(1) The early development stage of Tang Dynasty Legend. The development of legends in the Tang Dynasty was out of sync with that of Tang poetry. The early and heyday periods in terms of poetry were both early stages in terms of legends, that is, the period when the style of legend changed from the style of fantasy to the style of legend but was not yet fully mature.
In the early Tang Dynasty, some novels still completely stayed in the realm of supernatural beings, such as "Ming Bao Ji" by Tang Lin of Emperor Gaozong and "Collected Works of Ming Bao" by Lang Fuling; , but there are some new signs, such as the "Records of the Four Dukes of Liang" (written by the author Zhang Shuo of Yan Guogong, and written by Liang Zaiyan), which tells the story of four strange people who performed divination in front of Emperor Wu of Liang, talked about strange objects, and discussed difficulties with monks. , the article uses a structure similar to the questions and answers in Han Fu to string together many trivial materials to form a larger chapter structure.
"Youxian Cave", written in the early years of Emperor Gaozong's reign, is a rather special novel of the early Tang Dynasty. The author Zhang Wei, whose courtesy name was Wencheng, was a first-time imperial scholar in Tiaolu. Wu Zetian was the censor at the time and died in the middle of Kaiyuan. At that time, he was known as a "dissolute and unruly person" and his writing was "fancy and less rational" (the original biography of "New Book of Tang" ) reputation. This article tells the story in the first person of the journey to the source of the Fengshi River, where he stayed in the "Fairy Cave" and met and befriended the goddess Shiniang. The whole text is written in parallel prose, interspersed with a large number of five-character poems with subject-object dialogue, showing the teasing and joking between men and women, and has a quite erotic tendency. Some people now claim that this work is a legend, and some think it is a Bianwen, but in fact its style is quite different from both. It should be noted that content similar to "Youxian Cave" has long appeared in miscellaneous poems. For example, Cai Yong's "Qingyi Fu" once described the story of the author's encounter with a "Qingyi" and spent the night together, and the story of the next morning. The author's thoughts about her after farewell. In the Six Dynasties, there were also popular poems like "Pang Lang Fu", which not only had story plots, but also was a mixture of parallel prose and five-character poems. Later, it evolved into a story poem like Dunhuang's "Xia Nu Fu Ci" which is very similar to "Youxian Cave". The content described in "Youxian Cave", the colorful words and the structure of miscellaneous five-character poems all show its inheritance relationship with miscellaneous fu and popular fu. It can be said that it followed "Liang Sigong Ji" (or roughly at the same time) ) is another new attempt in the field of novels. This novel was very popular at the time and spread to Japan. It should have contributed to the formation of the legend of the Tang Dynasty.
The earliest Tang novels seen today that can be classified as "legends" are "The Ancient Mirror" and "The Legend of Bujiang Zongbai Yuan".
The old title of "Gu Jing Ji" was written by Wang Du (the younger brother of Wang Tong, the son of Wen Zhongzi), and the text was also written in Wang Du's own voice. However, "Chongwen General Catalog" recorded it as Wang Tong's grandson Wang It was written by Meng, and many people today believe in what was said in the past. In fact, the writing method of fictional stories with fake characters is prevalent in Ci Fu. This situation often causes future generations to misunderstand the author. For example, Fu Yi's "Wu Fu" was based on the question and answer between Song Yu and King Xiang of Chu, and "Guwenyuan" was mistakenly titled as Song Yu's work. Judging from the fact that the author's name is not mentioned in each legend of the Tang Dynasty, it is very possible that this work was written by Wang Du under the pretense of being written by Wang Du.
This article records supernatural deeds such as an ancient mirror subduing a goblin. It is composed of many short stories and is similar to "The Story of Liang Si Gong". But it always centers on ancient mirrors, and has a strong story-telling, not as complicated as "The Chronicles of Liang Sigong"; in terms of structure, it takes Wang Du's narrative as the main line, interspersed with the narratives of his family slaves, and the narratives of his younger brother Wang Ji. It is also far more complex and complete than "The Chronicles of Liang Sigong"; its descriptions are also more specific and vivid, and its diction is gorgeous, all of which show obvious progress. Wang Pijiang said that "the upper part inherits the residual style of the Six Dynasties, and the lower part has the new style of Tang Dynasty" ("Novel of the Tang Dynasty"), which is correct.
