The original text of Preface to Mao Poetry
A poet, where there is ambition, has ambition in his heart and speaks like a poem. Emotion moves in the middle and is formed in words, which is insufficient, so it laments; Lament for lack, so sing forever; I don't know how to dance with my hands without eternal songs, but I can dance with my feet.
Love comes from sound, and sound is written into sound. The vocal music that governs the world, its politics; The voice of troubled times is angry, and its politics is good; The voice of national subjugation grieves, and its people are trapped.
Therefore, gain and loss, movement and the world, feeling and ghosts and gods are close to poetry. The former king learned from the husband and wife, became filial, virtuous, beautiful and civilized, and changed customs.
Therefore, poetry has six meanings: one is wind, the other is fu, the third is comparison, the fourth is prosperity, the fifth is elegance, and the sixth is ode.
Weathering at the top and wind thorn at the bottom. Text and admonition. The speaker is innocent, and those who smell it are warned, so it is called the wind.
As for the decline of the monarch, the abolition of etiquette and righteousness, the loss of politics and religion, the foreign affairs of the country, the strange customs of the family, and the elegance of the wind. The history of the country is clear about gains and losses, hurting people, lamenting the harshness of criminal politics, chanting family ties, moving with the wind, achieving things and cherishing old customs. Therefore, the wind becomes sentimental and stops at comity. It is human nature to express feelings; Stop at courtesy and righteousness, and the first king's ze is also.
It is based on the matter of a country and the foundation of one person, which is called the wind; It is an elegance to talk about everything and form a wind in all directions. Ya, yes, Wang said that it is also a waste. Politics is small and big, so there are few elegance. Praise, the description of beauty and virtue, is also told to the gods through its success. It means four beginnings, and poetry is the most important.
Translation of Preface to Mao Shi
Poetry is the expression of thoughts and feelings. People's thoughts and feelings are "ambition" when they exist in their hearts, and "poetry" when they are expressed in words. When emotions are aroused in the heart, they will be expressed in words. If words cannot be fully expressed, they will sigh. Sighing is not enough to express, you can sing, and if you can't express it, you will unconsciously express it by dancing.
Emotion is expressed through sound. With rhythm and melody, sound becomes music. Taiping society has peaceful music and smooth political affairs; The chaotic society is angry and angry, and the political affairs are abnormal; The joy of national subjugation is sad and thoughtful, and the people are miserable.
Therefore, there is nothing more effective than poetry to correct gains and losses and touch the gods of heaven and earth. The former king used poetry to regulate husband and wife, achieve filial piety, cultivate moral cultivation of human relations, beautify education, and promote the development of changing customs in a good direction.
Therefore, the Book of Songs has six basic contents: body, fu, comparison, honor, elegance and praise.
Rulers use "wind" to educate the lower classes, and people use "wind" to criticize rulers. Advocate gentle language and euphemism to exhort. The speaker is innocent and the listener is warned, so it is called "wind".
In the era of the decline of kingship, etiquette and righteousness were abandoned, politics and religion were not in harmony, national politics was chaotic, family atmosphere deteriorated, and elegance appeared. Historians can clearly see the signs of political gains and losses from poems, lament the abandonment of human relations and lament the suffering brought by tyranny to the people. Express your thoughts and feelings and satirize the rulers with "wind".
Let the rulers know about the incident and miss the fine atmosphere of the former king. Therefore, changing the wind starts with affection and is bound by courtesy and righteousness. It is the nature of the people to express their temperament with poetry, and it is the tradition of the first king to use the doctrine of the mean.
Therefore, poets express their inner feelings through poems, but they can represent the inner feelings of a nation. This kind of poem is called wind. The poet summed up the wishes of the world and showed the fashions in all directions. This kind of poem is called elegance.
"Elegance" means "righteousness", which explains the rise and fall of the political affairs of the Emperor of Heaven. There are differences in politics, so there are differences between elegance and elegance. Ode is to praise and express the virtue of the son of heaven and report the news of success to the gods. This is the "four beginnings", and the truth of poetry ends here.