Antithesis

Author: Zhu Chengping / Country:
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-09-01
Features:
1. The Characteristics of Parallelism
The reason why parallelism can adapt to the needs of different historical stages and literary styles in Chinese literature, and why it can be enjoyed by both the refined and the popular, has remained flourishing for a long time, is not only because it has a profound cultural origin but also because of its own characteristics as a literary form. These characteristics can be summarized mainly in the following three aspects:
1. Symmetry
The basic feature of parallelism is the balance and symmetry of linguistic elements. In parallel sentences, the length of characters is the same, the tonal patterns are coordinated, the parts of speech are paired (real vs. virtual), and the semantic categories are related. This equality and symmetry in linguistic elements all demonstrate a balanced state of equal force. The regular and symmetrical sentence structure can give people a sense of comfort, fluency, and aesthetic pleasure; the alternation of tones can make the language pleasant and melodious; and the pairing of real and virtual elements can accurately express people's precise understanding of the external world. The perfect condition of parallelism in both form and meaning, with its precise organization and complete structure, is all based on linguistic symmetry. In this symmetrical structure, people can predict the pattern of the following sentence by seeing the first sentence, and they can obtain the expected result left by the first sentence by seeing the second sentence. The expectant psychological activity generated during the reading of parallelism can be fully satisfied by the regular layout of sentence pairs. This satisfaction, once closely linked with the thinking habits and linguistic literacy nurtured by long-term traditional culture, can bring people a strong sense of intellectual resonance and linguistic identity, leaving a lasting and profound impression.
Parallel sentences created according to the principle of symmetry are very easy for people to accept. Under the basic rules of equal characters, tonal opposition, and different parts of speech, as long as people follow the rules to fill in words, classify and pair them according to parallel opposition and the same category, they can write a parallel sentence that conforms to the norms and construct a style of parallel sentences with unified form and complete internal structure.
From the Ming Dynasty, "nianjue" parallelism is a method of adjusting tones in classical poetry to change the tonal opposition of parallel sentences. For example, in Li Bai's "To Meng Haoran":
"Red face gives up the robe and crown, white hair lies in the mist of pines and clouds."
According to the tonal rules of classical poetry, this parallel sentence should follow the tonal pattern: ", ." However, in actual application, the fourth character of the first sentence is changed from to , forming a "nianjue" (a deviation from the expected tonal pattern); to compensate for this tonal imbalance, the third character of the same sentence is changed to, resulting in the format: ", ." In parallelism within classical poetry, there is a basic requirement for tonal opposition, but it is not absolutely inflexible. For the sake of content expression, people often make some limited changes to the fixed format of tonal opposition in parallel sentences. The basic principle of these changes is: if a level tone is used where a oblique tone should be, a level tone must be used in the same sentence or the corresponding sentence where an oblique tone is expected; and if an oblique tone is used where a level tone should be, an oblique tone must be used in the same sentence or the corresponding sentence where a level tone is expected, as a compensation for the tonal deviation.
Parallel sentences that do not follow the basic format of parallelism and adjust the tones of sentences according to certain "nianjue" rules are called "nianjue" parallelism. "Nianjue" parallelism is a tonal adjustment method based on tonal opposition, and it is closely related to tonal patterns. To understand "nianjue" parallelism, one must first understand tonal opposition in parallelism. However, "nianjue" parallelism is more complex than tonal opposition. In classical poetry, there are three basic formats of "nianjue" parallelism.
1. Self-Nianjue Self-Self-Rescue Format
Self-nianjue self-rescue format refers to the format where there are both "nian" (deviation) and "jue" (correction) characters in the same sentence. This format can appear in both tonal pattern 1 and tonal pattern 2. Therefore, it can be divided into two types and discussed separately.
