Chapter 14 Chapter 6 Poems of the Song Dynasty
In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, Yang Yi, Liu Yun, Qian Weiyan and others compiled books in the emperor's secret pavilion (library office), and often wrote poems and songs. There is a library building, so "Xikun" is used as a metaphor for the emperor's secret pavilion).They deliberately imitated the poet Li Shangyin of the late Tang Dynasty, pursued the gorgeous rhetoric, piled up allusions, and the content of the poems was empty and empty, resulting in a very bad poetic style.Due to the high social status of these people, the influence is great.
During the prevalent period of "Xikun style", the poets who were not influenced by it and had their own unique creations were Wang Yucheng (title), Mei Yaochen and Su Shunqin.Influenced by Bai Juyi, Wang Yucheng cared about the sufferings of people's livelihood, with sincere feelings and smooth and natural poetry style.And read one of his poems "Village Tour":
"Yexing" refers to the cheerful and fresh feeling of being in nature after living in the city for a long time.The couplet is a famous sentence: The vegetation in the gully makes that unique sound in the evening wind, as if they are talking about something, and the peaks stand silently in the afterglow of the setting sun, as if they are meditating on something.This couplet is the so-called "Poetic Eye". The antithesis is steady, appropriate and natural, and it expresses the feeling that people have felt but never said, which is amazing.Tangli leaves fall, buckwheat flowers bloom, the bridge at the head of the village, the trees in the field, how similar all these are to the scene of the author's hometown!So it aroused his strong nostalgia, and at the same time, it also aroused endless associations of readers.This poem is written under the urging of true feelings, it is creation, not fabrication, so it is really touching.
Su Shunqin was also an accomplished poet in the early Song Dynasty.He served as a local official for two terms, and was once demoted to the people because of his outspokenness and daring to advise.His poems are powerful and approachable, and are highly praised by Ouyang Xiu.It's a pity that due to a long career, he only lived in his 40s and died.His Qijue "Huaizhong Late Bodutou" is the most widely read:
A sunny field is beautiful, and a cloudy field is equally beautiful.How exciting it would be to sail along the Huaihe River in a small boat and suddenly find a tree of bright flowers on the shore in the dark atmosphere!Moored next to the ancient temple in the evening, the poet hid under the canopy to watch the wind and rain all over the river, and the waves in the river, how full of life it was.The whole poem is written from static to dynamic, showing the vitality of nature and depicting the poet's delicate feelings.This poem is similar to the famous line of Wei Yingwu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, "The spring tide brings rain and comes late, and the wild crossing has no boats to cross", but it is by no means a plagiarism, but a creation, perhaps even better than Wei's poems.
Mei Yaochen and Su Shunqin had the same name, they were called "Su Mei" at that time, and they were both friends of Ouyang Xiu.Mei Yaochen's poems are simple, elegant and detailed.After the death of his wife Xie, he wrote several poems "Mourning for the Dead" affectionately. Let's try to read one of them:
Due to the excessive sadness, every time I go out, I feel in a trance as if in a dream, and the pain is even more painful when I see people reluctantly chatting.When I returned home, there was no one to talk to, and in the sleepless loneliness, I noticed a lone firefly entering through the window, and a geese flew into the sky.There is nothing more painful than this in the world, and all my energy is spent in it.The scenes in the whole poem are seamlessly integrated, fully expressing the sadness of being lost.Some of his poems describing the sufferings of the people are more valuable, and they are consistent with Du Fu.
Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072 A.D.) styled Yongshu, nicknamed himself a drunkard, and also named Liuyi Layman, was a leader of the literary world in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was both a scholar and a literati.He, Mei Yaochen, Su Shunqin and others worked together on poetry creation, corrected the disadvantages of "Xikun style", and made contributions to the development of poetry in Song Dynasty.We all know that the Song Dynasty was the dynasty with the most serious border problems.In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty, which was mainly established by the Khitan people in the north, often invaded and invaded, and the residents on the border between the two dynasties suffered the most.Ouyang Xiu's "Bianhu" poem reflects this reality:
In order to defend against harassment by the Khitans, the border residents practiced horseback riding and archery among women and children, and they shot at each other without fear in the face of enemy cavalry.In 1004 A.D., Liao and Song had a battle in Chanzhou. Song won the Liao and lost, but Song Zhenzong signed a humiliating peace treaty with the Liao under the condition of victory. Pay tribute.The "North and South knot joy" in the poem is actually ironic, and "the temple (Northern Song court) is a distant picture" is also an allusion to the policy of humiliation and surrender.Although the war has been avoided temporarily, the suffering of the border residents has not been relieved. They have to pay rent and taxes to the two regimes in the north and the south at the same time, and they dare not cast nets in the border river to catch fish.The whole poem is clear and clear, with solid content and valuable thoughts.Under the influence of Han Yu, Ouyang Xiu's poems are like prose, and there are more discussions, which affects the imagery of poems to a certain extent, which later developed into an important feature that distinguishes Song poetry from Tang poetry.
An important poet after Ouyang Xiu was Wang Anshi.Wang Anshi (AD 1021-1086), courtesy name Jiefu and nickname Banshan, was a famous statesman in the Northern Song Dynasty. He implemented reforms during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty and lived in seclusion in Jiangning (now Nanjing) in his later years.He is one of the "Eight Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties (Ancient Prose)" and a famous poet.His quatrains are the most famous, with sincere emotions, duality, and the use of words are extremely particular, reaching the highest level.Such as "Mr. Shuhuyin Wall":
Mr. Huyin is the alias of Wang Anshi's neighbor Yang Defeng when he lived in seclusion in his later years.The poem praises the view of his abode.The owner loves tidiness and natural beauty, and "long sweeping" and "self-planting" also show that he is diligent, which shows that he is a person full of zest for life.Looking down from the window, a bright white water channel surrounds the green seedlings; looking up, the two mountain peaks in the south push open the door to bring the green mountain scenery into the room.It was as if loving nature had also come to aid in the beauty of his abode.This poem reflects the unique Chinese sentiment of equality and harmony with nature.His five-character quatrain "Plum Blossom" is also a masterpiece:
Chinese people are particularly fond of plum blossoms and use them to symbolize people's noble character, so plum blossoms have become common themes in poems and paintings.There are two kinds of common plum blossoms, white and red, and the white plum is chanted here.It is the same color as the snow, and heralds the news of spring with its unique fragrance.The poet sang it with his keen feeling and delicate emotion, expressing his joy for the coming of spring.Wang Anshi's quatrains are novel in thought and sophisticated in skill. Some people compare him with Du Mu, a master of quatrains in Tang Dynasty.
Poetry in the Northern Song Dynasty reached its peak after the appearance of Su Shi and Huang Tingjian.
Su Shi (AD 1037-1101), styled Zizhan, nicknamed Dongpo Jushi, was born in Meishan, Sichuan.He is a master of ancient prose in the Song Dynasty, a poet, a poet, a painter, and a calligrapher. He is outstanding in any of the above-mentioned aspects and is a comprehensive literary and artistic genius.He has served as a local official for many times, from the official to the Minister of the Ministry of Rites.He was framed and relegated many times in his life, and he was exiled to various places, experiencing the bitter taste of the ups and downs of the officialdom.However, he was broad-minded and optimistic by nature, faced life with a smile, and made unremitting efforts to pursue knowledge and poetry creation, and finally left an immortal reputation in the history of literature with his outstanding literary achievements.
Su Shi is a good official with integrity and conscience, and he does good things for the people wherever he goes.Many of his poems describe the hardships of the people, and the following poem "Traveling in Tianzhu Inspired by Guanyin Temple" is one of them: