Chapter 16: Imagery and Suggestion (Part I)

Symbol and Euphemism           (象徵與婉曲)

Section 1. The Suggestive Nature of Imagery

I. Suggestion: The Greatest Secret of Art Is to Conceal Art

1. Psychological Suggestion: An Implicit and Indirect Mode of Expression

Human beings are the only animals capable of receiving “suggestion,” and therefore capable of developing literature and art, expressing emotions and meanings indirectly through the suggestive presentation of literary and artistic works. In fact, in certain situations or occasions in everyday life, we often encounter awkward circumstances in which it is inconvenient to speak openly and directly. At such times, the use of “suggestion” serves as a practical alternative. Naturally, we also frequently receive “suggestive” messages from relatives, friends, and surrounding things.

“The principle of suggestion is that, through a small number of clues, and by means of psychological association or a tendency toward holistic perception, one obtains the principle of perceiving the whole.”1 Suggestion influences human psychology and behavior through implicit and indirect modes of expression, thereby causing people to act in a certain way or accept a certain opinion, making their thoughts and actions conform to the desired intention. There are many forms of suggestion. In literary creation, they may be classified as “dialogue suggestion,” “facial-expression suggestion,” “environmental suggestion,” “scenic suggestion,” and “coded-language suggestion.” Suggestion is often realized through rhetorical methods such as implication, punning, coded language, and euphemism. The primary function of suggestion is: “to allow readers or audiences, through a certain detail, fragment, or scene directly presented or expressed by the author, to associate, to reflect, and through imagination and contemplation to understand or infer the content the author wishes to convey; thus endowing the work with tremendous artistic charm.”2

1. Suggestion in Poetic Literature

(1) Suggestion, Implication, and Hidden Brilliance

Among the family of literature, poetry possesses the most concise and refined language and relies most heavily upon “suggestiveness.” The first work to elevate “suggestiveness” to the level of rhetorical discussion was The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, in the chapter “Hiddenness and Brilliance” (Yinxiu). The so-called “hiddenness and brilliance” states:

“Thus the finest blossoms of writing contain both hiddenness and brilliance. Hiddenness is the weighty meaning beyond the text; brilliance is that which stands out uniquely within the piece. Hiddenness achieves artistry through layered meanings; brilliance achieves ingenuity through exceptional distinction...”3

This explains that the essence of writing consists of both hiddenness and brilliance. Hiddenness refers to the important meaning implied beyond the literal words; brilliance refers to the most outstanding expressions within a work. Hiddenness achieves skill through containing another layer of meaning beyond the words, while brilliance achieves subtlety through surpassing the ordinary.

The most precise annotation concerning “hiddenness and brilliance” comes from Liu Xie: “When emotion resides beyond the words, it is called hiddenness; when description overflows before the eyes, it is called brilliance,” and from Mei Shengyu, quoted in Ouyang Xiu’s Liuyi Poetry Talks: “One must be able to depict scenes difficult to describe as if they were before the eyes, while containing inexhaustible meanings that appear beyond the words.”4 These statements vividly extend Liu Xie’s concept of “hiddenness and brilliance.” “Emotion resides beyond the words” and “inexhaustible meanings appear beyond the words” refer precisely to “suggestiveness.”

The aesthetician Zhu Guangqian stated in his essay “The Hidden and the Manifest in Poetry”:

“Poetry describing scenery should be ‘manifest,’ while poetry expressing emotions should be ‘hidden.’ When Mei Shengyu said that poetry ‘must be able to depict scenes difficult to describe as if they were before the eyes, while containing inexhaustible meanings that appear beyond the words,’ he recognized the principle that scenery should be manifest while emotion should be hidden. Scenery should not be hidden, for hiddenness easily becomes obscurity; emotion should not be manifest, for manifestness easily becomes superficial. ... Deep emotions must be lingering and subtle. Manifestness easily becomes exposure, and exposure becomes shallow and quickly exhausted.”

This indicates that lyrical lines may well be implicit and euphemistic, containing inexhaustible meanings beyond the words. Descriptive lines, on the other hand, require vivid imagery in order to present difficult-to-describe scenes as if before the eyes. Ancient writers of poetry and prose generally followed the principle that “emotion is void while scenery is solid, and the void and the solid mutually conceal one another.” Emotional expression and the communication of meaning essentially belong to the psychological realm, whereas scenic description and narration belong to the material realm. The former requires inexhaustible meanings appearing beyond emotion—that is what Liu Xie meant by “hiddenness is the weighty meaning beyond the text.” Methodologically, “hiddenness achieves artistry through layered meanings,” thereby deepening emotional thought and creating lingering subtlety between the lines, enriching the “deep structure” of meaning. The latter requires concreteness and vividness—that is what Liu Xie meant by “brilliance is that which stands out uniquely within the piece.” Methodologically, “brilliance achieves ingenuity through exceptional distinction,” thereby enlivening imagery and rendering scenes and narratives lifelike, making the “surface structure” of the sign vivid and animated.

The Qing-dynasty poet Wang Shizhen advocated the “Theory of Spiritual Resonance” in Yuyang Poetry Talks, emphasizing that poetry should focus on lingering charm. “Spiritual resonance” refers to the vitality and rich flavor flowing through language. The “beauty of spiritual resonance” is the unique aesthetic pleasure afforded to readers by “meanings beyond the words, tones beyond the strings, and intentions beyond the flavor.” This reveals that the most essential characteristic of poetic art lies in its “suggestiveness.”

(2) Suggestion and Symbolism

In the West, the French Symbolist poet Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898) strongly emphasized the importance of suggestiveness. He once said: “To name an object is to destroy three-quarters of the pleasure of a poem... The ideal method is to suggest the object.”5 Later generations condensed this into the famous Symbolist saying: “To state is to destroy; to suggest is to create.” As the central technique of Symbolist poets, suggestiveness reflected their emphasis on the artistic quality of poetry. The ideas expressed were no longer presented nakedly on the surface of the text. While engaging in verbal artistry, poets sought to evoke a series of beautiful associations. Consequently, the external form of poetry displayed musicality, while its content contained a space for association. Only through association could one perceive what the poem suggested.