The author of "The Biography of Bujiang Zongbai Yuan" is no longer known. This article describes the story of Liang general Ouyang He and his wife on the southern expedition. On the way, his wife was stolen by an ape spirit. After some adventures, Ouyang He finally killed the ape spirit and rescued his wife with the help of other stolen women. Then his wife gave birth to a son (referring to Ouyang Xun), who looked like an ape but was extremely intelligent. Later, Ouyang He was killed, and Mr. Jiang adopted this son. "As he grew older, he was well-known for his literature and calligraphy." In the article, Yuan Jing predicts that his son "will meet the Holy Emperor and will become a great sect." Therefore, it was written when the Ouyang family was still prosperous, that is, before Wu Houtian was executed at the beginning of his reign. In addition, this novel has always been considered as "Tang Dynasty people used to slander Ouyang Xunzi" (Hu Yinglin's "Shaoshi Shanfang Bi Cong"). In fact, it is probably a work of humor rather than intentional slander.
From the perspective of artistic skills, this article is more mature than "The Ancient Mirror". The author first exaggerates the atmosphere with the tribe's warning that "there is a god in the land, and he is good at stealing girls", and then creates suspense by saying that He's wife suddenly disappeared in a heavily guarded secret room and was "closed as before". When Ouyang He first visited the lair, he still didn't know what kind of "divine object" the man who stole his wife was. It wasn't until he went into the mountain for the second time and the white ape fell into the trap and was kidnapped that he discovered it was a "big white ape". Later, through the narrations of the stolen women, Describe his image further. The full text has vivid descriptions, twists and turns, and rigorous layout. What is particularly important is that this novel is written in the format of a historian's biography, which is of pioneering significance in the formation of the basic system of Tang legends.
Leave the Soul written by Chen Xuanyou in the last year of Dali is also worth noting. The novel tells that Qianniang fell in love with her cousin Wang Zhou, but her father betrothed her to someone else. Qianniang's soul fled with Wang Zhou, and her body was lying in a sick boudoir. Later, when Qianniang returned home to visit relatives, the two merged into one. This novel was born out of "Shi's Daughter" in "Youming Lu" of the Southern Dynasties. It is about twice as long. Although it is still a short work, it highlights the rendering of the theme of love and the diction is also very beautiful. It serves as a transitional novel. It heralds the rise of a large number of excellent love novels in the future.
In addition, the novel collections produced during this period, such as Niu Su's "Jiwen", Zhang Jian's "Collection of Spirits and Monsters", and Dai Fu's "Guang Yi Ji", all have a transitional color. These books mostly record stories about gods and ghosts, but some of them are detailed, lengthy, and elegant, and are no longer the same as those of the Six Dynasties. Moreover, in "Jiwen", such as "Pei Mixian", "Wu Bao'an", "Su Wuming" and other chapters, some outstanding figures at that time are described in detail and tortuously in the historical biography style. There are no strange things and the narrative is rich. to, opening up a new realm of writing human stories in a legendary style.
(2) The heyday of the development of legends in the Tang Dynasty. Since the beginning of Emperor Dezong's reign, with the maturity of legendary style, legendary creation has entered its prosperous period. During this period, many famous literati devoted themselves to the creation of novels, thus significantly improving its artistry;
Yuan Zhen, Bai Juyi, Bai Xingjian, Chen Hong, Li Shen and others wrote songs and The mutual cooperation of legends (such as Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Regret" and Chen Hong's "Song of Everlasting Regret", Bai Xingjian's "Li Wa Biography" and Yuan Zhen's "Li Waxing") also stimulated the prosperity of legends; there were also legends like Li Gongzuo , Shen Yazhi, a literati who insists on writing legends for a long time and is famous for his novels in the history of literature. In terms of subject matter, among the works of this period, satirical novels and romance novels (including supernatural and human ones) achieved the greatest success; the latter, in particular, can be said to represent the highest achievement of Tang legends.
