The emperor of China sits facing south, and the demoted officials of China walk southward. Walking towards the wilderness, the lonely figure carries the sky on its back. From this, a special literary phenomenon in the history of Chinese literature was born - "demotion literature". This article attempts to annotate it as follows.
Note (1): The joy of mountains and rivers cannot conceal the inner worries.
Liu Zongyuan was demoted to Yongzhou and wrote a set of landscape travel notes - "Eight Notes of Yongzhou", among which "The Story of Xiaoshitan" is still famous. "...Green trees and green vines, swaying and swaying, are scattered and scattered. There are hundreds of fish in the pool, all of them are as if they are swimming in the sky and have nothing to support; the sun is clear, and the shadows are spread on the rocks, peaceful and motionless; the gentle and distant people go back and forth. Xihu seems to be having fun with tourists..." The scenery is ethereal and beautiful, but "surrounded by bamboo trees on all sides, lonely and uninhabited, desolate and chilling, quiet and profound..." The joy of mountains and rivers cannot hide the worries in my heart. In the tenth year of Yongzhou, Liu Zongyuan was moved to Liuzhou again. Yu Qiuyu said: "The imperial court seemed to be playing a game for him, moving around on the territory of the great unification." On the way to Liuzhou, he said goodbye to Liu Yuxi, who was also demoted. , expressing the emotion that "there is no need to say goodbye by the river now, I will shed tears after a thousand journeys".
Bai Juyi's courtesy name is Lotte, and his name contains the meaning of tranquility and comfort. However, the fate of "falling at the end of the world" made him sigh, "Who weeps the most while sitting? Sima Jiangzhou's green shirt is wet." Why are these tears shed?
Playing life and adapting to circumstances is like Su Shi. While growing bamboos, eating meat, maintaining health, talking about Zen, writing poems and painting on the east slope of Huangzhou, where he was demoted, he has not forgotten his deep inner worries. The majestic scenery of "rocks piercing the sky, turbulent waves crashing on the shore, and rolling up thousands of piles of snow" made him sigh with infinite emotion: "I am wandering in my homeland. I am so affectionate and should laugh at me. I will be born early. Life is like a dream, and one statue still shines like the moon on the river." .
Note (2): Loyalty to the emperor means patriotism, and patriotism means loyalty to the emperor - the life creed of demoted officials
There were very few pure scholars in ancient China, starting with Qu Yuan, Jia Yi, Sima Qian... From Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi...down to Su Shi, Lu You, Xin Qiji...a history of Chinese literature contains many officials' chants about their lives.
In feudal society, loyalty to the emperor meant patriotism, and conversely, patriotism meant loyalty to the emperor. This is one hundred percent true. We cannot simply deny the persistent patriotism of the ancients through "foolish loyalty".
Qu Yuan was exiled. Although he also knew that "Qu Yuan did not understand Yu's true feelings, but believed the slander and became angry", he still swore to "point to the nine heavens as proof, but it is because of spiritual cultivation." , dreaming of working hard for the King of Chu one day. Disillusioned, he just complained that "the Qiang took the middle road and changed the road", complaining that the King of Chu did not keep his promise. Of course, there is also the tragic jump at the end. After reading the scroll, we can only sigh. Can you bear to rebuke like some people, "You are stupid and loyal, why don't you resist?"
On the way to Chaozhou, Han Yu wrote a poem "Moving to Languan from the left to show his nephew Xiang": "A letter was sent to Jiuchongtian in the morning, and he was demoted to Chaozhou Road eight thousand in the evening. If you want to eliminate evil things for the sage, you are willing to send I cherish my old age. Where is my family in Qinling? loyalty? Sentimental? Mixed flavors. However, the sincerity can be judged by the sun and the moon!
