CH'EN WEI-SUNG, THE TZ'U POET

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University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road. Tyler's Green High Wycombe, Bucks. England HP10 8HR 7B21923

CHU, MADELINE: MEN-LI CH•EN WEI-SUNG, THE TZ'U PDETt

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, PH.D.# 1970

University Microfilms International 300 n.zeeb road, ann arbor, mi jbiog

© 1978

HADELINE MEN-LI CHU

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CH'EN WEI-SUNG, THE TZ'U POET

by

Madeline Men-li Chu

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the

DEPARTMENT OF ORIENTAL STUDIES

In Partial Fulfullment of the Requirements For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

19 7 8

Copyright 1978 Madeline Men-li Chu THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

GRADUATE COLLEGE

I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under tny

direction by Madeline Men-11 Chu

entitled CH'EN WEI-SUNG. THE TZ'U POET

be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the

degree of Doctor of Philosophy

ilP^, L^icr 'k.., .?<; Dissertation Director (yDate

As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify

that we have read this dissertation and agree that it may be

presented for final defense.

C• Tvtt^ ~X9t /

Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense thereof at the final oral examination. STATEMENT BV AUTHOR

This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to bor­ rowers under rules of the Library.

Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder.

SIGNED: PREFACE

Lacking any previous monographic study of the life and works of Ch'en Wei-sung in Chinese, Japanese or any Western language, this dissertation represents a preliminary exploration of the subject.

Its coverage is therefore necessarily limited in scope. In addition to attention to historical and biographical elements, this study involves an alalysis of key elements in the poetic works of Ch'en

Wei-sung.

Chinese words and names are given in Wade-Giles system, with the exception of some well known place names where forms more commonly used are followed. Differences in line length, a characteristic feature of tz'u poetry, are indicated by a system of indentation.

Lines that are too long for the margin have been divided into two lines according to the placement of the ceasura in the orginal poem.

I am indebted to many people in finishing this dissertation.

Here, I would like to thank in particular my adviser, Dr. William R.

Schultz, who has directed my research and writing, and my husband and children for their encouragement and understanding.

iii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ABSTRACT v

1. FAMILY BACKGROUND 1

2. LIFE AND THOUGHT 18

3. CH'EN WEI-SUNG AND THE TZ'U REVIVAL 35

4. CH'EN WEI-SUNG'S TZ'U 55

Major Themes 58 (i) Feelings of Personal Sufferings 58 (ii) Sentiments on History 64 (iii)Comments on Current Events 72 (iv) Sensuous Moods 77 (v) Leisurely Retirement 80 General Stylistic Features 82 Poetic Mood 86 Craftsmanship . 87 His Critics' Judgments 101

5. CONCLUSION 106

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Ill

iv ABSTRACT

Ch'en Wei-sung belonged to a family active in both literary and political circles. His grandfather, YU-t'ing, was a censor and high ranking official at the Ming court and a lecturer in the Tung-lin

Academy. His father, Chen-hui, was an active member of the fu-she organization. In the struggle against the palace eunuch clique, both YU-t'ing and Chen-hui became the victims of factious political conflicts and partisan controversies.

Ch'en Wei-sung was endowed with great genius. His talent in writing classical and parallel prose, and shih and tz'u poetry was widely recognized. The quick flow of words from his brush, the splendor of his style, as well as his brilliant resourcefulness were highly admired by his contemporaries. He was, however, unsuccessful in the civil service examinations and, after his father's death, he travelled broadly in China seeking employment.

A special po-hsUeh hung-ju examination was held under the auspices of the K'ang-hsi emperor in 1679. Unlike some Ming loyalists who refused to participate, Ch'en Wei-sung seemed to have welcomed the opportunity to enter public service. He took and passed the examina­ tion and was assigned the position of Corrector in the Han-lin Academy to work on the Ming dynasty history project. He became friendly with many prominent figures and was active socially in the capital. vi

Nevertheless, bad health and feelings of advancing age and nostalgia

cast a shadow over the last years of his life and he died at the age

of fifty-six.

The seventeenth century witnessed a renaissance in the

literary arts, among which the revival of the tz'u form after a three-

hundred-year decline marks a milestone in the development of this

genre. Originally associated with music and dependent on the world of

entertainment, tz'u was generally considered inferior to shih as a literary genre. The most significant aspect of the Ch'ing dynasty

revival of the tz'u was the new stature it gained as an acceptable

literary genre.

Ch'en Wei-sung's contribution to this revival of the tz'u form

is manifold. He undertook to establish a new and positive theoretical

ground for the tz'u form. In advocating allegorical and metaphorical

meanings in the tz'u, he acknowledged its capacity to convey more serious emotions and intellectual perceptions. He argued for the

usefulness of tz'u verse as a vehicle for the expression of personal

philosophy and social criticism and applied to it all the standards

that were applicable to the shih. In this way, he strove to widen the

content of tz'u poetry. His copious creations in this form, especially

in the long mode, marked another aspect of his contribution to this

development. His vigorous and spontaneous style also led the tz'u

of early Ch'ing times away from mere formal embellishment and towards fluency, directness and vitality. vii

Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u is remarkable for its heroic mood and

unrestrained style. In spite of the use of abundant allusions, a

sense of vividness and spontaneity is retained in his tz'u. In the

fusion of scene and emotion, feelings of melancholy, sorrow, relaxa­

tion, happiness and expectation are all effectively conveyed. The use

of color words, rhyming compounds, alliteration, antithesis, and his­

torical and literary allusions and metaphors serve to lend both depth and strength to his poetry. Even in using old images, he often lent

them new life.

As a scholar-official of the Ming-Ch'ing transitional period,

Ch'en Wei-sung's life and thought are valuable for our understanding of the intellectual and literary history of that period. As an advocate and prolific writer of tz'u poetry, Ch'en Wei-sung made important contributions, in both theory and in actual practice, to the revival of the tz 'u in the seventeenth century, and this accom­ plishment was to influence later developments in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries.

/ CHAPTER 1

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Ch'en Wei-sung came from a prominent family which can be traced back to the Sung dynasty scholar, Ch'en Fu-liang. Ch'en Fu-liang migrated from Yung-chia, Chekiang, to I-hsing, Kiangsu, where the family resided thereafter. I-hsing -^P^was first established as a chUn in 304 by Emperor Hui of the Chin dynasty in commending Chou

Chi's valor in organizing a volunteer army (i-chlln ^ Sf- ) to repel bandit incursions. I-hsing chUn was later abolished and one of the six hsienwhich comprised the chUn, i.e., Yang-hsien hsien, was renamed I-hsing hsien by Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty in 589. In order to avoid the use of the personal name of the T'ai-tsung Emperor of Sung, I-hsing -k^-was renamed I-hsing 111 i-11 976. During the

Ming (1368-1644) and Ch'ing (1644-1912) dynasties, it was under the

r\ jurisdiction of Ch'ang-chou prefecture.

I-hsing, located in south Kiangsu province, was then a district

A'' j % administrative center. The Chen-tse ^ and Ching-ch'i #11

1. Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi (Collection of Prose of Ch'en Chia-ling) (Ssu-pu ts'ung-k'an, Ch'en Chia-ling shih wen tz'u ch'Uan chi edition), p. 56.

2. Ning K'ai ^ and others, Ch'ung-k'an I-hsing hsien chiu-chih ^ ^-i] (Revised Edition of the Old Topographical Record o£'l-hsing* District) (I-hsing hsien-chih edition), pp. 24-25.

1 2 rivers met on the north side of the city and a network of canals made it accessible from all directions. I-hsing was a well watered place, where fish and rice were abundant and its paople lived in prosperity and contentment. To the south was Mount T'ung-kuan § , where copper and coal were produced; however it was more famous for its scenery and the story linking it with the Chin dynasty hero Chou Ch'u, who killed a fierce tiger there.

According to the historical records, the people of I-hsing were famous for their literary talent and took no interest in military training. They did not engage in superficial display and seldom evinced an interest in business or trade. The majority of the popula­ tion were self-sufficient farmers; many of their sons became erudite scholars who distinguished themselves in the civil service examina­ tions. Ch'en Fu-liang, although a relative newcomer, was a scholar typical of the I-hsing tradition, which encouraged diligent study and chaste behavior.

Ch'en Fu-liang "flj" (tzu Chlln-chU T& , hao Chih- chai J-t , 1141-1207) was a holder of the chin-shih degree who served in the reigns of the Hsiao-tsung (1163-1189), Kuang-tsung

(1190-1194) and Ning-tsung (1195-1224) emperors of the Sung dynasty as Assistant Department Director of the Ministry of Civil Appointments and Secretary in the Grand Secretariat. Among his fellow court officials were such famous scholars as Lii Tsu-ch'ien (1137-1181), a

1. Ibid., p. 50.

2. Sung shih (Ssu-pu pei-yao edition), 434:15-18. 3

close friend, and the famous Neo-Confucian philosopher Chu Hsi (1130-

1200), whom Ch'en Fu-liang publicly criticized, and who eventually

caused Fu-liang's dismissal from office.

Ch'en Fu-liang was a just official whose memorials on eco­

nomic and political policies were highly esteemed by the emperors. He was opposed to excessive formality in the literary style required in

the civil service examinations. The historical sources state that his

unique style of writing attracted to him numerous followers and thus

made him a leader in contemporary literary circles. His scholarship included studies of pre-Ch'in philosophy and Han studies. According

to his biography in the official history of the Sung dynasty, Ch'en

Fu-liang's published works consisted of such titles as Scholium on the Si7* Book of Songs (Shih chieh-ku ^-3* 1?^ vo)> Decipherment of the Rites of Chou (Chou-li shuo 0\ ), Subsequent Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals (Ch'un-ch'iu hou chuan )> The Import of Tso's Commentary (Tso-shih chang chih fe. i\ "§£ i§ ), and The

Collected Essays of Chih-chai (Chih-chai wen-chi it 3C. ^; )• The last two in the list were reproduced in the collection Ssu-k'u ch'uan shu.

The scholar-official tradition of the Ch'en family was inher­ ited by Ch'en Ytl-t'ing three hundred and fifty years later. Between

Fu-liang and YU-t'ing, the following names are recorded in the

1. Ibid.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid. 4

genealogy of the Ch'en family:^- Ts'ang-ssu; Hung-fu, who moved the

family from south of the T'ai Lake to Po-ts'un, a village on the north-

west side of I-hsing; Ytlan-yu (hao Keng-yin), renowned for his integ­

rity, virtue and lofty sentiment and likened to the famous poet T'ao

Ytian-ming (365-427) by his friend Wen Cheng-ming (1470-1559);"* Pang-

wei (hao Ssu-t'ang); Hsien-chang (hao Ku-ytl); and I-ching (hao Huai-ku),

who was lauded for his filial piety.^ No additional information has

been found on the lives of these people.

Ch'en YU-t'ing "jj'jjt ;f (tzu Meng-o ^ , hao Shao-pao

^ , 1565-1635, ehin-shih of 1595), Ch'en Wei-sung's grandfather,

was active during the last years of the Ming dynasty, a period marked

by almost continuous factious political conflict and partisan contro­

versy. These controversies can be characterized as a political conflict

between the powerful imperial palace eunuch corps allied with the

members of the Grand Secretariat on the one hand and anti-administration

intellectuals consisting of Tung-lin critics and the majority of the

personnel in the Censorate on the other.

During the latter part of the Ming dynasty, the name Tung-lin

(Eastern Forest) attracted considerable popular attention with the

rebuilding of the Eastern Forest Academy (Tung-lin shu-yUan ^

*P/L>) in Wu-hsi, Kiangsu, the site where Yang Shih (1053-1135, the

1. Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, p. 56.

2. Ning K'ai and others, p. 36.

3. Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, p. 56.

4. Ning K'ai and others, pp. 318-9. foremost disciple of the two Ch'eng brothers, influential thinkers in the Neo-Confucian movement) had taught at the beginning of the twelfth century.1 In the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, discussions on Neo-Confucianism were popular among intellectuals in frequent study meetings (chiang-hui^ ). Ku Hsien-ch'eng (1550-

1612) and Kao P'an-lung (1562-1626) were two of the most active in these meetings. Following the suggestion of Kao P'an-lung, Ku Hsien- ch'eng and his friends made financial contributions to and directed the project of rebuilding the Eastern Forest Academy, thus furnishing themselves and their disciples with a suitable place for their gatherings. 2 The open ceremonies, beginning with an announcement of the regulations, took place between November 29 and December 1,

Q ^ 1604. The idea of chastity (i-chieh ) was strongly emphasized and discussions of public affairs were greatly encouraged.^

Individuals attending meetings at the Eastern Forest, or

Tung-lin, Academy, or its satellite academies in Kiangsu and Chekiang provinces, naturally grouped themselves together with the lecturers, the leading scholars of the time, in attacking administrative mal­ feasance at court. The group became so influential that those who

1. See L. Carrington Goodrich and Fang Chao-ying, ed., Dictionary of Ming Biography (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), p. 740.

2. Li Chieh -f m , Ming shih (History of the Ming Dynasty) Taipei: Ta-hsin shu-chll, 1964), p. 400.

3. Goodrich and Fang, ed., Dictionary of Ming Biography, p. 740.

4. Li Chieh, pp. 401-2. 6

were attacked called them the Tung-lin Tang v|£,(Party) , a term of

disparagement meant to imply a conspiracy against the government.^

Ch'en Ytl-t'ing, being an active scholar from Kiangsu, a lec­

turer in the Tung-lin meetings, and a censor noted for his outspoken

criticism and for his straightforward memorials, became involved in the

continuing political turmoil caused by the Tung-lin and anti-Tung-lin

powers. Not long after he obtained his chin-shih degree and was

assigned to the Censorate, he launched an attack on the Grand Secretary

Chu Keng (1535-1609) for conspiring to usurp power, and this resulted

in his being deprived of one year's salary. In subsequent years, his

fearless public criticism of the Chief Grand Secretary, Wang Hsi-chtleh

(1534-1611), and the Instructor of the Heir Apparent, Ku T'ien-chUn

(ca. 1592), for their attempts to obstruct officials in their conduct

of assigned duties, of Tax Commissioner Chang Chung-jao (ca. 1595) for

his faulty administration of the state salt monopoly and of other high

officials won him a reputation for courage and the upholding of prin-

ciple. His uncompromising attitude toward malfeasance and corruption

1. Ibid., pp. 147-8.

2. See A. W. Hummel, ed., Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644-1912) (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1943-44), p. 83; Li Yllan-tu ^ fo , Kuo-ch'ao hsien-chene shih-lUeh J§^ (Brief Biographies of Former Worthies of the Ch'ing Dynasty), 60 vols. (Taipei: Wen-hai shu-chU, 1967), 39:4b. However, Yil-t'ing's name was not included in Huang Tsung-hsi's list of sixteen Ming scholars who were active in the Tung-lin Academy. See his "Tung-lin hstteh an" ;jt sfcf- (A Study of Tung-lin Philosophers) in Ming ju hstleh an gij # (Critical Accounts of the Neo-Confucianists of the Ming DynastV) (Taipei: Shih-chieh shu-chU, 1965), chaps. 58-61.

3 Kuo-fang yen-chiu-ytlan, Ming shih JsL (History of the_ Ming, dynasty) (Taipei: Kuo-fang yen-chiu yttan Ming-shih pien-chuan wei-ytlan-hui, 1962), p. 2877. was once again revealed in the famous Red-pill Case (Hung-wan an Ju

^ ), one of the so-called Three Cases which highlighted the struggle

between the Tung-lin and its opposition in the late Ming era.

To roost historians, the Three Cases (San an ), namely

the Red-pill Case, the Club-attack Case (T'ing-chi an ),

and the Palace-transfer Case (I-kung an ^ ), actually began

as trivial palace events."'" Take the Red-pill Case as an example. It

started in 1620 when the Emperor Kuang-tsung became ill a week after

he ascended the throne. After unsuccessful treatment by the court

physician Ch'en Hsi, the emperor took a lajcative prescribed by the

eunuch physician Ts'ui Wen-sheng and this worsened his condition. In

a memorial discussing the matter, Minister of Defense Yang Lien (1571-

1625) blamed Ts'ui for ignorance in prescribing the wrong medicine,

medicine which any one with any common sense would know to be wrong,

after Ts'ui had started a rumor about the emperor's sexual indulgences.

Since Ts'ui had been practicing medicine for many years and had made

no previous mistakes in treatment, Yang also expressed the suspicion

that this was not a mistake but a case of deliberate carelessness. 2

In the following two weeks court officials, including Chief

Minister Fang Ts'ung-che (chin-shih of 1583, d. 1628) and Minister of

Defense Yang Lien, were twice summoned by the emperor and entrusted

with the responsibilities of state administration and of assisting the

,1. Ku Ying-t'ai Mil //£.^ ,Ming shih chl-shih pen-mo It ^ ^(Source Materials of Ming History) (Taipei: San-min shu- chll, 1963), p. 749. For details on the Three Cases, see pp. 749-71.

2. Ibid., pp. 755-7. 8 crown prince. When asked about the red pills that the emperor had already heard about, Fang Ts'ung-che is reported to hava said, "Li

K'o-shao, an official of the Court of State Ceremonial, claims that he has a wonder-working pill but we dare not be credulous." The emperor ordered Li to attend his illness, and he was later pleased with the diagnosis and the effect of the medicine. In a few hours, the emperor took another pill. This turned out to be fatal and the emperor died the next morning. The death of the emperor aroused heated arguments.

Ts'ui Wen-sheng, Li K'o-shao, as well as Fang Ts'ung-che who had con­ sidered offering a reward to Li even after the emperor's death, were attacked by the censors ?• Ch'en YU-tfing, then holding the position of the Minister of Ceremony (T'ai-ch'ang JS- ), strongly urged the punishment of beheading for Ts'ui and Li.2

The Red-pill Case, just as the other two cases, provided the

Tung-lin group with a handy pretext for attacking their opponents and during the early T'ien-ch'i era the Tung-lin partisans came to occupy most of the key positions at court. However, the infamous eunuch Wei

Chung-hsien (1568-1627) had in the meantime become the young emperor's

(Hsi-tsung, or the T'ien-ch'i emperor, reigned 1620-1627) most trusted adviser, and the Tung-lin partisans were eventually to become the victims rather than the victors in the continuing struggle for power and influence. 3

1* Ku Ying-t'ai,-pp. 755-7.

2. Kuo-fang yen-chiu-yllan, Ming shih, p. 2877.

3. Goodrich and Fang, ed., p. 706. 9

In 1624, Yang Lien, then the vice Censor-in-Chief, submitted a list of twenty-four great crimes in denunciation of Wei Chung-hsien.^"

Wei conterfeited an imperial decree to rebuke Yang for his audacity, and determined to get rid of Yang. Individuals owing allegiance to the Tung-lin banner formed a united front to defend Yang and to re­ iterate his accusations. The conflict was brought into the open and the differences between the two groups became irreconcilable. As a result, a vicious purge of Tung-lin elements was carried out in full force under the direction of Wei Chung-hsien. 3

Minister of Personnel Chao Nan-hsing (1550-1628) was removed from office in late 1624 because he had proposed the severe punishment of a censor in the ministry, Ts'ui Ch'eng-hsiu (ca. 1613), who happened to be a protfegi of Wei Chung-hsien.^ Ch'en YU-t'ing was in charge of submitting recommendations for a replacement of Chao. Secretary Wei

Kuang-wei delivered a message indicating Wei Chung-hsien's preference for the position and promised Ch'en promotion if he would cooperate.

However, the names Ch'en submitted were those of people opposed to Wei

Chung-hsien. In his rage at being so boldly opposed, Wei Chung-hsien

1. Kuo-fang yen-chiu-ylian, Mine shih. p. 2775. For a detailed list of the twenty-four crimes, see John Ross, The Manchus (London, 1891; reprint edition, New York: AMS Press, 1973), pp. 123-6.

2. Kuo-fang yen-chiu-yllan, Ming shih, p. 2775.

3. Goodrich and Fang, ed., p. 706.

4* Ibid., p. 707. 10 again counterfeited an imperial decree blaming Ch'en severely for recommending people of Chao Nan-hsing's clique and dismissing him, together with Yang Lien and Tso Kuang-tou (1575-1625)."'' When he left the court, Ch'en Ytt-t'ing showed his fellow officials a poem which includes these lines,

Oleaginous elasticity is shared by society. Stubborn obstinacy only is my disposition.^

Henceforth, the principled, loyal officials were virtually driven from the court and the administration was manipulated by a clique of indulgent and corrupt courtiers. Although Ch'en Ytl-t'ing was later reinstated early in the Ch'ung-chen era (1628-1644), he was again dismissed in 1632 for opposing the punishment of two censors, thus offending the Prime Minister, his fellow countryman Chou Yen-ju

(1588-1644). He returned to his native place where he died three years later.^

After Ch'en YU-t'ing's dismissal and the arrest and death by torture of Yang Lien and Tso Kuang-tou in 1625, the imperial court denounced academies of the Tung-lin type as subversive organizations and ordered their destruction throughout the country.^ The Tung-lin generation was over but the struggle against Wei Chung-hsien did not

1. For biographies of Yang Lien and Tso Kuang-tou, see Kuo- fang yen-chiu-yllan, Mine shih, pp. 2775-7.

2. Ning K'ai and others, p. 269.

3. Kuo-fang yen-chiu-yllan, Ming shih, p. 2877.

4. Goodrich and Fang, ed., Dictionary of Ming Biography, p. 708. 11 cease. It was carried on by the Fu-she organization, as was the tradition of political criticism and opposition to the powerful palace •f eunuch faction.

