Runnel Zhang | Bibliotheca Runnel

The Inheritance and Legacy of the Chuci

— A Literary Transition that Has Been Overlooked

Opening Remarks

Good morning, esteemed teachers and fellow students.

The title of my presentation today is "The Inheritance and Legacy of the Chuci." When we discuss the origins of Chinese literature, the Shijing (《诗经》) and the Chuci (《楚辞》) are often paired together as "Shi Sao" (诗骚), regarded as the two great paradigms of Chinese realist and romanticist literature respectively. However, within traditional literary historical narratives, the evolution from the Shijing to the Han fu (汉赋) is often depicted as a relatively singular path. Today, I wish to use this platform to re-examine the position of the Chuci within this context. The question we must ask is not only: from where did the Chuci come, and where did it go? More importantly, we must ask: was it truly an "isolated island" in literary history, as some scholars have suggested?

Part One: Starting from Fu Sinian's Perspective — A Challenge Concerning the "Lineage of Literature"

First, let us turn our attention to a giant in modern academic history, Mr. Fu Sinian (傅斯年).

In his Lecture Notes on the Shijing (《诗经讲义稿》), Mr. Fu Sinian put forward a rather incisive viewpoint. He broadly argued that the literary form and style of the Shijing had already ceased to exist by the Spring and Autumn period. Consequently, those later literary forms named "feng" (风), such as the Warring States period's "Qi remonstrance" (齐讽, Qi feng), were actually new creations. He further argued that if we compare the Han fu with the Chuci, they are fundamentally different categories; even the fu of Song Yu (宋玉), although sharing some vocabulary, has a completely different literary form.

Mr. Fu ultimately delineated a clear lineage: the Shijing gave rise to the remonstrance literature of the Qi state (齐讽, Qi feng), and this Qi remonstrance, in turn, gave rise to the Han fu. Within this clearly defined lineage, the Chuci is excluded; it appears as an "other," an anomaly outside the mainstream literary tradition, seemingly "completely unrelated" to the later Han fu.

However, in the face of this highly challenging viewpoint, I wish to propose a different interpretation today: what Mr. Fu said is not without merit, but he only described one of the lineages. The development of literary history is never unilinear; it is a complex network. If we shift our perspective — considering the interaction between literary forms, the fusion of regional cultures, and the reception of later literary styles — we will find that the Chuci precisely constitutes an indispensable bridge between the Shijing and the Han fu.

Part Two: The Inherited Relationship Between the Chuci and the Shijing — A Metaphor of the "Legitimate Son" and the "Concubine's Son"

So, is there truly a connection between the Chuci and the Shijing? My answer is: not only is there a connection, but it is a profound one. We can examine this from two levels.

1. The Chuci was also Influenced by "Qi Remonstrance"

Mr. Fu Sinian emphasized the status of "Qi remonstrance" (齐讽, Qi feng) as the legitimate successor to the "Airs" (风, feng) section of the Shijing. I completely agree with this point. However, this cannot serve as evidence that the Chuci is unrelated to the Shijing. We can use a metaphor: if Qi remonstrance is the "legitimate son" (嫡子, dizi) of the Shijing, then the Chuci is more like the "concubine's son" (庶子, shuzi) living in a distant land. Because it originated in the south, its birth and environment differed, but it nonetheless carries the bloodline of the Shijing; it is merely overshadowed by the brilliance of the "legitimate son," Qi remonstrance.

More importantly, this "concubine's son" was not ignorant of the "legitimate son." History provides us with crucial evidence: Qu Yuan (屈原) served as an envoy to the Qi state on multiple occasions. During that time, the Jixia Academy (稷下学宫, Jixia Xuegong) was at its peak, functioning as the intellectual center of the realm, where diverse schools of thought — Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, and others — converged and contended. As a politician and poet with acute cultural sensitivity, Qu Yuan, finding himself in Qi and facing the eloquent debates and remonstrances of the Jixia masters, could not have remained unaffected.

We can perceive traces of this influence in his work "Sad Thoughts in Nine Declarations" (Jiuzhang · Chousi, 《九章·抽思》). This piece features a unique structural element — sections marked by "Shao ge yue" (少歌曰, The minor chorus sings) and "Chang yue" (倡曰, The lead singer sings):

"Shao ge" (少歌) likely represents a summarizing choral interlude,
"Chang" (倡) introduces a new section led by the main singer.

This complex musical structure is rare in the more ancient Shijing. It likely absorbed elements from the court or folk music of Qi, or perhaps even reflected the layered, repetitive argumentation style of the Jixia scholars. Qu Yuan internalized this form, using it to express the entangled, lingering melancholy of his "drawn-out thoughts" (chousi, 抽思).

