Wang Shizhen 王士禛

Wang Shih-chên 王士禛 (T. 子貞, 貽上 H. 阮亭, 漁洋山人), Oct. 19, 1634-1711, June 26, poet and official, came from a family of note in Hsin-ch'êng, Shantung. He was born at Kaifêng, Honan, where his grandfather, Wang Hsiang-chin [q.v.], was then serving as provincial judge. A precocious child, he is said to have composed poetry at the age of eight (sui). By 1648, when he was fifteen (sui), his first volume of verse was published, under the title 落箋堂初稿 Lo-chien t'ang ch'u-kao. He passed the metropolitan examination in 1655, becoming a chin-shih three years later. In 1659 he was named police magistrate of Yangchow, assuming that office the following year. In this capacity he served for five years (1660-65), during which he cleared up a number of difficult cases and passed out just sentences which won the applause of many people. Always busily occupied with official duties, he yet found time to become acquainted with many poets of Kiangsu and to attend their gatherings; he received in particular the encouragement of Ch'ien Ch'ien-i and Mao Hsiang [qq.v.]. Recommended highly by his superiors, he was promoted in 1664 to be a secretary in the Board of Ceremonies, an office which he assumed in September 1665. Two years later he was raised to an assistant department director and from 1669 to 1670 he served as superintendent of customs at Ch'ing-chiang-p'u, Kiangsu. In 1671 he was transferred to the Board of Revenue. A year later he was sent to Szechwan to direct the provincial examination, but on his way back he learned of the death of his mother and hurried home. In 1676 he returned to Peking to resume his post in the Board of Revenue.

Having then only light official duties, Wang Shih-chên spent much of his time in the company of scholars and poets who were gathered in the capital from many parts of the country. He came to be recognized as one of the leading poets of his day and his name was mentioned to Emperor Shêng-tsu. Although he had failed to enter the Hanlin Academy when he became a chin-shih (1658), he was favored in 1678 with an imperial audience and was appointed a subreader in the Academy. Early in 1681 he was promoted to be libationer of the Imperial Academy, and three years later was named junior director of the Supervisorate of Instruction. Early in 1685 he was sent to Kwangtung to offer sacrifices to the Spirit of the South Seas. Later in that year his father died; he returned home to observe the period of mourning. Thereafter he served as: a vice-president of the Censorate (1690), of the Board of War (1690-92), and of the Board of Revenue (1692-98); and as president of the Censorate (1698-99), and of the Board of Punishments (1699-1704). He officiated concurrently as a director of the State Historiographer's Office and in the compilation of the classified dictionary, 淵鑑類函 Yüan-chien lei-han, 454 chüan (completed in 1702, printed in 1710). In 1696 he served as commissioner to offer sacrifices to the Spirit of the Mountains of the West.

In 1704 it was found that Wang Shih-chên and other officials of the Board of Punishments had meted out to a murderer a very light sentence. For his part in the mistrial, Wang was deprived of all his ranks and offices. This was his forty-fifth year in official life, and he was seventy-one (sui). Though he might have cleared himself and remained in office, he took the opportunity to retire, living quietly at his home for the remaining seven years of his life. But half a year before his death his former titles were restored to him by special decree. According to Chao-lien [q.v.], Wang was not accorded any posthumous honors because Emperor Shêng-tsu did not approve of his close relations with the one-time Heir Apparent, Yin-jêng [q.v.]. Not until fifty-four years after Wang's death did Emperor Kao-tsung, in recognition of his standing as the foremost poet of the Dynasty, confer on him the posthumous name, Wên-chien 文簡. After 1722 the third character of his name (禛) was written 正 chêng, to avoid the personal name of Emperor Shih-tsung, but early in 1775 Emperor Kao-tsung ordered it to be written 禎 chên, which differs only slightly from the original writing.

