Dōngān jí 東庵集
The Dōng-ān (Eastern-Hut) Collection by 滕安上 (撰)
About the work
The four-juàn poetic remnant of Téng Ānshàng 滕安上 (CBDB 29438, 1242–1295), zì Zhònglǐ 仲禮, native of Dìngzhōu 定州 (modern Héběi). Téng held a series of Yuán Confucian-educational and court offices: by recommendation appointed Zhōngshānfǔ jiàoshòu; Yǔchéng zhǔbù; Guózǐ bóshì; Tàichángchéng; Jiānchá yùshǐ — protested an earthquake by memorial which was not delivered, [he] thereupon withdrew on grounds of illness; soon recalled as Guózǐ sīyè — died in office. Yuánshǐ does not give him a biography; the foundational biographical document is the mùjié míng by Yáo Suì 姚燧 (KR4d0465) — preserved in Yáo’s Mùān jí — which praises Téng as mǐnxiū dǔxíng, xué jī qí gōng, dào xíng qí jiā, huà jí qí xiāng (quick-cultivated, sincere-acting; learning accumulated in his person, way practiced in his home, transformation extended to his township). Wú Chéng’s 吳澄 Wénzhèng jí also evaluates Téng as yǒu xué yǒu xíng ér yǒu wén zhě (possessing learning, possessing conduct, and also possessing literary skill). The Sìkù base is a Yǒnglè dàdiǎn reconstruction of 200+ poems in 4 juàn. The original Dōngān lèigǎo in 15 juàn (per Yáo Suì) had been cut by Zhào Bǐngzhèng 趙秉政 (Yuán Jiāngxī liánfǎngshǐ); together with a separate Yìjiě and Xǐxīn guǎnjiàn — both kept in the family. Jiāo Hóng’s Guóshǐ jīngjí zhì mistakenly records 16 juàn — likely because Jiāo did not see the original. Gù Sìlì’s Yuán shī xuǎn of nearly 500 poets omits Téng entirely — confirming long-standing loss.
Tiyao
The Dōngān jí, 4 juàn, by Téng Ānshàng of the Yuán. Ānshàng, zì Zhònglǐ, [was] a Dìngzhōu man. By recommendation [he was] appointed Zhōngshānfǔ jiàoshòu; [he] passed-through Yǔchéng zhǔbù; [he was] summoned as Guózǐ bóshì; transferred [to] Tàichángchéng; appointed [as] Jiānchá yùshǐ; because [of] an earthquake [he] submitted a memorial — [which] could not be delivered — [he] thereupon withdrew on illness and left; soon [he was] recalled as Guózǐ sīyè; died in office. The Yuánshǐ did not establish [a] biography [for him]; the matter [is] in detail seen in the mùjié míng composed by Yáo Suì — which also calls him “mǐnxiū dǔxíng, [his] learning accumulated in his person, the Way practiced in his home, [his] transformation extended to his township”; and Wú Chéng’s Wénzhèng jí also calls Ānshàng’s being-of-person, then having learning, having conduct, and having literary [skill] — [he] was probably also one of the shùxiū zìhào (self-cultivating, self-respecting) scholars. Suì also calls what [he] composed, Dōngān lèigǎo in 15 juàn, the Jiāngxī liánfǎngshǐ Zhào Bǐngzhèng [had] blocks-of-it-cut to circulate in the world; also has [the] Yìjiě and Xǐxīn guǎnjiàn stored at home. While Jiāo Hóng’s Guóshǐ jīngjí zhì then calls Ānshàng’s Dōngān gǎo [in] 16 juàn — with what Suì recorded as juàn-number not in conformity — should be from not having seen the original collection and erring [thus].
Recently Gù Sìlì composed the Yuán shī xuǎn, gathering and selecting up-to several hundred jiā — and Ānshàng’s collection [is] missing — its long-loss [is thereby evident]. Now from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn-mid gathering-and-editing-the-sequence, [we] obtained 200+ pieces of poetry, divided into 4 juàn. His poetic style takes pǔjìng (plain-and-vigorous) as principal — unavoidably slightly losing to cūguǎng (coarse-and-rough); yet brush-strength firm-and-lifted; the 7-character ancient poems especially have the jié (cadence) of kāihé páidàng (opening-and-closing, expanding-and-leaping) — viewed [against] the late-Yuán nóngyàn xiānmèi (rich-glamorous, slender-charming) style which entirely resembles shīyú (poetic-residue, i.e. cí) — [we] also will not exchange the latter for the former.
Examining Sū Tiānjué’s Wénlèi Wénlèi records the Jì Yàn sīyè xiānshēng wén one piece [by Téng Ānshàng]; and Yáo Suì also calls his prose [is] yī běn lǐyì (rooted-in moral-principle), cízhǐ chàngdá (words-and-meanings smooth-and-conveying), not making xiǎnjué (perverse), not [taking up things that have] not benefit-to-the-world’s-teaching does not speak [of them] — so the original collection should jointly contain poetry and prose. [It is a] pity that the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn only preserves his poetry; his prose already [has] nothing examinable.
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
The Yuán-period official-poet Téng Ānshàng (CBDB 29438, 1242–1295) is an early-mid-Yuán Confucian official-scholar whose biographical record survives principally through Yáo Suì’s 姚燧 mùjié míng. Téng held a sequence of Confucian-educational and court offices ending in Guózǐ sīyè. The Sìkù base is a Yǒnglè dàdiǎn recovery of approximately 200 poems in 4 juàn — only a fraction of the original 15-juàn Dōngān lèigǎo (per Yáo Suì) which had been Zhào Bǐng-zhèng-printed at the Jiāngxī liánfǎngshǐ office. The Sìkù editors evaluate Téng’s verse as pǔjìng (plain-and-vigorous), occasionally coarse, but with strong 7-syllable gǔshī of kāihé páidàng cadence. The contrast with late-Yuán florid-charming verse is positively noted. Téng’s separate philosophical works (Yìjiě and Xǐxīn guǎnjiàn) and his prose (per Sū Tiānjué’s Wénlèi and Yáo Suì’s mùjié míng) are both lost. Composition window: from Téng’s earliest extant compositions (after his recommendation to office, c. 1265) through his death in 1295.
Translations and research
- Yuán-shǐ lacks a biography of Téng Ān-shàng. Principal biographical material: Yáo Suì’s mù-jié míng (preserved in Mù-ān jí); Wú Chéng’s Wén-zhèng jí reference.
Other points of interest
The Sìkù editors’ notice that Jiāo Hóng’s Jīngjí zhì recorded 16 juàn (vs. Yáo Suì’s contemporary 15) is a model illustration of their philological caution regarding Míng-period booklists: they prefer Yáo Suì’s contemporary witness as authoritative over the late-Míng catalog.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1199.4, p493.
- CBDB person 29438 (Téng Ānshàng)