Jìngchūntáng shījí 靜春堂詩集
The Jìng-chūn-táng (Quiet-Spring-Hall) Poetry Collection by 袁易 (撰)
About the work
The four-juàn poetic collection of Yuán Yì 袁易 (CBDB 35238, 1262–1306), zì Tōngfǔ 通甫, native of Chángzhōu 長洲 (Sūzhōu). Refused official advancement (bù qiú shìjìn); the Bù shǐzhě (Ministry Commissioner) considered recommending him to the court but Yuán declined the proposal; the Xíngzhōngshūshěng posted him as Huīzhōufǔ Shídòng shūyuàn shānzhǎng but he soon resigned and returned home. Built a hall called Jìngchūn 靜春 (“Quiet-Spring”) between the Wúsōng River and Jùqū (Tàihú); collected 10,000 juàn of books, personally collated them; or paddled a small skiff, carrying writing-board, tea-stove, and ancient instruments, travelling Jiāng and Hú at leisure. Zhào Mèngfǔ 趙孟頫 once painted for Yuán Yì the Wòxuě tú (Lying-in-Snow Picture); Zhào honored Yuán Yì together with Gōng Sù 龔璛 KR4d0457 and Guō Línsūn 郭麟孫 as the Wúzhōng sān jūnzǐ 吳中三君子 (Three Gentlemen of Wúzhōng).
The collection was edited by Yuán Yì’s son Yuán Tài 袁泰** after his death. Gōng Sù composed the preface in Yányòu 4 (1317), praising Yuán Yì highly — but the comparison-to-Wáng Ānshí is judged inappropriate by the Sìkù editors. Lì È 厲鶚’s later bá compared Yuán to Huáng Tíngjiān 黃庭堅 and Chén Shīdào 陳師道 — also not entirely apt. The Sìkù editors suggest Yuán’s tǔyán tiānbá (spit-out-words heaven-elevated) places him closer to Chén Yǔyì 陳與義 — different from Huáng Tíngjiān’s róngzhù chánxuē (melted-and-cast, chiselled-and-cut) and Chén Shīdào’s shēnkè shòuyìng (deeply-carved, thin-and-firm).
Tiyao
The Jìngchūntáng jí, 4 juàn, by Yuán Yì of the Yuán. Yì, zì Tōngfǔ, [was a] Chángzhōu man. [He] did-not seek for-office-advancement. The bù shǐzhě (ministry commissioner) [planned to] recommend him to the court — [he] declined-not-responding. The Xíngzhōngshūshěng posted him to be [the] Huīzhōufǔ Shídòng shūyuàn shānzhǎng; [he] soon also resigned-and-returned. [He] dwelt between Wúsōng [river] and Jùqū (= Tàihú region); built a hall called Jìngchūn; gathered 10,000 juàn of books, with his hand collated [them]; or [he] paddled a boat carrying writing-bed, tea-stove, ancient instruments, travelling on Jiāng and Lake.
Zhào Mèngfǔ once for [him] painted the Wòxuě tú; called [Yuán] Yì, [Gōng] Sù, [and] Guō Línsūn [as the] Wúzhōng sān jūnzǐ (Wú-region three gentlemen). This collection then is, after [Yuán] Yì’s death, what his son [Yuán] Tài compiled. Yányòu 4 (1317), Gōng Sù composed the preface for it — pushing-it-very-much — yet by Wáng Ānshí to compare it [is] shū bù xiāng lèi (especially not mutually-similar) [an analogy].
End of juàn has Lì È’s bá — by HuángChén (= Huáng Tíngjiān, Chén Shīdào) to compare [him] — also not entirely-thus. [Yuán] Yì’s poetry [is] tǔyán tiānbá (spit-out-words heaven-elevated) — with Chén Yǔyì wéi jìn (rather near); with Huáng Tíngjiān’s róngzhù chánxuē (melted-cast, chiseled-cut), Chén Shīdào (= Chén Sīdào)‘s shēnkè shòuyìng (deeply-carved, thin-and-firm) — his door-paths truly each [are] separate.
Among Yuán authors, [those who] compose [are] mostly qǐrù (woven-elegant) abundant; [Yuán] Yì’s poetry although what was transmitted [is] not many, yet [his] fēnggǔ qiúshàng (style-bone firm-rising) truly is sufficient to gāo bù yīshí (high-step in one age). Gōng Sù and others’ composed [original] collection-preface-ink-traces — until Míng Zhèng-tǒng-mid — still preserved; Wú Nè titled the juàn-end deeply expressing xiàngwǎng (turning-toward-and-longing) — likely his person-rank and poetry-rank both have what moves people’s far-imagining.
Respectfully collated, fifth 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 poetic collection of Yuán Yì (CBDB 35238, 1262–1306), the principal Wúzhōng (Sūzhōu) Sòng-Yuán-transition gentry-recluse-poet. With Gōng Sù 龔璛 KR4d0457 and Guō Línsūn 郭麟孫, Yuán Yì formed the Wúzhōng sān jūnzǐ 吳中三君子 (Three Gentlemen of Wúzhōng) — the SòngYuán Sū-zhōu-area gentlemanly triad celebrated by Zhào Mèngfǔ who painted Yuán’s Wòxuě tú. Yuán’s retreat-pattern — a 10,000-juàn personally-collated home library, occasional river-trips with tea-stove and writing-board — exemplifies the early-Yuán Sòng-loyalist gentry retreat: refusing imperial recommendation while preserving Confucian learning at home.
The Sìkù editors’ contribution to the critical evaluation: Gōng Sù’s preface compared Yuán Yì to Wáng Ānshí (excessive); Lì È’s later bá compared to Huáng Tíngjiān and Chén Shīdào (also inapt); the Sìkù editors propose Chén Yǔyì (Chén Qùfēi 陳去非, 1090–1138) as the appropriate comparison — placing Yuán in the major Sòng-poetic-individuality lineage. Yuán’s fēnggǔ qiúshàng (style-bone firm-rising) places him as a substantial counter-current to the typical Yuán qǐrù (woven-elegant) style. Composition window: from Yuán’s adult literary activity (after c. 1285) through his death in 1306.
Translations and research
- Yuán-shǐ lacks a biography of Yuán Yì. Principal sources: Gōng Sù’s preface (1317); Lì È’s later bá; Wú Nè’s Míng-Zhèng-tǒng-period postscript.
- Standard Yuán-poetry references.
Other points of interest
Zhào Mèngfǔ’s painted endorsement (the Wòxuě tú for Yuán Yì) is a model case of Yuán-period imperial-recognition of a Sòng-loyalist gentleman-recluse: Zhào used his imperial-court standing to authorize the moral-cultural standing of the Wúzhōng sān jūnzǐ, even though all three figures had refused official advancement. The triadic format echoes earlier Sòng-period “Three Worthies” recognitions and provides the model for later YuánMíng provincial “three masters” formulations.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1206.3, p263.
- CBDB person 35238 (Yuán Yì)