Du Fu (712-770), courtesy name Zimei, was born in Gong County, Henan Province (now Gong County, Henan Province). He was the grandson of the famous poet Du Shenyan. Because he once lived in Shaoling, south of Chang'an City, he called himself Shaoling Yelao, and was known as Du Shaoling in the world. Read and travel before the age of thirty-five. When he arrived in Chang'an during the Tianbao period, he had no way to enter the officialdom. After ten years of hardship, he got a small position as a right guard and led the governor of the government to join the army. When the An-Shi Rebellion began, he went into exile and was captured by the rebels. After escaping from danger, he was awarded the rank of Zuo Shiyi. In the second year of Qianyuan (759), he abandoned his official position and traveled westward, finally arriving in Sichuan and settling in Chengdu. He served as Yan Wumuzhong, the envoy of the Jiannan Festival, and served as Wailang, a member of the School Inspection and Engineering Department, so he was also known as the Du Gongbu. In his later years, his family moved eastward, staying in Kuizhou for two years before leaving the Xiaxia. He wandered around Hubei and Hunan and died of poverty and illness.
Zimei lived during the historical period of the Tang Dynasty, which was transitioning from prosperity to decline. His poems mostly dealt with social unrest, political darkness, and people's suffering, and are known as the "history of poetry." He was concerned about the country and the people, had a noble personality and superb poetic skills, and was regarded as the "Sage of Poetry".
Du Fu was good at using many systems of classical poetry and developing them creatively. He is the pioneer of the new Yuefu style of poetry. His Yuefu poems contributed to the development of the New Yuefu Movement in the mid-Tang Dynasty. His May 7 ancient novel is both poetry and history. It unfolds the narrative, but also focuses on the convolution of the entire article, marking a high achievement in the art of poetry in my country. Du Fu also showed significant creativity in the Five and Seven Rhythms, and accumulated complete artistic experience in rhythm, antithesis, word and sentence refining, etc., bringing this genre to a fully mature stage. There is "Du Gongbu Collection" handed down from generation to generation.
Su Shi (1037-1101), also known as Zizhan and Hezhong, also known as "Dongpo Jushi" and posthumously named "Wenzhong", was a native of Meishan, Meizhou (now Meizhou, Sichuan). He was the son of his father Su Shi. Xun's eldest son was a famous writer, calligrapher, painter, essayist and poet in the Northern Song Dynasty. A representative figure of the bold and unrestrained faction. He, his father Su Xun (1009-1066) and his younger brother Su Zhe (1039-1112) are all famous for their literature, and are known as the "Three Sus" in the world; they are as famous as the "Three Cao Fathers and Sons" (Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi) in the late Han Dynasty . He is also one of the famous Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties. The Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties are the collective name of the eight representative prose writers in the Tang and Song Dynasties, namely Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan in the Tang Dynasty and Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Che, Wang Anshi, and Zeng in the Song Dynasty. Gong. His works include "Seven Collections of Dongpo" and "Dongpo Yuefu". Politically, he belongs to the old party.
Expectations and disappointments, national enthusiasm and outrage. But Xin Qiji also has many differences from Lu You: as a politician with practical ability, he once achieved a very high status. His pursuit of the cause of fighting against Jin Dynasty was not mainly driven by enthusiasm like Lu You; as a heroic hero His personality is stronger than that of Lu You, and his thoughts are not as "pure" as Lu You; his ideals not only reflect the common aspirations of the nation, but also reflect the desire of a heroic man to play a major role in history. The ambition of self-fulfillment on the stage; therefore, in terms of literary creation, unlike Lu You who likes to write poems, especially the rigorous Qilu format, he devotes all his energy to lyrics, a genre that is more suitable for expressing turbulent and changeable emotions. His collection of lyrics "Jia Xuan Long Short Sentences" contains more than 600 poems.