The nineteenth-century British philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806–1873) once said:

“Poetry and eloquence are both expressions of feeling, yet they differ. Eloquence is ‘heard’; poetry is ‘overheard.’”

Poetry resembles a whispered murmur accidentally overheard—so moving, so evocative of boundless imagination. This is what is meant by “indirectness and circuitousness” and “words may end, but meaning is inexhaustible.” Although poetry and eloquence are both expressions of emotion, poetry moves readers through situations and atmospheres, whereas eloquence persuades readers through language. Both belong to the realm of persuasion and argumentation and constitute technical operations of dialectics. “Eloquence aims at display; poetry, though intending communication, is most averse to display. Display means showing off one’s talent; it means being unable to conceal.”6

(3) Suggestion in Rhetoric

“Suggestion refers to a technique in which, instead of directly stating a certain meaning or content, one speaks of another meaning or content related to it, and through the listener’s or reader’s associations indirectly expresses the intended meaning or content.”7

The characteristics of suggestion are:

(1) Indirectness of Expression: It avoids directly describing a particular thing and instead allows readers, through association and imagination, to understand content that has not been directly stated.

(2) Relatedness of Things: The other thing directly mentioned and the thing left unstated possess a certain connection. This connection is often concealed, implicit, and internal.

In rhetoric, it is certainly true that “suggestion is often realized through rhetorical methods such as implication, punning, coded language, and euphemism.”8 However, both “metaphor” and “symbol” likewise employ “association” as a mode of thinking and possess the two characteristics of suggestion described above. The rhetorical figures of “metaphor” and “pun” have already been discussed. “Implication” has been included within the scope of “euphemism.” “Coded language” is similar in nature to “hidden wording” and will be analyzed in the same section. Here, the author will discuss only the two commonly used rhetorical figures of “symbol” and “euphemism.” The former may extend throughout an entire composition, while the latter mainly operates at the paragraph or sentence level.

Section 2. The Theoretical Foundations of Symbol

I. Symbol: A Fundamental Artistic Technique

As one of the fundamental artistic techniques of artistic creation, “symbol” refers to an artistic method in which the artist, through the external characteristics of a concrete object, conveys profound thoughts or expresses principles possessing special significance. There is originally no necessary connection between the literal meaning and the symbolic meaning of a symbol. However, through the artist’s emphatic depiction of the characteristics of the object itself, the appreciator of art is led to make associations from one thing to another and thereby comprehend the meaning the artist wishes to express.

II. Symbol in Rhetoric: Entrusting Meaning to Things, Meaning Beyond Words

The “symbol” discussed here refers to the original meaning of symbol and constitutes the broad rhetorical sense of symbolism. It does not refer to “Symbolism” or the “Symbolist School” that emerged in the French poetic world of the late nineteenth century.

What is meant by “symbol in the broad sense”? According to Webster’s New International Dictionary, the explanation of symbol is:

“A symbol is something used to represent or suggest another thing through rational connection, association, convention, or accidental and unintended resemblance; especially the representation of an invisible thing by a visible sign: for example, the lion is a symbol of courage, and the cross is a symbol of Christianity.”9

Regarding “symbol,” the late poet Qin Zihao stated:

“It is the art of expressing an invisible and abstract idea through a visible and concrete image.”

In other words:

“It lies in exploring the reality hidden behind the phenomena of things. It is not concerned with presenting meaningless appearances but with touching the inner essence endowed with profound significance.”

He further believed:

“All art must possess symbolic significance. Music symbolizes the fluctuations of emotion through its rhythms and melodies; painting symbolizes the clarity of wisdom through its lines and colors.”10

This demonstrates the omnipresent relationship between art and symbolism.

III. Forms of Symbol: Myth, Legend, and Fable

From the perspective of the development of various national literary histories, symbolism first appeared in the form of myths and legends. These later became conventionally accepted as “universal symbols.”

“If dreams are symbols of the individual unconscious, then myths are symbols of the collective unconscious. Myths reflect humanity’s perceptions of nature and its hopes concerning life itself.”11

In ancient Chinese mythology, “Pangu Creating Heaven and Earth” and “Nüwa Repairing the Sky” symbolize the cosmology of early peoples; “Gonggong Competing with Zhuanxu for Sovereignty, Breaking the Pillars of the Earth, Causing Heaven to Tilt Northwest and Earth to Sink Southeast” symbolizes their geographical worldview; “Houyi Shooting the Suns” and “Kua Fu Chasing the Sun” symbolize humanity’s hopes and disappointments in conquering nature; and “Chang’e Flying to the Moon” symbolizes the human desire for freedom and immortality.

In Greek mythology, Narcissus symbolizes narcissism, while Oedipus symbolizes the Oedipus complex.

“From myth to fable, literary works transformed from unintentional symbolism into intentional symbolism. A fable is a fictional story endowed with allegorical meaning. The characters may be human beings themselves, but more commonly they are animals, plants, or even inanimate objects. Through the actions of these human or non-human characters, the author reveals his ideas.”12

Among the philosophical writings and historical records of ancient China, there is no shortage of fables. Examples include “The Wife and Concubine of the King of Qi” in the Mencius, “Cook Ding Cutting Up an Ox” in the Zhuangzi, “The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains” in the Liezi, and “Drawing a Snake and Adding Feet,” “The Snipe and the Clam Contend,” and “The Fox Borrowing the Tiger’s Might” in the Strategies of the Warring States. These are all well-known fables.

These myths and fables treat the entire story as a symbol and endow it with specific significance. At this stage, symbolism was not purely a rhetorical method but also a literary genre.

