Chūān lèigǎo 樗菴類藁
Classified Drafts from the Ailanthus Hermitage by 鄭潛 (撰)
About the work
Chūān lèigǎo 樗菴類藁 in two juǎn is the verse collection of Zhèng Qián 鄭潛, zì Yànzhāo 彥昭, hào Chūān 樗菴, native of Shèxiàn 歙縣 (Huīzhōu, modern Ānhuī). The career-arc traverses the YuánMíng transition: as a Yuán official he rose from Nèitái yuàn 內臺掾 to Guǎngdōng shuàifǔ cóngshì 廣東帥府從事; on duty to Běijīng was made Jiānxiū guóshǐ yuàn 監修國史掾, then promoted to Zhèngzì 正字; held in succession Jiānchá yùshǐ 監察御史, Fújiàn xíngshěng yuánwàiláng 福建行省員外郎, Hǎiběidào liánfǎng fùshǐ 海北道亷訪副使, and Quánzhōu lù zǒngguǎn 泉州路總管. On entering the Míng he served as Bǎoyìng xiàn zhǔbù 寳應縣主簿, then Lùzhōu tóngzhī 潞州同知; retired in Hóngwǔ 10 (1377). The verse and its three prefaces (by Chéng Yǐwén 程以文, Gòng Shītài 貢師泰, and Jiē Hàng 揭汯) preserve the title evolution: Xíngyì xiǎogǎo 行役小稿 (in two juǎn, edited by Dèng Wénruò 鄧文若 of Yùzhāng) → Xíngyì gǎo / Lǎnpèi gǎo 行役稿 / 攬轡稿 (re-edited as two juǎn under the Fújiàn fùshǐ office) → Chūān lèigǎo (final title, edited under Jiē Hàng’s preface in late Yuán). All the works were composed under the Yuán; the Sìkù editors reconstructed the text from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn — recovering fifty gǔtǐ poems and 146 jìntǐ poems plus the three original prefaces. Huáng Yújì 黃虞稷’s Qiānqǐngtáng shūmù lists Zhèng among the Yuán; the Sìkù editors correct this and list him as Míng on the strength of his post-1368 service.
Tiyao
The Chūān lèigǎo in two juǎn — by Zhèng Qián of the Míng. Qián, zì Yànzhāo, native of Shèxiàn. At the end of Yuán: from Nèitái yuàn he served as cóngshì (assistant) in the Guǎngdōng shuàifǔ; sent on duty to the capital and became Jiānxiū guóshǐ yuàn; later promoted to Zhèngzì. He served in succession as Jiānchá yùshǐ, Fújiàn xíngshěng yuánwàiláng, Hǎiběidào liánfǎng fùshǐ, and Quánzhōu lù zǒngguǎn. On entering the Míng he was appointed Bǎoyìng xiàn zhǔbù; promoted to Lùzhōu tóngzhī; in Hóngwǔ 10 (1377) he then retired. Chéng Mǐnzhèng 程敏政’s Xīnān wénxiàn zhì 新安文獻志 records the start and end of his career in great detail. Huáng Yújì’s Qiānqǐngtáng shūmù lists him among the Yuán people — a mistake. Yújì records Chūān lèigǎo in two juǎn. We have now taken from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and collected: fifty gǔtǐ poems, 146 jìntǐ poems, together with three original prefaces — still divisible into two juǎn; what is omitted is also slight. This collection comprises entirely his Yuán-period works. Chéng Yǐwén 程以文’s preface calls it Xíngyì xiǎogǎo in two juǎn — edited by Dèng Wénruò 鄧文若 of Yùzhāng — over 150 piān in all; at that time [Zhèng] was serving as Jiānchá yùshǐ. Gòng Shītài 貢師泰’s preface calls his gēshī “collected as two juǎn, titled Xíngyì gǎo and Lǎnpèi gǎo”; at that time [Zhèng] was Fújiàn liánfǎng fùshǐ. Jiē Hàng 揭汯’s preface starts to call it Chūān lèigǎo; without mentioning the juǎn number. According to what is said, it was still done at the end of Yuán while Zhèng was serving in Fújiàn. So first there was the Xíngyì gǎo in two juǎn; then it was cut down and combined into one juǎn, with the Lǎnpèi gǎo in one juǎn added — making two juǎn again. Finally they were combined into one compilation, retitled Chūān lèigǎo. Going through several rounds of addition and reduction, only then was the final fixed text struck — so [the collection’s] coming-into-being was no trifling matter. Qián, although he rose through the yuànshǐ (clerical service), was of unusual tiānzī (heavenly capacity). His verse — words and meaning are xuānshuǎng (vigorous and clear), with the Yùshān lǎnglǎng 玉山朗朗 (Jade-Mountain clear-clear) quality. Compared to the xiānnóng (fine-dense) style of late Yuán, especially it stands as jùnyì (handsome-rich). On entering the Míng, his fame did not prosper; yet at the time of compiling the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn — the date is also close — and the shūjú (book bureau) people specifically edited and recorded his surviving manuscripts, comparing him to the ancients. We know that at the time they must have had reason to take him, not by chance. Compiled and presented respectfully in the ninth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781).
Abstract
Zhèng Qián’s death-date is 1379 (per CBDB id 34394: d. 1379, fl. 1378), consistent with his retirement in Hóngwǔ 10 (1377) at presumably advanced age. The catalog meta records only “fl. 1377”. Birth-date probably c. 1310s. The Tíyào’s reconstruction of the textual evolution — Xíngyì xiǎogǎo → Xíngyì gǎo + Lǎnpèi gǎo → final Chūān lèigǎo — through three named editors and three preserved prefaces (Chéng Yǐwén, Gòng Shītài, Jiē Hàng) is unusually transparent and is one of the more carefully documented Sìkù recoveries from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn.
The historiographical question — whether Zhèng is to be classed as Yuán or Míng — is treated in the Tíyào with care: Huáng Yújì had classed him as Yuán in the Qiānqǐngtáng shūmù; the Sìkù editors override this on the substantive grounds of post-1368 Míng service (similar to their treatment of KR4e0049 Táo Zōngyí). Chéng Mǐnzhèng 程敏政’s Xīnān wénxiàn zhì — the Huīzhōu prefectural cultural collection — is named as the principal external source for Zhèng’s career chronology. Wilkinson, Chinese History, §28.4, follows the Sìkù re-classification.
The collection’s literary register — Yùshān lǎnglǎng (the clear-clear of jade mountain) — places Zhèng in a Yuán-derived classical style that resists the late-Yuán xiānnóng (fine-dense) decoration; this is the standard Sìkù placement of YuánMíng transition Huīzhōu / Xīnān poets.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds. Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976. Brief notice of Zhèng Qián.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
The triple-preface (Chéng Yǐwén, Gòng Shītài, Jiē Hàng) sequence preserved in the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn recovery is a rare three-stage Yuán-period editorial witness to a single literary collection — each preface attaching to a successive stage of textual evolution. Gòng Shītài 貢師泰 (1298–1362, the Yuán Jiāngxī shūyuàn literary figure) and Jiē Hàng 揭汯 (the son of the Yuán giant Jiē Xīsī 揭傒斯) are themselves major Yuán literary names; their prefaces are independent collectible texts.
Links
- Sìkù tíyào, Kyoto Zinbun digital edition
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng biéjí).