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Yuan Mei

January 06, 2023

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yuan.

Yuan Mei (Chinese: 袁枚; pinyin: Yuán Méi; 1716–1797) was a Chinese painter and poet of the Qing Dynasty. He was often mentioned with Ji Yun as the "Nan Yuan Bei Ji" (Chinese: 南袁北紀; pinyin: nányuán běijì; lit. 'Yuan of the south and Ji of the north').[1]

Yuan Mei
袁枚
Yuan Mei　Portrait by Luo Ping
Born(1716-03-25)March 25, 1716
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
DiedJanuary 3, 1798(1798-01-03) (aged 81)
Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Educationjinshi degree
Occupation(s)Painter, poet
Notable workSuiyuan shihua
Suiyuan Shidan
RelativesYuan Ji (sister)
Chinese name
Chinese袁枚
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYuán Méi
Zicai
Chinese子才
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZǐcaí
Jianzhai
Traditional Chinese簡齋
Simplified Chinese简斋
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinJiǎnzhaī
Cangshan Jushi
Traditional Chinese倉山居士
Simplified Chinese仓山居士
Literal meaningMount Cang Householder
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinCāngshān Jūshì
Suiyuan Zhuren
Traditional Chinese隨園主人
Simplified Chinese随园主人
Literal meaningOwner of Sui Garden
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSuíyuán Zhǔrén
Suiyuan Laoren
Traditional Chinese隨園老人
Simplified Chinese随园老人
Literal meaningOld Man of Sui Garden
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSuíyuán Lăorén

Biography

Early life

Yuan Mei was born in Qiantang (錢塘, in modern Hangzhou), Zhejiang province, to a cultured family who had never before attained high office. He achieved the degree of jinshi in 1739 at the young age of 23 and was immediately appointed to the Hanlin Academy (翰林院). Then, from 1742 to 1748, Yuan Mei served as a magistrate in four different provinces in Jiangsu. However, in 1748, shortly after being assigned to administer part of Nanjing, he resigned his post and returned to his hometown to pursue his literary interest.[2]

Literary career

In the decades before his death, Yuan Mei produced a large body of poetry, essays and paintings. His works reflected his interest in Chan Buddhism and the supernatural, at the expense of Daoism and institutional Buddhism - both of which he rejected. Yuan is most famous for his poetry, which has been described as possessing "unusually clear and elegant language". His views on poetry as expressed in the Suíyuán Shīhuà (隨園詩話) stressed the importance of personal feeling and technical perfection. In his later years, Yuan Mei came to be called "Mister Suiyuan" (Chinese: 隨園先生; pinyin: suíyuán xiānsheng). Among his other collected works are treatises on passing the imperial examinations and food.

Throughout his lifetime, Yuan Mei travelled extensively throughout southern China, visiting Huangshan, Guilin, Tiantai, Wuyi and other famous mountains. On some of those visits, Yuan kept journal entries, representative of which is the You Guilin zhu shan ji ("Record of tours of the mountains of Guilin"). He also accepted students. Since he admired women's poetry, he also took several female students and helped them publish their work under their own names.

Beliefs and women's literacy

Yuan was opposed to the strict moral and aesthetic norms of his day and valued creativity and self-expression. He advocated for women's literacy. Yuan was both famed and criticized for his Sui Garden where women would gather to compose and recite poetry. Two of Yuan's sisters enjoyed praise for their literary talent.[3]

Wonder tales

Main article: What the Master Would Not Discuss

His anthology of supernatural tales, the Zi buyu (子不語; 'Middle Kingdom' lit. "What the Master does not Speak of",[4] i.e., "Censored by Confucius" was first published 1788, and later retitled Xin Qi xie (新齊諧; "New wonder tales from Qi").[5] It contained some 747 tales,[6] followed by a sequel anthology.[6][7]

The work is classified under the biji fiction genre), but they are anecdotes collected over many years, purporting to be actual events recorded by the author.[8]

