There are very few Li Yu's ci poems, about 36. Nevertheless, Li Yu's poetic attainments should not be underestimated. The poet "entertains himself with classics and does not interfere with current affairs", and devotes a lot of time and energy to literature and art. The style of Li Yu's poems is different in different periods, but they are unified in different times. The choice of image in different periods is different. In his early poems, the choice of images was limited. The images he chose were often life scenes, describing palace life, and there were many images describing characters, palace buildings, costumes and musical instruments in his poems.
Images such as parting, hatred, love and hate mostly appear in the later period of the poet's creation. Both the natural image and the dream image appear in the poet's works. In the middle and late period, with the change of living environment and the poet's mentality, he became more open in the choice of artistic conception, paid more attention to life, included rational thinking about life, and his ideological content was more profound. Wang Guowei, a modern scholar, said: "When Ci came to Li Houzhu, it began to have a broad vision and deep feelings, so it became a musician's word and a scholar-bureaucrat's word." At the same time, the same image shows different characteristics in different periods, revealing the poet's different emotions. This is closely related to the poet's living environment and inner emotional changes. From this, we can see the change of the poet's emotion from the choice of Li Yu's poetic images.
First of all, the former image
The images in the early stage of Li Yu's ci are limited, including the images of characters, the dreams of love between men and women and some natural scenery images. The description of these images shows the poet's luxurious life state and his mentality of being content with this life. You Guoen once said: "In his early years, he (Li Yu) wrote some words describing his fascination with the luxurious life of the court, which was completely the voice of national subjugation."
At the same time, Li Yu's poems show his sadness in both the early and late periods. This kind of sadness in the early stage is generally thinking about the sadness of others in my heart. Although it is a sad feeling, it is also based on a stable life. However, with the continuous decline of the Tang Dynasty, the poets' hearts became complicated, and some words with the tendency of avoiding the world appeared. Generally speaking, the creative images of Li Yu's early poems are mostly seen by life, and the emotions expressed are also very happy.
(A) the character image of luxury life
The characters described in Li Yu's ci poems include ladies-in-waiting, the image of * * and the image of fisherman. Describe and express the characters through court buildings and women's costumes, and express the poet's inner feelings. Most of the characters described by poets have beautiful images. The poet lived in the emperor's house and his living environment was very limited. During this period, poets can only see the luxurious palace life in their eyes, showing mainly the scenes of palace banquets and expressing their satisfaction with this life. Although his life is greatly satisfied materially, as a king, he has the heart to ignore the affairs of the king, and the poet's heart is helpless.
The female images in Li Yu's ci are basically singers and * * * singers at banquets. Kant once defined the aesthetic image in Critique of Judgment: "Aesthetic image refers to a form of image expression formed by imagination, which can remind people of many things, but it is impossible to fully express it with any clear concept or concept." Kant's explanation accords with the characteristics of female images in the poet's works. For example, Spring in the Jade House (with a touch of bright color on the evening makeup) describes the joy of the palace banquet, the melodious singing of the singer, the touching face of * * *, and the scene when the wine is full. The singers are all dressed up and beautiful. The ladies-in-waiting filed out and shuttled back and forth in the temple. Music skills continue to blow, the singer's voice is endless, and * * * people are beautiful.
Precious incense fragrance wafted with the wind. * * * The girls dressed up "smartly" and "filed" at the banquet, changing clothes, singing and dancing constantly. The singer's song "Singing all over the country". Influenced by the erotic words of Huajian School at that time, poets often describe such characters. However, the last two sentences of this word, "Don't put out the candle when you return, wait until you set foot on the horseshoe and clear jathyapple", but write a sense of tranquility after the feast. In "Huanxisha" (the red sun is three feet high), it also depicts the gorgeous image of * * * and beautiful women at the banquet. Through the two images of "red brocade" and "golden hairpin" in three or four sentences, we can see that * * is gorgeous, and it is conceivable that the image of * * that only entertains the public at a banquet is so gorgeous and gorgeous, and the luxury and joy of the whole banquet scene are obvious. The word "wrinkle" in the third sentence of the word means that the clothes of * * * are too long, dragged to the ground and landed with the pace of dance. Not only did you write gorgeous costumes, but you can also enjoy the graceful dancing of the dancers. In just two sentences, the image of * * * was displayed, and the scene of cock crow at the banquet was also depicted.