IV. Symbolic Technique: Evoking Emotion Through Objects

The symbolic technique is not foreign to China. In the Book of Songs (Shijing), among the “Three Principles of Poetry: Fu, Bi, and Xing,” the technique of “Xing” corresponds quite closely to the mode of expression found in symbolism. In the chapter “Bi and Xing, Chapter Thirty-Six” of Liu Xie’s The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, it is stated:

“Therefore, Bi means attachment, and Xing means initiation. Attachment to principle points to things through apt analogies; initiation of emotion proceeds through subtle comparisons and suggestions. Since Xing initiates emotion, the form of Xing was established; since Bi attaches to principle, analogical comparison was generated.”13

This explains the meaning of “Xing”: Xing is evocation, the arousal of feeling through objects, using subtly meaningful things as vehicles for conveying emotion.

“Observe the metaphorical function of Xing: graceful yet fully formed. What it names is small, but what it signifies by analogy is great. The ospreys in Guan Ju possess distinction, and thus symbolize the virtue of the queen; the turtledove possesses fidelity and singleness, and thus symbolizes the righteousness of a noble lady. The meaning derives from their fidelity, not from the birds themselves; the virtue derives from their distinction, without concern for whether they are birds of prey. The meaning is apparent yet not fully integrated; therefore it becomes visible only after annotation and explanation.”

Both the osprey and the turtledove are birds, yet they possess the characteristics of “distinction” and “fidelity.” They are therefore used as symbols of “the queen’s virtue” and “the noble lady’s righteousness.” “Virtue” and “righteousness” are abstract moral concepts that are difficult to grasp and explain. Through the concrete images of the osprey and the turtledove, and the characteristics of “distinction” and “fidelity” that they embody, these abstract ideas are indirectly suggested.

This passage explains not only:

(1) The method of using Xing is that “what is named is small, but what is signified by analogy is great,” employing visible and concrete imagery to suggest invisible and abstract concepts.

(2) The characteristic of Xing is that “the meaning is apparent yet not fully integrated; therefore it becomes visible only after annotation and explanation.” It possesses a high degree of ambiguity and requires clues to be sought within the annotations of commentators.

Regarding “Fu, Bi, and Xing,” Zhong Rong, in the Preface to The Ranking of Poetry (Shipin), offered another interpretation:

“Thus poetry possesses three principles: first, Fu; second, Bi; third, Xing. When the words are exhausted yet the meaning remains abundant, that is Xing. When one uses things to illustrate one’s aspirations, that is Bi. When one directly records events or narrates things through language, that is Fu. ... If one relies exclusively upon Bi and Xing, the danger lies in excessive depth; excessive depth causes language to become obstructed.”14

He believed that using concrete imagery as an analogy to express one’s intentions is the meaning of Bi. When the words have ended but the meaning remains abundant—in other words, when “the meaning lies beyond the words” and requires thoughtful exploration—that is the meaning of Xing.

Therefore, the meaning of Xing is often unlike that of Bi. It does not merely reside within the imagery embedded between the lines and words, from which one may infer meaning. Rather, it transcends the literal words and enters the realm of the “signified” beyond the “signifier.” Various meanings may potentially exist within it. If the clues lack “rational association or social convention”15, and if no annotations are available for reference—as Liu Xie described with the phrase “it becomes visible only after annotation and explanation”—then one must rely upon such commentary to discover clues and establish a coherent line of interpretation.

Otherwise, one inevitably falls into the predicament described by Yan Canglang as “the antelope hangs by its horns, leaving no tracks to follow,” a state of bewilderment without solution. This is precisely what Zhong Rong meant by “the danger lies in excessive depth; excessive depth causes language to become obstructed,” producing an ambiguous situation that is “obscure and difficult to understand.”

In fact, Zhong Rong’s statement in The Ranking of Poetry that “the words are exhausted yet the meaning remains abundant” corresponds closely to Yan Canglang’s statement in The Twenty-Four Categories of Poetry:

“Therefore its marvelous qualities are transparent and exquisite, impossible to approach directly, like sound in the air, color in appearance, the moon in water, or an image in a mirror—‘words may end, but meaning is inexhaustible.’”

The meanings of these two statements are essentially the same.

V. The Conceptual Connotations of “Symbol”

In language, art, literature, and other fields, the term “symbol” possesses a long yet divergent history. The Japanese literary theorist Kuriyagawa Hakuson, in his book The Symbol of Anguish, likewise adopted a relatively broad view of symbolism, maintaining that “allegory, fable, and metaphor” all possess symbolic forms.16

The scholar Huang Lizhen, from the perspective of the development of Chinese literary criticism, pointed out:

“Symbolism has historically been discussed in terms of metaphor, satire, allusion, symbolic entrustment, meaning beyond the words, and tones beyond the strings.”

Its scope is therefore even broader.

The British Symbolist poet Jean Moréas (J. Moréas), in his “Symbolist Manifesto,” argued that the essence of art lies in “clothing ideas in the garments of emotion.” He stated that:

“Symbolist poetry, as the enemy of didacticism, declamatory technique, false sensibility, and objective description, seeks to endow thought with a sensitive form.”17

The French critic Albert Aurier (A. Aurier), in an essay published in Mercure de France in 1891, expounded the principles of Symbolism. He believed:

“The sole ideal of a work of art is the expression of ideas. It expresses ideas through form and presents these forms and symbols through universally recognized patterns. What it depicts is never an objective object but the representation of subjectively perceived ideas. Therefore, it must be decorative painting. Consequently, a work of art must be idealistic, symbolic, synthetic, subjective, and decorative.”18

Kuriyagawa Hakuson stated:

“Any abstract thought or concept by itself can never be called art. The most important condition of art lies in its concreteness. Only when a certain ideological content is expressed through concrete entities such as characters, events, and scenery does it become art. ... That which grants this concreteness is symbolism.”19

The scholar Huang Qingxuan provided a more comprehensive definition of symbolism:

“Any abstract concept, emotion, or invisible thing that is not directly identified but is instead expressed indirectly through the mediation of certain images, based upon rational associations and social conventions.”20

The author summarizes this definition as follows:

(1) Symbolic Subject: Any abstract concept, emotion, or invisible thing.

(2) Indirect Expression: It is not directly identified but is conveyed indirectly through the mediation of imagery.

