Sòng wénjì 宋文紀
Records of Sòng (Liú-Sòng) Prose by 梅鼎祚
About the work
An 18-juǎn late-Míng anthology of LiúSòng prose by Méi Dǐngzuò (梅鼎祚) — covering the LiúSòng dynasty (420–479), the first of the Southern Dynasties (南朝). Importantly, the first of Méi’s posthumously-published Wénjì volumes: the Sìkù editors note that Méi’s Wénjì series exceeded 300 juǎn at his death, but only the first two instalments (Huángbà and XīHàn, KR4h0120 and KR4h0121) had been printed during his lifetime. After his death, the Yìngtiān xúnàn yùshǐ Zhāng Xuān 張煊 and the Níngguó zhīfǔ Zhōu Wéixīn 周維新 arranged for sequential engraving — the present Sòng wénjì is the first to come off the post-mortem presses (cf. Zhōu Biāo’s Zhōu Biāo preface for BěiQí wénjì, KR4h0128, dated Chóngzhēn wùyín (1638)).
Tiyao
Your servants respectfully submit: the Sòng wénjì in 18 juǎn — the Míng Méi Dǐngzuò edited it. Dǐngzuò compiled the eight-dynasty Wénjì in over 300 juǎn. The printed editions during his lifetime — from Huángbà to XīJìn — that is all. After Dǐngzuò’s death, the Yìngtiān xúnàn yùshǐ Zhāng Xuān and the Níngguó zhīfǔ Zhōu Wéixīn first arranged for engraving sequence-by-sequence — and this collection was the first to be completed. Therefore the juǎn-front has only Xuān’s and Wéixīn’s prefaces.
The prose of [Liú-]Sòng above inherits the qīngjùn (clear-and-handsome) style of WèiJìn — still preserved; below it opens the gathering wind of QíLiáng zuǎnzǔ (gathering-decoration) — gradually pronounced. In the 8 dynasties’ standing, it occupies the wénzhì shēngjiàng (rise-and-fall of literary substance) gate. Although there is some diāohuá (carving and flowery), not yet completely qǐmí (silken-decadent). Looking at what Dǐngzuò records, one can see the fēngqì zhuǎnyí (atmosphere’s transition) — daily following and changing — its reason.
The biānzuǎn zhī tǐ (compilation form) roughly the same as the HànJìn compilations. Among them: Lúshāngōng’s Jiǔxī wén and Héxiāngfāng etc. — jùxì jiānshōu (large-and-small all gathered), yìqǔ quánbèi (intent is complete-coverage) — like Shànbiǎo 鱔表 and Tóu zé Zǐyǔ 頭責子羽 these compositions — all included in earlier compilations — bùnéng yǐ wúlèi wéi jī (cannot be criticised as weed-laden).
Only Sònggōng cèfēng 九錫禪代 zhū wén (Sòng-prince’s enfeoffment, jiǔxī, abdication-replacement pieces) — these are composed by Jìn-period writers — by rights ought to be appended to the Jìnjì. Moving them into Sòng is an editorial error (lì shūguāi). Further: Sīmǎ Yuènǚ míng — its cí (text) was issued in Sòngnián (Sòng-era) but composed in Jìndài (Jìn-time) — appending it at the end of the volume is also without justification — this is then an editorial shū (defect).
Reverently submitted, third month of Qiánlóng 43 (1778). Editor-in-Chief Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Date. Compiled in the last years of Méi’s life (c. 1615–1618); printed posthumously between c. 1620 and 1638 (the Chóngzhēn 11 / 1638 date of Zhōu Biāo’s preface to KR4h0128 BěiQí wénjì confirms the latest printing date for the series).
The two posthumous editors:
- Zhāng Xuān 張煊 — Yìngtiān xúnàn yùshǐ (Inspector Censor of Yìngtiān / Nánjīng) — provided official authorisation.
- Zhōu Wéixīn 周維新 — Níngguó zhīfǔ (Prefect of Níngguó, the Méi-family’s home prefecture) — financed and oversaw the printing.
Significance. (1) The work is the canonical late-Míng anthology of LiúSòng prose. (2) LiúSòng is the literary-historical pivot between WèiJìn classicism and QíLiáng aestheticism; Méi’s volume documents this transition systematically. (3) Major authors anthologised include: Xiè Língyùn 謝靈運 (the founder of Chinese landscape poetry — though here only prose pieces), Yán Yánzhī 顏延之, Lǐ Mì 李密 (Chénqíng biǎo), Bào Zhào 鮑照 (some prose pieces), Shěn Yuē 沈約’s father Shěn Pú 沈璞, Fàn Yè 范曄 (HòuHàn shū compiler — his prefaces and memorials), etc. (4) The Sònggōng jiǔxī enfeoffment documents — placed by Méi in the Sòng wénjì — are textually significant for the transmission documents from Jìn to Sòng. (5) The work’s posthumous publication makes it documentary evidence for the late-Chóng-zhēn-era anthological revival in southern China — paralleling Cáo Xuéquán’s KR4h0117 Shícāng anthology.
Translations and research
- Cynthia L. Chennault et al. (eds.), Early Medieval Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide (Berkeley, 2015) — guide to Liú-Sòng-era texts, citing Méi’s compilation.
- David R. Knechtges (ed.), Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide — comprehensive reference.
- Tian Xiaofei, Beacon Fire and Shooting Star: The Literary Culture of the Liang (Cambridge MA, 2007) — relevant for Liú-Sòng-to-Liang transition.
Other points of interest
The work and its seven companion volumes — KR4h0120 through KR4h0129 — together provide the most comprehensive late-Míng pre-modern collection of pre-Suí prose. The posthumous publication via Zhāng Xuān and Zhōu Wéixīn (1620s–1638) documents the late-Míng official-private cooperative publishing model — a regional inspector and a regional prefect jointly authorising and financing a deceased local scholar’s massive scholarly project.
Links
- ctext
- Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual §32, §38.