Combined with the living environment of the poet at that time, as the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the poet's material life was greatly satisfied and his life was leisurely. At this time, what the poets saw was nothing more than the daily life in the court. The scene at the banquet is the main object described by poets in this period, and how luxurious the scene at the banquet is is expressed by the singers and * * * at the banquet. However, the female images in the ci writers' works are not all beautiful images shown in the above-mentioned ci works, but also images that think of others and give up their troubles. For example, Xie Xinen (one month before the cherry blossoms fell), the cherry blossoms have fallen, the moon shines on the steps, and the woman leans sadly against the bed of aromatherapy, full of memories. Recalling the present of last year seems to be in sight, but the resentment is still there.
The woman's face is haggard and her sideburns are incomplete, and the clothes on her chest have been wet with tears of missing. No one can solve the pain of lovesickness, so we have to pin this deep yearning on our dreams. Images such as "unkempt sideburns" and "tears" show the image of women who are messy because of depression. Although this word is also a word that will always be in my heart, it has improved in ideological content compared with the previous words that will always be in my heart. This word is not only a woman's yearning for a man, but also contains the poet's own inner worries and sighs about life. Compared with the previous erotic works, it has changed a lot. The words that are always in my mind only express the love between men and women, and the content is empty and meaningless. Although the poet's basic skills can still be seen in his poems, the content is very narrow.
At the same time, there are also works like The Fisherman that tend to avoid the world. The first two sentences of "Fisherman" (full of waves and heavy snow) are about waves rolling like snow, peach blossoms and plum blossoms competing to open, and spring blossoms are blooming. "A pot of wine" and "a rod of nylon" describe the leisurely life of fishermen. Holding a pot of wine and a nylon pole, how many people in this world can be like this? When the poet finally asked questions, he actually showed his inner yearning for this simple fisherman's life. Secondly, the poet imagined himself driving a boat with silk in one hand, a hook in the other and a warm spring breeze in the other. The shore is full of flowers, and I pour wine alone. I just feel free in the waves on the river. This word is a further imagination and development of The Last Fisherman. The images such as "a boat with a leaf", "a cocoon and a wisp of silk" and "full of wine" vividly describe the scene of fishermen swimming in the river drinking and enjoying flowers.
From these two sentences, we can see that the poet is unwilling to face the dying life and seek refuge from the world. Faced with the decline of his environment, the poet turned to the world for psychological comfort, and his inner loneliness and melancholy were obvious. Combined with the poet's social life at that time, the Southern Tang Dynasty was in jeopardy, and the poet was content with the status quo and avoided the world. When everything is on him, he can't recover. Coupled with the misfortune of his wife and children, the national strength declined. Compared with the previous writing style, the poetry creation in this period has undergone great changes. The imagery of poetry has broadened, the content has become rich, and it is no longer limited to the court and in my heart forever, and the emotion has also become rich. During this period, he lingered, he was ambivalent, he was unable to cope with his responsibilities, and he didn't know how to deal with the misfortunes of his wife and children. The misfortune of the country and himself can only be pinned on poetry creation. From the poet's choice of images, we can see his inner pain and anxiety.
(2) Love dreams are intoxicated by money.
Li Yu's description of dreams in his early days is mostly a spring dream of the relationship between men and women. For example, Bodhisattva Man (a woman with a closed roof in Penglai Hospital) describes a secret tryst between a lover and a woman, and describes their feelings from the man's words, deeds and psychological activities. The first part of the word describes a scene where a man just arrived at a woman's residence and secretly saw a woman sleeping. Next, write a story about a woman waking up and meeting a man. "The most effective can only be the moment when the imagination can move freely. The more we look at it, the more we can think of it. " The flow of lines is the shadow of imagination.
The words "Cui Yun is light" and "embroidered clothes are fragrant" describe the woman's sleep pattern. A woman's hair is black, the pillow is thrown aside, and the woman exudes a faint fragrance. After the last two sentences of this word were finished, the woman woke up and saw that it was a lover, and a smile slowly emerged on her face. The two people want to see it silently but with infinite tenderness, which shows the deep affection between them. The second song (copper spring crisp, cold bamboo powerful) boldly reveals men's love at first sight for women who play the piano. The musician's jade hand played wonderful music on the strings. The music is nice, but the performer is more beautiful. Two men and women flirt, and their hearts are connected. The next paragraph changed, but after the banquet, the family was empty and we could only meet in our dreams. The whole poem is bold, straightforward and informal, which is another exposure of the poet to the emperor's life.
