陳剛中詩集

Chén Gāngzhōng shījí 陳剛中詩集

The Poetry-Collection of Chén “Gāng-zhōng” [Fú] by 陳孚 (撰)

About the work

The three-juàn (plus 1-juàn fùlù) poetic collection of Chén Fú 陳孚 (CBDB 29308, 1259–1309), zì Gāngzhōng 剛中, native of Tiāntāi Línhǎi 天台臨海 (modern Zhèjiāng). Held office as Fèngzhí dàfū and concurrently Táizhōulù zǒngguǎnfǔ zhìzhōng. Yuánshǐ j. 190 gives a substantial biography.

The collection’s structure is organized by Chén’s career stages:

• juàn 1: Guānguāng gǎo 觀光稿 — composed in Zhìyuán era when Chén, as a commoner, presented his Dà yītǒng fù (Great Unification Rhapsody) to the Jiāngzhè Xíngshěng, which forwarded it to the court; Chén was appointed Shàngcài shūyuàn shānzhǎng; after his term he travelled to the capital for re-evaluation — the Guānguāng gǎo records this journey
• juàn 2: Jiāozhōu gǎo 交州稿 — in Zhìyuán 29 (1292), Khubilai commissioned Liáng Zēng 梁曾 (Lìbù shàngshū) on a second mission to An-nán; Chén accompanied as Hànlín guóshǐyuàn biānxiū guān, acting Lǐbù lángzhōng and Liáng Zēng’s deputy; the Jiāozhōu gǎo records the embassy
• juàn 3: Yùtáng gǎo 玉堂稿 — Chén’s subsequent Hànlín period (after return from An-nán, promoted Hànlín dàizhì concurrent Guóshǐyuàn biānxiū)
• Appendix 1 juàn: the imperial Yù An-nán zhào and An-nán xièzuì biǎo, plus Chén’s three letters to An-nán reproving Chén Shìshàn 陳世燇’s discourtesy (Shìshàn did not greet the envoys in the suburbs and did not receive them through the central Yángmíng gate; Chén Fú wrote three letters reprehending him — cí zhí qì zhuàng (firm-word vigorous-tone) — which the Yuánshǐ did not preserve and which therefore supplement the historical record)

The Sìkù editors note: the Guānguāng and Jiāozhōu sub-collections imitate Fàn Chéngdà’s 范成大 embassy-poetry to the Jīn; the Yùtáng gǎo preserves the Shàngdū jìxíng (Shàngdū Travel Records).

Tiyao

The Chén Gāngzhōng shījí, 3 juàn, fùlù 1 juàn, by Chén Fú of the Yuán. Fú, zì Gāngzhōng, [was a] Tiāntāi Línhǎi man. [He] passed [through] office to Fèngzhí dàfū, Táizhōulù zǒngguǎnfǔ zhìzhōng. His deeds [are] in the Yuánshǐ běnzhuàn.

This collection’s juàn 1 is titled Guānguāng gǎo — composed [during] the Zhìyuán [era when Chén] Fú as a commoner submitted the Dà yītǒng fù; the Jiāngzhè xíngshěng reported [it] to the court; [he was] appointed Shàngcài shūyuàn shānzhǎng; [his] term being-full, [he] reported-to-the-Court at the capital — what [he] composed at the time. Juàn 2 is titled Jiāozhōu gǎo — in Zhìyuán 29 (1292), Shìzǔ (Khubilai) commissioned Liáng Zēng with [the title of] Lìbù shàngshū a second time to embassy An-nán; [Chén] Fú with [the title of] Hànlín guóshǐyuàn biānxiū guān concurrently-acting Lǐbù lángzhōng [was] deputy envoy — [these are] the going-and-returning on-the-way compositions. Juàn 3 is titled Yùtáng gǎo — all are Fú’s office-Hàn-lín day compositions.

Examination [shows that] Fú, [from his] An-nán-embassy return, [was] promoted [to] Hànlín dàizhì, still concurrent Guóshǐyuàn biānxiū; and the gǎo has the Hànyuàn jiàn wéi yìngfèng wénzì èrshí yùn xiè dà sītú bìng chéng zhū xuéshì one [poem]; further has the Zhìyuán rénchén chéng Hànlín qǐng bǔ wài èr shǒu — rénchén is the next year of [his] embassy-return — so [his] before-and-after Hànlín office compositions all [are] in this collection.

[The] Guānguāng [and] Jiāozhōu two gǎo all record-on-the-road [the] passing-through mountains-rivers ancient-traces — likely imitating Fàn Chéngdà’s embassy-northern various poems — and the rough-outline also again [is] comparable. [The] Yùtáng gǎo more chōngróng xiéyǎ (vast-harmonious, harmoniously-elegant) — féngféng hū zhìshì zhī yīn (vast-and-vast, the sound of [a well-]ordered-age). His Shàngdū jìxíng compositions — with the two earlier gǎo [in] gōnglì (skillful-and-strong) parallel-each-other — likely móhuì tǔfēng (sketching local-customs) [was where he was] most leaving [his] attention.

