Chinese Literature Essay Example for Free

Chinese Literature Essay 2000 by Andre Levy All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in. writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39. 48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Levy, Andre, date [La litterature chinoise ancienne et classique. English] Chinese literature, ancient and classical / by Andre Levy ; translated by William H. Nienhauser, Jr. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-253-33656-2 (alk. paper) 1. Chinese literature—History and criticism. I. Nienhauser, William H. II. Title. PL2266. L48 2000 895. 109—dc21 99-34024 1 2 3 4 5 05 04 03 02 01 00. For my own early translators of French, Daniel and Susan Contents ix Preface 1 Introduction Chapter 1: Antiquity 5 I. Origins II. Let a hundred flowers bloom, Let a hundred schools of thought contend! 1. Mo zi and the Logicians 2. Legalism 3. The Fathers of Taoism III. The Confucian Classics 31 Chapter 2: Prose I. Narrative Art and Historical Records II. The Return of the Ancient Style III. The Golden Age of Trivial Literature IV. Literary Criticism Chapter 3: Poetry 61 I. The Two Sources of Ancient Poetry 1. The Songs of Chu 2. Poetry of the Han Court II. The Golden Age of Chinese Poetry 1. From Aesthetic Emotion to Metaphysical Flights 2. The Age of Maturity 3. The Late Tang III. The Triumph of Genres in Song Chapter 4: Literature of Entertainment: The Novel and Theater 105 I. Narrative Literature Written in Classical Chinese II. The Theater 1. The Opera-theater of the North 2. The Opera-theater of the South III. The Novel 1. Oral Literature 2. Stories and Novellas 3. The Long Novel or Saga Index 151 Translators Preface. I first became- interested in translating Andre Levys history of Chinese literature, La litterature chinoise ancienne et classique (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1991), in 1996, after finding it in a bookshop in Paris. I read sections and was intrigued by Professor Levys approach, which was modeled on literary genres rather than political eras. I immediately thought about translating parts of the book for my graduate History of Chinese Literature class at the University of Wisconsin, a class in which the importance of dynastic change was also downplayed. Like many plans, this one was set aside. Last spring, however, when the panel on our fields desiderata headed by David Rolston at the 1998 Association for Asian Studies Meeting pronounced that one of the major needs was for a concise history of Chinese literature in about 125 pages (the exact length of Professor Levys original text), I revived my interest in this translation. I proposed the book to John Gallman, Director of Indiana University Press, and John approved it almost immediately-but, not before warning me that this kind of project can take much more time than the translator originally envisions. Although I respect Johns experience and knowledge in publishing, I was sure I would prove the exception. After all, what kind of trouble could a little book of 125 pages cause? I soon found out. Professor Levy had originally written a much longer manuscript, which was to be published as a supplementary volume to Odile Kaltenmark-Ghequiers La Litterature chinoise (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1948) in the Que sais-je? (What Do I Know? ) series. This concept, however, was soon abandoned, and it Several decades ago Anne-Marie Geoghegan translated this volume as Chinese Literature (New York: Walker, 1964). x Translators Preface was decided to publish the Levy appendix as a separate volume-in 125 pages. Professor Levy was then asked to cut his manuscript by one-third. As a result, he was sometimes forced to presume in his audience certain knowledge that some readers of this book-for example, undergraduate students or interested parties with little background in Chinese literature-may not have. For this reason, working carefully with Professor Levy, I have added (or revived) a number of contextual sentences with these readers in mind. More information on many of the authors and works discussed in this history can be found in the entries in The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature (volumes 1 and 2; Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986 and 1998). Detailed references to these entries and other relevant studies can be found in the Suggested Further Reading sections at the end of each chapter (where the abbreviated reference Indiana Companion refers to these two volumes). I also discovered that re-translating Professor Levys French translations of Chinese texts sometimes resulted in renditions that were too far from the original, even in this age of distance education. So I have translated almost all of the more than 120 excerpts of original works directly from the original Chinese, using Professor Levys French versions as a guide wherever possible. All this was done with the blessing and cooperation of the author. Indeed, among the many people who helped with this translation, I would like to especially thank Professor Andre Levy for his unflinching interest in and support of this translation. Professor Levy has read much of the English version, including all passages that I knew were problematic (there are no doubt others! ), and offered comments in a long series of letters over the past few months. Without his assistance the translation would never have been completed. Here in Madison, a trio of graduate students have helped me with questions Translators Preface xi about the Chinese texts: Mr. Cao Weiguo riftlal, Ms. Huang Shu—yuang MV and Mr. Shang Cheng I*. They saved me E, from innumerable errors and did their work with interest and high spirits. Mr. Cao also helped by pointing out problems in my interpretation of the original French. Mr. Scott W. Galer of Ricks College read the entire manuscript and offered a number of invaluable comments. My wife, Judith, was unrelenting in her demands on behalf of the general reader. The most careful reader was, however, Jane Lyle of Indiana University Press, who painstakingly copy-edited the text. If there is a literary style to this translation, it is due to her efforts. My thanks, too, to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation which supported me in Berlin through the summer of 1997 when I first read Professor Levys text, and especially to John Gallman, who stood behind this project from the beginning. Madison, Wisconsin, 16 February 1999 (Lunar New Years Day) Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical Introduction Could one still write, as Odile Kaltenmark-Ghequier did in 1948 in the What Do I Know series Number 296, which preceded this book, that the study of Chinese literature, long neglected by the Occident, is still in its  infancy? Yes and no. There has been some spectacular progress and some foundering. At any rate, beginning at the start of the twentieth century, it was Westerners who were the first-followed by the Japanese, before the Chinese themselves-to produce histories of Chinese literature. Not that the Chinese tradition had not taken note of an evolution in literary genres, but the prestige of wen 5 signifying both literature and civilization, placed it above history-anthologies, compilations, and catalogues were preferred. Moreover, the popular side of literature-fiction, drama, and oral verse-because of its lack of seriousness or its vulgarity, was not judged dignified enough to be considered wen. Our goal is not to add a new work to an already lengthy list of histories of Chinese literature, nor to supplant the excellent summary by Odile Kaltenmark-Ghequier which had the impossible task of presenting a history of Chinese literature in about a hundred pages. Our desire would be rather to complement the list by presenting the reader with a different approach, one more concrete, less dependent on the dynastic chronology. Rather than a history, it is a picture-inevitably incompleteof Chinese literature of the past that this little book offers. Chinese high literature is based on a hard core of classical training consisting of the memorization of texts, nearly a half-million characters for every candidate who reaches the highest competitive examinations. We might see the classical art of writing as the arranging, in an appropriate and astute fashion, of lines recalled by memory, something ,Odile Kaltenmark-Ghequier, Introduction, La litterature chinoise (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1948), p. 5; Que sais—je, no. 296. 