(1) Self-Nianjue Self-Rescue Format 1
This format is derived from tonal pattern 1. In five-character self-nianjue self-rescue format, the fourth character of the second sentence is changed from to , creating a "nian" sentence; then the third character of the second sentence is changed from to , as a correction. The corrected format is: ", ." For example:
"Having met, we remain far apart; longing to travel, we turn to tourism." (Gao Shou's "Farewell to Wei Wu")
"Shen Yue's pavilions remain, Li Heng's ruins persist." (Liu Yu's "Wudu Shuhai Wushi Yun")
(2) Self-Nianjue Self-Rescue Format 2
This format is derived from tonal pattern 2. In five-character self-nianjue self-rescue format 2, the fourth character of the first sentence is changed from to , creating a "nian" sentence; then the third character of the first sentence is changed from to , as a correction. The corrected format is: ", ." For example:
"Longing for the little children, who do not yet understand, return to the Five and only gaze at the distant peaks."
"Sunlight lingeringly reflects the mountains, the sound of rainly crosses the river." (Bai Juyi's "Evening View at Baihua Pavilion")
(3) Self-Nianjue Self-Rescue Format 2
In seven-character self-nianjue self-rescue format 2, the sixth character of the first sentence is changed from to , creating a "nian" sentence; then the fifth character of the first sentence is changed from to , as a correction. The corrected format is: ", ." For example:
"Between the brothers, see Yi and Luo; commanding as if certain, lose Xiao and Cao." (Du Fu's "Ode to the Ruins of Ancient Sites No. 5")
"Sunlight lingeringly reflects the mountains, the sound of rainly crosses the river." (Bai Juyi's "Evening View at Baihua Pavilion")
(4) Self-Nianjue Self-Rescue Format 2
In seven-character self-nianjue self-rescue format 2, the sixth character of the first sentence is changed from to , creating a "nian" sentence; then the fifth character of the first sentence is changed from to , as a correction. The corrected format is: ", ." For example:
"Between the brothers, see Yi and Luo; commanding as if certain, lose Xiao and Cao." (Du Fu's "Ode to the Ruins of Ancient Sites No. 5")
"Sunlight lingeringly reflects the mountains, the sound of rainly crosses the river." (Bai Juyi's "Evening View at Baihua Pavilion")
(5) Self-Nianjue Self-Rescue Format 2
In seven-character self-nianjue self-rescue format 2, the sixth character of the first sentence is changed from to , creating a "nian" sentence; then the fifth character of the first sentence is changed from to , as a correction. The corrected format is: ", ." For example:
"Between the brothers, see Yi and Luo; commanding as if certain, lose Xiao and Cao." (Du Fu's "Ode to the Ruins of Ancient Sites No. 5")
"Sunlight lingeringly reflects the mountains, the sound of rainly crosses the river." (Bai Juyi's "Evening View at Baihua Pavilion")
(6) Self-Nianjue Self-Rescue Format 2
In seven-character self-nianjue self-rescue format 2, the sixth character of the first sentence is changed from to , creating a "nian" sentence; then the fifth character of the first sentence is changed from to , as a correction. The corrected format is: ", ." For example:
"Between the brothers, see Yi and Luo; commanding as if certain, lose Xiao and Cao." (Du Fu's "Ode to the Ruins of Ancient Sites No. 5")
"Sunlight lingeringly reflects the mountains, the sound of rainly crosses the river." (Bai Juyi's "Evening View at Baihua Pavilion")
(7) Self-Nianjue Self-Rescue Format 2
In seven-character self-nianjue self-rescue format 2, the sixth character of the first sentence is changed from to , creating a "nian" sentence; then the fifth character of the first sentence is changed from to , as a correction. The corrected format is: ", ." For example:
"Between the brothers, see Yi and Luo; commanding as if certain, lose Xiao and Cao." (Du Fu's "Ode to the Ruins of Ancient Sites No. 5")
"Sunlight lingeringly reflects the mountains, the sound of rainly crosses the river." (Bai Juyi's "Evening View at Baihua Pavilion")
(8) Self-Nianjue Self-Rescue Format 2
In seven-character self-nianjue self-rescue format 2, the sixth character of the first sentence is changed from to , creating a "nian" sentence; then the fifth character of the first sentence is changed from to , as a correction. The corrected format is: ",