"Fine Woman" describes a beautiful image of a woman, and the two sentences of "winking" and "winking" describe the gesture of a woman who boldly expresses her love, and here, the image of a woman appears in front of readers. These three words include the scene where a woman goes to an appointment, the scene where a man secretly asks a woman out, and the scene where men and women fall in love at first sight at a banquet. The characters have distinct personalities and bold and direct emotional expressions, depicting the love between men and women. Through the description of images such as costumes and modality, the characters are displayed, and the poet's emotional world can be seen through the modality of these characters. These two poems, expressing the love between men and women, are very straightforward and show the infatuated life of the poet. Combined with the poet's living conditions, the poet has no worries about food, clothing and politics. During this period, the poet paid attention to himself and events, from which we can see that the poet treated his feelings directly and frankly. Therefore, Mr. Zhan Antai said that Li Yu's words at this time were: "The content is substantial but the meaning is not deep enough, and the description is fine but the brushwork is not calm."
(C) Comfortable natural image
The images of natural scenery in the early stage of the poet mainly include the images of "moon" and "flower", and the poet's description of natural scenery mainly renders the atmosphere at that time and reveals the poet's inner feelings. For example, Bodhisattva Man (the moon is dark and the fog is light) describes a woman going to an appointment. On a hazy night with flowers, moon and fog, a woman is excited and nervous at last to meet her lover. Slow down, holding gold embroidered shoes in his hand, quickly down the steps, ran to the south bank of the painting hall, and hugged people who missed him. In this poem, the woman is Zhou Xiao, and the poet vividly describes the image when Zhou Xiao and Zhou Xiao meet.
The precise description of "flower", "moon" and "fog" in the first sentence of the word creates a hazy and romantic artistic conception. Another example is "Xi Qian Ying", which depicts a missing person. It's already dusk and the moon is gradually setting. There are only a few clouds, but I can't sleep. Just because I dreamed of a long-missed person in the middle of the night, the faint acacia slowly spread.
I want to express my thoughts through geese, but I can only vaguely hear the voices of geese in the distance. The warbler sings birds, the flowers are scattered, and the deep courtyard is lonely. Let the fallen flowers and leaves fall all over the yard, waiting for the people who miss them to return and enjoy them together. There are a lot of natural scenery images in ci. Abortion and Suyun illustrate the environment. It's almost dawn, and the waning moon is slowly falling. The beginning of the word laid the sad tone of the whole word. Using "fragrant grass" instead of missing people can still show the beautiful modality of thinking Iraqis. At the same time, it is gorgeous but not vulgar, giving people a fresh feeling. From the choice of this image, we can see that the poet's funeral march has its own unique style, although it inherits the splendor of the Huajian School. The natural scenery such as "singing warblers", "residual flowers" and "a piece of red" in Xiatan presents a deeply yearning atmosphere. From the choice of these natural scenery, we can see that although the poet thinks about human feelings, this emotion is still limited to in my heart forever's emotion in Huajian Ci. These images of natural scenery can be used to describe the leisure of people's living conditions.
Second, later images.
Li Yu became a prisoner and lived a prisoner's life under the fence of a patron. During this period, the style of Li Yu's ci has undergone great changes. When the country was destroyed, he couldn't bear to look back at the people in the southern Tang Dynasty, to see such changes in the world, and to face his own experiences. He pinned his sadness, resentment and helplessness on his own words. The images in later poets' ci became very rich, the artistic conception of the ci was very open, and the emotional expression was mostly parting and homesickness. The image modifiers in the poet's later works also gradually diluted the previous image modifiers, forming the characteristics of "speaking near and far, shallow and profound" During this period, the poet began to think about life after all kinds of experiences, and his works also included the content of feeling and thinking about life, and his ideological level was improved. The images in later poets' ci are mainly dreams and natural scenery.
(A) miss the old country mountains and rivers image
The landscape image of the old country in the poet's ci. The image of "mountains and rivers" often appears in the later period of ci, and the poet expresses his yearning for the old country by describing the mountains and rivers of the old country. For example, in the 40 years since the founding of the Southern Tang Dynasty, there are vast mountains and rivers and vast land. High-rise buildings soar into the sky, and Qionglou is luxuriant in foliage and spectacular. How did you know there was a war? Once I become a prisoner of others, my sorrow makes me thin. I still remember the farewell song played in the palace when I fled in haste. Now I can only cry to the ladies-in-waiting alone. In this poem, the poet misses the beautiful mountains and rivers of the old country. In the poet's memory, the Southern Tang Dynasty was still inviolable in its heyday.