2 Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical that came almost automatically to traditional Chinese intellectuals. The goal of these writers was not solely literary. They hoped through their writings to earn a reputation that would help them find support for their efforts to pass the imperial civil-service examinations and thereby eventually win a position at court. Although there were earlier tests leading to political advancement, the system that existed nearly until the end of the imperial period in 1911 was known as the jinshi A ± or presented scholar examination (because successful candidates were presented to the emperor), and was developed during the late seventh and early eighth centuries A. D. It required the writing of poetry and essays on themes set by the examiners. Successful candidates were then given minor positions in the bureaucracy. Thus the memorization of a huge corpus of earlier literature and the ability to compose on the spot became the major qualifications for political office through most of the period from the eighth until the early twentieth centuries. These examinations, and literature in general, were composed in a classical, standard language comparable to Latin in the West. This classical language persisted by opposing writing to speech through a sort of partial bilingualism. The strict proscription of vulgarisms, of elements of the spoken language, from the examinations has helped to maintain the purity of classical Chinese. The spoken language, also labeled vulgar, has produced some literary monuments of its own, which were recognized as such and qualified as classics only a few decades ago. The unity of the two languages, classical and vernacular, which share the same fundamental structure, is undermined by grammars that are appreciably different, and by the fact that these languages hold to diametrically opposed stylistic ideals: lapidary concision on the one hand, and eloquent vigor on the other. We conclude by pointing out that educated Chinese add to their surnames, which are always given first, a great variety of personal names, which can be disconcerting at times. The standard given name (ming Introduction 3 is often avoided out of decorum; thus Tao Qian Miff is often referred to En We will retain only the by his zi (stylename) as Tao Yuanming best known of these names, avoiding hao at (literary name or nickname), bie hao ZIJM (special or particular literary name), and shi ming (residential name) whenever possible: When other names are used, the standard ming will be  given in parentheses. The goal here is to enable the reader to form an idea of traditional Chinese literature, not to establish a history of it, which might result in a lengthy catalogue of works largely unknown today. We are compelled to sacrifice quantity to present a limited number of literary stars, and to reduce the listing of their works to allow the citation of a number of previously unpublished translations, inevitably abridged but sufficient, we hope, to evoke the content of the original. The chronological approach will be handled somewhat roughly because of the need to follow the development of the great literary genres: after the presentation of antiquity, the period in which the common culture of the educated elite was established, comes an examination of the prose genres of high classical literature, then the description of the art most esteemed by the literati, poetry. The final section treats the literature of diversion, the most discredited but nonetheless highly prized, which brings together the novel and the theater. Chapter 1. Antiquity Ancient literature, recorded by the scribes of a rapidly evolving warlike and aristocratic society, has been carefully preserved since earliest times and has become the basis of Chinese lettered culture. It is with this in mind that one must approach the evolution of literature and its role over the course of the two-thousand-year-old imperial government, which collapsed in 1911, and attempt to understand the importance (albeit increasingly limited) that ancient literature retains today. The term antiquity applied to China posed no problems until certain Marxist historians went so far as to suggest that it ended only in 1919. The indigenous tradition had placed the break around 211 B. C. , when political unification brought about the establishment of a centralized but prefectural government under the Legalists, as well as the famous burning of books opposed to the Legalist state ideology. Yet to suggest that antiquity ended so early is to minimize the contribution of Buddhism and the transformation of thought that took place between the third and seventh centuries. The hypothesis that modernity began early, in the eleventh or perhaps twelfth century in China, was developed by Naito Konan NAM 1 (1866-1934). This idea has no want of critics or of supporters. It is opposed to the accepted idea in the West, conveyed by Marxism, that China, a living fossil, has neither entered modern times nor participated in the global civilization that started with the Opium War of 1840. Nor is there unanimity concerning the periodization proposed in historical linguistics, a periodization which distinguishes Archaic Chinese of High Antiquity (from the origins of language to the third century) from Ancient Chinese of Mid-Antiquity (sixth to twelfth centuries), then Middle Chinese of the Middle Ages (thirteenth-sixteenth centuries) from Modern Chinese (seventeenth-nineteenth centuries), and Recent Chinese (18401919) from Contemporary Chinese (1920 to the present). 6 Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical. In the area of literature, the beginning of the end of antiquity could perhaps be placed in the second century A. D. Archaeology has elevated our knowledge of more ancient writings toward the beginning of the second millennium B. C. , but this archaic period, discovered recently, cannot be considered part of literary patrimony in the strictest sense. Accounts of this archaic period are traditionally divided into six eras,2 but to honor them would be to fall into the servitude of a purely chronological approach. I. Origins Since the last year of the last century, when Wang Yirong . 1. 