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Sino-Japanese transcultural contact through kanshi in the late nineteenth century: analyzing the impact of Yu Yue’s A selection of poems from Japan
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Sino-Japanese transcultural contact through kanshi in the late nineteenth century: analyzing the impact of Yu Yue’s A selection of poems from Japan
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Content
Sino-Japanese Transcultural Contact through Kanshi in the Late Nineteenth Century:
Analyzing the Impact of Yu Yue’s A Selection of Poems from Japan
by
John Tang
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC DORNSIFE SCHOOL OF LETTERS, ARTS, AND SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(EAST ASIAN AREA STUDIES)
August 2022
Copyright 2022 John Tang
ii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iii
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1
Chapter 1 Yu Yue’s A Selection of Poems from Japan ...................................................................3
Chapter 2 Editing and Selection Method .........................................................................................8
Chapter 3 Yu Yue’s History of Kanshi ..........................................................................................16
Chapter 4 Comparison with Chen Manshou’s Riben Tongren Wenxuan ......................................22
Chapter 5 Response in Japan and Legacy ......................................................................................27
Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................37
Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................41
iii
Abstract
Beginning in the mid-19
th
century, Sino-Japanese transcultural exchange began to
flourish after the two countries normalized diplomatic relations and opened their doors for non-
commercial travelers. Japanese and Chinese scholars sought to connect with their counterparts.
In the 1870s, with classical Chinese as the common written language and kanshi as a common
literary genre, many Japanese scholars and kanshi poets found their way to Yu Yue, a late Qing
scholar and educator whose analytical works found an audience abroad in prior decades. In 1882,
Yu Yue (1821-1907) was commissioned to compile an anthology of Japanese kanshi, which he
titled A Selection of Poems from Japan 東瀛詩選 (“Dongying Shixuan”). This paper expands on
existing scholarship on A Selection of Poems from Japan by Cao Shengzhi, Cai Yi, Ogawa
Tamaki, et al., and aims to understand the historical context behind this poetry collection, the
impetus for this endeavor, Yu Yue’s intentions for the collection, his methods of selection and
editing, his view toward kanshi and its history, and the impact of the collection in the field of
kanshi.
1
Introduction
Kanshi 漢詩, which refers to classical Chinese poetry written in Japan, has existed as a
literary form since the Nara period (710-784 AD). The first such poetry collection, K aif ūsō 懐風
藻, compiled in the 8th century, contains 120 pieces and is written mostly by aristocrats and
royalty of the Nara court. Kanshi in the early Edo period developed in tandem with the study of
Chinese philosophy, categorized by two main schools of Neo-Confucianism, that of Zhu Xi and
Cheng Yi, and the study of Wang Yangming. Scholars and philosophers like Ogyū Sorai used
kanshi as a teaching method of classical Chinese in his teaching and promotion of the Sorai
school, a branch of Neo-Confucianism influenced by Zhu Xi, and developed frequent contact
with Confucian scholars in Chōsen concerning kanshi literary trends and Neo-Confucian
teachings. Meiji and Taishō literati such as Masaoka Shiki, Narushima Ryūhoku, Kokubu Seigai,
Mori Shuntō were instrumental in keeping the literary tradition alive despite the waning of
popularity and influence of Chinese classics in Japanese society, and even flourished alongside
innovations of Japanese poetry such as haiku and tanka. This paper aims to understand the
history of kanshi from Edo to Meiji Restoration onward through the lens of Sino-Japanese
relations and transcultural contact starting from the 1870s and analyze Yu Yue’s role in kanshi
exchange between China and Japan and his seminal work, A Selection of Poems from Japan 東
瀛詩選. This essay relies upon and expands on important scholarship on Yu Yue and his poetry
collection by Cai Yi, Cao Shengzhi, Ma Gedong, Zhang Xin, Ogawa Tamaki, and Sano Masami.
Chapter 1 introduces the rise and fall of Yu Yue’s political career, his academic career
and his status as a Confucian scholar abroad. The chapter provides historical context for Sino-
Japanese cultural exchange in the 1870s and 80s, then discusses Yu Yue’s communications with
2
Japanese scholars such as Takezoe Shinichirō, Kitagata Shisen and Kishida Ginkō that
culminated in the endeavor of A Selection of Poems from Japan.
Chapter 2 analyzes Yu Yue’s editing and selection methods through the introductory
remarks and commentary of A Selection of Poems from Japan. With examples, I deduce Yu
Yue’s editing approach to rhyme schemes, the law of tonality, Japanized and variant Chinese
characters and bihui (a writing practice that alters certain characters to avoid offense), and his
selection method based on morality and adherence to the laws of kanshi.
Chapter 3 decodes Yu Yue’s understanding of the history of Edo kanshi through the
prologue of A Selection of Poems from Japan, in which he delineates three distinctive periods of
Edo kanshi. I analyze his reasoning and investigate his attitude toward poets of these three
different periods from his commentary in the selection.
Chapter 4 compares Yu Yue’s selection with Riben Tongren Wenxuan (1882) by Chen
Manshou. The almost identical view of the two compilers toward rhyme and tonality
demonstrates the advantage or sometimes unchallenged authority Chinese poets had over their
Japanese counterparts. The differences in aim and selection method of these two collections
reveal the way in which Chinese and Japanese scholars conversed about kanshi and tell a larger
story of Sino-Japanese transcultural exchange in the late 19
th
century.
Finally, chapter 5 discusses the response from Japanese kanshi writers to A Selection of
Poems from Japan, which ranged from admiration to criticism concerning the omission of well-
deserving poems and inclusion of undeserving ones. It also attempts to understand how A
Selection of Poems from Japan fits into Yu Yue’s larger body of work.
3
Chapter 1 Yu Yue’s A Selection of Poems from Japan
Yu Yue 俞樾 (1821-1907), the late Qing government official, calligrapher, poet and
literary and Confucian scholar, was commissioned by Japanese journalist and entrepreneur,
Kishida Ginkō 岸田吟香 (1833-1905) to compile a collection of Japanese kanshi, titled A
Selection of Poems from Japan 東瀛詩選 (1883). His selection and editing process provide a
crucial insight into a Chinese understanding of Japanese kanshi in the late Qing dynasty, when
China was confronting its rapidly changing neighbor through a shifting perspective of the
regional and world order. Because of Yu Yue’s voluminous works on evidential scholarship 考
證學 (“kaozheng xue”), an approach to Chinese classics based on textual criticism, much of the
research heretofore, in both Chinese and English have been on Yu Yue’s such research and
analysis. Relatively few researchers have delved into his studies in and philosophy of poetry. To
understand the importance of A Selection of Poems from Japan, we must first understand how
this collection came to be. Why was there such a need for a collection and why was Yu Yue
chosen for this undertaking?
Yu Yue first earned his reputation with a line of poetry he wrote during the final stage of
his civil examination, “The petal falls yet spring remains” 「花落春仍在 」(“Hua luo chun reng
zai”), a brilliant reimagining of a line by Tang poet Mou Rong 牟融, “The light mist, sparse rain
and falling petals cover the sky”
1
「淡煙疏雨落花天 」(“Dan yan shu yu luo hua tian”). He
earned the highest degree of the civil examination, jinshi 進士 and the praise of the examiner,
Viceroy Zeng Guofan 曾 國藩, who recommended him to then-Emperor Xianfeng 咸豐. After
serving as a compiler and exam instructor at the esteemed Hanlin Academy 翰林學府 in Beijing
1
All translations unless otherwise stated are mine.
4
for three years, Yu Yue’s meteoric rise was quickly cut short by his inability to navigate the
intricate Qing political court. He was accused of political dissent and lese-majeste from the civil
examination questions he devised. The accusations led to him being stripped of all titles and
withdrawing to Suzhou, where he turned toward academia in his residence, The Hall Where
Spring Remains 春在堂 (“Chunzai Tang”). He published Qunjing Pingyi 群經平議 in 1865, an
analytical work of Confucian classics, and Zhuzi Pingyi 諸子平議 in 1867, in which he
comments on Daoist and Legalist works from the Zhou dynasty. Both works made way to the
intellectual circles in Japan and Korea via publishers in Shanghai, earning Yu Yue a reputation
among Sinologists in East Asia. Around the same time, he was named honorary professor 講席
(“Jiangxi”) at Ziyang Academy 紫陽書院 in Suzhou and head teacher at Gujing Jingshe 詁經精
舍, both considered the best institutions of the province. In these two schools, Yu Yue dedicated
more than three decades to educating the younger generations.
2
Historical Context
In 1871, the governments of Qing China and Meiji Japan signed the Sino-Japanese
Friendship and Trade Treaty 中日修好條規 or 日清修好 条規, and agreed upon a ratified
version in 1873, which lasted until the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). As a result, in 1877,
2
The biographical information on Yu Yue presented in these two paragraphs is learned from Cao
Shengzhi 曹 昇之. Yu Yue yu Dongying Shixuan de Jihui ( 俞樾與 《東瀛 詩選》 的際會) (Preface to Yu
Yue and the Endeavor of A Selection of Poems from Japan), in Dong Ying Shi Xuan ( 东 瀛詩選), (Beijing:
Zhong hua shu ju, 2016), pp. 1-4.
