Chapter 20 18. Poetic Remaining Words

The above roughly talked about several aspects of the poem.There are two more questions, which can also be discussed: one is the different body, besides the different appearance, is there any difference in spirit or artistic conception worth noting?The second is academic works, can each subject be arranged in order? Let me talk about one first.Like other creatures, the form and the god have a flesh-and-blood relationship, and if the form is different, the god will naturally be different.There are major categories, which are between ancient poems and modern styles; there are small categories, which are between ancient poems or modern styles.There is also a larger category, the difference between poetry and Ci, which has been discussed in the previous article "The Poetry is Broad and the Ci is Long".God, invisible, depends on perception, it is difficult to say; but since there is a difference, there is always "something in it", so it is no harm to find out what this thing is.

This makes it hard to say what is different, for two reasons.One is that there is no clear boundary between the various styles. For example, the feelings of worrying about the world and the people can be expressed in both ancient and modern styles.The second reason is that we have to resort to abstract words. For example, the artistic conception of the ancient style is broad, thick, rough, and unrestrained, while the artistic conception of the close style is delicate, beautiful, meticulous, and rigorous. And it seems like I can't figure it out.But we have to admit that there is a difference, because it is clear that some content is suitable for expression in ancient style, and some content is suitable for expression in modern style.For example, if the content is complicated and narrative, it can be written as "Yuanyuanqu" or the like, but it is not suitable or impossible to use close styles, especially quatrains.On the contrary, it is inappropriate to express in ancient style, at least it will change the taste, such as "Xinzhuang should face down to the Zhulou, lock in the spring and worry about the courtyard. Walk to the atrium to count the flowers, and the dragonfly flies to the jade to scratch its head".In this way, the objective is a thing, which is hard to say; the subjective is a taste, but it can be smelled.So it doesn't matter if it's easy to take refuge, rely more on subjectivity and understand it yourself.It is better to start from the two extremes, for example, take Li Bai's "The Difficult Road to Shu" and Li Shangyin's "Jinse", read them side by side, grasp the different feelings and grasp the different feelings, and at least get a sense of the difference between the ancient style and the modern style. up.

With the narrowing of the major categories, it is naturally more difficult to tell the difference between the minor categories and gods.Let’s talk about the Wugu and Qigujian first.The five ancients tend to be cautious, and the seven ancients tend to be unrestrained, as I have said before.This distinction is both linguistic and artistic.Again, there is no clear boundary between the two, so to find the difference, it is advisable to start with some of the two extremes.Take some situations that come to mind at the moment as examples.For example, there are two kinds of feelings, one is gratitude and the other is worrying about the world. It is stated that they should be expressed in Wugu and Qigu respectively. Obviously, the former is suitable for Wugu, and the latter is suitable for Qigu.Another example is that there are two other kinds of affection, one is to describe one's life experience, and the other is to express reverie. It is also obvious that the former is suitable for Wugu, and the latter is suitable for Qigu.Another example is from the perspective of human beings. One is Li Qingzhao and the other is Wen Tianxiang. Both of them are suffering from the subjugation of the country. They want to use ancient poetry to express it.Many other situations can be deduced by analogy.But we must also remember that poetry is an immaterial thing. Even if the principle of tailoring clothing to the style can also be applied, we should always admit that there may be many times when certain aspirations in the heart want to be expressed, and all kinds of styles can be used.For example, Du Mu wrote "Looking at the Altair Vega" in poems, and Su Dongpo wrote "The Great River Goes East" in words. For more than a thousand years, readers not only tolerated them, but also recited them with great interest.

Let's talk about the major and minor categories within the near-body range.The big category is between quatrains and verses, and the small category is between Wujue and Qijue, Wulu and Qilu.Let me talk about the difference between quatrains and verses first.Taking a bottle as a metaphor, the quatrains are small and can be packed in less, so those with a concise and compact artistic conception can be packed into quatrains; more complicated ones, which cannot fit in quatrains, are suitable for verses.This is a way of begging for help in weights and measures. Ding is Ding and Mao is Mao, as if it is certain.In fact, it is difficult to be sure, because poetry is not the same as a bottle with a shape, not to mention that short stories must be simple but not poor, with endless aftertaste.Then try and see if you can talk about it from other aspects.One, we can’t leave the volume, and take a photo as a metaphor, the quatrains are taken from a small area and an instant in time; the verses can be enlarged, and the chanting can cover both the body and mind.Time can include present and past, and so on.It can also be investigated from the nature of affection. Quatrains are generally more soft and more subtle, while verses can be broad and broad, and generosity should be generous.Of course, one thing to add is that there is no clear boundary (such as saying that a certain kind of affection cannot be expressed in quatrains or verses).

