Except for a few legendary writers (some of whom can be traced back to three or four hundred years ago), the activities of famous singers are mostly concentrated in the period from the beginning of the seventh century to the middle of the eighth century. This hundred years can be subdivided into three periods. Most of the early writers were emperors, such as Shu Ming, Zhong Ming, Emperor Tianzhi and King Ota. This period was a period of preparation and expansion of the centralized state in ancient Japan. These people's singing styles are all famous for their simple style and frankness. The background of composing music is often related to the historical turmoil at that time. The authors in the middle period were active after the middle of the seventh century and the beginning of the eighth century. Among them, the representative authors were persimmon Ma Lu, Takashi Negro, Prince Gui Zhi, Yishan Yiliang, Escort, Shiro Yamabe, Li Jincun, Gao Qiao Worm Ma Lu and others. These people were all nobles or lower-middle-class officials at that time. Their singing styles have their own characteristics, which have contributed to the completion of the form of harmony songs and the perfection of artistic techniques. Persimmon himself, Ma Lu, has been called "Song Saint" since ancient times. He is good at mastering Long song's style and has created many nostalgic songs and elegies, such as Song of Palace Funeral, Song of Abandoned Capital Crossing the River, Song of Wife, Song of Dead Wife, etc. His nostalgic songs, with the theme of the court, show admiration and yearning for the rise of ancient countries, with a vigorous and powerful tone, gloomy and tragic. The songs about my wife's parting and mourning, which express my personal feelings, are meaningful and have deep sadness. He is good at using antithesis and pillow words (note: "pillow words" are unique modifiers in harmony songs, also known as "articles" Each pillow word is associated with a specific modifier, which plays a role in enriching association and adjusting tone. ), rich in words, fluent in phonology and sincere in temperament. Black people in Gaoshi and red people in Yamagata are good at writing songs about scenery. Their natural scenery is full of emotion and fresh style. Gao Qiao worm Ma Lu is good at writing legendary songs. The ninth volume contains long songs with folk love stories as the theme, such as "Singing the Song of Hepu Daozi", "Singing the Song of Winning Deer" and "The Song of Seeing the Virgin in the Tuyuan", which depicts the events and characters delicately and vividly, and is unique.
Among these "all-leaf singers", what needs to be put forward in particular is the beautiful memory of the mountain. When he was young, he had been to China as an attache of the Tang Dynasty. Most of his Long song are accompanied by long preface written in parallel prose, which shows his profound Chinese accomplishment. His famous Long song's Song of Questions and Answers about Poverty is the only work that directly reflects the sufferings of the people under the rule of ancient legal countries. The full text is as follows:
Rainy night, cold sleet day. It's a cold winter night, but why is it cold tonight? It's right to accompany wine with coarse salt. It's bad to talk about heating. Frequent nasal congestion and repeated coughing. Twisting a moustache and making promises, it is difficult to resist the cold at night. Cover me with linen and put on my rags. Although I have everything, I can't resist the cold. Those who are poorer than me, listen to me and ask a few questions: my wife and children are crying, and my parents are hungry and cold. In this tragic time, why celebrate the New Year?
Although the world is vast, it is difficult for me to be alone. Although the sun and the moon are bright, do you shine on me? Is it all over the world, or am I alone? God gave birth to me occasionally, and farming was never idle. Wearing a cotton-free coat, the cloth hangs over the shoulders. Ragged as seaweed, how to keep out the cold? The low house is falling down, and the rice shop is sleeping in the wetland. My wife and children are squatting at my feet, and my parents are snuggling on the pillow. The whole family is big and small, sighing. There are no fireworks on the stove, and cobwebs are hung on the pot. I have been hungry for many days, and I can't remember three meals. The sound is as thin as a thread and as soft as cotton. It never rains but it pours. The manager was very angry and shouted in front of the house, holding a cane in his hand, urging Tian to pay taxes. The world is like this, how can I be fired in my life?
[Anti-Song] Worried about the world! The shame of the world! I hate flightless birds and want to fly without wings.
Note: Anti-Song-Influenced by China's Restorative Talk, attached to the Long Song, satirized the main contents of the Long Song again in the form of a short song.
This song has various interpretations. Generally speaking, the first half of the Song Dynasty tends to be understood as an ancient literati's private complaint about poverty. He pushed himself and others, and even thought that farmers suffered more than himself. The second half is the answer on behalf of farmers, telling the tragic situation of farmers grabbing land and calling for help under the ancient Sakata system. This is the period of poetry from maturity to decline. The poetic style changed from vigorous to decadent, which declared the end of Ye Wan's poetry.
The late author of Ye Wan Ji was Noguchi and her great companion Sakamoto Langnu. At this time, the era has entered the late stage of the legal country, and the ancient society exposed various contradictions and began to embark on the process of disintegration. Tomo no Yakamochi's singing style reflects the characteristics of this declining period. His short songs are characterized by sadness and lingering. Sakamoto Langnu wrote some exquisite and beautiful love songs.
The songs of anonymous in Ye Ji account for about one-third of all works. The most distinctive of these songs is more than 200 "East Songs" (folk songs in the eastern part of the state) included in 14. Most of these folk songs take love as the theme, not only with simple and natural language, but also with various labor scenes as artistic means such as comparison and stimulation, which makes these folk songs interesting and full of the life breath of working people. Some songs also express their feelings of being faithful to love and not afraid of parents' violent interference. Volume 20 contains 92 "anti-people songs" (songs of soldiers guarding the border). These songs reflect the sadness of soldiers who were forced to leave their parents and wives and stay away from the frontier under the ancient emperor system. In addition to some of the songs mentioned above, Ye Wan Collection also contains many works reflecting all aspects of ancient social life.
In a word, the value of Ye Ji in the history of literature lies not in its antiquity, but in its reflection of the depth and breadth of ancient life and its profound and sincere style. After Ye Wan Ji, harmony songs gradually degenerated into leisure products of nobles, who used harmony songs as social almsgiving and courtship tools, or used them in court "singing opera" (a game of fighting and harmony songs). During the Heian and Kamakura periods, harmony songs were also exclusive to nobles and monks, and became a means for them to express their delicate feelings.
During this period, in addition to Ye Wan, other achievements were also quite high. In prose, there should be records of local conditions and customs. Local Customs was originally compiled by local officials at that time under the instruction of the emperor's regime, but it contains many fragments of local legends and ancient stories. Although these ancient legends were collected by local officials and their handwriting was simple, they were often full of the life interest of the ancients. Some legends were later inherited and developed by folk stories.
In this period, in terms of phonology, in addition to the ballads preserved in Ye Ji and Records of Ancient Events, there is also a religious ballad, The Message of Blessing, which is a lyric poem used to pray for God in ancient times, and some of its lyrics reflect the rhythmic beauty and vivid metaphor in ancient ballads.