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A
dragonboat race.
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A
stone sculpture of Qu Yuan.
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A
pouch containing realgar is worn to ward off poisonous insects.
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Qu Yuan (340-278 B.C.) was born in
the State of Chu, in what is present-day Zigui County, Hubei Province.
He lived during the late Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.)
of political chaos shortly before Emperor Qin Shihuang unified
China. Qu Yuan’s academic excellence earned him a place in
the court of King Huai. Before long his eloquence and state administrative
skills brought him a promotion to the position of Zuotu -- deputy
prime minister, a position he used to carry out much needed reforms
to the State of Chu’s domestic and foreign affairs.
Unappreciated Statesmanship
Qu Yuan was an advocate of strengthened law enforcement and
a lighter burden of taxes on the common people, and also called
for reforms in the imperial court. He deplored the practice of
selecting leaders on the basis of privileged background rather
than merit, as it imperiled the state’s prosperity
and hobbled its military might. In order to protect the Chu Kingdom
from overt aggression from the State of Qin, Qu Yuan effected
an alliance with the State of Qi. Under his wise guidance, the
State of Chu became a power to reckon with among the warring states.
But it was not long before his open contempt for avaricious nobles
and corrupt officials made him the target of slander and attack.
Prime Minister Ling Yin and fellow Deputy Prime Minister Jin Shang
repeatedly spoke ill of him to the monarch. Their Machiavellian
machinations resulted in Qu Yuan’s demotion to the
post of Lord of the Three Clans, one that deprived him of the
right to participate in court administration and fundamental policymaking.
Chu’s domestic and foreign affairs then entered
a period of crisis. Zhang Yi, an envoy from the State of Qin,
bribed Deputy Prime Minister Jin Shang and King Huai’s
favorite concubine to undermine and eventually break the Chu-Qi
alliance. The pair was responsible for the State of Chu’s
defeat in several battles against the Qin armies. King Huai, unaware
of the skullduggery in his court, made an alliance with the State
of Qin and banished Qu Yuan from the capital to a remote exile.
When, a few years later, the Qin-Chu alliance ended, King Huai
called Qu Yuan back to the capital, but his post of Lord of the
Three Clans gave Qu Yuan no say in national policy making. Soon
after, the King of Qin invited King Huai of Chu to discuss another
alliance, with the underlying aim of capturing him. Qu Yuan saw
through the Qin scheme, and risked his life trying to stop the
king from going to the meeting, but failed. King Huai was held
in custody, and later died in the State of Qin. His successor
was weak and incompetent. He continued the policy of compromise
and conciliation and sought to cement the alliance by marrying
a Qin princess. Qu Yuan strongly opposed this move but was unable
to prevent it as treacherous officials obstructed him and were
instrumental in his being exiled a second time to an even more
remote outpost.
While Qu Yuan was in exile the State of Chu weakened day by
day. The State of Qin continued to expand its territory and threaten
Chu until Qin troops eventually invaded Chu in 280 B.C. and marched
toward its capital. All Qu Yuan could do was grieve at this disaster
and express his sorrow in poetry. He considered leaving Chu, but
his love for it and the people prevented him.
One of the poems in the classic anthology, Poetry of the South,
tells of a meeting in Hunan between a fisherman and a desperately
sad old man at a lakeshore.
The fisherman asked: “Are you not Lord of the Three
Clans Qu Yuan? What has brought you to such a pass?”
Qu Yuan answered, “When all the world in mud has sunk,
alone I’m clean. When all the people are drunk, sober
I’m seen. How can I not get banished?”
The fisherman said, “A wise man will not stick to
any climes, but should adapt himself to the times. If all others
are dire, why not wallow with them in mud and mire? If all the
men are drunk, why should you from liquor have shrunk? If you
should above others rise, can you not get exiled? Can you think
yourself wise?”
Qu Yuan replied, “I have heard it said: After you
wash your hair, you should keep your hat fair. After a bath, nonetheless
you should keep clean your dress. How could I darken my mind bright,
and blacken my skin white? In the Xiangjiang River I would rather
wish to bury myself in the belly of the fish, than spoil my spotless
purity with dirt and dust of vulgarity.”
The fisherman, having nothing more to say, faintly smiled and
sang as he paddled away: “When the river is clear,
oh! I’ll wash my headdress here. When water is not
neat, oh! I may wash here my feet.” The two so separated.
An Act of Anguish
In 278 B.C. Qin general Bai Qi and his troops captured the Chu
capital Ying, and destroyed the royal mausoleum. The king of Chu
fled in panic. The once flourishing capital was devastated, its
people made homeless and destitute. Qu Yuan was heartbroken at
his state’s defeat and could not bear to live on as
citizen of a conquered state. After having been banished for more
than a decade, he wrote a poem entitled Longing for Changsha,
after which he completely lost hope. It reads,
All mortals live and die,
Ordained by Heaven high, oh!
