Chapter Seven: Manifestation in the Works of the Wanderer-Poet Zheng Chouyu

Section One: The Narrative-Lyrical Style of Zheng Chouyu

I. Narrative-Lyrical Style

Among Taiwan’s modern poets, Zheng Chouyu is renowned by the laudatory title of “wanderer.” His poetic style is romantic and lyrical, and his emotive tone has remained influential to this day, continuing to be loved by many readers. In Zheng’s poetic works, many of his finest pieces contain romantic and sensuous stories, and narrative structure has become a defining feature of his poetic image. The author has observed that he frequently employs the technique of “manifestation” to arrange time and space, moving back and forth through different temporal and spatial dimensions. His purpose is to draw out the temporal and spatial scenes necessary for narrative development.

II. Types of Manifestation

“Manifestation is to describe things that are in reality unseen and unheard as though they were seen and heard. The so-called unseen and unheard may refer to what has already passed, what is yet to come, or what belongs to an extraordinary rhetorical mode that transcends specific time and place, transcending concrete reality.”¹ “Manifestation relies on the author’s imagination to write about things that are in reality unseen and unheard as though they were seen and heard.”² As a rhetorical device for transforming temporal and spatial scenes, the concrete method of manifestation is “to employ recollection, anticipation, and imaginative projection to vividly present events that occurred in the past, will occur in the future, or are occurring at this moment in another place.”³

According to changes in time and space, “manifestation” may be divided into three types: (1) retrospection of the past; (2) prophecy of the future; (3) imaginative projection of the present. The nature of “manifestation” tends toward narration and description, striving for “concreteness and vividness.” Only in this way can it provide readers with a “sense of presence.” With such an atmosphere of “being personally on the scene, the images overflowing before one’s eyes,” a poetic work is better able to incorporate narrative structure, enabling readers to follow the story and its plot. Zheng Chouyu is fond of employing “manifestation” to shift temporal and spatial scenes and to construct narrative structure, thereby deepening the readability of his works.

Section Two: Zheng Chouyu’s Technique of Manifestation

I. Retrospection of the Past: Retrospective Manifestation

“It is to reproduce past events in the present. The matters to be recalled may belong to any era, ancient or modern, to oneself or to others; yet once one enters into recollection, time and space are together transformed into the past.”⁴ “Retrospective manifestation is not a purposeless or unconscious reproduction of past events; rather, on the foundation of creative imagination, it intentionally expresses unforgettable or cherished experiences.”⁵ Retrospective manifestation is not restricted by the limitations of time and space; it renders past events vividly, as though they were before one’s eyes, and is most often carried out through recollection.

“Remembering in Wind and Rain”⁶

The dew has grown heavy,
The night lilies have bloomed;
My eyes are opened wide, bright and shining, thinking of you…
Thinking of days falling like ears of grain, thinking of those small things,
Thinking of you standing lightly in the wind, your short hair swept back,
Thinking of you tugging at your skirt and saying: I am tired,
Then finding a stone halfway up the mountain to sit down…

Remember the path by the river in wind and rain,
You carried a lamp and held my arm as we walked at night,
The wind from the bamboo grove snatched away the light from your hand,
I laughed, for I boasted that my eyes were lamps,
If we were to go on, you would have to rely on my support,
Remember you, in a fit of pique, drenched by the rain, saying:
I would rather go back…

The dew is too heavy, like teardrops rolling down beside the lips,
The mouth of the lily is opened too wide, as if in astonishment.

I still recall our crossing of the Xiang River,
The southbound wind suddenly blew away our umbrella,
The small boat was merely a broken bridge; what use was it with the waves so high?
I still recall you saying in desolation:
The umbrella has fallen, just like a parting,
We have both lost our support…

This poem chiefly employs the technique of recollection in its narration. In the third line of the first stanza appears the phrase “thinking of you…,” which serves as a cue for retrospection, ushering the poem into “retrospective manifestation” and shifting time and space “from the present back into the past.” The subsequent lines—“Thinking of days falling like ears of grain, thinking of those small things / Thinking of you standing lightly in the wind, your short hair swept back / Thinking of you tugging at your skirt and saying, I am tired…”—and in the next stanza, “Remember the path by the river in wind and rain,” “Remember you, in a fit of pique, drenched by the rain, saying:,” “I still recall our crossing of the Xiang River,” “I still recall you saying in desolation:” and so forth—these scenes of former days and events of the past are all reproduced through recollection. On the one hand, in order to sustain the past tense of what is being narrated, and on the other hand to remind readers that the above scenes and events occurred in a past time and space, the poet, at every transition of scene and turn of event, repeatedly adds such “past-tense cue phrases” as “thinking of you,” “remember,” and “I still recall,” sparing no effort.

