The emergence and development of Persian classical poetry has always been rooted in the traditional religious and cultural soil of this ancient nation, and it has continued to mature and improve, and ultimately enjoys a high reputation around the world as a representative of oriental classical literature. The status of Chinese classical poetry in the history of the development of oriental literature is also unshakable, but its deep meaning is essentially different from Persian classical poetry: the creative object of Chinese classical poetry focuses on the poet himself, and its ideological content is full of humanities Caring, rarely influenced by religious ideas. The reason for this difference is closely related to the different development paths and cultural backgrounds of Persia and China.
1. The source of belief in Persian classical religious poetry
As early as around 1000 BC, the prophet Zoroaster, the oldest monotheistic religion in the world, was inspired by the Aryan polytheism of Iran. The enlightenment of the Religion established the basic teachings of the Religion on the basis of the reform of ancient Iranian religion. From then until the Arabs invaded Persia in the mid-7th century AD, the ideology centered on the teachings of the Religion continued to dominate the social life of the ancient Persians. In all aspects, the development of literature naturally accepted the guidance of Zoroastrian thought. In the process of the development and final establishment of Zoroastrian monotheism, the traditional form of Persian classical poetry first appeared. In the initial stage of establishing a religious theoretical system, Zoroastrian compiled a certain number of religious hymns, together with religious rituals, ancient folk songs from Iran and Central Asia, mythological stories and historical legends into the classic literature of Zoroastrianism. Avesta". These religious hymns can be regarded as the earliest classical poetry in Persia that was still in its infancy. This type of classical poetry has the closest connection with religious beliefs, and its content directly reflects the worldview and moral norms of the religion and the characteristics of its beliefs. Zoroaster himself was a pioneer in classical poetry. It is reported that most of the poems of "Annas" in the Zoroastrian holy book "Avesta" were written by him personally. The Zoroastrian teachings are highlighted in the poem:
These I ask you - Lord, declare the truth!
Who is the Father, the "holy" first Ancestors?
Who determined the orbits of the sun and stars?
Who, who taught the moon to be perfect and incomplete?
These are related to Everything else, God, I want to know.
I ask you these things - Lord, declare the truth!
Who secures the earth below, and who above
teaches the heaven not to collapse? Who is the water or wood?
Who uses swiftness to ride through the clouds and wind.
Who, O Khuzda, is the originator of "good thoughts"?
These I ask you - Lord, declare the truth
Who , the Merciful, who creates darkness and light?
Who, the Merciful, creates sleep and waking?
Who divides morning from noon and night,
< p>To remind wise people not to forget their heavenly responsibilities.The "Lord" mentioned here is Ahura Mazda, the god of creation in the religion. Zoroaster asked questions to the Lord God in the poem, and its content basically revolves around the Zoroastrian cosmology, that is, "from the invisible, spiritual universe to the tangible, material universe." [1] In addition, some concepts related to ethics and morality, such as kindness and benevolence, also appear in poetry, which reflects one of the basic characteristics of the religion - the fanatical worship of good gods, emphasizing "acting with good words, good thoughts, and good deeds" "; [2] The most prominent symbol of "goodness" is fire, which also reflects the worship of fire by believers in the Ao religion. Since Persian classical poetry originally had the basic purpose of recording and spreading religious teachings, its core must be the emotional expression of the creator based on certain theological concepts. Religious belief became the source of poets' creations, and this essential characteristic determined the subsequent development direction of Persian classical poetry. Different from the above situation, although the earliest poems in ancient China also include hymns and prayer poems about the sacrifice of primitive gods, their origin lies in the singing of the merits and miracles of the ancestors of the nation, and the worship and gratitude to the god of the country. The object of praise in ancient Chinese hymns to gods is related to the primitive farming civilization and the witchcraft activities of early ancestors. It is an art form based on people's actual life. Its nature of originating from real life shows that people worship gods. It is far from rising to the level of "faith" and has not been affected by systematic religious theological thoughts. Therefore, the religious color of Chinese classical poetry is very weak. In the "Daya" and "Song" of the "Book of Songs", most of the poems praising gods are directly related to history or legends, and there are also songs about the rituals of ancestral temples; the "Nine Songs" in "Chu Ci" were preserved in Chu by Qu Yuan during the Warring States Period. It is the result of recording and organizing the sacrificial songs sung in the primitive witchcraft sacrificial activities of the country; although the content of an article in "Tianwen" is similar to part of the content in Zoroaster's "Holy Book", the two have great influence on the creation of poetry. The intention is completely different: "Tianwen" expresses the poet's bold doubts about nature and traditional concepts through questioning God. Behind the poem lies the poet's emotion about his own destiny, so it can be said that it is based on the poet's own emotions. It is conceived and created; and the purpose of Zoroaster's creation of the "Holy Book" is to vividly convey "God's revelation and God's commandments",[3] which rarely contains personal subjective emotions. It can be seen that the formation process of religious belief and Persian classical poetry is the relationship between "source" and "flow", which leads to the main body of Persian classical poetry always insisting on absolute faithfulness to the faith in art.