(3) Symbolic Method: Rational association and social convention.

Section 3. The Semantic Structure of Symbolism

I. The Imagery Principle of Symbolism

Taking imagery as its principle and treating symbolism as a rhetorical device, symbolism is most commonly found in Chinese literary works, especially poetry.

Examining examples from the Book of Songs, particularly the Airs of the States (Guofeng), one often finds two distinguishable parts:

One pertains to the narrative matter itself and may be called the narrative image.

The other pertains to scenery and may be called the scenic image.

What is called “Xing” is the scenic image, and it is often symbolic.

For example, in the poem Guan Ju from the Book of Songs, the opening two lines:

“Guan-guan cry the ospreys, on the islets in the river.”

According to the Mao Commentary, this is “Xing.” It functions as a symbolic scenic image.

The following two lines:

“A graceful and virtuous maiden, a fine mate for the gentleman.”

constitute the narrative image.

“Guan-guan cry the ospreys” is not merely a description of scenery. It has been selected by the poet and endowed with the thematic concept of “courtship,” thereby becoming a literary symbol.

The poet’s “selection” results from the psychological activity of “free association,” choosing elements that correspond to and reinforce the thematic concept. Such selection establishes a psychological association between the scenic image and the narrative image.

This psychological “association” constitutes the subtle key distinction between “symbolism” and “metaphor.”

Metaphor focuses upon the physical similarity (in form, color, and so forth) between the vehicle (the object used for comparison, also called the “basis of comparison”) and the tenor (the subject being explained). Such similarity belongs to the realm of physical association.

However, under this view, when the comparative term or the subject is omitted in a metaphor (that is, in “elliptical metaphor” or “substituted metaphor”), certain cases may function as symbols.

Within metaphorical rhetoric, if the connective expression is “is,” “resembles,” or similar syntactic forms, it becomes relatively easy to identify the expression as either an implicit metaphor or an explicit simile.

The original author may have been aware of these subtle grammatical differences during the act of composition. Therefore, there was no need to add superfluous markers. Moreover, within the conventions of classical poetry, examples employing explicit comparative connectives to link contexts are rare.

Consequently, the author’s rhetorical strategy, constrained by the grammatical conventions of poetic composition, would “necessarily” take this form.

In other words, only during the creative stage of free association between narrative imagery and concrete imagery does the author make choices, selecting forms that conform structurally to parallel arrangement. Strictly speaking, one cannot truly speak of a rhetorical strategy consciously favoring symbolism over metaphor, or vice versa, as a deliberate rhetorical choice.

II. The Formal Components of Symbolism

The formal structure of symbolism includes the symbolic object, symbolic meaning, and connecting term.

Symbolism employs concrete images to suggest abstract principles. Within the rhetorical figure, the symbolized subject does not appear. Instead, the concrete image (the symbolic object) alone carries the communicative burden.

The symbolic object is created through the author’s use of relationships among things, depicting or emphasizing the image of a particular concrete object.

To achieve a more comprehensive understanding of symbolism as a rhetorical figure, one must examine separately its objects of application, medium, constituent requirements, mode of expression, and essential nature and process.

1. Objects of Application

The object of symbolism may be any abstract concept, emotion, or invisible thing.

For example:

Using a national flag to symbolize a nation—the nation is a concept.

Using blazing fire to symbolize romantic love—the love is an emotion.

Using the withering of flowers to symbolize death—death is a fact.

1. Medium

The medium of symbolism is some form of imagery.

Imagery refers to concrete forms organized by the author’s consciousness.

The national flag, blazing fire, and withering flowers mentioned above are all concrete and visible.

1. Constituent Requirements

Symbolism must be based upon rational association and social convention.

For example:

Using a lion to symbolize courage is based upon rational association.

Using the cross to symbolize Christianity is based upon social convention.

1. Mode of Expression

The mode of expression of symbolism must be indirect indication—that is, suggestion.

The Symbolist master Stéphane Mallarmé once said:

“To name an object is to deprive a poem of its greatest pleasure; for the pleasure of poetry lies in gradual revelation.”

This is precisely what distinguishes symbolism from metaphor.

The meaning contained in metaphor is relatively easy to locate and determine.

Symbolism, however, displays a high degree of ambiguity.

1. Essential Nature and Process

The essential nature of symbolism is the use of consciousness to conceal the unconscious.

The process of symbolism is the transformation of the unconscious into consciousness.

In art, this means examining the author’s unconscious through the consciousness manifested in artistic works (including literature).

By doing so, one discovers how the author’s unconscious, through processes such as free association, sublimation, defense mechanisms, rationalization, and others, becomes transformed into the consciousness expressed within the artwork.

Section 4. Forms of Symbolic Expression

“Symbolism,” depending upon the standards used for classification, may assume various forms of expression.

I. Broad Symbolism and Rhetorical Symbolism

Literary symbolism may be divided into broad symbolism and narrow symbolism. The former refers to literature as a whole and belongs to the level of overall literary theory, whereas the latter refers to a specific technique employed within literary works and is undoubtedly a local or partial issue.

The Japanese literary theorist Kuriyagawa Hakuson, in The Symbol of Anguish, believed that literature and art arise from the conflict between two forces: “the desire to create life” and “the force of compulsory repression.” He stated:

“The anguish produced by the repression of vital force is the foundation of literature and art, and its mode of expression is symbolism in the broad sense.”21

II. Universal Symbols and Particular Symbols

Within the category of “universal symbols,” concrete scenic imagery generally falls into five types: people, time, place, events, and objects.

A “universal symbol” refers to something that has become “conventionally accepted and universally recognized by society at large.”22

“Universal symbols can exist independently. Their symbolic meanings are relatively clear and are not restricted by context.”23

For example, the plum blossom, which “blooms more vigorously in colder weather,” symbolizes the Republic of China, which grows and perseveres amid adversity. Likewise, the cross symbolizes Jesus and Christianity. Such symbols “cannot be freely altered by any individual. ... Their symbolic meanings have long been established by convention and are usually presented in the form of a word or phrase.”24

A “particular symbol,” on the other hand, must be “recognized through rational association.”

