"Arts, Faculty of"@en . "Asian Studies, Department of"@en . "DSpace"@en . "UBCV"@en . "Russell, Terence Craig"@en . "2010-03-09T18:25:39Z"@en . "1979"@en . "Master of Arts - MA"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "The form which this thesis has taken is rather different from what I had originally envisioned. It contains far more discussion of literary style and far less translation than I had planned to include. This is both a virtue.- and a shortcoming.\r\nCertainly it has been much more. Interesting to have attempted an analysis of some of the literary forces which molded and characterized the poetry of Ts'ao Chih and the Chien An writers than it would have been simply to have translated a large number of their works. I have made many fascinating discoveries and the reader will surely find more substance to occupy his attention. However, it is difficult to avoid feeling that to try to analyse and criticise poetry which one has the greatest difficulty even reading, and which is the product of a literary tradition as remote as that of third century China, is very presumptuous. After all, if as accomplished and mature a scholar as Professor Donald Holzman would decline to engage in just this type of discussion on the grounds that he felt it so difficult as to 'actually defeat its own purpose' how could I hope for any kind of success? Nevertheless, as mentioned, I have learned much through the preparation of this work and generally don't regret my presumption. It is perhaps only necessary to forewarn the reader that many of the statements made herein are of a tentative and speculative nature and are not in any respect the last word on the subject. Yet if these speculations lead the reader to a slightly deeper appreciation of certain facets of the fine poetry of Ts'ao Chih, or even if they only stimulate him to seek such appreciation on his own, then I will consider that my work has not been completely in vain.\r\nI have placed my translations of Ts'ao Chih's poems at the end of the thesis. This is only because, that seemed to be the only logical place to put them. It does not indicate that I consider them to form merely a kind of appendix which the reader may refer to for his own convenience. On the contrary, I have spent a great deal of time in preparing these translations and would like to think that they are a significant improvement over those previously available. Thus they represent perhaps, an even greater 'contribution to knowledge' than does the main body of my text.\r\nIn my translations I have followed Huang Chieh's text except where otherwise indicated. Wherever possible I have recorded variant wordings but, due to a lack of library resources\r\nand personal interest, I have not attempted to indulge in extensive textual commentary. I have striven to present translations that are both accurate and fulfil the axiom that a translation must be good poetry in its own right in order to be successful.\r\nI have used the modified Wade-Giles system of romanization found in the Mathews' Chinese English Dictionary throughout.\r\nTo this system I have made a few minor modifications of my own but these should be quite self-evident."@en . "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/21671?expand=metadata"@en . "THE POETRY OF TS'AO CHIH A C r i t i c a l I n t r o d u c t i o n by TERENCE CRAIG RUSSELL A., The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1 9 7 3 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF . . MASTER OF ARTS. i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of A s i a n S t u d i e s , Chinese) We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming to the r e q u i r e d s t a n d a r d THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH September 1 9 7 9 ( c )Terence C r a i g R u s s e l l , COLUMBIA 1 9 7 9 I n p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r an a d v a n c e d d e g r e e a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , I a g r e e t h a t t h e L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e a n d s t u d y . I f u r t h e r a g r e e t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e c o p y i n g o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y p u r p o s e s may be g r a n t e d by t h e Head o f my D e p a r t m e n t o r by h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h a t c o p y i n g o r p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l n o t be a l l o w e d w i t h o u t my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . D e p a r t m e n t n f A s i a n S t u d i e s The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a 2075 W e s b r o o k P l a c e V a n c o u v e r , C a n a d a V6T 1W5 n.tP Sept. 12, 1979 i i ABSTRACT (Preface) The form which this thesis has taken is rather different from what I had originally envisioned. It contains far more discussion of literary style and far less translation than I had planned to include. This is both a virtue.- and a short-coming. Certainly i t has been much more. Interesting to have attempted an analysis of some of the literary forces which molded and characterized the poetry of Ts ' ao Chih and the Chien An writers than i t would have been simply to have translated a large number of their works. I have made many fascinating discoveries and the reader w i l l surely find more substance to occupy his attention. However, i t is d i f f i c u l t to avoid feeling that to try to analyse and c r i t i c i s e poetry which one has the greatest d i f f i c u l t y even reading, and which is the product of a literary tradition as remote as that of third century China,is very presumptuous. After a l l , i f as accomplished and mature a scholar.as Professor Donald Holzman would decline to engage in just this type of discussion on the grounds that he felt i t so d i f f i c u l t as to 'actually defeat i t s own purpose'\"'\" how could I hope for any kind of success? Nevertheless, as mentioned, I have learned much through the preparation of this work and generally don't regret my presumption. It is perhaps only necessary to forewarn the reader that many of the statements made herein are of a tentative and speculative nature and are i i i n o t i n a n y r e s p e c t t h e l a s t w o r d o n t h e s u b j e c t . Y e t i f t h e s e s p e c u l a t i o n s l e a d t h e r e a d e r t o a s l i g h t l y d e e p e r a p p r e c i a t i o n o f c e r t a i n f a c e t s o f t h e f i n e p o e t r y o f T s ' a o C h i h , o r e v e n i f t h e y o n l y s t i m u l a t e h i m t o s e e k s u c h a p p r e c i a t i o n o n h i s o w n , t h e n I w i l l c o n s i d e r t h a t m y w o r k h a s n o t b e e n c o m p l e t e l y i n v a i n . I h a v e p l a c e d m y t r a n s l a t i o n s o f T s ' a o C h i h ' s p o e m s a t t h e e n d o f t h e t h e s i s . T h i s i s o n l y b e c a u s e , t h a t s e e m e d t o b e t h e o n l y l o g i c a l p l a c e t o p u t t h e m . I t d o e s n o t i n d i c a t e t h a t I c o n s i d e r t h e m t o f o r m m e r e l y a k i n d o f a p p e n d i x w h i c h t h e r e a d e r m a y r e f e r t o f o r h i s o w n c o n v e n i e n c e . O n t h e c o n t r a r y , I h a v e s p e n t a g r e a t d e a l o f t i m e I n p r e p a r i n g t h e s e t r a n s l a t i o n s a n d w o u l d l i k e t o t h i n k t h a t t h e y a r e a s i g n i f i c a n t i m p r o v e m e n t o v e r t h o s e p r e v i o u s l y a v a i l a b l e . T h u s t h e y r e p r e s e n t p e r h a p s , a n e v e n g r e a t e r ' c o n t r i b u t i o n t o k n o w l e d g e ' t h a n d o e s t h e m a i n b o d y o f m y t e x t . 2 I n m y t r a n s l a t i o n s I h a v e f o l l o w e d H u a n g C h i e h ' s t e x t e x c e p t w h e r e o t h e r w i s e i n d i c a t e d . W h e r e v e r p o s s i b l e . I h a v e r e c o r d e d v a r i a n t w o r d i n g s b u t , d u e t o a l a c k o f l i b r a r y r e -s o u r c e s a n d p e r s o n a l i n t e r e s t , I h a v e n o t a t t e m p t e d t o i n d u l g e i n e x t e n s i v e t e x t u a l c o m m e n t a r y . I h a v e s t r i v e n t o p r e s e n t t r a n s l a t i o n s t h a t a r e b o t h a c c u r a t e a n d f u l f i l t h e a x i o m t h a t a t r a n s l a t i o n m u s t b e g o o d p o e t r y i n i t s o w n r i g h t i n o r d e r t o b e s u c c e s s f u l . I h a v e u s e d t h e m o d i f i e d W a d e - G i l e s s y s t e m o f r o m a n i z a -\u00E2\u0080\u00A23 t i o n f o u n d i n t h e Mathews' Chinese English Dictionary t h r o u g h -o u t . T o t h i s s y s t e m I h a v e m a d e a f e w m i n o r m o d i f i c a t i o n s o f m y o w n b u t t h e s e s h o u l d b e q u i t e s e l f - e v i d e n t . i v I w o u l d l i k e t o a c k n o w l e d g e t h e i m m e a s u r a b l e a s s i s t a n c e t h a t h a s b e e n g i v e n m e b y P r o f . Y . C . Y . C h a o a n d P r o f . E . G . P u l l e y b l a n k i n t h e p r e p a r a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s . S p e c i a l t h a n k s m u s t b e g i v e n t o P r o f . M i c h a e l B u l l o c k a n d t h e m e m b e r s o f h i s t r a n s l a t i o n w o r k s h o p f o r t h e i r a s s i s t a n c e i n m a k i n g m y t r a n s -l a t i o n s m o r e r e a d a b l e . I a m a l s o i n d e b t e d t o M j r . _ E_^Y; S h i n w h o w a s k i n d e n o u g h t o w r i t e i n t h e C h i n e s e S c r i p t f o r m e . Notes: 1 - S e e D o n a l d H o l z m a n , Poetry and P o l i t i c s ; The L i f e and Works of Juan Chi3 C a m b r i d g e , 1976, p . 228. 2 T h i s t e x t h a s b e e n i n c l u d e d a t t h e e n d o f t h e t h e s i s . A l s o s e e H u a n g C h i e h , Ts'ao Tzu-ohien shih chu \u00E2\u0080\u00A2# . 3 - z j ^ f o r t h e o r i g i n a l v e r s i o n w i t h a n n o t a t i o n . 9 3see R . H . M a t h e w s , Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary, r e v i s e d e d i t i o n , H a r v a r d , 1969, o r i g i n a l l y p u b l i s h e d 1931-V C O N T E N T S Abstract _ \u00E2\u0080\u0094 ' \u00E2\u0080\u0094 - \u00E2\u0080\u0094 i i L i s t o f A b b r e v i a t i o n s vi I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 N o t e o n E d i t i o n s 6 T h e L i f e o f T s ' a o C h i h 15 A- G e n e r a l I n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e P o e t i c s o f t h e C h i e n A n a n d W e i E r a s 45 T h e P o e t i c s o f T s ' a o C h i h \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 65 A ) T r a d i t i o n a l E v a l u a t i o n 67 B ) R o o t s a n d I n f l u e n c e s 69 i ) Shih Ching 69 I i ) Yiieh-fu 74 f i l l ) Ku-shih a n d t h e ' 19 O l d P o e m s ' 80 C ) T h e Q u e s t i o n . ' o f A l l e g o r y 81 D ) M e t a p h o r a n d Using 9 2 E / P i c ' t i o n a l l z a t i o n \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 .\"97 P ) R e s p o n s e a n d D e d i c a t i o n 106 G ) S o c i a l a n d - . P o l i t i c a l C o n c e r n 115 F ) F o r m a l R e f i n e m e n t s 120 1) O v e r a l l S t r u c t u r e 121 l i ) I m a g e r y ; . \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 ; N a t u r e a s m e t a p h o r 1 2 4 . - ' . i i i ) P a r a l l e l i s m 1 2 5 i v ) W o r d S e l e c t i o n 128 C o n c l u s i o n 135 T r a n s l a t i o n s o f T s ' a o C h i h ' s P o e m s w i t h A n n o t a t i o n s - 138 B i b l i o g r a p h y 2 0 4 C h i n e s e T e x t s 213 V I L i s t of A b b r e v i a t i o n s BSOAS B u l l e t i n of the School of Oriental and African ..Studies CHC CK'u Hsueh-ahi CHS Ch'ilan Han shih CCS Ch ''uan Chin shih CSKS Ch'uan San-kuo shih CHW Ch'uan Han wen CSKW Ch 'uan San-kuo wen HS Han Shu pu-chu HHS Hou Han Shu HYHP Hsin-ya Hsueh-pao JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society JAS Journal of Asian Studies PTSC Pei-t'ang shu ch'ao SKC San-kuo-chih (Wei ChihJ_ WC San-kuo-chih, pu-chu, Wei Chih SPPY Ssu-pu pei-yao SSCCS Shih-san-chirig$' chu-shu SSHY Shih-shuo hsin-yu TPYL T'ai-p'ing yu-lan CP Ts'ao chi ch 'uan-p 'ing WCTKTL Wei Chin Nan-pei-ch 'ao wen-hsueh shih ts'an-k'ao t z u - l i a o WH Wen Hsuan YWLC Yi-wen lei-chu YTHY Yu-t'ai hsin-yung YPSC Yueh-fu shih-chi CHHW Ch 'uan Hou Han wen SKCCC San-kuo-ch-ih cki-chink 1 I N T R O D U C T I O N T h e t h i r d c e n t u r y A . D . w a s a c r u c i a l t i m e p e r i o d i n t h e h i s t o r y o f C h i n e s e l i t e r a t u r e f o r a n u m b e r o f r e a s o n s . P r o f . D o n a l d H o l z m a n h a s d e s c r i b e d i t a s a w a t e r s h e d e r a d u r i n g w h i c h t h e g e n e r a l c o n c e p t i o n o f l i t e r a t u r e p r o g r e s s e d f r o m t h e a n t i q u e t o t h e m e d i e v a l . \" ' \" T h i s i s a n a p t c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n . J u s t a s t h e h i s t o r i c a l p r o g r e s s i o n f r o m a n t i q u i t y t o t h e m i d d l e a g e s i n E u r o p e I n v o l v e d m a n y c o m p l e x , y e t o f t e n i n t e r r e l a t e d , p h e n o m e n a , s o t h e e v o l u t i o n o f l i t e r a r y v a l u e s f r o m t h e e n d o f t h e H a n D y n a s t y u n t i l t h e C h i n -^j- a n d S i x D y n a s t i e s p e r i o d s i n v o l v e d a n u m b e r o f e s s e n t i a l l y i n t e r r e l a t e d f a c t o r s . T h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t a m o n g t h e s e f a c t o r s w a s t h e e m e r g e n c e o f l i t e r a t u r e f r o m t h e d o m i n a t i o n o f C o n f u c i a n p r a g m a t i s m a n d r a t i o n a l i s m . I n t e r m s o f t h e C o n f u c i a n p h i l o s o p h i c a l s y s t e m w h i c h h e l d s w a y o v e r v i r t u a l l y a l l a s p e c t s o f t h e l i v e s o f l i t e r a t e C h i n e s e d u r i n g t h e H a n D y n a s t y , l i t e r a t u r e w a s o n l y v a l u a b l e i n s o f a r a s I t c o u l d b e o f b e n e f i t i n t h e g o v e r n m e n t o f t h e s t a t e . T h e c r e a t i o n o f l i t e r a t u r e w i t h n o i n t r i n s i c p o l i t i c a l o r m o r a l v a l u e w a s n o t c o n s i d e r e d t o b e a v a l i d o c c u p a t i o n f o r e d u c a t e d m e n . A s a r e s u l t , t h o u g h p o e t s c o n t i n -u e d t o w r i t e , t h e i r w o r k t e n d e d t o b e o v e r l a d e n w i t h p o l i t i c a l a n d m o r a l c o n t e n t . T h e o r i z a t i o n a b o u t t h e a e s t h e t i c m e r i t s o f l i t e r a t u r e w a s o p e n l y eschewed. D u r i n g t h e t h i r d c e n t u r y , t h i s s u b j u g a t i o n o f l i t e r a t u r e b y C o n f u c i a n p h i l o s o p h y w a s s t r o n g l y c h a l l e n g e d . E v e n t h o u g h 2 n o . w r i t e r w o u l d d a r e t o o p e n l y c o n t r a d i c t C o n f u c i a n p r i n c i p l e s b y a r g u i n g f o r t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f l i t e r a t u r e a s a n i n d e p e n d e n t a r t f o r m , i n p r a c t i c e , l i t e r a t u r e d i d a c h i e v e a c o n s i d e r a b l e d e g r e e o f f r e e d o m . L i t e r a t u s p o e t s b e g a n t o c o n c e r n t h e m s e l v e s l e s s a n d l e s s w i t h m o r a l o r s o c i a l m a t t e r s . T h e y w r o t e i n a m o r e l y r i c a l v e i n , e n d e a v o u r i n g t o a c h i e v e l u c i d i t y o f e m o t i o n a l e x p r e s s i o n r a t h e r t h a n h e a v y m o r a l r e l e v a n c e . T h e y a l s o b e g a n t o c o n s i d e r t h e v a r i o u s t h e o r e t i c a l a n d p r a c t i c a l a s p e c t s o f l i t e r a r y c o m p o s i t i o n . T h i s t r e n d b e g a n w i t h g e n e r a l a n d p a s s i n g c o m m e n t s o n t h e m e r i t s o f c e r t a i n w r i t e r s o r o n t h e n a t u r e o f l i t e r a r y c r e a t i o n a n d d e v e l o p e d t o t h e e x t e n t t h a t m a j o r t r e a t -i s e s o n l i t e r a r y a e s t h e t i c s , s u c h a s t h e Wen-hsin tiao-lung \"5t ,viT ^ | 2 a n d Shih p'in \"j^f *a 3 w e r e w r i t t e n . S u c h w o r k s i n r e s s e n c e d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t w r i t e r s h a d f r e e d t h e m s e l v e s d f c m o r a l a n d p o l i t i c a l o b l i g a t i o n s a n d h a d d e v e l o p e d a s t r o n g a w a r e n e s s o f t h e p u r e l y e x p r e s s i v e p o t e n t i a l o f l i t e r a t u r e . O n a m o r e p a r t i c u l a r l e v e l , t h e f a l l o f t h e H a n D y n a s t y a n d t h e c o i n c i d i n g d e c l i n e i n t h e p r e s t i g e o f C o n f u c i a n i s m m e a n t t h a t w r i t e r s w e r e l e s s b o u n d t o t h e r a t i o n a l i s m a n d a n t h r o p o c e n t r i s m o f t h a t p h i l o s o p h i c a l s y s t e m . A c c o r d i n g t o C o n f u c i a n c o s m o l o g y , m a n p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e f u n c t i o n i n g o f n a t u r e a n d t h e u n i v e r s e . H o w e v e r , t h e r e w a s a c l e a r d e m a r c a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e r e s p e c t i v e s p h e r e s o f M a n , H e a v e n a n d E a r t h . T h i s d e m a r c a t i o n w a s e v i d e n t i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e c o m p o s e d d u r i n g H a n a n d p r e - H a n t i m e s . C h i n e s e w r i t e r s w e r e f a s c i n a t e d b y t h e b e a u t i e s o f n a t u r e a n d t h e y p a i d t r i b u t e t o i t s m y s t e r i e s a n d f u n c t i o n i n g i n t h e i r p o e t r y a n d fu. Y e t i n t h e i r w o r k t h e r e a l w a y s e x i s t s a k i n d o f s e p a r a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e m s e l v e s a n d t h e 3 f o r c e s a n d o b j e c t s o f n a t u r e . W h e n t h e y w r o t e , t h e y d e s c r i b e d n a t u r e o b j e c t i v e l y o r u s e d n a t u r a l i m a g e r y o n l y a s a k i n d o f e m b e l l i s h m e n t o r o r n a m e n t a t i o n . I n t h e t h i r d c e n t u r y , w r i t e r s , a l o n g w i t h t h e l i t e r a t e c l a s s i n g e n e r a l , b e c a m e m o r e i n t e r e s t e d i n t h e n a t u r a l i s t i c o u o u t l o o k o f T a o i s m . T h r o u g h t h i s p h i l o s o p h y t h e y b e g a n t o f i n d m o r e i d e n t i t y a n d i n v o l v e m e n t w i t h t h e l a n d s c a p e i n w h i c h t h e y l i v e d a n d m o v e d . I n t h e i r l i t e r a t u r e t h e y b e g a n t o e x p r e s s t h i s s u b j e c t i v e i n v o l v e m e n t t h r o u g h t h e u s e o f n a t u r a l i m a g e r y a s m e t a p h o r f o r t h e i r o w n f e e l i n g s a n d b y f i n d i n g e x p r e s s i o n f o r e m o t i o n s s t i m u l a t e d b y n a t u r a l s c e n e s . T h e w i l l i n g n e s s t o b e c o m e m o r e i n v o l v e d w i t h n a t u r e i s o n e o f t h e o u t s t a n d i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f m e d i e v a l C h i n e s e p o e t s . C o n f u c i a n r a t i o n a l i s m h a d l e d w r i t e r s a w a y f r o m t h e r e a l m o f e m o t i o n a l e x p r e s s i o n t o w a r d m o r e o b j e c t i v e , e x p o s i t i v e s t y l e s . A f t e r t h e f a l l o f t h e H a n , e m o t i o n a l s u b j e c t i v i s i m c a m e t o t p l a y a n e v e r i n c r e a s i n g r o l e i n - l i t e r a r y c r e a t i o n . F r i e n d s h i p , l o v e , p e r s o n a l a n x i e t y a n d o t h e r s i m i l a r e m o t i o n a l t h e m e s b e c a m e f a r m o r e p r e v a l e n t t h a n t h e y h a d b e e n p r e v i o u s l y . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e e x p r e s s i o n o f t h e s e e m o t i o n s b e c a m e m o r e d i r e c t a n d i n t e n s e . T h i s d i r e c t n e s s a n d i n t e n s i t y w e r e t r a i t s t h a t w e r e e s p e c i a l l y v a l u e d b y l a t e r p o e t s a n d c r i t i c s . T h e t h i r d c e n t u r y w a s a l s o t h e t i m e d u r i n g w h i c h p o e t r y w a s r e - e s t a b l i s h e d a s t h e m o s t I m p o r t a n t l i t e r a r y f o r m , r e p l a c i n g t h e fu w h i c h h a d b e e n s o p o p u l a r d u r i n g t h e H a n D y n a s t y . T h i s p h e n o m e n o n w a s a l s o i n a s e n s e r e l a t e d t o t h e f a l l o f t h e H a n a n d t h e d e c l i n e o f C o n f u c i a n i s m . T h e fu h a d b e e n d e v e l o p e d p r i -m a r i l y a s a v e h i c l e f o r p o l i t i c a l r e m o n s t r a n c e . ^ A s s u c h i t f i t w e l l Into the framework of Confucian views concerning l i t e r a t u r e . With the d e c l i n e i n the formal power of Confucianism there was l e s s pressure on w r i t e r s to w r i t e p o l i t i c a l l y o r i e n t e d l i t e r a t u r e . T h i s allowed them to explore new forms and to r e d i s c o v e r the p o t e n t i a l of poetry f o r l i t e r a r y e x p r e s s i o n . Fu continued to be w r i t t e n but i t was q u i c k l y surpassed by poetry as the most popular l i t e r a r y form. In a l l of the above mentioned phenomena, the Chien An w r i t e r s played a c r u c i a l r o l e . They were s t i l l b a s i c a l l y p a r t of the c l a s s i c a l or antique t r a d i t i o n but i n t h e i r work we f i n d that the seeds of medieval l i t e r a r y values have a l r e a d y begun to grow f o r t h . As mentioned, the f i r s t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s d i s c u s s i o n s of p u r e l y l i t e r a r y a e s t h e t i c s appear i n w r i t i n g s from t h i s time,-' i n d i c a t i n g a growing consciousness of l i t e r a -ture as an Independent medium of e x p r e s s i o n . More i m p o r t a n t l y , we f i n d i n the a c t u a l poems and fu of t h i s e r a , a very marked development i n l i t e r a r y p r a c t i c e . In almost a l l aspects of t h e i r a r t , the Chien An w r i t e r s show a p r o g r e s s i o n away from the s t r i c t u r e s of a n t i q u i t y , toward a f r e e r , more potent s t y l e of e x p r e s s i o n . The most r e p r e s e n t a t i v e w r i t e r of the Chien An p e r i o d i s Ts'ao Chih. He was born near the end of the second century and l i v e d through the t u r b u l e n t years that accompanied the d i s -i n t e g r a t i o n of the Han Dynasty. To an extent the imprint of . these years can be seen i n h i s works. Not only was he a poet of great t e c h n i c a l accomplishment, but i n h i s work we can see most g r a p h i c a l l y I l l u s t r a t e d the i n n o v a t i o n s and s p e c i a l a t t r i -butes of Chien An l i t e r a t u r e . For t h i s reason I have chosen him 5 and h i s work as the subject of t h i s t h e s i s . I hope that through an examination of c e r t a i n aspects of h i s work we w i l l be able to d i s c o v e r the nature of h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n to the e v o l u t i o n of l i t e r a t u r e d u r i n g the e a r l y middle ages i n China as w e l l as of the development of Chinese p o e t i c s i n g e n e r a l . Notes 1 I n a l e c t u r e given at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia i n September, 1 9 7 8 . 2 L i u Hsieh ^-l] \u00E2\u0080\u00A2fyf^Wen-hsi-n tiao-lung iK^ )f|f|L ^ [ com-posed duri n g the Liang Dynasty ( 5 0 2 - 5 5 6 ) . 3chung Jung brfe Shih p'in a l s o composed durin g the Liang Dynasty but not as comprehensive as the Wen-hsin. 4 See Helmut Wilhelm, \"The S c h o l a r ' s F r u s t r a t i o n : Notes on a Type of Fu\" i n Fairbank ed., Chinese Thought and I n s t i t u -tions, Chicago, 1 9 5 7 -^For example i n Ts'ao Chih's l e t t e r to Yang Hsiu , and Ts'ao P ' i ' s Tien Lun jJL . 6 A N O T E O N E D I T I O N S I n T s ' a o C h i n ' s b i o g r a p h y i n t h e Wei chih \" ^ j^ , C h ' e n S h o u j j t j j ^ ; | | s t a t e s t h a t i n t h e m i d d l e o f t h e Ching Ch'u %f) e r a o f t h e E m p e r o r M i n g ' s r e i g n ( 2 3 7 - 2 3 9 ) T s ' a o C h i h ' s w r i t i n g s w e r e c o l l e c t e d a n d p l a c e d i n t h e i m p e r i a l a r c h i v e s . \" ' \" T h e r e w e r e a p p a r e n t l y o v e r a h u n d r e d p i e c e s o f b o t h p r o s e a n d p o e t r y i n t h a t c o l l e c t i o n . C h i h h i m s e l f a l s o m a d e a c o l l e c t i o n o f s o m e 2 s e v e n t y - e i g h t o f h i s w o r k s b e f o r e h i s d e a t h . N e i t h e r o f t h e s e c o l l e c t i o n s h a v e b e e n t r a n s m i t t e d t o t h e p r e s e n t d a y . I n t h e Sui-shu ching - chi - chih j5^ j| i|t- jif\u00E2\u0080\u009E t h e r e i s a r e c o r d o f a c o l l e c t i o n o f T s ' a o C h i n ' s w o r k s e n t i t l e d Ch'en-ssu Wang Chih chi |^ ^ ^ J l - ^ i n t h i r t y . ch'uan. ^ T h e T ' a n g h i s t o r i e s r e c o r d w o r k s o f t h e s a m e t i t l e i n t w e n t y chuan. T h e a u t h o r s o f t h e Ssu-k'u ch'uan-shu tsung-mu t'i-yao \\u00C2\u00A3) ^ Q 4^-^ s p e c u l a t e t h a t t h e c o l l e c t i o n s r e c o r d e d i n t h e T ' a n g h i s t o r i e s w e r e e s s e n t i a l l y t h e s a m e a s t h a t r e c o r d e d i n t h e Sui-shu b u t t h a t t h e a r r a n g e m e n t o f ch'uan h a d b e e n a l t e r e d . A n e d i t i o n o f t w e n t y chuan w a s r e c o r d e d b y C h - ' e n C h e n - s u n ' \" - o f t h e S u n g i n h i s Chih-chai shu-lu chieh-t'i ^_*yjj^ fyfy 7^1 ^ b u t t h i s w a s m o s t l i k e l y n o t t h e s a m e e d i t i o n a s r e c o r d e d i n t h e T ' a n g a n d S u i h i s t o r i e s a s i t a p p a r e n t l y c o n t a i n e d a n u m b e r o f p i e c e s c o l l e c t e d f r o m v a r i o u s lei-shu ifH-^r \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 T h e o l d e s t ' . - e x t a n t e d i t i o n s a r e a l l I n ten chuan. , T h e Ssu-k'u ch'uan-shu e d i t i o n w a s b a s e d o n a r e c u t b l o c k p r i n t f r o m t h e s i x t h y e a r o f Chia-ting ^ i n t h e S u n g D y n a s t y ( 1 2 1 3 A . D . ) . C h u H s u - t s e n g 7 had access to a s i m i l a r e d i t i o n and he b e l i e v e d that i t was the v e r s i o n upon which the numerous l a t e r Ming Dynasty block p r i n t s i n ten ohiian were based. 5 There are f o r t y - f o u r fu seventy-four poems and ninety-two mis c e l l a n e o u s prose p i e c e s i n the Ssu-k'u e d i t i o n , making a t o t a l of 2 1 0 p i e c e s . Although many of these are fragmentary, t h i s i s c o n s i d e r a b l y more than the \"hundred or more\" pi e c e s r e f e r r e d to i n the Wei Chih. E i t h e r the l a t e r e d i t i o n contains many f o r g e r i e s , or e l s e the o r i g i n a l e d i t i o n excluded many works that were recorded i n other sources. In any case, the Sung v e r s i o n used by the Ssu-k'u was > a l s o \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00E2\u0080\u00A2-. Incomplete as i t d i d not c o n t a i n Ch'i-fu shih found 1 i n the Yu~ty'\:a'i^hsin-yung j L fj|T ^ \ \" | ^ C a n c ^ s e v e r a l other p i e c e s to be found i n v a r i o u s lei-shu. In the Ming Dynasty there were at l e a s t two moveable-type e d i t i o n s made. The e a r l i e r of these, that of a c e r t a i n Mr. Hsu i n Ch 1 ang Chou ~h\ \^ seems to have preceded the block p r i n t s of Kuo Yun-p'eng ^fjj and L i Meng-yang jjj^ It was u n f o r t u n a t e l y not w e l l prepared and contained many t e x t u a l e r r o r s . The l a t e r e d i t i o n , made by a Mr. Fu i n Chiang An yX-^ ^Jj\" fa was more r e l i a b l e and served as the b a s i s of the Ssu-pu ts'ung-k'an %^ -f'J e d i t i o n . The most notable Ming block p r i n t s are those of Kuo Yiin-.fe p'eng made durin g the Chia Ching-:: era j^- 5^ \" , and L i Meng-yang, the o r i g i n a l of which was made at roughly the same time and was l a t e r r e - c u t d u r i n g the Ch'ing Dynasty and p r i n t e d i n f o u r v o l -umes. Wang Sh i h - h s i e n yfc. made an e d i t i o n which must have been p u b l i s h e d somewhat l a t e r than these two e d i t i o n s as I t contains L i Meng-yang.';s p r e f a c e . Chang P'u a l s o made an e d i t i o n i n the l a t e Ming p e r i o d e n t i t l e d Ch1 en-' Ssu-wang \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 ch'uan-chi i \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 I t was p r i n t e d i n f o u r volumes and two chuan. A l l of these e d i t i o n s used the Sung Ch'ia Ting v e r s i o n as a s t a r t i n g p o i n t and went on to make c o r r e c t i o n s and a d d i t i o n s of t h e i r own. In the Ch'ing Dynasty c o n s i d e r a b l e work was done toward making a d e f i n i t i v e c o l l e c t i o n of''Ts'ao Chih's works. The most s u c c e s s f u l attempt was made by Chu Hsu-tseng, a Tao Kuang '\u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 t i n g y u ^ J t T'H ^ l 837) ohu-jen ^K- H i s T s ' a o G h i k'ao-yi ^ ^ -^L Is based p r i m a r i l y on an e a r l y Sung b l o c k p r i n t made du r i n g the f i f t h year of Yuan Feng ^ (1082) by the Wan-yii T'ang p r i n t e r s f\u00C2\u00AB\u00C2\u00A3[ . Chu a l s o c o l l e c t e d both complete and fragmen-t a r y works from the lei-shu and added h i s own c o l l a t i o n s , based on numerous e a r l i e r e d i t i o n s at h i s d i s p o s a l , and a n n o t a t i o n s , based on the work of e a r l i e r commentators and h i s own r e s e a r c h . The work i s i n twelve chuan. . Ten chuan c o n t a i n the a c t u a l c o l -l e c t e d works. One ehuan contains e x t e n s i v e i n f o r m a t i o n r e g a r d i n g the h i s t o r y of the t e x t as w e l l as an annotated b i b l i o g r a p h y of e d i t i o n s r e f e r r e d t o . The f i n a l \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00E2\u0080\u00A2- ahuan contains a d e t a i l e d chron-ology or nien-p'u jcf-'|\u00C2\u00A3jg\" of Chih's l i f e . T h i s book was p u b l i s h e d i n the Chin-ling ts'ung-shu ^f^^_^^n f o u r volumes and u n f o r -t u n a t e l y has not been r e p r i n t e d i n a more a c c e s s i b l e and con-venient modern form. The Ts'ao chi ch'uan-p'ing ^ ^ \u00C2\u00A3 ^ of Ting Yen \"T\" ^ was completed at roughly the same time as Chu's work but d i d not appear i n p r i n t u n t i l somewhat l a t e r . Apparently Ti n g and Chu were unaware of each other's work and there i s much s i m i l a r i t y between them. Ting Yen took a Ming Wan Li |^ ^ (1573-1620) e r a p r i n t made by a Mr. Ch'eng i n Hsiu Yang -jj:]^ . as h i s base t e x t and added three prose p i e c e s to i t . Although he d i d exten-s i v e work c o l l a t i n g the t e x t , he d i d not i n c l u d e as many annota-t i o n s as d i d Chu. T i n g a l s o drew up a nien-p'u and made notes on the t e x t . His book was o r i g i n a l l y p u b l i s h e d i n 1 8 7 2 i n two volumes by the C h i n - l i n g Book Company/^|^j |\u00C2\u00A3.y2j and has been r e -p u b l i s h e d ' i n a r e - s e t \"Western\"- v e r s i o n e d i t e d by Yeh Chii-sheng - j ^ H / ^ i n Peking i n 1 9 5 7 -Two e x c e l l e n t annotated c o l l e c t i o n s o f Ts'ao Chih's poetry were made i n the 2 0 t h century by Chinese s c h o l a r s . The Ts'ao Tzu-ahien shih ch-'-ien ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ o f Ku Chih ~^ Jj[_ appeared i n 1 9 2 8 i n the Ts'eng ping t'ang, wu ahung \"J\u00C2\u00A7g ^ J C ^ e d i t e d by Ch'en H s i i n . The other work, Ts'ao Tzu-ahien shih chu ^ ^ 5^\"$^r by Huang C h i e h w a s f i r s t p u b l i s h e d i n 1 9 3 0 by the Commercial Press i n Peking and then r e p r i n t e d by Jen-min wen-hsueh A ^ j i ^ ^ i n 1 9 5 7 - Of the two, Ku Chih's i s the l e s s e x t e n s i v e and the more d i f f i c u l t to use. I t has no index and i s unpunctuated. Ku's s c h o l a r s h i p i s somewhat b e t t e r however, as he gives a more d e t a i l e d d i s c u s s i o n of the back-ground and t r a d i t i o n a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of most of the poems- and i d e n t i f i e s the source of h i s i n f o r m a t i o n i n a more s p e c i f i c manner. Huang Chieh has e s s e n t i a l l y f o l l o w e d Chu Hsu-tseng's t e x t . He s e l e c t e d seventy-one of Chih's poems and added a great deal of commentary and annotation to each p i e c e . The most u s e f u l f o r e i g n language work on Ts'ao Chih's poetry i s Ito Masafumi's Sd Shoku.