On the contrary, Chinese classical poetry has consciously invested great enthusiasm and concern in people's real life since its birth. In this sense, Chinese classical poetry is human-centered, poet's poetry; Persian classical poetry is God-centered, religious poetry.
2. The religious implications of Persian classical philosophical poetry
Philosophicality is a major feature of Persian classical poetry. The Persian nation has loved and worshiped wisdom since ancient times. People are good at embedding many wise and philosophical maxims in poems, thus adding to the interest and depth of thought in the poems. Due to the invasion of the Arabs, the dominant position of traditional Zoroastrianism in Persia was replaced by Islam. Therefore, the mainstream ideology throughout the creation of classical poetry also became biased towards Muslim beliefs. However, the influence of the Yi religion was not completely eliminated, so the classical philosophical poetry was influenced by both religions at the same time, and its content also involved the basic teachings of the two aspects.
"The Father of Persian Poetry" Rudaji (850-940): In his era, Islam had spread in Iran for nearly 200 years, but he still adhered to the ideas of ancient religion and advocated it in his poems The moral principles established by Zoroastrianism. In his philosophical poem, he emphasized four conditions for judging whether a person is perfect:
There are four treasures in the world
that can free people from sorrow and fill them with laughter.
Healthy body, noble moral character,
Good reputation, smart mind.
Rudaji’s philosophical poems also embody the interpretation of Zoroastrianism and reflect a clear view of good and evil:
Even if one takes care of poisonous snakes,
In the end, it will replace gratitude with righteousness.
The nature of evil people is no different than poisonous snakes.
Don’t pity them just based on their appearance.
Also. The philosophical poems of Khayyam (1048-1122), a famous poet, also reflect the justice, self-denial and abstinence that religious thought has always promoted:
(Part 1)
In the morning, the dewdrops cling to the tulip's face -
The violets on the green grass also pay tribute to it
My justice is like a budding flowerJt~--
It is ready to reveal its beauty
(Part 2)
Every secret in the heart of a wise man,
should be revealed. Hidden in the talons of the goshawk
The pearl is formed from the water droplets falling into the shell,
and it hides the secret of the heart of the sea.
The philosophical poems of Saadi (1208-1292) are even more full of religious moral injunctions
(Part 1)
If you want to climb high, you must not be arrogant and arrogant,
Be humble.
(Part 2)
It is said that one should be lenient to one's faults and reward one's merits,
Don't punish one's mistakes too quickly
Flowers and thorns coexist, this is the truth,
When you see the thorns, don’t abandon the flowers.
Although poets in different historical periods have different religious concepts. There are differences, but the philosophical poems they created are all guided by their respective beliefs and use philosophical words to convey certain teachings. Compared with Persian classical philosophical poems, there are no pure philosophical poems in Chinese classical poetry. This is largely due to the unique expression method of Chinese classical poetry. Poets often express their views on the world and life by incorporating emotions into scenes and using metaphors. In it, what can be seen are only verses with a certain philosophical meaning. The philosophy of these verses can be said to be an accessory to the poet's emotional expression, unlike the aphorisms in Persian classical philosophical poetry. Philosophical. For example:
Day after day, night after day
If you believe in the way of heaven, will your life be long and peaceful?
Haici Caimong. Good friends are as close to each other as we are to the end of the world.
The water will flow even more when you cut it off with a knife, and the sorrow will become even worse when you raise a cup to relieve your sorrow.
The silkworms will die only when the silkworms are dead, and the tears will not dry until the wax torch turns to ashes.
Obviously, the philosophy expressed in these poems is the poet's true perception and rational thinking about life based on his personal experiences in a specific era and under a specific environment. Here, the poetry completely becomes a display of the poet's state of mind. A means, or an approach, is more humane than Persian classical philosophical poetry, but it also lacks the profound moral and ethical connotation of Persian classical philosophical poetry. Therefore, reading Chinese classical poetry is rich in philosophical meaning. In poetry, people can find more points of agreement between themselves and the poet in the depth of their thoughts and concepts, and based on this, they can resonate with the philosophy embodied in the poem, and ultimately achieve the purpose of appreciation; and for Persian classics For philosophical poems, one needs to remain humble and carefully understand the truth that the poet wants to convey. Poetry always requires readers to have a sincere and admiring heart, and requires readers to "look up". In addition, Persian classical poetry is mostly outspoken when explaining philosophy, with the nature of admonishment and instruction, while Chinese classical poetry seems to be quite profound, simple in words but profound in meaning. During this period, religion played a vital role. It objectively shaped Persian classical philosophical poetry into a carrier of deified morality. What the poetry wanted to promote was not only the outlook on life and the world under the influence of religious thoughts, but also the outlook on life and worldview influenced by religious ideas. Norms of behavior established by concepts. In other words, poetry has inadvertently become an important means for religion to perform its social functions.
