the test’s variables by specifying to whom the scholar should write
his poem. This creates a strange scenario whereby the composition
of the scholar’s poem is not an impromptu reaction to circum-
stances—a communication from one person to another—but rather
a contrived expression performed for the judgment of a third party.
Matters become even stranger when Zhu Tao orders the scholar to
“put himself in his wife’s place” and compose her reply, thus pro-
ducing a contrived response to a contrived missive. The scholar
performs this odd poetic drama while standing before a general on
military training grounds. The sharp contrast between his literary
( wen) activity and the martial ( wu) setting forms the basis of his first couplet, which contrasts the brush of a scholar with the spear of a
soldier. The scholar’s poem is replete with the imagery of tender
affection between husband and wife, while his simulation of his
wife’s poem casts her in the ancient role of the farmer’s wife waiting
for her husband to return from military service. 28 Both poems envision a possible future in which military duty would force the
husband and wife to be separated. Not only is the composition of
these poems contrived, their very subject matter concerns events
that have not yet taken place. The facility with which Zhu Tao and
the scholar manipulate these poetic variables demonstrates how de-
—————
28. The earliest exemplar of this theme is “My Husband Is Away on Duty” 君子
于役 (Mao #66) from the Poems.
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Placing the Poem
229
liberate poetic production has become by this time. The scholar
originally claims it as his object of study; what he demonstrates here
is not a sincere expression of irrepressible passion but an acquired
skill that can be used to manufacture the appearance of sincere passion in poetic form.
When Zhu Tao rewards the scholar and excuses him from duty,
he demonstrates that he is a good reader of both poetry and poetic skill. The whole exchange reflects as well on him as a receiver of
poetry as it does on the scholar as a producer of it. Zhu certainly
could be sympathizing with the feelings of longing expressed in the
poems, even if they are hypothetical. The poems’ expression of
potential sorrow moves the authority figure to prevent that sorrow
from arising; they are prophylactic rather than remedial. However,
Zhu Tao’s notice of the scholar’s appearance, his question regarding
his vocation, and his material reward in the form of a bolt of silk all
suggest that he is recognizing the scholar for what he is—a man of
letters—rather than reacting to a specific instance of poetic produc-
tion. The poems simply serve to confirm what Zhu Tao already
suspected, that the scholar is a man of the brush, not the spear, and
that he belongs in the “field of letters” 文場 rather than the “polo
fields.” Zhu Tao’s test serves as a miniature version of the imperial
examination, which uses skill in poetic composition as one criterion
to select men from the field of letters for service in the civil bu-
reaucracy. The difference here is that passing the test means avoid-
ing a post instead of obtaining one. Poetic competence, when rec-
ognized, can serve to remove one from the realm of physical
violence and return one to the relative safety of the realm of literary
expression.
There is another anecdote (2.5) in which poetry is used to avoid an
examination altogether. Li Zhangwu 李章武 (fl. 827–835), vice gov-
ernor of Chengdu, who “favored the ancient in his studies and had
quite a reputation in his time” 學識好古有名於時, pens a poem for
an old monk who fears he will not pass the newly instated manda-
tory examinations on the Buddhist scriptures. When the examina-
tion supervisor sees the poem (which opens: “The Southern Sect has
always allowed all expedient means, / Where in the heart are the
scriptures to be found?” 南宗尚許通方便 / 何處心中更有經), he
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230
Placing the Poem
excuses the monk from the examination. This is a case of poetic
competence by proxy. Li Zhangwu understands that there is more
than one path to enlightenment and that wisdom does not lie in texts
alone; it is his text that excuses the monk from having to demon-
strate knowledge of the scriptures. Of course, the examination su-
pervisor is probably more impressed by who wrote the poem than
what it says. The monk demonstrates his own form of competence
in seeking out the help of a man whose words carry some weight.
Poetic competence alone does not guarantee success in the im-
perial examinations—even Du Fu 杜甫 (712–770) failed them twice—
and Storied Poems contains an anecdote suggesting that poetic talent could even hinder success in the examination system.
When Jia Dao [779–843] first became famous for his poetry, he was wild
and dissolute and was unable to pass the examinations for a long time. The Duke of Jin, Pei Du [765–839], excavated a pond in Xing-hua village,
planted bamboo, and constructed raised gazebos. 29 Dao had just failed the imperial examinations when someone told him that the executive official
[Pei Du] despised him and that was why he was not among those selected.
Dao became extremely indignant and inscribed a poem inside Pei Du’s
pavilion. It read:
You have smashed a thousand homes to make
a pond,
And planted roses instead of peaches and pears.
When the rose blossoms have fallen in the
autumn breeze,
You shall at last realize that your courtyard is
filled with thorns.
