DIFFERENTIATING SPACE: STATIC VS DYNAMIC SPACE

Now that the question of how the poet creates spatiality is answered through the usage of progression, the final question to ask is what characteristics of spatiality does the poet create within the quatrain? The poet’s transformation of space can typically be separated into two distinct categories: static space and dynamic space. Whereas static space involves subtle movement, passive observation, and focuses on slight shifts within the text, dynamic space showcases active, engaging expression through motion and physicality. The poet’s observations, interactions, and intuitions upon specific images within the landscape are reflected in the type of space that they create. To better illustrate this, this section compares and contrasts Wang Wei’s “The Deer Enclosure” (lù chái 鹿 柴) and Li Bai’s “Early Departure from White Emperor Fortress” (zǎo fā bái dì chéng 早发白帝城).

Wang Wei, accomplished painter, poet, calligrapher, and scholar official, was ranked among the most distinguished of men during the golden age of the Tang dynasty. Wang not only mastered the Three Perfections, but he was also an accomplished musician. His work often reflected his Buddhist affiliations of simplicity, piety, and emptiness (Śūnyatā) in both poetry and landscape painting. Though he held a successful position at the capital and was highly regarded for his poetic genius and talents beyond poetry, Wang preferred to lead a life of reclusion in meditation, often spending time in his Zhongnan mountainside villa to devoutly practice Buddhism. The quietude the model scholar-official sought within his personal life is indicative of his poetry as well, characterized by meditative tranquility and graceful austerity (Watson, 170).

Nevertheless, Owen writes of Wang’s style as “an act of renunciation born of deeply negative impulse…against the glittering rhetoric and mannered formality of public poetry”

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(Owen 2013, 76). Wang was quite familiar in the rhetoric of court poetry, having been

extensively trained in the art. However, his own personal poetry reveals the renunciation of the “falseness of feeling by its true negation – absence of feeling…if genuine feeling is to be present, it must be hidden, only implied, spared the manipulative self-consciousness implicit in overt expression” (Owen 2013, 41). Thus, Wang represents the yearning for simplicity, which is no wonder why he was so inspired by the “field and garden” poetry of Tao Yuanming (Lai 2002, 14-15).

Pauline Yu writes of Wang’s works: “his poems possess a surface simplicity, the immediate appeal of apparently precise visual imagery and a calm appreciation of nature which seem to leave little for the audience to interpret…on second glance, his works reveal disturbingly elusive philosophical underpinnings, grounded in Buddhist metaphysics” (Yu, 219). Wang’s poetry, influenced by both landscape painting and his Buddhist faith, imbued his work with a negation of the self. However, in stark contrast to the simplicity of his language, Wang successfully captures the beauty of the natural world around him, revealing complex, multi- layered meaning behind his diction.

Furthermore, beyond returning to antiquity, Wang wanted to return one step further, to return to stillness and simplicity. Wang’s poetic craft focuses on the subtle shifts of passive observation, his excursions within nature express themselves through quietude within the landscape, set apart by moments of sudden, instantaneous enlightenment, no matter how insignificant. Wang was a devout practitioner of Chan Buddhism, and his descriptions of landscape and imagery “functions on both the descriptive and the symbolic levels at once” (Watson, 171). The references within his poetry to Buddhism are so subtle that at first glance, that it captures the very essence of the highest ways of Buddhist thought and passivity. “The

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Deer Enclosure” is a prime example of showcasing the subtleties of static space within the quatrain, utilized to its fullest potential.

The Deer Enclosure

1 On the lonely mountain I meet no one, 2 I hear only the echo of human voices.

3 At an angle the sun’s rays enter the depth of the wood, 4 And shine upon the green moss

(Tr. Jerome Chen and Michael Bullock) (Minford, 704)

Lù chái 鹿 柴

1 Kōng shān bú jiàn rén,

空山不见人， empty • mountain • not • see • person 2 dàn wén rén yǔ xiǎng.

但闻人语响。 yet • hear • person • voice • sound 3 Fǎn jǐng rù shēn lín,

返景入深林， reflect • sunlight • enter • deep • forest 4 fù zhào qīng tái shàng.

复照青苔上。 again • shine • blue/green • moss • on (Tang Shi San Bai Shou, 267)

Wang’s conceptualization of space can be analyzed through the yin-yang duality embedded within the poem of presence and absence: absence, beginning with the usage of the

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term (kōng 空) in Line 1 to describe the mountains with no trace of others, and presence in Line 2, in which the sound of human voices is heard (rén yǔ xiǎng 人语响). The indistinct murmurs of speech cut through the quiet meditation, enhancing the disjuncture between that of the silence created in Line 1, and the noise in Line 2, seemingly out of place against the natural setting within the mountains. Interestingly enough, the English translation for kōng 空 is “lonely” instead of “empty,” perhaps highlighting the spiritual or emotional state of the poet as he seeks the mountain for a place of solitude, much like Li Bai’s “Sitting Alone in Jingting Mountain.” Both poets are in the mountains, however, the similarities end here. Li actively communes with Jingting Mountain, whereas Wang passively meditates within the Deer Enclosure in the presence of the mountains.