6M (1845-1900) compiled the first collection of inscriptions written on bones and shells, the increasing number of archaeological discoveries has allowed the establishment of a corpus of nearly 50,000 inscriptions extending over the period from the fourteenth to the tenth centuries before our era. Dong Zuobin (1895-1963) proposed a periodization for them and distinguished within them the styles of different schools of scribes. Scholars have managed to decipher a third of the total of some 6,000 distinct signs, which are clearly related to the system of writing used by the Chinese today-these were certainly not primitive forms of characters. The oracular inscriptions are necessarily short-the longest known text, of a hundred or so characters, covers the scapula of an ox and extends even over the supporting bones; the shell of a southern species of the great tortoise, also used to record divination, did not offer a more extensive surface. Whether a literature existed at this ancient time seems rather doubtful, but this scriptural evidence causes one to consider whether eras are the early Chou dynasty (eleventh century-722 B. C. ), the Spring and Autumn era (722-481 B. C. ), the Warring States (481-256 B. C. ), the Chin dynasty (256-206 B. C. ), the Western or Early Han dynasty (206 B. C. -A. D. 6), and the Eastern or Latter Han dynasty (25-A. D. 220). 2These Chapter 1. Antiquity 7 the Shu jing Efg (Classic of Documents), supposedly revised by Confucius but often criticized as a spurious text, was based in part on authentic texts. The presence of an early sign representing a bundle of slips of wood or bamboo confirms the existence of a primitive form of book in a very ancient era-texts were written on these slips, which were then bound together to form a fascicle. The purpose of these ancient archives, which record the motivation for the diviners speech, his identity, and sometimes the result, has been ignored. Of another nature are the inscriptions on bronze that appeared in about the eleventh century B. C. and went out of fashion in the second century B.C. They attracted the attention of amateur scholars from the eleventh century until modern times. Many collections of inscriptions on stone and bronze have been published in the intervening eras. The longest texts extend to as much as five-hundred signs, the forms of which often seem to be more archaic than those of the inscriptions on bones and shells. The most ancient inscriptions indicate nothing more than the person to whom the bronze was consecrated or a commemoration of the name of the sponsor. Toward the tenth century B. C. the texts evolved from several dozen to as many as a hundred signs and took on a commemorative character. The inspiration for these simple, solemn texts is not always easily discernible because of the obscurities of the archaisms in the language. An echo of certain pieces transmitted by the Confucian school can be seen in some texts, but their opacity has disheartened many generations of literati. II. Let a hundred flowers bloom, Let a hundred schools of thought contend! This statement by Mao Zedong, made to launch a liberalization movement that was cut short in 1957, was inspired by an exceptional period in Chinese cultural history (from the fifth to the third centuries 8 Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical B. C. ) in which there was a proliferation of schools-the hundred schools. The various masters of these schools offered philosophical, often political, discussion. The growth of these schools paralleled the rise of rival states from the time of Confucius (the Latinized version of the Chinese original, Kong Fuzi TL-T- or Master Kong, ca. 551-479 B.C. ) to the end of the Warring States period (221 B. C. ). The hundred schools came to an end with the unification of China late in the third century B. C. under the Legalist rule of the Qin dynasty (221-206 B. C. ). This era of freedom of thought and intellectual exchange never completely ceased to offer a model, albeit an unattainable model, in the search for an alternative to the oppressive ideology imposed by the centralized state. Much of what has reached us from this lost world was saved in the wake of the reconstruction of Confucian writings (a subject to which we will turn shortly). The texts of the masters of the hundred schools, on the periphery of orthodox literati culture, are of uneven quality, regardless of the philosophy they offer. Even the best, however, have not come close to dethroning the Chinese Socrates, Confucius, the first of the great thinkers, in both chronology and importance. 1. Mo Zi and the Logicians. The work known as Mo Zi (Master Mo) is a collection of the writings of a sect founded by Mo Di g, an obscure personage whom scholars have wanted to make a contemporary of Confucius. It has been hypothesized that the name Mo, ink, referred to the tattooing of  a convict in antiquity, and the given name, Di, indicates the pheasant feathers that decorated the hats of the common people. Although we can only speculate about whether Mo Zi was a convict or a commoner, he argued for a kind of bellicose pacifism toward aggressors, doing his best to promote, through a utilitarian process of reasoning, the necessity of believing in the gods and of practicing universal love without discrimination. Condemning the extravagant expense of funerals as well as the uselessness of art and music, Mo Zi Chapter 1. Antiquity 9 wrote in a style of discouraging weight. The work that has come down to us under his name (which appears to be about two-thirds of the original text) represents a direction which Chinese civilization explored without ever prizing. Mo Zis mode of argument has influenced many generations of logicians and sophists, who are known to us only in fragments, the main contribution of which has been to demonstrate in their curious way of argumentation peculiar features of the Chinese language. Hui Shi Ea is known only by the thirty-some paradoxes which the incomparable Zhuang Zi cites, without attempting to solve, as in: There is nothing beyond the Great Infinity.. . and the Small Infinity is not inside. The antinomies of reason have nourished Taoist thought, if not the other way around, as Zhuang Zi attests after the death of his friend Hui Shi: Zhuang Zi was accompanying a funeral procession. When he passed by the grave of Master Hui he turned around to say to those who were following him: A fellow from Ying had spattered the tip of his nose with a bit of plaster, like the wing of a fly. He had it removed by [his crony] the carpenter Shi, who took his ax and twirled it around. He cut it off, then heard a wind: the plaster was entirely removed without scratching his nose. The man from Ying had remained standing, impassive. When he learned of this, Yuan, the sovereign of the country of Song, summoned the carpenter Shih and said to him, Try then to do it again for Us. The carpenter responded, Your servant is capable of doing it; however, the material that he made use of died long ago. After the death of the Master, I too no longer can find the material: I no longer have anyone to talk to. (Zhuang Zi 24) Sons of the logicians and the sophists, the rhetoricians shared with the Taoists a taste for apologues. They opposed the Taoist solution of a 10 Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical detached non-action, involved as they were in diplomatic combat. Held in contempt by the Confucians for their Machiavellianism, the Zhanguo ce Vg (Intrigues of the Warring States) remains the most representative work of the genre. It was reconstructed several centuries later by Liu Xiang gj 1-(4] (77-6 B. C. ), but the