Guóxiù jí 國秀集
Anthology of the Flowers of the Nation by 芮挺章
About the work
A small mid-Táng anthology in three juǎn compiled by Ruì Tǐngzhāng 芮挺章 (jìnshì, fl. ca. 744) at the urging of two senior patrons — the Mìshūjiàn Chén Xīliè 陳希烈 and the Guózǐ sīyè Sū Yuánmíng 蘇源明. The anthology gathers 218 poems by 88 poets active from Kāiyuán (713–741) through Tiānbǎo 3 (744), with a programmatic preface that explicitly rejects the LiángChén ornamental mode in favour of the fēngyǎ tradition. It complements the slightly later Héyuè yīnglíng jí KR4h0009 of Yīn Pán as a contemporary attempt to canonise high-Táng poetry.
Tiyao
Abstract
The Guóxiù jí is the second of the three main mid-Táng poetry anthologies (with the Héyuè yīnglíng jí KR4h0009 and the Zhōngxìng jiānqì jí KR4h0012). Compared to Yīn Pán’s selection it is broader (88 poets vs. 24) but less critical — there are no píngyǔ — and includes a number of secondary names not preserved elsewhere; for several of these poets it is the only Táng witness. Dating is anchored by the preface’s “until Tiānbǎo 3 (744)” and by the death of Chén Xīliè, which the preface treats as recent; modern scholarship places the completed compilation in 744 or shortly thereafter (no later than 745). The work is listed in the Xīn Tángshū yìwénzhì 新唐書藝文志 as one juǎn; the current three-juǎn division reflects later Sòng editorial practice. Patronage of the project by the chief minister Chén Xīliè (later disgraced for his association with Yáng Guózhōng during the An Lùshān crisis) gives the anthology political resonance: it is conceived as a courtly demonstration of literary flourishing on the eve of the rebellion.
Translations and research
- Stephen Owen, The Great Age of Chinese Poetry: The High T’ang (Yale, 1981), pp. 4–8.
- Paul W. Kroll, “Anthologies in the Tang,” in The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature, vol. 1 (2010), 295–306.
- Fù Xuáncóng 傅璇琮, Táng-rén xuǎn Táng-shī xīn biān 唐人選唐詩新編 (Xī’ān: Shǎnxī rénmín, 1996) — collated edition.
Links
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §30.3.1.
- ctext