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: PLURALISTIC VIEW OF VALUES AND "MAKING POETRY OUT OF PROSE"

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfulment of the Requirement for

the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate

School of The Ohio State University

By

Dajiang He, B.A., M.A.

*****

The Ohio State University

1997

Dissertation Committee: Approved by

Professor Yan-shuan Lao, Advisor

Professor Kirk Denton

Professor Xiaomei Chen Adviser

Department of East Asia Languages and Literatures DMI Number: 9813271

UMI Microform 9813271 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved.

This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.

UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Copyright by

Dajiang He

1997 ABSTRACT

This Study examines the problem of "making poetry out of prose" from a new perspective. In light of Bakhtin's understanding of literary genre, I see an inherent link between "making poetry out of prose" in 's poetry and an intellectual orientation of Su Shi characterized by a pluralistic view of values and a "prosaic wisdom." By placing

Su Shi in the entire history of Chinese intellectual thought and examining the ways he dealt with various situations in his life and his approach to diverse ideas, I demonstrate that Su Shi refuses to take any system of thought as absolute truth, opposes intellectual uniformity, and advocates an openness to and respect for different ideas and views.

I then analyze in detail some of Su Shi's poems to illustrate how the main stylistic features of "making poetry out of prose" reflect his pluralistic views. I note that Su

Shi uses a wide variety of words to describe various experiences, some of which were considered not "proper" materials for poetry. The dynamic and refreshing languages reflect a new sense of the world. The abundance of argumentative discourse is another major characteristic of

11 "making poetry out of prose" in Su Shi. In my analyses. Su

Shi showed his open mind and diverse aesthetic tastes by the argumentative discourses.

Finally, I read Su Shi's poetry in comparison with the works of a number of major Jin and Tang poets to show how Su

Shi's attitude toward political career and his views of the self were different from his predecessors '. In my view, a pluralistic view of values in traditional entails a deviation from certain widely-held mainstream values. My conclusion is that a pluralistic view of values is the major legacy Su Shi left, and by "making poetry out of prose," Su

Shi produced a freer, more diverse poetry and broke a new path for the Chinese poetic tradition.

I l l To my wife, daughter, and parents

XV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have been helped by many people in writing this dissertation, and I wish to take this opportunity to express my gratitude. First, I wish to express my deep appreciation to my adviser. Professor Yan-shuan Lao, for his unreserved support and strict training he has given me ever since I came to Ohio State, especially in conducting this research. I have benefitted tremendously from his profound knowledge and deep understanding of Chinese history, literature and intellectual thought. His many thought-provoking comments and meticulous attention to details have made a great difference to this dissertation. I am greatly indebted to Professor Kirk Denton, who has given me his help and support whenever I needed. His critical insight, broad knowledge, and careful reading of several drafts of this dissertation are essential and have helped tremendously to improve the quality of this work. I am very grateful to Professor Chen Xiaomei. She has been very supportive, encouraging and considerate, and has given many valuable comments on my dissertation. Her enthusiasm and sharp critical mind have been a source of inspiration for me. Due to a schedule conflict. Professor Galal Walker could

not attend my dissertation defence, but I want to express my

sincere appreciation for his encouragement and guidance in

conducting this research as well as his great support in my

pursuit of a career. My gratitude goes to my former advisor.

Emeritus Professor David Ch'en. I have benefitted greatly

from his immense knowledge in both the Chinese and Western

literary traditions. I wish to thank Professor Timothy Wong

for the encouragement and guidance he gave to me during stages of this project. In a number of courses I took from him and in our personal contacts I received valuable training in critical thinking and aspects of doing research. I also wish to express my gratitude to Professor Richard Torrance,

Professor Mark Bender, Professor Patricia Sieber, Dr. Minru

Li, and Mr. Nick Kaldis for reading versions of my dissertation proposal and offering their insights. Finally, I have to express my great appreciation to my wife Zhang Li for her selfless and unreserved support in all stages of my study here, and to my daughter Jane for her understanding and great support. My thanks also go to my parents and my whole family in China, who have always watched and cheered for my every progress and given me their full support.

VI VITA

1982...... B.A., Wuhan Teacher's College, Wuhan, China

1985*###*#######***#*####*##»#eM#A #, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

1985-1989...... Lecturer, Department of Chinese Languages and Literatures, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

1993...... M.A., Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1995-Present...... Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

PUBLICATIONS

1. Zhongguo gudian wenyi cidian. (Dictionary of Traditional and Arts). With the collaboration of five other scholars. : Chinese Youth Press, 1991.

2. "Qinhui ye po." ["An analysis of 'Night Mooring on Qinhuai River'"). In Song shi jianshang cidian. (Poems of the Song: An Anthology with Analyses) Shanghai: Shanghai Publishing House of Dictionaries and Encyclopedias, 1987: 633-4.

vxi 4. "Xishan" g|l| ["An analysis of 'West Mountain'."] In Song Shi jianshang cidian. (Poems of the Song: An Anthology with Analyses), 1277-8. Shanghai: Shanghai Publishing House of Dictionaries and Encyclopedias, 1987.

5. "Lun Cen biansai shi de duchuangxing chengjiu." (On the Originality of Cen Shen's Frontier Poetry). In Tangdai wenxue luncong. (Literary Studies of the ). Vol. 9: 317-39. Xi'an: Shanxi People's Press, 1987.

6. "Sheng Tang wenhue" • [ "Review on Studies of Poetry of the High Tang Dynasty" ]. In collaboration with Wang Qixing. Tangdai wenxue nianjian 1986. 1986 (Yearbook of Literary Studies of the Tang Dynasty 1986), Xi'an: Shanxi People's Press, 1987, 43-59.

7. "Sheng Tang wenhue" # # 2 ^ # . ["Review on Studies of Poetry of the High Tang Dynasty" ]. In collaboration with Wang Qixing. Tangdai wenxue nianjian 1985. 1985 (Yearbook of Literary Studies of the Tang Dynasty 1985), Xi'an: Shanxi People's Press, 1987, 19-29.

8. "Lun Du shige de qijue mei." . ("Du Fu: the Rugged Beauty of His Poetry"). Caotang (the Journal of Du Fu Studies). (June 1986): 37-43.

FIELD OF STUDY

Major Field: East Asian Languages and Literatures

Academic Concentration: and Poetics

V l l l TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

Abstract...... il

Dedication...... iv

Acknowledgments...... v

Vita...... vii

Introduction...... 1

Chapters :

1. Making poetry out of prose: an old debate revisited..24

1.1 Making poetry out of prose: the issues involved in the debate...... 25 1.2 Modern scholarship on "making poetry out of prose"...... 32 1.3 Genre theory in Western literary criticism..37 1.4 Bakhtin on literary genre...... 41 1.5 Genre theory in Chinese literary criticism..49 1.6 "Making poetry out of prose" as a genre in Su Shi's poetry...... 51

2. The pluralistic view of values and the "prosaic wisdom" ...... 57 2.1 "School-affiliation" approach and its limits ...... 58 2.2 Su Shi's pluralistic view of values and his interpretation of the Dao...... 68

IX 2.3 Su Shi and the "prosaic wisdom"...... 90

3. Language, argumentative discourses, and the diversity of aesthetic taste...... 103

3.1 The diversity of Su' Shi s poetic language.104 3.2 The diversity of Su Shi's aesthetic tastes.121 3.3 The sense of irony and the play of meanings ...... 134

4. Su Shi in dialogue with his poetic predecessors...... 148

4.1 Su Shi and Tao Yuanming: sorrow and its transcendence...... 150 4.2 Su Shi and Du Fu; their attitude toward public life and political career ...... 167 4.3 Su Shi and : their view of the self in relation with others and in the natural order...... 185

Cone lus ion...... 212

Bibliography...... 215 INTRODUCTION

Su Shi (1036-1101), also known as Su Dongpo 4#^#, was born in 1036 in the small town of Meishan in the province of , a place known for its rivers, mountains, and gifted, "romantic" writers. Twenty-one years later, his father (1009-1066) took him and his younger brother .## (1039-1112) to the capital Kaifeng to sit for the examinations. With an astonishing performance in the examinations, Su Shi became instantly famous. Thus began his long and vicissitudinous political career. He had good times. As a great writer, a sophisticated thinker, an knowledgeable scholar, and a humorous friend, he was admired and surrounded by students and friends. He was also an able administrator. In his political career of over thirty years, he held many important positions in the central and local governments, such as Hanlin academician. Minister of Rites, and prefect of a number of prefectures, including the beautiful Hangzhou. In these posts he made some positive contributions in political affairs. Su Shi also had hard times. Deeply entrapped in the bitter struggle between the advocates of the "New Policies" and their conservative opponents, he was the victim of political strife and was banished time and again to distant, desolate places. Once, he almost lost his life in the notorious "Trial of the Craw

Terrace."! Despite the sometimes extremely harsh living conditions in exile, he generally kept his spirit and managed to adjust himself to new environments. His last years were mostly spent on Hainan island, one of the most backward and remote places at that time, and finally he died in 1101 shortly after returning to central China.

Su Shi is a major figure in Chinese literary and intellectual history. He made important contributions to almost every aspect of cultural development in the Song: he is considered the most important poet in the shi # form, along with (1045-1105); in # poetry, he expanded the narrow scope of that genre in subject matter and depicted various experiences and expressed feelings that had never before appeared in ci with an unprecedented

"unbridled" style, thus opening a new path for subsequent writers; in the prose essay, he is one of the "Eight Masters of the Tang and the Song"; he is also a major calligrapher and painter; his scattered but seminal comments on poets, writers, painters, and calligraphers contribute to the theoretic constructions of these fields and have been

1 In 1079, Su Shi was arrested and charged with having slandered the emperor and attacking in his poetry the New Policies supported by the emperor. Only just barely avoiding execution, he was subsequently exiled to Huangzhou for more than four years. 2 diligently studied by subsequent scholars.

Su Shi's shi poetry is an important part of his literary

contribution, which has attracted many studies by both

traditional and modern scholars. However, its reception has

been mixed. On the one hand. Su Shi was recognized as one of the most important poets in the Song and in the Chinese poetic tradition. On the other hand, some critics, while

acknowledging the importance of his poetry, openly and explicitly expressed their discontent with his way of writing poetry and his poetic style, while still others found themselves split between admiration and disapproval.

Su Shi has seemed to fare better among modern readers.

Fifty years ago, the famous Chinese writer Lin Yutang published the first book-length biography of Su Shi in

English in the United States, entitled The Gay Genius. In the first page of the book Lin writes :

After all, one knows only those whom one really likes. I think I know Su Tungpo [Dongpo] completely because I understand him, and I understand him because I like him. The question of liking a poet is always a question of taste. I think Li Po [Bai] reached a greater height of sublimity and Tu Fu [Du Fu] reached a greater status in his total ingression as a poet great by all the standards of greatness in poetry— freshness, naturalness, technical skill, and compassion. But without any apology, my favorite poet is Su Tungpo.2

2 Lin Yutang, The Gay Genius^ The Life and Times of Su Tungpo (New York: The John Day Company, 1947), 1. 3 If Lin's affection for Su Shi might be considered mere

personal preference, other developments may persuade us to

think otherwise. In both mainland China and , the last

two decades have seen the publication of a number of

annotated collection of Su's shi poetry, ci poetry, essays,

as well as reprinted older editions of his complete works.

There have been even more secondary books, papers,

biographies, and anthologies. A Society of Su Shi Studies was

founded in the early eighties in China, and it periodically

holds conferences exclusively devoted to Su Shi. In the West,

things have been relatively quiet in Su Shi studies since the

publication of Lin Yutang's book, but the situation has

changed in the last decade, during which at least four book-

length studies of Su Shi were published in the U.S. alone,

outnumbering studies of all other major Chinese poets. The

interest in Su Shi has been growing rather quietly but

steadily.

I believe that there is a connection between

the traditional criticism of Su Shi and his growing popularity in recent years. It involves two closely related problems that I will address in this dissertation. One concerns Su Shi's intellectual orientation, and the other concerns his way of writing poetry and consequently his poetic style. I will now discuss the two problems and describe what I wish to achieve in this dissertation. Su Shi is known as a writer of multiple talents, great achievements, and complex thinking. But is there anything that can somehow link together the diversity of his works and his thought? If so, what is it? Scholars have made attempts to find that elusive something. The modern scholar Zhu

Jinghua for example, concludes that “gaofeng juechen"

(lofty spirit that transcends the mundane world) is the core characteristic of his poetry, the main theme of his poetic theory, and the highest aesthetic value he pursues in his poetic creation.3 Michael Fuller perceives li #, or inherent pattern, as what Su Shi strives to come to terms with in the growth of his poetic voice.4 While acknowledging that there are good insights and arguments in these studies,

I feel that Su Shi's fundamental intellectual orientation has escaped their attention.

In this study of Su Shi, I will argue that Su Shi's intellectual orientation can be characterized as a

3 See related articles collected in Zhu Jinghua, Su Shi xin ping (Beijing: Zhongguo wenxue chuban she, 1993).

'4 Fuller sees in Su's poetry "(t)he constantly active intelligence that shapes both the particular details and the larger organization of the poems is a distinctive aspect of his poetic style. The attempt to account for the quality of this informing pressure of thought and for its transformation as Su Shi matures forces us to confront a nexus of issues that initially seem rather distant from substantive questions of poetic practice. At the center of these abstract issues is the concept of 11 M , "inherent pattern." See Michael A. Fuller, The Road to East Slope— The Development of Sa Shi's Poetic Voice, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990), 2. 5 pluralistic view of values and a "prosaic wisdom, " and that

these stand behind his perception and representation of the

world and himself.

By "pluralistic view of values," I refer to an attitude

that does not take any idea, philosophy of a certain thinker,

or school of thought as absolute truth to be followed by

everyone. It acknowledges the values of different ideas and

is opposed to efforts of unifying people's value by a single

ideology. "Prosaic wisdom" is a form of thinking that

presumes the importance of ordinary experience, the

complexity of the multifaceted, ever-shifting events that

happen every day. It maintains that we cannot rely solely on

systems or principles to make moral or other decisions

because they are often too schematic and rigorous to attend

to the minor, ordinary things, the particularities of life.

By its very nature, it is suspicious of any systems of

thought. The pluralistic view of values and what I have

called prosaic wisdom represent two complementary aspects of

Su Shi's intellectual orientation.

The term "intellectual orientation" may need some elaboration. First, it certainly has to do with Su Shi's

ideas and views on social or philosophical issues. His views and ideas are usually presented in the form of argumentative discourse. Examples include his debate with

(1021-1086) on the unification of shi I: values and his discussion of the nature of the Dao fi and how to seek it. Another example is his disagreement with Du Fu who argued

that the highest class in calligraphy was the "gaunt and

strong" style, as I will discuss in the following chapters.

On the other hand, on many occasions Su Shi's intellectual

orientation manifests itself not as explicitly stated ideas

or views but is reflected in different minor things, like a

comment on a poet, or a particular word chosen in a poem. As

I will show in the ensuing chapters, it is an intellectual

attitude, a way of perceiving things, or even a disposition

of personality. In a word, it is something behind the

decisions he made, the views he held, and the way he

perceived the world, himself, and the interrelation between them.

The other problem is Su Shi's poetic style. While critics disliked Su Shi's poetry for a variety of reasons, the discontent centers on one issue, that is, yi wen wei shi, or "making poetry out of prose."s it has been regarded as the main characteristic as well as the major drawback of his poetry. One of the main reasons, I think, has to do with the general perception by many critics that and its evocative style is the essence of poetry. In theorizing the achievements of Tang poetry, the Southern Song critic Yan Yu

5 This is the translation of yi wen wei shi made by Burton Watson in his translation of Kojiro Yoshikawa's pioneering work on . An Introduction to Sung Poetry (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967), 10. It can also be translated more literally as "writing poetry in the manner of writing prose." 7 (dates unknown) made a major contribution. In his famous treatise Canglang shihua # # # # / he hailed the great achievements of Tang poets, especially poets of the High Tang period, and believed that "suggestiveness" and the prominence of poetic imagery were qualities that made Tang poetry great.

Yan Yu's view of Tang poetry was seminal, and it inspired later critics to develop a poetics of "intuition" and

"suggestiveness." However, Yan Yu went a step further and took these qualities as the standard against which to measure other poets. By this standard. Su Shi's poetry was felt to lack the "suggestiveness" and refined language of the High

Tang masters and to resemble rather the style and function of prose writing; thus Su Shi was characterized as "making poetry out of prose" and dismissed for writing poetry the wrong way. Yan Yu's view of Su Shi was quite influential and was shared by many critics. For a long time, "making poetry out of prose" was seen as an indicator of poor verse-writing.

It is only in recent years that some scholars have challenged this view and demanded a réévaluation of it.

In this dissertation, I will present a new look at this old problem. First, I argue that "writing poetry out of prose" should not be taken as a negative quality. It is not only a legitimate way of writing poetry but also a tool used by poets to represent certain aspects of human experience that other modes of writing cannot represent. Second, I will examine the problem of "making poetry out prose" in light of the Russian thinker Mikhail Bakhtin's (1895-1975) theory of

genre. Bakhtin contends that it is the whole utterance as

speech performance that expresses theme, not the separate word, sentence, or other linguistic elements. Therefore,

instead of taking literary genre as a collection of devices or a particular way of combining linguistic elements, as many theorists have, Bakhtin views it as a specific way of visualizing a given part of reality, a "form-shaping ideology."

Bakhtin's usage of the term "genre" is different from that of other critics, not only in the nature of genre but also in what can be taken as a genre. For Bakhtin, diverse kinds of written discourses or oral conversation can be seen as genres, for example, small talk at the dinner table is one genre, and a certain type of philosophical discussion another. He points out that one may know a language well in terms of grammatical rules and vocabulary, but still feel

"quite helpless in certain spheres of communication precisely because they do not have a practical command of the generic forms in the given spheres this is entirely a matter of inability to command a repertoire of genres of social conversation."6 For Bakhtin, genre is "relatively stable

6 Bakhtin, Speech Genres and Other Later Essays, trans. Vern W. McGee (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1986), 80. 9 types"7 of utterance, therefore "[w]here there is style, there

is genre."8 in this sense, "making poetry out of prose" can be

taken as a poetic genre, because as I see it, it has its own

stylistic features and it embodies a way of "seeing the

world"9 as well as his intellectual orientation. In other words, I believe that the pluralistic view of truth and the

prosaic wisdom are at the heart of Su Shi's thinking and are embodied in the stylistic features of "making poetry out of prose."

The introduction of the concepts and ideas from Bakhtin in this study of Su Shi may not seem fitting at first glance, since there are so many differences between these two men. Su

Shi is a Chinese writer of the twelfth century, while Bakhtin a Russian thinker in the twentieth. The nature of their writings are also different. Su Shi speaks mainly with his literary works, while Bakhtin writes theoretic treatises. In addition, Bakhtin's theory of literature centers on the notion that the novel is the most dialogic genre of all literary genres, and this study is on Su Shi's poetry.

However, despite all these differences we see in the writings

7 Ibid., 60.

8 Ibid., 66.

9 Chinese critics also perceive further divisions within poetry. As I will discuss in Chapter 1, they use ti to denote various genres within shi poetry form. 10 of Su Shi and Bakhtin similarities in the "spirit" of their intellectual orientations. As I will discuss in Chapter 2,

"prosaic wisdom" is a term used by Bakhtin to express his suspicious attitude towards "systems of thought." Su Shi of course did not use this concept, but the way he treated different thinkers of the major schools of thought shows a similar attitude. Another very important concept in Bakhtin's theory is dialogue, on which more discussion can be seen in

Chapter 1. By "making poetry out of prose," Su Shi in his poetry frequently made references to works of other poets and tended to more openly expose his inner conflict, which exhibits principles of what Bakhtin calls "dialogism."

Conçarative studies of theorists and writers of different cultures are what comparative literature is meant to do and needs no justification. However, Bakhtin's discussion of "outsideness" may shed new light on the significance of having perspectives of the "others" in studies of cultural artifacts. He says:

In order to understand, it is immensely important for the person who understands to be located outside the object of his or her creative understanding— in time, in space, in culture. For one cannot even really see one's own exterior and comprehend it as a whole, and no mirrors or photographs can help; our real exterior can be seen and understood only by other people, because they

11 are located outside us in space and because they are others.lo

Everyone has aspects of oneself one does not know, thus one

often wants to hear how other people think of oneself.

Similarly, every culture has meanings it doesn't understand

well, therefore new dimensions of a culture can often be

discovered by outsiders with different perspectives. In

studies of literature as well as other disciplines we have

reasons to be bolder in making connections between different

cultural phenomena. It is my wish that the introduction of

Bakhtin's ideas helps to illuminate aspects of Su Shi we did

not see before.

Although I do not intend to deal with Bakhtin's theory

of dialogic nature of the novel and the monologic character

of the poetry "in the narrow sense," it is incumbent upon me

to state my position on this issue, since I introduce his

theory into the study of Su Shi's poetry. While I am convinced of the interpretive power of Bakhtin's theories, I do think that the hierarchy of literary genre he argues for

in his works is debatable. In this regard, some scholars have questioned the validity of this scheme.u I think that

10 M. M. Bakhtin, Speech Genres and Other Late Essays, trans Vern W. McGee (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1986), 7.

11 For example, Vincent Leitch suggests various ways of "novelizing" even the most "monologic" hermetic poetry. See Vincent Leitch, Cultural Criticism, Literary Theory, 12 different kinds of literary genres have different ways to

reflect the dialogic nature of that specific discourse, and

those different "ways" have to be found by studies of that

specific genre. I think that it msikes little sense to rank

literary works by their genres. We have rejected old schemes

of this nature, and we don't need new ones. Furthermore, I

don't think that borrowing certain ideas of a given thinker

obliges us to embrace everything he says. In other words, we

are entitled to embrace some of his views while disagreeing

with others. I believe that this approach is quite in

accordance with Bakhtin's notion of "prosaic wisdom."

The contribution of this dissertation to Su Shi

scholarship, as I see it, is twofold. First, it marks a new

approach to Su Shi's thought and reaches new conclusions. Su

Shi's thought is an issue that has attracted much academic

attention. However, as I will discuss in greater detail in

Chapter 2, critical debate often centers on what school of

thought he mainly identified with and how that school exerted

greater influence on him than others did. These studies do not pay enough attention to the dynamic nature of Su Shi's

intellectual activities. In this study, I try instead to

Poststructuralism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1992), 57. xiaomei Chen, on the other hand, argues that drama can be regarded as the "most open-ended, polyphonic and problematic of all the genres." See xiaomei Chen, "The Stage of Their Own: The Problematics of Women's Theater in Post-Mao China," The Journal of Asian Studies 56.1 (February 1997), 18. 13 understand his thought by identifying a more fundamental

intellectual orientation and reach my own conclusion that his

intellectual orientation cam be characterized by a

pluralistic view of values and a "prosaic wisdom. "

Second, this dissertation applies a new approach to the

study of "making poetry out of prose." The problem of "making

poetry out of prose" has been dealt with from various

perspectives, as I will discuss in Chapter 1. Yet this is the

first attempt, to my knowledge, to establish an inherent link

between "making poetry out of prose" in Su Shi's poetry and

his intellectual orientation. In this new view, the stylistic

features, such as the diversity of his poetry's diction and

the discussions and argumentative discourses, which have been

regarded as belonging to the sphere of literary form, acquire

ideological significance and are related to a larger cultural

context, such as the change of historical conditions and new

developments in the intellectual realm, and then it provides

a new perspective on this old but importemt question.

I would like now to offer my view on the relevance of

this study of Su Shi to our modern literary culture and

present ny answer to the question of why we have seen the

growing interests in Su Shi and his literary works in both

China and West, as I noted earlier. In so doing, what I mean

by "pluralistic view of values" and "prosaic wisdom" should

become clearer. As I will demonstrate in the following chapters, what makes Su Shi appeals to modern readers is his

14 intellectual orientation, which manifests itself in his

opposition to uniformity of values and ideas; his respect for

differences; his recognition that things are constantly

shifting and changing, and that one has to adjust oneself to

respond to the changes.

The significance of Su Shi's intellectual orientation

could be seen more clearly if we try to understand him

against the background of the history of Chinese intellectual

thought. China had its golden age in philosophical and social

theories in the periods of the Spring and Autumn (770 B.C.-

475 B.C.) and Warring States (475 B.C.- 221 B.C.). During

this time of reforms, unrest, wars, conquests and social

displacement, thinkers of different camps offered their

solutions to the many problems people faced and presented

their ideas on a great variety of social and intellectual

issues. They competed with each other for followers. In a time without a strong central government, there was basically no suppression of ideas or censorship, and no school of thought could totally dominate others. Scholars were allowed to think independently and creatively, to contemplate and debate issues they were interested in, and to present new ideas freely, unfortunately, the tradition of free competition among different ideas stopped abruptly in the

Qin. Then, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the ,

Confucianism was made the official state ideology. After that, , with some elements taken from Legalism,

15 maintained a privileged status throughout most of dynastic

history until the fall of the Qing in 1911. My point here is

not, of course, simply to argue against Confucianism, which

is a profound system of thought that has strongly shaped

Chinese civilization and will continue to have an impact on

China's future. But as it was taken most of the time as the official state ideology, as the "correct" ideas on social, political, and philosophical issues, Confucianism more or less suppressed other voices.

The dominance of Confucian ideology ended early in this century, but the suppression of different ideas did not. No matter who were in power and what political theory or idea they believed or pretended to believe, there was always a certain system of thought regarded as the "official" ideology and imposed on people. It is only in the last two decades that the control over ideology in China has been somewhat loosened and that various ideas and theories have become available to ordinary people. Su Shi, the eleventh century poet, had to work within the given intellectual sources to formulate his own ideas. However, in a culture that lacks a pluralistic tradition, his pluralistic view of values, open- mindedness and his dynamic, sophisticated artistic world are still refreshing. In a sense, modern readers, perhaps especially those in the wake of totalitarianism, have rediscovered Su Shi, and found that Su

16 Shi's pluralistic view accords with their antipathy to

intellectual uniformity.

Scholars in Chinese history and culture have made great

efforts to reexamine traditional Chinese thought and try to

understand the unique characteristics and to sort out ideas

and values that can play positive roles in today's China and

contribute to world culture. These are, of course, difficult

and complicated issues that demand careful studies of

individual writers and thinkers. Su Shi's pluralistic view of

values is part of the Chinese intellectual tradition, and it

has its significance and is related to some broad issues. For

example, the reader familiar with Western intellectual

thought may quite naturally associate Su Shi's pluralistic

view with the concept liberalism. Indeed, scholars have

debated on whether there is a liberal tradition in

traditional China, but Su Shi was not discussed in that

debate. I think that we should treat this issue and other

concepts of this kind with caution. The very concept

liberalism, as we know, is Western, and it was applied to phenomena in specific cultural environments and had its specific referents. Furthermore, even within Western culture, it can mean quite different things in different contexts.

However, this does not mean that we should not use it, or should not use it in studies of non-Westem cultures. I think if we carefully circumscribe it, always take note of the cultural specificity, and carefully study the parameters of

17 the specific situation, we can make meaningful and sensible

arguments by applying this term in our study. In any case,

the reason communication between different peoples is

possible is precisely because people share common interests

and concerns and there are similarities in human experiences

of different cultures.

In a book arguing for a view that there is a liberal

tradition in Confucianism, Wm Theodore de Bary first gives

seven senses of the term liberalism defined by Charles

Frankel. He also points out "any satisfactory treatment of

them would also have to qualify the comparisons substantially

and deal with significant differences between what we might

call Confucian liberalism and the Western variety." 12 we may

not agree with his conclusions, but should agree with the

principle of comparison he lays out here.

New let us turn to the question whether Su Shi's

intellectual orientation is compatible with liberalism. Su

Shi voiced his views on many political, economic and

educational issues, but it is obvious that most of his views

do not constitute a political or an economical liberalism as defined by Charles Frankel. However, among the seven senses of the term liberalism, we do find one that fits Su Shi to a certain degree. De Bary summarizes that as the following;

12 Wm. Theodore de Bary, The Liberal Tradition in China ( Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1983), 7. 18 Cultural liberalism, as opposed to parochialism and fanaticism: "An affirmative interest in the promotion of diversity and qualities of mind which encourage empathetic understanding and critical appreciation of the diverse possibilities of human life."

The "cultural liberalism" is characterized by diversity of mind and the diverse possibilities of human life. The opposite is "parochialism and fanaticism." As I have indicated earlier and will discuss in detail in the following chapters. Su Shi in his works demonstrates these qualities in a variety of ways. For example, he takes ideas from different thinkers and schools of thought and openly opposes uniformity of ideas and values; he acknowledges values of ways of life different from the mainstream values; and he has diverse aesthetic tastes and appreciates different kinds of artists and styles. All these qualities show that Su Shi's intellectual orientation is quite in agreement with the cultural liberalism defined above, and I believe that this is part of the reason that Su Shi greatly appeals to modern

Chinese readers who are seeking intellectual resources in their own tradition that accord with their modern consciousness.

I would like to make two observations on the issue of liberalism vis-a-vis Su Shi. First, we notice that in his study of liberal tradition in China, de Bary mainly discusses views and ideas of Confucian thinkers expressed in the form of theoretic discussions in philosophical essays. These are

19 of course the major materials we should study. In the meantime, we can also find interesting and important materials in the great number of literary works in studies of this kind of intellectual issues. The views expressed in

literary works may not be in clearly-defined statements, but they do reflect, sometimes even more tellingly, the positions and ideas of those writers. Second, we should not understand

Su Shi only in terms of liberalism, or regard his intellectual orientation as an sort of "underdeveloped" liberalism. He is a cultural figure nurtured by the Chinese intellectual tradition, and there is much more in his thought that is not contained in liberalism or other modern concepts.

Then we will not lose sight of the complexity and cultural specificity of his thought while relating him to modern concerns.

In planning and conducting this study, I have adhered to the following methodological concepts. First, Su Shi's poetry is studied in relation with his thinking, which in turn is examined in the context of the historical conditions and the intellectual environment. Specifically, Su Shi's intellectual orientation is compared with other leading thinkers of the

Song and is also set in the context of the history of Chinese intellectual thought. After all, literature is a cultural artifact, which is always entangled with philosophical, social and political discourses.

20 Second, I compare and contrast Su Shi's poetry with that of some of the leading poets in the Tang. It is a fascinating topic to study the relation between Tang poetry and Song poetry. The Tang Dynasty is generally considered the most powerful and prosperous period in Chinese history, and Tang poetry is perhaps the brightest of all its cultural achievements. Immediately after their Tang counterparts. Song poets had to respond to the challenge of developing their own distinctive voices, intellectually and aesthetically. Su Shi made extensive references to Tang poets and poems, and his own poetry can be seen as a site of dialogue with his Tang counterparts on intellectual and aesthetic issues. It is through this dialogue that I attempt to identify Su Shi's voice and to understand the way he made sense of and represented the world.

