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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHINESE LITERATURE NATIONAL CHENGCHI UNIVERSITY NO.34
Publication date： 2020-12
Special Article A New Interpretation of Yu Yue’s “Somniloquies in Sickness”
Since their circulation, the authenticity of the nine poems entitled “Somniloquiesin Sickness” (bingzhong yiyu) had remained uncertain. The authorship has been widely recognized only after a 1930s study by Chen Yinque, who regarded the poems as Yu Yue’s prophetic predictions of the future. Many readers also have inserted political events from the late Qing to the Communist China, pushing further the interpretation of these poems as prophesies. This article contextualizes the poems with Yu’s political thought developed in the 1890s. Drawing from ideas of late Ming thinkers like Gu Yanwu and Wang Fuzhi, as well as new concepts popularized among his late Qing contemporaries, Yu saw the restoration of the ancient feudal system as the panacea to rescue the world in crisis. Seen in this light, the poems indeed match the intellectual concerns of Yu during his lifetime. No. 2 to 4 contain speculations based on transformations Yu encountered in the late Qing period; No. 5 to 9 reflect the retrospective political thinking Yu developed in his later years. By this new interpretation of “Somniloquies in Sickness,” I not only bring attention to the otherwise obscure political ideas among late Qing scholars of classics, but also reveal the subtle, but no less important, re-positionings and changes in the period.
From the rhetorical perspective of “possible persuasion methods,” the article attempts to investigate the reasons why “jian ai” was divided into three chapters.Comparing these three chapters, we can see failed endeavors of rhetorical strategies: changing the meaning and part of speech of the word “jian” as the key term, exchanging and adjusting the opposition side’s opinions, and relocating and settling unverified premises. In terms of rhetorical significance, however, these changes are consistent with the effort made for the validity of persuasion. This is sufficient to support the article’s argument that the three chapters follow an irreversible rhetorical sequence of evolution of ideas, from the first chapter to the second chapter and finally to the third chapter. This does not mean that the construction of “jian ai” theory ends with the completion of the third chapter though. Solely relying on the theory of “jian ai” is not enough; it is necessary to expand it to other arguments and build a larger theoretical network (“Ten Core Chapters”), so that the individual arguments are able to support and validate one another. It is in this kind of situation where the proposition is uncertain but the orientation of arguments generally tends to be consistent, that we can take an overview of how ancient thinkers adjusted their persuasion methods. They did not develop arguments limited to a given topic but constantly enriched and deepened a proposition’s meaning and nature in the process of contemplating the truth.
Reclusion in troubled times often has the purpose of avoiding disasters. There has been little research regarding the seemingly conflicting fact that Sikong Tu remained a “famous” recluse yet still attracted attention of the court, military governors and other literati. This paper points out that Sikong Tu lived in reclusion to avoid the Gengzi disaster, after that he held an attitude of self-preservation and stayed away from direct involvement with politics. However, he was still concerned about the political situation. Although he was aware that he could not single-handedly save the empire, his poems still showed political concerns. Being a restless recluse required him to be more cautious in writing strategies. For example, he wrote many realistic inscriptions for local military governors, but deliberately steered clear of sensitive names to avoid potential persecution. It is noteworthy how Sikong Tu expressed political intention appropriately, considering the political situation at that time.
Wang Kekuan’s Compilation of Chunqiu Hu Zhuan Appendices (Compilation) in the Yuan Dynasty has important academic significance, but academic research on it is limited. Most research focuses on brief and general description, therefore general understanding of the work remains vague and obscure. This article thus studies the scholarly nature of Wang Kekuan’s Compilation in terms of his compilation style and method and direction of supplementation. The observations obtained are as follows: First, through the “compilation style,” Wang compiled materials related to the author’s statements with a focus on similar interpretive viewpoints. Readers were provided with thorough evidence which facilitates understanding and is very beneficial. Second, the categorization of Hu Anguo’s Chunqiu Zhuan (Hu Zhuan) has always been the most criticized. Wang Kekuan’s Compilation not only explained that the commentary style of “praising or criticizing with a single word” of Hu Zhuan is only relevant for the sequential writing style, but also repeatedly quoted Cheng Yi’s “unconstrained” interpretation principle to dissolve the problems arising from the categorization of Hu Zhuan. Th Compilation also edited and supplemented Hu Zhuan. Third, Wang Kekuan deliberately sought a compromise between the theories of Zhu Xi and Hu Anguo, but the Compilation still serves the function of recording Zhu Xi’s writings, and the discussion of Zhu Xi’s employing of the writing techniques of Chunqiu in Compendium of Zizhi Tongjian is still based on Hu Zhuan, ultimately returning to the academic orientation of “abiding by Hu and integrating Zhu.”
