Contents of "The Book of Songs"
There are not many poems in the "Book of Songs" for which the specific year of writing can be determined. Roughly speaking, "Song" and "Ya" were produced earlier, basically in the Western Zhou Dynasty; "Guofeng", except for "Bin Feng" and part of "Er Nan", were all produced in the early and middle Spring and Autumn Period. As far as the nature of poetry is concerned, "Ya" and "Song" are basically songs written for specific purposes and used on specific occasions, while "Guofeng" is mostly folk songs. It's just a part of "Xiaoya", similar to "Guofeng". However, it must be pointed out that the "folk songs" we are talking about here are just a general term; their characteristics are exactly opposite to those of "Ya" and "Song" mentioned above. They are ordinary lyric songs created by unknown authors and circulated in society. The identities of most folk song authors are difficult to ascertain. If the identity of the narrator in the poem is taken as the author's identity, it includes not only laborers and soldiers, but also a considerable number of people who belong to the "scholar" and "gentleman" classes. "Shi" was the lowest level of nobility at that time, while "gentleman" was a general term for nobility. There are also many unidentified characters. Therefore, we can only roughly say that this kind of folk song is a social mass work.
Due to the different natures of poems, the content of their descriptions is also different. Below, we select several important types to introduce.
The "Ode" poem is mainly "Zhou Ode", which is the ancestral temple sacrificial poem of the Zhou royal family and was produced in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. In addition to simply praising the merits of ancestors, there are also some songs that pray to the gods for a good harvest in the spring and summer or reward the gods in the autumn and winter. This reflects the social characteristics of the Zhou people who built their country on agriculture and the situation of agricultural production in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. For example, "Feng Nian" sings: In a good year, there will be many millet and crops, and there will also be high crops, trillions and crops. For wine and li, it is given to the ancestors and descendants, and all kinds of gifts are exchanged, and blessings are brought to everyone. On harvest days, people happily and grandly offer sacrifices to their ancestors, hoping that they will bestow more blessings. "Ai Xi" depicts the situation of large-scale farming: Ai Xi became the king, and after showing off his falsehood, he led the farmers to sow hundreds of grains. Junfa and you are private, and you will end up thirty miles away. Also serve you and cultivate, ten thousand dimensional coupling. In the vast fields, tens of thousands of farmers are working at the same time. What a spectacular scene! At the same time, we will also think: in such powerful collective activities, the value of individual existence can easily be ignored and obliterated. This is the price that must be paid under that specific historical stage and economic conditions.
The five chapters of "Daya": "Shengmin", "Gongliu", "Mian", "Huangyi" and "Daming" are a group of epic poems of the Zhou people, describing the history of the Zhou people The history from the ancestor Hou Ji to the founder of the Zhou Dynasty, King Wu, destroyed the Shang Dynasty. Its origin was roughly in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. "Shengmin" narrates that Hou Ji's mother, Jiang Yuan, prayed to God for a son. Later, she stepped in God's footsteps and became pregnant. She gave birth to Hou Ji, but she did not dare to raise him and abandoned him. However, Hou Ji survived through hardships: "The birth of Ji In the narrow alley, there are cattle and sheep in the plain forest. The birds are covered with ice and their wings are flying. The description in this paragraph shows the mythical color of Houji. After Hou Ji grew up, he invented agriculture and the crops he planted were very lush. Later, he got married and established a business in Youtai (now southwest of Wugong, Shaanxi), establishing the foundation of the Zhou nation, and he himself became the ancestor of the Zhou nation and the god of agriculture. This poem, which is full of myth and legend, reflects the Zhou nation's concepts of origin and history, as well as the social characteristics of establishing a country based on agriculture. "Gong Liu" narrates the history of Hou Ji's great-grandson Gong Liu who led his tribe to migrate from Youtai to Bin (today's Xunyi County and Bin County, Shaanxi Province), opened up land, built houses and settled in Bin. Among them, it describes the scene when the Zhou people first came to live in Bindi under the leadership of Gong Liu: "In the wilderness of the capital, they were everywhere at the time, traveling in the huts at the time, talking at the time, and talking at the time." The scene of joyful singing and laughter is very lifelike. Compared with "Shengmin", Gong Liu no longer has a mythical character, but is completely a historical figure. "Mian" narrates the history of Gu Gong Danfu, the tenth generation grandson of Gong Liu and the grandfather of King Wen of Zhou, who migrated from Bin to Qixia (today's Qishan, Shaanxi Province) until King Wen was appointed. It writes that Gu Gong Danfu migrated from Bin to Qixia , married Jiang