Deriving from the study meetings popular in the sixteenth and V * . early seventeenth centuries, many literary societies (wen-she ,X. ) were organized for the purpose of "making friends by means of liter­ ature" (1 wen hui yu M X, )• The Fu-she 1&. (Restoration

Society) was established in 1628 as one .of these literary societies in

T'ai-ts'ang, Kiangsu, by Chang P'u (1602-1641). The name "Fu-she" is generally believed to mean "the society for the revival of ancient learning." Because its membership included the descendants of prom­ inent Tung-lin members, such as Huang Tsung-hsi (1610-1695) and Ch'en

Chen-hui, it was nicknamed the "little Tung-lin". It also became a significant power in fighting the eunuch faction. The name "Fu-she" could therefore be interpreted as "the society for the revival of the 3 Tung-lin tradition", though that might not have been the orginal idea.

As William S. Atwell has argued, scholars who failed in the civil service examination were a major source of membership of late

Ming literary societies. He states:

1. Hummel, ed., p. 52. The Fu-she was not formally established until 1628. However, the scholars who later became Fu-she members had attacked Wei Chung-hsien for some time before that year.

2. Ibid., p. 53.

3. When Juan Ta-ch'eng ordered the wholesale arrest of Fu-she members he entitled his list of proscribed names Huang nan lu . The Tung-lin members were thus slightingly referred to as huang, or locusts, and the Fu-she members as nan, or unfledged locusts. Here Fu-she was also considered as the scion of Tung-lin. 12

... in terms of the area's population and cultural advancement, the chU-j en quota for Nan-chihli was much lower during late Ming times than it should have been. Consequently, counties with wealth, high population, and marked cultural development, such as those in Soochow, Sungkiang, and Ch'ang-chou prefec­ tures, had large numbers of sheng-yUan who were unsuccessful in their attempts to pass the provincial examinations. In their frustration, it was only natural for these scholars to seek ways to influence examiners. Significantly, it was in Nan-Chihli that wen-she and she-kao enjoyed their greatest popularityv*-

Ch'en Chen-hui 7* I Jg". (tzu Ting-sheng , 1605-1656), the youngest of Ch'en Yu-t'ing's four sons, took his preliminary degree

y** §t (sheng-yllan 5- ) in 1621 but failed in the provincial examination.

This failure could have served as one reason for his joining the Fu- she at an early age.

From the beginning, the Fu-she exercised considerable influence on official appointments and civil service examination recommendations.

Under the skillful leadership of Chang P'u, it had become a significant political force by 1630.^ In the view of many Chinese historians, the division of political parties in the late Ming period was that of moral

1. William S. Atwell, "From Education to Politics: The Fu-she," in .The Unfolding of New-Confucianism, ed. by William Theodore deBary (New York: Columbia University Press, 1975),p.338. Nan-Chihli is the name of a sheng ^ established by Emperor Ch'eng of the Ming dynasty. It included the area commonly known as Chiang-nan. In the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties' examination system, a prospective scholar had to pass three stages before entering the final palace examination. Students who had passed the certification examination and certified by provincial education intendants were sheng-ytlan & . Qualified sheng-yUan who passed a provincial examination, which was held every third year, at the provincial capital became chtl-j en . A metropolitan examination was given a few months after each provincial examination. Successful candidates became chin-shih ^ . Chin-shih would then be ranked by the emperor in order of excellence and this last step was the so- called palace examination.

2. See Hummel, ed., p. 52. 13

differences rather than political ideals and the factionalism was a

battle of righteous versus vicious, in which Fu-she members played an

important role.

Because of Ch'en Yll-t'ing's life-long struggle against the

eunuchs headed by Wei Chung-hsien and his associates, it was only natural that his favorite son, Chen-hui, would play an active role in the struggle against Wei's successor, his adopted son, Juan Ta-ch'eng

(1587-1646) and his clique. Ch'en Chen-hui is described as having been short and slender of stature, with a fine moustache and a strong voice.

His erudition and elegant temperament won him fame as a spirited gentleman.^ He and three other Fu-she members, Mao Hsiang (tzu F'i- chiang, hao Ts'ao-min, 1611-1693), Fang I-chih (d. 1671?) and Hou Fang- ytl (tzu Ch'ao-tsung, 1618-1654) were known as the "Four Esquires"

(Ssu kung-tzu "'a* "3" ). On the othei' hand, he inherited his father's stubborn character and he detested people of a vicious nature.

It is said he would often gnash his teeth whenever he thought about

Juan Ta-ch'eng and the harms he had done to the state.

In 1638, when Wu Ying-chi (tzu Tz'u-wei, 1594-1645) was studying in Ch'en Chen-huiTs house, Ku Kao (tzu Tsu-fang, no dates available) came to visit. A manifesto disclosing Juan's villainies entitled

"Proclamation to Guard Against Disorder in the Subordinate Capital"

(Liu-tu fang luan kung chieh "a ) was drafted by the three men. The manifesto represented a harsh, outspoken attack

1. Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, p. 57.

2. Ibid.; Hummel, ed., p. 83. 14 on Juan Ta-ch'eng and its promulgation in Nanking in the following year forced Juan to leave Nanking in bitter resentment and shame.^

When Prince Fu (d. 1646) was proclaimed emperor in Nanking in

1644 after the fall of Peking, Ma Shih-ying (1591-1646) was entrusted with the position of prime minister. Juan Ta-ch'eng was appointed

Minister of Defense through Ma's influence. With Ma's backing Juan came to power and began to settle some old scores. Chou Piao (chin- shih of 1628) was first imprisoned. Ch'en Chen-hui was at that time in

Nanking petitioning that his father be awarded posthumous honors. He frequently went to inquire after and planned to help Chou, and before

O long he was also arrested. Through the intervention of Lien Kuo-shih

(chin-shih of 1616), then Vice Minister of Defense, Ch'en Chen-hui was released. He returned to his native place, Po-ts'un, deeply depressed.

Chou Piao died in jail the following year and soon afterwards the

Nanking government was overthrown by the invading Manchu forces. The

Ming dynasty came to an end and Ch'en Chen-hui went into seclusion in

Po-ts'un and only twice thereafter went to the cities on short trips: once to marry off his daughter and once to attend the funeral of a friend.^

In seclusion, Ch'en Chen-hui passed his time in the family studio, the Wen-hsing Chai ^ ^ , reading the classics and

1. Ning K'ai and others, p. 367.

2. Atwell, "The Fu-shef" p. 356.

3. Wu Ying-chi was also arrested at the same time. Wu died later that year (1645).

4. Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling Wen-chi, pp. 58-9. 15 histories, as well as the literary works of the famous poet Wu Wei-yeh

(hao Mei-ts'un, 1609-1671) and others. He studied day and night, as he himself said, to forget the outside world. Occasionally, he would carry a cane and stroll between the fields, picking here and there a spike of grass or a handful of grain. During the winter sac­ rifice, he would summon his sons, Ch'en Wei-sung and his brothers, to stand before a protrait of Ch'en YU-t'ing while he Instructed them to study diligently Confucian ethical principles in memory of their grandfather.^"

In the spring of 1656, a few friends came from different places to visit Ch'en Chen-hui. He was greatly pleased and drank heavily with them. Later at the gathering, he ordered Wei-sung's younger brothers to chant Ch'll Ytlan's poem "Divination" (Pu-chU j* ). Everybody joined in the recitation. A melancholy seized Chen-hui and he fell ill a few days later, never recovering until his death in June.

Ch'en Wei-sung's grandfather, YU-t'ing, and father, Chen-hui, were both loyal subjects and courageous fighters. They were men of integrity and principle; to the state they dedicated their lives, and to their friends they contributed generous assistance. Like many

Chinese patriarchs, however, they were negligent of personal finances.

Yli-t'ing's probity in money matters left the family without financial security. Chen-hui also had no talent for the administration of the family property; moreover, he was always bounteous to the needy, perhaps

1. Ibid., p. 59.

2. Ibid. 16 to a fault. Thus, after his retirement from public life in 1645, the family's financial situation went from bad to worse.^ Nevertheless, the generous hospitality he extended to all visitors never changed.

Wei-sung's step-mother, ne& Shih, labored to manage without harrassing her husband. For many years, there had always been guests in the house.

There were even some guests who remained for more than twenty years.

Neither Wei-sung's mother, nT'ang, nor his step-mother ever showed any displeasure. They were typically discreet and virtuous Chinese women and were highly respected by their fellow country-people.

Among Chen-hui's brothers, Chen-yti was known for his filial piety and frugality. Chen-ta was known for his loyal behavior as an official. After he was captured in a battle with the infamous brigand

Li Tzu-ch'eng (1605?-1645) in 1644, he cursed Li unceasingly for three days until he bled to death from an open wound. The oldest brother,

Chen-i, was the only full-rbrother of Chen-hui and naturally the closest one to him. It is said that Chen-i*s natural talent for literary ex­ pression was first revealed in a piece of parallel prose written at the age of three. His genius was reinforced by diligent study of the classics, the official and unofficial histories, and the ylleh-fu poetry.

His brilliant and resourceful prose writings and witty verse riddles

1. Ch'en Chen-hui failed his last try in the provincial exam­ ination in the fall of 1643 and started his seclusion, as Ch'en Wei- sung recorded in his step-mother's biography. See Ch'en Chia-liang wen-chi, p. 60. Chen-hui went, however, to Nanking, the Southern Capital, to petition for his father's posthumous honors at the time when Prince Fu was proclaimed emperor, and he stayed there for one year or so until he was arrested. Therefore, his real seclusive life began after he was released, as recorded in his biography by Wei-sung. See Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, p. 59. 17 made him a leader in contemporary literary circles in southeast China.

Unfortunately, his frustration in the examinations and the unsatis­ factory state of his health caused his death at an early age."*"

Ch'en Chen-hui had five sons, Wei-sung and his four younger brothers, Wei-mei (tzu Pan-hsUeh) Wei-yUeh (tzu Wei-ytln), Tsung-shih

(tzu Tzu-wan, b. 1643) and Wei-kang. All five of the brothers achieved some fame as men of letters, but Wei-sung was the most outstanding and accomplished one.

1. Ning K'ai and others, pp. 341-2. CHAPTER 2

LIFE AND THOUGHT

Ch'en Wei-sung 1*?. # •fit (tzu Ch'i-nien -*f~ , hao Chia-ling

1626-1682) was born at a time when the family was celebrating

Ch'en Ytt-t'ing's sixtieth birthday. The birth of Wei-sung, as the first son of Chen-hui, heightened the excitement of the family and this 1 event was regarded as a felicitous birthday gift to the grandfather.

Most of Ch'en Wei-sung's biographers state that he was endowed with great genius.2 He sta'ted his lessons in the Chinese classics at

1. See Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, p. 56. "Sung" is the name of the highest and the central peak of the five sacred mountains of China. A high mountain is a traditional symbol for lon­ gevity and Wei-sung was so named to wish his grandfather a long life.

2. The biographical information about Ch'en Wei-sung cited in this^dissertation is drawivfrpm the following sources: a. Ch'ien I-chi "is » Pei chuan chi (A Collection of Epitaphs) 60 vols. (Reprint ed., Taipei: Ssu k'u shan pen ts'ung shu kuan, 1959?), 45:19b- 22b; b. Ch'in Ying Chi-wei tz'u-k'o lu ^ fej- ^J<(Records on the Civil Service Examination of the Year Chi-wei) 12 vols. (Shih- en-t'ang ed., 1807), 2:14a~17a; c. Chung-hua shu-chll, Ch'ing shih lleh-chuan (The Ch'ing Dynasty Biographical History) 80 vols. (Shanghai: Chung-hua shu-chll, 1928), 71:la-2a; d. Goodrich and Fang, ed., p. 103; e. Li Ytlan-tu, 39:4b-6a; f. Ning K'ai and others, p. 333; g. Wang Tsao i and Ch'ien Lin Wen-hsien cheng ts'un lu ji(Notes on Preserved Literar^Records) 14 vols. (1858 edition), 10:31a-33b; h. Yeh Kung-ch'o.^ > Ch'ing tai hsUeh-che hsiang chuan 5# ^ if (Portraits and Biographies of Ch'ing Dynasty Scholars) (Taipei: Wen-hai shu-chU, 1969), p. 86.

18 19 the age of five under the instruction of Ch'en Tzu-lung (1608-1647, chin-shih of 1637), a famous scholar of the time who was known for his literary accomplishments in various literary genres and for his chaste manner.^ The excellent memory and remarkable cleverness Wei-sung dis­ played in his studies won his grandfather's special favor. The eulogy on Yang Lien he wrote for his grandfather at the age of nine both amazed and greatly pleased the old man. 2

Having studied with the prominent scholar-poets Wu Ying-chi and Wu Wei-yeh, Wei-sung1s literary interests were greatly broadened.

At the age of thirteen or fourteen, Wei-sung started his poetry writing. His genius in this respect was soon widely recognized, and he was designated by Wu Wei-yeh as one of the three outstanding young poets of southeastern China, "The Three Phoenixes of East of the Yang­ tze River" (Chiang-tso san-feng z. j^j ).^

Wei-sung obtained his first degree, po-shih ti-tzu-yuan -dr

Jfr , or sheng-ytlan, at the age of sixteen. Soon afterwards his father failed in the provincial examination and subsequently went into seclusion. During the late-Ming and early Ch'ing years, Wei-sung stayed with his father in their home town, Po-ts'un, and did not seek

1. Ning K'ai and others, p. 379.

2. See Li YUan-tu,39: 5a. For the prose see "Yang Chung-LLeh Hsiang-chuan", in Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling li-t'i wen-chi PjjL T& iH 'ft X. (Collection of Parallel Prose of Ch'en Chia- ling) (Ssu-pu ts'ung-k'an. Ch'en Chia-ling shih wen tz'u ch'llan chi edition), p. 230.

3. The other two were Wu Chao-ch'ien (tzu Han-ch'a, 1631- 1684) and P'eng Shih-tu (tzu Ku-chin. 1624-?). See Ch'ien I-chi, 45:22a. 20

public position."'" He was, however, introduced by his father to many

well-known scholars of the time, and he also became very active in

various literary gatherings, which were becoming more than usually

popular in Kiangsu in 1651 and 1652. When the Ch'iu-shui she

(Autumn-water Society) was first established in I-hsing in the

early 1650's, among many famous local literary figures who made up p its membership, Wei-sung was the youngest.

The quick flow of words from his brush and the splendor of his style were highly admired by his contemporaries. It is recorded

that at one gathering, before the wine was poured to signify the

beginning of the assembly, Wei-sung requested a writing brush and speedily and without hesitation a lengthy poem with dozens of rhymes was finished. There were also times when he wrote descriptive prose

pieces in a light style under similar circumstances. His ability to compose this kind of prose rapidly and spontaneously was also much

O admired. Besides his literary abilities, Wei-sung was noted for his luxuriant beard, which earned for him the cognomen "Ch'en Jan", Ch'en the Bearded.

By the time of Chen-hul's death in 1656, when Wei-sung was thirty, the family fortunes had already sharply declined. Wei-sung then started a period of protracted travel, seeking employment without, apparently, observing the customary three-year mourning period. The

1. Ch'ien I-chi, 45:20a.

2. Ibid., 45:21a.

3. Ibid. 21 only specific mention of his travels places him in Ju-kao, Kiangsu, in

1658, where he visited upon the invitation of his father's closest friend, Mao Hsiang. There he spent most of the following ten years in

Mao's villa, the Shui-hui yllan )S](Water-sketch Garden), studying, writing and waiting for regular employment, and returning occasionally to his own home in the third year after his first arrival in Ju-kao, he went to take the provincial examination at the age of thirty-five. He was deeply frustrated by his failure in the examination and he afterwards wrote to a friend, "I failed in my examination and could not go home. Once again I feigned insanity and travelled to Ju-kao. In grief and illness, I could no longer sing."

His hope of "returning home in glory" (i-chlng huan-hsiang

it was disappointed. He went back to Ju-kao, where the pleasant, carefree life in the Shui-hui yllan served perfectly to dilute his sorrow and disappointment. A troupe of boy actors main­ tained by Mao Hsiang was a relaxation for Wei-sung and other scholar guests. Among the boy actors was a certain Hsll Tzu-yttn (1644-1675) whose pleasing complaisance attracted Wei-sung's attention. One story about their relationship was recorded as follows. One day when

Wei-sung was together with Hsll Tzu-ylln under a plum tree, they were seen by Mao. Hsiang. Since an actor was the property of his master, he was not supposed to do anything without his master's approval. Nor­ mally, a master disapproved of an actor entertaining a guest outside of

1. Li Yllan-tu, 39: 5a.

2. Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-llng wen-chi, p. 16. 22 the regular performance routine without his order or consent. Mao

Hsiang therefore summoned Tzu-yUn to him and was about to have him punished. Wei-sung felt embarrassed and asked Mao's mother to inter­ cede. The old lady promised to help only if Wei-sung would compose an idyll of one hundred stanzas in praise of the plum flowers. It took only one snowy night for Wei-sung to fulfill the requirement.

The flowing verse was so greatly appreciated that Mao entrusted Wei- sung with the custodianship of the youth.

A large number of the poems Wei-sung wrote during this time, many of which were addressed to Tzu-yUn, make it clear that Tzu-ylln was a close and frequent companion during his stay in Ju-kao. It was not unusual for men of his class at that time to form homosexual alliances with young male actors and entertainers; the relationship between

Wei-sung and Tzu-yUn was no secret among his friends and many poems were written at that time to describe their "romance" (feng-liu yen- shih ).2 The following poem, one of the twenty poems

Wei-sung wrote when he left Ju-kao for Po-ts'un in 1662 to attend the burial services for his parents, reveals the importance of this rela­ tionship to him.

1. The story introduced here mainly follows the information given in Ch'ing tai hsueh-che hsiang chuan. See Yeh Kung-ch'o, p. 86. For other slightly different versions of the story, see Ch'ien I-chi, 45:22a and Hummel, ed., p. 103.

2. See Mao Kuang-sheng if jfo , Y&n-lans hsiao ahih ^ 1>*P ^_(A Brief Biography of HsU Tzu-yUn), in Ch'ing tai Yen-tu li-vUan shih liao hsU-pien ->f jgfe #Sf (Historical Materials of the Theatres in the Capital of the Ch'ing Dynasty, Second Series), ed. Liu Shao-t'ang (Taipei: Chuan-chi wen- hsUeh ch1u-pan-she, n.d.), pp. 19-57. 23

Being misfortunate, I gloomily mourn my ill-fate; Solely because of family difficulties, I have been impeded in another land. If without YUn-lang's tender care during my sojourn, The lonely night at this corner of the earth would be twice as long.-'-

Mao Hsiang yielded his possession of Hstt Tzu-ytln to Wei-sung because he appreciated Wei-sung's literary talent. As his father's intimate friend, Mao Hsiang had a special compassion for this unfor­ tunate young man. He welcomed him to his villa, provided him with food and clothing, and furnished him with an ideal place for study. He rebuilt his house in Po-ts'un for him, and helped provide the costs to bury his parents. Wei-sung was grateful for all Mao had done for 2 him, but his restless spirit could not remain in Ju-kao. He travel­ led to other places in Kiangsu, north to Peking, and as far as the western part of Honan.

During these years, he became acquainted with many famous scholar-officials, such as Kung Ting-tzu (tzu Hsiao-sheng, hao Chih-lu,

1616-1673), Sung Te-i (tzu Liao-t'ien, 1626-1689), and Hsll Ch'ien-hsileh

(tzu YUan-i, hao Chien-an, 1613-1694). They were all sympathetic to his plight and esteemed his talent. Everywhere he went he was welcomed warmly and generously given money and gifts. It seemed, however, that people could offer him financial aidj? but not regular employment. On

1. Ch'en Wei-sung, Hu-hai-lou shih-chi ^ ^ (The Shih Poetry Collection of the Hu-hai Pavilion) (Ssu-pu ts'ung-k'an, Ch'en Chia-ling shih wen tz'u ch'tlan chi edition), p. 238.

2. Ibid., p. 244. 24 the other hand, Wei-sung was careless with money; he spent it as soon as he got it and often returned home with empty pockets. Consequently, at times he had to pawn his own clothes for food.^

After the death of his parents, his brothers went their sepa­ rate ways. He was disconsolate when he recalled the past glories of the family. Under the pressure of poverty, he had to leave home again.

