THE ART OF LETTERS: Lu Ji's "WEN FU"

From Wiki:

Lu Ji (261 - 303 AD), courtesy name Shiheng, was a Chinese essayist, military general, politician, and writer who lived during the late Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. He was the fourth son of Lu Kang, a general of the state of Eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms period, and a grandson of Lu Xun, a prominent general and statesman who served as the third Imperial Chancellor of Eastern Wu.

Lu Ji was related to the imperial family of the state of Eastern Wu. He was the fourth son of the general Lu Kang, who was a maternal grandson of Sun Ce, the elder brother and predecessor of Eastern Wu's founding emperor, Sun Quan. His paternal grandfather, Lu Xun, was a prominent general and statesman who served as the third Imperial Chancellor of Eastern Wu. After the Jin dynasty conquered Eastern Wu in 280, Lu Ji, along with his brother Lu Yun, moved to the Jin imperial capital, Luoyang. He served as a writer under the Jin government and was appointed president of the imperial academy. "He was too scintillating for the comfort of his jealous contemporaries; in 303 he, along with his two brothers and two sons, was put to death on a false charge of high treason."

Lu Ji wrote much lyric poetry but is better known for writing fu, a mixture of prose and poetry. He is best remembered for the Wen fu (文賦; On Literature), a piece of literary criticism that discourses on the principles of composition. Achilles Fang commented:

The Wen - fu is considered one of the most articulate treatises on Chinese poetics. The extent of its influence in Chinese literary history is equaled only by that of the sixth-century The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons of Liu Hsieh. In the original, the Wen-fu is rhymed, but does not employ regular rhythmic patterns: hence the term "rhymeprose."

The author of The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons Liu Xie (ca. 465–522 AD) offers a rebuttal of the text we are interested in here.

There are several English translations available. The one offered below is from 1951 and reads as archaic, I think. I only just noticed a more current translation by Theodore Grayck which is much more readible.

THE ART OF LETTERS: LU CHI'S "WEN FU"

E.R. Hughes, trans. New York: Pantheon, 1951

The Forward In rhetoric, the proem; in poetry, the invocation

1. Every time I look at the works of talented writers, I am impressed by the way in which they exercised their minds.
2. Their acts of word release, their commissioning of language, were greatly subject to vicissitude;
3. [and appraisal of] the fair and the foul, the good and the bad, this can be effectually stated.
4. Every time I produce a composition, I am the more observant of this state of affairs;
5. I am constantly anxious lest the meaning should not match the object of attention, lest the artistic form should not reach the level of the meaning.
6. This is not difficulty in knowing; it is difficulty in being able [to put into execution].
7. Therefore, I compose this fu poem on the art of letters in order that I may put on record the superb artistries achieved by the writers before us, and follow on with a discussion of the causes of good and bad writing.
8. Some day it may almost come to be said that I have in a lopsided way explored this mystery;
9. [for] when we writers come to grasping axes and hewing axe-handles, we do, after all, select models which are near at hand.
10. As for the variations arising from a writer's idiosyncrasy, this is almost impossible for language to capture:
11. what I am able to put into words is all stated here.

The Poem

Part 1. Lu Chi's Record of the Superb Artistries of the Earlier Writers

(A)

1. Taking his stand at the hub of the universe so that he might objectify his outlook, feeding his purpose with the sacred writing of the pastInvention?:
2. he followed through the four seasons with a sigh at their passing, he surveyed all creation and mussed on its tangled skein.
3. He mourned the fall of the leaves in strong-handed autumn, he rejoiced over the tender buds of fragrant spring:
4. his heart was a-shiver with the thought of the frosts, his mind caught away above the clouds of summer.
5. He recited the mettlesome Courageous -- having the mettle. virtues of the [writers] of his day, hymned the clean [literary] fragrance of the men before him:
6. he roamed through the crowded treasure-house of lettersReminds me of the commonplace book tradition., admired the matching of matter and manner in its exquisitely traceried worksStone lattice work that holds the stained glass of a medieval cathedral in place..
7. Impulsively he pushed the books away and grasped the brush, summoned it to [the work of] this composition.

(B)

The beginning was in this fashion:

1. oblivious to all sights, oblivious to all sound, both sunk in thought and questioning abroad,
2. his spirit was away on a wild gallop to the Eight Poles, his mind thousands of cubits beneath the sod.
3. Then he reached this point:
4. the dawn of his mood grew brighter and brighter and so more defined, the objects of his attention lighted up and came jostling forward:
5. he tested the sap in the words crowding about him, rinsed his mouth with the sweet dews of the Scriptures
6. He was swimming in the pool in the heavens with peaceful flowWhy people become addicted to composing, and editing, though that's harder for most people to get a taste for. , he had plunged into the fountain in the deeps and was completely soused in it.

