Jīngbèiyín jí 鯨背吟集
The Singing-on-the-Whale-Back Collection by 朱晞顏 (撰)
About the work
A single-juǎn poetic collection ascribed to Zhū Xīyán 朱晞顏 — zì recorded in the self-preface as Míngshì 名世 — composed of 30+ qīyán juéjù with each piece ending with a borrowed gǔjù (ancient line). The collection commemorates a sea voyage from Jiāngnán to Yānjīng (Yuán Dàdū) in Zhìyuán xīnmǎo (1291). The final piece’s couplet “zǎo zhī jīngbèi tuīqiāo xiǎn — huǐ bù lái shí zhǐ kuà niú” (“had I known the polish-the-line whale-back voyage would be so dangerous, I’d have only ridden an ox”) gives the collection its title.
Tiyao
Jīngbèiyín jí, 1 juǎn. Old version attributes to Zhū Xīyán of the Yuán. Self-preface at the front, zì signed Míngshì. Postface and self-bá at the end. Preface says: “in Zhìyuán xīnmǎo (1291) I sailed to Yānjīng; on the boat composed 30+ qīyán juéjù; with each line-end appended an ancient line.” The final piece runs “had I known the polish-the-line whale-back voyage would be so dangerous — I’d have only ridden an ox” — hence the title Jīngbèiyín. Cáo Xuéquán’s Shíèrdài shīxuǎn anthologizes it. Chángzhōu Gù Sìlì’s Yuán bǎijiā shī, citing Zhào Mèngfǔ’s Sòng Wú Cuìhánjí xù, says: “Wú 無 originally used Xīyán as zì; ancestral seat Jìnlíng — fled to Wú and adopted Zhū-surname; at Zhì-yuán-era his father held Zhēngdōng wànhù àndú — that year was sick of wěibìng — Wú asked to take his place, going in his stead — entered the sea — passed the various mountains of Korea — never set down his composing-of-poetry — Jīngbèiyín is the work of that time.” But the self-preface here says “ǒu tuōjì yú Cáokē — wèi wàngqíng yú bǐyàn — yuánmùqiúyú — chéngfú fúhǎi” — “happened to be entrusted with the cáokē affair — not having lost-feeling for bǐyàn (brush-and-inkstone) — climbing-the-tree-to-fish — clinging-the-raft-to-the-sea” — qíngshì miǎo bù xiāng shè (the circumstances are utterly unrelated) to “going in his father’s place into the Zhēngdōng mùfǔ”; also does not match Zhào’s preface (“recommended for Màocái by Wánggōng of Xīxī — declined”) — also not matching. Don’t know the reason. Yí yǐ chuán yí kě yě. Respectfully collated.
Abstract
The Jīngbèiyín jí is a single-trip poetic memorial of an early-Yuán voyage from Jiāngnán to Dàdū via the sea route. The textual problem is one of the more famous in Yuán bibliography: is the author Zhū Xīyán of the Piáoquán tradition (Chángxīng / Húzhōu) KR4d0518, or is he the Sòng Wú 宋無 (originally Zhū Xīyán then re-named Sòng Wú) of the Cuìhán jí KR4d0498? Gù Sìlì in his Yuánshī xuǎn equated the two on the basis of Zhào Mèngfǔ’s preface to Cuìhán jí; but the self-preface of the Jīngbèiyín jí describes circumstances incompatible with the Cuìhán account. The Sìkù tíyào therefore leaves the question yí yǐ chuán yí. The 30+ qīyán juéjù with ancient-line completions are an unusual genre — a deliberate poetic exercise rather than an organic sequence. Composition window: confined to the Zhìyuán xīnmǎo (1291) voyage, polished thereafter through c. 1295.
Translations and research
- Yáng Lián. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ.
- Gù Sì-lì 顧嗣立, Yuán-shī xuǎn (the source of the Sòng-Wú-conflation hypothesis).
Other points of interest
The Yuán sea-route from Jiāngnán to Dàdū — established in 1282 as the principal supply line — became the literary topic of several Yuán poetic jìxíng sets; the Jīngbèiyín jí is one of the earliest. The “polished-and-engraved-on-whale-back” image — riding the back of the great fish through dangerous water — is a Yuán-period popular figure for the dangerous maritime voyage.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1214.3, p427.