Poetic Musings: Great Wall Haiku by Chen-ou Liu

both sides
of the Great Wall ...
summer grass

Honorable Mention, 23rd Mainichi Haiku Contest, 2019

Chen-ou Liu

Commentary by Leanne Mumford: The Great Wall has a long history that offers rich symbolism to readers familiar with Chinese culture ...there's the potential for a strong vertical axis 1 for certain readers. It's also likely well-known to many readers who aren't familiar with all the historical associations. It's a long structure, passing through different climatic regions of China, including quite arid areas.
 

The fragment, "summer grass," alludes to Basho's summer grasses/ all that's left/ of warriors' dreams (natsukusa ya/ tsuwamonodomo ga/ yume no ato) 2 from Okunohosomichi (Narrow Road to the Deep North) at Hiraizumi. I'm sure that Liu has used it intentionally, so I have to consider what elements of Basho's poem might be relevant - the dreams that weren't fulfilled, the soldiers' lives, the aftermath of battle...

I'm thinking that perhaps the connection between the two parts is that all the military efforts associated with the Great Wall in the end were fruitless. A lot of people died on both sides - defenders and invaders, and their various dreams, together with those of their commanders/leaders vanished. Now the Great Wall is a tourist attraction, and its history is somewhat forgotten. But this reading could be strongly coloured by my two tourist visits to the Great Wall sections close to Beijing quite some decades ago now.

A further consideration is that the leaders who ordered construction of the Great Wall have vanished into the mists of time, and their visions for the empire also. In the same way, eventually the current regime in China will disappear ... current leaders and their dreams will die. In the context of the situation in Hong Kong, and its implications for Taiwan, it's hard to avoid considering a political reading. It seems that the one country, two systems situation won't last, though how it will be resolved remains to be seen.
 

Notes: 

1 For more information about the importance of both the horizontal and vertical axis of meaning in quality haiku, see To the Lighthouse: Two-Axis Haiku -- See and Think beyond the "Haiku Moment"

2 For further discussion on Basho's haiku, see Poetic Musings: Summer Grass Haiku by Basho