authenticity of these reassembled materials seems to have been confirmed by the discovery of parallel texts in a tomb at Mawang Dui gUttg in 1973. A great variety animates these accounts, both speeches and chronicles; they are rich in dialogue, which cannot be represented by this single, although characteristic, anecdote—it is inserted without commentary into the intrigues (or slips) of the state of Chu: The King of Wei offered the King of Chu a beautiful girl who gave him great satisfaction. Knowing how much the new woman pleased him, his wife, the queen, showed her the most intense affection. She chose clothes and baubles which would please her and gave them to her; it was the same for her with rooms in the palace and bed clothes. In short, she gratified her with more attention than the king himself accorded her. He congratulated her for it: a woman serves her husband through her carnal appeal, and jealousy is her nature. Now, understanding how I love the new woman, my wife shows her more love than I—it is thus that the filial son serves his parents, that the loyal servant fulfills his duties toward his prince. As she knew that the king did not consider her jealous, the queen suggested to her rival: The king appreciates your beauty. However, he is not that fond of your nose. You would do better to hide it when he receives you. Therefore, the new one did so when she saw His Majesty. The king asked his wife why his favorite hid her nose in his presence. She responded, I know. Even if it is unpleasant, tell me! insisted the king. She does not like your odor. The brazen hussy! cried the sovereign. Her nose is to be cut off, and let no one question my order! Chapter 1. Antiquity 11 The Yan Zi chunqiu *T-*V( (Springs and Autumns of Master Yen) is another reconstruction by Liu Xiang, a collection of anecdotes about Yan Ying RV, a man of small stature but great ability who was prime minister to Duke Jing of Qi (547-490 B.C. )-the state that occupies what is now Shandong. Without cynicism, but full of shrewdness, these anecdotes do not lack appeal; some have often been selected as anthology pieces, of which this one is representative: When Master Yan was sent as an ambassador to Chu, the people of the country constructed a little gate next to the great one and invited him to enter. Yan Zi refused, declaring that it was suitable for an envoy to a country of dogs, but that it was to Chu that he had come on assignment. The chamberlain had him enter by the great gate. The King of Chu received him and said to him: Was there then no one in Qi, for them to have sent you? How can you say there is no one in Qi, when there would be darkness in our capital of Linzi if the people of the three hundred quarters spread out their sleeves, and it would rain if they shook off their perspiration-so dense is the population. But then why have you been sent? The practice in Qi is to dispatch a worthy envoy to a worthy sovereign; I am the most unworthy. . . . 2. Legalism. The diplomatic manipulations and other little anecdotes we have seen in the Yan Zi chunqiu were of little interest to the Legalists, who took their name from the idea that the hegemonic power of the state is founded on a system of implacable laws supposing the abolition of hereditary privileges-indeed a tabula rasa that rejects morals and traditions. In fact, historians associate them with all thought that privileges efficacy. From this point of view, the most ancient Legalist would be the artisan of Qis hegemony in the seventh century B. C. , Guan Zi (Master Guan). The work that was handed down under his name is a composite text and in reality contains no material prior to the third century B. C. Whether or not he should be considered a Legalist, Guan Zi 12 Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical embodies the idea that the power of the state lies in its prosperity, and this in turn depends on the circulation of goods. In sum, Guan Zi stands for a proto-mercantilism diametrically opposed to the primitive physiocraticism of Gongsun Yang (altV (also known as Shang Yang ), minister of Qin in the fourth century. Shang jun shu 1 (The 2 Book of Lord Shang), which is attributed to Gongsun Yang, gives the Legalist ideas a particularly brutal form: It is the nature of people to measure that which is advantageous to them, to seize the best, and to draw to themselves that which is profitable. The enlightened lord must take care if he wants to establish order in his country and to be able to turn the population to his advantage, for the population has at its disposal a great number of means to avoid the strictness that it fears. Within the country he must cause the people to consecrate themselves to farming; without he must cause them to be singly devoted to warfare. This is why the order of a sage sovereign consists of multiplying interdictions in order to prevent infractions and relying on force to put an end to fraud. (Shang jun shu, Suan di) Shang Yangs prose is laden with archaisms, which hardly lighten the weight of his doctrine. It is in the work of Han Fei Zi 4-T- (ca. 280-233) that Legalism found its most accomplished formulation. The book Han Fei Zi contains a commentary on the Classic of the Way and of Power of Lao Zi in which the ideal of Taoist non-action is realized by the automatism of laws. The artifice of the latter may go back to the Confucianism of Xun Zi (Master Xun, also known as Xun Qing ,Ajja, ca. 300-230 B. C. ), a school rejected by orthodox Confucianism. Xun Zi, who happens to have been the teacher of Han Fei Zi, developed the brilliant theory that human nature inclines individuals to satisfy their egoistic appetites: it was therefore bad for advanced societies of the time. The rites-culture-are necessary for socialization. Xun Zis Chapter 1. Antiquity 13 argumentation was unprecedentedly elaborate, examining every facet of a question while avoiding repetition. In a scintillating style peppered with apologues, Han Fei Zi argues that the art of governing requires techniques other than the simple manipulation of rewards and punishments. The prince is the cornerstone of a system that is supposed to ensure him of a protective impenetrableness. The state must devote itself to eliminating the useless, noxious five parasites or vermin: the scholars, rhetoricians, knights-errant, deserters, and merchants (perhaps even artisans). 