Wenxuan 文選

Wenxuan 文選 "Selected literature" is a literary anthology compiled during the Liang period 梁 (502-557) by Xiao Tong 蕭統 (501-531), Prince Zhaoming 昭明太子. The book is therefore also called Zhaoming Wenxuan 昭明文選.

Background

The Liang period was a time when literature flourished. This peak had been prepared since the Jian'an reign-period 建安 (196-219) of the late Han era 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE). For the following two centuries, writers refined literary styles and developed new genres. The amount of literature produced between the 3rd and 6th centuries was immense. During the Sui period 隋 (581-618), the imperial library (see the bibliography Jingji zhi 經籍志) included no fewer than 249 collections, totalling 5,224 juan. There were also early attempts to think about literary theory during the Liu-Song period 劉宋 (420-479), when scholars of the state-sponsored faculties of Confucianism, Daoism, literature, historiography, and mantic arts sought to standardise writings in their respective disciplines. During the Jin period 晉 (265-420), literary anthologies such as Wenzhang liubie ji 文章流别集 by Zhi Yu 摯虞 (d. 311) and Hanlinlun 翰林論 by Li Chong 李充 (c. 400) appeared. The renowned writer Liu Yiqing 劉義慶 (403-444) compiled the literary anthology Jilin 集林. Sadly, all three works are lost. Xiao Tong's Wenxuan is the oldest surviving anthology of fine literature.

Compilation process

Xiao Tong assembled many outstanding writers at his court, with whom he regularly discussed literary theory and the ideal forms of writing. He possessed an extensive library of nearly 30,000 juan. The Prince himself was also a passionate writer, and his collected writings amount to 20 juan, excluding his commentaries and prefaces to other texts, which together comprise 10 fascicles. His anthology of five-syllable poems, for example, is a book of 20 (or 19) juan called Wenzhang yinghua 文章英華 (also known as Gujin shiyuan yinghua 古今詩苑英華). The anthology Wenxuan measures 30 juan. It is possible that Wenzhang yinghua or Gujin shiyuan yinghua were simply alternative titles of the Wenxuan (or a draft of it), as otherwise there is no record of these books, and they were "lost" before the Sui period. Xiao Tong was undoubtedly not the sole compiler of the Wenxuan. It must be assumed that he selected the texts together with his assistants, among whom are individuals also renowned for commenting on literary works, such as Liu Xiaochuo 劉孝綽 (d. 539), Wang Yun 王筠 (fl. 531), Yin Yun 殷芸 (471-529), Lu Chui 陸倕 (470-526), Dao Qia 到洽 (477–527), or Liu Xie 劉勰 (c. 465–?), author of the literary critique Wenxin diaolong 文心雕龍.

Content

In 30 juan, the Wenxuan includes 514 writings by 130 authors from the earliest times up to the very early Liang period. The writings are organised into 38 genres, beginning with rhapsodies (fu 賦) and the highly esteemed genres of regular poems (shi 詩), then progressing to many categories of "miscellaneous writings" (zawen 雜文; a more common term would be sanwen 散文, meaning "prose"). Below the level of genres or sub-genres, the writings are arranged in chronological order. Poems and rhapsodies constitute the most significant part of the book. Because of their volume, the rhapsodies are divided into 15 sub-categories, referring to places (the capital, palaces) or imperial activities such as offering, hunting, ploughing, etc. The numerous regular poems are also subdivided into 23 groups. The literary categories within the Wenxuan are very detailed, and their development provides a comprehensive new perspective on how belles-lettres could be categorised in various types of writings, a task never undertaken before.

Xiao Tong and his team only selected literary works. They did not include any parts from the Confucian Classics, historiographical texts, or writings from the renowned Warring-States-period 戰國 (5th century-221 BCE) philosophers. However, literary comments on such books (zanlun 贊論) were incorporated into the Wenxuan. The criteria thus focused on literary beauty, elegant wording, well-structured sentences, and overall harmony. Later scholars frequently criticised Xiao Tong for including obscure poems by Tao Yuanming 陶淵明 (c. 365-427) or less critical pieces like Gushi shijiu shou 古詩十九首, while omitting other, more significant works. Some of the included works have subsequently been revealed as forgeries, such as Li Ling's 李陵 (d. 74 BCE) Da Su Wu shu 答蘇武書 or Kong Anguo's 孔安國 (2nd century BCE) Shangshu xu 尚書序.

