(340 BC - 278 BC), Han nationality, Mi’s surname Qu, given name Ping, courtesy name Yuan, Danyang, Chu State (now Zigui, Hubei Province) at the end of the Warring States Period in China (now Zigui, Hubei Province, new archaeological discoveries may actually be Longyang, A native of Hanshou, Hunan today (Note 1), he is a descendant of Qu Xia, the son of Xiong Tong, King Wu of Chu.
Qu Yuan is one of China's greatest romantic poets and the earliest known famous poet in our country. He founded the literary style of "Chu Ci" (that is, he created the literary style of "Ci Fu") and also created the tradition of "vanilla beauty". "Li Sao", "Nine Chapters", "Nine Songs" and "Tianwen" are Qu Yuan's most important masterpieces. "Li Sao" is the longest lyric poem in my country.
Qu Yuan was trusted by King Huai of Chu in his early years and served as a disciple. He often discussed state affairs with King Huai and participated in the formulation of laws. At the same time, he presides over foreign affairs. He advocated that Chu and Qi should unite and fight against Qin together. With Qu Yuan's efforts, Chu's national strength increased. However, due to his own upright character and the slander and exclusion of others, Qu Yuan was gradually alienated by King Huai of Chu. In 305 BC, Qu Yuan objected to King Chu Huai's signing of the Yellow Thorn Alliance with Qin, but Chu still completely fell into the arms of Qin. As a result, Qu Yuan was also expelled from Yingdu by King Huai of Chu and lived in northern Han Dynasty. Qu Yuan was expelled from Yingdu. During his exile, Qu Yuan felt depressed and began to create literature. His works were filled with his attachment to the Chu land and Chu Feng and his enthusiasm for serving the people and the country. His works have gorgeous words, strange imagination, novel metaphors and profound connotations, and have become one of the origins of Chinese literature. In 278 BC, Qin general Bai Qi sent his troops south and captured the capital of Ying. Qu Yuan, out of despair and grief, threw a large stone into the Miluo River and died. Legend has it that local people dropped rice dumplings to feed the fish to prevent Qu Yuan's body from being eaten by the fish. Later, it gradually formed a ritual. From now on, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month will be the Dragon Boat Festival every year. People eat rice dumplings and row dragon boats to commemorate this great patriotic poet. In 1953, the 2230th anniversary of Qu Yuan's death, the World Peace Council passed a resolution identifying Qu Yuan as one of the four cultural celebrities in the world commemorated that year.
Note 1:
Recently, the research results submitted by the Qu Yuan Society of Hanshou County, Hunan Province on "The Theory of Qu Yuan's Hometown Hanshou" were appraised. After carefully reading the reported materials and unearthed cultural relics After the introduction, we went to the ancient town of Canggang in Hanshou County for a field trip. The large number of Qu Yuan's remains and unearthed cultural relics, as well as the confirmation of descriptions related to Qu Yuan's works, made people feel that Qu Yuan's hometown is likely to be in Hanshou, at least "Qu Yuan's hometown". "In Han Shou" can be called a well-founded new theory.
Life
Family
Qu Yuan was born in a noble family of Chu State. Qu Yuan’s ancestors were the same as the ancestors of the King of Chu. They were also surnamed Mi at first, and later changed their surname to Xiong; When it was passed to Xiong Yi, he was granted the title of Chu for his merits and lived in Danyang (which is now Zigui County, Hubei Province). This is Qu Yuan's hometown. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, around the 7th century BC, the son of Xiong Tong, King Wu of Chu, was granted the title of Qu Xia in the place of "Qu", and his descendants took Qu as their surname. The family members of the King of Chu, similar to the Qu family, also include the Zhao family and the Jing family. Zhao, Qu, and Jing are the three major surnames of the Chu family. Qu Yuan once served as the Sanlu doctor, and it is said that he was in charge of the affairs of the three surnames of the royal family.
Since Qu Yuan was the descendant of the King of Chu, which was called a "gong clan" or "gongshi" at that time, his relationship with the Chu State was of course unusual. The descendants of the Qu family, such as Qu Chong, Qu Wan, Qu Dao, Qu Jian, etc., all held important positions in the Chu State. Qu Yuan's father was Boyong. In Qu Yuan's generation, there were not many high-ranking officials in the Qu family, only Qu Yuan and Qu Gai, the general who was later captured by the Qin State. Qu Yuan's "Xi Chan" in "Nine Chapters" of Chu Ci once said: "Suddenly forgetting the lowliness and poverty of the body." It is likely that the noble family was already in decline at that time.