3. The Fathers of Taoism. A philosophy of evasion, this school was opposed to social and political engagement. From the outset Taoism was either a means to flee society and politics or a form of consolation for those who encountered reversals in politics and society. The poetic power of its writings, which denounced limits and aphorisms of reason, explains the fascination that it continues to hold for intellectuals educated through the rationalism of the Confucians. These works, like most of the others from antiquity that were attributed to a master, in fact seem to be rather disparate texts of a school. The Dao de jing ittitg (Classic of the Way and of Power) remains the most often translated Chinese work—and the first translated, if one counts the lost translation into Sanskrit by the monk Xuanzang WM in the seventh century A. D. This series of aphorisms is attributed to Lao Zi (Master. Lao or The Old Master), whom tradition considers a contemporary of Confucius. He is said to have left this testament as he departed the Chinese world via the Xiangu Pass for the West. In their polemics against the Buddhists, the Taoists of the following millennium used this story as the basis on which to affirm that the Buddha was none other than their Chinese Lao Zi, who had been converting the barbarians of the West since his departure from China. Modern scholarship estimates that the Lao Zi could not date earlier than the third century B. C. The 1973 discoveries at Mawang Dui in Hunan confirmed what scholars had suspected for centuries: the primitive Lao Zi is reversed in respect to 14 Chinese Literature, Ancient and Classical  ours: a De dao jing 1,M1# § (Classic of Power and the Way). Its style, which is greatly admired for its obscure concision, seems to owe much to the repair work of the commentator Wang Bi . T3 (226-249). Thus it is tenable that the primitive Lao Zi was a work of military strategy. Whatever it was, the text that is preferred today runs a little over 5,000 characters and is divided into 81 sections (9 x 9). The Taoist attitude toward life is expressed here in admirably striking formulae, which lend themselves to many esoteric interpretations: He who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know (#56). Govern a great state as you would fry small fish! (#60). Practice non-action, attend to the useless, taste the flavorless. (#63) The Zhuang Zi ate, written by Zhuang Zhou 4. -B1 or Zhuang Zi (Master Zhuang), was apparently abridged at about the same time as the Lao Zi, but at the hands of the commentator Guo Xiang # -IM (d. 312), who cut it from fifty-two to thirty-three sections. Scholars cannot agree whether the seven initial sections, called the inner chapters, are from the same hand of Zhuang Zhou as the sixteen following, called the outer chapters, and the final ten miscellaneous chapters. It is in the final ten that we find a characteristic arrangement of reconstructions from the first century, works of one school attributed to one master. In fact, it is the first part which gives the most lively impression of an encounter with an animated personality whose mind is strangely vigorous and disillusioned: Our life is limited, but knowledge is without limit. To follow the limitless with that which is limited will exhaust one. To go unrelentingly after knowledge is exhausting and c.

Ethnic Diversity in the Uk Essay Example for Free

Ethnic Diversity in the Uk Essay Immigration, annexation, and colonialism are processes that may create subordinate groups. Other processes such as extermination and expulsion may remove the presence of a subordinate group. Significant for racial and ethnic oppression in the United States today is the distinction between assimilation and pluralism. Assimilation demands subordinate-group conformity to the dominant group, and pluralism implies mutual respect among diverse groups. The definition of ethnicity people value differently for each of the primary and secondary factors Primary whether it be Race, Nationality, Language, Religion, Perceived Ethnic Identity. Secondary whether it be Social status, residential concentrations, age, gender and caste. The processes which create and maintain ethnic diversity are such as Colonisation, annexation and international migration showing the role of those processes that create ethnic diversity in one country. The problems that come with the processes is ethnic diversity whether it be Segregation, pluralism, multiculturalism and discrimination that also shows the economic, social and spatial outcomes of ethnic diversity’ showing the role of these processes and their outcomes for one ethnically diverse city. The problem with Britain is that has been colonised over the centuries by various groups from Romans (introducing the catholic religion as a new ethnicity) the introduction of one of the first colonial powers to rule the British empire. The British isles came together as a political unit through annexation over a number of centuries culminating in Ireland. First wave of Immigrants was in the mid nineteenth century when thousands of Irish fled the potato famine and came to cities with major ports e. g. Liverpool in aid of work and living this is classified as international migration. Most significant increase in ethnic diversity in Britain started in the 1950s. During two world wars hundreds of thousands of men from across the empire had fought for Britain. India alone provided 1. 3 million soldiers. During these years many remained in Britain, forming small ethnic communities in ports this was due to India being a colonial country under British rule. A Number of Jewish immigrants also fled to Britain from the nazi oppression in Europe. At the end of the WWII there work shortages throughout Europe and Britain. 157,000 polish immigrants arrived in Britain in search of work. Shortly after where joined by the Italians but there was still a labour shortage and eventually workers were recruited from the colonies this is all international migration due to it being an economical climate issue. 22nd June 1948, the empire wind rush brought the first of many West Indians to live and work in Britain during the 1950s. In 1956, London transport was struggling to find workers so advertised in Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica for bus drivers and conductors. More and more immigrants flocked to Britain throughout the years from Barbadians, West Indians in 1958 and in the 1960s they were joined by immigrants from Indian sub continent which had become India, west and east Pakistan, following independence from Britain. The new immigrants were different to the rest as instead of flocking to the port areas they moved to the London area filling low paid, unskilled jobs in factories and the service sector. Car engineering in car manufacturers in the West Midlands were another focus. They frequently established clusters or neighbourhoods in the poorest areas in the inner cities Toxteth in Liverpool, Brixton and Bethnal Green in London. In most cases the new immigrants eventually established their own places of worship and other ethnic services. These new immigrants were not welcomed easily into British society and there were protests at their arrival. The government reacted by amending the British nationality Act to make it more difficult for non white immigrants to bring their family members with them. In spit of this, the numbers of non-white residents continued to grow and by 1970 they numbered 1. 5 million, one third of these were children born in Britain. Racial prejudice was quite widespread and there were racially motivated riots in the 1980s. Riots were started by claims that ethnic minorities, especially black male youths, were being targeted by the police. These minorities are being represented by racial unequal treatment. The amount of ethnics taking and filling British jobs is causing ethnic conflict between white Caucasian. conflict sociologists see the social world as being in continual struggle. The conflict perspective assumes that the social structure is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between the competing groups within Britain. The result of this conflict is significant economic disparity and structural inequality in education, the labor market, housing, and healthcare delivery. Specifically, society is a struggle between the privileged (the dominant group) and the exploited (the subordinate groups). Such conflicts need not be physically violent and may take the form of immigration restrictions, real estate practices, or disputes over cuts in the federal budget.

