{"id":8945,"date":"2019-11-15T09:41:33","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T09:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-reading\/chu-ci-quot-poetry-of-chu-quot-or-quot-poetry-of-the-south-quot\/"},"modified":"2019-11-15T09:41:33","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T09:41:33","slug":"chu-ci-quot-poetry-of-chu-quot-or-quot-poetry-of-the-south-quot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/de\/chu-ci-quot-poetry-of-chu-quot-or-quot-poetry-of-the-south-quot\/","title":{"rendered":"\u695a\u8f9e "Poetry of Chu" or "Poetry of the South""},"content":{"rendered":"
 The Chinese literary type of Chuci \u695a\u8f9e "Poetry of Chu" or "Poetry of the South" is a sort of poem that found its origin in the works of Qu Yuan \u5c48\u539f, a high minister in the state of Chu \u695a.<\/p>\n

After his death, many persons from that region imitated his style of writing. The formal style and the themes of this poems was so different from the poems of the states in the Yellow River plain that it was always treated as a separate type of literature. The most famous poem is Qu Yuan’s Lisao \u79bb\u9a9a "Sorrow after departing". The style of the Chuci and commentaries to these poems have been included as a separate sub-category in the collectaneum Siku quanshu \u56db\u5e93\u5168\u4e66. It includes o<\/em>nly 6 writings of and on this type of poetry.
A great part of the poems is ascribed to the statesman Qu Yuan. The collection Chuci was compiled by the Han period \u6c49 (206 BCE-220 CE) scholar Liu Xiang \u5218\u5411 and commented by Wang Yi \u738b\u9038. The collection comprises poems of Qu Yuan and Song Yu \u5b8b\u7389, both ministers at the court of the king of Chu, and the Han period scholars Jia Yi \u8d3e\u8c0a, Huainan Xiaoshan \u6dee\u5357\u5c0f\u5c71, Do<\/em>ngfang Shuo \u4e1c\u65b9\u6714, Zhuang Ji \u5e84\u5fcc, Wang Bao \u738b\u8912, Liu Xiang and Wang Yi. All of them came from the same region in modern central China which had a cultural tradition distinct from the states in the Yellow River plain.
Qu Yuan was a high minister of King Huai of Chu \u695a\u6000\u738b (r. 328-299) to whom he suggested reforms in government and an alliance with the state of Qi \u9f50 in order to encounter the growing power of the state of Qin \u79e6. Qu Yuan was slendered by another minister called Qin Shang \u9773\u5c1a and thereupon dismissed. When King Qingxiang \u695a\u9877\u8944\u738b (r. 298-263) was taken priso<\/em>ner by Qin, Qu Yuan wrote his famous poem Li Sao \u79bb\u9a9a "Sorrow after department" which can be interpreted as a kind of autobiography. The disappointed Qu Yuan drowned himself in the River Miluo \u6c68\u7f57\u6c5f. People later started offering rice balls to his soul, and during the mid-autumn moon festival (zho<\/em>ngqiujie \u4e2d\u79cb\u8282), rice balls enveloped in bamboo leaves (zo<\/em>ngzi \u7cbd\u5b50) are still a popular meal in southern China.
Other poems that are ascribed to Qu Yuan are the Nine So<\/em>ngs (Jiuge \u4e5d\u6b4c), the Nine Elegies (Jiuzhang \u4e5d\u7ae0), "Asking Heaven" (Wentian \u95ee\u5929) and some more. The particular style of the Chuci poetry differs from the northern poetry styles both in verse (the verse divider xi \u516e, a particle expressing sighing) and in content. The northern literature is much more plain of feelings, while the poems in the southern state of Chu are full of sentiment and even mystical visions. Qu Yuan, for example, is guided on his horse chart to a heaven far from the human world. His evokings of the Goddess of the River Xiang \u6e58\u541b is an example of shamanism common in the southern religion. Southern poetry later became very popular among Daoists that also saw man as a mere small being in cosm and nature.
The Chuci collection was enlarged by some other poems that were partially also written by "southerners", partially imitations of Qu Yuan’s style, like the Han period poet Wang Bao from the region of Sichuan, and Liu Xiang, son of Liu Jiao \u5218\u4ea4 (posthumous title Prince Yuan of Chu \u695a\u5143\u738b), or Jia Yi and Do<\/em>ngfang Shuo, both writers known for their inclination to Daoism.<\/p>\n

In the bibliography Yiwen zhi \u827a\u6587\u5fd7, part of the official dynastic history Hanshu \u6c49\u4e66, the poems of Qu Yuan are listed as fu \u8d4b "rhapsodies" in 25 chapters. The bibliography treatise Jingjizhi \u7ecf\u7c4d\u5fd7 in the Suishu \u968b\u4e66 already lists ten books a<\/em>bout the Chuci, of which the greatest part is lost today.<\/p>\n

In the bibliography Yiwen zhi \u85dd\u6587\u5fd7, part of the official dynastic history Hanshu \u6f22\u66f8, the poems of Qu Yuan are listed as fu \u8ce6 "rhapsodies" in 25 chapters. The bibliography treatise Jingjizhi \u7d93\u7c4d\u5fd7 in the Suishu \u968b\u66f8 already lists ten books a<\/em>bout the Chuci, of which the greatest part is lost today.<\/p>\n

