by Tam King-fai
¹U]ZU]ZQVO[XTI[PQVOÆW_QVO_IMZº
echo, and on the whole, the surroundings are so quiet that one can
IK]ITTa PMIZ PM [XTI[PQVO WN Å[P [_QUUQVO ]X[ZMIU 7PMZ WUQVW][
sounds are brought in gradually as one moves further into the essay: the
_PQ[TQVOWN PMVWZPMZTa_QVLPZW]OPPMKZIKS[WVPMUQTTÆWWZIVL
UWZMQUXWZIVTaPMUIOVQÅML[W]VLWN PMXM[TM[_PQKPPI^M]ZVML
into a deafening thud. In the end, their sound tortures the child-bride
¹TQSMIOQIV[XQZQºI[[I]TQVOPMZLMTQKIM[W]TLIaIVLVQOP?PMVPM
news arrives that the child-bride has been drawn into the mortar and
ZML]KML W X]TX PM _ZQMZ KIV WVTa ¹KTW[M PM _QVLW_ PI WXMV[ W]
to the river and cover [his] head with the comforter to stop the sound
WN PM_IMZUQTTWVPMWPMZJIVSNZWUZMIKPQVOCPQ[EMIZ[º¸PM^MZa
sound, one will remember, with which the writer begins his essay by
inviting the reader to listen.
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30
A Garden of One’s Own
predominantly to the meticulous skill with which Lu Li develops his
imagery and symbolism, two areas that are more often associated with
poetry than with prose. The cross-generic qualities of essays have often
been commented on in both China and the West,24 but when Chinese
KZQQK[ PI^M WNNMZML [IMUMV[ W PM MNNMK PI PM M[[Ia Q[ I ¹JZQLOM
JM_MMV XZW[M IVL XWMZaº BPW] B]WZMV ! WZ PI xiaopin wen
IVL TaZQKIT XWMZa IZM ¹I XIQZ WN TW^MTa _QV[ ITPW]OP xiaopin wen is U]KP UWZM KIZMNZMM IVL UQ[KPQM^W][º 4QIVO A]KP]V ! PMa
have tended to have in mind matters that go beyond the employment
of literary tropes. Rather, they are alluding to a certain kind of
suggestiveness in xiaopin wen that is reminiscent of lyrical poetry, a quality
PI MVIJTM[ WVM W IXXZMPMVL PM [QOVQÅKIV PZW]OP PM MÌUQVIQWV
of the trivial ( yixiao jianda). 25
24
Western scholarship tends to focus on the boundary between the essay and
the short story (Hesse 1989; Gerlach 1989; Ferguson 1982), while Chinese
scholarship looks more closely at that between the essay and the poem. An
interesting development is observable in Western scholarship: When, as is
often the case, an individual text refuses to submit to neat categorization into MQPMZ M[[Ia WZ [WZa KZQQK[ JMOQV W ZMIL PM M` ÅZ[ I[ IV MÌUXTM WN WVM
genre, and then of the other, often with highly rewarding results. The strategy employed here is not to label a text as either an essay or a story, but to see
what reading it as an essay or as a story will yield. See Hesse, especially. In this connection, one recalls the practice of many Chinese critics, who, in looking
for earlier examples of xiaopin wen, suggest that portions of long novels such as the preface to Rulin washi, or individual biographies in the Shiji, can be read as essays. Herein seems to lie some fertile ground for investigation.
25
The traditional meaning of the term xiaopin as the antithesis to dapin seems to suggest that what is available in xiaopin wen is but a briefer and simpler view of some major truth ( daoli), which may have led Lu Xun to make the following sarcastic remark about xiaopin wen QV OMVMZIT" ¹7VTa _ZQQVO PI L_MTT[ WV
minor daoli, or simply no daoli, and that does not go on at any sustained length—only writing like this can be called xiaopin wenº!