5
the Qing embassy was established in Tokyo, where a coterie of Qing government officials,
diplomats and scholars would come into contact with Japanese literati. Japanese scholars of
Confucianism and Sinology saw this newly founded relation between the two countries as an
opportunity to reach out and engage with their Chinese counterparts. At the same time, classical
scholars in China found a new audience abroad for their works, including poetry, calligraphy,
publications in kanbun 漢文, and private mentorship. Yu Yue and Chen Manshou 陳曼壽 (to be
introduced in chapter 4) were among the beneficiaries of such newfound contact.
The first Japanese scholar to visit Yu Yue was Takezoe Shinichirō 竹添進 一郎 (1842-
1917), who served as the Japanese consul to China in Tianjin, a diplomat to Chōsen, and after
retiring from politics, a literature professor at Tokyo University. Through Takezoe’s introduction,
Kitagata Shinsen 北方心泉 (1850-1905), the abbot of Jōfukuji Temple 常福寺 in Kanazawa,
Ishigawa Prefecture, missionary for Higashi Honganji 東本願寺 in Kyoto, a Buddhist temple of
the Pure Land sect, and well-known kanshi poet and calligrapher, paid a visit to Yu Yue in
Suzhou. The two men bonded over their shared interest in kanshi and exchanged numerous
letters in the coming years. Kitagata was instrumental in the completion of Yu Yue’s poetry
collection by providing the Chinese scholar with books on the history of Japanese kanshi,
including Sentetsu Sodan 先哲叢談 (1812), a collection of biographies of Confucian scholars
from early to mid-Edo. Yu Yue frequently paraphrased the collection of biographies to introduce
and comment on kanshi writers in his collection, sometimes without explicitly stating so. The
last important figure in the endeavor of A Selection of Poems from Japan was Kishida Ginkō 岸
田吟香, who formally sent Yu Yue the request and provided the collection of kanshi from Japan
for Yu Yue to choose and edit. Kishida Ginkō is known for his contribution to Hepburn’s
Japanese-English Dictionary 和英語林集成 (1867). His connection with China began in 1873
6
when he served as a war journalist for Tokyo Nichinichi Shinbun in Taiwan. After retiring from
journalism, he started a pharmaceutical business named Rakuzendō 楽善堂 in 1877, selling eye
medicine and opened up a chain store in Shanghai. While expanding his business in mainland
China, he actively sought out contacts with Chinese government officials and scholars, and
supported various efforts to foster Sino-Japanese relations, including funding Toa Dōbunshoin
University 東亞同文書院大學 in Shanghai. In 1882, through Kitagata, Kishida expressed his
desire for Yu Yue to compile a collection of Japanese kanshi. At the time, Yu Yue was 62 years
old, and devastated from the loss of his wife and son. Despite his initial reluctance, Yu Yue
changed his mind, writing back to Kishida that he believed this endeavor to be important,
unprecedented, and worthy of his effort.
3
Answering the question why there was such a need for a kanshi collection by a Chinese
scholar, Cao Shengzhi 曹 昇之 explains in the preface of A Selection of Poems from Japan, Yu
Yue and the Endeavor of “A Selection of Poems from Japan ” 俞樾與《東瀛詩選》的際會:
At the time Japanese kanshi’s status was falling under the pressure of the growing
popularity of waka, haiku and the emerging shintaishi (‘literally new form
poetry’). Some Japanese poets proposed the idea of inviting Chinese scholars,
critics, preferably someone whose expertise in kanshi and classics is well-known,
to critique and compile a poetry selection from Japan to earn an international
reputation for the genre.
4
Though Yu Yue had little understanding of Japanese poetry, since there was no
translation at the time, he echoed classical scholars and kanshi poets in Japan in their view to
legitimize classical Chinese and kanshi as a poetic genre. In the late Qing dynasty, classical
3
Ibid., pp. 5-18.
4
“当 时的 日本汉诗在和 歌、俳句 和逐渐兴 起的 日本新体 诗(定 型 诗 ) 、 自由 诗的 压迫下 ,地位
一度低落,一 部分日本 诗 人产 生将日本 汉 诗由中 国著名学者、 评论家评论 ,以获得国 际 声誉支援 ,
有了想 请 一位中 国 经学和 汉诗 大 师 来编《 东瀛诗选 》的想法 。 ”Ibid., p. 5.
7
studies was facing decreasing popularity, spurred by a rigid and corrupt civil examination system
and the establishment of alternative educational institutions like missionary schools and military
academies. Yu Yue recounts a conversation with Takezoe Shinichirō, in which the compiler said:
Schools in various countries mostly abide by western education. The way of
Confucius and Mencius has almost disappeared. At one point, there were even
talks of burning books… By following the way of the west, without
understanding its context, we are only hurting ourselves. Thus, in the end, this
mixture of missionary and western education will not return us to former glory.
5
Yu Yue’s belief that Confucian society and values ought to be preserved is representative
of conservative scholars in the late Qing dynasty. Though not a government official himself, Yu
Yue still based his career on educating younger generations in Chinese classics, and therefore
retained a Sinocentric, conservative view toward education, the political system and society at
large. Taking into account this view, we can see how A Selection of Poems was an endeavor to
elevate kanshi and classical studies at large in both China and Japan, but that was not the only
impetus —it was also a testimony to Yu Yue’s years of study in Japanese kanshi and
communications with his Japanese counterparts.
5
Yu Yue 余樾. Chun zai tang quan shu 春 在堂全 書. Nanjing: Feng huang chu ban she, 2010, vol. 7, p.
15.
8
Chapter 2 Yu Yue’s Editing and Selection Method
A Selection of Poetry from Japan 東瀛詩選 is an anthology of Edo kanshi that includes
more than five thousand kanshi from 548 poets (all except 4 are from the Edo period onward). In
its original form, it has forty chapters, with four supplemental chapters. Sano Masami 佐野正巳
notes in that it was published in Japan in two volumes of twenty chapters.
6
Yu Yue organized
the poetry collection by author and in a chronological order, with a grouping of poems whose
authors were Buddhist monks in Chapters 36-39. The chronological order represents Yu Yue’s
interpretation of the history of Edo kanshi, which I discuss in chapter 3.
In his introductory remarks, Yu Yue explains his selection and editing methodology in
detail. In terms of wasei kanji 和製漢字 (“Japanized Chinese characters”) and itaiji 異體字
(“variant characters”), he states that “the characters used in Japan have certain abnormalities.”
7
By referring to Japanized Chinese characters as abnormalities instead of merely acknowledging
the difference, Yu Yue delegitimizes Japanese kanji as a possible standard, suggesting that there
is only one set of Chinese characters that composites the written language of kanshi. He then lists
some of the abnormal Chinese characters he encountered, which can be categorized into variants
and Japanized characters without a Chinese equivalent. The character 島 shima has the variant
嶋, 畠 hata/hatake is a variant of 田
8
; Japanized kanjis such as 辻 tsuji, 榊 sakaki, 梶 bi/kaji do
not have a Chinese equivalent. Yu Yue then explains his concession to retain these characters in
their original form, “Because these characters are often seen in names of people and places in
6
The information presented on A Selection of Poetry from Japan in this paragraph is indebted to Sano
Masami. Toei Shisen Kaidai 東瀛 詩選 解題, Kyūko Shoin, 1981, pp. 2-4.
7
“東國字體 ,有涉 詭異 者。 ”Dongyingshixuan, p. 3.
8
Yu Yue incorrectly states that 畠 has no Chinese equivalent, but according to the Kangxi dictionary,
畠 is synonymous and homonymous with 田.
9
various poetry collections, they cannot be changed and will be copied in its original form, as the
author intended… Because these characters have been extant and passed on from a long time ago,
there is no need to judge them solely by Chinese standards.”
9
Yu Yue comments on the presence of furigana, “Japanese texts commonly have
annotated pronunciations next to each line. The text of Ogyū Sorai
10
is the sole exception. Ryu
Seong-ryong from Chosen has said that with this custom alone, one would know the
pronunciations. However, the selective method of Ogyū Sorai has not significantly affected the
customs of his country.”
11
Though Yu Yue has noted in his autobiography that he read several
important books on Japanese kanshi, he did not expound on how Japanese poets interpreted and
recited kanshi. The issue of reciting kanshi has always been a hindering factor in transnational
communication on the subject. Yu Yue himself was keenly aware of this barrier from his years
of tutelage of Japanese scholars like Inoue Nobumasa 井上陳政 (1862-1900), which hinged
solely upon transcription since they did not share a common spoken language.
12
In terms of tonality, Yu Yue observes, “There are many Japanese poems that do not abide
by the law of tonality. Even judging by the theory that one may ignore the law of tonality on the
9
“而見於 諸集中 詩題者 率 皆人名、 地名, 不可更 易 ,悉如其 舊,亦 名從主 人 之義也 … 蓋其積 久相
沿如此, 亦不必 盡以中 法 繩之 。 ”Dongyingshixuan, p. 3.
10
Ogyū Sorai 荻 生徂徠 (1666-1728): Confucian philosopher and kanshi poet who rejected Neo-
Confucianism and advocated for a return to the study of Confucian classics and Tang poetry.
11
“東國之書 ,每行 之旁 多有譯音 ,惟徂 徠之書 無 之。朝鮮 人成龍 淵謂, 即 此一端, 可知譯 音,
取法徂徠 ,非敢 強變其 國 俗也。 ” Dongyingshixuan, p. 3.
12
This paragraph on Yu Yue’s interaction with Japanese scholars is indebted to Ma Gedong 马 歌 东.