^ . I t o has s e l e c t e d f o r t y -four of Chih's poems, made h i s own t r a n s l a t i o n and comments and added a c r i t i c a l i n t r o d u c t i o n to Chih's l i f e and work. He has 10 a l s o prepared a w e l l researched chronology of Chih's l i f e . P r o f e s s o r I t o ' s d e t a i l e d and j u d i c i o u s s c h o l a r s h i p i s an i n d i s -p e n s i b l e c o n t r i b u t i o n to the understanding of Ts'ao Chih's poetry. There are numerous fragmentary t r a n s l a t i o n s of Chih's works i n E n g l i s h . The most Important being Hans F r a n k e l ' s t r a n s l a t i o n of f i f t e e n p i e c e s i n h i s a r t i c l e , \" F i f t e e n Poems o by Ts'ao Chih: An Attempt at a New Approach\". There are a l s o David Roy's t r a n s l a t i o n s of s i x of Chih's poems on the theme of the \"neglected w i f e \" , ^ and K.P.K. Whitaker's t r a n s l a t i o n s of Lo-shen fu10 San tang shih E - ^ f ^ p 1 and Ch'ieh po ming hsing ^ \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 j ^ - ^ \" ^ 1 ^ \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Chih's works are a l s o found In many ant h o l o -gies made by Western t r a n s l a t o r s . The only l a r g e - s c a l e t r a n s l a t i o n of Ts'ao Chih's poetry made i n t o E n g l i s h i s George Kent's Worlds of Dust and JadeT3 Mr. Kent has t r a n s l a t e d f o r t y - s e v e n of Chih's works and w r i t t e n a c r i t i c a l i n t r o d u c t i o n to them. The t r a n s l a t i o n s are by and l a r g e a c c u r a t e , but the sometimes c u r i o u s language employed, and the l i m i t e d nature of the annotations has l e d me to use my own t r a n s l a t i o n s and commentary i n the present work, r a t h e r than r e l y on h i s . Ts'ao Chih's poems are i n c l u d e d In a number of e a r l y l i t e r a r y a n t h o l o g i e s . The e a r l i e s t of these i s the Wen Esuan compiled under the auspices of P r i n c e Chao Ming of the Liang Dynasty. This book i n c l u d e s t w e n t y - f i v e of Chih's poems, one of h i s fu and s i x other miscellaneous prose p i e c e s . The commentary made to these pieces by L i Shan ^ jp J|. and l a t e r the s o - c a l l e d \" F i v e O f f i c i a l s \" of the Sung Dynasty, i s very 11 u s e f u l i n t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e s e p o e m s . A l s o , t h e p'ing chu Chao Ming Wen Hsuan'pf'%$Qo9i\%jBi e d i t i o n o f t h i s b o o k m a d e i n t h e C h ' i n g D y n a s t y b y Y u K u a n g - h w a -J\"-^^ ( i n Ch^ien lung 37 J^pj^ ( 1 7 7 2 ) ) \" ^ i s a v a l u a b l e s o u r c e o f t r a d i t i o n a l c o m m e n t a r y c o l -l e c t e d - f r o m t h e n o t e s o f v a r i o u s s c h o l a r s . T h e Yu t 'ai hsin yung J S - ' f j r % % j > a n a n t h o l o g y o f l y r i c a l v e r s e m a d e d u r i n g t h e C h ' e n D y n a s t y b y . H s u L i n g ^ ^ ^ ^ c o n t a i n s a n u m b e r o f C h i h ' s p o e m s , a t l e a s t o n e o f w h i c h , Ch'i-fu shih' w a s p r e s e r v e d o n l y i n t h i s c o l l e c t i o n b y S u n g t i m e s ' . T i n g P u - p a o ' s Ch'uan Han San-Kuo Chin Nan-pei-ch'ao shih lH>i% \u00C2\u00A3 1% 1%% $\$L%$ 1 5 , P e n g W e i - n a ' s \u00C2\u00A7fe \%%$\Shih chi \"f^ f * \u00C2\u00A3 i 1 6 a n d Y a n g T e - c h o u ' s ^ ^ ^ Chien An ch'i tzu chi j f ^ ^ c t - T ^ ^ a 1 1 c o n t a i n i m p o r t a n t c o l l e c t i o n s o f C h i h ' s w o r k s . T h e Yueh-fu shih chi j^/\u00C2\u00A3j\"^J\u00C2\u00A3of K u o M a o - c h ' i e n f^j^of S u n g c o n t a i n s m o s t o f C h i h ' s p o e m s w h i c h f a l l u n d e r t h e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f yileh-fu a n d p r o v i d e s m u c h v a l u a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n . r e g a r d i n g t h e b a c k g r o u n d o f m a n y o f t h e s e w o r k s . F i n a l l y , t h e e x c e l l e n t w o r k o f Y i i K u a n - y i n g ^ C ^ j f e i - n h i s San Ts'ao shih hsuan ^ \"J^r j j ^ a n d o f t h e s c h o l a r s a t P e k i n g U n i v e r s i t y i n ' t h e i r Wei-chin Nan-pei-ch'ao wen-hsueh shih, ts'an-k'ao t z u - l i a o ^ j ^ - ^ \" s h o u l d n o t b e o v e r l o o k e d . B o t h o f . t h e s e b o o k s c o n t a i n s c h o l a r s h i p o f a v e r y h i g h c a l i b r e p r e s e n t e d I n a f o r m w h i c h i s b o t h e a s i l y u n d e r s t o o d a n d a c c e s s i b l e t o t h e m o d e r n s t u d e n t . A s m e n t i o n e d a b o v e , t h e n u m e r o u s lei-shu c o m p i l e d l a r g e l y i n t h e T ' a n g a n d S u n g e r a s w e r e v a l u a b l e s o u r c e s o f w o r k s l o s t f r o m t h e c o l l e c t e d w o r k s o f T s ' a o C h i h . T h e T' ai p'ing yu lan fcfy Yt-wen lei c h u l ^ i j ^ ^ ^ , Ch'u hsileh chi '#77r^'f\u00C2\u00A3\u00C2\u00BBand P e ^ t'ang shu ch'ao $X*^\u00C2\u00A3.3k%M t o n a m e b u t a f e w , a l l c o n t a i n C h i h ' s 1 2 works In e i t h e r fragmentary or complete form. I have had r e -course to these p r i m a r i l y f o r the purpose of v e r i f y i n g the c o l -l a t i o n s of former s c h o l a r s . The most important source of h i s t o r i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n . r e g a r d i n g Ts'ao Chih's l i f e i s the Wei Chih i n the San Kuo Chih ^ of Ch ' en Shou f^L-^ \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 This work i s supplemented by the annotations of P'ei Sung-chih y^^-fc^of the Liu-Sung Dynasty .^'1 $R' a n < ^ l a t e r by those of Lu p l ^ _ ^ S ^ o f the e a r l y r e p u b l i c a n era i n h i s San Kuo chih, chi-ohieh \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 This l a t t e r work contains a great deal of i n f o r m a t i o n a l s o drawn from c e r t a i n lei-shu and l a t e r h i s t o r i c a l accounts such as the Tzu-chih t'ung ohien >(? i|j.\u00C2\u00A3jjaOf Ssu-ma Kuang ^ ^ . The work of I t o Masa-fumi In h i s \" I n t r o d u c t i o n \" to h i s So Shoku and that of Yoshikawa K i j i r o ^ )l| ^ / f c i n h i s Sankokushi j i t s u r o k u 5-\u00C2\u00A7;ci^ ^ j c 2 1 were a l s o most h e l p f u l i n c l a r i f y i n g c e r t a i n matters of an h i s * t o r i c a l n ature. In the b i o g r a p h i c a l chapter a l l r e f e r e n c e s w i l l be to the Wei Chih of the San-Kuo chih, pu-chu J*. \"^j p r e p r i n t e d by 2 2 the Y i Wen Book Company of T a i p e i unless otherwise i n d i c a t e d . I have used t h i s t e x t because i t f o l l o w s most c l o s e l y the index compiled by the Harvard-Yenching I n s t i t u t e . In other cases where there i s an index with t e x t Included to a given source work I have used the r e f e r e n c e system of that work. Where no such work e x i s t s or i s not r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e I t r i e d to use e i t h e r the Shih-s an-ching, chu-shu -f'^ e d i t i o n , ( Y i Wen r e p r i n t ) 2 ^ or the Ssu-pu pei-yao ^ g ^ p j ^ j ^ e d i t i o n . 2 ^ E x c e p t i o n s ' to t h i s w i l l be noted. 13.- '>'---N o t e s 1 W C 1 9 / 2 2 a , 2 Y W L C 5 5 / 9 9 6 . ^Sui Shu]\$L, P e k i n g , C h u n g H w a e d i t i o n , p . 1 0 5 9 ^ C h ' e n C h e n - s u n f ^ ^ l t ^ ^ , , Chih chai shu-lu chieh-t'i J l \u00C2\u00AE * p h o t o - r e p r i n t o f a b l o c k - p r i n t b a s e d o n t h e Yung-lo ta t i e n ^ *g* Jfc e d i t i o n i n t w e n t y - t w o ch'uan 3 v o l s . , p u b l i s h e d b y K u a n g W e n * B o o k C o m p a n y i n T a i p e i , 1 9 6 8 . l 6 / 3 a . ^ C h u H s u - t s e n g , Ts'ao-ohi k'ao-yi %^rJ^^x , l l / 6 a . ^ S e e p o s t f a c e t o Ts'ao-ohi k'ao-yi b y C h i a n g K u o - p a n g 7 I t o M a s a f u m i , So Shoku , T o k y o , 1 9 5 8 . o H a n s H . F r a n k e l , \" F i f t e e n P o e m s b y T s ' a o C h i h ; A n A t t e m p t a t a N e w A p p r o a c h \" , i n J A O S 8 4 / 1 9 6 4 , p p . 1 - 1 4 . ^ D a v i d T . R o y , \" T h e T h e m e o f t h e N e g l e c t e d W i f e i n t h e P o e t r y o f T g ' a o C h i h \" i n J A S 1 9 / 1 9 5 9 , p p . 2 5 - 3 1 . l ^ K . P . K . W h i t a k e r , \" T s a u r J y r ' s L o u h s h e r n F u \" i n Asia Major, I V / I , 1 9 5 4 , p p . 3 6 - 5 6 . 1 1 . \" S o m e N o t e s o n t h e B a c k g r o u n d a n d D a t e o f T s a u r J y r ' s P o e m o f t h e T h r e e G o o d C o u r t i e r s \" i n B S O A S 1 8 / 1 9 5 6 , p p . 3 0 3 - 3 1 1 . 1 2 _ \u00E2\u0080\u0094 . \" T s a u r J y r ' s S o n g o f t h e I l l - f a t e d L a d y \" , i n B S O A S 1 7 / 1 9 5 5 . \" ^ G e o r g e 0 . K e n t , Worlds of Dust and Jade 3 N e w . Y o r k , 1969. ^ R e p u b l i s h e d i n S h a n g h a i , 1 9 3 1 . 1 5 F i r s t p u b l i s h e d i n 1 9 1 6 a s a b l o c k - p r i n t , r e p u b l i s h e d i n 1 9 6 6 a n d 1 9 6 8 i n f a c s i m i l e b y Y i W e n o f T a i p e i . l 6 F e n g W e i - n a Shih-chi # L p u b l i s h e d i n a b l o c k -p r i n t i n 1 6 1 3 , a m o d e r n e d i t i o n d o e s n o t s e e m t o b e a v a i l a b l e . 1 7 Y a n g T e - c h o u jfj w a s a M i n g D y n a s t y s c h o l a r . A C h ' i n g , Ch'ien Lung, wu'-yin % t f k ^ % ( 1 7 5 8 ) p r i n t o f t h i s w o r k h a s b e e n p h o t o - r e p r i n t e d b y C h u n g H w a i n T a i p e i . l 8 P u b l i s h e d b y Jen-min Wen-hsueh A . ^ ^ C ' ^ i n 1 9 5 7 , P e k i n g . - ^ p u b l i s h e d b y C h u n g H w a i n P e k i n g i n t w o v o l u m e s , 1 9 6 2 . 1 4 2 0 F i r s t p u b l i s h e d by the Ku Chi P u b l i s h i n g Company ^ iK )j/^L^i_ and subsequently r e p r i n t e d i n Peking, 1 9 5 7 -2 1 S e e The Collected Works of Yoshikawa Kojiro volume 7 , P- 7 3 - 1 3 3 -^San-kuo-chih, pu chu Z - \u00C2\u00A7 & | ,c: p h o t o - r e p r i n t e d by Y i Wen Book Co. if j^ ->\u00C2\u00A3*jrin T a i p e i , from a Ch'Ing, Tao Kuang \u00C2\u00A3jl era (18.50) b l o c k - p r i n t , produced i n Shanghai by the Wu-shih Esi-shuang-t 'ang Jp- x&? $L 'jtl ^Sh ih-san-ching, chu-shu -f\" 2- >JL 2\u00C2\u00BBLj p h o t o - r e p r i n t e d by Y i Wen, T a i p e i , from a Ch'ing Chia Ch'ing\"20 jjfe M ( 1 8 1 5 ) b l o c k p r i n t produced by the Nan Ch ''ang fu-/zsue/zi.in>,Gniangh~ ^Ssu-pu pei-yaoffl %f jfa f i r s t p u b l i s h e d i n Shanghai by the Chung Hwa Book Co. $ \u00C2\u00A3 jt fa from 1 9 2 7 - 1 9 3 5 . 15 THE LIFE OF TS'AO CHIH Ts'ao Chih was born i n the t h i r d year of Ch'u-p'ing i^U 3f- ) era of the L a t e r Han Dynasty ( 1 9 2 A.D.) 1 He took the s t y l e Tzu-chien and i s , a c c o r d i n g to Chinese convention, r e f e r r e d to a l s o by the v a r i o u s t i t l e s which he was granted throughout h i s l i f e . His f a t h e r was the famous ge n e r a l Ts'ao Ts'ao leg. who was to become the de facto r u l e r of n o r t h e r n China i n succeeding -years. His mother was a former s i n g i n g g i r l whose f a m i l y name was Pien -\"jr . Chih was her t h i r d son, and at the time of h i s b i r t h she was merely one of Ts'ao Ts'ao's many o f f i c i a l concubines \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 2 L a t e r she was to become Ts'ao Ts'ao's queen and the woman whose sons would succeed him i n h i s o f f i c i a l p o s i t i o n . The l a t t e r h a l f of the second century was a time of tremendous s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l chaos. The L a t e r Han Dynasty was p a s s i n g i n t o a f i n a l phase of profound d e c l i n e . In answer to i n t o l e r a b l e l i v i n g c o n d i t i o n s In the r u r a l areas, numerous peasant r e v o l t s surged f o r t h over the c o u n t r y s i d e . The l a r g e s t and most powerful of these was l e d by a s e m i - r e l i g i o u s s o c i e t y c a l l e d the Yellow Turbans. This movement came to p u b l i c a t t e n -t i o n i n 184 A.D. when l a r g e numbers of i t s adherents launched h a t t a c k s i n northern China. This massive d i s t u r b a n c e was per-haps the c a t a l y s t that l e d to the outbreak of wholesale m i l i t a r y s t r u g g l e between the v a r i o u s generals f o r c o n t r o l of the empire. 16 Ts'ao Chih grew up i n the midst of t h i s c o n f l i c t . I t was not u n t i l he was seventeen years o l d , i n 208, that h i s f a t h e r had managed to defeat or c o n t a i n the other generals and u n i f y most of northern China. T h i s brought a measure of s t a b i l -i t y and peace to the area. Even then, however, the m i l i t a r y campaigns continued as Ts'ao Ts'ao t r i e d to complete the u n i f i -c a t i o n of the empire by overcoming the regimes that had been e s t a b l i s h e d i n Szechwan by L i u P e l J ^ ] ' ^ a n ^ i n the lower Yangtze r e g i o n by Sun Ch'uan . There were a l s o campaigns a g a i n s t i n v a d i n g t r i b a l peoples from the north and r e b e l l i n g g e n e r a l s . ffit Is easy to imagine that Chih's e a r l y l i f e must have been h e a v i l y c o l o u r e d by the c o n t i n u a l movement, pressure and discomfort of m i l i t a r y l i f e . I t i s a l s o n a t u r a l that Chih would very e a r l y have been subjected to t r a i n i n g i n the m a r t i a l a r t s . We can f i n d evidence of t h i s i n many of h i s poems and prose works. For example, i n a memorial to the Emperor Ming (Ts'ao J u l ) w r i t t e n l a t e i n h i s l i f e , Chih w r i t e s : I was born i n t o times of chaos and grew up among the t r o o p s . I o f t e n r e c e i v e d I n s t r u c t i o n from the M a r t i a l Emperor (Ts'ao Ts'ao) and observed the e s s e n t i a l s of h i s c-technique i n d i r e c t i n g the troops and employing weaponry1;-We a l s o know that from an e a r l y age he had taken p a r t i n h i s f a t h e r ' s m i l i t a r y o p e r a t i o n s . In a s l i g h t l y e a r l i e r memorial to the same man which contained much advice on m i l i t a r y matters Chih says: Formerly I f o l l o w e d our ancestor, the M a r t i a l Emp-er o r southward to Ch' i h An. To the east I approached \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 the vast seas, i n the west I saw the Jade Gates, while i n the n o r t h I passed out through the Dark Pass. I saw the power that he used i n d i r e c t i n g the troops^and em-p l o y i n g weaponry. I t could be c a l l e d sublime. The memorials that Chih sent to the Emperors Wen (Ts'ao P ' i ^ ^ l ) and Ming o f t e n s t r e s s the importance of m i l i t a r y a f - ? -f a i r s . These, along with a few of h i s poems and fu on m a r t i a l themes, such as \"The White Horse\" or \"Marching E a s t \" 7 demon-s t r a t e t h a t Chih must have been very much impressed of the s t r a t e g i c importance of the m i l i t a r y d u r i n g p o l i t i c a l l y u n stable times. He f u r t h e r expresses the c o n v i c t i o n that he was a man very competent to d e a l with such matters. Although Ts'ao Ts'ao's f a m i l y background was m i l i t a r y r a t h e r than s c h o l a s t i c , 8 he had obtained a very good education. He had become a w r i t e r of c o n s i d e r a b l e accomplishment. He a l s o b e l i e v e d s t r o n g l y i n the importance of employing men of s c h o l a s -t i c and a r t i s t i c t a l e n t i n government. Next to h i s success i n u n i t i n g (\u00C2\u00A7Jstabilizing n o r t hern China, h i s patronage of l i t e r a t u r e and the a r t s was probably h i s g r e a t e s t c o n t r i b u t i o n to Chinese h i s t o r y . In many ways i t was the longer l a s t i n g . Ts'ao Chih b e n e f i t t e d very s u b s t a n t i a l l y from h i s f a t h e r ' s l o v e of a r t s and l e t t e r s . He and h i s b r o t h e r s most l i k e l y r e c e i v e d the best t r a -d i t i o n a l education a v a i l a b l e at that time. They must a l s o have been g r e a t l y s t i m u l a t e d by t h e i r contact with the many l e a r n e d and a r t i s t i c men who had been c a l l e d to serve i n the a d m i n i s t r a -t i o n of t h e i r f a t h e r . Ts'ao Chih began to e x h i b i t c o n s i d e r a b l e t a l e n t i n l i t e r -ary p u r s u i t s at a very e a r l y age. In Ch'en Shou's biography of him we read: The King of Ch'en, Chih^ was s t y l e d Tzu-chien. At the the age of ten years or more he c o u l d r e c i t e the \"Poems\" and the \" A n a l e c t s \" as w e l l as tz 'u and fit $j\u00C2\u00A3 t o t a l l i n g thousands of c h a r a c t e r s . He was a l s o very accomplished i n composition. Once Ts'ao Ts'ao saw one of Chih's compositions and asked him, \"Did you copy t h i s from someone?\" Chih k n e l t and s a i d , \"As I speak my words have refinement. P u t t i n g brush to paper I cre a t e t r e a t i s e s . Test me face to face i f you wish, why should I copy from someone? Ts'ao Ts'ao took h i s son up on t h i s i d e a and sponsored a k i n d of poetry competition i n one of the newly f i n i s h e d towers i n the c i t y of Yeh jjjrjj : At that time i n Yeh, the T'ung Chiieh Tower ^ was .'. \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 newly completed. Ts'ao Ts'ao took a l l h i s sons i n t o the tower and had each of them w r i t e a fu. Chih took up h i s brush and immediately completed h i s p i e c e . I t was very readable and Ts'ao Ts'ao was much i m p r e s s e d . 1 1 The r e s u l t of t h i s c o m petition set the stage f o r the most a c t i v e and problematic phase of Ts'ao Chih's l i f e . H is e l d e s t b r o t h e r Ts'ao P ' i i s not mentioned s p e c i f i c a l l y i n t h i s passage but we know f o r c e r t a i n that he must have attended because the Yi-wen lei-ahu ^ - ^ 1 *KJ\u00C2\u00A3 contains the fu which 1 2 he wrote on that o c c a s s i o n . From roughly t h i s time u n t i l the end of P ' i ' s l i f e , the two brot h e r s would play major r o l e s i n o each other',s lives. Sometime between 2 0 5 and 2 0 8 (Chien A n ^ j j - 9 - 1 2 ) Ts'ao Ts'ao decided to make the c i t y of Yeh i n Honan h i s base of o p e r a t i o n s . 1 3 Because of t h i s Chih, who was then s t i l l teenagedj.mmust have moved to l i v e i n that c i t y . Of these e a r l y years i n Yeh we know very l i t t l e . We can only assume that Chih was c o n t i n u i n g h i s education i n the v a r i o u s m i l i t a r y and c i v i l a r t s i n a more s t a b l e environment than he had p r e v i o u s l y . In 2 1 1 (C.A. 1 6 ) Ts'ao Chih turned twenty sui ^ , the age of m a j o r i t y i n t r a d i t i o n a l China. Because of t h i s he r e -c e i v e d h i s f i r s t o f f i c i a l t i t l e : Duke of P' i n g Yuan . This t i t l e c a r r i e d with i t an endowment '-of l a n d and made Chih the f e u d a l r u l e r of that l a n d . 1 1 * There i s no reason to b e l i e v e that he a c t u a l l y took up r e s i d e n c e i n P'ing Yuan however, as the next few years saw him i n v o l v e d i n many a c t i v i t i e s i n and around Yeh. In the same year, C A . 1 6 , Chih accompanied h i s f a t h e r on two important campaigns a g a i n s t r e b e l l i o u s g e n e r a l s ; one a g a i n s t Ma Ch' ao J ^ j j ^ i n the west and the other northward a g a i n s t Yang Ch'iu \^^f')k'^ S e v e r a l of h i s best poems and fu a l l u d e to these journeys and seem to have been w r i t t e n at about t h i s t i m e . 1 6 The l 6 t h year of Chien An i s a l s o very s i g n i f i c a n t as i t was the year i n which Ts'ao Ts'ao, through the Han emperor, made Ts'ao P ' i Wu-kuan chung-lang-chvang ^3. ^ cj 7 ffj5 ^ -If 1 ^ and aide to the Prime M i n i s t e r . The Prime M i n i s t e r was none other than Ts'ao Ts'ao h i m s e l f and h i s a c t u a l powers extended f a r beyond those normally a s c r i b e d to that o f f i c e . He was de facto r u l e r of northern and c e n t r a l China and had s i n c e 2 0 7 ( C A . 1 2 ) been bestowing f e u d a l t i t l e s on h i s s u p p o r t e r s . He was by then f i f t y - e i g h t years o l d and was undoubtedly concerned about the problem of s e l e c t i n g someone to succeed him i n h i s p o s i t i o n . P ' i was the e l d e s t of the three sons borne by the Lady Plen, Ts'ao Ts'ao's p r i n c i p a l w i f e , and as such was the nrcfst \"obvious c a n d i -date. I t had been p o i n t e d out that by g i v i n g P ' i a p o s i t i o n i n the c e n t r a l court and making that p o s i t i o n d i r e c t l y r e s p o n s i b l e to the Prime M i n i s t e r , Ts'ao Ts'ao was very l i k e l y i n d i c a t i n g 19 that he had t e n t a t i v e l y chosen him as h i s h e i r . J Ts'ao Ts'ao d i d not, however, c o n s i d e r the matter of s e l e c t i n g a successor c l o s e d . He was a tough-minded man who would not allow convention to a r b i t r a t e d e c i s i o n s of importance. He used v a r i o u s means i n the f o l l o w i n g years to t e s t the a b i l i -t i e s of h i s sons. He wanted to ensure t h a t the most capable among, them would succeed him i n the work that he had so a b l y begun. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h i s k i n d of pragmatism gave r i s e to a number of problems i n the a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c i r c l e s at Yeh. Perhaps as-.a r e s u l t of the fu contest i n the T'ung Chiieh Tower, Ts'ao Chih came more and more to h i s f a t h e r ' s a t t e n t i o n . He had by then matured i n t o a t a l e n t e d and personable young man and Ts'ao Ts'ao was charmed by him. In Ch'en Shou's words: Chih's nature was simple and easy-going. He d i d n ' t c u l -t i v a t e a severe demeanour. Whether i n h i s c a r r i a g e or t r a p p i n g s , robes or j e w e l l e r y , he d i d not s t r i v e f o r beauty or o s t e n t a t i o n . Each time he was questioned d u r i n g an audience he would respond d i r e c t l y and a p t l y . Hence he r e c e i v e d p a r t i c u l a r favour and love.20 I t i s n ' t p o s s i b l e to a s c e r t a i n i f Chih a c t i v e l y sought t h i s favour. I t was not l o n g , however, before a number of prominent court p e r s o n a l i t i e s r e a l i z e d the p o s s i b i l i t y that Ts'ao Ts'ao might e v e n t u a l l y s e l e c t Chih as h i s h e i r . Thus, e i t h e r through confidence i n Chih's a b i l i t y or through s e l f - L i t i n t e r e s t , these men began to c u l t i v a t e Chih's f r i e n d s h i p and to promote him i n Ts'ao T s l a o ' s presence. Foremost among these men were two b r o t h e r s named Tin g Yi\"J\"^J^and Ting I \"J\" ^ and a long time aide of Ts'ao Ts'ao's, Yang Hs i u - ^ ^ ^ i ^ - . ^ l A l l of these men h e l d c o n s i d e r a b l e power at court and there i s no doubt that t h e i r p ersuasions on Chih's account, along with those of a number of other f r i e n d s df Chih's had a s t r o n g i n f l u e n c e on Ts'ao Ts'ao's t h i n k i n g . Evidence of t h i s i n f l u e n c e i s perhaps found i n the Wei-wu ku-shih t s a i - l i n g 4 5JC^jP^^Quoted by P'ei Sung-chih. There we f i n d t h i s passage \"At f i r s t he (Ts'ao Ts'ao) s a i d , 'Among my sons, Tzu-chien i s most able to s e t t l e major a f f a i r s . ' \" 2 2 I f t h i s i s r e l i a b l e i n -formation, i t i s an i n d i c a t i o n t h a t Ts'ao Ts'ao may indeed have been s e r i o u s l y c o n s i d e r i n g making Chih h i s successor. Ts'ao P ' i was w e l l aware of t h i s s i t u a t i o n . In response to t h i s t h r e a t to h i s p o s i t i o n he used h i s power to gather a group of supporters to counter the e f f o r t s of the c l i q u e sur-rounding Chih. T h i s r e s u l t e d i n a p o l i t i c a l s t r u g g l e which clouded the a i r around Ts'ao Tsao's court with many b i t t e r f e e l -ings t hat d i d n ' t d i s s i p a t e u n t i l many years afterwards. I t i s d i f f i c u l t to t r a c e the exact course of events i n that s t r u g g l e . There i s very l i t t l e i n the way of source mater-\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 i a l , and t hat m a t e r i a l which remains tends to be r a t h e r s u b j e c t -i v e or r o m a n t i c i z e d . We know f o r c e r t a i n that Chih must have been i n h i s f a t h e r ' s good graces i n 214 ( C A . 1 9 ) because I t was i n t h a t year that he was given the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of guarding Yeh while Ts'ao Ts'ao and h i s two sons, P ' i and Chang jjr^ went 23 o f f to campaign a g a i n s t Sun Ch'uan. When l e a v i n g the c a p i t a l Ts'ao Ts'ao demonstrated h i s confidence i n Chih by s a y i n g : When f o r m e r l y \" I was made commander of Tun Ch'lu I was 23 years o l d . I remember my a c t i o n s d u r i n g that time and have no r e g r e t s to t h i s day. Now you are a l s o 23 years o l d . You must s t r i v e to do your b e s t . 2 ^ In that year a l s o , Chih was given a new f i e f . He was made Duke of L i n T z u ^ ^ ^ - This f i e f seems to have been of the same s i z e as h i s former one i n P'ing Yuan. J A f t e r t h i s time Chih's f o r t u n e s d e c l i n e d . For some reason or other he seems to have abandoned h i s simple, easy-going ways and become something of a r e p r o b a t e . He began to 22 d r i n k e x c e s s i v e l y and c a r r i e d on without much concern f o r h i s r e p u t a t i o n . According to Ch'en Shou's account, P ' i took advan-tage of t h i s and used v a r i o u s means to undermine Chih's p o s i t i o n f u r t h e r . P ' i h i m s e l f , on the other hand, was c a r e f u l not to s u l l y h i s v i r t u o u s image. Those l o b b y i n g on h i s b e h a l f o f t e n s t r e s s e d t h i s seeming u p r i g h t n e s s . Ts'ao Ts'ao was a p p a r e n t l y persuaded t h a t P ' i was i n f a c t the most r e s p o n s i b l e of h i s sons as he made him the o f f i c i a l crown p r i n c e i n 217 ( C A . 22) a f t e r he was made King of Wei ^j^J_by the Han emperor. Chih was only given the c o n s o l a t i o n of having f i v e thousand households added to h i s f i e f . The drama at court d i d not end at t h i s j u n c t u r e . In the next two or three years Chih was to be i n v o l v e d i n a number of r a t h e r unseemly i n c i d e n t s . Sometime i n 219, Chih drove h i s c h a r i o t down the main thoroughfare i n Yeh and then f o r c e d h i s way out through a gate which was r e s t r i c t e d to use by the em-peror h i m s e l f . T h i s made Ts'ao Ts'ao very angry and l e d him to have the o f f i c e r i n charge of the gate executed and to have the r e g u l a t i o n s governing the behaviour of the v a r i o u s f e u d a l 29 \"30 l o r d s J made more s t r i c t . There i s some evidence to suggest that Yang Hsiu was i n v o l v e d i n the i n c i d e n t with Chih and even that he induced him to break the o f f i c i a l r e g u l a t i o n s . Por example, i n the Hsu Han shu $||?]^-|| , w e f i n d t h i s account: Someone informed (the court) that Yang Hsiu and the Duke of L i n Tzu, Ts'ao Chih, had become drunk and were r i d i n g i n the same c a r r i a g e when they had d r i v e n out through the Ssu-ma Gate and defamed the Duke of Yen L i n g (Ts'ao) Chang. When Ts'ao Ts'ao heard t h i s he was g r e a t l y angered. So he a r r e s t e d (Hsiu) . and executed him. At the time he was f 6 r t y - f I v e . 