Zang Maoxun
Zang Maoxun | |
|---|---|
| File:Zang Maoxun, Ming dynasty.jpg | |
| Born | 1550 Changxing, Zhejiang Province, China |
| Died | 1620 |
| Occupation | literatus |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Period | Ming Dynasty |
Zang Maoxun (Chinese: 臧懋循 Pinyin: zāng Màoxún) (1550 - 1620) was a playwright and drama theorist from Changxing, Zhejiang Province, China of the Ming Dynasty.[1]His courtesy name was Jinshu (晋叔) and he may also be known by the pseudonym（hao), Guzhu (顾渚). He successfully achieved the rank of Jinshi（presented scholar） in 1580 ( the 8th year of Ming Wanli).[2] He was matriculated as a local governmental official in Jingzhou, and was later promoted as an officer in Guozijian（国子监） of Nanjing.[3] He knew the Five Classics(Classic of Poetry, Classic of History, Classic of Rites, Classic of Changes, Spring and Autumn Annals) very well and was a person uninhibited in speech and behavior. Zang disdained the feudal ethical code and was dissatisfied with affairs of the state. As often pointed out the political problems in the society in the way of poetry at the moment, he was impeached by the imperial court and dismissed from office in 1585 Wanli 13 (万历十三年）. After returning to his hometown, Zang entertained himself with poetry and remained an intimate association with many men of letters. He collected the missing yuanqu and poems.[4] He also published a lot of books,[5] including Selections of Yuanqu, Selections of poems which granted him lasting fame for posterity.[6]
Personal life
Zang Maoxun was a very intelligent child since very young. He coud make couplets.[7] with the adults when he was five years old. A precocious child, he was once taken by his father to visit a friend called Xian Jingzhao, Xian wanted to test the child’s talent, so he suddenly said a first line of a couplet, “There are five fingers in a hand.” Zang Maoxun thought for a second, then quickly answered :“There are seven orifices in a heart.” Xian Jingzhao was so amazed and impressed by his remarkable talent and said, this child was destined to impress the world with his literary works. When Zang was 19 years old, his father, a two-term magistrate passed away. After he had buried his father, he studied hard for the examination.
In 1580 Wanli 8 (万历八年）, Zang Maoxun attended the Imperial examination, and was qualified and ranked as Jinshi. He held a government position in Jingzhou in the following year. In 1582 Wanli 10 （万历十年）, Zang served as a magistrate in Yiling, which is located in modern day Yichang County of Hubei province. Later, when he was an officer in Guozijian（国子监） of Nanjing, he maintained a friendly relationship with Tang Xianzu(汤显祖) and Wang Shizhen(王世贞). During this period, Zang always went to suburbs for amusement with his concubines and children, [8] with which many officers of the imperial court were discontented. In 1585 Wanli 13 (万历十三年), at the age of 36, Zang Maoxun decided to dismiss from office and return to his hometown Changxing.
Living in his hometown, Zang Maoxun entertained himself with poetry and kept a close relationship with many men of letters like Mei Dingzuo(梅鼎祚) and Yuan Zhongdao(袁中道). Famed for his quick wits and elaborate literary style, Zang Maoxun was ranked with Wu Jiadeng(吴家登), Wu Mengyang(吴梦旸) and Mao Wei(茅维) among the Four Scholars of Wuxing, a group of representative literati of Wuxing.
After 50 years old, Zang presented an active state in the field of publishment. He published a great number of literature books, including Selections of Yuanqu(元曲选), Selections of poems Four dreams of Yumingtang(《玉茗堂四梦》), Liubosuijin(六博碎金) and so on.
When Zang was 57 years old, he orgnized a poetry group of Jinling金陵社集 wth over 10 friends. For this reason, he obtained a little fame in the field of poetry of that time.
Works
His own works
Fubaotang Ji (负苞堂集) is the masterpiece of Zang Maoxun. It is recorded and published by his son Zang Erbing（臧尔炳）. According to the postscript of the book, some articles of the initial Fubaotang Ji were lost, so he edited and published the existing ones.[9] . In the twenty-fifth chapter of the book of <Qianqingtang Bibliography>(千顷堂书目) written by Huang Yuji(黄虞稷), it is recorded that : the Fubaotang Ji of Zang Maoxun consisted of ten chapters, five of which are selections of his poetry, and four chapters are selections of his articals.[10]
The Fubaotang Ji we see today contains nine chapters. The first four chapters are collections of his articals, and the rest are collections of poetry.The first and second chapters of Fubaotang Ji contain seven memorials to the throne and twenty letters, all written in the style of Pianwen(Chinese: 骈文; pinyin: Piánwén).[11] The proses of Zang Maoxun are included in the third and fourth chapters. His famous proses like <the letter in reply to Yao Shudu> and <the letter to Ou Zhenbo> are in the fourth chapter.
