Chapter 13, Imagery Questioning:
Questioning and Rhetorical Questioning (提問與反詰)
Section 1. Types of Interrogative and Answering Sentences
When poets use imagery to pose questions in writing, they employ interrogative sentence structures within poetry to express their own doubts and to throw questions to readers in search of answers. Regardless of whether the author’s intention is to knowingly ask something already known; to ask without doubt; to ask and answer themselves; or to ask without answering, all of these are forms of questioning. According to their nature, questions are divided into “hypothetical questions” (self-asking and self-answering) and “rhetorical questions” (asking without answering). In all cases, the purpose is to emphasize a certain viewpoint, attract readers’ attention, and stimulate readers’ thinking. In modern poetry, the use of “interrogative sentences” to enliven sentence structure, strengthen momentum, and attract readers’ attention is quite common.
Interrogative sentences are divided into six types: (1) genuine questions, (2) hypothetical questions, (3) rhetorical questions, (4) mimetic questions, (5) strange questions, and (6) guiding questions. The latter five are rhetorical devices. The author will analyze the commonly used rhetorical devices of “hypothetical questions” and “rhetorical questions.”
I. Genuine Question: also called “suspended question,” this is a question that arises from genuine doubt in the mind; it is an ordinary interrogative sentence. “An ordinary question is one in which there is real doubt in the mind, not a hypothetical one.”1.
II. Hypothetical Question: self-question and self-answer. A question is posed first to arouse curiosity and attention, followed by the author’s own answer.
III. Rhetorical Question: also called “emphatic question,” it expresses a definite meaning in interrogative form; the author does not answer, but the answer is always implied as the opposite of the question.
IV. Mimetic Question: “A mimetic question is neither self-questioning and self-answering, nor rhetorical questioning, nor a question that expects others to answer; rather, it imitates the tone of a question to construct a form of inquiry for the purpose of narration—mostly used to develop imagination, stimulate thought, and express emotion.”2.
V. Strange Question: “A strange question refers to deliberately posing an unusual, unanswerable question in context, making the language vivid and distinctive, adding emotional interest and creating a poetic atmosphere.”3. “Strange questions are also questions that do not require answers; in fact, the questions posed are so unusual that they cannot be answered, functioning purely as a rhetorical effect, making expression vivid, distinctive, and full of interest.”4.
VI. Guiding Question: “This refers to, in dialogue—especially in debate—using questions to guide the other party’s thinking toward the position of the questioner. Such questions, from the perspective of the questioner, are hypothetical questions, but they require the other party to respond.”5.
Section 2. Forms of Interrogative and Answering Sentences
A. Hypothetical Questions
I. Definition and Examples of Hypothetical Questions
(1) Definition of hypothetical questions
“In speech or writing, instead of using ordinary declarative forms, one deliberately adopts an interrogative tone to highlight arguments, attract attention, or even stimulate thinking, thereby creating rhetorical waves in speech or text.”6. Language, as a medium of information transmission, has a dual nature of “stimulus” and “response.” Hypothetical questions belong to the “stimulus” type of language. “In hypothetical questions, since the author is presenting an answer already determined in advance, there is no need for others to respond; whether to answer is also decided by the author. If an answer appears, it is self-questioning and self-answering; both question and answer are merely to emphasize meaning. Self-answered questions allow direct understanding of intent; unanswered questions leave interpretive space, making the language more nuanced and expressive.”7.
The functions of hypothetical questions are as follows: (1) used at the beginning of a text to introduce the main theme; (2) used at the end to create lingering resonance; (3) used at both beginning and end to create structural echo; (4) continuous questioning to strengthen rhetorical momentum; (5) designed questions to guide reader agreement8.
“If we roughly divide sentence forms into four types—narrative sentences, declarative sentences, judgmental sentences, and interrogative sentences—among these, interrogative sentences have the most variation and strongest tone, attracting the most attention; declarative and judgmental sentences are secondary, while narrative sentences are the weakest.”9. Since poetry is written language, it uses such forms to arouse curiosity and attract readers’ attention.
(2) Examples of hypothetical questions
Poets often use interrogative sentences. For example, Du Fu’s “Written at Night on a Journey”:
“Is fame gained by writing? Official position should end with old age and illness.
Floating and drifting—what am I like?
Heaven and earth, a lone sand gull.”
The final couplet uses a question form to express the sorrow of wandering exile; self-asking and self-answering create an endless lingering resonance that deeply moves the reader.
