Péng Huìān jí 彭惠安集
Collection of [the Posthumous Title] Huì-ān [by Péng] by 彭韶 (撰)
About the work
Péng Huìān jí 彭惠安集 in 10 juǎn (with fùlù 1 juǎn) — the writings of Péng Sháo 彭韶 (1430–1495), zì Fèngyí 鳳儀, hào Cóngwú 從吾, native of Pǔtián 莆田 (Quánzhōu, Fújiàn), eventually Xíngbù shàngshū 刑部尚書, posthumous title Huìān 惠安. Péng has the Zhèngxùn 政訓, separately catalogued. The original title was Cóngwú zhìgǎo 從吾滯稿; in Jiājìng the title was changed to Péng Huìān jí on a recutting; even by the Zhèng Yuè 鄭岳 yuánxù, the yígǎo (surviving manuscripts) were sànyì (scattered), so the present recension is no longer the original. The collection’s recovered poetry is only some 10 pieces — but Zhū Yízūn’s Míngshī zōng records Péng’s Línjiāng cí 臨江詞 (a piece denouncing Yáng Shìqí 楊士奇 KR4e0090 for the Wáng Zhèn-era inaction); the Púfēng qīnglài jí records 15 of Péng’s poems, half drawn from other anthologies — clearly the gathering-of-the-scattered is far from exhausted. The Sìkù editors single out the 8 tú (illustrations) on the suffering of the zàohù 灶户 (salt-worker households) drawn during Péng’s tenure as Zhèjiāng xúnshì with concurrent administration of salt (jiānlǐ yánfǎ) — each accompanied by a poem — comparing it to Yuán Jié’s 元結 Chōnglíng xíng 舂陵行 and Zhèng Xiá’s 鄭俠 Liúmín tú 流民圖, the great Táng / Northern-Sòng grievance-poetry / grievance-illustration tradition.
Tiyao
Péng Huìān jí in 10 juǎn, fùlù 1 juǎn — by Péng Sháo of the Míng. Sháo has the Zhèngxùn, already recorded. Sháo zhèngsè lìcháo (correct-coloured-bearing standing in court), guīrán qíjiù (eminent senior). His prose, although following the Táigé form, is chúnshēn yǎzhèng (pure-deep, elegant-correct), with yǒu gēndǐ (root-foundation) — not like the shénjí ér màoyú (spirit-thin but appearance-plump) sort. Originally titled Cóngwú zhìgǎo; in middle Jiājìng a re-cutting changed the title to the present. According to Zhèng Yuè’s original preface, [there is] already the phrase yígǎo sànyì — so [this is] seemingly already not the original recension. Therefore the poetry recorded is only 10+ pieces; as in Míngshī zōng the Línjiāng cí 1 piece — denouncing the Dōnglǐ [Yáng Shìqí] kǎikǎi jīliè (lofty-stirring, intense-and-intense), enough to rouse the obstinate-and-cowardly — yet this collection does not record it. Also, Púfēng qīnglài jí records his poetry 15 pieces, also half from other books recorded — this is the gleaning-of-the-scattered, still not exhausted. Specially relying on this one compilation, fortunately not at the point of complete loss — this is the collator-and-printer’s contribution. Sháo’s fēngjié (wind-and-integrity) does not need prose to transmit; yet prose too is enough not to perish. As for his xúnshì Zhèjiāng with concurrent lǐ yánfǎ, pitying the suffering of the zàohù, drawing 8 illustrations and presenting them, each tied with a poem — has the meaning of Yuán Jié’s Chōnglíng xíng and Zhèng Xiá’s Liúmín tú — also not just to be discussed by cícǎi (diction-colour) skill-or-clumsiness. Compiled and presented respectfully in the tenth month of Qiánlóng 42 (1777). Chief Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Editor: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Péng Sháo is the canonical late-Chéng-huà / Hóng-zhì-era zhèngzhí (correct-and-direct) cabinet minister: Xíngbù shàngshū under Hóngzhì, an upright moderating influence in the early Hóngzhì restoration. The Sìkù tíyào’s particular interest is the 8 zàohù tú (Salt-Worker Illustrations) — visual-and-poetic remonstrance documents in the Yuán Jié / Zhèng Xiá TángSòng tradition; this is one of the cleaner cases of the Sìkù editors weighting the grievance-and-remonstrance documentary value over pure literary craft.
The textual transmission is significantly impaired (the title-change in Jiājìng evidently coincided with substantial loss; the recovered poetry is only 10+ pieces against the original much-larger output, with Púfēng qīnglài jí preserving 15 more; the famous Línjiāng cí attacking Yáng Shìqí is preserved only outside the present recension).
CBDB id 34516 (1430–1495) confirms catalog meta. Míng shǐ j. 183 has Péng’s biography.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976. Notice of Péng Sháo.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí).
- Míng shǐ j. 183 — Péng Sháo biography.
Other points of interest
The 8 zàohù tú (Salt-Worker Illustrations) — drawing on the Táng Yuán Jié Chōnglíng xíng and Northern-Sòng Zhèng Xiá Liúmín tú tradition of visual remonstrance — represents a rare survival of mid-Míng grievance-illustration documentation, anticipating the late-Míng zhèngjiè (governance-illustration) tradition of Wáng Yángmíng-school activists.