An-Analysis-on-“Bi”-and-“Xing”-in-The-Book-of-Songs.doc

Understanding Chinese ClassicsThesis：An Analysis on “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs College： The College of Foreign Language Major： English Name：Fu Jiajia Class Number: 09090305 Lecturer： Jiang Yujiao Co-Lecturers: Time： 2013-12-26 Scores: ContentsAbstractii1. Introduction11.1 Introduction about The Book of Songs11.2 Introduction about female images in The Book of Songs12. The definition of “Bi” and “Xing”22.1 The definition of “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs23. The features of “Bi” and “Xing”43.1 The features of “Bi” in The Book of Songs33.2 The features of “Xing” in The Book of Songs34. Functions of “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs45. Conclusions5Works Cited6An Analysis on “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of SongsFu JiajiaAbstract: The Book of Songs is the first collection poem in the history of ancient China, which is a brilliant starting point of Chinese history of poetry. The book displays the historic scene between Shang Dynasty and Spring and Autumn Period from all aspects of multi-angle and multi-level. “Fu”(赋), “Bi”(比) and “Xing”(兴) are three major techniques of expression in TheBook of Songs. Over the ages, scholars have done lots of researches on “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs, mainly from the perspective of literature including rhetoric and image. Only a few scholars have analyzed them from the cognitive point of view, without a unified conclusion. This study verifies the feasibility and applicability of cognitive metaphor theory in understanding concepts, and reveals the cognitive significance of “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs.Key words: The Book of Songs, “Bi”, “Xing”1. Introduction1.1 Introduction about The Book of SongsThe Book of Songs (Shijing), is the oldest poetry anthology, as well as the oldest schoolbook in China. It plays a most important role in establishing and maintaining the Chinese traditional culture. Meanwhile, it is also one of the earliest collections of poems in the world. It contains Chinese poems of the Zhou Dynasty written from the 11th century B.C. to the 6th century B.C. The poems written during this period added up to over 3000, from which Confucius selected 305 to compile this anthology and gave it the name of“Shijing” instead of its original ones Shi(Poems) and Shi Sanbai (Three Hundred Poems) (Chen Zizhan & Du Yuecun, 1990: 9). The Book of Songs is also called Maoshi (Mao Poems) because it was the contribution of Mao Heng of the Han Dynasty who worked hard on the annotation to the poems to pass it down to nowadays.The poems in The Book of Songs are said to be sung as songs, which is also the reason why it is translated as “The Book of Songs” in English. Based on the tunes they were sung by, the poems were classified into three categories, namely, Feng (Ballads), Ya (Festal Odes), and Song (Sacrificial Songs). Feng are regional songs composed in the fifteen small kingdoms (they are: Zhounan, Shaonan, Bei, Yong, Wei, Wang, Zheng, Qi, Wei, Tang, Qin, Chen, Hui, Cao and Bin) existing at that time, 160 poems in total (ibid: 10). Most of the poems in Feng are folk songs from along the Yellow River, written in a simple and natural style, reflecting the real life of the common people in different regions, such as their daily work and jobs, their joys and love, their sadness and hardship, and so on. Only a few of them are works of the nobles. Ya can be divided into two parts: minor odes and major odes.Among the 74 minor odes, some are songs to be sung at the noblemens banquets or sacrificial rituals, some are poems by men of letters to vent their malcontented feelings and a few of them are folk songs. Major odes are poems reflecting the political reality and events of the West Zhou Dynasty, 31 poems in all. The poems in Ya are basically written by the nobles. Song is also divided geographically into three parts, including 31 poems of Zhou, 4 of Lu and 5 of Shang. These 40 poems are mainly sacrificial hymns and songs chiefly serve to glorify the great ancestors in the courts of Zhou, Lu and Shang and inspire their descendants to worship them as gods.1.2 Introduction about“Bi”, “Xing”“Fu”, “Bi”, “Xing” are the three important literary techniques in the production of the poetry in The Book of Songs, and also have a profound influence on the creation of literary works in the following generations (Xu Yuanchong, 2009: 4-5). “Fu”, the most basic technique of expression, refers to the technique of straight narration and description (ibid:4). For instance, in“死生契阔，与子成说。执子之手，与子偕老”(“Meet or part, live or die; we made oath, you and I. When can our hands we hold and live till we grow old” tr. Xu Yuanchong) from “Complaint of a Soldier” (邶风击鼓), the author expresses his or her feelings and emotions directly. “Bi” refers to the technique of making comparison between different things, including simile and metaphor (ibid: 14). For example, in “The Dukes Bride” (卫风硕人), the brides fingers are compared to the soft blades of reed, and her skin is compared to the congealed lard. “Xing” refers to the technique of starting a poem by evocative images related to or quite apart from the central subject (ibid: 14). Forinstance, in “The Newly- Wed” (周南桃夭), the author first describes the beauty of the peach blossoms, and then expresses the wish that the brides marriage and family be happy and joyful. In this case, the bright blazing peach blossoms are used to evocate the beauty ofthe young bride and the lively atmosphere of the wedding rituals. Among all the poems using the