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Righting, Riting, and Rewriting the Book of Odes (Shijing): On "Filling out the MIssing Odes" by Shu Xi
- Author(s):
- Thomas J. Mazanec (see profile)
- Date:
- 2018
- Group(s):
- GS Poetry and Poetics, LLC East Asian
- Subject(s):
- Chinese classics, Chinese literature, Intertextuality
- Item Type:
- Article
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/85c2-3771
- Abstract:
- A series of derivative verses from the late-third century has pride of place in one of the foundational collections of Chinese poetry. These verses, “Filling out the Missing Odes” by Shu Xi, can be found at the beginning of the lyric-poetry (shi 詩) section of the Wenxuan. This essay seeks to understand why such blatantly imitative pieces may have been held in such high regard. It examines how Shu Xi’s poems function in relation to the Book of Odes, especially their use of quotation, allusion, and other intertextual strategies. Rather than imitate, borrow, or forge, the “Missing Odes” seek to bring the idealized world of the Odes into reality by reconstructing canonical rites with cosmic implications. In so doing, they represent one person’s attempt to stabilize the chaotic political center of the Western Jin in the last decade of the third century. The “Missing Odes” reveal that writing, rewriting, ritualizing, and anthologizing are at the heart of early medieval Chinese ideas of cultural legitimation.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Journal article
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 1 year ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
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