The allusions behind "Qiao Qiao Qiao"
A few lines from the opening lines of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" "A white-haired fisherman on the riverbank, used to watching the autumn moon and spring breeze, a pot of turbid wine "We are happy to meet each other, and many things in ancient and modern times are all discussed with laughter." This can be a wonderful interpretation of the ancient song "Qiao Qiao Qiao".
"Q&A on Fishermen and Woodcutter" is a guqin piece. The earliest surviving score can be found in "The Continuation of Xingzhuang Taiyin" written by Xiao Luan in the Ming Dynasty (1560). Xiao Luan's explanation of the title is: "The ups and downs of ancient and modern times are like the reverse of a hand, but the green mountains and green waters are still intact. The gains and losses of a thousand years are just a matter of paying fishermen and woodcutters." The modern "Qin Xue Chu Jin" said about this song: "The meaning of the music is profound, the expression is free and easy, and the majestic mountains, the ocean of water, the tinkling of the axe, and the sound of the oars are faintly visible under the fingers, leading to the question and answer section. "It makes people think of mountains and forests" is true, but this is not the correct answer. Although this song has a certain reclusive color and can arouse people's yearning for the life of fishermen and woodcutter, the deep meaning of this song should be "many things in ancient and modern times are all talked about in a joke" and "the gains and losses of thousands of years are all in the interests of the fishermen." It’s just a word." The thousand-year-old topic of gain and loss, gain and loss, is invisible in a conversation between the fisherman and the woodcutter. This is the main theme of the music. So, what mystery is contained in their conversation?
Speaking of which, we cannot fail to mention a wonderful book from the Northern Song Dynasty called "The Fisherman and the Woodcutter". There may be a certain internal connection between the Qin music "Qiao Qiao Qiao" and "Qiao Qiao Dui". The former uses dialogue between fishermen and woodcutter to dispel heavy topics such as the rise and fall of ancient and modern times, while the latter attempts to make a fundamental philosophical explanation of the world through concise dialogue. The author of "Qiao Qiao Qiao Dui" is Shao Yong, one of the five Confucian scholars in the Northern Song Dynasty. Shao Yong studied Yili and was familiar with both Confucianism and Taoism. He devoted his life to unifying heaven and man, thereby trying to connect the humanistic nature of Confucianism with the Taoist way of heaven.
"The Questions of Fishing and Woodcutter" focuses on discussing the mysteries and philosophies of all things in the world, the transformation of yin and yang, and the morality of life. This book uses the methods of the woodcutter's questions and the fisherman's answers to summarize and interpret the world, all things, human affairs, and society in Yili. The purpose is to let the woodcutter understand the truth that "the way of heaven and earth is prepared for man, the way of all things is prepared for the body, the way of all wonderful things is prepared for God, and all the things in the world are completed." The protagonist in "The Fisherman and the Woodcutter" is the fisherman, and all the mysteries come from the fisherman's mouth. In the book, the fisherman has become the embodiment of "Tao".
The fisherman has been the incarnation of the "saint" and "the Tao" for a long time. "Zhuangzi·Zanpian·Fisherman" once recorded a detailed dialogue between Confucius and a fisherman. In the dialogue, the fisherman explained the Taoist state of inaction to Confucius. Confucius was so impressed that he respectfully called the fisherman "the saint".
The chapter "The Fisherman" in "The Songs of Chu" written by Qu Yuan tells a story. After Qu Yuan was exiled, he swam by the river and looked "haggard in color and withered in description." The fisherman asked Qu Yuan why he lived here. Qu Yuan replied, "The whole world is turbid and I am alone pure. Everyone is drunk and I am alone sober." Therefore, he was exiled here. The fisherman advised Qu Yuan to see through the world and not to "think deeply and think highly." Qu Yuan refused to listen and insisted on being "buried in the belly of a river fish". The fisherman smiled and sang "The water in Canglang is clear, so I can wash my tassel; the water in Canglang is turbid, I can wash my feet." The song went away. The fisherman here has become a prophet who wants to lead Qu Yuan to "enlighten the Tao".
The most famous representative of "fishing" in history is Yan Ziling of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In his early years, he was a classmate of Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, and Liu Xiu admired him very much. After Liu Xiu became emperor, he asked him to be an official many times, but he refused. However, Yan Ziling did not serve as an official all his life, and lived in seclusion in Tonglu, Zhejiang, fishing all his life. Li Taibai once wrote a poem that "Zhao Zhao Yan Ziling, fishing among the waves." Wang Shizhen of the Qing Dynasty wrote in his "Picture of Fishing Alone on the Autumn River": "One coir, one hat, one small boat, one foot of silk fiber and one inch of hook; a song and a bottle of wine, one person fishing alone in the autumn river." With light weight and understatement, a picture of fishing is drawn. It is a scenic spot to fish alone on the Qiujiang River.
The representative of "woodcutter" in history is Zhu Maichen, a minister during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Zhu Maichen was born into poverty in his early years. He often went to the mountains to collect firewood and lived by selling wages. Later, his wife left him because she could not bear the poverty. Some people say that "woodcut" has a Zen meaning, but this statement needs to be tested.
Since ancient times, there has been a saying in China that fishermen, woodcutter and farmers read. Folk screens are often painted with four pictures of fishermen, woodcutter and farmers. The fishing pictures and the woodcutter pictures are the stories of Yan Ziling and Zhu Maichen respectively. The farming pictures and the reading pictures are respectively the scenes of Shun teaching people to farm and the scene of Su Qin studying hard during the Warring States Period. Fishing, woodworking, farming and reading are the four industries of the farming society and represent the basic way of life among the people. To a certain extent, these four industries reflect different value orientations in ancient times. Among them, fishing is the first, followed by woodcutter. If it is said that what Gengdu is facing is reality, it implies the principle of living in the secular world. So the deep-seated image of the fisherman and the woodcutter is about transcending the world and is full of transcendent meanings.
The song "Qiao Qiao Qiao Qiao" is the accumulation of thousands of years of culture. "The green mountains are still there, and the sunsets are red a few times." All the stagnation in the world disappears in the elegant and unrestrained melody of "The Questions and Answers of Fishermen and Woodcutter". This state of mind is amazing, but how many people in the past and present have been able to achieve it? Although I long for it, I really can't.