Literature Wénxué 文 学
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◀ LIN Biao Comprehensive index starts in volume 5, page 2667. Literature Wénxué 文 学 From the earliest times in China verse domi- description and imagery throughout the history of Chi- nated literary composition, while forms of nese poetry. The most authoritative edition, by Mao Heng opera and prose fiction developed into the and his son, Mao Chang, in the late first or early second most ambitious genres beginning in the four- century ce, stresses the relationship of the poems to emo- tion as distinct from other forms of composition. teenth century. Experiments with features TheChuci comprises a second early tradition of verse of Western literature in the early twentieth known as the sao form, which is associated with the century grew steadily into a highly Western- ancient state of Chu (770–721 bce) or with the region ized array of literature that largely displaced (roughly modern Hunan Province). In sao the natural im- pre- twentieth-century forms. agery alluding to moral qualities that is also often found in the Shijing is more lush and ultimately part of a vision- ary, shamanic world of spirits, souls, and deities through which the living and the dead journey in search of emo- rior to the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce) musi- tional and spiritual fulfillment. Such a world frames the cal lyrics alone were discussed as a class of com- first poem attributed to a historical figure, the “Li sao” position apart from history and philosophy, and (Encountering Sorrow) by Qu Yuan, who describes a fan- prose narratives, whether factual or fictive, appeared al- tastic journey: Qu, having been slandered by fellow Chu most entirely embedded in the work of historians and courtiers who want the king to reject Qu’s proposal for philosophers. The most ancient poetic texts are found in a strategic alliance, sets out upon his exile in search of a the Shijing (Book or Classic of Poetry or Songs) and the deity to validate his moral stature. Chuci (Elegies of Chu). The 305 extant lyrics in the Shijing The records of the Han dynasty preserved samples date between 1000 and 700 bce, when the Zhou dynasty of anonymous folk ballads (yuefu) of varying line length (1045–256 bce)court collected them from different re- collected by the imperial Music Bureau and also shi verse gions of the realm. Written largely in four- word, rhymed composed in a new form of five- syllable lines. Eventu- lines, the shi (verses) vary in length and range from eulo- ally members of the cultural elite composed in yuefu gies for royal ancestral rites to depictions by unknown and five- syllable-line shi style, among them Cai Yan (Cai authors of daily routines and intimate life. The Chinese Wenji, b. 177 ce), one of the earliest female poets credited philosopher Confucius (551–479 bce)praised them for by name, who recounted her lengthy captivity in a foreign their contributions to moral philosophy, and later phi- tribe in a five- syllable-line shi poem. At the same time the losophers and poets quoted them widely, giving them a sao form inspired members of the cultural elite to create prominent place in the curriculum of Confucian educa- a variant in rhymed prose, or prose poetry, called fu. The tion. The verses thereby greatly influenced techniques of fu prose- poem began in homage to Qu Yuan as a way to 1332 © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC P Literature n Wénxué n 文学 1333 reflect on the misfortunes of official service, but as a ve- (communicating the unusual or romances), a category hicle for elaborate vocabulary it was then appropriated to that included famous love stories. describe the pleasures and wonders of imperial life. The increasing stylization of language in the fu resulted in a form of parallel prose written in alternating phrases of Later Poetic Forms four and six syllables, known as the “four- six style” (siliu wen or pianti wen), which would last as an important style The interaction of Chinese empires with central Asia re- until the early twentieth century. sulted in even more innovations than the legacy of Bud- dhism, and these innovations included new forms of poetry. The first of these was lüshi (regulated verse), in- Prose Narrative spired by the prosody of Indian Sanskrit poetry, a genre studied by Shen Yue (441–513). This form dictated an ar- The expansion of Daoist thought and its interaction with rangement of phonological tones within rhymed lines the arrival of Buddhism from central Asia during the Han of five or seven syllables, organized in parallel couplets dynasty stimulated imagination about both the geogra- and normally limited to either eight lines or four lines phy of exotic regions and the realms of the supernatural. (jueju). Its most celebrated practitioner, Du Fu (712–770), The court scholar