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Placing the Poem
269
時。王座客十餘人。皆當時文士。無不悽異。王命賦詩。王右丞維。詩
先成。
莫以今時寵
寧忘舊日恩
看花滿目淚
不共楚王言
The pitiful sight of the woman struggling with her emotions and
weeping moves everyone present. It is precisely at this point that the
prince commands them all to compete in composing poems, treat-
ing the pathetic scene as though it were nothing more than a still life
to be quickly rendered in poetry. Wang Wei 王維 (701–761) is the
first to finish his poem, a vivid encapsulation of the couple’s plight.
He manages to capture the woman’s tender display of feelings with
an image of her as a blossom in tears. The cake seller’s wife, who
declines to answer Prince Xian’s question, is able to maintain her
virtuous silence because Wang Wei has given her a voice. His poem
lends significance to her refusal to speak, and, in doing so, it be-
comes a touching gesture on his part. The prince attempts to con-
vert the mute stolen wife into an aesthetic object to be appreciated
by the “literary men” in attendance. Wang Wei, in turn, converts
the woman into a literary object by couching her refusal to speak in
a received narrative, from the Zuo Tradition, of another stolen wife who refuses to speak to her captor, the King of Chu. His choice of
narrative, unlike Qiao’s in the previous anecdote, does not end in
suicide. It allows the woman to maintain her virtuous silence by
endowing that silence with significance. In the final analysis, how-
ever, she too is forced to play a role with no escape. Unlike the
liberating influence of the poems in the story of Xu Deyan and his
wife (who is able to speak for herself ), these examples of poetry
serve to trap the “stolen love” in repeatable, recognizable pat-
terns—one resulting in death, the other in muteness.
The cake seller’s wife is not the only “thing” that is objectified at
the prince’s banquet. The prince arranges the meeting between her
and her husband so that their feelings for one another—their love—
can be used as the “object” 物 about which poetry may be chanted.
In this spectacle, poetry’s own canonical function—that of giving
exterior verbal articulation to the interior—is objectified through
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Placing the Poem
contrivance and surrogacy. Even the expression of the most
poignant and sincere feelings can become the stuff of games.
This anecdote neatly combines aspects of poetic competence ex-
plained at length in preceding chapters. The prince’s command to
produce poetry recalls the courts of the Zuo Tradition; the passion captured in the poem by Wang Wei echoes the historians of the Han
who use poetry to capture the angst of their subjects; the notion of a
poetic contest among a gathering of literary men is familiar from the
pages of Topical Tales. By the time of the Tang, all of these aspects of poetic competence can be absorbed and handled deftly by a poet
of Wang Wei’s caliber. Such adeptness in handling the variables of
poetic production and reception can even be used strategically to
achieve specific objectives in the arena of love.
Han Huang, the Duke of Jin, commanded the Zhexi circuit. 86 Rong Yu was a prefect in his administration, but the name of his prefecture has been lost. There was a tavern singing girl in the prefecture who excelled at
singing and whose looks were also quite exquisite. 87 Yu was deeply attached to her. The music director of the region heard of her abilities and informed the Duke of Jin, summoning her to be registered on the roll of
singers. 88 Yu did not dare to keep her. He arranged a farewell meal by the lake and composed song lyrics as a gift for her. He said, “When you arrive there and he tells you to sing, you must first sing these lyrics.” After she arrived, Han put on a banquet at which he personally lifted a flagon and told her to sing a song for passing it around. So she sang Rong’s lyrics. As soon as the tune was finished, Han inquired of her, “Does Lord Rong still have feelings for you?” She stood up timidly and answered, “Yes.” Tears
streamed down following her words. Han told her to change her gown and
await his orders. Everyone at the banquet was anxious for her. Han
summoned the music director and berated him: “Lord Rong is a notable
gentleman who still cares for this local singing girl. How is it you did not know this and summoned her to register? You have placed me in the
—————
86. According to the Old Tang History 舊唐書 ( juan 129), Han Huang (723–787) served under Emperor Dezong 德宗 (r. 780–805) and was appointed Duke of Jin in 786. Zhexi was in modern-day western Zhejiang province.
87. Taiping reads 閑妙 for 爛妙. Tang Song congshu 唐宋叢書 reads 嫻妙. Wang Meng’ou believes 爛 is a corruption of 嫻, and I follow his suggestion here.
88. The government maintained a class of “official singing girls” 官妓 who were employed as companions for officials stationed around the empire.
