THE SOUNDSCAPE OF THE HUAINANZI 淮南子: POETRY, PERFORMANCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND PRAXIS IN EARLY CHINA

Early China (2022) vol 45 pp 515–539 doi:10.1017/eac.2022.6

THE SOUNDSCAPE OF THE HUAINANZI 淮南子: POETRY, PERFORMANCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND PRAXIS IN EARLY CHINA

Peter Tsung Kei Wong*

Abstract

This article proposes that oral performance could be a philosophical activity in early China. The focus is on the Huainanzi, a densely rhymed philosophical treatise compiled by Liu An in the second century b.c.e. I show that the tome contains various sound-correlated poetic forms that are intended not only to enable textual performance but also, by means of aural mimesis, to encourage the intuitive understanding of its philosophical messages. Thus scholars of ancient poetry, philosophy, or intellectual history, despite being habituated to reading silently and observing disciplinary boundaries, should be attentive to these sonic patterns in order to do justice to the poetic-cum-philosophical richness and originality of this text. More importantly, I argue that these poetic forms enable readers and audiences to experience, embody, and, above all, enact the Way through textual performance. Thanks to the sound patterns of the Huainanzi, the somatic processes of aural reading and philosophical praxis can occur simultaneously. Vocalization becomes an actionable and repeatable spiritual exercise, which facilitates the intuitive understanding and internalization of philosophical values. In other words, the perennial knowing–doing gap is heroically closed by the Huainanzi.

*Peter Tsung Kei Wong, 王棕琦, Princeton University, USA; email: tsungkei@

princeton.edu

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Martin Kern, Ho Che Wah 何志華, Roger Ames, Luke Waring, Ming Tak Ted Hui 許明德, Tobias Benedikt Zürn, Nicholas Morrow Williams, Qiu Jun Oscar Zheng 鄭楸鋆, and the anonymous readers of Early China for their many helpful comments and corrections. All errors remain mine.

https://doi.org/10.1017/eac.2022.6 Published online by Cambridge University Press

© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for the Study of Early China. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.516

諸家書多才辭，莫過《淮南》也。讀之令人斷氣，方自知為陋爾。

The various texts of Masters Literature abound with ingenious literary expressions, but none can surpass the Huainanzi. Reading it aloud made me breathless, and only after this did I realize how trifling and narrow I was. The Kongcongzi 孔叢子1

Introduction: Expressing the Inexpressible

The marriage between poetry and philosophy sometimes begs the question of why such a tremendous literary effort has to be expended when one simply wants to make philosophical arguments. In 54 b.c.e., Lucretius wrote his only surviving work, the epic poem De rerum natura (On the Nature of Things), which lays out the key doctrines of Epicureanism. Lucretius says in Book 1 of the poem that he chose to circulate these philosophical lessons in verse in order to make his dense philosophical reasoning more palatable, as a doctor smears honey around the rim of a cup of bitter wormwood to trick a child into drinking it.2 But in the case of the Huainanzi 淮南子 (The Master of Huainan; c. 139 b.c.e.), one of the most poetic and densely rhymed philosophical texts in ancient China,3 its compiler Liu An 劉安 (c. 179–122 b.c.e.), king of Huainan, never explains why he crafted a poetic tome.

One possibility is that its poetic diction serves to facilitate textual performance. After analyzing the poetic language of the Huainanzi, Martin Kern argues that its postface, “A Summary of the Essentials” (Yao lüe 要略; chapter 21), is a fu-rhapsody 賦 that was performed at the imperial court when Liu An paid his state visit to his eighteen-year- old nephew, Emperor Wu 漢武帝 (r. 141–87 b.c.e.), in 139 b.c.e. and presented him with the tome.4 His finding has been widely accepted.5 Michael Nylan goes further and suggests that “the Huainanzi chapters

1. Fu Yashu 傅亞庶, Kongcongzi jiaoshi 孔叢子校釋 (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2011), 455.
2. Ada Palmer, Reading Lucretius in the Renaissance (Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press, 2014), 4, 39.

3. By far the most meticulous analysis of its rhyme schemes is D. C. Lau 劉殿爵, Huainanzi yundu ji jiaokan 淮南子韻讀及校勘 (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2013).

4. Martin Kern, “Creating a Book and Performing It: The ‘Yaolüe’ Chapter of Huain- anzi as a Western Han Fu,” in The Huainanzi and Textual Production in Early China, ed. Sarah A. Queen and Michael Puett (Leiden: Brill, 2014), 124–50.

5. See, for instance, John S. Major et al., trans., The Huainanzi: A Guide to the Theory and Practice of Government in Early Han China (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), 14, 841–47.

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PETER TSUNG KEI WONG517

were performed when first presented to the Han court.”6 Yet to say that the promotional postface is performable is one thing, to say that the entire book is a performance text is quite another. Although not only the postface but also all the Huainanzi chapters are poetic and densely rhymed, little or no scholarly effort has been made to prove that all or some chapters of the Huainanzi, in addition to the postface, were also performed. Moreover, the idea that the entire Huainanzi is a per- formance text may seem counterintuitive. Could such a lengthy text (130,000 words) be performed? Are there any special poetic forms in the Huainanzi that make it particularly suitable for performance? Do poetic forms in a philosophical text convey philosophical meanings?7 What could be gained by transforming a philosophical treatise into a performable one? Above all, was textual performance in early China merely the aural presentation of (written) texts,8 or could it also be a philosophical activity or spiritual exercise? To answer these questions, this preliminary study focuses on the first two chapters of the Huain- anzi, the two early expositions of Zhuangzian philosophy,9 which con- tain some of the text’s most striking poetic forms.10

Previous research has shed much light on how Huainanzi 1 and 2 allude to, interpret, or, according to Michael Puett, misread the

6. Michael Nylan, “Note on Logical Connectives in the Huainanzi,” in The Huainanzi

and Textual Production in Early China, ed. Queen and Puett, 261–63.

7. By far the most detailed investigation of the argumentative functions of early Chinese literary forms in philosophical prose is Joachim Gentz and Dirk Meyer, eds., Literary Form of Argument in Early China (Leiden: Brill, 2015).

8. For the vocality of texts, see Jennifer Richards, Voices and Books in the English

Renaissance: A New History of Reading (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019).

9. Opinions differ as to whether Huainanzi 1 is based primarily on the Laozi or the Zhuangzi. Although many scholars argue that it is an exposition on the Laozi, Fang Yong 方勇 has convincingly suggested that it is based on Zhuangzian philosophy. See Fang Yong, Zhuangzi xueshi 莊子學史, 3 vols. (Beijing: Renmin, 2008), vol. 1, 246–48. Note, however, that since the Zhuangzi quotes (and probably also fabricates) many Laozi sayings, it is not surprising that allusions to both the Laozi and the Zhuangzi abound in both chapters.

10. A limitation of this preliminary study is that it does not provide an exhaustive analysis of the use of rhyme and meter in the entire Huainanzi. That said, it can be observed that it is much easier to identify the special poetic forms under discussion in Huainanzi 1 and 2 than in the subsequent chapters. This impressionistic statement, which may be revised or refuted in the future, may make sense if one recalls that a big book like the Huainanzi was relatively new and rare before the era of Emperor Wu. In other words, the Huainanzi must have been unfamiliar to contemporary readers. Read- ability and readers’ attention span become emergent issues when it comes to a big book like this. Thus, it is possible that these creative poetic forms were deliberately and densely planted at the beginning of the tome to quickly engage the readers and entice them to continue reading.