Similarly, Su Shi’s “In Response to Ziyou: Remembering the Past at Mianchi”:
“To what can life everywhere be likened?
It should be like a wild goose stepping in snowy mud.
Occasionally leaving footprints on the mud,
but once the goose flies away, how can one trace east or west?”
The opening line “To what can life everywhere be likened?” uses a metaphorical interrogative structure to pose a question, arousing curiosity and strengthening expressive effect. “It should be like a wild goose stepping in snowy mud” provides immediate response, summarizing the feeling of life’s drifting uncertainty and evoking broad resonance10.
Another example is Li Houzhu (Li Yu), “Beautiful Lady Yu”:
“How much sorrow can there be in you?
Just like a river of spring water flowing eastward.”
How much sorrow can there be? The poet asks and answers himself, saying that his sorrow is like an endless east-flowing river—surging and continuous. Abstract emotion is transformed through self-questioning and self-answering into a tangible image, and boundless melancholy flows through the river to become eternal.
Hypothetical questions “differ from ordinary interrogative sentences; ordinary questions arise from doubt in order to resolve doubt. Hypothetical questions, however, ask knowingly despite already knowing the answer, in order to emphasize meaning and attract readers’ attention for reflection.”11. Because the question is intentionally constructed by the author according to expressive needs, the answer—whether self-provided or left unanswered—is already implied. “To ask from doubt is to resolve doubt; this is one function of hypothetical questions, but not its only function. We must intentionally provoke doubt in others, and then seek its resolution; this relies on hypothetical questions formed with an already determined internal stance.”12. “A question arising from genuine doubt resolves one’s own doubt; a question arising from an already formed conclusion resolves others’ doubt.”13.
II. Structural Forms of Hypothetical Questions
Hypothetical questions use a self-questioning and self-answering form to express emotion and ideas. Emphatic questioning is used to intensify intent; regardless of whether an answer appears, the answer is always implied on the opposite side of the question14. “In addition to questions that immediately provide answers (i.e., hypothetical questions), there is also a form where questions have no explicit answer, but upon careful thought, the answer clearly lies on the opposite side.”15.
The differences between hypothetical questions and rhetorical questions are as follows: (1) in form, hypothetical questions are self-asking and self-answering or asking without answering, with the answer outside the question; rhetorical questions must be asking without answering, with the answer contained within the question itself—it unifies question and answer. (2) Hypothetical questions do not explicitly express affirmation or negation; rhetorical questions clearly express affirmation or negation. (3) rhetorical questions strengthen tone to assert a viewpoint beyond doubt; hypothetical questions aim to attract attention and stimulate thought for better narration, explanation, or argumentation16.
III. Forms of Hypothetical Questions
“According to their nature, hypothetical questions can be divided into three types: heuristic hypothetical questions, emphatic hypothetical questions, and lyrical hypothetical questions.”17. According to form (number of questions and answers), they can also be divided into (a) single-question forms such as “one question one answer” and “one question multiple answers,” and (b) continuous-question forms such as “multiple questions one answer” and “continuous questions continuous answers.”
(a) Classification by nature
- Heuristic hypothetical questions: designed to guide and stimulate thinking; their main function is to provoke reader reflection.
- Emphatic hypothetical questions: emphasize and highlight a main issue; their primary function is to stress content.
- Lyrical hypothetical questions: embed emotion within questioning; their function is to express feelings through questions.
(b) Classification by number of questions
- Single-question form
(1) One question one answer: a question is immediately followed by its answer. This is the most common form in poetry, especially in quatrains and regulated verse. Due to line constraints, hypothetical questions often take this form. For example, Zhu Xi’s “Reading Books with Feeling”:
“A square pond of half an acre opens like a mirror;
sky light and cloud shadows linger together.
How can it be so clear?
Because there is an ever-flowing source of fresh water.”
Only from the title does one understand that the pond-as-mirror image is a metaphor; through it, reading becomes the source of spiritual cultivation. The meaning is clear, and the question-and-answer form leaves a strong impression18. In poetry, when a question opens the text, it often immediately captures the reader’s attention and creates suspense, such as Luo Men’s “Castle McKinley,” which begins: “War—whom does it make sit here weeping?”
Luo Fu, “Four-Lines Without Title: No. 10”19
Forcing me to believe in authority
is like forcing me to believe in a carved urn of ashes
You say I am afraid of midnight knocking?
