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Traditional Chinese Culture

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University of Hawai'i Press Honolulu 34 | Cao Pi, "A Discourse on Literature"

CAO PI (187-226) was the second son of the formidable military dictator Cao Cao (155-220), whose story is told in Romance of the Three Kingdoms fSanguoyanyi'), and the elder brother of the poet Cao Zhi (192-232). He ended the puppet rule of the last Eastern Han emperor and founded the Wei dynasty in 220; thus he is also known as Emperor Wen of the Wei. Like his father and brother, Cao Pi was an accomplished writer and poet. His "Discourse on Literature" (Lun wen) survives from a critical work entided A Treatise on the Classics (Dianlun), of which only some fragments are extant. One of the most notable things about this essay is Cao Pi's use of the notion of qi, breath or vital force, as a concept of literary criticism that has had an immense influence on classical Chinese literary thought. "A Discourse on Literature" is itself a beautiful literary composition. It is particularly touch- ing because we see in it a writer who was secretly anxious and insecure about the value of his work and the uncertain possibility of immortal fame. A great deal of the first part of the essay is devoted to the reasoning that one's literary talent is an inherent quality that cannot be learned or obtained by hard efforts (li qiang); in the second part of the essay, he claims that a person may achieve literary immortality by exerting himself (qiang li). The unconscious inconsistency in the argument is both human and poignant.—XFT

A Discourse on Literature

Literary men disparage one another; this has been so since antiquity. Fu Yi and Ban Gu were equal in their literary merit, and yet when Ban Gu wrote to his brother Ban Chao, he belittled Fu Yi by saying, " Wuzhong has been appointed the clerk of the Magnolia Terrace because he is skill- ful in composition, but his problem is that once he starts writing, he cannot stop himself."1 People are all eager to flaunt their special talent. However, there are many different literary genres, and few can excel at all of them. Thereupon each person takes pride in his particular strength and uses it to deprecate another's weakness. As a common saying has it, "A tattered broom is worth a thousand pieces of gold as long as it is mine." This is an evil caused by one's inability to know oneself. Kong Rong of Lu, Chen Lin of Guangling, Wang Can of Shanyang, Xu Gan of Beihai, Ruan Yu of Chenliu, Ying Yang of Runan, Liu Zhen of Dongping—these seven masters are the literary men of the contemporary age.2 There is nothing wanting in their learning, and there is nothing borrowed in their writings. Considering themselves as swift steeds that could effordessly race a thousand leagues, they have galloped abreast at the same speed. No wonder they have found it difficult to concede to one another! But a true gentieman should always scrutinize himself first and then pass judgment on others, for only in this way may he be exempt from self-deception and discuss literature. Wang Can is artful at writing poetic expositions and rhapsodies. Xu Gan sometimes falls into a rambling mode, but he is still Wang Can's match. Wang Can's rhapsodies such as "The First 232 | Cao Pi, "A Discourse on Literature"

Expedition," "Climbing a Tower," "Rhapsody on the Locust Tree," or "Thoughts of a Cam- paign" and Xu Gan's rhapsodies such as "The Black Gibbon," "The Clepsydra," "The Round Fan," or "The Tangerine" are what Zhang Heng and Cai Yong would not have been able to surpass.3 However, it cannot be claimed that Wang and Xu are as accomplished in the other genres. Chen Lin and Ruan Yu's memorials, letters, and memorandums are all of superior quality. Ying Yang's style is harmonious but not forceful. Liu Zhen's style is forceful but not thorough. Kong Rong's sentiments are lofty and subde, and there is something extraordinary about him; but he cannot sustain an argument, and his propositions are often harmed by his rhetorical urge. Occa- sionally he mixes in bantering and jesting, and the best of these satiric pieces put him on a par with Yang Xiong and Ban Gu.4 Common people prize the faraway but scorn the nearby. They look up to reputation but turn their back against reality. What is more, they are afflicted by lack of self-knowledge and so tend to regard themselves as men of great worth. As far as literary writings are concerned, their root is the same but the branches are very unlike. Therefore elegance befits memorials and memorandums; lucidity well suits letters and treatises; in epigraphs and eulogies one values plain factual - ness; in poetry and rhapsodies one desires ornate embellishment. These genres are very different from one another, which is why a good writer is usually adept at just one of them. Only a comprehensive talent can master them all. The essential element in literature is qi (vital force). One's vital force is either inherendy clear or inherendy turbid: one cannot change it by hard efforts. It is just like lute music: even though the score remains identical and the same rules of rhythms are followed, performances of a musical piece differ because the musicians' vital forces and individual abilities are unequal. Deftness and clumsiness are inborn qualities, which even a father cannot pass on to his son and an elder brother cannot hand down to his younger brother. Alas! Literary works represent a great act of accomplishment that helps lead a country, a glorious enterprise that lasts throughout eternity. Sooner or later one's life will come to an end; both worldly fame and carnal pleasures are limited to a person's physical body. These things are all ephemeral and have their boundaries; none of them is as capable of permanence as great works of literature. That is why the ancient authors devoted themselves to brushes and ink, revealing their innermost thoughts in writings. Neither depending upon the records of a good historian nor the power of eminent patrons, their names have thus been transmitted to posterity. Thus the Earl of the West5 was imprisoned and he then completed the Book of Changes: the Duke of Zhou6 became famous, and he then produced the Rites: the former did not abandon his endeavors because of disgrace and humiliation; the latter did not alter his resolve because of ease and comfort. Their examples show us how the ancients disdained a foot-long jade disk in favor of a moment, afraid that time would pass them by. However, people nowadays often do not exert themselves. When they are poor and lowly, they are fearful of hunger and cold; when they are rich and powerful, they indulge themselves in luxury and gaiety. In this way they only take care of the business of the present, neglecting the vocation that endures a thousand years. Days and months depart overhead; here below a person's face and body fade away. In an instant one is transformed together with a myriad of things. Herein lies the great sadness of all men with aspirations. Kong Rong and the others have already perished; only Xu Gan, through his philosophical treatise, established a discourse of his own.

