A Comprehensive Study of Tang Poetry II

Lin Geng

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000283716
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Letteratura
• Subtopic: Critica letteraria asiatica

Tang poetry is one of the most valuable cultural inheritances of Chinese history. Its distinctive aesthetics, delicate language and diverse styles constitute great Literature in itself, as well as a rich topic for literary study. This two-volume set constitutes a classic analysis of Tang poetry in the "Golden Age" of Chinese poetry (618–907 CE).

This volume focuses on the prominent Tang poets and poems. Beginning with an introduction to the "four greatest poets"—Li Bai, Du Fu, Wang Wei, and Bai Juyi—the author discusses their subjects, language, influence, and key works. The volume also includes essays on a dozen of masterpieces of Tang poetry, categorized by topics such as love and friendship, aspirations

and seclusion, as well as travelling and nostalgia. As the author stresses, Tang poetry is worth rereading because it makes us invigorate our mental wellbeing, leaving it powerful and full of vitality.

This book will appeal to researchers and students of Chinese literature, especially of classical Chinese poetry. People interested in Chinese culture will also benefit from the book.

1 The four great Tang poets

The four great poets of the Tang Dynasty we will discuss are Wang Wei, Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi (772–846). Li Bai and Du Fu are the greatest poets in the Tang poetry circle. Their greatness lies in their vigorous pursuit of ideals and their tenacity to face the darkness. In feudal society, there are always struggles between the bright side and the dark side even in a flourishing age, only that the former has the upper hand. Therefore, Li Bai always took a critical and contemptuous attitude towards the forces that hindered social development, and always proposed higher requirements on the time, which is the embodiment of his ideal and confidence. Even in the An Shi Rebellion, Li Bai did not lose his confidence. He firmly believed that the An Shi rebels and the evil forces in the royal court would end together, and on this basis, everything would have a new beginning. A new court would be more vibrant, and he would be vigorous in realising his great ambition and in implementing his political ideal of “making the world secure and united”. Therefore, Li Bai spent his whole life enthusiastically eulogising his ideals and became the most heroic poet in the High Tang. Du Fu also struggled for his ideals all his life. Living in the whirlpool of the An Shi Rebellion, he wrote many poems reflecting the war, even though he always hoped to return to the High Tang. With great confidence in their brilliant poems, they illuminated the entire poetry circle with such lines as “The southern chief surrendered to the northern saint”, “The five royal tombs always have the best fortune” (“Sorrow for the Emperor’s Grandson”), “How can the fate of Hu people last? / The royal tie should not be cut off”, and “What a great cause of Emperor Taizong / Whose achievements are truly magnificent” (“Northern Expedition”). However, each poet has his merits in the whole poetry circle. Other prominent representatives of Tang poets are Wang Wei and Bai Juyi, second only to Li and Du. Wang Wei, fond of a simple life, became a hermit in his old age, as he states in “In my later years, I was quiet, / And I didn’t care about anything” (“Presented to Privy Treasurer Zhang”). In his later years, Bai Juyi became the “Hermit in the Fragrance Hill”, also called the “Drunken Chanter”, living a “half secluded” life. What he did has a foundation from the ancient time, as shown in “when successful, you should benefit the world; when poor, you should cultivate yourself”. Li Bai, therefore, says:

I’m fond of Master Meng Fuzi, / Whose talent is famed in the world. / Rose-cheeked, he quit his official career. / White-haired, he lies under pines and clouds. / Often drunken with the moon like a saint, / He serves flowers more than the Emperor. / How can I adore his peak-high virtue? / Here I can only honour his grandeur.

(“To Meng Haoran”)

Du Fu says: “The noble Right Minister Wang not seen, / Hills and valleys in the Blue Field grow cold vines” (“Twelve Poems on Boredom Killing”). They were related to “peak-high virtue” or “the noble”. It can be seen that at that time their seclusion was beyond reproach, and we shall not be too critical about them.

Wang Wei and Li Bai were born about ten years before the High Tang. At the beginning of the High Tang, they were in their adolescence, facing the vigorous High Tang, and singing its hearty sounds. Each represented the various achievements in the poetry circle. Li Bai is such a prominent figure that as soon as we begin to read his works, we will immediately feel an extraordinary power. Therefore, he is a typical model at the height of the poetic era. Wang Wei is a more comprehensive model. He has earned his fame at the beginning of the High Tang, reflecting the universal prosperity of the entire poetry circle, on which more outstanding poets like Li Bai appeared. Thus, we might as well discuss Wang Wei first.

