340 t He y uan, m i ng, anD q i ng Dy na s t i e s
the second is colloquial in tone and, in syntactic structure, imitates the easy flow
of everyday speech through its lavish use of extrametrical syllables. But language
aside, there is no other clue to any major differences between the literate recluse
and his illiterate counterparts in these two songs. For instance, what the literate
fisherman does all day in the first song is exactly the same as what the unlettered
woodcutter and fisherman do in the second, which is to engage in high-minded
talk about the vicissitudes of life. The poet creates two kinds of recluse in the two
songs in an attempt to give some legitimacy to the scholar-official recluse under
the guise of the woodcutter-fisherman. But one can see that, educated or not, the
personae in the two songs are not those who really cut wood and catch fish; rather,
they are transfigured images of what the poet imagines he himself could be.11
In another song eulogizing the life of a recluse, Qiao Ji speaks in the voice of
an “I”:C 1 6. 6
To the Tune “Lüyaobian” [zhenggong key]: Of MyselfI was not chosen to head the dragon list,
2 Nor was my name entered into the biography of worthies
From time to time I’m a sage of wine,
4 Finding everywhere the Zen of poetry—
Highest graduate of the college of clouds and mists,
6 Drunken angel of rivers and lakes,
My talks and jokes are fit for the Imperial Academy of Compilation.
8 Loitering,
I’ve been writing commentaries on the wind and the moon for forty years.
[QYSQ 1:574–575]12【正宮】綠么遍 自述 ([zhèng gōng] lü yāo mè biàn zì shù)
not occupy dragon head roster 不占龍頭選 (bú zhàn lóng tóu xuăn)
not enter famous worthy biography 不入名賢傳 ▲ (bú rù míng xián zhuàn)
time time wine sage 時時酒聖 (shí shí jiŭ shèng)
place place poetry Zen 處處詩禪 △ (chù chù shī chán)
foggy rosy cloud poster first 煙霞狀元 (yān xiá zhuàng yuán)
river lake drunken immortal 江湖醉仙 △ (jiāng hú zuì xiān)
laugh chat just be edit compile academy 笑談便是編修院 ▲ (xiào tán biàn shì biān xiū yuàn)
remain linger 留連 △ (liú lián)
critique wind write moon four ten year 批風抹月四十年 △ (pī fēng mŏ yuè sì shí nián)
With its ostentatious celebration of the freedom from the burdens of officialdom,
this song also belongs to the tradition of recluse literature. Seldom do we see in
similar works written before it the carefree playfulness it demonstrates.13 The per-
sona in this song does not disguise himself as a woodcutter or a fisherman. On
the contrary, he makes no secret of his impressive educational background in this