Bai Juyi Research Articles

The Study of Group Characteristics of the Scholars of “virtuous and outspoken” in the Third Year of Yuanhe

In the third year of Yuanhe of Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, eleven scholars including Niu Shengru, Huangfu Chik, Li Zongmin, Li Zhengfeng, Xu Xi, Jia Jin, Wang Qi, Guo Qiu, Yao Gun, Yu Wei, and Ji Hongzong were admitted to the examination of the “virtuous and outspoken”. From the perspective of history and literature, eleven scholars in that year were placed at the core and studied, which in essence belonged to a branch of Mr. Fu Xuancong's research paradigm of “Imperial Examination and Literature”. The imperial examination not only provided these scholars with opportunities to enter the imperial court, but also continued to influence their political life and literary creation. Influenced by the subjects, most of them served in the first half of their careers as officials who criticized and admonished, embodying the characteristics of “speaking out and remonstrating extremely”. Among them, some scholars participated in the party struggle, and some scholars intersected with a generation of famous minister Pei Du. The quality of “speaking frankly and remonstrating extremely” accompanied their official career, and the connection with the dignitaries of the current dynasty influenced their career experience and became the intersection of their political activities. The life dominated by politics prompted them to pay more attention to political essays and words and things in their creation. Private words were mostly reflected in the poetry creation with chanting scenery and recording trivial matters as the main theme, and the poems given as a reward were also evidence of their intersection with literary celebrities such as Bai Juyi. , Similar official experiences and close literary experiences eventually constituted the group characteristics of these scholars.

NATURE IN THE POETRY OF DU FU (CHINA) AND NGUYEN KHUYEN (VIETNAM)

Tang poetry is a special poetic phenomenon of Chinese literature, including works that lasted throughout the Tang Dynasty, from the time Emperor Gaozu of Tang Li Yuan established the dynasty, until the collapse of the Tang Dynasty, a period of nearly 300 years (618-907). This is considered the golden age of Chinese poetry. In the Complete Tang Poetry published in 1707, there were 900 books, 30 volumes, and 48,900 poems by more than 2,200 poets of the Tang Dynasty. Tang poetry has a profound influence on Vietnamese literature, especially the absorption of the influence of authors such as Du Fu, Li Bai, Bai Juyi... Comparing the absorption of the influence of Tang poetry, China with that of Vietnamese poetry authors to clarify the absorption of the influence of foreign cultural and literary quintessence, and at the same time affirming the role and position of works imbued with the cultural identity of the Vietnamese nation is always a research direction of scientific and practical significance. Therefore, within the scope of this research, we will focus on comparing the theme of nature in the poetry of Du Fu and Nguyen Khuyen.

A Probe into Bai Juyi’s thought of Garden Aesthetics

A Probe into Bai Juyi’s thought of Garden Aesthetics

A Study on the Ideological Connotation and Significance of Agricultural Poetry in the Northern Song Dynasty

The agrarian-related poems of the Northern Song Dynasty are far from the realistic creation tradition of the Book of Songs, the Yuefu folk songs of the Han Dynasty, “those who are hungry sing about their food, those who are working about their work”, and the realistic spirit of Du Fu’s “Three officials” and “three different” and Bai Juyi’s New Yuefu Movement, “Only songs live the people’s disease”. Through multiple contrast techniques, they fully show the miserable fate of the peasants under the heavy pressure of land, taxation, labor and other systems in the Northern Song Dynasty. It exposes the social situation of extreme disparity between the rich and the poor and sharp contradictions between classes, and expresses the complex feelings of compassion, hatred and guilt of scholars and literati. Influenced by the social culture of the Song Dynasty, the agriculture-related poems of the Northern Song Dynasty also showed the creative tendency of argumentation and prose culture, which was different from the previous poetry, and demonstrated the unique artistic style of the Song poetry.

