Cǐshān shījí 此山詩集
The Cǐ-shān (This-Mountain) Poetry Collection by 周權 (撰), 陳旅 (選)
About the work
The ten-juàn poetic collection of Zhōu Quán 周權, zì Héngzhī 衡之, hào Cǐshān 此山 (“This-Mountain”), native of Chǔzhōu 處州 (modern Lìshuǐ 麗水, Zhèjiāng), active fl. c. 1322–1334. Zhōu travelled to the capital and presented his poetry to Yuán Juè 袁桷 袁桷 (then Hànlín xuéshì); Yuán Juè heavily valued the work and recommended Zhōu for a guǎnzhí (official-museum position) — the recommendation ultimately failed. The Sìkù base preserves Zhōu’s exchange-poetry with the principal mid-Yuán literary establishment: Zhào Mèngfǔ 趙孟頫, Yú Jí 虞集, Jiē Xīsī 揭傒斯 KR4d0497, Chén Lǚ 陳旅, Ōuyáng Xuán 歐陽玄, Mǎ Zǔcháng 馬祖常. Yú Jí addressed Zhōu as guózhàng (state-elder, an honorific suggesting Zhōu’s pre-Yuán-court status as senior elder); Zhào Mèngfǔ wrote presentation-poems for Zhōu (“Greens-greens beyond the clouds the mountains; / Bright-bright beneath the pines the stone; / Look at this Cǐshān-man — / spirit-and-bearing reflect the pine’s colour”) and personally inscribed “Cǐshān” as a hall-name for him. The collection was selected and edited by Chén Lǚ 陳旅 KR4d0516, with prefaces by Chén Lǚ, Yuán Juè, and Ōuyáng Xuán; a colophon by Jiē Xīsī.
Tiyao
The Cǐshān shījí, 10 juàn, by Zhōu Quán of the Yuán. Quán, zì Héngzhī, hào Cǐshān, [was a] Chǔzhōu man. [He] once travelled to the capital, by poetry submitted-himself to the Hànlín xuéshì Yuán Juè — [Yuán] Juè highly valued [him], recommended-[him]-as guǎnzhí — [it] ultimately [was] reported-not [granted]. Yet [his] poetic fame day-by-day rose; chànghé (exchange-composition) day-by-day [grew] many. In the collection there is a Zèng Zhào Mèngfǔ shī which says: “Bànxiāng (half-incense) [I] have not yet displayed-the-master-Dào reverence; / portable lute briefly comes-out of pine-and-vine-amidst”; Zèng 虞集 shī says: “Far-going not-tracking-fame-and-profit road; wishing to call-upon the Guózhàng [state-elder] to open the zhēnwú (thorn-overgrowth)”; Zèng Jiē Xīsī shī says: “Sigh-and-I observe-light old guest; reverent fragrance looking-up-and-stopping cherishing [my] lifelong”; Zèng Chén Lǚ shī says: “Settled-bed clear-wind extending the rǔzǐ [son-as-pupil]; high-tower háoqì (great-spirit) lying [as the] yuánlóng (origin-dragon)”; Zèng Ōuyáng Xuán shī says: “Bed-head pínglǜ (duckweed-green) much pride-colour; long-price still from the Xuē-Biàn-gate [the gate of the famous jiārán connoisseurs]”; Zèng Mǎ Zǔcháng shī says: “Marvellously-loving the white-hair Nánzhōu gentleman; ShānDǒu (Mountain-Dipper) more-and-more-high uniquely looking-up-to Hán” — and Zhào Mèngfǔ presenting Quán’s poem also has [the] phrases “Qīngqīng yúnwài shān, jiǒngjiǒng sōngxià shí — gù cǐ shānzhōngrén, fēngshén zhào sōng sè” (Greens-greens beyond-clouds mountains, bright-bright beneath-pines stone — look-at this mountain-amidst-man, fēngshén reflects pine colour); and [Zhào Mèngfǔ] personally wrote “Cǐshān” two characters as the inscription-board, to present [it]. At this time [the] literary qísù (eminent-elders) [did] not exceed these several persons — and these several persons all [made] reply-and-response — apparently [Zhōu] Quán was also one of the shēngqì gānyè (reputation-seeking, request-making) class.
