c i P oe t ry : long s ong ly riC s 273capability rather than his military prowess. Many traditional commentators and
modern scholars have expressed the belief that the poet nostalgically projects him-
self—a scholar—into the image of Zhou Yu. This reading makes sense when one
considers that autobiographical reflection brought forth by a meditation on history
is one of the important elements of a poem of this type. Internal evidence from
the song itself, however, supports a different interpretation. The gentler, intellec-
tual side of the image of the young general, in contrast with the image of nature
depicted as “rugged” and “angry” in the first stanza, foregrounds the vulnerability
of humankind. Human life is beautiful yet evanescent, created only to be swept
away. The juxtaposition of the young general so vividly called forth in the poet’s
reflections of the ancient hero, long dead, with the living yet rapidly decaying gray-
haired poet lamenting the past (line 17) expresses the poet’s perplexity over the
inscrutable and devastating power of time. Indeed, the almost perfect image of the
young general—whose link with the present is barely maintained in such terms
as “it is said” and “once”—is an illusion embedded in a distant time frame. As the
poet tells us, in order to see his hero, he has to think “far back” (line 10) into the
past. Not unexpectedly, the poet ends his spiritual journey with the melancholy
sigh that life is but a dream (line 18) and offers his “cup to the moon over the river”
(line 19). In Chinese, the phrase can also be read as “the moon’s reflection in the
river,” symbolizing the illusoriness and intangibility of human existence.
The next ci poet to be discussed is Li Qingzhao, one of the most prominent
female figures in the history of Chinese poetry. Her sensitive heart, keen eye, and
musical ear lend her manci works an unusual psychological depth:
C 1 3. 4
To the Tune “One Beat Followed by Another, a Long Tune”Searching and searching, seeking and seeking,
2 Chilly and cold, quiet and desolate,
Sad, sorrowful, miserable.
4 This time of year when it’s warm now, soon cold again,
I just cannot take care of myself.
6 Two or three cups of bland wine
Are not enough to resist the rushing evening wind.
8 The wild geese passing by
Break my heart,
10 And they are none other than my old acquaintances!
In piles chrysanthemums are everywhere.
12 Withered and damaged;
Now who will pick them?
14 I cling to the window;
All alone, what am I going to do before it gets dark?
16 The drizzle on the wutong leaves