Chapter 17. Transfer Between Sensory Images:

Synesthesia

Section 1. Definition and Function of Synesthesia

1. Synesthesia: information exchange between the senses

“Synesthesia,” also called “transferred sensation” (yi jue / yi jiu)1, “is a rhetorical device that uses vivid and concrete language to describe the qualities and states of things by shifting the angle of perception.”2 “Synesthesia refers to expressing the qualities perceived by one sense through the perception of another sense. The famous British musician Marion said: ‘Sound is visible color, color is audible sound.’”3 This precisely illustrates that sound and color can be mutually communicated, and that interaction among the senses exists.

In modern China, Qian Zhongshu was the first to propose the “theory of sensory correspondence” (see below). A more complete explanation is found in Modern Chinese Rhetoric edited by Li Yunhan and Zhang Weigeng4:

The various human senses—hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch—are different from one another, yet also share certain points of connection. When describing objective things, figurative language is used to transfer sensations belonging to one sense to another sense. Relying on the interconnection among the senses, it stimulates readers to associate and experience the artistic conception of poetry and prose.

The function of synesthesia can be explained from both the creator’s and the reader’s perspectives. “For the writer, it enables a more vivid and exhaustive depiction of objects—representing form, color, sound, and taste… providing readers with concrete images that can be seen, heard, felt, and tasted. This mobilizes their active thinking, arouses emotional waves, and allows them to unleash imagination and jointly create a moving artistic realm with the author.”5

2. Historical origins of synesthesia

Liu Xie’s Wenxin Diaolong · Wuse states: “When poets are moved by things, associations of categories become inexhaustible. Wandering among myriad phenomena, they dwell in the realms of sight and hearing; depicting qi and form, they follow things in graceful transformation; attaching colors and sounds, they also wander with the mind.”6 This means poets are highly sensitive to things and can form multi-sensory associations; these associations are endless and diverse, “following things in transformation and wandering with the mind.”

Wenxin Diaolong · Tongbian states: “The force of literary language endures through adaptability and transformation,” “using emotion to achieve communication, and energy to adapt to change,” and “literary rules circulate continuously, renewing daily; change allows endurance, and communication prevents deficiency.”7 This points out that literary creation is a continuously evolving process; only by seeking novelty and transformation can it endure, and only by integrating diverse methods can it avoid exhaustion.

As a mode of expression, “synesthesia” has long existed in classical Chinese poetry, but has never been systematically summarized. For example, two common “poetic eyes” are:

1. The character “noisy / lively” (闹)

From visual perception → to auditory association

“Green willows beyond misty dawn clouds, spring intent ‘noisy’ on red apricot branches”….. Song, Song Qi, Yulouchun
“Carriages rush and horses gallop, lanterns become ‘noisy’; the ground is still and people idle, the moon naturally beautiful”….. Song, Huang Tingjian
“Cold window pierces through blue sparse light; damp foundation ‘noisy’ with green moss”….. Song, Huang Tingjian
“At midnight fireflies are ‘noisy,’ the Milky Way spans the sky”….. Song, Chen Yuyi
“A hundred grasses release fragrance, butterflies are ‘noisy’; stream rises, green herons are idle”….. Song, Lu You
“Wind blows plum blossoms ‘noisy,’ fine rain makes apricot blossoms fragrant”….. Song, Yan Jidao
“North of the river cold mist like plum blossoms; south of the river plum blossoms ‘noisy’ like piles of snow”….. Song, Mao Pang

Song Qi became famous for the line “spring intent is noisy on red apricot branches,” and was called the “Minister of Red Apricots.” The brilliance of this line lies in the word “noisy.” Wang Guowei commented: “With one word ‘noisy,’ the entire realm is revealed.” The word “noisy” here functions as a “poetic eye” with a key structural role. In these examples above, “noisy” functions as a key verb while also implicitly acting as an adjective. Because of its implicit adjectival nature, it sometimes “transforms form into sound,” such as “a hundred grasses release fragrance, butterflies are noisy,” linking smell (fragrance) with visual imagery (butterflies); or linking vision and hearing, such as “south of the river plum blossoms noisy like piles of snow,” “wind blows plum blossoms noisy.” At other times it “transforms the abstract into the concrete,” such as “spring intent is noisy on red apricot branches,” or “cold window pierces blue sparse light, damp foundation noisy with green moss.” It can also “transform passive into active,” such as “carriages rush and horses gallop, lanterns become noisy.” This differs from purely adjectival usage, such as Fan Chengda’s line “walking into noisy lotus without water surface, red lotus intoxicated, white lotus in ecstasy,” where the aesthetic effect is different.

