New Sources of Han Verse

Abstract

Manuscripts excavated and looted from tombs in recent decades have greatly enriched our understanding of Western Han verse. Some of these documents have been designated by scholars as poems, and a few have even been assigned to particular poetic genres. In this article, however, I am less concerned with sorting texts into neat formal or generic categories and more interested in exploring the range of texts and contexts in which verse was employed. To that end, I introduce, analyze, and at least partially translate five new or little-known texts retrieved from various Western Han sites that make extensive use of rhyme and metrical rhythm: *Xiangma jing 相馬經 from Mawangdui M3, Tang Le 唐勒 from Yin- queshan M1, Wang Ji 妄稽 and Fan yin 反淫 from the looted Peking University manuscript corpus, and *Daowang fu 悼亡賦 from Haihunhou M1. Some of these documents are very similar to sources in the transmitted literature, while others are quite different from any verse previously known from the period. Taken together, however, they greatly enhance our understanding of the different ways verse functioned in various Western Han cultural contexts.