Qīngxī màngǎo 青谿漫稿
Green-Stream Loose Manuscripts by 倪岳 (撰)
About the work
Qīngxī màngǎo 青谿漫稿 in 24 juǎn — the writings of Ní Yuè 倪岳 (1444–1501), zì Shùnzī 舜咨, hào Qīngxī 青谿; native of Shàngyuán 上元 (Nánjīng), having moved from Qiántáng 錢塘. Son of Ní Qiān 倪謙 (倪謙; cf. KR4e0106 Ní Wénxǐ jí) — Ní Qiān and Ní Yuè are the first father-and-son pair in the Míng to both enter the Hànlín and have transmitted literary collections, the Sìkù tíyào notes; the lineage parallels the great Sòng 父子兩入翰林 literary lineages. Tiānshùn jiǎshēn (1464) jìnshì; office reaching Lìbù shàngshū 吏部尚書; gifted Shàobǎo; posthumous title Wényì 文毅. Ní served alongside Wáng Shù 王恕 and Péng Sháo 彭韶 (KR4e0112) as the canonical Hóng-zhì-era míngchén (illustrious-ministers); as long-tenured Lǐbù head, lǐwén zhìdù shuài dài Yuè ér jué (ritual-pattern institutions all waited for Yuè to decide). The collection’s structure: 9 juǎn poetry, 4 juǎn memorials (with jīngyán jiǎngzhāng — imperial-lecture lecture-notes — at juǎn 10), the rest prose. The 59 memorial-pieces preserved are evidently a curated selection from the recorded more than 100 matters (per Míng shǐ); pre-printing pruning. The principal institutional memorials cover: Zhèng sìdiǎn (correcting sacrificial canon), zāiyì (responding to disasters), and Northwest military operations. The Sìkù literary judgement: memorial style jiǎnqiè míngdá (concise-cutting, clear-and-penetrating), with the surviving wind of the Northern Sòng worthy ministers’ memorials; other prose hàohàn liúzhuǎn (vast-and-flowing), not stooping to zhuīzhāng zhuójù (pursuing-chapter, polishing-line) habits.
Tiyao
Qīngxī màngǎo in 24 juǎn — by Ní Yuè of the Míng. Yuè, zì Shùnzī, having moved from Qiántáng to Shàngyuán; Tiānshùn jiǎshēn (1464) jìnshì; passed through office to Lìbù shàngshū; gifted Shàobǎo; posthumous title Wényì. The events are detailed in his biography in Míng shǐ. Yuè’s father Qiān held office to Nánjīng Lǐbù shàngshū. In the Míng era, father-and-son entering the Hànlín, both having literary collections transmitted to the world — beginning from Qiān and Yuè. Yuè was mǐn ér hàoxué (quick-and-fond-of-learning); in office did not pursue reputation-and-praise; quánzhèng píngyǔn (selection-administration fair); together with Wáng Shù and Péng Sháo all were illustrious ministers of Xiàozōng’s time. History says when he was Lǐbù deputy-and-chief, lǐwén zhìdù all waited for Yuè to decide; he discussed matters never gǒutóng (carelessly agreeing); front-and-back chen-qǐng (memorialized-and-petitioned) more than 100 matters; military and state corrupt-policies tījué wú yí (extracted without remainder); on each memorial-out, many people transmit-and-record [it]. Now in the collection memorials together total 59 pieces — not agreeing with the so-called more than 100 matters; we suspect that at the cutting of the collection there was already some pruning-and-selecting. Yet such as zhèng sìdiǎn, expounding zāiyì, and discussing Northwest yòngbīng — all the largest of his jiànbái (proposed-and-stated) — are already present here. What he says is jiǎnqiè míngdá (concise-cutting, clear-penetrating), with the gàojūn (telling-the-ruler) form, [having] much of the BěiSòng zhū xián zòuyì zhī yífēng (Northern Sòng worthies’ memorial-discussions’ surviving wind). Other prose too is hàohàn liúzhuǎn (vast-and-flowing), not stooping to zhuīzhāng zhuójù habits. Clearly at the time zhèngrén zàiwèi (correct-men in office), it was the most-flourishing time of the Míng’s [good] administration; so Yuè, although not by literature famed, chéngshí fāshū (riding-the-time, expressing-and-pouring), all jīngshì yǒuběn zhī yán (statecraft, words with foundation), like bùbó shūsù (cloth-silk, beans-and-millet) able to be cutting on daily-use — also it can be known that prose is connected to qìyùn (atmosphere-and-fortune). Compiled and presented respectfully in the fifth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Chief Compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Editor: Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
The Ní Qiān / Ní Yuè (KR4e0106 / KR4e0121) father-and-son Hàn-lín-and-bié-jí lineage is, per the Sìkù tíyào, the first such pair in the Míng — a documentary-historiographic milestone in Míng literary-family history. The son’s posthumous title Wényì 文毅 forms a substantive literary-political pair with the father’s Wénxǐ 文僖.
The institutional substance — Ní Yuè’s tenure as Lǐbù shàngshū, with the ritual-pattern institutions awaiting his decision — locates him at the heart of Hóng-zhì-era state ritual policy. The Zhèng sìdiǎn memorials are particularly significant for the institutional history of Hóng-zhì-era jìsì (sacrificial) reform.
The Sìkù defence-by-context — at the time correct-men in office, the most-flourishing time of the Míng’s administration; so Yuè’s prose is statecraft-with-foundation — is one of the cleaner formulations of the atmosphere-fortune (qìyùn) literary-historiographic principle in the Sìkù corpus.
CBDB id 34510 (1444–1501) 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. Notice of Ní Yuè.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28.4 (Míng bié-jí).
- Míng shǐ j. 183 — Ní Yuè biography.
Other points of interest
The Ní Qiān / Ní Yuè father-son Hànlín lineage parallels the Sū Xún / Sū Shì / Sū Zhé Sòng Sān Sū example — in the Tángshì sān xiānshēng jí tradition (cf. KR4e0097 Táng Wénfèng as the Xiǎo Sān Sū’s third generation). The Ní father-son pair is two-generation rather than three-generation but still represents the institutional consolidation of mid-Míng Hànlín family literary lineages.