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【Abstract】： Chinese pastorals have long been deemed similar to those English ones composed in Romantic era. Despite the evident superficialities which bond the English and Chinese pastorals as a unity， some crucial yet less overt differences do exist. In exploration of the difference， this paper compares Wordsworth’s and Meng Haoran through a philosophical and textual analysis.
【Key words】：English and Chinese pastorals; difference; philosophical and textual analysis
1.Introduction
It requires little scrutiny for one to detect the similarity between ancient Chinese pastorals and those arisen in the English romanticism period. Both set in the backdrop of landscape， these two bear many elements in common： the imagery of a closely observed natural scene， the figure of a poet alone and at home in nature， a mood of rapport between natural scene and man， and a hint of some deeper meaning residing in this rapport （Miller 216）.
Nevertheless， despite the elements reminiscent of British romantics， the Chinese school of nature poetry varies from its European markedly， since “the Chinese poet， unlike the European romantic， never saw the cosmos as a mere stage-setting for his posturing ego.” （Frodsham 104）
To crystalize the relationship between these two seemingly “twins” in the history of poetry， this paper employs a comparative study of William Wordsworth’s and Meng Haoran’s poetry through a philosophical and textual analysis.
2.The role of poetic ego
As a mindset， philosophy dictates one’s thinking and being in a significant sense. The idea of poetic ego and its interaction with the nature， therefore， is central to the creation of nature poetry. Through this epistemological lens， a fundamental difference between Chinese and English pastorals is to be explored.
Nature to nineteenth-century British romantics， in a large sense， is merely ‘a stage-setting for his （poet’s） posturing ego’. Of course， the romantics perceived nature as an ‘organic whole， on the analogue of man rather than a concourse of atoms’ （Wellek 179） however， it is poet’s emotion and thought expressed through the landscapes that matters. In the preface to Lyrical Ballads， Wordsworth held that poets “shall describe objects… of such a nature and in such connection with each other， that the understanding of the being to whom we address ourselves.” Hence， in his work I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud， all the natural objects ultimately served but pleasure that fills the poet’s heart. 3.The temporal and spatial structure in poetry
Deriving from the divergence in the concept of nature and poetic ego， another major difference lies in the temporal and spatial structure of the poetry.
3.1A flow of time and space through imagination
In order to achieve the expansion of poet’s mind through nature， imagination is put much weight on by British romantics. According to Wordsworth， to relate and describe incidents and situations from common life is “to throw over them a certain coloring of imagination， whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way.” In accordance with this theory， Wordsworth and other romantics’ works appear to be less logical and chronological in terms of the sequence of time and space. Instead， the British pastorals were directed by the psychological association of images. In English pastorals， it’s never inimical to present natural images in a flow of time and space.
3.2A fixed point in time and space with observation
CH'IU TENG WAN-SHAN CHI CHANG WU
North Mountain is wrapped in white clouds-
Its hermit is relaxed and happy.
I climb the heights to gaze far off;
My heart flies with a bird-then disappears.
Sadness wells up with evening's approach，
Yet I am cheered by this clear autumn outing. （qtd. in Miller 220-221）
As we can see in this poem， Meng Haoran set a serene and peaceful scene with images of cloud-wrapped mountain， returning villagers and the moon， which carries his yearning for his friend， Chang Wu. In line four， the poet also applied imagination as he wrote that his heart “flies with a bird”. However， as soon as the bird disappears， his imagination travels no further and is eventually replaced by the description of actual scenes in the following lines.
4.The tenor of the poetry
The third area of difference concerns the tenor， or the “deeper meaning” of poetry. Whereas the English romantics identify themselves heroes that attain certain expanded consciousness through nature， Chinese pastoral poets resolve themselves in the landscapes and tend to record than recreate the nature.
