Words: 1883
It is arranged under 4 heads: * Ballads commonly sung by people in the various feudal states * Odes sung at ordinary entertainments given by the suzerain * Odes sung on grand occasions when feudal lords gathered together * Panegyrics and Sacrificial odes 4) I Chining (Book of Changes) – consists of 64 essays with themes mostly of moral, social, political character and a system of philosophy. The texts are followed by commentaries called the Ten Wings 5) Chuan Chi’s (Spring and Autumn Annals) – chronological record of chief events in the state of Lu, the native state of Confucius Taoism- seeks out the essential laws of nature that govern our lives * Founded by
Ala TTS, said to be a contemporary of Confucius * Ala Tutu’s philosophy was recorded in the Ta The Chining * Believes that man can become supernatural and immortal * Man in on equal level with all other creatures * Tao is the way or path to perfection, search for the absolute * Strongly favored self discipline and looked upon nature as the architect of essential laws Buddhism- encourages a new respect for all living things and brought with it the idea of reincarnation * Preaches the golden rule and the harmony of balance * Arrived in China via the Silk trading route Declared that by destroying the causes of all suffering, mankind could attain perfect enlightenment * Characterized with Kong (emptiness) and Jinn (calmness), Jinn being the central notion Chinese inventions include paper, gunpowder and block printing, which was invented by Fen Tao Marco Polo- discovered the wealth of China under the Court of Kabuki Khan in the Mongol dynasty Kabuki Khan- first foreign ruler of China under the Mongol dynasty, made Peking the capital, was a confirmed Buddhist and paid great honor to Confucius and literature Three modes of Chinese thought ) Confucian Conformity with benevolent regard for ancestral spirits 2) Taoist Mysticism with absolute individual freedom of choice 3) Han Fee-TTS the ancient communist formula for social order based on the actual facts of the world as it now exists Literary Background Oral tradition- mode of earliest Chinese mythology Earliest myths had an astrological theme, not written down until post-Confucian culture Government position depended upon literary talent Narratives and Fiction were not considered literature; major fictional works written ruling ten Ml dynasty Include Romance AT ten I inner Oklahoman Day Lou Guanos ND The Journey to the West by Www Change Yuan Dynasty- the Golden Age of Chinese Drama; among the notable plays include The Western Chamber by Wang Shift and Injustice to Too O by Guan Hanging Four Characteristics of Chinese Literature 1) Antiquity- reflects how old China is 2) Amount- vast record of various forms of literature 3) Anonymity- it is the work that matter, not the name 4) Influenced by the outstanding philosophies/religions of China Hush TTS- the first writer of Chinese If/Prose Poem Chug Yuan- China’s first known poet Characteristics of Chinese Poetry 1) Brevity- long poems do not appeal to the Chinese. Brevity is the soul of a Chinese poem. According to Wang Wet, “Every poem is a painting and every painting is a poem”.
The ideal length of a poem is 12 lines. Favorite poems were in the likes of Lu- shih (8 lines) and Couch-chug (4 line epigram) 2) Subtlety- Chinese poetry is never obvious; they have the gift of circumlocution 3) Suggestive- To the Chinese, suggestion is the very essence of real poetry. Value comes not from what is said, but what from is being suggested. 4) Three-fold appeal- It appeals to the emotion, imagination and intellect. 5) Favorite Themes include: a. Friendship rather than love b. Old age and separation rather than death c. Wars d. Belief of parallels between the world of men and of spirits 6) The fundamental dichotomy of Chinese poetry- realism and lyricism Vs..
Romanticism and Imagination Classes of Chinese Poetry Proper Poetry has three forms 1) Lu-Shih or Code verse- It contains two or more parallel couplets 2) Gu-It/Gu-Shih (Old Style/Poetry)- More popular than the Code Verse, drops the parallelism entirely except where the poet purposely re-introduces it for a mood 3) Change Dunn Juju- Free verse but with rhymes * Chi or Song- nowadays it is nothing but an intricate tonal pattern to which the Ritter sets characters: Titan Chi (filling out a pattern), Chi writers excelled in the art of Impressionism, always accompanied by instrumental music * Ge or Songs- refer to folk songs, exclusively vocal, elaborate music * If or Descriptive poem- a heap of parallel couplets of varying lengths * Hue-If or Music Bureau- often originated from the common people, rich in narrative content and filled with lament over social issues * Odes- composed of four characters, conveys cryptic meaning, gives vivid pictures, didactic and talks about the virtue of Filial Piety and Propriety Literature of ten rang Dynasty Lie Pop represents the rise of the Tang Dynasty and Tu If represents the decline of the period * Strictly regulated Lu-Shih was perfected, 8 lines * Couch-Chug is a stop-short poem with 4 lines, notable poet was LU Tuscan-Yuan * TTS is the most aesthetic form of old Chinese poetry, a single libretto written in irregular meter, melancholic, suggestive and sensuous, notable poet was Hiss Chi’s- Chi * World’s oldest printed book- a collection of Buddhist scriptures, printed in China 868 A. D. Mahayana Buddhism influenced the intimate poetry * Mining Hung was responsible for establishing the Theater * Period when short story began Han You was one of the leaders of Neo-Confucianism Literature of the Sung Dynasty * Represents the great age of Chinese Literature * Huh Pen were handbooks with anecdotes and verses designed to entertain listeners * Shih are lyrics following many vivid patters of the Hue If type and are of fragile beauty * San Chou is a new type of poetry, free in rhythm and less literary in language * Chug Gung TIA was a new musical style for story telling which employed a number of melodies in different modes within a single work Nu Wa Peoples the Earth ; The War between the Gods of Fire and Water Pan Gu- giant whose body became the gods and the earth
