Catching Butterflies
A Stylistic Approach to Classical Chinese Ci-Poetry
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v2i3.461Keywords:
Stylistics, Functional Grammar, Chinese Poetics, Classical ci-poetry, Li Yu, Li Qingzhao, Literary Interpretation, IntertextualityAbstract
Adopting a linguistic-based stylistic approach, this article proposes a new interpretation of classical Chinese ci-poetry by Li Yu (937-978) and Li Qingzhao (1084-1155?). Based on Halliday's Functional Grammar, analysing the three contextual meanings interwoven in the dense fabric of the poetic discourse, taking into account also of deviation and foregrounding, this study challenges the traditional Chinese dichotomy of wanyue and haofang schools. It argues that although both Li Yu and Li Qingzhao are regarded as, arguably, most important representative poets of wanyue style, their poetry is in fact quite different from wanyue convention. By accounting for certain judgments of value made on an intuitive basis by a comparatively objective and consistent procedure, this paper hopes to shed new light on the characteristics of the lyrics by Li Yu and Li Qingzhao. It also demonstrates how a combination of traditional Chinese scholarship - marked for the most part by its intuitive and impressionistic approach - and a more systematic and analytical Western methodology may enlarge the horizons of Chinese literary studies, while also enhancing the ability of Westerners to appreciate classical Chinese poetry.
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Tang, G. (ed.) (1986) Cihua cong bian. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
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Wang, L. (ed.) (1983) Wenjing mifu lun jiaozhu. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe.
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Yan, Y. (1974) Canglang shihua. In W. He (ed.) Lidai shihua 442–459. Taibei: Yiwen yinshuguan.
Xie, T. (1993) Zhongguo cixue shi. Hengdu: Bashu shushe.
Xie. T. (1999) Songci bian. Shanghai: Guji chubanshe.
Xu, F. (1966) Zhongguo wenxue zhong de qi de wenti. In his Zhongguo wenxue lun ji 297–349. Taizhong: Zhongyang shuju.
Yang, Z. (1992) Writing of an event. Readings in Chinese Literary Though 440. (Translated by S. Owen.) Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University Press.
Ye, J. (1989) Tang Song ci shiqi jiang. Changsha: Yuelu shushe.
Ye, J. (1990) Zhongguo ci xue de xiandai guan. Changsha: Yuelu shushe, Yu, P. (1994) Voices of the Song Lyric in China. University of California Press.
Zhang, Z. and Huang, Y. (eds) (1986) Quan Tang wudai ci. Shanghai: Guji chubanshe.
Zhou, J. (1986) Jiecun zhai lunci zazhu. In G. Tang (ed.) Cihua congbian 1629–1638. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
Zhu, H. and Geng, X. (eds) (1998) Xin yi Huajian ji. Taibei: Sanmin shuju.
Caffarel, A., Martin, J. R. and Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (eds) (2004) Language Typology: a functional perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Cao Pi. Lun wen in Sibu cong kan 1920–36 52/9a-b. Shanghai: Shangwu chubanshe,.
Chang, K. S. (1980) The Evolution of Chinese Tz’u Poetry: from Late T’ang to Northern Sung. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Clark, K. and Holquist, M. (1984) Mikhail Bakhtin. Harvard University Press.
Culler, J. (1975) Structuralist Poetics. London: Routledge.
Fong, G. (1994) Engendering the lyric: her image and voice in song. In P. Yu (ed.) Voices of the Song Lyric 107–144. University of California Press.
Fowler, R. (1969) Linguistics, stylistics, criticism. In G. A. Love and M. Payne (eds) Contemporary Essays on Style 165–174. Glenview, III.: Scott, Foresman Company.
Fowler, R. (ed.) (1975) Style and Structure in Literature. Cornell University Press.
Freeman, D. C. (ed.) (1970) Linguistics and Literary Style. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Inc.
Guo, S. and Wang, W. (1979) Zhongguo li dai wenlun xuan. Shanghai: Guji chubanshe
Hakeda, Y. S. (1972) Kukai: major works. New York: Columbia University Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1978) Language as Social Semiotic: the social interpretation of language and meaning. London: Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1971) Linguistic function and literary style: an inquiry into the language of William Golding’s The Inheritors. In S. Chatman (ed.) Literary Style: a symposium 330–365. London: Oxford University Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1994) An Introduction to Functional Grammar. (Second edition.) London: Arnold.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Hasan, R. (1986) Language, Context, and Text: aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective. Deakin University, Australia.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (1999) Construing Experience Through Meaning. London: Cassell.
Hasan, R. (1985) Linguistics, Language, and Verbal Art. Victoria: Deakin University Press.