Yet [Zhào] Mèngfǔ and others all [were] by rúyǎ fēngliú (Confucian-elegance and fēngliú) — zhàoyìng yīshì (illuminating-and-reflecting one age); their hóngjiǎng hòujìn (broadly-encouraging late-comers) [was] far-different from the Southern-Sòng-end factional-marker private — therefore the end of the Yuán dynasty — shì dàifū wú gōudǎng zhī huò (the scholar-officials had no party-hooking calamity). [Zhōu] Quán with the various men [made] kuǎnqì (intimate-friendship) — likely the zì of zhī (knowing-each-other) — truly cannot be by-yīmén bànghù (door-leaning-supporting) discussed.
This collection [was] selected-determined by Chén Lǚ; [Chén] Lǚ and Yuán Juè, Ōuyáng Xuán and others each composed prefaces for [it]; Jiē Xīsī further composed colophon for [it]. [Chén] Lǚ originally [was an] author, therefore [his] selecting-discrimination [was] especially precise. [Chén] Lǚ’s preface calls [Zhōu’s verse] jiǎndàn hépíng, wú yùfèn fàngào zhī sè (simple-and-pure, level-and-peaceful — without grudging-anger or relaxed-arrogant colour); [Yuán] Juè’s preface calls [him] fǎ SūHuáng zhī zhǔnshéng, dá SāoXuǎn zhī zhǐqù (modelling SūShì and Huáng [Tíngjiān]‘s standard-marker, reaching the LíSāo’s and Wénxuǎn’s aimed-meaning); [Ōuyáng Xuán’s] preface calls [him] wú xiǎnjìn zhī cí ér yǒu shēncháng zhī wèi, wú qīngmí zhī xí ér yǒu chōngróng zhī fēng (without precipitous-vigorous words yet having deep-and-long taste; without light-and-charming habit yet having vast-and-harmonious air). Now examining his poetry — what [Ōuyáng] Yuán said [is] particularly zhīyán (knowing-words = penetrating-comment).
Respectfully collated, tenth 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 poetic collection of Zhōu Quán (fl. c. 1322–1334), the principal late-mid-Yuán shēngqì gānyè (reputation-seeking) southern-Confucian who found acceptance among the mid-Yuán Hànlín establishment without ever actually obtaining office. The Sìkù editors specifically use Zhōu’s case to demonstrate Yuán-period literary patronage: the mid-Yuán literary giants (Yuán Juè, Zhào Mèngfǔ, Yú Jí, Jiē Xīsī, Chén Lǚ, Ōuyáng Xuán, Mǎ Zǔcháng) all extended kuǎnqì (intimate-friendship) to the unofficial Zhōu Quán — a generosity contrasting positively with the late-Sòng factional-marker (biāobǎng zhī sī 標榜之私) practice and reflecting the Yuán court’s absence of gōudǎng zhī huò (party-faction calamity).
The collection’s three principal critical evaluations (by its three pre-fact-writers):
- Chén Lǚ: jiǎndàn hépíng, wú yùfèn fàngào zhī sè (simple-and-pure, level-and-peaceful; without grudging-anger or arrogant colour)
- Yuán Juè: fǎ SūHuáng zhī zhǔnshéng, dá SāoXuǎn zhī zhǐqù (modeling Sū Shì and Huáng Tíngjiān’s standard; reaching the LíSāo and Wénxuǎn’s aim)
- Ōuyáng Xuán: wú xiǎnjìn zhī cí ér yǒu shēncháng zhī wèi, wú qīngmí zhī xí ér yǒu chōngróng zhī fēng (without precipitous-vigorous words yet having deep-and-long taste; without light-and-charming habit yet having vast-and-harmonious air) — the Sìkù editors single this out as the most penetrating evaluation
Composition window: from Zhōu’s adult literary activity (c. 1300) through his death in the early/mid 1330s.
Translations and research
- Yuán-shǐ lacks a biography of Zhōu Quán. Principal sources: the three Yuán-era prefaces preserved in the collection.
- Standard Yuán-poetry references.
Other points of interest
The Sìkù editors’ analysis of Yuán-court literary patronage as politically-non-factional (in contrast to late-Sòng factional-marker private practice) is a notable judgment on Yuán-versus-Sòng political-cultural style. The fact that Zhōu Quán — never an official — nonetheless figures prominently in the exchange-poetry of every major mid-Yuán literary figure demonstrates the Yuán court’s openness to unrostered talent.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1204.1, p1.