“Objectives Reflected in Yu Yue's Dong Ying Shi Xuan and His Understanding of Japanese Poetry in
Chinese Style.” Journal of Lanzhou Univ. (Social Sciences) 30, no. 1 (2002): 35.
10
first, third and fifth character, there are still seven-syllabic poems in which the last three
characters are flat. Even judging by the theory of near rhymes, there are those who incorrectly
rhymed gē with zhī, and wén with xiān.”
13
Yu Yue first invokes the common saying “ 一三五不
論,二四六分明。” a convenient mnemonic device for poets to abide by pingze 平仄, the law
of tonality that governs Chinese poetry. This theory stipulates that the first, third and fifth
character can be of either tonality, while the second, fourth and sixth must abide by the law. A
similar saying exists for the fifth syllabic form, where the poet can ignore the tonality of the first
and third characters but must be stringent on the second and fourth character. Under the law of
tonality, the tone of successive characters must switch after at most two characters to enhance the
poem’s rhythm. Therefore, there is no circumstance in which the last three characters of one line
have the same tonality, which Yu Yue cites as an example of breaking the law of tonality. Yu
Yue’s second example concerns the rhyme scheme of Chinese poetry. He cites examples of
characters that do not rhyme even when factoring in near rhymes. The compiler’s stringent
examination of the rhyme scheme and law of tonality of Japanese kanshi demonstrates that he
holds a high standard for Japanese kanshi poets, dismissing the possible argument that most of
them did not recite the poems in the Chinese language. This attitude is congruent with kanshi
writers and critics within the Sinosphere. kanshi scholar Matthew Fraleigh writes,
“Consideration of rhyme, tone, and rhythm—features of poetic works that we tend to associate
with orality—was an indispensable component of the compositional process for all taking part,
even for those (presumably the majority) with little or no competence in spoken Chinese.”
14
For
13
“東國之詩 於音 律多有 未 諧 ,執「 一三五 不論 」 之 説,遂有 七言律 詩 而句 末 三字 皆用 平聲者 。
執通韻之 説 ,遂 有混 「 歌 」 於 「 支 」,借 「文」 為 「先 」者。 ”Dongyingshixuan, p. 3.
14
Fraleigh, Matthew. “At the Borders of Chinese Literature: Poetic Exchange in the Nineteenth Century
Sinosphere.” The Oxford Handbook of Modern Chinese Literatures. Ed. by Carlos Rojas and Andrea
Bachner. Oxford University Press, 2016, p. 374.
11
poems that broke either laws of rhyme and tone, Yu Yue chose from one of two options —to omit
the poet’s faulty poems and explain his reasoning in the commentary or alter the poem in the
way he saw fit. Examples of the first option include Matsumoto Guzan 松本愚山 (1755-1834),
on whom Yu Yue comments:
Guzan has two collections of poetry, I read two volumes of the second collection.
His poems are elegant and readable, a couplet reads,
‘With old age, I let the stove tend to my affairs
Poor and sullen, I let the booze take charge.’
This is a well-written piece. It is a shame that some of his poems have lines that
do not rhyme, and therefore cannot be included.
15
On some occasions, Yu Yue would also list couplets in the commentary from poems with
faulty rhyme schemes or tonality. His explanations are usually something to the effect of “The
following lines are good, but those poems are not in the selection, so I copy them here.” I would
still classify this editing method as an example of the first option because an omission was made.
An example of the second option is Yanada Zeigan 梁田蛻 巌 (1672-1757). Yu Yue omitted an
entire quatrain from one of his seven-syllabic poems. One exception Yu Yue made was to the
Edo Confucian scholar Itō Tōgai 伊藤東涯 (1670-1736). In his commentary, Yu Yue wrote,
His Confucian learning follows that of his family, which is rooted in the Song
Neo-Confucian idea of “human nature is the principle of heaven”. The gist of the
idea is discernable in the poem Reflection
16
. His poems are edited by his son
Zenshō, who expressed that he could not leave out a single word, and therefore
both its merits and flaws are visible. However, the poems of a scholar can be
judged without the laws of poetry, I carefully select the following few, which
exhibit the merits of his work in full.
17
15
“愚山詩有前後 集,余 所 見乃後集 二卷也 。詩亦 清 雅可詠。 有一聯 云: 「 衰 老鑪為政 ,窮愁 酒
主盟。」 亦小品 中之佳 者 。惜其通 體有不 合律之 句 ,未能錄 用。 ”Dongyingshixuan, p. 301.
16
“感述一首 天道惟 陰陽 ,地道乃 柔剛 … ”(“A reflective piece: The way of heaven knows only yin
and yang, the way of earth speaks of strength and flexibility…”) Ibid., 105.
17
“其論學宗其家學,深 以 宋儒性即理之説爲非 。 讀 集 中 《 感 述 》 一 首 , 可 見 其 大 旨 。 詩 乃 其 子 善 韶 所編,
自謂不忍 遺隻字 ,故瑕 瑜 襍 見。然學 人之詩 有未可 以詩 律繩之者 ,慎擇 如 干 首 ,其 佳処亦略 盡矣。 ”
Dongyingshixuan, Ibid., 104.
12
This explicit exception for his otherwise stringent adherence of rhyme scheme and the
law of tonality demonstrates that Yu Yue favored those with a Confucian learning and whose
works reflect such knowledge. Notably, Yu Yue’s exception extended to scholars and works of
Buddhism as well. Cai Yi notes that this especially benefited the kanshi poets from the early Edo
period, the majority of whom were Confucian scholars, while later Edo poets were much more
likely to be professional poets and commoners. This biased treatment over poets with Confucian
and Buddhist learning and their works reveals Yu Yue’s preference of kanshi that he deemed
morally superior.
18
One of Yu Yue’s reason for editing has invited the most criticism from later scholars,
namely the practice of bihui 避諱, the law that stipulates writers should avoid offensive
characters. The compiler explains,
“We in China have characters that should be avoided out of reverence, but
there is no such custom in Japan. But because this selection is chosen by me, and
written in China, I will change the characters that need to be avoided. Doing so
will save the embarrassment of Japanese poets for not knowing this custom and
follow the ancient tradition of asking one’s name after entering the door.”
19
At the time of Yu Yue’s writing, certain characters were considered an offense because of
they coincided with a Qing Emperor’s name. For example, Emperor Kangxi’s birth name was
Xuanye 玄燁, so neither characters can appear in writing in its original form. Writers either use a
replacement, as Yu Yue did by writing yuán 元 instead of xuán 玄, or produce the character in an
18
The opinion on Yu Yue’s bias in this paragraph is rephrasing Cai Yi 蔡毅. “Yu Yue yu dong ying shi
xuan 俞 樾與《 東瀛詩選 》.” Essay. In Ri Ben Han Shi Lun Gao 日本 漢詩論 稿. Beijing: Zhong hua shu
ju, 2007, p. 285.
19
“ 我 中 華 例 應 敬 避 之 字 , 在 東 國 原 無 庸 避 忌 。 然 既 選 自 鄙 人 , 刻 於 中 土 , 則 應 避 之 字 必 應 改 易 。
即在東國 詩人亦 可免其 具 敖不知之 恥。而 合於古 者 入門問諱 之義。 ”Dongyingshixuan, p. 4.
13
edited form: xuán 玄 was most commonly written without its last stroke. Note that the
pronunciation retains the end tonal syllable -uán, thus preserving the original tonality and rhyme
of the character. Yu Yue’s decision to follow this custom is made less surprising when we
consider the fact that he originally intended the poetry collection to be published in China. And
though his original intention was only realized in a limited capacity, his introduction and
commentary on around 150 Japanese kanshi poets were later included in his eight-volume
collection, Chunzaitang Quanshu 春在堂全書 under the title Dongying Shiji 東瀛詩記
(“Writings on Poetry from Japan”). But for the Japanese audience, the changes induced by bihui
in A Selection of Poems from Japan altered the meaning of the original poem, or even rendered it
unreadable. As we can see it in the following poem by Edo Confucian scholar and educator Itō
Jinsai 伊藤維楨
20
:
斯文未委地,何日正逢原。閩洛有君子,空元不足論。
21
The literati have not completely soiled themselves
But when will the truth be probed?
The Cheng-Zhu school has men of noble purpose
But pure imagination does not suffice as arguments
The phrase Kongxuan 空玄 in the last line, which means pure imagination is rendered
into a nonsensical compound Kongyuan 空元. In addition to wasei kanji and Japanese variant
20
Itō Jinsai 伊藤維 楨 (1627-1705): Confucian scholar and educator who was critical of the teachings of
Zhu Xi. Though often associated with the Kogaku 古學 movement, he was heavily criticized by Ogyū
Sorai. As a poet, he belongs to Yu Yue’s second category of poets, who composed many kanshi about
Confucian teachings.
21
Dongyingshixuan, p. 103.
14
characters, bihui is another example of the difference in Chinese script used by Chinese and
Japanese scholars, although there is a notable distinction between the two in nature —bihui is a
writing practice unique to China, whereas wasei kanji and Japanese variants are a linguistic norm
of Japanese writers. These differences raise the question of the extent to which Chinese and
Japanese kanshi poets truly share the same language. And this perhaps speaks to the value of Yu
Yue’s work. Upon reading copious Japanese kanshi and conversing with poets in Japan, he
noticed these differences and felt it necessary to elucidate how he addressed these differences in
the selection’s prologue.
22
In his selection process, Yu Yue was highly critical of poems that imitate earlier works.
