Yībīn jí 伊濱集
The Yī-Shore Collection by 王沂 (撰)
About the work
A 24-juǎn combined poetic and prose collection by Wáng Yí 王沂 (fl. 1314–1362), zì Sīlǔ 思魯, who ended his career as Lǐbù shàngshū and was one of the zǒngcáiguān of the SòngLiáoJīn histories. The title Yībīn derives from a line in Wáng’s own verse (“綸巾羽服臥伊濱”) written during his tenure as Yīyáng tóngzhī (Sōngzhōu) c. 1317. The collection had been lost by the early Qīng — Gù Sìlì could not name Wáng in his Yuánshī xuǎn — and the WYG editors reconstructed it from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn into the present 24-juǎn form.
Tiyao
Yībīn jí, 24 juǎn. By Wáng Yí of the Yuán. Yí’s zì was Sīlǔ; his ancestors were from Yúnzhōng, relocated to Zhēndìng. His father Yuánfù served up to Chéngshìláng, jiān Huángchí shuìwù; Mǎ Zǔcháng’s Shítián jí contains his Yuánfù mùjiémíng recounting their family origins in detail. Wáng Yí’s own career is not surveyed elsewhere; what can be reconstructed by comparing his own writings with other sources is roughly as follows. From Mǎ Zǔcháng’s jiémíng — “of the same exam-roster as Yí” — he must have been a Yán-yòu-early jìnshì. From the Sòng Lǐ xiànlìng xù he was once Línhuái xiànyǐn. From the Yìyìnghóu miào jì in 1317 (Yányòu 4) he had served as assistant prefect of Yīyáng; the Dìlǐ zhì places Yīyáng under Sōngzhōu, so he was Sōngzhōu tóngzhī. From the poem with the line “綸巾羽服臥伊濱” the collection-title Yībīn also derives from this period. From his Sì Nánzhèn Běiyuè records he was Guóshǐyuàn biānxiūguān in Zhìshùn 3 (1332). From Sòng Zhái shēng xù and Hú jiémǔ shī xù he was Guózǐ xué bóshì in Yuántǒng 3 (1335). From Sòng Yú Què xù he was a tóngkǎoshì of the early-Yuán-tǒng examination — Yú Què 余闕 was one of his recommended scholars. From Sì Xīzhèn jì and Yùshū bá he was Hànlín dàizhì in Zhìyuán 6 (1340) and serving in the Xuānwéngé. The SòngLiáoJīn histories completed in Zhìzhèng 5 (1345) list among the staff “Zhōngdàfū Lǐbù shàngshū Wáng Yí” — so by then he had ranked among the lièqīng. Later transfers are not findable — perhaps he retired. But the collection’s Rényín jìyì shī contains the lines “rényín zhòngchūn tiān yǔ diàn — Nánpíng chéngzhōng zhòu jīngè — zìcóng bīnggé shínián lái — hóngdòng fēngchén gèn shāmò” and the Línkòu bījìng cānghuáng nándù has “línyì jǔ fēngsuì — chángqū kòu Nánpíng — zhōngxiāo shǐ wén jǐng — qièjiā suì yuǎnxíng.” Rényín = Zhìzhèng 22 (1362), when the Central Plain bandits were rising; 50 years after his examination, he was still tossed about in the war-and-arms, so by then he must have been past 70. Wáng Yí rose through the guǎngé offices and held many literary-supervision posts; many miàotáng compositions of the day issued from his hand. He exchanged poetic correspondence with Fù Ruòjīn 傅若金, Xǔ Yǒurén 許有壬, Zhōu Bóqí 周伯琦, and Chén Lǚ 陳旅 etc., so his poetry and prose are chōngróng héyǎ “expansive and decorous,” still bearing the xiānzhèng guǐdù “former-rectifier’s measure.” Regrettably his name is not very prominent and the collection itself was rarely transmitted — anthologizers of Yuán poetry could not even name him. The present recension is gleaned from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and edited into 24 juǎn so that the general outline is preserved and the corpus is no longer in danger of being lost. Respectfully collated, ninth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781).
Abstract
The principal contribution of the Sìkù tíyào to Wáng Yí’s bio-bibliography is the careful internal reconstruction of his career from cross-references within the Yībīn jí itself — a model of Sìkù-era philological detective work. The collection covers a remarkable 50-year span — from Wáng’s Yányòu jìnshì (1315) through his rise to Lǐbù shàngshū and chief co-editor of the three histories (1345), to his final years as a refugee under rebel siege at Nánpíng (1362+). Wáng’s epistolary and exchange circle reads as a register of the late-Yuán guǎngé: Mǎ Zǔcháng, Fù Ruòjīn 傅若金, Xǔ Yǒurén 許有壬, Zhōu Bóqí 周伯琦, Chén Lǚ 陳旅. The lost-and-reconstructed status of the collection (recovered only by the Sìkùguǎn from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn) makes it a key witness for the editorial practices of the Qiánlóng project. Composition window: 1315–1362 (full career).
Translations and research
- Yǒng-lè dà-diǎn reconstruction record — the Sìkù-guǎn gleanings.
- Yáng Lián 楊鐮. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ. Rénmín wénxué chūbǎnshè.
Other points of interest
Wáng Yí had been so thoroughly lost that even Gù Sìlì 顧嗣立, the most thorough early-Qīng anthologizer of Yuán poetry, could not name him. The WYG Yībīn jí is consequently among the most important Sìkùguǎn-reconstructed Yuán biéjí — comparable, in textual recovery terms, to the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn reconstructions of Sòng biéjí like the Hézhū jí. Wáng’s role as a zǒngcáiguān of the three SòngLiáoJīn histories is documented at the front of the Sòngshǐ itself.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1208.6, p391.