Chūyǐn jí 樗隱集
Recluse-by-the-Useless-Tree Collection by 胡行簡 (撰)
About the work
A six-juǎn reconstructed collection of Hú Xíngjiǎn 胡行簡 (style-name Jūjìng), a Zhìzhèng 2 (1342) Yuán jìnshì who became a Hànlín xiūzhuàn and jīnglì of the Jiāngxī Mobile Secretariat, then withdrew home to teach during the late-Yuán disorders. The collection was lost in independent transmission; the Sìkù compilers reconstructed it from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. The internal evidence — the Hóngwǔ-dated Yàngōngmiào bēi (1369-ish) and Yú Zhēnrén bēi — proves Hú survived into the early Míng. The Míng Tàizǔ shílù records Hú’s second summons (with Liú Yú 劉于) and his polite refusal on grounds of age and illness; the emperor sent him home with bestowed silk. The Sìkù compilers therefore rank Hú in the same intermediate moral position as Shěn Mènglín (KR4d0582) and Yáng Wéizhēn — one rank below the absolutely refusing Dīng Hènián (KR4d0557) but well above those who took Míng office for advancement.
Tiyao
Chūyǐn jí, 6 juǎn. By Hú Xíngjiǎn of the Yuán. Xíngjiǎn, style-name Jūjìng, was a man of Xīnyú. He passed the Zhìzhèng 2 (1342) jìnshì; appointed Guózǐ jiān zhùjiào; served as Hànlín xiūzhuàn; was named Jiāngnándào yùshǐ; transferred to Jiāngxī liánfǎngsī jīnglì. Meeting with the disorder of the times, he begged to retire home, and there taught Classical studies among his neighbors. His career-record is in the Jiāngxī tōngzhì. Now examining: the Míngshǐ lǐzhì records that in Hóngwǔ 2 (1369) an edict ordered the prefectures and counties to recommend “gāojié bóyǎ” scholars to assist in compiling the ritual books; eight came, and Xíngjiǎn was among them. So he was still alive in the early Míng. The Yàngōngmiào and Yú Zhēnrén two stelae in the collection both bear Hóngwǔ reign-names. But the Míng Tàizǔ shílù also records that Jiāngxī’s rúshì Liú Yú, Hú Xíngjiǎn and others were summoned to the capital to be offered office; both declined on age-illness, and were bestowed with silk and sent home — so he never accepted Míng office. Xíngjiǎn’s prose takes chōnghé yǎdàn (open-and-harmonious, elegant-and-tranquil) as its principle. Though the wave-and-undulation is not broad, he can firmly hold to fǎdù (method), and does not produce zhīlí rǒngzhuì (digressive, padded) language. Compared in the late-Yuán style, he is roughly of the lineage of Lǐ Qí’s Yúnyáng jí (KR4d0571). Of his poetry not much was transmitted; the Mòzhú (Ink Bamboo) poem alone three times conveys his gùjūn jiùguó sentiment — also showing his integrity. Jiāo Hóng’s Jīngjí zhì lists the most copious set of late-Yuán / early-Míng collections but lacks this title — so circulation in the Míng was already thin. We now reconstitute from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn, dividing into 6 juǎn, preserving its general outline. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng forty-sixth (1781), ninth month. Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì; head proofreader: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Chūyǐn jí is one of the Sìkù Yǒnglè dàdiǎn salvage reconstructions of a lost late-Yuán biéjí. The collection’s documentary load is moderate: it preserves Hú’s Confucian-tone prose and a small body of verse that includes the Mòzhú — an yílǎo-toned poem. The Sìkù compilers explicitly compare Hú’s prose to that of Lǐ Qí (KR4d0571) and place him in the same intermediate-moral-rank category as Shěn Mènglín (KR4d0582) — both having served the new dynasty in compositional capacity but declining formal office. Hú’s participation in the Hóngwǔ 2 (1369) ritual-book compilation is a documented anchor for the broader court-cultural project of early-Míng ritual reform — a project that drew on Yuán-era classical specialists despite their loyalist sentiments. Composition window: from the 1342 jìnshì-passing era through to c. 1380 (post-Hóngwǔ ritual-compilation participation). The internal Hóngwǔ-dated stelae establish the post-1368 survival.
Translations and research
- Hú’s participation in the early-Míng ritual compilation is treated in Edward Farmer, Early Ming Government and related studies.
- The Yǒnglè dàdiǎn salvage methodology is treated in Sino-Western studies of high-Qīng textual scholarship.
- No substantial dedicated Western-language treatment of Hú Xíngjiǎn located.
Other points of interest
- Hú Xíngjiǎn / Liú Yú double-refusal episode (in the Tàizǔ shílù) is a useful documentary anchor for the practical workings of early-Míng official recruitment from Yuán Confucian survivors.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1221.3, p111.