Not at all, I am a bachelor of thought
These lines present a dialogue between the poetic “I” and “you,” though the “you” is omitted; only the rhetorical response of “I” is shown: “You say I am afraid of midnight knocking?” The poet uses a rhetorical question to confirm the content of “your” accusation, then replies with a negative statement: “Not at all, I am a bachelor of thought.” In poetry, using hypothetical questions allows self-questioning and self-answering, strengthening tone and attracting attention more effectively than plain narration.
Luo Fu, “Eleven Poems Presented”20
Short in stature, yet taller than all windows
From a cold gaze, history is nothing but trivial confusion
Why does the corner of your mouth tilt toward north-northwest?
He says that is precisely the inclination of the Milky Way
In the first two lines, the poet teases his friend: “short in stature, yet taller than all windows,” a paradoxical expression implying mockery. Then he jokingly asks: “Why does the corner of your mouth tilt toward north-northwest?” The friend responds with Tai Chi-like deflection: “That is precisely the inclination of the Milky Way.” Through question and answer, neither side gains advantage; instead, both maintain balance—neither offended nor aggressive.
(2) Multiple Questions, Multiple Answers: The answers to the question are several sentences that are thematically related, and these sentences should exhibit a parallel and progressive relationship.
Zhang Cuo〈Entrustment—Duke Wang’s Spring Heart Entrusted to the Cuckoo〉21
How to arrange that kind of morning light just breaking
a face and gaze without tears though wanting to cry?
Knowing that you are asleep,
asleep after having loved or not having loved
and the encounter after having loved or not having loved,
is still bound to happen,
still must wait until you wake and bathe,
happening after another lover is expected,
Facing a girlfriend who has fallen in love with someone else, she is asleep, and the poet cannot question her. Yet in his heart he does not know how to deal with the sorrow and confusion before him, so he can only ask himself inwardly, and then infer several possible answers: “the encounter after having loved or not having loved is still bound to happen,” “still must wait until you wake and bathe, happening after another lover is expected.” Such answers must be both helpless and awkward. The rhetorical structure of “one question, multiple answers” can present various possible responses, calmly carrying out narration and fully expressing thought and emotion.
Yu Guangzhong〈After Fifty〉22
The road is long, precisely the time to test horsepower
those who claim to be old steeds should not lie idle in the stable
you ask me how much horsepower I have?
lean close and listen to the fire in my chest
listen to the volcano burning beneath the snowy peak
listen to the internal combustion engine running without pause
horsepower that can hardly be stopped
traveling thousands of miles, still four hundred horses
The poet and his friend, two “men over sixty,” are engaging in banter, comparing who is the more capable “old horse” with endurance, strength, fuel efficiency, and reliability. The friend asks: “How many horsepower does your old horse still have?” The poet refuses to yield and immediately responds in a rapid burst: “lean close and listen to the fire in my chest,” “listen to the volcano burning beneath the snowy peak,” “listen to the internal combustion engine running without pause,” “horsepower that can hardly be stopped / traveling thousands of miles, still four hundred horses.” The interrogative structure of “one question, multiple answers” can also fully carry analytical reasoning and argumentation.
2. Serial Questioning
(1) Multiple Questions, One Answer: “This can also be called ‘multiple questions, collective answer.’ Although the questions differ, they all fall within the same sphere of reasoning, so they can be answered in a generalized way.”23 This type of rhetorical questioning usually has a
shared syntactic pattern, showing a progressive intensification, with tone becoming increasingly impassioned. Consider Yu Guangzhong’s〈If There Is War in the Distance〉:
Yu Guangzhong〈If There Is War in the Distance〉24
If there is war in the distance, should I cover my ears
or should I sit up and listen with shame?
Should I cover my nose, or should I inhale deeply
the nauseating smell? My ears should
listen to you panting with love, or listen to shells
proclaiming truth? Maxims, medals, supplies
can they feed the insatiable death?
In an era of war and chaos, separation and death are extremely common. This poem describes the poet, who is immersed in passion with his lover, suddenly thinking that if war breaks out in the distance, how he should respond and choose. Each question is presented in a structure of opposing propositions, containing contradictions and conflicts of choice, reflecting the poet’s dilemma between war and love, reality and romance.
