Jian’an Style: Literary Style during the Han and Wei dynasties.
The works of the Jian'an period truly reflected the real turmoil and the people's suffering, and expressed the ideals of making contributions and the enterprising spirit. At the same time, it also reveals the sadness and resentment that life is short and ambitions are hard to achieve. The artistic conception is grand and the writing style is clear and smooth. It has distinctive characteristics of the times and personality. Its strong, deep, generous and sad artistic style is called "Jian'an Style" or "Jian'an Style" in the history of literature. "The character of Wei and Jin Dynasties". The literary giants "Three Cao" (Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi), "Seven Sons" (Kong Rong, Chen Lin, Wang Can, Xu Qian, Ruan Yu, Ying Jun, Liu Zhen) and the female poet Cai Yan during the Jian'an period in the late Han Dynasty inherited the The realistic tradition of Han Yuefu folk songs generally adopts the five-character form and is famous for its strong character and generous and sad masculinity. It has formed a unique style of "Jian'an character" in the history of literature and has been respected as a model by future generations. Both the "Cao father and son" and the "Seven Sons of Jian'an" have lived in Heluo for a long time. This handsome and vigorous style is closely related to Heluo culture. "Character" is an important concept in the history of Chinese literary criticism. From the Southern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, it has been the main criterion for literary criticism.
Origin
The last reign of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was "Jian'an" (196-220 AD). The Jian'an period in literary history refers to the period from Jian'an to the early Wei Dynasty. Writers of this era gradually got rid of the shackles of Confucianism and focused on the lyricism of the works themselves. In addition, in the era of war and turmoil, their thoughts and feelings were often more impassioned. They created a large number of literary masterpieces, forming a literary The works are characterized by substantial content and rich emotions, which is often referred to as the "Jian'an style".
For example, Cao Zhi's poems have a certain degree of beauty without harming the character. Therefore, when people advocate the Jian'an character, they not only affirm its character, but also affirm the combination of character and decoration. one side. Therefore, from the Southern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, although those who advocated Jian'an style had different focuses, they basically aimed at some shortcomings in the literary world at that time, such as too gorgeous rhetoric, too difficult words, weak style, and empty content. Or complicated, with ambiguous emotions, etc., but the works are required to be lively, substantial in content, full of emotion, clear and vigorous style, etc. This has played a beneficial role in the history of literature.
The literary works of the Jian'an period, especially poetry, are the most prominent. Jian'an poetry was developed on the basis of Han Yuefu and "ancient poetry". These works express the spirit of the times. "Cao's father and son" were the leading figures in the Jian'an literary world. Cao Cao's poems were deep, generous and powerful; Cao Pi got along very well with the scribes. When Wang Can died, he led a group of scribes to the funeral and said, "Wang Can liked to hear donkeys braying before he was alive. We all brayed to see him off." Then there was a braying sound in front of the tomb. He is the author of the earliest extant seven-character poem "Yan Ge Xing"; Cao Zhi has the highest literary achievement. He is rich in literary talent, gorgeous in rhetoric, and good at using metaphors, so he has an artistic style of "extraordinarily high character and gorgeous words". His "Ode to the Goddess of Luo" is an eternal masterpiece. With refined language and sincere emotions, he depicts the unparalleled beauty and pure image of the Goddess of Luo. The most accomplished among the "Seven Sons" was Wang Can, whose masterpiece "Seven Sorrow Poems" is a true portrayal of the war and turmoil in the late Han Dynasty.
Although the literary works of the Jian'an period also paid attention to diction and literary grace, they still maintained the true nature of Yuefu folk songs, unlike some later literati poems that overly pursued rhetoric. In addition, Liu Xie also emphasized that a good combination of rhetorical modification and style is the best in an article.
Characteristics
Due to the social turmoil and successive wars in the late Han Dynasty, the literati of this period not only had political ideals and ambitions, but also had a pragmatic spirit, a tolerant attitude and the ability to adapt. ; They are no longer bound by Confucianism and show distinctive personalities. The Jian'an writers with Cao and his son as the center show in their literary works: the promotion of political ideals, the lamentation of the short life, strong personality, and rich tragic color. , and these all constitute the era style of "Jian'an style".
During the Qi and Liang Dynasties in the Southern Dynasties, Liu Xie commented on the poetry style of Jian'an in the late Han Dynasty: "Looking at the poetry of the time, it is elegant and generous, good things are accumulated in the world, and the customs are declining, and the writing is profound and long. Summary and angry.
"("Wen Xin Diao Long·Chronology")