ChinaKnowledge.de -
An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History and Literature

Guiji sanfu 會稽三賦

Apr 3, 2012 © Ulrich Theobald

Guiji sanfu 會稽三賦 "Three rhapsodies on Guiji" is a collection of three prose-poems (fu 賦 "rhapsodies") about Guiji 會稽 (modern Shaoxing 紹興, Zhejiang) written during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Wang Shipeng 王十朋, courtesy name Guiling 龜齡.

Wang hailed from Leqing 樂清, Zhejiang, and was an academician in the Longtu Hall 龍圖閣. His posthumous name is Wenzhong 文忠公, and his collected writings are called Meixiji 梅溪集.

The 4- (or 3-) juan long book - depending on the edition - was finished in 1158, when Wang Shipeng was notary of the administrative assistant (qianpan 簽判) of the prefecture of Yuezhou 越州 (another name of Shaoxing). He imitated the famous "Rhapsodies of the Three Capitals" of the Three Empires 三國 (220~280 CE) (Sandufu 三都賦) by the Jin-period 晉 (265-420) poet Zuo Si 左思 (c. 250-305), Wei du fu 魏都賦, Shu du fu 蜀都賦 and Wu du fu 吳都賦, and wrote a rhapsody called Fengsu fu 風俗賦 describing landscape, local products, silkworm raising, fruits, animals and eminent persons of Shaoxing, a rhapsody called Minshitang fu 民事堂賦 describing the history of Guiji, and the rhapsody Penglaige fu 蓬萊閣賦 describing state officials in the city.

The Three Rhapsodies on Guiji
風俗賦 Fengsu fu Rhapsody on land and people
民事堂賦 Minshitang fu Rhapsody on the Hall of Official Affairs
蓬萊閣賦 Penglaige fu Rhapsody on the Hall of Paradise

The earliest surviving print dates from 1524, yet there is a facsimile of a Song-period print published in 1837, and a print from 1896 in the series Xiyinxuan congshu 惜陰軒叢書. The Guiji sanfu are also included in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and the modern collection Zhongguo fangzhi congshu 中國方志叢書.

Sources:
Wang Zhaoming 王兆明, Fu Langyun 傅朗雲, eds. (1991). Zhonghua gu wenxian da cidian 中華古文獻大辭典, Vol. Dili 地理 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), 140.
Zong Fan 踪凡, Fang Lixia 方利俠 (2014). "Guiji sanfu de zhuben he banben 《會稽三賦》的注本和版本", Shaoxing Wenli Xueyuan xuebao (Zhexue shehui kexue ban) 紹興文理學院學報(哲學社會科學), 2014 (7).