The style of Li Yu's ci is divided into two periods with 975 as the boundary.
His early ci style was beautiful and soft, and he didn't break away from the habit of "flowers". According to the content, it can be roughly divided into two categories: one is to describe the magnificent palace life and the affair between men and women,
Such as "bodhisattva man":
The moon is dark and foggy. Just go to Lang's side now. Socks are fragrant, and gold shoes are portable. See you at the south bank of the painting gallery, and you will tremble at noon. It is difficult for a slave to come out, but he should be taught to be merciful.
There is also a kind of heavy sadness when I feel the fate I can't get rid of under the pressure of the Song Dynasty.
Such as "Meet You Huan":
Silently alone in the west wing, the moon is like a hook, and the solitary phoenix tree locks the autumn in the deep courtyard. Cut constantly, the reason is still chaotic, it is sadness, don't have a taste in your heart.
Due to the great changes in life, his later ci works made the king of national subjugation the "southern king" of the eternal ci world (Shen Xiong's "ancient and modern" language in Qing Dynasty), which is precisely "the country is unfortunate and the poet is lucky, and the ci works only after vicissitudes of life". These sad and tragic late ci poems with profound artistic conception laid the foundation of Su Xin's so-called "bold and unconstrained" school and became a great master in the history of ci poems. As for the beauty and harmony of his sentences, it is unprecedented.
Such as "Young Beauty":
When is the spring flower and autumn moon, how much is known about the past. The small building was easterly again last night, and the old country could not bear to look back on the bright moon. Carved fences and jade bricks should still exist, but Zhu Yan changed them. Ask how much sorrow you can have, just like a river flowing eastward.
The order of scouring sand:
The rain outside the curtain is gurgling, and the spring is fading. Allred-rochow can't stand the cold of five people, and he doesn't know that he is a guest in his dream. Don't lean against the fence alone, it is infinite, and it is easier to see when you are away. Running water is gone, and spring is gone.
Wang Guowei believes: "Wen Feiqing's words are also beautiful; Wei Duanji's words, bone show also; Li Shiguang's handwriting is also beautiful. " Moreover, he also said, "Ci has become a master's word and a scholar-bureaucrat's word. Zhou Jie is stored under Wen Wei, which can be described as reversing black and white. " This last sentence is aimed at what Zhou Ji said in "Miscellaneous Poems of Jiecunzhai": "Heshi is a beautiful woman on earth, who is good at strict makeup and light makeup, and does not hide the national color. Fei Qing, strict makeup; End yourself and make up lightly; Lord, rude and confused. " . Wang believes that this kind of comment is to promote literature and suppress Wei. There is also a view in academic circles that the original intention of Zhou Ji is that Li Yu is not as good as Wen Listening Cloud and Wei Zhuang in terms of words and phrases. However, as far as the vividness and fluency of ci poetry are concerned, the former is obviously more vigorous and natural, and "carelessly does not cover up the national color."
Li Yu's ci got rid of Hua's frivolity. His words are true, his language is vivid, his image is vivid, his personality is distinct and his feelings are sincere. After the national subjugation, his ci has a wide range of themes and profound meanings, surpassing the five pronouns in the late Tang Dynasty and becoming the first graceful ci in the early Song Dynasty. Later generations revered him as "Ci Sheng".
Li Yu's Ci has inherited the tradition of Hua Jian Ci poets such as Wen and Wei Zhuang since the late Tang Dynasty, and was influenced by Li Jing and others, which promoted the creation of Ci. The main results are as follows:
(1) expands the expression field of words. Li Yu's previous writings were mainly erotic and shallow in content. Even if it contains a little hug, it mostly adopts figurative techniques, which are hidden but not revealed. However, most of Li Yu's works are straightforward, pouring out his life and feelings of the country and expressing his true feelings. Therefore, Wang Guowei said: "When the word arrived in Li Houzhu, its vision began to widen and its feelings deepened, so it became a musician's word and a scholar-bureaucrat's word." ("Words on Earth")
② It has high universality. Li Yu's ci often reflects a certain realm of universal significance in real life through concrete and sensible personality images. "The small building was easterly last night, so the old country could not bear to look back at the bright moon ([Yu Meiren])," The flowing water has come out in spring, and on earth ([Langtaosha]), "People naturally grow up and hate water ([Wu Yeti])," Hate is like spring grass, but live farther ([Qingpingle]) and other famous sentences have profound meanings.
③ Language is natural, refined and expressive. His writing is not gorgeous, but touching; Not vague, but meaningful; Form a fresh and beautiful artistic feature.
(4) originality in style. Hua and Southern Tang poets are generally good at euphemism, while Li Yu is good at euphemism. For example, Yu Louchun's Hao Dang, Wu Ye Tiao, Langtaosha's and Bitterness are all men and women (see Tan Xian's Tang Fu, Yu Meiren and If a pony is born) (Zhou Ji, like Na Lanxingde, said, "Hua Jian Ci is like an ancient jade, which is valuable but not applicable, Song Ci is applicable but of little quality, and Li Houzhu has its beauty and makes people. (Miscellaneous Notes of Green Water Pavilion)