He explains,
Everyone writes poems that imitate ancient classics, especially Japanese poets.
This is because when learning how to write poetry, one first imitates various
masters, then develops one’s own distinctive style. When writing these imitations,
people usually give away this intention at the beginning to impress the audience.
What I am saying is that these poets are not using their own words, but those of
others. The sentiment and composure are indiscernible in these poems. Therefore,
I have selected two or three out of every ten of such imitative works that I read in
this selection.
23
Yu Yue valued a poet’s own expression over their knowledge of the classics. Cai
Yi notes that his selection includes many works with imagery distinctive to Japan such as
Mt. Fuji and hanami, which again points to the fact that he valued more original works.
22
The information regarding the practice of bihui and Yu Yue’s adherence to it is learned from Cao
Shengzhi 曹 昇之. Yu Yue yu Dongying Shixuan de Jihui 俞樾 與《東 瀛詩選 》的 際會 (Yu Yue and the
Endeavor of ‘A Selection of Poems from Japan’) Preface. In Dong Ying Shi Xuan 东 瀛詩選, Beijing, :
Zhong hua shu ju, 2016, pp. 53-55.
23
“ 擬 古 之 詩 , 大 家 所 有 , 東 國 詩 人 多 喜 為 之 。 蓋 學 詩 之 初 , 先 摹 倣 各 家 , 然 後 乃 能 自 成 一 家 也 ,
刻集之時 ,往往 置之卷 首 ,以壯觀 瞻。余 則謂, 此 言人之言 ,而非 自言其 言 也。詩主 性情, 似不
在此。故 擬古之 詩入選 者 ,十之二 三而已 。 ”Dongyingshixuan, p. 3.
15
This view becomes more prominent in his interpretation of Edo kanshi history, and his
critical commentary on poets in the Sorai school.
24
24
The opinion regarding Yu Yue’s preference of original works is rephrasing that of Cai Yi 蔡毅. “Yu
Yue yu dong ying shi xuan” 俞 樾與 《東瀛 詩選》. Essay. In Ri Ben Han Shi Lun Gao 日本漢 詩論稿.
Beijing, China: Zhong hua shu ju, 2007, pp. 282-284.
16
Chapter 3 Yu Yue’s History of Kanshi
From the prologue and introductory remarks of A Selection of Poems from Japan, we can
discern Yu Yue’s philosophy on poetry, his views toward Japanese kanshi, and that of late Qing
Chinese scholars at large. In the prologue, Yu Yue first expounds on the long lineage of cultural
and linguistic exchange between the two countries. He mentions well-known Japanese scholars
who have visited China throughout history, such as Awata no Mahito 粟田 真人, a nobleman
aboard the first diplomatic mission to Tang China, Abe no Nakamaro 阿倍 仲痲呂
25
, who was
among the first scholars to study abroad in Tang China, and Tokichi 滕木吉, a merchant who
introduced Japan to Emperor Song Zhenzong 宋 真宗. Each of Yu Yue’s examples has a close
affinity with poetry. Abe no Nakamaro was a friend of Li Bai, who composed the following
poem in 753 upon hearing a rumor that Abe no Nakamaro had died from a maritime accident on
his trip back to Japan, when in fact he was one of the few remaining survivors
26
:
日本晁卿辭帝都,征帆 一片繞蓬壺。明月不歸沉碧海,白云愁色滿蒼梧。
Abe no Nakamaro of Japan is leaving the capital
Sails will wrap around the mountains of Penglai and Fanghu
The bright moon sinks to the green ocean with no return
The sorrowful air of white clouds surrounds the mountain of Cangwu
The abundant allusions to Chinese mythology can perhaps be explained by how little is
known about Japan in China at the time. Li Bai likens Abe’s trip to Japan to one to Penglai and
25
Abe no Nakamaro 阿倍 仲 痲呂 (698-770): a member of the eighth envoy to Tang China, known as
Kentōshi 遣 唐使. Entered China in 717, maintained various positions in the Tang government, befriended
and exchanged poems with notable poets of his time in Chang’an such as Li Bai 李白, Wang Wei 王維,
Chu Guang Xi 儲光羲.
26
The historical information in this paragraph is indebted to Murakami Tetsumi. “Abe No Nakamaro and
Poets in the Tang Dynasty.” Trans. Zhang Fang, Journal of Baoji Univ. of Arts and Sciences (Social
Science Edition) 40, no. 6 (December 2020): 95.
17
Fanghu, two mythological mountains said to be located in the eastern sea, and his sorrows to the
mystical scenery of Mt. Cangwu. All three locations are known for their location in the east, and
therefore commonly used as metaphors for Japan.
The Old Book of Tang 舊唐書 writes of Awata no Mahito,
The third year of the reign of Chang’an, Japan’s minister Mahito came to offer
tributes. The minister Mahito’s position is comparable to the Minister of Revenue
in China. He donned noble cap, with a flower at its tip that separates into four
sides, a purple robe and a silk belt. Mahito is a voracious reader of the classics, an
avid interpreter of articles, and has a gentle, elegant mannerism.
27
The History of Song 宋史 describes Tokichi’s meeting with Emperor Zhenzong:
The fifth year of Xianping, sea merchant Zhou Shichang from Jianzhou was led to
Japan by wind current but was able to return after seven years under the
accompaniment of Tokichi from Japan. The emperor greeted them. Zhou
Shichang asked Tokichi to sing Japanese poetry, the words were superficial and
without merit. The first year of the reign of Jingde, eight men from Japan,
including the monk Jakushō paid a visit. Jakushō could not understand spoken
Chinese, but understood the characters, and was even a brilliant writer. Whenever
he was asked a question, he responds with his inkbrush.
28
Though there is no way of knowing what kind of poetry Tokichi recited to the Song court,
the interaction is a remarkable example of transcultural exchange. Unsurprisingly, the court
27
“長安三 年,其 大臣朝 臣真人, 來貢方 物。朝 臣 真人者, 猶中國 兵部尚 書 ,冠進德 冠、其 頂為
花、分而 四敵、 身服紫 袍 、以帛為 腰帶。 真人好 讀 經史、解 屬文、 容止温 雅 。 ” Liu, Xu 劉昫.
“Jiu Tang Shu” 舊 唐書. Beijing: Zhong hua shu ju, 1975, p. 228.
28
“咸平五 年,建 州海 贾 周世昌遭 风飘至 日本, 凡 七年得 还 ,与其 国人滕 木 吉至,上 皆召 见 之。
世昌以其 国人唱 和 诗来上,詞 甚雕 刻肤浅 无所取 。 景德元年 ,其国 僧寂 照 等 八人来朝 ,寂照 不 晓
华言,而 识文字 , 缮写 甚 妙,凡 问 答并以 笔札。 ” Tuo, Tuo 脱脱. “Song Shi” 宋史. Beijing: Zhong
hua shu ju, 1985, p. 157.
18
responded with a dismissive attitude toward the recital, and seeing that Tokichi was merely a
merchant, they did not think it worthy to document any details about Japanese poetry.
29
The three examples mentioned by Yu Yue string together a somewhat misleading picture
of Sino-Japanese cultural exchange in the Tang and Song dynasty, which he collectively calls
Tangsong zhishi 唐宋之 世 (“the era of Tang-Song”). The Nara and Heian governments on
average sent one envoy to China every fifteen years, a total of nineteen envoys from 630 to 895.
The compiler does not mention the period of relative insulation, from the termination of this
envoy mission in 895 until the beginning of renewed Sino-Japanese cultural exchange in the
Song dynasty. If we take a look at Yu Yue’s comparison between the Tang-Song era and his time,
it is not hard to see why he chose to omit this fact. Yu Yue is mainly trying to contrast the
difficulty and risks of travel between the Tang-Song dynasty and the nineteenth century. The
accounts of Abe no Nakamaru and Tokichi tell exactly the hardship that travelers had to endure
—the former is one of the most well-known k e ntō shi, his friendship with Li Bai and his trying
travels immortalized in the poem mentioned above, and the latter is introduced in an historical
account along with a sea accident.
Japanese kanshi poets and researchers have praised Yu Yue’s accurate and proficient
reading of the evolution of Japanese kanshi, in which he delineates the three periods of Japanese
kanshi. The compiler writes:
Edo kanshi started with emulating Song poetry. Later came Ogyū Sorai, who
advocated the study of ancient rhetorics, and obviously taught by emulating the
old. Therefore, the school had the selections of Li Panlong, and its pupils
29
The information on Tokichi in this paragraph is indebted to Sun Haiqiao. “Origin Research on the
Poem Sentence of ‘Clothing Style Learning from Tang Dynasty, Etiquette and Music from Han Dynasty.’”
Journal of Guangxi Vocational and Technical College 6, no. 3 (June 2013): 86.
19
treasured the book of Wang Shizhen. Their poetry is high-brow and serious, much
like those of the School of Ancient Rhetoric in the Ming dynasty. This legacy
lived on for a long time. Then came Yanada Zeigan, Ōkubo Shibutsu and others,
and poetry became more lyrically expressive and fluid, lingered on nature and
things, and did not stoop to emulation. Instead, it is refreshing and light-spirited,
and exhibits different areas of expertise, making one extoll in joy while reading.
