Essays on Writing and Language in Honor - Sino-Platonic Papers

Sino-Phonic Papers, 27 (August 3 1, 199 1)
"good fellow. "
The meaning [of the elements] thousand and leagues is like
[the character] "doubled up"
[The character] "intone" eternally speaks as the Yellow
Crane.
[The element] scholar [without the element] heart/mind does
not complete [the character] "thoughtful."
The homophones or rhyming words that form the anagrammatic
elements and add complexity to the pun-instructions are
complemented by obligatory end-rhyme. This follows the abcbdbeb
sch'eme common to the pentasyllabic-line octet.
Efficient as good rhyme should be, the rhymewords enhance the
focus of the poem on the ceaseless continuity of the natural
universe and of Man's intellectual quest. The first quatrain
introduces the complementary sun and moon, which combine to
enlighten the respective elements of their genesis, dawn and dusk.
M i s t s are spontaneously "born," rhymeword qiB, of the hills and
winds. Stones and trees (literally, bark) stay firm, though they
may split. Old trees may wither, but they do not "die," rhymeword
si , which recalls its complement "born."
This natural, landscape philosophy is cleverly transferred to
the persona through the pivotal rhymeword li 2 "leagues, " which
on the one hand resumes the first quartet concept of infinite
distances, and on .the other, introduces the far-reaching
penetration of the good fellow's thoughts in the latter quartet.
The crucial terminal rhyme, which cements the validity of the
earlier rhymes, describes the ceaseless activity of his mind wei
yi & 5 "not yet ended," and elegantly recalls both the matching
syntax and intent of the first quartet terminal rhyme bu ii 5 a
"does not die."
The consistent eremetic Daoist flavor of the sentiment is
confirmed in the mention of the Yellow Crane. This was a common
reference in Daoist mythology to the golden crane upon which the
immortals would traverse the Great Infinity. An early mention
dccurs in the "Song of the Willow Blossom" Yang hua qu $8
by the poet-monk Tang Huixiu \g ,$, {& of the late fifth century Liu-
Song and Southern Qi dynasties, lines from which presage Liu
Yizhi's ideas: The Yellow Crane northwest goes,
Carrying my thousand-league hearte2
Nowadays scholars of the Chinese literary heritage generally
eschew such compositions as beneath serious consideration.
Nevertheless, works like this were produced by the very finest of
China's poets. This verse, by an important Song lyricist, fulfills
all the demands of poetic form, but in addition to set line-
length, rhyme scheme, meter, and proper development of the
content, Liu further incorporates anagram elements within each
line, and pun-instructions within the anagrams which provide an
entirely new construction. If today's readers cannot discover the
high artistry and thou ht here, at least they might enter into the
fun enjoyed by a consubte writer during his lighter moments.
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