Ruan Ji's "Poetry of Ode to Love" occupies a lofty position in the history of Chinese poetry. These poems reflect his political thoughts, attitude towards life, especially his repeated thinking on life issues. However, due to the danger of his situation, he could only use hidden symbolic language to express his thoughts and feelings, with twists and turns and vague implications. Therefore, Zhong Rong's "Poetry" says that his "words are within the ears and eyes, and his feelings are conveyed to the surface of the world. ... There are many emotional words, and the purpose is far-reaching, but the return interest is hard to find."
However, although the specific characters and events involved in "Poems of Praise of Love" can no longer be explored, it does not mean that these poems are incomprehensible. In particular, many of them are based on realistic feelings, but they often transcend specific facts and are promoted as fundamental issues in life. The philosophy contained in the poems and the emotions expressed can still be traced and appreciated.
First of all, there are obviously parts of "Poems of Ode to Love" that were written in a time of sorrow, anger and sadness. For example, the third poem:
Under the beautiful tree, there are peach trees and plum blossoms in the east garden. The autumn wind blows the flying cattails, and they start to fall apart.
There is haggardness in the prosperity, and Jingqi grows in the hall. Drive away from the horse stable and go up to the toe of the Western Mountain.
If you can’t protect yourself, let alone love your wife! The frost is covered with weeds, and the end of the year is over.
Most predecessors thought that this poem was a metaphor for the political situation during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, expressing the worries of upright people who could not protect themselves, which was probably good. In addition, No. 31 of the poem pays homage to the ruins of the Wei capital in the Warring States Period. The poem says, "Soldiers eat chaff, while wise men live in wormwood. The song and dance are not over yet, but the Qin soldiers have returned." This poem is nostalgic on the surface, but its true meaning is to satirize the present.
There are also some poems that express the author's unwillingness to remain unknown and his desire to make contributions. For example, the thirty-ninth poem "A strong man is so generous, he aspires to dominate the eight wastelands. He drives far away to fight, and forgets about his orders", which shows the same impassioned spirit as Jian'an literature. It's just that there are very few works of this type in "Poems of Praise of Love".
The core content of "Poetry of Praise" is a philosophical reflection on life issues, and focuses on the proposition that the individual's inner will conflicts with external forces, and life is fundamentally unable to gain freedom. .
In this regard, like "Nineteen Ancient Poems" and Jian'an Poems, "Poems of Ode to Huai" also repeatedly expresses sighs about the short life such as "Life is like dust and dew, and the path of heaven is long and long." However, in "Nineteen Ancient Poems", the pursuit of worldly pleasures, friendship and love are sung as a path to liberation; in Jian'an poetry, the pursuit of immortal achievements is regarded as the continuation of limited life. In other words, Ruan Ji's previous poems regarded the laws of nature as the most important reason for the lack of freedom in life, and believed that the way to relief can be found in social life. But Ruan Ji is different. Although he also saw the role of natural laws, he emphasized the oppression of social forces on life.
In "Poems of Praise of Love", possible paths to liberation are eliminated one by one. "Academic expenses will make you suffer, and having too much wealth will cause harm." The pursuit of wealth will cause people to fight and fight, and even destroy them; "A high reputation will confuse people's ambitions, and a heavy profit will make people worry." "After a thousand years, will you be able to live in peace with your reputation?" Fame and wealth In the same way, it makes people lose themselves, lose their nature, become illusory and worthless. Building a successful career is indeed what Ruan Ji yearns for, but this is not a path that individuals can choose at will. "Yin and Yang have their faults, and the sun and the moon do not always blend together." Meeting or not meeting each other is determined by the chance of fate. Living in an unfortunate era, what can an individual do? The love of family and friends is indeed beautiful, but the dark reality can take them away at any time, evoking the sadness of life: "If you can't protect yourself, let alone love your wife?" "I feel so sad when I go to bed, thinking about my old people. Can't talk about wine, and feel sad and bitter." Moreover, there are more hypocrisy, resentment, suspicion, and betrayal between people: "People know that making friends is easy, but making true friends is difficult because of the dangers and doubts. "Intimate love turns against one another, and flesh and blood are at odds with each other." Although there are various references to the yearning for the fairy world in "Poetry of Ode to Love", this is just an illusory shadow, and the author does not regard it as a real pursuit. Even if you can live forever, it will be in vain in such a world: "People say they wish to live longer, but how long will it take?"
