Rhetoric and the Discourses of Power in Court Culture: China, Europe, and Japan

10. Poetry of Palace Plaint of the Tang: Its Potential and Limitations

chapter฀ Poetry฀of฀Palace฀Plaint฀of฀the฀Tang:฀ Its฀Potential฀and฀Limitations kuo-ying฀wang The฀ “poetry฀ of฀ palace฀ plaint”฀ (gongyuan฀ shi฀ 宮怨詩),฀ refers฀ to฀ poems฀ centered฀on฀the฀frustrations฀of฀neglected฀palace฀ladies฀in฀the฀imperial฀harem.฀ A฀variation฀of฀“poetry฀of฀boudoir฀plaint”฀(guiyuan฀shi฀閨怨詩),฀it฀focuses฀on฀ a฀special฀group฀of฀elite฀women฀who฀resided฀in฀the฀imperial฀palace฀and฀whose฀ primary฀goal฀in฀life฀was฀to฀serve฀the฀emperor.฀ Selected฀for฀their฀beauty฀and฀talents,฀many฀of฀these฀palace฀ladies฀came฀ from฀ the฀ families฀ of฀ great฀ aristocratics฀ and฀ high-ranking฀ officials;฀ others฀ were฀ either฀ tribute฀ from฀ local฀ governments฀ or฀ female฀ relations฀ forfeited฀ by฀officials฀convicted฀of฀crimes.1 ฀They฀usually฀entered฀service฀when฀quite฀ young,฀at฀the฀age฀of฀about฀fifteen฀or฀sixteen.2 ฀As฀long฀as฀they฀lived฀in฀the฀ palace,฀which฀many฀did฀for฀their฀entire฀lifetimes,฀the฀only฀male฀they฀were฀ allowed฀to฀see,฀aside฀from฀eunuchs฀and฀little฀boys,฀was฀the฀emperor.฀Hope฀ of฀happiness฀for฀the฀palace฀lady,฀therefore,฀hung฀upon฀the฀chance฀that฀she฀ might฀attract฀and฀hold฀the฀emperor’s฀favor.฀Potentially,฀she฀could฀achieve฀ that,฀and฀with฀good฀luck,฀she฀might฀even฀rise฀to฀a฀position฀of฀high฀honor.฀ Throughout฀Chinese฀history,฀there฀are฀memorable฀examples฀of฀such฀cases:฀ 曌,฀or฀Empress฀Wu฀Zetian฀武則天),฀consort฀of฀Emperors฀Taizong฀太宗 and฀ Gaozong฀高宗;฀and฀the฀beautiful฀Yang฀Guifei฀楊貴妃,฀favorite฀of฀Emperor฀ Xuanzong฀玄宗฀(r.฀–)฀of฀the฀Tang.฀But฀these฀were฀only฀the฀lucky฀few.฀For฀ there฀were฀literally฀more฀than฀a฀hundred฀formal฀consorts฀and฀concubines฀in฀ the฀harem฀competing฀for฀the฀emperor’s฀favor,฀and฀several฀thousand฀female฀ attendants,฀ including฀ musicians,฀ singers,฀ and฀ dancers฀ ready฀ to฀ catch฀ the฀ emperor’s฀eye.3 ฀It฀is฀obvious฀that฀most฀of฀the฀ladies,฀especially฀the฀consorts฀ and฀concubines,฀were฀destined฀to฀endure฀loneliness฀and฀neglect.฀Confined฀ to฀the฀secluded฀palace,฀guarded฀and฀administered฀by฀eunuchs,฀and฀deprived฀ of฀ all฀ the฀ normal฀ consolations฀ of฀ love,฀ family,฀ friends,฀ and฀ freedom฀ of฀ movement,฀they฀were฀doomed฀to฀a฀life฀of฀despair.฀When฀their฀beauty฀faded฀ and฀all฀hope฀of฀the฀emperor’s฀favor฀was฀gone,฀the฀aging฀palace฀ladies฀would,฀ for฀one฀reason฀or฀another,฀be฀sent฀away.