The Disabling Word: Philology and Working With the Chuci (Stephen Owen) —— Reflections on the Event

  In early April, Professor Stephen Owen delivered a speech entitled “The Disabling Word: Philology and Working with the Chuci” at the College of Liberal Arts, National Taiwan University. The auditorium was packed with an audience eager to hear Professor Owen speak, prompting him to express his surprise: “I could not have imagined that ‘philology’ could be that attractive to so many people!”

  Professor Owen selected two pieces from the Chuci (Songs of the South) for analysis: “Lisao” (“Encountering Sorrow”) from the pre-Qin era and “Xisong” (“Declaration of Regrets”) from the Han dynasty. He highlighted a common misconception that classical Chinese is a fixed language, pointing out that the meaning of words can vary across different contexts. Essentially, each word exists withing its own ecosystem, evolving over time. For example, the Han commentator Wang Yi repeatedly used the term zhong (loyalty) to portray Qu Yuan, to whom he attributed the authorship of “Lisao”. While Wang seeks to portray Qu Yuan as a banished loyal official, the original text of “Lisao” never once mentions the word “loyalty.”

  Through his meticulous linguistic analysis, Professor Owen addressed several long-standing critical questions in Chuci studies, including the authorship of specific passages and the historicity of Qu Yuan himself. Notably, Professor Owen emphasized the powerful motif of “flying” as a shared theme between “Lisao” and “Xisong,” observing that the author of “Xisong” was familiar with “Lisao” and incorporated this imagery into his own work. However, as a Han official constrained by Confucian rituals, the author of “Xisong” was metaphorically unable to “fly,” suggesting a lack of personal subjectivity and agency.

  In his concluding remarks, Professor Owen made the sobering observation that once an era ends, its unique forms of writing can never be fully recreated, no matter how hard subsequent writers try. The speech sparked a lively discussion among the audience, with attendees from diverse backgrounds eagerly offering feedback and raising questions. Dean Cheng Yu-yu of the College of Liberal Arts underscored how Professor Owen’s insights had significantly broadened the audience’s understanding of the Chuci. She urged listeners to consider not only the specific words shared between “Xisong” and “Lisao,” but also the entire conceptual language system revealed in “Lisao” that had disappeared in the later work. In doing so, Cheng suggested, we can recognize that language is not an obstacle to comprehension, but rather an invaluable partner in the analysis and interpretation of literature.

Record by Hsienmin Chu