? Nan Zhou Guanju, a short poem of National Wind, occupies a special position in the history of China literature. It is the first book in The Book of Songs, which is the oldest book in China literature. Although judging from the nature, some fairy tales should be produced earlier, but as written records, it is a late thing. Therefore, we can almost say that when we open the history of China literature, the first thing we encounter is Guan Ju.
It is usually regarded as a love song describing the love between men and women. This poem skillfully adopts the expression of "xing" in art. In the first chapter, the pheasant birds sing together and fall in love with each other, raising the association of a lady accompanying a gentleman. In the following chapters, the behavior of picking shepherd's purse raises the hero's crazy love and pursuit of women. The language of the whole poem is beautiful, and it is good at using double tones, overlapping rhymes and overlapping words, which enhances the phonological beauty of the poem and the vividness of writing figures and imitating sounds to convey feelings.
In fact, the content of Guanju is very simple. It is about a gentleman's pursuit of a lady, and he is upset when he can't get a lady, and he can't sleep over and over again. I am very happy when I get a "lady". I ask people to play music to celebrate and make the "lady" happy.
The identity of the characters in the works is very clear: "Gentleman" is a general term for aristocrats in the era of The Book of Songs, and this "Gentleman" has a considerable position in preparing the music of lyres, harps, bells and drums. I used to interpret this poem as a "folk love song", but I'm afraid it's not right. It should describe the life of the aristocratic class.
Besides, it's certainly good to say it's a love poem, but I'm afraid it's not just any love poem. It turned out to be a wedding song, which was praised by the man's family and wished the bride a happy marriage.
Many ballads in The Book of Songs, National Style, have both general lyrical meaning and entertainment function, and are also practical in etiquette. However, some poems are only regarded as ordinary songs because it is not clear to future generations what their original use is. It is appropriate to regard Guanju as a wedding song, from "My Fair Lady, Gentleman's Pleasure" to "Friends of harps and harps" and "Music of bells and drums". Of course, the poem itself appears in the form of a love song that men pursue women.
The reason for this is probably related to the fact that the man is the active party in a general marriage relationship. Even in modern times, a girl who has a crush on a guy always has to wait for him to speak first, especially in the ancients. Marry a bride, praise her as a beautiful and virtuous girl and a good spouse of a gentleman, and say that she once missed her so much that she was lovesick, which must please the bride very much.
Then, in a piece of music, the feelings of each other are close to each other, and a happy marriage begins here. Even from the emotional structure of poetry, it is necessary to have some twists and turns in the middle, from thinking about a lady when meeting Guan Yu to forming a good piano and instrument: hard-won things are particularly valuable and particularly enjoyable.
This poem can be regarded as a model to show the virtues of couples, mainly because of these characteristics:
First of all, the love it writes has a clear marriage purpose from the beginning, and finally comes down to the happiness of marriage, not a short encounter or a temporary passion between young men and women. This kind of love, which clearly points to marriage and shows responsibility, is more endorsed by society.
Secondly, the men and women it describes are "gentlemen" and "ladies", indicating that this is a combination associated with virtue. "Gentleman" has both status and virtue, while "My Fair Lady" also means beauty of physical appearance and goodness of virtue. The combination of "gentleman" and "lady" here represents a marriage ideal.
Thirdly, it is the moderation of love behavior in poetry. After careful reading, it can be noted that although this poem is about the man's pursuit of the woman, it does not involve direct contact between the two sides at all. Of course, the "lady" has no action, and the "gentleman" is just "tossing and turning" there alone, and things like climbing the wall and breaking the willows seem to have never been thought of at all, and love is very disciplined.
This kind of love not only has real and profound feelings (which is very important for love poems), but also shows peace and moderation, which will not be too intense for readers.
I'm afraid all these characteristics are related to the fact that this poem was originally a song of a noble wedding. On that occasion, a restrained and joyful atmosphere commensurate with the status of the host was required. Confucius saw a kind of beauty of neutralization with extensive significance, so as to advocate his life attitude of self-restraint and attaching importance to moral cultivation, and Preface to Mao Poetry promoted it as a moral teaching material that can "make the world right". The perspectives of the two are somewhat different, but there are still fundamental similarities.
Confucian scholars in ancient times attached importance to the virtue of husband and wife, which has deep reasons.
in the first sense, the family is the basic unit of social organization. In ancient times, the harmony and stability of this basic unit was of great significance to the harmony and stability of the whole social order.
in the second sense, the so-called "virtue of husband and wife" actually refers to all aspects of the problem of men and women. "eat drink man woman, man's great desire is to exist" (Book of Rites, Li Yun), and Confucius also knew that this was the basic requirement for human survival. The desire to eat and drink is relatively simple (of course, there must be food first), while the emotional activities caused by the desire of men and women are much more complex, active and intense, and it is also much more dangerous to the standard of life and social order. Confucius once lamented: "I have never seen a good virtue like a good color." (The Analects of Confucius)
Therefore, all restraint and self-cultivation must first start from the desires of men and women. This is of course necessary, but to what extent restraint is appropriate is a complex issue, which involves the integration of social material production level, political structure, cultural tradition and other factors, as well as the changes of times conditions. When a society tries to take a completely negative attitude towards individual rights, severe prohibition will first appear in this respect.
on the contrary, when a society is in a period of change and the old moral norms are destroyed, it is also the first time to let loose in this respect. Going back to Guanju, what it praises is a kind of love with restrained feelings, cautious behavior and harmonious marriage. Therefore, Confucianism thinks this is a good model and a textbook for "married couples" to guide a wide range of virtues.
Because Guanju not only recognizes that the love between men and women is a natural and normal emotion, but also demands that this kind of emotion be restrained to conform to the social virtue, later generations often take what they need and extend it, while people who resist the inhuman oppression of feudal ethics often use the authoritative banner of Guanju to claim the right to satisfy their personal feelings. The so-called "poetry can't reach the truth" can be seen in Guanju.