2. The Chuci has a Direct Connection with the Shijing

Beyond indirect influence, the Chuci possesses a more direct, blood-related connection with the Shijing. Ancient scholars long ago perceived this. The Western Han scholar Liu Xiang (刘向), in evaluating the "Li Sao" (《离骚》), famously stated: "The 'Airs' (国风, Guofeng) are amorous but not excessive; the 'Lesser Odes' (小雅, Xiaoya) are plaintive but not disorderly. As for the 'Li Sao,' it may be said to combine both qualities." This comment highlights the "Li Sao"'s inheritance of the emotional register of the Shijing.

Modern scholar Mr. Jiang Liangfu (姜亮夫), through meticulous comparative textual analysis, reveals for us the inherited relationship in terms of phrasing and sentence structure:

Imitation of Syntactic Structure: The line from "Li Sao," "I mount the winged steed and gallop forth, / Come, I will lead you on the way!" (乘骐骥以驰骋兮，来吾道夫先路), closely resembles the line from the "Odes of Wei · Bo Zhou" (《诗·卫风·伯兮》) in the Shijing: "Bo bears his halberd, / As champion of the king." (伯也执殳，为王前驱). In both, the speaker takes an active stance, wishing to charge ahead for their sovereign or ideal.
Imagery for Expressing Emotion: Even more subtle is the externalization of emotion. Mr. Jiang Liangfu specifically points out lines in the Chuci such as "My servant weeps, my horse whinnies with longing" (仆夫悲余马怀兮). Using the grief of the "servant" and the "horse" to reflect and embody the poet's own sorrow is precisely a technique found in the Shijing. Compare this with the line from the "Odes of Zhou Nan · Juan Er" (《诗·周南·卷耳》) in the Shijing: "I climb that high ridge, / My horses are dark and galled." (陟彼高冈，我马玄黄). The poet, longing for an absent husband, does not speak of his own exhaustion, but says the horses are sick and dark. This technique of projecting subjective emotion onto objective phenomena is one of the most valuable gifts the Shijing bestowed upon the Chuci.
Adoption of Allusions and Motifs: Another example is the line from "Heavenly Questions" (《天问》, Tianwen): "The dark swallow brought a message, / How did the maiden become happy?" (玄鸟致贻，女何喜). This directly draws on the foundational myth from the "Odes of Shang · Xuan Niao" (《诗·商颂·玄鸟》) in the Shijing: "Heaven decreed the dark swallow / Descended and gave birth to Shang." (天命玄鸟，降而生商). This demonstrates that when Qu Yuan questioned the cosmos and history, the Shijing was a significant part of his intellectual and inspirational repository.

Even more crucial is the inheritance at the core poetic level of analogy and affective imagery (比兴, bixing).

The Eastern Han scholar Wang Yi (王逸), in his Commentary on the Verses of Chu (《楚辞章句》, Chuci Zhangju), clearly stated: "The prose of 'Li Sao' relies on the Shijing to evoke analogies, citing categories for metaphorical instruction." (《离骚》之文，依《诗》取兴，引类譬谕). He lists a systematic set of correspondences:

Virtuous birds and fragrant grasses correspond to loyalty and integrity;
Vile creatures and foul things are metaphors for slanderers and sycophants;
Divine beauties and fair ones are used as analogies for the sovereign;
Goddesses like Fufei and Yi Nü are metaphors for worthy ministers;
Qilong and Luanfeng (dragons and phoenixes) symbolize noble gentlemen;
Drifting clouds and passing rainbows represent petty, villainous men.

This constitutes a fully systematized symbolic system of analogy.

However, Qu Yuan's greatness lies not only in inheritance, but also in transcendence. The metaphors in the Shijing are mostly straightforward similes (明喻, mingyu), such as "Her hands like soft reeds, her skin like congealed lard," which are relatively direct. But the metaphors in Qu Yuan's poetry are often implicit metaphors (暗喻, anyu), or even a more complex form we might call "correlative metaphor" (对喻, duiyu). He weaves the entire political struggle and the quest for moral perfection into a world woven from fragrant plants and beautiful women. This is not merely an upgrade in rhetorical technique; it is a leap in the mode of thinking. For the first time, Qu Yuan developed the scattered, everyday analogies of the Shijing into a comprehensive, self-conscious symbolic system, using a unified set of images to carry his entire political ideal and the radiance of his character. This is something the Shijing lacks, and it stands as one of Qu Yuan's greatest contributions to later literature.

Part Three: The Sao-style Fu's Reception of the Chuci — The Lingering Resonance of the Chu Voice

Having discussed the "inheritance from above," let us now examine the "legacy for below." The influence of the Chuci did not fade with Qu Yuan's drowning; it found a new vessel in the Han dynasty — the Sao-style fu (骚体赋, Saoti fu).

Compared to the well-known, ornate, and expansive prose fu (散体大赋, santi dafu) like Sima Xiangru's "Rhapsodies on Zixu and Shanglin," the Sao-style fu is certainly more obscure. Yet, it is precisely the most direct inheritor of the Chuci.

