Sh i P oe t ry : anC i e n t anD r e C e n t s t y l e s 31524). The “flavor” that this mental attitude corresponds to is not one of the standard
ones (line 26); it is a perfect balance of them all, a “flavorless” flavor that makes all
others seem partial and imbalanced. It is precisely the “placid and plain” (danbo,
or, more commonly, pingdan) (line 15), superior and “truer” than all the rest, that
Han Yu had mistaken for insipidness.
There is a discursive tendency in much of Song poetry that is exemplified in
“Seeing Off Canliao.” When critics characterize Song poetry as “intellectual” or
“philosophical,” it is this trait they have in mind. There is a surprising amount of
argumentation in a poem such as this, as Su Shi summarizes one theory of cre-
ativity, only to disagree with it and present another.
Here we have a poem whose very point nicely complements the discursive
mode of presentation, an “intellectual” poem that sets the intellect in opposition
to the emotions. Song-period aesthetics also generally elevates the quality of the
“placid and plain” to be a supreme artistic ideal. In this poem, we see the connec-
tion between that quality and intellectuality or thoughtfulness, and we also see it
as an alternative to the Tang theory of the art of powerful emotions. The mind that
achieves pingdan has an enhanced ability to be reflective because it is not encum-
bered by, or a slave to, heartfelt subjective feelings. There is a certain detachment
to this ideal. Obviously, this cluster of qualities is eminently compatible with Bud-
dhist teachings and surely owes much to their influence.
C 1 5. 4
Written on Master Huyin’s Wall, No. 1The entry beneath thatch-roof eaves, often swept,
is clean and free of moss.
Flowering trees grow neatly in rows,
he planted them with his own hands.
A single river guards the fields,
encircling them in a band of emerald,
Two mountains shove open the doorway,
sending their green inside.
[QSS 10:29.6700; WJGSZBJ 43.822]書湖陰先生壁 (shū hú yīn xiān shēng bì)
thatch eaves constantly sweep clean no moss 茆檐長掃淨無苔 (máo yán cháng săo jìng wú tái)
flowering trees form rows hand oneself plant 花木成畦手自栽 (huā mù chéng qí shŏu zì zāi)
one river guard field takes green round 一水護田將綠繞 (yì shuĭ hù tián jiāng lǜ rào)
two mountains open doorway send green come 兩山排闥送青來 (liăng shān pái tà sòng qīng lái)
[Tonal pattern Ia, see p. 171]
The heptasyllabic line often contains, in effect, two separated but related state-
ments—for example, “The entry beneath [the] thatch-roof eaves [is] often swept,”
and “[consequently the ground] is clean [there] and free of moss” (line 1). The line