Èrjiā shī xuǎn 二家詩選
Selected Poetry of Two Houses by 王士禛
About the work
A 2-juǎn selective anthology by Wáng Shìzhēn (王士禛, 1634–1711) of the poetry of two Míng poets: Xú Zhēnqīng 徐禎卿 (1479–1511, of Wújùn) and Gāo Shūsì 高叔嗣 (1501–1537, of Xiángfú). Both are nominally members of the Qián qīzǐ 前七子 (Former Seven Masters) of the Míng — the Lǐ Mèngyáng / Hé Jǐngmíng circle of the Hóngzhì / Jiājìng reigns — but the Sìkù tíyào and Wáng Shìzhēn agree that they were the two atypical members: while the Seven Masters’ core (Lǐ, Hé, et al.) pursued shēnghuá chízhú (sound-flowering, hot pursuit), Xú and Gāo bórán yú such — qí rén pǐn běn gāo (their character was naturally elevated). Their poetry reaches up to Táo Yuānmíng and Xiè Língyùn (the Six-Dynasties hermit-tradition) and traces down to Wéi Yīngwù and Liǔ Zōngyuán (the High-Táng nature-poetry tradition) — qīngwēi wǎnyuē (clear-subtle, gentle-restrained), jìtuō yáoshēn (intentional reach far-and-deep). In Wáng Shìzhēn’s Shényùn aesthetic these are the two Míng exemplars of the Shényùn tradition — the legitimate ancestors of Wáng’s own poetic line. The compilation pairs with the Tángxián sānmèi jí KR4h0153 (its High-Táng Shényùn anthology) as Wáng’s Míng counterpart: the late-Míng Wúzhōng poet Xú Zhēnqīng and his Hénán counterpart Gāo Shūsì are presented as Wáng’s chosen Míng-poetic ancestors. Of Xú’s corpus, Wáng draws mostly from the Dígōng jí 迪功集 (Xú’s mature work) and excludes some 90% of his youthful work (the wàijí and biéjí); of Gāo’s corpus, Wáng selects only the 5-syllable verse, omitting the 7-syllable.
Tiyao
Your servants respectfully submit: the Èrjiā shī xuǎn in 2 juǎn — compiled by the Guócháo (Qīng-dynasty) Wáng Shìzhēn, shānlù (selected-and-recorded) from the Míng Xú Zhēnqīng and Gāo Shūsì — two poets.
The Míng from Hóngzhì (1488–1505) to Jiājìng (1522–1566) — the Qián and Hòu qīzǐ (Former and Later Seven Masters) — guǐfàn lüè tóng (their canonical-norms broadly similar). Only Zhēnqīng and Shūsì, although named in the Seven Masters’ lists, were bórán yú shēnghuá chízhú zhī wài (calmly outside the sound-flowering hot-pursuit). Their persons’ character was naturally elevated; their poetry upward modelled Táo and Xiè, downward traced Wéi and Liǔ — qīngwēi wǎnyuē (clear-subtle, gentle-restrained), jìtuō yáoshēn (intentional reach far-and-deep). Within the Seven Masters they form a biédiào (separate-tune).
A century or two later, Lǐ and Hé were attacked from all sides; but for these two men, no contrary opinion arose. Wáng Shìmào’s [Wáng Shìzhēn’s younger brother in the Míng, Yuánměi 元美 — i.e. Wáng Shìmǐn 王世懋] discussion — his statement was vindicated [see the entry on Sūmén jí 蘇門集 for details]. Is this not because: those who work on the outside ornament reach only shallow; those who possess inward heart reach deep?
