Chapter 16: “The Interplay of Real and Virtual Imagery in Poetry and Song”

Part I. The Virtual–Real Imagery in Classical Poetry and Song

1. The Concept of Virtual and Real in Ancient Poetic Criticism
2. Liu Xie, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons: “Shensi (Spiritual Thought)”

Liu Xie states: “The thinking of literature lies in its profound spirit. Therefore, in silent concentration of thought, the mind connects to a thousand years; in a slight movement of expression, vision reaches ten thousand miles.” This passage explains that the poet’s thought can transcend time and space, combining abstract emotion with concrete imagery, reaching a state where the virtual and the real merge.

1. Mei Yaochen, Jade Fragments of Poets

Mei Yaochen emphasizes that poetry should “depict scenes difficult to describe as if they were before one’s eyes, and contain inexhaustible meanings beyond words,” advocating that difficult-to-depict scenes should be presented as if they are real scenes before the eyes, while meanings that cannot be fully expressed should be conveyed beyond language. This is precisely the embodiment of the interplay of virtual and real.

1. Wang Fuzhi, Poetry Remarks of Jiangzhai

Wang Fuzhi believes: “Poetry values implication; meaning lies beyond words.” He emphasizes that poetry should be implicit and restrained, allowing readers to experience poetic meaning beyond language. This technique is precisely the application of the interplay between the virtual and the real.

1. The Concept and Function of the Interplay of Virtual and Real

(1) Definition and Function:

“Mutual generation of virtual and real” is an important artistic technique in classical Chinese poetry, referring to the mutual contrast, penetration, and transformation between real scenes, objects, and events (the real) and imagined scenes, objects, and events (the virtual), interwoven to express a unified thought or emotion.

“Real”: refers to scenes, objects, and realms existing in the objective world, including concrete, tangible, and real “images.”

“Virtual”: refers to imagined scenes, objects, and realms, including subjective, intangible, hypothetical, past or future scenes, as well as dreams and worlds of immortals, ghosts, and spirits.

(2) Functions:

(1) Enriches poetic imagery, expands poetic artistic conception, provides readers with broad aesthetic space, and enriches aesthetic experience.

(2) Forms strong contrast or enhances expressive atmosphere, highlighting the central idea of the poem.

1. Typical Poetic Examples and Analysis
2. Gao Shi, “Listening to the Flute in the Frontier”

Snow clears the Hu sky as horses return to graze;
Moonlight shines between the garrison towers and Qiang flutes.
One asks where the plum blossoms fall;
The wind blows all night over the passes and mountains.

Real writing: Describes the melting of snow in the Hu lands, the season of grazing horses, and soldiers returning with herds of horses.

Virtual writing: The phrase “falling plum blossoms” is imaginatively transformed, as if what the wind scatters is not flute sound but drifting plum petals filling the land.

Effect: The fusion of virtual and real expresses how soldiers, upon hearing music, think of their hometown plum blossoms, conveying intense homesickness.

1. Li Yu, “Beautiful Lady Yu”

When will the spring flowers and autumn moon end? How many past events are known? The small tower last night again met the east wind; in the bright moonlight, I cannot bear to recall my homeland.

Carved railings and jade steps should still be there, but youthful beauty has changed. I ask you how much sorrow there can be—just like a river of spring water flowing eastward.

Real writing: Spring flowers, autumn moon, the small tower and east wind, and the palace of carved railings and jade steps, contrasted with the changed youthful face.

Virtual writing: “A river of spring water flowing eastward” transforms abstract sorrow into a concrete image.

Effect: Abstract emotion is turned into imagery, strengthening emotional expression.

1. Yan Jidao, “Partridge Sky”

Colorful sleeves diligently hold up jade cups; in those years, we drank until our faces turned red. Dancing low beneath the willow moon over the tower’s heart; singing out all the wind beneath the peach blossom fan.

After parting, I recall meeting you; how many times have our souls met in dreams? Tonight I still hold the silver lamp to look, fearing that our reunion is only a dream.

Real writing: Describes past banquet scenes, such as “colorful sleeves holding jade cups.”

Virtual writing: Describes longing after separation, such as “souls meeting in dreams.”

Effect: Interweaving virtual and real expresses nostalgia for past beauty and present loneliness.

1. Liu Yong, “Rain Bell”

Cold cicadas cry sorrowfully, facing the evening pavilion, sudden rain has just stopped. At the capital gate, we drink farewell wine without mood; in reluctance, the orchid boat urges departure. Holding hands, we gaze at each other with tearful eyes, speechless with choking emotion. Thinking of the journey ahead—thousands of miles of misty waves, dusk clouds heavy over the vast Chu sky.

Since ancient times, parting has been sorrowful; how much more in the cold, desolate autumn season! Where will I wake from tonight’s wine? By the willow bank, in the morning breeze and waning moon. In years to come, even good times and beautiful scenery will be in vain. Even if there are a thousand kinds of tenderness, to whom can I speak them?

