呉梅村硏究(後篇)

Abstract

The relation between Wu Mei-ts'un and Ch'ien Chien-i 錢謙益 was quite delicate. Apparently they were intimate friends, and Wu was highly esteemed by Ch'ien. But if we examine Wu's articles concerning Chien's works, the actual purpose in these praises was more Chien's way of justifying himself than giving honor to Wu. Even though Wu had much respect for Ch'ien, his works revealed certain bitter feelings of jealousy and dislike for Ch'ien. Ssu-k'u-t'i-yao 四庫提要 regards Wu's poem as written in the style of the Ch'u-T'ang-ssu-chieh 初唐四傑. What the Ssu-k'u-t'i-yao implied was that Wu's poems, like those of the Ch'u-T'ang-ssu-chieh, possesed a unique rhythm characteristic of the poet's personal style. Among all his works, the most popular pieces that Wu had written were his long historical poems which had come to be known as the Mei-ts'un-t'i 梅村體 style. These poems dealt with contemporary issues and they therefore enjoyed a wide appeal to the people. In his time, it was fashionable for narratives and dramas to depict realistically historical and social matters, and Wu followed this trend in his poems. Apart from the "Mei-ts'un-t'i" style, Wu had also composed poems using various formats, but he apparently did not have a good mastery over short poems. In general, Wu's works were said to contain abundant allusions. However, this was true only in the poems he wrote as obligatory social etiquette. The poems which he wrote with sincerity seldom showed traces of classical allusions. While his early pieces indicated strong influences by the classical school, some of his later works were much closer to the Sung 宋 style. It might appear to be puzzling why Wu's poems which aimed at ordinary human desires, erotic sensations and physical pleasures in sexual intercourse. Perhaps his actual idea of sex exceeded beyond his theories of sexual intercourse as disease and distortion, thus resulting in the impression that his works had trespassed the frame of his theories.