Tàiquán jí 泰泉集
Tài-quán Collection by 黃佐 (撰)
About the work
The literary collection of Huáng Zuǒ 黃佐 (1490–1566), zì Cáibó 才伯, hào Tàiquán 泰泉, posthumous shì Wényù 文裕, of Xiāngshān 香山 (Guǎngdōng). Zhèngdé 16 (1521, 辛巳) jìnshì, Shùjíshì, Biānxiū; sent out as Jiāngxī and Guǎngxī Ànchá sī qiānshì; recalled as Zuǒ sījiàn; rose to Shǎo Zhānshì 少詹事 concurrent Hànlínyuàn xuéshì. Removed by impeachment by his detractors; on death, was posthumously elevated to Lǐbù yòu shìláng and given the shì Wényù. The 10-juǎn WYG recension comprises only Huáng’s pre-Sīchéng (Imperial Academy Chancellor) writings; his total output ran to over 260 juǎn of which the Yuèdiǎn 樂典 and Géchú yíshì 革除遺事 (Documents-recovered-from-the-suppressed-reigns) are independently recorded in the Sìkù. Huáng once debated with Wáng Shǒurén 王守仁 on the zhīxínghéyī doctrine — and the literary collection contains documentation of that exchange.
Tiyao
Tàiquán jí in 10 juǎn — by Huáng Zuǒ of the Míng. Zuǒ, zì Cáibó, native of Xiāngshān. Zhèngdé xīnsì (1521) jìnshì; appointed Shùjíshì, Biānxiū; sent out as Jiāngxī and Guǎngxī Ànchásī qiānshì; recalled as Zuǒ sījiàn; office reached Shǎo Zhānshì with concurrent Hànlínyuàn xuéshì; impeached by detractors and dismissed; died, posthumously Lǐbù yòu shìláng, shì Wényù. Affairs detailed in Míngshǐ Wényuàn biography. Zuǒ in his youth was known for qíjùn (extraordinary brilliance); upon entering the Hànlín he was míngxí zhǎnggù (familiar with archives-and-precedents), bózōng jīngǔ (broadly mastering past and present); on jīngjì (statecraft) and lǐxué (Neo-Confucian learning) he was especially deep-and-thorough. He once argued with Wáng Shǒurén on the zhīxínghéyī point — with many illuminations. His career-long writings reach over 260 juǎn; works such as Yuèdiǎn and Géchú yíshì are already separately recorded. This collection was cut at Jiāxìng — these are his pre-Sī-chéng compositions. Zuǒ’s cáilì (talent-strength) is bóshàn (broad-sufficient); his chīcí shànzǎo (line-handling and ornament-deploying) is enough to xióngshì yīshí (rule the era); within the seas he was honoured as a literary leader. In Lǐngnán (south of the passes), since the Nányuán wǔzǐ (“Five Masters of South Garden”) the fēngyǎ (Airs-and-Elegantiae tradition) had collapsed in the middle — only with Zuǒ did it begin to be vigorously reasserted. Liáng Yǒuyù 梁有譽 and Lí Mínbiǎo 黎民表 are both his disciples; the literary culture of Guǎngzhōng (Guǎng-dōng-central) revived — discussants call Zuǒ’s qǐshuāi jiùbì zhī gōng (“the merit of raising-the-decayed, saving-the-decadent”). His poetry’s tǔzhǔ (expression-and-grasp) is chōnghé (full-and-harmonious), much shows yánliàn (research-and-training). Zhū Yízūn said: his qǔcái tài chén (“borrowing-material too old”), hence the gé (style) is lofty-protruding but the qì lacks free-flight. Yet at the time when the Chálíng (茶陵) school was on its last breath, and the Seven-Masters debate was just rising, Huáng alone could lì zhuī Zhèngshǐ (“vigorously pursue the Zhèngshǐ note”), not losing the yǎyīn (elegant sound) — still one of the bùhuò yú qíqū zhě (“those not deceived by sectarian-tendencies”).
As for his Chūnyè dàzuì yánzhì 春夜大醉言志 (“Spring-night much-drunk speaking-of-aim”) poem’s closing-couplet: “Juànyóu què yì shàonián shì; xiào yōng rúhuā gē Luòméi” (“Wearied of travel, I recall the events of my youth; smiling, embracing flower-like ones, singing Luòméi”) — this is no more than a “cháofēng nòngyuè” (mocking wind, sporting with moon) phrase. The self-commentary tries to make it an analogy for “wishing to exhaust principle and return” — forcibly attaching it to Dàoxué (Neo-Confucian learning) — quite yūzáo wúdāng (winding-and-affected, missing the mark). Wáng Shìzhēn said: this is because Huáng, being a měiguān (handsome-official) lecturing-on-doctrine, was afraid people would catch hold of it (for impropriety), hence this remark. Wáng got the truth of the case. Yet this still falls under tōngrén zhī bì (the affliction of an otherwise comprehensive man). Compiled and presented in the ninth month of Qiánlóng 42 (1777). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Huáng Zuǒ of Xiāngshān is one of the most important Lǐngnán literary-and-philosophical figures of the Jiājìng era. The Sìkù tíyào credits him with the qǐshuāi jiùbì zhī gōng — “the merit of raising-the-decayed, saving-the-decadent” — that revived the fēngyǎ literary tradition in Guǎngzhōng after the dormancy that followed the Nányuán wǔzǐ generation. His disciples include the Hòu Qī Zǐ member Liáng Yǒuyù 梁有譽 and Lí Mínbiǎo 黎民表 (Yáoshí shānrén gǎo KR4e0192). Intellectually, Huáng is one of the more articulate Jiā-jìng-period Wáng Shǒurén critics from a jīngshù (classical) standpoint — debating Wáng directly on the zhīxínghéyī doctrine. The WYG 10-juǎn recension contains only Huáng’s pre–Sīchéng (Imperial Academy Chancellor) writings, a fraction of his over 260 juǎn output; other separately Sìkù-recorded works include Yuèdiǎn 樂典 (a comprehensive ritual-music treatise), Géchú yíshì 革除遺事 (documents recovered from the suppressed Jiànwén reign), local gazetteers including Guǎngzhōu rénwù zhì 廣州人物志.
Date bracket: 1521 (Zhèngdé 16 jìnshì) — 1566 (death). CBDB and catalog agree on 1490–1566.
Translations and research
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976: entry on Huáng Zuǒ.
- Míng shǐ j. 287 — Huáng Zuǒ Wén-yuàn biography.
- Joseph S. C. Lam, State Sacrifices and Music in Ming China (Albany: SUNY, 1998) — context on Huáng’s Yuè-diǎn and Jiā-jìng ritual-music policy.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
The Sìkù tíyào’s note that the Chálíng (茶陵) school (the Lǐ Dōngyáng 李東陽 lineage) had collapsed by the time of Huáng’s rise, and that the Qīzǐ (Seven Masters) debate was just beginning — places Huáng exactly at the inflection-point of mid-Míng literary history.