Finally, I read poems by Su Shi and other poets closely and engage in detailed analyses. In the Chinese critical traditin, scholars often read litearry works very closely and analyze them in great details. It is especially true in the study of poetry. In the West, "close reading" used to be the strength and the very emblem of New Criticism, a major critical school earlier this century. By employing certain reading strategies, scholars of that school made some very interesting and original analyses. However, it was later justly criticized for being ahistorical and solely focusing on artistic aspects while ignoring social and intellectual

21 factors, and subsequently it lost its appeal to critics. But

I believe that if we do not lose sight of social and

historical aspects when doing close reading, it can still be

a valid and powerful tool in the study of literary works of

all genres- Although the line between literary works and

other kinds of texts is not always crystal clear, literature

is after all a special kind of cultural product that has its

properties and special ways of representing human experience.

The critic's task is not simply to "extract" moral, political

or other messages from a literary work. He has to show us

those "special ways," to reveal the subtlety and the layers

of meaning, the complexity of characters, the tints and

emotional associations of words, etc. All these have to be

achieved by concrete reading of literary texts. One's

interpretation has to be based on one's reading experience

and intellectual and emotional responses to the text. It is

even more important to engage in attentive, close reading in

the study of poetry because of poetry's relatively dense

structure, brevity and more pronounced play of meanings in words.

The dissertation consists of four chapters. In Chapter

1, I first look at the issues involved in "making poetry out of prose" and the modem scholarship on this issue. Genre theories in the West and in the Chinese tradition are examined and the theoretic framework I shall employ in discussing Su Shi's poetry is introduced. Then in Chapter 2,

22 the discussion focuses on Su Shi's intellectual orientation in the context of the cultural climate of his time and in the broader background of the development of Chinese thought.

Close reading of poems by Su Shi and others shall be made in

Chapter 3 to reveal how Su Shi explores new experience and displays his diverse aesthetic tastes by using various kinds of diction and argumentative discourses. In Chapter 4, I analyze poems of Su Shi and some of his poetic predecessors and look them as dialogues on issues concerning their view on some important intellectual issues. In so doing, I try to reveal how his intellectual orientation is embodied in his poetry in the mode of "making poetry out of prose." Finally,

I end this dissertation with a brief conclusion, in which I summarize the main points I make in this study and their implications.

Most of the translations are mine, though I take advantage of some existing translations. When the latter is the case, the translators are credited in notes. I use the system in romanization of throughout the study except for a few proper names. When there are other romanization forms used in the quotations I give their pinyin correspondents in parentheses.

23 CHAPTER 1

MAKING POETRY OUT OF PROSE: AN OLD DEBATE REVISITED

Su Shi has been universally recognized as one of the

most important shi poets in the Song, and that reputation has

never waned since. At the same time, some critics, while

acknowledging his great achievements in poetry, have

criticized him for being the chançion of yi wen wei shi,

"ma;:ing poetry out of prose."

The relation between the two major literary genres,

namely, prose and poetry, is not necessarily a clear one. One

might ask, for example, if a clear line can be drawn between

them. If so, what are the fundamental formal distinctions? Is

one superior to the other? If so, which is and why? Can they

complement each other? If so, how? In answering each one of

these questions there are significant artistic, aesthetic,

philosophical, and ideological implications.

The concept of "making poetry out of prose," which

involves elements of prose in poetry writing, necessarily

raises generic questions. Although Su Shi was neither the only poet nor the first to have been associated with this

24 mode of writing poetry, he was one of the nest

representative. The features of "making poetry out of prose,"

for better or worse, are largely exemplified in his poems.

In this chapter, I will first examine the major

criticism against Su Shi in regard to "making poetry out of

prose" and its theoretic ramifications. Then modern

scholarship on this issue will be introduced and critiqued.

After that, I will present a brief survey of the concept

"genre" in Western literary criticism, including some newer

developments. Special attention will be given to Bakhtin's

ideas and his genre theory, as Su Shi's poetry will be looked

at in the light of his theory. Finally, I will discuss genre

theories in Chinese tradition and the theoretical framework I will utilize in this study.

1.1. "Making poetry out of prose": the issues involved in the debate

There has been much discussion on Su Shi's poetry and

Song poetry in general regarding "making poetry out of prose" and its consequences. While we cannot possibly give a thorough review here, it is necessary to look at the most inçxDrtant critiques to see the main issues involved. Let us start with the first person using the phrase yi wen wei shi.

He was Su Shi's junior friend Chen Shidao (1053-1101):

25 Tuizhi ü/è: [Han Yu's # # (768-824) ] wrote poetry as he wrote prose, and Dongpo wrote ci poems as he wrote shi poems. They are like the dance of Lei Dashi of the Musical Bureau. Being among the best in the world, their works just do not fit the proper style of the respective genres. i

Here we notice that, first, it is the Tang poet Han Yu,

instead of Su Shi, who is designated as the pioneer of

"making poetry out of prose." Su Shi is criticized for writing "ci poems as he wrote shi poems." While Han Yu has been continuously considered the earlier practitioner of this

new mode of writing poetry. Su Shi later was taken as its

leading representative. The Qing critic Zhao Yi (1727-

1814) said: "'Making poetry out of prose' started with Han

Yu, and it was fully developed by Dongpo."2 zhao Yi's remark reflects the consensus of traditional critics and modern scholars. Second, Chen Shidao didn't understand the phrase in a conçletely negative sense. He acknowledged the excellence of Han Yu and Su Shi's poetic works but was uneasy with their transgression of the boundaries of literary genres. Chen

Apparently had in mind what the genre shi poetry should

1 Chen Shidao, Houshan shihua See He Wenhuan, comp., Lidai shihua, (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), 309. Critics have failed to find the story of Lei Dashi, but we can still see what Chen intends to say.

2 Zhao Yi, Oubei shihua , see Guo Shaoyu, comp. Qing shihua xubian # # # # # (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chuban she, 1983), 1195. be like, but he didn't spell this out clearly. Below we will

see how his view was clarified by other critics.

Another criticism of Su Shi, which is closely related to yi wen wei shi, is yi yilun wei shi which means "to make poetry out of arguments" or "making argumentative discourses in poetry." It was first raised by Zhang Jie #9^

(dates unknown), a critic in the Southern Song:

Since the Han and Wei periods shi poetry as a genre found really good examples in Zijians then it was firmly established in the hands Li (Bai) and Du ( Fu ) ; however, it deteriorated in the hands of Su (Shi) and Huang Tingjian Zizhan f # [Su Shi's courtesy name] made argumentation a way of writing poetry, and Luzhi [Huang Tingjian's courtesy name] liked to attach uncommon words to his poems. Their followers, before learning anything good from them, acquired bad elements first. Then what it means to be a poet was completely lost."*

Zhang Jie's remark is brief but seminal. It touches on the questions of the evaluation of Su Shi and Huang Tingjian's poetry in relation to their poetic predecessors and reflects

Zhang Jie's view of the development of shi poetry from the

Han to the Song. But in what sense have Su and Huang caused the deterioration of shi poetry? What are their strengths

3 zijian was the Wei poet Cao Zhi's # # (192-232) courtesy name.

_ 4 Zhang Jie, Suihan Tang shihua in Ding Fubao, comp. Lidai shihua xubian MM, (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983), 455.

27 and weaknesses? He doesn't elaborate answers to these

questions.

Zhang Jie's argument was later on taken over and

developed into a theory by Yan Yu in his Canglang shihua. The

following passage from it is much more well-known than Zhang

Jie's and has been frequently quoted:

Poetry is to sing what is in one's heart. The poets of the High Tang only relied on their inspiration and excitement. Their poetry is like the antelopes which hang by their horns and leave no footprints to be followed.5 Therefore the wondrous subtlety of their poetry is limpid and delicate and can never be quite captured. It is like music in the air, color in certain objects, moonlight in the water, or an image in a mirror — the words are limited but the meaning is inexhaustible. However, the gentlemen of recent times have strange ideas: in their poems they play with words; show off their learning, and make a lot of comments and reasoning. You cannot say that these poems are not good, but they are after all not the type of poetry of the older writers. What they lack is the quality that resonates in one's heart.s

From this passage we can see clearly the influence of Zhang

Jie. According to Yan Yu, Tang poets and Song poets are of two kinds each with their own way of writing poetry. He favors Tang poets because they "sing what is in their hearts'

5 Here Yan Yu alludes to a remark by Monk Daoying who said: "A good hunting dog only knows how to find [its prey] by their footprints. If the antelopes hang by their horns [on trees], it won't be able to find the antelopes by smell, let alone their footprints." See Guo Shaoyu and Wang Wensheng eds, Zhongguo lidai wenlun xuan, (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chuban she, 1979), vol. 2, 424, 427.

6 Yan Yu, Canglang shihua, Shi bian. See He Wenhuan, Lidai shihua, 688.

28 and they "only relied on their inspiration and excitement."

Song poets diverged from this Tang tradition, so their poetry was not "real" poetry. Among the series of charges Yan Yu made against the "gentlemen of recent times," yi yilun wei shi, "making poetry out of arguments," was picked up most often by later critics as another fault of Song poetry.

Although Yan Yu does not specify to whom the "gentle men of recent time" refers here, there is no question that Su Shi was the primary target. Shortly after the above comment, he specifically singles out Su Shi and Huang Tingjian as the

"gentlemen of recent time" and adds that "Dongpo and Shangu

[Huang Tingjian's assumed name] started to form their own ideas on how to write poems and practiced them in their writings. At this point, the way of the Tang poets was changed by them."?

Another related criticism Yan Yu made of Su Shi was shangli i^@, which means "emphasizing intellectual significance." Yan Yu said:

Poets of this dynasty [the ] tended to emphasize intellectual significance in their poems. They failed to write from inspiration and spontaneity. The Tang poets wrote from inspiration and spontaneity, and the intellectual significance was naturally melded into their poems.s

7 Ibid..

8 Ibid., 696.

29 Again Su Shi was a primary figure of the "poets of this

dynasty" Yan Yu referred to. Since Yan Yu made this comment,

"emphasizing intellectual significance" has been considered

by many critics a major flaw of Song poetry. Li Mengyang

(1473-1530) of the Ming Dynasty said: "If one only

makes reasoning in poetry, why not write essays instead of

poems?" Li Mengyang really disliked Song poetry and dismissed

it entirely by saying "there was no poetry in the Song

Dynasty."9

Yan Yu is a critic of insight and sensibility. His

evaluation of Song poetry had great influence and to some

extent shaped the later image of it. Despite the negative

remarks he made and the simplification inevitable in this

kind of generalization, Yan Yu's characterization of Song shi

poetry was generally accepted by later scholars. Eventually,

most critics no longer questioned whether these three

features do characterize Song poetry. The issue became how

one should interpret and evaluate it.

Now we have noted three features considered

characteristic of Song shi poetry, namely, making poetry out

of prose; making poetry out of argument ; and emphasizing

9 Li Mengyang, Kongtong ji, ^ [ 5 ] ^ , as cited in Wang Hong, Su Shi shige yanjiu, # # # # # % (Beijing: Chaohua chuban she, 1993), 179.

30

JL intellectual significance. Let me make two observations on

the relations of these three features.

First, there are different views on the relation of the

latter two features. Some critics tend to treat shang li and

yi yilun wei shi as basically the same thing, while others

insist there are differences. For example, Wang Hong 2^#

argues that Yi yilun wei shi is in the realm of literary

form, but shang li belongs mainly to the content of poetry.

They can be distinguished by looking at their opposites. The

opposite of yi yilun wei shi, which means to directly present

one's ideas, is yi wuxiang chang da qinggan to

express feelings indirectly by describing imagery in the

outside world. On the other hand, the opposite of shang li is

shang qing , emphasizing emotional expression, which holds

the view that the mission of poetry is primarily to express

the poet's emotional world instead of engaging in

intellectual activities. Wang Hong's argument, I think, is

well taken. However, given these distinctions one may make,

yi yilun wei shi and shang li are apparently very closely

related to each other.

Second, "making poetry out of prose" is also closely

tied with the other two features. The internal connection of

the three features lies in the fact that argumentative

discourses and intellectual reasoning are considered by those

10 Wang Hong, Su Shi shige yanjiu, 108.

31

1 critics the tasks of prose. Therefore, the broad sense of yi

wen wei shi includes the tendency to emphasize intellectual

significance and the abundance of argumentative discourses in

poetry writing. In fact, scholars usually take all these

three elements into considerations and treat them together

under the rubric of "making poetry out of prose."

1.2. Modern scholarship on "making poetry out of prose"

In discussing "making poetry out of prose" in Su Shi's

poetry. Song poetry in general, and the works of the pioneers

of this genre before the Song, mainly Du Fu and Han Yu, most

modern studies focus on the following aspects: formal

features, examination and evaluation in terms of the nature of poetry and some related aesthetic problems, and discussions surrounding 's remarks on Song poetry.

The first aspect of study is the formal features of

"making poetry out of prose." In this area, Wang Hong's study

is representative. In his book Su Shi shige yanjiu (A Study of Su Shi's Poetry), Wang Hong has a comprehensive discussion of "making poetry out of prose" in Su's poetry. He finds that

Su Shi tends to use a wide array of words, including colloquial words, words used by lower classes, words considered "vulgar" and thus not usually found in poetry, and words from local dialects. At the syntactic level, he notices that many of Su's poems borrow heavily grammatical patterns from prose and spoken language, including long sentences,

32 loose structures (as opposed to the dense images and tight

syntactic structures frequently found in regulated verse of the Tang poets) and heavy use of function words. At the conçositional level. Su Shi is famous for organizing and structuring his poems in various complicated and innovative ways similar to those we can find in prose writing, n Su Shi himself was an outstanding prose writer and one of the Eight

Masters of Prose Writing in the Tang and Song dynasties.

In fact, as scholars have indicated, "making poetry out of prose" did not start with Su Shi. For broadly defined yi wen wei shi, that is, incorporating elements of prose in poetry writing, we can trace back to the early development of

Chinese poetry. Critics have also noted that during the Tang

Dynasty, "making poetry out of prose" in the narrow sense (as in the process of forming a genre) was present in poems of Li

Bai # 6 (701-762), Du Fu (712-770), Han Yu and Bai Juyi

(772-846). For example, similar in approach to Wang

Hong's study, Yan Qi in a study of Han Yu also gives a detailed analysis of "making poetry out of prose" at the levels of poetic diction, syntax and structure, which are the three levels in traditional stylistics. In addition, he points out that unlike most other poets who made heavy use of bi it (simile) and xing # (evoking emotional response by describing scenes first), Han liked to make full use of fu ®

11 Ibid., 76-104.

33 method (description, narration) which, as viewed by many, was

more of a feature of p r o s e . 12 These and other similar studies

are certainly helpful in explaining how the poets "make

poetry out of prose" and showing the features exhibited in

their poems.

The second aspect of studies is the examination and

evaluation of "making poetry out of prose" in terms of the

nature of poetry, to ponder the relation of poetry and prose,

and to explore some aesthetic problems involved in "making

poetry out of prose." Most of the inçortant studies of

"making poetry out of prose" belong to this category. In

defending Su Shi's "making poetry out of argument," Zhu

Jinghua argues that the essence of artistic creation is the

"creation and crystallization of the human being's aesthetic

spirit." An artist can use any means to express that

"spirit." Argumentation is not only a legitimate means but

also cin innovation, an advance from Tang poetry that emerged

from the needs of a new historical condition. Zhu believes

that Su Shi's poetry represents the best of that advance.i3

Wang Hong theorizes "making poetry out of prose" in terms of

"natural art" versus "man-made art." Of course all artistic

^ Yan Qi devotes a chapter to discussing yi wen wei shi in Han Yu's poetry. See Yan Qi, Han shi lun gao # # # # (Xi'an: Shanxi remain chuban she, 1984), 136-77.

13 zhu Jinghua's argument can be seen in his "Su Shi yu Songshi yilunhua liquhua" (Su Shi and the development of Song Poetry toward Discussion and Reason) in Zhu Jinghua, Su Shi xin ping, 35-58.

34 works are man-made, no matter how "natural" they appear, but

some of them may look more "artificial" than others. Wang

Hong thinks that by "making poetry of out prose" Su Shi shows

that he is in favor of "natural" art. Therefore he pursues a

natural, plain style and is against the excessively ornate.^

Ge Zhaoguang sees Song poetry as a departure from Tang

regulated verse, which emphasizes exquisiteness,

suggestiveness and decorative symmetrical forms. Ge views

this as a positive innovation of Song poetry, and he further

suggests that it acts as a bridge to modern poetry in the

colloquial language.is

The last, and the least productive, group of studies are the many articles appearing shortly after the publication of

Mao Zedong's letter on poetry to Chen Yi, in which Mao dismissed Song poetry as "tasteless as chewing wax" because the Song poets "made poetry out of prose" and didn't understand how to do xingxiang siwei "thinking in imagery." "Thinking in imagery," according to Mao, is the

"correct" way of writing poetry and is what makes Tang poetry great. 16 Mao's remark, of course, could not be challenged in

14 See Chapter Two "On Su Shi's 'Making Poetry out of Prose'", in Wang Hong, Su Shi shige yanjiu, 50-107.

15 Ge Zhaoguang, "Cong Song shi dao baihuashi" , in Wenxue pinglun : $ : # # # 4 (1990), 77-92.

16 Mao's letter is in Mao Zedong shuxin xuanji # # (Beijing: Renmin chuban she, 1984), 607-9. It was written on July 21, 1965, but published much later in the

35 China at that time due to the political climate, and that explains why these articles basically echo and elaborate his argument with little originality.

Among the great number of scholarly works on the problem of "making poetry out of prose," Song shi poetry, and Su Shi, there are certainly many insightful observations and interesting arguments which greatly enhance our understanding of this problem and merit our serious attention. Yet some of the approaches taken by critics are problematic. For example, many studies are centered on the evaluative question of whether Song poetry is artistically inferior to its Tang counterpart. From our modern perspective, it seems fruitless to measure the quality of literary works or rank them in a sensible way, especially with works of different historical periods. Without full awareness of all the complexity and contingency of value and evaluation, this kind of evaluative approach is of little help in our understanding of literary phenomena. Another question that has been made an issue in the scholarship is whether "making poetry out of prose" is a legitimate way of writing poetry. This question represents a narrow view of poetry that has been abandoned by recent criticism. On the other hand, a real issue has been long either out of the vision of critics or has been treated in somewhat crude or simple manners, that is, the relation

late seventies.

36 between formal features of one's poetry and the poet's world view. It involves many questions. For exançle, is a genre merely represented by a set of formal features? What are the

forces behind the rise of a certain genre and the decline of another? And how does an author's world view affect his choice of literary genre(s)? I will try to address some of these issues in this thesis.

1.3. Genre theory in Western literary criticism

Genre theory is an important part of any major theory of literature. In this study, I will look at "making poetry out of prose" in light of Bakhtin's theory of genre. But to understand Bakhtin's importance, a short summary of the development of the concept "genre" in Western literary criticism is in order.

"Genre" is etymologically derived from the Latin genus, which means "kind" or "sort." It is one of the oldest theoretic concepts in the history of criticism. Genre criticism has traditionally concerned itself with the classification and description of literary texts. In the history of Western literary criticism, Plato is usually considered the first major figure to discuss the categorization of literary works. He distinguished three possible modes of reproducing an object, thing, or person.

One is by description, or portraying it by means of words, in works of this mode, the poet himself speaks and doesn't

37 attempt to turn our thought elsewhere. It is narrative in

which the poet gives all the speeches and also what comes

between the speeches. We finds this mode in dithyrambs. The

second is by mimicry,, or imitating, as in the cases of

tragedy and comedy, in which the poet likens himself to

someone else, either in voice or in looks. A third one, the

so-called mixed mode is inserted to account for literary

works which do not neatly fit into either of these modes. For

example, in epic narrative alternates with dialogue, thus it

has elements of the first two modes of writing, i? Accepting

Plato's basic divisions, Aristotle developed a more

sophisticated method of describing the three kinds, namely,

by distinguishing in each instance the means, the objects,

and the manner or mode of presentation.us Aristotle's theory

of genre established the foundation of genre criticism and

has influenced all theorists after him. The last criterion,

that of the "manner" of imitation, has been the basis of the

familiar triad: epic as impersonal narration (lately, the

novel has become the model of this mode), drama as dramatic

presentation, and lyric as direct speech (however, it took many years for lyric to be firmly established as a major

17 The discussion can be found in Plato, The Republic, translated by Allen Bloom (BasicBooks, 1991), Book III, 70-1,

18 Aristotle, Poetics, trans. Leon Golden, in David H. Richter, ed.. The Critical Tradition - Classical Texts and Contemporary Trends (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989), 42- 65.

38 genre). Based on Aristotle's second criterion for

distinguishing genres, the object, Northrop Frye developed an

elaborate theory of fictional types. In narrative. He points

out, "the plot consists of somebody doing something." Fiction

then "may be classified, not morally, but by the hero's power

of action, which may be greater than ours, less, or roughly

the same."19 According to the classification of fictional

works he devised, each work would fall into one of the

following five types based on "the h e r o ' " s power of action

compared with ours: mythic, romantic, high mimetic, low

mimetic, and ironic. 20

While Aristotle's genre theory has by no means lost its

importance and influence, critics since have developed their own theories. Basically, they accept that these large categories are common to all Western and many other

literatures, but new theories of genre are needed and have been developed to account for the more sophisticated and diversified literary phenomena. A glimpse at the history of literary criticism in the last two centuries can show part of the diversity of the new developments. First, some critics don't think the concept "genre" of much use. For example,

"Romantic writers play down and sometimes even reject generic norms as tyrannical constraints upon individual feeling. At

19 Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism (Princeton; Princeton University Press, 1957), 33.

20 Ibid., 33-35.

39 its most extreme this leads to Benedetto Croce's nominalistic

rejection of any generic categories whatsoever, with his

insistence that each work is, in a real sense, a genre

itself."21 New Criticism, dominating Anglo-American criticism

from the thirties to the fifties, is another antigeneric school. It focuses on the "literariness" of literary works and the analysis of the "texture" of individual texts. Thus it tends "to devalue the generic features of a text as extrinsic to its essential literariness. "22 The structuralist critics took a more dynamic view of genre. While acknowledging the relevance of genre, because denial of the existence of literary genre amounts to the claim that a new work bears no relation to previous works, they view genres not as systems of classification but as codes of communication: Literary works generate meaning by both complying to generic norms and violating them, and subsequently cause the development of the genre. 23

Deconstructive criticism, as both inheritor of and rebel against structuralism, however, started another round of antigeneric criticism. As indicated by one scholar, "the

21 Irena R. Makaryk, ed.. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory, Approaches, Scholars, Terms, 80-1.

22 Ibid., 81.

23 Ibid., 81-2. For a more detailed study of structuralism, see Jonathem Culler, Structuralist Poetics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1975).

40 concept of textuality introduced by deconstructive theory, with its insistence on the indeterminacy of textual meaning, overthrows any interpretive privilege or literary authority that the concept of genre may be said to h a v e . "24

The above account is by no means comprehensive, but we can see from it that although genre is primarily a classification of literary works, it involves all aspects of literature and raises fundamental questions about the nature and status of literary texts and how we interpret them. That is why there are perhaps as many theories of 'genre' as there are theories of literature. Each of these different theories reflects the theoretic position of its proponents and their understanding of literature, which will lead to new interpretations of literary works. Among twentieth century genre criticism, Bakhtin's view of genre is very important.

We will devote the next section to his views.

1.4. Bakhtin on literary genre

Mikhail Bakhtin is regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and has received a great deal of attention in the last twenty years, during which most of his major works have been translated into English. His work covers a number of fields, and it would not do him

24 Irena R. Makaryk, edited. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory^ Approaches, Scholarsf Terms, 81.

41 justice to call him only a critic, or philosopher, or something else. However, the greatest influence he has had is in literary theory and criticism. The terms introduced in his works, such as heteroglossia, polyphony, camivalesque, have been widely used in contemporary literary criticism.

Bakhtin's ideas are complex and multifaceted. We cannot possibly treat them in full here. To serve the purpose of discussing literary genres in this study, I will give a brief account of the key concepts in his works, which is essential to understanding his theoretic stance, and then I will proceed to discuss his idea on literary genre.

We start with an introduction of his philosophy of language. As complex and profound as Bakhtin's thinking is, it revolves around the central concept "dialogism," a concept which has been the focus of many discussions and debates among scholars. Bakhtin sees in general linguistics a terminological imprecision and confusion in defining what is speech. They "result from ignoring the real unit of speech communication: the utterance." He contends that "speech can exist in reality only in the form of concrete utterances of individual speaking people, speech subjects. Speech is always cast in the form of an utterance belonging to a particular speaking subject, and outside this form it cannot e x i s t . "2s

For Bakhtin, an utterance can be of any length, from a short

25 "The Problem of Speech Genres," in Bakhtin, Speech Genres and Other Later Essays, 71.

42 rejoinder in everyday dialogue to a long novel or scientific

treatise.

The dialogism he proposes denotes a fundamental

principle of discourse, the very condition of communication

and creating meaningful utterances, in this view of language,

there is a certain relation between distinct "voices" in any

utterance, in which each takes its shape as a conscious

reaction to the ideological position of the other. Dialogism

manifests itself as the constant mixing of intention of

speaker and listener; as the way an utterance acquires meaning by inflecting past utterances; as the need of each

form of speech to position itself stylistically among other existing forms. It can be seen in Western literature in practices such as parody, the use of socially marked language, and what Bakhtin calls stylization, the pointed emphasis of socially distinct speech. Bakhtin sees at the heart of human existence a struggle "between centrifugal forces that keep things apart and centripetal forces that strive to make things c o h e r e ."26 The most conçlete and complex reflection of these forces is found in human language.

From this view of language, Bakhtin develops a theory of genre. He does this in response to the formalist view of literature. Formalism takes a "bottom-up" approach to

26 Introduction to M. M. Bakhtin, Dialogic Imagination, trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist (Austin: University of Texas press, 1981), xviii.

43 literature, that is, to analyze literary works from elements of language. For Bakhtin, what is needed is a top-down

approach, from the whole work to its constituent parts.

Literary genre, as commonly understood, is a collection of devices or a particular way of combining linguistic elements.

But for Bakhtin, "theme always transcends language.

Furthermore, it is the whole utterance as speech performance that is directed at the theme, not the separate word, sentence, or period. It is the whole utterance and its forms, which cannot be reduced to any linguistic forms, which control the t h e m e . "27 He believes that utterances are ultimately formulated according not to "syntactic" but to

"generic" principles. Those principles establish ways of seeing. Thus, a genre is a specific way of visualizing a given part of reality. In other words, seeing is shaped by genres of expression. Bakhtin proposes that "human consciousness possesses a series of inner genres for seeing and conceptualizing reality. A given consciousness is richer or poorer in genres, depending on its ideological environment ."28 m Bakhtin's view, "literature occupies an important place in this ideological environment. As the plastic arts give width and depth to the visual realm and

27 M. M. Bakhtin/P. N. Medvedev, The Formal Method in Literary Scholarship - A Critical Introduction to Sociological Poetics, translated by Albert J. Wehrle (Cambridge: Harvard university Press, 1985), 132.

28 Ibid., 134.

44 teach our eye to see, the genres of literature enrich our

inner speech with new devices for the awareness and conceptualization of reality."29

As we can see from literary history, genres are not b o m overnight. Bakhtin sees the process as one of accumulating

forms of seeing and interpreting particular aspects of the world. "Having accumulated centuries of conceptualization, and carrying wisdom irreducible to any set of propositions, genres carry potentials that great writers may sense but which are ever beyond the capacity of any writer to ascertain specifically. "30 Bakhtin hence insists that "artists must learn to see reality with the eye of the genre."3i As the writer learns new genres, he learns to see differently and thus expands his repertoire of vision.

Besides giving a new interpretation of genre, Bakhtin also discusses the emergence of new genres. The rise of new genres is one of the most inçortant issues in any history of a literature. For example, in the history of Chinese literature, the questions of why and how five-character poetry, jinti 1511 poetry and ci poetry were established as

29 Ibid..

30 Gary Saul Morson and Caryl Enerson, Mikhail Bakhtin - Creation of a Prosaics (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990), 285.

31 M. M. Bakhtin/P. N. Medvedev, The Formal Method in Literary Scholarship - A Critical Introduction to Sociological Poetics, 134.

45 major poetic genres have been the focus of much scholarly discussion. Efforts have been made to illustrate how elements of a given new genre appeared in an old genre and how eventually it had grown and developed into a fully-fledged independent genre. There are important and interesting findings in these types of studies. Some modern scholars try to explain the rise of new genres by relating it to changes of social life. They argue that as social life changes, people's perception of reality also becomes more complicated.

Consequently, old genres become inadequate in "reflecting" new reality, and thus new reality calls for new genres. This relation, however, is never direct and clear. In Bakhtin's theory of genre, we can see some thoughts along this line. He believes that new genres reflect changes in real social life.

These changes lead to new views of experience and consequently give birth to new genres. The difference is that

Bakhtin goes one step further. According to his view, once a genre is established, it has its own life. It may teach people to see aspects of reality in a new way. However, genres have their limitations. "Each genre is only able to control certain definite aspects of reality. Each genre possesses definite principles of selection, definite forms for seeing and conceptualizing reality, and a definite scope

46 and depth of penetration. "32 in other vrords, genres are

combinations of specific blindness and insights.

Bakhtin's ideas on the nature of language and genres

ultimately led to a theory of the novel, which was fully developed in the 1930's and is the most influential of his ideas to the present. In his philosophy of language, linguistic elements, as long as they are used in concrete situations, are dialogic. However, he observes that among literary genres the best transcription of language so understood is the novel. In his view, "the novel as a whole is a phenomenon multiform in style and variform in speech and v o i c e . "33 He defines the novel as "a diversity of social speech types (sometimes even diversity of languages) and a diversity of individual voices, artistically o r g a n i z e d ."34

The internal stratification of a language, manifested as social dialects, characteristic group behavior, professional jargons, generic languages, languages of generations and age groups, tendentious languages, authorial speech, the speeches of narrators, inserted genres, the speech of the characters, etc., is the indispensable prerequisite for the novel as a genre. He sometimes uses "heteroglossia" or "polyphony" to

32 Ibid., 131.

33 Bakhtin, "Discourse in the Novel," in Dialogic Imagination (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981), 261.

34 Ibid., 262.

47 denote the multiplication of voices in the novel. On the

other hand, he thinks that most other genres cannot fully

reflect the features of the dialogic principle. These genres,

he says, begin with the assumption that the homogeneity of

the genre corresponds to ideas about the privileged status of

a unitary, centripetalizing language shared by its

practitioners on the one hand and its readers on the other.