Let's talk about the sub-categories, between the five uniques and the seven uniques.Obviously, it is the form, although the difference is visible, but the difference is not much; the difference in spirit is naturally even more difficult to say.As a last resort, I have to rely more on subjectivity, and talk about the different flavors that I often feel when reading, or what can be called "relative".In this flavor, the five absolutes tend to be "delicate", and the seven absolutes tend to be "bright".The difference between the five rhythms and the seven rhythms can also be explained in the same way, that is, they have relatively different tastes, the five rhythms are more "gentle", and the seven rhythms are more "exuberant".

In short, poetry has different styles, and when viewed from the perspective of a group of works, or from the perspective of certain chapters, they all have different flavors.It can be deduced from the different tastes, still using the bottle as a metaphor, some are suitable for holding oil, and some are suitable for holding vinegar.That is to say, if we have a certain emotion and want to express it in the form of poetry, we will encounter the problem of which style to choose.Body and emotion are coordinated, easy to write, and the effect will be better, or much better.As for how to choose, the situation is ever-changing, and you can only figure it out by yourself.

Next, let’s talk about the second question, which is whether or not you can, or should not, arrange your works in order of priority.It is also difficult to have a definite answer.Because, even if there is a clear difference in difficulty between the various styles, poetry is poetry after all, and it is not absolutely impossible to first be difficult and then easy.However, as a rule of thumb, it will always be difficult to attack first, so it is better to follow the steps step by step, from easy to difficult.When discussing poetry in the past, people often talked about the difficulty of each style.Everyone has their own opinions, I just want to say my own.The conditions to be considered are difficult.But it’s not all difficult or easy. For example, there are also the intensity of interest, whether it is commonly used or not, and whether the path is smooth or not. It seems that it has to be considered when ranking the order.

The combination of many conditions determines the order of study and writing. In my opinion, Qijue should be the top one.Quatrains are short, need not be antithetical, and do not need to be extravagant, and they all meet the conditions of first easy and then difficult.What needs to be explained is why the five uniques are not ranked first.There are various reasons.Speaking from the aspect of phenomena, people in the past seldom did it, and people today do it less.Do less, for a reason.The small reason is that affection is often not pure, and Wujue's bottle is too small to fit it in.The biggest reason is that although its capacity is small, it must be written well, and make people feel that the content is not frugal, and the site is not cramped.To put it another way, the affection contained in it must be deep and tortuous, and it must have an endless aftertaste.This is naturally difficult.Even as far as the masters of the Tang Dynasty are concerned, not all their writing can reach such a height.Don’t be afraid of not knowing the goods, but be afraid of comparing goods. Take the following songs as examples:

If you don't go to Dongshan for a long time, the rose will bloom several times.The white clouds are still scattered, whose house will the bright moon fall? (One of Li Bai's "Two Poems Recalling Dongshan") The old country (read the tone) is three thousand miles away, and the palace is twenty (read the tone) years.With a cry of He Manzi, tears fell in front of the king. (Zhang Hu's "He Manzi") Traveling thousands of miles with a sword, dare to say a word with a small body.Once a guest of Liang, he lived up to his trust in Lingen. (Wang Changling's "Answer to the Prefect of Wuling")

Three days into the kitchen, washing hands to make soup.If you don't know the nature of aunt's food, send your sister-in-law to taste it first. (Wang Jian's "Bride") As far as the requirement of endless aftertaste is concerned, the first two songs are qualified, but the last two are not so good.To be qualified and to be able to put on a big battle in a small playground, it must be difficult for beginners, so it is better to try a Qijue with a few more words first.The capacity of Qijue is larger, the style is brighter and louder, and the requirement of endless aftertaste can be slightly relaxed, so it is easier than Wujue.

