Rediscovering Wen Tingyun: A Historical Key to a Poetic Labyrinth

Chapter Six. Mystifying Poetry

Chapter Six Mystifying Poetry 123 AN ENIGMA OF THE SPHINX The following poem is, I venture to say, one of the most perplexing poems in the entirety of Chinese classic poetry, and one of the most enchanting. Had Wen written it in a less mystifying and appealing manner, it would not have survived his own time, still less have been handed down for us to study. Moreover , its explanation is indispensable for a complete picture of Wen’s attendance upon the Heir, and for a full view of Wen’s life and poetry. It is a full account of the “Heir Apparent Incident,” a political poem in the deceptive guise of a love song, with all its imagery, symbolism, and labyrinthine complexity . Most fascinating and surprising is its exquisite verbal structure, in which elegant allusions and diction flow smoothly while intimating an intricate poetic world. “Twenty-Two Rhymes of the Arched Door” (j. 6, WFQ) 1 To an arched door was attached a net of pearls. A square latticed-window lay hidden in the thick of green. 2 Into the candle-tray the wick-ash dropped scattered. Through lowered curtain moonlight filtered covertly in. 3 Powder-white were the bureaus of the Immortal Lad. Frosty cold came the fulling sounds of the Jade Lass. 4 The home of drunkenness was aloft and aloof [from the world], And the games of chess were intense and quiet. 5 A pale hand held a crystal-clear fan, [His] raven tufts were set with a hawks-bill-shell hairpin. 6 On seeing the tile-pines I was aware of my precarious position. By singing the gardenia I praised two similar hearts’ affections. 7 Over trees were arrayed decorations of the Thousand-Years. From towers were hung needles of the Double Seventh. 8 I rewrote the old words of “White Hemp,” Into new verses in exchange for yellow gold; 9 When the crying crane tuned the barbarian drum, And the frightened cicada responded to the precious lute. 10 The dance, I suspect, was hard and could not be easily fulfilled; The song, modulated, was cut short and hardly audible. 11 Withered in dew, the flower fell a victim of jealousy, Shaken by wind, the willow was too weak to stand. 12 The bridge stood curved, its two pillars set further apart, The pond was so swollen ’twas as one oar’s length deep. 13 Now the road was cleared for an imperial hunt, While the yellow banners came to the Shanglin Park. 14 So the spirited hawk presented itself in the feather garden, And the heavenly horses splashed over the muddy hoof puddles. 15 When Lord Military Storehouse was choosing worthy men, Sir Literary Garden saw a good omen: 16 The pinkish stalk of the magic iris was flourishing, The vermilion osmanthus tree is about to become sparse. 17 Then you went back to the jade-like mat behind royal curtains, Where a lamp shed its glare over the brocade quilts. 18 From the picture you took fright at the “Ferocious Beast,” In the copybook was written the “Attracted Bird.” 19 Now dawn came to the River, shining into the Qin chamber, It cleared up atop the Hill overlooking the Wei Palace. 20 An Empress Zhao, with a green bag, was encountered, While there appeared a Wang Shen inside the azure gate. 21 With philosophy and abandon I gave up my lonely indignation, In my laxity and laziness I was tired of remonstrance. 22 Why on earth is the man, who has fled to the south, Still chanting his Song of the Sleeping Dragon? The Qing Dynasty annotator of Wen’s poetry Gu Sili quoted a certain Mr. Xu’s notes:“This work has the same purport as the previous poem.”Actually , “the previous poem” in the book is “Twenty-Two Rhymes on Passing the Huaqing Palace” ( ), which takes as its theme the story of Emperor Xuanzong and tries to draw some historical lessons from it, so that its gist is easy to discern, unlike the poem at hand. 124 Rediscovering Wen Tingyun Gu then cited Yu Yang’s ( ) remark: “This is a work written in retrospect about the author’s past wanderings; it picked up the first two characters as its title, thus it resembles such works as Li Shangyin’s ‘Brocade Threshold’” ( ).1 This poem is indeed an “untitled poem” ( ) in that its title tells little about what is told...