Chu culture and the formation of Chu ci
Like the Yellow River Basin, the Yangtze River Basin has long nurtured an ancient culture. After the rise of Chu nationality, it became the representative of this regional culture. At the latest in the Yin and Shang Dynasties, Chu people had a relationship with the northern regime; In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, it was said that Kuaixiong was already a "scholar king", and later Xiong Yi was crowned king in Chu (Historical Records of Chu Family). This should be understood as Zhou Dynasty's recognition of Chu people's actual control over Jianghan area. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Chu developed rapidly and annexed many countries in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, becoming a force that could compete with the whole Central Plains. Chu Zhuangwang, one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period, had the ambition to seize the Central Plains from the north. During the Warring States Period, Chu further annexed wuyue, and its influence reached Hanzhong in the west and the sea in the east. Among the vassal States, the territory is the largest and the population is the largest. There used to be a saying that "the emperor of Qin is horizontal and the king of Chu is vertical", which means that Qin and Chu are most likely to unify the whole country. Finally, the State of Chu was destroyed by Qin. But Chu's anti-Qin uprising became the main force to overthrow the Qin Dynasty. The establishment of the Han Dynasty, in a sense, can be regarded as the victory of the Chu people. The unification of Qin and Han Dynasties finally completed the integration of the North and South cultures, thus forming a great "Han nationality".
In the process of its development, the Chu nationality has been communicating with the culture of the Central Plains. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the main cultural classics in the north, such as poems, books, rituals and music, also became the objects of study for Chu nobles. There are many examples of Chu people reciting or quoting the Book of Songs in Zuo Zhuan. On the other hand, Chu culture has always maintained its own strong characteristics, which is obviously different from the Central Plains culture, so Chu people have long been regarded as barbaric aliens by the Central Plains countries. "Xiaoya Picking Pearls" narrates Zhou Xuanwang's southern expedition to Chu, saying that "a fool looks good, and a big country is a big country." Juxtapose "Man Jing" with northern armadillos. "Truffle Gong Shu" juxtaposes Chu people with northern Rongdi, and both should be severely punished: "Rongdi is false, and Shu Jing is a punishment."
The Chu people themselves, when unwilling to recognize the authority of the Zhou royal family, often claim to be: "I am Man Zi." (See Historical Records of Chu Family)
It is generally believed that Chu culture lags behind Central Plains culture, which is not entirely correct. The rise of Chu culture may be later than that of the Central Plains, but in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu culture fell behind, mainly because the state system was not mature enough, especially the political and ethical thoughts used to maintain the ruling order and hierarchical relationship were far less complete than the northern culture. -So the Chu people need to introduce relevant theories and classics. Accordingly, the prevalence of primitive religion-witchcraft can also be regarded as the backward performance of Chu culture. But in other respects, Chu culture is not necessarily backward, and even far exceeds the Central Plains culture in many places. Understanding this point is very important for understanding Chu Ci.
First of all, it should be noted that the economic conditions in the south are superior to those in the north. The Geography of Hanshu says that Chu "has the kindness of Jianghan, Sichuan and Zeshanlin;" Jiangnan is rich in land and resources, or it is a land of burning and burning, and the people are full of fish and rice. It is the industry of fishing and hunting, and the fruit is clam, and the food is often enough. " Because it is easier to make a living, there may be more manpower to break away from simple subsistence activities and invest in more advanced and complicated material production. Therefore, at least after the Spring and Autumn Period, the financial and material resources of Chu have obviously surpassed those of northern countries. "Zuo Zhuan" records that Zhong Er ran to the State of Chu and said, "If your child is rich, you will have it; Feather tooth leather is born. Those who spread to the state of Jin, except Jun. " You can already see one or two. According to historical records, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu was a country with a lot of gold. Judging from the underground archaeological excavations in recent years, the bronze wares of Chu in the Warring States period can represent the highest level of bronze smelting and casting in the pre-Qin period. As for the exquisiteness of lacquerware and silk fabrics in Chu, it is simply incomparable in the north. Qu Yuan's "Evocation of Soul" depicts the extremely luxurious pleasure scene in the court of Chu State, and of course it must have a solid material foundation. Similarly, because it is easier to make a living in the south and there are many ways, there is no need to form a strong collective force to overcome nature and survive, so Chu did not form a strict patriarchal political system like the northern countries. According to Han Feizi, the nobles of Chu have always had relatively independent forces. This may be unfavorable to the confrontation between Chu and the northern countries. On the other hand, in such a living environment, individuals are less oppressed by the collective and their individual consciousness is relatively strong. Until the Han Dynasty, Chu people were famous for their unruly character. Many examples can be found in Historical Records and Hanshu.