They either share a presumption of authority, a claim to

absolute language (like the Bible and epic), or presuppose a

system of general normative forms and the unity of an

individual person realizing himself in this language (like

poetry "in its narrow sense"#). In other words, he believes

that heteroglossia is suppressed in these genres, and they

are thus monologic, not dialogic.

Bakhtin apparently holds that the novel and other

"novelistic" genres are superior to "monologic" genres such

as lyric poetry and epic. The questions of how to define

"monologic," and whether the poetic genres are inferior, is

certainly debatable. However, the dichotomy we find in his

works, namely, prosaic versus poetic, is an interesting one

that can shed light on our discussion of "making poetry out

of prose."

35 Bakhtin uses this term to refer to what he sees as the monologic poetic genres. In other words, he thinks that not all literary works in verse forms are monologic.

48 Bakhtin's theories of utterance, dialogue, and genres

are important and seminal. They open the literary text to

socio-historical scrutinies ; they make the text a field where

different ideas, values, and ideologies interact with each

other and conçÆte against each other; they allow the text to

conduct dialogue with texts of the past and anticipate those

of the future and thus provide the possibility of reading and

rereading the text.

1.5 Genre theory in Chinese literary criticism

The ancient Chinese did not spell out their thinking on the criteria of classification of writings as clearly as

Aristotle did in his Poetics, but that doesn't mean there was

no conception of division of writings. The basic distinction between poetry and prose was made as early as the Zhou dynasty when the poems in the Shi jing # # {Book of Songs) were collected separately from other types of writings.

During the three hundred years after the collapse of the Han

Dynasty, a number of outstanding theorists emerged and firmly established the foundation of Chinese literary criticism. For most of these critics literary genre is a very inçortant part of their theoretical construction. The most notable figures include Cao Pi # 2 of the Wei, Ji # # and Zhi Yu of the Jin, and Liu xie and Xiao Tong # # of the Liang.

Consideration of space forbids me to elaborate their views individually, but I want to note that genre theories of this

49 period are very comprehensive and rich in content. They cover

the discussions of the nature, the origin, the development,

the most in^ortant writers and works, and the stylistic

characteristics of each genre. The critics differ in how

elaborative their genre systems are; for example, Cao Pi

distinguishes eight genres, while Xiao Tong divides the

various writings into thirty-eight categories. Generally,

they pay great attention to stylistic characteristics of each

genre but do not explain in detail the criteria underlying

their generic classification. The most comprehensive of all

is Liu Xie's Wenxin diao long In this great work,

Liu Xie devotes a whole chapter to each genre to discuss its

origin, history, major authors, and stylistic features.

Besides the basic distinction of poetry and prose, and

later between fiction and drama, divisions within each major

genre also received much attention. Poetry in traditional

Chinese culture occupied a very special position. Unlike in most other cultures, where only a small elite was considered poets, poetry-writing eventually became essential for almost all Chinese literati after the Tang Dynasty. Considering the complexity and richness of the Chinese poetic tradition, more divisions within poetry were needed to better describe vcirious modes of writing poetry and different kinds of poetic works. Therefore, poetic sub-genres were always an important part of Chinese poetry and poetics. As early as the Zhou

Dynasty, poems collected in Shi jing were divided into three

50 parts, i. e., feng, # ya # and song The distinction was

made not by a single criterion but by subject matter, types

of authors, as well as stylistic qualities reflected in poems

in each category as a whole. This is, I want to emphasize, an

importcint quality of traditional Chinese genre criticism

shared by later critics.

In dealing with individual poets, traditional scholars

use ti # to describe their styles, like Bai ti (Bai Juyi's

style), Yuanji ti ('s style). In discussing the

poetry of an era or a mode of writing shared by a group of

poets, they also used ti as a suffix to dynastic names, such

as Qi-Liang ti, Later-Tang ti. Another usage of ti is a

little more complicated. For examples, Gao Cen ti r^^fl

refers to the style of two Tang poets, and Cen

Shen ^ # , and it also denotes a genre, the border poetry of

the Tang. In the same manner, Wang-Meng ti denotes both

Wang Wei 4:# and 's style and their "field

and garden" poetry. The concept ti in Chinese poetics has

semantic, thematic, stylistic as well as formal dimensions.

1.6. "Making poetry out of prose" as a genre in Su Shi's

Poetry

For our purposes, we can see two different general views on poetry among traditional critics. One is a "narrow" view, exemplified in Yan Yu' Canglang shihua, which regards the poets of the High Tang as the model of all poetry. The

51 reason, as he states, is that the High Tang poets only rely

on their inspiration and excitement. Therefore the wondrous

subtlety of their poetry is limpid and delicate and can never

be quite captured. In this view of poetry, qualities such as

hanxu (suggestiveness, implicitness) and yixing

(inspirations and spontaneity) are what a "real" poem should

have. Other critics tcüce a "broader" view of poetry. They can

perfectly appreciate and admire the beauty of the best

"suggestive" poems, but they would not dismiss other kinds of poetry, poems "made out of prose," with "vulgar" languages, argumentative discourses and a wide array of subjects, themes and poetic devices. For the holders of the first view,

"making poetry out of prose" is a heretical method that violates the "purity" of poetry. But critics holding the second view see it as another kind of poetry that not only has its own value but also anticipates the birth of a new vernacular poetry hundreds of years l a t e r . 36 m the study of

Chinese traditional poetics, the first view, represented by

Sikong Tu Yan Yu and Wang Shizhen 2Ed:#, has received much attention. It has been regarded as the mainstream and the school that best represents the real characteristics, great achievement and true value of Chinese poetry and

36 For example, Ge Zhaoguang's essay "Cong Songshi dao baihuashi" (see note 14) has an interesting and insightful discussion of the development from the Song poetry to the "revolution of poetry" and the birth of the new poetry earlier this century.

52 poetics. At the same time, other kinds of Chinese poetry that

do not fit this mode are relatively undervalued, including

"making poetry out of prose."

As an important and inseparable part of the Chinese

poetic tradition, "making poetry out of prose" merits more

serious study. Because "making poetry out of prose" in Su

Shi's poetry exhibits distinctive features and embodies an

"ideology," a way of seeing and representing the world, it

can be viewed as a poetic genre in Bakhtin's sense of this

term, in the following chapters I will discuss Su Shi's

"world view" and how it is embodied in the genre "making

poetry out of prose."

Before starting our exploration, we need to distinguish

"making poetry out of prose" in Su Shi's poetry from that in

works of other poets. The question is, can what we are going

to say about Su Shi be said about other poets of the Song and

other poetic predecessors such as Han Yu, since elements of

"making poetry out of prose" can be found in their poems in

one way or another?

We have already noted that Su Shi was not the first poet

to "make poetry out of prose." We can find elements of

"making poetry out of prose" in works of , Du Fu and

especially Han Yu. My view is that, on the one hand, we may

find affinities in "spirit" in the works of those poets,

which inheres in the genre "making poetry out of prose." On

the other hand, each poet has his own way of employing

53

il aspects of the genre to express his views and respond to the

particular situations in his life, and there will certainly

be differences. The poets I mentioned above are among the

most prominent of Chinese poets. In some areas of poetic art

their achievements are greater than Su Shi's. However, the

qualities and characteristics of "making poetry out of prose"

as a genre, a "form-shaping ideology," are most fully

demonstrated in Su Shi's poetry. The formation of a poetic

genre takes time, and elements of "making poetry out of

prose" in other poets' works can be viewed as developments in

the process of its early formation.

In the above brief account of the criticism of "making poetry out of prose," we have noted that some critiques were directed at Su Shi himself and others to the Song shi poetry

in general. Because some major poets of the Song share

features of "making poetry out of prose" in the broad sense,

it does give us an overall impression of the aesthetic and stylistic characteristics of Song poetry in general as opposed to its Tang counterpart. However, we have to be cautious not to apply it indiscriminately to the great number of Song poets with diverse styles. First of all, not all Song poets wrote poems in the mode of "making poetry out of prose." He Zhu's # # (1052-1125) poems and some of Wang

Anshi's poems are, for example, quite close to Tang poetry stylistically, and both are inçortant poets. More importantly, we have to be careful in studying Song poets who

54 are considered to belong to the canç of "making poetry out of

prose," because they also have their own voices and stylistic

imprints that need to be identified and studied accordingly.

The prominent example is Huang Tingjian and the

School he led. Huang used to be one of Su Shi's famous Four

Students, and is recognized along with Su Shi as one of the

two most important Song poets. In discussing Huang's poetry,

literary historian Liu Dajie has an insightful remark:

In the development of Song poetry, after Su Shi, he [Huang Tingjian] is indeed the most unique and creative poet. Su Shi is very talented and erudite. He read writings of the past comprehensively and took the elements that best suited him. But he did not like to intentionally try to be unique. Although his artistic achievement is extremely high, stylistically he was not known for something really extraordinary and thus did not found a school. Huang Tingjian is different. He had his own style, method and attitude of writing poetry. Therefore he could found a powerful school. 37

There are two important points in this passage. First, Huang

Tingjian's poetry is very different from Su Shi's, despite

the fact that some critics regard him as another prominent

representative of "making poetry out of prose." Second,

although Su's status in poetry is higher for many critics,

Huang had greater actual influence during the Song. He had many followers, who eventually established a major poetic

school that lasted throughout the Song, and he was crowned

37 Liu Dajie, Zhongguo wenxue fada shi, (Taipei: Zhonghua shuju, 1968), 668.

55 late as its forefather. In short, "making poetry out of prose" as described in this thesis has its specific referent, which is Su Shi's poetry.

56 CHAPTER 2

THE PLURALISTIC VIEW OF VALUES AND THE "PROSAIC WISDOM"

In chapter 1, I argued that as a poetic genre "making

poetry out of prose" as reflected in Su Shi's poetry is not

merely represented by some formal features; behind the formal

features is a world view, a new way of seeing the world, a

"form-shaping" ideology. The question naturally follows; what

are the characteristics of Su Shi's world view? I will try to answer this question in this chapter. It is not intended to be a comprehensive treatment of Su Shi's political, philosophical and aesthetic views.i What I want to reveal is a kind of "intellectual orientation" of Su Shi, which is

1 A concise account of Su Shi's political ideas can be found in Hsiao Kung-chuan #&-#, Zhongguo zhengzhi sixiang shi if (Taipei: Zhonghua wenhua chuban shiye weiyuanhui, 1961), 488-91. Another, more comprehensive discussion of his views regarding the contemporary political situation can be seen in Zeng Zaozhuang Su Shi pingzhxian (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe, 1981), 38-57. In the same book, Zeng also has a chapter dealing with Su Shi's philosophical views, see 236-253. For a study in English, see Peter Bol, This Culture of Ours ( Stanford : Stanford University Press, 1992). Peter Bol discusses Su Shi's thought in the intellectual transitions in Tang and Song China, see 254-299. 57 reflected in his attitude toward various situations in his

life, his approach to diverse ideas, and his way of engaging himself with different kinds of people.

2.1. "School-affiliation" approach and its limits

Su Shi has been mainly taken as a major figure in literature euid arts. It seems that not everyone is aware that he was also the leader of the Shaxue (the Shu School), one of the major schools of learning in the Song intellectual arena. Although the Shu School was not mainstream, and it eventually declined, it nevertheless had a certain influence during his time.2 Based on assimilating ideas from various sources and drawing from his own life experience. Su Shi formed his own views on politics, history and literature. His thought can be seen in two forms. One is philosophical essays, in which he directly voiced his views on such issues as the human nature, li W. (Rites), and the Dao. Another source is his literary works, in which his ideas and values are expressed somewhat more indirectly.

2 Shuxue was one of the major schools of learning during the Yuanyou period of the Northern Song Dynasty, it had the name because its leaders Su Shi, Su zhe, and Lu Tao were all from Sichuan (Shu). Another school was Luoxue led by and others (all of them were from ). Because the two schools were competing factions in court politics, they were also called Shudang # # (Shu faction) and luodang (Luo faction). As the names suggest, differences between the two lied in both philosophy and politics. 58 Conventionally, the golden age of Chinese thought was

seen as the period several hundred years before the founding of the Qin Dynasty. During this period some of the greatest thinkers in Chinese history developed and spread their diverse ideas through arguing with one another and competing

for followers. It has been called the era of "Competition between Hundred Schools." However, with the victory of the

Qin in its battle for unifying China came a most ruthless and brutal intellectual repression. Afterward, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han, a revised version of Confucianism was declared as the sole official ideology, other schools of learning declined, with the exception of Daoism which continued to have influence in intellectual life of later times.3 Buddhism came to China in the Han, but it was not until the Jin Dynasty that it started to have a really significant impact on the Chinese literati. Since then,

Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism became the three major schools of thought in traditional China, forming the spectrum of Chinese thought, beyond which few traditional Chinese literati went. Yet all three schools have profound world views and conprehensive theories dealing with aspects of

3 However, we need to note that Legalist ideas played a crucial part in the development of the imperial system in traditional China, although on the surface it was abandoned and even denounced. On the contribution of Legalism to autocratic government in China, see Kung-chuan Hsiao, "Legalism and Autocracy in Traditional China," Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies, 4, no. 2 (February 1964), 108-22.

59 individual and social life. Over the years thinkers and

theorists within each school have disagreed with and argued

against each other on many issues and their ideas have

enriched and enhanced those schools of thought. In other

words, within each "school" there is a great degree of

independent thinking. Moreover, the three major schools are

by no means isolated from one another; there has been a

constant dialogue among them, and they have influenced one

another in different and significant ways. They challenge and

sometimes fight one another, but they also negotiate with and complement one another.* It is true, as we have discussed, that Confucianism was the "official" ideology recognized by most rulers of traditional China, and the privileged position it occupied often gave it great leverage over other thoughts when they were in conflict. But it is only due to the dynamic interactions among all three schools that Chinese thought as a whole avoided the possible intellectual impoverishment when one ideology has hegemony over all others. Naturally, many traditional Chinese literati read widely and assimilated

4 Zhao Shulian traces the history of the fighting and merging of the three major schools from the Han to the Qing. See Zhao Shulian, # # # Zhongguo ren sixiang zhi yuan (Changchun: Jinling wenshi chuban she, 1992). In a book chapter on "ways of thinking" of the Chinese, Hajime Nakamura discusses how "Buddhist thought was understood by the Chinese in a reconciling and harmonizing way," such as the "Ge yi" # # method (the "method of analogy") and the compromise between the theory of Confucianism and Buddhism in some works of Chinese scholars. See Hajime Nakamura, The Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples, (Printing Bureau, 1960), 284- 97. 60 elements of thought from more than one school. It added

dimensions and complexity to their intellectual life and had

consequences for their literary creation.s

It has been a common approach of Chinese literary

critics, traditional and modern, to identify a writer

"mainly" with one school, while indicating the possible

complexity of their thought. However, this approach works

better with some than others. For example, most critics will

not argue against the view that Du Fu mainly took a Confucian

stand in regard to social and personal issues, or that Wang

Wei was heavily influenced by the Buddhist and Daoist views

of the world, although they were not limited to those.

This approach has also been used in Su Shi studies.

However, this picture is problematic with Su Shi. First of

all, there is a correlation between the genre in which he wrote and a particular aspect of his thought. In other words,

ideas and values of a certain school may be more pronounced in a certain genre than in others. In his political career, as a candidate for public office and as an official. Su Shi wrote many political essays. The most well-known are a group of twenty-five essays presented to the throne, in which Su

Shi discussed strategies for governing the country and

5 For a brief introduction to Chinese philosophy in English, see wing-tsit Chan, "Chinese Philosophy," in his Neo-Confucianism, Etc.: Essays by wing-tsit Chan (Hanover: Oriental Society, 1969), 367-403. Another good introduction is Fung Yu-lan, A Short History of Chinese Philosophy, New York: Free Press, 1966. 61 proposed solutions to such domestic and foreign-relation problems as the promotion of officials, taxation system, military training, and the relation with the nomad states on the north and west borders. In these discussions of policy­ making and governing. Su Shi speaks in the persona of an official loyal to the throne, a strategist worrying about the crises the country is facing. It is only natural in this type of writing that he makes arguments mainly in terms of

Confucian ideas. In another twenty-five essays, also written for the emperor's review, he comments on some important historical figures and judges them basically from Confucian values. He shows reverence for Confucius and expresses belief in Confucianism. Meanwhile, he rejects all other thinkers, including Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi, Mo Zi, and Han Fei etc., regarding them as heretics causing great confusion among the people. He even criticizes Xun zi, another major thinker in the Confucian tradition, for being fond of making new and different arguments in order to attract attention.s

Judged by these essays alone. Su Shi's views are quite orthodox, and that is the main reason that some critics regard him ultimately as a Confucian. However, these essays were written for special examinations given by the emperor, and for such occasions he had to base his arguments on the

6 The fifty essays were collected in Ying zhao ji See Su Dongpo quanji (hereafter, SDPQJ) (Beijing: Zhongguo shudian, 1986), vol. 2, 726-81. For a discussion of these essays, see Zeng Zaozhuang, Su Shi pingzhuan, 38-57. 62 dominant Confucian values. In addition, he was only twenty-

six when he submitted these essays- In a letter to a young

friend who admired his earlier writings, he wrote with

regret, "when I was young ny reading and writing were only

for the purpose of taking the civil examinations. As time

went by Su Shi experienced many turbulent events in his life,

through which he developed into a more sophisticated and

mature thinker and after which he had few writings of this

nature.

The majority of Su Shi's works are in the genres of shi

poetry, ci poetry, fu, and literary prose. Those I will call

his literary writings, to be distinguished from his "public

writings" discussed a b o v e . s su Shi's literary writings are

different in nature from the "public writings" in the sense

that they were written not so much for fulfilling certain

social obligations as for expressing himself. Although there may be no writings that expose a completely "true" self, it

is more likely for the writer to express what he really thinks and feels and reveal more of his views and values in

7 "Yu Li Duanshu shu," See SDPQJ, vol. 1, 367

8 I hesitate to call these literary writings "private writings," which would have formed a good parallel with "public writing," because Su Shi's works were hardly really "private" although he himself might intend to regard them as such. It was often the case that his writings were in widespread circulation shortly after their creation. In fact, his poems were used as major evidence against him in the famous "Trial of Crow Terrace." 63 literary writings, because here the writer is generally driven less by abstract doctrines and more by real-life experiences, moods, sentiments, or inspirations. Therefore, the richness and complexity of his inner world can be better and more fully represented in creative writings. In Su Shi's literary writings and some personal letters to his friends, the ideas and values he expresses are more diverse and heterogeneous than we see in his public writings. Some of those works reflect Confucian values, like the poems expressing his desire to serve the country and benefit the people and those showing his sympathy for the people's suffering.9 But compared with many other major poets, there are relatively few of these poems in Su Shi's oeuvre. The more influential are the poems in which he reacts to the various situations in his life and expresses his philosophical reflections over aspects of human life and the world. In many of these poetic works the traces of the influence of Daoist and Buddhist philosophies can be seen clearly, but more often than not, they are not simply embodiments of a certain philosophy but the result of assimilating elements of different schools in subtle and complex ways.

9 For examples, "Wuzhong tianfu tan" Su Shi, Su Shi Shi ji annot. Wang Wengao and punctuated and collated by Kong Fanli (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1982 (hereafter, SSSJ) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1982), vol. 2, 404-5, and "Lizhi tan" SSSJ, vol. 7, 2126-8. 64 The fact that Su Shi was heavily influenced by all three

major schools of thought in China has been recognized by most

critics, but they have different views on how to account for

them: some argue that while he mixes elements of all the big

three schools, Confucianism is dominant in his thought when

he holds offices and Daoism and Buddhism take over when he is

in e x i l e ; 10 others insist that Confucianism is the leading

force in his thought and Daoism and Buddhism are only

supplemental ; 11 and still others believe that Su Shi is

basically a Daoist. 12 These views surely have their validity

and can more or less make their cases, which should not be

dismissed, but none of them, I feel, is convincing enough.

The problem is that whenever we try to define him in terms of

school affiliation, no matter what it is, we can always find evidence that contradicts that definition. A comment made on a particular occasion will be contradicted by views expressed on another. His writing is rife with conflicts and contradictions and this complexity in his thinking is very characteristic of Su Shi. The solution, however, is not to

10 One proponent of this view is Wang Shuizhao See his Su Shi xuanji (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1984), 8-9.

11 Zeng Zaozhuang treats this issue in some detail in his Su Shi pingzhuan. See 236-63.

12 zhong Laiyin wrote a whole book to present his argument that Su Shi was a Daoist. See his Su Shi yu daojia daojiao (Taipei: Xuesheng shuju, 1990). 65 avoid the political and philosophical questions but to rethink the methodology in the study of Su Shi's thought. I would agree with Zhu Jinghua when he argues that "we cannot bring his rich and complex personality and all the development and changes of that personality in the complicated and changing socio-historical process into a static and simple model and then try to conduct a quantitative a n a l y s i s . This remark points out the problematic nature of this "school-affiliation" approach to

Su Shi and advocates a more dynamic view of the writer's inner world. What Zhu Jinghua implies in his remark is that we need to distinguish between the individual, isolated statements or comments and the "way of thinking," or the more fundamental intellectual orientation underlying those comments. I believe this is the more comprehensive way to reveal Su Shi's approach to different thoughts and the way he makes his voice heard through the web of traditional thinkers.

In "The Epitaph of Mr. Dongpo," Su Shi's brother and dearest friend, Su Zhe # # , outlined the path of Su Shi's intellectual development:

He at first liked the works of Jia Yi and Lu Zhi, because they discussed the order and chaos of the past and the present and never wrote empty words.

13 This remark was made in the preface to Wang Hong's Su Shi shige yanjlu, p. 2. 66 Then after reading Zhuang zi, he said with a sigh: "In the past I had some ideas in my mind but could not put them into words. Now I have read Zhuang Zi, and I feel it has said what I wanted to say! " Afterward he read works of Buddhism and achieved deep comprehension of the phenomena of the world. Relating Buddhism to and negotiating it with ideas of Confucianism and Daoism, he became so erudite and eloguent that he is like a vast sea whose end cannot be seen.u

This picture may be somewhat simplified in terms of the time sequence of Su Shi's intellectual development, for Su Shi was exposed to Daoist teachings early in his life. However, Su

Zhe rightly indicates the multiple sources from which Su Shi drew inspiration. Noticeably, in the above passage Su Zhe uses the verb can # to describe how Su Shi incorporates the diverse ideas. Can has the meaning of "consulting,"

"complementing," and "relating," and thus implies that elements of these schools of thought in Su Shi's mind work in such a way that none of them completely dominates others.

So far we have discussed Su Shi's intellectual orientation in relation to systems of belief. We should note that he was not alone in drawing inspirations from various sources. In fact it was the intellectual trend in the Song to synthesize the major schools in one way or another. It is important to note that Su Shi did not simply mix elements of the great schools of thought. What makes Su Shi unique is his attitude towards the different ideas, his way of reconciling

14 See SSSJ, vol. 8, 2813. 67 and negotiating between the ancient thinkers. We will

discuss this in the next section.

2.2. Su Shi's pluralistic view of values and his

interpretation of the Dao

What is a pluralistic view of values? It may not be

easy to define in strictly theoretic terms. Here I want to

use it to refer to a view that does not take any idea or

philosophy of a certain thinker or school of thought as

absolute truth to be followed by everyone. It is against

forms of intellectual uniformity, and instead acknowledges

the values of different ideas and demonstrates an attitude

that respects differences. The person who takes such a

pluralistic view of values is more open and willing to resort

to different ideas to deal with different situations in his

life, when he believes it is appropriate.

Did Su Shi have a pluralistic view of values? In some

instances, it did not seem so. As we have indicated on some

occasions Su Shi clearly affirmed his faith in Confucian

values. This is no wonder since Confucianism was the

"official" state ideology, and Su Shi spoke in the persona of

a high-profile political figure. By saying this, i am not

suggesting Su Shi was lying or hiding his true ideas. He could well have meant what he said at those moments. But by examining his attitude towards different ideas and his position in the then current debates on values, we can see

68 that he opposed the complete dominance of any single ideology

and held a pluralistic view of values. The confrontation between Su Shi and Wang Anshi is a good starting point for investigating his pluralistic view.

Wang Anshi was the mastermind of the controversial "New

Policies" of the Northern Song Dynasty, an economic and political reform program aimed at improving the social, military and fiscal condition of the state.is With the support of Emperor Shenzong, Wang Anshi implemented a series of economic and social policies. Although he did not stay in power very long, his legacy loomed large for a long time. The fierce fight between the "reformers" and the "anti-reformers" shaped to a great extent the political scene of the latter part of the Northern Song.

The relation between Su Shi and Wang Anshi has long interested scholars. Basically, they were political foes, but the two developed a mutual respect and finally managed to achieve a degree of mutual understanding after Wang retired from public life. Here the assessment of the "New Policies" and the relation between Wang Anshi and Su Shi are not our

15 Wang Anshi's reform is very controversial and there are many studies that give it different assessments. A comprehensive and influential treatment of Wang Anshi' life and the reform he led can be found in Deng Guangming Wang Anshi '-F/ic'U (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1975). Deng highly praises Wang's contribution. For a study in English, see James T. C. Liu, Reform in Sang China: Wang An-shih (1021-1086) and his New Policies (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959). 69 concern. What interest us is a debate between them on unified

ideas and values.

Wang Anshi was also a major thinker of his time, and to

support the political reform he was leading, he needed to

provide a theory. Typical of Chinese literati, he developed

his ideas through exegesis of the Classics and writing on contençorary politics. Wang Anshi was bold in developing and presenting his thinking. He commented that the people who are good at learning "only pursue truth (li JI). If they feel they are right, they will accept the words of people as humble as fishermen and woodcutters. If the arguments are false, they will not dare to follow them even if they are said by the

Duke of Zhou and Confucius.As bold as this remark is, however, Wang Anshi ironically took a firm stance in upholding the ideas of the ancient sages. Particularly, he emphasized the necessity of the unification of shi b values.

In a letter to a friend, he wrote:

The ancients "unified morality and made customs [for all]." Therefore when shi looked to what the ancients had accomplished for standards, there was no difference of opinion. Today families hold to separate Dao and men to different virtues. Moreover, [the virtues] they hold are pressed by the force of vulgar customs, and they are unable to

■<6 See Monk Huihong Lengzhai yehua annot. Chen Xin (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1988), 47. 70 be like the ancients in every case; how can the difference of opinion be fully r e p r e s s e d ?

Wang Anshi is nostalgic for an ancient time when there was no difference of opinions (of course, this is a myth itself), and laments the degenerated customs and loss of unified values. How to remedy this chaos of his day that families hold to separate Dao and men to different virtues? Wang Anshi explains with a personal anecdote. He had two good friends he admired. To his surprise, he observed their words and actions were very much alike, though they hadn't ever talk to each other before. The reason, he believes, is that "they learn from the sages and that is all. When we learn from the sages, our friends and teachers will necessarily be men who also learn from the sages. The words and actions of sages are uniform; of course [our friends and teachers] will resemble each other. "18 For Wang Anshi, there is nothing wrong in individuals being the same. On the contrary, being the same is a desired ideal. He believed that the Dao of the sages is universally applicable and valid for different

17 Wang Anshi, "Yu Ding Yuanzhen shu," , see Linchaan xiansheng wenji, (hereafter LCXSWJ) (Taipei: Zhonghua shuju, 1987) 75.6. The translation is Peter Bol's with minor modification, see Peter Bol, This Culture of Ours (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992), 218.

18 "Tongxue yi shou bie Zigu," LCXSWJ 71.7. The translation is Peter Bol's with minor modification, see his This Culture of Ours, 189. 71 circumstances. 19 With this firm faith in the universality of

the Classics, he initiated his campaign of unifying shi

values by reinterpreting the Classics, including Shi jing

( The Book of the Songs ), Shang shu # ( The Book of the

Documents), and Zhou li (The Book of the Rites) according

to his understanding. He himself wrote Zhouguan xinyi

(The New Interpretation of Zhou Li), whereas interpretations

on the other two were written by his son and his disciples

but based on his ideas. Then after gaining the approval of

Emperor Shenzong, the new interpretations of the Three

Classics were assigned as the official textbooks for all

schools. All other interpretations of the Classics were abolished. Consequently, in the State Civil Service

Examinations, all the candidates had to write their essays based on the new interpretations. Wang Anshi did not do this without practical considerations. He believed that by doing this officials loyal to the reform could be trained and his ideas could be spread to become powerful tools to transform the world.

Wang Anshi sees the unification of shi values as necessary to his political agenda. But Su Shi took a different position on this issue. In a letter to a friend, Su wrote:

19 Wang Anshi made this comment in "Yu Zu Zezhi shu' see LCXSWJ, 77. 3-4. 72 The decline of writing has never been worse than it is today, and it is really caused by Mr. Wang. Wang's own writings are not necessarily bad, but his problem is his desire to make people the same as he is. Even Confucius was unable to make people the same, as Yan Yuan's virtue and zilu's courage could not exchange. However, Mr. Wang wants his ideas to make the whole world the same. The goodness of the earth is to bring into being things, and what is important is that DIFFERENT things are brought into being. Only in barren and salty soils does one only see yellow reeds and white rushes, which are what Mr. Wang will possibly get [by making the world the s a m e ] . 20

Su Shi is not criticizing any one of Wang's policies or opinions, although he has plenty of objections to those. He goes deeply into the more fundamental issue; the choice between intellectual uniformity or diversity of views. Given the fact that Su had respect (as did many of his contemporaries) for Wang, he nevertheless directly and unmistakably voices his strong opposition to Wang's effort to unify the shi value euid to his intolerance to differences, which he believes are against the spirit of Confucius himself and which will lead to intellectual impoverishment. Having criticized Wang's support of intellectual uniformity, Su makes his own position clear: "The goodness of the earth is to bring into being things, and what is important is that

DIFFERENT things are brought into being." By saying so he implies that only intellectual diversity can get us closer to the Dao.

