f u P oe t ry : an anC i e n t-s t y l e r Ha P s oDy 79
Swelling and surging, troublous and turbulent. 滂濞沆溉 (phang-phjiət gang-grat)
Loftily arching, billowing like clouds, 穹隆雲橈 (khjəng-ljəng g jiwən nrahw)
Sinuously snaking, curling and coiling, 宛潬膠盭 ( /jiwan-djanx krehw-liat)
Outracing their own waves, rushing to the
chasms, 逾波趨浥 (rjah pai tshrjah /jək)
Lap, lap, they descend to the shoals. 涖涖下瀨 (ljət-ljət grah lat)
Striking the bluffs, hurtling against the dikes, 批巖衝擁 (phiəi ngram thjuang /juang)
Racing and swelling, spraying and spuming. 奔揚滯沛 (pən rang drjat-pat)
Nearing the sandbars, they pour into gullies, 臨坻注壑 (ljəng drjət tjuah hak)
Plashing and splashing as they tumble
downward. 瀺灂霣墜 (dzram-dzrəkw g jwən-drjwət)
Deep, deep, full, full, 沈沈隱隱 (shjəng-shjəng /jən-/jən)
Rumbling and roaring, bellowing and
blustering, 砰磅訇礚 (phring-phang grwing khap)
Bubbling and boiling, gushing and gurgling, 潏潏淈淈 (kjwət-kjwət kət-kət)
Foaming and frothing like a seething cauldron, 湁潗鼎沸 (thrjək-tsjək ting pjwət)
Speeding waves, flinging spray, 馳波跳沫 (djai pai diahw mat)
They swiftly swirl, furious and fast. 汩潝漂疾 (gwjət-hjək phjhaw dzjət)The transcription in the right-hand column is an approximation of the pronun-
ciation during the Han.29 Its purpose is to call attention to the rhyming and allit-
eration, which is not always evident in modern Mandarin pronunciation. For ex-
ample, the two syllables in bice do not rhyme in modern Mandarin pronunciation,
but, in the Han dynasty Chinese pjək-tsrjək, they rhyme perfectly. Similarly, the
modern Mandarin hangxie does not alliterate, but the Han dynasty reading gang-
grat does. The phonetic representation of the passage shows the strong auditory
quality of the fu.
Thus Sima Xiangru employed numerous alliterative and rhyming binomes:
xiongyong (hjang-rjang [soaring and leaping]), pengpai (phrang-phrat [surging and
swelling]), bifei (pjət-pjəi [spurting and spouting]), bice (pjək-tsrjək [pressing and
pushing]), and pielie (phat-ljat [beating and battering]). Some of the expressions are
synonyms, such as juejue (kjwət-kjwət) and gugu (kət-kət), both of which describe
the bubbling and frothing of the waters. They are also probably onomatopoeic
expressions.
The presence of so many alliterative and rhyming words in this passage pro-
vides evidence for another important quality of the fu in the Han period—its oral,
recitative character. The primary medium of presentation of fu at the Former Han
court was oral. Although we do not know whether “Fu on the Imperial Park” was
actually performed after Sima Xiangru completed it, we do know that Emperor
Wu employed professional rhapsodes, who not only recited but also extempora-
neously composed fu for various court occasions. One of Emperor Wu’s favorite
rhapsodes was Mei Gao (fl. ca. 140 b.C.e.), who was at the Han court at the same
time as Sima Xiangru. Mei Gao probably was the most prolific fu writer of the
Former Han. A catalog of the imperial library compiled at the end of the Former