Real writing: The first section describes the real scene of the poet’s reluctant yet inevitable separation from his beloved.

Virtual writing: The second section describes imagined future life after separation (projected visualization), entirely virtual.

Effect: The fusion of virtual and real fully expresses the deep reluctance at the moment of farewell.

1. Techniques and Structural Arrangement of the Interplay of Virtual and Real
2. Structural Arrangement

Interweaving virtual and real: such as alternating virtual-real patterns, avoiding a single mode of expression, making poetry more layered.

1. Contrast and Foil between Virtual and Real

Contrast: using joyful scenery to contrast sorrowful emotions or sorrowful scenery to contrast joyful emotions, enhancing emotional effect.

Example: Xie Hun’s “Farewell at Xie Pavilion” uses “red leaves and green mountains” to contrast parting sorrow.

A farewell song releases the boat; red leaves and green mountains with rushing water;
At dusk, after waking from wine, the person is already far away; wind and rain fill the sky as one descends from West Tower.

1. Relationship between Virtual–Real Interplay and Types of Imagery

Concrete (real) imagery: has physical form and can be perceived through the senses.

Abstract (virtual) imagery: lacks physical form and can only be perceived and understood conceptually.

Application: The interplay of virtual and real can concretize abstract emotions, or endow concrete scenery with abstract emotion, enhancing expressive power.

Summary:

The complementarity (interplay) of virtual and real is a common and important artistic technique in classical Chinese poetry. Through the interweaving of reality and imagination, concreteness and abstraction, it enriches imagery and artistic conception and strengthens emotional expression.

Part II. The Complementarity of Virtual and Real Imagery in Modern Poetry

1. Modern Poetry and Imagery Theory
2. Zhu Guangqian’s Poetics

Zhu Guangqian states: “When describing scenery, one should not be obscure, for obscurity leads to confusion; when expressing emotion, one should not be explicit, for explicitness leads to shallowness.” He believes that scenery should be concrete and clear, while emotion should be implicit and restrained. This balance between scene and emotion is precisely the embodiment of the interplay between virtual and real.

1. Yu Guangzhong’s “On Imagery”

Yu Guangzhong points out in “On Imagery” that imagery is the basic condition of poetry. Through the progression from simile to metaphor to symbolism, poetry moves from a flat dimension to a three-dimensional one, achieving the state where “meaning is image, and image is meaning.”

1. Chen Yizhi’s “Theory of Imagery Combination”

Chen Yizhi states: “Imagery is the combination of subjective inner meaning and objective external image. The subjective mind is hidden and elusive; the objective phenomenon can be seen, heard, and touched.” This integration of subjectivity and objectivity is precisely the modern poetic expression of the interplay between virtual and real.

1. Jian Zhengzhen’s “Figurative Thinking Theory”

Jian Zhengzhen believes: “Imagery is the poet using concrete external objects to express inner reasoning and emotion, that is, the visualization of abstract thinking.” This process of transforming abstract emotion into concrete imagery reflects the creative method of virtual–real interplay.

In poetic creation, the interweaving of virtual and real can enhance depth and polysemy. For example, Ya Xian’s poems often use concrete scenes to evoke abstract emotions, forming an effect of virtual–real interplay.

1. Compilation of Theory and Examples of “Imagery Virtual–Real Complementarity (Interplay)” in Modern Poetry:

(1) Works of the “magician” Lo Fu

1. Lo Fu, “Afternoon of Water Lettuce”

Afternoon. In the pond water
Crowded clusters of pregnant water lettuce
This summer is very lonely
If to give birth, then give birth to a pond of frogs
Alas, the problem is
We are only falsely swollen

Real writing: Describes clusters of water lettuce crowded in the pond water.

Virtual writing: Water lettuce giving birth to a pond of frogs; this absurd continuation of imagery is not exaggeration of objects but surreal imagination.

Effect: The fusion of virtual and real creates a novel and interesting poetic effect.

1. Lo Fu, “No Rain”

After long sunny days without rain
This heart has already cracked like earth

If you are a tear that cannot condense and fall
How I wish
To become a fish in your eyes

Where does rain come from
From the mountains
From outside the window
From the eaves
From the commotion of lotus flowers
From inside stones
From the lonely chirping of crickets

No
It comes from your cold

question

Actually, what I want to say
Is exactly what rain wants to say
What the faint water stains outside your window want to say

Real writing: After long sunny days without rain, the heart has already cracked.

Virtual writing: If you are a tear that cannot condense and fall, how I wish to become a fish in your eyes.

Effect: Surreal imagination gives readers a deeply emotional aesthetic experience.

