Autumn Ci
Liu Yuxi
Since ancient times, autumn has been a sad and lonely time. I say that autumn is better than spring.
A crane flies above the clouds in the clear sky, bringing poetry to the dark night.
Liu Yuxi (772～842), a writer and philosopher in the Tang Dynasty. Zimengde. A native of Luoyang (now part of Henan), his ancestral home is Zhongshan (now Dingxian, Hebei). He is a descendant of the Xiongnu tribe. Liu Liang, the seventh generation ancestor, moved to Luoyang with Emperor Xiaowen of Wei Dynasty and changed his surname to Han. His father, Liu Xu, moved his family eastward to avoid the Anshi Rebellion and settled in Jiaxing (now part of Zhejiang). Liu Yuxi was born in Jiaxing and studied in Chang'an when he was about 19 years old. In the ninth year of Zhenyuan, he and Liu Zongyuan were ranked Jinshi, and then they were admitted to Hongci. In the eleventh year of Zhenyuan, he joined the Ministry of Civil Affairs to obtain a scholar's degree, and was awarded the title of school book to the prince, and he began to embark on an official career. In the 16th year of Zhenyuan, he became the secretary-general of Du You and participated in the crusade against the Xuzhou rebels. In the 18th year, he was transferred to Weinan County as the chief registrar. The following year he was appointed censor. In January of the 21st year of Zhenyuan (changed to Yongzhen in August of that year), Dezong died, Shunzong ascended the throne, and appointed Wang Shuwen and others to implement a series of measures to reform bad governance. At that time, Liu Yuxi was serving as a member of the field and judged the salt and iron case. Together with Wang Shuwen, Wang □ and Liu Zongyuan, he was the core figure of the political revolution and was known as the "Two Kings Liu Liu". The reform only took place for half a year before it encountered strong opposition from eunuchs and feudal lords. Shunzong was forced to abdicate and Xianzong ascended the throne. In September, the reform failed and Wang Shuwen was sentenced to death. Liu Yuxi was demoted to the governor of Lianzhou (now Lianxian County, Guangdong) at first. He moved to Jiangling and was demoted to Sima of Langzhou (now Changde, Hunan). At the same time, the eight most powerful people who were demoted to Yuanzhou Sima were known as the "Eight Sima" in history. In December of the ninth year of Yuanhe, Liu Yuxi, Liu Zongyuan and others were recalled to Beijing. In March of the following year, Liu Yuxi wrote the poem "In the 11th year of Yuanhe (Yizi Yan), he was summoned from Langzhou to Beijing to play and present flowers to all the gentlemen". He offended the ruler and was released as the governor of Lianzhou. Later, he served as the governor of Kuizhou and the governor of Hezhou. In the winter of the second year of Baoli, he was recalled from Hezhou to Luoyang. Twenty-two years of relegation ended. In the first year of Yamato, Liu Yuxi was appointed as the chief guest doctor of Shangshu Province of the Eastern Capital. The following year he returned to the court and served as the chief guest doctor. As soon as he arrived in Chang'an, he wrote "Revisiting Xuandu Guanjue", which showed his unyielding will despite repeated blows. Later, he served as governor of Suzhou, Ruzhou and Tongzhou. Starting from the first year of Kaicheng (836), he was appointed as the guest of the crown prince, secretary and supervisor of the Dongdu branch. In the first year of Huichang (841), he was awarded the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Etiquette of the school. He is known as Liu Guest and Liu Shangshu in the world. Poetry creation Liu Yuxi was as famous as Bai Juyi during his lifetime, and was known as "Liu Bai" in the world. Bai Juyi called him a "poetry hero" and highly praised him. His poems are widely recited. In the 13th year of Yuanhe, Liu Yuxi compiled his writings into "Forty Tong" and deleted a quarter of them into "Collection". This is the earliest collection and selection of Liu Yuxi, which is not handed down today. "New Book of Tang·Yiwenzhi" contains 40 volumes of "Collection of Liu Yuxi". After the death of the early Song Dynasty, 10 volumes were lost. Song Minqiu collected the lost works and compiled them into 10 volumes of "Waiji", but there were still omissions. There are three main existing ancient versions of Liu Yuxi's collected works: ① The original collection of the Summer Resort in the Qing Dynasty was engraved by Dong □ in the 8th year of Shaoxing in the Song Dynasty (1138), titled "Collected Works of Liu Yuxi". It is a small-character version, and now there is a photocopy by Xu Hongbao. In the 13th year of Chunxi reign (1186), Lu You reengraved it according to Dong's version and called it "Zhejiang version". The engravings that have been popular since the Ming and Qing Dynasties basically belong to this system. ②The Song engraving edition in the collection of the Heian Fukui Chonglan Museum in Japan is titled "Collected Works of Liu Mengde" and belongs to the Shu large-character edition. Today there is a photocopy of Dong Kang and a reduced edition of the Commercial Press. ③ Volumes 1 to 4 of the Song Dynasty engraved fragment of "Liu Mengde's Collected Works" in the Beijing Library, Jian'anfang edition. Mao Jin, Hui Dong, He Zhuo, Feng Hao, Huang Pilie and others in the Ming and Qing dynasties did preliminary collation work on Liu Yuxi's collection, but most of them were copies and were not widely circulated. The current editions of Liu Yuxi's collected works are: "Collected Works of Liu Mengde" in the "Sibu Congkan" edition, "Collected Works of Liu Mengde" in the "Sibu Congkan" edition, and "Collected Works of Liu Binbin" in the "Collection of Series" edition. In addition, there is also a proofread version of "Collection of Liu Yuxi". Liu Yuxi's life story can be found in the old and new "Book of Tang" biographies. Tang Weixuan compiled "Liu Binjia Lu" (also known as "Liu Gongjia Lu"), which records Liu Yuxi's conversations about creation, knowledge and other aspects in his later years. It is of great information value. Bian Xiaoxuan, a modern person, wrote the "Chronology of Liu Yuxi", which contains many researches on Liu Yuxi's life and various historical materials.