20 "Da Zhang Wengian shu," SDPQJ, vol. 1, 376. 73 The difference between Su and Wang in this regard is

fundamental and significant. It has stimulated debates among

people all the way up to the present. Interestingly, the

renowned Neo-Confucian thinker of the Southern Song,

(1130-1200), added his voice to the debate. We know that

Su Shi was deeply involved in the intense, sometime fierce,

up-and-down strife between the "reformers" led by Wang Anshi

and the opposition of Wang led by (1019-

1086), and Su Shi basically was against Wang's reform program. Zhu Xi also opposed Wang Anshi and the reform Wang

led. Despite the fact that politically Zhu Xi and Su Shi belonged to the same camp and Zhu was very critical of Wang

Anshi, Zhu nevertheless found common ground with Wang in this debate:

Dongpo said that the learning of Jing Gong [Wang Anshi] was not necessarily bad but he should not ask others to accept the ideas he had. Dongpo was not right. If Jing Gong's ideas were correct, and everyone agreed with him and everyone had correct ideas, then what would be wrong with that? .... If what we see are all millet and no bristlegrass, why is it not good? However, Jing Gong's learning itself has its own problems.21

Zhu Xi disagrees with many of Wang Anshi's political ideas, but he agrees with Wang in the possibility of the purity and

"correctness" of ideas that everyone should follow and sees

21 Zhu Xi, Zhu Zi yu lei edited by Li Jingde (Taipei: Zhengzhong shu ju, 1962), 5026-7. 74 nothing wrong in the attempt to make everyone share these

values. Both Wang and Zhu want unification and uniformity of

values, and would enforce it if possible. But Su Shi insists

that uniformity of thought is both impossible and

undesirable.

Su Shi's pluralistic view has its philosophical root in

the connection between his theory of epistemology and his

theory of values. As many thinkers before him, he discussed

Dao, one of the most important and protean concepts in

Chinese thought. Considering the importance of his

understanding of the Dao merits some discussion here, for it

will shed light on his pluralism.

The concept Dao, meaning literally the "way," appears in

such important philosophical works as Lun yu Hën (Analects)

of Confucius, Dao de jing of Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi, and

Yi jing but has different meanings.22 what makes things even

more complicated is that the Dao is subject to different

interpretations even within a single school of thought. When coming to interpret the Dao, thinkers and scholars often disagree with one another. This diversity of the

interpretation, I think, is healthy, because it gives room for later thinkers to develop their own thinking. Once a thinker forms his own interpretation of the Dao, it has

22 Fung Yu-lan discusses the concept Dao in different thinkers and schools. See A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (New York: Free Press, 1948). 75 consequences in his other views. Certainly, it would affect

his literary creation, if he happens to be a writer.

Su Shi's interpretation of the Dao can be seen in his Su

Shi Yi zhuan

When yin and yang interact, things appear; after the things appear, they have images. When images come to rise, yin and yang disappear...... The sages knew that the Dao was hard to talk about, they then spoke of it as yin and yang. When they say one yin and one yang, they mean the time when yin and yang have not interacted and things have not come to exist When yin and yang interact, things come to exist. The first thing is water. Water is between existence and nonexistence, as it just leaves nonexistence and enters existence. Lao Zi knew that, so he said 'the highest virtue is like water.' He also said 'water is close to the Dao.' Although the virtue of the sages can be named, it is not limited to one thing, just like water which has no constant shape. Therefore water is the highest virtue and is the closest to the Dao. However, it is still not the Dao itself...... When yin and yang interact things come to exist; when Dao goes to things we get virtue. When things come to exist yin and yang retreat; when virtue is established Dao can no longer be s e e n . 23

Su Shi, as other scholars, regards Dao as the highest cosmological entity, and yin and yang the two fundamental elements and the agents of the Dao that bring into being everything in the world. In this account of how things come to exist, the most important point is on the relation between

Dao and the myriad things. According to Su Shi, Dao is the

23 Su Shi yi zhuan # 1 ^ # # , In Xuejin tao yuan, ^ # # 1 ^ comp. Zhang Haipeng # 7# # (Nanjing: Jiangsu guji chuban she, 1990), Book 3, 374. 76 most abstract, and very difficult to talk about, so the sages

talk about yin and yang. Yin and yang are still intangible,

but they are relatively easier to understand. When yin and

yang interact, things are brought into being, among which

water is the first thing to be produced. After things come to

exist, yin and yang retreat, and Dao, the most abstract,

although still in myriad things, is hidden and cannot be

seen. Therefore each individual person has to seek the Dao by

himself in each individual thing. By inference, the Dao is

not a fixed entity that one can claim to command. The

significance of this interpretation is that it opens the door

to different ways to interpret the D a o . 24

In "Ri yu" H # ("The Analogy for the Sun"), a well-

known essay, Su Shi tells a story of a blind man who sought

to know what the sun was like, which further explains how Su

Shi views the Dao:

Someone told him that the sun's shape resembled that of a tin pan, so he rapped a pan and heard its sound. Later he heard a bell and thought it was the sun. Someone told him the sun's rays were like a candle, so he fingered a candle and felt its shape.

2 4 Zhu Xi criticized Su Shi for separating Dao from yin- yang. He also said: "[Su] does not know Dao but tries to fathom and explain it with theories of 'nothingness' and 'elimination of desires.'" See Zhu Xi Zhu Zl quanji ( Taipei : Dafang shuju, 1963), 72.22. Apparently, Zhu was unhappy that Su Shi used ideas of Lao Zi and possibly Buddhism in his interpretation of Yi jing. 77 Later he handled a flute and thought it was the sun. 25

The point Su Shi wants to make from this story is how difficult it is to know things, even something so visible as the sun, and it is certainly enormously harder to know the

Dao. Many seekers after the Dao often erred in the way they sought the Dao just as the blind man can't grasp the nature of the sun; "Some label it according to what they have seen and some, not seeing anything, imagine it."26 Does that mean that Dao cannot be had? Not necessarily. Su Shi's conclusion is, "Dao can be cultivated naturally (zhi ^), but it cannot be sought after artificially (giu $). "z? The distinction between zhi and giu is subtle and somewhat elusive, but the implication is, I think, that the Dao is hidden in things, and it can only be "cultivated" naturally in the pursuit of worldly affairs, but cannot be sought after strenuously with a fixed mind.

In the above passage quoted from Su Shi's interpretation of Zhou yi, water is considered closest to the Dao.28 a

25 SDPQJ, vol. 1, 298,

26 Ibid..

27 Ibid., 299.

28 In that passage Su Shi cites the water metaphor from Lao zi to support his argument. Lao zi uses water to symbolize a philosophy of non-competition, in which the virtue of water is that it "benefits all things but does not 78 discerning reader can probably notice a connection between Su

Shi's poetry and water. In a poem describing the enjoyment of

boating on the Ying River with his friends, Su writes;

I was b o m to enjoy the sight of water, and having the Ying before me, I feel amazed. Here at this official post only ten days. Nine of them spent by the river.

° 29

Why is Su Shi so fond of water? At the end of the same poem

he explains: "Observing the wonder of it, we all have gains'

20 Although he doesn't specify what he means by

gains, they are not something material or practical but

something subtle and abstract that has to do with spiritual

compete with them. It dwells in (lowly) places that all disdain. This is why it is so near to Dao." See wing-tsit Chan, trans.. The Way of Lao Tzu, (Indianapolis: The Bobs- Merrill Company, Inc., 1963), 113. Lao Zl Chapter 32 also says: "Analogically, Tao [Dao] in the world may be compared to rivers and streams running into the sea," (ibid., 157) indicating the connection between the Dao and water. Su Shi cited Lao Zi to support his view that Dao does not have a constant shape.

29 SSSJ, vol. 6, 1794-5.

30 Here Su Shi alludes to Lao Zi Chapter 1, gu chang wu, yu yi guan qi miao "Therefore let there always be non-being, so we may see their subtlety." See Wing-tsit Chan, Way of Lao Tzu, 97. 79 inspiration or the apprehension of a higher order. For Su Shi

water represents not only natural beauty but also the source

of inspiration to better understand the Dao. Not incidently,

critics like to use water-related expressions and metaphors

to comment on Su Shi's works. For example, Su Zhe remarked:

"Since Su Shi was banished to Dongpo, his learning progressed

everyday and [his writing] was like river tide that just came

with great momentum."3i l u Benzhong commented: "Su Shi's

long poems are like vast and mighty waves whose changes are

not predictable."32 Yuan Hongdao one of the best-known

poets in the Ming Dynasty, wrote in a similar vein: "In the

Song times Ouyang [Xiu] and Su [Shi] emerged. They changed

the way the later Tang poets wrote poetry. They wrote on

everything; they adopted every method of writing; they

expressed all kinds of feelings; and they described all kinds

of scenes. Their poems are like torrential and surging

rivers."33 su Shi himself also used the water metaphor when he

talked about his own writing :

31 See Sichuan daxue zhongwen xi Tang Song wenxue yanjiu shi # 3 ed, Su Shi ziliao huibiaiir # # # # @ # (hereafter, SSZLHB) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1994), book 1, vol. 1, 62.

32 Lu Benzhong, Tongmeng shi xun in SSZLHB, book 1, vol. 1, 254.

33 SSZLHB book 1, vol. 3, 1056. I think Yuan's remark better describes Su's poetry than Ouyang's. 80 My writing is like a spring of ten thousand bushels of water. It can come out anywhere. On the plain it can rush forward with all its powers and can go for a thousand li in one day without difficulties. It can also go with the rugged and jagged mountain rocks. It changes its shape to fit the shape of things, and I don't know what shape it will take. What I know is that it always moves when the situation demands and stops when it is time. That is all. Beyond that even I cannot know.^4

Su Shi was not in the habit of promoting his own works.

This was a rare occasion where he risked displaying conceited

and openly commented on his own writing positively in a tone

of pride. He uses the metaphor of water in the full

conviction that it best characterizes his writings. He

believes that like water, his writing "can come out

anywhere." It can go slowly, and it can flow at great speed.

More importantly, it can change its shape "to fit the shape

of things. " He is convinced that he has come to a point where

he can describe or express whatever he wants to according to

the nature of the object he is writing about. It is as if his

writing has its own life, because "it always moves when the

situation demands and stops when it is time."35 The message he

34 "Zi ping wen," in Su Shi lun wenyi , compiled by Yan Zhonggi, (Beijing: Beijing chubanshe, 1985), 117.

3 5 Professor Yan-shuan Lao points out that this expression has its origin in Heshang Gong's interpretation of Chapter 8 of Lao Zi: "[Water] can be square and round." "If you block it, it stops; if you break the block, it starts flowing." See Lao Zi dao de jing annot. Heshang Gong SBCK edition, 1.4. 81 is trying to convey is that things in the real world are in

continuous movement, and to reflect things writings have to

go along with them.

Water is present in all these passages, but each has a

different point; there is Su Shi's own philosophical view;

there are comments on the characteristics of Su Shi's

writings made by critics; and there is Su Shi's description

of his own writing. Despite the differences, however, they

all reveal an underlying connection between Su Shi's writing

and features of water, water is flexible; it has no constant

shape but always goes with the shapes of other things; and it

is forever moving, shifting. Since water is the closest thing

to the Dao, it can be further inferred that the Dao is not a

fixed, static entity one cam claim to have conçletely commanded. The Dao is also flexible, elusive, and in constant movement, which is probably why Su Shi says that the Dao can only be "cultivated naturally but cannot be sought after artificially." Su Shi's fondness of water surely says a great deal about his personality and his intellectual orientation.

Su Shi's attitude towards Wang Anshi's New Policies is an interesting case that further reveals his intellectual orientation. Basically, Su Shi was against the policies introduced by Wang Anshi and he suffered periodic persecution for his opposition when the reformers held power. However, after the conservative party regained power and reinstalled him in the court, he was nevertheless at odds with Sima

82 Guang, the leader of the conservatives and a personal friend of his, for opposing the indiscriminate sweeping away of all the "new policies." It is this kind of attitude of Su Shi that has bothered "orthodox" thinkers. In this regard, there is a well-known story of the conflict between Su Shi and the renowned Neo-Confucian Cheng Yi (1033-1107). Both Su Shi and Cheng Yi used to serve in the court during the Yuanyou years (1086-1093). Cheng was the personal tutor of the enç)eror, and though not a high-ranking official, he was a person of some importance in the political arena as he was close to the emperor. He was also the leader of the Luo

School, with some of his disciples being powerful political figures. On the other hand, Su Shi, as we have noted, was the leader of the Shu School, the rival of the Luo school. Due to ideological differences and differences in personality, Su

Shi had occasional clashes with Cheng. Here is a description of one such clash:

Cheng Yi liked to use ancient rituals when he lectured on the Classic's Mat to the emperor. Su Shi thought he was pretentious and hypocritical. He therefore despised Cheng Yi deeply and often made fun of him. It happened that at the time Sima Guang passed away, the court announced an amnesty. After applauding the emperor's decision, the court officials were going to the memorial hall of Sima Guang to mourn for him. Cheng thought it was not appropriate. He quoted a passage [in Lan yu] stating that if Confucius wept he would not sing on the same day. Someone questioned Cheng, saying that "Confucius said if he wept he would not sing, but he didn't say if he sang he would not weep." Su Shi said that what Cheng suggested was made by Shusun

83 Tong, the man who was "executed for nothing in the marketplace."36 Everybody present could not help laughing- From then on they became enemies.3?

There are several stories of this kind recorded in other

books, in which Su mocked or ridiculed Cheng publicly.3s su

disliked Cheng because he thought Cheng was a man of

hypocrisy and affectation who strove after fame. Naturally,

Cheng Yi retaliated and Cheng's students later launched

several attacks against Su shi, forcing him out of the court

to local posts. The cause of their conflicts were not very

sirple, and since they did not directly engage in debates on

issues, their differences may not be immediately clear to us.

However, Zhu Xi's criticism of Su Shi can help explain their

differences, zhu was born about thirty years after Su died.

He studied diligently works of Cheng Yi and other Neo-

36 Shusun Tong was an important subject of the Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. When Gaozu had just become emperor, his subjects knew no proper behavior in the court. With Gaozu's permission, Shusun Tong led a group of scholars to establish all the codes of behavior and rituals in the court. For his biography, see , à ] # # shi ji (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962), 2720-7. However, the biography does not tell how he died.

37 Bi Yuan Xu Zi zhi tong jian, juan 80, (Nanjing: Jiangsu shuju, n.d.), 414. There are various versions of this story in several books with no significant differences.

38 See Ma Jigao Song Ming lixue yu wenxue (Changsha: Hunan shifan daxue chuban she, 1989), Chapter 2, 26-8. 84 Confucian masters and developed his own thinking over the

years, eventually taking Neo-Confucianism to a new height. As

a major thinker himself, Zhu would not dismiss entirely a

figure like Su Shi. In fact he had a mixed view of him. On

the one hand, zhu respected Su Shi and expressed his

admiration for Su's erudition and genius. He also spoke

highly of Su's prose writing on several occasions.On the other hand, however, with all the sensitivity he possessed,

Zhu Xi cleairly believed that there was something in Su Shi that was at odds with the Neo-Confucian position. Zhu Xi spared no sharp words in criticizing Su Shi. He remarked that

"the learning of both gentlemen [Su Shi and Wang Anshi] is not on the right track, but Dongpo's morality and deeds cannot be compared with that of Jinggong (Wang Anshi). If

Dongpo had his way in his youth, the damage he would have made would not necessarily be less severe than that Jinggong did."40 A friend wrote to Zhu Xi, arguing that Su Shi's learning should not be put in the same category with Wang

Anshi's. Instead, it was rather close to that of and Sima Guang. Zhu Xi disagreed. He said:

As for Su's writings, the better ones engage in the discussion of "thing" and "nothing" and they make

39 Zhu Xi's remarks can be conveniently found in SSZLHB, see book 1, vol. 2, 628-41.

40 See SSZLHB, book 1, vol. 2, 640. 85 distorted but good arguments, and the lesser ones point out advantages and disadvantages [of things], which are close to people's life and common sense. Because he is smart, knowledgeable, talented and eloquent, good at building up momentum [in his writings ], he is able to make his arguments shocking and shining, and make the audience pleased and know no boredom. In this, Wang cannot compare. But when he talks about Confucianism he confuses the essence; when he discusses the reality, he advocates adaptability and strategies. He enjoys showing off florid language but forgets substance; he values flexibility and broadmindedness but despises ethics and morality. That is how he harms heaven's principle, confuses people's minds, hampers the learning of the Dao, and corrupts social morals. How is it that the harms he caused are fewer than Wang? It was only because he and his disciples were not very successful politically and had no power to support them. Therefore, although Su's ideas were rather popular, they did not last long.41

This is one of the harshest attacks zhu made on Su Shi. It reveals fundamental differences between Su Shi and Neo-

Confucians. As we know, the major contribution of Neo-

Confucianism to Chinese philosophy is that it constructed an absolute moral noumenon in human nature. Neo-Confucians like

Zhu Xi recognize that people have feelings and emotions, but they ask people to police their feelings according to that absolute moral nature. Because literary works mainly draw from and express human feelings, Neo-Confucians generally disapprove of literature on the ground that it prevents people from pursuing moral perfection. In the above remark by

Zhu xi, we can see the trademark bias of Neo-Confucianism

41 Ibid., 641. 86 toward literature, but there is more than that. Zhu's charges against Su Shi are more serious: it is the content, the messages, the fundamental intellectual orientation shown in

Su Shi's works that make Zhu Xi feel threatened. For Zhu Xi, it is not only Su's views on individual issues, but also his more profound intellectual orientation that "harms heaven's principle; confuses people's mind; hampers the learning of the Dao; and corrupt social morals." In short, it is the pluralistic view of values, the opposite of the absolutism of values Neo-Confucianism upholds.

We will discuss two cases to demonstrate how Su Shi's pluralistic view of values is reflected in his judgment of things and people.

Zhang Junxian was a friend of Su Shi who loved calligraphy. He collected many invaluable works of the past and the present, then he engraved them on stone and built a hall to house them. Su Shi was asked to write an essay for this hall and wrote "Mobaotang ji" ("Hall of

Calligraphy Treasures"):

What ordinary people enjoy are just good drink, food, pretty clothes, music, and beautiful women. Others who think themselves lofty laugh at them. They play musical instrument and chess, collect calligraphic works and paintings of ancient artists. When visitors come they present the collections with pride, believing that is the best thing to do. However, there are still others who laugh at them, saying that the reason ancient people are known by later generations is by their words and writings, therefore the artistic endeavors are not worthy. Then, the people of

87 exceptional ability again smile with each other. They think that a shi should be known to the world by his feats in politics and military affairs. Those people put their thought into empty words but not actions because they had no chance..... Then what is the end of people's laughing at each other? When a person loves something he can forget oneself and ignore his family to pursue what he desires, even if it is a minor, unimportant hobby. Then we see those who love calligraphy but know no correct way work their hearts out to pursue it. They can even break others' tombs and coffins to get what they want. Isn't it that the joy of calligraphy is like that of beautiful music, color and good food and is strong enough to move people? However, when they love it even they cannot explain the feeling themselves, how can others? If one doesn't like something oneself and then laughs at people who love it, that is w r o n g . 42

Different people have different endeavors in the world and

pursue different things. But society values some and looks

down on others. The order of the endeavors described in this

essay probably reflects the view of most traditional Chinese

literati. Su Shi here presents his own view: it is wrong for

one to laugh at others for pursuing something they like just

because one doesn't think it worthwhile. For Su Shi, it is

right for individuals to follow their own way of life, and he

believes that people can find pleasure in it. He is against

imposing a single value system on everybody, and advocates a

pluralistic view. It is not to say that everything is the

same. One certainly can choose what one wants to do with

one's life, but one should not judge others' choices by one's

42 SDPQJ, vol. 1, 382-3. 88

Jl own standard. Otherwise, people will laugh at each other

without an end.

A second example is a comment on Tao Yuanming

(365-427). Tao was probably the person Su Shi admired most

and we can find much in common between the two. Critics

extolled Tao Yuanming for retreating from public life and

willingly living in reclusion despite all the hardships he

suffered, and regarded him as a man of principle and

integrity. In the following passage, however. Su Shi found

another dimension in the man he admired dearly:

When Tao Yuanming wanted to be an official, he simply took the office. He was not ashamed of asking for a position; when he wanted to retreat he simply left his post and did not tcike special pride in doing so. When he was hungry, he knocked at people's doors to beg for food; when he had enough to eat he treated his friends with chickens and millet. People of past and present admire him because he was true to himself.«

Tao was often in financial difficulties. But once he had something, he wanted to share with friends. It shows his generosity. Begging for food, on the other hand, is not something to be proud of. Now Su Shi looks at this in a different perspective. What he values most is that Tao "was true to himself," not only in his reclusion and generosity, but in serving in public office or begging for food. He did

43 Su Shi, "Shu Li Jianfu shiji xu" Dongpo tiba 3.26. In Jindai mishu # # # # # . Baibu congshu edition. 89 what he wanted regardless of what others thought of him. In

Su Shi's judgment, one action is not necessarily morally

superior to another. In other words, it could be perfectly

justified for one to freely choose between different, even

opposite, actions depending on the context.

2.3. Su Shi and the "prosaic wisdom"

Su Shi's intellectual orientation is not a mere abstract

construction, it is demonstrated in his concrete encounters with the world, in political, moral, and aesthetic decisions

he made in his life. Having discussed the pluralistic view of values of Su Shi and its philosophical basis, I now try to

illustrate his intellectual orientation from another angle, a

"prosaic wisdom" shown in his works and actions.

Su Shi's attitude toward Buddhism is a much discussed topic among s c h o l a r s . 44 it is of course incessible to treat this topic comprehensively here, but I still wish to take a few examples from Su's works to show his way of learning and assimilating creatively from the intellectual heritage.

Su Shi made negative comments on Buddhism in a number of places. In an essay entitled "Zhonghe shengxiang yuan ji"

(Written for Zhonghe Shengxiang Monastery), 4S su

44 A short review of recent scholarship on this issue in non-Chinese sources can be found in Beata Grant's Mountain Lu Revisited (Honolulu; University of Hawaii Press, 1994), 194.

45 SDPQJ, Vol. 1, 279-80. 90 Shi elaborates his objections to aspects of Buddhism in some

detail: it takes too much pain and suffering to make progress

on the road to Buddhahood; many people flock to monasteries

not out of real faith but to avoid the hardships of serving

as laborers for the state; some higher-ranked monks are

hypocritical in not complying with Buddhist disciplines,

while giving elusive and preposterous talks to fool people. *6

Despite this attitude, however, he did not refuse to

take lessons or benefit from Buddhism, about which he was

very knowledgeable. When he was sent to exile in Huangzhou,

for example, he reflected on his past and regretted that

my learning of the Dao was not good enough to control ny temper; my cultivation of personality was not good enough to overcome my bad habits. I felt if I could not dig out the root and remove the branches [of the bad elements in me], even if I corrected them today they would come back tomorrow. Why didn't I submit myself to Buddha and the monks and tried to eliminate them once and for all? I found a house of refinement south of the city which was called Anguo Monastery. There were dense woods, tall bamboos, ponds and pavilions. By intervals of every day or two I always went there. Burning incense, sitting quietly, I reflected on my life deeply. I forgot the world and my self, and my body and mind seemed all ençty. I traced the source of my sin but I couldn't find it. However, my mind was so quiet and serene, and polluted things in my mind dropped away. I felt my outside and my inside all peaceful, and I was attached to nothing. I was so

46 For another example of criticizing Buddhism and monks, see "Dabei ge ji [Hangzhou Anguosi]" , SDPQJ, vol. 1, 384-385. 91 happy there that I have gone there in the morning and come back in the evening for five years now. "47

From this passage we can see how much he felt relieved and peaceful through Buddhist practice, and how greatly it helped him to get over the pains of a difficult time. When he lived in exile in Hangzhou Su Shi was very productive in poetry writing, and the influence of Buddhism was evident and significant in many of his works in that period and thereafter. It shows that his rejection of Buddhism in some respects did not prevent him from assimilating ideas and taking comfort from Buddhist thought. Su Shi's relation with

Buddhist monks is also very telling. We noted that he had a strong negative view on the way of life of monks in some cases. However, it didn't seem to affect his relation with

Buddhist monks, many of whom he befriended and to whom he often addressed in his works. Some became his lifetime friends who gave him great support in times of need.

One may argue that Su Shi's attitude toward Buddhism was not contradictory because he was treating different aspects of Buddhism, or because his attitude toward Buddhism changed over time. True as these arguments may be, we still see an interesting attribute of his intellectual life in his engagement with Buddhism. He does not try to avoid

47 "Huangzhou Anguosi ji" SDPQJ, vol. 1 396. 92 inconsistency in his dealing with Buddhism and Buddhists. To

put it another way, he does not take a systematic,

unchangeable, and always consistent view of Buddhism. It is

not some kind of inviolable principle or firm belief that

comes first; instead, it is the concrete context, the

irreducible situation that determines how he will react. He

can take some parts of Buddhism and reject others without any

sense of transgression. In fact, Su Shi once directly voiced

this attitude toward Buddhism:

I have previously read some Buddhist books, but am not bright enough to comprehend their essence. I only take some superficial and easy parts to refresh myself.... As for what those gentlemen regard as transcendental and abstruse things, I don't understand. Mr. Chen Shugu used to like to talk about , and thought himself great at it. He despised what I said [about Buddhism] as something shallow. I said to him: "Let me make an analogy. What you talk about is like meat; and what I have studied is like pork. Pork is of course different from dragon meat. But when you talk about dragon meat all day, I am better off eating pork, which is really delicious and makes me full. I don't know what you have gained from books of Buddhism? You want to transcend life and death, to skip triyana^^ and achieve Buddhahood? If so, why do you still get along with people like m e ? "49

48 Triyana is "the three vehicles, or conveyances which carry living beings across samsara or mortality (births-and- deaths ) to the shores of nirvana. " See William E . Soothill and Lewis Hodous, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms (London: Kegan Pari, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1937), 58.

49 "Da Bi Zhongju shu" # # # # # , see SDPQJ, vol. 1, 373, 93 The issue here is what is the better approach to Buddhism.

His friend Chen Shugu was more interested in the profound,

abstruse theories of Buddhism and was more serious in

pursuing the essence of it. Su Shi takes a more flexible,

practical approach; he takes whatever he can understand and

makes use of it, ignoring what does not interest him. In

other words. Buddhism for him is not a systematic, organic

whole that you either embrace or reject in toto. You can

embrace parts of it, ignore other parts and reject still

others.

The above cases do not mean that Su Shi has no sense of

being "correct" or "wrong," he just has his own view of

truth. In "Ji Longjing Biancai wen" (Memorial of

Monk Biancai of Longjing) he explicitly states his view of

truth;

Confucius and Lao Zi belong to different camps, Confucianism and Buddhism have their separate abodes. Within Buddhism, the schools of Chan and vinaya^^ question and compete with one another. But I see the great sea Come from the north, the south, and the east. Although the Yangtze and the Yellow Rivers are different. They both end at the same place.

50 vinaya is a Sanskrit word meaning to train and discipline. Here it refers to the vinaya School, a Buddhist school emphasizing monastic discipline, found in China by Daoxuan of the Tang. See Soothill and Hodous, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms, 301. 94

Jl Wibmm ° *s;m » 51

Here, different schools of thought are likened to different rivers that flow into the same destination, the sea. The implication is that although these schools of thought belong to different camps, seem incompatible, and keep questioning and competing with one another, they all nevertheless contribute to our knowledge and understanding of the world and ourselves. In the postscript to Su Zhe's Lao Zi jie #

(An Interpretation of Lao zi) Su Shi remarks: "If it [Su

Zhe's book] were written at the beginning of the Han (206

B.C.- 220), then Confucianism and Lao Zi could be one

[school]. If it were written in the transition of the Jin

(265-420) and the Song (420-479), then Confucianism and

Buddhism would not be two [separate schools]. i didn't expect to see such a wonderful book in my old a g e . "52 m Su Zhe's book, Su Shi sees an interrelation and even a merge of the

51 SDPQJ, vol. 1, 634-5.

52 See Dongpo tiba in jin dai mishu 1.33. {Baibu congshu jicheng edition). 95 three major schools. From these we can infer that no school has a monopoly on truth, with which they can dismiss others.

Since all of them have elements of truth, they can actually supplement each other. I think Su Shi's understanding of the different schools of thought is inç)ortant. We have noted that since the Han Dynasty, Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhist were in tension with one another. At the same time, thinkers of each school also took elements of other schools, though they didn't always acknowledge these borrowed elements. More often than not, thinkers of each school claim that their belief is

"correct," the truth, and that others are heresies. A prominent example is the case of the Neo-Confucian thinkers.

It is well known that some of the core concepts of Neo-

Confucianism, especially its cosmology, were heavily influenced by Daoism. The influence of Buddhism was also evident in its emphasis of the mind and the method of theoretic construction.53 The masters of Neo-Confucianism were actually well versed in Buddhist and Daoist ideas, but more than anyone else they rigorously denied the influences and

53 Fung Yu-lan's Zhongguo zhexue shi (Hong Kong: Taipingyang chuban gongsi, 1961) has a chapter specifically discussing the elements of Daoism and Buddhism in theorists of Neo-Confucianism, see p. 800-819. Thomas Metzger discusses how Neo-Confucian masters try to construct a theory of linkage of all things. He indicates that it was to counter the more systematic, coherent Buddhist doctrines, therefore it constitutes an influence of Buddhism. See Thomas Metzger, Escape from Predicament: Neo-Confucianism and China's Evolving Political Culture (New York: Columbia University Press, 1977), 73-7. 96 rejected them as heretical. In their criticism of others as

well as in their interfactional debates, Neo-Confucians often

accused their opponent of being "poisoned" by Chan Buddhism

and Lao Zi. Here again we see the difference between Su Shi's

pluralistic view and Neo-Confucian adherence to orthodoxy.

In the discussion of Su Shi's intellectual orientation

and the genre "making poetry out of prose," I think that a concept in Bakhtin's works can provide an interesting perspective. In their study of Bakhtin, Mikhail Bakhtin:

Creation of a Prosaics, Gary Saul Mors on and Caryl Emerson propose the term "prosaics" "to cover a concept that permeates Bakhtin's w o r k . "54 i shall give a short summary of the main points of "Prosaics" as presented in their work.

"Prosaics" is considered by Morson and Emerson as one of the three global concepts of Bakhtin's thought. Although the very word "prosaics" was coined by the authors, there are expressions such as "prosaic wisdom," "prosaic intelligence," and "prosaic vision" in Bakhtin's own w o r k s . 55 what is the

"Prosaics?" According to the definition provided by the authors,

54 Morson and Emerson, Mikhail Bakhtin - Creation of a Prosaics, 15.

55 See Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist's translation of "Discourse in the Novel," though the terms used in that book is slightly different from here. See Emerson and Holquist, The Dialogic Imagination (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981), 404. 97 Prosaics enconçasses two related, but distinct, concepts. First, as opposed to "poetics," prosaics designates a theory of literature that privileges prose in general and the novel in particular over the poetic genres. Prosaics in the second sense is far broader than theory of literature: it is a form of thinking that presumes the inç)ortance of the everyday, the ordinary, the "prosaic."ss

One way to explain "Prosaics" is to view it as the opposite of the Formalist view of language and literature. In the

Formalist view of literature, lyric poetry is "authentically a work of verbal art, " but the novel "does not use words as an artistically significant element of interaction but as a neutral medium or as a system of significations subordinated

(as happens in practical speech) to the communicative function." So they cannot call such a literary work (the novel) a work of verbal art.57 Good narratives are made by

"deforming" everyday events, as poetry is made by "deforming" everyday language. "The artistic rhythm is prosaic rhythm disrupted. "58 m short, for the Formalist, ordinary, prosaic

56 Morson and Emerson, Mikhail Bakhtin - Creation of a Prosaics, 15.

5 7 zirmunskij, "On the Problem of the Formal Method," as quoted in "Discourse in the Novel," note 1. See Dialogic Imagination, 260-1.

