Numerous critics have noted the Zhuangzi allusion in the image of
the butterfly. Many also have identified the reference to René
Descartes. Most notable is how Dai uses the syntax of the Descartes
maxim but surprises us with the insertion of an equally famous
image from an ancient Daoist text. In the original Zhuangziallegory,
the butterfly evokes endless transformation of Being and the
interchangeability of all forms (e.g., “dream” and “reality,” “Self” and
“Other”). Here, Dai uses transcendence in a wholly different context.
Structurally, the first line is a complete sentence consisting of eight
characters; with the copula “shi” it is a static sentence designating a
state of being. In contrast, the other three lines of the poem also form
a complete sentence, but three times as long and full of movement.
“Call,” “penetrate,” “flutter”—these transitive verbs are not only
dynamic rather than static, they convey interaction between the subject
and the object of the sentence. The transition from the first line to the
next three lines, from a pithy epigrammatic line to a long dynamic
sentence seems to open up an internal vista; we are taken on a fantastic
journey by the butterfly. Paradoxically, the frailty and impermanence
of beauty usually associated with the winged butterfly is reversed. The
butterfly flies through the infinite Space of eternal Time in response to
the gentle call of a flower. Undeterred by thick “clouds of no dreams
and no awakenings,” the butterfly transcends Time and Space.^3
Zhuangzi’s notion of interchangeability and transcendence takes on
new meaning in Dai Wangshu’s quatrain. In the image of the butterfly,
the binary oppositions of transience and eternity, frailty and
immortality, are resolved. The interaction between the butterfly and
the tiny flower is symbolic of the relationship between imagination
and the world. No matter how insignificant or easily overlooked a
thing of beauty may be, the poetic imagination never fails to perceive
and respond to it. Contained in a miniature form, Dai’s conviction of
the power of the imagination, the power of poetry, is itself embodied
in the butterfly—frail yet indestructible, short-lived yet eternal. For
Dai, and many other poets who were physically destroyed in the
turbulent times of modern China, the poem may well be read as a
testimonial to the lasting beauty of their poetry.
Modern Poetry could not explore the new medium without new
form. Although Hu Shi is usually credited with the revolution of poetic
language, his absolute separation of Modern Chinese and Classical
Chinese was misleading. In my view, Hu’s greatest accomplishment
lies in the revolution in form. Without freedom from traditional forms
with their rigid rules, the potentials of the modern vernacular as the
poetic medium could not be realized.20 Michelle Yeh9781403976079ts03.qxp:Layout 1 11/9/07 11:08 AM Page 20