Mièměng jí 蠛蠓集
Vinegar-Fly Collection by 盧柟 (撰)
About the work
The literary collection of Lú Nán 盧柟 (d. c. 1560), zì Shàopián 少楩, of Jùnxiàn 濬縣 (Hénán). Lú was a tàixuéshēng (Imperial Academy student) who fùcái wǔ xiànlìng (relied on his talent to offend the county magistrate); the magistrate framed him with a murder charge and bǎnglüè lùn sǐ (had him caned-and-sentenced-to-death). He languished in prison for several years until Xiè Zhēn 謝榛 (cf. KR4e0216) zǒu Jīngshī wèi chēng yuān (“ran to the capital crying his innocence”); the original magistrate had been dismissed and replaced by the Pínghú Lù Guāngzǔ 平湖陸光祖 who píngfǎn qí yù (overturned his case), saving Lú from death. The 5-juǎn collection comprises 2 juǎn of záwén + 1 juǎn of fù + 2 juǎn of poetry. The title Mièměng — “vinegar-fly” — comes from Lú’s own self-preface: mièměng are the xījī (vinegar-flies of Guō Pú’s gloss), gnats that zìfèng (self-supply) on what is clean, not vulgar like wénruì (mosquitos); also because Lú was xì yù (imprisoned), like the mièměng jiā Yān háng, lí zhūwǎng (“caught in the swallow’s throat, fallen into the spider’s web”) zhèn qí yīn ér yīnyīn zhě (“shaking its sound to be inarticulate”) — hence the title. The sāofù (sorrowful fù) was especially praised by Wáng Shìzhēn.
Tiyao
Mièměng jí in 5 juǎn — by Lú Nán of the Míng. Nán, zì Shàopián, native of Jùnxiàn. Tàixuéshēng, fùcái wǔ xiànlìng (“relied on talent to offend the magistrate”); the magistrate wū yǐ shārén (falsely accused him of murder); bǎnglüè lùn sǐ (caned-him-and-sentenced-to-death), yānxì shù nián (imprisoned several years). Línqīng Xiè Zhēn zǒu Jīngshī wèi chēng yuān (“ran to the capital to declare his innocence”). It happened that the magistrate was already dismissed; Pínghú Lù Guāngzǔ replaced him — píngfǎn qí yù (overturned the case); he got not-to-die. Affairs detailed in Míngshǐ Wényuàn biography. This collection was Jiājìng guǐmǎo (1543) Nán’s self-edited; in all záwén 2 juǎn, fù 1 juǎn, shī 2 juǎn. With self-preface saying: Mièměng zhě, xījī yě (“Mièměng are the vinegar-flies”). Took its self-supplying on its cleanness, jiè yú zìshǒu (firm in self-guarding) — not like wénruì (mosquitos) who qīnhuì qiángdàn (invade-the-foul, strong-bite). And again because of the affair being-imprisoned — similar to the mièměng’s jiā Yān háng, lí zhūwǎng (“being-stuck-in the swallow’s throat, fallen-into the spider’s web”) zhèn qí yīn ér yīnyīn zhě (“shaking its sound to inarticulateness”) — therefore took it as collection-name. The History says: his sāofù (sorrowful fù) was most praised by Wáng Shìzhēn; the poetry also is háofàng (bold-and-free) like-the-person.
Now examining the collection: although he lived between Jiājìng and Lóngqìng, when the WángLǐ (Wáng Shìzhēn, Lǐ Pānlóng) flame was at-fierce — yet yīyì wǎnghuán, zhēnqì bènyǒng (singularly to-and-fro, true-energy churning-rising) — utterly not stained by gōují túshì zhī xí (hook-thorn and decoration-painting habits). Surely his person is guāngmíng lěiluò (luminous-and-frank), miǎo wán yīshí (despising-and-mocking one age), did not contend with the Seven Masters for shēngmíng (fame); hence also did not follow the Seven Masters’ xué bù qū (learning to follow-the-steps). Yet Xiè rescued him; Shìzhēn praised him — Nán in turn yǐ shì zhòng yú shì (was by this thereby made-weighty by the age). Also can-call him yìrán zìlì (resolutely self-standing), wú suǒ yīfù (without anything to attach-to). Compiled and presented in the ninth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Lú Nán of Jùnxiàn is one of the most remarkable cases of an outsider-poet whose biography was determined by an unjust prosecution. The miscarriage of justice (a county magistrate’s perjured murder-charge against a tàixuéshēng who had insulted him) and the Xiè Zhēn rescue narrative make Lú one of the most-cited cases in Míng biéjí literature of bùyī (commoner) qìyì (chivalric integrity) overcoming bureaucratic abuse. The Sìkù tíyào’s literary verdict: yīyì wǎnghuán, zhēnqì bènyǒng — Lú’s prose moves singularly to-and-fro, with churning-up true energy, not stained by the Hòu Qī Zǐ archaist gōují túshì habit. The collection’s self-preface (preserved in the WYG source) is one of the more memorable Míng self-presentations: Lú explicitly identifies with the vinegar-fly — clean, self-supplied, weak — caught in the bureaucratic spider-web, shaking its sound to inarticulateness.
Date bracket: 1543 (Jiājìng guǐmǎo = self-edited date) — c.1560 (Lú’s approximate death after rescue). CBDB 34737 has zero markers; the catalog meta gives d. ca. 1560 for the death year.
Translations and research
- Míng shǐ j. 287 — Lú Nán Wén-yuàn biography.
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976: entry on Lú Nán.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
The Lú Nán case became a Míng zájù / Qīng-early xiǎoshuō subject; the Xiè Zhēn rescue narrative is one of the canonical qìyì jiùyuān (chivalric-rescue-of-the-wrongly-accused) stories in late-Míng popular literature.