The first writer to emerge during the heyday of Tang legends was Shen Jiji (ca. 750-797), a native of Deqing (now part of Zhejiang). It is said that "the study of classics should be clear" (the original biography of "New Book of Tang") and "the best in historical writing" (the original biography of "Old Book of Tang"). The historical books include "Records of Jianzhong", and the legends include "Records of the Pillow" and "The Biography of the Ren Family". "The Story of the Pillow" is a satirical novel that tells the story of the famous "Huangliang Dream": Lu Sheng, who was passionate about fame, fell asleep with the Taoist priest Lu Weng's celadon pillow in a Handan hotel, and realized in his dream that he would marry his Gao Gao. All ideals include being a daughter in a family, becoming a scholar, becoming a general, becoming a prime minister, having descendants in the house, and so on. Once I woke up from the dream, the yellow rice beside me was still not steamed. So he suddenly became enlightened, Jishou bowed to Lu Weng again and left.
Li Gongzuo, also known for his satirical novels, was born in Longxi (now part of Gansu). Yuan Hezhong once worked in Jiangxi. He wrote four legends: "The Biography of the Governor of Nanke", "The Biography of Feng Yu in Lujiang", "The Biography of Xie Xiao'e", and "The Classic of Ancient Yuedu". Among them, "The Biography of the Prefect of Nanke" has the same meaning as "The Story of the Pillow". It tells that Chun Yufen, a knight-errant, was invited to the "Huai'an Kingdom" after being drunk, and was recruited as his consort. He was appointed as the prefect of Nanke County and guarded the county for twenty years. Great governance. Unexpectedly, misfortune and good fortune came together. First, she lost the war with neighboring countries, and then the princess died of illness. Then she was suspected by the king and was sent back to her hometown. At this time, he suddenly woke up from his dream, and realized that his previous glory was all a dream after being drunk, and the so-called "Huai'an Country" was actually just a large ant nest in the hole of the big locust tree in the courtyard.
Although the above two novels have a certain strange color, their focus is entirely on realistic thinking about life, rather than on conveying anecdotes. They clearly reflect the frustration and confusion of the literati in the Middle Tang Dynasty and their desire to escape from reality due to the changes of the times and the influence of Buddhism and Taoism. Therefore, the fame and career that people in the early Tang Dynasty passionately pursued are depicted here as a big dream. . "The Story of the Pillow" writes that after Lu Sheng woke up from the dream, he said:
"The way of pampering and humiliation of a husband, the luck of poverty, the reason of mourning, and the feelings of life and death are all known."
"The Biography of the Prefect of Nanke" also records that after Chunyu Fen woke up from his dream, "feeling the vanity of Nanke and realizing the fleetingness of the world, he settled in the door of his heart and gave up drinking and sex." These are consistent with the poetry of the Mid-Tang Dynasty. Since the author has a negative attitude towards fame and career, he also writes about the situation where scholars are obsessed with profit and salary, intrigues in official circles and the harsh world, which has a strong satirical significance.
In terms of art, both novels are characterized by rigorous structure and vivid description. However, "The Legend of the Pillow" prefers the concise writing style of historians, while "The Biography of the Prefect of Nanke" is more novelistic. Its rich plot and detailed details are better than the former. The author writes all the scenes in the dream as real, unique and interesting as possible, which effectively reflects the theme that real life is no different from dreams. In the novel, Chun Yufen's friends Zhou Bian and Tian Zihua appear in the dream, and he writes After Chun Yufen woke up, he dug up an ant nest and saw that the shape of the mud deposited by the mud men was consistent with the city outline, mountains and rivers he had experienced in his previous dream, further exaggerating the atmosphere of reality within the illusion, like a dream but not a dream. His method was very clever. of.
In terms of love themes, Shen Jiji's "The Biography of the Ren Family" also marks the remarkable feature of Tang legends entering their heyday. The article tells the story of Zheng Liu, a poor man who relied on his wife's family, Wei Ying, to meet Ren, who claimed to be "Ling Lun" but was actually a fox spirit, and married into a foreign wife. Wei Ying heard that Ren was very beautiful, so he used his wealth to tease her, and even resorted to violence, but Ren refused to give in. Wei Ying was moved by this, and the two became informal friends from then on.
