Li Yu's former words and latter words

A Comparison of Li Yu's Poems in His Early and Later Periods

[Abstract] Li Yu's early poems mostly describe the emperor and court life, with a soft style; In the later period, Ci turned to reminisce about the past and hurt the present, expressing the pain of national subjugation and the suffering of prisoners, using sentimental words and touching artistic power. By comparing the artistic features of Li Yu's poems in his early and later periods, this paper affirms his aesthetic value and position in the history of literature.

[Keywords:] a bad king, gentle, frank and natural, sentimental and sad.

[Text]

The late master Li Yu (937-978 AD) was a representative writer of Five Pronouns and an outstanding poet in the history of China literature. He is the sixth son of China King Li Jing. He acceded to the throne at the age of 25. When Huang Lee was in power, it was already a powerful enemy. He "succumbed to the Song Dynasty for survival, and cultivated tribute with a happy ending", but he was politically weak and stole peace until he was destroyed by the Song Dynasty, surrendered naked and became a prisoner. He was imprisoned in the capital of song dynasty. After being captured, he lived in sorrow and pain all day long, and was finally poisoned by Song Taizong and Zhao Guangyi with tractor medicine. Li Yu is a cowardly and incompetent king of national subjugation, but he is a versatile man with high artistic accomplishment in literature and art. He is proficient in music, calligraphy, painting, articles, poems, especially ci.

Throughout the development of Li Yu's ci, we can clearly see two stages, the early stage and the late stage, which are bounded by the death of Song Dynasty in the eighth year of Kaibao (975). The following will focus on the artistic characteristics and differences of Li Yu's poems in the early and late periods.

First, soft, beautiful, frank and natural.

Li Yu's early poems mostly describe the emperor, court life and love between men and women, with a soft style. Political incompetence made him unwilling or unable to deal with political affairs, which made him pay more attention to court life and love between men and women, and he became very interested in it, so these became the main (or only) themes of his early poems.

The moon is dark and foggy, so we can go to Langbian tonight. Arrange socks, step on incense and carry gold shoes. See you at the south bank of the gallery, always shivering. It is difficult for a slave to come out, but he should be taught to be merciful.

This poem describes the scene of a woman sneaking up on her lover in the dark night. It's easy for readers to see its gentle style, but it's not difficult to appreciate the natural frankness of the words, which is quite different from "Picking Flowers": walking is fragrant, socks are stuck to the ground, and embroidered shoes are held in their hands. ..... It's rare for me to come out, so be gentle-suit yourself. This kind of creeping action, cautious manner, and once-loving psychology are extremely frank and vivid.

Another example is "Spring on the Jade Tower", which describes the process of going out for a banquet and returning to the chariot, which is extremely rich, and the ending of "Don't put out the candle when returning, wait for the horseshoe to clear jathyapple" is also extremely elegant.

Another example: it's heartbreaking not to come in the middle of spring. The order of autumn may be like snow in the snow, brush it off and then flow down full. Hongyan has flown back, the journey is far away, and the dream is hard to come true. The sadness of parting is like weeds in spring, which go further and further. (Qingpingle) expresses the author's infinite nostalgia for his relatives who are far away from home. The sentences are fresh and natural, and it is easy to arouse everyone's * * *.

Second, sentimental and melancholy works

In 975 AD, the Southern Tang Dynasty was destroyed by the Song Dynasty, and Li Houzhu became a prisoner from the king of a country, which made great changes in his body, mind, life and thoughts. He lived in Lacrimosa all day and saw a scene and an event, which made him sad. Therefore, his later poems turned to reminisce about the past and hurt the present, expressing the pain of national subjugation and the suffering of prisoners, with sentimental words and touching artistic power. His ci began to look like the shackles of Huajian school, with more realistic feelings, more vivid images, simple language, far-reaching artistic conception and high aesthetic value, which had a great influence on the development of ci in later generations, especially in Song Dynasty.

