Yǔtíng jí 羽庭集
The Yǔ-tíng (Feather-Pavilion) Collection by 劉仁本 (撰)
About the work
A 6-juǎn (4 juǎn shī + 2 juǎn wén) reconstructed collection of Liú Rénběn 劉仁本 (d. 1368). Late-Yuán jìnshì yǐkē who served sequentially as Wēnzhōulù zǒngguǎn and JiāngZhè xíngshěng zuǒyòusī lángzhōng before being absorbed into Fāng Guózhēn’s mùfǔ during the late-Yuán WēnTái coastal regime. Liú was the principal administrative talent of the Fāng regime, supervising annual sea-shipments of grain north to Dàdū — the late-Yuán supply effort. The collection was lost; the Sìkùguǎn reconstructed it from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. The 1357 Yúyáo Yúyǒngtíng gathering modeled on the Lántíng poetic ritual is preserved as a stele inscription (not in the collection itself); attendees included Zhào Sù, Xiè Lǐ, Zhū Yòu, etc. The Sìkù tíyào corrects the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn’s mis-labeling of Liú as “Guócháo” (Míng) — he was never in the Míng, dying at Fāng’s defeat (1368).
Tiyao
Yǔtíng jí, 6 juǎn. By Liú Rénběn of the Yuán. Rénběn zì Déyuán, a man of Tiāntái. By jìnshì yǐkē — held office sequentially up to Wēnzhōulù zǒngguǎn, JiāngZhè xíngshěng zuǒyòusī lángzhōng. The time was Fāng Guózhēn holding WēnTái — extending welcome to the zhūjùn shìdàfū; Rénběn entered his mù; took part in strategy. Guózhēn yearly zhì hǎizhōu — shū JiāngHuái zhī sù yú Dàdū — Rénběn actually managed it. His suǒ shǔ shěngláng guān — were Yuán-conferred — so the collection’s compositions are mostly gǎnkǎi ānwēi — juànhuái Wángshì. His following Guózhēn — was to borrow his force to act — gradually plan xīngfù — just like Luō Yǐn serving the WúYuè — shí xīn bù wàng Táng. Look at his Zèng Lǐ yuánwài zì Jíqìng huí Hénán shī: “Hànbīng zǎo yǐ dìng Zhōnghuá — SūnShù yóu míng jǐngdǐwā” — yú Míngzǔ xiǎnrán zhǐchì — his zhì kězhī. Later Guózhēn’s troops defeated and Rénběn captured — kàngjié bùnáo — until biānbèi kuìlàn and died — so Rénběn zhōngshǐ Yuánrén — wèicháng yīrì rùMíng. The Yǒnglè dàdiǎn titles it “Guócháo Liú Rénběn” — fēi qí shí yě. Rénběn xuéwèn yānyǎ — gōng yú yínyǒng — much exchanged with Zhào Sù, Xiè Lǐ, Zhū Yòu et al. Once commanded troops at Yúyáo — built Yǔyǒngtíng at left foot of Lóngquán — fǎngfú Lántíng jǐngwù — gathered the era’s wénshì — xiūxì and fùshī — wrote his own preface. The text not in the collection — but stone-inscription still survives today. Wéncǎi fēngliú — kěyǐ xiǎngjiàn. So all compositions are qīngjùn juésú — bùrǎn chénfēn. His xùjì pieces — recording Fāng Guózhēn and CháhǎnTièmùěr (Yuán Kuòkuòtiēmùěr) embassy-exchange events and suìcáo Dàdū affairs — much bùjì zhuàn suǒ bùzǎi — also can bǔ shǐquē. Original version long lost; we now from Yǒnglè dàdiǎn contents — by genre-categories editing — arranged as shī 4 juǎn wén 2 juǎn — nǎi gǎití yuē Yuán Liú Rénběn — to preserve its truth. Respectfully collated.
Abstract
Yǔtíng jí preserves the principal monument of a late-Yuán Wēnzhōu administrator-loyalist. Liú Rénběn’s role in the Fāng Guózhēn regime — supervising the sea-grain shipments to Dàdū — places him in late-Yuán supply-line documentation; his xùjì pieces fill the gaps in the Yuánshǐ on Fāng-regime / Cháhǎntièmùěr embassy relations and suìcáo (annual grain) shipments. The literary-political comparison to Luō Yǐn / WúYuè (Táng-loyalist serving a regional regime) is the Sìkù tíyào’s preferred framing — Liú as a deferred-loyalist rather than a defector. Composition window: from earliest preserved compositions (c. 1340, after jìnshì) to 1368.
Translations and research
- Yuán-shǐ (no separate biography; appears in Fāng Guó-zhēn-related sections).
- Yáng Lián. 2003. Yuán-shī shǐ.
- John W. Dardess. Conquerors and Confucians. — Studies Liú in the context of late-Yuán mù-fǔ loyalism.
Other points of interest
The 1357 Yúyǒngtíng gathering at Yúyáo, modeled on the Lántíng xiūxì, is one of the better-documented mid-late-Yuán literary social events. The stele inscription survives.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1216.1, p1.