Zūnyán jí 遵巖集
Zūn-yán Collection by 王愼中 (撰)
About the work
The literary collection of Wáng Shènzhōng 王愼中 (1509–1559), zì Dàosī 道思, hào Zūnyán 遵巖, of Jìnjiāng 晉江 (Quánzhōu, Fújiàn). Jiājìng 5 (1526, 丙戌) jìnshì; office reached Hénán Bùzhèng sī cānzhèng. Wáng is one of the founding figures of the Tang-Sòng-pài (唐宋派, “TángSòng School”) in Míng prose, alongside Táng Shùnzhī 唐順之, Guī Yǒuguāng 歸有光, and Máo Kūn 茅坤. The Sìkù tíyào reads Wáng’s career as a conversion-narrative: he initially espoused the HànWèi / shèngTáng archaist program of Lǐ Mèngyáng and Hé Jǐngmíng, declaring that nothing after the Eastern Hàn was worth reading; then he experienced an awakening to Ōuyáng Xiū and Zēng Gǒng as the true masters of prose, burned his earlier works, and apprenticed himself entirely to those Sòng-prose models — drawing especially deeply from Zēng Gǒng. Táng Shùnzhī initially resisted Wáng’s argument but eventually came around, and the two are paired in literary history as “Wáng Táng.” The 24-juǎn WYG recension is the Lóngqìng 5 (1571, 辛未) edition prepared by Wáng’s son Wáng Tóngkāng 王同康 and son-in-law Zhuāng Guózhēn 莊國禎 — a jīngzhěng (cleaned-up) revision of the earlier Wánfāngtáng zhāigǎo and home-printed Zūnyán editions.
Tiyao
Zūnyán jí in 24 juǎn — by Wáng Shènzhōng of the Míng. Shènzhōng, zì Dàosī, native of Jìnjiāng. Jiājìng bǐngxū (1526) jìnshì; office reached Hénán Bùzhèng sī cānzhèng. Affairs detailed in Míngshǐ Wényuàn biography. At the Zhèngdé–Jiājìng turn, Běidì Xìnyáng (Lǐ Mèngyáng, Hé Jǐngmíng) had immense reputation, teaching the world to read no books after Táng. Yet the Seven-Masters’ learning — what was got from poetry was rather deep, what was got from prose was rather shallow. Hence in poetry they could zì chéng jiā (form a school), but in classical prose they were gōuzhāng jíjù (hook-chapter, thorn-line) — piāoxí QínHàn zhī miànmù (skinning-and-stealing the QínHàn face) — and finally became a wěitǐ (false-style). The History says of Shènzhōng: he too initially talked high of QínHàn — saying that beyond the Eastern Hàn nothing is worth taking; later he awakened to Ōuyáng Xiū and Zēng Gǒng’s method of prose composition — jǐn fén jiù zuò (burned his old works entirely) — singularly imitated; especially drew strength from Zēng Gǒng. Táng Shùnzhī initially did not assent — for long was changed and followed; in his prime years he fèi yè (gave up service) and yì sì lì yú wén (poured-strength into prose) — yǎnyí xiángshàn (flowing-onward, detailed-and-rich) — zhuórán chéngjiā (standing-tall, forming a school) — paired with Táng Shùnzhī in fame — the empire called them “Wáng Táng.” Lǐ Pānlóng and Wáng Shìzhēn powerfully attacked his doctrine — but in the end could not eclipse it. As for his poetry — at first it was a zǎoyàn (ornament-and-glamour) frame; after returning to fields he again mixed-in jiǎngxué (lecturing-on-philosophy) language — tuírán zìfàng (collapsing, self-loosened) — also similar to Shùnzhī. Zhū Yízūn’s Míngshī zōng said: his five-character — the wénlǐ (literary-pattern) is dense; jiēxiǎng Yán Xiè (echoing-and-resounding Yán Yánzhī and Xiè Língyùn) — but discussants always say wén shèng yú shī (“prose exceeds poetry”) — and not yet zhī yīn (knowing-the-sound). Now examining the collection’s five-character — such as Yóu Xīshān Pǔguāngsì, Shuìqǐ dēng Jīnshān, Yóu Dàmínghú — all are