In China, poetry can express aspirations, and can express emotions, views, groups, and resentments, but objectively it does not bear the obligation to spread religious morals or theological thoughts; poetry is the author's spiritual consumer product, a concentrated expression of personal emotions, not The materialized product of religious thought. It can be seen that compared with Chinese classical philosophical poetry, Persian classical philosophical poetry has more religious meaning.
3. The religious complex of Persian classical love poems
In ancient Persia, religious beliefs not only penetrated into the rational world of poets, but also had an impact on their spiritual world
Produced a huge influence, resulting in a large number of lyric poems closely related to religious concepts. The poetry that represents the highest artistic level of Persian classical lyric poetry should be classical love poetry. When talking about Persian classical love poetry, we cannot help but involve the Islamic "religion of religions" - Sufi mysticism. Early Sufism required pure belief in God and advocated asceticism. Around the 9th century, a group of Sufi theorists produced in Persia gradually created the theoretical system of Sufi mysticism. Islamic Sufi believers advocate that through certain forms of penance, self-denial, asceticism, worshiping the Lord and doing good deeds, they can "filter their own minds" and "become one with God in 'nirvana', and obtain eternal existence in unity" [4] As Sufi mysticism became the main research object of Persian medieval classical poetry, and taking the opportunity of Sufi mysticism's acceptance of love content in the late 8th century, a large number of poems expressing love for God appeared in Persian classical poetry from the 10th century onwards. theme. This phenomenon is fundamentally determined by the ideal state of "becoming one with God" advocated in Sufi mystical teachings. Several famous poets in the history of Persian classical poetry are all masters of "Sufi love poetry". Khayyam, Nezami, Attar, Mulavi, Saadi, Hafez, Jami, etc. all have well-known masterpieces handed down from generation to generation. Like classical religious poetry and philosophical poetry, the original intention of the creation of classical love poetry is still not divorced from the influence of religious beliefs, but it is specifically and specifically expressed as the interpretation of the "divine love" of Sufism through the expression of human love. In this process, poets often use a large number of metaphors, metaphors, symbols, puns and other artistic techniques to create the core part of the love poem into a perfect state of fusion of human and god, which is used to express the infinite yearning for God. This characteristic is reflected in the collection of poems "Masnavi":
A beauty spent the whole night imparting love magic to Venus and the moon;
After casting magic, she used The eyes closed Tianyu's eyes.
Look into your hearts! Muslims, no matter what happens,
No heart can be integrated into me. I have been integrated with her for a long time.
Persian classical love poetry conveys to a large extent the highest ideal of unity between the poet and God. This is the universal ideal of the entire Persian nation in a specific historical period. It is far away from the poet's life and brings There is a lot of fantasy and mystery. Powerful religious ideology guides poets towards faith in the divine world, which is reflected in love poems as a firm belief in and passionate praise of divine love. Therefore, Persian classical love poetry is also poetry that serves religion to a certain extent.
Chinese classical love poetry presents a completely different landscape. Generally speaking, when poets express such themes, they express their true feelings here and now. Each love poem refers to a different object, and the personal emotions to be expressed are also very complex, but in general it is the poet's aesthetic experience in the realm of "I", without the interference of religious consciousness. Therefore, Chinese classical poetry can develop along the path of literary development and reflect the beauty of pure literature, which is precisely a major shortcoming of Persian classical love poetry. Therefore, the emotions carried by Chinese classical love poems are not as thick and rich as those of Persian classical love poems, but give people a fresh, timeless, cordial and dependable beauty. From the perspective of literary creation and reception, the two classical love poems are also very different: in order to highlight the beauty, nobility, wisdom and power of God, Persian classical love poems often do not hesitate to use heavy ink to describe the being. God of faith praises God vigorously and sings boldly; while classical Chinese love poems focus on expressing the poet's own good wishes for love, or expressing the sorrow and separation caused by love. They are often implicit and euphemistic, with concise language and long meaning. Reading Chinese classical love poems will help to better grasp the overall aesthetic tendency of Persian classical love poems:
Guan Guan Sui Dove, in the River Continent.
A graceful lady, a gentleman is a good man.
The longing for lovesickness is painful, and the good times cannot last.
The expedition outside the Great Wall has not yet returned, and it is already dusk picking lotus flowers in the south of the Yangtze River.
I would like to be a winged bird in the sky, and a twig on the ground.
The implication of Chinese classical love poetry is a kind of light emotion. The poems are like tea, full of leisurely interest. Persian classical love poetry is influenced by Sufism. Mysticism often leads to an "unknowable" poetic realm. Love shifts from "human love" to "divine love", giving people an elusive confusion. Tasting these two classical love poems with very different styles, it is difficult to believe that they are both rooted in the tradition of ancient Eastern culture. Therefore, regional differences and national cultural differences are of great value to the study of different literary concepts.