As a new poetic style, Ci first spread widely among the people. To be sure, there were certainly many words circulating among the people at that time. Unfortunately, for various reasons, the vast majority of folk words have died out. 1900, by chance, hundreds of copied folk words were found in Cave 288 of Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang, which provided extremely precious materials for studying the development of lyrics and songs. Dunhuang Quzi Ci has been compiled: Wang Zhongmin's Collection of Dunhuang Quzi Ci, 164; Zong Zhen's Dunhuang Qu, 3 18 characters; Ren Erbei first compiled Dunhuang Quxuelu, and other folk songs, such as Biography of Wugeng, were expanded to 545. After Ren Erbei, he compiled a collection of Dunhuang Lyrics, which was expanded to include 1 200 songs for all musicians. But generally speaking, people who talk about Dunhuang Quzi Ci still focus on those Quzi Ci whose names are adjustable and conform to the style of Ci, that is, Wang Zhongmin's Quzi Ci is taken as the research object to distinguish it from Yuefu Ci and other folk songs. As far as Dunhuang folk words are concerned, their contents are quite extensive. Among them, "there are moans of wanderers, brave words of loyal ministers and righteous men, and joy and happiness of hermits;" The eagerness and disappointment of young students, as well as the praise of Buddha and the singing of doctors, are all in tune. Less than half of people talk about their feelings and flowers. " (See Wang Zhongmin's Dunhuang Quzi Xu Ci Recorded Collection), among which the most prominent is the work praising patriotic unity. For example, Bodhisattva Man (The Great Masters of Dunhuang Dynasties) and devotion to loyalty (Good Life and Death). These words show the sufferings of the people in the border areas after the "An Shi Rebellion" and their eager desire for the prosperity of the country and the unification of the Tang Empire. In addition, some folk words also reflect the travel conditions and hardships of businessmen's wanderers, the love life and the desire for a happy life of singers and dancers, and some words also express the boredom of couples in unjust wars, and so on. The existing Dunhuang Quzi Ci not only has a wide range of themes and rich contents, but also retains the simple and fresh characteristics of folk works in art and has diverse styles. It is this kind of folk discourse circulating in the lower class that nurtures the literati and promotes the creation and development of literati ci. At the same time, among the Quzi Ci found in Dunhuang, there are still some long tunes that are rare among the existing literati Ci in Tang Dynasty.
It is worth noting that the best and most written works in Dunhuang Quzi Ci are still about the love between men and women. The lyrics sung by popular Yan music in public and private banquets are inevitably influenced by the creative environment and atmosphere, showing a general creative tendency, that is, talking about eroticism between men and women and drinking to entertain. It is conceivable that young singers who sing a ditty to persuade wine to add fun will suddenly sing "I was born useful, spinning a thousand silver, come back!" " , or slowly sing "to the monarch, Yao and Shun, and then make the customs pure", which is so uncoordinated with the surrounding atmosphere, it will definitely spoil the scenery. At this time, if you sing erotic tunes to help you get drunk, it will be in harmony with the atmosphere. Therefore, in Dunhuang Quzi Ci, although less than half of the words express their affection for women, they are the most frequently expressed. If we make a classified summary of Dunhuang Quzi Ci collection, we can find that lovers and lovers' works account for more than one third, accounting for the largest proportion. Citizens like to talk about flashy topics. The creative tendency of Dunhuang Quzi Ci from the beginning catered to their appreciation interest and aesthetic habits. This kind of work is also the most vivid artistic achievement. Take two words for example:
Tears wet on Luo Qi, and the teenager is more grateful. At the beginning, my sisters clearly knew that they should be more sincere than him. I think about it. I don't know how to smell it, okay? ("throwing the ball")
Looking out of the window, the hazy moon is like a piece of silver. The night is getting longer and longer, and the wind is getting tighter and tighter, blowing away the clouds that circled the moon for slaves and seeing ungrateful people. ("Looking at Jiangnan")
Throwing Ball Music is a "confession" of a prostitute in a brothel, which describes a woman's experience of being played and abandoned, as well as her inner pain and regret afterwards. She regrets her sincere efforts and that she didn't listen to her sisters' kind advice, which is profound and touching. Only these people can tell the truth of their feelings, the incisive taste and the pain of meaning. "Looking at the South of the Yangtze River" is also a song of complaint in the boudoir. At the thought of "ungrateful people", you can't restrain your inner bitterness. "Heartbroken, affectionate woman" is a common theme of ancient people. This word is novel and unique in conception, which increases the artistic expression of lyric, which is the charm of folk songs.
Dunhuang Quzi Ci, as the initial form of Ci, is also obviously different from the lyrics formed later. The characteristics of its initial form can be summarized as six points in Mr. Wu's General Theory of Tang and Song Ci: inter-line, indefinite number of words, eclectic, indefinite, multi-person reciting the original intention of the topic, and rich and diverse forms. At the same time, in artistic expression, many works are too vulgar and rough, which often makes people unbearable. The pearl of Qu Zici is still buried in the sand and needs to be excavated, wiped and polished by literati.