Draft on Du Fu's Poetry from Kuizhou

Author: Jiang Xianwei
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-11-01
Features: The above arguments have demonstrated that both Du Fu and Liu Yuxi were influenced by folk songs and Zhu Zhi Ci. Below, we will discuss the relationship between Kuizhou Ge and Zhu Zhi Ci as exemplary works where both poets learned from folk songs. Xu Xueyi's Shiyuan Bian Ti (Volume 29, "Mid-Tang") states: "Liu Yuxi's seven-character quatrains include Zhu Zhi Ci, whose origin lies in the songs of the Six Dynasties, such as Ziyye, while its style and tone are those of Du Fu." Regarding the origin of Liu Yuxi's Zhu Zhi Ci from the Six Dynasties' Yuefu, predecessors have already pointed out: Since the Qi and Liang dynasties, poets composing Yuefu Ziyye Sishige and similar works have often used the first line for comparison and allusion, followed by the second line to substantiate it. Seven-character quatrains also occasionally employed this technique, such as "Sun rises on the east, rain falls on the west; though it seems not sunny, it is indeed sunny" (Hong Mai, Rongzhai Sanbi [Volume 16, "Yuefu Poetry and Allusions]).
The ancient lyrics include:
- "Huange grows with spring, bitter heart grows with the sun."
- "Mist and dew hide the lotus, unclear whether it is seen or not."
- "Stone gate opens in the mouth, holding inscriptions but unable to speak."
- "Cattail flowers are pitiful, though known, not recognized."
- "Silkworms do not spin cocoons, hanging long threads day and night."
- "Silk is woven into the broken loom, realizing it cannot be a match."
- "Cypress branches do not bear flowers, how can they get tung tree seeds?"
- "Kill lotus but cut not the root, lotus heart still grows again."
These all employ the Wu style of referring to objects through metaphor. Liu Yuxi wrote: "Sun rises on the east, rain falls on the west; though it seems not sunny, it is indeed sunny." The wording is elegant, resembling the Six Dynasties (Xie Zhen, Siming Shihua [Volume 2]).
What they pointed out as "originating from the Six Dynasties" and "resembling the Six Dynasties" refers to the rhetorical techniques of puns and double meanings, which are superficial. What truly influenced and shaped Liu Yuxi, in my opinion, lies in the "style and tone" mentioned by Xu Xueyi, but it came from Du Fu. Xu's "style" refers to the format and meter of the poem, while his "tone" refers to the poetic style, i.e., the folk song style. This "style and tone" encompass both the content and form of the poem.
First, from the perspective of content, both Kuizhou Ge and Zhu Zhi Ci adhere to the general creative principle of "" (generalized singing of local customs) and "" (songs praising local scenery). Du Fu's Kuizhou Ge (10 quatrains) describes the landscape and topography of Kuizhou ("the eastern part of Zhongba is the eastern mountain of Ba"), historical geography ("Baidi and Kuizhou are different cities," "rivalrous heroes rose in the previous dynasties"), village life ("red shells and white salt," "rich east, poor west," "Dongtun rice paddies"), water transport convenience ("Sichuan hemp and Wu salt"), and scenic spots ("King Chu's palace, Wu Hou Temple, Gaotang Temple"). They resemble a documentary series of landscapes, transporting the audience into a majestic, mystical, and historically rich realm, allowing them to appreciate a sense of grandeur, tragedy, and hallucinatory beauty. Among the 10 quatrains, except for the third and fourth ("following Baidi Three Gorges," "discussing historical sites," Chou's annotations, Volume 15) and "using ancient tales to warn Sichuan bandits" (Du Shi Jingquan, Volume 13), the rest are primarily odes to landscapes and historical sites.
Liu Yuxi's Zhu Zhi Ci (11 quatrains) praises the new spring grass on the top of Baidi City, the clear Sichuan River at Baidi Salt Mountain, the spring water after the new clear weather in the west, the spring outing companions in Zhaojun Pavilion, the annual waves on the Yandu Stack, the difficult ancient road in the Qutang Gorge, and the misty rain and howling monkeys in the Wu Gorge. It also describes the love lives of men and women. There are grievances of women who have lost love: "Flowers fade easily like your love, endless flowing water is my sorrow"; the longing of a young wife in seclusion: "Please send a letter to my madman in Chengdu, living on the ten-thousand-li bridge"; the resentment of women abandoned: "Annoyed heart is not as hard as stone," "long resenting that people are not as water"; and the complex psychology of a girl in her first love: "Sun rises on the east, rain falls on the west; though it seems not sunny, it is indeed sunny." Additionally, it depicts the distinctive labor life of the people in Kui and Wu: "Silver bracelets and gold hairpins come to carry water, long knives and short hats go to burn fields."
From the perspective of content, these 11 Zhu Zhi Ci not only describe landscapes and customs but also love and labor. Odes to love are an important theme in folk songs, as folk songs reflect folk life and are "no song without a lover or sister." The Ba Zhu Zhi Ci itself has the "alluring sound of Qi'ao," and Liu Yuxi's Zhu Zhi Ci preserves the essence of folk songs by incorporating romance into the odes to local customs. From the perspective of praising local customs, Zhu Zhi Ci and Kuizhou Ge are closely linked; from the perspective of writing love, Liu Yuxi surpasses Du Fu. However, pioneering works are difficult to master. When scholars learned from Zhu Zhi Ci, Du Fu was the beginning, taking the first step in learning and imitating. Since he named this series of quatrains "songs," it shows their connection to folk songs; yet since he did not title them "Zhu Zhi Ci," it indicates that he still retained some reservations when learning from folk Zhu Zhi Ci. Du Fu was born into a feudal family that "followed Confucianism and served as officials" and was "familiar with the theory of Wenxuan" and "read ten thousand volumes of books." Such a background and education somewhat limited his ability to learn from folk songs. Additionally, his unwavering patriotic and filial sentiments, such as "never forgetting the country while eating," made him forget national affairs even while praising local customs, something Liu Yuxi lacked. Therefore, Weng Fanggang said that Kuizhou Ge "has a vast and profound embrace, which not only the Zhu Zhi dare to hope for."
Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that Zhu Zhi Ci inherits the content of Kuizhou Ge, and the argument that it "pioneered the way" is indeed credible.
Second, from the perspective of form, both Kuizhou Ge and Zhu Zhi Ci adopt the form of a linked sequence of poems to encompass the landscapes, customs, and local life of Kuizhou. If the poet had only focused on the traditional Tang Dynasty format of quatrains, it would clearly not have been able to include such rich content. The "linked singing" form of Zhu Zhi Ci must have been intentionally adopted as a folk "poetic style" and "tone" to meet the needs of the content.
In terms of tone, Kuizhou Ge and Zhu Zhi Ci also share commonalities. For example, most of them rhyme with the gentle and melodious tones of level rhymes, often rhyming on the first, second, and fourth lines, making the thoughts "twisting and turning." Du Fu's Kuizhou Ge often has dissonant tones, such as the first seven characters being level in the opening lines, and the line "Rangdong Rangxiyi wan jia" being "involved in dissonance" (Chou's annotations, Volume 15), with the lines "Dongtun Daodi" and "Bei you Jian Shui" not conforming to the tonal rules of quatrains. Liu Yuxi's Zhu Zhi Ci also has some dissonant lines, such as "Mountain peach blossoms are red at the top," "Flowers fade easily like your love," "Willows are good on both sides of the bridge," and "Many women gather in Zhaojun Pavilion." They are clearly influenced by the "dissonant words are numerous" "Wu style." Mr. Ren Ebei's Sheng Shi Ge Lu also cites two poems from Kuizhou Ge and Liu's Zhu Zhi that are similar: one is "Rangdong Rangxiyi wan jia," and the other is "Dongtun Daodi yi bai qing" (Lin Kongyi, Chengdu Zhu Zhi Ci, preface to Zhu Zhi Kao). Based on this, Yang Lun's argument that Kuizhou Ge "ten poems are also of the Zhu Zhi style" is also undeniable.
Of course, there are also differences in tone between the two poems. Liu Yuxi's Zhu Zhi Ci emphasizes scattered and flowing rhythms, often shifting rhymes between the third and fourth lines, and rarely uses paired rhymes; while Du Fu's Kuizhou Ge almost exclusively uses paired rhymes, many of which are "paired rhymes," and even some that are "paired opening and paired closing." This makes it less melodious and fluid than Zhu Zhi Ci. The main reason for this difference is that Zhu Zhi Ci belongs to song poetry, intended for "singers to sing," while Kuizhou Ge is for recitation, not originally intended for singing. However, these minor differences do not affect the fact that Kuizhou Ge is of the "Zhu Zhi style."