1. Lo Fu, “Entering the Mountain with the Sound of Rain, Yet Seeing No Rain”

Holding up an oil-paper umbrella
Singing “the sourness of plums in March”
Among countless mountains
I am the only pair of straw sandals

Woodpecker　empty empty
Echo　holes holes
A tree twists upward in the pain of pecking

Entering the mountain
I do not see rain
The umbrella circles around a green stone and flies
There sits a man holding his head
Watching cigarette ash turn to dust

Descending the mountain
Still no rain is seen
Three bitter pine nuts
Roll along the road signs all the way to my feet
I reach out to grab them
Yet they turn out to be a handful of bird sounds

Real writing: Holding up an oil-paper umbrella, singing “the sourness of plums in March,” among countless mountains, I am the only pair of straw sandals.

Virtual writing: Three bitter pine nuts roll along the road signs all the way to my feet; when I reach out to grasp them, they turn out to be a handful of bird sounds.
It not only uses synaesthesia to transform a visual image (three bitter pine nuts) into an auditory image (a handful of bird sounds), but also presents a surreal and fantastical montage-like cinematic structure.

Effect: The fusion of the virtual and the real creates a magical sense of novelty, creativity, and playful imagination.

(2) Ya Xian’s Black Humor

“Andante of Poetry”

The necessity of tenderness
The necessity of affirmation
The necessity of a little wine and osmanthus blossoms
The necessity of properly watching a woman pass by
The necessity of you not being Hemingway, at least this basic recognition
The necessity of the European War, rain, cannons, weather, and the Red Cross
The necessity of walking
The necessity of walking a dog
The necessity of mint tea
The necessity of rumors rising like grass every evening at seven o’clock from the far end of the stock exchange
The necessity of a revolving glass door
The necessity of penicillin
The necessity of assassination
The necessity of evening newspapers
The necessity of wearing flannel trousers
The necessity of lottery tickets
The necessity of an aunt inheriting an estate
The necessity of balcony, sea, and smile
The necessity of laziness

And since one has been regarded as a river, one must continue flowing
The world is always like this—always like this: ——
Guanyin on the distant mountain
Poppies in the poppy fields

Ya Xian’s “Andante of Poetry” is a modern poem that typically demonstrates the aesthetics of virtual–real interweaving. Below is a concise discussion based on the theory of virtual–real interplay, from three aspects: imagery analysis, rhythm, and poetic construction.

1. Interweaving of Virtual and Real: A Dual Field of Poetic Meaning

Each line of this poem uses the structure “the necessity of …,” and although it appears to list concrete things in daily life (the real), behind these “necessities” lies a philosophical reflection on life, existence, and history (the virtual).

(1) Real imagery (concrete objects):

“wine,” “osmanthus blossoms,” “mint tea,” “revolving glass door,” “flannel trousers,” “lottery tickets,” “an aunt inheriting an estate,” etc., are all tangible and perceivable objects or events in daily life.

“rumors rising like grass at the stock exchange,” “evening newspapers,” and “assassination” also appear as fragments of reality.

(2) Virtual imagery (abstract, symbolic, emotional):

“The necessity of tenderness,” “the necessity of affirmation” are abstract emotional concepts;

“You are not Hemingway—this basic recognition” evokes cultural reflection on heroism and individual identity;

“Guanyin on the distant mountain” symbolizes compassion and transcendent spiritual belief;

“Poppies in the poppy fields” metaphorically suggest the entanglement of temptation, beauty, and destruction.

These virtual and real elements are interwoven and juxtaposed, giving the poem both tangible immediacy and abstract philosophical depth.

1. Form and Rhythm of the “Andante” Structure: A Virtual–Real Symphony

The title “Andante of Poetry” refers to the musical term andante cantabile, meaning a slow, lyrical, forward-moving tempo. This corresponds to the poem’s line-by-line arrangement of imagery like musical notes:

The repeated phrase “the necessity of …” forms a chant-like structure, slow and steady, like a recurring musical motif;

In the latter section, a sudden shift occurs: “And since one has been regarded as a river, one must continue flowing,” which turns toward abstraction and philosophy, transforming the fragmented daily-life images (the real) into a symbol of continuous life-flow (the virtual).

The rhythmic structure allows constant alternation between virtual and real, making the reader feel as if they are hearing a poetic melody that is both physically rhythmic and emotionally internal.

1. Poetic Summary: A Philosophy of Necessity Constructed Through Virtual–Real Interplay

In this poem, Ya Xian constructs a series of “necessities,” laying out the conditions of human existence. These conditions arise simultaneously from:

(1) the material level (food, clothing, social events);

(2) the spiritual level (emotion, security, belief);

(3) the historical-cultural level (European War, cannons, Red Cross, newspapers);

(4) the individual-memory and metaphorical level (Guanyin, poppies, sea, balcony).

