Pujiang Ci

卢祖皋Jul 2024

3.7

Word count: 8.7K words
Chapters: 96

Summary

Contains ninety-five ci poems in total. The author, Lu Zugao, courtesy name Shenzhi and sobriquet Pujiang, was a leading poet of the Southern Song graceful and restrained school. His style is clear and elegant, relatively close to that of Zhou Bangyan, and won high praise from his contemporaries. For example, Huang Sheng's Finest Ci Selections Since the Restoration remarked: "Shenzhi's lyrics are highly crafted; every character fits the pitch pipes, and the people of Zhejiang all sing them." Wei Qingzhi's Jade Splinters of the Poets likewise said: "Not a single character is less than excellent! Whenever I recite one, it is like walking in the mountains, where streams and peaks shine forth in turn, leaving one no time to take it all in." Praise could hardly go further.

Editor's review

Pujiang Ci collects ninety-five ci poems by Lu Zugao and is an important individual collection for understanding the graceful and restrained style of Southern Song ci. Lu Zugao, whose sobriquet was Pujiang, excelled in a clear and elegant manner close to that of Zhou Bangyan, with careful diction and harmonious tonal patterns; even in his own day he was praised for lyrics in which "every character fits the pitch pipes, and the people of Zhejiang all sing them," showing his strength in both singability and recitation. The works in this collection mostly describe scenery and express feeling, or offer poems to friends and reflect on experience; the language is refined yet fluent, suited to close reading for both tonal craft and imagery. For general readers, the value of this collection lies not only in its place in literary history but also in the sample it offers of the daily emotions and aesthetic tastes of Southern Song literati: the interplay of mountain and water imagery, which leaves the reader no time to take it all in, reads fresh and approachable. This edition makes it easy for readers to study Lu Zugao's ci in one place and to read it alongside Zhou Bangyan and Jiang Kui, observing how the graceful and restrained style evolved in the Southern Song. It is best read slowly, with attention to sound and diction, to appreciate the quality of "every character fitting the pitch pipes."

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who love Song ci and wish to read Southern Song graceful and restrained ci systematically
University teachers and students of ci prosody and ci literature who need the text of an individual collection
Literature lovers who wish to experience the beauty of classical lyric expression through a clear and elegant ci style

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer bold and stirring ci with strong narrative drive
Casual readers who want only famous anthologized pieces and are unwilling to engage with a complete individual collection

Reading tips

Read through once, marking lines with harmonious sound and clear, elegant imagery, then return to savor them closely.
Read alongside Zhou Bangyan's ci, comparing the similarities and differences in their clear and elegant styles and in their arrangement of sections.
Read several poems aloud, attending to pronunciation and rhythm, to experience the musicality of "fitting the pitch pipes."

版权信息
宴清都
鱼游春水
倦寻芳
江城子
江城子
江城子
西江月
画堂春
画堂春
画堂春
清平乐
清平乐
清平乐
清平乐
乌夜啼
乌夜啼
乌夜啼
乌夜啼
乌夜啼
谒金门
谒金门
谒金门
谒金门
谒金门
谒金门
谒金门
谒金门
谒金门
谒金门
鹧鸪天
鹧鸪天
鹧鸪天
踏莎行
琴调相思引
琴调相思引
眼儿媚
更漏子
更漏子
锦园春三犯
锦园春三犯
水龙吟
水龙吟
水龙吟
水龙吟
渡江云
洞仙歌
洞仙歌
洞仙歌
洞仙歌
洞仙歌
望江南
临江仙
临江仙
临江仙
丑奴儿慢
木兰花慢
木兰花慢
木兰花慢
木兰花慢
木兰花慢
浣溪沙
卜算子
卜算子
卜算子
卜算子
满庭芳
夜行船
瑞鹤仙
菩萨蛮
菩萨蛮
菩萨蛮
鹊桥仙
鹊桥仙
鹊桥仙
摸鱼儿
夜飞鹊慢
秋霁
虞美人
渔家傲
渔家傲
渔家傲
醉梅花
贺新郎
沁园春
沁园春
贺新郎
贺新郎
太常引
小阑干
倚阑令
满江红
满江红
烛影摇红
月城春
临江仙

FAQ

Who was Lu Zugao, the author of Pujiang Ci?

Lu Zugao, courtesy name Shenzhi and sobriquet Pujiang, was one of the leading poets of the Southern Song graceful and restrained school. His style is clear and elegant, relatively close to that of Zhou Bangyan, and he was highly praised in his day by Huang Sheng, Wei Qingzhi, and others, who held that every character of his fits the pitch pipes and not one is less than excellent.

How many ci poems does this collection contain?

Pujiang Ci contains ninety-five ci poems by Lu Zugao. It is an individual ci collection of moderate length, suitable for reading straight through or in stages.

Why is Lu Zugao's ci said to have "every character fitting the pitch pipes"?

This is a comment from Huang Sheng's Finest Ci Selections Since the Restoration, meaning that Lu Zugao's ci have harmonious tonal patterns and are easy to sing; the people of Zhejiang all sang them. When reading, pay attention to the rhythm and diction of the lines to appreciate their musicality.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

卢祖皋 Author

Public information about Lu Zulu is limited: his birth and death years, native place, and life experiences are not clearly recorded. What can be confirmed at present is mainly his collection of ci poems, Pu Jiang Ci. Two editions of this work are held in the library, and it is regarded as a classic of ancient poetry, which indicates that his writing was chiefly in the ci form. The title also suggests that “Pu Jiang” may be connected with his sobriquet or place of residence. In reading the themes and style of Pu Jiang Ci, later readers generally place it within the tradition of Song ci, attending to its lyrical manner, scenic description, and attention to musical rhythm. Because the primary sources are insufficient, his specific acquaintances, official career, and scholarly lineage should not be conjectured. Overall, Lu Zulu is known in literary history through Pu Jiang Ci; although his body of work is not large, it offers a readable sample of ancient ci composition, and his influence lies mainly in the transmission of the collection and its inclusion in anthologies, pending fuller documentary discovery and detailed textual research.