1. The character “wet / moist” (湿)

From visual perception → to tactile association

“On the mountain path there is no rain, yet empty green moisture wets one’s clothes”….. Tang, Wang Wei
“At riverbank evening boats gather; beneath the waves the sunset red is ‘wet’”….. Song, Zhao Yanduan

From visual perception → to auditory association

“Flowers fear the cold of dawn wind; butterflies dream, willow worries, spring rain wets the oriole’s voice”….. Yuan, Huang Geng
“Dense fog sinks flag shadows; flying frost wets drum sounds”….. Ming, Lin Hong

From auditory perception → to visual association

“Morning bells wet beyond the clouds, sacred place stone hall smoke”….. Tang, Du Fu
“Several thatched cottages by the riverside village; willows gently green reflecting the gate. At the ferry crossing a lone person calls for a boat, a straw cloak in misty rain wets the dusk.”….. Song, Sun Di
“Oriole cries as if in tears, wetting the highest flower”….. Tang, Li Shangyin
“Moon waves surge upward, sky becomes wet; cold toad fades, sparse stars enter”….. Tang, Li Shangyin

From auditory perception → to tactile association

“Crowding trees, early crows fly but do not disperse; at the window cold drums are wet and silent”….. Tang, Xue Feng

In these examples, the word “wet” creates various novel aesthetic effects of sensory intersection: sometimes “transforming sound into form,” linking hearing and vision, as in “morning bells wet beyond the clouds”; sometimes linking vision and hearing, as in “oriole cries as if in tears, wetting the highest flower,” “a straw cloak in misty rain wets the dusk,” “spring rain wets the oriole’s voice”; sometimes linking vision, hearing, and touch together, as in “empty green moisture wets one’s clothes,” “cold drums at the window wet and silent.”

All the classical poetic examples above demonstrate that synesthesia in ancient poetry not only enhanced the expressive power of aesthetic experience for literati, but also reflected a lived sensory interconnection in their perception of the world.

Section 2. The theoretical foundation of synesthesia

1. Synesthesia and Symbolism

The original meaning of “synesthesia” refers to the harmony of conflicting elements or the reconciliation of opposing emotions in artworks. The French Symbolist school “advocated that different senses can communicate tacitly; visual images can suggest auditory images, and olfactory images can extend into tactile images.”8 Synesthesia thus refers to the mutual transfer of sensory domains: the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch interpenetrate and exchange domains of perception.

As a major expressive technique, synesthesia belongs to late 19th-century Symbolism. For example, French Symbolist poet Paul Verlaine (1844–1896) wrote: “White poplars still lament boundless sorrow; fountains still utter silver-white whispers,” which is a transfer from vision to hearing. Baudelaire (1821–1867) wrote: “Echo is dim like night, vast like day,” which is a transfer from hearing to vision.

Mainland scholar Li Yuanluo stated: “This ‘theory of sensory correspondence’ is the theoretical foundation of Symbolist poets; it guides their creative practice, expands the domain of poetry, strengthens poetic expressiveness, and promotes the development of modern French poetry.”9

2. Qian Zhongshu and the “theory of sensory correspondence”

Qian Zhongshu, in “Synesthesia,” wrote: “In everyday experience, sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste can often intercommunicate; the domains of eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and body are not strictly separated. Colors seem to have temperature; sounds seem to have form; coldness and warmth seem to have weight; smells seem to have substance. Such phenomena frequently appear in ordinary language. For example, we say ‘bright,’ and also ‘loud,’ transferring the ‘bright’ of visual brilliance to sound, as if sight and hearing are indistinguishable at this point. Likewise, idioms such as ‘lively’ and ‘calm’ also show that ‘heat’ and ‘noise,’ ‘cold’ and ‘stillness’ share a unified sensory basis.”10

