Songs of the Righteous Spirit: “Men of High Purpose” and Their ...

JAPANESE SONGS OF HIGH PURPOSE 129the poetry of Jia Yi (201–169 B.C.E.).45 As in these examples, the shishimight make reference to a particular historical episode or to reading aspecific literary work, letting the allusion indirectly point to a parallelwith the poet’s persona or circumstance.Sometimes the shishi might draw the analogy more directly, as inthe following poem from 1864, written when Takasugi was imprisonedfor absconding without permission from his domain:囚 中 作Composed while imprisoned君 不 見 死 爲 忠 鬼 Behold! Minister Sugawara, who菅 相 公became a righteous ghost when he died;靈 魂 尚 在 天 拜 峰 Still today, his spirit haunts Mount Tenpai.又 不 見 懷 石 投 流 Or behold! Qu Ping of Chu, stones in his楚 屈 平bosom, he jumped in the water;至 今 人 悲 汨 羅 江 Even now, people mourn him at the MiluoRiver.5 自 古 讒 閒 害 忠 節 From ancient times, slander has harmed loyalmen of integrity;忠 臣 思 君 不 懷 躬 A loyal vassal thinks of his lord without a carefor himself.我 亦 貶 謫 幽 囚 士 I too have been slandered and exiled: a man inprison now,憶 起 二 公 涙 沾 胸 I recall these two men, and tears wet my breast.10 休 恨 空 爲 讒 閒 死 Do not begrudge vainly dying from slander;自 有 後 世 議 論 公 For the verdict of posterity shall be just.46Takasugi had left his domain abruptly, hoping to reconnoiter withother shishi who were familiar with recent conditions in the capital andwho, he hoped, would be able to advise the domain on its future courseof action. Convinced that the time to act had arrived, he left behindonly a vague statement of his plans before racing to the capital. Thedomain authorities, however, were unimpressed with the bold initiative,regard ing it instead as a rash dereliction of duty.47 Being detained45Laurence Schneider, A Madman of Ch’u: The Chinese Myth of Loyalty and Dissent(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980), p. 23.46Takasugi Shinsaku zenshū, ed. Hori Tetsusaburō 堀 哲 三 郎 , p. 449.47Ichisaka Tarō 一 坂 太 郎 , Takasugi Shinsaku 高 杉 晋 作 (Bungei Shunjū, 2002), pp.147–50.