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By analyzing some poems by Li Bai, I just want to throw light on the fact that every poem has its philosophy, which is the key to deciphering a poem. So many poems are simple in language but deep in thought and feelings, and the reason is just that behind poetry is philosophy. In western literature theory, it is generally called allusiveness while in Chinese literature philosophy, images. They can be integrated into philosophy and employed to decipher poetry. This way, we can understand why some poems so simple in language are so popular generation after generation. It’s just because the philosophy behind the poem reflects the common spiritual world human beings seek. Qian Zhongshu once wrote: human beings are of the same nature, which is of the same psyche. Why we modern readers still can appreciate poems written by ancient poets who lived completely different lives from ours is that we share the same philosophy, which implies that we are of the same psyche. The society has been changing all the time but human nature not. This is the foundation that we can taste the beauty in the poetry. In the past, we by analyzing the images appreciate the poetry as we think that these images symbolize the same feelings. In fact, we can find some examples that make the situation complicated when we appreciate the poetry. Take “wine” for example. “Wine”, we are safe to day, is a word or image that appears in ancient poetry more times than any other word or image, but it implies more: joy or sorrow, worry or relaxation, love or hatred, all these can be implied with the image of wine. So, it’s a limited methodology to decipher poetry by analyzing the images in poetry. However, the problem can be solved by analyzing the philosophy behind poetry. I have made some efforts to do so by analyzing some poems by Li Bai. Today I want to add a new example to the list to illustrate what I have said about the relationship between poetry and philosophy. But today’s poem is not from the works of Li Bai but from a Chinese philosopher noted for his theory of new school of Neo-Confucianism. His name is Chen Hao and his philosophy, Lu-Wang School or School of Mind(心学). Since I maintain that poetry reflects philosophy, so I have no intention to retell his main ideas of his philosophy before analyzing one poem, well-known but often misapprehended. Here is the poem: 春日偶成 作者：程颢 (宋) 云淡风轻近午天，傍花随柳过前川。 Cloud pale, breeze gentle, it’s midday now, I wander by the stream in willows andflowers. Other people not discerning my happinesswithin, Think I just emulate lads for just leisure. I just want to draw your attention to the word “乐”(happiness)in the line, as the word is the poem’s key. The word “乐”in the poem is often deciphered as joy in daily life, or having fun in nature or scenery. But in fact, as the poet himself wrote, his happiness is misapprehended. Then what’s his real meaningwith the world “乐”？ We can find the answer with his philosophy. In Analects, a story is recorded: once when Confucius was sitting with several of his disciples, he asked each of them to express his desires. When the others had finished, Confucius asked Zeng Dian to speak. He replied: “in the last month of spring, with the dress of the season all complete, along with five or six young men, and six or seven boys, to go to wash in the river Yi, enjoy the breezes among the rain altars, and return home singing.” The story is important for Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism as it totally explains what kind of happiness Confucians seek and this happiness is one of the professed aims of the Neo-Confucianists. The happiness of the sage is a natural outcome of his state of mind, described by Chen Hao as “impersonal,impartial and responding to things spontaneously.（廓然而大公物来而顺应）” It means the sage simply enjoys what he himself is. The happiness in his poem is just being what he himself is. He says: “When we studied under Chou[Tun-Yi]”, he always asked us to find out wherein lay the happiness of Kung(Confucius) and Yan[Hui] and what they find enjoyable. And now he has found it and wrote a poem about it. He enjoys the happiness of Kung[Confucius]and Yan[Hui], who was considered a happy man with coarse rice to eat, with only water to drink, and living in amean street: these, others would have found unbearable depressing, but for Hui’shappiness they made no difference at all. Chen Hao, when asked to make comments on the happiness of Yan Hui, said that the sage simply enjoys what he himself is just because he and the Dao(the Way)has become one, that is, he enjoys what he himself is just as he enjoys the Dao( the Way). This is the state the sage exists and his poem describes such a state where there are no distinctions between him and the Dao, subject and object. If you agree with me, you will find a simple peom is beautiful just because of the philosophu behind it. |
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