Then Dan Pearlman's inadequacy is my inadequacy. But I think your
inadequacy overrides ours. CP
En Lin Wei wrote:
>
> Carlo wrote:
>
> >Have you read Dan Pearlman's book, the Barb of Time? How do you feel
> >about his emphasis on a unity in the Cantos embodied on page 42: "One of
> >the most important metaphysical principles of Confucianism, the
> >philosophy that informs the Cantos from beginning to end (as we shall
> >see), is just this holistic principle expressed by the sage and rendered
> >thus in Pound's translation
> >
> > The celestial and earthly process can be defined in a single
> > phrase; its actions and its creations have no dulaity.
> >
> >on page 43 Pearlman adds "In the Cantos Kung stands for the principle of
> >order, the force of reason, intelligence, human-heartedness, whereas
> >Eleusis stands for Dionysian energy, the life-force itself."
> >
> >Dr. Pearlman believes in a unified structure for the Cantos that is
> >achieved in large part by his more benign and consistent (with Pound)
> >view of Confucious. Do you think Dr. Pearlman is wrong? Is his
> >interpretation of Confucious influence too soft-headed . . .?
>
> The Pearlman quotes about the role of Confucius in the Cantos deserve
> special attention, I agree. I think Pearlman is right in saying that
> Confucianism as a doctrine (or philosophy) is what unifies the Cantos, what
> Pound uses to give it ORDER. However, Confucianism is much more than
> Pearlman says it is. It was much more for Pound, and it was (and has been)
> much more for educated Chinese. No disrespect to Pearlman is intended by
> such remarks, or by anything which follows.
>
> Pearlman's thesis about the SIGNIFICANCE of Confucius for Pound may be
> inadequate because 1) it lacks knowledge of the Chinese language, or 2) it
> lacks knowledge of Chinese history. Even more important though, it takes
> little cognisance of the MANY specific parallels between Confucian and
> fascist thought WHICH POUND HIMSELF STRESSED. Knowledge of the "pictorial"
> qualities of the Chinese language are crucial in this discussion because
> Pound views the characters [ideograms] this way, and because he himself
> attributes certain meanings to certain characters.
>
> Pound's use of ideograms in the Cantos, in some cases, bears a direct
> relation to his espousal of fascist political philosophy. An obvious
> illustration of this point lies in the poet's frequent use of the character
> * Hsin1. Analysis of * Hsin1 is extremely useful, not only because Pound
> employed it in the Cantos as often as he did any other character (nine
> times), but also because he himself set forth quite explicitly, in his prose
> writings, his interpretation of the character. In a note to Fenellosa's
> "The Chinese Written Character," Pound calls * Hsin1 "the character from the
> Confucian incitement to never-ending revolution" (Con., 96). The phrase
> "never-ending revolution" is a translation of Mussolini's "rivoluzione
> continua."
>
> Pound is tying Confucianism and fascism to a particular ideogram. This
> connection is not as artificial as it might at first seem, since the
> ideogram bears a resemblance to the "fasces" (from which "fascism" derives
> its name). The fasces, most of you know, was a bundle of rods tied around
> an ax1 and borne before Roman magistrates, as a symbol of the officials'
> power to grant life or death . The character * Hsin1, Pound observes,
>
> is composed of hatchet, to erect and wood. It is
> to cut down wood, to renew, renovate, improve the
> state of it; . . . There is the growing tree at the
> base (left), the orderly arrangement above it, and
> the axe for cutting away encumbrance.
> (Con., 96).
>
> Pound made the connection between Confucius, Mussolini's fascism, and the
> ideogram *Hsin1 quite explicit in his political tract Jefferson And/Or
> Mussolini. In Chapter 29, entitled "Kung" (Confucius), Pound reproduces in
> large letters the Chinese characters Hsin Jih Jih Hsin* * * *, literally
> "new day day new," or "make it new day by day." The italicized note beneath
> the four characters says "Confucius on 'La rivoluzione continua.'" Later he
> observes, "The first ideogram shows the FASCIST AXE for clearing away the
> rubbish (left half) the tree, organic vegetable renewal" [emphasis added]
> (JM, 113).
>
> The basic feature underlying the philosophies of Mussolini and Confucius is
> revealed when Pound is called upon to defend the two men as thinkers. In
> the chapter 28 of Jefferson And/Or Mussolini, Pound had shown himself
> sensitive to accusations that Mussolini was a dictator. Pound's defense was
> that
>
> Mussolini has steadily refused to be called
> anything save "Leader" (Duce) or "Head of Govern-
> ment," the term dictator has been applied by foreign
> envy, as the Tories were called cattle stealers. It
> does not represent the Duce's fundamental concep-
> tion of his role.
> His authority comes, as Eirugina proclaimed,
> "from right reason" and from the general fascist
> conception that he is more likely to be right than
> anyone else.
> (JM, 110)
>
> He concludes the tract with a credo.
>
> I assert again my own firm belief that the
> Duce will not stand with despots and the lovers
> of power but with the lovers of
>
> ORDER
>
> (JM, 128).
>
> In the chapter entitled, "Kung," Pound shows himself sensitive to those
> criticizing his interest in Confucius. "As to the mysteries of genius," he
> says, "I am reproved for citing Confucius" (JM, 112). His answer to this
> reproof is that,
>
> The people who fail to take an interest in Kung
> fail, I think, to observe WHAT Confucian thinking
> leads to.
> For 2,500 years, whenever there has been
> ORDER in China or any part of China, you can look
> for a Confucian at the root of it [emphasis added]
> (JM, 113).
>
> Then follow the characters * * * * Hsin Jih Jih Hsin, which Pound
> translates here as, "renovate, day by day, new." Pound's polemic strategy in
> Jefferson And/Or Mussolini relies partly on convincing the reader that the
> Italian leader's approach is both new and time-honored. The 2,500-year
> successful history of Confucianism is supposedly proof that Mussolini's
> approach is correct. Both the Confucian monarchs and Mussolini strove for
> "ORDER."
>
> There are many more examples of this sort. I cite the example of Hsin1 here
> because it fits into our discussion of the issue of "order" in Pound's
> poetry and in his politics. If one looks at all 239 Chinese written
> characters (some, like Hsin1, used as many as nine times) a pattern will
> emerge. Many people talk about the ideogrammic method, but so many
> (Pearlman included) ignore the pictures in the ideogram, their values, their
> meanings, and the implications of the signifiers. Pound did not ignore the
> meaning-bearing components in the characters, and this fact should have
> fairly serious implications for the way we interpret Pound.
>
> Furthermore, Pound urged his readers to READ HISTORY. He urged his readers
> to study Confucius. That should mean doing more than simply accepting the
> orthodox Confucian interpretation of history (something Pound did accept) or
> ONLY reading the texts of the FOUR BOOKS, and other Confucian classics as
> edited by the most conservative Confucian scholars (of the Sung School of
> Learning, again something Pound limited himself to). Pound's ignorance
> ---(deliberately chosen ignorance) of the Taoist and Buddhist critiques of
> Confucianism, his ignorance (deliberately chosen) of the historical
> movements, such as the T'ai P'ing rebellion, which undermined Confucian
> belief--- was absolutely essential to maintain the Confucio-fascist myth he
> was trying to construct.
>
> Regards
>
> Wei
> ________________________________________________________________________
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