A Ch'ang-an fortune-teller had once told him that he would enter the

Han-lin Academy, that he would obtain the highest degree after the age of fifty. Neither Wei-sung himself nor his friends took the fortune- teller's words too seriously.

In 1669, with the help of Rung Ting-tzu, Wei-sung settled for a minor official job in Nan-yang, Honan province. However, his situ­ ation did not Improve financially and poor health intensified his feelings of approaching old age and nostalgia for the past. A poem written in 1670 upon visiting Yll Hsin's (513-581) tomb reveals a lonely and discouraged man.

Dependent on others and pitying myself, my temple hairs already turn grey. For two years I have been drifting between the Wan and Lo Rivers. Why do I need the fatted perch to yearn for the old sod? The cherries and bamboo shoots all the more quicken my heart for home. The yellow dust, a long journey — the paired geese were parted. The white moon, a solitary city — a single horse returned.

1. Ch'ien X-chi, 45:21b.

2. Ch'en Wei-sung, Hu-hai-lou shih-chi. p. 267.

3. Ch'ien I-chi, 45:22a. 25

Ancient legend says that Hsin-yeh was Yll Hsin's home. We mourn the time and •1 our tears together flow.

A little before he was fifty, Wei-sung bought a concubine who later gave birth to a son. The birth of his first son was no doubt a great consolation to him. Full of frustration and grievances, he said that this was the only good thing to happen to him in his old age. 2

When the child was two years old, Wei-sung took him and the concubine back to Po-ts'un. Only then did his concubine discover that Wei-sung was only an impoverished holder of the first degree. Soon afterwards his son died and he let the concubine go. One disappointment after another extinguished his last glimmer of hope, and he wrote to his friends saying that he had no interest in life any more/*

In February, 1678, two years after his son's death, when he was visiting Hstl Ch'ien-hstleh and studying in his house, an imperial decree was issued. All capital officials of the third rank or above, all censors, and all high provincial officials were ordered to rec­ ommend to the throne those who were "equally excellect in knowledge and conduct and surpassing in prose and song styles, whether already in service or not," so that the emperor could "personally submit them

1. Ch'en Wei-sung, Hu-hai-lou shih-chi, p. 286.

2. See Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, p. 54, for the letter he wrote to Wang Shih-chen.

3. Ch'ien I-chi, 45:21b-22a.

4. See Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, pp. 53-55, for the letters he wrote to T'ien Liang-tzu (ca. 1670), Liang T'ang- ts'un (1620-1691), and Sung Te-i. 26

to an examination for appointment."^ As a result of this proclamation, vdj <$3 * & A$P a special po-hsUeh hung-ju "]

examination was held under the auspices of the K'ang-hsi emperor the

following year; the purpose of this examination was to "seek talents

9 and further literature."

The examination was also convened to remedy a serious political

and cultural crisis: "a large and significant section of the scholar

class standing outside the framework of Chinese government." 3 It was

not surprising that many scholars refused to serve under Manchu rule.

It was a common practice for Chinese scholars to avoid involvement in

governmental affairs at the beginning of a new dynasty. According to

Confucian doctrine, a gentleman could not serve under two different

dynasties (pu shih er ch'ao 7j\ ^ ^ )• Those who did were

regarded as traitors. A feeling of alienation among the Chinese elite

toward the alien Manchu conquerors served to strengthen their natural

reluctance to go against traditional Confucian practices. The over­

throw of the Ming dynasty was, to some Chinese scholars, a threat of

destruction of the cultural tradition by a "barbarian" Manchu govern­

ment. Moreover, the policies of the prince regent, Oboi (d. 1660),

1. For more information on the po-hslleh hung-iu examination, see Ch'in Ying, Chi-wei tz'u-k'o lu; Hellmut Wilhelm, The Po-hsUeh Hung-ju Examination of 1679," JAOS 70.1 (1951): 60-66; Hua-wen^shu-chll, Ta Ch'ing Sheng-tsu ien-huane-ti shih-lu ^ Ai- % & (Authentic Records of the K'ang-hsi Emperor of the Ch'ing Dynasty) (Taipei: Hua-lien ch'u-pan-she, 1964), entries for 1678, 1679.

" 2. Wilhelm, p. 60.

3. Ibid. 27

namely, the policy of Manchu nativism,^ the literary persecution of

Chinese scholars,2 and the severe punishment of thousands of Kiangsu

gentry for tax delinquency, 3 fortified the antagonistic feelings of

Chinese scholars for the Manchu rule.

Once he gained full powers the K'ang-hsi emperor adopted a

policy of appeasement. It was the emperor's intention to overcome the

lingering alienation of many Chinese scholars, to dissipate their

anti-Manchu hostility, and then, to harness their talents in the service of the government.

Reactions to invitations to participate in the po-hslleh hung-.ju

examination varied. It must have been a disappointment to the emperor

that the invitations were declined by many famous scholars on patently

contrived grounds of illness or family considerations.^ Among this

groups were Fu Shen (1607-1684), Ts'ao Jun (1613-1685, chih-shih of

1637), and Huang Tsung-hsi.^ Moreover, there were cases where scholars

1. For further discussion on the policy of Manchu nativism,see Lawrence D. Kessler, "Chinese Scholars and the Early Manchu State," pa­ per read at the AAS Conference,San Francisco, California,5 April 1970.

2. A brief discussion on early Ch'ing literary persecution of Chinese scholars is included in L. Carrington Goodrich's The Literary Inquisition of Ch'ien-lung (New York: Paragon, 1966), pp. 75-6.

3. See Ta Ch'ing Sheng-tsu jen-huang-ti shih-lu (hereafter referred to as Sheng-tsu shih-lu), entries for 1661.

4. As for the number of recommended scholars who declined the invitation: seventeen names are listed in Sheng-tsu shih-lu. According to Ch'in Ying, fourteen did not participate on account of being in mourning. Illness was used as an excuse by seventeen, and two more announced their illness immediately before the examination.

5. For their biographies, see Hummel, ed., pp. 261, 353, 740. 28 declined even before their names were recommended to the emperor. Ku

Yen-wu (1613-1682) was one such example.^" Some individuals were literally forced to participate in the examination. On the other hand, those who actually welcomed the opportunity, in addition to those who were already serving the Manchu government, were not few in number.

There is reason to believe that Ch'en Wei-sung was one who welcomed the invitation. With a distinguished gentry background, he belonged to that category of individuals who were actually courted by the government.^ His grandfather YU-t'ing had been a censor and high ranking official at the Ming court, and the family history of public service and traditional scholarship was one thing Wei-sung always proudly mentioned. Since YU-t'ing had been harshly attacked by the powerful palace eunuch clique during late Ming times, and since his father Chen-hui was also toppled from office by them, the family fortunes had declined as a result; Wei-sung was therefore in need of employment. This was a new government and he may have believed it would be less corrupt than its predecessor had been in its final years.

When the Ming was overthrown, Chinese scholar-officials were inevitably saddened at the replacement of the native state by alien

1. See Wilhelm, pp. 63—4; according to Hummel, ed., Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, p. 353, Huang Tsung-hsi had had his name expunged from the recommendation list as did Ku Yen-wu.

, 2. Meng Sen $3^ , "Chi-wei tz'u-k'o-lu wal lu" £j •^4* (Additional Records on the Civil Service Examination of the Year Cni-wei), in Ming Ch'ing shih lun chu chi k'an t?£j 4^ ^ It -fjj (Collective Issue of Critical Essay^ on the History of the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties) (Taipei: Shih-chieh shu-chtl, 1961), p. 507. 29 rule. However, literary and scholarly activities did not cease. This was certainly true of scholars in Kiangsu who invariably exerted them­ selves at the examinations.^ Since obtaining a chll-j en and then a chin-shih degree had always been Wei-sung's hope, there is no reason to doubt his receptivity to the announcement of the po-hstleh hung-ju examination. Moreover, because there was no prerequisite, or no chtl- jen degree was needed for this examination, it represented a direct course to an official career for him.

In response to the imperial decree, Sung Te-i recommended

Wei-sung, among others, to the emperor. In a letter to Sung, Wei-sung expressed his gratitude for this kind favor. On the other hand, he also told Sung that he had already reached old age and his "facile pen" had lost its power through years of distress and uncertainty. He said, being homesick and normally awkward in social circles, he would more

n enjoy a life of reclusion in his native village. Although he was not insincere in his protestations, it is likely that psychologically he was troubled by fears of failure. Approximately one and a half months before the examination, a banquet for the candidates was hosted by the

President of the Board of Punishment, Feng P'u (1609-1692), who was to serve as one of the examination commissioners. Only three candidates

1. Ibid., p. 517.

2. Ch'en Wei-sung, Hu-hai-lou shih-chih, p. 309.

3. The other three commissioners were Sung Te-i, Yeh Fang-ai (1629-1682), and Yang Yung-chien (1627-1687) 30 attended, and Wei-sung was one of them.*'" That he willingly attended this important social affair which most examinees refused to attend can be taken as an accurate indication of his attitude towards the examination itself. In any case, he did accept the invitation that was forthcoming and took the examination. Among about one hundred and fifty examinees, fifty were chosen for office and assigned to work on the compilation of the history of the Ming dynasty. Wei-sung ranked among the top twenty in the examination and was assigned the position of Corrector (chien-t'ao ^

After the examination was over, Wei-sung enjoyed an active social life. The name I-tu fu-tzu ^ j^-f(The Master from I-tu, refer­ ring to Feng P'u) was frequently mentioned in his poems. About a decade earlier, Wei-sung and Chu I-tsun (tzu Hsi-i, hao Chu-ch'a, 1629-

1709), another prominent tz'u poet of the early Ch'ing dynasty, had jointly published a collection of tz'u entitled Chu Ch1 en ts'un tz'u

ft M (Rustic Tz'u Poems of Chu and Ch'en), which gained them national prominence. Later Wei-sung also helped Chu I-tsun in compiling the tz'u collection, Tz'u-tsung . In the years they spent in

Peking, their friendship was strengthened through frequent contact.

Nara Singde, or Na-lan Hsing-te (1655-1685), the Manchu tz'u poet whom Wong Kuo-wei so greatly praised in his Jen-chien tz'u-hua

foj i$poetic Remarks in the Human World), was also a close

1. The other two were Shih Jun-chang (1619-1683) and Kao Jung (b. 1622). See Ch'in Ying, 9:36.

2. Ibid., 9:14.

3. See Chapter 3 for discussion of the tz'u form. 31 friend of Ch'en Wei-sung's. Wei-sung and other literary figures such as Ku Chen-kuan (tzu Ytlan-p'ing, hao Liang-fen, b. 1637) and Yen Shen- wu (tzu Sun-yu, hao Ch'iu-shui, 1623-1702) often spent the day with

Na-lan Hsing-te at the famous Lu-shui t'ing /?<. aK (Pure-water

Pavilion) which he had had built on his father's estate for social gatherings with his friends to appreciate the lotus flowers and chant 1 verses.

In his last years Ch'en Wei-sung became friendly with another prominent figure of the early Ch'ing, Ts'ao Yin (1658-1712), a trusted confidant of the K'ang-hsi emperor. It is recorded that after his daily work in the court, Ts'ao Yin often invited Chu I-tsun and Ch'en

Wei-sung to write poetry with him. One of Ts'ao Yin's early tz'u was written "after he had been strolling through the cheerful chaos of the festival on the fifteenth day of the first month" while in the company of Ch'en Wei-sung.

Wei-sung led an active social life in the capital. His writings were so popular that numerous visitors called to request him to write poems and prose essays for them, and multitudinous gifts were showered on him for his efforts. Nevertheless, his life had its unhappy side. The comfortable and carefree life that he longed for was not within his reach. He lived in humble circumstances in a shabby neighborhood on the north side of the capital. Reading, as usual, gave

1. Li HsU ^ , Yin-shui tz'u chien jj£. ^ (Notes on Drinking-water Tz'u) (First edition, 1937; reprint ed., Taipei: Cheng-chung shu-chtl, 1959), pp. 6, 14, 19, 33, 44, 49, 188.

2. Jonathan D. Spence, Ts'ao Yin and the K'ang-hsi Emperor: Bondservant and Master (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1966), pp. 51-56. 32

him the greatest pleasure. He paid little attention to material

necessities, and it is said that he never asked where his food and

supplies came from, and that at times when he was out of food he just

slept off his hunger.^"

His sense of gloom was enhanced by the loss of his wife, who

died in Po-ts'un a year after he entered the Han-lin Academy. He

lamented her death and it grieved him to think of their lengthy separations. 2 He became intensely nostalgic. He told his friends that

he was going back to his native village, but this wish was never ful­

filled because of his work on the Ming history project.

His health went from bad to worse, and at the age of fifty-six he fell seriously ill. Boils came out on his face and abscesses on his head. His colleagues and friends engaged physicians for him and fur­ nished him with medicines, but all their efforts were in vain. After suffering from dysentery consecutively for forty days, he died on June

12, 1682.3

Feng P'u, HsU Ch1 ien-hstleh, and other scholars provided the funds to perform the last offices for Wei-sung. They consulted and arranged to have Wei-sung's nephew, Ch'en Ltl-tuan, serve as his heir.^1

With his last words, "Mountain birds and mountain flowers are my old friends," Wei-sung died in poverty and regret. However, he had

1. Ch'ien I-chi, 45:19b.

2. Ibid., 45:21b-22a.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid. 33 achieved immortality in his literary works. Being a prolific writer, he left behind a compendious heritage which was collected into six volumes of prose, ten volumes of parallel style prose, eight volumes of shih poetry, and thirty volumes of tz'u poetry.

Ch'en Wei-sung's approximately eight hundred shih poems have been widely praised for their deep thoughts and sincere emotions.

They were said to have reached the standard of the Sheng-T'ang era, the golden age of shih poetry; his achievements in writing shih poetry were said to have outranked those of such early T'ang masters as Shen

Ch'llan-chi and Sung Chih-wen, and to be comparable to that of Tu Fu.^

His parallel prose was said to be comparable to that of the two masters, Hsll Ling (507-583) and Yll Hsin, and to be the best in the seven hundred years after the K'ai-yUan and T'ien-pao eras (713-755). 2

His robust style and brilliant resourcefulness as a prose stylist are generally praised. He himself found great satisfaction in the prose essay form and his efforts in this respect made him so popular as a writer that he received numerous requests for dedication pieces, for which he was often handsomely rewarded.

It was, however, in the realm of tz'u that Ch'en Wei-sung had the greatest success and influence. He is China's most prolific tz'u writer. His thirty-volume Hu-hai-lou tz'u-chi £0$

(The Tz'u Poetry Collection of the Hu-hai Pavilion) consists of over sixteen hundred tz'u poems, among which over nine hundred are in the

1. Jen Chi, "Preface" to Ch'en Wei-sung's Hu-hai-lou shih-chi.

2. Li Yttan-tu, 39: 5b. JS- "*7 long mode (ch'ang-tiao <3Joj ). This copious output indicates the scope of Wei-sung's creative abilities on the one hand and, on the other, represents his contribution to the revival of the tz'u in the Ch'ing dynasty. CHAPTER 3

CH'EN WEI-SUNG AND THE TZ'U REVIVAL

It is well known that the seventeenth century witnessed a

renaissance in the writing of tz'u poetry. Ch'en Wei-sung and Chu I-

tsun, representing two major schools, are usually regarded as the most

influential tz'u writers of the early Ch'ing era. As T'an Hsien (1832

1901), a Ch'ing dynasty critic, observed, "It was only after Hsi-i

(i.e., Chu I-tsun) and Ch'i-nien (i.e., Ch'en Wei-sung) had emerged

that the tz'u schools of our dynasty were established.... Though the

profound feelings of Hsi-i and the vigorous manner of Ch'i-nien were

certainly hard to attain among later writers, seven or eight out of

ten of the pre Chia-ch'ing (1796-1821) writers were under the influence of these two masters,

While Chu I-tsun, whose style has been described as graceful and deliberate (wan-yUeh -kVz, ^J-7), followed the Southern Sung techni­ cian poets, Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u has been generally described as heroic and unrestrained (hao-fang ), after the fashion of the

Su Shih —Hsin Ch'i-chi school. Ch'en Wei-sung's literary skill will

_fc 1. This is quoted from T'an Hsien's Hsia-cfiung Tz'u ^ 5«J (Tz'u Collection in a Box) by Chi Che. See Chi Che Chung-kuo Shih-tz'u Yen-chin shih ^ ai *8 sg. it (A History of the Development of Chinese Shih and Tz_]u) (Kowloon: Kuang ch'iao ch'u-pan-she, 1954), p. 210.

35 36

be discussed later; in this chapter, I intend to explore his contribu­

tions to the Ch'ing revival of tz'u within the context of the histori­

cal development of the form.

Tz'u is a subgenre of Chinese poetry. Unlike the T'ang dynasty

"contemporary-style poetry" (chin-t1 i shlh ^ ), i.e., the

regulated verse (lU-shih % cf' ) and the quatrain (chtleh-chll *0 ),

which uniformly contain five or seven syllables to the line, tz'u

consists of lines of unequal length. Its alternative name, long and

short lines Cch1 ang-tuan ch(l ) or, as proposed by Cyril

Birch, "poems in irregular meters," indicates this formal feature.

Other characteristic formal features include rigid tonal requirements, fixed rhyming schemes, and prescribed verse patterns, eight hundred or so in number and each carrying a set title. Enjambment is more

commonly found in tz'u than in the various shih forms, and because it

also admits the use of colloquial words and expressions, it is a form of considerable flexibility. On the other hand, the demands imposed on the poet by fixed tone patterns and rhyme schemes make it a complex and demanding medium of expression.

The origin of the tz'u has been much debated. From the beginning, the tz'u form was closely associated with music. It is

1. See Cyril Birch, ed., Anthology of Chinese Literature: from early times to the fourteenth century (New York: Grove Press, 1967), p. 333.

2. See James J. Y. Liu, "Some Literary Qualities of the Lyric (Tz'u)in Studies in Chinese Literary Genres, ed. Cyril Birch (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974), pp. 133-153, for a valuable discussion of the diction and syntax of this form. 37 believed to have originated at a time when popular musical styles were changing under the influence of new musical patterns coming from

Central Asia and other places during the Sui-T'ang era.

The then popular regulated verse and quatrain forms were found to be ill-suited for adaptation to this new music. Some traditional theorists, such as Chu Hsi and Shen K'o (1030-1094), believed that

refrains (ho-sheng ^ ) and "interpolations" (fan-sheng rfy ) were used to adapt contemporary verse to the new musical patterns. The later practice of substituting substantive words for the particles of the "refrains" and "interpolations" was thus believed to have given rise to the tz'u.^ Although this concept of mechanical "substitution" has not been accepted by all later critics, the process of changing symmetrical verse patterns into new patterns of long and short lines has been thought by many critics, Hu Shihjfor example, to account for the origins of the form. Since the earliest examples of this practice are to be found among the works of some late eighth and early ninth centuries poets, the origins of the tz'u have sometimes been assigned

1. Chu Hsi said, "The ancient Music Bureau songs (ytleh-fu ) were simply shih poems interpolated with a bunch of fan-sheng. Later, in order to avoid the loss of these meaningless particles (hsll tzu jga '3- ), poets replaced them one by one with substantive words and thus formed the songs of long and short lines; these are the current songs." See Chu-tzu yll-lei -J- -§% (Categorized Analects of Master Chu) (Cheng-i-t'ang ch1Uan-shu ed.), 140:9a. It is also stated in Ch'U'an T'ang shih (The Complete Collection of Poems of the T'ang Dynasty) that tne T'ang dynasty Music Bureau songs were regulated verses and quatrains sung with refrains. To substitute substantive words for refrains and to make lines of varied length to match the musical melody (ch'u-p' ai Jfil ) is called "to fill in the lyrics (t'ien-tzfu -fa] )," in P'eng Ting-ch'iu f[j) ^<. ed., Ch'Uan T'ang shih, 9&0 vols. (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chtl, 1960), 10:1. 38

to that period as a natural development in the forms of long-lyrics

with the change of music.^

The intimate connection between tz'u and popular music has, on

the other hand, suggested an analogy with Music Bureau poetry (ylleh-fu

shih 4-f). Wang Kuo-wei, for example, observed that "the rise

of tz'u was preceded by the short ylieh-fu poems of the Ch'i (A79-502) 2 and Liang (502-557)." In the light of popular music developments of

the time, the modern critic Jen Erh-pei also finds the predecessor of

the tz'u in Sui dynasty (581-618) folk-songs. Through a study of the

dates of Tunhuang lyrics, Jen Erh-pei also concludes that some tz'u

were written during the reign of Emperor Hsuan-tsung (713-755) of the

T'ang dynasty.^ In this way, the beginnings of the tz'u are placed

half a century earlier than dates previously proposed by Hu Shih.