To further enhance the contrast of the profundity of stillness, from the “lonely mountain” to the sudden “echoes of human voices,” Wang uses the landscape to firstly establish a quiet tranquility of Buddhist introspection within the woods. There is a sense that the poet has been in the mountains for quite some time, a nod to subtle temporal progression, to mark the contrast of interrupting the private seclusion of the poet. There is little movement or interaction with the environment from the poet, harkening back to the abnegation of the self to focus simply upon the passive observations around him within the static space.

Line 3 introduces the line of finesse, the sudden “angle [of] the sun’s rays enter the depths of the wood” to bring about a very subtle change as the light pierces through the deep forest. What may seem to be an insignificant detail essentially makes the entirety of the poem so memorable. It is unclear whether the poet’s location has changed, but there is a definite shift in spatial progression within the scene. The interplay between that of the slanting rays of the sun and implied shadows within the forest once again furthers the concept of yin-yang interaction. A

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delicate balance is struck between the bright light of the sun (yang) that filters through, against the darkness of the shadows within the dense foliage of the forest (yin). Line 4 enables the audience to experience the visual immediacy of the poet’s observations. The light illuminates the ground and is reflected upon the moss, glimmering as it brings vivid color to the scene and catches the eye of the speaker in the poem.

The reflection of the beams of light can be interpreted as a veritable metaphor for sudden enlightenment, relevant in the context of Wang’s personal history and beliefs. Sudden

enlightenment in Chan Buddhism or “(dunwu, 頓 悟) [serves] as a function of personal readiness…to engage in enlightened/enlightening conduct—a function of the keenness or dullness with which one enters into liberating resonance with others” (Hershock). This type of enlightenment is attained in a moment of epiphany and instantaneous realization.

The mountains are representative of the Buddhist concept of “the void of emptiness” (Śūnyatā). The serene enlightenment achieved through meditative quietude is demonstrated through the illuminating light penetrating the forest, likened to sudden revelation of wisdom. Wang’s usage of static space achieves the full effect and momentum of passive communion within the landscape, thus making his work so widely admired and memorable. What originally appears to be just a highly descriptive poem of aesthetics transforms into an enchanting scene of a profound spiritual Buddhist experience. Simple lines with objective observations and sparse language with little narrative content defies initial observation to reveal the subtleties of religious meaning.

To contrast with Wang’s ability to conceptualize an indelible sense of space with such placidity, Li Bai excels in the opposite manner. Much like how music has dynamics, from piano

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to forte, so does Li Bai’s poem as it crescendos in movement in dynamic space to incorporate spatial parameters to enhance the aesthetic experience.

Li penned “Early Departure from White Emperor Fortress” (早發白帝城), when freed

from exile by imperial amnesty while sailing down the Yangtze River during his journey back home. Li’s exile was due to his involvement with the Prince of Yong, Li Lin ‘s (718-757) government resistance after the Emperor Suzong (r. 756-762) ascended the throne following the turbulent aftermath of the An Lushan Rebellion (755-763)(Owen 2013, 118). With the joyful news of his pardon and no longer having to live his days of exile in Yelang (in modern-day Guizhou), Li’s excitement in being a freed man is infectious. Thus, in the poem, space and time are at the foreground amid the colorful landscape, punctuating the dynamic composition of space.

Early Departure from White Emperor Fortress

1 At dawn I took leave of the White Emperor in the midst of luminous clouds, 2 The thousand miles to Jiangling, I have returned in a single day.

3 With the voices of gibbons on both banks crying incessantly, 4 My frail boat had already passed ten thousand towering mountains. (Tr. Elling Eide) (Minford,732)

40 Zǎo fā bái dì chéng

早发白帝城

1 Zhāo cí bái dì cǎi yún jiān,

朝辞白帝彩云间, morning • take leave • White • Emperor • color • cloud • between

2 qiān lǐ jiāng líng yí rì huán,

千里江陵一日还, thousand • li •Jiang • Ling • one • day • return 3 Liǎng àn yuán shēng tí bú zhù,

两岸猿声啼不住, two • shore • gibbon • voice • call • not • stop 4 qīng zhōu yǐ guò wàn chóng shān.

轻舟已过万重山。 Light • boat • already • pass • ten thousand • layer • mountain

(Tang Shi San Bai Shou, 295)

The playful and lighthearted tone Li sets throughout the poem echoes the brisk pace that his “frail boat” (qīng zhōu 轻舟) is moving at. Li Bai uses markers of temporal progression such as “return in a single day” (yí rì huán一日還) and “crying incessantly” (tí bú zhù 啼不住) to

mark his round-trip journey back and forth from Jiangling, along with the endless calls of the apes from the shores. Furthermore, Line 3 reveals the acceleration of his movement across the landscape within the quatrain, going at an ecstatic tempo. The brilliance of the line of finesse indicates how fast Li’s boat is moving on the river, so rapidly that the calls of the gibbons on both shores become a continuous howl. It is not that there are many gibbons on both shores, but

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rather, the “incessant crying” stems from the creation of an auditory tunnel mirroring the swift speed at which Li is sailing down the river.