Defining And Understanding Holography Physics Essay

Defining And Understanding Holography Physics Essay Holography,  method  of  obtaining three-dimensional photographic images. These images are obtained without a lens, so the method is also called lensless photography. The records are called holograms (Greek holos, whole; gram, message). The theoretical principles of holography were developed by the British physicist Dennis Gabor in 1947. The first actual production of holograms took place in the early 1960s, when the laser became available. By the late 1980s the production of true-color holograms was possible, as well as holograms ranging from the microwave to the X-ray region of the spectrum. Ultrasonic holograms were also being made, using sound waves. Holography  is one of the remarkable achievements of a modern science and technology. Holograms have unique property to restore the high-grade volumetric image of real subjects. The word holography originated from the Greek words holos whole and grapho write, that means complete record of the image. Holography represents photographic process in a broad sense of this word, essentially differs from a usual photo because there is a registration not only  intensity  in a photosensitive material, but also  phase  of light waves, scattered by the object and carried the complete information about three-dimensional structure of the object. As the medium of mapping of the reality, hologram has unique property: unlike usual photo, the  holographic image  can reproduce exactly three-dimensional copy of the original object. Such image with set of views, varied with change of supervision, has amazing realness and often looks like the real object. Unlike photography or painting, holography can render an object with complete dimensional fidelity. A hologram can create everything your eyes see size, shape, texture and relative position. However, if you try to touch a holographic image, all youll find is focused light. History of holography Holography is known from 1947 when British (native of Hungary) scientist Dennis Gabor   produced the theory of holography while he was trying to improve the resolution of electron microscope .Gabor coined the term which we know today i.e. holography by the greek word holos, which means whole while gramma means message. Further development in the field was during the next period because light sources available at that time was not truly coherent . This problem was overcome in  1960  by Russian scientists  N. Bassov  and  A. Prokhorov  and American scientist  Charles Townswith by the invention of the laser, whose pure, intense light was ideal for making holograms. In that year the pulsed-ruby laser was developed by Dr.  T.H. Maimam. This laser system  (unlike the continuous wave laser normally used in holography) emits a very powerful burst of light that lasts only a few nanoseconds (a billionth of a second). It effectively freezes movement and makes it possible to produce holograms of high-speed events, such as a bullet in flight, and of living subjects. The first hologram of a person was made in  1967, paving the way for a specialized application of holography: pulsed holographic portraiture. In  1962  Emmett Leith and Juris Upatnieks of the University of Michigan recognized from their work in side-reading radar that holography could be used as a 3-D visual medium. In 1962 they read Gabors paper and simply out of curiosity decided to duplicate Gabors technique using the laser and an  off-axis technique  borrowed from their work in the development of side-reading radar. The result was the first laser transmission  hologram of 3-D objects (a toy train and bird). These transmission holograms produced images with clarity and realistic depth but required laser light to view the holographic image. Their pioneering work led to standardization of the equipment used to make holograms. Today, thousands of laboratories and studios possess the necessary equipment: a continuous wave laser, optical devices (lens, mirrors and beam splitters) for directing laser light, a film holder and an isolation table on which exposures are made. Stability is absolutely essential because movement as small as a quarter wave- length of light during exposures of a few minutes or even seconds can completely spoil a hologram. The basic off-axis technique that Leith and Upatnieks developed is still the staple of holographic methodology. Also in  1962  Dr.  Yuri N. Denisyuk  from Russia combined holography with 1908 Nobel Laureate Gabriel Lippmanns work in natural color photography.  Denisyuks approach  produced a white-light reflection hologram which, for the first time, could be viewed in light from an ordinary incandescent light bulb. Another major advance in display holography occurred in  1968when Dr.  Stephen A. Benton  invented white-light transmission holography while researching holographic television at Polaroid Research Laboratories. This type of hologram can be viewed in ordinary white light creating a rainbow image from the seven colors which make up white light. The depth and brilliance of the image and its rainbow spectrum soon attracted artists who adapted this technique to their work and brought holography further into public awareness. Bentons invention is particularly significant because it made possible mass production of holograms using an embossing technique. These holograms are printed by stamping the interference pattern onto plastic. The resulting hologram can be duplicated millions of timesfor a few cents apiece. Consequently, embossed holograms are now being used by the publishing, advertising, and banking industries. In  1972  Lloyd Cross  developed the integral hologram by combining white-light transmission holography with conventional cinematography to produce moving 3-dimensional images. Sequential frames of 2-D motion-picture footage of a rotating subject are recorded on holographic film. When viewed, the composite images are synthesized by the human brain as a 3-D image. In 70s Victor Komar and his colleagues at the All-Union Cinema and Photographic Research Institute (NIFKI) in Russia, developed a prototype for a projected holographic movie. Images were recorded with a pulsed holographic camera. The developed film was projected onto a holographic screen that focused the dimensional image out to several points in the audience. Holographic artists have greatly increased their technical knowledge of the discipline and now contribute to the technology as well as the creative process. The art form has become international, with major exhibitions being held throughout the world. The commonly and widely used way of imaging of the reality is the photography. A photograph is basically the recording of the differing intensities of the light reflected by the object  and imaged by a lens. However, information about dimensions of the object contained not only in amplitude (intensity), but also in a phase of light waves. A great difference between holography and photography is the information recorded. This difference is why photographs are two dimensional (2-D) images while holograms are three dimensional (3-D) images. Photographs contain only one view point of an object. Our eyes need a minimum of two view points in order to see depth. Vision using two viewpoints of an object is called stereoscopic vision. Each eye receives a slightly different view point of an object, our brain combines the two and we perceive depth. We can fool our eyes into seeing photographs in three dimensions by taking two slightly different views of an object and allowing each eye to see only one image, the right image for the right eye and the left image for the left eye. We can do this with a stereoscope (for pictures) or with polarized glasses (for movies). The shortcoming of stereoscopic images is that when we move our head from side to side or up and down, we still only see the same two view points, whereas we should be seeing continuously changing viewpoints of the object. The image therefore doesnt quite appear to be three dimensional. In order to make a record of a three dimensional object we need to record this continuous set of viewpoints of the object. Estimating sizes of the objects and considering shape  and direction of shadows from these objects, we can create in our mind general representation about volumetric properties of the scene, represented in a photo. But, if sizes of the objects are identical and there are no shadows, volumetric content of the photographed scene is completely lost. For example, we can not define in the photo of snowflakes on a dark background, which of them is closer, and which of them is farther. Holography is the only visual recording medium that can record our three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional recording medium and playback the original object or scene to the unaided eyes as a three dimensional image. The image demonstrates complete parallax and depth-of-field and floats in space either behind, in front of, or straddling the recording medium.