But who would have expected that at this time he was already a prisoner, living a life he had never imagined. But no matter how much you regret and sigh, nothing can go back to the past. The generation of "mountains and rivers" guided the homeland of the Tang Dynasty, and "Fengge Dragon House" reached "Han Xiao", showing the prosperity of the Southern Tang Dynasty. "Yushu Qiongzhi" shows the beautiful modality of the tree, and the beauty and leisure of the landscape in the southern Tang Dynasty can be seen. Compared with what happened today, it is not difficult to see the poet's longing for his old country and his remorse for himself. We can also see the weakness of the poet's character. In this kind of words related to the old country, we can already see the change of the poet's writing style.
For example, Looking at the South of the Yangtze River is a way for the two capitals to express their nostalgia by remembering the beautiful scenery of their old country. At the beginning of the two poems, the words "carefree dreams are far away" have already indicated the poet's situation. The word "leisure" here does not refer to leisure, but leisure, which shows the helplessness of the poet after being captured. In this situation, the poet's nostalgia for the old country is particularly strong, and the poet places this emotion behind his dreams. The word "far" not only describes the distance between the poet's dream and reality, but also expresses the distance between the poet's present situation and his early luxurious life. One thing I miss is the scene of spring in southern China. The orchestral music on the river is endless, and catkins float all over the city. The smell of spring is very strong, and people enjoy flowers very leisurely.
Secondly, I miss the scene of autumn in the south and describe the cold characteristics of autumn in the south. Whether I miss the South China in spring or the South China in autumn, these beautiful scenes are in the poet's memory. Combined with the poet's situation at that time, we can see the homesickness expressed in his poems. Liu Xizai once said in "Introduction to Art": "The beauty of words lies in self-evident, without words." Li Houzhu's ci has pinned his thoughts on the motherland with specific images and made great artistic achievements.
(2) Dream images with changeable fate
The creation of this period often involves nostalgia for the old country. After the poet's country was destroyed and forced to be a prisoner, he was greatly admired. At this time, he can only recall the good times and miss the prosperity of his hometown. Such as "midnight song" (life is sad and hateful? When can I get rid of the sadness in my heart and to what extent? The old country appeared in the dream again, and after waking up, I could only cry alone. Who can climb the stairs with? I still remember the pleasant outing in Chuqing in autumn. Everything in the past has become empty, as if everything in this memory is still in a dream. The first part of "Ci" wrote the poet's sorrow and hatred of national subjugation, imagined the sadness of missing the motherland in his dream, and expressed this complex emotion in a direct lyric way. The "sorrow and hate" here is the helplessness of prison life, self-pity, regret for the country's demise, and resentment against oneself. The word "independence" expresses the poet's inner loneliness and despair. As the monarch of national subjugation, the poet has a feeling that he can't give up his homeland, and the beauty of his homeland often appears in his dreams.
However, this difference can only increase the poet's sadness. So when I woke up, I found it was just a dream, and I couldn't help crying. The next paragraph of the word recalls the scene of an outing, preferring not to wake up and always dreaming. Tall Buildings describes the poet's lonely situation. The poet wants to climb the mountain overlooking the old country, but even if he climbs it, he can't see the old country. But even if he sees a flower and a tree in his old country, what can he do? The old country can't go back, and Nantang is no longer the Nantang of that year.
Therefore, the poet recalled the scene of an outing together in that year, and compared the prosperity of the past with the loneliness of the poet now, highlighting the pain. It is this emptiness and helplessness of loneliness and pain that makes the poet sigh that "the past is like smoke, like a dream". Poets express their feelings directly and sincerely. "A work of art as a whole is a perceptual image. For this intention, we can call it an artistic symbol. "
Poets in this period not only miss their motherland, but also miss the luxurious and beautiful life. At this point, the word already contains the thought of rational thinking about life. For example, Crying at Night (windy and rainy last night), the lyrics mainly show the harsh living environment. Last night, the wind and rain hit, and the autumn wind rustled the curtains. The description of the environment shows the poet's sadness. Shang Xun can see the anxiety and contradiction in the poet's heart.
However, the words in the poem express the poet's open mind. Things are like running water, and life is like a dream. In this poem, the poet sees life thoroughly, but it is just a "floating dream". It is the poet's reflection on the rationality of life after experiencing personnel changes, and the poet walks in his own spiritual world.
(C) thinking in images of natural life
The natural images in the poet's later works are quite different from the early ones. In the later period, the natural scenery in the poet's poems became rich, and the emotions expressed by natural images also became rich.