Nu, built a house and settled in Qixia, engaged in agricultural production, overhauled the ancestral temple and palace, appointed officials, then established the country, eliminated the barbarians, and finally King Wen was appointed. The narrative is clear and well-structured, reaching a very high level. When describing the architectural scenes, many onomatopoeias are used, which is very atmospheric: "It is difficult to beat the dead, to save it, to build it, to cut it down, to build hundreds of blocks, and the drums and drums are invincible." The sounds of pouring, pounding, and peeling earth covered up the sound of the huge drum. The above three epic poems narrate the history of the Zhou nation before the emergence of King Wen of Zhou Dynasty. They were probably written by the historians and musicians of the early Western Zhou Dynasty using folklore. In addition, "Huang Yi" records the history of the founding of the Zhou nation from the narration of Taiwang, Taibo and Wang Ji to King Wen's conquest of Mi and Chong, and "Da Ming" from the narration of King Wen's birth to King Wu's conquest of Zhou, which are generally based on the historians. and musicians’ handwriting.
In addition to these epic poems in "Daya" in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, there are also some epic narrative poems in "Xiaoya" in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, such as "Chuche" records the expedition of Nan Zhong during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty. "Chang Wu" records King Zhou Xuan's personal campaign against Xu Yi, "Cai Qian" and "June" record the wars between King Zhou Xuan and the barbarian Jings and 玁狁, etc. If these poems are arranged in order, a clue can be drawn about the history before and during the Western Zhou Dynasty.
As narrative works, these epics have the advantage of being concise and organized. However, because the purpose of its writing is mainly to record historical facts (including legends that are regarded as historical facts) and to praise ancestors, it does not pay much attention to the storyline and characters. Moreover, there are not many narrative poems in the Book of Songs, mainly the above. It can be seen that starting from the Book of Songs, Chinese poetry has shown a tendency to pay less attention to narrative poetry.
From the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the time when King Ping moved eastward, due to the intrusion of the Rong tribe, the annexation of princes, and the destruction of the ruling order, violent social turmoil occurred. Among the poems in "Daya" and "Xiaoya" that were produced during this period, many political criticism works were written by scholar-bureaucrats. This is probably what is said in ancient books: "The ministers offer poems to the distinguished officials" (Guoyu·Zhouyu). In this category of poems, some authors criticize the chaos and injustice within the ruling class. For example, it is said in "Zhan Ang": "A man has land, but a woman owns it; a man has people, and a woman takes it. It is better to be innocent, but the woman takes it. It is better to be guilty, and the woman takes it." "Beishan" It says: "Some Yanyan is resting, or exhausted from serving the country; some are lying on the bed, or unable to walk; some do not know how to call, or work miserably; some sacrifices are late and they lie down, or the king is doing something with the palm of a martingale; or When Zhan Le drank, he was miserable and fearful of blame; he went out and discussed things, or he did not do anything. "From here we can see that social relations were undergoing drastic changes at that time. Some people were up and down, and some were working hard for "king affairs." And there is nothing to gain, and some people enjoy honor while doing nothing. The poet, on the other hand, stands on the old "just" standpoint, hoping to correct this inevitable chaos. More political criticism poems express the authors' extreme worries about difficult and dangerous current events and their strong dissatisfaction with the ruling groups to which they belong, including the supreme ruler. For example, "The Turn of October", according to "Preface to Mao's Poems", is the work of "The Doctor Assassins King You". The poet started from the misfortune of the weather, which was considered a very serious disaster at the time, and issued a serious warning to the rulers. It wrote: Ye Ye was shocked and uneasy. Hundreds of rivers are boiling, and mountains and hills are collapsing. The high bank is the valley, and the deep valley is the mausoleum. Those who mourn today should not be punished for their stupidity! This is a picture of great turmoil and disaster about to happen. What pained the poet was that people at that time didn't even try to stop it, and still lived leisurely and drunkenly. But at the same time, the author does not dare to openly confront the group to which he belongs proudly and fearlessly. Instead, he is cautious and full of fear of his situation, for fear of not being able to be seen by everyone: he works hard and does not dare to ask for help. Innocent and innocent, the slander is loud and clear. This is not an isolated example. Another example is "The First Month", the author is also very dissatisfied with the government. "The righteousness of today is so fierce!" The meaning is as Zheng Xuan said: "How can the monarchs and ministers here do such evil!" But at the same