Chu Shun Shui's Writing of Political Exile and the "Roaming in the Korakuen Garden Fu" 朱舜水與遊後樂園賦

THIS TALK WILL BE IN CHINESE ONLY.

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Professor Yu-yu Cheng, the Chair Professor of Chinese literature at National Taiwan University, is devoted to developing pioneering and interdisciplinary interpretations of Chinese classical literature by combining the Eastern and Western humanistic thoughts. She is well-known internationally for her discourses of space, body, and the lyrical tradition in Chinese literature.

The subject of Dr. Cheng's talk, "Roaming in the Korakuen Garden Fu", was completed in Zhu's 5th year in Edo, and displays a pleasing, comfortable tone. In this Fu, Zhu appropriated prosperous and glorious scenes from the "Imperial Fu (上林賦)" in order to express the political influences and cultural contributions of the Mito School (水戶學派) that Zhu lead in Japan. The framework of the Great Fu style is clearly distinct from most other writings of exiles, such as "Sorrow of the song Shu-li (黍離之悲)" or "Looked at each other and wept at Hsin-ting (新亭對泣)", which cannot shake off images of poverty and difficulty. In contrast to such images of destitution, homelessness, and homesickness, "Roaming in the Korakuen Fu" opened a window for the future on an exile, and the splendor that followed when he experienced, then overcame, the enigma of personal death and political piety.