1. The life and creation of Xin Qiji
Xin Qiji (1140-1207) was born in Licheng (now Jinan, Shandong), with the courtesy name You'an and Jiaxuan. He was fifteen years younger than Lu You, and the north had long fallen to the Jurchens when he was born. Although his grandfather Xin Zan served in the Jin Kingdom, he always hoped to have the opportunity to "rise up in provocations to relieve the anger of Dai Tian, ????who was not suppressed by his father." "Ten Essays on Meiqin"). At the same time, Xin Qiji also continued to witness with his own eyes the humiliation and pain suffered by the Han people under the rule of the Jurchens. All this made him establish the ambition to restore the Central Plains and serve his country in his youth. On the other hand, precisely because Xin Qiji grew up in the north under the rule of the Jin people, he was less exposed to the traditional cultural education that made people blindly follow the rules. In him, he had a chivalrous spirit like the heroes of Yan and Zhao.
In the thirty-first year of Shaoxing (1161), the gold lord Wan Yanliang invaded the south on a large scale. The Han people behind him rose up in resistance because they could not bear the harsh oppression of the gold people. Twenty-two-year-old Xin Qiji also gathered 2,000 people to join a massive uprising army led by Geng Jing and served as secretary-general. When internal conflicts broke out among the Jin people, Wan Yanliang was killed by his subordinates on the front line, and when the Jin army retreated north, Xin Qiji was ordered to go south to contact the Southern Song Dynasty court in the 32nd year of Shaoxing (1162). On his way back from completing his mission, he heard the news that Geng Jing had been killed by the traitor Zhang Anguo and the rebel army was defeated. He led more than fifty people to attack the enemy camp, captured the traitor and brought him back to Jiankang, where he was handed over to the Southern Song Dynasty court for execution. Xin Qiji's astonishing bravery and decisiveness made him famous for a while. "With his heroic voice, cowards arose, and the Holy Emperor sighed three times at the sight of him" (Hong Mai's "Jia Xuan Ji"). Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty appointed him as the judge of Jiangyin, and he began his official career in the Southern Song Dynasty. He was only twenty-three years old at this time.
Xin Qiji first came to the south and did not understand the cowardice and timidity of the imperial court. In addition, Song Gaozong and Zhao Gou had praised his heroic behavior. Song Xiaozong, who came to the throne soon after, also showed that he wanted to restore the lost territory and He was eager to avenge his humiliation, so in the period before his tenure in the Southern Song Dynasty, he enthusiastically wrote many suggestions on the Northern Expedition against the Jin Dynasty, such as the famous "Ten Essays on Meiqin" and "Nine Discussions". Although these proposals were highly praised and widely read at the time, the imperial court, which was no longer willing to fight anymore, responded indifferently. It was only interested in the practical talents shown by Xin Qiji in the proposals, so it sent him successively to In Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and other places, they held important local official positions such as transit envoys and pacification envoys to manage famine and improve public security. This is obviously very different from Xin Qiji's ideal. Although he did a great job, he felt more and more depressed and painful because he felt that time was passing by, life was short and ambitions were difficult to achieve.
However, reality is harsh to Xin Qiji. Although he had outstanding talents, his heroic and stubborn character and his enthusiasm for the Northern Expedition made it difficult for him to gain a foothold in the timid, diplomatic, and jealous officialdom. He also realized that he was "stubborn and self-confident, and had not been tolerated by everyone for many years" ("On Thieves"), so he had already made preparations to retire and built a garden pavilion by Daihu Lake in Shangrao, Jiangxi Province, so that he could settle down after leaving his job. . Sure enough, in the winter of the eighth year of Chunxi (1181), when Xin Qiji was forty-two years old, he was removed from office due to impeachment and returned to Shangrao. In the next twenty years, except for serving as prisoner and pacifier in Fujian once every two years, he spent most of his time in the countryside.
. However, as a passionate man and a man of great influence, he was forced to leave the political stage when he was in his prime, which made him unbearable. Therefore, while he often enjoys the pastoral scenery and the tranquility in it, waves are constantly rising in the depths of his soul. Sometimes he is excited by his life's ideals, sometimes he is angry and discouraged by the ruthlessness of reality, and sometimes he I forced myself to feel relieved and had broad-minded thoughts, and spent the rest of my life in this emotional ups and downs.
