Han Fu is a kind of rhymed prose that emerged in the Han Dynasty. It is characterized by the combination of prose and rhyme and its focus on narrative. From the perspective of the form of the fu, it focuses on "painting and capturing Zhang Zhang"; from the content of the fu, it focuses on "writing the story with objects". The content of Han Fu can be divided into five categories: the first is to exaggerate palaces and cities; the second is to describe the emperor's safari; the third is to describe travel experiences; the fourth is to express the feelings of encounter; the fifth is to talk about animals and plants. The former two are the representatives of Han Fu.
In terms of structure, Han Fu generally has three parts, namely the preface, the main text, and the ending called "Luan" or "Xun". The writing style of Han Fu is mostly elaborated with rich words and extreme voice and appearance, singing praises for the strength of the Han Empire or the ruler's civil and military achievements, with only a few strokes at the end showing a hint of satire.
Han Fu is divided into large Fu and small Fu. Da Fu is also called San-style Da Fu. It is huge in scale, magnificent in structure, majestic in momentum, and gorgeous in vocabulary. It is often a lengthy masterpiece with tens of thousands of words. Jia Yi, Mei Cheng, Sima Xiangru, and Yang Xiong in the Western Han Dynasty, and Ban Gu, Zhang Heng, etc. in the Eastern Han Dynasty were all experts in large Fu. The shortcomings of the large Fu were abandoned in terms of length, rhetoric, neglect of the essentials, and lack of emotion. On the basis of retaining the basic literary talent of Han fu, he created short fuses that are smaller in length, clear in literary style, satirical about current events, and lyrical about objects. Zhao Yi, Cai Yong, Mi Heng, etc. are all masters of short fu.
Han Fu was formed in the early Han Dynasty. Jia Yi pioneered the style of Han Fu, represented by "Diao Qu Yuan Fu" and "Song Bird Fu". What really created the Han Fu system was the Ci Fu master Mei Cheng in the early Han Dynasty. "Qifa" is Meicheng's representative work, which serves as a link between the past and the future.
During the eras of Emperor Wu, Xuan, Yuan and Cheng of Han Dynasty, Han Fu reached its heyday. During this period, Sima Xiangru became the most famous person and occupied the status of "Fu Sheng" in the history of Han Fu. Sima Xiangru wrote 29 poems, of which only 6 poems remain: "Zixu", "Shanglin", "Sir", "Changmen", "Beauty" and "Ai II". Among them, his "Emperor's Hunting Fu" includes two pieces, "Zixu Fu" and "Shanglin Fu", which represent the highest achievement of Han Dynasty Fu. Sima Xiangru basically stipulated the pattern of the Han Dynasty Fu in his two poems: first, he piled up rhetoric in a series of words, exaggerating and embellishment, and finally ended with the satirical admonition that sexual pleasure can destroy a country, while benevolence and righteousness will surely prosper the country, creating " The system of "advising hundreds of people and ridiculing one".
From the end of the Western Han Dynasty to the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Han Fu was basically finalized, and the later generations of Han Fu authors could not surpass their predecessors. Therefore, the trend of imitation flourished, and Han Fu entered the imitation period. The most famous writers of Han Fu at this time were Yang Xiong and Ban Gu.
From the middle to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Han Fu entered a period of transition, that is, it transformed in a direction closer to reality. Zhang Heng's "Guitian Fu" criticizes social politics, expresses dissatisfaction tendencies, and initially lays the foundation for small fu. Cai Yong's "Shu Xing Fu" made him the second most famous Fu in Han Dynasty. His poems are profound in content and appropriate in wording. They lash out at the ugliness of society and show sympathy and concern for the sufferings of the people.
Han Fu was finalized in Xiao Fu in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, evolved into parallel Fu in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and transformed into rhythm fu and wen fu in the Tang and Song Dynasties.
Fu in the Han Dynasty. Fu is a literary genre between poetry and prose. It pays attention to literary grace and rhyme, and uses "objects to write stories" through "extracting prose". The first person to write a famous poem with Fu was Xun Kuang, a native of Zhao during the Warring States Period. However, the Han people often used Fu and Ci together, called Ci Fu. This is because Han Fu mostly imitated the works of Qu Yuan, Song Yu and others of Chu State. The Han people collected the works of Qu Yuan, Song Yu and others into a collection called "Chu Ci". The words "ci" and "fu" are used together to express the inheritance relationship between Han Fu and "Chu Ci". Due to the promotion of the upper-class ruling group in the Han Dynasty, the creation of Fu flourished. According to Ban Gu's "Preface to the Fu of Liangdu", during the reign of Emperor Cheng, "there were more than a thousand pieces of commentary and recordings, including memorials to the emperor." With the addition of works from the late Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty, the number should be even more impressive.
The early Han Fu, such as Jia Yi's "Ode to Qu Yuan" and Huainan Xiaoshan's "Recruiting Hermits", etc., are no different in form from "Chu Ci". Emperor Jing's Shi Meicheng composed "Seven Hairs", creating a new style of fu that was further dispersed and focused on extravagance. After being carried forward by Sima Xiangru and other famous Fu masters, the new style of Fu flourished after Emperor Wu and became the mainstream of Han Fu. Han fu in the new style can generally be divided into two categories: large fu and small fu. Judging from the content, most of the big poems describe scenes that boast of the prosperity of capitals, palaces, gardens and large-scale hunting by the emperors. They aim to praise virtues, whitewash peace, and cater to the rulers' desire for great achievements and pursuit of pleasure. At the end of the poem, they contain satirical admonitions. meaning. The main works include "Zixu Fu" by Sima Xiangru, "Changyang Fu" and "Yu Lie Fu" by Yang Xiong, "Liangdu Fu" by Ban Gu, "Tokyo Fu" and "Xijing Fu" by Zhang Heng, etc. These great poems were written magnificently and with great momentum. To a certain extent, they reflected the prestige of the unified Han Empire and the extravagant and vigorous style of the feudal ruling class during its rise. However, in order to achieve formal magnificence, the great Fu often exaggerated and piled up a large number of words. They liked to use cold and rare words to show off their richness and strive for novelty. At the same time, the later great Fu was more imitative than innovative, and the writing was rigid. These are all It affects the artistic appeal of the work. Xiaofu is shorter in length, either lyrical or allegorical, with broader content and fresher style. It was mainly popular in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Famous works include Zhang Heng's "Gui Tian Fu", Zhao Yi's "Ji Shi Xie Fu", Mi Heng's "Parrot Fu", etc.
Many pieces of Han Fu were scattered and lost in the process of circulation. The existing works, including some fragments, total about 200 pieces, which are collected in "Historical Records", "Han Shu", "Han Shu" and "Historical Records". "Book of the Later Han", "Selected Works" and other books.