Origins of verisimilitude: a reconsideration of medieval chinese literary history.

• Author: Kong, Xurong
• Position: Report

1. INTRODUCTION

   To critics of Chinese literature and art, verisimilitude (xing si [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) (1) is a key term employed to define the descriptive features that characterize many Chinese literary works and paintings. As of yet, however, no effort has been made to elucidate the development and evolution of this important concept. The present paper attempts to meet this need and present a more comprehensive picture of early medieval Chinese literature.

   Modern scholars who study verisimilitude associate the style primarily with Song-Qi-Liang times (420-557) and the poetic genre of shi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (sh[i.bar]-poetry). (2) One modern scholar, Lin Yingde, has even proposed to define verisimilitude as the "Xingsi Style" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ), one element of a larger "Yuanjia Style" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII])(the Yuanjia period was 424-454, Lin 2006b: 119-22). The same scholar has also argued that Zhang Xie [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (d. 307) was an important figure in developing the verisimilar style of the Western Jin [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] period (265-317), but the time in which he lived was not ready for it (Lin 2005: 132). The consensus of contemporary scholars corresponds well with how the critics of the Southern Dynasties (420-589) use the term.

   Shen Yue [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (441-513) was the first critic to use xingsi as a critical term. At the end of the "Biography of Xie Lingyun" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) in the Songshu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] he comments:

   [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (3) From Han to Wei. about four hundred years, rhapsodists and talented men changed style three times. Xiangru [Sima Xiangru [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (179-117 BCE)] was articulate in verisimilar [[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]] description; the two Bans excelled in sensational expression. The two Bans were Shupi [Ban Biao [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (3 CE-54)] and Mcngjian [Ban Gu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (32-92)]. Zijian [Cao Zhi[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (192-232)] PCN and Zhongxuan [Wang Can [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (177-2 17)] regarded vigor and disposition as the essentials of writing.

   According to Shen Yue, Aingsi captures the crucial feature of Sima Xiangru's works, which focus on representing objects. Prior to that time Chinese literature lacked a comparable descriptive writing method. (4) The paragraph cited also suggests that Shen Yue did not consider verisimilitude a major feature among writers after Sima Xiangru.

   In a discussion on Song literature Liu Xie [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (ca. 465-522) uses the same word in the chapter "Wuse [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] " of his acclaimed Wenxin diaolong [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]:

   [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (5) In recent times value has been placed on resemblance to external shape 'verisimilitude HMI in literature. [Writers' look to the circumstantial quality in scene and atmosphere: they carve appearances out of the vegetation ... their artful language catches the manner of things like a seal pressed in paste, minutely delineating the finest details, with no need of further embellishment. In order to understand this remark, we must know what exactly was meant by jindai [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]; "recent times." In the chapter "Mingshi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] of the same hook, Liu Xie again comments on what he called the literature of "recent times":

   [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (6) At the beginning of the Song, some development in the literary trend was evident . . . In expressing feelings, authors always did so in complete harmony with the things they described; and in literary phraseology they tried their best to achieve freshness. These are the field in which recent writers have been competing. Clearly -recent times" refers to the period from the Song dynasty to Liu's own time, meaning that he intends the term "verisimilitude" to describe the literary style of the Six Dynasties, but not that of the Jin Dynasty.

   In his Shipin [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Zhong Rong [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (ca. 465-518) also employs the concept of verisimilitude four times (see Cao 1994: 149,160,270, and 290):

   [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] As for Zhang Xie Id. 3071, his style originated from Wang Can. He was skillful at constructing verisimilar [xingsi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]]descriptions. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. As for Xie Lingyun [385-433], his style originated from Cao Zhi, and was also mixed with Zhang Xie's style. Therefore he also valued constructing verisimilar [qiaosi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ]descriptions. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] As for Yang Yanzhi[384-456], his style originated from Lu ji [261-303]. He valued constructing verisimilar [qiaoai [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]] descriptions. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ... As for Bao Zhao [ca. 412-466], his style originated from the two Zhangs [Zhang Xie and Zhang Huai, and was good at making use of descriptive [xingzhuang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] ] wording ... Judging from this context, the word qiaosi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] means "constructing verisimilar descriptions" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). Zhong Rong here delineates the development of this style starting with Jin Zhang Xie and then peaking with three Song poets.