1. Hu Shih vjj , "Tz'u te ch'i-yllan" *fs) W (The Origins of Tz'u), appendix to his Tz'u hstlan -^j] (Selected Tz'u Poems) (First ed., 1927; reprint ed., Taipei: Commercial Press, 1959), p. 7. Also see Glen Baxter, "Metrical Origins of the Tz'u," HJAS 16 (Jung, 1953): 108-45 or Bishop, ed. Studies in. . pp. 186-224.

2.^ Quoted from Wang Kuo-wei it- , Hsi-ch'U k'ao yUan /f% '^(Origins of Chinese Drama), in Lun ch'u wu chung -f^ 3>- (Five Critical Works on the ch'U) (Taipei: I-wen yin-shu-kuan, n.d,), p. 59.

3. Examples given are "Shang-shou ko-tz'u" ^ itjf by Niu Jung and "Chi Liao-tung" $L by Emperor Yang of the Sui^ dynasty., in - Jen Erh-pei, Tunhuang ch'U ch'u-t'an j$<. i'f. (A Preliminary Study on Tunhuang Lyrics) (Shanghai: Wen-i lien-ho ch'u- pan-she, 1954), p. 221.

4. For a detailed discussion, see Jen Erh-pei, Tunhuang ch'U ch'u-t 'an, pp, 221-65. Also see Jen's Chiao fang chi chien-ting 1% -%D (Notes and Comments on Chiao fang chi) (Shanghai: chung-hua shu-chU, 1962), p. 273 and Chen Shih-chuan, "Dates of Some of the Tunhuang Lyrics," JAOS 88.2 (1968): 261-70. 39

Both arguments have something to recommend them. Hu Shih places primary emphasis on the establishment of a new literary genre, and stresses those formal characteristics and stylistic features which differ from those of earlier poetic forms. However, although aware of the song-lyrics composed by unknown authors prior to Liu Yu-hsi (772-

842) and Po Chu-i (772-846), he fails to see their place in the emergence of the new form."** His ignorance of the Tunhuang lyrics is probably due to the same limitation. Jen Erh-pei, on the other hand, emphasizes the function of tz'u as song-words, and places the tz'u within the larger context of an ancient song-lyrics tradition. How­ ever, in using the term tz'u to refer to the poetic form that matured in the ninth century and to lyrical forms of earlier times, he fails to distinguish the two. As far as the rise of the tz1u is concerned, his use of the Tunhuang materials is praiseworthy. However, by giving so much attention to the correcting of errors by previous critics, he fails to advance an integral theory for the origin of the form.

At the earliest stage of its development for which we have reliable data, tz'u was written by unknown authors and performed by professional entertainers. The anonymity of these people has been assumed to derive from the ignorance of copyists and other participants 2 in this development. This may well be true, especially when we consider the general indifference to authorship common in ancient

1. Hu Shih, "Tz'u te ch'i-yllan," p. 7, in Tz'u hsiian.

2. See Chen Shih-chuan, "Dates of Some of the Tunhuang Lyrics," pp. 261-2. 40

China. Nevertheless, it should also be noted that while the tzTu

functioned as song-lyrics and was performed in public entertainment

centers at the height of its popularity, it was regarded by the

lettered class as a frivolous trifle. It may be correct to suspect,

therefore, that the anonymity of its early authors was actually

intended.^

Wen T'ing-ylin (812?-870?) was the first poet to make extensive

use of the tz'u.2 Before his time, few members of the upper class

chose to experiment with or to cultivate the form. That Wen T'ing-ylin

chose to do so may be attributed to his apparent non-conformist atti­

tudes, his own interests in music, and his intimate relationship with

the world of popular entertainment. He also seems to have composed

several new song titles, perhaps both the lyrical patterns and the

musical accompaniment to each.

The poets represented in the first anthology of tz'u, the Hua-

chien chl sfc ?e\ ^ (Amidst the Flowers Collection), beginning with

Wen T'ing-ylin and Wei Chuang (836-910), depicted a sensuous world of

gaiety and pleasure, of languorous and melancholic moods, all set in

1. Po Chli-i denied his authorship of two tz'u poems to the tune Ch'ang hsiang-ssu & m & and two to the tune Ju-meng ling ,5^- attributed to him by some of his contemporaries. These poems were "not included in his Ch'ang-ch'lng chi •k ^ , and he stated in the preface to that work, "All those (poems) circulated under my name, if not included in this collection, are fallacious." Jen Erh- pei has interpreted this remark to mean that Po might have used the tz'u form but denied it. See Jen, Chiao fang chi chlen-ting, pp. 273-5.

2. Sixty-six of Wen T'ing-ytln's tz'u were collected in the Hua-chien chi. A few additional song-lyrics are to be found in other collections. 41 richly decorated chambers and boudoirs. **" Sound and color and exotic effects were their chief concern; aestheticism was the dominant tone of their poetic efforts.

After the tz'u acquired independent literary status through the efforts of the Hua-chien poets, it continued to mature and ultimately attained at least equal standing with older forms in the Sung dynasty.

Credit for this feat belongs to hundreds of poets laboring over a span of three hundred years. Among them, Li YU (937-978), Liu Yung (990?-

1050?), Su Shih (1037-1101), Hsin Ch'i-chi (1140-1207) and Chou

Pang-yen (1057;-1121) were some of the most important.

Li Yll, the emperor-poet, added a new dimension to the aesthet­ ics of the form by introducing a strong subjective element through the display of personal feelings. In broadening the lyrical bounds of the tz'u, Li YU served as a link between the Hua-chien period and the so- called golden age of the tz'u in the Sung dynasty.

Liu Yung's extensive use of patterns in the long mode further enriched the repertoire of tune patterns available to the poets. Until his time, hsiao-ling , or short pattern, lyrics were in vogue.

Liu Yung of the Northern Sung (960-1126) was the first poet to advocate

1. Hua-chien chi is an anthology of some five hundred tz'u poems by eighteen different poets. It was compiled in 940 under the auspices of the ruler of one of the Ten States, the Later Shu.

2. Wang Kuo-wei states, "It was not until the time of Li Ytl that the tz'u began to broaden in scope and to become deeper and deeper in expressing human feelings. As a result, the tz'u was transformed from a musician's tz'u into a scholar's tz'u." See Wang Kuo-wei, Jen- chien tz'u hua, trans. Tu Ching-i (Taipei: Chung-hua shu-chU, 1970), p. 9. 42 the long-mode form and to break down the barriers to further develop­ ment of the tz'u."*" Historically, the development of the long mode was of great importance. Cheng Ch'ien, a modern authority on the tz'u and ch'U, has said, "The limitation of form affects the content," and

"only after the long mode was established did tz'u poetry achieve a basis for further development." Cheng also infers that if poets had merely adapted themselves to the short form, the history of the tz'u would probably have ended in early Sung times. 9 Liu Yung treated the same erotic subjects as had the Hua-chien poets, but of his more than two hundred extant tz 'u, eighty per cent are in the long mode.

Later, Su Shih and Hsin Ch'i-chi broadened the scope of tz'u thematically to include a wide variety of subject matter. The tz'u had first become popular in the world of popular entertainment. From the beginning, it was largely limited to the description of love between the sexes, of feminine beauty, and of feminine psychological moods. Therefore, tz'u poetry come to be considered by many critics

1. Cheng Ch'ien believes that in the T'ang and Five Dynasties period it is possible that no one used the long mode in writing tz'u, and that there might even have been no tunes in the long mode^ See Cheng Ch'ien, "Liu Yung Su Shih yu tz'u te fa-chan" C JS* frt jjk*.(Liu Yung Su Shih and the Development of Tz' u),, in Ts'ung shih tao ch'U ~£i] (From Shih to Ch'U) (Taipei: San-min shu-tien Ching-wu ts'ung-pien ed., 1961), pp. 119-20. However, the Tunhuang lyrics show that there was a limited use of long mode tz'u during the early stages of its development. If we accept the date of the Chiao fang chl, as fixed by Jen Erh-pei as being prior to the mid-eighth century, then there is no doubt that tunes in the long mode existed in T'ang times. See Jen Erh-pei, Tunhuang ch'U ch'u- tan, pp. 84-9, 329.

2. Cheng Ch'ien, "Liu Yung Su Shih yU tz'u te fa-chan," p. 120. 43

as innately inferior to shih style poetry. In his choice of subjects,

such as philosophy, history, natural scenery and human emotions, Su

Shih expanded measurably the range of the tz'u. His sprightly style

and unbridled imagination, as well as his intellectual abilities and

the all-embracing content of his tz'u, endowed this genre with the

prestige that served to lift it to the same level as orthodox forms.

His accomplishment has been said to have saved the tz'u form, which

"was in danger of degenerating into a vehicle for mere mawkish trivia."^-

Hsin Ch'i-chi followed Su Shih's free style and added to it a uniquely robust and heroic quality. His virile manner also helped to liberate the tz'u from its conventional bondage. He continued the effort begun by Su Shih by embracing an even wider range of subject matter, including such topics as current events and daily occurrences.

A new sense of formal flexibility is also seen in his tz'u from his mixing of colloquial language with quotations from the ancient classics, which he wove in their original prose-style phraseology into 3 his tz'u. Moreover, his subtle observations and patriotic sentiments raised the tz fu to a status not previously achieved.

The approach of Su Shih and Hsin Ch'i-chi to tz'u composition was not, however, palatable to some contemporary and later poets, for

1. John Scott, Love and Protest; Chinese Poems from the Sixth Century B.C. to the Seventeenth Century A.D. (London: Rapp & Whiting Limited, 1972), p. 94.

2. See Liu Wu-chi, An Introduction to Chinese Literature (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966), p. 121.

3. See Irving Lo, Hsin Ch'i-chi (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1971), p. 128. 44 example, those who emphasized the musical and lyrical nature of the tz'u. Chou Pang-yen, the supervisor of the noted music institute of the Sung, the Ta-sheng yUeh-fu ^ ^ (Great Splendor Music

Bureau), standarized old music scores and created new tunes for the tz'u. Later, many of the old tz'u melodies were lost in the years of disturbance prior to the establishment of the Southern Sung (1127-1279).

Chiang K'uei (ca. 1155-ca. 1235) followed Chou's musical interest and continued to compose new tunes. In their tz'u verses, Chou Pang-yen and his followers, Chiang K'uei, Wu Wen-ying (ca. 1215-ca. 1275) and

Chang Yen (1248-?), observed strictly the rules of prosody and strived for musical effects, harmonious versification, a refined style, elegant diction and elaborate description. Their efforts to perfect the tech­ nique of tz'u writing and their emphasis on form sometimes went so far as to sacrifice the content.^ Their practice of meticulous refinement and embellishment is generally believed to have weakened the vitality of the tz'u.^

Tz'u had been verging on decrepitude since late Sung times, and the decline continued throughout the Yuan and Ming eras. One reason for this decline, according to Cheng Ch'ien, was that the tz'u was, so to speak, caught between the two fires of the old and the new, the old,

1. For examples of how these technician poets polished their poems to improve auditory qualities, see Chang Yen^: -i? , Tz'u yUan -S3 iJ%> (The Origins of the Tz'u) (Reprint ed., Hong Kong: Lung-men shu-tien, 1968), p. 21b-22a.

2. See Ch'iu Ch*Ung-sun & ijtji , Shih fu tz'u ch'U kai lun *|c] ^ -$£}• (Introduction to Shih, Fu, Tz'u, and Ch'U Forms) (Taipei: Chung-hua shu-chU, 1966), p. 227. 45 shih and various prose forms, and the new, the ch'U form."*" Even before Chou Pang-yen and Chiang K'uei, the tz'u had become di­ vorced from its musical environment and the majority of tz'u poems were written in ignorance of the original melodies, although they still carried the names of musical airs as their titles. 2 Sample lyrics were taken as patterns for the number of words per line, the rhyme schemes, and the tonal values, i.e., the level (p'ing "*f" ) tone or the deflected

(tze /X.) tone of each character.^ New poems were composed according to rigidly prescribed patterns; hence, the expression t'ien tz'u ill

(filling in the words).^ The status of the tz'u as a popular form of entertainment gradually passed to the new ch'U form.

Some Ming scholars advocated the revival of older modes and styles and rehabilitated the prose style of Ch'in (221-207 B.C.) and

Han (206 B.C. -A.D. 220) and the shih of High T'ang (sheng-T'ang ^ j^ , roughly 713-765) as their models. Sung shih style was not in favor, and still less Sung tz'u, which they considered to be decadent,

1. See Cheng Ch'ien, "Lun tz'u shuai yll Ming ch'U shuai ytl Ch'ing"-^ ^ jft -3^ (Comments on the Decline of Tz'u in the Ming Era and the Decline "of Ch'U in the Ch'ing Era) in Ts'ung shih tao ch'U, p. 162.

2. Irving Lo has said, "Musical scores were considered by many poets (even before the end of the Northern Sung times) as of only secondary importance when scholar-officials like Ou-yang Hsiu (1007- 1072) and Su Shih (1037-1101) began to write this style of poetry purely for personal enjoyment." See Irving Lo, p. 40.

3. In tz'u, actually, the writer has to achieve a variation between four tones, i.e., p'ing if*- , shang Jl , ch'U ^ , and ju. -X •

4. Ch'iu Ch'Ung-sun, p. 227. 46

trivial, and insignificant.^" While shih and certain prose styles re­

gained their high status in literary circles, ch'tl, as a 3ively new

creation, enjoyed wide popularity among the literati as a pleasant

diversion. For nearly three hundred years the tz'u form was treated with indifference.

The Ch'ing dynasty represents a period when the literary arts flourished. A general renaissance of the various literary genres is witnessed throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth

centuries. The extensive encouragement of literature and the patronage of literary men practiced by the Manchu emperors, especially the K'ang- hsi (reigned 1662-1723) and Ch'ien-lung (reigned 1736-1795) emperors, were key factors in this renaissance. The cultivation of the tz'u form during this time even exceeded that of the golden age of the Sung, both in terms of the number of poems composed and in the abundance of individual tz'u collections. This revival of tz'u after a three- hundred-year decline has been generally attributed to the renaissance of the literary arts in general. However, since the first imperial publications on tz'u patterns did not appear until the fifty-fourth year of the K'ang-hsi emperor (1715) and imperial support of literary activities and the literati did not reach its peak until the

1. See Cheng Ch'ien, "Lun tz'u shuai yll Ming ch'tl shuai yli Ch'ing," in Ts'un shih tao ch'U, pp. 162-3.

2. The most outstanding cases of imperial patronage of literary men are those of Yu T'ung (1618-1704), Chiang Ch'en-ying (1628-1699), Yen Jo-chU (1636-1704), and Shen Te-ch'ien (1673-1769). For their biographies, see, according to the order of their names listed above, Hummel, ed., pp. 935-6, 135-6, 908-10, 645-6. 47

Ch'ien-lung era, we must recognize the possibility that the revival of

tz *u in. the early Ch'ing period was a natural component of a

general revival of the literary arts as well as a natural development

within the genre itself.

form was not entirely Ignored during the Yllan (1271-

1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, but very few tz'u poems of that

era measure up to the quality of those of T'ang and Sung times. As

previously stated, the tz'u declined during the Ytlan-Ming era under

the pressure of the restoration of older prose and shih styles and the

flourishing of the new ch'U form.

The advocacy of older prose forms and poetry styles not only served to relegate the tz'u to an inferior position but also encouraged

the imitative manner. Men of letters who subscribed to this narrowly

classicist point of view slavishly imitated the styles and manners of former worthies and masters. As a result, in post-Yllan times much

poetry and prose suffered from a lack of originality. On the other hand, ch'U style poetry was enjoyed by both commoners and literati, and it was unburdened by the heavy hand of the past. Characteristically, therefore, the verse of many poets working in this particular field is imbued with a light and easy manner, a sometimes shallow outlook.

The tz'u was not entirely ignored, but the prevailing spirit of imitation also tended to deprive it of an individuality of its own.

One group of Ming tz'u poets took the Hua-chien style as their model, and, in imitation of that style, they employed the erotic themes as­ sociated with that school. Their primary concern was the cultivation 48 of aesthetic effects, of sound and color. However, even when prosodic elements alone are considered, their technique was often slipshod,^ 2 These attitudes continued into Ch'ing times among some poets.

Another group of Ming writers followed the example of the

Southern Sung technician poets and put special emphasis on embellish­ ment. They set their goals on subtlety and sophistication of expression and exerted themselves in the area of verbal refinement.

According to Ch'en T'ing-cho (1853-1892), a renowned tz'u critic, these poets failed to grasp the essence of the Southern Sung masters, and they achieved only formal refinement but lacked rhythmic elegance.3

This stress on embellishment, when carried to excess, resulted in superficiality and mere surface glitter. Therefore, the Southern Sung technician style was believed to have destroyed the vitality of the tz'u. This tendency was encountered again in the practice of some early Ch'ing poets.

Dissatisfied with this situation, a few poets in the early seventeenth century saw the necessity for change. Shih Ylln-ch'en, a close friend of Ch'en Wei-sung, showed his concern when he said,

1. See Wang I 3* Jf> , Tz'u ch'u shih $ jiL(History of Tz'u and Ch'li) (Taipei: Kuang-wen shu-chtl, 1960), pp. 402-3.

2. As Wang Chung $2. $ (1744-1794) pointed out, there were few masters of tz'u in the early Ch'ing period. He believed that this was because they mistook the character of the tz'u and thought that only in describing the appearance and manner of women could they grasp the spirit of the tz'u. See his Ch'ing tz'u chin ch'Uan ^ (Anthology of Ch'ing Dynasty Tz'u)(Taipei: HsUeh-sheng,1965),up. 63.

3. Ch'en T'ing-cho ^ ,Fo-yU-chai tz'u-hua 6 #7 ^ff(A Critique of the Tz'u from the Po-yu-chai Studio) (Peking: Jen-min wen- hstleh ch'u-pan-she, 1959), p. 3. 49

"Nowadays, the tz'u is quite prosperous. This prosperousness is just what I call retrogression. Every household is after Wen (T'ing-ylln) and Wei (Chuang) or Chou (Pang-yen) and Ch'in (Kuan). It may be a great worry in the world of tz'u.The Ming loyalist Ch'en Tzu-lung was also aware of the defects of his contemporaries in this respect; as a result, the values he prized and sought to achieve in his own verse were sincerity and emotional content. Nevertheless, just as was the case with Wu Wei-yeh and Kung Ting-tzu, Ch'en Tzu-lung was still under the strong influence of the Hua-chien style. It was Na-lan

Hsing-te who turned away from the artificiality and ornamentation of that school. Modeling his verses on those of Li YU, Hsing-te employed a simple, unembellished diction and gave voice to moods of sorrow, anguish and despair. The expression of personal feelings and the poet's own individuality in his tz'u injected new life into the form.

This marked the beginning of the revival of the form. Yet it took additional efforts to reaffirm the status of tz'u in the realm of

Ch'ing literature. Ch'en Wei-sung's contribution in this respect is manifold: in content, in form, and in theory.

One major shortcoming of the Hua-chien style is its limitation of subject matter. Ch'en Wei-sung strove to widen the content of tz'u poetry. He wrote on subjects as seemingly insignificant as a firefly or a flute and as weighty as history and philosophy, as formal as social intercourse and as personal as nostalgia or brotherly love, as

1. These were quoted by Ch'en Wei-sung in his preface to Shih Ylln-ch'en's tz'u collection, Tieh-an Tz'u Jtjh . See Ch'en Wei- sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, p. 28. 50

casual as the description of feminine beauty and as serious as social

criticism. He used colloquial language expressions and prose wordings

in his tz'u. He valued more highly literary content and emotional

sincerity than mere correctness in versification.^ Moreover, he em­

phasized the relationship between a poet's personality and his tz'u,

and his own poems are enlivened with a sense of vigor and masculinity.^

Though Ch'en Wei-sung has been castigated by many critics for his

carelessness in prosody and his ignorance of the "tender nature" of

the tz'u, in the same manner that Su Shih and Hsin Ch'i-chi were some­ times criticized, he should be credited with leading the tz'u of early

Ch'ing times away from mere formal embellishment and towards fluency, directness and vitality.

While Na-lan Hsing-te most often used the short mode, Ch'en

Wei-sung*s chefs-dToeuvre are his verses in the long mode. During the late T'ang and Five Dynasties, the tz'u was largely confined to the short mode patterns, and its structural range was thus limited. This situation was repeated in the Ming and early Ch'ing times, because most writers chose to use the shorter forms. As stated before, the develop­ ment of the long mode had immense historical significance in the history of this genre because it enabled the poets to explore a wider range of thematic materials than was possible with the short forms.

Being China's most prolific tz'u poet, Ch'en Wei-sungTs thirty-volume

Hu-hai-lou tz'u-chi consists 1,629 tz'u poems, among which over nine

1. Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, p. 31.