Although I share Zhong Jingwen’s view (1927) that the traditional meaning
of the term xiaopin is irrelevant to our study here, Y. K. Kao’s observation of the social practice of passing judgment on a person’s character during the Six Dynasties may cast light on the yixiao jianda quality in xiaopin wen. Kao describes
PMXZIKQKMQVPQ[_Ia"¹2]LOUMV_I[NZMY]MVTaM`XZM[[MLQVMZU[WN ZIVS-QVOIVLKTI[[QÅKIQWVJ]QKW]TLIT[WJMZMVLMZMLUWZM^IZQIJTaJaIVMXQPM
IVL KWUUMV
attitude toward judgments: a thorough investigation of the candidate’s personal This content downloaded from 129.174.21.5 on Tue, 30 Apr 2019 16:23:15 UTC
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Introduction 31
Yixiao jianda ZMNMZ[ÅZ[IVLNWZMUW[\WI_IaWN UISQVO[MV[MWN PM
world and its manifestation in literature, but the phrase has given rise to
I^IZQMaWN QVMZXZMIQWV[7VPMUW[[]XMZÅKQITTM^MT+PMV;P]P]I
(1935, 137) describes the trivial depicted in xiaopin wen I[ ¹ZMUMVLW][
ZQÆM[ºIMZUPMJWZZW_MLNZWUPMQTMWN WVMWN /3+PM[MZWV¼[
essay collections. In Chen’s relativistic reading of the relationship
JM_MMV PM JQO IVL PM [UITT PM [QOVQÅKIV IVL PM ZQ^QIT PM ^IT]M
of any human situation is wholly dependent on the viewer. What
IXXMIZ[WJMZQ^QITWWVMKIVPMZMNWZMJMWN ZMUMVLW][[QOVQÅKIVKM
to others. Yu Dafu presents another view, referring to the practice of
UWLMZVM[[IaQ[[WN MI[QVOW]MPQKITKWVKMZV[IVLP]UIV[QOVQÅKIVKM
from scenes of nature:
Even the lyrical prose works of the purest of poets always have something
to say about the relationship between individual and individual, or between
QVLQ^QL]IT[IVL[WKQMa_PMVPMaIZMUMZMTa[XMISQVOIJW]CQV[QOVQÅKIV
PQVO[ []KP I[E _QVL IVL ÆW_MZ[ PM [VW_ IVL PM UWWV
characteristic of the modern essay: To see the world in a grain of sand, to
expound on human ways through the contemplation of half a petal.
(1935,
258)
While this may be true of individual writers, Yu Dafu, like Chen
Shuhua, has overlooked the fact that yixiao jianda is a characteristic of the genre rather than of the writers.
In another part of the same article, however, Yu Dafu comes closer
to elucidating the poetics of the essay. After pointing out that prose is in
general not governed by poetic matters such as tones, meter, parallelism,
or antithesis, he nevertheless goes on to say:
*] QV IV M[[Ia WVM KIV ÅVL _PI ?IVO A]aIVO KITTML shenyun, or the lingering sense of what Westerners call rhythm, provided that one is not
JW]VLQVÆM`QJTaJaWVITZ]TM[IVLQV[MILKWV[QLMZ[PMJZWILMZ[MV[MWN
natural rhythm. The revolution of the seasons, the alternation of yin and yang, the cycle of day and night, or even the back and forth movement of history was replaced by a cursory but penetrating cameo sketch of character as revealed at a particular momentº!!·QITQK[ILLML+WUQVONZWUUWZM
or less the same time in history, the term xiaopin may have carried with it the same cultural associations. As the analysis below will show, that xiaopin wen is able to suggest something beyond its literal meanings is ultimately contingent
upon its ability to capture a pregnant moment.
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32
A Garden of One’s Own
our feet as we walk—none of these clash with the rhythms of nature. It
is quite possible for essays to convey cadences such as these, but not those
generated by language tones.
(1935,
258)
Yu Dafu fails to provide examples, without which it is difficult to
ascertain how he sees this broadened sense of rhythm manifesting itself
in prose works, but one wonders whether he does not have in mind
M[[Ia[[]KPI[.MVOBQSIQ¼[¹)5MIV)TTMa_Iaº*QVO@QV¼
[¹
IVL0M9QNIVO¼[¹7TL5MVº
three essays, where an experience is replayed a number of times, with
each successive occasion representing a complication of the earlier ones.
One can further argue that, taken by itself, the experience depicted
in each of these essays is perhaps of no great importance, but taken
together, all of these instances of repetition add up to something larger,
allowing the reader as well as the speaker to gain a more complete view
not affordable otherwise.
