Chapter 6 vernacular poetry

In general literary history, this school of poetry is not mentioned, why?Because they write poetry in vernacular.In the eyes of literati who regard poetry as a high art, their poems are probably not worth mentioning.However, their reputation is not small, and their poems are becoming more and more popular in modern times.Representatives of this school are several monks, the so-called "poem monks".They are Wang Fanzhi, Han Shan, and Shide. The common feature of their poems is the use of vernacular slang, which is easy to understand, but the content is not shallow.They are monks, and although there are a lot of content about Buddhism and enlightenment, there are also many that reflect social reality and speak out the philosophy of life.For example, Wang Fanzhi's "When I Was Not Born": "When I was not born, I was ignorant. God forced me to give birth to me, so why should I be born again? No clothes make me cold, no food makes me hungry. Give me back to God. , Back when I was not born." "Flipping the Socks": "Fan Zhi flipped the socks, everyone said it was wrong. It may hurt your eyes at first, but don't hide my feet." Han Shan's "Messages to Meat Eaters": "Send Messages to Meat Eaters Han, there is no need to walk around when eating. Plant in the past in this life, and cultivate in the future today. Only take the beauty of today, and don’t fear the worries of the next life. Rats enter the rice urn, although they are full, it is difficult to get out.” Who likes it. Arrange wild fruits, sparsely surround wine bottles. Reeds will serve as a substitute, and banana leaves will fill the plate. After drunk, I will sit down and eat small bullets."

This school of poetry had a great influence at that time and on future generations. Famous poets such as Wang Wei, Jiaoran, Gu Kuang, Yuan Zhen, Bai Juyi, Du Xunhe, Luo Yin, etc. were more or less influenced by the popular poetry school represented by Wang Fanzhi. influences.Wang Wei's poem "Send this poem and two poems to show scholars when both of you and Hu Jushi are sick" says "Sanzhi style".Gu Kuang, a poet in the mid-Tang Dynasty, wrote many five-character poems in Sanskrit style.After the Song Dynasty, there were more imitations.Song Huang Tingjian's "Book Fanzhi <Turning the Socks" Poem" said: "All sentient beings are upside down, and all kinds are like this, so we know that Fanzhi is a great practitioner." The vernacular poetry school of the Tang Dynasty not only created a large-scale Buddhist literature movement in my country, And it has greatly promoted the evolution of our country's vernacular popular literature.

The poems of Wang Fanzhi, Han Shan and others have always enjoyed a high reputation in Japan.In recent years, it has also gained fame in some western countries. It is also worth mentioning that "Hanshan Temple outside Gusu City" is named after Hanshan.Hanshan and Shide are considered to be Manjusri Bodhisattva and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva appearing in the world.In the Qing Dynasty, it was even named the famous "Hehe Erxian".