Later Zheng Liu took Ren to another county to serve as a military attache. On the way, Ren was bitten to death by a hunting dog. Zheng Liu burst into tears and said, "Reminiscing about the past, I can only dress without restraint, which is quite different from others." The full text is well-structured and the narrative is exquisite, and the portrayal of Ren's image is particularly outstanding.
"The Biography of Ren" is different from the early legends in three features: first, the novel makes full use of the form of biography, so that the main character Ren is always at the center; second, the author emphasizes the images of gods and monsters in previous novels. It has a weird side, but in this article, the image of Ren is more focused on the human side; thirdly, in previous novels, fairies, as the opposite of immortals and Buddhas, mostly appear as harming human beings, but Ren is the opposite. Nowadays, he takes the lead in appearing in literary creation as a strong, smart and lovely vixen. In short, the theme of gods and monsters in this novel has further developed in a direction that is more humane and closer to real life. Later, Li Jingliang's "Biography of Li Zhangwu" also had similar characteristics. The work writes that Li Zhangwu, a scholar, fell in love with Chang Wang. Eight or nine years after their separation, Li Zhangwu came to visit again. Wang had died due to excessive longing for her. On her deathbed, someone told Zhang Wu to stay overnight. Reluctantly reciting poems and singing as farewell, the scene was very touching.
"The Biography of Liu Yi" is a legendary work that not only has a strange plot, a strong mythological color, but also depicts distinctive characters. The life of the author, Li Chaowei, is unknown, and the year of his creation is difficult to determine, but it was probably during the Yuanhe year. The story is based on Dai Fu's "Guang Yi Ji Three Mountains" and adds love content. Not only does the plot become more twists and turns, but the characters' personalities are also completely changed. Liu Yi, the messenger in the novel, is a man who returned home after being defeated. He sends a letter to the Dragon Girl who is shepherding sheep in Jingchuan, out of pure indignation. When Lord Qiantang rescued Dragon Girl back to the Dongting Palace and threatened her with his power, he wanted to marry her to him. He did not succumb to the power and refused sternly, showing his perseverance. The Dragon Girl of Dongting initially married Xiaolong from Jinghe River on the orders of her parents, but was rejected and abused. Through personal experience, she turned to pursue love and resisted her parents' order to "marry Zhuo Jin's son". "It was hard to change my heart," and finally Gained happiness. Qiantang Jun, Dragon Girl's uncle, is a hero with a rebellious temperament that the author has devoted all his efforts to. As soon as he appears, the author arranges for him "Thousands of thunders become thunderous, surging around him; sleet, rain and hail, all at once." "Down" earth-shattering scene. He dared to ignore the orders of God, broke the golden locks and jade pillars, and flew to Jingchuan; he could ignore traditional ethics, swallow the Jinghe dragon and choose another wife for his niece; he was so brave and fearless, but he was also impressed by Liu Yi's indomitable spirit. Pretending to resist, apologizing in front of a weak scholar. In this extremely romantic mythological love story and the three main characters, people's passionate yearning for a free and beautiful life is expressed, so it has been widely loved for a long time.
The Legend of Yingying, written by the famous poet Yuan Zhen at the end of the Zhenyuan Dynasty, is the first work that does not involve the plot of supernatural beings and purely describes the love between men and women in the world. It played an important role in the development of legends in the Tang Dynasty. is of great significance in the process. The story briefly tells that Zhang Sheng lived in Puzhou Pujiu Temple, and his cousin Zheng and his daughter Cui Yingying lived in the same temple. At that time, Jiangzhou Jiedu envoy Hun Yao died, and the army broke out in riots and looting. Zhang Sheng was friendly with his generals and protected their mother and daughter. At the thank-you banquet hosted by Zheng, Zhang Sheng met and fell in love with Yingying. With the help of the maid matchmaker, Zhang Sheng asked for an affair with a poem, but was severely rejected at first, but in the end Yingying couldn't control herself and agreed to marry her, and the two dated for months. Later, Zhang Sheng went to Beijing to apply for the imperial examination, but he was rejected. More than a year later, Zhang Sheng and Yingying were married respectively. Zhang Sheng happened to pass by his house and asked to see him as his cousin. Yingying refused with a poem, and the two "never knew each other again." The article also includes Yang Juyuan's "Cui Niang's Poems", Yuan Zhen's "Huizhen Poems", etc. Zhang Sheng's behavior described in the novel is consistent with that of the author Yuan Zhen, so to a certain extent it can be regarded as a reflection of Yuan Zhen himself.