Ultimately, however, yixiao jianda has to be understood in connection
_QP PM INÅVQa JM_MMV xiaopin wen and lyrical poetry that critics have more than once intimated, especially in the way that xiaopin wen, like
poetry, is able to capture a singular moment. The following two critics
speak about this with varying degrees of explicitness:
In a matter of several lines, it is possible to portray a character to the
fullest, or analyze a political situation to the core.... One cannot expect to
ÅVL PQ[ SQVL WN MNNMK QV IV IZO]UMVIQ^M M[[Ia :IPMZ KWV^MZ[IQWV[
IZMTQSMPIITTPMQUM7PMZ_Q[M_Pa_W]TLPMIVKQMV[PI^M[IQL¹W
PI^MIVQOPWN KWV^MZ[IQWVQ[NIZJM\MZPIV[]LaQVONWZMVaMIZ[º'1
stimulates one’s thinking and leads one to profound thoughts. By revealing
the truth in one sentence, one can attain sudden enlightenment. If one
follows this method in writing, one will not produce a single bad essay.
(Lin Yutang 1934a, 103)
In choosing the right material [for a piece of xiaopin wen], one has to pick an aspect that best reveals the whole, or compress what one wants to
capture in the essay to the most extraordinary moment. Only then does
one begin the composition.26
(Feng Sanmei 1936, 62)
26
.MVO ;IVUMQ ][M[ PM _WZL ¹KWZVMZº yijiao), although it is clear from the context that he is referring to a moment in time.
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Introduction 33
Seize the moment, both Lin and Feng are saying—a moment that is
VW[QOVQÅKIVQVQ[MTNJ]KWV[Q]M[INWKITXWQV\W_PQKPPMUaZQIL
aspects of the experience being depicted converge; a moment, one might
add, that is reminiscent of the lyrical moment in the creation of lyrical
poetry.27
1V PQ[ TQOP @QI 5QIVb]V¼[ ¹) 5MUWZaº BPIVO )QTQVO¼[ ¹4W^Mº
IVL .IVO 4QVOZ]¼[ ¹0WUMº KIV JM KWV[QLMZML ZMKWZL[ WN [QUQTIZ
pregnant moments. The latter two essays are especially deserving of
comment.
As Zhang’s essay is short, I will reproduce it below in its entirety:
This is a true story.
There once lived a beautiful girl from a well-to-do family in a village. Many
people came with matchmaking proposals but nothing came of them. She
_I[VWUWZMPIVÅNMMVWZ[Q`MMVPIaMIZ
One spring evening, she was standing by the back door, her hand resting on
a peach tree next to her. She remembered that she had on a moon-white
blouse. There was a young man who lived across the road. They had seen
each other before, but had never greeted each other. He came over and
[WXXML I I XTIKM VW WW NIZ NZWU PMZ 0M [IQL [WNTa ¹7P aW]¼ZM PMZM
WW'º ;PM LQL VW [Ia IVaPQVO QV XIZQK]TIZ 6MQPMZ LQL PM
there for a while, and then went about their own business.
That is it.
Later, the girl was abducted by a relative and sold elsewhere as a concubine,
after which she was sold three or four more times. She still remembered in
her old age the incident that had taken place so long before, though she
had lived through a life of numerous terrible upheavals. She often talked
about that spring evening... the peach tree by the back door... the young
man.
When, among the tens of thousands of people you might have met, you
meet the very person you were meant to meet, and when, among the tens
27
+N A 3 3IW WV PM TaZQKIT UWUMV" ¹
as the dominant time frame. But this moment is not static, it extends into the
past and future in order to accommodate the continual internal evolution of an experience moving from one state to another, and it is in addition a sustaining moment which may last a long time. In other words, the sense of the present is always imminent. Viewed in this light, time is no longer an objective measure,
J]I[]JRMKQ^MY]ITQaJMTWVOQVOQVQUIMTaWM`XMZQMVKMº!!