58 It is the statement of Shklovskii, as quoted in M. M. Bakhtin/P. N. Medvedev, The Formal Method in Literary Scholarship - A Critical Introduction to Sociological Poetics, 90. 98 language is not literary language, or at least is not high- taste poetic language; ordinary, everyday events are not good material for literature; and communication is not the main function of literature. Bakhtin countered Formalism with his view of language, literature, and life, that is "Prosaics."

For Bakhtin and his associates, real-life intercourse, which is too prosaic to be literary for the Formalists, is constantly generating and full of potential. "In the process of this generation, the content being generated also generates. Practical interchange is full of event-potential and the most insignificant philological exchange participates in this incessant generation of the event."59 m other words, the ordinary and the prosaic are insert ant and significant, as Tolstoy says: "Tiny, tiny alterations - but on them depend the most important and terrible consequences. "so

This theory of prosaics has implications for broad issues like ethical problems and the value of system of thought. In this regard, Morson and Emerson discuss two characters in Tolstoy's novels. Levin in Anna Karenina and

Pierre in War and Peace. Both characters, after oscillating

59 Bakhtin/Medvedev, The Formal Method in Literary Scholarship - A Critical Introduction to Sociological Poetics, 95.

60 Leo Tolstoy, "Why Do Men Stupefy Themselves?" In Leo Tolstoy: Selected Essays, trans. by Aylmer Maude (New York: Random House, 1964), 198. A discussion of Tolstoy's influence on Bakhtin can be seen in Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of a Prosaics, 27-30. 99 between absolute values and relativist views, discover that

"they can make correct moral decisions without a general

philosophy. Instead of a system, they come to rely on a moral

wisdom derived from living rightly moment to moment and

attending carefully to the irreducible particularities of

each c a s e . "61 Bakhtin, like Tolstoy, is against the tendency

in Western philosophy to "regard ethics as a matter of

general norms or principles, and the individual acts as a mere instantiation (or failure to instantiate) of these

n o r m s . "62 By its very nature, "Prosaics is suspicious of

systems in the strong sense, in the sense used by

structuralists, semioticians, and general systems theorists : an organization in which every element has a place in a rigorous h i e r a r c h y ."63 Bakhtin uses a variety of terms for this attachment to systems, including "theoreticism" and

"monologism. " But we should stress that it does not mean dismissing the value of systems. As a kind of centripetal force, systems of ideas and principles are necessary to maintain the operation of society. The point is that they should not be treated as something absolutely correct and inviolable, and we should not rely solely on systems to make

61 See Morson and Emerson, Mikhail Bakhtin - Creation of a Prosaics, 25.

62 Mikhail Bakhtin - Creation of a Prosaics, 25.

63 Ibid., 27-8. 100 moral or other decisions because they cure often too schematic

and rigorous to attend to the minor, ordinary things, the

particularities of life. In the meantime, "the rejection of

absolutes does not imply an acceptance of relativism or

subjectivism. For relativism and subjectivism are themselves wholly located in the realm of abstract theory, and are far

from the 'oughtness' and 'eventness' of the event."^4

The concept "prosaics", or "prosaic wisdom," at first glance, seems relevant to our discussion of "making poetry out of prose." After looking further into both, we can see more than a superficial resemblance between them. As all

Chinese intellectuals, Su Shi derives nourishment from the rich tradition of Chinese thought, in which he had tremendous knowledge that few could rival. However, he does not take a dogmatic attitude toward words of masters of any school of thought as inviolable "rules" in making moral, political or other decisions and judgments. He surely has his principles, but at the same time he also attends to the particular situation and concrete context in making his judgments or decision. From this point of view, we can say that Su Shi uses a "prosaic wisdom" to react to the various situations in his life.

64 Ibid., 26. 101 In the next chapter, I will examine how Su Shi's pluralistic view of values and prosaic wisdom are embodied in the genre "making poetry out of prose. "

102 CHAPTER 3

LANGUAGE, ARGUMENTATIVE DISCOURSE, AND THE DIVERSITY OF

AESTHETIC TASTE

In the last two chapters we have discussed "making

poetry out of prose" and Su Shi's intellectual orientation.

Naturally, the (question we need to answer next is how his

pluralistic view of values and his prosaic wisdom are

reflected in his poetry written in the mode of "making poetry out of prose." As we have argued, a literary genre is not merely a collection of formal features. Instead, following

Bakhtin, the driving force behind a genre is a particular way of "seeing" the world, a "form-shaping ideology." To illustrate how a particular way of "seeing" the world is reflected in a given body of poems, however, we have to resort to close reading of those poems to establish the inherent connection between the elements of the poems and the underlying "ideology." I will now focus my discussion on how his use of multiple levels of diction and argumentative discourses reveal his pluralistic views and diverse aesthetic tastes.

103 3.1. The diversity of Su Shi's poetic language

Language is the medium of literature. Naturally, linguistic analysis is one of the prime interests in studies of any literary genre, especially poetry. Poetry is generally short in length and dense in texture, thus each word is made to bear more weight in meaning than more conventional language. To provide a background on which to better understand Su Shi's particular use of language, we must take a brief look back at the historical development of Chinese poetry in its use of language.

In early Chinese poetry there were relatively few constraints in the use of different words in poetry, and poets simply wrote in a language compatible with what they wrote about. We see that in feng ® folk songs in Shi jing the language is generally vivid, fresh, close to actual spoken language and full of vitality, while in song # hymns (sung in court and ceremonies) the diction was more heavy, solemn and sometimes abstruse. The product of a southern Chu # culture substantially different from that of the north which produced the Shi jing, Yuan's MW- (340 B.C.? - 278 B.C.?) wrote a poetry of colorful, flowery images and wild imagination. For the early poets, it seems that they do not concern about whether they should write in a different "poetic" language.

During the Six Dynasties language in poetry underwent gradual but steady changes; an emphasis on the distinctiveness of

104 poetic language; lines of semantic and phonetic parallelism;

meticulous attention to tonal arrangements and rhyme schemes ;

and formation of certain conventional themes and motifs.

These new developments led to the birth of jinti shi

the five-character and seven-character regulated verse, in

the early Tang. Regulated verse matured and flourished later

on in hands of the such masters as Du Fu, 3 : # , (701-

761) Meng Haoran (689-740) and Li Shangyin (813-

858). Among these, Du Fu is the key figure. His poetry

represented simultaneously both the great achievement in

regulated verse form and new ways of writing poetry,

including "writing poetry out of prose." In some of the major

developments after Du Fu, such as Li Shangyin's regulated verses, Bai Juyi's (772-846) poems of social criticism,

and Han Yu's use of prosy language, we see the influence of various aspects of Du Fu's writing. After the High Tang, regulated verse continuously enjoyed a favored status among the literati. Generally speaking, the regulated verse is refined, imagistic, allusive, and it uses a high degree of parallelism and other techniques. We do not find many abstract, "vulgar", or too colloquial words and expressions.

Some of Du Fu's aoti lushi # # # # , "rugged" style of regulated poems, may be exceptions, but few echoed him in this regard. In the guti shi "old style" poems, the use of language was freer and more diverse. However, for some critics and poets, there were still certain principles that

105 one should not violate. Poetry for them was a serious undertaking that should not be marred by indecent language.

One interesting case is a story of the Tang poet Liu Yuxi

(772-842). Liu maintained that in writing poetry, if one wanted to use an uncommon word, one should know whether it was previously used by other major writers or in major works. In reading a poem by Song Zhiwen (3-712), he saw a word shang H, or "malted candy." Liu expressed doubt about using this word because he wondered if it appeared in any of the Classics; when he finally found this word in a note to a poem in Shi jing, he was at ease. Once when composing a poem of his own, Liu chose not to use the word gao # (cake) as a rhyming word because he could not remember if this word appeared in the Classics.i

Liu Yuxi might look a little extreme, but the anecdote does show the not uncommon attitude that poetry should be informed by the moral seriousness of the Classics. Many poets never made this kind of remark, but most were highly conscious of the use of language in their poetry. Bai Juyi and Han Yu (both were Liu Yuxi's contemporaries) broke new paths in poetry writing: Bai with his plain, straightforward and easy-to-understand language in his poetry of social

1 This story was told by Liu himself in his Jiahua lu ###, cited from Qu Tuiyuan, annot. Liu Yuxi ji jian Zheng (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chuban she, 1989), 1806. On the same page, there is a remark by Song Qi 9(5% (998-1061) who criticized Liu Yuxi's attitude on this issue. It may not be accidental that Song Qi was a Song poet. 106 criticism and his so-called "leisure" poetry; and Ban with his poems written in prosy, sometimes rugged language. Both

Bai and Han enjoyed many readers in the Song Dynasty, and influenced Song poets, including Su Shi, in different ways.

Commenting on Su Shi's poetry in the history of Chinese poetry, the Qing critic Ye Xie # # (1627-1703) writes :

As for Su Shi's poetry, it creates a world that cannot be seen in poets of the old and the present. There are ten thousand things in heaven and on earth; there are joys, laughter, anger, and scorn, all these burst out from his pen. He can express all these at his will. This is a great change after Han Y u . 2

Ye hails the broadness and richness of the poetic world Su

Shi creates and admires Su's ability to write about anything with ease. For Ye Xie, Su Shi's verse represents a major development in Chinese poetry. Indeed the broadness of the social and personal life reflected in Su Shi's poetry is hardly rivaled by other poets. We may remember a passage we quoted in Chapter 2, in which Yuan Hongdao says: "In the Song

Ouyang [Xiu] and Su [Shi] emerged. They changed the way the later Tang poets wrote poetry. They wrote on everything; they adopted every nethod of writing; they expressed all kinds of feelings ; and they described all kinds of scenes. Their poems are like torrential and surging rivers." Both Ye and Yuan

2 It is in Ye Xie's Yuan shi juan 1, see SSZLHB, book one, vol. 3, 1119. 107 emphasized the broadness and richness of the world created in

Su's poetry. While Ye did not further discuss Su Shi's language. Yuan did. In the same essay, soon after the above comment, he writes :

However, the problem [of Song poetry] is that it makes poetry out of prose. Then it follows [the doctrines of] Neo-Confucianism, rhymed formulas, Buddhist sayings. The problems in poetry then become numerous.3

In a time when Tang poetry was regarded as the undisputable model and Song poetry inferior to its Tang counterpart. Yuan was not immune to the popular views. He held a totally negative view of "making poetry out of prose," regarding it as the cause of the Song "degeneration" in poetry. His assertion that "making poetry out of prose" was a flaw of

Song poetry, however, was in contradiction with his praise of

Su Shi's poetry, because what Su achieved, as Yuan put it, wide variety of subject matter and breadth of expression, were done to a great degree by "making poetry out of prose." without acknowledging the value of "making poetry out of prose" and the diversity of his poetic language, one cannot properly account for Su's success.

In discussion of Su Shi's language, we should first point out that with his learning and talent, Su Shi can write

3 See SSZLHB, book one, vol. 3, 1056-7.

108 more conventional regulated verse very well. There are many

good regulated poems in his collection, and the following is

one of them:

I Passed by Yongle, When Monk Wen Had Passed Away

Last time, I was surprised you were as thin as a crane, beyond recognition. Only today, do I realize you have returned with clouds, no where to be found. Three times I visited you, first old, then sick, then dead. As if only in a flash, we have experienced past, present, and the future. The living and the dead, I have seen so many, no tears left. But you as my fellow villager, I cannot forget, and my heart is with you. I will go to Qiantang, looking for Yuanze, By the Gehong river, I will wait for you, in the late autumn.4

4 The last two lines allude to a well-known story, which was told in Su Shi's "Seng Yuanze zhuan" # # # # , (Biolo^ of Monk Yuanze) SDPQJ, Book Two, 379-80. Yuanze was a monk in the Tang Dynasty, who befriended Li Yuan. One day he told Li Yuan that he was going to die and to be incarnated in a Wang family. He asked Li to meet him thirteen years later. Yuanze died as foretold. Thirteen years later, Li Yuan went to the place Yuanze told him. He saw a boy, riding on a cow, chanting a poem and greeting him. Here Su hopes that Monk Wen would be reborn and meet him again. 109 The first couplet writes about Monk Wen's passing away. Chu

jing (first I was surprised) and xuan jue (Soon after I realized) are only four words but very effectively convey the poet's surprise, sadness and his affection for the dead. He shou (thin as a crane) and yun gui (returning with clouds) fittingly describe the weakening and death of a monk of great learning and profound mind. In the first couplet parallelism is not required. Yet Su Shi uses it in a very lively and effective manner. The second and third couplets exhibit brilliantly crafted parallelism, which succinctly summarize events spanning years and express his reflection on time, death, and friendship. In the last couplet the poet alludes to a well-known story to ceirry his deep feelings to his friend. It ends with a line of jing ju description of a scene, which is a typical way of finishing a regulated poem, evoking the reader's imagination and producing a sense of

"unfinishedness."

In the second couplet there are what are called 11 yu

, rational discourses, as opposed to qlng yu emotional expressions, and the abundance of rational discourses is considered a characteristic of Song poetry.

5 SSSJ, vol. 2, 566-7. 110 other than that, this poem has all the other things one would

expect from a good seven-character regulated verse poem: a

good beginning to immediately catch the reader's attention; a

dynamic development; neat and ingenious peirallelism; and an

ending with suggestive depiction of a scene. Most importantly

for our discussion here, its language is precise, proper,

decent, or as one may want simply to say, "poetic," without

any "vulgar" words to "mar" the overall effect.

This poem demonstrates Su's excellent skills in aspects

of poetic composition. He was well equipped to write the kind

of poems we more frequently see in poetry of the Tang writers. This poem can serve as an example of Su Shi's more

"refined" use of language, but is not representative of his poetry. Taken as a whole, Su Shi's language is much more diverse. His use of a wide array of diction is an important part of "making poetry out of prose."

Although in guti shi, old style poems, the characteristics of "making poetry out of prose" are more pronounced, they are not necessarily absent in regulated verse. Here is an example:

New Year's Eve, Passing the Night in the Wilds Outside the Walls of Changzhou, first of two

Travelers' singing and "crying in the wilds" both make me sorrowful, The fires in the distance and the low steirs gradually dim.

Ill Because of an eye ailment I cannot sleep: it's not that I'm staying up for New Year's e v e . s Having no companion whose speech is of my home, I long to return. Beneath the doubled coverlet my feet are cold— I know the frost is heavy. My recently washed hair is light— I can feel my hair is thinning. Many thanks to the nearly burnt-out lantern for not resenting a guest. That on [this] lone boat through the night you will keep me company.7

In his study of Su Shi, The Road to East Slope, Michael

Fuller discusses the third couplet of this poem at some length, noting that it "is a Tang regulated-verse couplet of

6 On New Year's Eve, some people don't go to sleep the whole night to receive the new year. It is a traditional custom that still remains today in China.

7 The translation of this poem is Michael Fuller's with my modifications, see his The Road to East Slope— The Development of Su Shi's Poetic Voice, 190.

8 SSSJ, vol. 2, 533. 112 small physical details.Incidently, I am also interested in

reading this couplet, but from a different perspective. This

couplet bears a direct relation to a Tang poem by Lu Lun

(? - 799?) which is entitled "Night Mooring in E Zhou":

Clouds cleared, I see the wall of Hanyang from afar. It is still one day's journey for ny lonely boat. The merchants slept by day— I knew the waves had quieted down. The boatmen talked by night— I realized tide had risen. Upon ay arrival in Hunan, ny hair will turn grey as I face the cold autumn. Toward ten thousand miles away, my heart longing for home will meet the bright moon. My home and my career have disappeared into the war. How can I endure the sound of army drumbeats on the river?

» ‘ 0

9 Michael Fuller's translation, see his The Road to East Slope— The Development of Su Shi's Poetic Voice, 190.

■>0 Quan Tang shi, (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1960), 3177. 113 This is one of Lu Lun's best-known poems, written during

the years of the rebellion. As many others during

these chaotic years, he was often on the road, constantly

moving from one place to another. This poem expresses his

depressed mood: wandering about, worrying about his future,

and longing to have a normal life. In the second couplet he

uses the verbs "know" % and "realize" # to draw inferences

from what he saw and heard, that is, the merchants were

sleeping and the boatmen were talking, to what he realized:

the quiet, smooth ride of the boat in the daytime and the

rise of the tide over night. The connections, however, are

not totally transparent. The reader thus is involuntarily

drawn into the scenes to make the inferences. The boat scenes

described here are vivid: line three conveys a peaceful and

lazy atmosphere, and line four suggests a sleepless night on

the part of the poet. As many Tang regulated poems, the

expression of layers of feelings is slow-paced, reserved,

mainly through descriptions of what is seen, heard and felt,

instead of with direct, straightforward statements.

The mood of Su Shi's poem bears some resemblance to that of Lu Lun's. Su Shi's poem is set on the New Year's eve, the night when family should be together, but he was away from

home, spending the night outside of Changzhou. He feels very lonely, and fails to fall asleep all night. The only thing to keep him company and comfort him is the nearly burnt-out lantern. The third couplet, as we can see, is close

114 syntactically to the second couplet of Lu's poem: the fifth word of line three and line four are verbs "know" and

"feel" # respectively, which serve the same function as the verbs in Lu's couplet and similarly involve the reader in what the poet experiences. However, we should note the important differences between these two couplets. In Lu Lun's poem, phrases like "daytime sleep" "waves quiet down"

"nightly talk" and "tide had blown" are all considered good, decent, "poetic" expressions that we can often see in other poems. In Su Shi's poem, we have more vernacular phrases like "my feet are cold" "my recently washed hair" #f#;, "my hair is thinning" # # . For some critics, these expressions would be too trivial and

"unpoetic." The inclusion of this kind of experience will make more sense when we look at the change from Tang poetry to Song poetry. Scholars have pointed out that one of the major characteristics of the Song poetry is that its language is usually sheng "unfamiliar," and xin , "fresh." For example, a modem Chinese scholar, Miao Yue remarks :

"The criteria of composing lines in Song poetry were to pursue lines unfamiliar and fresh, deep and far-reaching, and winding and unexpected. Good lines in Tang poetry were mostly integrated and natural, but the bad Tang poems became too common, familiar, inferior and trite, as some said, 'in more than ten poems, the language and ideas would be quite similar.' Therefore Song poets made great efforts to change

115 it."11 This is to say that there is a danger that those conventional words, images, and expressions, when overused, can become hackneyed euid impoverished. In fact, some poems in the middle and later Tang are full of overused words and images on trite motifs that evoke little aesthetic reaction in the reader. In this context, we can see why Su Shi's couplet is so innovative : the experience is real, thus it can easily evoke the reader's sympathy; and the language is plain but refreshing. It is also an integral part of the poem: the coldness of the night and realization of his aging reinforce the overall desolate feeling expressed.

In regard to Su Shi's poetic language, Zhu Bian's

Fengyue tang shihua #^recorded an anonymous critic's comment. He said: "There are allusions, anecdotes and stories. Some of them can enter poetry, some cannot. Only Su

Shi can immediately take whatever there is without thinking and use it. Street-talk and vulgar languages, once used by Su

Shi, are like being touched by a god; debris is turned into g o l d . "12 This is probably an overstatement, since no one can really be indiscriminate in choosing words, but his remark shows us that traditional critics were highly aware of Su

Shi's diversity of language.

Miao Yue, "Lun Song shi," in Song shi jianshang cidian, (Shanghai; Shanghai cishu chuban she, 1987), 7-8.

12 SSZLHB, 332. 116 "Three Poems Using the Rhyme Words of Officer Shen" are

seven-character cjuatrains in response to a poem by a certain

Mr. S h e n . 13 The rhyme words in Shen's original poem include

fei flE, which means "fat." It is not an easy word to rhyme. In

the practice of he yun shi "replying to other's poem

by using the same rhyme words," the originals are usually

better because the author himself chooses the rhyme words. Su

Shi is famous for writing responses that are better than the

original. Here is the third of Su's poems:

Nature knows I have long wished to return home. As if pitying on my frailty and sickness, it didn't deny my will: The wind came from Lake Tai,ii now the sails are full. Rains poured into River Song, and the water eventually got fat.

o 15

13 Mr. Shen is a friend of Su Shi of whom we know nothing today and whose original poem was lost.

14 zhen Ze is the ancient name for Tai Hu Lake Tai, in today's Jiangsu.

15 SSSJ, vol. 2, 563-4.

117 The last word of the third line is bao to be glutted. In

translation, it is impossible to render the flavor of the

original words; bao makes one think of an expanded, round

belly, and vividly describes the full sails blown by the

wind, suggesting that the ship is moving at full speed; fei

is usually used to describe men, animals or sometimes plants.

But here Su Shi uses it to show that due to the pouring rain

the river is rising and flowing forward with greater force,

making the ship move faster. The poet is delighted: he is

eager to go home, and the wind and the rain are helping him.

According to an annotator, both fan bao and shui fei were

dialectic expressions.%» He shows us here that when

appropriately used words in dialect can be both effective and

refreshing.

"Leaving G u a n g z h o u " was written on Su's way to Huizhou, the destination of his exile in 1094.

The arena for fame and wealth are farther and farther away from me, day by day,is I am still myself, not bothered a bit. After three cups of wine, I feel "softly full,"

16 Ibid..

17 SSSJ, Vol. 6, 2067.

18 Originally, chao, the court, was the place people chase fame in their social and political life, while shi Tf?, the marketplace, is where people pursue material wealth. Later on Chaoshi became one word referring to the arena people chase fame and wealth. 118 A good night's sleep, is indeed "black and sweet.' The Reed Creek is beyond the scattered tolling. In Yellowwood Bay, the trees start shedding their leaves. At the end of the land, I feel it not remote. Everywhere, I can eke out a living by fishing and gathering wood.

This poem shows an interesting mixture of two different kinds of language. In syntax and poetic imagery, lines four through eight are typical regulated verse lines and exhibit the qualities of refined style. We will read the first four lines in greater detail. The first couplet is inspired by a couplet in one of the "Ancient Poems, Nineteen Pieces" of the Late

Han. The original couplet reads: "You are farther and farther away from me, day by day, / And I am thinner and thinner everyday, for missing you."is In Su's lines, ri ye yuan H E # is exactly the same as in the original. This colloquial

19 Beijing daxue zhongguo wenxueshi jiaoyanshi annot., Liang Han wenxueshi cankao ziliao (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962), 573. 119 expression lends the poem the feel of a folk song. In English

translation, the second couplet does not look very natural.

Su Shi himself added a note after ruan bao saying that

people of called drinking wine ruan bao. He also

noted that hei tian # # was slang for sleeping. Both slang

words describe physical pleasures from everyday life. Hei

tian is especially expressive and vivid in describing the

great pleasure of a sound sleep, and it is still in use

today. The use of slang words is unexpected and has the

effect of breaking the "familiarity" of more conventional

poetic language and bringing freshness in the strict form of

regulated verse. More importantly, it plays a crucial role in

the thematic construction of the poem by emphasizing the

pleasures of ordinary life. It makes drinking and sleeping,

the most ordinary things, quite enjoyable and appealing. Su

Shi implies that although he was farther and farther away

from the battlefields of political fame and material gains,

he has no regrets and is content with what he has. He found

that there is much to enjoy in life: drinking, sleeping,

bells tolling, leaves falling. No matter how remote it is, he

can always enjoy fishing and gathering wood, typical

activities of a hermit. By using these kinds of slang words.

Su Shi is asserting an open attitude toward life and values.

Su Shi's poetic language is very diverse, ranging from

more conventional diction to dialectical expressions, depending on the nature of the subject matter. His major

120 achievement in this regard, however, is the dynamic use of various words and expressions that appears more in prose essays and everyday speech than in more conventional poems.

Su Shi's intellectual orientation is embodied in this use of language. In next section, I will discuss the diversity of Su

Shi's aesthetic tastes. While the emphasis is not on linguistic analysis, we can still see that the poems cited reflect the diversity of his language.

3.2. The diversity of Su Shi's aesthetic tastes

Sun Jue a good friend of Su Shi, built a hall to hold the calligraphic works of the greatest masters. He named it the Hall of Marvels of Calligraphy. Su Shi wrote a poem upon Sun's request to commemorate this event. After commenting on several great calligraphers. Su Shi says:

Du [Shao]ling, judging calligraphy, esteemed the gaunt and strong. This statement is not fair, I cannot rely on it. Short, long, fat, thin, each has its own flair: [Yang] Yuhuan and [Zhao] Feiyan— who can dislike them? 20

20 The translation is Michael Fuller's with my modifications. See Fuller, The Road to East Slope, 184. In the first line, I use "strong" to replace "still." I think "strong" is closer to the original. In the last line, Yang Yuhuan is concubine of Enç)eror Xuanzong of the Tang, while Zhao Feiyan is consort of Emperor Cheng of the Han. Both are among the most well-known beauties in Chinese history, but Yang is famous for her fullness and Zhao for her thinness. 121 o 2 1

Du Fu was not known as a calligrapher, but the comments he

made in his poems on calligraphy show that he knew

calligraphy very well and had a cultivated taste. In one

poem, Du Fu states that "in calligraphy one esteems the gaunt

and strong, which only thus convey the spirit."22 su Shi

disagrees with Du Fu on the grounds that one shouldn't

dismiss other styles just because he favors a particular

style. Su Shi himself was one of the four great masters in

Chinese calligraphy in the Song, and he certainly had his own

style and his favorite calligraphers. But he did not let his

preference interfere with his appreciation of different kinds

of styles. For Su Shi, different styles have different

beauties, and each "has its own flair."

Su Shi's diverse aesthetic taste is not only reflected

in calligraphy but also in poetry. In the many commentaries he made on the major poets and their works, he demonstrated

21 SSSJ, vol. 2, 371-3.

22 Qian Qianyi, Du shi Qian zhu, ( Taipei : Shijie shuju, 1965), 151. The translation is Michael Fuller's, see his The Road to East Slope, 185. 122 insight and artistic sensibility. The poets he read and

commented on were of a great veiriety, and he seemed to be

able to appreciate poetic beauty of very different kinds. His

remarks on Du Fu, Tao Yuanming, Wang Wei and Han Yu have been

considered classic and quoted numerous times. One case that

is particularly interesting is his critique of the Tang poet

Meng Jiao (751-814), which is mainly shown in his

"Reading Meng Jiao's Poems."

Reading Meng Jiao's Poems, first of two

I was reading Meng Jiao's poems at night. The small, fine characters were like ox hairs. The chill shining of the lamp made [my eyes] bleary. 4 From time to time I encountered a fine line— A lone fragrant plant pulled from neglected weeds; Words of bitterness, a remnant of the Shi jing and Li sao. The water is pure, the rocks glisten freshly 8 The rapid current does not permit punting poles. At the beginning, [reading his poems] is like eating small fish; What one gets is not worth the effort. It is also like boiling small crabs : 12 All day long one is holding empty claws. He properly should have competed in pureness with the monk, 23 But was not good enough to take on the unbridled style of Han Yu. Human life is like the morning dew. 16 Day and night, fire burns up the fat. Why should one force one's ears To listen to this cold insect's call?

23 The monk here refers to another Tang poet W (779-843). Jia Dao is famous for taking great pains in writing poems and seeking proper words. His name was often mentioned along with that of Meng Jiao for the closeness in poetic style achievements. While Meng Jiao's style is considered to be "cold," Jia Dao's style was described as "thin." 123 It would be better to set it aside for the moment, 20 To drink my brew in jade goblet.24

Second of two

I detest Meng Jiao's poem. But I'll speak in the language of Meng Jiao. A hungry stomach cries out. 4 A hungry rat rounds [the corner] of an empty wall. Poetry comes from the heart's core. When it comes out, it grieves the heart's core. It in a way resembles fish— 8 They produce the fat in which they are boiled. I still love his song of the bronze goblet. Crude, it rather approaches [the poetry of] antiquity. When finished shooting ducks with a peach bow, 12 "Rocking, [he] dances in a short rain cloak." He does not worry his treading will overturn the boat, he treads the billows, not the land. A maiden of Wu, white [as] frost and snow, 16 In bare feet, washes white linen. She married a billow-treading lad. And is not acquainted with the pain of separation. Singing your tune of the lakes and rivers, 20 I am saddened by my lengthy sojourn a w a y . 25

24 The last line reads yin wo yuzhi lao, in Jizhu fenlei Dongpo xiansheng shi , Sibu Congkan (SBCK) edition, 25.4b, instead of in SSSJ. I think that the line in SBCK edition makes better sense and I changed the translation according to it.

25 Fuller's translation with my modifications. See Fuller, The Road to East Slope— The Development of Su Shi's Poetic Voice, 227-8. From line 9 to 18 Su Shi took characters, images, and stories from Meng Jiao's series "Song Dan Gong" See Quan Tang shi, 4253. Fuller's translation of the last line is "I am moved by my far traveling," which I believe is not accurate. Compared with the maid of Wu who didn't have to endure the pain of separation with her loved one, Su Shi is saddened by his lengthy sojourn away. "Chang" here refers to the length of time, not distance, and jilu # # means "being away from home or the court."

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There have been different readings of the two poems.

Stephen Owen is disturbed by Su's critique of Meng. He thinks

that Meng ' s high reputation as a great poet was damaged

permanently by the attack the "brash" Su Shi made in these

two poems.27 Michael Fuller takes a more sophisticated look at

them. He observes that "the two poems suggest a certain self-

contradiction in Su Shi's attitude toward Meng Jiao," and

sees that Meng Jiao embodies "Su Shi's fear about the failure

of the unbridled style. "28 y an Zhongqi argues that Su's

commentaries "relatively objectively reflect the strength and

26 SSSJ, vol. 3, 796-8.

27 For Owen's comment on this, see the entry he wrote for The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, edited and conç>iled by William H Nienhauser, Jr. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), 623.

28 Michael Fuller, The Road to East Slope— The Development of Su Shi's Poetic Voice, 230. 126

II weakness of Meng's poems. Taken as a whole, his attitude is

of praise and appreciation."29

Without dismissing the other readings, I would like to

present my own reading of these two poems. I think they

demonstrate a conflict between Su Shi's aesthetic preference

and his pluralistic view, and they show the latter overcomes

the former. The first poem is a description of his experience

reading Meng's poems. It is an uneasy experience. There are

moments of reading pleasure, but they only come from time to

time, like "a lone fragrant plant pulled from neglected

weeds." He feels that "what one gets is not worth the

effort." Finally, he gives up reading and takes up his jade

goblet and starts drinking his brew.

