楊誠齋の詩

Abstract

Yang Cheng-zhai, a poet of Nan-Song 南宋 dynasty, was known for his peculiar styles which made him stand out in the history of Chinese classical poetry. In this paper, I shall review his nine compilations of poetry and inquire into the change of his style and analize the specific characteristics of his style which is known as Cheng-zhai-ti 誠齋體. Yang Cheng-zhai's earliest works which were compiled into the Jiang-hu-ji 江湖集 are, as he himself confessed, no better than imitation of his predecessor's works, though the personification of nature is an important feature in his techniques, it is not anything unique because it was also frequently used by his contemporaries. Concerning the form of his poetry, the use of Qi-yan-jue-ju (the seven-character quatrain) which was known to be his strong point was much less frequently used in Jiang-hu-ji as in his second compilation of poetry Jing-xi-ji 荊溪集. Jiang-hu-ji can be regarded as Yang's works during his apprenticeship. Fundamentally, there had not been much great changes of his style since his second compilation of poetry. The distinctive features in Yang Cheng-zhai's poetry are: 1. the use of personification; 2. witty or dexterous simile; 3. humor; 4. sharpness in observation; 5. the use of daily experiences in his creation. I shall focus on these five points and comment on his poetry. Generally speaking, Yang Cheng-zhai always used his everyday life as material for his poetry, although such a style had already existed since the Tang 唐 dynasty, Yang was the poet who made the best and most use of it. Moreover, he did not touch on the view that there was a Creator behind all forms of life and the world, such a view can often been seen in the works of his contemporary poets. Su Dong-po 蘇東坡, for example, wrote that life was but "children's play" in which the Creator eternally changed his destiny. There is, however, no such expression in Yang's poetry. He was rather more interested in the innocence of children in everyday's life. And unlike other poets in the Song dynasty, Yang did not like to discuss or argue. The main theme of his poetry was fun and wit in daily life. Yang was particularly skillful in sketching a scene in daily life. His poetry did not always impress or move the readers. But in terms of the history of Chinese literature, the use of everyday life had almost become excessive in the Nan-Song dynasty, and poets during or after the Yuan 元 dynasty had returned to the lyricism as in the poetry of the Tang dynasty. So we can conclude that Yang's works represented the turning point of classical poetry from a more narrative to the lyrical mode.