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Zhuangzi.11 Puett’s conclusion is striking, as he argues that by vio- lently misreading the Zhuangzi the authors of the Huainanzi actually claim that they understand Zhuangzi better than Zhuangzi himself;12 it is they who “explicate and make universalizable what Zhuangzi intuitively understood.”13 Indeed, Zhuangzi’s emphasis on intuition is reflected in his distrust of language. According to the Zhuangzi, the Way is something inexpressible. It can be attained only by intu- ition and/or repeated practice of worldly techniques (such as dis- secting oxen). This is why one can find such radical claims as “the great way cannot be spoken of” (dadao bucheng 大道不稱) and “the great argument cannot be put into words” (dabian buyan 大辯不言) in the Zhuangzi.14 In other words, the verbal representation of the Way is not sufficient to capture the essence of the Way, let alone allow for the daily praxis of the Way—the ultimate purpose of understanding the Way.

But if language is a necessary evil to transmit the Way to others and to posterity, then the Zhuangzi poses a tremendous challenge to the herme- neutics of its philosophy: how could one explicate and make universal- izable the Way with the assistance of language without closing the door to intuitive understanding?15 In the following, I suggest that the authors

11. Michael Puett, “Violent Misreadings: The Hermeneutics of Cosmology in the

Huainanzi,” Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 72 (2000), 29–47.

12. Most received “Masters” texts are composite works that stage their respective “Masters” rather than being authored by them. Thus, by “Zhuangzi” I mean the fic- tional character Zhuangzi staged by the Zhuangzi. In fact, Liu An probably compiled the first Zhuangzi anthology. See Harold D. Roth, “Who Compiled the Chuang Tzu?” in Chinese Texts and Philosophical Contexts: Essays Dedicated to Angus C. Graham, ed. Henry Rosemont Jr. (London: Open Court Press, 1991), 79–128; Esther Klein, “Were there ‘Inner Chapters’ in the Warring States? A New Examination of Evidence about the Zhuangzi,” T’oung Pao 96.4 (2010), 299–369; and Chang Sen 常森, “Zhuangzi yishu de zaoqi liuchuan he dingxing” 《莊子》一書的早期流傳和定型, Zhongguo dianji yu wen- hua 中國典籍與文化 146 (2021), 4–14. Note, however, that writings related to the Zhuangzi had already been grouped together and in circulation well before Liu An. See Zhongguo wenwu yanjiusuo 中國文物研究所, “Fuyang Shuanggudui hanjian Zhuangzi” 阜陽雙古堆漢簡《莊子》, in Chutu wenxian yanjiu 出土文獻研究 12 (Beijing: Zhongxi, 2013), 188–201. In other words, Liu An not only systematized and defined the Zhuangzi repertoire but also responded to it by crafting the first two chapters of the Huainanzi.

13. Puett, “Violent Misreadings,” 44.

14. Both sayings come from “Qiwu lun” 齊物論 (“Discussion on Making All Things

Equal”), chapter 2 of the Zhuangzi.

15. The propositional force of language confines, defines, and clarifies meaning. However, since the all-encompassing and constantly changing Way is indefinable and inexpressible, literary devices such as metaphors, puns, paradoxes, quotations, endless footnote continued on next page

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PETER TSUNG KEI WONG519

of Huainanzi 1 and 2, in response to the Zhuangzi’s challenge, invented several sound-correlated poetic forms that are intended to create a space for intuitive understanding by conveying philosophical messages beyond the lexical level of meaning. Thus, to fully experience the book’s philosophical richness, readers of the Huainanzi must move beyond the surface verbal meaning and pay attention to the text’s acoustic dimen- sion. More importantly, I show that these carefully crafted poetic forms enable readers to experience, embody, and, above all, enact the Way through vocalization.16 In other words, by inventing these poetic forms and transforming the Huainanzi into a performance text, Liu An and his retainers heroically closed the perennial gaps between “knowing the Way” (zhi dao 知道), “transmitting the Way to others” (chuan dao 傳道), and “practicing the Way” (xing dao 行道).17 In this light, the Huainanzi’s contribution to Chinese philosophy is tremendous, and its originality, which has often been underestimated, is in fact profound.

Rhyme and Mimesis

Rhyme in early Chinese philosophical prose is by now well- documented.18 But the reasons why these texts rhyme have yet to be thoroughly explored.19 In the following, I show that rhyme in the

self-denial, and ironical statements are marshaled in the Zhuangzi to indirectly describe the Way. See Stephen H. West, “Look at the Finger, Not Where it is Pointing,” in Ways with Words: Writing about Reading Texts from Early China, ed. Pauline Yu et al. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), 71–78. See also Paul R. Goldin, “The Diversity of Perspectives on Language in Daoist Texts and Traditions,” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 19.4 (2020), 619–24.

16. A comparable case is the “Qiushui” 秋水 chapter of the Zhuangzi, which was probably composed by Guo Xiang 郭象 (252–312 c.e.). See Dirk Meyer, “Truth Claim with No Claim to Truth: Text and Performance of the ‘Qiushui’ Chapter of the Zhuangzi,” in Literary Forms of Argument in Early China, eds. Gentz and Meyer, 297–340.

17. This sense of a gap between language and doing is vividly expressed in the story of “The Wheelwright Pian” in “Tian dao” 天道, chapter 13 of the Zhuangzi, where the Wheelwright Pian laments his inability to transmit his craft to his son through speech or writing.

18. Long Yuchun 龍宇純, Sizhu xuan xiaoxue lunji 絲竹軒小學論集 (Beijing: Zhong-

hua, 2009), 182–293; Kern, “Creating a Book and Performing It,” 131–32.

19. One common explanation is that rhyming serves mnemonic and euphonic func- tions. See Oliver Weingarten, “The Singing Sage: Rhymes in Confucius Dialogues,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 79.3 (2016), 581–607. For other possi- ble functions of rhymed passages, see, for instance, Rens Krijgsman, “A Preliminary Analysis of Rhymed Passages in the Daybook Manuscripts,” Bamboo and Silk 4 (2021), 291–335.

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THE SOUNDSCAPE OF THE HUAINANZI 淮南子520

Huainanzi serves to mimetically represent the subject matters, such as the Way. The vocalization of these Way-related paragraphs thus enables the embodiment of the Way.

Mimetically Representing the Subject Matters

A paragraph in Huainanzi 1, “The Original Way” (Yuandao 原道), states—by evoking the Laozi20—that those who attain the Way, despite having weak intent as well as empty and tranquil minds, can always demonstrate strength and efficaciousness when reacting to urgent situ- ations. The paragraph can be divided into five subsections on the basis of the semantic change, rhyme, and introductory markers (gu 故, suowei 所謂, and shigu 是故):21

1. Thesis Statement:

Rhyme

故得道者， 志弱而事強， 陽平 A Their wills are supple, but their deeds are strong. 心虛而應當。 陽平 A Their minds are empty, but their responses are

Thus, those who attain the Way:

dead on.

2. On Weak Intent:

所謂志弱者， 柔毳安靜， 藏於不敢， 行於不能， 恬然無慮， 動不失時， 與萬物回周旋轉，

What we mean by a supple will is being pliant and soft, calm, and tranquil; hiding when others do not dare to;

之平 B acting when others are unable to;

being calm and without worry; 之平 B acting without missing the right moment;

and cycling and revolving with the myriad

不為先唱， 感而應之。

things.

Never anticipating or initiating

之平 B but just responding to things when stimulated.

20. See, e.g., Laozi 44, 45, 76, and 78. For an introduction to the philosophy of Laozi, see Paul R. Goldin, The Art of Chinese Philosophy: Eight Classical Texts and How to Read Them (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020), 109–28.