The dissolute poet Li Bai only made a cry against the powerful in "Sleepwalking Tianmu Yin Farewell", "Can I bend my eyebrows and bend my waist to do something for the powerful, making me unhappy?" He even euphemistically expressed his desire to serve the court again in "The Journey Is Difficult": "I was fishing in the blue stream in my spare time, and suddenly I was riding a boat and dreaming about the sun." Legend has it that Jiang Shang came to fish in his spare time and was later appointed by King Wen of Zhou; When Yin was about to be appointed by Shang Tang, he dreamed of taking a boat to cross the sun. Two allusions are used here to express Li Bai's sincerity to the Emperor of Tang Dynasty.
Loyalty to the emperor means patriotism, and patriotism means loyalty to the emperor. It is this life creed that is expressed in the high or low chorus of the demoted officials.
Annotation (3): A novel filled with grief and indignation.
"King Gaiwen was detained and performed "The Book of Changes"; Zhongnieu wrote "Spring and Autumn"; Qu Yuan was exiled and wrote "Li Sao"; Zuoqiu was blind and wrote "Guoyu"; Sun Tzu Binjiao wrote "Li Sao". "The Art of War" was compiled; Bu Wei moved to Shu, "Lu Lan" was passed down from generation to generation; Han Fei was imprisoned in Qin, "Shuo Nan" and "Lonely Anger"; three hundred poems were written by the great sages out of anger. "Sima Qian was here. In his famous "Book of Letters to Ren An", the relationship between difficult life circumstances and great literary achievements has long been discussed. However, due to the different personalities of individuals, they created wonderful articles with different characteristics.
"Since ancient times, autumn has been a sad and lonely time. I have said that autumn is better than spring. A crane lining the clouds in the clear sky brings poetry to the blue sky." In just twenty-eight words, it shows the poet's incomparable expression. Broad mind. A depressed person will be refreshed when he sees it. He had such heroic sentiments despite being relegated, and his poems and prose are certainly different from ordinary people.
This is Liu Yuxi's "Autumn Poems"
"At the foot of the mountain, orchid buds are soaked in the stream, the sandy road among the pines is pure and mudless, and the rain is whispering at dusk. Who said that there is no less in life? The water flowing in front of the door can still reach the west, and the white hair will not sing the yellow rooster." The upper column describes the fresh and bright spring scene. Although it is "xiaoxiaomuyuzigui", it does not give people a sense of sadness. They discussed the lyrics in the chat room and sang out their positive and unrestrained feelings.
This is Su Shi's "Huanxi Sand? Orchid Buds Dip Shortly in the Brook at the Foot of the Mountain".
The above two people tend to be bold and unrestrained in personality, so their poems are naturally broad-minded.
"The cicadas sing in the West, and the guests in Nanguan are deep in thought. The mysterious shadow on the temples comes to sing to the white head. It is difficult to fly in due to the heavy dew, and it is easy to sink due to the sound of the wind.
No one believes in Gao Jie, who can express his sincerity? "The whole poem is sad and angry. It uses cicadas to express feelings. The examples are appropriate, the allusions are natural, and there are many puns. It expresses feelings and excitement in the chanting of things. It goes from things to people and from people to things, reaching the state of oneness between things and myself. It is a chant. A rare masterpiece among cicada poems.
This is "Wing Cicada" written by King Luo Bin when he was in prison.
"The Biography of Qu Yuan and Jia Sheng" is written by Qu Yuan and Jia Yi. Although they belong to different eras, they have many similarities: political frustration, outstanding literary reputation, being demoted for loyalty, and being arrogant and depressed. Su Shi once pointed out in his "On Jia Yi" that "he died later." Injuring oneself and crying will lead to an early death, which is not a good thing for a poor person. "Life is precious, but neither of them cherished it. "Thousands of years have passed since the past." Apart from sighing, they also felt regret. If they could cherish life, there would be more wonderful works shining in the history of literature.
Demotion was a special cultural phenomenon in ancient China. Many emigrated poets also created the literature of demoting officials in ancient China. That era has long passed, and what remains is endless poetry and eternity. Constant comments.