Sòng Yuán shī huì 宋元詩會
Comprehensive Anthology of Sòng-Yuán Poetry by 陳焯
About the work
A 100-juǎn combined anthology of Sòng and Yuán poetry, compiled by the Tóngchéng scholar Chén Zhuō (陳焯, b. 1631, zì Mògōng 默公) over more than 20 years of retirement-scholarship after withdrawing from office on grounds of deafness. The work distinctively combines Sòng and Yuán poetry into a single broad survey — bridging the Sòng (covered by Wú Zhīzhèn’s Sòng shī chāo KR4h0157) and Yuán (covered by Gù Sìlì’s Yuán shī xuǎn KR4h0160) compilations — and providing brief biographical xiǎozhuàn for each included poet to facilitate textual research. The Sìkù tíyào records that Wáng Shìzhēn met Chén Zhuō at Xiāngchéng in Kāngxī jiǎzǐ (1684) when Wáng was on imperial commission to the south. Chén Zhuō appeared with two attendants carrying immense sacks containing his manuscript (shùshí dà cè “several tens of large volumes”); he laid them before Wáng for evaluation before publication, saying “These are the SòngYuán shī huì I have edited over 20 years, awaiting your judgement before going to the press.” The printed version is much shorter than what Wáng saw — the Sìkù editors surmise Chén condensed it after Wáng’s review. As printed, the work is less complete than the Wú Zhīzhèn and Gù Sìlì compilations together — but provides a gěnggài (skeletal overview) of SòngYuán poetic history that makes it valuable as a single-source survey.
Tiyao
Your servants respectfully submit: the Sòng Yuán shī huì in 100 juǎn — composed by the Guócháo (Qīng-dynasty) Chén Zhuō. Zhuō’s zì is Mògōng, of Tóngchéng. Jìnshì of Shùnzhì rénchén (1652); selected as shùjíshì. On grounds of deafness, he requested permission to return home, never came out again, tánsī zhùshù (focused thought on composition), and selected from the Sòng and Yuán poets’ works he had seen — compiling this present compilation.
Each person has their juélǐ běnmò (rank-and-place beginning-and-end) recorded below the name, to assist textual investigation. Although the zhēnlù piānshí (recorded pieces) are not many, the zhéshí jiāshù (gathered families) is quite broadly complete.
Wáng Shìzhēn’s Xiāngzǔ bǐjì records: “In Kāngxī jiǎzǐ (1684), I was on imperial commission to Nánhǎi (Guǎngzhōu). I stopped at Xiāngchéng. Chén [Zhuō] passed by my office. His two attendants carried huge sacks. After bowing he immediately called for a desk; he had his attendants take the books from the sacks — several tens of large volumes — and lay them out on the desk. Pointing them out to me he said: ‘These are the SòngYuán shī huì I have edited over 20 years. Awaiting your judgement, after which I will publish’” — and so on.
This refers to the present book. So its original juǎn-count was extremely abundant, but the present printed-and-circulated recension is only this much. Perhaps after Wáng Shìzhēn’s jiànbié (review), Chén further revised it down and cut it for brevity.
Yet across several hundred years of SòngYuán poets línlì (standing in array), their yuánliú xìngshì (source-flow and surnames) are yīyī cànrán (one-by-one brilliantly displayed). Compared with the Wú Zhīzhèn and Gù Sìlì compilations — although the hàobó (vast scope) does not match — the gěnggài (skeletal overview) is broadly present. Reverently submitted, tenth month of Qiánlóng 45 (1780). Editor-in-Chief Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Date. Chén Zhuō’s jìnshì (1652) → early retirement → 20-year compilation period → presentation to Wáng Shìzhēn (1684) → revision-and-printing in late Kāngxī. The bracket 1664–1700 covers his active compilation and revision period.
Significance. (1) The Sòng Yuán shī huì is the only major pre-modern combined SòngYuán poetry anthology — bridging the gap between the Sòng-only KR4h0157 and Yuán-only KR4h0160 compilations. (2) The compilation’s biographical-survey method — every included poet receives a brief biographical notice — makes it useful for textual research, particularly for minor SòngYuán poets not separately covered by the more specialised compilations. (3) The work documents the mid-Kāngxī movement toward SòngYuán poetry recovery: Chén Zhuō’s 20-year solitary labour at Tóngchéng parallels Wú Zhīzhèn’s Sòng shī chāo in Húzhōu and Gù Sìlì’s Yuán shī xuǎn in Sūzhōu — three contemporary projects converging on the same canonical-rehabilitation goal. (4) The interaction with Wáng Shìzhēn in 1684 — a documented mid-Kāngxī literary encounter — places the compilation in dialogue with the leading early-Qīng poetic critic and provides a concrete date for the work’s pre-print state. (5) The Sìkù tíyào’s positive assessment — though noting the compilation’s reduced ambition compared to its original draft — places the work in the canonical secondary tier of SòngYuán poetry anthologies.
Chén Zhuō’s compilation method. The Sìkù tíyào’s clear statement that zhēnlù piānshí wú duō ér zhéshí jiāshù pō wéi guǎngbèi — “the recorded pieces are not many, but the families gathered are broad” — characterises Chén’s editorial principle: breadth of coverage over depth of selection. This makes the work useful for surveying the SòngYuán poetic landscape but less useful for studying individual poets in depth.
Translations and research
- Yoshikawa Kōjirō, An Introduction to Sung Poetry, tr. Burton Watson (Cambridge MA, 1967).
- Yoshikawa Kōjirō, Yuán Míng shī gài-shuō 元明詩概說 — standard treatment of Yuán-Míng poetry.
- 錢鍾書 Qián Zhōng-shū, Sòng shī xuǎn-zhù 宋詩選注 (Běi-jīng, 1957) — partly in dialogue with the Sòng-Yuán shī huì.
Other points of interest
Chén Zhuō’s case illustrates the mid-Kāngxī Tóngchéng intellectual culture: a retired-early scholar dedicating decades of his life to a single large compilation, presenting it to the leading poetic critic of the day before publication, and finally producing a substantially reduced version after professional review. The Tóngchéng tradition of patient single-track scholarship was already established (Chén Zhuō predates Fāng Bāo, Yáo Nài, and the later Tóngchéng school proper — but anticipates their patient editorial method).