Obviously, Su Shi was not a fan of Meng's poems. The

reason lies in the many differences between the two men.

Unlike the early success of Su Shi, Meng Jiao struggled many

years in his political career. Although after three tries he

finally passed the jlnsbl examinations when he was forty-six,

he only served in several very low official posts afterwards.

Most of his life he lived in poverty. His poetry, however, was a major presence in his time and was highly regarded by

his contemporaries, among vrtiom was the ardent admirer, Han

Yu. Meng Jiao's poetry is very unique. The most representative works are those describing his bitter

29 y an Zhongqi, compiled and annotated, Su Shi lun wenyi (Beijing: Beijing chuban she), 157. 127 experiences and the misery of poverty. The language is rough,

the images are shocking, and the way he expresses himself is

usually very deep, difficult, sometimes tortuous.

The central trope of Su Shi's poetry is water, which

suggests the qualities of fluency and unbridledness. Su Shi's

personality has been characterized as kuangda, which means

"broad-minded," "big-hearted," and "catholic." Apparently,

the attitude towards life exemplified in Meng Jiao's poetry

is quite different from Su Shi's own, and this may explain

partly why Su disliked Meng's poetry. When Su Shi started

"drinking his brew in jade goblet," it seems that his

experience reading Meng Jiao had ended. Yet there is

something in Meng Jiao's poetry that continues to haunt him,

cind so he puts down his goblet and picks up his pen again.

The first two lines of the second poem serve as a transition

in Su's attitude: "I detest Meng Jiao's poem,/ But i'll speak

in the language of Meng Jiao." Line one is a straightforward

rejection of Meng's poems, vrtiich has upset Meng's admirers.

Here Yan Zhongqi provides an alternative interpretation that may be worth looking at. He argues that what Su did not like was the bitter tone of Meng's poems. In fact Su had sympathy with Meng's frustrated life.3o Yan's interpretation is not without justification, and it finds support in the rest of the second poem. Lines three and four are an ingenious

30 Yan Zhongqi, Su Shi lun wenyi, 157. 128 imitation of Meng's style. The wording, the tone, the images, and the experience described are all typical of Meng Jiao's style. The next two lines "Poetry comes from the heart's core./ When it comes out, it grieves the heart's core" have been regarded as a good summary of Meng's poetry. Line five is a praise of Meng Jiao for the sincerity and profound presentation of his feelings, a guality highly regarded in

Chinese criticism. Line six acknowledges its great artistic appeal. Although Su himself does not like the bitter tone of

Meng's poetry, he was nevertheless affected by it. Su Shi here shows that he has a good grasp of Meng ' s style and that he could appreciate it. After expressing his fondness of

Meng's other poems, Su so concludes:

Singing your tune of the lakes and rivers, I am saddened by my lengthy sojourn away.

This ending is apparently quite different from the ending of the first poem, reflecting a change of his attitude towards

Meng Jiao, a movement from a quite strong feeling of antipathy to a certain sense of affinity. Perhaps the feeling of antipathy is his immediate, intuitive reaction to the bitter tone, but Su does not let his immediate reaction dominate his judgment. He transcends himself. It takes a broad mind to appreciate something opposite to one's own preference.

129 If we take "Reading Meng Jiao's Poems" as an example of

Su Shi's attitude toward different styles and of his diverse

tastes, "To Master Canliao" can be seen as a theoretical

statement of his view of poetry and arts in general.

You, the master, study [the meaning] of suffering and emptiness. One hundred desires have already been cooled down. [As if] puffing on the handle of a sword produces only a whisper. And the burned grain has no new husk. Why do you follow people like us. And compete for exuberance and splendidness in writing? Your new poems are like fragments of jade. Your language is liapid and succinct. Han Yu commented on [Zhang Xu's] grass script writing. Saying that Zhang didn't forget the myriad things in the world. All his distresses, worries, and indignation Were poured on paper when he wielded his brush. Han wondered cibout [Master Gaoxian], the Buddhist monk. Who regarded his body as an empty well. With dispirited mood, he sought no fame or wealth. So who could arouse his heroic spirit?3i After pondering on Han's words, I think he was not right. The feelings and skills [of Gaoxian] were real. If one wants to make his poetry great. Don't dismiss emptiness and quietude. Having achieved quietude, then one can comprehend various things in motion. Having emptied one's mind, then he can embrace myriad worlds. Experiencing the world, you live in the human society. Reflecting your life, you lie on cloudy mountains. Salty and sour, your poetry mixes elements favored by different people. And there are wonderful flavors that linger long. Poetry and Buddhism, they do not harm each other. To what I have said, my friend, please give your thought.

31 Han Yu, "Song Gaoxian shangren xu" see Han Changli quanji (Hong Kong: Guang zhi shuju, n.d.), 294-5. 130

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Jl This poem was addressed to the Buddhist Master Canliao^* to

praise his poems, but its significcuice goes far beyond that.

From line nine down Su Shi makes reference to an essay of Han

Yu on calligraphy. The issue was the impact of one's Buddhist

belief on artistic creation. Han Yu first praised the works

of Zhang Xu (dates unknown), the Tang calligrapher best

known for his grass style writings. He remarked that Zhang

Xu's writings embodied all his emotions, such as distress,

worry, longing, happiness, indignation and his experience of

the world. The implied message is that the great appeal of

Zhang Xu's writings comes from his powerful feelings. Han Yu

then wondered how Master Gaoxian, to whom Han Yu's essay was

addressed, could excel in calligraphy since he was a Buddhist

monk. According to Buddhism, the basic fact of life is misery, and all material thing, wealth, fame, etc., that are

valued in the mundane world, are empty or will turn to

nothingness. The only way to reduce the pain of life is to

give up desires as much as possible. Han Yu suspected that the writings of a monk, if he ever wrote at all, would

likewise show no strong feelings. Su Shi takes a different

look at the impact of Buddhism on artistic creation and argues that the Buddhist concepts "emptiness" and "quietude" are actually beneficial to the writer. In quietude, he reasons, one can really concentrate on observing the world

33 Monk Canliao is a Buddhist monk and one of Su Shi's lifetime friends. Su Shi spoke highly of his poems. 132 and comprehend the meaning of various things in motion. In

Buddhist doctrine, kong refers to the nothingness of all things in the world in an ultimate sense. Su Shi here uses it to denote one's mental state, which of course, is consistent with Buddhist philosophy. To Su Shi, the state of "enç)tiness" in one's mind enables one to be receptive, to open oneself to the myriad things in the world. Su Shi's interpretation of

"quietude" and "emptiness" is creative. He turns negative thoughts into something positive. His interpretation may not find scriptural support in Buddhist sutras, but it does not really matter. He had never pretended to be a faithful

Buddhist anyway. Following that, Su Shi then makes an important proposition:

Salty and sour, your poetry mixes elements favored by different people. And there are wonderful flavors that linger long.

People have different favored things and different tastes. To write good poetry that appeals to readers, one has to understand various people and incorporate their diverse tastes into one's works, which in turn requires two things.

One is to live in the human world, experience aspects of human society, and get to know aspects of human nature. The other is to reflect on oneself, one's relation to the world, and the ways one reacts to it. Once one achieves real comprehension of the world and the self, one is able to

133 incorporate elements of styles of different artists in one's writing, and is relatively free from biases and enjoys different aesthetic tastes. This view shows Su Shi's pluralistic view of values in aesthetic realm.

3.3. The sense of irony and the play of meanings

In his comprehensive study of Su Shi, Ronald Egan discusses "the use of play" in Su Shi's poetry, by which he means "jokes, palindromes, and poetry games of various kinds."34 He notes that this kind of poetry "was frequently commented on, often disapprovingly, by his contemporaries."

Dissatisfied with the negative view of Su Shi's playful verse, Egan argues that this kind of verse has its serious meanings and "has a significance that goes far beyond the special subset of poems." He finds that "(j)ocularity used to veil political comment is perhaps the most obvious kind." Su

Shi also uses playfulness to reflect the intimacy of the relationship involved, or to express his awareness of the accidental quality of life in general.

Playfulness in Su Shi's poetry is a quality that has not attracted enough academic attention, and Egan offers some interesting initial observations- Unable to treat this issue as comprehensively as I wish, I will analyze two poems to show how Su Shi plays with layers of meanings in them to

34 Ronald Egan, word. Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi (Cambridge: Harvard University, 1994), 169-79. 134 produce a sense of irony and how his pluralistic view of

values are exhibited in them.

Let us first read Su Shi's poem "Bathing My Son, a

Playful Poem' :

All people, in raising sons, want them to be smart. But I was harmed by being smart throughout my life. I only wish my son to be dumb and slow. But still rise to high offices, without any adversity.

The language is simple, almost colloquial, and the message seems clear. It is a father's wish for his new-born son.

While most would wish to have smart children, recalling his life Su Shi feels that his talents and learning only caused him many problems. So he wishes his son to be "dumb and slow," but still to be successful in his life.

Su Shi is probably alluding here to a poem by Bai Juyi, mourning the death of Huangfu Shi (7773-830?):

35 SSSJ, vol. 8, 2535-6. 135 Weeping for Huangfu the Seventh

Your ambition to write great works exceeds that of Xucuiyan,36 Your beautiful writings are like those of Mi Heng.37 Being too talented is no good for happiness and wealth. You were b o m unlucky, because you are too smart. You did not have a long life. Yet will leave a great name. Just one piece of your writing, "Crossing the River," Is already worth as much as a high ministerl

C.'

36 Xuanyan is the assumed name of Huangfu Mi # # # (215- 282). Huangfu Mi is a famous scholar in the Jin Dynasty known for his great learning and his repeated refusal of the offers of high offices and honors from the Emperor Wu. For his life story see Fang Xuanling et al., Jin shu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974), 1409-18.

37 Mi Heng # # (173-198) is a talented scholar of a daring, conceited personality. He offended Cao Gao and was killed by a general H u ^ g Zu. For his life story, see Chen Shou 1^#, Sanguo zhi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1971), 311.

38 Bai Juyi, Bai Xiangshan shiji (Hong Kong: Guangzhi shuju, n.d.), 359. 136 Huangfu Shi was Bai's good friend, and his untimely death saddened Bai greatly. The second couplet, in which Bai attributed Huangfu's misfortune to his being too talented and smart, is vdiat interests us here. According to the sketchy biography of Huangfu Shi in Xin Tang shu # # # (The New

History of the Tang Dynasty), Huangfu Shi39 had great talents but was considered rather conceited, often offending people and inviting j e a l o u s y . 4o Here Bai does not think that

Huangfu's being too talented is a defect and that it should be blamed for his unsuccessful career. The real message is that society should be held responsible for causing his misfortune. The couplet alone conveys a sense of irony due to the discrepancy between the surface meaning and the implied meaning. But in the context of the whole poem the sense of irony is diminished, as the poet highly praises Huangfu and expresses his sympathy with him in other lines, thus exposing the poet's real attitude.

Su Shi's statement "I was harmed by being smart throughout my life" is similar to Bai Juyi's couplet about

Huangfu Shi, but it carries a much heavier weight, because Su

Shi was a high-profile figure and his talents and

39 His name is Huangfu Shi # # # . He was addressed as Huangfu Qi because he was ranked the seventh among all his brothers and cousins.

40 There is a brief account of Huangfu Shi's life in Ouyang Xiu Xin Tang shu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975), 5267-8. 137 achievements were far greater than those of Huangfu, and he suffered a great deal more hardship in his life. Behind Su

Shi's statement there were very complex feelings and emotions, and grievances against some of his political opponents must be part of them. On the surface, however, he says straightforwardly that his being too smart is the cause for all the adversities in his life. There is a discrepancy between what is said and what is not, and a tension is created between the layers of meanings. This poem has a kind of light, self-mocking tone, which in turn reinforces the strong sense of irony.

Unlike in Bai Juyi's poem, the sense of irony in Su

Shi's poem is maintained throughout. Su Shi goes on in the poem to combine the above theme with another theme, his hopes for his son. When Su wrote this poem, the well-known poem by

Tao Yuanming, "Finding Fault with My Sons," describing his expectations of his sons was clearly in his mind:

Over my temples the white hair hangs. My wrinkled skin is past filling out. Although five sons belong to me Not one is fond of brush and paper. Already Shu is twice times eight— For laziness he has no match. At A Xuan's age one should study. But love of letters is not in him. Both Yong and Duan count thirteen years And cannot add up six and seven. The little Tong is getting on toward nine And all he wants are pears and chestnuts. If this is the way it is fated to be.

138 Just let me reach for the Thing in the cup.

psr^er./i ' °

'

° ■* 2

As one of the best known hermits in Chinese history, Tao

Yuanming is esteemed for his genuine love of Nature and a peaceful life. Although Tao turned his back on public life and ignored some conventional values, he still wanted his sons to have good education. Unfortunately, none of his five sons lived up to his expectation and he was very disappointed. When treated in poetry, however, his disappointment is expressed in a reserved manner, without any

James Hightower's translation with modifications. See his The Poetry of T'ao Ch'ien (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970), 163.

42 Tao Yuanming ji, Lu Qinli, %fKÎL annot. (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1979), 106. 139 outpouring of sadness or anger. He manages to shrug it off because he knows that he could do nothing to change their natures. But as James Hightower has commented: "The tone may be bantering, but the dis appointment is none the less r e a l . "43

Tao Yuanming had an unexpected critic several hundred years later. In one of a series of poems, Du Fu made the following comments to Tao:

Tao Qian was one who shunned the vulgar. But he did not necessarily have true wisdom: When we read the poems he wrote We also find them much lamenting poverty. Is it enough to view life with equanimity? And true understanding came to him late, whether his sons are clever or dumb So much attached he is to that 144

^3 The Poetry of T'ao Ch'ien, 164.

44 Hightower's tremslation, see his The Poetry of T'ao Ch'ien, 163. I makes two main changes in this translation. The first is line 4, which Hightower's translation is "we find them rather dry and harsh." I think that Du Fu here is expressing his regret that Tao Yuanming made much complaints about his life in poverty. The second is line 5. Hightower's translation is "the wise man is not so self-satisfied," which I think is not accurate. 140 Because of the status of both Du and Tao in Chinese poetry,

Du Fu's poem has attracted critics' interests. It is an interesting case that shows a special way of expressing oneself in Chinese poetry. Literally, Du Fu appears to directly criticize Tao Yuanming for complaining about his life and being too much attached to his sons. But the real message is more complicated. Huang Tingjian made a remark on this poem in this regard. He said:

Du Fu was stuck in mountains and rivers [by the war ], and was blamed for poor management of his livelihood by those who did not know him well. They also laughed at Du Fu for failing to provide good education for Zongwen eind Zongwu [Du Fu's sons]. Therefore Du Fu mocked himself by talking about Tao Yuanming. The title of this poem is “qxan xing (Expressing my thought). Here we can tell [what he really meant].46

Huang Tingjian shows his sensitivity as a good poet himself in understanding Du Fu, whom he greatly admired. He points out that in this poem Du Fu is using Tao Yuanming to express himself. While on the surface he criticizes Tao for his

45 "Qian xing," # # Du shi Qian zhu annot. Qian Qianyi (Taipei: Shijie shuju, 1965), 63.

46 Huang Tingjian's remark and a related remark by Qiu Zhaoao are in Du Fu, Du shi xiang zhu annot. Qiu Zhaoao (Taipei: Liren shuju, 1980), 563-4. 141 attachment to his sons, he is actually talking about his own

concerns about his sons. Both of them wanted their sons to

have good education and be successful in their life.

Su Shi's poem turns the conventional view upside down by

wishing his son "dumb and slow." It is, certainly, a rather

eye-catching statement. This line of thinking, of course, has

its precedent in both Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi for whom the

advance of knowledge is unnecessary, even harmful to men's

life. What makes this poem quite interesting and unique is

that Su does not follow this line of Daoist thought but makes

another sudden twist: he wishes his son to "rise to high offices, without any adversity." He returns to the conventional value that good public offices are what one

should strive for.

The image of a dumb, slow person as a high official is

laughable, but Su Shi's description here it not just for the sake of comic effect. We know that none of Su Shi's sons was talented enough to reach even half the height Su Shi had achieved in literary and scholarly writing, but they were certainly not ignorant either. If they were, we wonder if Su could manage to treat it with a sense of humor. The poem makes it possible to have several pairs of opposite interpretations: one's talents can cause one's misfortune, or it is the fault of society which envies geniuses and suppresses them? it is better to have smart children, or being too smart is harmful to one's happiness ? a successful

142 public life is what one ought to strive for, or one should

not set public life as one's primary goal. The reader has to

draw conclusions himself based on his own experience. It is

this intended ambiguity and the interplay of the several

layers of meanings in this poem that attracts my attention to

this short poem.

In the following poem, the issue is the value of

language and arts:

Shi Cangshu's Hall of Drunk Ink

In life, acquaintance with writing is the beginning of calamity and grief. Once one knows how to roughly record one's name, one can stop. Of what use is cursive script, boasting of one's inspired swiftness, 4 When on opening a scroll it stupefies men, makes them suffer? I always laugh at nyself that I used to enjoy it. You have this disease, how can we cure it? You say that in [calligraphy] is the greatest joy, 8 That it is so pleasant that it is no different from "carefree wandering."4? Recently you built a hall called "Drunk Ink." Like drinking fine wine, [calligraphy] can dispel a hundred sorrows. Thus I know that Master Liu's words were not amiss: 12 Sick, one eats dirt and charcoal as though they were delicacies. ta

47 In Zhuang Zi there are two articles titled "Xiaoyao you" ("Carefree Wandering") and "Zhi le" S # (Greatest Joy). See Guo Qingfan # # # , Zhuang zi jishi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), 1-42 and 608-29.

48 In a letter to a young admirer of him, describes this kind of addiction to calligraphy and makes an analogy to the ^ople who enjoy eating dirt and charcoal. See Liu Hedong ji, (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1958), 550^ 143 It can be said that you are at the acme of this art: Heaps of spent brushes are [high] as hills. When the inspiration comes, in one sweep you exhaust a hundred sheets of paper; 16 A spirited horse in an instêuit treads the Nine Divisions. My calligraphy I make up as I go, at bottom without any rules. My dots and strokes follow howsoever my hand moves, and wearing of fussing with it. Why nqr remarks on calligraphy are especially regarded [by you]? 20 Every solitary character and scrap of paper you collect and store away. Not inferior to Zhong Yao and Zhang Zhi, you are worthy in your own right. Below, compared to Luo and Zhao, I too am superior.49 You need not again earnestly practice by the poolside. 24 And you can take all the silk for [its] proper use in coverlets and sheets.so

1.

49 All these four people mentioned here are calligraphers in the Jin Dynasty.

50 Fuller's translation with my modifications. See his The Road to East Slope^ 122. 144

1 % % # # % # # ° 5 1

Shi Cangshu was reportedly a good calligrapher, especially in running and grass scripts. He also had a good collection of calligraphic works by famous past masters and built a "Hall of Drunk Ink" to house it. Su wrote this poem to commemorate the event, but he did this in a quite unusual way. The whole poem consists of twenty four lines, but half of it is argumentative discourse about language and writing. Instead of promoting language and calligraphy, as one could be expected to on such an occasion. Su Shi casts doubt on their value. Line one states that "in life, acquaintance with writing is the beginning of calamity and grief." Su Shi does not elaborate why, but it could mean, at a personal level.

51 SSSJ, vol. 1, 235-7. 145 that it takes great pains to master a language; it could further mean that knowledge, learning, and consequently presenting one's ideas in writing can bring catastrophic misfortune in one's life, as one annotator cited Du Fu's poem on Yang Xiong # # (63 B.C.-18 B.C.) to show such an e x a m p l e .52 in the meantime, the doubt cast on the value of language could also be applied to the advance of culture in general, since language is the primary medium to record the achievements of cultural progress. Line two alludes to a comment by Xiang Yu (232 B.C.-202 B.C.). Xiang Yu was once blamed for not setting his mind on study. He replied:

"in learning writing it is enough to know how to write one's name and that is all. It is not worth studying. [I want to] learn how to fight against thousands of p e o p l e . "53 xiang Yu was famous for being a brave general with great physical strength and fighting skills but little intelligence. When his view of language and learning is cited positively by Su

52 Du Fu has a line that says "Ziyun (Yang Xiong's assumed name) knew characters [well], but this resulted in jumping from the Tianlu Pavilion," see Qian Qianyi, Du shi Qian zhu, 10. Yang Xiong was an erudite scholars and fu writer. During the time when 5E# (45 B.C.-23 B.C., the usurper of the Han Dynasty) was in power, Yang Xiong attempted suicide in fear of persecution and jumped from the Tianlu Pavilion where he worked. See M ® , Han shu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962), 3513-87. Here Du Fu suggests that learning did Yang Xiong no good but brought harm to his life.

53 For this remark, see Sima Qian, Shi ji (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975), 295-6. 146 Shi, a master of the , it produces a strong

sense of irony and tension. These arguments then justify the

complaints against grass calligraphy, which is notoriously

difficult to read even for educated people. Subsequently, the

obsession with grass calligraphy is compared with a disease

which makes people enjoy eating dirt and charcoal. However,

this is only one side of the story. In the poem Su Shi also

describes the great enjoyment calligraphic writing can bring

to the people who really love it: it is like "carefree

wandering" and drinking fine wine that "can dispel a hundred

sorrows." The two completely different views of calligraphic

writing are presented in a way that does not allow one to

overshadow or dominate the other.

In reading the above poems, I call attention to the

sense of irony and the interplay of meanings. They give Su

Shi's poems an openness and complex that allow for different

interpretations. It certainly has to do with his intellectual

orientation, which was receptive to different ideas. In Su

Shi's poetry there are different voices and views that are

constantly arguing against each other as well as reconciling with each other. The struggle, of course, does not exist only

in Su Shi's mind, but he does not intentionally suppress the conflicts but tends to expose them in his writings. By

"writing poetry out of prose," Su Shi presents to us his reading of the world and his open and dynamic mind.

147 CHAPTER 4

SU SHI IN DIALOGUE WITH HIS POETIC PREDECESSORS

As discussed in chapter 2, Su Shi's intellectual

orientation is characterized by a pluralistic view of values

and a prosaic wisdom, which entails an open-mindedness to

different ideas. During a certain stage of his life or in a

certain type of writing, one aspect of his thought may be

more pronounced than another. However, in reading his poetry

in comparison with the his poetic predecessors, we can see changes in his approach to the problem of the meaning of life

in general, his attitude toward public life, and his view of the self in relation with others and in the natural order.

The complexity of Su Shi's thought defies simple generalization, and these changes cannot be summarized by any simple, sweeping statement. What we can say is that the changes in Su Shi's views and attitude can be seen as a deviation from certain attitudes and values widely held by traditional Chinese literati in the above-mentioned issues.

Such a departure or deviation from those mainstream values, as well as his tendency to resort to alternative intellectual

148 sources to develop his own views, can then be viewed as a reflection of his pluralistic view of values. In addition. Su

Shi presents his views and positions on those issues largely by argumentive and rational discourses, with the diverse and dynamic language of his own. Although more attention is to be focused on the intellectual issues in these poems, the literary features of "making poetry out of prose" will also be noted at times in my analyses.

Before starting my discussion, I wish to explain why I choose to compare Su Shi with Tao Yuanming and the Tang poets

Du Fu and Han Yu. In the development of both intellectual thought and poetry. Su Shi is a direct successor of these major poets. On the one hand, he had a strong feeling of affinity with these poetic predecessors, since their poetry had inspired him. Their influence can be seen in the numerous references to their works in Su Shi's own poetry. On the other hand. Su Shi had to respond to the reality that he was living in and faced the problems he had. His views, positions and attitude were significantly different from theirs. The references Su Shi made to works of these poets, explicit or implicit, constitute a dialogue with them, and comparative reading of works of Su Shi and his predecessors will enable us to better understand the significance of the changes in Su

Shi on these intellectual issues.

149 4.1. Su Shi and Tao Yuanming: sorrow and its transcendence

Among all the poets of the past, Tao Yuanming was the one Su Shi admired most. In a letter to his brother Su Zhe,

Su Shi says:

There were ones who imitated poems of earlier times, but there has been no one who has "responded" to a poet of the past by following the rhymes of his poems. I am the first one to do. I do not particularly favor poets of the past, but I really love the poetry of Yuanming. Yuanming did not write many poems. His poems look plain and slender but are in fact beautiful and rich. Poets such as Cao [Zhi], Liu [Zhen], Bao [Zhao], Xie [Lingyun], Li [Bai] and Du [Fu] are all not as great as Tao.i

Su Shi did something unprecedented: he "answered" almost all

Tao's poems using the original rhyme words. He regarded Tao the best of all Chinese poets, even above Li Bai and Du Fu.

It was only after Su Shi's praise that Tao's reputation as a great poet was firmly established.

Su Shi admires Tao Yuanming and his poetry for good reasons. First, he contends that Tao's seemingly "plain" language represents the highest standard of poetry, which was achieved by the poet who had a profound understanding of real beauty. Su Shi's comments on Tao's poetic style raises an important aesthetic issue which has far-reaching influence.

He not only likes Tao's poetry but also admires him as a person. In the same letter to Su Zhe, Su Shi quotes Tao's

1 SSZLHB, book 1, vol. 1, 61-2. 150 final words to his sons, in which Tao said that "I have a strong personality and am poor in talent, so I am often in conflict with things in the outside world." Tao quit his office and returned home, and his sons had taken the consequence and lived in poverty. Tao was very sorry for his sons and blamed himself for not providing a good life for them. Deeply moved by Tao's words. Su Shi feels that he has the same personality "problem," but he realized this too late, well after he has suffered so many setbacks and hardships in his life.2

There are interesting issues on Tao Yuanming and Su Shi and their poetry that deserve thorough studies, but here I would like to focus on one issue: their views of the meaning of life and how to transcend the sorrow in one's life. In the following discussion I wish to delineate the similarities as well as the differences in their views.

The lives of Tao Yuanming and Su Shi are quite different. While Tao Yuanming only held some minor official posts and spent much of his life in his home village. Su Shi was a prominent political figure. Yet the two poets share a common concern: both tend to reflect on the meaning of life and on how the individual should cope with the inevitable frustrations and pains in life. We will first look at Tao

Yuanming's view.

2 Ibid., 62 151 Compared with their Western counterparts, most early

Chinese thinkers were concerned less on ed)stract metaphysical

issues and more on socio-political matters, which are more

directly related to people's life. Within Chinese thinkers,

different schools have different emphasis. While Confucius

himself was sensitive to life of individuals,3 Confucianism as

a school of thought understands individual mainly as a social

being in the network of social relations. Zhuang Zi, on the

other hand, deeply felt the pains of human being in an

alienated society and strove to transcend the sorrow and

overcome the pains.* Writing in a literary fom, Chinese poets were naturally focused on aspects of social and individual

life. Yet it was in Tao Yuanming's poetry the contemplation of the meaning of life achieved great philosophical depth.

3 For example, once Confucius, standing by a stream, said: "It passes on just like this, not ceasing day or night1" (James Legge's translation, in The Four Books, Changsha: Hunan renmin chubanshe, 1992, 139.) This remark shows a consciousness of time and a sentiment on the brevity of human life. On another occasion, Confucius asked his disciples what they would want to do if they had the trust of a ruler. They mostly expressed their political ambitions. Only Zeng Xi said, "in this, the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete, along with five or six young men who have assumed the cap, and six or seven boys, I would wash in the Yi, enjoy the breeze among the rain-altars, and return home singing." (Ibid., 163) Zeng Xi's description was about the enjoyment of life, but surprisingly Confucius gave his approval to Zeng Xi's answer.

4 For Zhuang Zi's view of human society and the transcendence of it, see Li Zehou's ^ # 1 # study "Zhuang Xuan Chanzong manshu" in his Zhongguo gudai sixiang shi lun (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1985), 177- 98. 152 Tao Yuanming's decision to return to his home village

was not an easy one. It meant to give up respected social

status and stable economical resource. More importantly, he

was not a man who could really forget the world. As he states

in his poetry, when he was young his "whole delight was in

the Classic Books"S— Confucian Classics, which indicates the

influence of Confucian values in his early life. Tao Yuanming

lived in a time of tremendous social upheaval. To avoid

risking his life in the dangerous political arena and

compromising the principles he held, he withdrew from the

officialdom, but he was not without inner struggles. A series

of poems, entitled "Substance, Shadow, and Spirit,"

represents this inner conflict.

The first poem, "Substance to Shadow," focuses on the

inescapable mortality of human life. Once one dies, one has

no way to come back and other people do not really care for

one's death. It ends with these lines;

I hope you will take my advice. When wine is offered, don't r e f u s e . e

5 James Hightower, trans. The Poetry of T'ao Ch'ien, 147.

6 Hightower, The Poetry of T'ao Ch'ien, 42. 153

JL Drinking wine represents an attitude of jishi xingle, ^

"wasting no time to seek enjoyment of life." Here Substance suggests that we should grasp the happy moments of life and enjoy sensual pleasure as much as possible.

In the second poem of this series, "Shadow to

Substance," Shadow admits that once one vanishes in darkness, one's body and the fame one may have established would end together. Yet Shadow disagrees with Substance in how one should react to it. He says:

Do good, and your love will outlive you; Surely this is worth your every effort. While it is true, wine may dissolve care This is not so good a way as this.8

Shadow rejects Substance' solution to the problem of human mortality. It advises people to pursue a moral life and seek

7 Tao Yuanming, Tao Yuanming ji, 36.

8 Hightower, The Poetry of T'ao Ch'ien, 43,

9 Tao Yuanming, Tao Yuanming ji, 36. 154 satisfaction from doing good deeds to others, and believes that it is more rewarding than sensual pleasures. This view apparently reflects Confucian values.

