Wúgāng jí 梧岡集
Paulownia-Ridge Collection by 唐文鳳 (撰)
About the work
Wúgāng jí 梧岡集 in 10 juǎn (4 juǎn poetry, 6 juǎn prose) — the surviving fragment of the writings of Táng Wénfèng 唐文鳳 (mid-Yǒng-lè to mid-Tiān-shùn era, d. aged 86), zì Zǐyí 子儀, hào Mènghè 夢鶴, second son of Táng Guìfāng 唐桂芳. Native of Wùyuán 婺源 / Xīnān 新安 (Huīzhōu). By recommendation appointed Jiāngxī Gànzhōufǔ Xīngguóxiàn zhīxiàn 江西贛州府興國縣知縣; reassigned Zhàofǔ jìshàn 趙府紀善. As Xīngguó magistrate he was praised for his administrative achievements; Liú Hóng 劉鴻 of Tàihé composed a Xiánlìngcí jì 賢令祠記 (Record of the Worthy-Magistrate Shrine), preserved in Chéng Mǐnzhèng’s 程敏政 (程敏政) edited Tángshì sān xiānshēng jí 唐氏三先生集 appendix. The Táng family — grandfather Táng Yuán 唐元, father Táng Guìfāng 桂芳, son Táng Wénfèng — were jointly known as the Xiǎo Sān Sū 小三蘇 (Little Three Sūs), in deliberate analogy to the great Sòng Sān Sū (Sū Xún 蘇洵 / Sū Shì 蘇軾 / Sū Zhé 蘇轍) literary lineage. The Sìkù editors note that Wénfèng’s prose-and-poetry are fēngrù shēnhòu (rich-and-thick), with the fúfú (floating-shallow) tendencies cleared away — bù shī jiāfǎ (does not lose the family method). Wénfèng’s fifth-generation descendant Táng Zé 唐澤’s mùbiǎo (epitaph) records six of Wénfèng’s compositional contexts: Cháoyáng lèigǎo 朝陽類稿 (in the village school), Zhèngyú lèigǎo 政餘類稿 / Zhānggòng wéngǎo 章貢文稿 (in Xīngguó), Jìnzhōng lèigǎo 進忠類稿 (in the Zhào princely establishment), Luòyáng wéngǎo 洛陽文稿 (in Luòyáng), Lǎoxué wéngǎo 老學文稿 (after retirement). The present 10 juǎn is less than 30–40% of this larger corpus.
Tiyao
Wúgāng jí in 10 juǎn — by Táng Wénfèng of the Míng. Wénfèng, zì Zǐyí, hào Mènghè, second son of [Táng] Guìfāng. Young and quick-witted; grown, especially self-rousing; by his literary studies appointed Jiāngxī Gànzhōufǔ Xīngguóxiàn zhīxiàn; reassigned Zhàofǔ jìshàn; died at 86 years. Wénfèng managed Xīngguó with administrative achievement; Liú Hóng of Tàihé once composed a Xiánlìngcí jì — see in Chéng Mǐnzhèng’s edited Tángshì sān xiānshēng jí appendix. Wénfèng with his grandfather Yuán and his father Guìfāng all by literary studies stood out for fame, called at the time Xiǎo Sān Sū. His prose-and-poetry are rich-and-thick, the floating-shallow [tendencies] cleared away — still does not lose the family method. His fifth-generation descendant Zé composed [his] mùbiǎo saying: “The master’s writings: in the village school, Cháoyáng lèigǎo; in Xīngguó, Zhèngyú lèigǎo, also Zhānggòng wéngǎo; in the princely establishment, Jìnzhōng lèigǎo; at Luòyáng, Luòyáng wéngǎo; after returning to the field, Lǎoxué wéngǎo.” Today what is preserved in this compilation is only 4 juǎn poetry, 6 juǎn prose — clearly not reaching 30–40% [of the original]. Compiled and presented respectfully in the seventh month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Chief Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Editor: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Táng family literary lineage — grandfather Táng Yuán 唐元 (YuánMíng transitional), father Táng Guìfāng 唐桂芳 (HóngwǔYǒnglè), son Táng Wénfèng (YǒnglèTiānshùn) — is one of the cleaner three-generation literary lineages preserved in the Sìkù via the Tángshì sān xiānshēng jí 唐氏三先生集 (compiled by Chéng Mǐnzhèng 程敏政, the great Chénghuà Hànlín scholar; Chéng Mǐnzhèng is also the editor of KR4e0104 Lǐ Xián’s Gǔráng jí). The Xiǎo Sān Sū designation is a deliberate Sòng analogy.
The transmission picture is one of the less complete in this division: the present 10 juǎn is, per the family epitaph by Táng Zé 唐澤, less than 30–40% of the original corpus. The six identified compositional-contexts (Cháoyáng / Zhèngyú / Zhānggòng / Jìnzhōng / Luòyáng / Lǎoxué) follow Táng’s career stages: village teaching → magistracy → princely establishment → mid-career central post → retirement.
The catalog meta has no birth-year or death-year (CBDB id 27751 likewise blank). Táng died aged 86; if his Yǒng-lè-era career (he was younger contemporary of Yáng Shìqí and Lǐ Chāngqí KR4e0096) is in the early 1410s, his birth would be c. 1380s and death in the late Tiānshùn / early Chénghuà.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976. Brief notice.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
The two-stage transmission — Chéng-huà-era Tángshì sān xiānshēng jí edited by Chéng Mǐnzhèng, then a separately surviving 10-juǎn Wúgāng jí — preserves the lineage’s grandson but represents a steep loss against the original six-context corpus.