Although the title of this poem is "Mrs. Xiang", the protagonist in the poem is King Xiang. The main theme of this poem is to describe the life and death of lovers, who have no fate to meet. The work always uses the clue of waiting for the person who does not come, expressing deep resentment to the other person in the confusion, but it is consistent that the love between them remains unswerving. The whole poem is sung by the actor who plays the male god, and expresses the melancholy and confusion of Mr. Xiang who came to Beizhu, the meeting place, but did not see Mrs. Xiang.
If we connect these two songs to worship the gods, then the love story written in "Nine Songs: Mrs. Xiang" happened when Mrs. Xiang had been waiting for the king of Xiang for a long time but did not arrive, so she left Xiangpu and changed roads. The time of Dongting. Therefore, when Mr. Xiang arrived at Beizhu, the meeting place that night, it was naturally difficult to see his sweetheart. This is where the work was written, closely matching the plot of "Nine Songs of Xiangjun".
The first sentence "The emperor's son descended to Beizhu" is more difficult to understand. "Emperor's son" has always been interpreted as the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven, and was later attached to mean the two daughters of Yao, but there is no doubt that it refers to the goddess of Xiangshui. This sentence is generally said to mean that the emperor's son has arrived in Beizhu, which is derived from "Nine Songs of Xiangjun" in "Nine Songs Xiangjun" "Xiangjun comes to Beizhu"; but this is consistent with the whole article about Xiangjun looking forward to her arrival. The content that comes but does not appear is out of place. So some people interpreted this sentence as an invitation from King Xiang (see Zhan Antai's "Qu Yuan"), so that the meaning of the text becomes smoother.
The first paragraph of the poem writes that Mr. Xiang has been wandering on the shore of Dongting Lake for a long time with pious expectations, longing for the arrival of Mrs. Hunan. This is a picture with a very thought-provoking environment and atmosphere: the cool autumn wind is blowing constantly, the water in Dongting Lake is rippled, and the leaves are falling on the shore. Mr. Xiang, who looked over the autumn water and saw no beauty, hesitated and scratched his head. Sometimes he came to see her off, and sometimes he made arrangements. However, things went against his expectations, and Mrs. Xiang still didn't come until dusk.
This situation has been compared to the abnormal phenomenon of "how can a bird gather among apples, and why can a scorpion hang on a tree?", which further highlights the disappointment and confusion that fills the character's heart, which is of great significance. It means that one cannot get what he wants and that it is futile. Among them, "The autumn wind is blowing, and the waves in the Dongting are under the wooden leaves" is a famous sentence that describes the scenery. It is very effective in exaggerating the atmosphere and mood, so it was deeply appreciated by future generations of poets.
On this basis, the second paragraph further deepens Xiangjun’s desire. Using the herbs by the waterside to evoke the silent longing for the beloved, and using the slow flow of water to hint at the passage of time in the distance, this is a typical artistic technique of pre-Qin poetry. Its advantages are that the characters are related to each other and the scene is unified, and it has Very contagious.
The following scenes of the elk eating in the atrium and the water dragon stagnating by the waterside are two more abnormal phenomena. Like the previous description of the bird and the net, they are also metaphorical comparisons, emphasizing once again the love but not seeing. Violation. Then the same as Mrs. Xiang. In the anxiety of waiting for a long time, he also rode horseback to search from morning to night. The result was slightly different from Mrs. Xiang:
In his eager search, he suddenly had the idea of ??hearing about the beautiful woman. The illusion of summoning and riding away with her. So the work has the following most imaginative and romantic touch.
The third paragraph is purely about Mr. Xiang’s fantasy of meeting Mrs. Xiang as he wished. This is a dazzling and magical world: the courtyards built in the middle of the water are decorated with exotic flowers, exotic plants and fragrant trees. Its colors and fragrance are unparalleled.
The work lists more than ten kinds of plants in one breath, such as lotus, sunflower, pepper, cinnamon, orchid, magnolia, medicine, caladium, cymbidium, stone orchid, zhizhi, Duheng, etc., to express the meeting. The beauty of the place. Its purpose is to use the radiant external environment to set off and reflect the joy and happiness that fills the characters' hearts. Therefore, when the gods of Jiuyi Mountain came to pick up Xiangjun's lover, he suddenly realized that he woke up from this dream-like beauty and fell into the pain of lovesickness again.
The last paragraph and the ending of "Nine Songs of Xiangjun" not only have the same number of sentences, but also the exact same sentence structure. In despair, Mr. Xiang was as emotional as Mrs. Xiang, and abandoned each other's gifts to the river and the bank, but his apparent determination could not suppress his inner love.
He finally regained his composure, and planned to go through the difficult psychological journey of falling in love and missing each other while patiently waiting and anticipating. He picked the fragrant Du Ruo on Tingzhou and prepared to give it to Mrs. Xiang who came from afar.
Extended information
"Nine Songs·Mrs. Xiang" is one of the eleven poems in the "Chu Ci·Nine Songs". It is a poem dedicated to the goddess of Xiangshui, and "Nine Songs" "Xiangjun" is a companion chapter. It is generally believed that Mrs. Xiang is the female god of the Xiangshui River, and she and Xiangjun, the male god of the Xiangshui River, are the consort gods. The Xiangshui River is the largest river in Chu State. The pair of gods, Lord Xiang and Lady Xiang, reflect the ideology of primitive people worshiping natural gods and the concept of "love between gods and humans".
Chu folk literature and art has a strong religious atmosphere, and the altar is actually a "drama altar" or a "literary altar." Take "The King of Xiang" and "Mrs. Xiang" as an example: when people sacrifice to King Xiang, they play the role of female singers or worshipers to welcome King Xiang; Mrs. Xiang, everyone expresses their deep love and affection.
They use gods as objects to entrust the simple and sincere love in the world; at the same time, they also reflect the harmony between the people of Chu and nature. Because the Xiang River that irrigates Southern Chu has a flesh-and-blood relationship with the people of Chu, the Chu people have a deep love for the Xiang River and regard the Xiang River as a river of love and happiness, thus personifying the description of the Xiang River.
The image of God also plays out the stories of joys and sorrows like human beings. The God in people's minds is also covered with the shadow of historical and legendary figures. Lord Xiang and Mrs. Xiang are based on the legend of Shun and his two concubines (Ehuang and Nvying). In this way, the image of God is not only richer and more vivid, but also more emotionally close to people in real life and full of human touch.