The poetic persona of the third poem is Spirit. We now see what is his stance on the argument of Substance and

Shadow;

The Three August Ones were great saints But where are they living today? Though Pengzu lasted a long time He still had to go before he was ready. Die old or die young, the death is the same, wise or stupid, there is no difference. Drunk every day you may forget. But won't it shorten your life span? Doing good is always a joyous thing But no one has to praise you for it. Too much thinking harms my life; Just surrender to the cycle of things. Give yourself to the waves of the Great Change Neither happy nor yet afraid. And when it is time to go, then simply go Without any unnecessary fuss.io

■>0 Hightower, The Poetry of T'ao Ch'ien, 43-4, 155 In the preface of this series, the poet states that people

cling tenaciously to life and it is a great delusion. He

would make Spirit the spokesman to resolve the matter. Spirit

first affirms that death is inescapable to everyone and

immortality is unreachable, a point both Substance and Shadow

can agree upon. However, it differs from Substance and Shadow

in how to react to the sorrow and anxiety in human life under

the shadow of death. Spirit maintains that drinking can only temporarily relieve the pain but it has the adverse effect of

harming one's health and shortening one's life. Doing good, on the other hand, may make one feel good, but other people do not really value the virtues. After rejecting the two views. Spirit continues to present its own solution. To overcome the sorrow and anxiety caused by human mortality, it advises people to admit the fact and transcend it by surrendering oneself "to the cycle of things." The ideal way of reacting to the individual's life and the world affairs, which could be the sources of pains, according to Spirit, is to give oneself "to the waves of the Great Change" and to be

"neither happy nor afraid." The expressions of "the cycle of

11 Tao Yuanming, Tao Yuanming ji, 37. 156 things" and "the waves of the Great Change" represent the principle of zlran Anature, or spontaneity. Ziran is the notion advocated by some Neo-Daoists of the Jin to counter mingjiao f,#, morals and institutions, 12 which represented

Confucian values favored by the rulers. Tao Yuanming was not directly involved in the discussion, but the view expressed here via Spirit shows that he favors the view of Neo-Daoism.

The last poem seems to summarize the debate, thus Spirit is probably intended to serve as the true voice of the poet.

However, we should note that doing good and enjoying life, views represented by Substance and Shadow respectively, have also played their roles in the dynamics of his thought. These seemingly opposite views find expression in many of Tao

Yuanming's own works. He would not have written a poetry of a great richness and sophistication without these different views complementing each other.

We now turn to Su Shi's poetry. Su Shi did "reply" to the three poems of Tao Yuanming, yet he mainly played on the relations between Substance, Shadow and Spirit but didn't directly address the different views expressed in Tao

12 A discussion of the Neo-Daoism and its main concepts can be found in Chapter V and VI of Fung Yu-lan, A History of Chinese Philosophy, trans. by Derk Bodde (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953), 168-236. A related discussion on the syncretism of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism by thinkers of the Wei and Jin periods is Tang Zhangru "Wei Jin xuanxue zhi xingcheng jigi fazhan" see his Wei Jin Nanbei chao shi luncong M(Beijing: Sanlian shudian, 1962), 311-50. 157 Yuanming's original work, we need to resort to his other

works to see Su Shi's view of human life.

Let us first look at a short poem:

Stopped by Wind in the Estuary of Lake Ci

Prostrate, I look at the setting moon in the vast sky. Rising, I call for wind, but it just blows up half of the sail. The boat passes by a village with little space to spare. Where in this world are there no precipitous cliffs?!

Although this is not a statement of a philosophy but an expression of a spontaneous feeling, it reveals Su Shi's view of life. It was written en route to Huizhou where he was exiled to in 1094. It was his second exile, this time to the

far south. As results of change of posts and demotions, he had been driven from one place to another, often traveling by road. The first three lines describe a scene: the time is before dawn, a time people and other living beings are still asleep; a lone moon hangs in the vast sky on the horizon; a single boat, with the poet in it, quietly passes by a

13 SSSJ, vol. 6, 2035. 158 village. These lines set an atmosphere for the final line, in which the poet raises a rhetorical question "where in this world are there no precipitous cliffs?!" The precipitous hills are in a figurative sense, having to do with the adversities he had in his life. But this metaphor is not limited to his own life. By saying that there are precipitous cliffs all over the world, he perceives it as an inescapable universal condition everyone has to confront, thus his personal sufferings are put into a broad perspective and attain a depth of meaning going beyond the specific situation he is facing.

To further illustrate this process at work, we now read a poem entitled "Qian ju" , "Moving." This poem has a long preface in which Su Shi details his life in Huizhou. In less than one year and a half he moved back and forth between the

House of Hejiang and the Temple of Jiayou several times. It could be frustrating to live such an unstable life, but he shrugs that thought off with these words, "East or west, I care no more,/ When it is the time to leave, I just simply go." Syntactically and semantically, these lines bear some resemblance to the finale of Tao Yuanming's "Spirit's

Solution": "Give yourself to the waves of the Great Change/

Neither happy nor yet afraid./ And when it is time to go, then simply go/ Without any unnecessary fuss." Since the situations are beyond their control, both Tao and Su choose

159 not to agonize in vain but to accept the reality. Su Shi's poem ends with the following lines:

In my lifetime I never depended on anything, I just live out my life with relaxation and ease. In a flash of thought passed a kalpa,^* In the dusty world every tiny thing is itself a world. Looking at all the living things from above. They are blown about, just like mosquitoes and blackf lies. is

Su Shi alludes here to both Buddhist and philosophical Daoist concepts. C/udai , "depending on nothing," is one of the themes in Zhuang Zi's "Free and Easy Wandering." Kalpa is the

Buddhist term referring to aeons of millions of millions of years. If such a long time passes in a flashing thought, how

Jie ÿ], kalpa in Sanskrit, means an extremely long period of time. Specifically, "a period of four hundred and thirty-two million years of mortals." See Soothill and Hodous, A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms, 232.

15 The last line alludes to Zhuang Zi's "Xiaoyao you" ("Free and Easy Wondering"), in which there is a line that reads: "Wavering heat, bits of dust, living things blown about by the wind— the sky looks very blue." See Burton Watson, trans., "Chuang Tzu" (New York: Columbia University, 1964), 23.

16 SSSJ, vol. 7, 2194-6. 160 short then is a human life? This is from the temporal perspective. Spatially, he again alludes to Zhuang Zi's "Free and Easy Wandering," stating that all living things, including human being, were as small as mosquitoes and blackflies which are blown about by the wind. In the infinite time and infinite space, a person's life is short, small and insignificant. Against this background, his problem, that is, he has no stable place to live, seems even more unimportant.

Compare the above poems, we observe that both Tao and Su were sensitive to the pains of human existence and had keen awareness of the anxiety and sorrow over the shadow of death.

In "Substance, Shadow and Spirit," Tao Yuanming favored the notion "nature," which teaches people to follow the waves of

Great Change, and detach oneself from clinging tenaciously to life. An interesting issue on Tao Yuanming's thought is the conspicuous absence of the influence of Buddhism. During the time when Tao Yuanming lived Buddhism had already had great impact on the intellectual life of the literati. Tao had personal contacts with the famous monk Huiyuan # # (334-416), and once was invited to join the Buddhist Lotus Society founded by Huiyuan. He visited their meeting, but soon left a b r u p t l y . 17 The renowned scholar believes

17 This story is recorded in anonymous, Lian she gao zhuan (The Biographies of Member of the Lotus Society), in Beijing daxue Beijing shifan daxue zhongwenxi jiaoshi tongxue comp. Tao Yuanming juan (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962), book 1, 10- 1 . 161 that Tao Yuanming represents a new theory of "Naturalism, "

which abandons the practice of pursuing immortality of the

old "Naturalism" but still stick to its tradition of

rejecting Buddhism, is

Su Shi's attitude toward Buddhism is apparently

different from Tao's. In Chapter 2, I discussed Su Shi's

attitude and argued that although Su Shi did not take

Buddhism as a personal religious belief, he drew inspirations

from Buddhism in formulating his views and dealing with

situations in his life. References made to Buddhism can be

seen in many of his poems.

It is important to note that Su Shi often skillfully

alludes to Buddhist and Daoist references in one poem and

makes them contribute to the theme. For example, in "Moving"

discussed above. Su Shi perceives human life and affairs in a

Buddhist concept of time and Daoist vision of the trivialness

of human being, thus he transcends the feeling of frustration

by diminishing the significance of the problems he faces.

Another example is the "dream" motif in his poetry. "Dream"

is Su Shi's favored metaphor and appears in a good number of

his poems. The following is an example :

We are like the autumn geese, arriving on schedule.

18 Chen Yinke "Tao Yuanming zhi sixiang yu qingtan zhi guanxi" Tao Yuanming juan, book 1, 348-58. See also Tang Zhangru, op.cit. 162 [But] our affairs are like spring dreams ending without a trace. 19

This poem was written during his exile in Huangzhou. On the

twentieth day of the first month in 1082 Su Shi had an outing

with his friends to the outskirts of Huangzhou. He suddenly

remembered that on the same day the previous year he had an

outing with the same friends. The feelings expressed in this

couplet are quite complex. The memory of the past year makes

the poet realize how fast time goes. He is nostalgic towards

the past, and feels what happened in the past are like

dreams. The real meaning of what they have done and what they

will do seems elusive and uncertain. "Dream" motif has its

sources in both Daoism and Buddhism. In Daoist tradition, the

best known is a story Zhuang Zi told of himself:

Once Zhuang Zhou [Zhuang Zi] dreamt he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know he was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn't know if he was Zhuang Zhou who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly

19 Fuller's translation in his The Road to East Slope- The Development of Su Shi's Poetic Voice, 296, with modifications.

20 SSSJ, vol. 4, 1107. 163 dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou. Between Zhuang Zhou and a butterfly there must be some distinction! This is called the Transformation of Things.21

Zhuang Zi ingeniously plays on the distinction between dream and reality, and aims to demonstrate that "all things are equal" in the "Transformation of Things." "Dream" is also one of the famous metaphors in Buddhism, and is associated with the Buddhist concept of the "emptiness" of the phenomenal w o r l d . 22 it is only with the knowledge of both

Daoist and Buddhist allusions can the reader fully understand the meaning and connotation of "dream" in this poem.

The following lines can further illustrate how Su Shi skillfully combines elements of different schools to express himself. These lines are part of a poem entitled "Hundred- pace Rapids":

My life follows Transformation, departing day and night. In an instant of thought [I can] cross over to Silla. [Those caught in] a profusion of strife in a drunken dream— 4 How could they believe that the bronze camels would [one day] be buried in briers? Once awakened, one loses a thousand kalpas in the space of a glance. Looking back, this waterway is meandering as ever. Look at the dark rocks on the banks— 8 From of old the marks of punting poles have made it like a bee-hive.

21 Burton Watson, trans. Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings (New York: Columbia University Press, 1964), 45.

22 For a discussion of "dream" in Su Shi's poetry, see Sun Changwu Fojiao yu zhongguo wenxue (Shanghai: Shanghai remain chubanshe, 1988), 159-60. 164 As long as only this mind does not attach to anything, Though Creation drives guickly, what can it do to me?23

2 -*

Su Shi describes his attitude toward life as cheng hua -#fL,

to "follow Transformation," which is a Daoist notion and

similar to Tao Yuanming's attitude zong lang dahua zhong

# # "giving oneself to the waves of the Great Change"

expressed in his "Spirit's Solution." However, a number of

references to Buddhism displays more dimensions of meanings.

"Silla" in line two is a distant kingdom, taken from a conversation between two monks, meaning that one's thought can fly to a distant place in a moment. It seems to imply that one is not totally passive in the transformation of the

23 Fuller's translation with my modification, in his The Road to East Slope— The Development of Su Shi's Poetic Voice, 243. In line six, shu % was translated by Fuller as "extraordinarily," which I think is a mistake. I changed it into "still."

24 SSSJ, vol. 3, 892. 165 world. In lines three and four Su Shi takes pity on those who fight against each other for fame and gain but fail to realize that what they are fighting for are trivial and worthless. They are in a "drunken dream" because they lack the sense of history, not realizing that a regime can easily be destroyed, and whose bronze camels would one day be burried in briers. Wuzhn, "non-attachment" is from Tan Jing

The Platform S c r i p t u r e . 25 it clearly reflects a Buddhist notion of transcending human miseries by not attaching to external "things." However, the waterway and the dark rock as well as the "marks of punting poles" in the following lines indicate the endurance of natural objects, which presents a contrasts with the shortness of human life. Apparently, the poet is not indifferent to that fact that life is short. From these lines, we can see that Su Shi's thought is subtle and complex, and it has to do with the way he presents his feelings in a network of elements of different schools of thought.

The influence of Buddhism on Su Shi is a complex issue and goes beyond what this section intends to deal with. What

I want to emphasize is that the inclusion of elements of

Buddhist thought and the use of Buddhist concepts and metaphors add new dimensions to Su Shi's poetry. The

25 See The Platform Scripture, trans. Wing-tsit Chan (New York: St. John's University Press, 1963), 51. 166 differences between Su Shi and Tao Yuanming can be partially attributed to the influence Su Shi received from Buddhism.

4.2. Su Shi and Du Fu: their attitude toward public life and political career

Since very early in Chinese history, the life of traditional literati had been tied to officialdom. If one was educated, one should try to enter public office and pursue a political career. The dream of the ambitious scholar was always to assist the emperor to bring order to the state and realize the Confucian political ideals. The system of Civil

Service Examinations starting from the Sui Dynasty (581-618) institutionalized the selection of officials, and made a political future almost the only future a scholar would think worth pursuing.26 su Shi was no exception. He had an early success in the examinations and became the envy of every young scholar. Despite the setbacks he suffered in his political career, he never really withdrew from public life.

However, there is a conflict in Su Shi's mind between his political aspiration and a doubt about the meaning of public life. On the one hand, he was loyal to the emperor, aspired to achieve great deeds, and was actively involved in government affairs whenever he had a chance. On the other

26 For a study of the origin and development of the Civil Service Examinations, see Deng Siyu Zhongguo kaoshi zhidu shi (Taipei: Xuesheng shuju, 1967). 167 hand, he always questioned what he was doing, and sometimes

even questioned the meaning of life itself. He perhaps never

completely resolved this conflict, and his poetry clearly

shows how he struggled with this dilemma.

Let us first read a poem written early in his political career:

The Nineteenth Day of the Eleventh Month of the Xinchou Year. After I Bade Farewell to Ziyou at Zhengzhou's West Gate, I Composed This Poem on Horseback to Send to Him.

Not drinking, why then am I so woozily drunk? My thoughts already have set out in pursuit of [your] returning saddle. You, the one returning, already are thinking of our father. 4 And now what have I to assuage my loneliness? Climbing to high [ground], turning my head, the hills are between us. I saw only [your black] cap appearing then sinking again. In this bitter cold I recall that your coverings are thin. 8 Alone, riding a thin horse, treading the waning moon. The people on the road sing as they go, the [nearby] residents are happy. My boy thinks it odd that I am so dejected. I too know that in life there must be farewells. 12 It's just that I fear the months and years will pass quickly. By a cold lamp, facing one another, recalling the past: When we will listen to the soughing wind on a rainy night? You understand this intent, which we must not forget: 16 Taking care not to overly love high official position.27

2 7 The translation is Michael Fuller's with modifications. See his The Road to East Slope, 91-2. 168 t T - ^ t‘I tS cd<%A±#W^;'j ’

nCal'H '

This poem was written in 1061 when Su Shi was twenty-six.

Four years earlier he passed the civil service examinations, received the jinshi degree, and made a name for himself.

After a mourning period of more than two years for his mother's death, he was assigned to be administrative assistant to the prefectural magistrate of Fengxiang (in modern Shaanxi). Su Shi bade farewell to his young brother Su

Zhe, who accompanied Su Shi to the West Gate of Zhengzhou from the capital. After their parting, he rose to a hill and looked to the distance, trying to catch a final glimpse of his brother but only seeing Su Zhe's black cap appearing and disappearing along the hilly road. The picture is vivid; the

28 SSSJ, vol. 1, 95-6. 169 descriptive details, like the up-and-down cap and bony horse

treading the road lit by the waning moon, are very

expressive; and his brotherly affection for Su Zhe is

touching. After the narrative opening of the poem, he

continues :

I too know that in life there must be farewells. It's just that I fear the months and years will pass guickly.

Parting with his brother is hard. But it is, as he knows

perfectly well, something usual and unavoidable; he

immediately brings this incident to the sphere of the

general, as something happens "in life," a universal

situation everyone will encounter. Following that, the theme

of time is introduced: "Months and years will pass quickly."

Viewing the particular parting in the stream of time gives it

a cosmological significance. There is a sense of urgency, and

the parting becomes more intolerable. Lines 13 and 14 recall

a memory Su Shi and his brother share: not long ago the two

brothers read a poem together by the Tang poet Wei Yingwu

(737-791?). In that poem there are two lines that read:

"How could we imagine [ before ], we would meet on this windy

and raining night,/ and once again sleep [and talk] on

opposing beds."29 wei's poem describes a scene of his reunion

29 Wei Yingwu, "Shi Quanzhen Yuanchang," Quan Tang shi, (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1960), vol. 3, 1922. 170

JL with two friends, and the Su brothers were deeply moved by

it. Su Shi recalls the night when they sat by the cold lamp

making the promise that they would retire early and enjoy a

reclusive life together, and anticipates the future when they will be together again listening to the night rain. Here

past, present and future are knit together by the memory, in which Su Shi expresses his nostalgic feeling and his desire to share a reclusive life with his brother in retirement. In the last two lines Su Shi asks his brother to remember their words, and not to work too hard in the pursuit of high position.

The theme of returning home to live a reclusive life is in Chinese poetry quite conventional. The wish to "return" in some cases is little more than a pose that neither the author nor the reader would take too seriously. Su Shi here is only talking about future "returning," so what makes it important?

To answer this question, we need to take into account Su

Shi's situation at that time. This poem was not written at a time of personal political trouble. On the contrary, he was young, his talents were admired by his peers, and he was highly regarded by senior officials and known by the emperor himself. His political future looked rosy. However, there is little in this poem that reflects these facts. Instead of expressing the political aspirations one might associate with a successful young scholar, he advises his brother not to devote himself to the pursuit of high political power;

171 instead of being spirited and excited, the mood of the poem

is rather meditative, giving the reader the feeling that it was from the hand of a person who had experienced a lot of hardship in life.

This is a low-key poem with a slow pace and a subdued tone, which is in accordance with the feeling expressed. The elements of prosy language are many. In the first line,

"zulwuwu" (woozily drunk) is an expression uncommon to poetry. It sets the tone of the whole piece. Other elements of "making poetry out of prose" include the use of function words, loose syntactic structures, and direct statements.

Line six, "I saw only [your black] cap appearing then sinking again," appears to be a very plain statement of a fact, but it is surprisingly expressive, because it is charged with feelings. The images "bitter cold," "thin horse," and "waning moon" in line seven are all indicative of his inner feelings and thus his negative view of life in officialdom.

The next poem was written about the same time as the previous one as a response to Su Zhe's poem entitled

"Thinking of Mianchi, to Send to My Brother Zizhan (Su Shi's courtesy name)." Su Shi uses the same rhyming words as in Su

Zhe's original poem;

A Reply to Ziyou's Poem of Memories of Mianchi

What is life like, as we pass from place to place? It is like a flying goose treading on snow slush. On the slush, occasionally, it left the marks of its feet,

172 4 Then it flew away, who knows if it went west or east? The old monk died, a new pagoda appeared,3o On the ruined wall, our old writings can no longer be seen. You still remember, the day we traveled on the rugged road? — 8 The road is long, the travellers sleepy, and the limping donkey brays.

mi

Prosodically, this is a regulated verse, but the language used is uncharacteristic of that form. Line one poses a question, a rhetoric device more common in prose writing, and line two answers that question by repeating si (to be like) of the first line, which is not common in regulated verse.

Lines three and four are supposed to be a parallel, but again the requirement of the form is ignored. The first four lines

30 Pagoda is a tower-shape building for holding bones of deceased monks of high rank and learning. For an account of its origin, function, and development in ancient India and China, see Luo Zhewen and Huang Bin "Mantan ta de laiyuan ji yanbian"@#^%3R#&##, Wens hi zhishi bianjibu Fojiao yu zhongguo wenhua (Beijing; Zhonghua shuju, 1988), 116-122.

31 SSSJ, vol. 1, 96-7. 173 are unconventional and ingenious both linguistically and

semantically. They have become so famous that xueni hongzhao

"the goose marks on snow slush," has been a favored

idiomatic expression. The goose is a migratory bird, and in

Chinese poetry it is used as a symbol of men who were often

on the road for different reasons. In line two, the goose

stops accidentally on snow slush and leaves its footprints

before flying away, no one knows where. The footprints, of

course, will soon disappear with the melting snow. By

analogy, Su Shi implies that when people travel and get

engaged in different affairs, they leave traces where they

have been, but these traces are just like the footprints of

the goose on a snow field: they are left accidentally and

last only a short time.

The second half of the poem responds to the events Su

Zhe recalled in his poem. Su Zhe mentioned that several years

earlier, the two brothers passed Mianchi on their way to the

capital. He still remembered the temple at which they stayed,

the old monk Fengxian they met, and the wall of the temple on which they wrote poems. But now, Su Shi tells his brother,

Fengxian has died, the wall has collapsed, and the poems they wrote on the wall can no longer be seen. Time has made these changes. Line five and six form a contrast: one is the appearance of a new pagoda contrasts with the negative image of the collapse of the wall. But one day the pagoda will disappear too, just as the footprints of the goose and the

174 writings on the wall. Under the shadow of time, the newly built pagoda does not relieve anxiety. The implied sentiment is that even though they are still young, they will leave this world someday, and the traces they will have made cannot escape the same destiny as the goose's footprints. All these images strongly suggest a sense of wuchang

"impermanence." It is a Buddhist term, but similar notion can also been seen in Daoist thinkers.

The two poems discussed are among many that show the tendency in Su's poetry to be reflective, to look at various events in his life beyond themselves, relate them to his life in a philosophical way, and constantly seek meaning in them.

A parting with his brother, or a memory of a trip he made in the past may not be important by themselves, but his tendency to be reflective, reminiscent, and philosophical indicates that there is doubt about the goal of life and the meaning of what he is doing, and there is an anxiety that needs relief.

Consciousness of time, reminiscence and reflections on life are all common themes of poetry, yet each poet has his own experiences and feelings to convey and his way of transforming them into poetry. Different poems of reflection and reminiscence can send different messages. Here I will read some poems of the Tang poet Du Fu. A comparison between

Du and Su may prove illuminating.

In his turbulent life Du Fu saw both the prosperous days of the High Tang period and the chaos and disaster caused by

175 the . Having endured tremendous hardships during the first years of the war, he went to Sichuan in 759, and as old men often do, the old Du Fu became nostalgic. In the famous "Qiu xing bashou" (Autumn Meditations, Eight

Poems")32 Du Fu expressed a mixed feeling of lamentation, missing and yearning. He recalled the palaces, parks and the mansions of the royal family and high officials where he had been many times and knew so well; he missed the glory and splendor of the Tang empire in its heyday, now gone for ever.

Emotionally he was deeply attached to the country and the culture, and was greatly concerned about the crisis the country faced. In the last two lines of the eighth and final poem of this series, we can clearly see his nostalgia and pain:

My powerful pen used to describe the glory and splendor. Now chanting the poem and longing for Chang'an, I bitterly lower my white-haired head.

32 Ye Jiaying's Du Fu Qiu xing ba shou jishuo (Taipei: Zhonghua congshu bian shen weiyuanhui, 1966) is a comprehensive annotation with an introductory essay. It collects comments and interpretations of many critics on each line of this series of poems. Another important study, inspired by New Criticism, is Tsu-lin Mei and Yu-kung Kao's "Tu Fu's 'Autumn Meditation": An Exercise in Linguistic Criticism." See Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 28 (1968), 44-80.

33 Qian Qianyi, annot. Du Shi Qian Zhu, 329. 176 Du Fu's feelings come from his personal experience in the

capital, but we see little of his private life at that time.

The memories of his own life are overwhelmed by the memories

of the splendid culture represented by those places and his

lamentation over its decline. The poet is not absent from the

poem: he takes pride in his powerful pen, because he used to

use that pen to write about the palaces, the ceremonies and

the parks, his participation in the creation of this now lost

culture.34 He ties himself to the culture, the country. He is,

after all, part of the past glory.

During the wandering years in Sichuan, Du Fu frequently

recalled his early life. We now take a look at some of those

lines and see what things he misses most, what kind of life

he led, and how he portrays himself:

A Past Trip

In those days, Gao, Li and I traveled together. We used to ascend at dusk the Terrace of Shanfu. The cold and desolate land extended to Mount Jieshi, There came ten thousand miles of wind and clouds. Mulberry and cudrania leaves fell like rain. Flying pulse leaves danced in the wind. In those frosty days, great lakes were frozen. Birds and animals were saddened.

3 4 As a young candidate for the jinshi degree, Du Fu stayed in Chang'an for ten years from 746 to 755. He once submitted to the emperor three grandiose Fu writings and was praised by the emperor. This episode is in Du Fu's biography in Song Qi, Xin Tang shu, which is included in Qiu Zhaoao, Du shi xiangzhu, 5. 177 m

c

This is the first eight lines of the poem. It describes a trip he made years earlier with Gao Shi and Li Bai. This is regarded as one of the most exciting moments in Chinese literary history, because all three were great poets at a time considered the golden age of China. Du Fu was junior to the other two, and was very excited about having the opportunity to travel with the poets he admired. All the things depicted here are of great magnitude, like the vast, cold land that stretches out all the way to Mount Jieshi and the wind and clouds arriving from thousands of miles away.

The inclusion of these images adds to the sense of grandeur of the poem. The word lai, come, is especially forceful: it gives the reader the feeling that the wind and clouds are rolling toward the excited poets as they stand on the terrace. The images from line four through eight (e.g.

3 5 Qian Qianyi, annot. Du Shi Qian Zhu, 144. 178 falling leaves, frozen lakes and saddened birds and animals)

produce a grave environment which serves as contrasts to the

spirited poets. After these eight lines, Du Fu describes the

military power and material wealth of the Tang empire before

the An Lushan rebellion when these poets led their colorful

lives and wrote their inspiring poems.

In the following poem, also written in his years in

Sichuan, Du Fu describes his youth:

The Inspiring Journey

With the character of abandon, I am much addicted to drinking. Upright and unyielding, I detested all the evils. I separated myself and despised those young fellows Those I befriended were all elder, mature men. Excited by the wine, I looked out to the eight directions : So many people, but for me they were an uncouth bunch.

...... 36

36 Qian Qianyi, annot., Du Shi Qian Zhu, 145. 179 What we see here is a young poet of great ambition. The self-

portrait in line five and six is especially striking; he

looks out to the eight directions and feels that he is the

one who stands out from the masses. It shows his confidence

and belief that he can achieve great feats, and is willing

and ready to shoulder the burden of the world.

Du Fu wished to have a career which would enable him to exert some impact on history. To him the goal of life was not in question: he was deeply convinced of the Confucian social ideal and he wanted to devote his life to that great cause.

He failed to realize his dreams, but his success in poetic creation should be attributed partly to the aspirations he drew from the values he held. At the time he wrote these poems he had little hope to achieve his goal, but he didn't change much of his views and his attitude toward life.

What conclusions can we draw from comparing these poems of Su Shi and Du Fu? I think the differences lie in their attitude toward public life. Du Fu never took a really important office, 37 but he never lost his enthusiasm for the political ideal and never gave up hope. Su Shi, on the other hand, had been an important official and was involved in political debates and struggles. As a devoted official, he

3 7 The most important position Du Fu held was Zuo shiyi, Left Reminder in 757 when Emperor Suzong was stationed in Fengxiang. The position was not ranked very high but Du Fu had the opportunity to make suggestions to the emperor. However, he held that office only for about one year. See his biography in Qiu Zhaoao, Du shi xiangzhu, 5-6. 180 made efforts to improve the welfare of the people he governed and had successes in various posts. However, as discussed above, at the early stage of his political career, Su Shi showed signs of being tired of public life and demonstrated a tendency to indulge in philosophical reflection on the meaning of life. He didn't have the enthusiasm for devoting himself to the great cause of "bringing order to the state" as Du Fu did, and neither did he use poetry as a primary means to address political or social issues. The following poem is about praying for rain to relieve drought damages, from which we can see the interplay of the different sides of

Su Shi's inner world:

After Praying for Rain on the First Day of Autumn, I stayed Overnight at Lingyin Temple, with Magistrates Zhou and Xu

Documents piled up, no time to enjoy leisure. Lying in bed, the sound of autumn in the falling leaves. Snow and frost under my bed? Moonlight through the door. Zither playing by my pillow? Spring water cascading down the steps. The bitterness of my rugged life I must have tasted it all. Lonely stay in mountain fits me, the old man, even better. Only empathy for the peasants I still bear. Rising to watch the Milky Way and seeing no sign of rain, I am at a loss.

/s.

181 mwim#'ù^A):Ë.

Su Shi shows a very keen sensitivity to nature. Lines three

and four form a skillfully crafted couplet that perfectly

meets the requirements of regulated verse in this poem. The

description of the moonlight and mountain spring conveys a

distinct feel of sleeping at a mountain temple, and they also

imply that he had lain awake for a long time, which sets a meditative tone and paves the way for the next couplets.

Lines five and six are in a distinctly "making-poetry-out-of- prose" mode, directly stating the poet's thought. The final couplet looks back to the title "praying for rain." What we see here is a mixture of a "life reflection" theme and a

"empathy for the peasants" theme. The poet came to the temple to pray for rain to relieve drought damage. Therefore,

"praying for rain" was the event and "pity on the farmers" should be the main theme. But apparently, the "life reflection" theme overtakes the former and occupies center stage. Read carefully line by line, we find that the first four lines are more closely related to the author's thought about his life and have less to do with his empathy for the peasants. In line seven the word shang , which means

182 "still," shows that the theme "empathy for the peasants" is

secondary.

A contrast between the poems of Su Shi and Du Fu is quite clear. Du Fu aspired to succeed in a political career not just for personal welfare but more for contributing to the country and its splendid culture. When that country was in trouble, he felt pain. That is why he was most concerned with the social and political situations of his time and was preoccupied with the memory of the past. Su Shi, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. Starting from the dawn of his promising career, Su Shi showed a tendency to be greatly concerned with existential problems. As he experienced more in his life he became more interested in how to achieve peace and tranquility. His life was entangled with contemporary politics, but his mind often went beyond that.

Su Shi's change of attitude toward social commitment, political career, and personal life represents a change from the values held by the literati of previous times. This change may be explained partly by the change of historical conditions. As historians have indicated, the An Lushan rebellion was a watershed in Chinese history.Although it

38 For a rather comprehensive account of the An Lushan rebellion, see Chapter 4 and 5 of Lu Simian Sui Tang Wudai shi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959), 172- 272. Another historian Cen Zhongmian's discussion of An Lushan rebellion is rather brief. He argues that this rebellion was the result of the conflict between non-Han groups and the central government controlled by Han people. See his Sui Tang shi (Hong Kong: Wenchang shuju, n.d.), 183 was put down after a hard, decade-long fight, the Tang empire never fully recovered from the blow. The much discussed, admired and missed "High Tang spirit" — the great confidence, enthusiasm, aspirations and the openness to foreign cultures resulting from prosperity, material wealth and military power — has not be seen since.39 The Song was established on the ruins of long and exhaustive wars, and it had little strength remaining to subdue the aggressive nomads to the North and West. The Song aunny lost most of many wars between it and the nomad states along its borders. Its territory was smaller than the Tang to begin with, and became smaller still after these wars. Not too long after Su Shi's death, the northern part of the Song fell to the Jurchin.