2. This will be discussed further in the next chapter. 51 hundred are in the long mode. This volumnious creation of tz'u poems, especially those in the long mode, marked another aspect of his contribution to the tz'u revival.

The most prominent feather of the tz'u revival in the early years of the Ch'ing dynasty was the attempt to bring about a "spiritual reconstruction" of the form as a basis for development. The tz'u was born during the heyday of shih poetry and nurtured at banquets and informal social gatherings of the literati as an object of light entertainment. From the beginning, it was believed by the majority of poets and critics to be inferior to the shih forms. This attitude was still widely held by the Ch'ing literati. To many poets, the form was regarded with contempt and thought to be undignified. Wang Shih-chen

(1634-1711), for example, was fond of writing tz'u in his early years.

After he was promoted to a high position at court, however, he avoided the form and considered it as an "inexpedient and petty skill" (tiao ch'ung hsiao-chi Jlfe •&% J J* -^L) •"*"

In taking the opposite view, Chu I-tsun laid claim to the usefulness of the form as a vehicle for the expression of the six principles of the Book of Songs, and argued that it was suitable to the expression of certain emotions which could not be expressed in shih.

He also stated, "Through the language of the bed-chamber used in tz'u, a poet can convey the significance of the 'Li-sao' and the 'pien-ya'."

1. See Chu Tung-jun ^ jji >f^j , Chung-kuo wen-hsileh p'i-p'ing shih ta-kang cj? jjg ^ -pz & ^ (An Outline of the History of ChineseLiterar^ Criticism) (Taipei: Kai-min shu-tien, 1960)» p. 329. 52

Here Chu I-tsun assigns to the form allegorical and metaphorical functions."1" This concept was later developed into a theory of poetic suggestion (chi-t'o shuo S-'u), advocated by Chang Hui-yen

(1761-1802), leader of the Ch'ang-chou School (ch'ang chou p'ai vjr

~wj fi>-) of tz'u poetry. However, Chu I-tsun still could not forget that the tz'u belonged to the "lesser tradition" (hsiao-tao ^ ), and he considered it "most suitable for jovial amusement in praising the Great Peace.

Astonished by contemporary opinion relegating the tzTu to a position of secondary or tertiary importance, Ch'en Wei-sung revealed his strong disagreement with this attitude and actively promoted the use of the form, winning a new respect for it in the process.J What he undertook to do was to establish a new and positive theoretical ground for the form. He argued that the long mode tz'u poems of Su

Shih and Hsin Ch'i-chi were comparable in excellence to the ke-hsing

(folk poems of social criticism) of the great T'ang poet Tu Fu and to the Han dynasty ytieh-fu poems. For him, tz'u poetry was just as useful as the shih, the histories, and the classics in sharpening the intellect, in broadening the spirit, in commenting on social conditions, and in attaining spiritual enlightenment. 4

1. See Chu I-tsun, P'u-shu t'ing chi ^ 4^ (Collections from P'u-shu Pavilion) 80 vols. (Shanghai: Chung-hua shu- chU, 1931), 40:1b.

2. Ibid., 40:3b.

3. Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, p. 31.

4. Ibid. Ch'en Wei-sung also indicated the path poets should follow in writing tz'u verse. He attacked those poets of the Ming dynasty who had adopted the Hua-chien style and who held that feminine elegance and exotic diction were the central elements of the tz'u.^ On this point, he agreed with his friend Shih Yiln-ch'en, who, as mentioned before, criticized contemporary tz'u writers for their imitation of the styles of Wen T'ing-ytln and Wei Chuang. They also expressed dis- satisfation with those poets who, following the examples of Chou Pang- yen and others, emphasized elaborate description and musical effects.

For Ch'en Wei-sung, it was more important to achieve the qualities of o subtlety and profoundity in the verses. In order to do so, Ch'en

Wei-sung believed tz'u writers should foster in their minds the ex­ amples of the "kuo-feng", the song ballads of the Book of Songs, and the "li-sao", the long allegorical poem in the Songs of the South.

Ch'en Wei-sung admitted the orthodox poetic forms as the prototypes of tz'u. The didactic value was added to the tz'u and a restoration of the moral intent in the "kuo-feng" and "li-sao" was attempted. In this respect, we may observe that his ideas were one antecedent of both the chi-t'o shuo and tsun-t'l shuo "t/U(Theory of Revering the (Tz'u) . 4 Form) theories advanced by Chang Hui-yen.

1. Ch'en Wei-sung, Ch'en Chia-ling wen-chi, p. 28.

2. Ibid., p. 31.

3. Ibid.

4. cFor Chang Hui-yen's tsun-t'i shuo and chi-t'o shuo, see Wu Hung-i -ft % —" » Ch'ang-chou p'ai tz'u-hsUeh yen-chiu ~jij 5J1V *^3 Sff Study of the Tz'u of the Ch'ang-chou Schooi) (Taipei Chia-hsin snui-ni-kung-ssu wen-hua chi-chin hui, 1970), pp. 33-46. 54

Ch'eit Wei-sung's success in developing the long mode and in expanding the scope of poetic content resembles the contributions to the form of Liu Yung, Su Shih and Hsin Ch'i-chi. His theoretical arguments concerning the dignity of the tz'u form represented an even more positive contribution which led to a "glorious conclusion" of the tz'u in modern times. Historically, Ch'en Wei-sung made a significant, even vital contribution to the Ch'lng revival of the tz'u. CHAPTER 4

CH'EN WEI-SUNG'S TZ'U

Ch'en Wei-sung was already a renowned shih and parallel prose writer when he started writing tz'u in his mid-thirties. Under the influence of Wang Shih-chen, Wu Wei-yeh, Kung Ting-tzu, and Ts'ao Jung

(tzu Ch'iu-ytt, also tzu Chieh-kung, hao Chllan-p'u, 1613-1685), Ch'en began to write a few poems in the tz'u form."'" These early works,'how­ ever, failed to satisfy him and he did not consider them important.

When lines from some of these poems were chanted by others, Ch'en Wei- sung was said to have been so disgusted by their poor quality that he 2 did not even want to hear them. ^ jj jj _ v- ^ Wu-ssu (Dark-silk) tz'u &$} , a collection compiled by

Wei-sung himself and put into print shortly after 1666 when he once again failed the civil service examination, therefore marks a change in attitude towards the creation and preserving of his own tz'u. It

1. It is said that Wang Shih-chen and others began to advocate the use of the tz'u form when Wang took office in Yangchow, i.e., 1659. See Chiang Ching-chli jjjj- /TJj", "Ch'en Chien-t'ao tz'u-ch'ao hsll" M %Xj fit (Preface to Ch'en Wei-sung's Tz'u Collection), in Hu-hai-lou tz'u-chl ^ ^ *S] -jfl Tz'u Collection of the Hu-hai Pavilion), 30 vols. (Ssu-pu pel-yao ed.; reprint ed.» Taipei: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1971). (Hereafter referred to as HHLTC).

2. Chiang Ching-ch'i, "Ch'en Chien-tao tz'u-chao hsll," in f Ch'en Wei-sung, Hu-hai-lou tz'u-chl.

55 56

represents a selection of his tz'u written before he was forty years

old."*" A later collection entitled Chia-ling tz'ujff1* $sjcompiled

by Wei-sung himself, a sequel to the Wu-ssu tz'u collection, includes

his tz'u poetry written up to the last years of his life. During

this period, tz'u became almost the sole poetic form he used to record

his thoughts and feelings. 2

"Chia-ling" is an abbreviation for chia-ling p'ing chia

$41 (kalavinda), a Buddhist term for a bird described as having a melodious voice which is found in the valleys of the Himalayas. It 3 also may be the Buddhist name for the cuckoo. According to Chiang

Ching-ch'i, a native and contemporary of Ch'en Wei-sung's, chia-ling is a bird in the paradise of the Western Heaven and "its feathers were not seen in this world and its beauty was not known to this world.

Crossing the sky, it whistles like the fabulous phoenix bird. In the morning, it wanders in the heaven; in the evening, it returns to the £ jasper pond (yao-ch'.ih z&J )• It accompanies the fairies and dwells in the empyrean (p1 iao-miao

1. See "Preface to Wu-ssu tz'u," author unknown, in Ch'en Wei- sung, .Wu^ssu_tz2u (Reprint ed., Taipei: Commercial Press, 1973).

2. In his preface to Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u collection, Chiang Ching-ch'i said that Ch'en Wei-sung "stopped writing shih after returning from Kuang-ling." Records indicate that Ch'en Wei-sung returned from Kuang-ling to I-hsing in 1672. According to Hu-hai-lou shih-chi. there are no shih recorded for the years 1673-1675, and very few for the year 1676 or 1677 and thereafter.

3. William Edward Soothill and Lewis Hodous, A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms (Taipei: Fuo-hslleh ch'u-pan-she, 1962), p. 137.

4. Chiang, "Ch'en Chien-t'ao tz'u-ch'ao hsli," in Ch'en Wei- sung, Hu-hai-lou tz'u-chi. 57

It was a fashion among Ming and Ch'ing writers both to discuss

the tz'u critically and to name their collections in Zen terms.^ In

using this title for his tz'u collection, however, a sense of his

talent not being properly recognized is possibly also intended. The

mournful cries of the cuckoo and the urge to return home generally

associated with this bird could be taken to reflect his eremitic

feelings at that time. Ch'en Wei-sung is not in the least a Buddhist;

however, traces of the reckless spirit of the Zen extroverts (k'uang

ch' an yj* )and the fugitive spirit of the Zen introverts

(t'ao-ch'an ) are both discernible in his tz'u poetry.^

The most complete extant edition of Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u is

the thirty volume Hu-hai-lou tz'u-chi which was compiled and put into

publication by his brother Tsung-shih in 1690. That edition has been reproduced in both the Ssu~pu pei-yao and the Ssu-pu ts'ung-k'an collections.^

1. Other examples include Na-lan Hsing-te's Yin-shui (Drinking Water) tz'u and Kung Tzu-chen's (1792-1841) Hung ch'an (Red Zen) tz'u. For a detailed discussion of this subject, see Jao Tsung-i, "The Tz'u and Zen," Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies, New Series, 7:1 (1968): 225-30.

2. As Jao Tsung-i has observed, "...among the Zen adepts since the Ming age there were the extroverts, labeled k'uang ch'an, or 'reckless Zen,' and there were on the other hand the introverts who sought in Zen for a refuge for their spirit,..." See Jao, "The Tz'u and Zen," p. 230.

3. In the Ssu-pu pei-yao (SPPY) edition, the title Hu-hai-lou tz'u-chi is used. But it is entitled Chia-ling tz'u ch'Uan-chi in the Ssu-pu ts'ung-k'an (SPTK) edition. The contents of both are identical but the prefaces adopted are different. 58

Instead of confining the tz'u to the expression of erotic

ideas, feminine sentiments and asthetic concerns, Ch'en Wei-sung

applied to it the same standards that were applicable to shih poetry.

Besides such conventional themes as ennui and melancholy, he expressed

with great intensity his feelings on human av.d personal suffering;

historical subjects and phllophical observations were also favorite

themes of his. Moreover, in accordance with his own wish to restore

the moral intent of the "kuo-feng" songs and the "li-sao" to poetry in

general, he made this poetic form a vehicle for social criticism."'"

Ma.jor Themes

(!) Feelings of Personal Sufferings

Ch'en Wei-sung came from a prominent family. But the family

fortunes had already sharply declined by the time of his father's

death in 1656. Thereafter, he began a period of protracted travel in

his early thirties, seeking opportunities for employment. Having

little luck in finding a job, he traveled widely in Kiangsu, then

north to Peking and west to Honan, where he finally settled for a

minor official position. In 1679, he took and passed the special po-

hslieh hung-ju examination and was appointed to the position of

Corrector in the Han-lin Academy to work on the project of compiling

the Ming dynasty history. This, however, did not bring him happiness,

for ill health and nostalgia marked his last years and he died in

1. For Ch'en's theory on the tz'u form, see the previous chapter. 59

Peking at the age of fifty-six. The hardships of life, helpless situations, homesickness and aging are grievances recurrently expressed in his tz'u, and that they reflect, at least in part, his own personal experiences seems to be beyond doubt.

No. 1 Tune: Fa-chia tao yin

Title: The Hungry Crow

The hungry crow caws, The hungry crow caws — Down and feathers terribly tattered and torn. At home, the harvest already covered with frost and snow; Abroad, I mistakenly believed, the rice and grain would be fat. Twilight deepens, and I must keep on flying, flying . . . (HHLTC 1:4b)

Considering-Ch*en Wei-sung's life of prolonged wandering and his unsuccessful pursuit of a suitable career, a symbolic interpreta­ tion of this poem would seem to be reasonable. Taking this view, one can readily perceive in the image of the crow a haggard traveler who has left home to pursue a better life. Utterly exhausted and worn, he becomes aware of cruel reality, but nevertheless he presses on out of a sense of desperate need. The sadness of disillusionment is further intensified by the sense of aging, which is symbolized in the image of deepening twilight. He has failed to find food or lodging, and he faces an endless, uncertain search for a safe refuge. A sense of frustration and despair attends the suffering of the crow (the symbolic representation of the poet himself) which is compelled by its needs to continue its desperate flight. 60

No. 2 Tune: Tsui lo-p'o

Title: The Eagle

Cold mountains, several ranges. The wind lowers, pulverizing the road of the central plain. Autumn sky all blue, without present or past. Drunk, X shed my sable robe, Vaguely recall the place you used to screech.

When young, with whom could X test my martial skills? Now old, my valor is still high and vaulting. In the human world, how many worthless foxes and hares? The moon dark, the sand yellow. At this juncture, I think only of you. (HHLTC 5:7b)

The eagle (ying }M )* as it often appears in the expression ying-yang , is a common metaphor for lofty aims, grand ambi­ tions, or a man of noble character. Ch'en Wei-sung had the ambition to "assist the emperor and raise him above Yao and Shun" (chih chun

Yao Shun shang $jC ^ -^ )• and he also had confidence in his own talent and prowess. His unsuccessful pursuit of regular employ­ ment and the subsequent period of prolonged travel which denied him the peaceful life he sought are experiences repeatedly lamented in his poems. He often complained of not being recognized. The human world depicted in this poem is composed of cold mountains, scouring winds, foxes and hares, a place unfit to nourish a lofty spirit. Against this background of darkness and desolation, the noble eagle, the poet himself, is pitted against a hostile, cruel and immoral world.

1, See the "Preface to Wu-ssu tz'u." 61

No. 3 Tune: Hao-shlh chin

Title: One summer day, invited by Mr. Shih Chll- an to have a drink, I wrote a poem to the same rhyme as the one he wrote to celebrate my return from Wu-ts'ang.

When we parted, it was willow blossom season, Like snow whirling toward a sunny window. In a trice, holly-hocks begin to bloom, Again reddening the corner of the slanted rail.

Since our parting, once more things are renewed, Only we are the same as yesterday. Mentioning the fact that heroes lose their way, Suddenly a chill wind comes up soughing. (HHLTC 3:1b)

This is a fugitive verse written at a reunion of friends. In the first stanza, the different scenes of parting and reunion indicate the passage of time: from the floating catkins of spring to the bril­ liantly blooming holly-hocks of late summer. This sense of temporal change is echoed in the second stanza, where the human world is brought into focus. Things have changed for the poet and his friends, but they themselves have not changed accordingly. Here we do not encounter the traditional didactic sense of opposition to the common practice of "following the current" (sui-p'o chu-liu ~^u).

On the contrary, discontentment is expressed in their inability to find suitable employment of their talents, and their regret that they lack support and encouragement.

No. A Tune: Man-chiang hung

Title: Ascending the Spring and Autumn Pavilion Outside Shan-fu City on an Autumn Day.

East of Shan-fu City, Piled everywhere, a myriad layers of autumn tints. 62

From the railing, I gaze upon the territory of Ch'i, The domain of Lu: One expanse of brilliant blue. Here depart, gradually to approach the road to heaven; In this life, I lack only the soaring wings. Entangled cassia hangs a hundred feet, Overlooking the central plain; Extremely vast! 1 Copper drums compete, Pine and fir stand straight. The dark rain roars Ghosts scurry about. See the moss, the clay horse Moving without trace in the early morning. The sunset enhances this stranded traveller's regret. In this time of danger sorely needed is support and help. I read the Spring and Autumn Annals; My beard is like spears. (HHLTC 12:10a)

Here the persona and the poet are no doubt identical. The poet-persona wishes to be promoted to a higher position but "lacks the soaring wings" and "needs support and help" to realize his ambi­ tions. In the diffuse imagery and rather dense texture of literary and historical allusions which characterize this poem, we see not only an appeal for help but also the perturbed emotional state of the poet.

Ascending the Spring and Sutumn Pavilion, the poet was probably inspired by the scene he encountered, by the story associated with this historical place, and even by the act of ascending to a high place.

The physical action of ascending heights was traditionally connected with the idea of avoiding calamities. This could also be the poet's idea in view of the expression "this time of danger." It might be too far-fetched to interpret the images of "heaven," "soaring wings,"

1. The copper drums were made and used by some barbarian tribes. They are also referred to as war drums. 63

T 1 as alluding to the story of Ch ang to:. Nevertheless, the Taoist idea of transcendence was probably in the poet's mind.

The beginning lines of the second stanza depict the spreading of a mysterious atmosphere, an aura which attends the ghost-welcoming ceremonies which were performed at the temple. The poet then recalls the legend of Prince K'ang and the clay horse. When Prince K'ang, the ninth son of Emperor Hui-tsung of the Northern Sung Dynasty, escaped from Jurchen confinement, on his flight southward he encountered a horse by the Ts'ul Fu-chtln Temple. He mounted the horse and it galloped away. After having safely crossed the river, he discovered that it was not a real horse but one made of clay, one which possessed supernatural powers. There were many Ts'ui Fu-chUn Temples in Shantung and we may assume that there was one close to the Spring and Autumn

Pavilion which the poet was then visiting. The moss in the next line suggests the deserted remains of the temple. It is in this awesome world of ghostly presences and supernatural manifestations that the poet hopes that some transcendant power will endow him with the means to cope with the danger that confronts him .

The book Spring and Autumn Annals is a laconic historical account of the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 B.C.), which was said to have been revised and commented on by Confucius himself. Ch'i and

Lu were the cultural centers of the Spring and Autumn era. The

1. A legend says that Ch'ang-o was the ancient king Hou Chi's wife who stole and ate her husband's "pills of immortality" and flew to the moon. 64

excitiment aroused from reading the Spring and Autumn Annals signifies

the poet's heroic valor and ambition, and a yearning for the ideal

world of antiquity.

"Sunset" and "autumn" are stock images symbolizing decline

and advancing age. This conjoining of images of old age and still

unquenched ambition is a familiar aspect of heroic poems, in which

tradition the Sung dynasty poet Hsin Ch'i-chi is Ch'en Wei-sung's

precursor.

(ii) Sentiments on History

Ch'en Wei-sung's numerous visits to historical sites and ex­

tensive reading in history gave rise to many tz'u poems recalling

ancient times and past events: heroic deeds, military operations, and

the rise and fall of dynasties. Being an erudite scholar who was

familiar with the classics and histories, and being China's most

prolific tz'u poet who frequently drew inspiration from natural and human scenes, Ch'en Wei-sung's historical tz'u merit our attention.

In an interplay between illusion and reality, the following

tz'u delineates the human emotions which inform Wei-sung's sentiments

on history.

No. 5 Tune: Liu-chou ko-t'ou

Title: Thinking of Antiquity at Han-kou

JLjnelancholy traveler from East, .of the River By Sui Garden I pass by The song of the oriole is soft, Floating tendrils are fine, The lined coat is light, At this Ch'ing-ming. season. 65

I recall this time in former years: Beyond the terrace, By the swing, Wild plum trees, Weeping willow islet, The sound of jade flageolet.

Ever since wind and mist filled my eyes, Grieved have I been at heart: water, blue; mountains, green. See, though the river city was well-built, Its remains are already scattered. This languishing Lan-ch'eng, His thoughts are hard to calm. Thinking that Chi-nu is gone, That Huang-nu is old: Things now and then In sorrow transpire. Turning my head, I look Across the river at Stone City: Weeds are everywhere. The day the houseboat went south The emperor was drunk, Never sober again.

The palace carriage departed, The evening crow cawed, Causing the people alarm. Only the river at spring flood Still as bountiful as in olden days. Thinking of Counsellor Pao Chao, I would write, but words fail my emotions. This regret has been experienced before. (HHLTC 30:5b-6a)

This poem is replete with historical and literary allusions.

Han-kou is a minor canal in present day Yangchow, Kiangsu, which was constructed during the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty (Yang

Kuang, 580-618). Sui Garden refers to the one in Kiangsu built by

Emperor Yang after the model of the one in the old capital of Ch'ang- an. The river city, Chiang-tu, was chosen by Emperor Yang as his new capital (in present day Kiangsu), where he spent vast sums in building palaces and pleasure grounds. His visit to the south was said to have been the reason for his neglect of state affairs and the eventual

collapse of the Sui dynasty. Pao Chao (tzu Ming-yUan, d. 466) was the

author of the "Fu on the Deserted City," or "Wu-ch'eng fu,"

an elegy mourning the formerly prosperous Chiang-tu after it was des­

troyed in 457 when the Sung of the Southern dynasties was overthrown.

