对钱谦益的评价
崇祯:"钱谦益博通今古,学贯天人。"——清人年谱、笔记所记召对语(正史无载,引用需注明)
黄宗羲:"四海宗盟五十年,心期末后与谁传。……平生知己谁人是?能不为公一泫然。"——《南雷诗历·八哀诗·钱宗伯牧斋》
陈子龙:"阁下雄才峻望,薄海具瞻,叹深微管,舍我其谁?天下通人处子,怀奇抱道之士,下至一才一艺之流,风驰云会,莫不望阁下之出处。"——《陈忠裕公全集·上少宗伯牧斋先生书》
黄道周:"虞山尚在,国史犹未死也。"——黄道周语,转见陈寅恪《柳如是别传》所引
瞿式耜:"身在虏中,未尝须臾不念本朝,而规划形势,了如指掌,绰有成算""忠躯义感溢于楮墨之间。"——《瞿忠宣公集》所载永历朝奏疏
归庄:"窥先生之意,亦悔中道之委蛇,思欲以晚盖,何天之待先生之酷,竟使之赍志以终。"——《归庄集·祭钱牧斋先生文》
阎若璩:"海内读书博而能精者,不过数人:钱牧斋、顾亭林、黄梨洲。"——《潜丘札记》
王士禛:"先生一见,欣然为序之,又赠长句,有'骐骥奋蹴踏,万马喑不骄''勿以独角麟,俪彼万牛毛'之句""牧翁于予有知己之感。"——《古夫于亭杂录》
吴伟业、龚鼎孳:与钱谦益并称"江左三大家"。——清初文坛公论
张廷玉等:"至启、祯时,钱谦益、艾南英准北宋之矩矱。"——《明史·文苑传》
凌凤翔:"牧斋宗伯起而振之,而诗家翕然宗之,天下靡然从风,一归于正。其学之淹博、气之雄厚,诚足以囊括诸家,包罗万有……洵大雅元音,诗人之冠冕也。"——《牧斋初学集序》
邹镃:"牧斋先生产于明末,乃集大成。其为诗也,撷江左之秀而不袭其言,并草堂之雄而不师其貌……北地为之降心,湘江为之失色矣。"——《牧斋有学集序》
钱陆灿:"不名一家,不拘一体,学则地负海涵,文则班、马、韩、柳。"——《列朝诗集小传序》
杨炤:"述作长存宇宙间,大名终古有虞山。诗篇穷力追韩杜,史学精研在马班……祗令文字称宗匠,岳降斯人岂等闲。"——《怀古堂诗选·奉挽钱大宗伯牧斋先生》
沈德潜:"尚书天资过人,学殖鸿博。论诗称扬乐天、东坡、放翁诸公……一时帖耳推服,百年以后,流风余韵,犹足詟人也。"——《国朝诗别裁集》小传(乾隆二十五年初刻本)
赵翼:"惟钱、吴二老,为海内所推,入国朝称两大家。"——《瓯北诗话》卷九
陈寅恪:"牧斋之史学,固不待言,即其文学,亦当在明清之间,首屈一指""复国之英雄。"——《柳如是别传》
Back
Evaluations of Qian Qianyi
Chongzhen Emperor: "Qian Qianyi commands all between past and present; his learning spans heaven and man." — recorded audiences preserved in Qing-era chronicles and notes (not in official histories; note this when citing)
Huang Zongxi: "For fifty years you led the alliance of letters; to whom shall your late hopes be passed?... Who in all my life was my true friend? How can I not weep for you?" — Nanlei Shili, Eight Elegies: Minister Qian Muzhai
Chen Zilong: "Your heroic talent and lofty renown are looked up to across the seas; in deep admiration, is there anyone but you? Men of talent and hidden worth, down to masters of a single skill, flock like wind and clouds — all await your rising or your withdrawal." — Letter to Vice Minister Qian Muzhai
Huang Daozhou: "While Yushan remains, the national history is not yet dead." — as quoted in Chen Yinke's Biographies of Liu Rushi
Qu Shisi: "Though his body is among the captors, he has never for a moment ceased thinking of our dynasty; he reads the strategic situation as one with every move planned" "a loyal heart and righteous spirit overflow between his lines." — Yongli court memorial in the Collected Works of Qu Zhongxuan
Gui Zhuang: "One can see the master repented his mid-course wavering and wished to make amends late in life; how cruel heaven's treatment of him, to let him die with his ambitions unfulfilled." — Sacrificial Elegy for Qian Muzhai
Yan Ruoqu: "In all the realm, those who read widely yet with precision number but a few: Qian Muzhai, Gu Tinglin, Huang Lizhou." — Qianqiu Zhaji
Wang Shizhen: "He welcomed my poems at sight and wrote me a preface, gifting long verses: 'A fine steed stamps and strides, while ten thousand horses hold their neigh' 'Do not pair the lone unicorn with the hairs of ten thousand oxen'"; "Old Mu had the feeling of one who truly knew me." — Gufu Yuting Zalu
Wu Weiye and Gong Dingzi: together with Qian Qianyi, the "Three Great Masters of Jiangnan." — the common verdict of early Qing letters
Zhang Tingyu et al.: "By the Tianqi and Chongzhen reigns, Qian Qianyi and Ai Nanying held to the measures of the Northern Song masters." — Ming History, Biographies of Men of Letters
Ling Fengxiang: "Minister Qian rose and revived it, and the poets rallied to him as one man, the whole world following the wind back to the right path. The vastness of his learning, the strength of his spirit, truly encompass every school and embrace all things... truly the primal note of the great elegance, the crown of poets." — Preface to the Chu Xue Ji
Zou Zi: "Born at the end of the Ming, he gathered all into one. His poetry gathers the grace of the south without echoing its words, matches the strength of the thatched-hall master without copying his face... the Northland yields its pride, the Xiang River pales beside him." — Preface to the You Xue Ji
Qian Lucan: "Bound to no single school, confined to no single form; in learning he is as vast as land and sea; in prose, Ban, Ma, Han and Liu." — Preface to the Lidai Shiji Xiaozhuan
Yang Zhao: "His writings endure between heaven and earth; his great name will belong to Yushan forever. His poetry strove with all its strength after Han and Du; his historiography was polished after Ma and Ban... To call him a master of letters alone — no idle thing, the descent of such a mountain spirit." — Elegy for Grand Minister Qian Muzhai
Shen Deqian: "The Minister's natural gift outran men; his learning was vast. In discussing poetry he praised Bai Juyi, Su Shi and Lu You... all bowed to him at once; a hundred years later, the lingering influence of his style can still overawe men." — biographical note in the Guoshi Shibie Caiji
Zhao Yi: "Only the two elders, Qian and Wu, were esteemed by all the realm; since entering our dynasty they are called the two great masters." — Oubei Shihua, vol. 9
Chen Yinke: "His historiography goes without saying; even as a man of letters he ranks first between Ming and Qing" "a hero of restoration." — Biographies of Liu Rushi
Back