More than 2800 Po Chu-i poems have survived. This poem might be mistaken for a Chuang Tzu inspired poem celebrating the rejection of active engagement in the world, but the ironic tone that emerges at the end of the poem, when the lazy chap places himself above an ancient poet and musician, it becomes clear that the poet is mocking the lazy man from the perspective of a Confucian artist who favors dedication and work and active participation in the world. What kind of man would not bother to open letters--long letters--from family and friends? Also from his other poems, especially his “Last Poem” in which we see an old man poet, the autobiographer poet, in his death-bed, very busy, doing what else, answering his mail, responding to his poet friends. He is actively engaged in the world even in his last moment. For us, it should be a clue that Po Chu-i belongs completely in the tradition of Tu Fu, not Li Po.

Lazy Man’s Song
(A.D. 811)

I could have a job, but am too lazy to choose it;
I have got land, but am too lazy to farm it.
My house leaks; I am too lazy to mend it.
My clothes are torn; I am too lazy to darn them.
I have got wine, but I am too lazy to drink;
So it’s jus the same as if my cup were empty.
I have got a lute, but I am too lazy to play;
So it’s just the same as if it had no strings.
My family tells me there is no more steamed rice;
I want to cook, but am too lazy to grind.
My friends and relatives write me long letters;
I should like to read them, but they’re such a bother to open.
I have always been told that His Shu-yeh
Passed his whole life in absolute idleness.
But he played his lute and sometimes worked at his forge;
So even he was not so lazy as I.
 

Book of Songs.
 

Some thoughts on Ode #276

Big rat, big rat,
Do not gobble our millet!
Three years we have slaved for you,
Yet you take no notice of us.
At least we are going to leave you
And go to the happy land;
Happy land, happy land,
Where we shall have our place.

Big rat, big rat,
Do not gobble our corn!
Three years we have slaved for you,
Yet you give us no credit.
At least we are going to leave you
And go to that happy kingdom;
Happy kingdom, happy kingdom,
Where we shall get our due.

Big rat, big rat,
Do not eat our rice-shoots!
Three years we have slaved for you.
Yet you did nothing to reward us.
At least we are going to leave you
And go to those happy borders,
Happy borders, happy borders
Where no sad songs are sung
-translated by Arthur Waley

Several of the poems as mentioned in the introduction deal with courtship, love, family life, and other personal and public themes. Many are about political realities. As you read these poems, look closely for clues about social, political, and moral dimensions. Ask yourself how these poems will help someone to remain on the proper path. Remember, for thousands of years, a thorough knowledge of these poems were considered a sign of one's education. Anyone who was considered for a highly placed job with the Emperor was examined on these poems. What memorized lines would you say are able to signal your education? Your culture? Your being?

Confuciunism:
               Pertaining to or characteristic of the Chinese philosopher and educator
               Confucius (Kung Ch'iu, 551-478 B.C.), whose system of morality focussed
               on developing virtue without worshipping a god. He believed that one
               should act honorably and that concerns about how or why we are here or
               where we are going are of little value.

               The man Confucius resolutely kept his attention devoted to the practical
               problems of the world as he observed it. Confucius gave his disciples a
               thumbnail history of his life: "At 15, my attention turned to learning; at 30,
               my purpose in life got set; at 40, I was free of temptation; at 50, I learned
               how to resign myself to providence; at 60, what came through the ear
               could not disturb my inner peace; at 70, I did what my heart listed and yet
               never went wrong."

Chuang Tzu

Along with Lao-tzu (604-531 B.C), Chuang Tzu is considered the primary source of Daoism, which is one of the principle forms of Chinese religion that accounts for the mystical, and perhaps the Romantic side of the Chinese tradition. Daoism outlined a natural philosophy to peace, harmony, and serenity. One of his gentle visions was to love "the ten thousand things." Unlike Confucious, Chuang Tzu's writing is not axiomatic, but poetic, and relentlessly metaphoric, thriving on paradox, the absurd, and infinitely open in his willingness to understand the magnitude of the unknown and the reality of relativity, althugh he seems to insist always on the futility of utitlity.

