Sìmíng jí 四溟集
Four-Seas Collection by 謝榛 (撰), 盛以進 (訂補)
About the work
The poetry collection of Xiè Zhēn 謝榛 (1495–1575), zì Màoqín 茂秦, hào Sìmíng shānrén 四溟山人, of Línqīng 臨清 (Shāndōng). Xiè was a bùyī (commoner without official rank) who was nonetheless the founder and senior member of the Hòu Qī Zǐ literary society — older than Lǐ Pānlóng and Wáng Shìzhēn. At the society’s founding, the shànglùn yǒuTáng zhūjiā, dìng chēng shī sānyào (discussing the Táng poets, fixing the Three Essentials of Poetry) — both originated with Xiè; the others substantively followed his judgement. After Lǐ Pānlóng’s name rose, Xiè in lùn shēngpíng (discussing-lifetime) repeatedly kèzé (sharply criticized) Lǐ; the Pānlóng circle responded by xuē qí míng yú qīzǐ wǔzǐ zhī liè (“striking his name from the lists of the Seven and Five Masters”). Xiè spent his later years as the guest-poet at various princely courts; the Zhào Kāngwáng 趙康王 (Prince of Zhào) famously presented his attendant-singer-girl to Xiè rú Jiāng Kuí XiǎoHóng gùshì (“as in the Jiāng Kuí / XiǎoHóng affair”). Xiè was instrumental in rescuing Lú Nán 盧柟 (Mièměng jí KR4e0217) from prison. The 10-juǎn WYG recension is Wànlì rénzǐ (1612) — Línqīng zhōu zhīzhōu Shèng Yǐjìn 盛以進 obtained the Prince of Zhào old-edition and bǔdìng (supplemented-and-fixed). The earlier 2-juǎn Shījiā zhíshuō 詩家直説 — Xiè’s separate critical work — was appended to the head of the WYG-base text but the Sìkù compilers separated it out to be recorded under shīwénpíng (poetry-prose criticism).
Tiyao
Sìmíng jí in 10 juǎn — by Xiè Zhēn of the Míng. Zhēn, zì Màoqín, native of Línqīng. Affairs detailed in Míngshǐ Wényuàn biography. Zhēn early was skilled in cíqǔ (lyric-songs); at age 16 he composed yuèfǔ shāngdiào (yuèfǔ in the shāng mode) — shàonián zhēng gē zhī (young-people contended to sing it). Soon he zhéjié dúshū (bent-discipline reading), kèyì wèi shī (concentrated-intent for poetry). When Lǐ Pānlóng and Wáng Shìzhēn generation formed the shīshè (poetry-society), Zhēn alone was the eldest. After Pānlóng’s name was prosperous, Zhēn in lùn shēngpíng (discussing lifetime) was rather kèzé (sharply critical) to him; Pānlóng’s circle then nù (angered) and xiāng páijǐ (mutually pushed-out), xuē qí míng yú qīzǐ wǔzǐ zhī liè (“struck his name from the list of the Seven and Five Masters”). Yet at the jiéshè zhī shǐ (society’s beginning), the shànglùn yǒuTáng zhūjiā, dìng chēng shī sānyào (discussing the Táng poets, fixing the Three Essentials of Poetry) all zì Zhēn fā (issued from Zhēn) — the various people in actual fact shí xīn shī qí yán (with sincere-heart took his words as teacher).
Later he bó yóu zhū fāndǐ (lightly-wandered the various princely residences); together became their shàngkè (guest of honour). Even though zhōng yú bùyī (ended as a commoner), his shēngjià (sound-and-price) was weighty in his time. The Zhào Kāngwáng even chuò shìjī (broke-off an attendant concubine) and gave-her-to-Xiè — like the Jiāng Kuí / XiǎoHóng story (i.e. the Sòng poet Jiāng Kuí receiving the courtesan XiǎoHóng). His jiù Lú Nán one affair (rescuing Lú Nán from prison) — especially shows qìyì (chivalric-discipline). Pānlóng’s Sòng Zhēn xīyóu shī (Poem on Seeing Off Zhēn for the Western Journey) said: “Míngshí bàobìng fēngchén xià; duǎnhè lùnjiāo tiāndì jiān” (“In the bright-time bearing-illness beneath the wind-and-dust; in short-hempen garments discussing friendship between Heaven and Earth”) — rather matches his reality. His poetry also does not fail to be a zuòzhě (composer); the Seven Masters’ jiāokǒu dǐhē (mutual-mouth slandering) was yīshí ēnyuàn zhī cí (one-time grace-and-resentment language), insufficient as final verdict.
This work was cut at Wànlì rénzǐ (1612); the Línqīngzhōu zhīzhōu Shèng Yǐjìn obtained the Zhào dǐ (Prince of Zhào residence) old-edition, chóng wèi bǔdìng (again supplemented-and-fixed it); and also took Zhēn’s composed Shījiā zhíshuō in 2 juǎn appended to the head of the work. Note: Zhēn’s poetry is enough to chuán (transmit); but his poetry-discussing language is mostly yūmiù (winding-and-erroneous). Today [we] only record this collection; the Shījiā zhíshuō is then preserved-in-catalog under shīwénpíng (poetry-prose criticism). Compiled and presented in the fourth month of Qiánlóng 45 (1780). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Xiè Zhēn of Línqīng is one of the most interesting figures in the Hòu Qī Zǐ literary movement: the founding theoretical voice who was subsequently expelled from the canonical Seven-Masters lists after a falling-out with Lǐ Pānlóng. The Sìkù tíyào’s recovery is unusually thorough: it explicitly credits Xiè with originating the Sānyào (Three Essentials of Poetry) doctrine and the survey of Táng poets that became the Seven-Masters’ programme. The textual transmission story — Xiè dying as a bùyī commoner without official rank; the Prince of Zhào’s patronage and the famously gifted concubine episode; the 1612 Wànlì rénzǐ Shèng Yǐjìn edition based on the Prince of Zhào residence’s old copy — is one of the more colourful Míng biéjí histories. Xiè’s separate critical work Shījiā zhíshuō — bound at the head of this 1612 edition — was excised by the Sìkù compilers and entered into the shīwénpíng category separately.
The case of Lú Nán KR4e0217: Lú was a tàixuéshēng (Imperial Academy student) imprisoned on a wū yǐ shārén (false murder-charge); Xiè zǒu Jīngshī wèi chēng yuān (“ran to the capital to cry his innocence”), eventually obtaining Lú’s release. This is one of the most-cited cases of Míng commoner-poet qìyì (chivalric integrity).
Date bracket: 1530 (Xiè’s earliest documented composition) — 1612 (the Wànlì rénzǐ Shèng Yǐjìn edition). Composition window ends with Xiè’s death 1575. CBDB 34735 confirms 1495–1575.
Translations and research
- Míng shǐ j. 287 — Xiè Zhēn Wén-yuàn biography.
- Daniel Bryant, The Great Recreation: Ho Ching-ming (1483–1521) and His World — context.
- Richard John Lynn, “Alternative Routes to Self-Realization in Ming Theories of Poetry,” Theories of the Arts in China (Princeton, 1983) — on Xiè’s Sān-yào.
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976: entry on Xiè Zhēn.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
The Sìkù tíyào’s restoration of Xiè’s claim to be the founding theoretical voice of the Hòu Qī Zǐ — overturning the Lǐ Pānlóng circle’s expulsion of Xiè from the canonical Seven-Masters lists — is one of the more substantial Sìkù historiographical interventions in Míng literary history.