Gǔchéng shānguǎn shījí 穀城山館詩集
Gǔ-chéng Mountain Lodge Poetry Collection by 于愼行 (撰)
About the work
The poetry collection of Yú Shènxíng 于慎行 (1545–1607), zì Kěyuǎn 可遠 / Wúgòu 無垢, hào Gǔchéng shānrén 穀城山人, posthumous shì Wéndìng 文定, of Dōngē 東阿 (Shāndōng). Yú is the author of the Dúshǐ mànlù 讀史漫錄 (separately Sìkù-recorded). The 20-juǎn WYG recension is a poetry-only collection. Yú came from the same region as Lǐ Pānlóng (Lìchéng / Shāndōng) but explicitly did not follow the Lìchéng learning: his critical position on gǔ yuèfǔ and on wǔyán gǔshī is one of the most articulate Wàn-lì-period rejections of the Hòu Qī Zǐ WèiJìn / Hàn yuèfǔ imitation cult. Yú’s principle on gǔ yuèfǔ: “Tángrén bùwéi gǔ yuèfǔ, shì zhī gǔ yuèfǔ yě; bù xiào qí tǐ, ér shí jiǎ qí míng yǐ dá suǒ yù yán; jìnshì yīèr míngjiā zhì nǎi zhújù xíngmó yǐ zhuī yí xiǎng, zé Tángrén suǒ tùqì yǐ” — “Táng people did not compose ‘ancient yuèfǔ’; this is how they understood ancient yuèfǔ. They did not imitate its form, but at times borrowed its name to convey what they wanted to say. The recent generation’s one-or-two famous houses (i.e. Lǐ Pānlóng etc.) instead model line-by-line to chase the lost-echo — but that is what the Táng people would spit out.” On wǔyán gǔshī: “WèiJìn at the five-character — is this not divine transformation? To learn it would be winding.” — only by yuánběn xìnglíng, jí mìng wùtài, hóngxiān míngmiè, bìjiū jīngyùn (“rooting in nature-and-spirit, exhausting the description of objects, [seeing] subtle-broad / bright-faint, fully exhausting the deep essences”) — Táng dare have no wǔyán gǔshī?
Tiyao
Gǔchéng shānguǎn shījí in 20 juǎn — by Yú Shènxíng of the Míng. Shènxíng has the Dúshǐ mànlù — already recorded. Shènxíng with Lǐ Pānlóng were xiāngrén (compatriots), yet did not follow the Lìchéng zhī xué (Lìchéng learning). His discussion of gǔ yuèfǔ says: “Tángrén did-not-compose gǔ yuèfǔ — this is zhī gǔ yuèfǔ yě (knowing ancient yuèfǔ); bù xiào qí tǐ, ér shí jiǎ qí míng yǐ dá suǒ yù yán (did not imitate its body, but at-times borrowed its name to convey what was wished to say). The jìnshì yīèr míngjiā (recent age’s one-or-two famous houses) reaching the point of zhújù xíngmó (line-by-line modeling) to chase the lost echo — then it is what the Táng-people spit-out and discarded.” His discussion of wǔyán gǔshī says: “WèiJìn at the five-character — is this not shénhuà (divine transformation)? — to learn it would be yū (winding); why? — yìxiàng kōngdòng (idea-image is empty and full), pǔ ér bù gǎn diāo (plain and dare-not carve); guǐtú zhěngyán (track-paths neat-and-strict), zhìjié ér bù gǎn sōu (made-and-arranged but dare-not-search); shǎo zé nán biàn, duō zé yì qióng (few then hard to transform, many then easy to exhaust). If one yuánběn xìnglíng, jí mìng wùtài, hóngxiān míngmiè, bìjiū jīngyùn (rooted in nature-and-spirit, exhausted the destinies of objects, [saw] broad-fine bright-and-faint, fully exhausted the deep essence) — Táng dare-have-no five-character gǔshī?”
His lifetime zōngzhǐ (guiding-pointing) can be roughly seen. Yet his poetry is diǎnyǎ hépíng, zìráo qīngyùn (canonical-elegant, harmonious-and-peaceful, self-rich-in clear-rhyme), and also not like Jìnglíng (i.e. Zhōng Xīng and Tán Yuánchūn) and Gōngān (i.e. Yuán Hóngdào and brothers) studies — wù fǎn qián guī, héng kāi páng jìng, chěng cōngmíng ér miǎn gǔfǎ (“striving to reverse the former-rules, horizontally opening side-paths, indulging cleverness and turning-back on the ancient method”). His jiǎowǎng ér bù guòzhí (correcting-the-bent but not over-straight) is also yóu nán (even more difficult). Compiled and presented in the sixth month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Compilers as usual.
Abstract
Yú Shènxíng of Dōngē is one of the most articulate late-Wàn-lì critical voices against the Hòu Qī Zǐ archaist program — specifically against the Lǐ Pānlóng (Lìchéng) tradition from which Yú came geographically but explicitly distanced himself intellectually. The Sìkù tíyào preserves two of Yú’s principal critical statements (on gǔ yuèfǔ and on wǔyán gǔshī) that constitute the most articulate anti-Pān-lóng defense of Tángrén understanding of the ancient forms — not as imitation but as zhī (knowing/understanding) and jiǎ qí míng (borrowing-the-name). Yú’s verdict that Pānlóng’s zhújù xíngmó (line-by-line modeling) is what Tángrén tùqì (“spit-out and discarded”) is one of the more striking direct dismissals of the archaist project. Importantly, Yú’s positive program also rejects the Jìnglíng and Gōngān alternatives: he is for the zhèng (orthodox) Mid-Táng diǎnyǎ hépíng manner, not the fǎn qián guī (anti-rule) experiments of the late-Wàn-lì.
Date bracket: 1568 (Yú’s jìnshì) — 1607 (death). CBDB 126359 confirms 1545–1607.
Translations and research
- Míng shǐ j. 217 — Yú Shèn-xíng main biography.
- L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644. New York: Columbia UP, 1976.
- Stephen Owen, ed., The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, vol. 2 — late-Wàn-lì critical positioning.
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, §28 (Míng bié-jí).
Other points of interest
Yú Shènxíng’s Dúshǐ mànlù (separately Sìkù-recorded) is a substantial shǐxué (historiographical) work; the Sìkù tíyào’s positioning of Yú as a jiǎowǎng ér bù guòzhí (correcting-bent-but-not-over-straight) figure between archaism and the Jìnglíng-Gōngān counter-movements is one of the more nuanced placements in late-Wàn-lì literary history.