Juémiào hǎocí jiān 絕妙好詞箋
Annotated Selected Marvellous Lyrics edited by 周密 (編); annotated by 查爲仁 (箋) and 厲鶚 (箋)
About the work
The Juémiào hǎocí jiān 絕妙好詞箋 is the early-Qiánlóng joint annotation of Zhōu Mì’s 周密 great Sòng-loyalist cí anthology Juémiào hǎocí 絕妙好詞 (compiled c. 1280, transmitting 132 Southern-Sòng poets from Zhāng Xiàoxiáng 張孝祥 to Qiú Yuǎn 仇遠, with severely restricted selection — see 周密’s entry). The annotation was begun by Zhā Wéirén 查爲仁 at Tiānjīn and continued, after he met Lì È 厲鶚 there, jointly with Lì; the resulting joint work was completed in Qiánlóng jǐsì / 1749 and printed in gēngwǔ / 1750. Seven juǎn. The annotation gives for each anthologized poet (a) zì, hào, native place and basic biographical data; (b) where possible, the historical occasion of the cí; (c) other famous pieces by the same poet not anthologized by Zhōu Mì; and (d) contemporary critical evaluations. The result is the most learned cíhuà apparatus produced in the Qīng for any Sòng cí anthology.
Tiyao
Juémiào hǎocí jiān, seven juǎn. The Juémiào hǎocí was compiled by Zhōu Mì of the Sòng; the jiān (annotation) is the joint work of Zhā Wéirén and Lì È of the present dynasty. Mì’s compilation of Southern-Sòng song-lyrics opens with Zhāng Xiàoxiáng and closes with Qiú Yuǎn, 132 men in all; its taking-and-leaving is stricter than even Zēng Zào’s Yuèfǔ yǎcí KR4j0065 and Huáng Shēng’s Huāān cíxuǎn KR4j0066. Many Sòng cí-poets’ personal collections do not now survive; even the names of authors are lost in transmission; the gem-fragments and the broken jade survive only by way of this selection — it is the most authoritative anthology of cí in transmission. The annotation, originally begun by Zhā, gathered together miscellaneous sources to comment each piece: each entry has a notice of native place and career, sometimes a discussion of the běnshì (background occasion) of the piece, sometimes additional biographical notes on the poet, with the evaluations of various commentators and any especially fine pieces not in this anthology — all gathered up. When Lì È was also annotating this anthology, he had not yet finished his manuscript. He travelled to Tiānjīn, saw Zhā’s jiān, took it up, deleted what was duplicated, supplemented what was incomplete, and combined the two into one. The opening flyleaf of the present volume bears both names, in recognition that they have built it together. The jiān is sometimes prone to fànlàn pángshè (excursus and digression) and not always close to the cí itself — the failing of love of breadth. Still, Sòng cí often have no titles, and readers cannot generally identify the occasion: as with Lù Sōng 陸淞’s Ruìhè xiān, Hán Yuánjí’s Shuǐlóng yín, Xīn Qìjí’s Zhù Yīngtái jìn, Yǐn Huàn’s Tángduōlìng, Yáng Huī’s Èrláng shén — without consulting other books one cannot tell what the matter is. The jiān’s work of explaining and identifying is unmistakably valuable. Mì has the Guǐxīn záshí KR3j0093 and other works; Lì has the Liáoshǐ shíyí and other works, separately catalogued. Zhā’s zì was Xīngǔ, hào Liánpō, of Wǎnpíng; jǔrén of Kāngxī xīnmǎo. The anthology was completed in Qiánlóng jǐsì, cut in gēngwǔ. Lì’s preface says Zhā also has a Cíyú jìshì in so-many juǎn; that has not yet been seen — perhaps the book was never completed. — Qiánlóng 46 / 1781, 4th month.
Abstract
The Juémiào hǎocí jiān is the most extensive and most scholarly cíhuà apparatus produced in the Qīng for any individual Sòng anthology. Of the two annotators, Zhā Wéirén did the initial draft (begun by 1746); Lì È completed and corrected. The work crystallizes the Zhèxīpài 浙西派 of cí-philology — Zhū Yízūn 朱彝尊’s school, of which Lì È was the principal Qiánlóng-era heir — at the moment of its highest scholarly reach. The volume’s annotation of unattributed or untitled Sòng cí via independent biographical and bibliographical sources (the chief example, given by the Sìkù tíyào, being the famous occasion-historical reconstructions for the Ruìhè xiān, Shuǐlóng yín, Zhù Yīngtái jìn, and other pieces) is the most influential single demonstration of the Zhèxī method. The composition window 1746–1750 reflects Zhā’s drafting period and the final 1749 completion / 1750 printing.
Translations and research
- Stuart Sargent, “Tz’u,” in Mair, ed., Columbia History of Chinese Literature.
- David Hawkes (ed.), Sòng Yuán cí-huà bǐ-jì: the Zhè-xī-pài discussion includes the Jué-miào hǎo-cí jiān tradition.
- Wang Wei-yi 王偉勇, Qīng-dài cí-xué pī-píng shǐ — modern study of the Zhè-xī-pài cí-huà line.
Other points of interest
The Jiān’s scrupulous insistence on the historical occasion (běnshì) of each cí — read off from independent biographical evidence — anticipates the modern “occasional poetry” approach to Sòng cí. The Sìkù tíyào’s praise of the Jiān’s identifying-and-explaining work has set the agenda for subsequent annotated editions of all major Sòng cí-anthologies.