Chen Jiadai’s〈The Soul of the City〉also uses continuous questioning to stimulate the reader’s reflection, and it employs “serial metaphor” in the form of simile-based questioning:
Chen Jiadai〈The Soul of the City〉25
Like schoolchildren standing at a crossroads
deeply trapped in the city’s mysterious chess game
we pause to think:
Is the floating dust in the air like stars
when stars shed their cloak of night?
Is the trash on the river like clouds
when clouds fall into our lives?
Are the undulating skyscrapers like waves
when the sea refuses to cling to blue water?
Are densely voiced tongues like ten thousand sounds
when celestial music faintly arrives from ancient times?
Then we cross this wall of concepts
and discover nothing resembles anything
we are only ourselves, just ourselves—
a small role in the towering city
on the way between work and making a living and making love
This passage depicts the daily life of urban blue-collar workers who are constantly busy and rushing. Occasionally they stop their hurried steps and reflect on their situation, yet they are filled with a sense of powerlessness. The poet continuously uses three similes to pose questions to companions, carrying out an “imagined beautification” of the surrounding urban environment. In the end, they discover that these imaginations are nothing at all; they are still themselves—just small blue-collar workers who must continue to accept and face reality.
Walis Nokan〈Our Tame Grassland I〉26
How can a mountain be a school?
Where is the blackboard, where is the chalk?
Teacher, could it be
holding a fierce and brutal cane?
The bright black eyes are asking
The question marks are like stars in the sky
Dear children, please sweep away
all the doubts in your minds
Simply
use your feet to feel solidity
use your skin to feel the caress of the wind
use your palms to touch the mountain’s face
use your heart to open the mountain’s doors and windows
you will discover that
it is quietly opening its school gate
and softly saying: please enter, children
This passage first shows students raising question after question, expressing their inner uncertainty and fear: “How can a mountain be a school?”, “Where is the blackboard, where is the chalk?”, “Teacher, could it be / holding a fierce and brutal cane?” In response, the teacher patiently resolves their doubts and encourages them to approach the mountain.
The continuous questioning expresses the children’s anxiety and worry. The reader can almost see the scene: a teacher preparing to take children on an excursion into the mountains, describing the mountain as a treasury of knowledge, while the children themselves are filled with doubts and unease.
Zhou Mengdie〈Under the Bodhi Tree〉27
Who is the one who carries a mirror in his heart?
Who would walk barefoot through his entire life?
All eyes are blinded by other eyes
Who can take fire from snow, and cast fire into snow?
Beneath the Bodhi tree. A man with only half a face
raises his eyes to the sky, answering with a sigh
that azure which from above slowly leans toward him
Three consecutive questions receive only a sigh, and this sigh clearly implies a negative answer. Continuous questioning can gradually bring the reader’s emotions to a boil, forcing the reader to seriously consider the successive questions. In terms of atmosphere-building, it has an immediate and concentrated effect.
3. Continuous Questions with Continuous Answers
“Continuously posing questions, with multiple answers or a sequence of question-and-answer pairs, is called multiple-question multiple-answer.”28
Zhang Cuo〈Fourteen Lines of Error: No. 7〉29
Is a sonnet one word or three words?
one line or ten lines?
Is a sonnet one line of words?
or fourteen words per line?
When did the error begin?
before the sonnet?
or is “error” a noun
and “sonnet” a verb is “error fourteen-line” a sentence
or fourteen sentences?
or fourteen lines of nonsense
placed under a wrong theme?
In fact, from the very first stroke and dot
it already slipped from the first word into the fourteenth line.
If someone asks you nearly ten questions in a row and then, with a serious expression, tells you: “In fact, from the very first stroke and dot / it already slipped from the first word into the fourteenth line,” this kind of response will make you laugh until you become “instantly frozen,” like an “ice man.” The poet’s continuous questioning is not meant to be answered one by one, but to lead the reader into thinking, and then agreeing with the answer he proposes. This form of “continuous questioning and answering” can drive the emotional rhythm of the poem.
Varis Yugan “Land”30
Our black-bright eyes are full of doubt,
when, did the ancestors’ clothing
become the target of crowds’ mockery?
Our diligent hands are full of fear,
when, did the ancestors’ way of making a living
become traps weaving death upon scaffolding?
Our tightly closed lips are full of terror,
when, did the language passed down from ancestors
become a despised and inferior dialect?
