Beijing River Poetry Notes

Author: Hong Liangji
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-05-01
Features:
Fragment: Volume One: The literature of the Western Han Dynasty was flourishing, with figures like Zou, Mei, Yan, and Ma, up to Yuan and Yun, not being distinguished by Ban Gu for separate biographies. This is why literature flourished. It was not until Fan Wei Zong began to create separate biographies for literary figures that literature declined in the Eastern Han Dynasty. All Han literati were literate, as evidenced by Sima Xiangru's "Fan Jiang Fan" and Yang Xiong's "Xun Zuan Fan." Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, even scholars were not particularly literate, as seen in Cao Xian's annotation of "Guang Ya" calling "bing" "bing" and Yan Shi Gu's annotation of the "Han Shu" calling "wen" "xiao." The two "Yu" enjoy observing the timely rain having fallen, the mountains and rivers emerging from the clouds, the atmosphere, which is truly sufficient to glimpse the essence of creation. Even the most skilled ancient and modern poets, though adept at depicting scenes and emotions, could not reach this level. Tao Jing Jie's "Flat fields meet the distant wind, good seeds also yearn for newness" comes close. Next is Wei Su Zhou's "Light rain passed by last night, unaware that spring grass had grown," which is also similar. These are the precious qualities of Tao and Wei's poetry. Others who describe scenery cannot reach this level even after much thought.
Three: The common belief is that the moon has Chang'e and the toad. This is not true. Zhang Heng's "Ling Xian Xian" states: Yi requested immortality from the Western Queen Mother, Chang'e stole it and ran to the moon palace, where she transformed into a toad. Thus, the toad is Chang'e's transformation, not two separate entities. Gao You's annotation of the "Huang Lao Wang Shu" also says: Chang'e ran into the moon, becoming the moon's spirit. Today, when praising beauty, one must say "Chang'e of the moon," which is not only inappropriate but also far from the truth!
Four: Tang poets were still close to ancient times, with many using allusion and implication, such as "The jade face cannot match the color of the crow," "Clouds resemble her clothes, flowers her face," "A piece of ice heart in a jade pot," and Yu Xi Sheng's "Brocade Zither," all of which are allegorical. As for "Autumn flowers and grass on the river," "The Yellow River flows straight into the heart," "A lone cloud and returning birds, across a thousand miles in an instant," as well as the great masters Li, Du, Yuan, and Bai, mostly used implication. By the Song and Yuan dynasties, direct statements accounted for seven or eight out of ten, while allegory and implication faded.
Five: Among the "Three Hundred Odes," not a single one lacks parallel sounds and rhymes. This continued down to the "Chu Ci," Yuan and Yun's works, Mei and Ma's writings, and even the "Three Capitals" and "Two Capitals" odes, all of which were filled with them. Tang poets revered Du Zi Mei as their master, and none of his five or seven-character regulated verse lacked parallel sounds and rhymes. Occasionally, some couplets had parallel sounds and rhymes, but the line preceding it did not, and this accounted for only about one-tenth. After the mid-Tang, Han, Li, and Wen followed suit. By the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, fewer poets understood this. Wang Wen Jian of our dynasty knew this well, with lines like "If spring swallows appear in the distance one day, only withered smoke traces remain today," appearing dozens of times in his collection, allowing him to the ancients. However, parallel rhymes are easier to understand than parallel sounds, so the study of phonetics and etymology should be emphasized.
Postscript: The "Bei Jiang Shi Hua" by Hong Liangji of the Qing Dynasty consists of six volumes. Liangji, styled Zhi Cun and known as the Beijiang Jushi, was from Yanghu (now Changzhou, Jiangsu). He passed the imperial examination during the Qianlong era and was appointed as a compiler and inspector of education in Guizhou. In his later years, he was exiled to Ili for criticizing the Qing court in his memorials. Later, he was pardoned and took the name Geng Sheng Jushi. He was born in the eleventh year of the Qianlong era (1746) and died in the fourteenth year of the Jiaqing era (1809), living during the peak of Qing Dynasty scholarship, particularly textual criticism. Liangji was a Confucian scholar, historian, geographer, parallel prose writer, and poet, which is why the "Bei Jiang Shi Hua" (not his main work) covers a vast range of topics, including inscriptions, historical figures, historical studies, local records, calligraphy, and even imperial examination customs. His poetry criticism ranks "nature," "emotion," "spirit," "interest," and "style" in order, stating that "poetry and prose focusing on rules and regulations have already fallen into the lower echelon." He criticized not only the "style and tone" school, such as Shen De Qian's "learning from the ancients" as merely "imitating their appearance while losing their essence," but also many other predecessors and contemporaries, such as commenting on Wu Wei Ye's "lacking tonal balance," Shao Chang Heng's "artificial and pretentious, painting the head and feet, yet lacking true emotion and spirit," Wang Shi Zhen's "being burdened by tonal constraints," using Du's poems as "forced rhymes," altering Du's poems to "hide the traces," and even "turning gold into iron"; commenting on Zhu Yi Zun's "learning from the early Tang and Northern Song as 'learning to walk in Handu' and ultimately failing to form his own style"; commenting on Song Wan as "the later scholars were few, and his fame only reached Song Huangzhou"; commenting on Yuan Mei as "frivolous" and "lewd"; and commenting on Li E as "seeking novelty but with a small perspective." His admired Qing Dynasty poet was Li Jian, praising his poetry for its skill in "creating sentences," "creating characters," and "creating scenes." He highly regarded his contemporary poet Qian Zai, yet privately favored Huang Jing Ren. His views differed from those of his contemporaries who admired Yuan Mei, Jiang Shi Quan, and Zhao Yi. He had innovative ideas in poetic art but also biases. Like many feudal scholars, Hong Liangji often spoke from the perspective of the feudal ruling class in his book. Class prejudice and national prejudice left their mark on this work. This edition is based on the Hong family's reprint of 1877, with comparisons to the Yue Ya Tang Series, and is published with punctuation. Chen Er Dong