This poem itself has made a breakthrough in the history of poetry development and has been praised by many people. Coincidentally, Wang Kaiyun's evaluation of it is "an isolated poem", while Wen Yiduo's evaluation of it is "a poem among poems, a masterpiece at its peak". Both Wang Wen are literary giants. The superposition of these two evaluations, coupled with the charm of the poem itself, makes people mistakenly think that this poem is the pinnacle of Tang poetry. Actually, it's not.
The so-called "peak of Tang poetry" is actually just a myth? 1, Wen Yiduo's comment: "There is a poem in poetry, and there is a peak on the peak."
Wen Yiduo did praise Zhang's "Moonlit Night on the Spring River" in the article "Redemption of Palace Poems", but it has a context. In the article "Redemption of Palace Poetry", Wen Yiduo first sharply criticized the debauchery of palace poetry from Qi Liang to the early Tang Dynasty, thinking that it was the "darkness" of literature and the "stain" of poetry history. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the four outstanding men changed the ethos of Qi and Liang successively, and went to Zhang, which was even more groundbreaking:
"If it is a quiet and bright night after the storm in Shandong and Romania, Zhang is a quiet and bright moonlit night after the storm." Then, there is a comment that most people are familiar with-"This is a poem among poems, the peak on the peak."
However, Wen Yiduo later wrote: "As for the darkest sins left by the four dynasties of Liang, Chen, Sui and Tang in those hundred years, can't they be washed away with palace poems like" Moonlight on a Spring River "? Forward for the court poetry to redeem the sin of one hundred years, therefore, backward and another peak Chen Ziang division of labor and cooperation, cleared the way for the prosperous Tang Dynasty ... "
It can be seen that Wen Yiduo's praise bears the brunt, which is his outstanding contribution to the development of palace poetry. Moonlit Night on the Spring River was once a poem with perfect unity of scene and reason, which swept away the evil of palace poetry and steadily created a new situation of palace poetry. In his article, Wen Yiduo also directly classified the moonlit night on the riverside as a palace-style poem, so the "poem among poems, the peak on the peak" he said did not refer to Tang poetry or even the whole history of poetry, but a palace-style poem, that is to say, the moonlit night on the riverside is the highest peak of palace-style poetry.
2. Wang Kaiyun commented: "Lonely articles are absolutely horizontal, but they are for everyone."
Wang Kaiyun's comments also have corresponding context. "A lonely article is absolutely unique, but it is for everyone to see" is just a very misleading sentence when used alone. This evaluation comes from On the Origin of Tang Poetry (Answer to Chen Wanzhi's Question):
"Zhang's" Moonlit Night on a Spring River "is a lonely article in the style of" Xizhou ",which is actually for everyone to see. Li He and Shang Yin are fresh and moist; " Song and Yuan Dynasties are tributaries, and the palace style is magnificent. "
Here are some key words: "Gongti big orchid", which shows that Wang Kaiyun and Wen Yiduo's comments come from one angle. They are all based on palace poems, not to say that they "completely overwhelmed the whole Tang Dynasty", but that what we now call "lonely poems on a moonlit night by a spring river" is a mistake taken out of context. There are many such things in literature, which need to be carefully distinguished. In the final analysis, if "Moonlit Night on a Spring River" is "an orphan overwhelming the whole Tang Dynasty", where should Li Bai, Du Fu and others put it?
However, it is not groundless that A Moonlit Night on a Spring River can be misunderstood as a lonely poem that overwhelmed the whole Tang Dynasty. The main reason is that this poem is really good, so Zhang Cai can shine with it.
The peak of palace poetry-Zhang's Moonlight on the Spring River is a spring tide, and the bright moon on the sea was born in the tide. I drift thousands of miles, where there is no moon by the river!
The river flows around Fangdian, and the moonlight shines on the flower forest like graupel. Frost flows in the air, you can't fly, but you can't see the white sand on the pavilion.
There is no dust in the sky on the river, and there is a lonely moon in the sky. Who saw the moon by the river for the first time? When did Jiang Yue take the photo at the beginning of the year?