suìmù jiǎnyuǎn (deep-solemn, simple-far); the seven-character — such as “Every night gibbon-voices like in the hut; the four seasons mountain-colors are in the city — ten thousand wells are far-divided beneath the first-day-of-the-month; the cluster of mountains is just-visible in the distant smoke — the qín-sound has just stopped, the moon hangs on tree-lotus; the chant is faintly heard — the wind fills the river” — also has a fēngdiào (style-tune). Yet zǒng qí quánjí zhī shī yǔ wén xiāng jiào (gathering the whole collection’s poetry against the prose) — the shallow-deep, high-low cannot be hidden — the doctrine wén shèng yú shī (prose exceeding poetry) is not entirely unfounded. Zhū Yízūn’s view bù chuǎi běn ér qí qí mò (“not measuring the root and aligning the tip”) is mistaken. The Shènzhōng collection formerly had Wánfāngtáng zhāigǎo and Zūnyán jiājū various cuttings — all mixed-in with juvenilia. This edition is the Lóngqìng xīnwèi (1571) edition — Shènzhōng zǐ Tóngkāng jí xù Zhuāng Guózhēn shāo wèi shānxuē, chóngqìn — “Shènzhōng’s son Tóngkāng and son-in-law Zhuāng Guózhēn somewhat shortened and re-cut it” — jiào wéi jīngzhěng (rather cleaner-and-tidier). Compiled and presented in the tenth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Wáng Shènzhōng of Jìnjiāng is one of the founding figures of the Tang-Sòng-pài (TángSòng School), the principal Jiā-jìng-era prose-reformation movement that rejected the Qián Qī Zǐ QínHàn archaism in favor of the gǔwén tradition of Ōuyáng Xiū and Zēng Gǒng (and through them back to Hán Yù’s Táng gǔwén). The conversion-narrative — Wáng’s repudiation of his earlier QínHàn manner and his burning of the juvenilia — is one of the most often cited episodes in Míng literary history. He is paired with Táng Shùnzhī as “Wáng Táng”; both are forerunners of Guī Yǒuguāng and Máo Kūn. The Sìkù’s frank judgement: in poetry, Wáng never escaped the ornament-frame of his juvenilia, then in his late retired years lapsed into jiǎngxué (lecturing-on-philosophy) diction — Zhū Yízūn’s defense of Wáng’s five-character regulated against the wén shèng yú shī judgement is, the Sìkù concludes, unsuccessful. The literary-historical significance is concentrated in the prose.
Date bracket: 1526 (Jiājìng 5 jìnshì) — 1571 (the Lóngqìng 5 cleaned-up edition). Wáng died in Jiājìng 38 (1559) at 51 sui; the WYG edition is the posthumous 1571 zhěngběn by his son and son-in-law. CBDB 695301 has only zero markers; catalog meta gives 1509–1559, which agrees with standard Míng reference works.
Translations and research
- Míng shǐ j. 287 — Wáng Shèn-zhōng Wén-yuàn biography (paired with Táng Shùn-zhī).
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976: full entry on Wáng Shèn-zhōng.
- Bryant, “The Theory of Imitation in Sixteenth-Century Chinese Literary Criticism,” and the wider literature on the Tang-Sòng-pài.
- Yoshikawa Kōjirō 吉川幸次郎, work on the Tang-Sòng-pài lineage.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
Wáng’s biéjí is a key textual witness for the Jiā-jìng-era gǔwén revival: the conversion-narrative (with Táng Shùnzhī initially holding out) becomes a topos in later Chinese prose-criticism (e.g. Wáng Fūzhī’s 王夫之 Míng shī píngxuǎn). The Lóngqìng 5 (1571) son-and-son-in-law revision is one of the more substantial early-stage filial biéjí editorial collaborations of the Míng.