In a mood similar to that evoked by Pao Chao in the "Wu-ch'eng fu," in this poem Ch'en Wei-sung laments the vanished glories of the past.

References to the Southern dynasties are frequently encountered in his tz fu. and often they have metaphorical or allegorical signifi­ cance. In this poem, Ch'en also mentions Chi-nu and Huang-nu. Chi-nu was the nickname of Liu Yd (tzu Te-ytl, 356-422), the founder of the

Sung dynasty, the first of the Southern Dynasties; Huang-nu was the nickname of Ch'en Shu-pao (tzu Ytian-hsiu, 553-604), the last sovereign of Ch'en, the last of the Southern Dynasties.

The years between 1644 when the Manchu troops captured the

Ming capital in Peking and 1662 when the Ming was completely over­ thrown by the invading Manchu forces is generally known as the Southern

Ming (Nan-Ming era. During that time, four princes occupied the throne of the refugee dynasty. The weakness of the state, cor­ ruption in government, and the self-indulgent behavior of these princes were similar to those of the Southern Dynasties.

In these reference to the Southern Dynasties and the Sui

Emperor's indulgence in pleasure, we sense Ch'en Wei-sungTs personal resentment over the corruption of the Ming court, which led to the downfall of that dynasty and the decline of the Ch'en family fortunes. 67 sorrow over his personal fate is intermingled with a sense of the evanescence of human life and its creations.

Wind and dust is the conventional image for a long and difficult journey. Likening himself to Yli Hsin (tzu Lan-ch1 eng,

513-581), the author of the fu "Mourning South of the River" (Ai

Chiang-nan fu y*- # M), Ch'en Wei-sung grieves over the tragedy of human history. In contrasting the enduring aspects of nature with the uncertainty and brevity of human life, the poet laments the capriciousness of fate. Concluding on a philosophical note, this tz'u expands the poet's lamentation to embrace the idea that it is the tragedy of mankind to have to repeat its mistakes.

No. 6 Tune: Ch'in ytlan ch'un

Title: Written on the third day of the third month when passing through Wei-shih

Ascending Wei Liao Terrace, Climbing San-ch'ui Peak, How distressing it is. I recall Wei Liao's discourse on military affairs: Brilliantly evocative, free of affection. Departing Wei for Ch'in, Fan ChU's spirits were high. I came to the central plain To search for the ancient site. The shepherd's pipe starts up the wind, stirs the night waves. Whom should I ask? Though broken tombstones still remain, Half worn away. In short dress, today I pass by, Grieving that on this ritual day of spring, Hard it is to recapture the Yung-ho era of Chin. By the water side, willow eyes Peer over the fragrant bank. Before the wind, swallows' tails Freely cut the sunny sedge. Foreign state in springtime, A middle-aged perception. 68

Written on dark silk paper, deep emotions are abundant, Stop lamenting the ancients, _ Delightful, in the spring festivals, are The girls so graceful. (HHLTC 24:12b-13a)

Wei-shih is in present day Honan. Wei Liao Terrace is the terrace which was constructed in memory of Wei Liao, a strategist of the fourth century B.C. San-ch'ui Peak was "where Wang Chi waited for Fan Chll."1 Fan Chll (3rd century B.C.), at first a minor officer of the Wei State, was once found guilty of receiving bribery and severely beaten. He then lived in concealment until taken by Wang

Chi to the Ch'in State where he later became the Foreign minister and was ennobled as Marquis. Wang Chi, while an envoy came to the Wei

State, met Fan Chll and took him to Ch'in.

Alluding to the two heroes of the Warring States period, the poet expresses his regret over people's forgetfulness. Though these ancient heroes are long dead, they had exerted themselves in the service of their states, and deserve to be remembered. Recalling these ancient heroes also causes the poet to think of himself, to mourn for his own unsuccessful career. Middle-aged and away from home, he laments the difficulties of life.

The central plain where the ancient civilization was located is now a pasture. That no one seems to care about the passing of that state distresses the poet. Orthodox Confucianism placed a high value on the past, for the Golden Age existed in the remote past, not in some

1. This line was tagged as a footnote to the second line of the original text by the poet. 69 distant future. Here this idea is also seen in Ch'en Wei-sung's poetry. This concern over the past is sometimes linked with personal feelings of loneliness, as exemplified in the following lines from another poem:

Facing the west wind, I came to mourn over the ancients. Halting my horse by the tower, With whom shall I vent my sorrow? Only the wild flowers are acquainted. (HHLTC 3:2a) (Tune: Hao-shih chin)

"This ritual day," or ch'l-jih , refers to the third day of the third month in the lunar calendar. Yllng-ho ^ %3 (345-

356) was one of the reign titles of Emperor Mu of Chin, during which time the state enjoyed a period of peace. Here the poet is probably referring to the famous gathering of literary figures, such as Wang

Hsi-chih (321-379) and Hsieh An (320-385) at Lan-t'ing j?J| ,$• (in present day Chekiang) on the third day of the third month in the ninth year of Yung-ho (353). As an active member in literary circles, Ch'en

Wei-sung participated in many literary gatherings and carnivals, and he enjoyed his friends' copious praise of his flowing periods and easy style. Now that he is in Honan, away from his friends, he feels that, in contrast to the Lan-t'ing gatherings, th.e* pleasant camaraderie he enjoyed with his friends is a past event and is difficult or impossible to recapture.

In the last three lines: "Stop lamenting the ancients, /

Delightful are, in the spring festivals, / The girls so graceful." we see a sudden shift in meaning from serious and sad matters to a light 70 mood and a pleasant scene. This is a common feature in many of Ch'en

Wei-sung's tz 'u, as can be observed also in the last lines of "The

Liao Empress's Dressing Chamber" to the tune Ch'i-t'ien lo:

Why bother with this senseless grief, I'll return and pour myself some jade liquor. (HHLTC 21:9b) and that of "Crossing the River" to the tune Yti mei-jen:

In recent years, I am afraid to talk about ups and downs. With a smile, I point to the sky: Young geese, two or three lines. (HHLTC 5:5a)

On the surface, this device is a way to cut the Gordian knot, to dissipate grief. But in another sense, the sudden change in direction actually means that this sorrowful situation is too severe to dwell on.

From the melancholy which arises from contemplating the rise and fall of dynasties and their ancient heroes, the following poem goes on to develop the idea that life is unjust.

No. 7 Tune: Man-chiang hung

Title: Ten Poems on Thinking of Antiquity at Pien-ching. No. 3: Kuang-wu Mountain.

Ssu River and Ao-ts1ang Mountain — Border lands where Ch'u and Han raised the lance. Thinking of olden days: a famous concubine, a fleet steed, The tale of a hero. Traces of Ying-tse's ripples, colder than drifted snow. Colors of Mount Ch'eng-kao, sadder than knitted brows. I sigh, since antiquity the worthless easily made a name, But where are they now?

Meat on the cutting board — How helpless! The struggle at Hung-men — Truly hard to bear. 71

I assume the wild flowers, the broken barbs Have gone through many generations. Was the Ch'in deer meant to die for Liu Chi; The Ch'u monkey willingly, to be sold by Chou K'o? I laugh, in the welter of histories, statements are all false When measured by success and failure. (HHLTC 12:1b)

Toward the end of the Ch'in Dynasty (221-206 B.C.), China was plunged into chaotic civil war and a struggle among rival contenders for control of the empire. This later developed into a struggle between two men: Hsiang Yil (233-202 B.C.), a descendant of the old

Ch'u feudal nobility, and Liu Pang (247-195 B.C.), a commoner.

While Hsiang engaged in fighting a series of battles to defeat the

Ch'in troops, Liu labored to establish a sound relationship with the common people."*" Hung-men is in present day Shensi. It was the place where Hsiang Yd set up his camp after he defeated the Ch'in troops and gained power, and it was there that Liu was invited by Hsiang to a banquet. Liu, alerted to Hsiang's plot to assassinate him, sneaked away from the banquet. Later, Hsiang was steadily undermined by Liu and finally committed suicide. Here, the hero in lines three and four refers to Hsiang Yll. Allusions to Hsiang Yll occur repeatedly in

Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u on historical themes. Hsiang Yll, as the opponent of the tricky Liu Pang, is protrayed as a straight-forward and honest hero. Liu Pang's final victory was partially achieved by his breaking a promise he had made to Hsiang Ytl.

1. For historical accounts of Hsiang Yll and Liu Pang, see, for instance, Charles 0. Hucker, China's Imperial Past (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975), pp. 122-30; 225-6. 72

To deny a hero's due recognition because of his failure is a cruel practice of history, the poet believed. In the word "laugh"

(hsiao ^ ), the sardonic mood is reminiscent of that to be found in some of Hsin Ch'i-chi's tz'u.

(iii) Comments on Current Events

Social criticism is another important thematic feature of

Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u poetry. In accord with his own theory advocating the restoration of the moral intent of the "kuo-feng" and

"li-sao" poems to the tz'u, he departed from tradition in using this form for that of social comments.

No. 8 Tune: Ho hsin-lang

Title: The Song of the Boat-trackers

Battle ships arrayed by the estuary. On the far horizon, the True Sovereign grants the seal With scaly dragon coils on its button. Recruiting boat haulers, ten myriads. To each shire, the envoys Rush and gallop like wind and rain; Grievous! In the eastern village Are disturbed chickens and dogs. The elder at the front ward hurries the rear tithing; All, in lashings, chained and bound behind an empty silo, To be dragged away, who dares object!

Rice flowers now in this frosty weather form ears. There, a conscript, at the fork of the road, bids farewell To his sick wife in the scrub; "From here I go to the Three Rivers to haul at The "thousand feet" hawser; Where snowy billows splash on the mast, roar in the night. Can my back endure the bullwhips? Pray well under the maple tree in the rear garden, Head for the deserted temple, Hasten to ask the sorceress to pour the libation. 73

God help me Return to the field." (HHLTC 27:3a)

Here the poet satirizes the use of forced labor on government service. Numerous boat haulers are being impressed to work on the river, and the officials are under pressure to fill their quotas. The common people are taken away against their wishes. Their farming is interrupted and so are their lives. Thus, they are made to suffer both mental and physical tortures. Husband and wife are separated and the wife is left without sufficient supplies as the husband is marched away to endure the rigors of backbreaking labor. Even a modest hope of their later returning to an ordinary existence is difficult to maintain.

Sometimes the daily lives of the commoners are interrupted by military service, as depicted in the following tz'u:

No. 9 Tune: Chiang-nan ch'un

Title: Spring in the South; written to harmonize with the rhymes of Ni Ytln-lin.

The third month burgeons with cherries and bamboo shoots; The beautiful woman paces in her room, the day is calm. A small screen vainly verdant is swayed by the east wind. Unseen is she, visible only is the shadow of her robe. An unaccountable chill: the spring boudoir turns cold. Suddenly she recalls: . On a dark blue roan he parted hearth and home. "Long have my tears darkened my rosy kerchief; Would that I were The dust accompanying my soldier husband's chariot."

His return is delayed, Spring is anxiou^ to depart, Rain mists fill the courtyard and the moonlight is wet. So far apart, alas, how could my love letter reach him! 74

"You sit and guard Wu Mountain, an azure expanse of spring. When will you end your task and return home, That together we may lean against the blooming loquat tree?" In the sunset, floating catkins turn into duckweed. Grasping at them without success, she rushes about in vain. (HHLTC 24:4b)

In this interweaving of narration and monologue, the pains

and agonies of a deserted woman, wistful and longing for her absent

husband, are depicted. It is said that floating catkins turn into

duckweed when they fall in the water. The ripeness of cherries and

bamboo shoots and the floating catkins signify the passing of spring. • •» .1 • The husband is detained in a distant land by military duties and the wife is left alone to grieve while their years of youth relentlessly slip away.

Here, by way of "satirizing and admonishing" (feng-chieh

), the poet reflects the people's feelings towards government

policies and brings their sufferings to the attention of the authorities. In this respect, the poet observes the time-honored concept of the pragmatic function of poetry.

In the next tz'u, the poet switches from the voicing of the people's suffering caused by separation to that of the slaughter and destruction of war.

No. 10 Tune: Ch'un-kuang hao

Title: A Poem Written when Traveling in T'ung- ch'uan Circuit.

Cuckoos crying, Guard tower in ruins, The lacquer lamp is bright. Along the road, in spring fields of the fourth month, Nobody is tilling. 75

In a cluster of worthless trees, an old post station; At a breach in jumbled mountains, a solitary city. Can we, wearing short dress, see the tiger being shot, Survive our remaining years? (HHLTC 1:8a)

A lacquer lamp is sometimes placed in a burial cave or by a burial plot. Here it suggests the death of soldiers. The last two lines allude to the two lines of Tu Fu's poem: "In short dress, on a solitary horse, I follow Li Kuang. / Seeing him shooting the fierce tigers, I pass my remaining years." Li Kuang (?-115 B.C.) was the Han dynasty general who, being famous for his immense strength and bravery in shooting tigers in his youth, won numerous battles against the Hsiung-nu tribes and pacified the northern borders for years.

Here, the poet voices his criticism of war and the human slaughter it inevitably causes, discontentment with the fact that the daily routine of farming is interrupted in this way, and a natural human longing for the peaceful life. Peace and enjoyment were what

Ch'en Wei-sung wished for himself, and in this poem he universalizes that desire. In the next two tz'u, this wish is expressed once again, and in a somewhat humorous way. However, the prevailing mood is one of melancholy, for the war drags on.

No. 11 Tune: Ytl mei-jen

Title: Listlessness

With a listless smile, I finger a spray of blossoms, saying, "Everywhere the cuckoo is weeping blood. Fine flowers should open and gleam by a fine pavilion. Do not bloom by the frontiers of Ch'in and Shu Or on the battlefield." 76

Leaning on the terrace, gazing afar enhances my melancholy; Again, to the east wind I must say: "Fine wind, do not unfurl the war flag red, Quickly send the snow-white shad eastward across the river." (HHLTC 5:5b)

Tu-chUan ^ is a bird with a mournful cry which, according

to legend, was transformed from the soul of Tu YU, an ancient king

of Shu. Tu-chllan is also a shrub with brightly colored flowers,

the azalea, which blooms in spring when the tu-chllan birds are heard.

One legend says that the tu-chllan flowers were colored by the blood

tears of the tu-chtlan birds. Tu-chtlan therefore embodies a dual

image of the bird and the flower which, when rendered as "cuckoo"

or "azalea" according to the poetic context, sometimes loses the full

force of its meaning.

The expression "the cuckoo is weeping blood" (chtian t'i hslleh

jjifj J22. ) is a common image of the tragic mood. The image of

blood, as reflected by the red flag, is also associated with war;

weeping, contrasting with the superficial smile, indicates a sense of

mourning for the harshness of reality to which the poet objects.

While the image of the cuckoo bird reinforces that of the beautiful but fearful spring flowers, the bright color of the flowers reminds one not only of the tragic story of weeping blood but also of the blood shed on the battlefield, thus enhancing the sense of bitter frustration in the poem and adding another dimension to an old image. 77

No. 12 Tune: Ch'eng-t'ou yileh

Title: Under the Moon

The icy wheel hangs askew above the city wall, A night when the Milky Way is sparse. A stretch of frontier mountains, A thousand autumns of Ch'u and Han, In myriads tents, watch drums are beaten.

Why not move to the east-lake houses, To shine on the bean stalks, melon trellises. Grass whistles by the river bridge, Water brightens the hillside store. Young people, pursuing the cool air, engage in idle talk. (HHLTC 4:3b)

(iv) Sensuous Moods

Ch'en Wei-sung also wrote some tz'u expressing the conven­ tional themes of romantic love. Although numerous critics and poets at vauious times believed in the basic sameness of shih and tz'u in matters of theme and poetic meaning, there were others who believed tz'u poetry to be a lyrical form suited only to the expression of light and sensuous moods. The depiction of love affairs, of sensuous delights, of faminine beauty and of feminine psychological states are therefore more frequently encountered in tz'u than in shih poetry.

Ch'en Wei-sung, being a defender of the tz'u and applying to it all the standards which apply to the shih, did not, however, forget this convention.

No. 13 Tune: Shui-tiao ko-t'ou

Title: A Beauty on a Swing

Last night, clothes-washing rite completed; Today, a gaming session she refused. White wall hard by the red gate, 78

Outside lies Bronze Camel Lane. A hundred rods, the colorful rope tied with a love-knot; One inch thick, the painted board carved in double design. The wind flaps open the embroidered pennant. Lower she ties her sash, Lightly she adjusts her aigrette.

Soaring up gracefully, She swoops over the verdant grass, Glides across the green moss. Her pink skirt would rise but does not. Flirting with her shadow, she admires her figure. Suddenly rising on the wind, a whirling falcon; Swiftly skimming the waves, a young swallow; Scattering over the courtyard, plum blossoms fall. Approaching evening, half a disc of jade Vaguely shines on the fallen hairpins. (HHLTC 14:2a)

This poem is a depiction of feminine psychology. Clothes- washing (chieh-ch'Un s fl'J ) is the lustration rite observed in the first lunar month of the year. As part of the spring festival, this rite and gambling sessions were occasions when girls would gather together, laugh, tease each other, and, perhaps, talk about men. The busiest street in Loyang, the Bronze Camel Lane, was where young men often gathered. The images of the love-knot ties on the colorful rope and the double design carved on the painted board of the swing hint at the girl's fantasy of a happy union with a young man. Her refusal to join the gaming and her narcissistic admiration of her own shadow allude to inner feelings of ennui, personal confidence and temporary solitude.

The rhythmic movement of the swing suggests a laissez-aller feeling in the girl. Through the images of scattered plum blossoms and fallen hairpins, an erotic element is introduced. In this poem, the theme is romantic, and the style is elegant and suggestive. It is 79

a typical Hua-chien piece. What is not quite conventional here is the

suggestion that the young woman would like to fulfill her fantasies,

but the practice of isolating the sexes prevents her from doing so.

In the next example, we encounter a theme that is unusual in

traditional verse of whatever form.

No. 14 Tune: Ho hsin-lang

Title: A Poem Written on Ylln-lang's Nuptial Day

Slowly sip the sweet thick brew; Joyful is today: The glitter of hairpins, The shadow on the mattress, In front of the lamp, swing and sway. From the other side of the screen, spread out laughing words, Announcing that the head dress has just been put on. Once more, I peer at this handsome young man. Puzzled, I cannot distinguish between male and female. Facing the wind, I measure the delicate shoes. Let me escort you to lift up the bridal chamber curtain.

For six years, in a solitary dwelling, We have accompanied each other. Most unforgettable! By the flowery pillows Tears gently shed. Today, your marriage rites will be fulfilled, Tenderly the wife will comply with her husband. Attentively the husband will comport himself in decency. But alone, under a gauze quilt cold as iron, Hold the peachwood pipes; How hard to see the silk window turn bright. Don't, for me, feel sad any more. (HHLTC 26:2b)

This poem was written on the occasion of Ytln-lang's marriage.

Ylin-lang is Hstl Tzu-ylln, formerly a boy actor in the singing troupe in Mao Hsiang's household. Mao Hsiang gave HslI Tzu-ylln to Wei-sung as a gift. Hstl then became Wei-sung's close and frequent companion.

It was not unusual for men of Ch'en Wei-sung's class to form homosexual 80

alliances with young male entertainers. The romance of Wei-sung and

Hsll Tzu-ylin was a popular subject among Wei-sung's friends, and many

poems were written to celebrate their love affair."*" However, for a

person to discuss his own experiences of this sort in the tz'u, the shih, or any other literary form, was indeed unconventional behavior.

In juxtaposing the feeling of forlornness with the happy atmosphere of a wedding ceremony, Ch'en Wei-sung frankly describes his relationship with Hsli Tzu-ylin, his fondness for Hsii, and his un- willingness to part from him. 2 Bed-chamber diction and erotic images abound in the poem. It is not surprising therefore that it was severely criticized then and later for its lewdness.

(v) Leisurely Retirement

Ideas of worldly cares and desires were frequently on Ch'en

Wei-sung's mind, and he was often perturbed by feelings of anxiety and disappointment. It is quite surprising therefore to find a poem like the following in his collection.

No. 15 Tune: Che-ku t'ien

Title: Written to express my feelings using the rhymes of Chia-hsUan (Hsin Ch'i-chi), while accompanying Mr. Chll-an.

Poppies by the rails have already Bent out shoots; On the boughs, plums have thinly fruited. Busily I go to the garden to beckon the sunny butterflies; Idly I rest in the open grove counting the evening crows.