Birth
According to the results of many modern studies, Qu Yuan’s birth date probably did not occur between the twenty-seventh year of King Xuan of Chu (342 BC) and the thirtieth year (339 BC). years). According to Jiazi's calculation, that year should be the year of Wuyin. What a coincidence that Qu Yuan was born not only in the year of Yin, but also in the month and day of Yin. According to the old saying in the Chinese calendar, "people are born in Yin", so Xia Zheng uses the month of Jian Yin (i.e. the first month) as the beginning of the year. Since Qu Yuan was born on the Yin day of the Yin year, it is truly in line with the "human" birth date. Therefore, Qu Yuan's famous work "Li Sao" said: "The photo of Ti Zhen was in Meng Zou Xi, but it was Geng Yin Wu who descended." This sentence means that in the first month of that year when the Tai Sui star met Yin [4], and it was also the day of Geng Yin, I was born from my mother’s body. It means that this year is the Yin year; Meng is the beginning, Shuo is the first month, and the lunar calendar uses the month of Jian Yin as the beginning of the year, indicating that the first month of this year is the Yin month; Geng Yin means that this day is the Yin day. Qu Yuan was born on the Yin day of the Yin month of the Yin year, which was a good day (according to calculations by Zou Hanxun and Liu Shipei using the Yin calendar and the Xia calendar, it was determined to be the 21st day of the first month of 343 BC. In the Qing Dynasty, Chen Jue used the weekly calendar to calculate it as 343 BC). the 22nd day of the first month of the year), currently generally set as 340 BC.
Naming
Qu Yuan felt that his birthday was a bit unusual, so he said in "Li Sao": "Huang Lan Kuiyu came here for the first time, and Zhao Xiyu praised his name. His name is Zhengzexi, and his courtesy name is Lingjun."
These four sentences mean: My father saw that my birth was extraordinary, so he gave me a good name. My name is "Ping" and my given name is "Yuan". When Wang Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty explained Qu Yuan's name in "Zhang Ju", he said: "Zheng means peace; it means law", "Spirit means spirit; balance means harmony. The only person who can speak of Zhengping as the law is Heaven, which nourishes the balance of things." The tuner should not be concerned with the earth.
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That’s why the name “Ping Yi Fa Tian” means “Original Yi Fa Di”. Coupled with the year, month and day of his birth, literally speaking, “Ping” means justice, and Ping Zheng means heaven. "Yuan" is the wide and flat terrain [7], which is the image of the earth. Qu Yuan's birth date and name are in line with the meaning of "Heaven opened in Zi, earth opened in ugliness, and people were born in Yin" [8] The three unifications of heaven, earth and man. This may seem like a coincidence today, but it was considered a good sign at the time.
Qu Yuan was a noble of the Chu Kingdom. An outstanding talent in history. He was proficient in history, literature and mythology, and had an insight into the situations and governance of various countries. He was smart and eloquent. Sima Qian's "Historical Records" said that he was "well-informed and strong-willed" and "skilled in rhetoric" in his 20s. He became the left disciple of King Huai of Chu. He was only one level lower than Ling Yin of Chu State. He discussed state affairs with the King of Chu internally, issued orders externally, received guests externally, and dealt with the princes of Chu. He trusted him very much. He drafted a decree and sent him as an envoy to Qi to unite Qi against Qin. This shows that Qu Yuan was once an important official in Chu's internal affairs and foreign affairs. However, his reform spirit and measures attracted opposition and opposition from Chu's noble ministers. Jealousy. Representatives of the opponents are King Chu Huai's favorite concubine Zheng Xiu, his son Zilan, and Shangguan official Jin Shang. These people are short-sighted and jealous of the talented and incompetent. They only want to protect their own aristocratic privileges, but put the long-term interests of the country. But they were very powerful and surrounded King Huai of Chu all day long, controlling his words and deeds. The confused King Huai of Chu believed the slander and gradually alienated Qu Yuan. Poetry expresses mood