Hasan, R. Cloran, C. and Butt, D. G. (1996) Functional Descriptions: theory in practice. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Hasan, R. and Fries, P. H. (1995) On Subject and Theme: a discourse functional perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
He, W. (ed.) (1974) Lidai shihua. Taibei: Yiwen yinshuguan.
Hiraga, M. K. (2005) Metaphor and Iconicity: a cognitive approach to analyzing text. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ingarden, R. (1973) The Literary Work of Art: an investigation on the borderlines of ontology, logic and theory of literature. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
Leech, G. N. (1969) A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry. London: Longman.
Leech, G. N. and Short, M. H. (1981) Style in Fiction: a linguistic introduction to English fictional prose. London: Longman.
Levin, S. R. (1970) Coupling in a Shakespearean sonnet. In D. C. Freeman (ed.) Linguistics and Literary Style. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Inc.
Leys, S. (1986) The Burning Forest. Essays on Chinese Culture and Politics. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Lin, S. (1994) The formation of a distinct generic identity for Tz’u. In P. Yu (ed.) Voices of the Song Lyric 3–29. University of California Press.
McDonald, E. (1996) The ‘Complement’ in Chinese Grammar: A Functional Reinterpretation. In R. Hasan, C. Cloran and D. G. Butt (1996) Functional Descriptions: theory in practice. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
Morgan, T. E. (1985) Is there an intertext in this text? Literary and interdisciplinary approaches to intertextuality. American Journal of Semiotics 3(4): 140.
Owen, S. (1985) Traditional Chinese Poetry and Poetics: omen of the world. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Owen, S. (1992) Readings in Chinese Literary Thought. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Owen S. (1994) Meaning and words. In P. Yu (ed.) Voices of the Song Lyric 30–69. University of California Press.
Ouyang, J. (1998) Preface to Among the Flowers. In H. Zhu (ed.) Xin yi hau jian ji 1. Taibei: Sanmin shuju.
Perrine, L. (1973) Sound and Sense. An Introduction to Poetry. New York: Harcourt BraceJavsnovich, INC.
Pollard, D. (1977) Chi (Qi) in Chinese literary theory. In A. A. Rickett (ed.) Approaches to Chinese Literature: from Confucius to Liang Ch’I-ch’ao 43–66. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Rickett, A. A. (ed.) Approaches to Chinese Literature: from Confucius to Liang Ch’I-ch’ao. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Shen, D. (1995) Literary Stylistics and Fictional Translation. Beijing University Press.
Tang. G. (ed.) (1965) Quan Song ci. Beijing: Zhongguo shuju.
Tang, G. (ed.) (1986) Cihua cong bian. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
Wang, G. (1986) Renjian cihua. In G. Tang (ed.) Cihua congbian 4239–4275. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
Wang, L. (ed.) (1983) Wenjing mifu lun jiaozhu. Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe.
Wang, Z. (1986) Biji manzhi. In G. Tang (ed.) Cihua congbian 73–118. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
Wordsworth, W. (1988) Preface to Lyrical Ballads. In R. L. Brett and A. R. Jones (eds) Lyrical Ballads. London: Routledge.
Yan, Y. (1974) Canglang shihua. In W. He (ed.) Lidai shihua 442–459. Taibei: Yiwen yinshuguan.
Xie, T. (1993) Zhongguo cixue shi. Hengdu: Bashu shushe.
Xie. T. (1999) Songci bian. Shanghai: Guji chubanshe.
Xu, F. (1966) Zhongguo wenxue zhong de qi de wenti. In his Zhongguo wenxue lun ji 297–349. Taizhong: Zhongyang shuju.
Yang, Z. (1992) Writing of an event. Readings in Chinese Literary Though 440. (Translated by S. Owen.) Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University Press.
Ye, J. (1989) Tang Song ci shiqi jiang. Changsha: Yuelu shushe.
Ye, J. (1990) Zhongguo ci xue de xiandai guan. Changsha: Yuelu shushe, Yu, P. (1994) Voices of the Song Lyric in China. University of California Press.
Zhang, Z. and Huang, Y. (eds) (1986) Quan Tang wudai ci. Shanghai: Guji chubanshe.
Zhou, J. (1986) Jiecun zhai lunci zazhu. In G. Tang (ed.) Cihua congbian 1629–1638. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.
Zhu, H. and Geng, X. (eds) (1998) Xin yi Huajian ji. Taibei: Sanmin shuju.
Published
2008-06-24
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Wang, P. (2008). Catching Butterflies: A Stylistic Approach to Classical Chinese Ci-Poetry. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 2(3), 461-483. https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v2i3.461