time, he was extremely afraid: "It is said that the sky is too high, but I dare not be incompetent; it is said that the earth is too high. "The cover is thick, and I dare not leave it alone." Another example is "Yu Wuzheng". The author is worried about the critical situation of "the army will not retreat, but the hunger will fail" and "the Zhou clan is destroyed, and the violence will be stopped", and he is worried about the "three things". The attitude of "Officials, I am not willing to work long and long, and princes and princes, I am not willing to work day and night" was very resentful, but at the same time, he said fearfully: "Wei said that he is an official, and Kong Ji is in danger. If you say you can't do it, you will offend the emperor; if you can do it, you can't do it." "Being afraid of offending the emperor and being resentful of friends." Being an official is so dangerous and difficult! The reason for this is that poets try to avoid direct conflict with the groups to which they belong, or in other words, they always feel coerced by the power of the groups. It seems that poets strongly express their concern for the fate of the country and people's lives, and criticize others for lacking such concern. This is a contradiction; but on the other hand, this concern is essentially concerned about the stability of the ruling order. , is the correct position and moral principle recognized by the entire ruling group (regardless of whether it can be achieved). What they criticize is precisely the departure from this position and principle. When they find (or think) that most people have deviated from this position and principle, they feel confused, indignant, and frightened, and they never dare to express a purely personal attitude and put themselves in confrontation with the group or even breaking position. The examples cited above, as well as other similar poems in the major and minor "Ya", can be said to have created the tradition of Chinese political poetry. The sentiments of concern for the country and the people expressed in the poem, as well as the fact that one must first stand on the "correct", that is, the moral stance recognized by society, before criticism can be made and avoid publicizing one's personal attitude, have had a profound impact on the political poetry of future generations. Influence.
The folk songs in "Guofeng" (including some similar works in "Xiaoya") reflect a much broader content of life than "Ya" and "Ode" which are purely from the upper class of society. The atmosphere of life is also more intense. In the 15th "Guo Feng", "Bin Feng" is the earliest. One of them, "July", is an extremely ancient farming poem, generally believed to have originated in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Different from the farming poems in "Song of Zhou", it describes the working life of farmers throughout the year at a considerable length, and records the agricultural knowledge and production experience at that time, like a ballad recording the lunar calendar. The author of the poem seems to be a slave manager, or as some scholars say, he is the head of a slave family, leading a group of farmers and their wives and children to work for the "gong" and "gongzi". Regardless of which type, his identity is also a slave, but his status is slightly higher. Therefore, the poem not only laments the hard work of farmers, but also regards it as the farmer's obligation, and warmly praises the "gong" and "gongzi". The value of the poem lies in its faithful and detailed description of the social conditions of clan slavery transformed from clan communes.
We can see from the poem that farmers not only cultivate and harvest in the fields, but also plant mulberry and raise silkworms, spin linen and weave silk, and even practice martial arts and hunt and catch animals. During their off-farm time, they also go to the castle to repair houses, even in the cold winter. There is no leisure time, and ice cubes must be cut and stored in the cellar for the "gong" and "gongzi" to enjoy in the summer; all year round, the cycle starts again and again. What did they eat? "In June, we eat stagnation and bean sprouts, in July we enjoy sunflowers and bean sprouts, in August we peel jujubes." "In July, we eat melons, in August we break pots, and in September we eat jujubes." ——Mostly things like bitter herbs, wild fruits, gourds, and pockmarks. All good things belong to the owner. "I want to keep my pigs for myself, but I offer the pigeons to the public." Of the wild boars that were brought, the big ones belong to the "gong" and the small ones belong to oneself; "I, Zhu Kongyang, make clothes for the young master." I weave and dye beautiful scarlet clothes for the public. The "gongzi" makes clothes; virgins also belong to the "gongzi": "The spring is late, and we are gathering fenugreek and qiqi. The women's hearts are sad, and they almost die with the young master!" Only during the New Year, the "gongzi" will let people kill the young sheep, Call the farmers. So everyone "entered the court hall, shouted to each other, and may live forever!" The "Gong" and "Gongzi" not only enjoyed the fruits of the farmers' labor, but also drove them to shout long live for themselves. This poem is not only a very valuable material in terms of sociology, history, and agriculture, but also in terms of literary history, it is also the origin of the Tian family poetry of later generations.
