnyuān jí fragments. Dàoyǎn’s later role as principal Yǒng-lè-emperor advisor and supervisor of the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn compilation accounts for the unusual completeness of preservation of Qiú’s poetry in that massive collectanea.

Links

• WYG SKQS V1198.1, p1.
• CBDB person 28342 (Qiú Yuǎn)
• Wikipedia, 仇遠