Píngqiáo gǎo 平橋藁
Level-Bridge Manuscripts by 鄭文康 (撰)
About the work
Píngqiáo gǎo 平橋藁 in 18 juǎn (5 juǎn poetry, 13 juǎn prose) — the writings of Zhèng Wénkāng 鄭文康 (1413–1465), zì Shíyì 時乂, hào Jièān 介菴, native of Kūnshān 崑山 (Sūzhōu, Jiāngsū). His ancestors had moved from Kāifēng, so he sometimes self-styled Kāifēng in the collection; Píngqiáo was the local name of his residence. Zhèngtǒng wùchén (1448) jìnshì; on completing his initial appointment ceremony (shìhè), he renounced further official advancement and returned to his native place to teach. Self-edited the 18-juǎn recension; in Tiānshùn xīnsì (1461) Yè Shèng 葉盛 prefaced it; the original printing-blocks were lost; in Kāngxī guǐyǒu (1693) Zhèng’s descendant Zhèng Qǐhóng 鄭起泓 reprinted. The Sìkù literary judgement: poetic intent on quànchéng (encouragement-and-admonishment), diction zhìzhí (substantial-direct) — close to the Jīrǎng jí school but with wēnróu dūnhòu (warm-soft, sincere-thick) bearing; prose simple but on the rule-of-the-line. Zhū Yízūn compared Zhèng to Shí Jiè 石介 and Yǐn Zhū 尹洙 (the great Northern Sòng gǔwén / Lǐxué-precursor pair); the Sìkù editors note this is broadly apt.
Tiyao
Píngqiáo gǎo in 18 juǎn — by Zhèng Wénkāng of the Míng. Wénkāng, zì Shíyì, hào Jièān, native of Kūnshān; his ancestors had moved from Kāifēng, so the collection also self-titles Kāifēng; Píngqiáo is his place of residence. Took the Zhèngtǒng wùchén (1448) jìnshì; after his shìhè (initial-tassel ceremony), he renounced his official advancement, closed his door and lectured. Personally edited his poetry-and-prose into 18 juǎn. Tiānshùn xīnsì (1461) Yè Shèng prefaced and circulated it. The old boards have long been lost; in Kāngxī guǐyǒu (1693) his descendant Qǐhóng 起泓 again recut [the boards]: 5 juǎn poetry, 13 juǎn prose. Wénkāng dǔzhì (devoted intention) on jīngshǐ; brush-falling, instantly qiānbǎi yán (a thousand or hundred words); dānqiān kūkū, even when ill not resting. His poetry’s intent is on quànchéng; diction-and-aim zhìzhí, rather close to Jīrǎng jí mode, yet wēnróu dūnhòu, ǎirán kě yì (gently can be inhaled) — substantially does not lose [the place of] the fēngrén (poet)‘s yí. The prose too does not occupy itself with xiūcí as craft; in plain-and-simple, [it] naturally meets the shéngmò (rule-of-line); compared with his poetry, particularly superior. Zhū Yízūn compared him to Shí Jiè and Yǐn Zhū; although what each reaches in shallow-or-deep is different, the yìdù bōlán (intent-degree, wave-and-billow) is also close. Compiled and presented respectfully in the eighth month of Qiánlóng 44 (1779). Chief Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Editor: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Zhèng Wénkāng is the canonical mid-Míng Lǐxué / gǔwén-school yǐnshì (recluse-scholar): a jìnshì who refused the official career to teach in his native place. The Sìkù editors’ alignment with Shí Jiè and Yǐn Zhū (the early Northern Sòng gǔwén movement, precursors of Ōuyáng Xiū) places Zhèng in the substantive (not merely formal) prose-tradition that ran alongside the more famous mid-Míng cabinet Táigé tǐ. The geographical placement (Kūnshān, an old Jiāngnán literary-cultural centre) and the family ancestral Kāifēng origin are both significant.
The two-stage transmission (Yè Shèng 葉盛 prefaced 1461 Tiānshùn printing → lost → 1693 Kāngxī reprint by descendant Zhèng Qǐhóng 起泓) is one of the cleaner cases of family-line preservation across the MíngQīng transition. Yè Shèng 葉盛 — note — is the same Yè Shèng whom Lǐ Xián (KR4e0104) suppressed; in this case, the Tiān-shùn-era preface places Yè in a positive role.
CBDB id 34514 (1413–1465) confirms catalog meta dates.
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).
- Míng shǐ j. 161 — Zhèng Wén-kāng appended.
Other points of interest
The 1693 Kāngxī reprint by Zhèng Qǐhóng is one of the earlier-Kāng-xī family-line recoveries of a mid-Míng biéjí — alongside the Pān Zōngluò 潘宗洛 1705 recovery of the KR4e0093 Xià Yuánjí Zhōngjìng jí. The Sìkù editors’ final-stage editorial work in 1779 builds on these Kāng-xī-era family recoveries.