Melancholic and monastic: moss as a symbol in Chinese literature

1 Introduction

Moss, a negligible thing in the eyes of most Westerners, is a distinctive and important symbol which cannot be neglected in Chinese literature. The complete library in the four branches of literature (四库全书), the most comprehensive collection of books in Chinese history, which was compiled in the Qing dynasty, contains more than 2,000 classical Chinese poems either about mosses or displaying images of mosses, in addition to numerous novels, legends, and literary sketches offering relevant descriptions. In addition, the designers and creators of classical Chinese gardens and Japanese bonsai gardens have developed special methods of nurturing mosses and using it to build Arcadian scenes. Throughout history, Chinese ink painters such as Ni Zan (倪瓒), Zhao Mengfu (赵孟頫), Wang Meng (王蒙), and Shi Tao(石涛) used “moss-dot” strokes to represent vegetation in landscape settings. Yet, compared to the numerous artistic creations on/about mosses, the academic research on mosses is scarce. That is why the six-volume record, Tai Pu (苔谱 ‘The book on moss’), edited by Wang Xian (汪宪) of the Qing dynasty, is the documentary foundation of this research. As a special genre of Chinese record, Pu (谱) categorizes relevant documents on given objects and contains very few comments by the editor, if at all. In Tai Pu, the functions of mosses in Chinese medical science are introduced, and poems and Ci poetry about mosses are listed. In this sense, Tai Pu is no more than a detailed list of where and when mosses in Chinese ancient documents are mentioned. In 2011 and 2012, Jianfeng Li conducted the first systematic academic analysis of moss in Chinese classic literature, in which he points out that moss carries complementary symbolic meanings: loneliness and contented happiness, love, grief, and self-esteem.^[1] Yet, such studies fail to look into how these complementary meanings are generated under the influence of Chinese philosophy and folk culture, which is to be discussed by this paper.

Despite the importance of mosses in Chinese literature and art, however, research on this aesthetic tradition faces a big challenge arising from terminology, or at least from the translation of terms. Different from the clear and scientific definition of “moss” in English, “taixian” (苔藓 ‘mosses’) in Chinese is an ambivalent, loose term indicating any small, flowerless, leaf-stemmed plant, such as moss, algae, or liverwort. This is what needs to be clarified at the beginning of the discussion, for in the following analysis of classic works, some examples involving alternatives of “taixian” will also be mentioned. It can be seen that in poetry, such plants which are mistakenly regarded as “moss” convey similar meanings to it and are also a part of the aesthetic tradition of mosses in literature.

2 Moss in Chinese folk culture

Influenced by Taoism, which takes the triad of Qi (气), Yin (阴) and Yang (阳) as the basic components of the universe, Chinese folk philosophy developed systematic rules for how things and creatures in the same or similar categories, including humans, interact via Qi. The theory of the five elements (五行思想) holds that the elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth constitute the world. This model originates from the principles of ancient astronomy (Liu 2004: 35). Within this framework, the five elements of any subsystem reinforce, neutralize, and/or counteract each other and interact with homologous elements in other subsystems. In traditional Chinese medicine, for example, natural things used medically each have four features (四性): coolness, hotness, warmth, and coldness, with a neutralized hidden item, mildness, which respectively correspond to wood, fire, earth, water, and metal. These five elements, originating from either Yin or Yang, reinforce or counteract each other, forming the dynamic interconnections that underpin the universe. Any object that interacts with other elements can become a sign of Yin or Yang, with a balance between Yin and Yang as the ideal state of the world.

