Works of Gongmu (Volume 2)

Author: Gong Mu / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-08-01
Features: Little stars and little officials lament the hardships of their journeys, lamenting their fate being inferior to others. Male lyrics.
■ Those little stars, three or five in the east.
Serious night journeys, day and night for the state.
The orders are different! Little stars twinkle, three by three in the east.
Hastily venturing into the dark, busy day and night for official duties.
Truly, their fate is different!
■ Those little stars, Canopus and Pleiades.
Serious night journeys, holding quilts and bedding.
The orders are different! Little stars shine brightly, Canopus beside Pleiades.
Hastily venturing into the dark, holding quilts and bedding themselves.
Truly, their fate is inferior to others!
[Explanation] The meaning of this poem is clear, without much complexity. Even the Mao Commentary notes under the line "■ The orders are different" that: "One's fate cannot be the same as that of others in rank." It still adheres to its core, knowing it as a poem about officials on missions speaking of their toil. Lu's explanation is unclear, but Han and Qi's interpretations can still be examined. Han's interpretation says: "Those who carry heavy burdens over long distances do not choose where to rest, and those who are poor and have elderly parents do not choose positions for themselves. Therefore, a gentleman in tattered robes hastens to seize the opportunity, focusing on what is urgent. The commentary says: 'Not seeking office at the right time, taking on responsibilities and being diligent in thought, serving as an envoy without participating in the planning—this is due to poverty. The poem says: 'Day and night for the state, truly, the orders are different.'" (Han's External Commentary); Qi's interpretation says: "Many small stars, three or five in the east; early and late, traveling, toil and no reward." (Yi Lin). These are indeed speculative interpretations, but the meaning must be compared, making it clear that this poem is about low-ranking officials on missions. All this shows that Western Han Confucian scholars originally had few differing opinions. However, with the emergence of Mao's preface, he presented a series of nonsense, saying: "Little stars, they benefit the lower classes. A woman without jealousy acts benevolently toward the humble, advancing to the ruler, knowing that fate has distinctions, and fully giving their hearts." Zheng's annotation further fueled the fire, saying: "The concubines walk in solemnity at night, sometimes early and sometimes late, at the ruler's side, advancing in order to be served, with different rituals and orders." He also said: "The concubines hold quilts and bedding, waiting for their turn to be served." Zhu Xi, who originally advocated for not being bound by old interpretations and discarding the preface when interpreting poetry, could not break free from the framework of the preface and annotation here either. Instead, he exaggerated his claims, saying: "The southern country's lady, following the customs of the empress and concubines, is able to be free of jealousy and benevolent to the lower classes, hence the beauty of her concubines is like this. The reason is that the concubines advance to the ruler, not daring to stay overnight, seeing the stars and setting out, seeing the stars and returning, thus using what they see to inspire the poem. The reason for this is that their assigned roles differ from the high-ranking, so they deeply regard being served by the ruler as the lady's benevolence and dare not complain about the diligence of their travel." From then on, this nonsense became the orthodox interpretation of the poem, and for over a thousand years, scholars and officials used Little Stars as justification for taking concubines. The term "little stars" became a metaphor for concubines. They prided themselves on their elegance while shamelessly disregarding their actions, revealing the low moral standards of such individuals and proving the hypocrisy of feudal morality. It is not even worth a laugh. However, despite the prevalence of such views, the dense fog of confusion still left some clear-headed poets throughout the generations. Hong Mai in Rongzhai said: "Little stars walk in solemnity at night, holding quilts and bedding, praising envoys traveling far, day and night, not daring to delay the ruler's orders." Zhang Junqing believed it was a poem about officials on journeys. Cheng Da Chang in Poetry Commentary also called it a poem about envoys' hard work, agreeing with Han and Qi's interpretations, which also aligned with the Commentary's intent, and this was correct. Yao Jiheng in General Discussion even harshly criticized the preface and annotation as illogical, saying: "Between mountains and marshes, looking up, the stars are clearly visible in the east and west, known as traveling under the stars. But in the palace's secluded courtyards, it is unlike this. 'Serious' and 'speed' are the same in meaning, describing hurried steps. If it were the appearance of a woman's walk, it would not fit. 