technique of “Xing”, certain images are in emotional associations with the true meaning of the poems, others are chosen solely for the sake of rhyme.2. The definition of “Bi” and “Xing”2.1 The definition of “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of SongsIn The Book of Songs, “Fu”(赋), “Bi”(比), and “Xing”(兴), and “Feng”(风), “Ya”(雅) and “Song”(颂), are addressed as “Liu Yi”(六艺) or “Liu Shi”(六诗). Traditionally, Feng, Ya, Song are classified due to the different forms of the poem while Fu, Bi, and Xing are composing features involved in each song and even in each stanza. By now, scholars and commentators who study “Bi” and “Xing” hold their distinct definitions of them, and have not reached an agreement on the exact definition of these two terms. Yet, the definition proposed by Zhu Xi is quite typical and representative, comparatively explicit and formal as follows:“An exposition sets forth the situation and speaks about it directly A comparison compares that object with this object. A stimulus first speaks of another object in order to introduce what you are singing of” (赋者，敷也，敷陈其事而直言之者也。比者，以彼物比喻此物也。兴者，先言他物以引起所咏之词也。) (宋朱熹, 2009: 7-9). In this study, we will combine Zhu Xis definition of “Bi” and “Xing” and Xu Yuanchongs explanation mentioned in Chapter One to propose a working definition of the two. According to them, “Bi” means making comparison between different things, and“Xing” means starting a poem by evocative images related to or quite apart from thecentral subject (Xu Yuanchong, 2009: 14; 宋朱熹, 2009: 7-9). This definition will be used to examine whether the lines in the poems from The Book of Songs are qualified as “Bi” or“Xing”.3. The definition of “Bi” and “Xing”3.1 The features of “Bi” in The Book of SongsAmong the 82 poems in The Book of Songs, the technique of expression “Bi” is mostly employed in metaphorical pieces primarily including simile, metaphor, metonymy, mega metaphor and so on. Actually there is no single English word functioning as the exactly equivalent to the concept of “Bi” in The Book of Songs. We can see the features of “Bi” from the following specific examples: In the following lines from the songs, simile is found as one realization form of “Bi”. In the first stanza of “My Lover in White” (郑风出其东门), only one simile “出其誾闍，有女如荼”(“Outside the outer gate, like blooms fair maidens date”-tr. Xu Yuanchong) is used to show that lots of fair girls are as beautiful as flowers. In the second stanza of “My Lord” (卫风伯兮), the simile “自伯之东，首如飞蓬”(Since my lord eastward went, like thistle looks my hair-tr. Xu Yuanchong) shows the womans lackluster situation when she does not fresh herself up and suffers from deep love-sickness for a long while since her husband went eastward for the Kings fight. In “The Dukes Bride” (卫风硕人),“手如柔荑，肤如凝脂，领如蝤蛴，齿如瓠犀”(Like lard congealed her skin is tender, her fingers like soft blades of reed; like larva white her neck is slender, her teeth like rows of melon-seed, her forehead like a dragonflys, her arched brows curved like a bow-tr. Xu Yuanchong) is composed of a succession of similes which can also be called mega metaphor, through which the author uses these vehicles unveiling distinguishing features of fairness that are very familiar to readers to show them a vivid, specific and glamorous image of the Dukes bride.In the following lines from the songs, metaphor is found as one realization from of “Bi”.In the third stanza of “To Grand Master Yin” (节南山之什节南山), the author utilizes the technique of metaphor with the word of “维”that means “is” in “尹氏大师，维周之氐”(“Master Yin stands/pillar of state” -tr. Xu Yuanchong) to compare the Grand Master Yin to the pillar of the country. And “维”is also frequently found in other songs in The Book of Songs to form comparison that equates to a metaphor. For instance, in“Censure” (生民之什板), “价人维蕃，大师维垣，大邦维屏，大宗维翰”( “Good men a fence install; The people form a wall. Screens are formed by each State/And each family great”-tr. Xu Yuanchong) tells readers how good and wise men function in defending and developing the country with four comparisons equating metaphor. Besides, there is also“Bi” equating a metaphor without comparative words, such as in “祈父！予王之爪牙”(“O minster of war! Were soldiers of the crown” -tr. Xu Yuanchong) from “To the Minister of War” (小雅祈父), in which “爪牙”that means talons and fangs is used to describe the underlings working for bad people to form a metaphor without comparative words. The same occurs in “The Good Unicorn” (周南麟之趾).“麟之趾，振振公子麟之定，振振公姓麟之角，振振公族”(“The unicorn will use its hoofs to tread on none, just like our Princes noble sonThe unicorn will knock its head against none, just like our Princes grandsonThe unicorn will fight with its corn against none, just like our Princes great-grandson-tr. Xu Yuanchong) is written with three metaphors to glorify the noble quality of the Princes descendants by means of the good unicorn.In the following lines from the poems, metonymy is found as one realization of “Bi”.“The New Terrace” (邶风新台) is a satire against Duke Xuan of Wei who took his eldest sons bride as his own and built a new terrace by the Yellow river to welcome her. Here in “鱼网之设，鸿则离之。