[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.22.1″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_accordion _builder_version=”3.22.1″ text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ body_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”body_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ body_text_shadow_vertical_length=”body_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ body_text_shadow_blur_strength=”body_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ toggle_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”toggle_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ toggle_text_shadow_vertical_length=”toggle_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ toggle_text_shadow_blur_strength=”toggle_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ z_index_tablet=”500″][et_pb_accordion_item _builder_version=”3.22.1″ title=”%22The Flames of War Burn in the Distant Sky%22″ link_option_url_new_window=”off” use_background_color_gradient=”off” background_color_gradient_start=”#2b87da” background_color_gradient_end=”#29c4a9″ background_color_gradient_type=”linear” background_color_gradient_direction=”180deg” background_color_gradient_direction_radial=”center” background_color_gradient_start_position=”0%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”100%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” background_size=”cover” background_position=”center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_blend=”normal” allow_player_pause=”off” background_video_pause_outside_viewport=”on” text_shadow_style=”none” text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_style=”none” box_shadow_horizontal=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_vertical=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_blur=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_spread=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ hover_transition_duration=”300ms” hover_transition_delay=”0ms” hover_transition_speed_curve=”ease”]<\/p>\n
A key theme permeating the poems of Yang Mu is that of time. InThe Flames of War<\/em>, Yang Mu describes life in Hualien during the Pacific War, but notably, the war exists only as a distant even, never truly affecting Hualien. In this poem there are three key examples that demonstrate the unchangingness of Hualien. <\/span><\/p>\n First, Yang Mu talks of the Pacific War and the distance between it and Hualien. In his words, \u201cthe flames of war burned in the distant sky, but hadn\u2019t reached my ocean, my small city, and my courtyard\u201d (4). Yang Mu further emphasizes this by explaining that Hualien was without news. That is, news, which is itself a way of measuring time (think of how people relied on daily newspapers to determine the date), is noticeably absent in Hualien. To the narrator, it is clear that the world around is changing, but Hualien is always distant, with changes only affecting it in a distant way (the slight changes in the way the Japanese occupiers acted). <\/span><\/p>\n The second way of portraying Hualien is through descriptions of the mountains and the ocean. The relationships between these large natural entities is always the same. No matter the occurrence of war or natural disaster, the mountains continue to tower over Hualien. Yang Mu goes as far as to describe the largest mountains as rivals of one another, suggesting that they are aloft of the petty concerns of the world far below them. <\/span><\/p>\n Finally, Yang Mu describes the typhoon that hits the Hualien, first in dramatic terms, but later in relatively banal ones. In doing so, he allows us to imagine the typhoon as a seemingly-intense event that is really a rather normal one, returning once every year. And after each typhoon, the inhabitants of Hualien simply returned to their routine. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item _builder_version=”3.22.1″ title=”%22An Inkling of Poetry%22″ link_option_url_new_window=”off” use_background_color_gradient=”off” background_color_gradient_start=”#2b87da” background_color_gradient_end=”#29c4a9″ background_color_gradient_type=”linear” background_color_gradient_direction=”180deg” background_color_gradient_direction_radial=”center” background_color_gradient_start_position=”0%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”100%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” background_size=”cover” background_position=”center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_blend=”normal” allow_player_pause=”off” background_video_pause_outside_viewport=”on” text_shadow_style=”none” text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_style=”none” box_shadow_horizontal=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_vertical=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_blur=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_spread=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ hover_transition_duration=”300ms” hover_transition_delay=”0ms” hover_transition_speed_curve=”ease”]<\/p>\n In another example of time as a theme, Yang Mu describes the shores of Hualien sentimentally, but ultimately with a focus on the sameness of location through time. The words themselves conjure images of waves flowing out to sea, only to return at a later date. In that poem on pages 87 though 89, Yang Mu uses the image of waves and seasons to emphasize the eternalness of Hualien, which continues to stand above the sea despite earthquakes and tsunamis. Importantly, however, these events are not a detriment to the eternal Hualien, but rather allow it to maintain the quality of sameness. Notably, on page 79, Yang Mu describes a clock that, during each quake, stopped and needed to be reset: \u201cIt ticked on, but some distant spirit disliked that way of proceeding, so with its han started an earthquake that stopped it\u201d. In a later section of the poem, Yang Mu explains that the earthquakes would often level the building of Hualien except those devoted to the gods. Although this may at first seem to religious symbolism, Yang Mu is explicit in saying that this was true of all temples and shrines, not those devoted to any one deity. He goes on to describe gods as eternal and omnipresent. We can infer from this a similar theme to that of the natural disasters and the shores of Hualien; like those other two examples, the continued existence of these shrines and temples owes itself to their eternal nature. These three sub-themes suggest a larger theme of sameness in Hualien and that, although time may seem to pass from one day to the next, an earthquake or tsunami can just as easily reset the clock for time in Hualien to begin again. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item _builder_version=”3.22.1″ title=”%22Gazing Up%22″ link_option_url_new_window=”off” use_background_color_gradient=”off” background_color_gradient_start=”#2b87da” background_color_gradient_end=”#29c4a9″ background_color_gradient_type=”linear” background_color_gradient_direction=”180deg” background_color_gradient_direction_radial=”center” background_color_gradient_start_position=”0%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”100%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” background_size=”cover” background_position=”center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_blend=”normal” allow_player_pause=”off” background_video_pause_outside_viewport=”on” text_shadow_style=”none” text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_style=”none” box_shadow_horizontal=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_vertical=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_blur=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ box_shadow_spread=”box_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ hover_transition_duration=”300ms” hover_transition_delay=”0ms” hover_transition_speed_curve=”ease”]<\/p>\n In the poem <\/span>Gazing Up<\/span><\/i> by Yang Mu, we are made to think of things not changing. The author brings about this theme of remaining the same through poetically describing images that bring this theme to life. The poem begins with the \u201cfeatures of the mountain\u201d which remain unchanged even with \u201cpiercing winds and rains\u201d. This image is extremely important in helping us grasp the theme of no change as the image of a mountain is powerful in that it is large and unchanging.<\/span><\/p>\n The theme is brought up again as the author \u201cfeels the constraint of the circularity of time.\u201d This is a quote of great significance. The idea of time being circular requires things not to change. In essence, life will occur in the same sequence. In our dimension, time is linear and goes forward; if we were to look at time from a fourth dimension, it would be a circle. We thus are \u201cconstrained\u201d in that circle as everything has happened. There would be no change.<\/span><\/p>\n Other images such as \u201cthe echo of the waves\u201d solidify this theme as they are unchanging images. This image also comes up in the trailer of the documentary clip as the speaker says, \u201cI hear an echo like the waves\u201d. In both instances, we have the same image even though it is from two different texts. The echo of waves remains the same in our minds. <\/span><\/p>\n Another image that comes up is that of the sky. In the poem and trailer, it is said, \u201cthe bluish clouds of great stillness, extending to fill the space between our heaven and earth\u201d. The description of the sky here is very stationary and unchanging. We see this as its \u201cstillness\u201d is emphasized. When we think of the sky, we usually think of blue and we know that we all look at the same sky. It is unchanging and the authors use its image to bring about the theme of no change.<\/span><\/p>\n The continued repetition of using such images also adds more to this theme. Essentially the author is not changing the way the themes are brought up (through using images such as the sea, sky and mountains). This in itself does a lot to bring out the theme as there is no change in what is being done.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_accordion_item][\/et_pb_accordion][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.22.1″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_accordion _builder_version=”3.22.1″ text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ body_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”body_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ body_text_shadow_vertical_length=”body_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ body_text_shadow_blur_strength=”body_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ toggle_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”toggle_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ toggle_text_shadow_vertical_length=”toggle_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ toggle_text_shadow_blur_strength=”toggle_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ z_index_tablet=”500″][et_pb_accordion_item _builder_version=”3.22.1″ title=”%22The Flames of War Burn in the Distant Sky%22″ link_option_url_new_window=”off” use_background_color_gradient=”off” background_color_gradient_start=”#2b87da” background_color_gradient_end=”#29c4a9″ background_color_gradient_type=”linear” background_color_gradient_direction=”180deg” background_color_gradient_direction_radial=”center” background_color_gradient_start_position=”0%” background_color_gradient_end_position=”100%” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on” background_size=”cover” background_position=”center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_blend=”normal” allow_player_pause=”off” background_video_pause_outside_viewport=”on” text_shadow_style=”none” text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2702,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pair-scribes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2702"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2378"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2425,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2378\/revisions\/2425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}