Chapter 16. Imagery and Implication: (Part II)

Symbol and Euphemism

Section 1. Definition and Function of Euphemism

1. Euphemism: meaning beyond words, subtle and layered aftertaste

“When speaking or writing, instead of directly stating the intended meaning, one uses tactful and indirect expressions, and through oblique and suggestive wording implies the intended meaning; this is called euphemism”1, “a rhetorical device that expresses the intended meaning through tactful, indirect, and implicit language, also called circumlocution or euphemism.”2. Euphemism is “a way of enabling people, after reflection, to understand the speaker’s intended meaning”3. The main characteristic of euphemism is “meaning beyond words”; here, the “words” carry a sense of tactfulness (implicitness and implication), yet can still clearly express the “intended meaning.”

In rhetoric, “euphemism” and “aphoristic precision” stand in opposition; the “indirect and circuitous” nature of euphemism contrasts with the “concise and profound” nature of aphoristic precision, forming a “contrast.” “The characteristics of euphemism are implicitness, tactfulness, and circuitousness, reflected in two aspects: ‘not stating the literal meaning directly’ and ‘expressing the intended meaning through implication and foreshadowing.’”4

When using euphemism, one should observe three principles: 1. “It should be implicit rather than obscure,” 2. “It should be rich in meaning rather than shallow and explicit,” 3. “It should be tactful rather than direct.”5

The functions of euphemism are: (1) avoiding unpleasant emotional impact by using vague, indirect, and subtle language to reduce stimulation and make the listener more receptive; (2) easing tense atmospheres, allowing both parties to calm anger and reduce conflict; (3) politeness in social interaction; (4) deliberately conveying meaning beyond words.6

2. Historical origins of euphemism

Northern Song scholar Sima Guang in Sixi Poetry Remarks said: “Ancient people composing poetry valued meaning beyond words, allowing readers to reflect before understanding.” Qian Zhongshu in Guan Zhui Bian said: “The so-called euphemistic style, in expressing emotion and describing scenery, contains implied meanings beyond the scene; it expresses inexhaustible meaning beyond words. For example, ‘a single red flower among ten thousand green clusters, spring scenery need not be too abundant to be lively.’” It depicts “a single red flower among green foliage,” yet this single red already suggests a full garden of spring scenery; thus, seeing one red flower implies boundless vivid blossoms in full bloom.7

For example, in Tang poet Song Zhiwen’s “Crossing the Han River”: “Beyond the frontier the sound of letters has been cut off, winter has passed into spring again. The nearer I get to home, the more anxious I feel, and I do not dare ask those coming from there.” After a long time without receiving letters from home, on the way back, the closer one gets to home, the less one dares to ask travelers from the homeland about family news. The author does not directly express the fear of hearing bad news about family members, yet the emotional contradiction of joy and fear, and the deep concern for loved ones, is vividly and movingly expressed.

Another example is Tang poet Zhu Qingyu’s “Presenting My Inner Feelings to Minister Zhang”: “Last night in the bridal chamber the red candle was stopped; at dawn I will bow before my parents-in-law in the hall. After dressing, I softly ask my husband: is my eyebrow makeup in line with current fashion?” On the surface, the poem describes a new bride’s nervousness before meeting her parents-in-law, but its true intention is self-comparison of the bride with the poet, the groom with Minister Zhang, and the parents-in-law with the examiners, asking Zhang Ji for his opinion on the poet’s work and hoping he would recommend him to the examiners. In terms of bridal sentiment, it portrays the bride’s anxious state vividly and subtly. In terms of true intention, the poet’s pre-exam anxiety and expectation are expressed delicately and appropriately, conforming to the intellectuals’ desire for success in the imperial examinations at the time, with strong typicality. Zhang Ji, upon receiving Zhu’s submission, responded in the same indirect style with “Replying to Zhu Qingyu”: “A Yue girl emerges newly adorned from the mirror’s heart; she knows her beauty yet still hesitates. Fine silk of Qi is not yet valued by the world; a single song of water chestnuts outweighs a thousand gold.” He compares Zhu Qingyu to a water chestnut-picking girl, indicating that his appearance and talent will surely be appreciated by the examiners and that there is no need to worry about the exam.

Another example is Song dynasty poet Li Qingzhao’s “Phoenix Terrace Reminiscence of the Flute”: “Recently I have become thin; it is not due to drinking illness, nor sorrow over autumn.” What is clearly meant is the pain of longing, yet she uses circuitous language and does not state the meaning directly, only saying it is unrelated to illness or autumn melancholy.

