Qu Yuan (340-278 BC), surnamed Qu, was born in Danyang (now Zigui, Hubei Province) of Chu at the end of the Warring States Period and descended from Qu Xian, the son of Xiong Tong. One of the greatest poets in China. Qu Yuan was deeply trusted by Chu Huaiwang in his early years and was a leftist. He often discussed state affairs with Chu Huaiwang and participated in the formulation of laws. While presiding over foreign affairs. He advocated that Chu should unite with Qi and * * * should contend with Qin. With the efforts of Qu Yuan, the national strength of Chu State has been enhanced. However, due to Qu Yuan's honest and frank personality and the slander and rejection of others, Qu Yuan was gradually alienated by Chu Huaiwang. In the first 305 years, Qu Yuan opposed the conclusion of the Yellow Thorn Alliance between Chu Huaiwang and Qin, but Chu completely embraced Qin. Qu Yuan was also expelled from the capital by Chu Huaiwang and exiled to the Northern Han Dynasty. Qu Yuan was expelled from Du Ying. During his exile, Qu Yuan felt depressed and began to create literature. His works are full of attachment to Chu and enthusiasm for the country and the people. His works, gorgeous words, strange imagination, novel metaphors and profound connotations have become one of the origins of China literature. In the first 278 years, the general of the State of Qin conquered the capital in vain. In desperation and indignation, Qu Yuan threw a big stone into the Miluo River and died. Legend has it that local people threw zongzi to fish to prevent Qu Yuan's body from being eaten by fish, and later it gradually formed a ceremony. From now on, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival. People will eat zongzi and row dragon boats to commemorate this great patriotic poet. 1953 is the 2230th anniversary of Qu Yuan's death. The World Peace Council passed a resolution that Qu Yuan was one of the four cultural celebrities in the world that year. There are 25 pieces of his works, the titles of which are: Nine Songs, Evocation of Soul, Tian Wen, Li Sao, Nine Chapters, Buju and Fisherman.
Artistic characteristics and status
The title of Chu ci. Qu Yuan's masterpiece. More than 370 sentences with 2400 words are the longest lyric poems in ancient China. Wang Yi's Songs of the South are called Lisao Sutra. In Song Dynasty, Hong Xingzu pointed out in the Supplement to Songs of the South: "Later generations used their words to describe and respected them as classics." Some people also refer to it as "Li Sao Fu" or "Sao". From the Han Dynasty to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Li Sao was often cited as the general name of all Qu Yuan's works. In the history of literature, it is often called "Feng" and "Sao". "Feng" is used to summarize the Book of Songs and "Sao" is used to summarize the Songs of the South. In Li Sao, the poet used many metaphors to mercilessly expose the ugliness of the ruling group and attacked their evil, lust, greed, lewdness and violence. At the same time, he also created a character image of upholding justice, pursuing truth, not avoiding difficulties, not afraid of persecution, and loving the country and the people. Li Sao is a romantic lyric poem with practical significance. In poetry, the poet uses a lot of exaggerated and romantic expressions, whether it is the portrayal of the hero image or the description of some things. The full use of myths and legends has spread colorful fantasy wings and strengthened the charm of Li Sao. In Li Sao, Bi Xing is widely used. For example, he used vanilla as a metaphor for the nobleness of poets, for the relationship between men and women as a metaphor for the relationship between monarch and minister, and for driving horses as a metaphor for governing the country. The form of Li Sao originated from the oral creation of Chu people, and the poet turned it into a novel, which contained rich contents. Its language is refined, absorbing many dialects of Chu language, and its sentences are quite distinctive. The Songs of Chu is a collection of poems by Qu Yuan and Song Yu in the Warring States Period, which was compiled by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty and written by Wang Yi in the Eastern Han Dynasty. These poems use the poetic style and dialect rhyme of Chu State to describe the local customs of Chu State, which has a strong local color, hence the name "Chu Ci".
Year of writing
Sima Qian said in the preface to Historical Records Taishi Gong: "Qu Yuan was demoted and wrote Li Sao." This is considered to be after exile. Today, people have different opinions about this, some say it was written after being dismissed, some say it was written after being released, some say it was written in the late years and the early years of Wang Xiang, and some say it happened from time to time in the early years of Wang Xiang, so far there is no conclusion.
Creative rationality
Sima Qian quoted Liu An's Biography of Li Sao in Historical Records of Qu Yuan, saying: "Qu Ping's sick king was not obedient, but flattered the Ming Dynasty, and the evil songs were harmful to the public, so Fang Zhengzhi could not tolerate it, so he wrote Li Sao with sad Zen"; He also said: "Qu Yuan went straight on the right path, exhausted loyalty and wisdom to serve the monarch and made the world poor. Believe and see doubt, be loyal and slander, can you have no complaints? Qu Ping's work "Li Sao" is self-blaming. " Qu Yuan's "sadness" and resentment are closely related to the political reality of Chu State. Li Sao is a political lyric poem written by him according to the political reality of Chu State and his own injustice. Because the twists and turns describe the poet's life experience, thoughts and circumstances, some people regard it as an image record of Qu Yuan's life course and call it the poet's autobiography.
Content hierarchy
Li Sao, as a masterpiece, is extremely rich in ideological content. As for its content level, there have always been various ways to divide it. Generally speaking, the front part of the poem starts with his own life experience, quality, cultivation and ambition, traces back his struggle course and experience of being left out in the cold to help the king of Chu reform evil politics, and shows his political attitude of never colluding with others and his firm belief of "nine deaths without regrets". In the middle part, I made a statement about Zhong Hua with my daughter's advice, summed up the experience and lessons of the rise and fall in history, and expounded the political proposition of "promoting talents and empowering", which led to the fantasy realm of wandering around the world and "seeking up and down", showing my persistent pursuit of ideals; The last part, after the pursuit, turns to the spiritual atmosphere for divination, witchcraft and divination, seeking a way out, which embodies the ideological contradiction between going to the countryside and nostalgia for hometown. In the process of rising and traveling, I finally couldn't bear to leave my motherland and finally decided to die for my ideal. The former part, as a memory of the past, focuses on describing reality; As an exploration of the future, the latter two films focus on galloping imagination and finally end up returning to reality. Through this description, the poem created a lyrical hero with lofty character, reflected the poet's political thought and patriotic feelings of implementing "beautiful politics" and rejuvenating Chu, showed the poet's noble integrity and fighting spirit of hating evil, and mercilessly exposed and rebuked the corrupt politics and dark forces of Chu. Sima Qian commented on Li Sao, saying: "Although Qu Yuan was exiled, his heart was attached to Chu and the king, and he never forgot his ambition to rebel. He hopes you can realize this and change one of the customs. Saving the country and rejuvenating the country, but want to repeat the old trick. In an article, there are three ambitions. " Quoting Liu An's Biography of Li Sao, he said: "The national style is lewd but not lewd, resentful but not chaotic, and Li Sao is like this, which can be said to be both! Said Di Ku, the next JiHuan, Tang Wu, in order to stab the world. The morality of the Ming Dynasty is broad and respected, and it is consistent to control chaos. His words are implicit, his ambition is clean, and his actions are mean. As the saying goes, a small article has a big meaning, and it has a far-reaching impact. Its ambition is pure, so it is called fragrant; His behavior is cheap and he can't die. Cicadas in the mud slough in filth and are not polluted by floating dust. -But there's no mud. Pushing this ambition is also the glory of the sun and the moon. " (Biography of Qu Yuan in Historical Records) basically tells the spiritual essence and immortal value of Li Sao as a political lyric poem.