Yàofáng qiáochàng 葯房樵唱
The Yào-fáng (Medicine-Hut) Woodcutter’s Singing by 吳景奎 (撰)
About the work
A 3-juǎn + 1 juǎn fùlù collection of Wú Jǐngkuí 吳景奎 (1292–1355). Native of Lánxī (Wūzhōu). Lived as a xiàorú (filial son) — refused official appointment to care for his elderly mother. Huáng Jìn 黃溍 wrote his epitaph. The collection was edited by his son Lǚ 履 and his disciple Huáng Qí 黃琪. Sòng Lián 宋濂 prefaced it. The Sìkù tíyào characterizes the wǔyán gǔtǐ as Bái Jū-yì-derived, the qīyán gǔtǐ as occasionally Lǐ Hè-like; jìntǐ yīnjié hóngchǎng (sonorous and broad), háofàng zìxǐ (heroic and free, self-pleased).
Tiyao
Yàofáng qiáochàng, 3 juǎn. By Wú Jǐngkuí of the Yuán. Jǐngkuí zì Wénkě, a man of Lánxī. At 30, Hǎidào wànhù Liú Zhēn was Zhèdōng xiànfǔ yǎn — once invited him to be cóngshì. The next year Zhēn left; Jǐngkuí also returned. Long after, by bù shǐzhě recommended, shǔ Xìnghuàxiàn rúxué lù — because of his elderly mother declined and did not take it. Zhìzhèng 15 (1355) died at home. Huáng Jìn wrote his zhìmù — much wǎnxī (lamenting). The present collection is what his son Lǚ and disciple Huáng Qí edited. The wǔyán gǔtǐ — all derived from Bái Jūyì; qīyán gǔtǐ sometimes resembles Lǐ Hè; jìntǐ also yīnjié hóngchǎng, háofàng zìxǐ. Sòng Lián wrote the xù, much praising it. Only the editing’s jiǎntài shī yú jiǎnshěn (selection failing to be careful) — as Ǒuchéng shī “xié cái shèng dé shì suǒ bó — níng wǒ fùrén tiān kě qī — shì zhī èryán xíng gǒu rúcǐ — shèngjīng xiánzhuàn jiāng xī wéi” — almost a Liú Kèzhuāng (Hòucūn xiānsheng) “yǒuyùn yǔlù” — shū bùrùgé. Other yìngsú zhī zuò — also mostly zhēnkǔ (thorny) and uncut. So Lǚ et al. jílù zhī guò (over-collected). But the jīnghuá (essence) is intrinsically there — also not on this account let it cover. Respectfully collated.
Abstract
Yàofáng qiáochàng preserves a small but characteristic Wūzhōu / Lánxī biéjí of the same circle as Huáng Jìn (who wrote Wú’s epitaph) and Sòng Lián (who prefaced the collection). The stylistic profile — Bái Jūyì in wǔyán gǔtǐ, Lǐ Hè-like in qīyán gǔtǐ — represents a late-Yuán synthesis of mid-Táng poetic models. The Sìkù tíyào’s critique of the editorial collection (Ǒuchéng shī compared to Liú Kèzhuāng’s “yǒuyùn yǔlù”) is the standard caution against over-collection by family/disciple editors. Composition window: from earliest preserved compositions (c. 1320) to 1355.
Translations and research
- Sòng Lián, Yào-fáng qiáo-chàng xù.
- Huáng Jìn, Wú Jǐng-kuí mù-zhì — preserved in his Wén-xiàn jí.
- Yáng Lián. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1215.8, p419.