Study of Bai Juyi's Tea Poems

Bai Juyi was the first poet of the Tang Dynasty to introduce tea in his poems in large quantities, making tea and wine of equal importance in the poetry world. Tea witnessed the twists and turns of Bai Juyi's life, the ups and downs of his career, and the transformation of his state of mind and played an extremely vital role in Bai Juyi's life. Bai Juyi created more than sixty tea poems, which can be roughly divided into three categories: worrying about the country and the people, lamenting his career, and meeting friends with tea. His tea poems have not only various genres, which synthesized almost all kinds of forms of the Tang Dynasty and brought to higher development and great success but also are rich in the creation of artistic conception and rhythmic beauty. In addition, through Bai Juyi's tea poems, philosophy can also be clearly explored, like Confucianism's 'the middle' and 'harmony' ideas, Buddhism's thought of 'tea and Zen' and 'forgetting the gains and losses', Taoism's 'natural inaction' and 'happy to know life' view about life. Besides, through the study of his poetry, it is noticeable that Bai Juyi specialized in myriads of genres, often created unique moods through the use of special imagery in his tea poems, and focused on the rhyme end of the verse and the standard unity of the format to enhance the sense of poetry rhyme.

A Comparative Study on Two English Translations of Song of A Pipa Player from the Perspective of Translation Aesthetics

Poetry translation is a formidable task for the difficulty of achieving unity of form and content. This thesis analyzes two English versions of Bai Juyi’s Song of a Pipa Player from the perspective of translation aesthetics of Liu Miqing, one is Xu Yuanchong’s and the other is Witter Bynner’s. It is found that translation aesthetics theory is a thread running through two translations, and reasons of different translation choices can be explained from translators’ translation idea, thinking pattern and sensitivity of expressed emotion of the ST, which can be a guidance for poetry translation.

Research on Suzhou-Hangzhou Paradigm in Tang Poetry from the Perspective of Literary Cartography

Bai Juyi's poems in Suzhou and Hangzhou represented the turn of Bai Juyi's poetry creation from the outside to the inside. He expressed his daily life deeply in these poems. The research on Bai Juyi's poems and essays in Suzhou and Hangzhou has the following values. The research explored the historical origin and cultural deposits behind every poem of Bai Juyi in Suzhou and Hangzhou. From the perspective of time, the changes of ancient and modern poems reflected the historical changes. From the spatial dimension, the poem map reflected the distribution of relics. The research revealed the connotation and significance of various types of Bai Juyi's poems in Suzhou and Hangzhou. The research also revealed Bai Juyi's interactive writing style, regional connection and historical shuttle. Last but not least, we should sum up the paradigm of Suzhou and Hangzhou in Tang poetry.

The Tale of Genji and Its Chinese Precursors: Beyond the Boundaries of Nation, Class, and Gender by Jindan Ni