Life is endless from generation to generation, and Jiang Yue is only similar year after year. I don't know who Jiang Yue is waiting for, but I see the Yangtze River delivering water.
The white clouds have gone, and Qingfeng is at a loss. Who will go boating tonight? Where do you miss Mingyue Building?
Poor people wander upstairs for the moon, so they should leave someone to fill the mirror. The curtain of the jade pot could not be rolled up, but it was brushed back on the anvil.
At this time, I don't know each other. I hope China will shine on you every month. Hongyan flies in the sky, and fish Long Qian jumps in the water.
Last night, I dreamed that the idle pool had fallen, and the poor spring had not returned. In spring, the river flows away, and the pond falls in the moon and the west.
The slanting moon hides the sea fog, and Jieshi Xiaoxiang Road is infinite. I don't know how many people return home every month, and the moon is full of rivers and trees.
Zhang, the author of "Moonlit Night on a Spring River", and He, Zhang Xu and Bao Rong are also called "Four Scholars in Wuzhong". There are only two existing poems by Zhang. One is Answer My Boudoir Dream, which is not widely known. The other is the prestigious Moonlit Night on the Spring River.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a poem saying that "Zhang's Moonlit Night on a Spring River was published in Pulsatilla smoothly and tactfully", which represented the height of poetry in the early Tang Dynasty. I think this poem is "shallow, sad and sentimental, I can't read it, and I'm not tired of reading it." "Clouds" and "Moonlit Night on the Spring River" have been refined into extraordinary light, which is inseparable. Is a real craftsman. "In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, he said in Selected Poems of Tang Dynasty:" Every sentence is long and new, which is inextricably linked to move the spleen of ancient and modern people and make them feel stupid. " "Its natural uniqueness lies in its easy accumulation, which makes those who have shallow speech patterns keep silent when singing.
Why did Moonlit Night on the Spring River win the favor of many people in Ming and Qing Dynasties? The author believes that it is mainly manifested in the following points:
1, the big pattern: from the narrow and morbid nature of palace poems to the deeper and broader experience and thinking of the universe and life.
The court poems of Qi and Liang Dynasties are erotic poems centered on court life. Although there are beautiful and beautiful sentences to recite, most of them are not freed from lewdness. It is really a morbid work for enjoyment. With the efforts of Lu, Liu and others, this erotic wind was weakened by Zhang's "Moonlit Night on a Spring River" and replaced by concern for life and destiny.
First of all, no matter what this poem is about, whether it is about human metabolism or feelings, apart from the eternal significance of these feelings in the poem, these feelings written by the poet are not limited to individuals, but the whole world, which reflects the author's concern for this universal human emotion. "Where there is no moonlight by the river!" "Who saw the moon by the river for the first time?" When did Jiang Yue take the photo at the beginning of the year? ""I don't know who Jiang Yue treats. ""Who's going boating tonight? "Where do you miss Mingyue Building?" "I don't know how many people will return in a month". Here, "where", "who", "when" and "how many people will return" do not specifically refer to the scene in one place, but generally refer to the sigh of parting or the short, natural and eternal life. Moreover, the poet's attitude is always positive. Although he lamented the personnel changes, he didn't dive in and couldn't get out. Instead, I tactfully accepted it by leaving my feelings, and finally left a scene full of imagination, which reminded people of the "return" in the previous sentence and naturally fell into the expectation of reunion.
Secondly, the most famous poem is "Who saw the moon by the river for the first time? When did Jiang Yue take the photo at the beginning of the year? Life is endless from generation to generation, and Jiangyue is only similar every year. " I don't know who Jiang Yue treats, but the Yangtze River sends water. "These six sentences. The poet's longing for the moon, from the beautiful and ethereal moonlight to the impermanence of life, is exactly the same as the later "people don't know where to go, but peach blossoms still smile and be proud of the spring breeze". "This kind of thought inherits the great exploration spirit of Tian Wen, a writer of the Warring States Period, and gives people endless philosophical enlightenment.
"Moonlit Night on the Spring River" has completely shaped the character of palace poetry, and its broad mind, positive attitude and deepest and widest experience of cosmic life are destined to make this poem shine brilliantly in the history of literature.
