Keywords: "four outstanding poets in the early Tang Dynasty" vigorous poetic style
The "Four Masters of Early Tang Dynasty" lived in the last 70 years from the end of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong to Shengyuan of Wu Zhou, and the climax of their literary creation was in the second sacred period when Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian were in power together. Before the Tang Taizong dynasty, the poets were mainly the court literati around Tang Taizong, and the content of poetry creation was relatively narrow. After the lower intellectuals, represented by the "Four Masters", stepped onto the poetry scene, the pattern of poets being dominated by court literati was completely changed, which greatly expanded the theme of poetry creation, making the theme of poetry creation "from court to market" and "from Taige to Jiangshan desert" [1], and opened the voice of Tang poetry with their own theoretical ideas and creative practice, which opened a big and vigorous precedent for the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
First, pay attention to the style of poetry.
When these four outstanding artists appeared in the literary world as gifted scholars, they had a very clear aesthetic pursuit and consciously changed their style of writing: opposing exquisiteness and extravagance and advocating vigorous character [2]. The vigorous character advocated by the "Four Masters" actually opened the precedent of the personality theory in the Tang Dynasty. The word "style" was not originally used to evaluate literary and artistic works, but was put forward as a special concept of literary criticism, which began with Liu Xie of Qi and Liang Dynasties in the Southern Dynasties. In Wen Xin Diao Long Feng Gu, Liu Xie's interpretation of Feng Gu established Feng Gu's position in China's classical literature and aesthetics, covering the requirements for literary and artistic language forms and thoughts and feelings, with distinctive characteristics of the times. The most famous in the history of literature is "Jian 'an Style". Jian 'an style is a poem created by Jian 'an poets represented by "Three Caos" and "Seven Zi", which is reflected by its rich ideological content and perfect artistic form. Most poets in Jian 'an period had high political ideals, and making contributions and making a name for themselves became their common pursuit. In addition, at that time, the society was in turmoil, people were devastated, diseases were prevalent, and people and money were wasted. Many people's short lives also made them lament that life was too short. Therefore, their poems, while reflecting their strong character, inevitably reveal a sadness. The style of Tang poetry is the inheritance and development of Jian 'an style. In this process of inheritance and development, the "Four Masters" played a role in connecting the past with the future. They inherited the realistic literary tradition of "deep ambition and long pen" and "broad outline and rich spirit" in Jian 'an literature, and abandoned the tragic elements in Jian 'an style. In the struggle against the official style, the "Four Masters" developed the theory of temperament and chastity, which contained the budding factors of Tang poetry theory, into the theory of backbone with the connotations of qi, masculinity and greatness, and thus began to form the theory of Tang poetry, which pointed out the direction and road for the reform of Tang poetry. The aesthetic pursuit of the "Four Masters" is not only closely related to the subjective spirit of Jian 'an poets, but also directly opens Chen Ziang's personality theory. From the "Four Masters" to Chen Ziang, the beauty of personality became the artistic goal pursued by poets in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
Second, pay equal attention to quality and quality.
Another meaning of Tang poetry is that it is both literary and beautiful. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius put forward two concepts of "literature and quality". These two concepts were inherited and developed by Liu Xie in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the early Tang Dynasty, this literary thought was inherited and carried forward by the literati of the ruling group headed by Emperor Taizong. There is no doubt that the "Four Masters" are all influenced by this thought. Inheriting the predecessors and taking the road of integration of North and South styles is the concentrated embodiment of their pursuit. The "Four Masters" consciously inherited this practice in theory and creative practice. Comrade Luo Zongqiang pointed out: "The main value of the four masters here lies in grasping the spiritual characteristics that the powerful prosperous Tang society will require for literature, and turning the general principle of paying equal attention to literature and quality put forward by politicians in the early Tang Dynasty into concrete and sensible aesthetic requirements." [4] The inheritance and innovation of the "Four Masters" in artistic form also adhered to the principle of paying equal attention to literature and quality. Although this correspondence with Liang's poetic style is overcorrected in theory, it is not completely denied in practice, but innovated in inheritance, which basically follows the law of literature's own development. In the history of literature, people's neglect of literary quality has caused the abnormal development of literature. Some forms are too gorgeous without profound ideological content, and some forms are too lacking in content, which is not desirable. The "Four Masters" inherited and developed the tradition of paying equal attention to literature and quality. They pay attention to the internal relationship between emotion and things, and emphasize the lyrical function of literature from the perspective of the germinal characteristics of emotion, so that the content of the article is not distorted, vivid and the aesthetic feeling of language is more powerful. Wang Bo discussed the lyricism of poetry from the angle of emotion. Luo experienced a tortuous course of seeking an official position, staying idle, entering the screen, joining the army and uprising. His complicated life experience made him have more and deeper experiences of life, especially the lyrical features of poetry. The "Four Masters" discussed the lyrical features of poetry creation from the perspective of feeling things, which is the precedent of Chen Ziang's theory of "good luck", so Chen Ziang's theory of character and good luck is the forward development of the "Four Masters" poetry theory.
