60 t He Han Dy na s t y
what he sees from the tower. He sees the Zhang River, with its small tributary that
connects with the twisting Ju River and its long sandbars. In back of him he sees
hills and a long plain, and in front he gazes on wet marshlands. The area also is the
site of grave mounds, and the land is rich with flowers, fruit, and millets. However,
as beautiful as the scene is, the poet is not happy in this place, and he expresses the
regret that he is unable to return to his home in the north.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, the fu continued to be a
favored form of poetic writing. In this period, the form was strongly influenced
by the aesthetic of the parallel couplet, and many of the fu compositions consist
almost entirely of lines that are perfectly matched grammatically and semantically.
This form, known as the pianfu (parallel-style fu), flourished in the late Southern
Dynasties. In the Tang, an even more intricately crafted form was the lüfu (regu-
lated fu), which was the required form for the civil service examinations.
The most distinguished fu writer of the Han was Sima Xiangru (179–117 b .C.e.).
He was a native of Chengdu in the Shu commandery (modern Chengdu, Sichuan).
During the 140s b.C.e., he served for several years at the imperial court and for a
somewhat longer period at the court of Liu Wu (d. 144 b.C.e.), prince of Liang. In
144 b .C.e., Sima Xiangru returned to Shu, where he married Zhuo Wenjun, the
daughter of a wealthy iron manufacturer. In 137 b.C.e., he took up a post at the
court of Emperor Wu (Han Wudi [r. 140–87 b.C.e.]), where he served in various
capacities until 119 b.C.e., when he retired to the imperial mausoleum town of
Maoling. While in imperial service, one of Sima Xiangru’s main duties was to com-
pose fu for the entertainment of the members of the court. His most famous piece
is “Fu on the Imperial Park.” Although the most common title for this fu is “Fu on
the Imperial Park,” the original title may have been “Tianzi you lie fu” (Fu on the
Excursions and Hunts of the Son of Heaven). The work actually consists of two
parts. The first part, which is eliminated from the translation given here, consists
of most of “Zixu fu” (Fu of Sir Vacuous). The second section, “Fu on the Imperial
Park,” is the sequel that Sima Xiangru composed for Emperor Wu.
Sima Xiangru frames the fu in a form that is a common feature of the fu genre,
a debate between three men, each with an imaginary name. First there is Sir Vacu-
ous, who represents Chu as an emissary to Qi. He has attended a hunt hosted by
the king of Qi. Representing Qi is a man named Master Improbable. In the “Fu
of Sir Vacuous,” each of them presents a lavish description of the hunting parks
in their home states. The third protagonist is Lord No-such, who in “Fu on the
Imperial Park” describes the wonders of Shanglin Park. This debate feature has
its roots in the rhetorical tradition of the Warring States period, much of which
consists of debates between men with opposing points of view. Each of the three
imaginary gentlemen is the equivalent of a traveling persuader who applies his
rhetorical skill on behalf of his ruler.