So Wen Yiduo also said, "In front of this kind of poem, all admiration is rap, almost blasphemy." "Looking back from here, even it is a process, not to mention Lu and his supporting role. It is also a process."
2. Artistic conception: the high unity of emotion, scenery, meaning and reason.
The first eight sentences of this poem describe the scenery, and draw a beautiful and ethereal picture with several objects such as "Spring River", "Bright Moon" and "Spring Tide". The Moonless Place by the River turns small into big, turns personal feelings into popular feelings, and uses the classic image of the bright moon to connect ancient and modern China and foreign countries in series, crossing time and space, to write the eternal beauty endowed by the bright moon by the river.
Then the poet turned his eyes from the distance of the riverside to the distance, and wrote down "Flower Forest" and "White Sands", thus constructing a dreamlike realm. The following "There is no dust on the river" continues the above-mentioned river scenery, while "The bright moon is in the sky and the solitary wheel" opens the following description of "Jiangyue", which causes the poet to think about life: "Who has seen the moon by the river? When did Jiang Yue take the photo at the beginning of the year? Life is endless from generation to generation, and Jiangyue is only similar every year. " I don't know who Jiang Yue treats, but the Yangtze River sends water. "One go, one vein, it's refreshing.
Then, eyes turned to the white clouds at the other end of the water. Whose wife was pregnant under the white clouds? This boundless sadness makes people worry, just like the falling moonlight, "Yumen curtain can't be rolled up, but it is brushed back on the anvil." Twisted silk touches people's hearts. Seemingly unreasonable, seemingly heartless and affectionate, heartless is the bright moon, and affectionate is the heart. There are endless words and endless meanings here, which shows the deep thoughts of the thinking woman for the wanderer.
You must be sad to think so, but is it negative to miss your wife? There is no "I don't know each other at this time. May China take care of you month by month." Her expectation is so sincere, her desire is so pure and moving, and it is sad here without hurting, which shows the character of this poem.
The last eight sentences are about wandering lovesickness, thinking of falling flowers in my dream last night. Here, I wrote in vain, suggesting a happy reunion between the ending and the dream. He is also looking forward to the return of the moon, and such thoughts are endless, condensed into one sentence, that is, "the moon is falling and the trees are full of rivers."
In this poem, "love" includes the love of wandering women, nostalgia and the poet's observation of the beauty of nature; "Scenery" means "spring", "river", "flower", "moon" and "night", with every word as the scene and unity as the realm; Yi has an understanding of interpersonal substitution in life. "Reason" is a kind of philosophical thinking that things are different and rivers will last forever. Emotion, scenery, meaning and reason are highly unified in this poem.
3. Beautiful language style and structural arrangement.
In addition to the two most important evaluation angles mentioned above, the language of Moonlit Night on a Spring River is also worth mentioning. The poet didn't use any strange words or obscure allusions. They are all plain but elegant words, but together they are deeply beautiful.
In terms of composition, this poem has 36 sentences, which are divided into nine groups and four sentences. Three sentences are rhymed and syllables are scattered. The poet also used duality and thimble to make poetry coherent, repetitive and rhythmic.
This poem also wins with the transformation of time and space and the tact of feelings. Structurally, it also runs through a vein, connecting one ring with another. It writes the philosophy of life from the scenery of the moonlight on the riverside, and then naturally turns to the lovesickness of children in the lower reaches of the moonlight. The ending is far-reaching, giving full play to the beauty of China's poem "incoherent and endless meaning", which was really the peak of Tang poetry at the beginning.
The development of poetry is advancing step by step. In fact, no poem can really "overwhelm the whole Tang Dynasty". The style of Tang poetry is an overall evaluation, not based on a certain poem. However, although "Moonlit Night on a Spring River" can't be said to be "overwhelming the whole Tang Dynasty", we can think that it is with the appearance of "Moonlit Night on a Spring River" that the literary atmosphere in our hearts will come so smoothly. Moonlit Night on the Spring River opened up a new path for the prosperous Tang Dynasty and was destined to occupy an important position in the history of China's poetry development. (Some literary author: Liu Xuanyan)