—XFT Cao Pi, "A Discourse on Literature" | 233

Notes

1. Fu Yi (ca. 35-ca. 90), style Wuzhong, was a noted writer and scholar of the early Eastern Han. Ban Gu (32-92), a distinguished writer and historian, was the author of the History of the Former Han (Hanshu). Ban Chao (32—102) was a famous explorer. Magnolia Terrace is where the Han emperors kept books and official archives for scholars and compilers to work on. Both Fu Yi and Ban Gu had once served in the capacity of the foreman clerk of Magnolia Terrace. 2. Kong Rong (153-208), a native of Lu (modern Shandong), was probably the eldest of the "Seven Mas- ters of Jian'an," a designation for the seven eminent writers of the Jian'an period (196-220) that originated from this essay. Chen Lin (d. 217), a native of Guangling (in modern Jiangsu), is now primarily remembered for his poem "I Watered My Horse at a Spring by the Wall," but he had also left behind, among other things, a caustic proclamation against Cao Cao written when he was sdll serving the warlord Yuan Shao. Wang Can (177-217), a native of Shanyang (in modern Shandong), is acclaimed as the most distinguished of the seven in terms of his poetry and rhapsodies. Of Xu Gan's (171-217) rhapsodies, highly praised by Cao Pi, only fragments survive; but his "Treatise on the Middle Way" (Zhonglun), a philosophical work mentioned at the end of Cao Pi's essay, is still intact. Beihai is in modern Shandong. Ruan Yu (d. 212), a native of Chen- liu (in modern Henan), was noted for drafting official letters and documents for Cao Cao. Ying Yang (d. 217), a native of Runan (in modern Henan), and Liu Zhen (d. 217), a native of Dongping (in modern Shandong), both served in the entourage of Cao Cao like the rest of the seven. Except for Kong Rong and Ruan Yu, all died of the great plague of 217. 3. Zhang Heng (78-139) and Cai Yong (133—192) were both famous writers and scholars of the Eastern Han. 4. Yang Xiong (53 B.C.E.—18 C.E.) was a leading scholar, poet, and philosopher of the late Western Han. 5. The Earl of the West later became King Wen of the Zhou dynasty. 6. Son of King Wen and brother of King Wu, for whom he served as counselor, of the Zhou dynasty. These three men were most important for the establishment of the second historically attested dynasty in the East Asian Heartland. Early Medieval China •

A SOURCEBOOK

Edited by Wendy Swartz, Robert Ford Campany, Yang Lu, and Jessey J. C. Choo

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS

NEW YORK 17. Classifying the Literary Tradition

Zhi Yu's "Discourse on Literary Compositions Divided by Genre”

WENDY SWARTZ

"TX iscourse on Literary Compositions Divided by Genre” (Wenzhang liubie YJ lunhereafter, “Discourse”）by Zhi Yu（d. 311) is a rare early example of Chinese genre study. As with many texts from the early medieval period, it has not survived intact, and the received version has been pieced together from quotations found in several encyclopedias.1 In what has re- mained, we may easily discern that Zhi Yu traces the origins, delineates the developments, gives the characteristics, and identifies examples of various literary genres. Of the particular examples he provides, Zhi Yu further evaluates their merits or demerits. According to an early mention in the Jin shu by Fang Xuanling房 et al., Zhi Yu wrote "discussions" (lunfor each genre included in his Anthology of Literary Compositions Divided by Genre (Wenzhang liuhieji*;2 hereafter, Anthology),3 and the work that since the Liang dynasty has circulated independently by the title “Discourse” is most likely a collection of the various “discussions” attached to each of the genres represented in the Anthology.4 Although the number of "discussions" or genres origi- nally included in the Anthology and therefore in the "Discourse" is not known, the extant text covers twelve genres.5 Much of the scholarship on the “Discourse” has been about detective work: figuring out the distinction among the “Discourse,” Anthologyy and "Treatise on Literary Compositions Divided by Genre” (Wenzhang zhi, or Wenzhang liu- CLASSIFYING THE LITERARY TRADITION 275 bie zhihereafter, “Treatise” extrapolating their contents; and de- ducing their relationships. Although we may regard the role of the "Discourse" in the original Anthology with little doubt, its relation to the "Treatise" has been much less certain. Part of the confusion stems from their listings in two early histories. Whereas the Jin shu lists the Anthology (which presumably included the "Discourse" in some form) and the “Treatise” as separate works, the History of the Sui (Sui shu）lists the “Discourse” and the “Treatise” as one work, distinct from the Anthology.6 In addition, early citations of these works often used abbreviations, which ultimately spelled trouble because these titles shared mostly the same characters. Moreover, the content of the “Treatise” has puzzled readers, who have debated how to classify the work. Some scholars assert that it is a bibliographic catalog, and others believe it to be a collection of biographical notices.7 Based on all the available evidence, both these positions can be correct: the Sui shu lists the “Treatise” under bibliographic catalogs, and the sur- viving fragments from this text offer biographical information about writers, which often includes bibliographical items.8 Note that ostensibly bibliographic works may include writersbiographies. A contemporary example, Zhuge shiji mulu by Chen Shou（233-297), is a catalog of the Collected Works by Zhuge Liang亮(181-234), even though the list was presented with the biography of the famed Shu minister in a single document.9 Zhi Yu,s "Discourse" responded to an important development in the literary landscape of the first few centuries in China: the proliferation of literary genres and forms. One modern scholar tabulated forty-one genres that were recog- nized by Zhi Yu's time.10 Zhi Yu's "Discourse" organizes this wealth of literary output by establishing a genealogy of genres, clarifying the distinctions among them, and (re)asserting paradigms for later writers to observe. Zhi Yu's discussion treated more genres than those mentioned in the works of other Wei and Jin critics, most notably the "Discourse on Literature” (Lun wenby Cao Pi (187-226) (eight genres) and "Exposition on Literature" (Wen fu）by Lu Ji(261-303) (ten genres). All of Zhi Yu's known examples are drawn from the Classics to works dating from the end of the Han dynasty, resulting in a new kind of work: a comprehensive historical anthology organized by genre and interspersed with criticism. By the Western Jin,11 anthologies of single genres were not uncommon, but an anthology of critically selected works illustrating various genres that offered a systematic overview of literary history would have stood out. The "Discourse" played a defining role in not only genre study and anthology production but also traditional Chinese literary history and criticism more generally. This text rigorously performed what later became the dual tasks of traditional literary criticism: tracing the origin and tracking the development. It also provided specific models for various genres, along with instructive judgments on these particular works. The extant fragments reveal two salient aspects of Zhi Yu's literary thought: a highly reverential attitude toward the 276 CULTURAL CAPITAL

Classics, which are posited as the source for a number of genres, and the im- portance of the constancy of the literary form (ti體which should remain stable even if the language used changes over time. The formal and ideological requirements of a particular genre should be evident in all its various realiza- tions, regardless of era. Certain of Zhi Yu's emphases underscore a classical bent as much as they reflect contemporary interests. For example, he appears to privilege the laud (song ^1), extolling it as the most excellent example of poetry. The laud is one of the three forms or subgenres in the Shijing, though it became a major genre in the Eastern Han under imperial patronage andflourished i n thefirst severa l centuries of the Common Era. Also, Zhi Yu's regard of the four-syllable line, the dominant form in the Classic of Poetry, as the paradigmatic form of tonal stan- dards was in tune with the preference of Jin dynasty writers of court music, who found that the rhythm of this form harmonized well with the sounds of bells and stone drums to produce stately music.12 Zhi Yu's work on genre study had tremendous influence on later antholo- gists and critics. His anthology inspired sequels, for example, A Separate Ver- sion of Literary Compositions Divided hy Genre (Wenzhang liubie bie ben by Xie Hun and A Continuation of Literary Compositions Divided by Genre (Xu wenzhang liubie）by Kong Ning,3 More important, the strength of Zhi Yus judgment can be perceived in grand compilations such as Selections of Refined Literature (Wen xuanby Xiao Tong(501-531) and The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons (Wenxin diaolong)by Liu Xie(ca.-ca. in their generic classification and choice of examples. Despite its current fragmentary appearance, Zhi Yu's “Discourse” remains an invaluable testimony of a great attempt to take stock of a literary heri- tage and a major medieval work that involved anthology production, genre study, and literary history and criticism. In the following translation, each genre is marked by a separate paragraph after the opening. The text begins with general remarks on literature and an overview of the fundamental principles of poetry.