“To end the affairs of the king and the world, and to gain fame both during and after his death, it was all in vain” (“Broken Array”), “But he exchanged ten thousand words for a smooth military strategy in exchange for his master’s tree-planting book” (“Partridge Sky”) 》), in these words, his deep emotions are buried. In the third year of Jiatai of Ningzong (1203), Han Yuzhou, who advocated the Northern Expedition, appointed people from the main war faction. Xin Qiji, who was 64 years old, was appointed as the prefect of Shaoxing and the pacifier of eastern Zhejiang. The old poet's spirit was boosted. The next year, he met Emperor Ningzong of the Song Dynasty and spoke passionately about the Jin Kingdom's "certain chaos and destruction" (Episode B of "Miscellaneous Notes on the Government and the Wilderness Since Jianyan"), and personally went to the front line to take up a post in Zhenjiang.
But he was hit hard again and was forced to resign under the attack of some admonishing officials. In the first year of Kaixi (1205), he returned to his former residence to live idle. Although he was called to serve in the next two years, he was old and sick, and his body was weak, and he finally passed away in the autumn of the third year of Kaixi.
Although, since the fall of the Central Plains, expressing grief and indignation for national humiliation and expressing enthusiasm for serving the country have become the central theme of literature, Xin Qiji's poetry still has an outstanding brilliance in it. This is not only because Xin Qiji grew up in the north that was ravaged by foreigners, and his desire to restore his homeland was stronger than that of ordinary scholar-bureaucrats, but also because while taking the initiative to undertake the national mission, he also actively pursued the glory of his personal life, which is reflected in his poems. Showing an irrepressible spirit of heroism.
When expressing his ambition to serve the country, Xin Qiji's poems often show the courage and heroic self-confidence of soldiers, such as "To pull back the fairy waves of the Milky Way and wash away the sand in the northwest" ("Shui Diao Ge Tou") , "You should swear to yourself when you wrap your body in horse leather, and you will stop repaying your sex with your eyebrows" ("Man Jiang Hong"), "A Taoist man's heart will be as strong as iron until he dies. Let's try his hands and mend the cracks in the sky" ("Congratulations to the Bridegroom")
etc. Wait, all of them are full of pride and anger. He sincerely praised those who had the same courage to serve the country as himself, echoed with them, and encouraged each other, such as the generous enthusiasm of "Shuilongyin·Jiachen Suishuo Hannanjian Shangshu", which was completely different from the ordinary birthday wishes. :
How many people are really good at economics when the horse crosses the river and comes from the south? Chang'an elders, the scenery of Xinting is still pitiful. Yifu people, Shenzhou Shenlu, how many times have you looked back? Counting an army and an army thousands of miles apart, merit and fame are what they are, but are true Confucian affairs known to the public? Kuang Youwen is fighting in the mountains, and the courtyard is full of Tongyin in the clear day. I fell to the ground back then, but now I'm trying to see how the wind and clouds are running.
The green fields are full of wind and smoke, the grass and trees of Pingquan are green, and the songs and wine of Dongshan are beautiful. In his new year, I will put things in order for my husband to live longer.
Xin Qiji had an instinctive disgust for bureaucrats who were vulgar and tactful and did nothing in the face of national peril. In "Millennium Dialogue", he outlined the ugly appearance of such characters: "When drinking wine to others, , Harmony falls first. The most important thing is to be patient and everything goes well."
However, it is this kind of people who fill the officialdom, control the power, and lead a peaceful path. He wrote angrily: "General Li has captured Hu'er's horse through the ages. Li Cai is a junior, but he is a marquis." ("Businessman")
When Xin Qiji led a small number of troops to charge When he came to the south after the war and the flames of the battlefield, he was full of enthusiasm and eager to show his ambition, but unexpectedly he fell into a mediocre situation, which made him feel unbearable depression and grief.