30
The first period that Yu Yue identified is centered around Confucian scholar Hayashi
Razan 林羅山 (1583-1657), when kanshi was viewed as an extracurricular among Confucian
scholars. The second period is centered around Ogyū Sorai 荻生徂徠 (1666-1728), his school of
thought known as Kōbunjigaku 古文辞學 (“ancient rhetorics”), which alludes to their belief that
kanshi peaked during the Tang dynasty and could not be surpassed. Influenced by the Ancient
Rhetoric School of Ming and the ideologies of Wang Shizhen 王世貞 (1526-1590) and Li
Panlong 李攀龍 (1514-1570), Ogyū Sorai advocated for a study of historical works and language
to access Confucian philosophy rather than relying on the works of Zhu Xi 朱熹 and Cheng Yi
程頤. The Sorai school introduced Tang poetry as a means to access literary Chinese for
philosophy works and chose A Selection of Tang Poetry 唐詩選 by Li Panlong as the core of
their study.
31
30
其始 猶沿襲宋 季之派 , 其後物徂 徠出, 提唱古 學 ,慨然以 復古為 教。遂 使 家有滄溟 之集, 人抱
弇州之書 ,詞藻 高翔, 風 骨嚴重, 幾與有 明七子 並 轡齊驅。 傳之既 久,而 梁 星巖、大 窪天民 諸君
出,則又 變而抒 寫性靈 , 流連景物 ,不屑 以摹擬 為 工。而清 新俊逸 ,各擅 所 長,殊使 人讀之 有愈
唱愈高之 歎。Dongyingshixuan, pp. 1.
31
The categorization of the three periods of Edo kanshi is outlined by Cai Yi 蔡毅. “Yu Yue yu dong
ying shi xuan 俞 樾與《 東 瀛詩選》.” Essay. In Ri Ben Han Shi Lun Gao 日 本漢 詩論稿. Beijing: Zhong
hua shu ju, 2007, pp. 287-289.
20
Sorai praises his predecessors with the following line, “安得中朝王李辈,与君大海割
鴻溝。”
32
(“Be thankful for Wang Shizeng and Li Panlong from China, Alas, I am separated by
an abyss of an ocean.”) Sorai acknowledges the physical and temporal distance between the two
men, who died a century before he was born, by likening the gap to an abyss. Sorai and his
disciples relied on his imagination to traverse between his own locality to an invented China
from literature, an imaginary Tang China as canonized by Ming scholars. Yu Yue held a
generally unfavorable view toward the Sorai school’s frequent use of Chinese imagery and
motifs. He wrote in the comments for Ōta Kinjō 大田元貞 (1765-1825): “There’s nothing more
than heaven and earth, jianghu, the mist of clouds or the white sun, and it’s hard not for people to
start disliking it.”
33
The third and final period Yu Yue identified dispensed with Sorai’s poetic philosophy
and sought to return to the spontaneity of composition and not rely as much on ancient texts.
This group of authors also began to make a clearer distinction between Confucian learning and
kanshi. Indeed, from the late Edo period, kanshi composition no longer became an exclusive
practice of Confucian scholars. Yu Yue held generally favorable views toward this group of
poets, including the aforementioned Yanada Zeigan, and Hirose Kyokusō 広瀬旭莊 (1807-
1863),who has the most poems in A Selection of Poems from Japan at 175 pieces.
34
In his own
words, Yu Yue was able to gain and develop a comprehensive understanding of Edo kanshi from
reading works by kanshi poets or about kanshi history including Sentetsu Sodan, Ogyu Sorai’s
Rongo c hō 論語徴, Yasui Sokken 安井 息軒’s Kanshi Sanko 管子纂詁 and communications with
32
Ogyū Sorai, Sawai Keiichi, Okamoto Mitsuo, and Aihara Kōsaku. Soraish ū: Jorui. Tōkyō, Japan:
Heibonsha, 2017, p. 85.
33
“無非天地 、江湖 、浮 雲、白日 ,又未 始 不取 嚴 於人。 ” Dongyingshixuan, p. 293.
34
21., p. 291.
21
his Japanese counterparts. He praised trendsetters such as Hayashi Razan and Yanada Zeigan and
was critical of the rigid styles of the Sorai school. In term of the larger history of Sino-Japanese
transcultural exchange, Yu Yue emphasizes the bond forged with classical Chinese as the
common written language and extolled his era as one of unprecedented contact and
communication.
22
Chapter 4 Comparison with Chen Manshou’s Riben Tongren Wenxuan
Until 2004, scholars believed Yu Yue’s A Selection of Poetry from Japan was the first
compilation of kanshi by a Chinese scholar. The fact is that the title of the first was claimed by
Chen Manshou 陳曼壽
35
(also known as Chen Honggao 陳鴻誥, 1825-1884), whose
compilation debut several months before Yu Yue’s. Chen Manshou earned the lowest title of
xiucai 秀才 and rotated through different minor government posts in Zhejiang. Though he was
born into a wealthy family, he fell into poverty for his inability to rise up through the ranks of
government. With the help and recommendation of his friend, Wei Zhusheng 衛鑄生 (1827-?),
who earned a fortune selling calligraphy in Japan, he embarked on a journey to do the same in
1880. Soon after he arrived, he befriended various Japanese literati including Harada Seichū 原
田西疇, Ono Kozan 小 野湖山 (1814-1910), Ema Tenkō 江馬天江 (1825-1901), and much to
his surprise, earned a reputation for his poetry rather than his calligraphy. His debut collection
Weimei Huaguan Shichao 味梅華館詩鈔 was published within the year. His autobiographical
poem The Song of Naihengweng 乃亨翁歌 (Naihengweng was his art name) was published in
Shinbunshi 新文詩, a well-circulated kanshi publication founded by the reputable Mori Shuntō
森春濤 (1819-1889). Chen Manshou’s talent in poetry was never validated in China for two
35
Relatively little is known about Chen Manshou. The information here is derived from primary,
secondary sources, and Cai Yi’s essay Chen Manshou and Riben Tongren Shixuan —The first Japanese
kanshi collection edited by a Chinese poet ( 陳曼 壽與 《日本同 人詩選 》 —第 一 部中國人 編輯的 日本漢
詩集 (2004)), in which the author corrected his previous essay, writing that Chen Manshou was the first,
instead of Yu Yue.
23
reasons: he lost his collection of early works during the Taiping Rebellion and was unable to
reproduce them; and he never attained a respectable degree in the civil examination.
36
Chen Manshou and Yu Yue held a similar, almost identical attitude toward rhyme
schemes and the law of tonality. Both compilers believed it was apt to correct or omit the poets’
mistakes to the best of their abilities. This was a common practice of Chinese scholars at the time
and accepted by most Japanese kanshi poets. Japanese poets trusted the judgement of Chinese
scholars on rhyme schemes and tonality because of their ability to speak one or more Sinitic
languages. Chen Manshou suggested that Japanese kanshi poets would benefit from learning a
Sinitic language early on. Tsuchiya Hiroshi 土屋 広 wrote about a conversation with him —
“When my son becomes of age, I will make him learn spoken Chinese.” To which, Chen
Manshou replied, “If one only learns Iroha
37
, then they will always be refuted by the Tang
standard of tone and writing. It is best to teach pupils the Chinese language at an early age, they
may just achieve great accomplishments.”
38
This exchange reaffirms kanshi’s history as a
predominantly written language. There was no phonetic system to pronounce Chinese characters,
so most non-Chinese speaking kanshi writers would know which character rhymed with which
from rhyme books but not know what that rhyme was.
36
The information on Chen Manshou in this paragraph is derived from Cai Yi 蔡毅. “Chen Manshou Yu
Riben Tongren Shixuan” 陳曼壽與 《日本 同人詩 選 》. Essay. In Ri Ben Han Shi Lun Gao 日本漢 詩論
稿. Beijing, China: Zhong hua shu ju, 2007, pp. 255-258.
37
Iroha いろは 歌: A popular Japanese poem composed in the Heian period and a perfect pangram of the
Japanese alphabet.
38
“一習伊呂 波,則 與唐 音及字跡 總相刺 謬。最 好 於 童年即 教以方 字及中 國 言語,庶 幾可進 於大
成也。 ” 23, p. 265.
24
To analyze how Japanese poets perceived these unsolicited changes made by Chinese
scholars, we can take a close look at a published collection by Ono Kozan
39
. In 1877, the
renowned poet wrote re-published some of his edited poems as Selected Poems of Kozan by Qing
Scholars Yu Yue and Chen Manshou 清人俞陳二家精選湖山樓詩.In this publication, Ono
Kozan retained the majority of edits made by the Chinese scholars. For a venerable poet like Ono
Kozan to accept the edits made by a lesser-known scholar like Chen Manshou, who owes his
career in Japan to Ono Kozan, it shows Japanese kanshi poets of this time readily accepted edits
made by Chinese poets.
40
The two collections have several notable differences. Cai Yi notes in Chen Manshou and
Riben Tongren Shixuan, “Except for seven poets who are from Tokyo, Yamaguchi, etc., the rest
are all from Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Nagoya, also known as the Kansai region.”
41
In contrast,
the selection of poems gathered by Kishida Ginkō for Yu Yue, despite its shortcomings, covered
a variety of regions and themes. The reason for this regionality of Chen’s selection evidently
stems from his personal travels, which were limited to within Kansai. Tsuchiya wrote in the
preface of Chen’s selection, “This selection was specially gathered by Mr. Chen from those he
acquainted. Kanshi in Japan is obviously not limited to those listed here.”