Reviewed by: The Tale of Genji and Its Chinese Precursors: Beyond the Boundaries of Nation, Class, and Gender by Jindan Ni Nicholas Morrow Williams (bio) The Tale of Genji and Its Chinese Precursors: Beyond the Boundaries of Nation, Class, and Gender . By Jindan Ni. Lexington Books, 2020. vii, 209 pages. $111.00, cloth; $45.00, E-book. Genji monogatari (Tale of Genji) might seem to be as familiar and well understood as anything in Japan studies, but the volume under review confirms how much within the novel remains opaque and open to further interpretation. Jindan Ni's wide-ranging study offers a fresh appreciation of the novel's bold and even "transgressive" (p. 109) qualities. While the introduction places the study appropriately in the context of previous scholarship on the Genji itself, it already raises the broader perspective of "world literature" in the vein of scholars such as David Damrosch and Wiebke Denecke. Asserting the need for "a shift away from focusing on Japanology to a perspective on comparative literature" (p. 7), Ni promises to examine the novel in relation to a number of comparative issues, such as the restrictions of class or gender on personal identity. Though this compact study may not resolve any of these issues, it demonstrates their pertinence to parallel concerns of modern theorists and within contemporary pop culture, showing the perennial and cross-cultural significance of the novel's themes. The first three of the study's six chapters deal more directly with the "Chinese precursors" of the title. Ni's first chapter compares the use of the moon as the representation of an ideal, alternative world in Taketori monogatari, Genji, and also the poetry of Bai Juyi (772–846). The diffuse argument has to do with the way that each of these uses the moon to represent longing for different modes of existence; the chapter's larger significance lies in how it establishes the framework of Ni's research, examining Murasaki Shikibu and her work in light of concerns beyond the situation of Heian Japan. The second chapter examines the "living phantom" of Lady Rokujō which wreaks such havoc in the novel, comparing its function to the Chinese story of Huo Xiaoyu, whose vengeful ghost haunts her disloyal lover. Unfortunately, Ni fails in this chapter to engage with the well-known monograph on this subject by Doris Bargen. 1 The third chapter is somewhat similar in addressing the issue of "class" in the novel, particularly in relation to the hopes of lower-ranked women to raise their status via marriage [End Page 225] to Genji. Ni shows how these hopes are frustrated and compares these women's fate to several characters in the poetry of Bai Juyi. In the second half of the monograph, Ni expands her scope. The fourth and fifth chapters rely on psychoanalytic concepts of transgression and repetition, respectively, to analyze broader structures in Genji. At the beginning of chapter 4, "Rethinking the Narratives of Fallen Women," Ni mentions AKB48 idol Minegishi Minami, who shaved her head in 2013 to demonstrate her repentance after violating her pledge not to have sexual relationships with men, and uses this contemporary example to lead into a discussion of numerous acts of transgression in the novel, ranging from the acts of kaimami to Genji's clandestine relation with Fujitsubo. Ni also cites poems by Fujitsubo (p. 122) and later the Third Princess (p. 130) that illustrate their conflicted impulses to abandon the world of suffering and remarks: "In Buddhism, every form of attachment to the human world is regarded as an obstacle to reaching peace; therefore, even the bonds of lifelong duty and affection between parents and children are also considered transgressive" (p. 123). It would be valuable to pursue this line of inquiry further and to consider the symmetrical relation between transgressions against the sociopolitical order, on the one hand, and against the ideals of Buddhist emancipation on the other, but of course to do so one would have to compare the original Japanese terms that are used for these concepts, rather than identifying them with the capacious English "transgression." Chapter 5, "Repetition, Substitution, and Tragedy," confronts directly one of the signal narratological features...

｢다부｣의 차 6덕에 나타난 존현(尊賢)사상

Dabu, written by Hanjae Yimok (1471-1498), occupies a very important position in the history of Korean tea culture. Dabu is considered a literary work that reveals a profound spiritual state and is the first professional tea book in Korea. On the other hand, research on the philosophical and mental values shown in Dabu is still insufficient. In particular, research on ‘the idea of respecting the sages’ is still insignificant. Therefore, this study examined Hanjae Yimok's tea spirit, particularly respecting the sages. The results of the study are as follows. First, ‘the idea of respecting the sages’ revealed in the preface of Dabu is embodied in the paragraph discussing ‘the six virtues of tea’. In addition, it formed a respectable core of saints of Confucianism and Taoism. Among them were Yáo, Shun, Confucius, and Laozi, as well as writers, such as Bailetian and Bai Juyi. Hanjae aspired to gain the physical and mental health they gained through the six virtues of tea. In the course of the study, the researcher tried to interpret ‘five harms’ and ‘eight truths’ based on ‘the idea of respecting the sages’. As a result, the existing interpretation based on the theory of Buddhism was an error, and it should be interpreted from the standpoint of Confucianism or Taoism.

A Study On the Translation of Allutions in Ancient Chinese Poetry

The translation of allusion is based on the translation of text to explore its connotation. It is not only the transformation of literal meaning but also an effective communication of cultural information. This paper takes Xu Yuanchong and He Zhongjian’s translation of Liu Yuxi’s ‘A Reply to Bai Juyi’s Poem at Our First Meeting in Yangzhou’ as an example to study their different understanding of the allusions in the same poem and their approaches to the translation of allusions in ancient Chinese poems.