From the sixth year to the eighteenth year of King Qingxiang, the state of Chu was basically controlled by the state of Qin. He bowed his head and did not dare to move. Qu Yuan was heartbroken about this, but he was powerless and watched the country's power grow. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, many small countries have been gradually annexed by big countries after long-term wars. By around 403 BC, there was a situation in which seven great powers (Yan, Zhao, Wei, Han, Qi, Chu, and Qin) stood side by side and competed for supremacy. From then on, until Qin unified the six countries (221 BC), the situation in history was complete. This period of more than 180 years was called the Warring States Period. During this era, there were fierce struggles between countries, continuous attacks, and political turmoil. The poet Qu Yuan lived in the late Warring States period when the society was undergoing great changes. In the early Warring States period, the three kingdoms of Zhao, Wei, and Han implemented economic and political system reforms and became the most powerful country at that time after Li Kui's reform. >
Unfortunately, their reforms were not thorough, and due to the unfavorable terrain, they quickly declined. The Yan State was located in a remote corner of the north, and it was considered appropriate to expand its territory in the northeast after the concession of King Kuai of Yan. Some political reforms were carried out, but they were not fully completed, so "there were seven warring states in the world, but Yan was weak". It was just that it suffered less from the war and could still be at peace. The remaining three kingdoms, Qi, Chu and Qin, were still evenly matched at first. , comparable.
After Qin Xiaogong implemented the Shang Yang Reform, he worked hard to increase production and encourage the people's fighting mood. Ten years later, the country became rich and the people were strong, attacking various countries year after year, becoming a serious threat to the other six countries. Because of Qin's strength, any of the other six countries is no longer an opponent. So a group of strategists put forward the idea of ??"united vertical line", that is, from Yan to Chu, the six northern and southern countries would unite into a vertical line to jointly oppose the Qin State in the west. The representative figure who advocated the joint vertical was called Su Qin. In 334 BC, he persuaded Marquis Wen of Yan to sponsor him to lobby the six countries and establish the joint vertical organization. In 318 BC, Su Qin made an appointment with six kingdoms to attack Qin. King Huai of Chu was once the commander, but unfortunately he was defeated. Contrary to this, the Qin State also organized a group of strategists to propose the idea of ??"Liancheng", that is, the Qin State in the West formed an alliance with one of the six eastern countries to form an east-west horizontal line to attack the other. nation. The representative figure of Lian Heng is Zhang Yi. In 328 BC, Zhang Yi became the prime minister of Qin and implemented the policy of lianheng, which was very effective. In the late Warring States period when Qu Yuan lived, the struggle among the seven kingdoms for supremacy was basically a struggle between vertical and horizontal alliances.
Chu's domestic and foreign affairs
Among the three countries of Qin, Chu and Qi, Qin and Chu are the countries most likely to unify the six countries, and Qin has the advantage. Therefore, Chu State can only confront Qin State if it unites with Qi State. Only by destroying the alliance between Qi and Chu can Qin be able to establish alliances with distant and close enemies, defeat them one by one, and realize her great cause of unifying the six kingdoms. This was the diplomatic situation of Chu State in Qu Yuan's time; as far as Chu's internal affairs were concerned, in order to enrich the country and strengthen its army and defeat Qin, it was necessary to strengthen the rule of law, limit the privileges of the nobility, promote talents and develop economic strength. Qu Yuan advocated reform and opposed the corrupt aristocratic rule; he advocated alliance and insisted on the foreign policy of uniting Qi to resist Qin. It was based on the situation of the seven heroes fighting for hegemony in the Warring States Period and was the correct policy in line with the long-term interests of the Chu State.
Works
Qu Yuan was a poet. Since him, China has had writers who are famous for their literature. He founded the literary style of "Chu Ci" (that is, he founded the literary style of "Ci Fu"), and is known as "a poet of a different generation." According to the "Hanshu Yiwenzhi", he left behind 25 works. Although there is still some doubt as to whether some chapters were written by Qu Yuan, it is still clear that the majority are written by Qu Yuan. According to Mr. Guo Moruo's research, 23 of Qu Yuan's works have been handed down in the world. Among them, there are 11 chapters of "Nine Songs", 9 chapters of "Nine Chapters", and one chapter each of "Li Sao", "Tian Wen" and "Calling Souls".
