Guītáng xiǎogǎo 圭塘小藁
The Guī-táng (Jade-Tablet Pond) Smaller Draft by 許有壬 (撰), edited by 許有孚 (編)
About the work
A 13-juǎn self-edited supplement (xiǎogǎo) by Xǔ Yǒurén 許有壬, with biéjí 2 juǎn and xùjí 1 juǎn added by his brother Xǔ Yǒufú 許有孚. The xiǎogǎo is what Xǔ Yǒurén himself selected from his main Zhìzhèng jí KR4d0508 in Zhìzhèng gēngzǐ (1360); Yǒufú prefaced and recorded the selection: “what is not separately recorded from the Zhìzhèng jí.” When Xǔ Yǒurén died and the main collection was lost, only Yǒufú’s carried copy of this xiǎogǎo survived. Yǒufú then assembled 85 prose-and-poetry pieces sent in correspondence to himself, plus 93 further pieces from Gōu Xiànkě’s 緱獻可 Wénguò jí and the Línlǜ jìyóu — as a 2-juǎn biéjí. A 1-juǎn wàijí of fragments was added from one “Yǐjiān yěrén” 倚尖野人. Yǒufú’s second preface is dated túwéi zuòè èryuè — Hóngwǔ 2 (1369) — after the fall of the Yuán. The Chénghuà jǐchǒu (1469) re-cut by Yóng 顒 added a 1-juǎn xùjí with family-record material, posthumous-text, eulogies. The Sìkù tíyào judges the xiǎogǎo as the more precise text — directly handled by the author and supplemented by his brother — preferred over the later-recovered Zhìzhèng jí.
Tiyao
Guītáng xiǎogǎo, 13 juǎn; biéjí 2 juǎn; xùjí 1 juǎn. By Xǔ Yǒurén of the Yuán. The xiǎogǎo was self-edited by Yǒurén; in Zhìzhèng gēngzǐ (1360) his brother Yǒufú prefaced it — namely the Zhìzhèng jí not fully recorded. After Yǒurén died and the master collection was lost, only Yǒufú’s carried copy survived; he then re-arranged 243 shīwén pieces as 13 juǎn; also assembled 85 shīwén sent to Yǒufú; 93 further pieces from Gōu Xiànkě’s Wénguò jí and Línlǜ jìyóu as 2-juǎn biéjí; and the worn fragments from the Yǐjiān yěrén family as 1-juǎn wàijí. Yǒufú again prefaced — title-date túwéi zuòè èryuè, namely Hóngwǔ 2 jǐyǒu (1369), after the fall of the Yuán. Family transmission long; in Xuāndé the wàijí was lost again. In Chénghuà jǐchǒu (1469), Yóng (5th-gen. descendant, Nánkāng zhīfǔ) collated and printed; appended a 1-juǎn xùjí with zhìwén, jìwén, and chànghé compositions of Yǒufú et al. Yè Shèng’s Shuǐdōng rìjì says: “Xiàngtái Xǔ Kěyòng zhōngchéng wénzhāng biǎozhù yīshí yǒu shèngmíng — jīn shì suǒ jiàn zhě kěshǔ ěr”; Gěng Hǎowèn says Yóng still has some juǎn — sad we cannot see them — this is the present text. Later the Zhìzhèng jí re-emerged but is missing parts. Comparing the two: while broadly the same, they have differences. The Rěnjīng, Chūnqiū jīngshuō, Chéng zhōngchéng prefaces; the Xuězhāi shūyuàn, Lóngdégōng, Shàngqīng chǔxiánggōng, Hénán shěng zuǒyòu zànzhìtáng, Liáoshānxiàn rúxué records; the Wǔchāng Wànshòu chóngnínggōng, Línzhōu tóngzhī Sūn chéngshì Kèlègōng (Yuán Qièliègōng) shéndào bēi — all not in Zhìzhèng jí but only here. Also 23 chángduǎnjù in biéjí not in Zhìzhèng jí. Other differences in detail are many. Since this is Yǒurén’s hand-edited original, further arranged by Yǒufú, it is more precise than the late-emerging master text — both versions are recorded for comparison. Respectfully collated, eleventh month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781).
Abstract
The Guītáng xiǎogǎo is, by the Sìkù tíyào’s assessment, the more reliable witness to Xǔ Yǒurén’s text than the Zhìzhèng jí. Three distinct editorial layers — Xǔ Yǒurén’s 1360 self-edit; Xǔ Yǒufú’s 1369 post-fall extension (biéjí and wàijí); Chénghuà 1469 Yóng-edition with appended xùjí — yield a stratigraphic textual history of unusual clarity for a Yuán biéjí. The Qiánlóng-era jìmíng (post-text substitution) Kèlègōng 克勒公 for original Qièliègōng 怯烈公 is preserved in the tíyào as an editorial note — useful for collation. Composition window: from Xǔ Yǒurén’s 1315 jìnshì through the Hóngwǔ 2 (1369) date of Xǔ Yǒufú’s expanded biéjí compilation.
Translations and research
- See KR4d0508 for shared bibliography.
Other points of interest
The xiǎogǎo survived the fall of the Yuán because Xǔ Yǒufú had brought his copy with him in flight. The Zhìzhèng jí was lost because Xǔ Yǒurén’s nephew was forced south in emergency and abandoned his books. The contrast — a brother’s careful preservation vs. a nephew’s flight — is the structural drama of the Xǔ family’s literary preservation.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1211.2, p579.