FURTHER READING

For an annotated modern edition of Zhi Yu's "Discourse,” see Guo Shaoyu ed., Zhongguo lidai wenlun xuan代(Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1979), 1:190-205. For an earlier English translation with annota- tions, see Joseph R. Allen III, "Chih Yii's Discussions of Different Types of Lit- erature: A Translation and Brief Comment, in Joseph R. Allen III and Timothy S. Phelan, Two Studies in Chinese Literary Criticism (Seattle: Institute for Com- parative and Foreign Area Studies, University of Washington, 1976), 3-36. The most comprehensive study to date of Zhi Yu and his works is Deng Guoguang CLASSIFYING THE LITERARY TRADITION 277

ZW Yujanjiu（Hong Kong: Xueheng chubanshe, Re- cent articles include Mou Shijin,“‘Wenzhang liubie zhi lun, yuanmao chu tan”《》in Zhongguo gudai wenlunjia ping zhuan 代傳(Zhengzhou shi: Zhongzhou guji chubanshe, 1988), 351- 61; and Li Zhi"Lun Wenzhang liubieji ji qi yu 'Wenzhang zhide guanxi” 《》《》Shaoguan xueyuan xuebao, shehui kexue no. 6. For a good recent monograph on genre study in the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, see Li Shibiao, Wei Jin Nanbeichao wenti xue體(Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe,

ZHI YU

Discourse on Literary Compositions Divided by Genre (Wenzhang liubie lun

Literary compositions are for the purpose of making known the phenomena that are above and below, to make clear the order of human relationships, to expound fully on the principles and nature of things,14 and to investigate-what is appropriate to the myriad things. Kingly beneficence flowed and the Odes flourished; accomplishments spread and hymns arose; virtuous service was established and inscriptions were made; the good pass away and dirges accu- mulate.15 The supplicant and the scribe [zhu shi set forth the statements [that issued from the court];16 officials admonished the king's faults. In the Rites of Zhou [Zhou li ,the Grand Preceptor of Music [Taishi was in charge of teaching the Six Modes of Poetry [liushi六 :Airs [feng exposition [fu comparison [bi stimulus [xing Elegantiae [ya and Lauds [song When affairs of a state are tied to the basis of a single individual, it is called an air. When speaking of the affairs of the empire and manifesting the customs of the four quarters, it is called an elegantia. Lauds praise the appearance of great virtue. Exposition is the term for displaying and setting forth something. Com- parison is when words analogize things of the same kind. Stimulus is the language of being stirred. In later ages, many people wrote poems. Those works that speak of accomplishments and virtue are called lauds. The rest are collec- tively called poems. Lauds are the most excellent examples of poetry. In antiquity when sagely emperors and enlightened kings accomplished deeds and established order, then the sounds of lauds arose. Thereupon, scribes recorded these pieces and musicians set to song these compositions in order to present them in the ancestral temples and announce them to the ghosts and spirits. Thus what the lauds praise is the virtue of sagely kings. And then pitch pipes were constructed. 278 CULTURAL CAPITAL

[With their aid,] some later pieces adopted the form [xing j of lauds, while others, their music [sheng Although they show a high degree of meticulous- ness, they do not possess the meaning of ancient lauds. In the past, Ban Gu wrote “Laud for Marquis Dai of Anfeng”*18 and Shi Cen岑 wrote "Laud for Leading Out the Army”91 and “Laud for Empress Deng the Harmonious Light”these pieces are similar in form and meaning to the "Lauds of Lu"魯領,2Q yet the difference in language shows change from past to present. “Laud for Zhao Chongguo”21 by Yang Xiong is called a laud, but it resembles an elegantia. The language of “Laud for Xianzong”*22 by Fu Yi resembles that in the "Lauds of Zhou" but mixes together the intent of the airs and elegantiae. The lauds “Guangcheng23 and “Shanglin”* by Ma Rong are purely in the form of today's poetic expositions [fu but to call them lauds would be far-fetched. Exposition, the designation for display, is a type of ancient poetry. The poets of antiquity wrote from feeling but stopped within the bounds of ritual propri- ety.24 Feelings were expressed in the form of words; the meaning of rites and of rightness was clarified by the matter described. Thus there is the genre of exposition, which is a means by which [a writer] avails himself of images and ex- hausts his vocabulary to set forth his intent. In past ages, those who wrote poetic expositions were, for example, Sun Qing25 and Qu Yuan,26 who still rather demonstrated the meaning of ancient Odes. When it came to Song Yu,27 then we find mostly theflaw o f excessiveness. The expositions contained in the Lyrics of Chu [Chuci are the most excellent example of its kind. Thus Master Yang [Xiong] considered that there is no poetic exposition more profound than “Li Sao."28 The works of Jia Yi賈29 are a match for those by Qu Yuan. In the exposition of ancient Odes, feelings and rightness were primary, whereas matter and things were secondary. In today's poetic expositions, matter and phenomena are fundamental, whereas rightness and correctness are supplementary. When feelings and rightness are primary, then the words are concise and the writing shows regulation. When events and phenomena are fundamental, then the words are rich and the language has no consistency. From this undoubtedly stem the superfluity and conciseness of writing as well as the difficulty and ease of language. When created images are exaggerated, they are removed from their actual kind. When lofty language is excessively strong, it opposes actual things. When the words of disputation are overly logi- cal, they miss the actual meaning. When the ornate exceeds the beautiful, it is contrary to actual feelings. These four faults go against great principles and harm ethical teachings. It is because of this that Sima Qian left out the frivolous discourse by Sima Xiangru,30 and Yang Xiong disliked that “the poetic expositions of the rhapsodists [ciren are beautiful but unrestrained.”31 CLASSIFYING THE LITERARY TRADITION 279