21. The Chinese text of the Huainanzi with the rhymes marked is cited from D. C. Lau’s Huainanzi yundu ji jiaokan, with references to the page numbers in the text. The English translations of the Huainanzi passages are adopted with minor modifications from John Major et al., trans., The Huainanzi. I cite them with their section and page numbers.

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PETER TSUNG KEI WONG521

3. From Being Weak to Being Strong:

是故 貴者必以賤為號，

Therefore, the honored invariably take their titles from

而高者必以下為基。

and those of high station invariably take

the base,

託小以包大， 在中以制外， 行柔而剛， 用弱而強， 轉化推移，

得一之道， 而以少正多。

what is below as their base.

They rely on the small to embrace the great; they rest in the inner to regulate the outer;

祭 C 祭 C 陽平 D they act pliantly to become firm; 陽平 D they utilize weakness to become strong; 歌平 E they cycle through transformations and

push where things are shifting;

they attain the Way of the One

歌平 E and use the few to correct the many.

4. On Being Strong:

所謂事強者， * 遭變應卒，

元去 F

What we mean by strength of deeds is responding with alacrity when encountering

alterations;

排患扞難，

元去 F

pushing away disasters and warding off

difficulties;

力無不勝，

蒸平 G being so strong that there is nothing

unvanquished;

敵無不凌，

蒸平 G facing enemies, there are none that are not

humiliated;

應化揆時，

之平 H responding to transformations by gauging the

莫能害之。

proper moment 之平 H and being harmed by nothing.

5. Conclusion:

是故 欲剛者必以柔守之， 幽上 I

Therefore, if you wish to be firm, you must guard it by

being pliant.

欲強者必以弱保之。 幽上 I

If you wish to be strong, you must protect it

by being supple.

積於柔則剛，

陽平 J When you accumulate pliability, you

become firm.

積於弱則強。

陽平 J When you accumulate suppleness, you

(Lau, 20–21)

become strong. (Major et al., 1.10, 60)

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THE SOUNDSCAPE OF THE HUAINANZI 淮南子522

Here, the rhymes convey meanings in at least three ways. First, the beginning of a new subsection is always marked by either a new rhyme (subsection 5) or an unrhymed sentence (subsections 2, 3, and 4; the dis- continuities in rhyme are marked by asterisks.) Second, both the thesis statement (subsection 1) and conclusion (subsection 5) of the paragraph are highlighted by rhymes. Third, there is a striking correlation between the density of rhymes and the content in each subsection: the subsec- tions (1, 3, 4, and 5) that contain strength-related words (gang 剛, qiang 強, and li 力) are all densely rhymed, whereas the sole “weakness” sub- section (2) is sparsely rhymed. It seems that rhyme serves to mimetically represent the subject matter in each subsection, especially when the text is read aloud. A stark contrast between the “weakness” subsection and the “strength” subsections is created at both the semantic and acoustic levels.

Another paragraph in Huainanzi 1 states that the Way is charac- terized by tranquility. Thus, people who possess the Way should, as a corollary, possess tranquil minds. To possess tranquil minds, peo- ple must not be aroused or distracted by external things. If desires for external things persist, then emotions evolve and disturb one’s mind, and eventually, the Way is lost. This Huainanzi paragraph ini- tially seems only to paraphrase the Zhuangzi’s teaching that people can enjoy freedom only after they are free from desires for external things.22 It can be divided into three subsubsections on the basis of rhyme and meter.

1. Thesis Statement: The Way and Its Deviations

喜怒者，道之邪也； 憂悲者，德之失也； 好憎者，心之過也； 嗜欲者，性之累也。

Joy and anger are aberrations from the Way; worry and grief are losses of Potency. Likes and dislikes are excesses of the mind; lusts and desires are hindrances to nature.

22. In fact, subsections 1 and 3 of this Huainanzi paragraph parallel chapter 15 of the Zhuangzi nearly verbatim. For the purpose of comparison, I only quote here the Chinese text: “悲樂者，德之邪；喜怒者，道之過；好惡者，德之失。故心不憂樂，德 之至也；一而不變，靜之至也；無所於忤，虛之至也；不與物交，惔之至也；無所於 逆，粹之至也.” See “Ke yi” 刻意, pian 15, in Zhuangzi jiaoquan 莊子校詮, comp. Wang Shumin 王叔岷, 5 juan in 2 vols. (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2007), vol. 1, juan 2, 558. Additionally, subsection 2 elaborates on chapter 11 of the Zhuangzi, which states that “人大喜邪，毗於陽。大怒邪，毗於陰。陰陽並毗，四時不至，寒暑之和不成，其反傷 人之形乎！使人喜怒失位，居處無常，思慮不自得，中道不成章，於是乎天下始喬 詰、卓鷙，而後有盜跖、曾、史之行.” See “Zai you” 在宥, pian 11, in Wang Shumin, Zhuangzi jiaoquan, vol. 1, juan 2, 369–70.

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2. On the Harm Brought about by Emotions

人大怒破陰， 侵平 A Violent anger ruins the yin; 大喜墜陽； 陽平 B extreme joy collapses the yang. 薄氣發瘖， 侵平 A The suppression of vital energy brings on dumbness; 驚怖為狂； 陽平 B fear and terror bring on madness. 憂悲多恚， 錫 C When you are worried, aggrieved, or enraged, 病乃成積； 錫 C 好憎繁多， 歌平 D When likes and dislikes abundantly pile up, 禍乃相隨。 歌平 D misfortunes will successively follow.

sickness will increasingly develop.

3. On Tranquility, the Ideal Mental State

故 心不憂樂， 德之至也； 通而不變， 靜之至也； 嗜欲不載， 虛之至也； 無所好憎， 平之至也； 不與物殽， 粹之至也。 能此五者 則通於神明。 通於神明者 得其內者也。 (Lau, 30–31)

Thus, when the mind is not worried or happy, it achieves the perfection of Potency. When the mind is inalterably expansive, it achieves the perfection of tranquility. When lusts and desires do not burden the mind, it achieves the perfection of emptiness. When the mind is without likes and dislikes, it achieves the perfection of equanimity. When the mind is not tangled up in things, it achieves the perfection of purity. If the mind is able to achieve these five qualities, then it will break through to spirit-like illumination. To break through to spirit-like illumination is to realize what is intrinsic. (Major et al., 1.14, 66–67)

The first subsection presents the thesis statement, which defines the Way by first stating what it is not. The second subsection focuses on the harm brought about by the fluctuation of emotions. The third recapitulates the message of the first, but this time, it directly states what the ideal mental state is. Notably, the second subsection is densely rhymed whereas the first and last subsections are not rhymed at all. Again, a stark contrast is created, but why? I suggest that the highly musical subsection 2, charac- terized by its dense rhymes, mimetically represents the emotional fluctu- ations that it describes. More striking is that the A–B–A–B rhyme scheme, as shown in the first four lines of the subsection, perfectly mimics the fluctuation of emotions described by these lines. In contrast, subsections 1 and 3 are not rhymed, thereby mimicking the equanimity prescribed by the two sections. Furthermore, the mantra-like language, the recurrent syntactical patterns (“X 者, Y 之 Z 也” in subsection 1 and “X 不 Y, Z 之 至也” in subsection 3), and the anadiplosis (tongyu shenming 通於神明)

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in these “equanimity subsections” create a repetitive and monotonous aural effect that linguistically mimics (and potentially causes) a stable mental state. In other words, when the entire paragraph is read aloud, readers and audience first intuitively sense and experience mental stabil- ity, then mental instability, and, eventually, mental stability.