Dissimilar to the mission of English romantics， Chinese pastoral poets has no such burden. The Taoist had no formal treatises on art， but their admiration of the free movement of the spirit and their idealization of nature gave profound inspiration to the greatest artists of China. （Feng Youlan 38） In Meng’s poems， nature was often taken as a refuge and an asocial mode. Meng fades into landscapes and expressed his emotion with open-ended images and metaphors. The deeper meanings in Meng’s works are left implicit beyond the pale of verbal expression， let alone explained.
5.Conclusion
This paper has detected three major aspects of the difference between English and Chinese pastorals.
The first difference lies in the role of poetic ego. For romantic poetry， the nature is conceived as mere apparatus of the mind. Meng Haoran， on the contrary， tends to see himself as a part of the nature， the larger being.
The second aspect， generated by the difference in poetics， is in the temporal and spatial structure of poems. To romantics， time and space doesn’t necessarily follow the chronological or logical sequence but rather that of poet’s psychological activity. To Chinese pastoral poets， however， a fixed spot of observation is much preferable and truthful to record the world.
The last difference concerns the tenor of the poetry. The romantic poets set themselves as heroes transcending the barriers between nature and mind. Chinese pastoral poets， however， show more resemblance with hermits and focus their poems to expressing emotions more than revealing ideas.
Hence， echoing Witter Bynner’s vision that Chinese pastoral “cleaves even nearer to nature” than Wordsworth’s （and therefore English romantics’）， we can conclude that there is a considerable chasm underlying these two relatives in poetry.
Bibliography：
[1] Bynner， W. & Kiang， K.H. The Jade Mountain： A Chinese Anthology， Being Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty， 616-906. New York： Knopf， 1929.
[2]Feng， Youlan. A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. New York： Free Press， 1997.
[3]Frodsman， J.D. The Murmuring Stream： The Life and Works of the Chinese Nature Poet. Kuala Lumpur： University of Malaya Press， 1967.
[4]Miller， J.M. “English Romanticism and Chinese Nature Poetry.” Comparative Literature 3 （1972）： 216-236.
[5]Wellek， R. Concepts of Criticism. New Heaven： Yale University Press， 1963.
[6]Wordsworth， W. & Coleridge， S.T. Lyrical Ballads. London： Penguin Classics， 2007.
【Key words】：English and Chinese pastorals; difference; philosophical and textual analysis
1.Introduction
It requires little scrutiny for one to detect the similarity between ancient Chinese pastorals and those arisen in the English romanticism period. Both set in the backdrop of landscape， these two bear many elements in common： the imagery of a closely observed natural scene， the figure of a poet alone and at home in nature， a mood of rapport between natural scene and man， and a hint of some deeper meaning residing in this rapport （Miller 216）.
Nevertheless， despite the elements reminiscent of British romantics， the Chinese school of nature poetry varies from its European markedly， since “the Chinese poet， unlike the European romantic， never saw the cosmos as a mere stage-setting for his posturing ego.” （Frodsham 104）
To crystalize the relationship between these two seemingly “twins” in the history of poetry， this paper employs a comparative study of William Wordsworth’s and Meng Haoran’s poetry through a philosophical and textual analysis.
2.The role of poetic ego
As a mindset， philosophy dictates one’s thinking and being in a significant sense. The idea of poetic ego and its interaction with the nature， therefore， is central to the creation of nature poetry. Through this epistemological lens， a fundamental difference between Chinese and English pastorals is to be explored.
Nature to nineteenth-century British romantics， in a large sense， is merely ‘a stage-setting for his （poet’s） posturing ego’. Of course， the romantics perceived nature as an ‘organic whole， on the analogue of man rather than a concourse of atoms’ （Wellek 179） however， it is poet’s emotion and thought expressed through the landscapes that matters. In the preface to Lyrical Ballads， Wordsworth held that poets “shall describe objects… of such a nature and in such connection with each other， that the understanding of the being to whom we address ourselves.” Hence， in his work I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud， all the natural objects ultimately served but pleasure that fills the poet’s heart. 3.The temporal and spatial structure in poetry
Deriving from the divergence in the concept of nature and poetic ego， another major difference lies in the temporal and spatial structure of the poetry.
