In early 1942, a poetry exchange about a painting on the ancient assassin Jing Ke took place amon... more In early 1942, a poetry exchange about a painting on the ancient assassin Jing Ke took place among top collaborators at Nanjing. Chinese cultural memory of Jing Ke, long contested, shifted in the twentieth century, making him into a Republican and national hero, eventually symbolizing resistance against Japan. Thus, these poems, especially considering their Japanese readership, show that although cultural memory can be evoked as a legitimizing discourse to serve political needs, its plasticity gives it versatility. Wang’s own iconography as assassin, central in constructing the legitimacy of his regime, was a floating symbol that assumed varying meanings in different contexts. It simultaneously justified collaboration, assuming that Japan’s pan-Asianism would usher in a new unified Qin empire, and also resistance, assuming Wang Jingwei’s perceived readiness to make a personal sacrifice to save the nation.
生活在北平淪陷的「閾限空間」下的周作人,選擇了用「打油詩」這一自置「正體」傳統以外的文體進行自我表述。以隱晦著稱的〈苦茶庵打油詩〉,因此具有了相當的閾限文本性質,承載了周作人在新舊、中日、個人與... more 生活在北平淪陷的「閾限空間」下的周作人,選擇了用「打油詩」這一自置「正體」傳統以外的文體進行自我表述。以隱晦著稱的〈苦茶庵打油詩〉,因此具有了相當的閾限文本性質,承載了周作人在新舊、中日、個人與民族國家之間的自我反思。本文試圖探索的便是在抵抗與合作之間廣闊的道德灰色地帶,以及周作人在淪陷的歷史情境下自處、自適、自圓的話語邏輯:淪陷下的日常和生存是否合法?除了潔身自好的出世選項之外,積極入世的儒家精神、甚至救世的佛家精神是否還是士人合法的道德選項?我們是否可能、或者應當憑藉想像中未來對當代的政治和道德正統的評價,作為行為指南?最後,通過對周作人戰後繫獄期間詩作裡「飼虎」與「食人」意象的解讀,我提出周作人始終堅持的是以個人主義的立場對民族國家正統和歷史正義敘事的反抗,儘管在淪陷之後,他的個人主義不能不淪為第二義的、從主導性二元對立敘事的逃逸。他的「半新不舊」的詩歌作品因此始終是一種閾限文本,在分明的世界之間,摸索著意義的裂隙。
Nanjing, a city that served as the capital of multiple Chinese dynasties, mostly southern dynasti... more Nanjing, a city that served as the capital of multiple Chinese dynasties, mostly southern dynasties during eras of political division, has experienced repeated cycles of prosperity and conquest. Stephen Owen has explored how its poetic history has transposed the actual reality of the city, turning it into a “site of memory.” Here, however, I examine the close interaction between poems about Nanjing and contemporary historical events during the Republican period. Instead of being generic variations on the theme “meditating on the past,” such poems chronicled actual horror and glory. Curiously, however, few such poems were written after the 1937 Massacre. I argue that it was perhaps because the narrative of an impersonal force of history, the “rise and fall,” risked of reducing the immediate and unique historical event into déjà vu. In this sense (and to paraphrase Adorno), “meditating on the past” after the Rape of Nanjing was barbaric.
The weight of the memory of Nanjing was particularly reflected in the classical-style poems by poets in Wang Jingwei’s collaborationist regime, established under the Japanese patronage in Nanjing in 1940. The fact that most leading members in this regime were classically-trained poets (and resisting the literary vernacular dominant in their time) was itself notable, bespeaking of a peculiar eco-system in which resistance, accommodation, and collaboration all sought justifications under the umbrella of China’s cultural traditions. For a regime struggling with its own legitimacy, “meditating on the past” would suggest that it, too, would suffer from the fate of conquest. Their reactions to the burden of literary tradition ranged from self-defense to wishful denial, but most commonly a pregnant aphasia. The ways in which Wang and his followers treated this topic become therefore a case study on the complex of cultural memory, political legitimacy, and literary representation in occupied China.
