Fānglù jí 方麓集
Square-Foothills Collection by 王樵 (撰)
About the work
The literary collection of Wáng Qiáo 王樵 (1521–1599), zì Màozhēn 茂貞, hào Fānglù 方麓 (also Fāngmài 方麓 in some sources), of Jīntán 金壇 (Jiāngsū). Jiājìng 26 (1547) jìnshì; office reached Nánjīng Yòu dū yùshǐ. Wáng Qiáo had a substantial jīngxué (Classical Studies) output — his Zhōuyì sījì 周易私記 is separately recorded in the Sìkù; he also wrote Shàngshū rìjì, Chūnqiū kǎoyì, and Sìshū commentaries. The collection has two early běn: one comprising 9 juǎn prose + 1 juǎn Lǎozǐ commentary + 1 juǎn poetry (11 juǎn); and the present WYG běn — 14 juǎn of poetry-and-prose + 1 juǎn of Wùshēn bǐjì + 1 juǎn of Zǐwēitáng zhájì (16 juǎn total). The Jiāngnán tōngzhì records Wáng’s principle that shìdàfū yǐ liúxīn àndú wèi súlì, wénmò shījiǔ wèi fēngyǎ — “shìdàfū take care-on-files-and-documents as the vulgar-clerks’ work, and brush-prose-poem-wine as the fēngyǎ” — Wáng’s counter-judgement: “To eat-fully the official-salary and receive ready-made work from the clerks — is to call this ‘elegant’?”
Tiyao
Fānglù jí in 16 juǎn — by Wáng Qiáo of the Míng. Qiáo has the Zhōuyì sījì — already recorded. His collection has two běn: one is wén 9 juǎn, Lǎozǐ jiě 1 juǎn, shī 1 juǎn; one is this present běn — shīwén 14 juǎn, Wùshēn bǐjì 1 juǎn, Zǐwēitáng zhájì 1 juǎn — compared to the early běn more complete. Qiáo researched-and-thought-out compositions on Yì, Shū, Chūnqiū, and Sìshū — all have jiěgǔ (explanation-and-glossing). Jiāngnán tōngzhì says: his nature is sùjiǎnmò (plain-simple-silent); but when discussing the Classics he is wěiwěi bù juàn (continuously-eloquent, not wearied). Hence his wénzhāng has gēndǐ (roots-and-bases). The Tōngzhì also records his saying: “shìdàfū take liúxīn àndú as súlì (vulgar-clerk-work), wénmò shījiǔ as fēngyǎ. To eat-fully guānlù and receive ready-made-products-from lìxū (clerk-staff) — to call this fēngyǎ — can-do?” Hence his prose is qiē shíjì (cutting-into actual practicalities) — not the móshān fànshuǐ, cháofēng nòngyuè (mountain-modeling water-imitating, mocking-wind sporting-moon) types. His poetry, though unable to zì pì ménjìng (self-open a door-and-path), is chōnghé tiándàn (full-harmonious, content-leisurely), and ultimately not failing in yǎyīn (elegant sound). At the zhēngchí zhī rì (contending-and-racing day, i.e. the height of the Hòu Qī Zǐ factional contests), Wáng was still able to kèshǒu xiānzhèng zhī diǎnxíng (firmly maintain the original-correct canonical-pattern). Compiled and presented in the fourth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Wáng Qiáo of Jīntán is the principal jīngxué (Classical Studies)-anchored biéjí author of the late Jiājìng to early Wànlì era. His literary distinction is that of an unfashionable but principled administrator — explicitly opposed to the shìdàfū fēngyǎ vs. súlì dichotomy that valorized literary cultivation while delegating actual administration to the lìxū (clerk-staff). His prose is qiē shíjì (cutting-into-actual-practicalities), not the móshān fànshuǐ (mountain-imitating, water-modeling) or cháofēng nòngyuè (mocking-wind, sporting-moon) types. Even at the height of the Hòu Qī Zǐ factional contests, Wáng kèshǒu xiānzhèng zhī diǎnxíng (firmly maintained the original canonical pattern). The Wùshēn bǐjì and Zǐwēitáng zhájì — both substantial bǐjì — are integral to the collection and reflect Wáng’s Classical-philological learning.
Wáng Qiáo’s son Wáng Kěntáng 王肯堂 (1549–1613) was a major late-Míng medical writer whose Liùkē zhèngzhì zhǔnshéng 六科證治準繩 is a standard reference; the father-and-son intellectual continuity is documented in the collection.
Date bracket: 1547 (Jiājìng 26 jìnshì) — 1599 (death). CBDB and catalog agree on 1521–1599.
Translations and research
- Míng shǐ j. 220 — Wáng Qiáo biography.
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976: entry on Wáng Qiáo.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
Wáng Qiáo’s articulated principle — shìdàfū fēngyǎ vs. súlì — is one of the more pointed Míng-era statements of administrative-ethical opposition to the literati culture of delegating àndú (file-and-document work) to clerks. The corresponding prose in the collection is one of the more substantial mid-Míng jīngshì (statecraft)-genre.