3.1A flow of time and space through imagination
In order to achieve the expansion of poet’s mind through nature， imagination is put much weight on by British romantics. According to Wordsworth， to relate and describe incidents and situations from common life is “to throw over them a certain coloring of imagination， whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way.” In accordance with this theory， Wordsworth and other romantics’ works appear to be less logical and chronological in terms of the sequence of time and space. Instead， the British pastorals were directed by the psychological association of images. In English pastorals， it’s never inimical to present natural images in a flow of time and space.
3.2A fixed point in time and space with observation
CH'IU TENG WAN-SHAN CHI CHANG WU
North Mountain is wrapped in white clouds-
Its hermit is relaxed and happy.
I climb the heights to gaze far off;
My heart flies with a bird-then disappears.
Sadness wells up with evening's approach，
Yet I am cheered by this clear autumn outing. （qtd. in Miller 220-221）
As we can see in this poem， Meng Haoran set a serene and peaceful scene with images of cloud-wrapped mountain， returning villagers and the moon， which carries his yearning for his friend， Chang Wu. In line four， the poet also applied imagination as he wrote that his heart “flies with a bird”. However， as soon as the bird disappears， his imagination travels no further and is eventually replaced by the description of actual scenes in the following lines.
4.The tenor of the poetry
The third area of difference concerns the tenor， or the “deeper meaning” of poetry. Whereas the English romantics identify themselves heroes that attain certain expanded consciousness through nature， Chinese pastoral poets resolve themselves in the landscapes and tend to record than recreate the nature.
Dissimilar to the mission of English romantics， Chinese pastoral poets has no such burden. The Taoist had no formal treatises on art， but their admiration of the free movement of the spirit and their idealization of nature gave profound inspiration to the greatest artists of China. （Feng Youlan 38） In Meng’s poems， nature was often taken as a refuge and an asocial mode. Meng fades into landscapes and expressed his emotion with open-ended images and metaphors. The deeper meanings in Meng’s works are left implicit beyond the pale of verbal expression， let alone explained.
5.Conclusion
This paper has detected three major aspects of the difference between English and Chinese pastorals.
The first difference lies in the role of poetic ego. For romantic poetry， the nature is conceived as mere apparatus of the mind. Meng Haoran， on the contrary， tends to see himself as a part of the nature， the larger being.
The second aspect， generated by the difference in poetics， is in the temporal and spatial structure of poems. To romantics， time and space doesn’t necessarily follow the chronological or logical sequence but rather that of poet’s psychological activity. To Chinese pastoral poets， however， a fixed spot of observation is much preferable and truthful to record the world.
The last difference concerns the tenor of the poetry. The romantic poets set themselves as heroes transcending the barriers between nature and mind. Chinese pastoral poets， however， show more resemblance with hermits and focus their poems to expressing emotions more than revealing ideas.
Hence， echoing Witter Bynner’s vision that Chinese pastoral “cleaves even nearer to nature” than Wordsworth’s （and therefore English romantics’）， we can conclude that there is a considerable chasm underlying these two relatives in poetry.
Bibliography：
[1] Bynner， W. & Kiang， K.H. The Jade Mountain： A Chinese Anthology， Being Three Hundred Poems of the Tang Dynasty， 616-906. New York： Knopf， 1929.
[2]Feng， Youlan. A Short History of Chinese Philosophy. New York： Free Press， 1997.
[3]Frodsman， J.D. The Murmuring Stream： The Life and Works of the Chinese Nature Poet. Kuala Lumpur： University of Malaya Press， 1967.
[4]Miller， J.M. “English Romanticism and Chinese Nature Poetry.” Comparative Literature 3 （1972）： 216-236.
[5]Wellek， R. Concepts of Criticism. New Heaven： Yale University Press， 1963.
[6]Wordsworth， W. & Coleridge， S.T. Lyrical Ballads. London： Penguin Classics， 2007.