Annotation, Collation And Research On Yang Shen’s Sheng An Ji

Yang Shen was a famous scholar and litterateur as well as a specialist in textology in the Ming Dynasty. He was good at writing poetry, articles, lyrics and Sanqu poem. Yang was born in a family of etiquette, exposed to all aspects of culture at his early age. At the age of24, Yang made the first in royal examinations and was granted Imperial Academy Editor. When Yang was about to fame on his official career, he was banished to Yongchang, Yunnan for infuriating the emperor in Da-Li-Yi.During the period of Yunnan, Yang spent plenty of time on writing, due to the protection of Mu Family and the tolerance of local officials. According to Sheng An’s Chronicle, written by Jian Shaofang, Yang’s friend in Yunnan, the number of Yang’s writings amounted to more than four hundred. But many of them had been lost, with about100remained in the Ming and Qing bibliographies. According to modern scholars’ sorting and statistics, over two hundred of Yang’s writings exist.Sheng An Ji covered a collection of Yang’s articles, poems and other kinds of miscellaneous compositions, and it generated a few different versions in the process of spreading:In the year of Jiajing thirty-five of Ming Dynasty, the block-printed edition made by Song Shaoyu in Luzhou commenced the publication of Yang’s poetry collection, followed by another block-printed edition made by Zhou Fujun in Jiajing forty-three, which had supplemented more than fifty lost articles and was of high value in edition. The manuscripts of these three block-printed editions were all from Yang himself. Despite they couldn’t be counted as real collections of Yang’s complete writings, they provided important reference basis for the publication of Sheng An Wen Ji, eighty-one volumes, in the period of Wanli.There were four editions of Sheng An Wen Ji in Wanli, seperately made by Cai Ruxian in the year of Wanli ten, Zhuang Cheng in Wanli twenty-four, Wang and Xiao in Wanli twenty-nine, and Chen Dake as well. Those four editions were all originated in the edition made by Song Ruxian, so they belonged to the same system. After Sheng An Ji of eighty-one volumes being printed many times, Bu Shichang printed the book Collection of Sheng An and Taishi Yang, which aimed to keep up Yang’s single edition and to supplement the previous collection.The compilation and printing of Sheng An Ji in the Qing Dynasty were on the basis of the edition made by Chen Dake. Some of them brought Sheng An Quan Ji, Sheng An Wai Ji, Sheng An Yi Ji together before printing. Through the textual research of the origin and development of Sheng An Ji’s edition, it was found that Sheng An Ji extended to two hundred and forty volumes from twenty volumes in the beginning, which showed its lasting charm.Yang’s literary achievements were manifold. In terms of his Sheng An Ji, his literary achievements could be divided into six aspects:1. Yang argued that the beauty of poems came from emotion, so Yang’s articles were also filled with sincere. Yang was famous for his knowledgeable, and his articles were brilliant, eloquent and mixed with extual research from time to time. What’s more, Yang’s articles had different styles according to different genres, breaking the rules of each genre, and wrote with his feelings.2.Yang’s poetry could be divided into two phases, taking exiling as the separatrix. Earlier poetry emphasized dual and rhyme. Later ones were sincere, diversified, realistic and thoughtful.3.Yang’s poetics discussed the nature of poetry from the origin of poetry Book of Songs. He believed that lyricism was the essence of poetry. Yang’s poetry inherited the style of the Six Dynasties, praising the aesthetic view of beautiful and elegant poetry. Yang spoke highly of Li Bai and Du Fu, and concerned about the literary world at that time. He made a comprehensive analysis about schools of Chen Zhuang poetry and the Former Seven represented by Li Mengyang and He Jingming.4. Yang advocated practical research methods, and adhered to the principle of broadcom. He not only carried out the interpretation of Confucian classics by correcting words and making the sound and meaning clear, but also certified for Hundred Schools of Thought, poetries, epigaphy, geography, history, animals and plants, etc, leading a new style of study in mid and late Ming Dynasty.5.Yang formed his own philosophy based on his criticism of the philosophers in Song and Ming dynasty. He was influenced by Luo Qinshun and Wang Tingxiang’s theory of qi, and formed a simple materialism philosophy. In addition, Yang also advocated "temperament theory", practical learning, and textual research, against the empty talk. Yang’s philosophy not only has a sobering effect on academic and thought circle at that time, but also promoted later Ming and Qing Dynasty’s anti-reasoning-study.In addition, Yang also made remarkable achievements in phonology, research on the book of songs, history, theory of Buddhism and calligraphy, etc. He could use various literary genre freely, elegant or vulgar, poetry or passage, occupying important status in the history of literature in the Ming Dynasty.