{"id":58175,"date":"2018-03-11T18:16:27","date_gmt":"2018-03-11T18:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=58175"},"modified":"2018-03-11T18:16:27","modified_gmt":"2018-03-11T18:16:27","slug":"sunday-surprise-li-bai-and-the-song-of-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=58175","title":{"rendered":"Sunday surprise — Li Bai and the Song of Songs"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ by Charles Cameron<\/strong> — it’s all about a scarlet thread and some corks in a current ]
\n.<\/p>\n

I have plenty of idle time between naps, and was binge watching The Churchmen<\/strong> on Netflix. Plus it’s a Sunday..<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

As you know, I track “twins” in events and quotations, mainly for sheer aesthetic pleasure, but also partly as an analytic tool — believing as I do that “two is the first number<\/a>” and often a leading-edge clue to pattern, meaning, significance.<\/p>\n

I’m used to finding others who have noted these twins or “DoubleQuotes” as I call them — “DoubleQuotes in the Wild<\/a>” — but I’m not sure I’ve ever run across a clear description of someone else noting them, let alone in a scholarly manner that bridges the secular west and spiritual east — but lookee here<\/em>!<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amazing indeed! And what a line! Your lips are like a thread of scarlet<\/strong>! worthy of Li Po<\/strong>, worthy indeed of the Song of Songs<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

I’d have been very chuffed if I’d run across the same doublet between Li Bai – better known to me as Li Po — and the Song of Songs — which, by the way, is Solomon’s.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Li Po<\/strong>, who, drunk and out in a shallow boat, saw the moon reflected in the Yellow River, leaned over to kiss it, and drowned..<\/p>\n

Solomon<\/strong> — but you know the story — seated in judgement, ordered a child be cut in two when two women claimed to be its mother — then commanded it be given to the one whose shocked pure love begged him to deliver it to the other.. wisdom as the test of love!<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

The discoverer of the binary “Your lips are like a thread of scarlet!” is a brilliant, generous-hearted, flawed founder and leader of a seminary in France who displeases ambitious Vaticanisti, is offered a choice of disgrace (on account off his flaws) or (as an “out”) a posting to an obscure but copacetic position in Shanghai..<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A conversation ensues, in which he discusses his options with the nun who serves as his assistant:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The nun ancourages him to consider the Shanghai option..<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That option has a certain seductive charm — following that scarlet thread.. but it represents being “bought off” rather than sticking by one’s guns come what may, and somehow weathering the consequences.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Our nun reflects:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And that’s an interesting idea. <\/p>\n

At first glace it seems fatalistic — but that current moving the corks — the seminarians, the nun herself, the priest she serves, an ambitious president of the Franch bishops, various monsignori and a pope – maybe Christ, too? — has its own flows and undertows — a priest’s flaws included. It’s a complex system. <\/p>\n

The corks are afloat in a complex system. A scarlet thread traces its curve in the complex system, from contemporary France to eighth- century China.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

And when you’re afloat in a complex system — as we all are — “go with the flow” may be sound advice. That’s why the “corks in a current” idea seems so interesting to me. Sunday surprise!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[ by Charles Cameron — it’s all about a scarlet thread and some corks in a current ] . I have plenty of idle time between naps, and was binge watching The Churchmen on Netflix. Plus it’s a Sunday.. ** As you know, I track “twins” in events and quotations, mainly for sheer aesthetic pleasure, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,526,144,327,9,627,625,702,1533,741,960,946,855,1005,1,1487],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-analytic","category-charles-cameron","category-china","category-complex-systems","category-complexity","category-doublequotes","category-hipbone-analysis","category-monasticism","category-netflix","category-poetry","category-pope","category-sunday-surprise","category-tao","category-tv","category-uncategorized","category-vatican"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58175"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58256,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58175\/revisions\/58256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}