Rich material conditions and less depressed but active life feelings have made the Chu art highly developed, which is an aspect that Chu culture obviously surpasses the Central Plains culture. In the Central Plains culture, art, including music, dance and songs, is mainly understood as a part of "ceremony" and is regarded as a means to adjust group life and achieve certain ethical goals. Therefore, moderation and peace are considered as the ultimate of art, but Chu's art is still developing in the direction of paying attention to aesthetic pleasure, which fully shows the activity of people's emotions. All kinds of utensils and silks unearthed in Chu are not only beautifully made, but also often painted with gorgeous and fantastic patterns. Music and dance depicted in Evocation and Nine Songs also present a warm, turbulent and mysterious atmosphere. A set of bells with five and a half octaves unearthed in old Chu and Suixian County, Hubei Province, was praised as a "miracle on earth" by Chinese and foreign experts, which actually proved the development of music, song and dance in Chu State. Orthodox music in the north is usually limited to an octave range.
To sum up, it should be said that during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu culture and Central Plains culture actually had their own characteristics and strengths. If it is only in the field of art, the achievement of Chu culture is high. Literature is an aspect of art in a broad sense. The Chu Ci we are going to discuss is not only a wonderful flower in the soil of Chu culture, but also represents the brilliant achievements of Chu culture. The general characteristics of Chu culture, especially Chu art, such as strong individual consciousness, strong and turbulent emotions, fantastic and gorgeous expression techniques, etc. It is also presented in Chu Ci.
The name of "Chuci" was first found in Historical Records Zhang Tang. It can be seen that this name already existed in the early Han Dynasty at the latest. Its original meaning refers to Chu Ci in general, and later becomes a proper name, which refers to the new poetic style represented by Qu Yuan's creation during the Warring States Period. This poetic style has a strong regional cultural color. As Huang, a poet in the Song Dynasty, said, "Everyone writes Chu language, Chu sound, Chu land and Chu objects" (On the East View). At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang collected the works of Qu Yuan and Song Yu, as well as the works of Han people imitating this poetic style. The title is "Song of the South". This is another far-reaching poetry collection in ancient China after The Book of Songs. In addition, because Qu Yuan's Li Sao is a masterpiece of Chu Ci, Chu Ci is also called "Sao" or "Sao Style". People in the Han Dynasty also generally called Chu Ci "Fu". There has been a saying that Qu Yuan wrote Fu in Historical Records, and there are also names such as Qu Yuan Fu and Song Yu Fu in Hanshu Yiwenzhi.
The formation of Chuci is closely related to Chuci in terms of direct factors. As mentioned earlier, Chu is a place where music and dance are developed. Now, we can also see many names of Chu music, such as Shejiang, Cailing, Laoshang, Jiubian, Jiuge, Qiulu, Yangchun and Baixue. Existing songs, recorded earlier in Mencius, are said to have been sung by local children when Confucius traveled to Chu:
The water in the rough waves is crystal clear, you can hold my tassel; The water in the rough waves is so turbid that it can be used to drown my feet.
Liu Xiang's "Ren Yue Ge" in Shuo Yuan is said to have been translated by Chu people.
What a night tonight, roaming in the river. What day is today? Together with the prince. I'm ashamed. I don't deserve my humble opinion. Confused mood can not only satisfy the prince. There are trees on the mountain and branches on the tree. My heart likes you. You don't know that.