“Threads of Rain”⁷

Our love
Is like threads of rain,
On the road between star and star,
Our carriage is soundless.
Once we frolicked in the transparent great forest,
Once we bathed our feet in the waterless stream—that was
A riverbed crowded with lotus-leaf lamps;
There were stories of the Cowherd and the Magpie Bridge
Left behind there,
Left behind there.

Our love
Is like threads of rain,
Slanting, slanting, weaving into faint memories;
And whether faint memories
Will remain forever among the stars?
Now they are shattered pearls, flowing
Throughout the human world.

In this poem, “Threads of Rain,” the opening immediately employs the explicit simile of “threads of rain,” drawing readers into bygone time. From the lines “Once we frolicked in the transparent great forest, once we bathed our feet in the waterless stream,” it is clear that the temporal setting is in the past tense. The poem adopts a recollective flashback to unfold, in a gentle and unhurried manner, a past love affair. At the conclusion, the present-tense cue word “now” pulls time and space back from past memory into reality, and that reality seems to be painful and unbearable.

II. Prophecy of the Future: Prophetic Manifestation

Prophetic manifestation is “to describe future events as though they were before one’s eyes, as though seen and heard.”⁸ “That is, to speak of future events as if they were before one’s eyes, as though seen and heard. It is completely opposite in temporal orientation to retrospective manifestation.”⁹ The reason an author is able to foresee future events lies chiefly in inferring their likelihood of occurrence on the basis of the regular patterns by which things develop, and then rendering them in vivid imagery; or else, on the basis of the author’s or a character’s subjective wishes or conjectures, to depict scenes of future life in order to express longing, pursuit, and ideals directed toward the future.

“The Possibility of Snow”¹⁰

Ah, sleep.
Did not Mother say so—
Tomorrow, the sun will be like a golden deer,
From behind Mount Aiboleishen, bravely
Pushing against flowering branches as it leaps out.
The wind will set out from a newly chosen direction, ten li
In a wave, ten li in a wave, surging over.
Tomorrow, the clustered forests of the distant mountains will awaken first; the blood
Will surely begin among the roots
To flow gently… many, many roots
Like netted veins will gather and hold…

The temporal and spatial setting of this poem stands in exact contrast to that of the previous poem, “Remembering in Wind and Rain.” It is anticipatory, hypothetical, and cast in the future tense. The expressive technique employed by the poet is precisely “prophetic manifestation.” From such future-tense cue phrases in the poem as “will be like,” “will set out from,” “will surely,” and the future-time adverb “tomorrow,” readers can discern that the poet is envisioning scenes that may appear tomorrow and events that will occur.

“Frontier Hotel”¹¹

The territory of autumn
Is divided beneath the same setting sun.
At the border, a few yellow chrysanthemums stand in silence.
And he has come from afar, soberly drinking wine.
Outside the window is a foreign land.
How he longs to step across—one step would become homesickness.
That beautiful homesickness, reachable at a stretch of the hand.
Or perhaps it would be better simply to drink oneself drunk (he is a conscientious taxpayer).
Or else, to pour forth song,
Then he would not merely stand like those daisies,
Standing only by virtue of the border.

From the line “How he longs to step across” onward, “prophetic manifestation” unfolds. Within this future-tense imagining, drinking wine and singing songs serve to pour out the indecisive homesickness in his breast. All these are privately envisioned by the author on behalf of the poem’s protagonist, in the mode of “prophecy.” As for whether the protagonist truly acts as the author anticipates—sitting down to drink and sing—there is no need to pursue the matter to its root.

III. Imaginative Projection of the Present: Suspensive Manifestation

“Suspensive manifestation” means that “within the present moment, one’s thoughts and feelings suddenly imagine the circumstances of another space; that is, while time itself does not change, through imagination one seems to see the people and events of another space. What suspensive manifestation expresses is intense emotion; it describes the imagined scene as though it were before one’s eyes.”¹² “That is, regardless of whether it has occurred in the past or whether it will occur in the future, whatever is imagined is depicted so that it appears as if before one’s eyes, as though there truly were such people and events. Like retrospective manifestation and prophetic manifestation, it relies upon imagination and occupies space; however, it breaks through the temporal limitations to which retrospective and prophetic manifestation are subject. Some instances arise within specific circumstances yet cannot be realized; they merely express a certain subjective intention or psychological state at a particular moment.”¹³ Suspensive manifestation refers to the author, in the present moment, imaginatively depicting people and events in another space. In essence, it expresses the author’s subjective intention or psychological state. Regardless of whether it occurred in the past or will occur in the future, it allows free movement across spatial transitions.

Zheng Chouyu, “A Farewell”¹⁴

This time I leave you—it is wind, it is rain, it is night.
You smiled a little; I waved my hand.
A lonely road then
Stretched out toward two ends.