For example:

“A flower represents a woman, and the image of a flower battered by a violent storm symbolizes the experience of a woman being violated.”25

A particular symbol,

“that is, a symbol controlled by the context of a work, acquires a special symbolic significance within a particular literary work, under a specific scene and atmosphere.”26

“This is a matter of the author freely selecting an object in which to invest meaning. The significance assigned by the author is temporary and cannot necessarily be applied to other works. This is a limited application, entirely different from fixed or conventional symbolic objects. Yet from the perspective of literary technique, the author's ability to employ things as symbolic vehicles, creating evocative and haunting reflections, is the true purpose of symbolic usage.”27

III. Metaphorical Symbolism and Suggestive Symbolism (Explicit Symbols and Implicit Symbols)

This classification originates with scholars of rhetoric in mainland China.

“Metaphorical symbolism,” also called an explicit symbol, is

“a symbolic technique in which the symbolic object, the symbolic meaning, and the connecting term all appear simultaneously within the text. The symbolic implication is direct and clear, enabling readers to recognize the symbolic meaning of the object at a glance.”28

Metaphorical symbolism

“arises when an author, through unique discovery and depiction of the characteristics of a certain thing, endows it with a distinct quality, connecting it to social life and implicitly conveying praise or criticism, thus expressing a strong emotional tendency. ... Metaphorical symbolism emphasizes the portrayal of characteristics and embeds praise or criticism within the process of depiction, striving to highlight as clearly as possible the similarities between the object and a certain phenomenon of life. It stimulates the reader’s associations and thereby reveals its symbolic significance. Because of its analogical nature, it is first revealed and then concealed.”29

This demonstrates that metaphorical symbolism is, in nature, quite similar to the rhetorical figure of metaphor.

Nevertheless, the two may still be distinguished:

(1) In subject matter: Symbolism often involves an entire work, whereas metaphor usually concerns individual sentences or passages.

(2) In expression: Symbolism is more ambiguous, while metaphor is more explicit.

(3) In structure: Symbolism consists solely of imagery and cannot be transformed; metaphor can always be converted into the standard form of a simile.

(4) In imagery: In symbolism, the image (the symbolic object) and the symbolic meaning are fused into one; in metaphor, the vehicle and the tenor remain independent of one another.30

Suggestive symbolism, also called an implicit symbol, is

“a suggestive and associative form of symbolism. Only the symbolic object appears in the work, while the symbolic meaning remains hidden and unseen, leaving readers to infer it for themselves.”31

It

“extends, depicts, or implicitly presents the meaning contained within a certain thing, either suggesting a principle or conveying an idea, thereby expressing the author’s pursuit of life. ... Suggestive symbolism focuses on portraying a symbolic form that reflects a particular life orientation, recreating a certain life situation and provoking reflection in readers. It is rich in suggestiveness and is first concealed and then revealed.”32

IV. Associative Symbolism and Descriptive Symbolism

This is another classification proposed by mainland Chinese scholars.

“Associative symbolism” is

“a form of symbolism that, by relying upon connections among things, directly conveys symbolic meaning through a specific concrete object. Such connections may originate in myths and legends, natural phenomena, historical facts, social customs, and so forth. ... Because these connections are often established through convention, associative symbolism does not necessarily require detailed description of the symbolic object. For example, the sun may directly symbolize light, and black may directly symbolize death. When the symbolic object and its symbolic meaning have formed a stable association, the symbolic object, appearing in the form of a word within a sentence, carries its symbolic meaning as part of the word’s meaning.”33

Associative symbolism relies upon associative relationships among things, such as similarity association and contiguity association. Because it possesses the conventionalized character of universal symbolism, it is more closely related in nature to universal symbols.

“Descriptive symbolism” is

“a form of symbolism that reveals symbolic meaning through the depiction of a concrete object or through the elaboration and enhancement of its image. Generally speaking, there is no necessary symbolic connection between the symbolic object and the symbolic meaning. Instead, the symbolic meaning is primarily revealed through the author’s depiction. Such revelation is often suggestive and unobtrusive, harmoniously embedded within the image itself. In some cases, however, the symbolic meaning is directly indicated while the concrete object is being described.”34

Descriptive symbolism reveals symbolic meaning through the depiction or embellishment of concrete objects. In nature, it is closer to particular symbolism. Depending upon whether its suggestiveness is explicit or implicit, it may be further divided into the two categories discussed above: metaphorical symbolism and suggestive symbolism.

The forms of expression analyzed in this subsection may be summarized by the author in the following table:

Universal (Fixed) Symbol

The symbolic object acquires relative stability through social convention and cannot be altered arbitrarily.

The symbolic meaning is clear and is not restricted by context.

• Symbolic Person
• Symbolic Time
• Symbolic Place
• Symbolic Event
• Symbolic Object

Particular Symbol

The symbolic object is established through rational association and is freely selected by the author as the thing in which meaning is invested.

The symbolic meaning is not definite and is controlled by the context of the work.

• (1) Metaphorical Symbolism and Suggestive Symbolism
• (2) Associative Symbolism and Descriptive Symbolism

Section 5. The Use of the Symbolic Figure of Speech in Classical Chinese Poetry and Modern Poetry

From the perspective of poetic rhetoric, the author intends to analyze the use of the rhetorical figure of “symbolism” in classical Chinese poetry and modern poetry from two aspects:

First, particular symbolism: “metaphorical symbolism” and “suggestive symbolism.” This classification is based upon the nature of the symbolic figure within poetry.

Second, Professor Yan Yuanshu’s threefold classification of symbolism: “symbolic structure,” “symbolic character,” and “symbolic object.”35 This classification is based upon the objects of symbolic usage (symbolic objects) and the scope of application of the symbolic figure within poetry.

Professor Yan Yuanshu’s classification of the forms of symbolic expression was developed from the way symbolism appears in the genre of fiction. It involves a vertical mode of thinking concerning the scope of symbolism as it relates to both the whole story and its constituent parts, resembling the relationship between a union set and its subsets in geometry.