This kind of ballad was still very popular in Qin and Han Dynasties. For example, Liu Bang has Song of the Wind, and Xiang Yu has Song of the Earth. Its style is different from that of Central Plains ballads. It's not a neat four-letter font. Each sentence can be long or short, and the modal particle "Xi" is often used at the end or in a sentence. These have also become the distinctive features of Chu Ci.
However, it is worth noting that although Chu Ci was born out of Chu Ci, great changes have taken place. The Han people call Chu Ci Fu, which means "Fu recited instead of singing" (1) The History of Chinese Arts and Literature. Qu Yuan's works, except Nine Songs, Li Sao, Evocation of Soul and Tian Wen, are all masterpieces. Compared with The Book of Songs, Nine Chapters is much longer. They are obviously not suitable for singing and should not be regarded as songs. At the same time, this kind of "Fu" doesn't read like prose. According to ancient records, it needs to be read in a special tone. This is roughly similar to the "chanting" form of ancient Greek epic. Ballads are always short and simple in language. Only by getting rid of the form of ballads can Chuci express rich thoughts and feelings with colorful words, containing complex connotations. By the way, in order to distinguish Chu ci from Han fu, modern people do not advocate calling Chu ci "fu", which is not unreasonable, but it cannot be said that there is anything wrong with Han people calling it. Because there was originally "Qu Fu", and later there was "Han Fu".
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(1) Han people have the saying that "the giver is also a stream of ancient poems" (see Ban Gu's Preface to the Fu of the Two Capitals), which is the extravagant feature of sticking to Confucian classics and giving consideration to Fu.
The prevailing witchcraft in Chu penetrated into Chu Ci, which made it full of myth. According to historical records, after the witchcraft color in China's primitive culture had obviously faded, in the Southern Chu Dynasty, until the Warring States Period, the monarch and his ministers still "believed in witchcraft and attached importance to the shrine" (Geography of Han Dynasty). Chu Huaiwang once "worshipped ghosts and gods" and tried to abdicate with the help of ghosts and gods. Folk witchcraft is more prevalent. The Geography of Han Dynasty and Wang Yi's Chapters and Sentences of Chu Ci both talk about the custom that Chu people believe in witches and love temples, and "their temples must make music to enlighten the gods". It can be seen that in the era of Qu Yuan, Chu people were still immersed in a mythical world full of strange imagination and passionate feelings. Qu Yuan, who lives in this cultural atmosphere, not only created a group of poems to worship God based on folk evocation words-nine songs and evocation, but also used a lot of mythical materials to express his feelings, gallop his imagination and wander around Kyushu, giving people a mysterious feeling. Even the framework of the masterpiece Li Sao draws lessons from folk witchcraft, from divination, speech, abstinence and fugue to divination and apotheosis.
Besides the factors of Chu culture itself, other factors also played a certain role in the formation of Chu Ci. As mentioned above, after the Spring and Autumn Period, the nobles of Chu were quite familiar with the Book of Songs and became part of their cultural literacy. Qu Yuan's Ode to Nine Chapters of Orange adopts four-character quatrains with an "Xi" at the end of the sentence, which can be regarded as the infiltration of the style of The Book of Songs into the style of Chu Ci. During the Warring States period, strategists lobbied very actively. They "want to play with their lips and kiss, so they compete for beautiful words to impress the Lord." "The aftermath has dispersed, and it has gradually reached Wenyuan, which is beyond the simplicity of poetry." -Lu Xun's Outline of the History of China Literature correctly points out the influence of the gorgeous rhetoric of strategists in the Warring States Period on the formation of Chu Ci.
Of course, "Without Qu Yuan, there would be no Li See Sao" (Wen Xin Diao Long Bian Sao).
Chu Ci is the product of Chu culture, specifically, it can not be separated from the creation of the great poet Qu Yuan.
—— Selected from the History of China Literature—