This study takes the “Diagram of Righteousness and Selfishness” (“Diagram”) and “An Explanation of the Diagram of Righteousness and Selfishness” by the Ming Dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar Feng Congwu (pseudonym Shaoxu, 1557-1627) as an example, to discuss how in the past scholars used diagrams as a method to show their analysis of the tendency of human will to be righteous or to be selfish. First, this paper explains how the drawing of the Diagram was made according to the content of the Analects and the Mencius. Second, a comparison is made between the Diagram and other similar diagrams including the “Diagram of Shun and Zhi” by Fan Jun (pseudonym Xiangxi, 1102-1150) and the diagram made by Xu Qian (pseudonym Baiyun, 1270-1337) and Cheng Fuxin (pseudonym Linyin, 1257-1340) to demonstrate the meaning of the “a sage is not mine to see” paragraph of “Shu Er” in the Analects. Third, this paper references debates and criticisms among scholars such as Wang Jianchang (pseudonym Fuzhai,1615-1701), Wang Hongzhuan (pseudonym Shanshi, 1622-1702), etc. to reflect on the deficiencies found within the Diagram. Furthermore, it compares the Diagram with the “Diagram of Sincerity Thoughts” in volume 59 of the Collected Writings of Zhuzi, to contemplate the philosophical foundation of the making of diagrams.The paper then makes a comparison of these three diagrams, and explains that the differences are due to varying perspectives in regard to observation and discussion methods, as well as different ways of comprehending ideas related with “righteousness” and “selfishness.” Finally, the author aims to explore the expressive characteristics of “diagram and text interpreting each other,” as illustrated by above diagrams and related texts, and to provide clear evidence for the academic trend of “using diagrams to discuss principle” in the Song-Ming Neo-Confucian tradition, with the hope to lead to further research in this area.
Taiwanese Zhu-zhi Ci (Bamboo Branch Lyrics) came from the Chinese tradition of “collecting folk songs,” and had been an important topic of Taiwanese poetry since the Qing Dynasty. “New Zhu-zhi Ci” appeared in early the Japanese colonial period. The greatest difference between “Taiwan Zhu-zhi Ci” and “New Zhu-Zhi Ci” was the latter’s tendency toward eroticism and bantering. The transformation in content and style from local customs and practices to eroticism and bantering, even to instruments of social intercourse, signified changes of Taiwanese Zhu-zhi Ci during the Japanese colonial period. From the perspective of the development of Taiwanese Zhu-zhi Ci, these changes did not appear to have significance. However, placed within the context of the development of the fragrant trousseau style, these changes served as concrete evidence of influence by the popular trend during the era. Up until 1930, we can still see Taiwan Zhu-Zhi Ci in popular magazines, such as San Liou Chiou Tabloid, Fong Yueh, and Fong Yueh Tabloid. At the time, Zhu-Zhi Ci was paired with erotic articles, making it more playful, even indelicate. The tradition of “collecting folk songs” seemed to have disappeared, but Taiwanese litterateurs still insisted on poems having implicit meanings, being playable but not neglecting resistance in Zhu-Zhi Ci. By that time, the playful, vulgar, entertaining and ironic characteristics of Taiwan Zhu-Zhi Ci all became the best illustration of poetry serving as testimony of modernity.
The “suì ”(遂) evolution of “the verb for completeness > adverb of time for finishedness > consecutive adverb” completed between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Consecutive adverb “suì” is mainly used to indicate chronological relationships. If the sequential occurrences of two events are accidental, “suì” simply indicates the consecutive order, but if the occurrences are non-accidental, then it implies causality combined with chronological relationships. Furthermore, the consecutiveness of time with implied causal relationships further develops into the consecutiveness of causality. The evolution of “suì” is different from those of other consecutive adverbs including “yīn”(因) and “jí ”(即). “Suì ” evolved from time to consecutive connection; but “yīn”, “jí ” evolved from anaphora to consecutive connection. Therefore, their usages are also different. “Yīn” and “jí ” can be used to express hypothetical or conditional relationships, while “suì ” can’t be used in this way. “Suì ” is mainly used to express chronological relationships, but it can also connect sentence groups over relatively long intervals, therefore “suì ” does not necessarily indicate sequential relationships of occurrences of events.
On the basis of reliable cognates and rigorous comparisons of eight Min dialects, Norman (1981) reconstructed a complete Proto Min final system. Although from the perspective of the Qieyun, the Proto Min finals include the16 rhyme groups of Middle Chinese, there is no third division rounded cognate of the Xián rhyme group (咸攝). In this paper, my purpose is to reconstruct the third division rounded cognates of the Xián rhyme group by tracing cognates in modern Min languages, and further to analyze the different existing strata.Following extensive comparisons of Southern Min, Eastern Min and Northern Min, we find that there are at least three reliable cognates in Proto Min: “泛”(empty, hollow) *phɑm5, “範” (sample) *piam6 and “范姓氏” (a Chinese surname) *piam6, among which the two finals *-ɑm and *-iam are colloquial pronunciations which correspond to the literary pronunciations *-uam/*-uap. In this paper, the relative chronology of these two colloquial finals is determined by “the existence of medial *-j- in the third division.” This suggests that: (1) *-ɑm came from the Tan group (談部) in Old Chinese, (2) *-iam came from the third division rounded finals of the Xián rhyme group, (3) the corresponding literal pronunciations *-uam/*-uap were imported after the late Tang and the Five Dynasties. Moreover,the phonological and semantic evidence and the analysis in this paper show that the original characters for phan5 a3 (a stupid person or someone who is easily deceived) in Taiwan Southern Min are “泛囝”.
