Yǒngshàng qíjiù shī 甬上耆舊詩
Poetry of the Elder Worthies of Yǒng-shàng (Níng-bō) by 胡文學
About the work
A 30-juǎn comprehensive regional poetry anthology of the Níngbō / Sìmíng region (the Yǒng river region in eastern Zhèjiāng — Yǒngshàng 甬上 is the literary name for Níngbō and surrounding districts), compiled by Hú Wénxué (胡文學, zì Dàonán 道南, of Yínxiàn) with biographical prefaces by his friend Lǐ Yèsì 李鄴嗣 (hào Gǎotáng 杲堂). The compilation gathers 430 poets from Zhōu Wénzhǒng 周文種 (Spring-and-Autumn era — the Yuè-state minister) and Hàn DàHuánggōng 漢大黃公 down through the entire pre-Qīng period, ending in the late Míng. The work was originally planned as 40 juǎn and contained some 3,000+ poems; Hú Wénxué died before printing was complete, so his son Hú Démài 胡德邁 published the first 30 juǎn.
The compilation supersedes earlier Níngbō regional anthologies. The Sòng-period Yínjiāng jí 鄞江集 is lost; Wáng Yīnglín’s Sìmíng wénxiàn jí 四明文獻集 KR2k0042 has many omissions; the Míng-period Sòng Shìhóng’s Sìmíng yǎjí 四明雅集 (20 families) and Dài Jīng’s Sìmíng yǎjí xùjí (60 families) and Zhāng Shíchè’s Sìmíng fēngyǎ 四明風雅 (120 families) all cǎizhuì shāo guǎng (collect somewhat broadly) but yuánliú wèi bèi (source-flow is not complete). Lǐ Yèsì’s earlier Yǒngshàng qíjiù zhuàn 甬上耆舊傳 provided the biographical base on which Hú Wénxué built. Each juǎn opens with a xiǎoxù (brief preface), and within each juǎn the poets are arranged by cáipǐn míngwèi gāoxià (talent-grade and official-rank-height), not strictly by chronology — preserving lineage zhīpài (sub-branches) clearly.
The Sìkù tíyào notes some textual omissions: Sòng Yuán Xiè’s 袁燮 Jiézhāi jí and Yuán Fǔ’s 袁甫 Méngzhāi jí — long lost and only recently recovered by the Sìkù commission from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn, so naturally Hú Wénxué would not have seen them. Lóu Yuè’s Gōngkuì jí survives in the original full edition but Hú Wénxué only had access to a selected recension. These gaps are acknowledged as sōuluó wèi zhì (gathering not yet complete). Nevertheless, the Sìkù tíyào highly praises the compilation’s tǐlì jīngshěn (editorial-rigour and careful organisation), and its embedding of lùnshì zhīrén (judging-the-age-and-knowing-the-person) judgment within the bùjū zhōucì (regional organisation) — making it fēi shì zhī diàomíng yuèsú wǎlì záchén zhě suǒ dé ér xiāng bǐ yǐ “incomparable with the contemporary fishing-for-fame, vulgar-pleasing, brick-and-stone-mixed compilations.”
Tiyao
Your servants respectfully submit: the Yǒngshàng qíjiù shī in 30 juǎn — compiled by the Guócháo (Qīng-dynasty) Hú Wénxué, with the xùzhuàn (preface-biographies) by his friend Lǐ Yèsì. Wénxué’s zì is Dàonán; Yèsì’s hào is Gǎotáng — both of Yínxiàn.
Of those who compiled the prose-and-poetry of Míngzhōu [Níngbō]: the Sòng had the Yínjiāng jí, already lost; Wáng Yīnglín’s Sìmíng wénxiàn jí is also much omitted. By the Míng: Sòng Shìhóng’s Sìmíng yǎjí (20 families); Dài Jīng’s xùjí (60 families); Zhāng Shíchè’s Sìmíng fēngyǎ (120 families) — yú zuòzhě cǎizhuì shāo guǎng (concerning the authors, collecting somewhat broadly), but yuánliú wèi bèi (source-flow not complete).
Yèsì had composed the Yǒngshàng qíjiù zhuàn — recording the xiāng xiānzhé xíngshì (the home-place’s earlier worthies’ deeds) in considerable detail. Wénxué accordingly took the men in those biographies, sōulù yíshī (gathered their remnant poetry), lùndìng biāncì (arranged-and-ordered) — and gè yǐ yuánzhuàn xì zhī (each with the original biography attached).