"On Making All Things Equal"

Now let me ask you some questions. If a man sleeps in a damp place, his back aches and he ends up half paralyzed, but is this true of a loach? If he lives in a tree, he is terrified and shakes with fright, but is this true of a monkey? Of these three creatures, then, which one knows the proper place to live? Men eat the flesh of grass-fed and grain-fed animals, deer eat grass, centipedes find snakes tasty, and hawks and falcons relish mice. Of these four, which knows how food ought to taste? Monkeys pair with monkeys, deer go out with deer, and fish play around with fish. Men claim that Mao-chi'iang and Lady Li were beautiful, but if fish saw them they would dive to the bottom of the stream, if birds saw them they would fly away, and if deer saw them they would break into a run. Of these four, which knows how to fix the standard of beauty for the world? The way I see it, the rules of benevolence and righteousness and the paths of right and wrong are all hopelessly snarled and jumbled. How could I know anything about such discriminations?"

Consider the picturesque quality of the following one line poem, in which the poet/artist offers a renewed perception of nature, almost teasing us, taunting us to reconsider our notions of priority, magnitude, and all accepted points of reference.

Written on Climbing the Small Terrace of Pei Di
By Wang Wei

The setting sun goes down beside a bird.

Trans. Stephen Owen

The lyrical tradition of Shi-jing is very alive in these poems. I think the lyrical temperment is a sign of mature culture....rooted in the realities of this-worldly experience.

More Student Responses Li Po and Tu Fu
 

Yearning  By Li Po   Endless yearning  Here in Ch'ang-an, Where the cricket spinners cry autumn by the rail of the golden well, Where flecks of frost blow chill, and the bedmat's color, cold. No light from the lonely lantern, the longing almost broken-- Then roll up the curtain, gaze on the moon, heave the sigh that does no good. A lady lovely like the flowers, beyond the wall of clouds, And below, the waves of pale waters. Endless the sky, far the journey, the fleet soul suffers in flight, And in its dreams can't touch its goal through the fastness of barrier mountains-- Then endless yearning Crushes a man's heart. Trans. Stehen Owen	My Feelings By Li Po Facing my wine, unaware of darkness growing, Falling flowers cover my robes. Drunk I rise, step on the moon in the creek- men too are growing fewer. Trans. Stephen Owen   To the Assistant Prefect Chang By Wang Wei In evening years given to quietude, The world's worries no concern of mine, For my own needs making no other plan Than to unlearn, to return to long-loved woods; I loosen my robe before the breeze from pines, My lute celebrates moonlight on mountain pass. You ask what laws rule "failure" or "success"-- Songs of fishermen float to the still shore. Trans. Cyril Birch
Drinking Alone by Moonlight By Li Po Here among flowers a single jug of wine, No close friends here, I pour alone And lift cup to bright moon, ask it to join me, Then face my shadow, and we become three. The moon never has known how to drink, All my shadow does is follow my body, But with moon and shadow as companions a while, This joy I find must catch spring while it's here. I sing, the moon just lingers on, I dance, and my shadow scatters wildly, When still sober we share friendship and pleasure, Then entirely drunk each goes his own way-- Let us join in travels beyond human feelings And plan to meet far in the river of stars. Trans. Stephen Owen	The Pavilion of the Lake By Wang Wei Light the boat that carries me to meet the gentle guest, Who from a great distance is coming over the lake. Then on the terrace, before a cup of wine, On every side  the lotus flowers will open. Trans. C.J. Chen and Michael Bullock
Rising Drun on Spring Day, Telling my Intent By Li Po We are lodged in this world as in a great dream, then why cause our lives so much stress? This is my reason to spend the day drunk and collapse, sprawled against the front pillar. When I wake, I peer out in the yard where a bird is singing among the flowers. Now tell me, what season is this?;; the spring breeze speaks with orioles warbling. I am so touched that I almost sigh, I turn to the wine, pour myself more. Then sing wildly, waiting for the moon, when the tune is done, I no longer care. Trans. Stephen Owen	Another Poem on Mr. Zheng's Eastern Pavilion By Tu Fu This splendid pavilion enters azure mists, where comes autmn sun's clear glow in disarray. Fallen boulders slant upon mountain trees, and clear ripples trail sheets of algae Lavender scales vault, colliding with shore, a blue-gray hawk returns to guard the nest. Towards evening I seek the road I must take, with tattered clouds flying past horse's flank. Trans. Stephen Owen
Taking Down a Trellis By Tu Fu These sticks, tied together are falling apart, the gourd leaves grow fewer and shriveled. I enjoyed good luck that its white flowers formed, it can hardly refuse to shed its green vines. Autumn insects' voices do not leave it, and what will the birds think at twilight? But the cold is coming, all now grows bleak-- man's life too always begins well. Trans. Stephen Owen	I Stand Alone By Tu Fu A single bird of prey beyond the sky, a pair of white gulls between riverbanks. Hovering wind-tossed, ready to strike; the pair, at their ease, roaming to and fro. And the dew is also full on the grasses, spiders' filaments still not drawn in. Instigations in nature approach men's affrairs-- I stand alone in thousands of sources of worry. Trans. Stephen Owen

