Yùdìng Quán Táng shī lù 御定全唐詩錄
Imperially Determined Record of the Complete Táng Poetry by 徐倬
About the work
A 100-juǎn selective Táng-poetry anthology prepared by Xú Zhuō (徐倬, 1623–1712, hào Píncūn 蘋村, of Déqīng) — presented to the Kāngxī emperor in Kāngxī 45 (1706) when Xú was 83 years old (sīshū-age, màonián). The compilation is a single Hànlín scholar’s selection from the imperial Quán Táng shī KR4h0140 (also completed in the same year), preserving roughly one-tenth of the corpus. The work bears the Kāngxī imperial preface dated Kāngxī 45/3/7 (April 1706) — a substantial critical statement on poetic history (Yútíng diǎnyuè music → WǔWáng peace music → Kǒngzǐ shāndìng of the Shī → Hàn-Wèi-Six Dynasties → Táng Tàizōng’s flourishing → High-Mid-Late Táng all worthy). The emperor explicitly praises Xú’s selection as agreeing with his own píngdì (grading) — and rewards Xú with promotion to Lǐbù shìláng (Vice-Minister of Rites) “as encouragement to scholars of the empire.” The selection is organised author-by-author, chronologically by date of first office, beginning with the Táng emperors (Tàizōng, Gāozōng, Zhōngzōng, Mínghuáng, Dézōng, Wénzōng, Xuānzōng), then royal consorts, then secular poets (Yú Shìnán, Wèi Zhēng, Chǔ Liàng, Wáng Jì, Shàngguān Yí, Liú Xīyí, Wáng Bó, Yáng Jiǒng, Lú Zhàolín, Luò Bīnwáng, Chén Zǐáng, Dù Shěnyán, Wáng Wéi, Mèng Hàorán, Lǐ Bái, Dù Fǔ, Hán Yù, Bái Jūyì …). The format gives each poet a separate listing with the count of gǔtǐ and jìntǐ pieces; the selection within each poet is meant to display the canonical exemplars rather than the comprehensive corpus.
Tiyao
[The SKQS source carries the Kāngxī imperial preface (御製全唐詩錄序, dated Kāngxī 45/3/7 = April 1706) in place of a separate Sìkù 提要. Translated and abridged here.]
Kāngxī imperial preface. Of old, the rise of the shījiào (poetry-teaching) had its source in the xìngqíng zhī wēi (subtle of inherent feeling), and guided to the zhōnghé zhī zhǐ (purpose of harmony). Therefore it gǎn rénxīn (moves people’s hearts), měi yáosú (beautifies customs), is set on jīnshí (metal-and-stone, i.e. inscribed), and gé shénzhī (reaches the spirits). Hence Great Shùn used it to teach the zhòuzǐ (royal sons); the Yuèzhèng used it to shape jùnxiù (the excellent). From the time of the Èrdì sānwáng (the two thearchs and three kings), so it has been.
In the days of WénWǔChéngKāng, wángzé qià (royal grace converged) and sòngshēng zuò (song-of-praise arose). Yángyáng hū — truly sufficient to continue the Xūnfēng zhī cāo (the Xūnfēng tune of Shùn) and to match the Qīngyún zhī zòu (the Qīngyún song of Yú).
After that, the writers mí fán (became more numerous). Kǒngzǐ then shāndìng (edited-and-determined) the Shī, making the Liùyì (Six Modes) brilliant. Recording the zhōnghòu fěicè zhī cí (loyal-thick, distressed-pitying words) — to lodge the meaning of fěngyù jièmiǎn (admonition-and-warning). The tiāndào rénshì (way of heaven and affairs of men) are both there embodied.
After Hàn and Wèi — yóu duō xīnzhì (especially many new compositions). The tǐlì (formal patterns) changed but the qián huī wèi miǎo (former excellence not yet distant). By the end of Chén and Suí — shāo língtì yǐ (slightly fell-and-declined).
Táng Tàizōng zhìzhì jǐ yú Sāndài zhī lóng (achieved governance approaching the flourishing of the Three Dynasties) — gōngzì zhuànzhù (personally composed); a generation’s wénrén cáishì and jiāngxiàng míngchén — yǒngyín dìfā (recitation and chanting alternated), zǎocǎi bīnfēn (the colours flowery and many); zhǒngxí YǎSāo zhī jì (following the traces of the Yǎ and the Sāo), guāngzhāo zhèngshǐ zhī yīn (brilliantly displaying the Zhèngshǐ sound). And the gēxíng lǜjué dúchuàng jiānnéng (the gēxíng, lǜshī, and juéjù uniquely created and jointly mastered) — from antiquity, never before. Coming to ShèngTáng and on to ZhōngWǎn — sometimes rising-and-falling with the times, but all those who yīn shí tuō zhì, chù wù shūhuái (responding to the time, lodging intent; touching things, expressing feeling), xíng zhū hànjiǎn (committed to paper) — all zhuōrán chéng yījiā zhī yán (standing-out as their own family’s words). None can be abandoned.
