Judging from the process of ancient literature history and ancient education history, poetry education appeared with the appearance of poetry and flourished with the prosperity of poetry; The prosperity of poetry education further promoted the growth of poets and the prosperity of poetry creation. Therefore, the history of poetry education is as long as that of poetry. The spread of Ge Tan is also the result of poetry education. Before there is a written history, there is no way to explain what poetry education is like, so we can only guess by imagination. With the written history, we can roughly explain the content, form and function of poetry teaching-because even the so-called "history" recorded in writing is often extremely unreliable.
From ancient times to the present, China's ancient poems have always been closely related to music, and have continued to this day. Therefore, the ancient "music teaching" often includes poetry teaching. The court music and dance in past dynasties often integrated poetry, dance and pleasure, which is a typical example. Tracing back to the source, poems, words and songs are all true lyrics, and their appearance, formation, development and maturity are closely related to music. Poems in the Book of Songs, Yuefu Poems in Han Dynasty, Ci in Tang and Song Dynasties and Sanqu in Yuan Dynasty were all sung by music. Therefore, ancient poetry education is often accompanied by music art education.
In ancient China society, poetry education was promoted to the level of political education by the rulers, which was regarded as one of the basic means to consolidate the ruling order. The so-called "poetry teaching" mainly refers to the purpose of political and moral education through poetry teaching. All previous dynasties attached great importance to poetry education. From the initial enlightenment education to the final talent selection, the level of poetry creation is often directly related to the success or failure of literati's life fame. Therefore, the history of ancient school education in China is mainly the history of poetry education, which has been widely valued by emperors and people in past dynasties. Learning to read and write poetry has become the main content of student education.
Because the history of poetry education is closely related to the history of poetry development, it is necessary to study the history of ancient poetry education, mainly the history of ancient education in China, and the history of ancient literature development, mainly the history of ancient poetry development.
In fact, the history of ancient Chinese literature is mainly the history of poetry. In the history of ancient literature, before the Western Zhou Dynasty, poetry almost dominated the world. Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, poetry has been the mainstream, and poetry and prose have influenced each other and prospered together. Although the feature of "taking literature as poetry" was formed after the mid-Tang Dynasty and developed to the extreme in the Song Dynasty, it was traced back to the source that poetry had a greater influence on prose. Not to mention that poetry is the earliest literary form. If we look at China's ancient books, some sentences of Shangshu, Yijing, Laozi and Zhuangzi are obviously poetic. Especially in Laozi, quite a few chapters are poems. Fu in Han Dynasty itself developed from Chu Ci. Parallel prose in the Six Dynasties also has a strong poetic color. Ancient writers in China often paid equal attention to poetry and fu, and their poems and essays brought out the best in each other. Most writers who are famous for their literature also have poems handed down from generation to generation. The influence of poetry on prose continues to this day. Isn't the so-called "prose poem" in modern times prose poem? Contemporary writers often pay attention to the harmony and balance of phonology when writing prose, and often express their thoughts and feelings with neat sentences. As for the poems quoted in ancient and modern prose, there are countless more. Classical poetry also has a great influence on novels. A considerable number of novelists in ancient times were poets themselves, and more poems appeared in classical novels. Traditional Zhang Hui novels, represented by "Four Great Classical Novels", often start with poems and end with them. As for the relationship between drama and poetry, it is even closer. The rhyme and lyrics of characters are often the poems themselves. Judging from the growth process of ancient writers, in the final analysis, the influence and function of poetry on other literary forms are often transmitted through poetry education.
