Chinese Poem Analysis, Essay Example

China is the only nation known to have a literature written for centuries in one language. This continuity occurred largely from the country’s nature as well as its scope on the written language. For instance, its preference on using characters instead of letters as is testified by western civilization forms the principal foundation for its local language.  What this indicates is that the characters are employed to present concepts amongst others, unlike combination of letters, they cannot and more so can never be sounded. Thus Chinese could be understood, read or deciphered by the people across all regions of the country.

What this indicates is that the growth and dominance of written language had significant influence on the development of the Chinese literature. The foremost benefits of written Chinese are linked to the enormous number of characters it embraces. Because the written characters had a tendency to sustain the language stability, Chinese never developed any particular language. These geneses lead to the growth of philosophical, historical and religious writings, in addition to creative writings which involved novels, poetry and dramatic writings. The scope and the extent of poetry can be examined from the extent by which the Chinese literature is anchored.  Majority of Chinese classical poems composed during the T`ang Dynasty   typically compromises of lines of four unique characters, or words, with each single line rhymed. This scope is well defined by the manner Wang Wei, who is regarded as the pioneer of monochrome landscaping, is credited with the Chinese most influential and meditative poetry which explored man-nature relationship and was substantially influenced by Buddhism. His poetry reflected the concepts mostly related to painting. However, one of the most popular and commonly cited poems was done by Li Po; he embraced detachment as well as freedom. Deliberately, he shunned the lu-shih and subsequently opted to pursue formal poetical verses and a good example is exemplified by “To Tan-Ch’iu,” translated by Arthur Waley.

The author of this poem uses light but fluid language to express his adoration of friendship, craftly he exploits the dynamics of literally tools to deliver his well symbolized image. Looking at the manner the poem is composed, one cannot fail to note how the aspects of symbolism are employed, for instance in this poem he exploits this scope to equate friendship to the beauty of nature where he asserts “My friend is lodging high in the Eastern Range,” This explains why the Chinese are considered to be a nation that is keen on observing and embracing positive social trends. More so, this poem has other distinctive features such as tonal variations in regard to the scope of spoken language. This poem demonstrates that poetry was a social engagement during this era. As is illustrated by this verses which are set to rhyme methodically, friends shown to have composed stanzas for each other either to commemorate occasion in addition to embrace the gifts of nature such as rain or mountain ranges. In this regard we note that imagery and symbolism are heavily employed in this poem to depict how the author compared his friendship with the dynamics of nature. The significance of these two aspects are purposely to give the poem a more strong and flowing annotation (Watson 108).

The significance of this poet can be attributed to the way the author utilizes imagery in this poem. The objectives of using imagery is that they makes the poem to sound real to the introduction of real aspects related to the five common senses, that is,smell,touch,sound,and movement. Hence, in regard to that observation we note the author asserts “A pine-tree wind dusts his sleeves and coat; the use of the phrase “dusts” depicts movement and when construed from the social angle it may have been exported to explain the depth of friendship and how true friendship is essential in times of need. This usage of imagery has compactly made this poem to relate to the audience it was intended for. By provoking the audience to create mental images of the ranges, valleys, clound and other mentioned objects the author seems to employ the scope of suspense in this poem which in strictly linked to what can be termed as poetical prose. The usage of this element has been done with a positive attitude, noting that, in most instances imagery is employed to create tension, while in this particular case it has been employed to create harmony.

The T`ang Dynasty was rich in both political and social personalities, friendship was treated with sincerity, and trust was nurtured and guarded intricately by friends. Perhaps it is this concern that contributed to the author to express his feelings in this manner. The significance of this attribute is thus presented using metaphors. The author doesn’t offer open or explicit analysis of the situation but rather employs metaphors but rationally to express this phenomenon.  A good example of this phrase “Are high-propped on a pillow of blue cloud”, definitely this explains friendship was such a paramount aspect of the entire Chinese civilization, it fostered unity, and promoted unity among the diverse Chinese social and economic classes.