Too many doubts, too much fear,
how can we bear to hand over to innocent children of childhood
Our government and society have long owed these minority indigenous groups a justice. Regarding their language and culture, customs and habits, society has not given corresponding respect; regarding their ability to make a living and their ways of life, the government has not given timely guidance and assistance. This poem reflects Yugan’s sharp questioning and painful protest against the unequal treatment imposed by society upon indigenous peoples, expressing it through a series of questions.
Part Two: Rhetorical Interrogation
1. Definition and Examples of Rhetorical Interrogation
“Rhetorical interrogation,” also called “provocative question” or “rhetorical question,” is “a rhetorical device that expresses a definite ideological content in the form of a question.”31 In nature, “rhetorical interrogation” is also a kind of “question without doubt,” “asking what is already known,” “rhetorical questions (rhetorical interrogation) differ from ordinary interrogative sentences. Although they also carry an interrogative tone, they are questions without doubt, knowingly asked, and do not require an answer, because the answer already lies within the question itself.”32, “rhetorical questions always adopt an unquestionable tone to express definite content, making important content be emphasized and highlighted, powerfully stimulating people to further think about the issue, making the language vigorous and forceful, and easily moving people.”33.
“Rhetorical interrogation,” expressed in the form of interrogative sentences that require no answer, is frequently seen in classical poetry. For example, in Wang Zhihuan of the Tang dynasty’s “Liangzhou Ci”: “Grape wine, luminous cup at night; about to drink, the pipa urges from horseback. Drunk lying on the battlefield, do not laugh—since ancient times, how many have returned from war?” the final line ends with a rhetorical question. Although the author does not state the answer, there is indeed an answer: in reverse of the question, “since ancient times, few have returned from war.”
2. Semantic Structure of Rhetorical Interrogation
Rhetorical interrogation expresses definite meaning in interrogative form; the answer has already been clarified by the sentence itself. Rhetorical questioning is used when reasoning is already very clear and right and wrong are extremely distinct, in order to stimulate people’s thinking.
3. Manifestation Forms of Rhetorical Interrogation
The forms of rhetorical interrogation: (1) from sentence form, divided into 1. yes-no type rhetorical interrogation, 2. specific-question type rhetorical interrogation, 3. choice-type rhetorical interrogation, 4. positive-negative type rhetorical interrogation34. (2) from answer form, it can be divided into 1. using negative form to express affirmative meaning; 2. using affirmative form to express negative meaning35.
(1) From sentence form
- Yes-no type rhetorical interrogation: a rhetorical question that states a matter completely and can be answered affirmatively or negatively.
Lo Fu “The Sword of Great Silence”36
A thousand-year cold iron casts a body of loneliness
Is the cold of the blade because of the heat of blood?
Indifferently entangled with each other, ignoring the sharpness of each other’s weapons
The poet raises a “yes-no type rhetorical interrogation”: “Is the cold of the blade because of the heat of blood?” This is a contrast between “cold and heat,” and also a struggle between “external object and internal mind.” In fact, the poet already has a settled view in mind; he uses such a rhetorical question only to strengthen his own belief.
Wu Sheng “Cold Night”37
Do you not know
that under the solitary lamp, father’s lonely contemplation and low chanting
is the most futile foolish act?
Do you not know that father’s plain poetic lines
are the anxious suffering
refined through tempering?
The father questions the son, without waiting for an answer; the father already has the answer in his heart. The father’s questions are meant to make the son understand that the father’s contemplation and chanting are tempered by suffering and anxiety, hoping the son can comprehend the father’s effort in writing modern poetry.
- Specific-question type rhetorical interrogation: rhetorical questions using interrogatives such as “who,” “how many,” “when,” “why,” “how much,” etc.
Lo Fu “Naked Body Jumps into Fire / Brewing Fragrance of Snow for Ten Miles for You”38
Why love fire so much?
You frown and ask yourself then suddenly answer yourself
Is brewing wine not a ritual of wheat’s cremation?
Who can be blamed for such an outcome?
“Why love fire so much?” is a “specific-question type rhetorical interrogation.” The following two questions, “Is brewing wine not a ritual of wheat’s cremation?” is a “yes-no type rhetorical interrogation,” and “Who can be blamed for such an outcome?” is again a “specific-question type rhetorical interrogation,” requiring a specific “who” to be pointed out. The poet’s three self-questions differ in form, and the answers they require also differ. The protagonist in the poem repeatedly questions and answers himself, expressing inner confusion and unease.
Lo Fu “Fan”39
At this moment you turn back and ask
Who in the great fire of Red Cliff
was that pile of ashes?