I Wang Wei’s comprehensive artistic talents

Wang Wei is a comprehensive model, first because he fully reflects the prosperous atmosphere of the High Tang, which has not only sufficient political and economic development, but a high degree of cultural achievements. His profound accomplishments in various arts made him a universal representative. Well versed in music, he was once a Music Aide in his early years. Legend has it that he once wrote a pipa tune “Gloomy Ring Robe”, and was able to play it himself. According to the Complement to the National History and the new and old History of the Tang, someone had the “Drawing of Music Playing” while not knowing the name of the music. Wang Wei pointed out that it’s a painting of the first part of the third refrain of the “Tune of Rainbow Skirt and Feather Robe”. It was proven true after musicians were summoned to play the music. Although these legends are not fully believable, they are widely spread, at least showing that Wang Wei’s musical accomplishment has been well known. Wang Wei is proficient not only in music, but in painting. His achievements in painting are more recognised nationwide. His “Occasional Writings” No. 6 states: “I was a poet in my last life / And a master of painting earlier”. Obviously, he is quite self-assured in painting. These various artistic accomplishments made Wang Wei able to achieve successes in the field of arts, so he became a perfect representative of the High Tang culture, i.e., a comprehensive model. In poetry creation, Wang Wei further showed his comprehensive artistic talents.

The primary forms of the Tang poetry are five-character and seven-character, while few excellent works are in the form of Chuci. However, Wang Wei has extraordinary poems such as:

Boom! Bang! Drums are beaten

At the foot of the Fish Mountain.

Blow bamboo flutes;

Look far at the waterside.

The witches come in

And begin to dance.

What a gorgeous feast

With wine clear and fine!

The sad wind comes with the night rain,

But the goddess may or may not come,

Which makes my heart bitter and cold.

—“Song of Welcoming the Goddess” from “Songs of the Goddess Temple at the Fish Mountain”

She comes in to worship at the hall’s front.

Her eyes gently fall on the grand feast.

She comes silently, saying nothing.

She invites the night rain to the empty mount.

Flutes of sorrow are played quickly;

Numerous chords are echoing around.

Her spirit drives away as in a whirl.

Clouds are gone, the rain is over,

Mountains are green, and water is rippling.

—“Song of Seeing off the Goddess” from “Songs of the Goddess Temple at the Fish Mountain”

Staying late is the Northern Star.

I feel sad for things against us.

I stop my horse between two trees.

In the green mount I won’t be back.

— “Looking at the Zhongnan Mountains: A Song for the Imperial Secretary Xu”

They might be unsurpassed masterpieces after “Nine Songs”. If Li Bai was mainly influenced by “Li Sao”, then Wang Wei inherited the tradition of “Nine Songs”. “Li Sao” is dramatic, while “Nine Songs” are more poetic, which shows the two poets’ difference. As for the five- and seven-character poetry at that time, Wang Wei achieved a great deal in both poetic forms. Among the High Tang poets, Li Bai wrote fewer regulated poems, Du Fu wrote fewer quatrains, while Wang Wei balanced his talents and achieved universal success. If the High Tang poetry has all the forms, then they are all reflected in Wang Wei’s poetry.

Wang Wei wrote poems about every subject. We usually think that Wang Wei is a landscape poet, and that his landscape poems are deep, quiet, and lonely, represented by his poems written about the Rim River (also Wangchuan) in his later years such as “None is seen in the empty mount; / Only a human voice is heard. / Sunlight breaks into the deep forest, / And shines on the green moss again”. However, as a matter of fact, Wang Wei’s popularity among people at that time was not dependent on such poems. Fraternal Remarks at Cloud Stream states:

(Li) Guinian once sang at a banquet for the Royal Emissary to central Hunan: “Red beans in the southern land / Grow several twigs in spring. / I ask you to gather a few more, / As they are symbols of missing.

He also sang, “In the moonlit wind, yearnings attack me. / You’ve been in force for more than ten years. / The day you went, I advised you in tears / To send me more letters when geese come back”. These poems were written by the Right Minister Wang and have been sung by the operatic circle till now.

In Anthology of Poems: Spirits of Mountains and Rivers, poems from the year of the First Tiger (the second year of Kaiyuan, 714) to the 12th year of Tianbao (753) were selected, and Wang Wei was recommended as the top contemporary spirit. However, even he was paid much attention to, his works in seclusion were not emphasised in the collection. It can be seen that Wang Wei’s influential poems at that time were not mainly about seclusion, so we might as well talk about his frontier fortress poems first. There are more than 30 surviving frontier fortress poems by Wang Wei. By contrast, Li Qi, commonly known as a frontier fortress poet, has extant poems fewer than ten, and Wang Changling has just over 20 in existence. To classify the High Tang poets into landscape poets and frontier fortress poets would have hindered us from understanding a poet in an all-round way. It seems that Wang Wei’s representative frontier fortress poem has only two lines: “In the vast desert a lone smoke rises up; / In the long river the setting sun is full” in “Envoy to the Fortress” because it describes the landscape. In fact, Wang Wei’s poems on frontier fortress are not only numerous but also excellent, as in:

For ten li, the steed kept running.

It ran five li with each whipping!

The chief’s army letter arrived:

The Huns are attacking J...