Qian introduced Western “sensory correspondence theory” in 1962, first proposing the concept of “synesthesia” (inter-sensory communication), and used it to analyze classical Chinese poetry. Li Yuanluo stated: “Perhaps because poetry is the art most rich in imagination and suggestiveness, whereas fiction and prose must focus on realistic depiction of scenes and characters, synesthesia is used far more widely in poetry than in fiction and prose.”11

3. Synesthesia: figurative language

Synesthesia is a rhetorical method that achieves a more precise descriptive effect by transferring impressions obtained from one sense to another. In practice, it uses figurative language to transfer sensations from one sensory domain to another, often employing adjectives or metaphors.

In modern literature, synesthesia allows readers’ multiple senses to participate jointly in aesthetic perception, overcoming the limitations of a single sensory channel, thereby enriching and intensifying aesthetic experience. Therefore, synesthetic phenomena in modern literature are more often reflected in depictions of real life.

In formal rhetorical studies in China, synesthesia is either discussed only within “description” (as in Huang Lizhen), or replaced by terms such as “transferred epithet” (Huang Yongwu) or “transferred sensation” (Zhang Chunrong), without a systematic dedicated chapter. Huang Yongwu, in “On the Emergence of Imagery,” notes that “transferred epithet” involves deliberately integrating and interchanging sensory capacities (mutual exchange among the five senses), producing complex interweaving between impression and sensation, thereby generating an unusually strong aesthetic vitality beyond the ordinary, making sensory imagery more vivid and innovative.”12

Zhang Chunrong distinguishes metaphor from synesthesia by stating that metaphor involves intellectual engagement and associative similarity to achieve vivid concreteness, whereas synesthesia involves emotional permeation and sensory interconnection to achieve depth and uniqueness.”13

This author believes that synesthesia is built upon sensory description and can be regarded as an upgraded form of sensory depiction. Sensory description (often called “plain depiction”) is widely used in prose. On this basis, poets allow different senses to interpenetrate, producing a multisensory aesthetic realm that often provides readers with extraordinary aesthetic stimulation.

Section 3. The Semantic Structure of Synesthesia

Synesthesia originates from the “psychological connection” between different senses. After the five senses enter into “inter-sensory resonance and mutual communication,” the perception of sense A is transferred and applied to sense B, producing a novel and subtle aesthetic of sensory perception; therefore it is also called “transferred sensation.”

Synesthesia differs from metaphor. Although synesthesia often uses expressions such as “as if” or “seems like,” the tenor and vehicle in synesthetic metaphor must belong to different sensory domains; there is no comparability between them, that is, they lack “similarity.” This is because metaphor relies on “associative similarity” between tenor and vehicle, whereas synesthesia derives from “psychological connections among the senses.” In other words, although synesthesia often borrows the formal appearance of metaphor, and sometimes combines with personification and hyperbole (assisted synesthesia), there are also many instances of synesthesia that function independently (direct synesthesia), without involving other rhetorical devices.

Although both metaphor and synesthesia are based on human psychological perception, they differ fundamentally:
(1) Difference in essence: metaphor relies on imagination, and tenor and vehicle share similarity; synesthesia relies entirely on sensory communication, and the two sensory domains have no similarity, only psychological connection.
(2) Difference in effect: in metaphor, the tenor (subject) appears general, abstract, and indistinct, while the vehicle (figurative element) is concrete, vivid, and imagistic; it moves from the familiar to the unfamiliar, becoming progressively clearer. Synesthesia, however, moves from the ordinary toward the subtle and mysterious, becoming increasingly profound.

Section 4. Forms of Expression of Synesthesia

The classification of synesthetic expression generally follows two major criteria:
(1) Whether other rhetorical devices are involved, divided into:

1. Direct synesthesia
2. Assisted synesthesia

(2) Sensory intermodal transfer: according to the senses involved and their interactive targets, divided into:

1. auditory transfer
2. visual transfer
3. olfactory/taste transfer
4. tactile transfer
5. multi-sensory resonance

I. Based on whether other rhetorical devices are used

1. Direct synesthesia

Direct synesthesia refers to cases where no other rhetorical device is required; it can exist independently. For example, in Song dynasty poet Lin Bu (Lin Hejing), “Small Plum in the Mountain Garden”:
“The myriad blossoms fall, yet alone it is warm and beautiful, occupying all charm in the small garden. Sparse shadows slant across shallow water; hidden fragrance drifts in the moonlit dusk.”