฀Though฀they฀usually฀continued฀to฀ reside฀within฀the฀palace฀precincts,฀some฀chose฀to฀enter฀the฀imperial฀nunnery,฀ and฀others฀were฀assigned฀to฀tend฀former฀emperors’฀funerary฀parks.฀Upon฀ their฀deaths,฀they฀were฀buried฀in฀a฀special฀cemetery฀plot,฀the฀gongren฀xie฀宮 人斜฀(graveyard฀of฀palace฀women),฀outside฀the฀walls฀of฀Chang’an.฀A฀poem฀ titled฀“The฀Graveyard฀of฀Palace฀Ladies”฀(Gongren฀zhong฀宮人塚),฀written฀ by฀Du฀Mu฀杜牧 (–),฀comments฀on฀the฀wasted฀talents฀and฀lives฀of฀ numerous฀palace฀ladies฀who฀spent฀their฀entire฀lifetimes฀waiting฀in฀vain฀to฀ serve฀the฀emperor. Here฀are฀all฀the฀court฀ladies฀from฀the฀detached฀palaces,฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀盡是離宮院中女 Outside฀the฀walls฀of฀the฀imperial฀park,฀their฀graves฀ ฀฀฀฀฀piled฀up.฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀苑牆城外塚累累 When฀young฀they฀entered฀the฀palace฀and฀were฀trained฀to฀ ฀฀฀฀฀sing฀and฀dance,฀ ฀ ฀ ฀ ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀少年入內教歌舞 Until฀their฀death฀they฀did฀not฀know฀who฀the฀emperor฀was.฀4 ฀฀不識君王到死時 The฀neglected฀palace฀ladies,฀physically฀isolated฀and฀emotionally฀deprived,฀ caught฀the฀imaginations฀of฀Chinese฀poets฀and฀thus฀became฀one฀of฀the฀most฀ common฀subjects฀of฀Chinese฀poetry. Of฀course,฀there฀was฀also฀a฀glamorous฀side฀to฀palace฀life,฀made฀up฀of฀ numerous฀imperial฀outings,฀banquets,฀and฀various฀festivals฀and฀games฀in฀ which฀the฀palace฀ladies฀participated฀with฀enthusiasm.฀These฀activities฀were฀ palace฀plaint฀addresses฀not฀the฀surface฀of฀palace฀life฀but฀the฀inner฀feelings฀of฀ these฀women.฀The฀poet฀therefore฀presents฀the฀palace฀lady฀in฀her฀most฀private฀ moments,฀deep฀in฀her฀chamber.฀She฀is฀most฀often฀portrayed฀as฀a฀woman฀ of฀grace฀and฀beauty฀who฀is฀unfortunately฀trapped฀in฀a฀life฀of฀boredom฀and฀ isolation฀in฀her฀palace฀chamber.฀The฀emperor,฀who฀never฀visits,฀is฀deep฀in฀her฀ thoughts;฀she฀waits฀for฀his฀appearance฀with฀a฀sense฀of฀loss฀and฀despair.฀The฀ poignant฀figure฀of฀the฀neglected฀palace฀lady฀often฀reminds฀us฀of฀the฀talented฀ scholar-official฀whose฀devotion฀to฀his฀ruler฀is฀not฀appropriately฀recognized฀ yet฀whose฀loyalty฀and฀commitment฀to฀serve฀never฀ceases. The฀association฀of฀the฀palace฀lady฀with฀the฀scholar-official฀is฀understandable฀ in฀ the฀ context฀ of฀ the฀ Chinese฀ literary฀ tradition,฀ in฀ which฀ male-female฀ love฀ affairs฀ often฀ symbolize฀ the฀ ruler-official฀ relationship.฀ The฀ origin฀ of฀ this฀ analogy฀ can฀ be฀ traced฀ back฀ to฀ Qu฀Yuan’s฀ 屈原 (?–?฀ b.c.e.)฀ “Encountering฀Sorrow”฀(Li฀sao฀離騷)฀and฀other฀poems฀in฀the฀Songs฀of฀Chu฀ (Chu฀ci฀楚辭),฀in฀which฀a฀disfavored฀loyal฀minister’s...