Because of this, everyone scorned Dao’s effrontery and lack of respect. As a result, he died without ever passing the examinations and regretted it to the end of his life. (4.5)
賈島初有詩名狂狷薄行久不中第裴晉公興]化里鑿池種竹。起臺榭。方
下第。或謂執政惡之。故不在選。怨憤尤極。遂於內題詩曰。
破卻千家作一池
不栽桃李種薔薇
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29. The opening of this entry (in square brackets) is lost in Gushi; I have taken it from Leishuo 類說 ( juan 51).
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Placing the Poem
231
薔薇花落秋風後
荊棘滿庭君始知
由是人皆惡其侮慢不避。故卒不得第。憾而終。
Pei Du was a notoriously strict examiner (he even failed Han Yu),
but Jia Dao’s poetic venting of his indignation only made matters
worse for him. The line about planting thorny roses instead of
peaches and pears is particularly biting, as “peaches and pears” or
“peaches and plums” were often used as a figure for students and
disciples ga
thered around the supporting “trunk” of a kind and
worthy teacher. As Jia Dao surely intended in prominently in-
scribing his poem inside Pei’s pavilion, the poem leaks out to a
wider audience—simply denoted in this case as “everyone.” 30 This
“everyone” must include influential officials, for Jia Dao is unable to
pass the examinations for the rest of his life. Thus, the normal role
of poetry as a means to official employment is inverted and becomes
an impediment. The “effrontery” so despised by everyone seems to
be just as much a matter of Jia’s audacity in inscribing the poem in
Pei Du’s pavilion as it is any pointed criticism in the poem itself. Jia Dao may have a “reputation for poetry” 詩名, but in this case he
lacks competence in deploying his poetic discourse—unless never
being able to pass the examinations was his intent.
Poetry is associated with criticism of authority to such an extent
that, in some cases, it becomes a dangerous form of discourse even
when its motivations are innocent.
Minister Liu Yuxi [772–842] was demoted from his position as vice director of the State Farms Bureau to that of an assistant prefect of Langzhou. 31
After a total of ten years he was finally summoned back to the capital. It had just turned spring, so Liu composed a poem, entitled “Given to All the Fine Gentlemen Viewing Flowers,” that read:32
—————
30. This is not the only example of protest graffiti in Storied Poems. In entry 4.2, Wu Wuling (fl. 806–827) inscribes a protest poem on a roadside shrine as a public complaint against government investigation into his misconduct.
31. Langzhou is modern-day Jingde in Hunan province.
32. In the Collected Works of Liu Mengde 劉夢得文集 ( j. 4), this poem is entitled
“Playfully Presented to the Gentlemen Viewing Flowers upon my Return to the Capital from Langzhou in Response to an Imperial Summons in the Tenth Year of This content downloaded from 130.111.46.54 on Sat, 03 Aug 2019 08:36:19 UTC
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232
Placing the Poem
On the purple paths I arrive brushing red dust
from my face, 33
Everyone told me that I should return to view
the flowers.
Within Xuandu temple there are a thousand
peach trees, 34
But all of them were planted after Gentleman
Liu had gone.
Once his poem got out, it was circulated throughout the capital. There was someone who had always been jealous of his fame who informed the executive official of the poem and slandered Liu by saying that he bore a
grudge for being demoted. Later, Liu met the man who was the executive
official at the time and was seated with him at a banquet. He comforted Liu and asked after him with great concern. After Liu left, he immediately said to himself, “My new poem of late has surely made trouble for me. What
am I to do?” It had not been more than a few days when he was sent back to become prefect of Lianzhou. 35 In his own explanation of the poem, he wrote, “In the spring of the twenty-first year of the Zhenyuan era [805], when I was vice director of the State Farms Bureau, this [Xuandu] temple had no flowers as yet. That same year I was dispatched to be prefect of
Lianzhou. Upon arriving in Jingnan, I was demoted again to assistant
prefect of Langzhou. 36 I remained there for ten years before I was summoned back to the capital. Everyone said that the temple grounds were
filled with ‘Immortal Peach Trees’ planted by the Daoist priests with their own hands and that, in full bloom, they resembled rosy clouds. 37 And so the preceding piece was a record of this transitory phenomenon. Then I
—————
the Yuanhe Reign” 元和十年自朗州承召至京戲贈看花諸君子, which would
place its date of composition in 815. The custom of “viewing flowers” was practiced by those who passed the spring examinations in the capital.
33. The “purple paths” refer to roads of the capital. “Red dust” often connotes a place of great activity, but is also used figuratively by Buddhists to refer to the mundane cares of the everyday world.