How Brian Clark avoids Senintimentality in Whose life is it Anyway Essa

‘Whose life is it anyway?’ follows the story of ‘Ken Harrison’, a man who tries to exercise a choice over his own life or death after being completely paralysed from the head down. Harrison received these horrific injuries after being involved in a car accident 4 months before the story starts. He is now in constant care within the hospitals walls being treated and cared for by the medical profession. The play centres on Harrison’s determination to exercise a choice over his own life or death with the medical bureaucracy fiercely opposing. The play leads as he takes the medical staff to court to try and exercise this right officially. This play is seemingly unsentimental in which Harrison responds to his plight with wit and clarity and argues his case with power and persuasion. As this play focuses on ones mans wish to die and the issue of euthanasia we as the audience would expect the play to be very emotional. With the storyline, Clark could have easily made this play the opposite of what it actually is, powerful and fast moving. As Harrison had been though such a terrible ordeal we would expect him to be full of self pity and self indulgence and therefore make the play emotional and miserable. Ken is first seen in Act 1, the first impression he makes on the reader is one of a happy and untroubled man. ‘I used to dream of situations like this†¦ lying on a bed being massaged by two beautiful women.’ This is the first of many comical references Ken makes throughout the play, this is a very strong tool that Clarke uses to avoid sentimentality in his play. It shows that Ken isn’t self indulgent but rather making the best out of his current situation. He is expressing how he feels in the form of humour. This is less emotional than s... ...as purposely avoided. To asses how successful Clarke has been in bringing this serious issue to life we first need to consider our own right to personal choice. Clark has made it very obvious that our own personal choice can sometimes be defied by something as small as the medical bureaucracy. However he has also showed us that with determination, wit and clarity we can argue our right to make our own personal choice. Euthanasia is untimely a very sad issue which is normally dealt with sympathy and self indulgence, Clarke has brought this issue to life and has handled it exceptionally well, he has shown both the comical and sad sides to the debate without showing bias to any side. He has successfully avoided sentimentality in his play by using many different narrative tools such as comedy and rationality and has in the end stopped the play becoming over emotional.

Great Gatsby Letter :: Great Gatsby Letter

Dear Gatsby,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I appreciate your care for our friendship, I'm glad that what we have done means something to you as it has to me. I also see that you haven't joined the rest of the flapper aristocrats, it's good to know you're not at the shallow depths of their ignorant mentality. Anyways, I hope that your worries isn't the reason why think that our lives are so troubled all of the sudden. I know myself very well and I know that my life isn't twisted, and I know you well enough to say that your life is not as troubled as you may think or seems. Everybody else living this wealthy luxury of a life has done something worse than anything you have done, used you for parties and drinking for one. One the other hand, the only crime you've commited is falling in love. I have seen Tom and Daisy; unhappyly married knowing their real truths about each other myself, and their marriage is a farse. I have seen you and Daisy; fullfilling that longlost love you had for each other before war, wondering why you lost it to begin with. You and I know Daisy for what she really is, not for that superficial act to gain self-respect, you can make her truly happy again. As for me, I have seen everybody is East Egg. for what they really are, and Jordan is no

A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams Essay -- A Streetcar Na

A Streetcar Named Desire From the beginning, the three main characters of Streetcar are in a state of tension. Williams establishes that the apartment is small and confining, the weather is hot and oppressive, and the characters have good reason to come into conflict. The South, old and new, is an important theme of the play. Blanche and her sister come from a dying world. The life and pretensions of their world are becoming a thing of memory: to drive home the point, the family mansion is called "Belle Reve," or Beautiful Dream. The old life may have been something beautiful, but it is gone forever. Yet Blanche clings to pretensions of aristocracy. She is now as poor as Stanley and Stella, but she cannot help but look down on the humble Kowalski apartment. Stanley tells her that she'll probably see him as "the unrefined type." The differences between them, however, are more complex and volatile than a matter of refinement. Desire is central to the play. Blanche is unable to come to terms with the force of her own desire. She is clearly repelled and fascinated by Stanley at the same time. And though she stayed behind and took care of the family while Stella ran off to find a new life, Blanche is both angry and jealous of Stella's choice: she seems a bit fixated on the idea of Stella sleeping with her "Polack." Stella has chosen a life built around her powerful sexual relationship with Stanley. Blanche is both repulsed by and jealous of the choice. . The play is haunted by mortality. Desire and death and loneliness are played off against each other again and again. The setting is one of decay; the dying Old South and the dying DuBois family make for a macabre and unsettling background. Blanche's first monologue is a rather graphic description of tending to the terminally ill. There is also the specter of Blanche's husband, who died when they were both very young; indeed, Blanch still refers to him as a "boy." Another symbol is the meat: Stanley enters carrying a package of bloody meat, like a hunter coming home from a day of work. Stanley is a superb specimen of primitive, unthinking, brutal man. The meat-tossing episode is seen as humorous by Eunice and the Negro Woman, who infer a sexual innuendo from the incident. Apparently, it is obvious to the neighbors that the sexual bond between Sta... ...us line is full of terrible irony. It is true that Blanche has often depended on the kindness of strangers, but all of them have abused and abandoned her. In the end, even her own sister has betrayed her. Her fragility, her inability to fend for herself, and her self- deception have brought her to madness. The representative of the new man, Stanley, is more ape than knight. But Blanche's line is earnest in that it shows her terrible loneliness. For so long, she has known only strangers; young girl in a house full of the dying, and then a woman losing her looks seeking protection from callous men. Her tragedy will for the most part be forgotten. Stella is crying, but she has nonetheless decided to stay with Stanley. She also will have to busy herself with caring for the baby. The other men have callously chosen to go on with their poker game on this day, denying Blanche the dignity of being taken away in private. The Old South dies, and the New South does not mourn her passing. Everyone is going to move on: as the play ends, Steve is already dealing a new hand. Sources:Streetcar Named Desired by Tenesse Williams Northon Anthology www.Sparknotes.com www.classicnotes.com

