Yan Yu Collection

Author: Meng Qingxi
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1997-06-01
Features: How many works did Yan Yu write in his lifetime? This remains unclear to this day. It can be asserted that there were certainly more than just the two existing works. There must have been many others, some lost to time, while others may still exist but remain undiscovered. In the poem "Luling Ke Guan Yu Ji Deng Lou Yan Huai Ji You" (Reflections While Ascending the Tower of Luling Guest House on a Rainy Day and Sending to Friends), he wrote, "I have spent my days on a hundred volumes of literature, yet have not returned to the joy of fishing with a single rod." In the year Guan Yin (1210) of the Zhi Yuan era, Huang Gongshao wrote a preface for the "Canglang Yin juan" (Canglang Poem Collection), stating that the "Canglang Yin juan" he saw listed were already "what remains," and that "only one in a thousand still exists." Later, when writing "Biography of Yan Yu" (Yan Yu Zhuan), Zhu Xia also mentioned this point: "The master, Yan Yu, spread his influence in Jiang (Jiangxi and Hubei), and many of his poems were scattered and lost. During the Zhi Yuan era, his fellow townsman Huang Gongshao searched and collected only over one hundred and thirty poems, which he then prefaced and passed down." This shows that most of his poems had already been lost by the Zhi Yuan era. Zhu Xia's biography also mentioned Yan Yu's theory of poetry, stating: "When discussing poetry, he highly regarded the Tang Dynasty. He said that many later poets exaggerated their style, imitating the Han and Wei dynasties while disregarding the Tang. They do not realize that the various forms of poetry were fully developed in the Tang Dynasty, and just as the Han and Wei dynasties could not achieve the Tang's level, the Tang could not achieve the level of the Han and Wei. He also said that there are certain talents in poetry that are not related to learning, and there are certain interests in poetry that are not related to reason. He pointed to enlightenment as the key to entering the realm of poetry and taking the highest level as the standard. In evaluating and analyzing poetry, he reached the pinnacle of understanding. These ideas are still discussed by poetry scholars today." In this passage, the part after "He also said" clearly quotes from the original text of "Canglang Shihua" (Canglang Poem Talks). The following sentences are the author's brief introduction. The part about "highly regarding the Tang Dynasty" seems to be the author's interwoven commentary. The sentences after "Because of the ancient system" appear to be a quote from Yan Yu's original works, though the original text is now lost.