3 1 Another account i n the Shih Yu reads t h i s way: Ts'ao Ts'ao sent the Crown Pr i n c e and Chih each to go out through one of the gates of Yeh. S e c r e t l y he ordered that the gates not be opened so that he c o u l d observe t h e i r behaviour. The Crown Pr i n c e a r r i v e d at the gate but when he c o u l d not gain e x i t he r e t u r n e d . Hsiu f i r s t warned Chih that i f the gate d i d not open f o r him he c o u l d , s i n c e he had been given orders by the King, have the keeper k i l l e d . Chih f o l l o w e d t h i s a d v i c e . Thus, Hsiu, as a r e s u l t of h i s involvement was executed.33 A second i n c i d e n t , a l s o o c c u r r i n g i n 2 1 9 , had more s e r i o u s i m p l i c a t i o n s . In the f a l l of that year Chih's h a l f -b r o t h e r , Ts'ao Jen had become surrounded while doing b a t t l e with the S h u - H a n g e n e r a l Kuan Yii ^ |J^^ \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 He was i n danger of s u f f e r i n g a major de f e a t . Ts'ao Ts'ao decided to d i s p a t c h Chih, whom he had endowed with two weighty m i l i t a r y t i t l e s , - 1 to rescue Jen. U n f o r t u n a t e l y Chih was drunk at the time when the orders a r r i v e d and he c o u l d not but d e c l i n e the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y with great embarrassment. A f t e r t h i s f i a s c o Ts'ao Ts'ao undoubtedly became very d i s i l l u s i o n e d about Chih's c h a r a c t e r . Ch'en Shou s t a t e s that a f t e r the f i r s t i n c i d e n t , \"Chih's favour d e c l i n e d day by d a y \" . ^ In another q u o t a t i o n from the Wei-wu ku-shih t s a i - l i n g we read that a f t e r Chih had t r a n s g r e s s e d o f f i c i a l s e c u r i t y r e g u l a t i o n s , Ts'ao Ts'ao began to regard\"him i n a d i f f e r e n t l i g h t . ^ The i n a b i l i t y of Chih to accept r e s p o n s i b i l i t y i n a m i l i t a r y emergency was of f a r more se r i o u s consequence than h i s t r a n s g r e s s i n g of the gate c o n t r o l r e g u l a t i o n s i n Yeh and must have had an even g r e a t e r e f f e c t on h i s f a t h e r ' s e v a l u a t i o n of him. F u r t h e r , i n t h a t , or perhaps the f o l l o w i n g year, Chih once again apparently f e l l a f o u l of r e g u l a t i o n s governing the behaviour of o f f i c i a l s and l o r d s . In an i n c i d e n t recorded i n the Shih Yu, Ts'ao Ts'ao a l l e g e d l y had climbed a tower and caught s i g h t of Chih's wife dressed i n brocade. Since a law had been passed p r o h i b i t i n g palace women from wearing such e l a b o r a t e *. -> dress/' Ts'ao Ts'ao had the woman sent home and put to death. This must a l s o have been very h u m i l i a t i n g f o r Chih and very aggravating f o r h i s f a t h e r . When d e a l i n g with these s t o r i e s , one cannot but wonder j u s t what relevance they have to the eventual outcome of the st r u g g l e to succeed Ts'ao Ts'ao. Some h i s t o r i a n s , i n c l u d i n g Ch'en Shou, seem to have f e l t t h a t the s i g n i f i c a n c e of these i n c i d e n t s was that because of them Chih r u i n e d any s l i g h t chance that h i s f a t h e r might change h i s mind about the s e l e c t i o n of a crown p r i n c e . Although t h a t i s probably t r u e , I am i n c l i n e d to see t h e i r s i g n i f i c a n c e i n a somewhat d i f f e r e n t l i g h t . When d e a l i n g with the p o l i t i c a l i n t r i g u e connected with the s e l e c t i o n of a crown p r i n c e , t r a d i t i o n a l accounts tend to a s c r i b e a somewhat p a s s i v e r o l e to Chih. Ch'en Shou's records never s t a t e that Chih sought to be crown p r i n c e , but they do im-ply that h i s supporters had h i s s u c c e s s i o n i n mind and a l s o that P ' i worked d i r e c t l y a g a i n s t such a p o s s i b i l i t y . There are s t o r -i e s of how P ' i oppressed and c o n t r o l l e d h i s b r o t h e r , i n c l u d i n g one that a t t r i b u t e s to him the act of f o r c i n g Chih to get drunk before the messengers c a r r y i n g Ts'ao Ts'ao's orders to go to the a i d of Ts'ao Jen a r r i v e d . Such s t o r i e s tend to l e a d us to imagine a s c e n a r i o i n which P ' i , the v i l l a i n , u n s c r u p u l o u s l y manipulated h i s younger b r o t h e r , who was r e a l l y a n i c e man, but r a t h e r i n e p t . More r e c e n t i e v a l u a t i o n s o f the r e l a t i o n s h i p between these t w o b r o t h e r s a n d t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e m o t i v a t i o n s h a v e b e e n m a d e b y a n u m b e r o f C h i n e s e s c h o l a r s . F o r e m o s t a m o n g t h e s e i s t h e l a t e w i t h h i s c l i q u e , t r i e d t o t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f h i s f a t h e r ' s f a v o u r b y u n d e r h a n d e d l y s e e k i n g t o b e n a m e d c r o w n p r i n c e , e v e n a f t e r t h e m a t t e r h a d b e e n o f f i c i a l l y s e t t l e d . I n s u c h a n i n t e r p r e t a -t i o n , C h i h b e c o m e s t h e s h a m e l e s s i n t r i g u e r a n d P ' i t h e r i g h t -e o u s h e r o . T h e r e i s s o m e m e r i t i n b o t h t h e t r a d i t i o n a l a n d t h e m o d e r n v i e w . F r o m t h e m a n n e r i n w h i c h P ' i r a t h e r h e a v y - h a n d e d -l y d e a l t w i t h a l l o f h i s b r o t h e r s , a n d e s p e c i a l l y C h i h a n d h i s s u p p o r t e r s , a f t e r T s ' a o T s ' a o ' s d e a t h , w e k n o w t h a t h e w a s n o t o n e t o a l l o w h i s p o s i t i o n t o b e t h r e a t e n e d s i m p l y i n o r d e r t o b e h u m a n e . I t i s n o t d i f f i c u l t t o i m a g i n e t h a t h e w o u l d h a v e u s e d a l l t h e s a m e m e a n s o p e n t o h i m t o d e f e a t a n y m o v e m e n t t h a t m i g h t h a v e e n d a n g e r e d t h a t p o s i t i o n . C h i h , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , s e e m s f r o m t r a d i t i o n a l a c c o u n t s , a n d f r o m h i s o w n w r i t i n g t o h a v e b e e n q u i t e - i n n o c e n t o f s t r o n g f e e l i n g s o f a g g r e s s i o n a g a i n s t h i s b r o t h e r o r t h e p o w e r t h a t h e w a s g o i n g t o i n h e r i t . I n h i s w r i t i n g s C h i h a l w a y s e x p r e s s e s g r e a t d e f e r e n c e a n d a f -f e c t i o n f o r P ' i . F o r e x a m p l e , i n 2 1 1 , t h e y e a r i n w h i c h P ' i w a s m a d e Wu-kuan bhung-lang-ohiang, C h i h w r o t e a fu d e d i c a t e d t o h i m i n w h i c h h e e x p r e s s e d w h a t s e e m s t o b e g e n u i n e f r a t e r -4 2 n a l l o v e . L a t e r , w h e n P ' i w a s m a d e c r o w n p r i n c e , C h i h w r o t e b o t h p o e m s a n d l a u d a t o r y p r o s e p i e c e s t o c o m m e m o r a t e t h e o c c a -s i o n . C h i h ' s e u l o g y f o r P ' i a l s o s e e m s t o b e q u i t e s i n c e r e , e v e n i f , a s L i u H s i e h n o t e s , h e d e v o t e d a l a r g e p o r t i o n o f t h e 4 4 p i e c e t o h i s o w n c o n c e r n s r a t h e r t h a n t o P ' i . S o m e l a t e r K u o M o - j o j p - ^ w h o h a s d e a l t w i t h t h e p r o b l e m i n h i s Li-Ahih jen 4 1 s e r i e s . H e t r i e s t o p r o v e t h a t C h i h , a l o n g 26 s c h o l a r s even went so f a r as to c l a i m that Chih a c t u a l l y y i e l d e d il c the throne to P ' i r a t h e r than s e l f i s h l y take i t h i m s e l f . J ' It seems u n r e a l i s t i c to b e l i e v e that Chih had no d e s i r e to i n h e r i t h i s f a t h e r ' s p o s i t i o n . He c e r t a i n l y was aware of h i s f a -ther ' s favour f o r him and i t would have been only human i f he had hoped that that favour would e v e n t u a l l y l e a d to h i s being made crown p r i n c e . The f a c t that he allowed men l i k e Yang Hsiu and the Ting b r o t h e r s to lobby on h i s b e h a l f i s c e r t a i n l y evidence that he e n t e r t a i n e d some a s p i r a t i o n s In that r e g a r d . U n f o r t u n a t e l y f o r Chih, he d i d not possess the a b i l i t y to handle a f f a i r s t h a t h i s f a t h e r b e l i e v e d he d i d . He allowed him-s e l f to become i n v o l v e d i n a s t r u g g l e f o r s u c c e s s i o n to the throne, yet he c l e a r l y l a c k e d the p o l i t i c a l f i n e s s e to be s u c c e s s f u l i n that s t r u g g l e . In the f i r s t p l a c e , by o c c a s i o n a l l y d r i n k i n g to excess and not r e s p e c t i n g the laws and r e g u l a t i o n s l a i d down by h i s f a t h e r ' s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , he c r e a t e d a very poor p u b l i c image of h i m s e l f . Even i f P ' i had played some pa r t In s t a g i n g those i n c i d e n t s mentioned above, the simple f a c t that Chih allowed him-s e l f to come to p u b l i c a t t e n t i o n i n that manner demonstrates that he was e i t h e r h i g h l y i r r e s p o n s i b l e , or at l e a s t p o l i t i c a l l y i n e p t . Secondly, there i s a good i n d i c a t i o n that Chih may have been v i c t i m i z e d by the over-anxiousness of h i s suppo r t e r s . A l l of the above-mentioned events occ u r r e d a f t e r the s e l -e c t i o n of a crown p r i n c e had been made. I t would seem that a man with, as much r e s o l u t i o n as Ts'ao Ts'ao would be u n l i k e l y to ren -ege such an Important d e c i s i o n without extremely good reason. In f a c t , a c c o r d i n g to Ch'en Shou, Yang Hsiu was executed because Ts'ao Ts'ao f e a r e d that he would j e o p a r d i z e P ' i ' s o r d e r l y sue-'2 7 39 c e s s i o n to the throne. That would c e r t a i n l y suggest t h a t , at l e a s t by t h a t time (219) Ts'ao Ts'ao must have been f i r m l y set i n h i s d e c i s i o n to have P ' i f o l l o w him on the throne. I t i s improbable that Chih, who at l e a s t i n h i s w r i t i n g s , seems to have been a h i g h l y p r i n c i p l e d man, would have continued to seek that p o s i t i o n a f t e r h i s f a t h e r had made a d e f i n i t e dee--.' c i s i o n to award i t to P ' i . Nor i s he l i k e l y to have encouraged h i s supporters to continue to lobby or p l o t on h i s b e h a l f . In working to subvert Ts'ao Ts'ao's w i l l , Yang Hsiu was very l i k e l y a c t i n g on h i s own b e h a l f . S i m i l a r l y , the f a c t that P ' i had the Ting b r o t h e r s and a l l t h e i r male o f f - s p r i n g s l a u g h t e r e d as p r a c -t i c a l l y h i s f i r s t o f f i c i a l act as King of Wei, i n d i c a t e s t h at he must have suspected that they a l s o had I n t e n t i o n s of f i n d i n g a means to r e p l a c e him with h i s b r o t h e r Chih. Here again, i t i s d i f f i c u l t to imagine that Chih h i m s e l f would have played a very a c t i v e part i n such p l o t t i n g . I f he had, i t i s q u i t e p o s s i b l e that P ' i would have had him executed along with the T i n g s . I t would seem then, that Chih had become a v i c t i m of h i s i n a b i l i t y to c o n t r o l those who he had hoped would help him gain p o l i t i c a l advantage. Whereas Ts'ao P ' i had made good use of the support that v a r i o u s o f f i c i a l s around the court were w i l l i n g to give him, Chih was used by h i s s o - c a l l e d supporters as they t r i e d to f u r t h e r t h e i r own ends. The number of embarrassing a f f a i r s that he became caught i n i n the l a s t few years before Ts'ao Ts'ao passed away were perhaps to some extent by-products of h i s in-f-volvement with these men. As a r e s u l t of those a f f a i r s he l o s t a l l the favour that h i s f a t h e r had at f i r s t g i v e n him. In the s p r i n g of 220 ( C A . 25), the year f o l l o w i n g Chih's heavy f a l l from h i s f a t h e r ' s grace, Ts'ao Ts'ao d i e d at the r e l a t i v e l y advanced age of 6 6 . ' '-\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \" He had e s t a b l i s h e d a legacy of formidable dimensions. He had a l s o done h i s best to ensure that t h i s legacy would be preserved and expanded a f t e r h i s pas-s i n g . In t h i s r e s p e c t h i s p r e p a r a t i o n s proved to have some i r o n -i c r e s u l t s , f o r , as we have seen above, the pragmatic a t t i t u d e that he maintained about the s e l e c t i o n of h i s successor brought about a great deal of 1 1 1 f e e l i n g among those of h i s sons who may have f e l t themselves worthy of the honour. Ts'ao P ' i took on the t i t l e of King of Wei immediately upon h i s f a t h e r ' s death. Within a year, however, he decided to take the step that h i s f a t h e r had, f o r v a r i o u s reasons, r e f u s e d to take. He f o r c e d the a b d i c a t i o n of the Han emperor and pro-claimed r e c o g n i t i o n of the a c t u a l s t a t e of p o l i t i c a l a f f a i r s n orth of the Yangtze as they had e x i s t e d f o r a number of years. It was, nonetheless, a f a i r l y b o l d g e s t u r e . Under the p r e v i o u s arrangement,- the House of Wei was o f f i c i a l l y the p r o t e c t o r of Han i m p e r i a l i n t e r e s t s . As such, t h e i r r o l e was a r i g h t e o u s one. By founding a new dynasty, P ' i t e c h n i c a l l y speaking made h i m s e l f usurper of the Han throne. But he had a p p a r e n t l y grown impatient with the pretense of the former s i t u a t i o n and f e l t secure enough i n h i s p o s i t i o n to p r o c l a i m the t r a n s f e r of Heaven's mandate from the Han to the Wei. Upon ascending the throne, one of P ' i ' s f i r s t a c t s , as mentioned, was to execute the b r o t h e r s T i n g along with t h e i r male c h i l d r e n . He a l s o ordered a l l the f e u d a l l o r d s to take up r e s i -48 dence i n t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e f i e f s . These gestures c l e a r l y showed the b i t t e r n e s s t h at P ' i f e l t about the p o l i t i c a l i n t r i g u i n g t h a t 2'9 had come c l o s e to c o s t i n g him the throne. They a l s o r e v e a l e d the d i s t r u s t which he had of h i s b r o t h e r s and t h e i r f u t u r e ambi-t i o n s . Por Chih, h i s b r o t h e r ' s assumption of the i m p e r i a l throne and h i s own subsequent e x i l e to h i s f i e f marked the beginning of a very t r y i n g and d i s h e a r t e n i n g phase i n h i s l i f e . Although he i s now remembered p r i m a r i l y as a poet, Chih's ambition was to become an a d m i n i s t r a t o r i n the Imperial government. The favour and encouragement t h a t h i s f a t h e r had i n i t i a l l y g i v e n him had undoubtedly strengthened those ambitions. He was s i n c e r e l y con-v i n c e d of the t r a d i t i o n a l Confucian view that the duty of a l l able and educated men was to devote t h e i r l i v e s and energies to 49 the betterment of the s t a t e . His e x i l e from the c a p i t a l meant that h i s ambitions q u i t e l i k e l y were not going to be f u l f i l l e d and the f u t u r e must have looked very bleak. Some of the worst was yet to come. His e x i l e to L i n Tzu was r a t h e r short l i v e d . S h o r t l y a f t e r he a r r i v e d there he was r e c a l l e d to the c a p i t a l to answer the a l l e g a t i o n s of the o f f i c i a l i n v e s t i g a t o r s , or censors, who had been d i s p a t c h e d to monitor h i s behaviour. I t i s n ' t p o s s i b l e to determine f o r c e r t a i n what crimes had been committed, i f any, but i t seems t h a t Chih once again had become a v i c t i m of h i s penchant f o r wine d r i n k i n g . Ch'en Shou records the i n c i d e n t t h i s way: In the second year of Huang Ch'u (221), the s t a t e I n v e s t i g a -t o r , Kou Chun, s y c o p h a n t i c a l l y r e p o r t e d t h a t Chih had become drunk and unruly and had threatened the I m p e r i a l envoys. Some o f f i c i a l s wanted to have Chih punished f o r t h i s crime, but the Emperor, i n c o n s i d e r a t i o n of the Empress Dowager's f e e l i n g s , only decreased him i n rank, by e x i l i n g him to be Duke of An Hsiang tfc tfe .51 Ch'en Shou o b v i o u s l y f e l t that the I n v e s t i g a t o r , knowing .30. that P ' i was p a r t i c u l a r l y d i s t r u s t f u l of Chih, w a s ' t r y i n g to i n g r a t i a t e h i m s e l f to P ' i by f i n d i n g , or perhaps f a b r i c a t i n g , cause.to have Chih punished. There i s some reason to b e l i e v e that P ' i would indeed have been, g r a t e f u l f o r an excuse to d e a l h a r s h l y with Chih. Aside from being b i t t e r about the problems that Chih had caused, him, even i f p a s s i v e l y , before the death of t h e i r f a t h e r , and s t i l l f e a r i n g t h a t Chih might consider-t a k i n g part i n a p l o t to overthrow him, P ' i had a p p a r e n t l y been deeply offended by h i s b r o t h e r ' s overt e x p r e s s i o n of remorse at the t e r m i n a t i o n of the Han Dynasty's mandate. There are a number of s t o r i e s r e l a t i n g t h i s , but once again we w i l l f o l l o w Ch'en Shou' s: . \u00E2\u0080\u00A2' t P r e v i o u s l y , when TSe (Su Tse' j&fc. H'] and the Duke of L i n Tzu, Chih heard that the. House of Wei had r e p l a c e d the Han, they both put on mourning c l o t h e s and c r i e d g r i e v o u s l y . The Emperor Wen heard that Chih had done t h i s but. he d i d n ' t hear about TSe. When the Emperor was i n Loyang he c a s u a l l y s a i d : \"I.have responded to the Heavens and taken the throne, but I heard that there were those who c r i e d . \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Why was that? 53 Tse, who was present at the time was about to b l u r t out the ans-wer, but someone pinched him and he p r u d e n t l y remained s i l e n t . I f Chih had a c t u a l l y done those t h i n g s , one can h a r d l y blame P ' i f o r t a k i n g offence.. At the same time Chih was not n e c e s s a r i l y t r y i n g to be o f f e n s i v e . As. mentioned a l r e a d y , he was a h i g h l y i d e a l i s t i c man and he l i k e l y took great p r i d e i n the f a c t that h i s f a t h e r had been, at l e a s t i n name, p r o t e c t o r of' the Han Dynasty. He may have been genuinely g r i e v e d to hear that \u00E2\u0080\u00A2the 'Han, which had l a s t e d for roughly '100 ycarr; and had come to represent a l l that was grand and c i v i l i z e d , had f i n a l l y come to an end. N e v e r t h e l e s s , to have made such\u00E2\u0080\u00A2an overt show of remorse was c e r t a i n l y not very t a c t f u l to say the l e a s t . .31 J u s t how s t r o n g l y P ' i wastmotivated to punish Chih i s a matter open to s p e c u l a t i o n . The punishment which he meted out, on the s u r f a c e j m i g h t seem to be no punishment at a l l . Chih was simply a s s i g n e d to a new f i e f . The essence of the punishment la y i n the f a c t that the new f i e f was c o n s i d e r a b l y s m a l l e r and perhaps more c u l t u r a l l y backward than the one which he h e l d i n L i n Tzu.5^ A l s o , i t i s s i g n i f i c a n t t h a t , had i t not been f o r the i n f l u e n c e of the Empress Dowager, the Lady Pien, the punishment might have been c o n s i d e r a b l y more severe. T h i s was not the only time t h a t Chih's mother saved him from a r a t h e r unhappy f a t e . She was a s t r o n g person and Chih was 55 her f a v o u r i t e son. ^ I t may be t h a t she was a l s o to some extent r e s p o n s i b l e f o r i n c i t i n g the a f f e c t i o n t h a t Ts'ao Ts'ao f e l t toward Chih. A f t e r Ts'ao Ts'ao's death she seems to have con-t i n u e d to e x e r c i s e c o n s i d e r a b l e i n f l u e n c e i n the court through her p o s i t i o n as empress dowager. Often she defended Chih a g a i n s t the enmity of h i s e l d e s t b r o t h e r . Her death, i n 2 3 0 ( T ' a l Ho jk-%a 4 ) - ^ was a great blow to Chih. Chih was understandably upset about h i s demotion to Duke of An Hsiang. He l a t e r complained that h i s f i e f , at Yung Ch'iu which he was given subsequently, was n o t h i n g but marshy low-lands and d i d not give him an income l a r g e enough to support him-57 s e l f and h i s r e t i n u e p r o p e r l y . An Hsiang was undoubtedly no more a p p e a l i n g a l o c a t i o n . More i m p o r t a n t l y , to have i n c u r r e d a g r e a t e r share of i l l w i l l from h i s b r o t h e r meant that h i s chances of e v e n t u a l l y r e g a i n i n g a p o s i t i o n of prominence at the court were c o n s i d e r a b l y reduced. In the same year, 2 2 1 (Huang Ch'u ^jpf)), Chih was ordered to another f i e f , .this one centered at Chiian Ch' eng j^5\u00C2\u00A3/7^ The motive f o r t h i s change i s not recorded,, but from the l e t t e r Chih wrote to the emperor the f o l l o w i n g year, we know that he was s t i l l very much under the cloud of g u i l t c r e a t e d as a r e s u l t 59 of Kou Chun's a c c u s a t i o n s . In that year ( 2 2 2 ) Chih was g i v e n a t i t u l a r promotion. He was made Pr i n c e of Chuan Ch 6 0 ^_ . This promotion was simply an adjustment to the new o f f i c i a l p o l i t i c a l s i t u a t i o n and s i m i l a r promotions were granted to a l l the f e u d a l l o r d s . The s i z e of the f i e f was not i n c r e a s e d It was only 2 5 0 0 households, or one f o u r t h of the s i z e of h i s f i e f at L i n Tzu. In 2 2 3 (HC 4 ) Chih was summoned to Loyang to take part i n the seasonal r i t e s . 6 1 I t was normal f o r f e u d a l l o r d s to be i n attendance at such ceremonies at the c o u r t , but t h i s was the f i r s t time that Chih or h i s f e l l o w l o r d s had been i n v i t e d to do so s i n c e P ' i had taken the throne. There were a number of f a c -t o r s at work which prevented P ' i from c a l l i n g the f e u d a l l o r d s 6 2 to the c a p i t a l e a r l i e r . Probably the most important however, was the f a c t t h a t P ' i had moved the c a p i t a l from the c i t y of Yeh where Ts'ao Ts'ao had e s t a b l i s h e d i t , back to the o l d Han c e n t e r of Loyang. He d i d t h i s undoubtedly as a means of s t r e n g t h e n i n g the c r e d i b i l i t y of h i s f l e d g e l i n g dynasty. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , Loy-ang had not s u r v i v e d the t u r m o i l that took p l a c e i n the wake of the Yellow Turban u p r i s i n g and the numerous m i l i t a r y r e b e l l i o n s toward the end of the second century. I t had been badly sacked 6 3 and burned by Tung Cho i n 1 9 0 . N a t u r a l l y , i f P ' i wanted to r e - e s t a b l i s h the c a p i t a l there he was faced with a major r e b u i l d 64 m g j o b . This r e b u i l d i n g was probably not s u f f i c i e n t l y com-p l e t e u n t i l 223 to allow f o r the proper observance of the v a r i o u s 65 c o u r t l y r i t u a l s . Once r e c o n s t r u c t i o n had taken p l a c e , however, P ' i c e r t a i n l y wanted to waste n o t t i m e ^ i n b r i n g i n g h i s ' b r o t h ^ - \" ers and r e l a t i v e s back from t h e i r f i e f s to witness how he had c o n s o l i d a t e d h i s power and was w e l l i n c o n t r o l of the new dynasty '\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 . . The atmosphere i n the c a p i t a l was not by any means c l e a r . Ts'ao Chih r e c e i v e d an audience with h i s b r o t h e r but there i s some i n d i c a t i o n that i t was not granted h a p p i l y and that P ' i d i d not greet him warmly. 6 6 L a t e r , f e e l i n g s became even more s t r a i n e d when Ts'ao Chang, the P r i n c e of Jen Ch' eng 4\u00C2\u00A3^$(, d i e d suddenly i n one of the r e s i d e n c e s at the c a p i t a l . He had been the Empress Dowager Pien's second born and had been very success-f u l as a g e n e r a l . T r a d i t i o n has I t that he was p a r t i c u l a r l y - 1 strong and h e a l t h y . 6 7 Thus h i s death r a i s e d s p e c u l a t i o n about the p o s s i b i l i t y of f o u l p l a y being i n v o l v e d . There are e a r l y accounts that a t t r i b u t e Chang's death d i r e c t l y to Ts'ao P ' i . 6 8 There are a l s o I n d i c a t i o n s that P ' i wanted to dispense with Chih as w e l l , while he had him w i t h i n arm's reach so to speak. The Empress Dowager i s s a i d to have put an end to any such p l a n s . F i n a l l y , we know f o r c e r t a i n that censors a c t i n g on P l i ' s b e h a l f would not allow Chih to r e t u r n to h i s f i e f i n the company of h i s h a l f - b r o t h e r Ts'ao Piao. T h i s I n c i t e d much resentment on the part of these men. In the Wei shih oh'un-oh'iu ^ ^ ^ T ^ h ^ ^ v Wecfind t h i s resume of the s i t u a t i o n : At that time the fiefdoms were t r e a t e d very s t r i c t l y i n accordance with the laws. A f t e r the P r i n c e of Jen Ch'eng d i e d suddenly (or v i o l e n t l y ) a l l c t h e l p r i h c e s ?) no:.-> f e l t b r o t h e r l y sorrow. When Chih and the P r i n c e of Pai-ma 34 Piao, were going to r e t u r n to t h e i r fiefdoms, they wished to t r a v e l east together on the same road, i n order to ex-press t h e i r f e e l i n g s of bereavement,70 tmt the o f f i c i a l o verseers would not allow i t . Chih a n g r i l y took h i s leave and wrote a poem (to express h i s f e e l i n g s ) . 7 1 In a l l , the events i n Loyang demonstrated that there s t i l l was much d i s t r u s t and i l l f e e l i n g between Ts'ao P ' i and h i s b r o t h e r s . P ' i apparently f e l t that there was s t i l l a r e a l danger of a r e b e l l i o n or coup being staged a g a i n s t him and he d i d a l l he could to a v o i d such a t h r e a t . Chih, f o r h i s p a r t , r e p e a t e d l y s t r e s s e d h i s l o y a l t y and w i l l i n g n e s s to cooperate 72 with the i m p e r i a l government i n h i s p e t i t i o n s to the throne. These p e t i t i o n s were, however, l a r g e l y ignored. In the autumn of that year, a f t e r r e t u r n i n g from the c a p i t a l , Chih was again t r a n s f e r r e d to another f i e f ; t h i s time i n Yung Ch' i u . There he passed the f o l l o w i n g year r a t h e r u n e v e n t f u l l y we must assume. In 225 (H.C. 6) however, we f i n d evidence that r e l a t i o n s between Chih and. P ' i had begun to thaw somewhat. While on h i s way back to Loyang from a campaign against Sun Ch'uan i n the e a s t , P ' i stopped at Yung Ch'iu to v i s i t h i s b r o t h e r . I t must have been a c o r d i a l meeting as P ' i 73 i n c r e a s e d Chih's endowment of households by 5 0 0 . I J Chih un-doubtedly took heart i n t h i s g e s t u r e . He co u l d genuinely hope f o r a f u r t h e r s t r e n g t h e n i n g of h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p with P ' i and, perhaps e v e n t u a l l y , a r e a l o p p o r t u n i t y to take p a r t i n the gov-ernment and thereby to f u l f i l l h i s lo n g - s t a n d i n g ambition to make a name f o r h i m s e l f . But, almost as i f h i s l i f e ' s s c e n a r i o had been w r i t t e n by Samuel Beckett, Chih's hopes were q u i c k l y dashed. P ' i d i e d 7 4 i n the summer of 226 (H.C. 7 ) . He was succeeded by h i s son, 3 5 75a Ts'ao J u l . Chih's e f f o r t s to r e g a i n h i s b r o t h e r ' s t r u s t were thus wasted and he had to begin a f r e s h with a man many years h i s j u n i o r . J u l n a t u r a l l y f e l t very uncomfortable about the p r e s -ence of the men who had s t r u g g l e d with, or had been m a l t r e a t e d by h i s f a t h e r . They were a l l h i s e l d e r s and were more mature and experienced than he. Chih p a r t i c u l a r l y must have f r i g h t e n e d him. There seemed to be a number of m i n i s t e r s and o f f i c i a l s who f e l t that Chih would have made a b e t t e r emperor than J u i , a f a c t 75 which must have worried the l a t t e r very deeply. Because of t h i s , f a r from i n v i t i n g Chih back to the c a p i t a l to a i d i n ad-m i n i s t r a t i v e matters, J u i continued h i s f a t h e r ' s e a r l y p r a c t i c e of c o n s t a n t l y moving him from one f i e f to another. In the f i r s t year of h i s r e i g n , 2 2 7 ( T ' a i Ho jfcjpp 1) , J u i made Chih P r i n c e of Chun Y i ^ In the next year he made him P r i n c e of Yung 7 7 Ch'iu once again. Then again, i n 2 2 9 (T.H. 3 ) he was moved 7 ft to Tung 0 tjj? jjsj > a p l a c e he seemed to p r e f e r to h i s previous f i e f s . A l l t h i s moving was o b v i o u s l y very f r u s t r a t i n g to Chih. We f i n d testimony to t h i s f r u s t r a t i o n i n many of the poems that 79 he wrote d u r i n g \" t h i s - t i m e . And y e t , he d i d not give up hope completely. He sent a number of memorials to the court pro-c l a i m i n g d i r e c t l y and i n d i r e c t l y h i s s i n c e r e d e s i r e to a i d i n 8 0 matters of s t a t e . These memorials and the numerous other l e t t e r s and p e t i t i o n s that Chih presented to J u i d i d not seem to have much e f f e c t . , Chih sensed t h i s and h i s f r u s t r a t i o n began slowly to t u r n to hopeless d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t . In the Wei Liieh j\u00C2\u00A3 we f i n d t h i s passage: 8 l Although Chih o f f e r e d t h i s p e t i t i o n he s t i l l suspected ;36 that he would not r e c e i v e employment. Therefore he s a i d : \"The reason t h a t men value l i f e i s not that they value the n o u r i s h i n g of t h e i r b o d i e s , the wearing of good c l o t h -i n g and l i v i n g to a r i p e o l d age. They value the a b i l i t y to a i d the Heavens and put t h i n g s i n order... Hence the u l t i m a t e g o a l i s to e s t a b l i s h one's v i r t u e . E s t a b l i s h i n g achievements i s the next b e s t . For through v i r t u e and achievements one can transmit a r e p u t a t i o n , and what a gentleman values i s f o r h i s r e p u t a t i o n to be preserved... I have ambitions which have not been acted upon and because of t h i s I sighed and sought to be t e s t e d , as I thought I would s u r e l y be able to e s t a b l i s h some m e r i t . But a l a s , I hope that my words that have not been heeded. w i l l l e t l a t e r men of v i r t u e know my i n t e n t i o n s . \" ' 8 2 Chih was f i n a l l y summoned to the c a p i t a l , along with a l l other f e u d a l l o r d s to take p a r t i n the New Year r i t e s o f 232 (T.H. 6 ) . At that time he was given the new t i t l e of P r i n c e of Ch'en (Jjjj..^ . This c a r r i e d with i t the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r a d m i n i s t e r i n g f o u r p r e f e c t u r e s as w e l l as a s l i g h t l y l a r g e r endowment of households. T h i s gesture i n Chih's reckoning was undoubtedly only a token or even an I n s u l t . He was al r e a d y f o r t y years o l d , which at t h a t time would have been considered r a t h e r e l d e r l y . Being granted a new f i e f was l i k e being given an e x t e n t i o n of h i s term of e x i l e . He d i e d a very sad and u n f u l f i l l e d man the f o l l o w i n g winter at the age of f o r t y - o n e . He was b u r i e d on Yu Mounta i n tl? ^4 i n Tung 0 as he had once expressed a d e s i r e to 84 be. He was given the posthumous t i t l e of \"Thoughtful\" or perhaps \"Melancholy\", ssu . ^ His son, Ts'ao Chih ^ ^ , 86 i n h e r i t e d h i s t i t l e and f i e f . A few years a f t e r h i s death there was an o f f i c i a l p r o clamation at c o u r t , sponsored by a number of powerful m i n i s t e r s , that exonerated Chih of a l l g u i l t . His w r i t i n g s were a l s o c o l l e c t e d and p l a c e d i n the 87 i m p e r i a l a r c h i v e s . Taken as a whole, Ts'ao Chih's l i f e c o u l d be seen as a kind of low-keyed tragedy. Although the c r i s e s that he encount-ered were never grand i n s c a l e or i m p l i c a t i o n , he was very much a v i c t i m of the f o r c e s i n h i s environment. His s t r u g g l e s a g a i n s t these f o r c e s were noble, but never h e r o i c . In the end, he suc-cumbed to a melancholy and perhaps welcome death. 38 Notes Ito Masafumi A^f^ S-iC i n h i s boook So Shoku spec = u l a t e s that Chih was born i n e i t h e r Tung Wu Yang e j ? ^ ^ or Chlian Ch' eng i$\u00C2\u00A3 . P \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 5 . p The Lady Pien was born i n Lang-yeh K'ai-yan^ present day Shantung. She had been working as an e n t e r t a i n e r She..became the o f f i c i a l \" f i r s t w i f e \" when the former \" f i r s t w i f e \" , the Lady Ting T^.^ f e l l from favour, l a r g e l y because of the death of her m 1g? ^ when. Ts'ao .Ts'ao took her as- a concubine adopted son, Ts'ao Ang 5/2a-b. See note from the Wei Lueh, 3 The Yellow Turbans seem to have had c e r t a i n connec-t i o n s with the f o l k T a o i s t t r a d i t i o n . See Maspero, \"Le Taoisme\" pp. 149 - 156 f o r a d i s c u s s i o n of t h e i r r e l i g i o u s p r a c t i c e s . In Melange Posthwnes Sur Les Religion et L'histoire de la Chine, P a r i s , 1950. l / 3 a . ^Prom Ch' en-shen ahu-piao f^^Jt^ ^ > found on 19/l8b. 1 9 / 1 3 a . Tung-oheng fu ^ ^ E f ^ , , see Ts'ao ohi oh'uan p ' ing ^ p . l . This was w r i t t e n on the o c c a s i o n of Chih's departure on a m i l i t a r y e x p e d i t i o n . \"The White H o r s e \" ^ |^ see my t r a n s l a -t i o n . He came from a l i n e of p r o v i n c i a l m i l i t a r y commanders. His f a t h e r , Ts'ao Sung ^ % was e v e n t u a l l y promoted to the posi-t i o n of TJai-wei jk. fjfif or \"Grand Commander\". Ts'ao Ts'ao inher-i t e d t h i s o f f i c e from him. ^ A c t u a l l y i t begins, & \u00C2\u00A3. , but the ssu was a posthumous name, perhaps meaning \" t h o u g h t f u l \" or \"melancholy\". This i s d i f f i c u l t to t r a n s l a t e i n t o E n g l i s h smoothly. P r i n c e of Ch'en was Chih's l a s t o f f i c i a l t i t l e . 10 11 1 9 / 3 a . 1 9 / 3 b . 