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Chapter 13, Imagery Questioning: Questioning and Rhetorical Questioning (提問與反詰) Section 1. Types of Interrogative and Answering Sentences When poets use imagery to pose questions in writing, they employ interrogative sentence structures within poetry to express their own doubts and to throw questions to readers in search of answers. Regardless of whether the author’s intention is to knowingly ask something already known; to ask without doubt; to ask and answer themselves; or to ask without answering, all of these are forms of questioning. According to their nature, questions are divided into “hypothetical questions” (self-asking and self-answering) and “rhetorical questions” (asking without answering). In all cases, the purpose is to emphasize a certain viewpoint, attract readers’ attention, and stimulate readers’ thinking. In modern poetry, the use of “interrogative sentences” to enliven sentence structure, strengthen momentum, and attract readers’ attention is quite common. Interrogative sentences are divided into six types: (1) genuine questions, (2) hypothetical questions, (3) rhetorical questions, (4) mimetic questions, (5) strange questions, and (6) guiding questions. The latter five are rhetorical devices. The author will analyze the commonly used rhetorical devices of “hypothetical questions” and “rhetorical questions.” I. Genuine Question: also called “suspended question,” this is a question that arises from genuine doubt in the mind; it is an ordinary interrogative sentence. “An ordinary question is one in which there is real doubt in the mind, not a hypothetical one.”1. II. Hypothetical Question: self-question and self-answer. A question is posed first to arouse curiosity and attention, followed by the author’s own answer. III. Rhetorical Question: also called “emphatic question,” it expresses a definite meaning in interrogative form; the author does not answer, but the answer is always implied as the opposite of the question. IV. Mimetic Question: “A mimetic question is neither self-questioning and self-answering, nor rhetorical questioning, nor a question that expects others to answer; rather, it imitates the tone of a question to construct a form of inquiry for the purpose of narration—mostly used to develop imagination, stimulate thought, and express emotion.”2. V. Strange Question: “A strange question refers to deliberately posing an unusual, unanswerable question in context, making the language vivid and distinctive, adding emotional interest and creating a poetic atmosphere.”3. “Strange questions are also questions that do not require answers; in fact, the questions posed are so unusual that they cannot be answered, functioning purely as a rhetorical effect, making expression vivid, distinctive, and full of interest.”4. VI. Guiding Question: “This refers to, in dialogue—especially in debate—using questions to guide the other party’s thinking toward the position of the questioner. Such questions, from the perspective of the questioner, are hypothetical questions, but they require the other party to respond.”5. Section 2. Forms of Interrogative and Answering Sentences A. Hypothetical Questions I. Definition and Examples of Hypothetical Questions (1) Definition of hypothetical questions “In speech or writing, instead of using ordinary declarative forms, one deliberately adopts an interrogative tone to highlight arguments, attract attention, or even stimulate thinking, thereby creating rhetorical waves in speech or text.”6. Language, as a medium of information transmission, has a dual nature of “stimulus” and “response.” Hypothetical questions belong to the “stimulus” type of language. “In hypothetical questions, since the author is presenting an answer already determined in advance, there is no need for others to respond; whether to answer is also decided by the author. If an answer appears, it is self-questioning and self-answering; both question and answer are merely to emphasize meaning. Self-answered questions allow direct understanding of intent; unanswered questions leave interpretive space, making the language more nuanced and expressive.”7. The functions of hypothetical questions are as follows: (1) used at the beginning of a text to introduce the main theme; (2) used at the end to create lingering resonance; (3) used at both beginning and end to create structural echo; (4) continuous questioning to strengthen rhetorical momentum; (5) designed questions to guide reader agreement8. “If we roughly divide sentence forms into four types—narrative sentences, declarative sentences, judgmental sentences, and interrogative sentences—among these, interrogative sentences have the most variation and strongest tone, attracting the most attention; declarative and judgmental sentences are secondary, while narrative sentences are the weakest.”9. Since poetry is written language, it uses such forms to arouse curiosity and attract readers’ attention. (2) Examples of hypothetical questions Poets often use interrogative sentences. For example, Du Fu’s “Written at Night on a Journey”: “Is fame gained by writing? Official position should end with old age and illness. The final couplet uses a question form to express the sorrow of wandering exile; self-asking and self-answering create an endless lingering resonance that deeply moves the reader. Similarly, Su Shi’s “In Response to Ziyou: Remembering the Past at Mianchi”: “To what can life everywhere be likened? The opening line “To what can life everywhere be likened?” uses a metaphorical interrogative structure to pose a question, arousing curiosity and strengthening expressive effect. “It should be like a wild goose stepping in snowy mud” provides immediate response, summarizing