'In particular, the lines 窈窕淑女 "fair and good lady", 求之不得 "seeking and not getting", and 寤寐求之 "seeking day and night" have become well-known four-character classical idioms or set phrases (chengyu).'
So are these quite literal translations of these phrases?
'This usage of natural images in juxtaposition to human situations was given the term xing (興) by early commentators, and was regarded as one of the three rhetorical devices of the Shi Jing. It is not easy to find an equivalent in Western literature, but xing can be explained as a method of creating the mood, atmosphere or context within which the remainder of the poem takes place, and which exerts influence over the possible meanings of the rest of the poem’s action. It has variously been translated as "stimulus", "stimulates", and "motif".[3] Although there is no historical evidence to prove that the composer of "Guan ju" were intentionally employing such a rhetorical device, there have been a myriad of interpretations as to the purpose of the xing.'
That seems p pertinent to keep in mind.
'One century after the Maos, Zheng Xuan introduced an interesting twist to the Mao interpretation. In his eyes the "pure young lady" refers not to the queen herself, but rather to palace ladies whom their mistress, in her virtuous and jealousy-free seclusion, is seeking as additional mates for the king. Thus it is she who tosses and turns until finding them.[11]' This poly reading is just here for excaliburedpan
Okay, so it seems broadly that *probably* these poems were orally composed in topolects as folk songs, were collected by officials/rewritten in courtly Chinese, were for many centuries read as heavily political allegories under a series of four interpretive schools (which doesn't really reflect their original composition, but was nonetheless an important, meaningful conceit for the centuries when it was active), and then (per the over-arching Classic of Poetry article), about 1200 CE this started being seriously questioned. Since then, and in 20th c crit, this is the kind of thought that's salient:
"Arthur Waley agreed with Granet that traditional readings distort the "true nature" of the poems, but he did point out that it was facilitated by the multivalent meanings of words and social practices. For Waley, the Shi Jing was a diverse collection which does not necessarily display a unified function, and, as such, cannot be approached merely with one reading strategy.
C. H. Wang has been vehemently critical of what he calls "a manifest distortion of this classic anthology" and argues that the earliest definition of poetry in Chinese tradition (in Shang Shu) links it with song rather than ethics.[16] He considers that the Shi Jing poems have their roots in oral transmission rather than literary composition, and directed contested the claims of the Mao school that the poems are the product of specific authors referring to specific events in their lives."
***
Poem Proper:
The opening with the (mating?) call does set everything up well.
'To the left, to the right, borne about by the current. [...] On his side, on his back, he turned, and back again.' That's a nice parallel, I wonder if it's an example of xing?
'Here long, there short, is the duckweed ; On the left, on the right, we gather it. The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady : –' Is there something going on, I wonder, with these commingled vignettes of harvesting, selection, preparation, service and the Qualities of the lady? Is she ripe, is she suitable, is she pressed into the rhythms of fertility/agricultural cycle/sustenance?
'With lutes, small and large, let us give her friendly welcome.' This is just a dick joke.
Re: Guan Ju
'In particular, the lines 窈窕淑女 "fair and good lady", 求之不得 "seeking and not getting", and 寤寐求之 "seeking day and night" have become well-known four-character classical idioms or set phrases (chengyu).'
So are these quite literal translations of these phrases?
'This usage of natural images in juxtaposition to human situations was given the term xing (興) by early commentators, and was regarded as one of the three rhetorical devices of the Shi Jing. It is not easy to find an equivalent in Western literature, but xing can be explained as a method of creating the mood, atmosphere or context within which the remainder of the poem takes place, and which exerts influence over the possible meanings of the rest of the poem’s action. It has variously been translated as "stimulus", "stimulates", and "motif".[3] Although there is no historical evidence to prove that the composer of "Guan ju" were intentionally employing such a rhetorical device, there have been a myriad of interpretations as to the purpose of the xing.'
That seems p pertinent to keep in mind.
'One century after the Maos, Zheng Xuan introduced an interesting twist to the Mao interpretation. In his eyes the "pure young lady" refers not to the queen herself, but rather to palace ladies whom their mistress, in her virtuous and jealousy-free seclusion, is seeking as additional mates for the king. Thus it is she who tosses and turns until finding them.[11]' This poly reading is just here for
Okay, so it seems broadly that *probably* these poems were orally composed in topolects as folk songs, were collected by officials/rewritten in courtly Chinese, were for many centuries read as heavily political allegories under a series of four interpretive schools (which doesn't really reflect their original composition, but was nonetheless an important, meaningful conceit for the centuries when it was active), and then (per the over-arching Classic of Poetry article), about 1200 CE this started being seriously questioned. Since then, and in 20th c crit, this is the kind of thought that's salient:
"Arthur Waley agreed with Granet that traditional readings distort the "true nature" of the poems, but he did point out that it was facilitated by the multivalent meanings of words and social practices. For Waley, the Shi Jing was a diverse collection which does not necessarily display a unified function, and, as such, cannot be approached merely with one reading strategy.
C. H. Wang has been vehemently critical of what he calls "a manifest distortion of this classic anthology" and argues that the earliest definition of poetry in Chinese tradition (in Shang Shu) links it with song rather than ethics.[16] He considers that the Shi Jing poems have their roots in oral transmission rather than literary composition, and directed contested the claims of the Mao school that the poems are the product of specific authors referring to specific events in their lives."
***
Poem Proper:
The opening with the (mating?) call does set everything up well.
'To the left, to the right, borne about by the current.
[...]
On his side, on his back, he turned, and back again.' That's a nice parallel, I wonder if it's an example of xing?
'Here long, there short, is the duckweed ;
On the left, on the right, we gather it.
The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady : –'
Is there something going on, I wonder, with these commingled vignettes of harvesting, selection, preparation, service and the Qualities of the lady? Is she ripe, is she suitable, is she pressed into the rhythms of fertility/agricultural cycle/sustenance?
'With lutes, small and large, let us give her friendly welcome.'
This is just a dick joke.