The mutual relationships between the five natures and the four features are illustrated below (Figure 1). As shown in Figure 1, water reinforces wood, wood reinforces fire, fire reinforces earth, earth reinforces metal, and metal reinforces water, whereas water counteracts fire, fire counteracts metal, metal counteracts wood, wood counteracts earth, and earth counteracts water. Under these mutual influences and interactions, the “natures” and “features” of an object can be altered and turned into signs of Yin or Yang. For example, Ben Cao Gang Mu Bie Lu (本草纲目别录) records that “watery moss is cold in nature,” whereas dry moss is hot (Li 2003a: 21). As water is linked with coldness, watery moss as a medicine is cold in nature and therefore used to treat diseases arising from abnormal heat in the body. Since coldness is categorized as Yin and hotness as Yang, the proper use of moss as a remedy strikes a balance between Yin and Yang, thereby alleviating the sufferer’s symptoms. This balance-making function of mosses as medicine originates from and corresponds with the idea “Unity of Heaven and Man,” which regards the human body as a small cosmos that harmoniously coexists and interacts with everything in the natural environment between heaven and earth and completes it.

Figure 1:

The mutual relationships between the five natures and the four features (image adapted from Jain 2022).

The compendium of materia medica also provides detailed descriptions of how moss functions as a cold-natured element capable of curing diseases; it is “the essence of water and turns green due to the effects of the sun and wind over time. It is incubated between Yin and Yang, and so can offset their countervailing effect. As a medicine, it can eliminate heat within the body and coordinate the functioning of internal organs. The smell of moss also benefits patients” (Li 2003b, Vol. 21).^[2] In addition, moss growing on walls is said to cure nosebleeds in Jing-yue complete works (景岳全书); to treat Rhus dermatitis in Prescriptions for universal relief (普济方); and to restore the proper circulation of the blood and heal erysipelas in Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment (证治准绳) (qtd. in Wang 1977, Vol. 2). Rooted in folk beliefs as these works may be, they all take coldness as the key medical feature of moss and thus claim that moss can be used to cure disorders arising from body heat. Such records shed light on how objects in nature are endowed with attributes by cultural convention. This cultural embodiment is manifested even more strongly in the literary symbolism of moss.

3 Moss in literature: complementary symbolic meanings

In Tai Pu, the editor Wang Xian opens a chapter entitled “The general description of moss” (总叙苔) by observing that “moss grows in humid places because humidity facilitates its propagation. First, spots and specks of moss are found, which gradually take on a green halo. Later, piles of moss accumulate like dust scattered on the ground. Over time, the moss gently takes root, making it possible to climb trees, brick walls, and pedestals”’ (Tai Pu, Vol. 1). In Chinese culture, humidity is an element of Yin, so moss is also categorized as Yin. Accordingly, the use of expressions such as “humid places,” “spots and specks,” “dust,” and “gently” in the description above implies that moss is indistinct and insubstantial. The habitat of moss also lacks substance. Therefore, in poems of royal women’s complaint, moss is used as a literary image in the background, embodying plaintiveness and sentimentality in contrast with the resplendent and magnificent palace.

According to Jianfeng Li, moss made its debut as a literary symbol in the poem “Complaints of Jieyu” (婕妤怨) by Lu Ji (陆机):

Jieyu falls into disfavor, and the emperor no longer pays her visits.

She lingers beside the jade stairs, in winter her round silk fan gathers dust.

Mossy steps look dim in spring, the high palace and grasses are bleak in autumn.

At sunset the footprints are rare, on her plaintive face there are drizzling tears.

婕妤去辞宠,  淹留终不见。

寄情在玉阶,  托意唯团扇。

春苔暗阶除,  秋草芜高殿。

黄昏履綦绝,  愁来空雨面。

(Lu 1958: 6)

The images of jade stairs and a round silk fan are common in ancient poems of royal women’s complaint. Moss growing on stone steps is a euphemism for the lack of visits paid to Jieyu by the emperor and others. The image of crystal jade stairs covered by green moss suggests that Jieyu has been separated from her lover, or possibly confined to her own palace, for a long time, magnifying her sorrow and loneliness. As mentioned above, moss is categorized as Yin, which also implies femininity in Chinese philosophy and aesthetics. In this poem of complaint, moss is associated with a woman’s sorrow and lovesickness. It reinforces the cold, lonely feelings conveyed by other images in this poem, such as the jade stairs, the round silk fan, and the drizzling tears.