Liu Xin (46 bce–23 ce) compiled the acquired a reputation that has lasted to the present. Like fantastic geography of the Shanhai jing (Classic of Hills all writers before the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368), Du Fu and Seas) as information on arcana (mysterious bits of served as an official, and his devotion in his verse to the knowledge) and anomalies necessary to governing the welfare of the empire made him the epitome of the poet empire. After the collapse of the Han dynasty the num- as scholar- official. No topic represented in his poetry, ber of published collections of short anecdotes of spirits whether history, landscape, or daily life, was removed increased, many edited by men of official standing writ- from considerations of affairs of state or the needs of its ing unofficially, such as the 464 stories that an official subjects. Du Fu’s ability to bring what was considered a historian, Gan Bao (317–420), published, not among his plain, often humorous, voice and a Confucian sense of historical records but under the title Sou shen ji (Search mission to a form as ornate as regulated verse fulfilled for the Supernatural). Buddhist- and Daoist- inspired fundamental criteria for evaluating poetry that had been biographies, imitating the form but varying from the articulated in previous centuries in major studies of the content of official historical biographies, also appeared, art, such as the Shi pin (Evaluation of Poetry) by Zhong as did biographical anecdotes, also departing from offi- Rong (469?–518) and Wenxin diaolong (Literary Mind and cial historical accounts, most famously in the studies of the Carving of Dragons) by Liu Xie (b. 465). personal qualities attributed to historical figures in Shi Yet, in Du Fu’s own time the most popular poet (al- shuo xin yu (New Anecdotes of Tales of the World) by though not admired by the Tang court) was a follower of a prince, Liu Yiqing (420–479). The single most famous Daoism, Li Bai (Li Bo, 701–762). In Li Bai’s poetry land- story handed down from the post- Han North and South scape offers a release from historically defined duty and Dynasties (220–589) still inspires contemporary writing. an inspiration to envision a realm of Daoist deities and This is the “Tao hua yuan” (Peach Blossom Spring), which resources to unlock the alchemical secrets of immortal- the poet Tao Qian (Tao Yuanming, 365–427) included in ity, invoking an intimacy between his wine- inebriated his sequel collection to Gan Bao’s supernatural tales; it is a persona and the cosmos. Ultimately, the pairing of Du Daoist- inspired story of a fisherman who discovers a uto- Fu with Li Bai as the two greatest poetic geniuses served pian community of refugees that has remained unknown the tradition of the cultural elite themselves as the keep- for centuries. The growing body of prose narratives set in ers both of the Confucian society and the Daoist knowl- known historical and geographic contexts, but devoted edge of cosmic existence. Nor did this tradition exclude to characters and situations not confirmed by official re- appreciation of Buddhism as a layman, exemplified most cords, developed during the Tang dynasty (618–907 ce) famously in the poetry of a contemporary official, Wang into vividly and intimately depicted stories called chuanqi Wei (701–761). © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC 1334 Berkshire Encyclopedia of China 宝 库 山 中 华 全 书 By the late ninth century central Asia again contrib- for “song- story”) of Buddhist proselytizers in the tenth uted to poetry through a new musical form for which the century known in Chinese as bianwen (transformation lyrics were known as ci (song lyrics). Composed for enter- texts). These popular tales were written down in the ver- tainment, often by professional women entertainers, each nacular in which they were recited and sung, providing tune required a different form, and each lyric was known a major early example of spoken language at a time when by the title of the tune for which it was written. Although writing remained dominated by classical and literary women as professional entertainers had composed shi styles commonly used among the cultural elite. By the poetry, such as the gifted public relations courtesan of twelfth century performance had also developed into mu- a governor of Sichuan Province, Xue Tao (770–830), the sic theater in varying forms. After the consolidation of the newer ci form was initially regarded as outside the range Mongol Yuan dynasty the northern zaju (variety act) op- of writing by which men of the cultural elite were evalu- era dominated, offering vernacular dialogue interspersed ated as scholar- officials. The ability of Li Qingzhao (1083– with songs in the qu verse form according to prescribed 1149?) to evoke the pleasures of her youthful life with her suites.