The History of fu poetry covers the beginnings of the Chinese literary genre of fu. The term fu describes literary works that have certain characteristics. English lacks an equivalent term (or form). Sometimes called "rhapsodies", sometimes "rhyme-prose", fu have qualities of both poetry and prose: both are obligatory. The fu form is a poetic treatment, wherein a topic (or topics) of interest, such as an exotic object, a profound feeling, or an encyclopedic subject, is described and rhapsodized upon, in exhaustive detail and from various angles. For a piece to be truly considered to be in the fu genre, it must follow the rules of this form, in terms of structure, meter, and so on.
The first known fu in the fully accepted, modern meaning of the term, dates from the later part of the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 BC), also known as the Warring States period (4th or 5th century BC – 221 BC), since the central regime of the Zhou dynasty had weakened and political power devolved to control by various regional hegemons. During the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), the fu style developed into one of the Classical Chinese poetry forms. The fu form continued to develop through the Tang dynasty (618–906 AD), where it found an exponent in the poet Li Bai, although he is less known in modern translation for this than for his shi and yuefu poetry. After this, new forms of poetry and literature continued to arise and spread, and the fu form became less prominent. During the Song dynasty (960 – 1278 AD) the ci form became dominant; after Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty in the 13th century, qu ruled as the poetry style of the times. More recently, the fu form has been the subject of historical study and critical interest.
Origins
Word fu The term "fu", when applied to Chinese literature, first appears in the Zhou dynasty (during the time period also known as the "Warring States"), where it meant "to present", as in poetic recitations.Kern (2010): 88. The term "fu", when not applied to Chinese literature, appears earlier than this with the meaning of "tribute", in the sense of a military contribution of goods or services.Wilhelm (1967 ), 399, note 17.
Ancestry The fu form derives from a long tradition of Chinese poetry and literature. There are also related genres, such as ch'i and chiu.Wilhelm, 398, note 3.
Classic of Poetry
The fu form was one of the three literary devices traditionally assigned to the songs of the Classic of Poetry (Shijing). Fu became the name of poetic expositions in which an author or composer created a comprehensive exposition and perform it as a rhapsody. Han dynasty historian Ban Gu in the "Monograph on Arts and Letters" defined fu as "to recite without singing"., cited in Kern (2010): 88.
Verses of Chu
Fu poetry is often viewed as a descendant of the Verses of Chu (also known as the Chu Ci or Ch'ü Tz'u) songs combined with the rhetorical expositions of the Intrigues of the Warring States. The Chu Ci is an anthology of Chinese poetry traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period (ended 221 BC), though about half of the poems seem to have been composed several centuries later, during the Han dynasty. Particularly, literary historians sometimes see an influence upon the fu from the "shaman-inspired catalogues of royal luxury" of the Verses of Cu pieces such as appear in "Zhao Hun" (or the somewhat similar "Da Zhao").Hawkes, 221.
First fu The first fu is unknowable, both due to the vicissitudes of historical survival of literature, or failure thereof; but, also, there is the further definitional question of identifying early fu-like pieces as full-on, actual fu, or as archetypical prototypes. There is scholarly debate regarding the origin of the fu, and the identity of the first surviving example.
A chapter of Xunzi contains a series of riddles which Idema and Haft cite theoretically as the earliest known fu,Idema and Haft (1997): 97. but they also cite the earliest definitively identified fu to be Jia Yi's "Fu on the Owl" (), composed about 170 BC.Idema and Haft (1997): 98.
Hellmut Wilhelm definitively identifies "the oldest fu in existence" to be by Xun QingWilhelm (1967 ), 316. (also known as Hsün Ch'ing, Xun Kuang, and Xunzi), the attributed author of the Xunzi, in a chapter of which this fu is contained. Wilhelm remarks that the scholarly identification of this fu as such has been impeded by limiting examination of the piece to the series of riddles, but ignoring the immediately succeeding poems which form the coda (luan) of the fu. Wilhelm points out that the Hanshu (also known as the Book of Han) specifically refers to this as a fu. The Hanshu even specifies what categorical type or genre of fu this is, calling it a "fu of frustration",Wilhelm (1967 ), 401, note 40. a genre (or subgenre) which later experienced significant development as the "Fu of the scholar's frustration", a name taken from the Xunzi fu.
Xun Qing ("Xun Zi") flourished ca. 312–230 BC, during the Warring States period, but the flourishing of the fu is identified with the Han dynasty, which was established in 206 BC, and with the hands of authors such as Jia Yi (200 BC – 169 BC) and Sima XiangruHawkes (2011 ), 193. (also known as Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju) (179–127 BC).
Han dynasty
Western Han Fu achieved its greatest prominence during the early Han dynasty. On his way into exile, and upon crossing the Xiang River, Jia Yi wrote a fu named "Lament for Qu Yuan". After three years of exile, at sunset, an owl flew into his room: the depressed Jia Yi considered this as an omen of his exile soon reaching a miserable end by means of his impending death, as signaled by this avian harbinger of doom, and he wrote another, subsequently renowned fu, "The Owl". After making these contributions to the Xiaoxiang poetry tradition, Jia Yi nevertheless lived to be recalled to court.Murck (2000): 15–16.
Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne in 141 BC, and his long reign is considered the golden age of "grand fu" (). Emperor Wu summoned famous fu writers to the imperial court in Chang'an, where many of them composed and presented fu to the court. The earliest grand fu of Emperor Wu's reign is "Seven Stimuli" (), by Mei Sheng (; d. 140 BC). In "Seven Stimuli", Mei Sheng acts as a Warring States-style traveling orator who tries to cure a Chu prince of an illness caused by overindulgence in sensual pleasures by pushing his senses to their limits with his fu descriptions.Kern (2010): 91.
During the golden age of fu in the 2nd century BC, many of the greatest fu composers, such as Sima Xiangru, were from the southwestern area of Shu (modern Sichuan Province).Kern (2010): 90. Sima Xiangru is the most famous fu writer in history. A native of Chengdu, he was traditionally said to have been summoned to the imperial court after Emperor Wu happened to personally read his "Fu of Sir Vacuous" (), though this is almost certainly a story added later. After arriving in the capital around 136 BC, Sima Xiangru expanded his "Fu of Sir Vacuous" into his magnum opus, "Fu on the Excursion Hunt of the Son of Heaven" (), generally considered the most famous fu of all. This work, often known as "Fu on the Imperial Park" (), after the second half of the poem, is a grand celebration of the Emperor's personal hunting park east of Chang'an,Kern (2010): 89. and is famed for its rich number of rare and difficult words and characters.
The grand fu of the Western Han dynasty were read and recited as celebrations of pure poetic delight, and were the first pieces of Chinese literature to fuse unrestrained entertainment and moral admonitions in single works.Kern (2010): 92–93. But after the reign of Emperor Wu, his court culture began to be criticized as having placed undue emphasis on the grandiose language in fu and thereby having missed opportunities to encourage moral restraint.Kern (2010): 93. The most prominent critic of "grand fu" was the other great fu writer of the Han dynasty, Yang Xiong. As a youth, Yang admired and imitated Sima Xiangru's fu, but he later came to disapprove of grand fu. Yang believed that the original purpose of fu was to "indirectly admonish" (), but that the extended rhetorical arguments and complex vocabulary used in grand fu caused their hearers and readers to marvel at their aesthetic beauty while missing their moral messages. Yang juxtaposed early Han dynasty fu with the fu-like expositions in the Classic of Poetry, saying that while those in the Poetry provided moral standards, the fu of the Han poets "led to excess". While known as one of the fu masters of the Han dynasty, Yang's fu are generally known for their focus on admonishing readers and listeners to uphold moral values.
Eastern Han Two of the most famous fu writers of the Eastern Han period were the great polymaths Zhang Heng and Cai Yong. Among Zhang's large corpus are many fu poems, the first written in the shorter style that became typical of post-Han fu.Knechtges (2010): 143. His earliest known fu is "Fu on the Hot Springs" (), which describes the hot springs at Mount Li that famously later became a favorite of Imperial Concubine Yang during the Tang dynasty. "Fu on the Two Metropolises" () is considered Zhang's masterpiece.Knechtges (2010): 144. Zhang spent ten years gathering material for the fu, which is a response to an earlier fu by Ban Gu that is a poetic comparison between the two capitals of the Han dynasty: Luoyang and Chang'an. Zhang's fu is highly satirical, mocking many aspects of the Western Han period, including Emperor Wu.Knechtges (2010): 144–145. The piece contains long passages describing life in the two capitals in great detail, including the entertainment areas.Knechtges (2010): 145.
Like Zhang, Cai Yong was a prolific writer in addition to his mathematical, astronomical, and musical interests.Knechtges (2010): 156. In AD 159, Cai was summoned to Chang'an to perform on the Chinese zither for the imperial court, but became ill shortly before arriving and returned to his home. He composed a poetic record of his journey in "Fu on Recounting a Journey" (), his best-known fu. In "Fu on Recounting a Journey", Cai cites examples of treacherous and dishonest rulers and officials from Chinese history, then criticizes the eunuchs of the capital for similar crimes.
A number of fu writers from the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries AD became considered great fu poets, and were noted for their descriptions of the chaos and destruction following the collapse of the Han dynasty. Wang Can, who lived as a refugee in Chu after Dong Zhuo was assassinated in AD 192, wrote a famous fu titled "Fu on Climbing the Tower" (), in which he describes climbing a tower near Jingzhou and gazing longingly in the direction of his home in Luoyang. Poets often used subjects of descriptive fu poems to symbolize themselves, as in "Fu on the Parrot" (), by Mi Heng, in which Mi uses a caged parrot as a metaphor for a scholar whose talents go unrecognized and whose inability to control his tongue results in his captivity. During the Three Kingdoms period, the court of the warlord Cao Cao and his sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi became a famous literary salon, and a number of fu poems from their court have survived. Cao Zhi's Fu on the Luo River Goddess () uses an ancient motif from the Verses of Chu in which the author's unfulfilled erotic desire for a goddess symbolically represents their frustration in being denied a high-ranking position at court or in government.
Six Dynasties