Soul and soil: Unearthing the lost world of China's first star poet

This article is part of CGTN's "China in Ink" project. The project brings the tremendous world of classic Chinese literature to the fingertips of global audiences.

Qu Yuan (340-278 BC) was the first poet of renown in China, famed for his work in "Chu Ci" ("Songs of Chu"), the second-oldest anthology that introduced romanticism in Chinese literature.

The state of Chu was a "barbarian" dukedom under the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC), centered around the fertile Yangtze Valley in today's Hubei Province. Centuries of northward encroachment on Zhou land eventually emboldened Chu's rulers to renounce Zhou overlordship in 706 BC. For four centuries, Chu kings had been major rivals for dominance with their northern neighbors until 223 BC, when Chu was defeated at the hands of Qin, which went on to become the first great Chinese empire. 

Qu Yuan was born a member of Chu's ruling house. His career ballooned under King Huai (r. 328-296 BC) but fell apart due to political slander. He was demoted and exiled before he eventually drowned himself in protest of his persecution and in despair over Chu's decline. His most celebrated poems are said to have been written in exile. They express his outpouring of grief for and devotion to his homeland. The Dragon Boat Festival, on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on May 31 this year, commemorates his death. His reputation as a poet has complemented his status as a loyal minister ever since.

Qu Yuan's poems are among the most difficult to comprehend due to their intricate references to the esoteric Chu culture, on top of the arcane grammar that leaves modern readers befuddled. His most acclaimed work, "Li Sao," is probably the most obscure. Generations of scholars can't even fully agree on the meaning of the title. Some interpret "Li Sao" as "Encountering Sorrow," and others as "Leaving Sorrow."

"Li Sao" is a work of autobiographical lament on its author's exile. Qu Yuan recounts his noble ideals and loyalty to Chu upon a spiritual quest for justice and enlightenment in heaven with divine and legendary figures.

Fortunately for modern readers, archaeology has enriched the understanding of Qu Yuan beyond what text analysis can afford. Together with Qu Yuan's pen, the unearthed artifacts have unveiled a hitherto mysterious culture that was anything but "barbaric."

The chime bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng are perhaps the most demonstrative of Chu's cultural sophistication and influence.

Discovered in 1978 in Suizhou, Hubei Province, the bronze percussion instrument weighs nearly 5 tonnes and comprises 65 chime bells. There are 3,755 Chinese characters inscribed on the bells – the only known systematic musical treatise from the 5th century BC. They were part of a lavish musical trove buried alongside Marquis Yi, a ruler of the Zeng state, a Zhou vassal.

Hung at the center of the lower line is probably the most distinctively shaped bell of all. According to the characters on its surface, this bell was a commemorative gift from the then Chu king to the late Marquis. Its most distinguishable feature is the delicate dragon-shaped decoration at the top.

The imagery of the phoenix appears several times in "Li Sao," serving as a guide and a messenger to the poet on his journey into the territory of the divinity. 

Archeological findings are in conformity with Qu Yuan's artistic rendering of the auspicious bird. Across the vast region that used to be under Chu’s control, the phoenix was believed to be a guide for souls between life and heaven. By far the most stunning phoenix image that has survived from the Chu kingdom is the "Silk Painting of Figures with Dragon and Phoenix," unearthed in 1949 from a Chu tomb in Changsha, Hunan Province. It is painted with ink and color on plain brown silk, featuring a solemn woman who is likely the tomb's owner, a soaring phoenix and a rising dragon. Experts are in general agreement that the painting is a "soul banner." Painted with the image of the deceased, it was believed that the artifact could lead the way to heaven for the wandering soul.

The elegant figure in the painting also gives modern readers an inkling of how Qu Yuan had pictured female beauty in "Li Sao." Common in the poet's time but probably baffling to modern readers, the poet had compared a ruler's pursuit of an able minister to a nobleman's courting a virtuous woman.

How should a virtuous minister behave when he is wronged by his king? In "Li Sao," the poet bares his struggle between leaving for a worthy master and persisting where he was with the virtues that his political opponents had found fault with.

"In the morning, I drink magnolia dew; in the evening, I feast on fallen chrysanthemum petals." With the floral metaphor typical in "Li Sao," the poet takes great pride in his moral life nourished by purity and virtue.

A text inscribed on bamboo slips uncovered in 1993 from a Chu tomb in Jingmen, Hubei Province, offers an antidote to the anguish of Qu Yuan’s kind. With a similar analogy between virtue and flower, the text advises that failure or success is only a matter of timing, and the virtuous will never betray their moral code just because no one appreciates it, in the same way that flowers will smell fragrant with or without a visitor.

The exiled minister in the poem seeks help from a fortuneteller who urges him to depart, a piece of advice that Qu Yuan is hesitant to heed out of his loyalty for Chu. Even the horses pulling his wagons halt their gallops when approaching Chu's soil. Whether this melancholic note suggests Qu Yuan had already made up his mind to end his life when writing "Li Sao" remains disputed.

What's clearer with archeological evidence is divination's permeating role in Chu people's lives. Texts unearthed from the Baoshan Chu tomb, which is also in Jingmen, include bamboo slips that record regretful exchanges between the tomb's owner, a Chu official named Tuo, and a diviner.

Tuo complained about persisting shortness of breath and appetite loss over three years and inquired if there was anything to be done about it. The diviner gave a "yes and no" answer: the long-term prognostication is auspicious, but the affliction is difficult to heal. Following the divination is the report of a series of offerings made to a variety of divinities for a cure, which, judging by Tuo's death shortly after, had failed to secure him the long-term favor.

(Cover: A later drawing of Qu Yuan by Zhang Wo of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). The painting is part of the collection at Shanghai Museum.)