1. For more information on this matter, see Chapter 2,

2. This tz'u was supposed to have been written in the year chia-ch'en (1664). See Mao Kuang-sheng, Ytln-lang hsiao-shih, p. 36. 81

Not a thing to do. Hat brim aslant. Amused by the scenery, I return home late. Suddenly I recall events of a former life ^ When I saw all the apple blossoms on P'eng-lai. (HHLTC 5:2a-2b)

The dynamic movement of this poem is very interesting. The first two lines reveal the early tidings of growth and fruiting and the third line depicts a joyful reaction to the spring. Line four implies idle relaxation in a tranquil frame of mind. Here, from the moderately paced opening to the quickening movement of the middle strophes and then to the gentle repose of the last line, the rhythmic movement of the poem changes, investing the entire piece with tension and endowing it with great charm.

In the juxtaposition of a description of tidings of life and growth with that of leisurely relaxation, we observe the joy and peace the poet found in nature and his contentment in a simple rustic life.

Being one of very few examples of this sort, this lyric captures the essence of a rare moment of tranquility in the poet's mind.

A reaction to the life of returement more commonly found in his verse is the mood of ennui and discomfort, which is expressed in the following poem.

No. 16 Tune: Ch'ing-p'Ing ytleh

Title: Drinking in a friend's villa at night, listening to a youth play the trichord.

1. According to legend, P'eng-lai ^Lis one of the three mountains in fairyland. Sometimes P'eng-lai is said to be an isle. 82

Over the eaves rain has stopped; A bit of cheerless talk. Above the city tower old crows hoarsely caw; Street drums have already struck the third watch.

Why waste drunken ink and silken lamp? Just enjoy the villa's music chimes. Strangely, the candle wick splutters; Up in the chamber, a frosty wind starts to roar. (HHLTC 3:3b)

The inactivity of the human world against a background of

unpleasant noise caused by the crows and the monotonous sound of the

night drums seem to have unsettled the poet's mind. Even the self-

persuasive suggestion that the poet-persona should enjoy the musical

chimes reveals the constraint the poet was under. The emotional

unease suggested in the first stanza is further heightened by the

images of the sputtering candle and the roaring of the frosty wind.

General Stylistic Features

After the fashion of the Su Shih — Hsin Ch'i-chi school, Ch'en

Wei-sung's tz'u poetry has been generally described as being heroic

and unrestrained. The thematic study of his song-lyrics in the

earlier section of this chapter has indicated a tendency on his part

to choose masculine and martial subjects as a major tenor. Ancient

heroes are remembered with admiration, as exemplified by Wei Liao's

brilliant discourse on military affairs, Fan Chll's lofty ambition and

high spirit, and Tsu Ti's persistent determination to save his state

(HHLTC 2:11b); Wu Yttan's selfless loyalty (HHLTC 2:1b) and Hsiang Ytl's

tragic fate are also lamented. Moreover, the poet's heroic sentiments

are also reflected in his personal belief in his own abilities and 83 the wish to be employed by the state in great affairs, and his longing for ancient heroic deeds.

The use of strong and vigorous expressions lend a sense of power to his song-lyric verse. Vigorous movement is manifested in the use of kinesthetic images, as shown in the following lines:

"Snowy billows splash on the mast, roar in the night" (HHLTC 27:3a),

"The wind flaps open the embroidered pennant" (HHLTC 14:2a). "The candle snuff splutters, / Up in the chamber, a frosty wind starts to sough" (HHLTC 3:3b). "The wind lowers, / Pulverizing the road on central plain" (HHLTC 5:7b).

The use of language expressing ponderous agitation and harsh objectification lends a note of deep gravity to his tz'u, as the following passages demonstrate:

After the third watch, the bright moon full I see countless spirits swallow tearful words. Imagine the dainty souls at the bottom of Rouge Well Till now fearful of mentioning Ch'in-hu (HHLTC 22:12b)

i'o each shire, the envoys Rush and gallop like wind and rain; Grievous! In the eastern village Are disturbed chickens and dogs. The elder at the front ward hurries the rear tithing; All, in lashings, chained and bound behind an empty silo, To be dragged away, who dares object! (HHLTC 27:3a)

My old grief I write west of the rail. Despondence lingers. . . To quell my ennui I crush the roses. (HHLTC 15:7a)

Extensive locutions of time and space further broaden the worlds of Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u. A few examples are given as follows 84

Ten thousand miles Autumn has arrived from the far west. For a thousand years Tears have been shed to the South Tower. (HHLTC 12:4b)

East of San-fu City, Piled everywhere, a myriad layers of autumn tines From the railing I gaze upon the territory of Ch'i, the domain of Lu: One expanse of brilliant blue. (HHLTC 12:10a)

Rustic emotion reinforces the masculinity of many lines, as: i "Drunk, I shed my sable robe. / Vaguely recall the place you used to screech" (HHLTC 5:7b)3 and "I remember by precipitous cliff soared up robust hawk. / Whimperingly, by the autumn lamp / At midnight I chant

'Mountain Goddess.'^ / Wind suddenly come up soughing. / My temple hair bristles" (HHLTC 27:5b).

The free and unrestrained style of Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u is a manifestation of the spontaneity of his creative process. Ch'en Wei- sung is China's most prolific tz'u poet. While Hsin Ch'i-chi's six hundred tz'u poems constitute the single largest corpus of tz'u poetry by any Sung dynasty writer, Ch'en Wei-sung's Hu-hai-lou tz'u-chi contains 1,629 verses in the tz'u form. The distribution of the poems among the various modes is as follows: short mode, 390; medium mode,

295; and long mode, 944. He used 416 different tunes in his poems and

in the long mode approximately one hundred verses were written to each

1. "Mountain Goddess" (shan kuei J-l ) is one of the "Nine Songs" (chiu-ko For a complete English translation, see David Hawks, Ch'u Tz'u, the Songs of the South (Boston: Beacon Press, 1959), p. 43. 85 of his two favorite tunes: "Full River Red" (Man-chiang hung i?-

) and "Congratulating the Bridegroom" (Ho hsin-lang ^ ftp).*'

Under a single tune pattern, sometimes over a dozen verses on

n different themes were written with the same rhyme words. There are also times when he composed several dozen poems in a single day.

Words seemed to flow without premeditation and lines and verses were composed without conscious deliberation. It is therefore justifiable to call Ch'en Wei-sung a "romantic" poet in the sense of his being a spontaneous writer, as Cyril Birch has suggested.^

Evidence supporting this point is also found in the frequent occurrence ofenjambment and prosaic snytax in Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u.

These features can be seen more clearly in the original Chinese text.

Suffice it here to give one example each:

1. Wan Shu's Tz'u LU ^f(preface dated 1687) recorded 660 basic tune patterns; the Ch'in-ting tz'u-p'u $flv (presented to the emperor in 1715) recorded 826 basic patterns.

2. For example, the fifteen poems to the tune "Ho hsin-lang," HHLTC 27:6a-9b.

3. Cyril Birch, Anthology of Chinese Literature, From the 14th Century to the Present Day (New York: Grove, 1972), p. 129. 86

Poetic Mood

The dominant tone of Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u is one of pathos.

This can be demonstrated first in his repeated usage of the word

"disorder" (luan jflb )• "Jumbled mountains," "weed-grown yards,"

"scattered isles," "toppled tombstones" and "disturbed crows" are expressions uniformly capped with the modifier luan. As read in

Chinese they are: luan-shan, luan-ts'ao, luan-chou, luan-pei, and luan-ya.

Recurring images of recession reinforce this point. The sight of ruins of the past, such as "the remains of a rampart,"

"ruined battlements," "toppled walls," "a devastated garden" of "a neglected lodging" are juxtaposted with time-attrited natural phenom­ ena in a state of decline and decay: "a desolate mound," "bleak monu­ ment," "precipitous cliffs," "red leaves," "the autumn grass," "the setting sun" and "the evening glow."

Moreover, a somber atmosphere and a sense of the forlorn and static are depicted by such literary figures as "an empty monastery on a deserted mountain," "a slender moon shining over the grove,"

"bitter bamboos over the bleak wall," and "an old temple idly reflected in the stream." This is further emphasized by still other figures of an auditory nature, such as: night bells, reed whistles, the cries of wild geese, and the spare sound of clothes being pounded.

A melancholic temperament underlies the frequent mourning over personal misfortunes, laments for the vanished glories of the past, and grieving over human sufferings. Feelings of solitude and 87

loneliness penetrate his poetry and a pessimistic attitude reaches

its climax when he laments the inevitable passing of spring by saying,

"Who would know? / Slender willows, fresh aspens, / yield to the

cuckoo's cries."

Even nature is sometimes tinted with resentment, as can be seen in the following lines: "Willow twigs, fused with regret / Are in strips" (HHLTC 2:2b). "The stream of Ch'i weeps, / Talking about

the rise and fall of history" (HHLTC 2:3a). "Waste ferry with no

passengers, / Water rushing forward. / By the mud ramparts / Spreading grasses, gloomy with grief" (HHLTC 3:8a).

Craftsmanship

The device of retrospection is found repeatedly in Ch'en's

tz'u on various topics. He pictures in his memory the pleasurable occasions of his youth, the peaceable people of the olden days, the glorious times of history, as well as the agonizing pain of remembered past experiences. Poems cited in previous sections of this study indicate this feature. Following are a few more examples in which a contrast between the past and the present is discernible.

No. 17 Tune: YUeh hua ch'ing

Title: Reading the Collection of the Hibiscus Studio, I missed Master Tsun Mei-ts'en and also thought of my old friends in Kuang-ling.

Unfathomable is this idle grief; The haze of past years Just like a skein of willow threads held in my hand. I recall, divested of my spring clothing, I once slept in Yangchow city. Beside the white wall, a beautiful girl's scarlet robe; 88

By the water caltrop pond, a gallant youth's white horse. On a moonlit night, Cruising in a boat, we pursued pleasure, Where green gauze hung on the window.

But now, time and place hard to recapture, It seems that sunny threads tend to be brittle, Azure waves, crimson railings — How regretable, scenes across the river are like a painting. With this half volume of mellifluous southern lyrics, To provide one night of idle talk by western window. I chant and write; Wholly stained with tears — Silvery paper, peach kerchief. (HHLTC 16:3b-4a)

Collection of the Hibiscus Studio (Fu-.jung chai chi ^

^ ) is the title of the collected works of Tsung YUan-ting (tzu

Mei-ts'en, 1620-1698). Kuang-ling, or Yangchow, is in present day

Chiang-ning, Kiangsu. As it appears in literature, Yangchow is fre­ quently associated with sing-song girls, pleasure quarters, and their qallant patrons. Being a scion of a prominent family, Ch'en Wei-sung had enjoyed a dissolute life in the world of entertainment in his youth. Here in his recollection, this experience is stated frankly.

Willow is a conventional image for spring and friendship.

Here the willow thread indicates not only the spring season, but this figure is also used as a simile of past events, the numerous merriments entwined in the poet's memory. "Idle talk by western window" (hsi- ch'uang hsien-hua \±£7 g] f/^J 3"^ ), as in Li Shang-ying's lines: "When shall we together trim the west-window candlewick / To recall this moment when rain falls in Pa-shan at night," refers to a friendly chat. Green gauze is another conventional boudoir image. Here it also carries the sense of youth, which fits well with the feelings 89 evoked by the image of the willow. The pun on "sunny" and "affection," both pronunced ch'ing, is not original. But the association of the fragile quality of the rays of the spring sun and human ties of affection has a particular charm. It also forms a perfect antithesis with the next line to evoke the feeling of lamentation over evanescent happiness.

The use of color words in this poem is outstanding: "scarlet robe" (hung-shan &£ ^ ), "white horse" (pai-ma trj My ), "green

/Ayjj,/. * gauze (lU-sha %ij ), "azure waves" (pi-lang ), "crimson railings" (chu-lan ^ /£%]), "silvery paper" (yin-chien ^ ), and

"peach kerchief11 (t'ao-p'o r|7£? ). This prismatic display enhances the depiction of the colorful years of his youth. Contrasted with this depiction of the joys of youth are the ideas of idle grief expressed at the beginning of the poem and of tearful sorrow which closed the poem. A sense of mourning over an interrupted romance is also evoked by the expression "half volume."

No. 18 Tune: Wei ch'ih pei

Title: Hsii Y{leh-tu having recently returned from Chin-ling and shown me his Blue Stream Collection, deeply moved, I composed this.

Blue Stream route, I remember, in the olden days, where young men played. Houses by Capsize-boat Mount, Girls at Fan-flag Ferry. Sprays of water, sheets of wind, Ten myriad screens pressed against misty banks. Painted barges moored 'neath willows, beside the terrace; The fragrance of clothing secretly showering down.

I heard that recently in the Forbidden City Only yellow butterflies remain, in dreams pirouetting about. Blue water, green mountain, just like a painting, Only added to it a few lines of autumn sentries. After the third watch, the bright moon full, I see countless spirits swallow tearful words. Imagine the dainty souls at the bottom of Rouge Well, Till now fearful of mentioning Ch'in-hu. (HHLTC 22:12b)

Forbidden City here translates T'ai-ch'eng »"|T » which is also called Chin-ch' eng ify , the imperial harem. Rouge Well translates Yen-chih china J|j§ ^ , a well in the imperial harem.

When the Sui armies burst into the palace, the last emperor of Ch'en,

Hou-chu, and his favorite concubines hid in this well from which they were later dragged up in disgrace by the conquerors. Han Ch'in-hu

(tzu Tzu-t'ung, 527-581) was the vanguard who took over the capital of Ch'en.

Here the poet reminisces about the peaceful life of olden days and the shocking event that brought it to an end. The last years of the Southern Dynasties is used metaphorically to refer to the transition period from the Ming to the Ch'ing after the rebellious forces led by Li Tzu-ch'eng (1606-1646) had overthrown the Ming capital in Peking.

The scene described in the first stanza is reminiscent of the two lines in the "Dream" scene (ching-meng ) in the Peony

Pavilion (Mu-tan T'ing rj* ) by T'ang Hsien-tsu (1550-1616):

"Streaks of rain borne by a stray breeze, / A painted boat on the rippling waves."

1. The English translation is borrowed from H. C. Chang. See his Chinese Literature: Popular Fiction and Drama (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1973), p. 295. 91

Not only does this description of the scene evoke the same erotic overtones as does the passage in T'ang's play, but it well fits the mood of dreamy recollection, as of the Fair Maid. The dream-like feeling is further enhanced in the second stanza by the line "Only yellow butterflies remain, in dreams pirouetting about,'.1 The contrast between the springtime pleasures of the past and the "autumn sentries" of the present further strengthens the longing for bygone days.

No. 19 Tune: Ch'i-t'ien lo

Title: The Liao Empress* Dressing Chamber

To Heartbreak Lane below the Dressing Chamber Again the west wind has brought me. A lock of mountain tresses, Half-combed mossy hair, 2 Remind one of the palace ladies' coiffure. The pagoda bell's sound is muffled. Inexhaustible are stories of former years when Flowers glittered and moon was bright. A person at heaven's margin, The screen distantly glinted, hairpins were small.

Now, suddenly become bygone things, Even deep in Hui-hsin YUan The autumn weeds grow. The imperial garden's Cloud Chapel, The royal house's Aquatic Palace.

1. Fair Maid is the female persona in the Peony Pavilion. The similarity between Ch'en's lines and T'ang's^passage can be .seen mojtre clearly in the Chinese text: Ch'en's, " "J4- Pi- / fh ^ « *8 5#/ 5ft t •" and T'ang's, " jfc-J jjg

2_._ "Palace ladies' coiffures" translates Hsin-hsing nao-sao which are two types of hairdos, nao-sao was a chignon style fashionable in late T'ang times. Hsin-hsing refers to Chao Fei- yen's (d. .2 B.C.) bouffant hair style.

3. "Cloud Chapel" translates ylln-fang ''JT , which is the dwellings of monks or nuns. 92

Customarily maidens too easily age, Rosy cheeks are vexed. Like the Hsiao family of Chien-yeh, The same remnant sunset. . . Why bother with this idle grief? I'll return and pour myself some jade liquor. (HHLTC 21:9b)

Chien-yeh, or Chien-k'ang (present day Nanking), was the

capital of the Southern Dynasties, two of which royal families, Ch'i

and Liang, were of the Hsiao family. Hui-hsin Ylian, Reconciliation

Court, alludes to the story of Empress Hslian-i of Liao (n£e Hsiao,

d. 1075), who was deserted because of her admonition against the

Emperor's (Tao-tsung) excessive hunting activities. She thereupon wrote the "Hui-hsin-yUan tz'u" (Verses of Reconciliation Court) hoping to reconcile herself with the emperor. Visiting the ancient site reminds the poet of this tragic story and arouses his melancholic

lamentation.

In the juxtaposition of the former years of glittering flowers

and bright moon and the present scene of autumn weeds in the west wind, a strong antithesis is formed. The auditory image of the muffled

pagoda bell greatly enhances the melancholic mood. "Remant sunset"

(ts'an-chao anc* "west wind" (hsi-feng ) are conventional images for despondency and aging. In this poem, while one image is used at the beginning and the other echoes it at the end, the emotion evoked by these traditional images is fused spontaneously with the general mood of the poem. 93

No. 20 Tune: Hsia ch'u-lin

Title: The Advent of Summer: written on the nineteenth day of the third month of the year k'uei-ch'ou, using the rhymes of Yang Meng-tzai of the Ming dynasty.^

Intoxicated feeling, Cotton-bursting season, Mindlessly I just sent spring away. Now, by an expanse of pond Verdant shade richly touches the blinds, Willow catkins disturb the bright sunrays, And among painted beams, swallows fly to and fro. Tea traders' boats are loaded, Bamboo-shoot carriers are busy, Mountain market all abustle with crowds.

Suddenly I recall: Thirty years ago, Bronze Camel cares piled up, Golden Valley visitors grew scarce. Carving, defacing the bamboo powder, My old grief I write west of the rail. Despondence lingers. . . To quell my ennui I crush the roses. Who would know? Slender willows, fresh aspens, All yield to the cuckoo's cries. (HHLTC 15:7a)

The year k'uei-ch'ou here refers to the twelfth year of K'ang- hsi, i.e., 1673. Bronze Camel alludes to the story of So Ching of the

Chin dynasty who once predicted a political disturbance by pointing to bronze camels in front of the imperial palace, and addressing them, saying, "we will see you in thorns." Golden Valley refers to the luxurious garden built by Shih Ch'ung (249-300). These figures are used as metaphors of an incident in the year chia-chen (1644), thirty years before the year k'uei-ch'ou, when the roving bandit Li Tzu-ch'eng

1. Yang Meng-tzai is the style name of Yang Chi (fl. 1365). For Yang's tz'u, see Wang I, Tz'u ch'll shih, p. 408. 94 stormed the Ming capital, Peking, and the emperor Ch'ung-chen hanged himself.

In the first stanza , a bustling atmosphere is set up through the description of a busy summer scene. The kinesthetic images in the lines, "Now, by an expanse of pond / Verdant shade richly touches the blinds, / Willow catkins disturb the bright sunrays, / And among painted beams, swallows fly to and fro." evoke feelings of liveliness and a rich, ornate physical setting. Contrasting with this lively scene, the poet seems to be isolated in his grief over the bitter events which transpired in the same season thirty years before. A sensation of movement penetrates the whole poem and the coordination between the rich hues of the first stanza and the feeling of deep resentment expressed in the second stanza lends a note of gravity to the poem. Moreover, underlying the overtly articulated sense of melan­ choly about the inevitable passing of spring is a lamentation for the tragic fate of the human world. Metaphorically speaking the Ming and

Ch'ing dynasties are suggested, somewhat obliquely, by the images of spring and summer.

Besides the contrast between the present and the past, the coordination of scene and emotion is another common feat.ure of Ch'en

Wei-sung1s tz'u verse. To open a poem with a few lines describing the physical setting before turning to the depiction of the emotional content is a device commonly employed in the Book of Songs and there­ after by writers of lyrical poetry. The introduction of the natural environment Indicates the source of the poet's inspiration and serves 95 to establish the general mood of the poem and to stimulate the reader's imagination.

In the coordination between the description of natural pheno­ menon and the disclosure of human emotion, Ch'en Wei-sung1s tzfu poems give expression to a great intensity of affection. Parallelism empha­ sizes the opposition of ideas, while antithesis is employed to reinfor­ ce the dynamic movement of the verse. Special auditory effects are achieved through the use of onomatopoeia and the utilization of various rhyming compounds, alliteration and the reduplication of words and lines. Image and allusion are, of course, important poetic elements.

