Shēnzhāi jí 申齋集
The Shēn-zhāi (Repeating-Studio) Collection by 劉岳申 (撰), 蕭洵 (編)
About the work
The 10-juàn (the Sìkù zǒngmù gives 15 juàn in the original; the present extant is reduced) collection of Liú Yuèshēn 劉岳申 (CBDB 28015, b. 1260), zì Gāozhòng 高仲, native of Jíshuǐ 吉水 (Jiāngxī). One of the Lúlíng 廬陵 (Jízhōu) Sòng-Yuán-transition literary trio together with Liú Shēn 劉詵 KR4d0436 and Lóng Rénfū 龍仁夫. Liú Chénwēng 劉辰翁 KR4d0397 and Wú Chéng 吳澄 particularly esteemed him; on Wú Chéng’s recommendation Liú was summoned as Liáoyáng rúxué fùtíjǔ but did not take office. Later appointed Tàihézhōu pàn and retired. Students called him Shēnzhāi xiānshēng 申齋先生.
The collection was edited by Liú’s disciple Xiāo Xún 蕭洵; prefaced by Lǐ Qí 李祁. The original Yuán-period print was destroyed during the YuánMíng transition; only a manuscript copy survived. Gù Sìlì’s Yuán shī xuǎn extensively gathered Yuán-era poetry but omits this collection — confirming long-standing loss. The Sìkù base is a Yǒnglè dàdiǎn reconstruction.
The structure (per the SKQS table of contents):
- juàn 1–2: xù (prefaces)
- juàn 3: shuō (essays-explanations)
- juàn 4: shū (letters)
- juàn 5–6: jì (records)
- juàn 7: bēi (steles)
- juàn 8: bēimíng (stele-inscriptions)
- juàn 9–11: bēizhì (epitaphs)
- juàn 12: jìwén (sacrificial texts)
- juàn 13: zhuàn (biographies)
- juàn 14: tízàn (titles-and-eulogies)
- juàn 15: zázhù (miscellaneous compositions)
Tiyao
The Shēnzhāi jí, 15 juàn, by Liú Yuèshēn of the Yuán. Yuèshēn, zì Gāozhòng, [was a] Jíshuǐ man. By xuéxíng (learning-and-conduct) [he was] famous at his time; [he was] esteemed-and-honoured by Liú Chénwēng, Wú Chéng and others; together with Liú Shēn [and] Lóng Rénfū equally famous. Once by [Wú] Chéng’s recommendation [he was] summoned as Liáoyáng rúxué fùtíjǔ — [he] did not take-office. Afterward [he was] appointed Tàihézhōu pàn; retired. Scholars called [him] Shēnzhāi xiānshēng. This collection is what was edited by his disciple Xiāo Xún; Lǐ Qí composed the preface for it. At the end of the Yuán [the collection was] once given to jījué (cut [for publication]); [it] long-since had been lúnhuǐ (engulfed-and-destroyed) — only the manuscript zhì still preserved. Gù Sìlì’s Yuán shī xuǎn gathered [poetry] until completeness; [it] uniquely [did not] include this collection. [Then we know its extent of] loss [is established].
Abstract
The collection of Liú Yuèshēn (CBDB 28015, b. 1260; death-date uncertain), one of the three principal Lúlíng (Jízhōu in Jiāngxī) SòngYuán transition literary figures: Liú Yuèshēn, Liú Shēn 劉詵 (Guìyǐn xiānshēng), and Lóng Rénfū 龍仁夫. The triad represents the Jiāngxī literary inheritance from Liú Chénwēng 劉辰翁 KR4d0397 into the Yuán-period institutional-Confucian establishment.
Liú Yuèshēn’s career — recommended by Wú Chéng 吳澄 for Liáoyáng rúxué fùtíjǔ but declining office; later accepting only the local Tàihézhōu pàn (Tàihé Department Vice-Magistrate) before retirement — exemplifies the Jiāngxī Sòng-Yuán-transition pattern of refusing xíngshěng (provincial) office while accepting only sub-prefectural appointments.
The collection’s overwhelming bias toward prose (the prose categories xù, jì, bēi, bēimíng, mùzhì, jìwén, zhuàn dominate; no poetry preserved) makes it a major source for Jiāngxī SòngYuán transition biographical and ritual-Confucian documentation — particularly the bēimíng / bēizhì corpus preserving biographies of SòngYuán transition Lú-líng-region literati. Composition window: from Liú’s adult literary activity (after c. 1290) through the early 1330s.
Translations and research
- Yuán-shǐ lacks a biography of Liú Yuè-shēn. Principal biographical material: Lǐ Qí’s preface; Wú Chéng’s references.
- See Liú Jiāng-sūn’s 劉將孫 KR4d0456 Yǎng-wú-zhāi jí — Jiāng-xī Sòng-Yuán transition contextual material.
Other points of interest
The Lúlíng / Jíshuǐ SòngYuán transition literary network — centered on the Liú Chénwēng tradition and including Liú Yuèshēn, his fellow-Lú-líng man Liú Jiāngsūn 劉將孫, Liú Shēn 劉詵, Lóng Rénfū, Zhào Wén 趙文 — is one of the most-tightly-documented regional Yuán-Confucian networks; the cross-references within the various collections make it possible to reconstruct the network in remarkable detail.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1204.3, p171.
- CBDB person 28015 (Liú Yuèshēn)