Section 2. The Semantic Structure of Euphemism

“Puns, irony, and euphemism are all rhetorical devices involving hidden meanings and a discrepancy between surface and intention… Generally, all three share the characteristic of indirect narration, conveying meanings that cannot, should not, dare not, or are inconvenient to express directly through special techniques.”8. Euphemism, like pun and irony, has dual layers of meaning; however, pun is “double meaning within the words, where words say one thing but imply another,” with the intended meaning to be found within the expression; euphemism is “meaning beyond words,” requiring interpretation outside the words; irony, on the other hand, is “meaning opposite to what is said,” where surface meaning and intended meaning are in direct opposition.

Euphemism is not deliberate obscurity or ambiguity; its meaning is usually clear and definite within a given context. Its strength lies in “the words stop but the meaning continues,” leaving room for reflection and aftertaste.9 From a semantic perspective, pun contains the intended meaning within the surface meaning; irony places surface and intended meaning in opposition; euphemism, however, extends meaning beyond the surface expression. This form, which combines two layers of meaning, is called by some scholars a “dual-meaning combination”: “a dual-meaning combination is a semantic structure that integrates both surface and inner meanings.”10

Section 3. Forms of Expression of Euphemism

Mainland scholars generally classify euphemism using a binary approach, dividing it into “euphemistic language” and “indirect language” (Lu Jiaxiang et al., p.243; Yang Chunlin et al., p.201; Wang Dechun, p.155); others divide it into “foreshadowing” and “implication” (Huang Minyu, p.233). Local scholar Huang Yongwu classifies euphemism into three categories: “circuitousness,” “subtle expression,” and “implicitness” (Huang Yongwu, pp.26–44), followed by Huang Qingxuan (Huang Qingxuan, p.269). Shen Qian adds a fourth category, “hesitation,” beyond the three categories (Shen Qian, p.184). Huang Yongwu later also added “hesitation,” making the system more complete; the author follows this classification.

1. Circuitousness (indirect circling)

“A rhetorical method that replaces direct expression with roundabout wording, deliberately making the sentence and meaning indirect.”11, “from the perspective of expressive technique, implicitness is not saying everything, while circuitousness is not speaking directly.”12

Yang Mu, “Two Poems on the Wine Pot, First: The Pot of Tao, Dedicated to Ya Xian”13

It is said that after returning to his homeland, this person neither drinks alcohol nor smokes
and even writes less poetry
in the end, only a bright evening remains
pasted in the west, used for walking with his woman
Leaves and flowing water and starlight unanimously agree
that quarrels are forbidden this summer

This is a poem of a responsive and reciprocal nature. In poetic circles, the premise of “mutual support in hardship” is often “shared affinities”; and exchanging poems as social response is a way poets “share saliva and body temperature,” the most common form of interaction. This trend has long been popular, but only within poetic circles, because poetry is “miniature in form” and does not require the exhausting labor of a long novel that leaves one physically drained. Thus, when poets have long been “idle and bored,” they exchange works for amusement, whether to flatter, mock, tease, satirize, ridicule, or jest, as long as they “do not fall out” (do not damage harmony), it is harmless.

In this short poem, Yang Mu inevitably teases his old friend “Ya Xian,” who has already “shut down his engine” and retreated to the “audience seat” to cool off. The poem says that after returning to Taiwan, this former energetic “sailor” has become a man who neither writes poetry, drinks, nor partakes in the fires of the Muse, and instead walks with his wife every day, becoming a very domestic, gentle, and family-oriented man (what is now popularly called a “homebody”).

Li Kuixian, “Resident Bird”

My friend is still in prison
not like migratory birds
pursuing seasons of freedom
seeking new lands of adaptation
rather willing
to feed back the weak homeland

My friend is still in prison
folding wings into a speechless resident bird
abandoning language, and
abandoning the memory of altitude, and
abandoning training to be carried by the wind
rather willing to ruminate the weakness of the homeland

The poet’s friend is someone who loves his homeland; he gave up the opportunity to emigrate and stayed on his native soil to live and struggle. As for why he was arrested and under what charges he was imprisoned, the poet does not state the process, but directly jumps to his situation in prison. This poem does not directly accuse authoritarian governments of ruling the people, nor does it resort to loud political slogans. It is written in a very implicit manner, yet it is more persuasive and more moving, capable of touching hearts and resonating deeply.

