"Seven Remonstrances" or "Seven Admonishments" () is one of the 17 major sections of the ancient Chinese poetry collection ''
Chu ci
The ''Chu ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu,'' ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period ...
'', also known as ''The Songs of the South'' or ''The Songs of Chu''. The "Seven Admonishments" consists of seven poetic verses, plus a ''
luan''. The ''Seven Admonishments'' are written in the
persona
A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally ref ...
of
Qu Yuan
Qu Yuan ( – 278 BCE) was a Chinese poet and politician in the Chu (state), State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to Classical Chinese poetry, classical poetry and verses, ...
, but the actual poet or poets who authored these pieces is unknown; but,
Wang Yi supposes them to have been written by
Dongfang Shuo
Dongfang Shuo (, c. 160 BCE – c. 93 BCE) was a Han Dynasty scholar-official, ''fangshi'' ("master of esoterica"), author, and court jester to Emperor Wu (r. 141 – 87 BCE). In Chinese mythology, Dongfang is considered a Daoist ''xian'' ( ...
, a supposition which
David Hawkes rejects, on various grounds. (Hawkes, 2011
985
Year 985 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Summer – Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, Henry II (the Wrangler) is rest ...
245-246) In terms of poetic quality, Hawkes finds the ''Qi jian'' poems to be "extremely derivative" of the other ''Chu ci'' pieces, and he further describes them as "a long, almost unrelieved litany of complaint which progresses by mere accumulation and ends only when the poet, reader and metaphor are all three exhausted." (Hawkes, 2011
985
Year 985 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Summer – Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, Henry II (the Wrangler) is rest ...
246).
Contents
''Seven Admonishments'' include seven pieces plus an envoi (''luan''):
*I When First Exiled (Chu fang)
*II Drowning in the River (Chen jiang)
*III Disgust with the World (Yuan shi)
*IV Embittered Thoughts (Yuan si)
*V Oppressed by Grief (Zi bei)
*VI Mourning my Lot (Ai ming)
*VII Reckless Remonstrance (Miu jian)
*VII Luan
(Hawkes 1985, 245-262)
See also
*
List of Chuci contents
This is a list of the sections and individual pieces contained within the ancient poetry anthology ''Chu Ci'' (), also known as ''Songs of the South'' or ''Songs of Chu'', which is an anthology of Classical Chinese poetry verse traditionally attri ...
Sources七諫
References
*
Hawkes, David, translator and introduction (2011
985
Year 985 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Summer – Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, Henry II (the Wrangler) is rest ...
. Qu Yuan ''et al.'', ''The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets''. London: Penguin Books.
{{Chinese poetry
Chinese poems