Gastronomic work

Main article: Suiyuan shidan

The food writer Fuchsia Dunlop has described Yuan as "China’s Brillat-Savarin," [9] and Endymion Wilkinson called him one of the four classical gastronomes.[10] In a time when the taste among his contemporaries was for opulence and exotic display, Yuan stood for the "orthodox" style. "Nowadays," he wrote, "at the start of the feast the menu is about a hundred feet long". This is "mere display, not gastronomy". After one such dinner Yuan returned home and cooked congee to appease his hunger. He instructed cooks "do not fuss with the natural state of the food just to show that you are a clever cook. Bird's nest is beautiful -- why shape it into balls?" Yuan criticized his contemporary Li Liweng's magnolia pudding as "created by artifice". Yuan also resented what he regarded as the corruption of Chinese food by Manchu cooks. The appeal of Manchu cooking was in their stews and roasts, while Chinese cooked broths and soups, but when Manchus serve Chinese dinners and Chinese serve Manchu food, "we lose our originality" and we "toady to each other".[11]

Yuan published his recipes and thoughts on cooking in his 1792 gastronomic manual and cookbook The Way of Eating.[12][13] A complete and annotated translation was published in 2019.[14]

Editions and translations

  • Yuan Mei, Yingzhong Wang and Yingzhi Wang, eds. 随园食单 (Sui Yuan Shi Dan). Nanjing: Feng huang chubanshe, 2006. ISBN 978-7-80643-493-2.
translations
  • Yuan, Mei (2017), Campbell, Duncan (ed.), translated by Campbell, Duncan, "Yuan Mei's Garden of Accommodation", China Heritage Annual, Wairarapa Valley, New Zealand
  • —— (2019). The Way of Eating: Yuan Meí's Manual of Gastronomy. Translated by Chen, Sean Jy-Shyang. Introduction by Nicole Mones. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire. ISBN 9781614728276.
  • Yüan, Mei (1996). Censored by Confucius: Ghost Stories by Yuan Mei. Translated by Kam, Louie; Edwards, Louise P. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 1563246805.
  • Yuan, Mei (2003), Harmony Garden: The Life, Criticism, and Poetry of Yuan Mei, translated by Schmidt, J. D., Routledge, ISBN 1138863416
  • —— (1997), I Don't Bow to Buddhas: Selected Poems of Yuan Mei, translated by Seaton, J.P., Port Townsend: Copper Canyon Press, ISBN 1-55659-120-9

Further reading

References

Citations
  1. ^ 26岁官至正处级，33岁辞职做网红，这个清朝吃货不简单. apdnews.com (in Chinese). 2017-09-26.
  2. ^ Nienhauser, William H. (1985). The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature. Indiana University Press. pp. 956–957. ISBN 978-0-253-32983-7.
  3. ^ Dillon, Michael, ed. (1998). China: A Cultural and Historical Dictionary. London: Curzon Press. pp. 374. ISBN 0-7007-0439-6.
  4. ^ Thomé (2008).
  5. ^ Kam & Edwards trr. (1996), p. xxiii and note 1
  6. ^ a b Kam & Edwards trr. (1996), p. xxxiii.
  7. ^ Kam & Edwards trr. (2016) [1996], "Introduction", and notes 1–13
  8. ^ Kam & Edwards trr. (1996), p. xxviii.
  9. ^ Dunlop, Fuchsia (November 24, 2008). "Garden of Contentment". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  10. ^ Endymion Wilkinson, Chinese History: A Manual (Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press, Rev. and enl., 2000): 634. The other three are Su Shi (1037-1101), Ni Zan (1301-74), and Xu Wei (1521-93).
  11. ^ Hsiang-Ju Lin and Tsuifeng Lin. Chinese Gastronomy. New York: Hastings House, 1969), 44-45, 47.
  12. ^ Portions translated in Arthur Waley, Yuan Mei, Eighteenth Century Chinese Poet (London: Allen & Unwin, 1956):196 ff and Lin, Chinese Gastronomy, 45-48.
  13. ^ Translating the Suiyuan Shidan
  14. ^ Chen tr. (2019).
Bibliography
  • Thomé, Jennifer (2008). Jenny Hanivers, Dragons and Basilisks in the Old Natural History Books and in Modern Times (M.A.). Arizona State University.

External links

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Yuan Mei.