After the Qijue, the process can be arranged in two ways: one is the five jue first and then the poems, and the other is the poems first and then the five jue.Considering it this way, it is because the five musts have their own difficulties, and regulated poems have their own difficulties.However, if you consider that no matter what you learn, it is suitable to change from simple to complex, then it would be better to rank the five masters first.The same is true for writing Wujue and Qijue, so you can try all kinds of formats.The so-called various formats are mainly the duality of the previous couplet and the duality of both couplets, which can be used as a preparation for learning to write regulated poems. Followed by rhyme.Rhythmic poems are ranked ahead of ancient poems, not because it is easier to write regulated poems than ancient poems.It is difficult to say whether it is difficult or easy for these two types. The reason is that ancient poetry is a big family, and there are inevitably differences between difficult and easy within the family. What's more, the so-called ancient poetry must have that simple, thick and jerky taste.Here, the regulated poems are ranked first, mainly to conform to the trend of the times, that is, for a long time, modern styles have been used more, and ancient poems have been used less.Rhythm poems, five rhythms and seven rhythms are difficult to say, and they have similarities. According to the general habit, the two couplets in the middle should be antithetical, and it is not easy to match neatly (regardless of whether the meaning is appropriate or not).The difference is that the Qilu is more difficult. The reasons are: first, according to the general habit, the Qilu must have a bookish air, that is, many allusions are used;Therefore, when learning to write, you can start with the five laws and then the seven laws.But Wulu also has a small difficulty, because the first sentence is usually in the flat end, and the second sentence in the flat rhyme is easy to be an antithesis. Many people, perhaps to show their deep skills, often also antithesis. In this way, if it is also effective. If you don't want to, you have to make up an extra couple, and the burden will naturally increase.However, the first couplet is also the antithesis of the nature of willingness to fight, and, compared with Jin Shengyuzhen's high style, antithesis is a traceable section after all, so additions and subtractions in all aspects must be admitted , or the Qilu is more difficult, it is better to try in the future. So far, I have tried all kinds of modern styles, and I can learn ancient poetry.The five ancients and the seven ancients, the difficulty of the two is clear, the five ancients are easier, and the seven ancients are difficult.The five ancients are relatively easy, and it is considered from the aspect of tricks. For example, if you are used to being close to the body, you can start by throwing away various constraints.Among these various constraints, the main ones are the alternation of flat and flat festivals, duality, and different rhymes; the second is that the number of sentences is fixed, the rhyme is flat, and rhymes are not allowed to change.In short, it can be changed into "essay".But this is considered from the negative side, and the positive side is not so easy, because the sentences must be jerky and the artistic conception must be simple.How can we have these two kinds of qi?Naturally, it can only be understood with the help of a god after a lot of experience.Compared with the five ancients, the writing of the seven ancients is extravagant and vigorous, and the syntax is changeable, which makes people feel strange, high-pitched, vigorous and detached after reading it.This is the most difficult, because it also depends on talent, such as Li Bai, others can't catch up with mechanics.Perhaps because it was too difficult, after the Tang and Song Dynasties, fewer and fewer people did Qigu.Therefore, if you lack that kind of affection or interest in doing it, it is okay not to try. I have tried all kinds of styles. If you have a lot of affection and poetry, you can also try to write a group of poems (or joint chapters).Taking the leading army as a metaphor, one poem in a certain style is about the general in the army, and the poem in the group is about the three armies. The strength of the army is strong, so it is naturally powerful.Among the group of poems, Qilu is the most prominent, such as Du Fu's "Eight Poems of Autumn Prosperity" and "Five Poems of Yonghuai Ancient Sites".The group of poems can also be in other styles. Taking Du Fu's poems as an example, "Six Quatrains" are five unique poems, "Six Quatrains for Play" are seven unique poems, "Ten Poems of Traveling with General He with Zheng Guangwen" are five rhymes, and "Five Poems After Exiting the Fortress" are five poems. There are five ancients, and "Two Poems Recalling the Past" are seven ancients.Composing a group of poems requires rich meaning, cohesion, and changes in sound and rhyme, so it is much more difficult than an independent poem. If you have the opportunity, you will inevitably have to write poems, so you might as well try it, rather than use it.In the early Tang Dynasty, harmony poems did not require secondary rhymes (or step rhymes), such as Qilu "He Jia Zhisheren's Works of the Daming Palace in the Early Dynasty", Jia Zhi's original poems used Qiyang rhymes, and poems, Cen Shen used fourteen cold rhymes Wang Wei uses Shiyiyou rhyme, Du Fu uses Sihao rhyme (and the first sentence is closed, not into rhyme).It is said that starting from Bai Juyi, he was willing to restrict more when composing and poems, using the rhyme of the original poems to show that he was able to handle difficult movements with ease.Literati are always contemptuous and conceited, and the capital of conceit is their