There are also quite a few poems of political criticism and moral criticism in "Guofeng". Some of these poems are about specific people and events, while others have a general meaning. Generally speaking, these poems mostly reflect the dissatisfaction of the middle and lower classes of society towards the upper class rulers. For example, the famous "Cutting Down the Sandalwood": Cutting down the sandalwood in every possible way, put it on the dry side of the river. The river water is clear and rippled. If you don’t farm or plough, how about three hundred grains of grain? If you don’t hunt or hunt, will there be anything hanging in the courtyard of Hu Zhan? That gentleman is not a vegetarian! This poem has been interpreted by many people in the past as a rebuke from workers to exploiters for taking advantage of it without having to work for it. This may not be accurate. It should be pointed out that in the era of "The Book of Songs", the so-called "gentlemen work hard, and villains work hard" ("Zuo Zhuan"), "Those who work hard govern others, and those who work hard govern others" ("Mencius"), in the general understanding of society , it turns out to be just and justified. Whether the slaves who were severely enslaved both materially and mentally could clearly deny this principle recognized by the society at that time is a question in itself; even if someone recognized and expressed it, such a poem would not be accepted by the princes. The music palace of the Zhou Dynasty was still accommodating, and it became the object of daily chanting and learning for the children of the nobles. The "Preface to Mao's Poems" explains this poem by saying, "It's about stabbing greed. When one is in power, one is greedy and despises one's salary without merit." This should be correct. In other words, the poet still starts from the socially recognized principles and believes that a "gentleman" should pursue his career in his position, and "eating a salary without merit" becomes a shameless "vegetarian meal" - eating for free. The last sentence "That gentleman is here, he is not a vegetarian" is a sarcastic style of writing. In fact, it is a common phenomenon for "gentlemen" to eat without their bodies. By satirizing their behavior based on the principles they claim, the poem is already profound and does not need to be elevated beyond its original meaning. "The Rat" is also a similar work: the rat has skin, but the human has no manners. If a man has no manners, what will he do if he does not die? Rats have teeth, but humans have teeth. There is no end to human beings, why wait until death! Rats are physical, but humans are rude. If you are rude, you will die! "Etiquette" is a code of conduct set by the rulers themselves, and members of the ruling class often violate this code by indulging in a life of debauchery, so the poet issued a sharp curse to them. But at the same time, we must also see that the reason why this poem is so sharp and intense is because the author, whether sincerely or falsely, first stands in the position of maintaining "etiquette", which is also the "correct" starting point recognized by society. . Another example is "Shuo Mouse", which is also a profound political satire. In the poem, the ruler is compared to a greedy big rat. He feels that he cannot bear the heavy oppression of these guys and wants to escape to a "promised land". Judging from the lines in the poem such as "I have nothing to eat but millet", it seems that the author owns his own land and property, and his identity may be a lower-class noble or other free citizen. This kind of opinion against excessive exploitation is also something that wise rulers are willing to recognize and consider worthy of warning.