The Yangtze River, after entering the intersection of Yudong and Xixi, becomes the Yangtze Three Gorges. "In the seven hundred miles of the Three Gorges, mountains stand on both banks, with no gaps, heavy cliffs and peaks, blocking the sky and sun. Only at noon or midnight can the sun and moon be seen." Yun'an, though not strictly part of the traditional narrow sense of the Three Gorges, is within the broader Three Gorges region of Chongqing to Yichang today. Its landscapes, climate, customs, and folk culture are essentially the same as those of Fengjie, the center of ancient Kuizhou. Du Fu's descriptions of Yun'an in his poems seem to complement the shortcomings of his Kuizhou poems. A decade ago, I wrote On Du Fu's Kuizhou Poetry: Descriptions of Landscapes, Topography, and Folk Customs, and now I will further elaborate on this based on that foundation.
(1) Du Fu's descriptions of Yun'an's landscapes and urban scenery. Yun'an, as a thousand-year-old ancient county in Yudong, is strategically located, historically rich, but also desolate and underdeveloped. Du Fu's poem Fangpan describes his journey from Zhongzhou to Yun'an and his night stay there: "Lowering sails into the swift water, rolling curtains along the winding shoals. The river market is dimly lit by clouds, the mountain clouds are cold. Desolate forests have no paths, solitary birds watch strangers in surprise. Already moored at the city tower, how could the night be over?" This poem depicts a desolate night scene of ancient Yun'an. The market is dim and the clouds are cold, with no lighting. The city buildings are built on the riverbank's desolate forests, with no paths. By midnight, only birds are seen, not people. Birds are surprised to see a traveler. How can this compare to today's Yun'an County, with its bustling river market and crowded merchants? Yun'an is not just a "river market" but also a mountain city, a "stone city": "The stone city strikes the evening bell, the iron lock is about to open. Drums and horns lament the desolate frontier, stars and rivers fall into the morning sky."—Jiang Xiao Er Shao Due to its remoteness, desolation, and the wars in Shu, even the stone city still closes at night and opens only in the morning. The sound of the evening bell fades only after the city gates open, and the sound of drums and horns rises again. Its desolation makes one feel melancholic. Du Fu describes the geographical environment of Yun'an in Shui Ge Chao Ji Feng Jian Yun'an Yan Ming Fu: "The east city embraces the spring peak, the river pavilion faces the stone." When Du Fu stayed in Yun'an, he lived in the water pavilion of the county magistrate (i.e., Yan Mingfu in the poem title). Behind the pavilion were mountains, and beside it were stones. Chou's annotations explain these two lines: "The city embraces the mountain, behind the pavilion; stone is the neighbor, beside the pavilion." Even the county magistrate's residence could not escape the environment of mountains and stones. The most specific and prominent description of the living environment is in Zigui and the first of Kegu Er Shao: "In the Yun'an of the gorges, the river pavilion's tiles are aligned. Mountain trees meet on both sides, and the cuckoo cries all day. Faintly, the spring breeze is seen, bleakly, the night is sad. How can this hear the traveler's sorrow, so it lowers its voice beside others."—Zigui The guest's residence is a hall in front of the river and behind the mountain root. The embankment is ten thousand feet high, with green waves swirling. The tips of lush trees and the traces of crooked stones are intertwined. The cuckoo cries day and night, making the brave men restrain their spirits. The gorges open for four thousand miles, the waters merge from hundreds of sources. People and tigers live together, harming each other but coexisting. —Kegu The poet's water pavilion and guest hall face the river and the mountain root. The embankment is ten thousand feet high, surrounded by mountain trees. It is indeed perilous and secluded, with tigers appearing, living with people. For a northerner like Du Fu to live here for a long time would likely be very difficult.
(2) Du Fu's descriptions of Yun'an's climate and customs. Du Fu arrived in Yun'an in late autumn of the first year of the Yongtai era and moved to Fengjie in late spring of the following year. He witnessed Yun'an's rain and snow, felt the warmth of spring, and experienced the heat of summer. For example, as soon as he arrived in Yun'an, he encountered the Double Ninth Festival and wrote Yun'an Jiujie Zheng Shiba Xie Zhe Gong Yan: "Cold flowers are already gone, only chrysanthemums are full on the branches. Old picks are often different, light fragrance follows the wine temporarily. The land is, people just wear robes, mountains embrace and climb the danger. Ten thousand countries are at war, drinking songs are shed with tears." It is already late autumn, and in the north, it would long have been "autumn wind is bleak, the weather is cool, plants shake and fall, dew turns to frost." But the locals had just put on robes, showing that it was not cold. As for winter, snow was rarely seen: "Southern snow does not reach the ground, green cliffs are not yet melted. Gently facing the sun, faintly distant from people."—You Xue Snow in the south rarely reaches the ground. Even if it falls, it melts before touching the ground. Snow on the mountain cliffs disappears as soon as the sun rises. Snow is distant from people.