Which Bastard Stole My Cub

Talisman Demon of the Heavenly Corpse

51

"The bright moon shines upon the accumulated snow," "The great river flows day and night," "The bright moon hangs in the center of the sky," "The long river, the setting sun is round"—such realms are truly magnificent spectacles for the ages. If one seeks them in ci poetry, only the works of Nalan Rongruo from beyond the frontier, such as his Chang Xiang Si ("Deep in the night, a thousand tents are lit") and Ru Meng Ling ("Ten thousand tents of felt, the people are drunk; star-shadows sway, about to fall"), come close.

52

Nalan Rongruo observes things with the eyes of nature and expresses emotions with the tongue of nature. This is because he had just entered the Central Plains and had not yet been stained by the customs of the Han people, which is why he could be so genuine. Since the Northern Song Dynasty, he is the only one.

53

Lu Fangweng, in his preface to the Huajian Ji, stated: "In the late Tang and Five Dynasties, poetry grew increasingly base, yet those who composed to music were unexpectedly simple, ancient, and lovely. That they could do this but not that is not easily explained by reason." The Siku Tiku refutes this, saying: "It is like someone who can lift seventy pounds; if they try to lift a hundred, they stumble, but if they lift fifty, they move with ease." This argument is very clear. However, I dare not believe that ci is necessarily easier than poetry. How well Chen Wozi spoke: "The Song people did not understand poetry but forced themselves to write it, so throughout the Song Dynasty, there was no true poetry. Yet, their feelings of joy, sorrow, and resentment, when stirred within and unable to be suppressed, were usually released in shiyu (ci), which is why their achievements in that form were uniquely skillful." This is also why the ci of the Five Dynasties stands alone in its excellence.

54

When the four-character line form decayed, the Chu Ci arose; when the Chu Ci decayed, the five-character line arose; when the five-character line decayed, the seven-character line arose; when ancient poetry decayed, the regulated verse arose; and when regulated verse decayed, ci arose. Once a literary form has been in common use for a long time, too many hands have touched it, and it inevitably becomes a set of clichés. Even heroes find it difficult to create new meaning within such constraints, so they escape into other forms to liberate themselves. This is the reason why all literary forms begin in prosperity and end in decline. Therefore, I dare not believe that later literature is inferior to the past. But if we speak of a single form, this theory is indeed irrefutable.

55

The Classic of Poetry (the Three Hundred Pieces), the Nineteen Old Poems, and the ci of the Five Dynasties and Northern Song all lack titles. It is not that they have no titles, but that the meaning within the poems and ci cannot be exhausted by a title. Since the Hua'an and Caotang anthologies, every tune has been given a title, and even the untitled works of the ancients have been assigned them. It is like looking at a fine landscape painting and immediately declaring, "This is such-and-such a mountain, such-and-such a river"—is that acceptable? When poetry has a title, the poetry dies; when ci has a title, the ci dies. Yet, men of mediocre talent are rarely able to realize this and pull themselves out of the rut.

56

The works of the great masters always touch the heart and soul when expressing emotion, and always refresh the eyes and ears when describing scenery. Their words flow out naturally, without any trace of affectation or artifice. This is because what they see is true and what they know is profound. This is true for both poetry and ci. If one uses this to judge the writers of past and present, one will not go far wrong.

57

If a person can avoid writing poems or ci for the sake of praise, satire, or gift-giving, and can avoid using lines that rely on historical allusions or words that are merely decorative, they have already passed the halfway mark in this craft.

58

With the magnificent brilliance of the Song of Everlasting Regret, the only historical allusion used is the four characters "Xiaoyu and Shuangcheng," which is more than enough. As for the ge-xing of Meicun, it cannot function without historical allusions. The difference in quality between Bai and Wu can be seen right here. This is not only true for writing poetry; those who compose ci must also know this.

59

Among the forms of modern-style poetry, the five- and seven-character quatrains are the most esteemed, followed by regulated verse, with the pailü (extended regulated verse) being the lowest. This is because the latter form is suited neither for expressing inspiration nor emotion; it is almost nothing more than a rhymed parallel prose. In ci, the short ling are like quatrains, the long diao are like regulated verse, and long diao like the Baizi Ling or Qinyuan Chun are closer to pailü.

60

When a poet faces the universe and human life, they must enter into it and also step out of it. By entering into it, they can describe it. By stepping out of it, they can observe it. By entering into it, there is vitality. By stepping out of it, there is a lofty perspective. Meicheng could enter but could not step out. Since Baishi, neither of these two things has even been dreamed of.

61

A poet must have a sense of disdain for external things, so they can command the wind and moon like servants. Yet, they must also have a sense of reverence for external things, so they can share in the joys and sorrows of flowers and birds.

62

"Once a singing girl, now a wanderer's wife. The wanderer does not return, the empty bed is hard to guard alone." "Why not spur your fine horse to seize the key path first? Do not remain in poverty, struggling in hardship." These can be considered the height of vulgarity. However, do not view them as vulgar ci. They are not vulgar because they are genuine. The great ci poets of the Five Dynasties and Northern Song were the same. It is not that they lacked "vulgar" ci, but when one reads them, one only feels their intimacy and moving power. It is not that they lacked "vulgar" ci, but one only feels their overflowing vitality. One can see that the illness of "vulgar" ci is not the fault of the vulgarity itself, but the illness of "wandering ci" (aimless verse). "Is it that I do not think of you? It is just that the house is far away." The Master said: "He does not really think of her; if he did, what distance could there be?" He detested the aimlessness of it.

63

"Withered vines, old trees, evening crows. A small bridge, flowing water, level sands. An ancient road, west wind, a lean horse. The setting sun sinks in the west. A heart-broken man at the ends of the earth." This is the short ling Tian Jing Sha by Ma Dongli of the Yuan Dynasty. In these few words, he deeply captures the marvelous realm of the Tang quatrains. The ci poets of the entire Yuan generation could not achieve this.

64

Bai Renfu's play Rain on the Paulownia Tree on an Autumn Night is majestic and tragic, the crown of Yuan drama. Yet, the Tianlai Ci he composed is extremely shallow, not even worthy of being a slave to Jiaxuan. Is it that the creator is easy to master, while the follower is hard to make clever? Or is it that people each have their own abilities and limitations? Readers who observe that the poetry of Ou and Qin is far inferior to their ci will understand the message within this.

Drafted in the ninth month of the Gengxu year of the Xuantong reign, at the residence south of Dingwu City in the capital.