2. Subtle diction (wei-ci)

“To avoid stating what one is unwilling to express directly, one avoids frontal expression and instead uses indirect, lateral wording; from the faint and subtle phrasing, one perceives the hidden ingenuity that is not openly revealed. This kind of sentence structure is called subtle diction (wei-ci). Subtle diction often carries a sense of irony or self-mockery, therefore it differs slightly from implicitness.”15

Luo Fu “To Mr. Xiao Qian”16

You lead the toast, yet speak very little

You address the world through your wounds

It is fine not to talk about literature

Then let us talk about the weather

Beijing may now be in early snowfall

Autumn in Iowa is already deep

While Taiwan’s sunlight is just right

It is exactly the kind of temperature you need

Mr. Xiao Qian was a heavyweight senior writer from across the strait. The poet Luo Fu, during an invitation and exchange visit at the University of Iowa, happened to meet the elder writer. He intended to express enthusiasm proactively, but the elder, having undergone the “Cultural Revolution,” was taciturn and seemed rather cautious. The poet encountered a soft rejection and had no choice but to switch to a more irrelevant topic and “chat casually.” Of course, the poet did not only engage in idle small talk; when the opportunity arose, he still “encouraged” the elder writer, saying: “Beijing may now be in early snowfall, Iowa’s autumn is already deep, while Taiwan’s sunlight is just right.” The implied meaning was to suggest: “After the writer workshop here ends, you should not return to the ‘iron curtain’—just pack up your belongings and come with me to Taiwan to enjoy your later years?” The poet Luo Fu deliberately spoke in a roundabout manner, originally using the opportunity to attempt to “persuade” Mr. Xiao.

3. Implicitness: language near but emotion distant, meaning contained but not revealed

“By avoiding direct statement and not exposing rhetorical sharpness, one speaks from the side but does not say everything, leaving emotional residue beyond the words; the reader must interpret it themselves in order to feel its profound meaning—this is called implicitness. Implicit language is gentle in diction and faint in meaning, neither pressing nor revealing, carrying a warm and mild emotional tone, without forced restraint or sarcastic sharpness; therefore it differs from subtle diction and hesitation.”17 “Implicitness refers to not directly pointing out the intended meaning, but expressing it through various rhetorical techniques in a tactful and circuitous manner, allowing readers to grasp it intuitively and feel its depth. Words are finite but meaning is infinite; wanting to express yet not revealing—implicitness and accumulation are traditional aesthetic principles of our literature.”18 “Implicitness” is more often discussed as a “style” type, and few rhetoricians classify it as a rhetorical device.

1. The classical aesthetic view of implicitness

Liu Xie of the Liang dynasty, in Wenxin Diaolong · Concealment and Revelation, emphasized that writing should contain “multiple meanings”: “What is concealment is the deeper intent beyond the text; what is brilliance is the uniquely outstanding part within the chapter. Concealment achieves its excellence through layered meanings, and brilliance achieves its craft through extraordinariness.”19 This corresponds to what Sikong Tu of the Tang dynasty called “meaning beyond words, intent beyond flavor,” requiring “hidden and profound writing, with layered and lingering aftertaste” (Liu Xie’s words). Sikong Tu further regarded “implicitness” as a kind of “style,” advocating “not a single word written, yet all manner of charm is obtained.” Song poet Mei Yaochen believed that the best poetry should be able to “describe scenes difficult to depict as if they were before the eyes, and contain inexhaustible meaning beyond words.” Poetry must avoid being too direct, and should instead follow “words are finite but meaning is infinite.” Qing early critic Wu Qiao, in Poetry Remarks around the Stove, stated: “Poetry values implicit meaning that is not fully exhausted, especially avoiding direct opinions, sounds and colors, narratives, and arguments.” The so-called valuing implicitness in poetry means that poets do not directly state their inner feelings, but allow readers to interpret them, making the poem more thought-provoking. Qing scholar Yuan Mei in Xiao Cangshan Letters wrote: “Straightness is valued in people; curvature is valued in writing,” which likewise expresses the principle that “writing values indirectness.”

2. Types of implicit expression:

“The essential feature of implicitness is ‘language near but emotion distant, meaning contained but not revealed,’ meaning the author embeds the intended meaning within the inner layer of the phenomenon being presented… Implicitness sometimes requires the use of metaphor, pun, irony, euphemism, and other rhetorical devices, all serving to conceal meaning and avoid direct expression.”20

(1) Euphemistic implicitness: not stating things directly, but revealing them through euphemistic expression.

Zheng Jiongming “Beggar”21

I walk through dark alleys
no one looks at me even once

I crouch under flickering sunlight
no one looks at me even once

I lie on a park bench
no one looks at me even once

I die suddenly at the entrance of a shop
yet attract crowds of onlookers

“Beggars” and “homeless people,” these marginalized groups, live at the dark bottom of society. They are long ignored and overlooked because most people believe their situation is self-inflicted or due to laziness. Thus, society is willing to extend help to those who encounter sudden crises, helping them overcome difficulties, but is unwilling to assist beggars and homeless people in learning skills for survival, to lift them out of poverty and helplessness. Beggars wander and often encounter rejection or cold refusal. In their daily lives, almost no one takes the initiative to care about them; even when they are starving or seriously ill, no one pays attention.