燕婉之求，得此戚施”(“The girl sets the net for fish, but only gets a toad”-tr.James Legge), the toad refers to the duke and the fish to his eldest son.Taking account of all the above realization forms of “Bi” in The Book of Songs, we can conclude that “Bi” is used when the author of the poem states an argument or describe an emotion by means of specifying one or some characteristics of other objects. And it is the similarities between the arguments or emotions that the author wants to express and the objects narrated in the songs that produce “Bi”. This kind of working mechanism can be explained within the framework of the cognitive metaphor theory. The arguments or emotions that the author wants to express, which are more abstract or unfamiliar to the readers, work as the target domain; while the objects described in the songs, more concrete and familiar to readers, work as the source domain. Certain characteristics, relations or relevant knowledge of the source domain are mapping onto those of target domain. Besides, as for “Bi”, the objects of the source domain are consciously selected to help express the argument or emotion with no limit of time or location, which means the objects described in the songs may not be the surrounding sceneries when the author composes the song.3.2 The features of “Xing” in The Book of SongsFemale consciousness is womens spontaneous consciousness of their status, role and value towards the world. It is a unique mental and psychological sense which is generated and possessed by the female, for women experience and perceive the world from their unique female angle. The poems in The Book of Songs employ directly and indirectly the womens inner feeling and consciousness.“Xing” is employed in allusive pieces of the songs to function as the stimulus or inspiration of the authors emotion. When people are touched or stimulated by what they see or hear around them, they may write songs to describe or narrate the surrounding sceneries and to connect those sceneries with their inner thoughts, emotions and memories. This is how “Xing” is produced. After analyzing the 133 poems using “Xing”, we found that, unlike “Bi”, “Xing” isnt realized simply in the form of different figures of speech. Thus, this paper analyzes “Xing” from the connection between the lines using the technique of “Xing” and the following lines that state the theme of the songs. Generally speaking, there are two types as follows:Firstly, “Xing” is only the introduction of the song to describe the surrounding sceneries or what the singer is doing at that moment. And then the song jumps to another topic or object. So “Xing” here is only used to initiate the rhyme of the song, regardless of the true meaning that the songs possess. The first two stanzas of “My Lord Not Back” (鱼藻之什采绿) would be cited as example for this type of “Xing”:终朝采绿，不盈一匊。予发曲居，薄言归沐。(“I gather all the morn king-grass, but get not a handful, alas! In a wasp is my hair, Ill go home and wash it with care.)终朝采蓝，不盈一谵。五日为期，六日不詹。(“I gather all the morn plants blue, but get not an apronful for you. You should be back on the fifth day. Now its the sixth, why the delay”-tr. Xu Yuanchong)Secondly, “Xing” functions to compare two different objects that have something in common to varying degrees in different songs, which is mostly employed in metaphorical pieces primarily including metaphor, metonymy, and so on.From the above, it can be concluded that: (1) “Xing” mostly appears in the form of a couple of lines repeated with or without slightly rhythmical changes in some or all stanzas of a song; (2) there must be a corresponding object to match the object described in “Xing”, therefore “Xing” cannot be analyzed focusing only on the “Xing” lines; (3) in essence, “Xing” lines do have connection with the following lines, and they bear various semantic relations. But the initiating topic in “Xing” is not supposed to be stated in a comprehensive way or becomes the statement theme of the whole stanza, or even the whole song. In other word, the images in “Xing” can only serve as the element of inspiration or introduction, other than the objects that would be portrayed in the following text, i.e., objects in “Xing” cannot be the actual components of the plot or content of the song.4. Functions of “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of SongsShu Dingfang (2000: 112-151) has sketched out six categories of metaphors functions, i.e., (1) rhetorical function that makes our daily expression more vivid, figurative, and interesting; (2) linguistic function that fills lexical gaps and makes expression more accurate; (3) poetic function that helps create the artistic conception by means of the selection of vehicles and adjustment of linguistic material at different levels; (4) cognitive function that organizes human conceptual system and provides new way to perceive and understand the world; (5) social function that helps people obtain group identity and expresses themselves in an explicit and polite way; (6) function as wordplay.Based on Professor Shus research on the functions of metaphor, we find that “Bi” and“Xing” in The Book of Songs share a lot of similarities in function, and then figure out five major functions, i.e., rhetorical function, linguistic function including filling lexical gaps and explanation, poetic function, cognitive function including reconceptualization and argument by analogy, and social function including expressing emotional attitudes.5. ConclusionAs the first poetry collection in the history of Chinese literature, The Book of Songs is characterized by its natural and simple style, vivid and beautiful language, as well as the brilliant use of artistic expression. The numerous “Bi” and “Xing” is one of the most noted features. In line with the standard of “Bi” and “Xing” set up in Chapter Three, there are altogether 82 songs that use “Bi” and 133 songs that use “Xing” among all the 305 songs in The Book of Songs. And in some of the songs, both “Bi” and “Xing” are used, and sometimes one song would use “Bi” or “Xing” for more than once.“Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs are produced by means of dif