Lánxuān jí 蘭軒集
The Lán-xuān (Orchid-Veranda) Collection by 王旭 (撰)
About the work
The 16-juàn poetic-and-prose remnant of Wáng Xù 王旭, zì Jǐngchū 景初, native of Dōngpíng 東平 (modern Shāndōng). The Yuánshǐ does not give him a biography; literary-historians barely mention him; Gù Sìlì’s Yuán shī xuǎn (gathering 300 jiā) omits Wáng’s collection — confirming long-term loss. Only the Shāndōng tōngzhì preserves Wáng’s pairing with his fellow-Dōng-píng man Wáng Gòu 王構 and the Yǒngnián man Wáng Pán 王磐** as the “SānWáng” 三王 (Three-Wángs) of Yuán literary fame, but does not detail Wáng Xù’s career. The Sìkù editors reconstruct his life from internal evidence: a poor scholar-teacher who taught at four places — including by 1290 (Zhìyuán gēngyín) at Dàngshān 碭山, on invitation of the magistrate Cuīgōng; at Chánglú 長蘆 as guest of Gāo Bǎichuān 高百川 (per the Zhōnghé shūyuàn jì); at Ānyáng 安陽, Yúchéng 鄃城, and Jīngchuān 鯨川 in turn; finally as far as Hángzhōu and Chángshā 長沙. Travelled half the empire but never held official rank. A surviving poem-couplet: “Chǔ kùn bù kān jiā lèi zhòng, móu shēng liáo jiè zhǔrén xián” — “Dwelling in straits unable to bear the family burden’s weight; / pursuing livelihood I lean somewhat on the host’s worth.”
Tiyao
The Lánxuān jí, 16 juàn, by Wáng Xù of the Yuán. Xù, zì Jǐngchū, [was a] Dōngpíng man. His deeds are not seen in the Yuánshǐ. Tányì (literary discussion) also rarely sees praise-discussion [of him]. Gù Sìlì composing the Yuán shī xuǎn gathered up to 300 jiā; [he] does not include Xù’s collection — so [his] surviving pieces [were] long-lost — [we] can know [this]. Only the Shāndōng tōngzhì says Xù together-with the fellow-prefecture-man Wáng Gòu and the Yǒngnián man Wáng Pán all by wénzhāng became famous in the world — the empire called [them] the sānWáng (Three-Wángs) — but [the gazetteer] regarding his coming-out and remaining beginning-and-ending also has not yet recorded in detail — therefore his very-person also nearly [became] obscured.
Now from the collection’s poetry-and-prose [we] examine: likely Xù was jiā pín lì xué (family-poor, strenuously-studied); [he] taught in [the] four directions. Once [he was] guested-with-rites by the Dàngshān magistrate. The Sòng Wáng Hóu èr shēng xù says “Zhìyuán gēngyín (1290), the Dàng magistrate Cuīgōng by-rites summoned me to his county; [he] put-me-in-charge of the lecture-seat” — this is the thing. Also [he] once reached Chánglú [as] guest of Gāo Bǎichuān’s home — Zhōnghé shūyuàn jì says: “Receiving the gentleman’s pieces-of-money [I] came from Tàishān” — this is the thing. The others — like Ānyáng, Yúchéng, Jīngchuān — all are places [he] once sojourned-as-guest. Also [he] once reached Hángzhōu’s Chángshā — travelling [his] tracks [were] nearly half the empire — and ultimately [he] did not ascend the official-list. His containing-and-sending poem says “Living-in-straits cannot-bear the family-tax heavy; pursuing-livelihood somewhat depends-on the master’s xián (worthiness)” — his lifelong condition-and-encounter, this can be by-which to see its rough-outline.
His poetry [is] suíyì shūxiě (according-to-intention poured-out-and-written), not xièxiè yú diāozhāng zhuójù (small-meaningly carving-chapters and chiseling-phrases) — and [his] qìtǐ (atmosphere-and-body) [is] chāomài (transcendent-and-going-beyond) — at-times still [his] xìnglíng (nature-and-spirit) appears. The gǔwén mostly [is] jiǎngxué jiā yán (lecture-and-study school language). His Jǐngtián shuō one piece, vigorously wishing to restore the Sāndài system — yūkuò (pedantic-and-loose-fitting) [in the] extreme — [it] [is by] one almost entirely not-understanding-affairs decay-Confucian. Yet [his] jì, xù various compositions [are] hépíng tōngdá (peaceful-and-conveying) — with him sitting and discussing principle, his held discussion [is] never not chúnzhèng (pure-correct) — not to be discarded.
His collection’s seen in [the] Wényuāngé shūmù-mid one [whole] department, one cè (volume); while Jiāo Hóng’s Jīngjí zhì then gives [it as] 20 juàn. Now from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn [we] selected-and-collected, arranged-comparatively — [we] still can obtain 16 juàn — [it] certainly [is] not what one cè can exhaust. Perhaps [the character] “one cè” “yī” character [was] erroneous-for the “ten” “shí” character?
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 recovered collection of Wáng Xù, an obscure Dōng-píng-born Yuán-period poor-scholar-teacher (one of the “SānWáng” 三王 of Yuán literary fame per the Shāndōng tōngzhì, with Wáng Gòu 王構 and Wáng Pán 王磐). His career — never reaching official rank — illustrates the substantial body of Yuán-period literary culture sustained by unofficial jiàoxí (teaching) labour across the empire. The Sìkù editors reconstructed his career from internal poem-and-prose evidence: tenures at Dàngshān (1290 onward, invited by the magistrate Cuīgōng), Chánglú (with Gāo Bǎichuān), Ānyáng, Yúchéng, Jīngchuān, and travel as far as Hángzhōu and Chángshā.
The Sìkù editors evaluate Wáng’s verse as transcendent-and-spirited at its best; his prose is mostly jiǎngxué (lecture-and-study) discourse — including the heavily-criticized Jǐngtián shuō arguing for restoration of the well-field system, characterized as the work of a “decayed Confucian almost entirely not-understanding-affairs”. Composition window: from Wáng’s adult literary activity (after c. 1285) through the early 14th century. The original corpus per Jiāo Hóng’s Jīngjí zhì was 20 juàn; the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn recovery yielded 16 juàn.
Translations and research
- Shāndōng tōng-zhì records the “Sān-Wáng” tradition.
- Standard Yuán-poetry references.
Other points of interest
The “SānWáng” tradition (Wáng Xù, Wáng Gòu, Wáng Pán) is one of the regional-literary-trio formulations characteristic of YuánMíng literary historiography. Wáng Gòu was a major early-Yuán scholar-official whose biography survives in the Yuánshǐ; Wáng Pán was the senior Khubilai-era Hàn-Confucian (the Yuánshǐ j. 160 figure). Wáng Xù as the third of the triad is documented here only.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1202.7, p727.