Guīzhāi wénjí 圭齋文集
The Guī-zhāi (Studio of the Jade Tablet) Collection by 歐陽玄 (撰)
About the work
The 15-juǎn collected works (4 juǎn shīfù, 11 juǎn prose, plus 1 juǎn fùlù) of Ōuyáng Xuán 歐陽玄 (1283–1357, written 歐陽元 in the Sìkù tradition for the Qiánlóng taboo on 玄), zì Yuángōng 原功, hào Guīzhāi 圭齋. Native of Liúyáng (Tánzhōu). Ōuyáng was perhaps the most prolific late-Yuán court writer: “three times Chéngjūn, twice Jìjiǔ, six times into the Hànlín, three times chéngzhǐ”; the great court tablets, edicts, and inscriptions of the late dynasty largely came from his hand. Jiē Xīsī’s preface (preserved at the head of the original Wáng Shīmó recension) lists Ōuyáng’s writings as Shīliú (3 juǎn), Yánzhōng (10 juǎn), Qūyān (15 juǎn), Qiángxué (10 juǎn), Shùzhí (3 juǎn) — total ~41 juǎn. Sòng Lián’s preface records that this entire collection was lost to war, and that only seven years’ worth of compositions (xīnmǎo 1351 through dīngyǒu 1357 — the war years) survived, in 24 juǎn edited by Ōuyáng’s grandson Yòuchí 祐持*. The present 15-juǎn recension, with title-page “zōngsūn Míngyōng biānjí,” is a further edited version by his great-grand-nephew, again post-Sòng-Lián.
Tiyao
Guīzhāi jí, 15 juǎn, plus 1 juǎn appendix. By Ōuyáng Yuán [= Xuán] of the Yuán. Yuán has the Zhěnghuāng shìlüè already in the catalog. Yuán was already famous as a literary man in early life. He served three times as Chéngjūnjìjiǔ, twice as jìjiǔ of the Imperial College, six times into the Hànlín, three times chéngzhǐ. The great court ceremonial inscriptions and edicts mostly issued from his hand. Jiē Xīsī wrote a preface to his collected works listing Shīliú (3 juǎn), Yánzhōng (10 juǎn), Qūyān (15 juǎn), Qiángxué (10 juǎn), Shùzhén (3 juǎn); this was his disciple Wáng Shīmó’s compilation. Sòng Lián’s preface says the original collection of more than 100 cè was all burned in war; only seven years’ work — xīnmǎo to dīngyǒu — survived, 24 juǎn, edited by Yuán’s grandson Yòuchí. The present recension has 4 juǎn of shīfù and 11 of prose, plus 1 fùlù, with the title-page “zōngsūn Míngyōng biānjí” — again not Yòuchí’s original. Kǒng Qí’s Zhìzhèng zhíjì records: Ōuyáng Yuán composed prose always inquiring closely into the actual events and writing only the truth — he never traded in the vulgar exaggerations of the day. People said his wénfǎ fell short of Yú Jí, Jiē Xīsī, and Huáng Jìn — but that his factual reliability surpassed all three. Sòng Lián characterized his prose as “lightning-flashes recovered, hail and rain falling together — terrifying and astonishing — and when the cloud passes and the rain ends, then ten thousand lǐ of clear blue sky like washed” — and was hardly inferior to those three. Yú Jí’s Dàoyuán xuégǔ lù contains a Sòng Yuán yègào huán Liúyáng poem reading “yì xī xiānjūn zǎo shí xián, shǒu fēng zhìzuò dòng chéng biān, jiāoyóu yǒudào zhēn sānyì, hànmò tóngcháo yòu shí nián.” Yú Jí’s father was jiàoshòu at Tánzhōu and on seeing Ōuyáng’s prose was greatly astonished, sealed a packet and sent it to Yú Jí with the note “one day he will run shoulder-to-shoulder with you”; so Yú’s poem reads thus. From the very beginning of his career, then, Ōuyáng’s prestige stood next to Yú Jí. Respectfully collated, fifth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778).
Abstract
The Guīzhāi wénjí is the principal extant text of one of the four most consequential late-Yuán prose writers. Roughly seven-eighths of Ōuyáng’s original output was destroyed in the late-Yuán warfare; the present 15-juǎn recension is itself a further reduction of the 24-juǎn war-survivors edition. The Sìkù tíyào preserves the principal contemporary assessments — Kǒng Qí’s fǎshànshìzhēn judgment (less polished but more truthful than YúJiēHuáng), Sòng Lián’s lightning-and-blue-sky simile, and Yú Jí’s autobiographical recognition of Ōuyáng as his peer. Ōuyáng’s role as chief co-editor of the three SòngLiáoJīn histories, alongside Jiē Xīsī and Wáng Yí, makes him a structural figure in late-Yuán historiography. Composition window: from the 1315 jìnshì through 1357, with the bulk of preserved text from the 1351-1357 war years.
Translations and research
- Yuán-shǐ j. 182 (Ōuyáng Xuán biography).
- Hok-lam Chan. 1970. The Historiography of the Chin Dynasty.
- Yáng Lián. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ.
Other points of interest
The character variation 玄 / 元 in Ōuyáng’s personal name is purely a Sìkù-era taboo substitution and is not a separate person. The catalog _resp line uses 歐陽玄 (the historical form); the Sìkù tíyào uses 歐陽元 (the taboo form).
Links
- WYG SKQS V1210.1, p1.
- Wikipedia, 歐陽玄