'Night journeys' refers to rushing on the road. If it were about traveling between the palace and courtyards, it would not fit. 'The concubines stay overnight this night,' this is Zheng's heretical claim. According to the Rites, 'concubines dare not stay overnight,' which is true, but it must still be within the palace. To say they travel to and from seeing the stars, where do they come from? Where do they go? How many miles do they travel? Walking in the cold at night to see the stars, such hurried journeys are impossible. It does not make sense. According to Zheng's heretical claim, eighty-one concubines serve the ruler each night. But at night, the yin symbolizes stillness, and women, being of the yin, should be even more so. Yet they travel in the dark in groups—how could this be a scene? It does not make sense. The predecessors thought it was a poem about concubines because of the line 'holding quilts and bedding.' I doubt it precisely because of this line. Why? The ruler has quilts and bedding—does he need to wait for them? Where would the concubines place their quilts and bedding? It does not make sense." Later, he compared this poem to North Mountain, saying: "'Serious night journeys, holding quilts and bedding,' is just like 'some resting or lying down in bed, while others do not stop moving,' showing his inability to rest. He also said: 'The orders are different is slightly more profound than my role as an official.'" These views, though still within the ethical framework of feudal scholars, were thorough and insightful. Wen Yiduo, in New Interpretations of the Book of Songs, quoted Wang Zhi, believing this poem to be about "women sending their husbands out to travel at night, and when urgent, they toil." He twisted the interpretation to fit his view, explaining 'holding' as 'discarding,' and said: "Discarding quilts and bedding means women, with their husbands busy day and night for official duties, abandoning their quilts and bedding, unable to rest. This is similar to the Tang Dynasty poem 'Neglecting fragrant quilts for early morning duties.'" While the interpretation was novel, changing the male perspective to a female one had no basis. Since the husband "was not necessarily on a distant journey," the wife's lament was simply "regretting her husband's discarding of quilts and bedding, the words were gentle but the sentiment was sincere." Judging from the scene, it should be words spoken before leaving the house or before getting out of bed, how could there be a feeling of "little stars in the east"? There is also one more point: throughout history, interpreters of poetry, whether Han or Qi, Mao or Zheng, used this as a metaphor and sought profound meanings, creating unnecessary troubles. Han said: "Those little stars symbolize petty officials in the court" (Selected Works by Cao Pi, annotated by Lü Xiang in the five-member edition). The Qi interpretation cited in Yi Lin also aligns with Han. This interprets the little stars as petty officials in the court. Zheng's annotation explains Mao's commentary, pointing out: "The nameless stars follow the ruler's will in the sky." "The nameless stars also follow the ruler's movements in the sky." "Like the concubines following the lady in order to be served by the ruler." Kong's Commentary further explains: "Though these stars are small, they follow the three major stars and the five planets in order to be arranged in the sky, visible in the east, to inspire the idea that even those of low status, like the concubines, follow the lady in order to be served by the ruler, because the lady does not jealousy and is benevolent." This way of interpreting poetry suffocates the vivid imagery and realistic essence of a small poem. Only Zhu Xi interpreted the little stars as a device of comparison and said: "Inspired by what is seen, it has no meaning other than the correspondence between 'in the east' and 'for the state.'" This insight is clear. The Zhu Commentary often becomes a slave to the preface and annotation in interpreting the theme, based on their shared feudal Confucian ideology. However, in terms of language, imagery, poetic feeling, and artistic conception, Zhu Xi sometimes expressed new views, which were indeed valuable. This was Zhu Xi's superiority. Remnants of the Commentary on the Book of Songs says: "Now, if one wants to read the poem, it is better to set aside the Little Preface and old interpretations, only to read the original poem with an open mind, savoring it slowly, waiting to grasp the poet's original intent, and then proceed with further exploration, where inspiration will arise. It is like finding an untitled poem, looking at it repeatedly, and discerning its meaning. If one is rigidly bound by old interpretations, one will not see it." It also says: "When reading a poem, one should not just seek answers in the preface but should recite the poem to understand its flow and coherence." Zhu Xi's proposed method of reading poetry is undoubtedly correct. If one were to say that the Zhu Commentary also made contributions, it would be because of this. Unfortunately, he did not fully implement it in practice, which is a shortcoming.
P41-45