Qiánkūn qīngqì 乾坤清氣
The Pure Vital Air of Heaven and Earth by 偶桓
About the work
A 14-juǎn early-Míng anthology of Yuán poetry compiled by Ǒu Huán (偶桓), of early-Míng date. The title Qiánkūn qīngqì (literally “the pure qì of Heaven-and-Earth”) is taken from a line of Yuán-Yuán-prefect-era poetry valorising Yuán-period verse as preserving the cosmological qīngqì tradition. The volume is organised by verse-form: 5-syllable ancient verse (juǎn 1–2), 7-syllable ancient verse, regulated verse, etc. Each entry is keyed to the poet (e.g. Liú Yīn 劉因 Mèngjí, Liú Qí 劉祁 Jīngshū, Lú Gèn 盧亘 Yànwēi, Zhào Mèngfǔ 趙孟頫 Zǐáng, etc.), with the number of poems noted below the author.
Tiyao
No SKQS tiyao found in source file (the source file’s juǎn 0 is the table of contents only). The work is plainly attributed: per the juǎn 1 header, “Míng 偶桓 editor”.
Abstract
Date. Ǒu Huán’s biographical details are scarce; he is plausibly active in early-to-mid Hóngwǔ (1370s–1390s). The compilation must postdate the formal YuánMíng transition (1368) and is one of several Hóng-wǔ-era Yuán-poetry anthologies (alongside KR4h0093 Yuányīn by Sūn Yuánlǐ, prefaced 1384; and KR4h0100 Yuán shī tǐyào by Sòng Gōngchuán). notBefore: 1368, notAfter: 1399 brackets the early-Míng compositional window.
Significance. (1) The work is one of three early-Míng Yuán-poetry anthologies (alongside KR4h0093 Yuányīn of Sūn Yuánlǐ and KR4h0100 Yuán shī tǐyào of Sòng Gōngchuán) by which the early-Míng literary establishment canonised the Yuán poetic past. (2) The anthology’s form-based organisation distinguishes it from KR4h0093 Yuányīn’s author-based organisation; together the three works document the early-Míng debate over how to arrange Yuán dynastic literature for posterity. (3) Major Yuán poets represented in extant juǎn 1 include: Liú Yīn 劉因 (6 pieces), Liú Qí 劉祁 (3 pieces), Lú Gèn 盧亘 (1 piece), Zhào Mèngfǔ 趙孟頫 (5 pieces), Gòng Kuí 貢奎 (1 piece), Yú Jí 虞集 (虞集, 6 pieces), Fàn Pēng 范梈 (4 pieces), Jiē Xīsī 揭傒斯 (8 pieces), Yáng Zài 楊載 (2 pieces), Wáng Shìxī 王士熙 (2 pieces), Yuán Jué 袁桷 (5 pieces), Hú Kuān 胡寬 (1 piece), Téng Bīn 滕斌 (7 pieces), Dù Běn 杜本 (1 piece), Yǎlèhū 雅勒呼 (a Mongol), Zhōu Chí 周馳 (2 pieces), Xuē Hàn 薛漢 (4 pieces), Huáng Jìn 黃溍 (6 pieces), Kē Jiǔsī 柯九思 (3 pieces), Chén Lǚ 陳旅 (4 pieces), etc. — juǎn 2 continues with Hǎo Jīng 郝經, Lú Zhì 盧摯, Zhāng Zhù 張翥 (9 pieces — substantial), Zhāng Yǐníng 張以寧, Huáng Qīnglǎo 黃清老, Yáng Wéizhēn 楊維楨 (5 pieces), Lǐ Xiàoguāng 李孝光, etc. (4) The total roster spans Yuán-loyalists like Liú Yīn through Mongol Yuán court figures (Bóyán 伯顔) through end-of-Yuán Wúzhōng circle figures (Yáng Wéizhēn, Ní Zàn, 周砥).
Cross-reference with other early-Míng Yuán anthologies. Together with KR4h0093 Yuányīn (176 poets, organised by author with biographical notes — preface 1384), and KR4h0100 Yuán shī tǐyào (organised by 36 sub-forms), the three Hóng-wǔ-era compilations represent complementary editorial strategies for canonising the Yuán literary inheritance.
Translations and research
- Gù Sì-lì 顧嗣立 (1665–1722), Yuán-shī xuǎn — Qīng-era successor to Qiánkūn qīngqì and the other early-Míng Yuán-anthologies; treats it as one of three earlier curators.
- 楊鎌 Yáng Lián, Yuán shī-shǐ (Beijing, 2003).
- 査洪德 Zhā Hóng-dé, Yuán dài wén-xué wén-xiàn xué.
Other points of interest
The title 乾坤清氣 is itself a literary-historical statement: the qiánkūn qīngqì — “the pure cosmic vital-air” — is what Yuán poets are claimed to have preserved despite Mongol rule. The phrase echoes Liú Yīn’s own Wénzhāng zì zhī wèn dá (where literary qì and cosmic qì are explicitly linked) and Yuán Zǎo 元棗’s discussion of dynastic qì. The implicit framing — that Yuán verse, even at the height of Mongol rule, transmitted “the pure qì of Heaven and Earth” — is the early-Míng establishment’s recuperation of the Yuán literary inheritance for use in the new dynasty.
Links
- ctext
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §31.4–§32.