Saying A and meaning B - Several examples of double layer literature

Poetry is a very flexible medium of expression. In China, it was not uncommon for a poet to use his poems to express all kinds of thoughts and feeling. Some of these thoughts and feelings could even get him in trouble if the wrong person heard of them. For this reason, many poets in ancient China would say one thing in their poems, but mean something else entirely. They would say "A" but mean "B".

Examples

Here are some well known examples of this sort of "Dual literature".

"Huge Rat"

In the Classic of Poetry, for example, Poem #113 "Huge Rat" is a good example of this sort of "dual literature". The poem speaks of a huge rat that is eating all the food and the desire of the people to get away from it.

"Huge Rat"

Huge rat, huge rat,

eat my millet no more,

for three years I've fed you,

yet you pay me no heed.

I swear that I will leave you

and go to a happier land.

A happy land, a happy land,

and there I will find my place.

Huge rat, huge rat,

eat my wheat no more,

for three years I've fed you

and you show no gratitude.

I swear that I will leave you

and go to a happier realm.

A happy realm, a happy realm,

and there I will find what I deserve.

Huge rat, huge rat,

eat my sprouts no more,

for three years I've fed you,

and you won't reward my toil.

I swear that I will leave you

and go to happy meadows.

Happy meadows, happy meadows,

where none need wail and cry. (Owen, 52)

In this poem the "rat" can mean many things. Originally, it was believed to mean the army. The soldiers were there to "protect" the people, but all they did was sit around eating all the food. They were useless to the people and, no doubt, the people wished they could somehow get rid of them. All the people in the village knew exactly who (or what) the "Huge rat" was, but, the "rat" had no idea. In this way, the people could express their dissatisfaction safely.

"I Watered My Horse at a Spring by the Wall: Imitating the Old Ballad"

In the early 7th century, Yu shi-nan wrote this poem. The last couplet of it refers to a story from the life of Han Xin, one of the important generals of the early Han Dynasty. Before he was famous, when he was still young, he was once running for his life. An old washer woman took him and fed him. This story came to mean that a debt of gratitude was owed. Tang soldiers were said to always seek to repay the emperor for his favor towards them. (Owen, 461)

"I Watered My Horse at a Spring by the Wall: Imitating the Old Ballad"

We galloped our horses across river's edge,

the current was deep, the crossing hard.

We met the Envoy ahead in his silk-hung rig:

"The Lord Protector is now in Lou-lan!"

The light horse keep their mounts bridled,

while decoy troops uncinch their saddles.

Hot springs send down steep mountain streams,

plank walkways connect the sheer ridges.

They have taken land, deeds still unrewarded;

if they lose a fort, the law shows no mercy.

There is moonlight, but the passes still are dark;

all through spring the Long region stays cold.

The sky overcast, there are no more shadows;

ice covers the river, hard currents unheard.

In my thoughts is my Lord; I cannot meet him,

yet by this I may repay him for a single meal. (Owen, pp460)

Selling Tattered Peonies

In the mid-ninth century, Yu Xuan-ji wrote this poem. In the poem, the seller is selling peonies. In this time, it was common to use a flower to represent a woman. In this poem, Yu Xuan-ji, over twenty years old and considered past her prime, figuratively "sells herself."

"Selling Tattered Peonies"

Facing the wind, my sighs are stirred

at the flurry of falling flowers,

unnoticed, their sweetness melts away,

one more spring goes by.

I'm sure it's because the price is high

that no one wants them,

And due to their overpowering scent

butterflies won't draw nigh.

Blooms of red that are fit to grow

in the palace compound alone--

how can those azure leaves endure

to be stained by dust of the road?

A day will come when their roots are moved

to the park of the Emperor,

and then my prince will have bitter regret

that he has no way to buy. (Owen pp509)

References

Owen, Stephen. "An anthology of Chinese Literature Beginnings to 1911". New York, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1996.