Shímén jí 石門集
Shímén Collection by 梁寅 (撰)
About the work
A seven-juǎn prose-and-verse collection of Liáng Yín 梁寅 (1303–1389), style-name Mèngjìng, Liáng Wǔjīng 梁五經 (“Five-Classics Liáng”) and Shímén xiānsheng 石門先生. The structure: juǎn 1 gǔfù; juǎn 2 gǔshī wǔyán and gēxíng; juǎn 3 yuèfǔ cí and lǜshī wǔyán and juéjù wǔyán; juǎn 4 lǜshī qīyán; juǎn 5 qīyán ǎotǐ (irregular seven-character), qīyán chánglǜ, qīyán juéjù; juǎn 6 jì; juǎn 7 xù. The collection is one of two recensions of Liáng’s literary works in print: this seven-juǎn version is the Mǎshì línglóng shānguǎn chāo 馬氏玲瓏山館抄 manuscript copy; a parallel ten-juǎn version was cut by Jì Yòngqí 暨用其, the Xīnyú magistrate from Chóngān, with slight detail differences but the same general shape. Liáng’s classicism dominates the prose register; the Sìkù tíyào compilers explicitly commend his prose as yuánběn zhùshū jīngyì “rooted in commentarial and jīng meaning, fēnlún (rich) and chúnyǎ yǒufǎ (pure-elegant and methodical)“. The verse is judged chōngróng dànyuǎn (open-and-distant), in the TáoWéi (Táo Qián + Wéi Yìngwù) mould. The Héyuán yī jì “Record of the Yellow River’s Source” is singled out as a single flawed prose piece — relying too credulously on zhuànwén tradition, “shūshēng jūxū zhī jiàn, chéng é xí miù” (scholar’s narrow view, repeating errors and inheriting falsehoods), comparable to Pān Ángxiāo 潘昻霄’s parallel error.
Tiyao
Shímén jí, 7 juǎn. By Liáng Yín of the Míng. Yín, style-name Mèngjìng, was a man of Xīnyú. The family business was farming; Yín alone applied himself to learning, mastering the Wǔjīng and the bǎishì. In the late Yuán he was recruited as Jíqìnglù rúxué xùndǎo; on his parents’ age he asked to retire home and lived as a teacher. In the early Hóngwǔ he was summoned to compile the ritual books; Yín was already over sixty. The work done, he was about to be given office and declined on age and illness, returning to build a hut on Shíménshān. Many shì of the four quarters came to study with him — he was called “Liáng Wǔjīng” or “Mr. Shímén”. His career is in the Míngshǐ rúlín zhuàn. Yín’s writings throughout his life were very rich: on Yì, Shū, Shī, Chūnqiū, Zhōulǐ, Lǐjì — all with commentaries. In historiography: Cèyào, Shǐduàn etc. In miscellaneous: Màoyán, Lùnlín, Sōugǔ jí, Géwù biān etc. — over several thousand juǎn. All now lost. Only the shīwén jí survives. Two transmitted versions: one this, from the Mǎshì línglóng shānguǎn chāo copy; one cut by Xīnyú magistrate Jì Yòngqí of Chóngān, in 10 juǎn, with slight differences in detail but generally similar. Yín is deeply grounded in jīngshù, so his prose all roots itself in commentaries and jīng meaning, fēnlún and rather chúnyǎ yǒufǎ. His verse is also chōngróng dànyuǎn, after Táo Qián and Wéi Yìngwù, with no dusty-worldly air. Only the Héyuán yī jì over-credulously follows chuánwén, with the same failing as Pān Ángxiāo. The shūshēng jūxū zhī jiàn, chéngé xímiù, is not much to be blamed; we preserve without comment. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng forty-third (1778), eleventh month. Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì; head proofreader: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Shímén jí is the literary corpus of the major Jiāngxī classicist Liáng Yín — author of substantial commentaries on each of the Five Classics — whose other works were nearly all lost. The collection is one of the better-anchored late-Yuán / early-Míng biéjí by a jīngshù specialist, and is documented as preserving a single prose piece on the Yellow River source that the Sìkù compilers explicitly flag as factually unreliable. The catalog classifies the text as Yuán (biéjí lèi 四 Yuán); the Sìkù tíyào compilers, however, classify Liáng under Míng — his Hóng-wǔ-era ritual-compilation service is the proximate cause of this re-classification. The discrepancy between the catalog meta (Yuán) and the tíyào (Míng) is preserved in the entry. Composition window: from c. 1340 (when Liáng wrote the Zhōuyì cān yì — see KR1a0089) through to 1389 (Liáng’s death). Liáng is also among the prefatorial sources for Wú Gāo’s Wúwú lèigǎo (KR4d0565) — naming Wú Gāo as a contemporary recommendation. His jīng commentaries are in the jīng division of the Sìkù.
Translations and research
- Studies of Liáng Yín’s classical scholarship treat the Zhōuyì cān yì KR1a0089 more than the literary collection.
- No substantial dedicated Western-language treatment located.
Other points of interest
- The Héyuán yī jì (Record of the Yellow River’s Source) is mentioned by the Sìkù tíyào as a documented case of credulous reception of geographical chuánwén — comparable to Pān Ángxiāo’s parallel error. This is a useful documentary anchor for late-imperial Chinese geographical scholarship’s evolving standards.
- The collection’s Yuán / Míng classification ambiguity is one of the clearer cases of Sìkù-era boundary-rule application: served Yuán + refused Míng office vs. participated in Míng ritual compilation. The catalog meta retains him as Yuán; the tíyào re-classifies as Míng.
Links
- WYG SKQS V1222.7, p619.