Drinking Notes School

Author: Qing) Nalan Xingde
Publisher:
Publish Date: July 1, 2005
Features: The Drunken Moon Collection (Yin Shui Ci) is a collection of ci poems by Nalan Xingde, a ci poet of the early Qing Dynasty. Nalan Xingde, originally named Chengde, later changed his name to Xingde to avoid the taboo name "Baocheng" associated with the (Crown Prince) Yinzhen. He styled himself Rongruo and was known as the "Mount Lengjia Hermit." A member of the Manchu Zhenghuang Banner, he was the eldest son of the Grand Secretary Mingzhu and grew up in Beijing. From a young age, Nalan Xingde was intelligent and studious, becoming knowledgeable in classics and history as he grew older. He was particularly fond of writing ci poems and gained fame for his skills in this art. In the second year of the Kangxi reign (1666), he passed the imperial examination and was appointed as a third-class attendant at the Qianqing Gate, later promoted to a first-class attendant. He accompanied the emperor on multiple tours and was once sent to Suolong to investigate the Russian invasion of the borders. He was born in the eleventh year of the Shunzhi reign (1655) and died in the twenty-fourth year of the Kangxi reign (1685) at the age of thirty-one. Nalan Xingde's literary works were extremely abundant. The extant Collection of Tongzhi Hall includes one volume of fu poems, four volumes of poems, four volumes of ci poems, three volumes of commentaries on classics, one volume of prefaces, memorials, and letters, one volume of miscellaneous writings, and four volumes of Notes from Lushui Pavilion. However, this only represents a part of his creations. Additionally, he compiled and published works such as The Essence of the Great Changes in the I Ching, The Correct Principles of the Ci Garden, The First Collection of Modern Ci, and The Collection of Tongzhi Hall on Classics. Nalan Xingde was a talented and brilliant writer, deeply influenced by Han culture in terms of temperament. Although he once harbored ambitions to serve the state actively, he was more inclined toward a warm, free, and refined life of poetry and elegance. The monotonous and restrictive duties of his attendant post were far from his inclinations, causing his ambitions to fade and losing interest in "achieving merit" or "establishing virtue." The corruption and factional struggles behind the upper-class political disputes further led him to despise worldly affairs and desire retirement. The contradiction between the poet's nature and his life circumstances made him weary, sorrowful, and endlessly grieving, pouring his boundless sorrow into his pen, condensed into poignant and moving ci poems. His ci poems transformed personal grievances into universal human expressions, possessing a unique character and strong emotional impact. In the three hundred years since, especially in the last century, he has been the most widely read and influential ci poet of the Qing Dynasty, and one of the most outstanding ci poets in ancient China. In his early years, Nalan Xingde published The Side Hat Collection, and in the seventeenth year of the Kangxi reign (1678), he commissioned Gu Zhenquan to publish The Drunken Moon Collection in Wu. Both of these collections were published during his lifetime but are now lost. It is known that The Drunken Moon Collection contained fewer than a hundred ci poems, and it is likely that The Side Hat Collection did not contain many either. The editing and compilation of Nalan Xingde's ci poems were done after his death. In the thirtieth year of the Kangxi reign (1691), his friends Xu Qianxue, Gu Zhenquan, Yan Shensun, and Qin Songling compiled and published The Collection of Tongzhi Hall for him, which included four volumes of ci poems with a total of three hundred pieces. The same year, his friend Zhang Chunxiu published The Drunken Moon Collection of Poems and Ci in Yangzhou, which included three volumes of ci poems with a total of three hundred and three pieces, arranged in the same order as The Collection of Tongzhi Hall, with four additional ci poems and one fewer. The ci poems in both of these collections were personally edited by Gu Zhenquan, making them highly credible.