Starting from Zhōu Wénzhǒng, Hàn DàHuánggōng, ending at the late Míng various masters — in all 430 persons — obtaining 3,000+ poems. Originally 40 juǎn. Just as the woodblocks were being cut, Wénxué died. His son Démài therefore published the first 30 juǎn first.
Each juǎn opens with a xiǎoxù (brief preface); the arrangement is roughly yī qí cáipǐn míngwèi gāoxià wéi cì (by the talent-grade and official-rank-height) — so that each yǐ lèi cóng (follows its category) — not entirely by shídài (chronological). As for zhīpài (sub-branches), most clear.
Items such as Sòng Yuán Xiè’s Jiézhāi jí and Yuán Fǔ’s Méngzhāi jí — long lost — now newly obtained from the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn and edited into a complete book — Wénxué naturally could not have seen them. Even Lóu Yuè’s Gōngkuì full collection still survives in transmission, but [Hú] only relied on the selected recension’s chāo (transcription) — also sōuluó wèi zhì (gathering not yet complete).
Yet his tǐlì jīngshěn (editorial-rigour and careful organisation): within the bùjū zhōucì (regional sub-grouping) — yù lùnshì zhīrén zhī yì (he embedded the judging-the-age-and-knowing-the-person principle); zhēng wén kǎo xiàn (citing texts and investigating offerings) — tiáolǐ zhìrán (organisation rigorous) — truly not what worldly diàomíng yuèsú wǎlì záchén (fishing-for-fame, vulgar-pleasing, brick-and-stone-mixed) compilations can compare to. Reverently submitted, third month of Qiánlóng 44 (1779). Editor-in-Chief Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Collator Lù Fèichí.
Abstract
Date. The compilation was completed across the late 17th century — Hú Wénxué’s active editorial years through his death (just before printing). The companion Yǒngshàng qíjiù zhuàn by Lǐ Yèsì preceded; Lǐ Yèsì died c. 1680. Hú’s compilation followed in the 1680s–1690s. The bracket 1680–1700 covers the full compilation period.
Significance. (1) The Yǒngshàng qíjiù shī is the canonical regional poetic anthology of the Níngbō region — superseding all earlier Sòng-and-Míng regional anthologies. (2) The work’s chronological span — from Spring-and-Autumn (Zhōu Wénzhǒng) through the late Míng — makes it the largest pre-modern regional poetry anthology of any Chinese region. (3) The collaboration with Lǐ Yèsì for biographical xùzhuàn embeds substantial historical-biographical scholarship alongside the poetic selection — making it dual-function as a regional-biographical reference. (4) The compilation’s arrangement by cáipǐn míngwèi (talent-grade and official-rank) rather than strict chronology is a distinctive editorial choice — preserving family-and-school zhīpài (lineages) at the cost of clear temporal sequence. (5) The work’s place in the Níngbō / Sìmíng intellectual tradition — alongside the earlier Wáng Yīnglín Sìmíng wénxiàn jí KR2k0042 and the much earlier Bǎoqìng Sìmíng zhì gazetteer (1227, KR2k0042 line) — makes it part of a continuous regional scholarship tradition that produced (in the same period) the Huáng Zōngxī Yáojiāng school of philosophy and the Jiāngzhè kǎozhèng studies.
Genre context. Regional poetry anthologies (xiāngbāng shī jí or qíjiù shī) were a major genre of pre-modern Chinese local-history publishing. The Yǒngshàng qíjiù shī is one of the most ambitious of its kind, alongside the Yuèzhōng qíjiù jí (Shàngyú), the Sūzhōu qíjiù jí, and others.
Translations and search
- No substantial secondary literature located.
- For Níng-bō / Sì-míng regional cultural context: Lynn Struve’s work on the Míng-Qīng transition; modern Chinese local gazetteer scholarship.
Other points of interest
The case of Lǐ Yèsì (hào Gǎotáng) is illuminating: a Míng yímín (loyalist) who declined office under the Qīng, devoted his life to regional historical scholarship, and produced both the Yǒngshàng qíjiù zhuàn biographies and the Gǎotáng wénchāo 杲堂文鈔. His collaboration with Hú Wénxué on the Yǒngshàng qíjiù shī embeds a late-Míng loyalist perspective in the compilation — the work’s deliberate stretch back to Spring-Autumn antiquity emphasises the region’s continuous cultural identity through dynastic transitions.