鄱陽五家集

Póyáng wǔjiā jí 鄱陽五家集

Collected Works of Five Pó-yáng Families by 史簡

About the work

A 15-juǎn regional anthology of five Póyáng (modern Póyángxiàn, Jiāngxī) poets active across the SòngYuán and YuánMíng transitions, compiled by Shǐ Jiǎn (史簡, zì Wénlìng 文令, of Póyáng). The five “houses” are:

1. Fāngzhōu jí 芳洲集 (3 juǎn) by Lí Tíngruì 黎廷瑞 (zì Xiángzhòng 祥仲, jìnshì of Sòng Xiánchún xīnwèi / 1271, Dígōng láng and cānjūn at Zhàoqìng prefecture).
2. Lèān yígǎo 樂庵遺稿 (2 juǎn) by Wú Cún 吳存 (zì Zhòngtuì 仲退, Yuán Yányòu 1 / 1314 jǔrén, zhǔbù of Póyángxiàn under the Ráozhōu Route).
3. Sōngcháo màngǎo 松巢漫稿 (3 juǎn) by Xú Ruì 徐瑞 (zì Shānyù 山玉, hào Sōngcháo 松巢; lived at the SòngYuán transition; served as shānzhǎng of Póyángxiàn academy). With supplementary 36 pieces by his nephew Xú Zī 徐孜 entitled Yǎngshān jí 仰山集.
4. Yùān shī jí 寓菴詩集 (2 juǎn) by Yè Lán 葉蘭 (zì Chǔtíng 楚庭, hào Zuìyú 醉漁; Yuán Tàicháng lǐyí yuàn fènglǐ láng; when summoned by the Míng Tàizǔ he threw himself into the water and died as a Yuán loyalist). With 1 juǎn by his father Yè Mào 葉懋 (zì Déxīn 德新, Yuán Jiāxīng lù zǒngguǎn).
5. Chūnyǔxuān jí 春雨軒集 (4 juǎn) by Liú Bǐng 劉炳 (zì Yànbǐng 彥昺; early Míng Zhōngshū diǎnqiān, then Dàdūdūfǔ zhǎngjì). With shīyú (cí) and záfù (miscellaneous fù) also recorded.

The compilation is regionally focused — all five poets are from Póyáng, modern Jiāngxī’s Póyángxiàn (Yáozhōu prefecture) — and chronologically spans the late Sòng (Lí Tíngruì) through early Míng (Liú Bǐng), with particular density in the YuánMíng transition (Yè Lán’s suicide-loyalty). The Sìkù tíyào notes that of the five, only Liú Bǐng’s Chūnyǔxuān jí survives independently in its full form; the other four collections survive only through Shǐ Jiǎn’s preservation. The Sìkù tíyào describes the surviving pieces as xiéyǎ kě sòng (harmonious-refined, fit for recitation) — meaning genuine literary value, “not the kuāshì fēngtǔ lànyíng juǎnzhì zhě bǐ (over-praising local customs and filling pages excessively that we see elsewhere).”

Tiyao

Your servants respectfully submit: the Póyáng wǔjiā jí in 15 juǎn — compiled by the Guócháo (Qīng-dynasty) Shǐ Jiǎn. Jiǎn’s zì is Wénlìng, of Póyáng. This compilation collects the poetry of his home-region’s people, from the end of the Sòng to the early Míng — in all five families:

1. Fāngzhōu jí in 3 juǎn by Lí Tíngruì. Tíngruì’s zì is Xiángzhòng; jìnshì of Sòng Xiánchún xīnwèi (1271); appointed Dígōng láng; Zhàoqìngfǔ sīfǎ cānjūn.

2. Lèān yígǎo in 2 juǎn by Wú Cún. Cún’s zì is Zhòngtuì; in Yuán Yányòu 1 (1314) raised at the jǔrén level; reached as far as zhǔbù of Póyángxiàn under the Ráozhōu Route.

3. Sōngcháo màngǎo in 3 juǎn by Xú Ruì. Ruì’s zì is Shānyù; hào Sōngcháo. A late-Sòng / early-Yuán person; once was shānzhǎng of Póyì shūyuàn. The end of the collection has appended 36 pieces by his nephew Xú Zī, titled Yǎngshān jí.

