Nan Zhou Guanju is a short poem of national style, which occupies a special position in the history of China literature. It is the first book in The Book of Songs, the oldest book in China literature. Although judging from the nature, some fairy tales should have been produced earlier, as written records, it is a late thing. Therefore, we can almost say that when we open the history of China literature, the first thing that catches our eye is Guan Ju.
It is not known whether the editors of The Book of Songs have any intention in the arrangement of poems. However, at least the understanding of later generations does not think that Guan Yu was randomly arranged from the beginning. The Analects of Confucius mentioned the Book of Songs many times, but the only work that made a concrete evaluation was Guanju, which was called "Happiness without lewdness, sadness without injury". In his view, Guan Ju is a model to show the virtue of the "golden mean". The Han Confucian Preface to Mao Poetry also said: "The wind rises, so the wind prevails in the world, and couples are right. Therefore, it is used by the villagers and used by the country. " This involves an ethical thought in ancient China: in the eyes of the ancients, husband and wife are the beginning of human relations, and all moral perfection in the world must be based on the virtue of husband and wife. The author of Preface to Mao Poetry thinks that Guan Ju has exemplary significance in this respect, so it is listed as "the beginning of Feng". It can be used to influence the world, not only for the "villagers" that is, ordinary people, but also for the "nation" that is, the ruling class.
In fact, the content of Guan Yu is very simple. It's about a gentleman's pursuit of a lady. If he doesn't get a lady, he will be upset and can't sleep over and over. I was very happy when I got a "lady". I invited people to play music to celebrate and make the "lady" happy. The identity of the characters in the works is very clear: "gentleman" is a general term for nobles in the era of the Book of Songs, and this "gentleman" occupies a considerable position in preparing the music of harps, bells and drums. I used to interpret this poem as a "folk love song", but I'm afraid it's wrong. It should describe the life of the aristocratic class. Besides, it's good to say it's a love poem, but I'm afraid it's not an ordinary love poem. It turned out to be a wedding song, which was praised by the man's family and wished the bride a happy marriage. Many ballads in The Book of Songs, National Style, have both general lyrical significance and entertainment functions, and are also practical in etiquette. However, it is not known what purpose some poems were originally given to future generations, so they are only regarded as ordinary songs. It is also appropriate to sing Guan Ju as a wedding song, from My Fair Lady, Gentleman is Good, to male prostitute, Bells and Drums.
Of course, this poem itself still appears in the form of a love song in which a man pursues a woman. The reason for this is probably related to the fact that the man is the active party in the general marriage relationship. Even in modern times, when a girl has a crush on a boy, she always has to wait for him to speak first, especially in the ancients. Marry a bride, praise her as a beautiful and virtuous girl and a good spouse of a gentleman, and say that she once missed her very much and was lovesick, which must be very pleasing to the bride. Then, in a piece of music, our feelings are close to each other, and a happy marriage begins here. Even from the emotional structure of poetry, there are some twists and turns in the middle, from thinking of a wife when meeting Guan Yu to forming a good piano, chess and calligraphy: hard-won things are particularly valuable and enjoyable.
This poem can be regarded as a model to show the virtues of husband and wife, mainly because of these characteristics: first, the love it writes has a clear marriage purpose from the beginning, and finally comes down to the happiness of marriage, rather than a short encounter or a temporary passion between young men and women. This kind of love, which clearly points to marriage and shows responsibility, is more recognized by society. Secondly, it describes both men and women as "gentlemen" and "ladies", indicating that this is a combination associated with virtue. "Gentleman" has both status and virtue, while "My Fair Lady" also means beauty in appearance and goodness in virtue. The combination of "gentleman" and "lady" here represents an ideal of marriage. Third, it is the restraint of love behavior written in poetry. After careful reading, it can be noted that although this poem is about the man's pursuit of the woman, it does not involve direct contact between the two sides at all. Of course, the "lady" didn't move, and the "gentleman" was just "tossing and turning" there alone. Things like climbing walls and breaking willows didn't seem to be thought of at all, and love was very disciplined. Such a kind of love, which is not only true affection (which is very important for love poems), but also shows peace and moderation, will not be too intense for readers. All these characteristics are probably related to the fact that this poem was originally a noble wedding song. On that occasion, an atmosphere of restraint and joy commensurate with the status of the host is needed. Confucius saw a kind of beauty of neutralization with wide significance, which advocated his attitude towards life of self-denial and self-respect, and attached importance to moral cultivation. Preface to Mao Poetry promoted it as a moral textbook that can "make the world right". The perspectives of the two are somewhat different, but there are still fundamental similarities.