January 06, 2023
yuan, this, chinese, name, family, name, yuan, chinese, 袁枚, pinyin, yuán, méi, 1716, 1797, chinese, painter, poet, qing, dynasty, often, mentioned, with, yuan, chinese, 南袁北紀, pinyin, nányuán, běijì, yuan, south, north, 袁枚, portrait, pingborn, 1716, march, 1716. In this Chinese name the family name is Yuan Yuan Mei Chinese 袁枚 pinyin Yuan Mei 1716 1797 was a Chinese painter and poet of the Qing Dynasty He was often mentioned with Ji Yun as the Nan Yuan Bei Ji Chinese 南袁北紀 pinyin nanyuan beiji lit Yuan of the south and Ji of the north 1 Yuan Mei袁枚Yuan Mei Portrait by Luo PingBorn 1716 03 25 March 25 1716Hangzhou Zhejiang ChinaDiedJanuary 3 1798 1798 01 03 aged 81 Nanjing Jiangsu ChinaEducationjinshi degreeOccupation s Painter poetNotable workSuiyuan shihuaSuiyuan ShidanRelativesYuan Ji sister Chinese nameChinese袁枚TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinYuan MeiZicaiChinese子才TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinZǐcaiJianzhaiTraditional Chinese簡齋Simplified Chinese简斋TranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinJiǎnzhaiCangshan JushiTraditional Chinese倉山居士Simplified Chinese仓山居士Literal meaningMount Cang HouseholderTranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinCangshan JushiSuiyuan ZhurenTraditional Chinese隨園主人Simplified Chinese随园主人Literal meaningOwner of Sui GardenTranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinSuiyuan ZhǔrenSuiyuan LaorenTraditional Chinese隨園老人Simplified Chinese随园老人Literal meaningOld Man of Sui GardenTranscriptionsStandard MandarinHanyu PinyinSuiyuan Lăoren Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life 1 2 Literary career 1 3 Beliefs and women s literacy 2 Wonder tales 3 Gastronomic work 4 Editions and translations 5 Further reading 6 References 7 External linksBiography EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Yuan Mei news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Early life Edit Yuan Mei was born in Qiantang 錢塘 in modern Hangzhou Zhejiang province to a cultured family who had never before attained high office He achieved the degree of jinshi in 1739 at the young age of 23 and was immediately appointed to the Hanlin Academy 翰林院 Then from 1742 to 1748 Yuan Mei served as a magistrate in four different provinces in Jiangsu However in 1748 shortly after being assigned to administer part of Nanjing he resigned his post and returned to his hometown to pursue his literary interest 2 Literary career Edit In the decades before his death Yuan Mei produced a large body of poetry essays and paintings His works reflected his interest in Chan Buddhism and the supernatural at the expense of Daoism and institutional Buddhism both of which he rejected Yuan is most famous for his poetry which has been described as possessing unusually clear and elegant language His views on poetry as expressed in the Suiyuan Shihua 隨園詩話 stressed the importance of personal feeling and technical perfection In his later years Yuan Mei came to be called Mister Suiyuan Chinese 隨園先生 pinyin suiyuan xiansheng Among his other collected works are treatises on passing the imperial examinations and food Throughout his lifetime Yuan Mei travelled extensively throughout southern China visiting Huangshan Guilin Tiantai Wuyi and other famous mountains On some of those visits Yuan kept journal entries representative of which is the You Guilin zhu shan ji Record of tours of the mountains of Guilin He also accepted students Since he admired women s poetry he also took several female students and helped them publish their work under their own names Beliefs and women s literacy Edit Yuan was opposed to the strict moral and aesthetic norms of his day and valued creativity and self expression He advocated for women s literacy Yuan was both famed and criticized for his Sui Garden where women would gather to compose and recite poetry Two of Yuan s sisters enjoyed praise for their literary talent 3 Wonder tales EditMain article What the Master Would Not Discuss His anthology of supernatural tales the Zi buyu 子不語 Middle Kingdom lit What the Master does not Speak of 4 i e Censored by Confucius was first published 1788 and later retitled Xin Qi xie 新齊諧 New wonder tales from Qi 5 It contained some 747 tales 6 followed by a sequel anthology 