21.

When Yin Attains Its Limit

Zheng Chaolin and the Chinese Trotskyists were ‘netted in one fell swoop’ on 22 December 1952 – by a grim irony, the winter solstice, when the period of light is shortest and the night longest. Seven years later, on the anniversary of the arrest, Zheng starts by noting that it is again midwinter, when yin attains its limit. This line echoes the Yi jing (‘Book of Changes’, 9th century BCE), which presents yin (feminine, dark, cold and negative) and yang (masculine, light, hot and positive) as the two opposing and complementary principles of nature. Their interplay in the form of qi (vital energy) provides the primordial energy of the universe and upholds the rotation of the world, the theme of this ci. Hence the passage from cold to heat (and back again) noted in the following line, in which Zheng goes on to remind himself that the day will slowly lengthen and daylight will, in the course of time, prevail – ‘if winter comes, can spring be far behind?’

To the tune of ‘Song of the South’

The light today dies soonest,

tonight’s the longest night.

Looking back to seven years ago,

I recall the night that broke our hearts in two.

When yin attains its limit, yang begins to grow,

and heat and cold eventually swap place.

The years spin at an ever quicker pace,

and I plough my lonely furrow.

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‘To the tune of’: A ci by Xin Qiji.

Line 4: This line draws on a ci edited by Zeng Zao.