Whence Comes the Wind? Transformations of the Concept of <i>Fengyu</i> 諷諭 from Admonition and Instruction to Analogy and Satire

Abstract The ancestral peoples of China long ago recognized two major characteristics of wind: its local nature and its ability to guide or lead things. From this understanding, they developed “wind” as a metaphor for the dissemination of virtue, extending its meaning to that of influence and transmission. Based on these natural attributes, the “Great Preface to the Classic of Poetry” identifies as dual functions of poetry (comprising most prominently the airs or “winds” of the individual states [guofeng 國風]) (a) the civilizing or edification of the people and (b) the admonishment of the ruler, serving as a unique cultural resource for communication between upper and lower social classes. Through this, “wind” became imbued with poetic significance, and such politicoethical concepts as “wind admonition or remonstrance,” which was commonly used by writers of the Han dynasty, also gained certain poetic implications. Subsequently, Zheng Xuan (127–200) integrated the Han-era concept of “five admonitions follow indirect admonition” with the idea of analogy based in the classical terminology of comparison or simile (bi 比) and stimulus or metaphor (xing 興), forming “admonition by analogy.” This theory, which emphasizes the political and educational aspects as well as the rhetorical nature of poetry, exerted broad influence during the medieval period. Bai Juyi (772–846) further introduced the concept of “satirical poetry,” emphasizing that poetic language should be direct while further highlighting the political and didactic functions of poetry, positions that contrasted sharply with the “wind admonition” interpretation that had dominated the traditional study of the Classic of Poetry. These two perspectives together constitute different orientations of the theory of fengyu as admonition with instruction or metaphor that arose in the Song and Ming dynasties.