EALC 275: Masterpieces of East Asian Literature Lecture #5: “The Song of Lasting Pain” by Bai Juyi Sept.16, 2013Parallelism in Recent-style poetry/Regulated verse – Parallelism between two lines of a couplet means that in terms of 1-thematic categories and 2-parts of speech each character in a line should be in the same category as the character in the corresponding position of the pair line. 3- the meaning of corresponding terms is often different/contrasting.Structural Rules Recent-style poetry/Regulated verse – Tripartite structure from beginning (opening couplet), middle (two parallel couplets), and closing (non-parallel couplet) – Lines organized in couplets – Rhymes in even-numbered lines, rhyme in first line optional – Well-wrought parallelism required in two middle couples (lines 3-4, 5-6). Parallelism in opening couplet optional.Characteristics of “Quatrains” (jueju 絕句 ) : • The technique of making a turn (zhuan 轉) in the second couplet is a key part of the literary technique of writing quatrains. • The aesthetics of closure/open closure: Brevity and projecting meaning beyond the literal text：言外之言，味外之味.春怨 “Spring Lament” by Jin Changxu (713-742) 打起黃鶯兒 Hit the yellow oriole 莫教枝上啼 Don’t let it sing on the branches 啼時驚妾夢 When it sings, it startles me from my dreams 不得到遼西 And keeps me from Liaoxi!Tang court women:Historian Patricia Ebrey has noted that Tang dynasty art and tomb figurines reveal notions of female beauty, including: • Active women, even ones playing polo on horseback • Plump and full-faced women• Bai Juyi (Bo Ju-yi) (772-846) --One of the most famous poets in the Mid-Tang -- Social conscience: Wrote “New Yuefu”: narrative poems dramatizing social and political abuses -- Romantic Love: Also wrote “The Song of Lasting Pain”: sympathetic treatment of the love between Emperor Xuanzong and Yang the Prized Consort --The most famous Chinese poet in Japan. Japanese name: Haku RakutenTransforming history into literature: The An Lushan Rebellion (755) --Love between Xuanzong, the emperor, and Yang Yuhuan, his favorite “prized consort” -- Emperor Xuanzong as patron of new popular music imported from Central Asia. Personally trained dancers and musical performers in the Pear Garden. --A feud between Yang Guozhong, Yuhuan’s uncle and a Grand Chancelor, and An Lushan, a powerful general --The emperor was forced to flee the capital -- During the escape, the guards staged a mutiny and demanded that Yang be executed -- Eventually, the rebellion was quelled, but Tang was weakened and headed into irreversible decline“The Song of Lasting Pain” 1 • Narrative poem (5 parts, 6 stanzas each) Part I: Images of peerless beauty, infatuation, and decadence (p.121) • -- “Han’s sovereign prized the beauty of flesh…for many years he ruled the Earth and sought for one in vain.” • -- Bathing in Hua-qing pools • http://www.hqc.cn/ • -- Morning audience cancelled • -- The consort’s relatives appointed to important posts • -- People become envious of families with daughters, not sons • -- Dance and music: Coats of Feathers, Rainbow Skirts • -- Emblematic of a dynasty in its most prosperous stage“The Song of Lasting Pain” 2 • Narrative poem (5 parts) Part II: Rebellion and Yang Guifei’s Death (pp.121-122) • -- Kettledrums from Yu-yang • -- Flowered hairpins fell to earth • -- Tang dynasty court flees to Shu (modern-day Sichuan province): “From an exile’s palace he saw the moon/ hues that give heart pain; in the rain of night he heard the bells, sounds that broke him within.”“The Song of Lasting Pain” 3 • Narrative poem (5 parts) Part III: The Emperor’s Yearning (p.122) • -- Emperor sees reminders of Yang Guifei everywhere, in the pools and parks • -- Aging and Sorrow of Performers of the Pear Garden • -- Hope for reunion in a dream. Idea of “roaming of the spirit” (shenyou 神遊)“The Song of Lasting Pain” 4 • Narrative poem (5 parts) Part IV: Daoist Wizard’s Search for Yang’s spirit (pp.122-123) • -- Mystical roaming into the heavens • -- Yang Guifei transformed into Daoist immortal goddess, Taizhen • -- “Among there was a certain one/ who had the name Tai-zhen/ whose snowy flesh and flowerlike face seemed much like her he sought.”“The Song of Lasting Pain” 5 • Narrative poem (5 parts) Part V: Returning Love Tokens/Secret Vow (p.123) • -- Second performance of “Coats of Feathers, Rainbow Skirts” • -- Land of Immortals: Palace of Peng-lai • -- Inlaid box and hairpin of gold, broken into two parts • -- Seventh day of seventh month, Herder Boy and Weaver Girl • -- Oath of undying love in the Palace of Lasting Life • -- Love that transcends death• Yang Guifei: One of the Four Greatest Beauties • Figure of the Abandoned Woman in Chinese poetry in quatrain “Spring Lament” • Figure of the Femme Fatale: dynastic fall blamed on women/forbidden love that could topple a kingdom • An archetypal Chinese love story that influenced the Tale of Genji • Bai Juyi’s largely sympathetic portrayal of this love story in his poem/ more moralistic ending to the prose account by Chen Hong Themes of “The Song of Lasting Pain”Tang dynasty Classical Tale: The Story of Ying Ying • Next time read: coursepacket, pp.127-131 • Love between a scholar-official (Zhang) and young woman from prominent family (Yingying) • A tragic Tang dynasty tale later rewritten into a Yuan dynasty drama with a comic (happy)