Some paragraphs entitled as "preface" (xu 序) are not true prefaces, such as Emperor Emperor Han Wudi's 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BCE) Qiufeng ci 秋風辭, and some titles are unrelated to the content, like Liu Jun's 劉峻 (463—521) Chong da Liu Moling zhao shu 重答劉秣陵詔書. There are also numerous clerical errors in the transmitted text of Wenxuan.

Influence

Despite these shortcomings, the Wenxuan is a pioneering book for the study of literary genres in the field of belles-lettres. The study of the Wenxuan even evolved into its own discipline (wenxuanxue 文選學). The significant development of the regular poem during the Tang period 唐 (618-907) cannot be understood without the important study of Xiao Tong in this area. The ability to compose poems became part of the state examinations, and this must be attributed to the importance Xiao Tong placed on this type of literature. A well-educated scholar had to study the Wenxuan.

Commentaries

Scholars also commented on the Wenxuan. Of the approximately 90 commentaries from the Sui and Tang periods, only a few have survived. The oldest commentary was written by Xiao Gai 蕭該 (c. 535-c. 610) during the Sui period, called Wenxuan yinyi 文選音義. A phonetic commentary with the same title was written during the early Tang by Cao Xian 曹憲 (541-645). Both are lost. The oldest surviving – and most famous – commentary is Li Shan's 李善 (630-689) Wenxuan zhu 文選注. In many modern editions, this commentary is integrated into the main text of the Wenxuan. Li Shan's commentary is of exceptional quality. Li used more than 1,700 books to revise and clarify the difficult texts of the writings included in the Wenxuan. The Wenxuan zhu was submitted to the throne in 658. Generally, Li's text is more a critical commentary than an explanation of the literary works. It utilises and quotes from numerous older commentaries on the particular writings, such as Xue Zong's 薛綜 (208-243) commentary on the rhapsody Erjing fu 二京賦 by Zhang Heng 張衡 (78-139), or Wang Yi's 王逸 (c. 110 CE) commentary on Qu Yuan's 屈原 (c. 343-c. 278 BCE) elegies. Another of Li Shan's works on the Wenxuan, the Wenxuan bianhuo 文選辨惑, is lost.

Another significant Tang period commentary on the Wenxuan is the Wuchen zhu Wenxuan 五臣注文選 "Commentaries of the Five Masters", dating from 718. It is a composite edition comprising commentaries by five individuals: Lü Yanji 呂延濟, Liu Liang 劉良, Zhang Xi 張銑, Lü Xiang 呂向, and Li Zhouhan 李周翰. This commentary is generally considered to be of lesser quality compared to Li Shan's commentary. During the Song period 宋 (960-1279), the five commentaries, along with Li Shan's, were compiled into Liuchen zhu 六臣注. Subsequently, later scholars extracted Li Shan's commentary separately, and most modern editions of Li Shan's work are based on these extractions. There is also another Tang-period commentary authored by an anonymous master, the Wenxuan jizhu 文選集注, which survives only in a fragment of 23 juan. This fragment quotes from the other commentaries as well as from the notes of Lu Shanjing 陸善經 and from the works Wenxuan chao 文選鈔 and Wenxuan yinjue 文選音決, both of which are now lost.

During the Song period, the study of the Wenxuan declined. There were, nonetheless, a few specialised research tools written, such as Wenxuan shuangzi leiyao 文選雙字類要 or Wenxuan leilin 文選類林. Some studies can also be found scattered in various Song-period essays.

The Song-period encyclopaedia Wenyuan yinghua 文苑英華 is often regarded as a continuation of the Wenxuan. It is organised in a similar style and largely follows the literary categories of the Wenxuan.

