Kuàitíng jí 檜亭集
The Cypress-Pavilion Collection by 丁復 (撰), edited by 饒介之 (輯) and 李謙之 (輯)
About the work
A 9-juǎn poetic collection by Dīng Fù 丁復 (Yuán), zì Zhòngróng 仲容, native of Tiāntái 天台. The title refers to Dīng’s residence in northern Jīnlíng, surrounded by ancient cypresses (guì 檜). Dīng declined the early-Yán-yòu recommendations and lived as an unsalaried poet wandering between Jiāng and Huái, settling in Jīnlíng for the rest of his life. He produced several thousand pieces but routinely discarded the drafts; the surviving corpus was assembled in two stages — the qiánjí by his son-in-law Ráo Jièzhī, the xùjí by his disciple Lǐ Qiānzhī (written 李謹之 in the tíyào) — and consolidated as 9 juǎn by Zhāng Wéiyuǎn 張惟遠 (Nángtái jiānchá yùshǐ) at the Jíqìng xuégōng in Zhìzhèng 10 (1350).
Tiyao
Kuàitíng jí, 9 juǎn. By Dīng Fù of the Yuán. Fù’s zì was Zhòngróng, a man of Tiāntái. In early Yányòu he was recommended but did not accept; he gave free play to his feelings in poetry and wine and wandered between Jiāng and Huái, finally making his home in Jīnlíng. He composed not less than several thousand pieces in his lifetime, but as soon as the draft was complete he would discard it — so much was lost. His son-in-law Ráo Jièzhī and his disciple Lǐ Jǐnzhī (= 李謙之) in succession assembled what they could find — what Jièzhī compiled is called the qiánjí, what Jǐnzhī compiled is called the xùjí. The merging into 9 juǎn and the printing at the Jíqìng xuégōng was by Zhāng Wéiyuǎn, Nángtái jiānchá yùshǐ, in Zhìzhèng 10 (1350). Fù’s verse does not engage in carving and polishing — its sweep is natural and transcendent. Lǐ Huán 李桓 of Zhōngshān praised his verse as resembling Lǐ Bái at first and later gradually shifting toward an autonomous manner — this judgment is largely correct. Only his abundant talent rushes out, his pen sweeping forth hundreds and thousands of words, the brilliant phrases coming faster than the reader can follow — but the defect of shuàiyì “careless ease” is also right here. The reader has only to enjoy the jùnyì “valiant escape” and that is enough. Furthermore, in Ǒu Huán’s 偶桓 Qiánkūn qīngqì jí 乾坤清氣集, many of Dīng’s poems are anthologized; checking them against the present recension, the texts mainly agree, with the following exceptions — in the wǔyán chánglǜ Jiàn Zhào gōngzǐ shī the line “qiándào réng yú lǒng” 前纛仍踰隴: Qiánkūn qīngqì jí reads “shǔ” 蜀 for “lǒng” 隴. In the wǔyán jìntǐ Sòng Wáng Bóyōng shī the line “xiànpì lěng yú guān” 縣僻冷於官: Qiánkūn reads “dì” 地 for “xiàn” 縣. In Gāo yín jì Bìlán the line “yǐ Guō” 倚郭: Qiánkūn reads “jì” 寄. In Shēngshēngzǐ shī the line “zhé jiǎn biàn kān hū” 折簡便堪呼: Qiánkūn reads “dāng” 當 for “kān” 堪. These small textual variants are perhaps from different transmissions; since none affects the principal sense, both readings are recorded as they stand. Respectfully collated, fifth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781).
Abstract
The Kuàitíng jí preserves the bulk of Dīng Fù’s poetic output despite his habit of discarding drafts. The textual history is unusually well-documented for a private biéjí: two-stage compilation by his son-in-law and disciple, consolidation by a Yuán-period censor at a prefectural school, and a Qīng-period WYG re-collation. The Sìkù note on textual variants with Ǒu Huán’s Qiánkūn qīngqì jí gives an instructive small case study in Yuán-poetry textual transmission. Lǐ Huán’s characterization of the stylistic arc (early Lǐ Bái → later autonomous) and the tíyào’s qualification that the prolific output produces both jùnyì brilliance and shuàiyì carelessness together capture the standard evaluation. Composition window: from Dīng’s earliest documented compositions (after the early-1310s recommendations he declined) to his Jīnlíng residence and ultimately the 1350 Zhāng Wéiyuǎn imprint.
Translations and research
- Ǒu Huán 偶桓 (early Míng), Qián-kūn qīng-qì jí 乾坤清氣集 — principal alternate witness for Dīng Fù’s text.
- Yáng Lián 楊鐮. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ. Rénmín wénxué chūbǎnshè.
- No substantial Western-language secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The catalog meta’s two compilers are recorded in the tíyào under slightly different names — 饒介之 (matches) and 李謹之 (catalog has 李謙之). The 謹/謙 variant is registered in the person note for Lǐ Qiānzhī.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1208.5, p335.