1 2 S e e YWLC 6 2 , a l s o Ch'u Esueh chi 24. JThe conquest of Yeh, which had been h e l d by Yuan Shao e took p l a c e i n 2 0 5 , l / 2 1 b - 2 2 a . We next, f i n d that i n 2 0 8 Ts'ao Ts'ao r e t u r n e d to Yeh and began to assess h i s accomplish-ments and d i s t r i b u t e f e u d a l t i t l e s to h i s f o l l o w e r s , i n d i c a t i n g that Yeh must have been h i s base of o p e r a t i o n s by that time. We are not t o l d e x a c t l y when Yeh was chosen f o r the f u n c t i o n . l / 2 5 a 39 14 P'ing Yuan i t s e l f was s i t u a t e d i n present day Shantung, east and s l i g h t l y north o f Yeh. The s i z e of the f i e f was f i v e thousand households. See Lu P i .San Kuo ohih.ohi ohieh - ifi'A ^ i s perhaps the most famous statement ever made about Chien An l i t e r a t u r e . I found very few, i f any, l a t e r c r i t i c a l works that d i d not quote or paraphrase i t . U n f o r t u n a t e l y there i s no simple t r a n s -l a t i o n of the phrase and Shih has simply given an e s t i m a t i o n of i t s c o n n o t a t i o n s . Keys to the phrase are contained i n the words \"'r^ JL'HSEl' a n d '' T n e w o r d oh'i ^ , here t r a n s l a t e d \" v i t a l i t y \" i s of course n o t o r i o u s l y ambiguous. \" V i t a l i t y \" i s not a bad approximation i n t h i s context but we must keep i n mind that oh'i was not an absolute q u a l i t y ; the oh'i of Chien An was not the same as the oh'i of other times. As Hu Y i n g - l i n . i n h i s \"Poetry Preserve\" says, \"The v i t a l i t y ( s p i r i t ? ) ^ of Wei was more Q masculine than that of Han\". In any case, the l i t e r a t u r e of Chien An and Wei was very v i t a l and str o n g i n comparison to both the l i t e r a t u r e o f Han which preceded i t and that of the Six Dy-n a s t i e s which f o l l o w e d . As mentioned above, the l i t e r a t u r e of Han had stagnated and become r a t h e r detached from popular c u l -t u r e . Chien An w r i t e r s were much c l o s e r to f o l k t r a d i t i o n and they e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y embraced the freshness and v i t a l i t y of i t s 51 l i t e r a t u r e . T h e i r work was thus b o l d e r and more e x p r e s s i v e than that of Han. The w r i t e r s of the l a t e r S i x Dynasties p e r i o d d i d not continue t h i s t r e n d . They became more concerned with w r i t i n g ' f l o r i d , h i g h l y ornamental verse and so l o s t most of the I n t e n s i t y of e x p r e s s i o n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Chien An and Wei. The term Shih has rendered as \" h e r o i c \" i s K'ang-k'ai ' When d e a l i n g with Chien An l i t e r a t u r e i t Is one of the most important epithets-. I t i s a l s o one of the most d i f f i c u l t to d e f i n e . The connotations that i t c a r r i e s are very p o s i t i v e . I t seems to r e f e r to an emotion that only noble-minded s c h o l a r -knights or l i t e r a t i were capable of f e e l i n g . In some cases i t r e f e r s to a f e e l i n g of a g i t a t i o n r e l a t e d e s p e c i a l l y to the noble d e s i r e s t o meet with and.endeavour to s o l v e problems of government and s o c i e t y . In that sense i t could be c a l l e d .\"heroism\". At the same time k'ang-k'ai can d e s c r i b e the i n t e n s e d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t and f r u s t r a t i o n which noble and s i n c e r e men f e l t when they r e a -l i z e d t h a t , f o r whatever reason, they would not be g i v e n a chance to act upon t h e i r ambitions. An example of t h i s i s found i n the l a s t l i n e o f the l a s t poem i n the \"Six O c c a s i o n a l Poems\" s e t . A f t e r d e s c r i b i n g how he longs to j o i n i n the m i l i t a r y s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t the kingdoms to the south of Wei and i n t i m a t i n g that he i s unable to do so Ts'ao Chih ends the poem with t h e - l i n e s : The s t r i n g s sound s w i f t l y , a sad a i r r i n g s out. Won't you l i s t e n to my song of d e s p a i r . In t h i s i n s t a n c e k'ang-k'ai seems to be best t r a n s l a t e d as \" d e s p a i r \" . On a more p e r s o n a l l e v e l , the term k'ang-k'ai wascalsor 1 a p p l i e d to sadness over the shortness of l i f e , the f e a r that one 52 w o u l d n o t b e a b l e t o m a k e a l a s t i n g n a m e f o r h i m s e l f , a n d t h e s e e m i n g f u t i l i t y o f a l l s i n c e r e e n d e a v o u r w h e n t i m e s a r e c h a o t i c a n d u n c e r t a i n . T s ' a o T s ' a o ' s Tuan-ko hi^ng Ij^ L f^ u s e s k'ang fe.' CL-1 i n t h i s s e n s e . T h e o p e n i n g l i n e s o f t h e p i e c e r e a d : I w i l l s i n g a s o n g t o w i n e , C a n m y l i f e l a s t m u c h l i n g e r ? I t i s l i k e t h e m o r n i n g d e w A n d t h e p a s t h a s b r o u g h t m u c h b i t t e r n e s s . I f e e l a g r e a t s o r r o w , F o r c h e r i s h e d t h o u g h t s a r e n ' t e a s i l y f o r g o t t e n . H e r e k'ang fe' ai. h a s b e e n t r a n s l a t e d a s \" s o r r o w \" . T h e t e r m fe' ang fe.' a-i o f t e n o c c u r s i n t h e p o e t r y o f C h i e n A n , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e w o r k o f t h e T s ' a o f a m i l y . M a n y o t h e r p o e m s d e s c r i b e e m o t i o n s w h i c h c o u l d b e c a l l e d fe'ang k'a-i, b u t w h i c h a r e n ' t r e f e r r e d t o b y t h a t t e r m . L a t e s c h o l a r s a n d c r i -53 t i c s have found the e x p r e s s i o n of these f e e l i n g s h i g h l y a p p e a l i n g and have revered Chien An l i t e r a t u r e because of i t . The reason being p r i m a r i l y , I t h i n k , t h a t , as mentioned, k'ang k'ai i n a l l of i t s shadings i s such a noble and Confucian emotion. As has been mentioned, the profound d e c l i n e of Han du r i n g the l a t t e r part o f the second century A.D. had l e d to a breakdown i n the formal Confucian governmental system. This was accompanied by a l o s s of c r e d i b i l i t y fc5r Confucian m o r a l i t y and philosophy i n g e n e r a l . Among Chien An poets however, there was s t i l l f a i t h i n the e s s e n t i a l v a l i d i t y of Confucian v a l u e s . These men were connected with Ts'ao Ts'ao's and l a t e r Ts'ao P l i ' s a d m i n i s t r a -t i o n . For them, the r e l a t i v e success that the Ts'ao f a m i l y had a t t a i n e d i n r e s t o r i n g order to most of the c i v i l i z e d r e g i o n s of China must have produced a l a r g e s t o r e o f hope that d y n a s t i c order could be r e s t o r e d w i t h i n a reasonably short p e r i o d o f time. The c l o s e contact which these w r i t e r s seem to have had with the Ts'ao f a m i l y was probably a l s o a f a c t o r i n l e a d i n g them to f e e l a kind of i d e n t i t y with the f a m i l y and the government they headed. \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Thus the tone of Chien An w r i t i n g s was s i n c e r e and concerned-. The poets were w e l l aware of the tremendous d i f f i c u l -t i e s t h e i r s o c i e t y was e x p e r i e n c i n g and i n the best Confucian manner they continued to seek to give t h e i r s e r v i c e s to the s t a t e and to work f o r the u l t i m a t e remedy of i t s problems. This a t t i t u d e may seem r a t h e r naive to us now, but to l a t e r Confucian s c h o l a r s these w r i t e r s epitomized the s i n c e r e devotion to the s e r v i c e of the s t a t e that was so much venerated i n the Confucian t r a d i t i o n . I t i s the f o r c e of Confucian moral-ism, which viewed e t h i c a l content as being f a r more important 54 than t e c h n i c a l achievement, that has, to a l a r g e extent, been r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the p o s i t i o n of r e s p e c t that Chien An l i t e r a -t u r e has enjoyed i n China f o r so long. Even Huang Chieh, a r e l a t i v e l y modern l i t e r a r y h i s t o r i a n and c r i t i c \" ^ concludes that the t h i n g that sets Ts'ao Chih, the most accomplished Chien An poet, apart from most l a t e r w r i t e r s i s h i s r i g h t e o u s n e s s or p r i n c i p l e above a l l e l s e . 1 1 We may not c o n s i d e r e t h i c a l content to be p a r t i c u l a r l y r e l e v a n t to the a p p r e c i a t i o n of an ? a r t i s t ' s work, but i t i s c e r t a i n l y worth b e a r i n g i n mind that I t was a l a r g e f a c t o r In t r a d i t i o n a l Chinese l i t e r a r y theory and that i t was p a r t l y because of i t s moral v i g o u r that Chien' An l i t e r a t u r e exerted the strong i n f l u e n c e that i t d i d on l a t e r w a i t e r s . On a more p r a c t i c a l l e v e l , L i u Hsieh a l s o acknowledged the f a c t that the Chien An poets had made a major c o n t r i b u t i o n 12 to the development of the pentametric verse form. Pentameter had been w r i t t e n d u r i n g the Han Dynasty by a number of e s t a b l l s h -1 T O ed w r i t e r s , . but f o r the most part tetrameter was the accepted form. There i s evidence that pentameter may have a l r e a d y been on the way to becoming the predominant form toward the l a t t e r stages of Han. T h i s evidence i s p r i m a r i l y i n the form of a set of pentametric\"verses'swhichnwereecomposed anonymously d u r i n g 14 the. E a s t e r n Han. T h i s set i s ' r e f e r r e d to simply as the \"19 Old t h e i r e x i s t e n c e tends to i n d i c a t e that the form had f a i r l y broad p o p u l a r i t y by that time. However, the nature of t h e i r content, which i s r e l a t e d more to the popular t r a d i t i o n than the s c h o l a r -These are e x c e p t i o n a l l y b e a u t i f u l p i e c e s and 55 o f f i c i a l c l a s s , a n d t h e f a c t t h a t t h e y c a n n o t b e a t t r i b u t e d t o a n y p a r t i c u l a r p o e t , m a y s u g g e s t t h a t t h e y w e r e n o t w r i t t e n b y a l i t e r a t u s p o e t o r p o e t s , o r t h a t t h e a u t h o r d i d n o t p a r t i c u l a r -l y w a n t t o b e i d e n t i f i e d w i t h t h e w o r k . T h i s b e i n g t h e c a s e w e m i g h t c o n c l u d e t h a t s u c h v e r s e , w r i t t e n i n p e n t a m e t e r , h a d n o t y e t b e e n f u l l y a c c e p t e d a s a l e g i t i m a t e f o r m b y t h e l i t e r a t i . C h i e n A n p o e t s o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , h a d n o i n h i b i t i o n s a b o u t u s i n g i t . T a k i n g t h e i r l e a d f r o m t h e \" 1 9 O l d P o e m s \" a n d p o p u l a r yueh-fu p o e m s , w h i c h a l s o o f t e n e m p l o y e d f i v e - c h a r a c t e r l i n e s , t h e y p u t t h e i r b e s t e f f o r t s i n t o d e v e l o p i n g a n d e x p l o i t i n g t h e p o t e n -t i a l s o f t h e f o r m . B y t h e t i m e S s u - m a Y e n ^ ] ^ ^ u s u r p e d t h e W e i 1 5 t h r o n e t o f o u n d t h e C h i n D y n a s t y p e n t a m e t e r w a s f i r m l y e s t a b -l i s h e d a s t h e p r e f e r r e d p o e t i c f o r m . T h e i m p o r t a n c e o f yueh-fu p o e m s h a s b e e n a l l u d e d t o a b o v e . I f o n e w e r e t o s i n g l e o u t o n e s o u r c e a s b e i n g t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t i n i \" f o r m i n g t h e n e w l i t e r a r y a e s t h e t i c s a n d f o r m s o f t h e C h i e n A n p e r i o d i t w o u l d u n d o u b t e d l y b e t h e yueh-fu. Yueh-fu, s t r i c t l y t r a n s l a t e d , m e a n s \" M u s i c B u r e a u \" . I n t h e F o r m e r H a n D y n a s t y t h e E m p e r o r W u e s t a b l i s h e d a b u r e a u f o r t h e c o l l e c t i o n a n d e x a m i n a -1 6 t i o n o f p o p u l a r s o n g s a n d p o e m s . A l t h o u g h t h i s b u r e a u w a s a b o l i s h e d n e a r t h e t u r n o f t h e m i l l e n l u m , c e r t a i n k i n d s o f p o p u -l a r b a l l a d s a n d p o e m s c o n t i n u e d t o b e r e f e r r e d t o a s yueh-fu f o r y e a r s a f t e r w a r d s . I t i s i m p o s s i b l e t o d e f i n e j u s t w h a t yueh-fu a r e o r w h a t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t h e y g e n e r a l l y p o s s e s s . A s s t a t e d a b o v e , yueh-fu w e r e o r i g i n a l l y f o l k s o n g s c o l l e c t e d u n d e r t h e a u s p i c e s o f t h e I m p e r i a l g o v e r n m e n t . A f t e r t h e M u s i c B u r e a u w a s a b o l i s h e d , p o p u l a r b a l l a d s c o l l e c t e d a n d r e c o r d e d b y p r i v a t e i n d i v i d u a l s 56 continued to be c a l l e d yueh-fu. In the l a t e Han and Wei p e r i o d s s c h o l a r - p o e t s began to w r i t e i m i t a t i o n s of f o l k yueh-fu. They e i t h e r wrote new words to o l d tunes or borrowed the theme or s t o r y of a f o l k yueh-fu as the b a s i s f o r one of t h e i r poems. Sometimes they would borrow a theme and add t h e i r own t i t l e or they 'would borrow a t i t l e and w r i t e a poem on a new theme. Some-times they would w r i t e such poems to mus i c a l accompaniment and sometimes not. In a l l cases however, the p i e c e s that they wrote were c a l l e d yueh-fu. In l a t e r times, e s p e c i a l l y i n the T'ang, poets wrote poems with new t i t l e s and new themes and s t i l l c a l l e d 17 them yueh-fu. We can only assume that the reason f o r t h i s was that the poets were w r i t i n g i n what they thought or c o n s i d e r e d to be a f o l k s t y l e . In a c t u a l f a c t these poems were l a r g e l y u n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e from standard shih poems. Formally, because y'ueh-fu were o r i g i n a l l y w r i t t e n to mu-s i c , they o f t e n had l i n e s of v a r y i n g l e n g t h i n order to s u i t the melodies to which they were play e d . As time went by however, t h e i r musical b a s i s became l e s s important and many yueh-fu w r i t t e n by s c h o l a r - p o e t s had l i n e s of r e g u l a r l e n g t h . S t y l i s t i c a l l y , e a r l y yueh-fu tended to be b a l l a d s , n a r r a t i n g s t o r i e s of some d e s c r i p t i o n . T h e i r language was simple and c o l l o q u i a l . T h i s a l s o changed with time so that l a t e r yueh-fu c o u l d be r a t h e r p o l i s h e d l y r i c s . There are s c a t t e r e d examples of yueh-fu that seem to have 18 been w r i t t e n by pre-Chien An poets, but i t was under the l e a d -e r s h i p of Ts'ao Ts'ao (whose extant yueh-fu number around twenty and c o n s t i t u t e the l a r g e s t part of h i s p o e t i c works) that s c h o l -ar-poets began to w r i t e yueh-fu on a l a r g e s c a l e . Many of t h e i r 5 7 works tend to be q u i t e d i r e c t i m i t a t i o n s of f o l k yueh-fu s t y l e and form, but some of the more i n n o v a t i v e w r i t e r s began to modi-fy both s t y l e and form. The importance of yueh-fu d i d not l i e simply i n the f a c t t h a t l i t e r a t u s - c l a s s poets began to w r i t e poems i n i m i t a t i o n of them. Yueh-fu were tremendously r i c h i n the v a r i e t y of t h e i r themes. During Han, poets were, extremely r e s t r i c t e d i n t h e i r themes. L i t e r a t u r e was intended to serve the s t a t e and r e f l e c t Confucian v i r t u e . Many themes were thus passed over as being i r r e l e v a n t to\" these concerns. Yueh-fu* being the product df f o l k c u l t u r e , were not so bound, and they f r e e l y d e a l t with such matters as l o v e , estrangement, the hardships of r u r a l l i f e and the tragedy of war. Chien An w r i t e r s became very f a m i l i a r with yueh-fu and took advantage of the d e c l i n e of formal Confucian a u t h o r i t y i n the a r t s to begin to w r i t e both yueh-fu and standard poems on a much broader range of themes. Love and f r i e n d s h i p became common t o p i c s . Poets even went so f a r as to deal with some of the b i t t e r hardships of peasant l i f e , 1 ^ something which Han w r i t e r s would never have deigned to touch upon. In t h i s r e -spect the work of Chien An poets became much more r e a l i s t i c and attuned to the r e a l world. Yueh-fu s t y l e a l s o had a s t r o n g i n f l u e n c e on Chien An 20 w r i t e r s . Han poetry had been n o t o r i o u s l y dry and wooden. I t s language was sometimes c o n t r i v e d and g e n e r a l l y l a c k i n g i n v i t a l -i t y . F o l k yueh-fu, on the other hand, were extremely f e r t i l e i n emotional content. The language was d i r e c t and powerful, i f r a -t h e r u n r e f i n e d . The m u s i c a l nature r i n g s through i n the h e a v i l y 21 rhythmic f e e l i n g of t h e i r sentence and rhyme s t r u c t u r e s . The 58 Chien An poets d i s c a r d e d the s t i f f , s t y l i z e d language of Han l i t e r a t i and began to use the f r e s h d i r e c t language of the common people. This gave t h e i r works a l i v e l y , u n c o n t r i v e d d i c t i o n . L i u Hsieh d e s c r i b e d the Chien An poets as, \"Open and a r t l e s s i n the a p p l i c a t i o n of t h e i r t a l e n t s , never r e s o r t i n g to pet t y c l e v e r n e s s i n the ex p r e s s i o n of t h e i r f e e l i n g s , or i n the d e s c r i p t i o n of what they saw, and i n harness i n g language f o r t h e i r d e s c r i p t i o n s , aiming simply 2 2 at l u c i d i t y . \" There i s l i t t l e doubt that a fondness of yueh-fu poetry had pla y e d a major p a r t i n producing these c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s. Although-.yueh-'fu were of great importance i n the formation of CHien An p o e t i c s , there were other potent i n f l u e n c e s at work. The most e a s i l y i d e n t i f i a b l e of t h e s e / M \" ^ were the \"OJd-style poems\"o w r i t t e n i n the E a s t e r n Han era. Of these, the \"19 Old Poems\" and the works a t t r i b u t e d to L i L i n g , Su Wu and Chang Heng^were p a r t i c u l a r l y impor-t a n t . The importance of the \"19 Old Poems\" i n \" t h e d e v e l -opment of pentameter has already been d i s c u s s e d . T h e i r i n f l u e n c e was a l s o f e l t i n other areas. F i r s t l y , t h e i r d i c t i o n was s i m i l a r to yueh-fu,having most l i k e l y been s t r o n g l y i n f l u e n c e d by them, but i t was s l i g h t l y more s o p h i s t i c a t e d . The authors.of 'Old Poems' were q u i t e p o s s i b l y l i t e r a t i who had added a ge n t l e touch of r e f i n e -ment to the rough v e r n a c u l a r d i c t i o n common i n yueh-fu, much as Ch'u Yuan or some other Ch'u poet had done with the 'Nine Songs ' )L ^JC^ . Not only d i d Chien An poets quote l i b e r a l l y from \"Old Poems\", they a l s o continued the tr e n d of u s i n g b a s i c a l l y c o l l o q u i a l d i c t i o n and adding some 59 degree of r e f i n e d elegance to I t . Secondly, the content of the ' 1 9 Old Poems' was much more h u m a n i s t i c a l l y o r i e n t e d than e a r l i e r court p o e t r y . This was a l s o undoubtedly the r e s u l t of contact with the y i i e h - f u t ^ t r & d l t l o n . However, whereas ' fo-lk yueh-fu were l a r g e l y n a r r a t i v e s , d e s c r i b i n g emotion or l i f e s i t u a t i o n s i n the t h i r d person, the \" 1 9 Old Poems\" were more o f t e n d i r e c t expressionsrd'f thought and f e e l i n g w r i t t e n i n the f i r s t person. This t r e n d toward a more pe r s o n a l express-ionism, d e a l i n g with very human concerns was a l s o continued and g r e a t l y developed i n the Chien An and Wei e r a . In summary, we have noted a number of significant:' -,- ' ... trends and phenomena i n the development of Chinese p o e t i c s from the Han to the Wei p e r i o d s . We f i r s t noted that i t was due to the f a l l of Han Dynasty a u t h o r i t y and the accompanying s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l t u r m o i l that was i n d i r e c t l y r e s p o n s i b l e f o r b r i n g i n g about major changes i n the l i t e r a r y f i e l d . L i t e r a r y men, who had p r e v i o u s l y l a b -oured under the opp r e s s i v e conservatism of s t a t e Confucian-ism, were f r e e d to explore f r e s h modes of e x p r e s s i o n under the patronage of such men as Ts'ao Ts'ao who were much l e s s I n f l u e n c e d by c o n v e n t i o n a l t a s t e s i n l i t e r a t u r e than the Han a r i s t o c r a c y . We a l s o e x p l a i n e d t h a t the primary source of i n s p i r a t i o n f o r the c r e a t i o n o f new l i t e r a r y s t y l e s was the popular t r a d i t i o n of f o l k songs and b a l l a d s , represented l a r g e l y by so c a l l e d yueh-fu. That t r a d i t i o n was a source of a broad v a r i e t y of i n f l u e n c e s . Prom these, Chien An and Wei poets drew new content, 60 new d i c t i o n and new form. Yu Kuan - y i n g has summarized the p r i n c i p a l trends of the Chien An and Wei era and grouped them under three 2k headings: . -I) Realism: By t h i s he r e f e r s to the tendency of Chien An w r i t e r s to deal i n a more r e a l i s t i c and e x p r e s s i v e way with matters and emotions c l o s e l y a f f e c t i n g them. This extended to the f e e l i n g which these w r i t e r s had f o r the s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l d i f f i c u l t i e s being experienced i n t h e i r time and to the attempts which they made to d e p i c t these d i f f i c u l t i e s i n t h e i r w r i t i n g s . I I ) E x p r e s s i v e n e s s : This r e f e r s to the g r e a t e r candor and i n t e n s i t y with which Chien An w r i t e r s expressed t h e i r f e e l i n g s . They abandoned the h e a v i l y n a r r a t i v e or d e p i c -t i v e modes of the Han i n favour of a more p e r s o n a l and emotional s t y l e . I I I ) C o l l o q u l a l n e s s : Taking t h e i r i n s p i r a t i o n from f o l k yueh-fu poems,-Chien An poets d i s c a r d e d the a r t i f -i c i a l , s t y l l z . e d d i c t i o n of Han court l i t e r a t u r e i n favour or a more simple and d i r e c t language, mostly based on the common' v e r n a c u l a r . Though they added a f a i r degree of p o l i s h to the language.*- they s t i l l were able to preserve a l a r g e p a r t of i t s raw power. To these o b s e r v a t i o n s we should add that Chien An was the p e r i o d i n which pentametric verse became e s t a b l -i s h e d as the most important p o e t i c form, s e t t i n g the stage f o r the tremendous f l o w e r i n g of poetry w r i t t e n i n that form d u r i n g the Six Dynasty and T'ang eras. We a l s o spent 61 a c o n s i d e r a b l e amount of space e x p l o r i n g the ' s p i r i t ' of Chien An land the reason why l a t e r s c h o l a r s have o f t e n considered t h i s s p i r i t to the the most important aspect of Chien An l i t e r a t u r e . The term k 'ang-k 'ai7,\ was i d e n -t i f i e d as the m o d i f i e r most d e s c r i p t i v e of t h i s s p i r i t and i t t w a s suggested that k 'ang-k ' ai d e s c r i b e d a number of i n t e r r e l a t e d emotions which were a ki n d of p r a c t i c a l embodiment o f . n o b l e , Confucian i d e a l s . The reason I t h a t Chien An w r i t e r s manifested t h i s k i n d of emotion \"so s t r o n g l y and c l e a r l y was perhaps that they were o f t e n p e r s o n a l l y a s s o c i a t e d with c e n t r a l d y n a s t i c power and he l d the c o n v i c t i o n that they c o u l d a c t u a l l y a i d i n the e x e r c i s e of t h i s power to the end of remedying the problems of t h e i r c u l t u r e . They had not become completely d i s -i l l u s i o n e d with the a b i l i t y of the i m p e r i a l government to r u l e the country e f f e c t i v e l y and were thus not as p e s s i m i s t i c or a l i e n a t e d as l a t e r poets. This being a rough o u t l i n e of the general p r o p e r t i e s of Chien An l i t e r a t u r e we should now move on to examine the part Ts'ao Chih played i n the development of these p r o p e r t i e s , what unique q u a l i t i e s he possessed, and what made him the most re s p e c t e d poet of h i s age. 62 Notes \"'\"During the r e i g n o f Wu T i . ^Ts'ao Ts'ao's f a t h e r Ts'ao Sung ^ ^ was a m i l i t a r y commander. Ts'ao Ts'ao e s t a b l i s h e d h i s c a p i t a l at Yeh sometime between 2 0 5 and 2 0 8 A.D. See WC l / 2 5 a . 5 \" The o l d e s t member of the group K'ung Yung 3 L $ \u00C2\u00A3 a c t u a l l y was a m i n i s t e r i n the Han court but he had c o n s i d e r a b l e contact with Ts'ao Ts'ao, o f t e n as a s a t i r i s t or a n t a g o n i s t . Of the other members, Ch'en L i n J#|L Juan Yu f r t $$q and Hsli Kan1'' fe j ^ -served Ts'ao before he became Prime M i n i s t e r and Wang Ts'an L i u Chen !\u00C2\u00A7?|/f\u00C2\u00A3and Ying Chfang jfe Jjjjj served him while he h e l d that o f f i c e . See Complete Works of Yoshikawa K o j i r o , v o l . 7, Ts'ao Chih h s u i n g - t i ^J l . JL. ^ (Soshokukyodai) pp. 9 1 - 9 3 -4 P o r a d i s c u s s i o n of t h i s see, m jfcfe g . * g ^ chpt. 1 . 6 IJ^ . f^t, j | l P a r i s U n i v e r s i t y , Peking I n s t i -t u te f o r Chinese S t u d i e s . T r a n s l a t e d by Vincent Shih as \"The L i t e r a r y Mind and the Carving of Dragons\". See Wen-hsin tiao-lung 6, 2 / 1 8 / 2 . Shih t r a n s , p. 3 5 -8Hu Y i n g - l i n Shih Sou %^ j & T a i p e i , Cheng Sheng ed. 9 # | \u00C2\u00A3 ? / 2 1 . 9a\" T h i s w i l l be d i s c u s s e d i n more d e t a i l below. - 1 0Huang Chieh ( 1 8 7 4 - 1 9 3 5 ) was a c t i v e as a l e c t u r e r and s c h o l a r at Peking U n i v e r s i t y and Ch'ing-hua U n i v e r s i t y i n the e a r l y 2 0 t h century. See Hsiao T i - f e i Ifi Jf^ 4fc Tu-shu san tsa-ehi $L * \u00C2\u00A3L %ZJ which i s based on notes taken from Huang's l e c t u r e s i n 1 9 3 0 and 1 9 3 1 -1 1 S e e Hsiao p. 9 -1 2 S e e \" L i t e r a r y Mind\" 2 / 1 7 / 1 0 , Shih p. 3 5 -1 3 E s p e c i a l l y T s ' a i Yung Ch ' i n Chia and Chang H e n g ^ | ^ . \"^See Yeh Chia-yingi^s 'an 'Ku-shih shih-ohiu-shou' ohih shih-tai wen-t'i i n Chia-ling T'an-shih jp7 - i - , ^ v o l . 1 , pp. 9 - 2 0 f o r a d i s c u s s i o n of the problem of d a t i n g these poems. 1 5 i n 2 6 5 A.D. 63 The i n s p i r a t i o n f o r the establishment of t h i s bureau was undoubtedly the t r a d i t i o n begun i n pre-Ch'in times that h e l d that the poems i n the Shih Ching had been c o l l e c t e d under i m p e r i a l auspices f o r the purpose of gauging popular o p i n i o n . 17 L i P a i and P a i Chu-yi were p a r t i c u l a r l y important i n t h i s phenomenon. l 8 Such as Yu-lin-lang j>]^) ^ \"tp a t t r i b u t e d to Hs i n Yen-nien j^--\"^e.g. Ts'ao P ' i ' s Shang-liu-t ' ien hsing J^ . ^ \J) \u00E2\u0080\u00A2^3* T'ai-shan-liang-fu hsing >jfj- >jf^ \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 2 0 The Shih P'in~%^^0 i n i t s g e n e r a l i n t r o d u c t i o n says of Pan Ku's Yu'ng-shih -zfy< & > that i t s content was wooden and had no l i t e r a r y adornment; ^ ^ ^ ^ C - See Shih-p 'in-ahu $v by Chung Jung, annotated by Ch'en Yen- c h i e h f l * /Art; , Tsung-lun *g | ^ i / 2 . ^ ^ For example Ts'ao Ts'ao's Tuan-ko hsing \u00C2\u00A3&_^k.'fior Ts'ao Chih's P'ing-ling-tung hsing ^ - ^ $ . 4 ^ \" - The former i s laden with i n t e r n a l and end rhyme, the l a t t e r has a l i n e s t r u c t u r e o f 3 - 3 - 4 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 3 - 7 - 7 - and thus has a strong rhythm r e m i n i s c e n t of c h i l d r e n ' s verse. 2 2 S e e \" L i t e r a r y Mind\", 2 / 1 8 / 2 - 3 , Shih pp. 35 - 3 6 . 23 There i s some qu e s t i o n about the a u t h e n t i c i t y of the poems a t t r i b u t e d to L i and Su. See 5tr^\u00C2\u00BB\u00C2\u00A3 f|j|5=|-PP- 6 o i ~ 24 See Yu Kuan-ying, San Ts'ao shih-hsuan ^ . ^ ^ i ^ P 28 64 no page 64 no page 65 66 THE POETICS OF TS'AO CHIH Ts'ao Chih i s g e n e r a l l y c o n s i d e r e d to be the most accom-p l i s h e d poet of the Chien An p e r i o d . U n t i l Su Tung-po r e d i s c o v -ered T'ao Yuan-ming and brought h i s work the a t t e n t i o n and r e -nown i t deserved, Ts'ao Chih was a l s o thought to be the most Important poet to have l i v e d between the time of Ch'u Yuan and that of L i Po and Tu F u . 1 The Shih P'in^%Q , p l a c e s Chih's work i n the h i g h e s t category (Ji_ ^ 2 ) a n d says that Chih's con-t r i b u t i o n to poetry was e q u i v a l e n t to the c o n t r i b u t i o n that 2 Duke Chou and Confucius made to human e t h i c s . L i u Hsieh i n h i s \" L i t e r a r y Mind and the Carving of Dragons\" a l s o acknowledges the p r e s t i g e of Chih's work i n a somewhat back-handed manner by saying that Chih's e l d e r b r o t h e r Ts'ao P ' i ought to be given r e l a t i v e l y more r e c o g n i t i o n and that Chih's r e p u t a t i o n was to an extent based on h i s work's m o r a l i s t i c appeal. Even today, only T'ao Yuan-ming i s thought to have made a g r e a t e r c o n t r i -b u t i o n to Chinese poetry d u r i n g the long p e r i o d from the be-g i n n i n g of the Ch'in Dynasty u n t i l the \"Golden Age\" of the T'ang i When we c o n s i d e r that such w e l l r e s p e c t e d w r i t e r s as Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju, Pao Chao, Hsieh Ling-yiin and Lu Chi a l l l i v e d d u r i n g that time span, we must conclude that Ts'ao Chih was not only a s k i l l f u l and p r o l i f i c w r i t e r but a l s o a p r o g r e s s i v e and innova-t i v e one. I t w i l l be our o b j e c t i v e i n the f o l l o w i n g pages to t r y to e s t a b l i s h , wherever p o s s i b l e , j u s t what c o n t r i b u t i o n s 67 Ts'ao Chih made to the development of Chinese poetry and what made him a great poet.\" A. Traditional Evaluation As i n the case of many Chinese poets, the f a c t o r s t h a t c o n t r i b u t e d to Ts'ao Chih's renown as a poet d i d not always have to do with poetry. I t has al r e a d y been p o i n t e d out that the Chien An w r i t e r s , as a group, were much r e s p e c t e d because of the noble, u p r i g h t and moral tone of much of t h e i r work. This tone i s given p a r t i c u l a r l y strong e x p r e s s i o n i n Chih's work. As a consequence h i s r e p u t a t i o n has been p a r t i c u l a r l y good. Pang Tung-shu says of him f o r example t h a t : His n a t u r a l c h a r a c t e r was l o f t y , he was l o y a l and p r i n -c i p l e d as w e l l as being w e l l read. Thus when he wrote, he could l e t f r e e h i s emotions without f e a r of t r a n s -g r e s s i n g a g a i n s t the c o r r e c t way.^ In terms of Confucian e t h i c s , that i s f a i r l y t h i c k p r a i s e . Furthermore, because of the unfortunate circumstances of h i s l i f e , he has been viewed by many s c h o l a r s as an e s p e c i a l l y t r a g i c f i g u r e ; a noble and t a l e n t e d man who became the o b j e c t of u n r e l e n t i n g and unwarranted p e r s e c u t i o n . For t h i s reason h i s work has an even g r e a t e r appeal. In h i s preface to h i s Ts'ao Tzu-chien chi ^-f\"^^^- the great Ming Dynasty t r a d i t i o n a l -i s t L i Meng-yang ^ says : When i n re a d i n g Chih's poetry I come to \"Lute Tune\", \"Song of Complaint\", \"For Pai-ma\", \" F l o a t i n g Duckweed\" and such p i e c e s , or read \"Seeking to be T r i e d \" , \"The S p i r i t R i s e s \" and other memorials. I always shed many t e a r s . A l a s ! C h i h , \" h i s tone was courteous, h i s emotions l o f t y and h i s words were earnest and had an excess of sorrow.5 Chang P'u i n h i s preface to Ch'en Ssu-wang ch' uan^-chi ^^S^X^ Jf\ w ^ i t e s i n a s i m i l a r v e i n : 68 When I read Ch'en Ssu-wang's \"Rebuking Myself\" 41\"-i}^ |\u00C2\u00A3 while the m o d i f i e r an-ai ^ \" l i j i s found i n the Li sao. The idea of r i d i n g behind s i x dragons i s d e r i v e d l8 from the l i Ching & r a t h e r than the Ch'u Tz'u but i t seems to have had wide usage i n \"wandering immortals\" poetry d u r i n g that time. Reference to the sun as \"the d a z z l i n g s p i r i t \" i s found i n the T'ien wen J^fJ^ , and the m o d i f i e r shu-hu -('Jf-^ ?