Carlo quotes,

>>
In that character [see Makin page 267] for the 'exact middle' we find
[character] the pivot, for moderation, which the Cantos make the sign of
John Adams (LXX, p. 413; LXXXIV, p. 540). And so, politically, all
depends upon sensibility: on the understanding of 'shadows' and tones
beyond what can be spoken; on what Confucius heard 'under the rain
altars' (LXXX, p. 512).
>>

True as far as it goes; but how do you reconcile this with the fact that
Pound put the same symbol next to the Nazi quotations in his short work
"Communications"?    Pound wrote these Cantos at a time when he was working
hard to support Mussolini and Hitler.  POUND HIMSELF equated both Hitler's
and Confucius' philosophy of government.  Both Hitler and Confucius, as
Pound sees them, embody the "great sensibility."

Also are people aware, that in the original printings of "Communications,"
the symbol you speak of, the character Chung1, is altered?  This character,
which symbolizes the center, or the middle, or the mean, is altered in a
very odd way in the original "Communications" printings.  Whereas the
character is supposed to be a 'square' bisected by a vertical line in its
standard form, in "Communications" the top and bottom of the Chung1
character has something addes.  Horizontal strokes at the top and bottom of
the lines make it look more like a swastika.   There is nothing in Chinese
orthography to justify this alteration. Recall, also the character is put
beside a  highlighted phrase:  "THE NAZI MOVEMENT IN GERMANY."

This diagram may help.  The Chinese character Chung1 (zhong in the first
tone) should look something like this:

           I
           I
      -----------
     I     I     I
     I     I     I
      -----------
           I
           I

But in Pound's "Communications," it looks more like this, with strokes not
so subtley suggesting a swastika.

           __
           I
      -----------
     I     I     I
     I     I     I
      -----------
           I
       __I


(If you doubt my observation, go to the original printings and look it up.
It may easily escape someone not familiar with Chinese orthography.  But
once pointed out the alteration is unmistakable).

Also, do not forget that in Pound's Italian translation of  the Character,
he calls it NOT the mean, the middle, or the center, or pivot.  He
translates the term Chung1 as AXIS.  The Unwobbling Pivot in Italian becomes
the Unwavering Axis, for obvious political and ideological reasons.  Pound
gave his full allegiance to the AXIS ALLIANCE between fascist Italy, Nazi
Germany, and the Japanese Imperialists.



What then is the "great sensibility"?

<<
<<This is stated in the first lines of the whole
section:

        LING(2) [character]

        Our dynasty came in because of a great sensibility.
                                            (LXXXV, p. 543)>>

>>
>>

We talked about the Shoo King classic, where the Ling2 character appears, in
an earlier exchange.  The Great Sensibility is nothing more or nothing less
than an ideological justification for the toppling of one dynasty by
another.

The Shoo King, you may recall , opens with this passage:

   Examining into antiquity we find that the emperor
  Yaou was called Fang-heun.  He was reverential,
  intelligent, accomplished and thoughtful -- naturally
  and without effort.  He was sincerely courteous and
  capable of all complaisance.  The display of all these
  qualities reached to the four extremities of the
  empire, and extended from earth to heaven.  He was
  able to make the able and the virtuous distinguished,
  and thence proceeded to the love of the nine classes
  of his kindred, who all became harmonious.  He also
  regulated and polished the people of his domain,
  who all became brightly intelligent.  Finally, he
  united and harmonized the myriad states of the empire;
  and lo ! the black-haired people were transformed.  The
  result was universal concord.
      (Legge, Shoo King, I, i, 1-2).

Of course, as the Emperor, "regulates and polishes" the people, they have
little to say about how this is to be done.  Ling2  a written character
which, pictographically analyzed, looks like a picture of dolls, which,
according to Chinese etymologists, symbolize the dolls used by shamans.  The
new dynasty needed the sanction of the shaman for the sake of political
power.  As to the extent to which such an emperor was just or unjust,
sensible or insensible, we have little knowledge.  All we have are the
propaganda records of the Shoo King, which record events which are nothing
if not mythical.  Why Confucius (or Pound ) for that matter, would want to
model the government of his time on such primitive systems and thumbnail
sketch documents is somewhat difficult to fathom.  The only way you can
explain it, in my view, is to recognize that both Pound and Confucius
idealized the most ancient and remote systems of government, at the expense
of more modern systems.

Chinese have had to deal with these idealizations of pre-feudal and feudal
dynasties for centuries.  Chinese have had to endure the Confucian
injunction to "go back to Zhou" to find out what good government is.  It's a
bit like telling Americans that they should harken back to St. Paul's
letters, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, or King Edward the Confessor, to find
out what good government is.  Why should Poundians or non-Poundians should
try to promote the view that Confucius was anything more than a reactionary?
  If people would read the record, read Confucius AND the modern critiques
of Confucius written by educated Chinese they would not fall for the
standard orthodox political line.


Regards,

Wei




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