The latter two lines describe the posture and charm of plum blossoms and are regarded as timeless classical verses in plum appreciation poetry. The first line appeals to vision, depicting the shape of plum branches, while the second appeals to smell, describing fragrance. Later generations summarize this as “hidden fragrance and sparse shadows.”

Guan Guan, “Cicada”14

He placed the cicada sounds of this year from the mountain across the road

into a tape recorder

took them out again

and let the children

use them for heating

Short poems often seize a single image to convey a special aesthetic experience. This is an exquisite short poem that directly transforms sound into the image of fire, while simultaneously possessing tactile warmth. The imagination is both strange and vivid. Through a direct mode of expression, the poem transfers sound (cicada sounds) into visual and tactile experience (warming by fire), demonstrating highly skilled technique.

2. Assisted synesthesia

Assisted synesthesia refers to cases that require other rhetorical devices such as metaphor, personification, or hyperbole; in other words, synesthesia appears together with other rhetorical forms. For example, in Tang poet Qian Xu, “Unopened Banana Leaf”:
“Cold candles without smoke, green wax dried; the fragrant heart still curled, fearing spring chill. What secret lies in this sealed letter? It will be quietly opened by the east wind to be read.”

This poem first uses metaphor and then personification, describing newly grown but unopened banana leaves as resembling green wax candles and sealed letters. Through metaphor, “green wax” and “sealed letter” are extended.

Because of its candle-like shape, it is not only “smokeless” but also evokes a sense of “fear of spring chill”; due to its resemblance to an unopened letter, it may be “secretly opened and read” by the personified east wind.

“Green wax” is a visual image, yet the poet describes it as “cold candle,” and “cold” belongs to tactile sensation; this constitutes synesthesia, because the visual perception produces a tactile association. In “the fragrant heart still curled, fearing spring chill,” “fragrant heart curled” is a visual image shaped through personification, while “fearing spring chill” is invisible; “cold” is tactile—this is also synesthesia. Furthermore, “letter” is visual, while “east wind” is tactile and invisible—this too is synesthesia.

Through synesthetic usage, the poem’s imaginative space is clearly expanded, and its artistic capacity is greatly increased.

Luo Fu, “West Lake Has Become Thin”

She has indeed grown much thinner

so thin, like the faint cicada chirping of summer

The wind sways the willow branches

which wrap around her waist

twisting into inch by inch

autumn

The poet states that West Lake “has indeed grown much thinner,” which is a visual description. This is followed by a simile describing its thinness: “the faint cicada chirping of summer,” which is an auditory description.

“West Lake’s thinness” and “faint cicada sound” have no similarity in form or essence and cannot be connected through associative similarity; therefore, they cannot be treated as metaphor alone. However, there exists a subjective psychological connection: the transition from the visual image of a “thin West Lake” to the auditory image of “faint cicada chirping in summer,” where vision and hearing interact, producing synesthetic perception and generating an unusual aesthetic experience of sensory overlap.

II. Sensory intermodal association

According to the sensory domains involved and their mutual transfer, synesthesia includes:

1. auditory transfer
2. visual transfer
3. olfactory/taste transfer
4. tactile transfer
5. multi-sensory resonance

Li Yuanluo states: “Skillful use of synesthesia can make images vivid and striking, producing fresh and unique aesthetic sensations. At the same time, because images stimulate multiple senses in the aesthetic subject, they can arouse rich associations and emotional responses. This is the special aesthetic effect of synesthesia.”15

Now consider the following modern poetry examples:

1. Auditory transfer

Luo Fu, “Golden Dragon Zen Temple”16

The evening bell

is the path down the mountain for tourists

Fern plants

along the white stone steps

chew it all the way down

Li Yuanluo comments: “The sound of the ‘evening bell’ is an auditory image, while the ‘path’ down the mountain is a visual image. The bell sound is lingering, and the path is winding; their perceptible and visible forms are similar. Thus Luo Fu creates a synesthetic correspondence between sight and hearing.”17

This technique of “transforming sound into form” is also found in the following passages:

Luo Fu, “Saigon Night Market”18

A man chewing gum

turns the accordion

into

a very long empty alley

The accordion player walks along the empty alley; the sound he produces is imagined by the poet as a long alley being pulled out. This technique of transforming sound into concrete image is a characteristic of Luo Fu’s work.