The Classic of Documents [Shangshu 尚書]states, “An ode speaks what is in- tently on the mind; a song makes words last. To speak of one's intent is called poetry. In antiquity, there were officials in charge of collecting odes, so that the king might know his merits and failings.32 Ancient Odes were written in lines of threefour,five, six , seven, and nine syllables. Ancient poems in general take the four-syllable line as the paradigmatic form. Yet at times, there was a line or two of mixed length found among four-syllable lines. Later generations developed those lines of mixed length, from which they formed pieces of their own. Of three-syllable lines in ancient poetry, there is, for example, “In aflock ar e the egrets, the egrets goflying." 33Ha n dynasty suburban altar hymns often use this form. Offive-syllable lines , there is, for example, "Who says the sparrow has no beak? How else would it pierce my roof?”34 Comic pieces and songs of entertain- ment often use this form. Of six-syllable lines, there is, for example, "Mean- while, I pour from the bronzeflask.” 35Yuefu pieces also use this form. Of seven- syllable lines, there is, for example, "Flying to and fro are the yellow birds; they come to perch on the mulberry trees.”36 Comic pieces and songs of entertain- ment often use this form. Of nine-syllable lines in ancient poetry, there is, for example, “Far away at the running pool we draw water; we scoop it there and pour it here.”37 Lines of this length were not adopted in songs, and they thus are rarely used. Although the basis of poetry is feeling and intent [qingzhi 情志],its rhythm relies on set sounds. In any case, the four-syllable line is paradigmatic for the melody of elegant tones. The other poetic forms, though of varying ca- dence [that can readily be sung], are not tonally correct. The “Seven Stimuli"發 written by Mei Sheng,38 uses the roles of [the visitor from] Wu and [the heir apparent of] Chu as the guest and the host, re- spectively. It first speaks of [the heir apparent、] “going by carriage and coming by palanquin and the resultant affliction of atrophy.” And it speaks of "inner palaces and secluded chambers and the consequent ailment of chills and fe- vers," how "indulgence of sexual pleasures is the poison of peaceful living,” and how “richflavors an d warm clothes are harmful in their excessiveness.” And so “it is proper [for the heir apparent] to listen to the gentleman of his age speak of essential words and wondrous ways, which will enable him to channel his spirit and guide him to purge himself of his chronic ailment.”39 After setting forth these words in order to delineate clearly the path one should take, the work then argues for the pleasures of sex, music, leisure, and travel. These arguments failed to persuade. Thereupon, the work presented the joys in the explanations and discourses of sages and disputers, and suddenly his ailment was cured. This is corrective advice for the common ailment of the rich. Although the work contains highly exaggerated language, it does not do away with the purpose of criticism and advice. The development of this genre has been extensive, and so its guiding principles have changed; works of this genre generally have the error of excessive ornateness as shown by the rhapsodists. Cui Yin 280 CULTURAL CAPITAL after writing "Seven Reliances” borrowed the words of Mister Nonexis- tent:41 “Alas! Yang Xiong once said, 'Young children practice "carving insects” and "engraving seal characters/" and then suddenly said, 'No grown man would do this/”42 Confucius disliked how petty words ruin the Way.43 With this type of writing,44 could not one say that meaning is lacking but eloquence is abundant? "Poetic exposition is supposed to criticize," but "I fear that these pieces instead encourage.”45 Based on the "Forester's Admonition” Yang Xiong wrote his "Admo- nitions for the Twelve Regions” and "Twelve Official Admonitions” Since the admonitions for nine of the offices had missing parts, the Cui's [Yin and his son Yuan in the following generations filled the gaps. Hu Guang then arranged the order of the topic headings and wrote commen- taries for them. This compilation is entitled "Admonitions for Various Offices” Ancient inscriptions [ming were extremely concise, whereas today's inscriptions are verbose. Indeed, there is a reason for this. We have already discussed that the plainness and embellishment of writing have changed through time.49 The inscriptions of high antiquity were inscribed in the steles of ancestral temples. Cai Yong made an inscription for the Venerable Yang,50 the language of which is exemplary and correct. This is the most excellent work from the waning years of the Han dynasty. Thefinest example s of inscriptions on instruments in later generations are “Cauldron Inscription" by Wang Mang “Stool Inscription” by Cui Yuan “Cauldron Inscrip- tion” by Zhu Gongshu and “Inkstone Inscription” by Wang Can All these pieces commemorate deed and virtue. This is the purpose of imperial inscriptions on the official standard [jialiang and those of various lords and officials on the king's banner [taichang bells, and drums. Although what they say differs, the excellent virtue that is com- memorated is the same. Li You wrote inscriptions for mountains, rivers, capitals, towns, as well as for knives, brushes, tallies,56 and carving blades. There is nothing for which he does not write an inscription; and so his writings have the flaw of prolixity. His works offer ideas and show embellishment,57 and so his words are worth recording. * Examples of poetry, laud, admonition, and inscription all include works written in the ancient past, which may serve as models for later composition. Only the dirge [lei has no established form; thus there is much variation among its writers. Of those that appear in canonical texts, the dirge written by Duke Ai for Confucius in the Zuo Commentary傳 is notable.58 The lament [ai is a type of dirge. Cui Yuan, Su Shun順 Ma Rong, and the like wrote laments. They are usually written for children who died young and others who died prematurely, unable to reach old age. During the Jian'an period [196-220], Emperor Wen[Cao Pir. 220-226] and the Marquis of Linzi[Cao Zhi 192-232] each lost a young child, and CLASSIFYING THE LITERARY TRADITION 281 they commanded Xu Gan,60 Liu Zhen61 and others to write laments for them. The form of the lament, in which grief and pain are primary, can be traced to the language of sighs. What is today called eulogy (aice）shows the purpose of ancient dirges. [Yang Xiong's] “Defense Against Ridicule”62 shows great ease and superior magnanimity. [Ban Gu,s] "Response to a Guest"63 shows profound exemplarity and gentle elegance. Cui Yin's "Expressing Intent"64 shows vigorousness and emotiveness. Zhang Heng's “Response to a Reproach” 65 shows delicacy and diligence. In both form and substance, there is none among the four that is not outstanding.66 In antiquity, there were steles [bei at the ancestral temples. Later ages erected steles at the tombs to display them to the thoroughfare. What we have recorded are the texts of the inscriptions. Although prognostication texts [tuchen are not the standard of correct writing, we can nonetheless accept that there is significance in the "vertical and horizontal” and that a piece is made by its “back and forth 67 [Yan Kejuned., Quan Jin wenin QW 77.19053-63]

NOTES

1. I have used the standard edition found in Yan Kejuned., Quan Jin wen in QW 77.19〇5a-6a. For a different reconstruction with added quotations, see Deng GuoguangZhi Yu janjiu（Hong Kong: Xueheng chubanshe, 1990), 182-92. 2. An asterisk denotes that the work is no longer extant. 3. For the biography of Zhi Yu see JS 51.1427. 4. The “Sui shu jingji zhi” 35.1081 cites the bibliographic catalog Qi lu by Ruan Xiaoxu (479-536) in the entry on Zhi Yu's Anthology, which distinguishes among the Anthology, "Discourse," and "Treatise”* (to be discussed). 5. The "Song zan” chapter of Wenxin diaolong by Liu Xie（ca. 465- ca. 522) makes a reference to Liubie, indicating that the "account" (shuwhich Liu Xie refers to as "historian's judgments" (zanwas among the original genres treated by Zhi Yu. 6. JS 51.1427; History of the Sui (Sui shu）35.1082. 7- For a concise survey of advocates of each view, see Deng Guoguang, Zhi Yu yanjiu, 163-64. 8. Sui shu 33.991. Deng Guoguang collected nineteen quotations from the "Treatise" in Zhi Yujanjiu, 160-62. 9. SGZ 53.929-31. 10. Deng Guoguang, Zhi Yujanjiu, 239-42. 11. “Qi lin" by Fu Xuan and "Han ming chen zou shi" by Chen Shou are examples. 18. Zhong Rong's Preface to Grades of the Poets