The closing lines—“Guanyin on the distant mountain / Poppies in the poppy fields”—function like a final stroke that reveals: each symbol remains within its symbolic position, and the world continues operating in its own way. This produces a transcendent awareness after the alignment of virtual and real, echoing the poem’s sense of helpless clarity: “the world is always like this—always like this.”

Summary: Poetics of Virtual–Real Interweaving

This precisely constitutes Ya Xian’s poetic style of “aesthetic contemplation” and “perception of reality” constructed through the interplay of virtual and real.

(III) Zheng Chouyu’s Wandering Romantic Sentiment

“Error”

I pass through Jiangnan
That face waiting within the season, like the blooming and falling of a lotus flower

The east wind does not come, and the willow catkins of March do not fly
Your heart is like a small, lonely city
Just like a green-stone street facing dusk
Footsteps do not sound, the spring curtain of March is not lifted
Your heart is a small window, tightly shut

My horse’s hooves are a beautiful error
I am not the returning traveler, I am merely a passer-by……

Zheng Chouyu’s “Error” is a modern poem with highly distinctive aesthetic qualities of “interplay between the virtual and the real.” The poem integrates personal emotion with spatial imagery, interweaving the virtual and the real so that its lyrical mood acquires both subtlety and profound tension. The following provides a concise discussion of its expression of virtual–real interpenetration from three aspects: imagery analysis, poetic language style and rhetorical strategy, and aesthetic effect with thematic sublimation.

I. Interwoven Virtual and Real Imagery: The Correspondence Between Emotion and Scene

1. Real imagery (concrete, perceptible depiction):

“Jiangnan,” “green-stone street,” “willow catkins of March,” “horse hooves,” etc., are all concrete objects with spatial and temporal reference. “Footsteps do not sound” and “window tightly shut” are direct sensory descriptions of hearing and sight.

1. Virtual imagery (abstract emotion and symbolic imagery):

“The face waiting within the season, like the blooming and falling of a lotus flower” transforms temporal perception and facial beauty into a fluid metaphor of impermanence;
“Your heart is like a small, lonely city” and “a small window tightly shut” spatialize inner emotion, turning psychology into architectural space—this is a typical abstracted imagery transformation;
“My horse’s hooves are a beautiful error” uses concrete sound and movement to represent a missed emotional trajectory, where “error” becomes a philosophical symbol of love and fate.

This technique of using concrete scenery to reflect inner emotion is precisely the core strategy of “interplay between the virtual and the real.”

II. Rhetorical and Rhythmic Strategy: Transforming the Real into the Virtual, Reflecting the Real through the Virtual

Typical techniques:

Metaphor: “Your heart is like a small, lonely city” compares the beloved’s heart to a sealed city, both concrete and abstract;

Synaesthesia: “footsteps do not sound,” “spring curtain is not lifted” combine auditory and tactile impressions to construct emotional coldness and stillness;

Temporal–spatial layering: “March,” “spring curtain,” “dusk” overlap within shifting time frames, enriching lyrical depth;

Symbolism and inversion: “horse hooves” and “the sound of hooves” traditionally symbolize return, yet the poem states “I am not the returning traveler, I am merely a passer-by,” producing emotional reversal and displacement between virtual and real.

The poem uses concrete elements such as sound, scenery, and seasonal imagery to envelop an abstract lyrical theme of “missed encounter,” “inaccessibility,” and “inner closure,” allowing virtual and real to permeate one another.

III. Aesthetic Effect: A Lyrical Field Constructed Through Virtual–Real Co-creation

The poem’s greatest artistic achievement lies in using concrete imagery to construct abstract emotion, and using abstract emotion to illuminate concrete space.

Thus, “Error” becomes not only a classic lyric of nostalgia and sorrow, but also a representative work constructing an “emotional flow field” through the mirroring of the virtual and the real.

It is precisely this that makes the poem a lyrical structure where emotional movement and spatial imagery mutually generate and illuminate each other.

(IV) Yu Guangzhong’s Ballad-style Poetry Series: “Nostalgia”

“Nostalgia”

When I was young
Nostalgia was a small postage stamp
I was here on this side
Mother was on the other side

When I grew up
Nostalgia was a narrow boat ticket
I was here on this side
My bride was on the other side

Later on
Nostalgia was a small, low grave
I was outside
Mother was inside

And now
Nostalgia is a shallow strait
I am on this side
The mainland is on the other side

“Nostalgia Quartet”

Give me a ladle of Yangtze River water, ah Yangtze River water
That wine-like Yangtze River water
That drunken taste is the taste of nostalgia

Give me a ladle of Yangtze River water, ah Yangtze River water

Give me a sheet of begonia red, ah begonia red
That blood-like begonia red
That burning pain like boiling water is the pain of nostalgia

Give me a sheet of begonia red, ah begonia red

Give me a snowflake white, ah snowflake white
That letter-like snowflake white
That waiting-for-a-letter feeling is the waiting of nostalgia

Give me a snowflake white, ah snowflake white

Give me a plum-blossom fragrance, ah plum-blossom fragrance
That mother-like plum fragrance
That maternal fragrance is the fragrance of homeland

Give me a plum-blossom fragrance, ah plum-blossom fragrance

These two works by Yu Guangzhong—“Nostalgia” and “Nostalgia Quartet”—can be regarded as among the most representative paradigms of “virtual–real interplay” in modern Taiwanese poetry. The poet uses concrete sensory imagery and spatial objects to carry abstract emotion and historical identity. Through the transformation of objects into images, the virtual and the real intertwine, producing a layered and profound aesthetics of nostalgia.

