Tuìān jí 蛻菴集
The Tuì-ān (Sloughed-Skin Hut) Collection by 張翥 (撰)
About the work
A 5-juǎn collected works of Zhāng Zhù 張翥 (1287–1368), one of the principal late-Yuán poets and the Hànlín xuéshì chéngzhǐ who survived to die in the year of the Yuán fall. The collection survived only because of disciples’ efforts: after Zhāng Zhù’s death without heir, his monastic friend Dàshū 大杼 took the yígǎo south to Jiāngnán and re-edited it, with prefaces by Láifù 來復 and Zōnglè 宗泐 (both monks). The Sìkùguǎn used a Hóngwǔ 3 (1370) Xīshān Láng Chéngrén 郎成 hand-copy preserved by Zhū Yízūn 朱彝尊 — the earliest extant version. The collection is incomplete: Yuányīn, Qiánkūn qīngqì jí, Yùshān yǎjí preserve further Zhāng Zhù verse not in the present version. The Sìkù tíyào carefully distinguishes Zhāng Zhù of the Yuán from a homonymous Jīn Míngchāng / Chéng-ān-era Zhāng Zhù zì Zhòngyáng — a common error in earlier references.
Tiyao
Tuìān jí, 5 juǎn. By Zhāng Zhù of the Yuán. Zhù zì Zhòngjǔ, a man of Jìnníng. In early Zhìyuán, by yǐnyì recommendation, called as Guózǐ zhùjiào; divided teaching at Shàngdū; soon retired to Huáidōng. With the SòngLiáoJīn history compilation, called up as Hànlín Guóshǐyuàn biānxiūguān; rose to Hànlín xuéshì chéngzhǐ; retired with rank Hénán xíngshěng píngzhāng zhèngshì, given lifelong stipend. Career fully in Yuánshǐ. — Case: Jīn Míngchāng / Chéngān era there was also a Zhāng Zhù — zì Zhòngyáng. Liú Qí’s Guīqián zhì records his lines “ǎi chuāng xiǎohù hán bùdào — yīlú xiānghuǒ sìwéi shū — xīfēng liǎo què huánghuā shì — bùguǎn ānrén liǎngbìn qiū” — judged fúyàn; in works cited or recorded, sometimes mistaken for one person — not so. Zhù studied xué under Lǐ Cún 李存 — receiving the Lù Jiǔyuān transmission. Verse-method came from Qiú Yuǎn — got the yīnlǜ zhī ào. His verse is qīngyuán wěntiē, gédiào pōgāo; his jìntǐ chángduǎnjù were especially praised at the time. But his gǔtǐ also kàngshuǎng kěsòng (lofty and recitable). His cí mostly with fěngyù (remonstrative-allegorical), often gets Yuán Zhěn, Bái Jūyì, Zhāng Jí, Wáng Jiàn’s yí — also not careless work. Wáng Shìzhēn’s Jūyì lù: “Tuìān is the late-Yuán great-master; both old-and-new verse have fǎdù; not to speak of [Zhào] Zǐáng and [Wáng] Bóyōng — even Fàn Déjī and Jiē Mànshuò, the bózhòng (rank) is uncertain.” His comment is apposite. Shǐ says Zhù’s yígǎo did not transmit; what transmitted is only 3 juǎn lǜshī yuèfǔ. Wáng Shìzhēn calls it Tuìān jí 4 juǎn; Hóngwǔ 3 (1370) Xīshān Láng Chéngrén hand-copy. The present recension is Zhū Yí-zūn-collected Míng-early Shì Dàshū hand-copy — front-and-back have Láifù and Zōnglè preface-and-postface. Dàshū was Zhù’s fāngwài friend; late-Yuán when Zhù died without heir, Dàshū took the yígǎo south to Jiāngnán and selected and copied. By examining Yuányīn, Qiánkūn qīngqì jí, Yùshān yǎjí — recorded Zhù verse — still has pieces outside this collection — so this is not the complete version. Respectfully collated.
Abstract
The Tuìān jí is one of the most consequential late-Yuán poetic collections. Zhāng Zhù’s long life (1287–1368) — surviving to the year of the dynasty’s fall — and his career trajectory (Lù-school discipleship under Lǐ Cún → poetic apprenticeship under Qiú Yuǎn → late-Yuán Hànlín leadership) made him a central figure in the literary transmission across the dynastic change. The dramatic post-death preservation — Dàshū carrying the yígǎo south after Zhāng died without heir — is the standard yígǎo story for YuánMíng transition; the surviving Hóngwǔ 3 hand-copy fixes the recension. Wáng Shìzhēn’s evaluation (“late-Yuán great-master”) is the standard modern judgment. Composition window: from earliest preserved compositions (c. 1310) to 1368 death.
Translations and research
- Yuán-shǐ j. 186 (Zhāng Zhù biography).
- Yáng Lián. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ. Multiple chapters treat Zhāng Zhù as the late-Yuán inheritor of the sì-dà-jiā line.
- Multiple late-Yuán-poetry monographs treat Zhāng Zhù as the principal mid-late Yuán cí writer.
Other points of interest
The textual situation — Hóngwǔ 3 (1370) hand-copy still surviving, preserved by Zhū Yízūn (early Qīng) — is a relatively short chain of transmission for a Yuán biéjí. The Sìkù tíyào’s philological distinction between Yuán Zhāng Zhù zì Zhòngjǔ and Jīn Zhāng Zhù zì Zhòngyáng is preserved here as a useful cautionary note for catalog readers.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1215.1, p1.
- Wikipedia, 張翥