Tiaoxi yuyin conghua 苕溪漁隱叢話 and Tiaoxi yuyin cihua 苕溪漁隱詞話

Tiaoxi yuyin conghua 苕溪漁隱叢話 "Collected remarks on poetry from the Fisherman's Recluse upon Tiaoxi River", or Yuyin conghua 漁隱叢話 for short, was written during the early Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Hu Zi 胡仔 (1110-1170), courtesy name Yuanren 元任, style Tiaoxi Yuyin 苕溪漁隱, from Jixi 績溪 (in today's Anhui province). His father Hu Shunzhi 胡舜陟, courtesy name Ruming 汝明, style Sanshan Laoren 三山老人, was edict attendant (daizhi 待制) of the Hall of Exemplary Strategies (Huiyouge 徽猷閣) and military commissioner (jinglüe 經略) of Guangxi 廣西, but he was persecuted for political reasons and died in jail. Hu Zi inherited the post of Gentleman for Meritorious Achievements (digonglang 迪功郎) and was later transport commissioner (zhuanyushi 轉運使) of Liang-Zhe 兩浙, Court Gentleman Consultant (fengyilang 奉議郎), and district magistrate of Jinling 晉陵.

The book is divided into a first collection (Qianji 前集) of 60 juan and finished in 1148, and a second collection (Houji 後集) of 40 juan, completed in 1167. It was compiled under the influence of Ruan Yue's 阮閱 (jinshi degree 1085) Shihua zonggui 詩話總龜, completed in 1123. At that time, the New Policy faction (xindang 新黨) was in power and had banned writings by members of the Old Party (jiudang 舊黨); therefore, Ruan Yue did not include any poetic discussions from the Old Party. To make up for this deficiency, Hu Zi selected the poetic remarks of various eminent men from the Yuanyou reign-period 元祐 (1086-1094) onward, as well as factual accounts found in histories and anecdotes that could elucidate poetic lines or broaden one's knowledge, and compiled them into a single collection.

According to the descriptive book catalogue Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要, the two works complement each other, and together, they provide a fairly complete record of poetic remarks before the Northern Song. The Shihua zonggui classifies its content by subject matter and establishes numerous categories, making its structure rather complex and cluttered. In contrast, Hu's Conghua arranges material primarily by author and in chronological order, appending minor anecdotes and quotations in categorised supplements. Its structure is rigorous and clearly organised, facilitating reference and consultation — thereby advancing the editorial form of shihua 詩話 (poetic remarks) one step further.

Moreover, the Shihua zonggui emphasizes the collection and classification of materials, objectively recording the original texts without analysis or evaluation. As a result, it falls into the fault of merely accumulating data, offering little sense of the compiler's own perspective. In contrast, the Yuyin conghua applies careful selection to the materials it includes, appending editorial notes and critical commentary to articulate the compiler's own views.

In addition, Hu Zi frequently cites the sayings of the his father (Sanshan Laoren 三山老人) to comment on certain poets or works. Therefore, the comment of Hu father and son could each stand alone as independent works, representing distinctive critical perspectives in their own right. Soon afterwards, Ji Yougong 計有功 (jinshi degree 1121) compiled the Tangshi jishi 唐詩紀事, and You Mao 尤袤 (1127-1194) the Quantang shihua 全唐詩話. Both texts inherited this method of classification by author.

Hu Zi regards Du Fu 杜甫 (712-770) as the ancestral master of poetic tradition and places Li Bai 李白 (701-762), Du Fu, Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037-1101), and Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅 (1045-1105) side by side, believing that these four people brought the art of poetry to its full perfection. The work devotes thirteen juan to the collection and commentary on Du Fu's poetry, and fourteen juan to Su Shi's, together more than one-quarter of the entire book.

The Yuyin conghua advocates innovation and opposes imitation and mechanical following of precedent. It engages in careful study and analysis of earlier works, pointing out both their merits and their flaws in concrete terms. Thus, it serves as a valuable guide for both poetic appreciation and learning.

The Yuan-period 元 (1279-1368) scholar Fang Hui 方回 (1227-1305), in his Tiaoxi yuyin conghua kao 苕溪漁隱叢話考, attests to the book's wide and lasting influence.

Nevertheless, Hu Zi's book shows certain limitations. It disparages the use of plain and colloquial language, denigrating poets such as Bai Juyi 白居易 (772-846), and includes some superstitious or apocryphal discussions or "prophetic interpretations" of poems.

The Yuyin conghua is found in the series Haishanxianguan congshu 海山仙館叢書 and Sibu beiyao 四部備要. In 1962, the Renmin Wenxue Press 人民文學出版社 published a modern edition annotated by Liao Deming 廖德明.

Tiaoxi yuyin cihua 苕溪漁隱詞話

An excerpt of the Conghua, called Tiaoxi yuyin cihua 苕溪漁隱詞話, consists of juan 59 (Qianji) and juan 39 (Houji). The selection of these two fascicles was made by Tang Guizhang 唐圭璋 (1901-1990), compiler of the collection Cihua congbian 詞話叢編. In the original, Hu Zi characterises the type of works he speaks of as yuefu 樂府, a term used during that time for separately circulating poetry critique.

The excerpt mainly records the sources and background stories of lyric-metry poetry (ci 詞), as well as anecdotes about lyric poets, occasionally including scattered remarks on the artistic quality of certain lyrics. In his commentary, Hu Zi frequently corrects accounts found in the now-lost work Gujin cihua 古今詞話 by Yang Ti 楊湜 (fl. 1260). Part of this text can thus be reconstructed on the base of Hu's citations. In addition, Hu Zi's Cihua also quotes materials from such works as Fuzhai manlu 復齋漫錄, Xuelangzhai riji 雪浪齋日記 and Mansou shihua 漫叟詩話, Yang Hui's 楊繪 (1027-1088) Shixian benshi quzi ji 時賢本事曲子集, Chao Wujiu's 晁無咎 (Cao Buzhi 晁補之, 1053-1110) Pingebn chaoyue zhang 評本朝樂章 and Li Qingzhao's 李清照 (1084-1155) Cilun 詞論, which are also otherwise lost.

Overall, Hu Zi's Cihua constitutes a valuable source for the study of Song-period poetry of the ci type.