Similarly, in the poem “Pondering on Love” (《有所思》), Yang Jiong (杨炯) uses an alternative to the word “taixian” to describe the feeling of loving and missing the far-away lover:

I cannot conceal my wrinkled eyebrows when in the red mansion,

Even less can I hide my counting of the days by gazing at green coins.

The moonlight flows through the night of lovesickness,

And how I wish the floating clouds could convey my longings.

不掩嚬红缕,  无论数绿钱。

相思明月夜,  迢递白云天。

(Yang 2016: 186)

In the poem, “green coins” (绿钱) as an alternative to “taixian” is likely referring to the pennywort herb used as a decorative potted plant.^[3] In this poem, counting the days and gazing at green coins are both symbolic behaviors expressing the poet’s loneliness and lovesickness.

In “Complaints of Jieyu,” the image of spring moss indicates the absence of traces, that is, visitors’ footprints, and conveys the bitterness of being deserted. Descriptions of spring have a strong Chinese literary tradition: people lament on how short spring is, and spring sentiment has been an important theme in Chinese poetry; the conventional literary meaning of spring may also be of vitality and vividness. Therefore, the image of spring moss usually conveys serenity, tranquility, and aesthetic refinement. The following are examples of poems featuring spring moss:

On Officer Li in His Villa by the Stream《留题李明府霅溪水堂》

Liu Changqing (刘长卿)

Mountain peaks covered in clouds, I saw them from the roof.

Fishing is also possible if you walk to the front of the house.

In the evening bamboo projects its tender shadows onto the curtain.

On the green spring moss I left my footprints.

云峰向高枕,  渔钓入前轩。

晚竹疏帘影,  春苔双履痕。

(Liu Changqing, qtd. in Peng et al. 1999: 1539)

Thanking Student Wang for Showing Me Poetry Books《谢王秀才见示试卷》

Qi Ji (齐己)

In the yard of the Taoist temple, spring moss covered all traces.

Summer bamboo could be seen on the practitioners’ building.

If heaven loves those with literary talents,

You should not worry about having friends who are understanding.

道院春苔径,  僧楼夏竹林。

天如爱才子,  何虑未知音。

(Qi Ji, qtd. in Peng et al. 1999: 9528)

It can be seen that in the lines above, spring moss symbolizes a serene and tranquil natural environment. The characters depicted in the poems are not sorrowful, lovesick women, but scholars, Taoist priests, and monks – noble characters who cultivate their minds via meditation and spend pastoral lives by building harmonious relationships with nature. Spring moss is still a sign of the absence of visitors, but it now reflects the peaceful minds and quiet lives of the inhabitants, loaded with religious connotations of spiritual transcendence. It is no longer a symbol of femininity; on the contrary, it deconstructs this implication, as evident in Li Zhong’s (李中) poem “Spring Moss” (春苔):

Spring forests lock thick mists within,

In the bamboo yard, tracks of the villa cross each other.

Who loves falling flowers may find vestiges of them at gates and in valleys,

Such a scene of poetic flavor!

春霖催得锁烟浓,  竹院莎斋径小通。

谁爱落花风味处,  莫愁门巷衬残红。

(Li Zhong, qtd. in Peng et al. 1999: 8614)

Although spring moss does not directly appear in these lines, as the title of the poem, it forms an image that conveys a lively, light-hearted tone dispelling springtime sorrow. Instead of producing the traditional sentiment expressed by spring, the poem depicts a scene of vitality. The green bamboo, mossy trails, and falling flowers highlight each other through juxtaposition, and falling flowers, an image usually indicating a woman’s misfortune and grief, is endowed with a “poetic flavor,” thereby contributing to the theme of the poem: the liveliness of spring. As spring is taken as the season in which the Qi of Yang arises, spring moss contains more elements of Yang than Yin and implies vitality and vigor despite the lack of visitors.

Unlike spring moss, autumn moss is a symbol of sorrow and grief. While moss is often used as a sign of the absence of traces, autumn moss is a sign of traces or, as C. S. Pierce puts it, an index, “like a pronoun demonstrative or relative, [which] forces the attention to the particular object intended without describing it” (CP1. 369). Green moss turning yellow means the arrival of autumn and thus acts as the index of a season, as in the following famous lines from Bai Juyi (白居易) “Poem to My Wife” (赠内):

Shades of dark moss are showered with rain.

