Early life and career

Song Wan was born in 1614 in Laiyang, Shandong, China. His father was a patriotic Ming official who killed himself following the decline of the dynasty. Song was described as a "filial" son and a conscientious learner. In 1649 he became a civil servant, albeit one under the Qing regime that his father detested, and rose in the ranks quickly. His career as a government official came to a pause after he was accused of working with conspirators during the 1661 Shandong Rebellion, also known as the Yu Qi Rebellion, while he was Chief Inquisitor of Zhejiang. He served three years in prison, along with his family. It was discovered that one of his relatives had reported him for treason; in light of that, Song was cleared of all charges in 1664. Song became Censor of Sichuan in 1672. Song Wan was also a prolific linguist. He was most interested in poetry and 1333 poems by Song are still in existence. The Library of Laiyang houses sixteen volumes of Song Wan poems, which is the largest such collection.

Death and legacy

A year after moving to Sichuan, in 1673, rebels led by Ming general Wu Sangui seized the capital Chengdu; Song, after being informed of this, "died of panic and fright". He was aged 59.

Song Wan is considered to be one of the "eight great Qing-dynasty poets". His former residence in Laiyang is now a local museum. According to the museum director, Song was an incredibly popular poet whose works were "read by everyone", hailing him as a major inspiration to Chinese poetry.

Chiang (2005) states that "Song Wan's life story (...) may be read of the impossibility of adhering to (Confucian ideals)." Song is one of the protagonists of the short story "Squirting" (噴水; also known as "Spraying Water") by Pu Songling in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. The tale narrates the Song's maids' and mother's encounter with an elderly ghost who spouts water (squirts); the incident allegedly occurred when Song was working for the government and had to travel away from home.

生平

萊陽宋氏世族，六世祖宋黻為明代萊陽的首位進士。宋琬之父宋應亨為明天啟五年（1625年）進士，官清豐知縣。崇禎十六年（1643年），宋應亨於清兵陷萊陽時遇害。宋琬自幼聰慧過人，「負雋才，著聲譽」，「少能詩，有才名」。曾隨仲兄宋璜遊學京師，與王崇簡、王熙父子相識。亦同姜埰、姜垓兄弟友好。順治四年（1647年）中進士，授戶部主事，累遷吏部郎中。一度因「文字餘孽」為逆僕所陷，下獄。順治十八年（1661年），官至浙江按察使。

康熙元年（1662年）又因親戚董樵之故，其侄宋彞秉（宋一柄）誣告宋琬與登州于七起義有關，下獄，三年後釋放，流寓江南八年，與宋葷、朱彞尊、王士祿等人詩酒唱和。康熙十一年春任四川按察使，次年進京述職，遭逢三藩之亂，不得回程，得知家人皆陷於兵火，憂苦成疾，卒於京城。

著作

宋琬能作詩，古體擬漢魏，近體學盛唐，一生遭遇「豐少屯多，故其詩多愁苦之音」，詩歌以「沉鬱蒼健」著稱。與安徽宣城施閏章齊名，有「南施北宋」之稱。

宋玉叔多有著述，現存詩有1333首、詞165首、文223篇，賦2篇、雜劇《祭皋陶》一卷，均收在《安雅堂集》裏。另有《安雅堂詩》八卷、《二鄉亭詞》、《永平府志》、《北寺草》等。康熙十一年春，王士禎曾審定其詩稿三十卷。宋琬入蜀後又結集《入蜀集》一部。宋琬最早的刻本為《荔裳集》，現見最早的正式刊刻稿為《安雅堂文集》二卷，《安雅堂詩》一卷系作者康熙五年（1666）寓居蘇州時所刻。後作者又自刻過《二鄉亭詞》、《安雅堂書啟》以及劇本《祭皋陶》等，是殘缺本。宋琬子思勃和族孫宋邦憲先後多次搜羅補輯，共湊成二十卷，大部分是未刻稿。另據《登州府志》記載宋琬還寫有《秦州紀異》、《治蜀條例》和《治蜀讞案》各一卷，「皆事理詳盡，文亦簡淨不俗」。

紀念

光緒五年（1879年），萊陽知縣茅芳廉為其故宅立碑，故居現改為萊陽市博物館。

佚事

《聊齋志異·噴水》一篇講述宋琬老母在部曹官邸遇鬼身死之事。

注釋

參考書目

• 王熙，《宋琬墓誌銘》