Mimetically Representing the Nondominant and Circular Way

Thus far we know that, from the perspective of human beings, the Way is related to tranquility. Once we possess a peaceful and undisturbed mind, the Way automatically resides in us. But what is the intrinsic nature of the Way, and how exactly does it operate? Huainanzi 1 explains that the Way gives rise to myriad things but does not exercise control over them. At first, the idea once again seems to be nothing more than a commonplace allusion to “Lao-Zhuang” non-action philosophy. It seems that the Huainanzi has contributed nothing original in terms of philosophy. After analyzing the rhyme scheme and metrical pattern, however, the originality of the Huainanzi becomes obvious.

1. The Great Way

夫太上之道， The most exalted Way 生萬物而不有， 之上 A generates the myriad things but does not possess

成化像而弗宰。 之上 A completes the transforming images but does not

dominate them.

them,

2. The Myriad Creatures

跂行喙息，

職 B Creatures that walk on hooves and breathe

蠉飛蝡動， 待而後生， 莫之知德； 待之後死， 莫之能怨。 得以利者不能譽，

through beaks,

that fly through the air and wriggle on the ground, depend on it for life,

職 B yet none understands its Potency;

depend on it for death, yet none is able to resent it. Those who attain it and profit are unable to

praise it;

用而敗者不能非。

those who use it and lose are unable to blame it.

3. The Great Way

收聚畜積而不加富

It gathers and collects yet is not any richer

for it.

布施稟授而不益貧 諄平 C It bestows and confers yet is not diminished

旋緜而不可究， 纖微而不可勤。 諄平 C It is delicate and minute yet cannot be exhausted.

It cycles endlessly yet cannot be fathomed.

by it.

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PETER TSUNG KEI WONG4. The Myriad Creatures

累之而不高，

[The myriad creatures try to] pile it up, but the

Way will not get higher;

525

Add to it, but it will not increase.

墮之而不下， 魚上 D collapse it, but it will not get lower. 益之而不眾， 損之而不寡， 魚上 D Take away from it, but it will not decrease. 斲之而不薄， 殺之而不殘， 元平 E 鑿之而不深， 填之而不淺。 元平 E

Split it, but it will not get thinner. Kill it, but it will not be destroyed. Bore into it, but it will not deepen. Fill it in, but it will not get shallower.

5. The Great Way

陽上 F Hazy! Nebulous!

It cannot be imagined. Nebulous! Hazy! It cannot be exhausted.23

術 G 術 G 耕平 H Dark! Obscure! 耕平 H It responds formlessly. 東上 I Deep! Penetrating! 東上 I

忽兮怳兮， 不可為象兮； 陽上 F 怳兮忽兮， 用不屈兮； 幽兮冥兮， 應無形兮； 遂兮洞兮， 不虛動兮。 與剛柔卷舒兮， 與陰陽俛仰兮。 (Lau, 4–5)

(Major et al., 1.3, 51)

It does not act in vain. It rolls and unrolls with the firm and the pliant. It bends and straightens with the yin and the yang.

Based on the rhyme scheme and metrical pattern, this paragraph is divided into five subsections; the change in rhyme and meter coincides with and reflects the change in grammatical subject. In fact, the para- graph makes sense only after one realizes that the grammatical subjects of the five subsections are, in sequence, the Way, the myriad creatures, the Way, the myriad creatures, and the Way. In other words, the rhymes are not merely dispensable embellishment; without them, the shift in the grammatical subject becomes much less discernible, and, as a result, the meaning of the entire paragraph may well be distorted.

Still, why did the authors design such a peculiar structure for a para- graph that describes the Way? Why not simply let the Way be the subject of the entire paragraph?24 Can the paragraph be paraphrased in a plain

23. The translation is slightly modified to emphasize that the Way is the subject.
24. Compare Laozi 51, which is the source of the Huainanzi paragraph under dis- cussion: “Thus, the way gives them life and rears them [“them” refers to the myriad creatures]; Brings them up and nurses them; Brings them to fruition and maturity; Feeds and shelters them. It gives them life yet claims no possession; It benefits them yet exacts no gratitude; It is the steward yet exercises no authority. Such is called the mys- terious virtue.” (故道生之，德畜之，長之育之，亭之毒之，養之覆之。生而弗有， footnote continued on next page

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and straightforward manner without any loss of meaning? I read the alternation of grammatical subjects, which are emphasized by the changes in rhyme and meter, as a consciously crafted literary form that conveys philosophical meanings. By allowing the myriad creatures to be the gram- matical subject in some of the subsections of the paragraph that describes the Way, the idea of the Way being “nondominant,” which is a description presented at the very beginning of the paragraph, is beautifully trans- lated into the parallel linguistic realm: the Way does not dominate the real world that it creates, just as the Way as a grammatical subject does not dominate the paragraph devoted to it. More important, by performing this paragraph aloud, the reciter would activate the embedded rhyme scheme, discern the implicit change of grammatical subjects, role-play both the Way and the myriad creatures, and eventually gain the all-encompassing perspective and actualize the nondominant feature of the Way.

Notably, the paragraph is concluded by a subsection in which the Way is the subject. This concluding remark stands out as being the most densely rhymed of all the subsections. Furthermore, every sentence there ends with xi 兮, a poetic marker of exclamation. In other words, the greatness of the Way is now celebrated through the power of the highly emotional and musical language. This linguistic feature reveals that the nondominant Way is, after all, the ultimate source of and there- fore superior to all things.

Curiously, the subject of both the first and last subsections of the para- graph is the Way. This cyclical textual structure emphasizes that the Way is both the source and the normative destination of all things. According to the Laozi,

道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬物。

The Way begets one; one begets two; two begets three; three begets the myriad creatures.25

萬物並作，吾以觀復。夫物芸芸，各復歸其根。

The myriad creatures all rise together, and I watch their return. The teeming creatures all return to their separate roots.26

The Way gives birth to myriad creatures, and myriad creatures even- tually return to the Way. The textual structure of the Huainanzi passage mimics this cyclicity beyond the immediate lexical level. Readers can

為而弗恃，長而弗宰。是謂玄德。) Here, the Way is exactly the grammatical subject of the entire paragraph. D. C. Lau trans., Tao Te Ching: A Bilingual Edition (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 2001), 72–75.

25. Laozi 42; Lau, Tao Te Ching, 63.
26. Laozi 16; Lau, Tao Te Ching, 23.

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therefore intuitively experience how the Way operates simply by read- ing the paragraph aloud.

The cyclicity of the Way is also expounded in the Zhuangzi. There, the metaphor of a potter’s wheel (tao jun 陶鈞), which is circular, is used to describe how the world operates.27 The wheel rotates so fast that the dis- tinction between different points on the circumference (which signifies dif- ferent perspectives and/or myriad things) blurs. The Zhuangzi adds that only those who attain the Way can stay at the center of the circle, remain impartial to various points on the circumference, and remain unchanged and unmoved themselves.28 Now, Huainanzi 1 endorses this Zhuangzian insight and frequently invokes the metaphor of the potter’s wheel.29 As we can see at the beginning of Huainanzi 1, three adjacent paragraphs there describe the circular pattern of change, and all of them show a similar syn- tactical pattern “A 而 B.”30 (Note: er 而 can mean either “and” or “but.”)

