"Ritual Music: Striking the Fou"
The sound of striking the fou rises,ritual music begins,
Within the hall,desolate and cold, the long stairs stern.
Its lingering notes,faint and soft to hear,
Echo through the deep palace,resonating clear.
Torchlights advance slowly before the hall,
A monarch sits with authority,central to all.
The warrior halts his step,proceeds with rite,
Kowtows with utmost respect,bowing in his sight.
"The Hall Inquiry Answered"
For ten years,within the great hall, none beyond a hundred paces,
No one has drawn near to speak with me,the solitary one.
Assassins run rampant,wished gone yet they return,
Armor unbuckled,sleep is hard to come by at night.
You have rid me of this scourge,for Qin slain the foe,
What reward do you wish?Speak, for eliminating this blight.
The warrior hears the words,bows with courtesy and might,
Seeks no reward or title,only the monarch's safety, his plight.
Source of the poems: DeepSeek
Analysis as follows:
Okay, I will analyze these two poems in conjunction with the plot of Zhang Yimou's film Hero, providing an in-depth critique. The main contents of the essay are as follows:
· "Ritual Music: Striking the Fou": The Aesthetic Construction of a Power Field: Analyze the construction of power space in the poem, the ideological function of ritual music symbols, and the visual relationship between the individual and power.
· "The Hall Inquiry Answered": Dialogue and Choice at the Core of Power: Explore the portrayal of the King of Qin's loneliness and the predicament of power, the transformation and transcendence of the assassin's identity, and the dialogic nature of the "All Under Heaven" concept.
· Intertextuality of the Two Poems and Deep Connection with Hero: Analyze the common ground between the two poems and the film from three perspectives: spatial narrative and power discourse, body politics and discipline/resistance, and the poetic transformation of visual aesthetics.
· Cultural Significance and Contemporary Reverberations of Hero: Examine the historical reconstruction and controversies in the film and poems, as well as the aesthetic innovation and ideological limitations of the wuxia genre.
Next, I will begin writing the main body of the essay.
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Power, the Individual, and All Under Heaven: A Poetic Interpretation of "Ritual Music: Striking the Fou" and "The Hall Inquiry Answered" in Zhang Yimou's Hero
Zhang Yimou's 2002 wuxia masterpiece Hero was not only the pioneer of China's blockbuster film era but also a profound artistic exploration of history, power, and personal sacrifice. Through极致 formal aesthetics and a multi-layered narrative structure, the film constructs a complex allegory about the ideal of 'All Under Heaven' (Tianxia) versus personal emotions. The two poems, "Ritual Music: Striking the Fou" and "The Hall Inquiry Answered," are like crystallized imagery flowing directly from the silver screen, capturing the most震撼 moments of the film with condensed language – the majesty of the court, the loneliness of power, the assassin's choice. This article will delve into the intrinsic connections between these two poems and the film Hero, exploring the dialectical relationship between power, the individual, and 'All Under Heaven' contained within.
1 "Ritual Music: Striking the Fou": The Aesthetic Construction of a Power Field
1.1 Construction of Power Space and Atmosphere Rendering
"Ritual Music: Striking the Fou" opens with "The sound of striking the fou rises, ritual music begins, / Within the hall, desolate and cold, the long stairs stern." These two lines instantly unfold a picture of a solemn and awe-inspiring court before our eyes. These few words accurately capture the magnificent spectacle of the Qin palace hall in Hero – the endless stairs, towering palace walls, and stern guards collectively construct a power space that inspires awe. In the film, as Nameless slowly enters the Qin palace, ministers in black robes stand solemnly like statues on either side, the entire space permeated with a stifling sense of intimidation. This visual presentation is not merely for spectacle but is a physical manifestation of the power structure.
The lines "Its lingering notes, faint and soft to hear, / Echo through the deep palace, resonating clear" reinforce the depth and oppression of the space through the description of sound. In Hero, Nameless's approach to the King is deliberately prolonged; the sound of footsteps, breathing echoing in the空旷 palace creates a sense of ritualized solemnity. This interaction of sound and space is not only a depiction of the physical environment but also a metaphor for the intangible force of power – just as the sound of the fou reverberates through the palace, power also permeates every corner of society.
"Torchlights advance slowly before the hall, / A monarch sits with authority, central to all" further shifts the focus from space to the core of power – the King of Qin. In the film, the King is always portrayed as a shadow, distant from the crowd, perched high on the throne; only when Nameless approaches within ten paces does his features gradually become visible. This visual design is precisely like the hint of "Torchlights advance slowly" in the poem – power is both visible ("sits with authority") and untouchable (the torchlights are朦胧), both revealed and concealed, constituting the duality of power's charisma.
1.2 Ritual Music as a Power Symbol and Its Ideological Function
The title "Ritual Music: Striking the Fou" and its first line point directly to an important historical and cultural symbol – the fou. According to historical records, the fou was an ancient earthenware percussion instrument, originally a food vessel later developed into a musical instrument. In the "Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru," the famous incident of the "King of Qin striking the fou" is recorded: During the Meeting of Mianchi, the King of Qin coerced the King of Zhao to play the se to humiliate Zhao, but Lin Xiangru, threatening to spill blood within five paces, forced the King of Qin to strike the fou in return. This historical anecdote赋予了 "striking the fou" a special cultural connotation – it is both a form of musical performance and, in a specific context, a symbol of power humiliation.
In Hero, Zhang Yimou does not directly present a scene of striking the fou, but the strict court rituals, the uniform queues of guards, all fulfill a function similar to "ritual music" – displaying the majesty and order of power through ritualized behavior. The neat ranks of civil and military officials in the court, the mechanical, synchronized movements of the guards, and even the strict symmetry of the palace architecture constitute a giant "field of ritual music," conveying power's discipline over the individual through visual uniformity.