Brief introduction of frontier fortress poets
Cén shēn (about 7 15-770), a poet in the Tang Dynasty, was born in Nanyang (now Xinye, Henan) and moved to Jiangling (now Hubei). Han nationality, born in Jiangling, Jingzhou (Jiangling, Hubei), died at the age of 56, a famous frontier poet in Tang Dynasty. His poems are romantic, magnificent, imaginative, colorful and passionate, especially good at seven-character quatrains.
The life of the character
Cen Can (about 7 15 ~ 770) was a poet in the Tang Dynasty. Originally from Nanyang (now Henan), he moved to Jiangling (now Hubei). Great-grandfather Cen Wenben, great-grandfather CenChangQian and uncle CenXi all became prime ministers by pen and ink. Father CenZhi, official to jinzhou secretariat. Cen Can 10 years old, his father died, and the family became more and more difficult. He studied hard and read the classics. When I was 20 years old, I went to Chang 'an, offered books for official positions, and went to Beijing, Luoyang and Heshuo. In the third year of Tianbao (744), he was a scholar and was authorized to lead the government soldier Cao to join the army. Before that, he wrote "Feeling Old Fu", describing the decline of family background and personal frustrations. In the eighth year of Tianbao, I served as the secretary of the shogunate of Gao Xianzhi, our ambassador to Anxi four towns. When he went out for the first time, he was full of ambition to serve his country. He wants to explore the future in the army, but he is not satisfied. After ten years in Tianbao, he returned to Chang 'an, and after thirteen years with Du Fu and Gao, he served as a judge of the Northwest Hospital of An, and once again went to the frontier fortress to make contributions to the country. Most frontier fortress poems became famous at this time. In the Anshi Rebellion, Cen Shendong returned to the king of Qin, and Du Fu recommended him as the right vacancy. He was appointed as a living person in the second year (759) because of his "diligent seal, which is called Syria's right" (Preface to Duque Cen's History Poetry). In less than a month, it was reduced to the history of the governor. Later, he was appointed as prince Zhongyun, doctor of secrecy department and doctor of treasury, and was called "Cenjiazhou" because he was a historian. After he was dismissed from office, Dongfang did not return, and he made a self-mourning for "Zhao Bei Cowen". The guest died in Chengdu Guest House.
poetic sentiment
Poetry career Cen Can's early poems were mostly about scenery writing, lyricism and answering. The style of landscape poetry is beautiful and elegant, which is quite close to He Xun. But the language is strange and the artistic conception is novel; Sentimentality, lamenting poverty and indignation are also strong. For example, I feel that I met by chance, I was careful, I walked in the mountains in late autumn, and I went to the girder but sent the crazy city master. Six years' frontier life has broadened Cen Can's poetic realm and further developed his novel features. Magnificent romance became the keynote of his frontier poems. He not only warmly praised Tang Jun's bravery and exploits, but also euphemistically exposed the cruelty and misery of the war. Exotic scenery such as volcanic cloud, Tianshan snow, re-sea transpiration, Leng Hai, wind and rolling stones, and yellow sand soaring into the sky are also integrated into his poems. Representative works include Snow White Farewell to Secretary Wu Tian's Home, A Trip to Sichuan, Song of Wheel Platform, etc. In addition, he also wrote about the frontier fortress customs and the friendly coexistence of all ethnic groups, as well as the homesickness and grievances of soldiers, which greatly expanded the creative theme and artistic realm of frontier fortress poems. Cen Can's poems in his later years were confused and gradually depressed. After entering Shu, the landscape poems have added strange and strong features, but the idea of seclusion has also developed in the poems.
Cen Can was a famous frontier poet in Tang Dynasty. At that time, there were frequent wars in the northwest frontier. With the ambition of making contributions to the Great Wall, Cen Can boarded the Great Wall twice and stayed in the border guards for six years. Therefore, he has long-term observation and experience on the ice and snow of pommel horse life. He enthusiastically eulogized the fighting spirit of border guards, such as "Song of Wheel Tower" to bid farewell to General Feng of the Western Expedition, and wrote the heroic scene of the soldiers going forward and fighting. "The drums on all sides are like a storm, and thousands of people shout and shake the mountains." The soldiers are selfless and full of loyalty, courage and patriotism. For another example, in The Journey to the West, the poet described the soldiers' nervous pre-war March in the snow: "Wearing armor all night, marching in the middle of the night, and the sharp wind tip cuts their faces like a knife." Cen Can also exposed the uneven bitterness and joy in the life of the military camp. He described the life of general frontier fortress as a warm home of "embroidered red stoves, woven into wall clothes and flowers" in "Military Songs of General Yumenguan Gai". In front of the lamp, the ladies-in-waiting sprinkled jade pots, and the gold boring was messy. The purple ribbon and the gold medal walked around and asked if it was a pale slave. "On the other hand, the life of foot soldiers is that" soldiers often go hungry, and food is not available one after another. It tells the story of the magnificent mountains and rivers in the western part of the motherland, and gives vivid and exaggerated artistic descriptions of the ever-changing frontier scenery. For example, "Night comes like a spring breeze, blowing a million pears" in Song of Snow to Send Wu Tianfu Home describes the snowstorm in the frontier, but it gives people a feeling of spring. Cen Can's poems are rich in imagination, novel in artistic conception, magnificent, fantastic in style, gorgeous in words and romantic in character. Lu You, a patriotic poet, once said, "I thought Taibai and Zimei were the only ones behind." . (Postscript of Selected Works of Weinan Cenjiazhou Selected Works)
Cen Can's poems have a wide range of themes. In addition to generally lamenting his life experience and giving answers to his friends, he also wrote many landscape poems before going to the frontier. The poetic style is quite similar to that of Xie Tiao and He Xun, but it is characterized by novel artistic conception. Poems such as "Mountain breeze blows the empty forest, whispering like people" ("Walking in Late Autumn"), "Long wind blows the cogongrass, and wild fire burns the mulberries" ("To the Girder, I will send it to the Lord of Kuangcheng") are all examples of poetic wonders. Du Fu also said that "Cen Can brothers are all curious" ("A trip to the United States"), and the so-called "curiosity" is the hobby of novelty.
In the late Tianbao period, the internal affairs of the Tang empire were extremely corrupt, but in Anxi frontier fortress, the troops were still quite strong. In the 13th year of Tianbao, Cen Can, the poem "Doctors in the Western Suburb of Beiting surrendered to the army after the wind" once described Tang Jun's prestige at that time: "Alakazam has beautiful alfalfa, and horses are fat on the wheel platform. Last month, General Feng attacked the Hu people and went to the Western Heaven. Before the two armies fought, the enemy surrendered on the way home. Camel teams are in an endless stream, and yurts are one after another. The bonfire in Yinshan is extinguished, and the sword water is thin. " This situation remained until the An Shi Rebellion. Cen Can's frontier poems came into being under such circumstances. Therefore, he became a representative of the frontier poetry school.
Poetic features
The theme of Cen Can's poems involves narrative, questions and answers, landscapes and travels, among which frontier poems are the most outstanding, and "grandeur" is its outstanding feature. Cen Can went to frontier fortress twice and wrote more than 70 frontier fortress poems. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, he wrote the most frontier poems and made the most outstanding achievements.
In his works, no enemy can be a real opponent in the face of the strength of the Tang Empire, so he doesn't need to write about the outstanding struggles and hard sacrifices of the soldiers. What he wants to write is another great force that stands in front of soldiers, that is, harsh nature. For example, in the The Journey to the West, snowy nights and roaring winds, flying sand and stones, these formidable harsh climatic environments in the frontier desert, in the poet's impression, have become spectacular scenery that set off heroism, which is a wonderful beauty worthy of appreciation. Without the enterprising spirit and courage to overcome difficulties, it is difficult to feel this way. Only poets in the prosperous Tang Dynasty can have this cheerful mind and this artistic sense.
Cen Can expressed the scenery beyond the Great Wall with strange enthusiasm and magnificent colors. Under the control of frontier fortress's generosity and lofty sentiments, with heroic tone and peculiar artistic techniques, the strange scenery and customs of the northwest desert are vividly displayed, which has a unique magnificent beauty. It broke through the traditional mode of writing frontier poems in the past, and greatly enriched and broadened the description theme and content scope of frontier poems.
Historical evaluation
The main ideological tendency of Cen's poems is the heroic spirit of generosity to serve the country and the optimistic spirit of being fearless of difficulties. The artistic momentum is magnificent, the imagination is rich, the exaggeration is bold, the color is gorgeous, the creativity is novel, and the style is steep. He is good at depicting the magnificent frontier scenery with seven-character songs and expressing his uninhibited feelings. Du Zhen, a Tang Dynasty poet, compiled Cenjiazhou's poems, and later generations' collections evolved accordingly. Nowadays, Chen Tie people and Hou people have "Collection of Notes". For deeds, see Du Que's Preface to Cenjiazhou Collection, Chronicle of Tang Poems and Talented Persons of Tang Dynasty. Along with Gao Shi, he is also known as "Gao Cen".
Cen Can's poems are characterized by heroic spirit of serving the country generously and optimistic spirit of not being afraid of hardship, which is consistent with Gao Shi. The difference is that he describes the richness of frontier life more than the sympathy for foot soldiers in Gao Shi's poems. This is mainly because his background and early experience are different from Gao Shi's.
Cen Can's poems are full of romantic features: majestic, imaginative, colorful, passionate and unrestrained, and his curious ideological character make his frontier poems present strange artistic charm. His poems have various forms, but he is best at seven-character poems. Sometimes two sentences turn, sometimes three sentences and four sentences turn, constantly rushing and jumping, full of images everywhere. It can be seen from his famous works, such as Night Collection of Judges in Liangzhou Pavilion, that he also attaches great importance to learning from folk songs.
Du Que's Preface to Cenjiazhou's Poems says that his poems are handed down from generation to generation. Although he is a scholar and a savage, he is full of irony. " It can be seen that his poems were widely circulated at that time, not only appealing to both refined and popular tastes, but also deeply loved by people of all ethnic groups. Fan Yin and Du Fu praised his poems before his death. Lu You, a patriotic poet in the Song Dynasty, even said that his poems were "chasing Du Li with a pen" (reading Cenjiazhou's poems at night). Although the evaluation may be a little excessive, Cen's poems are touching, but it is conceivable.
Life works
The version of Cenjiazhou Collection? Thirty years after his death, his son Cenzuogong collected his legacy and ordered Du to compile eight volumes of Cenjiazhou Poems, which was the beginning of the compilation of Cenzuogong's poems. The Song Dynasty evolved into three versions: 8 volumes, 7 volumes and 10 volumes. Song Magazine 10 Volume is not circulated. The popular four-part series photocopying seven volumes seems to have evolved from the seven volumes in the Song Dynasty. It seems that the four-volume version of Complete Tang Poetry evolved from the eight-volume version published in the Song Dynasty. Today, Chen Tie Min and Hou have participated in several versions of Notes of Cen Can Collection. Cen Can's deeds can be found in Du Que's Preface to Cenjiazhou Collection, Chronicle of Tang Poems and Talented Persons of Tang Dynasty. Lai wrote Chronology of Cen Can, Wen Yiduo wrote Textual Research on Cenjiazhou Chronology and Li Jiayan wrote Censhi Chronology.