Example 1: 源流泉浡，

沖而徐盈； 混混汩汩， 濁而徐清。 (Lau, 1)

Example 2: 約 而能張 幽 而能明 弱 而能強 柔 而能剛。 (Lau, 1–2)

術 B

Flowing along like a wellspring, bubbling up like

耕平 A 術 B 耕平 A

藥 A 陽平 B 幽平 C 陽平 B 藥 A 陽平 B 幽平 C 陽平 B

a font,

it is empty but gradually becomes full. Roiling and boiling, it is murky but gradually becomes clear. (Major et al., 1.1, 48)

It is constrained but able to extend. It is dark but able to brighten. It is supple but able to strengthen. It is pliant but able to become firm. (Major et al., 1.1, 49)

27. For the connotations of the metaphor of the “potter’s wheel” in the Zhuangzi, see Yang Rubin 楊儒賓, Rumen nei de Zhuangzi 儒門內的莊子 (Taipei: Linking, 2016), 238–46, 285.

28. “So the sage harmonizes with both right and wrong and rests in Heaven the Equalizer” (是以聖人和之以是非而休乎天鈞) in chapter 2 of the Zhuangzi, “On Making Things Equal”; Burton Watson, The Complete Works of Zhuangzi (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013), 11. For an introduction to the philosophy of Zhuangzi, see Goldin, The Art of Chinese Philosophy, 129–52.

29. Example 3 below quotes a sentence from chapter 20 of the Zhuangzi: “既彫既琢, 復歸於朴.” See “Shan mu” 山木, pian 20, in Wang Shumin, Zhuangzi jiaoquan, vol. 2, juan 3, 732.

30. A signifies the original state, and B usually conveys the meaning of “gradually

moving closer to the new state and/or gradually moving back to the original state.”

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Example 3: 鬼出神入， 龍興鸞集； 鈞旋 轂轉 周而復匝。 已彫已琢， 還反於樸。 (Lau, 3)

緝 A 緝 A 元平 B 元平 B 緝 A 屋 C 屋 C

Ghosts departed and spirits entered. Dragons arose and phoenixes alighted. Like the potter’s wheel turning, like the wheel hub spinning, they circled round and round. Both carved and polished, they returned to the Unhewn. (Major et al., 1.2, 49–50)

The pattern of the circular movement is only implied in the first two examples and is spelled out in example 3: “like the potter’s wheel turn- ing, like the wheel hub spinning, they circled round and round” (鈞旋轂 轉, 周而復匝). Note that the recurrent rhyming pattern of these circular- movement-related lines, namely, “the circular rhyming pattern,” is remarkable.

Example 1: BABA (B–A–B and A–B–A)

Example 2: ABCBABCB (A–B–C–B–A, B–C–B, B–A–B, and C–B–A–B–C)

Example 3: ABBA

Admittedly, the rhyming patterns in examples 1 and 3 could be coinci- dental as “alternating rhyming” (jiaoyun 交韻) (A–B–A–B) is a common phenomenon in early Chinese texts.31 Yet, not only the adjacency of the three examples but also the exceptional ABCBA and CBABC patterns in example 2 strongly suggest that the recurrent rhyme scheme is a care- fully crafted poetic form. Above all, the circular pattern of rhyming per- fectly mimics the circular movement of the Way, which is described by these paragraphs. When the chapter is read aloud, readers and audiences can intuitively experience how the circular Way works. And when they perform these paragraphs regularly (similar to Cook Ding in Zhuangzi 3, who keeps dissecting oxen and eventually understands the Way), they are more likely to internalize and physicalize the cyclicity of the Way. Seen in this light, a text facilitates not only the cognitive understanding of the Way but also its praxis; theory and practice become one. In other words, one understands the nature of the Way and concurrently puts what one learns about the Way into practice during the reading process but not necessarily thereafter; Liu An intended to start a reading revolution.

Meter, Rhythm, and Mimesis

The functions of metrical patterns in early Chinese philosophical prose have rarely been discussed. In the following, I show that the metrical

31. On “alternating rhyming,” see Wang Li 王力, Shijing yundu 詩經韻讀 (Shanghai:

Shanghai guji, 1980), 70–75.

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patterns (and nonpatterns) in Huainanzi 2, “The Original Genuineness” (Chuzhen 俶真),32 mimetically represent the virtues and encode the process of inner cultivation.33

Mimetically Representing the Virtues

Huainanzi 2 denigrates humaneness (ren 仁) and rightness (yi 義) by claiming that they are derived from the fundamental Way (dao 道) and Potency (de 德):

夫道有經紀條貫，得一之道，連千枝萬葉 … … 是故以道為竿，以德為 綸，禮樂為鉤，仁義為餌，投之于江，浮之於海，萬物紛紛，孰非其 有！(Lau, 51–52)

The Way has both a warp and a weft linked together. [The Perfected] attain the unity of the Way and then automatically join with its thou- sand branches and ten thousand leaves … Thus, they take the Way as their pole; Potency as their line; Rites and Music as their hook; Humaneness and Rightness as their bait; they throw them into the rivers; they float them into the seas. Through the myriad things are boundless in numbers, which of them will they not possess? (Major et al., 2.4, 89)

Way and Potency are superior to and therefore more desirable than humaneness and rightness. Again, similar sayings abound in both the Laozi and the Zhuangzi.34 The message is also reiterated in the following paragraph in Huainanzi 2, which can be divided into four subsections on the basis of the change in subject matter:

1. On Humaneness 今夫 積惠重厚，

Now, to accumulate debt of gratitude and multiply

generosity,

累愛襲恩， 以聲華 嘔符嫗掩萬民百姓，

gather up love and concentrate kindness. With a glorious reputation, love and protect the myriad people and hundred

使之訢訢然， 人樂其性者， 仁也。

clans,

causing them to be joyful and delight in their natures; this is Humaneness.

32. Note that both the chapter content and chapter titles of chapters 1 and 2 are set

forth in parallel fashion (原=俶=Original; 道=真=the Way).

33. For the Daoist inner cultivation thought, see Harold D. Roth, The Contemplative

Foundations of Classical Daoism (New York: State University of New York Press, 2021).

34. See, e.g., Laozi 18 and 38 and chapters 2 and 8 of the Zhuangzi.

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2. On Rightness 舉大功， 立顯名， 體君臣， 正上下， 明親䟽， 等貴賤， 存危國， 繼絕世， 決挐治煩，

興毀宗， 立無後者， 義也。 3. On Potency 閉九竅， 藏心志， 棄聰明， 反無識， 芒然仿佯于塵埃之外， 而消搖于無事之業， 含陰吐陽， 而萬物和同者， 德也。 4. Thesis Statement 是故 道散而為德， 德溢而為仁義，

仁義立而道德廢矣。

(Lau, 61)

To achieve great merit, establish an illustrious name, support ruler and minister, correct superiors and inferiors, distinguish kin from stranger, sort out the noble and the base, preserve the endangered kingdoms, continue the broken [ancestral] lines. To break off the rebellious and control the

disorderly,

revive destroyed ancestral temples, and establish those with no descendants; this is Rightness.

To block off the nine orifices, to store up the attention of the mind, to discard hearing and vision, to return to having no awareness, to vastly wander outside the dust and dirt and freely roam in the activity of effortless, to inhale the yin and exhale the yang, and to completely harmonize with the myriad things; this is Potency.

