Heavenly Questions

The or Questions to Heaven (traditional Chinese: 天問; simplified Chinese: 天问; pinyin: Tiānwèn) is an important piece contained in the Classical Chinese poetry collection the Chu Ci, a collection which is important both in terms of poetry and as a source for information on the ancient culture of China, especially the area of the ancient state of Chu. Of all the poems attributed to Qu Yuan, "Tianwen" contains more myths than any of the other pieces which may be attributed to him; however, due to the formal structure of "Tianwen" as a series of questions, information regarding the myths alluded to appear more as a series of allusive fragments than as cohesively narrated stories. According to legend, Qu Yuan wrote this series of questions in verse after viewing various scenes depicted on temple murals; specifically, it is said that following his exile from the royal court of Chu, Qu Yuan looked upon the depictions of the ancestors and the gods painted upon the walls of the ancestral temple of Chu; and, then, in response, wrote his questions to Heaven, upon these same walls.

The Heavenly Questions consists of a series of verses, in question format, addressed to Tian, or Heaven. The 172 questions asked revolve around Chinese mythology and ancient Chinese religious beliefs, and perceived contradictions or conundrums existing therein. That the Tianwen consists in questions rather than answers is somewhat of a problem for mythographers. Nevertheless, the questions themselves open up informative windows into a world of ancient mythology. The informational questions raised by Tianwen are a factor that contributes to the description of Tianwen as "the written treasure of Chinese mythology".

The poetic style of the "Heavenly Question" is markedly different from the other sections of the Chuci collection, with the exception of the "Nine Songs" ("Jiuge"). The poetic form of the "Heavenly Questions" is the four-character line, more similar to the Shijing than to the predominantly variable lines generally typical of the Chuci pieces, the vocabulary is also differs from most of the rest of the Chuci, sharing more in common with works in the wisdom tradition like the Daodejing. David Hinton finds that these features of the work suggest that the "Heavenly Questions" has ancient sources in the oral tradition, although perhaps having been put together into its present form by Qu Yuan. Hinton finds that much of the power of the poetic impact of the "Heavenly Questions" derives from "its fragmentary and enigmatic character" combined with a pervasive sense of mystery throughout the poem.

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