116 CHINESE POETRY AND ITS CONNOTATIONS 



life they led, the clothes they wore, and the occupations in 

 which they took pleasure. 



Deep respect was of course paid to the elders of the 

 family who were dutifully attended on all occasions by their 

 sons, daughters, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. 



The men of a wealthy family were as a rule of official 

 rank, they led, therefore, a life in touch with the outer world, 

 «, life of social intercourse with other men in which friendship 

 played an all engrossing part. This characteristic of Chinese 

 life, this intimate friendship between men is one of the most 

 striking features of the poetic background. Love poems 

 from men to women are so rare as to be almost non-existent, 

 but poems of grief written by men at parting from the "man 

 one loves" are innumerable. Li T'ai Po in writing to the 

 famous courtesan Hsieh Tao addresses her as though she 

 were a fellow man, and a friend. To sit with ones friends 

 sipping wine and humming verses, making music or playing 

 chess, were the favorite pastimes in the glorious days of 

 T'ang, while to retire from the world completely and live 

 in communion with Nature was the ideal which every scholar 

 hoped, in time, to realize. 



The use of wine was general and although it was un- 

 doubtedly often mis-used, it is probable that this misuse has 

 been exaggerated. 



The Chinese word "tsui," which is, as a rule, translated 

 in the colloquial as "drunk, " as used in Chinese poetry, desig- 

 nates a state of "stimulation" produced by the controlled use of 

 wine . " Ta tsui ' ' (big tsui) means drunk , no longer natural ; con- 

 trol is lost. "Chen tsui" means drunk, unable to move; still 

 conscious and able to talk, but talking nonsense; the "Chen" 

 means "sunk like a stone." "Lan tsui" (rotten tsui) is 

 stronger than "Chen tsui;" a person does not know where 

 they are, they cannot speak; they are not conscious, but 

 "dead drunk," like a dead person. "Ku'ang tsui" (mad dog 

 tsui) means crazy with drink; violent and disorderly. These 

 states, however, the poets seldom reach as, of course, did 

 they do so, their object in drinking wine would not be 

 attained. 



"What is the object? It is to key the sense to that pitch 

 when all the sights and sounds of nature are .most keenly 

 appreciated, when the poet feels a veritable ecstasy at the 

 sight of flowers and birds, moonlight and the setting or rising 

 sun. Li T'ai-po's exquisite little poem, which follows, per- 

 fectly describes the state. It has been translated more than 

 once, but one can perhaps appreciate more exactly what the 

 poet means if one studies the text with a Chinese scholar 

 who loves poetry. 



