Shi Hua Zong Gui (Volume 1, Volume 2)

Author: Ruan Yue Zhou Ben Chun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1987-08-01
Features: This book is one of the selected works in "Selected Monographs on Classical Chinese Literary Theory and Criticism." Ruan Yue, styled Hongxiu, styled himself Sanweng, and also styled himself Songju Daoren. He was from Shucheng. In the eighth year of Yuanfeng (1085), he passed the imperial examination and was listed under the name Meicheng. He served as a clerk in Qiantang and later became the county magistrate of Chao County as a Lang official in the Ministry of Revenue. During the Xuanhe period, he served as the prefect of Chenzhou (according to the preface of the poem and the preface of "A Hundred Poems of Chenzhou River," his first official appointment was in the second year of Xuanhe, and the "Official Register of Chenzhou" lists his post as "Zhijun" in the seventh year of Zhenghe, "serving as a Chaisa"). He once composed "A Hundred Poems of Chenzhou River" in seven-character quatrains (recorded in the Siku Quanshu, but only ninety-two survive). Because of his skill in quatrains, he was known as Ruan's Quatrain. In the first year of Jianyan in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127), he served as the prefect of Yuanzhou as a Zhongfeng and retired, settling in Yichun. The Ming-era manuscript "Preface by Sanweng on the Longto Day of Shaoxing Xisi (1161)" mentions "Fengchen (1148) Spring, I traveled to Fujian and Chuan," but based on Ruan Yue's life and official career, the preface clearly appears to be a forgery. Ruan Yue's works include "Songju Collection" (5 volumes, now lost), "A Hundred Poems of Chenzhou River," "Ten Volumes of Poetry" (the precursor to "Shihua Zongqu"), "Nao Ling Jun Ruan Huibu Ci" (see "Records of Books Collected by Baishuilou"), and six preserved poems in "Complete Lyrics of the Song Dynasty." The Zhengde edition of the Yuanzhou Gazetteer includes "Record of Rebuilding the City," "Poem Preface of Wuxing Tang," and two seven-character quatrains titled "Spring Waves Pavilion on Xuanfeng Road." The poems of Ruan Huibu in the later collection of "Shihua Zongqu" are suspected to be by Ruan Yue, with only one seven-character quatrain cited.