Chinese literature

Essay 1

Pick ​one​ of the following books and discuss 2–3 of the passages from it provided below. Be sure to describe how ​the literary form contributes to the meaning​ of the passages, and note any connections between the passages you choose to write about. Some key terms you may wish to use are:

● exposition (賦) ● comparison (比) ● affective image (興) ● simile ● metaphor ● repetition ● onomatopoeia ● aphorism ● chiasmus ● contrast ● list (catalogue) ● dialogue ● parable ● couplet ● parallelism ● convention ● allusion ● speaker ● poet

Your essay should be about 500–700 words in length, or roughly 2–3 pages of double-spaced, 12-point font with 1-inch margins. You may use your books, consult your notes, and review lectures. You may not collaborate with anyone else. Please consult the “Guide for Essays” on Gauchospace. Please upload your completed essay to Gauchospace before ​Thursday, July 9,​ ​11:59pm​.

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1. ​Book of Songs​ 詩經 Song #36, “How Few” How few of us are left, how few! Why do we not go back? Were it not for our prince and his concerns, What should we be doing here in the dew? How few of us are left, how few! Why do we not go back? Were it not for our prince and his concerns, What should we be doing here in the mud? 式微式微，胡不歸？微君之故，胡為乎中露？ 式微式微，胡不歸？微君之躬，胡為乎泥中？ Song #55, “Little Bay of the Qi” Look at that little bay of the Qi, Its kitesfoot so delicately waving. Delicately fashioned is my lord, As thing cut, as thing filed, As thing chiseled, as thing polished. Oh, the grace, the elegance! Oh, the luster, oh, the light! Delicately fashioned is my lord; Never for a moment can I forget him. Look at that little bay of the Qi, Its kitesfoot so fresh. Delicately fashioned is my lord, His ear-plugs are of precious stones, His cap-gems stand out like stars. Oh, the grace, the elegance! Oh, the luster, the light! Delicately fashioned is my lord; Never for a moment can I forget him.

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Look at that little bay of the Qi, Its kitesfoot in their crowds. Delicately fashioned is my lord, As a thing of bronze, a thing of white metal, As a scepter of jade, a disc of jade. How free, how easy He leant over his chariot-rail! How cleverly he chaffed and joked, And yet was never rude! 瞻彼淇奧，綠竹猗猗，有匪君子，如切如磋，如琢如磨，瑟兮僩兮，赫兮咺兮，有匪君子

，終不可諼兮。 瞻彼淇奧，綠竹青青，有匪君子，充耳琇瑩，會弁如星，瑟兮僩兮，赫兮咺兮，有匪君子

，終不可諼兮。 瞻彼淇奧，綠竹如簀，有匪君子，如金如錫，如圭如璧，寬兮綽兮，倚重較兮，善戲謔兮

，不為虐兮。 Song #81, “Along the Highroad” If along the highroad I caught hold of your sleeve, Do not hate me; Old ways take time to overcome. If along the highroad I caught hold of your hand, Do not be angry with me; Friendship takes time to overcome. 遵大路兮，摻執子之袪兮。無我惡兮，不寁故也。 遵大路兮，摻執子之手兮。無我魗兮，不寁好也。

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2. ​Analects of Confucius​ 論語 1.16. The Master said: “Don’t worry if people don’t recognize your merits; worry that you may not recognize theirs.” 子曰：「不患人之不己之，患不知人也。」 2.14. The Master said: “The gentleman considers the whole rather than the parts. The small man considers the parts rather than the whole.” 子曰：「君子周而不比，小人比而不周。」 14.10. The Master said: “To be poor without resentment is difficult; to be rich without arrogance is easy.” 子曰：「貧而無怨，難；富而無驕，易。」 15.8. The Master said: “When dealing with a man who is capable of understanding your teaching, if you do not teach him, you waste the man. When dealing with a man who is incapable of understanding your teaching, if you do not teach him, you waste your teaching. A wise teacher wastes no man and wastes no teaching.” 子曰：「可與言，而不與之言，失人；不可與言，而與之言，失言。知者不失人，亦不失

言。」 15.23. The Master said: “A gentleman does not approve of a person because he expresses a certain opinion, nor does he reject an opinion because it is expressed by a certain person.” 子曰：「君子不以言舉人；不以人廢言。」

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3. ​Zhuangzi​ 莊子 From chapter 1 (Ziporyn, pages 7–8) Huizi said to Zhuangzi, “The King of Wei gave me the seed of a great gourd. I planted it, and when it matured it weighed over a hundred pounds. I filled it with liquid, but it was not firm enough to lift. I cut it in half to make a dipper, but it was too wide to scoop into anything. It was big and all, but it was so useless I finally just smashed it to pieces.”