Varis Yukan, “Our Tame Grassland I”19

After sunset, a vast grassland

rises behind me with the sound of a bell.

My dear L, I seem to hear

waves of noisy laughter, a rounded musical tone

like tropical fish swimming in water

playing, disputing, spitting and swallowing

Through simile, “rounded sound of laughter” is transformed into “tropical fish swimming in water,” which is a transfer of sound perception. Teaching in a mountainous indigenous township in Taichung’s Heping District, the poet Varis Yukan spends his days with students. When the class bell rings, he hears noisy student chatter and laughter, but he does not find it disturbing; instead, he imagines them as tropical fish swimming in water, playing, arguing, and interacting. Teachers during breaks usually seek silence and dislike student disturbance, but Yukan feels differently—he sees it as students expressing their desire to be close to the teacher. As a “children’s king,” he enjoys it.

Hou Jiliang, “Late Spring”20

At the end of the alley, a lonely sound of footsteps arises

As desolate as autumn leaves slowly drifting down

“Lonely footsteps / as desolate as autumn leaves” is a simile-based synesthesia, transforming the intangible auditory image into a concrete visual image. The mutual transformation between vision and hearing is the most common form. As Li Yuanluo states: “Synesthesia between hearing and vision is the most common and most important type, because among human senses, hearing and vision are the most sensitive, subtle, rich, and closely integrated. They form the physiological and psychological basis of aesthetic perception, whereas smell, taste, and touch are lower senses.”21

Mei Xin, “Alley 181: Part II”22

Dogs bark deeper into the night

Dogs from neighboring alleys and streets

respond to the dogs of Alley 181

barking without pause

A child’s cry in the deep night

is like the night suddenly twitching

In a night where I am awakened by interrupted dreams and snoring

“The child’s cry in the deep night / is like the night suddenly twitching” is a metaphorical synesthesia—transforming sound into form. The cry is described as a “twitch,” which is concrete, vivid, and striking. The charm of synesthesia can be fully seen here.

Shen Huamo, “Chanting”23

Homeland is a song forgotten

the shadow of its chanting awakens

from last night’s silence of notes, a broken string bursts out

a high note like blood splashing in shock…

“If ‘a broken string bursts out a high note’ were followed by ‘like a startled nightingale,’ it would be auditory description; but the poet instead says the high note is like ‘blood splashing in shock.’ The high note belongs to hearing, while splashing blood is a visual image. The two are completely different in nature. By using the technique of ‘transforming sound into form,’ the female poet Shen Huamo makes the imagery vividly alive and startling.”

Section 3. The Semantic Structure of Synesthesia

Synesthesia originates from the “psychological connection” between different senses. After the five senses undergo “inter-sensory resonance and mutual communication,” the sensation of sense A is transferred and applied to sense B, producing a novel and mysterious aesthetic of the faculties; therefore it is also called “transferred sensation.”

“Synesthesia” (transferred sensation) differs from “metaphor.” Although synesthesia often uses words such as “as if” or “as though,” the tenor and vehicle used in synesthesia must belong to different sensory domains; there is no comparability between them—that is, they lack “similarity.” Metaphor relies on “associative similarity,” whereas synesthesia arises from “psychological connections between the senses.” In other words, although synesthesia often borrows the external form of “metaphor,” and sometimes combines with personification or hyperbole (assisted synesthesia), many instances of synesthesia also operate independently (direct synesthesia), without involving other rhetorical devices.

Although both metaphor and synesthesia are based on human psychological perception, they differ fundamentally.
(1) Difference in essence: metaphor relies on imagination, and the tenor and vehicle share similarity; synesthesia relies entirely on sensory communication, and the two sensations have no similarity, only psychological connection.
(2) Difference in effect: in metaphor, the tenor tends to be general, abstract, and indistinct, while the vehicle is concrete, vivid, and imagistic; it moves from the familiar to the unfamiliar, becoming increasingly superficial. Synesthesia, however, moves from the ordinary toward the mysterious, becoming increasingly deep.