In fact, "The Story of Yingying" can hardly be simply referred to as a "love novel". Zhang Sheng only regarded Yingying as a tempting "beautiful thing" or even a "monster". Moved by her beauty, he takes the initiative to get close to her, but ultimately abandons her for his own benefit. This behavior is actually praised as "good at making amends" in the novel. But on the other hand, while making hypocritical remarks, the author still describes the process of a young man and woman admiring each other and uniting themselves in a short period of time (this shows that Yuan Zhen still has a lot of nostalgia for his own experience) ), the image of Cui Yingying in the novel is also relatively successfully portrayed. She appears as a lady from a famous family (actually her prototype family has a lower status), dignified, gentle, beautiful and affectionate. She used traditional ethics as a weapon to guard against others and restrain herself, but she passionately yearned for free love in her heart, and finally became a victim of feudal forces and selfish men. Because the novel contains the author's real experiences, it expresses the character's personality and psychology more realistically than ordinary works; the author has a high level of literary accomplishment and is good at using beautiful language to describe the character's posture and behavior, and to present the character. The subtle inner activities make it really beautiful to read. Since the novel reflects young men and women's yearning for free love, it was later transformed into "The Romance of the West Chamber" and "The Romance of the West Chamber" dramas, and the novel itself became even more famous.
The shortcomings of this novel, in addition to the above-mentioned contradiction in writing attitude and the resulting inconsistency in the theme of the work, are structurally speaking. The second half not only records Yingying’s long letter, but also intersperses The poems by Yang Juyuan and the author himself, as well as Zhang Sheng's discussion of "endure", also appear loose and cumbersome. And this is not mainly a problem of writing skills, but reflects the impurity of style caused by various factors other than the novel (such as the situation mentioned in "Yunlu Manchao", etc.).
The famous legendary works about human love during this period include "The Biography of Li Wa" and "The Biography of Huo Xiaoyu".
The author of "The Biography of Li Wa" is Bai Xingjian (776-826), the younger brother of the poet Bai Juyi, whose courtesy name was Zhidui. .
The novel briefly describes the story in Tianbao: Prince Xingyang fell in love with the prostitute Li when he went to Beijing to be a scholar. After a year or so, his wealth was depleted, and his fake mother designed to abandon him. He became angry and became ill, and later became a singer of elegy. The singer. Once, his father discovered him while he was competing in a singing competition with others. He accused him of disgracing the family, whipped him until he fainted and then abandoned him. He was rescued by his companions, but his body was covered in ulcers and he became a beggar.
One day, Li heard howling in the snow. She felt sad and blamed herself, redeemed her life and lived with him, and encouraged him to study. When he was born a Jinshi, he was granted the title of Chengdu Prefecture to join the army. When his father was appointed Yin of Chengdu, father and son recognized each other. My father felt this and prepared six rites to marry Mr. Li. More than ten years later, she became an official and became a high-ranking official. Li was granted the title of Lady of the State of Qi. This story is purely fictional. In the society at that time, the love between a scholar and a prostitute could not have a perfect result, and it was even more whimsical like Li's. This "happy ending" avoids sharp real-life contradictions and becomes a pattern often used in later opera novels. But it does reflect people's kind and beautiful wishes, that is, the hope that lovers who have suffered for a long time will finally get an ideal union, and readers also get a kind of illusory satisfaction in life.
