Theme of Nature and Inter-personal Elements in T'an Yuan-Ch'uns Essays - Essay Example

Theme of nature and inter-personal elements in Tan yuan-chun’s essays Tan yuan-chun’s (1585-1637) has been regarded as one among the most important writers of Chinese literature. The study of Tan yuan-chun’s literature involves many intricacies. Through his simple diction and vast knowledge, he conquered the minds of the Chinese readers. Along with Chung Hsing (1574-1624), he founded the Ching-ling school, and has been regarded as follower of the three Yuan brothers. It was after the decline of the Kung-an school, the Ching-ling School came into prominence. In his Selections from Dream Memories from the T’ao Hut, T’an colorfully portrays the magnificence of nature that haunted him all through the different journeys he conducted to various places. Reading through his prose pieces, readers are taken to a dream world whereby the readers feel the presence of nature and are really bewitched along with the writer. Majority of his essays are personal like the essays of Charles Lamb, the great English essayist. One of the common themes discussed in T’an’s essays is nature, tinted with a personal note. He had a keen observation on both nature and on men and their art. T’an’s, Viewing the snow from the Mid-Lake Gazebo, acknowledges the former comment. In this essay the author invites our attention to Mid-Lake Gazebo which was fully covered with snow. When one goes through the lines of this essay, one feels coldness within the mind as the poet felt, and their minds are throbbed with passion to enjoy such an enchanting sight with the essayist. T’an can also be compared to the great English romantic poet William Wordsworth who had tried his best find out the tune of nature. His minute observation on nature is really praiseworthy that it often puzzles the readers. When it is also accompanied with his thrilling language, it could bring the readers to the utmost level of aesthetic appreciation. When he writes, “One day, when the last beat of the night watch was over…”the essayist could make us feel a cold morning, without even referring to that word. ‘One mustard seed of my boat’ also clearly express the writing style of the essayist. The essayist has expressed his craziness for nature by himself. In order to refer to this craziness, he makes the boat man murmur to himself, “Don’t say that our young gentleman is crazy; there are people even crazier than he” (Ye, Yang. 1999 p 90). In his essay, ‘Yao Chien-shu’s paintings,’ T’an draws our attention to his lifelong friendship with Chien-shu, the great painter. This essay is also entirely personal like the previous in which the essayist, the keen observer speaks about the talent of his friend, Chien-shu. Here the essayist recollects their visits to different places, including the Grace Temple. It was during their visit to the Grace Temple, the essayist come to know of the real talent of his friend, Chien-shu, who could recreate pictures they saw in the album leaves, drawn by the masters of the Sung and the Yuan dynasties. While reading through this essay, we can find it as similar to Oliver Goldsmith’s, The Man in Black, in which the narrator of the essay, the Chinese man named Lien Chi Althangi, observes Man in Black minutely and sketches his each and every gestures. The wild beauty of nature is the central theme of the essay, Moon at Censer Peak.’ The essayist could attract the attention of the readers by the very first line of the essay that begins like, “The summit of the Censor Peak stood beyond layers of mountains and winding range that soared and spared in entertainment” (Ye, Yang. 1999 p 91). The Cliff of a Thousand Chang also gets the attraction of the essayist. But the most interesting thing that he felt there was the gap, a little less than twelve feet wide, laid between the two rocks. He remembers that it could scare anyone who looks into it. The essay becomes entirely personal when he refers to his uncle, Erh-yun who got down into the gap with a rope. Towards the concluding part of the essay we see the author referring to his thrilling experience of watching sunset amid a forest, ignoring the threat of fierce animals like tigers. Thus, we can find out the theme of nature and personal note in this essay, which once more confirms the criteria of the selection of his themes. The allusion to the pockmarked Liu of Nanking is another personal essay in which we are brought to the humorous story teller, Liu Ching-t’ing. The keen observation of the essayist is clearly indicative when he speaks about the narrative style of Liu. The author could even sketch the movements of the listeners who are patiently waiting for Liu’s stories. T’an could not see anything attractive on his next visit to West Lake on the fifteenth night of the seventh month. Wang Yuan-sheng is another essay, like the story teller of Nanking, the essayist remarks the features of Wang Yuan-sheng. Here T’an writes, “Her complexion was like that of a newly blossomed autumn orchid. She was sensuous, gentle, and delicate. Her tiny ivory feet were like pink water chestnuts just out of the pond. With a reserved and noble carriage, she seldom spoke or smiled” (Ye, Yang.1999 p 95). These lines clearly indicate the essayist’s keen observation of a person-his physical as well as the quality of mind. According to the writer, she was quite different from the ordinary courtesans. It is with that suspense the essayist concludes the essay. In An Epitaph for Myself, T’an makes an autobiographical note in which he has dealt his preferences during his childhood. He has also mentioned his infatuation to poetry and music. Preface to Searching for West Lake in Dreams he writes about his passion towards West Lake. He even feels, “There was something wrong with the timing of my birth” that keeps him in touch with West Lake. He also writes, “…West Lake in my dreams has never been separated from me, not even a single day” (Ye, Yang. 1999 p 102). This passion of nature has exerted a tremendous influence all through his literary career. To conclude, one can infer that there are many factors that attracted the attention of the essayist. But an overview of his essays clearly identifies that he had kept a passionate mind towards nature. One of the best examples of this craziness is visible with his eagerness in visiting West Lake. Analyzing the nature of the essayist, it is understood that he liked to enjoy the nectar of nature, either alone or in the company of friends. It was that compassion pulled him to stay amid deep forest to watch moonlit, keeping aside the threat of wild animals. He liked to travel through ice covered lakes which devour him the immense beauty of nature. Another aspect appears in almost all his essays are his personal flavor. In some of his essays he describes his journeys to favorite places in the company of his intimates. Most of these journeys, as he remarks, were both interesting and provided him the material for writing. The essays of Tan yuan-chun very often remind the readers of the prose style of Charles Lamb, the great English essayist. But his essay, Liu Ching-t’ing the Storyteller stands very closer to Oliver Gold Smith’s Man in Black. If one reads in between the lines, one may also doubt that the essayist has, off and on, haunted with loneliness, which forced him to find comfort and consolation in nature. Anyhow , one can infer that nature had a bewitching effect on the essayist and he liked to present its magnificence in the background of his personal experiences. Work Cited: Ye, Yang. Vignettes from the late Ming: a hsiao-pʻin anthology. University of Washington Press, 1999. Read More