For example, silence is alone in the west wing, the bright moon is like a hook, and the lonely phoenix tree locks the autumn in the deep courtyard. It's still messy when you cut it. It is sadness, especially a taste in my heart. ("Meet You Huan")

The name of the word "meet with a smile and forget the enmity" is about leaving sorrow. Many people think that this poem was written by Li Yu in his early years, but judging from his sentimental tone, it is basically certain that it was written after the Song Dynasty. In poetry, parting sorrow is often abstracted into concrete with vivid artistic images, or the depth of parting sorrow is written, such as Li Bai's farewell: "No one will say that the sea is flat under Wan Li"; Or write the weight of sadness, such as "Wulingchun" by Li Qingzhao: "I am afraid that two streams are fierce, and I can't bear much sadness"; Or write a lot of worries, such as Qin Guan's Millennium: "Spring goes and spring comes, flying red like the sea"; Or write the length of sorrow, such as Li Bai's "Song of Autumn Pu": "Three thousand wars with white hair, sorrow seems long." And this word is about the taste of sadness: "Don't be a taste in your heart." So what does it taste like? There is no name between the lines, just a feeling that can only be understood but not expressed. This unique and true feeling can be described as a salty taste, but it is rooted in people's hearts and appealed to them. After reading it, people naturally combine their own experiences and produce a kind of * * * sound. "If you keep cutting, the reason will be chaotic" is a metaphor for anxiety. All kinds of feelings and thoughts are intertwined, which makes the poet unable to examine everything in the world with normal thinking, and only allows a sadness of parting to dominate his thinking and action, so he "has a different taste in his heart" and appropriately expresses this indescribable melancholy and confusion.

Another example is: outside the window, the rain is gurgling, the spring is fading, and Luozhou is unbearable cold. I don't know if I am a dream guest, but I am insatiable in one day. Don't lean on the bar alone, it is infinite. It's easier to see when it's not. Running water is gone, and spring is gone. ("Langtaosha")

The rain startled me and Han Xiao attacked me. When I woke up, I felt that I had been sent away from home. I thought of my hometown Wan Li, where is my motherland? Dreamers are hard to see again in this life. The happiness of the past is like falling out of the water, which is gone forever; Compared with the past, it's a world of difference. This word uses contrast to describe the life and grief of prisoners after national subjugation. After the Song Dynasty, Li Yu was labeled as a disobedient Hou and was actually under house arrest. Since then, he has never recovered, and "Lacrimosa is the only such person". "Being a Guest" is set off by "Happiness in Dreams", and "Flowing Water Out of Flowers" is a metaphor for the joy of the past, which is very infectious. "It's easier to see when you're away than when you're away" sums up your life experiences in simple language, which can cause people's * * * sound when they leave, and this * * * sound is enough to cause people's hearts to shake strongly.

In addition to the above two sentences, Li Yu also had many masterpieces handed down from generation to generation during this period, such as Broken Array and Yu Meiren, which were widely circulated by later generations. These words are all works in the later period of imprisonment, so they are mostly sentimental and touching. At this time, his Ci broke through the barrier of "Ci is a colorful branch", liberated Ci from the atmosphere of Huajian School, deliberately carved and worn out, and created pronoun style, which made Ci style coexist and develop at the same time, thus making it possible.

The changes of Li Yu's poems in the early and late periods are closely related to his political experience and living conditions, and his dissolute court life in the early period made his poems appear soft. The late monarch's life under house arrest, which depended on others, enabled him to see the profound artistic conception of life in the universe through the secular world, and then sprouted his heartfelt helplessness and sigh for life. Those helplessness and sighs recorded his joy and poured out his sadness, which was the natural expression of the truest feelings.

Although there are great differences between the former and the latter, one thing is the same, that is, his sincere and natural feelings for the word. His words are very true, concrete and straightforward. He is good at capturing the characteristics that things are easily felt and associated by people, and sketching colorful pictures with vivid metaphors and beautiful words. The thoughts and feelings expressed in his words are very common. He expressed his strong life feelings with his distinctive creative personality, which made the artistic conception of his ci more profound and the overall momentum broader, thus making his works gain long-term vitality. This is also the key reason why he occupies a place in the history of China ancient literature.

[Bibliography] Exploring the Victory of Tang and Song Poetry, co-authored by Wu, Lu Jian, Zhejiang People's Publishing House, 198 1 edition;

Selected Translation of Tang and Song Ci, co-authored by Xu Rong Street and Zhu Honghui, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1980 edition;

History of Ancient Chinese Literature (II) edited by Guo Yuheng, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1998 edition;

Selected Works of China Ancient Literature (I) edited by Zhang Xinjiang University Press 1997.