Zhuangzi said, “You are certainly stupid when it comes to using big things. There was once a man of Song who was skilled at making a balm to keep the hands from chapping. For generations his family had used it to make a living washing silk through the winter. A customer heard about it and asked to buy the recipe for a hundred pieces of gold. The family got together and consulted, saying, ‘We’ve been washing silk for generations and have never earned more than a few pieces of gold; now in one morning we can sell the technique for a hundred. Let’s do it.’ The customer took the balm and presented it to the king of Wu. When Yue started a war with him, the king made the man a general who led his soldiers through a winter water battle with the men of Yue, and beat them big. The man was then enfeoffed as a feudal lord. The power to keep the hands from chapping was one and the same, but one man used it to get an enfeoffment and another couldn’t even use it to avoid washing silk all winter. The difference is all in how the thing is used. You, on the other hand, had a gourd of over a hundred pounds. How is it that you never thought of making it into an enormous vessel for yourself and floating through the lakes and rivers in it? Instead, you worried that it was too wide to scoop into anything, which I guess means the mind of our greatly esteemed master here is still clogged up, occupied with its bushes and branches!” 惠子謂莊子曰：「魏王貽我大瓠之種，我樹之成而實五石，以盛水漿，其堅不能自舉也。

剖之以為瓢，則瓠落無所容。非不呺然大也，吾為其無用而掊之。」 莊子曰：「夫子固拙於用大矣。宋人有善為不龜手之藥者，世世以洴澼絖為事。客

聞之，請買其方百金。聚族而謀曰：『我世世為洴澼絖，不過數金；今一朝而鬻技百金，

請與之。』客得之，以說吳王。越有難，吳王使之將。冬與越人水戰，大敗越人，裂地而

封之。能不龜手，一也；或以封，或不免於洴澼絖，則所用之異也。今子有五石之瓠，何

不慮以為大樽而浮乎江湖，而憂其瓠落無所容？則夫子猶有蓬之心也夫！」 From chapter 13 (Ziporyn, page 116) Duke Huan was reading up in his pavilion, whillel Wheelwright Flatty was hewing a wheel below. Putting down his hammer and chisel, he ascended and asked Duke Huan, “Sir, may I ask what sort of words you are perusing?”

The duke said, “The words of the sages.” “Are those sages still alive?”

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“They are dead,” said the duke. “Then what you are perusing is no more than the dregs and dust of the ancients.” Duke Huan said, “Does a wheelwright dare pass judgment on what his ruler reads? If you

can explain yourself, well and good. If not, you shall die.” Wheelwright Flatty said, “I am looking at it from the point of view of my own profession.

In hewing a wheel, if I spin slowly and make the hub too loose, it attaches easily to the crossbar but not firmly. If I spin quickly and make it too tight, I have to struggle to attach it, and it never really gets all the way in. I have to make it not too loose and not too tight, my hand feeling it and my mind constantly receptive to it. I cannot explain this with my mouth, and yet there is a certain knack to the procedure. I cannot even get my own son to grasp it, so even he has no way to learn it from me. Thus I am already seventy years old and still here busily hewing wheels as an old man. The ancients died, and that which they could not transmit died along with them. So I say that what you, my lord, are perusing is just the dregs and dust of the ancients, nothing more!” 桓公讀書於堂上，輪扁斲輪於堂下，釋椎鑿而上，問桓公曰：「敢問：公之所讀者何言

