Aesthetic Synergy in Northern Song China: Poetry and the "Four Arts" of the Qin, Weiqi, Calligraphy, and Painting

Organizer: Zu-yan Chen, Binghamton University

Chair: Shuen-fu Lin, University of Michigan

Discussant: Victor H. Mair, University of Pennsylvania

Ever since the Tang dynasty (618-907), the qin, a seven-stringed, plucked instrument, weiqi (or go), a board game with black and white stones, calligraphy, and painting have been called the "four arts," the practice of which has been considered a sign of the educated elite. These four arts were closely tied to poetry because all were considered to be among the noblest expressions of aesthetic emotion. Their relationship, however, has never been as intimate and passionate as in the Northern Song (960-1126), when the interplay between poetry and the four arts in daily life coincided with, and to some degree was generated by, an elevation of the literati's status in a society embracing the importance of cultural breadth. This panel will focus on how the poets and artists of the time blurred the distinctions which were supposed to separate the different forms of art. Our four panelists are all poetry specialists and at the same time practitioners and/or theorists of one or another of these four arts. Sujane Wu's paper explores the interactions between the sound of flowing water and the qin music in Ouyang Xiu's (1007-1072) Chuzhou poetry. Zu-yan Chen introduces one of the longest poems in pre-modern China, Shao Yong's (1011-77) "Great Chant on Observing Weiqi," as an archetype of Neo-Confucian poetry. Madeline Chu evaluates Su Shi's (1037-1101) role and status in the development of calligraphy and ci poetry. Finally, Elizabeth Brotherton brings poetry and painting together by charting the growth of poetic painting in the Northern Song. Victor Mair, author and editor of numerous books, including the newly published History of Chinese Culture, will serve as discussant.

Flowing Water and the Qin Music in Ouyang Xiu's (1007-72) Chuzhou Poetry
Sujane Wu, Smith College

It is true that the sounds of gurgling water flowing from between peaks in mountains soothe our hearts, enlighten our spirits, and ease our feelings.  This is exactly how Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) felt about the streams near the Old Drunkard's Pavilion in the Langye Mountain during the years of his exile in Chuzhou.  In Ouyang Xiu's poems written during his ample leisure time at the Pavilion, it seems that he always associated the sound of flowing water with the qin music, and he often liked to play the qin to express his enjoyment of the sound of flowing water.  In his essay, "The Three Zithers," Ouyang Xiu also reveals that he was particularly fond of the qin piece, "Flowing Waters", and that this piece had never left his head, even in his dreams.  The piece "Flowing Waters" is one of the most famous in Chinese qin music.  Its fame is accompanied by a famous legend about the close friendship between Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi.  In this paper, I will explore whether or not Ouyang Xiu uses the sound of the qin and of flowing water as metaphors in his poems.  Is he trying to express his search for such friendship in these poems on the qin music?  In order to have a better understanding of Ouyang's treatment of the qin music in his poems, we will also have to look at Su Shi's (1037-1101) "Zuiweng cao" [The Old Drunkard's Song], which is the lyrics of the qin piece called "Zuiweng yin," composed for Ouyang Xiu and his Old Drunkard's Pavilion.

Zu-yan Chen, Binghamton University

Shao Yong (1011-77), one of the founders of Neo-Confucianism, was also a learned historian and prolific poet. His poem "Great Chant on Observing Weiqi," totaling 360 lines and 1,800 characters, is one of the longest poems in pre-modern China. It is in fact 15 characters longer than "Peacock Flies Southeast," which has widely been considered the longest. The significance of Shao Yong's poem, however, goes far beyond the number of its lines and characters. It employs weiqi as a metaphor for cognition and is an exemplar of Shao's three-step epistemological mode: one proceeds from visual perception to rational contemplation, and finally to the third stage of analytical comprehension. Structurally, this poem can be divided into three parts, or three levels of observation. It begins with a description of the emotional intensity and unpredictability involved in weiqi games. The major body of the poem is devoted to the contemplation of patterns of history as weiqi analogies. The poem concludes with the poet's view of Principle implicit within the cosmic games, identifying the modes of change drawn from both weiqi activities and the historical events previously observed. Shao Yong's "Great Chant on Observing Weiqi" demonstrates his ability to combine historical complexity, philosophical sophistication, and aesthetic accessibility, which in turn attests to the importance of this weiqi poem as an archetype that Shao Yong created for Neo-Confucian Poetry.

Madeline Men-Li Chu, Kalamazoo College

The Northern Song marked a historical transformation in both calligraphy and ci poetry. An elitist movement matured in calligraphy. Instigators of the movement willfully discredited the technical focus of professional artisans and court calligraphers, and elaborated upon the importance of intellectual cultivation and spiritual intensity as the underpinnings of calligraphic creation. During the same period, ci poetry went through a highly significant genre development that enriched its content and elevated its literary status. Ci poets developed from impersonators of the singing girls of the entertainment quarters or the dandy boudoir-beauty observers to become thoughtful, impressible, and spirited individuals. Su Shi played a central role in both monumental movements. The best illustrations of his contributions are his creative expressions. His good friend and protégé, Huang Tingjian, says, "Dongpo's calligraphy assimilates the vigor of ocean gusts and billows. His ci should be read with the same foresight." Using Huang Tingjian's guide as a starting point, in this paper I will analyze the aesthetic synergy in Su Shi's creative works to illustrate his contributions in the Northern Song transformation movements of calligraphy and ci poetry.

Elizabeth Brotherton, SUNY New Paltz

Literati of the Northern Song surpassed all predecessors in their emphasis on cultural breadth, and in trumpeting each others’ (or their own) multifaceted abilities. Their practice of multiple arts was accompanied by deepened inquiry into these arts, and how they related to one another. Nowhere was this more significant than in theoretical and practical explorations into the relation between painting and poetry. The most influential advocate of poetry and painting’s commonality was Su Shi, who in comparing the two established a lyrical function for painting, thus reinforcing a basic theoretical underpinning of the literary art tradition and applying it to new areas. Yet while part of Su’s intention was to make light of painting’s mimetic capacities, his insistence on the commonality of painting and poetry could not have emerged in the first place without the many advances in mimetic power, as well as social efficacy, that painting had undergone over the preceding centuries. Furthermore, physical examples of the two arts’ conjoinment suggest the continued relevance of mimesis to poetic painting. Central to this paper will be a comparison between poetic paintings produced by followers of Su Shi on one hand, and those produced in the painting academy of Emperor Huizong, who took up some of Su’s ideas, on the other. Rather than try to determine which body of work is the more successful, I will conclude by outlining how the two embody remarkably divergent understandings of the relationship between poetry and painting.