* i s used i n the Chiu chang \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 T o continue with t h i s account-i n g process would be tedious as i n almost h a l f of the twenty-four l i n e s i n the poem some term or image has been borrowed from one of s e v e r a l p i e c e s i n the Ch'u Tz'u. Although t h i s k i n d of borrowing i s most p r e v a l e n t In Chih's \"wandering immortals\" poems, i t does occur to a g r e a t e r or l e s s e r degree In a very l a r g e number of h i s works. i i . Yueh-fu The importance of yueh-fu i n the p o e t i c development of the Chien An and Wei p e r i o d s has a l r e a d y been d i s c u s s e d i n the previous chapter. Here we w i l l look at the s p e c i a l r o l e t h at Ts'ao Chih played i n b r i n g i n g yueh-fu i n f l u e n c e to bear on l i t -e ratus poetry and i n modifying yueh-fu s t y l e . Yueh-fu were, by o r i g i n a l d e f i n i t i o n , popular songs c o l -l e c t e d by an i m p e r i a l bureau. As songs they n a t u r a l l y were as much music as they were poetr y . The l e n g t h of t h e i r l i n e s was d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d to the melody used to accompany them. The t o n a l i t y of the words was taken i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n so that the sound and rhythm of the words might b e t t e r flow and accentuate the melody. Both of these f a c t o r s are apparent i n the yueh-fu . w r i t t e n by Ts'ao Chih. 75 Many yueh-fu were w r i t t e n i n i r r e g u l a r meter. Chih a l s o wrote a reasonable number of such v e r s e s . The m a j o r i t y of these were composed to tunes a l r e a d y i n use as the accompaniment to o l d e r yueh-fu.\"East of P'ing L i n g \" , \"To: Great Trouble i n Coming Days\" and \"The C a s s i a Tree\" are a l l examples of t h i s type of composition. Many yueh-fu^ eve w r i t t e n In r e g u l a r p.entamet.erc Chih o b v i o u s l y p r e f e r r e d t h i s form as approximately three-quar-t e r s of h i s extant yueh-fu employ i t . Th i s i s i n f a i r l y marked c o n t r a s t to h i s b r o t h e r Ts'ao P ' i and h i s f a t h e r Ts'ao Ts'ao who both seemed, to have p r e f e r r e d tetrameter and i r r e g u l a r 19 forms. I t i s d i f f i c u l t to e s t a b l i s h j u s t how ...closely -some of Chih's longer poems such as \"The Sage Emperor\"^ j^? , \"Ling Chih ' lg. and \"Great Wei\";^$^Jj^ were r e l a t e d to music. Some s c h o l a r s b e l i e v e that i n many cases the r e l a t i o n s h i p was not at a l l s t r o n g. When poetry i s sung, the sound of the words, or t h e i r t o n a l i t y , becomes very important. The authors of f o l k yueh-fu must have been aware of t h i s and so, a p p a r e n t l y , was Chih. Un-f o r t u n a t e l y , without r e c o n s t r u c t i n g the sounds of h i s poems, something q u i t e beyond the scope of t h i s work, we cannot l e g i t i -mately make^any statements about t h i s s i t u a t i o n . For now, we w i l l have to r e l y on the e v a l u a t i o n s of Chinese s c h o l a r s such as Chang Chieh\u00C2\u00ABj|jij\u00C2\u00A3- and Chang Wen-chu^ j ^ ^ ^ ^ . Chang Chieh, i n hi s Sui-han-t'ang shih-hua w r i t e s , \" I n Juan Shih-tsung's poetry the f e e l i n g i s the outsta n d i n g q u a l i t y . In T'ao Yuan-ming's poetry the f e e l i n g i s the ou t s t a n d i n g q u a l i t y . In Ts'ao Tzu-20 chien's poetry the out s t a n d i n g q u a l i t y i s i t s t o n a l i t y . \" Chang Wen-chu, i n h i s a r t i c l e \" L i t e r a r y attainments of Ts'ao Ts'ao and h i s sons\"^J^^^y3^__^^ , l i s t s among 76 the f o u r major c o n t r i b u t i o n s of Ts'ao Chih, h i s a b i l i t y to cre a t e 2 '1 a musical f e e l i n g i n h i s poems. This a t t e n t i o n to t o n a l i t y was very l i k e l y s t i m u l a t e d through h i s contact with yueh-fu. As we a l s o noted above, the language of f o l k yueh-fu was very c o l l o q u i a l and u n r e f i n e d . I t was.also, by nature, much more d i r e c t than the ornamental d i c t i o n found i n Han court l i t -e r a t u r e . Ts'ao Chih was conscious of the p r o p e r t i e s of t h i s l a n g -uage. In some of h i s yueh-fu he uses a d i c t i o n that i s very s i -m i l a r to that of e a r l i e r Han yueh-fu. For some reason or ot h e r , i t i s i n poems of i r r e g u l a r meter that one most o f t e n f i n d s t h i s s t y l e o f language. Chih seems to have a s s o c i a t e d c o l l o q u i a l d i c -t i o n with i r r e g u l a r verse much more than with r e g u l a r pentameter. Chih was not s a t i s f i e d simply to i m i t a t e the u n r e f i n e d d i c t i o n of f o l k b a l l a d s however. He wished to f i n d a language that would have the f o r c e f u l n e s s of c o l l o q u i a l speech but which would a l s o possess a much higher degree of elegance and r e f i n e -ment. In t h i s quest he was-quite s u c c e s s f u l . Many of h i s yueh-fu ? though p r e s e r v i n g the v i t a l i t y and d i r e c t n e s s of e a r l i e r b a l l a d s , have a f e e l i n g of elegance that c o u l d only have been produced by a s k i l l f u l and h i g h l y l i t e r a t e poet such as Chih. The c l a s s i c example of t h i s i s found i n the comparison of h i s \" B e a u t i f u l Maiden\" with the e a r l y yueh-fu \"Mulberry by the Path\" f & J ^ - ^ ' Both of these poems concern a b e a u t i f u l young woman who p i c k s mulberry l e a v e s . From the s i m i l a r i t y of theme and the number of common images and phrases, we can be q u i t e c e r t a i n that Ts'ao Chih intended h i s piece to be an i m i t a t i o n of the e a r l i e r p i e c e . \"Mulberry by the Path\" opens with the l i n e s : 77 The sun r i s e s from the south-east corner And shines on Master Ch ' i n ' s mansion. Master Ch'in has a f i n e woman Who goes by the name of Lo Fu. Lo Fu l i k e s silkworms and the mulberry ? y So she p i c k s mulberry leaves by the town's southern corner. _ i I have d e l i b e r a t e l y avoided s i m p l i f y i n g the t r a n s l a t i o n so as to convey some of the roughness i n the t e x t u r e of the o r -i g i n a l . It i s n ' t d i f f i c u l t to see that there i s very l i t t l e p o e t i c refinement i n these l i n e s . The vocabulary i s simple and there i s no attempt made to a v o i d r e p e a t i n g words from one l i n e to the next. By c o n t r a s t Chih's opening l i n e s are much more a r t f u l : A b e a u t i f u l maiden, a t t r a c t i v e and charming Picks mulberry leaves by the f o r k i n the road. The s o f t branches sway i n p r o f u s i o n , . F a l l i n g leaves f l u t t e r to the ground. In \"Mulberry...\" the i d e n t i t y of the maiden i s r e l e v a n t because there i s a legend behind the p i e c e 25- Chih i s only I n t e r e s t e d i n t h i s woman as a symbolic f i g u r e and t h e r e f o r e i s able to d i s -pense with the long winded i n t r o d u c t i o n found i n the e a r l i e r poem. The woman i n \"Mulberry...\" i s d e s c r i b e d simply as \" f i n e \" or \"good\" TJJ^ - . Chih however, manages to i n c l u d e three mod-i f i e r s i n h i s opening l i n e ; \" b e a u t i f u l \" i\u00C2\u00A3 , \" f a s c i n a t i n g \" or \"TV \" a t t r a c t i v e \" - ^ and \"at ease\" or \"charming\" . In the second couplet Chih o s t e n s i b l y d e s c r i b e s the mulberry t r e e , but the d e s c r i p t i o n a l s o serves as a metaphor f o r the beauty of the maiden. The \"Mulberry...\" c o n t i n u e s : Her basket sash i s made of blue s i l k , The basket hook i s made of a c a s s i a branch. 78 From her head f a l l p l i a n t t r e s s e s > In her ears are b r i g h t moon-pearls. Her p e t t i c o a t i s made of l i g h t - y e l l o w brocade, Her bodice i s made of purple brocade. These l i n e s are meant to d e s c r i b e the beauty of the maiden. Rather than do t h i s d i r e c t l y , the poet has d e s c r i b e d her jewelry and c l o t h i n g from which we are meant to i n f e r the nature of her beauty. This i s a neat d e v i c e , but the clumsiness of the ph r a s i n g makes i t seem weak and c o n t r i v e d . Ther?e i s a rudimentary p a r a l l e l i s m i n the l i n e s , but t h i s i s c r e a t e d through an obvious redundancy i n the syntax (XX 3^ XX) which gi v e s a f e e l i n g o f simple r e p e t i t i o n more than anything e l s e . The middle couplet i s c o n s t r u c t e d with somewhat more f i n e s s e but the o p p o s i t i o n of \"From her head...\" f ^ J ^ - and \"In her e a r s . . . \" j\u00C2\u00A3 cj? i s q u i t e without grace. In t h i s passage once again there has been no attempt to avoid r e p e t i t i o n of words from one l i n e to the next. Ts'ao Chih employs a s i m i l a r technique of d e s c r i p t i o n by a s s o c i a t i o n to b e t t e r e f f e c t ; Her r o l l e d - u p sleeve r e v e a l s a s i l k - w h i t e hand; On her f a i r w r i s t i s a b r a c e l e t of g o l d . Gdlden swallow c l a s p s h o l d up her h a i r , And from her waist hang pendants of blue jade. B r i g h t p e a r l s are strung a l l around her p r e c i o u s f i g u r e While s t r i n g s of c o r a l are mixed with green p e a r l s . Her s i l k e n robes seem to be f l o a t i n g As her l i g h t s k i r t s w i r l s with the wind. From her glances a l i g h t seems to shine f o r t h And when she sings her breath i s l i k e o r c h i d s . Even through the heavy screen of my t r a n s l a t i o n , i t i s p o s s i b l e to see that t h i s passage i s f a r more elegant and s k l l f u l l t h a n the one i n \"Mulberry...\". The vocabulary Chih employs Is much more v a r i e d and e x o t i c . There i s c o n s i d e r a b l e evidence of Ch'u Tz'u i n f l u e n c e i n h i s choice of imagery. There i s a simple p a r a l l e l -ism i n some of the coup l e t s but he has avoided the redundancy of \"Mulberry...\". Perhaps the most a r t f u l t u r n i n h i s d e s c r i p t i o n i s h i s i n t r o d u c t i o n of motion and sound i n t o the p i c t u r e he c r e -a t e s . The image of the maiden's robes s w i r l i n g and f l o a t i n g and the imagined sound of her vo i c e adds c o n s i d e r a b l e s t r e n g t h to the passage. The \"Mulberry...\" continues with a d e s c r i p t i o n of the e f f e c t t h a t Lo Fu has on those who see her; When t r a v e l l e r s see Lo Fu They drop t h e i r shoulder poles and stroke t h e i r beards. When youths see Lo Fu They d o f f t h e i r hats and wear a turban. Ploughmen f o r g e t t h e i r ploughs, Hoe-men f o r g e t t h e i r hoes. 26 In t h e i r comings and goings, they resent each other, But they only s i t and watch Lo Fu. Here again, the f e e l i n g of redundancy a r i s e s . Line p a t t e r n s and words are repeated with u n s o p h i s t i c a t e d abandon. Ts'ao Chih avoids t h i s problem by re d u c i n g h i s passage to only one c o u p l e t : Passers-by stop i n t h e i r c a r r i a g e s ; Those r e s t i n g f o r g e t to eat t h e i r meals. From t h i s p o i n t on the c l o s e s i m i l a r i t y between the two pie c e s i s l o s t . In \"Mulberry...\" Lo Fu i s d i s c o v e r e d by a gov-ernment o f f i c i a l who p r o p o s i t i o n s her. She r e j e c t s him on the grounds that they both are married, and not to each'-other. \u00E2\u0080\u00A2, The l a s t stanza i n v o l v e s a d e s c r i p t i o n of Lo Fu's husband and h i s household. T h i s man i s apparently very r i c h and important. 8 0 In \" B e a u t i f u l Maiden\" Chih turns the ending i n t o a b i t of p o l i t i c a l a l l e g o r y . The maiden, though b e a u t i f u l beyond compare, has not yet found a s u i t a b l e mate. There i s no one who has ~. enough v i r t u e or p r i n c i p l e to s a t i s f y her. As a r e s u l t she wastes away i n her p a i n t e d tower and bemoans her f a t e . This i s q u i t e o b v i o u s l y an a l l e g o r y r e p r e s e n t i n g the p l i g h t of v i r t u o u s o f f i c i a l s such as Chih h i m s e l f who are unable to g a i n an oppor-t u n i t y to e x e r c i s e t h e i r t a l e n t s i n government because the r u l e r Is not e n l i g h t e n e d enough to a p p r e c i a t e them. This poem i s t h e r e f o r e , an e x c e l l e n t example not only of how Ts'ao Chih was able to r e f i n e the rough, c o l l o q u i a l d i c t i o n of f o l k yueh-fu and create an elegant p o e t i c s t y l e , but a l s o of how he remoulded the content of such p i e c e s . Polk yueh-fu were most o f t e n b a l l a d s which simply n a r r a t e d a s t o r y . They seldom c a r r i e d much expres-s i o n of p e r s o n a l thought or emotion. In c o n t r a s t , Ts'ao Chih worked from the framework of t h i s n a r r a t i v e s t y l e to c r e a t e poetry that was of a very p e r s o n a l nature. T h i s tendency toward an In -d i v i d u a l i s t i c e xpressionism i s a major f a c e t of h i s a r t . From the yueh-fu t r a d i t i o n he was able to draw a wide v a r i e t y of ima-ges and human s i t u a t i o n s which could serve as a v e h i c l e f o r t h i s expressionism. i i i . Ku-shih and the \"19 Old Poems\" The term Ku-shih o v \" o l d - s t y l e poem\" g e n e r a l l y r e f e r s to any poem w r i t t e n i n pentameter or heptameter without the use of t o n a l i n v e r s i o n or s y n t a c t i c p a r a l l e l i s m . In d e a l i n g with the Chien An p e r i o d the term o f t e n r e f e r s more s p e c i f i c a l l y to the anonymous pentametric verse w r i t t e n d u r i n g the E a s t e r n Han Dynasty. This poetry was very c l o s e l y r e l a t e d to the yueh-fu \u00E2\u0080\u00A227' t r a d i t i o n . The use of pentameter was c e r t a i n l y i n s p i r e d by 8 1 the use of t h i s form i n v a r i o u s yueh-fu poems, such as \"Mulberry by the Path\" examined above. Furthermore, ku-shih o f t e n d e a l t with themes r e l a t i n g to the l i v e s of the common people, e i t h e r the peasants or the urban b o u r g e o i s i e . This was a tendency de-r i v e d from the yueh-fu t r a d i t i o n a l s o . What set these poems apart was l a r g e l y the f a c t that they were not w r i t t e n to the accompaniment of a p a r t i c u l a r p i e c e of music and were not w r i t t e n i n i m i t a t i o n of an e s t a b l i s h e d yueh-fu theme. There was a l s o a tendency f o r these poems to be l e s s n a r r a t i v e i n c h a r a c t e r and to employ a somewhat more c l a s s i c a l language than f o l k yueh-fu. Among ku-shih the p i e c e s that had by f a r the g r e a t e s t impact on l a t e r generations were the \" 1 9 Old Poems\". These were probably c o l l e c t e d by an u n i d e n t i f i e d s c h o l a r i n the E a s t -ern Han e r a . The reason that these poems became so important i s most l i k e l y that they were not only very p r o g r e s s i v e i n t h e i r use of themes and d i c t i o n drawn from the popular t r a d i t i o n but a l s o very w e l l w r i t t e n . T h e i r language i s d i r e c t and e x p r e s s i v e , the themes they deal with are very human. These p r o p e r t i e s were very a t t r a c t i v e to l a t e r poets. In the poetry of Ts'ao Chih we c o n s t a n t l y f i n d the use of themes and p h r a s i n g from these works. When r e a d i n g such works as \"Six O c c a s i o n a l Poems\" and\"Seven Sorrows\" i t i s extremely easy to d i s c e r n the great debt that Chih owes to these e a r l y composi-t i o n s . C. The Question of Allegory One of the most persistent, concerns of Chinese s c h o l a r s d e a l i n g with the :poe try cdf'\".'Ts'ao. 'Gnlh'-hasofeeenttD^.d\u00C2\u00B1scoverj-.arid i n t e r p r e t the a l l e g o r i c a l meanings beneath the s u r f a c e of h i s t e x t s . Often t h i s concern has overshadowed a l l others and some sc h o l a r s have, as a r e s u l t , drawn a very d i s t o r t e d p i c t u r e of the nature and i n t e n t of Chih's work. There i s l i t t l e doubt that some of Chih's poems have a d e f i n i t e a l l e g o r i c a l content. As mentioned above, the technique of w r i t i n g a l l e g o r y i n t o poems developed very e a r l y i n China. Due to the e x e g e t i c a l t r a d i t i o n s that had grown up around the Shih Ching and Ch'u Tz'u, poets were l e d to b e l i e v e that poets of h i g h a n t i q u i t y employed the d e v i c e . Thus, because of the pressure of Confucian t r a d i t i o n they f e l t somewhat o b l i g e d to use i t a l s o . More i m p o r t a n t l y though, the great emphasis on the use of i n d i r e c t n e s s i n l i t e r -ature made a l l e g o r y seem a r a t h e r d i s c r e e t and elegant mannerism. The problem now, as always, i s to d i s c e r n when a l l e g o r y i s being used and what i t means. The \"Concise Oxford D i c t i o n -ary\" d e f i n e s a l l e g o r y as: \" N a r r a t i v e d e s c r i p t i o n of a s u b j e c t 28 under guise of another s u g g e s t i v e l y s i m i l a r . \" T h i s would seem to be a good s t a r t i n g p o i n t f o r our d i s c u s s i o n . Leaving aside c l a s s i c a l Chinese l i t e r a t u r e f o r the moment, i f we take George Orwell's \"Animal Farm\" as a good example of modern day a l l e g o r y we can e a s i l y see that i t i s a n a r r a t i v e d e s c r i p t i o n of the Russian R e v o l u t i o n under the guise of a s u g g e s t i v e l y s i m i l a r r e v o l u t i o n undertaken by the animals on a p a r t i c u l a r farm. This a l l seems q u i t e s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d except when we c o n s i -der that when I f i r s t read the s t o r y ( i n h i g h s c h o o l ) , I had no idea that Orwell was concerned p r i m a r i l y with events i n Russia and not on an imaginary farm. Obviously what i s s u g g e s t i v e l y s i m i l a r to one i s q u i t e opaque to another. Herein l i e s the major problem with the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n and i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of a l l e g o r y i n c l a s s i c a l Chinese poetry. We are l i v i n g almost two thousand years a f t e r Chih wrote h i s poetry. This n a t u r a l l y p l a c e s us at a c o n s i d e r a b l e disadvan-tage when d e a l i n g with the quest i o n of a l l e g o r y i n h i s work. What may have been s u g g e s t i v e l y s i m i l a r imagery or ph r a s i n g to one of Chih's contemporaries i s o f t e n simply imagery or p h r a s i n g to us. Even s c h o l a r s l i v i n g i n c l o s e r s p a c i a l and temporal prox-i m i t y to Chih than we do apparently had a great d e a l of d i f f i c u l -ty i n i d e n t i f y i n g some of h i s a l l e g o r i c a l e x p r e s s i o n . Sometimes as many as three or fo u r c o n t r a d i c t o r y i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s may e x i s t f o r the same l i n e or poem., There were a l s o many s c h o l a r s who chose to ignore advances i n p o e t i c theory and p r a c t i c e and stead-f a s t l y continued to i n t e r p r e t Chih's poetry a c c o r d i n g to the very t r a d i t i o n a l view t h a t , l i k e a l l l i t e r a t u r e , i t almost by d e f i n i t i o n contained some form of p o l i t i c a l content or r e l e v a n c e . As a r e s u l t , a l l e g o r i c a l meanings have been a t t r i b u t e d to the m a j o r i t y of Chih's poems, when i n f a c t , only a few of h i s works can with c e r t a i n t y be s a i d to possess t h i s p r o p e r t y . A d e f i n i t i v e study of the use of a l l e g o r y i n Ts'ao Chih's poetry would be a very complex and treacherous undertaking and I do not propose anything of the s o r t here. However, by examining two or three of h i s poems, I t h i n k we may be able to ga i n some i n s i g h t i n t o the gen e r a l extent and s t y l e o f h i s employment of the technique. Let us begin with \"A Fea s t \" . This poem i s of a standard form which i s Intended to c e l e b r a t e the pl e a s u r e s of a f e a s t . In t h i s case the f e a s t seems to have been given by the f u t u r e founder of the Wei Dynasty, Ts'ao P ' i . The guests are the v a r i o u s nobles, o f f i c i a l s and l i t -e r a t i of the Wei c a p i t a l at Yeh and the f e a s t takes p l a c e i n a garden i n that c i t y , p o s s i b l y the T'ung Chiieh Garden. We can e a s i l y assume that t h i s poem i s a product of a time i n Ts'ao Chih's l i f e when he enjoyed an a c t i v e and s t i m u l a t i n g s o c i a l l i f e . He seems to have been a s s o c i a t e d c l o s e l y with many members of the s o - c a l l e d \"Seven Masters of Chien An\" c o t e r i e . T h i s a s s o c i a -t i o n was both s o c i a l and a r t i s t i c as we f i n d much evidence of mutual borrowing and i n f l u e n c e among Chih, h i s b r o t h e r P ' i and the members of the \"Seven Masters\" group. For example, we can see that the f i r s t l i n e from t h i s poem i s very s i m i l a r to a l i n e from one of Ying Ch' ang' s poems, 2 9, and p o i n t s of s i m i l a r i t y can a l s o be found i n poems e n t i t l e d \"A F e a s t \" by Wang Ts'an and L i u unique c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of Chih's \"A F e a s t \" i s that i t i s not r e s t r i c t e d to a f a c i l e d e s c r i p t i o n of the f e s t i v e a c t i v i t i e s . Rather, Chih q u i c k l y moves from the f e a s t outwards, to d e s c r i b e the n a t u r a l b e a u t i e s of the park at n i g h t . To the extent that t h i s i s t r u e , i t i s p o s s i b l e to see c e r t a i n p a r a l l e l s between t h i s poem- and Ts'ao P ' i ' s \"Lotus Pond\" ^ ^ L - - ^ ^ which transcend op the d i s s i m i l a r i t i e s of t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e themes. Despite the a t t e n t i o n given to the landscape, Chih only leaves the f e a s t i t s e l f behind f o r a short w h i l e . A f t e r s i x l i n e s of n a t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n we once more are r e t u r n e d to the f e a s t . Furthermore, by drawing back from the scene of the f e a s t and f o c u s s i n g on the landscape Chih has not n e c e s s a r i l y done anything very unique. By and l a r g e poems on f e a s t i n g themes w r i t t e n both b e f o r e and a f t e r t h i s time, and even some of Chih's Chen. 30 Fang Po-hai has suggested that one of the own poems \u00C2\u00B0 do not take such l i b e r t i e s . However, In the other \"Feast\" poems from the Chien An p e r i o d which are i n c l u d e d i n the Wen Hsiian we f i n d that there i s much use of n a t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n to complement the d e s c r i p t i o n of the f e a s t . These poems even c o n t a i n a number of mutually borrowed phrases and images r e l a -t i n g to the landscape. It i s a l s o q u i t e p o s s i b l e that Chih has used the l a n d s -cape imagery as an a l l e g o r i c a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of c e r t a i n aspects of the f e a s t i t s e l f . Ho Cho maintains t h i s and he has sketched *r\ out the d e t a i l s of the a l l e g o r y f o r us. He b e l i e v e s , f o r example that the \" b r i g h t moon\" re p r e s e n t s the master or host, and the s t a r s r epresent the guests. The \"autumn o r c h i d s \" and \" s c a r l e t f l o w e r s \" (presumably l o t u s blossoms) on the banks symbolize the guests and the host's a p p r e c i a t i o n of them. The f i s h who s u r f a c e from the depths of the pond and the b i r d s p e r c h i n g on the high branches represent the guests who have gained enough confidence, i n t h e i r host to present themselves and t h e i r ideas openly. The gusty winds that blow around the c h a r i o t are symbolic i c of the f e a s t e r s who r a l l y around t h e i r r o y a l master. Whether or not t h i s poem was i n fact' written as-- an ' a l l e g o r y , and to what extent any a l l e g o r i c a l meaning might be important, i s , of course, impossible to determine f o r c e r t a i n . The comparison of the moon to the host and the s t a r s to the guests seems to be q u i t e obvious. Chih uses a very s i m i l a r image i n \"For Hsu Kan\" which a l s o seems to c o n t a i n a l l e g o r i c a l meaning. Si m i l a r l y , * the f i s h which ascend from the depths and the b i r d s on high branches are images which have been used by other poets as symbols f o r men of high v i r t u e who can only be drawn out by a p a r t i c u l a r l y e n l i g h t e n e d r u l e r . D The wind that blows around the c h a r i o t s i s a l s o reasonably easy to see as r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of the guests who gather around the P r i n c e . Even i n the couplet concerning the o r c h i d s and s c a r l e t flowers ( l i n e s 7 and 8) i t does not take too very much ima g i n a t i o n to see these f l o w e r s \" as being metaphors f o r the guests who have a r r i v e d i n great num-bers f o r the f e a s t and who present themselves to the host i n c o l -o u r f u l a r r a y . With a l i t t l e c o n s i d e r a t i o n Ho Cho's t h e s i s appears to be qu i t e p l a u s i b l e . I t Is not s t r e t c h i n g t h i n g s too f a r to say that there e x i s t s a suggestive s i m i l a r i t y between the landscape imagery and the . f e s t i v e proceedings. At the same time, i f we accept t h i s t h e s i s we must not t h i n k that the poem has no content save the a l l e g o r i c a l meaning. A re a d i n g of the p r e v i o u s l y men-t i o n e d poems by Wang Ts'an, L i u Chen and Ying Ch'ang r e v e a l s con-s i d e r a b l e use of n a t u r a l imagery. For the most part however, these images do not betray any second l e v e l of meaning. Assuming that these men were a l l w r i t i n g i n a comparable s t y l e , i t i s l i k e l y that the d i r e c t e v o c a t i o n of n a t u r a l scenery was the s t a r t i n g p o i n t of Chih's composition too. C e r t a i n l y , there i s much genuine power i n the d e p i c t i o n of the landscape i t s e l f , and even without assuming a second l e v e l o f meaning, t h i s would stand as good poetry. By i n j e c t i n g a l l e g o r i c a l meaning Into the landscape imagery, Chih has given h i s poem c o n s i d e r a b l y more depth and i n t e r e s t . I t i s a de f t touch which allows' him to comment on the nature and ambience of the f e a s t and yet f r e e s him from the need to employ hackneyed formulas which would d e p i c t the d r i n k i n g and c a r r y i n g on directly\".. I t i s an e x c e l l e n t example of Ts'ao Chih's t e c h n i c a l accomplishment. The second example I would l i k e to make use of i s \" R e j o i c in g with the Rain\"., On f i r s t r e a d i n g , t h i s poem seems a s t r a i g h t forward ode to the r a i n \u00E2\u0080\u00A2: . ' Vwhich f a l l s a f t e r a long, drought. Commentators have maintained, however, that the pie c e i s not so simple as i t might at f i r s t appear. 3 6 Beginning with the pre -mise that the poem was w r i t t e n i n 228, d u r i n g the r e i g n of Ts'ao J u l , when Chih's w r i t i n g s were h e a v i l y laden with f r u s t r a t i o n arid appeal f o r b e t t e r treatment, they have t r i e d to show that \u00E2\u0080\u00A2this i s an a l l e g o r y of complaint a g a i n s t the c o u r t . They b e l i e v e that the Heavens represent the Emperor, and the \"abundant l i f e \" or \"myriad l i v i n g t h i n g s \" ^ ^_ i n c l u d e the poet h i m s e l f . . Thus, when Chih w r i t e s that l i v i n g t h i n g s f l o u r i s h with proper n u r t u r e ^ from the Heavens', he r e a l l y i m p l i e s that he would be much more happy and p r o d u c t i v e with proper a t t e n t i o n from the Emperor and the c o u r t . Though there i s a tendency to. r e s i s t t h i s k i n d of I n t e r -p r e t a t i o n , there i s f a i r l y s o l i d evidence to support i t . T h i s evidence i s based on the s i m i l a r i t y between t h i s poem and c e r t a i n passages i n the memorial by Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju mentioned i n the annotation to the t r a n s l a t i o n (see note #2) and a l s o a fu w r i t t e n by Chia Yi,\"Dry Clouds\" j ^ ^ T . In h i s essay, Hsiang-ju works on the concept of the Emperor as r i t u a l i n t e r m e d i a r y between man and the Heavens. In t h i s r o l e he (the Emperor) has a d e f i n i t e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y to maintain the balance and order between these spheres. T h i s theme i s f u r t h e r blended with the i d e a that the Emperor i s ' h i m s e l f l i k e the Heavens i n that h i s a t t e n t i o n arid nurture have the same kind of e f f e c t on h i s s u b j e c t s as the Hea-vens' nurture has on a l l l i v i n g t h i n g s . He w r i t e s : \"Prom the r o l l i n g of the clouds In the canopy of Heaven comes sweet dew 37 and seasonal r a i n In whose f e c u n d i t y we may r e v e l . . . \" A l s o , In an e a r l i e r passage, we f i n d : \"Your majesty's humanity nur-tures the myriad l i v i n g t h i n g s , and your r i g h t e o u s n e s s a t t a c k s those who are d i s o b e d i e n t . \" Chih has made use of both these passages i n h i s opening c o u p l e t . In t h i s way he informs the e r u d i t e reader that he should keep the meaning of Hslang-ju's essay i n mind while r e a d i n g the poem. The e f f e c t i s t h a t , a l -though Chih never s p e c i f i c a l l y i d e n t i f i e s the emperor and h i s power to s u s t a i n h i s s u b j e c t s with the power of the Heavens to n o u r i s h l i v i n g t h i n g s , the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n i s i m p l i c i t l y t h e r e . There i s no t e x t u a l correspondence between \" R e j o i c i n g with the Rain\" and \"Dry Clouds\". There i s a st r o n g thematic s i m i l a r i t y however. \"Dry Clouds\" Is a d e s c r i p t i o n of a drought and the e f f e c t s t h a t drought has on a g r i c u l t u r e and the people who r e l y on a g r i c u l t u r e f o r t h e i r l i v e l i h o o d . In the course of t h i s d e s c r i p t i o n Chia Y i d i r e c t l y accuses the emperor of being r e s p o n s i b l e f o r the l a c k of r a i n . He w r i t e s : I a t t r i b u t e blame ( f o r t h i s drought) to the emperor. Has he not heard of the way In which great merit was accumulated i n T'ang \u00C2\u00A3g and Yu & , or of the s p i r i t of the three epochs?...When the government l o s e s i t s cen-t r a l i s m and goes c o n t r a r y to the rhythms of nature, the yin f o r c e s withdraw and stagnate.