(C)

1. This was the way of it:
2. he being immersed in phrases painfully consenting, it was like darting fish with the hooks in their gills, dragged from the depths of an unplumbed pool:
3. he, being shrouded in beautiful language, all a-flutter, it was like birds on the wind and the arrow strung to the bow--down they drop headlong from out of the cloud.
4. Gathering the fine dictionLike Atticism? omitted through a hundred ages, selecting from the assonances neglected over a thousand years:
5. he left on one side the day-old blossoms already full-blown, he unveiled the night-buds as yet unopened.
6. He was seeing the past and the present in a moment of time, he was touching the Four Seas in one blink of an eye.

(D)

1. After this he chose from among the ideas and placed them in orderArrangement., he scrutinized the expressions and put them where they belonged:
2. some [ideas] with a shadowy quality to them kept on tap-tapping, some [expressions] which were merely echoes ceased twanging.
3. It may be he followed along a branch to shake the leaves, or followed down the ripples [in a pool] and so found the spring.
4. it may be that what was at first obscure by this means became clear, or what he sought as easy became more and more difficult.
5. It may be there was a tiger-change and all the beasts submitted, or a dragonThe Chinese dragon is an auspicious symbol, signifying power, strength, good luck, something to be admired not slain. emerged and the birds were caught by the waves.
6. Either he found himself on even ground and advance was easy, or the ground was rock-bestrewn, and he hobbled along in miseryI feel that..

(E)

1. He stilled the waters of his mind to stabilize his thinking, he peered into his thoughts and one by one put them into words:
2. he was trapping heaven-and-earth within a visible form, forcing all creation onto the tip of his brush.
3. At first he hesitated, with the brush parching his lips, but finally the stream flowed forth from the well-steeped hairs.
4. Reason having given stability to the subject-matter by setting up a main stemThesis statement? , the artist in him reached out to the branches and knotted them in their profusion.
5. He could trust the face of his mood not to fall awry, so that at every turn it should be well enfeatured:
6. should the thought be of something delightful, there was sure to be a smile, then suddenly sorrow was there and straightway there was a sign.
7. This whether the tablet was grasped with a sense of ease and direction or whether the brush went to his mouth and fell into a brown study.

(F)

1. What joy there was in all this, the joy of which sages and worthies have coveted.
2. He was taxing Non-Being to produce Being, calling the Silence, importunate for an answer;
3. he was engrossing the great spaces within a span of silk, belching forth torrents [of language] from the inch-space of the heart.
4. Words were expanding the theme, the more as it proceeded: thought was bringing it under his hand, as it became the more profound.
5. He was scattering a fragrance of delicious hanging-clusters, putting forth a profusion of green-budding twigs.
6. A laughing wind was flying by and whirling up a solid shape, a mass of shining cloud was arising in the garden of letters.

(G)

1. A body has a myriad differences, [and] nothing can be measured along one line of measurement:
2. with a convolution [changing] at the shake of a hand, the [precise] form of the [composition] could hardly achieve an identity.
3. While the massing of the phrases proved the measure of effective skill, it was the meaning in control of the document which made the real workmanshipInvention vs revising?.
4. Whilst it both was and was not he kept on struggling, whilst it was both shallow and deep he could not give way:
5. however, much it departed from the square and skulked away from the round, in the end the shape was completed and the portrayal finished.
6. Wherefore, the men whose eyes exaggerated ran to excess, the men who would satisfy their minds prized exactitude:
7. those with a poor command of words had no way through, those who were versed in dialecticChinese dialectic eschews the law of non-contradiction and sees contradiction as a part of nature, yin-yang, something to be harmonized with, embraced or endured, but not transcended. alone had a free course.

Part 2. A Discussion of the Causes of Good and Bad Writing

(A)

1. Lyrical poems are the outcome of emotion and should be subtle noteStyle/form should reflect intention. elaborations: prose poems [fu] are each the embodiment of an object and so should be transparently clear.
2. Inscriptions on monuments should cloak the art with simplicity: funeral elegies are tangled skeins [of grief] and so should be cries of distress.
3. Dedications on ritual bronzes are both comprehensive and concise but should be warm [in tone]; admonitions are to make a break [in conduct] and so should be forthright.
4. Panegyrics should be expatiations on admirable qualities, with a balanced elegance; dialectical essays deal with subtle points and should be clear and comprehensive.
5. Memorials to the throne should be easily intelligible along with their polished elegance; expositions of theories are very illuminating--and deceptive.
6. The marked-out territories being in this fashion, the styles none the less all ban evil and restrain licence:Clarity.
7. [and] since it is essential that the language be understandable, there is no point in being long-windedBrevity..