There are profound reasons why ancient Confucian scholars attached importance to the virtue of husband and wife. In the first sense, the family is the basic unit of social organization. In ancient times, the harmony and stability of this basic unit was of great significance to the harmony and stability of the whole social order. In the second sense, the so-called "husband and wife virtue" actually refers to all aspects related to men and women. "eat drink man woman, man's greatest desire is survival" (Li Yun, Book of Rites), and Confucius also knows that this is the basic requirement of human survival. The desire to eat and drink is relatively simple (of course, there must be food first), while the emotional activities triggered by men's and women's desires are much more complicated, active and intense, which is also much more harmful to living standards and social order. Confucius once lamented: "I have never seen such a good virtue as lust." (The Analects of Confucius) Therefore, all restraint and self-cultivation must first start from the desires of men and women. This is of course necessary, but how much restraint is appropriate is a complex issue, which involves the integration of social material production level, political structure, cultural tradition and other factors, as well as the changes of times conditions. When a society tries to take a completely negative attitude towards individual rights, severe prohibition will first appear in this respect. On the contrary, when a society is in a period of change and the old moral norms are destroyed, this will happen first. Back to Guanju, it praises a kind of love with restrained feelings, cautious behavior and harmonious marriage. Therefore, Confucianism believes that this is a good model and a textbook for "married couples" to guide extensive virtues.
Because Guan Ju not only admits that the love between men and women is a natural and normal feeling, but also demands that this feeling be restrained to conform to social virtues, later generations often take what they need and extend it, while people who resist the inhuman oppression of feudal ethics often advocate the right to satisfy their personal feelings under the banner of Guan Ju's authority. The so-called "poetry can't reach the truth" can be seen in Guan Ju.
Make an appreciative comment
Guanju is the first article in The Book of Songs. The Book of Songs compiled by sages listed this love poem as the first of 300 poems, which set the tone for the theme of expressing love in later literature-praising pure love, praising perseverance and advocating respect for women's personality, which made a good start for the prosperity of ancient love poems in China and had a decisive influence. Compared with the description of love in ancient Greek mythology, the expression of love theme in China's ancient poems is full of human beauty.
The love between men and women is human nature and a symbol of human happy life. If you pour your true love and give your true feelings, the fruit of love will be sweet. From the poem, we can see that since the hero saw "My Fair Lady" picking vegetables by the river, he couldn't sleep at night. Every movement of the girl picking leeks is fixed in the hero's brain. When he couldn't sleep, he thought about the different movements of the girl picking leeks over and over again-in his mind, every movement of the lady was so beautiful and sweet. This man is deeply in love with this girl. what should he do ？ Friends of the harp. He wants to get close to the girl and win her heart by playing the piano and singing for her. Thinking like this, he seemed to see the dawn of hope, so he fell asleep sweetly in intoxication. Acacia for several days kept him awake, and he finally fell asleep tonight. After falling asleep, he had a sweet dream. In the dream, he rode a big horse, led the wedding procession, blew the beat and married the girl he missed day and night-"My Fair Lady, full of bells and drums".
From an artistic point of view. First of all, the first two sentences of the first chapter of the poem are inspired by what the poet saw. Compared with Guan Yu, a loyal and loving bird, it not only highlights the theme, but also enhances the artistic appeal of the poem. It is said that waterfowl are single-minded. If one of them dies, the other one will be worried and haggard, and deeply attached to the love of this couple. Poets use this to contrast and cheer up, to enhance the artistic effect, and at the same time express their praise for sincere love. The selection of materials can be described as quite ingenious. Secondly, the poem adopts the technique of rendering, which makes the scene of the protagonist tossing and turning and the graceful movements of the girl picking leeks appear alternately, showing the protagonist's unforgettable infatuation and true love for his wife. Thirdly, there are some skills in choosing words and making sentences, such as using different verbs such as "Liu", "Cai" and "Yan" to describe the girl's action of picking leeks, and using "Youyou, tossing and turning" to express the lingering love of acacia. , are used properly.