This poem implicitly expresses society’s indifference toward beggars, while the beggars themselves do not express much complaint about this indifference, as they have long been accustomed to being ignored. How does society treat beggars with indifference? The poem only mentions that wherever beggars go, no one is willing to look at them twice. In fact, it is easy to imagine that most of the time, beggars are disliked and rejected wherever they go. The poem does not explicitly state this reality, nor does it directly criticize or demand reflection from society. The only moment when beggars are “noticed” is after they die suddenly on the street, attracting curious crowds. The irony in this poem is gentle and restrained, and the sorrowful tone is also understated; precisely because it does not explicitly expose society’s rejection or deliver moral condemnation, it more accurately conveys the beggars’ resigned mentality, and the faint sadness resonates more deeply with readers.

(2) Allegorical implicitness: embedding meaning within a phenomenon without directly stating its essence.

Qiao Lin “Pencil Case”22

Love has a thousand forms

I have only one

It is when the pencil, dusty and disheveled,

returns from running around outside

I open my body

and completely embrace it

It is when the eraser, covered in wounds,

after encountering many errors outside

I open my body

and completely embrace it

There are also those used as tools

after being used

I open my body

and completely embrace them

Love—I have only one

although love has a thousand forms

The subject “I” in this poem is not actually a human being, but a pencil case. The poet uses “objectification,” transforming himself into a pencil case, speaking from the perspective of a pencil case, expressing a kind of feminine virtue of “embrace,” soothing family members who return exhausted and wounded from their struggles outside. This poem is not only warm in its poetic sense, but also gentle in tone, truly capable of comforting its readers.

(3) Latent-revealed implicitness: embedding the essential meaning of things within related phenomena, creating a state that is half-hidden and half-revealed, allowing readers to grasp its truth.

Chen Li “February”23

Gunshots disappear among birds at dusk

The missing father’s shoes

The missing son’s shoes

Footsteps returning in every bowl of waking porridge

Footsteps returning in every basin of evening washing water

The missing mother’s black hair

The missing daughter’s black hair

Resisting foreign rule under foreign domination

Raped by the homeland within the embrace of the homeland

Mangoes. Thistles. Wilderness. Shouts.

The missing calendar of autumn

The missing calendar of spring

This poem describes the “February 28 Incident.” The second, third, fourth, and final stanzas all use repeated parallel lines, and within a calm rhythm reveals a sorrowful atmosphere. The poem does not directly point out the bloody suppression by the government authorities; the victims are all treated as “missing,” leaving readers to wonder where they went and what fate they encountered. The poem is implicit, yet thought-provoking.

Du Pan Fangge “Peace Play”24

Peaceful people who only know obedience

Peaceful people who only know endurance

Surrounding the stage

Applauding the performance

Those are the many peaceful people

you allow him to perform

Rather than standing under the stage

chewing sugarcane and sour plum seeds

preserving the only life they have

watching

a peace play

Under long-term “martial law conditions,” most Taiwanese people were “resigned and obedient.” Their demands for freedom and human rights were extremely low; as long as they could sit under the stage, chewing sugarcane and sour plum seeds while watching a “peaceful play,” that was already immense happiness to them. This poem likewise does not directly address how rulers exercised oppression, control, terror, or violence; it simply describes the people’s desire to live peacefully, retaining their heads, mouths, and eyes, while enjoying food and watching a “loyalty- and filiality-promoting, ideologically correct” peace play, occasionally allowing themselves small pleasures.

In fact, in such an era prone to “any disturbance,” most local poets and writers could only write such lightly suggestive works to relieve inner suffocation. Those who once “spoke freely and loudly” either ended up like Yang Kui or Ke Qi-hua (pen name Ming Zhe, a poet of the “Crescent Moon” poetry society) being sent to Green Island to “sing lullabies,” or mysteriously “vanished from the world,” beyond even the reach of the King of Hell.

4. Hesitation (tūn-tǔ)

“When one does not use a straightforward, explosive style to express meaning, but instead speaks at the moment of about-to-say-yet-not-said, forcibly suppressing expression and using sentences that contain more withholding than release, advancing and then retracting—this kind of sentence structure is called hesitation (tūn-tǔ).”25 Implicitness is “language that carries reservation,” whereas “hesitation” is language that is “suppressed,” in which what is not said is more than what is said.