Nu Wa- powerful goddess, her consort was If Xi strange appearance of having the upper half of a woman and the half of a snake; can change appearance up to seventy times a day * Created the first set of humans by molding them from clay in the river bed, this batch were to be the rich and fortunate people of the world * The second set of humane were created when Nu Wa dipped a branch of Mulberry in the mud and shook it; the mud drops became humans who were to lead ordinary lives * Gong Gong was the god of Water who fought with Gorgon who was the god of Fire * On the fourth day, Gorgon defeated Gong Gong and Gong Gong fell to the earth Gong Gong wanted to commit suicide and rammed his head on a mountain, causing the sky to collapse and floods that devastated the people of the earth and causing rivers
Young and Tuna at thirteen years, Can hardly distinguish six from seven” * Ah- Nassau Is ten eldest; Young & loan are two 3 years 010 “lung Uzi Witt nine years behind him… Bring on, bring on The thing within the cup” * Taunt TTS is 9 years old, carefree; the father drinks to drown his depression of his sons * The fifth son is not mentioned being the youngest; fear of superstition From Twenty Views of Wang-Chuan by Wang Wee Wang Wee * Once a doctor * Turned to Buddhism * Buddhism affected his poetry Mange-chosen Hollow * Mange-chosen=river * “A new home at the mouth of Mange-chosen… Old trees-last of a stand of dying willows” * New house, old trees The Hill * Also known as Deer Fence; speaker is a deer * “Empty hills, no one in sight… Only the sound of someone talking” * Sense of sight and hearing; animal being wary of humans * “late sunlight enters the deep wood, shining over the green moss again” * Setting: forest, late afternoon/twilight/ dusk * Poem conveys the concept of Jinn Duckweed Pond * “By the spring pond, deep and wide” The pond is a symbol for life * muff must be waiting for the light boat to return” * Something must close for another to open, someone must leave for him to return From Joys of the Country: Seven Poems * “Lush, lush fragrant grasses in autumn green” * Pizzeria: lush, lush/tall, tall * “Tall, tall towering pines in summer cold” * Oxymoron: summer cold / Metaphor: pines as friends * Natural images * “Little boys know nothing of capped and robed officials” * Last line as the urban setting; politicians In a Village by The River by Lie Pop (the Banished Angel) * “The rain stops in this river villages, The wine gone, you say goodbye” * Liquid mages: nothing remains stagnant * “And what of the one you leave behind?
I return to my rock and my fishing line” * Addressee: someone Lie Pop drank with that left him already; Apostrophe: speaking to someone gone Mountain Drinking Song “10 crown ten ancient sorrows, we rank a unreal Jugs AT wine” Hyperbole: we drank a hundred Jugs of wine; ancient sorrows: problems of man * “and we lay down on the empty mountain-the earth for a pillow, and a blanket made of heaven” * Setting: on the mountain; nature: compassionate, nurturing Addressed Humorously to Tu If * “Here! Is this you on top of Fan-OK mountain, Wearing a huge hat in the noonday UN? ” * Derogatory: “huge hat”=big head * “How thin, how wretchedly thin, you have grown! You must have been suffering from poetry again” * Belittling; writing poetry for To If must be hard for him togged thin * Lie Pop and Tu If are rival friends Sent to Lie Pop as a Gift by Tu If * “Autumn comes, We meet each other” * Lie Pop is not getting younger * inform nature is a spreading fire… But what does all this bravery amount to? Pop is getting out of control, a rebel without a cause Dreaming of Lie Pop * “Parting from the dead, Vive stifled my sobs, but this parting from the living brings e constant pain” * Death brings closure, human nature accepts death * “South of the Yawning is a land of plague and fever; no word comes from the exile” * Siberia of China, deadly place * “Where you go, waters are deep, the waves so wide-don’t let the dragons, the horned dragons harm you! ” * Dragons represent spirit of change Thoughts on A Night Journey * “Reeds by the bark, bending stirred by the breeze, High mastered boat advancing alone in the night” * Metaphor: boat flowing along the river at night??man aging “How should I look for fame to what I have written?
In age and sickness, how continue to serve? ” * Speaker: once famous writer “Wandering, drifting, what can I take for likeliness? A gull that wheels alone between earth and sky’ * Metaphor: a gull that wheels alone between earth and sky = the speaker does not belong anywhere Seeing Hash Chain Off by River * “Because you are old and departing I have wetted my handkerchief, You who are homeless at seventy, belonging to the wilderness” * Synecdoche: handkerchief = specifies a poignant incident, part of a whole * “Anxiously I watch the wind raising as the boat sails away, A white headed man amid white headed waves” * Rough sailing; Synecdoche: white headed man; brave man facing the waves