Xīpí lèigǎo 西陂類稿
Classified Drafts from the Western Bank (Hermitage) by 宋犖 (撰)
About the work
The 39-juan late-life curated recension of the collected works of 宋犖 Sòng Luò (1634–1713, zì Mùzhòng 牧仲, hào Màntáng 漫堂 and Xīpí 西陂), one of the most prominent late-Kāngxī senior officials and a major literary patron. 22 juan of poetry + 1 juan of cí + 8 juan of miscellaneous prose + 6 juan of memorials. The poetry portion is an anthology of his own previously-printed sub-collections — 25 in number — including the Gǔzhúpǔ gǎo 古竹圃稿, Jiāhétáng gǎo 嘉禾堂稿, Liǔhú cǎo 柳湖草, Jiāngmǔlóu gǎo 將母樓稿, the Yíngluán (Welcoming-the-Imperial-Carriage) collections relating to the imperial tours of the south, and the Cānglàngtíng poetry. Sòng’s earlier juvenilia, the Miánjīnshānrén shī jí 綿津山人詩集, were excluded from the 39-juan recension as differing in formal gédiào (mode-and-feeling) from his mature work.
Tiyao
Your servants reverently submit the following: the Xīpí lèigǎo in 39 juan is by Sòng Luò of our dynasty. Luò’s Cānglàng xiǎo zhì has already been separately catalogued. This collection contains: 22 juan of poetry, 1 juan of cí, 8 juan of záwén (miscellaneous prose), 6 juan of memorials. The poetry’s sub-collections are: Gǔzhúpǔ gǎo, Jiāhétáng gǎo, Liǔhú cǎo, Jiāngmǔlóu gǎo, Gǔzhúpǔ xùgǎo, Dūguān cǎo, Shuāngjiāng chànghé jí, Huízhōng jí, Xīshān chànghé shī, Xù Dūguān cǎo, Hǎishàng zá shī, Màntáng cǎo, Màntáng chànghé cǎo, Xiàoxuě jí, Lúshān shī, Shùlùxuān shī, Cānglàngtíng shī, Yíngluán jí, Hóngqiáo jí, Yíngluán èr jí, Qīngdétáng shī, Yíngluán sān jí, Téngyīn chànghé jí, Lèchūngé shī, Liánjù jí — 25 in all. Originally each was a separate collection; in his late years, after retirement to the Xīpí estate, he himself fixed and combined them. Only the early imprint Miánjīnshānrén shī jí is dropped and not included, because his early-period compositions had somewhat different gédiào and he wished not to mix them with the rest.
Although Luò entered office by rènzǐ (heredity) and not the examinations, he was thoroughly versed in canonical texts and well-practiced in zhǎnggù (historical-institutional matters); his poetry and prose were also esteemed by his contemporaries — second only to 王士禛 of Xīnchéng. When he was Sūzhōu Governor, Shào Chánghéng of Chángzhōu selected Shìzhēn’s and Luò’s poems together as the WángSòng èr jiā jí; at the time some doubted this as flattering the higher official, and 趙執信 Zhào Zhíxìn especially held a different view, combining the criticism of Shìzhēn with the rejection of Sòng. Speaking with fair mind: Luò’s poetry is generally zònghéng bēnfàng (free-ranging and unleashed), kèyì shēngxīn (deliberately producing the new); its source flows from Sū Shì. 王士禛’s Chíběi ǒu tán records that Luò once painted Shì’s portrait and stood beside it; afterwards in the xuǎnfǔ (Selection Bureau) he was indeed appointed Huángzhōu tóngzhī — the very site of Shì’s old exile. Moreover, Shī Yuánzhī’s commentary on Sū Shì’s poetry had long been without surviving imprint; Luò at Sūzhōu bought a damaged copy at high price, collated it, supplemented it, cut blocks for it, and made it circulate. His zōngfǎ (school of discipleship) can be seen clearly thereby. Therefore his poetry, though it does not quite reach Shìzhēn’s chāoyì (transcendent), is qīnggāng jùnshàng (clear-firm, lofty-and-rising), and likewise stands as a bájǐ zìchéng yī duì (one extracted halberd forming its own array). His prefaces, records, and memorials are also shūchàng tiáodá (relaxed and direct), in the Méishān (Sū Shì) gauge.
Shìzhēn’s Jì Luò shī has the line: “Shàngshū at the Northern Gate, frost has invaded his temples / Kāifǔ at Jiāngnán, snow covers his head. / In the old day, two ruddy young men, / Wáng of Yángzhōu, Sòng of Huángzhōu — saying the two as young men were minor officials and were already equal in fame, not [merely] because of [Shào] Chánghéng’s joint imprint. This is also why Shìzhēn dispelled Zhào Zhíxìn’s doubts. Indeed Shìzhēn never ceased to consider Luò his peer. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 46 (1781), twelfth month. Chief editors your servants 紀昀, 陸錫熊, 孫士毅. Chief proof-collator your servant Lù Fèichí 陸費墀.
Abstract
Sòng Luò is the foremost late-Kāngxī senior official whose personal literary identity matched his administrative weight. His poetic position — discipleship to Sū Shì — placed him in dialogue with the Méishān (Sū Shì) tradition that 陳廷敬 also followed, while distinguishing him from 王士禛’s Tang-modeled Shényùn school. The WángSòng èr jiā jí combined imprint (Shào Chánghéng, Sūzhōu, c. 1700) presented the two as the leading poetic voices of high Kāngxī, a critical positioning that 趙執信’s polemic in his Tán lóng lù contested.
Sòng’s editorial-philological labors are also of permanent value: the recovery and republication of Shī Yuánzhī’s Sū Shì commentary at Sūzhōu (c. 1690) preserved a foundational pre-modern SūShì interpretive tradition for posterity.
Composition window: c. 1655 (Sòng’s earliest dated pieces, from his Gǔzhúpǔ sub-collection) through 1713 (his death). The 39-juan curated recension is Sòng’s own late-life synthesis.
Translations and research
Hilary Beattie, Land and Lineage in China: T’ung-ch’eng County (Cambridge UP, 1979) — references the Shāng-qiū Sòng lineage parallel.
Jonathan Spence, Ts’ao Yin and the K’ang-hsi Emperor (Yale UP, 1966) — references Sòng as Jiāng-sū governor.
ECCP 689–690 (Tu Lien-che).
Other points of interest
The Sūzhōu Hóngqiáo poetry-meetings of c. 1693–1700, organized by Sòng Luò as governor, were perhaps the most prestigious literary gatherings of the high Kāngxī period — attended by 陳維崧 (briefly before his death), 朱彝尊, 尤侗, 葉燮 Yè Xiè, 潘耒 Pān Lěi, and many others. Sòng’s hosting role at these gatherings cemented his position as senior-official-patron of the early-Qīng literary establishment.
Links
- Wikidata Q15914003 (Song Luo)
- ECCP 689–690
- Kyoto Zinbun Sìkù tíyào