梅花字字香

Méihuā zìzì xiāng 梅花字字香

Plum-Blossom: Each-Character-Fragrant by 郭豫亨 (撰)

About the work

A qiánjí + hòují (1+1 juàn) plum-blossom poetic anthology by Guō Yùhēng 郭豫亨, self-styled Méiyán yěrén 梅巖野人 (“Plum-Cliff Wild-Man”). Native-place uncertain (Sìkù editors did not establish). The self-preface dates to Zhìdà xīnhài (1311). The collection is a 集句 (jíjù) work — Guō, devoted to plum-blossom poetry, gathered classical plum-poetry couplets from across the Chinese poetic tradition; from these, by patient cumulative reading, he composed 200 seven-syllable lǜshī (regulated verse poems) entirely composed of borrowed lines, each line attributable to a classical source. The Sìkù editors evaluate the collection in context:

• Plum-blossom poetic tradition. The LíSāo gathered fragrant herbs but did not include plum. Liùcháo and Táng poetry gradually developed fùyǒng (rhapsody-recitation) on plum, but plum was yǔ zhū huā děng (equal to the other flowers). From the Northern Sòng Lín Bū 林逋 with his “Ànxiāng shūyǐng” (Secret-fragrance Sparse-shadow) and “Bànshù héngzhī” (Half-tree Cross-branch) couplets, plum-blossom poetry became its own genre. By the Southern Sòng plum-poetry was “a great public-case of poets”. Jiānghú poets (whether they loved plum or not) all “borrowed plum to esteem-themselves” — many biéhào and zhāiguǎn names contain méi; Huáng Dàyú 黃大輿 anthologized cí as the Méiyuàn 梅苑 in 10 juàn; Fāng Huí 方回’s Yíngkuí lǜsuǐ 瀛奎律髓 normally subsumed yǒngwù under one category, but uniquely gave plum-blossom its own class. The Sìkù editors register this Sòng-era méihuā genre as “this calling and that responding, tàzá bùxiū (jumbled-and-not-resting) — in name nàilěng zhī jiāo (cold-enduring friendship), in fact fùyán zhī jú (attached-to-flame configuration)“.

• Guō Yùhēng’s contribution. Active in the Zhìdà era, only a short time after the Southern Sòng’s end, Guō yǐ rǎn shānrén zhī jīxí (was tinted by the shānrén [mountain-man] accumulated-habits). The two jí contain 200 plum-blossom 7-syllable lǜshī — equal in number to Zhāng Qià’s 張洽 plum-poetry; but Zhāng Qià’s poems céngjiàn diéchū (layer-after-layer appearing) zǒng bù chū yōuxiāng gāogé, dānjì bìxuān zhī yì (always-do not exit the meaning of secret-fragrance high-style, dānjì (indulging quiet) and bìxuān (avoiding noise)) — sketching the kējiù (mould-cast) — unavoidably to satiate-the-viewer. Guō Yùhēng then by jíjù (collected-line) [method] composes them — opens a new realm — and the parallel-pairing [is] rather able to be skillfully crafted — also surpasses Lǐ Lóng’s 李龏 Jiǎnxiāo jí 翦綃集 which mostly collects-lines from juéjù (quatrain) poetry. “Yī huā yī shí, shí féng jiā shèng” (one flower one stone, at-times encountering fine-and-prominent [pieces]) — preserving them as shījiā zhī xiǎopǐn (poets’ miniature pieces) — there is also nothing not-permissible.

Tiyao

The Méihuā zìzì xiāng, qiánjí 1 juàn, hòují 1 juàn, by Guō Yùhēng of the Yuán. [Guō] Yùhēng self-styled Méiyán yěrén — [his] native-place not detailed. His self-preface then [is] composed [in] Zhìdà xīnhài (1311). [The] LíSāo compiles-and-selects fragrant-grasses, uniquely [does] not reach plum. Six dynasties and Táng gradually [had] fùyǒng — and incidental jìyì (entrusted-meaning) views-them, also [it was] with the various flowers equal. From the Northern Sòng’s Lín Bū with various men dìxiāng jīnzhòng (successively-mutually-honouring), [the] ànxiāng shūyǐng (secret-fragrance, sparse-shadow), bàn shù héngzhī (half-tree-crossing-branch) phrases, the composers for-the-first-time separately set-up pǐntí (rank-and-title) — From [the] Southern Sòng onward thereupon [it was] taken plum-singing as poets’ one great gōngàn (public-case). Jiānghú poets wúlùn àiméi yǔ fǒu (regardless of loving-plum or not), no [one] not borrowed plum to self-honour. All biéhào and zhāiguǎn-names mostly carry the character méi — to seek to fù yú yǎrén (attach to yǎ [elegant] people). Huáng Dàyú reached [the point of] compiling cí as the Méiyuàn in 10 juàn; Fāng Huí composed [the] Yíngkuí lǜsuǐ — every yǒngwù all [he] entered into the zhuótí (concrete-title) category — and plum-flower [he] uniquely set up [as a] separate category. This calling that responding, tàzá bùxiū (jumbled-and-not-resting) — in name [it is] nàilěng zhī jiāo (cold-enduring friendship), in fact [it is] fùyán zhī jú (attached-to-flame configuration).

