" They find a close
parallel
in the _coplas_ of Spain,
_cf.
_cf.
Waley - 170 Chinese Poems
23.
His nephew Sung Yu was no servile imitator. In addition to "elegies" in
the style of the Li Sao, he was the author of many "Fu" or descriptive
prose-poems, unrhymed but more or less metrical.
_The Han Dynasty. _--Most of the Han poems in this book were intended to
be sung. Many of them are from the official song-book of the dynasty and
are known as Yo Fu or Music Bureau poems, as distinct from _shih_, which
were recited. Ch'in Chia's poem and his wife's reply (p. 54) are both
_shih_; but all the rest might, I think, be counted as songs.
The Han dynasty is rich in Fu (descriptions), but none of them could be
adequately translated. They are written in an elaborate and florid style
which recalls Apuleius or Lyly.
_The Chin Dynasty. _
(1) _Popular Songs_ (Songs of Wu). The popular songs referred to the Wu
(Soochow) district and attributed to the fourth century may many of
them have been current at a much earlier date. They are slight in
content and deal with only one topic. They may, in fact, be called
"Love-epigrams.
" They find a close parallel in the _coplas_ of Spain,
_cf. _:
_El candil se esta apagando,
La alcuza no tiene aceite--
No te digo que te vayas, . . .
No te digo que te quedes. _
The brazier is going out,
The lamp has no more oil--
I do not tell you to go, . . .
I do not tell you to stay.
A Han song, which I will translate quite literally, seems to be the
forerunner of the Wu songs.
On two sides of river, wedding made:
Time comes; no boat.
Lusting heart loses hope
Not seeing what-it-desires.
(2) _The Taoists. _--Confucius inculcated the duty of public service.
Those to whom this duty was repulsive found support in Taoism, a system
which denied this obligation. The third and fourth centuries A.