Slightly cold, crystal dew bespeaks the coming of autumn.

漠漠暗苔新雨地,  微微凉露欲秋天。

(Bai Juyi, qtd in. Peng et al. 1999: 4868)

The changing color of moss forecasts the approach of autumn or signifies autumn in full swing. As Thomas A. Sebeok (2001: 88) points out, “continuity is actualized in rhetoric, among other devices, by the trope of metonymy: the replacement of an entity by one of its indexes.” This is certainly true of autumn moss, as the poems above focus on seasonal changes, forging a relationship of proximity rather than replacement or similarity. Autumn moss turning yellow or darkening refers to the approach of autumn, which in Chinese literature bespeaks a sense of mournfulness and loneliness. In autumn, the Qi of Yang begins to decrease and the Qi of Yin rises, and so poems of autumn moss often contain images of femininity, such as lonely and lovesick women. They are also used to convey the frustrated ambitions of the literati, who compare themselves to beauties falling into disfavor who have lost their chance to serve the emperor.

While the serenity of spring moss is depicted in the above poems, Qi Ji’s poem entitled “Autumn Moss” (秋苔) stresses solitariness:

I cherish only blue-green forests, any other place I find lonesome.

The crane is quietly watching the autumn scenery, the monk is leisurely treading

on cold earth.

By the bright moon and sparse bamboo leaves lies a track, and the rain stops and

plant roots are rotten.

In the deep palace alone, some aching hearts are just like the withering flowers.

独怜苍翠文,  长与寂寥存。

鹤静窥秋片,  僧闲踏冷痕。

月明疏竹径,  雨歇败莎根。

别有深宫里,  兼花锁断魂。

(Qi Ji, qtd. in Peng et al. 1999: 9535)

Although Qi Ji, as a monk poet, enjoyed his reclusive life, this poem associates autumn moss with a scene of loneliness and coldness, in contrast to the vividness and wondrousness of spring moss, and thereby forges a connection with the genre of royal women’s complaint. Autumn moss is established as a symbol of sorrow and loneliness, and autumn as a season of melancholy.

Quite obviously, these poems have a rather mournful tone, and autumn moss in particular embodies this somberness and sense of despondency. In addition, in Chinese literature, moss as a symbol of time passing is more closely related to the indignation and sorrow resulting from frustrated ambition and the mourning of dead heroes, as in Bao Zhao’s (鲍照) lament for dead soldiers, “Nowhere can their hair grow, on their skeletons there is green moss” (玄鬓无复根,枯髅依青苔) (Bao Zhao, qtd. in Yun Ji et al. 1998). Bao Zhao, who became embroiled in a political struggle between officials from the gentry and those from poor families and was demoted as a result, expressed his concern and indignation by mourning dead soldiers who had served their country with their lives, yet whose heroic deeds remained unsung. Moss, a sign of the absence of visitors, naturally evolves into a symbol of moral indignation at either the unfortunate destinies of true gentlemen or heroes or the fickleness of the world. The latter can be seen in the following famous lines by Shen Yue (沈约):

Purple moss crawled on every stair, with green coins climbing the empty chairs of

guests. Who was in the field, looking so sorrowfully at the graveyards?

宾阶绿钱满, 客位紫苔生。谁当九原上, 郁郁望佳城?

(Shen Yue, qtd. in Ouyang et al. 1985: 597)

Purple moss and green coins, different kinds of taixian, here create an image of a desolate house with very few visitors. This poem conveys the poet’s deep grief at the changeability and unreliability of human friendship.

In ancient Chinese poems and prose, moss is often juxtaposed with other objects in nature to form a scene of symbolic meanings. Such scenic descriptions are examples of the “objective correlative” theorized by T. S. Eliot. As Wang Bo (王勃) notes in his famous “Fu on Moss” (青苔赋) (Ouyang et al. 1985: 597), the symbolic meaning of moss varies according to the objects with which it is juxtaposed in objective correlatives:

Alas! Moss growing in forests and pools receives appreciation from guests. Moss

growing in dwelling yards is complained about by residents.

