Chinese Poetry
Things to Consider:
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Themes
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Imagery
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Taoism
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Chinese Literature Resources
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Poems of the T'ang Dynasty
** Homework Questions **
651:
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What is the "Shih" form?
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How is Chinese poetry universally accessible?
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What distinctions are made in Chinese poetry between the mountains and
the city?
Li Po (701-762)
"Drinking Alone By Moonlight"
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Why does the speaker need to drink?
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Explain: "A cup of wine levels life and death / And a thousand
things obstinately hard to prove" (7-8).
Po Chu-I (742-846)
"In Early Summer Lodging"
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Why do the three men go to the temple?
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Whose "golden ghost was born"(17)? What phenomenon does this refer
to?
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In lines 17-20, what literary technique is used? Explain.
Yuan Chen (779-831)
"The Pitcher"
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What does the pitcher represent to the speaker? Explain.
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How do dead men "find their way to the world above the grave" (25)?
Other Discussion Questions:
652:
"Clearing at Dawn"
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How is the tone of this poem different from that of "Drinking Alone"?
"At the End of Spring"
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Why does the speaker seek comfort in the Doctrine of Tao?
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How does it comfort him, if at all?
"The Chrysanthemums in the Eastern Garden"
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Why can wine no longer bring comfort to the speaker?
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What effect do the chrysanthemums have on the speaker?
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How does this poem compare with "Drinking Alone"?
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