Jì Xiǎoyàng, “Confession of a Bamboo Shoot”26

After the Awakening of Insects; before Grain Rain

I am a bamboo shoot stolen from the mountain forest

and sold into the mortal world.

Those kind uncles and elder men, clumsily touching

smear lipstick on my lips; inject needles beneath my breasts

They forcefully tear off the sheaths covering my body

and insert sections of decaying rotten wood

into my body—probing for

the temperature of the spring they desire.

O alcoholic father! I do not

blame you; degeneration is the entire process of peeling bamboo shoots.

O gambling mother! I do not

hate you; I see the Central Mountain Range bleeding…

—The world is a bamboo grove

unable to stop

twitching in pain.

This poem uses the mouth of a young, still ignorant girl to describe the indifference she suffers from her family and parents, and how the uncles and elder men perform certain acts upon her body. These relatives, these uncles and elders, treat her in ways that make the young girl feel uncomfortable, yet she never thinks of escaping or resisting, only passively enduring everything.

“The alcoholic father! I do not / blame you; degeneration is the entire process of peeling bamboo shoots. / The gambling mother! I do not / hate you; I see the Central Mountain Range bleeding…” In these two passages, the young girl speaks in a “hesitant and halting” manner, so that listeners cannot understand what she truly intends to express. The phrases “I do not” and “blame you / hate you,” because the girl speaks in a fragmented and hesitant way, produce semantic ambiguity; this is precisely what makes the poem thought-provoking.

[Notes]

(1) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p. 269.

(2) Lu Jiaxiang, Chi Taining (eds.), Dictionary of Rhetorical Methods with Examples, Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education Press, 1990, p. 242.

(3) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: National Press, 2004, p. 500.

(4) Yang Chunlin, Liu Fan (eds.), Great Dictionary of Chinese Rhetorical Art, Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Press, 1991, p. 201.

(5) See Shen Qian, Rhetoric (Vol. 1), Taipei: National Open University, 1991, p. 184.

(6) Lu Jiaxiang, Chi Taining (eds.), Dictionary of Rhetorical Methods with Examples, Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education Press, 1990, p. 242.

(7) Qian Zhongshu, annotated by Zhou Zhenfu, edited by Ji Qin (1995), Guan Zhui Bian, Taipei: Hongye Culture, p. 85.

(8) Zhang Chunrong, New Thinking in Rhetoric, Taipei: Wanjuanlou, 2002, p. 93.

(9) Yang Chunlin, Liu Fan (eds.), Great Dictionary of Chinese Rhetorical Art, 1991, Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Press, p. 201.

(10) Liu Huanhui, Outline of Rhetoric, Nanchang: Baihuazhou Literature and Art, 1991, p. 308.

(11) Huang Yongwu, Methods of Sentence Refinement, Taipei: Hongfan, 1986, p. 26.

(12) Cai Moufang, Overview of Rhetorical Device Comparisons, Taipei: Taiwan Student Bookstore, 2001, p. 145.

(13) From Zhang Cuo (ed.), Island of a Thousand Tunes, Taipei: Erya, 1987, pp. 9–10.

(14) From Zheng Jiongming (ed.), Mixed Chorus, Kaohsiung: Chunhui, 1992, p. 364.

(15) Huang Yongwu, Methods of Sentence Refinement, Taipei: Hongfan, 1986, p. 30.

(16) From Zhang Cuo (ed.), Island of a Thousand Tunes, Taipei: Erya, 1987, pp. 69–70.

(17) Huang Yongwu, Methods of Sentence Refinement, Taipei: Hongfan, 1986, p. 40.

(18) Cheng Weijin et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Compendium, Beijing: China Youth Press, 1991, p. 1151.

(19) Liu Xie, annotated by Zhou Zhenfu, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, Taipei: Liren, 1984, p. 739.

(20) Cheng Weijin et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Compendium, Beijing: China Youth Press, 1991, p. 1161.

(21) From Zheng Chongming, Song of the Sweet Potato, Kaohsiung: Chunhui, 1987, p. 11.

(22) From Zheng Jiongming (ed.), Mixed Chorus, Kaohsiung: Chunhui, 1992, p. 456.

(23) From Chen Li, Selected Poems of Chen Li, Taipei: Jiuge, 2001, pp. 72–74.

(24) From Du Pan Fangge, Blue Phoenix Orchid Wave, Taipei: Qianwei, 1993, pp. 131–132.

(25) Huang Yongwu, Methods of Sentence Refinement, Taipei: Hongfan, 1986, p. 36.

(26) From Xin Yu et al. (eds.), Poetry Anthology of the 1990s, Taipei: Genesis Poetry Society, 2001, pp. 256–257.