STEPHEN OWEN

rades of the Poets (Shipin）by Zhong Rong(ca. is one of Gthe classics of early medieval literary criticism and the earliest critical work devoted exclusively to classical Chinese poetry_that is, poetry after the Classic of Poetry (Shijing）and Lyrics of Chu (Chuci).Although the work is not dated, Zhong Rong claims not to have included anyone still living, which places it securely in the last years of his life. It thus postdates the other extant monument of literary criticism of the age, Literary Pattern in the Mind or Carved Dragons (Wenxin diaolong)by Liu Xieprobably from around the very turn of the sixth century, a book that Zhong Rong does not mention and may well not have known. Although the number differs according to how one counts, the book offers brief critical comments on 123 poets writing in thefive-syllable lin e (including one set of early anonymous poems). These are divided into three grades, with only eleven poets and the corpus of anonymous poetry occupying the highest grade. The fuller entries usually begin with afiliation wit h some earlier writer or corpus of texts, followed by a characterization of the poet's work. The book also has three prefaces, here translated in their entirety, with the exception of the concluding list of poems that Zhong Rong particularly admired. Although early editions assign the three prefaces to the three grades, the placement of the prefaces in the original form of the book is highly uncertain. 288 CULTURAL CAPITAL

There are other uncertainties as well. Grades of the Poets was probably not the work's original name. In most Tang sources and many later sources, it is known as Criticism of Poetry (Shipingforegrounding the judgments themselves rather than the classification system. This is the proper name given to it in the “Bibliography” (Jingji zhi of the History of Sui (Sui shu with a note that the book was also known as Shipin. Another question is the degree to which the judgments in the work are Zhong Rong's own. In the first preface, he tells us: "Recently Liu Hui of Pengcheng, a gentleman of exceptional taste, was distressed at such utter confusion and, wanting to make gradations of poets in current times, he orally set forth critical judgments, but a written version was never completed. I, Rong, was stirred and have written of it.” There are enough personal comments in Grades of the Poets (including this tribute to Liu Hui) to make Zhong Rong at least "an" author of the text, but the Chinese is, as often, ambiguous as to how much the book represents a written version of the judgments of Liu Hui, who had died in 502, and how much these are Zhong Rong's own judgments. The passage sets up some essential issues of the age: a vigorous contemporary debate on poetry that, upon seeing such debate as "utter confusion,” leads to a desire for authoritative judgment that will transform contention into consensus. Most of all, we should note that this was a world of primarily oral discourse on literature; the few written critical texts that we have are only small remnants of that much larger discursive world. Scholars often speak of "schools" or "factions" when describing the literary debates of the period and sometimes map intellectual positions onto social groups. The reality seems to have been far more complex, with good friends or members of the same social set sometimes divided by strong opinions. Zhong Rong certainly had strong opinions, his strongest animadversion being against the desire to legislate the rules of poetic euphony that had developed in the preceding decades. The preeminent theorist of rules of euphony and the grand man of letters for decades had been Shen Yue(441-513), who, according to Zhong Rong's biography in the mid-seventh-century History of the South (Nan shihad rebuffed Zhong Rong,s early attempts to seek recognition. Like all literaryfigures fo r the preceding eighty years, Shen Yue was placed no higher than the middle grade, but Zhong Rong's criticism of him was remarkably generous. By contrast, the most admired recent poet of Zhong Rong's day, Xie Tiao（464-499), was also ranked in the middle grade. Despite some grudging praise, it is clear that Zhong Rong viewed Xie Tiaos poetry with some contempt. In his youth, as a student in the academy, Zhong Rong had been a protege of Wang Jian the General of the Guards, and Xie Tiao had also been in Wang's service. Zhong Rong ends his entry on Xie Tiao as follows: "Xie Tiao frequently discussed poetry with me; his excitement and the twists and turns of his discourse surpassed his writing.” We see two young men in the same social circle often talking about poetry~perhaps disagreeing, perhaps not. They must have been friends, or they would not have continued their ZHONG RONG'S PREFACE TO GRADES OF THE POETS 289 discussions. But that did not prevent Zhong Rong from turning his fond mem- ory of those discussions into a contemptuous summation of his judgment of Xie Tiao the writer. We see differing individual convictions that could lead to disagreement, but no "faction." Description of the opinions of those with whom one disagrees are generally untrustworthy, and particularly so in medieval China. We thus should take Zhong Rong's account of contemporary values in poetry in his prefaces with a grain of salt. On a more profound level, however, those who disagree always share terms, and those terms are informed by common values. If there were a controversy of the “ancients” versus the "moderns,” Zhong Rong would position himself as the champion of the "ancients," though he rejects the four-syllable line as simply too “ancient.” However contemptuously Zhong Rong may have treated Xie Tiao, Xie Tiao was still placed in the middle grade. Cao Cao (155-220), richly praised in the preface, appears in the lowest grade, with a characterization that should have thrilled any champion of the ancients: “Lord Cao,s ancient directness has wonderfully chill and mournful lines.” Yet Zhong Rong's third grade was the home for many remarkably undistinguished poets. Although convictions played an important role in Zhong Rong's judgments, those convictions had not ossified into an ideology that determined judgment. If reading, composing, and discussing poetry came to play a larger role in premodern China than in most cultures, it was thanks to this period, which was the culmination of a craze for poetry that had been growing throughout the fifth century. In addition to new works, older poems were gathered, imitated, and discussed. In thefifth centur y we see the beginnings of a historical understanding of classical poetry, and by Zhong Rong's time, chronological sequence was the most fundamental taxonomical principle. An anthology or critical treatise might be divided first by genre or, as Zhong Rong did, by “grades, but within such divisions, works were always organized by chronology. Zhong Rong'sfirst prefac e begins with a statement of theory, defining the place of poetry in the natural order. This is not "theory" in any modern sense of the term but a series of commonplaces elaborated from earlier texts and largely shared with the discourse on music. In the context of Zhong Rong's times, these claims were not open to negation; they were what every educated person in his community knew to be true. If Zhong Rong had claimed that a poem was the creation of individual genius, working in complete independence of the poet's experience in the social and political world, such a claim would have been unacceptable to the point of being incomprehensible. From nature, Zhong Rong moves to history, beginning in high antiquity. Although Zhong Rong later began the history of poetry in thefive-syllable lin e after antiquity, here he follows a standard discursive trope of discourse on literature, which was meant to give a genre authority by tracing it back to high antiquity. The earliest critical statement on poetry in thefive-syllable lin e was found in the theoretical treatise attached to the Anthology of Literary Compositions 312 CULTURAL CAPITAL