For these reasons, when the Way is scattered, there is Potency. When Potency leaks away, there is Humaneness and Rightness. When Humaneness and Rightness are established, the Way and its Potency are abandoned. (Major et al., 2.8, 96)

Old Chinese was a largely monosyllabic language: one Chinese char- acter represented one syllable. Thus, the stark contrast in the metrical pattern between subsections 1 and 2 immediately captures one’s atten- tion. Although subsection 2 mostly consists of regular trisyllabic units, subsection 1 is metrically looser and less tidy. Furthermore, subsection 2 has a fast-paced and forceful 1–2 (verb–object) rhythm when read aloud, whereas subsection 1 is characterized by the frequent use of reduplicates and repetitive phrases (1. xinxinran 訢訢然; 2. oufu 嘔符, which is similar to yuyan 嫗掩; 3. jihui 積惠, which is semantically sim- ilar to zhonghou 重厚, leiai 累愛, and xien 襲恩; 4. wanmin 萬民, which is similar to baixing 百姓), which significantly slows the rhythm of this subsection. Again, one can argue that the contrasts in the metrical

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PETER TSUNG KEI WONG531

pattern and rhythm are coincidental. I will show, however, that there is actually a strong correlation between

1. the contrast in the metrical pattern and rhythm between the two

subsections; and

2. the contrast in humaneness (discussed in subsection 1) and right-

ness (discussed in subsection 2).

To begin with, the difference between humaneness and rightness is succinctly explicated in The Six Virtues 六德, a Warring States bamboo text from Guodian 郭店 tomb no. 1:

門内之治恩弇義，門外之治義斬恩。仁類柔而束，義類持而絕。仁柔而 匿，義剛而簡。

In the order within the [family] gates, goodwill holds check over rightness; in the order beyond the [family] gates, rightness cuts short goodwill. The manner of humaneness is flexible and cohesive; the manner of rightness is steadfast and uncompromising.35

Put simply, humaneness is lenient, loving, forgiving, flexible, and loosely disciplined. It ties people together. In contrast, rightness is justice-driven, absolute, steadfast, and forceful. In this light, the two contrastive met- rical patterns mimic humaneness and rightness respectively: the looser pattern of subsection 1 mimics the flexibility of humaneness whereas the regular and orderly pattern and the resulting vigorous rhythm of subsec- tion 2 aptly mimics the resoluteness and steadfastness of rightness.

In fact, the correlation between moral qualities and aural effects was evident in early China; the two contrastive rhythms discussed above belong to two sound types in the Chinese musical tradition. Specifically, Wang Bao’s 王褒 (d. 61 b.c.e.) Rhapsody on the Panpipes 洞簫賦 compares and contrasts “sounds of humaneness” (ren sheng 仁聲) and “martial sounds” (wu sheng 武聲). Wang Bao defines “sounds of humaneness” as “docile and compliant, humble and meek” (優柔温潤): “Their sounds of humaneness are like the mild warmth of a southern breeze, gener- ously dispensing kindness” (其仁聲，則若颽風紛披，容與而施惠). The gentleness of the sounds of humaneness thus captures and mirrors the characteristics of humaneness at the aural level, just as the loose metrical pattern of subsection 1 reflects the flexibility of humaneness. In contrast, in describing “martial sounds,” Wang Bao states that “the morals and

35. Translation adopted with minor modifications from Scott Cook, The Bamboo Texts of Guodian: A Study & Complete Translation (Ithaca: Cornell University East Asia Program, 2012), 791–92.

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lessons contained in its measures and rhythms, correspond indeed to principles of rightness. They surge with fury, are roused to passion— Oh, how like the brave warrior!” (科條譬類，誠應義理，澎濞慷慨， 一何壯士) and “their martial sounds are like booming blasts of thunder, speeding swiftly, rumbling and roaring” (故其武聲，則若雷霆輘輷， 佚豫以沸㥜).36 The swiftness and strength of the martial sounds mimet- ically represent the characteristics of “the principles of rightness” (yi li 義理) at the aural level, just as the regular trisyllabic metrical pattern and the resulting fast-paced, vigorous rhythm of subsection 2 mirror the steadfastness of rightness.

Mimetically Representing the Process of Inner Cultivation

Nevertheless, one may wonder why subsection 3 of the Huainanzi paragraph under discussion, which describes Potency, encompasses both types of metrical patterns discussed above: the metrical pattern of subsection 3 shifts from being trisyllabic (cf. subsection 2) to irregu- lar and untidy (cf. subsection 1). There are, I suggest, two possible and compatible explanations. First, as mentioned above, both humaneness and rightness are derived from Potency. That is, Potency (the root) gives birth to and encompasses them. Thus, at the linguistic level, subsection 3 (Potency) also encompasses the metrical patterns of both subsections 1 (humaneness) and 2 (rightness).

Second, a notable intertextual parallel suggests that the metrical change within subsection 3 is not arbitrary or coincidental. More spe- cifically, a paragraph in Huainanzi 7, which is also devoted to the expli- cation of Zhuangzian philosophy, is both semantically and metrically similar to subsection 3. Both describe how one can attain the Way.

Huainanzi 2: On Potency 德

Huainanzi 7: On the Way 道

Part A

閉九竅， To block off the nine orifices,

藏心志，

Part A 達至道者則不然： Those who penetrate through to the Way are not like this. 理情性， They regulate the genuine responses of their natures, 治心術，

36. Translation adopted with minor modifications from David R. Knechtges, trans., Wenxuan or Selections of Refined Literature, vol. 3: Rhapsodies on Natural Phenomena, Birds and Animals, Aspirations and Feelings, Sorrowful Laments, Literature, Music, and Passions (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), 239.

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PETER TSUNG KEI WONG533

Huainanzi 2: On Potency 德

Huainanzi 7: On the Way 道

to store up the attention of the mind, 棄聰明， to discard hearing and vision, 反無識； to return to having no awareness.

cultivate the techniques of the mind, 養以和， nourish these with harmony, 持以適； take hold of these through suitability.

Part B 芒然仿佯于塵埃之外， To vastly wander outside the dust and dirt, 而消搖于無事之業， and freely roam in the activity of effortless, 含陰吐陽， to inhale the yin and exhale the yang, 而萬物和同者， and to harmonize with the myriad things; 德也。 this is Potency.

Part B 樂道而忘賤， They delight in the Way and forget what is lowly; 安德而忘貧， they find repose in Potency and forget what is base.

性有不欲， Since their natures desire nothing, 無欲而不得， they attain whatever they desire.

心有不樂， Since their minds delight in nothing,

無樂而弗為， there are no delights in which they do not partake. 無益於情者不以累德， Those who do not exceed their genuine responses do not allow them to tie down their Potency.

不便於性者不以滑和， Those who find ease in their natures do not allow them to injure their inner harmony. 故縱體肆意， Thus, with their relaxed bodies and untrammeled awareness, 而度制可以為天下儀。 their standards and regulations, they can become models for the empire. Lau, 239–40; Major et al., 7.14, 257–258.

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By juxtaposing the two comparable paragraphs,37 one immediately notes that they both begin with four trisyllabic units (part A). Furthermore, part A of both paragraphs emphasizes the importance of self-regulation and restraint. The metrical pattern then loosens in part B. Curiously, part B of both paragraphs contains numerous freedom-related phrases (such as fang yan 仿佯, xiao yao 消搖, zong ti 縱體, and si yi 肆意). Thus, I suggest that the change in the metrical pattern within subsection 3 of the above-noted paragraph in Huainanzi 2, which is an exposition of Zhuangzian thought, beautifully encodes the Zhuangzian cultivation process that is described in Zhuangzi 6:

吾猶守而告之，參日而後能外天下；已外天下矣，吾又守之，七日而後 能外物；已外物矣，吾又守之，九日而後能外生。

So I began explaining and kept at him for three days, and after that he was able to put the world outside himself. When he had put the world outside himself, I kept at him for seven days more, and after that he was able to put things outside himself. When he had put things outside himself, I kept at him for nine days more, and after that he was able to put life outside himself.38

It is said that one must exercise self-restraint and self-governance at the early stage of cultivation if one is to refrain from external things and remain mentally stable. Once the cultivation reaches a critical point, one eventually gains the utmost freedom—being free from the fear of death— as the boundary between life and death has now been forgotten and obliterated. In other words, one must first be self-disciplined in order to eventually be undisciplined and free. In this light, the change in rhythm within the discussed paragraphs in Huainanzi 2 and 7 mimics the Zhuang- zian cultivation process on an aural level: from strictness to flexibility. Above all, rhythm can be contagious.39 Thus, in experiencing the process of inner cultivation through vocalization, oral performance, praxis, and the cognitive understanding of the Way once again become one.

