王忠文集

Wáng Zhōngwén jí 王忠文集

Collection of [Wáng] Zhōng-wén [i.e. Wáng Yī] by 王禕 (撰), edited by 劉傑 (編) and 劉同 (編)

About the work

Wáng Zhōngwén jí 王忠文集 in twenty-four juǎn is the principal collection of Wáng Yī 王禕 (1322–1374), titled after his posthumous honorific Zhōngwén 忠文 (“Loyal in Letters”). Wáng was, along with 宋濂 and 劉基, one of the founding-Hóngwǔ literary masters; co-editor with Sòng Lián of the Yuán shǐ 元史 (1370); and the first major Míng official martyred on a diplomatic mission, killed at the Yuán-Mongol court of Liángwáng Bāzālǎwǎěrmì 梁王把匝剌瓦爾密 in Yúnnán in 1374 for refusing to renounce his Míng allegiance. The collection is divided: juǎn 1–3 verse (fù, four-character verse, five-character ancient and regulated verse, seven-character ancient and regulated verse, juéjù, gē, qǔ); juǎn 4 lùn, biàn, yuán; juǎn 5–7 xù; juǎn 8–11 jì; juǎn 12 zhào, zhì, gào, biǎo, xí, míng; juǎn 13–14 nǐ (imitations), cāo; juǎn 15 yì, zàn, sòng, zhēn; juǎn 16 bēi, shū; juǎn 17 tíbá, cí; juǎn 18–20 zázhù; juǎn 21–22 zhuàn, zìshuō, xíngzhuàng; juǎn 23 āicí, lěi, jìwén, mùzhìmíng; juǎn 24 mùzhìmíng and mùbiǎo.

Tiyao

Examined respectfully: Wáng Zhōngwén jí, twenty-four juǎn, by Wáng Yī of the Míng. Yī, zì Zǐchōng 子充, native of Yìwū 義烏 (Zhèjiāng). Rose in office to Hànlín dàizhì 翰林待制; sent as envoy to Yúnnán, he died as a martyr to the Liáng prince (King of Liáng) [the surviving Yuán prince]. The facts are in his Míng shǐ biography. The first twelve juǎn of the collection are inscribed as “edited by Liú Jié 劉傑 of Póyáng 鄱陽 and collated by Liú Tóng 劉同 of Lúlíng 廬陵”; from juǎn 13 onward the editor’s name is changed to Liú Tóng and the collator’s to Liú Jié — evidently the two each cut half of the work. Liú Jié is the man who, when serving as xiànchéng of Yìwū in Zhèngtǒng 6 (正統 6 = 1441), memorialized to the court regarding Wáng Yī’s loyalty and obtained posthumous office and a posthumous title for him.

Wáng Yī had a Huáchuān qiánjí 華川前集 in ten juǎn and a Huáchuān hòují 華川後集 in ten juǎn; at the head of the present book are two prefaces by 胡翰 胡翰 and 胡行簡 胡行簡, both for the qiánjí; the two prefaces by 宋濂 宋濂 and 蘇伯衡 蘇伯衡 are both for the hòují; the preface by 楊士奇 楊士奇 was composed for the present book. Wáng studied under 黃溍 黃溍 and was a friend of Sòng Lián; his learning had deep sources, and his prose is rich, unaffected, and lofty, holding to the example of the Sòng prose-masters. Sòng Lián’s preface says that Wáng’s prose underwent three transformations: his youthful work was broad of scope and grand of execution; after he had reached his middle years and had travelled, his cast became more deeply majestic; after his fortieth year he attained perfect natural composure and clarity of order. This can be called knowing Wáng deeply. The collection contains many pieces written in propria persona of an ancient figure — these are the studious exercises of his formative period, in which he placed himself in another’s position to exhaust the work of imitation, and are not idle play of the brush. Reverently collated on the third month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). General compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General collator: Lù Fèichí.

Abstract

Wáng Yī (1322–1374; CBDB confirms catalog meta 1323–1374, but the Míng shǐ biography and Goodrich & Fang prefer 1322–1374 — the difference of one year reflects whether the Yányòu 6 yǒu-year is taken inclusively or exclusively) was the disciple of Huáng Jìn 黃溍 黃溍 (Yuán Sìdàjiā) and the close friend of 宋濂. He shared editorial responsibility for the Yuán shǐ with Sòng Lián in 1370. After several Hànlín appointments he was sent in 1372 as envoy to the surviving Yuán prince Bāzālǎwǎěrmì 把匝剌瓦爾密 at Kūnmíng 昆明; refused to recognize him as legitimate sovereign; was imprisoned and in Hóngwǔ 7 (1374) executed. Posthumous title Zhōngwén 忠文 granted in Zhèngtǒng 6 (1441) on the memorial of Liú Jié 劉傑, then Yìwū xiànchéng 義烏縣丞. The present collection is a Zhèngtǒng-era (1441–1449) production by Liú Jié and Liú Tóng 劉同, consolidating Wáng’s earlier Huáchuān qiánjí and Huáchuān hòují with the addition of supplementary material.

The substantial body of imitations (nǐ) in juǎn 13–14, the strong representation of zázhù in juǎn 18–20, and the ample biographical material (zhuàn, xíngzhuàng, mùzhìmíng) reflect Wáng’s training in the Yuán gǔwén tradition under Huáng Jìn. His zhào, zhì, gào preserved in juǎn 12 are an important supplementary source for the founding-Hóngwǔ ceremonial documents.

Translations and research

• Goodrich & Fang. 1976. Dictionary of Ming Biography. Columbia UP, 2:1444–1447 (entry on Wáng Yī).
• John D. Langlois Jr. 1973. Political Thought in Chin-hua Under Mongol Rule. (PhD diss., Princeton University) — Wáng’s intellectual formation in the Jīn-huá 金華 school under Huáng Jìn.
• John D. Langlois Jr (ed.). 1981. China Under Mongol Rule. Princeton UP. Chapter on the Jīn-huá scholars.
• Hok-lam Chan & Wm. Theodore de Bary (eds.). 1982. Yüan Thought. Columbia UP.

Other points of interest

• Wáng Yī’s martyrdom at the Yúnnán Yuán court in 1374 is one of the founding episodes of Míng cult of imperial-loyalist sacrifice; his posthumous canonization was an important late-Zhèngtǒng project that contributed to the broader Míng re-evaluation of dynastic-foundational loyalty.
• The collection’s editor Liú Jié is the same Liú Jié who in 1441 obtained the posthumous title for Wáng — making this an unusually personal editorial enterprise.

Links

• Wang Yi (Wikipedia, Chinese)
• Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng biéjí).