Personally, I think it is equivalent to the current post on Moments.
1. Writing poems (words) in ancient times was actually a kind of diary at that time. Now it is called writing on Weibo, or it can also be called expressing one's mood. In the poems (ci) written by the ancients, there are some changes in the four seasons, some climbing mountains and rivers, some encounters in life, some joys and sorrows... The one who wrote the most complete "diary" is Du Fu. We often call his poems "history of poetry" and say that his poems are the history of the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline. This is from a national perspective. But from a personal perspective, his poems are "diaries", written from his youth to his critical moments in his later years, recording his ideals, his struggles, his downfall, and his regrets. If the titles were based on current tastes, they would definitely be "Du Fu - The Earliest Peking Drifter", "Du Fu's Promotion" and "Du Fu's Wanderings". The same goes for other poets. Li Bai lived in seclusion today, came out of the mountain tomorrow, was in the capital the day after tomorrow, and was demoted the day after tomorrow. All of these "diaries" were kept and became famous. During Su Shi's official career, Huangzhou's "Diary" was the most exciting and has been praised to this day.
2. The ancients wrote poems (ci) because of the need for imperial examinations and the need to climb the Dragon Gate.
In the Tang Dynasty, poetry was one of the examination contents of the imperial examination, which naturally attracted the attention of scholars, so writing poetry became an important part. Before the imperial examination in the Tang Dynasty, there was a custom of "writing papers". "Xingjuan" means that candidates send their own poems to the examiner for reading, in order to win favor. Candidate Zhu Qingyu was afraid that his works might not meet the requirements of the examiner, so he wrote a poem to Zhang Ji, who was already an official at the time. He compared himself with the bride, Zhang Ji with the groom, and the examiner with his parents-in-law. He wrote the poem "Zhang Shuibu in the Recent Examination" to solicit Zhang Ji's opinions.
The red candles were lit in the bridal chamber last night, waiting to pay homage to my uncle in front of the dawn hall.
After putting on makeup, I asked my husband in a low voice, "How dark is my eyebrows?"
The poem presented by Zhu Qingyu received a clear answer from Zhang Ji. In "Rewarding Zhu Qingyu", he wrote:
"The Yue girl appears in new makeup, knowing that she is bright and beautiful, and she is even more meditative.
Qi Wan was not as noble as he was in his time, and he sang a song. "The enemy of song is worth ten thousand gold."
Since Zhu's gift poem is written in analogy style, so is Zhang's reply poem. In this poem, he compares Zhu Qingyu to a girl named Lingcai. She is beautiful and has a good singing voice. Therefore, she must be praised by people, implying that he does not need to worry about this exam. Later, Zhu Qingyu passed the exam.
Wang Wei, the famous landscape and pastoral poet, wrote well because of his good poetry. His poems were widely circulated and had a great influence. Even the princesses of the emperor's family recited his poems and later won the imperial examination for him. First place laid the foundation. Li Bai's poems were widely circulated in the Tang Dynasty, and even Emperor Li Longji knew his name. The reason was that Li Bai's own poems were well advertised. He Zhizhang, a guest of the prince at the time, appreciated his talent and recommended Li Bai to the emperor. Li Longji later Li Bai was called to be a Hanlin bachelor. In the Tang Dynasty, poetry writing became an important channel for official advancement, and the grandeur of Tang poetry was closely related to scientific examinations. three. The ancients wrote poems (words) to meet the needs of communication between friends and relatives. Among the many poems, there are types such as farewell and cherishing others. These poems express the sincere feelings between friends who remain attached to each other to comfort each other and stay together through thick and thin. For example, Wang Bo's "Farewell to Du Shaofu in Shuzhou", Du Fu's "Recalling Li Bai in Spring", Li Bai's "Farewell to a Friend", Wang Wei's "Farewell to the Second Envoy of Yuan Dynasty to Anxi", Gao Shi's "Farewell to Dong Da", Wang Changling's "Farewell to Xin Jian in Furong Tower" ", Du Fu's "Moonlight Night", Liu Yong's "Rain Lin Ring" Through these popular masterpieces, we seem to see the tears of departure and the boat sailing away. A poem is worth a thousand words. The short time the poets spent together and the infrequent meetings they had with each other are unimaginable to us modern people. Poems (words) have strong emotions, which cannot be understood by today's people.
4. The ancients wrote poems (words) as a way to relieve depression, or as a way of entertainment. There are also joyful chapters in ancient poetry, but the vast majority of them describe the depression of unrecognized talents, unfulfilled ideals and ambitions, the frustration of being far away from the capital after being demoted, and the pain of being homesick after leaving. In ancient times, transportation difficulties, inconvenient communication, and poor living conditions were unimaginable. The word "cold" that often appears in ancient poems should not be thought of as an ordinary word. We can feel the bone-chilling cold wind from it. At that time, there was no air conditioning and heating, and the warmth of clothes was poor, which is difficult for us modern people to realize. The poet may live in a post house, a temple, or a government office, alone with a lantern on a stormy night; or he may stroll along the riverside during the Spring River Flower Festival. Missing family, homes and friends, all kinds of emotions flooded my heart. Therefore, writing poetry became a way to relieve loneliness. Such as Fu's "Recalling Li Bai in Spring" and "Looking at the Moon", Zhang Ji's "Night Mooring on Maple Bridge" and so on. Many of the lyrics written by Xin Qiji and Lu You in the Song Dynasty were written to relieve depression.
Secondly, poetry writing is also a way of entertainment. Written poems (lyrics), especially excellent poems, were spread through copies by relatives and friends, and singers used them as lyrics to sing at banquets for the literati, which had an important entertainment function. For example, Wang Changling's "Walking in the Army", Wang Zhihuan's "Climbing the Stork Tower", and Wang Wei's "Weicheng Song" were widely sung in the Tang Dynasty. Liu Yong's poems in the Song Dynasty were widely circulated. "Wherever there is well water, there are willow poems", even people in the Jin Dynasty know it. These poems (words) performed quite a lot of entertainment functions at that time.
five. The ancients wrote poems (words) in order to make a statement and achieve immortality. Confucianism has the theory of "three immortals", namely "establishing merit, establishing virtue, and establishing words". The writing of poetry by the ancients was also a kind of "building a statement". Therefore, all scholars who have made achievements have collections of poems or lyrics that have been passed down to later generations and become their spiritual landmarks. "Collections of Du Gongbu", "Collections of Li Taibai", "Seven Collections of Dongpo", "Jia Xuan Long Short Sentences"... Through their poems, their glorious style is written on the historical monument. We admire the character of our ancestors, and their works inspire future generations to work harder. These poems (words) contain infinite positive energy and nourish the spirit of one generation after another.
Reprinted from China Cultural Relics Network