Introduction
Chinese poetry has deep roots and a variety of characteristics, and its golden age and prosperity were connected with the name of the Tang dynasty that ruled between the 600s and 900s. Liu describes this genre as “simple, straightforward, and rather flat in language, and restrained and philosophical in tone” (151). People who are unfamiliar with this style of writing could define it as complex and difficult to understand.
Using the poems written by Tu Fu and Jin Changxu, the questions of authors’ disappointment, the intention to appeal to someone, and the identification of poorly known places will be answered in this paper. The theories of emotion and scene by Wang Fu-chih and of worlds by Wang Kuo-wei are methods that will help explain poetic views, definitions, existing judgments, and characteristics of Chinese poetry. Translated to English, Fu’s and Changxu’s poems represent the uniqueness of Chinese culture, human suffering, the importance of social norms like respect or order by means of skillful manipulations of literary techniques and urgent topics.
Definition of Poetry
Every person is free to develop an independent understanding of poetry as a form of literature characterized by rhyme and tone that delivers a specific message to a reader. I think that poetry is one of the most complex styles of writing because of the unpredictable interplay of words, meanings, and rhythms determined by the poet. After reading the translations of Chinese poetry, I realize that I am far from giving a correct explanation of this type of literature.
The interpretations developed by Liu turn out to be helpful in the analysis. Poetry is viewed as “a means to influence personal morality” that “reflect the people’s feelings towards the government and expose social events” (Liu 67). In other words, the definition of poetry is related to the possibility of expressing personal emotions. As a result, this form of literature aims at inspiring and motivating people, as well as discovering their needs and wishes.
Poetry Through Worlds and Language
There are many other ways of how Chinese poetry or poetry, in general, can be interpreted. One of the most remarkable aspects of the book written by Liu is the development of the doctrine “poetry as exploration of worlds and of language” (91). This double exploration helps to understand the complexity of the chosen style of writing. Considering the basis of the theory of worlds, Liu says that poetry does not only describe the world and its development but explores its features through the prism of time (96). Relying on the theory of emotion and scene, even if a poem is written in the past and over the already experienced emotions and events, its core idea is to strengthen the present life and discover some new aspects of future opportunities.
Poems are full of human thoughts about something that seems to be simple. Liu explains the goal of a poet “to find adequate words for new worlds of experiences and to find new words for old familiar worlds” (97). Authors have access to different poetic devices and verse forms, and it is an individual decision of how to apply them to poetry and cause the necessary reactions.
Poem Judgment: Good and Bad
The development of judgments is a priority readers of poetry usually have. According to Liu, “political, moral, or even personal grounds” can be taken into consideration “to object to a poem” but never to “condemn it as a bad poem” (92). Regarding the idea that poetry discovers worlds and language, the two major criteria (a poem is either good or bad) occur. It is necessary to understand the conditions under which the poem is created.
Many internal and external factors influence the reader’s perception. It is not enough to say that the poem is good because it discusses the nobility of a ruling dynasty. The analysis of the political regime or access to resources could change the way of judgment. The application of the image matters, including “poetic purpose it serves” (Liu 115). To sound rhythmic should not mean to follow clichés and choose the exact words and phrases. Liu tells that poets like to borrow imagery from each other and build homogeneous pictures (115). All these are compounds of a good poem, and if they are absent or poorly used, one could say the poem is bad.
Poems and Their Characteristics
In today’s world full of opportunities and unlimited access to information, it is not an easy task to find a translation of a poem and compare it to an original. Studying the peculiarities of Chinese poetry, two poems written during the Tang dynasty are chosen. Tu Fu wrote sensitive and provocative poems, and Liu describes his poetry as “perfect” due to “assimilated metrical rules” (80). Several authors translate his poems, and Red Pine’s “My Thoughts While Travelling at Night” is one of them. The modern reader poorly knows the works by Jin Changxu, and his “Spring Lament” is the only poem that depicts the poetry genre of the late Tang dynasty. Liu does not discuss this work, and I find it interesting to investigate the characteristics of the poem through one of its translations, “Spring Sadness” offered by Giles. Although the poets lived in different years and had no common experience, their works are pretty alike. Their analysis is based on three main questions:
- “What are the causes of authors’ disappointment?”
- “What is the role of a reader the authors appeal to?”
- “What is the worth of mentioning place names or rivers in the poems?
In both poems, the authors recognize their direct connection to the world of nature and the impact it has on human relations. In “Spring Sadness”, “plaintive tunes” of “the orioles” disappoint the author and prevent from dreaming and traveling (Changxu lines 2-3). In “Night Thoughts While Travelling”, “thin reeds”, “light wind”, and “the barren land” escort the author to his old age (Fu lines 1-3). Although these stories are not finished, they introduce a perfect situation when a person is not able to control everything and starts yelling and accusing everyone around.