There is the Yuan-period 元 (1279-1368) commentary Xuanshi buzhu 選詩補注 written by Liu Lü 劉履 and the Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) book Wenxuan zuanzhu 文選纂注 by Zhang Fengyi 張鳳翼 (1527-1613). The wave of textual critique developing during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) also embraced the Wenxuan studies, and a few books from that time have to be mentioned: Wang Shihan's 汪師韓 (1707-1780) Wenxuan lixue quanyu 文選理學權輿, Sun Zhizu's 孫志祖 (1737-1801) Wenxuan lixue quanyu bu 文選理學權輿補, Hu Kejia's 胡克家 (1757-1816) Wenxuan kaoyi 文選考異, Zhang Yun'ao's 張雲璈 (1747-1829) Xuanxue jiaoyan 選學胶言, Liang Zhangju's 梁章鉅 (1775-1849) Wenxuan pangzheng 文選旁證, Zhu Jian's 朱珔 (1769-1850) Wenxuan jishi 文選集釋, Hu Shaoying's 胡紹瑛 (1791-1860) Wenxuan jianzheng 文選箋證, Xu Xunxing's (fl. 1793) 許巽行 Wenxuan biji 文選筆記, He Zhuo's 何焯 (1661-1722) Yimen du shuji 義門讀書記, Yu Guanghua's 于光華 (fl. 1781) Wenxuan jiping 文選集評, Gao Buying's 高步瀛 (1873-1940) Wenxuan Li zhu yishu 文選李注義疏 and Luo Hongkai's 駱鸿凱 (1892-1955) Wenxuanxue 文選學.

Versions and editions

The oldest surviving versions of the Wenxuan are the above-mentioned Wenxuan jizhu from the Tang period, a plain text (without commentaries) from the Tang period, a version including Li Shan's commentary, and a phonetic commentary, Wenxuan yin 文選音. All have survived as fragments discovered in Dunhuang 敦煌. Part of these fragments is included in the collections Mingshashishi guji congcan 鳴沙石室古籍叢殘 and Dunhuang miji liuzhen xinbian 敦煌秘籍留真新編. The oldest print of the Wenxuan was produced during the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126). It is surviving as a facsimile edition in the series Sibu congkan 四部叢刊, including the six commentaries. The Zhonghua Shuju Press 中華書局 has published a reprint of an edition from 1181 produced by You Mao 尤袤 (1127-1194), including Li Shan's commentary. The most common version is the Qing-period print by Hu Kejia, based on You Mao's edition from the Song era. It was republished in 1977 by the Zhonghua Shuju Press, enriched by a short critical study at the end.

Supplements and sequels

The first sequel to the Wenxuan, called Wenxuan buyi 文選補遺 or Bu wenxuan 補文選, was compiled by Chen Renzi 陳仁子 (fl. 1279). The preface, written by Zhao Wen 趙文, states that some types of texts found in the Wenxuan were not appropriate because of several political and philosophical reasons, namely Sima Changqing's 司馬長卿 (Sima Xiangru 司馬相如, c. 179-117 BCE) Fengshan wen 封禪文 on the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, and Pan Yuanmao's 潘元茂 (Pan Xun 潘勖, d. 215）Ce Wei Gong jiuxi wen 冊魏公九錫文 on the bestowal of the nine privileges to the warlord Cao Cao 曹操 (155-220). Zhao also criticised that Prince Zhaoming had shortened Zhuge Liang's important memorial [Hou] chushi biao [後]出師表. Zhao was also amazed that of the famous Nine Songs (Jiuge 九歌) of the Southern Elegies (Chuci 楚辭), only the text Shejiang 涉江 was accepted. He was furthermore critical of Prince Zhaoming’s concept of the genre "Treatises from the histories" (shilun 史論), which should also extend to writings of the eminent historiographer Sima Qian 司馬遷 (c. 145-86 BCE).

The anthology of 40 juan length thus includes Sima Tan’s 司馬談 (190-110 BCE) Liujia yaozhi 六家要旨 and Lu Zhonglian yi Yan jiang shu 魯仲連遺燕將書, Liu Bang's 劉邦 (i.e., Han Gaozu 漢高祖, r. 206-195 BCE) Honghu ge 鴻鵠歌, Yang Xiong’s 揚雄 (53 BCE-18 CE) Fan Lisao 反離騷, Cai Yan’s 蔡琰 (177-249) Hujia shiba pai 胡笳十八拍 and the southern song Li Yannian ge 李延年歌.

