The article explores the cultural importance and literary legacy of Zuo Si's "Baifa fu" or "Rhapsody on White Hair." In this playful piece, Zuo Si expressed his own hostility towards the idea of going grey, voicing an agist perspective in which he denigrated those who appear visibly aged and expressed his conviction that contemporary Chinese society was entirely youth-focused. Presenting a contrasting view, his white hairs speak up for themselves, claiming that they represent positive values such as wisdom and experience. This extraordinary work of literature, in which the poet argues with a body part, was a very unusual form of writing which inspired little further imitation. Despite this, the "Rhapsody on White Hair" proved enormously influential in establishing the vocabulary and key tropes which many subsequent generations of literati would use to discuss their feelings about aging. This article explores the cultural context in which Zuo Si wrote, addressing the wider issues of conflicting strategies towards dealing with white hair (including plucking and dyeing), and the complex reactions which they evoked as a very visible sign of aging.
The idea of "Pacing the Void" (buxu (sic)(sic)) has a rich textual legacy in early Daoist sources and a lengthy "Pacing the Void" hymn holds a prominent place in the Numinous Treasure (Lingbao (sic) (sic)) ritual program. Yu Xin (sic)(sic) (513-581), famed poet and statesman of the Liang (sic)(502-557) and the Northern Zhou (sic)(sic) (557-581), was the first author to adapt this hymn and craft his own version that drew on its structure, sensibilities, and rhythms. While scholars have long noted Yu's poems in the development of the "Roaming in Transcendence" (youxian (sic)(sic)) literary mode and the Chinese literary tradition, few, if any, have attended to them with any scrutiny. A series of ten poems that contains a labyrinth of allusions to a variety of texts, stories, images, and ideas, Yu Xin's "Buxu ci" (sic)(sic)(sic) was part of ongoing discussions regarding the role of religion and state-sponsorship at the Northern Zhou court, where Lingbao Daoism held a prominent place. In composing the poems, Yu Xin, as I argue, turned to Lingbao Daoist scriptures and ideology to portray Emperor Wu as a messianic figure poised to unify the north and south. This paper addresses the Lingbao Daoist threads running throughout the poems and offers a reading of the significance of the poems during a time of fierce religious debate.