[Guō] Yùhēng [was] in the Zhìdà jiān, [at a] distance [from] the end of Southern Sòng not far — therefore also tinted-with the shānrén accumulated-practice. Front-and-back two collections [contain] plum-flower 7-character lǜshī reaching 200 pieces — with [Zhāng] Qià’s number equal. Yet [Zhāng] Qià’s poetry [is] céngjiàn diéchū (layer-on-layer appearing), always [does] not exit the meaning of yōuxiāng gāogé (secret-fragrance high-style), dānjì bìxuān (indulging-quiet, avoiding-noise) — describing the kējiù (mould-cast) — unavoidably yànguān (satiating-the-viewer). [Guō] Yùhēng then by jíjù (collected-line) composes them — also opens [a] new realm — and the parallel-pairing [is] rather able to be skillfully crafted; also surpasses Lǐ Lóng’s Jiǎnxiāo jí’s [practice of] mostly collecting juéjù. “Yī huā yī shí, shí féng jiā shèng” — preserving [them] for poets’ miniature pieces — also is nothing not-permissible.

Respectfully collated, third month of Qiánlóng 45 (1780). 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.

Self-preface

The original preface (preserved in the SKQS base) records:

“I love plum-flowers, [so I] self-styled Méiyán yěrén. Whenever [I] saw ancient-and-modern poets’ plum-flower outstanding-works, [I] necessarily by-hand copied-recorded them and chanted them; accumulating across years-and-months, [these] became [a] giant compilation. Familiar [with them] long, [I] seemed to have [my own] insight; in spare days [I] then collected their lines, obtaining 100 pieces, titled Zìzì xiāng — within them — jù duàn yì liàn (phrases forged, meaning refined), bì hé zhū lián (jade-joined, pearl-linked) — also having a heaven-given marvel — I do not know that they were ancient-composed [pieces]…”

Abstract

A remarkable two-juàn jíjù (collected-couplet) anthology by Guō Yùhēng (active fl. 1308–1320; Méiyán yěrén “Plum-Cliff Wild-Man”; native place uncertain). The collection comprises 200 plum-blossom 7-syllable lǜshī composed entirely of borrowed couplets from earlier Chinese plum-poetry — a virtuoso exercise in literary curation. The Sìkù editors set the work in the broad context of SòngYuán plum-blossom genre history: the rise of méihuā as its own genre from Lín Bū’s Northern-Sòng “Secret-fragrance Sparse-shadow” couplets through the Southern-Sòng Jiānghú school’s fùyán (attached-to-flame) factional adoption; the comparison with Zhāng Qià (whose 200 plum-poems were original but stylistically repetitive) and Lǐ Lóng’s Jiǎnxiāo jí (which used jíjù but from juéjù / quatrain sources only).

Guō Yùhēng’s contribution is twofold: (1) extending the jíjù method from juéjù to the more difficult lǜshī (8-line regulated verse with parallel-couplet constraints); (2) opening a “new realm” by jíjù method against the stylistic exhaustion of original Southern-Sòng plum-poetry. The Sìkù editors accept the collection as “poets’ miniature pieces” (shījiā zhī xiǎopǐn) — minor but elegant.

Composition window: from Guō’s earliest preserved compositions through Zhìdà xīnhài (1311, the preface date).

Translations and research

• Yuán-shǐ lacks any record of Guō Yù-hēng. Principal source: the self-preface.
• Yán Bǎo-jūn 嚴寶鈞 et al., studies of jí-jù poetry as Chinese literary practice.
• Maggie Bickford, Ink Plum: The Making of a Chinese Scholar-Painting Genre (Cambridge UP, 1996) — broader context on the Sòng-Yuán plum-blossom genre in painting and poetry.

Other points of interest

The jíjù method as practiced by Guō Yùhēng — composing entirely new poems out of borrowed lines from the classical tradition — is one of the most-virtuosic forms of Chinese literary curation, anticipating the Western cento and modern collage practices. The Sìkù editors’ historiographical context for the plum-blossom genre — characterizing the Jiānghú school’s fùyán (attached-to-flame, i.e. factional rather than aesthetic) adoption of plum as biéhào and zhāiguǎn names — is a striking critical statement of Sòng-poetic-school sociology.

Links

• WYG SKQS V1205.7, p667.