Third, take Fu as a poem.
The aesthetic style of the "four outstanding poets in the early Tang Dynasty" is manifested in the innovation of poetic form. Wen Yiduo elaborated brilliantly on the reasons why the "Four Masters" used to write poems with Fu: "They are all frivolous people in Beijing and Chengdu, and their mission is to transform the depravity of the court with the indulgence of ordinary people, to replace shyness with boldness, and to replace local contraction with freedom, so their singing needs the rhythm of opening and closing, and they must use Fu as poetry." [5] This is the need of aesthetic communication and the need to transform the old system. They want to replace the palace consciousness with the street consciousness, and the requirement of this content inevitably requires the adoption of appropriate formal mechanisms. Big, strong and long are the characteristics of Fu style. The "Four Masters" are a group of talented, talented and high-spirited people. They broke through the emotional conflict mechanism of poetry content, broke through the form of poetry, changed the general techniques of poetry and turned to fu style. It is of great significance in the aesthetic history of poetry to form a magnificent aesthetic situation, change the small family style of poetry and form the spirit of everyone.
Fourthly, it embodies the aesthetic style of pursuing boldness.
Farewell to Du DuDu is a famous farewell poem. The poet wrote the sad farewell poems written by ordinary poets in a magnificent and exciting way. The first pair of couplets in this poem "is separated by this wall in Sanqin District and a layer of mist that makes the Five Rivers a river", and the words "Sanqin" and "Wujin" are used to refer to the farewell place and the place where people will go on official business, which sets the tone for the emotional expression of this poem. The two places are thousands of miles away from Qian Shan, but the poet connects them with the "hope" in the "wind and smoke". Then "We say goodbye, and our two officials run counter to each other" points out the relationship between the poet and the sent, so that the poet's feelings can be expressed. The third section "However, China holds our friendship, and heaven is still our neighbor" and the first section "This wall surrounds three Qin areas and makes one of the five rivers through a fog" constitute a harmonious artistic conception and a perfect and harmonious organic unity. The appearance of the triple makes us realize the poet's ingenuity in writing the farewell place and the place where he was sent away as "Sanqin" and "Wujin" in general. If the first couplet is only a simple representation of the image, then the third couplet is a magnificent artistic embodiment. Because of the emotional sustenance, the unfolding image of the first couplet has also become an indispensable part of the poet's emotional expression. As a bridge of the first link, the second link is indispensable. Because of the emotional foundation of "the two of us being officials run counter to each other", it is possible to change the distance from "far" to "near" psychologically. At the end of the couplet, the topic is clearly pointed out: "Why linger at the fork in the road, children * * * touch towels." It shows the poet's calm and natural spirit. In this poem, the poet's magnificent aesthetic pursuit shows unparalleled artistic charm. The poet broke through the narrow vision of Shangguan Yi and Xu, and walked out of the small circle that touched his personal life.
In a word, the prosperous weather of the prosperous Tang empire inspired the great ambition of the "four outstanding men in the early Tang Dynasty" who were eager to make contributions. These lofty aspirations are injected into their poetry creation, which makes their poetry appear flesh and blood, rich in content and full of vigor, thus forming a magnificent and vigorous aesthetic style.
References:
[1] Wen Yiduo. Complete Works of Wen Yiduo (Volume III) [M]. Beijing: Sanlian Bookstore, 1982:72.
[2] Yuan Xingpei. History of China Literature (Volume II) [M]. Beijing: Higher Education Press, 1999:222.
[3] Liu Xie. Zhou Zhu. Notes on Wen Xin Diao Long [M]. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House, 1998:478.
[4] Luo Zongqiang. History of literary thought in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties [M]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 1999: 123.
[5] Wen Yiduo. Collected works of Tang poetry (four masters) [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1998:25