Author ｜
Pin-gui Liang
Abstract ｜
Chazan Kan’s works on the theme of war or borderlands can be observed to develop along two parallel trajectories. One trajectory is the adoption and continuation of the existing Chinese poetic images and allusions, in a manner akin to the works of Chinese poets. Through various forms of multiple imaginations, such as nationalistic fiction, geographical fiction, and narrative perspectives, Kan achieves works similar to those of Chinese poets. However, the focus of Kan’s works subtly shifts from the assertion of loyalty to the nation, which is absent in works set in a Chinese context, to praising the mutual assistance between sovereign and ministers, which appears in works set in a Japanese context. The other trajectory is the active integration of local elements, with the addition of new elements expanding the boundaries and borders beyond China’s neighboring countries to include Japan as the core. The outward perspective shifts from the Great Wall to the maritime domain. Furthermore, local history is integrated to deepen the range of applicable historical events. These phenomena demonstrate that Kan has brought new changes to this type of subject matter, and that Japanese Chinese poetry has not only become a part of the refined and cultured society, but also an important medium for reflecting the state of Japan’s contemporary situation and ideas.
keywords ｜
Chazan Kan, Yellow Leaves and Sunset Village Poems,frontier poems, war, imagination