Èrmiào jí 二妙集
Two Marvels, Combined by 段克己 and 段成己
About the work
An 8-juǎn joint collection of the JīnYuán transition brothers Duàn Kèjǐ (段克己, 1194–1252, zì Fùzhī 復之, sobriquet Dùnān 遯菴) and Duàn Chéngjǐ (段成己, 1199–1279, zì Chéngzhī 誠之, sobriquet Júxuān 菊軒) of Jìshān 稷山 (Hédōng, modern Shānxī). The brothers were called the “Two Marvels” (Èrmiào 二妙) by Zhào Bǐngwén (趙秉文), the Jīn Shàngshū, whence the title. 6 juǎn of shī + 2 juǎn of yuèfǔ (cí). The book was published in the Tàidìng era (1324–1328) by Kèjǐ’s grandson Duàn Fǔ 段輔, then Lìbù shìláng 吏部侍郎, who presented it to Wú Chéng 吳澄 for the original preface. The verse is, the SKQS editors find, “gǔlì jiānjìn, yìzhì cāngliáng” — bone-firm-and-rigorous, bleak-and-cold in sentiment — meeting the Jīnyuán fùmò (Jīn original-old-capital fall) mood and crossing the Táo Qián / Dù Fǔ qualities (per Wú Chéng’s preface). Zhū Yízūn’s Pùshūtíng shūmù erroneously attributes the Èrmiào jí to “Duàn Yōng” 段鏞 and “Duàn Duó” 段鐸” — but Yú Jí’s Duànshì shìdé bēi identifies Yōng and Duó as Kèjǐ and Chéngjǐ’s fifth-generation ancestors, the latter rising to Fángyùshǐ, with no extant collection. Zhū’s attribution is therefore erroneous.
Tiyao
Your servants respectfully submit: the Èrmiào jí in 8 juǎn — the poetry collection of the Jīn Duàn Kèjǐ and Duàn Chéngjǐ, two brothers. Kèjǐ, zì Fùzhī, sobriquet Dùnān; Chéngjǐ, zì Chéngzhī, sobriquet Júxuān. Both Jìshān men. Kèjǐ in the Jīn had never taken the jìnshì; on entering Yuán did not serve. Chéngjǐ rose by jìnshì of the Zhèngdà period, appointed Master of Records of Yíyáng; early-Yuán summoned to be Píngyángfǔ Rúxué Tíjǔ — firmly refused, did not go. The brothers both ended their lives by integrity. At first, Kèjǐ and Chéngjǐ both early occupied fame by their writings; the Jīn Shàngshū Zhào Bǐngwén once labelled them “Èrmiào”. Hence their combined collection takes that name.
In the Tàidìng period, Kèjǐ’s grandson Duàn Fǔ — Lìbù shìláng — presented it to Wú Chéng, who only then prefaced and transmitted it. Zhū Yízūn’s Pùshūtíng shūmù under Èrmiào jí attributes it to Duàn Yōng and Duàn Duó — examining Yú Jí’s Duànshì shìdé bēi, Yōng and Duó are actually Kèjǐ and Chéngjǐ’s fifth-generation ancestors; Duó rose through office to Fángyùshǐ — never had a collection in circulation. Yízūn was probably mistaken by accident.
The collection has 6 juǎn of shī, 2 juǎn of yuèfǔ. Generally bone-firm-and-rigorous, bleak-and-cold in sentiment — meeting the gùdū qīngfù (the toppling of the old capital), where the chànghuái jīnxī (melancholy thoughts of past-and-present) flow forth unwilled. Wú Chéng’s preface says: “They had felt the xīngwáng zhī huì (the moment of rise-and-fall) — so Táo’s expansion (dá), Dù’s grandeur (háo) — their poetry had both.” His evaluation is sound.
Fáng Qí 房祺 edited the HéFēn zhūlǎo shījí in 8 juǎn (see KR4h0073) — all Jīn yímín who followed Yuán Hǎowèn’s circle, with the Duàn brothers among them. Yet Hǎowèn’s Zhōngzhōu jí KR4h0069 covers one Jīn dynasty’s writers in completeness — but alone has no poetry of the two brothers. The reason: when Hǎowèn was compiling the Zhōngzhōu jí it was Āizōng Tiānxīng 2 (guǐsì, 1233) — just then encountering líluàn (separation-and-chaos), detained at Liáochéng; his self-preface says he recorded only what he could base on Shāng Héng’s Bǎijiā shīlüè and what he could remember — he must not yet have obtained the two men’s compositions, hence not entered. Therefore he also says “any further to come, will be ordered by jiǎyǐ” — not deletion-and-rejection.
The HéFēn zhūlǎo shījí further records Kèjǐ’s Qiūhuā poem (1 piece) and Chéngjǐ’s Sūshì Chéngyántáng etc. (7 pieces) — all not in this present collection; suspected to be self-rejected (shānxuē) at the time. Again, this collection’s Chéngjǐ’s Dōngyè wúmèi 1 piece, Zhōngqiū 2 pieces, Yúnzhōng mùyǔ 1 piece — the HéFēn zhūlǎo shījí attributes them all to Kèjǐ. This collection comes from the Duàn-family own holding; the editing order must be without error — Fáng Qí must have mis-collected. Today we preserve each in its own form and specifically note the differences here.
Reverently submitted, tenth month of Qiánlóng 42 (1777). Editor-in-Chief Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Date. The constituent poems are from c. 1230–1270, spanning the brothers’ lives. The transmitted text is the Tài-dìng-era (1324–1328) edition published by their descendant Duàn Fǔ with Wú Chéng’s preface.
Significance. (1) Jīn-loyalist poetry. Together with KR4h0073 HéFēn zhūlǎo shījí and KR4h0069 Zhōngzhōu jí, the Èrmiào jí is one of the three principal documentary witnesses to the Hédōng Jīn-loyalist poetry circle around Yuán Hǎowèn.
(2) Joint-collection format. The presentation of two brothers’ verse as a single sequenced collection is unusual and influential — anticipating the late-Yuán and Míng patterns of family-or-fraternal anthology.
(3) SòngJīnYuán mood continuity. The brothers’ poetry is one of the principal Jīn-side analogues to the contemporary Sòng-loyalist verse of 謝枋得, 謝翱, 文天祥 etc. — sharing the bone-firm, cold-bleak register but anchored in Hédōng rather than Jiāngnán geography.
Translations and research
- Hoyt Cleveland Tillman & Stephen West (eds.), China Under Jurchen Rule (Albany, 1995).
- Stephen West, scattered articles on Jīn-Yuán literary culture.
- 詹杭倫 Zhān Háng-lún, Yuán Hǎo-wèn yán-jiū — for the Hé-dōng circle.
- 房祺 Fáng Qí, Hé-Fēn zhū-lǎo shī-jí (Yuán) — the contemporary witness.
Other points of interest
The textual discrepancies between the Èrmiào jí and the HéFēn zhūlǎo shījí are a classic case of how family-edition and anthology-witness diverge in SòngYuán transmission. The SKQS editors’ decision to preserve both readings and merely note the divergence is a model of textual conservativeness.
Links
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §31.4.
- ctext