A Dictionary of Appreciation for Three Hundred Songs of Song Dynasty

Author: Zhou Ruchang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Chang Xiang Si (Song of Longing) by Lin Bu, Green Wu Mountain, Green Yue Mountain. The green mountains on both banks send and receive each other, Who knows the sorrow of parting? Your tears overflow, my tears overflow. The silk belt with a heart-shaped knot is yet to be tied. The tide has already calmed at the river's edge.
Lin Bu was a famous recluse in the early Northern Song Dynasty. He lived alone on Mount Gushan by the West Lake in Hangzhou for twenty years, refusing to enter the city. He grew plum blossoms and raised cranes, remaining a bachelor all his life, earning the nickname "Plum Wife and Crane Husband." His poem about plum blossoms, "Sparse shadows slant across the clear water, Faint fragrance floats in the dusk moonlight," expresses his self-satisfied solitude and is highly praised by later generations. Thus, in people's minds, this man of pure desires, who seemed almost untouched by the worldly, must be devoid of love. Yet, not so. A single Chang Xiang Si reveals his gentle heart for human love and shows another side of his inner world. The poem is written in the voice of a woman, expressing her grief over an unhappy marriage and her farewell from her lover.
The opening uses the traditional folk poetic device of invoking a scene: "Green Wu Mountain, green Yue Mountain." The repetition of the word "green" vividly paints the unique landscape of the Jiangnan region's green mountains. Wu and Yue were ancient states during the Spring and Autumn Period, located in the modern Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The northern bank of the Qiantang River belonged to Wu, while the southern bank was part of Yue. This land has always been renowned for its beautiful scenery, yet it has witnessed countless human joys and sorrows. "The green mountains on both banks send and receive each other" depicts how Wu and Yue mountains, year after year, watch the boats passing by for weddings and farewells, making human separations and reunions commonplace. "Who knows the sorrow of parting?" At the end of the line, personification is used to lament the eternal green mountains, contrasting nature's indifference with human sorrow, shifting the emotional tone from light to profound and skillfully introducing the theme of farewell.
"Your tears overflow, my tears overflow" continues from the previous line, shifting from description to emotion. This inexplicable pain of separation falls upon you and me. At the moment of parting, tears fill our eyes, and we are speechless with emotion. Why does this common human separation cause them such sorrow? "The silk belt with a heart-shaped knot is yet to be tied" subtly reveals the depth of their unspoken grief. In ancient times, lovers often tied silk belts into a heart-shaped knot called the "heart knot." "The knot is yet to be tied" symbolizes their love being thwarted. What cruel force prevents them from being together, leaving them to part with deep emotional wounds? "The tide has already calmed at the river's edge." The boat is about to set sail. "The knot is yet to be tied, the tide has already calmed," only deepens the sorrow, as the endless river of hatred flows on.
The most notable artistic feature of this poem is its repetition, which creates a deep emotional resonance with a folk song flavor. The poem employs the repetitive form common in folk songs since the Book of Songs, producing a cyclical, sing-song rhythm. Every line rhymes, with the sounds echoing back and forth, reflecting the heroine's tender heart like water, uninterrupted and deeply devoted. This effect is achieved through the author's choice of the Chang Xiang Si tune. Since the Tang Dynasty, literati have often used this tune to express love between men and women, enhancing emotion with sound. Lin Bu followed this tradition, fully utilizing the unique artistic effect of the tune while employing fresh and flowing language to sing the local charm of Wu and Yue's mountains and waters. Thus, this short poem becomes a fragrant and dew-laden flower in the garden of love songs from the Tang and Song dynasties. (Cai Yi) P4-5