Section 4. The Forms of Synesthetic Expression

The forms of synesthetic expression can be broadly divided according to two criteria:
(1) Whether other rhetorical devices are involved:

1. direct synesthesia
2. assisted synesthesia

(2) According to sensory cross-association: based on the senses involved and their interacting targets:

1. auditory transfer
2. visual transfer
3. olfactory–gustatory transfer
4. tactile transfer
5. multi-sensory synesthetic resonance

1. According to whether other rhetorical devices are used

1. Direct synesthesia

This type does not require other rhetorical devices and can exist independently. For example, Lin Bu (Lin Hejing) of the Song dynasty in “Mountain Garden’s Plum Blossoms I”:

“In the fading of all flowers, it alone is bright and beautiful,
occupying all charm in the small garden.
Sparse shadows slanting across clear shallow water,
subtle fragrance drifting in the moonlit dusk.”

The latter two lines are an eternal masterpiece of plum appreciation. The first line appeals to vision, depicting the posture of plum branches; the second appeals to smell, describing plum fragrance. Later generations summarize this as “subtle fragrance and sparse shadows.”

Guanguan〈Cicada〉

He took the cicada sounds recorded this year
from the mountain opposite
out of the tape recorder
and let the children
roast fire

Short poems often seize a single image to convey a special aesthetic experience. This is an exquisite short poem that directly transforms sound into the image of fire, while simultaneously possessing tactile temperature. The imagination is strange, vivid, and concrete. The poem directly transforms sound (cicada sounds) into visual and tactile experience (roasting fire), demonstrating highly skilled technique.

2. Assisted synesthesia

This type requires assistance from other rhetorical devices such as metaphor, personification, or hyperbole; that is, synesthesia appears in conjunction with other rhetorical forms.

For example, Tang poet Qian Xu’s “Unopened Banana Leaves”:

“A cold candle without smoke, green wax dried,
its tender heart still curled, afraid of the cold spring.
A sealed letter—what secrets are hidden?
It will be quietly opened by the east wind.”

This poem first uses metaphor and then personification: the newly grown, unopened banana leaf is likened to a green wax candle and a sealed letter. Because of its shape, it produces associations with “cold candles” (touch sensation implied by “cold”) and “sealed letters.” “Green wax” is a visual image, but the poet calls it a “cold candle,” where “cold” belongs to touch; thus synesthesia occurs. “Afraid of spring cold” again mixes visual imagery with tactile sensation. “Letter” (visual) and “east wind” (invisible, tactile force) also create synesthetic transfer.

Luo Fu〈West Lake Has Become Thin〉:

“She has indeed become much thinner
thin like the faint cicada sound of summer
the wind sways willow branches
binding her waist
into inch by inch
autumn”

Here, “West Lake has become thinner” is a visual description, followed by a simile “like the faint cicada sound of summer,” which is auditory imagery. “Thinness” (visual) and “cicada sound” (auditory) have no similarity in form or nature, so it cannot be treated as metaphor. Rather, it is a psychological connection between senses: vision shifts into hearing, producing synesthetic resonance.

2. Synesthetic cross-sensory association

According to sensory domains and their interactions:

Li Yuanlu states: “Skillful use of synesthesia can make images vivid and fresh, giving people novel aesthetic experiences. At the same time, because the image stimulates multiple senses in the aesthetic subject, it can activate rich associations and emotions. This is the special aesthetic effect of synesthesia.”

1. Auditory transfer

Luo Fu〈Golden Dragon Temple〉:

Evening bell
is the path down the mountain for tourists
ferns
along the white stone steps
chewing all the way down

Li Yuanlu comments: “‘Evening bell’ is auditory, while ‘path’ is visual. The melodious bell sound and the winding path share formal resemblance, so Luo Fu creates a visual-auditory synesthesia.”