I. Theoretical Concept: Poetic Foundation of Virtual–Real Interplay

“Virtual–real interplay” is an important aesthetic concept in the Chinese poetic tradition, originating from Liu Xie’s The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons and Wang Guowei’s Human Words on Earth. It holds that:

Virtual: inner emotion, abstract nostalgia, historical trauma;

Real: external sensory objects such as “postage stamp,” “boat ticket,” “strait,” “Yangtze River water,” “begonia red,” etc.

Poets use concrete objects to carry abstract emotions, so that within the concrete there is emotion, and within abstraction there is imagery.

In Yu Guangzhong’s poetry, this strategy is executed with precision, depth, rhythmic beauty, and emotional resonance.

II. “Nostalgia”: The Evolution of Objects and Deepening of Emotion

Layered progression of virtual–real interplay:

The poem’s four stages (postage stamp → boat ticket → grave → strait) correspond to life stages and emotional layers (childhood → youth → adulthood → nation). The progression is tightly structured: the real generates the virtual, and the virtual returns to illuminate the real, forming a highly condensed and profound poetic meaning.

III. “Four Variations of Nostalgia”: The Superimposition of Synaesthesia, Symbolism, and the Virtual–Real

Strategy of virtual–real and synaesthesia:

The poet, through repetitive chant-like structures, turns concrete imagery (Yangtze River water, begonia red, etc.) into vessels of abstract emotion (nostalgia, kinship, national memory). By employing synaesthesia across senses (smell, color, taste, touch), abstract emotion is materialized and sensory-formed, making the bridge between the virtual and the real more natural and organically connected.

Yu Guangzhong: “What Does the Sound of Rain Say”

What does the sound of rain say throughout the night?

The lamp upstairs asks the tree outside the window
The tree outside the window asks the cart at the mouth of the alley

What does the sound of rain say throughout the night?
The cart at the mouth of the alley asks the distant road
The distant road asks the bridge upstream

What does the sound of rain say throughout the night?
The bridge upstream asks the childhood umbrella
The childhood umbrella asks the wet shoes

What does the sound of rain say throughout the night?
The wet shoes ask the croaking frogs
The croaking frogs ask the surrounding mist

What does the sound of rain say throughout the night?
The surrounding mist asks the lamp upstairs
The lamp upstairs asks the person under the lamp
The person under the lamp raises his head and says:
Why has it still not stopped:

From legend it has fallen into the present
From drizzle it has fallen into torrents
From roof drip it has fallen into rivers and seas
I ask you, dull moss

What does the sound of rain say throughout the night?

Yu Guangzhong’s “What Does the Sound of Rain Say” is a modern poem that employs an extremely flexible and progressively layered structure of virtual–real interplay. Its central theme revolves around the repeated questioning of “the sound of rain,” yet the poem does not aim to provide a single answer. Instead, it constructs a trajectory of psychological, historical, temporal, and mnemonic exploration that expands from concrete imagery.

From the perspective of virtual–real interaction theory, the poem can be analyzed as follows:

I. Construction of the Relation between Virtual and Real: From Sensory Reality to Mental Allegory

The “sound of rain” is a real sensory starting point of the poem (auditory perception). However, instead of directly describing the rain, the poet constructs a chain of “objects questioning objects,” transforming the sound of rain into a coded message that is heard by all things but understood by none.

The repetition of interrogative sentences forms a structural rhythm of “from the real to the virtual,” gradually abstracting the poem into psychological and symbolic dimensions.

II. Progressive Layers of Virtual–Real Interplay in the Poem

This movement from external objects to inner emotion, and then from consciousness back to external reality, forms a typical cycle of “interwoven virtual and real,” as well as a three-layer structure of “sensation – psychology – language.”

III. Final Section: Superimposition of Symbolism, History, and Existence (Peak of Virtualization)

The final passage further intensifies abstraction, introducing history and philosophical reflection:

Why has it still not stopped:

From legend it has fallen into the present
From drizzle it has fallen into torrents
From roof drip it has fallen into rivers and seas
I ask you, dull moss

“Drizzle,” “torrents,” “roof drip,” and “rivers and seas” represent an expansion from light rain to heavy rain, from eaves to the ocean—an enlargement of time and space that transforms individual memory into historical flow.

