148 t He siX Dy na s t i e s
over 250 poems, about one-sixth belong to the yongwu category. The usual yongwu
poem of the Qi describes the characteristics of a given object and often ends with
an appraisal of how the object may be of service to its human owner. As Cynthia
Chennault has noted, “Instead of things that stand free in nature, the new trend of
Southern Qi odes was to depict small decorative items which had incidental uses,
such as musical instruments, utensils for a banquet, a lady’s toiletry articles, and
so on.”2 And yet, it is noteworthy that only one-fifth of the approximately forty
yongwu poems by Xiao Gang are about inanimate objects. Xiao Gang was far more
interested in portraying natural phenomena or living things, from clouds and rain
to horses, birds, flowers, and insects. They are not depicted as static, inanimate,
and generic, but as specific, particular, and vulnerable to the ravages of time.
“On Clouds” is a fine example of Xiao Gang’s yongwu poetry:C 7. 5
On Clouds 詠雲 (yŏng yún)Floating clouds unfold in five colors— 浮雲舒五色 (fú yún shū wŭ sè)
Carnelian shining against the frosty sky. 瑪瑙映霜天 (mă năo yìng shuāng tiān)
Jade leaves scattering autumn shadows; 玉葉散秋影 (yù yè sàn qiū yĭng)
Purple mist sent adrift by a metal wind. 金風飄紫煙 (jīn fēng piāo zĭ yān)
[XQHWJNBCS 3:1953]This poem shows Xiao Gang’s familiarity with the literary tradition and his
ability to make it new. The first line evokes “Fuyun fu” (A Poetic Exposition on the
Floating Clouds), by the Western Jin writer Lu Ji (261–303), in which he compares
the clouds of “five colors” to lotus blossoms, rose of Sharon, agate, and carne-
lian. Lu Ji also describes the clouds as “jade leaves,” which are blown off “golden
branches.” Noticeably, what Xiao Gang chooses to take from Lu Ji’s metaphors are
not organic things of nature, such as lotus or rose of Sharon, but “carnelian” and
“jade leaves,” to which he adds “a metal wind”—in Chinese cosmology, autumn
is considered the season of metal, and so the autumn wind is also referred to as
a “metal wind.” The result is striking, for the airy, constantly shifting forms of
clouds are connected with the hard textures of minerals and metal. On the one
hand, the poet uses words of insubstantiality, such as “floating,” “shadows,” and
“mist”; on the other, those of solidity, like “carnelian,” “jade,” and “metal.” That the
sky should be “frosty” intensifies the sense of coldness and hardness and accentu-
ates the ethereality of the shape-changing clouds.
The clouds depicted in this quatrain are specifically autumn clouds. Real leaves
wither and decay in autumn, but not these jade leaves. And yet, as the metal wind
blows, even the jade leaves are scattered and turned into mere puff.
The jade leaves would have had a special resonance for Xiao Gang and his con-
temporaries, who grew up against an intensely Buddhist background, were de-
vout Buddhist believers, and regularly attended Buddhist lectures. The Buddhist
paradise, known as the Pure Land, is described as a land made of diamonds and