the feeling of life’s drifting uncertainty and evoking broad resonance10. Another example is Li Houzhu (Li Yu), “Beautiful Lady Yu”: “How much sorrow can there be in you? How much sorrow can there be? The poet asks and answers himself, saying that his sorrow is like an endless east-flowing river—surging and continuous. Abstract emotion is transformed through self-questioning and self-answering into a tangible image, and boundless melancholy flows through the river to become eternal. Hypothetical questions “differ from ordinary interrogative sentences; ordinary questions arise from doubt in order to resolve doubt. Hypothetical questions, however, ask knowingly despite already knowing the answer, in order to emphasize meaning and attract readers’ attention for reflection.”11. Because the question is intentionally constructed by the author according to expressive needs, the answer—whether self-provided or left unanswered—is already implied. “To ask from doubt is to resolve doubt; this is one function of hypothetical questions, but not its only function. We must intentionally provoke doubt in others, and then seek its resolution; this relies on hypothetical questions formed with an already determined internal stance.”12. “A question arising from genuine doubt resolves one’s own doubt; a question arising from an already formed conclusion resolves others’ doubt.”13. II. Structural Forms of Hypothetical Questions Hypothetical questions use a self-questioning and self-answering form to express emotion and ideas. Emphatic questioning is used to intensify intent; regardless of whether an answer appears, the answer is always implied on the opposite side of the question14. “In addition to questions that immediately provide answers (i.e., hypothetical questions), there is also a form where questions have no explicit answer, but upon careful thought, the answer clearly lies on the opposite side.”15. The differences between hypothetical questions and rhetorical questions are as follows: (1) in form, hypothetical questions are self-asking and self-answering or asking without answering, with the answer outside the question; rhetorical questions must be asking without answering, with the answer contained within the question itself—it unifies question and answer. (2) Hypothetical questions do not explicitly express affirmation or negation; rhetorical questions clearly express affirmation or negation. (3) rhetorical questions strengthen tone to assert a viewpoint beyond doubt; hypothetical questions aim to attract attention and stimulate thought for better narration, explanation, or argumentation16. III. Forms of Hypothetical Questions “According to their nature, hypothetical questions can be divided into three types: heuristic hypothetical questions, emphatic hypothetical questions, and lyrical hypothetical questions.”17. According to form (number of questions and answers), they can also be divided into (a) single-question forms such as “one question one answer” and “one question multiple answers,” and (b) continuous-question forms such as “multiple questions one answer” and “continuous questions continuous answers.” (a) Classification by nature
(b) Classification by number of questions
(1) One question one answer: a question is immediately followed by its answer. This is the most common form in poetry, especially in quatrains and regulated verse. Due to line constraints, hypothetical questions often take this form. For example, Zhu Xi’s “Reading Books with Feeling”: “A square pond of half an acre opens like a mirror; Only from the title does one understand that the pond-as-mirror image is a metaphor; through it, reading becomes the source of spiritual cultivation. The meaning is clear, and the question-and-answer form leaves a strong impression18. In poetry, when a question opens the text, it often immediately captures the reader’s attention and creates suspense, such as Luo Men’s “Castle McKinley,” which begins: “War—whom does it make sit here weeping?” Luo Fu, “Four-Lines Without Title: No. 10”19 Forcing me to believe in authority is like forcing me to believe in a carved urn of ashes You say I am afraid of midnight knocking? Not at all, I am a bachelor of thought These lines present a dialogue between the poetic “I” and “you,” though the “you” is omitted; only the rhetorical response of “I” is shown: “You say I am afraid of midnight knocking?” The poet uses a rhetorical question to confirm the content of “your” accusation, then replies with a negative statement: “Not at all, I am a bachelor of thought.” In poetry, using hypothetical questions allows self-questioning and self-answering, strengthening tone and attracting attention more effectively than plain narration. Luo Fu, “Eleven Poems Presented”20 Short in stature, yet taller than all windows From a cold gaze, history is nothing but trivial confusion Why does the corner of your mouth tilt toward north-northwest? He says that is precisely the inclination of the Milky Way In the first two lines, the poet teases his friend: “short in stature, yet taller than all windows,” a paradoxical expression implying mockery. Then he jokingly asks: “Why does the corner of your mouth tilt toward north-northwest?” The friend responds with Tai Chi-like deflection: “That is precisely the inclination of the Milky Way.” Through question and answer, neither side gains advantage; instead, both maintain balance—neither offended nor aggressive. (2) Multiple Questions, Multiple Answers: The answers to the question are several sentences that are thematically related, and these sentences should exhibit a parallel and progressive relationship. Zhang Cuo〈Entrustment—Duke Wang’s Spring Heart Entrusted to the Cuckoo〉21 How to arrange that kind of morning light just breaking