All the sound-correlated poetic forms noted above mark the Huainanzi as a performance text; at the same time, their poetic inventions elevate the philosophical depth of textual performance to an unprecedented

37. The difference between Potency and the Way is subtle: Potency is the Way actu-

alized in the human realm whereas the Way exists everywhere.

38. See “Da zongshi” 大宗師, pian 6, in Wang Shumin, Zhuangzi jiaoquan, vol. 1, juan

1, 235. See also Watson, The Complete Works of Zhuangzi, 46–47.

39. Haun Saussy, “Contagious Rhythm: Verse as a Technique of the Body,” in Critical Rhythm: The Poetics of a Literary Life Form, ed. Ben Glaser and Jonathan Culler (New York: Fordham University Press, 2019), 106–27; Deidre Shauna Lynch, Loving Literature: A Cultural History (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2015), 178.

footnote continued on next page

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level.40 Vocalization thus becomes an actionable and repeatable spiritual exercise, which facilitates the internalization of philosophical values—in particular, one assumes, for Emperor Wu of Han, the young and impres- sionable recipient who was known for his appreciation and promotion of verbal artistry.41

Reading the Huainanzi in Early China: Evidence from Han shu 44

The modern experience of reading any ancient text is that one silently reads the original text side by side with its commentaries. When one encounters a difficult word or expression, one consults dictionaries. The assumption behind this bookish approach is that if one knows the mean- ing of every single word in an ancient text, one knows or at least comes closer to the overall meaning of the text.42 In this light, the Huainanzi seems a particularly demanding text, which contains difficult phrases and complicated sentence patterns everywhere.43 Emperor Wu, however, did not have even a single written commentary in hand.44 How, then, could he possibly read and understand it? But could this be a wrong question? What if the Huainanzi was not intended for silent reading only? The cumulative weight of all the evidence presented above strongly suggests that Huainanzi 1 and 2 are performance texts: the intended aural effect and philosophical implications of these sound-correlated poetic forms could be activated and brought out only by trained reciters fully versed in its linguistic artistry and complexities. One should also bear in mind that not only Huainanzi 1 and 2 but also other subsequent

40. With this, I do not mean to suggest that every use of rhyme and metrical pattern in the Huainanzi serves to convey meaning. A majority of these usages may simply serve aesthetic, mnemonic, and euphonic purposes. Nevertheless, it is likely that the reciters had access to script-like bamboo texts where particular passages were marked for emphatic performance while other rhymed paragraphs were to be read aloud in a plain manner. For evidence of such marks in early Chinese manuscripts, see the excel- lent discussion in Rens Krijgsman, “An Inquiry into the Formation of Readership in Early China: Using and Producing the *Yong yue 用曰 and Yinshu 引書 Manuscripts,” T’oung Pao 104.1–2 (2018), 2–65. On how medieval scribes visualized rhyming patterns in Latin poetry, see Ayelet Even-Ezra, Lines of Thought: Branching Diagrams and the Medi- eval Mind (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2021), 119–28.

41. David Knechtges, “The Emperor and Literature: Emperor Wu of the Han,” in Imperial Rulership and Cultural Change in Traditional China, ed. Frederick P. Brandauer and Chun-Chieh Huang (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994), 51–76.

42. The essence of this semantic approach is best summarized by Dai Zhen 戴震 (1724–1777), who was one of the leading Qing philologists. See Qian Zhongshu, Limited Views: Essays on Ideas and Letters, selected and translated by Ronald Egan (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 1998), 199.

43. See Wong Tsung Kei 王棕琦, Huainanzi pianzhang jiegou kao 《淮南子》篇章結構

考 (M.Phil. Thesis, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2019), 1–3.

44. The earliest commentary appeared only in the second century c.e.

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chapters are examples of the Western Han fu-rhapsody,45 and that many Han fu were intended for oral performance.46 Thus, to fully appreciate the philosophical richness and nuances of the Huainanzi, one should be attentive to its performance context. Admittedly, there is no explicit historical record indicating that the Huainanzi was performed in early China. Consider, however, Liu An’s interaction with Emperor Wu, as described in the Han shu:

淮南王安為人好書，鼓琴 … … 招致賓客方術之士數千人，作為《內 書》二十一篇 … … 時武帝方好藝文，以安屬為諸父，辯博善為文辭， 甚尊重之。每為報書及賜，常召司馬相如等視草乃遣。初，安入朝， 獻所作《內篇》，新出，上愛祕之。使為《離騷(傳) [傅]》，旦受詔， 日食時上。又獻《頌德》及《長安都國頌》。每宴見，談說得失及方 技。賦頌，昏莫然後罷。

Liu An, the King of Huainan, was a person fond of texts and of play- ing the zither … He invited several thousand retainers and masters of prescriptions and techniques who created “inner writings” in twenty- one bamboo rolls [that is, the Huainanzi] … At that time Emperor Wu was fond of art and literature. Because An was among the uncles of the Emperor, and he was eloquent, erudite, and skilled at literary expression, the Emperor respected him greatly. When responding to An’s letters or rewarding him, the Emperor regularly summoned Sima Xiangru and others to inspect the draft before sending it out. In the beginning, when An visited the court, he presented the “inner chapters” [that is, the Huainanzi] that he had created. As they were newly produced, the Emperor liked them and carefully stored them in the imperial library. He then tasked [An] to compose a fu-rhapsody on “Encountering Sorrow”;47 having received the order in the early morning, [An] submitted [his composition] by breakfast time. He also presented “Eulogizing Virtue” and “Eulogy on the Inner and Outer Realm of Chang’an.” Whenever receiving An to banquets, [the

45. For a textbook account, see Yuan Xingpei 袁行霈, Zhongguo wenxueshi 中國文學

史, in 3 vols. (Beijing: Gaodeng jiaoyu, 2014), vol. 1, 153–54.

46. See Han shu 漢書, 100 jian in 12 vols. (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1962), vol. 6, juan 30, 1755, where the rhapsody (fu) is defined by its mode of presentation: “To recite without singing is called fu.” On the performativity of the Western Han fu, see Martin Kern, “Western Han Aesthetics and the Genesis of the Fu,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 63.2 (2003), 383–437.

47. I agree with Wang Niansun 王念孫 (1744–1832) who reads the phrase Lisao zhuan 離騷傳 (“a commentary on ‘Encountering Sorrow’”) as Lisao fu 離騷傅/賦 (“a fu-rhapsody on ‘Encountering Sorrow’”). See the discussion in Shiji jiaozheng 史記斠證, comp. Wang Shumin, 130 juan in 5 vols. (Beijing: Zhonghua, 2007), vol. 4, juan 54, 2514.