\" 3'9 Here again the connection between the o f f i c e of the emperor and the f u n c t i o n i n g of. the elements i s o u t l i n e d . T h i s connection was founded on the very ancient i d e a that the emperor was the intermediary between Heaven, nature and man and that to ensure harmony between these spheres he had to perform h i s r i t u a l d u t i e s c o r r e c t l y . When Chih speaks of the f u n c t i o n i n g of the Heavens and p a r t i c u l a r l y Heaven's r e l a t i o n to l i v i n g t h i n g s , he almost a u t o m a t i c a l l y i m p l i c a t e s the emperor i n the s i t u a t i o n . Commentators such as Yu Kuan-ying (pp. 1 0 6 - 1 0 7 ) have t r i e d to r e l a t e the content of t h i s poem as c l o s e l y as p o s s i b l e to the f e e l i n g s expressed i n other works w r i t t e n i n the T'ai-ho era. Yu b e l i e v e s that Chih i s speaking very s p e c i f i c a l l y of h i s own r e l a t i o n s h i p with the emperor and that h i s tone i s d e f i n i t e l y one of complaint. I f we assume, as Yu does, that the poem p o s i -t i v e l y was w r i t t e n i n 2 2 8 , t h i s k i n d of i n f e r e n c e i s d i f f i c u l t to a v o i d . On the other hand, i f we a l l o w the p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t the poem might have been w r i t t e n at some other, unknown, time, I t would seem more reasonable to view i t as a g e n e r a l statement about the powers of the emperor contained a l l e g o r i c a l l y w i t h i n a p i e c e w r i t t e n about the advent of r a i n a f t e r . a p e r i o d of . :r--\^.: drought. Here again the q u e s t i o n of \"suggestive s i m i l a r i t y \" i s a r e l a t i v e one. We may not a s s o c i a t e the f u n c t i o n of the emper-or with the f u n c t i o n i n g of the elements but once we understand the c l o s e a s s o c i a t i o n that the a n c i e n t Chinese made between these two spheres, the a l l e g o r i c a l nature of \" R e j o i c i n g with the Rain\" becomes c l e a r . Probably the most e a s i l y e s t a b l i s h e d a l l e g o r i e s that Chih wrote were a l l based on a s i m i l a r theme; that of a woman aban-doned by her husband or l o v e r . There i s very l i t t l e doubt that i n almost any Chinese poem where the poet adopts the persona of a woman who s u f f e r s f e e l i n g s of l o n e l i n e s s and b e t r a y a l because her beloved has l e f t f o r p a r t s unknown, the r e l a t i o n s h i p between 90 the poet and h i s r u l e r i s being i - m d l i c i t l y o r e f e r r e d t o . In the symbolism of the Ji Ching, the r u l e r r e p r e s e n t s yang q u a l i t i e s and the sub j e c t r e p r e s e n t s yin q u a l i t i e s . S i m i l a r l y , i n a sexual r e l a t i o n s h i p the man repr e s e n t s yang q u a l i t i e s and the woman rep -r e s e n t s yin q u a l i t i e s . Consequently i t i s r a t h e r n a t u r a l that r u l e r - s u b j e c t r e l a t i o n s h i p s should come to be symbolized by man-40 woman r e l a t i o n s h i p s . ' Let us look at one of the best examples of t h i s manner of a l l e g o r y to be found among Chih's poems. This i s \"Seven Sorrows\". In t h i s poem, as i n many of h i s poems and fu the woman's f e e l i n g s of estrangement must be s y m b o l i c a l l y equated with Chih's own f e e l i n g s i n r e l a t i o n to the treatment that he had r e c e i v e d from h i s b r o t h e r , Ts'ao P ' i . A f t e r P ' i took the throne of Wei and made h i m s e l f emperor, he di s p a t c h e d Chih to h i s f i e f i n L i n Tzu. Thi s was a k i n d of e x i l e . I t meant that Chih could not take an a c t i v e part i n s t a t e a f f a i r s ; something which he had a great ambition to do. P ' i o b v i o u s l y d i s t r u s t e d Chih very much and had no i n c l i n a t i o n to l e t him remain at the c a p i t a l . We can w e l l imagine that Chih's f e e l i n g s of h e l p l e s s n e s s i n face of t h i s s i t u a t i o n must have had some s i m i l a r i t y to the f e e l i n g s of a woman whose husband has l e f t her and may never r e t u r n . The moon i n the f i r s t l i n e may symbolize; the woman's husband, but the image of the moon i s s l i g h t l y enigmatic. Chih may simply be u s i n g the f i r s t c ouplet to set a mood f o r the p i e c e . However some commentators have attempted to a s s i g n sym-b o l i c meaning to i t . Ho Cho b e l i e v e s that the moon symbolizes the l o r d or master whom the poet, In the persona of the abandoned wife ihopes w i l l c ast down an observant look to d i s c o v e r her ( h i s ) true f e e l i n g s . The h e s i t a n c y of the rays shows t h a t though the l o r d or husband i s about to withdraw h i s favour, the woman s t i l l hopes that the favour w i l l be r e t u r n e d to her. The two c o u p l e t s beginning \"He i s l i k e t h e : dust on a bv:i:~: b r i g h t road...\" c l e a r l y draws our? a t t e n t i o n toward the c o n t r a d i c -t i o n s i n Chih's s i t u a t i o n vis a vis h i s b r o t h e r . The dust on the road and the mud i n the stream are e s s e n t i a l l y the same m a t e r i a l , but f o r reasons beyond t h e i r c o n t r o l , they have been drawn apart and f o r c e d i n very d i f f e r e n t d i r e c t i o n s . Chih and P ' i were bro-thers borne of the same mother, they were the same f l e s h and blood. But, because of circumstances p r e v a i l i n g at c o u r t , P ' i f e l t that i t was In h i s best i n t e r e s t to a l i e n a t e Chih, along with many other b l o o d r e l a t i v e s , from h i m s e l f and the court by keeping them i n a s t a t e of s e m i - e x i l e on t h e i r f i e f s . As mentioned i n note #6 of the annotations to the t r a n s -l a t i o n , the s i g n i f i c a n c e of the southwesterly wind has been de-bated by v a r i o u s s c h o l a r s . Without even being c e r t a i n about the a c t u a l time d u r i n g which the poem was w r i t t e n i t seems meaning-l e s s to maintain that Chih was, at the time of w r i t i n g , r e s i d i n g i n a place southwest of where P ' i was l i v i n g . T h i s may have been the case and may be the true foundation of the l i n e ' s mean-ing , but i t seems more reasonable and i m a g i n a t i v e to f o l l o w I t o ' s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n . In t h a t manner a q u i t e s a t i s f y i n g p a r a l l e l i n g of p o e t i c image and a l l e g o r i c a l r e a l i t y i s achieved. As with \" R e j o i c i n g with the Rain\" and \"A F e a s t \" , the f u l l beauty of the poem cannot be a p p r e c i a t e d i f one takes e i t h e r the s u r f a c e meaning or the a l l e g o r i c a l meaning as being the more important. Both meanings are e q u a l l y important. I t i s 92 one of the great v i r t u e s of Ts'ao Chih's work that he was able to use ambiguity and a l l e g o r y i n such a way as to crea t e poems that could f u n c t i o n i n a very balanced manner at two or more l e v -e l s at once. D. Metaphor and \"Hsing\" Jjs& Metaphor i s of course the very foundation of p o e t i c ex-p r e s s i o n . I t i s the technique of modifying an o b j e c t or a s t a t e 41 by comparing i t with some other o b j e c t or s t a t e . - Por example, i n the l i n e s : I dwelt alone In a world of moan, ^ And my so u l was a stagnant t i d e , there i s a very simple metaphor. The i d e a of \" s o u l \" Is m o d i f i e d by comparing i t to the ideas r e p r e s e n t e d by the words \"stagnant t i d e \" . Obviously the poet's s o u l i s not s t r i c t l y speaking a t i d e of any k i n d , but by d e s c r i b i n g i t as one, the poet has conveyed to us some very r e a l f e e l i n g s . In c l a s s i c a l Chinese poetry, metaphors are o f t e n c o n s t r u c -ted i n ways that are u n f a m i l i a r to the modern Western reader. Por example, as Waley notes: \" E a r l y Chinese songs do not as a r u l e i n t r o d u c e a comparison with an \"as i f \" or \" l i k e \" , but s t a t e 43 i t on the same f o o t i n g as the f a c t s t h a t they n a r r a t e . \" This technique i s w e l l i l l u s t r a t e d i n one of Ts'ao Chih's poems. The opening two co u p l e t s of \"Duckweed\" read: Duckweed l y i n g on the c l e a r water Follows the wind f l o w i n g east and west. On becoming a woman I l e f t my parents To become a gentleman's mate. The poem goes on to d e s c r i b e how the woman i s f a u l t e d u n j u s t l y and as a consequence i s abandoned by her husband. Although the f i r s t couplet might, on s u p e r f i c i a l r e a d i n g , seem out of p l a c e , i n f a c t i t p r o v i d e s a metaphor f o r the i n s t a b i l i t y of the woman' l i f e . L i k e the duckweed she has no r o o t s to h o l d her f a s t , so she i s d r i v e n to and f r o by f o r c e s beyond her c o n t r o l . As such the couplet i s a h i g h l y d e s c r i p t i v e image. In \"Occasional Poem\" we f i n d another very suggestive met aphor r e l a t i n g the f e e l i n g s of a woman abandoned by her l o v e r . The l i n e s : The abandoned h a l l s , how s i l e n t now! Green weeds cover the c o u r t y a r d s t a i r s . Empty caverns blow f o r t h t h e i r own winds While a hundred b i r d s r i s e f o r the the southward f l i g h t . suggest l o n e l i n e s s , d e s o l a t i o n and abandonment. With the f o l l o w ing c o u p l e t : S p r i n g thoughts can never be f o r g o t t e n , Sorrow and l o n e l i n e s s u n i t e with me. Chih i n d i c a t e s that the d e s c r i p t i o n of the\"empty c o u r t y a r d and de p a r t i n g b i r d s i s a c t u a l l y a metaphor f o r the woman's sorrow over the departure of her beloved. This metaphor i s executed with a great deal of elegance and depth of f e e l i n g . One of the most commonly c i t e d \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 examples of the use of met-aphor i n Ts'ao Chih's poetry i s from the f i r s t of the \"Six Occa-s i o n a l Poems\". The f i r s t two coup l e t s o f t h i s poem read: Around the t a l l tower blow many sad winds; Morning sun shines on the northern wood. He i s a thousand miles away now; The lakes and r i v e r s are f a r and deep. In t h i s poem a l s o Chih uses the persona of a woman l e f t behind by her wandering l o v e r . That the poem concerns a woman and her l o v e r i s s u b t l y h i n t e d at i n the f i r s t c o u p l e t . F i r s t l y , as Huang Chieh p o i n t s out, the a s s o c i a t i o n given to the phrase 94 \"northern wood\" by i t s locus c l a s s i c u s i n the Shih Ching i s of 45 the sorrows of an abandoned w i f e . This a s s o c i a t i o n i s employed 4 6 by other poets such as Juan C h i . The tower i n the f i r s t l i n e c o uld e a s i l y r e f e r to the place where the l o n e l y woman l i v e s . There i s a tendency to i d e n t i f y towers as being the d w e l l i n g places of l o n e l y women In Chih's work. Note f o r example, \"Sev-en Sorrows\", and \" B e a u t i f u l Maiden\". This i s a l s o the case i n the f i f t h of the \"19 Old Poems\". The image of \"sad winds\" blow-in g around the tower i s very e v o c a t i v e . I t sets a mood of mel-andholy In the poem, yet i s not o v e r l y s e n t i m e n t a l . The impor-tance of the second l i n e i s that i t conveys both an a l l u s i o n r e -garding the content of the poem and a l s o an image that compli-ments that of the f i r s t l i n e . This a b i l i t y to combine a l l u s i o n with metaphoric imagery i s one of Chih's most notable accomplish-ments. In \"Poem of F e e l i n g s \" Chih uses a metaphor which operates s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t l y from the examples above. This metaphor i s found i n the second and t h i r d c ouplets of the poem; G l i d i n g f i s h hide beneath green r i v e r s And r i s i n g b i r d s press toward the sky. So d i s t a n t , the t r a v e l l i n g k n i g h t , Cast a f a r , he cannot return.': The \" g l i d i n g f i s h \" and the \" r i s i n g b i r d s \" a l l have a pl a c e where they f e e l secure and comfortable. By c o n t r a s t , the t r a v e l l i n g knight has no such p l a c e . He Is f a r from h i s home and has no means of r e t u r n . In t h i s case, r a t h e r than modifying the pre-dicament of the knight by comparing i t d i r e c t l y to c e r t a i n nat-u r a l imagery, Chih modifies by c o n t r a s t i n g the r e l a t i v e l y s a f e , s t a b l e e x i s t e n c e of the f i s h and b i r d s with the h i g h l y unstable e x i s t e n c e of the k n i g h t . There e x i s t s i n Chinese p o e t i c theory a term which seems q u i t e c l o s e l y r e l a t e d to the i d e a of metaphor. This i s hsing Hsing l i t e r a l l y means \"to give r i s e t o \" or \"to r a i s e \" . I t was used as a l i t e r a r y term from very e a r l y times, but by the Han 4 7' Dynasty i t s o r i g i n a l meaning had been l o s t . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l -l y , Chinese s c h o l a r s were not w i l l i n g to admit that they no longer knew what hsing meant as a l i t e r a r y term so they a t t r i b u -ted new meaning to i t a c c o r d i n g to what they thought that i t probably meant. L i u Hsieh d e s c r i b e s one of the more commonly he l d t h e o r i e s about t h i s termes meaning i n h i s \" L i t e r a r y Mind and the Carving of the Dragons\"; \"Hsing ( i s ) response to s t i m -ulus...When we respond to s t i m u l i we formulate our ideas a c c o r -4^ 8 ding to s u b t l e i n f l u e n c e s we r e c e i v e . In other words, i n s t e a d of f i n d i n g images that w i l l s t i m u l a t e i n the reader c e r t a i n f e e l Ings r e g a r d i n g p a r t i c u l a r o b j e c t s or s t a t e s , the poet i s stimu-l a t e d to c e r t a i n f e e l i n g s by e x t e r n a l o b j e c t s and then simply d e s c r i b e s those o b j e c t s along with the f e e l i n g s that they s t i m -u l a t e d . The i d e a of kan wu jj^ffi \"being moved by t h i n g s \" which 49 i s found i n the Lz Chi- and i s repeated c o n t i n u a l l y by poets throughout China's h i s t o r y i s very c l o s e l y r e l a t e d to the i d e a of hsing as L i u Hsieh d e s c r i b e s i t . Chih h i m s e l f uses the term i n the f o u r t h strophe of \"For P r i n c e Pai-ma, Piao\". In that passage he d e s c r i b e s the coming of autumn's c h i l l , the d e s o l a -t i o n of the p l a i n s and the urgency with which b i r d s and animals are seeking the s e c u r i t y of the woods and t h e i r own k i n d . The c o n c l u d i n g couplet reads: Moved by these t h i n g s , I f e e l great d i s t r e s s ? Beating my b r e a s t , I heave a long s i g h . In t h i s case Chih has a l r e a d y i n t i m a t e d t h a t h i s f e e l i n g s of dis-t r e s s are r e l a t e d to h i s f o r c e d estrangement from h i s b r o t h e r Ts'ao P'i. Thus the p e r c e p t i o n of those very somber images drawn from the landscape serve p r i n c i p a l l y to i n t e n s i f y h i s f e e l i n g s . Another e x c e l l e n t example of t h i s type of \"response-to-s t i m u l u s \" metaphor i s found i n the f i r s t of Chih's two poems dedica t e d to Ying Ch'ang. In t h i s poem Ts'ao Chih i s moved to strong feelings -of melancholy and remorse on viewing the r u i n s of the o l d Han c a p i t a l at Loyang. There i s a t r a d i t i o n a l asso-c i a t i o n i n Chinese l i t e r a t u r e between viewing scenery from a high place and the remembrance of the g l o r i e s of former ages.\" This i s p r e c i s e l y the theme that Chih develops here. With the f i r s t l i n e a somber mood i s set because the h i l l upon which he i s walking i s one which h e l d the tombs of many former members of the- Han r o y a l f a m i l y . He then d e p i c t s a scene of Loyang's deep d e s o l a t i o n . Loyang, which once was the most f l o u r i s h i n g and r i c h m e t r o p o l i s i n the world had been ravaged. Years l a t e r i t s t i l l remained i n a s t a t e of u t t e r decay. . Walls were crumb-l i n g and weeds climbed from the cracks i n the roads and c o u r t -yards . There no longer remained any of the o f f i c i a l s and s c h o l -ars who once watched over the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the empire. There were only a few common people who had r e t u r n e d to t r y to r e - e s t a b l i s h some k i n d of l i v e l i h o o d . Outside the c i t y too, the farming lands which had supported the opulence of the imper-i a l court l a y l a r g e l y untended. The peasants-had a l l moved away or died and the paths and f i e l d s had become overgrown. Prom t h i s p i c t u r e of Loyang and i t s environs l y i n g i n a s t a t e of neg-97 l e c t and d e v a s t a t i o n , Chih i s moved to f e e l i n g s of inten s e d i s -t r e s s . Loyang's dismal s t a t e was symbolic of the s t a t e of c i v i l -i z a t i o n i n g e n e r a l , or at l e a s t as the Chinese knew i t . The f a l l of Han a u t h o r i t y had been a severe blow to a l l Chinese and espe-c i a l l y to the educated e l i t e . For them the p o l i t i c a l e s t a b l i s h -ment of the Han with i t s Confucian orthodoxy had come to be i d e n -t i f i e d with a l l that was c i v i l i z e d and i t gave a sense of u l t i -.\u00E2\u0080\u00A2ma'te- v a l i d i t y to the way i n which they l i v e d t h e i r l i v e s . Chih, as part of the e l i t e , must have f e l t a tremendous melancholy and d i s o r i e n t a t i o n at the s i g h t of Loyang i n r u i n s . The w i l d s amid which he viewed those r u i n s extended not only f o r hundreds of miles i n t o the d i s t a n c e , but a l s o deep i n t o h i s own being. E. F ' i c t ' i o n a l - i z a t i o n We have seen how Ts'ao Chih o f t e n used the s i t u a t i o n of an abandoned woman as an a l l e g o r y or metaphor f o r h i s own f e e l -ings of estrangement from h i s b r o t h e r Ts'ao P ' i and l a t e r h i s nephew Ts'ao J u i when these men h e l d the p o s i t i o n of Emperor. It i s the i n t e n s i t y and depth with which Chih i s able to d e p i c t both h i s own f e e l i n g s and those of the imaginary woman whose persona he adopts that makes such poems so s u c c e s s f u l . Ts'ao Chih had a tremendous a b i l i t y to i d e n t i f y with the emotions of others and a l s o to employ e x t e r n a l o b j e c t s as symbols or meta-phors f o r h i s own emotions. This l a t t e r f a c e t of h i s a r t i s most p o w e r f u l l y demonstrated i n a number of what might be c a l l e d phantasy or imaginary p i e c e s . Two of the best examples of t h i s s t y l e of poem are w r i t t e n along very s i m i l a r l i n e s . The f i r s t i s the second poem i n the set of \"Six O c c a s i o n a l Poems\". Chih o f t e n uses animals or p l a n t s which wander or are moved about 9 8 a i m l e s s l y and have no f i x e d r e s t i n g p l a c e as symbols f o r men or women who have been f o r c e d to leave t h e i r homes and t r a v e l i n d i s t a n t p l a c e s . Here, the tumble-weed, blown at the mercy of the wind's constant pressure i s l i k e the t r a v e l l e r or s o l d i e r who must f o l l o w the army u n q u e s t i o n i n g l y to d i s t a n t p l a c e s , o f t e n r i s k i n g h i s l i f e to do so. It has been suggested that t h i s poem was w r i t t e n d u r i n g the l a t t e r stages of Chih's l i f e when he was c o n s t a n t l y being s h i f t e d from one f i e f to another. \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 In two prose p i e c e s , \".Mem-o r i a l i n g r a t i t u d e f o r being t r a n s f e r r e d to be P r i n c e of Tung-O\" we f i n d Chih complaining of the number of times he had been t r a n s f e r r e d , and i n two other notable yueh-fu poems \" A l a s ! \" and the \"Great Rock\" fa'-j^ > which we w i l l d i s c u s s l a t e r , he a l l u d e s to the sadness\" and f r u s t r a t i o n that he experienced i n h i s l a t e r years because of that i n s t a b i l i t y . I b e l i e v e that t h i s p a r t i c u l a r poem was w r i t t e n at a r a t h e r e a r l y stage i n Chih's development. Though he would nat-u r a l l y i n c l u d e h i m s e l f among those who were sub j e c t to p e r i o d s of r o o t l e s s n e s s and a l i e n a t i o n , the s u b j e c t i n the poem seems to be man i n general r a t h e r than the poet i n p a r t i c u l a r . The theme of the t r a v e l l i n g s o l d i e r i s a very p r e v a l e n t one i n the ku^shih & f ^ o f the Han and Wei p e r i o d s . 5 2 Chih appears p r i -m a r i l y to be i m i t a t i n g poems of t h i s convention. He has bor-rowed h e a v i l y from the s t y l e and vocabulary of such poems. How-ever, he has a l s o added c e r t a i n r e f i n i n g touches of h i s own so that we can e a s i l y determine that the poem was composed by a w e l l - t r a i n e d poet r a t h e r than a b a l l a d e e r . What makes the poem most a t t r a c t i v e i s that the d e s c r i p t i o n of the weed blown h i t h e r and yon by the wind i s made i n t o a k i n d of t r a n s c e n d e n t a l phan-tas y . The weed s w i r l s up through the clouds to reach toward Heaven's i n f i n i t y and f e e l the endlessness of the u n i v e r s e . In l i k e manner, we, as t r a v e l l e r s through a world o f t e n h o s t i l e and f o r b i d d i n g , are o f t e n l e d to f e e l , i n our l o n e l i n e s s and a l i e n a -t i o n , t h i s same emptiness and i n d i f f e r e n c e of the u n i v e r s e ' s i n f i n i t y . In \"Al'as! \"> Chih has again employed the image of a tumble-weed blown i n the wind, but i n t h i s case, r a t h e r than simply use the image as a metaphor f o r the f e e l i n g s of t r a v e l l i n g s o l d i e r s , he has extended i t through the l e n g t h of the poem. In that man-ner the piece becomes more of a p h a n t a s t i c a l l e g o r y . As such i t i s q u i t e unique. I t was c e r t a i n l y not unusual f o r n a t u r a l imagery, such as p l a n t s or animals, to be used as metaphors or symbols f o r a poet's f e e l i n g s . Nor was i t unusual f o r a poet to w r i t e from the persona or p e r s p e c t i v e of someone other than h i m s e l f , such as i n the case where Chih wrote i n the persona of a woman. However, by w r i t i n g a completely p h a n t a s t i c p i e c e i n which he imagined h i m s e l f to be an e s s e n t i a l l y inanimate o b j e c t , Chih had taken a very i n n o v a t i v e step. The poem was most l i k e l y w r i t t e n sometime a f t e r Ts'ao P'I had taken the throne and f o r c e d h i s b r o t h e r s to leave the c a p i t a l and take up r e s i d e n c e i n t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e f i e f s . Chih i s w r i t i n g with r e f e r e n c e to h i s f e e l i n g s d u r i n g that t r y i n g p e r i o d . Through h i s e x c i t i n g -and r i c h d e s c r i p t i o n of the o f t e n v i o l e n t and dramatic movements of the tumble-weed, he c r e a t e d an exceedingly e v o c a t i v e metaphor f o r h i s f e e l i n g s of hopeless,-100 i n s t a b i l i t y and f r u s t r a t i o n . T h i s a b i l i t y to f i c t i o n a l i z e Is a l s o e x e r c i s e d e x t e n s i v e -l y i n Ts'ao Chih's \"wandering Immortals\" poems. Such poems, which c o n s t i t u t e d a k i n d of sub-genre i n the l i t e r a t u r e of med-i e v a l China, owed t h e i r i n s p i r a t i o n to a p i e c e i n the Ch'u Tz'u e n t i t l e d \" T r a v e l l i n g A f a r \" , Yuan Yu \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 T h i s p i e c e was t r a -d i t i o n a l l y a t t r i b u t e d to Ch'u Yuan but i s now g e n e r a l l y b e l i e v e d to have been an e a r l y Han composition. J I t i s the account of a man who i s d i s i l l u s i o n e d and anxious about mortal e x i s t e n c e and i t s l i m i t a t i o n s and so c o n t r i v e s to become an immortal. We are t r a n s p o r t e d with him on a journey through the ultramundane realms frequented by immortals. In view of the great p o p u l a r i -ty of the c u l t of i m m o r t a l i t y and r e l i g i o u s Taoism d u r i n g the Han e r a , i t c o u l d very w e l l have been t h a t t h i s p i e c e was w r i t -ten as a r e l i g i o u s testament; a Swedenborgian t r i p through the Chinese e q u i v a l e n t of Heaven. Such an i n t e r p r e t a t i o n was, of course, unacceptable i n Confucian terms. As a consequence i t was i n t e r p r e t e d as being a p u r e l y i m a g i n a t i v e e x e r c i s e ; the product of Ch'u Yuan's f e e l i n g s of f r u s t r a t i o n and o p p r e s s i o n , '\"phantastic escapism i f you w i l l . The same type of i n t e r p r e t a -t i o n was a p p l i e d to most works subsequently w r i t t e n i n t h i s s t y l e . Whether or not i t was a p p l i e d c o r r e c t l y i s another q u e s t i o n . Ts'ao Chih wrote a l a r g e number of poems on the theme of \"wandering immortals\", but i t i s somewhat d i f f i c u l t to de-termine why he so favoured t h i s s t y l e . A f t e r r e a d i n g h i s \" D i s -course on D i s t i n g u i s h i n g the Tad\" > ^ there remains l i t -t l e doubt that Chih was not a naive f o l l o w e r of popular Taoism. 101 In that essay he Is very h o s t i l e to the s o r c e r y p r a c t i c e d by the fang-shih -^-irof the time and h i g h l y s c e p t i c a l about the i d e a of i m m o r t a l i t y . Another example of t h i s s c e p t i c i s m Is found i n the l a s t strophe of \"For Prince Pai-ma, Piao\". There he w r i t e s : I t i s v a i n and empty to seek the immortals, Master Sung (an immortal) has deceived us too long. In c o n s i d e r a t i o n of such statements we must assume that e i t h e r Chih had accepted the Confucian view that \"wandering immortals\" poems were simply phantasies w r i t t e n i n r e a c t i o n to the o p p r e s e i o i sions of p o l i t i c a l i n t r i g u e r s , o r that he h e l d s t r o n g l y c o n t r a -d i c t o r y f e e l i n g s on the subject of i m m o r t a l i t y . U n f o r t u n a t e l y i t i s not w i t h i n the scope of t h i s work to give more thorough c o n s i d e r a t i o n to t h i s problem. I t w i l l have to be s u f f i c i e n t f o r us to understand that whatever the a c t u a l extent of Ts'ao Chih's b e l i e f i n the immortals might have been, there was c e r -t a i n l y a l a r g e measure of e s c a p i s t f i c t i o n a l l z a t i o n at the heart of h i s \"wandering immortals\" poems. A l l of Chih's \"wandering immortals\" poems have been c l a s s i f i e d as yueh-fu. Some are very rough c o l l o q u i a l p i e c e s that seem to be f a i r l y d i r e c t l y i m i t a t i v e of popular d i t t i e s . Others are more h i g h l y developed and owe more to the Ch'u Tz'u than to popular yueh-fu. A good example of the former k i n d i s \"East of P'ing L i n g \" . The form of t h i s poem Is q u i t e s i m i l a r , but not i d e n t i c a l , to a f o l k yUeh-fu of the same t i t l e . Both pieces begin with a l i n e s t r u c t u r e of 3-3-7 and are composed-al-most e n t i r e l y of three and seven c h a r a c t e r l i n e s . The f o l k yueh-fu uses the technique of r e p e a t i n g the l a s t l i n e or phrase of one strophe at the beginning of the next. This i s a l s o used i n Chih's poem. Both poems a l s o have I r r e g u l a r rhyme p a t t e r n s , and use v e r n a c u l a r d i c t i o n . There the s i m i l a r i t i e s end. The f o l k yueh-fu i s concerned with a c e r t a i n Duke Y i who was execu-ted f o r l e a d i n g an u n s u c c e s s f u l r e b e l l i o n a g a i n s t Wang Mang. Ts'ao Chih's poem was concerned with the mythology of the immor-t a l i t y c u l t . He imagines donning a f e a t h e r e d cloak and r i d i n g a f l y i n g dragon through the gates of Heaven to meet with the immortals. He then climbs Mount P'eng L a i to p i c k l i n g chih fungus which he eats and consequently achieves i m m o r t a l i t y . I t i s b a s i c a l l y a very s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d and unadorned verse except f o r the i n c l u s i o n of the m y t h o l o g i c a l imagery. In c o n t r a s t to t h i s , Chih wrote a number of \"wandering immortals\" p i e c e s that are much more h i g h l y developed, both f o r -mally and s t y l i s t i c a l l y 1 . . One such p i e c e \" T r a v e l l i n g the F i f t h Realm\" has a l r e a d y been d i s c u s s e d i n terms of i t s t e x t u a l i n -debtedness to the Ch'u Tz 'u..Another^good example i s \" T r a v e l l i n g A f a r \" . Although there i s a p i e c e i n the Ch'u Tz'u with the same t i t l e , Ts''iao Chih seems not to have been attempting to d i r e c t l y i m i t a t e that p i e c e . N a t u r a l l y the theme of i m m o r t a l i t y and immortals i s the same, and as i n \" T r a v e l l i n g the F i f t h Realm\", Chih has borrowed a number of phrases and images from v a r i o u s works i n the Ch'u Tz'u. For the most p a r t , however, t h i s poem i s h i g h l y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Chih's own s t y l e . As i n \" A l a s ! \" , i t i s Chih's wonderful a b i l i t y to f i c -t i o n a l i z e that g i v e s l i f e and f o r c e to the poem. Chih not only creates imagery that i s extremely s u g g e s t i v e , he b u i l d s h i s des-c r i p t i o n s very l o g i c a l l y , so that we f e e l the imagery being g r a -d u a l l y completed before us, much as i f we had been watching an a r t i s t b r i n g a sketch to completion. Chih has an a b i l i t y to i n j e c t motion i n t o h i s work. His images are seldom s t a t i c . This property i s p a r t i c u l a r l y evident i n such p i e c e s as \" A l a s ! \" and \"The Great Rock\". I t can a l s o be seen i n t h i s poem. \" T r a v e l l i n g A f a r \" i s d i v i d e d i n t o two movements of f i v e c o u p l e t s each. In the f i r s t movement Chih uses h i s d e p i c t i v e a b i l i t i e s to c r e a t e a scene of r o l l i n g waves, rugged mountains and s u p e r - n a t u r a l beings. Each l i n e leads i n t o the next as our mind's eye i s slowly guided from one image to the next. The second movement i s more e x p o s i t i v e than d e s c r i p t i v e , but here too, the Image of him l e a p i n g the sands and dancing on the winds i n the seventh and e i g h t h c o u p l e t s i s w e l l developed and very potent. Ts'ao Chih was very w e l l acquainted with the symbolism and mythology of the i m m o r t a l i t y c u l t . His poems c o n t a i n a wide v a r i e t y of images and a l l u s i o n s drawn from that c u l t . He was a l s o f a m i l i a r with the works of the pre-Ch'in p h i l o s o p h i c a l Tao-i s t s . An i n t e r e s t i n g example of t h i s i s found In the \" B a l l a d of B i t t e r Thoughts\". In that poem he d e s c r i b e s f o l l o w i n g two ohen-j en jjji./^ to a p l a c e where he meets an o l d r e c l u s e who Is w e l l versed i n the concepts of Taoism. The r e c l u s e advises him \"to f o r g e t mere words\". This phrase i s , of course, drawn from the Chuang-tzu and r e f e r s to one of the c e n t r a l ideas of p h i l -o s o p h i c a l Taoism, that of the e s s e n t i a l l y m y s t i c a l nature of the Tao and of the i m p o s s i b i l i t y of d e s c r i b i n g i t with words or l o g i c a l concepts. Despite the h o s t i l i t y to the i m m o r t a l i t y c u l t that Chih demonstrates i n h i s \"Discourse on D i s t i n g u i s h i n g the Tao\" i t i s d i f f i c u l t to b e l i e v e that he d i d not h o l d more than a c a s u a l c u r i o s i t y about I t s t e n e t s . In any case, he f r e e l y e x p l o i t e d 104 the suggestive,magical p r o p e r t i e s of the c u l t ' s mythology to create a good deal of h i g h l y i m a g i n a t i v e v e r s e . In many r e s p e c t s the success that Chih had i n u s i n g t h i s mythology i n h i s poetry paved the way f o r the extensive development that took place i n t h i s sub-genre l a t e r i n the Six Dynasties e r a . Such poets as Kuo P'u and Ho Shao /{S^/^jj were noted as w r i t e r s of \"wandering immortals\" poetry. In many ways Chih's work i s s u p e r i o r to that of l a t e r poets. Although the \"Immortals\" poems of Kuo P'u f o r i n s t a n c e are more h i g h l y developed i n the sense that he used more s o p h i s t i c a t e d imagery and spent more time r e f i n i n g h i s d i c t i o n , h i s poems tend to be mostly concerned with d e s c r i b - -i n g the c u r i o s i t i e s of T a o i s t i c mythology and possess r e l a t i v e l y l i t t l e emotional f o r c e . For example, l e t us look at one of Kuo's \"wandering immortals\" poems and compare i t to Chih's \" T r a v e l l i n g A f a r \" . The second i n the s e r i e s of Kuo P'u's poems contained 5S i n the Wen 'Esuan J reads: Ch'ing Gorge i s more than a thousand yards deep. In i t there l i v e s a T a o i s t . Clouds form amid h i s r a f t e r s And winds i s s u e f o r t h from the windows and doors. May I ask, who i s t h i s man? ^ It i s s a i d that t h i s i s Master Kuei Ku?