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Placing the Poem
271
wrong.” Then he had him flogged ten times. Han ordered that one hun-
dred rolls of fine silk be given to the singing girl and that she be returned forthwith. The lyrics [of Rong Yu’s song] read:
Farewell spring breeze at the lakeside pavilion,
Willow branches and palm vines fasten our hearts.
The oriole long lingers for she knows me so well,
Upon parting she calls urgently again and again. (1.7)
韓晉公鎮浙西。戎昱為部內刺史。失州名。郡有酒妓。善歌。色亦爛妙。
昱情屬甚厚。浙西樂將聞其能。白晉公。召置籍中。昱不敢留。餞於湖
上。為歌詞以贈之。且曰。至彼令歌。必首唱是詞。既至。韓為開筳。
自持盃命歌送之。遂唱戎詞。曲既終。韓問曰。戎使君於汝寄情邪。悚
然起立曰。然。淚下隨言。韓令更衣待命。席上為之憂危。韓召樂將責
曰。戎使君名士。留情郡妓。何故不知而召置之。成余之過。乃十笞之。
命妓。與百縑。即時歸之。其詞曰。
好去春風湖上亭
柳條藤蔓繫人情
黃鶯久住渾相識
欲別頻啼四五聲
All of these events, including the happy outcome, are very similar to
those recounted in the story of Xu Deyan and his wife (1.1). The
transmission of the poem to the source of authority, Han Huang, is
markedly different, however. The mirror in the earlier story pro-
vides a tangible link that allows the transmission of the poem be-
tween lovers and its eventual disclosure to Yang Su; the white scarf
performs the same function in the story of Qiao Zhizhi and Yao-
niang (1.2). In this story, however, the singing girl herself acts as the vessel for the poem, the performance of which leads to the restoration of her true love. She
smuggles in the means of her own escape.
The poem is so effective because it simultaneously speaks in the
voice of the woman singing it and in the voice of her absent lover,
Rong Yu. The “willow branches and palm vines” of the second line
fasten both of their hearts together. The oriole that “calls urgently
again and again” in the last couplet could be a figure for either lover
at the point of separation, but is a particularly apposite image for a
singing girl. The poem attests to their love by speaking both their
hearts.
The hierarchy of power in this story, which takes place during
the reign of Emperor Dezong (r. 780–805), is quite different from the
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Placing the Poem
chaos that accompanied the fall of the Chen dynasty in the story of
Xu Deyan and his wife. Han Huang, as the commissioner of the
Zhexi circuit, is virtual governor of the region and acts as liaison
between the center of power in the capital and a cluster of prefec-
tures, one of which is administered by Rong Yu. The relationship of
superior to inferior here is objectively constituted in the bureau-
cratic institutions in which they both consent to play a role. This
objectification of power relations is what allows Han Huang to
appropriate Rong Yu’s beloved singing girl simply by having her
registered on his official roll of singers. Unlike the “barbarian” Yang
Su, who receives his women through military means, Han Huang
does not need to resort to the brutality of physical violence to get
what he wants; he can exercise symbolic violence through the
power that accompanies his politically and socially sanctioned po-
sition as a superior. Han Huang’s actions do not constitute a per-
sonal attack on Rong Yu (indeed, he was unaware of Rong’s at-
tachment to the singing girl)—he is simply taking that to which he is
entitled. In his inferior position, Rong Yu does not have the po-
litical authority to directly address the perceived wrong done to him
without incurring severe recriminations. He naturally resorts to the
only option left to the “civil” man in such situations: the production
of poetry. But he does so in a most calculated way.
In arranging a farewell banquet by the lake, Rong Yu stages the
situation out of which he fashions his poem. After composing it, he
gives the singing girl careful instructions to sing it only after she has arrived at Han Huang’s and is asked to perform at his banquet.
Rong Yu remains in complete control of the circumstances of
composition and performance, using the singing girl to smuggle the
poem into the banquet, where it will be performed at a specified
time to produce the desired result of securing her return. His mas-
terstroke is to have anticipated Han Huang’s command for her to
sing at his banquet, which grants the singing girl the opportunity to
utter the poem that challenges his authority.
