TY - JOUR
T1 - A tale of two worlds
T2 - The late tang poetic presentation of the romance of the peach blossom font
AU - Chan, Timothy Wai Keung
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2008/11/1
Y1 - 2008/11/1
N2 - This article examines late Tang poetic representations of the early fifth-century tale of Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao's romance with divine maidens at a Shangri-La-like peach blossom font. Shi poems by such poets as Liu Yuxi (772-822) and Yuan Zhen (779-831), and a group of Huajian ("among the flowers") ci poems under the tune "Nüguanzi" ("The Daoist Priestess") by Wen Tingyun (ca. 812-866) and others, reveal the exploration of the old tale as a rich source of allegorical tropes. In particular, the late Tang poets consistently revitalize the Liu-Ruan tale's bifurcation between the immortal and the mortal worlds, a division between "two worlds" that enabled them to express a range of different meanings at different levels, for example in politics or when talking of love affairs.
AB - This article examines late Tang poetic representations of the early fifth-century tale of Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao's romance with divine maidens at a Shangri-La-like peach blossom font. Shi poems by such poets as Liu Yuxi (772-822) and Yuan Zhen (779-831), and a group of Huajian ("among the flowers") ci poems under the tune "Nüguanzi" ("The Daoist Priestess") by Wen Tingyun (ca. 812-866) and others, reveal the exploration of the old tale as a rich source of allegorical tropes. In particular, the late Tang poets consistently revitalize the Liu-Ruan tale's bifurcation between the immortal and the mortal worlds, a division between "two worlds" that enabled them to express a range of different meanings at different levels, for example in politics or when talking of love affairs.
KW - "Nüguanzi" ("The Daoist Priestess")
KW - Alienation and recognition
KW - Allegory
KW - Grotto
KW - Seduction and abandonment
KW - Two worlds
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=69949134116&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1163/008254308X385879
DO - 10.1163/008254308X385879
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:69949134116
SN - 0082-5433
VL - 94
SP - 209
EP - 245
JO - T'oung Pao
JF - T'oung Pao
IS - 4-5
ER -