From the perspective of novel art, "The Story of Li Wa" is a very high achievement. First, its plot is more complex than any previous novel, with twists and turns and full of dramatic changes. The structure is very complete, the narrative is very clear, and it is very attractive. Secondly, the character of the main character Li Wa in the novel is also richer than in previous legendary works. As a promiscuous woman, she calmly abandoned Xingyangsheng in a scam when he spent all his money. This was determined by the nature of her business; but when she witnessed Xingyangsheng falling into an extremely miserable situation, she was raped by a prostitute. The kind nature hidden in life was immediately revealed, and he wisely and decisively made arrangements for himself and Xing Yangsheng's future life. During this process, her character traits both inherited and changed. Thirdly, although the novel itself is fictitious, in the process of narrating the story, there are many real, moving and delicate details, showing a sense of life. Among them, the description of the competition songs in Dongsi and Xisi makes people feel like they can see the scene of urban life in the Tang Dynasty.
The author of "The Biography of Huo Xiaoyu", Jiang Fang, whose courtesy name is Zizheng (yizuoziwei), was born in Yixing (now Yixing, Jiangsu Province). He was a Hanlin bachelor in the early years of Changqing and was later demoted to the governor of Tingzhou and Lianzhou. , died during the Yamato period. The novel tells the story of Huo Xiaoyu, a woman who was born into a noble family and fell into a family. She fell in love with the scholar Li Yi. She knew that she could not stay with them forever. She only wanted Li Yi to live a happy life with her for eight years, and then she chose another high-ranking family. Then he is willing to become a nun. However, Li Yi later broke his oath and avoided meeting him. Xiaoyu tried every possible means to get her, but couldn't get it, so she couldn't sleep or eat, and was bedridden. Finally, a hero in yellow shirt forced Li Yi to see him. Xiaoyu angrily accused him of being heartless and heartless, and died angrily. His ghost lingered after his death, leaving Li Yi with no peace in his life.
Among the romance novels of the Tang Dynasty, romance novels are the most affectionate, and "The Biography of Huo Xiaoyu" is particularly exciting and moving. It is also about the love between a prostitute and a scholar. The plot of "The Story of Li Wa" is twists and turns and the story is very interesting. The plot of "The Story of Huo Xiaoyu" is relatively simple, but in terms of reflecting the profundity of life and the intensity of expressing emotions, it is more demanding. Much more than "Legend of Li Wa". Huo Xiaoyu, who had fallen into prostitution, fell passionately in love with Li Yi and vowed to stay with him for eight years. It was a hard struggle to seize his own life in the face of unfortunate fate. However, this hope was also denied to him. The person she loves destroys her and causes her to fall into the abyss of darkness. This will make people feel how unreasonable and ruthless society is. Also expressing the pursuit of an ideal life, "The Legend of Li Wa" gives people false satisfaction through the fantasy of a "happy reunion", while "The Legend of Huo Xiaoyu" uses a tragic ending to inspire people's desire and is more contagious. force. There is also Xiaoyu's extremely strong character of love and hatred, which also shocks people. The following is a section in the novel about the last meeting between Huo Xiaoyu and Li Yi:
The jade has been lingering for a long time, turning sideways and beard, suddenly hearing that he was born, standing up, changing clothes and coming out, as if There is God. Then he met Sheng, and stared at him angrily, without saying a word. He was frail and delicate, as if he was overwhelmed, and sometimes he covered his sleeves again and returned to look at Li Sheng. Sensing things hurts people, and they all feel embarrassed when they sit down. ... As the decorations were arranged, we sat down together. Yu Nai turned sideways and squinted for a long time, then raised a glass of wine and said: "I am a woman, so I have such a bad life; you are a husband, so you have such a heartless heart. With such a young face and teeth, I will end up drinking hate." ; My loving mother is in the hall, and I cannot support you; Qi Luo Xian Guan will rest forever.
Li Jun, Li Jun, I will be a fierce ghost after my death. Make your wife and concubines restless all day long!" Then he held his raw arm with his left hand, threw the cup on the ground, and cried out loudly.