邪？」 公曰：「聖人之言也。」 曰：「聖人在乎？」 公曰：「已死矣。」 曰：「然則君之所讀者，古人之糟粕已夫！」 桓公曰：「寡人讀書，輪人安得議乎？有說則可，无說則死。」 輪扁曰：「臣也以臣之事觀之。斲輪，徐則甘而不固，疾則苦而不入，不徐不疾，

得之於手而應於心，口不能言，有數存焉於其間。臣不能以喻臣之子，臣之子亦不能受之

於臣，是以行年七十而老斲輪。古之人與其不可傳也死矣，然則君之所讀者，古人之糟魄

已夫！」 From chapter 17 (Ziporyn, pages 134–35) Ruo of the Northern Sea said, “You cannot discuss the sea with a well turtle, for he is limited in space. You cannot discuss ice and snow with a summer insect, for he is fixed in his own time. And you cannot discuss the Course (Dao) with a nook-and-corner scholar, for he is bound by his doctrines. Now that you have emerged from your dusty banks and had a look at the great ocean, you finally realize how hideous you are! Only now can you be spoken to about the Great Coherence.

“There is no body of water in the world larger than the ocean. All the rivers revert to it ceaselessly, yet it is not filled. It leaks away at Weilu continuously, yet it is not emptied. Unchanging in both spring and autumn, it is unaffected by either floods or droughts. Its superiority to all the streams and rivers is beyond calculation, but I have never for this reason thought much of myself. For if I compare myself to all the beings taking shape between heaven

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and earth and receiving vital energy from the yin and yang, I see that my position between heaven and earth is like that of a small stone or a tiny weed on a vast mountain. [...]

The River God said, “Then I should consider heaven and earth large, and the tip of an autumnal hair small—is that right?”

Ruo of the Northern Sea said, “Not at all. For there is no end to the comparative measuring of things, no stop to the changing times, no constancy to the ways things can be divided up, no fixity to their ends and beginnings. Thus when a person of great wisdom contemplates both the far and the near, he does not find what is small to be paltry nor what is great to be much, for he knows that comparative measurings are endless.” 北海若曰：「井蛙不可以語於海者，拘於虛也；夏蟲不可以語於冰者，篤於時也；曲士不

可以語於道者，束於教也。今爾出於崖涘，觀於大海，乃知爾醜，爾將可與語大理矣。 天下之水，莫大於海，萬川歸之，不知何時止而不盈；尾閭泄之，不知何時已而不虛；春

秋不變，水旱不知。此其過江河之流，不可為量數。而吾未嘗以此自多者，自以比形於天

地，而受氣於陰陽，吾在[於]天地之間，猶小石小木之在大山也。[......] 河伯曰：「然則吾大天地而小豪末，可乎？」 北海若曰：「否。夫物，量无窮，時无止，分无常，終始无故。是故大知觀於遠近

，故小而不寡，大而不多：知量无窮。 From chapter 26 (Ziporyn, page 224) A fish trap is there for the fish. When you get the fish, you forget the trap. A snare is there for the rabbits. When you get the rabbits, you forget the snare. Words are there for the intent. When you get the intent, you forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words, so I can have a word with him? 荃者所以在魚，得魚而忘荃；蹄者所以在兔，得兔而忘蹄；言者所以在意，得意而忘言。

吾安得夫忘言之人而與之言哉？

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4. ​Selected Poetry of Du Fu ​杜甫詩選

Painted Hawk 畫鷹

Frosty winds rise from plain white silk, 素練風霜起

a gray hawk, the painting wondrously done. 蒼鷹畫作殊

It perks up its body, longing for the crafty hare, 㩳身思狡兔

4 it looks sidelong, like a melancholy Hu. 側目似愁胡

One could pinch the light on its tie-ring, 絛镟光堪擿

on the porch its stance can be summoned. 軒楹勢可呼

When will it strike the common birds?— 何當擊凡鳥

8 blood and feathers sprinkling weeds of the plain. 毛血灑平蕪

Weary at Night 倦夜

The bamboo’s cool intrudes into my bedroom, 竹涼侵臥內

a wilderness moon fills the corner of the yard. 野月滿庭隅

The heavy dews begin to drip and trickle, 重露成涓滴

4 sparse stars, suddenly there, then not. 稀星乍有無

Flying in darkness, fireflies cast their own light, 暗飛螢自照

staying the night on the water, birds call to each other.