The poem constitutes an effective challenge because Rong Yu has
successfully played out a strategy, manipulating the variables of
what the poem is about, who utters it, and, most important, when it is performed. By placing the poem (a poignant evocation of the pain
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Placing the Poem
273
of separation) in the mouth of the singing girl (the victim) and
postponing its performance until a banquet (attended by many
important guests), Rong Yu publicly calls Han Huang’s honor into
question, putting him in a situation where he could potentially
suffer a loss of face. Rong is successful in doing this because he in-
corporates into his strategy the interval of time between the pro-
duction of his poem and its subsequent performance. The prime
example of such a temporal strategy is in the practice of gift giving: a gift requited too hastily is seen as an uncouth attempt to erase a debt; too much of a delay, however, leads to the appearance of ingratitude
and exposes the gift-giver to the danger of being “condemned by
‘what people say,’ which decides the meaning of his actions.” 89
Rong Yu knows that “what people say” about Han Huang is im-
portant to him and times the performance accordingly.
If Rong Yu is adept in the strategy of poetic production, Han
Huang’s strategy of reception is equally adept. First, he makes a
show of asking the singing girl whether Rong Yu still has feelings
for her, demonstrating to his “public” that he has successfully in-
terpreted the significance of the poem. He then tells her to change
her clothes and await his orders. This fine piece of showmanship
leaves Han’s audience wondering whether he is stripping her of her
costume because he plans to punish her, or because he plans to re-
turn her to Rong Yu—a choice that will prove his sensitivity to the
poem’s testimonial aspect. The emotional investment of the audi-
ence in the situation is tangible in the statement “Everyone at the
banquet was anxious for her.” Han Huang then summons his music
director and, in the fine tradition of embarrassed leadership, passes
the buck. But in doing so, he is careful to refer to Rong Yu by the
honorific “Lord” and to call him a “notable gentleman,” thus build-
ing him up as a figure worthy of the magnanimity that Han is about
to bestow. Finally, in punishing the music master and rewarding the
singing girl with fine silks, he shows his willingness to make gen-
erous restitution for any wrongdoing. Through all of this, Han
Huang must appear as though he believes in the poem as a genuine
expression of emotion, even though he may be fully aware of Rong
—————
89. Bourdieu, Logic of Practice, 106.
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Placing the Poem
Yu’s ploy. Far from allowing the poem to subvert his power, Han
Huang skillfully turns the challenge to his advantage. He uses his
reception of the poem to prove his image as a worthy leader and
thus makes himself appear as though he deserves to wield power by
virtue of his character rather than because of the position he hap-
pens to hold in the political hierarchy.
And so, through the exercise of judicious strategy in the pro-
duction, performance, and reception of a poem, Rong Yu recovers
his loved one and Han Huang is able to appear as a wise and gen-
erous leader. But has not something been lost in this transaction? Is
it not the essence of the poem itself, according to the canonical
model? How can Rong Yu’s poem be seen as a spontaneous and
sincere expression of his emotions when the circumstances of its
composition and utterance have been staged? How can Han
Huang’s equally staged reception of it be seen as a genuine response
to its affective power? Here, the p
ower no longer inheres in the
words of poem; it is the circumstances under which they are pro-
duced and received that determine their efficacy. This story, in ef-
fect, forges a compromise between theory and practice. It is true
that the story’s outcome satisfies the desire that poetry be a force for positive change. But the satisfaction of this desire is tempered by an
anxiety, which acknowledges that poetry, as a socially engaged form
of discourse, is not powerful enough to do the job alone.
As surely as an effective poetic strategy will achieve success, an
ineffective strategy will result in failure.
At the beginning of the Taihe era [827–835] there was a censor stationed in the capital at Luoyang whose descendants are illustrious in officialdom; so his name will be concealed here. He had a singing girl who excelled at her art and was acclaimed a rare beauty of the age. At this time, Defender-in-Chief Li Fengji, who was acting as regent, heard of her and invited her to an audience. Since he had expressly requested her presence, she did not dare to decline; she adorned herself splendidly and went. When Li saw her, he ordered her to line up with all of his concubines face to face. Li had over 40 singing girls, but all ranked inferior to her. Having retired with her, he did not come out again. After a short while, Li excused himself on the
pretense of illness and dismissed everyone in attendance. For two nights there was absolutely no knowledge of them. The nameless censor was
racked with unending rancor; so he composed two poems and submitted
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Placing the Poem
275
them to the throne. The next day he was given an audience with Li, who
simply smirked at him and said, “These are very good poems,” and then
concluded the audience. The first poem read:
Have you not seen the Three Mountains in the
fathomless sea? 90
Are there footprints of the immortals that can yet
Words Well Put Page 41
