Yìzhāi jí 毅齋集
Collection of [the Studio of] Yì by 王洪 (撰)
About the work
Yìzhāi shīwén jí 毅齋詩文集 in 8 juǎn — the writings of Wáng Hóng 王洪 (1379–1420), zì Xīfàn 希範, native of Qiántáng 錢塘 (Hángzhōu, Zhèjiāng). At age 18 jìnshì of Hóngwǔ dīngchǒu (1397); appointed xíngrén 行人, soon promoted Lìkē jǐshìzhōng 吏科給事中. In the Chéngzǔ (Yǒnglè) reign by recommendation entered the Hànlín; jiǎntǎo → xiūzhuàn → shìjiǎng; vice chief-editor (fù zǒngcái) of the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. Míng shǐ Wényuàn zhuàn appends his biography to Lín Hóng 林鴻; says Chéngzǔ once commanded Wáng to compose a piece, Wáng xúnxún bù yìng (hung back, did not respond), and was thereafter set aside by his colleagues and not advanced. The present collection’s Liú Gōngqián 劉公潛 elegy-preface and Mò Jū 莫琚 postface, however, supply a quite different motive: while Wáng was on the Imperial-History (guóshǐ) editorial staff, certain great ministers wished to insert their family auspicious-omens into the rìlì 日歷 (Daily Records) — Wáng chí bùkě (insisted it could not be done), the matter went up to Chéngzǔ, and Wáng was demoted to Lǐbù zhǔshì 禮部主事; died in office. Zēng Qǐ’s elegy line yùtáng fēnzhí jiàn gūzhōng (in the Jade Hall, dividing duty, one sees solitary loyalty) refers to this — the Míng shǐ simply omits it. The collection is the Mò Jū 莫琚 edition: prose unaffected and elegant, parallel-prose well-crafted; poetry particularly jù yǒu Tánggé (in the Táng manner) but not in the Lín Hóng / Gāo Bǐng gōumó (mechanical-imitation) style.
Tiyao
Yìzhāi shīwén jí in 8 juǎn — by Wáng Hóng of the Míng. Hóng, zì Xīfàn, native of Qiántáng. At 18, succeeded in the Hóngwǔ dīngchǒu (1397) jìnshì; first appointed xíngrén; soon elevated to Lìkē jǐshìzhōng. In Chéngzǔ’s time, by recommendation entered the Hànlín; from jiǎntǎo through xiūzhuàn and shìjiǎng, made fù zǒngcái of the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. Míng shǐ Wényuàn zhuàn appends [him] to Lín Hóng; says Chéngzǔ once commanded Hóng to compose a piece; Hóng hung back and did not respond; he was therefore set aside by his fellows and not employed again. But the present collection has Liú Gōngqián’s elegy-preface and Mò Jū’s postface, which say: Hóng was engaged on the guóshǐ (Imperial History) editorial staff; some great minister(s) wished to record their family auspicious-omens into the rìlì; Hóng chí bùkě; it reached Chéngzǔ’s notice; he was demoted to Lǐbù zhǔshì and died in office. Zēng Qǐ’s elegy line yùtáng fēnzhí jiàn gūzhōng points to this matter — the Míng shǐ clearly omitted it. The present collection was edited by Mò Jū: miscellaneous prose all pǔyǎ (simple-and-elegant); parallel forms also well-crafted; poetry particularly has Tánggé (Táng-manner) but not the gōumó (mechanical tracing) of Lín Hóng and Gāo Bǐng. The two pieces — preface to a xù-essay and preface to a calligraphy work — present argument with foundation. The preface to Hú Yǎn 胡儼’s poetry-collection (KR4e0088) says: “In the Yuán Zhìyuán and Tiānlì eras, Zhào 趙 (Mèngfǔ), Yú 虞 (Jí), Fàn 范 (Pèng), and Jiē 揭 (Xīsī) each rang out one moment’s flourish; once it declined, scholars took cūháo (rough-bold) for zhuàng (vigour) and jiānxīn (sharp-fresh) for qí (marvellous); their language was xiānbó (slim-and-shallow), their tonality tiēchì (mismatched-discordant)” — discussing the late-Yuán abuses with great precision. So Hóng’s view is far above his time. Although his rank was not exalted, [he is] in the early Míng a yìrán yī zuòzhě (eminent-and-standing one author). Míng shǐ Wényuàn zhuàn says Wáng Chēng 王偁 (cf. KR4e0084), engaged on the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn, xuébó cáixióng (broadly learned, talented), self-confident, with no one his equal — alone gave way to his colleague Wáng Hóng; so Hóng’s literary [stature] can be inferred. Compiled and presented respectfully in the eighth month of Qiánlóng 42 (1777). Chief Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Editor: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Wáng Hóng is a fourth catalogued Yǒnglè dàdiǎn editor (vice chief-editor) — the others being KR4e0083 Xiè Jìn, KR4e0084 Wáng Chēng, and KR4e0086 Liáng Qián. Of the four, Wáng Hóng is the only one who died in office of natural causes (1420) rather than at imperial command — though even his demotion to Lǐbù zhǔshì was the consequence of a principled stand on the guóshǐ / rìlì editorial process (refusing to record self-serving omens of unnamed great ministers). The CBDB has multiple homonyms; cbdbId 126590 (1379–1420) corresponds to this person; followed here.
The Sìkù editors’ kǎozhèng note — that the Míng shǐ Wényuàn zhuàn version (Wáng was set aside for failing to compose at imperial command) and the Mò Jū postface version (Wáng was demoted for refusing to admit auspicious-omens to the rìlì) are different, and that the Mò Jū version is corroborated by Zēng Qǐ’s elegy line — supplements Míng shǐ with a documented Yǒng-lè-era jiànzhèng (remonstrance) anecdote that the official history had elided.
The literary-critical preface to Hú Yǎn (KR4e0088) — Wáng’s analysis of the late-Yuán literary decline (the ZhàoYúFànJiē generation gave way to cūháo / jiānxīn / xiānbó / tiēchì) — is one of the more substantial early-Míng pieces of Yuán-literary-historiographic criticism preserved in the biéjí tradition.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976. Brief notice of Wáng Hóng.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí).
- Míng shǐ j. 286 (Wén-yuàn 2), Wáng Hóng appended to Lín Hóng.
Other points of interest
The Wáng-Hóng-on-Hú-Yǎn preface — its critique of the late-Yuán decline of the ZhàoYúFànJiē manner into cūháo / jiānxīn / xiānbó / tiēchì — is one of the more substantial bridges between the late-Yuán and early-Míng literary-historiographic frames preserved in the WYG biéjí corpus.