The "moon" image in the poet's works has different functions. The first is to render the cool feeling of the environment and express the poet's feelings. The image of "moon" has been a typical image of literati homesickness since ancient times, and the moon in the poet's eyes reminds him of the prosperous life in the south. The poet's subjugation and capture showed this melancholy through the image of the moon. For example, the phrase "Xiao is on the moon floor" in Looking at the South of the Yangtze River shows a melancholy environment.
The poem misses autumn scenery in the south and depicts the beauty of autumn scenery in the old country. However, the word "moon" in the last sentence of the poem expresses the poet's sadness, loneliness and helplessness, which aggravates his yearning for his motherland. Another example is Meet Huan, which takes the moon as the lyric object to express the poet's inner emotional world. Climbing the west building alone, the moon bends like a hook, feeling lonely and sad. It's sadness to keep cutting and chaos, and such sadness has been in my heart for a long time. The poet thinks of the country when he sees things, and takes "moon" as the object of his life change. He stood alone in the west building, setting off the cool atmosphere and expressing the poet's parting feelings and helplessness. The second is to express my thoughts on life through the description of the moon.
The poet's later works are no longer just emotional expressions. After all kinds of personnel changes, the poet's heart has become rich, and his words contain rational thinking about life changes. The poet uses the image of "the moon" to express his thoughts on life philosophy. For example, when did Spring Flowers and Autumn Moon end blowing the spring breeze in Young Beauty and Little Building, but they didn't want to think back to their motherland under Moonlight, because the poet was in a foreign country and things changed. The image of "moon" appeared twice in the lyrics. The bright moon was still the moon at that time, but the poet himself was no longer himself. "Moon" witnessed the changes of the poet. Here, the eternity of the month is compared with the brevity of life, which shows the poet's sorrow for the brevity of life change and aggravates the coolness of the whole word.
The image of "water" in ci. With the help of the image of "water", the poet shows many worries in his heart. For example, the buildings in the old country should still be there, but they have been returned to other countries. Ask me how much sadness I can have, as if the "spring water" of a river keeps flowing. The poet is outspoken and expresses his infinite yearning for the motherland. In contrast to the melancholy thoughts of poets, such as the river of spring water, he remembers the beautiful scene of his old country with strong feelings and clear sadness. The running water is endless, and the poet compares his parting with this running water, which greatly expresses the poet's own inner sadness. Poets also use the image of "water" to express that life is short and fate is impermanent.
For example, "Sand Waves" (the sound of rain gurgling outside the curtain) is coming to an end. It is raining lightly outside the curtain, and my clothes are too thin to stand the cold. I dreamed that I had returned to my old country and longed for life there. I woke up only to find that it was a dream. Don't climb high and overlook when you are alone. When you see the infinite scenery on the river, your inner sadness will still arise. It's too easy to leave, but it's too difficult to meet again. With the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, my spring is gone forever, and my present situation is compared with previous lives. The poet compares his life to running water. The good life of the past no longer exists, and the fate of life is unpredictable and difficult to grasp, which shows the sadness of the poet and enhances the tragedy of poetry.
The image of "falling flowers" in the poet's works. For example, Nightcry and Xie Chunhong express the poet's feelings of hurting spring and loving flowers, and the following sentence "too hasty" simply strengthens this feeling of hurting spring. This sentence "too soon" is not only a feeling that all the flowers and trees in nature will wither, but also a feeling that one's comfortable life is too hasty and fleeting, leaving only a lonely life. The first sentence contains the poet's thoughts on the passage of life. "No choice but to come to the cold rain and come to the wind late" not only shows that the erosion of wind and rain led to the hasty departure of the forest, but also expresses that the poet changed from a flower to a person, and too many hardships in his early years led to his early death in the spring of destiny. Not only lamenting the withering of flowers, but also lamenting my own withering.
Li Houzhu did not confine his sorrow to the flowers in the forest, just as Wang Guowei said in "Words on Earth": "The late Lord seems to have borne the sins of the world through Sakyamuni Christ." In the face of all this, the poet is "helpless", which shows that he is unwilling and hates his unchangeable sadness. "Bitter tears, stay drunk, be heavy" personifies Lin Hua, flowers are no longer in full bloom, and the life of Ci comes to an end, which shows the feelings of mutual pity and regret between Ci writers and Lin Hua. The author resonated with flowers, pinned his hopes on them, and also expressed his disappointment that this hope could not be realized through flowers.
In the last sentence, "People naturally hate that water grows eastward", and the sadness in the poet's heart flows eastward like running water. This is not only the frustration and helplessness of the poet, but also a lament for the pain of life and a reflection on life after the world changes.