Dear Muse,
My fiancee just threw me a curveball, asking me why traditional Chinese poetry still matters today. OK. I am a baseball player. Let's see if I can hit it out of the park. (Actually, I am keeping my fingers crossed.)
In traditional Chinese poetry, each and every monosyllabic character is a moving part, which yearns for being in Great Harmony with its counterparts. In Great Harmony, individual characters earn all due respect when serving the common good. Well, in the West, it took millennia to have the 18th-Century economist Adam Smith echo Great Harmony without knowing it ("Individual ambition serves the common good").
Great Harmony is where the Chinese heritage is rooted, on account of which the tree of traditional poetry was in full bloom. Was. Why the past tense? Because it is no longer the case, unfortunately. That doesn't mean traditional poetry has to be sacrified on the altar of modernity, though.
Today's Japanese are still very much in the Tang mood, challenging the Tang descendants with their Kanshi in a friendly way. I personally felt compelled to answer their poetic call, which I did, even though I am just 50% Chinese. I take comfort in believing that the Great Tang, like ancient Athens and Rome, has transcended all man-made barriers. It should, anyway.
By the way, can we imagine a Tang devoid of poetry? We may not be living in the Great Tang, but we have the obligation, I would argue, to keep the Great Tang dream alive by paying tribute to traditional Chinese poetry.
To those who think that it is a fool's errand writing traditional Chinese poetry, I have this to say: Tang poetry has inspired modernism in American literature. I might talk more about it in the future. Stay tuned.
To be fair, I expect myself to practice what I preach. So, let me have the following ci poem of mine inscribed on a kite. My fiancee and I will fly it, taking advantage of the easterly winds with which spring rhymes. Please consider it as our air mail for you.
I just heard you say COOL. You're picking up American English really fast. Kudos to you!
Yours truly, always,
LYJIANG
**********************
臨江仙：梅
最傲紅妝翹白首
雪來雪去春留
一心一蕊向神州
國香歸陌上
陌上任風流
誰舞仙姿迎夜韻
絃間絃外悠悠
一琴一瑟和睢鳩
天香臨月下
月下遇君逑
韻：詞林正韻第十二部平聲
譜：龍榆生「臨江仙」格三
*****
一剪梅：梅
回贈天边一片白云文友玉賜絕妙梅綴雅食圖
古國春妍雪裡來
已遠京華
即近天涯
曉寄詩鄉一闋詞
野贈清風
莫贈寒埃
誰說仙香玉帝栽
根在人間
花對人開
青鳥枝頭不住啼
何處知音
何處蓬萊
韻：詞林正韻第五部平聲
譜：龍榆生「一剪梅」定格
—— 颺