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PETER TSUNG KEI WONG537

Emperor] discoursed with him about success and failure and about prescriptions and techniques. They also chanted eulogies, which lasted until after dark.48

Elements alluding to oral performance abound: Liu An is fond of both texts and music; the famous fu-rhapsodist Sima Xiangru is called on to review the Emperor’s draft letters to Liu An; Liu An himself presents to Emperor Wu a fu-rhapsody on the poem “Encountering Sorrow” and two other performable “eulogies” (song 頌);49 and the two men’s rec- itations (fusong 賦頌) last into the night. Above all, the Han shu implies that it was only after Liu An presented the Huiananzi that Emperor Wu requested the rhapsody on “Encountering Sorrow.” Note that only the Huainanzi chapters (Huainanzi 1 and 2 in particular),50 not the postface, contain numerous allusions to the Chu ci 楚辭 anthology, in which “Encountering Sorrow” is the central text.51 In other words, the chronol- ogy given in the Han shu strongly suggests that Huainanzi 1 and 2, which contain numerous allusions to “Encountering Sorrow,” had been per- formed first. The oral performance must have aroused the Emperor’s interest in the Chu ci, and as a result, Liu An was asked to compose (and probably also perform) a rhapsody on “Encountering Sorrow.” Stated simply, both the internal linguistic evidence and contextual information suggest that the Huainanzi was performed at the Han court.

Conclusion: Performativity and Originality

The Han shu passage cited above emphasizes that the Huainanzi was “newly produced” (xin chu 新出). Most likely because of its newness, Emperor Wu liked it very much. Paradoxically, the originality of the Huainanzi has often been challenged by modern scholars as it borrows

48. Han shu, 44.2145; cf. the translation by Hanmo Zhang, “The Lore of Liu An and

the Authorship of the Huainanzi,” Monumenta Serica 64:2 (2016), 339–40.

49. Fu and song remained largely interchangeable in the Western Han. See Kern,

“Western Han Aesthetics,” 399–400.

50. Naoko Yata 矢田尚子, “Enanji ni mieru tenkai yūkō hyōgen ni tsuite－gen dō hen・ran mē hen o chūshin ni－”『淮南子』に見える天界遊行表現について－原道 篇・覽冥篇を中心に－, Chūgoku bungaku kenkyū 中国文学研究 31 (2005), 170–82; Yata, “Enanji ni mieru tenkai yūkō hyōgen ni tsuite－shuku shin hen o chūshin ni” 『淮南 子』に見える天界遊行表現について－俶真篇を中心に, Gengo to bunka 言語と文化 16 (2007), 63–78.

51. For the intertextuality between the Huainanzi and the Chu ci, see Zheng Liangshu 鄭良樹, “Qufu yu Huainanzi” 屈賦與淮南子, in Zheng, Cifu lunji 辭賦論集 (Taiwan: Xuesheng, 1998), 1–15; Chen Guangzhong 陳廣忠, “Lun Chu ci, Liu An yu Huainanzi” 論《楚辭》、劉安與《淮南子》, Zhongguo wenhua yanjiu 中國文化研究 (2000.4), 86–91.

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extensively from an array of pre-existing texts.52 Simply put, ancient reader(s) found the text new and exciting while quite a few modern readers found it unoriginal and mundane. How are we to make sense of such a considerable difference in terms of readers’ perceptions between the ancients and the moderns? I suggest that although the Huainanzi often invokes the teachings of Zhuangzi (and Laozi), its originality is manifested in its carefully and beautifully crafted poetic forms. These literary forms not only convey meanings beyond the lexical level but also, perhaps for the first time in Chinese history, allow for the praxis of the Way in the process of reading and recitation. Liu An, having the chance to present the text to Emperor Wu in person, must have demon- strated to him its indispensable performative dimension in extenso. During the subsequent transmission process, however, the sounds were gone, and long live the written text. Not only the original performance context but also the linguistic-performative-philosophical dimension have gradually been forgotten.

Finally, one may ask, did the Huainanzi authors invent these sound- related literary devices only to show off their originality, perhaps out of the anxiety of influence? The answer is yes and no. On the one hand, the authors of the Huainanzi responded creatively to the Zhuangzi’s challenge by inventing highly original sound-correlated literary forms to convey meaning in a nonverbal and musical way. On the other hand, they designed these poetic forms precisely because they were heavily indebted to the Zhuangzi to the extent that they followed Zhuangzi’s preference for sound and music, as implied by the following passage from Zhuangzi 6.

南伯子葵曰：「子獨惡乎聞之？」曰：「聞諸副墨之子，副墨之子聞諸 洛誦之孫，洛誦之孫聞之瞻明，瞻明聞之聶許，聶許聞之需役，需役聞 之於謳，於謳聞之玄冥，玄冥聞之參寥，參寥聞之疑始。」

Naopo Zikui asked the woman Crookback, ‘Where did you of all people come to hear of the Way?’ ‘I heard it from Inkstain’s son, who

52. Major et al., trans., The Huainanzi, 27–32. On the intertextual patterns in the Huainanzi, see, for instance, Paul R. Goldin, “Insidious Syncretism in the Political Philosophy of Huainanzi,” in Goldin, After Confucius: Studies in Early Chinese Philosophy (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2005), 90–111; Oliver Weingarten, “Intertextuality and Memory in Early Chinese Writings: A Case Study from Huainanzi,” Early China 42 (2019), 201–36; Tobias Benedikt Zürn, “The Han Imaginaire of Writing as Weaving: Intertextuality and the Huainanzi’s Self-Fashioning as an Embodiment of the Way,” Journal of Asian Studies 79.2 (2020), 367–402; and Peter Tsung Kei Wong 王棕 琦, “Budongxin de benzhi shi shenme ― Mengzi Zhiyan yangqi zhang de wenli yu yili” 「不動心」的本質是甚麼？――《孟子．知言養氣章》的文理與義理, Chinese Studies 漢學研究 39.2 (June 2021), 20, 31.

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heard it from Bookworm’s grandson, who heard it from Wide–eye, who heard it from Eavesdrop, who heard it from Gossip, who heard it from Singsong, who heard it from Obscurity, who heard it from Mystery, who heard it from what might have been Beginning.’53

It is suggested that music and sound are relatively closer to the Way than words and texts.54 I thus speculate that this is precisely the reason why the authors expended so much effort to invent these sound-related literary forms of argument: sound and music convey the Way better than words convey it.

To put it in Zhuangzi-style paradoxical language: the originality of the

Huainanzi goes hand-in-hand with the unoriginality of the Huainanzi.

淮南子的文本聲景：早期中國的詩歌、表演、哲學與實踐

王棕琦

提要

本文論證早期中國的文本表演可以是一種具創造性的哲學活動，而非只 是以聲音演繹書寫文本的朗讀活動。文中首先指出《淮南子》裏跟聲音 有關的詩歌形式不但有助朗誦表演，更能讓讀者直觀感悟書中哲學思想 而不落言筌。而且，這些詩歌形式更讓讀者通過朗讀而實踐、內化書中 所述之大道。可以說，《淮南子》對中國哲學的一大貢獻在於它將「知 道」、「傳道」和「行道」三者合而為一。

Keywords: The Huainanzi, orality and textual performance, rhyme and meter, aural mimesis, the history of reading 淮南子, 文本表演, 押韻與韻律, 聲音模仿, 閱讀史

53. Wang Shumin, Zhuangzi jiaoquan, vol. 1, juan 1, 238. Translation adopted with minor modifications from A. C. Graham, Chuang-Tzu: The Inner Chapters (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2001), 87.

54. On the musical references in the Huainanzi, see Avital H. Rom, “Echoing Ruler- ship: Understanding Musical References in the Huainanzi,” Early China 40 (2017), 125–65.

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THE SOUNDSCAPE OF THE HUAINANZI 淮南子