The poems of Tao Qian and Xie Tiao are plain and full of interest, unlike later poets who carried out shocking and dazzling carvings. Du Fu said, "Tao Xie Bu Zhi Wu, "Wind" and "Sao" *** Push and stimulate. The purple swallow is self-excellent, who can cut the green thorns?" This is what it means. Generally speaking, if you want to achieve a plain state, you have to get rid of the gorgeous literary talent. If the gorgeous and elegant literary talent is removed, it is possible to reach a plain realm. From this point of view, the realm of Tao and Xie cannot be achieved by those later polished poets. Nowadays, when people write poems, they mistake clumsiness and simplicity for plainness. After reading such poems, all knowledgeable people will laugh at them. Mei Yaochen said in the poem "He Yanxiang": "I compose poems according to my temperament and strive to be plain, but I suffer from the lack of maturity, which is as pungent and astringent as water chestnuts." It can be seen that the poems are written in a plain way. This step is difficult. Therefore, he said in "Poems to Du Ting": "Writing poems has no ancient or modern history, and it is difficult to create blandness." Li Bai also said: "Clear water brings out hibiscus, and natural carvings are removed." When blandness reaches the level of nature, then it is really What a poem. (Song Dynasty Ge Lifang's "Yunyu Yangqiu")
"Manzhai Quotations" says: "The intention of poetry must be profound, and the language must be plain." I appreciate this sentence very much. Every time I write a poem, It often takes three to five days to revise, and sometimes it is revised again after a while. Why? Just because it takes half the effort to pursue profound intentions, and half the effort to pursue plain language. If the intention is not profound, you cannot be ahead of others; if the language is not plain, you cannot be understood by everyone. Zhu Zi said: "The poems of Mei Yaochen (Sheng Yu) are not plain, but withered." Why is this? That is because the intention is not profound. Guo Gongfu said: "Huang Tingjian's (Valley) poems took a lot of effort, but I don't know what they say?" Why is this? That is because the language is not plain. Someone Xiaolian Wang sent me a poem, but I couldn't understand what was good about it. Wang said: “It will take five hundred years before anyone knows the value of my poems.
I smiled and said: "Most people can't understand it. It can't be passed down for five days. How can it be uploaded for five hundred years?" "(Qing Dynasty Yuan Mei's "Suiyuan Poems")