Cúnhuǐzhāi gǎo 存悔齋稿
The Cún-huǐ-zhāi (Preserving-Regrets-Studio) Drafts by 龔璛 (撰)
About the work
A small one-juàn (plus 1-juàn bǔyí supplement) collection of Gōng Sù 龔璛 (CBDB 35224, 1266–1331), zì Zǐjìng 子敬, native of Gāoyóu 高郵 who relocated to Píngjiāng 平江 (Sūzhōu). Son of Gōng Jì 龔潗, a late-Sòng Sīnóngqīng 司農卿 (Court-Provisions chief) who refused food after the dynasty’s fall and starved to death — a senior Sòng-loyalist martyr. Gōng Sù was young when the Sòng fell; recruited by Xú Yǎn 徐琰 (Yuán xiànshǐ) as a mùxià (staff officer); held a series of educational posts: shānzhǎng of the Héjìng and Xuédào shūyuàn, Níngguólù rúxué jiàoshòu, Shàngráo zhǔbù, Yíchūnchéng; retired as Zhèjiāng rúxué fùtíjǔ. The Sìkù base is the surviving 1-juàn Cúnhuǐzhāi shīgǎo supplemented by a Míng-period 1-juàn bǔyí compiled by Zhū Cúnlǐ 朱存理 — Zhū being the compiler of the painting-and-calligraphy connoisseurship Tiěwǎng shānhú 鐵網珊瑚, and therefore having access to Gōng Sù’s tíbá (colophons) on transmitted ink-traces. The Jiājìng Wéiyáng zhì (Sheng Yí ed.) records Gōng’s literary fame and his study of calligraphy with the Jìnrén fēngdù (Jìn-people’s air).
Tiyao
The Cúnhuǐzhāi gǎo, 1 juàn, bǔyí 1 juàn, by Gōng Sù of the Yuán. Sù, zì Zǐjìng — from Gāoyóu relocated to dwell at Píngjiāng. [His] father [Gōng] Jì, at the end of the Sòng held the office of Sīnóngqīng; when the state perished, [he] did not eat and died. [Gōng] Sù, young, by the xiànshǐ Xú Yǎn was recruited and placed in [his] tent; recommended [as] Héjìng and Xuédào two shūyuàn shānzhǎng; those-in-power one-by-one recommended he [was] suitable to dwell [in the] Hànlín archive[-offices]; transferred to Níngguólù rúxué jiàoshòu; moved to Shàngráo zhǔbù; changed [to] Yíchūnchéng; retired as Zhèjiāng rúxué fùtíjǔ. What he composed includes Cúnhuǐzhāi shīgǎo 1 juàn. The Míng man Zhū Cúnlǐ further gathered his lost-pieces as 1 juàn of bǔyí — appended [to it]. Likely [Zhū] Cúnlǐ composed [the Tiěwǎng shānhú which] circulated in the world; what he saw [of] former-persons’ calligraphy-and-painting and colophons-and-prefaces being much, therefore what he recorded [he] often obtained from manuscript ink-traces. Shèng Yí, Jiājìng Wéiyáng zhì, calls [Gōng] Sù “good at composing prose, [his] mind set on studying calligraphy — having the bearing of a Jìn-person” — [he too was] also a famous gentleman of his time. The pieces still preserved [are] not many — must already-not [be] without scattering-and-loss. Yet his poetic style [is] kàngshuǎng (vigorous-and-clear), considerably able to zì chū qīngxīn (issue-forth-newness-from-himself); [it] within Yuán-people’s various collections, [it] is still one of the singularly-opened-fresh-aspects.
Respectfully collated, tenth month of Qiánlóng 42 (1777). 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
A small but notable surviving collection of the Yuán poet, calligrapher, and minor official Gōng Sù (1266–1331). The Sìkù editors evaluate his poetry as kàngshuǎng (vigorous-and-clear) and praise it as “dú kāi shēngmiàn” (uniquely opening fresh aspects) within the corpus of Yuán-period literary collections — a strong commendation. Gōng’s biographical interest derives from: (1) his status as son of the Sòng-loyalist martyr Gōng Jì (the senior Sīnóngqīng who starved to death after 1276); (2) his own subsequent accommodation to Yuán office through a long, modest educational career; (3) his connection to the Wú-region calligraphic-painting connoisseurship circle, attested by the survival of his colophons in Zhū Cúnlǐ’s Tiěwǎng shānhú. The 1-juàn main collection (shīgǎo) was almost certainly already partial in YuánMíng times; the bǔyí (MíngQīng addition by Zhū Cúnlǐ) recovers Gōng’s surviving calligraphic colophons. Composition window: post-1276 through 1331.
Translations and research
- Yuán-shǐ lacks a biography of Gōng Sù. Principal biographical material is in Yuán prefaces preserved with the collection.
- See standard Yuán-literature and calligraphic-history reference works.
Other points of interest
The pairing of KR4d0457 (Gōng Sù’s poetic-and-prose remnants in the Sìkù) with the Zhū Cúnlǐ Tiěwǎng shānhú tradition is one example of how SòngYuán transition figures’ literary corpora were preserved through dual channels: imperial library on one side, private connoisseurship-network on the other.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1199.2, p323.
- CBDB person 35224 (Gōng Sù)