“Who in the great fire of Red Cliff / was that pile of ashes?” is a “specific-question type rhetorical interrogation,” which must concretely identify “someone” who perished in the fire at Red Cliff.
- Choice-type rhetorical interrogation: rhetorical questions that seem to provide multiple possible answers for selection, often using structures such as “is…or…,” “is it…or is it…,” “which one…”.
Zhang Cuo “Reincarnation”40
If this meeting of ours is not the original cause,
then what kind of result is our separation?
Is everything that happens a cycle of karmic causation?
“Then what kind of result is our separation?” is a “choice-type rhetorical interrogation,” where the answer is selectable and may have several possibilities. “Is everything that happens a cycle of karmic causation?” is a “yes-no type rhetorical interrogation,” whose answer can only be “yes” or “no.”
Jiang Xun “To Li Shuangze”41
Watching the first and second rows of noblewomen during intermission
arguing about in 1945, Nanjing restoration
the first play performed by Mei Lanfang,
was it “The Drunken Beauty”? Or “Farewell My Concubine”?
In these lines, “Was it ‘The Drunken Beauty’? Or ‘Farewell My Concubine’?” is a “choice-type rhetorical interrogation,” where the answer must be one or the other. The poem depicts Taipei nightlife in the 1960s–70s, with noblewomen in theaters discussing trivial romantic matters, reflecting the privileged and extravagant lifestyle of the upper class.
- Positive-negative type rhetorical interrogation: rhetorical questions formed with affirmative and negative forms, such as “can or not,” “good or not,” “have or not.”
Wu Sheng “Dispute”42
When you use a harsh tone to the fullest
and loudly rebuke your brother
have you ever sincerely examined yourself
whether you have made the same mistake?
Do you think shouting empty fine words
can cover your own wrongdoing?
Both of the above questions are “positive-negative type rhetorical interrogation,” allowing only “yes/no,” “can/cannot” answers. This is a father’s accusation toward disputes between sons, urging reflection through yes-no rhetorical questioning.
(2) From answer form
- Using negative form to express affirmative meaning
“From ancient times, who has not died? Leave a loyal heart to illuminate the blue sky.” (Wen Tianxiang of Song dynasty “Crossing the Lingding Ocean”), this is a “negative-question affirmative-answer” structure, using a negative interrogative form rhetorically; the affirmative answer “leave a loyal heart to illuminate the blue sky” is the intended response.
Lo Fu “Shock”43
Can we say
that death is not a purely existing thing?
A stocking
last year’s stretched-out tongue
today is still hanging
on the clothesline
This is “negative-question affirmative-answer,” using a negative question to seek readers’ affirmative agreement. Such questions often appeal to readers’ moral views and value judgments, emphasizing the correctness of the speaker’s idea; the answer is already in the poet’s mind.
- Using affirmative form to express negative meaning
“Full of absurd words on one paper, a handful of bitter tears; all say the author is mad—who understands the taste in his heart?” (Cao Xueqin “Dream of the Red Chamber”), this is “affirmative-question negative-answer,” where the affirmative question “no one understands the taste in his heart” is the intended answer.
Chen Li “Reading Huang Tingjian at the End of the Century”44
Turning money into gold, exchanging bones and changing form:
Huge billboards frightened away those
traditional consumers. They said poetry
can it be alchemy or surgery?
Conservative readers, regarding relatively “avant-garde” trends, always harbor suspicion. The final line of this poem, “Can poetry be alchemy or surgery?”, is a “affirmative-question negative-answer” form: expressing doubt and rejection of avant-garde thought and the “rebirth/transformation” technique.
Lin Ling〈Battlement Wall〉45
The second time, I no longer dream of vastness
I walk with my hands behind my back, pacing from one end to the other
I am thinking:
Can such a thin rope bind a city?
“Can such a thin rope bind a city?”, the answer is self-evident; of course it is negative. This is a “positive question, negative answer,” expressing a negative meaning through a positive interrogative sentence. Such questions aim to state a “negative attitude” that in fact has little dispute; the use of interrogative form is merely to further confirm this negative stance.
Notes
(1) Dong Jitang, Rhetorical Analysis, Taipei: Wen-Shi-Zhe Publishing, 1992, p.107.
(2) Liu Huanhui, Outline of Rhetoric, Nanchang: Baihuazhou Literature and Art, 1991, p.393.