There were also many domestic problems — the extremely heavy burden of taxes and corvee labor placed on the peasants, the excessive number of officials, the strife between factions of high-ranking officials, to name a few.One of the consequences was that the Northern Song literati in general

257-66.

39 For aspects of cultural achievements and political situation of the High Tang period, see Cen Zhongmian, Sui Tang shi, Section 15 to 19, 163-94.

40 For an account of the Northern Song history, including its relations with the north and west neighbors, see Chapter 1 to Chapter 3 of Zhong^o shigao bianxie zu Zhongguo shi gao (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1983), vol. 5, 1-208.

184 turned inward, contemplating and arguing more on

philosophical questions and aspiring less at achieving great

feats in politics or in the battle field, which were the dreams of many Tang literati. It was not a time that produced

heroes but a time that produced thinkers. The general trend of turning inward took different directions. The conservative thinkers, represented by the Neo-Confucians, focused their efforts on updating Confucianism with a morality-centered metaphysics. To solve the problems the country faced, an ideology, they believed, was needed to unify the thought of the Chinese people and establish a social order. They were convinced that they could provide that ideology.4i su Shi took another direction. While he would not and did not oppose

Confucian values, he opposed the unification of values and absolutist view of truth. In the meantime, the disappointment in the political reality — I mean, the crisis the Song

Dynasty faced — had affected his attitude toward public life and his political career.

4.3. Su Shi and Han Yu: their view of the self in relation with others and in the natural order

As we stated at the beginning of this chapter, the changes in Su Shi's views and attitude can be seen as a

41 An introduction of ideas of the major thinkers of that period can been seen in Hsiao Kung-chuan, Zhongguo zhengzhi sixiang shi, Chapter fifteen, 482-519. 185 deviation from certain attitudes and values widely held by traditional Chinese literati. In the discussion of Su Shi's view on human life above, we have already noticed the influence of Buddhist and Daoist ideas. In this section, I will discuss Su Shi's view of the self in relation with others. I realize the complexity of one's view of the self, and I will present my observations from a particular perspective. As I did in the previous sections, I will see Su

Shi as a successor of the major Tang poets, since Su Shi both continued their cause of advancing Chinese poetry and changed the course of its development. This time, I will read Su Shi in relation with some of Han Yu's poems. I have two reasons for choosing Han Yu: first, Han Yu was one of the most prominent and representative Tang writers; second, Su Shi was influenced by him in more ways than one and commented on him on a number of occasions. Some of their works can be seen as more direct dialogue surrounding certain issues.

The first poem was written by Han Yu in his youth:

Those Who Make Friends with me in Chang'an: A Poem to Meng Chiao

Of those who make friends with me in Chang'an. Rich or poor, there are many of them. When friends or relatives come to visit. They also have something by which to please their guests: In the humbles houses there is literature and history. In the noble mansions there is music of fife and pipes,

186 How then can we tell the grand from the distressed? Rather I would distinguish sage and fool.42

The poem portrays two types of Han's acquaintance who have

different ways of treating their visitors: one type is the

happy-successful man, who treats his visitors with beautiful

music; and another is the sad-unsuccessful man who can only

present his guests with books of literature and history.

Stephen Owen analyzes the deliberately unpoetic language and

the crafty device of this poem in presenting the poet's

attitude: the narrative of the first six lines seems calm,

indifferent, and objective. The poet's satirical malice is

reserved for the last line, and letting the reader himself

reach the conclusion that the rich, happy persons are fools

42 Stephen Owen's translation with modifications, see The Poetry of Meng Chiao and Han Yu (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975), 41.

43 Han Changli shi xinian jishi, 10-1, 187

II because they only care for sensual pleasure, while the poor

men are worthy for their love of learning.^

This poem was addressed to Meng Jiao, who wrote poems

expressing his indignation at the luxurious lifestyle of the

rich and complaining about his own poverty. One purpose of

Han Yu's poem was to comfort Meng Jiao, and his sympathy was

with him. Han Yu, Meng Jiao and the poor in the poem belonged

to the same group of people with shared values.

In another poem of Han Yu discussed later in Owen's

book, the sense of "we" versus "they" is made more clear:

Drunk: To Zhang Shu

Everyone urges wine on me. But I act as though I haven't heard them. Today I come to your house, 4 Call for wine and urge you, to drink So that the guests at the table And I might be able to write poems. Your poems take on many aspects, 8 Clustering in formations as clouds on a spring sky. Meng Jiao is prone to shock the conventional. Heaven's blossom exhaling a strange perfume. Zhang Ji imitates ancient limpidity, 12 A nobel stork he avoids flocks of chickens. My nephew, A 'mai, doesn't know his characters yet. But can write stone-inscription script quite well. When a poem is finished, we have him copy it, 16 So he too can increase our troop. The reason I want to get wine Is to wait on tipsiness to write a poem. The wine's taste is cool and clear, 20 The wine's spirit too rises, spreading through me. My disposition gradually grows exuberant. Then a tumult of jesting and laughter. This is really the purpose of wine— 24 Anything else is a purposeless muddle.

4 4 Owen, The Poetry of Meng Chiao and Han Yu, 42. 188

1 The crowd of rich kids in Chang'an Have plates of delicacies, smelling of lamb and garlic. They can't understand drinking for poetry— 28 All they can do is get drunk with red skirts. Though they have a brief meal's-worth of pleasure. They're a bit like a swarm of gnats. Now I and these several friends of mine 32 Have nothing that stinks amid our sweet fragrance. Our complex phrases shock and frighten even demons. Our lofty diction is like unto the Three Monumental Books. Or the uncarven state of the perfect gem, 36 A natural accomplishment, turning away from hoe and plow. Now we are coming into an age of great peace. When worthy men assist a venerable ruler. Fortunately having no problems to attend to, 40 We hope to spend dawn to dusk with pastimes like this. 45

r‘7 1 ,

45 Owen's translation with modification. For the poem and the discussion, see The Poetry of Meng Chiao and Han Yu, 187- 9. 189 Æ3l[7K#m '

Owen reads this as a poem about "the relationship between wine and poetry; Han accepts wine from his friends only as a

stimulus for writing poetry, considering the use of wine as a stimulus for sensual pleasure to be decidedly inferior." In his analysis, "the contrast between the poet's use of wine

“^6 San Changli shi xinian jishi, 390-6. 190 and the wastrel's use of it is treated as a moral

evaluation." In Han's poems, Owen further observes, there is

a contrast between a small, virtuous "we"-group opposed to a

larger, inferior "they"-group. In "Those Who Make Friends

with Me in Chang'an" cited above, it is moral quality that

distinguishes the "we"-group from the "they"-group; while in

"Drunk: To Zhang Shu" the "we"-group is defined in terms of poetic talent. Whatever the case, the "we"-group is proud of

itself being superior to the majority of others.

Owen's observation is an interesting and discerning one.

In the poems quoted above, Han Yu clearly separates his

friends and himself from the rich and famous and takes pride

in himself and his friends for their superiority in morality and high taste. I should add here that Han Yu separates their

"we" group not only from the rich and famous but also from the majority who are neither rich and famous nor "superior" in morality and talented in poetry. It is indeed a small group. There are other examples in Han's works showing a more exalted view of himself. In a memorial to the emperor, he states that his writings are well worth being collected in the Classics without shame. "Had the great ancients come back to life, I would not yield to them. "47 This demonstrates his confidence in the greatness of his poetry. His aspiration was

47 "Chaozhou chishi xie shang biao," (Memorial to the Emperor for the appointment of the prefect of Chaozhou) in Han Changli guanji (Hong Kong: Guangzhi shuju, n.d.), 458. 191 not limited to literature. In his famous essay "On the Origin of the Dao," he laments that the true meaning of the Dao of the great sages has been lost for many generations. He sees no one else but he himself to take on the mission of refuting various heresies and clearing confusions and misunderstandings. Toward the end of this essay, Han goes back to antiquity and describes a line of transmitting the

Dao;

The Dao I am talking about is not the so-called Dao of Lao Zi and Buddhism. Yao transmitted the Dao to Shun; Shun transmitted it to Yu; Yu transmitted it to Tang; Tang transmitted it to King Wen and King Wu and Duke of Zhou; Duke of Zhou transmitted it to Confucius; Confucius transmitted it to . After Mencius passed away, it got lost.

By making the bold claim that the Dao had lost since Mencius,

Han Yu owed an explanation, because there were a number of people who were well known in the tradition of the Confucian

Dao. He treats two of them to make his case:

As for Xun Zi and Yang Xiong, they selected [something] from the Dao but they didn't get the essence; they talked about it but not in much detail. 48

For Han Yu, Xun Zi and Yang Xiong were the best theorists after Mencius, but even they fell short of having born the duty of transmitting the Dao, others were not even worth

48 Han Changli xiansheng quanji, vol. 4, juan 11, 1-3. 192 mentioning. What he does not state, but implies is, he, Han

Yu, is the one who should and can undertake the task of

reviving the interrupted tradition.#* whether Han Yu played an

important role in the revival of Confucianism culminated in

the Song is a question debated by scholars.so Compared with

the works of later Song Neo-Confucians, his essays lack

systematicness and originality, but he certainly left his mark in the course of the Confucian revival. From his account of the historical development of the Confucian tradition, Han

Yu reveals his tremendous self-confidence and very high expectation of himself. He designates himself to fulfil the mission, and he and his friends are the elected few who have to accept the burden of educating the majority.

Now we will turn to Su Shi's view of himself in relation to others. Granted, one's view of self in relation with others is a far from simple matter. It can, of course, take on many facets and undergo changes overtime. Yet we can discern in Su Shi a consistent view in this regard.

To look at this view we will first read a poem of Su Shi written in 1071, when he was vice-prefect in charge of

49 For a discussion of Han Yu's role in the Confucian tradition, see Fung Yu-lan, Zhongguo zhexue shi, 801-4. Fung regards Han as the pioneer of Neo-Confucianism in the Song.

50 For example, modern scholars Chen Yinke and Huang Yunmei have different opinions on this question. For a brief discussion, see Chen Keming, Han Yu shu ping (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chuban she, 1985), 91-100. 193 criminal affairs in Hangzhou. On New Year's Eve of that year

he was on duty at the place where prisoners were held.

Although it was a holiday. Su Shi had to stay to handle some cases. The following poem was written to recount his experience and feelings;

On the eve of New Year I should go back earlier. But official business kept me from leaving. Holding my brush pen, I could not help sobbing. And am saddened for the prisoners. The petty people plotted for their sustenance. Falling into the net of justice, they had no sense of shame. I, too unwilling to give up my meager salary. Procrastinated for long and failed to return to my hometown. Don't talk about the distinctions between worthy men and foolish ones. All of us are just the same, striving only for living. Who can even temporally dispel the sorrow? I am depressed, feeling ashamed to face past virtuous men.

51 SSSJ, vol. 5 , 1722-3. 194 We can imagine when an official was kept from going home on

the New Year's Eve, the most important festival in China,

what his reaction might be: he might be angry and so

especially harsh to the prisoners; he might feel frustrated;

or he might shrug it off with a bitter smile. Su Shi's

reaction is none of these. He feels sad and shows sympathy

with those prisoners. It is commendable for a person in Su

Shi's position to pity those desperate men at the lower

social strata. But what is more remarkable is the way he sees

himself. Unlike Han Yu, Su Shi does not set himself and a

selected few apart from the masses based on moral, social or

cultural superiority. Instead he finds a commonality between

himself and the prisoners: they were all striving for a

living and did something they shouldn't do or didn't like to

do. This is not, of course, to deny or dismiss the

differences between Su Shi and those prisoners in terms of

social status, level of education, and sophistication of

thought. The point is that Su Shi looks at human life and

finds common ground for all of humanity. For Su Shi, the

similarity between men is more significant than the

differences, and there therefore is no need to distinguish

"we" from "they."

In 1071, when the poet served in Hangzhou, he made a trip to a mountain top and visited a small temple. It was a place where few people had ever been, and only a deaf monk

195 lived there. He wrote a poem recording this trip, in which he

tells us how he sees this monk and his life:

Gentlemen, don't laugh at the old monk, who is deaf and cannot answer your calling. People in the world are all pitiable in their lifetime.

When meeting with this monk, one is likely to feel him

pitiable and meanwhile feel oneself fortunate to have good

health and a better life. The poet advises the reader not to

laugh at, or even pity the monk, although he seems especially

unfortunate for being old and deaf. The reason is, according

to Su Shi, that "people in the world are all pitiable in

their lifetime." What does he mean when he says that all people are pitiable? The most likely answer in this context

is that no matter what kind of life people are living and how big the differences between them can be, there is only one life for everyone, and sorrow and misery are inevitable in that life. He looks beyond the surface of differences in people's life and sees an equality of all men.

52 "Qingniu ling gao jue chu you xiao si renji han dao' SSSJ, vol. 2, 580-1. 196 This view of life looks pessimistic. But it does not

lead to a negative attitude toward the world and human

relations. Su Shi has been admired by his readers for his

ability to adapt to new environments. In situations most

people would feel devastated and intolerable, he can always

adjust and find things to appreciate and enjoy. Some of his

poems written in exiles in Huangzhou, Huizhou and Danzhou

demonstrate that remarkable quality very well and have long

been discussed and celebrated, which I will not repeat.53 Here

I would like to read a lesser known poem, which shows how Su

Shi sees a person "outside of civilization":

Reply to Tao Yuanming's "Imitation to the Old Poems"

He is a hermit in Lishan, Bony is his body, and full is his spirit and air. Carrying firewood, he came to town. And he laughed at my scholarly gown and hat. He never heard of the Classics, And knew nothing of Confucius and Yan Hui. Freely, he comes and goes in solitude. Honor or disgrace bother him not. The sun set, birds and animals dispersed. His home was far away, where the lone clouds resided. We tried to talk, but to no avail. He sighed and snapped his fingers. As if to say "you are such an honorable man. Like a dragon or a phoenix fallen in the bushes!"

53 For Su Shi's life in his exile in the south, see Lin Yutang, The Gay Genius, 329-83. Zeng Zaozhuang's Su Shi pingzhuan discusses Su Shi's representative poems during that period, see 198-226. 197 He left me some cotton c l o t h , 54 Signaling "the strong wind from the sea makes this a cold year!"

5 4 Cotton cloth was first woven in Hainan island. Eventually the technique of making cotton cloth was learned by people of South China. According to the historical record of the later Northern Song, "In the south of the mountains of the Fujian, there has been plenty of cotton. The local people plant cotton as much as thousands of them. They make cloth from it and call it jibei." Jibei is what is called Beibu here. See Zhongguo shigao bianxie zu Zhongguo shi gao (Beijing: Remain chubanshe, 1983), vol. 5, 359.

55 SSSJ, vol. 7, 2266. 198 This poem was written in Danzhou, on today's Hainan island.

Hainan island was one of the most backward places in China.

The living conditions there were extremely harsh, and deadly

diseases were commonly contracted. Without question it was a

very severe punishment to be exiled to such a place. This

poem is not one in which he directly describes his own life.

Instead, he gives a portrait of an aboriginal man, with whom

Su Shi could not even communicate: they didn't speak the same

language. By the Confucian standard, he was a hua wax zhl mln

"a man outside of civilization," because he had

never heard about the sages and had no knowledge of Confucian

values. He resides on top of a mountain, making a living by

cutting and selling firewood. This kind of life is certainly

not something to be admired. But Su Shi sees a bright side to

this man's life: he is not bothered by honor or disgrace,

success or failure, things that bother other "civilized"

people. This "man outside of civilization" has a warm heart,

cares for others, as when he gives cotton cloth to Su Shi

without knowing him well. The important remark is the first

two lines: "He is a hermit in Lishan, Bony is his body, and

full is his spirit and air." For lack of a better term, I

translate shen # as "spirit and air," which does not convey

the meaning completely. In this context, shen denotes an

overall expression of the man, who is content, tranquil and

self-sufficient spiritually. The man lives a natural, worthy

life, and he can do without knowing Confucian values.

199

i Although this poem makes no mention of the poet's life in exile, it provides an explanation for why he could find peace and tranquility in such severe situations; he was open to different views and could find values in ways of life completely different from his own. Clearly, we see the connection between his pluralistic view of values and his attitude toward life and human relations.

One's view of the self in the natural order is an extension of one's view of the self in relation to the others. In this regard, there are two parallel poems, by Han

Yu and Su Shi respectively, which provide a point of comparison. In fact. Su Shi's poem was written in direct response to that of Han Yu. We read part of Han Yu's poem first:

Visiting the Temple of Mount Heng, Then Spending the Night at the Buddhist Monastery: I Wrote This on the Gate Tower

The ritual ranks of the Five Great Peaks are all as the Lords of State, They ring and ward the four directions. Mount Song stands in the center.

Toward fiery points the land runs wild, there demons and phantoms abound, so Heaven lent this peak the might of a god and made its manliness dominant.

Surges of cloud and oozing fogs hid its waist halfway up; and though a summit it must have had, none could get all the way through.

I came here just at the time of the season of autumn rains, it was shut up in shadowy vapors,

200 there was no clear breeze.

If to silent prayers from my devoted heart an answer is here given, it must be because I, upright and true am able to touch and sway.

In an instant was silently swept clear, the throngs of peaks emerged! I looked up and saw them towering there, buttresses of blue sky.

Purple Awning fanning out till it touched Pillar-of-Heaven, and Stone Granary in hurtling vaults piling on Firegod Peak.

My soul was struck with awe, I got down from my horse and bowed, and along a path of cypress and pine I rushed to the house of the god 56

56 Stephen Owen's translation with modifications. See his An Anthology of Chinese Literature, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996), 485-6. 201 ...... 5 7

To better understand this poem, some background information about it may be helpful. Han Yu lived in the eventful years of the Middle Tang, when there were major problems that threatened the empire. Among those problems the most serious were the partisan strife, the power struggle between court officials and eunuchs, and the rebellions of the regional military commanders. Political stability was what the country sorely n e e d e d . ss to achieve that, a strong central government and a revival of Confucian values were considered important.

Han Yu played an active role on both fronts.S9 Han Yu's political career, however, was bumpy, with the exception perhaps of the last several years of his life. He was sent into exile twice. The first time was in 803, when he held a minor post in the . For some reason he angered

57 Han Changli shi xinian jishi, 277-84.

58 For the political situation of that period, see Chapter 7 of Lu Simian, Sui Tang Wudai shi (Beijing; Zhonghua shuju, 1959), 334-84.

59 Charles Hartman speaks highly of Han Yu's contributions to Chinese thought. He also gives a fairly detailed account of Han Yu's life. See Charles Hartman, Han Yu and the T'ang Search for Unity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986). 202 certain powerful figures and was relegated to Yangshan, a

desolate southern county, as its magistrate.so This poem was

written less than two years after he was sent into exile,

when he was en route from Yangshan to Jiangling, where he got

a new post.

This is one of Han Yu's better-known poems. The majestic

mountain covered with clouds and haze is vividly and

forcefully described in a potent diction typical of his

style; and the slowly paced narration creates a solemn

atmosphere. Our main interest here, however, is not in the

artistic but in his view of himself. In the poem, Han Yu

tells us that on his way to his new post he visited Mt. Heng.

He feels unlucky because the weather was poor, with half of

the mountain covered by cloud and thick fogs. Longing to see

more clearly the majesty of the mountain peaks, he silently

prays and wishes for the skies to clear. Then a miracle

occurs: all of a sudden, clouds disappear, fogs clear away,

and "the throngs of peaks emerge!" Overjoyed by the wonder,

Han Yu ponders how it happened. The conclusion he reaches is

60 Most scholars believe that the reason for his exile was due to the memorandum he wrote to the emperor in which he requested a tax waive for farmers in the capital region because a severe drought had hit them hard. He also criticized the inhumane treatment of the farmers by the local officials. Then his brave speeches he angered someone powerful and was punished for that. However, in a new study of Han Yu, Deng Tanzhou argues that the real story was more complicated than above account. See his book Han Yu yanjXU (A Study of Han Yu) (Changsha: Hunan jiaoyu chuban she, 1991), 80-7. 203 that he deserves the credit. He believes that it was his

integrity, his character, that moved the mountain god. Then

he wrote the above poem to capture his experience.

Interestingly, Su Shi witnessed another phenomenon that was no less miraculous than what Han Yu did. He wrote his own

poem to capture his experience:

The Ocean Mirage at Dengzhou

I had long heard about the ocean mirage at Dengzhou. The elders told me that it usually appeared in spring auid summer and, since it was now later in the year, it wouldn't be appearing again. I left my post [only] after five days after reaching my post.si [Before I departed] I thought it would be too bad if I didn't get to see it, I made a prayer in the temple of the sea god Prince of Extensive Virtue. On the following day the mirage appeared, and I wrote this poem.

On the clouds and the sea off to the east, there is emptiness on emptiness, where immortal hosts appear and vanish in an empty radiance.

As this drifting world is swept along there are thousands of images born, but how could there really be cowry gatetowers hiding palaces of pearls?

While I am fully aware that what I see are all but conjured forms, yet for the sake of my ears and eyes may I request the craft of the god.

61 Here Owen misunderstood the original text dao guan wuri er qu frni*, which means "I assumed the position only for five days and then I left." Owen translated it as "I went there five days after reaching my post." 204 In the clod of the year the water is chill. Heaven and earth are closed tight, but on my behalf He roused from sleep and whipped on and fish.

Its tiers of mansions, its azure hills came forth in frosty dawn— an event so rare it thoroughly shocked even centegenarians.

Whatever we get in this mortal world perhaps can be taken by force, but beyond this world there are no "things," and who is dominant there?

What I made was but an abrupt plea; yet the god did not refuse: truly my adversity was caused by men, not Heaven's punishment.

When the governor of Chaoyang returned from his southern exile, he was cheered to see "Stone Granary piling on Firegod Peak."

He thought himself upright and true had touched the wraith of the hill; how could he know that the Shaper of Things just felt pity for his frailty.

The face relaxes, a moment's laughter is not a thing easily had: indeed the god did answer you, and generously as well.

In thousands of miles of dying sunlight a lone bird sinks away, then all I see is the sapphire sea polishing its green bronze surface.

This new poem of mine and its fancy words, have they any more point than this— they will join it, change and vanish away along with the eastern wind. 62

6 2 Stephen Owen's translation with modifications. See his An Anthology of Chinese Literature, 672-3. 205 j'ji^étm °

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63 SSSJ, vol. 5, 1387-9. 206 This poem was written in 1085, one year after he left

Huangzhou, the place he lived in exile for more than four

years. He was then appointed to govern Dengzhou, a prefecture

bordering on the sea. Only a few days after he arrived in

Dengzhou he received another appointment and had to leave. He

had long wished to see the famous ocean mirage, so even

though it was not the season, he took a chance to make a

prayer in the temple of the sea god. The next day, the ocean

mirage appeared! It stunned and overjoyed Su Shi, and amazed

the locals. The story is quite similar to the story of Han

Yu: both of them encountered wonders rarely seen, which

occurred only after prayer. In addition, both had suffered

setbacks in their political careers and were in transitional

stages of their lives. Their reactions, however, are markedly

different. To his own experience. Su Shi makes a modest

comment that the appearance of the mirage proves that his

adversity was caused by men and was not a punishment by the

divine, invisible force.64 He does not claim that he has any

64 I think Owen's rendition of stanza seven is not correct. The original Chinese text is

Owen translated as:

What I made was but a casual plea; the god did not refuse: truly this monstrosity was wrought by man, not troubles Heaven-sent.

The following is the translation after I made changes: 207 special merit that deserves the special treatment from gods,

and he is thankful for what he was given. He asks "who is

dominant there?" His answer, of course, is not man. Then Su

Shi directly comments on Han Yu's reaction to what he saw.

Han Yu believes that the god cleared the clouds and fogs

because his honesty and integrity moved him, and he certainly

deserved the reward. For Su Shi, it was because Han Yu was

old and unfortunate that the god took pity on him. Han Yu

also should be thankful, and humbly receive the mountain

god's favor.

The difference between Su Shi and Han Yu is not in

whether they believe in the existence of an invisible,

natural or supernatural force. It is mainly a question of the

view of self in the natural world. Han Yu sees himself as

supported by the notion of man in the interrelations between

tian 5^ (Heaven), di # (Earth) and ren A (Human being) in

the Confucian tradition. In that framework, the Confucian Man

stands between Heaven and Earth. He is supported by the Earth

and obeys and carries out the will of Heaven. Han Yu views

What I made was but an abrupt plea; yet the god did not refuse: truly my adversity was caused by men, not Heaven's punishment.

I think the key is what does e, fa refer in this context. To me, it refers to his persecution and subsequently the exile to Huangzhou. Owen rendered it as "monstrosity," which I am not sure what it refers to here.

208 himself as such a man, upright, just, and morally and

intelligently superior. Su Shi is fully aware of that notion.

In "Chaozhou Han Wengong mian bei (Tablet of

the Shrine of Han Wengong in Chaozhou") he highly praises Han

Yu for his haoran zhi qi (noble spirit) and his

contributions to Confucianism. In the following passage he

spares no good words for Han:

His writing reversed the weakness of the Eight Dynasties; in promoting the Dao he rescued the collapse of the world; his real loyalty makes him confront the anger of the Ençeror; and his bravery can overwhelm the commander in chief of the a r m y . 65

This comment was to be inscribed on the tablet of the shrine

of Han Yu. By convention the author of such inscriptions

lauds the person as much as he can. Naturally, there must be

exaggerations. However, it at least reflects one aspect of Su

Shi's view of Han Y u . 66 su Shi himself, takes a different view toward himself. Although he is also a member of the cultural elite, he does not for that reason become self-important.

In this chapter, I have read Su Shi's poetry in comparison with works of Tao Yuanming, Du Fu, and Han Yu. The discussions centered on several issues, namely, Su Sh's

6 5 SDPQJ, vol. 1, 627-8.

6 6 Of course, Su Shi criticized Han Yu, sometimes sharply, on other occasions. It is another example of Su Shi's "prosaic wisdom." 209 approach to the problem of human mortality; his attitude

toward public life and political career; and his view of the

self in relation with other people and in the natural order.

I have discussed changes in Su Shi's views in comparison with

his poetic predecessors and see in these changes a deviation

from views and values widely held by the literati of earlier

generations.

Su Shi's intellectual orientation is characterized by

pluralistic view of values and prosaic wisdom, and I see that

Su Shi's deviation from the values reflected his intellectual

orientation. Of course, I hasten to add, that he did not

simply reject those values. There is a profound inner

conflict in his mind. Su Shi was strongly influenced by all

three schools of thought. As we discussed earlier in this

study, his political views are basically Confucian. Even in

his last years of his life in Hainan island, when he had

endured tremendous hardships as result of political

persecution, he spent much of his time working on his

interpretation of The Book of Document, a Confucian Classic.

However, the changes of his views and attitude compared with his predecessors are still evident. These changes have to do with various factors: the changed historical conditions; the setbacks he suffered and the hardships he endured; and the influence of Buddhism and Daoism. They are also reflection of his pluralistic view of values. In traditional China, a

210 pluralistic view entails a deviation from the mainstream

values, the "official ideology."

211

i CONCLUSION

This Study examines the problem of "making poetry out of prose" from a new perspective informed by the ideas of

Bakhtin. Based on Mikhail Bakhtin's genre theory, I take

"making poetry out of prose" as a poetic genre and argue that behind the formal features of "making poetry out of prose" as reflected in Su Shi's poetry is an intellectual orientation characterized by a pluralistic view of values and a "prosaic wisdom," a concept also borrowed from Bakhtin. As I have shown in the dissertation. Su Shi's intellectual orientation is reflected not only directly in the expression of his ideas and views. In many cases, it is also shown indirectly in his attitude toward various people, events and literary and artistic works. The pluralistic view of values manifests itself as a refusal to take any system of thought as absolute truth, an opposition to intellectual conformity, and an openness to different ideas and views.

In Su Shi's poetry, there are two stylistic features I see as central to "making poetry out of prose." The first is the use of a wide variety of words and expressions ranging

212 from very refined "poetic" language to more "vulgar,"

colloquial words and sometimes even dialect expressions and

slang. While some critics have argued that the use of "non­

poet ic" language violates the "purity" and "high taste" of

poetry, I demonstrate that it can be expressive and

refreshing. The second characteristic is the abundance of

comments, discussions and argumentative discourses, which

again has been dismissed as a major flaw of Su Shi's poetry.

In my analyses, those argumentative discourses reflect Su

Shi's open mind, diverse aesthetic tastes, which are direct

or indirect manifestation of his pluralistic view of values.

Chinese Critics have used the word “kuangda" # # to

characterize Su Shi's attitude toward life and the style of

his poetry. 1 It is usually translated as "big-heartedness," or

"broad-mindedness," or sometimes "catholicity." This word, I

feel, touches the "spirit" of Su Shi and his literary work.

Yet it is an "impressionistic" expression that has not been

clearly defined and analyzed from within a theoretic

discourse. I believe that the "pluralistic view of values" is

a clearer and more precise characterization of Su Shi's

thought and his "way of thinking." It is the key to

understanding why he has appealed to generations of readers, especially modern readers, and is a positive and constructive

1 For example, a book by Fan Jun about Su Shi's life is entitled Su Dongpo: kuangda ren shen (Su Dongpo: his Life of Broadmindness), (Wuhan: Changjiang wenyi chubanshe, 1993). 213 quality that represents one of the most important legacies he left in Chinese literary and intellectual tradition.

In a remark on poetry writing, the Song poet and critic

Lu Benzhong said:

As for the poetry of Su Shi and Li Bai, the scope [of their poetic world] is broad and great, and it is difficult for learners to follow. However, reading it makes people more daring to speak and overcome the obstacles [in people's mind]. They will no longer feel it too difficult [in composing poems].2

This remark indicates that reading Su Shi's poetry had the effect of liberating people's mind and made them more daring when they wrote their own poems. The liberation was twofold.

First, in terms of what to write. Su Shi showed by his own writing that they too could write about things and express feelings once considered "unpoetic." Second, in terms of how to write, he demonstrated that there was more than one way of writing poetry. They could use different kinds of words, they could discuss, argue, and employ different kinds of rhetorical devices. By "making poetry out of prose," Su Shi produced a freer, more diverse poetry and blazed a new trail in the Chinese poetic tradition.

2 SSZLHB, book 1, vol. 1, 255. 214 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Bakhtin, Mikhail. M. Art and Answerability. Austin: University of Texas press, 1990.

.Dialogic Imagination, trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981.

Speech Genres and Other Later Essays, trans. Vern W. McGee. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.

Bakhtin, M. M./P. N. Medvedev. The Formal Method in Literary Scholarship - A Critical Introduction to Sociological Poetics, trans. Albert J. Wehrle. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985.

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225