\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 573 ' I r i s e and look toward Ying Yang, ' j - o Nearing the r i v e r I t h i n k to wash out my e a r s . \" \" Ch'ang-ho's wind comes from the s o u t h w e s t , ^ Hidden waves r i s e l i k e s c a t t e r e d f i s h s c a l e s . Fu F e i looks back at me and l a u g h s ' ^ G a i l y showing her j a d e - l i k e t e e t h . Chien H s i u i s no longer l i v i n g , I f I want her, who can I d i s p a t c h ? The f e e l i n g of t h i s poem i s of subdued elegance. The poet speaks 105 of h i s encounter f i r s t with the T a o i s t adept Master Kuei Ku and then with the famous Goddess of the Lo R i v e r , Fu F e i . There are a number of w e l l drawn images that would .\"not have been found i n one of Ts'ao Chih's poems. In the second couplet the p i c t u r e of the clouds forming amid the r a f t e r s of the T a o i s t ' s cottage and the winds blowing from h i s windows and doors i s somewhat more i n v o l v e d than i s g e n e r a l l y found i n Chih's work. Likewi s e , the image of the waves s c a t t e r i n g l i k e f i s h s c a l e s before the wind i s more advanced than most imagery employed by w r i t e r s i n Chih's time. Apart from the f i n e s s e with which the poet has c r e a t e d h i s imagery, there i s very l i t t l e to d i s t i n g u i s h t h i s poem. In the f o u r t h couplet there i s an a l l u s i o n that i n t i m a t e s that the poet i s u n i n t e r e s t e d i n g a i n i n g ' w o r l d l y success and t h e r e f o r e chooses to wander i n search of immortal beings, but t h i s i d e a i s not e l a b o r a t e d upon. In the l a s t few l i n e s the poet expresses h i s a t t r a c t i o n to the b e a u t i f u l Fu F e i but he does so i n a very d i f f u s e manner, without any r e v e l a t i o n of s t r o n g emotion. The poemr.seems to d r i f t along r a t h e r than flow with any f o r c e . Ts'ao Chih's \" T r a v e l l i n g A f a r \" , by c o n t r a s t , moves at a great pace. Grand images r i s e d r a m a t i c a l l y b e f o r e us and the poet f l i e s and leaps r a t h e r than walk. There i s a l s o a great deal more emotion i n t h i s poem. Chih gives v o i c e to h i s d i s -i l l u s i o n m e n t with the mundane, and expresses a great d e s i r e to escape the mortal world and take h i s p l a c e among the immortals. This poem, along with others such as \" T r a v e l l i n g the F i f t h Realm\", and \"Wandering as an Immortal\" are deeply imbued with r e a l human emotion. Chih may not have b e l i e v e d very s t r o n g -l y i n the v a l i d i t y of the immortality c u l t , but he f e l t a need to 106 f i n d some means of r i s i n g - above the oppressiveness of mundane e x i s t e n c e . In h i s p h a n t a s t i c wanderings through the realms of the immortals he was a b l e , i n h i s im a g i n a t i o n at l e a s t , to do j u s t t h a t . had managed to gather so many t a l e n t e d l i t e r a r y men together at h i s a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c a p i t a l i n Yeh, there was a c o n s i d e r a b l e amount of contact between these men, both o f f i c i a l l y and so-c i a l l y . I n e v i t a b l y , f r i e n d s h i p s arose out of t h i s c o n t a c t . We f i n d t r i b u t e to these f r i e n d s h i p s i n the r e l a t i v e l y l a r g e number of poems de d i c a t e d by these men to t h e i r comrades and a s s o c i a t e s . Ts'ao Chih's c o l l e c t e d works c o n t a i n e i g h t poems ( i f \"Por P r i n c e Pai-ma, Piao\" i s taken as one poem) s p e c i f i -c a l l y d e d i c a t e d to men who he was a s s o c i a t e d . w i t h i n some way. Many of these poems are con s i d e r e d to be among h i s best works. I f we accept the g e n e r a l l y h e l d view that the seven poems once supposed to have been exchanged between L i L i n g and 62 ' Su Wu are a c t u a l l y l a t e r f o r g e r i e s , \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 the \" d e d i c a t i o n \" poems w r i t t e n by Ts'ao Chih i n pentameter are among the e a r l i e s t ex-amples i n that form. There are a number of remaining examples of \" d e d i c a t i o n or response\" poems from the Han Dynasty, but these were g e n e r a l l y w r i t t e n i n tetrameter. The only excep-t i o n to t h i s seems to be the three poems that Ch' i n Chia-' wrote to h i s wi f e . Chih's poems were a l l w r i t t e n In pentameter however, and they e x h i b i t a high degree of s o p h i s t i c a t i o n . A very l a r g e p o r t i o n of e a r l y \" d e d i c a t i o n \" poems were F. Response and Dedication 64 1 0 7 w r i t t e n on the oc c a s i o n of a f r i e n d ' s departure. Because of t h i s they are o f t e n expressions of sadness and a f f e c t i o n . The general tendency was to de s c r i b e one's f e e l i n g s about the one de p a r t i n g d i r e c t l y , although i n some cases poets employed a l l e g -ory or metaphor.. In cases where a poem was de d i c a t e d to a f r i e n d simply as a show of a f f e c t i o n or i n response to a poem w r i t t e n by the f r i e n d , the poet u s u a l l y t r i e d to d e s c r i b e the v i r t u e s 6 5 1 -and t a l e n t s of the f r i e n d and to express h i s esteem f o r him. The f o l l o w i n g simple poem w r i t t e n by Hsu Kan ( 1 7 9 - 2 1 7 ) i n r e s -ponse to a much more e l a b o r a t e p i e c e from L i u Chen ( ? - 2 1 7 ) w i l l 66 perhaps serve as an example o f t h i s type of poem. Poem in Response to Liu Kung-kan I t has not been long s i n c e we parted Not even ten days have passed. How grave my thoughts have become, This sorrow makes i t seem l i k e three years. Although the le n g t h of the road i s t r i f l i n g I t is-as-hard: t o cross as the Nine Gates. 6 ;'7' Amid the splendour of the s c a r l e t summer we p a r t e d , The grasses and t r e e s were g l o r i o u s and abundant. The prime concern here,as In L i u ' s poem,is the sadness that the poet f e l t on having to depart h i s f r i e n d . L i u a l s o wrote a s e r -i e s of three poems to h i s c o u s i n . These poems were w r i t t e n as a l l e g o r i e s . The f i r s t poem reads: The east f l o w i n g r i v e r churns along, \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Over the rocks i t leaps and sp l a s h e s . Weeds and rushes grow by i t s bank, T h e i r leaves and flowers sway In p r o f u s i o n . Pick them to place i n the a n c e s t r a l h a l l Or t o o f f e r to your honoured guests. Why not use h o l l y h o c k from the garden? gg You know the beauty of these from the deep marsh. T h i s piece,which o b v i o u s l y owes a great d e a l to the \"19 Old ? r Poems\", i s b a s i c a l l y an a l l e g o r y . L i u i s t e l l i n g h i s c o u s i n that although he may come from a poor f a m i l y , he has v i r t u e s of h i s own which people w i l l a p p r e c i a t e , j u s t as people can a p p r e c i a t e the beauty of flowers grown i n the marshes as w e l l as those grown i n more ge n t e e l l o c a t i o n s . I-. In a l l except two cases, Chih's d e d i c a t i o n poems were a s i g n i f i c a n t departure from these p a t t e r n s . These two excep-t i o n s are the second of the poems w r i t t e n sending o f f Master Ying, and \"For T i n g I\" j l ^ ' T \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 T n e second poem of the \"Sending Off Master Ying\" set f o r example, I s of r a t h e r c o n v e n t i o n a l s t y l e . I t was w r i t t e n on the o c c a s i o n of Ying Ch'ang's depar-ture from Ts'ao Chih. I t d e s c r i b e s the departure f e a s t and expresses many co n v e n t i o n a l emotions a s s o c i a t e d with p a r t i n g an o l d and t r u s t e d f r i e n d . Although i t Is w r i t t e n i n a some-what c o n v e n t i o n a l s t y l e , i t does c o n t a i n genuine and deep emo-t i o n . \"For T i n g I\" i s a s t y l i z e d p i e c e beginning with a des-c r i p t i o n of a f e a s t and ending with a s e r i e s of p l a t i t u d e s r e -garding the nature of v i r t u e and achievement. I t i s not a h i g h -l y p o l i s h e d or deep work. I f we exclude these two p i e c e s and a l s o the f i r s t poem of \"Sending o f f Master' Ying\" and \"For P r i n c e Pai-ma, Pi a o \" which are unique f o r reasons to be d i s c u s s e d l a t e r , Ts'ao Chih's \"ded-i c a t i o n \" poems f o l l o w a roughly i d e n t i f i a b l e p a t t e r n . Let us examine \"For Wang Ts'an\" as a means of f i n d i n g the nature of t h i s p a t t e r n . Wang Ts'an was of course one of the major l i t e r -ary f i g u r e s of the l a t e Han p e r i o d . He had served both the l a s t Han 'emperor and L i u Piao u n t i l the l a t t e r d i e d . He 109 'then t r a v e l l e d n o r t h to serve Ts'ao Ts'ao. Although Ts'ao Chih was f i f t e e n years younger than Wang Ts'an, the two had much i n common as f a r as t h e i r t a s t e and a b i l i t y i n l i t e r a t u r e was con-cerned. In t h i s poem i t seems as though Chih i s seeking to \"break the i c e \" as i t were, and to e s t a b l i s h a c l o s e r f r i e n d s h i p with Ts'an. In the opening two c o u p l e t s , Chih i n t r o d u c e s asdes-c r i p t i o n of h i s own thoughts and of a scene that he comes upon as he s t r o l l s though a garden. In c o n t r a s t to h i s f e e l i n g s , which are r a t h e r .depressed, the garden scene i s b r i g h t and gen-t l e . In the t h i r d couplet he i n t r o d u c e s a lone mandarin duch . \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 which s i t s on the pool and c a l l s i n search of a companion. T h i s q u i t e c l e a r l y must be a symbol f o r Ts'an who had perhaps only a r r i v e d i n Ts'ao Ts'ao's court a short while p r e v i o u s l y and had not yet e s t a b l i s h e d many f r i e n d s h i p s . In the f o u r t h couplet Chih i m p l i e s that he would l i k e to b e f r i e n d Ts'an but has not yet found a s u i t a b l e method of doing t h a t . The f i f t h c ouplet begins a new movement i n the poem. Here, r a t h e r that develop one cohesive image, Chih has chosen to use a s e r i e s of images and a l l u s i o n s as a means of conveying c e r t a i n i d e a s . U n f o r t -u n a t e l y , with the scant i n f o r m a t i o n we have p e r t a i n i n g to the background of t h i s poem, i t i s d i f f i c u l t to be c e r t a i n what ideas Chih i s t r y i n g to express. The f i f t h c ouplet seems to imply that i t i s no longer p o s s i b l e to r e t r a c e one's steps and r e t u r n to a former e x i s t e n c e . I t may have been that Wang Ts'an was not happy with h i s s i t u a t i o n i n Ts'ao Ts'ao's s e r v i c e and wished to r e t u r n to h i s home or to the government of L i u P e i ^ i ] / | ^ i n Szechwan. Chih may have been t r y i n g to persuade him that t h i s would be unwise. In the s i x t h c o u p l e t , the \" d o l e f u l wint\" i s most l i k e l y symbolic of the u n s e t t l e d s t a t e of p o l i t i c a l and. s o c i a l a f f a i r s t h a t e x i s t e d at that time. The r e f e r e n c e to 1 1 0 the \" s u n - c h a r i o t \" i s undoubtedly an a l l u s i o n to the shortness of l i f e . In the seventh couplet we f i n d a symbolic r e f e r e n c e to the de facto r u l e r of northern China, Ts'ao Ts'ao. As was the case In \" R e j o i c i n g with the Rain\", the r u l e r ' s a b i l i t y to give support and encouragement to h i s s u b j e c t s i s equated to the a b i l i t y of the heavens to give nourishment, i n the form of r a i n , to a l l l i v i n g t h i n g s . Chih i s a s s u r i n g Ts'an that t h i s support would not be denied him. In the l a s t c ouplet Chih asks Ts'an why he seems to be unhappy about h i s l o t and then, by way of a l l u s i o n to one of Ts'an's own works, t r i e s to comfort him. We can see i n the most ge n e r a l terms, t h i s poem i s com-' posed of two movements. In the f i r s t movement Chih c r e a t e s a scene which i s d e s c r i p t i v e of h i s own f e e l i n g s , p a r t i c u l a r l y as they r e l a t e to Wang Ts'an. In the second movement Chih addresses c e r t a i n advice and c o n s o l a t i o n to Ts'an with s p e c i f i c r e f e r e n c e to h i s p e r s o n a l concerns. Although not a l l of h i s \" d e d i c a t i o n \" poems d i v i d e so n e a t l y , they a l l , with the ex c e p t i o n of those mentioned above, c o n t a i n these same two elements to a g r e a t e r or l e s s e r extent. A l l open with a d e s c r i p t i o n of n a t u r a l scen-ery. The images i n t h i s scenery g e n e r a l l y s u g g e s t ; t h r o u g h a l l e g -ory or d i r e c t e v o c a t i o n , the mood i n which Chih i s w r i t i n g the poem. Often t h i s mood i s r e l a t e d to some aspect of h i s f e e l i n g s toward the r e c i p i e n t of the poem. This approach was q u i t e n o v e l . His contemporaries v i r t u a l l y a l l s t i l l h e l d to l e s s s o p h i s t i c a -ted s t y l e s , such as d i r e c t l y d e s c r i b i n g the r e c i p i e n t ' s v i r t u e s or a t t e s t i n g t h e i r love and r e s p e c t f o r that person. Even i n a complex pi e c e such as L i u Chen's \"Por Hsu /Kan\" i t i s the poet's sorrow at having to be pa r t e d from h i s dear f r i e n d t h at i s the I l l predominant f e e l i n g i n the p i e c e . By spontaneously r e l a t i n g h i s own f e e l i n g s r a t h e r than t r y i n g to evoke c o n v e n t i o n a l f e e l i n g s of admiration or a f f e c t i o n , or give a f l a t t e r i n g account of the r e c i p i e n t ' s m e rits and a b i l i t i e s , Chih added a very p e r s o n a l touch to these poems. We are given the impression that he was w r i t i n g with g r e a t e s t s i n c e r i t y and with a great d e a l of under-standing of the f e e l i n g s of the other person. This impression i s deepened when we note that the other unique c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of Chih's \" d e d i c a t i o n \" poems was that he almost always addressed h i m s e l f to c e r t a i n concerns h e l d p a r t i c u l a r l y by the r e c i p i e n t . For example, we have j u s t seen how he urges a somewhat r e l u c -tant Wang Ts'an to leave aside h i s a n x i e t i e s and have f a i t h i n the l e a d e r s h i p of Ts'ao Ts'ao. In h i s poem to T i n g Y i he t r i e s to emphasize that he i s a broad-minded and p r i n c i p l e d man and that Y i should t r u s t i n h i s f r i e n d s h i p . Hsu Kan i s urged to come out of r e t i r e m e n t and take a more a c t i v e part-'''iii. p o l i t i c s . In t h i s way, Chih not only made h i s d e d i c a t i o n poems more person-a l and s p e c i f i c , he a l s o expanded the range of themes that c o u l d be d e a l t with i n such poems. No longer were \" d e d i c a t i o n \" poems concerned only with the sorrows of p a r t i n g or mutual a d m i r a t i o n , they c o u l d be very f l e x i b l e and spontaneous means of communica-t i o n . A poem that Chih wrote f o r Ying Ch'ang; the f i r s t of the \"Sending o f f Master Ying\" poems, i s a r a t h e r sublime example of that k i n d of communication. This poem does not f o l l o w the p a t t e r n of most of Chih's \" d e d i c a t i o n \" poems as i n i t he does not o f f e r any p a r t i c u l a r advice or c o n s o l a t i o n to Ying Ch'ang. On the s u r f a c e i t would seem that Chih had not made an attempt to r e l a t e the poem to Ying Ch'ang at a l l . We must c o n s i d e r , howei> ever, that the s i g h t t h a t Chih was viewing, Loy.ang, was not h i s home but Ch'ang's. Chih had c o n c e i v a b l y never seen Loyang i n i t s prime. Ch'ang on the other hand had served at the i m p e r i a l court there and would have been very f a m i l i a r with i t s former g l o r i e s . In that sense we can see that through h i s d e s c r i p t i o n of the r u i n s of Loyang Chih was not only g i v i n g Ch'ang a r e p o r t on the s t a t e i n t o which h i s former home had f a l l e n , he was put-t i n g h i m s e l f i n Ch'ang's place and f e e l i n g the deep sadness that Ch'ang h i m s e l f would c e r t a i n l y have f e l t had he been there with him. The manner i n which Chih was able to i d e n t i f y i n h i s own emotions, the emotions of others and f u r t h e r , to d e s c r i b e these emotions with great f e l i c i t y , i s the mark of a t r u l y per-c e p t i v e and accomplished poet. \"For P r i n c e Pai-ma, Pi a o \" i s perhaps Chih's best known work. I t i s w e l l known p a r t l y because I t i s of such great s i g -n i f i c a n c e i n r e l a t i o n to the h i s t o r i c a l legends surrounding Chih's l i f e . In t h i s poem,or poem s e r i e s , Chih g i v e s very strong e x p r e s s i o n to h i s f e e l i n g s of f r u s t r a t i o n g i v e n r i s e to by the treatment he had r e c e i v e d at the hands of h i s b r o t h e r Ts'ao P ' i and c e r t a i n o f f i c i a l s at the Wei c o u r t . Many have h e l d t h i s poem up as proof that Chih was i n f a c t a v i r t u o u s and h i g h l y p r i n c i p l e d man who had been b u l l i e d m e r c i l e s s l y by h i s e l d e r b r o t h e r P ' i and h i s e v i l c o h o r t s . More important to our purposes here, t h i s poem s e r i e s r e p r e s e n t s a major development i n p o e t i c e x p r e s s i o n . We have had o c c a s i o n to examine some of the more t e c h n i c a l aspects of t h i s poem. For now i t i s neces-sary only to look at i t from the p e r s p e c t i v e of i t s being a \" d e d i c a t i o n \" poem. I have used the word poem i n the s i n g u l a r because, alfe/.o though i t i s most o f t e n t r e a t e d as a s e r i e s of poems, i t cou l d j u s t \"as e a s i l y be t r e a t e d as a s i n g l e poem which has seven strophes. Taken as a s i n g l e poem, i t demonstrates a p a t t e r n s i m i l a r to that of the other d e d i c a t i o n poems. The p r e f a c e , which may or may not be a u t h e n t i c , o u t l i n e s the background to the. poem. Chih s t a t e s that i t was h i s i n d i g n a t i o n at being f o r c e d to abandon plans to t r a v e l back to h i s f i e f with h i s h a l f brother Ts'ao Piao that l e d him to w r i t e the poem. Piao a l s o must have f e l t a very s i m i l a r i n d i g n a t i o n , but not being a poet, was unable to give vent to I t i n w r i t i n g . Thus the poem l i k e l y served as a r e c o r d of the a f f a i r and of i t s emotional s i g n i f i -cance to both men. The f i r s t two strophes make no r e f e r e n c e to Piao* at a l l . Chih gives r e i g n to h i s emotions through a d e s c r i p t i o n of some of the scenery through which he passed on the f i r s t p art of h i s journey away from the c a p i t a l . As i n so much of h i s best work, Chih employs a combination of d i r e c t d e s c r i p t i o n , metaphor, i n the form of n a t u r a l imagery, and s u b t l e a l l u s i o n , to give sharp expre s s i o n to h i s thoughts and f e e l i n g s . In the t h i r d and f o u r t h strophes, Chih turns h i s a t t e n t i o n to the f e e l i n g s which e x i s t between h i m s e l f and Piao. In the t h i r d strophe he i s esp-e c i a l l y h o s t i l e toward those who have d e l i b e r a t e l y f o r c e d him and h i s bro t h e r to become estranged. He c a l l s them wolves, sc r e e c h i n g owls and b l u e - f l i e s . In the f o u r t h strophe he r e l i e s more-heavily * on metaphor drawn from n a t u r a l imagery to express the d e s o l a t i o n and deep l o n e l i n e s s which both he and h i s br o t h e r 114 must have f e l t . The f i f t h strophe deals with the death of Ts'ao Chang. Both Chih and Piao s u r e l y f e l t deeply b e r e f t by h i s sud-den p a s s i n g . Chih p h i l o s o p h i c a l l y notes that though they are s t i l l among the l i v i n g , there i s no c e r t a i n t y that t h e i r l i v e s a l s o might not be s n u f f e d out j u s t as suddenly as Chang's. In the l a s t two strophes Chih addresses Piao d i r e c t l y and speaks of hi s d e p r e s s i o n and b i t t e r n e s s i n regard to the I n d i g n i t i e s they have been f o r c e d to bear. He consoles Piao f i r s t l y with the thought that I t i s n ' t always e s s e n t i a l f o r two men to be p h y s i -c a l l y c l o s e to each .other \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 i n order f o r them to f e e l the comfort of t h e i r mutual love and c a r i n g . Then he i m p l i e s t h a t , although there i s no hope of g a i n i n g immortal l i f e , they should s t i l l have hope that some day they may s t i l l have an o p p o r t u n i t y to be r e -u n i t e d and to spend t h e i r o l d age together. Reading t h i s poem i t i s very d i f f i c u l t not to be moved by the tremendously deep poignancy of Chih's e x p r e s s i o n . Not only had he been f o r c e d i n t o e x i l e by h i s j e a l o u s and ins e c u r e e l d e r b r o t h e r , he was not even allowed the comfort and c o n s o l a -t i o n which the companionship of h i s b r o t h e r Piao would have meant to him. But Chih d i d n ' t w r i t e the poem simply as a v e h i -c l e f o r expounding h i s own misery and complaint. He hoped that through h i s poetry Piao a l s o c o u l d f i n d a k i n d of emotional out-l e t . By g i v i n g so d i r e c t and powerful e x p r e s s i o n to h i s f e e l -ings and then d e d i c a t i n g the pie c e to Piao, Chih was saying that the poem d i d not belong to him p e r s o n a l l y , but was a product of t h e i r mutual experience. In a sense i t was Piao's poem as much as i t was Chih's. It was through the achievement of t h i s k i n d of i n t e n s e l y ' p e r s o n a l communication that Chih was able to e l e v a t e h i s \"ded-ication\"'..;poems to heights never before reached. I t i s o f t e n s a i d that i n Chinese poetry, the e x p r e s s i o n of f r i e n d s h i p be-tween men was of the same importance as the e x p r e s s i o n of sexual love i n Western poetry. To whatever extent t h i s i s t r u e , i t i s not d i f f i c u l t to see that Ts'ao Chih made a very s i g n i f i c a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n In r a i s i n g i t to that l e v e l of importance. G. Social and P o l i t i c a l Concern Although attempts to i n c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l content i n t o a r t i s t i c e x p r e s s i o n o f t e n r e s u l t i n the debasement of the a e s t h e t i c q u a l i t y of the a r t , such content can a l s o be a v i t a l i z i n g f o r c e i f p r o p e r l y handled. Ts'ao Chih was very much concerned with the p o l i t i c s and s o c i a l e v o l u t i o n of h i s country. As a member of the r u l i n g f a m i l y he had every reason to be. His concern c o n s t a n t l y f i n d s e x p r e s s i o n i n h i s poetry and prose. In some of h i s poems, p a r t i c u l a r l y those w r i t t e n as memorials to the throne d u r i n g Ts'ao P ' i ' s r e i g n , the p o l i t i c a l content i s r a t h e r too heavy and the q u a l i t y o f the poetry s u f f e r s as a r e s u l t . In a number of other cases however, Chih was able to blend h i s p o l i t i c a l concerns more s u b t l y i n t o ^ t h e f a b r i c of the poem, such that the e s s e n t i a l l y a e s t h e t i c c h a r a c t e r of the work i s preserved. The l a s t two poems In the \"Six O c c a s i o n a l Poems\" set are good examples of t h i s s t y l e of poem. In the f i f t h poem s e v e r a l t r a c e s of a c t u a l h i s t o r i c a l events can be found. Chih was o b v i o u s l y w r i t i n g with r e f e r e n c e to the s t a t e of Wu which dur i n g h i s l i f e t i m e w a s t c o n s t a n t l y In-volved In c o n f l i c t with the s t a t e of Wei. The r u l e r s of Wei from Ts'ao Ts'ao onwards were anxious to conquer Wu-, as w e l l as 116 Shu-Han i n the south-west, and to r e u n i f y the empire under t h e i r r u l e . U n f o r t u n a t e l y , they were-'never s u c c e s s f u l . Chih n a t u r a l l y i d e n t i f i e d with the causes taken up by the c o u r t . Thus he wished to take part i n the m i l i t a r y campaigns a g a i n s t Wu. However, a f t e r h i s f a t h e r ' s death and the s u c c e s s i o n of h i s b r o t h e r P ' i to the throne,IChih was e s s e n t i a l l y banished from a l l important a f f a i r s of s t a t e . This poem i s c l e a r l y an e x p r e s s i o n of h i s d e s i r e to r e g a i n h i s b r o t h e r ' s t r u s t and to be allowed to a i d i n the wars aga i n s t Wu. L i k e the f o u r t h poem i n t h i s s e t , t h i s p i e c e owes a c e r t a i n amount of i n s p i r a t i o n and imagery to v a r i o u s works contained i n the Ch'u Tz'u. In L i Shan's commentary he quotes f i v e passages from the Ch'u Tz'u and one passage from an h i s t o r -i c a l source d e a l i n g with the King of Ch'u. On c l o s e i n s p e c t i o n , these passages seem to have a r a t h e r c l o s e r e l a t i o n s h i p to the content of Chih's poem. The p o l i t i c a l message which i s conveyed through t h i s poem i s f a i r l y s t r o n g. In a sense one could i n t e r p r e t the work as simply a v e h i c l e f o r t h i s message. However, the f i n e s s e with which Chih has i n c o r p o r a t e d the p o l i t i c a l comment i n t o the frame-work of the poem's imagery has saved i t from being merely an ex-e r c i s e i n r h e t o r i c and allows the p i e c e to stand on i t s own as pure poetry. The i n c l u s i o n of p h r a s i n g and a l l u s i o n s - r e l a t e d to the Ch'u Tz'u lends a s l i g h t l y e x o t i c and perhaps s c h o l a s t i c f e e l i n g to the work. Through them Chih i n d i c a t e s that h i s f e e l -ings of f r u s t r a t i o n are s i m i l a r to those a s s o c i a t e d with the legendary Ch'u Yuan. He has managed to avoi d u s i n g these phrases and a l l u s i o n s b l a t a n t l y and thus maintains a f r e s h , u n c o n t r i v e d tone throughout the poem. 117 .'.