Fátánzhāi jí 伐檀齋集
Felling-the-Tán-tree Studio Collection by 張元凱 (撰)
About the work
The literary collection of Zhāng Yuánkǎi 張元凱 (16th century), zì Zuǒyú 左虞, of Wúxiàn 吳縣 (Sūzhōu, Jiāngsū). Zhāng was by shìzhí (inherited military office) Sūzhōuwèi zhǐhuī (Imperial Guard officer at Sūzhōu); twice dūcáo běi shàng (commanded grain-transport northward); self-resigned and returned home. In his youth he learned the Máoshī (Shījīng), then zhéjié dúshū (bent-discipline read books), jìqíng yú shījiǔ (“placed-feeling in poetry-and-wine”). The 12-juǎn collection includes the 1-juǎn fùlù of zhū míngjiā zèngdá shī (poems-of-exchange from various distinguished writers). Wáng Shìzhēn twice prefaced the collection — once during Zhāng’s lifetime comparing him to Shěn Qìngzhī 沈慶之 and Cáo Jǐngzōng 曹景宗 (i.e. Liùcháo military commanders also distinguished in letters), and once after Zhāng’s death, when Wáng pùshū dé qí xíngjuàn (“airing-out-books obtained his line-scroll”) and zìtàn zhīzhī wèijìn (“self-sighed that his knowing-was-not-thorough”) — composing a chóuzhī shī (poem in libation). Both pieces are now preserved in the Sìbù gǎo KR4e0201. Zhū Yízūn’s Jìngzhìjū shīhuà judged Zhāng’s Xīyuàn gōngcí (Western-Garden Palace Verse) as gāo chū Shìzhēn zhī shàng (“rising above Shìzhēn”).
Tiyao
Fátánzhāi jí in 12 juǎn — by Zhāng Yuánkǎi of the Míng. Yuánkǎi, zì Zuǒyú, native of Wúxiàn. By shìzhí (inherited office) was Sūzhōuwèi zhǐhuī; twice dūcáo běishàng (supervised grain-transport northward); self-resigned and returned. In youth received the Máo shī; zhéjié dúshū (bent-discipline reading), jìqíng shījiǔ (“entrusted-feeling to poetry-and-wine”). Wáng Shìzhēn often prefaced his poetry — comparing him to Shěn Qìngzhī and Cáo Jǐngzōng. And when Yuánkǎi was deceased, Shìzhēn while airing-out books found his xíngjuàn (line-scroll), self-sighed his knowing-not-thorough — again composed a chóuzhī poem; both pieces are now placed in the Sìbù gǎo. His poetry, broadly tuīchén chūxīn (pushing-the-old, bringing-out the new), not following kējiù (formula-grooves); but with fēnggǔ qiúshàng (style-bones tough-and-rising), kāngzhuàng zìxǐ (vigorous-and-strong, self-delighted) — each piece yuānyuān yǒu jīnshí shēng (deep-deep with metal-stone sound). His Xīyuàn gōngcí — Jìngzhìjū shīhuà says rises above Shìzhēn. Others such as Běiyóu (North-Wandering) various regulated poems also do not fail in jǔyuē (rule-and-measure). Since his cáihuá běnfù (talent-flowering was originally rich), and he also tuōxǐ mínglì (cast-off-shoes for fame-and-profit), his xiōngcì kuàngyí (breast-position broad-and-leveled), hence when the Lángyá (Wáng Shìzhēn) and Lìxià (Lǐ Pānlóng) sects shèngxíng (prevailed), he was still able bù yòu yú fēngqì (“not enclosed within the era-air”). Justifiably Shìzhēn’s xīnzhé bùzhì (“heart-bowed, did not stop”). Compiled and presented in the fourth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Zhāng Yuánkǎi of Wúxiàn is one of the more remarkable cases of an inherited-military-officer Míng biéjí author. His career path — shìzhí Sūzhōuwèi zhǐhuī (Imperial Guard rank at Sūzhōu by family-inheritance), grain-transport command, voluntary retirement — is the classic Wú-school cáizǐ trajectory for someone whose civilian-rank advancement was blocked by the inherited-military status. Wáng Shìzhēn’s extensive engagement with Zhāng — twice prefacing the collection, then composing a chóuzhī shī after Zhāng’s death — explicitly compared Zhāng to the Liùcháo poet-generals Shěn Qìngzhī and Cáo Jǐngzōng, placing him in a venerable wǔjiàng wénshì (military-commander-as-literary-officer) lineage. Zhū Yízūn’s Jìngzhìjū shīhuà judges Zhāng’s Xīyuàn gōngcí as gāo chū Shìzhēn zhī shàng.
Date bracket: c.1560 (active in Wúzhōu literary circles) — c.1600 (death, before Wáng Shìzhēn’s death in 1590; Wáng’s chóuzhī shī is composed post-Zhāng’s death, included in Sìbù gǎo which was substantially completed by 1577). CBDB 34723 has zero markers; standard reference works do not establish firm lifedates.
Translations and research
- See Wáng Shì-zhēn’s Sì-bù gǎo KR4e0201 for the principal critical engagement.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
The collection’s 1-juǎn fùlù of zhū míngjiā zèngdá shī — including Wáng Shìzhēn’s poems — is a substantial documentary record of the mid-Wàn-lì Sūzhōu literary network and one of the better-preserved cases of inter-poet exchange documentation in a Míng biéjí.