“Moss” becomes the concluding image, symbolizing the sediment of history and a silent witness of existence.

The rain sound is no longer merely sound; it becomes a poeticized ontological presence—like “nostalgia” or “historical consciousness,” something indescribable yet persistently embedded in human awareness.

IV. Structural and Rhetorical Effects of Virtual–Real Interweaving

Conclusion

“What Does the Sound of Rain Say” stands as a paradigmatic modern poem of virtual–real interplay. It does not rely on narrative or description, but advances through questioning, fusion of self and world, and the interweaving of perception and memory.

Through this method, the sound of rain becomes simultaneously a natural phenomenon, a flow of historical time, and a personal mnemonic trace—forming a multi-layered mirror of virtual and real meanings.

V. Lee Kuei-hsien: “Bottle Lily”

Words that cannot be spoken
are like flowers that cannot bloom
they can only be buried in the stomach

Love that cannot be spoken
is like fruit that cannot be formed
it too is buried in the stomach

After the mouth is closed
it grows into a bottle-shaped belly like this
fermenting sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and spice

The self that refuses to grow
spends the whole day plucking hair as strings
playing the belly like a mandolin

“Will the long sword return?”
Speech is not
freedom cannot be spoken, cannot be spoken……

Lee Kuei-hsien’s “Bottle Lily” is a highly symbolic poem. From the perspective of “virtual–real interplay” poetics, its brilliance lies in how concrete imagery (the real) is used to reflect abstract emotion (the virtual), and how poetic meaning expands layer by layer through the metaphorical merging of object and self.

I. The “Real Imagery” Carrying “Virtual Meaning”

The central tangible images in the poem are the “bottle lily” and the “belly”:

Bottle lily: its shape resembles a bottle, with a swollen belly. It is both a concrete plant and a symbol of inner sealing, fermentation, and repression.

Belly: originally a bodily organ, it is transformed here into a storage chamber of emotion and language, carrying “words that cannot be spoken” and “love that cannot be spoken,” making the body an archive of emotional and social pressure.

These real images become containers of the virtual, allowing emotion to be visualized and embodied.

II. Circular Structure of the Virtual and the Real

The poem repeatedly uses the simile structure “like…” to transform abstract concepts into perceivable images:

“Words that cannot be spoken / are like flowers that cannot bloom”
“Love that cannot be spoken / is like fruit that cannot be formed”

Here, “flower” and “fruit” are concrete natural images (the real), while “words” and “love” are abstract (the virtual). Through this mutual reflection, readers simultaneously perceive emotional suppression as abstraction and as tangible symbolic form.

III. Fusion of Body Imagery with Historical and Political Context

In the closing lines:

“Will the long sword return?”
“Speech is not
freedom cannot be spoken, cannot be spoken……”

Here, a classical allusion (Jing Ke’s “long sword returns”) is inserted into a modern context, implying that the “self that refuses to grow” is not merely an individual but also a silenced consciousness and a suppressed freedom of speech. This intertwining of historical virtuality, symbolic speech restriction, and bodily self-image deepens the virtual–real interplay into a more complex poetic operation.

IV. Transformation of Emotion and Language

Lines such as “fermenting sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy” and “playing the belly like a mandolin” are key moments where emotion and language are given physical form. Emotion is imagined as fermenting inside the bottle-shaped belly, even transforming into sound (the mandolin). This suggests that repression can be converted into poetic or artistic expression, revealing the mutual transformation between the virtual (emotion, speech) and the real (body, instrument).

Conclusion

Lee Kuei-hsien’s “Bottle Lily” skillfully employs the poetics of virtual–real interplay, transforming unspeakable love and thought into concrete images of plants, bodies, objects, and sound. The poem repeatedly circulates between abstraction and concreteness. It contains both the fermentation of inner emotion and the metaphor of speech suppression in its historical context, ultimately producing a tense yet fluid poetic dialectic between the virtual and the real.

VI. Lee Min-yung: “The Prisoner of War”

Lieutenant K had no homeland
When he was captured
he swore to discard it

On the day of his release
he looked at the representatives of his homeland
and silently
wanted to hand himself over to them

Armed status was forbidden
Armed status was not forbidden
The homeland did not exist
The homeland still existed

A double epistemology
was experimented on Lieutenant K
perhaps one day
it will be your turn or mine

The world is silently wiping away tears
The world is silently shedding tears

Lee Min-yung’s “The Prisoner of War” is a modern poem that combines political and philosophical depth. It reveals Lieutenant K’s identity dilemma and the unstable fluctuation of national identity. From the perspective of “virtual–real interplay” poetics, the poem presents a fracture of reality through the interweaving of historical fact and psychological transformation.

