The Collection Jianglijian and the Love between Chen Zilong and Liu Rushi

Many historical facts were clarified thanks to the scholar Chen Yinke who did a detailed textual research in his Anecdotal Biography of Liu Rushi on the love between Chen Zilong,a noted writer in the late Ming Dynasty and Liu Rushi,a prostitute noted for her beauty and literary talent.But it is necessary to make some supplements and corrections regarding the love between Chen and Liu,due to an increase in related material these years.This paper will discuss the case further from studying Chen Zilong's collection of ci-poems(or lyric poems) entitled Jianglijian.(A)Some of the lyric poems cited in the Anecdotal Biography of Liu Rushi are not involved with the Chen-Liu love,and some are not directly related to it either.Special attention should be paid to seven lyric poems collected in Xiangzhenge Cungao.Because Xiangzhenge Cungao was prepared much later than the year when Liu got married,the seven poems Chen Yinke cited in his Anecdotal Biography have nothing to do with the Chen-Liu love.It is true of some of the poems from the collection Jianglijian.For example,the poem entitled The Beauty to the tune of Yuhudie(Jade Butterfly).(B)The Cold Food Day(around April 5,the Qingming Festival) in 1635 is the exact day that Chen Zilong finished with Liu Rushi.Despite Chen Yinke's argument that Chen ended a relationship with Liu in the summer of 1635,the author of the paper based her conclusion on the study of Chen Zilong's two lyric poems(Cold Food Day to the tune of Mulanhualing and Cold Food Day to the tune of Mushanxi) and one pentasyllabic regulated poem(Guijia Yuezhong Ti Tingqian Jiangtao)(C)The very important historical fact has been verified that Chen Zilong and Liu Rushi did not finish their relationship until 1637 Regarding the Anecdotal Biography whose chapter three cited a passage from Li Wen's letter Yuwozishu that mentioned the fact,Chen Yinke held that the year Li wrote the letter was 1633,while the author argues that it is 1637.