Su Shi Collection (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: (Song) Su Shi, edited by Gu Zhiquan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-08-01
Features: Su Shi (1037-1101), styled Zizhan, also known as Hezhong, styled Dongpo Jushi, was a native of Meishan, Meizhou (now part of Sichuan). He came from a wealthy landlord family with a strong literary atmosphere. In the second year of the Jiayou era (1057), he passed the imperial examination together with his younger brother Su Zhe. He was highly appreciated by the chief examiner Ouyang Xiu. In the sixth year of the Jiayou era (1061), he was appointed as the registrar of Dali and the acting magistrate of Fengxiang Prefecture. During the Xining period of Emperor Shenzong of Song (1068-1077), he requested to be transferred to a local post due to disagreements with Wang Anshi's reforms. He successively served as a magistrate in Hangzhou, Mizhou, Xuzhou, and Huzhou. While in office, he was accused by the new officials He Zhengchen, Shu Dian, and Li Ding of composing poems that criticized the flaws in the implementation of the new reforms. In the second year of the Yuanfeng era (1079), he was arrested and imprisoned for allegedly slandering the court. This became known as the famous "Wutai Poetry Case" of the Northern Song Dynasty. After several months, he was fortunate to be released but was exiled to Huangzhou. In the first year of the Yuanyou era (1085), when the old party led by Sima Guang came to power, Su Shi returned to the capital and held positions such as Vice Director of the Chancellery, Academician of the Hanlin Academy, and Director of Drafting. However, he was suspected by the old party for disagreeing with Sima Guang's complete abolition of the new reforms. He was successively appointed as the magistrate of Hangzhou, Yingzhou, and Yangzhou. After his recall to the capital, he became the Academician of the Dongming Hall and rose to the position of Minister of Rites. In the ninth month of the eighth year of the Yuanyou era (1093), he was appointed as the magistrate of Dingzhou. In the first year of the Shaosheng era (1094), Emperor Huizong took power, and the new party came to prominence. Su Shi was exiled to Yingzhou and Huizhou, and later even to Dianzhou (now Danxian County, Hainan Island). In the first year of the Jianzhong and Jingguo era (1101), Emperor Huizong ascended the throne, and Su Shi was pardoned and returned north. He died in Changzhou in July and was posthumously honored as Wen Zhong. He wrote works such as Dongpo Seven Collections, Su's Commentary on the I Ching, Shu's Commentary on the Book of Documents, Commentary on the Analects, and Dongpo Notes. His biographies are found in works such as the History of Song, New History of Song, Brief Annals of Dongdu, Collection of Inscriptions of Famous Officials, Records of the Conduct of Famous Officials of the Three Dynasties, Biography of the Yuanyou Party, and the Lin'an Gazetteer of the Qiandao Era, the Wuxing Gazetteer of the Jiatai Era, and the Pili Gazetteer of the Xiancun Era. His younger brother Su Zhe wrote the Epitaph for Dongpo Jushi, and Wang Zongji of the Song Dynasty compiled the Chronological Records of Dongpo Jushi, both included in the Collected Works of Su Dongpo. Zheng Xiang of the Ming Dynasty wrote the Chronological Records of Su Wenzhong, and Feng Yingliu of the Qing Dynasty wrote the Combined Annotations of Su Wenzhong's Chronological Records. The Dongpo Poetry Notes originally had two volumes, but the current edition has only one volume with thirty-two chapters. It was traditionally attributed to Su Shi, but according to the Records of Readings in the Prefecture, the Novel Category states, "Su's miscellaneous writings include some on poetry, and enthusiasts compiled them into two volumes." It is clear that it was not written by Su Shi himself but was compiled earlier, no later than the Southern Song Dynasty. Since it was not written by Su Shi, it was not included in the complete works. In addition to the Records of Readings in the Prefecture, it is also listed in the Artistic Catalogue of the Tongzhi. The General Mirror of Poetry Notes and the Collection of Fragments from Taixi Fishing in the Shadows both quoted its contents. The only existing edition is the Suofo edition. The Japanese near included it in the Collection of. Chen Xioming of the Yuan Dynasty wrote the Dongpo Poetry Notes Record, which was compiled into the Learning Sea Catalogue by the Qing Dynasty, forming a separate edition. The collected works of Su Shi have been compiled in different ways throughout history. Broadly speaking, there are mainly three types: poetry collections, prose collections, and combined collections of poetry and prose. Su Shi's poetry was compiled by Wang Shipeng in the twenty-five-volume "Collected Annotations and Classification of Dongpo Poetry," with editions by Huang Shanfu and the Yuan-collated edition of the Four Treasuries Collection. The chronological annotated edition is "Annotations on the Poetry of Dongpo Jushi" by Shi Yuanzhi and Gu Xi, in forty-two volumes, with editions from the Jiatai era and supplementary editions from the Jingding era, both now damaged. In the Qing Dynasty, there were "Supplementary Annotations to the Chronological Poetry of Dongpo" by Cha Shenxing in fifty volumes, "Combined Annotations to the Poetry of Su Wenzhong" by Feng Yingliu in fifty volumes, and "Collected Annotations and Compendium of the Poetry of Su Wenzhong" by Wang Wengao. The Zhonghua Book Company's "Collected Poems of Su Shi" consists of fifty volumes, with the fourth to the forty-sixth volumes using Wang Wengao's edition and the forty-seventh to the fiftieth volumes using Feng Yingliu's edition. Su Shi's ci (a type of classical Chinese poetry) is commonly found in the chronological edition "Dongpo Yuefu" by Zhu Zumu, with annotations by Long Baisheng in the "Annotations to Dongpo Yuefu." Su Shi's prose was published in various editions during the Song Dynasty. The earliest selected edition is the "Dongpo Collection of Essays and Events for Submission to the Court" by Qiu Ye of the Southern Song Dynasty, with a Song-collated edition of the Four Treasuries Collection. In the late Ming Dynasty, Mao Wei's "Complete Works of Su Wenzhong" in seventy-five volumes included only prose and poetry, which was later adopted by the Zhonghua Book Company's "Collected Works of Su Shi" in seventy-three volumes (with an appendix of "Collected Lost Writings of Su Shi" compiled by annotators). His complete collection of prose and poetry was published in the Song Dynasty as "Dongpo Collection" and "Post-Dongpo Collection." In the fourth year of the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty, Cheng Zong published the "Complete Works of Su Wenzhong" (including the forty volumes of "Dongpo Collection," the twenty volumes of "Post-Dongpo Collection," the fifteen volumes of "Collected Memorials," the ten volumes of "Collected Imperial Edicts," with an additional one volume of "Musical Phrases," the three volumes of "Collected External Imperial Edicts," the ten volumes of "Collected Imperial Edicts in Response to Imperial Rescripts," the twelve volumes of "Post-Dongpo Collection," and the one volume of "Chronological Records"), totaling one hundred and twelve volumes. It was later collated and printed by Du Fang in the late Qing Dynasty and included in the "Complete Collection of the Four Treasuries."