The Gift

Heavenly Corpse Rune Demon

Eleven

Poets often use scenery to embody emotion. Those who focus on expressions of love and achieve supreme excellence include Niu Qiao: "I swear to stake my whole life on this, to exhaust all the joy you can give me today." Gu Xiong: "Exchange my heart for yours, only then will you know how deep the longing goes." Ouyang Xiu: "The clothes grow loose, yet I have no regrets; for your sake, I wither away." Zhou Bangyan: "So many sorrows, all because of that moment, lingering in affection." Such lyrics are rarely found among the works of poets, past or present.

Twelve

The structure of ci poetry should be subtle and refined. It can express what poetry cannot, yet it cannot fully express all that poetry is capable of. The scenery of poetry is vast, while the language of ci is lingering.

Thirteen

To speak of temperament or charm is not as good as speaking of the "realm." The realm is the foundation; temperament and charm are the branches. When the realm is established, the other two follow naturally.

Fourteen

"The west wind blows across the Wei River, the setting sun fills Chang'an." Zhou Bangyan incorporated this into his ci, and Bai Renfu into his drama. This is the act of borrowing the realm of the ancients to serve as one's own. However, if one does not possess an inherent realm of their own, even the ancients cannot be put to use.

Fifteen

For long-form ci, Zhou Bangyan, Liu Yong, Su Shi, and Xin Qiji are the most accomplished. Zhou Bangyan's two Lang Tao Sha Man pieces are precise, vigorous, and rhythmic, already sounding the clarion call for Northern drama. As for Liu Yong's Ba Sheng Gan Zhou and Su Shi's Shui Diao Ge Tou, these are works of spontaneous inspiration, their stature towering through the ages; they cannot be judged by ordinary standards.

Sixteen

Xin Qiji's He Xin Lang ("Sending off my twelfth younger brother, Maojia") possesses a marvelous structure. Furthermore, every single phrase possesses a "realm." This is a work of high quality, bordering on the divine. Yet, because it was not written with deliberate intent, later generations cannot imitate it.

Seventeen

Xin Qiji's He Xin Lang contains: "The willows darken the path of rippling waves. Sending off spring, the fierce wind and rain bring a new green." Also his Ding Feng Bo: "From now on, drunk on wine in the moonlight. Ears burning." The characters "green" (lü) and "burning" (re) are both used in the rising tone. Together with Han Yu's He Xin Lang—which rhymes "jade" (yu) and "tune" (qu) with "note" (zhu) and "woman" (nü)—and his Bu Suan Zi—which rhymes "night" (ye) and "thanks" (xie) with "eat" (shi) and "moon" (yue)—they have pioneered the tradition of cross-rhyming the four tones in Northern drama.

Eighteen

Tan Futang's Qie Zhong Ci Xuan claims: "Jiang Lutan's Shui Yun Lou Ci, along with Chen Rongruo and Xiang Liansheng, have stood as a tripod for two hundred years." However, the short lyrics of Shui Yun Lou Ci possess a realm, while the long-form pieces only retain a certain style and structure. Yi Yun Ci is solid and substantial, but lacks transcendence; none are worthy of comparison with Rongruo. Yet, compared to the likes of Gao Wen and Zhi An, they are far superior.

Nineteen

Theories regarding the eras of ci flourished at the beginning of the Qing dynasty. Zhu Yizun claimed that ci became grand in the Northern Song and profound in the Southern Song. Subsequent poets all upheld this view. Yet, there were those with discerning eyes among them. Zhou Baoxu said: "The Southern Song did not commit the clumsy errors of the Northern Song, but it did not reach the profound, all-encompassing heights of the Northern Song." He also said: "Northern Song ci often narrates emotion through scenery, hence it is like a round pearl or a polished jade, brilliant from every angle. By the time of Xin Qiji and Jiang Kui, it changed to narrating scenery through immediate events; thus, what was profound became shallow, and what was winding became straight." Pan Sinong said: "The ci originated in the Tang, flourished in the Five Dynasties, but in terms of the depth of intent and the winding, poignant nature of the structure, nothing surpassed the Northern Song. The Northern Song is to ci what the High Tang is to poetry. By the Southern Song, it had begun to decline." Liu Rongzhai said: "Northern Song ci is dense yet sparse, hidden yet bright, heavy yet swift, delicate yet vast, refined yet integrated. The Southern Song simply reversed these qualities." It is clear that there is a public consensus on this matter. Although the ci of Zhi An is quite shallow, and that of Pan and Liu even more so, their veneration of the Northern Song shows the same keen insight as the gentlemen of Yunjian during the late Ming.

Twenty

The ci of the Tang, Five Dynasties, and Northern Song can be called the true fragrance and authentic color. As for the gentlemen of Yunjian, they are merely paper flowers. If the true fragrance is already like this, how much more so for those who follow?