Dìngshān jí 定山集
Mount-Steady Collection by 莊㫤 (撰)
About the work
The literary collection of Zhuāng Chāng 莊㫤 (also written 莊昶; 1437–1499), zì Kǒngyáng 孔暘, hào Dìngshān 定山, of Jiāngpǔ 江浦 — the second of the Hànlín sān jūnzǐ 翰林三君子 (with 章懋 KR4e0126 and 黃仲昭 KR4e0128) who jointly remonstrated against the Inner-Court Lantern-display of Chénghuà 3 (1467) and were caned and demoted. 10 juǎn — 5 of poetry, 5 of prose. Together with Chén Xiànzhāng (陳獻章) and Luó Lún (羅倫, KR4e0124) practised zhǔjìng zhī xué — the learning of holding-quietude — and in this trio opened the way for the later Yáojiāng (Wáng Yángmíng) school. His poetry style imitated the Jīrǎng jí of Shào Yōng — mocked by many but defended by Yáng Shèn (楊愼); his prose drew on the Tàijí model and made xìnglǐ (nature-and-principle) its center — to be judged separately from the literary tradition. The collection has gone through four printings: the 5 juǎn of poetry first cut by Gōng Yuán 弓元; re-cut at the Dìngshān shūyuàn by Chén Chángdào 陳常道; third cut by Xiāo Wéixīn 蕭惟馨; this fourth printing by Zhuāng’s descendant Qīngzuǒ 清佐.
Tiyao
Dìngshān jí in 10 juǎn — by Zhuāng Chāng of the Míng. Chāng, zì Kǒngyáng, native of Jiāngpǔ. Chénghuà bǐngxū (1466) jìnshì; reached Nánjīng Lìbù lángzhōng. Record in Míngshǐ main biography. When Chāng was jiǎntǎo, he did not obey the edict to compose Áoshān shī (Lantern-Mountain poems); presented the Péiyǎng shèngdé shū (Memorial on Cultivating Imperial Virtue); because of this was banished and demoted for nearly thirty years. Together with Chén Xiànzhāng and Luó Lún, all lectured the learning of zhǔjìng (holding-quietude); truly opened the way for the Yáojiāng school. As for his poetry: he took Shào Yōng’s Jīrǎng jí (Earth-Strike Collection) as his ancestor; in great part it became something laughed at by men. Within it, lines such as Bìngyǎn cánshū Hàn Chǔ; Dēngqián lěicǎo Jiāngshān wùlǐ (“Sick-eyes, broken book: Hàn and Chǔ; before the lamp, draft-grass: Jiāng and mountains in mist”) — Yáng Shèn has praised. Others, like Shān suí bìng qǐ qīng yú jùn; Jú dào qiū shēn shòu yì xiāng (“Mountains, as I rise from illness, grow blue beyond their grandeur; Chrysanthemums, when autumn deepens, though wasted are still fragrant”) — Tǔwū bèi qiáng hōng yě rì, Wǔ xī suí bù lǐng hé fēng (“Earth-wall behind the wall warmed by wild sun; noon-stream as I step follows the harmonious wind”) — Jiǔzhǎn màn qīng gāng yuè shàng, Diàosī cái yáng qià fēng hé (“Wine-cup tilts as the moon rises strongly; fishing-line just then drifts as wind harmonises”) — these also have poetic intent. But this kind is like gold-dust in sand, deeply suffering from wúduō (not-being-many); also there are jù (lines) without piān (a whole piece), rarely meeting quánměi (complete beauty). His prose mostly bases itself on the Tàijí (Supreme Pole) intention and makes the elucidation of xìnglǐ (nature-and-principle) its master — and from the older makers of literature must especially be discussed separately. This collection — 5 juǎn of poetry — was first cut by Gōng Yuán’s compilation; re-cut at the Dìngshān shūyuàn by Chén Chángdào’s compilation; third cut by Xiāo Wéixīn; this present is its lineal descendant Qīngzuǒ’s recent recutting. Compiled and presented in the sixth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Zhuāng Chāng’s Dìngshān jí is the central document of one of the cleanest mid-Míng Lǐxué-to-Yáojiāng transitions recorded in the Sìkù. The Sìkù editors explicitly identify the Zhuāng / Chén Xiànzhāng / Luó Lún zhǔjìng (quiet-holding) trio as shí kāi Yáojiāng zhī xiān — “truly opening the precedent for the Yáojiāng school” — a precise pre-history of Wáng Yángmíng’s zhì liángzhī (extending innate-knowing). The trio is documentarily clustered: Chén Xiànzhāng’s Báishā zǐ jí at KR4e0108, Luó Lún’s Yīfēng wénjí at KR4e0124, and Zhuāng’s present Dìngshān jí — three Chéng-huà-era zhǔjìng anchors whose joint Sìkù preservation makes this division the principal documentary record for the pre-history of Yángmíng xué.
The poetic line is contrastive: Zhuāng’s poetry imitates Shào Yōng’s Jīrǎng jí — the Lǐxué-anchored Sòng yǔlù poetry style that Yáng Shèn (KR4e0171) defended but most contemporaries mocked. The Sìkù judgement on the verse — gold-dust in sand, with lines but no complete pieces — is a measured rejection of the Shào-Yōng-style xìnglǐ shī (nature-and-principle verse) as a verse tradition, set against a respectful preservation of Zhuāng’s intellectual position.
The catalog meta gives no dates for Zhuāng; CBDB id 67718 supplies 1437–1499.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976: notice of Zhuāng Chāng.
- Míng shǐ j. 179 — Zhuāng Chāng biography.
- Huáng Zōng-xī, Míng-rú xué-àn j. 45 — Zhuāng under the Chóng-rén xué-àn.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí) and §31.4 (Míng Lǐ-xué).
- Wing-tsit Chan (Chén Róng-jié), Wáng Yáng-ming: A Biography and Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton UP, 1963) — for the zhǔ-jìng pre-history of Yáng-míng xué.
Other points of interest
The Áoshānshī (Lantern-Mountain-Poem) incident of Chénghuà 3 (1467) — Zhuāng’s refusal of an edict to compose poetry for the New-Year Lantern-display — is one of the most famous single acts of remonstrance in mid-Míng Hànlín history; the Péiyǎng shèngdé shū (Memorial on Cultivating Imperial Virtue) is preserved in the Míng shǐ and is the locus classicus for the Sān jūnzǐ (Three Gentlemen) appellation.