Quán Hòuzhōu Wén 全後周文
Complete Prose Writings of the Northern Zhou (and Sui) Dynasty compiled by 嚴可均 嚴可均 (編)
About the work
This file contains primarily the Quán Hòuzhōu Wén 全後周文 section of 嚴可均’s Quán shànggǔ sāndài Qín Hàn Sānguó Liùcháo wén 全上古三代秦漢三國六朝文 (KR4h0176), spanning 27 juàn of prose attributed to Northern Zhōu 北周 (557–581) writers. The file opens with the writings of Emperor Wéndì 文帝 (Yǔwén Tài 宇文泰, r. de facto 535–556, posthumously titled Emperor Wén), the actual founder of the Western Wei 西魏 and Northern Zhou power, and proceeds through the Northern Zhou reigns. Primary sources cited are the Zhōu shū 周書 and Běi shǐ 北史. The file is substantial in size (ca. 56,000 lines) and may incorporate the Quán Suí Wén 全隋文 (35 juàn) as well, given that several citations appear from the Suí shū 隋書 for figures whose literary careers spanned the Northern Zhou–Sui transition.
The Northern Zhou was an important transitional dynasty that reunified North China and whose ruling clan and associates produced an influential body of administrative and literary prose. Notable writers represented include Yǔ Xìn 庾信 (513–581), one of the most celebrated poets and prose writers of the entire Six Dynasties period, who spent the second half of his career as an official in the Northern Zhou capital.
For the structure of the broader anthology, see KR4h0172.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
The Northern Zhou (557–581) was the third of three contending states after the collapse of the Northern Wei and the split into Eastern Wei / Western Wei. It was founded on the Western Wei framework built by Yǔwén Tài, who used his court as a center of cultural production drawing on the Southern refugee literati tradition. The most consequential figure in this corpus is Yǔ Xìn, whose Āi Jiāngnán fù 哀江南賦 is one of the supreme prose-poems of pre-Tang literature. The Quán Hòuzhōu Wén section collects edicts, memorials, letters, and prefaces from this short dynasty; if the Suí material is incorporated (as the file’s size and some citations suggest), it adds an additional 35 juàn covering the reunification dynasty (581–618) that absorbed the Northern Zhou and preceded the Tang. Yán Kějūn drew on official histories, encyclopedias, and Buddhist collectanea throughout. For compilation history, see KR4h0172.
Translations and research
- Wilkinson, Endymion. Chinese History: A New Manual. §30.3.2.
- Knechtges, David R., and Taiping Chang, eds. Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature: A Reference Guide. Leiden: Brill, 2010–2014. See entries for Yǔ Xìn and Northern Zhou authors.