嗟乎!苔之生于林塘也, 为幽客之赏;苔之生于轩庭也, 为居人之怨。

(Wang Bo, qtd. in Ouyang et al. 1985: 597)

In a poem by Guan Xiu (贯休), a monk poet who is famous for his depiction of a monastic, tranquil life, the symbolic meaning of moss is converted into an image of Yang (阳) that is refreshing, bright, and unconstrained:

The rock shrouded in mist cannot be painted.

The beads of the waterfall and the Osman thus are sweet-scented.

The sunset glow dispersing, snow is cleared away,

I dug and found fuling,^[4] under the pine tree.

Cheerful birds sound like the tinkling of vases and jade.

Fresh moss is so watery, and a golden jar is submerged.

I smile when laughed at and mocked,

Earth-shaking changes could not make ripples in my peaceful mind.

翠窦烟岩画不成,  桂香瀑沫杂芳馨。

拨霞扫雪和云母,  掘石移松得茯苓。

好鸟似花窥玉磬,  嫩苔如水没金瓶。

从他人笑从他笑,  地覆天翻也只宁。

(Guan Xiu, qtd. In Peng et al. 1999: 9501)

Through the meditative function of fuling, the coldness of moss, which is an element of Yin, is neutralized by the Yang elements of pine tree, rocks, and cheerfully singing birds, resulting in a scene of vitality and elegance. The objective correlatives create meanings totally different from those conveyed by moss in royal women’s complaint poems.

Moss and bamboo, important objective correlatives, form images symbolizing the spirit of the Junzi (the Confucian gentleman, 君子), who is noble, highly intellectual, principled, and contented in poverty. As bamboo has the nature of wood, it is categorized as Yang and has a positive meaning in Chinese culture. As shown in the lines, “ancient moss cold and green, straight bamboo quiet and without neighbors” (古苔寒更翠,修竹静无邻, Yao He [姚合], qtd. in Peng et al. 1999: 5737) and “bright moon, the track through bamboo so little trodden” (月明疏竹径, Qi Ji, qtd. in Peng et al. 1999: 9535), aesthetic images of moss and bamboo help to build the peaceful environment of the Junzi’s home, the best place in which to cultivate oneself through meditation. As bamboo is a symbol of dignity and integrity, moss and bamboo together symbolize the cultivation of one’s moral character. Du Fu (杜甫), in his “Giving Forty Mu of Orchard to Brother Nanqing on his Departure from Wu Gorge” (将别巫峡, 赠南卿兄瀼西果园四十亩) offers the following lines:

Moss and bamboo are always good company,

While duckweed has no fixed place in which to live.

苔竹素所好, 萍蓬无定居。

(Du Fu, qtd. in Peng et al. 1999: 2551)

This displays the contentment of a gentleman even in the midst of poverty. Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元), in “Reciting Buddhist Scripts in the Morning in the Temple Garden” (晨诣超师院读禅经), uses moss and bamboo as metaphors for the act of discarding worldly affairs to achieve moral ascendency. Moss, an object representing life far from the madding crowd, becomes a symbol of Zen practice:

Temple garden is tranquil,

And the color of moss is shaded by thick bamboo leaves.

道人庭宇静, 苔色连深竹。

(Liu Zongyuan, qtd. in Peng et al. 1999: 3940)

These images of moss and bamboo as objective correlatives indicate an important change in the symbolic meaning of moss, which now contains more elements of Yang. Instead of referring to a grief-stricken woman in a palace, moss has a transcendental, positive, and lively embodied meaning. This aesthetic tradition can be traced back to the Northern and Southern dynasties, specifically to the “Fu on Moss” (青苔赋) by Jiang (2017, Vol. 1: 57). In this prose text, moss embodies the noble and solitary soul of the author, which can be understood only by those with similar values and a similar spirit, as shown in the following lines:

I am astounded by the tender shape of moss, which has no counterpart. It usually dwells in little-trodden places, with a quiet and sorrowful spirit.