a face and gaze without tears though wanting to cry? Knowing that you are asleep, asleep after having loved or not having loved and the encounter after having loved or not having loved, is still bound to happen, still must wait until you wake and bathe, happening after another lover is expected, Facing a girlfriend who has fallen in love with someone else, she is asleep, and the poet cannot question her. Yet in his heart he does not know how to deal with the sorrow and confusion before him, so he can only ask himself inwardly, and then infer several possible answers: “the encounter after having loved or not having loved is still bound to happen,” “still must wait until you wake and bathe, happening after another lover is expected.” Such answers must be both helpless and awkward. The rhetorical structure of “one question, multiple answers” can present various possible responses, calmly carrying out narration and fully expressing thought and emotion. Yu Guangzhong〈After Fifty〉22 The road is long, precisely the time to test horsepower those who claim to be old steeds should not lie idle in the stable you ask me how much horsepower I have? lean close and listen to the fire in my chest listen to the volcano burning beneath the snowy peak listen to the internal combustion engine running without pause horsepower that can hardly be stopped traveling thousands of miles, still four hundred horses The poet and his friend, two “men over sixty,” are engaging in banter, comparing who is the more capable “old horse” with endurance, strength, fuel efficiency, and reliability. The friend asks: “How many horsepower does your old horse still have?” The poet refuses to yield and immediately responds in a rapid burst: “lean close and listen to the fire in my chest,” “listen to the volcano burning beneath the snowy peak,” “listen to the internal combustion engine running without pause,” “horsepower that can hardly be stopped / traveling thousands of miles, still four hundred horses.” The interrogative structure of “one question, multiple answers” can also fully carry analytical reasoning and argumentation. 2. Serial Questioning (1) Multiple Questions, One Answer: “This can also be called ‘multiple questions, collective answer.’ Although the questions differ, they all fall within the same sphere of reasoning, so they can be answered in a generalized way.”23 This type of rhetorical questioning usually has a shared syntactic pattern, showing a progressive intensification, with tone becoming increasingly impassioned. Consider Yu Guangzhong’s〈If There Is War in the Distance〉: Yu Guangzhong〈If There Is War in the Distance〉24 If there is war in the distance, should I cover my ears or should I sit up and listen with shame? Should I cover my nose, or should I inhale deeply the nauseating smell? My ears should listen to you panting with love, or listen to shells proclaiming truth? Maxims, medals, supplies can they feed the insatiable death? In an era of war and chaos, separation and death are extremely common. This poem describes the poet, who is immersed in passion with his lover, suddenly thinking that if war breaks out in the distance, how he should respond and choose. Each question is presented in a structure of opposing propositions, containing contradictions and conflicts of choice, reflecting the poet’s dilemma between war and love, reality and romance. Chen Jiadai’s〈The Soul of the City〉also uses continuous questioning to stimulate the reader’s reflection, and it employs “serial metaphor” in the form of simile-based questioning: Chen Jiadai〈The Soul of the City〉25 Like schoolchildren standing at a crossroads deeply trapped in the city’s mysterious chess game we pause to think: Is the floating dust in the air like stars when stars shed their cloak of night? Is the trash on the river like clouds when clouds fall into our lives? Are the undulating skyscrapers like waves when the sea refuses to cling to blue water? Are densely voiced tongues like ten thousand sounds when celestial music faintly arrives from ancient times? Then we cross this wall of concepts and discover nothing resembles anything we are only ourselves, just ourselves— a small role in the towering city on the way between work and making a living and making love This passage depicts the daily life of urban blue-collar workers who are constantly busy and rushing. Occasionally they stop their hurried steps and reflect on their situation, yet they are filled with a sense of powerlessness. The poet continuously uses three similes to pose questions to companions, carrying out an “imagined beautification” of the surrounding urban environment. In the end, they discover that these imaginations are nothing at all; they are still themselves—just small blue-collar workers who must continue to accept and face reality. Walis Nokan〈Our Tame Grassland I〉26 How can a mountain be a school? Where is the blackboard, where is the chalk? Teacher, could it be holding a fierce and brutal cane? The bright black eyes are asking The question marks are like stars in the sky Dear children, please sweep away all the doubts in your minds Simply use your feet to feel solidity use your skin to feel the caress of the wind use your palms to touch the mountain’s face use your heart to open the mountain’s doors and windows you will discover that it is quietly opening its school gate and softly saying: please enter, children This passage first shows students raising question after question, expressing their inner uncertainty and fear: “How can a mountain be a school?”, “Where is the blackboard, where is the chalk?”, “Teacher, could it be / holding a fierce and brutal cane?” In response, the teacher patiently resolves their doubts and encourages them to approach the mountain.