Detailed introduction:
"Li Sao"
"Nine Chapters"
"Nine Songs"
" "Tianwen"
"Ode to Orange"
"Calling the Soul"
"Sorrow"
"Huaisha"
Introduction:
"Li Sao" is Qu Yuan's most magnificent poem. It is a long lyric poem in which he fully narrates his life. There is no longer poem than this in Chinese classical literature. The whole poem has 373 lines and 2477 words. The poem sharply criticized the darkness and corruption of the mediocre royal family, expressed his infinite loyalty to the motherland and the people, and at the same time expressed his sorrow and anguish that his political ideals could not be realized.
"Nine Songs" is a set of sacrificial songs that Qu Yuan processed and compiled on the basis of Chu folk sacrificial songs when he was exiled in the south of the Yangtze River. There are 11 poems in "Nine Songs", which respectively commemorate 11 kinds of gods. Among them:
"Donghuang Taiyi" worships the most noble god.
"Yunzhongjun" is dedicated to the God of Clouds.
"Xiang Jun" and "Xiang Lady" worship the Xiang Water God.
"Da Siming" worships the male god who dominates human life.
"Young Commander" worships the goddess who controls the lives of young children.
"Dongjun" worships the sun god.
"He Bo" worships the God of the Yellow River.
"Mountain Ghost" is dedicated to the goddess of the mountains.
"Li Hun" is the divine song of "Nine Songs", which means the sacrifice is completed.
"Nine Chapters" is a set of lyric poems written by Qu Yuan, with 9 chapters in one chapter. That is, "Song of Love", "Wading the River", "Sorrowing", "Thinking", "Huaisha", "Thinking of Beauty", "Cherishing the Past", "Song of Orange", and "Sad Return to the Wind". "Sorrow" among the poems in the "Nine Chapters" expresses Qu Yuan's patriotism most profoundly. "Nine Chapters" and "Li Sao" are the same type of works. The difference is that "Li Sao" is a comprehensive self-narration of Qu Yuan's life, while "Nine Chapters" is a record of specific fragments of life and the expression of emotions. "Nine Chapters" is the most valuable material for studying Qu Yuan's life and thoughts.
"Tianwen" is a rare and wonderful article in the history of Chinese literature. It starts with the word "日", and the author raises more than 170 questions about heaven, earth, gods, humans and other aspects in one breath, which clearly shows the author's exploration of the roots of things and his indomitable fighting spirit. The whole poem has 374 lines and 1553 words. It is the second long poem in Qu Yuan's works.
"Calling Souls" is a superstitious activity in ancient my country. In the Chu State during the Warring States Period, this kind of witchcraft and religious activities was extremely popular. After King Huai of Chu died in Qin, Qu Yuan used folk customs and art forms to write this poem with artistic characteristics. In the poem, he made a thrilling, miserable and terrifying description of heaven, earth, and all directions, and told the soul not to go anywhere but to return to his homeland as soon as possible. Qu Yuan was recruiting the soul of King Huai, but he was actually recruiting the soul of Chu State, because Qu Yuan connected the fate of King Huai and Chu State. "The Conjuring" occupies an important position in the history of Chinese literature, regardless of its ideological content or artistic techniques.
Quotes
The road is long and long, and I will search up and down. (Qu Yuan·Li Sao)
I take a long breath to cover my tears, mourning the hardships of the people's lives. (Qu Yuan·Li Sao)
I have a good heart, and even though I died nine times, I still have no regrets. (Qu Yuan·Li Sao)
The whole world is turbid and I am alone pure; everyone is drunk and I am alone sober. (Qu Yuan, Fisherman)
I cannot change my mind and follow the vulgar ways, so I will be miserable and end up poor. (Qu Yuan·Shejiang)
The general Yu Dongdao did not hesitate, but he will fall into a coma for the rest of his life.
(Qu Yuan·Shejiang)
Gou Yu has an upright heart, so why does it hurt him even though he is far away? (Qu Yuan·Shejiang)
One hundred gold can buy a fine horse, a thousand gold can buy a beauty, ten thousand gold can buy a high noble, but where can I buy youth
The clear water of Canglang can wash my clothes The water of the Canglang is turbid, you can wash my feet
I am riding on a horse to gallop, come to me as a guide to lead the way... (Qu Yuan·Li Sao)