great ability, so after the Tang Dynasty, it became a rule to rhyme with poetry.It is difficult to say that the second rhyme is difficult because: first, the rhymes of the original poems must be used in sequence, but the meanings are not the same; Others, not uncommon), and, if used, will cause a lot of trouble.This second kind of difficulty sometimes rises to the top. For example, in the 1930s, a famous literati wrote the Seven Laws of Fighting Oil and Gas. The combination of "袁" can express the meaning of the monk's robe, which is too difficult to use in poetry but require a different meaning.Therefore, some people oppose this unhealthy trend of seeking each other's troubles and advocate not doing it.But in the world, it is not easy to not follow the common customs. If someone comes to your door and sends a poem to please you, for the sake of sympathy, it is always better to do the same, so if you have the ability, you might as well give it a try. In addition, there is another kind of regulated poems with a long length, that is, there are more than two couplets between the first couplet and the last couplet, which is called row rhythm.Most of this genre uses five words, referred to as five rows; seven words are rare.In the test post poems since the Tang Dynasty, there are either four couplets in the middle, called five-character six-rhyme, or six couplets, called five-character eight-rhyme.Outside the examination room, there is a lot of freedom in the number of rhythms and rhymes (the minimum should be four, because it will become a general rhythm poem; the maximum should not exceed the number of words in the rhyme part used, because it is restricted to prevent rhymes and repeat rhymes).All couplets in the middle of the arrangement must be in duality.As the restraint increases, the difficulty also increases.However, the ancients had this one body, so if you still have a preference for the dual, you can try it.At the beginning, there is no need to ask for more, for example, five words with six rhymes or eight rhymes, at most a dozen rhymes are enough. There is also a form of collective writing in Wupai, which is called a joint sentence.In order to compete for odds and wins, as described in Chapter 50, there are two sentences for one person, the first sentence is a paired sentence (the second couplet), and the sentence to the previous person (the first couplet) is equivalent to answering the question; the second sentence is a sentence, It is equivalent to asking a question, and the next person will answer (make up the next couplet).Coupled sentences are difficult, and the difficulty lies in the fact that there is no time to work, and you have to make a decisive decision; and the rhyme words are more rare and difficult to use without ax chisel marks.This requires "overcooked" capital.The source of thorough familiarity is "learning", and perhaps "talent".In the past, people used a lot of energy and capital in this area, which seems to be nothing, but it is rare for people to deal with it today.Fortunately, at gatherings nowadays, it is customary to eat a lot, drink expensive drinks, and not write poems, so there may be no chance of encountering such difficulties.I mention it here because there was such a body in the past, so you don’t have to know it without doing it. Finally, let’s talk about learning and writing. Scholars must have a teacher, and what should be the teacher.It is easy to say in a general way, good works are the teacher.But this is tantamount to not talking about it, because it is too general and too abstract.To be specific, it is easy to glue the pillars to the ear.As a last resort, I have to talk about some thoughts on some problems that will be encountered.One is to read more, and use the spirit of "three people must have my teacher" to learn everything, whether it is okay or not.Of course it is possible, but the scope is too wide, and it is easy to say, but I am afraid that I will not be able to grasp the handle if I do it.The second is, for example, the focus is on close styles. In the past, some people liked to learn from the Tang Dynasty, and some liked to learn from the Song Dynasty. Which way is better.In my opinion, it is better to learn from Tang, because, just to mention one important difference, Tang poetry is close to speech, which is natural; Song poetry is close to prose, which is not natural.The third is that, for example, Li Du, what he does is the best, and it is up to whoever he learns from.I think it is right to learn from Du, because most of Li's attainments come from talents, and it is difficult to learn; Du's attainments mostly come from learning, there are rules to follow, and it is easier to get started.Most people in the past saw and acted in the same way.The fourth is to focus on learning from one or two people, such as Wang and Meng, or Yuan and Bai, or Li Shangyin, or Su Dongpo, or Lu Fangweng, etc., whether it is okay or not.My thoughts can be used as a road, but they don’t need to be used as a destination, because it is better to learn from the strengths of each family to form your own.Speaking of learning from others’ strengths, it seems that we can take a flexible path: this is to pick up a pen with interest, and do what you want (that is, you don’t feel that you are learning from a certain family, but it may still be from a certain family); occasionally, you can also intentionally learn from a certain family. .There are two kinds of intentional learning, the intention can be serious or light: the heavy one is that a certain one is really good and worth learning; the light one is like Du Lao's play is Wu style, and it is fun to change the taste occasionally, which is not only fun, but also can be regarded as a kind of practice. .This last thought shows that as long as you are willing to learn and persevere, you can go any way.