Piáoquán yíngǎo 瓢泉吟稿
The Piáo-quán (Ladle-Spring) Singing-Drafts by 朱晞顏 (撰)
About the work
A 5-juǎn reconstructed collection of Zhū Xīyán 朱晞顏 (Yuán, of Chángxīng 長興 in Húzhōu, Zhèjiāng — a different person from the 朱晞顏 of Jīngbèiyín jí KR4d0525; see the person note for disambiguation). Zì Jǐngyuān 景淵. Career: trained in guóshū (Mongolian / Phagspa script), so initially selected as Píngyángzhōu Měnggǔyuàn yǎn; then Chánglín chéng sī zhǔ yánfù (salt-administration); finally Jiāngxī Ruìzhōu jiānshuì. The collection was originally 4 juǎn called Piáoquán jí (per Jiāo Hóng’s Guóshǐ jīngjí zhì) but lost; the present recension was reconstructed by the Sìkùguǎn from Yǒnglè dàdiǎn into 2 juǎn shī + 1 juǎn cí + 2 juǎn wén. The Yuán-period prefaces by Móu Yǎn 牟巘 and Zhèng Xī 鄭僖 are preserved.
Tiyao
Piáoquán yíngǎo, 5 juǎn. By Zhū Xīyán of the Yuán. There were two Zhū Xīyán in the Yuán: one wrote the Jīngbèiyín KR4d0525; one was a man of Chángxīng, zì Jǐngyuān — namely the author of this gǎo. His career is not easily reconstructed; only Wú Chéng’s 吳澄 collection has a mùbiǎo for [Zhū’s] father Wénjìn, mentioning Xīyán — that he was able to compose poetry and was a liánglì (good official) — also not stating what office. Now per the collection’s poems: initially trained in guóshū; selected as Píngyángzhōu Měnggǔyuàn yǎn; then Chánglín chéng in charge of zhǔ yánfù; once Jiāngxī Ruìzhōu jiānshuì. Thus a man who spent his life in low jùnyì bēilì (district-prefecture petty office). The collection’s transmission is rare; not in book-collectors’ catalogs. Only Jiāo Hóng’s Guóshǐ jīngjí zhì records Piáoquán jí 4 juǎn — but no transmitted copy. Gù Sìlì’s Yuánshī sānbǎijiā also does not mention him. We now use what the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn records, transcribed and arranged: shī 2 juǎn, cí 1 juǎn, wén 2 juǎn. Móu Yǎn and Zhèng Xī’s original two prefaces still exist, placed at the head. The collection’s exchange-correspondents include Xiānyú Shū [鮮于樞], Jiē Xīsī, Yáng Zài, etc. — so his hearing-and-seeing was xūnrú (well-fumigated); had fǎdù. The work, though biānfú shāoxiá (narrow scope), in shénlǐ (spirit and form) is intrinsically qīng (clear). Móu Yǎn’s preface praises his nǐgǔ (archaizing) pieces — these are all in the collection — pō dé HànWèi yíyì (have grasped the residue of HànWèi spirit) — different from those who work by gēbō zìjù (cutting up words and lines). His záwén is also carefully crafted, not losing shéngmò. But the Qūshēng (qūshēng) and júyǐn two zhuàn that Zhèng Xī praises follow the MáoYǐng Géhuá model, after the Luówén and Yèjiā manner — old worn forms. Zhèng admired them as “qíshàn” — alas, shìsú bùkě yī “the world’s pedantry cannot be cured.” Respectfully collated.
Abstract
The Piáoquán yíngǎo preserves the work of an unusual figure: a Měnggǔzìxué trained low-level Yuán bureaucrat whose poetic activities placed him within the literary circles of Xiānyú Shū, Jiē Xīsī, and Yáng Zài. The reconstruction from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn makes this another major Sìkùguǎn-recovered Yuán biéjí. The CTX classification problem — two Yuán-period 朱晞顏 — is methodically handled in the tíyào, providing the principal evidence for the disambiguation. Composition window: from earliest documented compositions (c. 1290) to Zhū’s late career (c. 1340).
Translations and research
- Yáng Lián. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ.
Other points of interest
The catalog meta gives lifedates 1221–1279 for Zhū Xīyán; these are not supported by the Sìkù tíyào or by the kǎozhèng possible from internal evidence (which would place his career into the early-to-mid 14th century). The lifedates seem to be a catalog error; this entry follows the tíyào’s implicit chronology rather than the catalog meta dates.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1213.3, p373.