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34
A Garden of One’s Own
of thousands of years in the boundless wilderness of time, you arrive at just the right spot at just the right moment, not a step too soon, not a step too
TIM PMZM Q[ VWPQVO MT[M aW] KIV [Ia J] W I[S [WNTa ¹7P aW]¼ZM PMZM
WW'º
The highlighted moment—that of the encounter between the
young woman and the young man—works subtly in the construction of
meaning in Zhang’s essay. It draws the reader’s attention by virtue of
the central position it occupies in the consciousness of the protagonist
as well as the physical layout of the essay on the printed page, and
therefore is pivotal to one’s understanding of the essay. Throughout
her account, Zhang stresses the coincidental and, from a storytelling
viewpoint, unmotivated aspects of the encounter. Any other possible
way of interpreting this experience is thus ruled out. Nothing leads up
WQIVLVWPQVOQVI[MV[MKWUM[W]WN Q¹
peremptorily ending an account that she had just as suddenly started
a few lines before. Although in effect the account continues to unfold
for yet another paragraph, it is terminated here. A moment is thus
established, of which the rest becomes mere extension, and to which the
thoughts of the protagonist will always return.
7N PM[M PZMM M[[Ia[ .IVO 4QVOZ]¼[ ¹0WUMº XZWUQ[M[ W WXMV
up the widest vista for appreciation in its use of the moment. The
essay can be read as the chronicle of a discovery. The protagonist has
received a writing assignment, presumably from an editor, on the topic
WN ¹PWUMº6WSVW_QVO_PMZMWJMOQV[PMNZM[IVLKWUXTIQV[IJW]
PM[U]OVM[[WN PMMLQWZQV[WUMPW_PQVSQVOPIWVMKIV¹LQ[KW^MZ
the substance of a person’s life and the essence of his character from a
LM[KZQXQWV WN PQ[ PWUM TQNMº 7V PM []ZNIKM Q [MMU[ ^MZa TWOQKIT J]
such a process of inference does not help the protagonist who then, on
her own, moves exhaustively from one thought to another, looking for a
possible angle to begin her essay:
What should I write about, then? The situation of the average home?
0WUM TQNM IVL ÅVIVKQIT XZWJTMU['
NIUQTa'
sorrows that home life bestows upon a person? Whether everyone does
or should have a family? Whether home is something to be cherished or
abhorred?
In this state of mental distraction, she goes out to the lake on the
night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Under a dazzling moon and shining
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Introduction 35
stars, her abstractions begin to show signs of breaking down. In their
stead, her imagination takes over, as she imagines a home scene among
primitive people, who bask in comfort and security in the company of
their kinfolk. She also imaginesZIQ[QVOPM[IUMY]M[QWVIJW]¹PWUMº¸
I ¹[UITT Y]M[QWVº [PM MUXPI[QbM[¸W PM NQ[PMZUMV TQ^QVO Ja PM
water, and decides that they would be just as lost as she is.
Then the moment comes when she hears Cen Shen’s poetic lines.
If Zhang Ailing has stressed the coincidental and illogical aspects of the
moment in the previous essay, Fang Lingru here takes pains to establish
the mystery and suddenness of it all. First, a boat comes into view only
dimly lit, and the man sitting on the bow, who will prove to be her
[W]ZKMWN QV[XQZIQWVQ[R][¹IXIKPWN LIZSVM[[ºPQ[NIKMQUXW[[QJTMW
make out. He is chanting poetry with a sound that transports the listener
to a world of dreams and timelessness:
He chants with a drawn-out sound, the pitch relatively low in the
beginning, but rising gradually. After it reaches the peak, it slowly dies down again, until it disappears half in moaning and half in sighing. Listening to
the dying cadence, you can imagine a small hill in an ancient painting, half-
shrouded in mist. There is a winding stream, too, splashing drops of water
I[QÆW_[ITWVO
TQSMPM[PILW_WN ITWVM_QTLOWW[MQVPM[SaOTQLQVOQVIÆI[PIKZW[[PM
water. That, I think, is an appropriate comparison, because the sound itself
is half real, half imaginary. While half of it is still coming from the person’s mouth, half of it has already burrowed its way into our dreams. (Italics
added)
<_W TQVM[ NZWU +MV ;PMV¼[ ¹.MVO Z]RQVO [PQº [IVL W] QV PM
UIV¼[ KPIVQVO" ¹5MMQVO Ja KPIVKM WV PWZ[MJIKS _M TIKS XIXMZ IVL
I_ZQQVOJZ][P8TMI[MMTTUaXMWXTMIPWUMPI1IU[INMº)\PQ[
particular moment, things begin to resonate in the protagonist’s mind:28
On this night, for these two ancient doleful poetic lines to come bursting
from their hearts [i.e., of people who are away from home], their minds