Love novels in Tang Dynasty romances mostly write about the relationship between scholars and prostitutes. On the one hand, this is related to the characteristics of the society of the Tang Dynasty: in the prosperous cities at that time, brothels flourished, and scholars often lingered here, resulting in many romantic stories; on the other hand, like the situation of folk songs in the Southern Dynasties, because marriage relationships were usually not It is formed when two people are in love, so the relatively free love shown in literature is mostly outside of marriage. It’s just that the power of expression is much stronger in novels than in songs.
During the heyday of Tang legends, in addition to the two major genres of satirical novels and love novels mentioned above, there were also many works with other contents, some of which were masterpieces. For example, "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow" by Chen Hong is a historical novel that covers both politics and love.
Chen Hong, also known as Daliang, was promoted to Taichang in the Zhenyuan period. In the Yamato third year, he was the chief guest of the Shangshu and a friend of Bai Juyi. His "Song of Everlasting Regret" was written in conjunction with Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Regret", and the content is generally similar. However, the political satire in the first half of the novel is more obvious, and the contradiction with the theme of love is more prominent. In addition, Li Gongzuo's "The Biography of Xie Xiao'e" records the story of Xie Xiao'e's father and husband being killed when they were away on business, and Xiao'e's search for her enemies to avenge them. This created a witty and brave female image, which was unique among novels of the time. The Ancient Yue Du Jing, also written by Li Gongzuo, writes that the Huai River God Wuzhi Qi, who was locked under the Guishan Mountain during the flood control period by Dayu, appeared in the Tang Dynasty. This creature was shaped like an ape and was good at leaping and running. Lu Xun and others believed that "Journey to the West" The formation of the image of Sun Wukong in the novel is related to this, so this novel has certain value in the study of the history of Chinese novels.
The most famous collection of novels from this period is "Xuanguailu" written by Niu Sengru.
Niu Sengru served as prime minister in the Muzong and Wenzong dynasties and was a famous political figure in the Tang Dynasty.
However, this collection of novels was written before he entered official career and should be attributed to the Mid-Tang Dynasty. As the title of the book indicates, the content is mostly stories about gods and monsters. However, the author's intention is not to seek letters or to convey punishment, but more to reveal his talents and use his imagination. Therefore, its stories are strange and colorful, and its diction is elegant. It is significantly different from the novel collections of the previous period. Some of the stories, such as "Zhang Zuo", are influenced by Indian Buddhist stories and are particularly bizarre and unexpected.
(3) The late development period of Tang Legend. It is generally believed that legendary creation had declined in the late Tang Dynasty, which is a bit simplistic. Judging from the surviving works, in the late Tang Dynasty, the number of single legends was indeed greatly reduced, especially the love theme showed a decline. 873), the creation of legendary novels has been very prosperous, and there are many works full of literary interest. In terms of subject matter, heroic novels and satirical novels emerged instead of romance novels, which also enriched the connotation of Tang legends. Therefore, in the period of the late Tang Dynasty, legendary creation still maintained a prosperous situation, but the achievements were not as outstanding as in the previous stage. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, the content of the novel collections had become trivial. Some had returned to the appearance of legends and monsters from the Six Dynasties, and some had been transformed into records of anecdotes of famous people, losing the structure and interest of legends. The literary style of Tang legends thus declared to disintegrate. , towards decline and decline.
Among the collections of legendary novels in the late Tang Dynasty, the more important ones include Xue Yongruo's "Ji Yi Ji", Li Fuyan's "Xu Xuan Wei Lu", Li Mei's "Compilation of Yi Ji", Zhang Du's "Xuan Shi Ji", Pei Chuan's "Legend", Yuan Jiao's "Ganze Ballad" and Huangfu Mei's "Sanshui Slip", etc.
