續軒渠集

Xù Xuānqú jí 續軒渠集

The Continued Xuān-qú (Hilarity) Collection by 洪希文 (撰), 洪巖虎 (撰)

About the work

The ten-juàn collection of Hóng Xīwén 洪希文 (CBDB 34360, 1282–1366), zì Rǔzhì 汝質, hào Qùhuá 去華, native of Pútián 莆田 (Fújiàn). Hóng held office as xùndǎo 訓導. The collection’s structure:

• juàn 1–2: 5-character gǔfēng (ancient-style)
• juàn 3: 7-character gǔfēng
• juàn 4: 5-character lǜshī; 5-character páilǜ
• juàn 5–6: 7-character lǜshī
• juàn 7: 5-character and 6-character juéjù; 7-character juéjù upper
• juàn 8: 7-character juéjù lower
• juàn 9: cí (lyric-songs)
• juàn 10: zázhù (miscellaneous compositions)

The end of juàn 10 appends a few pages of the verses of Hóng Xīwén’s father Hóng Yánhǔ 洪巖虎 (CBDB 43440, 1239–1306), zì Dézhāng 德章, hào Wúpǔ 吾圃 (“My-Garden”), Sòng-period jiàoyú (educator). Yánhǔ’s original collection was titled Xuānqú jí 軒渠集 (“Hilarity Collection”); hence the son’s Xù Xuānqú jí (“Continued Hilarity Collection”). The father’s collection had been destroyed; only fragments survived as the postscript to the son’s collection — following the precedent of Yáng Wànlǐ’s Fátán jí (which preserved Yáng’s father’s surviving poetry at the end).

The Jiājìng guǐsì (1533) edition was prepared by Hóng’s seventh-generation clan-descendant Hóng Zhū 洪珠 (then Shàoxīng zhīfǔ), who commissioned the Shānyīn scholar Cài Zōngyǎn 蔡宗兗 to cut and supervise the printing. Cài’s preface preserves the principal critical evaluation: Hóng “by shānzé zhī qú (mountain-marsh’s qú = retired-mind) issued forth mountain-marsh language” — like the Xià-period Xià dǐng and Shāng-period Shāng gé (ancient bronze ritual vessels) whose ornament-and-color might seem insufficient yet whose húnhòu pǔsù zhī zhì (vast-and-thick, plain-and-substantial quality) makes the viewer recognize it as an ancient instrument. The Sìkù editors agree: Hóng’s verse purely follows Sòng-period style, contrasting sharply with the late-Yuán florid-ornament style and the subsequent Míng-period grand-stately register — yet qīngqiú jīzhuàng (clear-and-firm, struggling-and-vigorous), also sufficient to luòluò dú xíng (stride-alone uprightly).

Tiyao

The Xù Xuānqú jí, 10 juàn, by Hóng Xīwén of the Yuán. Several pages at the end of [the] juàn then [are] his father [Hóng] Yánhǔ’s poetry. [Hóng] Yánhǔ’s poetic-name [was the] Xuānqú jí; therefore [Hóng] Xīwén’s collection [used] “xù” to name [it]. Yet the Xuānqú jí [was] duànlàn (broken-and-rotted), not preserved, therefore [he] picked-up his surviving poetry, following the Fátán jí example [and] placed [it] at the end. Preceded by [the] Xīwén self-preface. In Jiājìng guǐsì (1533), his seventh-generation clan-descendant — the Shàoxīng zhīfǔ Hóng Zhū — invited the Shānyīn man Cài Zōngyǎn to cut-and-determine [the edition]. [Cài] Zōngyǎn’s preface calls “[Hóng], by shānzé zhī qú (mountain-marsh’s qú) issued forth mountain-marsh’s language — comparing-it [to the] Xià dǐng [and] Shāng gé — flower-and-color even-if seems insufficient, yet [their] húnhòu pǔsù zhī zhì (vast-thick plain-substantial quality) — those who look-at [them] recognize [them as] ancient instruments.” Now examining his poetry — purely follows Sòng style — at the late-Yuán flower-and-ornamentation style, [or the] Míng-era grand-stately tǐ — distinctly not the same — yet qīngqiú jīzhuàng (clear-firm struggling-vigorous), also sufficient to luòluò dú xíng (stride-alone uprightly).

[Hóng] Yánhǔ, zì Dézhāng, hào Wúpǔ, [was a] Pútián man. At end-Sòng once was jiàoyú. [Hóng] Xīwén, zì Rǔzhì, hào Qùhuá; also once held office as xùndǎo.

Respectfully collated, eighth month of Qiánlóng 42 (1777). 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 literary monument of the Pútián Hóng family (Fújiàn) — a two-generation SòngYuán literary legacy preserved in a single YuánMíng compilation. The father Hóng Yánhǔ (1239–1306) was a Sòng-period jiàoyú whose original Xuānqú jí was lost in the YuánMíng transition; the son Hóng Xīwén (1282–1366) preserves Yánhǔ’s fragmentary surviving verse at the back of his own Xù Xuānqú jí (the title self-consciously continuing his father’s). The Sòng-style preservation makes the collection a relatively rare witness to non-late-Yuán-stylized verse in mid-late-Yuán Fújiàn. The collection’s mid-Míng reprint by Hóng Zhū (Hóng’s seventh-generation descendant), commissioned and cut by Cài Zōngyǎn in Jiājìng guǐsì (1533), preserves the most-authoritative recension; the Sìkù base derives from this.

The Sìkù editors specifically frame the Xù Xuānqú jí as a stylistic “ancient bronze ritual vessel” — Xià dǐng and Shāng gé — whose substantive plain-quality (húnhòu pǔsù) compensates for its lack of ornament, and which is therefore particularly valuable in contrast to both late-Yuán huárù zhī fēng (florid-and-ornate style) and Míng-period tánghuáng zhī tǐ (grand-stately form). The Cài Zōngyǎn 1533 preface and the Sìkù characterization together establish Hóng Xīwén as a substantial counter-current Yuán-Confucian-prosaic poet. Composition window: father Hóng Yánhǔ active c. 1265–1306; son Hóng Xīwén active c. 1300–1366.

Translations and research

• Yuán-shǐ lacks biographies of either Hóng. Principal sources: Hóng Xī-wén’s self-preface; Cài Zōng-yǎn’s 1533 preface.
• Standard Yuán-poetry and Fú-jiàn-regional literary references.

Other points of interest

The two-generation father-and-son collection preservation pattern (Yáng Wànlǐ’s Fátán jí citing his father; Yǐn Tínggāo KR4d0471 citing his father Yǐn Dòng; Hóng Xīwén citing his father Hóng Yánhǔ) is a particular SòngYuán transition family-literary-preservation device for protecting fragmentary parental literary corpora against further loss.

Links

• WYG SKQS V1205.2, p57.
• CBDB person 34360 (Hóng Xīwén)
• CBDB person 43440 (Hóng Yánhǔ)