Research on the Language of Chinese Poetry and Painting

Author: Cheng Baoyi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This book is a collection of two works by Professor Cheng Baoyi: Studies on Chinese Poetic Language (1977) and Virtue and Reality: A Study of Chinese Painting Language (1991). Studies on Chinese Poetic Language, with Tang poetry as its primary focus, explores the characteristics of Chinese ideographic writing. It bases its analysis on the cosmological principles of yin and yang, as well as the relationships between heaven, earth, and humanity, which form the foundation of poetic language. From the levels of words and phrases, meter, and imagery, it demonstrates how this symbolic system self-constructs through the exploration of written language. At the level of words and phrases, it delves into the subtle interplay between function words and content words. In the meter layer, it reveals the dialectical relationship between tones and parallelism, which embody the principles of yin and yang. At the higher and deeper symbolic level, it shows how poets use the techniques of bi (metaphor) and xing (evocation) to organize the relationships between images, achieving a fusion of subject and object while fully exploring the tripartite relationship of heaven, earth, and humanity. The translation of the Selected Tang Poems section adopts a unique combination of literal and interpretive translation, offering readers a multifaceted aesthetic experience.
In Virtue and Reality: A Study of Chinese Painting Language, the author argues that the act of painting is interconnected with the generation and nurturing of the universe, and the goal of Chinese painting is to create a microcosm. This is achieved by reconstructing the vital energy (qi) that animates the universe, allowing painters to capture the intrinsic principles (li) that constitute all things and connect them. However, these powerful brushstrokes can only be realized on a backdrop of emptiness (xu), which simultaneously represents the highest state of origin, the divine realm to which all things return, and the essential center of all movement. Therefore, it is necessary to embody emptiness in the artwork, between its elements, and within the brushstrokes themselves. To this end, the author outlines five levels around the concept of emptiness, a key element of Chinese cosmology: brushwork, yin and yang, landscapes, heaven and humanity, and the highest fifth dimension—representing the ultimate goal of painting: artistic conception (yi) and spiritual resonance (shen). These layers form an organic whole, with the vital energy of emptiness radiating outward in a spiral motion from a central point, permeating each level.
Cheng Baoyi, whose Chinese name is Ji Xian, is a Franco-Chinese bilingual writer. Born in Jinan, Shandong in 1929, he moved to Paris in 1948 and settled in France. Before 1975, he primarily wrote in Chinese, translating French poetry and publishing Chinese poetry collections such as Three Songs. After 1975, he began writing theoretical works on poetry and painting in French, including the two works collected in this book. In the 1980s, he started composing novels in French, publishing works such as The Legend of Tianyi (Ledit de Tianyi, Albin Michel, 1998, winner of the Prix Femina in the same year), Eternity Is Not Too Late (L'eternité n'est pas trop tard, Albin Michel, 2001), the essay collection Dialogue: A Passion for French (Le dialogue: Une passion pour la langue fran?aise, Desclee de Brouwer and Shanghai Literature Press, 2002), and the poetry collection The Way of Love (Le long d'un amour, Arfuyen, 2003). In 2001, he was awarded the Grand Prix de Littérature Fran?aise by the Académie Fran?aise for his entire body of work. In 2002, he was elected as a member of the Académie Fran?aise, becoming the first Asian in its history. In this regard, French President Jacques Chirac remarked, "As a philosopher, poet, translator of several great French poets, and master calligrapher, Cheng Baoyi is a sage of our time. His election brilliantly embodies the struggle for cultural diversity and dialogue, which is precisely France's struggle."