As mentioned earlier, some poems in "Xiaoya" are similar to "Guofeng", the most prominent of which are works about war and labor. We will introduce this type of poem together with the poems on the same theme in "Guo Feng". "Plucking Wei", "Jidu", "What grass is not yellow" in "Xiaoya", "Broken Ax" and "Dongshan" in "Bin Feng", "Drumming" in "Bei Feng", " "Bo Xi" in "Wei Feng" are all masterpieces in this field. Different from epics describing martial arts, most of these poems express the experiences and thoughts of ordinary soldiers from the perspective of ordinary soldiers, focusing on singing about their weariness of war and longing for their hometown, which makes them feel more intimate to read. Among them, "Dongshan" writes about the complicated emotions of a soldier who has been away for many years on his way home. At the beginning of each chapter, he sings: "I went to Dongshan, and I will never return. I come from the east, and there is zero rain." He went to Dongshan. It had been a long time, and now as he was walking home, there was drizzle in the sky, which highlighted his sad feelings. He thought for a moment of the joy of resuming civilian life, and for a moment he remembered that his hometown might have been deserted, and that he might be greeted by a dilapidated scene: "The fruits of success are also applied to the world. Yiwei is in the house, and the toads are in the house. The deer is in the town. "But even so, he still felt that his hometown was better: "Don't be afraid of Yi Kehuai!" After a while, he thought of his wife who was waiting for his return: "The stork is singing in the valley, my wife is here. Sighing in the room... I have not seen myself for the past three years.
"Then he remembered how beautiful his wife was when she first married him. He hadn't seen her for three years and wondered how she was doing now: "How is the new Kong Jia like the old one? "The whole poem is a psychological description of the soldier on his way home. It is written vividly and truly, reflecting the people's nostalgia and yearning for a peaceful life. This poem also had a certain influence on later poetry. For example, in the Yuefu folk songs of the Han Dynasty "Fifteenth Military Expedition" by "Xiaoya" tells the story of a veteran who returns from the army only to find that his hometown has been ruined and his relatives have passed away. The idea may have been inspired by this poem's "Plucking Wei" in "Xiaoya", which expresses participation in the war. The soldiers of the Zhou Dynasty were worried about the war between the Qi and Qi. He could not go home and rest: "The reason for the Qi Qi is that the house and the house are extravagant." Not to mention Qiju, because of the 玁狁. "The king's affairs are extensive, and there is no need to leave the office." Worried and guilty, I can't do it. "All I want to do all day is to go home as soon as possible. But seeing the days passing by, there is no hope of going home, so I feel sad alone. "It's said to be home, it's the end of the year." "It's said to be home, it's the end of the year." "My heart also stops worrying", "When I return, I return, and the sun stops when I am old." Finally, he looked forward to the day when he would go home. As he walked on his way back to his hometown, snowflakes were falling in the sky, his body was hungry and thirsty, and his heart was full of Sadness: "In the past I left, and the willows lingered; now I come to think about it, and the rain and snow fall. The journey is slow, full of thirst and hunger. My heart is sad, but I don’t know how sad I am. "It was spring when he went to join the army, and the willows swayed in the wind, seeming to see him off, and at the same time seem to show him to stay; when he returned to his hometown, it was winter, with snowflakes and frost falling, seeming to say welcome, but also seeming to show indifference. . These four lines have always been highly praised by later generations of literati. For example, Xie Xuan of the Jin Dynasty considered them to be the best lines in the Book of Songs (see "Shishuo Xinyu·Literature"). The custom of giving gifts to people traveling far away seems to have originated from this poem, because this poem was the first to combine willows with people traveling far away, giving people the impression that willows will leave people behind. It should be explained: this category in the "Book of Songs". The work cannot simply be called an "anti-war poem" because although the poem expresses the weariness of military life and nostalgia for peaceful family life, it does not directly express opposition to the war or criticize those who call themselves to serve. People. The mood in the poem is also mainly sad, with almost no anger. This is because from a collective standpoint, joining the army is an obligation that individuals must fulfill, and there is nothing they can do about it even if it harms the personal happiness of the soldiers. One characteristic can be seen more clearly in "Wei Feng·Bo Xi": Bo Xi is in a hurry, and the state is Jie Xi. Who is suitable for it? It rains and the sun rises. I wish to speak of Sibo, but my heart is sick. I wish to speak of Sibo, which makes my heart sick. Written in a tone of voice. She is proud of her husband because he is the "Jie of the country" and can "be the pioneer for the king", but she is also miserable because of her husband's departure and the destruction of her family life. Emotions are both restrained and real.