We, in the spare of imperial business, browse and recite back-and-forth, seeking their purpose, distinguishing their zhèngbiàn (orthodox-and-varied). And so the rise-and-fall, gain-and-loss of the 300 years can be investigated.
Therefore lùn shì guān rén (discussing the age, observing the men) — taking their zhāngjù and selecting their jīngyīng (essence) — We have lè wéi chéng shū (engraved into a book) — and zhì zhū jǐxí (placed at hand); often diligently reading, with jīngyán (essential research) — and for several years now.
Recently inspecting the rivers of Hénán and on to JiāngZhè — We have seen bǐlǘ shìshù (commoners and officials) with the chuī Bīn jīrǎng zhī fēng (style of Bīn-piping and earth-drumming); poetry-offerers luòyì yú tú (continuous on the roads). Although their gōngzhuō qiǎnshēn (skilfulness-and-shallowness) each jí qí bùqí zhī zhì (reaches its own different mark), yet the qúōu xiàngwǔ (highway-singing and street-dancing) is yǎnrán shěngfāng zhī suǒ cǎi (truly what the xúnfāng expeditions used to collect), lièguó zhī suǒ chén (what the various states used to display). Indeed one sees rénqíng zhī àidài (the people’s affection-and-support) — and that the xiānwáng used poetry for teaching — rúrǎn ér zhēngtáo zhī zhě suǒ guān shèn jù (the immersion and shaping thereof is of great consequence).
The Hànlín shìdú Xú Zhuō has presented his Quán Táng shī lù compilation. Unrolling the scroll to read it, it has much in common with Our daily pǐndì (grading). We praise his màonián hàoxué (great-age love of study) and promote him to Lǐbù shìláng (Vice-Minister of Rites) as encouragement to the empire’s scholars. We have taken this compilation, personally jiàndìng (reviewed-and-determined), bestowed fūjīn (silver), and ordered it printed — so that students by the complete Táng poetry, following the wave to investigate the surge, may shàng sù fū FénSì zhī chuán (trace upward to the FénSì [Confucian] tradition), and yóuyǒng hū TángYú zǎigēng zhī shèng (swim in the abundance of the TángYú age) — qí yú huàlǐ rénxīn jiāng dà yǒu bǐyì yǐ (this will be greatly beneficial to the transformation and ordering of human hearts). Kāngxī 45/3/7 (April 1706).
Abstract
Date. Imperial preface Kāngxī 45/3/7 (April 1706). The compilation was presented to the throne in 1706 — the same year as the Quán Táng shī completion. Xú Zhuō was 83 at the time.
Significance. (1) The Yùdìng Quán Táng shī lù is a major Kāngxī-period selective Táng-poetry anthology — paralleling the Yùxuǎn Táng shī KR4h0145 of 1713 but produced by a single private scholar (Xú Zhuō) and then accepted into the imperial program, rather than commissioned. (2) The work documents the Kāngxī emperor’s personal Táng-poetry canon: the emperor’s statement that Xú’s selection yǔ péngshí pǐndì zhě gài yǒu hé yān — “in many points agrees with what I myself have graded” — establishes the imperial-court canonical taste in 1706 as preserved in Xú’s selection. (3) The compilation’s chronological-by-author organisation (rather than chūshèngzhōngwǎn periodisation) follows the same principle as the imperial Quán Táng shī itself. (4) Xú Zhuō’s case — an 83-year-old Hànlín scholar presenting a compilation in 1706 and being promoted on its strength — illustrates the Kāngxī court’s encouragement of elite scholarship in old age, paralleling the contemporary Qiānsǒu yàn celebrations (cf. KR4h0146). (5) The work was popular as a selective Táng-poetry reader through the 18th century before being superseded by Shěn Déqián’s Táng shī biécái jí (1717) and Sūn Zhū’s Táng shī sānbǎi shǒu 唐詩三百首 (c. 1763, KR4h0169).
Editorial proportion. 100 juǎn / ~5,000 pieces vs. the Quán Táng shī’s 900 juǎn / 48,900+ pieces — a roughly 10% selection. The choice of the round figure 100 juǎn reflects the standard anthological scale for an authoritative xuǎnběn.
Translations and research
- Stephen Owen, The Great Age of Chinese Poetry: The High T’ang (Yale, 1981) — uses Táng-poetry anthologies generally.
- Daniel Bryant, The Great Recreation: Ho Ching-ming (1483–1521) and His World (Leiden, 2008) — context for Táng-poetry canonical reception.
- 蔣寅 Jiǎng Yín, Wáng Shì-zhēn shī-xué yán-jiū — for the early-Qīng Táng-poetry canon.
Other points of interest
Xú Zhuō’s compilation falling in the same year as the imperial Quán Táng shī (both 1706) is not coincidence: Xú was working on his selective compilation through the late 1690s and early 1700s, evidently with awareness of the imperial project. The Kāngxī court’s acceptance and printing of Xú’s selection alongside the imperial commission represents a coordinated double project: comprehensive corpus (Quán Táng shī) plus canonical-selective reader (Quán Táng shī lù) — Kāngxī’s own preface explicitly puts Xú’s compilation in this role.