Средства художественной выразительности в стихотворении Бо Цзюйи «Чувства, вызванные созерцанием луны»

The study aims to determine the percentage of parallel fragments in Bai Juyi’s poem “Feelings on Watching the Moon” out of the total number of characters. For this purpose, the researcher will consider fragments characterised by both local and global parallelism as parallel fragments. The study is novel in that it is the first in Russian academic literature to carry out such an analysis of the parallelism of this work that is based on analysing all the lines of the poem at the level of phrases. As a result of the study, it has been shown that the poem under consideration is characterised by vertical and horizontal, local and global symmetry, with horizontal and vertical symmetry complementing each other. None of these types of symmetry is dominant. Parallel fragments make up 87.5% of the total number of characters in the poem. Parallelism is complemented by four metaphors, one symbol and expressive-emotive vocabulary.

A Preliminary Look at the Poems in the Prosperous Tang Dynasty—Jian Bai Juyi’s Song of Eternal Sorrow

A Preliminary Look at the Poems in the Prosperous Tang Dynasty—Jian Bai Juyi’s <i>Song of Eternal Sorrow</i>

THE DYNAMICS OF CHORAL CULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA IN THE 1930S ON THE EXAMPLE OF HUANG TZI’S ORATORIO ETERNAL REGRET

Choral music in China is a dynamically developing form of contemporary musical art. Scientific works devoted to the Chinese choral culture consider the 1930s of the 20th century as the most productive period in the development of this branch of musical creativity. The article examines the phase of the active entry of Chinese choral music into the sphere of the oratorio genre, which is directly related to the name of the great Chinese composer — Huang Tzi. It also highlights the issues of the country’s political life in the 1930s, which actively influenced the creation of nationwide singing movements and new choral works in the country. The oratorio genre, the genesis of which refers us to the European religious musical tradition of the 17th century, spread in China owing to the massive flow of Chinese intelligentsia to the territory of Western states throughout the entire beginning of the 20th century. In the article, the actualisation of the oratorio and its interpretation in a new light is presented as the merit of Huang Tzi, whose civic position was directly related to the desire to preserve ethnic origins in Chinese music and to complement them with Western composing techniques organically. Having proved himself not only as a composer but also as a theorist and teacher, Huang Tzi devoted most of his life to educating a large number of music professors, initiating a progressive approach to music education. His desire to raise the level of the composing school in China made it possible to enrich the repertoire of vocal and instrumental music with characteristics of the folk style. The oratorio Eternal Regret presented in the article is a unique creation that organically combines ethnic music and Western composition techniques. In the story of Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei (to the poems of Tang poet Bai Juyi), taken by the composer as the theme for the libretto, there is certain symbolism that has the conceptual plan of addressing the power to demonstrate the alleged results of Kuomintang’s unclear policy. Thus, directly related to political cataclysms and their final embodiment in the form of the Sino-Japanese war (1937-1945), the oratorio Eternal Regret is presented in the article as a consolidating core that inspired the civilian masses to fight the Japanese invaders. The analysis of Bai Juyi’s original poem “Eternal Regret” and a fragmentary historical-stylistic and vocal-choral analysis of the oratorio have been carried out. The artistic features of individual parts of the oratorio, seven of which were completed by the composer, are revealed. Based on literary sources and theoretical research presented in the article, the author asserts the special role of the oratorio Eternal Regret in history and its far-reaching influence on the prospects for the development of the Chinese choir.

“Still Holding the Pipa to Hide Half Her Face”: Visions of Bai Juyi’s ‘Song of the Pipa’ in Republican China

Abstract A recurring subject of manhua (comics) in Republican-era China was the pipa player, a woman whose genealogy can be traced back to the disgraced and displaced subject of Bai Juyi’s ninth-century poem Pipa xing (Song of the pipa). This paper traces this woman’s development from her conception in Pipa xing and follows her as she is re-imagined by modern poets and manhua artists into a variety of figures, from scorned politicians to modern feminine archetypes. This paper argues that these artists leverage her precarity and anachronism to portray contemporary political turmoil and national insecurity, as they look back at China’s imperial past and towards its uncertain future. And instead of reifying the distinction between the prosody of classical and New Poetry, this paper finds classical poetics not only in poems themselves, but also in tropes and images that reveal how poets and poetry reckoned with the rise of new media.