I. Virtual–Real Contradiction within Real Events

The poem begins with a surface level of “reality”:

“Lieutenant K had no homeland
When he was captured
he swore to discard it”

This appears to describe a historical event: Lieutenant K becomes a prisoner of war and renounces his nationality. Yet this “real” account immediately gives rise to a “virtual” psychological state:

“wanted to hand himself over to them”

This thought is not a military order or historical record but an internal fluctuation of will, blurring the boundary between nation and individual, authority and emotion. The virtual and real begin to interweave, expanding poetic ambiguity.

II. Interweaving of Identity and Negation

“Armed status was forbidden
Armed status was not forbidden
The homeland did not exist
The homeland still existed”

Here, the poet uses parallel structure to construct semantic opposition and contradiction. This produces a paradoxical reality:

prohibition and non-prohibition coexist,
existence and non-existence occur simultaneously.

The world’s order loses absolute reference, entering a gray zone where virtual and real merge. This section highlights an epistemological collapse: truth and value are no longer stable, and virtual–real relations become mutually reflective rather than oppositional.

III. Historical Projection and Universal Reflection

“a double epistemology
was experimented on Lieutenant K
perhaps one day
it will be your turn or mine”

These lines elevate the individual case to universality. The word “experiment” creates a detached critical perspective, suggesting that society as a whole has entered a condition where truth and illusion are indistinguishable.

Here, virtual–real interplay operates not only at the level of language and imagery but also across time—between historical narration and future projection. The past may already be the future reality of the reader.

VII. Xiang Yang: “Position”

You ask me about my position; silently
I look at the flying birds in the sky and refuse
to answer. In the crowd we equally
breathe the air, joy or sorrow alike
standing on the same piece of land

What differs is vision. We
simultaneously witness on both sides of the road the countless
comings and goings of footsteps. If I forget
different directions, I would reply to you:
where human feet step is all homeland

Xiang Yang’s modern poem “Position,” when discussed through the poetics of virtual–real interplay, does not rely on direct statement but constructs poetic depth through the interaction of abstraction and concreteness, emotion and scene, consciousness and reality.

I. Transformation of Silence and Birds: Virtual–Real Conversion at the Opening

You ask me about my position; silently
I look at the flying birds in the sky and refuse
to answer

The poem does not explicitly define “position.” Instead, it uses “silence” and “birds” as responses.

“Position” is originally a concrete political or ideological stance (the real),
while the poet responds with “looking at flying birds,” a poeticized abstract image (the virtual).

This virtual–real strategy avoids direct political articulation while “birds” symbolize freedom, escape, and unrestrained spirit, thereby transforming and elevating the expected answer into a philosophical dimension.

II. Shared bodily experience (real) vs. differing vision (virtual)

In the crowd we equally
breathe the air, joy or sorrow alike
standing on the same piece of land

These lines describe shared human conditions—breathing, emotion, physical existence—which belong to the real, bodily domain.

What differs is vision. We
simultaneously witness on both sides of the road the countless
comings and goings of footsteps

“Vision” refers to perspective, value, interpretation—a virtual construct beyond physical experience. Here the poem establishes a tension between:

Real: shared existence in the same world
Virtual: divergent interpretations of that world

III. Final Transformation: Virtualization of Position into Poetic Empathy

If I forget
different directions, I would reply to you:
where human feet step is all homeland

The poet does not directly confront the politically charged notion of “position.” Instead, it is transformed into a poetic universal empathy: wherever human feet step becomes homeland.

This converts concrete political conflict (real) into poetic universal concern (virtual), dissolving opposition and emphasizing shared human destiny.

Conclusion

Xiang Yang’s “Position” appears to avoid confrontation, yet in fact responds to reality through poetic virtualization. Silence counters debate; birds symbolize freedom. The poem continuously interweaves sameness and difference, body and vision, land and homeland, ultimately achieving poetic resonance and ethical transcendence.

This is the power of virtual–real interplay in poetry: not evasion of reality, nor rigid stance-taking, but a poetic mode that offers another way of seeing the real.

III. Techniques of Expression and Thematic Classification

1. Surrealism and Symbolist Techniques
   Poets: Lo Fu, Ya Xian, Zheng Chouyu, Yu Guangzhong
   Features: The use of symbolism and metaphor transforms concrete imagery into abstract emotions and thoughts, achieving a complementarity between the virtual and the real.
2. Social Realism and Political Concern
   Poets: Lee Kuei-hsien, Lee Min-yung, Xiang Yang
   Features: The depiction of concrete social phenomena reflects abstract political and human reflections, forming a poetic realm of interwoven virtual and real elements.
3. Musicality and Formal Experimentation
   Poets: Ya Xian, Yu Guangzhong
   Features: The fusion of musicality and poetic expression, through rhythmic and linguistic interweaving, demonstrates an aesthetic integration of the virtual and the real.

