In the history of Chinese cultural communication, poetry is an important form of communication. China is a country of poetry. For thousands of years, poets have created countless beautiful poems that have been passed down through the ages. In the process of development of ancient Chinese poetry, rich and colorful national forms appeared. China's earliest poetry has four characters, five characters, seven characters, Sao style, etc., which are divided into ancient poetry, rhymed poetry, quatrains, etc. Poetry reached its peak in the Tang Dynasty; after the Tang Dynasty, it appeared in verse forms such as Song lyrics and Yuan songs. No matter what form it is, the image of animals is always inseparable from poetry. In other words, borrowing various animal images is a very appropriate way for poets to express their aspirations and feelings.
The Book of Songs, the first collection of poetry in ancient China, was written around the middle of the 6th century BC. It contains 305 works, most of which are folk songs. This collection of poems reflects all aspects of people's lives in ancient my country. Among these poems, there are many works and sentences using animal images. The well-known opening chapter of "The Book of Songs" is "Guan Ju": "Guan Guan Ju dove, in the river island", the Ju dove has become a symbol of lovers. There are many poems in the Book of Songs named after animals, such as "Shuo Mouse", "Cock Crow" and so on. Among the 39 poems in the Book of Songs collected in "Selected Chinese Poems of All Dynasties"[i], 31 of them directly talk about animals (those that indirectly involve animals such as "car" and "hunting" are not included). Makes up 80% of the selected psalms. The animals involved in the poem include horses, cows, sheep, chickens, doves, rats, bears, silkworms, crickets, foxes, owls, octopuses, fish, swallows, etc. Some animals appear multiple times in a poem.
If most of the poems in the Book of Songs were written by folk poets and the animal images used in them are closely related to their lives, then the animal images used by Qu Yuan, a great poet in the pre-Qin era, in his poems are closely related to The animals in folk songs are different. For example, in his masterpiece "Li Sao", Qu Yuan used such animals to express his feelings:
"It is natural that birds of prey do not flock together since the past life";
"I ordered the poison to be a matchmaker, and the poison told me that I was not good. The sound of the male dove passed away, and I still hate its cleverness.";
"I drive a flying dragon for me, and the jade elephant looks like a chariot. ";
"The wings of the phoenix carry the flag, and they soar high";
"The eight dragons are graceful and graceful, and the cloud-carrying flag is the snake", etc.
In Qu Yuan's poems, there is also this famous line:
"The sun is far away, and the sparrows, black magpies, and magpies are nesting in the hall" (see "Shejiang") ). In these two poems, six kinds of birds were actually written: luan, phoenix, swallow, sparrow, blackbird and magpie.
In the Yuefu of the Han Dynasty, there are more poems using animal images. In the long poem "Jiao Zhongqing's Wife", peacocks and mandarin ducks are used to express the feelings between men and women. The beginning is "The peacock flies southeast, lingering for five miles" and the end is:
" There are two flying birds among them, which are called Yuanyang. They raise their heads and sing to each other. Pedestrians stop to listen every night, and the widow becomes hesitant."
In "The Ancient Poetry of the Fifteenth Military Expedition", there is "Rabbit. Enter from the dog's sinus, and the pheasant will fly from the beam." In the poem "Jiangnan", the scene of fish playing in the water is specifically described: "You can pick lotus in the south of the Yangtze River, where the lotus leaves are in the fields, and the fish play among the lotus leaves. The fish play with the lotus leaves to the east, the fish play with the lotus leaves to the west, the fish play with the lotus In the south of the leaf, the fish plays with the lotus leaf in the north." Among the seven short lines of the poem, five of them are about fish. During this period, famous poems related to animals include: "I would like to be a pair of yellow swans and fly high to return to my hometown" ("Ancient Poetry Steps Out of the East Gate of the City"); "Hu Ma follows the north wind and crosses the south branches of the bird's nest" ("Ancient Poetry Steps Out of the East Gate of the City"); "Ancient Poetry Lines Repeat Lines") etc.
Among the only twenty-odd poems of the historical figure Cao Cao, many use animal images. For example, in "The Turtle is Longevity", three kinds of animals are written:
"Although the tortoise has a long life, it still has its time; the snake turns into mist and turns into ashes in the end. The old man is helpless, but his ambition is thousands of miles; the martyr is still ambitious in his old age."
There is also this in his poems Verses:
"The white bones are exposed in the wild, and there are no roosters for thousands of miles." ("A Journey in the Artemisia")
"The bears respect me, and the tigers and leopards crow across the road." ( "Bitter Cold Journey")
Let's look at the poems of the great poets of the Tang Dynasty, such as Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi.
Li Bai's famous sayings include:
"The apes on both sides of the strait can't stop crying, and the boat has passed the Ten Thousand Mountains." ("Down to Jiangling")
"Lang Qi Bamboo horses come and circle the bed to make green plum blossoms... In May, they cannot be touched, and the apes mourn in the sky... In August, butterflies are yellow, flying on the grass in the West Garden" ("Changgan Xing")
And in the famous "Changgan Xing". In the poem "The Road to Shu is Difficult", there are actually "Yu Fu", "Bird Road", "Six Dragons", "Yellow Crane", "Ape", "Sad Bird", "Zigui", "Wolf and Jackal", 10 animal images of "tiger" and "long snake".