Beginning with the “structure” that encompasses the entire story, and proceeding to the “specific character” and “specific event or specific object” within the story, he derives the categories of “symbolic structure,” “symbolic character,” and “symbolic object” from the principle that the union contains the subsets.

Viewed from the perspective of fiction as a literary genre, this classification, proceeding vertically from larger scope to smaller scope, indeed provides a concise and comprehensive explanation of the theoretical concept of symbolism.

Although in the genre of poetry—which does not emphasize story structure (narrativity) as a necessary and sufficient condition—this set of criteria may at times encounter practical difficulties, the author nevertheless believes that this “threefold classification” should be adopted as the basis for analyzing the rhetorical figure of symbolism.

I. Symbolic Structure

Among classical Chinese poems, there are certainly many works possessing a “narrative structure.” Examples include The Peacock Flies Southeast from the Han-dynasty Yuefu Poetry Collection, the Northern Dynasties folk song The Ballad of Mulan, and the “New Yuefu” poems The Song of Everlasting Sorrow and The Song of the Pipa by the Tang-dynasty social poet Bai Juyi (Bai Letian). These are all timeless masterpieces familiar to every household and cherished through the ages.

However, these are all long poems. Within the Tang-dynasty forms of five-character and seven-character quatrains and regulated verse, constructing a narrative within such limited space is obviously much more difficult.

Nevertheless, the poetry of Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Wang Changling, and Wang Zhihuan still possesses a degree of partial narrativity. Examples include Du Fu’s Spring View and Hearing That the Imperial Army Has Recovered Henan and Hebei. Generally speaking, because the Social Realist and Frontier poets of the Tang dynasty worked with broader thematic frameworks, narrativity is more prominent in their poetry.

Apart from the structural element of “narrativity,” whether the symbolic object itself possesses the ability to guide and unify the atmosphere and symbolic meaning of the entire work is also a necessary condition for the formation of a “symbolic structure.”

Consider the following modern poem, whose symbolic structure is complete: Wild Geese by the Li Poetry Society poet Bai Qiu.

Bai Qiu, “Wild Geese” 36

We are still alive. We must still fly

Across the boundless sky

The horizon keeps retreating in the distance, enticing us

Alive. Forever pursuing

Feeling it close at hand, yet upon looking up finding it still so far away

The sky is still the sky through which our ancestors flew

Vast and empty like an unchanging admonition

We are still like the wings of our ancestors, beating against the wind

Continuing one determination, trapped within an unfinished nightmare

Between the blue earth

And the deep blue, bottomless sky

The future is only a horizon

Enticing us onward

We shall slowly die in pursuit, die as

The sunset cools away without awareness. Yet we must still fly

Continuing to hang in the endless void, lonely as a leaf in the wind

And the cold clouds

Coldly gaze upon us

The poetry critic Xiao Xiao gave this poem extremely high praise and provided a detailed commentary:

“The poem that truly integrates things, characters, and the process of life's quest into a complete ‘symbolic structure’ most successfully is Bai Qiu’s Wild Geese. As a genuinely symbolic poem that avoids the defect of obscurity, Bai Qiu’s Wild Geese is exemplary.”

“The entire poem Wild Geese constitutes a complete symbolic structure. The geese are the symbolic ‘characters’ within the poem; the ‘sky,’ the ‘horizon,’ the ‘sunset,’ the ‘clouds,’ and so forth are the ‘symbolic objects,’ all combining to form the process of humanity’s unceasing search for life. The innate tragedy (that is, the internal tragedy) is expressed in ‘We are still alive. We must still fly’ and ‘We are still like the wings of our ancestors.’ The acquired tragedy (that is, external blows) appears in lines such as ‘The sky is vast and empty like an unchanging admonition,’ ‘The horizon keeps retreating in the distance, enticing us,’ ‘The sunset cools away without awareness,’ and ‘The cold clouds coldly gaze upon us.’ These are all external frustrations and pressures that temper the geese into persevering fighters. The poem is not truly about geese; the struggle of the geese is in fact the struggle of humanity.”37

This poem about an object employs the first-person plural “we” as its narrative protagonist. The migratory nature of wild geese—their seasonal migrations in pursuit of better living conditions—forms the central core of the poem’s narrative. During migration, the flock must endure severe tests of both physical strength and mental willpower and must successfully overcome various external challenges.

The migratory characteristics of the geese symbolize the spirit of perseverance that pushes physical endurance to its limits in order to overcome external challenges.

Shi Hong, “Sent to the Battlefield” 38

Painfully forcing out

A tear of longing

To become a solid bullet

At this moment, far away, you raise your gun and take aim

Are you lying prone or kneeling?

Could it be that the way you hold your rifle

Looks exactly like

The way you embrace me?

Why is it that whenever you take aim

My chest aches faintly?

Pull the trigger

Ah, my beloved

Even if I should fall

Pale and lifeless

You, far away, must still return carrying your rifle

Rather than calling this a poem, one might call it a “lament” sung by a wife across the sea to her husband at war. After listening carefully to it, readers will probably feel, like the author, “unhappy, unhappy, unhappy,” because it hurts deep within the heart. One cannot help but feel sorrow for the Taiwanese soldiers suffering during wartime and for the wives who waited by their doors longing for their return.

In Sent to the Battlefield, the poet speaks from the perspective of a wife. In the opening section, through imaginative visualization, she seems to see her husband far away in the South Seas battlefield. At this moment, “you painfully force out a tear of longing / to become a solid bullet.” You secretly shed tears of longing for me and for your family. If you are now engaged in combat with the enemy, shedding tears as you fight, then “at this moment, far away, you raise your gun and take aim / are you lying prone or kneeling?”

In the second section, the wife becomes so absorbed in her thoughts that she experiences hallucinations. It seems as though “the way you hold your rifle / looks exactly like / the way you embrace me.” Though you are in danger, your action of “raising your gun and taking aim” seems somehow to be sensed even by me, far away in our homeland.

