Nineteen Ancient Poems profoundly reproduces the disillusionment and degradation pursued by literati and the awakening and pain of the soul during the great transformation of social thought at the end of Han Dynasty. Scholars call it "chasing officials and abandoning friends, thinking about women's hard work, taking advantage of the situation to express their feelings, competing with natural selection, caring for each other, giving birth to new things, telling fables and sighing three times" (Alva Wang's "Preface to Nineteen Ancient Poems"). For example, the screenwriter of "Qing Ling on Bai Shang" plays Wan Luo, aiming at his official career, but he finds that the palace is magnificent and powerful. In the seemingly cold attitude of the poet, there is confusion of losing the sense of belonging to life. People are very dissatisfied with the desecration of political ideals.
The Moon with Night Lights expresses another kind of loss of the poet, that is, some literati flaunt their integrity and loyalty in the struggle for the same interests. Once they compete for fame and fortune, their original friendship will change. The ups and downs of the lucky and frustrated make the original friendship exist in name only, and the ethics that the poet once believed in suddenly become illusory in the complicated interpersonal relationship; This makes the poet say, "I used to be a friend of my family and abandoned me like a relic." What's the use of a false name without a solid rock? "
Nineteen Ancient Poems exposes the darkness of the real society and criticizes the customs of the last days, but it also implies the poet's pursuit of lost moral standards. This helpless situation and mentality deepened the poet's belief crisis. The hope of eternal life was shattered, and the poet turned to explore the value of life from a new level. "Driving to the East Gate" said: "Life is like sending, and life is not solid. Long live and send more, but sages can't. " Individual life is precious and humble in front of the long river of time. Poets strive to transcend old values and make new life choices. No matter publicly claiming to get rid of poverty and fame, or publicly claiming to grasp the short life, eat, drink and be merry in time, in short, Qu Yuan's insistence has been lost. Because of the restriction of historical tradition, objective environment and self-cultural accumulation, it is difficult to obtain healthy and optimistic content and form for the impulse of life after the old rational norms are lifted. However, it is worth noting that when the poet laments that life is short, although he is angry, he is not really willing to be decadent. Some people are still leading an honest and clean life, looking for spiritual eternity. "Let's talk about it when we get back to the car" said, "There are ups and downs, and it's not too early to stand up. Life is not a stone, how can we live longer? Elections are materialized and honor is precious. " The "honor" mentioned here has surpassed the achievements marked by noble deeds, but pursued the immortality of the spirit. Although this kind of immortality lacked concrete connotation at that time, it indicated that the Jian 'an era, in which poets hoped for immortality in their works and articles, was coming.
There is another kind of works in Nineteen Ancient Poems, which more profoundly reflects the great pain of vagrant women's real life and spiritual life. The system of training and selecting scholars in Han dynasty forced scholars to leave their hometown and well and wander for a long time. These literati either pursue hopelessness in their official career or escape political persecution in a foreign land. They are more eager for the warmth of love and family to soothe their lonely and humiliating hearts. A major theme of Nineteen Ancient Poems is to write about people's journey and suffering. "She Jiang Cai Mei Rong" wrote the sadness of a frustrated man wandering in a different place and missing his wife:
She River picks Rong Ying, and Lanzeduo grass. Who is eager to leave? Thinking far away. Looking back at my hometown, it's a long way. I am bent on leaving home and worried to death.
Many works in Nineteen Ancient Poems are written from the perspective of women. First of all, this is because in a patriarchal society, women can only pin their lives on love and marriage because of their own specific circumstances. Secondly, the narrow and closed living environment and spiritual world of ancient women made them endlessly chew and appreciate the suffering of lovesickness in loneliness, and their hospitality was profound and delicate, which was beyond men's reach. Women's rich emotions and keen tentacles communicate with all kinds of things in their living environment, which makes these things the most moving materialized form of women's psychology and provides rich images and artistic conception for the poet's creation.
At the end of the Han Dynasty, the literati had a realistic foundation for spiritual communication with the female world to a considerable extent. They not only expressed sincere understanding and sympathy, but also integrated into their own suffering and painful life experiences. This is the reason why Nineteen Ancient Poems describes the suffering of lovesickness from a female perspective, thus gaining universal and lasting artistic frog power. For example, All the Way to the Altair:
Distant Altair, Jiao Jiao Hehan girl. Exquisite hands, Zaza's machine to express. All day, not a chapter. Cry like rain. What's the difference between a clear river and a shallow one? Between water and water, there are no words.
The legend of the cowherd and the weaver girl vividly shows the unattainable situation of lovers and is innovative. The voice of the machine has no texture, and the woman who writes down all her thoughts uses monotonous and repetitive work to dispel her sad intentions and her boring mental state. Another example is Travel Again. I wrote about my wife's deep nostalgia for her husband. Although she was cast a shadow of being afraid of being abandoned, she finally put aside this sad mood of constantly cutting things and giving her best wishes to each other. Without a deep insight into women's inner world, it is impossible to explore such a subtle emotional level.
Nineteen Ancient Poems shows the social situation, spiritual life and personality temperament of scholars in an artistic way, thus revealing a side of social life in the late Han Dynasty, which has important cognitive significance.