1. Reception in Grammar and Syntax

While perusing the Complete Prose of the Han Dynasty (《全汉文》, Quan Hanwen), I once noticed a category of works that read very much like the Chuci. Upon investigation, they are precisely the "Sao-style fu." These fu extensively imitate the distinctive sentence structure of "Li Sao," particularly the "seven-character upper line, six-character lower line" pattern (上七下六句式, shang qi xia liu jushi), connected by the exclamatory particle "xi" (兮).

Let us briefly analyze a few Sao-style fu included in Wang Yi's Commentary on the Verses of Chu:

Western Han · Yang Xiong's "Rhapsody on the Great Mystery" (《太玄赋》, Tai Xuan Fu) : "Observing the gains and losses in the Great Change (周易, Zhouyi), / Surveying the leaning and lying of Laozi's Way (老子, Laozi). / Examining the shared gate of joy and sorrow, / Perceiving the common territory of fortune and misfortune." (观大易之捐益兮，览老氏之倚伏。省忧喜之共门兮，察吉凶之同域。) The neat parallelism and the rhythmic "xi" pattern are a complete replica of the "Li Sao"'s cadence.
Western Han · Dong Zhongshu's "Rhapsody on the Scholar's Encounter with Injustice" (《士不遇赋》, Shi Buyu Fu) : "Manifesting common humanity and great possession, / Clarifying modesty's light and diligently unfolding. / Following obscurity in silent contentment, / How could I display brilliance and seek prominence?" (昭同人而大有兮，明谦光而务展。遵幽昧于默足兮，岂舒采而蕲显。) Even Dong Zhongshu, the great master of Confucianism, instinctively adopted Qu Yuan's voice when expressing his feelings of encountering injustice (buyu, 不遇).

2. Reception in Subject Matter and Lyrical Expression

However, the Sao-style fu's reception of the Chuci was far more than formal. More importantly, it inherited the core spiritual theme of the Chuci — the pathos of the "scholar encountering injustice" (士不遇, shi buyu).

Whether in Jia Yi's "Lament for Qu Yuan" (《吊屈原赋》, Diao Qu Yuan Fu) or Dong Zhongshu's "Rhapsody on the Scholar's Encounter with Injustice," we see the shadow of Qu Yuan. They all lament the loneliness, helplessness, and steadfastness of worthy men in a turbid world.

But here, a profound divergence in thought emerges. Faced with Qu Yuan's dilemma, Han dynasty literati made a different choice.

Qu Yuan's Choice: It was the Confucian-like resolve of knowing the impossible yet still striving (知其不可为而为之, zhi qi bu ke wei er wei zhi). He would rather "follow the long current to my burial in the belly of the river fish" than "let the whiteness of my purity be sullied by the world's grime." This represents an extreme and magnificent spirit of self-sacrifice.
The Choice of Han Literati: In Jia Yi's "Lament for Qu Yuan," we read advice suggesting Qu Yuan should have "withdrawn and gone far away" and "kept himself hidden from the turbid world." Jia Yi implies that rather than drowning himself, Qu Yuan should have followed the example of the phoenix praised by Confucius, perceiving the moment and distancing himself from chaos. Behind this lies the profound influence of early Han Huang-Lao Daoist thought.

This reveals a fascinating phenomenon: the Sao-style fu imitates Qu Yuan in form and identifies with him emotionally. However, in the ultimate intellectual resolution, it demonstrates the mutual exclusion and complementarity (互黜互补, huchu hubu) of Confucian and Daoist thought. Qu Yuan represents the extreme of Confucian idealism, while Han dynasty literati, in the face of harsh reality, increasingly sought spiritual relief from Daoism. This encapsulates the evolution of the intellectual mindset from the Warring States period to the Han dynasty.

Conclusion

Finally, allow me to summarize today's presentation.

When we clear away the mists of the singular literary lineage delineated by Mr. Fu Sinian, we discover that the Chuci was far from an isolated entity.

Looking backward: Through its borrowing of phrases and development of analogical imagery, it profoundly inherited the bloodline of the Shijing. Simultaneously, within the academic atmosphere of the Jixia Academy, it absorbed influences from the Qi tradition of remonstrance literature.
Looking forward: Its syntax, lyrical tradition, and theme of the "scholar encountering injustice" were comprehensively adopted by the Han dynasty Sao-style fu. Furthermore, this adoption occurred within a new intellectual context, evolving into new spiritual connotations.

Therefore, the Chuci not only inherited the teachings of the Shijing and gave rise to the fu genre, but also, with its unique regional characteristics — "writing in the Chu language, voicing the Chu sound, recording Chu places, naming Chu things" (书楚语，作楚声，纪楚地，名楚物) — infused Chinese literature with an unprecedented spirit of romanticism and a powerful, individualized lyrical voice.

Mr. Fu Sinian's assertion regarding the lineage — "the words from Song Yu, the form from Qi remonstrance" — certainly possesses its own insights. However, the symphony of literary history is far more complex than the solo performance of a single instrument. And the Chuci represents one of the most brilliant movements within that symphony; it is both an ancient echo and a herald of the future.

This concludes my presentation. Thank you all.