Dúzuìtíng jí 獨醉亭集
The Pavilion-of-Solitary-Drunkenness Collection by 史謹 (撰)
About the work
Dúzuìtíng jí 獨醉亭集 in three juǎn is the verse collection of Shǐ Jǐn 史謹, zì Gōngjǐn 公謹, native of Kūnshān 崑山 (Sūzhōu prefecture). In the early Hóngwǔ years was demoted on an unstated charge and banished to Yúnnán 雲南; later recommended back as Yīngtiānfǔ tuīguān 應天府推官 (judge of the Yīngtiān prefecture, the Hóngwǔ capital area); demoted in turn to Xiāngyīn xiàn chéng 湘陰縣丞; soon dismissed and retired; lived out his life as a sojourner at Jīnlíng (Nánjīng). The collection’s structure is self-edited by Shǐ Jǐn but the genre-divisions are not labelled with juǎn numbers; 93 verses from the Wǔdāng bājǐng 武當八景 sequence onward are marked yígǎo 遺稿 — likely added by descendants from late-life manuscripts after Shǐ’s death. Two anomalous inclusions: the Wǔdāng bājǐng sequence contains a Jīng rénzhǎ wèng shī 經人鮓甕詩 (passing the “human-pickle jar” — a southwestern yí practice memorial) and a Yè Qiánníngwáng miào shī 謁黔寧王廟詩 (visiting the temple of the Qiánníng prince Mù Yīng 沐英) — both dating from his Yúnnán exile years; and a Xuějiǔ wèi Jīnsù gōng fù shī 雪酒為金粟公賦詩 — dedicated to Gù Āyīng 顧阿瑛 (Jīnsùdàorén 金粟道人, the Yùshān cǎotáng literary host of late-Yuán Sūzhōu) — a YuánMíng transition piece. The collection thus spans Shǐ’s entire career across the regions. Wāng Huán 偶桓 (the late-Yuán / early-Míng anthologist of Qiánkūn qīngqì jí 乾坤清氣集) and Shǐ Jǐn were close friends; the collection contains a Sòng Wāng (sending-off Wāng) verse and an inscription on Wāng’s Lǎnshènglóu 攬勝樓.
Tiyao
The Dúzuìtíng jí in three juǎn — by Shǐ Jǐn of the Míng. Jǐn, zì Gōngjǐn, native of Kūnshān. In the early Hóngwǔ years for an affair he was demoted to live in Yúnnán; later, on recommendation, made Yīngtiānfǔ tuīguān; demoted to fill Xiāngyīn xiàn chéng; soon dismissed and returned, sojourning at Jīnlíng to end his days. This collection is what Jǐn edited himself, but he divided it by genre without labelling juǎn numbers. From Wǔdāng bājǐng onward, 93 verses are titled yígǎo — we suspect that after Jǐn’s death, his descendants gathered up his late-year works and appended them at the end of the collection. Yet within it there are pieces such as Jīng rénzhǎ wèng shī and Yè Qiánníngwáng miào shī — both written during his time of banishment in Yúnnán. There is also Xuějiǔ wèi Jīnsù gōng fù shī — Jīnsù dàorén being Gù Āyīng’s alternate sobriquet — so this is a late-Yuán / early-Míng composition: also among them. They must have miscellaneously picked up missing pieces without distinguishing. Looking at the many inscribed-painting verses included — these must be from the painters’ own brush, each recorded. We have now taken what was in the original copy and preserved them all, joining them with Jǐn’s own self-fixed verses, jointly arranged as three juǎn. His verse does not enter into the rǔmí (rich-soft) habit of late Yuán, nor does it enter into the suānfǔ (sour-rotten) cadence of late Sòng. It is píngzhèng tōngdá (level-upright, communicative-reaching), and the shéncǎi (spirit-bearing) is naturally lofty-fine. In the early Míng he can stand as his own yījiā (a “one school”). Wāng Huán 偶桓 selected the Qiánkūn qīngqì jí 乾坤清氣集 — called for its fine connoisseurship. In his discussion of verse he says much that denies and little that approves. Yet this collection has a Sòng Wāng verse and a Tí Wāngjiā Lǎnshènglóu 題桓家攬勝樓 verse — the two had qìfèn (compact-bond) of considerable depth. So Jǐn’s shīgé can be seen. Compiled and presented respectfully in the ninth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778).
Abstract
Shǐ Jǐn’s lifedates are not securely fixed: CBDB id 34409 records the name without dates. The career chronology — early-Hóngwǔ Yúnnán banishment (Yúnnán was incorporated into Míng administration in Hóngwǔ 15 / 1382 after Mù Yīng’s expedition, suggesting Shǐ’s exile is post-1382), Yīngtiānfǔ tuīguān and Xiāngyīn xiàn chéng in the mid-Hóngwǔ to late-Hóngwǔ years, retirement to Jīnlíng — places his active years c. 1360s–1400s. The Yè Qiánníngwáng miào shī (the Qiánníng wáng title was conferred on Mù Yīng posthumously in 1392) provides a terminus post quem of 1392 for the Yún-nán-period verse and pushes Shǐ’s exile to the 1390s.
The Yún-nán-exile Jīng rénzhǎ wèng shī — passing the “human-pickle jar” practice — is one of the very few documentary witnesses to early-Míng Hàn observation of the rénzhǎ practice of certain Yúnnán yí peoples (recorded in some Yuán and early-Míng sources as a head-burial practice involving fermentation; the Sìkù editors do not gloss). The verse-inscription on Gù Āyīng’s Yùshān cǎotáng circle anchors Shǐ within the late-Yuán Sūzhōu literary network around Jīnsù dàorén.
The relationship with Wāng Huán 偶桓 (the early-Míng anthologist) is documented through two surviving verses, making Shǐ’s standing in the Qiánkūn qīngqì jí anthology (the principal early-Míng poetic anthology) particularly clear. Wāng’s reputation for severe selectivity (duō fǒu shǎo kě) and his close personal friendship with Shǐ together vouch for Shǐ’s literary standing.
Wilkinson, Chinese History, §28.4, treats Shǐ Jǐn among secondary early-Míng poets; DMB has only a brief notice.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The Yún-nán-exile verses in Dúzuìtíng jí — particularly the Yè Qiánníngwáng miào shī (visit to Mù Yīng’s temple) — are among the very few early-Míng documentary verses on the Mù family’s hereditary command of Yúnnán, which would dominate the southwest from 1382 to the fall of the Míng.
Links
- Sìkù tíyào, Kyoto Zinbun digital edition
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng biéjí).