IV. Conclusion
The poets mentioned above, through different techniques and stylistic approaches, integrate the concept of complementarity (mutual reflection) between the virtual and the real into poetic creation, enriching the expressive forms and conceptual depth of Taiwanese modern poetry and contemporary poetry. Their works not only demonstrate distinctive individual artistic styles, but also reflect the intellectual currents of their time and the transformations of society.

Part III. The “Virtual–Real Interplay” in Modern Poetic Theory

The organization of the stylistic and strategic use of “imagery virtual–real complementarity (mutual reflection)” in modern poetry is discussed by the author under three major categories: theoretical concepts, typical examples, and expressive techniques.

I. Theoretical Concept: The Meaning of Virtual–Real Complementarity and Imagery in Modern Poetry

Virtual–real complementarity / mutual reflection:
The virtual refers to abstract, psychological, mnemonic, dreamlike, and symbolic levels;
The real refers to the concrete, physical world.

Modern poetry often constructs deep artistic meaning through writing the virtual through the real, carrying the real through the virtual, and interweaving the virtual and the real. It emphasizes the polysemy, discontinuity, and psychological nature of poetic imagery, where virtual and real often form contrast, metaphor, and emotional tension.

II. Typical Poets and Works (by poet classification)

1. Lo Fu (Representative of modern surrealist poetry)

Works: Dialectics of Love, Golden Dragon Temple, Death in the Stone Chamber

Use of virtual–real interplay:
Lo Fu employs mystical, dreamlike, and stream-of-consciousness techniques to dissolve realistic scenes. Through symbolic imagery of religion, death, and love, he crosses the boundary between the concrete and the abstract, creating linguistic hallucinations and poetic abysses.

Example: Golden Dragon Temple

The poem describes the scene of the author descending a path covered with fern plants at dusk.

“Evening bell
is the path for tourists descending the mountain
ferns
along the white stone steps
are chewing their way down”

In this passage, the auditory element “evening bell” merges with the visual image “path of tourists descending the mountain,” producing a synesthetic crossing of time and space and a shift from sound to vision.

“If snow were to fall here”

This sudden imaginative intrusion interrupts the preceding narrative, creating a turn in thought and deepening the poem’s Zen-like atmosphere.

“And only / a startled cicada / sets the mountain lights / one by one / alight”

The poet links the “cicada” with “lights,” producing a synesthetic fusion of vision and sound, revealing a leap of poetic imagination.

1. Ya Xian (Representative of Symbolist modern poetry)

Works: Abyss, The Abandoned Wife, The Mad Woman

Use of virtual–real interplay:
Ya Xian employs highly musical language and symbolic imagery such as moonlight, velvet, and abyss. He integrates concrete scenes with psychological landscapes, constructing a poetic space of inner theatre and historical shadow.

Example: Abyss: “Today’s clouds imitate yesterday’s clouds”

“Time, cat-faced time,
time clinging to the wrist, signaling with flags.”

These lines possess high poetic value in their depiction of time. The “cat-faced” metaphor personifies time as slippery, uncanny, and ambiguous. “Imitate” reveals repetition and emptiness in modern life. “Time signaling with flags” turns abstract time into a wartime communication gesture, producing synesthetic effects across vision, touch, and emotion.

1. Zheng Chouyu (A paradigm of lyrical romanticism)

Works: Error, Farewell Verses

Example: In “Error,”
“I pass through Jiangnan / that face waiting within the season, like the blooming and falling of lotus flowers,” “Jiangnan” is the real, while “face like lotus bloom and fall” is the virtual; together they construct a flowing sense of time and melancholy beauty.

Use of virtual–real interplay:
Zheng Chouyu skillfully uses nostalgic and wandering realistic settings while embedding psychological emotion and surreal expression.

Example: “My horse’s hooves are a beautiful error / I am not the returning traveler, but merely a passer-by…”
“Horse hooves” are concrete, while “error” and “passer-by” are abstract; together they reflect emotional loneliness and rootlessness.

1. Yu Guangzhong (Integrator of classical and modern traditions; leader of neo-classical poetry)

Works: Nostalgia, Listening to the Cold Rain, White Jade Bitter Melon

Use of virtual–real interplay:
Concrete imagery (postage stamps, boat tickets) is used to express abstract emotions (nostalgia, separation), achieving poetic transformation.

Example: In Nostalgia, from “a small postage stamp” to “a shallow strait,” each layer of nostalgia is rendered through concrete imagery.

III. Summary of Expressive Technique Types

IV. Conclusion

Through the interweaving of virtual and real imagery strategies, these poets collectively create a multidimensional poetic space that transcends reality and psychology, history and future, land and soul in Taiwanese modern poetry. Their use of virtual–real interplay—whether through metaphor, leap, or symbolism—is the crystallization of modern Taiwanese poetry’s breakthrough beyond traditional literary boundaries and its integration of multiple sensory and linguistic resources.