\u00E2\u0080\u00A2^ 1 The l a s t poem i n the set i s even more laden with p o l i t i -c a l comment than the previous one. Chih climbs a look-out tower. The view of the open p l a i n s i n s p i r e s him to f e e l a c e r t a i n ex-pansiveness and then to sense a l o n e l y f r u s t r a t i o n which has r e -s u l t e d from h i s not being able to take a more a c t i v e r o l e i n government and e s p e c i a l l y i n m i l i t a r y matters. S e v e r a l t h e o r i e s have been put forward concerning the d a t i n g of t h i s poem. None are very c o n c l u s i v e . Whatever the c h r o n o l o g i c a l s i t u a t i o n may have been, the f e e l i n g s of p a t r i o t -ism and s e l f - s a c r i f i c e are expressed i n very d i r e c t terms. There seermtoobe some s t y l i s t i c p e c u l i a r i t i e s i n t h i s p i e c e . The t r a n s i t i o n between the f i r s t two c o u p l e t s and the middle three i s q u i t e abrupt. T h i s abruptness i s somewhat understand-able however, when we co n s i d e r that the f i r s t c o u p l e t s are e v i -dence of hsing as d e s c r i b e d above. From the dramatic view a f -forded from the tower , Chih has been s t i m u l a t e d to f e e l c e r t a i n emotions r e l a t e d to the m i l i t a r y s t r u g g l e s of h i s country. The l a s t couplet appears to have been added as a k i n d of tag or r e -f r a i n , such as might be found i n a yueh-fu poem. I t doesn't flow smoothly from what precedes. Despite t h i s , the poem has a very l y r i c a l q u a l i t y about i t which balances the p o l i t i c a l message. \"The Famous C a p i t a l \" i s c l a s s i f i e d as a yueh-fu. This i s perhaps more because of i t s n a r r a t i v e q u a l i t y more than any other f a c t o r . Formally speaking i t s r e g u l a r pentametric l i n e s are j u s t as much l i k e shih poetry as yueh-fu. Here Chih has indu l g e d i n some s u b t l e s o c i a l commentary. The young a r i s t o c r a t s d e s c r i b e d i n the pie c e l e a d a l i f e of ease and l u x u r y . They spend t h e i r days engaging i n sports and l a v i s h f e a s t s . Chih d e s c r i b e s In e l a b o r a t e d e t a i l h o w s k i l l f u l t h e y o u n g m e n a r e a t t h e m a r t i a l a r t s a n d h o w a g i l e t h e y a r e i n p l a y i n g v a r i o u s l e i s u r e s p o r t s . H e n e v e r a c t u a l l y m a k e s a n y d i r e c t l y c r i t i c a l s t a t e m e n t i n r e -g a r d t o t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e s e p e o p l e a n d o n e m i g h t b e l e d t o b e l i e v e t h a t t h e p i e c e w a s s t r i c t l y a n e x e r c i s e i n f i n e p h r a s -i n g . T w o f a c t o r s i n d i c a t e t h a t t h i s i s n o t t h e c a s e . T h e f i r s t f a c t o r i s t h e i r o n i c q u a l i t y o f t h e l a s t c o u p l e t o f t h e p o e m . A s w e r e a d C h i h ' s d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e e v e n t s o f o n e d a y i n t h e l i v e s o f t h e s e y o u t h s w e a r e i m p r e s s e d b y t h e d i s p l a y o f m a r t i a l a n d e q u e s t r i a n s k i l l s a n d a t t h e a r r a y o f e x o t i c f o o d s a t t h e f e a s t . I t a l l s e e m s s o w o n d e r f u l l y e x c i t i n g . W e a r e q u i t e r e l i e v e d w h e n t h e e n d o f t h e d a y c o m e s a n d t h e p a r t i -c i p a n t s d i s p e r s e t o t h e i r o w n h o m e s . I n t h e l a s t l i n e w e r e a d t h a t w i t h t h e d a w n , t h e w h o l e p r o c e s s w i l l b e r e p e a t e d a l l o v e r a g a i n . T h i s h a s t h e : ; : s a m e e f f e c t o n u s a s t o o m u c h r i c h f o o d . W h a t s e e m e d e x c i t i n g a n d d e s i r a b l e t h e f i r s t t i m e t h r o u g h , s e e m s v u l g a r a n d p o i n t l e s s w h e n r e p e a t e d i n s u c h f a s t s u c c e s s i o n . T h e i d e a t h a t t h e y o u t h o f L o y a n g . c a r r y o n i n s u c h a p r o t r a c t e d f a s h i o n d a y a f t e r d a y , m a k e s u s a w a r e o f h o w u t t e r l y i d l e a n d u n p r o d u c t i v e s u c h a l i f e m u s t b e . W e f e e l a d e e p r e v u l s i o n t o -w a r d t h e s i t u a t i o n . T h e s e c o n d f a c t o r t h a t m a k e s u s a w a r e o f t h e e s s e n t i a l l y c r i t i c a l n a t u r e o f t h i s p o e m c a n b e a p p r e c i a t e d w h e n o n e r e a d s a n o t h e r o f C h i h ' s yueh-fuj\"The W h i t e H o r s e \" . T h i s p i e c e i s c o n -r t a i n e d i n t h e s a m e c a t e g o r y o f t h e Y F S C a s i s \" T h e F a m o u s C a p i -t a l \" . I t h a s a s i m i l a r n u m b e r o f l i n e s ( 2 8 ) , a n d i s w r i t t e n i n a v e r y s i m i l a r s t y l e t o t h a t o f \" T h e F a m o u s C a p i t a l \" . I w o u l d e v e n v e n t u r e t o c l a i m t h a t t h e t w o p i e c e s w e r e w r i t t e n a s a k i n d 1 1 9 of s e t . Regardless of whether t h i s i s a l l true or not, there i s at l e a s t one p o i n t of very important correspondence. Both con-t a i n a d e s c r i p t i o n of a d i s p l a y of e q u e s t r i a n and m a r t i a l s k i l l s . In \"The Famous C a p i t a l \" we f i n d : As they g a l l o p e d along, not half-way there A p a i r of r a b b i t s c r o s s e d t h e i r path. Grasping h i s bow, one drew a s i n g i n g arrow And gave chase up South Mountain. Drawing back l e f t to shoot to the r i g h t His f i r s t arrow h i t both animals. And as there were s k i l l s he had not yet d i s p l a y e d He shot toward the sky and brought down a hawk. In \"The White Horse\" he w r i t e s : It has been a long time t h a t he has c a r r i e d a bow, His hemlock arrows a l l l i e i n neat a r r a y . Drawing the bowstring he h i t s the l e f t b u l l ' s - e y e ; To the r i g h t he s t r i k e s the jou-chih post. R a i s i n g h i s hand he snatches down a f l y i n g monkey Then leans down, d r i v i n g h i s horse i n a g a l l o p . Both men demonstrate s i m i l a r s k i l l s at r i d i n g and a r c h e r y . The c r u c i a l p o i n t i s that the one employs these s k i l l s s o l e l y f o r h i s own amusement, while the other has devoted h i s l i f e to the noble e n t e r p r i s e of defending h i s country a g a i n s t the i n c u r s i o n s of the nomadic t r i b e s from the n o r t h e r n f r o n t i e r s . When we con-s i d e r t h i s c o n t r a s t , we are given an even sharper p e r c e p t i o n of the i d l e n e s s and i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of the young men d e s c r i b e d i n \"The Famous C a p i t a l \" . They are s t r o n g , able-bodied and have the r e q u i r e d s k i l l s f o r warfare at t h e i r command. However, r a t h e r than o f f e r t h e i r s e r v i c e s to the s t a t e , they choose to while away t h e i r time i n extravagant, yet f r u i t l e s s pastimes. Chih i s very s u b t l e In h i s commentary on t h i s s i t u a t i o n . Yet a f t e r r e a d i n g both poems, there can be no doubt that he was d i s g u s t e d with the i d l e , uncommitted young people at the c a p i t a l , (one of whose number he might have once been counted), and ad-mires those who wage the wars along the f r o n t i e r . I t i s perhaps the s u b t l e t y of h i s manner that makes the message come through with such genuine f o r c e . We are r e q u i r e d to put some of the p i e c e s together and thus the r e a l i z a t i o n we come to i s much more immediate and meaningful. H. Formal Refinements One of the most t a n g i b l e achievements of the Chien An and Wei poets was the establishment of pentameter as the most important verse form. Ts'ao Chih made a c o n s i d e r a b l e c o n t r i b u -t i o n i n t h i s r e g ard. Although he wrote both tetrameter and i r r e g u l a r v e r s e , he used the former p r i m a r i l y f o r r a t h e r formal pieces addressed to the throne, such as \"Rebuking Myself\", \"Responding to the Summons\" and \"The Great F e a s t \" ^ ^ \" f ^ p > the l a t t e r s t y l e was used e x c l u s i v e l y i n p i e c e s w r i t t e n i n i m i t a t i o n of f o l k yueh-fu s t y l e , such as \"East of P'ing L i n g , \"TorGreat Trouble i n the Coming Days\" and \"The C a s s i a Tree\". In a l l , more than three q u a r t e r s of Chih's t o t a l extant poems are w r i t t e n i n pentameter. T h i s predominance i s e s p e c i a l l y noteworthy when d e a l i n g with yiieh-fu poems. As noted above, f i v e - c h a r a c t e r l i n e s were o f t e n found i n f o l k yiieh-fu, but o f t e n i n combination with l i n e s of other l e n g t h s . A l l of Chih's most important yiieh-fu a r e l w r i t t e n i n r e g u l a r pentameter. In that sense they are i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e from shih poems. One wonders what r e l a t i o n such yiieh-fu would have had to music, such an important f a c t o r i n o r i g i n a l yueh-fu poems. Chih must s u r e l y have downplayed the f u n c t i o n of music and w r i t t e n h i s poems p r i m a r i l y to be spo--; 121 ken or chanted. T h i s tendency continued down i n t o the T'ang Dynasty. In h i s shih poems Chih c o n s t a n t l y borrows from the phras-ing and imagery of the \"19 Old Poems\". There Is l i t t l e doubt-that these works served as the models from which Chih worked while w r i t i n g pentametric verse. In our d i s c u s s i o n of the developments i n Chien An l i t -e r a t u r e i n g e n e r a l , we made r e f e r e n c e to the f a c t t h at Chien An w r i t e r s spent a good d e a l of time and e f f o r t on the r e f i n i n g of t h e i r p o e t i c d i c t i o n . As i n so many cases Ts'ao Chih was the l e a d i n g proponent of t h i s concern. In f a c t , some have suggested that i t was Ts'ao Chih's success i n c r e a t i n g verse of a r e l a t i v e -l y p o l i s h e d nature that sparked the tendency i n Six Dynasties p o e t i c s toward a h i g h l y f l o r i d and c o n t r i v e d s t y l i s m . However j u s t or unjust these claims may be, i t i s c e r t a i n l y t r ue that Chih spent c o n s i d e r a b l y more time than e a r l i e r poets on the r e -f i n i n g and p o l i s h i n g of h i s poems. Oftenrithis p r o p e r t y of r e -finement i s extremely d i f f i c u l t to p e r c e i v e and d e f i n e . I t i s p o s s i b l e though, to give some examples of the more obvious kinds of refinement that Chih worked on. i . Overall Structure I t has a l r e a d y been noted that Chih was h i g h l y s k i l l e d at developing h i s imagery i n a l o g i c a l and p r o g r e s s i v e manner. The e f f e c t o f t h i s being to promote a more d i r e c t and f o r c e f u l i n -volvement of the reader i n the poem. This a b i l i t y to develop imagery was a l s o extended to the poem as a whole. E a r l i e r poets d i d not spend a great d e a l of time In the p l a n n i n g of t h e i r works. They tended to j o i n images and ideas together with l i t t l e r e g a r d 122 f o r matters of p r o g r e s s i o n and c o n t i n u i t y . The r e s u l t was o f t e n a f e e l i n g of d i s j o i n t e d n e s s which impeded the involvement i n , and i d e n t i t y with, the emotions expressed through the poem. In Ts'ao Chih's poetry, much progress was made toward the p l a n n i n g and i n -t e g r a t i o n of i n d i v i d u a l works. Chih p a i d a great d e a l of a t t e n -t i o n to the net e f f e c t of h i s poems. He attempted to s t r u c t u r e them i n such a manner as to l e a d the reader to the g r e a t e s t appre-c i a t i o n of the ideas and emotions contained i n h i s l i n e s . T h i s i s perhaps best I l l u s t r a t e d through concrete example. The f i r s t poem of \"Six O c c a s i o n a l Poems\" has a l r e a d y been b r i e f l y mentioned i n r e l a t i o n to the use of the image of a woman estranged from her l o v e r as a symbol f o r an o f f i c i a l who i s not t r u s t e d or a p p r e c i a t e d by the r u l e r . I t i s a s k i l l f u l l y w r i t t e n p i e c e that develops a great d e a l of e v o c a t i v e power through. I t s s t r u c t u r e . The poem i s d i v i d e d i n t o two movements of s i x l i n e s each. The f i r s t movement n a r r a t e s the woman's s i t u a t i o n . We have d i s c u s s e d the f i r s t couplet at some l e n g t h p r e v i o u s l y . It very s u b t l y i n t r o d u c e s thestheme of the poem through the a l l u s i o n i n the second l i n e . The n a t u r a l imagery sets the mood of the poem as. being e s s e n t i a l l y somber. The second and t h i r d c o u p l e t s f i l l out the theme of the pie c e by d e s c r i b i n g the wo-man's s i t u a t i o n i n more e x p l i c i t terms. The second movement draws us d i r e c t l y to the centre of the woman's f e e l i n g s through a very i n t e n s e metaphor. The lone goose i s a very common symbol o f ^ l o n e l i n e s s or s e p a r a t i o n from lo v e d ones. I t probably o r i g i n -ates i n the Minor Odes of the Shih Ching where we f i n d a p i e c e e n t i t l e d Hung Yen J^ln which the p l i g h t of those who l o s e t h e i r spouses to war i s r e f e r r e d t o . Chih i s almost c e r t a i n l y a l l u d i n g to th a t p i e c e here.- In Chih's hands the image of the goose takes on a sublime q u a l i t y . The goose i s f l y i n g southward, a s i g n of autumn which i s i n t u r n suggestive of the coldness and sorrow of l o n e l i n e s s . Wheniit c r i e s out above the woman's cou r t y a r d , she looks skyward and immediately the image of the goose and the remembered image of the man estranged from her are g e n t l y i n t e r t w i n e d . The poem might have ended on the ten t h l i n e with the woman wishing to communicate with her l o v e r through the c a l l s of the goose. A m i l d climax i s reached at that p o i n t . Chih, however, employs great f i n e s s e i n b r i n g i n g the piece to a f a r more moving c l o s e . In the penultimate l i n e the images of the goose and the l o v e r are momentarily confused. We are not sure i f the \"form\" i s that of the goose or that of the l o v e r . This ambiguity creates a f e e l i n g of deep poignancy. In the l a s t l i n e , we are re t u r n e d a b r u p t l y and a n t i - c l i m a c t i c l y to the r e a l -i t y of the woman's s i t u a t i o n . She remains alone In her c o u r t -yard while the goose has flown s w i f t l y from s i g h t . With t h i s , her l o n e l i n e s s and f e e l i n g s of h e l p l e s s n e s s are brought home with great f o r c e . Because of the deftness with which we are l e d to t h i s a n t i - c l i m a x , t h i s i s p o s s i b l y one of Chih's most moving poems. Another poem that we have d i s c u s s e d i n r e l a t i o n to the use of a woman's persona as an a l l e g o r i c a l device i s \"Seven Sorrows\". This poem i s a l s o d i v i d e d i n t o two movements. I t begins with the image of the moon s h i n i n g on a tower. As noted above, t h i s image i n t r o d u c e s the theme and .\"provides a metaphor f o r the f e e l i n g s of the woman. The next three c o u p l e t s n a r r a t e the s i t u a t i o n of the woman. In the f i f t h c o u p l e t , which begins 124 the second movement of the poem, Chih i n t r o d u c e s a metaphor f o r the r e l a t i o n s h i p between the man and the woman. With the s i x t h c o u p l e t , the poem seems to have come to an end. i f i t were not f o r the minor c o n s i d e r a t i o n of b a l a n c i n g the l e n g t h of the sec-ond movement with the f i r s t , the somewhat r h e t o r i c a l q u e s t i o n i n the s i x t h couplet would be a very l o g i c a l and u s u a l p l a c e f o r the piece to f i n i s h . But Chih has not exhausted the emotional p o t e n t i a l of the s i t u a t i o n . He adds another metaphor; that of the wind blowing across the d i s t a n c e . Through i t he expresses the woman's strong d e s i r e to f i n d her husband once again. In the l a s t c ouplet however, the p o s i t i v e f e e l i n g s of wanting to seek out her husband are brought down by the p e r s i s t e n t uncer-t a i n t y t h at e x i s t s when people become separated. Even i f she were to f i n d him, how could she be sure that'-he would still.'ho Id any love f o r her? The i n t r o d u c t i o n of t h i s element of uncer-t a i n t y b r i n g s a great deal of depth and r e a l i t y to the s i t u a -t i o n . The poem i s no longer a c o n v e n t i o n a l p o e t i c e x e r c i s e , i t i s an e x p r e s s i o n of powerful and r e a l i s t i c emotion. I t i s l a r g e l y the manner In which Chih has s t r u c t u r e d the p i e c e , and e s p e c i a l l y the l a s t movement, that allows us to f e e l that emo-t i o n . i i . Imagery: Nature as Metaphor One of the most e a s i l y p e r c e i v a b l e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of Ts'ao Chih's p o e t i c a r t i s h i s use of n a t u r a l imagery. The extensive use of n a t u r a l imagery was not uncommon i n e a r l y C h i -nese l i t e r a t u r e . The Ch'u Tz'u was f u l l of such imagery as were many fu w r i t t e n d u r i n g the Han Dynasty. There are two t h i n g s that set the work of Ts'ao Chih apart from e a r l i e r poets 1 2 5 In r e g a rd to the use of n a t u r a l imagery. F i r s t l y , he was one of the f i r s t to make ext e n s i v e use of landscape imagery i n poetry. The Ch'u Tz'u and the Han fu d i d co n t a i n landscape d e s c r i p t i o n to a' c e r t a i n extent,.but they.were n a t u r a l l y not w r i t t e n i n the same form as shih poetry. E a r l i e r poets had ap p a r e n t l y not gen-e r a l l y a s s o c i a t e d landscape d e s c r i p t i o n and the heavy use of n a t u r a l images with s t r i c t l y p o e t i c forms. They had f o l l o w e d more i n the t r a d i t i o n of the Shih Ching which used such imagery i n a very l i m i t e d manner. As we can see from p i e c e s l i k e the f i r s t poem of \"Sending o f f Master Ying\", \"Alas'.\" and \"For P r i n c e Pai-ma, Piao\", Chih made a good d e a l of p r o g r e s s ? i n g r a f t i n g the d e s c r i p t i v e manner of fu and the Ch'u Tz'u i n t o the framework of shih p o e t r y . Secondly, Chih was p a r t i c u l a r l y adept at u s i n g n a t u r a l imagery as metaphor. He seldom uses imagery s t r i c t l y f o r orna-mentation. As we have seen i n the case of such poems as \"A Feast \" , \"For Hsli .K'an\" and numerous other p i e c e s , Chih was very s k i l f u l both i n e x p r e s s i n g emotion or i d e a by u s i n g n a t u r a l images as a l l e g o r y or metaphor, and i n u s i n g such imagery to creat e a mood or atmosphere w i t h i n a poem. In t h i s r e s p e c t he was a poet of c o n s i d e r a b l y more s k i l l and depth than v i r t u a l l y a l l of h i s contemporaries, i i i . PavalleI ism One of the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of ku-shih, the form i n which Chih wrote, was the absence of ex t e n s i v e p a r a l l e l i s m or t o n a l a p p o s i t i o n . Ts'ao Chih was one of the f i r s t w r i t e r s to employ these devices i n h i s poems. P a r a l l e l i s m was not by any means a new concept i n Chinese l i t e r a t u r e . I t had been used q u i t e 1 2 6 e x t e n s i v e l y i n fu and prose compositions i n the Han Dynasty and e a r l i e r . I t a l s o occurred, although i n f r e q u e n t l y , i n the Ch'u Tz'u. I t s use i n poetry was r a t h e r slow i n developing. This i s most l i k e l y due to the f a c t that the t r a d i t i o n a l i s m of Chinese w r i t e r s l e d them to look p r i m a r i l y to the Shih Ching f o r .ideas concerning p o e t i c form. In the Shih Ching, d e s p i t e the tremen-dous p o t e n t i a l f o r p a r a l l e l i s m i n i t s t e t r a m e f r i c form, s t r i c t l y p a r a l l e l c ouplets are very seldom found. As a r e s u l t , poets tend-ed to avoid the i d e a of p a r a l l e l i s m i n t h e i r p o e t r y , even though they might have employed i t q u i t e l i b e r a l l y i n t h e i r prose and fu. Yueh-fu poems were not g e n e r a l l y h e a v i l y i n f l u e n c e d by s c h o l a s t i c t r a d i t i o n a l i s m and as we observed i n \"Mulberry by the Path\", they could be laden w i t h rudimentary p a r a l l e l i s m . Per-haps due to i n s p i r a t i o n from such yueh-fu , Chien An w r i t e r s , l e d by Chih, began to i n c o r p o r a t e p a r a l l e l i s m i n t o t h e i r v e r s e . I t i s r e l a t i v e l y easy to f i n d examples of t h i s i n Chih's poetry. P a r a l l e l i s m of v a r y i n g degree i s evident i n \"A Fea s t \" . In the t h i r d couplet there i s a rough p a r a l l e l between \"B r i g h t moon\" flj^J JtJ and \"the c o n s t e l l a t i o n s \" ^ ij ^ . The s t r u c t u r e of both l i n e s i s s u b j e c t - m o d i f i e r , which gives a f e e l i n g of p a r a l l e l . The s i x t h couplet a l s o contains a s i m i l a r type of correspondence. In the f o u r t h and f i f t h c o u p l e t s however, the p a r a l l e l i s m i s very w e l l developed. The o p p o s i t i o n i s not only on the l e v e l of grammatical f u n c t i o n , i . e . s u b j e c t - v e r b - o b j e c t , i t extends to a s i m i l a r i t y between the su b j e c t s and between the o b j e c t s : autumn o r c h i d s - crimson f l o w e r s , or, m o d i f i e r - f l o w e r ; hidden f i s h - b e a u t i f u l b i r d s , or, m o d i f i e r - a n i m a l s ; long slopes -127 green ponds, or, m o d i f i e r - landscape o b j e c t ; c l e a r waves - h i g h -est boughs, or m o d i f i e r - landscape o b j e c t . In the f o u r t h coup-l e t there i s an ambiguous r e l a t i o n s h i p between the verbs. Both, i n one way or a n o t h e r , r e l a t e to the idea of wearing c l o t h i n g . In the case of p e i the r e l a t i o n s h i p i s d i r e c t , i n the case of mao ^ the r e l a t i o n s h i p i s through i t s phonetic and graphic resem-7 0 blance to the word mao , \"a hat\". T h i s i s a very advanced form of p a r a l l e l i s m . P a r a l l e l c o n s t r u c t i o n i s most e a s i l y employed i n des-c r i p t i v e passages. Because of the d e s c r i p t i v e c h a r a c t e r of many \"wandering immortals\" poems, we f i n d some of the h e a v i e s t usage of p a r a l l e l i s m i n these works. In \" T r a v e l l i n g as an Immortal\" f o r example, the l a s t f o u r l i n e s a l l have a very s i m i l a r p a t t e r n , which c o u l d roughly be d e s c r i b e d as \" d i r e c t i o n - v e r b - p l a c e \" , or D-V-P-P-P. Only the l a s t l i n e d e v i a t e s s l i g h t l y . I t has two verbs i n s u c c e s s i o n : D-V-V-P-P. In \" T r a v e l l i n g the F i f t h Realm\", there are examples of p a r a l l e l i s m used i n v a r i o u s types of sentence p a t t e r n . In the t h i r d couplet we f i n d : \"I w i l l open my cinnabar-mist cloak and u n r a v e l my s i l k rainbow s k i r t . \" In the Chinese these l i n e s have a very c l o s e correspondence. The f i r s t c h a r a c t e r i s a verb p e r t a i n i n g to the use of c l o t h i n g , p ' i ^ ^ , \"to open\" and hsi^\"to t u r n the sleeves down\". The sec-ond c h a r a c t e r i s wo^, \"T.\" or \"my\" i n both cases. The t h i r d c h a r a c t e r i s a c o l o u r word which a l s o r e f e r s to a material,- tan \"red\" or \"cinnabar\", s u ^ , \"white\" or \" p l a i n s i l k \" . The f o u r t h c h a r a c t e r i s a noun r e f e r r i n g to an atmospheric c o n d i t i o n , ni ^\"rainbow\", hsia ^ \" m i s t \" . The l a s t c h a r a c t e r i s a noun r e -f e r r i n g to a type of c l o t h i n g . Yi ^ \"gown\" and shang1^\" a lower 128 garment\". The nature of the p a r a l l e l i n g i n t h i s couplet i s very complex, yet Chih c a r r i e s i t o f f very a r t f u l l y and without o s t e n -t a t i o n . Couplets s i x to eleven a l l possess p a r a l l e l i s m to some degree. In c e r t a i n cases the o p p o s i t i o n i s very obvious and c l o s e , as i n couplets 7, 8 and 11. In other cases the p a r a l l e l i s q u i t e l o o s e , as i n c o u p l e t s 6, 9 and 10. P a r a l l e l i s m can be found i n a great many of Chih's poems. In some poems he appears to avoid t h i s device as a means of c r e -a t i n g a f e e l i n g of r u s t i c asymmetry i n h i s work. This i s par-t i c u l a r l y t r ue of p i e c e s that were w r i t t e n i n i m i t a t i o n of e a r l i -er ku-shih,:^sxich as the \"Six O c c a s i o n a l Poems\". At the same time, Chih was aware that p a r a l l e l i s m c o u l d be a very e f f e c t i v e technique, p a r t i c u l a r l y i n d e s c r i p t i v e . p a s sages. The e f f e c t o f the use of p a r a l l e l i s m i s to give the apiece a slower and more ornate movement. Rather than being rushed along by p r o s a i c , n a r r a t i v e d i c t i o n , we are drawn back and allowed to become more i n v o l v e d i n the imagery. The poem.becomes an atmosphere i n which we may move and breathe, not simply a s t o r y t h at i s r e -counted f o r us. The success which Ts'ao Chih had i n h i s use of t h i s device was undoubtedly a major f a c t o r c o n t r i b u t i n g to i t s great importance i n the work of l a t e r poets, i v . Word Selection A good w r i t e r i s one who has developed c o n s i d e r a b l e s k i l l i n the use of the language of h i s time. A great w r i t e r i s one who not only can use language s k i l f u l l y , but a l s o c o n t r i b u t e s to the e v o l u t i o n of new and more e x p r e s s i v e means of u s i n g that language. T h i s i s as true of James Joyce or e.e. cummings as i t i s of Ts'ao Chih. None of these men were content to l i m i t t h e i r 129 e x p r e s s i o n to the c o n v e n t i o n a l l y accepted manner of t h e i r time. They strove to f i n d i m a g i n a t i v e and s t r i k i n g ways i n which to convey t h e i r f e e l i n g s and thoughts. We touched upon c e r t a i n ways i n which Ts'ao Chih was able to accomplish t h i s end when we examined h i s use of such devices as a l l e g o r y and metaphor. His developmental work was a l s o evident i n the m o d i f i c a t i o n s that he made to c o l l o q u i a l d i c t i o n found i n yueh-fu poems. Here I would l i k e to look at the manner i n which he was able to c r e a t e very i n t e r e s t i n g e f f e c t s by f i n d i n g new uses f o r c e r t a i n i n d i v i d u a l words. The f i r s t example of t h i s we f i n d i n the couplet from \"A F e a s t \" j u s t p r e v i o u s l y examined i n r e f e r e n c e to the use of p a r a l l e l i s m . The word mao^ has. a derived meaning of \"to i s s u e f o r t h \" . T h i s f i t s q u i t e s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d l y i n t o the context of l i n e 8. Yet, because i t Is used In p a r a l l e l with the verb pei ^ t . which means \"to wear\" as w e l l as \"to cover\", we cannot ?; ? avoid a s s o c i a t i n g i t with the word mao^ f^j \"a hat\" which i s a homophone and a l s o i s g r a p h i c a l l y and s e m a n t i c a l l y r e l a t e d . The ambiguity l a t e n t i n t h i s a s s o c i a t i o n would give the l i n e a meaning of something l i k e : \"The crimson blossoms \"hat\" the green p o o l \" . This Is a unique and suggestive image. In \"Serving the Crown P r i n c e \" we f i n d two of the numer-ous examples of Chih's v e r b a l use of words g e n e r a l l y used as nouns or m o d i f i e r s . In the f i r s t l i n e the word yccoS^ i s most commonly used as a m o d i f i e r meaning \" b r i g h t \" or \" d a z z l i n g \" . As a verb i t must mean something l i k e \"to b r i g h t e n \" or \"to d a z z l e \" . In the second l i n e the word ahing which u s u a l l y r e f e r s to the s t a t e of s t i l l n e s s i s p a r t i c u l a r l y e f f e c t i v e when Chih uses 130 It as a verb, meaning \"to s t i l l \" . The f i r s t l i n e of \"Por Hsu Kan\" has a very modern sound when t r a n s l a t e d into E n g l i s h as \"A s t a r t l e d wind b u f f e t s the white sun...\". The reason being that the word \" s t a r t l e d \" i s so s u g g e s t i v e . In the Chinese o r -i g i n a l however, i t i s the word p'ido t r a n s l a t e d as \"buf-f e t s \" that,, s t r i k e s one as being most c u r i o u s and e f f e c t i v e . P'iao u s u a l l y i s an i n t r a n s i t i v e verb meaning \"to f l o a t \" , or a m o d i f i e r meaning \" f l o a t i n g \" . In t h i s usage i t must be a t r a n s -i t i v e verb. The i d e a of the wind \" f l o a t i n g \" the sun i s very i n t e r e s t i n g , though d i f f i c u l t to convey i n t r a n s l a t i o n . The same word i s used again i n a s i m i l a r manner i n \"For Ting Y i \" i n the l i n e \"And a c l e a r wind b u f f e t s the winged p a v i l i o n . \" . In the preceding l i n e of that poem, Chih has used the word yi. /\%L \"to r e l y on\" or \"to l e a n on\" to d e s c r i b e the way In which the f r o s t has formed on the s t a i r c a s e s . One c o u l d go on o u t l i n i n g t h i s k i n d of unique word usage, but these examples should serve as adequate evidence of Ts'ao Chih's accomplishment i n t h i s r e g ard. Very few poets have the s k i l l or i m a g i n a t i o n to extend and modify the meaning of words i n t h i s manner. There i s l i t t l e q u e s t i o n t h a t t h i s a b i l i t y was a very important m a n i f e s t a t i o n of Ts'ao Chih's p o e t i c genius. 1 3 1 Notes ^See Yoshikawa K o j i r o ' s p o s t f a c e to Ito Masafumi's :\ So Shoku \u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00E2\u0080\u00A2\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 p. 2 1 7 2 Shih P'in, p. 7 2 . 3Wen-hsing Tiao-lung, 1 0 / 1 2 3 / 1 - 3 - Shih pp. 2 5 4 - 2 5 5 ^See Fang Tung-shu Chao mei chart yen \\# 5See L i Meng-yang, Ts'ao Tzu-chien pp. 1 1 - 2 6 ^ _ _ \u00E2\u0084\u00A2 T-, t .^i. f . .. ^ _ . . . - 1. r *\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 _ 7- -\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 m * -\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 J- _ t . . Hth & p. 70 See Chang P'u, Ch'en Ssu-wang ch'uan-chi, T:'i tz'u Y%.fc X ' i r ^ ^ifsl p . l . Po Ch'i >fa-\u00C2\u00A7j\" was the son. of a Chou k i n g . His own mother d i e d and h i s stepmother, slandered him i n order to have her own son, Po Feng ^{3 i?[ , e s t a b l i s h e d as crown p r i n c e . The k i n g b e l i e v e d her and e x i l e d Po C h ' i . \"Treading F r o s t \" was w r i t t e n out of h i s sorrow. Master T s ' u e i ' s mother a l s o d i e d e a r l y . His stepmother mocked him by c a l l i n g him by h i s own mother's name. He r e f u s e d to respond to i t . E v e n t u a l l y he t i e d a rock to h i s waist and jumped i n t o the r i v e r . \"Master T s ' u e i Crosses the R i v e r \" i s a song r e c o u n t i n g h i s m i s f o r t u n e . 7 F o r example Kuo Mo-jo i n \"Lun Ts'ao Chih\", Liao Chung-an i n \"Kuan-yu Ts'ao Chih te chi-ke wen-t'i and Hans F r a n k e l i n \"15 Poems by Ts'ao Chih: An Attempt at a New Approach\". o Wallace Stevens,-\"The Noble Rider and the Sound of Words\", i n The Necessary Angel p. 2 7 . ^Shih Vin p. 7 2 . 1 0 See Suzuki S h u j i , Kan Qishi no Kenkyu fftfijV \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 664 11Shih Ching 1 / 3 / 3 - Legge. p. 8. 1 2 i b i d . 5 4 / 2 1 9 - Legge p. 3 9 4 . 1 3 l b i d . 46 / 1 9 7 / 2 . Legge p. 3 3 7 -^Ch'u Tz'u pu-chu $j$ti%i\u00C2\u00A3chuan 5 , SPPY ed. 1 5 i b i d . , 5/86 f . 1 6 . i b i d . , 2/41 -p . The l i n e reads : % ^ . 1 7 $fiL i b i d - , 15/147 1 8 The i d e a of r i d i n g behind dragons i s o f t e n found i n the Chiu ko. For example i n the l i n e ; ^ ^ g ^ ^ f ^ ^ j 2 / h < 2 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 1 3 2 The Idea of r i d i n g behind s i x dragons i s found i n Ts'ao Ts'ao's Ch'i ch'u ch'ang |^#o|jCSKS 5/7a, and Kuo P' u's Yu-hsien shih 19 For example, only seven of Ts'ao P'i's twenty-two extant yueh-fu are w r i t t e n i n pentameter. 2C]Sui-han'4-t''ang shih-hua %-^^\u00C2\u00B0 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 21 \"\u00E2\u0080\u00A2 Chang Wen-chu, ^jg^j fyj^.^'sft in Eua Kuo \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 #3 . p. 8 5 . 2 2 J&\4L See Huang Chieh, Han Wei yueh-fu feng chien . }%^J^.t^j^xJ^. pp. 10 - 1 3 - From c e r t a i n terminology used i n the p i e c e i t i s p o s s i b l e to determine that i t was w r i t t e n i n the E a s t e r n Han p e r i o d . See Liang Han wen-hsvseh-shih ts'an-k'ao t z u - l i a o &)>%it?f JL^% f P{ P- 5 1 8 > N O T E # 1 3 -23 My t r a n s l a t i o n . 24 a l s o my t r a n s . . For a n n o t a t i o n see f u l l t r a n s l a t i o n appendixed. 2 5 See T s ' u e i Pao,. '.Ku-chin chu /s^ , quoted by Huang Chieh i n Yueh-fu feng ch ien . \"7 / 2 6 'There i s some d i f f i c u l t y i n determining j u s t what t h i s l i n e means. 2 7 Some have even suggested that c e r t a i n ku-shih were i n f a c t yueh-fu. See Chu Chu-t'ang Otibfe quoted by Huang i n Yueh-fu feng chien, P> 3 5 . ? 8 See \"The Concise Oxford D i c t i o n a r y of Current English!! 5th e d i t i o n , p. 3 2 . 29 See note #2 i n a n n o t a t i o n ; 3\u00C2\u00B0See WH 20/8b . - 10a. 3^See Ving chu chao ming wen hs'uan &f\~$L^zr 5 / 7 \u00C2\u00AB 32 \"Lotus Pond\" i s a landscape poem. 3 3 ] 34 For example see \"The Gre t F e a s t \" jr\\u00C2\u00AE~\"*\u00C2\u00A3? a n <3 the second poem of \"Sending Off Master Ying\". 0 *'J According to L i Shan. 35 , See f o r example Tu Fu's Ch'iao'Ling shih san-shih yan See Huang Chieh, Ts'ao Tzu-chien chi chu p. 1 6, and Yu Kuan-ying San Ts'ao shih hs'uan pp. 1 0 6 - 10 .7 . 3 7 S e e WH 48/3b. My t r a n s . 1 3 3 3 8WH 4 8 / 2 b . 3 9CHW 15/Ib/2Q8. ^\u00C2\u00B0See Helmut Wilhelm, \"The Scholar's F r u s t r a t i o n \" i n Chin-ese Thought and I n s t i t u t i o n s , i Fairbank ed., p. 401. n. 46. 41 For our purposes, the d i s t i n c t i o n between s i m i l e and metaphor i s q u i t e i r r e l e v a n t . A l l such comparisons w i l l be r e -f e r r e d to as \"metaphor\" r e g a r d l e s s of whether or not they i n v o l v e the use of such words as \" l i k e \" or \"as\" or the Chinese equiva-l e n t . 42 See Edgar A l l a n Poe, \" E u l a l i e \" , i n Edgar Allan Poe: Poems and Essays, J.M. Dent & Sons N.Y. 1 9 2 7 , 1 9 7 7 - p. 2 0 . 43 Arthur Waley, The Book of Songs, p. 1 3 . 44 As i n d i c a t e d i n the note #8 of the annotations to the t r a n s l a t i o n , \" s p r i n g thoughts\" i s an a l l u s i o n to thoughts of love between a man and w i f e . 45 See note #3 i n ann o t a t i o n . ^ 6See Juan Chi ^fu^jj , Yung huai shih '$7^>\%t~$%#1 \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 47 'See Ch'en Shih-hsiang, \"The Shih Ching; I t s Generic S i g n i f i c a n c e \" i n B i r c h ed. Studies in Chinese Literary Genre, B e r k l e y , 1 9 7 4 , p. 2 1 . 4 8 Wen-hsin tiao-lung 9 8 / 8 / 2 - 3 , Shih p. 1 9 5 -49 Li Chi 3 7 / l b , There the phrase i s used with r e f e r e n c e to music: \" A l l music i s borne out of men's h e a r t s . The movement; of men's he a r t s i s caused by ( e x t e r n a l ) o b b j e c t s . We\" are a f f e c t e d by t h i n g s and are moved. This i s given form to i n sound.\" 50 For a d i s c u s s i o n of t h i s phenomenon see Hans F r a n k e l , \"Contemplation of the Past i n T'ang Poetry\", i n Perspectives on the T'ang, Wright and Twit c h e t t ed., Yale, 1 9 7 3 , PP \u00E2\u0080\u00A2 3 4 5 - 3 6 5 -5 1 , 52 , \"See Ku Chih ^ Jfi Ts 'ao Tzu-chien shih chien 2 / 2 a . .. . \"For example the f i r s t of the \"19 Old Poems\", and Shih W l x i ts'un.g chun-cheng - j -5 3 S e e Chiang L i a n g - f u