Yuán shī tǐyào 元詩體要
Essentials of Yuán Poetry by Form by 宋公傳
About the work
A 14-juǎn early-Míng anthology of Yuán poetry, organised by verse-form (tǐ) into 36 sub-categories, compiled by Sòng Xù 宋緒 (using the zì Gōngchuán 公傳, by which he is known; hence catalog’s 宋公傳) of Yúyáo 餘姚 (Zhèjiāng). Sòng participated in the Yǒng-lè-era compilation of the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn 永樂大典 (the great early-Míng encyclopaedia, compiled 1403–1408 under Chéngzǔ). Five Yúyáo men were summoned for that project; on its completion, four (Sòng Mèngyuè 宋孟嶽, Zhào Fūdí 趙膚迪, Zhū Démào 朱徳茂, Zhāng Tíng 張廷) were given posts; only Sòng declined office and returned home. His anthology of Yuán poetry was probably composed during or shortly after his Yǒnglè dàdiǎn labour, drawing on the materials he had encountered.
Tiyao
Your servants respectfully submit: the Yuán shī tǐyào in 14 juǎn — the Míng Sòng Xù edited it. Xù zì Gōngchuán — by his zì he was generally known. Yúyáo man. Under Chéngzǔ (Yǒnglè emperor), he participated in compiling the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn. At that time, five same-county men were summoned; when the work was completed, Sòng Mèngyuè, Zhào Fūdí, Zhū Démào, Zhāng Tíng were all given office; only Xù declined and did not accept.
This collection records the poetry of the entire Yuán age, classified into 36 tǐ (forms). Within each tǐ, some are subdivided by form, some by topic — the tǐlì (editorial principle) is not uniform. Of the tǐ-based subdivisions: the xuǎntǐ category is distinguished from 5-syllable ancient; the yíntàn yuànyǐn category is distinguished from yuèfǔ; chángduǎnjù (long-and-short-line) is distinguished from zágǔtǐ — these distinctions unavoidably zhìsī ér fén (“dividing tangled silk into more knots”). Of the topic-based subdivisions: xiānglián, wútí, yǒngwù each form a category, while xíngyì, biānsài, zèngdá (etc.) cannot be exhaustively listed — leading to gaps and overlaps.
Further: juǎn 8 contains 楊維楨 Yáng Wéizhēn’s Chūyù 出浴 quatrain — which is in fact the last four lines of the Táng Hán Wò 韓偓 7-syllable regulated verse, mis-attributed by the editor. Such occasional textual slips exist; but the qùqǔ (selection) shows fair jiàncái (critical insight).
Since the Míng, the work’s transmission has been rare. The present recension was preserved by the Xiùshuǐ Cáo Róng 秀水曹溶 family. The book has missing pages; no other copy is available for collation. We have followed the original as-is.
Reverently submitted, third month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Editor-in-Chief Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Date. The compilation must have been completed during or shortly after Sòng Xù’s Yǒnglè dàdiǎn labour, which ran Yǒnglè 1–6 (1403–1408). notBefore: 1403, notAfter: 1408 brackets the working period.
Significance. (1) The work is the form-organised member of the early-Míng trio of Yuán-poetry anthologies: alongside KR4h0092 Qiánkūn qīngqì (also form-organised but with simpler scheme), KR4h0093 Yuányīn (author-organised), and the present Yuán shī tǐyào (the most elaborate form-organised scheme, with 36 sub-categories). (2) The 36-category scheme is methodologically ambitious — far exceeding the standard gǔtǐ / jìntǐ / yuèfǔ / cí fourfold — but the SKQS editors note its zhìsī ér fén tendency (sub-categorising to the point of confusion). The categorisation reflects Sòng’s encyclopaedic exposure to Yuán verse during Yǒnglè dàdiǎn compilation. (3) The work is the principal mid-Míng anthology of Yuán poetry between KR4h0093 (1384) and Gù Sìlì’s Qīng-era Yuánshī xuǎn. (4) Many of the anthologised Yuán poets — especially second-tier figures — survive in the literary record principally through this anthology.
Translations and research
- 楊鎌 Yáng Lián, Yuán shī-shǐ (Beijing, 2003).
- 査洪德 Zhā Hóng-dé, Yuán dài wén-xué wén-xiàn xué.
- No substantial Western-language monograph located.
Other points of interest
The work is one of the few documented spin-off products of the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn compilation. The Yǒnglè dàdiǎn itself (organised by yùn / rhyme-classification) is largely lost; but Sòng Xù’s Yuán shī tǐyào — drawing on the same Yuán materials but re-classified by literary form — partially preserves the encyclopaedia’s literary holdings in an alternative editorial form. The transmission history (rare since Míng; preserved only at the Xiùshuǐ Cáo family library) parallels the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn’s own gradual disappearance, and is a marker of the early-modern collapse of access to the source materials.
Links
- ctext
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §31.4–§32.