[The] fùlù, 1 juàn, all contain the Yù An-nán zhào, the An-nán xièzuì biǎo, and Fú’s letters with An-nán [Chén Shìshàn]. Examining Fú[‘s] Yuán [biographical] writing [as] wúzhuàn (without-transmission), his embassy-going [and] shǐmò (full sequence) [is] then recorded in Liáng Zēng’s biography. At that time, Chén Shìshàn did not go out [to greet in the] suburbs, and again did not entertain envoys [to enter] from the Yángmíng central gate — Fú composed three letters reprehending him — cí zhí qì zhuàng (firm-word vigorous-tone) — ultimately not failing his commission. Yet the biography does not record his words; this juàn also [is] sufficient to supplement the historical lacunae.

Qú Zōngjí[‘s] Guītián shīhuà says: “[At] Yīngwǔzhōu there is one piece by Chén Gāngzhōng [whose] cíyǔ diēdàng (words-and-language unrestrained), yìlùn lǎochéng (discussion mature) — truly a fine work.” Also [Qú says] the Báimén shī is also fine. Yè Shèng’s Shuǐdōng rìjì then says: “Poetry-and-prose [are] slightly different — by [the fact that] poetry has xìngqù (inspirational-interest), [and as for] gǎnkǎi tiáoxiào fēngliú tuōsǎ [feelings-of-grief and laughter-and-jest, fēngliú-elegance and tuōsǎ-unrestraint] places — like [where] long-poem-final-lines turn-empty side-enter — as the dispersing-stage language — that is it. Yet at-times one issue-of-marvel only. The former Yuán poet Chén Fú Gāngzhōng’s collection’s gēxíng then entirely uses this form. [Let] the viewer examine [it],” etc.

Likely [Qú] Zōngjí picks-up its one-or-two pieces and [Yè] Shèng then examines its complete collection. Therefore by [the criterion of] zìluò kējiù (self-fitting-mould) [Chén] picks-the-defect. Although [the] pushing-and-developing [is] slightly kē (criticism), still [it] is also a discrimination-of-trivial-points discussion.

Also Táo Zōngyí’s Chuògēng lù records [that] Fú [when] young once [as] a monk titled-a-poem on his father’s-friend’s wall; [the] father-friend, knowing his desire to return to lay-life, accordingly had [him] grow-out [his] hair and married him to [his] daughter. His poem [is] qiǎnbǐ (shallow-vulgar); his affair [is] also [we] do not know [if it] has [happened or] not. Xiǎoshuō mostly [is] wū (falsifying) — [it] cannot all be believed; the collection [does] not record [it]. [But] Gù Sìlì’s Yuán shīxuǎn chūjí on-the-other-hand records [it] in the bǔyí.

Respectfully collated, [date not preserved in extract]. 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 poetic collection of Chén Fú (1259–1309), notable as the principal Yuán-period poetic-record of two southern imperial missions: (1) his early career as commoner-submitter of the Dà yītǒng fù, which through Jiāngzhè provincial forwarding earned him a sub-imperial appointment as Shàngcài shūyuàn shānzhǎng and subsequent capital travel (the Guānguāng gǎo); (2) his role as deputy envoy on Liáng Zēng’s second mission to An-nán in Zhìyuán 29 (1292) (the Jiāozhōu gǎo); and (3) his Hànlín literary career on return, including the Shàngdū jìxíng (Yuán summer-capital travel record). The principal model is Fàn Chéngdà’s Sòng-era embassy-northern poetry to the Jīn — Chén’s Guānguāng and Jiāozhōu gǎo explicitly imitate the genre, preserving topographical and ancient-traces material along the embassy route.

The fùlù uniquely preserves the documentary record of Chén Shìshàn’s An-nán reception-discourtesy — Chén Fú’s three letters reprehending the An-nán king’s failure to perform proper envoy-protocol (no suburban greeting, refusal to receive through the central Yángmíng gate) — letters not preserved in the Yuánshǐ and therefore supplementing the historical record. Composition window: from Chén’s early commoner literary activity (after 1280) through his death in 1309.

Translations and research

• Yuán-shǐ j. 190 (Chén Fú biography, with mission to An-nán in Liáng Zēng’s biography).
• James Geiss, “The Yuan Empire” — context on Yuán-An-nán relations.
• See standard Yuán-poetry references.

Other points of interest

The Yuán-An-nán envoy-protocol dispute documented in this collection — Chén Shìshàn’s refusal of full ritual reception of the Yuán envoys — is one of the principal Yuán-period imperial-tributary diplomatic-historical episodes. Chén Fú’s letters are the only first-person account of the protocol dispute. The two earlier Mongol military campaigns against An-nán (1284, 1287) had ended in costly Yuán failure; the 1292 Liáng Zēng / Chén Fú embassy represented Khubilai’s renewed effort at peaceful tributary re-establishment, succeeding eventually in obtaining Chén Shìshàn’s submission biǎo.

Links

• WYG SKQS V1202.4, p613.
• CBDB person 29308 (Chén Fú)
• Yuánshǐ j. 190