Critics and Commentators: The Book of Poems as Classic and Literature

Critics and Commentators: The Book of as Classic and Literature. By Bruce Rusk. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2012. Pp. xvi + 282. $39.95 (hardcover).In five chapters, with long introduction, conclusion that muses about gains and losses of classic's fate in twentieth century scholarship, and four appendices, Bruce Rusk takes us through long history of literature about and interpretations of Shijing (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (Classic of hereafter Shi) poems and their paratextual matter. From early on, Rusk writes, Shi had been a major point of reference and source of inspiration for ideas about poetry and literature in China (p. 5), thus an understanding of Shi vis-a-vis vast bulk of poetry and commentarial works produced thereafter throws light upon multifarious ways of dialectical interaction between text and readers in changing socio-political, cultural, and intellectual milieus. Rusk's book may be characterized as an attempt at marking out moments of Shi intertexuality, springing from and returning to its topography.Chapter 1, Poems and Poems, begins with Eastern Zhou (771-256 B.C.) period, examining Confucius' treatment of Shi poems as found in Lunyu (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (Analects) applied to non-Shi verse, namely, song of Jieyu (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) Madman of Chu. Rusk argues that when early Confucians (Scholiasts, Ru (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.)) interpreted noncanonical or verse, they did so with techniques forged for explanation of poems. This mode of reception set not only pattern for later readings of secular verse outside canon like Li sao (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (Encountering Sorrow) or other works of Chu ci (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (Verse of Chu), but also became part of elite narrative of canonization, purpose and function of poetry, genre construction and categorization, and of questions regarding very act of creation, innovation, and poetic judgment. While direct imitation of canonical models (e.g., quotation, allusion, rhyme) was one approach, more frequently parallels were drawn between collections of poetry and Shi, commonly regarded as first Chinese poetry anthology. The shape and content of Shi inspired numerous authors and editors to emulate either scale of included poems by assembling three hundred pieces in their own collections and/or to choose titles that immediately recalled venerated canon, notably, Wang Tong's (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (584-617) Xu Shi (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (Sequel to Poems) and Du Xunhe's (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (846-907) Tangfengji (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (Collection of Tang Airs). Moreover, magic number Three Hundred and reference to stylistic resemblance to Shi parts and portions became mantle of authority, antiquity, and, remembrance as moralaesthetic values that influenced later compositional and editorial practice, especially in Tang fu gu (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (return to ancients) movement.In Chapter 2, Re-Collections, Rusk examines development of poetry anthologies motivated by ancient classic, since Song, with some flashbacks into earlier times. Rusk here traces how pre-Qin and early Han poem had been selected, defined, and assembled and how anthologists and compliers through centuries justified their choices, constantly grappling with problem of genre definition. Since the boundaries of field of shi were fuzzy (p. 59), all compilation efforts brought about disagreement over what to include. Apart from Zhu Xi's (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted. …