Divided by Genre (Wenzhang liuhieji）by Zhi Yu(d. 311). There Zhi Yu lists all the possible verse line lengths, giving examples of where such line lengths can be found in the Classic of Poetry. Since the Classic of Poetry has many irregular lines, this is nothing more than an affirmation that there is nothing new in verse. Zhong Rong does something very similar, finding five- syllable lines in various verses from antiquity, albeit allowing that the "form of poetry had not fully developed." After this follows a version of the standard history of poetry as it was under- stood in Zhong Rong's day, concluding with Xie Lingyun, the last poet in the highest grade. Notes on filiation, a judgment that a given poet's work grew out of the work of an earlier poet, affirmed the continuity of poetic history against the “moderns,” the advocates of rules of euphony, who stressed the radical novelty of their discoveries. It was also a peculiarly Southern Dynasties gesture, creating literary lineages as the counterpart of contemporary family lineages that con- ferred social value on an individual. Different critics passed different judgments on particular writers and eras, but as with political historians, the primary focus of attention was on identify- ing phases offlourishing an d decline. The critic's taste determined what was “flourishing” and what was “decline.” For Liu Xie, the poets of the Western Jin were going downhill into frivolous rhetoric; for Zhong Rong, the Western Jin poets represented a splendid revival of poetry following a decline in the second quarter of the third century. Tracing the roller coaster of history in this section, Zhong Rong names all the poets in the highest grade but one, Ruan Ji (210-263). Ruan unfortunately made his appearance in an age that Zhong Rong had designated as “decline.” Here, as often in Grades of the Poets’ the general account of poetry in the prefaces can be at odds with the judgments of individual poets. Zhong Rong follows this with something genuinely new, a defense of poetry in the five-syllable line, as opposed to poetry in the four-syllable line, which followed the model of the Classic of Poetry and possessed immense authority. Within the history of poetry in thefive-syllable line , Zhong Rong's values are distinctly on the side of the "ancients," who were not, in fact, very ancient. To defend the form itself, however, Zhong Rong adopts the arguments of the pro- ponents of the moderns. In a nutshell, recent poetry in the four-syllable line is prolix and vapid, while poetry in thefive-syllable lin e has "the most savor” and is the most popular. Later in the third preface, when attacking rules of euphony, he uses “popularity” as a criterion for scorn. After a return to conventional poetics, Zhong Rong turns to the current situation as he sees it, something like a contemporary “craze” for poetry. This is not a happy phenomenon in Zhong Rong's view, because we see young men showing off “commonplace sounds and impure norms of genre.” From this generally lamentable state of poetic affairs, we progress to something still worse, which is contempt for earlier poetry in thefive-syllable lin e because of incompetent ZHONG RONG'S PREFACE TO GRADES OF THE POETS 291 admiration for Bao Zhao and Xie Tiao, the most respected poets from the preceding seventy years. Zhong Rong proceeds to what he sees as a chaos of judgment, a chaos needing correction, which was first addressed by Liu Hui and then completed by Zhong Rong himself. The brief passage on judgment is one of the most remarkable in the preface. Zhong Rong first invokes earlier systems of grading and categorization but immediately points out the mistakes. By contrast, he believes that his own systematic organization of poetry will make levels of skill as self-evident as skill in chess. We have come a long way from the conventional theory of the opening, in which poetry is the natural consequence of nature's capacity to stir human beings; now it is a “skill” (ji）like other skills, such as chess. The first preface concludes with the requisite praise of the current ruler, the Liang Emperor Wu. The second preface takes up the issue of making references or allusions (yong shi）in poetry. While Zhong Rong acknowledges that this practice is inevitable for public genres that seek precedents for arguments, it violates the immediacy of poetry. Zhong Rong considers this the bane of recent poetry, even though historical reference and allusion can be found in virtually every poet he includes. Zhong Rong next turns to previous critical works on literature, in each case offering a term of praise and a term of blame, noting that none "offered graded evaluations." The distinction of his treatise is both graded evaluations and re- striction to poetry in the five-syllable line. The brief third preface is the most polemical, a direct attack on those who advocate rules of euphony for poetry. The loss of music, an old theme in criticism of the Classic of Poetry, returns here. Once poetry was sung and was natu- rally euphonic. The current desire to legislate euphony follows from the fact that poetry is no longer sung. The very popularity that justified poetry in five-syllable line becomes the term of contempt for rules of euphony that are “already fully present in the villages." Liu Xie composed his far larger treatise in isolation from the literary debates of the Jiankang elite, though he knew of them. Sometimes he attempts to rec- oncile a disagreement, and sometimes he simply presents opposing sides of an issue at different points in a chapter. While not of the highest elite, Zhong Rong was more part of the elite community of discourse that Liu Xie describes from the wings. He was an aging polemicist, his ire directed against the hot issues of his somewhat younger years. Those to whom he showed contempt were as dead as those he praised without reservation. In the second decade of the sixth century, the issues in poetry were changing while Zhong Rong was still fighting the battles of his younger years. Nevertheless, this is one of our few precious written survivals of a lively world of discourse on literature. 292 CULTURAL CAPITAL t

FURTHER READING

Another annotated translation of the preface and entries on individual poets can be found in John Timothy Wixted, “The Literary Criticism of Yuan Hao- wen (1190-1257)” (Ph.D. diss., University of Oxford, 1976), app. A. Wixted's “The Nature of Evaluation in the Shih-p'in (Grading of Poets) by Chung Hung (469-518)" is included in Theories of the Arts in China, ed. Susan Bush and Christian Murck (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1983). The two best annotated editions are Cao XuShipin jizhu(Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, and Wang Shumin Zhong Rong Shipin jianzhenggao稿(Taibei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan wenshizhe yan- jiusuo Zhongguo wenzhe zhuankan, 1992). See also Zhang Bowei Zhong Rong Shipin yanjiu（Nanjing: Nanjing daxue chubanshe, 1999)-