Chinese poetry was developed with time, and poets used such techniques as imagery to express themselves, their feelings, and hopes in a unique manner. According to Liu, two types of images exist – simple (a verbal expression to recall a physical sensation independently) and compound (a verbal expression to involve a juxtaposition of several objects) (102). To underline a local significance of the described weather, the author uses imagery such as “light wind” or “tall boat alone” (Fu line 1). It says about comparability of several objects that are united in one picture and describes a placid condition of the author.
In another poem, imagery is used to focus on the reason for the poet’s disappointment with the orioles “spoiling my dream” “in plaintive tunes” (Changxu lines 3-4). The chosen language in both poems introduces the worlds where expectations play a crucial role and determine human relationships, which, according to the theory of worlds, combine scenes, emotions, and objects. Although the characters feel doubts and the desire to change something, they do not believe they are powerful for such actions, and they want to engage other people and share their experiences.
In addition to properly developed imagery examples, Chinese poetry is known for its symbolism. It is not always easy to detect the cases of symbolism as it is usually a physical object that represents an abstract one with its general significance (Liu 102). In Fu’s poem, the reader is able to find a number of symbols and interpret them in a way that discovers their feelings. For example, a boat in the river Yangtze symbolizes the life of a Chinese person who is flowing without a possibility to turn back and change something. A “solitary gull” is another powerful symbol that tells independence, freedom, and power, along with beauty and some inconstancy.
The use of another bird, an oriole, is a characteristic of Changxu’s poem. This symbol shows the inevitability of changes people should face. Some people could identify the importance of hard work and action, and the author shows his negative attitude toward this requirement because his goal is to caress “among Liaoxi dunes” (Changxu line 4). In these poems, the authors explain that changes are hard to avoid or predict because they depend not on people but on events and other exterior factors. Following the theory of emotion and concept, the poet makes the reader “catch the spirit of things” and enjoy the moment (Liu 83). The only thing that can be done is to wait, analyze, and take action when required.
In Chinese poetry, general or specific allusions as poetic devices were frequently used. The poets found it necessary to demonstrate their knowledge about five elements (water and wind in Fu and earth in Changxu), Chinese places (Yangtze in Fu and Liaoxi in Changxu), or myths (Heaven and Earth). These allusions strengthen the idea of Chinese culture and respect for traditions. In Fu’s poetry, the character is “drifting along” “between Heaven and Earth”, meaning that there is no clear understanding of where the end is and what obstacles could wait ahead. China during the Tang dynasty thrived, but there were events that people were not able to control (like death, illness, or aging). Therefore, the authors tried to support the reader and show them the way of how to cope with challenges and live the life they want or can have.
The analysis of structure and forms of Chinese poetry for not a Chinese-speaking reader is not an easy task because of the impossibility to understand its true meaning. However, Liu says that Chinese poets of the Tang epoch chose “generally written in strict meters” poems “not in the kind of loose rimless verse” (151). Fu used Regulated Verse with “four middle lines of an eight-line poem” to “form two antithetical couples, contrasting with each other in sense as well as in sound” (Liu 147). In “My Thoughts While Travelling at Night ”, the first four lines describe the nature and the state of mind of the author. The next four lines explain the reasons for his choices and the intention to quit writing because of age.
Changxu is the author of the jueju style, whose complexity is based on the regulated verse being applied within four lines only. The rhyme is observed between the 1-3 (away-may) and 2-4 (tunes-dunes) lines. However, the exploration of worlds occurs in pairs (1-2 and 3-4). First, the reader wonders what makes the author gets angry with the orioles and gets to know that these birds warble “in plaintive tunes” (Changxu line 2). Then, the reasons for his disappointment – “spoiling my dream” – and the description of the dream – caress among dunes – is given (Changxu lines 3-4). Due to properly chosen forms and structures, the authors raise questions, intrigue the reader, and give answers not to confuse but motivate.
Conclusion
In general, after a thorough analysis and the evaluation of Liu’s book, Chinese poetry is revealed as an educative source about the country’s history, traditions, and culture. Even a short 4-line poem could provoke deep feelings and a variety of emotions. The use of imagery and allusions strengthens Fu’s symbolism and the chosen form in his story about travelling, aging, and experience that matter. The form of Changxu’s poem is unique because the author managed to introduce a number of images, symbols, and worlds in four lines. There is no definite attitude toward Chinese poetry, but its style attracts much attention among modern readers.
Work Cited
Liu, James J. Y. The Art of Chinese Poetry. The University of Chicago Press, 1962.