Yānshí jí 燕石集
The Yān-Stone Collection by 宋褧 (撰)
About the work
A 15-juǎn collected works (10 juǎn shī + 5 juǎn wén) of Sòng Jiǒng 宋褧 (1294–1346), zì Xiǎnfū. Native of Dàdū (Yānjīng region — hence the title Yānshí, “Yān-stone”). Tàidìng 1 (1324) jìnshì. Final office Hànlín zhíxuéshì, jiān jīngyán jiǎngguān. Posthumous name Wénqīng. With his elder brother Sòng Běn 宋本, the two were called “Greater and Lesser Sòng” 大宋小宋. Edited by Sòng Jiǒng’s nephew Kuò 彍 (Tàicháng fènglǐ láng); printed under Zhìzhèng 8 (1348) imperial-censorate-and-Zhè-jiāng-circuit referendum; prefaces by Ōuyáng Xuán 歐陽玄, Sū Tiānjué 蘇天爵, Xǔ Yǒurén 許有壬, Lǚ Sīchéng 呂思誠, Wēi Sù 危素 — a register of the late-Yuán guǎngé. Hé Zhīquán 何之權 and Lǚ Yíng 呂熒 wrote Hóngwǔ-era bá.
Tiyao
Yānshí jí, 15 juǎn. By Sòng Jiǒng of the Yuán. Jiǒng’s zì was Xiǎnfū, native of Dàdū. Tàidìng 1 (1324) jìnshì. Held office sequentially up to Hànlín zhíxuéshì, jiān jīngyán jiǎngguān. Posthumous name Wénqīng. Jiǒng read widely; with his elder brother Běn, both came into the guǎngé one after the other — and both had collections in circulation. Contemporaries compared them to the dàSòng / xiǎoSòng. Jiǒng’s collection was edited by his nephew Tàicháng fènglǐ láng Kuò. In total 10 juǎn shī + 5 juǎn wén. At the head is a Zhìzhèng 8 (1348) Censorate-and-Zhè-jiāng-Province zīchéng (referendum) authorizing printing; followed by 5 prefaces — Ōuyáng Xuán, Sū Tiānjué, Xǔ Yǒurén, Lǚ Sīchéng, Wēi Sù; at the end the posthumous-name proposal, mùzhì, jìwén, wǎnshī. Also Hóng-wǔ-era bá by Hé Zhīquán and Lǚ Yíng. So this is still the old text. Ōuyáng Xuán’s preface says: “his verse strives to discard the worn-and-trite — Yānrén’s língyún heroic spirit — kāngkǎi fùjié zhī yīn, transformed into qīngxīn xiùwěi (fresh and graceful).” Sū Tiānjué’s preface says “fresh-new and floating, occasionally producing the archaic-strange — like Lú Tóng or Lǐ Hè.” Wēi Sù’s preface says “precise, deep, secluded and elegant — strongest in subtle remonstrance.” Examining the work, these characterizations are roughly correct. But his cízǎo flares out, sometimes the cái is too abundant; jù sometimes loses inspection, yùn falling into mere forced rhyme. As in Zhèngxiàngōngfén suǒ Hánshí shī — “gāofén bǎidǎ qián” — but Wéi Zhuāng’s verse “shàngxiàng xián fēn bǎidǎ qián” — bǎidǎ qián is not “paper money.” Or in Zhāng Ān wǎnshī — “què shì zhēn hún mái bù dé” — the preface saying she was 10 and skilled in zhǔduì; but Lǐ Shāngyǐn’s verse “wàngǔ zhēn hún yǐ mùxiá” was not about an un-married 10-year-old girl. Such cases are mostly the over-flow of fùshàn: tān duō wù dé — so he cannot polish the impurities clean. But the armory’s weapons: sharp and blunt mingle — judged on the whole, it suffices for yījiā; one cannot let small zìjù matters drag it down. His prose was a side-effort to verse but is wēnrùn and clean, also keeping decorum. Respectfully collated.
Abstract
The Yānshí jí preserves the principal monument of late-Yuán metropolitan poetry from the Dàdū literary scene. The five-author preface-roster (Ōuyáng Xuán, Sū Tiānjué, Xǔ Yǒurén, Lǚ Sīchéng, Wēi Sù) is unparalleled among Yuán biéjí — Sòng Jiǒng was at the center of the guǎngé social network. The tíyào’s technical philological notes on Sòng’s careless allusions (the bǎidǎ qián “paper money” error and the zhēnhún mis-application) are useful specific cases of late-Yuán literary-historical bóyǐn over-reach. Composition window: 1324 (jìnshì) to 1346 (death).
Translations and research
- Yáng Lián. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1212.3, p367.