Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.8, 2018

 

Changes in the Text of the Sao-style Fu (Rhapsody) in the Han and Jin Dynasties from Loss of the Modal Particle Xi

(Abstract)

 

Lin Xiaoguang

 

In the existing fu poems of the Former and Later Han and the Wei and Jin dynasties, the sao-style fu marked by the modal particle xi (兮), and the non-sao style fu without the modal particle xi existed alongside those in a middle form. Previously, scholars tended to interpret this phenomenon as a creative technique, seeing it as a sign of the evolution of the fu style. However, returning to the source of records of extant literature for a textual comparison of methods of treating these texts since the Six Dynasties and the Tang and Song dynasties, one finds that quite a large proportion of the six- and four-character fu are in the half-sao or non-sao style, because the modal particle xi has been omitted to a greater or lesser degree in the course of copying and cataloging. This can be checked against such major literary classifications as Tang and Song encyclopedic works, Han and Tang histories, and the MidSong collections of ancient writings. The proportion of sao-style fu to the the Han and Jin fu should be higher than what is seen by later generations. The misleading appearance of existing texts affected earlier categorizations of fu styles and associated views, necessitating a reexamination and review of the subject. Some of the altered texts can be restored, which may give the early history of the fu genre a new look.