My heart is calm and broad my mind.
Of what am I afraid behind? Oh!
Long grieved, I vent my discontent;
Sighing, I oft lament, oh!
To me the world is foul and cold;
The heart of man cannot be told, oh!
I know that none can avoid death.
Why should I grudge my breath? Oh!
I declare to those I revere,
I will take you as my compeer, oh!
On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Qu Yuan committed
suicide by throwing himself into the Miluo River, a tributary
of the Xiangjiang River in Hunan Province, holding a boulder to
make sure he sank. It was his last protest against the dark and
evil forces that had prevented him from saving his home from destruction.
Upon hearing he had jumped into the river, nearby villagers
and fishermen ran to his rescue. They jumped into boats and rowed
along the Miluo River to the vast Dongting Lake, but could not
find him. They tempted fish and shrimps away from devouring Qu
Yuan’s body by making small packages of glutinous
rice wrapped in reeds and throwing them into the river . Qu Yuan’s
corpse was eventually found in a place called Luoyuan. The people
buried him on a hill by the Miluo River and held a grand funeral.
A memorial temple to him was later built and erected in front
of it. In their eyes, Qu Yuan was a wise and just official who
loved his state and people.
It became the custom on the fifth day of each fifth lunar month
for people from various towns and villages to gather at the Miluo
River to commemorate Qu Yuan. They made the dish originally concocted
to preserve his body known as zongzi -- pyramid-shaped dumplings
made of glutinous rice wrapped in reed leaves -- and held dragon
boat races.
Later, these commemorative activities expanded to the hanging
of calamus and Chinese mugwort on gates and doors. The two herbs
are traditional Chinese medicine ingredients that repel mosquitoes,
flies and other harmful insects. The common people hung them out
on the anniversary of Qu Yuan’s death in memory of
his attempts to combat the treacherous officials that persecuted
him, and to prevent the future evil designs of such despicable
characters. This custom is called “cutting a section
of calamus for a sword, and a section of Chinese mugwort for a
whip.” Sprinkling realgar wine and burning realgar
have similar significance, as ancients believed that realgar was
poisonous to venomous creatures.
The fifth day of the fifth lunar month has since become a national
festival known as the “Duanwu” or “Duanyang
Festival. It commemorates the outstanding statesman and poet Qu
Yuan, whose works have their place in the Chinese and world canon
of literature. Qu Yuan was named a famous man of letters of the
world in the early 1950s.
A Poetic Soul
Qu Yuan was an outstanding statesman impeded by a fatuous monarch
and persecuted by treacherous ministers who forced him out of
the political arena. But his extraordinary poetry made him a bright
star among ancient Chinese poets.
Sima Qian, China’s first historian, who lived more
than 2,000 years ago, wrote in his biography of Qu Yuan, “It
was Qu Yuan’s exile from the capital that made it
possible for him to compose the poem Sorrow After Departure.”
It was indeed Qu Yuan’s decade-long exile that enabled
him to make the transition from high-ranking official to common
citizen, and from politics to poetry. All of Qu Yuan’s
poems were created after his demotion and during exile, which
is what gives them their distinctly tragic quality. His poetry
is outstanding literature and of great historical, philosophical
and aesthetic value, as it gives a detailed account of the political
struggles and social issues of his age.
Qu Yuan’s most representative of his 23 (or 25 -
there is dispute as to the exact number) poems are Sorrow After
Departure, Asking Heaven, The Nine Songs, The Nine Elegies, and
Requiem.
Sorrow After Departure is the most significant of Qu Yuan’s
works, and also the longest ancient Chinese classic poem. Its
2,477 characters in 373 verses constitute an autobiography that
is peppered with metaphors and analogies. The poem exposes the
darkness and decrepitude of the ruling clique, its wickedness,
greed, lewdness, and brutality. Qu Yuan also evokes the image
of an upright patriot who upholds justice, seeks truth, braves
hardship and persecution, and loves his country and people. Patriotism
and love for his people are thus expressed in his writing, as
well as his anguish and sorrow at being prevented from realizing
his political ideals.
The Nine Elegies, consisting of nine parts, are a record of
Qu Yuan’s life and emotions. They give insight into
Qu Yuan’s experiences and ideology.
Asking Heaven is a unique poem, even in terms of historic Chinese
literature. It is distinct for its form of artistic expression
and its revelation of the poet’s great imagination
and learning. In it, the 173 questions he asks about heaven, earth,
the gods and humanity display his knowledge of astronomy, geography,
history, philosophy, and religions. These questions express and
seek answers to his skepticism about ancient legends, natural
phenomena, the rise and decline of dynasties and retribution.
Today, in the 21st century, there are still no rational answers
to many of the questions he raises.
Qu Yuan’s rich legacy thus lives on in the food for
thought he leaves for the learned of today to ponder.
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