I don’t know since when, when naming children, girls tend to choose "The Book of Songs" and boys prefer "Chu Ci".
This is not only because of the different vocabulary and expressions in the two works, but also because of the differences in description objects and emotional connotations between the two, which contain different expectations and happiness of parents for their children. wish.
If you can understand the differences between "The Book of Songs" and "Chu Ci", it will be easy to understand this phenomenon.
The "Book of Songs" and "The Songs of Chu" have different origins
Although the "Book of Songs" has no definite creator, through its hidden characteristics, it can actually be determined that it was adopted from Poems compiled by poets.
"Ya" and "Song" are both official music, and they must have come from music officials of the upper class. There is no doubt about this. However, its connotation is often to recall the ancestors and praise their great spirit of hard work and hard work. Therefore, there are less descriptions of the life of the upper class and a strong folk atmosphere.
Although the "National Style" of the 15th Five-Year Plans are known as folk songs, they are basically based on four sentences in form and "three sighs in one song" in structure, showing very obvious neatness.
How vast is the territory of the fifteen feudal kingdoms? How are the living customs of people in different places different?
If they are all folk songs, how can the whole country be so unified?
Therefore, the poems in the "national style" were compiled or created by poets on the basis of folk songs, or simply based on the demands of the people.
Just like a reporter writes an exclusive interview, the content must come from the material, but the author is the reporter.
From this point of view, the poems in the "Book of Songs" actually represent the portrayal of life at the bottom, which is more down-to-earth, and the content described is often the appeal of ordinary people. Harvest, love, entertainment, merit, etc.
These contents are consistent with girls' status in society, such as strong fertility, happy pursuit of love, etc. These contents are expressed in the "Book of Songs".
"Chu Ci" has a clear creator.
It is generally believed that Qu Yuan is the first writer recorded in the history of Chinese literature. Most of the works in "Chu Ci" were created by Qu Yuan, with only a few pieces written by Song Yu and others.
Because of his aristocratic status, Qu Yuan often had a sense of social class in his creations. For example, the songs about the bravery of soldiers in "National Sorrow" and the resentment about failure in "Li Sao" are far from the lives of ordinary people.
However, in a patriarchal society, becoming a noble is the dream of every family. Whether a woman is loyal to the king or not has nothing to do with it, but a man must have loyalty, bravery and many other qualities.
This expression of the unique status of men makes the naming closer to "Chu Ci".
The emotions contained in "The Book of Songs" and "Chu Ci" are different
The different sources of content will inevitably lead to different emotional connotations in the two works, so there will be different tendencies. .
The emotions in "The Book of Songs" are often expectations, hopes, praises, and songs. Even poems that describe tragic events like "Shuo Shu" and "Meng" also contain the hope for a better life and love. pursuit.
For example, although "Monster" writes about a woman's misfortune, in addition, it also describes the woman's yearning for love and her determination to leave after being disappointed. It has the way of survival of ordinary people. Happiness must be striven for, and misfortune must be overcome by oneself.
Many analysts tend to only focus on the unfortunate experiences of women in the society at that time, which is actually one-sided. Although it was a male-dominated society at that time, the influence of matriarchal society was still there. Women only lost the right to speak about the direction of society, but in terms of status, they did not lose it so seriously in later generations, and they still had a lot of autonomy.
Therefore, the emotions expressed in "The Book of Songs" are more in line with women's expectations for life.
The emotions in "Chu Ci" are often helpless, angry, disappointed, and sad, which are related to the structure of the upper class society.
Qu Yuan’s life experience is not simple. He is a descendant of Zhuan Xu, one of the Five Emperors, and he belongs to the same clan as King Chu. Therefore, Chu is Qu Yuan’s clan. Others can leave and seek refuge in other countries, but Qu Yuan Can't leave. In other words, for many courtiers, the state of Chu offered them salaries to work, and the country was equivalent to a company. But Qu Yuan was the founder of this company, and this was his home.
However, such a status still cannot realize one's ideals, so one can only sing about it in poetry, which inevitably reveals emotions of sadness, helplessness, and disappointment. But these emotions can better reflect the lofty ambitions. A man should stabilize the country and have high aspirations.
Therefore, the emotions in "Chu Ci" are naturally more in line with men's pursuit of ideals.