水宿鳥相呼

All that happens amid the clash of arms— 萬事干戈裏

8 I grieve in vain that clear night forges on. 空悲清夜徂

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Stirred by Autumn: Eight Poems 秋興八首

IV

四

I have heard tell that in Chang’an it’s like playing chess, 聞道長安似弈棋

a hundred-year span, the world’s troubles, grief beyond enduring. 百年世事不勝悲

Mansions of counts and princes all have new masters, 王侯第宅皆新主

those in civil and army uniforms differ from olden times. 文武衣冠異昔時

Straight north past fortified mountains kettledrums are thundering; 直北關山金鼓振

from wagon and horse on western campaigns winged dispatches rush. 征西車馬羽書遲

Fish and dragons grow silent now, autumn rivers grow cold, 魚龍寂寞秋江冷

the life I used to have at home is the longing in my heart. 故國平居有所思

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5. ​The Works of Li Qingzhao ​李清照集 2.1 From “On Song Lyrics” 論詞 (Egan, page 59) Later, Yan Shuyuan [Jidao 幾道, He Fanghui [Zhu 鑄], Qin Shaoyou Guan [觀], and Huang Luzhi [Tingjian 庭堅] appeared, and they were the first to truly understand the genre. But Yan’s works suffer from lack of narrative exposition, and He’s suffer from inadequate substance and classical style. Qin cares only about emotions and has too few literary references. His works are like a beautiful girl from a poor family. Although she may be gorgeous and radiant, she will never have the bearing of a lady from an affluent and high-ranking clan. As for Huang, although he prizes literary allusions, his works have many defects. They are like jade that has blemishes, reducing its value by half. 後晏叔原、賀方回、秦少游、黃魯直出，始能知之。又晏苦無鋪敘；賀苦少典重；秦則專

主情致，而少故實，譬如貧家美女，雖極妍麗豐逸，而終乏富貴態；黃即尚故實，而多疵

病，譬如良玉有瑕，價自減半矣。 3.3 To the tune “The Fisherman Is Proud” 漁家傲 (Egan, page 99) The sky joins billowing cloud-waves to morning mists. The River of Stars begins to turn, a thousand sails dance. My dreaming soul seems to have gone to the Lord of Heaven’s place, where I hear Heaven speak. What is your final destination, it asks, showing real concren. The road is long, I say, and the day already late. I write poetry, but my startling lines are produced in vain. A wind blows thousands of miles, the giant phoenix will soon take flight. Oh wind, do not slacken! Blow my little boat to the distant Isles of Immortals. 天接雲濤連曉霧。星河欲轉千帆舞。彷彿夢魂歸帝所。聞天語。殷勤問我歸何處。 我報路長嗟日暮。學詩謾有驚人句。九萬里風鵬正舉。風休住。蓬舟吹取三山去。 3.12 To the tune “On Top of Phoenix Tower, Recalling Flute Music” 鳳凰臺上憶吹簫 (Egan, page 111–13) Incense lies cold in the golden lion,

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the bedcover is tossed crimson waves, she arises, too languid to comb her hair. The jeweled make-up case gathers dust, as the sun climbs to the curtain hook. She dreads now this longing for a distant one and parting pain, How many things have happened! About to speak, she stops. She’s grown thin of late, not from sickness over wine, not from sadness over autumn. No more, no more! When he left this time a thousand verse of “Yang Pass” would not have detained him. The Wuling man is distant now, clouds lock shut the tower in Qin. There’s only the flowing river before the tower that should remember me staring transfixed, all day long. To the stop I stand and stare, from today on will be added a layer of new sorrow. 香冷金猊，被翻紅浪，起來慵自梳頭。任寶奩塵滿，日上簾鉤。生怕離懷別苦，多少事、

欲說還休。新來瘦，非於病酒，不是悲秋。 休休，這回去也，千萬遍《陽關》，也則難留。念武陵人遠，煙鎖秦樓。惟有樓前流水，

應念我、終日凝眸。凝眸處，從今又添，一段新愁

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