In Ruan Ji's view, reality is like a big net that makes people nowhere to go. Ke Escape: "The sky's net covers all the fields, and six curtains can't cover it comfortably." In the thirty-third poem, he also gave a general description of life:
Day after day, night after night, night after night Another day. If the color changes to normal, the spirit will be damaged.
There is a lot of fire and water in the chest, and there are changes in the way. All things are infinite, and you will not be spared if you know how to plan.
But I am afraid that in a moment, my soul will be blown away by the wind. Walking on thin ice all my life, who knew I was anxious!
It is pointed out here that life is extremely unfree because it is oppressed by two forces. One is the society in which people live. Society is full of contradictions, full of dangers, everything is unpredictable, and no amount of wisdom is enough to cope with it. Therefore, a person's life is full of anxiety, just like being filled with anxiety. Even if you are careful, walk on thin ice, and avoid all dangers in the world, another force will surely destroy you, and that is death.
We should note that although Ruan Ji hated what the Sima group did, he did not politically stand on the side of the Cao Wei regime to oppose them. If the Sima family's method of seizing the Cao family was hypocritical and despicable, then didn't Cao Pi use the same method to ascend to the throne of emperor in the past? As a philosopher, Ruan Ji felt a sadness with broad historical significance. Therefore, he cannot find a way out in reality.
From this, a strong sense of loneliness in life is formed in "Poetry of Ode to Love". The first song expresses this feeling:
I couldn't sleep at night, so I stood up and played the mingqin. The thin curtain reflects the bright moon, and the breeze blows on my lap.
In the outfield of Guhong, birds are singing in the northern forest. Wandering, where will I see? Worrying makes me sad.
The moonlight is like water, the cold wind is blowing on the clothes, the lonely bird is screaming sadly, and the old bird is flying in fright. In this indifferent and dry atmosphere, the protagonist is alone in the empty hall, wandering and thinking. What is described here is not an actual scene, nor does it necessarily metaphor any specific event, but merely borrows the imagery and artistic conception of the poem and uses symbolic techniques to convey an absolute sense of loneliness and a deep and indescribable melancholy. In addition to this one, there are several similar psalms. For example, in the seventeenth poem, the whole world is empty and the only birds and beasts that have lost their flocks are seen flying in panic. The effect is very strong. This sense of loneliness in the essential sense of life has never been seen in poetry in the past.
Ruan Ji is a tragic figure in a specific era. History has aroused the awakening of individuality, prompting people to pursue with great enthusiasm the dignity of personality, the perfection of life, sincere morality, and a free life, but it does not give any hope of realizing this pursuit. However, Ruan Ji's pursuit is not meaningless. Indeed, no one has ever described life as so dull, lonely, and cold as he did, but this is not purely a negative thing. It reveals the oppressive nature of human nature of the feudal system more profoundly than previous literature. Moreover, people also feel the perfect expectation and persistent love for life from "Poetry of Praise". It laments life and also praises life.
In the development process of ancient Chinese poetry, "Poems of Ode to Love" also brought about major changes. Before that, the main body of poetry was folk songs and literati poems developed on the basis of folk songs. Their connotations were usually relatively simple and they mostly expressed specific issues. Ruan Ji completely got rid of the imitation of folk songs, introduced profound philosophical observation into poetry, and skillfully combined it with a series of artistic images, so that the poetry presented a very broad vision and contained very deep connotations. In terms of expression methods, it often uses symbolic meanings, forming the characteristics of aloofness, flickering and twists, inducing people to appreciate and think over and over again. This is what "Wen Xin Diao Long" refers to as "Ruan's intention is far away and profound". It can be said that by the time of "Poems of Praise", ancient Chinese lyric poetry has obviously become thicker. The emotions in "Poetry of Praise of Love" are also extremely sincere and passionate, and have touching power, so "Poetry" said that it "can cultivate the soul and inspire deep thoughts". This form of expressing deep psychological emotions in the form of poems has also been valued by later generations. Tao Qian's "Drinking", Chen Zi'ang's "Encounter", and Li Bai's "Ancient Style" all developed from this road.