Xiǎomíng gǎo 小鳴稿
Small-Voicing Manuscripts by 朱誠泳 (撰)
About the work
The literary collection of Zhū Chéngyǒng 朱誠泳 (1458–1498), the Qínjiǎnwáng 秦簡王 — fifth-generation descendant of Míng Tàizǔ through Mǐnwáng Zhū Shǎng — who succeeded to the Qín principality at the end of Chénghuà and is the principal mid-Míng qīnfān (imperial-cadet) literary figure. Self-styled Bīnzhú dàorén 賓竹道人. 10 juǎn: juǎn 1–8 verse, juǎn 9 miscellaneous prose, juǎn 10 Ēncì shènglǎn lù 恩賜勝覽錄 — written in Hóngzhì guǐchǒu (1493) when he requested imperial permission to yǎngjí (recuperate from illness) at the Fèngquán (Phoenix-Spring), Wēnquán (Hot-Spring), and Tāngquán (Pool-Spring) at Xīān. Compiled by his jìshàn (deputy shàn = junior tutor) Qiáng Shèng 強晟. The original title was Jīngjìn xiǎomíng jí 經進小鳴集 (the Imperially-Presented Xiǎomíng jí). The Sìkù judgement: among the Míng qīnfān (imperial-cadet) authors, Chéngyǒng must be ranked first.
Tiyao
Xiǎomíng gǎo in 10 juǎn — by Zhū Chéngyǒng, the Míng Qínjiǎnwáng. Chéngyǒng is Tàizǔ’s 5th-generation descendant; Mǐnwáng Shǎng’s yuánsūn (great-great-grandson). End of Chénghuà succeeded to the principality. Self-styled Bīnzhú dàorén. Míngshǐ Zhūwáng lièzhuàn says Chéngyǒng’s nature: xiàoyǒu gōngjǐn (filial-and-friendly, respectful-and-careful); once míngguānfú yǐ zìjǐng (inscribed his crown-and-robe to caution himself). What he wrote — there is Jīngjìn xiǎomíng jí — namely this version. Zhū Yízūn’s Shīhuà further says: at age 10, his dímǔ Chénfēi taught him Táng poetry, daily recorded one piece; on the throne, daily composed one piece; hào shì lǐxián, jiān liúxīn fúshí (love-honoring scholars, respect-honoring worthies, also attentive to medicine-and-diet) — was able by wényǎ (literary-elegance) to make himself seen. The collection is what his jìshàn Qiáng Shèng compiled and recorded — from juǎn 1 to 8 all verse; juǎn 9 miscellaneous prose; juǎn 10 is Ēncì shènglǎn lù — namely Hóngzhì guǐchǒu (1493) Chéngyǒng asking imperial permission to recuperate at Fèngquán, Wēnquán, Tāngquán’s time made. His verse — though gǔtǐ (ancient-style) does not fully match the gé (form-and-rule), yet the Yáng Báihuā one piece especially has the yǎdiào (elegant tone); jìntǐ (recent-style) all xiéwǎn kěsòng (harmonious-and-tender, capable-of-reciting); the seven-character juéjù especially shàncháng (occupies the field). E.g. the Qiūyè shī says: jì yuè mǎn chuāng míng sì zhòu, wútóng rú yǔ xià kōng tíng — “the cleared moon fills the window, bright as day; the wútóng like rain, descending on the empty courtyard”; also: kōng tíng jiǔ zuò bù chéng mèi, míng yuè mǎn jiē zhēnchǔ shēng — “long sitting in the empty courtyard, sleep does not come; the bright moon fills the steps, sound of mortar-and-pestle”; the Shānxíng shī: tíniǎo wú shēng sēng rùdìng, bànyán fēng luò zǐténg huā — “weeping-birds soundless, the monk enters meditation; mid-cliff the wind drops purple-wisteria flowers” — all fēnggǔ wùxuē, bùkuì zuòjiā (wind-bones strict-and-trimmed; without shame as a master-house). Among Míng-era imperial-cadets recognised by literary fame, must take Chéngyǒng for the first-name. Compiled and presented in the seventh month of Qiánlóng 44 (1779). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
The Xiǎomíng gǎo is the Sìkù-canonical first-place mid-Míng qīnfān (imperial-cadet) literary collection. The Sìkù judgement Míngdài qīnfān zhōng yǐ wénxué zhùmíng zhě yào bì yǐ Chéngyǒng wéi chēngshǒu — “among Míng-era imperial-cadets famous for literary achievement, Chéngyǒng must be ranked first” — is the editors’ authoritative placement of an imperial-cadet tradition that is otherwise underrepresented in the Sìkù biéjí corpus.
The collection’s structural anomaly is that 8 juǎn are verse out of 10 — and the Sìkù tíyào’s praise concentrates entirely on the verse, with three specifically quoted qīyán juéjù (Qiūyè shī, Shānxíng shī) as the highlights. The 10th juǎn Ēncì shènglǎn lù — composed during the Hóngzhì guǐchǒu (1493) recuperation at the three Xīān spring-resorts — is one of the more documentarily specific qīnfān itinerary records preserved in the Sìkù.
The principal Zhū Yízūn Shīhuà anecdote — that Chéngyǒng was taught Táng poetry at age 10 by his dímǔ (principal-line mother, not natural mother) Chénfēi, daily reciting one piece, and that on his accession he composed one piece a day — is the source for the Bīnzhú dàorén (Guest-Bamboo Daoist) self-styling and the yǎdiào (elegant-tone) reading of the collection.
CBDB id 34608 confirms 1458–1498.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976: notice of Zhū Chéng-yǒng.
- Míng shǐ j. 116 (Zhū-wáng liè-zhuàn) — Qín-jiǎn-wáng biography.
- Craig Clunas, Screen of Kings: Royal Art and Power in Ming China (Honolulu: U. Hawaii P., 2013) — for the Míng imperial-cadet literary culture context.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
The fact that the Sìkù editors gave the Qínjiǎnwáng explicit first-place status among Míng imperial-cadets — and concentrated their praise on three qīyán juéjù — is one of the cleaner cases in the Sìkù biéjí corpus of editorial enthusiasm overriding the usually grudging Sìkù treatment of qīnfān literature. The dímǔ (principal-line mother) teaching anecdote from Zhū Yízūn is a unique mid-Míng documentary case of qīnfān-mother literary pedagogy.