Chinese Literature T. Ang Dynasty

¶ … culture of humankind and its history, for as the saying goes, "the more we are different, the more we are the same." The Tang Dynasty in China occurred hundreds of years ago, yet some of the issues from that time remain as pertinent today as they did in the past. The poets of this period truly exemplify this continuation through time. When reading the works of the most well-known writers of this period in Asia, it is almost as if they were just written.

TO MY DAUGHTER

ON HER MARRIAGE INTO THE YANG FAMILY

My heart has been heavy all day long

Because you have so far to go.

The marriage of a girl, away from her parents,

Is the launching of a little boat on a great river.

..You were very young when your mother died,

Which made me the more tender of you.

Your elder sister has looked out for you,

And now you are both crying and cannot part.

This makes my grief the harder to bear;

Yet it is right that you should go.

..Having had from childhood no mother to guide you,

How will you honour your mother-in-law?

It's an excellent family; they will be kind to you,

They will forgive you your mistakes

Although ours has been so pure and poor

That you can take them no great dowry.

Be gentle and respectful, as a woman should be,

Careful of word and look, observant of good example.

..After this morning we separate,

There's no knowing for how long....

I always try to hide my feelings

They are suddenly too much for me,

When I turn and see my younger daughter

With the tears running down her cheek.

The five-character verse poem "To My Daughter On Her Marriage into the Yang Family" by author Wei Yingwu (737-731), for instance, is indicative of this relevance from one period of time to another. The girl in the poem may have left for her new marriage by boat instead of limosine, but the love that the father feels for his daughter as her wedding day approaches shares the same bittersweet emotions of any parent when the wedding couple walks down the isle and say their vows in 2004.

During this time in China's history, women were considered second-class citizens and male dominance was norm. A woman -- even a young girl such as that in the poem -- was required to obey her father before marriage, her husband after the betrothal and her sons in widowhood. She also was to follow the four virtues -- fidelity, physical charm, priority in speech and proficiency in needlework (Jianying).

Regardless of these differences between this ancient society and the more modern one today, it is difficult not to share in the father's grief as he gives his final advice to his loved one: "to be gentle and respectful," "careful of word and look," "observant of good example."

What is also so alike the male in present-day society is the fact that the narrator in the Chinese poem feels obligated to hide his feelings -- a demand placed on men in many cultures including that in America. After they reach a certain age, they can no longer show their feelings.

As many Tang poems, this one can be read as a simple narrative or with deeper symbolism. Often, a river stands for aging and the eventuality of death. At another level, then, this poem could be seen as the daughter going away forever. Not only is the father wishing her well on the present journey, but for all those to come. He may not see her again since "there's no knowing how long they will separate." This makes the poem even more poignant and moving. One can actually visualize the young girl's face covered with tears and the father's eyes welling up in sadness.

ENDLESS YEARNING II

The sun has set, and a mist is in the flowers;

And the moon grows very white and people sad and sleepless.

A Zhao harp has just been laid mute on its phoenix holder,

And a Shu lute begins to sound its mandarin-duck strings....

Since nobody can bear to you the burden of my song,

Would that it might follow the spring wind to Yanran Mountain.

I think of you far away, beyond the blue sky,

And my eyes that once were sparkling

Are now a well of tears.

..Oh, if ever you should doubt this aching of my heart,

Here in my bright mirror come back and look at me!"

The poem "Endless Yearning II" by Li Bai (701-762) also offers an example of the similarity between yesteryear's and today's human needs, desires and emotions. These folk-song-stylized verses could readily be a love song put to music by one of the present musical artists and understood by audiences of all ages.

On the first readthrough of the poem, it again appears as a straight narrative -- easy to remember and recite the words, although they were written so long ago. A moonlit river, the farewell, listening to the music of a harp, and a visual of a young girl among the flowers while her loved one's heart aches because of her leaving.

The author expresses the realities of life on earth with its pain and burdens. However, he also waits for his turn to be on the other side or paradise with his love, in the mountain wind and blue skies so far above. He hopes that his love can reach up to her, and his tears convince her of the aching of his heart.