Discovering □□ by Xiang Yang

Discovering □□

□□ was discovered
In several newspapers from 1920
Yellowed and disintegrating

On the mocking lips of history
□□ has already been destroyed
A woodpecker cannot peck anything
Out of □□
Empty void

On the fluttering hem of her skirt
□□ waits quielty to be filled in
Fearful billows and currents wait and watch left and right
□□ □□
Muddled ignorant

In a confining frame
Empty void □□
□□ The Portugues sailors called her Formosa
□□ The Dutch bestowed the name Zeelandia on her
□□ Zheng Chenggong filled in "Peace, the capital of Ming"
□□ The Qing established a prefecture subordinate to Fujian Province
□□ A people abandoned established a republic
□□ Japan transplanyed "Great Japan" here
□□ Now she is said to be an inseparable part of China
Among so many signifiers
Muddled ignorant □□

□□ is everything
□□  is nothing
Like Formosa Cypress in thick fog
Unable to find the ground on which to stand
All the birds vie to nest thier feathery wings
ALL the beasts contend to leave their tracks
Discovering □□ has become a form of fun
Searching for □□ has become an idle pastime

□□ was duplicated
In an election bulletin
Published in the winter of 1991
Part of which was consigned to flames
□□was discovered
In the□□ surrounded by □□
In the empty □□
□□was called by the name of □□
Until finally even □□ could no longer be found

Trns. by John Balcom

發現□□

□□被發現
在一九二○年出版的
多份發黃而枯裂的新聞紙上
在歷史嘲弄的唇邊
□□業已湮滅
啄木鳥也啄不出什麼
□□之中
空空 洞洞

在她飄移的裙緣
□□靜候填充
駭浪怒潮左右窺伺
□□ □□
懵懵 懂懂
　
在有限的四方框內
空空洞洞的 □□
□□  葡萄牙水手叫她Formosa
□□ 荷蘭賜她Zeelandia 之名
□□  鄭成功填入明都平安
□□ 大清在其上設府而隸福建
□□ 棄民在此成立民主國
□□ 日本種入大和魂
□□ 現在據說是中國不可分割的肉

在無數的符號之中
懵懵 懂懂的 □□
什麼都是的□□
什麼都不是的□□

猶似紅檜，在濃濃霧中
找不到踏腳的土地
所有的鳥競相插上羽翅
所有的獸爭逐彼此足跡
發現□□成為一種趣味
尋找□□變做閒來無事的遊戲

□□被複製
在一九九一年冬付梓的
以及部份被付之一炬的
選舉公報中
□□被發現
在□□圍起來的□□中
在空洞的□□裡

□□以□□為名
終至於連□□也找不到了

The poem Discovering □□, written by Xiang Yang is taken from the book Sailing to Formosa / A Poetic Companion to Taiwan, edited by Michelle Yeh, N. G. D. Malmqvist and Xu Huizhi. Published by the University of Washington Press (2006).

Sailing to Formosa is a bilingual anthology of modern Chinese poetry from and about Taiwan arranged in thematic sections that present contrasting views of life in Taiwan.

One week after our arrival we visited the Library of Literature Museum in Tainan, as one of our research visits. We like to think that the poem found us, as after a short search we came through with what we considered the perfect description of the country.

At that point it was not so easy for us to understand the controversial political situation and the policy of deliberate ambiguity that define Taiwan status. This poem gave us a clear key and a confirmation of what, in that moment, was our perception. We decided the poem should be included in the exhibition.

這首詩〈發現□□〉，由詩人向陽書寫，取自由馬悅然（N.G.D. Malmqvist）、奚密（Michelle Yeh）與許悔之（Xu Huizhi）合編的詩集《航向福爾摩沙─詩想台灣》（Sailing to Formosa: A Poetic Companion to Taiwan），2006年由美國華盛頓大學出版社出版。

《航向福爾摩沙》是一本雙語翻譯的現代中文詩選集，其主軸呈現著台灣當前現狀的衝突觀點。

在我們抵達台南的一週之後，我們參觀了台灣文學館的圖書館，它也是我們研究考察的地點之一，而在經過一段短暫的搜尋之後，彷彿這一首詩自己找到了我們，它將我們對於這個國家的想法完美的表述出來。

基於上述觀點，對我們來說，要理解這個國家具爭議的政治局勢，以及被刻意模糊定義台灣現狀的政策，並不容易。而這首詩卻帶給了我們某種清晰明確的重點，在那一刻，那就是我們的觀點。因此，我們決定這首詩應該被納入到這個展覽中。