ZHONG RONG

Grades of the Poets (Shipin）

FIRST PREFACE

As the ethers stir the things of the world into motion and as those things move human beings, so are our sentiments swayed and swept along, and these take form in dance and song.1 In this way, they illuminate the Three Substances [Heaven, Earth, and Humankind] and cast a glow on the infinite variety of ex- isting things. The spirits depend on dance and song to have sacrifices brought; the hidden beings rely on them to be informed.2 To stir Heaven and Earth and to move the spirits and gods, nothing is more appropriate than poetry.3 Long ago, the lyrics of the "South Wind” and the hymn of "Auspicious Clouds” were of far-reaching significance.4 The “Song of Xia” went: "My heart swells within.”5 The Chu song went: “He gave me the name Proper Norm."6 Although this genre of poetry had not fully developed, still these are the wellsprings of the five-character line. When we reach Li Ling in the Han, the category of the five- character line becomes fully manifest for the first time.7 The “old poems” are so far from us they are unclear, and the times of their authors cannot be ascer- tained fully.8 Yet when we examine the genre, they are obviously the work of thefiery Ha n and not the songs of the waning Zhou.9 Poetic expositions by the likes of Wang, Yang, Mei, and Sima competed in splendor; yet their chants and songs are not now heard.10 From Defender Li Ling down to the Fair Consort Ban, for an interval of almost a hundred years, since there was a woman here there was only one person.11 The influence of the poets of the Classic of Poetry ZHONG RONG'S PREFACE TO GRADES OF THE POETS 293 was utterly lost.12 During the two centuries in which the capital was in the east we have only Ban Gu's “On History," which is plain, wooden, and lacking adornment.13 When we come down to the Jian'an reign [196-220], the lords Cao, father and sons, showed a devoted fondness for literary culture.14 Pingyuan [Cao Zhi] and his brother were glorious as the main beams of letters.15 Liu Zhen and Wang Can formed their wings.16 In addition there were those who "clung to the dragon and rode the phoenix," while those made it to the level of attendant carriages can be reckoned as almost a hundred.17 The height of pattern and substance in balance was fully achieved in those times. Thereafter things went downhill and grew feeble all the way to the Jin.18 In the Taikang reign [280-289], three Zhangs, two Lus, a pair of Pans, and a Zuo burst forth in a revival and followed in the footprints of the former [Cao] princes; panache had not yet dissipated, and this too was a restoration of literature.19 During the Yongjia reign [307-313], they prized the Yellow Emperor and Laozi and tended to esteem discussions of emptiness.20 In the works of those times, conceptual principles outstripped eloquence, and they are bland and wanting in savor.21 By the time we moved South of the River, their diminishing influence still was passed on.22 The poems by Sun Chuo, Xu Xun, Huan, and Yu all wereflat an d normative, like the "Discourse on the Way and Virtue"; the affective force of the Jian'an was gone.23 Earlier, Guo Jingchun had employed his superlative talents to transmute that form of writing; Liu Yueshi depended on his clear and ada- mantine temperament to complement and perfect its loveliness.24 Neverthe- less, others were many while they were few, and they could not budge this fashion. When it came to the Yixi reign [405-418], Xie Yishou continued them gloriously.25 Early in the Yuanjia reign [424-453], there was Xie Lingyun; his talent was lofty and his eloquence fulsome, possessed of a rich allure in whose footsteps it is hard to follow; indeed, he encompassed and surpassed Liu [Kun] and Guo [Pu]; he overwhelmed Pan [Yue] and Zuo [Si].26 Thus we know that [Prince] Si of Chen [Cao Zhi] was the eminence of the Jian'an, with Gonggan [Liu Zhen] and Zhongxuan [Wang Can] as his seconds; Lu Ji was the flower of the Taikang, with Anren [Pan Yue] and Jingyang [Zhang Xie] as his seconds; Xie Ke [Xie Lingyun] was the dominantfigure o f the Yuanjia, with Yan Yan- nian [Yan Yanzhi] as his second.27 These are all the crowned heads of the five- syllable line, the glory of their ages in letters. In the four-syllable line when the text is terse but the meaning broad, one has taken the Airs and Sao to emulate, and then one can achieve much.28 But the four-syllable line generally suffers from the text being prolix and the meaning too little; thus few in this age practice it. The five-syllable line occupies the essential position in writing_among all the kinds of composition, this is the one with the most savor; thus it accords with the popular taste. Can there be any reason other than the fact that it is the most detailed and exact in referring to events, fashioning shapes, giving full expression of sentiment, and delineat- ing things? Poetry has Six Principles: one is known as "affective image” the 294 CULTURAL CAPITAL t second is known as "comparison"; a third is known as "exposition."29 When the text isfinished bu t there is further meaning, this is affective image.30 To figure one's aims through things is comparison.31 To directly write some matter and delineate things in words is exposition.32 To extend these three Principles and use them with deliberation, giving them a frame of affective force and enrich- ing them with rhetorical colors, making those who savor them have inexhaust- ible experience and those who hear them have their hearts moved—this is the perfection of poetry. If one uses comparison and affective image exclusively, the problem lies in [excessive] depth of intended meaning; when intended meaning is too deep, then the language stumbles.33 If one uses only the form of exposition, the problem lies in meaning being ungrounded; when meaning is ungrounded, the text comes apart; completed as amusement and carried this way and that, the text has nothing to moor it andfinds itsel f in the predicament of uncontrolled diffuseness.34 When it comes to spring breeze and spring birds, autumn moon and autumn cicadas, summer clouds and sultry rains, and the intense cold of winters months—these are aspects of the four seasons that bring stirring in poetry.35 Atfine gatherings , one entrusts one's feelings to poetry in order to express affections; separated from others, one depends on poetry to express resentment. When it came to the subject of Chu leaving the realm36 or the handmaiden of Han departing the palace,37 sometimes the bones lay strewn in the northland,s wilds; sometimes the soul went along with the flying dandelion puff;38 sometimes one carried a pike for garrison duty abroad, and the atmosphere of killing dominated the frontier; the clothes of the traveler on the frontier were thin, while in her chamber the widow's tears were spent. And then a man may take off his pendants and leave the court, oblivious of return once he has gone; a woman may arch her brows andfind favor , her second glance overturning a kingdom.39 All these various situations can carry the human heart away~how can one give account of their significance except by pre- senting it in a poem, and how can one let one's feelings run free except by sing- ing it out? Thus is it said: “By poems one may show conviviality and one may express resentment.”40 If one would have the poor and humble be at peace and those living in seclusion feel no woe, nothing is more esteemed than poetry. For this reason, no writer or person of eloquence fails to adore it. Its influence is all the rage in the fashion of gentlemen these days. No sooner is a boy out of baby clothes and just entering primary school than he inevitably goes in headlong pursuit of it. At this point each person is showing off his commonplace sounds and impure norms of genre. We have reached the point that these lads who feed on the fat of the land are ashamed if their writing is not up to the mark; the whole morning is spent adding ornaments, and they are sonorously reciting their compositions at night's midpoint. Each in own estimation will claim striking lines, while in the judgment of others they ultimately fall flat. Then there are those lightweight fellows who make fun of Cao Zhi and Liu Zhen for old-fashioned clumsiness. They think that Bao* Zhao is the foremost ZHONG RONG'S PREFACE TO GRADES OF THE POETS 295 figure of Fu Xis time [high antiquity] and that Xie Tiao is in a class by himself in past and present.41 Yet in taking Bao Zhao as their master, they never match "In the sunlight market and court are full” in emulating Xie Tiao, they hardly get "Yellow birds cross past green boughs.”42 They give up a higher point of view to no effect, and they will never enter the literary tradition. I, Rong, have watched nobles and gentlemen with tablets of office in their sashes. At leisure after broad-ranging discussions, they never fail to take up poetry as a topic of discussion.43 Following their own personal likes, they are not uniform in their judgments. The waters of the Zi and Min flow together, red and purple confound each other, loud arguments rise in contention, and there is no standard to rely on.44 Recently Liu Shizhang [Hui] of Pengcheng, a gentleman of exceptional taste, was distressed at such utter confusion, and wanting to make gradations of poets in current times, he orally set forth critical judgments, but a written version was never completed.45 I, Rong, was stirred and have written of it. Of old, men were considered in nine grades, and gentlemen were classified in seven categories; if we compare actuality and its guest [reputation], truly they often missed the mark.46 When it comes to a skill such as poetry, things can be known self-evidently; and investigating each by its kind, it is virtually equal to [judging skill in] chess.47 Our current emperor has been endowed with the su- preme talent of innate knowledge, embodying profound and stored-up thought.48 His own writing cleaves to sun and moon, and his learning investigates Heaven and Man.49 Long ago in his noble excursions, he was already known as foremost.50 Even more so now that the eight [stays] directions have been encompassed, the winds meander and clouds puff up.51 Those who harbor jade stand shoulder to shoulder, and those who hold pearls follow in one another's footsteps.52 Indeed, they look down on the Han and Wei without looking back; they have swallowed up the Jin and Song in their breasts. It is truly not a situation in which farmer songs or drover disputes can dare provide distinction of cur- rents.53 I hope that what I, Rong, now record will circulate among the villages and be equal to mere topics of casual pleasantries.