This paper provides a 'state of the field' view of what the authors refer to as the 'new cultural... more This paper provides a 'state of the field' view of what the authors refer to as the 'new cultural history' of Japanese-occupied China. It explores how this small but growing field is beginning to provide new perspectives on questions of 'collaboration' and 'resis-tance' that have dominated many recent studies of wartime China. In addition, the authors argue that more research needs to focus on elite forms of Chinese cultural expression under occupation (a topic which has hitherto eluded serious academic scrutiny). This introduction also introduces the four key papers which make up this special issue.
This article examines the construction of lyric identities by Li Xuanti, a classical-style poet, ... more This article examines the construction of lyric identities by Li Xuanti, a classical-style poet, cultural celebrity and prominent civil servant in collaborationist regimes based in Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It argues that Li used his poetry to explore the confusion, ambivalence and sense of cultural pride while living with the occupiers. Despite his collaboration, a frequent identity that appears in Li's poetry is that of a yimin (loyalist), who has retreated to the inner world of reclu-sion. With the progress of the war, however, another identity eventually emerged in Li's poetry, namely that of a patriot. Historical allusions in Li's poems thus acquire double-entendre, expressing his ambivalent loyalty. Li was also at the social centre of a group of like-minded collaborators and accommodators in Nanjing, bound by their common practice of classical-style poetry and arts. Their community thus becomes a special case of study for the sociology of survival under the Japanese occupation.
In this paper, we examine the various approaches toward literary classicism among contemporary Ch... more In this paper, we examine the various approaches toward literary classicism among contemporary Chinese poets. If " poetry of the establishment " features ideological conservatism and aesthetic populism, then its opposite is the online scene of classicist poetry which represents an innovative continuation of the poetic tradition. Here such innovations are discussed in terms of theme, language, and form. Thematic innovations include further that of ideology, worldview, and urbanity. In particular, we argue that a major distinction between contemporary online classicist poets and their premodern predecessors is in their cultural identity. Unlike a traditional literatus who is a poet, scholar, and bureaucrat, contemporary poets often endure economic, intellectual, or political marginalization; or at the very least, writing in the marginalized genre of classicist poetry is a skill that can no longer be readily translated into career success. This new type of poetic identity, in addition to their modern education, has given rise to fresh interpretations of our living world unseen in premodern poetry. Despite their broad spectrum of intellectual persuasions and aesthetic preferences, most of the poets have demonstrated an audacity to experiment, which, coupled with full versatility and virtuosity in the classical poetry tradition, creates outstanding poems. The highly original works of a few leading classicist poets like Lizilizilizi (Zeng Shaoli), Xutang (Duan Xiaosong), and Dugu Shiroushou (Zeng Zheng) will be examined in depth.
This and the next special issues of Frontiers of Literary Studies in China (FLSC) are dedicated t... more This and the next special issues of Frontiers of Literary Studies in China (FLSC) are dedicated to exploring the diverse forms, functions, linguistic registers, and intellectual persuasions of modern Chinese classicist poetry. The terms " classicist poetry " and " lyric classicism " are defined in the December 2015 special issue of FLSC, " Back into Modernity. " As we have argued then, and are arguing now, " the authors' choice of classical literary language instead of modern vernacular for their versification was not necessarily due to the inertia of the tradition. It rather reflected a keenly felt need to construct a cultural/aesthetic identity in continuity with the tradition. Therefore, twentieth‐century poetry in the classical literary language, including experimental and semi‐classical contemporary verses and lyrics, may be regarded as a form of 'classicist poetry,' on a par with other styles and schools of modern poetry. "
Brill, July 2015
In Dialectics of Spontaneity, Zhiyi Yang examines Su Shi’s poetry on art and ... more Brill, July 2015
In Dialectics of Spontaneity, Zhiyi Yang examines Su Shi’s poetry on art and connoisseurship, his emulation of Tao Qian in exile poetry, and his inner alchemical practice. She argues that the concept of absolute spontaneity is defined negatively, and artistic and ethical spontaneity which can be actualized must be provisional and conditioned.
