Roman Jakobson's Interpretation of the Symmetries of the Chinese Tonal Pattern

LI Guohui

doi:10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236212

Volume 6 Issue 2

Jun. 2023

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LI Guohui. Roman Jakobson's Interpretation of the Symmetries of the Chinese Tonal Pattern[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2023, 6(2): 176-190. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236212

Citation:

LI Guohui. Roman Jakobson's Interpretation of the Symmetries of the Chinese Tonal Pattern[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2023, 6(2): 176-190. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236212

LI Guohui. Roman Jakobson's Interpretation of the Symmetries of the Chinese Tonal Pattern[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2023, 6(2): 176-190. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236212

Citation:

LI Guohui. Roman Jakobson's Interpretation of the Symmetries of the Chinese Tonal Pattern[J]. International Comparative Literature, 2023, 6(2): 176-190. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236212

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Roman Jakobson's Interpretation of the Symmetries of the Chinese Tonal Pattern

doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20236212

LI Guohui^,

Taizhou University

Received Date: 2023-04-07
Accepted Date: 2023-05-15

Abstract

Abstract

Russian linguist Roman Jakobson, in his 1966 "The Modular Design of Chinese Regulated Verse," interpreted the Chinese Tonal Patterns by means of his symmetry theory, and found the arrangements of lines which were not completely understood by Chinese prosodists. These are:symmetry reflexive, antisymmetry and reflexive antisymmetry. Reflexive antisymmetry was influenced by the conception of Mirror Reflection that was advocated by Chinese scientist Chen-Ning Yang, by which one can switch matter and antimatter. Yu-kung Kao, a successor of Jakobson, borrowed the notion "mirror image" from the latter in his essay "The Aesthetics of Regulated Verse." Soon afterwards, Ching-hsien Wang, in the entry for "Chinese poetry" in the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, brought forward the idea of "mirror effect." Although these researches were scientific and accurate, they were not the real and historical interpretation. Ancient Chinese poets, unable to grasp the symmetry theory of quantum mechanics, could construct meter only with intuitive experiences. In respect to cultural origin, the dualism of Yin and Yang in Yijing corresponds to the dualism of Ping and Ze in Chinese prosody; the Contrast Eight Diagrams (对卦) and Reverse Eight Diagrams (覆卦) correspond with the symmetry of regular verse. Chinese poets could draw direct impressions of the Contrast and Reverse Eight Diagrams respectively from the change from Qian (乾) to Kun (坤), and from Zhun (屯) to Meng (蒙). The rule of Coalescence (粘连), in fact, is a combination of changes of the Contrast Eight Diagrams and Reverse Eight Diagrams. The Tonal Pattern is not merely an imitation of Sanskrit meter. On the contrary, richly assimilating ideas of change from the Eight Diagrams, it embodies native aesthetical principles. In contrast with Jakobson's abstract and remote answer, the Chinese native interpretation is more valuable, and more in line with historical fact.
- Tonal Pattern,
- mirror image,
- Roman Jakobson,
- Yijing

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References(21)

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