Equally this poem could have been composed with the intention of arousing individual reflection on the scope safeguarding the greater communal cohesion. The use of figurative language is used implies that the author was exploring a subject that was more of extra-ordinary significance. Or he was attempting to show how the Chinese viewed ordinary relationships as being extra ordinary.

Considering most of the Chinese poetry which thrived during the golden era of T`ang Dynasty were concentrating more on romantic and spiritual poetry, this one single poem stands out as exceptional. Its elements reflect on the simple but unique social bond that compelled individuals to cherish the company each other. More so, the usage of physical environmental attributes shows how significant the Chinese were close and valued nature and this could be construed to explain why the poet have candidly compared friendship with nature. Hence, the poet wrote Dearly loving the beauty of valleys and hills”.

And the simple use of metonymy is exploited to explain this approach, the poet substitutes true friendship with elements of nature, he states “At green spring he lies in the empty woods”.

The Chinese community is known to be a community of poetry and the era of Tang Dynasty presented the apex of poetry excellence in the whole of Chinese classic poetry (Watson 79). It is during this era that diverse poets were groomed. The growth of lushi, a strict poetry structure which generally comprised eight solid lines comprising either five to seven characters flourished, this process was strictly based on the aspects of defining tone as well as rhymes. The purpose of poetry as indicated in this poem was to provoke or compel the society to look at itself, or poetry was employed as as true of contrasting the diverse social ideals with the different elements of real life. And this explains why this poem uses the ideals of nature to confront the social dimensions of friendship. More so, the poems can be said to be a standard of showing how the author depicted the significance of freedom and personality among the greater Chinese nation. Using the brave exaggerations, distinctive features, fantastic imaginations, bold forms and fresh language he deliberately violated the established rules of poetry to present a strong poetical prose that expressed what he thought and perceived friendship to be, as the poem posits

I envy you, who far from strife and talk

Are high-propped on a pillow of blue cloud;

Idyll, the poet centered on the interpretation of natural landscape. His style depicts freshness in addition to smoothness, illustrating the world or rather the subject of his poem in a serene and a cool manner. This coupled with the usage of literary tools such as similes, allegory and paradox in order to make the poem sound relevant, and this can be explained by the manner the poet exploited the element of paradox to merge two unrelated features, he says; A pebbly stream cleans his heart and ears.

The meaning and the idea of this poet heavily focuses on the need of establishing profound friendship. This aspect is reinforced by the fact that the tone of the poem reflects a positive attitude towards the audience. From what is known of Tang Dynasty it is important to understand that their existed rivalry among different poets who different approach to both poetry and social life. It is perhaps this consideration that compelled the author of this poem to reflect on the significance of friendship (Watson 154). Symbolically, he reminds us friendship cannot be extinguished by circumstances and he notes

And is still asleep when the sun shines on high

A pine-tree wind dusts his sleeves and coat;

The significance and importance of the poem at the time signifies the value of friendship and moves on to extol why friendship was viewed more strongly than blood relationship. The use of metaphors,symbolism,imagery as well as figurative language explains in depth what the author perceived in relation to being friendly and appreciating each other. It is instrumental to argue that Tang Dynasty could not have flourished with strong bond among the inhabitants, and that is why this poem relates to daily today activities of the Chinese people at the time. Examining the style of the poet, one thing is apparent, he employed the simple flow of poetical prose to convey his message, and it is through the usage of this kind of poetry that the Tang Dynasty allowed the growth of classic prose writing and more so other celebrated poets such as Li He who composed “Eidolon of Poetry” or “Monster of Poetry” came to be recognized. The dynasty allowed the growth of competitive writing which lead to the development of Chinese literature.

Works cited

Watson, Burton. Chinese Lyricism .NY: OUP, 1971.

Watson, Burton. Early Chinese Literature.NY:Columbia,1962.