Building and Rebuilding Buddhist Monasteries in Tang China: The Reconstruction of the Kaiyuan Monastery in Sizhou

This article explores regional Buddhist monasteries in Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) China, including their arrangement, functions, and sources for their study. Specifically, as a case study, it considers the reconstruction of the Kaiyuan monastery 開元寺 in Sizhou 泗州 (present-day Jiangsu Province) with reference to the works of three prominent state officials and scholars: Bai Juyi 白居易 (772–846), Li Ao 李翱 (772–841), and Han Yu 韓愈 (768–824). The writings of these literati allow us to trace the various phases of the monastery’s reconstruction, fundraising activities, and the network of individuals who participated in the project. We learn that the rebuilt multi-compound complex not only provided living areas for masses of pilgrims, traders, and workers but also functioned as a barrier that protected the populations of Sizhou and neighboring prefectures from flooding. Moreover, when viewed from a broader perspective, the renovation of the Kaiyuan monastery demonstrates that Buddhist construction projects played a pivotal role in the social and economic development of Tang China’s major metropolises as well as its regions.

Восточные мотивы и образы в поэзии Юстины Крузенштерн

The paper aims to reveal specificity of implementing motives of the ancient Chinese pretexts (in particular, Bai Juyi and Li Bo) in a poem of a representative of the “Eastern branch” of the Russian emigration (the 1920-1940s) Yustina Krusenstern-Peterets, who adopted the figurative system of the Chinese culture, calling China her “second Motherland”. Scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that the researchers introduce little-known works of “Harbin-Shanghai” regional author into scientific circulation and analyse how the Russian poetess assimilated the foreign cultural tradition. The findings indicate that the Russian poetess Yu. Krusenstern proposes a free interpretation of the Chinese pretext and abandons the tradition of restrained and concise narration typical of the Tang classics. Relying on the Russian literary tradition characterized by rich imagery, Krusenstern imparts special vividness to her poems.

Study on Bai Juyi's Leisure Poems during Days in Xiagui

Study on Bai Juyi's Leisure Poems during Days in Xiagui

Study on the World of Consciousness Manifested in Leisure Poems by Bai Juyi

Study on the World of Consciousness Manifested in Leisure Poems by Bai Juyi

Четверостишия Бо Цзюй-и в вокальном цикле Эдисона Денисова «Ноктюрны»: творческий метод русского композитора середины ХХ века при работе с древнекитайской поэзией

The article is devoted to studying correlation of music and poetry in Edison Denisov’s vocal creative work. The problem is examined on the basis of comparing the “Nocturnes” vocal cycle and the poetical source - poems of the ancient Chinese poet Bai Juyi in L. Z. Eidlin’s translation. The researcher describes the “thaw” period in the Soviet art as a period when the cycle was created. Political cause for revival of the Russian-Chinese relations at the end of the 1940s - the beginning of the 1950s is identified. Denisov’s methods to work with Bai Juyi’s poetry are examined, the Russian composer’s attitude to images of the Chinese culture and musical stylistics of the composition are analysed.

元稹貞元十九年應試判文考論

In Tang Dynasty, scholars were good at writing court verdicts, Yuan Zhen was one of the best. Compared with the five court verdicts during the the imperial examination in the 19th year of Zhengyuan period of Dezong, we found that Bai Juyi was considered the best, which revealed that the official still respected the classics, and even the exploration of justice should not contradict the classics. However, there were obvious contradictions between the standpoint in Yuan Zhen''s court verdicts and his usual writing, which made his court verdicts have a strong academic atmosphere. The style of court verdict gradually changed from the emphasis on stacking stories and gorgeous words in the early Tang Dynasty to the emphasis on reasoning and fluency in writing after the middle Tang Dynasty, Yuan Zhen''s work wasin this turning period, which also explains why the later evaluation of Yuan and Bai tending to praise the former one and depreciate the latter one.