348 t He y uan, m i ng, anD q i ng Dy na s t i e s
According to Zhuangzi’s famous dream, the philosopher does not know whether
he is his own self taking the form of a butterfly in a dream, or a butterfly dreaming
that it is Zhuangzi. The original message is that there is no hard-and-fast demar-
cation between reality and illusion. But, with the passage of time, the butterfly
dream has become a fable reminding people of the illusory and ephemeral na-
ture of human life: it is but a dream. The poet borrows the powerful image from
Zhuangzi and then remolds it into a clichéd metaphor of a two-winged pleasure-
seeker (lines 2–3), which itself alludes to numerous “flower-picking” verses exem-
plifying the Chinese version of carpe diem.16 In this way, Wang Heqing defends
with disarming wit the dissolute lifestyle of a womanizer; using the simplistic, yet
popular, interpretation of Zhuangzi’s philosophical butterfly, he repeats the adage
that life is short and one should pick the flower while it is in blossom.
The image of the butterfly’s “two wings mounting on the spring wind” (line 2)—
with the literal “east wind” standing for springtime—does not merely imply the
high time for flower picking and emphasize the sense of urgency in the carpe diem
motif. The image is also meant to convey the sensual pleasure that the butterfly ex-
periences in its carefree “sweeping” of the flowers. The thrill and sense of freedom
in the airborne pose is reminiscent of the well-known image of the Big Roc (Peng
bird) in the Zhuangzi, whose two wings are as big as clouds and “mount on the
back of the wind” in its “ninety-thousand-mile journey.” The title of the chapter
from which this image comes is, as it happens, “Free and Easy Wandering,” and it
has become a set phrase used to describe total, unlicensed freedom. The reading
of this hidden allusion into the image can be justified with further internal evi-
dence in the song. The big butterfly “shames to death”17 small-time flower chasers,
like the honeybees (line 5), with his enviable virile feats (line 3), in exactly the same
manner in which Zhuangzi’s Big Roc thwarts the small creatures, like the little
doves and quails with his size and movement of heavenly proportions.
Wang Heqing ends the song by making, as if effortlessly and in passing, yet one
more allusion to old texts. The “flower vendors” (line 7) allude to a Song dynasty
poem, “On Butterfly,” in which flower sellers, urged on by the excitement of the
beautiful spring scene, “one after another, rush to the other side of the bridge.”18
In this new context, the role played by the “flower vendors” changes. Can they
be those who sell the flower—that is, pimps? By having them fanned across the
bridge, the poet seems to allow the big butterfly one more chance to demonstrate
his capability “with a gentle flap of its wings” (line 6)—the butterfly requires no
help from matchmakers of any kind.
The travesty of the Zhuangzi images carries, in this song, only the positive note.
The poem totally transfigures the otherwise disdainful and distasteful playboy
image of the butterfly and makes it glow with the luster of the carefree spirit of the
original butterfly of the Zhuangzi and the ease and the elegant, condescending air
of the Big Roc from the same text. One can label the butterfly “gallant” (fengliu)
(line 4), but just as the term fengliu can mean anything from “debauched” and “dis-
solute” to “talented” and “elegant,” even “heroic,” the butterfly’s true color is open