Luo Fu〈Saigon Night Market〉:

The chewing-gum man
pulls the accordion
into a long deserted alley

The accordion player walks along an empty alley, but the sound becomes visualized as a long street. This transformation of sound into spatial image is a hallmark of Luo Fu’s style.

Varis Yugan〈Our Gentle Grassland I〉:

After sunset, a vast grassland
rises behind me with the sound of bells
dear L, I seem to hear
waves of noisy laughter, rounded tones
like tropical fish swimming in water
playing, arguing, spitting

Here, “laughter sounds” are transformed into “tropical fish swimming in water,” an auditory-to-visual transfer.

Hou Jiliang〈Late Spring〉:

Deep in the alley, a lonely shoe sound appears
as desolate as autumn leaves slowly falling

The “shoe sound” (auditory) becomes “autumn leaves falling” (visual), a common auditory-visual synesthesia.

Mei Xin〈No. 181 Alley II〉:

Deep night, a child’s cry
like the night suddenly twitching

The cry (sound) becomes a physical movement (“twitch”), converting sound into bodily visual sensation.

2. Visual transfer

Luo Fu〈Following Rain Sounds into the Mountains Without Seeing Rain〉:

Descending the mountain
still not seeing rain
three bitter pine nuts
roll along the road sign
to my feet
I reach out
and catch a handful of bird sounds

Luo Fu〈Echo〉:

I cannot remember how you became thin
thin like a flute sound
I try to hold you with both hands
but you slip between seven openings

“Thinness” (visual) becomes “flute sound” (auditory), a direct visual-to-auditory synesthesia.

3. Olfactory–gustatory transfer

Luo Fu〈Snake Shop〉:

It becomes a soup thicker than tears

Taste (soup) is mixed with vision (tears), producing a sensory fusion of body and emotion.

Luo Fu〈Waterside〉:

Hair fragrance flows toward me
like a clear spring across my lips

Scent becomes taste, an olfactory-to-gustatory transfer.

4. Tactile transfer

Luo Fu〈Angel in Fire〉:

Your hand is cold like a snake

Coldness (touch) is visualized through metaphorical imagery, combining tactile and visual perception.

Luo Fu〈Long Sorrow Song〉:

Whispers drifting away
sparkling and bitter

Here, sound, sight, and taste merge into a synesthetic chain.

5. Multi-sensory synesthetic resonance

Luo Fu〈Sharing an Umbrella〉:

On umbrella days
our laughter never gets wet
walking along the railway
eating oranges
calculating the speed
from cold rain to sneezing

Laughter (auditory) is linked with wetness (tactile), while rain (tactile) is linked with sneezing (auditory), forming reversible sensory exchange.

Li Jinwen〈Like Smoke〉:

The story is like smoke
snow-brewed, fire-forged

“Story” (auditory) is transformed into taste, touch, and visual imagery, achieving multi-sensory synesthesia.

All these examples demonstrate that synesthesia is not only a key method for enhancing aesthetic expression in classical and modern poetry, but also reflects the sensory intercommunication inherent in human perception.

Notes

〈1〉Difference between “transferred sensation (yi jue)” and “synesthesia”: “Transferred sensation is merely the appropriation of adjectives between senses, as if making one use the eyes to hear or the ears to see, remaining relatively confined to the organs themselves; however, when the sight of red produces warmth, and green evokes coldness, this leans more toward the purpose of emotional transfer.” That is, “transferred sensation” refers to the intercommunication of sensory experience, while “synesthesia” refers to the “mental sense” that integrates sensory experience. See Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), 2004, Taipei: National Publishing, p.169.

〈2〉Yang Chunlin and Liu Fan (eds.), Dictionary of Chinese Rhetorical Arts, Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Publishing, 1991, p.1129.

〈3〉From Li Yuanlu, Poetics Aesthetics [“On the Synesthetic Beauty of Poetry”], Taipei: Dongda, 1990, p.536.

〈4〉Li Yunhan and Zhang Weigeng (eds.), Modern Chinese Rhetoric, Taipei: Shulin, 2005, pp.124–125.

〈5〉Lu Jiasiang and Chi Taining (eds.), Dictionary of Rhetorical Methods with Examples, Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education, 1990, p.229.

〈6〉Liu Xie, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, annotated by Zhou Zhenfu, Taipei: Liren, 1984, p.845.