In fact, the history of Chinese education in China is mainly the history of poetry education. From ancient times to the late Qing Dynasty, poetry has always been the main carrier of China's traditional culture, and the influence of "poetry teaching" on China people is far-reaching! Since Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, learning to read, write and use poems has been the main content of ancient education in China. In ancient China, the court attached great importance to "music education" (poetry was the main content), and there were many emperors who could improvise poems in history, several of whom made outstanding achievements and made great contributions to the development of classical poetry. Since Confucius, The Book of Songs has been one of the basic textbooks of Confucian education. After the Han Dynasty, poetry education with The Book of Songs as its main content became an important aspect of ancient education. Learning the Book of Songs is the basic way to "teach poetry". Who doesn't know "Guan Guanji Dove"? Who hasn't read Willow Yiyi? After the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, especially after the Tang Dynasty, China traditional literati were immersed in the ocean of poetry from birth, even until the end of their lives, and the romantic life of poetry and wine became their basic state of life. After Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial examination system was closely related to poetry education. Throughout the history of China, which scholar, juren, scholar and scholar can't write poetry? Since the Song Dynasty, poetry has become an indispensable daily affair in the life of ancient literati. Even some generals who led thousands of troops on the battlefield are famous for their poems. In some scholarly families, many talented and extraordinary female poets have emerged, and their fame is enough to make future generations admire them. As far as the wind is concerned, even the ancient brothel women boast of being romantic because they can write poems and good words, and among them, several famous female poets have indeed been born.
Judging from the limited data, in the long ancient times, literary and artistic activities were characterized by the combination of singing and dancing, and poetry education was characterized by comprehensiveness and popularity. After entering the class society, school education, as an integral part of the superstructure, is bound to be restricted by the economic base, and school education has a strong class nature. In Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, in order to meet the needs of slave owners, both Chinese studies and rural studies were places to train the noble children of slave owners, and slaves had no right to education at all. Literature, art and cultural education in slave countries are monopolized by the government of the slave owners' class, that is, "learning is in the government", and poetry education mainly serves slave owners and nobles of all sizes. This monopoly of "learning in the official" was not broken until the Spring and Autumn Period, and private learning came into being and gradually flourished, making the poetry education represented by The Book of Songs gradually civilian and popular. After the Western Han Dynasty, with the establishment of the orthodox position of Confucianism, poetry teaching in feudal times has always emphasized "gentleness and gentleness". The Book of Rites says: "Confucius said: When you enter his country, you can know his teachings. He is also gentle and honest, and he teaches poetry ... He is also gentle and honest, but he is not stupid and deeper than the poetry teacher. " In the Tang Dynasty, Confucius' Book of Rites Justice explained: "The text means that the color is moist; Softness is temperament, softness. Poetry violates the language and has no intention of cutting things, so it is said: gentle and sincere, poetry teaches. " Because the feudal ruling class needed docile slaves, not the genius of poetry creation, therefore, the poetry education in feudal society was often the education of cultivating slaves. After the emergence of the imperial examination system in Sui and Tang Dynasties, this enslaved poetry education became more and more fierce, and its harmfulness still existed until the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Folk songs are the source of literati poetry. In the history of literature, folk songs once had a great influence on the formation of poems and songs and the creation of literati. Folk songs are works that people constantly create in their daily lives. They are a means to sum up their production knowledge, their life experience and express their joys and sorrows. Their number is very large, and they will soon become extinct if they are not deliberately preserved. In addition to orthodox poetry education, the spread of folk songs also shows another form of poetry education, which is significantly different from orthodox poetry education in content, form and purpose, especially in content and purpose, and sometimes even contrary to orthodox ideas. Although it is a looming stream outside the mainstream, it is also worthy of attention and research.
Poetry education has a very long history in China, and it still lingers. Ask China people today, how many people don't know Li Bai and Du Fu? How many people don't know Tang poetry and Song poetry? Ask the primary school students now, who hasn't recited Goose? Ask today's adults, who doesn't know the "Four Happy Poems"? ..... It's a pity that today's poetry education is already a spent force. The rumor that "more people write poems than read them" just shows the present situation of poetry creation and poetry education, while the proliferation of "pear-shaped" poems shows that contemporary literati poetry is dying out. Fortunately, we can occasionally read the poem "and write wonders with a dream pen, breaking the red clouds and waves in Wan Li"; Contemporary popular folk songs are more like poems than so-called "poems" of so-called "poets". Even some nursery rhymes are more valuable than the so-called "poems" of the so-called "poets". A few years ago, the nursery rhymes sung by some primary school students caused great controversy. For example, there is a nursery rhyme: "the sun shines in the sky, the skeleton smiles at me, and the bird says early." Why are you carrying an explosive bag? " ..... "This at least proves that the seeds of poetry are still growing. In the era of money worship and hedonism, behind the high prosperity of material civilization is the gradual desertification of humanistic spirit, and poetry education is needed to save poetry!