6 7 The work is classified under the biji fiction genre but they are anecdotes collected over many years purporting to be actual events recorded by the author 8 Gastronomic work EditMain article Suiyuan shidan The food writer Fuchsia Dunlop has described Yuan as China s Brillat Savarin 9 and Endymion Wilkinson called him one of the four classical gastronomes 10 In a time when the taste among his contemporaries was for opulence and exotic display Yuan stood for the orthodox style Nowadays he wrote at the start of the feast the menu is about a hundred feet long This is mere display not gastronomy After one such dinner Yuan returned home and cooked congee to appease his hunger He instructed cooks do not fuss with the natural state of the food just to show that you are a clever cook Bird s nest is beautiful why shape it into balls Yuan criticized his contemporary Li Liweng s magnolia pudding as created by artifice Yuan also resented what he regarded as the corruption of Chinese food by Manchu cooks The appeal of Manchu cooking was in their stews and roasts while Chinese cooked broths and soups but when Manchus serve Chinese dinners and Chinese serve Manchu food we lose our originality and we toady to each other 11 Yuan published his recipes and thoughts on cooking in his 1792 gastronomic manual and cookbook The Way of Eating 12 13 A complete and annotated translation was published in 2019 14 Editions and translations EditYuan Mei Yingzhong Wang and Yingzhi Wang eds 随园食单 Sui Yuan Shi Dan Nanjing Feng huang chubanshe 2006 ISBN 978 7 80643 493 2 translationsYuan Mei 2017 Campbell Duncan ed translated by Campbell Duncan Yuan Mei s Garden of Accommodation China Heritage Annual Wairarapa Valley New Zealand 2019 The Way of Eating Yuan Mei s Manual of Gastronomy Translated by Chen Sean Jy Shyang Introduction by Nicole Mones Great Barrington MA Berkshire ISBN 9781614728276 Yuan Mei 1996 Censored by Confucius Ghost Stories by Yuan Mei Translated by Kam Louie Edwards Louise P Armonk NY M E Sharpe ISBN 1563246805 2016 1996 Censored by Confucius Ghost Stories by Yuan Mei Translated by Kam Louie Edwards Louise P Routledge ISBN 1315285711 Yuan Mei 2003 Harmony Garden The Life Criticism and Poetry of Yuan Mei translated by Schmidt J D Routledge ISBN 1138863416 1997 I Don t Bow to Buddhas Selected Poems of Yuan Mei translated by Seaton J P Port Townsend Copper Canyon Press ISBN 1 55659 120 9Further reading EditArthur Waley Yuan Mei Eighteenth Century Chinese Poet London Allen amp Unwin 1956 Hummel Arthur W Sr ed 1943 Yuan Mei Eminent Chinese of the Ch ing Period United States Government Printing Office References EditCitations 26岁官至正处级 33岁辞职做网红 这个清朝吃货不简单 apdnews com in Chinese 2017 09 26 Nienhauser William H 1985 The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature Indiana University Press pp 956 957 ISBN 978 0 253 32983 7 Dillon Michael ed 1998 China A Cultural and Historical Dictionary London Curzon Press pp 374 ISBN 0 7007 0439 6 Thome 2008 Kam amp Edwards trr 1996 p xxiii and note 1 a b Kam amp Edwards trr 1996 p xxxiii Kam amp Edwards trr 2016 1996 Introduction and notes 1 13 Kam amp Edwards trr 1996 p xxviii Dunlop Fuchsia November 24 2008 Garden of Contentment The New Yorker Retrieved 2009 08 04 Endymion Wilkinson Chinese History A Manual Cambridge MA Harvard University Press Rev and enl 2000 634 The other three are Su Shi 1037 1101 Ni Zan 1301 74 and Xu Wei 1521 93 Hsiang Ju Lin and Tsuifeng Lin Chinese Gastronomy New York Hastings House 1969 44 45 47 Portions translated in Arthur Waley Yuan Mei Eighteenth Century Chinese Poet London Allen amp Unwin 1956 196 ff and Lin Chinese Gastronomy 45 48 Translating the Suiyuan Shidan Chen tr 2019 BibliographyThome Jennifer 2008 Jenny Hanivers Dragons and Basilisks in the Old Natural History Books and in Modern Times M A Arizona State University External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Yuan Mei Works by Yuan Mei at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Yuan Mei at Internet Archive 随园食单 Sui Yuan Shi Dan Chinese text Suiyuan Shidan 隨園食單 English translation Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Yuan Mei amp oldid 1113331306, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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