42
Another issue of
Chen Manshou’s method of collection is that many poems were dedicated to him. These poems
are usually full of platitudes and compliments and lack literary value. In contrast, Yu Yue did not
include poems dedicated to him in A Selection of Poems but only in his full body of work,
Chunzaitang Quanshu. His selection method also affects the temporality of these poems, most of
39
Ono Kozan 小野 湖山 (1814-1910): Confucian scholar and kanshi poet, pupil of Yanada Zeigan,
sometimes referred to as one of the three great poets of Meiji 明治 の三詩 人
40
36, pp. 270-272.
41
36, p. 267.
42
“此特陳君 獲之於 其交 者,海内 之詩固 不止於 此 。 ” Riben Tongren Wenxuan, p. 3.
25
which were composed around the time of his travel between 1880 and 1882. Comparing it to Yu
Yue’s selection, Chen’s selection contains more contemporary pieces that reflect Japanese
society but falls far behind in representing a historical overview of Japanese kanshi. An example
is the fact that several poems in Chen’s selection made references or commented on the Satsuma
Rebellion led by Saigo Takamori in 1877. Chen’s selection is more personal and autobiographic
in nature whereas Yu Yue distanced himself from the poems except to correct what he deemed
were violations to the rhyme scheme or law of tonality.
These two collections are part of a larger story of Sino-Japanese transcultural contact in
the late nineteenth century. Chen Manshou is representative of Chinese scholars who travelled to
Japan and made a living off of cultural production in classical Chinese including calligraphy,
kanshi publications and prefaces written in kanbun. This group of scholars included his friend
Wei Zhusheng, journalist and political thinker Wang Tao 王韜 (1828-1897), and the painter
Wang Yin 王寅. The demand for these cultural productions of classical Chinese was driven by
Japanese Confucian scholars, kanshi poets and government officials, who after centuries of
limited contact between the two countries, were able to communicate and exchange cultural
production with their Chinese counterparts. Yu Yue is representative of venerated scholars in
China, whose works and teachings were actively sought after by Japanese scholars, diplomats,
and entrepreneurs in China. He and Chen Manshou have several common acquaintances in their
network, such as Kishida Ginkō and Takezoe Shin’ichiro. Kishida Ginkō wrote letters of
recommendation for Chen Manshou to reputable kanshi poets including Narushima Ryūhoku 成
島柳北 and Ono Kozan, praising his calligraphy and poetry. Takezoe Shinichirō wrote a poem
26
about receiving a visit from Chen Manshou and others in Shanghai in 1877.
43
These connections
represent a larger network of exchange and communication between Chinese scholars and
Japanese scholars, entrepreneurs, and officials.
43
36, pp. 259-262.
27
Chapter 5 The Response to A Selection of Poems from Japan and its Legacy
Yamamoto Kizai 山 本 木 齊 wrote, “Inspired by reading the poem on falling petals
selected in A Selection of Poems from Japan by Qing scholar Yu Yue whom I can call my bosom
friend abroad, I compose this verse”, 余少時所作 落花詩一首載在 清余曲園樾學士所選東瀛詩
選中亦可謂海外知音矣 偶有感賦一律:
無復飛紅到枕邊,閑懷往事獨蕭然。 誰圖少日宴閒作 ,忽值知音海外傳。
44
The falling petal no longer comes to my pillowside
Bored, I recollect past times and feel lonely and empty
Who would think that a poem I wrote when I was young at a banquet
Is suddenly worth a bosom friend to disseminate abroad
Though Yu Yue explicated in the prologue that the list of authors in his collection is in no
way exhaustive, his omission of well-known, respected figures and inclusion of unknown authors,
mostly those who were not scholars or professional poets, invited much criticism from Japanese
kanshi poets. Yu Yue omitted well-known, respected Edo poets like Gion Nankai 祇園南海
(1676-1751), Akiyama Gyokuzan 秋山玉山 (1702-1764), Rai Shunpū 頼春風 (1753-1825),
which was especially frowned upon considering he included Rai Shunpū’s brothers, Rai Kyohei
賴杏坪 (1756-1834) and Rai Shunsui 賴春水 (1746-1816). From a logical point of view, one
could assign the blame of Yu Yue’s omission to Kishida Ginkō, who was not an expert on the
subject himself, for failing to provide those works. It is highly unlikely that the works of the
respectable poets mentioned by the critics were all deemed inadequate for the selection. Yu
Yue’s supplementary chapters prove that in most of the cases, it was because he did not receive
the poems from which to select. Furthermore, Yu Yue expressed pity for not receiving the full
volume of important works, such as the first half of Poetry Collection of Yanada. He wrote in his
44
Dongyingshixuan, p. 1147.
28
comments on Yanada Zeigan, “I only saw four volumes of poems from the second half of his
collection and did not see the first half. By the second half, Yanada was already more than eighty
years of age. His earlier poems possibly exhibit even more refined skills than the ones I read.”
45
The absence was significant because Yu Yue rightly viewed Yanada as an important figure in
kanshi history, representative of the third period of poets whose view on poetry departed from
that of the Sorai school. After Kishida Ginkō relayed these concerns to Yu Yue, the compiler
mended his mistake by adding some of the missing poets in the four supplemental chapters. He
notes in the beginning of Chapter 41, “Poetry in Japan is obviously not limited to those in this
collection. The sages there, such as Gion Nankai 祇園南海 and Dazai Shundai 太宰春台 (1680-
1747) still hold a great reputation to this day, and therefore their works are selected to
complement this compilation.”
46
However, as for the second criticism, Yu Yue is solely to blame
for inclusion of little-known works and poets, which perhaps stems from his incomplete
understanding of the kanshi world and Japanese society at large. Kishida Ginkō noted that out of
the little-known poets whom Yu Yue selected, Kawaji Toshiyoshi 川路利良, a statesman and the
Tokyo police chief, was particularly irksome to poets such as Miyake Shinken because of the
general disdain writers had toward the police force.
47
In his personal letter exchanges with Takezoe and Kitagata, Yu Yue asked about the
collection’s reception in Japan. Although we do not know to what degree the scholars relayed the
45
“余所見 者止後 篇四卷 ,未見前 篇。是 時,蛻 巌 年逾八十 矣 。其 前篇之 詩 ,工 力或 當更勝 於
此。 ”Dongyingshixuan, p. 189.
46
“東國之 詩,固 不盡於 此 。彼中 先哲, 如 祇園 南 海、 太宰 春台 , 至今猶 望 若泰山, 而 兹選闕
焉。 ”Ibid., p. 1331.
47
The information in this paragraph is derived from Cai Yi 蔡毅. “Yu Yue yu dong ying shi xuan 俞樾與
《東瀛詩 選》.” Essay. In Ri Ben Han Shi Lun Gao 日本漢詩 論稿. Beijing, China: Zhong hua shu ju,
2007, pp. 297-299.
29
mixed reviews of Japanese kanshi writers, Yu Yue’s writings reveal that he came to believe the
collection was a success. He wrote in Chunzaitang Quanshu, “Historically, Japan has always
lacked poetry collections. This selection is undoubtedly a huge poetry collection for Japan, and it
has been quite popular in Japan.”
48
This statement undoubtedly reveals his lack of understanding
of Japanese literary history.
Writing to Yu Yue, Japanese scholars exaggerated the praise and popularity of A Selection
of Poems from Japan in their homeland, most likely out of reverence. For instance, in 1890, Yu
Yue’s pupil, Inoue Nobumasa solicited works from Japanese kanshi poets to celebrate his
teacher’s seventieth birthday. A total of 29 poets submitted 48 poems and 4 pieces of kanbun,
which Yu Yue compiled into Chunzaitang Quanshu, under the name Donghai Toutao Ji 東海投
桃集. (“Donghai” was one of the names China had for Japan and “Toutao” is a euphemism for
gift exchange between friends) A poem in Donghai Toutao Ji by Tani Tetsuomi 谷鉄臣 (1822-
1905) reads:
冊卷東瀛詩手編, 遙遙載送采風船。先生一夜吟窗夢,或到扶桑江日邊。
49
Volumes of poems from Japan he edited in hand,
are carried by boat and sailed afar with the wind.
One night’s dream the teacher had by the window,
may reach the land of Fusō and the edge of horizon.
48
“ 日 本 向 無 總 集 , 此 一 選 也 , 實 爲 其 國 總 集 之 大 者 , 頗 盛 行 於 海 東 也 。” Chunzaitang Quanshu
Suibi Qi, p. 4.
49
Chunzaitang Quanshu, Donghai Toutao Ji, p. 19.
30
Here, the poet likens Japan to the land of Fusō (or Fusang), a mythical locality said to be
somewhere in the sea east of China. First appearing in Shan Hai Jing 山海經, Fusō has been
described or imagined by both Chinese historians and poets. Scholars postulate that Fusō could
have been an actual nation-state in Kansai, Kitakyūshū, or Hokkaidō, or merely a mythical place.
The poet adopts the ancient Chinese understanding of East Asian geography, referring to his
homeland in the same verbiage used by Tang poets. This legacy of classical Chinese as the
lingua franca of East Asia lives on in the kanshi world. The largest kanshi publication in present-
day Japan, founded by Sinologist Ishikawa Tadahisa 石川忠久 in 2004, is named Fusōfūi n 扶桑
風韻, which can be translated as “Elegant Verses of Japan”. There are obvious reasons for why
Japanese kanshi poets refer to Japan as such, and not the commonly used “Nihon” 日本,
meaning “land of the rising sun”. Kanshi poets of any period are exposed to a copious amount of
classical Chinese poetry and kanbun, which when describing Japan, frequently cite mythological
places said to be located somewhere east of China such as Penglai, Fanghu, and Fusang. This is
emblematic of a larger phenomenon of Japanese kanshi poets using localities and motifs unique
to Chinese poets and the Chinese perspective, either to make their poems appear more “Chinese”,
or to compose in consideration of the legacy of kanshi. Perhaps the most obvious example is the
Sorai school.