The continuous questioning expresses the children’s anxiety and worry. The reader can almost see the scene: a teacher preparing to take children on an excursion into the mountains, describing the mountain as a treasury of knowledge, while the children themselves are filled with doubts and unease. Zhou Mengdie〈Under the Bodhi Tree〉27 Who is the one who carries a mirror in his heart? Who would walk barefoot through his entire life? All eyes are blinded by other eyes Who can take fire from snow, and cast fire into snow? Beneath the Bodhi tree. A man with only half a face raises his eyes to the sky, answering with a sigh that azure which from above slowly leans toward him Three consecutive questions receive only a sigh, and this sigh clearly implies a negative answer. Continuous questioning can gradually bring the reader’s emotions to a boil, forcing the reader to seriously consider the successive questions. In terms of atmosphere-building, it has an immediate and concentrated effect. 3. Continuous Questions with Continuous Answers “Continuously posing questions, with multiple answers or a sequence of question-and-answer pairs, is called multiple-question multiple-answer.”28 Zhang Cuo〈Fourteen Lines of Error: No. 7〉29 Is a sonnet one word or three words? one line or ten lines? Is a sonnet one line of words? or fourteen words per line? When did the error begin? before the sonnet? or is “error” a noun and “sonnet” a verb is “error fourteen-line” a sentence or fourteen sentences? or fourteen lines of nonsense placed under a wrong theme? In fact, from the very first stroke and dot it already slipped from the first word into the fourteenth line. If someone asks you nearly ten questions in a row and then, with a serious expression, tells you: “In fact, from the very first stroke and dot / it already slipped from the first word into the fourteenth line,” this kind of response will make you laugh until you become “instantly frozen,” like an “ice man.” The poet’s continuous questioning is not meant to be answered one by one, but to lead the reader into thinking, and then agreeing with the answer he proposes. This form of “continuous questioning and answering” can drive the emotional rhythm of the poem. Varis Yugan “Land”30 Our black-bright eyes are full of doubt, Part Two: Rhetorical Interrogation “Rhetorical interrogation,” expressed in the form of interrogative sentences that require no answer, is frequently seen in classical poetry. For example, in Wang Zhihuan of the Tang dynasty’s “Liangzhou Ci”: “Grape wine, luminous cup at night; about to drink, the pipa urges from horseback. Drunk lying on the battlefield, do not laugh—since ancient times, how many have returned from war?” the final line ends with a rhetorical question. Although the author does not state the answer, there is indeed an answer: in reverse of the question, “since ancient times, few have returned from war.” 2. Semantic Structure of Rhetorical Interrogation 3. Manifestation Forms of Rhetorical Interrogation (1) From sentence form
Lo Fu “The Sword of Great Silence”36 Wu Sheng “Cold Night”37
Lo Fu “Naked Body Jumps into Fire / Brewing Fragrance of Snow for Ten Miles for You”38 Lo Fu “Fan”39
Zhang Cuo “Reincarnation”40 Jiang Xun “To Li Shuangze”41
Wu Sheng “Dispute”42 (2) From answer form
Lo Fu “Shock”43
Chen Li “Reading Huang Tingjian at the End of the Century”44 Lin Ling〈Battlement Wall〉45 The second time, I no longer dream of vastness I walk with my hands behind my back, pacing from one end to the other I am thinking: Can such a thin rope bind a city? “Can such a thin rope bind a city?”, the answer is self-evident; of course it is negative. This is a “positive question, negative answer,” expressing a negative meaning through a positive interrogative sentence. Such questions aim to state a “negative attitude” that in fact has little dispute; the use of interrogative form is merely to further confirm this negative stance. Notes (1) Dong Jitang, Rhetorical Analysis, Taipei: Wen-Shi-Zhe Publishing, 1992, p.107.
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