There exist several prints, namely the Dongshan Shuyuan 東山書院 edition, a print from 1737, the version in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, and a print from Hunan from 1826.

During the Ming period, several supplements to Prince Zhaoming’s Wenxuan were compiled. The oldest is Liu Jie’s 劉節 (fl. 1520) Guang wenxuan 廣文選. However, the authorship of Liu Jie cannot be substantiated for several reasons. The preface (xu 序) speaks of a different size than the real book (60 juan), and might thus belong to a different collection. Moreover, the afterword (ba 跋), written by Chen Hui 陳蕙 (jinshi degree 1529), criticises the "old version" (jiu ben 舊本) of Liu Jie because of its many flaws, and states that Wang Zisong 王子松, Lin Bi 林璧, Zeng Chen 曾辰, and Li Shiyong 李世用 revised this edition, eliminated some texts and added some others. It must thus be assumed that the Guang wenxuan was in fact edited by Chen Hui. Yet even after some revisions of Chen's team, the text still includes many clerical errors and mistakes in the attribution of genres.

Around 1600, Zhou Yingzhi 周應治 (1556-1621) compiled a further supplement, Guangguang wenxuan 廣廣文選, with a length of 33 juan.

A non-commentary supplement is Tang Shaozu’s 湯紹祖 (fl. 1602) Xu wenxuan 續文選 from 1602. The book of 32 juan length assembles from the Tang period, and – strangely enough – the Ming period. Among the latter, most texts were written by the so-called "Later Seven Masters" (Houqizi 後七子), except for Liu Ji 劉基 (1311-1375) and Gao Qi 高啟 (1336-1373). The sub-categories of rhapsodies are fewer than in the original Wenxuan. The sections capital cities, suburban sacrifices, and ceremonial ploughing are not used, and the sub-category on Rivers and the Sea (Jianghai 江海) is changed to contain texts on "Mountains and the sea" (Shanhai 山海). Quite surprising is the categorisation of Lu Nanshou's 盧楠壽 rhapsody Chenggao wang fu 成皋王賦 as a "mind-text" (zhi 志), and of Xu Zhenqing’s 徐禎卿 (1479-1511) Fanfan Lisao 反反離騷 as a "treatise" (lunwen 論文).

Sun Kuang 孫礦 (1542-1613) edited a "modern" Jin wenxuan 今文選 with 12 fascicles. The last five fascicles are actually a supplement to the first seven, and therefore bear the headline Xuxuan 續選. The anthology only includes texts of Ming-period writers.

Another "modern" collection was edited during the early Qing period by Chen Weisong 陳維崧 (1625-1682) and Pan Mei 潘眉 (fl. 1692). Even if the book has just a length of 8 juan, it includes several prefaces and a guideline (fanli 凡例) summing up the principles of the compilation. The anthology consists of writings of 75 people, many of whom had experienced difficulties and disasters ("martyrs", zhonglie 忠烈) in the last decades of the Ming period, like Xia Yunyi 夏允彝 (1596-1645), Chen Zilong 陳子龍 (1608-1647), Jiang Dingrui 江鼎瑞 (d. 1644), Zhao Erbian 趙而汴 (d. 1570), Wu Yingji 吳應箕 (1594-1645) or Zhou Lianggong 周亮工 (1612-1672). Chen's anthology, therefore, has historiographical value. It was printed around 1648.

Lei Jin 雷瑨 (1871-1941) edited another supplement called Xu wenxuan 續文選 with a length of 20 fascicles. It was published in 1919 by the Shanghai Zhonghua Tushuguan 上海中華圖書館 as a lithographical print. This anthology includes writings from the Liang to the Ming period. It attempts to rectify errors in Chen Renzi’s Wenxuan buyi from the very late Song period. It adds commentaries on texts included in Tang Shaozu’s Xu wenxuan from the Ming period, a book that only presents original texts without comments. The texts selected by Lei Jin differ in a few points from other sources of transmission.