(3) Cheng Weijun et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Dictionary, Beijing: China Youth Press, 1991, p.726.
(4) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (revised edition), Taipei: National Press, 2004, p.182.
(5) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (revised edition), Taipei: National Press, 2004, p.183.
(6) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p.47.
(7) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (revised edition), Taipei: National Press, 2004, p.173.
(8) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p.64.
(9) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p.51.
(10) Shen Qian, Rhetoric (Vol. I), Taipei: National Open University, 1991, p.370.
(11) Yang Chunlin, Liu Fan (eds.), Dictionary of Chinese Rhetorical Art, Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Publishing, 1991, p.767.
(12) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p.49.
(13) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p.50.
(14) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (revised edition), Taipei: National Press, 2004, pp.179–180.
(15) Dong Jitang, Rhetorical Analysis, Taipei: Wen-Shi-Zhe, 1992, p.113.
(16) Cheng Weijun et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Dictionary, Beijing: China Youth Press, 1991, p.875.
(17) Cheng Weijun et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Dictionary, Beijing: China Youth Press, 1991, p.707.
(18) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (revised edition), Taipei: National Press, 2004, p.173.
(19) From Luo Fu, Illustrations of Dreams, Taipei: Bookman, 1999, p.115.
(20) From Luo Fu, Illustrations of Dreams, Taipei: Bookman, 1999, p.123.
(21) From Zhang Cuo, Fourteen Sonnets of Error, Taipei: China Times Publishing, 1981, pp.31–34.
(22) From Yu Guangzhong, Selected Poems of Yu Guangzhong (Vol. I): 1949–1981, Taipei: Hongfan, 1981, pp.342–343.
(23) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (revised edition), Taipei: National Press, 2004, p.176.
(24) From Yu Guangzhong, Selected Poems of Yu Guangzhong (Vol. I): 1949–1981, Taipei: Hongfan, 1981, pp.228–230.
(25) From Chen Jiadai, The Soul of the City, Taipei: Bookman, 1991, pp.55–57.
(26) From Walis Nokan, A Mountain Is a School, Taichung County Cultural Center, 1994, pp.52–53.
(27) From Zhou Mengdie, Selected Century Poems of Zhou Mengdie, Taipei: Jiuge, 2002, pp.34–35.
(28) Yang Chunlin, Liu Fan (eds.), Dictionary of Chinese Rhetorical Art, Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Publishing, 1991, p.767.
(29) From Zhang Cuo, Fourteen Sonnets of Error, Taipei: China Times Publishing, 1981, pp.12–20.
(30) From Walis Nokan, Ine Revisited Survey, Taichung: Morning Star, 1999, pp.44–49.
(31) Yang Chunlin, Liu Fan (eds.), Dictionary of Chinese Rhetorical Art, Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Publishing, 1991, p.753.
(32) Yang Chunlin, Liu Fan (eds.), Dictionary of Chinese Rhetorical Art, Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Publishing, 1991, p.753.
(33) Cheng Weijun et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Dictionary, Beijing: China Youth Press, 1991, p.873.
(34) Lu Jiaxiang, Chi Taining (eds.), Dictionary of Rhetorical Methods Explained, Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education, 1990, p.74.
(35) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (revised edition), 2004, Taipei: National Press, pp.180–181.
(36) From Illustrations of Dreams, Taipei: Bookman, 1999, pp.31–33.
(37) From Wu Sheng, Collected Poems of Wu Sheng, Taipei: Hongfan, 2000, pp.161–163.
(37) From Luo Fu, Hidden Title Poems, Taipei: Er-Ya, 1993, pp.61–63.
(39) From Luo Fu, Illustrations of Dreams, Taipei: Bookman, 1999, pp.99–100.
(40) From Zhang Cuo, Wanderers, Taipei: Er-Ya, 1986, pp.9–12.
(41) From Jiang Xun, The Landscape Before the Eyes Is Like a Painting, Taipei: United Literature, 2000, pp.52–61.
(42) From Wu Sheng, Collected Poems of Wu Sheng, Taipei: Kaitu, 1994, pp.208–211.
(43) From Luo Fu, Illustrations of Dreams, Taipei: Bookman, 1999, p.43.
(44) From Chen Li, Selected Poems of Chen Li, Taipei: Jiuge, 2001, pp.332–334.
(45) From Lin Ling, Collected Poems of Lin Ling, Taipei: Hongfan, 1982, pp.35–36.