Wang Shih-chên was a prolific writer, having to his credit, as author or editor, about a hundred titles. He is best remembered, however, for his poems which appeared in about twenty collections printed during his lifetime, and in various anthologies. Shortly before his death he edited a complete collection of his poems and essays, under the title 帶經堂集 Tai-ching t'ang chi, 92 chüan, printed in 1711 by his disciple, Ch'êng Chê 程哲 (T. 聖跂). But the most popular collection is the 漁洋山人精華錄 Yü-yang shan jên ching-hua lu, 10 chüan, edited by himself. It was copied by hand by Lin Chi [q.v.] and printed in facsimile about the year 1700 at Yangchow. There are a number of editions of this work, with annotations by various scholars, but the one most prized was printed in the 1720s and reprinted in 1767, with annotations by Hui Tung [q.v.].

Wang also edited a number of anthologies of poetry, among them the following: 古詩選 Ku-shih hsüan, 32 chüan, printed in 1697 (also known as 五七言詩鈔 Wu-ch'i-yen-shih ch'ao); 唐賢三昧集 T'ang-hsien san-mei chi, 3 chüan, printed in 1688; Yü-yang shan jên kan-chiu chi (感舊集), 16 chüan, printed in 1752 by Lu Chien-t'ang [q.v.] and Ma Yüeh-lu (see under Ma Yüeh-kuan); and 倚聲初集 I-shêng ch'u-chi, 24 chüan, printed in 1660. The last mentioned is an anthology of verse in irregular metre (known as tz'ŭ), in which Wang was interested early in his career.

Wang Shih-chên was one of the noted critics of poetry in his day; his views on this subject appearing, among others, in the following collections: Yü-yang shih-hua (詩話), 3 chüan (1710) and Wu-tai (五代) shih-hua, 12 chüan, both edited by Huang Shu-lin [q.v.]. The most complete collection of his criticisms of earlier and contemporary poets is one edited by Chang Tsung-nan 張宗柟 (T. 汝棟 H. 含厂, 1704-1765) with the title, Tai-ching t'ang shih-hua, 30 chüan, printed in 1760. Several short works on the technique of writing poetry are attributed to Wang, four of them containing notes taken down by his disciples. They are: 詩問 Shih-wên, 4 chüan (1676); 燃燈紀聞 Jan-têng chi-wên; 律詩定體 Lü-shih ting-t'i; and 古詩平仄論 Ku-shih p'ing-tsê lun. These were reprinted in 1793, with annotations by Wêng Fang-kang [q.v.], and can be found in the latter's Hsiao-shih-fan t'ing chu-lu. Wang's poetic theories are also recorded in the writings of his critic, Chao Chih-hsin [q.v.].

According to Wang Shih-chên, the essence of poetry is a mysterious spiritual harmony (called by him 神韻) which lies behind and beyond the words. By this he apparently meant that the appeal of poetry is to the imagination and the feelings rather than to the reason. Some critics attempted to dispute the view that he originated the theory, maintaining that earlier writers had advanced it as part of the conception of sudden enlightenment held by Ch'an Buddhists. As to the technique of writing poetry, Wang laid down, in the introduction to a collection of his poems (written about 1661), the following four basic principles: (1) 典, tien, employing words and expressions which have previously appeared in classical works; (2) 遠 yüan, choosing words, not with a view to asserting explicitly the meaning of the poem, but to suggest it "from a distance"; (3) 諧音律 hsieh yin-lü, composing the poem with special regard to rhythm and rhyme; and (4) 麗以則 li i-tzê, bringing out all the beauty that is possible within the bounds of convention. These principles are well illustrated in a poem of four stanzas, entitled 秋柳 Ch'iu-liu (Willows in Autumn), which Wang composed at a gathering of poets in Tsinan, Shantung, in 1657. The poem won him immediate nation-wide recognition and soon became a popular piece for recitation. It is safe to say, however, that most of those who profess to enjoy it really enjoy its musical effect, for though the phrases and idioms allude to willows, the references are meaningless without extensive research. There are at least six works annotating the words of this poem and attempting to expose the hidden meanings of the author. The annotators seem to agree that the author's "distant" intention was to lament the fall of the Ming Court at Nanking in 1645. Indeed, a censor in the Ch'ien-lung period attempted to have all of Wang's works suppressed on the strength of the hidden meaning in this poem; but he failed, owing to Emperor Kao-tsung's personal appreciation of Wang's poetry. Recent promoters of vernacular literature have criticized his elaborate poetic puzzles on the ground that they appeal only to the privileged few who can afford the time or the works of reference necessary to understand them. Wang, however, did not always cultivate this recondite style; some of his verses are plain, comprehensible and moving. Moreover, his stress on the musical effect makes them always pleasant to recite.