(B)

1. Taken as individual objects, [compositions] all have their own special air; taken as recognized styles, they are subject to repeated change.
2. as the brining together of ideas, they put a premium on skill: as words sent on a high mission, they need to be [utterances] of distinction.
3. As for the alternation of sounds, and their being like the display in five-colored [embroidery] where [the colours] light each other up:
4. to be sure, there is no certain rule about the movements and pauses, but pot-bellied disproportion is very difficult to put rightEditing and arrangement..
5. Should we be versed in ringing the changes and recognize the order of them, it is like the opening of a channel to welcome the flow from a fountain-head:
6. if we miss the opportunitiesKairos? and [try] too late to make the compensations, we are constantly grabbing the tail to wrest the head in the right direction.
7. With the lights and shades wrongly spaced, the result is a muddied effect, lacking in piquancy.

(C)

1. It may be that with a double angle of visionRevision?, the second time is embarrassed by the first, the first is in forced relation to the second.
2. Perhaps the wording has done the damage, whilst the reasoning is well matched; perhaps the language has obeyed orders, but the judgments are the source of the trouble.
3. Keep the two distinct, and both will be to the good: deal with them together, and both will suffer. noteSeparation of style and substance?
4. Inspect your soldiers from the rear rank to the front down to the minutest detail, decide on retaining or rejecting by the turn of a hair:
5. let the corrections be assessed with precision, and they will be as the carpenter's string, of necessity right.

(D)

1. It may be that while the style is rich and the reasoning copious, yet the ideas are beside the point. noteAvoid digressions. Keep the thesis always in mind. Maybe write it on card and tape it to your monitor.
2. [Since] in the last resort there is no going two ways at once, and whatever you do you must not add anything,
3. set up a word or two to come at key points, these to be the warning whip to the whole composition:
4. whichever way the sentences branch one from the other, they must depend on this [key] if they are to interweave effectually.
5. There is great merit to this plan, verbosity is restrained, and the result is that, having selected enough material, one does not make changes.

(E)

1. It may be the traceried thinking is a woven harmony [in colour], with the clear-cut beauty of many-tinted foliage:
2. [the composition] glows like gay embroidery, is heart-searching like the music of many strings.
3. 'Twas bound to happen--there in my script,
4. word for word, an unconscious tallying with a previous workPlagiarism or just derivativeness? Cliché?.
5. True, the shuttle has gone back and forth in my breast; but, alas, that man was before me.
6. No! 'twould be a stain on my honour, an injustice to others; however I grudge it, the passage must go.

(F)

1. It may be a trumpet-flower blossoms forth, a corn-ear rears its head--a dissident and undirected section,
2. having an undisassociable substance, yet an unassociable ring:
3. there it stands, a lonely mass, not to be compassed by conventional speech.
4. 'Tis a cage to the mind, for there is no mate to it; its meanings flit hither and hither, but eject them you cannot.
5. The jade is concealed in the rock, yet the hill is refulgent with it; the pearl is enveloped in the waters, but the stream betrays its charm.
6. The thorn-brake there, so rough and untrimmed, a glory of colour in kingfisher clots:
7. the rustic ditty woven into the White Snow music for me enhances its grandeur.

(G)

1. It may be language has been employed in one short strain, one with no traceable sources, a foundling production,
2. which looked close to the Silence but found no friend, looked far to the Void but gained no response.
3. 'Tis as if one solitary note were plucked from a lute, clean and resounding--but with nothing to answer it. noteKill your darlings?

(H)

1. It may be the phrasing finds lodgment in laboured periods, aimlessly gaudy, but not really beautiful.
2. The body of the composition is a hotchpotch of the fair and the foul, good material in volume but irreparably damaged.
3. 'Tis as if the flutes below outran [the lutes above], answering them, to be sure--but evoking no feeling.

(I)

1. It may be reason has been commissioned to uphold some bizarre notion, the Void ransacked in pursuit of something reconditeFYC.
2. The language lacks feeling and rarely betrays love, the sentences drift along and do not strike home.
3. 'Tis like plangent notes from strings too finely strung, making harmony, to be sure--but evoking no feeling.