Shìzhēn’s poetry truly continues their line. Therefore he combines the two poets’ works, simplifies their jīnghuá (essence), and edits this collection. Zhēnqīng’s poems are mostly taken from the Dígōng jí; his youthful pieces in the wàijí and biéjí: ten survive — one survives [i.e. 10% retention]. Shūsì only takes his 5-syllable poetry; the 7-syllable is quē (omitted). Qǔ suǒcháng ér qì suǒduǎn (taking the strengths and discarding the weaknesses) — the two men’s jiāshí (fine pieces) are yuēlüè bèi yú shì yǐ (broadly all preserved herein). Reverently submitted, fourth month of Qiánlóng 46 (1781). Editor-in-Chief Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Date. As with the companion Sānmèi jí, the Èrjiā shī xuǎn belongs to Wáng Shìzhēn’s mature critical period — c. 1688–1711. The compilation was assembled across the 1680s–1690s; the present date-bracket follows the Sānmèi jí.
Significance. (1) The Èrjiā shī xuǎn is Wáng Shìzhēn’s Míng counterpart to his High-Táng Sānmèi jí — together the two compilations construct his canonical Shényùn lineage from High Táng (Wáng Wéi, Mèng Hàorán, Wáng Chānglíng, et al.) through the Míng (Xú Zhēnqīng, Gāo Shūsì) to the early Qīng (Wáng Shìzhēn himself). (2) The work makes a substantive critical argument about the Míng poetic establishment: that the Qián qīzǐ ‘core’ (Lǐ Mèngyáng, Hé Jǐngmíng et al.) is overrated and their imitation-aesthetic was a dead end; that the two atypical members of the Seven Masters (Xú Zhēnqīng, Gāo Shūsì) — those who turned away from imitation toward inward expression — are the real Míng poets. This zhèngmíng (re-naming) of the Míng poetic canon is one of Wáng’s most consequential critical interventions. (3) Xú Zhēnqīng of Wújùn (modern Sūzhōu) and Gāo Shūsì of Xiángfú (modern Kāifēng) represent the lyrical-introspective Míng poetic that the dominant Qián qīzǐ hyperbolic Hàn-style suppressed — and the Èrjiā shī xuǎn recovers them for the Qīng Shényùn tradition. (4) The selection-principle — keeping mature work, discarding youthful work; keeping the strong form (5-syllable for Gāo), discarding the weak (7-syllable) — illustrates the rigorous Shényùn editorial method that Wáng Shìzhēn brought to all his compilations.
Xú Zhēnqīng’s life. Xú (1479–1511, zì Chānggǔ 昌穀, of Wúxiàn, Sūzhōu) was a jìnshì of Hóngzhì 18 (1505) and held a series of minor offices. He died young at 33. His Tányì lù 談藝錄 was a major Míng poetics text. His Dígōng jí (after his office Dígōng láng) is the standard collection of his mature work.
Gāo Shūsì’s life. Gāo (1501–1537, zì Zǐyè 子業, of Xiángfú = Kāifēng) was a jìnshì of Jiājìng 8 (1529) and rose to Húguǎng ànchá shǐ. He died young at 37. His Sūmén jí 蘇門集 is named after his retirement-place at the Sūmén mountains.
Translations and research
- Yoshikawa Kōjirō, Yuán Míng shī gài-shuō 元明詩概說 — standard treatment of Yuán-Míng poetry.
- 廖可斌 Liào Kě-bīn, Míng-dài fù-gǔ pài shī wén yán-jiū 明代復古派詩文研究 — modern Chinese study of the Qián / Hòu qī-zǐ tradition.
- 蔣寅 Jiǎng Yín, Wáng Shì-zhēn shī-xué yán-jiū 王士禎詩學研究 — modern Chinese monograph.
Other points of interest
The case of Xú Zhēnqīng and Gāo Shūsì — two members of the Qián qīzǐ who stand apart from the school’s dominant program — is the canonical example in Chinese literary criticism of how canonical school-membership can be misleading: the Qián qīzǐ is treated as a single school in literary histories, but its members were already divided in their lifetimes — and the Qīng Shényùn critics recovered the dissident wing (Xú, Gāo) as the school’s genuine heart.