35. Living by a Stream

A poem by Liu Zongyuan, translated by Hyun Woo Kim

For long, I was tied up with a Zan and Zu;

Fortunately, I am banished to this southern land of barbarians.

Leisurely, I rely on a farming neighbor;

I am like a guest to the mountains and forests by chance.

Early in the morning, I plow the field, and dewy grass flutters;

At night, rowing sounds ring to the rocks of the stream.

Hither and thither, I come across no one;

I sing for long, that the sky of Chu is jade-blue.

「 溪居」

久爲簪組累

幸此南夷謫

閑依農圃鄰

偶似山林客

曉耕翻露草

夜榜響溪石

來往不逢人

長歌楚天碧

From Hyun Woo:

When I think of Liu Zongyuan, I think of him more as an essayist than a poet. He does have very good poems, but his prose is simply excellent. It’s not just my personal opinion. Since the Ming dynasty, Liu Zongyuan has been regarded as one of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song, whose essays are viewed as a classic model of Classical Chinese prose.

Liu Zongyuan wrote a collection of poems called Eight Foolish Poems and a foreword to it. To our dismay, the eight poems are lost, but the foreword remains, which is in itself a great short essay. Since today’s poem was written a bit before he worked on Eight Foolish Poems and the foreword to it does mention a stream which he named Foolish Stream, we can have a rather good understanding of what he had in mind then.

A few years before, Liu Zongyuan had been demoted to a post in the South after taking part in a reform in the capital. Zan is a pin used to fix headdresses worn in the court, and Zu refers to the string for seals. He would have needed them back in the capital, but now he says he was “tied up” by them before. He even goes on to say that he was “fortunately” banished. In the following lines, Liu Zongyuan describes a seemingly jolly country life.

Does he really mean it, though? In his aforementioned essay, Liu Zongyuan wrote that he "went against the reason and muddled the affairs. Thus, [even] those who are foolish are not like me.” In other words, he is even worse than fools. His essay tells a story of regret, frustration, and self-reproach.

I suspect that Liu Zongyuan intentionally hid his frustration in today’s poem, but just enough so that some people will still be able to notice what is hidden. Chu is often used to refer to the southern region of China, and it comes from a kingdom that existed until 223 BC. There was a man called Xiang Yu, a descendant of the Chu aristocracy, who revolted against Qin, a kingdom that had destroyed Chu to become the first dynasty to unify China and claim the title of an empire. Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, another rebellion leader, managed to bring Qin to the ground. Now it was time to decide who would become the next emperor of China.

In the end, Xiang Yu lost. He and his soldiers were surrounded by Liu Bang’s army but did not give up the fight. It was then Liu Bang ordered his men to sing the songs of Chu. Hearing the Chu songs, Xiang Yu concluded that Liu Bang won over the Chu people. He cried that although his force was enough to uproot a mountain and his spirit was enough to cover the whole world, the times had turned unfavorable to him. Then he charged into Liu Bang’s cavalry, managing to kill hundreds of them before he killed himself, according to the record.

Now consider this: on the surface level, Liu Zongyuan seems to be just singing about the beautiful jade-blue sky in the South. However, the Chu song, within the context of Chinese culture and history, often refers to a hero whose only flaw is that the goddess of fortune is against him. I believe this was Liu Zongyuan’s true intention. He is a tragic hero, even if no one acknowledges it.

If you enjoyed my work, you can buy me a cup of tea. I am not a coffee person, by the way.