(J)

1. It may be [a composition] has run away with itself, out harmonizing harmonies, is a dizzying drumming [of words] designed to bemuse.
2. It is a vain delight to the eye, in the class vulgar, indeed a pretentious tune to a sorry theme.
3. It awakens the ruinous licentious songs of the past; feelings are there, true enough--but the result is not refinement.

(K)

1. It may be [a composition] by its agreeable restraint is pure and empty, at every turn eliminating vexation of spirit and dispersing the tumultuous waves [of passion];
2. being without [even] the lingering flavour of the sacred broth of the High Sacrifice, it is just like the vermilion lute-strings with their notes so pure and so blurred.
3. Although it contain "one to sing and three to sigh", indeed be refined--yet it has no charm.

(L)

1. As for the productions fashioned on a scale both copious and concise, well formed from a double angle of vision,
2. which are both true to principle and adapted to the occasion, and as themes contain subtle moods:
3. it may be the phrasing is clumsy but the analogues are skillful, or the reasoning is very simple but the sentences run lightly.
4. It may be the garb is antique and yet quite new, or [we see] a muddied stream running itself clean.
5. Whether at first sight they were sure to be clear or close scrutiny was required to reveal their subtlety,
6. compare them we may with dancers matching a strain by wide-flung sleeves, with singers striking the note in response to the lutes.
7. This, I surmise, is what the Wheelwright could not wholly put into words, is that essence with flowery theorizing cannot hope to explain.

(M)

1. The rules of diction and the musical patterning in writing, all this I do well in huffing to my breast.
2. And--what vulgar fashion decries, that one should con over and over; what the old masters esteemed, with that one should acquaint oneself.
3. And--to be sure, wisdom issuing from subtle minds may yet be absurd in the eyes of the stupidSigh.
4. Now observe the brilliant effusions and jeweled creations [of today], like to humdrum crops reaped by humdrum toil.
5. [These works] on the level of "the sack-pipes of infinite space," "one with Heaven and Earth in nourishing creation"!
6. The prolific profusion there is in this generationTwenty-five hundred years before the Internet, yet alas! it does not fill the cup of my two hands.
7. The anxiety there is because buckets carried from the well are time and again empty, the anguish there is because one cannot place the singing word.
8. So one hops lamely round diminutive walls, and declines into the commonplace in rounding out a theme.
9. Always dissatisfaction remains when the end is reached--dare we then be complacent and cherish our conceit?
10. The terror is lest with the dust on us from the thudding of jars we turn and are mocked by the chiming of jades.

(N)

1. As to the interaction of stimulus and response, the intermingling of the flow with the blocking of the flow:
2. their coming cannot be prevented, their going cannot be stopped:
3. underground things go like shadows vanishing, back to life they come like echoes awakening.
4. Comes the lightning release of Nature's spring--where, then is disorder and unreason?
5. The wind of thought comes forth from the breast, a fountain of words is in the teeth and the lips:
6. a riot of tender shoots thrusting up into bloom--which brush and silk alone can adjudicate:
7. a pattern emblazoned to fill the eye, a music remote yet flooding the ear.

(O)

1. Then comes the blocking of every kind of feeling, the will [to create] gone, the spirit held boundWriter's block..
2. It is like being the stock of a sapless tree, being empty as a dried-up river.
3. Lay hold of the mutinous should by sounding its secret depths, pay homage to its vital fierceness as you search for the very self:
4. reason screened and obscured begins to creep forth, thought comes screaming, forced out from the womb.
5. These are the reasons why either there is much to repent when [we write] with our mood exhausted, or with our purpose in command we seldom err.
6. This thing which is in me but which no efforts of mind can slay!
7. Wherefore time and again I stroke my empty bosom in pity for myself: so ignorant am I of what causes the opening and the barring of the door.

Epilogue

1. Behold now the utility of letters, a utility endorsed by every kind of principle.
2. It extends over a thousand miles and nothing can stop its course; it penetrates a million years, the ferry from one to the other.
3. Looking one way, it hands down the laws to the ages to come; looking the other way, it examines the symbols made by the men of old.
4. It gives aid to governors and generals when ruin is impending, proclaiming good custom [the cause of ] survival.
5. No road is so distant it cannot be brought near, no principle so abstruse it cannot be ordered and related.
6. It is mate to the fattening dews of cloud and rain, the image of spirit influences, those authors of change and revolution.
7. It covers metal and stone [with inscriptions] so that virtue is published abroad, it flows through the music of flute and harp--and daily it [should be] new.