Yǎnshān jí 儼山集
Stately-Mountain Collection by 陸深 (撰)
About the work
The collected works of Lù Shēn 陸深 (1477–1544), zì Zǐyuān 子淵, hào Yǎnshān 儼山, shì Wényù 文裕, of Shànghǎi 上海 (Sōngjiāngfǔ, Jiāngsū). 100 juǎn + Xùjí (Continued Collection) in 10 juǎn. Edited by Fèi Cǎi 費寀, Xú Jiē 徐階, Wén Zhēngmíng 文徵明, Táng Jǐn 唐錦, Lù Shīdào 陸師道, and others — definitive editorial assembly — and printed by Lù’s son the Guózǐjiàn shēng Lù Jí 陸楫. Additional Wàijí 40 juǎn of bǐjì zázhù (notebook miscellaneous-writings) circulates separately — so the total Lù Yǎnshān corpus is 150 juǎn. Lù was a Wú-school-tradition calligrapher (after Lǐ Yōng and Zhào Mèngfǔ); shǎngjiàn bóyǎ wéi cíchén guàn — “connoisseurship-elegance, the foremost of literary courtiers”. Xú Jiē’s judgement: Lù yǐ jīngjì zì xǔ (took governing-the-world as his self-promise) — multiple provincial administrations meritorious wherever he served, but the world remembered only his literature.
Tiyao
Yǎnshān jí in 100 juǎn; Xùjí in 10 juǎn — by Lù Shēn of the Míng. Shēn, zì Zǐyuān; Yǎnshān is his hào. Native of Shànghǎi. Hóngzhì yǐchǒu (1505) jìnshì; office reached Zhānshìfǔ zhānshì concurrent Hànlínyuàn xuéshì. Record in Míngshǐ Wényuàn zhuàn. This collection is what Fèi Cǎi, Xú Jiē, Wén Zhēngmíng, Táng Jǐn, Lù Shīdào etc. discussed-and-settled, and his son the Guózǐjiàn shēng Jí compiled-and-ordered then cut-for-printing. Jǐn and Shīdào both say there is also a Wàijí in 40 juǎn; together with these two collections jointly makes 150 juǎn; this běn does not carry the Wàijí — all his bǐjì zázhù (notebook-and-miscellaneous works) — also separately walks. History calls Shēn in youth shared-effort with Xú Zhēnqīng; for composition had name; calligraphy imitated Lǐ Yōng and Zhào Mèngfǔ; connoisseurship and elegance — first among literary courtiers. Xú Jiē says Shēn by jīngjì (governing-the-world) self-promised — at the Hànlínyuàn and Guózǐjiàn multiple times submitted memorial talking-affairs; dūxué in Jìn (Shānxī), cānfān in Chǔ (Húguang), xúnxuān in Shǔ (Sichuan) — all yǒu gōngdé yú qí shìmín (had merit-virtue toward its scholars-and-people) — but lamented his being-seen only by literature. Fèi Cǎi also praises him for yǐ kǎiqiē bùyú wǔ zǎichén, zuǒqiān yǐhòu lüè wú gǎnshí fènsú zhī yì (by penetrating-and-pressing, not-flattering offended the chief-minister; demoted; afterwards roughly without anti-time anti-vulgar resentment); cited his Fājiào Yán shī (Emitting Teaching at Yán Mountain) and Xiájiāng dàozhōng shī (Gorge-River On-the-Way) to certify his without yuànyóu (resentment-blaming). Now examining his collection: though piānzhāng fánfù (pieces-and-chapters numerous-rich), generally rooted in xuéwèn (learning), close-to-the-affair-and-principle; not merely dǒumí kuāduō (battling-extravagance, boasting-much). When the Qīzǐ school flourished, [Lù] alone with hépíng diǎnyǎ (calm-and-level, elegant-and-correct) as master; firmly not losing his original-step — even can be called one who holds. Compiled and presented in the ninth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Lù Shēn’s Yǎnshān jí — at 100 juǎn — is one of the largest single-author biéjí in the Sìkù Míng-era section, and the principal documentary anchor of the Shànghǎi (Sōngjiāng) literary tradition in the early Jiājìng era. Lù’s Sìkù-recognised position: a Chángshā / Lǐ Dōngyáng-tradition hépíng diǎnyǎ (calm-elegant) voice holding the táigé line through the high QiánQīzǐ (Lǐ Mèngyáng / Hé Jǐngmíng) period, refusing to cóng zhī (follow them). The Sìkù judgement jiānshǒu gùbù (firmly holding one’s original step) parallels the editors’ similar placements of Shí Bǎo (KR4e0142), Gù Qīng (KR4e0149), Zhèng Yuè (KR4e0151) as Chángshāpài loyalists.
The editorial superstructure — Fèi Cǎi, Xú Jiē (the future Jiājìng / Lóngqìng Grand Secretary), Wén Zhēngmíng (the Sūzhōu Wú-school painter-poet), Táng Jǐn, Lù Shīdào — is one of the most distinguished editorial assembly recorded in this division: five major mid-Míng literary figures collaborated on the redaction. Lù Jí as the son-printer connects the collection to the Lù Jí Yǎnshān wàijí / Yǎnshān xùjí independent tradition.
The political-career record — multi-province administration with the editors’ praise of gōngdé yú qí shìmín (merit-virtue toward the people) wherever he served — situates Lù as a jīngshì (governing-the-world) figure whose actual political weight historiographers rarely acknowledge, the Sìkù tíyào explicitly correcting that gap.
CBDB id 33841 confirms 1477–1544.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976: notice of Lù Shēn.
- Míng shǐ j. 286 (Wén-yuàn 2) — Lù Shēn biography.
- Yǎn-shān wài-jí (the 40-juǎn bǐ-jì) is preserved separately and contains substantial Wú-school painting-tradition material.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
The 100-juǎn size of the Yǎnshān jí, paired with the 40-juǎn Wàijí and the 10-juǎn Xùjí, places Lù Shēn’s 150-juǎn total at near the top of mid-Míng biéjí productivity. The Shànghǎi (Sōngjiāng) literary network — Lù together with Gù Qīng of Huátíng (KR4e0149) — is one of the cleaner mid-Míng secondary Wú-school literary circles documented in this division.