Brief introduction of poet Qu Yuan
About 339 BC-about 278 BC
During the Warring States period, Chu poets absorbed the essence of southern folk songs, merged ancient myths and legends, and created a new poetic style-Chu Ci. The appearance of Chu Ci is the great liberation of China's ancient poetry. It breaks the rigid format of "four words and one sentence" in The Book of Songs, adopts irregular sentence patterns of three to eight words, with lively and diverse forms, suitable for describing complex social life and expressing rich thoughts and feelings, and its length and capacity can be expanded at will according to the needs of the content. Qu Yuan, a great poet, is the founder and representative writer of Chu Ci.
Qu Yuan (about 339 BC ~ about 278 BC) was born in the state of Chu. Born in Lepingli, San Lv Township, Zigui in 340 BC. Qu Yuan was studious and ambitious since childhood. At the age of 26, he became a left-handed man and a good doctor in Chu. At first, he was trusted by Chu Huaiwang, who was a senior official of the left party. He advocated giving people power, making clear laws and regulations to improve internal affairs, and uniting with Qin State to oppose him. However, Chu Huaiwang's Lingyin Zijiao, Shangguan Doctor, Shanxi Merchants and his favorite concubine Zheng Xiu were all bought by Zhang Yi, the envoy of Qin State, which not only made Wang Huai unable to accept Qu Yuan's opinion, but also alienated him. As a result, Chu Huaiwang was lured to death by the State of Qin. After Xiang Wang ascended the throne, Qu Yuan continued to be persecuted and exiled to Jiangnan. In 278 BC, the general of the State of Qin led an army south to attack the capital of Chu. Qu Yuan's political thoughts were shattered and he was desperate for the future. Although he wanted to serve his country, he was unable to return to heaven, so he had to drown himself in the Miluo River on May 5th of the same year.
Qu Yuan is an outstanding politician with a long history, the first great poet in the history of China literature, and the "first-rate genius" of the Three Gorges. He was worried about the country and the people, and finally died in the Miluo River. Although Qu Yuan's political life is a tragedy, as a poet, he left more than 20 immortal poems such as Li Sao and Tian Wen. These are precious heritages in China's literary treasure house.
Li Sao is the most mature work of Qu Yuan and the most magnificent lyric poem in ancient China. The first half is a realistic narrative, which describes his ideals and experiences of improving politics. A lot of strange fantasies were added in the second half. Accompanied by wind, rain, thunder, electricity, clouds, moon, phoenix and dragon, he galloped up and down in the sky, pursuing his ideal object. The result was disappointing.
The poet integrated natural phenomena, historical figures and legends into a magnificent and romantic artistic image, realizing a high degree of integration of thought and art. Lu Xun praised Qu Yuan and said, "Escape is a big talk, and you will be outstanding all your life."
Tian Wen is a strange long poem. This is because after Qu Yuan was exiled, he lost his mind and his old beliefs completely collapsed. Therefore, he had doubts about natural phenomena, ancient ruins, religious beliefs and traditional concepts of society, which led to various questions. In Historical Records and Biography of Qu Yuan, Sima Qian recorded in detail that the poet vented his contradictions and pains in his political life by asking questions.