Narrative Elements in Traditional Chinese Poetics

Questions of the nature of narrative in the Chinese tradition—its techniques and forms of expression—are of increasing interest to scholars of Chinese literature and art, but are still defined only hazily by scholars of Chinese poetry. The three main criteria for the analysis of narrative expression as distinct from lyrical expression—point of view, characterization, and sequence—are familiar from European works of narrative theory. The same criteria are present in traditional Chinese poetics, though they manifest themselves very differently from their Western counterparts. Although Chinese narrative poetry may not be formally distinct from other modes of poetic expression as developed in various genres, the earliest extant texts of Chinese poetry and poetic criticism nevertheless show a clear awareness of the potential and utility of narrative expression. For an understanding of the functions of point of view, characterization, and sequence in traditional Chinese poetics we must consider the characteristics of Chinese poetic language as well as the documents of literary criticism in terms of the fundamental units of style which allow for narrative expression.

The earliest extant works of Chinese literature provide the basis for the formative statements of the nature of literary art and the general nature of the Chinese poetic language. The very term that we translate as "poetry," shih, serves as an example of some of the peculiar characteristics of Chinese critical discourse. The first documents of Chinese poetics, as they have come down to the present day, are based on the Shih Ching anthology, probably first compiled around 600 B.C., although many of its three hundred or so poems may date from centuries earlier. The word shih has its earliest usage in three of the poems in the ya (odes or elegantiae) section of this anthology. These usages of the term shih have been interpreted to indicate the existence of a conception of "poetry" as a literary art, definable by name and recognizable by nature in its application, as early as the sixth century B.C., and this definition of poetry is common in works of criticism. The term is also used just as frequently to refer to that first anthology, the Shih Ching, and to the genre of poetry which is said to derive from the models of the Shih Ching. The interdependence of these uses of the term shih is readily apparent, and yet their precise relation and distinctions may seem baffling. Furthermore, Chinese criticism shows a tendency to define concepts either in terms of particular examples from the tradition or metaphorically, in terms of their effects. This makes the task of defining the abstractions which form the basis of Chinese critical terminology difficult in Western languages. Considering that the sources of the Chinese poetic tradition are lyrical, we can see that such terminology will also inevitably reflect the problems of describing the aesthetics of a lyric tradition and lyrical quality in art generally.

Another important feature of the Chinese critical tradition which bears significantly on the development of a distinction between narrative and lyric modes of expression is the emphasis on the role of intent (chih) as crucial to the understanding of a work of art. The importance of authorial intention has already been implied in the introductory discussion of T'ao Ch'ien's and Wang Wei's versions of the legend of Peach Blossom Spring. Much of the significance of Wang Wei's poem derives from his shared interpretation of T'ao Ch'ien's purpose in composing his preface and poem. This is only a specific instance of the importance of the perception and understanding of authorial intention. In practical terms artistic emphasis on the perception and understanding of authorial intention is an integral aspect of Chinese literary criticism, a precept which was amply confirmed in Confucian doctrine, especially in interpretations of particular works of literature and statements on the nature of literary art. The early Confucian impulse was to interpret shih in terms of their value for learning, if not precisely for their didactic content. What ultimately emerged was a bias toward political and social rhetoric, with literary language regarded as a means to various ends. The role of literature in such a system of social thought is as a medium through which one may acquire learning that may in turn stir and edify others; this is regarded as the proper end or use of learning.

The Confucian emphasis on the ends of learning would seem to place as much importance on the act of reading as on the act of writing: what matters is the successful communication of the author's intent, and this requires a receptive audience. This purposive attitude toward literary criticism is evident from early statements on the nature of the arts in texts which express Confucian values. The Classic of History (Shu Ching), for example, attributes to Emperor Shun an admonition regarding the proper uses of poetic expression, as part of his charge to his new minister of music, the T'ai-ssu yüeh: "Poetry expresses intention (inclination, determination, or will) in words, songs prolong the sounds of words for chanting, and the pitch-pipes harmonize the notes. Make the eight kinds of musical sounds in accord and let them not interfere with each other, so that spirits and men may be brought into harmony."

The "Great Preface" to the Shih Ching (Shih ta hsü), from the Mao edition of the anthology, dates from perhaps the first century A.D. and is attributed to Wei Hung. This enigmatic text presents a complex statement on the nature of poetic expression which has proved to be perhaps the most tenacious and influential in Chinese criticism. This preface marks the foundation of Chinese literary criticism as a form of discourse in its own right. Incorporating the late Han revivals and reforms in Confucian doctrine, it attempts to formulate the process whereby poetry combines aesthetic quality and ethical substance. The preface reflects a background of Confucianism, grounded as it is in the pragmatic principle of the necessity of ethical purpose in literature, and this principle is in turn grounded in a conception of the nature of literature that makes the processes of writing and reading virtually inseparable. The relation of "intent" to "poetry" is part of a spontaneous creative process which proceeds from internal, individual response to the external world:

Poetry is the fulfillment of intent; what dwells in the mind is intent, what comes forth in words is poetry. Emotions move in the core of one's being and take form in words. When speaking them does not suffice, then one sighs them or chants them; if sighing and...