4. Yùān shī jí in 2 juǎn by Yè Lán. Lán’s zì is Chǔtíng; hào Zuìyú. Yuán Tàicháng lǐyí yuàn fènglǐ láng. When the Míng Tàizǔ summoned him, he tóushuǐ zú (threw himself into the water and died). At the end is appended Yè Déxīn, only 1 juǎn of surviving poetry. Déxīn’s name is Mào, Lán’s father. In Yuán times he held office as Jiāxīng lù zǒngguǎn.

5. Chūnyǔxuān jí in 4 juǎn by Liú Bǐng. Bǐng’s zì is Yànbǐng. Early Míng — served as Zhōngshū diǎnqiān, then transferred out as Dàdūdūfǔ zhǎngjì.

What is recorded is primarily poetry; occasionally also shīyú (cí) and záfù are recorded. Examining the five families: only Yànbǐng’s [Liú Bǐng’s] complete collection has a transmitted edition — already separately catalogued. The remaining four families and the appended pieces — kānběn shū xī (printed copies are very rare) — therefore much relied on this engraving for the preservation of their poetry.

Mostly xiéyǎ kě sòng (harmonious-and-refined, fit for recitation) — not what we see elsewhere as over-praising local customs and filling pages excessively. Yè Mào is Yè Lán’s father; that his poetry is appended to Lán’s collection — gài yòng Huáng Tíngjiān jí fùkè Fátán jí zhī lì (using the precedent of Huáng Tíngjiān’s jí appended with the Fátán jí [his father Huáng Shù’s collection]). Now we have preserved it on the same principle. Reverently submitted, sixth month of Qiánlóng 45 (1780). Editor-in-Chief Jǐ Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì. General Collator Lù Fèichí.

Abstract

Date. Shǐ Jiǎn’s lifedates are unknown; the compilation belongs to the early-to-mid Kāngxī period, with publication in the late 17th or early 18th century. The bracket 1690–1720 covers his probable active period.

Significance. (1) The Póyáng wǔjiā jí is a major textual-preservation work: four of the five included poetry collections survive only through Shǐ Jiǎn’s preservation. Without this compilation, the SòngYuánMíng transition Póyáng poetic tradition would be largely lost. (2) The work is the canonical reference for Yè Lán 葉蘭 — the Yuán loyalist who drowned himself rather than serve the Míng — a major figure in YuánMíng transition loyalist culture. (3) The compilation preserves a regional snapshot of Póyáng’s poetic culture across two dynastic transitions (Sòng → Yuán, Yuán → Míng) — useful for studying continuity-and-change in regional intellectual networks. (4) Shǐ Jiǎn’s selection-criterion — xiéyǎ kě sòng (harmonious and refined) — and the Sìkù’s positive endorsement (preserving genuine literary value, not regional puffery) makes the work an example of disciplined regional anthology compilation in contrast with the more inflated regional compilations of the period. (5) The compilation belongs to the KāngxīYōngzhèng provincial anthology tradition alongside KR4h0162 (Níngbō / Sìmíng), KR4h0163 (Jiāxīng / Zuìlǐ) — all preserved by the Sìkù commission as the principal regional anthological repositories.

The Yè Lán case. Yè Lán’s suicide as a Yuán loyalist — his refusal to serve the Míng — is the most politically charged item in the compilation. His inclusion alongside early-Míng official Liú Bǐng in the same volume creates an implicit comparison: the Yuán-loyalist and the Míng-collaborator both belong to the same regional tradition. The same comparison was politically sensitive in the early Qīng (when Yuán-loyalty was a precedent for Míng-loyalty against the Manchu Qīng); the Sìkù commission’s acceptance of the compilation indicates that Póyáng’s regional tradition was politically uncontroversial enough to permit the inclusion.

Translations and research

• No substantial secondary literature located.
• For Yuán-Míng transition cultural context: John D. Langlois (ed.), China Under Mongol Rule (Princeton, 1981); Frederick W. Mote, Imperial China 900–1800 (Cambridge MA, 1999).

Other points of interest

The compilation’s preservation of Yè Lán’s father Yè Mào’s pieces (only 1 juǎn) as an appendix to Yè Lán’s collection — modelled on Huáng Tíngjiān’s jí appended with the Fátán jí of his father Huáng Shù — is a small but characteristic instance of pre-modern Chinese editorial practice: secondary materials are preserved by linkage to their principal family-figures, rather than as independent items. This practice has preserved much family-poetry that would otherwise be lost.

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