The heroic novels are the most eye-catching category of legends in the late Tang Dynasty. At that time, on the one hand, the feudal vassals and towns were on their own side and had many knight-errants. On the other hand, in the turbulent life of the people, they also imagined that people with special abilities could deliver justice for them. Chivalrous novels emerged in response to this situation and social psychology. This type of novel is often entangled with love stories, which adds to its romantic atmosphere. Famous works such as Pei Kai's "Kunlun Slave", about an old slave who was very skilled in martial arts and stole his beloved concubine from a wealthy family for his young master, so that the two got their wish; Pei Kai's "Nie Yinniang" and Yuan Jiao's "The Legend of the Red Line", They all write stories about women with special skills who solve problems for their masters due to the kindness of knowing someone. The chivalrous characters praised in these novels all "repay favors" based on personal experiences, which reflects a kind of folk morality.
The most famous chivalrous novel is "The Biography of the Qiu Bearded Guest" which has been handed down in a single form. Its author was generally believed to be Du Guangting in the past. In fact, "The Qiu Xu Ke" written by Du is actually an abridged version of "The Biography of the Qiu Xu Ke". There are excerpts from Pei Kuai's "Legend" in the "Cyan Pearl Collection" of the Song Dynasty. The "Hong Fu Prostitute" obviously comes from "The Biography of the Qiu Bearded Guest", so this novel may originally be an article in "Legend". Later, a separate line was published, and the author's name was lost. In the novel, the world was in chaos at the end of the Sui Dynasty. Yang Su's favored prostitute Hong Fuhui recognized a hero and eloped with Li Jing. In the inn, the two met another "crown-bearded guest" who was interested in the king. Later, when the bearded guest saw "Master Li", that is, Li Shimin, he knew that the world had a master, but he was unwilling to become a minister, so he went to the island to proclaim himself the king. This is a very artistic work. It is not only ingeniously conceived, but also describes three heroic characters at the same time. Each has its own personality and style, and they appear more vibrant when contrasted with each other. Therefore, the allusion of "Three Heroes of Fengchen" has been widely spread to later generations, and it is even harder for people who have read this novel to forget these three distinctive characters. Furthermore, the novel is filled with the heroism of the hero and the charm of the love between children, making it particularly interesting to read.
In the past, heroic novels were often not highly praised. In fact, as the opposite of mediocre life and humble personality, this kind of novel represents people's yearning for a free and heroic realm of life, and has its own unique value.
Many satirical works also appeared in the legends of the late Tang Dynasty. In the mid-Tang Dynasty, satirical novels represented by "The Legend of the Pillow" and "The Biography of the Prefect of Nanke" focused on expressing the author's understanding of life and his desire for liberation, while such novels in the late Tang Dynasty were consciously dissatisfied with the author. Social and political phenomena are ridiculed, and the two are different. The most obvious example is that Li Mei's "Xu Xuanzhi" was born out of "The Biography of the Prefect of Nanke", and highlighted the confusion of the monarchs and ministers of the Ant Kingdom, and their inability to distinguish right from wrong. It outlined the epitome of the political reality at that time, and used the final destruction of the Ant Kingdom as a metaphor. The prospect of the Tang Dynasty's imminent collapse.
Another example is Zhang Du's "Yang Sou", which writes that Yang Sou, a wealthy man in Kuaiji, suffered from "lost heart" disease because "he had a lot of property and his heart was driven by profit" and needed to eat the hearts of living people. . His son prayed to Buddha and asked for a meal. He met a monk in the mountains who promised him his heart, but asked for a meal. After the meal, the monk jumped up to a tall tree, laughed at Yang Zi, and then turned into an ape and jumped away. The article is extremely satirical about those rich men who are greedy for profit but also believe in Buddhism and want to ask Buddha to kill people and help themselves.
The satirical criticisms in the late Tang Dynasty legends are wide-ranging and bold. Although there are not many works with strong artistic quality, it is not only the forerunner of satirical sketches in the late Tang Dynasty, but also the origin of later satirical novels, which is worth noting.
Although the love theme seems to be in decline in the legends of the late Tang Dynasty, after all, there are still several better works. For example, Huangfumei's "Bu Feiyan" describes Bu Feiyan, a concubine of a wealthy family, who was beaten to death in pursuit of love, which vividly depicts her strong character of "having been born to be in love, but to hate even after death". In addition, Xue Tiao's "Wu Shuang Zhuan" tells the story of a young man and woman who are joys and sorrows in social turmoil, which is also very touching.