Táng sì sēng shī 唐四僧詩
Poems of Four Táng Monks by 釋靈澈 (and three others — see Abstract)
About the work
A composite anthology in six juǎn gathering the surviving fragments of four mid- and late-Táng poet-monks: Línghé 靈澈 (1 juǎn; lay surname Tāng 湯, zì Yuánchéng 源澄, of Yuèzhōu); Língyī 靈一 (2 juǎn; lay surname Wú 吳, of Guǎnglíng); Qīngsài 清塞 (2 juǎn; this is Zhōu Pǔ 周樸 in his pre-laicisation life — the SKQS editors note the misclassification); and Chángdá 常達 (1 juǎn; lay surname Gù 顧, zì Wénjǔ 文舉, of Hǎiyú). The compiler is unknown. Línghé, Língyī and Chángdá each carry, as preface, a biographical zhuàn by the Sòng monk Zànníng 贊寧 (919–1001) of the Sòng Gāosēng zhuàn; Qīngsài has none. Liú Yǔxī’s preface to the original ten-juǎn Línghé jí survives at the head of the first juǎn.
Tiyao
Your servants respectfully submit: the Táng sì sēng shī in six juǎn — Línghé in one, Língyī in two, Qīngsài in two, Chángdá in one. The Shūlù jiětí records Línghé and Língyī each as one juǎn; Qīngsài and Chángdá are not listed. The present joint compilation is by an unknown hand. Línghé, Língyī and Chángdá each carry, as preface, a zhuàn commissioned by Sòng Tàizōng from the shāmén Zànníng. Qīngsài alone is without one. Línghé has Liú Yǔxī’s preface — also cited in the Wénxiàn tōngkǎo — because Línghé in his time travelled with the monk Jiǎorán and was known to the shìláng Bāo Jí and Lǐ Shū, so he came to Chángān and was prominent enough to obtain a preface from a great hand. But Liú’s preface speaks of ten juǎn, and here we have only one — fragments, not the complete book. Línghé’s lay surname is Tāng, zì Yuánchéng, a Yuèzhōu man. Língyī’s lay surname is Wú, of Guǎnglíng. Chángdá’s lay surname is Gù, zì Wénjǔ, of Hǎiyú. Qīngsài is actually Zhōu Pǔ 周樸 — the same man who later returned to lay life and so should not be listed as one of the four monks. The matter is treated in detail under the Tángsēng hóngxiù jí KR4h0051 entry; not elaborated further here. Reverently submitted, ninth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). Editor-in-Chief Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Dating is approximate: the compilation must postdate the Zànníng biographies (compiled under Sòng Tàizōng, ca. 988–1003) but precede the Míng-period block-prints that are its proximate ancestor; the SKQS editors found no fixed compiler attribution. A Sòng or early Yuán date is most likely. The four monks span a long arc: Língyī (727–762) was active under Tiānbǎo, Línghé (746–816) under Dàizōng and Dézōng, Chángdá (fl. ca. 880–890) under Xīzōng, and “Qīngsài” (= Zhōu Pǔ, d. 878) under Xiánttong / Qiánfú. The misidentification of Zhōu Pǔ as a monk reflects a confusion between his monastic period in Mt. Sōng and his subsequent secular career; the SKQS editors correct this systematically and note that the Tángsēng hóngxiù jí KR4h0051 of Lǐ Gǒng 李龏 contains the fuller discussion.
This is the principal surviving anthology of mid-Táng monk-poetry and the only Táng poet-monks’ anthology to carry the Zànníng biographies as integral paratext — they preserve documentary detail (lay names, native places, sectarian affiliations) not recoverable from elsewhere.
Translations and research
- Stephen Owen, The Late Tang (Harvard Asia Center, 2006), discussion of Línghé and the Jiāngnán monastic poetry scene.
- Albert E. Dien (ed.), State and Society in Early Medieval China — on the Tāng monastic literary networks.
- Sūn Chānglíng 孫昌齡, Táng-dài shī-sēng yánjiū 唐代詩僧研究 (Shàngwù, 2002).
- Jiǎ Jìn-huá 賈晉華, Gǔdiǎn Chán yánjiū 古典禪研究 (Hong Kong: Oxford UP, 2010), ch. on Tiāntái-school poet-monks.
Links
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §30.3.1.
- ctext