"Li Sao" is the masterpiece of the famous poet Qu Yuan during the Warring States Period. It is the longest romantic political lyric in the history of ancient Chinese poetry. The poet begins by narrating his life experience, moral character, and ideals, and expresses his depression and contradiction of being slandered and persecuted. He denounces the fatuousness of the king of Chu, the rampant gangs, and the deterioration of the government. It shows that the poet adheres to the ideal of "beautiful government" and criticizes the dark reality. , the fighting spirit of not collaborating with evil forces and the unswerving patriotic enthusiasm until death.
As a long masterpiece, "Li Sao" expresses extremely rich ideological content. Regarding its content level, there have always been various ways of dividing it. Roughly speaking, the whole poem is divided into nine parts: The first part: describes the poet's family background, birth name, and how he actively self-study and hone his qualities and talents. Part Two: The frustrations the poet encountered in the process of realizing his political ideals. Part Three: After the poet encountered setbacks in his political career, he did not shrink back or be discouraged, and established education to cultivate talents for the country. However, in an environment where "everyone is competing for advancement and greed", the beauty of the crowd was defiled - this is the poet's encounter Despite his second setback, the poet still actively cultivated himself and followed Peng Xian's legacy. Part 4: Because the poet's unique approach immediately aroused the greed of the mediocre people in the world, the poet suffered another setback and fell into a lonely and desperate situation. But the poet is still determined to be unyielding, willing to "submit his innocence and die straight", rather than surrender and agree with the world: "carry the rope and ink to pursue the music." Part Five: The poet who encountered suffering and setbacks and fell into loneliness and despair further developed the process of contradiction, hesitation, depression and pursuit of ideals, as well as the process of soul struggle deep in his heart, and finally strengthened his moral sentiments and political ideals. Part Six: Due to the nv's persuasion, the poet had no choice but to come to Chonghua and state his views to him, hoping to arouse sympathy. Part Seven: After the poet expounded his political proposition of "promoting talents and empowering talents" in front of Chonghua, the fantasy state of "searching from top to bottom" fully expresses the poet's strong feelings that are not understood by the world. Part 8: After listening to Wu Xian's words, the poet finally decided to leave Chu. This part vividly expresses the poet's complex ambivalence and thousands of thoughts. Part 9: The poet accepted the advice of Ling Fen and Wu Xian and decided to leave the Chu Kingdom for a long journey, but finally could not bear to leave. This is the poet's last fantasy in a dazed mood. The last part of the poem is the epilogue, which ends with the famous Chu song "Luan" at that time. It reflects the poet's political ideals and patriotic feelings of implementing "beautiful politics" and revitalizing the Chu State, showing the poet's noble moral integrity and the fighting spirit of hating evil as much as hatred, and ruthlessly exposing the corrupt politics and dark forces of the Chu State. and rebuke. Sima Qian commented on "Li Sao" and said: "Although Qu Yuan was in exile, he paid attention to the Kingdom of Chu and had the king in his heart. He did not forget his desire to rebel, hoping that the king would realize it and change his customs. And he wanted to repeat it. In one article, there are three determinations. "Liu An's "Li Sao Biography" is also quoted as saying: "Guofeng" is lustful but not lewd, "Xiaoya" is not chaotic, if you are a "Li Sao", you can be said to be both Emperor Ku and Qi Huan. , Tang and Wu are described in order to illustrate the world's affairs. The morality of the Ming Dynasty is widespread, and the rules of governing chaos are endless. It is extremely large, and its meaning is far-reaching. Its ambition is pure, so it is said to be fragrant; its conduct is honest, so it is not allowed to die. From the dredging mud, the cicada is sloughed out of the filth, floating outside the dust. Those who do not get rid of the filth of the world are those who stick to the mud without being drenched in it. Even if they compete with the sun and the moon for glory, it is possible." ("Historical Records") basically expresses the spiritual essence and immortal value of "Li Sao".