Mèngguān jí 夢觀集
The Dream-Contemplation Collection by 釋大圭 (撰)
About the work
A 5-juǎn restored poetic collection by Shì Dàguī 釋大圭 (Yuán, fl. mid-Zhì-zhèng), Quánzhōu Zǐyúnsì monk and lay-name Liào 廖. The original was 24 juǎn: 1 Mèngfǎ + 1 Mèngjì + 1 Mèngshì (zōngmén yǔlù) + 6 shī + 15 wén (mostly qīngcí shūyǐn Buddhist liturgy). The Sìkùguǎn removed the yǔlù and the liturgical prose as falling outside biéjí propriety, retaining only the gǔjīn tǐ shī (5 juǎn).
Tiyao
Mèngguān jí, 5 juǎn. By Yuán monk Shì Dàguī. Dàguī zì Héngbái, surname Liào, a man of Jìnjiāng. In Zhìzhèng resided at Zǐyúnsì in Quánzhōu. The collection was originally 24 juǎn; first 1 juǎn Mèngfǎ, 1 juǎn Mèngjì, 1 juǎn Mèngshì — all zōngmén yǔlù; should not be listed in a biéjí. Next 6 juǎn shī; next 15 juǎn wén — mostly qīngcí shūyǐn — also Shìjiā běnsè — no kěqǔ. Only his verse is qìgǔ lěiluò, no Yuán-era xiānnóng habit, and no Sòng-late Jiānghú shūsǔn tone. Wú Jiàn’s original preface: “yīnghuá shí xiāngfù — cí dá ér yì dào — bùdiāolòu ér gōng — qù zǎnzǔ ér lì — píng gēngchú ér xiù” — though friend’s words of advancement, examining the works, also not all from yìměi. So Shíhú Jiànnán zhī yúfēng — still preserved yú fāngyǐwài (in the monastic). We now delete his Mèngfǎ etc. juǎn, also delete his záwén — preserving only gǔjīn tǐ shī — edited into 5 juǎn. Shālì jì juān; jīnghuá sī lù. Qǔcháng qìduǎn — aiming at bùshī yǎyīn. His sānshèng zōngzhǐ — listen to Shìshì zhī tú itself transmitting — surely no need for bǐfǎ (their teaching) to plan. Respectfully collated.
Abstract
The Mèngguān jí preserves the literary side of a late-Yuán Quánzhōu Chán monk — a corpus of 5 juǎn gleaned from an original 24-juǎn mixed-content collection by the Sìkùguǎn’s genre-disciplined editing. The collection’s stylistic line — qìgǔ lěiluò, Shíhú Jiànnán yúfēng — places Dàguī within the surviving late-Sòng / mid-Yuán qīngxīn poetic current, away from both the late-Yuán xiānnóng (Wēn-Tíng-yún-derived) and the Sòng-late Jiānghú mannerism. Composition window: from earliest preserved compositions (c. 1335) to c. 1360 (Dàguī’s fl. attestation at 1355).
Translations and research
- Yáng Lián. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ.
- The Mèng-fǎ, Mèng-jì, Mèng-shì sections — excluded from the Sìkù-guǎn edition — survive in some other Buddhist canon collections and are of interest for Yuán-era Chán yǔ-lù.
Other points of interest
The Quánzhōu Zǐyúnsì residence is documented; Quánzhōu in mid-Zhì-zhèng was both a Chán center and a major trade port — Shì Dàguī’s literary network presumably included merchants and overseas-trade officials.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1215.4, p227.