This book argues that Su Shi’s lyrical persona of a 'spontaneous genius' is a construction that serves various rhetorical and existential purposes. Making use of Su’s prolific works and referring to a broad scope of Western philosophy, this book not only enriches the literature on Su Shi, but further attempts to engages Chinese literature in a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary dialogue.
In early 1942, a poetry exchange about a painting on the ancient assassin Jing Ke took place amon... more In early 1942, a poetry exchange about a painting on the ancient assassin Jing Ke took place among top collaborators at Nanjing. Chinese cultural memory of Jing Ke, long contested, shifted in the twentieth century, making him into a Republican and national hero, eventually symbolizing resistance against Japan. Thus, these poems, especially considering their Japanese readership, show that although cultural memory can be evoked as a legitimizing discourse to serve political needs, its plasticity gives it versatility. Wang’s own iconography as assassin, central in constructing the legitimacy of his regime, was a floating symbol that assumed varying meanings in different contexts. It simultaneously justified collaboration, assuming that Japan’s pan-Asianism would usher in a new unified Qin empire, and also resistance, assuming Wang Jingwei’s perceived readiness to make a personal sacrifice to save the nation.
生活在北平淪陷的「閾限空間」下的周作人,選擇了用「打油詩」這一自置「正體」傳統以外的文體進行自我表述。以隱晦著稱的〈苦茶庵打油詩〉,因此具有了相當的閾限文本性質,承載了周作人在新舊、中日、個人與... more 生活在北平淪陷的「閾限空間」下的周作人,選擇了用「打油詩」這一自置「正體」傳統以外的文體進行自我表述。以隱晦著稱的〈苦茶庵打油詩〉,因此具有了相當的閾限文本性質,承載了周作人在新舊、中日、個人與民族國家之間的自我反思。本文試圖探索的便是在抵抗與合作之間廣闊的道德灰色地帶,以及周作人在淪陷的歷史情境下自處、自適、自圓的話語邏輯:淪陷下的日常和生存是否合法?除了潔身自好的出世選項之外,積極入世的儒家精神、甚至救世的佛家精神是否還是士人合法的道德選項?我們是否可能、或者應當憑藉想像中未來對當代的政治和道德正統的評價,作為行為指南?最後,通過對周作人戰後繫獄期間詩作裡「飼虎」與「食人」意象的解讀,我提出周作人始終堅持的是以個人主義的立場對民族國家正統和歷史正義敘事的反抗,儘管在淪陷之後,他的個人主義不能不淪為第二義的、從主導性二元對立敘事的逃逸。他的「半新不舊」的詩歌作品因此始終是一種閾限文本,在分明的世界之間,摸索著意義的裂隙。
Nanjing, a city that served as the capital of multiple Chinese dynasties, mostly southern dynasti... more Nanjing, a city that served as the capital of multiple Chinese dynasties, mostly southern dynasties during eras of political division, has experienced repeated cycles of prosperity and conquest. Stephen Owen has explored how its poetic history has transposed the actual reality of the city, turning it into a “site of memory.” Here, however, I examine the close interaction between poems about Nanjing and contemporary historical events during the Republican period. Instead of being generic variations on the theme “meditating on the past,” such poems chronicled actual horror and glory. Curiously, however, few such poems were written after the 1937 Massacre. I argue that it was perhaps because the narrative of an impersonal force of history, the “rise and fall,” risked of reducing the immediate and unique historical event into déjà vu. In this sense (and to paraphrase Adorno), “meditating on the past” after the Rape of Nanjing was barbaric.
