The Shaman and the Heresiarch: A New Interpretation of the Li Sao

280 Pages·2012·2.1 MB·English

by  Gopal Sukhu

The
Shaman
and the
Heresiarch
A NEW
INTERPR ETATION
OF THE
Li sao
Gopal Sukhu
Th e Shaman and the Heresiarch
SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
Roger T. Ames, editor
Th e Shaman
and the Heresiarch
A New Interpretation of the Li sao
G S
OPAL UKHU
Cover image of Western Han Chinese silk courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Published by
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Albany
© 2012 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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State University of New York Press
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Production, Diane Ganeles
Marketing, Michael Campochiaro
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sukhu, Gopal.
Th e shaman and the heresiarch : a new interpretation of the Li sao /
Gopal Sukhu.
p. cm. — (Suny series in Chinese philosophy and culture)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4384-4283-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Qu, Yuan, ca. 343–ca. 277 B.C. Li sao. 2. Shamanism in literature. I. Qu, Yuan,
ca. 343–ca. 277 B.C. Li sao. English. II. Qu, Yuan, ca. 343-ca. 277 B.C. Jiu ge. III. Title.
IV. Title: New interpretation of the Li sao.
PL2661.L53S85 2012
895.1'11—dc23 2011034433
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to the memory of my teacher,
Professor Wu Pei-yi

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Chapter One
Wang Yi and Han Dynasty Classical Commentary 39
Chapter Two
Wang Yi and the Woman Who Commissioned
the Chu ci zhangju 55
Chapter Three
Th e Intergendered Shaman of the Li sao 71
Chapter Four
Th e Realm of Shaman Peng—Floral Imagery in the Li sao 87
Chapter Five
Th e Philosophy of the Li sao, Part 1 117
Chapter Six
Th e Philosophy of the Li sao, Part 2 131
viii Contents
Chapter Seven
Shaman Xian’s Domain: Th e First and Second Journeys 145
Chapter Eight
Conclusion 165
Appendix 1
A Translation of the Li sao 183
Appendix 2
Th e Nine Songs 195
Notes 211
Selected Bibliography of Works in Chinese and Japanese 237
Selected Bibliography of Works in Western Languages 241
Index 255
Acknowledgments
Now that I have been a teacher of Asian literature for well over a decade, I
look back in gratitude, and sometimes wonder, to those who taught me. My
fi rst teacher, one of the very best, was Mrs. Yuan Ming-ch’iu, who had the
good fortune to teach me when I was still a decent student. At Yale University,
for various personal reasons, I became quite the opposite. Th ose unfortunate
enough to have me as a student then were Hugh Stimson, who taught me
linguistic rigor; Hans Frankel, who taught me Tang poetry; Jonathan Spence,
who would have taught me many things if I had simply shown up; and Stan-
ley Insler, who in trying to teach me Sanskrit taught me how to critically
approach traditional commentaries.
Th ere is such a thing as profi tably wasting time—but only while one is
young. I tried to make amends by going to Taiwan where the teachers at the
Guoyu Ribao, and fi ne tutors like Luo Chi-yun, one of the best students of
Chen Guying, helped me relaunch my boat. Columbia University, and espe-
cially the great C. T. Hsia, who taught me the vernacular of the Yuan, Ming,
and Qing dynasties, off ered me a second harbor. I am especially indebted
to the late Charles Lo, who taught me how to get through Qing offi cialese;
Hans Bielenstein, who taught me the rigorous reading methods of his teacher,
Bernh ard Karlgren; Robert Ramsey, who taught me historical phonology;
Paul Rouzer, who taught me Li Bai and how to fi nish a doctoral dissertation
and enter the professorial world; and my mentor, Professor Wu Pei-yi, who
taught me everything.
My work on the Li sao could not have been undertaken without the
help of the professors on the cutting edge of Chu Studies in China—Shi
Quan, Wang Guanghao, and Xu Shaohua, and many others in the History
and Archaeology Department at Wuhan University—providing me a trans-
formative cultural perspective on ancient Chinese literature. My thanks to
them and to Tang Yiming, who wrote a letter of introduction to Professor Hu
ix