The concept of literary history
Liu Xie, the author of Wen Xin Diao Long, believes that the development and change of literature will eventually be influenced by the times and social and political life. In Shi Tong, he said that "literary changes affect the world, and the ups and downs depend on the time series". In Shi Tong, Tong Bian and Cai Lu, combined with the changes of political fashion and the characteristics of the times, he discussed the reasons for the ups and downs of literature from ancient times to Jin Dynasty and evaluated the writers' works. For example, he said that the style of Jian 'an literature was "rough and full of enthusiasm" because of "world chaos, wind decline and vulgar resentment"; The proliferation of metaphysical poems in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was determined by the social fashion of "emphasizing metaphysics" at that time. I noticed the decisive influence of social politics on the development of literature. Not only that, he also noticed the inheritance relationship of literary evolution. From this perspective, we opposed the bad tendency of "striving for the present and ignoring the past" at that time. These are very valuable.
content and form
This paper analyzes and discusses the relationship between the content and expression of literary creation, and advocates paying equal attention to literature and quality. In the article "Style of Character", he advocated that "style and style of writing are rigid"; In Emotion, he emphasized the combination of love and literature. But in between, he emphasized the importance of "style" and "emotion". He advocates "writing for emotion", opposes "writing for emotion" and resolutely opposes the tendency of one-sided pursuit of form.
summarize experience and lessons
Summarized the experience from all aspects of creation, and put forward the failure lessons that should be avoided. He pointed out that it is important for writers to "wander between gods and things" in their creation, emphasizing the mutual influence and transformation between emotion and scenery. He also pointed out that different styles are the result of the writer's innate talent and temperament being different from the acquired knowledge and habits. In view of the prevailing tendency of "emphasizing literature over literature" and "redoing", he put forward the necessity of inheriting literary tradition and discussed the relationship between "new" and "old" in literary creation. In addition, he also put forward many incisive opinions on the use of rhythm, duality, allusions, metaphor, exaggeration and other techniques in his creation.
Establishment method
In bosom friend, he criticized the bad habits of "valuing the past over the present", "worshiping oneself and restraining others", "believing in the false and confusing the truth" and "holding one's own opinions", and asked the critics to be "selfless and not partial to love". At the same time, he also put forward the criticism method of "six views": first, look at the text to see if its content is consistent with the style; Second, look at the words to see if their words accurately express the truth; Through the three views of change, see if it has inheritance and change; Look at the four wonders to see if their layout is rigorous and appropriate; Look at the meaning of things and see if their allusions are appropriate; Look at the palace merchants and see if the phonological temperament is perfect. This was the most comprehensive and fair evaluation standard at that time.
Historical limitations
Although Wen Xin Diao Long has inevitable historical limitations, especially Confucianism, such as Jing Zong and Zheng Sheng, has had many negative influences on its literary theory. But this does not prevent it from becoming a veritable and insightful monograph in the history of China's literary theory criticism. It is a very valuable legacy in the history of China's literary theory criticism, and it has been paid more and more attention by theorists in many countries around the world.
Versions and comments
In China, there are many research, annotation and translation works about Wen Xin Diao Long. The earliest existing manuscript is the Tang manuscript (kept in Beijing Library). Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House is the earliest edition, with one Ming Jiajing edition and four editions. The more popular ones are Huang's Draft of Qing Dynasty, Wang's Notes on Wen Xin Diao Long, Zhan Ai's Notes on Wen Xin Diao Long, Yang's Notes on Wen Xin Diao Long, Zhou's Notes on Wen Xin Diao Long and Wang's Notes on Wen Xin Diao Long.