Li Bai also uses quite a choice amount of number words to quantify spatiality within the quatrain, such as “thousand miles” (qiān lǐ 千里), “single day” (yí rì 一日), “two shores” (liǎng àn 兩岸), and “ten thousand-layer mountains” (wàn chóng shān萬重山) to describe his journey across the grandeur of the landscape. The ease of Li Bai’s diction adds to how broadly he paints the external scene and charts his spatial progression to create a spontaneous, brilliant inner reflection of his joyous emotions. It is almost as if the audience is with the poet as he is composing the poem while his boat is rushing through the ten thousand layered mountains.

The “thousand miles to Jiangling” is not a realistic representation of the distance, but Li does not intend for the numbers to be inherently factual. Much like the depths of the Peach Blossom Lake in “To Wang Lun,” Li employs hyperbole as a turn of phrase to convey the wide scope of the distance across the landscape. The vast space Li must cross does not deter his vigor to return to the distant Jiangling. Rather, it intensifies his determination and desire to return home, crossing the space in as timely a manner as possible.

The speed in which Li Bai crosses the scope of the landscape is spectacular, as he invites the audience to witness the view from a vantage point that displays the breadth of all the imagery, separating the poet from his audience by the sweeping physicality of the landscape. Consider the speed of dynamic space as a concept of physics. Speed is the result of the multiplication of distance and time. The two components of distance and time are concepts addressed through the literary techniques spatial (distance) and temporal progression (time) to further the momentum of the quatrain, capturing both the landscape and the exuberant tone throughout the poem.

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Moreover, “Early Departure from White Emperor Fortress” is an exceptional representation of space-time compression as Li is able to capture the deep sense of infinity through the boundlessness of the Classical Chinese language. Li’s journey across the geography of space is condensed into a heptasyllabic quatrain, yet the precision of the 28 characters only seems to further enhance the conceptualization of space within the poem. Not only does Li apply temporal and spatial progression to accentuate the expression of the spirited energy in his verse, the dynamic conceptualization of space is vital to his poetic expression, and thus brilliantly featuring his tremendous literary craft.

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CONCLUSION

The conceptualization of spatiality through progression is invaluable in deciphering and appreciating the landscape poetry of the High Tang poets. How does the Tang poet say so much with so few words? What aspects make his poetry so timeless and memorable, transcending centuries and leaving a deep-rooted legacy within the Chinese cultural memory? By exploiting the deliberate application of ambiguity in Classical Chinese, the Tang poet could be as elusive or concrete within his work as he intended it to be. The brilliance of the poetic craft, particularly in regard to the regulated quatrain, lies within the poet’s ability to transcend the limitations of the rules to create boundless innovation.

The poet creates semantic space as his canvas to draw upon, a vehicle of self-expression and articulation of his intention. The descriptive poetry of the landscape quatrain extends further than just a way of demonstrating cognitive, semantic space. It also serves as an effective medium of visual communication, due to the unique traits of the Classical language. Furthermore, the poet could exercise his literary craft to infuse multiple layers of meaning to aid in the progression and movement of the poem, often revealed through the line of finesse.

Using literary devices and aesthetics such as spatial and temporal progression to

conceptualize static and dynamic space, the Tang poet could create such vast worlds of external landscape and therein, develop his inner contemplations of emotion. The exegesis of poems by Li Bai, Meng Haoran, and Wang Wei in this thesis highlight each poet’s unique application of progression to his advantage in adapting to the spatiality of the quatrain. The Classical

formulation of the Chinese lyric, poetry articulating intention comes from internal reflection that grows out of describing the poet’s perspective of the externalities of the world. The Tang poet

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facilitates this formulation through the indispensable element of spatiality, allowing Classical Chinese poetry to be appreciated in a new light for the aesthetics, language, and innovations within the landscape quatrain.

The objective of the thesis is to address the study of the landscape quatrain through the lens of spatiality. However, there are a multitude of new avenues to pursue for further inquiry. Further research includes looking at the origins of spatiality in the Chinese tradition, such as directional space within geography, as seen in earlier pieces1. Additionally, there is a wealth of genres within Classical Chinese poetry beyond the regulated quatrain of the Tang dynasty. The techniques of temporal and spatial progression can be examined to investigate the creation of active and dynamic space throughout the many poetic forms in Chinese literature.

1 _{For example, directional space can be tracked in “The Ballad of Mulan” (木兰词) (See} Minford, 409-411)

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