Vol. 1 (1961)
ISSN 1991-7295
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
ORASHKB and author
36
The next example is from Li Po, who, having been a knight errant himself, naturally eulogized them in his poetry. In his "Song of the Knight Errant", he describes a knight thus:
The man from the North wears a tasselled hat
And a curved sword as bright as frost or snow.
His silver saddle shines on his white steed
On which he rides as fast as a shooting star.
He can kill anyone within ten paces
And will not stop till he has gone a thousand miles. Shaking the dust from his clothes, he goes into hiding,
To shroud in secret his person and his name.
After mentioning two famous knights of antiquity, the poet concludes:
After death, their chivalrous bones are fragrant;
They can compare with any heroes in the world. Who cares to imitate the pedantic scholar
Writing books until his hair grows white?
In another poem he again says:
It is better to be a knight errant than a scholar:
What is the good of studying hard when your hair
is turning white?12
Finally, a poem by Chia Tao (A.D. 777-841), which seems to me to sum up the spirit of knight errantry in four lines:
The Swordsman
This sword I have been polishing for ten years;
Its frosty edge has never been put to the test.
Now that I've shown it to you, pray tell me:
Is there anyone suffering from injustice?*
But the richest fruits of chivalric literature are naturally to be found not in poetry but in fiction. Among the romances in classical prose of the T'ang period, we find many tales of chivalry. Apart from their generally high literary standard, these tales are remarkable for two interesting features: first, in many of them, a supernatural element is introduced; secondly, we encounter as many female hsia, or chivalrous ladies, as knights. The story of Hung Hsien is a typical example. Hung Hsien, or "Red Cotton", was a maid in the household of Hsüeh Sung, the military governor of Lu-chou, in the T'ang dynasty. She was a skillful p'i-pa player
11 Li T'ai-po shih-chi, chüan 3, 31.
12 Ibid., chüan 3, 14.
13 Ch'üan T'ang shih, chüan 571. (In the Peking, 1960 edition, p. 6618).
Vol. 1 (1961)
ISSN 1991-7295
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
ORASHKB and author
36
The next example is from Li Po, who, having been a knight errant himself, naturally eulogized them in his poetry. In his "Song of the Knight Errant", he describes a knight thus:
The man from the North wears a tasselled hat And a curved sword as bright as frost or snow.
His silver saddle shines on his white steed
On which he rides as fast as a shooting star.
He can kill anyone within ten paces
And will not stop till he has gone a thousand miles. Shaking the dust from his clothes, he goes into hiding, To shroud in secret his person and his name.
After mentioning two famous knights of antiquity, the poet con- cludes:
After death, their chivalrous bones are fragrant; They can compare with any heroes in the world. Who cares to imitate the pedantic scholar Writing books until his hair grows white? "
In another poem he again says:
It is better to be a knight errant than a scholar: What is the good of studying hard when your hair
is turning white? 12
Finally, a poem by Chia Tao (A.D. 777-841), which seems to me to sum up the spirit of knight errantry in four lines:
The Swordsman
This sword I have been polishing for ten years; Its frosty edge has never been put to the test. Now that I've shown it to you, pray tell me: Is there anyone suffering from injustice? "*
But the richest fruits of chivalric literature are naturally to be found not in poetry but in fiction. Among the romances in classical prose of the T'ang period, we find many tales of chivalry. Apart from their generally high literary standard, these tales are remarkable for two interesting features: first, in many of them, a supernatural element is introduced; secondly, we encounter as many female hsia, or chivalrous ladies, as knights. The story of Hung Hsien is a typical example. Hung Hsien, or "Red Cotton", was a maid in the household of Hsüeh Sung, the military governor of Lu-chou, in the T'ang dynasty. She was a skillful p'i-pa player
11 Li T'ai-po shih-chi, chüan 3, 31.
12 Ibid., chian 3, 14.
13 Ch'üan T'ang shih, chuan 571. (In the Peking, 1960 edition, p. 6618).
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