Zang has a great achievement in the poetry. Publisher Zang Maoxun (《出版家臧懋循》)[12]recorded:" Zang's poetry, faces the reality, which has a fresh style." He had a great reputation in the literary field of Ming Dynasty. Zang Maoxun, Wu Jiadeng, Wu Mengyang, Mao Wei had the title of "Four Scholars of Wuxing" at that time.
Works edited
Zang Maoxun is one of the most famous Yuan dramatist-poets. In ancient Chinese society, the opera was regarded as a unrefined performance for a long time, so he felt his own mission was to select and publish Yuanqu. The Selections of Yuanqu(《元曲选》)[13][14] he had selected and engraved occupies an important position in the history of Chinese litterature and opera. He had also published yumingtangsimeng(《玉茗堂四梦》), jiaozhenggubenjingchaiji(《校正古本荆钗记》), gaidingtanhuaji(《改定昙花记》)and so on. The works totaled more than 3 million words.
Selections of Yuanqu
The main contribution of Zang Maoxun is the Selections of Yuanqu. He devoted all his efforts to this end. For this book, in addition to the rich possession of books in his family, he also collected the rare books from many others bibliophiles. He borrowed three hundred kinds of dramas of the Yuan Dynasty from Liu Chengxi of Macheng, gathered other collections of Drama script from some others collectors.
Zang Maoxun devoted all of his monney and vigour into this entreprise. He went north to the central plains and south to the Hu and Guang provinces when he was over sixty years old. He collected all kinds of the Yuanqu that lost around the country with careful finishing, collating and accompanied with phonetic. Finally , Zang Maoxun engraved the Selections of Yuanqu of more than 100 volumes in Wanli43 and 44.This magnificent feat saved for our posterity one hundred of famous operas of Yuan Dynasty , including" Snow in Midsummer ", "autumn in the Han Palace" and so on. Zang Maoxun made outstanding contributions to the protection and inheritance of Chinese culture.
See also
References
- ^ [http://zjtz.zjol.com.cn/05zjtz/system/2005/12/09/006396250.shtml.
- ^ [于景祥：《金榜题名—清代科举述要》，辽海出版社1997年，引言第1页]《钦定大清会典事例》卷三四一.
- ^ [潘相《琉球入学见闻录》 王士禎《琉球入太學始末》
- ^ [http://www.zhsc.net/Item.aspx?id=4716
- ^ [http://www.zhsc.net/Item.aspx?id=4716《古诗选》、《唐诗选》《玉茗堂传奇》、《仙游录》、《梦游录》、《侠游录》
- ^ [http://www.chinabaike.com/article/1/78/445/2007/20070527115251.html.
- ^ [http://data.book.163.com/book/section/0000JdIG/0000JdIG1.html书窗梦笔：汪荣祖天南地北谈历史》.
- ^ 钱谦益《列朝诗传小集》丁集上载 沈德符《万历野获编》卷二六
- ^ Fubaotang Ji (负苞堂集), written by Zang Maoxun (臧懋循）, Classic Press (古典文学出版社)， 1958
- ^ Qianqingtang Bibliography (千顷堂书目), written by Huang Yuji (黄虞稷), Shanghai Ancient Books Press (上海古籍出版社)， 1990
- ^ 《说文》《尚书·舜典》骆鸿凯《文选学》蒋祖怡《骈文与散文》：“四六至南宋之末，菁华已竭。……元代骈文之作者，唯虞伯生一人，但其文往往落入俗调，既未能追迹六朝，又未能自成一家。”
- ^ 《臧懋循集》臧懋循 著 浙江古籍出版社I S B N ： 9787807158141
- ^ 《元曲选》（明）臧晋叔 编
- ^ 《Selected plays from the Yuan Dynasty》作者：臧懋循 译者:张光前 出版社：外文出版社ISBN：9787119038933