Qu Yuan: Romantic Lyric Poems

Qu Yuan (340 BC-278 BC) was a great romantic poet in the history of Chinese ancient literature. His pioneering romantic and emotional style exerted far-reaching influence on the creation and development of Chinese poetry in later ages. Qu Yuan, with the given name of Ping and the courtesy name of Yuan, lived in the Chu State in the late Warring States Period. He was the founder of verses of Chu and the most accomplished representative writer of verses of Chu. His main representative works include Sorrow at Parting, Heavenly Questions, Evocation, Nine Elegies, Nine Songs, etc.

The Chu State in the Yangtze River and Han River basin was prosperous in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the Chu culture was gradually formed in long-term cultural exchange and integration with the Central Plains area in the Yellow River basin. Different from the Central Plains culture, the Chu culture had its salient and unique characteristics. "Verses of Chu," i.e. songs of the Chu State, are a new genre of poetry that emerged in the Chu State in the late Warring States Period. Different from The Book of Songs with realistic characteristics, "verses of Chu" have strong romantic charm and distinctive local features.

Sorrow at Parting is Qu Yuan's most influential representative work and a symbolic work representing the highest ideological and artistic level among verses of Chu. Qu Yuan wrote Sorrow at Parting against a special historical background. In the Warring States Period, the seven states contended for hegemony, and the competition between the Qin State and the Chu State was especially fierce. However, in the times of Qu Yuan, though the Chu State was still a big state, there were internal disturbances and signs of decline. Qu Yuan full of patriotic passion advocated resistance against the Qin State for salvation actively, but unfortunately he was framed by crafty sycophants for his right opinion and was scolded by the fatuous and self-indulgent King Huai of Chu. Qu Yuan's enthusiasm was in vain, but he was always worried about the Chu State and loyal to King Huai. In the face of the dark reality of unrealizable ideals, Qu Yuan sang loudly without restraint, expressed feelings in poems, and voiced good wishes such as orientation towards people, recommendation of worthy and able people, clean politics, rule of law and unification of the country. This is the reason why in Records of the Grand Historian - Biography of Qu Yuan Sima Qian said, "Qu Yuan wrote Sorrow at Parting in meditation." This shows that Sorrow at Parting is not a purely literary work. First of all, it demonstrates Qu Yuan's lofty political ideals, epitomizes his patriotic passion, and reflects his glorious, noble and righteous character.

Sorrow at Parting fully manifests Qu Yuan's glorious ideological character. With a length of about 2,500 Chinese characters, Sorrow at Parting is not a narrative poem but a lyric poem expressing the poet's own feelings based on the poet's ideological character. There are two highlights of Qu Yuan's ideological character. The first one is his deep and persistent patriotic passion. Qu Yuan always deeply and wholeheartedly loved his motherland in deep distress, and his ideals of "revitalization of the state under the king's rule" and "benevolent governance" both originated from his patriotic passion. He did not give any thought to his advancement and even his life. Sycophants framed him, King Huai ignored him, and the Chu State expelled him. All these could not change his resolute patriotic faith! The second one is his unremitting pursuit of truth and his spirit of ruthless criticism of the dark reality. Lu Xun praised Qu Yuan for expressing feelings directly and "saying what people dared not say in the past" in Sorrow at Parting. Qu Yuan pursued truth without regret even at the cost of his life. "Long, long had been my road and far, far was the journey: I would go up and down to seek my heart's desire." Qu Yuan understood the dark reality of the Chu State and the ingrained common customs hard to overcome; he was aware of the perilous state of the country and the sufferings of the people; he knew how fatuous and self-indulgent King Huai of Chu was and how shameless sycophants were quite well. He ruthlessly exposed and criticized all these in Sorrow at Parting. What is even more precious is the persistent spirit of doing something even though it is impossible visible from Qu Yuan and Sorrow at Parting. As a result, Qu Yuan and his Sorrow at Parting showed more clearly the "independent and unswerving" magnetic personality and the power of thought.

Sorrow at Parting also shows unique artistic charm. It is the longest lyric poem in the history of Chinese ancient literature and the first long lyric poem created self-consciously and independently.

In terms of methods of expressing emotions, Sorrow at Parting established the status and role of poetry as the main expressive genre, representing the beginning of romanticism in the history of Chinese literature. Sorrow at Parting and The Book of Songs became two origins of Chinese realistic and romantic literature. In fact Sorrow at Parting fully shapes the lyric protagonist's image, and the poet's family background, life, ideals, pursuits and the painstaking efforts made to realize these ideals are all shown through the protagonist's expression of emotions. Sorrow at Parting seems highly integrated because of the poet's high degree of emotional consciousness. Meanwhile, in comparison with The Book of Songs, Sorrow at Parting features new improvement on the basis of the expression methods of description, metaphor and analogy, especially with respect to expression of emotions through describing concrete objects, blending of feelings and settings, integration of subjectivity and objectivity, etc., free association and boundless imagination. Colorful images and artistic conceptions are created in a highly poetic atmosphere, showing the magic charm of romanticism.

In terms of poetry forms, Sorrow at Parting breaks from the four-character form of The Book of Songs and forms a vigorous and unconstrained style not limited to one pattern. Literary critic of the Qing Dynasty Liu Xizai (1813-1881) sighed that Sorrow at Parting "contains unrelated sentences full of structural and tonal changes; however, something does not change of course." Though Sorrow at Parting is a poem, prose writing methods are used a lot. This style featuring free structures, combination of prose and rhymes and many grammatical changes was called "sorrow style" in later ages. This is a major contribution of Qu Yuan and Sorrow at Parting to Chinese literature.

Besides, Sorrow at Parting also has strong and prominent local features. It "records the language, sounds, places and things of the Chu State," describing social customs particular to the Chu State, transcribing the dialects and local expressions of the Chu State, and leaving a precious historical scroll about the Chu State to later people.