In the final section, the wife sorrowfully expresses that she would rather die herself and sincerely hopes that “you, far away, must still return carrying your rifle.” This wish—“let me die if only you can return alive”—was the helpless cry of countless wives of Taiwanese soldiers. During that era of war and chaos, the fates of husband and wife were inseparably bound together. Reading these lines evokes profound sorrow and regret.

II. Symbolic Characters

In modern poetry, a narrative structure is not an inevitable choice for the poet. However, when a story serves as the thread running through the entire poem, the work acquires a distinctly dramatic effect, characterized by such elements as “suspense, fluctuation, conflict, reversal, tension, and struggle.” Structurally, it tends to possess greater tension. Consider the poet Ya Xian’s Actress:39

Ya Xian, “Actress”

At sixteen her name had already drifted through the city

A kind of mournful rhythm

Those almond-colored arms should have been guarded by eunuchs

That little coiffure—ah, how the people of the Qing Dynasty would have broken their hearts for her

Could she be Su San?

(The face that cracks melon seeds in the garden every night)

“Bitterness ah~~~~”

She, with both hands locked in the cangue

Someone said

That in Jiamusi she had once consorted with a White Russian officer

A kind of mournful rhythm

Every woman curses her in every city

The sixteen-year-old actress in the poem is herself a symbol. Her background and experiences reflect the helpless submission of the declining aristocracy of the old dynasty to the realities of life during the transition between old and new regimes. Reduced to humble means of survival, they were scorned by others and even subjected to merciless condemnation.

The narrative quality of this poem is remarkably complete. As the author watches the actress perform on stage, he simultaneously overhears people whispering about her past. Her life story itself already constitutes a poignant, sorrowful, and deeply moving tale.

Xiang Ming, “Hanging Basket Plant” 40

In the past they said

You were a transplanted weed

A plant that needed no soil

No longer longing for your native land

Greedy for ready-made nourishment and food

Now they say

You are a parasitic weed

A plant unwilling to take root

Able only to reminisce about your former homeland

Unable to identify with the nest before your eyes

What can your withered condition say for you?

Surely you no longer wish to say anything

At such a temperature as this

After being away from home for so long

Nothing one says would be right

For mainland Chinese who remained in Taiwan, this Hanging Basket Plant vividly portrays their shared psychological journey.

Before the 1980s, under the rule of Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo, the Nationalist government continued to regard “recovering the mainland from Communist rule” as its principal national policy and political mission. Yet most mainland immigrants had been away from their native homes for so long that they had already “taken root” in Taiwan, treating it as their “second homeland.” They had established families and settled comfortably into their lives. “Retaking the mainland” existed largely as a political slogan of the ruling authorities, while the prospect of “returning home in triumph” was no longer their primary aspiration.

Those mainlanders who remained emotionally attached to their homeland and continued to cherish the goal of “recovering the mainland” often questioned and criticized the contentment of those who had settled permanently in Taiwan. As a result, these rooted mainland immigrants inevitably experienced feelings of misunderstanding, grievance, and helpless melancholy.

After the 1980s, Taiwan’s broader political environment gradually changed. President Chiang Ching-kuo lifted restrictions on travel to mainland China for family visits and removed bans on political parties and newspapers. This series of political liberalization measures not only allowed Taiwanese people to enjoy increasing economic prosperity but also inspired unprecedented enthusiasm for political participation.

To continue attracting local Taiwanese political elites, Chiang Ching-kuo promoted large numbers of native Taiwanese to important positions within the central and local governments and publicly identified himself as a “Taiwanese,” expressing a positive sense of identification with the land. This period marked the beginning of Taiwan’s political localization movement.

Amid wave after wave of new policies and new ideas, mainland immigrants experienced both contradiction and encouragement. The contradiction lay in the question of how they should position themselves within the political trend of localization. Facing a dominant local Taiwanese population that increasingly demanded identification with Taiwan, economically disadvantaged mainland communities had little room for negotiation beyond acceptance. Whether individuals wished to be assimilated or not, the mentality of being a “temporary sojourner” was neither accepted nor welcomed within Taiwanese society.

What encouraged them, however, was the humanitarian policy permitting visits to relatives in mainland China. It enabled many mainland immigrants to return during their lifetimes to see relatives and friends whom they had not seen for more than thirty years, finally relieving their long-suppressed homesickness. Yet when they once again set foot upon the soil of China, they found themselves regarded by both the authorities and their relatives as “Taiwan compatriots.”

The “weed” in the poem is a hardy grass-root plant capable of adapting to a wide range of environments. Within the poem, it serves not only as the poet’s self-representation but also as the common symbolic object of the mainland immigrant community that relocated to Taiwan with the Nationalist government. From transplantation and temporary residence to establishing a livelihood and identifying with the land, it embodies the saying: “A foreign land becomes one’s homeland after a long stay.”

III. Symbolic Objects

According to Yan Yuanshu’s classification, symbolic objects may be divided into:

“independent symbolic objects and dependent symbolic objects. The former, such as the cross or the Nazi Iron Cross, each possesses an independent symbolic meaning and is not controlled by the context of the story. Most symbolic objects, however, do not possess independent meanings; their meanings are controlled by context.”

The so-called “independent symbolic object” refers to a symbolic image whose connection with the narrative image to which it refers (implicitly or suggestively) is based upon social convention rather than upon an associative connection created by the author through free imagination.

In this sense, it corresponds to what Xiao Xiao calls a “universal symbol.”

The focus of the present discussion, however, is the “dependent symbolic object controlled by context,” which corresponds to what Xiao Xiao terms “particular symbolism” or “artistic symbolism.”

Shang Qin, “Giraffe” 41

The young prison guard noticed that each time

The prisoners underwent physical examinations,

The monthly increase in their height occurred only after the neck;

He reported to the warden:

“Sir, the windows are too high!”

But the answer he received was:

“No, they are gazing toward the years.”