Thinking that at this moment you have already returned to your riverside home,
Imagining you combing your long hair or arranging your rain-dampened coat,
While my wind-and-rain-filled journey home is still long;
The mountains recede far away, the open plains spread even wider.
Ah, this world, I fear, has truly taken shape in darkness…

This time I leave you, and will no longer think of seeing you again.
Thinking that at this moment you have already quietly fallen asleep.
Leaving all that remains unfinished between us to this world—
This world, which I still tread upon intimately,
And which has already become your dream…

In this poem, “A Farewell,” the poet’s temporal position is “the present time.” Yet because he employs “suspensive manifestation,” the scene divides into two, producing two narrative threads. One thread is the scene in which the author currently finds himself, namely: “While my wind-and-rain-filled journey home is still long / The mountains recede far away, the open plains spread even wider,” as well as “This world, which I still tread upon intimately.” The other thread consists of the author’s conjecture regarding what the “you” in the poem is “possibly” doing at this moment: “you have already returned to your riverside home,” “combing your long hair or arranging your rain-dampened coat,” and “has already become your dream.” In the third line of the first stanza, “A lonely road then stretched out toward two ends,” the author has already planted the foreshadowing of “suspensive manifestation.” In the subsequent lines, he provides such “conjectural cue phrases” as “Thinking that at this moment” and “Imagining you,” enabling readers to find clues from these indicators.

“Small Island”¹⁵

The small island where you live—I am thinking of it.
There it belongs to the tropics, belongs to a verdant realm.
On the shallow sands, schools of five-colored fish always rest.
Little birds leap and resound on the branches, like the rise and fall of piano keys.
The cliffs there all love to gaze, draped with long vines like hair.
The meadows there are all good at waiting, spread and adorned with wildflowers like fruit platters.
There, the sunlight that bathes you is blue, the sea breeze is green.
Thus your health is luxuriant, your love is gentle and unhurried.
The humor of clouds and the faint laughter of thunder,
The dancing music of the groves and the cool flowing songs—

The small island where you live is difficult for me to depict,
Difficult to paint how its midday siesta has a slight trembling of the earth.
If I were to go, I would bring with me my flute staff;
Then I would be a shepherd boy and you a little lamb.
Or else, if I were to go, I would transform into a firefly,
Using my whole life to light a lamp for you.

The poet is thinking of his beloved who lives on the small island. This kind of longing—“simultaneous yet in different places”—originally takes place within the poet’s mind. Yet through “suspensive manifestation,” the poet clearly depicts the images that arise in his mind, using the ark of imagination to guide readers through the island’s radiant scenery. In the latter part, he shifts to the mode of “prophecy,” saying that if he himself were to go to the island in search of his beloved, he would bring along his flute staff, or even willingly transform into a firefly in order to remain together with her forever.

Traversing Time and Space: The Interactive Application of the Three Types of Manifestation

By applying the rhetorical device of “manifestation,” one can traverse different times and spaces back and forth. Therefore, if one becomes familiar with the three types—“retrospection,” “prophecy,” and “suspensive imagination”—one can gather different temporal and spatial dimensions together, and within them carry out narrative, description of scenery, and lyrical expression. It is like a multimedia film, displaying different scenes simultaneously on the same screen.

Notes
(1) Chen Wangdao, Rhetoric Overview, Hong Kong: Daguang, 1964, p. 127.
(2) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p. 305.
(3) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: Guojia, 2004, p. 60.
(4) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: Guojia, 2004, p. 61.
(5) Cheng Weijun et al., eds., Comprehensive Mirror of Rhetoric, Beijing: China Youth, 1991, p. 655.
(6) Excerpted from Zheng Chouyu, Collected Poems of Zheng Chouyu I: 1951–1968, Taipei: Hongfan, 1979, pp. 127–129.
(7) Excerpted from Zheng Chouyu, Collected Poems of Zheng Chouyu I, Taipei: Hongfan, 1979, pp. 115–116.
(8) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: Guojia, 2004, p. 63.
(9) Cheng Weijun et al., eds., Comprehensive Mirror of Rhetoric, Beijing: China Youth, 1991, p. 655.
(10) Excerpted from Zheng Chouyu, The Possibility of Snow, Taipei: Hongfan, 1985, pp. 130–134.
(11) Excerpted from Zheng Chouyu, Collected Poems of Zheng Chouyu I: 1951–1968, Taipei: Hongfan, 1979, pp. 241–242.
(12) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: Guojia, 2004, p. 66.
(13) Cheng Weijun et al., eds., Comprehensive Mirror of Rhetoric, Beijing: China Youth, 1991, p. 655.
(14) Excerpted from Zheng Chouyu, Collected Poems of Zheng Chouyu I: 1951–1968, Taipei: Hongfan, 1979, pp. 130–132.
(15) Excerpted from Zheng Chouyu, Collected Poems of Zheng Chouyu I: 1951–1968, Taipei: Hongfan, 1979, pp. 92–93.