左思と詠史詩

Abstract

In his eight poems entitled Yung-shih-shih 詠史詩 or "Songs of History, " the Western Chin poet Tso Ssu (ca. 300 A. D.) utilizes the figures of a number of histrical personages to convey his own ideas and emotions. The title "song of history" had been employed by several earlier poets, beginning with Pan Ku 班固, the celebrated historian of the Latter Han. Tso Ssu, while borrowing the form of these earlier works, was not content merely to indulge in reflections upon the past, but infused his historical allusions with a strong personal flavor. In the first and third poems, the poet boasts of his talents, both military and civil, and laments that the society of his day, dominated as it was by powerful aristocratic clans, allows no opportunity for a member of the poorer gentry like himself to advance. In the second and fourth poems, he speaks out in anger and hatred against the injustices of society, using bold and powerful images to convey his ideas. Nearly all the historical personages who appear in the poems are men who resemble Tso Ssu himself, men who came from the lower ranks of society and endured lives of poverty and hardship. Even Ching K'o 荊軻 in the sixth poem and Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju 司馬相如 in the seventh poem are cited as symbols of poverty and misfortune, though the former is most famous for his unsucessful attempt to assassinate the ruler of the Ch'in dynasty, and the latter as a renowned court poet. When Tso Ssu realized that his hopes and appeals were in vain, he could not help but fall into the despair reflected in the eighth poem. Abandoning his ambitions for advancement, the poet turned to Nature and sought fulfillment by merging himself with the processes of the natural world. This aspect of his thought is already hinted at in the fifth poem of the series, and is stated more explicitly in two separate poems entitled Chao-yin 招隱 or "Invitation to Hiding." Tso Ssu's "Songs of History" exercised a considerable influence upon his successors of the Six Dynasties period, particularly Yüan Hung 袁宏 T'ao Yüan-ming 陶淵明, Yen Yen-chih 顏延之, and Pao Chao 鮑照. They adopted his device of using historical figures to convey their own sorrows and criticisms of society. Among these, Pao Chao, perhaps because his own life resembled that of Tso Ssu, seems to have been most deeply influenced.