Wang Shih-chên wrote several accounts of his travels to Szechwan, Kwangtung, and elsewhere. The following works contain miscellaneous notes, comments, and criticisms: 池北偶談 Ch'ih-pei ou-t'an, 26 chüan (1691); 居易錄 Chü-i lu, 34 chüan (1701); 香祖筆記 Hsiang-tsu pi-chi, 12 chüan (1702); 古夫于亭雜錄 Ku-fu-yü-t'ing tsa-lu, 6 chüan (1706); and 分甘餘話 Fên-kan yü-hua, 4 chüan (1709). He also compiled a list of posthumous names of the early Ch'ing period, entitled 國朝諡法考 Kuo-ch'ao shih fa k'ao. He was the owner of a large collection of books. So ardent was he as a bibliophile that when he was granted a short leave from Peking in 1701, he is reported to have brought back with him, not the usual valuables that officials accumulated in his day, but several cart-loads of books. This episode was the theme of a painting by Yü Chih-ting [q.v.] and of several poems by Wang's friends. The painting and the poems were reproduced in a volume entitled Yü-yang tsai-shu t'u shih (載書圖詩). This devotion to book-collecting gave rise to the legend that one of his young admirers who, after several calls, had failed to find him at home, was finally advised by Hsü Ch'ien-hsüeh [q.v.] to look for him, not at his home, but in the monastery, Tz'ŭ-jên ssŭ (see under Ku Yen-wu), in the South City, Peking, where booksellers displayed their treasures in those days. On following this advice the young man actually found the poet there.

Wang Shih-chên was the youngest of four brothers. His eldest brother, Wang Shih-lu 王士祿 (T. 子底 H. 西樵, 1626-1673), a chin-shih of 1652, left a collection of verse entitled 十笏草堂詩選 Shih-hu ts'ao-t'ang shih-hsüan, 11 chüan. The third brother, Wang Shih-hu 王士祜 (T. 叔子 H. 子側, 東亭, Jan. 7, 1633-1681), was a chin-shih of 1670. The writings of these and other members of the family were included in a collectanea, entitled Yü-yang san-shih liu chung (三十六種) which comprises for the most part works by Wang Shih-chên. It was printed from time to time during the years 1669-1710.

[Y%C3%BC-yang shan-jên nien-p'u (年譜); 1/272/6a; 3/51/la; 20/1/00, with portrait; Tsinan fu-chih (1840); Chao Chih-hsin, T'an-lung lu; Lun Ming, "Bibliography of Wang Shih-chên" (in Chinese), Yenching hsüeh-pao (Yenching Journal of Chinese Studies), no. 5, pp. 934-64; Chu Tung-jun, "Wang Shih-chên on the Principles of Poetry" (in Chinese), Wuhan Journal of Liberal Arts, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 435-76; Wêng Fang-kang, Fu-ch'u chai chi, 8/6a.]

FANG CHAO-YING

《清史稿》卷266

王士禎，字貽上，山東新城人。幼慧，即能詩，舉於鄉，年十八。順治十二年，成進士。授江南揚州推官。侍郎葉成格被命駐江寧，按治通海寇獄，株連眾，士禎嚴反坐，寬無辜，所全活甚多。揚州鹺賈逋課數萬，逮繫久不能償，士禎募款代輸之，事乃解。康熙三年，總督郎廷佐、巡撫張尚賢、河督朱之錫交章論薦，內擢禮部主事，累遷戶部郎中。十一年，典四川試，母憂歸，服闋，起故官。