The kind of physical setting introduced in a poem generally suggests the inner mood of the poet. The cawing of the hungry crow in Poem No. 1, for example, creates a sense of unease, of discontent.*

Its repeated cries, as expressed by the duplication of identical lines, engender a feeling of both annoyance and pity. The use of the rhyming compound dz'uai-d'ugl ( ), helps lend the impression of repeti­ tive torment, while the consonance of a sequence of asp rated dental consonants, t'ak-dz'uai-d'uai ( ^ translated as "terribly tattered and torn"), reinforce feelings of harshness and resentment. 2

The antithesis in the couplet, "At home, the harvest already covered with frost and snow; / Abroad, I mistakenly believed, the rice

1. For a translation of the complete poem, see p. 59•

2. The sound values of these three syllables are quoted from the reconstructions of ancient Chinese by Bemhard Karlgren. See his Grammata Serlca Recensa (Stockholm: Museum of Far Eastern Antiqui­ ties, 1964), pp. 242, 154, and 145 accordingly. 96 and grain would be fat,11 produces a dramatic effect. Similarly, when the expression "home country" (ku-kuo ) and "other land" (t'a- hsiang ), and "frost and snow covered" (shuang-hslleh man *|T

) and "rice and grain fat" (tao-liang fei -ft,? JjrL, ) are placed in opposition, tensions result which add to the emotional and dramatic impact of the poem. The expression "mistakenly believed" (ts'o liao

), however, negates any lingering element of hope and introdu­ ces a sense of regret and resignation. The use of alliteration as in shuang-hsUeh ^ (ancient sound value: si$ng siwat) and ku-kuo

(ancient sound value: kuo kwek) also strengthens the antithesis.^-

Antithesis in poetry sometimes tends to be formulaic, but in the case of this poem of Ch'en Wei-sung1s, the direct simplicity of these terms overcomes any note of artificiality. Finally, the image of approaching darkness and the repeated syllables "fly, fly — " (fei fei -#*£ ) also suit perfectly the mood of exhaustion and uncertainty.

Other examples manifesting a fusion of scene and emotion in­ clude the following three jtzjjj;

No. 21 Tune: Pu suan tzu

Title: Delayed at the Kua-pu Locks

Autumn winds roar in the Southern sky, Evening sun sets in the Wu Mountains. Black tallow, red pear: trees all crystal laden. The boat, in the frost, stops.

Gaze afar to the Sail-lowering Pavilion, Listen attentively to the boat-hastening drums.

1. For the reconstructions of the ancient pronunciation of shuang, hstleh, ku and kuo, see Karlgren, Grammata..., pp. 33, 2^4, 193,90. 97

I heard that the Long River flows day and night.^ Why not carry me along? (HHLTC 2:6a-6b)

When Ch'en Wei-sung was in a boat heading toward Kiangsu, it stopped by the locks of Kua-pu, only a few miles from his home, because of a heavy frost. In this tz 'u, the expressed wish to return home, frustrated by the delay, is complemented by the depressing autumn scene. Although the description of scene and emotion are sharply divided into the two stanzas, a mood of frustration and resentment emerges clearly from the images of autumn winds, the evening sunset, and frosty trees. The poet's anxiety for the boat to continue on its way is suggested in the second stanza, where the use of antithesis in the first two lines reinforces the sense of yearning for home. The image of the flowing water, which had been used so well in Li Ytl's "Ytl Mei-jen" poem, is also an asset in this poem by

Ch'en Wei-sung. The motivity of the river aggravates the poet's feelings of oppression arising from the fact that the boat has made anchor. This figure also expands the physical world of the poem and the question the poet addresses to the flowing river both closes the poem and continues its sense.

In the following tz'u, the melancholy which arises from contemplating antiquity is not directly expressed in words but is imagistically bodied forth in the depiction of scene and setting.

1. Ch'ang-chiang , is generally rendered in English as the Yangtze River.

2. For a translation of Li Yil's tz'u to the tune YU Mei-jen, see Liu Wu-chl, An Introduction to Chinese Literature, p. 105 98

No. 22 Tune: Tien Chiang-chTun

Title: Spending a Night at the Lin-ming Station

Sunny hills thickly clustered; Mount T'ai-hang, its form like a tadpole. Millet flowers overflowing the paddy, A frost one inch thick.

Chao, Wei, Yen, Han — Clearly I recall. A sad wind roars At Lin-ming post station; Yellow leaves scurry across the central plain. (HHLTC 1:8b)

A forlorn and desolate scene is sketched in the first stanza.

Lin-ming Station (in present day Hope'i province) was a communication center on the central plain during its prosperous years. Located in the areas surrounding Lin-ming, the states of Chao, Wei, Yen and Han had once been powers during the Warring States era (403-222 B.C.).

Echoing this memory of the ancient past are the time-attrited natural phenomena and the deserted station which evoke an awareness of the evanescence of human endeavors.

The undulating contours of the mountains, which are said to resemble a tadpole in appearance, reflect the rise and fall of human history. In the fusion of personal feelings of sadness and the autumnal scene as represented by millet flowers, a thick frost and yellowed leavesf this short tz'u expresses a depth and power of emotion which make it an exception to the general belief that short mode tz'u are more suitable for the expression of boudoir laments and the long mode more suitable for the heroic moods. This feature is also further exemplified by the following poem. 99

No. 23 Tune: Nan-hsiang tzu

Title.: Written on the Way to Hsing-chou

Autumn scene colder than Ping-chou knives, A gust of grieved wind rolls up furious billows. Riding side by side are youths from the Three Rivers, How chivalrous! In the black oak forest, drunkenly shooting the hawks.

Facing dregs of wine, I remember Ching and Kao. The sad songs of Yen and Chao have not faded yet. I recall, just yesterday, the rumble of chariot On the frozen I River. Today, In heroic mood, I pass by YU Jang Bridge. (HHLTC 5:4b)

Hsing-chou is in present day Hopeh province. Ping-chou is famed for the sharp knives produced there. Ching and Kao refer to

Ching K'o and Kao Chien-li of the Warring States Period. Ching K'o was sent by the Prince of Yen to assassinate the Prince of Ch'in. At his departure, Ching K'o was accompanied to the I River by nobles, knights and friends, all dressed in white mourning clothes. They prepared a farewell feast, knowing that Ching K'o would not return.

Singing a farewell song with his escort, Ching K'o drove away in a chariot without a backward glance. Kao Chien-li, Ching K'o's best friend, later attempted to complete Ching K'o's unfulfilled task of assassinating the Prince of Ch'in, again without success. YU Jang is another figure of the same period who once served the Earl of Chin after having served the Earl of Chung-hang. After the state of Chao had eliminated Chih, YU Jang tried to assassinate the Prince of Chao.

Having tried twice without success, he committed suicide. He once said, "The Earl of Chung-hang treated me as a commoner, and I repay 100 him in the manner of a commoner; the Earl of Chih treated me as a high minister, and, therefore, I repay him in the manner of a high minister."

The poem opens with an image of the cold autumn season being likened to sharp, bright knives, or short swords. This combination of visual and tactile imagery, strengthened by those images of a kinesthetic nature, serves to enhance the poetic mood. The pathetic fallacy of the grieving wind further discloses the strong emotions of the poet. Historical allusions have also furnished this poem with a sense of gravity and compression. The references to famous vengeful assassins of ancient times, who are first imagistically suggested by the allusion to Ping-chou knives, which allusion is later reinforced by the images of roaring winds and furious billows, add to the in­ tended dramatic effect. A metaphorical interpretation of the Ytl Jang story might be taken to imply Ch'en Wei-sung's own service in the

Manchu government.

Sometimes the external world is used to counterpoint the poet's inner feelings, as in the stanza:

By the water side, willow eyes Peer over the fragrant bank. '" Before the wind, swallows' tails Freely cut the sunny sedge. Foreign state in springtime, A middle-aged perception. (HHLTC 24:12b-13a)

Here, in his use of figurative language, the poet depicts vividly the harmony of spring. Against this pleasant and harmonious spring scene, 101 the melancholy of the poet's feelings of advancing age and nostalgia for the past is strengthened.

Poem No. 14 is another example of the use of contrasting elements to enhance the emotional texture of the poem.''" The images of sweet brew, glittering hairpins and the joyful festivities of a wedding day are set over against those depicting the bitter loss of a dear companion: the cold quilt and the lonesome physical surroundings.

The colorful pictures of green willows, white catkins and red 2 holly-hocks in Poem No. 3 is another example. Generally speaking, the color imagery in Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u tends to be bright and clear; the most frequently used colors are red, green, white, black, blue and purple. The use of bright color words probably indicates the ardent, direct, unrestrained or even reckless personality of the poet. In this poem, the bright images of the willow blossom season, the whirling snowy catkin, the sunny window, the brilliant holly-hocks not only evoke a strong sense of temporal change' but also stand in sharp contrast to the cold and indifferent human world felt by the poet.

Together with the image of the sudden draft of a chill wind, they serve to enhance the sense of sadness conveyed by the poem.

His Critics' Judgments

Almost all of Ch'en Wei-sung's critics agree that he is an outstanding tz'u poet of the Ch'ing dynasty. His vigorous style,

1. For a translation of this poem, see p. 79 of this chapter.

2. For a translation of this poem, see p. 61 of this chapter. 102

unrestrained spirit, and dazzling power are also broadly recognized.

For example, Ch'en T'ing-cho, the nineteenth century critic, described

the general characteristics' of Ch'eri Wei-sung1 s tz 'u by quoting

the latter's own words, "It is like a sea monster's thunderous roar

and ten thousand horses neighing in one voice.

Ch'en Wei-sung has been praised as having a surpassing sensi­

tivity for the psychological states of grief and happiness, owing to

his own natural tendencies and the career frustrations that he ex-

perienced. 2 His tz'u have also been applauded as being kaleidoscopic

in both pattern and content.^ The splendors of his tz'u have also

been compared to a Northern Chinese beauty. Though lacking in the

gentle gracefulness of a fine Southern lady, they are said to show a strong temperament and an attractive appearance.4

On the other hand, his tz'u have been said to be too straight­

forward and direct in expression and lacking in the suggestive power

1. This is what Ch'en Wei-sung said about Ts'ao Chen-chi (tzu Sheng-lu). See HHLTC, 28:6a. However, Ch'en T'ing-cho maintained that it fits Wei-sung even better. See Ch'en T'ing-cho (1853-1892), Pai-ytl Chai Tz'u-hua, p. 78.

2. See Chu Tsu-inou's (tzu Ch'iang-ts'un) tz'u to the tune Wang Chiang-nan, entitled "Tsa-t'i Ch'ing-tai Chu-chia tz'u-chi."

3. See HsU-hsiu Ssu-k'u ch'uan-shu T'i-yao, p. 731, and Chiang Chao-lan (tzu Hsiang-ku), Tz'u Shuo"tcl tfu (remarks on the tz'u), in Tz'u-hua Ts'ung-pien (Taipei: Kuang-wen shu-chll, no date), pp. 4273-4285.

4. Hsu-hsiu Ssu-k'u-ch'uan-shu t'i-yao, p. 731. 103

or meaning that goes beyond language, which the nature of the tz'u

genre requires"1" It has also been said that his tz'u poems are rash

and that their rustic nature has sometimes resulted in discordant tones

(chiao-hsiao ^ ).^

His most severe critic, however, is the modern scholar Cheng

Ch'ien, who calls Ch'en Wei-sung the "evil spirit" (t'ien-mo yeh-ch'a

^ ^ ) among tz'u writers and criticizes his tz'u for being

insipid and insincere. Even his prolificacy has been said to be a

result of his reckless attitude toward the writing of tz'u.

The most laudatory comments are those of one of his editors.

Chiang Ching-ch'l, a native and contemporary of Ch'en Wei-sung and

the compiler of the Ch'en Chien-t'ao Tz'u ch'ao "%'fX

said, "In reading his tz'u, one can take them for those (tz'u) by

Su (Shih) and Hsin (Chi-chi), by Chou (Pang-yen) and Ch'in (Kuan), and

by Wen (T'ing-yun) and Wei (Chuang), or for the prose of the Tso-

chuan, the Kuo-yti, the Shih-chi, and the Han-shu, or of the masters of

T'ang and Sung. This is because he was given the talent of tens and

hundreds of common people and because he had the earnest resolution

of the antiquarian. Therefore, his subject matter was not drawn from

one source and his accomplishments were'not limited to one aspect."

1. Ch'en T'ing-cho, pp. 72, 15577, 171-2.

2. Ibid., p. 3.

3. Cheng Ch'ien, "Ch'eng-fu t'an tz'u," in Ts'ung shih tao ch'tt, pp. 249-65.

4. Chiang Ching-ch'i, "Preface to Ch'en Chien-t'ao t'zu- ch'ao," in Ch'en Wei-sung, HHLTC. 104

The following poem has sometimes been quoted to exemplify the

synthetic nature of his tz'u style:

No. 24 Tune: Ch'in-yUan ch'un

Title: An inscription for Hsll Wei-wen's painting "Plum Blossoms on Mount Chung," written in the company of ^ YUn-ch'en, Nan-keng and Ching-shao.

Ten myriads of jasper branches, Vigorous like a young silver dragon, Swift like a jade whale. While too dainty to bear the mist, Their fragrance drifts through the Southern Palace. Delicate and fearful of rain, 2 Their shadows fall on the Western Retreat. Pressing the riversides: pavilions and terraces; In the Fourteen Towers, rejoicing in the grand peace.^ Who enjoy these flowers? There are pearl ornamented nobles, Jade adorned lords.

Now, tides lash the solitary city. Only above the pleasure girls' boats, the moon still shines. Grievous! Night-long cries of crows, Falling blossoms have their plaints.

1. Hsu YUan-lai (tzu Wei-wen), Shih Wei-yllan (tzu YUn-ch'en), Ts'ao Liang-wu (tzu Nan-keng) and Chiang HsU (tzu Ching-shao) were all Ch'en Wei-sung's close friends.

2. "Western Retreat" translates Hsi-ch' ing > a secluded palace chamber on the west side.

3. The Fourteen Towers, Shih-ssu-lou —I" V&? were the government-regulated quarters for courtesans in Nanking during the Ming dynasty. 105 Stone horses of the Five Tombs,^ Running water voiceless. Search and it seems to be absent; Look, it is like a dream. A painted scroll of raw silk, done with tears. I will carry this opus To accompany our leisurely talk by the water and sky, Our remaining years by river and sea. (HHLTC 24:14a)

In the vivid description of this poem, the mood and power of an orig­ inal painting are revealed. Moreover, the poet's feelings are expressed in his interpretation of the painting. The bitterness of losing one's country is felt so deeply yet expressed so gently that this indirectness and suggestivity have been praised as having grasped the exxence of the tz'u.

Whether praising of blaming him as a poet, his critics generally tend to recognize his importance among tz'u poets of the early Ch'ing period. It is, therefore, interesting to learn that

Wang Kuo-wei (1877-1927), an eminent modern tz'u critic, makes no mention whatsoever of Ch'en Wei-sung in his famous critical work

Poetic Remarks in the Human World (Jen Chien Tz'u Hua -A-

One explanation for this lack of recognition could be that generally

Wang believed, as far as a particular literary form is concerned, achievements of later times did not measure up to those of former days.

To him, Na-lan Hsing-te was the only great tz'u poet of post-Sung times.2

1. The Five Tombs (Wu-ling JL rSL ) refer to the imperial tombs of five Han dynasty emperors, all located in the vicinity of Ch'ang-an (present day Sian, Shensi). Here this term is used to refer to the tombs of the Ming dynasty emperors located in Nanking. Sculptured stone horses are sometimes set in front of tombs.

2. Wang Kuo-wei, Jen Chien Tz'u Hua, pp. 36-38. CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

Partisan, wrangling at the Ming court came to an unexpected end when the notorious palace eunuch Wei Chung-hsien was entrusted with almost dictatorial powers by the T'ien-ch'i emperor (Hsi-tsung).

Hundreds of officials associated with the Tung-lin party were purged by Wei and various Tung-lin academies were ordered to be destroyed.

The tradition of political criticism and opposition to the powerful eunuch faction practiced by the Tung-lin members, however, was carried on by the Fu-she organization. But their struggle against Wei Chung- hsien and his successor Juan Ta-ch'eng again proved to be unsuccessful.

Some officials lost their lives and others their offices. Both Ch'en

Wei-sung's grandfather and father were victims of these political conflicts.

Together with governmental corruption and peasant rebellions, the partisan struggles paralyzed the Ming government and contributed to the collapse of the dynasty. The alien Manchus who came to rule China therefore met relatively little organized opposition. Despite some sporadic resistance from Ming loyalists and the hesitancy of some

Confucian scholars to serve the new government, the Manchu's contention that they came as the preservers of the Ming heritage was widely

106 107

accepted. Moreover, both the po-hsUeh hung-ju examination and the

Ming dynasty history project helped to appease some recalcitrant

scholars and to ease divisive tendencies.

Ch'en Wei-sung participated in both the po-hsUeh hung-ju

examination and the Ming dynasty history project. Considering that

he and his family were seriously affected by the corruption and chaos

of the Ming government in its final years, it is understandable that

he was less reluctant than some other contemporary Chinese scholars to

welcome the new government and to seek employment in it. On the

other hand, as a descendant of a high-ranking official of the Ming

court, Ch'en Wei-sung also felt regret for the decline and destruction

of the native Ming dynasty.

Torn between a desire to render service to the new Manchu

government and his lingering attachment for the previous dynasty,

Chfen Wei-sung's distressed psychological state manifested itself in his writings and in the unhappiness he experienced in the Ch'ing

capital in his last years. This reaction typifies the mixed feelings

of many Chinese scholars of the transition period from Ming to Ch'ing, who, on the one hand, welcomed Manchu rule for liberating them from social and political chaos and showing an appreciation for their literary talents, but, on the other hand, acknowledged their ties with

the "mother dynasty" and showed in one way or another their sorrow for its downfall.

While the prose form was mostly used by Ch'en Wei-sung for general social and literary observations, it is in his poetry that we 108 detect his innermost personal feelings. Though he began to write in the shih form in his childhood and adopted the tz'u form only at a comparatively late date, the tz'u became almost the sole poetic medium of his thoughts in the last decade of his life. The copious output of those years made him the most prolific writer not only of the Ch'ing era but of the entire history of the tz'u.

In the intermingling of lamentations for the lack of public recognition and the vanished glories of the past, we can see that his personal misfortunes coincided with the tragic fate of the Ming dynasty. This conjunction found reflection in the two favorite themes of his tz'u: feelings of personal suffering and the futility of human striving. He also applied the tz'u form to social criticism, philosophical remarks, and the recording, though to a limited extent, of his occasional contentment with life and tranquility of mind.

It is apparent that he did not confine himself to the traditional asthetic values associated with this form: those of depicting only feminine psychology and sensuous moods.

The heroic and unrestrained style which he adopted lent great power and appeal to his tz'u. In spite of the use of abundant allu­ sions, a sense of vividness and spontaneity is retained in his tz'u.

In the fusion of scene and emotion, feelings of melancholy, sorrow, resentment, relaxation, happiness, expectation, etc., are all effec­ tively conveyed. The use of color words, rhyming compounds, alliter­ ation, antithesis, and historical and literary allusions and metaphors 109

serve to lend both depth and strength to his poetry. Even in using

old images, he often lent them new life.

Although he has sometimes been criticized for being careless

of what was believed to be the fragile nature of tz'u poetry, he is

nontheless generally recognized as being one of the most important

tz'u writers of the Ch'ing dynasty. Moreover, the unrestrained style

and expanded thematic range which characterize his tz'u were develop­

ments essential to the revival of this form in the Ch'ing era.

The Ch'ing dynasty witnessed a renaissance in the literary

arts, among which the revival of the tz'u form after three hundred

years of declining delineates a milestone in the development of this

genre. The deterioration of tz'u poetry after the Sung dynasty is

attributable not only to the literary environment but to the short­

comings of the genre itself.

The tz'u was originally associated with music and dependent

on the world of entertainment. At the beginning of the Yllan dynasty,

when its role in popular entertainment was gradually replaced by the

ch'U, which reflected somewhat different musical styles, the tz'u was

relegated to an inferior position due to its limited subject matters.

The most significant aspect of the Ch'ing dynasty revival of

the tz'u was its gaining a new stature as an acceptable literary

genre. Ch'en Wei-sung's efforts in this respect were outstanding.

Tracing its origins back to the tradition of the Book of Songs, Ch'en

Wei-sung argued the importance of the tz'u not only as song-lyrics but

also as an independent literary form. In advocating allegorical and 110 metaphorical meanings in the tz'u, he acknowledged its capacity to convey more serious emotions and intellectual perceptions. He main­ tained the usefulness of tz'u for personal enlightenment and social improvement and applied to it all the standards that were applicable to the shih.

In sum, being a scholar-official of the Ming-Ch'ing transi­ tional period, Cn'en Wei-sung's life and thought are valuable for our understanding af the intellectual and literary history of that period.

Being an advocate and writer of tz'u poetry, Ch'en Wei-sung made important contributions, in both theory and in actual practice, to the revival of the tzfu in the seventeenth century, and this accomplishment was to influence later developments in the eighteenth and the nine­ teenth centuries. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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