The kind young prison guard,

Unfamiliar with the face of the years,

Ignorant of the years’ birthplace,

Unaware of the years’ whereabouts,

Went every night to the zoo,

Beneath the giraffe enclosure,

To wander,

To wait.

In terms of external form, this is a prose poem possessing the appearance of prose but the substance of poetry.

The central image of the “giraffe” suggests that the prisoners stretch their necks like giraffes, looking out through the windows as their chief consolation. This serves as a suggestion of their longing to be released from prison and regain freedom.

This “signified” transcends the literal image of the words and enters the realm of symbolic meaning. The “meaning beyond the words” that it conveys is precisely the author’s true intention or original purpose—that is, the “narrative image” mentioned earlier.

Through the constructed (allegorical) image of the giraffe and the concrete image of prisoners stretching their necks while yearning toward the passing years, a relationship is established through the similarity of the two images.

This relationship produces a form of “suggestion,” and suggestion itself is a highly implicit form of “symbolism.”

[Notes]

(1) Teng Shouyao, A Description of Aesthetic Psychology, Taipei: Hanjing, 1987, p.139.

(2) Cheng Weijun et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Reference, Taipei: Jianhong, 1998, p.1093.

(3) Liu Xie, Wenxin Diaolong (first edition), annotated by Zhou Zhenfu, Taipei: Liren, 1984, pp.739–741.

(4) Complete Collection of Song Dynasty Poetry Commentaries: Volume One, Jiangsu: Guji, 1998, p.214.

(5) “The expressive methods of Symbolist poetry are characterized by the following: (1) breaking formal constraints and establishing free verse of indeterminate form; (2) music is the essence of poetry, using music to express emotion and lead readers into a vague and profound realm; (3) synesthetic perception, namely the interweaving of sound and color; (4) mysterious suggestion.” See Qin Zihao, On Modern Poetry, “Methods of Poetic Expression,” in Complete Works of Qin Zihao II, Qin Zihao Complete Works Publishing Committee, 1968, pp.56–57.

(6) Cited from Zhu Guangqian, Poetics, “The Hidden and the Manifest in Poetry,” p.151.

(7) From Cheng Weijun et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Reference, Taipei: Jianhong, 1998, p.1092.

(8) Cheng Weijun et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Reference, Beijing: China Youth, 1991, pp.1092–1096.

(9) Cited from Shen Qian, Rhetoric (Volume I), Taipei: National Open University, 1991, p.309.

(10) Qin Zihao, On Modern Poetry, “Methods of Poetic Expression,” in Complete Works of Qin Zihao II, Qin Zihao Complete Works Publishing Committee, 1968, p.242.

(11) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p.482.

(12) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p.483.

(13) Liu Xie, Wenxin Diaolong, annotated by Zhou Zhenfu, Taipei: Liren, 1984, p.677.

(14) Zhong Rong, Shipin (Grades of Poetry), compiled by Liao Dongliang, Taipei: Jinfeng, 1999, p.32.

(15) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p.477.

(16) Kuchikawa Hakuson, translated by Lin Wenrui, Taipei: Zhiwen, 1979, p.28.

(17) Edited by Huang Jinkai, Zhang Bingzhen, Yang Hengda, Symbolism and Imagism, Beijing: Xinhua, 1998, p.45.

(18) Charles Chadwick, translated by Guo Yangsheng, Symbolism, Hebei: Huashan Literature and Art, 1989, pp.1–3.

(19) Kuchikawa Hakuson, translated by Lin Wenrui, Taipei: Zhiwen, 1979, p.28.

(20) Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, p.477.

(21) Kuchikawa Hakuson, translated by Lin Wenrui, Taipei: Zhiwen, 1979, p.5.

(22) Xiao Xiao, Modern Poetics, Taipei: Dongda, 1986, p.308.

(23) Shen Qian, Rhetoric (Volume I), Taipei: National Open University, 1991, p.314.

(24) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: National, 2004, p.536.

(25) Xiao Xiao, Modern Poetics, Taipei: Dongda, 1986, p.308.

(26) Shen Qian, Rhetoric (Volume I), Taipei: National Open University, 1991, p.332.

(27) Huang Lizhen, Practical Rhetoric (Revised Edition), Taipei: National, 2004, pp.536–537.

(28) Yang Chunlin & Liu Fan (eds.), Great Dictionary of Chinese Rhetorical Art, Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.1067.

(29) Cheng Weijun et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Reference, Beijing: China Youth et al., 1991, p.1154.

(30) Shen Qian, Rhetoric (Volume I), Taipei: National Open University, 1991, p.308.

(31) Yang Chunlin & Liu Fan (eds.), Great Dictionary of Chinese Rhetorical Art, Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Publishing House, 1991, p.1067.

(32) Cheng Weijun et al. (eds.), Comprehensive Rhetoric Reference, Beijing: China Youth et al., 1991, pp.1154–1155.

(33) Lu Jiaxiang & Chi Taining (eds.), Dictionary of Explanations of Rhetorical Devices, Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education Press, 1990, p.260.

(34) Lu Jiaxiang & Chi Taining (eds.), Dictionary of Explanations of Rhetorical Devices, Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education Press, 1990, p.261.

(35) Huang Qingxuan citing Yan Yuanshu, “On the Characteristics of Modern Anglo-American Short Stories,” see Huang Qingxuan, Rhetoric, Taipei: Sanmin, 2002, pp.493–494.

(36) From Bai Qiu, Selected Poems of Bai Qiu, Taipei: Sanmin, 2005, pp.152–154.

(37) Xiao Xiao, Modern Poetics, Taipei: Dongda, 1986, p.314.

(38) From Zheng Jiongming (ed.), Mixed Chorus, Kaohsiung: Chunhui, 1992, p.477.

(39) From Ya Xian, Ya Xian Poetry Collection, Taipei: Hongfan, 1981, pp.149–150.

(40) From Xiang Ming, Recollection of Water, Taipei: Jiuge, 1988, pp.40–41.

(41) From Shang Qin, Dream or Dawn and Others, Taipei: Shulin, 1988, p.33.