In "Guo Feng", the most concentrated poems are about love and marriage. The restrictions are not as strict as those of later generations, so in these poems we can see scenes of young men and girls meeting and falling in love freely, such as "Zhaonan·There are dead crocodiles in the wild": There are dead crocodiles in the wild, white grass buns There is a girl who is pregnant with spring, and auspicious people seduce her. There is a tree in the forest, and there is a dead deer in the wild. There is a girl who is as comfortable as jade. "A hunting man seduces a "jade-like" woman in the forest. The woman advises the man not to be reckless and not to disturb the dog, showing a subtle psychology of joy and fear. Another example is "Beifeng Jingnu": Jing When I was in the corner of the city, I fell in love with her, and she hesitated. I was in love with Tongguan. A pair of lovers met for a tryst in the corner of the city, but when the man arrived, the woman deliberately hid, making the man "scratched and hesitated", and then the woman came out and came out again. The man was given a "Tongguan" - what it was is not clear now, but anyway, it has the meaning of a love token. The man couldn't help but be surprised, because this "Tongguan" was given to him by his sweetheart. So he felt it was extraordinarily beautiful and unusual. But after all, in general, social restrictions are gradually becoming stricter, and lovers have to be restrained in their actions. "Zheng Feng·Jiang Zhongzi" He wrote: When Zhongzi comes, there is no way to break my tree! How dare you love him and fear my parents? "Zhongzi" is her beloved lover. But she did not dare to meet him freely, and did not allow him to climb trees or walls, just because her parents were fearful. In the two overlapping chapters that followed, she mentioned that "brothers" are to be feared and "people's talkativeness" is unacceptable. Afraid. With so many "terrible" powers, what can lovers do? So we see many love poems in "Guo Feng" that sing about the bewildered and sentimental love that can be sought but not obtained. It seems that this may be an implicit and subtle artistic expression, but on that day, I am afraid it was mainly a natural expression of suppressed emotions. "Chen Feng·Moonrise") Jian Jia is green, and the white dew is like frost. The so-called Yiren is on the side of the water. The road is long and blocked. ("Qin Feng·Jian Jia") There are trees in the south, so you can't think about them. There are wandering girls in the Han Dynasty, so you can't think about them. The river is so vast that you can't think about it. ("Zhou Nan·Han Guang") Formed for no reason.
A bright and enthusiastic style must be the product of free and unrestrained emotions; implicit and tortuous expressions are always the result of suppressed emotions. This is especially true in the early stages of literary development, when people have not yet consciously pursued diverse artistic styles.
There are also many poems describing the emotional life between husband and wife in "Guo Feng". For example, in "Tang Feng·Gesheng", a wife whose husband died said: "On summer days and winter nights, after a hundred years of age, she will return to her home." Her experience is sympathetic. But there are also men who are eager to abandon their wives. In that era when women had no status, the fate of abandoned women was even more sad. "Gu Feng" in "Bei Feng" and "Meng" in "Wei Feng" are the two most famous poems about abandoned wives. "Wind in the Valley" is the plaintive cry of a kind and weak woman, describing how she worked hard to run the house for her husband and how she struggled to survive the poverty-stricken days. As her family became better and she got older, her husband found other ways to enjoy himself. Kick yourself out of the house; when you leave your husband's house, it's hard to leave because you can't stop remembering the past. What is described in the poem is a typical example of a virtuous and tolerant Chinese woman. "Mang" narrates a woman's painful experience from falling in love to getting married to being abandoned. One incident is written one after another, and the context is very clear. First, a man smiled and bought silk from her, taking the opportunity to get acquainted with her. She agreed to the marriage, and during the days of waiting for the wedding, she often climbed up the wall to look forward to him. But a few years after they got married, her husband abandoned her. She angrily accused her husband: "A scholar is not good at what he does," and "A scholar is too ignorant to be virtuous." She also warned other women not to trust men credulously: "If you are a grieving girl, you should not hesitate with a scholar; if a scholar is delayed, it is just like a gentleman." It can be said; a woman's infatuation cannot be said!" This is a true psychology, and it also contains a certain moral admonishment.
Poems in the "Book of Songs" deal with love and marriage issues. They may sing about the joy and longing between men and women, or praise each other's style and appearance, or describe the scene of a tryst, or express the subtle psychology of a woman. Or Lamenting the Misfortune of an Abandoned Wife, it is rich in content and true in emotion. It is the work with the highest artistic achievement in the entire Book of Songs.