It is said that the Chinese thought is essentially humanist. The humanist tradition begins with the coming of the Zhu ( or Chu). By the way, you might be confused by different types of spellings. Please note that there are two styles: one is Wade-Giles, supported by Western scholars, ang Pin-yin supported by the Chinese. Zhu is Pin-yin Chu or Chou is Wade-Giles.

You will see a couple of references to the Chu in Farewell, My Concubine--the opera mentioned in the movie is about the Chu king and his concubine.

The Chu kings transformed China from a tribal society to a feudal one.

The greatest detail about this transformation I like is that the Chu instead of praying for rain created irrigation systems. Perhaps, you could remember this bit of detail as a key to opening the humanist traditon in Chinese culture and literature.

It is believed that the humanist process that starts with the Chu emperors becomes codified comprehensively by Confucious. The Book of Songs or shi-jing is one of the classics that performed this cultural fuction. Confucious' comment on The Book of Songs is in p.407.

I want to make a bold statement that Dao is not too different from Dharma. The best literary expressions of Daoism are to be found in Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu, the former is magical, magisterial prose writer, essayist, whereas the latter wrote short, precise maxims.
 

• the Chinese characters were standardized in 3r century BCE, and the classical Chinese language was well set already by 6th century B.C.E
• Chinese culture grew and flourished in isolation, although clans from distant borders  (like Mongols and Manchus) have conquered and ruled China for long periods.
• Chinese culture (Indian culture, too) has remained intact in spite colonialism and global capitalism dominated by the West.
• unlike most other cultures, Chinese literature begins with lyric poetry, which is often about this worldly experience, love, family, work, whereas the epic poetry is about gods and heroes
• the poems for our study, The Book of Songs, shi-jing, are deceptively simple poems that have been memorized and sung by Chinese people for over 3000 years
• about 305 songs have survived; the earliest from 1000 BCE and the latest 600 BCE.
• it is said that Confucious gathered them, but in his Analects, he mentions the fundamental message of the songs: don't swerve from your path
• think of these poems to be the foundational songs of an ancient culture and throughout your reading ask yourself how these poems could possible keep someone from swerving someone from the proper path....

Chung Tzu loves the speaker, the persona, in the poem. One could say her love is tempered with a sense of "realism", commonsense, whereas Chung Tzu's love is impulsive and full of boundless passion, which could lead to trouble,if the woman allows their passions to be acted out unchecked. A firm note of caution is warranted. Such cautioning in the midst of love would not be easy for everyone, especially for young people in love, but if a young woman knows this song, all she needs to do is sing the song, the same song her mother sang to her father and perhaps, their grandparents and their parents, too, sang this song and avoided much heart-break and willow-branch-break.

Also, nowhere in this poem we hear love belittled. The speaker mentions several consequences of passionate behavior, but she doesn't care about them--not about breaking the willows, not about the mulberry, not about the hard-wood, all of them are not unimportant, but they are far less important than the consequences of her family's disapproval--mother, father, brothers, not to mention "the people".

home