阮籍の飛翔

Abstract

In the Yung-huai-shih 詠懷詩 poems of Juan Chi 阮籍 (210-263 A. D.), two birds, one large, one small, frequently appear in a contrasted role. The large bird, residing in vast space and time, has transcended the ordinary, while the small one, scarcely able to fly, is quite a common bird, existing within limited bounds. In some poems, Juan Chi would aspire to live as the great bird, yet in others, he seeks to make the life of the small bird sufficient in itself. This kind of comparison of large and small birds is not new with Juan Chi. Similar juxtapositions are to be found both in the Chuangtzu 莊子 and in the Ch'u-tz'u 楚辭. But in these earlier works, the large bird clearly occupies a dominant position, while the small one merely serves as a contrast, magnifying the large bird all the more. Juan Chi and the people of the Wei-Chin period, on the other hand, did not value the large bird exclusively. At times they found worth in the small one. In the work of Hsi K'ang 嵇康 (223-262 A. D.) as well, bird metaphors are quite frequent, but these are tightly linked to the poet's longing for transcendance. His birds, frequently posited against the net which would entrap and shackle them, become clearly symbolic of the abstract conception, freedom. In Juan Chi's case, the net does not figure conspicuously, rather it is the compassion of the two birds, the one flying through the vast skies, the other scarcely able to, which draws our attention. Thus, instead of the question of what the birds may symbolize, the very notion of flight itself becomes crucial. In the poems, immortals (hsien-jen) also fiy, but, it seems, in a style different from the birds. They are said to "ride the wind" (乘風) and "yield to the clouds" (從雲), achieving a kind of weightless ascent, whereas the birds, "pressing against wind and cloud" (凌風, 凌雲), surmount them, ascending straight up through the skies. Even the trees in the poems possess features similar to the birds. Contrasted as great and small, extraordinary and common, they also are said to "press against the winds" (凌風樹). Juan Chi implicitly discerns among the trees, then, the ability to surmount the wind and rise straight up. Though not actualized as is the birds' fiight, he imagines a latent power of ascent residing in the trees. Prior studies have concentrated on seeking the emotions of the poet. Here, the example of the birds is offered, noting the poems' effect on the reader. The question of the birds' meaning is not considered. Although the emotional tone of the poems is one of sadness, still, in the image of the large bird's flight, filled with the strain of its will to rise straight up, its vast reserves of energy set in motion, we feel the great power of a living force.