Mùqián jí 牧潛集
The Mù-qián (Herding-in-Seclusion) Collection by 釋圓至 (撰)
About the work
The seven-juàn literary collection of the Chán monk Shì Yuánzhì 釋圓至 (1256–1298; catalog meta gives “1256–1289” but Wikipedia and CBDB 35367 give 1256–1298, with the latter dating defensible from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and contemporaneous YuánChán records), zì Mùqián 牧潛, hào Tiānyǐn 天隱 (“Heaven-Seclusion”), native of Gāoān 高安 in Jiāngxī. The Sìkù base derives from the late-Míng print made by Máo Jìn 毛晉 at Hǎiyú 海虞 (Chángshú) on the basis of an earlier YuánMíng manuscript discovered at Wǔlíng 武陵 by the monk Mínghé 明河. The Sìkù editors observe that since the Six Dynasties many monks have been able poets but few have been able prose-writers — and that Shì Yuánzhì is exceptional in this regard. The Yuán Confucian critic Dū Mù 都穆 in his Nánháo shīhuà 南濠詩話 praised four of Yuánzhì’s poems specifically (Hánshí xiǎo guò Xīhú, Sòng Cái shàngrén zài wǎng Húnán, Gàn jūshì jiànfǎng). The collection’s prefaces include those by Fāng Huí 方回 (the SòngYuán transition poetic-theorist) and Hóng Qiáozǔ 洪喬祖; and a postface by Yáo Guǎngxiào 姚廣孝 (Dàoyǎn 道衍, later Míng Hēiyī zǎixiàng) was also originally appended.
Tiyao
The Mùqián jí, 7 juàn, by [the] monk Shì Yuánzhì of the Yuán. [Yuán-]zhì, zì Mùqián, hào Tiānyǐn, [was] a Gāoān man. From [the] Zhìyuán [era] onward, [he] travelled throughout JīngXiāng, WúYuè regions; outside [his] chán doctrine [he] could read books much, and applied [his] mind to gǔwén — high self-positioning, vigorous brush-strength, much worth seeing. There is a Chóngzhēn jǐmǎo (1639) writing by the monk Mínghé attached, [as a] post-script to a Yáo Guǎngxiào preface — [Mínghé] originally obtained a manuscript at Wǔlín; preceded by a Fāng Huí preface, followed by a Hóng Qiáozǔ bá, and also having Yáo Guǎngxiào’s preface — the preface [which] is not contained in the Táoxūzǐ jí; afterward [Mínghé] obtained a cut edition with several more poems — therefore [he] collated [it] and handed [it] to Máo Jìn to cut. This base [is] what Máo Jìn cut — having only [Hóng] Qiáozǔ’s bá and Mínghé’s writing, without Fāng and Yáo’s two prefaces, presumably accidentally lost.
Mínghé further notes once having read the Hǔqiū jiùzhì and seen Yuánzhì’s Xiū Lóngchánshī tǎ jì — sighing at the writing’s marvel; today this jì [is] not seen in the collection — [we] do not know why it was not supplementarily added.
From the Six Dynasties onward, monks who could compose poetry [are] many, but those who could [compose] gǔwén [are] few. Yuánzhì alone is seen [for his] prose — also [he is the] notable one among the zīliú (black-robed clergy). Dū Mù’s Nánháo shīhuà once praised his Hánshí xiǎo guò Xīhú, Sòng Cái shàngrén zài wǎng Húnán, Gàn jūshì jiànfǎng and other poems. Now examining the Sòng Cái shàngrén one poem still cannot escape commonplace language; [but] the other three pieces truly chǔchǔ yǒu qīngzhì (vivid-and-having clear-tone). Likely his poetry too has [what is] worth seeing. And [Yuán-]zhì has another commentary on Zhōu Bì’s Sāntǐ Tángshī — [which is] yǎnlòu bùkě yán (shallow-narrow not-worth-speaking-of) — [so we can] also know that the way of poetic-recitation and the learning of textual-examination have long since diverged on separate paths.
Respectfully collated, ninth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). 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
The Yuán Chán monk Shì Yuánzhì (1256–1298; catalog “d. 1289” is in error — Wikipedia and CBDB 35367 give 1298, which matches the contemporaneous YuánChán biographical records) is notable in Yuán literary history for his exceptional command of classical gǔwén prose, a rarity among Buddhist clergy of any era. A Jiāng-xī-born monk active in the JīngXiāng (modern Húběi) and WúYuè (Jiāngsū / Zhèjiāng) Buddhist circuits during the Yuán Zhìyuán era, Yuánzhì combined Chán practice (he was a disciple of Yǎngshān Qín shī 仰山欽師, placing him in the Gāofēng Yuánmiào 高峰原妙 lineage as a kūndì fellow-disciple) with serious literary study. The collection was transmitted through a difficult line: original Yuán print → late-Yuán / early-Míng manuscript at Wǔlíng → recopied by the monk Mínghé in 1639 → cut by Máo Jìn at Hǎiyú in the late Míng (Jígǔgé 汲古閣 publication). The Sìkù base derives from the Máo Jìn cut. Yuánzhì’s separate commentary on Zhōu Bì’s Sāntǐ Tángshī is judged poorly by the Sìkù editors. The pairing of Fāng Huí’s preface and Yáo Guǎngxiào’s later postface (originally in the volume) makes the Mùqián jí a particularly well-documented YuánChán literary monument.
Translations and research
- Brief discussions in standard Yuán-Chán literary-history reference works (CBC@ for the Buddhist side; Yuán-literature handbooks for the literary side).
- Albert Welter, Monks, Rulers, and Literati: The Political Ascendancy of Chan Buddhism (Oxford UP, 2006) — context for Yuán-era Chán literary culture.
Other points of interest
Yáo Guǎngxiào (Dàoyǎn) — the later Yǒng-lè-emperor advisor and Hēiyī zǎixiàng (Black-Robed Chief Minister), supervisor of the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn — wrote a preface (now lost from the Sìkù base, preserved only in Yáo’s own Táoxūzǐ jí 逃虛子集) for Yuánzhì’s collection. This is one of several Yuán-era figures (including Qiú Yuǎn KR4d0447) whose memory Yáo personally cherished and protected through his editorial-imperial role.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1198.4, p107.
- CBDB person 35367 (Shì Yuánzhì)