Several writers also equated Yu Yue’s status in the study of classics to Li Hongzhang’s
status in the Qing court. Shimada Kōson 島田篁村 (1838-1898) wrote, “Out of the reputable
31
men of a generation, based on what I have heard, the statesman would be Viceroy Li Hongzhang,
the Confucian scholar would be Mr. Yu Yue, for obvious reasons.”
50
Another contributer in Donghai Toutao Ji, Shioya Tokitoshi 塩谷時敏 writes,
Lately, Zeng Guofan is known as one of the four great statesmen, and under his
tutelage are two remarkable men, namely Viceroy Li Hongzhang and Mr. Yu Yue.
One with his policymaking, one with his writings, both men are reputable today…
Mr. Yu retired at an early age, and taught mainly in Zhejiang province, taking up
the responsibility of educating talented men. Countless scholars took to his
tutelage, and his writings have reached an audience abroad.
51
There were two different versions of the title of the four great statesman 四 大中興名臣
—some said they were Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong; others
said they were the Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Hu Linyi and Peng Yulin. The association with
Zeng Guofan and comparison with Li Hongzhang are meant as compliments for Yu Yue, whom
was not a household name in China. The contrast with Li Hongzhang is clear since Yu Yue never
engaged in politics after his banishment and was even a lesser figure in politics than his closest
pupil Inoue Nobumasa, who was a diplomat at the Japanese embassy in Beijing. The Viceroy
negotiated the treaty with France in 1886 and had established military academies to strengthen
and modernize China’s army and navy, who under his direction would become the primary
fighting force during the first Sino Japanese War in 1894-95. The praise for Li Hongzhang is
also telling of this particular period of friendly relations between China and Japan before the
50
“巋然為一 代標望 者, 以余所聞 ,勲臣 則李少 荃 相國,師 儒則余 曲園先 生 ,此其尤 顯著者
也。 ”42, p. 47.
51
“ 近時曾 公文正 稱中興 名 臣,而其 門下乃 出而傑 , 曰李公少 荃,曰 余先生 曲 園。一以 事業, 一以
文章,共 著稱於 當世 … 先 生早 嵗 閑 退,主 講浙中 , 以教育群 才為己 任。多 士 濟濟,皆 出其門 ,所
著之書 , 遠播海 外。” Ibid., p. 67.
32
political situation in the Korean peninsula escalated into geopolitical conflict in 1894. Much like
Li Hongzhang was able to make peace with his Japanese counterparts before the war, Yu Yue
was able to develop and expand his contact with Japanese and Korean scholars in the 1870s and
80’s. These words of praise from Japanese literati further glorified Yu Yue’s well-established
status as a transnational scholar of talent and wisdom.
52
Modern scholar Ogawa Tamaki 小川環樹
53
summarizes in An Examination of the Editing
Process of A Selection of Poems from Japan:
After A Selection of Poems from Japan was published, Sekiguchi Takamasa, Narahara
Nobumasa, Shigeno Shōichiro became pupils of Yu Yue, and more and more people like
Satō Bokuzan, Hashiguchi Seiken, Yūki Chikudō requested Yu Yue’s calligraphy, letters
and finally, prefaces.
54
In reality, the collection was sidelined by much of the kanshi world in Japan at the time
and its spread largely limited to Confucian scholars. Nonetheless, it had a profound impact for
poets whose works were little-known before the collection like Yamamoto Kizai, and those who
52
The information on Li Hongzhang and the four great statesmen in this paragraph is derived from Li
Xizhu 李 细珠. “Li Hongzhang Dui Riben De Renshi Ji Qi Waijiao Celue [Li Hongzhang’s Understanding
of Japan and his Diplomatic Strategy].” She Hui Ke Xue Ji Kan, no. 1 (2013): 145–59.
53
Ogawa Tamaki 小川環 樹 (1910-1993): Japanese Sinologist, honorary professor at Kyoto University,
notable works include A General Introduction to Tang Poetry 『唐 詩概説 』(1958) and Colletion of
Song Poetry 『宋詩 選』(1967).
54
「『 詩選』刊 行後、 兪 樾のもと には関 口隆正 ・ 楢原陳正 ・重野 紹一郎 が 入門し 、 佐藤楚 材・
橋口誠軒 ・結城 蓄堂等 の よう に 揮 毫・題 字最後 に 序跋 を求める 日本人 が 増加した 。 」Ogawa,
Tanabe. “Tōei shisen hensan ni kansuru ichikōsatsu” 『東瀛詩 選』編 纂に関 す る一考察 [An
Examination of the Editing Process of A Selection of Poems from Japan]. Bungaku, Tōkyō: Iwanami
Shoten, no. 6 (1978): 63.
33
already held reverence for Yu Yue as a classical scholar like Sekiguchi Takamasa and Inoue
Nobumasa.
Yu Yue’s Body of Work
Kishida Ginko’s request came at a trying time in Yu Yue’s life. In 1872, Yu Yue’s old
brother, Yu Lin 俞林 died of illness. In 1879, Yu Yue’s wife, Yao Wenyu 姚文玉 whom he had
spent five decades with since their childhood romance, passed away from a respiratory disease
(likely tuberculosis), and in 1882, his youngest daughter passed away from illness away from
home. The old scholar was overwhelmed with sadness from this series of tragic events in his
family. It is unclear to what extent if any the compilation process of A Selection of Poems eased
his grieving pain, but we know that the compilation process coincided with his mourning 服喪
(fusang), an Confucian obligation of three years when the mourner temporarily retires from their
career and public affairs.
55
In terms of his creative writing, Yu Yue’s poetic themes turned
toward sadness and fatalism, demonstrated by this poem written in 1882:
“ 老夫何 罪又何 辜, 总 坐 虚名 误此 躯,泡 梦 电云 十 年内, 鳏 寡孤独 一家俱 , 自知佳世 应非久 ,竟不
忘情亦大 愚,转为痴儿 长 太息,从 今 谁与奉盘盂。”
56
What crimes did old me commit to be punished like this?
55
The information on Yu Yue’s biography in this paragraph is derived from Huntington, Rania. “Memory,
Mourning, and Genre in the Works of Yu Yue.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 67, no. 2 (2007): 253-
64.
56
Chunzaitang Quanshu vol. 4, p. 128.
34
I have wasted this corporeal body on the pursuit of meaningless titles
These past ten years have felt a bubbly dream, a thunder cloud
That left me widowed and alone at home
I am aware my time on this sweet earth is numbered
The fact I still feel sentimental may be foolish
Like a brainless child, I let out a long sigh
Who will share meals with me from now on?
Yu Yue writes of his response to Kishida’s request: “There is a Japanese man named
Kishida Ginko, who asked me to select from hundreds of Japanese poetry collection. I initially
intended to decline due to my age and illness. But then I thought, though we do not share the
same customs, we do share the same written language. By accident, my vapid name spread
abroad, and earned me this literary request.”
57
The connection I made with various respectable
men from Japan on language and literature has been a joy of my late years from the very
beginning. Therefore, I accepted his request.” From his response to Kishida Ginkō, we can
discern that a main reason for his acceptance was the years of connections he made with
Japanese scholars and poets, and he considered this collection to be a culmination of such
exchange. Yu Yue states that his willingness to accept the offer also stems from the fact that the
compilation would be unprecedented. This is also evident in the prologue of the poetry collection,
in which he speaks in an enthusiastic and self-appreciative tone. In the prologue, the scholar
extolls his time period as one of speedy communication; in contrast, the Tang-Song period was
practically a time of insulation. As to why his collection focuses almost exclusively on Edo poets
and their work, Yu Yue explained he only received works starting from Genna 元和 (1615-1624)
57
Chunzaitang Quanshu, vol. 7, p. 569.
35
and Kan’ei 寬永 (1624-1644), the reigns of the second and third Emperors of the Edo period.
58
Yu Yue mentions his locality twice in the prologue: “Since then, various respectable men did not
abandon me. Those who come to the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region always pay me a visit at The Hall
Where Spring Remains (“Chunzai Tang”), or at my lakeside residence.”
59
Who knows, five-
hundred years from now at the edge of my ink, someone may imitate West Lake folktales
60
, and
build a structure in my honor? I must be overexcited to nonsense and imagine you must be
roaring with laughter at this thought.”
61
It is safe to assume that Yu Yue was not familiar with
the history of chokusensh ū 勅撰集 (Japanese anthology collected by imperial commission),
whether they be kanshi, such as in the early Heian period, chokusen kanshi bunsh ū 勅撰漢詩文
集 (kanshi and kanbun anthologies by imperial commission), or the many chokusen wakash ū
(royally commissioned anthologies of waka) throughout history. There have been some
anthologies of Edo kanshi published before such as Emura Hokkai 江村北 海 (1713-1788)’s
Nihon Shisen 「日本詩選」(1771) but Yu Yue certainly believed that his anthology would be
unprecedented in its comprehensiveness. Scholars and researchers have since echoed that
opinion. In writing about A Selection of Poems from Japan, Saitō Mareshi wrote, “This was a
groundbreaking endeavor and Qing literati now began to turn their attention to Japanese kanshi.