In the twelfth year of his return to the south, when he revisited Jiankang, his first stop when he returned to the south, he wrote the famous "Shui Long Yin: Climbing the Jiankang Heart-Appreciating Pavilion":
The clear autumn in Chutian Qianli , the water goes with the sky and the autumn is boundless. The eyes are far away, offering sorrow and hatred, jade hairpin and snail bun. The sunset above the building, in the sound of broken bells, wanderers from the south of the Yangtze River. I looked at Wu Gou and patted the railings all over, but no one understood me. Don't say that the perch is worthy of praise. When the west wind blows, the season eagle has not returned yet? Asking for fields and houses, fearing that he should be embarrassed to see you, Liu Lang is talented. It's a pity that the passing years, the sorrow and wind and rain, the trees are like this! Who is Qian, calling for the red scarf and green sleeves, and finding the hero's tears.
This is the sadness of the broken mountains and rivers, the sadness of the empty aspirations; the years flow by ruthlessly, making this sadness even more shocking. However, even if the poet is writing about his loneliness and sorrow, his pain and tears, we can still see his self-proclaimed hero and never willing to sink. And until he became the prefect of Zhenjiang in his later years, his work "Yong Yu Le·Reminiscences of the Past in Beigu Pavilion, Jingkou" still lamented that "through the ages, there is no hero to be found, Sun Zhong seeks a place", while recalling his fighting career in his youth, showing his unwillingness to do so. Aging, but there is still a heroic sentiment:
Forty-three years, I still remember the beacon fire on Yangzhou Road. But looking back, under the Buddha and Li Temple, there is a sacred crow drum. Who can ask: Lian Po is old, can he still make a living?
This heroic character, who can never live a life in mediocrity, accompanied Xin Qiji throughout his life and always shines in his words. It played the strongest note of Song Ci.
On the other hand, the helpless situation and the same helpless mood forced Xin Qiji, like Lu You, to find ways to relieve the depression in rural life. He was deeply influenced by the thoughts of Lao and Zhuang. He once said that "there are several books on his case, either Zhuang or Lao" ("Thanks to the Emperor"). The philosophy of Lao and Zhuang allowed him to temporarily forget the troubles of the world, get closer to nature and daily life, feel and express the philosophy and beauty contained in "a valley and a hill" in his words. Due to differences in personality and aesthetic taste, his lyrics of this type are not as simple and elegant as Lu You's poems, but are fresh, beautiful, lively and smart. For example, "Qingpingle" describes the mood of farm life:
The eaves are low and the grass is green on the stream. When drunk, Wu Yin is very charming, but who is the old lady with gray hair? The eldest child is hoeing beans to the east of the stream, while the middle child is weaving a chicken coop. The younger child is most fond of rogues, lying down at the head of the stream peeling lotus pods.
"Xijiang Moon·Qianxing" writes about his unrestrained life:
Drunk and greedy for laughter, but worried about how to gain time. Recently I have begun to realize that the ancient books are totally worthless. Last night, Songbian fell drunk and asked Song, "How do I feel about being drunk?" I just suspected that Song Song was coming to help me, so I pushed Song Song with my hand and said, "Go".
But this kind of lyrics does not mean that Xin Qiji's sad and angry mood will change with age and the leisurely life. This is just a momentary forgetfulness, and it is also another form of expression of grief and anger. You only need to read the famous "Ugly Nuer·Shubo Mountain Road Zhongbi" to know:
Young people don't know the taste of sorrow, love Go upstairs. Falling in love with the upper floors, I force myself to express my sorrow in order to compose new words. Now that I know all the sorrow, I want to stop talking. I wanted to give it up, but I said it was a cool autumn.
It is precisely because he has experienced many vicissitudes of life, accumulated too much and too deep depression, and is fully aware of the helplessness of life that he "stops talking". He can only find refuge for his feelings in the quiet pastoral countryside and soothe his traumatized soul. This is a last resort choice for a hero in a mediocre society. Only by understanding this can we understand Xin Qiji's true mentality when he wrote this type of words.