The weight of the memory of Nanjing was particularly reflected in the classical-style poems by poets in Wang Jingwei’s collaborationist regime, established under the Japanese patronage in Nanjing in 1940. The fact that most leading members in this regime were classically-trained poets (and resisting the literary vernacular dominant in their time) was itself notable, bespeaking of a peculiar eco-system in which resistance, accommodation, and collaboration all sought justifications under the umbrella of China’s cultural traditions. For a regime struggling with its own legitimacy, “meditating on the past” would suggest that it, too, would suffer from the fate of conquest. Their reactions to the burden of literary tradition ranged from self-defense to wishful denial, but most commonly a pregnant aphasia. The ways in which Wang and his followers treated this topic become therefore a case study on the complex of cultural memory, political legitimacy, and literary representation in occupied China.
This paper provides a 'state of the field' view of what the authors refer to as the 'new cultural... more This paper provides a 'state of the field' view of what the authors refer to as the 'new cultural history' of Japanese-occupied China. It explores how this small but growing field is beginning to provide new perspectives on questions of 'collaboration' and 'resis-tance' that have dominated many recent studies of wartime China. In addition, the authors argue that more research needs to focus on elite forms of Chinese cultural expression under occupation (a topic which has hitherto eluded serious academic scrutiny). This introduction also introduces the four key papers which make up this special issue.
This article examines the construction of lyric identities by Li Xuanti, a classical-style poet, ... more This article examines the construction of lyric identities by Li Xuanti, a classical-style poet, cultural celebrity and prominent civil servant in collaborationist regimes based in Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It argues that Li used his poetry to explore the confusion, ambivalence and sense of cultural pride while living with the occupiers. Despite his collaboration, a frequent identity that appears in Li's poetry is that of a yimin (loyalist), who has retreated to the inner world of reclu-sion. With the progress of the war, however, another identity eventually emerged in Li's poetry, namely that of a patriot. Historical allusions in Li's poems thus acquire double-entendre, expressing his ambivalent loyalty. Li was also at the social centre of a group of like-minded collaborators and accommodators in Nanjing, bound by their common practice of classical-style poetry and arts. Their community thus becomes a special case of study for the sociology of survival under the Japanese occupation.
In this paper, we examine the various approaches toward literary classicism among contemporary Ch... more In this paper, we examine the various approaches toward literary classicism among contemporary Chinese poets. If " poetry of the establishment " features ideological conservatism and aesthetic populism, then its opposite is the online scene of classicist poetry which represents an innovative continuation of the poetic tradition. Here such innovations are discussed in terms of theme, language, and form. Thematic innovations include further that of ideology, worldview, and urbanity. In particular, we argue that a major distinction between contemporary online classicist poets and their premodern predecessors is in their cultural identity. Unlike a traditional literatus who is a poet, scholar, and bureaucrat, contemporary poets often endure economic, intellectual, or political marginalization; or at the very least, writing in the marginalized genre of classicist poetry is a skill that can no longer be readily translated into career success. This new type of poetic identity, in addition to their modern education, has given rise to fresh interpretations of our living world unseen in premodern poetry. Despite their broad spectrum of intellectual persuasions and aesthetic preferences, most of the poets have demonstrated an audacity to experiment, which, coupled with full versatility and virtuosity in the classical poetry tradition, creates outstanding poems. The highly original works of a few leading classicist poets like Lizilizilizi (Zeng Shaoli), Xutang (Duan Xiaosong), and Dugu Shiroushou (Zeng Zheng) will be examined in depth.
