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| The Cross-boundary Style: The Special Changes of Fu Outside the System of Ancient Literary Writings |
| Qi Hao |
| Faculty of the Liberal Arts, Northwest University, Xi’an 710127, China |
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Abstract In the variation of literary genres in ancient China, some forms transcended their original literary scope and permeated into other domains of knowledge. Persisting over a long period of time,this phenomenon was mainly manifested in the fu.Whether they were ancient physicians with scholarly temperament or fortune tellers and geomancers shrouded in an aura of mystery, they all belonged to the “subordinate knowledge communities” outside the traditional elite literati. The level of knowledge they grasped was relatively lower and their professional domains tended towards the lower social strata. These ancient doctors, fortune tellers, and geomancers all successfully incorporated the fu into their own cultural categories, to serve the expression of knowledge in traditional Chinese medicine, fortune telling, and geomancy. Thus, the “fu of physicians,” “fu of fortune tellers” and “fu of geomancers” gradually emerged. These three special types of the fu, on the one hand, expanded the traditional fu’s expressive content and functions, while on the other hand, still retained the basic framework of the fu, which can be regarded as mutations of the fu.Generally being considered as a literary genre, the fu pursues ornamentation in language and textual style as well as expressiveness in emotions and attitudes, possessing distinct aesthetic quality. However, these three special types of the fu were all created to expound upon the theories and techniques within their respective domains of knowledge. Without a doubt, their primary purpose in being composed was practical consideration rather than conveying literary aesthetics. Therefore, these three unique types of the fu actually underwent a transcendence from the literary to the non-literary, and this phenomenon can be termed the “crossing of boundaries by literary genres”.The main reason that the fu underwent a “crossing of literary genres” is its rhyming and easy chanting, which enabled various types of concrete knowledge in traditional Chinese medicine, fortune telling, and geomancy to be quickly and accurately understood and memorized. However, parallelism and elaboration in the fu were also important reasons why it was chosen as the “crossing genre”. In specific works of creation, the “fu of physicians”, “fu of fortune tellers” and “fu of geomancers” often employed the fu to express their own theories. For example, the relationships between integral, corresponding, foiling, and parallel elements of knowledge were all suitably conveyed through the fu. Moreover, the fu possesses the features of an orderly form and powerful style. Using the fu to elucidate the theoretical knowledge systems of traditional Chinese medicine, fortune telling and geomancy also introduced a dynamic style into the texts, which increased the rationality of the theories and helped in persuasion.The “crossing of literary genres” in ancient Chinese literature has not received due attention from scholars to this day. As a result, many specific academic questions have not been reasonably answered, such as “whether xuanyan poetry is poetry” and “whether the verses and chants created by the Buddhist monks and Taoist priests are poetry”. From the perspective of “crossing of literary genres”, it can be discovered that although xuanyan poetry is not literary poetry, it remains a form of poetry. Essentially, it is a type of non-literary poetry, belonging to the “crossing from literature to philosophy”. The verses and chants created by the Buddhist monks and Taoists belong to the “crossing from literature to religion”. Although they are not literary poetry, they still remain forms of poetry.
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Received: 18 August 2023
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2024, Vol. 54 