There are more animal images in the poet Du Fu's poems. The famous poems include:
"When it is still known, the mandarin ducks will not stay alone." ("Beauty")
“The nine-level true dragon appears from Si Xu, and all the horses of the ages are wiped out.” ("Hu Feng")
"The emperors of Yujing gathered in the Beidou, or rode on the unicorn and the phoenix." ("The Wind") "Sent to Han for Advice and Commentary")
"It is hard work that will tolerate ants, and the fragrant leaves once lodged in the phoenixes." ("The Journey of Ancient Cypresses")
"I feel the flowers splashing with tears, and I hate them. Don't be alarmed.
" ("Spring Hope")
Bai Juyi's long poem is the most famous. He left famous lines for future generations: "In the sky, I wish to be a winged bird, and on the ground I wish to be a branch of trees" ("Song of Everlasting Regret"); "I heard something in the morning and evening, the cuckoo crows and the blood ape screams" ("Pipa Xing"), etc. are often recited by later generations.
Various animal images are reflected in their and other Tang Dynasty poets' works. It can be seen everywhere in poetry, but due to space limitations, it will not be quoted here.
Song poetry was developed on the basis of Tang poetry. Animal images can also be seen everywhere in Song poetry, such as the famous poet Ouyang Xiu wrote this. Phrases:
“The music and songs have dispersed and the tourists have gone, only to feel the spring sky. The curtains are lowered, and the swallows return in the drizzle. "("Picking Mulberries")
"When I was outing in Nanyuan in the middle of spring, the wind was gentle and I could hear the horses neighing. Green plums are like beans and willows are like eyebrows, and butterflies fly as the day goes by. ...I feel sleepy and undressed on the swing, and there are two swallows perching in the painting hall. "("Ruan Lang Returns") In this poem, the author wrote three kinds of animals in succession: horse, butterfly, and twin swallows.
The great poet Su Shi left some famous sentences like this for future generations:
“The flowers have faded and become red, green and apricots are small. When the swallows fly, the green water is surrounded by people. "("Butterfly Loves Flowers")
"At the foot of the mountain, orchid buds dip in the stream. There is no mud on the sandy road among the pines, and the raindrops crow at dusk. "("Huanxisha")
In "Ru Meng Ling" by the female poet Li Qingzhao, there are such words:
"Strive for the crossing, fight for the crossing, startling a pool of gulls heron. "
Xin Qiji actually wrote three kinds of animals in a poem:
"The three paths are just beginning to be formed, the cranes complain and the apes are frightened, and the houses are in the future. ...On the Qiu River, I watched the wild geese ducking away from the frightened strings, and the boats returning from the rough waves. " ("Qinyuanchun·The new house with the lake will be completed")
In another poem of his, there are also three animals:
"The bright moon leaves the branches and the magpies are frightened, and the breeze blows in the middle of the night. Singing cicada. The fragrance of rice flowers tells of a good harvest, and the sound of frogs sounds. "("Moon on the West River")
Sanqu was popular in the Yuan Dynasty, and it was an emerging form of verse. Poets were still inseparable from the use of animal images in Sanqu. Here we only take Ma Zhiyuan's "Autumn Thoughts" as an example :
“Withered vines, old trees and dim crows, small bridges and flowing water. The ancient road has a westerly wind and a thin horse. The sun sets in the west, and the heartbroken people are at the end of the world. "In a short poem, there are actually two kinds of animal images (dark crow and thin horse).
What we have introduced above are all the works of ancient poets. In fact, contemporary poets also include them in their works. We also use animal images to express our emotions. Here we only take Comrade Mao Zedong’s poems as an example. As early as 1925, Mao Zedong wrote the first poem "Qinyuanchun·Changsha" with such words: "The eagle strikes the sky. Fish fly shallow bottom. ”
Many of Comrade Mao Zedong’s popular poems contain animal images, such as:
“Where does the yellow crane go?” There are still tourist places left. " ("Bodhisattva Man·Yellow Crane Tower")
"The long tassel is bound to Kunpeng. " ("Die Lianhua·From Tingzhou to Changsha")
"The west wind is strong, and the geese in the sky are calling the frost morning moon. "("Recalling Qin'e·Loushanguan")
"The horse is whipping even faster without getting off the saddle. "Thousands of horses are still fighting." "("Three Poems of the Sixteen-Character Order")
"Today I have a long tassel in my hand, when will I tie the blue dragon? "("Qingpingle·Liupanshan")
"A generation of genius, Genghis Khan, only knew how to bend a bow and shoot giant eagles. " ("Qinyuan Spring·Snow")
"The tiger sitting on the dragon's plate is better than the past, and the world is turned upside down, generous and generous. "("Qilu: The People's Liberation Army Occupies Nanjing")
"Don't forget that Kunming Pond is shallow, and watching fish is better than Fuchun River. "("Qilu·He Mr. Liu Yazi")
"Sing a rooster and the world will be white. "("Huanxisha·Mr. Liu Yazi")
"Only a hero can drive away tigers and leopards, and no hero is afraid of bear bears. The plum blossoms rejoice and the snow warms the sky, but it is not surprising that the flies freeze to death. "("Qilu·Winter Clouds")
"Ants rely on locust trees to exaggerate the country, but it is not easy for earthworms to shake the trees. "("Man Jiang Hong·With Comrade Guo Moruo")
"There are singing and dancing birds everywhere.
"("Shui Tiao Ge Tou·Going Back to Jinggangshan")