Línwài yěyán 林外野言
Wild Words from Outside the Forest by 郭翼 (撰)
About the work
A two-juǎn poetry collection by Guō Yì 郭翼 (1305–1364) of Kūnshān, with an appended letter to Gù Zhòngyīng 顧仲瑛 (i.e. Gù Yīng 顧瑛, the patron of the Yùshān cǎotáng literary circle). The title plays on Guō’s sobriquet Dōngguō shēng “the Man Beyond the East Wall” and his self-positioning as a “wild old man” outside the forest — i.e. outside the woods of literary respectability. He composed in the manner of Yáng Wéizhēn 楊維楨 and his Tiěyá yuèfǔ circle; pieces like Wàngfū shí “The Husband-Watching Stone” and Jīngwèi cí explicitly model the Tiěyá yuèfǔ form. The collection’s surviving form has been substantially pared down from what Guō actually wrote: several of his poems quoted in the Yùshān míngshèng jí 玉山名勝集 and the Qiánkūn qīngqì jí 乾坤清氣集 are not present here.
Tiyao
Línwài yěyán, 2 juǎn. By Guō Yì of the Yuán. Yì, style-name Xīzhòng, was a man of Kūnshān. In youth he studied under Wèi Péi and was strong in the meaning of the Yì. He once submitted strategy memorials to Zhāng Shìchéng, which were not taken up; he returned and farmed at Lóushàng, in old age receiving a xùndǎo post but always at odds with the times; he lived constrained and died unfulfilled. Lú Xióng wrote his tomb-inscription, which is preserved in Zhū Guī’s Míngjī lù. Yì was sharp-witted and broadly learned; he disdained the jǔzǐ (examination) practice, devoting himself instead to old-style prose. He was especially skilled in poetry. He styled himself Dōngguō shēng or Yěwēng (“Wild Elder”), naming the collection Línwài yěyán. The present transmission consists of shàng and xià in two juǎn plus an appended letter to Gù Zhòngyīng. Examining the Yùshān míngshèng and Qiánkūn qīngqì collections, many of Yì’s poems are not in this collection, so it is suspected he himself culled and discarded them. Conversely some pieces — e.g. Tí Liú Lóngzhōu mù (Inscribing the tomb of Liú Guò) and Sòng dàoshì yóu Wǔdāng — also appear in Lǚ Chéng’s collection, so they may be misattributions by the editor. Yì studied with Yáng Wéizhēn; his poetry is coiled and clear-and-stiff, very close to Yáng’s school. Yáng deeply approved of him for fineness of execution. Among them Wàngfū shí and Jīngwèi cí use the Tiěyá yuèfǔ form quite closely. The general quality is firm and upright, with no weak resonance: among the late-Yuán Wúzhōng poets he stands out distinctly. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng forty-sixth (1781), fifth month. Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì; head proofreader: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Línwài yěyán preserves the bulk of the surviving poetry of Guō Yì, a Kūnshān literatus active in the late-Yuán Wúzhōng circles around the wealthy patron Gù Yīng 顧瑛 (KR4d0574) and the literary leader Yáng Wéizhēn 楊維楨 (KR4d0585 KR4d0586 KR4d0587 KR4d0589). The collection is therefore an important secondary witness to the Tiěyá yuèfǔ poetic movement at its second generation. The tíyào compilers signal two textual issues: (1) the present recension was pre-pruned (possibly by Guō himself) and so cannot be treated as a complete production register; (2) at least two pieces also appear in Lǚ Chéng’s 呂誠 Láihètíng jí (KR4d0578) and may be misattributed. Composition window: mid-1340s through Guō’s death in 1364. Politically Guō stands as a Kūnshān local who attempted accommodation with Zhāng Shìchéng’s regime, failed, and lived out the rest of his life as a xùndǎo-rank teacher.
Translations and research
- The Tiěyá yuèfǔ circle has substantial scholarly literature in Chinese; Guō Yì appears as a satellite. See works by Sūn Xiǎo-lì and others on Yáng Wéi-zhēn and the Wú-zhōng late-Yuán circle.
- No substantial Western-language treatment located.
Other points of interest
The appended letter to Gù Yīng is a useful documentary anchor for the Yùshān 玉山 literary circle, which was the principal node of late-Yuán Wúzhōng literary culture.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1216.8, p699.