A Discussion of the Exaggerated Images in Dong-Po’s Object Chant Lyrics－Illustrated using the Plum Blossom and Litchi Chants

Author: Jy-Ing Yan(General Education Center, National Taiwan Ocean University)

Vol.&No.：Vol. 56, No. 2
Date：September 2011
Pages：67-94
DOI：10.3966/207451922011095602003

Abstract：

In this article, we consult the inherited and distorted images in Dong-Po’s object chant lyrics based on his seven chants about plum blossoms and two allegorical litchi chants. This study finds that the plum blossom chant lyrics written before Dong-Po are full of universal images, such as loving flower, cherishing spring, nostalgia, or missing a friend. However, in Dong-Po’s lyrics, though two chants inherit their style from those universal images, the other five use the characteristic image of a plum’s unyielding character as the metaphors for the purity of friendship, personality, and Chao-Yun. Additionally, in the litchi chant lyrics, Dong-Po borrowed from history the story of a former emperor’s tyranny in Yuhuan Yang’s Litchi-loving, euphemistically reminding the current emperor to be good to the people. Furthermore, Dong-Po also satirizes the persecutions he suffered from authorities in a portrait of him enjoying litchis. Thus, we can concretely determine the contribution of exaggerating the characteristics and allegoric images in Dong-Po’s object chant lyrics.

Keywords：Dong-Po’s Lyrics, litchi, plum blossom, chanting object, image

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