On Poetry

Author: Zhu Guangqian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: A Treatise on Poetry is an important representative work by Professor Zhu Guangqian. This book uses Western theories of poetry to study Chinese poetry and employs Chinese poetry to validate Western theories of poetry, making it a pioneering work. The content of the book explores the relationship between poetry and music, dance, painting, prose, and other literary forms, while also deeply examining the stylistic characteristics of poetry and the future direction of Chinese poetry. It is thought-provoking to read.
Excerpt: Poetry and Concealment
Liu Xie, in The Art of Rhetoric, listed "concealment" alongside "riddle." He defined "concealment" as "using oblique language to hide meaning, and employing enigmatic comparisons to indicate things," while "riddle" was described as "protecting one's words to make them obscure; or describing them in terms of shapes or objects." However, he acknowledged that "riddle" was the embodiment of "concealment" after the Wei and Jin periods. In reality, "trace" and "concealment" were originally the same thing, though their names differed across eras. The Records of the States mentions "a Qin guest composed a riddle for Yu, and Fan Wenzi could solve three of them," with "Yu's riddle" still being a form of enigma. The origins of riddles are ancient and significant across cultures. In ancient Greece, the hero Oedipus (Oedipus) angered a man-eating monster by solving a riddle—"four legs walk in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three at night"—and was chosen as the king of Thebes. In the Book of Judges, Samson's relatives solved a riddle—"meat comes from the strong, sweetness from the eaters"—and thus escaped capture and received rewards. This shows the ancient people's reverence for riddles. Chinese riddles can be said to be as old as the written language. The Six Arts of Writing include "associated meaning," which, according to Xu Shen, means "comparing categories to combine meanings, thereby revealing the intended reference, as seen in 'martial trust.'" This is based on the principles of riddles. "Halting the sword becomes 'martial,' and 'human speech' becomes 'trust,'—two characters that convey meaning." Many Chinese characters can be understood by their components, as they were created with a sense of mystery that invites guessing. The earliest recorded song in China is said to be "Breaking bamboo, continuing bamboo; throwing mud, chasing meat" from The Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue. This is a riddle for "arrow." The Book of Han's Bibliography lists The Book of Riddles in Eighteen Chapters, and Liu Xiang's New Sequence mentions "King Xuan of Qi ordered the reading of riddle books." This shows that riddles have been recorded in books since ancient times. The Zuo Zhuan contains two riddles: "dry well" and "Geng Gui." From The Records of the Witty in The Records of the Grand Historian and The Biography of Dongfang Shuo in The Book of Han, it is clear that a fondness for riddles was a widespread custom in ancient times. A person skilled in riddles could gain favor and rewards, as Dongfang Shuo exemplifies. He could solve "," which means guessing riddles. A country with a minister skilled in riddles could achieve diplomatic victories in court, as Fan Wenzi solved three of Qin's riddles, and the historian recorded it in great detail. The Records of the Three Kingdoms contains an interesting story about Xue Zong. The Shu envoy Zhang Feng mocked Wu's minister Kan Ze with a riddle, but Ze could not respond, causing Wu to feel ashamed. Xue Zong, seeing this as an embarrassment, retaliated with a riddle: "With a dog, it becomes 'alone'; without a dog, it becomes 'Shu.' With slanted eyes and a curved body, an insect enters its belly." After this riddle, the Shu envoy had no reply, and Wu regained face. From these stories and the Greek and Jewish examples cited earlier, it is evident that Liu Xie's statement that "the use of riddles has been recorded in annals, and in great matters, they can elevate governance and oneself" is not an exaggeration. In modern times, riddles are a form of wordplay, but in ancient times, they were a very serious matter. Their earliest application was likely in prophecies and omens. Poetry originated as a medium for communication between gods and humans. People presented prayers to gods in verse, and gods communicated their messages to humans in verse as well. However, human speech had to be clear, while divine speech had to be obscure to appear mysterious and profound. Therefore, most omens were riddles. These riddles were often spoken by gods who possessed human bodies, usually the high priest or a witch. The Greek "Delphic prophecies" and the divinations of ancient Chinese shamans are prime examples. In primitive societies, dreams were also considered prophecies. Many countries had specialized officials for interpreting dreams, and the fate of a nation's rulers and people often hung on the interpretation of a single dream. The Book of Genesis records how the Egyptian king dreamed of seven lean bulls devouring seven fat bulls and seven withered ears consuming seven green ears. He summoned his ministers to interpret the dream, but none could, until a foreign Jew named Joseph declared it was a sign that seven years of famine would follow seven years of abundance. The king, following his advice, stored surplus grain from the abundant years, and when the famine came, the Egyptians were saved from starvation. Joseph thus earned the king's great trust. The Zuo Zhuan also contains a story of Sang Tian's divination of dreams. The of dream divination, before the advent of writing, can be said to be the oldest and most widespread form of guessing games.