上留意文學，嘗從容問大學士李霨：「今世博學善詩文者孰最？」霨以士禎對。復問馮溥、陳廷敬、張英，皆如霨言。召士禎入對懋勤殿，賦詩稱旨。改翰林院侍講，遷侍讀，入直南書房。漢臣自部曹改詞臣，自士禎始。上徵其詩，錄上三百篇，曰御覽集。

尋遷國子監祭酒，整條教，屏餽遺，獎拔皆知名士。與司業劉芳喆疏言：「漢、唐以來，以太牢祀孔子，加王號，尊以八佾、十二籩豆。至明嘉靖間，用張璁議，改為中祀，失尊崇之意。禮：祭從生者。天子祀其師，當用天子之禮樂。」又疏言：「自明去十哲封爵，稱冉子者凡三，未有辨別。宋周敦頤等六子改稱先賢，位漢、唐諸儒之上，世次殊有未安，宜予釐定。」又疏言：「田何受易商瞿，有功聖學，宜增祀。鄭康成注經百餘萬言，史稱純儒，宜復祀。」又疏言：「明儒曹端、章懋、蔡清、呂柟、羅洪先，並宜從祀。絳州貢生辛全，生際明末，以正學為己任，著述甚富，乞敕進遺書。」又請修監藏經史舊版。疏並下部議，以籩豆、樂舞、名號、位次，俟會典頒發遵循；增祀明儒及徵進遺書，俟明史告成覈定；修補南北監經史版，如所請行。二十三年，遷少詹事。命祭告南海，父憂歸。二十九年，起原官，再遷兵部督捕侍郎。三十一年，調戶部。命祭告西嶽西鎮江瀆。三十七年，遷左都御史。會廷議省御史員額，士禎曰：「國初設御史六十，後減為四十，又減為二十四。天子耳目官，可增不可減。」卒從士禎議。

遷刑部尚書。故事，斷獄下九卿平議。士禎官副都御史，爭楊成獄得減等。官戶部侍郎，爭太平王訓、聊城於相元、齊河房得亮獄皆得減等，而衡陽左道蕭儒英，則又爭而置之法。徐起龍為曹氏所誣，則釋起龍而罪曹，案其所與私者，皆服罪。及長刑部，河南閻煥山、山西郭振羽、廣西竇子章皆以救父殺人論重辟，士禎曰：「此當論其救父與否，不當以梃刃定輕重。」改緩決，入奏，報可。

士禎以詩受知聖祖，被眷遇甚隆。四十年，乞假遷墓，上命予假五月，事畢還朝。四十三年，坐王五、吳謙獄罷。王五故工部匠役，捐納通判；謙太醫院官，坐索債毆斃負債者。下刑部，擬王五流徙，謙免議，士禎謂輕重懸殊，改王五但奪官。復下三法司嚴鞫，王五及謙並論死，又發謙囑託刑部主事馬世泰狀，士禎以瞻徇奪官。四十九年，上眷念諸舊臣，詔復職。五十年，卒。明季文敝，諸言詩者，習袁宗道兄弟，則失之俚俗；宗鍾惺、譚友夏，則失之纖仄；學陳子龍、李雯，軌轍正矣，則又失之膚廓。士禎姿稟既高，學問極博，與兄士祿、士祜並致力於詩，獨以神韻為宗。取司空圖所謂「味在酸鹹外」、嚴羽所謂「羚羊掛角，無跡可尋」，標示指趣，自號漁洋山人。主持風雅數十年。同時趙執信始與立異，言詩中當有人在。既沒，或詆其才弱，然終不失為正宗也。

士禎初名士禛，卒後，以避世宗諱，追改士正。乾隆三十年，高宗與沈德潛論詩，及士正，諭曰：「士正績學工詩，在本朝諸家中，流派較正，宜示褒，為稽古者勸。」因追諡文簡。三十九年，復諭曰：「士正名以避廟諱致改，字與原名不相近，流傳日久，後世幾不復知為何人。今改為士禎，庶與弟兄行派不致淆亂。各館書籍記載，一體照改。」