34. Xuandu temple was a Daoist monastery in Chang’an.
35. Lianzhou is modern-day Lianxian in Guangdong province.
36. Jingnan is modern-day Jiangling in Hubei province.
37. The term “Immortal Peach Trees” usually refers to the peach trees grown in the Imperial Gardens. There is a legend that recounts the story of the Queen Mother of the West bringing “Immortal Peaches” to Han Emperor Wu, each one of which would add three thousand years to one’s life. (See The Inside Story of Emperor Wu of the Han 漢武帝內傳.)
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Placing the Poem
233
was dispatched yet again, and now, after fourteen years, I have finally
become the director of the Bureau of Receptions. I returned to stroll in Xuandu and it was desolate, lacking even a single tree. Only mallow and
wild oats rustled in the spring breeze. And so I wrote another poem in 28
characters to await a future outing there. Written this third month of the second year of the Taihe era [828].” The poem reads:
The expansive courtyard is half-covered with moss,
The peach blossoms silently perish as the bean
flowers open.
Where now are the priests who planted the peach trees?
Gentleman Liu from once before now arrives alone. (2.2)
劉尚書自屯田員外。左遷朗州司馬。凡十年。始徵還。方春。作贈看花
諸君子詩曰。
紫陌紅塵拂面來
無人不道看花回
玄都觀裡桃千樹
盡是劉郎去後栽
其詩一出。傳於都下。有素嫉其名者。白於執政。又誣其有怨憤。他日
見時宰。與坐。慰問甚厚。既辭。即曰。近者新詩未免為累。柰何。不
數日。出為連州刺史。其自敘云。真元二十一年春。余為屯田員外
時。此觀未有花。是歲出牧連州。至荊南。又貶朗州司馬。居十年。詔
至京師。人人皆言。有道士手植仙桃滿觀。盛如紅霞。遂有前篇。以記
一時之事。旋又出牧。於今十四年。始為主客朗中。重遊玄都。蕩然無
復一樹。唯兔葵燕麥。動搖於春風耳。因再題二十八字。以俟後再
遊。時大和二年三月也。詩曰。
百畝庭中半是苔
桃花靜盡菜花開
種桃道士今何在
前度劉郎今獨來
Liu’s quatrain in honor of the recent graduates of the spring ex-
aminations, who by custom go to view the flowers in the city
temples, contains a seemingly innocent reference in the last line to
his extended absence from the capital region. The narrative resumes
by telling us: “Once his poem got out, it was circulated throughout
the capital.” This is an explicit reference to a principle manifested
repeatedly in the anecdotes of Storied Poems: poetry always seeks a wider audience. The corollary, that poetry always seeks a higher
audience, is demonstrated when the poem is reported to the execu-
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234
Placing the Poem
tive official by a jealous rival as evidence of Liu’s defiant state of
mind. That a poem could be
used as reliable evidence to substantiate
such a claim shows that expectations of protest sentiments in poetry
were still vital. 38 After an interview with the executive official, Liu is demoted once again and sent off to resume his previous position,
suggesting that his enemy’s ruse was successful.
Storied
Poems
provides the “insider’s story” by appending Liu
Yuxi’s own explanation of this poem and its sequel. In his own
account, Liu mentions his repeated demotions in the course of
matter-of-factly outlining his official career, giving no hint of frus-
tration or dissatisfaction. He claims that he wrote his poem about
the peach blossoms as “a record of this transitory phenomenon” and
nothing more. A poem may be defined as “emotions stirred within
that take on outward form in words,” but the interpretation of this
outward form is contingent upon a number of factors external to
the poem, including audience and context.
The anecdotes of Storied Poems usually provide us with an indi-
cation of both audience and context. This particular narrative pre-
sents two different scenarios. In the first scenario, as told in the
voice of the anonymous “historian,” the audience consists of the of-
ficial class in general and the executive official in particular; the context is the return of Liu to the capital and his subsequent demotion
on charges, substantiated by his poem, of being a malcontent. In this
context, the audience takes his closing couplet as a protest against his extended absence from the capital. Liu Yuxi shows that he is fully
aware of this reading when he laments, “My new poem of late has
surely made trouble for me. What am I to do?” In the second sce-
nario, told in Liu Yuxi’s own voice, the audience is made up of both
the “Fine Gentlemen Viewing Flowers” to whom the poem is ini-
tially addressed, and the readership of the Collected Works of Liu
Mengde [Yuxi] 劉夢得文集, from which this excerpt is drawn; the
context is Liu’s return to the capital and his viewing of remarkable
peach blossoms on the advice of his acquaintances. Read in this
—————
38. They remained vital long after the Tang. The famous “Crow Terrace” 烏臺
Words Well Put Page 35