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 > ________________________________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com -- ÐÏ à¡± á