   The last critic in the Southern Dynasties to use the term "verisimilitude" was Yan Zhitui [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (b. 531). In the chapter "Wenzhang [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]" of his Yanshi jiaxun [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Yan says "He Xun's [d. 518] poems were indeed clear, witty, and full of vivid [xingsi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]] descriptions" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) (Wang Liqi 1980: 276; Teng 1968: 106).

   Together, these critics raise two points. First, they use the term verisimilitude in similar ways to mean the rhetorical technique of describing natural objects, representing the descriptive function of writing. Moreover, they agree that this style started with the Han fu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] 'rhapsody', developed in Zhang Xie's poems, and matured in the poetry of Song-Qi-Liang times. But there is a gap in the history. Whereas Shen Yue uses the term to describe the writing of Sima Xiangru, he never refers to any poets from the Wei-Jin. As a result, Wei writers are never mentioned at all, and Wei-Jin rhapsody is thus omitted from the collective historiography.

   How is it possible that verisimilitude evolved from the Han rhapsody to post-Jin poetry? If the trajectory sketched is accurate, it means the verisimilar style shifted from one genre to another, and in the process skipped the Jin altogether. The Jin ran nearly two hundred years, from 265 to 420. As the dynasty unified the whole country, ending a century of disunity, it attracted talents from the three previous states. Its literature made great progress and influ-enced later generations. Such a presumed lacuna in the historiography of En literature thus requires greater critical attention.

   A few modern scholars have acknowledged that Jin literature, particularly Jin rhapsody, played a more important role in the transformation and evolution of verisimilitude. Rao Zon-gyi [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (1975: 10) in his Xuantang fuhua [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] says:

   [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] The rhapsodies of the Western Jin emphasized [concrete] matters and appearances and de-emphasized sentiments and emotions. Perhaps, a reversal of the Jian'an period's tendency to weave literary works from feeling was caused by that time. As the phrase "emphasized matters and appearances" is just an extended description of verisimilitude, Rao indeed links verisimilitude to the Western Jin and to rhapsody. The modern scholar Wu Huaijun (2000: 35) also has claimed that "from the Jin on, people started to establish verisimilar theory in rhapsody, and this theory was developed and refined until Liang-Chen times" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). Likewise, Chen Hong and Qu Fangfang (2004 59) assert that "the verisimilitude theory that started with the Western Jin reached its peak in the early Southern Dynasties: the descriptive method became a descriptive aim" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]).

   Although these scholars suggest that the rhapsody of the Western Jin played a key role in terms of developing the verisimilitude style and theory, none has analyzed any piece of rhapsody from that time or has elaborated on the idea. The same is true of those who study Jin literature in general. When examining Jin literature, scholars realize that it attempts to depict reality as it is, but comment on this feature briefly and with negative connotations. Luo Zonggiang, for example, asserts that "Western fin writers completely turned to reality" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) and "when reading works by the Western Jin writers, you feel that they are so mediocre ... gentlemen without passion created a beautiful but passionless literature" ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). (7) When summarizing the features of Wei-Jin yongwu fu [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] 'rhapsody on an object' in a comprehensive treatment of this topic (1990: 399-499), Liao Guodong, a specialist on rhapsody of that period, does not even mention verisimilitude.

   The present analysis aims to close the gap between the preliminary redefinition and development of verisimilitude during Jin times and the corresponding thorough research and appreciation of verisimilitude developed in Jin literature. It analyzes representative pieces by three influential rhapsodists during the Western Jin: Fu Xuan, Zhang Zai, and Zuo Si, who bridged the verisimilar style from the Han rhapsody to Southern Dynasties poetry.

2. FU XUAN AND CONFUCIUS' POETICS

   Toward the close of the...