58
“ 而天貞 間之詩 不可得 而 見,所見 者自元 和、寬 永 始。”Dongyingshixuan, p. 1.
59
“嗣後東國 諸君子 不我 遐棄,每 至江浙 者,必 訪 我於 吳 中 春在堂 ,或湖 上 俞
樓。 ”Dongyingshixuan, p. 2.
60
West Lake Folktales 西湖 故事: a genre of Chinese folklores that take place in West Lake. Some well-
known folklores have inspired the construction of buildings around the West Lake.
61
“安知五百 年後墨 水之 濱,不倣 西湖故 事,為 我 更建築 俞 樓乎? 興到狂 言 ,想諸君 子必為 其發
一大噱也 。” Dongyingshixuan, p. 2.
36
In government, economy, culture, and every other aspect, Japan-Qing exchanges expanded
apace.”
62
Yu Yue’s writings reveal that the scholar led a life focused on education, academia, and
family. He avoided writing about current affairs and seldom made comments on the political
climate of his time. He was an avid learner and advocate for traditional culture and ideology, one
of his most passionate subjects was perhaps kanshi. This view of his own traditional culture
however was not undiscerning. He was a stern critic of traditional Chinese medicine, blaming its
inefficacy as the leading cause of death in his family. His interest was varied, from Daoism to
Confucianism, from poetry 詩 to qu 曲 to novels (xiaoshuo 小説). Republican scholar Wang
Pijiang 汪辟疆 (1887-1966) praised his achievement, “he tirelessly dedicated his entire life to
writing and research, making him the forefather of Sinology of his time.” A biography of Yu
Yue writes “he is at once the coda of Sinology in the late Qing dynasty, and the prelude to the
revolutionary academic movements in the late Qing, early Republic period.”
63
Though
“academic movements” here refers to those related to the analysis of classical texts, the term
could certainly also encompass his transcultural exchange with foreign scholars, which was
revolutionary and unprecedented in its own right.
64
62
Saitō, Mareshi, Ross King, Christina Laffin, and Sean Russell. Kanbunmyaku: The Literary Sinitic
Context and the Birth of Modern Japanese Language and Literature. Leiden: Brill, 2021, p. 173.
63
Zhang, Xin. Hua Luo Chun Reng Zai: Yu Yue He Ta De Di Zi 花落春 仍在: 余 樾和他的 弟子.
Guangzhou: Guang dong jiao yu chu ban she, 2006, p. 7.
64
The opinion on Yu Yue and the summary of his accomplishments in this paragraph are learned from
Cao Shengzhi 曹昇之. Yu Yue yu Dongying Shixuan de Jihui ( 俞樾 與《東 瀛詩 選》的際 會) (Preface to
Yu Yue and the Endeavor of A Selection of Poems from Japan), in Dong Ying Shi Xuan 东 瀛 詩選,
(Beijing: Zhong hua shu ju, 2016), 5-17.
37
Conclusion
A Selection of Poems from Japan was made possible by Yu Yue’s years of connections
with Japanese and Korean scholars founded upon a similar education background in classical
Chinese and a shared Sinophone-centric and to some extent Sinocentric world view. The
connections were made possible by several factors —the amiable diplomatic relations between
China and Japan in the 1870s and 80s, Yu Yue’s established status in China and abroad as a
classical scholar, his lack of political involvement after his expulsion, and his proximity to the
port city of Shanghai, where most Korean and Japanese travelers to China arrived. Yu Yue’s
most beneficial ties were those with Kitagata Shinsen, who provided the resources for Yu Yue to
understand the evolution of kanshi in Japan, and Kishida Ginkō, who solicited the collection and
provided Yu Yue with hundreds of volumes of works from which the compiler would choose.
The obvious shortcomings of Yu Yue include the adherence to bihui, which rendered
some parts incomprehensible to the Japanese reader, the lack of explanation and an in-depth
understanding of kakikudashibun 書き下し文, shigin 詩吟 (poetry recitation), and other
distinctive Japanese kanshi practices, the lack of communication with notable figures in Japanese
kanshi at the time due to his immobility (such as Masaoka Shiki and Narushima Ryuhoku),
rendering his connections limited to Japanese scholars who sought out communications with
their Chinese counterparts, and his understanding of contemporary kanshi less holistic.
I will summarize the counterarguments for some of the less obvious shortcomings and
criticisms. First, Yu Yue’s unrelenting attitude toward rhyme scheme and the law of tonality
which prompted him to tamper with the original poems; the comparison with Chen Manshou’s
38
collection shows an almost identical poetic philosophy in this matter. The collection published
by Ono Kozan shows that the custom for Chinese scholars to edit based on rhyme scheme and
tonality was an important part of poetic exchange and widely accepted by Japanese poets.
Second, Japanese poets criticized the inclusion of lesser-known poets and the omission of well-
known poets. My analysis shows that the majority of omissions was due to the lack of sources
provided and was rectified by the four supplemental chapters. The inclusion of lesser-known
poets does show that Yu Yue lacked an understanding of the then-current kanshi world and
Japanese society, though the merit of that is his poetic standard is untainted by his view of the
poet. And lastly, Kishida Ginkō complained that the collection was too long to achieve
commercial success and widespread readership. Though Kishida’s prediction proved to be
correct, to shorten the selection would have jeopardized Yu Yue’s aim to anthologize Edo kanshi,
which he stated to be unprecedented and of crucial value.
Yu Yue’s standard for selection hinged on several factors: first and foremost, whether the
poem adhered to the law of tonality and a rhyme scheme (failure to do so meant the poem would
not be compiled in its original form or at all), and second, the quality of the content.
By poem, he refers to shi 詩 (classical Chinese poem), a genre not to be confused with ci
詞. He made no mention of other genres of poetry in Japan, waka, tanka, or shintaishi, which
hints that China was yet to gain an interest in or a full understanding of Japonophone texts. His
story represents the first period of modern Sino-Japanese transcultural exchange, when Chinese
and Japanese scholars communicated through classical Chinese. Their frequent topic of exchange
ranged from kanshi to calligraphy to Confucianism. Though some may identify this period of
exchange as the coda of classical Chinese transcultural exchange, as Yu Yue points out, the
39
modes and speed of communication and publication at the time were unmatched by earlier
periods.
The second stage of Sino-Japanese transcultural contact occurred from 1895-1911, the
end of the Sino-Japanese War to the end of the Qing dynasty, when tens of thousands of Chinese
students studied abroad in Japan and gained an interest in Japanese texts about the West in their
revolutionary efforts to overthrow the Qing government.
65
The third period began in 1911-1949,
when Chinese intellectuals were interested in Japanese texts about Japan and the West. The
fourth period can be described by the renewed interest in Japan after 1972, when the two
countries normalized diplomatic relations and paved the way for a wave of Chinese intellectuals
to study various aspects of Japanese culture and society, be they indigenous, Japanese, Western,
or Chinese. As modern kanshi scholars in China have pointed out, the Chinese understanding of
kanshi in Japan would largely be stalled for almost a century after A Selection of Poems from
Japan until after a renewed interest of the genre in Chinese academia in the 70s.
66
In China and Japan, some important works have been published analyzing Yu Yue’s
poetry collection and his exchange with Japanese and Korean scholars. Some research has been
conducted in English on Yu Yue but mostly on his autobiography and his scholarship on
Confucianism. As explained before, not only was this selection and Sino-Japanese poetic
65
Chen, Fei 陳飛. “Disassembling Empire: Revolutionary Chinese Students in Japan and Discourses on
Provincial Independence and Local Self-Government.” Journal of Asian History 51, no. 2 (2017):
283–315.
66
The information on the renewed interest in kanshi in China is learned from Cao, Shengzhi 曹 昇之. Yu
Yue yu Dongying Shixuan de Jihui 俞 樾與《 東瀛詩 選 》的際會(Yu Yue and the Endeavor of ‘A
Selection of Poems from Japan’) Preface. In Dong Ying Shi Xuan 东瀛 詩選, Beijing, : Zhong hua shu ju,
2016, p. 69.
40
exchange important to Yu Yue personally, his selection and his exchanges with Japanese
scholars and poets at large are crucial to the understanding of Sino-Japanese transcultural
exchange beginning in the 1870s.
41
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Tang, John
(author)
Core Title
Sino-Japanese transcultural contact through kanshi in the late nineteenth century: analyzing the impact of Yu Yue’s A selection of poems from Japan
School
College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Degree
Master of Arts
Degree Program
East Asian Area Studies
Degree Conferral Date
2022-08
Publication Date
07/20/2022
Defense Date
07/20/2022
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
A selection of poems from Japan,Edo kanshi,kanshi,OAI-PMH Harvest,Sino-Japanese relations,Sino-Japanese transcultural contact,Yu Yue
Format
application/pdf
(imt)
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Webb, Jason (
committee chair
), Bernards, Brian (
committee member
), Elise Desjardins, Miya (
committee member
)
Creator Email
jt2756@nyu.edu,tangjohn@usc.edu
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https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC111373454
Unique identifier
UC111373454
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etd-TangJohn-10873
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Thesis
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Tang, John
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texts
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20220720-usctheses-batch-957
(batch),
University of Southern California
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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
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Tags
A selection of poems from Japan
Edo kanshi
kanshi
Sino-Japanese relations
Sino-Japanese transcultural contact
Yu Yue