〈7〉Liu Xie, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, annotated by Zhou Zhenfu, Taipei: Liren, 1984, pp.569–571.

〈8〉Zhu Guangqian, Psychology of Literature and Art [“Chapter 6: Aesthetics and Association”], Taipei: Sanmin Book Company, p.94, 15th revised edition, 1982.

〈9〉Li Yuanlu, Poetics Aesthetics [“On the Synesthetic Beauty of Poetry”], Taipei: Dongda, 1990, p.519.

〈10〉Qian Zhongshu (author), Shu Zhan (selected ed.), Selected Essays on Qian Zhongshu’s Writings, Volume 6, Guangzhou: Huacheng, 1990, p.92.

〈11〉Li Yuanlu, Poetics Aesthetics [“On the Synesthetic Beauty of Poetry”], Taipei: Dongda, 1990, p.522.

〈12〉Huang Yongwu, Chinese Poetics (Design Volume), Taipei: Juliu Publishing, 1982, pp.17–18.

〈13〉Zhang Chunrong, New Thinking in Rhetoric, Taipei: Wanjuanlou, 2002, p.169.

〈14〉Reprinted from Guan Guan, Selected Century Poems of Guan Guan, Taipei: Erya, 2000, p.87.

〈15〉Li Yuanlu, Poetics Aesthetics [“On the Synesthetic Beauty of Poetry”], Taipei: Dongda, 1990, pp.534–535.

〈16〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, Magic Songs – Luo Fu Poetry Collection, Taipei: Penglai, 1981, pp.46–47.

〈17〉Li Yuanlu, Poetics Aesthetics [“On the Synesthetic Beauty of Poetry”], Taipei: Dongda, 1990, p.547.

〈18〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, Magic Songs – Luo Fu Poetry Collection, Taipei: Penglai, 1981, pp.10–11.

〈19〉Reprinted from Varis Yugan, The Mountain Is a School, Taichung County Cultural Center, 1994, pp.20–21.

〈20〉Reprinted from Hou Jiliang, Symphonic Poetry, Taipei: Future City Publishing, 2001, p.61.

〈21〉Li Yuanlu, Poetics Aesthetics [“On the Synesthetic Beauty of Poetry”], Taipei: Dongda, 1990, p.535.

〈22〉Reprinted from Mei Xin, Selected Poems of Mei Xin, Taipei: Erya, 1998, pp.104–105.

〈23〉Reprinted from Shen Huamo, The Mood of Water Lilies, Taipei: National Publishing, 1978, p.44.

〈24〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, Magic Songs – Luo Fu Poetry Collection, Taipei: Penglai, 1981, pp.25–26.

〈25〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, Illustrations of Dreams, Taipei: Shulin, 1999, pp.48–49.

〈26〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, Moonlight House, Taipei: Jiouge, 1990, p.61.

〈27〉Reprinted from Bi Guo, Corporeal Consciousness, Taipei: Erya, 2007, p.106.

〈28〉Reprinted from Hou Jiliang, Symphonic Poetry, Taipei: Future City Publishing, 2001, pp.231–232.

〈29〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, The Stone That Brews Wine, Taipei: Jiouge, 1983, pp.93–94.

〈30〉Reprinted from Hou Jiliang, Symphonic Poetry, Taipei: Future City Publishing, 2001, pp.231–232.

〈31〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, The Stone That Brews Wine, Taipei: Jiouge, 1983, pp.93–94.

〈32〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, The Wound of Time, Taipei: Times Publishing, 1981, pp.201–204.

〈33〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, The Stone That Brews Wine, Taipei: Jiouge, 1983, pp.103–104.

〈34〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, Magic Songs – Luo Fu Poetry Collection, Taipei: Penglai, 1981, pp.134–145.

〈35〉Reprinted from Yin Di, Ten-Year Selected Poems of Yin Di, Taipei: Erya, pp.127–128.

〈36〉Reprinted from Luo Fu, The Stone That Brews Wine, Taipei: Jiouge, 1983, p.11.

〈37〉Reprinted from Li Jinwen, A Self-Guided Journey of a Spanish Coin, Taipei: Erya, 1998, pp.28–29.