In autumn, the west wind blows and the fallen leaves fall. Therefore, in the writings of many literati, works about autumn are often associated with "sadness" and "sentiment." However, these two poems can sweep away the sentiment of low singing and mournful chanting commonly used in similar works. They are innovative in conception and unique in artistic style, becoming masterpieces that have been passed down through the ages. Generally speaking, Liu Shi is famous for his high-spirited style, while Xu Shi is famous for his leisurely artistic conception. This is specifically reflected in the following two aspects:
First, the concepts of the two poems are completely different. Although "Autumn Poems" was written when Liu Yuxi was frustrated in his official life and had difficulty in realizing his political ambitions, the poet did not feel depressed or discouraged at all. Instead, he used "a crane in the clear sky to float on the clouds, which attracted the poetic sentiment to the blue sky" The vast and vibrant picture creates an atmosphere of high spirits and enterprising spirit. This is not only an objective depiction of the realistic autumn scenery, but also an image portrayal of the poet's ideal personality. The poet's heroic feelings are evident.
Xu Ji was one of the "Four Spirits of Yongjia" in the middle of the Southern Song Dynasty. He was not keen on fame in his life, and advocated using fresh words to write about leisure and leisure. "Walking Autumn" represents his artistic style. The poem is purely an autumn scene, with cicadas chirping, autumn willows blowing, autumn water like a mirror, and autumn leaves fluttering, forming a quiet and tranquil early autumn landscape painting. The poet's quiet and comfortable mentality of devoting himself to nature and embracing nature is revealed between the lines.
"Autumn Poems" shows the lofty beauty of pursuing personality perfection, while "Xingqiu" presents the pastoral beauty of "wanting to distinguish and forget words".
Secondly, each artistic technique has its own merits. "Autumn Ci" uses the expression technique of combining virtuality and reality. The article first starts from the negative side, using "Autumn has been a sad and lonely time since ancient times" to contrast "I say that autumn is better than spring". It goes from fiction to reality, highlighting the poet's unique insights into autumn. In particular, the word "win" is written with great power and can be called a poetic eye. The third sentence describes the magnificent scene of a crane lining up against the clouds in the vast clear sky, and brings the poem to its climax. This is not only a real scene, but also a true portrayal of the image of a poet who is unwilling to sink and is unyielding. It can be said that there is fiction in reality, and reality in fiction. While "poetry" is originally abstract, the poet uses the word "yin" to turn the imaginary into reality and the intangible into tangible. With its broad and magnificent momentum and strong emotions, it shocks the readers' souls.
"Xing Qiu" uses the contrast between movement and stillness. This is manifested in two aspects: First, using movement to contrast stillness. The whole poem is mainly based on movement, supplemented by chirping cicadas and flying leaves to increase the sense of movement, achieving the artistic effect of using movement to contrast stillness, and moving and stillness to complement each other. The second is to use the characters' external movement and internal stillness to contrast each other. The poet listens to the cicadas, admires the stream, and looks at the leaves. "Movement" is everywhere, and this "movement" is closely connected with the inner tranquility. Because of the quietness of the "heart", one can enjoy the scenery; because of the quietness of the "heart", the noisy cicadas become the sweet music of the zither; because of the quietness of the "heart", the subtle changes of the waves in the leaves are not heard. Escape from the author's sharp gaze. Therefore, the description of moving scenes also reflects the poet's leisurely and peaceful state of mind. The whole poem uses the technique of contrasting movement and stillness to render a distant and tranquil artistic atmosphere and reflect the character's mood.