The Double Plot of T'ao-Hua Shan

K'UNG SHANG-JEN CL() ff (1648-1718) revitalized an effective technique of classical poetics in his renowned vernacular play, T'ao-hua shan Wit(L . The interaction of two major motifs in a single composition, ever since Ch'u Yuan's iS J# Li sao MR, creates a process that allows each to illuminate the other in an incremental manner. Politics and love are entwined, imagistically, throughout the plot of Ch'u Yuan's poignant song. The thematic intent of one motif contributes to identifying what the other purports to mean. No student of classical poetry would understand Li sao correctly without constantly checking the two motifs in reciprocity or, better, reading the one against the other as backdrop, and vice versa. In the prelude to his play, K'ung Shang-jen has the old Master of Ceremonies, who seems to impersonate the dramatist himself, define the method of T'ao-hua shan as follows

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