Zong-qi Cai - The Matrix of Lyric Transformation

The Matrix of Lyric Transformation

The Matrix of Lyric Transformation

Poetic Modes and Self-Presentation in Early Chinese Pentasyllabic Poetry

Zong-qi Cai

CENTER FOR CHINESE STUDIES
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
ANN ARBOR

Open access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program.

MICHIGAN MONOGRAPHS IN CHINESE STUDIES

ISSN 1081-9053

SERIES ESTABLISHED 1968

VOLUME 75

Published by Center for Chinese Studies

The University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1290

First Edition 1996

1996 Center for Chinese Studies

The University of Michigan

Printed and made in the United States of America

The paper used in this publication conforms to the American National Standard for Information Sciences

Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives ANSI/NISO/Z39.481992.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cai, Zong-qi, date.

The matrix of lyric transformation :

poetic modes and self-presentation in early Chinese pentasyllabic poetry / Zong-qi Cai.

p. cm.

(Michigan monographs in Chinese studies; 75)

ISBN 0-89264-111-8 (alk. paper)

1. Chinese poetry Chin and Han dynasties History and criticism.

2. Yueh fu (Chinese poetry) History and criticism.

3. Tsao, Chih, 192-232 Criticism and interpretation.

4. Juan, Chi, 210-263 Criticism and interpretation.

5. Poetic.

I. Title. II. Series

PL2314.C35 1996

895.12209dc20 96-9730

CIP

ISBN 978-0-89264-111-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-472-03805-3 (paper)
ISBN 978-0-472-12749-8 (ebook)
ISBN 978-0-472-90144-9 (open access)

The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

For my mother
Wei Renqiu
and in memory of my father
Cai Wenxian

Contents

Chapter 1
An Overview:
Pentasyllabic Poetry from the First to the Third Century

Chapter 2
Han Yeh-fu:
Dramatic and Narrative Modes

Chapter 3
Han Ku-shih:
The Emergence of the Lyrical Mode

Chapter 4
Tsao Chih:
The Development of the Lyrical Mode

Chapter 5
Juan Chi:
The Formation of the Symbolic Mode

Chapter 6
Synthesis:
Poetic Modes and Changing Forms of Self-Presentation

Along with the growth of this study from a dissertation to its present form, my contacts with the academic world have widened, and my debts of gratitude to other scholars have accrued accordingly. It gives me great pleasure to express my heartfelt thanks to all those who have helped me along the way.

I must first thank Professors Yu-kung Kao, Willard J. Peterson, and Andrew H. Plaks, who supervised my dissertation at Princeton and have ever since remained a source of scholarly guidance and encouragement in the preparation of this book. My greatest debt of gratitude is owed to Professor Kao, under whom I studied classical Chinese poetry. I have constantly drawn from his tremendous scope of knowledge and benefited from his advice and criticism through conversations and correspondence.

I am immensely grateful to Professor Shuen-fu Lin, who guided my postdoctoral work at Michigan, to Professor Dore J. Levy, who offered constructive comments on the substance and style of my manuscript, and to Professor David L. Rolston, the Director of Publications of the Michigan Center for Chinese Studies, who oversaw the review process in a thoroughly professional manner and yet never ceased to be thoughtful and supportive.

Other scholars, friends, and colleagues have also read my manuscript, either in part or in its entirety, at different stages of its preparation. Professors Eugene C. Eoyang, Donald Holzman, Victor H. Mair, and Donald Munro read different parts of the manuscript and offered many valuable suggestions and criticisms. Professor Jonathan Chaves and my colleagues William L. MacDonald and Chuan-kang Shih recommended various useful works on Chinese oral traditions. My colleague Patricia Ebrey first read the introductory and concluding chapters and suggested ways to improve their form and content. Later she read through the entire manuscript and offered many valuable suggestions. My friend Xiaobing Ji gave generously of his time to read the entire manuscript and suggested stylistic improvements. I am deeply indebted to all of them for saving me from many errors of content and style.

Despite the guidance and help I received from all quarters, there must still be inaccuracies and mistakes of varying gravity, for which I assume full responsibility.

I would like to acknowledge financial support from various institutions. A postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies in 1991-92 gave me much-needed time to transform my dissertation into a book. A William and Flora Hewlett Summer International Research Grant from the University of Illinois, and a research grant from the East Asian Studies Department of Princeton University enabled me to concentrate on the final revision of my manuscript in the summer of 1994. An Arnold O. Beckman Award from the Research Board of the University of Illinois provided me with the resources to enlist the help of Ms. Yao Ping, a graduate assistant, in typing the Chinese and Japanese characters in the aftermatter of this book.

I am grateful for the courtesies shown by the staffs of the Gest Library of Princeton University, the Asian Library of the University of Michigan, and the Asian Library of University of Illinois. A special note of thanks is due to Ms. S. W. Kim at Princeton and Ms. Mamiko Nakamura and Ms. Kazuko Sakaguchi at the University of Illinois, who helped romanize the titles of Japanese books and articles, to Ms. Margaret Mirabelli who copy-edited the manuscript meticulously, and to Norman Mangouni, publications editor at the University of Michigans Center for Chinese Studies.

Finally, my thanks go to my wife, Jing Liao, whose love, caring, and encouragement ensured the steady progress of this study toward this final moment of completion.

The Matrix of Lyric Transformation

CKLT	Kuo Shao-y , ed. Chung-kuo li-tai wen-lun hsan. Rev. Ed. 4 vols. Shanghai: Ku-chi ch u-pan-she, 1979-80.
HCHW	Lu Ch in-li , ed. Hsien-Ch in Han Wei-Chin Nan-Pei-Ch ao shih. Peking: Chung-hua shu-ch, 1983.
JCCC