Personal Ethical Development Paper Essay

Everyone has their own personal code of ethics, develop through education and experience. With the basic identified in kindergarten or even earlier. Each of us have developed personal ethical codes with inputs and guidance from numerous people including family members, friends, church leaders, mentors, teachers, community leaders and role models. My underlying ethical system primarily is a duty-base ethical system, in which I acted in a certain manner, a manner that is a clear right or wrong. As a child, my parents and family were the ones who lay the ground rules for my ethical decisions. Knowing what is right from what is wrong, to say please and thank you when asking for and receiving something, to say good morning, good afternoon and good night, and to always speak the truth, pray before bed time, and again in the morning when I wake up. School teachers taught me how to enforce strict discipline, self-control and obedient behavior while in class. Religion, also play a major role on my personal ethics, it helps me to established a set of principles and morals, to always show respect for others, to do unto others as you would like others to do unto you. There are other unique individuals that have influenced my personal ethics, such as Mahatma Ghandi, have earned my respect as a prominent leader; who once said, â€Å"Even if you are a minority of one, the truth will always be the truth.† Also Lady Theresa, another prominent figure who also said â€Å"when I am hungry, I look for someone to feed, and when I am thirsty I look for someone to give a drink of waters.† These are people with morals, value, and  principles, which set good examples for others to follow. Looking to others as well as the rules and regulations when making an ethical determination, is a very important process of ethical decision-making. Speaking openly and honestly, that my information are indeed factual, show support for my company and others, even when there are differences of opinion; to adapt to any changes, even if the initial process was done by me. Take pride in my work, whatever duties assigned to me. Try to amend any problems caused by misunderstanding of information. Address injustice, provide assistance, and so on. Entitlement-based: By showing positive emotions, such as joy and happiness towards others, will consequently make them more optimistic and more likely to live out their moral choices to help others. Moral values often conflict with other values. For example, a co-worker of mine made several mistakes while processing tax forms for the IRS. These process must be done with specific governmental guidelines (company strives on quality), she brought some forms over to my desk for verification, I came across several mistakes, using a systematic approach, I went back to her, very politely I said, â€Å"you have to be a little more careful,† there were few mistakes in you batch, knowing very well that people don’t like to told that they’ve made a mistake. She asked, what were the mistakes? I said there were four internationals included in your domestic batch, she said there were no international codes, I said agreed, but the address clearly states Canada, she rose from her seat asking for a second opinion (more like yelling), is Canada international, she asked? Everyone answered yes in uniformly. Feeling rather embarrass, she walked back to my desk and started yelling at me, saying how she don’t like my attitude and told my manager how I tried to embarrass her. My manager in turn told me to be careful how I speak to my fellow employees. My ethical standard of fairness was challenged because my boss did not review the situation in a fair manner. My manager did not address the situation between us or address the entire department of the situation; instead she listens to one side of the story. Quality is an integral part of the company’s operation, and as a senior employee and part  of the verifying team it is my duty, my responsibility to inform employees of any errors. My boss did not make a conscious effort to control the negative feeling and put everyone in a positive frame of mind. There were two other instances involving the same employee that continued to challenges my ethical standard that led me to make a final decision and asked for a transfer to anothe r department. Ethical codes vary among individuals and also corporations. History is filled with examples of the impact on society of varied ethical codes, from the organization or corporate perspectives, one can hardly picked up the newspaper anymore without reading about corporate scandal. As Allen Greenspan noted testifying before Congress in 2002, â€Å"trust and reputation can vanish overnight,† and we have seen repeated examples of such occurrences, demonstrating why good ethics is good business (Wisely,1974). There are many factors of moral reasoning and behavior that are relevant in any organizational settings. History demonstrates that trust, integrity, honesty and credibility remain very important to any organization. Organization should have a clear set of organizational goals and policies, particularly when it comes to moral and ethics, employees need to know that the organization holds itself and them to a higher standard. By being clear about what is acceptable and what is not in the work place (Wisely, 1974). This plays into setting the policies that will govern how the organization is run. Guidelines of the company must be followed. In terms of competition, whether it is with another company or between two employees, ethics and moral should always be stressed. For example, if two employees are pitted against each other in competition for a raise, the potential for immoral and unethical behavior is there. The eagerness to get ahead in any way possible can be strong. It is therefore necessary for the organization owners to stress that the integrity of this organization cannot be compromised in any way shape or form. To incorporate ethics, an organization must obey the law and the spirit of the law where ever they conduct business, values must be real, and must reflect actual behavior, especially among the organization’s leaders. To emphasize principles more that rules. (This is the best way to be more  demanding of the organization, (Schulman, 2006), to encourage all employees to be challenging and demanding in the ethical domain of everyone in the organization, including the bosses. Perception is reality. Ethical and social responsibilities are part of the same thing. Our ethical values are part of our image in the business world. At one time it did not matter much if we polluted the environment, paid below the minimum wage or used plastic bags wastefully if we could get away with it (Schulman, 2006). Rightly, as an organization in a community, which for some large organizations includes major parts of the world, investors may decide to invest, or not according to our reputation for ethical behavior in our society. References Miriam Schulman, March 22, 2006. Incorporating Ethics into the Organization Strategic Plan. Retrieve from. http://www.scu.edu William H. Wisely (1974). The American Civil Engineer. Retrieved from. http://www.acsc.org Trevino, L.K., and Nelson, K. A. (2011), Managing Business Ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (5th Ed). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.