SECOND PREFACE

Within each category, I have made a rough chronological arrangement and have not organized the sequence by relative quality. Moreover, since these men are gone, their writings may be securely judged; in what I have now put into words, I have not put down those still alive. Making parallel references in composition is now a matter of general discussion.54 When it comes to things like official documents in managing the state, they should be endowed with broad knowledge of precedent; critiques and memorials giving account of virtue ought to give all the outstanding cases of those now dead. But when it comes to chanting one's feelings and nature, what value 296 CULTURAL CAPITAL t is there in making references?55 “I long for you like theflowing water ” is just what was before the eyes.56 “On the high terrace much mournful wind” is also only what was seen.57 “In the clear morning I climbed Longshou" has nothing to do with anything that happened in the past.58 “Bright moonlight shines on drifts of snow”did that come from the Classics or histories?59 If you observe the finest phrases of past and present, most are not patched or borrowed; all follow from direct encounters. Yan Yanzhi and Xie Zhuang were extremely profuse and dense [in allusion] and transformed their age.60 Thus in the Da- rning reign [457-464] and the Taikang reign [65-471], literary works became virtually the same as commonplace books.61 More recently, Ren Fang and Wang Yuanzhang and others did not prize remarkable eloquence but instead competed to make novel references.62 Among recent writers, this has gradually be- come the fashion. As a consequence, lines have no empty phrases and phrases have no empty words; they are a constricted patchwork, to the extreme harm of literature.63 We seldom encounter anyone who is simply natural, with outstanding implications. Since eloquence has lost all nobility, they might as well add significant references; although they have given up on natural talent, for the time being they can show learning—isn't this, too, a principle? Lu Ji's "Poetic Exposition on Literature” goes to the heart of the matter yet offers no critiques.64 Li Chong's "Forest of Brushes” is remote but not incisive.65 Wang Wei's "Great Treasure" is dense yet does not exclude.66 Yan Yanzhi's "Dis- cussion of Literature" is refined to the essentials yet hard to understand.67 Zhi Yu's "Aims of Literature” is detailed yet broad and ample, and he may well be said to be one who understands.68 When I consider these various masters, all tend to direct their discussions to the forms of literature and do not demon- strate judgments of relative quality. When it comes to Xie Lingyun's anthology of poems, he just took whatever poem he happened on.69 In Zhang Zhi's [or Yin's] “Men of Letters," he just wrote down whatever piece of writing he happened on.70 In what was recorded by all these eminent men, the significance was, in all cases, in questions of literature itself; they never offered graded evaluations. In what I have recorded here, I have limited myself to the five-syllable line.71 Nevertheless, it encompasses past and present, virtually assembling [all] literary writing, and I rashly intend to distinguish the clear and muddy, to pick outfine point s andflaws i n regard to 120 men in all.72 Those included in this tradition from origin to derivation may be declared men of talent. When it comes to the relative position of poets within these three grades, judgment is not at allfixed; an d for amplifying changes in uniform norms, I would entrust this to those who know better.73

THIRD PREFACE

Cao and Liu of old are the sages of literary writing; Lu and Xie were talents who took their model from those two.74 Their concentration and deep reflection will ZHONG RONG'S PREFACE TO GRADES OF THE POETS 297 endure hundreds and thousands of years, yet we do not hear of distinctions between gong and shang, or discourses on the four tones.75 Some claim that the former masters simply chanced not to notice these, but how could that be so?76 Let me try to explain it: what were called poems and hymns in ancient times were all set to the music on instruments of metal and bamboo; and if indeed these were not in harmony with thefive notes , there would have been no way to use them with the music.77 Lines like “Set out ale in the high hall” or "The bright moon shines in the high mansion" are foremost in resonance.78 Even though the text itself might not be polished, the lines of the three Wei rulers had a resonance that was set to song.79 This is the real significance of tone and rhyme, and it is different indeed from the gong and shang that are spoken of these days. Since nowadays [poems] are not set to pipes and strings, what point is there in rules of sounds? In the Qi Wang Yuanzhang once said to me:80 uGong and shang were born together with the Two Orders, but writers from ancient times on did not know how to use them.81 Only Yan Yanzhi spoke of the rules of pitch pipes and the harmony of tones, yet in fact he was in great error. I have seen only Fan Ye and Xie Zhuang as having particular understanding of it.”82 Wang always wanted to present a "Discourse on Understanding Music,” but he died before he did so. Wang Rong started it; Xie Tiao and Shen Yue stirred the waves.83 These three worthies were all scions of the nobility and discussed literature from youth, whereupon the common run of gentlemen admired them, devoting themselves to producing what was refined and dense; their crinkled patterns werefine an d delicate, and they took as their sole aim to outdo one another. Thus they brought about many restrictions and prohibitions in writing, harming its genuine beauty. It is my opinion that the basis of fashioning a text is the capacity to recite it; it should not be lame or blocked. It is adequate as long as the clear and muddy soundsflow through , and it suits what comes easiest to the lips.84 When it comes to "level," "rising” “falling,” and "entering" tones, I suffer from incapacity. "Wasp waists” and “crane knees” are already quite well known in the villages.85 [Cao XuShipin jizhu (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1994)]

NOTES

Giving poetry, dance, and music a ground in natural process was commonplace. Qi, here translated as "ethers," was a technical term of Chinese thought whose value lay in the breadth of its application rather than in its determinate precision. In this case, qi refers to the "ethers" of the cosmos, specifically manifest in the changing atmosphere of the seasons, whose effect on the things of the world in turn stirs human feelings. Feelings lack determinate physical substance but take on determinate form in song and dance.