This and the next special issues of Frontiers of Literary Studies in China (FLSC) are dedicated t... more This and the next special issues of Frontiers of Literary Studies in China (FLSC) are dedicated to exploring the diverse forms, functions, linguistic registers, and intellectual persuasions of modern Chinese classicist poetry. The terms " classicist poetry " and " lyric classicism " are defined in the December 2015 special issue of FLSC, " Back into Modernity. " As we have argued then, and are arguing now, " the authors' choice of classical literary language instead of modern vernacular for their versification was not necessarily due to the inertia of the tradition. It rather reflected a keenly felt need to construct a cultural/aesthetic identity in continuity with the tradition. Therefore, twentieth‐century poetry in the classical literary language, including experimental and semi‐classical contemporary verses and lyrics, may be regarded as a form of 'classicist poetry,' on a par with other styles and schools of modern poetry. "
Brill, July 2015
In Dialectics of Spontaneity, Zhiyi Yang examines Su Shi’s poetry on art and ... more Brill, July 2015
In Dialectics of Spontaneity, Zhiyi Yang examines Su Shi’s poetry on art and connoisseurship, his emulation of Tao Qian in exile poetry, and his inner alchemical practice. She argues that the concept of absolute spontaneity is defined negatively, and artistic and ethical spontaneity which can be actualized must be provisional and conditioned.
This book argues that Su Shi’s lyrical persona of a 'spontaneous genius' is a construction that serves various rhetorical and existential purposes. Making use of Su’s prolific works and referring to a broad scope of Western philosophy, this book not only enriches the literature on Su Shi, but further attempts to engages Chinese literature in a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary dialogue.
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Papers by Zhiyi Yang
The weight of the memory of Nanjing was particularly reflected in the classical-style poems by poets in Wang Jingwei’s collaborationist regime, established under the Japanese patronage in Nanjing in 1940. The fact that most leading members in this regime were classically-trained poets (and resisting the literary vernacular dominant in their time) was itself notable, bespeaking of a peculiar eco-system in which resistance, accommodation, and collaboration all sought justifications under the umbrella of China’s cultural traditions. For a regime struggling with its own legitimacy, “meditating on the past” would suggest that it, too, would suffer from the fate of conquest. Their reactions to the burden of literary tradition ranged from self-defense to wishful denial, but most commonly a pregnant aphasia. The ways in which Wang and his followers treated this topic become therefore a case study on the complex of cultural memory, political legitimacy, and literary representation in occupied China.
Monograph by Zhiyi Yang
In Dialectics of Spontaneity, Zhiyi Yang examines Su Shi’s poetry on art and connoisseurship, his emulation of Tao Qian in exile poetry, and his inner alchemical practice. She argues that the concept of absolute spontaneity is defined negatively, and artistic and ethical spontaneity which can be actualized must be provisional and conditioned.
This book argues that Su Shi’s lyrical persona of a 'spontaneous genius' is a construction that serves various rhetorical and existential purposes. Making use of Su’s prolific works and referring to a broad scope of Western philosophy, this book not only enriches the literature on Su Shi, but further attempts to engages Chinese literature in a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary dialogue.
The weight of the memory of Nanjing was particularly reflected in the classical-style poems by poets in Wang Jingwei’s collaborationist regime, established under the Japanese patronage in Nanjing in 1940. The fact that most leading members in this regime were classically-trained poets (and resisting the literary vernacular dominant in their time) was itself notable, bespeaking of a peculiar eco-system in which resistance, accommodation, and collaboration all sought justifications under the umbrella of China’s cultural traditions. For a regime struggling with its own legitimacy, “meditating on the past” would suggest that it, too, would suffer from the fate of conquest. Their reactions to the burden of literary tradition ranged from self-defense to wishful denial, but most commonly a pregnant aphasia. The ways in which Wang and his followers treated this topic become therefore a case study on the complex of cultural memory, political legitimacy, and literary representation in occupied China.
In Dialectics of Spontaneity, Zhiyi Yang examines Su Shi’s poetry on art and connoisseurship, his emulation of Tao Qian in exile poetry, and his inner alchemical practice. She argues that the concept of absolute spontaneity is defined negatively, and artistic and ethical spontaneity which can be actualized must be provisional and conditioned.
This book argues that Su Shi’s lyrical persona of a 'spontaneous genius' is a construction that serves various rhetorical and existential purposes. Making use of Su’s prolific works and referring to a broad scope of Western philosophy, this book not only enriches the literature on Su Shi, but further attempts to engages Chinese literature in a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary dialogue.