Poems of the Chuci anthology
Poems of the Chuci anthology1 \u79bb\u9a9a Lisao On encountering sorrow
2 \u4e5d\u6b4c Jiuge The Nine Songs
–\u4e1c\u7687\u592a\u4e00 Do<\/em>nghuang taiyi The Great One, Lord of the Eastern World
–\u4e91\u4e2d\u541b Yunzhong jun The Lord Within the Clouds
–\u6e58\u541b Xiang jun The Princess of the Xiang
–\u6e58\u592b\u4eba Xiang furen The Lady of the Xiang
–\u5927\u53f8\u547d Dasi ming The Great Master of Fate
–\u5c11\u53f8\u547d Shaosi ming The Lesser Master of Fate
–\u4e1c\u541b Do<\/em>ngjun The Lord of the East
–\u6cb3\u4f2f He bo The God of the Yellow River
–\u5c71\u9b3c Shangui The Mountain Goddess
–\u56fd\u6b87 Guoshang The spirits of the fallen
–\u793c\u9b42 Shenhun The ritual cycle
3 \u5929\u95ee Tianwen Heavenly questions
4 \u4e5d\u7ae0 Jiuzhang The Nine Declarations
–\u60dc\u8bf5 Xisong Grieving I make my plaint
–\u6d89\u6c5f Shejiang Crossing the river
–\u54c0\u90e2 Aicheng A lament for Ying (capital of Chu)
–\u62bd\u601d Chousi The outpouring of sad thoughts
–\u6000\u6c99 Huaisha Embracing the sand
–\u601d\u7f8e\u4eba Si furen Thinking of a fair one
–\u60dc\u5f80\u65e5 Xi wang ri Alas for the days gone by!
–\u6a58\u9882 Jusong Inpraise of the orange-tree
–\u60b2\u56de\u98ce Beihui feng Grieving at the eddying wind
5 \u8fdc\u6e38 Yuanyou The far-off journey
6 \u535c\u5c45 Buju Divination
7 \u6e14\u7236 Yufu The fisherman
8 \u4e5d\u8fa9 Jiubian The Nine Arguments (by Song Yu \u5b8b\u7389 [old Chu])
9 \u62db\u9b42 Zhaohun The summons of the soul
10 \u5927\u62db Dazhao The great summons (later)
11 \u60dc\u8a93 Xishi Sorrow for troth betrayed (by Jia Yi \u8d3e\u8c0a [Former Han])
12 \u62db\u9690 Zhaoyin Summons for a gentleman who became a recluse (\u6dee\u5357\u5c0f\u5c71 Huainan xiaoshan [Former Han])
13 \u4e03\u8c0f Qijian The Seven Remo<\/em>nstrances (by Do<\/em>ngfang Shuo \u4e1c\u65b9\u6714 [Former Han])
–\u521d\u653e Chufang When first exiled
–\u6c88\u6c5f Chenjiang Drowning in the river
–\u6028\u4e16 Yuanshi Disgust at the world
–\u6028\u601d Yuansi Embittered thoughts
–\u81ea\u60b2 Zibei Grieved by my miseries
–\u54c0\u547d Aiming Mourning my lot
–\u8c2c\u8c0f Miujian Reckless remonstrance
14 \u54c0\u65f6\u547d Aishi ming Alas that my lot was not cast! (by Zhuang Ji \u5e84\u5fcc)
15 \u4e5d\u6000 Jiuhuai The Nine Regrets (by Wang Bao \u738b\u8912 [Former Han])
–\u5321\u673a Kuangji Freedom from worldly contrivings
–\u901a\u8def To<\/em>nglu A road to beyond
–\u5371\u4fca Weijun Dangerous heights
–\u662d\u4e16 Zhaoshi A light on the world
–\u5c0a\u5609 Zunjia Ho<\/em>nouring the good
–\u84c4\u82f1 Chuying Storing blossoms
–\u601d\u5fe0 Sizhong Thoughts on loyalty bent
–\u9676\u58c5 Taoyong Raising barriers
–\u682a\u662d Zhuzhao Quenching the light
16 \u4e5d\u53f9 Jiutan The Nine Laments (by Liu Xiang \u5218\u5411 [Former Han])
–\u9022\u7eb7 Fengfen Encountering troubles
–\u79bb\u4e16 Lishi Leaving the world
–\u6028\u601d Yuansi Embittered thoughts
–\u8fdc\u901d Yuanshi Going far away
–\u60dc\u8d24 Xixian Lament for the worthy
–\u5fe7\u82e6 Youku Saddened by sufferings
–\u610d\u547d Minming Grieved by this fate
–\u601d\u53e4 Sigu Sighing for olden times
–\u8fdc\u6e38 Yuanyou The far-off journey
17 \u4e5d\u601d Jiusi The Nine Lo<\/em>ngings (by Wang Yi \u738b\u9038 [Later Han])
–\u9022\u5c24 Fengyou Meeting with reproach
–\u6028\u4e0a Yuanshang Resentment against the ruler
–\u75be\u4e16 Jishi Impatience with the world
–\u60af\u4e0a Minshang Pity for the ruler
–\u906d\u5384 Cao’e Running into danger
–\u60bc\u4e71 Daoluan Grieving over disorder
–\u4f24\u65f6 Shangshi Distressed by these times
–\u54c0\u5c81 Aisui Lament for the year
–\u5b88\u5fd7 Shouzhi Maintaining resolution
<\/div>\n