The Grading of Ci Poetry

Name: The Grading of Ci Poetry
ISBN: 9787532553884

Yang Shen / 岳淑珍Shanghai Classics Publishing House · ChinaApr 2017

3.8

Word count: 70K words
Chapters: 10
ISBN: 9787532553884

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Summary

This book is rich and wide-ranging in content, covering a broad scope. It gathers and verifies, as far as possible, the original circumstances of lyricists' works and earlier critics' comments across successive dynasties. The six juan are arranged largely in chronological order: juan one mostly records Six Dynasties yuefu song lyrics, verifies the origins of ci tunes, discusses the relationship between tune patterns and content, and the rhyming of Six Dynasties yuefu and ci forms; it even holds that the diction of ci composition "cannot achieve excellence unless it derives from the selected poems and yuefu," attempting from various angles to argue a common origin between Six Dynasties yuefu and ci. Yang Shen believed ci originated in Six Dynasties yuefu, and therefore begins his account with Six Dynasties yuefu lyrics. Juan two mainly records Tang and Five Dynasties lyricists' works and writings, works from the boudoir and monastic circles, and related anecdotes, and explains and verifies obscure characters and terms in ci forms. Juan three through six record works and anecdotes of lyricists of the Northern and Southern Song, Yuan, and the present dynasty. The supplementary juan mostly records works and anecdotes of women such as singing girls and concubines. Besides excerpting and quoting others' ci criticism, it comments on more than eighty lyricists of the Tang and Five Dynasties, Song, and Yuan, touching on the characteristics, style, rhyming, and composition of ci forms, and holds considerable documentary and theoretical value in the history of ci scholarship.

Editor's review

Ci Pin (Gradings of Ci) is a work of ci criticism by the Ming scholar Yang Shen, completed during the Jiajing reign. It is not a systematic theoretical treatise on ci but, in the form of notes, offers evaluations, textual verification, and anecdotal records concerning the works of lyricists of the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties. Yang Shen was broadly learned and thoroughly versed in the classics and histories; his comments often trace hidden sources, identify the origins, allusions, and evolution of lines, and display deep documentary command. The book offers distinctive views on major figures such as Su Shi, Xin Qiji, and Li Qingzhao, and also preserves works by many lesser-known lyricists, giving it important historical value. Its critical style is unfettered, at times precise in evidential research, at times freely impressionistic; overall it inherits the tradition of "ci remarks" and "ci talk" from the Song onward and is indispensable for studying Ming conceptions of ci and the earlier history of the genre. For modern readers, reading Ci Pin not only allows an appreciation of the charm of classical ci but also, through Yang Shen's perspective, offers insight into the aesthetic tastes and scholarly methods of Ming literati. This collated edition from Shanghai Classics Publishing House is carefully proofread and convenient for study.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Researchers or enthusiasts interested in the history of Tang and Song ci and in ci criticism
Readers who wish to understand the scholarly and aesthetic perspective of Ming literati
Those who enjoy in-depth appreciation of classical poetry by combining allusions with text
Teachers and students engaged in the teaching and study of ancient Chinese literature, especially ci studies

Not a good fit for

Beginners seeking a systematic, modern-theoretical introduction to ci studies
Readers who wish only to read the ci works themselves rather than related verification and commentary

Reading tips

May be read alongside comprehensive collections such as Quan Song Ci to check Yang Shen's quotations and comments
Note the distinction between objective verification and subjective appraisal, and appreciate the work's historical limitations
May be read in comparison with Wang Guowei's Renjian Cihua to sense differences in ci conceptions across eras

About the publisher

Shanghai Classics Publishing House China · Founded in 1956

Shanghai Classics Publishing House is a professional publisher centered on the collation of ancient texts and academic research works. Its publishing areas cover historical readings, classical poetry, folk literature, literary appreciation, canonical works, and Eastern philosophy. Its books include Chen Yinke's A Brief Discussion of the Origins of the Sui and Tang Institutions, Xin Qiji's Chronological Annotated Edition of Jiaxuan's Ci (Simplified Edition), Tang Xianzu's The Peony Pavilion, Liu Xie's The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, as well as New Annotations to Three Hundred Tang Poems (Collector's Edition), Annotated Edition of Han Changli's Collected Works (Simplified Edition, 3 volumes), and Youyang Zazu. Its authors include Chen Yinke, Xin Qiji, Tang Xianzu, Liu Xie, Deng Guangming, Hengtang Tuishi, Han Yu, and Ma Qichang. In terms of publishing characteristics, the house emphasizes collation, annotation, and compilation of ancient texts alongside academic research works, and continues to issue simplified and collector's editions that balance scholarship and accessibility. Public information about the publisher's fuller publishing profile is limited.

导读
序
词品卷一
词品卷二
词品卷三
词品卷四
词品卷五
词品卷六
词品拾遗
词品补

FAQ

What is the main content of Ci Pin?

The book mainly evaluates, in note form, and verifies the works of lyricists of the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, covering the origins of lines, tracing of allusions, comments on style, and anecdotes about lyricists; it belongs to the traditional category of ci-talk works.

What are the characteristics of Yang Shen's writing in Ci Pin?

As a broadly learned scholar, Yang Shen's comments are strongly marked by evidential research and attention to tracing the sources of lines, but the overall structure is rather loose, reflecting the casual, conversational character of early Ming ci talk.

What are the advantages of this edition?

Editions from Shanghai Classics Publishing House generally emphasize scholarly standards, provide reliable collation and necessary annotations, and are suitable as a base text for research or in-depth reading.

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About the author

Yang Shen Author · Chinese · 1488–1559

Yang Shen (1488–1559), courtesy name Yongxiu and styled Shengan, was a native of Xindu, Sichuan, and a Ming dynasty literary scholar and historian. He came first in the imperial examination of 1506 and served as a Hanlin compiler and imperial lecturer. In 1524, during the Great Ritual Controversy, he was flogged at court and exiled to Yongchang Guard in Yunnan, where he spent more than thirty years and died. The lyric "Immortals by the River: The Rolling Yangtze Flows East" is traditionally attributed to him. The History of Ming calls him foremost in breadth of memory and abundance of writings, which numbered over four hundred and were later collected as the Shengan Ji. Thirteen of his works are included here, among them Cipin, Twenty-One Histories Ballads, Shengan Shihua, Mochi Suolu and Shishuo Jiu Zhu, spanning词 criticism, ballads, poetry talks, notes on calligraphy and painting, and annotation of old texts—broad in subject and both scholarly and appreciative in value.

岳淑珍 Author

Yue Shuzhen: publicly available information is limited. She is known only to have two works, including Ci Pin, generally classified under literary appreciation. On the available evidence, her writing centers on ci, the classical Chinese lyric form, focusing on the appreciation and evaluation of ci works, authors, and styles; her books thus belong to the kind of literary appreciation writing that emphasizes close reading of texts and aesthetic judgment. The title Ci Pin itself suggests a work of grading and evaluation, typically involving the analysis of poets' stylistic traits and the interpretation of individual lyrics, through which readers may gain a sense of the art of the ci form. Because no reliable records exist concerning her life, nationality, dates, education, or positions, no inferences about her career should be made. What can be confirmed is mainly the appreciative orientation shown in her works and their place within literary appreciation reading.