The habitat of moss usually contains stones and pine trees, and it is constantly dampened by rivers and rainfall. It grows along a ravine on a steep mountain, or on rugged cliffs. What a wonder how moss manages to grow in such extreme conditions! Upon it the running water endlessly flows. Moss, with its tenacious vitality, can grow on precipitous rocks or on beaten earth. Moss is appreciated by distinguished people, and Tao practitioners are haunted by its distinctiveness and moral spirit. People aspire to its perfection while chewing pine nuts, admire it while reading alchemy books.

嗟青苔之依依兮,无色类而可方。必居闲而就寂,似幽意而深伤。

故其处石则松栝交阴,泉雨长注。绝涧俯视,崩壁仰顾。悲凹险兮,

唯流水而驰骛。遂能崎屈上生,斑驳下布。异人贵其贞精,道士悦其迥趣。咀松屑以高想,

捧丹经而永慕。

(Jiang 2017, Vol. 1: 57)

In the first two paragraphs, moss becomes a symbol of a gentleman’s spirit even in desolation. It “can grow on precipitous rocks or on trodden earth”; like the lotus, it can grow out of dirt and remain green and clean. In addition, people “aspire to its perfection while chewing pine nuts, admire it while reading alchemy books.” Those who appreciate the true value of moss are “distinguished people” and “Tao practitioners” who think highly of the moral spirit of moss, which is personified as a self-content, humble individual living in poverty yet tranquility. For example, Qi Bai(栖白), in his “Seeking the Revered Monk in Mountains, Who Was Not Found” (寻山僧真胜上人不遇), writes as follows:

Under the pine tree there is a Zen house,

And moss sprawls, making tracks undiscovered.

松下禅栖所, 苔滋径莫分。

(Qi Bai, qtd. in Peng et al. 1999: 9360)

Meng Haoran (孟浩然), in the poem “Seeking the Master Zhan on Xiang Mountain” (寻香山湛上人), composed the following famous lines:

The spring, under pines, makes a tinkling sound,

The moss-covered wall has an antique splendor.

松泉多逸响, 苔壁饶古意。

(Meng Haoran, qtd. in Peng et al. 1999: 1628)

Moss here is associated with a life of leisure and a peaceful mind, as advocated by Taoism and Zen. Insignificant as it is, moss brings people the spiritual capacity to focus on their inner self and be content with poverty and solitude. In this sense, Jiang Yan’s “Fu on Moss” defines an aesthetic and ethical tradition, as moss becomes a symbol of a true gentleman, who maintains his spiritual strength even when facing hardships and challenges. Such strength and will seem to involve more elements of Yang than Yin.

In sum, the meanings of moss are multiple: trivial and growing in dark places, moss conveys the grief of concubines in palaces, of deserted wives and officials whose ambitions have been thwarted; in its great vitality and unique beauty, moss resembles the righteousness and pureness of the true gentleman. Elements of Yin and Yang complement and are transformed into each other through the meaningful development of moss as a symbol, especially in the objective correlatives it forms with other objects. In addition to moss and bamboo, moss and pine trees, as manifested in the poems listed above, constitute another important objective correlative building a literary image of Yang, as pine trees are symbols of unswerving determination and a reclusive spirit. Scenes of bamboo, pine trees, and moss are found in Chinese ink paintings and bonsai gardens, which will be discussed in future research.

4 Concluding remarks

The aim of this paper was to offer an analysis of ancient Chinese literature and to demonstrate how and why moss is important as an aesthetic tradition and an expression of the complaints and loneliness of lovers, as well as a symbol of Zen and a noble spirit. This paper demonstrated how objects in nature are endowed with symbolic meanings, which provides insights into the popularity of moss in traditional Chinese ink paintings and today’s gardening, building design, and the microlandscape of art. Further exploration will be made in future to explore how this aesthetic tradition influences Chinese people’s practice in everyday life, eventually changing the environment of Chinese people’s inhabitation and ultimately playing a significant role in building a place to dwell.